questions list | article stringlengths 9 6.44k | id stringlengths 9 14 |
|---|---|---|
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "will suffer the bad results all their life"
},
"options": [
"won't be able to earn enough",
"won't be involved in housework",
"will have to work hard all their life.",
"will suffer the bad results all their life"
],... | The life-long benefits of teaching children good money habits make it well worth the effort. Children who are not taught these lessons pay the consequences for a life time. Some parents don't teach children about money because they think they shouldn't talk about money with children, don't have the time, or think they don't have enough money. Parents should take the time to teach children about money regardless of their income and should start when children are young.
Most people have strong feelings and opinions about money, based on childhood experiences and the values and beliefs of their families. Most often, these experiences, values, and beliefs are different for each parent. It is important for the healthy development of children that parents talk about these feelings and opinions and establish a consistent approach to teaching children about money.
Here are some guidelines parents can keep in mind as they begin the financial socialization of their children:
Advise rather than order how the child's money should be used.
Allow children to learn by mistakes and by successes.
Be consistent while taking children's differences into account.
Include all family members in money management discussions, decision making, and activities suitable for their age.
Explan to children what they can and cannot do and the consequences of going above the limits.
As children get older increasingly include them in discussions of limits and consequences.
Expect all family members to perform unpaid, routine household work based on their abilities.
Express your desire to have things you can't afford. Children need to know that parents say "no" to themselves, too. | high9019.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "He was facing things that did not belong to himself."
},
"options": [
"Because he was now searching a different suitcase.",
"His own blood test report has changed into an old woman's.",
"An old woman had put her savings into ... | I'd just got in a taxi at the railway station when suddenly I found one of my suitcases missing. Just then, I saw a young fellow about 30 walking away with it, opening it and drawing out the valuables. "Stop thief! Stop thief!" I shouted and threw open the car door and rushed out to him, followed by the driver and half a dozen passers-by. Very soon the thief was cornered at the turn of the road. My driver caught the thief by the neck and put his hand into his trouser pocket, drawing out money, credit card, telephone book and so on and put them back into my suitcase.
Half an hour later, the car was running at full speed on the express highway. I sat back and breathed a long sigh of relief . But as I pulled out those stolen things from the suitcase and started to check them, I became dumbfounded . Before my eyes were 200 yuan instead of 100. And a blood test report of a 58-year-old woman appeared. I suddenly realized that the taxi driver must have mistaken the thief's belongs and put his into my suitcase. The pitiful and begging look of the poor young man flashed across my mind again. My heart began to sink.
Two years has passed since then. But this event keeps coming back to me. Was the young man a habitual robber or a dutiful son who had been driven to desperation to find money to save his mother's life? My heart aches for him. How I wish I had gone back that summer afternoon to return the 200 yuan and say sorry to him. For the first time in my life, I realized that hate and love are very close. | high1445.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "carry out all the tasks on the computer"
},
"options": [
"be aged more than 15 years old",
"be of or above the average level in their classes",
"spend 215 minutes for the programme",
"carry out all the tasks on the comp... | Thank you for agreeing to be a Test Administrator for PISA. The purpose of this manual is to help you to understand how you will assist with the successful implementation of this large-scale student survey.
1.1. What is PISA?
PISA stands for the Programme for International Student Assessment, sponsored by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). PISA 2015 is the sixth PISA study that has been conducted since 2000 and involves more than 70 participating countries.
PISA has the following characteristics:
* It is the world's largest international survey in education.
* It surveys students aged about 15 years.
* It assesses students' preparedness for adult life.
Undertaking PISA is important because the results of the test can be used:
* to indicate how well prepared students in a country/economy are for learning once they leave school;
* to identify areas for improvement over time by schools, education systems, and governments; and
* to allow a comparison of student performance and the learning environment between different countries.
1.2. Components of PISA 2015
* 1.2.1. Cognitive test
42 students from each school will be randomly sampled to complete a 2-hour computer-based test consisting of questions in science, mathematics, reading, and Collaborative Problem Solving.
* 1.2.2. Questionnaires
These students will also be asked to complete a 30 minutes Student Questionnaire on the computer either directly after the test sections or at a later time.
* 1.2.3. Financial Literacy assessment
After the cognitive test and questionnaires, a sub-sample of 10-11 students will take a computer-based Financial Literacy(FL) assessment. The 65-minute Financial Literacy assessment tests students' knowledge of personal finances and their ability to apply it to their financial problems. | high13102.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "he will buy anything he thinks his child really needs"
},
"options": [
"he was given too much pocket money when young",
"he can take much control of his child by money",
"he will buy anything he thinks his child really needs"... | Parents have widely different views on the problem of pocket money. Four new fathers were asked this question and this is how they answered.
Ashish Khanna: Although many argue that pocket money helps develop children's sense of value, I don't agree. I wouldn't give my child any pocket money. First of all, I never got pocket money and I seem to have a good value for money. If my child ever needed something and I felt it was a reasonable request, I would buy it for him.
Sharad Sanghi: No, I wouldn't give my child pocket money because I don't want to create the perception of "her" money and "my" money. Besides, if I refuse to buy her something that I think is bad for her, she may buy it with her pocket money _ In this way, I would lose control over my child's requests. I feel it also encourages children to care more about money than anything else. I don't want my child to start judging other children by the amount of money or pocket money they have.
Rakesh Shah: Yes, I would give my child pocket money because I feel that children should learn to spend money properly. I will give him a fixed amount every month and if he spends the money before the month is over, he will learn a lesson and not spend money so freely. He will learn what his limitations are and feel the difficulty when he has to pay for something that is over his own pocket.
Rajiv Patel: Yes, I would give my child pocket money because it is important that he learns to manage money. But I would not give it to him on a weekly or monthly basis. He would have to earn it. If he helped me finish some of my jobs or helped his mother with housework, I would reward him. This helps him realize that "money does not grow on trees" and it requires hard work to earn money. | high1323.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "No problem!"
},
"options": [
"I'm afraid not.",
"No problem!",
"It depends.",
"It's not fair!"
],
"question": "If Mother asks Gina to look after her brother now, what will she probably answer?",
"question_ty... | I have a younger brother. To me , he is a fourteen-year-old kid named Joe, with blond hair and blue eyes. To others, he is different. Where I see a kid who just needs a lot more attention, others see a mentally disabled boy, a kid who cannot walk or talk or think for himself. I see someone who just makes daily routine a bit less routine. Others see an annoyance, a bother.
This is not to say that I have never felt resentful toward Joe. He is my brother, and with that comes responsibility. "Gina, could you stay in tonight and watch your brother?" "Gina, do me a favor and feed him dinner and change his diaper later, please?""Could you come home right after school today and get Joe off the bus?"
These are phrases that I have heard since I was twelve. And sure, they have made me resent my brother to a certain extent. I would think: that's not fair! Everyone else can stay after and be a member of this club, or get extra help from that teacher. Or, all my friends are going out tonight, why can't I? And, how come I have to feed him? He is not my son!
However, the small amount of resentment I feel toward my brother is erased a thousand times over by what I have learned from him. Besides making me responsible from a young age, and helping me be more accepting of all kinds of people, he has taught me to be thankful for what I have.
I know that there are moment in my life that I should cherish and that Joe will never experience. He will never laugh so hard that he cries. He will never feel the glory of a straight-A report card. He will never comfort a best friend crying on his shoulder. And he will never know how much his family love him.
Because he will never know, it is up to me to know, every second , how lucky I am. It is up to me to realize that life should be lived to its fullest, and that you should always, always be grateful that God, or whoever are the powers that be, gave you the ability to live your life the way you were meant to live it. | high13664.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Weekend Work in Rubberlast Group Ltd."
},
"options": [
"Part-time Shop Assistant.",
"Teaching Assistant in Hania's Playschool.",
"Weekend Work in Rubberlast Group Ltd.",
"Teaching Assistant in the University of Bristol.... | (1)Full-time Secretary Position Available Applicants should have at least 2 year's experience and be able to type 60 words a minute.No computer skills required.Apply in person at United Business Ltd, 17 Browning Street, Leeds.
(2)Part-time Job We require three part-time shop assistants to work during the evening.No experience required, applicants should be between 18 and 26 years old.Call 0115665643 for more information.
(3)Computer Trained Secretaries Do you have experience working with computers? If you want to know more about us, call 0457996754.
(4)Teaching Assistants Needed Hania's Playshool needs 2 young teaching assistants to help with classes from 9 to 3 pm.Applicants should have references.For more information please visit www.Haniaplayschool.com.uk.
(5)Weekend Work Available We are looking for retired adults who would like to work part-time on weekends for Rubberlast Group Ltd.Duties include answering the telephone and giving customers' information.For more information call us at 0113--6741326.
(6)University Positions Open The University of Bristol is looking for 4 teaching assistants to help with homework correction.Applicants should have a degree in one of the following Political Science, English, Economics or History.Please call the University of Bristol for more information.
(7)Home Delivery Representative We are looking for someone who has excellent customer care, communication skills, a sales background with at least one year's experience and is a good team player with creative ideas.In return we offer a starting salary of $ 20,000 and 25 days paid holiday per year.For more information please call Direct Delivery Team of Yorkshire Post on 0113--2388318. | high8461.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "the right hand"
},
"options": [
"the right hand",
"the left hand",
"both hands",
"either of the two hands"
],
"question": "Americans use _ to hold their fork to pick up the salad.",
"question_type": "clo... | In Europe, people hold the fork in the left hand and the knife in the right throughout the meal, a system that is generally agreed to be more efficient than the American zigzag method. Americans hold both the fork and the knife in their right hands throughout the meal, so they continually change their forks to the left hand when they have to cut their meat. It seems to be funny for the Europeans to see Americans busy changing their dinner sets, making a lot of noises.
A few explanations for this American style are as follows:
(1) Americans are practical and efficient. Since most of us are right-handed, it is reasonable to keep our working tools at all times in the right hand that can use them most efficiently.
(2) Americans, the master of the New World are rebels .They use the zigzag method to break the rules in the Old World and in this way they are thumbing their nose at Mother England. Americans are a restless kind. They do not like to sit in one spot for very long when dining.
(3) Forced to do so, they respond by "playing" with the silver.
Whatever the reason for the practice, it is now certainly as American as apple pie. Europeans recognize this and are quick to attack it as evidence of American innocence of form. Arguments against the zigzag method rest not only on grounds of efficiency but also on those of tradition. In Old World dining, the knife is held in the right hand continually because it can serve as an instant defense against the uninvited intruders .However, such alertness is out of place in the New World, as every American believes that this is the home of the brave. Americans _ their silverware, perhaps, to show that they are not afraid and that one of them holding a fork is worth any number of them holding blades . | high3534.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Commercial Arts"
},
"options": [
"Psychology",
"Commercial Arts",
"International Business",
"English Composition"
],
"question": "What did the author study originally when he was in college?",
"question_type... | I decided to go back to school in the fall of 2008 after not being happy with my current job and financial status. I obtained my Associate's Degree in May 2002 in Commercial Arts. After graduation, I had trouble obtaining a job in that field. For years, I was going from one job to another feeling unfilled, and I was not satisfied with the instability.
I decided to go back to school for either International Business or Psychology. I weighed the pros and cons of both professions and Psychology won. I like helping my friends and family, when they go through hard situations in their life by giving them sound advice and being honest with them. Also, I was interested in "the mind".
I was searching for online schools because my work schedule at my current job would not allow me to attend a regular class. I was nervous about starting online classes because I heard mixed stories from other friends who were taking online classes. I decided to do it anyway to experience something different. I wanted to find an online school that was affordable and reputable. Through my search, I discovered Walden University, which is specially for working adults who want to obtain a bachelor's degree or higher. The process of getting accepted was easy, which included writing an essay on why I wanted to attend their school, transferring my previous credits, etc.
I am currently enrolled in the Bachelors program for psychology, and I am paying for college via financial-aid loans and grants. This experience has been interesting yet trying as sometimes it was difficult to balance work, school and home life. I learned a lot about psychology and myself. For example, I like writing about current events, relationships and traveling. I thought my English composition was ordinary, but after taking a few classes at Walden University, I improved my English composition and it made me feel confident enough to start writing professionally so I became a freelance writer. Currently, I am only three classes away from obtaining my Bachelor's Degree in Psychology! It was one of the best decisions I made in my life. | high5145.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "serious"
},
"options": [
"regretful",
"depressed",
"serious",
"Humorous"
],
"question": "Which of the following words can best describe Tania's tone?",
"question_type": null
},
{
"answer": {
"a... | In less than 60 years the people of my tribe have gone from being an independent nation, to cultural prisoners, to welfare recipients . Is it any wonder that there are so many problems facing indigenous Australians today?
When I was growing up in Kowanyama there were 15 people in my class, I am the only one who has gone to university. I'm also the only girl in my class who did not have a child at 15. Of the boys in my class, seven have been incarcerated, two for murder, five for robbery and rape. Only three of us are not alcoholics. Four of my classmates have committed suicide.
Life as a young aborigine is not easy, in any setting. The story of my fellow students is a lesson in the magnitude of the problems that young indigenous people in Cape York face.
The two issues that are central to changing this story are education and health. There is a huge gap between what we get in communities and what other kids get in cities.
One of the problems facing education in remote indigenous schools is that teachers tend to be just out of training and stay for only a year or two. Not one teacher stayed for the whole of my nine years at school--not even the principals. This seeming lack of commitment makes you feel they don't care.
We need to review the curriculum in these communities because it is pitched at a very low level. I have had to draw the conclusion that governments and educationalists see us as less than white people.
Education should be uplifting, not serve to reinforce lack of self-esteem and the heart-wrenching low expectations that our race suffer from.
We need a massive reassessment of,education policies and an equally massive investment in education. We have spent so long listening to some white fellows telling us we are stupid, lazy no-hopers that the majority of my people actually believe it.
The relationship between poor education and poor health is clear. People whose self-esteem and pride have been destroyed by a substandard education system and a social system that creates an addiction to passive welfare have little reason to live healthy lives. Our health is getting worse.
The policies that determine the delivery of health services are deeply flawed by a bureaucracy that does not want to hear our voices. Health services are often confined to the clinic.
It is problems and challenges such as these that led me to stand in last October's ATSIC election. ATSITC is more than the board of commissioners and the Canberra bureaucracy. ATSIC is also people who are from community and work hard for community.
We recognize that governments cannot solve our problems for us. As young people we are trying to take responsibility for our future. I ask the Prime Minister, not that he fixes these problems for us but that he and his Government see us as equal partners in the huge task of rebuilding our families, communities and Cape York Peninsula.
He demonstrated his commitment by engaging his Government at the family and domestic violence summit. My view is that the level of domestic violence and child abuse sums up all that has been wrong with Aboriginal policy.
.We need a new relationship to address this frightening reality in our lives. Aboriginal people are reluctant to admit that young girls and women are being raped by their own people because of the blanket of shame. *
I am asking you to help lift that blanket.
I stand here as a proud Aboriginal woman, a Kokoberra woman as well as a criminologist, and I thank you for your time and attention.
Tania Major, 22, is an ATSIC regional councilor and a trainee manager at her home community of Kowanyama on Cape York.
This is an edited version of an address she is scheduled to give at a meeting between the Prime Minister and Cape York leaders (full text at smh. com. an). | high18731.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "disappointed"
},
"options": [
"surprised",
"disappointed",
"annoyed",
"nervous"
],
"question": "When Ben read the five essays in print, he felt _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answe... | An Outstanding Teacher
Ben put the white envelope into the mailbox. He felt proud, excited, and happy--and also a little nervous about whether his essay would win.
Ben's local newspaper had advertised a contest inviting students to submit essays in honor of a remarkable teacher. The newspaper would choose the five best essays and print them in the paper. As soon as Ben heard about the contest, he knew he wanted to write about Mrs. Gruen.
Mrs. Gruen was always so friendly and patient, and she always had something encouraging to say to her students. Even more importantly, she knew how to make science interesting and enjoyable. Before being in her class, Ben would have said he was uninterested in science, but now science was his favorite subject.
At first, Ben had struggled with his essay. After he finished his first draft, he asked his older sister, Hannah, to review it. Eventually, after many more revisions, the essay was ready to mail. As Ben stood before the mailbox, he imagined how surprised Mrs. Gruen would be to open the newspaper and see her name in print.
When the big day finally came, Ben opened the newspaper and eagerly studied the columns of print for the essay he had written. He did not see his essay anywhere. He turned through all of the pages, but it was not there! Instead, he saw five other essays talking about five other teachers. Ben felt like a balloon that had suddenly lost all its air.
A few days later in science class, Mrs. Gruen asked Ben to stay after class for a few minutes. "Your sister stopped by yesterday," Mrs. Gruen told Ben. "She brought me the most wonderful gift." Ben saw that Mrs. Gruen was holding a copy of his essay. "You have no idea how much it means to me that you enjoy my class and think I'm a good teacher. No reward or honor could ever be greater than this essay," said Mrs. Gruen.
"OK," Ben said, "I meant everything I wrote." Then he stepped into the hallway with his head held high. | high17402.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "They telephoned people between the ages of 18 and 85."
},
"options": [
"They did a series of experiments.",
"They made a written survey about the old people.",
"They interviewed people of different ages face to face.",
... | Old age may not sound exciting.But recent findings offer good news for older pepole and for people worried about getting older.
Researches found that people become happier and experience less worry after they reach the age of fifty.In fact,they say by the age of eighty--five,people are happier with their life than they were when they were eighteen years old.
The findings came from a survey of more than 340,000 adults in the United States.The Gallup Organization questioned them by telephone in 2008.At that time,the people were between the ages of eighteen and eighty--five.The searches asked questions about emotions like happiness,sadness and worry.They also asked about mental or emotional stress.
Arthur Stone in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science at Stony Brook University in New York led the study.His team found that levels of stress were highest among adults between the ages of twenty--two and twenty--five.The findings showed that stress levels dropped sharply after people reached their fifties.Happiness was highest among the youngest adults and those in their early seventies.The people least likely to report feeling negative emotions were those in their seventies and eighties.
The study also showed that men and women had similar emotional patterns as they grew older.Hower,women at all ages reported more sadness,stress and worry than men.Researchers say they do not know why happiness increases as people get older.One theory is that,as people grow older,they grow more thankful for what they have and have better control of their emotion .They also spend less time thinking about bad experiences.
The researchers also considered possible influences like having young children,being unemployed or being single.But they found that influences like these did not affect the levels of happiness and well--being related to age. | high20245.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Proud."
},
"options": [
"Proud.",
"Modest.",
"Serious.",
"Cautious."
],
"question": "Which of the following words best describes Tim Cook's attitude toward the Apple Watch?",
"question_type": null
},
{
... | This time, it is to be worn on wrists. Having already changed the way we communicate with its smartphones, Apple Inc released its next big thing on March 9 in San Francisco, US.
The Apple Watch, according to CNN, is "a simple rectangular shape with a range of stylish and useful wristbands." "The style is classic... in those respects it's up there with the top quality Swiss watches," commented the news outlet.
The watch will be available in nine places, including the US, the UK and China, from April 24. The starting price is $349 (2,186 yuan).
With six different designs and 30 or so wristbands, the gadget "sets the standard for smartwatches, in style," agreed The Brisbane Times,"but more importantly, in functionality ." "With the built-in speaker and microphone, you can receive calls on your watch. I have been wanting to do this since I was 5 years old," said Apple's chief executive Tim Cook.
In fact, anything you can do on the iPhone is there on the watch - e-mails, text messages, airline boarding services, and directions from Apple Maps. Using a home security app, you can keep an eye on your home from afar, or even open a locked door.
There are some features that have made Cook sure the watch is "our most personal device yet; a new chapter in the way we relate to technology". According to NPR, the watch taps you on the wrist to draw your attention to a message or a calendar reminder, and it can send a tap on the wrist to another Apple Watch wearer.
However, the watch can also do things that are just plain fun. You can send a real-time display of your heartbeat to another Apple Watch to "let someone know you are thinking about them."
Patrick Moorhead, a leading technology analyst in the US, described the tech company as "a master in the art of persuasion". "The secret weapon is the ability to message each other by tapping on the watch," he told The Associated Press. "I think people, particularly kids, are going to go nuts over that."
So far, though, the most impressive part of this new device is "the monitoring of the wearer's health and fitness," said AFP. It will even tap you on the wrist if you have been sitting down for longer than is good for your health. | high10386.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "To find out what affects birds' migration and populations."
