questions list | article stringlengths 9 6.44k | id stringlengths 9 14 |
|---|---|---|
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "the Capitol used to be open to the public in history."
},
"options": [
"the writer is a daughter of a member of Representatives.",
"the Capitol used to be open to the public in history.",
"London was attacked during the war, ... | I WAS BORN and raised in the shadow of the Capitol, in prefix = st1 /Washington,D.C., as were my parents and my mother's parents.
Our row house was on a tree-lined street just blocks from the building that was the heart of the federal legislative branch. When I was a child, in the 1940s, friends and I would pack a lunch or ride a streetcar to the Capitol. If we roller-skated, we hid the skates in the bushes in the park across the street before entering the building.
I knew every corner of the Capitol. We'd play hide-and-seek and pretend we saw ghosts in the halls and stairways. I don't know how we got away with it.I remember the beautiful ladies' rooms, with their marble floors and sinks. I pretended that I was a fine lady in them.
In those days, you could walk around the Capitol dome , which was a little scary for me. I loved the wonderful paintings and statues and the subway rides to the SenateOfficeBuilding. It was like an amusement ride. I even used to sit in the gallery of the U.S. House of Representatives--until I became bored with all the talk and went on another adventure.
Whenever I ran up the steps to the huge bronze doors of the Rotunda, I would look back to the world below like a hero. As soon as the doors were opened, the sense of history surrounded me, and I knew it was someplace special.
Those were lucky days, when an American citizen could wander in the Capitol and be a part of history.
Once war was declared, some things changed in the nation's capital.
Because of concerns that Washington might be attacked, as Londonhad been, everyone prepared. Kids at my elementary school wore dog tags, and each of us was fingerprinted.
My father, a pipe worker, became a civil defense warden . During an air raid, his job was to turn off any leaking gas. Since he always had a cigarette in his mouth, maybe that was not a good choice, but he had a gas mask and flashlight hanging in the rafters of our basement...the mask looked like a monster in the ceiling. My 15-year-old brother was a junior civil defense warden. During air- raid drills, he knocked on doors and asked people to put out their lights. I remember huge searchlights that crisscrossed the skies during the drills, looking for enemy planes. | high22283.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "is becoming more and more crowded"
},
"options": [
"needs to produce many materials to use",
"is becoming more and more crowded",
"loses tracks of story line increasingly",
"is crowded with shoppers everywhere"
],
... | I am a person who does not like to wait.I don' t like lines, being put on hold when making a phone call, arriving at an appointment to find that my companion will be delayed and of course, I don * t like waiting rooms.
However, I realize that my agony will not be good for me, as an increasingly, crowded world can only mean one thing--more waiting.
Owing to this, I have taken a measure and decided to turn my disappointment to productive ends.In short, I am looking for what I call "waiting in line books".
These are books that contain material designed for being read in shortened words, so there is no extended story line to lose track of.Another requirement is that they be small enough to slip neatly into my back pocket.
The other day I went to the supermarket.Convinced that the rain would keep most people away, I was surprised to see that the place was crowded with shoppers.Every checkout was open--and jammed! But I could take out my pocket book and go to work.
The more the world demands that I wait, the more I learn from my waiting library.Look at these titles: One Hundred Things Every American Should Know; The Poetry of Robert Frost; Living Thoughts of Leading Thinkers; Still More Toasts.I have learned interesting and enriching things and much knowledge from these books.
On a recent visit to the general store, I placed my order at the counter along with six or seven other people.The one female employee seemed to have her hands full as she rushed about."Just be patient," she said to me.
No problem.I quietly opened my dictionary of prose and poetical quotations. Perhaps the other customers regarded me as a bookish, lonely soul.But little did they realize that I was enjoying the company of Shakespeare, Thoreau, Homer and Ben Johnson. | high12340.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "In front of a store."
},
"options": [
"In a grand restaurant.",
"At the gate of a station.",
"In front of a store.",
"At a local bus station."
],
"question": "Where did the author notice the homeless man stand?"... | One Saturday morning we were on our way home and decided to stop at a local gas station to get something to eat since it was a good hour and a half before we got home. We noticed a man standing outside in front of the building. You could tell that he was a homeless man. His clothes were worn and dirty, and not enough on this terrible cold day of the year. He must have not had enough money to get something to eat. The next thing I remember is a dog that walked up to the front of the building. Being a dog lover, I noticed she was part wolf and probably part German shepherd . I could tell she had been feeding puppies . She was terribly in need of something to eat and I felt so bad for her.
I knew if she didn't eat soon, she and her puppies would not make it. We noticed people walked by and didn't even care for her. She might not have been as pretty and clean as most, but she still deserved better. We still did not do anything. But someone did. The homeless man, who I thought did not buy himself anything to eat, went into the store in front of him. Any what he did brought tears to me and my wife. He brought a can of dog food with what money he may have had and fed that dog. I was so moved and walked to him and gave him all my pocket money.
I know this story isn't as moving as most stories, but it plays a great part in our lives. You see, that day was Mother's Day. And a lot of people forget that some animals are parents too. And animals as well as we are God's creations. The homeless man showed me what I should have done. He made a decision to be a better man in future. | high23189.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "He usually encouraged kids."
},
"options": [
"He seldom looked for the best.",
"He was a specialist in law.",
"He usually encouraged kids.",
"He was a father without principles."
],
"question": "What can we know... | My sister and I grew up in a little village in England. Our father was a struggling lawyer, but I always knew he was special. He never criticized us, but used praise to bring out our best. He'd say, "If you pour water on flowers, they flourish . If you don't give them water, they die." I remember as a child I said something unkind about somebody, and my father said, "Any time you say something unpleasant about somebody else, it's a reflection of you." He explained that if I looked for the best in people, I would get the best in return. From then on I've always tried to follow the principle in my life and later in running my company.
Dad's also always very understanding. At 15, I started a magazine. It was taking up a great deal of my time, and the headmaster of my school gave me a choice: stay in school or leave to work on my magazine.
I decided to leave, and Dad tried to _ the decision at first, as any good father would. When he realized I had made up my mind, he said, "Richard, when I was 23, my dad persuaded me to go into law. And I've always regretted it. I wanted to be a biologist, but I didn't pursue my dream. You know what you want. Go fulfill it."
As it turned out, my little publication went on to become Student, a national magazine in the U.K.. My wife and I have two children, and I'd like to think we are bringing them up in the same way Dad raised me. | high14725.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "To inform us of the Malaysian disaster."
},
"options": [
"To arouse our attention of some famous crashes of plane.",
"To find out the causes of plane crash.",
"To inform us of the Malaysian disaster.",
"To warn us not t... | Traditionally regarded as one of the safest planes in the skies, the Boeing 777's reputation will have been damaged by the second fatal crash in less than a year. There are around 1,000 Boeing 777s in service, and the plane is a long haul workhorse , shouldering some of the longest routes. It entered service in 1995 and the National Transportation Safety Board, which is responsible for monitoring US-made aircraft, has recorded fewer than 60 incidents. But the recent record has been more patchy with two major incidents---a crash at San Francisco airport last July, which claimed three lives, and the crash-landing of a British Airways 777 at Heathrow in January 2008.
However, the Malaysian disaster is very different from both the BA incident and the crash involving a Asiana Airlines flight at San Francisco InternationalAirport in July. Both the BA and Asiana accidents occurred shortly before landing, while the Malaysia airlines plane disappeared off the radar during the early stages of the trip.
The accident at San Francisco in July was attributed to pilot error which led to the engines being set to idle because he believed the computer would maintain sufficient speed to keep the plane up in the air. But initial reports suggest that Zaharie Ahmad Shah, the 53-year-old Malaysian airlines pilot, was hugely experienced - having joined thecarrierin 1981 and with 18,365 hours in the cockpit under his belt. The BA crash landing, which did not result in any fatalities, was finally found to have been caused by a blockage in the fuel line feeding theengine. Simply put the aircraft had the aviation equivalent of a cardiac arrest because some of the fuel failed to melt and blocked the supplylineat the end of a long flight from Beijing to London, during which the plane travelled through unusually cold airspace over Siberia.
_ makes people think of the disaster in which 288 people on board an Air France Airbus 330. That plane, another long-haul workhorse, crashed into the Atlantic en-route from Rio de Janeiro in June 2009 killing 228 people. A variety of explanations have been given for the Air France crash, with investigators finding that the plane's speed sensors were giving an incorrect reading. But with this crash involving a different aircraft, it will take several months before investigators can find out the cause. | high9151.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "You can have a good chance to make new friends."
},
"options": [
"You can relax on the holiday.",
"You will enjoy exploring different places.",
"You can understand your friends better.",
"You can have a good chance to m... | When you have good friends you really feel special and want to share in the spirit of friendship. You try to do pleasing and exciting things for each other. You could go on a friendship holiday, which would be very joyous. There are many places that you can go for a friendship holiday.
First, let us look at some of the things that you will enjoy when you go on holiday with your friends. You will get a chance to relax and forget your _ life. You can relax and forget about dealing with lots of different things every day. Also, such a holiday is an opportunity to have fun with your friends as you explore different places. Moreover, there is no better way to get a true friendship; you have to spend time with people so that you can fully understand each other.
I cannot insist enough on the importance of looking for enough time to share, and you can do this through a friendship holiday. You will have to look for a place that you all enjoy and feel comfortable in. Taking a friendship holiday does not have to be expensive. You can look for a good place where you can spend the weekend. The idea is to go away for some time so that you can be alone together. Besides knowing which place to go to, you need to know the activities that you are going to take part in while you are on holiday. If you are using a travel agency, let it guide you to some of the things that you will really like. Go for the activities that you will enjoy. It is pretty exciting how you can enjoy yourself with friends. You won't want to go back home. | high22297.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "the author's impression of Harvard"
},
"options": [
"the author's campus life in Harvard",
"the author's impression of Harvard",
"Harvard's old buildings",
"the academic system at Harvard"
],
"question": "The ar... | Recently I paid a visit to Harvard University, where there are top class scientists and professors and the best academic system in the world.
I was pretty shocked when I first stepped onto the campus. Well, it's not even really a campus. It's more like a district in a small town.
Harvard's main buildings are from the 18thcentury. They look very old and simple. You might even say they're a little shabby. They don't fit the modern idea of university at all. The buildings are surrounded by grass and trees, so I felt as if I had walked into a medieval castle. But when I looked across the street, busy shops and in-fashion students made me feel like I was in the 21stcentury again. It creates a strong contrast and brings a special atmosphere to the school.
Our tour guide Gary took us around and told us, "You see this grass field in the center of the school? Here is where they host their graduation ceremony. They just set up tents and benches and have a very simple ceremony. Unbelievable! Who would think the most talented students just graduate on the lawn?"
I saw some students put a blanket on the grass and lie down to read a book. When I listened to the soft sound of pages turning, along with the chirping of the birds, I felt very calm. There was no competitive feeling at all.
Harvard has the world's first computer in its science center and there are hundreds of high-end computers too. Its religion and the literature departments are also among the best. It is the perfect mix of tradition and new technology. It makes Harvard a very attractive place to study in.
I hope one day I'll attend my dream school---Harvard. | high12354.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Rich countries."
},
"options": [
"International groups.",
"Rich countries.",
"Poor countries.",
"Tropical and sub-tropical countries."
],
"question": "Who should play a leading role in resisting the more extreme... | Global warming threatens to hold back human progress, and make unachievable all UN targets to reduce poverty, according to some of the world's leading international development groups.
In a report published today, Oxfam, Greenpeace, Christian Aid, Friends of the Earth, WWF and 15 other groups say rich governments must immediately address climate change to avoid even "unbearable levels" of worldwide poverty.
"Food production, water supplies, public health and people's living environment are already being damaged," the report says. "The world must meet its promise to achieve poverty reduction and also deal with climate change."
The report, which draws on UN predictions of the effects of climate change in poor countries over the next 50 years, says poor countries will experience more flooding, declining food production, more disease and the worsening or disappearing of entire ecosystems on which many of the world's poorest people depend.
"Climate change needs to be addressed now. The poor will bear the burden of it. The frontline experience of many of us working in international development indicates that communities are having to fight against more extreme weather conditions."
Climate change will play havoc with agriculture and water supplies and will increase diseases. "By 2025 the proportion of the world's population living in countries of great water stress will almost double, to 6 billion people. Tropical and sub-tropical areas will be hardest hit -- those countries already suffering from food shortage".
Poor countries mostly do not need high-tech solutions, but would most benefit from education, research and being shown how to farm better. The report says unchecked global warming, more than wars or political confusion, will displace millions of people and destabilize many countries. | high16132.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "76 yuan"
},
"options": [
"88 yuan",
"76 yuan",
"28 yuan",
"4 yuan."
],
"question": "How much will you pay if you want to stay in a capsule inn for 12 hours?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
... | A capsule inn is a kind of cheap and small hotel where people just sleep in rectangular containers . After experiencing popularity in Japan for more than 30 years, capsule inns have now entered the Chinese market. This new style is becoming popular with many visitors, but some are less than what they expected. The capsule inn covers an area of more than 300 square meters, with 68 very small bedrooms for guests to rest. Each room is 2.2 meters long and about 1 meter wide.
As small as the capsules are, they provide more than enough daily necessities for visitors. They do have plenty of _ . Each includes independent power sockets, clocks, lights, and flat screen televisions. People can also enjoy wireless Internet service. The basic fee for each capsule is 28 yuan, and guests will be asked to pay an extra 4 yuan every hour. The highest cost could reach 88 yuan per day.
Ta Zan, capsule inn Manager, said, "Capsule inns are similar to Internet cafes. When they first appeared more than 10 years ago, people thought they might not succeed. But now it's a common thing in our lives." He believes that more capsule inns will open around the nation very soon. He is sure about the future of his business. | high4475.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "inspires young people to better themselves"
},
"options": [
"has changed the lives of young people worldwide",
"inspires young people to better themselves",
"encourages his students to improve the community",
"has made ... | Rahfeal Gordon has come a long way from the homeless shelters and streets of Newark, New Jersey. The 25-year-old was honored this year by the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship for his work----giving motivational speeches to youth groups.
Rahfeal Gordon tells his audience, "If nobody ever says that you're brilliant, say it to yourself every day. Look yourself in the mirror: if you have survived something, I don't care how small, how big, you've survived it," he said.
Rahfeal Gordon 's speech is simple: He tells the story of his own life in three chapters. Each begins with a hip hop lyric that he knows will be meaningful to a young audience.
Gordon says he uses positive hip hop lyrics to encourage youths, especially those who grew in poverty and abuse, as he did. His talk is called "Hip Hop Saved My Life".
" When I had my very dark moments in life, I would put on certain songs, whether it is from Jay-Z , Tupac, Kanye West," Gordon said. "They kept me going through the hard times. They fulfilled a certain void that I couldn't fulfill, like not having a father or mother there, so I felt they could relate because they would tell these stories."
Gordon says his childhood was happy until his father became addicted to drugs and began to beat his three brothers and mother. They left to live on the streets and in homeless shelters. Gordon says he tries now to be a voice for others, including a brother who was murdered at the age of 19.
"When I lost my brother, that was, really, a moment when things really started to take off, in the sense of saying, 'I really, really want to be that individual to help people, to help individuals,' "Gordon said. "I can't be Superman. I can't save the world, but I think that if I can help an individual, I am saving the world. " | high20480.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "it has a public resting-room with TV"
},
"options": [
"the rest room has a fire fireplace",
"the bathroom has bath and shower",
"the apartments are ready to move straight into",
"it has a public resting-room with TV"
... | The apartments for sales,40 minutes' walk to the gold coast beach, on the ground floor is a private patio , fully fitted kitchen, resting room with feature fireplace and a second reception room which could be used as a dinning room or third downstairs bedroom. On the first floor are two double bedrooms, one of which leads onto a sunny terrace , fully tiled bathroom with bath and shower. The property is in excellent condition throughout and is ready to move straight into Sky TV, telephone and broadband are connected.
Status: Available Price: EURC/115,000
Telephone: 00351-981888988 Location: Mollina Malaga Province Spain
Apartment furnished for sale at an unbelievable price. The apartment is part of a small complex with swimming pool and a public resting-room with TV, relaxing area, changing areas, etc. The apartment is on the market fully furnished, air conditioning, with good environment to all divisions of the apartment. If you are thinking _ the rental market while the property is empty during the year, this property could be your best bet at the best possible price.
Number of Bedrooms: 2
Status: Available Price: EURC/147,000
Telephone: 00331-961777017 Location: Sao Leiria Portugal
Nice villa for sale. The villa has 4 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms. Beach at walking distance. Outside there is a swimming pool. The villa is just outside inland coast in a small villa of 20 houses.
Status: Available Price: EURC/340,000
Telephone: 04811-961999018 Location: Inland Costal Area | high11885.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "wine tasting in a bar"
},
"options": [
"backpacking across a country",
"wine tasting in a bar",
"hiking to some mountains",
"white water rafting"
],
"question": "For a quiet traveler, he is most likely to choose... | You want to have fun and adventure and so you decide to travel somewhere to do it. Sounds like a simple enough thing. And basically it is. But what is adventure? That is the key here and the answer can be different for different people.
For those who love sports, adventure travel can have a whole different meaning than for those who like history. The physical travel types that you can find include such adventure travel as white water rafting , kayaking or climbing and hiking to some mountains somewhere. To the hiker, backpacking across Ireland might be their adventure. For this type of person, adventure travel almost always includes something physical. Often the goal is to push their body's limits and test their individual endurance .
For those who less want to climb mountains, adventure travel might mean traveling to Nepal and taking in the local festivals. Wine tasting in Italy is also vacation adventure for the more relaxed traveler who enjoys peace and comfort. Anything that is opposite to the normal scope of the traveler's lifestyle defines adventure.
Adventure travel is not necessarily a one-size-fits-all type of vacation. Adventure depends on the person's physical limits, how much money the person has and what the person enjoys doing. Going _ the normal is adventurous for many. If your life is quite busy, then sitting on a beach in the moonlight with your family might be adventure for you. The point is not what you do but that you have a good time and that it is an adventure for YOU -- not for the person next to you.
Do not sit home this year when vacation time rolls around. Go beyond your normal routine and try something new. If you usually spend your vacation sun-bathing on a beach, try hiking, instead, through the mountains. Look around you, think beyond your comfort zone and head out on an adventure vacation. | high2004.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Four."
},
"options": [
"Three.",
"Four.",
"Five.",
"Six."
],
"question": "How many children did Tom Hanks' parents have when their marriage ended?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
}
] | Tom Hanks has one of the most successful and extensive careers in Hollywood. He has acted in television shows and movies, and done voice work for animated films. He's also a movie director, producer and writer. He won the Academy Award for best actor in back to back years. Spencer Tracy is the only other actor to have done that.
Tom Hanks was born in California in1956. His father and mother ended their marriage when he was five. Tom and his two older siblings lived with their father. The youngest child stayed with his mother.
He once told a reporter that he had had three mothers, four fathers, five schools and ten houses while growing up. The movie star said he thinks the many changes helped him develop a sense of independence.
Tom Hanks started acting in high school. He took drama classes in college but left before completing his studies. He said he could not get parts in college plays so he left for New York to follow his professional dream.
His first major parts were on television. He won a lead role in the situation comedy Bosom Buddies in 1979. But he became a star with the movieSplash in 1984. More success came four years later with his starring part in the hit movieBig. He played a 13-year-old boy who wakes up one day in a grown man's body.
Tom Hanks mainly worked in comedies in the early years of his career. His starring part in the 1993 movie Philadelphia changed his image. He was honored with his first Best Actor Oscar for his work inPhiladelphia.
His interest in the experiences of World War Two soldiers led him to his involvement in the TV series Band of Brothers. He was also named an honorary member of the US Army Rangers as a result. He also produced the 13-part series From the Earth to the Moonbecause of his support for human space travel. He is a member of the National Space Society. | high21946.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "is popular with children all the time."
},
"options": [
"is popular with children all the time.",
"is too old for children to read",
"is a poorly organized story",
"is too stupid to be believed."
