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[
"we are not sure about our questions",
"we are afraid of being criticied",
"we are afraid of being in difficulty",
"we only believe in ourselves"
] | Sometimes we have questions,but we would not like to ask people because _ | Sometimes there are questions in our minds which we would like to ask people,butwe are too shy orembarrassed At other times we feel it iswrong to trouble others with our problems,or are prevented from asking by our fear ofbeing criticied.
Often there need be no such fear because other people haveundergonethe same questionings,dous or worries as ourselves,and many adults or teenage friends are only too pleased to share their knowledge or experience with us.Indeed,in many cases they also learn something,and much unnecessary worry is prevented.
You may use this Question Time to ask anything about life that you don't understand,or any question of a personal or general nature that has either troubled youfor some time or arisen recently.In order to protect your feelings,which you may not want exposed,write the question down (in capitals if you wish) on a slip of paper without your name on it.Then fold the paper and hand it to your teacher who will sort the questions out at home before the lesson takes place.He will respect the fact that the questions areasked in confidence;they should,however,be sensible and honest ones.
During the lesson the teacher will read out a question,and then call upon one ortwo volunteers from the class to offer their opinions before giving his own.Theclass should regard both questions and answers and the discussion that arises from them as confidential to avoid breaking the trust the questioner has placed in the lesson,and to make possible further discussion of similar problems on another occasion.It is also helpful to remember that the answers given represent only one or two points of view-someone else might answer them quite differently. | 3019.txt | 1 |
[
"try to avoid asking questions",
"give the question paper without the name on it to your teacher",
"discuss the questions with your group",
"sort the questions out at home and then tell them to your teacher"
] | The author suggests that in order not to be known,you should _ | Sometimes there are questions in our minds which we would like to ask people,butwe are too shy orembarrassed At other times we feel it iswrong to trouble others with our problems,or are prevented from asking by our fear ofbeing criticied.
Often there need be no such fear because other people haveundergonethe same questionings,dous or worries as ourselves,and many adults or teenage friends are only too pleased to share their knowledge or experience with us.Indeed,in many cases they also learn something,and much unnecessary worry is prevented.
You may use this Question Time to ask anything about life that you don't understand,or any question of a personal or general nature that has either troubled youfor some time or arisen recently.In order to protect your feelings,which you may not want exposed,write the question down (in capitals if you wish) on a slip of paper without your name on it.Then fold the paper and hand it to your teacher who will sort the questions out at home before the lesson takes place.He will respect the fact that the questions areasked in confidence;they should,however,be sensible and honest ones.
During the lesson the teacher will read out a question,and then call upon one ortwo volunteers from the class to offer their opinions before giving his own.Theclass should regard both questions and answers and the discussion that arises from them as confidential to avoid breaking the trust the questioner has placed in the lesson,and to make possible further discussion of similar problems on another occasion.It is also helpful to remember that the answers given represent only one or two points of view-someone else might answer them quite differently. | 3019.txt | 1 |
[
"in class we should value the speakers' questions or answers to show our trust",
"in public we may learn something to avoid unnecessary worry",
"It's better to write your questions down than to ask them orally",
"only those who ask questions in confidence are sensible and honest"
] | The author tells us that _ | Sometimes there are questions in our minds which we would like to ask people,butwe are too shy orembarrassed At other times we feel it iswrong to trouble others with our problems,or are prevented from asking by our fear ofbeing criticied.
Often there need be no such fear because other people haveundergonethe same questionings,dous or worries as ourselves,and many adults or teenage friends are only too pleased to share their knowledge or experience with us.Indeed,in many cases they also learn something,and much unnecessary worry is prevented.
You may use this Question Time to ask anything about life that you don't understand,or any question of a personal or general nature that has either troubled youfor some time or arisen recently.In order to protect your feelings,which you may not want exposed,write the question down (in capitals if you wish) on a slip of paper without your name on it.Then fold the paper and hand it to your teacher who will sort the questions out at home before the lesson takes place.He will respect the fact that the questions areasked in confidence;they should,however,be sensible and honest ones.
During the lesson the teacher will read out a question,and then call upon one ortwo volunteers from the class to offer their opinions before giving his own.Theclass should regard both questions and answers and the discussion that arises from them as confidential to avoid breaking the trust the questioner has placed in the lesson,and to make possible further discussion of similar problems on another occasion.It is also helpful to remember that the answers given represent only one or two points of view-someone else might answer them quite differently. | 3019.txt | 0 |
[
"motion picture has revolutionized education system",
"Edison's prediction has been proved wrong",
"Edison encouraged schools to install cinema screens",
"schools are cautious about Edison's idea"
] | We can learn from the first paragraph that _ . | BACK in 1922, Thomas Edison predicted that "the motion picture is destined to revolutionize our educational system and...in a few years it will supplant largely, if not entirely, the use of textbooks." Well, we all make mistakes. But at least Edison did not squander vast quantities of public money on installing cinema screens in schools around the country.
With computers, the story has been different. Many governments have packed them into schools, convinced that their presence would improve the pace and efficiency of learning. Large numbers of studies, some more academically respectable than others, have purported to show that computers help children to learn. Now, however, a study that compares classes with computers against similar classes without them casts doubt on that view.
In the current Economic Journal, Joshua Angrist of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Victor Lavy of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem look at a scheme which put computers into many of Israel's primary and middle schools in the mid-1990s. Dr Angrist and Dr Lavy compare the test scores for maths and Hebrew achieved by children in the fourth and eighth grades (ie, aged about nine and 13) in schools with and without computers. They also asked the classes' teachers how they used various teaching materials, such as Xeroxed worksheets and, of course, computer programs. The researchers found that the Israeli scheme had much less effect on teaching methods in middle schools than in elementary schools. It also found no evidence that the use of computers improved children's test scores. In fact, it found the reverse. In the case of the maths scores of fourth-graders, there was a consistently negative relationship between computer use and test scores.
The authors offer three possible explanations of why this might be. First, the introduction of computers into classrooms might have gobbled up cash that would otherwise have paid for other aspects of education. But that is unlikely in this case since the money for the programme came from the national lottery, and the study found no significant change in teaching resources, methods or training in schools that acquired computers through the scheme.
A second possibility is that the transition to using computers in instruction takes time to have an effect. Maybe, say the authors, but the schools surveyed had been using the scheme's computers for a full school year. That was enough for the new computers to have had a large (and apparently malign) influence on fourth-grade maths scores. The third explanation is the simplest: that the use of computers in teaching is no better (and perhaps worse) than other teaching methods.
The bottom line, says Dr Angrist, is that "the costs are clear-cut and the benefits are murky." The burden of proof now lies with the promoters of classroom computers. And the only reliable way to make their case is, surely, to conduct a proper study, with children randomly allocated to teachers who use computers and teachers who use other methods, including the cheapest of all: chalk and talk. | 1097.txt | 0 |
[
"comparing the test scores of students in different age groups",
"interviewing teachers about their teaching methods",
"launching the computer program in many Israeli schools",
"explaining students¡¯ school performance"
] | Dr. Angrist and Dr. Lavy have done the following except _ . | BACK in 1922, Thomas Edison predicted that "the motion picture is destined to revolutionize our educational system and...in a few years it will supplant largely, if not entirely, the use of textbooks." Well, we all make mistakes. But at least Edison did not squander vast quantities of public money on installing cinema screens in schools around the country.
With computers, the story has been different. Many governments have packed them into schools, convinced that their presence would improve the pace and efficiency of learning. Large numbers of studies, some more academically respectable than others, have purported to show that computers help children to learn. Now, however, a study that compares classes with computers against similar classes without them casts doubt on that view.
In the current Economic Journal, Joshua Angrist of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Victor Lavy of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem look at a scheme which put computers into many of Israel's primary and middle schools in the mid-1990s. Dr Angrist and Dr Lavy compare the test scores for maths and Hebrew achieved by children in the fourth and eighth grades (ie, aged about nine and 13) in schools with and without computers. They also asked the classes' teachers how they used various teaching materials, such as Xeroxed worksheets and, of course, computer programs. The researchers found that the Israeli scheme had much less effect on teaching methods in middle schools than in elementary schools. It also found no evidence that the use of computers improved children's test scores. In fact, it found the reverse. In the case of the maths scores of fourth-graders, there was a consistently negative relationship between computer use and test scores.
The authors offer three possible explanations of why this might be. First, the introduction of computers into classrooms might have gobbled up cash that would otherwise have paid for other aspects of education. But that is unlikely in this case since the money for the programme came from the national lottery, and the study found no significant change in teaching resources, methods or training in schools that acquired computers through the scheme.
A second possibility is that the transition to using computers in instruction takes time to have an effect. Maybe, say the authors, but the schools surveyed had been using the scheme's computers for a full school year. That was enough for the new computers to have had a large (and apparently malign) influence on fourth-grade maths scores. The third explanation is the simplest: that the use of computers in teaching is no better (and perhaps worse) than other teaching methods.
The bottom line, says Dr Angrist, is that "the costs are clear-cut and the benefits are murky." The burden of proof now lies with the promoters of classroom computers. And the only reliable way to make their case is, surely, to conduct a proper study, with children randomly allocated to teachers who use computers and teachers who use other methods, including the cheapest of all: chalk and talk. | 1097.txt | 2 |
[
"other aspects of education were affected due to cash shortage",
"it was not long enough for the program to take effect",
"there was a negative relationship between computer use and test scores",
"the use of computer was no better than other teaching methods"
] | According to Dr. Angrist and Dr. Lavy, in the Israeli scheme, students didn't make improvement in their test scores because_ . | BACK in 1922, Thomas Edison predicted that "the motion picture is destined to revolutionize our educational system and...in a few years it will supplant largely, if not entirely, the use of textbooks." Well, we all make mistakes. But at least Edison did not squander vast quantities of public money on installing cinema screens in schools around the country.
With computers, the story has been different. Many governments have packed them into schools, convinced that their presence would improve the pace and efficiency of learning. Large numbers of studies, some more academically respectable than others, have purported to show that computers help children to learn. Now, however, a study that compares classes with computers against similar classes without them casts doubt on that view.
In the current Economic Journal, Joshua Angrist of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Victor Lavy of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem look at a scheme which put computers into many of Israel's primary and middle schools in the mid-1990s. Dr Angrist and Dr Lavy compare the test scores for maths and Hebrew achieved by children in the fourth and eighth grades (ie, aged about nine and 13) in schools with and without computers. They also asked the classes' teachers how they used various teaching materials, such as Xeroxed worksheets and, of course, computer programs. The researchers found that the Israeli scheme had much less effect on teaching methods in middle schools than in elementary schools. It also found no evidence that the use of computers improved children's test scores. In fact, it found the reverse. In the case of the maths scores of fourth-graders, there was a consistently negative relationship between computer use and test scores.
The authors offer three possible explanations of why this might be. First, the introduction of computers into classrooms might have gobbled up cash that would otherwise have paid for other aspects of education. But that is unlikely in this case since the money for the programme came from the national lottery, and the study found no significant change in teaching resources, methods or training in schools that acquired computers through the scheme.
A second possibility is that the transition to using computers in instruction takes time to have an effect. Maybe, say the authors, but the schools surveyed had been using the scheme's computers for a full school year. That was enough for the new computers to have had a large (and apparently malign) influence on fourth-grade maths scores. The third explanation is the simplest: that the use of computers in teaching is no better (and perhaps worse) than other teaching methods.
The bottom line, says Dr Angrist, is that "the costs are clear-cut and the benefits are murky." The burden of proof now lies with the promoters of classroom computers. And the only reliable way to make their case is, surely, to conduct a proper study, with children randomly allocated to teachers who use computers and teachers who use other methods, including the cheapest of all: chalk and talk. | 1097.txt | 3 |
[
"there hasn't been a proper study on this issue yet",
"school authorities should provide proof to support the computer program",
"installing computers in schools costs too much, but has little or no effect",
"chalk and talk work better than computer in teaching"
] | It can be inferred from the last paragraph that _ . | BACK in 1922, Thomas Edison predicted that "the motion picture is destined to revolutionize our educational system and...in a few years it will supplant largely, if not entirely, the use of textbooks." Well, we all make mistakes. But at least Edison did not squander vast quantities of public money on installing cinema screens in schools around the country.
With computers, the story has been different. Many governments have packed them into schools, convinced that their presence would improve the pace and efficiency of learning. Large numbers of studies, some more academically respectable than others, have purported to show that computers help children to learn. Now, however, a study that compares classes with computers against similar classes without them casts doubt on that view.
In the current Economic Journal, Joshua Angrist of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Victor Lavy of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem look at a scheme which put computers into many of Israel's primary and middle schools in the mid-1990s. Dr Angrist and Dr Lavy compare the test scores for maths and Hebrew achieved by children in the fourth and eighth grades (ie, aged about nine and 13) in schools with and without computers. They also asked the classes' teachers how they used various teaching materials, such as Xeroxed worksheets and, of course, computer programs. The researchers found that the Israeli scheme had much less effect on teaching methods in middle schools than in elementary schools. It also found no evidence that the use of computers improved children's test scores. In fact, it found the reverse. In the case of the maths scores of fourth-graders, there was a consistently negative relationship between computer use and test scores.
The authors offer three possible explanations of why this might be. First, the introduction of computers into classrooms might have gobbled up cash that would otherwise have paid for other aspects of education. But that is unlikely in this case since the money for the programme came from the national lottery, and the study found no significant change in teaching resources, methods or training in schools that acquired computers through the scheme.
A second possibility is that the transition to using computers in instruction takes time to have an effect. Maybe, say the authors, but the schools surveyed had been using the scheme's computers for a full school year. That was enough for the new computers to have had a large (and apparently malign) influence on fourth-grade maths scores. The third explanation is the simplest: that the use of computers in teaching is no better (and perhaps worse) than other teaching methods.
The bottom line, says Dr Angrist, is that "the costs are clear-cut and the benefits are murky." The burden of proof now lies with the promoters of classroom computers. And the only reliable way to make their case is, surely, to conduct a proper study, with children randomly allocated to teachers who use computers and teachers who use other methods, including the cheapest of all: chalk and talk. | 1097.txt | 0 |
[
"biased",
"indifferent",
"disapproving",
"puzzling"
] | The author's attitude towards governments¡¯ packing computers in schools seems to be _ . | BACK in 1922, Thomas Edison predicted that "the motion picture is destined to revolutionize our educational system and...in a few years it will supplant largely, if not entirely, the use of textbooks." Well, we all make mistakes. But at least Edison did not squander vast quantities of public money on installing cinema screens in schools around the country.
With computers, the story has been different. Many governments have packed them into schools, convinced that their presence would improve the pace and efficiency of learning. Large numbers of studies, some more academically respectable than others, have purported to show that computers help children to learn. Now, however, a study that compares classes with computers against similar classes without them casts doubt on that view.
In the current Economic Journal, Joshua Angrist of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Victor Lavy of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem look at a scheme which put computers into many of Israel's primary and middle schools in the mid-1990s. Dr Angrist and Dr Lavy compare the test scores for maths and Hebrew achieved by children in the fourth and eighth grades (ie, aged about nine and 13) in schools with and without computers. They also asked the classes' teachers how they used various teaching materials, such as Xeroxed worksheets and, of course, computer programs. The researchers found that the Israeli scheme had much less effect on teaching methods in middle schools than in elementary schools. It also found no evidence that the use of computers improved children's test scores. In fact, it found the reverse. In the case of the maths scores of fourth-graders, there was a consistently negative relationship between computer use and test scores.
The authors offer three possible explanations of why this might be. First, the introduction of computers into classrooms might have gobbled up cash that would otherwise have paid for other aspects of education. But that is unlikely in this case since the money for the programme came from the national lottery, and the study found no significant change in teaching resources, methods or training in schools that acquired computers through the scheme.
A second possibility is that the transition to using computers in instruction takes time to have an effect. Maybe, say the authors, but the schools surveyed had been using the scheme's computers for a full school year. That was enough for the new computers to have had a large (and apparently malign) influence on fourth-grade maths scores. The third explanation is the simplest: that the use of computers in teaching is no better (and perhaps worse) than other teaching methods.
The bottom line, says Dr Angrist, is that "the costs are clear-cut and the benefits are murky." The burden of proof now lies with the promoters of classroom computers. And the only reliable way to make their case is, surely, to conduct a proper study, with children randomly allocated to teachers who use computers and teachers who use other methods, including the cheapest of all: chalk and talk. | 1097.txt | 2 |
[
"the inadequate training of physicians",
"the declining number of doctors",
"the shrinking primary care resources",
"the ever-rising health care costs"
] | The author's chief concern about the current U.S. health care system is __________. | Crippling health care bills, long emergency-room waits and the inability to find a primary care physician just scratch the surface of the problems that patients face daily.
Primary care should be the backbone of any health care system. Countries with appropriate primary care resources score highly when it comes to health outcomes and cost. The U.S. takes the opposite approach by emphasizing the specialist rather than the primary care physician.
A recent study analyzed the providers who treat Medicare beneficiaries（）. The startling finding was that the average Medicare patient saw a total of seven doctors-two primary care physicians and five specialists-in a given year. Contrary to popular belief, the more physicians taking care of you don't guarantee better care. Actually, increasing fragmentation of care results in a corresponding rise in cost and medical errors.
How did we let primary care slip so far? The key is how doctors are paid. Most physicians are paid whenever they perform a medical service. The more a physician does, regardless of quality or outcome, the better he's reimbursed . Moreover, the amount a physician receives leans heavily toward medical or surgical procedures. A specialist who performs a procedure in a 30-minute visit can be paid three times more than a primary care physician using that same 30 minutes to discuss a patient's disease. Combine this fact with annual government threats to indiscriminately cut reimbursements, physicians are faced with no choice but to increase quantity to boost income.
Primary care physicians who refuse to compromise quality are either driven out of business or to cash-only practices, further contributing to the decline of primary care.
Medical students are not blind to this scenario. They see how heavily the reimbursement deck is stacked against primary care. The recent numbers show that since 1997, newly graduated U.S. medical students who choose primary care as a career have declined by 50%. This trend results in emergency rooms being overwhelmed with patients without regular doctors.
How do we fix this problem?
It starts with reforming the physician reimbursement system. Remove the pressure for primary care physicians to squeeze in more patients per hour, and reward them for optimally managing their diseases and practicing evidence-based medicine. Make primary care more attractive to medical students by forgiving student loans for those who choose primary care as a career and reconciling the marked difference between specialist and primary care physician salaries.
We're at a point where primary care is needed more than ever. Within a few years, the first wave of the 76 million Baby Boomers will become eligible for Medicare. Patients older than 85, who need chronic care most, will rise by 50% this decade.
Who will be there to treat them? | 1014.txt | 1 |
[
"the more costly the medicine, the more effective the cure",
"seeing more doctors may result in more diagnostic errors",
"visiting doctors on a regular basis ensures good health",
"the more doctors taking care of a patient, the better"
] | We learn from the passage that people tend to believe that __________. | Crippling health care bills, long emergency-room waits and the inability to find a primary care physician just scratch the surface of the problems that patients face daily.
Primary care should be the backbone of any health care system. Countries with appropriate primary care resources score highly when it comes to health outcomes and cost. The U.S. takes the opposite approach by emphasizing the specialist rather than the primary care physician.
A recent study analyzed the providers who treat Medicare beneficiaries（）. The startling finding was that the average Medicare patient saw a total of seven doctors-two primary care physicians and five specialists-in a given year. Contrary to popular belief, the more physicians taking care of you don't guarantee better care. Actually, increasing fragmentation of care results in a corresponding rise in cost and medical errors.
How did we let primary care slip so far? The key is how doctors are paid. Most physicians are paid whenever they perform a medical service. The more a physician does, regardless of quality or outcome, the better he's reimbursed . Moreover, the amount a physician receives leans heavily toward medical or surgical procedures. A specialist who performs a procedure in a 30-minute visit can be paid three times more than a primary care physician using that same 30 minutes to discuss a patient's disease. Combine this fact with annual government threats to indiscriminately cut reimbursements, physicians are faced with no choice but to increase quantity to boost income.
Primary care physicians who refuse to compromise quality are either driven out of business or to cash-only practices, further contributing to the decline of primary care.
Medical students are not blind to this scenario. They see how heavily the reimbursement deck is stacked against primary care. The recent numbers show that since 1997, newly graduated U.S. medical students who choose primary care as a career have declined by 50%. This trend results in emergency rooms being overwhelmed with patients without regular doctors.
How do we fix this problem?
It starts with reforming the physician reimbursement system. Remove the pressure for primary care physicians to squeeze in more patients per hour, and reward them for optimally managing their diseases and practicing evidence-based medicine. Make primary care more attractive to medical students by forgiving student loans for those who choose primary care as a career and reconciling the marked difference between specialist and primary care physician salaries.
We're at a point where primary care is needed more than ever. Within a few years, the first wave of the 76 million Baby Boomers will become eligible for Medicare. Patients older than 85, who need chronic care most, will rise by 50% this decade.
Who will be there to treat them? | 1014.txt | 2 |
[
"increase their income by working overtime",
"improve their expertise and service",
"make various deals with specialists",
"see more patients at the expense of quality"
] | Faced with the government threats to cut reimbursements indiscriminately, primary care physicians have to __________ . | Crippling health care bills, long emergency-room waits and the inability to find a primary care physician just scratch the surface of the problems that patients face daily.
Primary care should be the backbone of any health care system. Countries with appropriate primary care resources score highly when it comes to health outcomes and cost. The U.S. takes the opposite approach by emphasizing the specialist rather than the primary care physician.
A recent study analyzed the providers who treat Medicare beneficiaries（）. The startling finding was that the average Medicare patient saw a total of seven doctors-two primary care physicians and five specialists-in a given year. Contrary to popular belief, the more physicians taking care of you don't guarantee better care. Actually, increasing fragmentation of care results in a corresponding rise in cost and medical errors.
How did we let primary care slip so far? The key is how doctors are paid. Most physicians are paid whenever they perform a medical service. The more a physician does, regardless of quality or outcome, the better he's reimbursed . Moreover, the amount a physician receives leans heavily toward medical or surgical procedures. A specialist who performs a procedure in a 30-minute visit can be paid three times more than a primary care physician using that same 30 minutes to discuss a patient's disease. Combine this fact with annual government threats to indiscriminately cut reimbursements, physicians are faced with no choice but to increase quantity to boost income.
Primary care physicians who refuse to compromise quality are either driven out of business or to cash-only practices, further contributing to the decline of primary care.
Medical students are not blind to this scenario. They see how heavily the reimbursement deck is stacked against primary care. The recent numbers show that since 1997, newly graduated U.S. medical students who choose primary care as a career have declined by 50%. This trend results in emergency rooms being overwhelmed with patients without regular doctors.
How do we fix this problem?
It starts with reforming the physician reimbursement system. Remove the pressure for primary care physicians to squeeze in more patients per hour, and reward them for optimally managing their diseases and practicing evidence-based medicine. Make primary care more attractive to medical students by forgiving student loans for those who choose primary care as a career and reconciling the marked difference between specialist and primary care physician salaries.
We're at a point where primary care is needed more than ever. Within a few years, the first wave of the 76 million Baby Boomers will become eligible for Medicare. Patients older than 85, who need chronic care most, will rise by 50% this decade.
Who will be there to treat them? | 1014.txt | 3 |
[
"They find the need for primary care declining.",
"The current system works against primary care.",
"Primary care physicians command less respect.",
"They think working in emergency rooms tedious."
] | Why do many new medical graduates refuse to choose primary care as their career? | Crippling health care bills, long emergency-room waits and the inability to find a primary care physician just scratch the surface of the problems that patients face daily.
Primary care should be the backbone of any health care system. Countries with appropriate primary care resources score highly when it comes to health outcomes and cost. The U.S. takes the opposite approach by emphasizing the specialist rather than the primary care physician.
A recent study analyzed the providers who treat Medicare beneficiaries（）. The startling finding was that the average Medicare patient saw a total of seven doctors-two primary care physicians and five specialists-in a given year. Contrary to popular belief, the more physicians taking care of you don't guarantee better care. Actually, increasing fragmentation of care results in a corresponding rise in cost and medical errors.
How did we let primary care slip so far? The key is how doctors are paid. Most physicians are paid whenever they perform a medical service. The more a physician does, regardless of quality or outcome, the better he's reimbursed . Moreover, the amount a physician receives leans heavily toward medical or surgical procedures. A specialist who performs a procedure in a 30-minute visit can be paid three times more than a primary care physician using that same 30 minutes to discuss a patient's disease. Combine this fact with annual government threats to indiscriminately cut reimbursements, physicians are faced with no choice but to increase quantity to boost income.