},
"options": [
"To find out what affects birds' migration and populations.",
"To collect information for the new Christmas tradition.",
"To compare the birds in Was... | Recently, a small group of birdwatchers spent three weeks around Mount Vernon. They were busy counting wild birds on Mount Vernon's wetlands, south of Washington, D.C. They began in the middle of December and worked until the beginning of January, 2015.
The birdwatchers were among 70,000 volunteers who collected information for the National Audubon Society, a U.S. conservation group. They counted birds in more than 2,400 areas in the United States, Canada, the Caribbean Sea and other parts of the Americas.
The Audubon Society's first "Christmas Bird Count" took place 115 years ago in 1900. At that time, a man named Frank Chapman suggested a new Christmas tradition that people count birds instead of shooting them around the holiday.
Harry Glasgow has taken part in the Christmas Bird Count for the past 10 years. This year, he was one of the volunteer birdwatchers at Mount Vernon.
"I think it's a tremendous use of a lot of unofficial talent around the nation to keep track of birds. Birds are one of the surest indicators of the health of ecology."
Last year, the bird count recorded over 66 million birds of 2,403 different species.
Gary Langham is chief scientist with the National Audubon Society.
"The Audubon climate report says that half the birds in North America -- 314 out of 588 species -- are seriously threatened by climate change. The impacts sort of cut across all birds, all sizes, all kinds, all places."
Information from the bird counts has shown that birds are staying farther north during the winter months because of warmer weather. Birdwatcher Jaime Reidy has noted the difference close to Washington, in the state of Virginia.
"You get to see them at odd times of the year, a little earlier, staying a little later."
Gary Langham says other conditions are affecting bird populations.
"You can imagine the birds that live along the beach or along the rocky shore line as sea levels are rising around the world. That is impacting them, you know."
David Yarnold is president of the Audubon Society. In his words, "Christmas Bird Count data is becoming important not only in documenting current climate change, but in predicting the future effects of climate change on North American bird populations. If we know what to expect, we can start taking actions now to do something about it." | high18902.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Because she is really shocked at Lucy's rudeness."
},
"options": [
"Because she is really shocked at Lucy's rudeness.",
"Because she wants to offer some other helpful advice.",
"Because she has prepared the conversation for n... | "Ok," I said to my daughter as she bent over her afternoon bowl of rice. "What's going on with you and your friend J.?" J. is the leader of a group of third-graders at her camp--a position Lucy herself occupied the previous summer. Now _ , and every day at snack time, she tells me all about it, while I offer up the unhelpful advice all summer long.
"She's fond of giving orders," Lucy complained. "She's fat," Lucy mumbled to the bowl "We are going upstairs," I said, my voice cold, "We are going to discuss this." And up we went.
I'd spent the nine years since her birth getting ready for this day, the day we'd have to have
the conversation about this horrible word. I knew exactly what to say to the girl on the receiving end of the teasing ,but in all of my imaginings, it never once occurred to me that my daughter would be the one who used the F wordFat.
My daughter sat on her bed, and I sat beside her. "How would you feel if someone made fun of you for something that wasn't your fault?" I began. "She could stop eating so much," Lucy mumbled, mouthing the simple advice a thousand doctors and well-meaning friends and relatives have given overweight women for years.
"It's not always that easy," I said. "Everyone's different in terms of how they treat food"
Lucy looked at me, waiting for me to go on. I opened my mouth, then closed it. Should I tell her
that, in teasing a woman's weight, she's joined the long, proud tradition of critics who go after any woman with whom they disagree by starting with "you're ugly" and ending with "no man would want you and there must be something wrong with any man who does"?Should I tell her I didn't cry when someone posted my picture and commented, "I'm sorry, but aren't authors who write books marketed to young women supposed to be pretty?"
Does she need to know, now, that life isn't fair? I feel her eyes on me,waiting for an answer I don't have. Words are my tools.Stories are my job.It's possible she'll remember what I say forever, and I have no idea what to say.
So I tell her the only thing I can come up with that is absolutely true.I say to my daughter,
"I love you, and there is nothing you could ever do to make me not love you. But I'm disappointed in you right now. There are plenty of reasons for not liking someone. What she looks like isn't one of them."
Lucy nods, tears on her cheeks."I won't say that again,"she tells me,and I pull her close,
pressing my nose against her hair. We are both quiet, and I don't know if I have said the right thing. So as we sit there together, shoulder to shoulder, I pray for her to be smart.I pray for her to be strong. I pray for her to find friends,work she loves, a partner who loves her, and for the world not to deprive her of the things that make her who she is,for her life to be easy, and for her to have the strength to handle it when it's not. And still, always,I pray that she will never struggle as I've struggled, that weight will never be her cross to bear. She may not be able to use the word in our home, but I can use it in my head. I pray that she will never get fat. | high11098.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "monitored the brain activity"
},
"options": [
"studied the Internet",
"activated the brain",
"recorded their memories",
"monitored the brain activity"
],
"question": "Researchers _ when volunteers were doing w... | Searching the Internet may help middle-aged and older adults keep their memories sharp,US researchers said.
Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles ,studied people doing web searches by recording their brain activity.
"What we saw was people who had Internet experience used more of their brain during the search,"Dr.Gary Small, a UCLA expert on aging, said,"This suggests that just searching on the Internet may train the brain and that it may keep it active and healthy."
"This is the first time anyone has simulated an Internet search task while scanning the brain,"Small said. His team studied 24 normal volunteers between the ages of 55 and 76. Half were experienced at searching the Internet and the other half had no web experience. However, the two groups were similar in age, gender and education.
Both groups were asked to do Internet searches and book reading tasks while their brain activity was monitored.
"We found that in the book reading task, the visual cortex-- the part of the brain that controls reading and language -- was activated,"Small said,"In doing the Internet search task, there was much greater activity, but only in the Internet-savvy group."
He said it appears that people who are familiar with the Internet can engage in much deeper level of brain activity. Activities that keep the brain engaged can preserve brain health and thinking ability. Small thinks learning to do Internet searches may be one of those activities. | high2819.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Buying materials without paying."
},
"options": [
"Borrowing money.",
"Buying materials without paying.",
"Issuing bonds",
"Issuing stocks"
],
"question": "Which of the following statement is not the way for com... | Companies can increase the money with which they run their business in a number of ways. One way is borrowing money, and another way is buying things with the agreement that payment would be made later. There are also other processes for providing money for use by a company. Two of these processes are described here.
One process the company may use is to issue bonds . Bonds are a special kind of promissory note. They are issued in different values, in the forms of money used in different countries, such as the pound in prefix = st1 /Englandor the euro in Europe. These bonds can easily be sold again to other people or to other companies. The company that issues the bonds promises to pay a particular amount of money as interest regularly for a certain period of time. This continues until when the company has to pay back the principal of the bond. Payments of principal and interest must be made on time whether the company has been earning money or not. If these payments are not made on time, it means that the company has not done what it agreed to do and can be sued(,).
Another process companies may use is to issue other forms of promissory notes called stocks . Bonds and stocks are opposite methods of providing money for a company. The people who buy stocks provide money that is earned and take part in deciding how the company will conduct its business. They must also take part in the losses. The people who own stocks receive dividends only after the company has paid all of its debts to the people who own bonds. On the other hand, the persons who own bonds have no right, according to the law, to help decide how the company will handle its business, unless it is bankrupt or in danger of becoming so. | high22452.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "expressing his grand passion for poetry"
},
"options": [
"expressing his grand passion for poetry",
"walking on the shore with a pretty lady",
"defeating nothingness with his true love",
"pursuing the fame of being a ro... | Directions:Read the following three passages.Each passage is followed by several questions or unfinished statements.For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C and D.Choose the one that fits best according to the information given in the passage you have just read.
Death is a serious theme worthy of great poets.For example, John Keats's 'When I Have Fears That I May Cease to Be' and John Donne's 'Death, Be Not Proud' both discuss death in reflective ways.However, the imagery in these poems shows that while Keats believes that death can only destroy, Donne believes that death can be overcome.
Keats is afraid of death, because to him death means the loss of those things that make his life worth living: 'On the shore/ of the wide world I stand alone, and think/ Till Love and Fame to nothingness do sink.' Earlier in the poem, Keats says that he hopes this 'Love' will be a 'high romance' with a 'fair creature.' He also says that he hopes the 'Fame' he seeks will be the result of the 'high piled books' produced by his 'crowded brain.' In other words, Keats's fear is that death is a 'nothingness' that will arrive before he can finish his life's work or find his true love.
Donne has a different attitude toward death, and so the imagery in his poem is different, too.To Donne, death should 'be not proud,' because it is not 'mighty and dreadful.' Unlike Keats, Donne sees death as weak and merely a 'slave to Fate, chance, kings, and desperate men.' He also says that death is like 'rest and sleep'.Donne believes that we will all wake from the sleep of death to everlasting life, just as we wake from our normal sleep to our everyday lives.In fact, Donne believes that it is death itself that will die: 'One short sleep past, we wake forever,/ And Death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.'
Keats and Donne both know that death is a prat of life, and both poets use powerful imagery to talk about that difficult theme.The differences in this imagery show two very different attitudes toward the subject, one of which is much more positive than the other.Which poet to believe is up to the reader to decide.
Not surprisingly, the readers' own experiences may play a part in the way they respond to these poets' approaches.Like the two poets and their beliefs, contemporary readers also may be divided on the subject.This may explain why Keats's and Donne's poetry remains fascinating years after their won deaths. | high12591.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "women have so much to share"
},
"options": [
"he is treated as an outsider rather than a husband",
"women have so much to share",
"women show little interest in ball games",
"he finds his wife difficult to talk to"
... | Betty and Harold have been married for years. But one thing still puzzles old Harold. How is it that he can leave Betty and her friend Joan sitting on the sofa, talking, go out to a ball game, come back three and a half hours later, and they're still sitting on the sofa, talking?
What in the world, Harold wonders, do they have to talk about?
Betty shrugs . Talk? We're friends.
Researching this matter called friendship, psychologist Lilian Rubin spent two hundred women and men. No matter what their age, their jobs, their sex, the results were completely clear: women have more friendships than men, and the difference in the content and the quality of those friendships is "marked and unmistakable".
More than two-thirds of the single men Rubin interviewed could not name a best friend. Those who could were likely to name a woman. Yet three-quarters of the single women had no problem naming a best friend, most trusted person, or the one they would turn to in time of emotional distress . "Most women," says Rubin, "identified at least one, usually more, trusted friends to whom they could turn in a troubled moment, and they spoke openly about the importance of these relationships in their lives."
"In general," writes Rubin in her new book, "women's friendships with each other rest on shared emotions and support, but men's relationships are marked by shared activities. "For the most part, Rubin says, interactions between men are emotionally controlled - a good fit with the social requirements of "manly behavior".
"Even when a man is said to be a best friend," Rubin writes, "the two share little about their innermost feelings. Whereas a woman's closest female friend might be the first to tell her to leave a failing marriage, it wasn't unusual to hear a man say he didn't know his friend's marriage was in serious trouble until he appeared on night asking if he could sleep on the sofa." | high23994.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "know better about human nature"
},
"options": [
"know more about cultures",
"know better about human nature",
"know more about photography",
"know better about an event"
],
"question": "According to the passage,... | When you think of photographing people, you may think of your family reunion or the Christmas party at work. These types of pictures of people are records of fun events with nice memories. Let's take a look at another idea for taking pictures of people, with an entirely different slant.
Much as anthropologists study the diversity of characteristics of people in cultural and environmental contexts, some photographers record these aspects of people in their pictures. They try to capture the emotions and humanity of people, and the photograph draws the viewer into the subject's experience at that moment in time.
Taking pictures of people with this goal in mind makes the photographer and the viewer grow in the understanding of human nature. For example, a photograph of a young man trying to hitch a ride in the rain can show the experience. His poncho sparkles with the raindrops flowing in a steady stream to the ground. The lights of passing traffic highlight the contrast between the warm, dry drivers, taking no notice of his misery. Another picture of a child sleeping on a bench at a busy train station can capture the innocence of childhood contrasted with a busy world of hurried grown-ups.
If you'd like to experiment with this form of photographs of people, look for ordinary people in contrasting environments or contexts. Children and the elderly pose extraordinary possibilities. The lined faces of the aged often make great subjects, reflecting character and wisdom. People are such interesting subjects. Facial expressions can convey a thousand moods and feelings.
Taking pictures of people with an eye to the feel and magic of the moment will make you a better and more enthusiastic photographer. You may find yourself so taken with this new experience. Photographing people is an artful endeavor. Take the leap! | high24023.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "health problems"
},
"options": [
"reducing visibility to less than 200 meters",
"disrupting traffic",
"health problems",
"heavy fog"
],
"question": "The harm the smog caused didn't include _ .",
"question_... | Right now in China, talks on the street have been about the strange weather and it's raising a lot of concerns. A heavy haze has blanketed many cities in the northern and southern parts of the country in part of an unusual weather system that's descended on the nation.
The haze stretches over a vast area, from Hebei and Shan-dong Provinces in the north all the way to Zhejiang, Anhui, Jiangsu, Hunan and Fujian provinces in the south. At its worst, the smog is reducing visibility to less than 200 meters and disrupting traffic, both on the ground and in the air. The weather front has also led many to worry about the possible health impacts.
Many cities are waking up to another day covered by a dense haze. In Beijing, drivers have to keep their lights on even though it's already past eight o'clock in the morning. Even driving at very slow speeds, the roads can still be very dangerous. In some of the worst hit areas, drivers can't even tell the colors of traffic signals. Authorities have stepped in to close off many highways across the troubled region. In Shandong Province, the highways that are open are backed up for miles. And traffic police have stepped up their patrols.
In the region's airports, flights information boards have gone red. A huge number of flights have been delayed or cancelled, nearly three hundred in Beijing alone, leaving thousands of passengers stranded. Some are more frustrated than impatient. Passenger from Jinan airport, Shangdong province, said: "I've been waiting for more than five hours. It's Mother Nature, so there's really nothing we can do." The airport is urging passengers to confirm with their carrier whether their flight will still take off as scheduled.
Back on the city streets, people are wearing breathing masks to get free from any ill effects. Fog has cleared a little in Shanghai. But damage has already been done. Shanghai resident said: "I've been wearing the mask, but still, my throat feels sour and itchy. I think it's because of the weather."
The weather forecast predicts a cold front is about to sweep across central and eastern China tomorrow. Many are hoping that this will clear away the depressive haze as well as the harm it brings. | high7961.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "all above"
},
"options": [
"doctors",
"nurses",
"dietician",
"all above"
],
"question": "From the notice, we can learn _ may read your medical information.",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
... | A Notice of Delnor Hospital (the "Hospital")
THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW MEDICAL INFORMATION ABOUT MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED ( )
If you have any questions about this notice, please contact:
The ASIFlex Privacy Office
PO BOX 6044
Columnbia MO 65205- 0858
We understand that medical information about you and your health is personal. We are committed to protecting your medical information. We create a record of the care and services you receive at the Hospital. We need this record to provide you with quality care and to comply with certain legal requirements.
This notice explains the ways in which we may use and disclose medical information about you. We also describe your rights and certain obligation( ) we have regarding the use and disclosure of medical information.
HOW WE MAY USE AND DISCLOSE MEDICAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOU
The following categories describe different ways that we use and disclose your medical information. Not every use or disclosure in every category is listed. However, all of the ways we are permitted to use and disclose information will fall within one of the categories.
For Treatment. We may use your medical information to provide you with medical treatment or services. We may disclose your medical information to doctors, nurses and technicians. In addition, the doctor may need to tell the dietician if you have diabetes so that we may arrange appropriate meals. Different departments within the Hospital also may share your medical information.
For Payment. We may use and disclose your medical information so that the treatment and services you receive at the Hospital may be billed and payment may be collected from you, an insurance company or a third party. We also may tell your health plan about a treatment you are going to receive to obtain prior approval or to determine whether your plan will cover the treatment.
For Health Care Operations. We may use and disclose your medical information for the Hospital operations purposes. These uses and disclosures are necessary to run the Hospital and to make sure that all of our patients receive quality care. We also may combine your medical information with those of many Hospital patients to determine whether additional services should be offered, what services are no longer needed and whether certain new treatments are effective. | high9794.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "On December 12."
},
"options": [
"On November 30.",
"On December 4.",
"On December 8.",
"On December 12."
],
"question": "When was the legal pact probably passed?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
... | World leaders from nearly 200 countries have signed an important historic agreement to fight global climate change. The agreement came after two weeks of talks between the leaders at the 21st Conference in Paris, France.
As part of the Paris agreement, countries said they would cut down on pollution However, according to the terms of the deal, countries that don't do this will not be punished, or fined. Instead,the document is meant to show that governments around the world take climate change seriously and are willing to work together to fight global warming.
World leaders have met many times to discuss climate change. But, the 21st Conference of Parties, or COP21, which began on November 30 in Paris, was the first time they agreed on a global, legal pact .
Before the conference, each nation was asked to create plans on how to reach the shared goal. The pact that was signed allows countries to decide the best way to cut down their gas pollution. No matter how they decide to go green, each country must report honestly on all of their efforts. Every five years, nations must look at the work they've done and submit new plans on how they will improve over the next five years.
In the pact, the countries pledge to limit the amount of greenhouse gases emitted by human activity to the levels that trees,soil and oceans can absorb naturally. It urges countries to spend trillions of dollars on creating new energy sources, like solar and wind power. It also requires countries to raise at least $ 100 billion each year to help developing countries.
However, critics of the pact say it is not detailed enough, and doesn't include specifics about how the plan will be enforced and how improvements will be measured. The pact does include one large, specific goal: how countries will aim to keep global temperatures from rising more than 3. 60degF(20degC) by 2100.
Nonetheless,the agreement is considered by many world leaders to be a major victory. The U. N. has been working more than two decades to convince governments to work together to reduce man-made emissions.
"History will remember this day," U. N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said. "The Paris agreement on climate change is a monumental success for the planet and its people." | high14686.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "New Rules to Control Internet Publishing"
},
"options": [
"Technologies Challenge the Government",
"New Rules to Control Internet Publishing",
"The Increases of Blogs and Webcasts",
"The Popularity of Online Video Broad... | China plans to make new rules to give more controls over the growing number of blogs and webcasts. Nowadays, advanced network technologies, such as blogging and webcasting, are being improved to challenge the government's ability to watch over the Internet.
Chinese government is in the middle of making new rules over Internet publishing, and blogs and websites publishing webcasts will fall under these rules. Government officials hope the new rules will ensure a more healthy and active Internet environment and will fully respect and protect Chinese citizens' freedom of speech. Specific details on what kind of rules will be carried out are still unknown to the public. Despite the growing popularity, bloggers and webcasters have been unpopular with publication institutions. In 2006, a series of cases involving bloggers who had dived into other people's privacy and written materials ruining other's fame urged the government to consider whether to require bloggers to use their real names when they _
Webcasting without copyright and illegally "copying" products from copyrighted materials have also led government officials to consider starting a nationwide check of online video broadcasting, and allow only qualified websites to offer webcasts. | high22334.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "finding out who had a sense of right and wrong"
},
"options": [
"proving that he was not the thief",
"telling people that bike theft was immoral",
"finding out who had a sense of right and wrong",
"making his experiment... | The city can seem a cold, mean place. In the middle of so many people hurrying about their own business, a person can feel alone among the millions of others.
There is a popular view that in cities, strangers are less likely to help an elderly person cross a street or call the police when they see a bike being stolen. Recently, a New Yorker named Casey Neistat did an experiment. He chained up his bike in several public places, then "stole" it in a number of obvious ways, such as using a hacksaw . He filmed everything to see whether other New Yorkers would try to stop a shameless bike theft. The result? People just walked on by.
Is this evidence of an immoral, selfish urban society? Not necessarily. According to another recent study, the way city people mind their own business is about other factors besides morality .
This is called the Bystander Effect, the theory that city people do not react because of the urban enviromnent they live in.
Psychologist Dr. Harold explained why people did not involve themselves in Neistat's bike theft experiment with the Bystander Effect.
First, people who live in cities are surrounded by so much activity that they stop noticing what is going on around them. Second, they are less easy to surprise and assume every activity has a logical explanation.
"The third is that people notice it, but they don't know what to do," he continued. "And the fourth is fear -- they know they should do something, but they're afraid to challenge someone with a hacksaw."