],
"question": ... | The brothers Grimm , Jacob and Wihelm are synonymous with fairytales. The stories they gathered have been read by millions of children in all countries over the last two hundred years. It's difficult to think that any children could not be attracted by a tale like Red Riding Hood ,which never seems to grow old.
This year, Dec20 marked the 200thanniversary of publication of the tales. The Brimms collected the stories and gave them to the world because they wanted to show what German culture was about. In their time, Germany was not yet a nation; it was a collection of little states. Like many patriotic intellectuals ,they thought they could help people in German territories to understand their own traditions.
Quite a few adult were shocked by brothers Grimm's work. They wrote about a wolf who eats a little girl's grandmother and an awful old woman who wants to put Hansel and Gretel in a stove. In fact, the original Grimm fairy tales are often far more unpleasant, and more adult in theme .There is a lot of cruelty too. In the wedding scene of Snow White ,the stepmother dances in red-hot iron shoes that kills her.
However, other people came along and made these stories more "suitable" for children. The modern children's writer Philip Pullman recently published a book of his versions of some Grimm tales. He points out that the Grimms themselves changed the stories, but for the better. They knew how to hold the attention of readers. "A Grimm tale," he says, "moves with a dreamlike speed from event to event, pausing only to say as much as is needed and no more." So, when we read a story from Grimms' collection, we're getting something from old Germany, but our enjoyment is also thanks to the brothers' great storytelling skills. | high10543.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "they couldn't bear the smell from the old man's house"
},
"options": [
"the old man kept begging money from them every day",
"there was something dangerous in the old man's house",
"the old man wouldn't buy tickets for the tr... | Adults usually do not remember most of the things that are taught by their teachers at school. But this story is one such lesson that I will never forget. Every time I drift off course, I think of this story.
It was a normal Monday morning, and my teacher was teaching us on important things in life and about devoting ourselves to what is important to us. This is how the story went:
An old man lived in a certain part of London, and he would wake up every morning and go to the subway. He would get onto the train right to Central London, and then sit at the street corner and beg. He would do this every single day of his life. He sat at the same street corner and begged for almost 20 years.
His house was dirty, and a stench came out of the house and it smelled terrible. The neighbors could not stand the smell any more, so they called for the police officers to clear the place. The officers knocked down the door and cleaned the house. There were small bags of money all over the house that he had collected over the years.
The police counted the money, and they soon realized that the old man was a millionaire . They waited outside his house expecting to share the good news with him. When the old man arrived home that evening, one of the officers told him that there was no need for him to beg any more as he was a rich man now, a millionaire.
But the old man said nothing at all; he went into his house and locked the door. The next morning he woke up as usual, went to the subway, sat at the street corner and continued to beg.
Clearly, this old man had no great plans, dreams or anything significant for his life. We learn nothing from this story other than staying focused on the things we enjoy doing. | high2762.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "American shows are very popular in China"
},
"options": [
"China has been open to America",
"American movie industry develops well",
"American shows are very popular in China",
"Chinese enjoy talking about American show... | Nowadays, Chinese love to consume TV shows, particularly American TV shows. Some shows have become especially popular for certain reasons. When you meet Chinese people, try to mention these shows to strike up a conversation with them, as it is likely that they are fans of these shows.
1. The Big Bang Theory
Talk to any young Chinese person, and chances are that they are crazy about the lives of Sheldon, Raj, Howard, and Leonard. Many viewers describe themselves as in love with Sheldon, and they appreciate the science jokes and content on the show. People admire the young geniuses on the show and the large amount of funny jokes, but also recognizes the show's message that being smart isn't everything in life. The university lifestyle _ on the show and the friendships and witty arguments between the main characters are especially attractive to Chinese audiences.
2. House of Cards
China is ridding itself of corruption today. It's no surprise, then, that a thrilling and brilliant drama about political corruption currently catches on in China. China is the top country where the show is being wildly pirated on Chinese websites. The Chinese government has also featured prominently on the show. Even high-ranking Chinese political officials have been known to watch religiously this show and keep up with the exploits of Frank Underwood. Some Chinese politicians consider Underwood as a role model, fans create special videos to honor the show, and many viewers like to learn about American politics and society from the show, even though what they learn from the show may not be totally accurate. It's interesting to wonder what a Chinese version of this show would be like.
3. Gossip Girl
China has become much wealthier in the last several decades, and people across the world always like to observe rich people's lives and imagine themselves being rich as well. Like the Chinese movie series Tiny Times, Gossip Girl rose to fame in China because Chinese viewers enjoyed watching the lives of rich Westerners and living wealthily through the characters. Many Chinese fans also admired the romance between Chuck and Blair, and strongly supported them getting married. The show is full of passionate love affairs, pleasant young people, and brilliant drama that fascinated Chinese audiences.
4. Two Broke Girls
Many young Chinese viewers like following the struggles of Max and Caroline as they attempt to earn money and build their own cupcake business. This show has become extremely popular in China and is frequently downloaded online. One reason why this sitcom has been successful in China is that for many Chinese who are young like Max and Caroline, they must deal with the same problems in life. Finding work and earning enough money to join the middle class is difficult for many Chinese people today. The Chinese TV show WoJu shows a family working to save money for an apartment and dealing with many situations caused by poverty, wealth, and greed. Young Chinese work extremely hard to earn enough money to buy cars, homes, and find someone to marry, and they can easily sympathize with characters living in poverty and working towards similar goals. | high10225.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "keep the oil industry to something near its present size"
},
"options": [
"encourage the oil companies to discover new oil resources",
"prevent oil companies from employing more people from southern Norway",
"help the oil com... | The Norwegian government is doing its best to keep the oil industry under control. A new law limits exploration to an area south of the southern end of the long coastline; production limits have been laid down(though these have already been raised) ; and oil companies have not been allowed to employ more than a limited number of foreign workers. But the oil industry has a way of getting over such problems, and few people believe that the government will be able to hold things back for long.
Ever since the war, the government has been carrying out a program of development in the area north of the Arctic Circle. For the past few years this program has had a great deal of success: Torso has been built up into a local capital with a university, a large hospital and a healthy industry. But the oil industry has already started to draw people south, and within a few years the whole northern city could be in ruins.
The effects of the oil industry would not be limited to the north, however. With nearly 100 per cent employment, everyone can see a situation developing in which the service industries and the tourist industry will lose more of their workers to the oil industry. Some smaller industries might even disappear altogether when it becomes cheaper to buy goods from abroad.
The real argument over the oil industry is its effects on the Norwegian way of life. Farmers and fishermen do not make up most of the population, but they are an important part of it because Norwegians see in them many of the qualities that they regard with pride as real Norwegians. And it is the farmers and the fishermen who are most against the oil industry because of the damage that it might cause to the sea and to the countryside and to the whole country.
One Norwegian politician said last week, "We will soon be changed beyond all recognition." | high18679.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Another swan should be bought in place of the dead one."
},
"options": [
"Another swan should be bought in place of the dead one.",
"The other was bound to die since swans mate for life.",
"Grandma would be in deep sorrow ove... | The end of my sophomore year was approaching.Mom called me at the dorm one evening during the last week of May.My summer break would be spent with grandma and grandpa, helping out around their farm.The arrangement made good sense to all the family.I wasn't fully convinced of that myself but guessed it was just one summer.Next year would be my little brother's turn.
I arrived late that afternoon.Grandma had fixed more food than the three of us could possibly eat.She loved me entirely too much.The next morning, Grandpa fixed breakfast for the two of us. He told me Grandma had tired herself out yesterday and was going to rest in bed a little longer.I made a mental note to myself to not ask her to do things for me while I was there.I was there to help, not be a burden.
Weeks passed.I gradually settled into a routine of daily work with Grandpa.In the evenings I usually read or talked with Grandma.She never grew tired of hearing about college or anything I was involved in.She told me stories about her childhood, family and the early years after she and Grandpa had married.
The last Saturday in June, Grandpa suggested going fishing.We hadn't expected what we saw when we got to the pond that morning: One of the swans was dead.Grandpa had given the pair of swans to Grandma on their 50th anniversary."Why don't we see about buying another one," I suggested, hoping the situation could somehow be righted.Grandpa thought for a few moments before answering.
He finally said, "no...it's not that easy, Bruce.You see, swans mate for life." He raised his finger to point, holding the fishing pole in his other hand."There's nothing we can do for the one that's left.He has to work it out for himself."
A few days later, we drove by the pond while doing our morning check on the cows.We found the other swan lying near the same spot we had found the first one.It, too, was dead.
The month of July started with me and Grandpa putting up a new stretch of fence.Then July 12 came.That was the day Grandma passed away.Grandma had died suddenly that morning of a stroke.By the afternoon, my parents were there.The old house was soon crowded with s and Grandpa's friends.
The funeral was held the next day.Grandpa had insisted on having it as soon as possible.On the second day after the funeral, Grandpa announced at the breakfast table, "This is a working farm. We have a lot of things to do.The rest of you should get back to your own lives." Most of the family had already left, but this was Grandpa's way of telling the rest it was time for them to go home.My parents were the last to leave after lunch.
Grandpa was not a man who could outwardly express his grief around others, and we all worried about him.The rest of the summer flowed by.We stayed busy working.I thought there was something different about Grandpa but couldn't quite put my finger on it.
September was nearing, and part of me did not want to leave.I thought of skipping the fall semester and staying around a few more months.When I mentioned it, grandpa quickly told me that my place was back at college.
The day finally came for me to pack my car and leave. I shock his hand and chanced a hug. As I drove down the driveway, I saw him in the rear view mirror.He waved to me and then walked to the pasture gate to start the morning livestock check.
Mom called me at school on a stormy October day to tell me Grandpa had died.A neighbor had stopped by that morning for coffee and found him in the kitchen.He died of a stroke, the same as Grandma.At that moment, I understood what he'd clumsily tried to explain to me about the swan on that morning we fished together by the pond. | high16654.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "to collect information secretly for the US"
},
"options": [
"to assist the governor of one state",
"to collect information secretly for the US",
"to organize overseas promotion campaign",
"to educate intelligence employ... | Edward Snowden--the fugitive former U.S.intelligence employee --appears to be stuck in Moscow, unable to leave without a valid American passport, according to interviews Sunday with two men who had sought to aid him: WikiLeaks' Julian Assange and Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa.
Snowden, 30, arrived at Moscow's Sheremetyevo International Airport last weekend, after previously taking refuge in Hong Kong. Moscow was only supposed to be a stopover.WikiLeaks, the anti-secrecy organization, had said Snowden was headed on to Ecuador--whose president has been critical of the United States -- and that he would seek _ there.
Now, however, both men said Snowden is unable to leave.
"The United States, by canceling his passport, has left him for the moment trapped in Russia," said Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, on ABC ' s " This Week With George Stephanopoulos". The United States canceled Snowden' s passport last weekend. Assange criticized the United States, saying: " To take a passport from a young man in a difficult situation like that is a disgusting action."
President Correa spoke to the Associated Press in Puerto Viejo, Ecuador. For now, he told the AP, Snowden was "under the care of the Russian authorities. "
"This is the decision of Russian authorities. He doesn't have a passport. I don't know the Russian laws, I don' t know if he can leave the airport, but I understand that he can' t," Correa said. He said that the case was now out of Ecuador' s hands. "If Snowden arrives at an Ecuadoran Embassy, we' 11 analyze his request for asylum."
Snowden traveled from Hong Kong to Moscow on his U.S.passport. Although the U.S.had already revoked it, Hong Kong authorities said they hadn't received the official request to cancel the passport before Snowden left.
An official at the Ecuadoran Embassy in London had also issued a letter of safe passage for Snowden. But Snowden apparently did not use it for his trip to Moscow.
And it doesn't appear that the Ecuadoran government would make a similar gesture again.
On Sunday, Correa told the AP that an Ecuadoran official at that embassy had committed "a serious error" by issuing the first letter without consulting officials back home. Correa said the consul would be punished, although he didn't specify how.
Correa' s tone seemed to have shifted after a conversation with Vice President Biden on Friday.Where Correa had earlier been aggressive and determined, he now voiced respect for U.S.legal procedures. | high4313.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Scotland."
},
"options": [
"Scotland.",
"Wales.",
"Yorkshire and the Humber.",
"East and West Midlands."
],
"question": "In which area do people spend the most time cleaning their home each week?",
"question... | Britons spend as much as nearly five hours a week keeping their homes clean, a survey found. Kitchens are cleaned most often, while doing the oven and windows are the least popular jobs. In total, they spend just over PS1 billion a year on products to keep the dirt at bay -- almost PS40 per household. Market analyst Mintel found a clear division of labour.
While the average Briton spends 4 hours, 40 minutes cleaning their home each week, men spend just 3 hours, 53 minutes compared to 5 hours, 25 minutes for women.
And while seven in ten women say they do most of the cleaning, this falls to four in ten for men. Confirming many parents' feelings, only one in five adult children and over living at their parents' home helps with cleaning chores, with children under 18 doing even less.
Last year, the household cleaning market was worth PS1.06 billion, which equates to annual spending of PS39.89 per household.
Those looking for the cleanest homes in the country should head to Scotland, where people spend an average of five fours, 6 minutes, which is closely followed by East and West Midlands at five hours, 1 minute.
In comparison, the least number of hours spent in cleaning is spent in the southeast/East Anglia at four hours, 18 minutes.
The southwest and Wales stand at four hours, 46 minutes, the northwest four hours, 44 minutes, and Yorkshire and the Humber four hours, 21 minutes.
According to Richard Caines, Mintel's senior household care analyst, men still lag women in the household cleaning stakes and spend on average an hour and a half less time cleaning their home, suggesting an opportunity for a campaign to encourage more cleaning by men to helpredressthis imbalance.
The number of households that need cleaning is continuing to grow, but pressure on time from increasingly busy lives limits the number of hours people are willing or able to spend cleaning their homes.
This means the market will see an increasing focus on easy-to-use, but effective hard surface cleaners and cleaning equipment.
Such products can help encourage more cleaning to be done in less time, but as well as focusing on more convenient products, cleaning brands can also inject an element of fun into campaigns through encouraging a more shared approach that involves the whole family. This will also help to address the gender imbalance and get older children to make more of a contribution to cleaning. | high19567.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "First insects are cloned"
},
"options": [
"The importance of clone",
"First insects are cloned",
"The disagreement in clone",
"The advantages of clone"
],
"question": "The best title of this passage probably is ... | As if there weren't enough of them in the world already, scientists have succeeded in cloning flies. The alike fruit flies are the first insects ever cloned, says the Canadian team that created them. The question everyone asks is why anyone would want to clone flies in the first place. She hopes that the insects , which are very easy to experiment with , will help to adjust the cloning process in other animals and even in humans, where the technique is being researched to aid production of therapeutic stem cells.
In cloning, the DNA-containing nucleus of an adult cell is injected into an egg whose own nucleus has been removed. At the moment, the majority of cloned mice, sheep and other animals die before birth. It is thought this is because the adult DNA is not properly 'reprogrammed'.
Using flies, researchers might discover genes that are important for this reprogramming, and that have matches in other animals. That is because it is relatively easy in flies to knock out the function of a single gene and then attempt cloning with these cells, which will test whether that gene is important. If such genes are confirmed, then in theory cloned mammalian embryos might be grown in selected solutions that change the activity of those genes to improve the technique's success rate. Although some groups have attempted to clone insects before, Lloyd says this is the first time it has been successful. The team used a slight difference on the standard cloning process: they transferred nuclei taken from embryos rather than fully-grown adult cells. They sucked several nuclei (pl)out of developing fly embryos, and injected them into a fertilized fly egg. From over 800 early attempts, they cloned five adult insects, the group reports in the journal Genetics. | high12432.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "China."
},
"options": [
"China.",
"England.",
"Ireland.",
"Japan."
],
"question": "According to the passage, in which country can the birthday children probably receive a gift of money?",
"question_type": nu... | The tradition of birthday parties started in Europe a long time ago. It was feared that evil spirits were particularly attracted to people on their birthdays. To protect them from harm, friends and family members would come to stay with the birthday person and bring good thoughts and wishes. Giving gifts brought even more good cheer to keep away from the evil spirits. This is how birthday parties began.
The following are some countries' birthday traditions:
Canada---Putting butter on the nose. In Atlantic Canada, the birthday child's nose is put butter on for good luck.
China---Noodles for lunch. The birthday child pays respect to his / her parents and receives a gift of money. Friends and relatives are invited to lunch and noodles are served to wish the birthday child a long life.
England---Money cakes. Certain symbolic objects are mixed into the birthday cake as it is being prepared. If your piece of cake has a coin in it, you will be rich.
Ireland---Birthday bump . The birthday child is lifted upside down and " bumped" on the floor for good luck.
Italy---Pulling ears. The child's ears are pulled as many times as how old he / she is turning.
Japan---New clothes. The birthday child wears new clothes to mark the occasion.
New Zealand---Birthday claps. After the candles are hit, the happy birthday song is sung loudly and often out of tune and then the birthday person receives a clap for each year he / she has been alive and then one for good luck.
The United States---Cake, candles and the birthday song. A cake is made, and candles are put on top based on how old the person is. | high8529.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "at the Admission Center"
},
"options": [
"in the Courtyard",
"in the State Apartments",
"at the Admission Center",
"at St George's Chapel"
],
"question": "A visitor can apply for a free audio tour _ .",
"q... | Welcome to Windsor Castle, the oldest and largest occupied castle in the world. Windsor is one of the official residences of the Queen, who sometimes stays here.
Audio tours
Free audio tours are available on leaving the Admission Centre at the start of your visit. There is a descriptive audio tour for blind and poor sighted visitors.
Guided tours
Visitors can explore the history of the Castle through a tour of the Precincts with an expert guide. Tours depart at regular intervals throughout the day from the Courtyard and finish at the entrance to the State Apartments.
Visitors with children
For those visiting with children, a special family tour and various activities are offered during school holidays and at weekends. Please note that, for safety reasons, pushchairs are not permitted in the State Apartments. However, baby carriers are available to borrow.
St George's Chapel
Visitors arriving at the Castle after 15:00 from March to October are advised to visit St George's Chapel first before it closes.
Shopping
Shops offer a wide range of souvenirs designed for the Royal Collection, including books, postcards, china, jewellery, and children's toys. Please ask at the Middle Ward shop about our home delivery service.
Refreshments
Bottled water can be purchased from the Courtyard and Middle Ward shops. From April to September ice cream is also available. Visitors wishing to leave the Castle for refreshments in the town may obtain reentry permits from the castle shops. Eating and drinking are not permitted in the State Apartments of St George's Chapel.
Photography and mobile phones
Non-commercial photography and filming are welcomed in the Castle. Photography, video recording and filming are not permitted inside the State Apartments of St George's Chapel. Mobile phones must be switched off inside the State Apartments and St George's Chapel in consideration of other visitors.
Security
As Windsor Castle is a _ , visitors and their belongings should get through airport-style security checks. For safety and security reasons a one-way system operates along the visitor route. | high927.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "She has already died."
},
"options": [
"She has already died.",
"She is ill in hospital.",
"The couple is divorced.",
"She lives in another city."
],
"question": "Why isn't the mother with her family?",
"que... | "Father, do you see Mother in your dreams?" the young girl asks. "You know sometimes I do."
"Mother comes to see me a lot, you know. We sit and talk." The father smiles. "How is your homework coming along?"
"Why do I have to study so hard?"
"It is what your mother would have wanted!"
She regrets speaking her mind. "I'm sorry, Father, I shouldn't have said that." She looks up and sees his eyes well up with tears.
"It's okay, love," he gets up and pours himself a drink. "I'll just sit outside for a while. You finish up your work, okay?"
"I'm sorry, Father; Mother did love you very much. She told me all the time."
"Homework, first, eh? Then we can chat about your mother."
He heads off outside and sits in his usual chair, looking around the courtyard. The whole area relaxes the mind and somehow soothes the soul.
"All finished, Father. May I get a drink and sit with you? I have some questions."
