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[
"are cheaper",
"are more suited to small sizes",
"are more exciting to look at",
"do not break easily"
] | Manufacturers think polyester bottles are better than glass bottles because they | Polyester is now being used for bottles. ICI, the chemicals and plastics company, believes that it is now beginning to break the grip of glass on the bottle business and thus take advantage of this huge market.
All the plastics manufacturers have been experiencing hard times as their traditional products have been doing badly world-wide for the last few years. Between 1982 and 1984 the Plastics Division of ICI had lost a hundred and twenty million dollars, and they felt that the. most hopeful new market was in packaging, bottles and cans.
Since 1982 it has opened three new factories producing "Melinar", the raw material from which high quality polyester bottles are made.
The polyester bottle was born in the 1970s, when soft drinks companies like Coca Cola started selling their drinks in giant two-liter containers. Because of the build-up of the pressure of gas in these large containers, glass was unsuitable. Nor was PVC, the plastic which had been used for bottles since the 1960s, suitable for drinks with gas in them. A new plastic had to be made.
Glass is still cheaper for the smaller bottles, and will continue to be so unless oil and plastic become much cheaper, but plastic does well for the larger sizes.
Polyester bottles are virtually unbreakable. The manufacturers claim they are also lighter, less noisy when being handled, and can be reused. Shopkeepers and other business people are unlikely to object to a change from glass to polyester, since these bottles mean few breakages, which are costly and time-consuming. The public, though, have been more difficult to persuade. ICI's commercial department is developing different bottles with interesting shapes, to try and make them visually more attractive to the public.
The next step could be to develop a plastic which could replace tins for food. The problem here is the high temperatures necessary for cooking the food in the container. | 747.txt | 3 |
[
"have been used for many years",
"are an idea that interests the plastics companies",
"are possible, but only for hot food",
"are the first things being made in the new factories"
] | Plastic containers for holding food in the same way as cans _ . | Polyester is now being used for bottles. ICI, the chemicals and plastics company, believes that it is now beginning to break the grip of glass on the bottle business and thus take advantage of this huge market.
All the plastics manufacturers have been experiencing hard times as their traditional products have been doing badly world-wide for the last few years. Between 1982 and 1984 the Plastics Division of ICI had lost a hundred and twenty million dollars, and they felt that the. most hopeful new market was in packaging, bottles and cans.
Since 1982 it has opened three new factories producing "Melinar", the raw material from which high quality polyester bottles are made.
The polyester bottle was born in the 1970s, when soft drinks companies like Coca Cola started selling their drinks in giant two-liter containers. Because of the build-up of the pressure of gas in these large containers, glass was unsuitable. Nor was PVC, the plastic which had been used for bottles since the 1960s, suitable for drinks with gas in them. A new plastic had to be made.
Glass is still cheaper for the smaller bottles, and will continue to be so unless oil and plastic become much cheaper, but plastic does well for the larger sizes.
Polyester bottles are virtually unbreakable. The manufacturers claim they are also lighter, less noisy when being handled, and can be reused. Shopkeepers and other business people are unlikely to object to a change from glass to polyester, since these bottles mean few breakages, which are costly and time-consuming. The public, though, have been more difficult to persuade. ICI's commercial department is developing different bottles with interesting shapes, to try and make them visually more attractive to the public.
The next step could be to develop a plastic which could replace tins for food. The problem here is the high temperatures necessary for cooking the food in the container. | 747.txt | 1 |
[
"high-frequency trading firms are still dominating the nation's stock market",
"high-frequency firms have lost a lot of money",
"the profits from high-speed trading are declining compared to last year",
"by comparison, high-speed trading companies make more money than others"
] | It is indicated in Paragraphs 1 and 2 that _ . | High-frequency trading firms-the lightning-quick, computerized companies that have risen in the last decade to dominate the nation's stock market-are now struggling to hold onto their gains.
Profits from high-speed trading in American stocks are on track to be, at most, $1.25 billion this year, down 35 percent from last year and 74 percent lower than the peak of about $4.9 billion in 2009, according to estimates from the brokerage firm Rosenblatt Securities. By comparison, Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase each earned more in the last quarter than the high-speed trading industry will earn this year.
While no official data is kept on employment at the high-speed firms, interviews with more than a dozen industry participants suggest that firms large and small have been cutting staff, and in some cases have shut down. The firms also are accounting for a declining percentage of a shrinking pool of stock trading, from 61 percent three years ago to 51 percent now, according to the Tabb Group, a data firm.
It is a swift reversal for trading firms that have often looked to other investors like profit machines, thanks to high-powered software and superfast data connections that can take advantage of small changes in the price of a stock.
High-speed trading is far from disappearing from the market, but the struggles facing these firms have been greeted with enthusiasm by some traditional traders and investors who have viewed the firms as formidable adversaries, or worse, market manipulators that create sudden spikes and drops in share prices. Peter Costa, a longtime trader on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, said the fading presence of the firms could" restore some order to stock markets."
Regulators are still grappling with whether the rise of high-speed firms has been a net benefit or loss for investors, so it is hard to pinpoint what effect the decline of these firms will have on the markets. Many market experts have argued that the technical glitches that have recently hit the market have been a result of a broader trend of the market splintering into dozens of automated trading services and a lack of human oversight. | 439.txt | 2 |
[
"struggling to make profits",
"the shrink of stock trading market",
"the reduction of profits and employee numbers",
"the domination of the nation's stock market"
] | The decline of high-frequency trading firms is characterized by _ . | High-frequency trading firms-the lightning-quick, computerized companies that have risen in the last decade to dominate the nation's stock market-are now struggling to hold onto their gains.
Profits from high-speed trading in American stocks are on track to be, at most, $1.25 billion this year, down 35 percent from last year and 74 percent lower than the peak of about $4.9 billion in 2009, according to estimates from the brokerage firm Rosenblatt Securities. By comparison, Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase each earned more in the last quarter than the high-speed trading industry will earn this year.
While no official data is kept on employment at the high-speed firms, interviews with more than a dozen industry participants suggest that firms large and small have been cutting staff, and in some cases have shut down. The firms also are accounting for a declining percentage of a shrinking pool of stock trading, from 61 percent three years ago to 51 percent now, according to the Tabb Group, a data firm.
It is a swift reversal for trading firms that have often looked to other investors like profit machines, thanks to high-powered software and superfast data connections that can take advantage of small changes in the price of a stock.
High-speed trading is far from disappearing from the market, but the struggles facing these firms have been greeted with enthusiasm by some traditional traders and investors who have viewed the firms as formidable adversaries, or worse, market manipulators that create sudden spikes and drops in share prices. Peter Costa, a longtime trader on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, said the fading presence of the firms could" restore some order to stock markets."
Regulators are still grappling with whether the rise of high-speed firms has been a net benefit or loss for investors, so it is hard to pinpoint what effect the decline of these firms will have on the markets. Many market experts have argued that the technical glitches that have recently hit the market have been a result of a broader trend of the market splintering into dozens of automated trading services and a lack of human oversight. | 439.txt | 2 |
[
"possession of high-powered software and superfast data connections",
"new investors like profit machines",
"taking in charge of the price of a stock",
"that trading firms are not making huge profits as before"
] | The phrase" a swift reversal" （Line 1, Paragraph 4）most probably refers to _ . | High-frequency trading firms-the lightning-quick, computerized companies that have risen in the last decade to dominate the nation's stock market-are now struggling to hold onto their gains.
Profits from high-speed trading in American stocks are on track to be, at most, $1.25 billion this year, down 35 percent from last year and 74 percent lower than the peak of about $4.9 billion in 2009, according to estimates from the brokerage firm Rosenblatt Securities. By comparison, Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase each earned more in the last quarter than the high-speed trading industry will earn this year.
While no official data is kept on employment at the high-speed firms, interviews with more than a dozen industry participants suggest that firms large and small have been cutting staff, and in some cases have shut down. The firms also are accounting for a declining percentage of a shrinking pool of stock trading, from 61 percent three years ago to 51 percent now, according to the Tabb Group, a data firm.
It is a swift reversal for trading firms that have often looked to other investors like profit machines, thanks to high-powered software and superfast data connections that can take advantage of small changes in the price of a stock.
High-speed trading is far from disappearing from the market, but the struggles facing these firms have been greeted with enthusiasm by some traditional traders and investors who have viewed the firms as formidable adversaries, or worse, market manipulators that create sudden spikes and drops in share prices. Peter Costa, a longtime trader on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, said the fading presence of the firms could" restore some order to stock markets."
Regulators are still grappling with whether the rise of high-speed firms has been a net benefit or loss for investors, so it is hard to pinpoint what effect the decline of these firms will have on the markets. Many market experts have argued that the technical glitches that have recently hit the market have been a result of a broader trend of the market splintering into dozens of automated trading services and a lack of human oversight. | 439.txt | 3 |
[
"High-speed trading firms should better disappear from the market.",
"Some traditional traders and investors are afraid of that disappearance.",
"Some traditional traders and investors are formidable adversaries.",
"High-speed trading firms would face the struggle with enthusiasm."
] | Which of the following would Peter Costa most probably agree on？ | High-frequency trading firms-the lightning-quick, computerized companies that have risen in the last decade to dominate the nation's stock market-are now struggling to hold onto their gains.
Profits from high-speed trading in American stocks are on track to be, at most, $1.25 billion this year, down 35 percent from last year and 74 percent lower than the peak of about $4.9 billion in 2009, according to estimates from the brokerage firm Rosenblatt Securities. By comparison, Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase each earned more in the last quarter than the high-speed trading industry will earn this year.
While no official data is kept on employment at the high-speed firms, interviews with more than a dozen industry participants suggest that firms large and small have been cutting staff, and in some cases have shut down. The firms also are accounting for a declining percentage of a shrinking pool of stock trading, from 61 percent three years ago to 51 percent now, according to the Tabb Group, a data firm.
It is a swift reversal for trading firms that have often looked to other investors like profit machines, thanks to high-powered software and superfast data connections that can take advantage of small changes in the price of a stock.
High-speed trading is far from disappearing from the market, but the struggles facing these firms have been greeted with enthusiasm by some traditional traders and investors who have viewed the firms as formidable adversaries, or worse, market manipulators that create sudden spikes and drops in share prices. Peter Costa, a longtime trader on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, said the fading presence of the firms could" restore some order to stock markets."
Regulators are still grappling with whether the rise of high-speed firms has been a net benefit or loss for investors, so it is hard to pinpoint what effect the decline of these firms will have on the markets. Many market experts have argued that the technical glitches that have recently hit the market have been a result of a broader trend of the market splintering into dozens of automated trading services and a lack of human oversight. | 439.txt | 0 |
[
"Regulators think the prospect of these firms is promising.",
"There is no assertion about the influence of these firms.",
"The technical glitches are caused by these firms.",
"These firms have splintered into dozens of automated trading services."
] | What can be learned about the high-speed firms according to the last paragraph? | High-frequency trading firms-the lightning-quick, computerized companies that have risen in the last decade to dominate the nation's stock market-are now struggling to hold onto their gains.
Profits from high-speed trading in American stocks are on track to be, at most, $1.25 billion this year, down 35 percent from last year and 74 percent lower than the peak of about $4.9 billion in 2009, according to estimates from the brokerage firm Rosenblatt Securities. By comparison, Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase each earned more in the last quarter than the high-speed trading industry will earn this year.
While no official data is kept on employment at the high-speed firms, interviews with more than a dozen industry participants suggest that firms large and small have been cutting staff, and in some cases have shut down. The firms also are accounting for a declining percentage of a shrinking pool of stock trading, from 61 percent three years ago to 51 percent now, according to the Tabb Group, a data firm.
It is a swift reversal for trading firms that have often looked to other investors like profit machines, thanks to high-powered software and superfast data connections that can take advantage of small changes in the price of a stock.
High-speed trading is far from disappearing from the market, but the struggles facing these firms have been greeted with enthusiasm by some traditional traders and investors who have viewed the firms as formidable adversaries, or worse, market manipulators that create sudden spikes and drops in share prices. Peter Costa, a longtime trader on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, said the fading presence of the firms could" restore some order to stock markets."
Regulators are still grappling with whether the rise of high-speed firms has been a net benefit or loss for investors, so it is hard to pinpoint what effect the decline of these firms will have on the markets. Many market experts have argued that the technical glitches that have recently hit the market have been a result of a broader trend of the market splintering into dozens of automated trading services and a lack of human oversight. | 439.txt | 1 |
[
"he is a lazy person",
"he refuses to follow his own energy cycle",
"he is not sure when his energy is low",
"he is at his peak in the afternoon or evening"
] | If a person finds getting up early a problem, most probably _ . | Do you find getting up in the morning so difficult that it's painful? This might be called laziness, but Dr. Kleitman has a new explanation. He has proved that everyone has a daily energy cycle.
During the hours when you lab our through your work you may say that you're "hot". That's true.
The time of day when you feel most energetic is when your cycle of body temperature is at its peak. For some people the peak comes during the forenoon. For others it comes in the afternoon or evening. No one has discovered why this is so, but it leads to such familiar monologues as: "Get up, John! You'll be late for work again!" The possible explanation to the trouble is that John is at his temperature-and-energy peak in the evening. Much family quarrelling ends when husbands and wives realize what the seenergy cycles mean, and which cycle each member of the family has.
