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[
"China and India have different traffic rules",
"Tea trade works wonders in both India and China",
"Chinese products are popular in both China and India,",
"The exchanges between India and China benefit both"
] | What does the author mean by "it's a two-way street' in paragraph 10? | When I was going home to India last year, I called up my mother to ask if she wanted anything from china,
When India had not opened up its markers to the world, I carried suitcase loads of dark glasses and jeans. Thankfully, we can get all these anywhere in India now,
Still ,her answer surprised me:"Green tea,"
As long as I can remember she didn't even drink Indian tea.
I dutifully bought a big packet of Longjing and headed home to hear the story. My mother and her brother, both regular newspaper readers, believed that Chinese green tea was the wonder drug for all illnesses
At the turn of the century, China was not really familiar to the average Indian, It was a strange country
How things change [And how soon]
Now every town of any size seems to have a "China Market". And everyone is talking about China
The government of India has planned to send a team to China to see how things are done A minister once said that India must open the doors for more foreign investment（）and such a step would "work wonders as it did for China".
But it's a two-way street, I just heard about a thousand Shenzhen office workers who have gone to Rangalore to train in software. Meanwhile, all the IT majors are setting up a strong presence in China,
No wonder that trade, which was only in the millions just ten years ago, is expected to his about us$15 billion for last year and us$20 billion by 2008, a goal set by both governments,
No wonder, my colleague wrote some weeks ago about this being the Sino-Indian（）century as the two countries started on January I the Sino-Indian Friendship Year,
But what is still a wonder to me is my mother drinking Chinese tea. | 3502.txt | 3 |
[
"It will move its head office to Shenzhen",
"It is seeking further development in China",
"It has attracted an investment of US$15 billion",
"It caught up with the US IT industry in2008."
] | What do we know about the Indian IT industry? | When I was going home to India last year, I called up my mother to ask if she wanted anything from china,
When India had not opened up its markers to the world, I carried suitcase loads of dark glasses and jeans. Thankfully, we can get all these anywhere in India now,
Still ,her answer surprised me:"Green tea,"
As long as I can remember she didn't even drink Indian tea.
I dutifully bought a big packet of Longjing and headed home to hear the story. My mother and her brother, both regular newspaper readers, believed that Chinese green tea was the wonder drug for all illnesses
At the turn of the century, China was not really familiar to the average Indian, It was a strange country
How things change [And how soon]
Now every town of any size seems to have a "China Market". And everyone is talking about China
The government of India has planned to send a team to China to see how things are done A minister once said that India must open the doors for more foreign investment（）and such a step would "work wonders as it did for China".
But it's a two-way street, I just heard about a thousand Shenzhen office workers who have gone to Rangalore to train in software. Meanwhile, all the IT majors are setting up a strong presence in China,
No wonder that trade, which was only in the millions just ten years ago, is expected to his about us$15 billion for last year and us$20 billion by 2008, a goal set by both governments,
No wonder, my colleague wrote some weeks ago about this being the Sino-Indian（）century as the two countries started on January I the Sino-Indian Friendship Year,
But what is still a wonder to me is my mother drinking Chinese tea. | 3502.txt | 1 |
[
"his concern for his mother's health",
"his support for drinking Chinese green tea",
"his surprise at China's recent development",
"his wonder at the growth of India's IT industry"
] | In the text the author expresses _ . | When I was going home to India last year, I called up my mother to ask if she wanted anything from china,
When India had not opened up its markers to the world, I carried suitcase loads of dark glasses and jeans. Thankfully, we can get all these anywhere in India now,
Still ,her answer surprised me:"Green tea,"
As long as I can remember she didn't even drink Indian tea.
I dutifully bought a big packet of Longjing and headed home to hear the story. My mother and her brother, both regular newspaper readers, believed that Chinese green tea was the wonder drug for all illnesses
At the turn of the century, China was not really familiar to the average Indian, It was a strange country
How things change [And how soon]
Now every town of any size seems to have a "China Market". And everyone is talking about China
The government of India has planned to send a team to China to see how things are done A minister once said that India must open the doors for more foreign investment（）and such a step would "work wonders as it did for China".
But it's a two-way street, I just heard about a thousand Shenzhen office workers who have gone to Rangalore to train in software. Meanwhile, all the IT majors are setting up a strong presence in China,
No wonder that trade, which was only in the millions just ten years ago, is expected to his about us$15 billion for last year and us$20 billion by 2008, a goal set by both governments,
No wonder, my colleague wrote some weeks ago about this being the Sino-Indian（）century as the two countries started on January I the Sino-Indian Friendship Year,
But what is still a wonder to me is my mother drinking Chinese tea. | 3502.txt | 2 |
[
"Everyone has a right to hold his own opinion.",
"Free expression of opinions often leads to confusion.",
"Most people tend to be careless in forming their opinions.",
"Casual use of the word \"opinion\" often brings about quarrels."
] | Which of the following statements is TRUE, according to the author? | "Opinion" is a word that is used carelessly today. It is used to refer to matters of taste, belief, and judgment. This casual use would probably cause little confusion if people didn't attach too much importance to opinion. Unfortunately, most to attach great importance to it. "I have as much right to my opinion as you to yours, '' and ''Everyone's entitled to his opinion, '' are common expressions. In fact, anyone who would challenge another's opinion is likely to be branded intolerant.
Is that label accurate? Is it intolerant to challenge another's opinion? It depends on what definition of opinion you have in mind. For example, you may ask a friend, "What do you think of the new Ford cars?" And he may reply, "In my opinion, they're ugly." In this case, it would not only be intolerant to challenge his statement, but foolish. For it's obvious that by opinion he means his personal preference, a matter of taste. And as the old saying goes, ''It's pointless to argue about matters of taste."
But consider this very different use of the term, a newspaper reports that the Supreme Court has delivered its opinion in a controversial case. Obviously the justices did not shale their personal preferences, their mere likes and dislikes, they stated their considered judgment, painstakingly arrived at after thorough inquiry and deliberation.
Most of what is referred to as opinion falls somewhere between these two extremes. It is not an expression of taste. Nor is it careful judgment. Yet it may contain elements of both. It is a view or belief more or less casually arrived at, with or without examining the evidence.
Is everyone entitled to his opinion? Of course, this is not only permitted, but guaranteed. We are free to act on our opinions only so long as, in doing so, we do not harm others. | 519.txt | 0 |
[
"Someone who turns a deaf ear to others' opinions.",
"Someone who can't put up with others' tastes.",
"Someone who values only their own opinions.",
"Someone whose opinion harm. other people."
] | According to the author, who of the following would be labored as intolerant? | "Opinion" is a word that is used carelessly today. It is used to refer to matters of taste, belief, and judgment. This casual use would probably cause little confusion if people didn't attach too much importance to opinion. Unfortunately, most to attach great importance to it. "I have as much right to my opinion as you to yours, '' and ''Everyone's entitled to his opinion, '' are common expressions. In fact, anyone who would challenge another's opinion is likely to be branded intolerant.
Is that label accurate? Is it intolerant to challenge another's opinion? It depends on what definition of opinion you have in mind. For example, you may ask a friend, "What do you think of the new Ford cars?" And he may reply, "In my opinion, they're ugly." In this case, it would not only be intolerant to challenge his statement, but foolish. For it's obvious that by opinion he means his personal preference, a matter of taste. And as the old saying goes, ''It's pointless to argue about matters of taste."
But consider this very different use of the term, a newspaper reports that the Supreme Court has delivered its opinion in a controversial case. Obviously the justices did not shale their personal preferences, their mere likes and dislikes, they stated their considered judgment, painstakingly arrived at after thorough inquiry and deliberation.
Most of what is referred to as opinion falls somewhere between these two extremes. It is not an expression of taste. Nor is it careful judgment. Yet it may contain elements of both. It is a view or belief more or less casually arrived at, with or without examining the evidence.
Is everyone entitled to his opinion? Of course, this is not only permitted, but guaranteed. We are free to act on our opinions only so long as, in doing so, we do not harm others. | 519.txt | 1 |
[
"it is foolish to criticize a famous brand",
"one should not always agree to others' opinions",
"personal tastes are not something to be challenged",
"it is unwise to express one's likes and dislikes in public"
] | The new Ford cars are cited as an example to show that _ . | "Opinion" is a word that is used carelessly today. It is used to refer to matters of taste, belief, and judgment. This casual use would probably cause little confusion if people didn't attach too much importance to opinion. Unfortunately, most to attach great importance to it. "I have as much right to my opinion as you to yours, '' and ''Everyone's entitled to his opinion, '' are common expressions. In fact, anyone who would challenge another's opinion is likely to be branded intolerant.
Is that label accurate? Is it intolerant to challenge another's opinion? It depends on what definition of opinion you have in mind. For example, you may ask a friend, "What do you think of the new Ford cars?" And he may reply, "In my opinion, they're ugly." In this case, it would not only be intolerant to challenge his statement, but foolish. For it's obvious that by opinion he means his personal preference, a matter of taste. And as the old saying goes, ''It's pointless to argue about matters of taste."
But consider this very different use of the term, a newspaper reports that the Supreme Court has delivered its opinion in a controversial case. Obviously the justices did not shale their personal preferences, their mere likes and dislikes, they stated their considered judgment, painstakingly arrived at after thorough inquiry and deliberation.
Most of what is referred to as opinion falls somewhere between these two extremes. It is not an expression of taste. Nor is it careful judgment. Yet it may contain elements of both. It is a view or belief more or less casually arrived at, with or without examining the evidence.
Is everyone entitled to his opinion? Of course, this is not only permitted, but guaranteed. We are free to act on our opinions only so long as, in doing so, we do not harm others. | 519.txt | 2 |
[
"it is stated by judges in the court",
"it reflects public like and dislikes",
"it is a result of a lot of controversy",
"it is based on careful thought"
] | Considered judgment is different from personal preference in that _ . | "Opinion" is a word that is used carelessly today. It is used to refer to matters of taste, belief, and judgment. This casual use would probably cause little confusion if people didn't attach too much importance to opinion. Unfortunately, most to attach great importance to it. "I have as much right to my opinion as you to yours, '' and ''Everyone's entitled to his opinion, '' are common expressions. In fact, anyone who would challenge another's opinion is likely to be branded intolerant.
Is that label accurate? Is it intolerant to challenge another's opinion? It depends on what definition of opinion you have in mind. For example, you may ask a friend, "What do you think of the new Ford cars?" And he may reply, "In my opinion, they're ugly." In this case, it would not only be intolerant to challenge his statement, but foolish. For it's obvious that by opinion he means his personal preference, a matter of taste. And as the old saying goes, ''It's pointless to argue about matters of taste."
But consider this very different use of the term, a newspaper reports that the Supreme Court has delivered its opinion in a controversial case. Obviously the justices did not shale their personal preferences, their mere likes and dislikes, they stated their considered judgment, painstakingly arrived at after thorough inquiry and deliberation.
Most of what is referred to as opinion falls somewhere between these two extremes. It is not an expression of taste. Nor is it careful judgment. Yet it may contain elements of both. It is a view or belief more or less casually arrived at, with or without examining the evidence.
Is everyone entitled to his opinion? Of course, this is not only permitted, but guaranteed. We are free to act on our opinions only so long as, in doing so, we do not harm others. | 519.txt | 3 |
[
"means that one can ignore other people's criticism",
"means that one can impose his pre6ereaccs on others",
"doesn't mean that one has the right to do things at will",
"doesn't mean that one has the right to charge others without evidence"
] | As indicated in the passage, being free to act on one's opinion _ . | "Opinion" is a word that is used carelessly today. It is used to refer to matters of taste, belief, and judgment. This casual use would probably cause little confusion if people didn't attach too much importance to opinion. Unfortunately, most to attach great importance to it. "I have as much right to my opinion as you to yours, '' and ''Everyone's entitled to his opinion, '' are common expressions. In fact, anyone who would challenge another's opinion is likely to be branded intolerant.
Is that label accurate? Is it intolerant to challenge another's opinion? It depends on what definition of opinion you have in mind. For example, you may ask a friend, "What do you think of the new Ford cars?" And he may reply, "In my opinion, they're ugly." In this case, it would not only be intolerant to challenge his statement, but foolish. For it's obvious that by opinion he means his personal preference, a matter of taste. And as the old saying goes, ''It's pointless to argue about matters of taste."
But consider this very different use of the term, a newspaper reports that the Supreme Court has delivered its opinion in a controversial case. Obviously the justices did not shale their personal preferences, their mere likes and dislikes, they stated their considered judgment, painstakingly arrived at after thorough inquiry and deliberation.
Most of what is referred to as opinion falls somewhere between these two extremes. It is not an expression of taste. Nor is it careful judgment. Yet it may contain elements of both. It is a view or belief more or less casually arrived at, with or without examining the evidence.
Is everyone entitled to his opinion? Of course, this is not only permitted, but guaranteed. We are free to act on our opinions only so long as, in doing so, we do not harm others. | 519.txt | 2 |
[
"To take in more foreign funds",
"To invest more abroad",
"To combine and become bigger",
"To trade with more countries"
] | What is the typical trend of businesses today? | The world is going through the biggest wave of mergers andacquisitions ever witnessed. The process sweeps from hyperactive America toEurope and reaches the emerging countries with unsurpassed might. Many in thesecountries are looking at this process and worrying: "Won't the wave of business concentration turn into an uncontrollableanti-competitive force?"
There's no question that the big are getting bigger and morepowerful. Multinational corporations accounted for less than 20% ofinternational trade in 1982. Today the figure is more than 25% and growingrapidly. International affiliates account for a fast-growing segment ofproduction in economies that open up and welcome foreign investment. InArgentina, for instance, after the reforms of the early 1990s, multinationalswent from 43% to almost 70% of the industrial production of the 200 largestfirms. This phenomenon has created serious concerns over the role of smallereconomic firms, of national businessmen and over the ultimate stability of theworld economy.
I believe that the most important forces behind the massive M&Awave are the same that underlie the globalization process: fallingtransportation and communication costs, lower trade and investment barriers andenlarged markets that require enlarged operations capable of meeting customers'demands. All these are beneficial, not detrimental, to consumers. Asproductivity grows, the world's wealth increases.
Examples of benefits or costs of the current concentration waveare scanty. Yet it is hard to imagine that the merger of a few oil firms todaycould re-create the same threats to competition that were feared nearly acentury ago in the U.S., when the Standard Oil trust was broken up. The mergersof telecom companies, such as WorldCom, hardly seem to bring higher prices forconsumers or a reduction in the pace of technical progress. On the contrary,the price of communications is coming down fast. In cars, too, concentration isincreasing-witness Daimler andChrysler, Renault and Nissan-but it does notappear that consumers are being hurt.
Yet the fact remains that the merger movement must be watched. Afew weeks ago, Alan Greenspan warned against the megamergers in the bankingindustry. Who is going to supervise, regulate and operate as lender of lastresort with the gigantic banks that are being created? Won't multinationalsshift production from one place to another when a nation gets too strict aboutinfringements to fair competition? And should one country take upon itself therole of "defendingcompetition" on issues that affect many other nations, as in the U.S. vs.Microsoft case? | 1084.txt | 2 |
[
"the greater customer demands",
"a surplus supply for the market",
"a growing productivity",
"the increase of the world's wealth"
] | According to the author, one of the driving forces behindM&A wave is _ . | The world is going through the biggest wave of mergers andacquisitions ever witnessed. The process sweeps from hyperactive America toEurope and reaches the emerging countries with unsurpassed might. Many in thesecountries are looking at this process and worrying: "Won't the wave of business concentration turn into an uncontrollableanti-competitive force?"
There's no question that the big are getting bigger and morepowerful. Multinational corporations accounted for less than 20% ofinternational trade in 1982. Today the figure is more than 25% and growingrapidly. International affiliates account for a fast-growing segment ofproduction in economies that open up and welcome foreign investment. InArgentina, for instance, after the reforms of the early 1990s, multinationalswent from 43% to almost 70% of the industrial production of the 200 largestfirms. This phenomenon has created serious concerns over the role of smallereconomic firms, of national businessmen and over the ultimate stability of theworld economy.
I believe that the most important forces behind the massive M&Awave are the same that underlie the globalization process: fallingtransportation and communication costs, lower trade and investment barriers andenlarged markets that require enlarged operations capable of meeting customers'demands. All these are beneficial, not detrimental, to consumers. Asproductivity grows, the world's wealth increases.
Examples of benefits or costs of the current concentration waveare scanty. Yet it is hard to imagine that the merger of a few oil firms todaycould re-create the same threats to competition that were feared nearly acentury ago in the U.S., when the Standard Oil trust was broken up. The mergersof telecom companies, such as WorldCom, hardly seem to bring higher prices forconsumers or a reduction in the pace of technical progress. On the contrary,the price of communications is coming down fast. In cars, too, concentration isincreasing-witness Daimler andChrysler, Renault and Nissan-but it does notappear that consumers are being hurt.
Yet the fact remains that the merger movement must be watched. Afew weeks ago, Alan Greenspan warned against the megamergers in the bankingindustry. Who is going to supervise, regulate and operate as lender of lastresort with the gigantic banks that are being created? Won't multinationalsshift production from one place to another when a nation gets too strict aboutinfringements to fair competition? And should one country take upon itself therole of "defendingcompetition" on issues that affect many other nations, as in the U.S. vs.Microsoft case? | 1084.txt | 0 |
[
"the increasing concentration is certain to hurt consumers",
"WorldCom serves as a good example of both benefits and costs",
"the costs of the globalization process are enormous",
"the Standard Oil trust might have threatened competition"
] | From paragraph 4 we can infer that _ . | The world is going through the biggest wave of mergers andacquisitions ever witnessed. The process sweeps from hyperactive America toEurope and reaches the emerging countries with unsurpassed might. Many in thesecountries are looking at this process and worrying: "Won't the wave of business concentration turn into an uncontrollableanti-competitive force?"
There's no question that the big are getting bigger and morepowerful. Multinational corporations accounted for less than 20% ofinternational trade in 1982. Today the figure is more than 25% and growingrapidly. International affiliates account for a fast-growing segment ofproduction in economies that open up and welcome foreign investment. InArgentina, for instance, after the reforms of the early 1990s, multinationalswent from 43% to almost 70% of the industrial production of the 200 largestfirms. This phenomenon has created serious concerns over the role of smallereconomic firms, of national businessmen and over the ultimate stability of theworld economy.
I believe that the most important forces behind the massive M&Awave are the same that underlie the globalization process: fallingtransportation and communication costs, lower trade and investment barriers andenlarged markets that require enlarged operations capable of meeting customers'demands. All these are beneficial, not detrimental, to consumers. Asproductivity grows, the world's wealth increases.
Examples of benefits or costs of the current concentration waveare scanty. Yet it is hard to imagine that the merger of a few oil firms todaycould re-create the same threats to competition that were feared nearly acentury ago in the U.S., when the Standard Oil trust was broken up. The mergersof telecom companies, such as WorldCom, hardly seem to bring higher prices forconsumers or a reduction in the pace of technical progress. On the contrary,the price of communications is coming down fast. In cars, too, concentration isincreasing-witness Daimler andChrysler, Renault and Nissan-but it does notappear that consumers are being hurt.
Yet the fact remains that the merger movement must be watched. Afew weeks ago, Alan Greenspan warned against the megamergers in the bankingindustry. Who is going to supervise, regulate and operate as lender of lastresort with the gigantic banks that are being created? Won't multinationalsshift production from one place to another when a nation gets too strict aboutinfringements to fair competition? And should one country take upon itself therole of "defendingcompetition" on issues that affect many other nations, as in the U.S. vs.Microsoft case? | 1084.txt | 3 |
[
"optimistic",
"objective",
"pessimistic",
"biased"
] | Toward the new business wave, the writer's attitude can besaid to be _ . | The world is going through the biggest wave of mergers andacquisitions ever witnessed. The process sweeps from hyperactive America toEurope and reaches the emerging countries with unsurpassed might. Many in thesecountries are looking at this process and worrying: "Won't the wave of business concentration turn into an uncontrollableanti-competitive force?"
There's no question that the big are getting bigger and morepowerful. Multinational corporations accounted for less than 20% ofinternational trade in 1982. Today the figure is more than 25% and growingrapidly. International affiliates account for a fast-growing segment ofproduction in economies that open up and welcome foreign investment. InArgentina, for instance, after the reforms of the early 1990s, multinationalswent from 43% to almost 70% of the industrial production of the 200 largestfirms. This phenomenon has created serious concerns over the role of smallereconomic firms, of national businessmen and over the ultimate stability of theworld economy.
I believe that the most important forces behind the massive M&Awave are the same that underlie the globalization process: fallingtransportation and communication costs, lower trade and investment barriers andenlarged markets that require enlarged operations capable of meeting customers'demands. All these are beneficial, not detrimental, to consumers. Asproductivity grows, the world's wealth increases.
Examples of benefits or costs of the current concentration waveare scanty. Yet it is hard to imagine that the merger of a few oil firms todaycould re-create the same threats to competition that were feared nearly acentury ago in the U.S., when the Standard Oil trust was broken up. The mergersof telecom companies, such as WorldCom, hardly seem to bring higher prices forconsumers or a reduction in the pace of technical progress. On the contrary,the price of communications is coming down fast. In cars, too, concentration isincreasing-witness Daimler andChrysler, Renault and Nissan-but it does notappear that consumers are being hurt.
Yet the fact remains that the merger movement must be watched. Afew weeks ago, Alan Greenspan warned against the megamergers in the bankingindustry. Who is going to supervise, regulate and operate as lender of lastresort with the gigantic banks that are being created? Won't multinationalsshift production from one place to another when a nation gets too strict aboutinfringements to fair competition? And should one country take upon itself therole of "defendingcompetition" on issues that affect many other nations, as in the U.S. vs.Microsoft case? | 1084.txt | 1 |
[
"said that man would fly in the sky one day",
"built a kind of machine which never flew",
"drew many beautiful pictures of birds",
"made designs for flying machine"
] | Leonardo da Vinci _ . | Man has always wanted to fly. Some of the greatest men in history have thought about the problem. One of these, for example, was the great Italian artist, Leonardo da Vinci. In the sixteenth century he made designs for machines that would fly. But they were never built.
Throughout history, other less famous men have wanted to fly. An example was a man in England 800 years ago. He made a pair of wings from chicken feathers. Then he fixed them to his body and jumped into the air from a tall building. He did not fly very far. Instead, he fell to the ground and broke every bone in his body.
The first real steps took place in France, in 1783. Two brothers, the Montgolfiers, made a very large" hot air balloon" . They knew that hot air rises. Why not fill a balloon with it？The balloon was made of cloth and paper. In September of that year, the King and Queen of France came to see the balloon. They watched it carry the very first air passengers into the sky. The passengers were a sheep and a chicken. We do not know how they felt about the trip. But we do know that the trip lasted eight minutes and that the animals landed safely. Two months later, two men did the same thing. They rose above Paris in a balloon of the same kind. Their trip lasted twenty-five minutes and they travelled about eight kilometres. | 731.txt | 3 |
[
"made a kind of flying machine",
"tried to fly with wings made of chicken feather",
"wanted to build a kind of balloon",
"tried to fly on a large bird"
] | Eight hundred years ago an Englishman _ . | Man has always wanted to fly. Some of the greatest men in history have thought about the problem. One of these, for example, was the great Italian artist, Leonardo da Vinci. In the sixteenth century he made designs for machines that would fly. But they were never built.