A lack of concern is only a small reason why people don't take action, concludes Dr. Harold.
Despite the results of Neistat's experiment, there is also evidence of a sense of team spirit that connects people in cities. All it takes is a funny joke or a shared interest to start a conversation with someone at a bus stop. When city folk are in trouble, they come together for support -- famously in New York on
City society is different, but that doesn't mean it's cold or mean -- it just means it's busy! | high15598.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "She was sent to the park because her mother left her."
},
"options": [
"She arrived at the park five months ago.",
"She lives at the park together with some other foxes.",
"She was sent to the park because her mother left her... | While firing off pictures of a curious five-month-old fox, photographer Simon Czapp soon realized his subject had quite an interest in photography herself. The clever fox was so curious about the camera equipment that she climbed right on top of it. And while she was supposed to be the subject of the shoot, the fox stood on the shutter release button and took her own _ .
Mr Czapp visited the New Forest Wildlife Park to capture images of new arrival Jessie. She has been at the animal park in Ashurst, Hampshire -- home to wolves, deer and other animals in 25 acres of ancient woodland -- after being abandoned by her mother.
Mr Czapp said, "Jessie was very playful and curious and not at all camera shy. Soon after I arrived she was chewing my shoes and everything seemed to be a game to her. Then she started exploring the camera I had set up on a tripod . She balanced her front paws on it and at one point knocked it over."
He put the camera back on the tripod and Jessie soon jumped back up. At one point she had all four paws on the camera and was keeping her balance. Mr Czapp added, "She jumped up there several times and I realized it could make a good picture. As I was leaving with the public's viewing window behind me, I thought I heard the camera go off but didn't think much of it. But when I checked the memory card afterwards, I was amazed to see Jessie had actually taken two pictures of me photographing her. I couldn't believe a fox had gained an advantage over me! Jessie is a lovely little fox. There were some lovely photos of her but she obviously thought the photographer was worthy of a picture too!" | high20523.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "on their horses"
},
"options": [
"by ship",
"by simple truck",
"on their horses",
"on foot"
],
"question": "Alexander and his troops traveled and fought probably _ then.",
"question_type": "cloze_questio... | Alexander the Great was a mighty king and conqueror . He was one of the greatest military geniuses the world has ever known. He was born in Pella, Macedonia. Alexander grew to be a handsome, brilliant man. Aristotle, the famous philosopher , came from Greece to teach him---geography, politics, literature, medicine and science. Alexander's father, King Philip II of Macedon, taught him to plan and win battles.
The young prince became King when he was 20. He then began the series of marches that continued until he ruled almost all of the then-known world. On his great war horse, Bucephalus, he first took over Greece. He went on to conquer southeastern Europe, Asia Minor, Egypt and India. On his way he crushed the Persian Empire, and was made King of Egypt and Asia. He and his troops traveled over 11,000 miles(17,700 km). He spread Greek customs and ideas wherever he went.
In India his men refused to go further. They were tired and frightened, and wanted to go home. Worn out, Alexander agreed to turn back. He died of fever in Babylon, at the early age of 33. | high11926.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "adventurous"
},
"options": [
"adventurous",
"pleasant",
"exciting",
"dull"
],
"question": "Erik expected the climb of Mount Everest to be_.",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
... | Erik wants to climb Mount Everest. He loves to climb, and there is no place greater for climbers than the top of 29,035 feet, the world's highest mountain.
Erik is blind. He has been blind since age 13, when an eye disease robbed him of his sight. His new book, Touch the Top of the World: A blind Man's Journey to Climb Farther than the Eye Can See, describes his blindness and climbing. He is the first blind man to attempt Everest. The team reached the base camp at 17,800 feet last Wednesday and began its climb Saturday. If all goes well, Erik will reach the top on about May 15.
"I'm not just some broken blind guy," Erik, aged 32,said for hours before he left Los Angeles on Friday for Katmandu, Nepal. "1 put my life in my fellow climbers'hands, and they put their lives in my hands. It's an honor to reach that state. "
"I want to experience the sense of adventure. Blindness has nothing to do with that. But a message of the climb is that a blind person can join a team and climb the highest mountain in the world. "
Erik has climbed the highest tops on four continents: North America's Mount McKmley, South America's Aconcagua, Africa's Kilimanjaro and Antarctica's Vinson Massif. He is an expert rock and ice climber, having scaled El Captain in Yosemite National Park. When he was 16, he attended a school that taught blind people to be independent. One day, a group went rock-climbing. "1 really liked it," Erik said, "You can solve problems. It is sense in your inner mind. People didn't think blind people could go out and become expert rock climbers. | high21629.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "He liked designing experiments."
},
"options": [
"He liked designing experiments.",
"His family needed his support.",
"He wanted to please the famous scientists in England.",
"His parents couldn't afford his education."... | Inventor, physicist, surveyor, astronomer, biologist, artist... Robert Hooke was all there and more. Some say he was the greatest experimental scientist of the 17th century. In the course of his work, he cooperated with famous men of science like Isaac Newton, and the great architect, Christopher Wren.
Hooke's early education began at home, under the guidance of his father. He entered Westminster School at the age of 13, and from there went to Oxford, where he came in contact with some of the best scientists in England. Hooke impressed them with his skills at designing experiments and inventing instruments. In 1662, at he age of 28, he was named Curator of Experiments at the newly formed Royal Society of London- meaning that he was responsible for demonstrating new experiments at the society's weekly meeting. Hooke accepted the job, even though he knew that the society had no money to pay him!
Watching living things through a microscope was one of his favourite pastimes . He invented a compound microscope for this purpose. One day while observing a cork under a microscope, he saw honeycomb-like structures. There were cells -the smallest units of life. In fact, it was Hooke who invented the term "cell" as the boxlike cells of the cork reminded him of the cells of a monastery .
Another achievement of Hooke's was his book Micrographia, which introduced the enormous potential of the microscope. It contains fascinating drawings of the thing he saw under the microscope. The book also includes, among other things, ideas on gravity, light and combustion that may have helped scientists like Newton when they were developing their own theories on these phenomena .
Hooke made valuable contributions to astronomy too. A crater on the moon is named after him in honour of his services to this branch of science. | high16085.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "the science book"
},
"options": [
"the business book",
"the sports book",
"the science book",
"the health book"
],
"question": "The passage is probably taken from _ of a website.",
"question_type": "cloz... | Modern festival-goers who worry about ending up with a dead mobile phone battery after days stuck in a muddy field with no electric plug power points may now have a solution----power boots .
Mobile phone company European Telco Orange has introduced a phone charging prototype---- a set of thermoelectric gumboots or Wellington boots with a "power generation sole" that changes heat from the wearer's feet into electrical power to charge battery-powered hand-helds.
The boot was designed by Dave Pain, managing director at GotWind, a renewable energy company. Pain said the boot uses the Seebeck effect, in which a circuit made of two dissimilar metals conducts electricity if the two places where they connect are held at different temperatures. "In the sole of the Wellington boot there's a thermocouple and if you apply heat to one side of the thermocouple and cold to the other side it produces an electrical charge," Pain said. "That electrical charge we then pass through to a battery which you'll find in the heel of the boot for storage of the electrical power for later use to charge your mobile phone." These thermocouples are connected electrically, forming an array of multiple thermocouples (thermopile). They are then sandwiched between two thin ceramic wafers. When the heat from the foot is applied on the top side of the ceramic wafer and cold is applied on the opposite side, from the cold of the ground, electricity is made.
But the prototype boot does have one _ . You have to walk for 12 hours in the boots to make one hour's worth of charge. | high11932.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Diving."
},
"options": [
"Tennis.",
"Swimming.",
"Diving.",
"Soccer."
],
"question": "According to the article, which of the following sports is least likely to cause a rivalry?",
"question_type": null
},
... | Part of the fun of watching sports events is following an exciting rivalry .
But where do all these rivalries come from?
Some rivalries start because athletes spend a lot of time close to opponents .
Other rivalries get personal. Things that one rival says that are thought to be not respectful to the other can cause a rivalry, even if the words are misunderstood. And sometimes, rivalries grow just because the athletes don't like each other's personalities.
Some sports may also be more likely than others to cause rivalries. "Some sports only meet a few times, so there is less chance for rivalries to build," For example, in sports where athletes perform on their own, such as diving, rivalries might also take longer to appear than in sports in which athletes compete at the same time. But in tennis, players often face each other, and rivalries are more likely to happen.
So do the rivalries do good or harm to the athletes?
Some believe that rivalries can be a good thing because they encourage athletes to try harder to win. But rivalries can also become too personal, taking athletes' attention away from their sports.
Keegan agreed that rivalries often do athletes more harm than good. "They can be a huge distraction and lead to focusing on the opponent more than the game," he said.
"Top athletes often have physical and mental training that they follow in order to worry less and prepare to compete", Gould further explained. An important part of that preparation is preventing from distractions, including rivalries.
"The better athletes don't care too much about a rivalry - they try to treat every competition the same," Gould told LiveScience. | high14692.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Lookforyou@yahoo.com"
},
"options": [
"Everlastingfriend@yahoo.com",
"Lookforyou@yahoo.com",
"Alatinpolo@yahoo.com",
"Katarinakube@yahoo.com"
],
"question": "If a boy wants to rent a room, he would send an email... | Ad.1
Special house in Glebe ($ 160 every month)
Reply to: Alatinpolo@yahoo.com
Date available : December 9
Looking for a girl student roommate to share a well situated house in Glebe for not less than one month. 2 minutes from the bus stop in a quiet street, double living room etc. Give me a call if interested.
The room is ready to be rented from now.
Ad.2
Room with own bathroom ($330 every month)
Reply to: Katarinakube@yahoo.com
Date available: December 17
I've got a big flat in Sandas with own bathroom with two bedrooms and two bathrooms in a safe building with all equipment.
I'm looking for a girl student who wants to stay for at least 6 months, easy-going, tidy. There will be only me, so 2 people in total.
It's available from Dec. 17 for $330 every month, including bills.
Ad.3
One bedroom suitable for one boy ($175 every month)
Reply to: Lookforyou@yahoo.com
Date available: December 16
We have a bedroom available with a big bed. The living room, kitchen and bathroom will be shared with our roommate, Al, who is a university student.
We provide a computer, TV, DVD player, a parking space which are all included in the rent.
The apartment is available December 16 at the earliest and for at least 2 months because we won't be back to the town Lading until next April.
Ad.4
Room with own kitchen for a girl ($280 every month)
Reply to: Everlastingfriend@yahoo.com
Date available: December 18
I've got a flat in Patrio with a bedroom available. A kitchen is also available with all equipment.
I'm looking for a girl student who wants to stay for at least 3 months. I also provide a PC and a parking place, but the parking place isn't included in the rent. | high22320.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Information can be conveyed through the way of word combination, sentence pattern, etc. explicitly or implicitly."
},
"options": [
"Information can be conveyed through the way of word combination, sentence pattern, etc. explicitly or imp... | It can be rude to talk politics over dinner...explicitly at least. But subtle linguistic cues might reveal more than you think about your political views, whether at the dinner table--or on Twitter. "There's a lot of information in the details of our language." Matthew Purver, a computational linguist at Queen Mary University of London. "The little words we use, the way we join together our sentences, and the kind of interactional patterns, where we react to other people."
Purver's research team used Twitter as their communications forum, randomly selecting 28,000 users, half of whom clearly followed one political party's Twitter feeds, for example, @GOP, but not the other, for a more or less even split among Republicans and Democrats. Then they analyzed the words in those users' timelines during a two-week period in June 2014.
As you might expect, the tweets of users who followed Republican accounts were a lot more likely to contain words like "obamacare" and "benghazi," whereas "bridge gate" came up more among Democratic followers.
But the researchers also found that the left-leaners were much more likely to use words like sh#& and fu@$ than were the righties. And whereas Republican followers preferred plural pronouns like "we" or "us," Democratic followers used more singular pronouns, like "I" or "me.".
That pronoun use could reflect previous work on how people on the right and left forge their political views. "People on the right end of the political spectrum are more likely to be concerned with group conformity. Whereas people who tend to be on the left are perhaps more likely to see their morals or their values deriving from individualistic ideas, if you like." The study is in the journal PLoS ONE.
Of course, just following a political account is not proof of political belief. But these findings suggest that algorithms may increasingly be able to read between the lines, detecting nuances in human communication that even we humans can't perceive. | high13843.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "ten years"
},
"options": [
"three years",
"five years",
"eight years",
"ten years"
],
"question": "The study lasted for more than _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"an... | Older women who regularly drink green tea may have slightly lower risks of stomach and throat cancers than women who don't, according to a Canadian study that followed thousands of Chinese women over a decade.
For the study, researchers used data from a long-running health study of over 69,000 middle-aged and older Chinese women. The researchers found that those who drank green tea at least three times a week were 14 percent less likely to develop a cancer of the digestive ( ) system. More than 19,000 were considered regular green-tea drinkers, who drank it more than three times a week. Over 11 years, 1,255 women developed a digestive system cancer, In general, the risks were somewhat lower when a woman drank green tea often and for a long time. Green tea contains certain chemicals which may reduce the body-cell damage that can lead to cancer and other diseases.
Women who _ a lot of green tea in the study were also younger, ate more fruits and vegetables, exercised more and had higher-income jobs. None of the women smoked or drank alcohol regularly, and the researchers also collected information on their diets, exercise habits, weight and medical history. Yet even with all these things factored in, women's tea habits remained linked to their cancer risks, they noted, even though this type of study cannot prove cause and effect.
The study adds to debate over the effect of green tea on cancer risks, Past studies have so far come to conflicting findings on whether green tea drinkers really do have lower cancer risks.Nobody can say whether green tea itself is the reason, since green tea lovers are often more health-conscious in general. | high22446.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "It costs nothing to join."
},
"options": [
"It costs nothing to join.",
"It focuses on business plans.",
"It is designed for computer lovers.",
"It presents what life is like on other planets."
],
"question": "W... | The Entropia Universe
The Entropia Universe is a virtual world on the Internet, which seems very like our real life.It is set in a distant future and based on a planet called Calypso.Entropia was the brainchild of a group of Swedish computer lovers who decided to see if they could create a three dimensional virtual world that could be placed on the Internet.They did manage after they received the financial backing they needed.
The game can be played for free, but nearly all in-game activities require personal resources that you have available to use.Although there are various activities to keep you busy on Calypso, what most people do first is to find themselves a profession, such as hunting the fierce animals on Calypso, mining the precious minerals and making tools.Then they can think about buying their virtual house or paying a visit to a virtual nightclub or doing any of the other activities that make life bearable.
Entropia has its very own economy and its own currency, the PED (Project Entropia Dollars).Players move real world money into PED which they then use to pay for their life on Calypso.However, the virtual things inside Entropia do have a real value in the outside world, and careful business deals mean that players can actually make real money there.PED can be changed into dollars any time at a rate of 10PED to 1US$.
What's so impressive about The Entropia Universe is the number of players; currently more than 600,000 representing over 220 countries from planet Earth.A number of players insist that it's a good way to make money.However, the reality of Entropia's economic system is that most people end up paying more than they earn and it's not uncommon to find players who are paying up to $200 a month into their PED account.This might not be the most economical way of spending one's free time.However, some people say that for them the fact that they can escape the realities of the earthbound life and become a different person with a completely different life for a few hours every week is worth the use of money, even if they don't get any interest rates on it. | high12585.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "The Innocents Abroad"
},
"options": [
"Huckleberry Finn",
"The Prince and the Pauper",
"The Innocents Abroad",
"Life on the Mississippi"
],
"question": "Which of the following works made Mark Twain begin to be p... | Mark Twain's works are enjoyed worldwide. His real name was Samuel Langhorne Clemens and he was born on November 30th, 1835, in the village of Florida, Monroe County, Missouri. After his father's death in 1847, Twain was apprenticed to a printer and wrote for his brother's newspaper. Later, Twain worked as a licensed Mississippi riverboat pilot, adopting his name from the call ('Mark twain!'--meaning by the mark of two fathoms) used when sounding river shallows. After the Civil War, Clemens brought an end to the steamboat traffic and moved to Virginia City. On February 3, 1863, 'Mark Twain' was born when he signed a humorous travel account with his new name.
In 1864, Twain went to San Francisco to work as a reporter. He traveled in France and Italy and his experience were recorded in 1869 in the Innocents Abroad, which brought him wide popularity, and made fun at both American and European prejudices and manners.
In 1870 he married Olivia Langdon. Together they relocated to Harford a year later. Meanwhile, Twain continued to lecture in the United States and England. Between 1876 and 1884 he published several masterpieces, including Tom Sawyer, the Prince and the Pauper, Life on the Mississippi, and Huckleberry Finn.
In the 1890s, Twain lost most of his earnings in financial speculations and in the downhill of his own publishing firm. The death of his wife and his second daughter brought a sense of gloom in the author's later years, which is seen in writings and his autobiography. Twain died on April 21st, 1910. | high23980.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "teach him to have a sense of responsibility"
},
"options": [
"keep in touch with him at any time",
"teach him to have a sense of responsibility",
"let him learn to use new technology",
"adjust himself o the ever changin... | Thirteen-year-old Greg Hoffman had been begging his parents for an iPhone all year. So on Christmas morning he was thrilled to find the object of his desire under the tree, but there was a _ .
The phone came with an 18-point set of terms and conditions that he had to agree to before the phone could be his. And the agreement did not come from Apple or the phone provider, it was from his mother.
His mom, Janell Hoffman, included a contract along with the iphone that listed eighteen conditions or rules that Greg has to follow if he wants to keep it. Some of the rules limit the time he can use the phone; not after 7:30 p.m , and he can't take it to school. He also has to promise not to send "hurtful" text messages and e-mails to people; give his passwords to his parents, and always answer the phone when his mom or dad calls. Greg also has to use his own money to replace the phone if it's broken or lost
Janell says the idea behind the contract is to teach her son to have a sense of responsibility and to learn to "co-exist with technology, not be ruled by it'. She told him not to use this technology to lie, fool, or cheat another human being.
Most of the terms do not just apply to the iphone, but to life. She also advised him to, "keep your eyes up. See the world happening around you," "Stare out a window. Listen to the birds. Take a walk. Talk to a stranger. Wonder without Googling."
"You are growing up in a fast and ever changing world. It is exciting and enticing. Trust your powerful mind and giant heart above any machine. I hope that you understand it is my job to raise you into a well rounded, healthy young man that can function in the world and coexist with technology, not be ruled by it,"
"I love you. I hope you enjoy your awesome new iPhone. Merry Christmas!" | high9958.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "she wanted to be self-dependent rather than rely on others"
},
"options": [
"she was lucky and still had two legs",
"she wanted to be self-dependent rather than rely on others",
"she didn't want to move to another city",
... | He lost his arms in an accident that claimed his father's life--who was the main source of support for the family. Since then, he has had to depend on the arms of his younger brother. For the sake of taking care of him, his younger brother became his shadow, never leaving him alone for years. Except for writing with his toes, he was completely unable to do anything in his life.
One late night, he suffered from diarrhea and had to wake up his younger brother. His younger brother accompanied him into the toilet and then went back to dorm to wait. But being so tired, his younger brother fell asleep, leaving him on the toilet for two hours till the teacher on duty discovered him. As the two brothers grew up together, they had their share of problems and they would often quarrel. Then one day, his younger brother wanted to live separate from him, living his own life, as many normal people do. So he was heart-broken and didn't know what to do.
A similar misfortune happened to a girl, too. One night her mother, who suffered from chronic mental illness, disappeared. So her father went out looking for her mother, leaving her alone at home. She tried to prepare meals for her parents, only to overturn the kerosene light on the stove, resulting in a fire which took her hands away.
Though her elder sister, who was studying in another city, showed her willingness to take care of her, she was determined to be completely independent. At school, she always studied hard. Most of all she learned to be self-dependent. Once she wrote the following in her composition: "I am lucky. Though I lost my arms, I still have legs; I am lucky." Though my wings are broken, my heart can still fly."
One day, the boy and the girl were both invited to appear on a television interview program. The boy told the TV host about his uncertain future at being left on his own, whereas the girl was full of enthusiasm for her life. They both were asked to write something on a piece of paper with their toes. The boy wrote: My younger brother's arms are my arms; while the girl wrote: Broken wings, flying heart.