You can't change your energy cycle, but you can learn to make your life fit it better. Habit can help, Dr. Kleitman believes. Maybe you're sleepy in the evening but feel you must stay up late any way. Counteract your cycle to some extent by habitually staying up later than you want to. If your energy is low in the morning, but you have an important job to do early in the day, rise before your usual hour. This won't change your cycle, but you'll get up steam and work better at your low point.
Get off to a slow start which saves your energy. Get up with a leisurely yawn and stretch. Sit on the edge of the bed a minute before putting your feet on the floor. Avoid the troublesome search for clean clothes by laying them out the night before. Whenever possible, do routine work in the afternoon and save tasks requiting more energy or concentration for your sharper hours. | 1614.txt | 3 |
[
"Unawareness of energy cycles.",
"Familiar monologues.",
"A change in a family member's energy cycle.",
"Attempts to control the energy cycle of other family members."
] | Which of the following may lead to family quarrels according to the passage? | Do you find getting up in the morning so difficult that it's painful? This might be called laziness, but Dr. Kleitman has a new explanation. He has proved that everyone has a daily energy cycle.
During the hours when you lab our through your work you may say that you're "hot". That's true.
The time of day when you feel most energetic is when your cycle of body temperature is at its peak. For some people the peak comes during the forenoon. For others it comes in the afternoon or evening. No one has discovered why this is so, but it leads to such familiar monologues as: "Get up, John! You'll be late for work again!" The possible explanation to the trouble is that John is at his temperature-and-energy peak in the evening. Much family quarrelling ends when husbands and wives realize what the seenergy cycles mean, and which cycle each member of the family has.
You can't change your energy cycle, but you can learn to make your life fit it better. Habit can help, Dr. Kleitman believes. Maybe you're sleepy in the evening but feel you must stay up late any way. Counteract your cycle to some extent by habitually staying up later than you want to. If your energy is low in the morning, but you have an important job to do early in the day, rise before your usual hour. This won't change your cycle, but you'll get up steam and work better at your low point.
Get off to a slow start which saves your energy. Get up with a leisurely yawn and stretch. Sit on the edge of the bed a minute before putting your feet on the floor. Avoid the troublesome search for clean clothes by laying them out the night before. Whenever possible, do routine work in the afternoon and save tasks requiting more energy or concentration for your sharper hours. | 1614.txt | 0 |
[
"change his energy cycle",
"overcome his laziness",
"get up earlier than usual",
"go to bed earlier"
] | If one wants to work more efficiently at his low point in the morning, he should _ . | Do you find getting up in the morning so difficult that it's painful? This might be called laziness, but Dr. Kleitman has a new explanation. He has proved that everyone has a daily energy cycle.
During the hours when you lab our through your work you may say that you're "hot". That's true.
The time of day when you feel most energetic is when your cycle of body temperature is at its peak. For some people the peak comes during the forenoon. For others it comes in the afternoon or evening. No one has discovered why this is so, but it leads to such familiar monologues as: "Get up, John! You'll be late for work again!" The possible explanation to the trouble is that John is at his temperature-and-energy peak in the evening. Much family quarrelling ends when husbands and wives realize what the seenergy cycles mean, and which cycle each member of the family has.
You can't change your energy cycle, but you can learn to make your life fit it better. Habit can help, Dr. Kleitman believes. Maybe you're sleepy in the evening but feel you must stay up late any way. Counteract your cycle to some extent by habitually staying up later than you want to. If your energy is low in the morning, but you have an important job to do early in the day, rise before your usual hour. This won't change your cycle, but you'll get up steam and work better at your low point.
Get off to a slow start which saves your energy. Get up with a leisurely yawn and stretch. Sit on the edge of the bed a minute before putting your feet on the floor. Avoid the troublesome search for clean clothes by laying them out the night before. Whenever possible, do routine work in the afternoon and save tasks requiting more energy or concentration for your sharper hours. | 1614.txt | 2 |
[
"help to keep your energy for the day's work",
"help you to control your temper early in the day",
"enable you to concentrate on your routine work",
"keep your energy cycle under control all day"
] | You are advised to rise with a yawn and stretch because it will | Do you find getting up in the morning so difficult that it's painful? This might be called laziness, but Dr. Kleitman has a new explanation. He has proved that everyone has a daily energy cycle.
During the hours when you lab our through your work you may say that you're "hot". That's true.
The time of day when you feel most energetic is when your cycle of body temperature is at its peak. For some people the peak comes during the forenoon. For others it comes in the afternoon or evening. No one has discovered why this is so, but it leads to such familiar monologues as: "Get up, John! You'll be late for work again!" The possible explanation to the trouble is that John is at his temperature-and-energy peak in the evening. Much family quarrelling ends when husbands and wives realize what the seenergy cycles mean, and which cycle each member of the family has.
You can't change your energy cycle, but you can learn to make your life fit it better. Habit can help, Dr. Kleitman believes. Maybe you're sleepy in the evening but feel you must stay up late any way. Counteract your cycle to some extent by habitually staying up later than you want to. If your energy is low in the morning, but you have an important job to do early in the day, rise before your usual hour. This won't change your cycle, but you'll get up steam and work better at your low point.
Get off to a slow start which saves your energy. Get up with a leisurely yawn and stretch. Sit on the edge of the bed a minute before putting your feet on the floor. Avoid the troublesome search for clean clothes by laying them out the night before. Whenever possible, do routine work in the afternoon and save tasks requiting more energy or concentration for your sharper hours. | 1614.txt | 0 |
[
"Getting off to work with a minimum effort helps save one's energy.",
"Dr. Kletman explains why people reach their peaks at different hours of day.",
"Habit helps a person adapt to his own energy cycle.",
"Children have energy cycles, too."
] | Which of the following statements is NOT TRUE? | Do you find getting up in the morning so difficult that it's painful? This might be called laziness, but Dr. Kleitman has a new explanation. He has proved that everyone has a daily energy cycle.
During the hours when you lab our through your work you may say that you're "hot". That's true.
The time of day when you feel most energetic is when your cycle of body temperature is at its peak. For some people the peak comes during the forenoon. For others it comes in the afternoon or evening. No one has discovered why this is so, but it leads to such familiar monologues as: "Get up, John! You'll be late for work again!" The possible explanation to the trouble is that John is at his temperature-and-energy peak in the evening. Much family quarrelling ends when husbands and wives realize what the seenergy cycles mean, and which cycle each member of the family has.
You can't change your energy cycle, but you can learn to make your life fit it better. Habit can help, Dr. Kleitman believes. Maybe you're sleepy in the evening but feel you must stay up late any way. Counteract your cycle to some extent by habitually staying up later than you want to. If your energy is low in the morning, but you have an important job to do early in the day, rise before your usual hour. This won't change your cycle, but you'll get up steam and work better at your low point.
Get off to a slow start which saves your energy. Get up with a leisurely yawn and stretch. Sit on the edge of the bed a minute before putting your feet on the floor. Avoid the troublesome search for clean clothes by laying them out the night before. Whenever possible, do routine work in the afternoon and save tasks requiting more energy or concentration for your sharper hours. | 1614.txt | 1 |
[
"moving to suburbs is not the answer to an ideal environment",
"cities are likely to be replaced by the suburbs",
"downtown areas are too crowded to live",
"American people moves lot in history"
] | The author of the passage suggests that _ . | A few years ago, Ann and Walter Taylor thought it might be time to move out of their New York City apartment to the suburbs. They had one young son and another child on the way. But after months of looking, they became discouraged and decided to buy an old townhouse right in the middle of Brooklyn, which is a part of New York City. To their delight, they discovered that they weren't the only young couple to have made such a decision. In fact, the entire area in Brooklyn had been settled by young families. And as a result, the neighborhood, which had been declining for years, was now being restored.
Brooklyn isn't the only city in the United States to experience this kind of renewal. So are Philadelphia and St. Louis. And Charleston, South Carolina, has so successfully rebuilt its old central area that it now ranks as one of America's most charming cities. The restoration of the old port city of Savannah, Georgia, is also living proof that downtown areas do not need to die. But encouraging as these developments may be, they are among the few bright spots in a mass of difficulties that today's cities face. Indeed, their woes are so many that it is fair to ask whether or not the inner city, the core of most urban areas will manage to survive at all.
In the 1940a, urban Americans began a mass move to the suburbs in search of fresh air, elbowroom, and privacy. Suburbs began to sprawl out across the countryside. Since most of those making the move were middle-class, they took with them the tax money the cities needed to maintain the neighborhoods in which they had lived. The people left in the cities were often those who were too old or too poor to move. Thus, many cities began to fall into disrepair. Crime began to soar, and public transportation was neglected. (In the past sixty years San Francisco is the only city in the United States to have completed a new mass transit system.) Meanwhile, housing construction costs continued to rise higher and higher. Middle-class housing was allowed to decay, and little new housing was constructed.
Eventually, many downtown areas existed for business only. During the day they would be filled with people working in offices, and at night they would be deserted. Given these circumstances, some business executives began asking, "Why bother with going downtown at all? Why not move the offices to the suburbs so that we can live and work in the same area?" Gradually, some of the larger companies began moving out of the cites, with the result that urban centers declined even further and the suburbs expanded still more. This movement of businesses to the suburbs is not confined to the United States. Businesses have also been moving to the suburbs in Stockholm, Sweden, in Bonn, Germany, and in Brussels, Belgium, as well.
But it may well be that this movement to the suburbs has reached its peak. Some people may be tired of spending long hours commuting, and they may have begun to miss the advantages of culture and companionship provided by city life. Perhaps the decision made by the Taylors is a sign that people will return to the cities and begin to restore them. h begins to look as if suburban sprawl may not have been the answer to man's need to create an ideal environment in which to live and work. | 2743.txt | 0 |
[
"private space",
"room to move freely",
"peaceful places",
"confined room"
] | The word "elbowroom" in Paragraph 3 most probably means" _ . | A few years ago, Ann and Walter Taylor thought it might be time to move out of their New York City apartment to the suburbs. They had one young son and another child on the way. But after months of looking, they became discouraged and decided to buy an old townhouse right in the middle of Brooklyn, which is a part of New York City. To their delight, they discovered that they weren't the only young couple to have made such a decision. In fact, the entire area in Brooklyn had been settled by young families. And as a result, the neighborhood, which had been declining for years, was now being restored.
Brooklyn isn't the only city in the United States to experience this kind of renewal. So are Philadelphia and St. Louis. And Charleston, South Carolina, has so successfully rebuilt its old central area that it now ranks as one of America's most charming cities. The restoration of the old port city of Savannah, Georgia, is also living proof that downtown areas do not need to die. But encouraging as these developments may be, they are among the few bright spots in a mass of difficulties that today's cities face. Indeed, their woes are so many that it is fair to ask whether or not the inner city, the core of most urban areas will manage to survive at all.
In the 1940a, urban Americans began a mass move to the suburbs in search of fresh air, elbowroom, and privacy. Suburbs began to sprawl out across the countryside. Since most of those making the move were middle-class, they took with them the tax money the cities needed to maintain the neighborhoods in which they had lived. The people left in the cities were often those who were too old or too poor to move. Thus, many cities began to fall into disrepair. Crime began to soar, and public transportation was neglected. (In the past sixty years San Francisco is the only city in the United States to have completed a new mass transit system.) Meanwhile, housing construction costs continued to rise higher and higher. Middle-class housing was allowed to decay, and little new housing was constructed.
Eventually, many downtown areas existed for business only. During the day they would be filled with people working in offices, and at night they would be deserted. Given these circumstances, some business executives began asking, "Why bother with going downtown at all? Why not move the offices to the suburbs so that we can live and work in the same area?" Gradually, some of the larger companies began moving out of the cites, with the result that urban centers declined even further and the suburbs expanded still more. This movement of businesses to the suburbs is not confined to the United States. Businesses have also been moving to the suburbs in Stockholm, Sweden, in Bonn, Germany, and in Brussels, Belgium, as well.
But it may well be that this movement to the suburbs has reached its peak. Some people may be tired of spending long hours commuting, and they may have begun to miss the advantages of culture and companionship provided by city life. Perhaps the decision made by the Taylors is a sign that people will return to the cities and begin to restore them. h begins to look as if suburban sprawl may not have been the answer to man's need to create an ideal environment in which to live and work. | 2743.txt | 1 |
[
"There are just old and poor people left in the cities.",
"The movement to the suburbs begins to decline.",
"Downtown areas must die in the future.",
"Suburbs are sure to replace cities."
] | Which of the following statements is true? | A few years ago, Ann and Walter Taylor thought it might be time to move out of their New York City apartment to the suburbs. They had one young son and another child on the way. But after months of looking, they became discouraged and decided to buy an old townhouse right in the middle of Brooklyn, which is a part of New York City. To their delight, they discovered that they weren't the only young couple to have made such a decision. In fact, the entire area in Brooklyn had been settled by young families. And as a result, the neighborhood, which had been declining for years, was now being restored.