Throughout history, other less famous men have wanted to fly. An example was a man in England 800 years ago. He made a pair of wings from chicken feathers. Then he fixed them to his body and jumped into the air from a tall building. He did not fly very far. Instead, he fell to the ground and broke every bone in his body.
The first real steps took place in France, in 1783. Two brothers, the Montgolfiers, made a very large" hot air balloon" . They knew that hot air rises. Why not fill a balloon with it？The balloon was made of cloth and paper. In September of that year, the King and Queen of France came to see the balloon. They watched it carry the very first air passengers into the sky. The passengers were a sheep and a chicken. We do not know how they felt about the trip. But we do know that the trip lasted eight minutes and that the animals landed safely. Two months later, two men did the same thing. They rose above Paris in a balloon of the same kind. Their trip lasted twenty-five minutes and they travelled about eight kilometres. | 731.txt | 1 |
[
"lost his life",
"flew only 8minutes",
"got badly wounded",
"succeeded in flying"
] | In fact, the Englishman who tried to fly _ . | Man has always wanted to fly. Some of the greatest men in history have thought about the problem. One of these, for example, was the great Italian artist, Leonardo da Vinci. In the sixteenth century he made designs for machines that would fly. But they were never built.
Throughout history, other less famous men have wanted to fly. An example was a man in England 800 years ago. He made a pair of wings from chicken feathers. Then he fixed them to his body and jumped into the air from a tall building. He did not fly very far. Instead, he fell to the ground and broke every bone in his body.
The first real steps took place in France, in 1783. Two brothers, the Montgolfiers, made a very large" hot air balloon" . They knew that hot air rises. Why not fill a balloon with it？The balloon was made of cloth and paper. In September of that year, the King and Queen of France came to see the balloon. They watched it carry the very first air passengers into the sky. The passengers were a sheep and a chicken. We do not know how they felt about the trip. But we do know that the trip lasted eight minutes and that the animals landed safely. Two months later, two men did the same thing. They rose above Paris in a balloon of the same kind. Their trip lasted twenty-five minutes and they travelled about eight kilometres. | 731.txt | 2 |
[
"the King and the Queen",
"two Frenchmen",
"two animals",
"the Montgolfiers"
] | The very first air passengers in the balloon were _ . | Man has always wanted to fly. Some of the greatest men in history have thought about the problem. One of these, for example, was the great Italian artist, Leonardo da Vinci. In the sixteenth century he made designs for machines that would fly. But they were never built.
Throughout history, other less famous men have wanted to fly. An example was a man in England 800 years ago. He made a pair of wings from chicken feathers. Then he fixed them to his body and jumped into the air from a tall building. He did not fly very far. Instead, he fell to the ground and broke every bone in his body.
The first real steps took place in France, in 1783. Two brothers, the Montgolfiers, made a very large" hot air balloon" . They knew that hot air rises. Why not fill a balloon with it？The balloon was made of cloth and paper. In September of that year, the King and Queen of France came to see the balloon. They watched it carry the very first air passengers into the sky. The passengers were a sheep and a chicken. We do not know how they felt about the trip. But we do know that the trip lasted eight minutes and that the animals landed safely. Two months later, two men did the same thing. They rose above Paris in a balloon of the same kind. Their trip lasted twenty-five minutes and they travelled about eight kilometres. | 731.txt | 2 |
[
"In December 1783.",
"In September 1783.",
"In November 1783.",
"In the seventeenth century."
] | When did two Frenchmen rise above Paris？ | Man has always wanted to fly. Some of the greatest men in history have thought about the problem. One of these, for example, was the great Italian artist, Leonardo da Vinci. In the sixteenth century he made designs for machines that would fly. But they were never built.
Throughout history, other less famous men have wanted to fly. An example was a man in England 800 years ago. He made a pair of wings from chicken feathers. Then he fixed them to his body and jumped into the air from a tall building. He did not fly very far. Instead, he fell to the ground and broke every bone in his body.
The first real steps took place in France, in 1783. Two brothers, the Montgolfiers, made a very large" hot air balloon" . They knew that hot air rises. Why not fill a balloon with it？The balloon was made of cloth and paper. In September of that year, the King and Queen of France came to see the balloon. They watched it carry the very first air passengers into the sky. The passengers were a sheep and a chicken. We do not know how they felt about the trip. But we do know that the trip lasted eight minutes and that the animals landed safely. Two months later, two men did the same thing. They rose above Paris in a balloon of the same kind. Their trip lasted twenty-five minutes and they travelled about eight kilometres. | 731.txt | 2 |
[
"It deprives people of communication with the real world.",
"People become lazy.",
"People become dependent on second-hand experience.",
"TV consumes a large part of one' s life."
] | What is the biggest harm of TV? | TV's Harmfulness
Yes, but what did we use to do before there was television? How often we hear statements like this!
Television hasn't been with us all that long, but we are already beginning to forget what the world was like without it. Before we admitted the one-eyed monster into our homes, we never fond it difficult to occupy our spare time. We used to enjoy civilized pleasures. For instance, we used to have hobbies, we used to entertain our friends and be entertained by them, we used to go outside for our amusements to theatres, cinemas, restaurants and sporting events.
We even used to read books and listen to music and broadcast talks occasionally. All that belongs to the past. Now all our free time is regulated by the goggle box. We rush home or gulp down our meals to be in time for this or that programme.
We have even given up sitting at table and having a leisurely evening meal, exchanging the news of the day. A sandwich and a glass of beer will doanything, providing it down't interfere with the programme. The monster demands and obtains absolute silence and attention.
If any member of the family dares to open his mouth during a programme, he is quickly silenced.
Whole generations are growing up addicted to the telly. Food is left uneaten, homework undone and sleep is lost.
The telly is a universal pacifier. It is now standard practice for mother to keep the children quiet by putting them in the living-room and turning on the set.
It down't matter that the children will watch rubbishy commercials or spectacles of sadism and violenceso long as they are quiet.
There is a limit to the amount of creative talent available in the world. Every day, television consumes vast quantities of creative work. That is why most of the programmes are so bad: it is impossible to keep pace with the demand and maintain high standards as well.
When millions watch the same programmes, the whole world becomes a village, and society is reduced to the conditions which obtain in preliterate communities. We become utterly dependent on the two most primitive media of communication: pictures and the spoken word.
Television encourages passive enjoyment. We become content with second-hand experiences. It is so easy to sit in our armchairs watching others working. Little by little, television cuts us off from the real world.
We get so lazy, we choose to spend a fine day in semi-darkness, glued to our sets, rather than go out into the world itself. Television may be s splendid medium of communication, but it prevents us from communicating with each other.
We only become aware how totally irrelevant television is to real living when we spend a holiday by the sea or in the mountains, far away from civilization. In quiet, natural surroundings, we quickly discover how little we miss the hypnotic tyranny of King Telly. | 249.txt | 0 |
[
"Far away from civilization.",
"To a mountain.",
"By the sea.",
"In quiet natural surroundings."
] | In what way can people forget TV? | TV's Harmfulness
Yes, but what did we use to do before there was television? How often we hear statements like this!
Television hasn't been with us all that long, but we are already beginning to forget what the world was like without it. Before we admitted the one-eyed monster into our homes, we never fond it difficult to occupy our spare time. We used to enjoy civilized pleasures. For instance, we used to have hobbies, we used to entertain our friends and be entertained by them, we used to go outside for our amusements to theatres, cinemas, restaurants and sporting events.
We even used to read books and listen to music and broadcast talks occasionally. All that belongs to the past. Now all our free time is regulated by the goggle box. We rush home or gulp down our meals to be in time for this or that programme.
We have even given up sitting at table and having a leisurely evening meal, exchanging the news of the day. A sandwich and a glass of beer will doanything, providing it down't interfere with the programme. The monster demands and obtains absolute silence and attention.
If any member of the family dares to open his mouth during a programme, he is quickly silenced.
Whole generations are growing up addicted to the telly. Food is left uneaten, homework undone and sleep is lost.
The telly is a universal pacifier. It is now standard practice for mother to keep the children quiet by putting them in the living-room and turning on the set.
It down't matter that the children will watch rubbishy commercials or spectacles of sadism and violenceso long as they are quiet.
There is a limit to the amount of creative talent available in the world. Every day, television consumes vast quantities of creative work. That is why most of the programmes are so bad: it is impossible to keep pace with the demand and maintain high standards as well.
When millions watch the same programmes, the whole world becomes a village, and society is reduced to the conditions which obtain in preliterate communities. We become utterly dependent on the two most primitive media of communication: pictures and the spoken word.
Television encourages passive enjoyment. We become content with second-hand experiences. It is so easy to sit in our armchairs watching others working. Little by little, television cuts us off from the real world.
We get so lazy, we choose to spend a fine day in semi-darkness, glued to our sets, rather than go out into the world itself. Television may be s splendid medium of communication, but it prevents us from communicating with each other.
We only become aware how totally irrelevant television is to real living when we spend a holiday by the sea or in the mountains, far away from civilization. In quiet, natural surroundings, we quickly discover how little we miss the hypnotic tyranny of King Telly. | 249.txt | 3 |
[
"Let them watch the set.",
"Put them in the living room.",
"Let them watch the rubbish.",
"Let them alone."
] | What does a mother usually do to keep her children quiet? | TV's Harmfulness
Yes, but what did we use to do before there was television? How often we hear statements like this!
Television hasn't been with us all that long, but we are already beginning to forget what the world was like without it. Before we admitted the one-eyed monster into our homes, we never fond it difficult to occupy our spare time. We used to enjoy civilized pleasures. For instance, we used to have hobbies, we used to entertain our friends and be entertained by them, we used to go outside for our amusements to theatres, cinemas, restaurants and sporting events.
We even used to read books and listen to music and broadcast talks occasionally. All that belongs to the past. Now all our free time is regulated by the goggle box. We rush home or gulp down our meals to be in time for this or that programme.
We have even given up sitting at table and having a leisurely evening meal, exchanging the news of the day. A sandwich and a glass of beer will doanything, providing it down't interfere with the programme. The monster demands and obtains absolute silence and attention.
If any member of the family dares to open his mouth during a programme, he is quickly silenced.
Whole generations are growing up addicted to the telly. Food is left uneaten, homework undone and sleep is lost.
The telly is a universal pacifier. It is now standard practice for mother to keep the children quiet by putting them in the living-room and turning on the set.
It down't matter that the children will watch rubbishy commercials or spectacles of sadism and violenceso long as they are quiet.
There is a limit to the amount of creative talent available in the world. Every day, television consumes vast quantities of creative work. That is why most of the programmes are so bad: it is impossible to keep pace with the demand and maintain high standards as well.
When millions watch the same programmes, the whole world becomes a village, and society is reduced to the conditions which obtain in preliterate communities. We become utterly dependent on the two most primitive media of communication: pictures and the spoken word.
Television encourages passive enjoyment. We become content with second-hand experiences. It is so easy to sit in our armchairs watching others working. Little by little, television cuts us off from the real world.
We get so lazy, we choose to spend a fine day in semi-darkness, glued to our sets, rather than go out into the world itself. Television may be s splendid medium of communication, but it prevents us from communicating with each other.
We only become aware how totally irrelevant television is to real living when we spend a holiday by the sea or in the mountains, far away from civilization. In quiet, natural surroundings, we quickly discover how little we miss the hypnotic tyranny of King Telly. | 249.txt | 0 |
[
"We found it difficult to occupy our spare time.",
"We become addicted to TV",
"What we used to do is different from now.",
"We used to enjoy civilized pleasures."
] | What does the first sentence in the first paragraph mean? | TV's Harmfulness
Yes, but what did we use to do before there was television? How often we hear statements like this!
Television hasn't been with us all that long, but we are already beginning to forget what the world was like without it. Before we admitted the one-eyed monster into our homes, we never fond it difficult to occupy our spare time. We used to enjoy civilized pleasures. For instance, we used to have hobbies, we used to entertain our friends and be entertained by them, we used to go outside for our amusements to theatres, cinemas, restaurants and sporting events.
We even used to read books and listen to music and broadcast talks occasionally. All that belongs to the past. Now all our free time is regulated by the goggle box. We rush home or gulp down our meals to be in time for this or that programme.
We have even given up sitting at table and having a leisurely evening meal, exchanging the news of the day. A sandwich and a glass of beer will doanything, providing it down't interfere with the programme. The monster demands and obtains absolute silence and attention.
If any member of the family dares to open his mouth during a programme, he is quickly silenced.
Whole generations are growing up addicted to the telly. Food is left uneaten, homework undone and sleep is lost.
The telly is a universal pacifier. It is now standard practice for mother to keep the children quiet by putting them in the living-room and turning on the set.
It down't matter that the children will watch rubbishy commercials or spectacles of sadism and violenceso long as they are quiet.
There is a limit to the amount of creative talent available in the world. Every day, television consumes vast quantities of creative work. That is why most of the programmes are so bad: it is impossible to keep pace with the demand and maintain high standards as well.
When millions watch the same programmes, the whole world becomes a village, and society is reduced to the conditions which obtain in preliterate communities. We become utterly dependent on the two most primitive media of communication: pictures and the spoken word.
Television encourages passive enjoyment. We become content with second-hand experiences. It is so easy to sit in our armchairs watching others working. Little by little, television cuts us off from the real world.
We get so lazy, we choose to spend a fine day in semi-darkness, glued to our sets, rather than go out into the world itself. Television may be s splendid medium of communication, but it prevents us from communicating with each other.
We only become aware how totally irrelevant television is to real living when we spend a holiday by the sea or in the mountains, far away from civilization. In quiet, natural surroundings, we quickly discover how little we miss the hypnotic tyranny of King Telly. | 249.txt | 1 |
[
"Electricity consumption.",
"Air pollution.",
"Waste of energy.",
"Ugly looking."
] | What is NOT mentioned as a disadvantage of using clothes dryers? | A simple piece of rope hangs between some environmentally friendly Americans and their neighbors. On one side stand those who have begun to see clothes dryers as wasteful consumers of energy (up to 6% of total electricity) and powerful emitters of carbon dioxide (up to a ton of CO2 per household every year). As an alternative, they are turning to clotheslines as part of what Alexander Lee, an environmentalist, calls "what-I-can- do environmentalism."
But on the other side are people who oppose air-drying laundry outside on aesthetic grounds. Increasingly, they have persuaded community and homeowners associations(HOAs) across the U.S. to ban outdoor clotheslines, which they say not only look unsightly but also lower surrounding property values. Those actions, in turn, have sparked a right-to-dry movement that is pressing for legislation to protect the choice to use clotheslines. Only three states--Florida, Hawaii and Utah--have laws written broadly enough to protect clotheslines. Right-to-dry advocates argue that there should be more.
Matt Reck is the kind of eco-conscious guy who feeds his trees with bathwater and recycles condensation drops from his air conditioners to water plants. His family also uses a clothesline. But Otto Hagen, president of Reck's HOA in Wake Forest, N.C., notified him that a neighbor h, ad complained about his line. The Recks ignored the warning and still dry their clothes on a rope in the yard. "Many people claim to be environmentally friendly but don't take matters into their own hands," says Reck. HOAs Hagen has decided to hold off taking action. "I'm not going to go crazy," he says. "But if Matt keeps his line and more neighbors complain, I'll have to address it again."
North Carolina lawmakers tried and failed earlier this year to insert language into an energy bill that would expressly prevent HOAs from regulating clotheslines. But the issue remains a touchy one with HOAs and real estate agents. "Most aesthetic restrictions are rooted, to a degree, in the belief that homogenous ( ) exteriors are supportive of property value," says Sara Stubbins, executive director of the Community Association Institute's North Carolina chapter. In other words, associations worry that housing prices will fall if prospective buyers think their would-be neighbors are too poor to afford dryers.
Alexander Lee dismisses the notion that clotheslines devalue property assets, advocating that the idea "needs to change in light of global warming." "We all have to do at least something to decrease our carbon footprint," Alexander Lee says. | 78.txt | 3 |
[
"Opposers think air-drying laundry would devalue surrounding assets.",
"Opposers consider the outdoor clothesline as an eyesore to the scenery.",
"Right-to-dry movements led to the pass of written laws to protect clotheslines.",
"Most of states in the US have no written laws to protect clotheslines."
] | Which of the following is INCORRECT? | A simple piece of rope hangs between some environmentally friendly Americans and their neighbors. On one side stand those who have begun to see clothes dryers as wasteful consumers of energy (up to 6% of total electricity) and powerful emitters of carbon dioxide (up to a ton of CO2 per household every year). As an alternative, they are turning to clotheslines as part of what Alexander Lee, an environmentalist, calls "what-I-can- do environmentalism."
But on the other side are people who oppose air-drying laundry outside on aesthetic grounds. Increasingly, they have persuaded community and homeowners associations(HOAs) across the U.S. to ban outdoor clotheslines, which they say not only look unsightly but also lower surrounding property values. Those actions, in turn, have sparked a right-to-dry movement that is pressing for legislation to protect the choice to use clotheslines. Only three states--Florida, Hawaii and Utah--have laws written broadly enough to protect clotheslines. Right-to-dry advocates argue that there should be more.
Matt Reck is the kind of eco-conscious guy who feeds his trees with bathwater and recycles condensation drops from his air conditioners to water plants. His family also uses a clothesline. But Otto Hagen, president of Reck's HOA in Wake Forest, N.C., notified him that a neighbor h, ad complained about his line. The Recks ignored the warning and still dry their clothes on a rope in the yard. "Many people claim to be environmentally friendly but don't take matters into their own hands," says Reck. HOAs Hagen has decided to hold off taking action. "I'm not going to go crazy," he says. "But if Matt keeps his line and more neighbors complain, I'll have to address it again."
North Carolina lawmakers tried and failed earlier this year to insert language into an energy bill that would expressly prevent HOAs from regulating clotheslines. But the issue remains a touchy one with HOAs and real estate agents. "Most aesthetic restrictions are rooted, to a degree, in the belief that homogenous ( ) exteriors are supportive of property value," says Sara Stubbins, executive director of the Community Association Institute's North Carolina chapter. In other words, associations worry that housing prices will fall if prospective buyers think their would-be neighbors are too poor to afford dryers.
Alexander Lee dismisses the notion that clotheslines devalue property assets, advocating that the idea "needs to change in light of global warming." "We all have to do at least something to decrease our carbon footprint," Alexander Lee says. | 78.txt | 2 |
[
"Concerned.",
"Impartial.",
"Supportive.",
"Unclear."
] | What is the HOAs' attitude towards the regulation of outdoor clotheslines? | A simple piece of rope hangs between some environmentally friendly Americans and their neighbors. On one side stand those who have begun to see clothes dryers as wasteful consumers of energy (up to 6% of total electricity) and powerful emitters of carbon dioxide (up to a ton of CO2 per household every year). As an alternative, they are turning to clotheslines as part of what Alexander Lee, an environmentalist, calls "what-I-can- do environmentalism."
But on the other side are people who oppose air-drying laundry outside on aesthetic grounds. Increasingly, they have persuaded community and homeowners associations(HOAs) across the U.S. to ban outdoor clotheslines, which they say not only look unsightly but also lower surrounding property values. Those actions, in turn, have sparked a right-to-dry movement that is pressing for legislation to protect the choice to use clotheslines. Only three states--Florida, Hawaii and Utah--have laws written broadly enough to protect clotheslines. Right-to-dry advocates argue that there should be more.
Matt Reck is the kind of eco-conscious guy who feeds his trees with bathwater and recycles condensation drops from his air conditioners to water plants. His family also uses a clothesline. But Otto Hagen, president of Reck's HOA in Wake Forest, N.C., notified him that a neighbor h, ad complained about his line. The Recks ignored the warning and still dry their clothes on a rope in the yard. "Many people claim to be environmentally friendly but don't take matters into their own hands," says Reck. HOAs Hagen has decided to hold off taking action. "I'm not going to go crazy," he says. "But if Matt keeps his line and more neighbors complain, I'll have to address it again."
North Carolina lawmakers tried and failed earlier this year to insert language into an energy bill that would expressly prevent HOAs from regulating clotheslines. But the issue remains a touchy one with HOAs and real estate agents. "Most aesthetic restrictions are rooted, to a degree, in the belief that homogenous ( ) exteriors are supportive of property value," says Sara Stubbins, executive director of the Community Association Institute's North Carolina chapter. In other words, associations worry that housing prices will fall if prospective buyers think their would-be neighbors are too poor to afford dryers.
Alexander Lee dismisses the notion that clotheslines devalue property assets, advocating that the idea "needs to change in light of global warming." "We all have to do at least something to decrease our carbon footprint," Alexander Lee says. | 78.txt | 2 |
[
"clotheslines should be banned in the community.",
"clotheslines wouldn't lessen the property values.",
"the globe would become warmer and warmer.",
"we should protect the environment in the community."
] | In the last paragraph Alexander Lee recommends that | A simple piece of rope hangs between some environmentally friendly Americans and their neighbors. On one side stand those who have begun to see clothes dryers as wasteful consumers of energy (up to 6% of total electricity) and powerful emitters of carbon dioxide (up to a ton of CO2 per household every year). As an alternative, they are turning to clotheslines as part of what Alexander Lee, an environmentalist, calls "what-I-can- do environmentalism."
But on the other side are people who oppose air-drying laundry outside on aesthetic grounds. Increasingly, they have persuaded community and homeowners associations(HOAs) across the U.S. to ban outdoor clotheslines, which they say not only look unsightly but also lower surrounding property values. Those actions, in turn, have sparked a right-to-dry movement that is pressing for legislation to protect the choice to use clotheslines. Only three states--Florida, Hawaii and Utah--have laws written broadly enough to protect clotheslines. Right-to-dry advocates argue that there should be more.
Matt Reck is the kind of eco-conscious guy who feeds his trees with bathwater and recycles condensation drops from his air conditioners to water plants. His family also uses a clothesline. But Otto Hagen, president of Reck's HOA in Wake Forest, N.C., notified him that a neighbor h, ad complained about his line. The Recks ignored the warning and still dry their clothes on a rope in the yard. "Many people claim to be environmentally friendly but don't take matters into their own hands," says Reck. HOAs Hagen has decided to hold off taking action. "I'm not going to go crazy," he says. "But if Matt keeps his line and more neighbors complain, I'll have to address it again."
North Carolina lawmakers tried and failed earlier this year to insert language into an energy bill that would expressly prevent HOAs from regulating clotheslines. But the issue remains a touchy one with HOAs and real estate agents. "Most aesthetic restrictions are rooted, to a degree, in the belief that homogenous ( ) exteriors are supportive of property value," says Sara Stubbins, executive director of the Community Association Institute's North Carolina chapter. In other words, associations worry that housing prices will fall if prospective buyers think their would-be neighbors are too poor to afford dryers.
Alexander Lee dismisses the notion that clotheslines devalue property assets, advocating that the idea "needs to change in light of global warming." "We all have to do at least something to decrease our carbon footprint," Alexander Lee says. | 78.txt | 3 |
[
"Opinions on Environmental Protection.",
"Opinions on Air-drying Laundry.",
"What-I-Can-Do Environmentalism.",
"Restrictions on Clotheslines."