She comes with two drinks one for him and one for herself. He looks surprised. She never really liked him having a drink. Although he had cut back a lot from before he brought her here, it still seemed strange.
"Mother told me all about you. That is before she passed away. We would laugh together at your love stories."
He listens without uttering a single sound.
"Why didn't you come and take her away with you? She really wanted that. Did you know that?"
Her father looks at his daughter lovingly. "Circumstances were difficult back then. It was just the way things were. When it came time to..." He sighs. "To visit her it was too late."
The girl smiles. "I hope I will have the same kind of love you and mother had."
"Without all the heartache," her father adds.
"She always knew you loved her. She told me every day," the child mentions cheerfully. "I saw her crying sometimes when she read your letters."
"Did she make you promise to look after me?" She inquires.
"She asked me to take care of you."
"You promised her, didn't you?"
"Yes, I did."
"It is nice out here, isn't it? Mother would have been very happy here."
She talks with some authority. Her father remains silent. A smile comes to his weary brow. He nods his head.
"Mother wanted me to give you something. I think now the time is right." She runs to her room. Upon returning she hands her father a book. "It's mother's diary! She wanted me to give it to you."
He takes the book and holds it in his trembling hands, "Thank you."
"Mother said you would understand things better."
"Wise woman, your mother."
He places the book on the table as he gets up. The girl gets up and wraps herself around her father.
"I love you." she looks up at his face.
He picks her up and hugs her. "I love you, too." His voice trembles.
"It's okay, Father. We have each other now and mother is in both of us."
He kisses her head.
"Time you went to bed," her father softly says.
He puts her down and she scampers off to get washed and ready for bed.
Clearing up everything he checks on his daughter. She is in bed waiting for her good night kiss. He tucks her in and bids her goodnight.
Just as he is to leave she tells him. "Mother told me she adopted me when I was a baby."
He stands at her bedroom door. Words fail him. Yes, he knew she was adopted.
"I am really lucky for being loved by my parents, even if I am not really theirs."
" _ ?" he tells her.
She giggles, "Goodnight, Father. I love you."
"Love you, too."
His face lights up as he wipes his dampened eyes.
The door closes and the child falls asleep dreaming of her mother.
Sitting outside he picks up the diary and opens it and reads the first line: "I love you, my dearest, if only things could have been different..." | high6504.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "At the seaside."
},
"options": [
"Near a lake.",
"In a village.",
"At the seaside.",
"In a mountain."
],
"question": "Where did the author spend her vacation?",
"question_type": null
},
{
"answer": {... | Our room was on the second floor but you could still hear the roar of the ocean and see the stars at night. I used to take long walks along the water. The food in town was wonderful and the people were very friendly. The area was very quiet and peaceful, and fairly deserted.
The last evening of our vacation, however, we all heard strange footsteps following closely behind us as we were walking up to our room in the holiday centre. We turned around and noticed a fairly young man moving very rapidly across the beach and getting closer to us. He was tall and wore a baseball cap. We didn't have any cell phones on us. I never saw Dad as worried as he was then and knew that something was terribly wrong. The sense of fear started to _ Mom and me. We had had such a good time in town. Now, the night was rapidly turning into a dangerous situation.
We could hear the man's footsteps getting closer. Dad's face was almost pale. The so-called intruder had moved nearer and nearer when all of a sudden, the nearby vending machine started going crazy and spitting out cans of soda! The noise actually scared the intruder and he ran out of sight. My parents were shaking, but we all turned around to see who had put money into the vending machine downstairs, and actually saved us, but no one was around at all.Not a soul.
It's one vacation I will never forget. | high14043.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Four"
},
"options": [
"Two",
"Four",
"Seven",
"Eleven"
],
"question": "How many exact athletes are mentioned in the text?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index":... | A beer bottle thrown from the stands landed near Usain Bolt in the moments before the 100-meter final Sunday night in London.
As Bolt and seven other competitors ducked into their starting crouches, a bottle sailed from the first row of the stands at Olympic Stadium.
It harmlessly bounced in the lane belonging to Yohan Blake and didn't appear to cause a distraction to the runners, who started a moment later. The thrower's lack of distance was a blessing. Had he gathered tips from the competitors of the hammer throw competition, which was taking place in the infield at the same time as the 100 final, the bottle could have hit one of the competitors. It ended up landing a few feet from Blake (lane5).
Edith Bosch, a female Dutch judoka who won a bronze medal earlier during the Olympics, claimed that the man who threw the bottle was sitting near her and that she "beat" him. Whether that's true or the hyperbole of an aggravated athlete was unclear in the minutes after the incident. Pictures show a group of Dutch athletes sitting behind the starting area.
Police took the man into custody . He will appear in court on Monday morning.
Neither Bolt nor Blake said they knew of the incident until they were informed by reporters. "I don't know who would have done that," Bolt said.
Gatlin was aware of it but implied it was only a slight distraction. "I didn't know what it was," he said, according to the BBC, "but when you're in those blocks, the whole stadium is so quiet that you can hear a pin drop." | high9637.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "train dentists to be able to share patients' feelings"
},
"options": [
"aid dental trainees to focus on their medical techniques",
"train dentists to be able to share patients' feelings",
"help patients relax during dental su... | The days of a pain-free visit to the dentist may not be far off. This is thanks to a little Japanese woman in a pink sweater, named Simroid. With a limited vocabulary, Simroid, the 160cm-tall robot is happy to feel your pain.
Simroid is designed to be used at medical colleges. She has realistic looking skin, eyes, and a mouth fitted with replica teeth. Her chest also rises and falls as if she is breathing. Simroid releases a clear "ouch!" whenever a trainee dentist presses her teeth too hard with a tool. And she gives a reassuring "that's better" when the drill hits the right place.
"We want to use the robots to train dentists to worry about whether patients are comfortable, and not just focus on medical techniques," said Naotake Shubui, a professor at Nippon Dental University inprefix = st1 /Japanwho helped develop Simroid.
The robot was one of hundreds of cutting-edge devices on display at the world's biggest robot exhibition last week inJapan.
As scientists improve the design of robots, they could soon be serving tea to office workers or directing shoppers. Today's robots look and act much like the humans who invented them.
InJapan, robots can already be found working as home helps, office receptionists and security guards, as well as on the factory floor. There were more than 370,000 industrial robots in use inJapanin 2005, according to a report by Macquarie bank,40 percent of the world total, with 32 robots for every 1,000 workers. The economy ministry believes that the Japanese robot market will be worth more than $52 billion by 2025.
Human work is being helped, and even replaced, by mechanical efficiency in almost every area, from golf-bag carriers to public toilet cleaners.
But many scientists believe the age of the service robot is not far off. It will arrive once machines are capable of connecting with humans on an emotional level. Judging by theTokyoexhibition, _ has already begun. | high24180.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "They would be close friends again."
},
"options": [
"They would be close friends again.",
"They would not speak to each other.",
"They would lose touch with each other.",
"They would go on fighting with each other."
... | "Hey, Jenna, do you think we'll still be friends when we're eighty-two?" I asked my friend.It was clear that she was wondering where I had come up with such a question.Losing Jenna would be like losing a very close sister.We hung out together.We gave each other advice.
"Of course, we'll still be friends when we're eighty-two." Jenna announced loudly.
The next year, in the fourth grade, we met Jamie.The three of us soon became close friends.We played together almost every day.I thought even time couldn't pull us apart, but I was sadly mistaken.
The three of us started fighting a lot.Before Christmas, we had a really big fight, and Jamie and Jenna were against me, both saying _ .I felt helpless and lonely.I thought Christmas would be horrible!
I was surprised when Jenna came to my house and gave me an awesome Christmas card she had made for me.I was so sure that she was still disappointed with me.
"Wow, " I said, breaking the silence as we stood on either side of my front door."Thanks."
"Okay...well...I have to go," she said softly.
"Okay.See you later then..." and I closed the door.
"Who was that at the door?" my mum asked.
The card started off with "Merry Christmas", but then it said, "I am so glad we're friends.I am sorry about what I said when we were fighting.A fight won't stop us from being friends.Besides, we said we were going to be friends even when we're eight-two."
I stopped reading and started laughing.I couldn't believe I had forgotten what she said that day in her backyard.I couldn't believe I had been so selfish in making my friends feel sorry for me that I had forgotten about real friendship. | high5025.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "came into being as early as the 18th century"
},
"options": [
"has played an important part in American history",
"came into being as early as the 18th century",
"is a magazine published every month",
"holds the contest... | The Saturday Evening Post 2015 Great American Fiction Contest is underway!
In its nearly three centuries of existence, The Saturday Evening Post , a bimonthly magazine, has published short fiction by a who's who of American authors including F.Scott Fitzgerald, William Faulkner, Anne Tyler, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.Ray Bradbury, Louis L'Amour, Sinclair Lewis, Jack London, and Edgar Allan Poe. You have the opportunity to join our excellent line - up by entering The Saturday Evening Post's Third Annual Create American Fiction Contest.
The winning story will be published in the Jan/Feb 2015 edition of The Saturday Evening Post, and the author will receive a $ 500 payment.Five runners - up will each receive a $ 100 cash payment and will also have their stories published online.
Submission Guidelines
* Stories must be between l,500 and 5,000 words in length.
* All stories must be submitted by the author, and previously unpublished(not including personal websites and blogs).
* No extreme profanity or graphic sex scenes.
* All stories must be submitted online in Microsoft Word format with the author's name, address, telephone number, and email address on the first page.
*Entries should be character or plot - driven pieces in any genre of fiction.
*Think local.The Post has historically played a role in defining what it means to be an American.Your story should in some way touch upon the publication' s mission: Celebrating; America, past, present, and future.
* There is a $ 10 entry fee, which helps cover a portion of the cost of operating the contest.
* All entries must be received electronically by July l, 2014.
Click here to view the winners of the 2014 Great American Fiction Contest
Click here to view the winners of the 2013 Great American Fiction Contest | high18651.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "the economic benefit it will bring about"
},
"options": [
"its convenience",
"the degree's nation-wide recognition",
"the economic benefit it will bring about",
"the lowest tuition price people will pay"
],
"que... | Have you ever wondered what a Degree might be worth to you in your job or career? It means a lot of Americans with an Associate Degree average nearly $10,000 more in yearly earnings than those with just a High School Diploma
Harcourt Learning Direct offers you a way to get a Specialized Associate Degree in 11 of today's growing fields-without having to go to college full time. With Harcourt, you study at home, in your spare time - so you don't have to give up your present job while you train for a better one , Choose from exciting majors like Business Management ,Accounting , Dressmaking &Design, Book keeping, Photography, Computer Science, Engincering, and more!
Your training includes everything you need!
Books ,lessons, learning aids-even professional-quality tools and equipment-everything you need to master your training and more ahead to a new career is included in the low tuition price you pay
Your education is nationally recognized!
Nearly 2,000 American companies -including General Electric, IBM. Mobile.,General Motores, Ford, and many others-have used our training for their employees, If companies like these recognize the value of our training, you can be sure that employees in your area will, too!
Earn your degree in as little as two years!Get a career diploma in just six months,
The career of your dreams is closer than you think! Even if you have to experience before, you can get valuable job skills in today's hottest fields! Step-by-step lessons make learning easy, Prepare for promotions, pay raises, even start a business of your own!
Send today for FREE information about Harcourt at home training!
Simply fill in your name and address on the coupon above , Then, write in the name and number of the one program you're most interested in ,and mail it today,. We'll rush your free information about how you can take advantage of the opportunities in the field you've chosen, Act today!
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Or call the number below
1-800-372-1589 Call any time , 24 hours a day, 7days a week
www.Harcourt-learning.com
E-mail:Haroutt@learning.com | high17562.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "wiper arm problem"
},
"options": [
"seat belt flaws",
"wiper arm problem",
"gearbox defect",
"engine power failure"
],
"question": "According to the passage, Lexus IS cars were found to have _ .",
"questio... | BEIJING, March, 17th --The Japanese automaker Toyota will _ some 4,400 units of FJ Cruiser cars in China over seat belt flaws, China's consumer quality watchdog said Saturday.
The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) said on its website that Toyota China will recall these imported cars produced between December 2007 and March 2013.
Toyota is busy working on the solution to the flaw and will release improvement methods before April 15, according to the administration.
This marks Toyota's second recalling this year after the auto giant announced in January that it would recall 22,869 units of Lexus IS cars in China due to wiper arm problem.
China's private auto ownership reached 93.09 million units by the end of 2012, up 18.3 percent compared with the year before. Along with the fast expanding auto market, Chinese drivers grow more concerned about the quality of their cars.
Also on Saturday, the AQSIQ said in a statement on its website that its research has basically confirmed the German automaker Volkswagen's direct shift gearbox (DSG) transmission has defects which may cause engine power failures and urged Volkswagen to recall defective cars after China Central Television (CCTV) exposed Volkswagen's gearbox defect on Friday.
To better protect the interests of Chinese consumers, the AQSIQ announced late last year that it would formulate a guideline to regulate a recall system for faulty cars. | high2992.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "others"
},
"options": [
"himself",
"others",
"old men",
"Americans"
],
"question": "Mark Twain liked to play jokes on _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index":... | Mark Twain, the famous American writer, liked to play jokes on others. But once a joke was played on him. One day Mark Twain was invited to give a talk in a small town. At lunch he met a young man, one of his friends. The young man said that he has an uncle with him. He told Twain that his uncle never laughed or smiled, and that nobody and nothing was able to make his uncle smile or laugh. "You bring your uncle to my talk tonight," said Mark Twain. "I'm sure I can make him laugh" That evening the young man and his uncle sat in the front. Mark Twain began to speak. He told several funny stories. This made everyone in the room laugh. But the man never even smiled. Mark Twain told more funny stories, but the old man still kept quiet. Mark Twain told his funny stories. Finally he stopped. He was tired and quite disappointed. Some days later, Mark Twain told another friend of his about what had happened. "Oh," said his friend. "I know that old man. He's been deaf for years." | high18889.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "what homeschooling is and how it works"
},
"options": [
"every kid should be taught at home",
"what homeschooling is and how it works",
"the advantages and disadvantages of homeschooling",
"homeschooled kids should go o... | When you learn reading, nlath, and other subjects taught in school from your parents or teaehers who come to your house, it's called homeschooling. A kid may be the only one, or he may be taught with brothers, sisters, or kids from the neighborhood.
Parents choose to homeschool their children for many different reasons. Sometimes a kid is sick and can't go to regular school. But more often, kids are homeschooled beeause their parents feel they can give their children a better education than the local school can. Patents also may choose homeschooling because they want their children's education to include religious instruction, which isn't offered at puhlie schools.
If you don't like school, homeschooling might seem like the perfect solution. But it's better for everyone if homeschooling isn't chosen just as an escape from school or prohlems there. Finding solutions to the problem should be the first step.
Kids who are homeschooled may benefit from the one-on-one attention. For example, if you don't understand something in math, the whole class won't he moving on without you. You might be the whole class! It's also possible that you might learn more than you would in a regular classroom, because if you really good at something, you can keep learning more at your own pace.
Kids who are homeschooled also may get out in their communities more than other kids. They may get to experience hands-on education at museums, libraries, businesses and other community resources. They also might volunteer or take part in "service learning" where they take on local projects.
No matter where a child goes to school, the key to learning is listening to the teacher and asking for help when you need it. A homeschooled child might feel more comfortable with his teacher (a parent), but the child still needs to pay attention and cooperate. Just like in a traditional school, teachers and students need to work together to achieve goals in the classroom. | high3454.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "To ask us to appreciate every moment of our life"
},
"options": [
"To show his respect to his teacher",
"To ask us to appreciate every moment of our life",
"To ask us never to give in when facing difficulty",
"To show t... | I had a very special teacher in high school many years ago whose husband unexpectedly died of a heart attack. About a week after his death, she shared some of her views with a classroom of students.
As the sunlight came in through the classroom windows and the class was nearly over, she moved a few things aside on the edge of her desk and sat down there. She paused and said, "Before class is over, I would like to share with all of you a thought that is unrelated to class, but which I feel is important. Each of us comes to this world to learn, share, love, appreciate and give. None of us knows when this fantastic experience will end. It can be taken away at any moment."
Her eyes beginning to water, she went on:
"So I would like you all to make me a promise. From now on, on your way to school, or on your way home, find something beautiful to notice. It doesn't have to be something you see. It could be a _ of freshly baked bread from someone's house, or it could be the sound of the wind slightly rustling the leaves in the trees..."
The class was completely quiet. We all picked up our books and left the room silently. That afternoon, I noticed more things on my way home from school.
Take notice of something special you see on your way home today. Go barefoot on the beach at sunset. For as we get older, it is not the things we did that we often regret, but the things we didn't do. | high8501.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Black Canyon of Gunnison National Park"
},
"options": [
"Black Canyon of Gunnison National Park",
"Rocky Mountain National Park",
"Mesa Verde National Park",
"Great Sand Dunes National Park"
],
"question": "A pe... | The state of Colorado has four of the 58 national parks in the United States.These have been judged as the best places of all the national parks.
Black Canyon of Gunnison National Park
This park lies in western Colorado and offers the most impressive views from up in the mountains into the canyons below.While exploring the canyons,you will find that the walls drop nearly straight down into very narrow valleys with snake-like rivers below.Visitors are offered more than 100 camping sites,and a lot of bird species and many animals are native to the area.
Rocky Mountain National Park
It is the only national park in the north central region in the state of Colorado.Elevations in this park you will find are anywhere from 8,000 feet to 14,259 at the top of Longs Peak.While travelling throughout this park,you will find there are two very different climates because of the fact that the tops of the Rocky Mountains make a difference.With 359 miles of trails for hiking,there are a lot of places for camping,horseback riding and just enjoying the sights of nature.
Mesa Verde National Park
This is probably the most interesting of all the national parks,offering an extremely interesting trip back in time to 600 A.D.up to 1,300 A.D.This park was declared a protected national park in 1906 because of the cliff dwellings that were found throughout the park area,which was once home to American Indians.Visitors can actually walk through these dwellings,and they may imagine what each room may have been used for so many years ago.
Great Sand Dunes National Park
The Great Sand Dunes National Park lies in south central Colorado,about 127 miles from Pueblo.This park has the tallest sand dunes in all of North America,with trails for hiking.Natural sandy beaches there are good for people who want to swim around the small rivers and lakes. | high7632.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "he would get what he wanted without losing his self-respect"
},
"options": [
"he had found a good job",
"he would have something to eat",
"he would no longer suffer from the Depression",
"he would get what he wanted wit... | Work is a part of living --my grandparents understood that. They lived and worked on a farm that has been in my family for 150 years. They raised chickens for eggs , pigs and cattle for meat . Cows were kept for milk and the cream, from which Grandma made butter and cheese. What little yard they had became a garden.
The Depression, therefore, didn't make much change in their lives. But it did bring an unending flow of men out of work, drifting from job to job, to the farm. The first to show up at the door of the kitchen was a man in rags. He took off his hat and quietly explained that he hadn't eaten for a while. Grandpa stood watching him a bit , then said , "There's a stack of firewood against the fence behind the barn . I've been needing to get it moved to the other side of the fence . You have just about enough time to finish the job before lunch ."
Grandma said a surprising thing happened. The man got a shine in his eyes and he hurried to the barn at once. She set another place at the table and made an apple pie. During lunch, the stranger didn't say much, but when he left, his shoulders had straightened. "Nothing ruins a man like losing his self-respect," Grandpa later told me.
Soon after, another man showed up asking for a meal. This one was dressed in a suit and carried a small old suitcase. Grandpa came out when he heard voices. He looked at the man and then offered a handshake." There is a stack of firewood along the fence down behind the barn I've been meaning to get it moved. It'd sure be a help to me . And we'd be pleased to have you stay for lunch." The fellow set his suitcase aside and neatly laid his coat on top. Then he set off to work.
Grandma says she doesn't remember how many strangers they shared a meal with during those Depression days-or how many times that stack of wood got moved. | high1525.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Because it is very likely to fail."