They had both endured the same misfortune, but their different attitudes determined the nature of their lives. It is true that life is unpredictable. Disasters can strike at any time. How you handle misfortune when confronted with it actually is the true test of your character. If you choose only to complain and escape from the misfortune, it will always follow you wherever you go. But if you decide to be strong, the hardship will turn out to be fortune on which new hopes will arise. | high7975.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "He didn't want to let himself lonely."
},
"options": [
"He wanted to be a doctor.",
"He liked to be others.",
"He didn't want to let himself lonely.",
"He didn't know he was badly ill."
],
"question": "Why did t... | Many years ago, my dad was diagnosed with a serious heart disease. He was put on permanent disability, but he still wanted to do something to keep himself busy, so he decided to volunteer at the local children's hospital. My dad loved kids. It was the perfect job for him. He would talk to them and play with them and do arts with them.
One of his kids was a girl with a rare disease that paralyzed her from the neck down. I don't know the name of the disease, but I do know that it was very sad for a girl around eight or nine years old. She couldn't do anything, and she was very depressed. My dad decided to try to help her. He started visiting her in her room, bringing paints, brushes and paper. He stood the paper up against a backing, put the paintbrush in his mouth and began to paint. He didn't use his hands at all. Only his head would move. He visited her whenever he could and painted for her. All the while he would tell her, "See, you can do anything you set your mind to."
Finally , she began to paint by using her mouth, and she and my dad became friends. Soon after, the little girl was discharged . One day, in the lobby of the hospital, my dad noticed the front doors open and then in came the little girl who had been paralyzed, but this time she was walking. She ran straight over to my dad and hugged him really tight. She gave him a picture she had done using her hands. At the bottom it read: "Thank you for helping me walk."
My dad would cry every time he told us this story and so would we. He would say: "sometimes love is more powerful than doctors." | high24037.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "connected with the present situation"
},
"options": [
"given in a traditional way",
"connected with the present situation",
"open to both students and their parents",
"warmly received by economics"
],
"question"... | An increase in students applying to study economics at university is being attributed to the global economic crisis awakening a public thirst for knowledge about how the financial system works.
Applications for degree courses beginning this autumn were up by 15% this January, according to UCAS, the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service. A spokesman for the Royal Economic Society said applications to do economics at A-level were also up.
Professor John Beath, the president of the society and a leading lecture at St Andrews University, said his first-year lectures which are open to students from all departments--were drawing crowds of 400, rather than the usual 250.
"There are a large number of students who are not economics majors, who would like to learn something about it. One of the things I have done this year is to relate my teaching to contemporary events in a way that one hasn't traditionally done. " He added.
University applications rose 70% last year. But there were rises above average in several subjects. Nursing saw a 15% jump, with people's renewed interest in careers in the pubic sector , which are seen as more secure in economic crisis.
A recent study showed almost two thirds of parents believed schools should do more to teach pupils about financial matters, and almost half said their children had asked them what was going on, although a minority of parents felt they did not understand it themselves well enough to explain.
Zack Hocking, the head of Child Trust Funds, said: "It's possible that one good thing to arise from the downturn will be a generation that's financially wiser and betterequipped(...) to manage their money through times of economic uncertainty." | high648.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "7"
},
"options": [
"6",
"7",
"8",
"9"
],
"question": "How many gold medals did Mark Spitz won in 1972?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_t... | Inprefix = st1 /Chinahe's known as "the Flying Fish"; inAmericathey call him "the Baltimore Bulet".
Whatever you call him, American swimmer Michael Phelps looks destined to become a household name across the world after breaking the Olympic record for most gold medals in a single Games.
Phelps's total of eight gold medals in Beijingput him one ahead of Mark Spitz's previous record set in 1972.
Now people are already calling him the greatest Olympian of all time. But whether he is or not, what is it that makes Michael Phelps so good?
A good place to start might be his physique . Phelps has the perfect body shape for a swimmer: his arm span is longer than his height, he has very flexible joints, huge lungs, and his incredibly large feet (size 14 in the US, size 49 inChina) act like flippers in the water.
To feed his huge swimmer's body, Phelps eats an astonishing 12,000 calories a day, six times the average for a man of his age.
He then owes it to a swimsuit which has been making waves in the world of swimming. Designed by NASA, the American space agency, the suit is made of a special material which is said to help athletes swim 2% faster.
Michael Phelps should spare a thought for his mum, who first pushed him into swimming as a way of making friends, and who believed in him when one teacher said he would never be a success.
Whatever the reason for his success, Phelps admits there was perhaps also a bit of luck involving in winning his eight medals.
"I guess eight is a lucky number for me, too, now. The opening ceremony started on 8/8/08. Maybe it was meant to be," he said. | high23758.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Making diners comfortable is part of the job."
},
"options": [
"It needs a period of training.",
"It pays much more than other jobs.",
"It can improve one's leadership skills.",
"Making diners comfortable is part of the... | Part-time jobs for 15 and 16 years olds
Waiter / Waitress
A job as a waiter or waitress is a good choice for 16-year-olds. Not only can one earn $9-$12 an hour, but they can also get the tips . Most people that visit a restaurant don't just have good food. They come here to relax and have a good time. Besides serving food quickly, a young waiter who talks to them politely with a smile on his face will make the diners enjoy their time at the restaurant.
Work in a library
If one is fond of books, working in a library is another suitable choice. Besides the pay is good, it offers a lot of free time when students can actually sit down and finish their homework. So on returning home, they would have time to hang around with friends or just relax. So working in a library is an excellent part-time job for teens, especially for school students.
Internet jobs
There are many ways of making money through online jobs like clicking on advertisements, visiting sites and signing up with them. However, such online jobs don't pay well. A better Internet job for teens is to complete online surveys. These are quite simple surveys that usually ask one about his/ her opinions and ideas. Many companies use these ideas to make products designed for teenagers. | high9780.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Birds Change Songs to Suit Urban Life"
},
"options": [
"Birds Change Songs to Suit Country Life",
"Birds Change Sex to Suit Urban Life",
"Birds Change Living Habits to Suit Urban Life",
"Birds Change Songs to Suit Urban... | A new study says that birds living in big cities sing shorter, faster songs that are higher-pitched than those sung by their brothers in the forests. The researchers think that the birds adjust their songs to allow themselves to be heard over the noises of the city, especially the low traffic noise.
To study how urban birds song, Hans Slabbekoorn and Ardie den Bore, biologists at the University of Leiden in Netherlands, travelled around Europe and recorded bird songs in ten major cities and in nearby forests. The species they focused on, the great tit , is widespread across Eurasia and one of the few types of birds that _ in big cities.
Singing is crucial for males, which use their songs to attract mates and mark out their territory. The changing songs could play a role in eventually causing the city birds and the forest dwellers to evolve into separate species.
The findings could also help explain why usually only a few bird species thrive in cities. By contrast, many more bird species tend to be found in forests and other undeveloped habitats.
Studies like this could eventually help researchers predict how urbanization will affect birds, using this knowledge could help urban planners design more pleasant city environments, study co-author Slabbe-koorn said. "You can make a city much more livable if you pay attention to where the noise goes and where the people go," he said. "It would be easy to fit the birds into those models." Then cities wouldn't be strictly for the people, but also for the birds. | high20251.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "None of the three brothers married the princess."
},
"options": [
"The three brothers didn't get along well with each other.",
"All the brothers wanted to marry the princess.",
"The king didn't want to keep his promise.",
... | There were three brothers. They each decided to find a precious treasure and meet a year later.
One year later, the three brothers gathered again. They each _ the treasure they had.
The oldest brother brought a telescope. "I found a telescope which can see far away."
The second brother brought a flying carpet." I found a flying carpet that can be anywhere."
The third brother said." I found an apple that cures all diseases."
The brothers were amazed at the treasures they found. "Let's see what we can do with our treasures now." The brothers all nodded.
The oldest brother looked through his telescope and saw a palace in the distance. A princess was lying in bed sick. The second opened his carpet and said. "Let's ride this carpet and go to the palace." The three brothers went to the palace on the flying carpet to save the sick princess.
The three brothers met the king and told him why they had come. The king said. "If you cure the princess, I will let one of you marry the princess." The youngest brother gave the princess the apple he found.
The princess had been sick for a long time, but with one bite of the apple, she was cured.
The king hugged the princess with joy. "Okay, as promised, one of you can marry the princess." The brothers each wanted the other to marry the princess. No matter how pretty and princess was, the brothers thought their loyalty was more important.
The king was moved and gave them gold and silver and high positions. The three brothers lived happily ever after. | high10392.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Five."
},
"options": [
"Three.",
"Four.",
"Five.",
"Six."
],
"question": "How many ways of resigning are mentioned in the passage?",
"question_type": null
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
... | Many people are already planning to look for a new position when the job market picks up, but the way you quit can have a long term impact on your career. How to resign on good terms:
Be prepared.
Review your employee handbook or employment contract before announcing your decision, so you know what company policy is regarding resignations, severance , the return of company property and pay for unused vacation time. If you have another job lined up, be sure to have your offer in writing before you resign.
Use it or lose it.
If you haven't used vacation time and will lose it if you quit, you might want to use your time before leaving or link it to your resignation date. But if you don't want to burn any bridges, never announce your departure just after returning from vacation.
Make an appointment.
Be formal and make an appointment with your boss. Prepare what you want to say. Be direct and be transparent. After the discussion, put your resignation in a hardcopy letter that includes your last day and any transitional help you've offered. Keep a copy. Two weeks advance notice is still standard but experts recommend offering more time if you've worked at the company for more than five years. You also need to be prepared to leave right away -- some companies require it.
Scrub your digital footprint.
Clear your browser cache , remove passwords to websites you use from work, such as your personal email or online bank account and delete any personal files on your work computer that aren't relevant to work. Don't delete anything work-related if you're required to keep it.
Stay close.
Consider joining an employee alumni association, which often serves as a networking group for former employees. It can be a good way to keep up with changes in the company and industry and find leads to new jobs down the road. Keep in touch with coworkers you worked closely with; they may end up in management roles. | high18916.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "offer the passengers an additional reading platform"
},
"options": [
"earn more money by making advertisements in the carriage",
"attract more tourists to come to Beijing to take the subway",
"make the idea of \"Green Travel\... | BEIJING, (Xinhua) --China's capital city launched its first underground library, "M Subway Library" on Jan. 12,2015. The theme of its first activity is "Our Characters". Citizens riding the special train on subway Line 4 now can read e-books provided by the National Library by scanning the QR code in the carriage.
"M Subway Library" is a public welfare program initiated by the Beijing MTR and the National Library to provide qualified book resources to the public through the platform of public transportation. The library will organize different themed activities regularly and recommend a dozen free books to the public each year in the long term.
XINING, (Xinhua) --A bullet train made its maiden trip from Xining city to Lanzhou city in Northwest China on Dec. 26, 2014, marking the start of the full operations of the Lanxin high-speed railway. The Lanxin high-speed railway links Urumqi in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region with Xining, capital of Qinghai Province, and Lanzhou, capital of Gansu Province, slashing the total travel time from more than 23 hours to 11 hours and 50 minutes. The 1,776-kilometer high-speed rail line, with a designed speed of 250 kilometers per hour, is China's first high-speed railway built in a high-altitude region.
NINGBO, (Xinhua) --Ningbo Subway Line 1 started running special trains with 3D paintings featuring the city's culture starting on Dec. 20, 2014.Through the paintings, the city in East China's Zhejiang province seeks to share its culture and attract more outside visitors. The paintings focus on four themes: rice cake, fishing festival, books and Buddhism. | high9970.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Material."
},
"options": [
"Time.",
"Technique.",
"Space.",
"Material."
],
"question": "According to Khoshnevis,what is the main difficulty in printing buildings?",
"question_type": null
},
{
"answer... | From furniture to jewelry, from the medical industry to civil engineering,three--dimensional printing can turn all sorts of ideas into objects.
"I wanted to print large objects such as buildings,"said Behrokh Khoshnevis,professor of the University of Southern California.He planned to construct a house in 24 hours by applying 3D printing techniques,but he admitted there would be difficulties in meeting his goal.
"For example,if you run out of ink while printing on paper,you will throw that paper away.But you cannot throw half completed buildings away if your material gets stuck,"he said.Although the printed house is not available to visit,there is a chance for people in Shanghai to see items printed in 3D.
The Belgium-based company Materialize NV is currently holding a 3D printing exhibition in Shanghai that started in late 2012 and will continue until the middle of this year.The company is eager to show Asia what is possible with 3D printing.
"All the pieces shown here are what cannot be made through traditional techniques. A good example of this customization is hearing aids More than l0 million people already use 3D printed hearing aids.all made according to the size of their ear."said Wim Michiels, executive vice-president at Materialise NV.
"You can produce anything whenever and wherever you like.You don't need to set-up production lines for pieces that only need a limited amount of product.Setting up a production Line is a tot of work, takes a long time and is very expensive for a limited number of pieces" said Michiels.
Kim Francois,managing director of Matcrialise China,said their European and American clients have at ready made the next step toward additive manufacturing with small-series production such as hearing aids. | high23770.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Being Merciful Toward Others"
},
"options": [
"Changing Bad Daily Habits",
"Excusing Our Own Faults",
"Being Merciful Toward Others",
"Working Toward Self-improvement"
],
"question": "What would be the best titl... | When was the last time you were late and expected someone to understand? How about the time you left your dishes on the table for someone else to clean up? Or perhaps you left the lid on the peanut butter jar loose, and the person after you opened the jar to find it dry and not fresh.
Often, we are eager to ignore our own faults. But we have higher standards when it comes to our expectations of someone else who has the same expectations. We need to as equally understand the weaknesses of others and excuse them just as we excuse ourselves.
Two of my strengths are punctuality and organization. I like to meet deadlines when they are due and keep the space around my computer neat and orderly. But sometimes things happen, and I slip from being perfect. When this happens, I show myself mercy and lower the standard for myself. However, if someone else makes a mess around my computer, I might not show them as much mercy as I show myself. If it can happen to me, then I should be willing to realize that it can happen to someone else as well.
I am not suggesting that we should not work on improving our faults, or that it should be right to be late or leave a mess behind us. Although we should always be working towards self-improvement, we shouldn't have a double standard that says we are excused from our own mistakes but we cannot excuse someone else. If we are not 100-percent perfect, we shouldn't expect others to be.
Mercy shows an understanding heart. If we are blind to our own faults, we will not be very merciful towards others. Showing a little mercy goes a long way when life's little mistakes take place. _ , showing mercy towards someone's shortcomings could cause us to receive some in return. | high5192.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "anxious"
},
"options": [
"tired",
"alone",
"anxious",
"breathless"
],
"question": "Feeling _ is one form of stress.",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
... | In many countries, heart disease kills a lot of women and even more men. There are four major causes of this disease and these are smoking, poor or bad diet, a family history of heart disease and stressful work. Among these main wrong-doers, the most common cause is stress.
What is stress and how do you feel when you are under stress? Imagine you live alone - you are lying in bed at night and, suddenly, you hear someone in the kitchen. Immediately your heart begins to beat very fast and you feel that you can hardly breathe. What you are feeling is not stress, but fear. However, your body changes in the same way when you feel stress. That means that if you feel anxious and worried during an important examination, your heart may beat very fast and you may feel breathless too. You are experiencing stress. Another common situation in which a person is likely to feel stress is to have to do something, for example, performing a boring duty, every day.
Let us look at the case of Annie who was a nurse. She felt a lot of stress in her work and began to have very bad headaches at the end of the day. Each morning she woke up more tired than she was when she went to sleep. She did not want to go out in the evening with her friends and she felt unhappy all the time.
Finally, she sat down and thought about her life. She saw a lot of illness and death in her work but that was not the reason why she was under stress. The real reason was that she felt unable to make a positive decision in her job - she had to do what the doctors and sisters told her.
So, Annie went back to college for further study. When she graduated, she found a job where she
was part of a team as before, but where she had responsibility in making decisions. Her working hours were longer and her work more difficult than when she was a nurse but she enjoyed it. She felt she was in control of her life and her work. For Annie, stress in her old job had made her change her life and end a difficult situation. Stress in her new job became a good thing because it helped her achieve satisfaction in her life and in her work. | high20279.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "he did badly in the exams."
},
"options": [
"he had no friends to play with at school.",
"his mom asked him to get first position.",
"his teacher didn't like him",
"he did badly in the exams."
],
"question": "Re... | Rehan was never serious about his studies. He always wanted to play with his friends and had a bad image in his teachers' eyes.
After the first term exams, it was time for result. Rehan was upset. That day, in the first class Sir Mushtaq said, "Tomorrow there will be a parent teacher meeting and you will get your result." Hearing this Rehan was worried.
He went home as usual, but didn't tell his mother about the parent teacher meeting. The next day when his teacher asked him about his parents, he said, "My parents are out of town, so please give my result to me."
When Rehan went back home, he told his mother that he had got 95. his mother was glad and said, "Well done, my son! Show me your report card."
Now, Rehan was really worried but he said, "Mom, actually this time we haven't got any report card and our teacher only told the result orally." A result without a report card? Rehan's mother asked, but didn't ask any more questions. She also promised to buy a new bicycle for Rehan as his reward.
One day Rehan came back from school, threw the bag on the floor and rushed towards his room. When his mother saw the dirty bag on the floor, she decided to clean it for him. As she opened it, she found the report card about which Rehan had lied.
Rehan's mother quickly went to Rehan's room and showed him the report card. Tears started to fall down from Rehan's eyes. For many days Rehan's mother didn't talk to him. At last Rehan said sorry to his mother for cheating. He promised to get first position in his class next time.
Rehan proved himself. He worked very hard and at last he got first position in the final term. | high16913.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "2005"
},
"options": [
"1998",
"2005",
"2006",
"2010"
],
"question": "According to the passage ,the hottest year in 130 years of record-keeping is _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"an... | WASHINGTON: An analysis of global temperatures by independent statisticians shows the Earth is still warming and not cooling as some global warming skeptics are claiming.
The analysis was conducted at the request of The Associated Press to investigate the legitimacy of talk of a cooling trend that has been spreading on the Internet, fueled by some news reports, a new book and temperatures that have been cooler in a few recent years.
In short, it is not true, according to the statisticians who contributed to the analysis.
The statisticians, reviewing two sets of temperature data, found no trend of falling temperatures over time.US government data show the decade that ends in December will be the warmest in 130 years of record-keeping, and 2005 was the hottest year recorded.
The case that the Earth might be cooling partly stems from recent weather. Last year was cooler than previous years. It has been a while since the superhot years of 1998 and 2005. So is this a longer climate trend or just weather's normal ups and downs?
In a blind test, the AP gave temperature data to four independent statisticians and asked them to look for trends, without telling them what the numbers represented. The experts found no true temperature declines over time.
"If you look at the data and sort of cherry-pick a microtrend within a bigger trend, that technique is particularly suspect," said John Grego, a professor of statistics at the University of South Carolina.
Yet the idea that things are cooling has been repeated in opinion columns, a BBC news story posted on the Drudge Report and in a new book by the authors of the best-seller Freakonomics. Last week, a poll by the Pew Research Center found that only 57 percent of Americans now believe there is strong scientific evidence for global warming, down from 77 percent in 2006. | high21167.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "she found she didn't take enough money with her."
},
"options": [
"she thought the toy wasn't worth the money.",
"she found it difficult to calculate her money.",
"she found she didn't take enough money with her.",
"she... | I was in a charity shop looking at the second hand books. It just so happened that the book shelves were next to the toy section. After a few minutes I became aware of a group of women standing behind me. They were poorly dressed and spoke in what sounded like an eastern European language. As they looked through the clothes rails a little girl, about three years old, came over to the toy section. Immediately her attention was caught by a toy pram . What is it about little girls and toy prams? I don't know, but whatever it is its incredibly cute!
She spoke to her mother and, in halting English her mother asked the shop assistant how much it cost. Three pounds was the answer---about five dollars. The mum looked down at her child, perhaps calculating what she still had to buy and how much money she would have left. Then she simply shook her head.
The child didn't react badly as some might. Being told "no" was obviously not a new experience for her. But she couldn't keep the disappointment from her face.
I had the grand total of four pounds in my pocket, two two-pound coins. A moment later I tapped the mother on the shoulder, pointed to the coins which I had left in the pram and said, "Buy her a dolly too."
I didn't hang about to see the end result. After all, it's not about being thanked. I made my way out of the shop and into the sunshine.