Primary care physicians who refuse to compromise quality are either driven out of business or to cash-only practices, further contributing to the decline of primary care.
Medical students are not blind to this scenario. They see how heavily the reimbursement deck is stacked against primary care. The recent numbers show that since 1997, newly graduated U.S. medical students who choose primary care as a career have declined by 50%. This trend results in emergency rooms being overwhelmed with patients without regular doctors.
How do we fix this problem?
It starts with reforming the physician reimbursement system. Remove the pressure for primary care physicians to squeeze in more patients per hour, and reward them for optimally managing their diseases and practicing evidence-based medicine. Make primary care more attractive to medical students by forgiving student loans for those who choose primary care as a career and reconciling the marked difference between specialist and primary care physician salaries.
We're at a point where primary care is needed more than ever. Within a few years, the first wave of the 76 million Baby Boomers will become eligible for Medicare. Patients older than 85, who need chronic care most, will rise by 50% this decade.
Who will be there to treat them? | 1014.txt | 3 |
[
"Bridge the salary gap between specialists and primary care physicians.",
"Extend primary care to patients with chronic diseases.",
"Recruit more medical students by offering them loans.",
"Reduce the tuition of students who choose primary care as their major."
] | What suggestion does the author give in order to provide better health care? | Crippling health care bills, long emergency-room waits and the inability to find a primary care physician just scratch the surface of the problems that patients face daily.
Primary care should be the backbone of any health care system. Countries with appropriate primary care resources score highly when it comes to health outcomes and cost. The U.S. takes the opposite approach by emphasizing the specialist rather than the primary care physician.
A recent study analyzed the providers who treat Medicare beneficiaries（）. The startling finding was that the average Medicare patient saw a total of seven doctors-two primary care physicians and five specialists-in a given year. Contrary to popular belief, the more physicians taking care of you don't guarantee better care. Actually, increasing fragmentation of care results in a corresponding rise in cost and medical errors.
How did we let primary care slip so far? The key is how doctors are paid. Most physicians are paid whenever they perform a medical service. The more a physician does, regardless of quality or outcome, the better he's reimbursed . Moreover, the amount a physician receives leans heavily toward medical or surgical procedures. A specialist who performs a procedure in a 30-minute visit can be paid three times more than a primary care physician using that same 30 minutes to discuss a patient's disease. Combine this fact with annual government threats to indiscriminately cut reimbursements, physicians are faced with no choice but to increase quantity to boost income.
Primary care physicians who refuse to compromise quality are either driven out of business or to cash-only practices, further contributing to the decline of primary care.
Medical students are not blind to this scenario. They see how heavily the reimbursement deck is stacked against primary care. The recent numbers show that since 1997, newly graduated U.S. medical students who choose primary care as a career have declined by 50%. This trend results in emergency rooms being overwhelmed with patients without regular doctors.
How do we fix this problem?
It starts with reforming the physician reimbursement system. Remove the pressure for primary care physicians to squeeze in more patients per hour, and reward them for optimally managing their diseases and practicing evidence-based medicine. Make primary care more attractive to medical students by forgiving student loans for those who choose primary care as a career and reconciling the marked difference between specialist and primary care physician salaries.
We're at a point where primary care is needed more than ever. Within a few years, the first wave of the 76 million Baby Boomers will become eligible for Medicare. Patients older than 85, who need chronic care most, will rise by 50% this decade.
Who will be there to treat them? | 1014.txt | 0 |
[
"He disliked his teachers.",
"His parents no longer supported him.",
"It's cool for boys of his age not to care about studies.",
"There were too many subjects in his secondary school."
] | Why did Tom give up studying? | Tom was one of the brightest boys in the year, with supportive parents. But when he was 15 he suddenly stopped trying. He left school at 16 with only two scores for secondary school subjects. One of the reasons that made it cool for him not to care was the power of his peer group.
The lack of right male role models in many of their lives - at home and particularly in the school environment - means that their peers are the only people they have to judge themselves against.
They don't see men succeeding in society so it doesn't occur to them that they could make something of themselves. Without male teachers as a role model, the effect of peer actions and street culture is all-powerful. Boys want to be part of a club. However, schools can provide the environment for change, and provide the right role models for them. Teachers need to be trained to stop that but not in front of a child's peers. You have to do it one by one, because that is when you see the real child.
It's pointless sending a child home if he or she has done wrong. They see it as a welcome day off to watch television or play computer games. Instead, schools should have a special unit where a child who has done wrong goes for the day and gets advice about his problems - somewhere he can work away from his peers and go home after the other children. | 3448.txt | 0 |
[
"Peer groups.",
"A special unit.",
"The student judges.",
"The home environment."
] | What seems to have a bad effect on students like Tom? | Tom was one of the brightest boys in the year, with supportive parents. But when he was 15 he suddenly stopped trying. He left school at 16 with only two scores for secondary school subjects. One of the reasons that made it cool for him not to care was the power of his peer group.
The lack of right male role models in many of their lives - at home and particularly in the school environment - means that their peers are the only people they have to judge themselves against.
They don't see men succeeding in society so it doesn't occur to them that they could make something of themselves. Without male teachers as a role model, the effect of peer actions and street culture is all-powerful. Boys want to be part of a club. However, schools can provide the environment for change, and provide the right role models for them. Teachers need to be trained to stop that but not in front of a child's peers. You have to do it one by one, because that is when you see the real child.
It's pointless sending a child home if he or she has done wrong. They see it as a welcome day off to watch television or play computer games. Instead, schools should have a special unit where a child who has done wrong goes for the day and gets advice about his problems - somewhere he can work away from his peers and go home after the other children. | 3448.txt | 1 |
[
"Wait for their change patiently.",
"Train leaders of their peer groups.",
"Stop the development of street culture.",
"Give them lessons in a separate area."
] | What should schools do to help the problem schoolboys? | Tom was one of the brightest boys in the year, with supportive parents. But when he was 15 he suddenly stopped trying. He left school at 16 with only two scores for secondary school subjects. One of the reasons that made it cool for him not to care was the power of his peer group.
The lack of right male role models in many of their lives - at home and particularly in the school environment - means that their peers are the only people they have to judge themselves against.
They don't see men succeeding in society so it doesn't occur to them that they could make something of themselves. Without male teachers as a role model, the effect of peer actions and street culture is all-powerful. Boys want to be part of a club. However, schools can provide the environment for change, and provide the right role models for them. Teachers need to be trained to stop that but not in front of a child's peers. You have to do it one by one, because that is when you see the real child.
It's pointless sending a child home if he or she has done wrong. They see it as a welcome day off to watch television or play computer games. Instead, schools should have a special unit where a child who has done wrong goes for the day and gets advice about his problems - somewhere he can work away from his peers and go home after the other children. | 3448.txt | 2 |
[
"Columns of marriage advertisement in Indian.",
"Modern changes about the idea of marriage in Indian.",
"The standard of choosing a husband or a wife.",
"The role of marriage advertisement."
] | What does this passage mainly talk about? | Every Sunday morning millions of Indians settle down with a cup of tea and the special weekend issues of their newspapers, just as Americans do. But here, with the marriage season approaching, many of them turn quickly to a Sunday feature that is particularly Indian―the columns and columns of marriage advertisements in which young people look for husbands and wives?
"Beautiful Brahman girl wanted for bank officer from well?onnected family," one says. "Vegetarian man (doctor, engineer preferred) for church?ducated girl with light complexion," says another. "Solid 25?ear?ld, salary four figures, wants tall, charming, educated Punjabi," says a third.?
This is a relatively modern change in the age?ld custom of the arranged marriage. The thousands of advertisements published each week increasingly reflect social changes that are coming to this traditional society. For example, although women are still usually described in terms of appearance, or skills in "the wifely arts," information about their earning power is entering more and more of the advertisements. This reflects the arrival in India of the working wife?
Divorce, which used to be almost unheard of in India, is sometimes now mentioned in the advertisements as in the case of a woman whose advertisement in a New Delhi newspaper explained that she had been "the innocent party" when her marriage broke up.? Because the custom of the dowry (marriage payment) is now illegal, some advertisements say "no dowry," or "simple marriage," which means the same thing. However, the fathers of many bridegrooms still require it.
As a sign of the slight loosening of the rigid caste (social class) system, a number of advertisements promise "caste not important," or still require not only caste， such as Brahman or Kshatriya, but also a certain home region or ethnic origin?
In a land where light skin is often regarded as socially preferable, many also require that a woman have a "wheat－color" complexion or that a man be "tall, fair and handsome."
Advertisements are placed and eagerly read by a wide range of people in the upper classes, mostly in cities. Many of them receive dozens of answers. "There's nothing embarrassing about it," explained a Calcutta businessman advertising for a son-in-law. "It's just another way of broadening the contacts and increasing the possibility of doing the best one can for ones daughter? | 1251.txt | 1 |
[
"Some new changes have occurred in the modern society.",
"Working wife have arrived in Indian.",
"The custom of the dowry should be forbidden",
"Earning power has become more and more important in marriage."
] | The example in the paragraph 3 tells us_ | Every Sunday morning millions of Indians settle down with a cup of tea and the special weekend issues of their newspapers, just as Americans do. But here, with the marriage season approaching, many of them turn quickly to a Sunday feature that is particularly Indian―the columns and columns of marriage advertisements in which young people look for husbands and wives?
"Beautiful Brahman girl wanted for bank officer from well?onnected family," one says. "Vegetarian man (doctor, engineer preferred) for church?ducated girl with light complexion," says another. "Solid 25?ear?ld, salary four figures, wants tall, charming, educated Punjabi," says a third.?
This is a relatively modern change in the age?ld custom of the arranged marriage. The thousands of advertisements published each week increasingly reflect social changes that are coming to this traditional society. For example, although women are still usually described in terms of appearance, or skills in "the wifely arts," information about their earning power is entering more and more of the advertisements. This reflects the arrival in India of the working wife?
Divorce, which used to be almost unheard of in India, is sometimes now mentioned in the advertisements as in the case of a woman whose advertisement in a New Delhi newspaper explained that she had been "the innocent party" when her marriage broke up.? Because the custom of the dowry (marriage payment) is now illegal, some advertisements say "no dowry," or "simple marriage," which means the same thing. However, the fathers of many bridegrooms still require it.
As a sign of the slight loosening of the rigid caste (social class) system, a number of advertisements promise "caste not important," or still require not only caste， such as Brahman or Kshatriya, but also a certain home region or ethnic origin?
In a land where light skin is often regarded as socially preferable, many also require that a woman have a "wheat－color" complexion or that a man be "tall, fair and handsome."
Advertisements are placed and eagerly read by a wide range of people in the upper classes, mostly in cities. Many of them receive dozens of answers. "There's nothing embarrassing about it," explained a Calcutta businessman advertising for a son-in-law. "It's just another way of broadening the contacts and increasing the possibility of doing the best one can for ones daughter? | 1251.txt | 0 |
[
"no dowry",
"simple marriage",
"the changes",
"illegal"
] | The words "the same thing" in line 2 paragraph 4 refers to _ | Every Sunday morning millions of Indians settle down with a cup of tea and the special weekend issues of their newspapers, just as Americans do. But here, with the marriage season approaching, many of them turn quickly to a Sunday feature that is particularly Indian―the columns and columns of marriage advertisements in which young people look for husbands and wives?
"Beautiful Brahman girl wanted for bank officer from well?onnected family," one says. "Vegetarian man (doctor, engineer preferred) for church?ducated girl with light complexion," says another. "Solid 25?ear?ld, salary four figures, wants tall, charming, educated Punjabi," says a third.?
This is a relatively modern change in the age?ld custom of the arranged marriage. The thousands of advertisements published each week increasingly reflect social changes that are coming to this traditional society. For example, although women are still usually described in terms of appearance, or skills in "the wifely arts," information about their earning power is entering more and more of the advertisements. This reflects the arrival in India of the working wife?
Divorce, which used to be almost unheard of in India, is sometimes now mentioned in the advertisements as in the case of a woman whose advertisement in a New Delhi newspaper explained that she had been "the innocent party" when her marriage broke up.? Because the custom of the dowry (marriage payment) is now illegal, some advertisements say "no dowry," or "simple marriage," which means the same thing. However, the fathers of many bridegrooms still require it.
As a sign of the slight loosening of the rigid caste (social class) system, a number of advertisements promise "caste not important," or still require not only caste， such as Brahman or Kshatriya, but also a certain home region or ethnic origin?
In a land where light skin is often regarded as socially preferable, many also require that a woman have a "wheat－color" complexion or that a man be "tall, fair and handsome."
Advertisements are placed and eagerly read by a wide range of people in the upper classes, mostly in cities. Many of them receive dozens of answers. "There's nothing embarrassing about it," explained a Calcutta businessman advertising for a son-in-law. "It's just another way of broadening the contacts and increasing the possibility of doing the best one can for ones daughter? | 1251.txt | 2 |
[
"All the Indian in modern society think caste unimportant.",
"The color of skin is absolutely important to Indian.",
"Not all the Indians think that dowry should it comes to marriage.",
"The caste in India has been neglected when it comes to marriage."
] | Which of the following statement is true according to the passage? | Every Sunday morning millions of Indians settle down with a cup of tea and the special weekend issues of their newspapers, just as Americans do. But here, with the marriage season approaching, many of them turn quickly to a Sunday feature that is particularly Indian―the columns and columns of marriage advertisements in which young people look for husbands and wives?
"Beautiful Brahman girl wanted for bank officer from well?onnected family," one says. "Vegetarian man (doctor, engineer preferred) for church?ducated girl with light complexion," says another. "Solid 25?ear?ld, salary four figures, wants tall, charming, educated Punjabi," says a third.?
This is a relatively modern change in the age?ld custom of the arranged marriage. The thousands of advertisements published each week increasingly reflect social changes that are coming to this traditional society. For example, although women are still usually described in terms of appearance, or skills in "the wifely arts," information about their earning power is entering more and more of the advertisements. This reflects the arrival in India of the working wife?
Divorce, which used to be almost unheard of in India, is sometimes now mentioned in the advertisements as in the case of a woman whose advertisement in a New Delhi newspaper explained that she had been "the innocent party" when her marriage broke up.? Because the custom of the dowry (marriage payment) is now illegal, some advertisements say "no dowry," or "simple marriage," which means the same thing. However, the fathers of many bridegrooms still require it.
As a sign of the slight loosening of the rigid caste (social class) system, a number of advertisements promise "caste not important," or still require not only caste， such as Brahman or Kshatriya, but also a certain home region or ethnic origin?
In a land where light skin is often regarded as socially preferable, many also require that a woman have a "wheat－color" complexion or that a man be "tall, fair and handsome."
Advertisements are placed and eagerly read by a wide range of people in the upper classes, mostly in cities. Many of them receive dozens of answers. "There's nothing embarrassing about it," explained a Calcutta businessman advertising for a son-in-law. "It's just another way of broadening the contacts and increasing the possibility of doing the best one can for ones daughter? | 1251.txt | 2 |
[
"Complexion.",
"Church-education",
"Caste",
"Both A and B"
] | What factor should be considered for an India doctor when he chooses his wife? | Every Sunday morning millions of Indians settle down with a cup of tea and the special weekend issues of their newspapers, just as Americans do. But here, with the marriage season approaching, many of them turn quickly to a Sunday feature that is particularly Indian―the columns and columns of marriage advertisements in which young people look for husbands and wives?
"Beautiful Brahman girl wanted for bank officer from well?onnected family," one says. "Vegetarian man (doctor, engineer preferred) for church?ducated girl with light complexion," says another. "Solid 25?ear?ld, salary four figures, wants tall, charming, educated Punjabi," says a third.?
This is a relatively modern change in the age?ld custom of the arranged marriage. The thousands of advertisements published each week increasingly reflect social changes that are coming to this traditional society. For example, although women are still usually described in terms of appearance, or skills in "the wifely arts," information about their earning power is entering more and more of the advertisements. This reflects the arrival in India of the working wife?
Divorce, which used to be almost unheard of in India, is sometimes now mentioned in the advertisements as in the case of a woman whose advertisement in a New Delhi newspaper explained that she had been "the innocent party" when her marriage broke up.? Because the custom of the dowry (marriage payment) is now illegal, some advertisements say "no dowry," or "simple marriage," which means the same thing. However, the fathers of many bridegrooms still require it.
As a sign of the slight loosening of the rigid caste (social class) system, a number of advertisements promise "caste not important," or still require not only caste， such as Brahman or Kshatriya, but also a certain home region or ethnic origin?
In a land where light skin is often regarded as socially preferable, many also require that a woman have a "wheat－color" complexion or that a man be "tall, fair and handsome."
Advertisements are placed and eagerly read by a wide range of people in the upper classes, mostly in cities. Many of them receive dozens of answers. "There's nothing embarrassing about it," explained a Calcutta businessman advertising for a son-in-law. "It's just another way of broadening the contacts and increasing the possibility of doing the best one can for ones daughter? | 1251.txt | 3 |
[
"no explanation is necessary for such an obvious phenomenon",
"no explanation has been made up to now",
"it's no easy job to provide an adequate explanation",
"it's high time that an explanation was provided"
] | By "... challenges explanation" (Line 2, Para. 1) the author means that _ . | It is everyone agrees, a huge task that the child performs when he learns to speak, and the fact that he does so in so short a period of time challenges explanation.
Language learning begins with listening. Individual children vary greatly in the amount of listening they do before they start speaking, and late starters are often long listeners. Most children will "obey" spoken instructions some time before they can speak, though the word obey is hardly accurate as a description of the eager and delighted cooperation usually shown by the child. Before they can speak, many children will also ask questions by gesture and by making questioning noises.
Any attempt to trace the development from the noises babies make to their first spoken words leads to considerable difficulties. It is agreed that they enjoy making noises, and that during the first few months one or two noises sort themselves out as particularly indicative of delight, distress, sociability, and so on. But since these cannot be said to show the baby's intention to communicate, they can hardly be regarded as early forms of language. It is agreed, too, that from about three months they play with sounds for enjoyments, and that by six months they are able to add new sounds to their repertoire . This self-imitation leads on to deliberate imitation of sounds made or words spoken to them by other people. The problem then arises as to the point at which one can say that these imitations can be considered as speech. | 3084.txt | 2 |
[
"the development of babies' early forms of language",
"the difficulties of babies in learning to speak",
"babies' strong desire to communicate",
"babies' intention to communicate"
] | The third paragraph is mainly about _ . | It is everyone agrees, a huge task that the child performs when he learns to speak, and the fact that he does so in so short a period of time challenges explanation.
Language learning begins with listening. Individual children vary greatly in the amount of listening they do before they start speaking, and late starters are often long listeners. Most children will "obey" spoken instructions some time before they can speak, though the word obey is hardly accurate as a description of the eager and delighted cooperation usually shown by the child. Before they can speak, many children will also ask questions by gesture and by making questioning noises.
Any attempt to trace the development from the noises babies make to their first spoken words leads to considerable difficulties. It is agreed that they enjoy making noises, and that during the first few months one or two noises sort themselves out as particularly indicative of delight, distress, sociability, and so on. But since these cannot be said to show the baby's intention to communicate, they can hardly be regarded as early forms of language. It is agreed, too, that from about three months they play with sounds for enjoyments, and that by six months they are able to add new sounds to their repertoire . This self-imitation leads on to deliberate imitation of sounds made or words spoken to them by other people. The problem then arises as to the point at which one can say that these imitations can be considered as speech. | 3084.txt | 0 |
[
"usually obey without asking questions",
"are passive in the process of learning to speak",
"are born cooperative",
"learn to speak by listening"
] | The author's purpose in writing the second paragraph is to show that children _ . | It is everyone agrees, a huge task that the child performs when he learns to speak, and the fact that he does so in so short a period of time challenges explanation.
Language learning begins with listening. Individual children vary greatly in the amount of listening they do before they start speaking, and late starters are often long listeners. Most children will "obey" spoken instructions some time before they can speak, though the word obey is hardly accurate as a description of the eager and delighted cooperation usually shown by the child. Before they can speak, many children will also ask questions by gesture and by making questioning noises.
Any attempt to trace the development from the noises babies make to their first spoken words leads to considerable difficulties. It is agreed that they enjoy making noises, and that during the first few months one or two noises sort themselves out as particularly indicative of delight, distress, sociability, and so on. But since these cannot be said to show the baby's intention to communicate, they can hardly be regarded as early forms of language. It is agreed, too, that from about three months they play with sounds for enjoyments, and that by six months they are able to add new sounds to their repertoire . This self-imitation leads on to deliberate imitation of sounds made or words spoken to them by other people. The problem then arises as to the point at which one can say that these imitations can be considered as speech. | 3084.txt | 3 |
[
"early starters can learn to speak within only six months",
"children show a strong desire to communicate by making noises",
"imitation plays an important role in learning to speak",
"children have various difficulties in learning to speak"
] | From the passage we learn that _ . | It is everyone agrees, a huge task that the child performs when he learns to speak, and the fact that he does so in so short a period of time challenges explanation.
Language learning begins with listening. Individual children vary greatly in the amount of listening they do before they start speaking, and late starters are often long listeners. Most children will "obey" spoken instructions some time before they can speak, though the word obey is hardly accurate as a description of the eager and delighted cooperation usually shown by the child. Before they can speak, many children will also ask questions by gesture and by making questioning noises.
Any attempt to trace the development from the noises babies make to their first spoken words leads to considerable difficulties. It is agreed that they enjoy making noises, and that during the first few months one or two noises sort themselves out as particularly indicative of delight, distress, sociability, and so on. But since these cannot be said to show the baby's intention to communicate, they can hardly be regarded as early forms of language. It is agreed, too, that from about three months they play with sounds for enjoyments, and that by six months they are able to add new sounds to their repertoire . This self-imitation leads on to deliberate imitation of sounds made or words spoken to them by other people. The problem then arises as to the point at which one can say that these imitations can be considered as speech. | 3084.txt | 2 |
[
"How Babies Learn to Speak",
"Early Forms of Language",
"A Huge Task for Children",
"Noise Making and Language Learning"
] | The best title for this passage would be _ . | It is everyone agrees, a huge task that the child performs when he learns to speak, and the fact that he does so in so short a period of time challenges explanation.
Language learning begins with listening. Individual children vary greatly in the amount of listening they do before they start speaking, and late starters are often long listeners. Most children will "obey" spoken instructions some time before they can speak, though the word obey is hardly accurate as a description of the eager and delighted cooperation usually shown by the child. Before they can speak, many children will also ask questions by gesture and by making questioning noises.
Any attempt to trace the development from the noises babies make to their first spoken words leads to considerable difficulties. It is agreed that they enjoy making noises, and that during the first few months one or two noises sort themselves out as particularly indicative of delight, distress, sociability, and so on. But since these cannot be said to show the baby's intention to communicate, they can hardly be regarded as early forms of language. It is agreed, too, that from about three months they play with sounds for enjoyments, and that by six months they are able to add new sounds to their repertoire . This self-imitation leads on to deliberate imitation of sounds made or words spoken to them by other people. The problem then arises as to the point at which one can say that these imitations can be considered as speech. | 3084.txt | 0 |
[
"The Comparison between Legitimate Business and Its Illegal Counterpart.",
"The similarities between Legitimate Business and Smuggling.",
"Smugglers May Make Great Profit from Both Activities.",
"The Boss in Smuggling Syndicate is a Chief Executive."
] | The main idea for this passage is | A Smuggling Syndicate
The smuggler in many ways is just another international businessman and his turnover would do credit to many international corporations. His business happens to be illegal and risky, but look at the stakes involved: $5 billion worth of heroin smuggled into the United States each year, and $1.5 billion in gold passing annually along smuggling pipelines to India and Indonesia, to France and Morocco, to Brazil and Turkey. Perhaps half of all the watches made in Switzerland reach their eventual wearers by some back door. Most of this illicit trade is carried on with all the efficiency of any multinational company. Entirely legitimate businesses, such as a travel bureau or an import-export agency, are also often fronts for smuggling organizations. One of the world's largest gold smugglers also owned and operated the franchise for a leading make of British cars in a small Middle Eastern country. He made a good profit from both activities.