Brooklyn isn't the only city in the United States to experience this kind of renewal. So are Philadelphia and St. Louis. And Charleston, South Carolina, has so successfully rebuilt its old central area that it now ranks as one of America's most charming cities. The restoration of the old port city of Savannah, Georgia, is also living proof that downtown areas do not need to die. But encouraging as these developments may be, they are among the few bright spots in a mass of difficulties that today's cities face. Indeed, their woes are so many that it is fair to ask whether or not the inner city, the core of most urban areas will manage to survive at all.
In the 1940a, urban Americans began a mass move to the suburbs in search of fresh air, elbowroom, and privacy. Suburbs began to sprawl out across the countryside. Since most of those making the move were middle-class, they took with them the tax money the cities needed to maintain the neighborhoods in which they had lived. The people left in the cities were often those who were too old or too poor to move. Thus, many cities began to fall into disrepair. Crime began to soar, and public transportation was neglected. (In the past sixty years San Francisco is the only city in the United States to have completed a new mass transit system.) Meanwhile, housing construction costs continued to rise higher and higher. Middle-class housing was allowed to decay, and little new housing was constructed.
Eventually, many downtown areas existed for business only. During the day they would be filled with people working in offices, and at night they would be deserted. Given these circumstances, some business executives began asking, "Why bother with going downtown at all? Why not move the offices to the suburbs so that we can live and work in the same area?" Gradually, some of the larger companies began moving out of the cites, with the result that urban centers declined even further and the suburbs expanded still more. This movement of businesses to the suburbs is not confined to the United States. Businesses have also been moving to the suburbs in Stockholm, Sweden, in Bonn, Germany, and in Brussels, Belgium, as well.
But it may well be that this movement to the suburbs has reached its peak. Some people may be tired of spending long hours commuting, and they may have begun to miss the advantages of culture and companionship provided by city life. Perhaps the decision made by the Taylors is a sign that people will return to the cities and begin to restore them. h begins to look as if suburban sprawl may not have been the answer to man's need to create an ideal environment in which to live and work. | 2743.txt | 1 |
[
"Because the environment is pleasant in the suburbs.",
"Because the suburbs have developed rapidly.",
"Because rich people have moved to suburbs.",
"Because many people work in cites and live in suburbs."
] | Why have businesses been moving to suburbs? | A few years ago, Ann and Walter Taylor thought it might be time to move out of their New York City apartment to the suburbs. They had one young son and another child on the way. But after months of looking, they became discouraged and decided to buy an old townhouse right in the middle of Brooklyn, which is a part of New York City. To their delight, they discovered that they weren't the only young couple to have made such a decision. In fact, the entire area in Brooklyn had been settled by young families. And as a result, the neighborhood, which had been declining for years, was now being restored.
Brooklyn isn't the only city in the United States to experience this kind of renewal. So are Philadelphia and St. Louis. And Charleston, South Carolina, has so successfully rebuilt its old central area that it now ranks as one of America's most charming cities. The restoration of the old port city of Savannah, Georgia, is also living proof that downtown areas do not need to die. But encouraging as these developments may be, they are among the few bright spots in a mass of difficulties that today's cities face. Indeed, their woes are so many that it is fair to ask whether or not the inner city, the core of most urban areas will manage to survive at all.
In the 1940a, urban Americans began a mass move to the suburbs in search of fresh air, elbowroom, and privacy. Suburbs began to sprawl out across the countryside. Since most of those making the move were middle-class, they took with them the tax money the cities needed to maintain the neighborhoods in which they had lived. The people left in the cities were often those who were too old or too poor to move. Thus, many cities began to fall into disrepair. Crime began to soar, and public transportation was neglected. (In the past sixty years San Francisco is the only city in the United States to have completed a new mass transit system.) Meanwhile, housing construction costs continued to rise higher and higher. Middle-class housing was allowed to decay, and little new housing was constructed.
Eventually, many downtown areas existed for business only. During the day they would be filled with people working in offices, and at night they would be deserted. Given these circumstances, some business executives began asking, "Why bother with going downtown at all? Why not move the offices to the suburbs so that we can live and work in the same area?" Gradually, some of the larger companies began moving out of the cites, with the result that urban centers declined even further and the suburbs expanded still more. This movement of businesses to the suburbs is not confined to the United States. Businesses have also been moving to the suburbs in Stockholm, Sweden, in Bonn, Germany, and in Brussels, Belgium, as well.
But it may well be that this movement to the suburbs has reached its peak. Some people may be tired of spending long hours commuting, and they may have begun to miss the advantages of culture and companionship provided by city life. Perhaps the decision made by the Taylors is a sign that people will return to the cities and begin to restore them. h begins to look as if suburban sprawl may not have been the answer to man's need to create an ideal environment in which to live and work. | 2743.txt | 3 |
[
"housing construction costs continued to rise",
"housing was allowed to decay",
"many people moved out of the cities",
"only old and poor people were left in the cities"
] | Many cities began to fall into disrepair in the 1940s because _ . | A few years ago, Ann and Walter Taylor thought it might be time to move out of their New York City apartment to the suburbs. They had one young son and another child on the way. But after months of looking, they became discouraged and decided to buy an old townhouse right in the middle of Brooklyn, which is a part of New York City. To their delight, they discovered that they weren't the only young couple to have made such a decision. In fact, the entire area in Brooklyn had been settled by young families. And as a result, the neighborhood, which had been declining for years, was now being restored.
Brooklyn isn't the only city in the United States to experience this kind of renewal. So are Philadelphia and St. Louis. And Charleston, South Carolina, has so successfully rebuilt its old central area that it now ranks as one of America's most charming cities. The restoration of the old port city of Savannah, Georgia, is also living proof that downtown areas do not need to die. But encouraging as these developments may be, they are among the few bright spots in a mass of difficulties that today's cities face. Indeed, their woes are so many that it is fair to ask whether or not the inner city, the core of most urban areas will manage to survive at all.
In the 1940a, urban Americans began a mass move to the suburbs in search of fresh air, elbowroom, and privacy. Suburbs began to sprawl out across the countryside. Since most of those making the move were middle-class, they took with them the tax money the cities needed to maintain the neighborhoods in which they had lived. The people left in the cities were often those who were too old or too poor to move. Thus, many cities began to fall into disrepair. Crime began to soar, and public transportation was neglected. (In the past sixty years San Francisco is the only city in the United States to have completed a new mass transit system.) Meanwhile, housing construction costs continued to rise higher and higher. Middle-class housing was allowed to decay, and little new housing was constructed.
Eventually, many downtown areas existed for business only. During the day they would be filled with people working in offices, and at night they would be deserted. Given these circumstances, some business executives began asking, "Why bother with going downtown at all? Why not move the offices to the suburbs so that we can live and work in the same area?" Gradually, some of the larger companies began moving out of the cites, with the result that urban centers declined even further and the suburbs expanded still more. This movement of businesses to the suburbs is not confined to the United States. Businesses have also been moving to the suburbs in Stockholm, Sweden, in Bonn, Germany, and in Brussels, Belgium, as well.
But it may well be that this movement to the suburbs has reached its peak. Some people may be tired of spending long hours commuting, and they may have begun to miss the advantages of culture and companionship provided by city life. Perhaps the decision made by the Taylors is a sign that people will return to the cities and begin to restore them. h begins to look as if suburban sprawl may not have been the answer to man's need to create an ideal environment in which to live and work. | 2743.txt | 2 |
[
"persuade workers to have a god sleep.",
"advise night workers to keep healthy",
"encourage workers to do day work",
"help night workers to sleep well"
] | The purpose of the text is to. | It is common to have difficulties sleeping during the day. Humans are naturally wired to sleep best at night and be awake during the day. However, modern work schedules require some people to try to accommodate the unnatural schedule of shiftwork - being awake at night and sleeping during the day.
In order to make this adjustment, you need to pay special attention to your sleep environment and your preparation for sleep. If shift work is a necessary part of your work life, here are some suggestions that may help.
Arrange to sleep uninterrupted in a quiet, dark room. This means you may have to turn off or unplug your phone, hang darkening curtains on the windows or wear a sleep eye mask, and train your family and friends to leave you alone while you sleep.
Fit in a nap. When your daytime sleep period is too short, taking a short nap of less than 30 minutes just before work or on a break has been shown to improve alertness and enhance performance.
Develop and follow a sleep routine. It's best if you go to sleep and wake up at the same time every day. Try not to vary this too much on weekends. Your body likes routine.
Take extra care to make healthy choices. You may be tempted to reach for unhealthy foods or nicotine to stay awake or alcohol to try to sleep. But ultimately these choices are more harmful than helpful.
If you have tried all these things and are still having problems getting enough quality sleep during the day, talk to your doctor or a sleep specialist. Sometimes medicationsmay be helpful and safe. In other cases, there may be an underlying sleep disorder that needs to be addressed. | 3171.txt | 3 |
[
"A suitable account of alcohol to help sleep.",
"A regular life on weekday's and weekends.",
"A dark room without phoebes to sleep in.",
"A break for sleeping anytime during the day."
] | What does the author recomusend? | It is common to have difficulties sleeping during the day. Humans are naturally wired to sleep best at night and be awake during the day. However, modern work schedules require some people to try to accommodate the unnatural schedule of shiftwork - being awake at night and sleeping during the day.
In order to make this adjustment, you need to pay special attention to your sleep environment and your preparation for sleep. If shift work is a necessary part of your work life, here are some suggestions that may help.
Arrange to sleep uninterrupted in a quiet, dark room. This means you may have to turn off or unplug your phone, hang darkening curtains on the windows or wear a sleep eye mask, and train your family and friends to leave you alone while you sleep.
Fit in a nap. When your daytime sleep period is too short, taking a short nap of less than 30 minutes just before work or on a break has been shown to improve alertness and enhance performance.
Develop and follow a sleep routine. It's best if you go to sleep and wake up at the same time every day. Try not to vary this too much on weekends. Your body likes routine.
Take extra care to make healthy choices. You may be tempted to reach for unhealthy foods or nicotine to stay awake or alcohol to try to sleep. But ultimately these choices are more harmful than helpful.
If you have tried all these things and are still having problems getting enough quality sleep during the day, talk to your doctor or a sleep specialist. Sometimes medicationsmay be helpful and safe. In other cases, there may be an underlying sleep disorder that needs to be addressed. | 3171.txt | 1 |
[
"If he suffers from a sleep disorder for the first time.",
"If a good sleep environment is greatly needed for him.",
"If he falls to get quality sleep through his own efforts.",
"If he has the problem of bailing to sleep in the daytime."
] | On which condition should a person turn to a sleep specialist for help? | It is common to have difficulties sleeping during the day. Humans are naturally wired to sleep best at night and be awake during the day. However, modern work schedules require some people to try to accommodate the unnatural schedule of shiftwork - being awake at night and sleeping during the day.
In order to make this adjustment, you need to pay special attention to your sleep environment and your preparation for sleep. If shift work is a necessary part of your work life, here are some suggestions that may help.
Arrange to sleep uninterrupted in a quiet, dark room. This means you may have to turn off or unplug your phone, hang darkening curtains on the windows or wear a sleep eye mask, and train your family and friends to leave you alone while you sleep.
Fit in a nap. When your daytime sleep period is too short, taking a short nap of less than 30 minutes just before work or on a break has been shown to improve alertness and enhance performance.
Develop and follow a sleep routine. It's best if you go to sleep and wake up at the same time every day. Try not to vary this too much on weekends. Your body likes routine.
Take extra care to make healthy choices. You may be tempted to reach for unhealthy foods or nicotine to stay awake or alcohol to try to sleep. But ultimately these choices are more harmful than helpful.
If you have tried all these things and are still having problems getting enough quality sleep during the day, talk to your doctor or a sleep specialist. Sometimes medicationsmay be helpful and safe. In other cases, there may be an underlying sleep disorder that needs to be addressed. | 3171.txt | 2 |
[
"night workers need a long time to fall asleep",
"constant breaks at work help to improve performance",
"it is difficult to create a good sleep environment",
"night work requires people to adjust their body clocks"
] | We can learn from the test that. | It is common to have difficulties sleeping during the day. Humans are naturally wired to sleep best at night and be awake during the day. However, modern work schedules require some people to try to accommodate the unnatural schedule of shiftwork - being awake at night and sleeping during the day.
In order to make this adjustment, you need to pay special attention to your sleep environment and your preparation for sleep. If shift work is a necessary part of your work life, here are some suggestions that may help.
Arrange to sleep uninterrupted in a quiet, dark room. This means you may have to turn off or unplug your phone, hang darkening curtains on the windows or wear a sleep eye mask, and train your family and friends to leave you alone while you sleep.
Fit in a nap. When your daytime sleep period is too short, taking a short nap of less than 30 minutes just before work or on a break has been shown to improve alertness and enhance performance.
Develop and follow a sleep routine. It's best if you go to sleep and wake up at the same time every day. Try not to vary this too much on weekends. Your body likes routine.
Take extra care to make healthy choices. You may be tempted to reach for unhealthy foods or nicotine to stay awake or alcohol to try to sleep. But ultimately these choices are more harmful than helpful.