] | An appropriate title for the passage might be | A simple piece of rope hangs between some environmentally friendly Americans and their neighbors. On one side stand those who have begun to see clothes dryers as wasteful consumers of energy (up to 6% of total electricity) and powerful emitters of carbon dioxide (up to a ton of CO2 per household every year). As an alternative, they are turning to clotheslines as part of what Alexander Lee, an environmentalist, calls "what-I-can- do environmentalism."
But on the other side are people who oppose air-drying laundry outside on aesthetic grounds. Increasingly, they have persuaded community and homeowners associations(HOAs) across the U.S. to ban outdoor clotheslines, which they say not only look unsightly but also lower surrounding property values. Those actions, in turn, have sparked a right-to-dry movement that is pressing for legislation to protect the choice to use clotheslines. Only three states--Florida, Hawaii and Utah--have laws written broadly enough to protect clotheslines. Right-to-dry advocates argue that there should be more.
Matt Reck is the kind of eco-conscious guy who feeds his trees with bathwater and recycles condensation drops from his air conditioners to water plants. His family also uses a clothesline. But Otto Hagen, president of Reck's HOA in Wake Forest, N.C., notified him that a neighbor h, ad complained about his line. The Recks ignored the warning and still dry their clothes on a rope in the yard. "Many people claim to be environmentally friendly but don't take matters into their own hands," says Reck. HOAs Hagen has decided to hold off taking action. "I'm not going to go crazy," he says. "But if Matt keeps his line and more neighbors complain, I'll have to address it again."
North Carolina lawmakers tried and failed earlier this year to insert language into an energy bill that would expressly prevent HOAs from regulating clotheslines. But the issue remains a touchy one with HOAs and real estate agents. "Most aesthetic restrictions are rooted, to a degree, in the belief that homogenous ( ) exteriors are supportive of property value," says Sara Stubbins, executive director of the Community Association Institute's North Carolina chapter. In other words, associations worry that housing prices will fall if prospective buyers think their would-be neighbors are too poor to afford dryers.
Alexander Lee dismisses the notion that clotheslines devalue property assets, advocating that the idea "needs to change in light of global warming." "We all have to do at least something to decrease our carbon footprint," Alexander Lee says. | 78.txt | 1 |
[
"Spero can hardly maintain her business",
"Spero is too much engaged in her work",
"Spero has grown out of her bad habit",
"Spero is not in a desperate situation"
] | By "Ellen Spero isn't biting her nails just yet" (Lines 1-2, Paragraph 1), the author means . | When it comes to the slowing economy, Ellen Spero isn't biting her nails just yet. But the 47-year-old manicurist isn't cutting, filling or polishing as many nails as she'd like to, either. Most of her clients spend $12 to $50 weekly, but last month two longtime customers suddenly stopped showing up. Spero blames the softening economy. "I'm a good economic indicator," she says. "I provide a service that people can do without when they're concerned about saving some dollars." So Spero is downscaling, shopping at middle-brow Dillard's department store near her suburban Cleveland home, instead of Neiman Marcus. "I don't know if other clients are going to abandon me, too." she says.
Even before Alan Greenspan's admission that America's red-hot economy is cooling, lots of working folks had already seen signs of the slowdown themselves. From car dealerships to Gap outlets, sales have been lagging for months as shoppers temper their spending. For retailers, who last year took in 24 percent of their revenue between Thanksgiving and Christmas, the cautious approach is coming at a crucial time. Already, experts say, holiday sales are off 7 percent from last year's pace. But don't sound any alarms just yet. Consumers seem only mildly concerned, not panicked, and many say they remain optimistic about the economy's long-term prospects, even as they do some modest belt-tightening.
Consumers say they're not in despair because, despite the dreadful headlines, their own fortunes still feel pretty good. Home prices are holding steady in most regions. In Manhattan, "there's a new gold rush happening in the $4 million to $10 million range, predominantly fed by Wall Street bonuses," says broker Barbara Corcoran. In San Francisco, prices are still rising even as frenzied overbidding quiets. "Instead of 20 to 30 offers, now maybe you only get two or three," says John Tealdi, a Bay Area real-estate broker. And most folks still feel pretty comfortable about their ability to find and keep a job.
Many folks see silver linings to this slowdown. Potential home buyers would cheer for lower interest rates. Employers wouldn't mind a little fewer bubbles in the job market. Many consumers seem to have been influenced by stock-market swings, which investors now view as a necessary ingredient to a sustained boom. Diners might see an upside, too. Getting a table at Manhattan's hot new Alain Ducasse restaurant used to be impossible. Not anymore. For that, Greenspan & Co. may still be worth toasting. | 3248.txt | 3 |
[
"Optimistic.",
"Confused.",
"Carefree.",
"Panicked."
] | How do the public feel about the current economic situation? | When it comes to the slowing economy, Ellen Spero isn't biting her nails just yet. But the 47-year-old manicurist isn't cutting, filling or polishing as many nails as she'd like to, either. Most of her clients spend $12 to $50 weekly, but last month two longtime customers suddenly stopped showing up. Spero blames the softening economy. "I'm a good economic indicator," she says. "I provide a service that people can do without when they're concerned about saving some dollars." So Spero is downscaling, shopping at middle-brow Dillard's department store near her suburban Cleveland home, instead of Neiman Marcus. "I don't know if other clients are going to abandon me, too." she says.
Even before Alan Greenspan's admission that America's red-hot economy is cooling, lots of working folks had already seen signs of the slowdown themselves. From car dealerships to Gap outlets, sales have been lagging for months as shoppers temper their spending. For retailers, who last year took in 24 percent of their revenue between Thanksgiving and Christmas, the cautious approach is coming at a crucial time. Already, experts say, holiday sales are off 7 percent from last year's pace. But don't sound any alarms just yet. Consumers seem only mildly concerned, not panicked, and many say they remain optimistic about the economy's long-term prospects, even as they do some modest belt-tightening.
Consumers say they're not in despair because, despite the dreadful headlines, their own fortunes still feel pretty good. Home prices are holding steady in most regions. In Manhattan, "there's a new gold rush happening in the $4 million to $10 million range, predominantly fed by Wall Street bonuses," says broker Barbara Corcoran. In San Francisco, prices are still rising even as frenzied overbidding quiets. "Instead of 20 to 30 offers, now maybe you only get two or three," says John Tealdi, a Bay Area real-estate broker. And most folks still feel pretty comfortable about their ability to find and keep a job.
Many folks see silver linings to this slowdown. Potential home buyers would cheer for lower interest rates. Employers wouldn't mind a little fewer bubbles in the job market. Many consumers seem to have been influenced by stock-market swings, which investors now view as a necessary ingredient to a sustained boom. Diners might see an upside, too. Getting a table at Manhattan's hot new Alain Ducasse restaurant used to be impossible. Not anymore. For that, Greenspan & Co. may still be worth toasting. | 3248.txt | 0 |
[
"gold market",
"real estate",
"stock exchange",
"venture investment"
] | When mentioning "the $4 million to $10 million range" (Lines 3-4, Paragraph 3) the author is talking about . | When it comes to the slowing economy, Ellen Spero isn't biting her nails just yet. But the 47-year-old manicurist isn't cutting, filling or polishing as many nails as she'd like to, either. Most of her clients spend $12 to $50 weekly, but last month two longtime customers suddenly stopped showing up. Spero blames the softening economy. "I'm a good economic indicator," she says. "I provide a service that people can do without when they're concerned about saving some dollars." So Spero is downscaling, shopping at middle-brow Dillard's department store near her suburban Cleveland home, instead of Neiman Marcus. "I don't know if other clients are going to abandon me, too." she says.
Even before Alan Greenspan's admission that America's red-hot economy is cooling, lots of working folks had already seen signs of the slowdown themselves. From car dealerships to Gap outlets, sales have been lagging for months as shoppers temper their spending. For retailers, who last year took in 24 percent of their revenue between Thanksgiving and Christmas, the cautious approach is coming at a crucial time. Already, experts say, holiday sales are off 7 percent from last year's pace. But don't sound any alarms just yet. Consumers seem only mildly concerned, not panicked, and many say they remain optimistic about the economy's long-term prospects, even as they do some modest belt-tightening.
Consumers say they're not in despair because, despite the dreadful headlines, their own fortunes still feel pretty good. Home prices are holding steady in most regions. In Manhattan, "there's a new gold rush happening in the $4 million to $10 million range, predominantly fed by Wall Street bonuses," says broker Barbara Corcoran. In San Francisco, prices are still rising even as frenzied overbidding quiets. "Instead of 20 to 30 offers, now maybe you only get two or three," says John Tealdi, a Bay Area real-estate broker. And most folks still feel pretty comfortable about their ability to find and keep a job.
Many folks see silver linings to this slowdown. Potential home buyers would cheer for lower interest rates. Employers wouldn't mind a little fewer bubbles in the job market. Many consumers seem to have been influenced by stock-market swings, which investors now view as a necessary ingredient to a sustained boom. Diners might see an upside, too. Getting a table at Manhattan's hot new Alain Ducasse restaurant used to be impossible. Not anymore. For that, Greenspan & Co. may still be worth toasting. | 3248.txt | 1 |
[
"They would benefit in certain ways.",
"The stock market shows signs of recovery.",
"Such a slowdown usually precedes a boom.",
"The purchasing power would be enhanced."
] | Why can many people see "silver linings" to the economic slowdown? | When it comes to the slowing economy, Ellen Spero isn't biting her nails just yet. But the 47-year-old manicurist isn't cutting, filling or polishing as many nails as she'd like to, either. Most of her clients spend $12 to $50 weekly, but last month two longtime customers suddenly stopped showing up. Spero blames the softening economy. "I'm a good economic indicator," she says. "I provide a service that people can do without when they're concerned about saving some dollars." So Spero is downscaling, shopping at middle-brow Dillard's department store near her suburban Cleveland home, instead of Neiman Marcus. "I don't know if other clients are going to abandon me, too." she says.
Even before Alan Greenspan's admission that America's red-hot economy is cooling, lots of working folks had already seen signs of the slowdown themselves. From car dealerships to Gap outlets, sales have been lagging for months as shoppers temper their spending. For retailers, who last year took in 24 percent of their revenue between Thanksgiving and Christmas, the cautious approach is coming at a crucial time. Already, experts say, holiday sales are off 7 percent from last year's pace. But don't sound any alarms just yet. Consumers seem only mildly concerned, not panicked, and many say they remain optimistic about the economy's long-term prospects, even as they do some modest belt-tightening.
Consumers say they're not in despair because, despite the dreadful headlines, their own fortunes still feel pretty good. Home prices are holding steady in most regions. In Manhattan, "there's a new gold rush happening in the $4 million to $10 million range, predominantly fed by Wall Street bonuses," says broker Barbara Corcoran. In San Francisco, prices are still rising even as frenzied overbidding quiets. "Instead of 20 to 30 offers, now maybe you only get two or three," says John Tealdi, a Bay Area real-estate broker. And most folks still feel pretty comfortable about their ability to find and keep a job.
Many folks see silver linings to this slowdown. Potential home buyers would cheer for lower interest rates. Employers wouldn't mind a little fewer bubbles in the job market. Many consumers seem to have been influenced by stock-market swings, which investors now view as a necessary ingredient to a sustained boom. Diners might see an upside, too. Getting a table at Manhattan's hot new Alain Ducasse restaurant used to be impossible. Not anymore. For that, Greenspan & Co. may still be worth toasting. | 3248.txt | 0 |
[
"A new boom, on the horizon.",
"Tighten the belt, the single remedy.",
"Caution all right, panic not.",
"The more ventures, the more chances."
] | To which of the following is the author likely to agree? | When it comes to the slowing economy, Ellen Spero isn't biting her nails just yet. But the 47-year-old manicurist isn't cutting, filling or polishing as many nails as she'd like to, either. Most of her clients spend $12 to $50 weekly, but last month two longtime customers suddenly stopped showing up. Spero blames the softening economy. "I'm a good economic indicator," she says. "I provide a service that people can do without when they're concerned about saving some dollars." So Spero is downscaling, shopping at middle-brow Dillard's department store near her suburban Cleveland home, instead of Neiman Marcus. "I don't know if other clients are going to abandon me, too." she says.
Even before Alan Greenspan's admission that America's red-hot economy is cooling, lots of working folks had already seen signs of the slowdown themselves. From car dealerships to Gap outlets, sales have been lagging for months as shoppers temper their spending. For retailers, who last year took in 24 percent of their revenue between Thanksgiving and Christmas, the cautious approach is coming at a crucial time. Already, experts say, holiday sales are off 7 percent from last year's pace. But don't sound any alarms just yet. Consumers seem only mildly concerned, not panicked, and many say they remain optimistic about the economy's long-term prospects, even as they do some modest belt-tightening.
Consumers say they're not in despair because, despite the dreadful headlines, their own fortunes still feel pretty good. Home prices are holding steady in most regions. In Manhattan, "there's a new gold rush happening in the $4 million to $10 million range, predominantly fed by Wall Street bonuses," says broker Barbara Corcoran. In San Francisco, prices are still rising even as frenzied overbidding quiets. "Instead of 20 to 30 offers, now maybe you only get two or three," says John Tealdi, a Bay Area real-estate broker. And most folks still feel pretty comfortable about their ability to find and keep a job.
Many folks see silver linings to this slowdown. Potential home buyers would cheer for lower interest rates. Employers wouldn't mind a little fewer bubbles in the job market. Many consumers seem to have been influenced by stock-market swings, which investors now view as a necessary ingredient to a sustained boom. Diners might see an upside, too. Getting a table at Manhattan's hot new Alain Ducasse restaurant used to be impossible. Not anymore. For that, Greenspan & Co. may still be worth toasting. | 3248.txt | 2 |
[
"anger",
"denial",
"acceptance",
"cooperation"
] | The first stage of most patients facing death is the stage of_ . | Most patients respond to the awareness that they have a terminal illness with the statement "Oh no, this can't happen to me. " After the first shock, numbness, and need to deny the reality of the situation, the patient begins to send out hints that he is ready to "talk about it". If we, at that point, need to deny the reality of the situation, the patient will often feel deserted, isolated, and lonely and unable to communicate with another human being what he needs so desperately to share.
Most patients who have passed the stage of denial will become angry as they ask the question, "Why me?" Many look at others in their environment and express envy, jealousy, anger, and rage toward those who are young, healthy, and full of life. These are the patients who make life difficult for nurses, physicians, social workers, clergymen, and members of their families. Without justification they criticize everyone.
What we have to learn is that the stage in terminal illness needs a blessing, not a cure. These patients are not angry at their families or at the members of the helping professions. Rather, they are angry at what these people represent: health, spirit, energy.
Without being judgmental, we must allow these patients to express their anger and dismay. We must try to understand that the patients have to ask,"Why me?" and that there is no need on our part to answer this question concretely. Once a patient has voiced his rage and his envy, then he can arrive at the bargaining stage. During this time, he's usually able to say, "Yes, it is happening to me-but. " The but usually includes a prayer to God: "If you give me one more year to live, I will be a good Christian. " | 1487.txt | 1 |
[
"they think it is unfair that only they are seriously ill",
"of the progress of their illness",
"they do not want to be a burden to others",
"they can not control their emotions"
] | Terminally ill people will get angry and be rude to everyone because_ . | Most patients respond to the awareness that they have a terminal illness with the statement "Oh no, this can't happen to me. " After the first shock, numbness, and need to deny the reality of the situation, the patient begins to send out hints that he is ready to "talk about it". If we, at that point, need to deny the reality of the situation, the patient will often feel deserted, isolated, and lonely and unable to communicate with another human being what he needs so desperately to share.
Most patients who have passed the stage of denial will become angry as they ask the question, "Why me?" Many look at others in their environment and express envy, jealousy, anger, and rage toward those who are young, healthy, and full of life. These are the patients who make life difficult for nurses, physicians, social workers, clergymen, and members of their families. Without justification they criticize everyone.
What we have to learn is that the stage in terminal illness needs a blessing, not a cure. These patients are not angry at their families or at the members of the helping professions. Rather, they are angry at what these people represent: health, spirit, energy.
Without being judgmental, we must allow these patients to express their anger and dismay. We must try to understand that the patients have to ask,"Why me?" and that there is no need on our part to answer this question concretely. Once a patient has voiced his rage and his envy, then he can arrive at the bargaining stage. During this time, he's usually able to say, "Yes, it is happening to me-but. " The but usually includes a prayer to God: "If you give me one more year to live, I will be a good Christian. " | 1487.txt | 0 |
[
"terminally ill people cannot be cured as soon as they get to that stage",
"it is the combination of blessing and medical treatment that works",
"terminally ill people should ask God's protection otherwise they can't be cured",
"it is encouragement not medical treatment that is needed at that stage"
] | The phrase "a blessing, not a cure" in the third paragraph means_ . | Most patients respond to the awareness that they have a terminal illness with the statement "Oh no, this can't happen to me. " After the first shock, numbness, and need to deny the reality of the situation, the patient begins to send out hints that he is ready to "talk about it". If we, at that point, need to deny the reality of the situation, the patient will often feel deserted, isolated, and lonely and unable to communicate with another human being what he needs so desperately to share.
Most patients who have passed the stage of denial will become angry as they ask the question, "Why me?" Many look at others in their environment and express envy, jealousy, anger, and rage toward those who are young, healthy, and full of life. These are the patients who make life difficult for nurses, physicians, social workers, clergymen, and members of their families. Without justification they criticize everyone.
What we have to learn is that the stage in terminal illness needs a blessing, not a cure. These patients are not angry at their families or at the members of the helping professions. Rather, they are angry at what these people represent: health, spirit, energy.
Without being judgmental, we must allow these patients to express their anger and dismay. We must try to understand that the patients have to ask,"Why me?" and that there is no need on our part to answer this question concretely. Once a patient has voiced his rage and his envy, then he can arrive at the bargaining stage. During this time, he's usually able to say, "Yes, it is happening to me-but. " The but usually includes a prayer to God: "If you give me one more year to live, I will be a good Christian. " | 1487.txt | 3 |
[
"we should be sympathetic",
"we should allow them to express their emotions",
"we should not reason with them",
"all of the above"
] | When terminally ill people get angry_ . | Most patients respond to the awareness that they have a terminal illness with the statement "Oh no, this can't happen to me. " After the first shock, numbness, and need to deny the reality of the situation, the patient begins to send out hints that he is ready to "talk about it". If we, at that point, need to deny the reality of the situation, the patient will often feel deserted, isolated, and lonely and unable to communicate with another human being what he needs so desperately to share.
Most patients who have passed the stage of denial will become angry as they ask the question, "Why me?" Many look at others in their environment and express envy, jealousy, anger, and rage toward those who are young, healthy, and full of life. These are the patients who make life difficult for nurses, physicians, social workers, clergymen, and members of their families. Without justification they criticize everyone.
What we have to learn is that the stage in terminal illness needs a blessing, not a cure. These patients are not angry at their families or at the members of the helping professions. Rather, they are angry at what these people represent: health, spirit, energy.
Without being judgmental, we must allow these patients to express their anger and dismay. We must try to understand that the patients have to ask,"Why me?" and that there is no need on our part to answer this question concretely. Once a patient has voiced his rage and his envy, then he can arrive at the bargaining stage. During this time, he's usually able to say, "Yes, it is happening to me-but. " The but usually includes a prayer to God: "If you give me one more year to live, I will be a good Christian. " | 1487.txt | 3 |
[
"Two.",
"Three.",
"Four.",
"Five."
] | How many stages can a patient with terminal illness pass through in facing death? | Most patients respond to the awareness that they have a terminal illness with the statement "Oh no, this can't happen to me. " After the first shock, numbness, and need to deny the reality of the situation, the patient begins to send out hints that he is ready to "talk about it". If we, at that point, need to deny the reality of the situation, the patient will often feel deserted, isolated, and lonely and unable to communicate with another human being what he needs so desperately to share.
Most patients who have passed the stage of denial will become angry as they ask the question, "Why me?" Many look at others in their environment and express envy, jealousy, anger, and rage toward those who are young, healthy, and full of life. These are the patients who make life difficult for nurses, physicians, social workers, clergymen, and members of their families. Without justification they criticize everyone.
What we have to learn is that the stage in terminal illness needs a blessing, not a cure. These patients are not angry at their families or at the members of the helping professions. Rather, they are angry at what these people represent: health, spirit, energy.
Without being judgmental, we must allow these patients to express their anger and dismay. We must try to understand that the patients have to ask,"Why me?" and that there is no need on our part to answer this question concretely. Once a patient has voiced his rage and his envy, then he can arrive at the bargaining stage. During this time, he's usually able to say, "Yes, it is happening to me-but. " The but usually includes a prayer to God: "If you give me one more year to live, I will be a good Christian. " | 1487.txt | 1 |
[
"provide the unemployed with easier access to benefits.",
"encourage jobseekers' active engagement in job seeking.",
"motivate the unemployed to report voluntarily.",
"guarantee jobseekers' legitimate right to benefits."
] | George Osborne's scheme was intended to _ . | In order to "change lives for the better" and reduce "dependency," George Osbome, Chancellor of the Exchequer, introduced the "upfront work search" scheme. Only if the jobless arrive at the job centre with a CV register for online job search, and start looking for work will they be eligible for benefit-and then they should report weekly rather than fortnightly. What could be more reasonable?
More apparent reasonableness followed. There will now be a seven-day wait for the jobseeker's allowance. "Those first few days should be spent looking for work, not looking to sign on." he claimed. "We're doing these things because we know they help people say off benefits and help those on benefits get into work faster" Help? Really? On first hearing, this was the socially concerned chancellor, trying to change lives for the better, complete with "reforms" to an obviously indulgent system that demands too little effort from the newly unemployed to find work, and subsides laziness. What motivated him, we were to understand, was his zeal for "fundamental fairness"-protecting the taxpayer, controlling spending and ensuring that only the most deserving claimants received their benefits.
Losing a job is hurting: you don't skip down to the jobcentre with a song in your heart, delighted at the prospect of doubling your income from the generous state. It is financially terrifying psychologically embarrassing and you know that support is minimal and extraordinarily hard to get. You are now not wanted; you support is minimal and extraordinarily hard to get. You are now not wanted; you are now excluded from the work environment that offers purpose and structure in your life. Worse, the crucial income to feed yourself and your family and pay the bills has disappeared. Ask anyone newly unemployed what they want and the answer is always: a job.
But in Osborneland, your first instinct is to fall into dependency- permanent dependency if you can get it-supported by a state only too ready to indulge your falsehood. It is as though 20 years of ever- tougher reforms of the job search and benefit administration system never happened. The principle of British welfare is no longer that you can insure yourself against the risk of unemployment and receive unconditional payments if the disaster happens. Even the very phrase 'jobseeker's allowance'-invented in 1996- is about redefining the unemployed as a "jobseeker" who had no mandatory right to a benefit he or she has earned through making national insurance contributions. Instead, the claimant receives a time-limited "allowance," conditional on actively seeking a job; no entitlement and no insurance, at £71.70 a week, one of the least generous in the EU. | 3720.txt | 1 |
[
"to check on the availability of jobs at the jobcentre.",
"to accept the government's restrictions on the allowance.",
"to register for an allowance from the government.",
"to attend a governmental job-training program."