A smuggling syndicate operates much like any other business. The boss is really a chief executive. He makes all the plans, establishes international contacts, and thinks up the smuggling routes and method but remains aloof from actual operations. He is aided by a handful of managers looking after such specialties as financing, travel (one reason why many smuggling syndicates find it handy to have their own travel agency), the bribing of airline or customs officials, and recruitment of couriers, or mules as they are called. There may also be someone in charge of local arrangements in the countries to which the smuggled goods is going.
Another similarity between legitimate business and its illegal counterpart is price fluctuation. Just as the prices of products traded legally vary with quality and market conditions such as supply and demand, so do the prices of goods go up and down in the smuggling trade. Consider the price of drugs. Heroin and cannabis, in whatever form or by whatever name, cone in several grades, each with a going price. The wholesale price at which big dealers sell to big dealers is less than the street price. When the authorities are successful in reducing the supply buy seizures, the price of all grades rises. | 213.txt | 1 |
[
"The quality of the foods and market condition are not very well.",
"The quality of goods and market condition vary.",
"Unbalance between supply and demand.",
"The price of other goods fluctuates."
] | When is the price going down? | A Smuggling Syndicate
The smuggler in many ways is just another international businessman and his turnover would do credit to many international corporations. His business happens to be illegal and risky, but look at the stakes involved: $5 billion worth of heroin smuggled into the United States each year, and $1.5 billion in gold passing annually along smuggling pipelines to India and Indonesia, to France and Morocco, to Brazil and Turkey. Perhaps half of all the watches made in Switzerland reach their eventual wearers by some back door. Most of this illicit trade is carried on with all the efficiency of any multinational company. Entirely legitimate businesses, such as a travel bureau or an import-export agency, are also often fronts for smuggling organizations. One of the world's largest gold smugglers also owned and operated the franchise for a leading make of British cars in a small Middle Eastern country. He made a good profit from both activities.
A smuggling syndicate operates much like any other business. The boss is really a chief executive. He makes all the plans, establishes international contacts, and thinks up the smuggling routes and method but remains aloof from actual operations. He is aided by a handful of managers looking after such specialties as financing, travel (one reason why many smuggling syndicates find it handy to have their own travel agency), the bribing of airline or customs officials, and recruitment of couriers, or mules as they are called. There may also be someone in charge of local arrangements in the countries to which the smuggled goods is going.
Another similarity between legitimate business and its illegal counterpart is price fluctuation. Just as the prices of products traded legally vary with quality and market conditions such as supply and demand, so do the prices of goods go up and down in the smuggling trade. Consider the price of drugs. Heroin and cannabis, in whatever form or by whatever name, cone in several grades, each with a going price. The wholesale price at which big dealers sell to big dealers is less than the street price. When the authorities are successful in reducing the supply buy seizures, the price of all grades rises. | 213.txt | 0 |
[
"may make plan and establish international contacts.",
"is a real boss.",
"may make money in different ways .",
"may sell other goods."
] | It can be inferred that a smuggler | A Smuggling Syndicate
The smuggler in many ways is just another international businessman and his turnover would do credit to many international corporations. His business happens to be illegal and risky, but look at the stakes involved: $5 billion worth of heroin smuggled into the United States each year, and $1.5 billion in gold passing annually along smuggling pipelines to India and Indonesia, to France and Morocco, to Brazil and Turkey. Perhaps half of all the watches made in Switzerland reach their eventual wearers by some back door. Most of this illicit trade is carried on with all the efficiency of any multinational company. Entirely legitimate businesses, such as a travel bureau or an import-export agency, are also often fronts for smuggling organizations. One of the world's largest gold smugglers also owned and operated the franchise for a leading make of British cars in a small Middle Eastern country. He made a good profit from both activities.
A smuggling syndicate operates much like any other business. The boss is really a chief executive. He makes all the plans, establishes international contacts, and thinks up the smuggling routes and method but remains aloof from actual operations. He is aided by a handful of managers looking after such specialties as financing, travel (one reason why many smuggling syndicates find it handy to have their own travel agency), the bribing of airline or customs officials, and recruitment of couriers, or mules as they are called. There may also be someone in charge of local arrangements in the countries to which the smuggled goods is going.
Another similarity between legitimate business and its illegal counterpart is price fluctuation. Just as the prices of products traded legally vary with quality and market conditions such as supply and demand, so do the prices of goods go up and down in the smuggling trade. Consider the price of drugs. Heroin and cannabis, in whatever form or by whatever name, cone in several grades, each with a going price. The wholesale price at which big dealers sell to big dealers is less than the street price. When the authorities are successful in reducing the supply buy seizures, the price of all grades rises. | 213.txt | 3 |
[
"to set up multinational companies.",
"to engage in illegal businesses only.",
"to make legitimate businesses as fronts for smuggling organizations.",
"to make good profits from both activities."
] | One of the best ways smugglers usually take is | A Smuggling Syndicate
The smuggler in many ways is just another international businessman and his turnover would do credit to many international corporations. His business happens to be illegal and risky, but look at the stakes involved: $5 billion worth of heroin smuggled into the United States each year, and $1.5 billion in gold passing annually along smuggling pipelines to India and Indonesia, to France and Morocco, to Brazil and Turkey. Perhaps half of all the watches made in Switzerland reach their eventual wearers by some back door. Most of this illicit trade is carried on with all the efficiency of any multinational company. Entirely legitimate businesses, such as a travel bureau or an import-export agency, are also often fronts for smuggling organizations. One of the world's largest gold smugglers also owned and operated the franchise for a leading make of British cars in a small Middle Eastern country. He made a good profit from both activities.
A smuggling syndicate operates much like any other business. The boss is really a chief executive. He makes all the plans, establishes international contacts, and thinks up the smuggling routes and method but remains aloof from actual operations. He is aided by a handful of managers looking after such specialties as financing, travel (one reason why many smuggling syndicates find it handy to have their own travel agency), the bribing of airline or customs officials, and recruitment of couriers, or mules as they are called. There may also be someone in charge of local arrangements in the countries to which the smuggled goods is going.
Another similarity between legitimate business and its illegal counterpart is price fluctuation. Just as the prices of products traded legally vary with quality and market conditions such as supply and demand, so do the prices of goods go up and down in the smuggling trade. Consider the price of drugs. Heroin and cannabis, in whatever form or by whatever name, cone in several grades, each with a going price. The wholesale price at which big dealers sell to big dealers is less than the street price. When the authorities are successful in reducing the supply buy seizures, the price of all grades rises. | 213.txt | 2 |
[
"can hardly keep the value of your savings",
"will cost much of your savings",
"may increase your wealth",
"needs your bravery"
] | According to the passage, collecting antique clocks _ . | How should one invest a sum of money in these clays of inflation ? Left in a bank it will hardly keep its value, however high the interest rate. Only a brave man, or a very rich one, dares to buy and sell on the Stock Market. Today it seems that one of the best ways to protect your savings, and even increase your wealth is to buy beautiful objects from the past. Here I am going to offer some advice on collecting antique clocks, which I personally consider are among the most interesting of antiques.
I sometimes wonder what a being from another planet might report back about our way of life. "The planet Earth is ruled by a mysterious creature that sits or stands in a room and makes a strange ticking sound. It has a face with twelve black marks and two hands. Men can do nothing without its permission, and it fastens its young round people's wrists so that everywhere men go they are still under its control. This creature is the real master of Earth and men are its slaves."
Whether or not we are slaves of time today depends on our culture and personality, but it is believed that many years ago kings kept special slaves to tell the time. Certain men were very clever at measuring the time of clay according to the beating of their own hearts. They were made to stand in a fixed place and every hour or so would shout tire time. So it seems that the first clocks were human beings.
However, men quickly found more convenient and reliable ways of telling the time. They learned to use the shadows cast by the sun. They marked the hours on candles, used sand in hour- glasses, and invented water-clocks. Indeed, any serious student of antique should spend as much time as possible visiting palaces, stately homes and museums to see some of the finest examples of clocks from the past.
Antique clocks could be very expensive, but one of the joys of collecting clocks is that it is still possible to find quite cheap ones for your own home. After all, if you are going to be ruled by time, why not invest in air antique clock and perhaps make a future profit? | 3407.txt | 2 |
[
"suggest human beings are controlled by a clock",
"describe why clocks can rule the planet Earth",
"tell readers what clocks look like",
"compare chicks to human beings"
] | By quoting the remark of a being from another planet, the author intends to _ . | How should one invest a sum of money in these clays of inflation ? Left in a bank it will hardly keep its value, however high the interest rate. Only a brave man, or a very rich one, dares to buy and sell on the Stock Market. Today it seems that one of the best ways to protect your savings, and even increase your wealth is to buy beautiful objects from the past. Here I am going to offer some advice on collecting antique clocks, which I personally consider are among the most interesting of antiques.
I sometimes wonder what a being from another planet might report back about our way of life. "The planet Earth is ruled by a mysterious creature that sits or stands in a room and makes a strange ticking sound. It has a face with twelve black marks and two hands. Men can do nothing without its permission, and it fastens its young round people's wrists so that everywhere men go they are still under its control. This creature is the real master of Earth and men are its slaves."
Whether or not we are slaves of time today depends on our culture and personality, but it is believed that many years ago kings kept special slaves to tell the time. Certain men were very clever at measuring the time of clay according to the beating of their own hearts. They were made to stand in a fixed place and every hour or so would shout tire time. So it seems that the first clocks were human beings.
However, men quickly found more convenient and reliable ways of telling the time. They learned to use the shadows cast by the sun. They marked the hours on candles, used sand in hour- glasses, and invented water-clocks. Indeed, any serious student of antique should spend as much time as possible visiting palaces, stately homes and museums to see some of the finest examples of clocks from the past.
Antique clocks could be very expensive, but one of the joys of collecting clocks is that it is still possible to find quite cheap ones for your own home. After all, if you are going to be ruled by time, why not invest in air antique clock and perhaps make a future profit? | 3407.txt | 0 |
[
"Counting the beating of one's own heart.",
"Making use of candles, sand and water.",
"Observing shadows cast by the sun.",
"Keeping slaves busy day and night."
] | Which of the following is NOT mentioned as a way to measure the time? | How should one invest a sum of money in these clays of inflation ? Left in a bank it will hardly keep its value, however high the interest rate. Only a brave man, or a very rich one, dares to buy and sell on the Stock Market. Today it seems that one of the best ways to protect your savings, and even increase your wealth is to buy beautiful objects from the past. Here I am going to offer some advice on collecting antique clocks, which I personally consider are among the most interesting of antiques.
I sometimes wonder what a being from another planet might report back about our way of life. "The planet Earth is ruled by a mysterious creature that sits or stands in a room and makes a strange ticking sound. It has a face with twelve black marks and two hands. Men can do nothing without its permission, and it fastens its young round people's wrists so that everywhere men go they are still under its control. This creature is the real master of Earth and men are its slaves."
Whether or not we are slaves of time today depends on our culture and personality, but it is believed that many years ago kings kept special slaves to tell the time. Certain men were very clever at measuring the time of clay according to the beating of their own hearts. They were made to stand in a fixed place and every hour or so would shout tire time. So it seems that the first clocks were human beings.
However, men quickly found more convenient and reliable ways of telling the time. They learned to use the shadows cast by the sun. They marked the hours on candles, used sand in hour- glasses, and invented water-clocks. Indeed, any serious student of antique should spend as much time as possible visiting palaces, stately homes and museums to see some of the finest examples of clocks from the past.
Antique clocks could be very expensive, but one of the joys of collecting clocks is that it is still possible to find quite cheap ones for your own home. After all, if you are going to be ruled by time, why not invest in air antique clock and perhaps make a future profit? | 3407.txt | 3 |
[
"to introduce the culture of antique clocks",
"to offer some advice on collecting antique clocks",
"to compare different ways to make a future profit",
"to explain convenient and reliable ways of telling time"
] | The purpose of the passage is _ . | How should one invest a sum of money in these clays of inflation ? Left in a bank it will hardly keep its value, however high the interest rate. Only a brave man, or a very rich one, dares to buy and sell on the Stock Market. Today it seems that one of the best ways to protect your savings, and even increase your wealth is to buy beautiful objects from the past. Here I am going to offer some advice on collecting antique clocks, which I personally consider are among the most interesting of antiques.
I sometimes wonder what a being from another planet might report back about our way of life. "The planet Earth is ruled by a mysterious creature that sits or stands in a room and makes a strange ticking sound. It has a face with twelve black marks and two hands. Men can do nothing without its permission, and it fastens its young round people's wrists so that everywhere men go they are still under its control. This creature is the real master of Earth and men are its slaves."
Whether or not we are slaves of time today depends on our culture and personality, but it is believed that many years ago kings kept special slaves to tell the time. Certain men were very clever at measuring the time of clay according to the beating of their own hearts. They were made to stand in a fixed place and every hour or so would shout tire time. So it seems that the first clocks were human beings.
However, men quickly found more convenient and reliable ways of telling the time. They learned to use the shadows cast by the sun. They marked the hours on candles, used sand in hour- glasses, and invented water-clocks. Indeed, any serious student of antique should spend as much time as possible visiting palaces, stately homes and museums to see some of the finest examples of clocks from the past.
Antique clocks could be very expensive, but one of the joys of collecting clocks is that it is still possible to find quite cheap ones for your own home. After all, if you are going to be ruled by time, why not invest in air antique clock and perhaps make a future profit? | 3407.txt | 1 |
[
"admiring their friends' homes.",
"talking back to their parents.",
"complaining home-made dishes.",
"making some spiteful remark."
] | According to the passage, children would arouse parents' disappointment for | Parents are often upset when their children praise the homes of their friends and regard it as a slur on their own cooking, or cleaning, or furniture, and often are foolish enough to let the adolescents see that they are annoyed. They may even accuse them of disloyalty, or make some spiteful remark about the friends'parents. Such a loss of dignity and descent into childish behavior on the part of the adults deeply shocks the adolescents, and makes them resolve that in future they will not talk to their parents about the place or people they visit. Before very long the parents will be complaining that the child is so secretive and never tells them anything, but they seldom realize that they have brought this on themselves.
Disillusionment with the parents, however good and adequate they may be both as parents and as individuals, is to some degree inevitable. Most children have such a high ideal of their parents, unless the parents themselves have been unsatisfactory, that it can, hardly hope to stand up to a realistic evaluation. Parents would be greatly surprised and deeply touched if they realized how much belief their children usually have in their character and infallibility, and how much this faith means to a child. If parents were prepared for this adolescent reaction, and realized that it was a sign that the child was growing up and developing valuable powers of observation and independent judgment they would not be so hurt, and therefore would not drive the child into opposition by resenting and resisting it.
The adolescent, with his passion for sincerity, always respects a parent who admits that he is wrong, or ignorant, or even that he has been unfair or unjust. What the child cannot forgive is the parent's refusal to admit these charges if the child knows them to be true.
Victorian parents believed that they kept their dignity by retreating behind an unreasoning authoritarian attitude; in fact they did nothing of the kind, but children were then too cowed to let them know how they really felt. Today we tend to go to the other extreme, but on the whole this is a healthier attitude both for the child and the parent. It is always wiser and safer to face up to reality, however painful it may be at the moment. | 101.txt | 0 |
[
"feel disappointed with their parents.",
"are developing into maturity.",
"just want to hurt their parents.",
"are expressing their discontentment."
] | When adolescents feel disillusion with their parents, it means that they | Parents are often upset when their children praise the homes of their friends and regard it as a slur on their own cooking, or cleaning, or furniture, and often are foolish enough to let the adolescents see that they are annoyed. They may even accuse them of disloyalty, or make some spiteful remark about the friends'parents. Such a loss of dignity and descent into childish behavior on the part of the adults deeply shocks the adolescents, and makes them resolve that in future they will not talk to their parents about the place or people they visit. Before very long the parents will be complaining that the child is so secretive and never tells them anything, but they seldom realize that they have brought this on themselves.
Disillusionment with the parents, however good and adequate they may be both as parents and as individuals, is to some degree inevitable. Most children have such a high ideal of their parents, unless the parents themselves have been unsatisfactory, that it can, hardly hope to stand up to a realistic evaluation. Parents would be greatly surprised and deeply touched if they realized how much belief their children usually have in their character and infallibility, and how much this faith means to a child. If parents were prepared for this adolescent reaction, and realized that it was a sign that the child was growing up and developing valuable powers of observation and independent judgment they would not be so hurt, and therefore would not drive the child into opposition by resenting and resisting it.
The adolescent, with his passion for sincerity, always respects a parent who admits that he is wrong, or ignorant, or even that he has been unfair or unjust. What the child cannot forgive is the parent's refusal to admit these charges if the child knows them to be true.
Victorian parents believed that they kept their dignity by retreating behind an unreasoning authoritarian attitude; in fact they did nothing of the kind, but children were then too cowed to let them know how they really felt. Today we tend to go to the other extreme, but on the whole this is a healthier attitude both for the child and the parent. It is always wiser and safer to face up to reality, however painful it may be at the moment. | 101.txt | 1 |
[
"had shown more respect for parents than today.",
"always answered back to deal with the problem.",
"admired the authoritarian attitude of their parents.",
"were too afraid to tell what they really thought."
] | Adolescents in Victorian times | Parents are often upset when their children praise the homes of their friends and regard it as a slur on their own cooking, or cleaning, or furniture, and often are foolish enough to let the adolescents see that they are annoyed. They may even accuse them of disloyalty, or make some spiteful remark about the friends'parents. Such a loss of dignity and descent into childish behavior on the part of the adults deeply shocks the adolescents, and makes them resolve that in future they will not talk to their parents about the place or people they visit. Before very long the parents will be complaining that the child is so secretive and never tells them anything, but they seldom realize that they have brought this on themselves.
Disillusionment with the parents, however good and adequate they may be both as parents and as individuals, is to some degree inevitable. Most children have such a high ideal of their parents, unless the parents themselves have been unsatisfactory, that it can, hardly hope to stand up to a realistic evaluation. Parents would be greatly surprised and deeply touched if they realized how much belief their children usually have in their character and infallibility, and how much this faith means to a child. If parents were prepared for this adolescent reaction, and realized that it was a sign that the child was growing up and developing valuable powers of observation and independent judgment they would not be so hurt, and therefore would not drive the child into opposition by resenting and resisting it.
The adolescent, with his passion for sincerity, always respects a parent who admits that he is wrong, or ignorant, or even that he has been unfair or unjust. What the child cannot forgive is the parent's refusal to admit these charges if the child knows them to be true.
Victorian parents believed that they kept their dignity by retreating behind an unreasoning authoritarian attitude; in fact they did nothing of the kind, but children were then too cowed to let them know how they really felt. Today we tend to go to the other extreme, but on the whole this is a healthier attitude both for the child and the parent. It is always wiser and safer to face up to reality, however painful it may be at the moment. | 101.txt | 3 |
[
"Critical.",
"Humorous.",
"Serious.",
"Ambiguous."
] | What is the tone of the passage? | Parents are often upset when their children praise the homes of their friends and regard it as a slur on their own cooking, or cleaning, or furniture, and often are foolish enough to let the adolescents see that they are annoyed. They may even accuse them of disloyalty, or make some spiteful remark about the friends'parents. Such a loss of dignity and descent into childish behavior on the part of the adults deeply shocks the adolescents, and makes them resolve that in future they will not talk to their parents about the place or people they visit. Before very long the parents will be complaining that the child is so secretive and never tells them anything, but they seldom realize that they have brought this on themselves.
Disillusionment with the parents, however good and adequate they may be both as parents and as individuals, is to some degree inevitable. Most children have such a high ideal of their parents, unless the parents themselves have been unsatisfactory, that it can, hardly hope to stand up to a realistic evaluation. Parents would be greatly surprised and deeply touched if they realized how much belief their children usually have in their character and infallibility, and how much this faith means to a child. If parents were prepared for this adolescent reaction, and realized that it was a sign that the child was growing up and developing valuable powers of observation and independent judgment they would not be so hurt, and therefore would not drive the child into opposition by resenting and resisting it.
The adolescent, with his passion for sincerity, always respects a parent who admits that he is wrong, or ignorant, or even that he has been unfair or unjust. What the child cannot forgive is the parent's refusal to admit these charges if the child knows them to be true.
Victorian parents believed that they kept their dignity by retreating behind an unreasoning authoritarian attitude; in fact they did nothing of the kind, but children were then too cowed to let them know how they really felt. Today we tend to go to the other extreme, but on the whole this is a healthier attitude both for the child and the parent. It is always wiser and safer to face up to reality, however painful it may be at the moment. | 101.txt | 2 |
[
"Children will become more and more mature when growing up.",
"Parents have to change their ways in educating their children.",
"The conflicts between parents and their children are inevitable.",
"Parents have made mistakes in communication with children."
] | What does this passage mainly discuss? | Parents are often upset when their children praise the homes of their friends and regard it as a slur on their own cooking, or cleaning, or furniture, and often are foolish enough to let the adolescents see that they are annoyed. They may even accuse them of disloyalty, or make some spiteful remark about the friends'parents. Such a loss of dignity and descent into childish behavior on the part of the adults deeply shocks the adolescents, and makes them resolve that in future they will not talk to their parents about the place or people they visit. Before very long the parents will be complaining that the child is so secretive and never tells them anything, but they seldom realize that they have brought this on themselves.
Disillusionment with the parents, however good and adequate they may be both as parents and as individuals, is to some degree inevitable. Most children have such a high ideal of their parents, unless the parents themselves have been unsatisfactory, that it can, hardly hope to stand up to a realistic evaluation. Parents would be greatly surprised and deeply touched if they realized how much belief their children usually have in their character and infallibility, and how much this faith means to a child. If parents were prepared for this adolescent reaction, and realized that it was a sign that the child was growing up and developing valuable powers of observation and independent judgment they would not be so hurt, and therefore would not drive the child into opposition by resenting and resisting it.
The adolescent, with his passion for sincerity, always respects a parent who admits that he is wrong, or ignorant, or even that he has been unfair or unjust. What the child cannot forgive is the parent's refusal to admit these charges if the child knows them to be true.
Victorian parents believed that they kept their dignity by retreating behind an unreasoning authoritarian attitude; in fact they did nothing of the kind, but children were then too cowed to let them know how they really felt. Today we tend to go to the other extreme, but on the whole this is a healthier attitude both for the child and the parent. It is always wiser and safer to face up to reality, however painful it may be at the moment. | 101.txt | 1 |
[
"How geographers define a place",
"The characteristics of Florida's ancient scrub",
"An early naturalist's opinion of Florida",
"The history of the Lake Wales Ridge"
] | What does the passage mainly discuss? | Geographers say that what defines a place are four properties: soil, climate, altitude, and aspect, or attitude to the Sun. Florida's ancient scrub demonstrates this principle. Its soil is pure silica, so barren it supports only lichens as ground cover. It does, however, sustain a sand-swimming lizard that cannot live where there is moisture or plant matter the soil. Its climate, despite more than 50 inches of annual rainfall, is blistering desert. The only plant life it can sustain is the xerophytic, the quintessentially dry. Its altitude is a mere couple of hundred feet, but it is high ground on a peninsula elsewhere close to sea level, and its drainage is so critical that a difference of inches in elevation can bring major changes in its plant communities. Its aspect is flat direct, brutal - and subtropical.
Florida's surrounding lushness cannot impinge on its desert scrubbiness. This does not sound like an attractive place. It does not look much like one either: shrubby little oaks, clumps of scraggly bushes prickly pear, thorns, and tangles. "It appears," Said one early naturalist, "to desire to display the result of the misery through which it has passed and is passing". By our narrow standards, scrub is not beautiful; neither does it meet our selfish utilitarian needs. Even the name is an epithet, a synonym for the stunted, the scruffy, the insignificant, what is beautiful about such a place?
The most important remaining patches of scrub lie along the Lake Wales Ridge, a chain of paleoislands running for a hundred miles down the center of Florida, in most places less than ten miles wide. It is relict seashore, tossed up millions of years ago when ocean levels were higher and the rest of the peninsula was submerged. That ancient emergence is precisely what makes Lake Wales Ridge so precious: it has remained unsubmerged, its ecosystems essentially undisturbed since the Miocene era. As a result, it has gathered to itself one of the largest collections of rare organisms in the world. Only about 75 plant species survive there, but at least 30 of these are found nowhere else on Earth. | 361.txt | 1 |
[
"aspect",
"altitude",
"soil",
"life-forms"
] | The author mentions all of the following factors that define a place EXCEPT | Geographers say that what defines a place are four properties: soil, climate, altitude, and aspect, or attitude to the Sun. Florida's ancient scrub demonstrates this principle. Its soil is pure silica, so barren it supports only lichens as ground cover. It does, however, sustain a sand-swimming lizard that cannot live where there is moisture or plant matter the soil. Its climate, despite more than 50 inches of annual rainfall, is blistering desert. The only plant life it can sustain is the xerophytic, the quintessentially dry. Its altitude is a mere couple of hundred feet, but it is high ground on a peninsula elsewhere close to sea level, and its drainage is so critical that a difference of inches in elevation can bring major changes in its plant communities. Its aspect is flat direct, brutal - and subtropical.