},
"options": [
"Because it is very likely to fail.",
"Because it is too easy to realize.",
"Because it is not big enough as a goal.",
"Because it is not easier than losing weight."
... | During these past few days I have been reflecting a lot on everything that happened this past year and thinking of what I can do differently so that the coming year will be much better! Here I want to share some tips so you can also do your resolution and you can achieve them all!
*Be realistic: You should always try to reach for the skies with your goals, but things like "I want to win the lottery " or "I want to lose 80 pounds in 1 month" are things you shouldn't have on your list because they will only become frustrations.
*Be detailed: It's a lot easier to accomplish more specific plans than general ones. Instead of writing "I want to lose weight," put things like "I will start my Yes You Can! Diet Plan the first Monday of the year" or "I will start a movement routine 3 times a week for 35 minutes." When we put down concrete activities, we _ ourselves to them and it becomes a lot harder to come up with excuses.
*Think of alternatives: At the beginning of this past year, you put that you were going to start going to the gym as one of your annual plans. During the whole year you intended to take action but you always said that you couldn't because you came home so tired from work. If this is one of your plans for this year, you should write down how you're going to achieve it. For example, "I will start going to the gym in the mornings, before work." That way you prevent what stopped you from achieving your goal last year.
*Focus on goals which depend on YOU: It is very important that all of your plans are for YOU to accomplish, and it is important that you write them down that way. If one of your goals this coming year is to improve a relationship with one of your family members, make sure that you clearly put down what you are going to do for this to succeed. For example, "I will call my sister at least three times a week and I will visit her in the middle of the year."
Well, I hope that you use these tips so that this year you will accomplish everything you want, and make it the best year ever! Thank you for being with me during everything this past year, and I hope that you keep showing me all of this love and support during the next. Happy new year! | high13062.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Because their personalities are similar to ours."
},
"options": [
"Because they tend to like us.",
"Because opposites usually attract each other.",
"Because their personalities are similar to ours.",
"Because we often m... | We like people who look like us, because they tend to have personalities similar to our own. And, a new study suggests, the longer we are with someone, the more similarities in appearance grow.
Researchers set out to study why couples often tend to look like one another. They asked 11 male and 11 female participants to judge the age, attractiveness and personality of 160 real-life married couples. Photographs of husbands and wives were viewed separately, so the participants didn't know who was married to whom.
The test participants rated men and women who were actual couples as looking alike and having similar personalities. Also, the longer the couples had been together, the greater the similarities. The researchers guess that the sharing of experiences might affect how couples look.
The idea that there is a connection between appearance and personality might seem strange at first, but there could be biological reasons for a link, said study member Tony Little from the University of Liverpool in England.
"The face displays our emotions and over time, emotional expressions may become written in the face," Little told Live Science. For example, someone who smiles a lot may develop lines and muscles that are suggestive of someone who is happy.
Other studies have shown that partners who are genetically similar to each other tend to have happier marriages.
The new study indicates that people have different features when using facial appearance to make decisions about someone's personality, and that the particular cues focused on change from face to face. Vital to the decision, however, are eyes and smiles.
"Smiles are important social cues that may tell us whether or not someone is friendly, and eyes are also a traditional focus of attention," Little said.
Overall face shape can be important too. For example, the combination of large chins and strong brow ridges can create an impression of disagreeableness and being unwilling to cooperate, Little said. | high8267.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "It is taller, thinner but not wider."
},
"options": [
"It is taller, wider and thinner.",
"It is taller, wider and thicker.",
"It is taller, thinner but not wider.",
"It is shorter, wider and thinner."
],
"quest... | Expert Tricks on iPhone 5
We don't want to change your phone, we wanna make you say, wow, that is a bigger change than I expected. iPhone 5 in a result of that desire to surprise. It's been completely redesigned.
For the first time ever, we've increased the size of display by making the screen taller but not wider. You can see more of your content without the need to scroll. We are making scrolling the thing of the past. iPhone 5 is more comfortable to use and reduces scrolling tiredness when you are reading long documents.
Even with the larger display, iPhone 5 is the thinnest iPhone we ever built. To achieve the design this tall, we have to look at it and completely redesign the internal architecture. It's 18% thinner and 79.5% taller than the previous iPhone.
It makes everything you do on iPhone 5 feels easier and just move your arm away. No more hidden menus, no confusing gestures. Everything is right at your fingertips.
The panorama feature is simply awesome. The ultra-HD widescreen display let you get your entire shot in a single snap. You can also use your iPhone 5's innovative design for image stabilization.
With an iPhone this tall, reception has never been better. You enjoy crystal clear clarity on even the longest calls.
And of course, all your favorite applications are still available. In fact you will find your old favorites also benefit from the new handsome ultra-HD widescreen. We found while many previous iPhone owners were using Facetime, they only used it for the faces. That's why we are introducing Bodytime. Using iPhone 5's ultra-HD widescreen display, Bodytime let you see a person's entire body, allowing you to detect mannerisms and defects like never before.
We look way beyond what our thoughts expect, it took all of our learning, all of our thinking to realize something so simple, so clear, and yet so tall.
iPhone 5, the tallest thing to happen to iPhone since iPhone. | high7154.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "To find the direction of a current"
},
"options": [
"To determine the position of a ship",
"To carry message across the ocean",
"To predict the direction of a ship.",
"To find the direction of a current"
],
"que... | The most important use of drifting bottles is to find ocean currents. When the position and direction of currents are known, ships can use the forward movement of a current or stay away from currents that would carry them off their course. Benjamin Franklin was one of the first to use bottles in the study of currents. He wondered why British mall ships needed a week or two longer than U.S. ships needed in order to cross the Atlantic Ocean. Franklin thought the Gulf Stream might explain this difference.
Franklin talked with captains of U.S. ships. He found that they knew each turn of the Gulf Stream. They used the current in every possible way. From his talks with the captains. Franklin made his first map of the Gulf Stream. Then he checked his map by using sealed bottles. The map that he finally made is still used, with only a few changes, today. | high11675.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "he couldn't find a job in England"
},
"options": [
"he wanted to escape from war-torn France",
"he wanted to serve in the Canadian army",
"he couldn't find a job in England",
"he loved working as a farmhand"
],
... | At Blossom End Railroad Station, 22-year-old Stanley Vine sat, waiting for his new employer. The surrounding green fields were so unlike the muddy landscape of war-torn France. After four horrible years as an army private fighting in Europe, Stanley had returned to England in February 1946. Armed now with some savings and with no prospects for a job in England, he answered a newspaper ad for farm help in Canada. Two months later he was on his way.
When the old car rumbled toward the tiny station, Stanley rose to his feet, trying to make the most of his five foot and four inches frame. The farmer, Alphonse Lapine, shook his head and complained, "You're a skinny thing." On the way to his dairy farm, Alphonse explained that he had a wife and seven kids. "Money is tight. You'll get room and board. You'll get up at dawn for milking, and then help me around the farm until evening milking time again. Ten dollars a week. Sundays off." Stanley nodded. He had never been on a farm before, but he took the job.
From the beginning Stanley was treated horribly by the whole family. They made fun of the way he dressed and talked. He could do nothing right. The humourless farmer frequently lost his temper, criticizing Stanley for the slightest mistake. The oldest son, 13-year-old Armand, constantly played tricks on him. But the kind-hearted Stanley never responded.
Stanley never became part of the Lapine family. After work, they ignored him. He spend his nights alone in a tiny bedroom. However, each evening before retiring, he lovingly cared for the farmer's horses, eagerly awaiting him at the field gate. He called them his gentle giants. On Saturday nights he hitch-hiked into the nearest town and wandered the streets or enjoyed a restaurant meal before returning to the farm.
Early one November morning Alphonse Lapine discovered that Stanley had disappeared, after only six months as his farmhand. The railway station master, when questioned later that week, said he had not seen him. In fact no one in the community ever heard of him again. That is, until one evening, almost 20 years later, when Armand, opened an American sports magazine and came across a shocking headline, "Millionaire jockey , Stanley Vine, ex-British soldier and 5-time horse riding champion, began life in North America as a farmhand in Canada." | high3332.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "pathos"
},
"options": [
"ethos",
"pathos",
"logos",
"strengths"
],
"question": "When a speaker tries to move people to tears, the tool of persuasion used by him is _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
... | Persuasion is the art of convincing someone to agree with your point of view. According to the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle, there are three basic tools of persuasion: ethos, pathos, and logos.
Ethos is a speaker's way of convincing people that she is an honest source. For example, a speaker can develop ethos by explaining how much experience or education she has in the field. After all, you would be more likely to listen to advice about how to take care of your teeth from a dentist than a firefighter. A speaker can also create ethos by convincing people that she is a good person who has their best interests at heart.
Pathos is a speaker's way of connecting with a listener's emotions. For example, a speaker trying to convince people to vote for him might say that he alone can save the country from a terrible war. These words are intended to fill them with fear, thus making them want to vote for him. Similarly, a charity organization that helps animals might show pictures of injured dogs and cats, intended to fill the viewers with pity. If they feel bad for the animals, they will be more likely to donate money.
Logos is the use of facts, statistics, or other information to make your argument more convincing. An audience will be more likely to believe you if you have data to support your claims. For example, a commercial for soap might tell you that lab tests have shown that their soap kills all 7,000, 000 of the bacteria living on your hands right now. it is more convincing than simply saying "our soap is the best!" Use of logos can also increase a speaker's ethos.
Although ethos, pathos, and logos all have their strengths, they are often most effective when they are used together. The next time you listen to a speech, watch a commercial, or listen to a friend trying to convince you to lend him some money, be on the lookout for these ancient Greek tools of persuasion. | high19229.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "before the new term started"
},
"options": [
"when the school year ended",
"before the new term started",
"after kids were admitted to school",
"after kids were interviewed"
],
"question": "The letter was most p... | Dear All,
Happy New Year! A list of important dates for this term is attached to this letter.
Interviews for our April and September Primary One classes will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday,18th&19th January.Now is the time to apply for admission to Peak School.
Children are expected to wear their uniforms this term.As is usual at this time of the year,mornings at the school are quite cold and l would suggest children wear their sweaters to school.As the temperature goes up during the day,children tend to take off their outer clothes,so it is important that all sweatshirts are labeled .
I have received a few requests from parents asking if their children can wear summer uniforms this term.I am of the view that all children in the school should follow the school policy and be dressed in the appropriate uniforms.In the longer term,a number of US at school have questioned the need to have a winter and summer uniform.Perhaps.with careful consideration,we can develop a uniform that will serve children for the whole academic year.
As the foggy mornings start to appear,a number of parents have raised concerns over the safety of those children who walk to school. Our dark green uniforms are not particularly visible to motorists.Hopefully, the "Uniform Committee" to be set up this term will deal with this particular issue.I will keep parents informed of the channels through which views may be expressed in future newsletters.
We still have a "No Hat,No Play" rule on the playground,so children need to ensure that they have their sunhats in school at all times.
Yours sincerely,
P D Tunesi
Principal | high5743.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "he let me sit on his knee and told me stories."
},
"options": [
"he was a teacher.",
"he let me sit on his knee and told me stories.",
"he told me stories about how kind he was",
"he was the headmaster of a school"
... | My grandfather was a teacher. He was the headmaster of a school for boys between thirteen and eighteen. I know that he was a kind and gentle man at heart, because when I was young, he gave me presents, and seated me on his knee, and told me stories. But I believe the boys at his school were afraid of him.
At school, when he walked into a room full of noisy boys, there was silence at once. When he looked at a boy with a certain look in his eyes, the boy went red in the face, and looked down at his shoes. If a boy brought him poor, careless work that was not the best the boy could do, my grandfather would pick up the boy's book and throw it across the room, shouting, "Do it all again, and bring it back to me in the morning!" If the boy was late, or if he forgot to bring the work, he had to do it again, and again, and yet again. My grandfather never forgot.
He was a very different man at school from the man I saw day by day in his own home. | high18137.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "something has changed"
},
"options": [
"something has become better",
"something has become worse",
"something has become funny",
"something has changed"
],
"question": "According to the passage, \"progress\" me... | Everyone seems to be in favor of progress. But "progress" is a funny word. It doesn't necessarily mean that something has become stronger, wiser or better. It simply means changing it from being one thing to another and sometimes it turns out to be worse than before.
Consider medicine, for instance. No one can deny that medical progress has enriched our lives greatly. Because of medical advancements, we eat better, live easier and are able to take care of ourselves more efficiently. We can cure disease with no more than one injection or a pill. If we have a serious accident, doctors can put us back together again. If we are born with something defective , they can repair it. They can ease our pain, replace worn parts and give us children. They can even bring us back from death. These are wonderful achievements, but there is a price we have to pay.
Because medicine has reduced death, the population has been rising steadily, in spite of serious efforts to reduce the rate of population growth. A child born in the United States today has better than a 90% chance of survival . Furthermore, medical advances have ensured that most of those new-born children will live to be seventy years of age or more. The result of this progress is a great population increase that threatens the quality of life, brought about by progress in the medical profession . | high17204.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "On the average, a bigger brain means higher IQ."
},
"options": [
"MRI scans are applied to intelligence.",
"On the average, a bigger brain means higher IQ.",
"Dr McDaniel did well in his intelligence study.",
"Scientist... | People with bigger brains ftend to score higher on standardized tests of intelligence, according to new study findings.
However, the study author Dr Michael A.McDaniel of the Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond emphasized that these findings represent a general trend, and people with small heads should not automatically believe they are less intelligent. For instance, Albert Einstein's brain was "not particularly large", McDaniel noted. "There's some relationship between brain size and intelligence on the average, but there's plenty of room for exceptions," he said.
Interest in the relationship between brain size and intelligence grew in the1830s, when German anatomist Frederich Tiedmann wrote that he believed there was "an unquestionable connection between the size of the brain and the mental energy displayed by the individual man". Since that statement, scientists have conducted numerous studies to determine if Tiedmann's assertion was, in fact, correct. Most studies have looked into the link between head size and intelligence. More recently, however, researchers have published additional studies on brain size and intelligence, measured using MRI scan .
For his study, McDaniel analyzed more than 20 studies that looked into the relationship between brain size and intelligence in a total of 1,530 people. The studies showed that on the average, people with larger brain volume tended to be more intelligent. The relationship between brain volume and intelligence was stronger in women than men, and in adults than in children. McDaniel notes in the journal Intelligence.
McDaniel is not sure why the relationship was stronger for adults and women. "Other research has shown that women, on the average, tend to have smaller brains than men, but score just as well--if not higher--in tests of intelligence," he said.
McDaniel insisted that the relationship between brain size and intelligence is not a "perfect" one. "One can certainly find lots of examples of smaller-sized people who are highly intelligent," he said, "But, on the average, the relationship holds." | high11661.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "with regret"
},
"options": [
"with happiness",
"with regret",
"in peace",
"in danger"
],
"question": "After 1975,the hero of the story spent his life _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"... | I became what I am today at the age of twelve, on a freezing cold wet day in the winter of 1975. I remember the right moment, hiding behind a fragile mud wall, peeking into the alley near the frozen stream. That was a long time ago ,but it's wrong what they say about the past, I,ve learned, about how you can bury it, because the past claws its way out. Looking back now, I realize I,ve been peeking into that deserted alley for the last twenty-six years.
One day in summer, my friend, Rahim Khan called from Pakistan. He asked me to come to see him. Standing in the kitchen with the receiver to my ear, I knew it wasn't just Rahim Khan on the line. It was my past of unatoned sins After I hung up, I went for a walk along Spreckels Lane on the northern edge of Golden Gate Park. The early afternoon sun sparkled on the water where dozens of small boats sailed, driven by a gentle breeze. Then I glanced up and saw a pair of kites with long blue tails, soaring in the sky. They danced high above the trees on the west end of the park, over the windmill, floating side by side like a pair of eyes looking down on San Francisco, the city I now call home.
And suddenly Hassan5S voice whispered in my head: For you, a thousand times over. Hassan the hare-lipped kite runner. I sat on a park bench near a willow tree. I thought about something Rahim Khan said just before he hung up, almost as an after thought. There is a way to be good again. I looked up at those twin kites. I thought about Hassan. Thought about Baba. AU. Kabul. I thought of the life I had lived until the winter of 1975 came along and changed everything. And made me what I am today. | high4449.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Upset."
},
"options": [
"Cheerful.",
"Nervous.",
"Upset.",
"Satisfied."
],
"question": "Which of the following best describes the author's feeling that morning?",
"question_type": null
},
{
"answer":... | The morning had been a disaster.My tooth was aching,and I'd been in an argument with a friend.Her words still hurt:"The trouble with you is that you won't put yourself in my place.Can't you see things from my point of view?"I shook my head stubbornly--and felt the ache in my tooth.I'd thought I could hold out till my dentist came back from holiday,but the pain was really unbearable.I started calling the dentists in the phone book,but no one could see me immediately.Finally, at about lunchtime,I got lucky.
"If you come by right now,"the receptionist said,"the dentist will fit you in ."
I look my purse and keys and rushed to my car. But suddenly I began to doubt about the dentist.What kind of dentist would be so eager to treat someone at such short notice?Why wasn't he as busy as the others?
In the dentist's office,I sat down and looked around.I saw nothing but the bare walls and I became even more worried.The assistant noticed my nervousness and placed her warm hand over my ice-cold one.
When I tole her my fears, she laughed and said ,"Don't worry.The dentist is very good."
"How long do I have to wait for him?"I asked impatiently.
"Come on ,he is coming.Just lie down and relax.And enjoy the artwork,"the assistant said.
"The artwork?"I was puzzled.
The chair went back,suddenly I smiled.There was a beautiful picture, right where I could enjoy it: on the ceiling .How considerate the dentist was ! At that moment,I began to understand what my friend meant by her words.
What a relief! | high18123.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "show public consciousness of some subjects could be raised"
},
"options": [
"criticize the undocumented illegal immigrants in America",
"show public consciousness of some subjects could be raised",
"encourage common people to... | I have nothing to say about whether or not "A Day Without Immigrants " had a positive or negative effect on the question of how the federal government should deal with the huge population of undocumented illegal immigrants in this country. I'll leave that question to others.
Regardless of how you feel about the event, one conclusion is obvious. Using the theme of "A Day Without" as a way to focus national attention on a particular subject is a great idea, and could serve as a method for increasing public consciousness about other issues that affect daily life in America. Here are my top three examples:
"A Day Without Speeding." How hard could this be? If all drivers would strictly obey every posted speed limit on highways, downtown, on neighborhood streets, and in parking lots for one 24-hour cycle, the benefits would be huge.
"A Day Without Losing Your Temper." A higher degree of difficulty here, and I know that from personal experience. When something goes wrong at home or on the job, there may be brief satisfaction in yelling or kicking the furniture, but bursting into anger usually has nothing to do with the approach to the heart of the matter.
"A Day Without Having All The Answers." I would like to get a break from hearing anyone speak the phrase, "Here's what you're doing wrong." Right now the US is packed with citizens who believe they can point out the cause of every single problem in existence and then solve it in a moment. I believe they need to be quiet sometimes and use their ears instead of their voices.
I wonder how would average Americans react to such a national pause? Would it be a day of reaction against anger, or joyful celebrations? | high5757.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "A movie pass to the local cinema."
},
"options": [
"A movie pass to the local cinema.",
"A weekend stay at a hotel.",
"A ticket to a restaurant.",
"Airline tickets."
],
"question": "Which of the following is not... | Here is a poster on a middle school web site. Read the web-site poster.
Going, Going, Gone!
The Haynes Middle School Parent-Teacher organization
Invites you to attend our latest fund-raiser,
The Fourth Annual Haynes School Auction !
Saturday, May 10
6:00 p.m.-11: p.m.
in the school hall
6:00 p.m.-6:30 p.m. :All items for auction are previewed.
6:30 p.m.-7:00 p.m. : Silent auction begins.
7:00 p.m.-7:30 p.m. : Highest bidders from silent auction are determined.
7:30 p.m.-11:00 p.m. : Main auction begins.