] | The phrase "to sign on" (Line 3,Para.2) most probably means _ . | In order to "change lives for the better" and reduce "dependency," George Osbome, Chancellor of the Exchequer, introduced the "upfront work search" scheme. Only if the jobless arrive at the job centre with a CV register for online job search, and start looking for work will they be eligible for benefit-and then they should report weekly rather than fortnightly. What could be more reasonable?
More apparent reasonableness followed. There will now be a seven-day wait for the jobseeker's allowance. "Those first few days should be spent looking for work, not looking to sign on." he claimed. "We're doing these things because we know they help people say off benefits and help those on benefits get into work faster" Help? Really? On first hearing, this was the socially concerned chancellor, trying to change lives for the better, complete with "reforms" to an obviously indulgent system that demands too little effort from the newly unemployed to find work, and subsides laziness. What motivated him, we were to understand, was his zeal for "fundamental fairness"-protecting the taxpayer, controlling spending and ensuring that only the most deserving claimants received their benefits.
Losing a job is hurting: you don't skip down to the jobcentre with a song in your heart, delighted at the prospect of doubling your income from the generous state. It is financially terrifying psychologically embarrassing and you know that support is minimal and extraordinarily hard to get. You are now not wanted; you support is minimal and extraordinarily hard to get. You are now not wanted; you are now excluded from the work environment that offers purpose and structure in your life. Worse, the crucial income to feed yourself and your family and pay the bills has disappeared. Ask anyone newly unemployed what they want and the answer is always: a job.
But in Osborneland, your first instinct is to fall into dependency- permanent dependency if you can get it-supported by a state only too ready to indulge your falsehood. It is as though 20 years of ever- tougher reforms of the job search and benefit administration system never happened. The principle of British welfare is no longer that you can insure yourself against the risk of unemployment and receive unconditional payments if the disaster happens. Even the very phrase 'jobseeker's allowance'-invented in 1996- is about redefining the unemployed as a "jobseeker" who had no mandatory right to a benefit he or she has earned through making national insurance contributions. Instead, the claimant receives a time-limited "allowance," conditional on actively seeking a job; no entitlement and no insurance, at £71.70 a week, one of the least generous in the EU. | 3720.txt | 2 |
[
"A desire to secure a better life for all.",
"An eagerness to protect the unemployed.",
"An urge to be generous to the claimants.",
"A passion to ensure fairness for taxpayers."
] | What promoted the chancellor to develop his scheme? | In order to "change lives for the better" and reduce "dependency," George Osbome, Chancellor of the Exchequer, introduced the "upfront work search" scheme. Only if the jobless arrive at the job centre with a CV register for online job search, and start looking for work will they be eligible for benefit-and then they should report weekly rather than fortnightly. What could be more reasonable?
More apparent reasonableness followed. There will now be a seven-day wait for the jobseeker's allowance. "Those first few days should be spent looking for work, not looking to sign on." he claimed. "We're doing these things because we know they help people say off benefits and help those on benefits get into work faster" Help? Really? On first hearing, this was the socially concerned chancellor, trying to change lives for the better, complete with "reforms" to an obviously indulgent system that demands too little effort from the newly unemployed to find work, and subsides laziness. What motivated him, we were to understand, was his zeal for "fundamental fairness"-protecting the taxpayer, controlling spending and ensuring that only the most deserving claimants received their benefits.
Losing a job is hurting: you don't skip down to the jobcentre with a song in your heart, delighted at the prospect of doubling your income from the generous state. It is financially terrifying psychologically embarrassing and you know that support is minimal and extraordinarily hard to get. You are now not wanted; you support is minimal and extraordinarily hard to get. You are now not wanted; you are now excluded from the work environment that offers purpose and structure in your life. Worse, the crucial income to feed yourself and your family and pay the bills has disappeared. Ask anyone newly unemployed what they want and the answer is always: a job.
But in Osborneland, your first instinct is to fall into dependency- permanent dependency if you can get it-supported by a state only too ready to indulge your falsehood. It is as though 20 years of ever- tougher reforms of the job search and benefit administration system never happened. The principle of British welfare is no longer that you can insure yourself against the risk of unemployment and receive unconditional payments if the disaster happens. Even the very phrase 'jobseeker's allowance'-invented in 1996- is about redefining the unemployed as a "jobseeker" who had no mandatory right to a benefit he or she has earned through making national insurance contributions. Instead, the claimant receives a time-limited "allowance," conditional on actively seeking a job; no entitlement and no insurance, at £71.70 a week, one of the least generous in the EU. | 3720.txt | 0 |
[
"uneasy.",
"enraged.",
"insulted.",
"guilty."
] | According to Paragraph 3, being unemployed makes one feel | In order to "change lives for the better" and reduce "dependency," George Osbome, Chancellor of the Exchequer, introduced the "upfront work search" scheme. Only if the jobless arrive at the job centre with a CV register for online job search, and start looking for work will they be eligible for benefit-and then they should report weekly rather than fortnightly. What could be more reasonable?
More apparent reasonableness followed. There will now be a seven-day wait for the jobseeker's allowance. "Those first few days should be spent looking for work, not looking to sign on." he claimed. "We're doing these things because we know they help people say off benefits and help those on benefits get into work faster" Help? Really? On first hearing, this was the socially concerned chancellor, trying to change lives for the better, complete with "reforms" to an obviously indulgent system that demands too little effort from the newly unemployed to find work, and subsides laziness. What motivated him, we were to understand, was his zeal for "fundamental fairness"-protecting the taxpayer, controlling spending and ensuring that only the most deserving claimants received their benefits.
Losing a job is hurting: you don't skip down to the jobcentre with a song in your heart, delighted at the prospect of doubling your income from the generous state. It is financially terrifying psychologically embarrassing and you know that support is minimal and extraordinarily hard to get. You are now not wanted; you support is minimal and extraordinarily hard to get. You are now not wanted; you are now excluded from the work environment that offers purpose and structure in your life. Worse, the crucial income to feed yourself and your family and pay the bills has disappeared. Ask anyone newly unemployed what they want and the answer is always: a job.
But in Osborneland, your first instinct is to fall into dependency- permanent dependency if you can get it-supported by a state only too ready to indulge your falsehood. It is as though 20 years of ever- tougher reforms of the job search and benefit administration system never happened. The principle of British welfare is no longer that you can insure yourself against the risk of unemployment and receive unconditional payments if the disaster happens. Even the very phrase 'jobseeker's allowance'-invented in 1996- is about redefining the unemployed as a "jobseeker" who had no mandatory right to a benefit he or she has earned through making national insurance contributions. Instead, the claimant receives a time-limited "allowance," conditional on actively seeking a job; no entitlement and no insurance, at £71.70 a week, one of the least generous in the EU. | 3720.txt | 0 |
[
"The British welfare system indulges jobseekers' laziness.",
"Osborne's reforms will reduce the risk of unemployment.",
"The jobseekers' allowance has met their actual needs.",
"Unemployment benefits should not be made conditional."
] | To which of the following would the author most probably agree? | In order to "change lives for the better" and reduce "dependency," George Osbome, Chancellor of the Exchequer, introduced the "upfront work search" scheme. Only if the jobless arrive at the job centre with a CV register for online job search, and start looking for work will they be eligible for benefit-and then they should report weekly rather than fortnightly. What could be more reasonable?
More apparent reasonableness followed. There will now be a seven-day wait for the jobseeker's allowance. "Those first few days should be spent looking for work, not looking to sign on." he claimed. "We're doing these things because we know they help people say off benefits and help those on benefits get into work faster" Help? Really? On first hearing, this was the socially concerned chancellor, trying to change lives for the better, complete with "reforms" to an obviously indulgent system that demands too little effort from the newly unemployed to find work, and subsides laziness. What motivated him, we were to understand, was his zeal for "fundamental fairness"-protecting the taxpayer, controlling spending and ensuring that only the most deserving claimants received their benefits.
Losing a job is hurting: you don't skip down to the jobcentre with a song in your heart, delighted at the prospect of doubling your income from the generous state. It is financially terrifying psychologically embarrassing and you know that support is minimal and extraordinarily hard to get. You are now not wanted; you support is minimal and extraordinarily hard to get. You are now not wanted; you are now excluded from the work environment that offers purpose and structure in your life. Worse, the crucial income to feed yourself and your family and pay the bills has disappeared. Ask anyone newly unemployed what they want and the answer is always: a job.
But in Osborneland, your first instinct is to fall into dependency- permanent dependency if you can get it-supported by a state only too ready to indulge your falsehood. It is as though 20 years of ever- tougher reforms of the job search and benefit administration system never happened. The principle of British welfare is no longer that you can insure yourself against the risk of unemployment and receive unconditional payments if the disaster happens. Even the very phrase 'jobseeker's allowance'-invented in 1996- is about redefining the unemployed as a "jobseeker" who had no mandatory right to a benefit he or she has earned through making national insurance contributions. Instead, the claimant receives a time-limited "allowance," conditional on actively seeking a job; no entitlement and no insurance, at £71.70 a week, one of the least generous in the EU. | 3720.txt | 1 |
[
"poetry is not as expressive of joy as painting or music",
"art grows out of both positive and negative feelings",
"poets today are less skeptical of happiness",
"artists have changed their focus of interest"
] | By citing the examples of poets Wordsworth and Baudelaire, the author intends to show that. | Many things make people think artists are weird. But the weirdest may be this: artists' only job is to explore emotions, and yet they choose to focus on the ones that feel bad.
This wasn't always so. The earliest forms of art, like painting and music, are those best suited for expressing joy. But somewhere from the 19th century onward, more artists began seeing happiness as meaningless, phony or, worst of all, boring, as we went from Wordsworth's daffodils to Baudelaire's flowers of evil.
You could argue that art became more skeptical of happiness because modern times have seen so much misery. But it's not as if earlier times didn't know perpetual war, disaster and the massacre of innocents. The reason, in fact, may be just the opposite: there is too much damn happiness in the world today.
After all, what is the one modern form of expression almost completely dedicated to depicting happiness? Advertising. The rise of anti-happy art almost exactly tracks the emergence of mass media, and with it, a commercial culture in which happiness is not just an ideal but an ideology.
People in earlier eras were surrounded by reminders of misery. They worked until exhausted, lived with few protections and died young. In the West, before mass communication and literacy, the most powerful mass medium was the church, which reminded worshippers that their souls were in danger and that they would someday be meat for worms. Given all this, they did not exactly need their art to be a bummer too.
Today the messages the average Westerner is surrounded with are not religious but commercial, and forever happy. Fast-food eaters, news anchors, text messengers, all smiling, smiling, smiling. Our magazines feature beaming celebrities and happy families in perfect homes. And since these messages have an agenda -- to lure us to open our wallets -- they make the very idea of happiness seem unreliable. "Celebrate!" commanded the ads for the arthritis drug Celebrex, before we found out it could increase the risk of heart attacks.
But what we forget -- what our economy depends on us forgetting -- is that happiness is more than pleasure without pain. The things that bring the greatest joy carry the greatest potential for loss and disappointment. Today, surrounded by promises of easy happiness, we need art to tell us, as religion once did, Memento mori: remember that you will die, that everything ends, and that happiness comes not in denying this but in living with it. It's a message even more bitter than a clove cigarette, yet, somehow, a breath of fresh air. | 2980.txt | 3 |
[
"religious",
"unpleasant",
"entertaining",
"commercial"
] | The word "bummer" (Line 5, paragraph 5) most probably means something . | Many things make people think artists are weird. But the weirdest may be this: artists' only job is to explore emotions, and yet they choose to focus on the ones that feel bad.
This wasn't always so. The earliest forms of art, like painting and music, are those best suited for expressing joy. But somewhere from the 19th century onward, more artists began seeing happiness as meaningless, phony or, worst of all, boring, as we went from Wordsworth's daffodils to Baudelaire's flowers of evil.
You could argue that art became more skeptical of happiness because modern times have seen so much misery. But it's not as if earlier times didn't know perpetual war, disaster and the massacre of innocents. The reason, in fact, may be just the opposite: there is too much damn happiness in the world today.
After all, what is the one modern form of expression almost completely dedicated to depicting happiness? Advertising. The rise of anti-happy art almost exactly tracks the emergence of mass media, and with it, a commercial culture in which happiness is not just an ideal but an ideology.
People in earlier eras were surrounded by reminders of misery. They worked until exhausted, lived with few protections and died young. In the West, before mass communication and literacy, the most powerful mass medium was the church, which reminded worshippers that their souls were in danger and that they would someday be meat for worms. Given all this, they did not exactly need their art to be a bummer too.
Today the messages the average Westerner is surrounded with are not religious but commercial, and forever happy. Fast-food eaters, news anchors, text messengers, all smiling, smiling, smiling. Our magazines feature beaming celebrities and happy families in perfect homes. And since these messages have an agenda -- to lure us to open our wallets -- they make the very idea of happiness seem unreliable. "Celebrate!" commanded the ads for the arthritis drug Celebrex, before we found out it could increase the risk of heart attacks.
But what we forget -- what our economy depends on us forgetting -- is that happiness is more than pleasure without pain. The things that bring the greatest joy carry the greatest potential for loss and disappointment. Today, surrounded by promises of easy happiness, we need art to tell us, as religion once did, Memento mori: remember that you will die, that everything ends, and that happiness comes not in denying this but in living with it. It's a message even more bitter than a clove cigarette, yet, somehow, a breath of fresh air. | 2980.txt | 1 |
[
"emerges in the wake of the anti-happy art",
"is a cause of disappointment for the general public",
"replaces the church as a major source of information",
"creates an illusion of happiness rather than happiness itself"
] | In the author's opinion, advertising . | Many things make people think artists are weird. But the weirdest may be this: artists' only job is to explore emotions, and yet they choose to focus on the ones that feel bad.
This wasn't always so. The earliest forms of art, like painting and music, are those best suited for expressing joy. But somewhere from the 19th century onward, more artists began seeing happiness as meaningless, phony or, worst of all, boring, as we went from Wordsworth's daffodils to Baudelaire's flowers of evil.
You could argue that art became more skeptical of happiness because modern times have seen so much misery. But it's not as if earlier times didn't know perpetual war, disaster and the massacre of innocents. The reason, in fact, may be just the opposite: there is too much damn happiness in the world today.
After all, what is the one modern form of expression almost completely dedicated to depicting happiness? Advertising. The rise of anti-happy art almost exactly tracks the emergence of mass media, and with it, a commercial culture in which happiness is not just an ideal but an ideology.
People in earlier eras were surrounded by reminders of misery. They worked until exhausted, lived with few protections and died young. In the West, before mass communication and literacy, the most powerful mass medium was the church, which reminded worshippers that their souls were in danger and that they would someday be meat for worms. Given all this, they did not exactly need their art to be a bummer too.
Today the messages the average Westerner is surrounded with are not religious but commercial, and forever happy. Fast-food eaters, news anchors, text messengers, all smiling, smiling, smiling. Our magazines feature beaming celebrities and happy families in perfect homes. And since these messages have an agenda -- to lure us to open our wallets -- they make the very idea of happiness seem unreliable. "Celebrate!" commanded the ads for the arthritis drug Celebrex, before we found out it could increase the risk of heart attacks.
But what we forget -- what our economy depends on us forgetting -- is that happiness is more than pleasure without pain. The things that bring the greatest joy carry the greatest potential for loss and disappointment. Today, surrounded by promises of easy happiness, we need art to tell us, as religion once did, Memento mori: remember that you will die, that everything ends, and that happiness comes not in denying this but in living with it. It's a message even more bitter than a clove cigarette, yet, somehow, a breath of fresh air. | 2980.txt | 3 |
[
"happiness more often than not ends in sadness",
"the anti-happy art is distasteful but refreshing",
"misery should be enjoyed rather than denied",
"the anti-happy art flourishes when economy booms"
] | We can learn from the last paragraph that the author believes . | Many things make people think artists are weird. But the weirdest may be this: artists' only job is to explore emotions, and yet they choose to focus on the ones that feel bad.
This wasn't always so. The earliest forms of art, like painting and music, are those best suited for expressing joy. But somewhere from the 19th century onward, more artists began seeing happiness as meaningless, phony or, worst of all, boring, as we went from Wordsworth's daffodils to Baudelaire's flowers of evil.
You could argue that art became more skeptical of happiness because modern times have seen so much misery. But it's not as if earlier times didn't know perpetual war, disaster and the massacre of innocents. The reason, in fact, may be just the opposite: there is too much damn happiness in the world today.
After all, what is the one modern form of expression almost completely dedicated to depicting happiness? Advertising. The rise of anti-happy art almost exactly tracks the emergence of mass media, and with it, a commercial culture in which happiness is not just an ideal but an ideology.
People in earlier eras were surrounded by reminders of misery. They worked until exhausted, lived with few protections and died young. In the West, before mass communication and literacy, the most powerful mass medium was the church, which reminded worshippers that their souls were in danger and that they would someday be meat for worms. Given all this, they did not exactly need their art to be a bummer too.
Today the messages the average Westerner is surrounded with are not religious but commercial, and forever happy. Fast-food eaters, news anchors, text messengers, all smiling, smiling, smiling. Our magazines feature beaming celebrities and happy families in perfect homes. And since these messages have an agenda -- to lure us to open our wallets -- they make the very idea of happiness seem unreliable. "Celebrate!" commanded the ads for the arthritis drug Celebrex, before we found out it could increase the risk of heart attacks.
But what we forget -- what our economy depends on us forgetting -- is that happiness is more than pleasure without pain. The things that bring the greatest joy carry the greatest potential for loss and disappointment. Today, surrounded by promises of easy happiness, we need art to tell us, as religion once did, Memento mori: remember that you will die, that everything ends, and that happiness comes not in denying this but in living with it. It's a message even more bitter than a clove cigarette, yet, somehow, a breath of fresh air. | 2980.txt | 1 |
[
"Religion once functioned as a reminder of misery.",
"Art provides a balance between expectation and reality.",
"People feel disappointed at the realities of modern society.",
"Mass media are inclined to cover disasters and deaths."
] | Which of the following is true of the text? | Many things make people think artists are weird. But the weirdest may be this: artists' only job is to explore emotions, and yet they choose to focus on the ones that feel bad.
This wasn't always so. The earliest forms of art, like painting and music, are those best suited for expressing joy. But somewhere from the 19th century onward, more artists began seeing happiness as meaningless, phony or, worst of all, boring, as we went from Wordsworth's daffodils to Baudelaire's flowers of evil.
You could argue that art became more skeptical of happiness because modern times have seen so much misery. But it's not as if earlier times didn't know perpetual war, disaster and the massacre of innocents. The reason, in fact, may be just the opposite: there is too much damn happiness in the world today.
After all, what is the one modern form of expression almost completely dedicated to depicting happiness? Advertising. The rise of anti-happy art almost exactly tracks the emergence of mass media, and with it, a commercial culture in which happiness is not just an ideal but an ideology.
People in earlier eras were surrounded by reminders of misery. They worked until exhausted, lived with few protections and died young. In the West, before mass communication and literacy, the most powerful mass medium was the church, which reminded worshippers that their souls were in danger and that they would someday be meat for worms. Given all this, they did not exactly need their art to be a bummer too.
Today the messages the average Westerner is surrounded with are not religious but commercial, and forever happy. Fast-food eaters, news anchors, text messengers, all smiling, smiling, smiling. Our magazines feature beaming celebrities and happy families in perfect homes. And since these messages have an agenda -- to lure us to open our wallets -- they make the very idea of happiness seem unreliable. "Celebrate!" commanded the ads for the arthritis drug Celebrex, before we found out it could increase the risk of heart attacks.
But what we forget -- what our economy depends on us forgetting -- is that happiness is more than pleasure without pain. The things that bring the greatest joy carry the greatest potential for loss and disappointment. Today, surrounded by promises of easy happiness, we need art to tell us, as religion once did, Memento mori: remember that you will die, that everything ends, and that happiness comes not in denying this but in living with it. It's a message even more bitter than a clove cigarette, yet, somehow, a breath of fresh air. | 2980.txt | 0 |
[
"Taller trucks can pass under them.",
"Pedestrians can climb up and have a view of the city.",
"They are safer for pedestrians and can keep traffic moving at the same time.",
"They are easier and more convenient for the pedestrians."
] | What is the advantage of overhead bridges mentioned in this passage? | Overhead bridges are found in many parts of Beijing, especially in places where traffic is very heavy and crossing the road is dangerous.
The purpose of these bridges is to enable pedestrians to cross roads safely. Overhead bridges are used to very much the same way as zebra crossings. They are more efficient although less convenient because people have to climb up a long flight of steps. This is inconvenient especially to older people. When pedestrains use an overhead bridge, they do not hold up traffic. However, when they cross a busy road using a zebra crossing, traffic is held up. This is why the government has built many overhead bridges to help pedestrians and to keep traffic moving at the same time.
The government of Beijing has spent a large amount of money on building these bridges. For their own safety, pedestrians should be encouraged to use them instead of risking (…) their lives by dashing across the road. Old people , however , may find it a little difficult climbing up and down the steps, but it is still much safer than walking across the road with all the danger of moving traffic.
Overhead bridges serve a very useful purpose. Pedestrians, both old and young, should make it a habit to use them. This will prevent unnecessary accidents and loss of life. | 1240.txt | 2 |
[
"Because they prevent traffic from being held up.",
"Because they provide an easy way for the drivers to cross the road.",
"Because they save money for the government.",
"Because they save time for the pedestrians."
] | Why were overhead bridges built in Beijing? | Overhead bridges are found in many parts of Beijing, especially in places where traffic is very heavy and crossing the road is dangerous.
The purpose of these bridges is to enable pedestrians to cross roads safely. Overhead bridges are used to very much the same way as zebra crossings. They are more efficient although less convenient because people have to climb up a long flight of steps. This is inconvenient especially to older people. When pedestrains use an overhead bridge, they do not hold up traffic. However, when they cross a busy road using a zebra crossing, traffic is held up. This is why the government has built many overhead bridges to help pedestrians and to keep traffic moving at the same time.
The government of Beijing has spent a large amount of money on building these bridges. For their own safety, pedestrians should be encouraged to use them instead of risking (…) their lives by dashing across the road. Old people , however , may find it a little difficult climbing up and down the steps, but it is still much safer than walking across the road with all the danger of moving traffic.
Overhead bridges serve a very useful purpose. Pedestrians, both old and young, should make it a habit to use them. This will prevent unnecessary accidents and loss of life. | 1240.txt | 0 |
[
"Overhead bridges are found in every part of Beijing.",
"Overhead bridges are only found in the centre of Beijing.",
"Overhead bridges are found in many parts of big cities in China.",
"Overhead bridges are found in places where traffic is heavy."
] | Which of the following statements is true according to the passage? | Overhead bridges are found in many parts of Beijing, especially in places where traffic is very heavy and crossing the road is dangerous.
The purpose of these bridges is to enable pedestrians to cross roads safely. Overhead bridges are used to very much the same way as zebra crossings. They are more efficient although less convenient because people have to climb up a long flight of steps. This is inconvenient especially to older people. When pedestrains use an overhead bridge, they do not hold up traffic. However, when they cross a busy road using a zebra crossing, traffic is held up. This is why the government has built many overhead bridges to help pedestrians and to keep traffic moving at the same time.