The money was an investment in the happiness of the world. Was there any better way, I wondered, to get so much happiness for so little money than to buy a little girl a toy pram? And a dolly to sit in it! | high21601.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "the influence of a gene on the ability to sleep"
},
"options": [
"the progress in cloning fruit flies",
"the methods of cloning fruit flies",
"the link between gene and lifespan",
"the influence of a gene on the ability... | Research suggests that a newly-identified gene known as insomniacs may play a role in keeping us asleep. By cloning and testing this gene in about 21,000 fruit flies, Rockefeller University researchers say they have discovered an entirely new mechanism by which sleep is controlled.
By studying these flies, the researchers discovered that mutations in the insomniac gene were associated with a great reduction in sleep. While a typical fruit fly slept for an average of 927 minutes a day, the mutant flies slept for just 317. They also slept for shorter periods of time, and slept and woke more frequently.
"The results showed a great loss of both the time that the flies' sleep lasted and their ability to remain asleep after they slept," says researcher Nicholas Stavropoulos.
The researchers also examined the link between sleep and lifespan, finding that flies with mutations to the insomniac gene lived only about two-thirds as long as unchanged flies. But when the scientists removed insomniac only inneurons ---allowing it to remain in the rest of the flies' bodies---this difference disappeared; the resulting animals slept poorly but lived just as long.
"This suggests that reduced sleep can be 'uncoupled' from reduced lifespan, supporting the idea that some interruptions of sleep do not affect overall health, at least as far as lifespan is concerned," Stavropoulos says.
Although flies and humans would appear to have little in common when it comes to lifestyle, scientists say that the mechanisms of sleep and wakefulness are likely to be quite similar.
"Sleep is a fundamental behavior in all animals, and it is poorly understood from a scientific standpoint, says Stavropoulos. This work could prove useful in understanding and treating sleep disorders" | high3285.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "It is quite close to local attractions."
},
"options": [
"It's designed specially for businessmen.",
"It has well-developed traffic to other cities.",
"It is quite close to local attractions.",
"It is the cheapest of th... | Residence Inn Milford
Within 15 minutes from historic Yale University and New Haven, the Residence Inn Milford offers great amenities and first-class service for business or leisure travel. Our all-suites hotel near New Haven is 1 hour from Bradley International Airport and 10 minutes from a Metro North train station that can get you to NYC in under an hour and a half. At our Milford, CT hotel, enjoy spacious studio, suites that are 50 percent larger than traditional hotel rooms.
Our suites offer hot breakfast buffet and a nightly social hour (Monday - Wednesday) , on-site exercise room and outdoor swimming pool.
Price $ 119 per night Pet Policy Pets allowed Check in time 300 pm
Marriott Detroit Southfield
Newly renovated , the Marriott Detroit Southfield Hotel is one of Detroit's most desirable hotel destinations. With excellent public areas, enhanced meeting spaces and carefully redesigned guest rooms, the Marriott Detroit Southfield Hotel caters to the needs of business, leisure and group guests travelling to the Detroit area. This suburban Detroit hotel has a prime location that allows for easy access to the Detroit Zoo, Henry Ford Museum, Comerica Park, Ford Field and many of the other local activities in the area. It is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Price $ 75 per night Check in time 400 pm
Comfort Suites Kodak
100 percent smoke free and pet free hotel conveniently located at the main gateway to the Great Smoky Mountains off Interstate 40 at exit 407, close to all the fun and excitement in Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg, and Knoxville, including Dollywood, Dixie Stampede, Smokies Park, Sevierville Events Center, Tanger Outlet Mall, Uinversity of Tennessee and more. Guests enjoy waking up in our well-appointed guest suites featuring contemporary furnishings and LCD flat screen televisions, starting their day with our free breakfast, and relaxing in our indoor pool and exercise room.
Price $55 per night Check in time 300 pm
The Swinton Hotel
Located in the very heart of the centre of London, the Swinton Hotel is one of the leading Kings Cross hotels offering free breakfast. It is a friendly and relaxed hotel. With a reputation as one of the top cheap hotels in London and a location which allows easy access to all tourist attractions, shopping areas and transport connections, you have come to the right place if you are looking for brilliant Kings Cross Hotels. Whatever reason you are looking for cheap hotels in London and whether you are visiting on business, as a tourist or to enjoy the vast varieties of entertainment and nightlife, we will be more than happy to provide you with a safe and comfortable environment. The Swinton Hotel is situated in an ideal location for those travelling to or from London by rail. Being located within walking distance of many popular tourist attractions, you are unlikely to find many cheap hotels in London situated in a better location.
Price $45 per night Check in time 3 00 pm | high18080.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "he enjoyed climbing mountains very much"
},
"options": [
"he sometimes enjoyed climbing mountains",
"he was angry on mountains",
"he lost his senses on mountains",
"he enjoyed climbing mountains very much"
],
"q... | Peter Fern was mad on mountains. Climbing was the love of his life. Church towers, seaside cliffs, rock faces, ice mountains, anything --- "If it's there," he used to say, "then I want to climb it." so the news of his marriage gave me surprise. I'd never known him to take much interest in girls. Well, well, Peter Fern, a married man! I couldn't get over it. I wondered whether his wife would try to stop some of his risky adventures.
She was French perhaps --- from that place where he usually spent his holidays. Chamonix, wasn't it? From Chamonix he's climbed Mont. Blanc on his seventeenth birthday, and one of the Aifuilles the day after! That was it, then; she was French, from a family, most of whom liked climbing. No doubt --- No other explanation.
A month later I met them both in town. Anna surprised me because she was English. She was a dancer in the theatre. "never climbed more than sixty steps in my life." she told me. "Peter has his interests, and I've got mine. No problem." "None at all, " Peter said, smiling. "Where did you spend your honeymoon?" I asked. "Somewhere far from theater and mountains, was it?" "We had a week's holiday," Anna said, "I flew toprefix = st1 /New Yorkto see the drake Dancers on Broadway. a wonderful show!" Peter said, "Didn't want to miss the good weather. So I went toSwitzerlandand climbed the north face of the Eiger with Allen Dunlop. Great fun, the Eiger. Grand place for a honeymoon! I'll show you the photographs we took one day." | high23016.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "often different from"
},
"options": [
"is precisely the same as",
"is as clear as",
"often different from",
"is always much smaller than"
],
"question": "According to the passage the \"felt\" image _ the mirro... | When you close your eyes and try to think of the shape of your own body, what you imagine (or rather, what you feel) is quite different from what you see when you open your eyes and look in the mirror. The image you feel is much vaguer than the one you see. And if you lie still, it is quite hard to imagine yourself as having any particular size or shape.
When you move, when you feel the weight of your arms and legs and the natural resistance of the objects around you, the "felt" image of yourself starts to become clearer. It is almost as if it were created by your own actions and the feelings they cause.
The image you create for yourself has rather strange proportions ; certain parts feel much larger than they look. If you get a hole in one of your teeth, it feels enormous; you are often surprised by how small it looks when you inspect it in the mirror.
Although the "felt" image may not have the shape you see in the mirror, it is much more important. It is the image through which you recognize your physical existence in the world. In spite of its strange proportions, it is all one piece, and since it has a consistent right and left and a top and bottom, it allows you to locate new feelings when they occur. It allows you to find your nose in the dark and point to a pain.
If the felt image is damaged for any reason--if it is cut in half or lost as it often is after certain strokes which wipe out recognition of one entire side -these tasks become almost impossible. What is more, it becomes hard to make sense of one's own visual appearance. If one half of the "felt" image is wiped out or injured, the patient stops recognizing the affected part of his body. It is hard for him to find the location of feelings on that side, and, although he feels the doctor's touch, he locates it as being on the undamaged side. | high106.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "The decrease of crops in America restarted the fight between food and fuel."
},
"options": [
"Average food prices rose all over the world.",
"The decrease of crops in America restarted the fight between food and fuel.",
"The ... | American officials have sharply reduced their expecmtions for this year's corn and soybean crops.Farmers in the Midwest are struggling with record heat and the worst drought in many years.
The United States is the world's largest producer of com and soybeans.Last Friday the Agriculture Department predicted corn production would add up to 10.8 billion bushels this year.That was down 17%from a prediction made just a month ago.And it was down 13%from last year's level.The average yield per hectare could be the lowest in seventeen years.
At the sarne time,the government predicted that soybean production would be 12% lower than last year.
The price of corn has hit record levels.Corn is a major part of animal feed,so the price of meat,milk and eggs is also expected to climb.
The FAO says average food prices worldwide rose 6%in July.The American drought was a big reason.
The situation has renewed the fight between food and fuel.About 40%of the nation's corn crop goes into making ethanol .The production process leaves some of that in a form that can be fed to animals.Still,at least one-fourth of the American corn crop is now made into fuel.
The United States requires that part of its corn crop be used in the production of biofuels .The use of ethanol has grown as government requirements have increased.But Jose,the head of the FAO called for"an immediate,temporary pause"of that requirement.He said more of the American corn production could then be used as food or to feed animals.
The American livestock industry is also urging Congress to stop the law that requires ethanol in gasoline.But corn farmer Alan Bennett says doing that would hurt his town.
A 2005 law requires automobile fuel to contain ethanol.The growth of the ethanol industry and competition for corn has been helping parts of rural America that had been reducing for years. | high22308.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Both of them are weekly published."
},
"options": [
"Both of them are weekly published.",
"Both of them cover religion, women and economical development.",
"Both of them were first published in the 1930s.",
"Their circu... | Have You Read Them?
Time
Time is a weekly news magazine founded by Briton Hadden and Henry R. Luce. Time's current circulation is about 4.3 million.Time summarizes the news concisely and completely, gives background, organizes and departmentalizes the news each week. It covers national and foreign affairs, books, art, music, education, religion, medicine, law, science, finance, sports, press and milestones.
Women
Women is a popular illustrated weekly British magazine for women, containing fashion details, short stories and serial stories, often on romantic themes. It also has practical advice and hints for housewives and a variety of articles of general interest. It was first published in 1937, with a current circulation of around 1.5 million.
China Daily
China Daily is the first and only national English language newspaper in China, launched in Beijing on June 1, 1981. Distributed in more than 150 countries and regions, China Daily is one of China's major information sources for English language readers who want to learn about China's political, economic, cultural and social development. | high23002.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Smoking can ruin you if you are hopelessly addicted to it."
},
"options": [
"Smoking can help to remove your worries and make you hopeful.",
"Hopefully, the bad taste of the cigarette can help you to quit smoking.",
"You are ... | Kalle Lasn was in a supermarket parking lot one afternoon when he had an experience that changed his life.In order to shop at the store, he needed to put money into the shopping cart to use it.Annoyed that he had to "pay to shop," Lasn jammed the coin into the cart so that it wouldn't work.It was an act of _ --the first of many--for Lasn.
Born in Estonia, Kalle Lasn moved to Australia as a young man and then later to Japan, where he founded a marketing research firm in Tokyo.Eventually, Lasn moved to Canada and for several years produced documentaries for public television.In the late 1980s, Lasn made an advertisement that spoke out against the logging industry and the deforestation going on in the Pacific Northwest.When he tried to show his ad on TV, though, no station in this area would give him airtime.In response, Lasn and a colleague founded Adbusters Media Foundation, a company for the "Human right to communicate.
Adbusters produces magazine, newspaper, and TV ads with a social message.Many use humor and irony to make their points: In one, for example, a man chain smokes a brand of cigarettes called "Hope".In another, a child is dressed in an outfit used in fast-food ads.Next to the child is a note from its mother telling the restaurant to leave her child alone.
Adbusters also has a magazine and a web site, the Culture Jammers Network, whose members include students, artists, and activists as well as educators and businesspeople interested in social change.Many of these "culture jammers" are working to raise awareness about different social issues by hosting events like "Buy Nothing Day" , " No Car Day" and "TV Turnoff Week" .Lasn and his partners hope these events will encourage people to think about questions such as;
*What kinds of things are we being encouraged to buy by the media?
*Should cars be our primary means of transportation?
*How are television and radio being used now? How could we be using them?
Some culture jammers are using other methods to challenge how people think.Some pretend to be shoppers.They move items in stores from one shelf to another making it difficult for people to find things easily.Other culture jammers break into large company well sites and jam them so that they become unusable.The goal in both cases ia to prevent "Business as usual" and to gel people to ask themselves questions such as "Why am I shopping here?" or "Why should I buy this product?"
Lasn and members of the Culture Jammers Network want to make people aware of social issues, but they also believe it's important to think of solutions, too."A lot of people tell you everything that's wrong but they never say much about how to fix these problems," says Lasn."But there is plenty we can do.If you start despairing, you have lost everything."
Though many TV stations still won't show Adbusters' " uncommercials" , some cable TV stations have started to.People all over the world have joined the Culture Jammers Network and are doing their part to promote social change. | high1486.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "He treated the teen to dinner"
},
"options": [
"He gave the teen a new wallet",
"He treated the teen to dinner",
"He gave his coat to the teen",
"He taught the teen a lesson"
],
"question": "What did Diaz do to ... | One night, as Diaz stepped off the train and onto a nearly empty platform, a teenage boy approached and pulled out a knife.
"He wanted my money, so I just gave him my wallet and told him, 'Here you go '" Diaz says.
As the teen began to walk away, Diaz told him, "Hey, wait a minute. You forgot something. If you're going to be robbing people for the rest of the night, you might as well take my coat to keep you warm."
The robber looked at him puzzled, saying, "Why are you doing this?"
Diaz replied, "If you're willing to risk your freedom for a few dollars, then you must really need the money. I mean, all I wanted to do was get dinner and if you really want to join me....."
Diaz says he and the teen went into a diner and sat in a booth.
"The manager comes by, the dishwashers come by, the waiters come by to say hi," Diaz says.
The kid said, "You know everybody here. Do you own this place?"
"No, I just eat here a lot," Dias said. "But you're even nice to the dishwasher," he said.
Diaz replied, "Well, haven't you been taught you should be nice to everybody?"
"Yea, but I didn't think people actually behaved that way," the teen said.
When the bill arrived, Diaz said, "You're going to have to pay for this bill because you have my money and I can't pay for this. So if you give me my wallet back, I'll gladly treat you."
The teen returned it immediately. "I gave him $20.... I figure maybe it'll help him." Diaz says he asked for something in return--- the teen's knife--- "and he gave it to me."
Afterwards, when Diaz told his mother what happened, she said, "You're the type of kid that if someone asked you for the time, you gave them your watch."
"I figure, you know, if you treat people right, you can only hope that they treat you right. It's as simple as it gets in this complicated world." | high112.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "They fear losing control of their workers."
},
"options": [
"They are used to face-to-face communication.",
"They want to stick to their routine practice.",
"They have little trust in modem technology.",
"They fear losi... | Digital technology -- email and smart phones especially--have vastly improved workers' ability to be productive outside of a traditional office. Even so, most white-collar work still happens in an office. One reason is that, according to findings of a new survey of office workers conducted by Wakefield Research for the IT company Citrix, most bosses are doubtful about remote working. Half of the workers say their boss doesn't accept it, and only 35 percent say it's tolerated.
Skeptical bosses will likely have their doubts reinforced by the same survey, which shows that 43 percent of workers say they've watched TV or a movie while "working" remotely, while 35 percent have done housework,and 28 percent have cooked dinner.
It is true, however, that working at home makes people much more efficient , because it allows workers to take care of annoying housework while still getting their jobs done. It's much faster, for example, to shop for groceries at a quarter to three than to stand in line during the after-work rush.
The fact that such practices remain officially unaccepted reflects how far we haven't come as a society from the days when we expected every full-time worker to be supported by a full-time homemaker.
More broadly the Wakefield survey suggests that employers may be missing a low-cost way to give workers something of value. Sixty-four percent of those survey participants who haven't worked remotely would rather give up some bonus in order to get even one day a week working from home. Under such circumstances, smart firms need to find ways to let their employees have enough ability to change or be changed easily to suit a different situation to manage their time efficiently. | high14876.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "to get people well informed of all kinds of news"
},
"options": [
"to help people to begin their day by reading it",
"to satisfy every reader",
"to get people well informed of all kinds of news",
"to provide its readers... | The American humorist,Will Rogers,used to say,"All I kown is what I read in the newspapers".This was an exaggeration for humorous purposes,but it is true that newspapers are an important source of information.Many people begin their day by reading the paper.In this way they learn what is going on in the world.Sometimes,however,they don't have time to read the news carefully and must be satisfied with a quick look at the front page;at other times they may be in such a hurry that they have time only to glance at the headlines.
There are newspapers to satisfy every reader.In the big cities there are many types of papers,with several different editions every day. In small towns there are fewer newspapers and perhaps only one edition each day.In some areas the paper is printed weekly.
Most newspapers have several sections,especially on Sundays when the edition is larger than usual.There are,in addition to the front page with the most important news,the sports section,the society page,the comics,the amusement section,a business page,and the editorials.
Another type of publication which helps keep the population informed is the magazine. Some magazines are published weekly,others are put out monthly.There are news magazines,literary magazines,and magazines for such special interests as photography,sports,art,and music,Some are primarily for men,others for women,and there is a selection of children's magazines,too. In the United States, there are publications for every taste and interest. | high21615.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "raising bees and growing plants"
},
"options": [
"drinking and playing chess with his friends",
"raising bees and growing plants",
"doing farm work in the fields",
"recalling his past life"
],
"question": "From ... | According to Hunan Daily, in Yongxing County of Hunan Province, retired teacher Chen and his wife are living in a natural cave , and they quite enjoy such life. [:Zxxk.Com]
Chen's cave is 20 meters wide and 8 meters deep. Lichens can be seen everywhere in it. Chen says that the place is free of pollution.
Because of being poor, they moved into the cave, Chen said. In 1975, the houses of his families and his neighbors were all burned to the ground in the fire. Chen was then already married and badly needed a house to live in. But he had no money to build a house, so he had to live in his relatives' houses as long as 5 years.
In 1980, he happened to discover this cave, immediately he and his family members decided to live in there. Chen thought the cave could be a temporary living place, but it never occurred to him that it could be his home in the next 28 years. Chen recalled that the first couple of days were the most difficult period, "I put up some wooden boards for a gate, but they were all blown away by wind that same night."
Chen has two sons and a daughter, and they all left the cave after they got married. Now Chen's old friends once in a while visit him in his cave drinking and playing Chinese chess. For Chen, the most enjoyable thing is to raise bees and grow kinds of plants. | high5838.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "The city was not safe enough."
},
"options": [
"They were tired of city life.",
"The city was not safe enough.",
"The people in the city were not friendly.",
"Life in the city was too expensive."
],
"question": ... | To "sacrifice" means to give up something for the sake of something else. We decided to sacrifice our luxurious city life to move to a seaside village with our children aged 9 and 3. In the city, we had a beautiful home and plenty of money but little real security because crime was on the increase every day. We never knew if we would all make it home safely each night.
We were very happy in the new town but life was very difficult economically. Our income was very much dependent on tourism and the jobs at other times are few. Although many of the long-standing residents live well, it is a very competitive environment for newcomers.
Reading the newspapers from the big cities assured us that we had made the right choice. There is so much violence and crime there! However, it was not always easy to explain .to the children why they could no longer have what they used to have, especially when our "rich" friends came from the city to visit.
One day, one of our "rich" friends came to visit us. His son preferred riding in the back of our _ truck to his father's modern car. Our little daughter called me and said, "Mom, please help me explain to James why he is wrong. He said, 'today, if you don't have money you are nothing.' I know that is not true. If you do have money you share it with your friends and if they don't have money, you share it with them. That is what makes us all rich."
This made me realize that the sacrifice was well worth it. Our kids have a solid set of values and they know that our most precious gifts are our good friends and a wonderful environment. | high18094.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "he heard something unusual"
},
"options": [
"he heard something unusual",
"he was not sleeping at the moment",
"he saw the Santa at the moment",
"he wanted to step out of the room"
],
"question": "Author opened ... | I just finished the household chores for the night and was preparing to go to bed, when I heard a noise in the front of the house. I opened the door to the front room and to my surprise, Santa himself stepped out from behind the Christmas tree.
He placed his finger over his mouth so I would not cry out. "What are you doing?" I started to ask. The words choked up in my throat, and I saw he had tears in his eyes. His usual jolly manner was gone. Gone was the eager, boisterous soul we all know.
He then answered me with a simple statement"TEACH THE CHILDREN!"
I was puzzled; what did he mean?