Items up for bid in the silent auction range in value from $ 5.00 to $ 30.00.
Items up for bid in the main auction include the following:
l Airline tickets to a place of your choice
l Weekend getaways at first-class hotels
l Season tickets to the Chicago Bears football game
l $ 50 gift tickets to local gift shops, restaurants, and salons
Don't miss the boat! Book your tickets today.
Last year, tickets sold out in five days!
Tickets are sold on a first-come, first-served basis.
$ 15.00 per person
All the money from the auction will be given to the prefix = st1 /HaynesSchoolcomputer lab. | high17210.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "By using only trusted websites."
},
"options": [
"By choosing big websites.",
"By collecting shopping evidence.",
"By seeking advice from the police.",
"By using only trusted websites."
],
"question": "How can o... | Tired of all the pushing in supermarkets? Fed up with waiting in endless lines to pay for what you have bought? Angry at wasting time in traffic jams only to find no parking spaces when you eventually arrive at the store? If this is you, then online shopping is the answer to your dreams of trouble-free shopping.
Online shopping brings its own challenges. Here are a few things to bear in mind whenbrowsing various websites. Theclaim made by online sites is that shopping online is a safe and secure way to make purchases. The evidence challenges this. In any case, you only have to be thevictim offraud once to experience all the problems that come with this form of stealing. Use only sites that have a trusted history and an excellent reputation .
Another problem is that the appearance of items in reality is often quite different from what you see on your computer screen. This might not be a problem if you are buying washing up powder but could be a major disappointment when that beautiful blue dress you ordered turns up in green. Also, product descriptions are sometimes simply untrue! Perhaps the wisest plan is to purchase items whose design and color are not essential to customer satisfaction.
Some even argue that online shopping indirectly contributes to global warming. Yes, your car can stay parked but how are online goods delivered? Often by some large van pouring out carbon monoxide and adding to our already desperate traffic problems. You are also by now becoming increasinglyirritated by the fact that the delivery is late !
Without question, online shopping is here to stay and it has its benefits. However, perhaps it is not as wonderful as some of its supporters claim it to be. | high2038.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "small"
},
"options": [
"beautiful",
"expensive",
"cheap",
"small"
],
"question": "The inn along Shenandoah River is _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": ... | Our historic1740 Shenandoah Valley Bed and Breakfast is the perfect place to relax and enjoy the beauty and history of the Valley. Once a haven against Indian attacks on the Virginia frontier and later Stonewall Jackson's headquarters during the Valley Campaign of 1862, our Shenandoah Valley inn(small hotel) now welcomes travelers looking for comfortable bed and board and friendly welcome.
On Route11,the Old Valley Turnpike, only two miles from Interstate 81 at Woodstock, the inn has a country atmosphere on five private acres along the Shenandoah River. The inn offers 12 guest rooms, a well-equipped meeting room for small managing meetings, many common areas, and lovely grounds to host sendoffs and family gatherings.
A hearty Inn at Narrow Passage breakfast will get your day off to a great start! If you have special food needs, tell us ahead of time, and we will try to have just what you need.
"We had a wonderful four-day stay. Quiet and peaceful with the warmth of fireplaces in the room and bar to comfort and relax you. Ed and Ellen make you feel like family. Breakfast was outstanding." A visitor said.
After a busy day of hiking or sightseeing, return for a cool drink on the porch in summer or hot, spiced tea by the fire in winter. In the evening, walk down to the river to feed the ducks, or maybe spend a little time fishing.
We hope you'll be able to visit us soon. We'll do all we can to make your stay a happy one. | high14719.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "encourage fire safety measures."
},
"options": [
"advertise a new brand of smoke detector.",
"persuade readers to become fire fighters.",
"plead for donations from the public.",
"encourage fire safety measures."
],
... | The heat was intense as we moved down the long corridor. Not only was it a difficult blaze, but the July heat made things even worse as we struggled to get the best of the flames. As we finally made the turn into the apartment where the fire had started, the words of the young mother outside screamed in my brain, 'Please help! My baby is in there!'
We moved into the bedroom and I started looking in the usual spots where a child might seek refuge: under the bed, in the corners. As I groped my way through the thick smoke, I suddenly fell forward, tripping over something on the floor. It was the child. Ripping off my mask to give mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, I grabbed the child and raced for the stairs. When we reached the waiting Rescue Squad members, I collapsed in a heap in the gutter. The ambulance sped off into the night, its siren wailing. Later that evening, we received word that the child had died in the hospital's emergency room. Another small life lost in the city.
Why do little children such as that one have to pay the price for the neglect of others? During my career as a fire fighter, I have seen this happen many times. You would think that we would become hard and callous, but we don't. We mourn each person who dies. What bothers me is that many senseless tragedies could have been prevented. An overwhelming number of deaths in fires can be prevented by just one thing - a smoke detector. It is estimated that fewer than 50 percent of all dwellings in the United States are protected by smoke detectors. Why are so many people ignorant about the need for smoke detectors? Smoke detectors save lives. They are easy to install. Their cost is reasonable, and they offer immediate protection.
People must persuade their communities to provide fire education for everyone. The money spent on fire education reaps a reward that cannot be measured. If you do not think so, then consider your reactions if the child I carried out of that flaming apartment had been a member of your own family. You would probably then be willing to do anything at all to undo that tragedy. | high8273.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Failing to find a satisfactory card ."
},
"options": [
"Getting along well with her father .",
"Being away on previous Father's Day .",
"Visiting a card exhibition at a mall .",
"Failing to find a satisfactory card ."
... | Dear Dad ,
Today I was at the shopping mall and I spent a lot of time reading the Father's Day cards . They all had a special message that in some way or another reflected how I feel about you . Yet as I selected and read , it occurred to me that not a single card said what I really want to say to you.
You'll soon be 84 years old , Dad , and you and I will have had 55 Father's Days together . I haven't always been with you on Father's Day but I've always been with you in my heart.
You know , Dad , there was a time when we were separated by the generation gap . You stood on one side of the Great Divide and I on the other.
The Father-Daughter Duel shifted into high gear when you taught me to drive the old Dodge and I decided I would drive the 54 Chevy whether you liked it or not . The police officer who sent me home after you reported the Chevy stolen didn't have much tolerance for a stubborn 16 year old , while you were so tolerant about it , Dad , and I think that was probably what made it the worst night of my life.
Our relationship picked up when I married a man you liked , and things really _ when we began making babies right and left . Somewhere along the line , the generation gap disappeared . I suppose I saw us and our relationship as aging together , rather like a fine wine.
But the strangest thing happened last week . I was at a stop sign and I watched as you turned the corner in your car . It didn't immediately occur to me that it was you because the man driving looked so elderly and fragile behind the wheel of that huge car . It was rather like a slap in the face delivered from out of nowhere. Perhaps I saw your age for the first time that day.
I guess what I'm trying to say , Dad , is what every son and daughter wants to say to their Dad today . Honoring a father on Father's Day is about respect and sharing and acceptance and tolerance and giving and taking . It's about loving someone more than words can say , and it's wishing that it never had to end.
I love you , Dad.
Love,
Jenny | high7140.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "a study that shows men are cleverer than women"
},
"options": [
"a study that shows men are cleverer than women",
"the \"glass ceiling\" phenomenon",
"Professor Ruston's theory on IQ",
"the difference between male and f... | A controversial new study has claimed that men really are more intelligent than women.The study concluded that men's IQs are almost four points higher than women's.
British-born researcher John Philippe Ruston says the finding could explain why so few women make it to the top in the workplace.
He claims the "glass ceiling" phenomenon is probably due to inferior intelligence,rather than lack of opportunity.
The University of Western Ontario psychologist reached his conclusion after _ the results of university ability tests taken by 1 00,000 students aged 17 and 18 of both sexes.
A focus on the factors such as the ability to quickly grasp a complex concept,verbal reasoning skills and creativity-- some of the key factors of intelligence --showed the male teenagers had IQs that were an average of 3.63 points higher. The average person has an IQ around 100.The findings,which held true for all classes and levels of education, overturn 100 year opinion that men and women average the same in general mental ability. They also conflict with evidence that girls do better in school exams than boys.
But Professor Ruston argues that the faster maturing of girls leads to them outshining boy in the classroom. | high12368.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "To encourage children to play outdoors."
},
"options": [
"To save 30 minutes for watching TV programs each day.",
"To encourage children to play outdoors.",
"To see the documentary film Project Wild Thing.",
"To teach s... | Do you enjoy seeing the stars twinkling at night? Or do you love the ocean and sea, diving and racing with lovely dolphins? With heavy burdens on their shoulders, teenagers find it hard to pull out. Even if they are free, they prefer to occupy themselves with computer games or watching TV. How to get children away from screens is a great concern for parents. Now there is some good news for those concerned parents and teachers.
A campaign is being launched to encourage children to surrender 30 minutes of screen time a day to head for the great outdoors.
The newly formed Wild Network, a collaboration of nearly 400 organizations, is attempting to attract youngsters away from television and computer screens and into fields, woods and parks.
Organizers say it is the UK's biggest ever campaign to reconnect children with nature and outdoor play, and claim it could help improve fitness, mental alertness and general well-being.
A documentary film, Project Wild Thing, will herald the launch at more than 50 cinemas across the UK from Friday. It looks at the increasingly fragile link between children and nature.
Members of the network include the National Trust, RSPB, Play England and the NHS Sustainable Development Unit.
Andy Simpson, chairman of Wild Network, said, "The tragic truth is that kids have lost touch with nature and the outdoors in just one generation." Time spent outdoors is down, roaming ranges have fallen drastically, activity levels are declining and the ability to identify common species has been lost.
Suggestions of how to get more time in nature include collecting conkers , camping, snail racing, and observing autumn colors on trees.
From January, the network will aim to make suggestions to politicians on how government can do more _
This is not the first time the message of fewer screens, more play has been brought up. Children in the 1980s were entreated to do the same by the BBC TV series Why Don't You, which somewhat confusingly called on its viewers to "switch off your TV set, and go to do something less boring instead". | high8515.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Physical chemistry."
},
"options": [
"The \"behavior\" of molecules.",
"Physical chemistry.",
"Biological chemistry.",
"The human body."
],
"question": "Which of the following things did Pauling pay much attenti... | Linus Pauling,the only person who has won two undivided Nobel Prizes,was born in Portland,Oregon. He attended Washington High School but because of an unimportant detail he did not receive his diploma until 1962,long after he had received his Bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from Orgon State College in 1922. He had chosen to study his major because he could get a good job with it.
He won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1954 for his research into the nature of the chemical bond and its application to the explanation of the structure of complex substance. His interest in the "behavior" of molecules led him from physical chemistry to biological chemistry,especially of the human body. He began with proteins and their main parts,the amino acids ,which are called the"building blocks of life".In 1950,he constructed the first satisfactory model of a protein molecule,a discovery very important to the understanding of the living cell.
During World WarII,Pauling was a member of the Research Board for National Security,for which he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Merit in 1948. However,the use of the atomic bomb near the end of the war turned Pauling in a new direction. Having long worked on the structure of molecules,he took an immediate interest in the deadly effects of nuclear fallout on human molecular structures.
From then on,Pauling protested the production of the hydrogen bomb and supported the prevention of the spread of nuclear weapons. Through his efforts,The NuclearTestBan Treaty,declaring all nuclear tests to be illegal except underground ones,came into effect on October 10,1963,the same day Linus Pauling was awarded the Nobel Peace. | high15361.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "recommend Tillman's new book--Wherever You Are: My Love Will Find You"
},
"options": [
"encourage people to buy Nancy Tillman's books for their children",
"recommend Tillman's new book--Wherever You Are: My Love Will Find You",
... | Nancy Tillman's wonderful On the Night You Were Born is one of my very favorite books. Its celebration of the uniqueness of each and every child told in lyrical language makes it the gift I choose most often for expectant or adoptive parents. I also read it regularly with my grandchildren and talk with them about how special they are.
Tillman feels that the most important message for children to receive is simply, "You are loved." And it's that message that is the focus of this, her newest book, Wherever You Are: My Love Will Find You. Once again, it is her turn of phrase that most fascinates me: In the green of the grass ... in the smell of the sea ... in the clouds floating by ... at the top of a tree ... in the sound crickets make at the end of the day ... "You are loved. You are loved. You are loved," they all say. Phrases encourage children to grow, to try new things, to "march to the front" of their "own parade" and assures them that, no matter how far they go or what they do, they will be loved.
Though the words alone would convince me to buy, share and recommend this book, Tillman is also a gifted artist and her lovely work makes this book a visual treasure as well. Through the pages, a child rides hippos, splashes in the surf with elephants, plays hide and seek with rabbits, shares a trampoline with a kangaroo and enjoys some quiet time with a pair of pandas. My favorite drawing has the child walking away along a wide path that runs between trees covered in mist. In all of the drawings, swirls of sparkling lights wrap around the child--the love that will always be with him/her.
I've read On the Night You Were Born dozens of times and with every single reading, I am incredibly touched. Wherever You Are: My Love Will Find You creates the same feeling of wonder, peace and happiness in me. It's a keep-forever book and I'm so happy to have it in my collection to share with the children I love most. | high7626.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "she was born with an incomplete heart"
},
"options": [
"she didn't stay long enough in the hospital",
"the doctors failed to discover the problem",
"she was born with an incomplete heart",
"her first operation was not s... | 1 On Friday, January 14, 2005, my cousin, Kara Rose, came into the world. 2 She looked perfectly healthy from the outside, but on the inside, the doctors had failed to discover a serious problem. 3 She often had trouble breathing and then turned blue. 4 The doctors found that Kara had been born without part of her heart. 5 They didn't think she would live long enough to leave the hospital. 6 When she was four days old, she had her first operation. 7 My family stayed together during this hard time, hoping everything would turn out for the best.
Kara's strength and determination to live were strong. Eventually, she could go home. We all waited patiently for new technology that could give Kara a new heart. When she was eighteen months old, her parents took her to a famous surgeon who performed a series of operations. There was no guarantee she would make it through the operation, but she succeeded.
Kara grew stronger every day, and it was not long before she was well enough to be around people. She had an amazing character and always wore a sweet smile. When she fell asleep against my body, happy and content, I realized how valuable life really is. As I took her in my arms with her warm breath against my neck, I decided to live every day of my life to the fullest.
This child, who is 15 years younger than I, has gone through more suffering and pain than I ever have. I admire her strength and determination. Kara has taught me that no matter how bad things seem, they can work out in the end. Knowing this small, beautiful child has made me a stronger person, I now believe that difficulty can be beaten. | high6538.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "The building of the city would rest on a floating island."
},
"options": [
"The city was to be designed together with a harbor.",
"The walls around the city would be made of steel and glass.",
"The building of the city would ... | One answer to the question of land shortage was suggested by an organization some years ago. A city was to be built at sea, housing 30,000 people.
The suggestion was to shape the city like a harbor .The outer wall of the harbor would stand on steel columns resting on the sea-bed. Naturally this could only be where the water was fairly shallow. The people would like to live in flats in the fifty-metre high outer wall. The flats would be all face inwards, and would be made of concrete and glass. The glass would be specially made and colored to control the heat and strong light from the sun. The planners called this man-made harbor would be calm. On it would be floating islands carrying more building: a hospital, two theaters, museum, an art exhibition hall and a church. On one of the islands would be a special factory to take the salt out of sea water and turn it into fresh water.
People living in the city could move around on small boats driven by electricity, so there would be no air pollution from the burning of gas. There would be platforms outside the man wall for ships bringing supplies. People could also travel to the mainland by motorboat or water plane. | high1257.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "was an aimless boy"
},
"options": [
"was an active boy",
"liked making troubles in class",
"was an aimless boy",
"would get punished by his teachers"
],
"question": "The writer _ before Mr. Bachmann talked t... | My teacher, Mr. August J. Bachmann, was the most influential teacher I ever had.
I had gotten into trouble in his class: Another student had pushed me for fun, and I became angry and began to hit him. Mr. Bachmann stopped the fight, but instead of sending me to the office, he sat me down and asked a simple question: "Penna, why are you wasting your life? Why aren't you going to college?"
I didn't know anything about colleges or scholarships. No one had ever considered that a fatherless boy from the poorest neighborhood had a future. That day, instead of rushing off for lunch, he stayed and explained possible education options to me. At the end of our talk, he sent me to see a secretary who had a child at a state college. This was in 1962 at Emerson High School in Union City, New Jersey.
Well, 53 years have passed, and what have I done with the knowledge he gave me? I gained a PhD from Fordham University when I was only 29. I taught English and social studies and then moved up the chain of command from teacher to principal.
I've sat on the board for Magnet Schools of America and represented that organization at the United Nations. I've won a number of great educational awards. But where would I be if a truly caring teacher had not taken the time out of his lunch period to speak to me? It was without question only his confidence in me that helped me forward.
I have repaid his kindness hundreds of times by encouraging misguided youngsters to aim higher. If I have saved any children, it is because of him. If I have been a successful educator, it is because I had a great role model in Mr. Bachmann. | high13710.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "unhappy because he had done something wrong"
},
"options": [
"pleased that nobody knew it",
"excited that he had succeeded",
"frightened because he might be caught",
"unhappy because he had done something wrong"
],
... | I cheated on a unit test in math class this morning during second period with Mr Burke Afterward, I was too sick to eat lunch just thinking about it.
I came straight home from school, went to my room, and lay on the floor trying to decide whether it would be better to run away from home now or af _ It wasn't even an accident that I cheated.
Yesterday Mr.Burke announced there'd be a unit test and anyone who didn't pass would have to come to school on Saturday, most particularly me, since I didn't pass the last unit test I did plan to study just to prove to him that I'm plenty smart - which I am.mostly - except in math.
Anyway, I got my desk ready to study on.Just when I was ready to work, Nicho came into my room with our new rabbit and it jumped on my desk and knocked the flashcards all over the floor.What a mess! Nicho and I finally took the rabbit outside but then Philip came to my room and also Marty from next door and before long it was dinner.
After dinner my father said I could watch a special on television if I'd done all my homework.Of course I said I had.That was the beginning.I felt terrible telling my father a lie about the homework.
It was nine o'clock when I got up to my room and that was too late to study for the unit test so I lay in my bed with the light off and decided what I would do the next day when I was m Mr.Burke's math class not knowing the 8- and 9-times tables.
So, you see, the cheating was planned after all.
The next day, I'd go into class as usual, acting like things were going just great.I'd sit down next to Stanley Plummer - he is so smart in math it makes you sick - and from time to time, I'd glance over at his paper to copy the answers.Everything was okay except that my stomach was upside down and I wanted to die.
The fact is, I couldn't believe what I'd done .in cold blood.I began to wonder about myself.I've never been a wonderful kid that everybody in the world loves.I have a bad temper and I like to have my own way and I argue a lot.Sometimes I can be mean.But most of the time I've thought of myself as a pretty decent kid.Mostly I work hard, I care for little kids, and I tell the truth.Now all of a sudden I've turned into this criminal.It's hard to believe I'm just a boy.And all because of one stupid math test.
Lying on the floor of my room, I begin to think that probably I've been bad all along.It just took this math test to clinch it.I'll probably never tell the truth again.
I tell my mother I'm sick when she calls me to come down for dinner.She doesn't believe me, but puts me to bed anyhow.1 lie there in the early winter darkness wondering what terrible thing I'll be doing next when my father comes in and sits down on my bed.
"What's the matter?" he asks."I've got a stomachache," I say.Luckily, it's too dark to see his face."Is that all?" "Yeah." "Mommy says you've been in your room since school." "I was sick there too," I say."She thinks something happened today and you're upset." That's the thing that really drives me crazy about my mother.She knows things sitting inside my head the same as if I was turned inside out.
"Well," my father says.I can tell he doesn't believe me."My stomach is feeling sort of upset." I hedge."Okay," he says and he pats my leg and gets up.
Just as he shuts the door to my room I call out to him in a voice I don't even recognize as my own."How come?" he calls back not surprised or anything.So I tell him I cheated on this math test.To tell the truth, I'm pretty much surprised at myself.I didn't plan to tell him anything.