The government of Beijing has spent a large amount of money on building these bridges. For their own safety, pedestrians should be encouraged to use them instead of risking (…) their lives by dashing across the road. Old people , however , may find it a little difficult climbing up and down the steps, but it is still much safer than walking across the road with all the danger of moving traffic.
Overhead bridges serve a very useful purpose. Pedestrians, both old and young, should make it a habit to use them. This will prevent unnecessary accidents and loss of life. | 1240.txt | 3 |
[
"It is inconvenient to older people to walk across the road.",
"It is much safer for pedestrians though climbing up and down the steps may be a little difficult,",
"An overhead bridge is more beautiful than a zebra crossing.",
"To build overhead bridges is the business of the government."
] | What is the writer's attitude towards overhead bridges? | Overhead bridges are found in many parts of Beijing, especially in places where traffic is very heavy and crossing the road is dangerous.
The purpose of these bridges is to enable pedestrians to cross roads safely. Overhead bridges are used to very much the same way as zebra crossings. They are more efficient although less convenient because people have to climb up a long flight of steps. This is inconvenient especially to older people. When pedestrains use an overhead bridge, they do not hold up traffic. However, when they cross a busy road using a zebra crossing, traffic is held up. This is why the government has built many overhead bridges to help pedestrians and to keep traffic moving at the same time.
The government of Beijing has spent a large amount of money on building these bridges. For their own safety, pedestrians should be encouraged to use them instead of risking (…) their lives by dashing across the road. Old people , however , may find it a little difficult climbing up and down the steps, but it is still much safer than walking across the road with all the danger of moving traffic.
Overhead bridges serve a very useful purpose. Pedestrians, both old and young, should make it a habit to use them. This will prevent unnecessary accidents and loss of life. | 1240.txt | 1 |
[
"the diffusion of blood through capillary walls into air sacs",
"the diffusion of carbon dioxide through capillary and air sac walls into the blood",
"the diffusion of oxygen through the air sac and capillary walls into the blood",
"the exchange of nitrogen within air sacs"
] | In the respiratory process, only one of the following actions takes place: it is _ . | When blood is sent to the lungs by the heart, it has come back from the cells in the rest of the body. So the blood that goes into the wall of an air sac (Jl) contains much dissolved carbon dioxide but very little oxygen. At the same time, the air that goes into the air sac contains much oxygen but very little carbon dioxide.
You have learned that dissolved materials always diffuse from where there is more of them to where there is less. Oxygen from the air dissolves in the moisture on the lining of the air sac and diffuses through the lining into the blood. Meanwhile, carbon dioxide diffuses from the blood into the air sac. The blood then flows from the lungs back to the heart, which sends it out to all other parts of the body.
Soon after air goes into an air sac, it gives up some of its oxygen and takes in some carbon dioxide from the blood. To keep diffusion going as it should, this carbon dioxide must be gotten rid of. Breathing, which is caused by movements of the chest, forces the used air out of the air sacs in your lungs and brings in fresh air. The breathing muscles are controlled automatically so that you breathe at the proper rate to keep your air sacs supplied with fresh air.
Ordinarily, you breathe about twenty-two times a minute. Of course, you breathe faster when you are exercising and slower when you are resting. Fresh air is brought into your lungs when you breathe in, or inhale, while used air is forced out of your lungs when you breathe out, or exhale. | 2434.txt | 2 |
[
"independent of your rate of exercise",
"fixed at twenty-two times per minute",
"influenced by your age and sex",
"controlled automatically by an unspecified body mechanism"
] | The number of times per minute that you breathe is _ . | When blood is sent to the lungs by the heart, it has come back from the cells in the rest of the body. So the blood that goes into the wall of an air sac (Jl) contains much dissolved carbon dioxide but very little oxygen. At the same time, the air that goes into the air sac contains much oxygen but very little carbon dioxide.
You have learned that dissolved materials always diffuse from where there is more of them to where there is less. Oxygen from the air dissolves in the moisture on the lining of the air sac and diffuses through the lining into the blood. Meanwhile, carbon dioxide diffuses from the blood into the air sac. The blood then flows from the lungs back to the heart, which sends it out to all other parts of the body.
Soon after air goes into an air sac, it gives up some of its oxygen and takes in some carbon dioxide from the blood. To keep diffusion going as it should, this carbon dioxide must be gotten rid of. Breathing, which is caused by movements of the chest, forces the used air out of the air sacs in your lungs and brings in fresh air. The breathing muscles are controlled automatically so that you breathe at the proper rate to keep your air sacs supplied with fresh air.
Ordinarily, you breathe about twenty-two times a minute. Of course, you breathe faster when you are exercising and slower when you are resting. Fresh air is brought into your lungs when you breathe in, or inhale, while used air is forced out of your lungs when you breathe out, or exhale. | 2434.txt | 3 |
[
"the presence of nitrogen in the blood",
"breathing muscles",
"the flow of blood",
"the moisture in the air sac linings"
] | The process by which carbon dioxide and oxygen are transferred does not depend on | When blood is sent to the lungs by the heart, it has come back from the cells in the rest of the body. So the blood that goes into the wall of an air sac (Jl) contains much dissolved carbon dioxide but very little oxygen. At the same time, the air that goes into the air sac contains much oxygen but very little carbon dioxide.
You have learned that dissolved materials always diffuse from where there is more of them to where there is less. Oxygen from the air dissolves in the moisture on the lining of the air sac and diffuses through the lining into the blood. Meanwhile, carbon dioxide diffuses from the blood into the air sac. The blood then flows from the lungs back to the heart, which sends it out to all other parts of the body.
Soon after air goes into an air sac, it gives up some of its oxygen and takes in some carbon dioxide from the blood. To keep diffusion going as it should, this carbon dioxide must be gotten rid of. Breathing, which is caused by movements of the chest, forces the used air out of the air sacs in your lungs and brings in fresh air. The breathing muscles are controlled automatically so that you breathe at the proper rate to keep your air sacs supplied with fresh air.
Ordinarily, you breathe about twenty-two times a minute. Of course, you breathe faster when you are exercising and slower when you are resting. Fresh air is brought into your lungs when you breathe in, or inhale, while used air is forced out of your lungs when you breathe out, or exhale. | 2434.txt | 0 |
[
"informal and matter of fact",
"impersonal",
"personal",
"matter of fact and formal"
] | The author's style in this passage can best be described as---------. | When blood is sent to the lungs by the heart, it has come back from the cells in the rest of the body. So the blood that goes into the wall of an air sac (Jl) contains much dissolved carbon dioxide but very little oxygen. At the same time, the air that goes into the air sac contains much oxygen but very little carbon dioxide.
You have learned that dissolved materials always diffuse from where there is more of them to where there is less. Oxygen from the air dissolves in the moisture on the lining of the air sac and diffuses through the lining into the blood. Meanwhile, carbon dioxide diffuses from the blood into the air sac. The blood then flows from the lungs back to the heart, which sends it out to all other parts of the body.
Soon after air goes into an air sac, it gives up some of its oxygen and takes in some carbon dioxide from the blood. To keep diffusion going as it should, this carbon dioxide must be gotten rid of. Breathing, which is caused by movements of the chest, forces the used air out of the air sacs in your lungs and brings in fresh air. The breathing muscles are controlled automatically so that you breathe at the proper rate to keep your air sacs supplied with fresh air.
Ordinarily, you breathe about twenty-two times a minute. Of course, you breathe faster when you are exercising and slower when you are resting. Fresh air is brought into your lungs when you breathe in, or inhale, while used air is forced out of your lungs when you breathe out, or exhale. | 2434.txt | 0 |
[
"Breathe out.",
"Breathe in.",
"Diffuse.",
"Exchange."
] | Which of the following words can replace the word "exhale"? | When blood is sent to the lungs by the heart, it has come back from the cells in the rest of the body. So the blood that goes into the wall of an air sac (Jl) contains much dissolved carbon dioxide but very little oxygen. At the same time, the air that goes into the air sac contains much oxygen but very little carbon dioxide.
You have learned that dissolved materials always diffuse from where there is more of them to where there is less. Oxygen from the air dissolves in the moisture on the lining of the air sac and diffuses through the lining into the blood. Meanwhile, carbon dioxide diffuses from the blood into the air sac. The blood then flows from the lungs back to the heart, which sends it out to all other parts of the body.
Soon after air goes into an air sac, it gives up some of its oxygen and takes in some carbon dioxide from the blood. To keep diffusion going as it should, this carbon dioxide must be gotten rid of. Breathing, which is caused by movements of the chest, forces the used air out of the air sacs in your lungs and brings in fresh air. The breathing muscles are controlled automatically so that you breathe at the proper rate to keep your air sacs supplied with fresh air.
Ordinarily, you breathe about twenty-two times a minute. Of course, you breathe faster when you are exercising and slower when you are resting. Fresh air is brought into your lungs when you breathe in, or inhale, while used air is forced out of your lungs when you breathe out, or exhale. | 2434.txt | 0 |
[
"You'll certainly get what you want.",
"It's no use dreaming.",
"You should be dissatisfied with what you have.",
"It's essential to set a goal for yourself."
] | What do the elders mean when they say, "It's not what you want in this world, but what you get."? | Tight-lipped elders used to say, "It's not what you want in this world, but what you get."
Psychology teaches that you do get what you want if you know what you want and want the right things.
You can make a mental blueprint of a desire as you would make a blueprint of a house, and each of us is continually making these blueprints in the general routine of everyday living. If we intend to have friends to dinner, we plan the menu, make a shopping list, decide which food to cook first, and such planning is an essential for any type of meal to be served.
Likewise, if you want to find a job, take a sheet of paper, and write a brief account of yourself. In making a blueprint for a job, begin with yourself, for when you know exactly what you have to offer, you can intelligently plan where to sell your services.
This account of yourself is actually a sketch of your working life and should include education, experience and references. Such an account is valuable. It can be referred to in filling out standard application blanks and is extremely helpful in personal interviews. While talking to you, your could-be employer is deciding whether your education, your experience, and other qualifications, will pay him to employ you and your "wares" and abilities must be displayed in an orderly and reasonably connected manner.
When you have carefully prepared a blueprint of your abilities and desires, you have something tangible to sell. Then you are ready to hunt for a job. Get all the possible information about your could-be job. Make inquiries as to the details regarding the job and the firm. Keep your eyes and ears open, and use your own judgment. Spend a certain amount of time each day seeking the employment you wish for, and keep in mind: Securing a job is your job now. | 1225.txt | 1 |
[
"an illustration of how to write an application for a job",
"an indication of how to secure a good job",
"a guideline for job description",
"a principle for job evaluation"
] | A blueprint made before inviting a friend to dinner is used in this passage as . | Tight-lipped elders used to say, "It's not what you want in this world, but what you get."
Psychology teaches that you do get what you want if you know what you want and want the right things.
You can make a mental blueprint of a desire as you would make a blueprint of a house, and each of us is continually making these blueprints in the general routine of everyday living. If we intend to have friends to dinner, we plan the menu, make a shopping list, decide which food to cook first, and such planning is an essential for any type of meal to be served.
Likewise, if you want to find a job, take a sheet of paper, and write a brief account of yourself. In making a blueprint for a job, begin with yourself, for when you know exactly what you have to offer, you can intelligently plan where to sell your services.
This account of yourself is actually a sketch of your working life and should include education, experience and references. Such an account is valuable. It can be referred to in filling out standard application blanks and is extremely helpful in personal interviews. While talking to you, your could-be employer is deciding whether your education, your experience, and other qualifications, will pay him to employ you and your "wares" and abilities must be displayed in an orderly and reasonably connected manner.
When you have carefully prepared a blueprint of your abilities and desires, you have something tangible to sell. Then you are ready to hunt for a job. Get all the possible information about your could-be job. Make inquiries as to the details regarding the job and the firm. Keep your eyes and ears open, and use your own judgment. Spend a certain amount of time each day seeking the employment you wish for, and keep in mind: Securing a job is your job now. | 1225.txt | 0 |
[
"that is the first step to please the employer",
"that is the requirement of the employer",
"it enables him to know when to sell his services",
"it forces him to become clearly aware of himself"
] | According to the passage, one must write an account of himself before starting to find a job because . | Tight-lipped elders used to say, "It's not what you want in this world, but what you get."
Psychology teaches that you do get what you want if you know what you want and want the right things.
You can make a mental blueprint of a desire as you would make a blueprint of a house, and each of us is continually making these blueprints in the general routine of everyday living. If we intend to have friends to dinner, we plan the menu, make a shopping list, decide which food to cook first, and such planning is an essential for any type of meal to be served.
Likewise, if you want to find a job, take a sheet of paper, and write a brief account of yourself. In making a blueprint for a job, begin with yourself, for when you know exactly what you have to offer, you can intelligently plan where to sell your services.
This account of yourself is actually a sketch of your working life and should include education, experience and references. Such an account is valuable. It can be referred to in filling out standard application blanks and is extremely helpful in personal interviews. While talking to you, your could-be employer is deciding whether your education, your experience, and other qualifications, will pay him to employ you and your "wares" and abilities must be displayed in an orderly and reasonably connected manner.
When you have carefully prepared a blueprint of your abilities and desires, you have something tangible to sell. Then you are ready to hunt for a job. Get all the possible information about your could-be job. Make inquiries as to the details regarding the job and the firm. Keep your eyes and ears open, and use your own judgment. Spend a certain amount of time each day seeking the employment you wish for, and keep in mind: Securing a job is your job now. | 1225.txt | 3 |
[
"definite to offer",
"imaginary to provide",
"practical to supply",
"desirable to present"
] | When you have carefully prepared a blueprint of your abilities and desires, you have something . | Tight-lipped elders used to say, "It's not what you want in this world, but what you get."
Psychology teaches that you do get what you want if you know what you want and want the right things.
You can make a mental blueprint of a desire as you would make a blueprint of a house, and each of us is continually making these blueprints in the general routine of everyday living. If we intend to have friends to dinner, we plan the menu, make a shopping list, decide which food to cook first, and such planning is an essential for any type of meal to be served.
Likewise, if you want to find a job, take a sheet of paper, and write a brief account of yourself. In making a blueprint for a job, begin with yourself, for when you know exactly what you have to offer, you can intelligently plan where to sell your services.
This account of yourself is actually a sketch of your working life and should include education, experience and references. Such an account is valuable. It can be referred to in filling out standard application blanks and is extremely helpful in personal interviews. While talking to you, your could-be employer is deciding whether your education, your experience, and other qualifications, will pay him to employ you and your "wares" and abilities must be displayed in an orderly and reasonably connected manner.
When you have carefully prepared a blueprint of your abilities and desires, you have something tangible to sell. Then you are ready to hunt for a job. Get all the possible information about your could-be job. Make inquiries as to the details regarding the job and the firm. Keep your eyes and ears open, and use your own judgment. Spend a certain amount of time each day seeking the employment you wish for, and keep in mind: Securing a job is your job now. | 1225.txt | 0 |
[
"show people how to take fine pictures",
"tell people photography is now a big business",
"tell people the club can do many things for you",
"encourage people to join the photograph club"
] | The purpose of passage is to _ . | Are all your photographs good?Be honest withyourself. Aren't some of your pictures too dark, andothers too light?How many times have you thrownaway a photo?We, the Fine Photograph Club, canhelp you. We meet every Wednesday in ourcomfortable club room in Bridge Street. At 7:30 p.m.a member of the club or a visitor would give a talk,and then we have coffee. Our members will adviseyou on all the latest cameras and films. They will help you to develop your films or enlargeyour pictures. What does it all cost?Only 5 pounds a year.
Photography is now a big business. Do you know, for instance, that there are 15 million camerasin our country?And that 700 million photographs are taken a year, more than one-third of themin color?Think of the amount of photography in television, the cinema, newspapers, books,advertisements and so on. In modern life people learn a lot from pictures, so photography ismore and more important. It is also more complicated and more expensive than it used to be.You may only want to take good photographs of faces and places. If so, we can help you to getbetter results. You needn't waste any more money. If you want to learn more aboutphotography and how it is used, join the club please. You won't be disappointed. Write now tothe Secretary, Fine Photograph Club. Bridge Street. | 2466.txt | 3 |
[
"must be good at photography",
"must know about the latest cameras and films",
"must pay a little money a year",
"must be honest with yourself"
] | If you want to join the club, you _ . | Are all your photographs good?Be honest withyourself. Aren't some of your pictures too dark, andothers too light?How many times have you thrownaway a photo?We, the Fine Photograph Club, canhelp you. We meet every Wednesday in ourcomfortable club room in Bridge Street. At 7:30 p.m.a member of the club or a visitor would give a talk,and then we have coffee. Our members will adviseyou on all the latest cameras and films. They will help you to develop your films or enlargeyour pictures. What does it all cost?Only 5 pounds a year.
Photography is now a big business. Do you know, for instance, that there are 15 million camerasin our country?And that 700 million photographs are taken a year, more than one-third of themin color?Think of the amount of photography in television, the cinema, newspapers, books,advertisements and so on. In modern life people learn a lot from pictures, so photography ismore and more important. It is also more complicated and more expensive than it used to be.You may only want to take good photographs of faces and places. If so, we can help you to getbetter results. You needn't waste any more money. If you want to learn more aboutphotography and how it is used, join the club please. You won't be disappointed. Write now tothe Secretary, Fine Photograph Club. Bridge Street. | 2466.txt | 2 |
[
"say if your photos are good or bad",
"tell how much money you waste",
"help the Fine Photograph Club",
"know the latest development in cameras"
] | You are able to be honest so that you can _ . | Are all your photographs good?Be honest withyourself. Aren't some of your pictures too dark, andothers too light?How many times have you thrownaway a photo?We, the Fine Photograph Club, canhelp you. We meet every Wednesday in ourcomfortable club room in Bridge Street. At 7:30 p.m.a member of the club or a visitor would give a talk,and then we have coffee. Our members will adviseyou on all the latest cameras and films. They will help you to develop your films or enlargeyour pictures. What does it all cost?Only 5 pounds a year.
Photography is now a big business. Do you know, for instance, that there are 15 million camerasin our country?And that 700 million photographs are taken a year, more than one-third of themin color?Think of the amount of photography in television, the cinema, newspapers, books,advertisements and so on. In modern life people learn a lot from pictures, so photography ismore and more important. It is also more complicated and more expensive than it used to be.You may only want to take good photographs of faces and places. If so, we can help you to getbetter results. You needn't waste any more money. If you want to learn more aboutphotography and how it is used, join the club please. You won't be disappointed. Write now tothe Secretary, Fine Photograph Club. Bridge Street. | 2466.txt | 0 |
[
"coffee",
"amusement",
"advice",
"information"
] | The club can give the following service except _ . | Are all your photographs good?Be honest withyourself. Aren't some of your pictures too dark, andothers too light?How many times have you thrownaway a photo?We, the Fine Photograph Club, canhelp you. We meet every Wednesday in ourcomfortable club room in Bridge Street. At 7:30 p.m.a member of the club or a visitor would give a talk,and then we have coffee. Our members will adviseyou on all the latest cameras and films. They will help you to develop your films or enlargeyour pictures. What does it all cost?Only 5 pounds a year.
Photography is now a big business. Do you know, for instance, that there are 15 million camerasin our country?And that 700 million photographs are taken a year, more than one-third of themin color?Think of the amount of photography in television, the cinema, newspapers, books,advertisements and so on. In modern life people learn a lot from pictures, so photography ismore and more important. It is also more complicated and more expensive than it used to be.You may only want to take good photographs of faces and places. If so, we can help you to getbetter results. You needn't waste any more money. If you want to learn more aboutphotography and how it is used, join the club please. You won't be disappointed. Write now tothe Secretary, Fine Photograph Club. Bridge Street. | 2466.txt | 1 |
[
"If you are a member of Fine Photograph Club, it will cost you only 5 pounds to buy a camera.",
"All the members of Fine Photograph Club can take free photographs of faces and places.",
"More than a third of 700 million color photographs are taken a year.",
"If you write to the photograph club, you will be very good at photographing."
] | Which statement of the following is true? | Are all your photographs good?Be honest withyourself. Aren't some of your pictures too dark, andothers too light?How many times have you thrownaway a photo?We, the Fine Photograph Club, canhelp you. We meet every Wednesday in ourcomfortable club room in Bridge Street. At 7:30 p.m.a member of the club or a visitor would give a talk,and then we have coffee. Our members will adviseyou on all the latest cameras and films. They will help you to develop your films or enlargeyour pictures. What does it all cost?Only 5 pounds a year.
Photography is now a big business. Do you know, for instance, that there are 15 million camerasin our country?And that 700 million photographs are taken a year, more than one-third of themin color?Think of the amount of photography in television, the cinema, newspapers, books,advertisements and so on. In modern life people learn a lot from pictures, so photography ismore and more important. It is also more complicated and more expensive than it used to be.You may only want to take good photographs of faces and places. If so, we can help you to getbetter results. You needn't waste any more money. If you want to learn more aboutphotography and how it is used, join the club please. You won't be disappointed. Write now tothe Secretary, Fine Photograph Club. Bridge Street. | 2466.txt | 2 |
[
"investment.",
"economy.",
"technology.",
"tax."
] | The focus of the President' s program is on | On the President's Program
President Arling has put his long awaited economic restructuring program before the Congress. It provides a coordinated program of investment credits, research grants, education reforms, and changes designed to make American industry more competitive. This is necessary to reverse economic slide into unemployment, lack of growth, and trade deficits that have plagued the economy for the past six years.
The most liberal wing of the President' s party has called for stronger and more direct action.
They want an incomes policy to check inflation while federal financing helps rebuild industry behind a wall of protective tariffs.
The Republicans, however, decry even the modest, graduated tax increases in the President' s program.
They want tax cuts and more open market. They say if federal money has to be injected into the economy, let it through defence spending.
Both these alternatives ignore the unique nature of the economic problem before us. It is not simply a matter of markets or financing. The new technology allows vastly increased production for those able to master it.
But it also threatens those who fail to adopt it with permanent second-class citizenship in the world economy. If an industry cannot lever itself up to the leading stage of technological advances, then it will not be able to compete effectively. If it cannot do this, no amount of government protectionism or access to foreign markets can keep it profitable for long.
Without the profits and experience of technological excellence to reinvest, that industry can only fall still further behind its foreign competitors.
So the crux is the technology and that is where the President' s program focused. The danger is not that a plan will not be passed, it is that the ideologues of right and left will distort the bill with amendments that will blur its focus on technology. The economic restructuring plan should be passed intact.
If we fail to restructure our economy now, we may not get a second chance. | 271.txt | 2 |
[
"They want a more direct action.",
"They want an incomes policy to check inflation.",
"They want to rebuild industry.",
"They want a wall of protective tariffs."
] | What is the requirement of the most liberal wing of the Democratic-party? | On the President's Program
President Arling has put his long awaited economic restructuring program before the Congress. It provides a coordinated program of investment credits, research grants, education reforms, and changes designed to make American industry more competitive. This is necessary to reverse economic slide into unemployment, lack of growth, and trade deficits that have plagued the economy for the past six years.
The most liberal wing of the President' s party has called for stronger and more direct action.
They want an incomes policy to check inflation while federal financing helps rebuild industry behind a wall of protective tariffs.
The Republicans, however, decry even the modest, graduated tax increases in the President' s program.
They want tax cuts and more open market. They say if federal money has to be injected into the economy, let it through defence spending.