If you have tried all these things and are still having problems getting enough quality sleep during the day, talk to your doctor or a sleep specialist. Sometimes medicationsmay be helpful and safe. In other cases, there may be an underlying sleep disorder that needs to be addressed. | 3171.txt | 3 |
[
"Her social work.",
"Her teaching skills.",
"Her efforts to win a prize.",
"Her community background."
] | What is Jane Addams noted for in history? | You probably know who Marie Curie was,but you may not have heard of Rachel Carson. Of the outstanding ladies listed below,who do you think was the most important woman of the past 100 years?
Jane Addams(1860-1935)
Anyone who has ever been helped by a social worker has Jane Addams to thank. Addams helped the poor and worked for peace. She encouraged a sense of communityby creating shelters and promoting education and services for people in need. In 1931,Addams became the first American woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize.
Rachel Carson(1907-1964)
If it weren't for Rachel Carson, the environmental movement might not exist today. Her popular 1962 book Silent Spring raised awareness of the dangers of pollution and the harmful effects of chemicals on humans and on the world's lakes and oceans.
Sandra Day O'Connor(1930-present)
When Sandra Day O'Connor finished third in her class at Stanford Law School, in 1952,she could not find work at a law firm because she was a woman. She became an Arizona state senator and ,in 1981, the first woman to join the U. S. Supreme Court. O'Connor gave the deciding vote in many important cases during her 24 years on the top court.
Rosa Parks(1913-2005)
On December 1,1955,in Montgomery,Alabama,Rasa Parks would not give up her seat on a bus to a passenger. Her simple act landed Parks in prison. But it also set off the Montgomery bus boycott. It lasted for more than a year, and kicked off the civil-rights movement. "The only tired I was, was tired of giving in," said Parks. | 416.txt | 0 |
[
"Her lack of proper training in law.",
"Her little work experience in court.",
"The discrimination against women.",
"The poor financial conditions."
] | What was the reason for O'Connor's being rejected by the law firm? | You probably know who Marie Curie was,but you may not have heard of Rachel Carson. Of the outstanding ladies listed below,who do you think was the most important woman of the past 100 years?
Jane Addams(1860-1935)
Anyone who has ever been helped by a social worker has Jane Addams to thank. Addams helped the poor and worked for peace. She encouraged a sense of communityby creating shelters and promoting education and services for people in need. In 1931,Addams became the first American woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize.
Rachel Carson(1907-1964)
If it weren't for Rachel Carson, the environmental movement might not exist today. Her popular 1962 book Silent Spring raised awareness of the dangers of pollution and the harmful effects of chemicals on humans and on the world's lakes and oceans.
Sandra Day O'Connor(1930-present)
When Sandra Day O'Connor finished third in her class at Stanford Law School, in 1952,she could not find work at a law firm because she was a woman. She became an Arizona state senator and ,in 1981, the first woman to join the U. S. Supreme Court. O'Connor gave the deciding vote in many important cases during her 24 years on the top court.
Rosa Parks(1913-2005)
On December 1,1955,in Montgomery,Alabama,Rasa Parks would not give up her seat on a bus to a passenger. Her simple act landed Parks in prison. But it also set off the Montgomery bus boycott. It lasted for more than a year, and kicked off the civil-rights movement. "The only tired I was, was tired of giving in," said Parks. | 416.txt | 2 |
[
"Jane Addams.",
"Rachel Carson.",
"Sandra Day O'Connor.",
"Ross Parks."
] | Who made a great contribution to the civil-rights movement in the U.S. | You probably know who Marie Curie was,but you may not have heard of Rachel Carson. Of the outstanding ladies listed below,who do you think was the most important woman of the past 100 years?
Jane Addams(1860-1935)
Anyone who has ever been helped by a social worker has Jane Addams to thank. Addams helped the poor and worked for peace. She encouraged a sense of communityby creating shelters and promoting education and services for people in need. In 1931,Addams became the first American woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize.
Rachel Carson(1907-1964)
If it weren't for Rachel Carson, the environmental movement might not exist today. Her popular 1962 book Silent Spring raised awareness of the dangers of pollution and the harmful effects of chemicals on humans and on the world's lakes and oceans.
Sandra Day O'Connor(1930-present)
When Sandra Day O'Connor finished third in her class at Stanford Law School, in 1952,she could not find work at a law firm because she was a woman. She became an Arizona state senator and ,in 1981, the first woman to join the U. S. Supreme Court. O'Connor gave the deciding vote in many important cases during her 24 years on the top court.
Rosa Parks(1913-2005)
On December 1,1955,in Montgomery,Alabama,Rasa Parks would not give up her seat on a bus to a passenger. Her simple act landed Parks in prison. But it also set off the Montgomery bus boycott. It lasted for more than a year, and kicked off the civil-rights movement. "The only tired I was, was tired of giving in," said Parks. | 416.txt | 3 |
[
"They are highly educated.",
"They are truly creative.",
"They are pioneers.",
"They are peace-lovers."
] | What can we infer about the women mentioned in the text? | You probably know who Marie Curie was,but you may not have heard of Rachel Carson. Of the outstanding ladies listed below,who do you think was the most important woman of the past 100 years?
Jane Addams(1860-1935)
Anyone who has ever been helped by a social worker has Jane Addams to thank. Addams helped the poor and worked for peace. She encouraged a sense of communityby creating shelters and promoting education and services for people in need. In 1931,Addams became the first American woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize.
Rachel Carson(1907-1964)
If it weren't for Rachel Carson, the environmental movement might not exist today. Her popular 1962 book Silent Spring raised awareness of the dangers of pollution and the harmful effects of chemicals on humans and on the world's lakes and oceans.
Sandra Day O'Connor(1930-present)
When Sandra Day O'Connor finished third in her class at Stanford Law School, in 1952,she could not find work at a law firm because she was a woman. She became an Arizona state senator and ,in 1981, the first woman to join the U. S. Supreme Court. O'Connor gave the deciding vote in many important cases during her 24 years on the top court.
Rosa Parks(1913-2005)
On December 1,1955,in Montgomery,Alabama,Rasa Parks would not give up her seat on a bus to a passenger. Her simple act landed Parks in prison. But it also set off the Montgomery bus boycott. It lasted for more than a year, and kicked off the civil-rights movement. "The only tired I was, was tired of giving in," said Parks. | 416.txt | 2 |
[
"is well worth the money spent on its construction",
"is almost faultless from the point of energy conservation",
"failed to meet energy conservation standards",
"was designed and constructed in a scientific way"
] | It can be learned from the passage that the Ouchidas house _ . | Priscilla Ouchida's "energy-efficient" house turned out to be a horrible dream. When she and her engineer husband married a few years ago, they built a $100,000, three-bedroom home in . Tightly sealed to prevent air leaks, the house was equipped with small double-paned windows and several other energy-saving features. Problems began as soon as the couple moved in, however. Priscilla's eyes burned. Her throat was constantly dry. She suffered from headaches and could hardly sleep. It was as though she had suddenly developed a strange illness.
Experts finally traced the cause of her illness. The level of formaldehyde gas in her kitchen was twice the maximum allowed by federal standards for chemical workers. The source of the gas? Her new kitchen cabinets and wall-to-wall carpeting.
The Ouchidas are victims of indoor air pollution, which is not given sufficient attention partly because of the nation's drive to save energy. The problem itself isn't new. "The indoor environment was dirty long before energy conservation came along," says Moschandreas, a pollution scientist at Geomet Technologies in . "Energy conservation has tended to accentuate the situation in some cases."
The problem appears to be more troublesome in newly constructed homes rather than old ones. Back in the days when energy was cheap, home builders didn't worry much about unsealed cracks. Because of such leaks, the air in an average home was replaced by fresh outdoor air about once an hour. As a result, the pollutants generated in most households seldom build up to dangerous levels. | 899.txt | 1 |
[
"Lack of fresh air.",
"Poor quality of building materials.",
"Gas leakage in the kitchen.",
"The newly painted walls."
] | What made the Ouchidas' new house a horrible dream? | Priscilla Ouchida's "energy-efficient" house turned out to be a horrible dream. When she and her engineer husband married a few years ago, they built a $100,000, three-bedroom home in . Tightly sealed to prevent air leaks, the house was equipped with small double-paned windows and several other energy-saving features. Problems began as soon as the couple moved in, however. Priscilla's eyes burned. Her throat was constantly dry. She suffered from headaches and could hardly sleep. It was as though she had suddenly developed a strange illness.
Experts finally traced the cause of her illness. The level of formaldehyde gas in her kitchen was twice the maximum allowed by federal standards for chemical workers. The source of the gas? Her new kitchen cabinets and wall-to-wall carpeting.
The Ouchidas are victims of indoor air pollution, which is not given sufficient attention partly because of the nation's drive to save energy. The problem itself isn't new. "The indoor environment was dirty long before energy conservation came along," says Moschandreas, a pollution scientist at Geomet Technologies in . "Energy conservation has tended to accentuate the situation in some cases."
The problem appears to be more troublesome in newly constructed homes rather than old ones. Back in the days when energy was cheap, home builders didn't worry much about unsealed cracks. Because of such leaks, the air in an average home was replaced by fresh outdoor air about once an hour. As a result, the pollutants generated in most households seldom build up to dangerous levels. | 899.txt | 0 |
[
"relieve",
"accelerate",
"worsen",
"improve"
] | The word "accentuate" (Line 4, Para. 3) most probably means "_ ". | Priscilla Ouchida's "energy-efficient" house turned out to be a horrible dream. When she and her engineer husband married a few years ago, they built a $100,000, three-bedroom home in . Tightly sealed to prevent air leaks, the house was equipped with small double-paned windows and several other energy-saving features. Problems began as soon as the couple moved in, however. Priscilla's eyes burned. Her throat was constantly dry. She suffered from headaches and could hardly sleep. It was as though she had suddenly developed a strange illness.
Experts finally traced the cause of her illness. The level of formaldehyde gas in her kitchen was twice the maximum allowed by federal standards for chemical workers. The source of the gas? Her new kitchen cabinets and wall-to-wall carpeting.
The Ouchidas are victims of indoor air pollution, which is not given sufficient attention partly because of the nation's drive to save energy. The problem itself isn't new. "The indoor environment was dirty long before energy conservation came along," says Moschandreas, a pollution scientist at Geomet Technologies in . "Energy conservation has tended to accentuate the situation in some cases."
The problem appears to be more troublesome in newly constructed homes rather than old ones. Back in the days when energy was cheap, home builders didn't worry much about unsealed cracks. Because of such leaks, the air in an average home was replaced by fresh outdoor air about once an hour. As a result, the pollutants generated in most households seldom build up to dangerous levels. | 899.txt | 2 |
[
"Because indoor cleanliness was not emphasized.",
"Because energy used to be inexpensive.",
"Because environmental protection was given top priority.",
"Because they were technically unavoidable.（B）"
] | Why were cracks in old houses not a big concern? | Priscilla Ouchida's "energy-efficient" house turned out to be a horrible dream. When she and her engineer husband married a few years ago, they built a $100,000, three-bedroom home in . Tightly sealed to prevent air leaks, the house was equipped with small double-paned windows and several other energy-saving features. Problems began as soon as the couple moved in, however. Priscilla's eyes burned. Her throat was constantly dry. She suffered from headaches and could hardly sleep. It was as though she had suddenly developed a strange illness.
Experts finally traced the cause of her illness. The level of formaldehyde gas in her kitchen was twice the maximum allowed by federal standards for chemical workers. The source of the gas? Her new kitchen cabinets and wall-to-wall carpeting.
The Ouchidas are victims of indoor air pollution, which is not given sufficient attention partly because of the nation's drive to save energy. The problem itself isn't new. "The indoor environment was dirty long before energy conservation came along," says Moschandreas, a pollution scientist at Geomet Technologies in . "Energy conservation has tended to accentuate the situation in some cases."
The problem appears to be more troublesome in newly constructed homes rather than old ones. Back in the days when energy was cheap, home builders didn't worry much about unsealed cracks. Because of such leaks, the air in an average home was replaced by fresh outdoor air about once an hour. As a result, the pollutants generated in most households seldom build up to dangerous levels. | 899.txt | 1 |
[
"Energy Conservation",
"Crisis",
"Air Pollution Indoors",
"Traps in Building Construction"
] | This passage is most probably taken from an article entitled "_ ". | Priscilla Ouchida's "energy-efficient" house turned out to be a horrible dream. When she and her engineer husband married a few years ago, they built a $100,000, three-bedroom home in . Tightly sealed to prevent air leaks, the house was equipped with small double-paned windows and several other energy-saving features. Problems began as soon as the couple moved in, however. Priscilla's eyes burned. Her throat was constantly dry. She suffered from headaches and could hardly sleep. It was as though she had suddenly developed a strange illness.
Experts finally traced the cause of her illness. The level of formaldehyde gas in her kitchen was twice the maximum allowed by federal standards for chemical workers. The source of the gas? Her new kitchen cabinets and wall-to-wall carpeting.
The Ouchidas are victims of indoor air pollution, which is not given sufficient attention partly because of the nation's drive to save energy. The problem itself isn't new. "The indoor environment was dirty long before energy conservation came along," says Moschandreas, a pollution scientist at Geomet Technologies in . "Energy conservation has tended to accentuate the situation in some cases."