He doesn't say anything at first and that just about kills me.I'd be fine if he'd spank me or something.And then he says I'll have to call Mr.Burke.It's not what I had in mind."Now?" I ask surprised."Now," he says.He turns on the light and pulls off my covers."I'm not going to," I say.
But I do it.I call Mr.Burke, and I tell him exactly what happened, even that I decided to cheat the night before the test.He says I'll come on Saturday to take another test, which is okay with me, and I thank him a whole lot for being understanding and all.
"Today I thought I was turning into a criminal," I tell my father when he turns out my light.
Sometimes my father kisses me good night and sometimes he doesn't.I never know.But tonight he does. | high10219.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "helped animals grow faster"
},
"options": [
"helped animals grow faster",
"decreased the death rate of animals",
"helped animals have a better appetite",
"increased animal reproduction"
],
"question": "One of th... | Why Are Pig Farmers Still Using Growth-Promoting Drugs?
It's one of the most controversial practices in agriculture: feeding small amounts of antibiotics to animals in order to make them grow faster. But what if the drugs don't even work very well? There's some good evidence that they don't, at least in pigs. They used to deliver a boost in growth, but that effect has disappeared in recent years or declined greatly. The reason for this is interesting and even paradoxical. Researchers think the antibiotics used to work by suppressing low-grade infections. In recent years, however, pork producers found other ways to accomplish the same thing through improved hygiene . As a result, the drugs have become largely superfluous -- yet many farmers still use them.
To understand how this happened, you have to step back in time, says Steve Dritz, a specialist in pig nutrition at Kansas State University. Sixty years ago, when antibiotics were new, "people started treating animals, and feeding [the antibiotics], and finding that they had increased growth rates and feed efficiencies," he says. Nursery-age pigs, for instance, grew 12 to 15 percent faster with antibiotics. The animals also needed less feed to reach full weight. Other studies showed similar results in chickens and cattle. In the 1980s, a new set of studies found similar effects. So the growth-promoting effects of antibiotics became standard practice among meat producers.
Fast forward to the 1990s. Dritz was starting his career as a scientist at Kansas State University, and pork production was changing dramatically.
Previously, pigs were born and raised in one barn or in several barns close together. This meant infections could easily pass from one generation to the next, the way that kids share germs between their friends on the playground and their parents at home. Under the new system, when piglets are weaned, they move to a whole different place. That new site is carefully scrubbed and free of disease.
Craig Rowles, who runs a large swine operation in Carroll, Iowa, shows me one such room. There's not a piglet in sight. "This room just got completely washed and disinfected, and now it's going to sit here and dry for a while," he says.
A whole group of pigs will come in here together, and later they will move out together to yet another site. "That group of pigs will stay together until they go to market," Rowles says.
The groups are kept strictly separated from each other. If workers move between the groups, they first have to change their boots.
When farmers adopted multisite production, it cut down on disease -- and pigs actually grew faster. | high18645.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "three days"
},
"options": [
"one day",
"two days",
"three days",
"four days"
],
"question": "The Labor Day Golden Week holiday was shortened to _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answe... | China Daily: As China comes down from a travel rush during the seven-day holiday for National Day, people called for a return of the Labor Day Golden Week holiday as a way to ease the travel peak.
By Friday, 79 million passengers were expected to have used the railways up about 8 percent over last year. Waterways had shipped around 2 million, a rise of about 17 percent on last year, www. cntv. cn, the website of China Central Television, said on Saturday.
As large numbers of tourists _ scenic spots around China, it caused huge crowds and many complaints.
The Forbidden City in Beijing has long been a big draw for travelers. On Tuesday alone, the museum reported, it received more than 180,000 visitors, about six times higher than a regular day.
According to China Central Television, restless visitors demanded their money back from the tourism committee, and police were sent to help deal with the problem.
The Beijing-HongKong-Macao expressway, the Shanghai-Kunming expressway and the route from Beijing to Kunming saw large increases in traffic on Saturday, according to www. cntv. cn.
"As there are only two long holidays in the country and paid leave is not well carried out by employers , people have limited chances for travel", Dai Bin, the director of China Tourism Academy, said in a report by Beijing Times on Saturday.
"The travel rush during the 'Golden Week' holidays happens because people do not take long journeys during shorter holidays", said Liu Simin, a researcher with the China Academy of Social Sciences, in a report by Beijing Times on Saturday.
Liu said that now the most important task is to ease the pressure from the huge numbers of tourists. When the Labor Day Golden Week holiday came to an end in 2007, a chance to travel was reduced.
In 2008, the government shortened the Labor Day Golden Week holiday, usually lasting from May 1 to May 7, to three days and added three other short vacations to the list. | high5031.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "many household appliances might have been damaged in the fire"
},
"options": [
"many household appliances might have been damaged in the fire",
"how the fire started in Huiyin Store on West Wenchang Road",
"when the fire star... | Brief News Report
Huiyin fire
Huiyin Household Appliances Store on West Wenchang Road was damaged in a fire last night. The fire, which was discovered at about 11 o'clock, spread very quickly. Nobody was injured but tens of people had to be rescued from an upstairs room. A number of household appliances are believed to have been destroyed. It isn't known how the fire started.
Road delays
Repair work started yesterday on the Grand Canal Road. The road is being resurfaced and there will be long delays. Drivers are asked to choose another way if possible. The work is expected to last two weeks. Next Sunday the road will be closed and traffic will be diverted .
Accident
A woman was taken to hospital after her car collided with a truck near Jiangdu Hotel yesterday. She was allowed home later after treatment. The road was blocked for an hour after the accident and the traffic had to be diverted. A policeman said afterwards, "The woman was lucky. She could have been killed." | high17576.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "introduce the topic of the text"
},
"options": [
"improve US Korean relations",
"introduce the topic of the text",
"describe his visit to Korea",
"tell us how to address a person"
],
"question": "The story of Bi... | When former American President Bill Clinton traveled to South Korea to visit President Kim Young Sam, he repeatedly referred to the Korean president's wife as Mrs. Kim. By mistake, President Clinton's advisers thought that Koreans have the same naming customs as the Japanese. Clinton had not been told that, in Korea, wives keep their family names. President Kim Young Sam's wife was named Sohm Myong Suk. Therefore, she should be addressed as Mrs. Sohm.
President Clinton arrived in Korea directly after leaving Japan and had not changed his culture _ . His failure to follow Korean customs gave the impression that Korea was not as important to him as Japan.
In addition to Koreans some Asian husbands and wives do not share the same family names. This practice often puzzles English-speaking teachers when talking with a pupil's parents. They become puzzled about the student's correct last name. Placing the family name first is common among a number of Asian cultures.
Mexican naming customs are different as well. When a woman marries, she keeps her family name and adds her husband's name after the word "de", which means "of". This affects how they fill in forms in the United States. When requested to fill in a middle name, they generally write the father's family name. But Mexicans are addressed by the family name of the mother. This often causes puzzlement.
Here are a few ways to deal with such difficult situations: don't always think that a married woman uses her husband's last name. Remember that in many Asian cultures, the order of first and last names is reversed . Ask which name a person would prefer to use. If the name is difficult to pronounce, admit it, and ask the person to help you say it correctly. | high2986.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "poor pronunciation www.ks5u.com"
},
"options": [
"the lack of professional learning",
"mistakes throughout his writings",
"expressions based on Chinese thoughts",
"poor pronunciation www.ks5u.com"
],
"question":... | My experience in learning English is very simple. I am at the level that almost everyone can reach. Though I focused on English for over two years, an English expert or a native speaker can easily find out my problems--the lack of professional learning, mistakes throughout my writings, and sentences and expressions based on Chinese thoughts. Though I have many weaknesses in English, I have harvested a lot of things many people at my age wish to have. This proves that English, considered a subject that can hardly be self-taught, may be acquired through everyday learning and practice. Some of my friends, including my parents, think it is a miracle . They believe it is my perseverance that helps me learn English. It helps, I admit, but it deserves not all the credit. I don't know yet if it's difficult to overcome my weaknesses, but I know I'll be proud of myself when I grasp everything that helps improve my English.
Many students with English teachers to turn to, English classes to study in and new English learning devices and books to refer to, can't learn English well. Why? To answer that question, I have to ask you, "Why do you learn English?" I may receive many different answers, but there is a direct answer: To use it every day. From this point we know there's great similarity between English and other subjects like maths. Not everyone becomes mathematician, but everyone must learn to use it in daily life. | high16668.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "She thought the sausage would do harm to him"
},
"options": [
"She wanted him to come home for lunch",
"Jim's dog was badly ill.",
"Jim was ill and needed to go to the hospital",
"She thought the sausage would do harm t... | One morning last summer Joyce Andrews made some sausage sandwiches for her husband's lunch. There was one sausage left over. Mrs. Andrews didn't care for them herself, and so she gave the last one to Henry, their little dog, Henry ate it up quickly.
During the morning the dog got ill. He wouldn't stop shaking his head, and couldn't stand properly. Joyce thought, "He's eaten something that didn't agree with him. Maybe that sausage very bad..." she suddenly remembered her husband's lunch. She ran to the telephone and called Jim at office.
"Jim, I hope you haven't eaten any of those sandwiches yet."
"You have Two? Well, listen--don't eat any more. I gave Henry the last sausage, and new he's ill. Go to the doctor, Jim."
"What? You feel all right? No, Jim, don't take a chance with your health. I'm sure the sausages are bad. Please go..."
"Yes, Jim. Tell him about the dog. Get some medicine."
Jim came back at lunch time and went to bed. "I had a very unpleasant hour at the doctor" he told Joyce, "and the medicine made me very sick."
The next morning Jim was fine. Henry seemed quite fit again, too. At eleven o'clock milkman came with the milk.
"Morning, Mrs. Andrews," the milkman said "How's your dog this morning? I've been thinking about him..."
"Have you? Well, he seems all right now, but..."
"Yesterday morning he and I had I a little accident. He jumped up at me, and I dropped a bottle of milk on his head." | high11107.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "he was impressed by the notes written by the owner"
},
"options": [
"he was very interested in the contents of the book",
"he was impressed by the notes written by the owner",
"the book offered him practical and valuable advi... | John Blanchard was studying the crowd making their way through the station. He was looking for the girl whose heart he knew, but whose face he didn' t, the girl with the rose.
When reading a book in a Florida library a year before, John became interested not in the contents of the book, but in the notes penciled in the margin . The handwriting reflected a thoughtful soul and beautiful mind. He discovered the former owner' s name in the front of the book: Miss Hollis Maynell.
He located her address and wrote a letter introducing himself. The next day he was shipped overseas to serve in the army. During the next year, they grew to know each other through the mail and their friendship developed. John requested a photograph, but she refused, saying if he really cared, it wouldn' t matter what she looked like. When the day finally came for him to return home, their first meeting was suggested--7:00 pm. at the Grand Central Station in New York.
She wrote," You' ll recognize me by the red rose I wear on my coat. "So now John was in the station to meet the girl with a rose.
As a pretty and slim girl in green came over, John noticed her blue eyes like flowers in spring. He walked directly towards her , entirely forgetting she was not wearing a rose. As John came closer to her, he saw another woman with a red rose stood nearby. Well past 40, this woman had graying hair done under a worn hat. Seeing the girl in green walk quickly away, John felt as if he were split in two. He desired to follow that girl, but longed for the woman whose spirit had truly companioned and supported him.
The woman looked gentle and sensible. John went to her, saying, "1' m Captain John Blanchard. You must be Miss Maynell. I am glad to meet you here. May I take you to dinner?"
She replied with a smile, I don' t know what this is about. But the lady in green who just went by, begged me to wear this rose on my coat. She said if you asked me out to dinner, l' d tell you she is waiting for you in the big restaurant across the street. She said it was some kind of test!" | high3440.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "we become stronger by meeting and solving the problems of life"
},
"options": [
"everyone has problems",
"we become stronger by meeting and solving the problems of life",
"life is difficult because our problems bring us pain"... | Life is difficult.
It is a great truth because once we truly understand and accept it. Then life is no longer difficult.
Most do not fully see this truth. Instead they complain about their problems and difficulties as if life should be easy. It seems to them that difficulties represent a special kind of suffering especially forced upon them or else upon their families, their class, or even their nation.
What makes life difficult is that the process of facing and solving problems is a painful one. Problems, depending on their nature, cause us sadness, or loneliness or regret or anger or fear. These are uncomfortable feelings, often as painful as any kind of physical pain. And since life causes an endless series of problems, life is always difficult and is full of pain as well as joy.
Yet, it is in this whole process of solving problems that life has its meaning. Problems are the serious test that tells us success from failure. When we desire to encourage the growth of human spirit, we encourage the human ability to solve problems, just as in school we set problems for our children to solve. It is through the pain of meeting and working out problems that we learn. As Benjamin Franklin said, "Those things that hurt, instruct." It is for this reason that wise people learnt not to fear but to welcome the pain of problems. | high16683.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "The changes that the industrial revolution brought about."
},
"options": [
"The curiosity of young readers about the future.",
"The changes that the industrial revolution brought about.",
"People's stretched imagination affec... | Once upon a time, science fiction was just a style among other styles. There were crime stories, there were horror stories, there was literary fiction-and there was science fiction. But today science themes dominate these other styles. It's difficult to think of much modern crime, horror or "serious" fiction that doesn't involve science.
And it's not just books. With every second movie and computer game having a sci-fi element, science fiction seems to have controlled our entire entertainment culture. It's clear that if we want to define science fiction we should relate it to the role that science plays in our lives. Perhaps the place to start is by noting when it began.
Although some experts have claimed to be able to trace sci-fi back to ancient times, it is more plausible to find it in initial form in the 19th century, when industrial societies arose. One of the features that set industrial societies apart from other kinds was the increasing part that science played in everyday life. Factories with vast machines turned out huge quantities of goods, which were transported by trains, motor vehicles and ships all over the world. Cities were built on the back of technology, with electricity in homes and hospitals helping everyone to lead healthier, more convenient lives. All of these changes had great effects not only on people's real lives, but on their imaginative ones.
Writers began to articulate these changing physical and mental landscapes, eventually giving science fiction a large and devoted fan base of especially young readers, who found that it spoke to their curiosity about the future that science would create.
But sci-fi reflected fears about science more than it did hopes. These typical early science fiction novel might be a UK novel like H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds (1897). With great skill, Wells played upon the fears of technology by imagining Earth under threat by a civilization -that of men from Mars.
The science fiction of today expresses the impact of the computing revolution, robotics and our environmental challenges, while it is less concerned with "little green men from Mars" and other themes of past sci-fi.
Given that science, technology and politics are always intertwined , contemporary science fiction often has a great deal to say about power. Many recent novels - like American Cory Doctorow's Little Brother (2008) - are concerned with government and security service "conspiracies " against the people, particularly as the revelations of whistleblowers like Edward Snowden sink in. This can give sci-fi writing a "skeptical" feel.
This underlines one of the features that remains constant between the beginnings of the empire of science fiction and its state today.
As then, so now: We want to read about how fearful the future will be, not how it will be a paradise . | high18876.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "call on people to help those who need our help"
},
"options": [
"explain the meaning and benefit of volunteering work",
"call on people to do their best for society",
"call on people to help those who need our help",
"t... | The government employs many people to help take care of our society. However, these professionals cannot help out everyone just by themselves. They need our help! Consider Volunteering!
What Exactly is Volunteering?
Volunteering is when we regularly go and do nice things for other people. Volunteers may help out in local retirement homes, or in hospitals. Some volunteers work with poor people and other volunteers help teach orphaned children to read. There are many types of volunteers who help those who need help the most.
Volunteering Teaches Mature Thinking
Volunteering is something that really helps us as individuals. It gives us a chance to stop complaining about our own lives, and realized exactly how lucky we are. We are able to see the people who really need help. Volunteering also teaches us more about responsibility, patience, empathy , and above all, compassion .
Doing Our part!
Volunteering gives us a chance to do our share of the work of making this society the best it possibly can be. It helps us feel good about ourselves when we can help those who really need our help. When we can make someone else feel special, it helps us remember what life is really about.
Ways to Start Volunteering
There are many places that you can go to try to start volunteering. Here are just a few places you can go and what you can do at each place.
1) Hospital-ask if you can go and visit people who are really sick. Sometimes all they need is just someone who will talk with, or someone to give them hope.
2) Orphanage-the children living here really need someone to play with them.
3) Food Shelter --many food shelters can really use more people willing to just organize the shelters and help distribute the food to those who need it.
Whatever you decide to do, just do the best you can. Remember that giving can be its own reward! | high23638.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Painting"
},
"options": [
"Painting",
"A carpet",
"A fence",
"A flower garden"
],
"question": "What was the project the author completed in the passage ?",
"question_type": null
},
{
"answer": {
... | I had worked long and hard on this project. Knowing it was finally completed gave me great satisfaction. "Perfect!"I said "Now, all I have to do is to keep the dogs off it."I went about setting . Up barriers using old fence, deck chairs, planters, and anything I could find so as to avoid footprints both on the oil paint and our carpet . It worked perfectly .
Just before returning to the house and to a much needed shower, I took one last look at this fine work of art. "What is that?"I said. "Where did that come from ?"
Clearly marked and evenly spaced across the entire area, the tiny marks ran in straight lines. .I carefully stepped to our flower garden. It was there I found several of the small markings. Now, almost frozen in place by this shocking discovery, I remained in position so as to prevent further damage to my work.. Just then, off to my left, it appeared. A chipmunk . He was as surprised as I was . We stood there face to face looking at each other, wondering who would make the first move .
The warm , humid air was now getting the best of me . Sweat now ran freely over my head, and in poor timing into my eyes . I reached up to rub them and when I opened my eyes he was gone .
My only satisfaction was in thinking that when he returned home he tracked oily footprints into his own home . And , hoping he was married , his wife would not let him live it down for the rest of his life . I stood up, shook my head, laughing about it and walking into my house.
Yes, I tracked oil on the carpet. I am married. My wife will not let me live it down for the rest of my life . | high14094.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "in a newspaper"
},
"options": [
"in a newspaper",
"in a magazine",
"in a history book",
"in a report"
],
"question": "This passage most probably appears _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
... | Of Chinese secondary school students top ten heroes,Mao Zedong,ranks number one and Olympic track gold medal winner,Liu Xiang,ranks fifth,according to a survey conducted by All-China Women's Federation (ACWF).
Late Chinese leaders,Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai,and revolutionary martyrs,Liu Hulan and Dong Cunrui,all have remained important heroes in the eyes of Chinese teenagers aged 13 to 18.
Meanwhile,the 2004 Olympic track and field star,Liu Xiang;model police chief,Ren Changxia;Hong Kong action star,Jackie Chan,and China's first astronaut Yang Liwei,have ascended to be the new stars among the students.
"The coexistence of old and new models in youth's hearts reveal the new era's character," said Han Xiangjing,president of "China Women" magazine attached to ACWF.
The respondents also chose their parents as heroes,ranking number two.
"This reflects that young students' selection standards of heroes have changed to be more human oriented,emotional and personalized,"Han said.
Reasons given by the surveyed students for this choice are:"parents are the people I love and indispensable to me"and"they consistently guide,encourage and support me."
The survey was conducted in six provinces and cities across China,including Beijing,Shanghai,Henan,Shanxi,Liaoning and Hunan.Students completed 1018 questionnaires;443 polled were boys and 575 were girls. | high7815.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "his breakfast should begin."
},
"options": [
"he had begun to read the morning newspaper",
"he was made to feel sad by the \"Death\" news",
"he would start to read the other parts of the paper",
"his breakfast should be... | When my father was getting ready for work, our house was ruled by knocks and words.
He used to come downstairs to breakfast.
The morning paper lay beside his plate. He always read the "Deaths" first, and then he knocked once on the table. One of my sisters brought his toast ,already buttered for him. Usually he said nothing, but once I heard him say, "I love you very much, Edith. I would love you more if you buttered my toast on both sides." He read the paper all through breakfast.