Florida's surrounding lushness cannot impinge on its desert scrubbiness. This does not sound like an attractive place. It does not look much like one either: shrubby little oaks, clumps of scraggly bushes prickly pear, thorns, and tangles. "It appears," Said one early naturalist, "to desire to display the result of the misery through which it has passed and is passing". By our narrow standards, scrub is not beautiful; neither does it meet our selfish utilitarian needs. Even the name is an epithet, a synonym for the stunted, the scruffy, the insignificant, what is beautiful about such a place?
The most important remaining patches of scrub lie along the Lake Wales Ridge, a chain of paleoislands running for a hundred miles down the center of Florida, in most places less than ten miles wide. It is relict seashore, tossed up millions of years ago when ocean levels were higher and the rest of the peninsula was submerged. That ancient emergence is precisely what makes Lake Wales Ridge so precious: it has remained unsubmerged, its ecosystems essentially undisturbed since the Miocene era. As a result, it has gathered to itself one of the largest collections of rare organisms in the world. Only about 75 plant species survive there, but at least 30 of these are found nowhere else on Earth. | 361.txt | 3 |
[
"does not hold moisture",
"is found only in Florida",
"nourishes many kinds of ground cover",
"provides food for many kinds of lizards"
] | It can be inferred from the passage that soil composed of silica | Geographers say that what defines a place are four properties: soil, climate, altitude, and aspect, or attitude to the Sun. Florida's ancient scrub demonstrates this principle. Its soil is pure silica, so barren it supports only lichens as ground cover. It does, however, sustain a sand-swimming lizard that cannot live where there is moisture or plant matter the soil. Its climate, despite more than 50 inches of annual rainfall, is blistering desert. The only plant life it can sustain is the xerophytic, the quintessentially dry. Its altitude is a mere couple of hundred feet, but it is high ground on a peninsula elsewhere close to sea level, and its drainage is so critical that a difference of inches in elevation can bring major changes in its plant communities. Its aspect is flat direct, brutal - and subtropical.
Florida's surrounding lushness cannot impinge on its desert scrubbiness. This does not sound like an attractive place. It does not look much like one either: shrubby little oaks, clumps of scraggly bushes prickly pear, thorns, and tangles. "It appears," Said one early naturalist, "to desire to display the result of the misery through which it has passed and is passing". By our narrow standards, scrub is not beautiful; neither does it meet our selfish utilitarian needs. Even the name is an epithet, a synonym for the stunted, the scruffy, the insignificant, what is beautiful about such a place?
The most important remaining patches of scrub lie along the Lake Wales Ridge, a chain of paleoislands running for a hundred miles down the center of Florida, in most places less than ten miles wide. It is relict seashore, tossed up millions of years ago when ocean levels were higher and the rest of the peninsula was submerged. That ancient emergence is precisely what makes Lake Wales Ridge so precious: it has remained unsubmerged, its ecosystems essentially undisturbed since the Miocene era. As a result, it has gathered to itself one of the largest collections of rare organisms in the world. Only about 75 plant species survive there, but at least 30 of these are found nowhere else on Earth. | 361.txt | 0 |
[
"select",
"strain",
"support",
"store"
] | The word "sustain" in line 6 is closets in meaning to | Geographers say that what defines a place are four properties: soil, climate, altitude, and aspect, or attitude to the Sun. Florida's ancient scrub demonstrates this principle. Its soil is pure silica, so barren it supports only lichens as ground cover. It does, however, sustain a sand-swimming lizard that cannot live where there is moisture or plant matter the soil. Its climate, despite more than 50 inches of annual rainfall, is blistering desert. The only plant life it can sustain is the xerophytic, the quintessentially dry. Its altitude is a mere couple of hundred feet, but it is high ground on a peninsula elsewhere close to sea level, and its drainage is so critical that a difference of inches in elevation can bring major changes in its plant communities. Its aspect is flat direct, brutal - and subtropical.
Florida's surrounding lushness cannot impinge on its desert scrubbiness. This does not sound like an attractive place. It does not look much like one either: shrubby little oaks, clumps of scraggly bushes prickly pear, thorns, and tangles. "It appears," Said one early naturalist, "to desire to display the result of the misery through which it has passed and is passing". By our narrow standards, scrub is not beautiful; neither does it meet our selfish utilitarian needs. Even the name is an epithet, a synonym for the stunted, the scruffy, the insignificant, what is beautiful about such a place?
The most important remaining patches of scrub lie along the Lake Wales Ridge, a chain of paleoislands running for a hundred miles down the center of Florida, in most places less than ten miles wide. It is relict seashore, tossed up millions of years ago when ocean levels were higher and the rest of the peninsula was submerged. That ancient emergence is precisely what makes Lake Wales Ridge so precious: it has remained unsubmerged, its ecosystems essentially undisturbed since the Miocene era. As a result, it has gathered to itself one of the largest collections of rare organisms in the world. Only about 75 plant species survive there, but at least 30 of these are found nowhere else on Earth. | 361.txt | 2 |
[
"valuable fruit-bearing plants of the scrub area",
"unattractive plant life of the scrub area",
"a pant discovered by an early naturalist",
"plant life that is extremely rare"
] | The author mentions the prickly pear (line 12) as an example of | Geographers say that what defines a place are four properties: soil, climate, altitude, and aspect, or attitude to the Sun. Florida's ancient scrub demonstrates this principle. Its soil is pure silica, so barren it supports only lichens as ground cover. It does, however, sustain a sand-swimming lizard that cannot live where there is moisture or plant matter the soil. Its climate, despite more than 50 inches of annual rainfall, is blistering desert. The only plant life it can sustain is the xerophytic, the quintessentially dry. Its altitude is a mere couple of hundred feet, but it is high ground on a peninsula elsewhere close to sea level, and its drainage is so critical that a difference of inches in elevation can bring major changes in its plant communities. Its aspect is flat direct, brutal - and subtropical.
Florida's surrounding lushness cannot impinge on its desert scrubbiness. This does not sound like an attractive place. It does not look much like one either: shrubby little oaks, clumps of scraggly bushes prickly pear, thorns, and tangles. "It appears," Said one early naturalist, "to desire to display the result of the misery through which it has passed and is passing". By our narrow standards, scrub is not beautiful; neither does it meet our selfish utilitarian needs. Even the name is an epithet, a synonym for the stunted, the scruffy, the insignificant, what is beautiful about such a place?
The most important remaining patches of scrub lie along the Lake Wales Ridge, a chain of paleoislands running for a hundred miles down the center of Florida, in most places less than ten miles wide. It is relict seashore, tossed up millions of years ago when ocean levels were higher and the rest of the peninsula was submerged. That ancient emergence is precisely what makes Lake Wales Ridge so precious: it has remained unsubmerged, its ecosystems essentially undisturbed since the Miocene era. As a result, it has gathered to itself one of the largest collections of rare organisms in the world. Only about 75 plant species survive there, but at least 30 of these are found nowhere else on Earth. | 361.txt | 1 |
[
"tolerant",
"idealistic",
"defensible",
"limited"
] | The author suggests that human standards of beauty are | Geographers say that what defines a place are four properties: soil, climate, altitude, and aspect, or attitude to the Sun. Florida's ancient scrub demonstrates this principle. Its soil is pure silica, so barren it supports only lichens as ground cover. It does, however, sustain a sand-swimming lizard that cannot live where there is moisture or plant matter the soil. Its climate, despite more than 50 inches of annual rainfall, is blistering desert. The only plant life it can sustain is the xerophytic, the quintessentially dry. Its altitude is a mere couple of hundred feet, but it is high ground on a peninsula elsewhere close to sea level, and its drainage is so critical that a difference of inches in elevation can bring major changes in its plant communities. Its aspect is flat direct, brutal - and subtropical.
Florida's surrounding lushness cannot impinge on its desert scrubbiness. This does not sound like an attractive place. It does not look much like one either: shrubby little oaks, clumps of scraggly bushes prickly pear, thorns, and tangles. "It appears," Said one early naturalist, "to desire to display the result of the misery through which it has passed and is passing". By our narrow standards, scrub is not beautiful; neither does it meet our selfish utilitarian needs. Even the name is an epithet, a synonym for the stunted, the scruffy, the insignificant, what is beautiful about such a place?
The most important remaining patches of scrub lie along the Lake Wales Ridge, a chain of paleoislands running for a hundred miles down the center of Florida, in most places less than ten miles wide. It is relict seashore, tossed up millions of years ago when ocean levels were higher and the rest of the peninsula was submerged. That ancient emergence is precisely what makes Lake Wales Ridge so precious: it has remained unsubmerged, its ecosystems essentially undisturbed since the Miocene era. As a result, it has gathered to itself one of the largest collections of rare organisms in the world. Only about 75 plant species survive there, but at least 30 of these are found nowhere else on Earth. | 361.txt | 3 |
[
"unimportant",
"undisturbed",
"immature",
"inappropriate"
] | The word "insignificant" in line 16 is closest in meaning to | Geographers say that what defines a place are four properties: soil, climate, altitude, and aspect, or attitude to the Sun. Florida's ancient scrub demonstrates this principle. Its soil is pure silica, so barren it supports only lichens as ground cover. It does, however, sustain a sand-swimming lizard that cannot live where there is moisture or plant matter the soil. Its climate, despite more than 50 inches of annual rainfall, is blistering desert. The only plant life it can sustain is the xerophytic, the quintessentially dry. Its altitude is a mere couple of hundred feet, but it is high ground on a peninsula elsewhere close to sea level, and its drainage is so critical that a difference of inches in elevation can bring major changes in its plant communities. Its aspect is flat direct, brutal - and subtropical.
Florida's surrounding lushness cannot impinge on its desert scrubbiness. This does not sound like an attractive place. It does not look much like one either: shrubby little oaks, clumps of scraggly bushes prickly pear, thorns, and tangles. "It appears," Said one early naturalist, "to desire to display the result of the misery through which it has passed and is passing". By our narrow standards, scrub is not beautiful; neither does it meet our selfish utilitarian needs. Even the name is an epithet, a synonym for the stunted, the scruffy, the insignificant, what is beautiful about such a place?
The most important remaining patches of scrub lie along the Lake Wales Ridge, a chain of paleoislands running for a hundred miles down the center of Florida, in most places less than ten miles wide. It is relict seashore, tossed up millions of years ago when ocean levels were higher and the rest of the peninsula was submerged. That ancient emergence is precisely what makes Lake Wales Ridge so precious: it has remained unsubmerged, its ecosystems essentially undisturbed since the Miocene era. As a result, it has gathered to itself one of the largest collections of rare organisms in the world. Only about 75 plant species survive there, but at least 30 of these are found nowhere else on Earth. | 361.txt | 0 |
[
"It was originally submerged in the ocean.",
"It is less than ten miles wide.",
"It is located near the seashore.",
"It has ecosystems that have long remained unchanged"
] | According to the passage , why is the Lake Wales Ridge valuable? | Geographers say that what defines a place are four properties: soil, climate, altitude, and aspect, or attitude to the Sun. Florida's ancient scrub demonstrates this principle. Its soil is pure silica, so barren it supports only lichens as ground cover. It does, however, sustain a sand-swimming lizard that cannot live where there is moisture or plant matter the soil. Its climate, despite more than 50 inches of annual rainfall, is blistering desert. The only plant life it can sustain is the xerophytic, the quintessentially dry. Its altitude is a mere couple of hundred feet, but it is high ground on a peninsula elsewhere close to sea level, and its drainage is so critical that a difference of inches in elevation can bring major changes in its plant communities. Its aspect is flat direct, brutal - and subtropical.
Florida's surrounding lushness cannot impinge on its desert scrubbiness. This does not sound like an attractive place. It does not look much like one either: shrubby little oaks, clumps of scraggly bushes prickly pear, thorns, and tangles. "It appears," Said one early naturalist, "to desire to display the result of the misery through which it has passed and is passing". By our narrow standards, scrub is not beautiful; neither does it meet our selfish utilitarian needs. Even the name is an epithet, a synonym for the stunted, the scruffy, the insignificant, what is beautiful about such a place?
The most important remaining patches of scrub lie along the Lake Wales Ridge, a chain of paleoislands running for a hundred miles down the center of Florida, in most places less than ten miles wide. It is relict seashore, tossed up millions of years ago when ocean levels were higher and the rest of the peninsula was submerged. That ancient emergence is precisely what makes Lake Wales Ridge so precious: it has remained unsubmerged, its ecosystems essentially undisturbed since the Miocene era. As a result, it has gathered to itself one of the largest collections of rare organisms in the world. Only about 75 plant species survive there, but at least 30 of these are found nowhere else on Earth. | 361.txt | 3 |
[
"Florida",
"the peninsula",
"the Lake Wales Ridge",
"the Miocene era"
] | The word "it" in line 21 refer to | Geographers say that what defines a place are four properties: soil, climate, altitude, and aspect, or attitude to the Sun. Florida's ancient scrub demonstrates this principle. Its soil is pure silica, so barren it supports only lichens as ground cover. It does, however, sustain a sand-swimming lizard that cannot live where there is moisture or plant matter the soil. Its climate, despite more than 50 inches of annual rainfall, is blistering desert. The only plant life it can sustain is the xerophytic, the quintessentially dry. Its altitude is a mere couple of hundred feet, but it is high ground on a peninsula elsewhere close to sea level, and its drainage is so critical that a difference of inches in elevation can bring major changes in its plant communities. Its aspect is flat direct, brutal - and subtropical.
Florida's surrounding lushness cannot impinge on its desert scrubbiness. This does not sound like an attractive place. It does not look much like one either: shrubby little oaks, clumps of scraggly bushes prickly pear, thorns, and tangles. "It appears," Said one early naturalist, "to desire to display the result of the misery through which it has passed and is passing". By our narrow standards, scrub is not beautiful; neither does it meet our selfish utilitarian needs. Even the name is an epithet, a synonym for the stunted, the scruffy, the insignificant, what is beautiful about such a place?
The most important remaining patches of scrub lie along the Lake Wales Ridge, a chain of paleoislands running for a hundred miles down the center of Florida, in most places less than ten miles wide. It is relict seashore, tossed up millions of years ago when ocean levels were higher and the rest of the peninsula was submerged. That ancient emergence is precisely what makes Lake Wales Ridge so precious: it has remained unsubmerged, its ecosystems essentially undisturbed since the Miocene era. As a result, it has gathered to itself one of the largest collections of rare organisms in the world. Only about 75 plant species survive there, but at least 30 of these are found nowhere else on Earth. | 361.txt | 2 |
[
"ancient scrub found in other areas of the country",
"geographers who study Florida's scrub",
"the climate of the Lake Wales Ridge",
"the unique plants found on the Lake Wales Ridge"
] | The passage probably continues with a discussion of | Geographers say that what defines a place are four properties: soil, climate, altitude, and aspect, or attitude to the Sun. Florida's ancient scrub demonstrates this principle. Its soil is pure silica, so barren it supports only lichens as ground cover. It does, however, sustain a sand-swimming lizard that cannot live where there is moisture or plant matter the soil. Its climate, despite more than 50 inches of annual rainfall, is blistering desert. The only plant life it can sustain is the xerophytic, the quintessentially dry. Its altitude is a mere couple of hundred feet, but it is high ground on a peninsula elsewhere close to sea level, and its drainage is so critical that a difference of inches in elevation can bring major changes in its plant communities. Its aspect is flat direct, brutal - and subtropical.
Florida's surrounding lushness cannot impinge on its desert scrubbiness. This does not sound like an attractive place. It does not look much like one either: shrubby little oaks, clumps of scraggly bushes prickly pear, thorns, and tangles. "It appears," Said one early naturalist, "to desire to display the result of the misery through which it has passed and is passing". By our narrow standards, scrub is not beautiful; neither does it meet our selfish utilitarian needs. Even the name is an epithet, a synonym for the stunted, the scruffy, the insignificant, what is beautiful about such a place?
The most important remaining patches of scrub lie along the Lake Wales Ridge, a chain of paleoislands running for a hundred miles down the center of Florida, in most places less than ten miles wide. It is relict seashore, tossed up millions of years ago when ocean levels were higher and the rest of the peninsula was submerged. That ancient emergence is precisely what makes Lake Wales Ridge so precious: it has remained unsubmerged, its ecosystems essentially undisturbed since the Miocene era. As a result, it has gathered to itself one of the largest collections of rare organisms in the world. Only about 75 plant species survive there, but at least 30 of these are found nowhere else on Earth. | 361.txt | 3 |
[
"Pageants.",
"Costumes on the stage.",
"Costumes for pageants.",
"How to arrange a pageant."
] | The main idea of this passage is _ . | Pageants are usually conceived on a fairly large scale, often under the auspices of some local or civic authority or at any rate in connection with local groups of some kind.This sometimes means that there is an allocation of funds available for the purpose of mounting the production, though unfortunately this will usually be found to be on the meager side and much ingenuity will have to be used to stretch it so that all performers can be adequately clothed.
Most pageants have a historical flavour as they usually come about through the celebration of the anniversary of some event of historic importance, or the life or death of some local worthy.Research among archives and books in the public library will probably prove very useful and produce some workable ideas which will give the production an especially local flavour.From the first economy will have to be practiced because there are usually a great number of people to dress.Leading characters can be considered individually in the same way as when designing for a play; but the main body of the performers will need to be planned in groups and the massed effect must be always borne in mind.
Many pageants take place in daylight in the open air.This is an entirely different problem from designing costumes which are going to be looked at under artificial lighting; for one thing, scenes viewed in the daylight are subject to many more distractions.No longer is everything around cut out by the surrounding darkness, but instead it is very easy to be aware of disturbing movement in the audience of behind the performers.Very theatrically conceived clothes do not always look their best when seen in a daylight setting of trees, verdant lawns and old ivy-covered walls; the same goes for costumes being worn in front of the mellow colors of stately homes.The location needs to be studied and then a decision can be made as to what kinds of colors and textures will harmonize best with the surroundings and conditions and then to carry this out as far as possible on the funds available.
If money is available to dress the performers without recourse to their own help in the provision of items, it is best to arrange for all the cutting and pinning together of the costumes to be done by one or two experienced people than to be given out to the groups and individuals for completion.When there is little or no money at all, the garments need to be reduced to the basic necessities.Cloaks and shawls become invaluable, sheets and large bath towels and bath sheets are admirable for draping.Unwanted curtains and bed spreads can be cut to make tunics, robes and skirts.These are particularly valuable if they are of heavy fabrics such as velvet or chenille.
Colors should be massed together so that there are contrasting groups of dark and light, this will be found to help the visual result substantially.Crowds of people gathered together in a jumble of colors will be ground to look quite purposeless and will lack dramatic impact.
The use of numbers of identical head-dresses, however simply made, are always effective when working with groups.If these are made of cardboard and painted boldly the cost can be almost negligible.Helmets, hats and plumes will all make quite a show even if the costumes are only blandest or sheets cleverly draped.The same can be said of the use of banners, shields and poles with stiff pennants and garlands-anything which will help to have a unifying effect.Any kind of eye-catching device will always go with a flourish and add excitement to the scenes. | 262.txt | 2 |
[
"money.",
"color.",
"harmony",
"texture"
] | It can be inferred that the most important factor in costume design is _ . | Pageants are usually conceived on a fairly large scale, often under the auspices of some local or civic authority or at any rate in connection with local groups of some kind.This sometimes means that there is an allocation of funds available for the purpose of mounting the production, though unfortunately this will usually be found to be on the meager side and much ingenuity will have to be used to stretch it so that all performers can be adequately clothed.
Most pageants have a historical flavour as they usually come about through the celebration of the anniversary of some event of historic importance, or the life or death of some local worthy.Research among archives and books in the public library will probably prove very useful and produce some workable ideas which will give the production an especially local flavour.From the first economy will have to be practiced because there are usually a great number of people to dress.Leading characters can be considered individually in the same way as when designing for a play; but the main body of the performers will need to be planned in groups and the massed effect must be always borne in mind.
Many pageants take place in daylight in the open air.This is an entirely different problem from designing costumes which are going to be looked at under artificial lighting; for one thing, scenes viewed in the daylight are subject to many more distractions.No longer is everything around cut out by the surrounding darkness, but instead it is very easy to be aware of disturbing movement in the audience of behind the performers.Very theatrically conceived clothes do not always look their best when seen in a daylight setting of trees, verdant lawns and old ivy-covered walls; the same goes for costumes being worn in front of the mellow colors of stately homes.The location needs to be studied and then a decision can be made as to what kinds of colors and textures will harmonize best with the surroundings and conditions and then to carry this out as far as possible on the funds available.
If money is available to dress the performers without recourse to their own help in the provision of items, it is best to arrange for all the cutting and pinning together of the costumes to be done by one or two experienced people than to be given out to the groups and individuals for completion.When there is little or no money at all, the garments need to be reduced to the basic necessities.Cloaks and shawls become invaluable, sheets and large bath towels and bath sheets are admirable for draping.Unwanted curtains and bed spreads can be cut to make tunics, robes and skirts.These are particularly valuable if they are of heavy fabrics such as velvet or chenille.
Colors should be massed together so that there are contrasting groups of dark and light, this will be found to help the visual result substantially.Crowds of people gathered together in a jumble of colors will be ground to look quite purposeless and will lack dramatic impact.
The use of numbers of identical head-dresses, however simply made, are always effective when working with groups.If these are made of cardboard and painted boldly the cost can be almost negligible.Helmets, hats and plumes will all make quite a show even if the costumes are only blandest or sheets cleverly draped.The same can be said of the use of banners, shields and poles with stiff pennants and garlands-anything which will help to have a unifying effect.Any kind of eye-catching device will always go with a flourish and add excitement to the scenes. | 262.txt | 2 |
[
"Because pageants take place in daylight in the open air.",
"Because different characters require different costumes.",
"Because the colors and textures must be in harmony with the setting.",
"Because an allocation of the funds available is usually rather small."
] | Why will much ingenuity have to be required in costume design? | Pageants are usually conceived on a fairly large scale, often under the auspices of some local or civic authority or at any rate in connection with local groups of some kind.This sometimes means that there is an allocation of funds available for the purpose of mounting the production, though unfortunately this will usually be found to be on the meager side and much ingenuity will have to be used to stretch it so that all performers can be adequately clothed.
Most pageants have a historical flavour as they usually come about through the celebration of the anniversary of some event of historic importance, or the life or death of some local worthy.Research among archives and books in the public library will probably prove very useful and produce some workable ideas which will give the production an especially local flavour.From the first economy will have to be practiced because there are usually a great number of people to dress.Leading characters can be considered individually in the same way as when designing for a play; but the main body of the performers will need to be planned in groups and the massed effect must be always borne in mind.
Many pageants take place in daylight in the open air.This is an entirely different problem from designing costumes which are going to be looked at under artificial lighting; for one thing, scenes viewed in the daylight are subject to many more distractions.No longer is everything around cut out by the surrounding darkness, but instead it is very easy to be aware of disturbing movement in the audience of behind the performers.Very theatrically conceived clothes do not always look their best when seen in a daylight setting of trees, verdant lawns and old ivy-covered walls; the same goes for costumes being worn in front of the mellow colors of stately homes.The location needs to be studied and then a decision can be made as to what kinds of colors and textures will harmonize best with the surroundings and conditions and then to carry this out as far as possible on the funds available.
If money is available to dress the performers without recourse to their own help in the provision of items, it is best to arrange for all the cutting and pinning together of the costumes to be done by one or two experienced people than to be given out to the groups and individuals for completion.When there is little or no money at all, the garments need to be reduced to the basic necessities.Cloaks and shawls become invaluable, sheets and large bath towels and bath sheets are admirable for draping.Unwanted curtains and bed spreads can be cut to make tunics, robes and skirts.These are particularly valuable if they are of heavy fabrics such as velvet or chenille.
Colors should be massed together so that there are contrasting groups of dark and light, this will be found to help the visual result substantially.Crowds of people gathered together in a jumble of colors will be ground to look quite purposeless and will lack dramatic impact.