The problem appears to be more troublesome in newly constructed homes rather than old ones. Back in the days when energy was cheap, home builders didn't worry much about unsealed cracks. Because of such leaks, the air in an average home was replaced by fresh outdoor air about once an hour. As a result, the pollutants generated in most households seldom build up to dangerous levels. | 899.txt | 2 |
[
"showing that intrasexual selection has a greater effect on birdsong than does intersexual selection",
"contrasting the role of song complexity in several species of birds",
"describing research confirming the suspected rela-tionship between intersexual selection and the complexity of birdsong",
"demonstrating the superiority of laboratory work over field studies in evolutionary biology"
] | The passage is primarily concerned with | Over the years, biologists have suggested two main pathways by which sexual selection may have shaped the evolution of male birdsong. In the first, male competition and intrasexual selection produce relatively short, simple songs used mainly in territorial behavior. In the second, female choice and intersexual selection produce longer, more complicated songs used mainly in mate attraction; like such visual ornamentation as the peacock's tail, elabo-rate vocal characteristics increase the male's chances of being chosen as a mate, and he thus enjoys more repro-ductive success than his less ostentatious rivals. The two pathways are not mutually exclusive, and we can expect to find examples that reflect their interaction. Teasing them apart has been an important challenge to evolutionary biol-ogists
. Early research confirmed the role of intrasexual selection.In a variety of experiments in the field, males responded aggressively to recorded songs by exhibiting territorial behavior near the speakers. The breakthrough for research into intersexual selection came in the development of a newtechnique for investigating female response in the labor-atory. When female cowbirds raised in isolation in sound-proof chambers were exposed to recordings of male song,they responded by exhibiting mating behavior. By quanti-fying the responses, researchers were able to determine what particular features of the song were most important. In further experiments on song sparrows, researchers found that when exposed to a single song type repeated several times or to a repertoire of different song types, females responded more to the latter. The beauty of the experi-mental design is that it effectively rules out confounding variables; acoustic isolation assures that the female can respond only to the song structure itself.
If intersexual selection operates as theorized, males with more complicated songs should not only attract females more readily but should also enjoy greater reproductive success. At first, however, researchers doing fieldwork with song sparrows found no correlation between larger reper-toires and early mating, which has been shown to be one indicator of reproductive success; further, common measuresof male quality used to predict reproductive success, such as weight, size, age, and territory, also failed to correlate with song complexity.
The confirmation researchers had been seeking was finally achieved in studies involving two varieties of war-blers. Unlike the song sparrow, which repeats one of its several song types in bouts before switching to another, the warbler continuously composes much longer and more vari-able songs without repetition. For the first time, researchers found a significant correlation between repertoire size and early mating, and they discovered further that repertoire size had a more significant effect than any other measure of male quality on the number of young produced. The evi-dence suggests that warblers use their extremely elaborate songs primarily to attract females, clearly confirming the effect of intersexual selection on the evolution of birdsong. | 1914.txt | 2 |
[
"cite an exception to the theory of the relationship between intrasexual selection and male compe- tition",
"illustrate the importance of both of the pathways that shaped the evolution of birdsong",
"draw a distinction between competing theories of intersexual selection",
"give an example of a feature that may have evolved through intersexual selection by female choice"
] | The author mentions the peacock's tail in line 8 most probably in order to | Over the years, biologists have suggested two main pathways by which sexual selection may have shaped the evolution of male birdsong. In the first, male competition and intrasexual selection produce relatively short, simple songs used mainly in territorial behavior. In the second, female choice and intersexual selection produce longer, more complicated songs used mainly in mate attraction; like such visual ornamentation as the peacock's tail, elabo-rate vocal characteristics increase the male's chances of being chosen as a mate, and he thus enjoys more repro-ductive success than his less ostentatious rivals. The two pathways are not mutually exclusive, and we can expect to find examples that reflect their interaction. Teasing them apart has been an important challenge to evolutionary biol-ogists
. Early research confirmed the role of intrasexual selection.In a variety of experiments in the field, males responded aggressively to recorded songs by exhibiting territorial behavior near the speakers. The breakthrough for research into intersexual selection came in the development of a newtechnique for investigating female response in the labor-atory. When female cowbirds raised in isolation in sound-proof chambers were exposed to recordings of male song,they responded by exhibiting mating behavior. By quanti-fying the responses, researchers were able to determine what particular features of the song were most important. In further experiments on song sparrows, researchers found that when exposed to a single song type repeated several times or to a repertoire of different song types, females responded more to the latter. The beauty of the experi-mental design is that it effectively rules out confounding variables; acoustic isolation assures that the female can respond only to the song structure itself.
If intersexual selection operates as theorized, males with more complicated songs should not only attract females more readily but should also enjoy greater reproductive success. At first, however, researchers doing fieldwork with song sparrows found no correlation between larger reper-toires and early mating, which has been shown to be one indicator of reproductive success; further, common measuresof male quality used to predict reproductive success, such as weight, size, age, and territory, also failed to correlate with song complexity.
The confirmation researchers had been seeking was finally achieved in studies involving two varieties of war-blers. Unlike the song sparrow, which repeats one of its several song types in bouts before switching to another, the warbler continuously composes much longer and more vari-able songs without repetition. For the first time, researchers found a significant correlation between repertoire size and early mating, and they discovered further that repertoire size had a more significant effect than any other measure of male quality on the number of young produced. The evi-dence suggests that warblers use their extremely elaborate songs primarily to attract females, clearly confirming the effect of intersexual selection on the evolution of birdsong. | 1914.txt | 3 |
[
"Female choice",
"Territorial behavior",
"Complex song types",
"Large song repertoires"
] | According to the passage, which of the following is specifically related to intrasexual selection? | Over the years, biologists have suggested two main pathways by which sexual selection may have shaped the evolution of male birdsong. In the first, male competition and intrasexual selection produce relatively short, simple songs used mainly in territorial behavior. In the second, female choice and intersexual selection produce longer, more complicated songs used mainly in mate attraction; like such visual ornamentation as the peacock's tail, elabo-rate vocal characteristics increase the male's chances of being chosen as a mate, and he thus enjoys more repro-ductive success than his less ostentatious rivals. The two pathways are not mutually exclusive, and we can expect to find examples that reflect their interaction. Teasing them apart has been an important challenge to evolutionary biol-ogists
. Early research confirmed the role of intrasexual selection.In a variety of experiments in the field, males responded aggressively to recorded songs by exhibiting territorial behavior near the speakers. The breakthrough for research into intersexual selection came in the development of a newtechnique for investigating female response in the labor-atory. When female cowbirds raised in isolation in sound-proof chambers were exposed to recordings of male song,they responded by exhibiting mating behavior. By quanti-fying the responses, researchers were able to determine what particular features of the song were most important. In further experiments on song sparrows, researchers found that when exposed to a single song type repeated several times or to a repertoire of different song types, females responded more to the latter. The beauty of the experi-mental design is that it effectively rules out confounding variables; acoustic isolation assures that the female can respond only to the song structure itself.
If intersexual selection operates as theorized, males with more complicated songs should not only attract females more readily but should also enjoy greater reproductive success. At first, however, researchers doing fieldwork with song sparrows found no correlation between larger reper-toires and early mating, which has been shown to be one indicator of reproductive success; further, common measuresof male quality used to predict reproductive success, such as weight, size, age, and territory, also failed to correlate with song complexity.
The confirmation researchers had been seeking was finally achieved in studies involving two varieties of war-blers. Unlike the song sparrow, which repeats one of its several song types in bouts before switching to another, the warbler continuously composes much longer and more vari-able songs without repetition. For the first time, researchers found a significant correlation between repertoire size and early mating, and they discovered further that repertoire size had a more significant effect than any other measure of male quality on the number of young produced. The evi-dence suggests that warblers use their extremely elaborate songs primarily to attract females, clearly confirming the effect of intersexual selection on the evolution of birdsong. | 1914.txt | 1 |
[
"Female larks respond similarly both to short, simple songs and to longer, more complicated songs.",
"Male canaries use visual ornamentation as well as elaborate song repertoires for mate attraction.",
"Both male and female blackbirds develop elabo- rate visual and vocal characteristics.",
"Male jays use songs to compete among themselves and to attract females."
] | Which of the following, if true, would most clearly demonstrate the interaction mentioned in lines 11-13? | Over the years, biologists have suggested two main pathways by which sexual selection may have shaped the evolution of male birdsong. In the first, male competition and intrasexual selection produce relatively short, simple songs used mainly in territorial behavior. In the second, female choice and intersexual selection produce longer, more complicated songs used mainly in mate attraction; like such visual ornamentation as the peacock's tail, elabo-rate vocal characteristics increase the male's chances of being chosen as a mate, and he thus enjoys more repro-ductive success than his less ostentatious rivals. The two pathways are not mutually exclusive, and we can expect to find examples that reflect their interaction. Teasing them apart has been an important challenge to evolutionary biol-ogists
. Early research confirmed the role of intrasexual selection.In a variety of experiments in the field, males responded aggressively to recorded songs by exhibiting territorial behavior near the speakers. The breakthrough for research into intersexual selection came in the development of a newtechnique for investigating female response in the labor-atory. When female cowbirds raised in isolation in sound-proof chambers were exposed to recordings of male song,they responded by exhibiting mating behavior. By quanti-fying the responses, researchers were able to determine what particular features of the song were most important. In further experiments on song sparrows, researchers found that when exposed to a single song type repeated several times or to a repertoire of different song types, females responded more to the latter. The beauty of the experi-mental design is that it effectively rules out confounding variables; acoustic isolation assures that the female can respond only to the song structure itself.
If intersexual selection operates as theorized, males with more complicated songs should not only attract females more readily but should also enjoy greater reproductive success. At first, however, researchers doing fieldwork with song sparrows found no correlation between larger reper-toires and early mating, which has been shown to be one indicator of reproductive success; further, common measuresof male quality used to predict reproductive success, such as weight, size, age, and territory, also failed to correlate with song complexity.
The confirmation researchers had been seeking was finally achieved in studies involving two varieties of war-blers. Unlike the song sparrow, which repeats one of its several song types in bouts before switching to another, the warbler continuously composes much longer and more vari-able songs without repetition. For the first time, researchers found a significant correlation between repertoire size and early mating, and they discovered further that repertoire size had a more significant effect than any other measure of male quality on the number of young produced. The evi-dence suggests that warblers use their extremely elaborate songs primarily to attract females, clearly confirming the effect of intersexual selection on the evolution of birdsong. | 1914.txt | 3 |
[
"eliminate confounding variables",
"approximate field conditions",
"measure reproductive success",
"quantify repertoire complexity"
] | The passage indicates that researchers raised female cowbirds in acoustic isolation in order to | Over the years, biologists have suggested two main pathways by which sexual selection may have shaped the evolution of male birdsong. In the first, male competition and intrasexual selection produce relatively short, simple songs used mainly in territorial behavior. In the second, female choice and intersexual selection produce longer, more complicated songs used mainly in mate attraction; like such visual ornamentation as the peacock's tail, elabo-rate vocal characteristics increase the male's chances of being chosen as a mate, and he thus enjoys more repro-ductive success than his less ostentatious rivals. The two pathways are not mutually exclusive, and we can expect to find examples that reflect their interaction. Teasing them apart has been an important challenge to evolutionary biol-ogists
. Early research confirmed the role of intrasexual selection.In a variety of experiments in the field, males responded aggressively to recorded songs by exhibiting territorial behavior near the speakers. The breakthrough for research into intersexual selection came in the development of a newtechnique for investigating female response in the labor-atory. When female cowbirds raised in isolation in sound-proof chambers were exposed to recordings of male song,they responded by exhibiting mating behavior. By quanti-fying the responses, researchers were able to determine what particular features of the song were most important. In further experiments on song sparrows, researchers found that when exposed to a single song type repeated several times or to a repertoire of different song types, females responded more to the latter. The beauty of the experi-mental design is that it effectively rules out confounding variables; acoustic isolation assures that the female can respond only to the song structure itself.
If intersexual selection operates as theorized, males with more complicated songs should not only attract females more readily but should also enjoy greater reproductive success. At first, however, researchers doing fieldwork with song sparrows found no correlation between larger reper-toires and early mating, which has been shown to be one indicator of reproductive success; further, common measuresof male quality used to predict reproductive success, such as weight, size, age, and territory, also failed to correlate with song complexity.