Two knocks on the table meant "I am ready for my tea." If a single knock followed, that meant "More toast, please."
After breakfast he said, "Boots." The paper was spread for him over the back of an armchair. Yesterday's paper was put on the chair for his feet, and his boots were brought to him, freshly cleaned. He read standing, at the same time putting on his boots.
With one boot finished, he said, "Bus." At that point one of the girls went outside to the garden gate and waited there. Her job was to stop the bus when it came. It came early sometimes, and it had to wait for my father.
"Overcoat, hat." One of my sisters had already brushed his overcoat. Now she held it open for him and guided his arms into it. Another girl came with his hat, nicely brushed. "Handkerchief, pipe ." They were brought and put, with his tobacco , into his pockets.
He looked out of the window and said either "Walking stick" or "Umbrella". It was handed to him.
Ready now, he was still reading the paper. He did not put it down until he heard the shout "Bus coming!" Then he kissed my mother and went out. The girls breathed freely.
How lucky a man is to have a wife and five daughters at home! | high24157.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "she was particular about food and also wasted so much"
},
"options": [
"she was particular about food and also wasted so much",
"she was a strict vegetarian who ate very little",
"she didn't order enough food for the girl",
... | Today I was at the mall waiting for friends, when a lady wearing a knit hat and a sweater came up to me and, shivering, said, "I'm homeless. Would you mind buying me some food?"
In that split second, everything I'd learned since kindergarten flashed through my mind. Don't talk to strangers ... Be a good citizen ... People will take advantage of you ... Treat others as you wish to be treated ... The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return ... I guess love won the debate. "Sure," I said. "What would you like?"
She thought and then said, "I'd like to get Chinese food." We headed upstairs. On the way she told me about when she was a teenager. She remembers taking pictures for the yearbook with her best friend. She was in the band and played basketball. She got good grades and was a good student.
She ordered soup, an egg roll, white rice, and pepper chicken. I would normally think that was a lot, but she had probably barely eaten in the last few days. I got my usual - lo mein and General Tso's chicken.
As we ate, we got to know each other. She asked if I played any instruments. I replied that I played the violin, cello, and guitar. She told me she played the flute, piano, guitar, and violin. In the middle of our meal, I realized something. And she thought of it at exactly the same time.
"So, what's your name?" she asked.
"I'm Claire," I said, startled at our exact same thought. "What's yours?"
"Joyce," she said with a smile.
We continued talking, and she asked my favorite subjects in school and if I wanted to go to college. "Hopefully," I replied. "I'm interested in nursing."
"I went to college for nursing," she said.
I was taken aback. How could we have so much in common? Was she pretending so I'd feel sympathy for her? But her eyes were genuine as she said this.
Meanwhile I was eating my lo mein, picking around the cabbage and the other vegetables. Joyce said, "If you don't like it you can take it back." I told her that I liked it, but was not fond of the vegetables. She broke into a big grin. "You don't like vegetables, huh? Neither did I. But now I do." I immediately felt guilty. How could I be picking at my food across from someone who barely gets to eat at all?
I tried my best to finish, but she seemed to sense my guilt and said, "You don't have to eat it if you don't want it." How could she know what I was feeling? I told her the dish was my favorite, but I just eat slowly.
She replied, "I used to like lo mein, but pepper chicken was my dad's favorite, so I get that now." Noticing that she used the word "was," I assumed her dad had passed away. I found it sweet that she gave up her favorite in order to honor her dad.
She asked why I was at the mall.
"I'm waiting for friends. We're going to see 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,'" I replied, stumbling over the words a bit.
"'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,'" she echoed in awe. "What's that about?" I realized that she didn't see commercials for movies.
I explained the basic plot and she chuckled. "A man who is born 80 years old and ages backwards! That sounds interesting."
She got up to get a to-go box. "Would you like one?" she asked, but I refused. I realized that this food would probably last her for a few days, and I was glad she had ordered a lot.
"Would you like these?" I asked, gesturing at the food I had left untouched. "Oh, no, thank you," she said. "This is enough." I got up to throw my tray away, feeling guilty about wasting so much.
"I need to meet my friends now," I explained. "It was so nice to meet you, Joyce."
"You too, Claire," she replied with a smile. "Thank you."
I headed to the theater, and she went back downstairs. It sounds like a perfect coincidence, but I can't help but think that some force compelled us to meet. I kept puzzling, Why is Joyce homeless? It seems so unfair. She shouldn't need people to buy her dinner. She was a nurse. She got good grades. She took pictures for her yearbook. She was the person I hope to be in the future. What went wrong? How could such a good life be rewarded with horrible luck?
I feel lucky to have run into Joyce. She changed my outlook. She is still a wonderful person, despite what the world has done to her. I wish her the best, and can only hope that the force that brought us together will help her find what she deserves in life. | high728.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Badwater"
},
"options": [
"Tomesha",
"Death Valley",
"Nevada",
"Badwater"
],
"question": "_ is the lowest place in the desert.",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_in... | Death Valley is one of the most famous deserts in the United States, covering a wide area with its alkali sand. Almost 20 percent of this area is well below sea level, and Badwater, a salt water pool, is about 280 feet below sea level and the lowest point in the United States.
Long ago the Panamint Indians called this place "Tomesha"-- the land of fire. Death Valley's present name dates back to 1849, when a group of miners coming across from Nevada became lost in its unpleasantness and hugeness and their adventure turned out to be a sad story. Today Death Valley has been declared a National Monument and is crossed by several well-marked roads where good services can be found easily. Luckily the change created by human settlement has hardly ruined the special beauty of this place.
Here nature created a lot of surprising, almost like the sights on the moon, ever-changing as the frequent wind moves the sand about, showing the most unusual colors. One of the most astonishing and variable parts of Death Valley is the Devil' s Golf Course, where it seems hard for one to tell reality from terrible dreams. Sand sculptures stand on a frightening ground, as evening shadows move and lengthen. | high9838.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "The speed of cars in Canadian cities should be less than 50km/hr."
},
"options": [
"All signs on the roads in Quebec are in English.",
"Automobile radar detectors are allowed to be used in Manitoba.",
"Passengers may choose n... | Driving in Canada is similar to driving in many parts of the United States.Distances and speeds,however,are posted in kilometres per hour and some signs,particularly in Quebec,may only be in French.
Unless otherwise posted,the maximum speed limit in Canada is 50km/hr in cities and 80km/hr on highways.On rural highways,the posted speed limit may be 100km/hr.It is not allowed to take automobile radar detectors into Quebec,Ontario,Manitoba,and the Yukon.Seat belt use is required by law for all passengers,and child car seats must be used by children under 40 pounds.Some provinces require drivers to keep their vehicles' headlights on during the day and some have banned driving while using a hand-held cell phone.Motorcycles cannot share a lane ,and safety helmets for motorcycle riders and passengers are necessary.Running a red light is a serious crime throughout Canada and drivers are advised to stop before starting when a light turns green.
Winter travel can be dangerous due to heavy snowfalls and icy conditions.Some roads and bridges are often closed in winter.Snow tires are required in some provinces.Travelers should also be careful about animals while driving at night in rural areas.
Highway 401,from Detroit to Montreal,is one of the busiest highways in North America.It has been the scene of many deadly traffic accidents due to sudden and severe weather changes,high rates of speed,and heavy truck traffic.Thus drivers should be _ while travelling here.
Please refer to our Road Safety page for more information and tips.Also,we suggest that you visit the website of Canada's national authority responsible for road safety. | high13923.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "whether the Flex Belt worked well"
},
"options": [
"if she used the Flex Belt every day",
"whether the Flex Belt worked well",
"whether the Flex Belt was easy to operate",
"if she felt painful while using the Flex Belt"... | Just before Mother's Day I purchased the Flex Belt for my mother to help her lose some weight. I wasn't sure if she was going to like the present but she seemed to love it. I saw the Flex Belt review on the Internet by chance and was very impressed with what I read. It seems that the Flex Belt is helping thousands of people achieve their weight loss goals.
I asked my mother a few questions about the Flex Belt such as whether this product was easy to use, whether she felt painful while using it and the most important question was whether she lost any weight. She told me that it was so easy to use, and that even a child could operate it. She also said that in the first period of using this product she did feel that it was a little bit magical and she was pleased with the amount of weight she had lost.
Over the past few years it seems that my fitness routine has gone downhill . I used to enjoy going to my local gym to do a bit weight lifting, or enjoy meeting up with friends once a week for a game of soccer. Recently I noticed that I became a bit "round", so I have started to do some exercise by taking a thirty-to-forty-minute run every morning. I feel like the weight that I have put on especially around my midsection is slowly dropping off. Everyone knows the benefits of having a slim waist but it seems that we don't actually do anything about trying to achieve this. There are a few reasons for this, such as lack of time, not being motivated enough, or not having enough money to join a gym. So this is the reason I think the Flex Belt is great to own.
I am happy that my mum loves the present and because the product is working great for my mum, I've decide to get one for myself as well. | high22526.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Surprised."
},
"options": [
"Happy.",
"Nervous.",
"Worried.",
"Surprised."
],
"question": "How did Kendall feel when she watched The Oprah Winfrey Show?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
"a... | Kendall Ciesemier says she's like any other schoolgirl. She keeps herself busy with school, friends and family. There is one thing, though. Not many other 14-year-olds can say they run a successful charity helping children in Africa. In three years, the eighth-grader from the US has raised $100,000 for African AIDS orphans .
Kendall knew she had to help the children of Sub-Saharan Africa once their terrible situation was shown on The Oprah Winfrey Show. "I could not imagine how I would go through such a hard time that they would have to go through," Kendall says. She took $360 of her own savings to help a little girl from Zambia that same night.
That was just the start. Kendall sold bread and soft drinks with her classmates at her school to raise more money. She also sold "Bow-Wow Bling Bling" dog necklaces to raise more. The money helps children pay for things like shoes and school uniforms. Kendall says, "A uniform to go to school costs $10. Ten dollars. Here, it's not a lot of money, but there, that means too much money. I mean, it could change a whole kid's life."
Kendall has had her own health struggles. She was born with a disease called biliary atresia , and had two liver transplants in 2004. "I'm just a girl who wants to help those kids who are in trouble," said Kendall. | high22240.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "She has two children of the same age."
},
"options": [
"She has two children of the same age.",
"She appeared on TV to show off her nice figure.",
"She was a swimmer when she was young.",
"She took part in the Olympic G... | Gabby Logan was a gymnast when she was young. She is now the 39-year-old mother of seven-year-old twins, Reuben and Lois. The other day on TV she was dressed in a new swimsuit, which was designed to show off her nice figure, which was admired by a great number of television viewers.
Gabby, who won high praise for her television show of the Olympics, has asked the woman of the whole nation to go to the swimming pool, saying the secret of her figure is regular swimming. She is also making advertisements for the new Sculpture Swimwear of Speedo, an international swimsuit company, to help women find the perfect swimsuit.
Gabby said, "We all felt uneasy about getting into our swimwear at first. But we should be excited by the sporting achievements we have seen at the Olympics this summer. To get ourselves a little healthier, have a try and go to the swimming pool. " Then she said," Swimming is the perfect exercise if you want to feel healthy or simply relax. I find that going for a swim always clears my mind and also gives me some valuable 6 my time'. I like the calm of swimming which I can't experience when I am not in the pool. "
A study by Speedo, an International company, which sells swimsuits, reported the biggest reason why women were put off going to the pool was the way they looked in swimwear. More than half of the l,000 women surveyed have been reduced to tears when trying on swimwear. And 48 percent said they felt too self-conscious to go swimming with their children. Sally Polak, from Speedo, said, " We're hoping to give women the courage and confidence to get back into the water. " | high12383.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "More British adolescents consider friends in real life are more important."
},
"options": [
"Sixty-six per cent polled think it important to meet net friends in person.",
"More British adolescents consider friends in real life are ... | A third of 15 to 18-year-olds in the UK have met someone in person they originally met through social media.
The figure comes from an exclusive online Newsbeat poll of 1,015 British teenagers, put together by Comres. The survey also indicates that a quarter feel happier online than they do in real life.
But overall, real-life relationships are still considered far more important than online ones, according to the findings. Sixty-six per cent polled last month said the number of friends they knew in person was more important to them, compared to 28% who said the same of the number of friends and followers they had online.
The survey also suggests what lots of people know already, that social media is now an integral part of teenagers' lives. Only one per cent of _ said they never checked in online for social reasons. Facebook is the most popular social network (89% have an account), followed by Twitter (62%) and Snapchat (58%).
Dr Emma Short, a psychologist at the University of Bedfordshire, said, "The number of teenagers meeting up with people they first befriended online is worrying. Even very sophisticated security experts find it very hard to verify the identity of accounts. When you're 15 and you're very effective at identifying friends and risk, it's easy to assume you can do that online. It's not safe in that they may not be who they say they are and you know nothing about them apart from the conversation you've had online - which is a very small part of their lives and the person they may be."
The survey also indicated:
* 25% of teenagers admitted they were addicted to social media.
* 25% wished they could give up social media.
"I can't do without my phone." says 17-year-old Aisha from Clapton, north London. "I can't do without checking Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat."
When we ask Aisha about the prospect of taking her social networks away, the consequences, genuinely, are too hard to bear.
Jealousy, loneliness, happiness and stress are all emotions felt by teenagers. | high9186.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "a newspaper"
},
"options": [
"a magazine",
"a science fiction",
"a newspaper",
"a lecture"
],
"question": "The readers can probably hit upon this passage in _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
... | According to Pete Singer, a researcher who wrote a number of books on the military, active involvement of robots in battles could worsen warfare by making machines do all the dirty work for humans. He says that humanity is currently at point of breakthrough in war, like the discovery of the atomic bomb.
"What does it mean to go to war with US soldiers whose hardware is made in China and whose software is made in India?" The research predicts that by 2015 American soldiers will be half robots, half humans.
It is worth mentioning that attack drones and bomb-handling robots are just some of the devices that armies use in battles. Besides having no mercy in battle, robots, in contrast to humans, also cut off living soldiers from horrors.
"The United States is ahead in military robots, but in technology there is no such thing as a permanent advantage," Mr. Singer said, adding that currently Russia, China, Pakistan and Iran are working on the development of military robots as well. The researcher mentioned that robotics is something terrorists can take advantage of as well.
"You don't have to make robots believe they are going to get 7 million dollars when they die to get them to blow themselves up," he said.
In addition, Mr. Singer mentioned that military robots feature cameras that record everything a machine sees, providing digital video that is uploaded on You Tubein graphic clips, which soldiers call "war porn". "It turns war into entertainment, sometimes set to music. The ability to watch more but experience less," he said.
David Hansco, who is a robotics designer, creates robots that have more features of a human. For example, his robots feature synthetic flesh faces and have the ability to read human facial expressions and copy them. The engineer states that the main idea is to create robots that can show empathy . | high21991.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "darkness makes a great impact on the amount of melatonin"
},
"options": [
"it's a good habit to play with smartphones or iPads late into night",
"scientists suggest we should avoid using smartphones or iPads",
"darkness makes... | For many of us, a little time with our smartphones or iPads before sleep is the highlight of the night. But would you still think it is relaxing if you knew that it damages or destroys your sleep? Scientists say that's exactly what it does.
In ancient times, when there were no lamps, telephones or smartphones, the sun was the main source of light. When the sun went down, our brains took that as a signal to start producing melatonin , a chemical that helps us sleep.
However, a healthy amount of melatonin can only be produced in complete darkness.Any light in your bedroom--even the one on the alarm clock or the charging indicator on your cellphone--could disturb the process, not to mention something as bright as smartphone and iPad screens. We tend to hold these much closer than a television or laptop, which allows them to shoot far more light straight into our eyes.
"This is particularly worrisome in populations such as young adults and adolescents, who already tend to be _ ," said researcher Brittany Wood at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute."Lack of sleep among teens is leading to depression, selfharm, low concentration and poor performance at school," she added.
While all lights are the enemy of sleep, not all colors of light have the same effect. Our eyes are particularly sensitive to blue light, which is common during the day. Most of the light coming from electronic screens is blue light and it fools our brain into thinking it's still daytime. By contrast, orange or red light has less influence on melatonin production, because our brains recognize it as a signal that the day is ending, according to The Telegraph.
Asking yourself to keep your hands off your smartphone before bedtime might seem unreasonable, but you should at least remember to dim the screen or hold it farther away from your eyes. You could also wear a pair of orange sunglasses that take away the harmful blue light. | high5964.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "92"
},
"options": [
"79",
"51",
"13",
"92"
],
"question": "Up till now, how many times have the author given blood?",
"question_type": null
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_tex... | When I arrived in Beijing more than five years ago, I had already given blood 79 times. I wanted to continue to be a donor and asked around if there was a Red Cross clinic in Beijing. There was one, and I went. I was very surprised to be received as a hero; for me, a blood donation was simply a good habit and a gift of love to Humanity.
In Canada, donors can give 450ml each time every 51 days. That means six times a year. In China, we can give only 200ml, every four months.
In 1984, there were only 19 donors in Beijing who offered their blood for free. One year later, there were 141. In 1986, 1,083, and so on until the figure reached 10,046 in 1990,14,016 in 1992 and more than double that the following year. There were 41,037 in 1994, and my statistics stop here. I'm so glad to see that the Chinese have understood that giving blood is not dangerous, and that it's a way to say, in a real communist spirit, "brother, I love you".
In fact, every time I give blood, I think of my blood running in a man or a woman's veins, someone who has become my brother or my sister through a transfusion. Thirteen Chinese have become my s now; isn't that great? Giving blood is like giving birth. Some of these thirteen people may have died without my donation; doesn't that make it worth becoming a volunteer? What makes me even happier is when I can convince a Chinese friend to come with me and become a donor too. | high21749.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Their income is not enough to support themselves."
},
"options": [
"They want to make the area clean and tidy.",
"They want to recycle the soft-drink bottles.",
"Local officials ask them to do so.",
"Their income is not... | Here in the northeast Georgia mountains live an old man and his young grandson. A small sum of money given by the government is their only regular income. Man and boy walk up and down the highway daily collecting soft-drink bottles for resale. I stopped once, and tried to give the man a carton of empty bottles. Polite, but firmly, he refused my "charity".
Exercising what I thought was the only reasonable matter. I was driving their part of road, throwing bottles out of the car window, when the flashing blue light of a Georgia State Patrol car filled my mirror. I took my lecture on litter laws, and then told the officer about the man and the boy. We could see the old man from where we were stopped, bending over to pick up a bottle. The officer warned me again, and told me to move on.
As we both pulled onto the road, I looked in my mirror just in time to see two bottles sail out of the passenger window of the patrol car and land unbroken on the grass. | high20443.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Its style and elegance."
},
"options": [
"Its large rooms.",
"Its sandy beach",
"Its outdoor pools.",
"Its style and elegance."
],
"question": "What is the main characteristic of Hyatt Regency Aruba Resort?",
... | Many families find that when it comes to a Caribbean getaway, they prefer bigger hotels. If you're considering an Aruba vacation, there are plenty of resorts that will suit your every need.
Aruba Marriott Resort and Casino
This resort is on Aruba's famous palm Beach, and has the largest rooms of all Aruba hotels. A recent upgrade gives it a very fashionable look and feel. The resort offers excellent services on site including delicate fine dining and a 24-hour casino.
Hyatt Regency Aruba Resort
Popular with families, this resort stands out by its style and elegance. The most attractive aspect is the Spanish-style architecture and garden-like grounds. you will find waterfalls flowing into the beautiful man-made lake which add to the relaxing atmosphere. This hotel offers plenty to enjoy.
Renaissance Aruba Ocean Suites
This resort is absolutely fantastic for families with young children and features 40 acres of private beaches. The pool complex features several outdoor pools, two pool-side bars, and a swim-up bar. There is also a kids club which offers many activities. Guests at this hotel even have full access to the Radisson Aruba Resort Casino & Spring.