Santa then reached in his bag and pulled out a FIR TREE ."Teach the children that the pure green color of the stately fir tree remains green all year round,describing the everlasting hope of mankind,all the needles point heavenward, making it a symbol of man's thoughts turning toward heaven."
He again reached into his bag and pulled out a brilliant STAR. "Teach the children that the star was the heavenly sign of promises long ago. God promised a savior for the world, and the star was the sign of fulfillment of his promise."
He then reached into his bag and pulled out a CANDLE. "Teach the children that the candle symbolizes that Christ is the light of the world, and when we see this great light we are reminded of he who displaces the darkness."
Suddenly I heard a soft twinkling sound, and from his bag he pulled out a BELL. "Teach the children that as the lost sheep are found by the sound of the bell, it should ring mankind to the fold. The bell symbolizes guidance and return."
Santa looked back and was pleased. I saw that the _ was back in his eyes. He said, "Remember, teach the children the true meaning of Christmas and do not put me in the center, for I am but an humble servant of the one that is, and I bow down to worship HIM, our LORD, our GOD." | high5186.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "the Smurfs' adventures in New York City"
},
"options": [
"the Smurfs' happy life in their village",
"the evil wizard Gargamel's powerful magic",
"the Smurfs' adventures in New York City",
"how the Smurfs rebuild their v... | The Smurfs --cute little blue cartoon dwarfs inspired by Nordic fairy tales made their first TV appearance in the US in 1981 and ever since have been childhood friends to many people across. The storyline is quite simple. The Smurfs are living happily in their mushroom houses in the middle of a forest.Then one day the evil wizard Gargamel discovers their village and sends them by magic to present-day New York City. The Smurfs have to find their way home and conquer Gargamel along the way.
So, just why, more than half a century later, is the simple story still so beloved by young and old? Mario Cacciolotto, a BBC reporter, believes it is due to the fact that the Smurfs' lives do not have any particular cultural implication and argues that they could offer a model for society.
Veronique Culliford, daughter of the Smurfs' creator Pierre Culliford, agrees."They are unique creations," she says, "They do not do politics or religion.They are multi-cultural and everybody around the world can recognize themselves in the Smurfs.Everyone can apply their very nice values of friendship, kindness and helping others to their own lives, regardless of where they come from".
In the Smurf world , everyone has their own skill and is willing to use it for the benefit of others without expecting any reward.Their village is run as a collective and has no form of currency. This has even led to debates about whether the artist intended the Smurfs as a metaphor for socialism. "The series wasn't just about sweet-looking dwarfs," said Alan Mechem of the British Smurf Collectors Club.He thought that Culliford wanted it to show things like equality and tolerance. | high16907.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "the author was determined to save his wife's life"
},
"options": [
"the author had little hope that his wife would survive",
"the author was determined to save his wife's life",
"the author's wife refused to receive radiation... | "I don't think I can do this any more." "Yes, you can. You only have five more radiation treatments to go. " I held my wife Becky close.
Ever since the breast cancer diagnosis , she had tried hard to be strong for the kids and for me. When her diagnosis came, my first thought was there was no way I could lose my wife. The doctors assured us the cancer was discovered early so we were feeling positive.
Becky had received an operation and was recovering from it. After six weeks of radiation therapy , she was facing her final five treatments. She was weak and tired, in low spirits. Seeing her suffering, I felt so helpless and powerless.
As soon as I was outside, long-held frustration and anger erupted in me like a volcano. I took a hammer and suddenly was swinging as hard as I could, beating heavily on the front porch . While doing so, I imagined I was beating my wife's cancer. With all my strength, I destroyed the porch.
During the treatment, my wife had been very brave. She said she had it easy, but I don't think it was easy for her.
Seeing the porch gone, Becky shook her head at the window. I came into the room, not knowing how she would react to what I had done.
"Becky, are you mad at me?" She looked at me in surprise. "For what?" I pointed at the gate. "For tearing down the porch." She laughed. "Look how sunny this room is now. I love that it's bright in here."
"You comforted me in my darker hour, Vince. You've found a way to deal with your own frustration. By destroying the porch, you let the sunshine in."
As I looked around the brightened room, I realized the light that filled the space was the light of hope that shone so bright after the darkness. We never did re-build the porch. | high4298.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "people spending much time sitting and watching television"
},
"options": [
"a kind of potatoes produced in Britain",
"people spending much time sitting and watching television",
"a kind of food offered by the English people",... | British men are couch potatoes. They spend nearly half their freetime watching TV. They watch more TV than women, do less housework, less charity work and less childcare--but spend more time shopping, a poll suggests. Analysts from Eurostat, the EU's statistical office, interviewed working men and women in 10 countries.
Britain, where men devoted 49% of their freetime to the box, came a narrow second to the Hungarians with 51%.German and Norwegian men watched the least TV--just over one third of their spare time.
The analysts took the average of the figures for the whole year including holidays and weekends. They broke down the "average day" into five categories --free-time, sleep, meals and personal care, travel, domestic chores and work or study. It shows that British men have four hours and 41 minutes free time each day--20 minutes more than women. But women spend nearly double the amount of time on domestic chores than men. Almost three-and-a-half hours of a woman's day is taken up with domestic work, compared to less than two hours for men.
Food preparation makes up the bulk of the chores, with leaning and shopping the next most time-consuming. They further broke down the free-time and domestic categories to show that men spend 137 minutes each day in front of the TV, compared to women's 114 minutes.
Women spend slightly more time socializing resting and reading than men, but slightly less time on hobbies, sport and exercise. Universally unpopular with both sexes is culture--accounting for just 2% of both men and women's leisure time. | high7791.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Anxious."
},
"options": [
"Disappointed.",
"Anxious.",
"Curious.",
"Relieved."
],
"question": "How did the author feel when the pilot said the engines didn't work?",
"question_type": null
},
{
"answe... | Last year, I was on a plane with my friend, waiting for it to take off. The pilot's voice was heard throughout the plane: "Sorry for the delay, ladies and gentlemen. Our engines don't work. We are going to jump-start them. _ "
That was all he said. "See what happens?" Shouldn't we have had a better plan than that? At that point. I could only laugh nervously. One woman started crying, "Oh no! We are going to crash!'' There were sighs of hopelessness and anxiety, and we hadn't even taken off yet.
The pilot even seemed unhappy. He told us our one engine was working double time, and his plan was to get up in the air and see what happens! Then we did. We got up in the air, and what happened? Nothing. We arrived in Norfolk, and no sooner had the wheels touched down than applause burst out as everyone on the airplane breathed a sigh of relief.
All too often, people stop trying to achieve their goals just because they don't have a guaranteed result. But success will never be guaranteed. The best thing that you can do is just get up in the air, and see what happens. While I do prefer planning better than "see what happens" when it comes to flying, it really isn't such a bad idea for life.
If your effort is to build a business then get up in the air and see what happens! Don't give yourself all the reasons why you can't. Do not wait until you have everything you need. You never will!
If your goal is to start a friendship, say "Hello", get up in the air and see what happens! The results could be very rewarding. If your goal is to learn a new skill, get up in the air and see what happens! It might not be as difficult as your think. It could be fun! | high7949.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Words did not haven written form, at first."
},
"options": [
"Men, as well as animals, in vented certain sounds to express thoughts.",
"The origin of language is a complicated question.",
"Words did not haven written form, at... | How men first learnt to invent words is unknown; in other words, the origin of language is a mystery. All we really know is that men, unlike animals, somehow invented certain sounds to express thoughts and feelings, actions and things, so that they could communicate with each other; and that later they agreed upon certain signs, called letters. These letters could be combined to represent those sounds, and which could be written down. Those sounds, whether spoken, or written in letters, we call words.
The power of words, then, lies in their associations---the things they bring up before our minds. Words become filled with meaning for us by experience, and the longer we live, the more certain words recall to us the glad and sad events of our past; and the more we read and learn, the more the number of words that mean something to us increases. Great writers are those who not only have great thoughts but also express these thoughts in words which appeal powerfully to our minds and emotions. This charming and telling use of words is what we call literary style. Above all, the real poet is a master of words. He can convey his meaning in words which sing like music and which by their position and association can move men to tears. We should therefore learn to choose our words carefully and use them accurately, or they will make our speech silly and vulgar . | high23764.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "All the accidents cannot be prevented ."
},
"options": [
"All the accidents can be prevented .",
"All the accidents cannot be prevented .",
"Lives can be saved so long as there is proper equipment .",
"Lives cannot be s... | Few people would question the value of taking part in sports for young people . With proper training , supervision , protective equipment and techniques , and a proper emphasis on winning , sports can develop a healthy body and spirit and a life-long interest in being active and fit . Without such measures , childhood sports can lead to injuries and even paralysis or death .
Even in the best conditions , no activity can be risk-free. But most serious
are preventable. Cyclists and football players can reduce their risks by wearing helmets, hockey players by wearing masks;basketball and tennis players by wearing eye guards; baseball players by wearing batting helmets .
Besides, risks to individual players can often be found , and thus prevented , through a properly performed medical exam before a child plays . For accidents that cannot be preventable , having an emergency plan and first-aid equipment , and someone trained to use the equipment, can be lifesaving .
Still , each year , according to the American College of Sports Medicine , more than 775,000 children under 14 are treated in emergency rooms for sports injuries , nearly half of them preventable . An estimated 300,000 athletes experience exercise-related head illnesses each year , and almost all of them should have been avoided .
Further , from half to three-fourths of sports-related concussions are never even diagnosed ; the injured are often sent back to play too soon and put a risk of another more serious brain-damaging concussion . To help reduce these risks , the National Center for Sports Safety , with the National Athletic Trainers' Association , offers a three-hour online safety course for coaches for $28 at | high15981.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "in expectation of doing something meaningful"
},
"options": [
"to find a new job",
"to build a tree house",
"with the hope of joining Earth First",
"in expectation of doing something meaningful"
],
"question": "... | At the age of 16, Julia Butterfly Hill quit school and worked at a restaurant. For many years, she was only interested in making money and material things. Then one day she had a serious car accident, which changed her life. Hill said: "I realized I wanted to find a more powerful purpose for being here on this planet."
As soon as she recovered, Hill traveled to California. There she saw ancient redwood trees, which are the largest trees in the whole world. The wood from redwood trunks is very hard. So the Pacific Lumber Company cut down many of the huge redwoods to use for construction. There are not many forests of these trees left. Many environmental activists want to protect the remaining trees. The redwoods are very important to the environment.
In 1997 Hill learned a group called Earth First was working to protect a particular group of trees. They decided to send someone up into a redwood tree, hoping this would stop the company from cutting the trees down. Julia Butterfly Hill volunteered.
Hill lived in the tree for over two years without ever coming down. Her home was a 6-by-8-foot tree house, 180 feet up. It is always cold and wet in a redwood tree. There were even very serious winter storms while Hill was in the tree. The wind and cold almost knocked Hill out of the tree. But she did not fall -- she survived.
Finally, after years of arguing, the company decided to protect Luna, the tree Hill lived in. They signed an agreement to never cut down this huge redwood tree or the trees around it. When Hill put her feet on the earth again, she began to cry. But from that moment on Hill hasn't stopped working to protect the environment. | high13328.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "make those poor children happy"
},
"options": [
"provide an occasion to know orphans",
"make those poor children happy",
"make your friends and family happy",
"distribute candy to those lovely children"
],
"ques... | Valentine's Day, a day traditionally reserved for expressing romantic love, is observed practically all around the world. However, not many people are familiar with Sweetest Day. Actually it is a holiday, especially designed to express love and care for those who were routinely neglected by society.
Sweetest Day was the idea of Herbert Birch Kingston, who worked for a company in Cleveland, Ohio. He felt that there were plenty of children, especially orphans and poor kids, who didn't necessarily get the attention they deserved. Thus in 1922, he launched the first Sweetest Day to give out boxes of candy to mainly poor children.
Since the day picked was the third Saturday in October, this became the traditional time to celebrate Sweetest Day. The tradition was so enjoyed that people often looked beyond kindness to treating their own friends or family to treats on Sweetest Day.
In the US, Sweetest Day is celebrated primarily in the Northeastern region of the US, still on the third Saturday of October. Yet news of the tradition, which began nearly 100 years ago, has spread to other parts of the country, especially as people who lived in those areas moved elsewhere. People may distribute candy or small gifts to those in patient homes, hospitals, foster homes, or mental institutions, and they may also treat friends and family to little gifts from the heart.
In keeping with the original tradition, celebrating Sweetest Day should really be most focused on people who ordinarily don't have the good fortune of attention from friends or family, either due to difficult family circumstances or to poverty. This can be a great tradition to start if your community doesn't routinely celebrate the day, and there are many candy manufacturers that are willing to help donate or reduce costs on gifts intended for people in unfortunate circumstances. | high14447.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "It offers better education than the kindergartens."
},
"options": [
"It saves time and helps relieve mother's burden.",
"It allows parents to learn more about kids.",
"It allows kids to learn to share and be independent.",
... | Sharing cars to work is not unusual.But what about sharing time to raise children together? In Ningbo city of Zhejiang province in East China, young mothers in the same neighborhood pool their children together, and share the responsibility of being parents.
Spending every day together, but not families - in this coastal city of East China, three mothers are trying a new way of raising their kids, by pooling them together. Among the mothers are both office workers and housewives.They say they do so not just because of the tight schedule.
Jiujiu's mother said, "By kids pooling, we mean to create an opportunity for the kids to spend time together so that we can observe our kids, learn more about them.And then we can discuss how to better bring them up."
The three families have been doing so for two years, in school days and holidays.Their children have grown used to each other's company,
Chichi's mother said, "My son was a bit shy.We've been talking him to be more active, but he hardly changed.After joining the kids pool, suddenly we found him willing to communicate with others now.When we are not there, he has to rely on himself to get along with his pals."
Generally, mothers speak highly about the pooling.The mothers describe the pooling as bringing the running water into a closed pond.It opens a window to a different world for both kids and parents.But there are moments when opinions differ.Xiaoxiao's mother said, "Sex education for example.Kids will be curious about it when they reach a certain age.Personally I want to talk with my child about it, frankly and sincerely.But the other two moms think it better not to bring it up." Xiaoxiao's mother says her solution is to share some parenting guidebooks with other mothers and let them make the decision.
The headmaster of the kindergarten believes such pooling activities test not only children, but also the parents.Jin Hongqing, kindergarten headmaster said, "Parents need to be tolerant and patient.They shouldn't play the blame game when kids fight with each other.It's better to let the kids solve the issue by themselves.What they can do as parents is to communicate." | high9233.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "most Americans are ready to offer help"
},
"options": [
"rude taxi drivers are hardly seen in the US",
"small-minded officials deserve a serious comment",
"Canadians are not so friendly as their neighbors",
"most Americ... | A report brought back by most visitors to the US is how friendly, polite, and helpful most Americans were to them. To be fair, this observation is also frequently made of Canada and Canadians, and should best be considered North American. There are, of course, exceptions. Small-minded officials, rude waiters, and ill-mannered taxi drivers are hardly unknown in the US. Yet American's friendliness and helpfulness is an observation made so frequently that it deserves comment.
For a long period of time and in many parts of the country, a traveler was a welcome break in an otherwise dull existence. Dullness and loneliness were common problems of the families who generally lived distant from one another. Strangers and travelers were welcome sources of distraction, and brought news of the outside world.
The tough realities of the border also shaped this tradition of hospitality. Someone traveling alone, if hungry, injured, or ill, often had nowhere to turn except to the nearest settler agent. It was not a matter of choice for the traveler or only a charitable impulse on the part of the settlers. It reflected the hardship of daily life: if you didn't take in the stranger and take care of him, there was no one else who would. And someday, remember, you might be in the same situation.
Today there are many charitable organizations which specialize in helping the exhausted traveler. Yet, the old tradition of hospitality to strangers is still very strong in the US, especially in the smaller cities and towns away from the busy tourist routes. "I was just traveling through, got talking with this American, and pretty soon he invited me home for dinner, amazing." Such observations reported by visitors to the US are not uncommon, but are not always understood properly. The casual friendliness of many Americans should be understood neither as superficial nor as artificial , but as the result of a historically developed cultural tradition.
As is true of any developed society, in America a complex set of cultural signals and customs is the basis of all social inter-relationships. And, of course, speaking a language does not necessarily mean that someone understands social and cultural patterns. Visitors who fail to "translate" cultural meanings properly often draw wrong conclusions. For example when an American uses the word "friend", the cultural meanings of the word may be quite different from those it has in the visitor's language and culture. It takes more than a brief encounter on a bus to tell polite customs from individual interest. Yet, being friendly is a virtue that many Americans value highly and expect from both neighbors and strangers. | high6100.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Few Chinese provinces are aiming for economic growth rates of less than 10%."
},
"options": [
"The supply of the coal in China is not sufficient for the next five years.",
"Zhang Ping is an expert and economic chief from \nwww. sin... | BEIJING - Alarmed by the overreaching ambitions of many Chinese provinces to grow at all cost, China's top economic chief is calling on officials to calm down and spare a thought for the environment.
Zhang Ping, who heads China's National Development and Reform Commission, the central economic planning agency, said only five or six of China's 30 provinces are targeting annual economic growth of 8 percent or 9 percent.
The remaining provinces are aiming for growth rates of more than 10 percent this year, with some wanting to double economic output in the coming five years.
"China has a planned energy supply of about 4 billion cubic tons of coal equivalent for the next five years, and this is not enough to meet demands for economic growth to double," he was quoted as saying on the news portal Sina. com.
Beijing is increasingly concerned with the ambitions of Chinese provinces across the country to chase high growth despite the central government's urgent request for a more moderate and sustainable pace of expansion.
Years of rapid economic growth have _ China's environment, with Beijing trying to remove some of the damage now. It has an annual growth target of 7 percent for the next five years, well down from last year's 10 percent.
Zhang said Beijing has asked local governments to take into account the supply of "energy, environment, water and land" to set more reasonable growth target. | high3078.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Cook's Academy."
},
"options": [
"Film Making.",
"Dance.",
"Climbing Adventure.",
"Cook's Academy."
],
"question": "Which is the new PGL holiday for 2013?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
... | PGL kids everywhere, will tell you that we are the best when it comes to thrills, challenges and adventures - all rolled into one fantastic holiday! Children leave PGL with loads of more friends and interests and feel more confident - they'll be counting the days until their next PGL holiday! For childcare voucher information, please click here.
Climbing Adventure
This holiday will teach you how to independently climb! At the end of the week you'll get to use all your new skills when you visit a local cliff for some outdoor crag climbing. We make the best use of all our activities including Climbing, Abseiling, Trapeze, Zip Wire and Jacob's Ladder to teach you all the right rope work and climbing skills. Throughout the holiday you will work towards the National Indoor Climbing Achievement Scheme and by the end of the holiday you will have achieved Level 2.
Cook's Academy
Our brand new holiday for 2013! Come along and learn how to cook with a top chef! Whether you've never cooked before or are a bit of a pro, this holiday will have you cooking a variety of tasty dishes and treats. No experience is required as our professional chef will pass on their knowledge so you can develop from any level of experience. What's more, you'll get your very own recipe book containing everything you've learnt and will be able to take a dish home to impress your friends and family.
Dance
This holiday is an excellent opportunity to try loads of different dance styles. You'll spend half of each day learning different types of dance, everything from salsa to ballroom dancing and street dance to jive. Throughout the week your instructors will give you lots of tips and advice as well as helping you prepare a dance routine to impress your friends when you perform at the end of the week.
Film Making
You and your group will be able to choose what type of film to make - adventure, fantasy, thriller or comedy and then you'll become a film crew, creating your own blockbuster ready to show to everyone else at the end of the week. You will find out what's involved in directing a movie and have the chance to edit your film using professional editing software. What's more, you'll have your film on DVD to take home with you too! | high4717.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "To save money to visit her family and friend."
},
"options": [
"To make a trip travel around the world.",
"To be a volunteer to help others.",
"To donate the money to the homeless man.",
"To save money to visit her fami... | In order to save money for a trip to Thailand to visit her family and friends, Emma White, a keeper in California, worked overtime. She saved more than 900 dollars and was planning to buy a ticket, but she lost her purse with all her money and credit cards .
Emma looked through the garbage and all the buildings where she worked but came up empty-handed. She went home heartbroken. She believed that she had lost her money forever. While Emma was at home, sad and depressed, a homeless man was searching through the garbage looking for things to sell. As he was looking through a garbage bag, he found something wrapped in a plastic bag.