The confirmation researchers had been seeking was finally achieved in studies involving two varieties of war-blers. Unlike the song sparrow, which repeats one of its several song types in bouts before switching to another, the warbler continuously composes much longer and more vari-able songs without repetition. For the first time, researchers found a significant correlation between repertoire size and early mating, and they discovered further that repertoire size had a more significant effect than any other measure of male quality on the number of young produced. The evi-dence suggests that warblers use their extremely elaborate songs primarily to attract females, clearly confirming the effect of intersexual selection on the evolution of birdsong. | 1914.txt | 0 |
[
"uses songs mainly in territorial behavior",
"continuously composes long and complex songs",
"has a much larger song repertoire",
"repeats one song type before switching to another"
] | According to the passage, the song sparrow is unlike the warbler in that the song sparrow | Over the years, biologists have suggested two main pathways by which sexual selection may have shaped the evolution of male birdsong. In the first, male competition and intrasexual selection produce relatively short, simple songs used mainly in territorial behavior. In the second, female choice and intersexual selection produce longer, more complicated songs used mainly in mate attraction; like such visual ornamentation as the peacock's tail, elabo-rate vocal characteristics increase the male's chances of being chosen as a mate, and he thus enjoys more repro-ductive success than his less ostentatious rivals. The two pathways are not mutually exclusive, and we can expect to find examples that reflect their interaction. Teasing them apart has been an important challenge to evolutionary biol-ogists
. Early research confirmed the role of intrasexual selection.In a variety of experiments in the field, males responded aggressively to recorded songs by exhibiting territorial behavior near the speakers. The breakthrough for research into intersexual selection came in the development of a newtechnique for investigating female response in the labor-atory. When female cowbirds raised in isolation in sound-proof chambers were exposed to recordings of male song,they responded by exhibiting mating behavior. By quanti-fying the responses, researchers were able to determine what particular features of the song were most important. In further experiments on song sparrows, researchers found that when exposed to a single song type repeated several times or to a repertoire of different song types, females responded more to the latter. The beauty of the experi-mental design is that it effectively rules out confounding variables; acoustic isolation assures that the female can respond only to the song structure itself.
If intersexual selection operates as theorized, males with more complicated songs should not only attract females more readily but should also enjoy greater reproductive success. At first, however, researchers doing fieldwork with song sparrows found no correlation between larger reper-toires and early mating, which has been shown to be one indicator of reproductive success; further, common measuresof male quality used to predict reproductive success, such as weight, size, age, and territory, also failed to correlate with song complexity.
The confirmation researchers had been seeking was finally achieved in studies involving two varieties of war-blers. Unlike the song sparrow, which repeats one of its several song types in bouts before switching to another, the warbler continuously composes much longer and more vari-able songs without repetition. For the first time, researchers found a significant correlation between repertoire size and early mating, and they discovered further that repertoire size had a more significant effect than any other measure of male quality on the number of young produced. The evi-dence suggests that warblers use their extremely elaborate songs primarily to attract females, clearly confirming the effect of intersexual selection on the evolution of birdsong. | 1914.txt | 3 |
[
"females were allowed to respond only to the song structure",
"song sparrows are unlike other species of birds",
"he experiments provided no evidence that elaborate songs increased male reproductive success",
"the experiments included the songs of only a small number of different song sparrows"
] | The passage suggests that the song sparrow experiments mentioned in lines 37-43 failed to confirm the role of intersexnal selection because | Over the years, biologists have suggested two main pathways by which sexual selection may have shaped the evolution of male birdsong. In the first, male competition and intrasexual selection produce relatively short, simple songs used mainly in territorial behavior. In the second, female choice and intersexual selection produce longer, more complicated songs used mainly in mate attraction; like such visual ornamentation as the peacock's tail, elabo-rate vocal characteristics increase the male's chances of being chosen as a mate, and he thus enjoys more repro-ductive success than his less ostentatious rivals. The two pathways are not mutually exclusive, and we can expect to find examples that reflect their interaction. Teasing them apart has been an important challenge to evolutionary biol-ogists
. Early research confirmed the role of intrasexual selection.In a variety of experiments in the field, males responded aggressively to recorded songs by exhibiting territorial behavior near the speakers. The breakthrough for research into intersexual selection came in the development of a newtechnique for investigating female response in the labor-atory. When female cowbirds raised in isolation in sound-proof chambers were exposed to recordings of male song,they responded by exhibiting mating behavior. By quanti-fying the responses, researchers were able to determine what particular features of the song were most important. In further experiments on song sparrows, researchers found that when exposed to a single song type repeated several times or to a repertoire of different song types, females responded more to the latter. The beauty of the experi-mental design is that it effectively rules out confounding variables; acoustic isolation assures that the female can respond only to the song structure itself.
If intersexual selection operates as theorized, males with more complicated songs should not only attract females more readily but should also enjoy greater reproductive success. At first, however, researchers doing fieldwork with song sparrows found no correlation between larger reper-toires and early mating, which has been shown to be one indicator of reproductive success; further, common measuresof male quality used to predict reproductive success, such as weight, size, age, and territory, also failed to correlate with song complexity.
The confirmation researchers had been seeking was finally achieved in studies involving two varieties of war-blers. Unlike the song sparrow, which repeats one of its several song types in bouts before switching to another, the warbler continuously composes much longer and more vari-able songs without repetition. For the first time, researchers found a significant correlation between repertoire size and early mating, and they discovered further that repertoire size had a more significant effect than any other measure of male quality on the number of young produced. The evi-dence suggests that warblers use their extremely elaborate songs primarily to attract females, clearly confirming the effect of intersexual selection on the evolution of birdsong. | 1914.txt | 2 |
[
"frequent",
"essential",
"original",
"familiar"
] | The word "key" in the passage is closest in meaning to | It was in Egypt and Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq) that civilization arose, and it is there that we find the earliest examples of that key feature of civilization, writing. These examples, in the form of inscribed clay tablets that date to shortly before 3000 B.C.E., have been discovered among the archaeological remains of the Sumerians, a gifted people settled in southern Mesopotamia.
The Egyptians were not far behind in developing writing, but we cannot follow the history of their writing in detail because they used a perishable writing material. In ancient times the banks of the Nile were lined with papyrus plants, and from the papyrus reeds the Egyptians made a form of paper; it was excellent in quality but, like any paper, fragile. Mesopotamia's rivers boasted no such useful reeds, but its land did provide good clay, and as a consequence the clay tablet became the standard material. Though clumsy and bulky it has a virtue dear to archaeologists: it is durable. Fire, for example, which is death to papyrus paper or other writing materials such as leather and wood, simply bakes it hard, thereby making it even more durable. So when a conqueror set a Mesopotamian palace ablaze, he helped ensure the survival of any clay tablets in it. Clay, moreover, is cheap, and forming it into tablets is easy, factors that helped the clay tablet become the preferred writing material not only throughout Mesopotamia but far outside it as well, in Syria, Asia Minor, Persia, and even for a while in Crete and Greece. Excavators have unearthed clay tablets in all these lands. In the Near East they remained in use for more than two and a half millennia, and in certain areas they lasted down to the beginning of the common era until finally yielding, once and for all, to more convenient alternatives.
The Sumerians perfected a style of writing suited to clay. This script consists of simple shapes, basically just wedge shapes and lines that could easily be incised in soft clay with a reed or wooden stylus; scholars have dubbed it cuneiform from the wedge-shaped marks (cunei in Latin) that are its hallmark Although the ingredients are merely wedges and lines, there are hundreds of combinations of these basic forms that stand for different sounds or words. Learning these complex signs required long training and much practice; inevitably, literacy was largely limited to a small professional class, the scribes.
The Akkadians conquered the Sumerians around the middle of the third millennium B.C.E., and they took over the various cuneiform signs used for writing Sumerian and gave them sound and word values that fit their own language. The Babylonians and Assyrians did the same, and so did peoples in Syria and Asia Minor. The literature of the Sumerians was treasured throughout the Near East, and long after Sumerian ceased to be spoken, the Babylonians and Assyrians and others kept it alive as a literary language, the way Europeans kept Latin alive after the fall of Rome. For the scribes of these non-Sumerian languages, training was doubly demanding since they had to know the values of the various cuneiform signs for Sumerian as well as for their own language.
The contents of the earliest clay tablets are simple notations of numbers of commodities-animals, jars, baskets, etc. Writing, it would appear, started as a primitive form of bookkeeping. Its use soon widened to document the multitudinous things and acts that are involved in daily life, from simple inventories of commodities to complicated governmental rules and regulations.
Archaeologists frequently find clay tablets in batches. The batches, some of which contain thousands of tablets, consist for the most part of documents of the types just mentioned: bills, deliveries, receipts, inventories, loans, marriage contracts, divorce settlements, court judgments, and so on. These records of factual matters were kept in storage to be available for reference-they were, in effect, files, or, to use the term preferred by specialists in the ancient Near East, archives. Now and then these files include pieces of writing that are of a distinctly different order, writings that do not merely record some matter of fact but involve creative intellectual activity. They range from simple textbook material to literature-and they make an appearance very early, even from the third millennium B C E. | 2344.txt | 1 |
[
"price",
"design",
"desirable quality",
"physical characteristic"
] | The word "virtue" in the passage is closest in meaning to | It was in Egypt and Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq) that civilization arose, and it is there that we find the earliest examples of that key feature of civilization, writing. These examples, in the form of inscribed clay tablets that date to shortly before 3000 B.C.E., have been discovered among the archaeological remains of the Sumerians, a gifted people settled in southern Mesopotamia.
The Egyptians were not far behind in developing writing, but we cannot follow the history of their writing in detail because they used a perishable writing material. In ancient times the banks of the Nile were lined with papyrus plants, and from the papyrus reeds the Egyptians made a form of paper; it was excellent in quality but, like any paper, fragile. Mesopotamia's rivers boasted no such useful reeds, but its land did provide good clay, and as a consequence the clay tablet became the standard material. Though clumsy and bulky it has a virtue dear to archaeologists: it is durable. Fire, for example, which is death to papyrus paper or other writing materials such as leather and wood, simply bakes it hard, thereby making it even more durable. So when a conqueror set a Mesopotamian palace ablaze, he helped ensure the survival of any clay tablets in it. Clay, moreover, is cheap, and forming it into tablets is easy, factors that helped the clay tablet become the preferred writing material not only throughout Mesopotamia but far outside it as well, in Syria, Asia Minor, Persia, and even for a while in Crete and Greece. Excavators have unearthed clay tablets in all these lands. In the Near East they remained in use for more than two and a half millennia, and in certain areas they lasted down to the beginning of the common era until finally yielding, once and for all, to more convenient alternatives.
The Sumerians perfected a style of writing suited to clay. This script consists of simple shapes, basically just wedge shapes and lines that could easily be incised in soft clay with a reed or wooden stylus; scholars have dubbed it cuneiform from the wedge-shaped marks (cunei in Latin) that are its hallmark Although the ingredients are merely wedges and lines, there are hundreds of combinations of these basic forms that stand for different sounds or words. Learning these complex signs required long training and much practice; inevitably, literacy was largely limited to a small professional class, the scribes.
The Akkadians conquered the Sumerians around the middle of the third millennium B.C.E., and they took over the various cuneiform signs used for writing Sumerian and gave them sound and word values that fit their own language. The Babylonians and Assyrians did the same, and so did peoples in Syria and Asia Minor. The literature of the Sumerians was treasured throughout the Near East, and long after Sumerian ceased to be spoken, the Babylonians and Assyrians and others kept it alive as a literary language, the way Europeans kept Latin alive after the fall of Rome. For the scribes of these non-Sumerian languages, training was doubly demanding since they had to know the values of the various cuneiform signs for Sumerian as well as for their own language.
The contents of the earliest clay tablets are simple notations of numbers of commodities-animals, jars, baskets, etc. Writing, it would appear, started as a primitive form of bookkeeping. Its use soon widened to document the multitudinous things and acts that are involved in daily life, from simple inventories of commodities to complicated governmental rules and regulations.
Archaeologists frequently find clay tablets in batches. The batches, some of which contain thousands of tablets, consist for the most part of documents of the types just mentioned: bills, deliveries, receipts, inventories, loans, marriage contracts, divorce settlements, court judgments, and so on. These records of factual matters were kept in storage to be available for reference-they were, in effect, files, or, to use the term preferred by specialists in the ancient Near East, archives. Now and then these files include pieces of writing that are of a distinctly different order, writings that do not merely record some matter of fact but involve creative intellectual activity. They range from simple textbook material to literature-and they make an appearance very early, even from the third millennium B C E. | 2344.txt | 2 |
[
"It had to be baked before it could be written on",
"Its good points outweighed its bad points.",
"Its durability was its most important feature for its users.",
"It was not available in Egypt."
] | What can be inferred from paragraph 2 about clay as a writing material? | It was in Egypt and Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq) that civilization arose, and it is there that we find the earliest examples of that key feature of civilization, writing. These examples, in the form of inscribed clay tablets that date to shortly before 3000 B.C.E., have been discovered among the archaeological remains of the Sumerians, a gifted people settled in southern Mesopotamia.
The Egyptians were not far behind in developing writing, but we cannot follow the history of their writing in detail because they used a perishable writing material. In ancient times the banks of the Nile were lined with papyrus plants, and from the papyrus reeds the Egyptians made a form of paper; it was excellent in quality but, like any paper, fragile. Mesopotamia's rivers boasted no such useful reeds, but its land did provide good clay, and as a consequence the clay tablet became the standard material. Though clumsy and bulky it has a virtue dear to archaeologists: it is durable. Fire, for example, which is death to papyrus paper or other writing materials such as leather and wood, simply bakes it hard, thereby making it even more durable. So when a conqueror set a Mesopotamian palace ablaze, he helped ensure the survival of any clay tablets in it. Clay, moreover, is cheap, and forming it into tablets is easy, factors that helped the clay tablet become the preferred writing material not only throughout Mesopotamia but far outside it as well, in Syria, Asia Minor, Persia, and even for a while in Crete and Greece. Excavators have unearthed clay tablets in all these lands. In the Near East they remained in use for more than two and a half millennia, and in certain areas they lasted down to the beginning of the common era until finally yielding, once and for all, to more convenient alternatives.