Occidental Grand Aruba
This resort is set on a beautiful white sandy beach and offers everything from sailing to late-night dancing. There is always plenty to do on the resort free of charge, but if you want to pay a little extra you can book yourself in for deep-sea fishing, golf, or private tennis lessons. | high11846.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "either a woman or black"
},
"options": [
"both powerful",
"both likely to win",
"either a woman or black",
"either the wife of former President or a Harvard educated senator"
],
"question": "The author considers... | Although the 2008 US presidential elections are still a long way off, candidates are already getting ready for the campaigns ahead.
For the Democrats , the two leading candidates are a surprising pair. The first is Hillary Clinton, 60, the wife of former President Bill Clinton. The second is Barack Obama, 45, a Harvard educated senator .
It is the first time that the leading presidential candidates for a political party are either a woman or black. The energetic pair has certainly gotten people's attention. But the question remains, is America ready for either one?
It's not a simple question to answer. For the past 220 years, Americans have elected only white males to the nation's highest office. That can hardly be called a tradition of diversity. However, many people believe that 2008 will be the year that this changes.
"The white men that have been running the country recently have done such a bad job, at home and abroad, that maybe now is the time for a change," said Dorian Cool of San Francisco, California.
The polling numbers seem to back up his opinion: 86 percent of Americans say they would vote for a qualified woman. An impressive 93 percent say they would vote for a black man if he seemed right for the job. These numbers are much higher than they were just 20 years ago. They may suggest that Americans are ready to be led by a different type of person.
Still, there is a lot to overcome. Although women represent 51 percent of the American population, there are only nine female governors out of 50. Out of 100 senators, only 16 are women. The numbers are significantly lower for blacks in office.
Since the American Civil War, only two blacks have been elected governor and only three have been elected to the Senate.
Surely both candidates face difficult odds, but never before has there been so much support for either a female or a black candidate.
As Barack Obama himself said, "There is not a black America and a white America, a Latino America and an Asian America -- there's the United States of America." If others share his vision, maybe the United States will end up with a new type of leader. | high21985.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "She wanted to get reputation and wealth."
},
"options": [
"She won a national contest.",
"She wanted to get reputation and wealth.",
"She was urged by some modeling agencies.",
"She had full potential to be a successful... | When I was young I wanted to be a model,so when a national contest was staged,I convinced my parents to take me for an audition .I was selected and told I had potential.They said that for only $900 I could attend a weekend event which dozens of the most prestigious modeling agencies from around the world would attend.At 13,my hopes of fame and fortune clouded all judgement and I begged my parents to let me go.We have never been rich,but they saw my enthusiasm and agreed.
I imagined being signed by some famous model companies.For months,any boredom or disappointment I faced was pushed aside because I knew I would soon have the chance to be real model.I thought I would grace the covers of famous magazines!
Of course,I wasn't signed,but what hurt the most was being told that if I grew to 5'9''(about 1.75 metres) I could be a success.I prayed for a growth spurt because I could not imagine giving up my dream.I made an appointment with a local modeling agency and the agent demanded $500 for classes.$500 for a photo shoot,and $300 for other expenses.My parents only agreed after hours and hours of my begging.
The agency sent me out on a few auditions,but with every day I didn't receive a call,I grew more depressed. _ came in July after I had decided to focus on commercial modeling.There was an open call in New York City.We spent hours driving and another few hours waiting,only to be told that I was too short.I was devastated .
Years later,I realized that the trip to New York was good as it made me notice I didn't actually love modeling,just the idea of it.I wanted to be special and I was innocently determined to reach an impossible goal.The experience has made me stronger and that will help me in the future. | high5970.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "singer"
},
"options": [
"dancer",
"singer",
"athlete",
"chemist"
],
"question": "Britney Spears is a / an _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"a... | One day last September, as Britney Spears was about to board a flight to Los Angeles from prefix = st1 /London, a blue bottle fell out of her purse. She quickly put it back in, but not before the camera recorded the event. Neither Spears nor her spokesman was willing to comment on the contents of the bottle, but the next morning London's Daily Express published a page of pictures under the headline "EXCLUSIVE: POP PRINCESS SPOTTED AT AIRPORT WITH POT OF SLIMMING TABLETS." Spears was apparently carrying Zantrex-3, one of the most popular weight-loss pills now sold in theUnited States. The pill, which is sold at about fifty dollars for a month's supply, contains a huge amount of caffeine, some green tea, and three common South American herbs that also act as stimulants . It hit the U.S.market last March and has had _ . Millions of bottles have been sold, and during the Christmas season it was displayed in the windows of the nation's largest chain of vitamin shops, G.N.C. (It is so highly sought after that many of the stores keep it in locked counters.) Zantrex-3 is also sold at CVS, Rite _ Aid, Wal-Mart, and other chains, and over the telephone and on the Internet. If you type "Zantrex" into Google, more than a hundred thousand pieces of information about it will appear. At any moment, there are scores of people sell it on eBay.
Perhaps the most interesting thing aboutthe success story of Zantrex-3, however, is that _ is far from unique. There are hundreds of similar products on the market today, and they are bought by millions of Americans. And though Zantrex's producer makes some exciting statements ("the most advanced weight control compound period"), so do the people who sell Stacker 2 and Anorex along with those who sell Carb Eliminator and Fat Eliminator. Almost all of these compounds suggest that they can help people lose weight and regain lost energy, and often without diet, exercise, or any other effort. | high22254.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "The Greek had warm public baths."
},
"options": [
"Bathing was important to Greeks and Romans.",
"The Greek built water systems.",
"The Greek had warm public baths.",
"The Greek used bath tubs."
],
"question": "... | Baths and bathing have been considered of an important medical therapy to man. In Greece there are the ruins of a bath tub and water system built over 3 000 years ago. The Romans had warm public baths. In some public baths as many 3 000 persons could bathe at the same time.
Treating diseases by bathing has been popular for centuries. Modern medical bathing, or _ , first became popular in Europe and by the late 1 700's also became popular in the United States.
For many years frequent bathing was believed to be bad for one's health. Ordinary bathing just to be clean was avoided, and perfume was used to cover up body and smell.
By the 1 700's doctors began to say that soap and water were good for health. They believed that it was good for people to be clean. Slowly, people began to bathe more frequently.
In the United States ordinary bathing was slow to become popular. During the 18th and early 19th centuries, many Americans were known as "the great unwashed". In one American city, for example, a person could only take a bath every 30 days! That was a law.
Frequency of bathing today is partly a matter of habit. People know that bathing for cleanliness is important to health. Doctors know that dirty bodies increase that chance of disease.
Therefore in the United States people generally bathe often. | high12397.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "educate the public on protecting the environment"
},
"options": [
"educate the public on protecting the environment",
"discuss global warming and other environmental problems",
"explain ways for producing freshwater to save t... | Environment Awareness Week
Regal Convention Centre,Halls 1-4
24-30 March 2011 10:00 am-9:00 pm
Free admission for all!
Save the environment,Save our future
Our environment needs help.With the participation of more than 50 organizations,Environment Awareness Week is the biggest public education event dedicated to environmental protection and conservation.Don't miss it! Come and know more about:
The Threats to Earth (Hall 1) - What is global warming? How serious is pollution? Learn about different environmental problems from our university students.Protect our environment!
The Search for renewable Energy (Hall 2) - can we get electricity from wind,solar energy,waves,rivers and underground heat? Get the answers from Solar Ace,Tefron,Touch Wind Resources and other participants.
The Quest for Fresh water (Hall 3) - is the shortage of freshwater worsening? What are Singapore's solutions for treating wastewater? Hear from Flow Technologies,HydroMax Solutions and other participants.
The 3 Rs and Save Earth (Hall 4) - How can we REDUCE,REUSE and RECYCLE to cut down household wastes? Find out from the Global Gala Network,Green Earth Foundation and other participants.
For more information,please call Mr.Philip Koh at 65531188,send an email to Mrs.Daisy Soh at daisy _ soh@ief.org or visit the events web at http://www.ief.org/caw | high13089.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "His foresight and ambitions."
},
"options": [
"His English learning experience.",
"His foresight and ambitions.",
"His belief in perseverance.",
"His 17 friends and $60,000 funds."
],
"question": "What made him ... | In New York, Ma witnessed the Alibaba Group opening on the New York stock exchange with the largest initial public offering (IPO,) in American history. "Alibaba, the world's largest Internet commerce company makes China equal to the US in the rapidly increasing global competition for technological innovation and economic transformation " commented the South China Morning Post.
It has also made Ma China's richest man with a fortune of around $25 billion (153 billion yuan), reported Reuters.
It's reported that Ma's rags-to-riches journey is just as spectacular as his Internet empire. Ma failed the national college entrance exams twice before he was finally in Hangzhou Normal University on his third attempt and failed in finding a suitable job several times. Aslo, Mr Ma is a big believer in perseverance, which was proved in his English study experience.
However, it was his vision and goals that launched his career.
During a short trip to the US as an interpreter in 1995, Ma first experienced the Internet. He believed in the Internet's business potential when few other Chinese people did. He started Alibaba in his Hangzhou apartment, with 17 friends and $60,000 of funds. At the time, when e-commerce was unheard of in China, _ he once said, according to The Guardian. His unusual ideas earned him the nickname "Crazy Jack Ma" .
Indeed, Ma is different. Although he is very thin and about 160cm tall, "Ma is yet animated and forceful, said The Guardian. "He is funny, creative, and a compelling speaker.
Ma told Time magazine that he was "old for the Internet". He started to slow down and looked around. According to The Wall Street Journal, Ma "plans to open a tai chi club with the actor Jet Li, build an entrepreneur university in Hangzhou and continue to work on several environmental projects." | high9192.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "children's personality is largely shaped by their friends and neighbors"
},
"options": [
"parents are to blame for any bad behavior of their children",
"children's personality is largely shaped by their friends and neighbors",
... | Bringing up children is hard work, and you are often to blame for any bad behavior of your children. If so, Judith Rich Harris has good news for you. Parents, she argues, have no important long -term effects on the development of the personality of their children. Far more important are their playground friends and neighborhood. Ms. Harris takes to hitting the assumption, which has dominated developmental psychology for almost half a century.
Ms. Harris's attack on the developmental psychologists' "nurture" argument looks likely to reinforce doubts that the profession was already having. If parents matter, why is it that two adopted children, brought up in the same home, are no more similar in personality than two adopted children brought up in separate homes? Or that a pair of identical twins, brought up in the same home, are no more alike than a pair of identical twins brought up in different homes?
Difficult as it is to track the clear effects of parental upbringing, it may be harder to measure the exact influence of the peer group in childhood and adolescence. Ms. Harris points to how children from immigrant homes soon learn not to speak at school in the way their parents speak. But acquiring a language is surely a skill, rather than a characteristic of the sort developmental psychologists hunt for. Certainly it is different from growing up tensely or relaxed, or from learning to be honest or hard -working or generous. Easy though it may be to prove that parents have little impact on those qualities, it will be hard to prove that peers have vastly more.
Moreover, mum and dad surely cannot be ignored completely. Young adults may, as Ms. Harris argues, be keen to appear like their peers. But even in those early years, parents have the power to open doors: they may choose the peers with whom their young associate, and pick that influential neighborhood. Moreover, most people suspect that they come to resemble their parents more in middle age. So the balance of influences is probably complicated. Even if it turns out that the genes they pass on and the friends their children play with matter as much as affection, discipline and good example, parents are not completely off the hook | high14080.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Disappointment."
},
"options": [
"Kindness.",
"Wealth.",
"Disappointment.",
"Fame."
],
"question": "What do the families the author mentioned in the passage have in common?",
"question_type": null
},
{
... | I had not really planned on taking a trip this time of year, and yet I found myself packing rather hurriedly. This trip was going to be unpleasant and I knew in advance that no real good would come out of it. This is my annual "Guilt Trip".
I got tickets to fly there on "WISH-I-HAD" airlines. It was an extremely short flight. I chose to carry my bag myself all the way. It was loaded down with a thousand memories of "what might have been". No one greeted me as I entered the Regret City International Airport. I spoke international language because people from all over the world came to this dismal town.
As I arrived at my destination and checked into the "Last Resort" Hotel, I noticed that they would be hosting the year's most important event--the annual "Pity Party".
I wasn't going to miss that great social occasion. Many of the town's leading citizens would be there. First, there would be the "Done" family; "Should Have", "Would Have" and "Could Have". Then came the "I Had" family. Of course, the "Opportunities" family; "Missed and Lost" would be present. The biggest family there would be the "Yesterday's". There were far too many of them to count, but each one would have a very sad story to share.
I went to this depressing party. And, as usual, I became very depressed. But as I thought about all of the stories of failures brought back from the past, it occurred to me that this trip and "pity parties" could be cancelled by ME!
I started to realize that I did not have to be there. I can't change yesterday, but I do have the power to make today a wonderful day. I can be happy, as well as being encouraging.
Knowing this, I left Regret City immediately. Am I sorry for mistakes I've made in the past? YES! But there is no way to undo them. So, if you're planning a trip back to Regret City, please cancel it now. Instead, take a trip to a nice place called "Starting Again". | high24143.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "the Front Page"
},
"options": [
"Page 5",
"the Front Page",
"Page 9",
"the last page"
],
"question": "The above section may possibly appear on _ of China Daily.",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
... | Inside China Daily
China, Japan ink fishery accord
The New China -Japan Fishery Agreement will be put into effect starting June this year, Chinese vice - minister of agriculture, Qi Jingfa told a press conference yesterday in Beijing.
--Page 2
Offshore funeral
The remains of more than 500 dead will be scattered at sea this spring near the mouth of Yangtze River in Shanghai. To save space Shanghai officials discouraged land burials.
--Page 3
The only wise choice
Co -operation with the mainland for a peaceful reunification should be the only wise choice for the newly elected Taiwan leader.
--Page 4
Interest in activity such as fairs, galleries and exhibitions has caused the art market to take shape in China. --Page 9
Two sides of a story.
The government's efforts to cut the homework burden of primary and middle school students have drawn mixed reactions.
--Page 10
Blind, but not out.
Yang Jia, an English professor at the Chinese Academy of Science meets the challenges brought by the sudden loss of her eyesight and continues to make it in her work.
--Page 11 | high7801.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Because he considered recycling a wasteful activity."
},
"options": [
"Because he considered recycling a wasteful activity.",
"Because he didn't think recycling was a new idea.",
"Because he found few people would like to rec... | In 1996, John Tierney suggested in the New York Times Magazine article that "recycling is garbage." He wrote, "The money spent on recycling programs should have been spent on real social and environmental problems. Recycling programs not only increase energy use and pollution, but also cost more money than the disposal of plain old garbage. Recycling may be the most wasteful activity in modern America."
Environmental groups were quick to express their disagreement. They wrote reports on how recycling programs in cities can reduce pollution and cost less than regular garbage pickup and disposal. Michael Shapiro, an official of the US Environmental Protection Agency(EPA), said that "recycling can be good value for money, although there's still room for improvements."
But in 2002, New York City, a pioneer of recycling, found that its recycling program was losing money, so it stopped glass and plastic recycling. Other major cities watched closely to see how New York was dealing with its remaining program (the city never stopped paper recycling). But then it closed its last landfill , and private companies out of New York raised prices due to the increased workload of carrying away and disposing New York's garbage. As a result, glass and plastic recycling became profitable for the city again, and New York brought the program back. According to Cecil Adams of The Chicago Reader, the lessons learned by New York are relevant everywhere. He believes that, if managed correctly, recycling programs should cost cities less than garbage disposal.
Even though the benefits of recycling over disposal are many, keep in mind that it better serves the environment to "reduce and reuse" before recycling is even considered as a choice. | high13937.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "$ 50 CAN"
},
"options": [
"$ 800 CAN",
"$750 CAN",
"$ 400 CAN",
"$ 50 CAN"
],
"question": "If a Canadian who is on a 7-day trip to New York buys $ 800 CAN worth of goods, how much should he pay tax on when retur... | While there are no restrictions on the amount of money that you can bring across the border, you must report to both the US and Canadian border services amounts equal to or greater than $10,000.
PERSONAL EXEMPTIONS ON PURCHASES
AMERICANS RETURNING TO THE US
Less than 48 hours: $ 200 US
48 hours or more: $ 800 US duty-free personal exemption.
next $ 1,000 US at 3%
Including up to 100 cigars and 100 cigarettes.
CANADIANS RETURNING TO CANADA
Less than 24 hours: $ 50 CAN
48 hours or more: $ 400 CAN
Including up to 100 cigars and 200 cigarettes.
7 days or more: $ 750 CAN
Including up to 100 cigars and 200 cigarettes.
DOCUMENTATION NEEDED FOR
BORDER CROSSING
LAND OR SEA TO THE US ( INCLUDING FERRIES )
A valid passport or passport card, or a NEXUS card.
(A NEXUS card is a Trusted Traveler Program that provides quick travel for pre-approved, low risk travelers through special lanes.)
A recent Washington State, New York or BC driver's license.
Note: Children 15 years of age and younger require only a birth certificate or copy. (Certified copies are not required but are advised.)
AIR TRAVEL TO THE US
A valid passport, an Air NEXUS card, or a U.S. Coast Guard Merchant Marine Document. | high18862.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "You can't buy the Scott e-Vest because it is being developed."
},
"options": [
"In the Northeast, people often wear thick clothes in winter.",
"\"Gym shorts\" refers to a kind of clothes.",
"You can't buy the Scott e-Vest bec... | Here in the Northeast, winter means coats and sweaters. And that means plenty of pockets for our growing stock of digital things.
Summer, in fact, is a pocket-free zone. No pockets in T-shirts. No pockets in gym shorts. Those few pockets that can be used quickly become full of things.
Mobile phone, PDA, MP3 player or CD player, digital camera -- it's enough to make your pants torn as you walk down on the stairs or through the parking lot. Attempts have been made to help these things, but without success. One way is to put them to your belt. A mobile phone often goes this way and it's easy for you to make a phone, but it gathered to your belt, so it becomes a little unpleasant when you sit. Another way is to carry a bag to put all these things into it, but it troubles when you use them.
Designers have been puzzling over this problem for a while and one company has come up with a possible solution.
Called the Scott e-Vest, it is a lightweight vest with more than a dozen pockets. Wearers have a lot of room for mobile phones, PDAs, CD players and much more. Better yet, built-in wiring system called PAN, for "personal area network" allows wearers to use their things in addition to carrying them about.
Connect the mobile phone to the PAN, for example, you can answer a phone call by putting in your earpiece and pressing a button through the vest's fabric . At the same time, the wiring system keeps the headphones for your CD player in place and ready for instant use.
Besides these things, the vest has pockets for keys, a pen and even a "cup holder" pocket for drinks.
At about $160, the Scott e-Vest is not cheap. Finally, our growing pile of things will get smaller and fewer as they merge. Until then, a vest-like coat that keeps our things a accessible might be the perfect carrying case. | high17589.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "find food more easily"
},
"options": [
"give birth",
"enjoy warmer water",
"find food more easily",
"find beautiful places"
],
"question": "Most animals move from one place to another at a certain time to _ .... | We know that many animals do not stay in one place.Birds,fish and other animals move from one place to another at a certain time.They move for different reasons:most of them move to find food more easily,but others move to get away from places that are too crowded.
When cold weather comes,many birds move to warmer places to find food.Some fishes give birth in warm water and move to cold water to feed.The most famous migration is probably the migration of fish,which is called "Salmon".This fish is born in fresh water but it travels many miles to salt water.There it spends its life.When it is old,it returns to its birthplace in fresh water.Then it gives birth and dies there.In northern Europe,there is a kind of mouse.They leave their mountain homes when they become too crowded.They move down to the low land.Sometimes they move all the way to the seaside,and many of them are killed when they fall into the sea.
Recently,scientists have studied the migration of a kind of lobster .Every year,when the season of bad weather arrives,the lobsters get into a long time and start to walk across the floor of the ocean.Nobody knows why they do this,and nobody knows where they go.
So,sometimes we know why humans and animals move from one place to another,but at other times we don't.Maybe living things just like to travel. | high7829.txt |
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