The homeless man, who did not want to be recognized, took the purse to Sherry Wesley, because Sherry Wesley knew him from her volunteer work at a homeless shelter. The homeless man came to Sherry Wesley with the wad of money and said, "This probably belongs to someone that you work with; can you find the owner?" Sherry Wesley works in one of the buildings that Emma cleans and she knew Emma had lost her purse.
Emma was amazed when she heard the good news. "I couldn't believe it when they called me," she said. "He has a very big heart. If someone else had found the purse, the money would be gone." As a reward, Emma gave the man 100 dollars. The homeless man gave half of the money to Sherry Wesley and asked her to donate it to charity for him. | high19163.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "a radio"
},
"options": [
"a radio",
"a magazine",
"TV",
"a paper"
],
"question": "The passage is probably taken from _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index... | Our listener question this week comes from Abdullahi Farah, who wants to know about the life and work of Doctor Benjamin Carson.
Doctor Carson is an internationally recognized doctor at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. He has been the director of Pediatric Neurosurgery at the hospital for twenty-five years. At the age of thirty-three, he became one of the youngest doctors in the United States to hold that position. And he was the first African-American to have that position at Johns Hopkins Hospital.
Ben Carson is known for his work as a brain surgeon for children. For example, in nineteen eighty-seven, he led a team of seventy doctors and nurses in an operation to separate two babies joined at the head. Earlier attempts by other
on other babies had failed. Doctor Carson successfully performed the operation. Both babies were able to survive independently.
Doctor Carson has written four books. His first book, "Gifted Hands," tells the story of his life. Benjamin Carson was born in nineteen fifty-one in Detroit, Michigan.
As a boy, Ben was not a good student. In fact, he was the worst in his class. When his mother learned of his failing grades she asked her sons to read two library books every week. She limited the amount of time they watched television. And she told them to respect every person.
Ben Carson soon became the top student in his class. He went on to study at Yale University, one of the best universities in the country, and later to medical school at the University of Michigan.
Doctor Carson has received many awards and honors. Last year he received the nation's highest civilian honor. Former President George W. Bush presented Benjamin Carson with the Presidential Medal of Freedom at a ceremony at the White House. | high16250.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "GM foods, a health risk?"
},
"options": [
"Harmful GM foods",
"Advantages of GM foods",
"GM foods, a health risk?",
"the Techniques of GM foods"
],
"question": "Which is the best title for the passage?",
"qu... | Millions of people die of hunger in southern Africa every year, but when Zambia was offered thousands of tons of free maize by the US, the government politely said no.
"We don't know whether the food is safe," said Zambia's commerce, Trade and Industry Minister Dipak Patel.
His worries are shared by countries around the world that are in two minds about America's genetically modified(GM,)crops.Just last week, EU member nations were discussing whether or not to import GM sweet corn from the US.
Ever since people started farming, they have tried to crossbreed plants to make them stronger or better tasting. At one time, only related plants could be crossed with each other.
But when GM techniques were developed in the 1970s, scientists were able to put a single gene from a living creature into an unrelated creature.
This means they can make crops more productive and resistant to disease by adding genes from other species.They can also create food with special characteristics, such as "golden rice", which is enriched with vitamin A. But many people believe GM foods are a health risk.
At the moment, the official argument is that GM foods "are not likely to present risks for human health". But there are still many questions to be answered as the foods are produced in different ways.
Some experts believe the genetic material added to plants can transfer to humans and give damage to our bodies. Further harm could be caused by the genes from GM plants crossbreeding with naturally produced crops.
People in China are also getting worried about GM foods. More than 70 percent of the
country's soybean oil is produced from imported GM soybeans. Meanwhile, an investigation last November found that 12 of 60 famous foods sold across the country were GM products. The government has begun to introduce a marking system for GM goods so that people can choose whether or not to eat them. | high5409.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "how to make your house safe from burglars"
},
"options": [
"how to make your house safe from burglars",
"what to do when your house is broken into",
"how to improve social security in the United States",
"how to run a h... | You can never be too sure these days in the United States of your neighbors or even your customers! Try to keep a low profile in your neighborhood: Don't announce to everyone that you are running a home business with thousands of dollars worth of equipment. As much as possible, do not invite clients or visitors to your home. In fact, I know of some homebased entrepreneurs who would rather meet their clients in a neutral ground, e.g. the client's office or even Starbucks.
There are other ways to keep burglars away from your house.
*Keep lights on around your house in the evenings. Light is a natural fright for burglars.
*Invest in a security alarm, particularly if your house is located at a remote spot. Security systems can often bring down the cost of your homeowner's premium .
*Make sure that all windows and doors are locked and the security alarm turned on before you sleep at night or go out of the house. Avoid keeping house keys in obvious places, such as under the lamp or on top of the doorframe.
*Adding an additional lock will provide extra security when you are home. The deadlock, sometimes called an "exit only deadbolt"is a deadbolt that does not have an external key. It is clearly visible on the door from the outside, but cannot be broken into without destroying the door, frame or lock itself. While this security won't help directly when you aren't home, the visibility may discourage an _ from trying the door.
*Your door itself should be made of strong materials, such as oneinch thick solid hardwood or heavy metal. | high10621.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "$ 100 billion will be spent on infrastructure a year"
},
"options": [
"$ 100 billion will be spent on infrastructure a year",
"creating a coastal urban corridor from Hangzhou to Qingdao",
"it will become the fastest developin... | Researchers at Yale, Texas A&M and Boston University predict that by 2030 urban areas will expand by more than 463,000 square miles, or l.2 million square kilometers. That is equal to 20,000 American football fields becoming urban every day for the first three decades of this century.
The growth in urban areas will go with the construction of roads and buildings, water and sanitation facilities, and energy and transport systems that will transform land cover and cities globally. Recent estimates suggest that between $25 trillion and $30 trillion will be spent on infrastructure worldwide by 2030, with $100 billion a year in China alone.
"Considering the long life and near unavoidability of infrastructure investments, it will be critical for current urbanization-related policies to consider their lasting impacts," said Karen Seto, lead author of the study. "We have a huge opportunity to shape how cities develop and their environmental impacts."
Nearly half of the increase in high-probability ----defined as greater than 75 percent ---- urban expansion is forecasted to occur in Asia, with China and India absorbing 55 percent of the regional total. In China, urban- expansion is expected to create a l,l00-mile coastal urban corridor from Hangzhou to Shenyang. In India, urban expansion will be gathered around seven state capital cities, with large areas of low-probability growth forecasted for the Himalaya region where many small villages and towns currently exist.
Africa's urban land cover will grow the fastest, at 590 percent above the 2000 level of 16,000 square miles. Urban expansion win be concentrated in that continent's five regions: the Nile River in Egypt; the coast of West Africa on the Gulf of Guinea; the northern shores of Lake Victoria in Kenya and Uganda and extending into Rwanda and Burundi; the Kano region in northern Nigeria; and greater Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
"Urban expansion is concentrated in. only a few areas where there are large cities and industry," said Seto. "From the northern shore of Lake Victoria down to Rwanda is also a major hotspot of urban expansion."
In North America, where 78 percent of the total population lives in urban areas, urban land cover will nearly double by 96,000 square miles by 2030.The study also forecasts that 48 of the 221 countries in the study will experience insignificant amounts of urban expansion. " | high2366.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "proud of"
},
"options": [
"honest about",
"ashamed of",
"modest about",
"proud of"
],
"question": "We can tell Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is _ his country from his words.",
"question_type": "cloze_questio... | Yes, it's still 2015, but as USA Today says, "it's never too early to plan your 2016 travels". With so many hot destinations around the globe, "where should I go?" can be difficult to answer. According to Lonely Planet, though, Brazil is a fine choice - on April 29, the travel guide named that country the top one to visit in 2016.
"As if endless strands of coast and mountains splashed with rainforest didn't already add up to an unfair share of heaven , Brazil held one of the greatest sporting events in the world, the 2014 FIFA World Cup, and the 2016 Summer Olympics, another greatest one, will be followed ," explained Lonely Planet.
Brazil is the largest and most populous country in South America. It boasts the Amazon, the world's largest jungle , which is home to a variety of plants and animals. But the great landscape is not the only thing Brazilians take pride in.
The colors green and yellow might make most people think of Brazil's soccer team even more than its national flag. Soccer is more than a sport in Brazil; it's a way of life. In fact, the World Cup brings Brazilians together. It is interesting to note that the general elections in Brazil are usually held during the same year as the World Cup. Political parties try to take advantage of the patriotic enthusiasm created by soccer to inspire political energy.
Alongside soccer, samba is another emblem of Brazil. The country's most traditional dance is highlighted every February at the Rio Carnival, which is one of the world's biggest.
"Brazil has left its second-class nation status ," said former Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in 2009 after Rio de Janeiro was awarded the 2016 Olympics.
Brazil's growing economy, fueled by oil and aircraft factories, has made it more than just a nation of samba, soccer and beaches. These days, it might just be the best tourist destination in the world. | high10147.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "deal with overweight among teenagers."
},
"options": [
"keep a record of the steps of the wearer.",
"deal with overweight among teenagers.",
"enable children to resist the attraction of TV.",
"prevent children from be... | Sports shoes that work out whether their owner has done enough exercise to promise time in front of the television have been devised in the UK.
The shoes- named Square Eyes- contain an electronic pressure sensor and a tiny computer chip to record how many steps the wearer has taken in a day. A wireless transmitter passes the information to a receiver connected to a television, and this decides how much evening viewing time the wearer deserves , based on the day's efforts.
The design was inspired by a desire to fight against the rapidly ballooning waistlines among British teenagers, says Gillian Swan, who developed Square Eyes as a final year design project at Brunel University in London, UK. "We looked at current issues and childhood overweight really stood out," she says. "And I wanted to tackle that with my design."
Once a child has used up their daily allowance gained through exercise, the television automatically switches off. And further time in front of the TV can only be earned through more steps. Swan calculated how exercise should translate to television time using the recommended daily amounts of both. Health experts suggest that a child take 12,000 steps each day and watch no more than two hours of television. So, every 100 steps recorded by the Square Eyes shoes equals exactly one minute of TV time.
Existing pedometers normally clip onto a belt or slip into a pocket and keep count of steps by measuring sudden movement. Swan says these can be easily tricked into recording steps through shaking. But her shoe has been built to be harder for lazy teenagers to cheat. "It is possible, but it would be a lot of effort," she says. "That was one of my main design considerations." | high2400.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "human beings can gain knowledge by keeping pets"
},
"options": [
"pets dislike human beings",
"pets share what we have",
"human beings can gain knowledge by keeping pets",
"pets and human beings gather a great deal of i... | We gather a great deal of incidental knowledge from pets.If we look after them properly we learn what they like and dislike. We do not set out to gain this knowledge purposely, but in attending to our pets we gain it by the way. It is got without our realizing it.
In keeping our dogs or cats we learn about various diseases that can affect them,and the cures for these diseases.We learn how much sleep they need and what kind of food keeps them healthy. In looking after our fish we learn about the composition of water.We get to know what kinds of fish can live peacefully together and what kinds are hostile to each other.We learn that animal,fish and birds have a lot of things in common with human beings.
If children keep pets their general education is helped by this kind of incidental knowledge.One little incident after another in which their pets are involved adds to their store of learning.It is a more interesting form of learning than that given in the biology lesson in school.People who keep pets should have a sense of responsibility towards them.Children,too,should be taught to be responsible.Pets are completely dependent on their owners and the owners should respond to this dependence by looking after them.Irresponsible behavior towards pets is a form of cruelty.
In deciding to keep a pet we take on a task,we make ourselves responsible for providing proper food and shelter for the pet.In a crowded city like Hong Kong, where there is so little room for the exercise required by large pets,we should think _ before undertaking the responsibility of keeping one. | high20084.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Her daughter's repeated complaints."
},
"options": [
"Her daughter's repeated complaints.",
"Fatigue resulting from lack of sleep.",
"The poorly managed state of her house.",
"The high financial costs adding up."
],... | Caught in the Web
A few months ago, it wasn't unusual for 47-year-old Carla Toebe to spend 15 hours per day online. She'd wake up early, turn on her laptop and chat on Internet dating sites and instant-messaging programs - leaving her bed for only brief intervals. Her household bills piled up, along with the dishes and dirty laundry, but it took near-constant complaints from her four daughters before she realized she had a problem.
"I was starting to feel like my whole world was falling apart - kind of slipping into a depression," said Carla. "I knew that if I didn't get off the dating sites, I'd just keep going," detaching herself further from the outside world.
Toebe's conclusion: She felt like she was "addicted" to the Internet. She's not alone.
Concern about excessive Internet use isn't new. As far back as 1995, articles in medical journals and the establishment of a Pennsylvania treatment center for overusers generated interest in the subject. There's still no consensus on how much time online constitutes too much or whether addiction is possible.
But as reliance on the Web grows, there are signs that the question is getting more serious attention: Last month, a study published in CNS Spectrums claimed to be the first large-scale look at excessive Internet use. The American Psychiatric Association may consider listing Internet addiction in the next edition of its diagnostic manual. And scores of online discussion boards have popped up on which people discuss negative experiences tied to too much time on the Web.
"There's no question that there're people who're seriously in trouble because they're overdoing their Internet involvement," said psychiatrist Ivan Goldberg. Goldberg calls the problem a disorder rather than a true addiction.
Jonathan Bishop, a researcher in Wales specializing in online communities, is more skeptical. "The Internet is an environment," he said. "You can't be addicted to the environment." Bishop describes the problem as simply a matter of priorities, which can be solved by encouraging people to prioritize other life goals and plans in place of time spent online.
The new CNS Spectrums study was based on results of a nationwide telephone survey of more than 2,500 adults. Like the 2005 survey, this one was conducted by Stanford University researchers.About 6% of respondents reported that "their relationships suffered because of excessive Internet use." About 9% attempted to conceal "nonessential Internet use," and nearly 4% reported feeling "preoccupied by the Internet when offline."
About 8% said they used the Internet as a way to escape problems, and almost 14% reported they "found it hard to stay away from the Internet for several days at a time."
"The Internet problem is still in its infancy," said Elias Aboujaoude, a Stanford professor. No single online activity is to blame for excessive use, he said. "They're online in chat rooms, checking e-mail, or writing blogs. not limited to porn or gambling" websites.
Excessive Internet use should be defined not by the number of hours spent online but "in terms of losses," said Maressa Orzack, a Harvard University professor. "If it's a loss you're not getting to work, and family relationships are breaking down as a result, then it's too much."
Since the early 1990s, several clinics have been established in the U. S. to treat heavy Internet users. They include the Center for Internet Addiction Recovery and the Center for Internet Behavior.
The website for Orzack's center lists the following among the psychological symptoms of computer addiction:
* Having a sense of well-being or excitement while at the computer.
* Longing for more and more time at the computer.
* Neglect of family and friends.
* Feeling empty, depressed or irritable when not at the computer.
* Lying to employers and family about activities.
* Inability to stop the activity.
* Problems with school or job.
Physical symptoms listed include dry eyes, backaches, skipping meals, poor personal hygiene and sleep disturbances.
People who struggle with excessive Internet use maybe depressed or have other mood disorders, Orzack said. When she discusses Internet habits with her patients, they often report that being online offers a "sense of belonging, and escape, excitement fun," she said. "Some people say relief...because they find themselves so relaxed."
Some parts of the Internet seem to draw people in more than others. Internet gamers spend countless hours competing in games against people from all over the world. One such game, called World of Warcraft, is cited on many sites by posters complaining of a "gaming addiction."
Andrew Heidrich, an education network administrator from Sacramento, plays World of Warcraft for about two to four hours every other night, but that's nothing compared with the 40 to 60 hours a week he spent playing online games when he was in college. He cut back only after a full-scale family intervention , in which s told him he'd gained weight.
"There's this whole culture of competition that sucks people in" with online gaming, said Heidrich, now a father of two. "People do it at the expense of everything that was a constant in their lives." Heidrich now visits websites that discuss gaming addiction regularly "to remind myself to keep my love for online games in check."
Toebe also regularly visits a site where posters discuss Internet overuse. In August, when she first realized she had a problem, she posted a message on a Yahoo Internet addiction group with the subject line: "I have an Internet Addiction."
"I'm self-employed and need the Internet for my work, but I'm failing to accomplish my work,to take care of my home, to give attention to my children," she wrote in a message sent to the group."I have no money or insurance to get professional help; I can't even pay my mortgage and face losing everything."
Since then, Toebe said, she has kept her promise to herself to cut back on her Internet use. "I have a boyfriend now, and I'm not interested in online dating," she said by phone last week. "It's a lot better now." | high19605.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Glaciers sometimes float on the water."
},
"options": [
"Glaciers only lie in Greenland.",
"Water in glaciers is more than sea water.",
"Glaciers sometimes float on the water.",
"Glaciers can increase the water level of... | A new study shows one of the largest glaciers in Greenland is becoming smaller and speeding to the sea faster than scientists expected. If it continues, Greenland itself could become much smaller during this century and global seas could rise as much as 3 feet.
The rates of change that we're noticing are much higher than expected. If these rates continue, it is not likely that Greenland could shrink by several tens of percent this century. However, it's not known how quickly this coastal response of the Greenland ice sheet melting will have an effect on the vast inland ice.
Greenland is the world's largest island, covering area more than three times the size of Texas. Some 81 percent of it is covered by ice, and there are many glaciers. Glaciers are like slow-moving rivers of ice. Where a glacier meets the sea, its weight keeps it firmly resting on the bottom. A glacier's front is the point where the water is deep enough that the glacier floats.
Since the 1970s, the front of Helheim stayed in the same place. Then it began melting rapidly, moving back 4.5 miles from 2001 through this past summer. It has also grown thinner, from top to bottom, by more than 130 feet since 2001. And over these past years, its trip to the sea has sped up from about 70 feet per day to nearly 110.
The melting is driven by a warmer climate. Temperatures in Greenland have risen more than five degrees Fahrenheit in the last ten years. Since most of Greenland's ice is on land, seas will rise as the ice melts. If all Greenland's ice sheet melted, oceans would be 15-20 feet higher. Nobody expects that to happen any time soon. | high16536.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "he was walking towards his favourite fishing spot."
},
"options": [
"he was fishing at his favourite fishing spot.",
"he was walking towards his favourite fishing spot.",
"he was phoning his granddaughter.",
"he was dri... | Justin Bieber may have millions of fans worldwide, but Russia's bears don't appear to admire the pop singer's music --- which proved fortunate for one lucky fisherman.
Igor Vorozhbitsyn had his life saved by a Justin Bieber ringtone, when his mobile phone went off during a dangerous attack by a brown bear.
The 42-year-old was attacked as he was walking to a favourite fishing spot in northern Russia's Yakutia Republic and firmly believed that he was going to be killed.
Wildlife experts believe the ringtone must have frightened the bear into stopping its attack.
'Sometimes a sharp shock can stop an angry bear in its attack and that ringtone would be a very unexpected sound for a bear,' explained one.
Mr Vorozhbitsyn suffered from cuts and severe wounds and was rescued when he was found by other fishermen after using the phone to call for help.
Mr Vorozhbitsyn ---now recovering from his wounds---explained: 'I had parked my car and was walking towards the spot I'd marked out when there was a tremendous impact on my back and the bear was on top of me.'
'I couldn't believe my luck when the phone went off and it run away.'
'I know that sort of ringtone isn't to everyone's taste but my granddaughter loaded it onto my phone for a joke,' he added.
Adult brown bears can weigh as much as 600kg and have been known to kill wolves and even Siberian tigers.
Finally, this is a proof that Justin Bieber is unbearable | high11259.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Because he thought it natural to pay for other's service."
},
"options": [
"Because he was an upright man.",
"Because he didn't know the repairman.",
"Because he thought it natural to pay for other's service.",
"Because... | When I paid for the bicycle repair, the repairman told me, " No change, Professor Pan. We're friends."
"I'd rather pay," I replied. "If it's free, I can't afford it."
Chinese often refuse payment for professional services, insisting, "We're friends now!" But then they show up later to ask me to tutor them in English, or get them into an American university, and I wish I'd have just paid the 30 yuan I owed them in the first place.
According to the Americans, "There's no free lunch," meaning that there's a price for everything, and I'm always looking around to figure out what this means.
Many of our neighbors have given us fruit or flowers or costly teas, never asking anything in return. For years, a bicycle repairman has repeatedly refused to let me pay him. "Wait until you have something major to fix!" he insists.