The use of numbers of identical head-dresses, however simply made, are always effective when working with groups.If these are made of cardboard and painted boldly the cost can be almost negligible.Helmets, hats and plumes will all make quite a show even if the costumes are only blandest or sheets cleverly draped.The same can be said of the use of banners, shields and poles with stiff pennants and garlands-anything which will help to have a unifying effect.Any kind of eye-catching device will always go with a flourish and add excitement to the scenes. | 262.txt | 3 |
[
"Because most pageants take place for celebration.",
"Many pageants take place for amusement.",
"A lot of pageants take place for religion.",
"Because pageants usually take place for competition."
] | Why do most pageants have a historical flavour? | Pageants are usually conceived on a fairly large scale, often under the auspices of some local or civic authority or at any rate in connection with local groups of some kind.This sometimes means that there is an allocation of funds available for the purpose of mounting the production, though unfortunately this will usually be found to be on the meager side and much ingenuity will have to be used to stretch it so that all performers can be adequately clothed.
Most pageants have a historical flavour as they usually come about through the celebration of the anniversary of some event of historic importance, or the life or death of some local worthy.Research among archives and books in the public library will probably prove very useful and produce some workable ideas which will give the production an especially local flavour.From the first economy will have to be practiced because there are usually a great number of people to dress.Leading characters can be considered individually in the same way as when designing for a play; but the main body of the performers will need to be planned in groups and the massed effect must be always borne in mind.
Many pageants take place in daylight in the open air.This is an entirely different problem from designing costumes which are going to be looked at under artificial lighting; for one thing, scenes viewed in the daylight are subject to many more distractions.No longer is everything around cut out by the surrounding darkness, but instead it is very easy to be aware of disturbing movement in the audience of behind the performers.Very theatrically conceived clothes do not always look their best when seen in a daylight setting of trees, verdant lawns and old ivy-covered walls; the same goes for costumes being worn in front of the mellow colors of stately homes.The location needs to be studied and then a decision can be made as to what kinds of colors and textures will harmonize best with the surroundings and conditions and then to carry this out as far as possible on the funds available.
If money is available to dress the performers without recourse to their own help in the provision of items, it is best to arrange for all the cutting and pinning together of the costumes to be done by one or two experienced people than to be given out to the groups and individuals for completion.When there is little or no money at all, the garments need to be reduced to the basic necessities.Cloaks and shawls become invaluable, sheets and large bath towels and bath sheets are admirable for draping.Unwanted curtains and bed spreads can be cut to make tunics, robes and skirts.These are particularly valuable if they are of heavy fabrics such as velvet or chenille.
Colors should be massed together so that there are contrasting groups of dark and light, this will be found to help the visual result substantially.Crowds of people gathered together in a jumble of colors will be ground to look quite purposeless and will lack dramatic impact.
The use of numbers of identical head-dresses, however simply made, are always effective when working with groups.If these are made of cardboard and painted boldly the cost can be almost negligible.Helmets, hats and plumes will all make quite a show even if the costumes are only blandest or sheets cleverly draped.The same can be said of the use of banners, shields and poles with stiff pennants and garlands-anything which will help to have a unifying effect.Any kind of eye-catching device will always go with a flourish and add excitement to the scenes. | 262.txt | 0 |
[
"The job and housing markets will become even weaker.",
"There is little hope that the American economy will recover soon.",
"More and more retailers and marketers will have to go bankrupt.",
"It‘s possible that the American economy will rebound sooner."
] | What‘s the dark side of American consumers‘ saving more and spending less? | Amid weak job and housing markets, consumers are saving more and spending less than they have in decades, and industry professionals expect that trend to continue. Consumers saved 6.4 percent of their after-tax income in June. Before the recession, the rate was 1 to 2 percent for many years. In June, consumer spending and personal incomes were essentially flat compared with May, suggesting that the American economy, as dependent as it is on shoppers opening their wallets and purses, isn‘t likely to rebound anytime soon.
On the bright side, the practices that consumers have adopted in response to the economic crisis ultimately could make them happier. New studies of consumption and happiness show, for instance, that people are happier when they spend money on experiences instead of material objects, when they relish what they plan to buy long before they buy it, and when they stop trying to outdo the Joneses.
If consumers end up sticking with their newfound spending habits, some tactics that retailers and marketers began using during the recession could become lasting business strategies. Among those strategies are offering goods that makes being at home more entertaining and trying to make consumers feel special by giving them access to exclusive events and more personal customer service.
While the current round of stinginess may simply be a response to the economic downturn, some analysts say consumers may also be permanently adjusting their spending based on what they‘ve discovered about what truly makes them happy or fulfilled.
"This actually is a topic that hasn‘t been researched very much until recently," says Elizabeth W. Dunn, an associate professor in the psychology department at the University of British Columbia, who is at the forefront of research on consumption and happiness. "There‘s massive literature on income and happiness. It‘s amazing how little there is on how to spend your money."
Studies over the last few decades have shown that money, up to a certain point, makes people happier because it lets them meet basic needs. The latest round of research is, for lack of a better term, all about emotional efficiency: how to reap the most happiness for your dollar.
So just where does happiness reside for consumers? Scholars and researchers haven‘t determined whether Armani will put a bigger smile on your face than Dolce & Gabbana. But they have found that our types of purchases, their size and frequency, and even the timing of the spending all affect long-term happiness.
One major finding is that spending money for an experience - concert tickets, French lessons, sushi-rolling classes, a hotel room in Monaco - produces longer-lasting satisfaction than spending money on plain old stuff.
"It‘s better to go on a vacation than buy a new couch‘ is basically the idea," says Professor Dunn.
Thomas DeLeire, an associate professor at the University of Wisconsin discovered that the only category to be positively related to happiness was leisure: vacations, entertainment, sports and equipment like golf clubs and fishing poles. | 3999.txt | 1 |
[
"Overcoming the economic crisis.",
"Affording anything at any time.",
"Spending money for an experience.",
"Having as much money as other people."
] | What makes consumers happier according to the new studies? | Amid weak job and housing markets, consumers are saving more and spending less than they have in decades, and industry professionals expect that trend to continue. Consumers saved 6.4 percent of their after-tax income in June. Before the recession, the rate was 1 to 2 percent for many years. In June, consumer spending and personal incomes were essentially flat compared with May, suggesting that the American economy, as dependent as it is on shoppers opening their wallets and purses, isn‘t likely to rebound anytime soon.
On the bright side, the practices that consumers have adopted in response to the economic crisis ultimately could make them happier. New studies of consumption and happiness show, for instance, that people are happier when they spend money on experiences instead of material objects, when they relish what they plan to buy long before they buy it, and when they stop trying to outdo the Joneses.
If consumers end up sticking with their newfound spending habits, some tactics that retailers and marketers began using during the recession could become lasting business strategies. Among those strategies are offering goods that makes being at home more entertaining and trying to make consumers feel special by giving them access to exclusive events and more personal customer service.
While the current round of stinginess may simply be a response to the economic downturn, some analysts say consumers may also be permanently adjusting their spending based on what they‘ve discovered about what truly makes them happy or fulfilled.
"This actually is a topic that hasn‘t been researched very much until recently," says Elizabeth W. Dunn, an associate professor in the psychology department at the University of British Columbia, who is at the forefront of research on consumption and happiness. "There‘s massive literature on income and happiness. It‘s amazing how little there is on how to spend your money."
Studies over the last few decades have shown that money, up to a certain point, makes people happier because it lets them meet basic needs. The latest round of research is, for lack of a better term, all about emotional efficiency: how to reap the most happiness for your dollar.
So just where does happiness reside for consumers? Scholars and researchers haven‘t determined whether Armani will put a bigger smile on your face than Dolce & Gabbana. But they have found that our types of purchases, their size and frequency, and even the timing of the spending all affect long-term happiness.
One major finding is that spending money for an experience - concert tickets, French lessons, sushi-rolling classes, a hotel room in Monaco - produces longer-lasting satisfaction than spending money on plain old stuff.
"It‘s better to go on a vacation than buy a new couch‘ is basically the idea," says Professor Dunn.
Thomas DeLeire, an associate professor at the University of Wisconsin discovered that the only category to be positively related to happiness was leisure: vacations, entertainment, sports and equipment like golf clubs and fishing poles. | 3999.txt | 2 |
[
"They will get goods and services much cheaper.",
"It‘s likely that they spend more time indoors.",
"Retailers will change their business strategies.",
"They will enjoy better services and experiences."
] | What will happen if customers keep their spending habits formed in the economic downturn? | Amid weak job and housing markets, consumers are saving more and spending less than they have in decades, and industry professionals expect that trend to continue. Consumers saved 6.4 percent of their after-tax income in June. Before the recession, the rate was 1 to 2 percent for many years. In June, consumer spending and personal incomes were essentially flat compared with May, suggesting that the American economy, as dependent as it is on shoppers opening their wallets and purses, isn‘t likely to rebound anytime soon.
On the bright side, the practices that consumers have adopted in response to the economic crisis ultimately could make them happier. New studies of consumption and happiness show, for instance, that people are happier when they spend money on experiences instead of material objects, when they relish what they plan to buy long before they buy it, and when they stop trying to outdo the Joneses.
If consumers end up sticking with their newfound spending habits, some tactics that retailers and marketers began using during the recession could become lasting business strategies. Among those strategies are offering goods that makes being at home more entertaining and trying to make consumers feel special by giving them access to exclusive events and more personal customer service.
While the current round of stinginess may simply be a response to the economic downturn, some analysts say consumers may also be permanently adjusting their spending based on what they‘ve discovered about what truly makes them happy or fulfilled.
"This actually is a topic that hasn‘t been researched very much until recently," says Elizabeth W. Dunn, an associate professor in the psychology department at the University of British Columbia, who is at the forefront of research on consumption and happiness. "There‘s massive literature on income and happiness. It‘s amazing how little there is on how to spend your money."
Studies over the last few decades have shown that money, up to a certain point, makes people happier because it lets them meet basic needs. The latest round of research is, for lack of a better term, all about emotional efficiency: how to reap the most happiness for your dollar.
So just where does happiness reside for consumers? Scholars and researchers haven‘t determined whether Armani will put a bigger smile on your face than Dolce & Gabbana. But they have found that our types of purchases, their size and frequency, and even the timing of the spending all affect long-term happiness.
One major finding is that spending money for an experience - concert tickets, French lessons, sushi-rolling classes, a hotel room in Monaco - produces longer-lasting satisfaction than spending money on plain old stuff.
"It‘s better to go on a vacation than buy a new couch‘ is basically the idea," says Professor Dunn.
Thomas DeLeire, an associate professor at the University of Wisconsin discovered that the only category to be positively related to happiness was leisure: vacations, entertainment, sports and equipment like golf clubs and fishing poles. | 3999.txt | 3 |
[
"There is little about how to spend money to make people happy.",
"Consumers unconsciously adjust their spending habits to be happy.",
"People started researches on consumption-happiness relationship so early.",
"Happiness is proved to have nothing to do with consumption."
] | What surprises Elizabeth W. Dunn according to the passage? | Amid weak job and housing markets, consumers are saving more and spending less than they have in decades, and industry professionals expect that trend to continue. Consumers saved 6.4 percent of their after-tax income in June. Before the recession, the rate was 1 to 2 percent for many years. In June, consumer spending and personal incomes were essentially flat compared with May, suggesting that the American economy, as dependent as it is on shoppers opening their wallets and purses, isn‘t likely to rebound anytime soon.
On the bright side, the practices that consumers have adopted in response to the economic crisis ultimately could make them happier. New studies of consumption and happiness show, for instance, that people are happier when they spend money on experiences instead of material objects, when they relish what they plan to buy long before they buy it, and when they stop trying to outdo the Joneses.
If consumers end up sticking with their newfound spending habits, some tactics that retailers and marketers began using during the recession could become lasting business strategies. Among those strategies are offering goods that makes being at home more entertaining and trying to make consumers feel special by giving them access to exclusive events and more personal customer service.
While the current round of stinginess may simply be a response to the economic downturn, some analysts say consumers may also be permanently adjusting their spending based on what they‘ve discovered about what truly makes them happy or fulfilled.
"This actually is a topic that hasn‘t been researched very much until recently," says Elizabeth W. Dunn, an associate professor in the psychology department at the University of British Columbia, who is at the forefront of research on consumption and happiness. "There‘s massive literature on income and happiness. It‘s amazing how little there is on how to spend your money."
Studies over the last few decades have shown that money, up to a certain point, makes people happier because it lets them meet basic needs. The latest round of research is, for lack of a better term, all about emotional efficiency: how to reap the most happiness for your dollar.
So just where does happiness reside for consumers? Scholars and researchers haven‘t determined whether Armani will put a bigger smile on your face than Dolce & Gabbana. But they have found that our types of purchases, their size and frequency, and even the timing of the spending all affect long-term happiness.
One major finding is that spending money for an experience - concert tickets, French lessons, sushi-rolling classes, a hotel room in Monaco - produces longer-lasting satisfaction than spending money on plain old stuff.
"It‘s better to go on a vacation than buy a new couch‘ is basically the idea," says Professor Dunn.
Thomas DeLeire, an associate professor at the University of Wisconsin discovered that the only category to be positively related to happiness was leisure: vacations, entertainment, sports and equipment like golf clubs and fishing poles. | 3999.txt | 0 |
[
"richer people feel happier and more satisfied",
"most consumers prefer leading brands like Armani",
"spending on vacations brings long-term happiness",
"people should curb their spending on material things"
] | Scholars such as Prof. Dunn and Prof. DeLeire agree that . | Amid weak job and housing markets, consumers are saving more and spending less than they have in decades, and industry professionals expect that trend to continue. Consumers saved 6.4 percent of their after-tax income in June. Before the recession, the rate was 1 to 2 percent for many years. In June, consumer spending and personal incomes were essentially flat compared with May, suggesting that the American economy, as dependent as it is on shoppers opening their wallets and purses, isn‘t likely to rebound anytime soon.
On the bright side, the practices that consumers have adopted in response to the economic crisis ultimately could make them happier. New studies of consumption and happiness show, for instance, that people are happier when they spend money on experiences instead of material objects, when they relish what they plan to buy long before they buy it, and when they stop trying to outdo the Joneses.
If consumers end up sticking with their newfound spending habits, some tactics that retailers and marketers began using during the recession could become lasting business strategies. Among those strategies are offering goods that makes being at home more entertaining and trying to make consumers feel special by giving them access to exclusive events and more personal customer service.
While the current round of stinginess may simply be a response to the economic downturn, some analysts say consumers may also be permanently adjusting their spending based on what they‘ve discovered about what truly makes them happy or fulfilled.
"This actually is a topic that hasn‘t been researched very much until recently," says Elizabeth W. Dunn, an associate professor in the psychology department at the University of British Columbia, who is at the forefront of research on consumption and happiness. "There‘s massive literature on income and happiness. It‘s amazing how little there is on how to spend your money."
Studies over the last few decades have shown that money, up to a certain point, makes people happier because it lets them meet basic needs. The latest round of research is, for lack of a better term, all about emotional efficiency: how to reap the most happiness for your dollar.
So just where does happiness reside for consumers? Scholars and researchers haven‘t determined whether Armani will put a bigger smile on your face than Dolce & Gabbana. But they have found that our types of purchases, their size and frequency, and even the timing of the spending all affect long-term happiness.
One major finding is that spending money for an experience - concert tickets, French lessons, sushi-rolling classes, a hotel room in Monaco - produces longer-lasting satisfaction than spending money on plain old stuff.
"It‘s better to go on a vacation than buy a new couch‘ is basically the idea," says Professor Dunn.
Thomas DeLeire, an associate professor at the University of Wisconsin discovered that the only category to be positively related to happiness was leisure: vacations, entertainment, sports and equipment like golf clubs and fishing poles. | 3999.txt | 2 |
[
"Both became widely known in the early twentieth century.",
"Both had an important improvisatory element.",
"Both were frequently performed by jazz musicians.",
"Both were published with only a vocal line and piano accompaniment."
] | The passage suggests which of the following about Black gospel music and slave spirituals? | This is not to deny that the Black gospel music of the early twentieth century differed in important ways from the slave spirituals. Whereas spirituals were created and disseminated in folk fashion, gospel music was composed, published, copyrighted, and sold by professionals. Nevertheless, improvisation remained central to gospel music. One has only to listen to the recorded repertoire of gospel songs to realize that Black gospel singers rarely sang a song precisely the same way twice and never according to its exact musical notation. They performed what jazz musicians call "head arrangements" proceeding from their own feelings and from the way "the spirit" moved them at the time. This improvisatory element was reflected in the man- ner in which gospel music was published. Black gospel composers scored the music intended for White singing groups fully, indicating the various vocal parts and the accompaniment, but the music produced for Black singers included only a vocal line and piano accompaniment. | 1911.txt | 1 |
[
"Few composers of gospel music drew on traditions such as the spiritual in creating their songs.",
"Spirituals and Black gospel music were derived from the same musical tradition.",
"The creation and singing of spirituals, practiced by Black Americans before the Civil War, continued after the war.",
"Spirituals and gospel music can be clearly distinguished from one another."
] | Of the following sentences, which is most likely to have immediately preceded the passage? | This is not to deny that the Black gospel music of the early twentieth century differed in important ways from the slave spirituals. Whereas spirituals were created and disseminated in folk fashion, gospel music was composed, published, copyrighted, and sold by professionals. Nevertheless, improvisation remained central to gospel music. One has only to listen to the recorded repertoire of gospel songs to realize that Black gospel singers rarely sang a song precisely the same way twice and never according to its exact musical notation. They performed what jazz musicians call "head arrangements" proceeding from their own feelings and from the way "the spirit" moved them at the time. This improvisatory element was reflected in the man- ner in which gospel music was published. Black gospel composers scored the music intended for White singing groups fully, indicating the various vocal parts and the accompaniment, but the music produced for Black singers included only a vocal line and piano accompaniment. | 1911.txt | 1 |
[
"the justification of the news-filtering practice.",
"people's preference for social media platforms.",
"the administrations ability to handle information.",
"social media was a reliable source of news."
] | According to the Paragraphs 1 and 2, many young Americans cast doubts on | A new survey by Harvard University finds more than two-thirds of young Americans disapprove of President Trump's use of Twitter. The implication is that Millennials prefer news from the White House to be filtered through other source, Not a president's social media platform.
Most Americans rely on social media to check daily headlines. Yet as distrust has risen toward all media, people may be starting to beef up their media literacy skills. Such a trend is badly needed. During the 2016 presidential campaign, nearly a quarter of web content shared by Twitter users in the politically critical state of Michigan was fake news, according to the University of Oxford. And a survey conducted for BuzzFeed News found 44 percent of Facebook users rarely or never trust news from the media giant.
Young people who are digital natives are indeed becoming more skillful at separating fact from fiction in cyberspace. A Knight Foundation focus-group survey of young people between ages 14and24 found they use "distributed trust" to verify stories. They cross-check sources and prefer news from different perspectives-especially those that are open about any bias. "Many young people assume a great deal of personal responsibility for educating themselves and actively seeking out opposing viewpoints," the survey concluded.
Such active research can have another effect. A 2014 survey conducted in Australia, Britain, and the United States by the University of Wisconsin-Madison found that young people's reliance on social media led to greater political engagement.
Social media allows users to experience news events more intimately and immediately while also permitting them to re-share news as a projection of their values and interests. This forces users to be more conscious of their role in passing along information. A survey by Barna research group found the top reason given by Americans for the fake news phenomenon is "reader error," more so than made-up stories or factual mistakes in reporting. About a third say the problem of fake news lies in "misinterpretation or exaggeration of actual news" via social media. In other words, the choice to share news on social media may be the heart of the issue. "This indicates there is a real personal responsibility in counteracting this problem," says Roxanne Stone, editor in chief at Barna Group.
So when young people are critical of an over-tweeting president, they reveal a mental discipline in thinking skills - and in their choices on when to share on social media. | 639.txt | 3 |
[
"sharpen",
"define",
"boast",
"share"
] | The phrase "beer up"(Line 2, Para. 2) is closest in meaning to | A new survey by Harvard University finds more than two-thirds of young Americans disapprove of President Trump's use of Twitter. The implication is that Millennials prefer news from the White House to be filtered through other source, Not a president's social media platform.
Most Americans rely on social media to check daily headlines. Yet as distrust has risen toward all media, people may be starting to beef up their media literacy skills. Such a trend is badly needed. During the 2016 presidential campaign, nearly a quarter of web content shared by Twitter users in the politically critical state of Michigan was fake news, according to the University of Oxford. And a survey conducted for BuzzFeed News found 44 percent of Facebook users rarely or never trust news from the media giant.
Young people who are digital natives are indeed becoming more skillful at separating fact from fiction in cyberspace. A Knight Foundation focus-group survey of young people between ages 14and24 found they use "distributed trust" to verify stories. They cross-check sources and prefer news from different perspectives-especially those that are open about any bias. "Many young people assume a great deal of personal responsibility for educating themselves and actively seeking out opposing viewpoints," the survey concluded.
Such active research can have another effect. A 2014 survey conducted in Australia, Britain, and the United States by the University of Wisconsin-Madison found that young people's reliance on social media led to greater political engagement.
Social media allows users to experience news events more intimately and immediately while also permitting them to re-share news as a projection of their values and interests. This forces users to be more conscious of their role in passing along information. A survey by Barna research group found the top reason given by Americans for the fake news phenomenon is "reader error," more so than made-up stories or factual mistakes in reporting. About a third say the problem of fake news lies in "misinterpretation or exaggeration of actual news" via social media. In other words, the choice to share news on social media may be the heart of the issue. "This indicates there is a real personal responsibility in counteracting this problem," says Roxanne Stone, editor in chief at Barna Group.
So when young people are critical of an over-tweeting president, they reveal a mental discipline in thinking skills - and in their choices on when to share on social media. | 639.txt | 2 |
[
"tend to voice their opinions in cyberspace.",
"verify news by referring to diverse resources.",
"have s strong sense of responsibility.",
"like to exchange views on \"distributed trust\""
] | According to the knight foundation survey, young people | A new survey by Harvard University finds more than two-thirds of young Americans disapprove of President Trump's use of Twitter. The implication is that Millennials prefer news from the White House to be filtered through other source, Not a president's social media platform.
Most Americans rely on social media to check daily headlines. Yet as distrust has risen toward all media, people may be starting to beef up their media literacy skills. Such a trend is badly needed. During the 2016 presidential campaign, nearly a quarter of web content shared by Twitter users in the politically critical state of Michigan was fake news, according to the University of Oxford. And a survey conducted for BuzzFeed News found 44 percent of Facebook users rarely or never trust news from the media giant.
Young people who are digital natives are indeed becoming more skillful at separating fact from fiction in cyberspace. A Knight Foundation focus-group survey of young people between ages 14and24 found they use "distributed trust" to verify stories. They cross-check sources and prefer news from different perspectives-especially those that are open about any bias. "Many young people assume a great deal of personal responsibility for educating themselves and actively seeking out opposing viewpoints," the survey concluded.
Such active research can have another effect. A 2014 survey conducted in Australia, Britain, and the United States by the University of Wisconsin-Madison found that young people's reliance on social media led to greater political engagement.
Social media allows users to experience news events more intimately and immediately while also permitting them to re-share news as a projection of their values and interests. This forces users to be more conscious of their role in passing along information. A survey by Barna research group found the top reason given by Americans for the fake news phenomenon is "reader error," more so than made-up stories or factual mistakes in reporting. About a third say the problem of fake news lies in "misinterpretation or exaggeration of actual news" via social media. In other words, the choice to share news on social media may be the heart of the issue. "This indicates there is a real personal responsibility in counteracting this problem," says Roxanne Stone, editor in chief at Barna Group.
So when young people are critical of an over-tweeting president, they reveal a mental discipline in thinking skills - and in their choices on when to share on social media. | 639.txt | 0 |
[
"readers outdated values.",
"journalists' biased reporting",
"readers' misinterpretation",
"journalists' made-up stories."
] | The Barna survey found that a main cause for the fake news problem is | A new survey by Harvard University finds more than two-thirds of young Americans disapprove of President Trump's use of Twitter. The implication is that Millennials prefer news from the White House to be filtered through other source, Not a president's social media platform.
Most Americans rely on social media to check daily headlines. Yet as distrust has risen toward all media, people may be starting to beef up their media literacy skills. Such a trend is badly needed. During the 2016 presidential campaign, nearly a quarter of web content shared by Twitter users in the politically critical state of Michigan was fake news, according to the University of Oxford. And a survey conducted for BuzzFeed News found 44 percent of Facebook users rarely or never trust news from the media giant.