The Sumerians perfected a style of writing suited to clay. This script consists of simple shapes, basically just wedge shapes and lines that could easily be incised in soft clay with a reed or wooden stylus; scholars have dubbed it cuneiform from the wedge-shaped marks (cunei in Latin) that are its hallmark Although the ingredients are merely wedges and lines, there are hundreds of combinations of these basic forms that stand for different sounds or words. Learning these complex signs required long training and much practice; inevitably, literacy was largely limited to a small professional class, the scribes.
The Akkadians conquered the Sumerians around the middle of the third millennium B.C.E., and they took over the various cuneiform signs used for writing Sumerian and gave them sound and word values that fit their own language. The Babylonians and Assyrians did the same, and so did peoples in Syria and Asia Minor. The literature of the Sumerians was treasured throughout the Near East, and long after Sumerian ceased to be spoken, the Babylonians and Assyrians and others kept it alive as a literary language, the way Europeans kept Latin alive after the fall of Rome. For the scribes of these non-Sumerian languages, training was doubly demanding since they had to know the values of the various cuneiform signs for Sumerian as well as for their own language.
The contents of the earliest clay tablets are simple notations of numbers of commodities-animals, jars, baskets, etc. Writing, it would appear, started as a primitive form of bookkeeping. Its use soon widened to document the multitudinous things and acts that are involved in daily life, from simple inventories of commodities to complicated governmental rules and regulations.
Archaeologists frequently find clay tablets in batches. The batches, some of which contain thousands of tablets, consist for the most part of documents of the types just mentioned: bills, deliveries, receipts, inventories, loans, marriage contracts, divorce settlements, court judgments, and so on. These records of factual matters were kept in storage to be available for reference-they were, in effect, files, or, to use the term preferred by specialists in the ancient Near East, archives. Now and then these files include pieces of writing that are of a distinctly different order, writings that do not merely record some matter of fact but involve creative intellectual activity. They range from simple textbook material to literature-and they make an appearance very early, even from the third millennium B C E. | 2344.txt | 1 |
[
"To describe the superiofity of papyrus over leattier and wood as a writing material",
"To explain why writing in Egypt did not develop as quickly as it did Mesopotamia",
"To explain why archaeologists' knowledge of the early history of writing relies mainly on Sumerian cuneiform",
"To explain why the Sumerians preferred clay tablets for writing over papyrus"
] | In paragraph 2, why does the author discuss the Egyptian use of papyrus as a writing material? | It was in Egypt and Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq) that civilization arose, and it is there that we find the earliest examples of that key feature of civilization, writing. These examples, in the form of inscribed clay tablets that date to shortly before 3000 B.C.E., have been discovered among the archaeological remains of the Sumerians, a gifted people settled in southern Mesopotamia.
The Egyptians were not far behind in developing writing, but we cannot follow the history of their writing in detail because they used a perishable writing material. In ancient times the banks of the Nile were lined with papyrus plants, and from the papyrus reeds the Egyptians made a form of paper; it was excellent in quality but, like any paper, fragile. Mesopotamia's rivers boasted no such useful reeds, but its land did provide good clay, and as a consequence the clay tablet became the standard material. Though clumsy and bulky it has a virtue dear to archaeologists: it is durable. Fire, for example, which is death to papyrus paper or other writing materials such as leather and wood, simply bakes it hard, thereby making it even more durable. So when a conqueror set a Mesopotamian palace ablaze, he helped ensure the survival of any clay tablets in it. Clay, moreover, is cheap, and forming it into tablets is easy, factors that helped the clay tablet become the preferred writing material not only throughout Mesopotamia but far outside it as well, in Syria, Asia Minor, Persia, and even for a while in Crete and Greece. Excavators have unearthed clay tablets in all these lands. In the Near East they remained in use for more than two and a half millennia, and in certain areas they lasted down to the beginning of the common era until finally yielding, once and for all, to more convenient alternatives.
The Sumerians perfected a style of writing suited to clay. This script consists of simple shapes, basically just wedge shapes and lines that could easily be incised in soft clay with a reed or wooden stylus; scholars have dubbed it cuneiform from the wedge-shaped marks (cunei in Latin) that are its hallmark Although the ingredients are merely wedges and lines, there are hundreds of combinations of these basic forms that stand for different sounds or words. Learning these complex signs required long training and much practice; inevitably, literacy was largely limited to a small professional class, the scribes.
The Akkadians conquered the Sumerians around the middle of the third millennium B.C.E., and they took over the various cuneiform signs used for writing Sumerian and gave them sound and word values that fit their own language. The Babylonians and Assyrians did the same, and so did peoples in Syria and Asia Minor. The literature of the Sumerians was treasured throughout the Near East, and long after Sumerian ceased to be spoken, the Babylonians and Assyrians and others kept it alive as a literary language, the way Europeans kept Latin alive after the fall of Rome. For the scribes of these non-Sumerian languages, training was doubly demanding since they had to know the values of the various cuneiform signs for Sumerian as well as for their own language.
The contents of the earliest clay tablets are simple notations of numbers of commodities-animals, jars, baskets, etc. Writing, it would appear, started as a primitive form of bookkeeping. Its use soon widened to document the multitudinous things and acts that are involved in daily life, from simple inventories of commodities to complicated governmental rules and regulations.
Archaeologists frequently find clay tablets in batches. The batches, some of which contain thousands of tablets, consist for the most part of documents of the types just mentioned: bills, deliveries, receipts, inventories, loans, marriage contracts, divorce settlements, court judgments, and so on. These records of factual matters were kept in storage to be available for reference-they were, in effect, files, or, to use the term preferred by specialists in the ancient Near East, archives. Now and then these files include pieces of writing that are of a distinctly different order, writings that do not merely record some matter of fact but involve creative intellectual activity. They range from simple textbook material to literature-and they make an appearance very early, even from the third millennium B C E. | 2344.txt | 2 |
[
"It was composed of very simple shapes",
"It was perfected by the ancient Sumerians.",
"It influenced the choice of material on which it was written.",
"It was understood by very few Sumerians."
] | According to paragraph 3, all of the following are true of cuneiform writing EXCEPT: | It was in Egypt and Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq) that civilization arose, and it is there that we find the earliest examples of that key feature of civilization, writing. These examples, in the form of inscribed clay tablets that date to shortly before 3000 B.C.E., have been discovered among the archaeological remains of the Sumerians, a gifted people settled in southern Mesopotamia.
The Egyptians were not far behind in developing writing, but we cannot follow the history of their writing in detail because they used a perishable writing material. In ancient times the banks of the Nile were lined with papyrus plants, and from the papyrus reeds the Egyptians made a form of paper; it was excellent in quality but, like any paper, fragile. Mesopotamia's rivers boasted no such useful reeds, but its land did provide good clay, and as a consequence the clay tablet became the standard material. Though clumsy and bulky it has a virtue dear to archaeologists: it is durable. Fire, for example, which is death to papyrus paper or other writing materials such as leather and wood, simply bakes it hard, thereby making it even more durable. So when a conqueror set a Mesopotamian palace ablaze, he helped ensure the survival of any clay tablets in it. Clay, moreover, is cheap, and forming it into tablets is easy, factors that helped the clay tablet become the preferred writing material not only throughout Mesopotamia but far outside it as well, in Syria, Asia Minor, Persia, and even for a while in Crete and Greece. Excavators have unearthed clay tablets in all these lands. In the Near East they remained in use for more than two and a half millennia, and in certain areas they lasted down to the beginning of the common era until finally yielding, once and for all, to more convenient alternatives.
The Sumerians perfected a style of writing suited to clay. This script consists of simple shapes, basically just wedge shapes and lines that could easily be incised in soft clay with a reed or wooden stylus; scholars have dubbed it cuneiform from the wedge-shaped marks (cunei in Latin) that are its hallmark Although the ingredients are merely wedges and lines, there are hundreds of combinations of these basic forms that stand for different sounds or words. Learning these complex signs required long training and much practice; inevitably, literacy was largely limited to a small professional class, the scribes.
The Akkadians conquered the Sumerians around the middle of the third millennium B.C.E., and they took over the various cuneiform signs used for writing Sumerian and gave them sound and word values that fit their own language. The Babylonians and Assyrians did the same, and so did peoples in Syria and Asia Minor. The literature of the Sumerians was treasured throughout the Near East, and long after Sumerian ceased to be spoken, the Babylonians and Assyrians and others kept it alive as a literary language, the way Europeans kept Latin alive after the fall of Rome. For the scribes of these non-Sumerian languages, training was doubly demanding since they had to know the values of the various cuneiform signs for Sumerian as well as for their own language.
The contents of the earliest clay tablets are simple notations of numbers of commodities-animals, jars, baskets, etc. Writing, it would appear, started as a primitive form of bookkeeping. Its use soon widened to document the multitudinous things and acts that are involved in daily life, from simple inventories of commodities to complicated governmental rules and regulations.
Archaeologists frequently find clay tablets in batches. The batches, some of which contain thousands of tablets, consist for the most part of documents of the types just mentioned: bills, deliveries, receipts, inventories, loans, marriage contracts, divorce settlements, court judgments, and so on. These records of factual matters were kept in storage to be available for reference-they were, in effect, files, or, to use the term preferred by specialists in the ancient Near East, archives. Now and then these files include pieces of writing that are of a distinctly different order, writings that do not merely record some matter of fact but involve creative intellectual activity. They range from simple textbook material to literature-and they make an appearance very early, even from the third millennium B C E. | 2344.txt | 2 |
[
"They used Sumerian for speaking but used their own national language for writing.",
"They used the complex cuneiform signs developed by the Babylonians and Assyrians rather than the Sumerian signs.",
"They developed their own cuneiform shapes on clay tablets to replace those used by the Sumerians.",
"They assigned new sound and word values to the signs of Sumerian cuneiform."
] | According to paragraph 4, how did the Akkadians use the Sumerian language? | It was in Egypt and Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq) that civilization arose, and it is there that we find the earliest examples of that key feature of civilization, writing. These examples, in the form of inscribed clay tablets that date to shortly before 3000 B.C.E., have been discovered among the archaeological remains of the Sumerians, a gifted people settled in southern Mesopotamia.
The Egyptians were not far behind in developing writing, but we cannot follow the history of their writing in detail because they used a perishable writing material. In ancient times the banks of the Nile were lined with papyrus plants, and from the papyrus reeds the Egyptians made a form of paper; it was excellent in quality but, like any paper, fragile. Mesopotamia's rivers boasted no such useful reeds, but its land did provide good clay, and as a consequence the clay tablet became the standard material. Though clumsy and bulky it has a virtue dear to archaeologists: it is durable. Fire, for example, which is death to papyrus paper or other writing materials such as leather and wood, simply bakes it hard, thereby making it even more durable. So when a conqueror set a Mesopotamian palace ablaze, he helped ensure the survival of any clay tablets in it. Clay, moreover, is cheap, and forming it into tablets is easy, factors that helped the clay tablet become the preferred writing material not only throughout Mesopotamia but far outside it as well, in Syria, Asia Minor, Persia, and even for a while in Crete and Greece. Excavators have unearthed clay tablets in all these lands. In the Near East they remained in use for more than two and a half millennia, and in certain areas they lasted down to the beginning of the common era until finally yielding, once and for all, to more convenient alternatives.
The Sumerians perfected a style of writing suited to clay. This script consists of simple shapes, basically just wedge shapes and lines that could easily be incised in soft clay with a reed or wooden stylus; scholars have dubbed it cuneiform from the wedge-shaped marks (cunei in Latin) that are its hallmark Although the ingredients are merely wedges and lines, there are hundreds of combinations of these basic forms that stand for different sounds or words. Learning these complex signs required long training and much practice; inevitably, literacy was largely limited to a small professional class, the scribes.
The Akkadians conquered the Sumerians around the middle of the third millennium B.C.E., and they took over the various cuneiform signs used for writing Sumerian and gave them sound and word values that fit their own language. The Babylonians and Assyrians did the same, and so did peoples in Syria and Asia Minor. The literature of the Sumerians was treasured throughout the Near East, and long after Sumerian ceased to be spoken, the Babylonians and Assyrians and others kept it alive as a literary language, the way Europeans kept Latin alive after the fall of Rome. For the scribes of these non-Sumerian languages, training was doubly demanding since they had to know the values of the various cuneiform signs for Sumerian as well as for their own language.
The contents of the earliest clay tablets are simple notations of numbers of commodities-animals, jars, baskets, etc. Writing, it would appear, started as a primitive form of bookkeeping. Its use soon widened to document the multitudinous things and acts that are involved in daily life, from simple inventories of commodities to complicated governmental rules and regulations.