Chinese generosity is a real education for Americans like me, who would rather avoid social entanglements and just hand over the money. But cash can't make up for the greatest gift - friendship.
When an American saw some of my friends sitting on bamboo stools under the trees, sipping tea, he said, "They must have nothing better to do." "Actually," I said, "they are professors, with plenty to do. But probably you're right in saying that, at this moment, they have nothing better to do. And neither do I."
And I joined the group. We chatted about tea and Chinese cooking and how much my boys have grown since we arrived. One man said, "They were pocket-sized when you came here. Now they're taller than you. How time flies."
How life flies. And Chinese are smart enough to share what they know they cannot keep. They freely give of their time, never too busy to help a friend. And they are teaching me, slowly, to both give and receive. So the next time someone says, "No charge. We're friends." I will thank them heartily. But if they show up later asking me to tutor them in English, I'll make sure they tutor my son in Chinese as well, because there's still no free lunch. | high12750.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "have the email read in a more lovely way"
},
"options": [
"see the person that sends the email",
"have the email read in a more lovely way",
"design the email in any way he / she likes",
"ask a beautiful woman to read h... | One day when I opened my email, a beautiful woman named Rachel appeared on my computer screen. She greeted me by name and started talking with great enthusiasm. Every now and then she stopped to smile at me or blow a kiss. It was pretty cool.
Rachel was there thanks to Facemail. Facemail lets you send email that gets read to the receiver by an attractive male or female form. The free software can be downloaded at www.facemail.com, and you can choose different faces.
The basic idea is pretty clever. The Facemail people have taken biologically based imaging and used it to create lifelike digital faces. The voice reading the email is standard.
And Facemail will get more interesting. Soon you can have your own voice read the email you send. The company has signed a deal with Kodak and next year you can submit your photo and your own face will be the one reading your email.
LifeFX, the company that produces Facemail, says that one reason e-commerce is struggling is that buying over the Internet lacks the human touch. But what if you went to the Nike website and Michael Jordan greeted you by name and waited on you? The company will also use Facemail to make greeting cards and living wedding albums.
Personally, I'm a fan of Facemail. But Facemail should be used carefully. If you select an angry face, put a few harsh words and add some angry emotions, you've got Psycho-mail. | high22693.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "introduce a new technique-3D printing"
},
"options": [
"attract consumers to buy 3D printers",
"explain the importance of 3D printing",
"introduce a new technique-3D printing",
"describe the rapid development of technol... | Imagine having an idea, drawing it on paper, bringing it to a store and seeing it turned into a
physical object. This is now possible with the help of 3D printers. Such machines were once used just
by universities and big companies, but now, stores with 3D printing services are appearing around the
United States.
Bryan Jaycox and his wife opened The Build Shop LLC in Los Angeles two years ago. The store
is filled with tools like a laser cutter, an industrial sewing machine and 3D printers. The Jaycoxs offer
3D printing classes and services for anyone who is interested.
"I think 3D printing is going to be huge. It's going to have a huge effect on society as a whole."
One of the students in a recent class was KiChong Tran. He plans to open a 3D printing business in
Cambodia.
3D printing services are becoming available for American consumers.
The UPS Store is a nationwide retailer ( ) that provides shipping, copying and other
services. The UPS Store recently put 3D printers in three of its independently-owned stores. Burke
Jones owns one of the stores in San Diego.
"The demand has been amazing. It's been much more than I would have imagined." The UPS
Store plans to add 3D printers in three more stores.
At The UPS Store, the cost of the object depends on the amount of materials used. The store
charges up to $95 an hour to design the object with computer software that creates a digital file to
guide the printer.
Mr. Jaycox predicts that within five years, 3D printing technology could become more popular.
But KiChong Tran says even current technology can make a difference in a developing country like
Cambodia.
"With 3D printing, you can give them tools; you put it in their hands so they are responsible
more for their own development and they learn skills beyond just learning English and becoming a
tour guide or something like that or working at a bank; you can actually create things that give value
to the world."
He says it's not just in Cambodia but anywhere where there is a 3D printer that it can turn a good
idea into reality. | high14321.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "many young people flying multicolored kites"
},
"options": [
"many young people enjoying the sunny day",
"many birds dashing and dancing in the sky",
"many young people flying multicolored kites",
"the strong winds blow... | One windy spring day, I observed young people having fun using the wind to fly their kites. Multicolored creations of varying shapes and sizes filled the skies like beautiful birds dashing and dancing in the exciting atmosphere above the earth. As the strong winds gusted against the kites, a string kept them in check.
Instead of blowing away with the wind, they arose against it to achieve great heights. They shook and pulled, but the controlling string and the clumsy tail kept them in tow , facing upward and against the wind. As the kites struggled and trembled against the string, they seemed to say, "Let me go! Let me go! I want to be free!" They flew beautifully even as they fought the forced restriction of the string. Finally, one of the kites succeeded in breaking loose. "Free at last," it seemed to say. "Free to fly with the wind."
Yet freedom from control simply put it at the mercy of an unsympathetic gentle wind. It flew ungracefully to the ground and landed in a twisted mass of weeds and string against a dead bush. "Free at last". Free to lie powerless in the dirt, to be blown helplessly along the ground, and to settle down lifeless against the first roadblock.
How much like kites we sometimes are. There always exist misfortunes and restrictions, rules to follow from which we can grow and gain strength. Prohibition is a necessary counterpart to the winds of opposition. Some of us pulled at the rules so hard that we never fly fast to reach the heights we might have obtained. If we keep all the commandment , we will never rise high enough to get our tails off the ground.
Let us each rise to the great heights, recognizing that some of the prohibitions are actually the steady force that helps us climb and achieve. | high9555.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "He should have a specific aim in life."
},
"options": [
"His father is interested in sculpture.",
"His father is as innocent as a little boy.",
"He should have a specific aim in life.",
"He should learn sculpture in the... | "Dad," I say one day, "let's take a trip. Why don't you fly out and meet me?"
My father had just retired after 27 years as a manager for IBM. His job filled his day, his thought, his life. While he woke up and took a warm shower, I screamed under a freezing waterfall in Peru. While he tied a tie and put on the same Swiss watch, I rowed a boat across Lake of the Ozarks.
My father sees me drifting aimlessly, nothing to show for my 33 years but a passport full of funny stamps. He wants me to settle down, but now I want him to find an adventure.
He agrees to travel with me through the national parks. We meet four weeks later in Rapid City.
" What is our first stop?" asks my father.
"What time is it?"
"Still don't have a watch?"
Less than an hour away is Mount Rushmore. As he stares up at the four Presidents carved in granite , his mouth and eyes open slowly, like those of a little boy.
"Unbelievable," he says, "How was this done?"
A film in the information center shows sculptor Gutzon Borglum devoted 14 years to the sculpture and then left the final touches to his son.
We stare up and I ask myself, Would I ever devote my life to anything?
No directions, no goals. I always used to hear those words in my father's voice. Now I hear them in my own.
The next day we're at Yellowstone National Park, where we have a picnic.
"Did you ever travel with your dad?" I ask.
"Only once," he says. "I never spoke much with my father. We loved each other--but never said it. Whatever he could give me, he gave."
_
In Glacier National Park, my father says, "I've never seen water so blue." I have, in several places of the world, I can keep traveling, I realize--- and maybe a regular job won't be as dull as I feared.
Weeks after our trip, I call my father.
"The photos from the trip are wonderful," he says. "We've got to take another trip like that sometime."
I tell him I've decided to settle down, and I'm wearing a watch. | high12988.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "To smell the roses outside"
},
"options": [
"To save money",
"To lose weight",
"To smell the roses outside",
"To protect the environment"
],
"question": "Which is the reason for the author cycling to work?",
... | I appreciate how biking to work allows me to be outside for at least a small part of my day. I'm a senior program director. If I didn't bike to work, I'd spend my weekdays almost entirely indoors--underground tunnel. On the bike, I get trees, air and a great way to get to know city neighborhoods. Of course, I also get bad weather and city traffic. But it's worth the trade-off. The weather's not often bad, and rain and snow have their charms.
I've been cycling to work since the late 1990s. I started when the city was doing some construction in the subways and rerouting passengers, which would have lengthened my trip considerably. I tried riding my sister- in- law's bike to work one day and liked it, so I bought my own. Even though I hadn't biked since I was a child, I got back into it right away.
I bike during all four seasons. In summer, I wear shorts and a T- shirt and carry a messenger bag over my shoulder for my lunch and anything else I need. Once at the office, I change into business- casual clothes. In winter, I wear layers and a thin hat under my helmet. A cold winter day can be the best time to be on a bicycle. When the air is clear, free of oppressive summer haze, the city can look beautiful.
Biking to work also _ during the workday itself. I have a rack on the back of my bike that accommodates panniers that allow me to pick up groceries. During work hours, a colleague will occasionally need to send or retrieve documents by messenger. If I have the time, I volunteer. Pedaling 30 blocks and back is a nice way to take a break from work--and to save the office a few bucks on messenger fees.
I'm sure that some people thinking my mode of transportation might be afraid of Midtown traffic. I'm no hero; I don't want to get hurt riding to work. It just takes time getting used to it. There's a risk, but all travel has risks. They're worth it to me. | high6666.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "an American soldier in the battle field"
},
"options": [
"an American policeman",
"an American soldier in the battle field",
"a soldier in the Vietnam War",
"a postman working far away from home"
],
"question": ... | To son, Cecil,
Just a quick note before I start in earnest. When I wrote this, you were 8, still a little boy. In 2002, I was called to active duty in the Marine Corps in the war on Terrorism . On the 11th of September 2001 when America was attacked, I knew that I would eventually have to go and I was filled with a deep sense of sadness. That night as you and Keiko were asleep, I looked at your little faces and couldn't help but fight the tears. I knew it would be hard for you because I had a similar experience. When I was a little boy aged 6, my dad, your Grandpa Cawley, was sent to Vietnam during the war there. I remember how much I missed him, too. But now unfortunately I have come to realize just how difficult it must have been for Grandpa to be away from his children for a year. Thinking about this, I wanted to put my thoughts and feelings down for you and your sister. I am so sorry that I had to leave for such a long time. There is no place I would rather be than with you and Keiko. You two are the lights of my life. I have known no greater joy than in the few years since you two were born. I hope to have many more years with you. If this doesn't happen, then know that I love you more than words can express. If for some reason I don't make it home, I will need you to take care of your little sister and your Mom. You will be the man of the Cawley family. Be good my son and God will watch over you as he has me. I will be waiting impatiently for the time when we can all be together again. | high1109.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "behavior"
},
"options": [
"appearance",
"size",
"behavior",
"change"
],
"question": "Vosshall and her colleagues are mainly studying mosquitoes' _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answ... | Mosquitoes ruin countless American picnics every year, but around the world, this bloodsucking beast isn't just annoying--it causes a health problem. More than a million people die from the spread of mosquito-borne diseases like malaria and yellow fever each year. Attempts to control populations via insecticides like DDT have had ruinous side effects for nature and human health. Neurobiologist Leslie B. Vosshall has a different solution for stopping the insects and the spread of disease. "I believe the key to controlling mosquito behavior is to understand better how they sense us," she says.
At their Rockefeller University lab, Vosshall and her colleagues are studying the chemical sensory processes by which mosquitoes choose hosts. How do they sense heat, humidity, carbon dioxide, and body odor ? What makes some people more attractive to a mosquito than others? It takes blood and sweat to find out. To study how mosquitoes assess body odor, Vosshall and her teammates might wear stockings on their arms and keep from showering for 24 hours to create sample smells, _ They insert their arms into the insects' hidden home to study how mosquitoes land, bite, and feed and then they document how this changes. This can mean getting anywhere from one bite to 400, depending on the experiment. Studying male mosquitoes is more pleasant. Since they don't feed on blood, the lab tests their sense of smell using honey.
Vosshall and her team have also begun to study how genetics contribute to mosquitoes' choice of a host. She's even created a breed that is unable to sense carbon dioxide, an important trigger for the insects. "By using genetics to make mutant mosquitoes, we can document exactly how and why mosquitoes hunt humans," Vosshall says.
Once Vosshall figures out what makes mosquitoes flock to us, she can get to work on making them leave us alone. Many of her lab's proposed solutions sound simple enough, including bracelets that carry long-lasting repellants or traps that can reduce populations, but the breakthroughs, when they come, may save millions of lives in the developing world--and a lot of itching everywhere else. | high8893.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "doctors can test one's breath to find about his illness"
},
"options": [
"breath varies from person to person based on food",
"your breath may give you away if you are not careful",
"doctors can test one's breath to find abou... | If doctors want to test you for something, they'll usually take a blood or urine sample . But wouldn't it be much more convenient if they just asked you to breathe through a special instrument?
In fact, your breath can say a lot about you. In traditional Chinese medicine, doctors draw a conclusion about the health state of a patient based on the smell of his or her breath; trained dogs and rats can identify the smells of the breaths of people suffering from certain cancers; traffic police also monitor drivers' alcohol consumption by testing their breaths.
Just like blood and urine, your breath contains lots of " metabolites " --- the waste chemicals that the body produces, which vary from person to person. They are like personal health fingerprints, which is why scientists sometimes call them " breath prints", according to Science Daily.
Compared to blood or urine testing, breath testing takes only seconds instead of hours, and it requires neither a needle nor a container to hold the body fluids . This means the test can be taken frequently to better detect early signs of diseases and monitor the progress of a medical treatment.
On the other hand, as an identifier, you might think that breaths are not as reliable as fingerprints since they might change based on what you eat. However, researchers in Zurich, Switzerland mapped 11 healthy volunteers' chemical patterns by having them breathe through a special instrument, and they found that each pattern was unique and the patterns didn't change much throughout the day, reported BBC.
"Our goal is to develop breath analysis to the point where it becomes competitive with the established analysis of blood and urine," said Malcolm Kohler, professor at the University Hospital Zurich. | high12744.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "safety belt"
},
"options": [
"car seat",
"car for children",
"safety belt",
"game on islandbreeze.com"
],
"question": "From the text we can infer the FreedomRide is a _",
"question_type": "summarization_qu... | If you have a little child , who hates sitting in a child seat, then the FreedomRide is the answer to your problem/
Would you want to be stuck in an unchangeable position every time you're in the car? No. You Wouldn't!
When an adult, sits in a car for any length of time, we stretch, we change the position, we move our legs, and shift constantly. We do this automatically, and without thinking. But kids in a traditional car seat can't do this. They are stuck in one position, and they can't move. We move because the circulation of blood needs to be restored in our legs as we sit in the same position for any extended length of time.
In a traditional car seat, the child can't move to reduce the pain, so it pts them in a bad mood.
The FreedomRide lets them have a little freedom, and still be safe. The 5-point Harness give them additional safety over a traditional child car seat.
I am the Webmaster for islandbreeze.com, and when JoeySafe asked us to redo their web site, I was attracted by this system. That is because I have two small children, both girls, age 3 and 4 and we obviously, use car seats. I lived in Southern California, and every couple of months, my wife, the girls and I, go to see grandma who lives in Nevada. It's a 5-hour drive, so the FreedomRide works well. Our trips are so much better now, especially, since there is more room in the car without the car seats.
The FreedomRide really did make it easier to go on trips. The only thing you need when you use the Joeysafe instead of your old child seat is a pillow. Besides, mu kids want to take a pillow anyway! As a dad, I feel safe driving with the kids in the FreedomRide. I am a very safety oriented person. | high22687.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "men and women differ in eating habits"
},
"options": [
"men and women differ in eating habits",
"men prefer meat while women vegetables",
"there is high risk in eating undercooked food",
"eating habits are changeable"
... | Men and women have different tastes in food, with men favoring meat and poultry , and women fruits and vegetables, researchers said in what was said to be the most extensive study so far of gender differences in eating habits.
More than 14,000 adult men and women, were surveyed from May 2006 to April 2007, for the Foodbome Disease Active Surveillance Network (FoodNet), to determine their eating habits, including high risk foods such as undercooked meat and eggs.
"To our knowledge, there have been studies in the literature on gender differences in eating habits, but nothing this extensive," the epidemiologist told the 2008 International Conference on Infectious Diseases in Atlanta, Georgia.
Researchers found that men were more likely to eat meat and poultry, especially duck, _ , and ham, and certain shellfish such as shrimp and oysters.
Women instead were more likely to eat vegetables, especially carrots and tomatoes, and fruits, especially strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and apples. Women also preferred dry foods, such as almonds and walnuts, and were more likely to consume eggs and yogurt when compared with men.
There were also some exceptions to the eating trends of each gender: men were significantly more likely to eat asparagus and brussels sprouts than women, while women were more likely to consume fresh hamburgers as opposed to the frozen kind, which the men preferred.
And regarding high risk foods, the researchers found that significantly more men consumed undercooked meat and eggs than women, while more women were more likely to eat alfalfa sprouts.
Men's preference for meat explains why men have more cases than women when it comes to high cholesterol , the study said. | high23599.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Perchlorates in Mar's water."
},
"options": [
"The thick atmosphere around Mars.",
"The physical structure of Mars.",
"The extremely low pressure on Mars.",
"Perchlorates in Mar's water."
],
"question": "What pl... | NASA on September 28, 2015 announced the strongest evidence yet for liquid water on the red planet, increasing the possibility that astronauts journeying to Mars could someday rely on the planet's own water for their drinking needs.
You may feel like you've heard about the hunt for liquid water on Mars before--and the researchers involved know it may seem played out. But science has yet to truly prove that water flows on Mars once and for all, and doing so could completely change the way we view the planet. This new data is a big step in the right direction.
"Liquid water is an attractive topic, and we like the thousandth time someone has discovered water on Mars," Lujendra Ojha, the Georgia Tech PhD candidate who led the research announced Monday, told The Post. But there's a good reason that liquid water is so "attractive": Mars is now the only planet in our solar system to show evidence of the stuff on its surface, other than _ . Other worlds have it in subsurface oceans, or scattered around as vapor in the atmosphere. But Mars is the only place where we have solid evidence for liquid that sits right there in the open air. While it would be a major leap to suggest that Mars might harbor life--even microbial life--liquid water at least makes it possible that parts of the planet are habitable.
The study builds on research from April, when scientists using data from the Curiosity rover noted that the planet had the seasonal potential for liquid water. We know that because of the extremely low pressure on Mars, water has a boiling point of just a few degrees Celsius, after which it evaporates. The April study noted the presence of perchlorates --a kind of salt--which could make the boiling point of Mars' water much higher, theoretically allowing it to remain liquid. They affirmed that the planet's temperature would be right for liquid, perchlorate-filled water to form every day during winter and spring. | high14335.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "safeguard homeless children's hard-earned money"
},
"options": [
"provide for jobs for homeless children",
"help homeless families with emergencies",
"sponsor homeless children to go to school",
"safeguard homeless chil... | Starting a bank a child's play? Absolutely, if you ask some enterprising youngsters in India, who have not only managed to establish one, but also, unlike many of the large International banks, run it successfully since 2001. What's even more impressive is that the young bankers and their 90,004---clients are all homeless!
The Children's Development Khazana (treasure) opened its first branch in 2001 at a homeless shelter in New Deli as a way to help the street children protect their hard-earned money from thieves. Since then, the idea has caught on like wildfire.
Today, Khazana has 12 branches all across New Deli, with a total of Rupees 12lakh (about 22,000USD) in deposits. Not only that, there are now 77 affiliated branches in other parts of Asia, ranging from Nepal, Bangladesh and Afghanistan to the island of Sri Lanka, and even Kyrgyzstan in Central Asia. While no deposit or balance is too small for the bank, they do have strict regulations about where the money is earned from. Funds obtained by begging or selling drugs are not welcomed at this bank !
Also, unlike the real banks, all employees are volunteers, which means that they go to school or a paying job during the day and work at the bank in the evening. To ensure that everybody gets a chance to participate in running the branch, two volunteer managers are elected from the clients base every six months.
Karan, the current manager is just 14-year-old. During the day he earns a living by helping out the cleaning crew at wedding banquets and other big parties. In the evening, he handles the deposits and withdrawals in the bank. After the bank closes, he along with an adult volunteer from the shelter head over to a regular bank and deposit the funds collected into Khazana's interest-bearing bank account and though it started with one single purpose. The Children's Development Khazana is today a well-developed bank, one kids can not only deposit money which earns them 5% interest, but also, request loans for family emergencies, to start a business or even to pay for school. | high6672.txt |
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