Young people who are digital natives are indeed becoming more skillful at separating fact from fiction in cyberspace. A Knight Foundation focus-group survey of young people between ages 14and24 found they use "distributed trust" to verify stories. They cross-check sources and prefer news from different perspectives-especially those that are open about any bias. "Many young people assume a great deal of personal responsibility for educating themselves and actively seeking out opposing viewpoints," the survey concluded.
Such active research can have another effect. A 2014 survey conducted in Australia, Britain, and the United States by the University of Wisconsin-Madison found that young people's reliance on social media led to greater political engagement.
Social media allows users to experience news events more intimately and immediately while also permitting them to re-share news as a projection of their values and interests. This forces users to be more conscious of their role in passing along information. A survey by Barna research group found the top reason given by Americans for the fake news phenomenon is "reader error," more so than made-up stories or factual mistakes in reporting. About a third say the problem of fake news lies in "misinterpretation or exaggeration of actual news" via social media. In other words, the choice to share news on social media may be the heart of the issue. "This indicates there is a real personal responsibility in counteracting this problem," says Roxanne Stone, editor in chief at Barna Group.
So when young people are critical of an over-tweeting president, they reveal a mental discipline in thinking skills - and in their choices on when to share on social media. | 639.txt | 3 |
[
"A Rise in Critical Skills for Sharing News Online",
"A Counteraction Against the Over-tweeting Trend",
"The Accumulation of Mutual Trust on Social Media.",
"The Platforms for Projection of Personal Interests."
] | Which of the following would be the best title for the text? | A new survey by Harvard University finds more than two-thirds of young Americans disapprove of President Trump's use of Twitter. The implication is that Millennials prefer news from the White House to be filtered through other source, Not a president's social media platform.
Most Americans rely on social media to check daily headlines. Yet as distrust has risen toward all media, people may be starting to beef up their media literacy skills. Such a trend is badly needed. During the 2016 presidential campaign, nearly a quarter of web content shared by Twitter users in the politically critical state of Michigan was fake news, according to the University of Oxford. And a survey conducted for BuzzFeed News found 44 percent of Facebook users rarely or never trust news from the media giant.
Young people who are digital natives are indeed becoming more skillful at separating fact from fiction in cyberspace. A Knight Foundation focus-group survey of young people between ages 14and24 found they use "distributed trust" to verify stories. They cross-check sources and prefer news from different perspectives-especially those that are open about any bias. "Many young people assume a great deal of personal responsibility for educating themselves and actively seeking out opposing viewpoints," the survey concluded.
Such active research can have another effect. A 2014 survey conducted in Australia, Britain, and the United States by the University of Wisconsin-Madison found that young people's reliance on social media led to greater political engagement.
Social media allows users to experience news events more intimately and immediately while also permitting them to re-share news as a projection of their values and interests. This forces users to be more conscious of their role in passing along information. A survey by Barna research group found the top reason given by Americans for the fake news phenomenon is "reader error," more so than made-up stories or factual mistakes in reporting. About a third say the problem of fake news lies in "misinterpretation or exaggeration of actual news" via social media. In other words, the choice to share news on social media may be the heart of the issue. "This indicates there is a real personal responsibility in counteracting this problem," says Roxanne Stone, editor in chief at Barna Group.
So when young people are critical of an over-tweeting president, they reveal a mental discipline in thinking skills - and in their choices on when to share on social media. | 639.txt | 1 |
[
"They have forced white storks to search for safer winter shelters.",
"They have seriously polluted the places where birds spend winter.",
"They have accelerated the reproduction of some harmful insects.",
"They have changed the previous migration habits of certain birds."
] | What is the impact of rubbish dumps on wildlife? | Massive rubbish dumps and sprawling landfills constitute one of the more uncomfortable impacts that humans have on wildlife. They have led some birds to give up on migration. Instead of flying thousands of miles in search of food, they make the waste sites their winter feeding grounds.
Researchers in Germany used miniature GPS tags to track the migrations of 70 white storks from different sites across Europe and Asia during the first five months of their lives. While many birds travelled along well-known routes to warmer climates, others stopped short and spent the winter on landfills, feeding on food waste, and the multitudes of insects that thrive on the dumps.
In the short-term, the birds seem to benefit from overwintering on rubbish dumps. Andrea Flack of the Max Planck Institute found that birds following traditional migration routes were more likely to die than German storks that flew only as far as northern Morocco, and spent the winter there on rubbish dumps. "For the birds it's a very convenient way to get food. There are huge clusters of organic waste they can feed on," said Flack. The meals are not particularly appetising, or even safe. Much of the waste is discarded rotten meat, mixed in with other human debris such as plastic bags and old toys.
"It's very risky. The birds can easily eat pieces of plastic or rubber bands and they can die," said Flack. "And we don't know about the long-term consequences. They might eat something toxic and damage their health. We cannot estimate that yet."
The scientists tracked white storks from different colonies in Europe and Africa. The Russian, Greek and Polish storks flew as far as South Africa, while those from Spain, Tunisia and Germany flew only as far as the Sahel.
Landfill sites on the Iberian peninsula have long attracted local white storks, but all of the Spanish birds tagged in the study flew across the Sahara desert to the western Sahel. Writing in the journal, the scientists describe how the storks from Germany were clearly affected by the presence of waste sites, with four out of six birds that survived for at least five months overwintering on rubbish dumps in northern Morocco, instead of migrating to the Sahel.
Flack said it was too early to know whether the benefits of plentiful food outweighed the risks of feeding on landfills. But that's not the only uncertainty. Migrating birds affect ecosystems both at home and at their winter destinations, and disrupting the traditional routes could have unexpected side effects. White storks feed on locusts and other insects that can become pests if their numbers get out of hand. "They provide a useful service," said Flack. | 1921.txt | 3 |
[
"They can multiply at an accelerating rate.",
"They can better pull through the winter.",
"They help humans kill harmful insects.",
"They are more likely to be at risk of dying."
] | What do we learn about birds following the traditional migration routes? | Massive rubbish dumps and sprawling landfills constitute one of the more uncomfortable impacts that humans have on wildlife. They have led some birds to give up on migration. Instead of flying thousands of miles in search of food, they make the waste sites their winter feeding grounds.
Researchers in Germany used miniature GPS tags to track the migrations of 70 white storks from different sites across Europe and Asia during the first five months of their lives. While many birds travelled along well-known routes to warmer climates, others stopped short and spent the winter on landfills, feeding on food waste, and the multitudes of insects that thrive on the dumps.
In the short-term, the birds seem to benefit from overwintering on rubbish dumps. Andrea Flack of the Max Planck Institute found that birds following traditional migration routes were more likely to die than German storks that flew only as far as northern Morocco, and spent the winter there on rubbish dumps. "For the birds it's a very convenient way to get food. There are huge clusters of organic waste they can feed on," said Flack. The meals are not particularly appetising, or even safe. Much of the waste is discarded rotten meat, mixed in with other human debris such as plastic bags and old toys.
"It's very risky. The birds can easily eat pieces of plastic or rubber bands and they can die," said Flack. "And we don't know about the long-term consequences. They might eat something toxic and damage their health. We cannot estimate that yet."
The scientists tracked white storks from different colonies in Europe and Africa. The Russian, Greek and Polish storks flew as far as South Africa, while those from Spain, Tunisia and Germany flew only as far as the Sahel.
Landfill sites on the Iberian peninsula have long attracted local white storks, but all of the Spanish birds tagged in the study flew across the Sahara desert to the western Sahel. Writing in the journal, the scientists describe how the storks from Germany were clearly affected by the presence of waste sites, with four out of six birds that survived for at least five months overwintering on rubbish dumps in northern Morocco, instead of migrating to the Sahel.
Flack said it was too early to know whether the benefits of plentiful food outweighed the risks of feeding on landfills. But that's not the only uncertainty. Migrating birds affect ecosystems both at home and at their winter destinations, and disrupting the traditional routes could have unexpected side effects. White storks feed on locusts and other insects that can become pests if their numbers get out of hand. "They provide a useful service," said Flack. | 1921.txt | 3 |
[
"They may end up staying there permanently.",
"They may eat something harmful.",
"They may evolve new feeding habits.",
"They may have trouble getting adequate food."
] | What does Andrea Flack say about the birds overwintering on rubbish dumps? | Massive rubbish dumps and sprawling landfills constitute one of the more uncomfortable impacts that humans have on wildlife. They have led some birds to give up on migration. Instead of flying thousands of miles in search of food, they make the waste sites their winter feeding grounds.
Researchers in Germany used miniature GPS tags to track the migrations of 70 white storks from different sites across Europe and Asia during the first five months of their lives. While many birds travelled along well-known routes to warmer climates, others stopped short and spent the winter on landfills, feeding on food waste, and the multitudes of insects that thrive on the dumps.
In the short-term, the birds seem to benefit from overwintering on rubbish dumps. Andrea Flack of the Max Planck Institute found that birds following traditional migration routes were more likely to die than German storks that flew only as far as northern Morocco, and spent the winter there on rubbish dumps. "For the birds it's a very convenient way to get food. There are huge clusters of organic waste they can feed on," said Flack. The meals are not particularly appetising, or even safe. Much of the waste is discarded rotten meat, mixed in with other human debris such as plastic bags and old toys.
"It's very risky. The birds can easily eat pieces of plastic or rubber bands and they can die," said Flack. "And we don't know about the long-term consequences. They might eat something toxic and damage their health. We cannot estimate that yet."
The scientists tracked white storks from different colonies in Europe and Africa. The Russian, Greek and Polish storks flew as far as South Africa, while those from Spain, Tunisia and Germany flew only as far as the Sahel.
Landfill sites on the Iberian peninsula have long attracted local white storks, but all of the Spanish birds tagged in the study flew across the Sahara desert to the western Sahel. Writing in the journal, the scientists describe how the storks from Germany were clearly affected by the presence of waste sites, with four out of six birds that survived for at least five months overwintering on rubbish dumps in northern Morocco, instead of migrating to the Sahel.
Flack said it was too early to know whether the benefits of plentiful food outweighed the risks of feeding on landfills. But that's not the only uncertainty. Migrating birds affect ecosystems both at home and at their winter destinations, and disrupting the traditional routes could have unexpected side effects. White storks feed on locusts and other insects that can become pests if their numbers get out of hand. "They provide a useful service," said Flack. | 1921.txt | 1 |
[
"They gradually lose the habit of migrating in winter.",
"They prefer rubbish dumps far away to those at home.",
"They are not attracted to the rubbish dumps on their migration routes.",
"They join the storks from Germany on rubbish dumps in Morocco."
] | What can be inferred about the Spanish birds tagged in the study? | Massive rubbish dumps and sprawling landfills constitute one of the more uncomfortable impacts that humans have on wildlife. They have led some birds to give up on migration. Instead of flying thousands of miles in search of food, they make the waste sites their winter feeding grounds.
Researchers in Germany used miniature GPS tags to track the migrations of 70 white storks from different sites across Europe and Asia during the first five months of their lives. While many birds travelled along well-known routes to warmer climates, others stopped short and spent the winter on landfills, feeding on food waste, and the multitudes of insects that thrive on the dumps.
In the short-term, the birds seem to benefit from overwintering on rubbish dumps. Andrea Flack of the Max Planck Institute found that birds following traditional migration routes were more likely to die than German storks that flew only as far as northern Morocco, and spent the winter there on rubbish dumps. "For the birds it's a very convenient way to get food. There are huge clusters of organic waste they can feed on," said Flack. The meals are not particularly appetising, or even safe. Much of the waste is discarded rotten meat, mixed in with other human debris such as plastic bags and old toys.
"It's very risky. The birds can easily eat pieces of plastic or rubber bands and they can die," said Flack. "And we don't know about the long-term consequences. They might eat something toxic and damage their health. We cannot estimate that yet."
The scientists tracked white storks from different colonies in Europe and Africa. The Russian, Greek and Polish storks flew as far as South Africa, while those from Spain, Tunisia and Germany flew only as far as the Sahel.
Landfill sites on the Iberian peninsula have long attracted local white storks, but all of the Spanish birds tagged in the study flew across the Sahara desert to the western Sahel. Writing in the journal, the scientists describe how the storks from Germany were clearly affected by the presence of waste sites, with four out of six birds that survived for at least five months overwintering on rubbish dumps in northern Morocco, instead of migrating to the Sahel.
Flack said it was too early to know whether the benefits of plentiful food outweighed the risks of feeding on landfills. But that's not the only uncertainty. Migrating birds affect ecosystems both at home and at their winter destinations, and disrupting the traditional routes could have unexpected side effects. White storks feed on locusts and other insects that can become pests if their numbers get out of hand. "They provide a useful service," said Flack. | 1921.txt | 2 |
[
"The potential harm to the ecosystem.",
"The genetic change in the stork species.",
"The spread of epidemics to their homeland.",
"The damaging effect on bio-diversity."
] | What is scientists' other concern about white storks feeding on landfills? | Massive rubbish dumps and sprawling landfills constitute one of the more uncomfortable impacts that humans have on wildlife. They have led some birds to give up on migration. Instead of flying thousands of miles in search of food, they make the waste sites their winter feeding grounds.
Researchers in Germany used miniature GPS tags to track the migrations of 70 white storks from different sites across Europe and Asia during the first five months of their lives. While many birds travelled along well-known routes to warmer climates, others stopped short and spent the winter on landfills, feeding on food waste, and the multitudes of insects that thrive on the dumps.
In the short-term, the birds seem to benefit from overwintering on rubbish dumps. Andrea Flack of the Max Planck Institute found that birds following traditional migration routes were more likely to die than German storks that flew only as far as northern Morocco, and spent the winter there on rubbish dumps. "For the birds it's a very convenient way to get food. There are huge clusters of organic waste they can feed on," said Flack. The meals are not particularly appetising, or even safe. Much of the waste is discarded rotten meat, mixed in with other human debris such as plastic bags and old toys.
"It's very risky. The birds can easily eat pieces of plastic or rubber bands and they can die," said Flack. "And we don't know about the long-term consequences. They might eat something toxic and damage their health. We cannot estimate that yet."
The scientists tracked white storks from different colonies in Europe and Africa. The Russian, Greek and Polish storks flew as far as South Africa, while those from Spain, Tunisia and Germany flew only as far as the Sahel.
Landfill sites on the Iberian peninsula have long attracted local white storks, but all of the Spanish birds tagged in the study flew across the Sahara desert to the western Sahel. Writing in the journal, the scientists describe how the storks from Germany were clearly affected by the presence of waste sites, with four out of six birds that survived for at least five months overwintering on rubbish dumps in northern Morocco, instead of migrating to the Sahel.
Flack said it was too early to know whether the benefits of plentiful food outweighed the risks of feeding on landfills. But that's not the only uncertainty. Migrating birds affect ecosystems both at home and at their winter destinations, and disrupting the traditional routes could have unexpected side effects. White storks feed on locusts and other insects that can become pests if their numbers get out of hand. "They provide a useful service," said Flack. | 1921.txt | 0 |
[
"birds prepare for breeding",
"bird feathers differ from species",
"birds shed and replace their feathers",
"birds are affected by seasonal changes"
] | The passage mainly discusses how | Molting is one of the most involved processes of a bird's annual life cycle. Notwithstanding preening and constant care, the marvelously intricate structure of a bird's feather inevitably wears out. All adult birds molt their feathers at least once a year, and upon close observation, one can recognize the frayed, ragged appearance of feathers that are nearing the end of their useful life. Two distinct processes are involved in molting. The first step is when the old, worn feather is dropped, or shed. The second is when a new feather grows in its place. When each feather has been shed and replaced, then the molt can be said to be complete. This, however, is an abstraction that often does not happen: incomplete, overlapping, and arrested molts are quite common.
Molt requires that a bird find and process enough protein to rebuild approximately one-third of its body weight. It is not surprising that a bird in heavy molt often seems listless and unwell. But far from being random, molt is controlled by strong evolutionary forces that have established an optimal time and duration. Generally, molt occurs at the time of least stress on the bird. Many songbirds, for instance, molt in late summer, when the hard work of breeding is done but the weather is still warm and food still plentiful. This is why the woods in late summer often seem so quiet, when compared with the exuberant choruses of spring.
Molt of the flight feathers is the most highly organized part of the process. Some species, for example, begin by dropping the outermost primary feathers on each side (to retain balance in the air) and wait until the replacement feathers are about one-third grown before shedding the next outermost, and so on. Others always start with the innermost primary feathers and work outward. Yet other species begin in the middle and work outward on both sides. Most ducks shed their wing feathers at once, and remain flightless for two or three weeks while the replacement feathers grow. | 356.txt | 2 |
[
"despite",
"because of",
"instead of",
"regarding"
] | The word "Notwithstanding" in line 2 is closest in meaning to | Molting is one of the most involved processes of a bird's annual life cycle. Notwithstanding preening and constant care, the marvelously intricate structure of a bird's feather inevitably wears out. All adult birds molt their feathers at least once a year, and upon close observation, one can recognize the frayed, ragged appearance of feathers that are nearing the end of their useful life. Two distinct processes are involved in molting. The first step is when the old, worn feather is dropped, or shed. The second is when a new feather grows in its place. When each feather has been shed and replaced, then the molt can be said to be complete. This, however, is an abstraction that often does not happen: incomplete, overlapping, and arrested molts are quite common.
Molt requires that a bird find and process enough protein to rebuild approximately one-third of its body weight. It is not surprising that a bird in heavy molt often seems listless and unwell. But far from being random, molt is controlled by strong evolutionary forces that have established an optimal time and duration. Generally, molt occurs at the time of least stress on the bird. Many songbirds, for instance, molt in late summer, when the hard work of breeding is done but the weather is still warm and food still plentiful. This is why the woods in late summer often seem so quiet, when compared with the exuberant choruses of spring.
Molt of the flight feathers is the most highly organized part of the process. Some species, for example, begin by dropping the outermost primary feathers on each side (to retain balance in the air) and wait until the replacement feathers are about one-third grown before shedding the next outermost, and so on. Others always start with the innermost primary feathers and work outward. Yet other species begin in the middle and work outward on both sides. Most ducks shed their wing feathers at once, and remain flightless for two or three weeks while the replacement feathers grow. | 356.txt | 0 |
[
"regular",
"complex",
"interesting",
"important"
] | The word "intricate" in line 2 is closest in meaning to | Molting is one of the most involved processes of a bird's annual life cycle. Notwithstanding preening and constant care, the marvelously intricate structure of a bird's feather inevitably wears out. All adult birds molt their feathers at least once a year, and upon close observation, one can recognize the frayed, ragged appearance of feathers that are nearing the end of their useful life. Two distinct processes are involved in molting. The first step is when the old, worn feather is dropped, or shed. The second is when a new feather grows in its place. When each feather has been shed and replaced, then the molt can be said to be complete. This, however, is an abstraction that often does not happen: incomplete, overlapping, and arrested molts are quite common.
Molt requires that a bird find and process enough protein to rebuild approximately one-third of its body weight. It is not surprising that a bird in heavy molt often seems listless and unwell. But far from being random, molt is controlled by strong evolutionary forces that have established an optimal time and duration. Generally, molt occurs at the time of least stress on the bird. Many songbirds, for instance, molt in late summer, when the hard work of breeding is done but the weather is still warm and food still plentiful. This is why the woods in late summer often seem so quiet, when compared with the exuberant choruses of spring.
Molt of the flight feathers is the most highly organized part of the process. Some species, for example, begin by dropping the outermost primary feathers on each side (to retain balance in the air) and wait until the replacement feathers are about one-third grown before shedding the next outermost, and so on. Others always start with the innermost primary feathers and work outward. Yet other species begin in the middle and work outward on both sides. Most ducks shed their wing feathers at once, and remain flightless for two or three weeks while the replacement feathers grow. | 356.txt | 1 |
[
"unfortunate",
"unusual",
"unobservable",
"unpredictable"
] | The word "random" in line 12 is closest in meaning to | Molting is one of the most involved processes of a bird's annual life cycle. Notwithstanding preening and constant care, the marvelously intricate structure of a bird's feather inevitably wears out. All adult birds molt their feathers at least once a year, and upon close observation, one can recognize the frayed, ragged appearance of feathers that are nearing the end of their useful life. Two distinct processes are involved in molting. The first step is when the old, worn feather is dropped, or shed. The second is when a new feather grows in its place. When each feather has been shed and replaced, then the molt can be said to be complete. This, however, is an abstraction that often does not happen: incomplete, overlapping, and arrested molts are quite common.
Molt requires that a bird find and process enough protein to rebuild approximately one-third of its body weight. It is not surprising that a bird in heavy molt often seems listless and unwell. But far from being random, molt is controlled by strong evolutionary forces that have established an optimal time and duration. Generally, molt occurs at the time of least stress on the bird. Many songbirds, for instance, molt in late summer, when the hard work of breeding is done but the weather is still warm and food still plentiful. This is why the woods in late summer often seem so quiet, when compared with the exuberant choruses of spring.
Molt of the flight feathers is the most highly organized part of the process. Some species, for example, begin by dropping the outermost primary feathers on each side (to retain balance in the air) and wait until the replacement feathers are about one-third grown before shedding the next outermost, and so on. Others always start with the innermost primary feathers and work outward. Yet other species begin in the middle and work outward on both sides. Most ducks shed their wing feathers at once, and remain flightless for two or three weeks while the replacement feathers grow. | 356.txt | 3 |
[
"slow",
"frequent",
"best",
"early"
] | The word "optimal" in line 13 is closest in meaning to | Molting is one of the most involved processes of a bird's annual life cycle. Notwithstanding preening and constant care, the marvelously intricate structure of a bird's feather inevitably wears out. All adult birds molt their feathers at least once a year, and upon close observation, one can recognize the frayed, ragged appearance of feathers that are nearing the end of their useful life. Two distinct processes are involved in molting. The first step is when the old, worn feather is dropped, or shed. The second is when a new feather grows in its place. When each feather has been shed and replaced, then the molt can be said to be complete. This, however, is an abstraction that often does not happen: incomplete, overlapping, and arrested molts are quite common.
Molt requires that a bird find and process enough protein to rebuild approximately one-third of its body weight. It is not surprising that a bird in heavy molt often seems listless and unwell. But far from being random, molt is controlled by strong evolutionary forces that have established an optimal time and duration. Generally, molt occurs at the time of least stress on the bird. Many songbirds, for instance, molt in late summer, when the hard work of breeding is done but the weather is still warm and food still plentiful. This is why the woods in late summer often seem so quiet, when compared with the exuberant choruses of spring.
Molt of the flight feathers is the most highly organized part of the process. Some species, for example, begin by dropping the outermost primary feathers on each side (to retain balance in the air) and wait until the replacement feathers are about one-third grown before shedding the next outermost, and so on. Others always start with the innermost primary feathers and work outward. Yet other species begin in the middle and work outward on both sides. Most ducks shed their wing feathers at once, and remain flightless for two or three weeks while the replacement feathers grow. | 356.txt | 2 |
[
"Fewer predators are in the woods.",
"The weathers are still warm.",
"The songbirds have finished breeding.",
"Food is still available."
] | Which of the following is NOT mentioned as a reason that songbirds molt in the late summer? | Molting is one of the most involved processes of a bird's annual life cycle. Notwithstanding preening and constant care, the marvelously intricate structure of a bird's feather inevitably wears out. All adult birds molt their feathers at least once a year, and upon close observation, one can recognize the frayed, ragged appearance of feathers that are nearing the end of their useful life. Two distinct processes are involved in molting. The first step is when the old, worn feather is dropped, or shed. The second is when a new feather grows in its place. When each feather has been shed and replaced, then the molt can be said to be complete. This, however, is an abstraction that often does not happen: incomplete, overlapping, and arrested molts are quite common.
Molt requires that a bird find and process enough protein to rebuild approximately one-third of its body weight. It is not surprising that a bird in heavy molt often seems listless and unwell. But far from being random, molt is controlled by strong evolutionary forces that have established an optimal time and duration. Generally, molt occurs at the time of least stress on the bird. Many songbirds, for instance, molt in late summer, when the hard work of breeding is done but the weather is still warm and food still plentiful. This is why the woods in late summer often seem so quiet, when compared with the exuberant choruses of spring.