Both these alternatives ignore the unique nature of the economic problem before us. It is not simply a matter of markets or financing. The new technology allows vastly increased production for those able to master it.
But it also threatens those who fail to adopt it with permanent second-class citizenship in the world economy. If an industry cannot lever itself up to the leading stage of technological advances, then it will not be able to compete effectively. If it cannot do this, no amount of government protectionism or access to foreign markets can keep it profitable for long.
Without the profits and experience of technological excellence to reinvest, that industry can only fall still further behind its foreign competitors.
So the crux is the technology and that is where the President' s program focused. The danger is not that a plan will not be passed, it is that the ideologues of right and left will distort the bill with amendments that will blur its focus on technology. The economic restructuring plan should be passed intact.
If we fail to restructure our economy now, we may not get a second chance. | 271.txt | 0 |
[
"support.",
"distaste.",
"Disapproval.",
"Compromise."
] | What is the editor' s attitude? | On the President's Program
President Arling has put his long awaited economic restructuring program before the Congress. It provides a coordinated program of investment credits, research grants, education reforms, and changes designed to make American industry more competitive. This is necessary to reverse economic slide into unemployment, lack of growth, and trade deficits that have plagued the economy for the past six years.
The most liberal wing of the President' s party has called for stronger and more direct action.
They want an incomes policy to check inflation while federal financing helps rebuild industry behind a wall of protective tariffs.
The Republicans, however, decry even the modest, graduated tax increases in the President' s program.
They want tax cuts and more open market. They say if federal money has to be injected into the economy, let it through defence spending.
Both these alternatives ignore the unique nature of the economic problem before us. It is not simply a matter of markets or financing. The new technology allows vastly increased production for those able to master it.
But it also threatens those who fail to adopt it with permanent second-class citizenship in the world economy. If an industry cannot lever itself up to the leading stage of technological advances, then it will not be able to compete effectively. If it cannot do this, no amount of government protectionism or access to foreign markets can keep it profitable for long.
Without the profits and experience of technological excellence to reinvest, that industry can only fall still further behind its foreign competitors.
So the crux is the technology and that is where the President' s program focused. The danger is not that a plan will not be passed, it is that the ideologues of right and left will distort the bill with amendments that will blur its focus on technology. The economic restructuring plan should be passed intact.
If we fail to restructure our economy now, we may not get a second chance. | 271.txt | 0 |
[
"the two parties'objection.",
"different idea of the two parties about the plan.",
"its passage.",
"distortion."
] | The danger to the plan lies in | On the President's Program
President Arling has put his long awaited economic restructuring program before the Congress. It provides a coordinated program of investment credits, research grants, education reforms, and changes designed to make American industry more competitive. This is necessary to reverse economic slide into unemployment, lack of growth, and trade deficits that have plagued the economy for the past six years.
The most liberal wing of the President' s party has called for stronger and more direct action.
They want an incomes policy to check inflation while federal financing helps rebuild industry behind a wall of protective tariffs.
The Republicans, however, decry even the modest, graduated tax increases in the President' s program.
They want tax cuts and more open market. They say if federal money has to be injected into the economy, let it through defence spending.
Both these alternatives ignore the unique nature of the economic problem before us. It is not simply a matter of markets or financing. The new technology allows vastly increased production for those able to master it.
But it also threatens those who fail to adopt it with permanent second-class citizenship in the world economy. If an industry cannot lever itself up to the leading stage of technological advances, then it will not be able to compete effectively. If it cannot do this, no amount of government protectionism or access to foreign markets can keep it profitable for long.
Without the profits and experience of technological excellence to reinvest, that industry can only fall still further behind its foreign competitors.
So the crux is the technology and that is where the President' s program focused. The danger is not that a plan will not be passed, it is that the ideologues of right and left will distort the bill with amendments that will blur its focus on technology. The economic restructuring plan should be passed intact.
If we fail to restructure our economy now, we may not get a second chance. | 271.txt | 3 |
[
"a review.",
"a preface.",
"a advertisement.",
"an editorial."
] | The passage is | On the President's Program
President Arling has put his long awaited economic restructuring program before the Congress. It provides a coordinated program of investment credits, research grants, education reforms, and changes designed to make American industry more competitive. This is necessary to reverse economic slide into unemployment, lack of growth, and trade deficits that have plagued the economy for the past six years.
The most liberal wing of the President' s party has called for stronger and more direct action.
They want an incomes policy to check inflation while federal financing helps rebuild industry behind a wall of protective tariffs.
The Republicans, however, decry even the modest, graduated tax increases in the President' s program.
They want tax cuts and more open market. They say if federal money has to be injected into the economy, let it through defence spending.
Both these alternatives ignore the unique nature of the economic problem before us. It is not simply a matter of markets or financing. The new technology allows vastly increased production for those able to master it.
But it also threatens those who fail to adopt it with permanent second-class citizenship in the world economy. If an industry cannot lever itself up to the leading stage of technological advances, then it will not be able to compete effectively. If it cannot do this, no amount of government protectionism or access to foreign markets can keep it profitable for long.
Without the profits and experience of technological excellence to reinvest, that industry can only fall still further behind its foreign competitors.
So the crux is the technology and that is where the President' s program focused. The danger is not that a plan will not be passed, it is that the ideologues of right and left will distort the bill with amendments that will blur its focus on technology. The economic restructuring plan should be passed intact.
If we fail to restructure our economy now, we may not get a second chance. | 271.txt | 3 |
[
"women analyze facial expressions on computer in a Cairo school basement",
"computers will supervise students' emotions to check their behavior in America",
"a robot siting in a driving simulator looks interested or confused",
"there emerges a new technology called affective computing"
] | In paragraph 1, the text shows that _ . | In a Cairo school basement, two dozen women analyze facial expressions on laptops, training the computers to recognize anger, sadness and frustration. At Cambridge University, an eerily realistic robotic head named Charles sits in a driving simulator, furrowing its brows, looking interested or confused. And in a handful of American middle school classrooms this fall, computers will monitor students' emotions in an effort to track when they are losing interest and when they are getting excited about lessons. All three are examples of an emerging approach to technology called affective computing, which aims to give computers the ability to read users' emotions, or" affect."
Yet until recently, our machines could not identify even seemingly simple emotions, like anger or frustration. The GPS device chirps happily even when the driver is ready to hurl it out the window. The online class keeps going even when half the students are lost in confusion. The airport security system can't tell whether someone is behaving as if he were concealing something or is just anxious about flying.
Technology that masters these skills could also help people who struggle to read the emotions of others, like those on the autism spectrum, or provide companionship and encouragement for nursing home residents. Without a grasp of emotions, some researchers argue, computers will never reach their full potential to support people.
" Our digital world is for the most part devoid of rich ways of expressing our emotions," said Rosalind Picard, director of the affective computing research group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab. She has been working for more than two decades to translate emotions into 1's and 0's, the language of machines. One early project, with a collaborator, Rana el Kaliouby, was to design glasses for people with Asperger syndrome, a mild variant of autism, that warned them when they were boring someone. People with Asperger's often fixate on particular topics and find it hard to read the social cues, like yawning, fidgeting and looking away, that indicate the listener is bored.
More recently, Dr. Picard and Dr. el Kaliouby have been developing software that maps 24 points on the face to intuit an emotion. In the past, computer algorithms have had trouble distinguishing among genuine smiles, smirks and the gritted teeth that come with frustration, Dr. el Kaliouby said, because they are often fleeting and result in only very small changes to the overall configuration of the face. | 503.txt | 3 |
[
"The machines can tell simple personal moods.",
"The GPS doesn't function, so the driver throws it out of the window.",
"The online class continues though 50% students can't follow.",
"The airport security system can identify passengers' personal thoughts."
] | Which of the following is true? | In a Cairo school basement, two dozen women analyze facial expressions on laptops, training the computers to recognize anger, sadness and frustration. At Cambridge University, an eerily realistic robotic head named Charles sits in a driving simulator, furrowing its brows, looking interested or confused. And in a handful of American middle school classrooms this fall, computers will monitor students' emotions in an effort to track when they are losing interest and when they are getting excited about lessons. All three are examples of an emerging approach to technology called affective computing, which aims to give computers the ability to read users' emotions, or" affect."
Yet until recently, our machines could not identify even seemingly simple emotions, like anger or frustration. The GPS device chirps happily even when the driver is ready to hurl it out the window. The online class keeps going even when half the students are lost in confusion. The airport security system can't tell whether someone is behaving as if he were concealing something or is just anxious about flying.
Technology that masters these skills could also help people who struggle to read the emotions of others, like those on the autism spectrum, or provide companionship and encouragement for nursing home residents. Without a grasp of emotions, some researchers argue, computers will never reach their full potential to support people.
" Our digital world is for the most part devoid of rich ways of expressing our emotions," said Rosalind Picard, director of the affective computing research group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab. She has been working for more than two decades to translate emotions into 1's and 0's, the language of machines. One early project, with a collaborator, Rana el Kaliouby, was to design glasses for people with Asperger syndrome, a mild variant of autism, that warned them when they were boring someone. People with Asperger's often fixate on particular topics and find it hard to read the social cues, like yawning, fidgeting and looking away, that indicate the listener is bored.
More recently, Dr. Picard and Dr. el Kaliouby have been developing software that maps 24 points on the face to intuit an emotion. In the past, computer algorithms have had trouble distinguishing among genuine smiles, smirks and the gritted teeth that come with frustration, Dr. el Kaliouby said, because they are often fleeting and result in only very small changes to the overall configuration of the face. | 503.txt | 2 |
[
"to help people understand others' inner feelings",
"the residents in the nursing home feel encouraged and not isolated",
"computers can't help people without catching the emotions",
"to endow people with rich ways to express their feelings"
] | According to the author, one of the distinctive functions of the technology is _ . | In a Cairo school basement, two dozen women analyze facial expressions on laptops, training the computers to recognize anger, sadness and frustration. At Cambridge University, an eerily realistic robotic head named Charles sits in a driving simulator, furrowing its brows, looking interested or confused. And in a handful of American middle school classrooms this fall, computers will monitor students' emotions in an effort to track when they are losing interest and when they are getting excited about lessons. All three are examples of an emerging approach to technology called affective computing, which aims to give computers the ability to read users' emotions, or" affect."
Yet until recently, our machines could not identify even seemingly simple emotions, like anger or frustration. The GPS device chirps happily even when the driver is ready to hurl it out the window. The online class keeps going even when half the students are lost in confusion. The airport security system can't tell whether someone is behaving as if he were concealing something or is just anxious about flying.
Technology that masters these skills could also help people who struggle to read the emotions of others, like those on the autism spectrum, or provide companionship and encouragement for nursing home residents. Without a grasp of emotions, some researchers argue, computers will never reach their full potential to support people.
" Our digital world is for the most part devoid of rich ways of expressing our emotions," said Rosalind Picard, director of the affective computing research group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab. She has been working for more than two decades to translate emotions into 1's and 0's, the language of machines. One early project, with a collaborator, Rana el Kaliouby, was to design glasses for people with Asperger syndrome, a mild variant of autism, that warned them when they were boring someone. People with Asperger's often fixate on particular topics and find it hard to read the social cues, like yawning, fidgeting and looking away, that indicate the listener is bored.
More recently, Dr. Picard and Dr. el Kaliouby have been developing software that maps 24 points on the face to intuit an emotion. In the past, computer algorithms have had trouble distinguishing among genuine smiles, smirks and the gritted teeth that come with frustration, Dr. el Kaliouby said, because they are often fleeting and result in only very small changes to the overall configuration of the face. | 503.txt | 1 |
[
"complicated feelings",
"various emotions",
"a kind of disease",
"symptom"
] | The phrase" Asperger syndrome" （Line 5, Paragraph 4）most probably means _ . | In a Cairo school basement, two dozen women analyze facial expressions on laptops, training the computers to recognize anger, sadness and frustration. At Cambridge University, an eerily realistic robotic head named Charles sits in a driving simulator, furrowing its brows, looking interested or confused. And in a handful of American middle school classrooms this fall, computers will monitor students' emotions in an effort to track when they are losing interest and when they are getting excited about lessons. All three are examples of an emerging approach to technology called affective computing, which aims to give computers the ability to read users' emotions, or" affect."
Yet until recently, our machines could not identify even seemingly simple emotions, like anger or frustration. The GPS device chirps happily even when the driver is ready to hurl it out the window. The online class keeps going even when half the students are lost in confusion. The airport security system can't tell whether someone is behaving as if he were concealing something or is just anxious about flying.
Technology that masters these skills could also help people who struggle to read the emotions of others, like those on the autism spectrum, or provide companionship and encouragement for nursing home residents. Without a grasp of emotions, some researchers argue, computers will never reach their full potential to support people.
" Our digital world is for the most part devoid of rich ways of expressing our emotions," said Rosalind Picard, director of the affective computing research group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab. She has been working for more than two decades to translate emotions into 1's and 0's, the language of machines. One early project, with a collaborator, Rana el Kaliouby, was to design glasses for people with Asperger syndrome, a mild variant of autism, that warned them when they were boring someone. People with Asperger's often fixate on particular topics and find it hard to read the social cues, like yawning, fidgeting and looking away, that indicate the listener is bored.
More recently, Dr. Picard and Dr. el Kaliouby have been developing software that maps 24 points on the face to intuit an emotion. In the past, computer algorithms have had trouble distinguishing among genuine smiles, smirks and the gritted teeth that come with frustration, Dr. el Kaliouby said, because they are often fleeting and result in only very small changes to the overall configuration of the face. | 503.txt | 2 |
[
"positive",
"negative",
"uncertain",
"neutral"
] | From the text we can see that the writer seems _ . | In a Cairo school basement, two dozen women analyze facial expressions on laptops, training the computers to recognize anger, sadness and frustration. At Cambridge University, an eerily realistic robotic head named Charles sits in a driving simulator, furrowing its brows, looking interested or confused. And in a handful of American middle school classrooms this fall, computers will monitor students' emotions in an effort to track when they are losing interest and when they are getting excited about lessons. All three are examples of an emerging approach to technology called affective computing, which aims to give computers the ability to read users' emotions, or" affect."
Yet until recently, our machines could not identify even seemingly simple emotions, like anger or frustration. The GPS device chirps happily even when the driver is ready to hurl it out the window. The online class keeps going even when half the students are lost in confusion. The airport security system can't tell whether someone is behaving as if he were concealing something or is just anxious about flying.
Technology that masters these skills could also help people who struggle to read the emotions of others, like those on the autism spectrum, or provide companionship and encouragement for nursing home residents. Without a grasp of emotions, some researchers argue, computers will never reach their full potential to support people.
" Our digital world is for the most part devoid of rich ways of expressing our emotions," said Rosalind Picard, director of the affective computing research group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab. She has been working for more than two decades to translate emotions into 1's and 0's, the language of machines. One early project, with a collaborator, Rana el Kaliouby, was to design glasses for people with Asperger syndrome, a mild variant of autism, that warned them when they were boring someone. People with Asperger's often fixate on particular topics and find it hard to read the social cues, like yawning, fidgeting and looking away, that indicate the listener is bored.
More recently, Dr. Picard and Dr. el Kaliouby have been developing software that maps 24 points on the face to intuit an emotion. In the past, computer algorithms have had trouble distinguishing among genuine smiles, smirks and the gritted teeth that come with frustration, Dr. el Kaliouby said, because they are often fleeting and result in only very small changes to the overall configuration of the face. | 503.txt | 3 |
[
"She deprecates the cynicism of his later works.",
"She finds his theatricality artificial.",
"She admires his wholehearted sincerity.",
"She thinks his inconsistency disturbing."
] | Which of the following best characterizes the author's attitude toward Tolstoi? | Masterpieces are dumb." wrote Flaubert. They have a tranquil aspect like the very products of nature, like large animals and mountains. He might have been thinking of War and Peace, that vast, silent work, unfathomable and simple, provoking endless questions through the majesty of its being. Tolstoi's simplicity is "overpowering, says the critic Bayley." disconcerting" because it comes from "his casual assumption that the world is as he sees it" Like other nineteenth-century Russian writers he is "impressive" because the "means what he says." but he stands apart from all others and from most Western writers in his identity with life, which is so complete as to make us forget he is an artist. He is the center of his work, but his egocentricity is of a special kind, Goethe, for example, says Bayley, "cared for nothing but himself. Tolstoi was nothing but himself."
For all his varied modes of writing and the multiplicity of characters in his fiction, Tolstoi and his work are of a piece. The famous "conversion" of his middle years, movingly recounted in his Confession, was a culmination of his early spiritual life, not a departure from it. The apparently fundamental changes that led from epic narrative to dogmatic parable, from a joyous, buoyant attitude toward life to pessimism and cynicism, from War and Peace to The Kreuler Sonata, came from the same restless, impressionable depths of an independent spirit yearning to get at the truth of its experience. "Truth is my hero," wrote Tolstoi in his youth, reporting the fighting in Sebastopol. Truth remained his hero-his own, not others' truth.Others were awed by Napoleon, believed that a single man could change the destinies of nations, adhered to meaningless rituals, formed their tastes on established cannons of art. Tolstoi reversed all preconceptions; and in every reversal he overthrew the "system," the "machine," the externally ordained belief, the conventional behavior in favor of unsystematic, impulsive life, of inward motivation and the solutions of independent thought.
In his work the artificial and the genuine are always exhibited in dramatic opposition the supposedly great Napoleon and the truly great, unregarded little Captain Tushin, or Nicholas Rostov's actual experience in battle and his later account of it. The simple is always pitted against the elaborate, knowledge gained from observation against assertions of borrowed faiths. Tolstoi's magical simplicity is a product of these tensions' his work is a record of the questions he put to himself and of the answers he found in his search.The greatest characters of his fiction exemplify this search, and their happiness depends on the measure of their answers. Tolstoi wanted happiness, but only hard-won happiness, that emotional fulfillment and intellectual clarity which could come only as the prize of all-consuming effort. He scorned lesser satisfactions. | 1975.txt | 2 |
[
"Masterpieces seem ordinary and unremarkable from the perspective of a later age.",
"Great works of art do not explain themselves to us any more than natural objects do.",
"Important works of art take their place in the pageant of history because of their uniqueness",
"The most important aspects of good art are the orderliness and tranquility it reflects."
] | Which of the following best paraphrases Flaubert's statement quoted in lines 1-4? | Masterpieces are dumb." wrote Flaubert. They have a tranquil aspect like the very products of nature, like large animals and mountains. He might have been thinking of War and Peace, that vast, silent work, unfathomable and simple, provoking endless questions through the majesty of its being. Tolstoi's simplicity is "overpowering, says the critic Bayley." disconcerting" because it comes from "his casual assumption that the world is as he sees it" Like other nineteenth-century Russian writers he is "impressive" because the "means what he says." but he stands apart from all others and from most Western writers in his identity with life, which is so complete as to make us forget he is an artist. He is the center of his work, but his egocentricity is of a special kind, Goethe, for example, says Bayley, "cared for nothing but himself. Tolstoi was nothing but himself."
For all his varied modes of writing and the multiplicity of characters in his fiction, Tolstoi and his work are of a piece. The famous "conversion" of his middle years, movingly recounted in his Confession, was a culmination of his early spiritual life, not a departure from it. The apparently fundamental changes that led from epic narrative to dogmatic parable, from a joyous, buoyant attitude toward life to pessimism and cynicism, from War and Peace to The Kreuler Sonata, came from the same restless, impressionable depths of an independent spirit yearning to get at the truth of its experience. "Truth is my hero," wrote Tolstoi in his youth, reporting the fighting in Sebastopol. Truth remained his hero-his own, not others' truth.Others were awed by Napoleon, believed that a single man could change the destinies of nations, adhered to meaningless rituals, formed their tastes on established cannons of art. Tolstoi reversed all preconceptions; and in every reversal he overthrew the "system," the "machine," the externally ordained belief, the conventional behavior in favor of unsystematic, impulsive life, of inward motivation and the solutions of independent thought.
In his work the artificial and the genuine are always exhibited in dramatic opposition the supposedly great Napoleon and the truly great, unregarded little Captain Tushin, or Nicholas Rostov's actual experience in battle and his later account of it. The simple is always pitted against the elaborate, knowledge gained from observation against assertions of borrowed faiths. Tolstoi's magical simplicity is a product of these tensions' his work is a record of the questions he put to himself and of the answers he found in his search.The greatest characters of his fiction exemplify this search, and their happiness depends on the measure of their answers. Tolstoi wanted happiness, but only hard-won happiness, that emotional fulfillment and intellectual clarity which could come only as the prize of all-consuming effort. He scorned lesser satisfactions. | 1975.txt | 1 |
[
"although Tolstoi observes and interprets life, he maintains no self-conscious distance from his experience",
"the realism of Tolstoi's work gives the illusion that his novels are reports of actual events",
"unfortunately, Tolstoi is unaware of his own limitations, though he is sincere in his attempt to describe experience",
"although Tolstoi works casually and makes unwarranted assumptions, his work has an inexplicable appearance of truth"
] | The author quotes from Bayley (lines 9-25) to show that | Masterpieces are dumb." wrote Flaubert. They have a tranquil aspect like the very products of nature, like large animals and mountains. He might have been thinking of War and Peace, that vast, silent work, unfathomable and simple, provoking endless questions through the majesty of its being. Tolstoi's simplicity is "overpowering, says the critic Bayley." disconcerting" because it comes from "his casual assumption that the world is as he sees it" Like other nineteenth-century Russian writers he is "impressive" because the "means what he says." but he stands apart from all others and from most Western writers in his identity with life, which is so complete as to make us forget he is an artist. He is the center of his work, but his egocentricity is of a special kind, Goethe, for example, says Bayley, "cared for nothing but himself. Tolstoi was nothing but himself."
For all his varied modes of writing and the multiplicity of characters in his fiction, Tolstoi and his work are of a piece. The famous "conversion" of his middle years, movingly recounted in his Confession, was a culmination of his early spiritual life, not a departure from it. The apparently fundamental changes that led from epic narrative to dogmatic parable, from a joyous, buoyant attitude toward life to pessimism and cynicism, from War and Peace to The Kreuler Sonata, came from the same restless, impressionable depths of an independent spirit yearning to get at the truth of its experience. "Truth is my hero," wrote Tolstoi in his youth, reporting the fighting in Sebastopol. Truth remained his hero-his own, not others' truth.Others were awed by Napoleon, believed that a single man could change the destinies of nations, adhered to meaningless rituals, formed their tastes on established cannons of art. Tolstoi reversed all preconceptions; and in every reversal he overthrew the "system," the "machine," the externally ordained belief, the conventional behavior in favor of unsystematic, impulsive life, of inward motivation and the solutions of independent thought.