Molt of the flight feathers is the most highly organized part of the process. Some species, for example, begin by dropping the outermost primary feathers on each side (to retain balance in the air) and wait until the replacement feathers are about one-third grown before shedding the next outermost, and so on. Others always start with the innermost primary feathers and work outward. Yet other species begin in the middle and work outward on both sides. Most ducks shed their wing feathers at once, and remain flightless for two or three weeks while the replacement feathers grow. | 356.txt | 0 |
[
"constantly preening and caring for their remaining feathers",
"dropping flight feathers on both sides at the same time",
"adjusting the angle of their flight to compensate for lost feathers",
"only losing one-third of their feathers"
] | Some birds that are molting maintain balance during flight by | Molting is one of the most involved processes of a bird's annual life cycle. Notwithstanding preening and constant care, the marvelously intricate structure of a bird's feather inevitably wears out. All adult birds molt their feathers at least once a year, and upon close observation, one can recognize the frayed, ragged appearance of feathers that are nearing the end of their useful life. Two distinct processes are involved in molting. The first step is when the old, worn feather is dropped, or shed. The second is when a new feather grows in its place. When each feather has been shed and replaced, then the molt can be said to be complete. This, however, is an abstraction that often does not happen: incomplete, overlapping, and arrested molts are quite common.
Molt requires that a bird find and process enough protein to rebuild approximately one-third of its body weight. It is not surprising that a bird in heavy molt often seems listless and unwell. But far from being random, molt is controlled by strong evolutionary forces that have established an optimal time and duration. Generally, molt occurs at the time of least stress on the bird. Many songbirds, for instance, molt in late summer, when the hard work of breeding is done but the weather is still warm and food still plentiful. This is why the woods in late summer often seem so quiet, when compared with the exuberant choruses of spring.
Molt of the flight feathers is the most highly organized part of the process. Some species, for example, begin by dropping the outermost primary feathers on each side (to retain balance in the air) and wait until the replacement feathers are about one-third grown before shedding the next outermost, and so on. Others always start with the innermost primary feathers and work outward. Yet other species begin in the middle and work outward on both sides. Most ducks shed their wing feathers at once, and remain flightless for two or three weeks while the replacement feathers grow. | 356.txt | 1 |
[
"ducks",
"sides",
"species",
"flight feathers"
] | The word "Others" in line 21 refers to | Molting is one of the most involved processes of a bird's annual life cycle. Notwithstanding preening and constant care, the marvelously intricate structure of a bird's feather inevitably wears out. All adult birds molt their feathers at least once a year, and upon close observation, one can recognize the frayed, ragged appearance of feathers that are nearing the end of their useful life. Two distinct processes are involved in molting. The first step is when the old, worn feather is dropped, or shed. The second is when a new feather grows in its place. When each feather has been shed and replaced, then the molt can be said to be complete. This, however, is an abstraction that often does not happen: incomplete, overlapping, and arrested molts are quite common.
Molt requires that a bird find and process enough protein to rebuild approximately one-third of its body weight. It is not surprising that a bird in heavy molt often seems listless and unwell. But far from being random, molt is controlled by strong evolutionary forces that have established an optimal time and duration. Generally, molt occurs at the time of least stress on the bird. Many songbirds, for instance, molt in late summer, when the hard work of breeding is done but the weather is still warm and food still plentiful. This is why the woods in late summer often seem so quiet, when compared with the exuberant choruses of spring.
Molt of the flight feathers is the most highly organized part of the process. Some species, for example, begin by dropping the outermost primary feathers on each side (to retain balance in the air) and wait until the replacement feathers are about one-third grown before shedding the next outermost, and so on. Others always start with the innermost primary feathers and work outward. Yet other species begin in the middle and work outward on both sides. Most ducks shed their wing feathers at once, and remain flightless for two or three weeks while the replacement feathers grow. | 356.txt | 2 |
[
"grow replacement feathers that are very long",
"shed all their wing feathers at one time",
"keep their innermost feathers",
"shed their outermost feathers first"
] | The author discusses ducks in order to provide an example of birds that | Molting is one of the most involved processes of a bird's annual life cycle. Notwithstanding preening and constant care, the marvelously intricate structure of a bird's feather inevitably wears out. All adult birds molt their feathers at least once a year, and upon close observation, one can recognize the frayed, ragged appearance of feathers that are nearing the end of their useful life. Two distinct processes are involved in molting. The first step is when the old, worn feather is dropped, or shed. The second is when a new feather grows in its place. When each feather has been shed and replaced, then the molt can be said to be complete. This, however, is an abstraction that often does not happen: incomplete, overlapping, and arrested molts are quite common.
Molt requires that a bird find and process enough protein to rebuild approximately one-third of its body weight. It is not surprising that a bird in heavy molt often seems listless and unwell. But far from being random, molt is controlled by strong evolutionary forces that have established an optimal time and duration. Generally, molt occurs at the time of least stress on the bird. Many songbirds, for instance, molt in late summer, when the hard work of breeding is done but the weather is still warm and food still plentiful. This is why the woods in late summer often seem so quiet, when compared with the exuberant choruses of spring.
Molt of the flight feathers is the most highly organized part of the process. Some species, for example, begin by dropping the outermost primary feathers on each side (to retain balance in the air) and wait until the replacement feathers are about one-third grown before shedding the next outermost, and so on. Others always start with the innermost primary feathers and work outward. Yet other species begin in the middle and work outward on both sides. Most ducks shed their wing feathers at once, and remain flightless for two or three weeks while the replacement feathers grow. | 356.txt | 1 |
[
"a year",
"a season",
"several months",
"a few weeks"
] | It can be inferred from the discussion about ducks that the molting of their flight feathers takes | Molting is one of the most involved processes of a bird's annual life cycle. Notwithstanding preening and constant care, the marvelously intricate structure of a bird's feather inevitably wears out. All adult birds molt their feathers at least once a year, and upon close observation, one can recognize the frayed, ragged appearance of feathers that are nearing the end of their useful life. Two distinct processes are involved in molting. The first step is when the old, worn feather is dropped, or shed. The second is when a new feather grows in its place. When each feather has been shed and replaced, then the molt can be said to be complete. This, however, is an abstraction that often does not happen: incomplete, overlapping, and arrested molts are quite common.
Molt requires that a bird find and process enough protein to rebuild approximately one-third of its body weight. It is not surprising that a bird in heavy molt often seems listless and unwell. But far from being random, molt is controlled by strong evolutionary forces that have established an optimal time and duration. Generally, molt occurs at the time of least stress on the bird. Many songbirds, for instance, molt in late summer, when the hard work of breeding is done but the weather is still warm and food still plentiful. This is why the woods in late summer often seem so quiet, when compared with the exuberant choruses of spring.
Molt of the flight feathers is the most highly organized part of the process. Some species, for example, begin by dropping the outermost primary feathers on each side (to retain balance in the air) and wait until the replacement feathers are about one-third grown before shedding the next outermost, and so on. Others always start with the innermost primary feathers and work outward. Yet other species begin in the middle and work outward on both sides. Most ducks shed their wing feathers at once, and remain flightless for two or three weeks while the replacement feathers grow. | 356.txt | 3 |
[
"solve the threat of world famine",
"ease international tension",
"defeat world champion chess player",
"work out solutions to the industrial problems"
] | According to the passage, computers cannot be used to _ . | Computers are now employed in an increasing number of fields in our daily life. Computers have been taught to play not only checkers, but also championship chess, which is a fairly accurate yardstick for measuring the computer's progress in the ability to learn from experience.
Because the game requires logical reasoning, chess would seem to be perfectly suited to the computer. All a programmer has to do is to give the computer a program evaluating the consequences of every possible response to every possible move, and the computer will win every time. In theory this is a sensible approach; in practice it is impossible. Today, a powerful computer can analyze 40,000 moves a second. That is an impressive speed. But there are an astronomical number of possible moves in chess-literally trillions. Even if such a program were written (and in theory it could be, given enough people and enough time), there is no computer capable of holding that much data.
Therefore, if the computer is to compete at championship levels, it must be programmed to function with less than complete data. It must be able to learn from experience, to modify its own program, to deal with a relatively unstructured situation-in a word, to "think" for itself. In fact, this can be done. Chess-playing computers have yet to defeat world champion chess players, but several have beaten human players of only slightly lower ranks. The computers have had programs to carry them through the early, mechanical stages of their chess games. But they have gone on from there to reason and learn, and sometimes to win the game.
There are other proofs that computers can be programmed to learn, but this example is sufficient to demonstrate the point. Granted, winning a game of chess is not an earthshaking event even when a computer does it. But there are many serious human problems, which can be fruitfully approached as games. The Defense Department uses computers to play war games and work out strategies for dealing with international tensions. Other problems-international and interpersonal relations, ecology and economics, and the ever-increasing threat of world famine can perhaps be solved by the joint efforts of human beings and truly intelligent computers. | 2662.txt | 3 |
[
"playing chess shows computer's program has been developed into a new stage",
"it is practically possible now that computer can win every chess game now",
"computers even with less than complete data can be programmed to defeat the world champion chess player",
"computers can be programmed to play and reason but not learn"
] | In the author's opinion, _ . | Computers are now employed in an increasing number of fields in our daily life. Computers have been taught to play not only checkers, but also championship chess, which is a fairly accurate yardstick for measuring the computer's progress in the ability to learn from experience.
Because the game requires logical reasoning, chess would seem to be perfectly suited to the computer. All a programmer has to do is to give the computer a program evaluating the consequences of every possible response to every possible move, and the computer will win every time. In theory this is a sensible approach; in practice it is impossible. Today, a powerful computer can analyze 40,000 moves a second. That is an impressive speed. But there are an astronomical number of possible moves in chess-literally trillions. Even if such a program were written (and in theory it could be, given enough people and enough time), there is no computer capable of holding that much data.
Therefore, if the computer is to compete at championship levels, it must be programmed to function with less than complete data. It must be able to learn from experience, to modify its own program, to deal with a relatively unstructured situation-in a word, to "think" for itself. In fact, this can be done. Chess-playing computers have yet to defeat world champion chess players, but several have beaten human players of only slightly lower ranks. The computers have had programs to carry them through the early, mechanical stages of their chess games. But they have gone on from there to reason and learn, and sometimes to win the game.
There are other proofs that computers can be programmed to learn, but this example is sufficient to demonstrate the point. Granted, winning a game of chess is not an earthshaking event even when a computer does it. But there are many serious human problems, which can be fruitfully approached as games. The Defense Department uses computers to play war games and work out strategies for dealing with international tensions. Other problems-international and interpersonal relations, ecology and economics, and the ever-increasing threat of world famine can perhaps be solved by the joint efforts of human beings and truly intelligent computers. | 2662.txt | 0 |
[
"negative",
"positive",
"indifferent",
"critical"
] | The author's attitude toward the future use of computer is _ . | Computers are now employed in an increasing number of fields in our daily life. Computers have been taught to play not only checkers, but also championship chess, which is a fairly accurate yardstick for measuring the computer's progress in the ability to learn from experience.
Because the game requires logical reasoning, chess would seem to be perfectly suited to the computer. All a programmer has to do is to give the computer a program evaluating the consequences of every possible response to every possible move, and the computer will win every time. In theory this is a sensible approach; in practice it is impossible. Today, a powerful computer can analyze 40,000 moves a second. That is an impressive speed. But there are an astronomical number of possible moves in chess-literally trillions. Even if such a program were written (and in theory it could be, given enough people and enough time), there is no computer capable of holding that much data.
Therefore, if the computer is to compete at championship levels, it must be programmed to function with less than complete data. It must be able to learn from experience, to modify its own program, to deal with a relatively unstructured situation-in a word, to "think" for itself. In fact, this can be done. Chess-playing computers have yet to defeat world champion chess players, but several have beaten human players of only slightly lower ranks. The computers have had programs to carry them through the early, mechanical stages of their chess games. But they have gone on from there to reason and learn, and sometimes to win the game.
There are other proofs that computers can be programmed to learn, but this example is sufficient to demonstrate the point. Granted, winning a game of chess is not an earthshaking event even when a computer does it. But there are many serious human problems, which can be fruitfully approached as games. The Defense Department uses computers to play war games and work out strategies for dealing with international tensions. Other problems-international and interpersonal relations, ecology and economics, and the ever-increasing threat of world famine can perhaps be solved by the joint efforts of human beings and truly intelligent computers. | 2662.txt | 1 |
[
"be programmed to have more than enough data",
"learn from the experience and to reason",
"deal with all the unstructured situation",
"predicate every move in the chess"
] | In order to "think", computer should _ . | Computers are now employed in an increasing number of fields in our daily life. Computers have been taught to play not only checkers, but also championship chess, which is a fairly accurate yardstick for measuring the computer's progress in the ability to learn from experience.
Because the game requires logical reasoning, chess would seem to be perfectly suited to the computer. All a programmer has to do is to give the computer a program evaluating the consequences of every possible response to every possible move, and the computer will win every time. In theory this is a sensible approach; in practice it is impossible. Today, a powerful computer can analyze 40,000 moves a second. That is an impressive speed. But there are an astronomical number of possible moves in chess-literally trillions. Even if such a program were written (and in theory it could be, given enough people and enough time), there is no computer capable of holding that much data.
Therefore, if the computer is to compete at championship levels, it must be programmed to function with less than complete data. It must be able to learn from experience, to modify its own program, to deal with a relatively unstructured situation-in a word, to "think" for itself. In fact, this can be done. Chess-playing computers have yet to defeat world champion chess players, but several have beaten human players of only slightly lower ranks. The computers have had programs to carry them through the early, mechanical stages of their chess games. But they have gone on from there to reason and learn, and sometimes to win the game.
There are other proofs that computers can be programmed to learn, but this example is sufficient to demonstrate the point. Granted, winning a game of chess is not an earthshaking event even when a computer does it. But there are many serious human problems, which can be fruitfully approached as games. The Defense Department uses computers to play war games and work out strategies for dealing with international tensions. Other problems-international and interpersonal relations, ecology and economics, and the ever-increasing threat of world famine can perhaps be solved by the joint efforts of human beings and truly intelligent computers. | 2662.txt | 1 |
[
"have trillions of responses in a second to each possible move and win the game",
"store complete data and beat the best players",
"learn from chess-playing in the early stage and go on to win the game",
"predicate every possible move but may fail to give the right response each time"
] | Today, the chess-playing computer can be programmed to _ . | Computers are now employed in an increasing number of fields in our daily life. Computers have been taught to play not only checkers, but also championship chess, which is a fairly accurate yardstick for measuring the computer's progress in the ability to learn from experience.
Because the game requires logical reasoning, chess would seem to be perfectly suited to the computer. All a programmer has to do is to give the computer a program evaluating the consequences of every possible response to every possible move, and the computer will win every time. In theory this is a sensible approach; in practice it is impossible. Today, a powerful computer can analyze 40,000 moves a second. That is an impressive speed. But there are an astronomical number of possible moves in chess-literally trillions. Even if such a program were written (and in theory it could be, given enough people and enough time), there is no computer capable of holding that much data.
Therefore, if the computer is to compete at championship levels, it must be programmed to function with less than complete data. It must be able to learn from experience, to modify its own program, to deal with a relatively unstructured situation-in a word, to "think" for itself. In fact, this can be done. Chess-playing computers have yet to defeat world champion chess players, but several have beaten human players of only slightly lower ranks. The computers have had programs to carry them through the early, mechanical stages of their chess games. But they have gone on from there to reason and learn, and sometimes to win the game.
There are other proofs that computers can be programmed to learn, but this example is sufficient to demonstrate the point. Granted, winning a game of chess is not an earthshaking event even when a computer does it. But there are many serious human problems, which can be fruitfully approached as games. The Defense Department uses computers to play war games and work out strategies for dealing with international tensions. Other problems-international and interpersonal relations, ecology and economics, and the ever-increasing threat of world famine can perhaps be solved by the joint efforts of human beings and truly intelligent computers. | 2662.txt | 2 |
[
"The interaction of the realms on the quantum ladder",
"Atomic structures found on Earth, on other planets, and on the surfaces of stars",
"Levels of energy that are released in nuclear reactions on Earth and in stars",
"Particles and processes found in the atomic, nuclear, and subnuclear realms"
] | The primary topic of the passage is which of the following? | We can distinguish three different realms of matter, three levels on the quantum ladder. The first is the atomic realm, which includes the world of atoms, their interactions, and the structures that are formed by them, such as molecules, liquids and solids, and gases and plasmas. This realm includes all the phenomena of atomic physics, chemistry, and, in a certain sense, biology. The energy exchanges taking place in this realm are of a relatively low order. If these exchanges are below one electron volt, such as in the collisions between molecules of the air in a room, then atoms and molecules can be regarded as elementary particles. That is, they have "conditional elementarity" because they keep their identity and do not change in any collisions or in other processes at these low energy exchanges. If one goes to higher energy exchanges, say 10,000 electron volts, then atoms and molecules will decompose into nuclei and electrons; at this level, the latter particles must be considered as elementary. We find examples of structures and processes of this first rung of the quantum ladder on Earth, on planets, and on the surfaces of stars.
The next rung is the nuclear realm. Here the energy exchanges are much higher, on the order of millions of electron volts. As long as we are dealing with phenomena in the atomic realm, such amounts of energy are unavailable, and most nuclei are inert: they do not change. However, if one applies energies of millions of electron volts, nuclear reactions, fission and fusion, and the processes of radioactivity occur; our elementary particles then are protons, neutrons, and electrons. In addition, nuclear processes produce neutrinos, particles that have no detectable mass or charge. In the universe, energies at this level are available in the centers of stars and in star explosions. Indeed, the energy radiated by the stars is produced by nuclear reactions. The natural radioactivity we find on Earth is the long-lived remnant of the time when now-earthly matter was expelled into space by a major stellar explosion.
The third rung of the quantum ladder is the subnuclear realm. Here we are dealing with energy exchangers of many billions of electron volts. We encounter excited nucleons, new types of particles such as mesons, heavy electrons, quarks, and gluons, and also antimatter in large quantities. The gluons are the quanta, or smallest units, of the force (the strong force) that keeps the quarks together. As long as we are dealing with the atomic or nuclear realm, these new types of particles do not occur and the nucleons remain inert. But at subnuclear energy levels, the nucleons and mesons appear to be composed of quarks, so that the quarks and gluons figure as elementary particles. | 2015.txt | 3 |
[
"the production of particles that have no detectable mass or electric charge",
"high energy exchanges on the nuclear level that occurred in an ancient explosion in a star",
"processes that occur in the center of the Sun, which emits radiation to the Earth",
"phenomena in the atomic realm that cause atoms and molecules to decompose into nuclei and electrons"
] | According the passage, radioactivity that occurs naturally on Earth is the result of | We can distinguish three different realms of matter, three levels on the quantum ladder. The first is the atomic realm, which includes the world of atoms, their interactions, and the structures that are formed by them, such as molecules, liquids and solids, and gases and plasmas. This realm includes all the phenomena of atomic physics, chemistry, and, in a certain sense, biology. The energy exchanges taking place in this realm are of a relatively low order. If these exchanges are below one electron volt, such as in the collisions between molecules of the air in a room, then atoms and molecules can be regarded as elementary particles. That is, they have "conditional elementarity" because they keep their identity and do not change in any collisions or in other processes at these low energy exchanges. If one goes to higher energy exchanges, say 10,000 electron volts, then atoms and molecules will decompose into nuclei and electrons; at this level, the latter particles must be considered as elementary. We find examples of structures and processes of this first rung of the quantum ladder on Earth, on planets, and on the surfaces of stars.
The next rung is the nuclear realm. Here the energy exchanges are much higher, on the order of millions of electron volts. As long as we are dealing with phenomena in the atomic realm, such amounts of energy are unavailable, and most nuclei are inert: they do not change. However, if one applies energies of millions of electron volts, nuclear reactions, fission and fusion, and the processes of radioactivity occur; our elementary particles then are protons, neutrons, and electrons. In addition, nuclear processes produce neutrinos, particles that have no detectable mass or charge. In the universe, energies at this level are available in the centers of stars and in star explosions. Indeed, the energy radiated by the stars is produced by nuclear reactions. The natural radioactivity we find on Earth is the long-lived remnant of the time when now-earthly matter was expelled into space by a major stellar explosion.
The third rung of the quantum ladder is the subnuclear realm. Here we are dealing with energy exchangers of many billions of electron volts. We encounter excited nucleons, new types of particles such as mesons, heavy electrons, quarks, and gluons, and also antimatter in large quantities. The gluons are the quanta, or smallest units, of the force (the strong force) that keeps the quarks together. As long as we are dealing with the atomic or nuclear realm, these new types of particles do not occur and the nucleons remain inert. But at subnuclear energy levels, the nucleons and mesons appear to be composed of quarks, so that the quarks and gluons figure as elementary particles. | 2015.txt | 1 |
[
"making distinctions between two groups of particles, those that are elementary and those that are composite",
"explaining three methods of transferring energy to atoms and to the smaller particles that constitute atoms",
"describing several levels of processes, increasing in energy, and corresponding sets of particles, generally decreasing in size",
"putting forth an argument concerning energy levels and then conceding that several qualifications of that argument are necessary"
] | The author organizes the passage by | We can distinguish three different realms of matter, three levels on the quantum ladder. The first is the atomic realm, which includes the world of atoms, their interactions, and the structures that are formed by them, such as molecules, liquids and solids, and gases and plasmas. This realm includes all the phenomena of atomic physics, chemistry, and, in a certain sense, biology. The energy exchanges taking place in this realm are of a relatively low order. If these exchanges are below one electron volt, such as in the collisions between molecules of the air in a room, then atoms and molecules can be regarded as elementary particles. That is, they have "conditional elementarity" because they keep their identity and do not change in any collisions or in other processes at these low energy exchanges. If one goes to higher energy exchanges, say 10,000 electron volts, then atoms and molecules will decompose into nuclei and electrons; at this level, the latter particles must be considered as elementary. We find examples of structures and processes of this first rung of the quantum ladder on Earth, on planets, and on the surfaces of stars.
The next rung is the nuclear realm. Here the energy exchanges are much higher, on the order of millions of electron volts. As long as we are dealing with phenomena in the atomic realm, such amounts of energy are unavailable, and most nuclei are inert: they do not change. However, if one applies energies of millions of electron volts, nuclear reactions, fission and fusion, and the processes of radioactivity occur; our elementary particles then are protons, neutrons, and electrons. In addition, nuclear processes produce neutrinos, particles that have no detectable mass or charge. In the universe, energies at this level are available in the centers of stars and in star explosions. Indeed, the energy radiated by the stars is produced by nuclear reactions. The natural radioactivity we find on Earth is the long-lived remnant of the time when now-earthly matter was expelled into space by a major stellar explosion.
The third rung of the quantum ladder is the subnuclear realm. Here we are dealing with energy exchangers of many billions of electron volts. We encounter excited nucleons, new types of particles such as mesons, heavy electrons, quarks, and gluons, and also antimatter in large quantities. The gluons are the quanta, or smallest units, of the force (the strong force) that keeps the quarks together. As long as we are dealing with the atomic or nuclear realm, these new types of particles do not occur and the nucleons remain inert. But at subnuclear energy levels, the nucleons and mesons appear to be composed of quarks, so that the quarks and gluons figure as elementary particles. | 2015.txt | 2 |
[
"More than one level of energy exchange",
"Exactly one elementary particle",
"Exactly three kinds of atomic structures",
"Three levels on the quantum ladder"
] | According to the passage, which of the following can be found in the atomic realm? | We can distinguish three different realms of matter, three levels on the quantum ladder. The first is the atomic realm, which includes the world of atoms, their interactions, and the structures that are formed by them, such as molecules, liquids and solids, and gases and plasmas. This realm includes all the phenomena of atomic physics, chemistry, and, in a certain sense, biology. The energy exchanges taking place in this realm are of a relatively low order. If these exchanges are below one electron volt, such as in the collisions between molecules of the air in a room, then atoms and molecules can be regarded as elementary particles. That is, they have "conditional elementarity" because they keep their identity and do not change in any collisions or in other processes at these low energy exchanges. If one goes to higher energy exchanges, say 10,000 electron volts, then atoms and molecules will decompose into nuclei and electrons; at this level, the latter particles must be considered as elementary. We find examples of structures and processes of this first rung of the quantum ladder on Earth, on planets, and on the surfaces of stars.