In his work the artificial and the genuine are always exhibited in dramatic opposition the supposedly great Napoleon and the truly great, unregarded little Captain Tushin, or Nicholas Rostov's actual experience in battle and his later account of it. The simple is always pitted against the elaborate, knowledge gained from observation against assertions of borrowed faiths. Tolstoi's magical simplicity is a product of these tensions' his work is a record of the questions he put to himself and of the answers he found in his search.The greatest characters of his fiction exemplify this search, and their happiness depends on the measure of their answers. Tolstoi wanted happiness, but only hard-won happiness, that emotional fulfillment and intellectual clarity which could come only as the prize of all-consuming effort. He scorned lesser satisfactions. | 1975.txt | 0 |
[
"a radical renunciation of the world",
"the rejection of avant-garde ideas",
"the natural outcome of his earlier beliefs",
"the acceptance of a religion he had earlier rejected"
] | The author states that Tolstoi's conversion represented | Masterpieces are dumb." wrote Flaubert. They have a tranquil aspect like the very products of nature, like large animals and mountains. He might have been thinking of War and Peace, that vast, silent work, unfathomable and simple, provoking endless questions through the majesty of its being. Tolstoi's simplicity is "overpowering, says the critic Bayley." disconcerting" because it comes from "his casual assumption that the world is as he sees it" Like other nineteenth-century Russian writers he is "impressive" because the "means what he says." but he stands apart from all others and from most Western writers in his identity with life, which is so complete as to make us forget he is an artist. He is the center of his work, but his egocentricity is of a special kind, Goethe, for example, says Bayley, "cared for nothing but himself. Tolstoi was nothing but himself."
For all his varied modes of writing and the multiplicity of characters in his fiction, Tolstoi and his work are of a piece. The famous "conversion" of his middle years, movingly recounted in his Confession, was a culmination of his early spiritual life, not a departure from it. The apparently fundamental changes that led from epic narrative to dogmatic parable, from a joyous, buoyant attitude toward life to pessimism and cynicism, from War and Peace to The Kreuler Sonata, came from the same restless, impressionable depths of an independent spirit yearning to get at the truth of its experience. "Truth is my hero," wrote Tolstoi in his youth, reporting the fighting in Sebastopol. Truth remained his hero-his own, not others' truth.Others were awed by Napoleon, believed that a single man could change the destinies of nations, adhered to meaningless rituals, formed their tastes on established cannons of art. Tolstoi reversed all preconceptions; and in every reversal he overthrew the "system," the "machine," the externally ordained belief, the conventional behavior in favor of unsystematic, impulsive life, of inward motivation and the solutions of independent thought.
In his work the artificial and the genuine are always exhibited in dramatic opposition the supposedly great Napoleon and the truly great, unregarded little Captain Tushin, or Nicholas Rostov's actual experience in battle and his later account of it. The simple is always pitted against the elaborate, knowledge gained from observation against assertions of borrowed faiths. Tolstoi's magical simplicity is a product of these tensions' his work is a record of the questions he put to himself and of the answers he found in his search.The greatest characters of his fiction exemplify this search, and their happiness depends on the measure of their answers. Tolstoi wanted happiness, but only hard-won happiness, that emotional fulfillment and intellectual clarity which could come only as the prize of all-consuming effort. He scorned lesser satisfactions. | 1975.txt | 2 |
[
"select the most valid from among them",
"combine opposing viewpoints into a new doctrine",
"reject the claims of religion in order to serve his art",
"upset them in order to be faithful to his experience"
] | According to the passage, Tolsto's response to the accepted intellectual and artistic values of his time was to | Masterpieces are dumb." wrote Flaubert. They have a tranquil aspect like the very products of nature, like large animals and mountains. He might have been thinking of War and Peace, that vast, silent work, unfathomable and simple, provoking endless questions through the majesty of its being. Tolstoi's simplicity is "overpowering, says the critic Bayley." disconcerting" because it comes from "his casual assumption that the world is as he sees it" Like other nineteenth-century Russian writers he is "impressive" because the "means what he says." but he stands apart from all others and from most Western writers in his identity with life, which is so complete as to make us forget he is an artist. He is the center of his work, but his egocentricity is of a special kind, Goethe, for example, says Bayley, "cared for nothing but himself. Tolstoi was nothing but himself."
For all his varied modes of writing and the multiplicity of characters in his fiction, Tolstoi and his work are of a piece. The famous "conversion" of his middle years, movingly recounted in his Confession, was a culmination of his early spiritual life, not a departure from it. The apparently fundamental changes that led from epic narrative to dogmatic parable, from a joyous, buoyant attitude toward life to pessimism and cynicism, from War and Peace to The Kreuler Sonata, came from the same restless, impressionable depths of an independent spirit yearning to get at the truth of its experience. "Truth is my hero," wrote Tolstoi in his youth, reporting the fighting in Sebastopol. Truth remained his hero-his own, not others' truth.Others were awed by Napoleon, believed that a single man could change the destinies of nations, adhered to meaningless rituals, formed their tastes on established cannons of art. Tolstoi reversed all preconceptions; and in every reversal he overthrew the "system," the "machine," the externally ordained belief, the conventional behavior in favor of unsystematic, impulsive life, of inward motivation and the solutions of independent thought.
In his work the artificial and the genuine are always exhibited in dramatic opposition the supposedly great Napoleon and the truly great, unregarded little Captain Tushin, or Nicholas Rostov's actual experience in battle and his later account of it. The simple is always pitted against the elaborate, knowledge gained from observation against assertions of borrowed faiths. Tolstoi's magical simplicity is a product of these tensions' his work is a record of the questions he put to himself and of the answers he found in his search.The greatest characters of his fiction exemplify this search, and their happiness depends on the measure of their answers. Tolstoi wanted happiness, but only hard-won happiness, that emotional fulfillment and intellectual clarity which could come only as the prize of all-consuming effort. He scorned lesser satisfactions. | 1975.txt | 3 |
[
"It belongs to an early period of Tolstoi's work.",
"It incorporates a polemin against the disorderliness of Russian life.",
"It has a simple structural outline.",
"It is a work that reflects on ironic view of life."
] | It can be inferred from the passage that which of the following is true of War and Peace? | Masterpieces are dumb." wrote Flaubert. They have a tranquil aspect like the very products of nature, like large animals and mountains. He might have been thinking of War and Peace, that vast, silent work, unfathomable and simple, provoking endless questions through the majesty of its being. Tolstoi's simplicity is "overpowering, says the critic Bayley." disconcerting" because it comes from "his casual assumption that the world is as he sees it" Like other nineteenth-century Russian writers he is "impressive" because the "means what he says." but he stands apart from all others and from most Western writers in his identity with life, which is so complete as to make us forget he is an artist. He is the center of his work, but his egocentricity is of a special kind, Goethe, for example, says Bayley, "cared for nothing but himself. Tolstoi was nothing but himself."
For all his varied modes of writing and the multiplicity of characters in his fiction, Tolstoi and his work are of a piece. The famous "conversion" of his middle years, movingly recounted in his Confession, was a culmination of his early spiritual life, not a departure from it. The apparently fundamental changes that led from epic narrative to dogmatic parable, from a joyous, buoyant attitude toward life to pessimism and cynicism, from War and Peace to The Kreuler Sonata, came from the same restless, impressionable depths of an independent spirit yearning to get at the truth of its experience. "Truth is my hero," wrote Tolstoi in his youth, reporting the fighting in Sebastopol. Truth remained his hero-his own, not others' truth.Others were awed by Napoleon, believed that a single man could change the destinies of nations, adhered to meaningless rituals, formed their tastes on established cannons of art. Tolstoi reversed all preconceptions; and in every reversal he overthrew the "system," the "machine," the externally ordained belief, the conventional behavior in favor of unsystematic, impulsive life, of inward motivation and the solutions of independent thought.
In his work the artificial and the genuine are always exhibited in dramatic opposition the supposedly great Napoleon and the truly great, unregarded little Captain Tushin, or Nicholas Rostov's actual experience in battle and his later account of it. The simple is always pitted against the elaborate, knowledge gained from observation against assertions of borrowed faiths. Tolstoi's magical simplicity is a product of these tensions' his work is a record of the questions he put to himself and of the answers he found in his search.The greatest characters of his fiction exemplify this search, and their happiness depends on the measure of their answers. Tolstoi wanted happiness, but only hard-won happiness, that emotional fulfillment and intellectual clarity which could come only as the prize of all-consuming effort. He scorned lesser satisfactions. | 1975.txt | 0 |
[
"remarkable power of observation and his facility in exact description",
"persistent disregard for conventional restraints together with his great energy",
"unusual ability to reduce the description of complex situations to a few words",
"continuing attempt to represent the natural in opposition to the pretentious"
] | According to the passage, the explanation of Tolstoi's "magical simplicity" (lines 71-72) lies partially in his | Masterpieces are dumb." wrote Flaubert. They have a tranquil aspect like the very products of nature, like large animals and mountains. He might have been thinking of War and Peace, that vast, silent work, unfathomable and simple, provoking endless questions through the majesty of its being. Tolstoi's simplicity is "overpowering, says the critic Bayley." disconcerting" because it comes from "his casual assumption that the world is as he sees it" Like other nineteenth-century Russian writers he is "impressive" because the "means what he says." but he stands apart from all others and from most Western writers in his identity with life, which is so complete as to make us forget he is an artist. He is the center of his work, but his egocentricity is of a special kind, Goethe, for example, says Bayley, "cared for nothing but himself. Tolstoi was nothing but himself."
For all his varied modes of writing and the multiplicity of characters in his fiction, Tolstoi and his work are of a piece. The famous "conversion" of his middle years, movingly recounted in his Confession, was a culmination of his early spiritual life, not a departure from it. The apparently fundamental changes that led from epic narrative to dogmatic parable, from a joyous, buoyant attitude toward life to pessimism and cynicism, from War and Peace to The Kreuler Sonata, came from the same restless, impressionable depths of an independent spirit yearning to get at the truth of its experience. "Truth is my hero," wrote Tolstoi in his youth, reporting the fighting in Sebastopol. Truth remained his hero-his own, not others' truth.Others were awed by Napoleon, believed that a single man could change the destinies of nations, adhered to meaningless rituals, formed their tastes on established cannons of art. Tolstoi reversed all preconceptions; and in every reversal he overthrew the "system," the "machine," the externally ordained belief, the conventional behavior in favor of unsystematic, impulsive life, of inward motivation and the solutions of independent thought.
In his work the artificial and the genuine are always exhibited in dramatic opposition the supposedly great Napoleon and the truly great, unregarded little Captain Tushin, or Nicholas Rostov's actual experience in battle and his later account of it. The simple is always pitted against the elaborate, knowledge gained from observation against assertions of borrowed faiths. Tolstoi's magical simplicity is a product of these tensions' his work is a record of the questions he put to himself and of the answers he found in his search.The greatest characters of his fiction exemplify this search, and their happiness depends on the measure of their answers. Tolstoi wanted happiness, but only hard-won happiness, that emotional fulfillment and intellectual clarity which could come only as the prize of all-consuming effort. He scorned lesser satisfactions. | 1975.txt | 3 |
[
"the rich countries",
"scientific development",
"the elite",
"the world economy"
] | From the passage we know that the development of high technology is in the interests of ________. | Cyberspace ， data superhighways, mullet media-for those who have seen the future, the linking of computers, television and telephones will change our lives for ever, Yet for all the talk of a forthcoming technological utopia little attention has been given to the implications of these developments for the poor. As with all new high technology, while the West concerns itself with the "how," the question of "for whom" is put aside once again.
Economists are only now realizing the full extent to which the communications revolution has affected the world economy. Information technology allows the extension of trade across geographical and industrial boundaries, and transitional corporations take full advantage of it. Terms of trade, exchange and interest rates and money movements are more important than the production of goods. The electronic economy made possible by information technology allows the haves to increase their control on global markets-with destructive impact on the have-nots.
For them the result is instability. Developing countries which rely on the production of a small range of goods for export are made to feel like small parts in the international economic machine. As "futures" are traded on computer screens, developing countries simply have less and less control of their destinies.
So what are the options for regaining control? One alternative is for developing countries to buy in the latest computers and telecommunications themselves-so-called "development communications" modernization. Yet this leads to long-term dependency and perhaps permanent constraints on developing countries' economies.
Communications technology is generally exported from the U.S., Europe or Japan; the patents, skills and ability to manufacture remain in the hands of a few industrialized countries, It is also expensive, and imported products and services must therefore be bought on credit-credit usually provided by the very countries whose companies stand to gain.
Furthermore, when new technology is introduced there is often too low a level of expertise to exploit it for native development. This means that while local elites, foreign communities and subsidiaries of transitional corporations may benefit, those lives depend on access to the information are denied it. | 3246.txt | 0 |
[
"international trade should be expanded",
"the interests of the poor countries have not been given enough consideration",
"the exports of the poor countries should be increased",
"communications technology in the developing countries should be modernized"
] | It can be inferred from the passage that ________. | Cyberspace ， data superhighways, mullet media-for those who have seen the future, the linking of computers, television and telephones will change our lives for ever, Yet for all the talk of a forthcoming technological utopia little attention has been given to the implications of these developments for the poor. As with all new high technology, while the West concerns itself with the "how," the question of "for whom" is put aside once again.
Economists are only now realizing the full extent to which the communications revolution has affected the world economy. Information technology allows the extension of trade across geographical and industrial boundaries, and transitional corporations take full advantage of it. Terms of trade, exchange and interest rates and money movements are more important than the production of goods. The electronic economy made possible by information technology allows the haves to increase their control on global markets-with destructive impact on the have-nots.
For them the result is instability. Developing countries which rely on the production of a small range of goods for export are made to feel like small parts in the international economic machine. As "futures" are traded on computer screens, developing countries simply have less and less control of their destinies.
So what are the options for regaining control? One alternative is for developing countries to buy in the latest computers and telecommunications themselves-so-called "development communications" modernization. Yet this leads to long-term dependency and perhaps permanent constraints on developing countries' economies.
Communications technology is generally exported from the U.S., Europe or Japan; the patents, skills and ability to manufacture remain in the hands of a few industrialized countries, It is also expensive, and imported products and services must therefore be bought on credit-credit usually provided by the very countries whose companies stand to gain.
Furthermore, when new technology is introduced there is often too low a level of expertise to exploit it for native development. This means that while local elites, foreign communities and subsidiaries of transitional corporations may benefit, those lives depend on access to the information are denied it. | 3246.txt | 1 |
[
"Because it enables the developed countries to control the international market.",
"Because it destroys the economic balance of the poor countries.",
"Because it violates the national boundaries of the poor countries.",
"Because it inhibits the industrial growth of developing countries."
] | Why does the author say that the electronic economy may have a destructive impact on developing countries? | Cyberspace ， data superhighways, mullet media-for those who have seen the future, the linking of computers, television and telephones will change our lives for ever, Yet for all the talk of a forthcoming technological utopia little attention has been given to the implications of these developments for the poor. As with all new high technology, while the West concerns itself with the "how," the question of "for whom" is put aside once again.
Economists are only now realizing the full extent to which the communications revolution has affected the world economy. Information technology allows the extension of trade across geographical and industrial boundaries, and transitional corporations take full advantage of it. Terms of trade, exchange and interest rates and money movements are more important than the production of goods. The electronic economy made possible by information technology allows the haves to increase their control on global markets-with destructive impact on the have-nots.
For them the result is instability. Developing countries which rely on the production of a small range of goods for export are made to feel like small parts in the international economic machine. As "futures" are traded on computer screens, developing countries simply have less and less control of their destinies.
So what are the options for regaining control? One alternative is for developing countries to buy in the latest computers and telecommunications themselves-so-called "development communications" modernization. Yet this leads to long-term dependency and perhaps permanent constraints on developing countries' economies.
Communications technology is generally exported from the U.S., Europe or Japan; the patents, skills and ability to manufacture remain in the hands of a few industrialized countries, It is also expensive, and imported products and services must therefore be bought on credit-credit usually provided by the very countries whose companies stand to gain.
Furthermore, when new technology is introduced there is often too low a level of expertise to exploit it for native development. This means that while local elites, foreign communities and subsidiaries of transitional corporations may benefit, those lives depend on access to the information are denied it. | 3246.txt | 0 |
[
"hinder their industrial production",
"cause them to lose control of their trade",
"force them to reduce their share of exports",
"cost them their economic independence"
] | The development of modern communications technology in developing countries may ________. | Cyberspace ， data superhighways, mullet media-for those who have seen the future, the linking of computers, television and telephones will change our lives for ever, Yet for all the talk of a forthcoming technological utopia little attention has been given to the implications of these developments for the poor. As with all new high technology, while the West concerns itself with the "how," the question of "for whom" is put aside once again.
Economists are only now realizing the full extent to which the communications revolution has affected the world economy. Information technology allows the extension of trade across geographical and industrial boundaries, and transitional corporations take full advantage of it. Terms of trade, exchange and interest rates and money movements are more important than the production of goods. The electronic economy made possible by information technology allows the haves to increase their control on global markets-with destructive impact on the have-nots.
For them the result is instability. Developing countries which rely on the production of a small range of goods for export are made to feel like small parts in the international economic machine. As "futures" are traded on computer screens, developing countries simply have less and less control of their destinies.
So what are the options for regaining control? One alternative is for developing countries to buy in the latest computers and telecommunications themselves-so-called "development communications" modernization. Yet this leads to long-term dependency and perhaps permanent constraints on developing countries' economies.
Communications technology is generally exported from the U.S., Europe or Japan; the patents, skills and ability to manufacture remain in the hands of a few industrialized countries, It is also expensive, and imported products and services must therefore be bought on credit-credit usually provided by the very countries whose companies stand to gain.
Furthermore, when new technology is introduced there is often too low a level of expertise to exploit it for native development. This means that while local elites, foreign communities and subsidiaries of transitional corporations may benefit, those lives depend on access to the information are denied it. | 3246.txt | 3 |
[
"positive",
"critical",
"indifferent",
"tolerant"
] | The author's attitude toward the communications revolution is ________. | Cyberspace ， data superhighways, mullet media-for those who have seen the future, the linking of computers, television and telephones will change our lives for ever, Yet for all the talk of a forthcoming technological utopia little attention has been given to the implications of these developments for the poor. As with all new high technology, while the West concerns itself with the "how," the question of "for whom" is put aside once again.
Economists are only now realizing the full extent to which the communications revolution has affected the world economy. Information technology allows the extension of trade across geographical and industrial boundaries, and transitional corporations take full advantage of it. Terms of trade, exchange and interest rates and money movements are more important than the production of goods. The electronic economy made possible by information technology allows the haves to increase their control on global markets-with destructive impact on the have-nots.
For them the result is instability. Developing countries which rely on the production of a small range of goods for export are made to feel like small parts in the international economic machine. As "futures" are traded on computer screens, developing countries simply have less and less control of their destinies.
So what are the options for regaining control? One alternative is for developing countries to buy in the latest computers and telecommunications themselves-so-called "development communications" modernization. Yet this leads to long-term dependency and perhaps permanent constraints on developing countries' economies.
Communications technology is generally exported from the U.S., Europe or Japan; the patents, skills and ability to manufacture remain in the hands of a few industrialized countries, It is also expensive, and imported products and services must therefore be bought on credit-credit usually provided by the very countries whose companies stand to gain.
Furthermore, when new technology is introduced there is often too low a level of expertise to exploit it for native development. This means that while local elites, foreign communities and subsidiaries of transitional corporations may benefit, those lives depend on access to the information are denied it. | 3246.txt | 1 |
[
"Tesco is the most resolute among all the retailers to defend its reputation.",
"it is already proved that Tesco has colluded with Asda, Wiseman, Dairy Crest and Cheese Company in fixing the dairy price.",
"Tesco is offered a leniency deal of £80 million because of its quick response to the anti-competitive behaviors",
"Tesco is trying its best to prove its innocence of the scandal."
] | From the first paragraph, we may infer that _ | Tesco is preparing a legal battle to clear its name of involvement in the dairy price-fixing scandal that has cost consumers £270 million. Failure to prove that it had no part in collusion with other supermarkets and dairy processors may land it with a fine of at least £80 million. The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) said yesterday that Asda, Sainsbury's and the former Safeway, plus the dairy companies Wiseman, Dairy Crest and Cheese Company, had admitted being in a cartel to fix prices for milk, butter and cheese. They were fined a total of just over £116 million as part of a leniency deal offered by the watchdog to companies that owned up quickly to anti-competitive behaviour.
Officials at the OFT admitted privately that they did not think they would ever discover which company or individual had initiated the pricing formula. But the watchdog recognises that at the time supermarkets were under pressure from politicians and farmers to raise the cost of milk to save dairy farming, though it is not certain that money found its way to farmers. The OFT claimed in September that it had found evidence that the retail chains had passed future milk prices to dairy companies, which then reached a fixed price among themselves.
The average cost to each household is thought to be £11.25 over 2002 and 2003. Prices went up an extra 3p on a pint of milk, 15p on a quarter of a pound of butter and 15p on a half pound of cheese. There is no direct recompense for consumers, however, and the money will go to the Treasury. The National Consumer Council gave warning that the admissions would dent consumer confidence in leading high street names and that people would become sceptical of their claims. Farmers For Action, the group of farmers that has led protests over low milk prices since 2000, is seeking legal advice on whether it can now bring a claim for compensation.
The OFT investigation is continuing, however, in relation to Tesco, Morrisons and the dairy group Lactalis McLelland, and any legal action is expected to be delayed until that is completed.
Tesco was defiant and said that it was preparing a robust defence of its actions. Lucy Neville-Rolfe, its executive director, said: "As we have always said, we acted independently and we did not collude with anyone. Our position is different from our competitors and we are defending our own case vigorously. Our philosophy is to give a good deal to customers."
Morrisons has supported the OFT in inquiries into the former Safeway business that it took over, but in a statement said that it was still making "strong representations" in its defence. A spokeswoman for Lactalis McLelland said that the company was "co-operating" with the OFT. Industry insiders suggested that the three companies were deliberately stalling the OFT investigation.
Sainsbury's admitted yesterday that it had agreed to pay £26 million in fines, but denied that it had sought to profiteer. Justin King, the chief executive, said he was disappointed that the company had been penalised for actions meant to help farmers but recognised the benefit of a speedy settlement. Asda declined to say how much it would pay in fines and also said that its intention had been to help farmers under severe financial pressure. | 3607.txt | 3 |
[
"Retail chains.",
"Farmers.",
"Dairy companies.",
"Politicians"
] | Who is most probably the initiator of the pricing formula? | Tesco is preparing a legal battle to clear its name of involvement in the dairy price-fixing scandal that has cost consumers £270 million. Failure to prove that it had no part in collusion with other supermarkets and dairy processors may land it with a fine of at least £80 million. The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) said yesterday that Asda, Sainsbury's and the former Safeway, plus the dairy companies Wiseman, Dairy Crest and Cheese Company, had admitted being in a cartel to fix prices for milk, butter and cheese. They were fined a total of just over £116 million as part of a leniency deal offered by the watchdog to companies that owned up quickly to anti-competitive behaviour.
Officials at the OFT admitted privately that they did not think they would ever discover which company or individual had initiated the pricing formula. But the watchdog recognises that at the time supermarkets were under pressure from politicians and farmers to raise the cost of milk to save dairy farming, though it is not certain that money found its way to farmers. The OFT claimed in September that it had found evidence that the retail chains had passed future milk prices to dairy companies, which then reached a fixed price among themselves.
The average cost to each household is thought to be £11.25 over 2002 and 2003. Prices went up an extra 3p on a pint of milk, 15p on a quarter of a pound of butter and 15p on a half pound of cheese. There is no direct recompense for consumers, however, and the money will go to the Treasury. The National Consumer Council gave warning that the admissions would dent consumer confidence in leading high street names and that people would become sceptical of their claims. Farmers For Action, the group of farmers that has led protests over low milk prices since 2000, is seeking legal advice on whether it can now bring a claim for compensation.