The next rung is the nuclear realm. Here the energy exchanges are much higher, on the order of millions of electron volts. As long as we are dealing with phenomena in the atomic realm, such amounts of energy are unavailable, and most nuclei are inert: they do not change. However, if one applies energies of millions of electron volts, nuclear reactions, fission and fusion, and the processes of radioactivity occur; our elementary particles then are protons, neutrons, and electrons. In addition, nuclear processes produce neutrinos, particles that have no detectable mass or charge. In the universe, energies at this level are available in the centers of stars and in star explosions. Indeed, the energy radiated by the stars is produced by nuclear reactions. The natural radioactivity we find on Earth is the long-lived remnant of the time when now-earthly matter was expelled into space by a major stellar explosion.
The third rung of the quantum ladder is the subnuclear realm. Here we are dealing with energy exchangers of many billions of electron volts. We encounter excited nucleons, new types of particles such as mesons, heavy electrons, quarks, and gluons, and also antimatter in large quantities. The gluons are the quanta, or smallest units, of the force (the strong force) that keeps the quarks together. As long as we are dealing with the atomic or nuclear realm, these new types of particles do not occur and the nucleons remain inert. But at subnuclear energy levels, the nucleons and mesons appear to be composed of quarks, so that the quarks and gluons figure as elementary particles. | 2015.txt | 0 |
[
"considered to be detectable",
"produced in nuclear reactions",
"encountered in subnuclear energy exchanges",
"related to the strong force"
] | According to the author, gluons are not | We can distinguish three different realms of matter, three levels on the quantum ladder. The first is the atomic realm, which includes the world of atoms, their interactions, and the structures that are formed by them, such as molecules, liquids and solids, and gases and plasmas. This realm includes all the phenomena of atomic physics, chemistry, and, in a certain sense, biology. The energy exchanges taking place in this realm are of a relatively low order. If these exchanges are below one electron volt, such as in the collisions between molecules of the air in a room, then atoms and molecules can be regarded as elementary particles. That is, they have "conditional elementarity" because they keep their identity and do not change in any collisions or in other processes at these low energy exchanges. If one goes to higher energy exchanges, say 10,000 electron volts, then atoms and molecules will decompose into nuclei and electrons; at this level, the latter particles must be considered as elementary. We find examples of structures and processes of this first rung of the quantum ladder on Earth, on planets, and on the surfaces of stars.
The next rung is the nuclear realm. Here the energy exchanges are much higher, on the order of millions of electron volts. As long as we are dealing with phenomena in the atomic realm, such amounts of energy are unavailable, and most nuclei are inert: they do not change. However, if one applies energies of millions of electron volts, nuclear reactions, fission and fusion, and the processes of radioactivity occur; our elementary particles then are protons, neutrons, and electrons. In addition, nuclear processes produce neutrinos, particles that have no detectable mass or charge. In the universe, energies at this level are available in the centers of stars and in star explosions. Indeed, the energy radiated by the stars is produced by nuclear reactions. The natural radioactivity we find on Earth is the long-lived remnant of the time when now-earthly matter was expelled into space by a major stellar explosion.
The third rung of the quantum ladder is the subnuclear realm. Here we are dealing with energy exchangers of many billions of electron volts. We encounter excited nucleons, new types of particles such as mesons, heavy electrons, quarks, and gluons, and also antimatter in large quantities. The gluons are the quanta, or smallest units, of the force (the strong force) that keeps the quarks together. As long as we are dealing with the atomic or nuclear realm, these new types of particles do not occur and the nucleons remain inert. But at subnuclear energy levels, the nucleons and mesons appear to be composed of quarks, so that the quarks and gluons figure as elementary particles. | 2015.txt | 1 |
[
"excited nucleons B elementary mesons",
"elementary mesons",
"a kind of particle without detectable mass or charge",
"another set of elementary particles"
] | At a higher energy level than the subnuclear level described, if such a higher level exists, it can be expected on the basis of the information in the passage that there would probably be | We can distinguish three different realms of matter, three levels on the quantum ladder. The first is the atomic realm, which includes the world of atoms, their interactions, and the structures that are formed by them, such as molecules, liquids and solids, and gases and plasmas. This realm includes all the phenomena of atomic physics, chemistry, and, in a certain sense, biology. The energy exchanges taking place in this realm are of a relatively low order. If these exchanges are below one electron volt, such as in the collisions between molecules of the air in a room, then atoms and molecules can be regarded as elementary particles. That is, they have "conditional elementarity" because they keep their identity and do not change in any collisions or in other processes at these low energy exchanges. If one goes to higher energy exchanges, say 10,000 electron volts, then atoms and molecules will decompose into nuclei and electrons; at this level, the latter particles must be considered as elementary. We find examples of structures and processes of this first rung of the quantum ladder on Earth, on planets, and on the surfaces of stars.
The next rung is the nuclear realm. Here the energy exchanges are much higher, on the order of millions of electron volts. As long as we are dealing with phenomena in the atomic realm, such amounts of energy are unavailable, and most nuclei are inert: they do not change. However, if one applies energies of millions of electron volts, nuclear reactions, fission and fusion, and the processes of radioactivity occur; our elementary particles then are protons, neutrons, and electrons. In addition, nuclear processes produce neutrinos, particles that have no detectable mass or charge. In the universe, energies at this level are available in the centers of stars and in star explosions. Indeed, the energy radiated by the stars is produced by nuclear reactions. The natural radioactivity we find on Earth is the long-lived remnant of the time when now-earthly matter was expelled into space by a major stellar explosion.
The third rung of the quantum ladder is the subnuclear realm. Here we are dealing with energy exchangers of many billions of electron volts. We encounter excited nucleons, new types of particles such as mesons, heavy electrons, quarks, and gluons, and also antimatter in large quantities. The gluons are the quanta, or smallest units, of the force (the strong force) that keeps the quarks together. As long as we are dealing with the atomic or nuclear realm, these new types of particles do not occur and the nucleons remain inert. But at subnuclear energy levels, the nucleons and mesons appear to be composed of quarks, so that the quarks and gluons figure as elementary particles. | 2015.txt | 3 |
[
"remain unchanged at given level of energy exchange",
"cannot be decomposed into smaller constituents",
"are mathematically simpler than some other set of particles",
"release energy at a low level in collisions"
] | The passage speaks of particles as having conditional elementarity if they | We can distinguish three different realms of matter, three levels on the quantum ladder. The first is the atomic realm, which includes the world of atoms, their interactions, and the structures that are formed by them, such as molecules, liquids and solids, and gases and plasmas. This realm includes all the phenomena of atomic physics, chemistry, and, in a certain sense, biology. The energy exchanges taking place in this realm are of a relatively low order. If these exchanges are below one electron volt, such as in the collisions between molecules of the air in a room, then atoms and molecules can be regarded as elementary particles. That is, they have "conditional elementarity" because they keep their identity and do not change in any collisions or in other processes at these low energy exchanges. If one goes to higher energy exchanges, say 10,000 electron volts, then atoms and molecules will decompose into nuclei and electrons; at this level, the latter particles must be considered as elementary. We find examples of structures and processes of this first rung of the quantum ladder on Earth, on planets, and on the surfaces of stars.
The next rung is the nuclear realm. Here the energy exchanges are much higher, on the order of millions of electron volts. As long as we are dealing with phenomena in the atomic realm, such amounts of energy are unavailable, and most nuclei are inert: they do not change. However, if one applies energies of millions of electron volts, nuclear reactions, fission and fusion, and the processes of radioactivity occur; our elementary particles then are protons, neutrons, and electrons. In addition, nuclear processes produce neutrinos, particles that have no detectable mass or charge. In the universe, energies at this level are available in the centers of stars and in star explosions. Indeed, the energy radiated by the stars is produced by nuclear reactions. The natural radioactivity we find on Earth is the long-lived remnant of the time when now-earthly matter was expelled into space by a major stellar explosion.
The third rung of the quantum ladder is the subnuclear realm. Here we are dealing with energy exchangers of many billions of electron volts. We encounter excited nucleons, new types of particles such as mesons, heavy electrons, quarks, and gluons, and also antimatter in large quantities. The gluons are the quanta, or smallest units, of the force (the strong force) that keeps the quarks together. As long as we are dealing with the atomic or nuclear realm, these new types of particles do not occur and the nucleons remain inert. But at subnuclear energy levels, the nucleons and mesons appear to be composed of quarks, so that the quarks and gluons figure as elementary particles. | 2015.txt | 0 |
[
"The unemployment rate remains in a mild decline.",
"The number of job offers has exceeded that of job losses.",
"There still will be many people who are going to lose their jobs.",
"It has met the expectations of the majority of people."
] | What is America's current unemployment situation? | The American economy has been shedding jobs for nearly two years, but now comes a sign that the gloom could eventually lift. The Bureau of Labour Statistics released new data on payroll employment on Friday December 4th, and across the board the numbers came in better than had been expected.
Some 11,000 jobs were lost in November, the smallest total since the recession began late in 2007. And despite the continued job losses, the overall unemployment rate fell from 10.2% to 10.0%. So, too, did broader measures of unemployment which include marginally attached workers and those who work only part time (for economic reasons.
The payroll report will leave markets and policymakers happy, for a day at least. Most forecasters had expected that 100,000 jobs, or more, would have been lost, and most thought that the unemployment rate would hold steady or rise. A private employment report for November, which is published just before the official payroll report, showed that nearly 170,000 workers lost their jobs.
None of this means that the troubles are all over, however. The unemployment rate had once before declined in 2009, from June to July, before proceeding to rise for the next three months. A steady decline now will be hard to achieve: one estimate suggests that the American economy needs to add around 150,000 jobs each month just to keep up with population growth.
Employment growth in the economy remains concentrated in just a few sectors. There are encouraging signs in professional and business services; a 52,000 job increase in temporary help services in this category indicates that employers may soon begin creating more permanent positions.（Although by one measure non-manufacturing businesses are losing confidence, according to an index produced by the Institute for Supply Management this week.）Education, health services, and government are the only other sources of employment growth; the manufacturing, construction, and retail sectors continued to cut jobs in November.
That is particularly disappointing given that manufacturing activity has expanded for four consecutive months. More troubling still, the rate of manufacturing expansion declined in November. Increasing activity to date had largely been because of the replenishment of depleted inventories. If this brief spurt of expansion has exhausted itself without creating new jobs, then that bodes ill for recovery in other sources of demand, including consumer spending.
And then there are the ugliest statistics of all. Just over 15m Americans are unemployed, an increase of 8m from the start of the recession. Nearly 6m of those are considered long-term unemployed. Almost 40% of jobless workers have been out of work for 27 weeks or more. Bringing most of these workers back into the labour force will require strong economic growth, of the sort that is unlikely to prevail for at least the next year or so. This unexpectedly sharp decline in lost jobs is a silver lining on an extremely dark cloud. | 427.txt | 2 |
[
"the private employment report lacks credibility",
"unemployment rate does not involve all citizens",
"unemployment rate forecast is in accurate",
"policy-making depends on unemployment rate"
] | We can infer from the second and third paragraphs that _ . | The American economy has been shedding jobs for nearly two years, but now comes a sign that the gloom could eventually lift. The Bureau of Labour Statistics released new data on payroll employment on Friday December 4th, and across the board the numbers came in better than had been expected.
Some 11,000 jobs were lost in November, the smallest total since the recession began late in 2007. And despite the continued job losses, the overall unemployment rate fell from 10.2% to 10.0%. So, too, did broader measures of unemployment which include marginally attached workers and those who work only part time (for economic reasons.
The payroll report will leave markets and policymakers happy, for a day at least. Most forecasters had expected that 100,000 jobs, or more, would have been lost, and most thought that the unemployment rate would hold steady or rise. A private employment report for November, which is published just before the official payroll report, showed that nearly 170,000 workers lost their jobs.
None of this means that the troubles are all over, however. The unemployment rate had once before declined in 2009, from June to July, before proceeding to rise for the next three months. A steady decline now will be hard to achieve: one estimate suggests that the American economy needs to add around 150,000 jobs each month just to keep up with population growth.
Employment growth in the economy remains concentrated in just a few sectors. There are encouraging signs in professional and business services; a 52,000 job increase in temporary help services in this category indicates that employers may soon begin creating more permanent positions.（Although by one measure non-manufacturing businesses are losing confidence, according to an index produced by the Institute for Supply Management this week.）Education, health services, and government are the only other sources of employment growth; the manufacturing, construction, and retail sectors continued to cut jobs in November.
That is particularly disappointing given that manufacturing activity has expanded for four consecutive months. More troubling still, the rate of manufacturing expansion declined in November. Increasing activity to date had largely been because of the replenishment of depleted inventories. If this brief spurt of expansion has exhausted itself without creating new jobs, then that bodes ill for recovery in other sources of demand, including consumer spending.
And then there are the ugliest statistics of all. Just over 15m Americans are unemployed, an increase of 8m from the start of the recession. Nearly 6m of those are considered long-term unemployed. Almost 40% of jobless workers have been out of work for 27 weeks or more. Bringing most of these workers back into the labour force will require strong economic growth, of the sort that is unlikely to prevail for at least the next year or so. This unexpectedly sharp decline in lost jobs is a silver lining on an extremely dark cloud. | 427.txt | 1 |
[
"brings",
"falls",
"develops",
"foretells"
] | The word" bodes" (Line 4, Paragraph 6.) most probably means _ . | The American economy has been shedding jobs for nearly two years, but now comes a sign that the gloom could eventually lift. The Bureau of Labour Statistics released new data on payroll employment on Friday December 4th, and across the board the numbers came in better than had been expected.
Some 11,000 jobs were lost in November, the smallest total since the recession began late in 2007. And despite the continued job losses, the overall unemployment rate fell from 10.2% to 10.0%. So, too, did broader measures of unemployment which include marginally attached workers and those who work only part time (for economic reasons.
The payroll report will leave markets and policymakers happy, for a day at least. Most forecasters had expected that 100,000 jobs, or more, would have been lost, and most thought that the unemployment rate would hold steady or rise. A private employment report for November, which is published just before the official payroll report, showed that nearly 170,000 workers lost their jobs.
None of this means that the troubles are all over, however. The unemployment rate had once before declined in 2009, from June to July, before proceeding to rise for the next three months. A steady decline now will be hard to achieve: one estimate suggests that the American economy needs to add around 150,000 jobs each month just to keep up with population growth.
Employment growth in the economy remains concentrated in just a few sectors. There are encouraging signs in professional and business services; a 52,000 job increase in temporary help services in this category indicates that employers may soon begin creating more permanent positions.（Although by one measure non-manufacturing businesses are losing confidence, according to an index produced by the Institute for Supply Management this week.）Education, health services, and government are the only other sources of employment growth; the manufacturing, construction, and retail sectors continued to cut jobs in November.
That is particularly disappointing given that manufacturing activity has expanded for four consecutive months. More troubling still, the rate of manufacturing expansion declined in November. Increasing activity to date had largely been because of the replenishment of depleted inventories. If this brief spurt of expansion has exhausted itself without creating new jobs, then that bodes ill for recovery in other sources of demand, including consumer spending.
And then there are the ugliest statistics of all. Just over 15m Americans are unemployed, an increase of 8m from the start of the recession. Nearly 6m of those are considered long-term unemployed. Almost 40% of jobless workers have been out of work for 27 weeks or more. Bringing most of these workers back into the labour force will require strong economic growth, of the sort that is unlikely to prevail for at least the next year or so. This unexpectedly sharp decline in lost jobs is a silver lining on an extremely dark cloud. | 427.txt | 3 |
[
"economic sectors of employment growth are still limited yet expanding",
"inventory replenishment is a good chance of providing more jobs",
"the prospect of an overall employment growth remains gloomy",
"the difficulty of demand recovery impedes the creation of new jobs"
] | Speaking of employment growth, the author implies that _ . | The American economy has been shedding jobs for nearly two years, but now comes a sign that the gloom could eventually lift. The Bureau of Labour Statistics released new data on payroll employment on Friday December 4th, and across the board the numbers came in better than had been expected.
Some 11,000 jobs were lost in November, the smallest total since the recession began late in 2007. And despite the continued job losses, the overall unemployment rate fell from 10.2% to 10.0%. So, too, did broader measures of unemployment which include marginally attached workers and those who work only part time (for economic reasons.
The payroll report will leave markets and policymakers happy, for a day at least. Most forecasters had expected that 100,000 jobs, or more, would have been lost, and most thought that the unemployment rate would hold steady or rise. A private employment report for November, which is published just before the official payroll report, showed that nearly 170,000 workers lost their jobs.
None of this means that the troubles are all over, however. The unemployment rate had once before declined in 2009, from June to July, before proceeding to rise for the next three months. A steady decline now will be hard to achieve: one estimate suggests that the American economy needs to add around 150,000 jobs each month just to keep up with population growth.
Employment growth in the economy remains concentrated in just a few sectors. There are encouraging signs in professional and business services; a 52,000 job increase in temporary help services in this category indicates that employers may soon begin creating more permanent positions.（Although by one measure non-manufacturing businesses are losing confidence, according to an index produced by the Institute for Supply Management this week.）Education, health services, and government are the only other sources of employment growth; the manufacturing, construction, and retail sectors continued to cut jobs in November.
That is particularly disappointing given that manufacturing activity has expanded for four consecutive months. More troubling still, the rate of manufacturing expansion declined in November. Increasing activity to date had largely been because of the replenishment of depleted inventories. If this brief spurt of expansion has exhausted itself without creating new jobs, then that bodes ill for recovery in other sources of demand, including consumer spending.
And then there are the ugliest statistics of all. Just over 15m Americans are unemployed, an increase of 8m from the start of the recession. Nearly 6m of those are considered long-term unemployed. Almost 40% of jobless workers have been out of work for 27 weeks or more. Bringing most of these workers back into the labour force will require strong economic growth, of the sort that is unlikely to prevail for at least the next year or so. This unexpectedly sharp decline in lost jobs is a silver lining on an extremely dark cloud. | 427.txt | 2 |
[
"the unexpectedly sharp decline in lost jobs paves the way for general optimism",
"the unemployment rate fluctuates dramatically in economic recession",
"it is still uncertain whether the November unemployment rate is a good sign",
"unemployment rate is expected to continually drop in the following months"
] | We can draw a conclusion from the text that _ . | The American economy has been shedding jobs for nearly two years, but now comes a sign that the gloom could eventually lift. The Bureau of Labour Statistics released new data on payroll employment on Friday December 4th, and across the board the numbers came in better than had been expected.
Some 11,000 jobs were lost in November, the smallest total since the recession began late in 2007. And despite the continued job losses, the overall unemployment rate fell from 10.2% to 10.0%. So, too, did broader measures of unemployment which include marginally attached workers and those who work only part time (for economic reasons.
The payroll report will leave markets and policymakers happy, for a day at least. Most forecasters had expected that 100,000 jobs, or more, would have been lost, and most thought that the unemployment rate would hold steady or rise. A private employment report for November, which is published just before the official payroll report, showed that nearly 170,000 workers lost their jobs.
None of this means that the troubles are all over, however. The unemployment rate had once before declined in 2009, from June to July, before proceeding to rise for the next three months. A steady decline now will be hard to achieve: one estimate suggests that the American economy needs to add around 150,000 jobs each month just to keep up with population growth.
Employment growth in the economy remains concentrated in just a few sectors. There are encouraging signs in professional and business services; a 52,000 job increase in temporary help services in this category indicates that employers may soon begin creating more permanent positions.（Although by one measure non-manufacturing businesses are losing confidence, according to an index produced by the Institute for Supply Management this week.）Education, health services, and government are the only other sources of employment growth; the manufacturing, construction, and retail sectors continued to cut jobs in November.
That is particularly disappointing given that manufacturing activity has expanded for four consecutive months. More troubling still, the rate of manufacturing expansion declined in November. Increasing activity to date had largely been because of the replenishment of depleted inventories. If this brief spurt of expansion has exhausted itself without creating new jobs, then that bodes ill for recovery in other sources of demand, including consumer spending.
And then there are the ugliest statistics of all. Just over 15m Americans are unemployed, an increase of 8m from the start of the recession. Nearly 6m of those are considered long-term unemployed. Almost 40% of jobless workers have been out of work for 27 weeks or more. Bringing most of these workers back into the labour force will require strong economic growth, of the sort that is unlikely to prevail for at least the next year or so. This unexpectedly sharp decline in lost jobs is a silver lining on an extremely dark cloud. | 427.txt | 2 |
[
"a new regulation for al airlines",
"the defects of electronic devices",
"a possible cause of aircraft crashes",
"effective safety measures for air flight"
] | The passage is mainly about ________. | The biggest safety threat facing airlines today may not be a terrorist with a gun, but the man with the portable computer in business class. In the last 15 years, pilots have reported well over 100 incidents that could have been caused by electromagnetic interference. The source of this interference remains unconfirmed, but increasingly, experts are pointing the blame at portable electronic device such as portable computers, radio and cassette players and mobile telephones.
RTCA, an organization which advises the aviation industry, has recommended that all airlines ban such devices from being used during "critical" stages of flight, particularly take-off and landing. Some experts have gone further, calling for a total ban during all flights. Currently, rules on using these devices are left up to individual airlines. And although some airlines prohibit passengers from using such equipment during take-off and landing, most are reluctant to enforce a total ban, given that many passengers want to work during flights.
The difficulty is predicting how electromagnetic fields might affect an aircraft's computers. Experts know that portable device emit radiation which affects those wavelengths which aircraft use for navigation and communication. But, because they have not been able to reproduce these effects in a laboratory, they have no way of knowing whether the interference might be dangerous or not.
The fact that aircraft may be vulnerable to interference raises the risk that terrorists may use radio systems in order to damage navigation equipment. As worrying, though, is the passenger who can't hear the instructions to turn off his radio because the music's too loud. | 396.txt | 2 |
[
"They may have been caused by the damage to the radio systems.",
"They may have taken place during take-off and landing.",
"They were proved to have been caused by the passengers' portable computers.",
"They were suspected to have resulted from electromagnetic interference."
] | What is said about the over 100 aircraft incidents in the past 15 years? | The biggest safety threat facing airlines today may not be a terrorist with a gun, but the man with the portable computer in business class. In the last 15 years, pilots have reported well over 100 incidents that could have been caused by electromagnetic interference. The source of this interference remains unconfirmed, but increasingly, experts are pointing the blame at portable electronic device such as portable computers, radio and cassette players and mobile telephones.
RTCA, an organization which advises the aviation industry, has recommended that all airlines ban such devices from being used during "critical" stages of flight, particularly take-off and landing. Some experts have gone further, calling for a total ban during all flights. Currently, rules on using these devices are left up to individual airlines. And although some airlines prohibit passengers from using such equipment during take-off and landing, most are reluctant to enforce a total ban, given that many passengers want to work during flights.
The difficulty is predicting how electromagnetic fields might affect an aircraft's computers. Experts know that portable device emit radiation which affects those wavelengths which aircraft use for navigation and communication. But, because they have not been able to reproduce these effects in a laboratory, they have no way of knowing whether the interference might be dangerous or not.
The fact that aircraft may be vulnerable to interference raises the risk that terrorists may use radio systems in order to damage navigation equipment. As worrying, though, is the passenger who can't hear the instructions to turn off his radio because the music's too loud. | 396.txt | 3 |
[
"they don't believe there is such a danger as radio interference",
"the harmful effect of electromagnetic interference is yet to be proved",
"most passengers refuse to take a plane which bans the use of radio and cassette players",
"they have other effective safety measures to fall back on"
] | Few airlines want to impose a total ban on their passengers using electronic devices because ________. | The biggest safety threat facing airlines today may not be a terrorist with a gun, but the man with the portable computer in business class. In the last 15 years, pilots have reported well over 100 incidents that could have been caused by electromagnetic interference. The source of this interference remains unconfirmed, but increasingly, experts are pointing the blame at portable electronic device such as portable computers, radio and cassette players and mobile telephones.
RTCA, an organization which advises the aviation industry, has recommended that all airlines ban such devices from being used during "critical" stages of flight, particularly take-off and landing. Some experts have gone further, calling for a total ban during all flights. Currently, rules on using these devices are left up to individual airlines. And although some airlines prohibit passengers from using such equipment during take-off and landing, most are reluctant to enforce a total ban, given that many passengers want to work during flights.
The difficulty is predicting how electromagnetic fields might affect an aircraft's computers. Experts know that portable device emit radiation which affects those wavelengths which aircraft use for navigation and communication. But, because they have not been able to reproduce these effects in a laboratory, they have no way of knowing whether the interference might be dangerous or not.
The fact that aircraft may be vulnerable to interference raises the risk that terrorists may use radio systems in order to damage navigation equipment. As worrying, though, is the passenger who can't hear the instructions to turn off his radio because the music's too loud. | 396.txt | 2 |
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