The OFT investigation is continuing, however, in relation to Tesco, Morrisons and the dairy group Lactalis McLelland, and any legal action is expected to be delayed until that is completed.
Tesco was defiant and said that it was preparing a robust defence of its actions. Lucy Neville-Rolfe, its executive director, said: "As we have always said, we acted independently and we did not collude with anyone. Our position is different from our competitors and we are defending our own case vigorously. Our philosophy is to give a good deal to customers."
Morrisons has supported the OFT in inquiries into the former Safeway business that it took over, but in a statement said that it was still making "strong representations" in its defence. A spokeswoman for Lactalis McLelland said that the company was "co-operating" with the OFT. Industry insiders suggested that the three companies were deliberately stalling the OFT investigation.
Sainsbury's admitted yesterday that it had agreed to pay £26 million in fines, but denied that it had sought to profiteer. Justin King, the chief executive, said he was disappointed that the company had been penalised for actions meant to help farmers but recognised the benefit of a speedy settlement. Asda declined to say how much it would pay in fines and also said that its intention had been to help farmers under severe financial pressure. | 3607.txt | 1 |
[
"resisiting",
"angry",
"deficient",
"confident"
] | The word "defiant" (Line 1, Paragraph 5) most probably means _ . | Tesco is preparing a legal battle to clear its name of involvement in the dairy price-fixing scandal that has cost consumers £270 million. Failure to prove that it had no part in collusion with other supermarkets and dairy processors may land it with a fine of at least £80 million. The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) said yesterday that Asda, Sainsbury's and the former Safeway, plus the dairy companies Wiseman, Dairy Crest and Cheese Company, had admitted being in a cartel to fix prices for milk, butter and cheese. They were fined a total of just over £116 million as part of a leniency deal offered by the watchdog to companies that owned up quickly to anti-competitive behaviour.
Officials at the OFT admitted privately that they did not think they would ever discover which company or individual had initiated the pricing formula. But the watchdog recognises that at the time supermarkets were under pressure from politicians and farmers to raise the cost of milk to save dairy farming, though it is not certain that money found its way to farmers. The OFT claimed in September that it had found evidence that the retail chains had passed future milk prices to dairy companies, which then reached a fixed price among themselves.
The average cost to each household is thought to be £11.25 over 2002 and 2003. Prices went up an extra 3p on a pint of milk, 15p on a quarter of a pound of butter and 15p on a half pound of cheese. There is no direct recompense for consumers, however, and the money will go to the Treasury. The National Consumer Council gave warning that the admissions would dent consumer confidence in leading high street names and that people would become sceptical of their claims. Farmers For Action, the group of farmers that has led protests over low milk prices since 2000, is seeking legal advice on whether it can now bring a claim for compensation.
The OFT investigation is continuing, however, in relation to Tesco, Morrisons and the dairy group Lactalis McLelland, and any legal action is expected to be delayed until that is completed.
Tesco was defiant and said that it was preparing a robust defence of its actions. Lucy Neville-Rolfe, its executive director, said: "As we have always said, we acted independently and we did not collude with anyone. Our position is different from our competitors and we are defending our own case vigorously. Our philosophy is to give a good deal to customers."
Morrisons has supported the OFT in inquiries into the former Safeway business that it took over, but in a statement said that it was still making "strong representations" in its defence. A spokeswoman for Lactalis McLelland said that the company was "co-operating" with the OFT. Industry insiders suggested that the three companies were deliberately stalling the OFT investigation.
Sainsbury's admitted yesterday that it had agreed to pay £26 million in fines, but denied that it had sought to profiteer. Justin King, the chief executive, said he was disappointed that the company had been penalised for actions meant to help farmers but recognised the benefit of a speedy settlement. Asda declined to say how much it would pay in fines and also said that its intention had been to help farmers under severe financial pressure. | 3607.txt | 0 |
[
"Morrisons turn out to be the most defentive when dealing with OFT.",
"Morrisons is reluctant to support the inquiries into the former Safeway business.",
"industry insiders suggest that Morrisons was trying to delay the OFT investigation with non-cooperation.",
"Morrisons indeed refuses to admit its involvement in the scandal."
] | We may infer from Morrisons' statement that _ | Tesco is preparing a legal battle to clear its name of involvement in the dairy price-fixing scandal that has cost consumers £270 million. Failure to prove that it had no part in collusion with other supermarkets and dairy processors may land it with a fine of at least £80 million. The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) said yesterday that Asda, Sainsbury's and the former Safeway, plus the dairy companies Wiseman, Dairy Crest and Cheese Company, had admitted being in a cartel to fix prices for milk, butter and cheese. They were fined a total of just over £116 million as part of a leniency deal offered by the watchdog to companies that owned up quickly to anti-competitive behaviour.
Officials at the OFT admitted privately that they did not think they would ever discover which company or individual had initiated the pricing formula. But the watchdog recognises that at the time supermarkets were under pressure from politicians and farmers to raise the cost of milk to save dairy farming, though it is not certain that money found its way to farmers. The OFT claimed in September that it had found evidence that the retail chains had passed future milk prices to dairy companies, which then reached a fixed price among themselves.
The average cost to each household is thought to be £11.25 over 2002 and 2003. Prices went up an extra 3p on a pint of milk, 15p on a quarter of a pound of butter and 15p on a half pound of cheese. There is no direct recompense for consumers, however, and the money will go to the Treasury. The National Consumer Council gave warning that the admissions would dent consumer confidence in leading high street names and that people would become sceptical of their claims. Farmers For Action, the group of farmers that has led protests over low milk prices since 2000, is seeking legal advice on whether it can now bring a claim for compensation.
The OFT investigation is continuing, however, in relation to Tesco, Morrisons and the dairy group Lactalis McLelland, and any legal action is expected to be delayed until that is completed.
Tesco was defiant and said that it was preparing a robust defence of its actions. Lucy Neville-Rolfe, its executive director, said: "As we have always said, we acted independently and we did not collude with anyone. Our position is different from our competitors and we are defending our own case vigorously. Our philosophy is to give a good deal to customers."
Morrisons has supported the OFT in inquiries into the former Safeway business that it took over, but in a statement said that it was still making "strong representations" in its defence. A spokeswoman for Lactalis McLelland said that the company was "co-operating" with the OFT. Industry insiders suggested that the three companies were deliberately stalling the OFT investigation.
Sainsbury's admitted yesterday that it had agreed to pay £26 million in fines, but denied that it had sought to profiteer. Justin King, the chief executive, said he was disappointed that the company had been penalised for actions meant to help farmers but recognised the benefit of a speedy settlement. Asda declined to say how much it would pay in fines and also said that its intention had been to help farmers under severe financial pressure. | 3607.txt | 3 |
[
"biased.",
"objective.",
"sympathetic.",
"optimistic."
] | The writer's attitude to Tesco can be said to be _ | Tesco is preparing a legal battle to clear its name of involvement in the dairy price-fixing scandal that has cost consumers £270 million. Failure to prove that it had no part in collusion with other supermarkets and dairy processors may land it with a fine of at least £80 million. The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) said yesterday that Asda, Sainsbury's and the former Safeway, plus the dairy companies Wiseman, Dairy Crest and Cheese Company, had admitted being in a cartel to fix prices for milk, butter and cheese. They were fined a total of just over £116 million as part of a leniency deal offered by the watchdog to companies that owned up quickly to anti-competitive behaviour.
Officials at the OFT admitted privately that they did not think they would ever discover which company or individual had initiated the pricing formula. But the watchdog recognises that at the time supermarkets were under pressure from politicians and farmers to raise the cost of milk to save dairy farming, though it is not certain that money found its way to farmers. The OFT claimed in September that it had found evidence that the retail chains had passed future milk prices to dairy companies, which then reached a fixed price among themselves.
The average cost to each household is thought to be £11.25 over 2002 and 2003. Prices went up an extra 3p on a pint of milk, 15p on a quarter of a pound of butter and 15p on a half pound of cheese. There is no direct recompense for consumers, however, and the money will go to the Treasury. The National Consumer Council gave warning that the admissions would dent consumer confidence in leading high street names and that people would become sceptical of their claims. Farmers For Action, the group of farmers that has led protests over low milk prices since 2000, is seeking legal advice on whether it can now bring a claim for compensation.
The OFT investigation is continuing, however, in relation to Tesco, Morrisons and the dairy group Lactalis McLelland, and any legal action is expected to be delayed until that is completed.
Tesco was defiant and said that it was preparing a robust defence of its actions. Lucy Neville-Rolfe, its executive director, said: "As we have always said, we acted independently and we did not collude with anyone. Our position is different from our competitors and we are defending our own case vigorously. Our philosophy is to give a good deal to customers."
Morrisons has supported the OFT in inquiries into the former Safeway business that it took over, but in a statement said that it was still making "strong representations" in its defence. A spokeswoman for Lactalis McLelland said that the company was "co-operating" with the OFT. Industry insiders suggested that the three companies were deliberately stalling the OFT investigation.
Sainsbury's admitted yesterday that it had agreed to pay £26 million in fines, but denied that it had sought to profiteer. Justin King, the chief executive, said he was disappointed that the company had been penalised for actions meant to help farmers but recognised the benefit of a speedy settlement. Asda declined to say how much it would pay in fines and also said that its intention had been to help farmers under severe financial pressure. | 3607.txt | 1 |
[
"For over a century.",
"For roughly a century.",
"For over half a century.",
"Under half a century."
] | For how long was Benin under France? | Benin is one of the smallest African states. It lies in West Africa on the Gulf of Guinea, to the south of Burkina Faso and Niger, between Togo on the west and Nigeria on the east.
Benin used to be called Dahomey and was controlled and ruled by France from 1893 to 1960, when it became independent . In 1963 the army general Soglo overthrew the first president. Maga. Soglo set up an army government and called himself head of state in 1965, but was overthrown and replaced by a civilian government in 1967. In December 1969 Benin had another change of power with the army again taking over . In May 1970, Maga and two other men set up a new government, with each of them acting as president in turn for two years. However, half a year after Maga turned over power to the second man Ahomadegbe, the three-man government was overthrown by the army once more and General Kerekou became president. In November 1975 Kerekou changed the name of the nation from Dahomey to Benin, Benin being the name of a 17th century kingdom covering the same place. Kerekou also announced that Benin would be a People's Republic based on Marxism-leninism. | 1046.txt | 2 |
[
"15 years.",
"25 years.",
"20 years.",
"30 years."
] | For how long was Benin an independent state before it became a People's Republic? | Benin is one of the smallest African states. It lies in West Africa on the Gulf of Guinea, to the south of Burkina Faso and Niger, between Togo on the west and Nigeria on the east.
Benin used to be called Dahomey and was controlled and ruled by France from 1893 to 1960, when it became independent . In 1963 the army general Soglo overthrew the first president. Maga. Soglo set up an army government and called himself head of state in 1965, but was overthrown and replaced by a civilian government in 1967. In December 1969 Benin had another change of power with the army again taking over . In May 1970, Maga and two other men set up a new government, with each of them acting as president in turn for two years. However, half a year after Maga turned over power to the second man Ahomadegbe, the three-man government was overthrown by the army once more and General Kerekou became president. In November 1975 Kerekou changed the name of the nation from Dahomey to Benin, Benin being the name of a 17th century kingdom covering the same place. Kerekou also announced that Benin would be a People's Republic based on Marxism-leninism. | 1046.txt | 0 |
[
"So, Ma, Ah, Ma, Ke",
"Ma, So, Ma, Ke, Ah",
"So, Ma, Ke, Ma, Ah",
"Ma, So, Ma, Ah, Ke"
] | Choose the right order in which the following people ruled in Benin.(Ah=Ahomedegbe;Ke=Kerekou;Ma=Maga;So=Soglo) | Benin is one of the smallest African states. It lies in West Africa on the Gulf of Guinea, to the south of Burkina Faso and Niger, between Togo on the west and Nigeria on the east.
Benin used to be called Dahomey and was controlled and ruled by France from 1893 to 1960, when it became independent . In 1963 the army general Soglo overthrew the first president. Maga. Soglo set up an army government and called himself head of state in 1965, but was overthrown and replaced by a civilian government in 1967. In December 1969 Benin had another change of power with the army again taking over . In May 1970, Maga and two other men set up a new government, with each of them acting as president in turn for two years. However, half a year after Maga turned over power to the second man Ahomadegbe, the three-man government was overthrown by the army once more and General Kerekou became president. In November 1975 Kerekou changed the name of the nation from Dahomey to Benin, Benin being the name of a 17th century kingdom covering the same place. Kerekou also announced that Benin would be a People's Republic based on Marxism-leninism. | 1046.txt | 3 |
[
"Dahomey was its oldest name, but it has been replaced by Benin.",
"Benin was its oldest name. The name Dahomey was used later, but has been replaced by Benin again.",
"Dahomey was its oldest name. The name Benin was used later, but has been replaced by Dahomey again.",
"Benin was its oldest name, but it has been replaced by Dahomey."
] | When and how did Benin get its two names--Benin and Dahomey? | Benin is one of the smallest African states. It lies in West Africa on the Gulf of Guinea, to the south of Burkina Faso and Niger, between Togo on the west and Nigeria on the east.
Benin used to be called Dahomey and was controlled and ruled by France from 1893 to 1960, when it became independent . In 1963 the army general Soglo overthrew the first president. Maga. Soglo set up an army government and called himself head of state in 1965, but was overthrown and replaced by a civilian government in 1967. In December 1969 Benin had another change of power with the army again taking over . In May 1970, Maga and two other men set up a new government, with each of them acting as president in turn for two years. However, half a year after Maga turned over power to the second man Ahomadegbe, the three-man government was overthrown by the army once more and General Kerekou became president. In November 1975 Kerekou changed the name of the nation from Dahomey to Benin, Benin being the name of a 17th century kingdom covering the same place. Kerekou also announced that Benin would be a People's Republic based on Marxism-leninism. | 1046.txt | 1 |
[
"It is wrong to overestimate the importance of teaching.",
"Teaching and research are contradictory to each other.",
"Research can never be emphasized too much.",
"The relationship between teaching and research should not be simplified."
] | What idea does the author want to convey in the first paragraph? | Recent stories in the newspapers and magazines suggest that teaching and research contradict each other, that research plays too prominent a part in academic promotions, and that teaching is badly underemphasized. There is an element of truth in these statements, but they also ignore deeper and more important relationships.
Research experience is an essential element of hiring and promotion at a research university because it is the emphasis on research that distinguishes such a university from an arts college. Some professors, however, neglect teaching for research and that presents a problem.
Most research universities reward outstanding teaching, but the greatest recognition is usually given for achievements in research. Part of the reason is the difficulty of judging teaching. A highly responsible and tough professor is usually appreciated by top students who want to be challenged, but disliked by those whose records are less impressive. The mild professor gets overall ratings that are usually high, but there is a sense of disappointment in the part of the best students, exactly those for whom the system should present the greatest challenges. Thus, a university trying to promote professors primarily on the teaching qualities would have to confront this confusion.
As modern science moves faster, two forces are exerted on professor: one is the time needed to keep on with the profession; the other is the time needed to teach. The training of new scientists requires outstanding teaching at the research university as well as the arts college. Although scientists are usually "made" in the elementary schools, scientists can be "lost" by poor teaching at the college and graduate school levels. The solution is not to separate teaching and research, but to recognize that the combination is difficult but vital. The title of professor should be given only to those who profess, and it is perhaps time for universities to reserve it for those willing to be an earnest part of the community of scholars. Professor unwilling to teach can be called "distinguished research investigators" or something else.
The pace of modern science makes it increasingly difficult to be a great researcher and a great teacher. Yet many are described in just those terms. Those who say we can separate teaching and research simply do not understand the system but those who say the problem will disappear are not fulfilling their responsibilities. | 846.txt | 3 |
[
"research improves the quality of teaching",
"students who want to be challenged appreciate research professors",
"it is difficult to evaluate teaching quality objectively",
"professor with achievements in research are usually responsible and tough"
] | In academic promotions research universities still attach more importance to research partly because ________. | Recent stories in the newspapers and magazines suggest that teaching and research contradict each other, that research plays too prominent a part in academic promotions, and that teaching is badly underemphasized. There is an element of truth in these statements, but they also ignore deeper and more important relationships.
Research experience is an essential element of hiring and promotion at a research university because it is the emphasis on research that distinguishes such a university from an arts college. Some professors, however, neglect teaching for research and that presents a problem.
Most research universities reward outstanding teaching, but the greatest recognition is usually given for achievements in research. Part of the reason is the difficulty of judging teaching. A highly responsible and tough professor is usually appreciated by top students who want to be challenged, but disliked by those whose records are less impressive. The mild professor gets overall ratings that are usually high, but there is a sense of disappointment in the part of the best students, exactly those for whom the system should present the greatest challenges. Thus, a university trying to promote professors primarily on the teaching qualities would have to confront this confusion.
As modern science moves faster, two forces are exerted on professor: one is the time needed to keep on with the profession; the other is the time needed to teach. The training of new scientists requires outstanding teaching at the research university as well as the arts college. Although scientists are usually "made" in the elementary schools, scientists can be "lost" by poor teaching at the college and graduate school levels. The solution is not to separate teaching and research, but to recognize that the combination is difficult but vital. The title of professor should be given only to those who profess, and it is perhaps time for universities to reserve it for those willing to be an earnest part of the community of scholars. Professor unwilling to teach can be called "distinguished research investigators" or something else.
The pace of modern science makes it increasingly difficult to be a great researcher and a great teacher. Yet many are described in just those terms. Those who say we can separate teaching and research simply do not understand the system but those who say the problem will disappear are not fulfilling their responsibilities. | 846.txt | 2 |
[
"Distinguished professors at research universities should concentrate on research only.",
"The separation of teaching from research can lower the quality of future scientists.",
"It is of utmost importance to improve teaching in elementary schools in order to train new scientists.",
"The rapid developments of modern science make it impossible to combine teaching with research."
] | According to the fourth paragraph, which of the following will the author probably agree with? | Recent stories in the newspapers and magazines suggest that teaching and research contradict each other, that research plays too prominent a part in academic promotions, and that teaching is badly underemphasized. There is an element of truth in these statements, but they also ignore deeper and more important relationships.
Research experience is an essential element of hiring and promotion at a research university because it is the emphasis on research that distinguishes such a university from an arts college. Some professors, however, neglect teaching for research and that presents a problem.
Most research universities reward outstanding teaching, but the greatest recognition is usually given for achievements in research. Part of the reason is the difficulty of judging teaching. A highly responsible and tough professor is usually appreciated by top students who want to be challenged, but disliked by those whose records are less impressive. The mild professor gets overall ratings that are usually high, but there is a sense of disappointment in the part of the best students, exactly those for whom the system should present the greatest challenges. Thus, a university trying to promote professors primarily on the teaching qualities would have to confront this confusion.
As modern science moves faster, two forces are exerted on professor: one is the time needed to keep on with the profession; the other is the time needed to teach. The training of new scientists requires outstanding teaching at the research university as well as the arts college. Although scientists are usually "made" in the elementary schools, scientists can be "lost" by poor teaching at the college and graduate school levels. The solution is not to separate teaching and research, but to recognize that the combination is difficult but vital. The title of professor should be given only to those who profess, and it is perhaps time for universities to reserve it for those willing to be an earnest part of the community of scholars. Professor unwilling to teach can be called "distinguished research investigators" or something else.
The pace of modern science makes it increasingly difficult to be a great researcher and a great teacher. Yet many are described in just those terms. Those who say we can separate teaching and research simply do not understand the system but those who say the problem will disappear are not fulfilling their responsibilities. | 846.txt | 1 |
[
"teaching",
"field work",
"scientific research",
"investigation"
] | The title of professor should be given only to those who, first and foremost, do ________. | Recent stories in the newspapers and magazines suggest that teaching and research contradict each other, that research plays too prominent a part in academic promotions, and that teaching is badly underemphasized. There is an element of truth in these statements, but they also ignore deeper and more important relationships.
Research experience is an essential element of hiring and promotion at a research university because it is the emphasis on research that distinguishes such a university from an arts college. Some professors, however, neglect teaching for research and that presents a problem.
Most research universities reward outstanding teaching, but the greatest recognition is usually given for achievements in research. Part of the reason is the difficulty of judging teaching. A highly responsible and tough professor is usually appreciated by top students who want to be challenged, but disliked by those whose records are less impressive. The mild professor gets overall ratings that are usually high, but there is a sense of disappointment in the part of the best students, exactly those for whom the system should present the greatest challenges. Thus, a university trying to promote professors primarily on the teaching qualities would have to confront this confusion.
As modern science moves faster, two forces are exerted on professor: one is the time needed to keep on with the profession; the other is the time needed to teach. The training of new scientists requires outstanding teaching at the research university as well as the arts college. Although scientists are usually "made" in the elementary schools, scientists can be "lost" by poor teaching at the college and graduate school levels. The solution is not to separate teaching and research, but to recognize that the combination is difficult but vital. The title of professor should be given only to those who profess, and it is perhaps time for universities to reserve it for those willing to be an earnest part of the community of scholars. Professor unwilling to teach can be called "distinguished research investigators" or something else.
The pace of modern science makes it increasingly difficult to be a great researcher and a great teacher. Yet many are described in just those terms. Those who say we can separate teaching and research simply do not understand the system but those who say the problem will disappear are not fulfilling their responsibilities. | 846.txt | 0 |
[
"raising the status of teaching",
"the combination of teaching with research",
"the separations of teaching from research",
"improving the status of research"
] | The phrase "the problem" (Para. 5, Line 3) refers to ________. | Recent stories in the newspapers and magazines suggest that teaching and research contradict each other, that research plays too prominent a part in academic promotions, and that teaching is badly underemphasized. There is an element of truth in these statements, but they also ignore deeper and more important relationships.
Research experience is an essential element of hiring and promotion at a research university because it is the emphasis on research that distinguishes such a university from an arts college. Some professors, however, neglect teaching for research and that presents a problem.
Most research universities reward outstanding teaching, but the greatest recognition is usually given for achievements in research. Part of the reason is the difficulty of judging teaching. A highly responsible and tough professor is usually appreciated by top students who want to be challenged, but disliked by those whose records are less impressive. The mild professor gets overall ratings that are usually high, but there is a sense of disappointment in the part of the best students, exactly those for whom the system should present the greatest challenges. Thus, a university trying to promote professors primarily on the teaching qualities would have to confront this confusion.
As modern science moves faster, two forces are exerted on professor: one is the time needed to keep on with the profession; the other is the time needed to teach. The training of new scientists requires outstanding teaching at the research university as well as the arts college. Although scientists are usually "made" in the elementary schools, scientists can be "lost" by poor teaching at the college and graduate school levels. The solution is not to separate teaching and research, but to recognize that the combination is difficult but vital. The title of professor should be given only to those who profess, and it is perhaps time for universities to reserve it for those willing to be an earnest part of the community of scholars. Professor unwilling to teach can be called "distinguished research investigators" or something else.
The pace of modern science makes it increasingly difficult to be a great researcher and a great teacher. Yet many are described in just those terms. Those who say we can separate teaching and research simply do not understand the system but those who say the problem will disappear are not fulfilling their responsibilities. | 846.txt | 2 |
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