Archaeologists frequently find clay tablets in batches. The batches, some of which contain thousands of tablets, consist for the most part of documents of the types just mentioned: bills, deliveries, receipts, inventories, loans, marriage contracts, divorce settlements, court judgments, and so on. These records of factual matters were kept in storage to be available for reference-they were, in effect, files, or, to use the term preferred by specialists in the ancient Near East, archives. Now and then these files include pieces of writing that are of a distinctly different order, writings that do not merely record some matter of fact but involve creative intellectual activity. They range from simple textbook material to literature-and they make an appearance very early, even from the third millennium B C E. | 2344.txt | 3 |
[
"Did Sumerian literature continue to be read",
"Did Sumerian continue to be spoken",
"Did scribes compose new texts in Sumerian",
"Did Sumerian have the same fate as Latin had after the fall of Rome"
] | Paragraph 4 answers all the following questions about Sumerian writing in the period after the Sumerians were conquered EXCEPT: | It was in Egypt and Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq) that civilization arose, and it is there that we find the earliest examples of that key feature of civilization, writing. These examples, in the form of inscribed clay tablets that date to shortly before 3000 B.C.E., have been discovered among the archaeological remains of the Sumerians, a gifted people settled in southern Mesopotamia.
The Egyptians were not far behind in developing writing, but we cannot follow the history of their writing in detail because they used a perishable writing material. In ancient times the banks of the Nile were lined with papyrus plants, and from the papyrus reeds the Egyptians made a form of paper; it was excellent in quality but, like any paper, fragile. Mesopotamia's rivers boasted no such useful reeds, but its land did provide good clay, and as a consequence the clay tablet became the standard material. Though clumsy and bulky it has a virtue dear to archaeologists: it is durable. Fire, for example, which is death to papyrus paper or other writing materials such as leather and wood, simply bakes it hard, thereby making it even more durable. So when a conqueror set a Mesopotamian palace ablaze, he helped ensure the survival of any clay tablets in it. Clay, moreover, is cheap, and forming it into tablets is easy, factors that helped the clay tablet become the preferred writing material not only throughout Mesopotamia but far outside it as well, in Syria, Asia Minor, Persia, and even for a while in Crete and Greece. Excavators have unearthed clay tablets in all these lands. In the Near East they remained in use for more than two and a half millennia, and in certain areas they lasted down to the beginning of the common era until finally yielding, once and for all, to more convenient alternatives.
The Sumerians perfected a style of writing suited to clay. This script consists of simple shapes, basically just wedge shapes and lines that could easily be incised in soft clay with a reed or wooden stylus; scholars have dubbed it cuneiform from the wedge-shaped marks (cunei in Latin) that are its hallmark Although the ingredients are merely wedges and lines, there are hundreds of combinations of these basic forms that stand for different sounds or words. Learning these complex signs required long training and much practice; inevitably, literacy was largely limited to a small professional class, the scribes.
The Akkadians conquered the Sumerians around the middle of the third millennium B.C.E., and they took over the various cuneiform signs used for writing Sumerian and gave them sound and word values that fit their own language. The Babylonians and Assyrians did the same, and so did peoples in Syria and Asia Minor. The literature of the Sumerians was treasured throughout the Near East, and long after Sumerian ceased to be spoken, the Babylonians and Assyrians and others kept it alive as a literary language, the way Europeans kept Latin alive after the fall of Rome. For the scribes of these non-Sumerian languages, training was doubly demanding since they had to know the values of the various cuneiform signs for Sumerian as well as for their own language.
The contents of the earliest clay tablets are simple notations of numbers of commodities-animals, jars, baskets, etc. Writing, it would appear, started as a primitive form of bookkeeping. Its use soon widened to document the multitudinous things and acts that are involved in daily life, from simple inventories of commodities to complicated governmental rules and regulations.
Archaeologists frequently find clay tablets in batches. The batches, some of which contain thousands of tablets, consist for the most part of documents of the types just mentioned: bills, deliveries, receipts, inventories, loans, marriage contracts, divorce settlements, court judgments, and so on. These records of factual matters were kept in storage to be available for reference-they were, in effect, files, or, to use the term preferred by specialists in the ancient Near East, archives. Now and then these files include pieces of writing that are of a distinctly different order, writings that do not merely record some matter of fact but involve creative intellectual activity. They range from simple textbook material to literature-and they make an appearance very early, even from the third millennium B C E. | 2344.txt | 2 |
[
"include",
"influence",
"organize",
"record"
] | The word "document" in the passage is closest in meaning to | It was in Egypt and Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq) that civilization arose, and it is there that we find the earliest examples of that key feature of civilization, writing. These examples, in the form of inscribed clay tablets that date to shortly before 3000 B.C.E., have been discovered among the archaeological remains of the Sumerians, a gifted people settled in southern Mesopotamia.
The Egyptians were not far behind in developing writing, but we cannot follow the history of their writing in detail because they used a perishable writing material. In ancient times the banks of the Nile were lined with papyrus plants, and from the papyrus reeds the Egyptians made a form of paper; it was excellent in quality but, like any paper, fragile. Mesopotamia's rivers boasted no such useful reeds, but its land did provide good clay, and as a consequence the clay tablet became the standard material. Though clumsy and bulky it has a virtue dear to archaeologists: it is durable. Fire, for example, which is death to papyrus paper or other writing materials such as leather and wood, simply bakes it hard, thereby making it even more durable. So when a conqueror set a Mesopotamian palace ablaze, he helped ensure the survival of any clay tablets in it. Clay, moreover, is cheap, and forming it into tablets is easy, factors that helped the clay tablet become the preferred writing material not only throughout Mesopotamia but far outside it as well, in Syria, Asia Minor, Persia, and even for a while in Crete and Greece. Excavators have unearthed clay tablets in all these lands. In the Near East they remained in use for more than two and a half millennia, and in certain areas they lasted down to the beginning of the common era until finally yielding, once and for all, to more convenient alternatives.
The Sumerians perfected a style of writing suited to clay. This script consists of simple shapes, basically just wedge shapes and lines that could easily be incised in soft clay with a reed or wooden stylus; scholars have dubbed it cuneiform from the wedge-shaped marks (cunei in Latin) that are its hallmark Although the ingredients are merely wedges and lines, there are hundreds of combinations of these basic forms that stand for different sounds or words. Learning these complex signs required long training and much practice; inevitably, literacy was largely limited to a small professional class, the scribes.
The Akkadians conquered the Sumerians around the middle of the third millennium B.C.E., and they took over the various cuneiform signs used for writing Sumerian and gave them sound and word values that fit their own language. The Babylonians and Assyrians did the same, and so did peoples in Syria and Asia Minor. The literature of the Sumerians was treasured throughout the Near East, and long after Sumerian ceased to be spoken, the Babylonians and Assyrians and others kept it alive as a literary language, the way Europeans kept Latin alive after the fall of Rome. For the scribes of these non-Sumerian languages, training was doubly demanding since they had to know the values of the various cuneiform signs for Sumerian as well as for their own language.
The contents of the earliest clay tablets are simple notations of numbers of commodities-animals, jars, baskets, etc. Writing, it would appear, started as a primitive form of bookkeeping. Its use soon widened to document the multitudinous things and acts that are involved in daily life, from simple inventories of commodities to complicated governmental rules and regulations.
Archaeologists frequently find clay tablets in batches. The batches, some of which contain thousands of tablets, consist for the most part of documents of the types just mentioned: bills, deliveries, receipts, inventories, loans, marriage contracts, divorce settlements, court judgments, and so on. These records of factual matters were kept in storage to be available for reference-they were, in effect, files, or, to use the term preferred by specialists in the ancient Near East, archives. Now and then these files include pieces of writing that are of a distinctly different order, writings that do not merely record some matter of fact but involve creative intellectual activity. They range from simple textbook material to literature-and they make an appearance very early, even from the third millennium B C E. | 2344.txt | 3 |
[
"simple bookkeeping",
"descriptions of daily events",
"counting the contents of clay tablets",
"government reports"
] | According to paragraph 5, writing was first used for | It was in Egypt and Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq) that civilization arose, and it is there that we find the earliest examples of that key feature of civilization, writing. These examples, in the form of inscribed clay tablets that date to shortly before 3000 B.C.E., have been discovered among the archaeological remains of the Sumerians, a gifted people settled in southern Mesopotamia.
The Egyptians were not far behind in developing writing, but we cannot follow the history of their writing in detail because they used a perishable writing material. In ancient times the banks of the Nile were lined with papyrus plants, and from the papyrus reeds the Egyptians made a form of paper; it was excellent in quality but, like any paper, fragile. Mesopotamia's rivers boasted no such useful reeds, but its land did provide good clay, and as a consequence the clay tablet became the standard material. Though clumsy and bulky it has a virtue dear to archaeologists: it is durable. Fire, for example, which is death to papyrus paper or other writing materials such as leather and wood, simply bakes it hard, thereby making it even more durable. So when a conqueror set a Mesopotamian palace ablaze, he helped ensure the survival of any clay tablets in it. Clay, moreover, is cheap, and forming it into tablets is easy, factors that helped the clay tablet become the preferred writing material not only throughout Mesopotamia but far outside it as well, in Syria, Asia Minor, Persia, and even for a while in Crete and Greece. Excavators have unearthed clay tablets in all these lands. In the Near East they remained in use for more than two and a half millennia, and in certain areas they lasted down to the beginning of the common era until finally yielding, once and for all, to more convenient alternatives.
The Sumerians perfected a style of writing suited to clay. This script consists of simple shapes, basically just wedge shapes and lines that could easily be incised in soft clay with a reed or wooden stylus; scholars have dubbed it cuneiform from the wedge-shaped marks (cunei in Latin) that are its hallmark Although the ingredients are merely wedges and lines, there are hundreds of combinations of these basic forms that stand for different sounds or words. Learning these complex signs required long training and much practice; inevitably, literacy was largely limited to a small professional class, the scribes.
The Akkadians conquered the Sumerians around the middle of the third millennium B.C.E., and they took over the various cuneiform signs used for writing Sumerian and gave them sound and word values that fit their own language. The Babylonians and Assyrians did the same, and so did peoples in Syria and Asia Minor. The literature of the Sumerians was treasured throughout the Near East, and long after Sumerian ceased to be spoken, the Babylonians and Assyrians and others kept it alive as a literary language, the way Europeans kept Latin alive after the fall of Rome. For the scribes of these non-Sumerian languages, training was doubly demanding since they had to know the values of the various cuneiform signs for Sumerian as well as for their own language.
The contents of the earliest clay tablets are simple notations of numbers of commodities-animals, jars, baskets, etc. Writing, it would appear, started as a primitive form of bookkeeping. Its use soon widened to document the multitudinous things and acts that are involved in daily life, from simple inventories of commodities to complicated governmental rules and regulations.
Archaeologists frequently find clay tablets in batches. The batches, some of which contain thousands of tablets, consist for the most part of documents of the types just mentioned: bills, deliveries, receipts, inventories, loans, marriage contracts, divorce settlements, court judgments, and so on. These records of factual matters were kept in storage to be available for reference-they were, in effect, files, or, to use the term preferred by specialists in the ancient Near East, archives. Now and then these files include pieces of writing that are of a distinctly different order, writings that do not merely record some matter of fact but involve creative intellectual activity. They range from simple textbook material to literature-and they make an appearance very early, even from the third millennium B C E. | 2344.txt | 0 |
[
"always",
"occasionally",
"sooner or later",
"first and last"
] | The phrase "Now and then" in the passage is closest in meaning to | It was in Egypt and Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq) that civilization arose, and it is there that we find the earliest examples of that key feature of civilization, writing. These examples, in the form of inscribed clay tablets that date to shortly before 3000 B.C.E., have been discovered among the archaeological remains of the Sumerians, a gifted people settled in southern Mesopotamia.
The Egyptians were not far behind in developing writing, but we cannot follow the history of their writing in detail because they used a perishable writing material. In ancient times the banks of the Nile were lined with papyrus plants, and from the papyrus reeds the Egyptians made a form of paper; it was excellent in quality but, like any paper, fragile. Mesopotamia's rivers boasted no such useful reeds, but its land did provide good clay, and as a consequence the clay tablet became the standard material. Though clumsy and bulky it has a virtue dear to archaeologists: it is durable. Fire, for example, which is death to papyrus paper or other writing materials such as leather and wood, simply bakes it hard, thereby making it even more durable. So when a conqueror set a Mesopotamian palace ablaze, he helped ensure the survival of any clay tablets in it. Clay, moreover, is cheap, and forming it into tablets is easy, factors that helped the clay tablet become the preferred writing material not only throughout Mesopotamia but far outside it as well, in Syria, Asia Minor, Persia, and even for a while in Crete and Greece. Excavators have unearthed clay tablets in all these lands. In the Near East they remained in use for more than two and a half millennia, and in certain areas they lasted down to the beginning of the common era until finally yielding, once and for all, to more convenient alternatives.
The Sumerians perfected a style of writing suited to clay. This script consists of simple shapes, basically just wedge shapes and lines that could easily be incised in soft clay with a reed or wooden stylus; scholars have dubbed it cuneiform from the wedge-shaped marks (cunei in Latin) that are its hallmark Although the ingredients are merely wedges and lines, there are hundreds of combinations of these basic forms that stand for different sounds or words. Learning these complex signs required long training and much practice; inevitably, literacy was largely limited to a small professional class, the scribes.
The Akkadians conquered the Sumerians around the middle of the third millennium B.C.E., and they took over the various cuneiform signs used for writing Sumerian and gave them sound and word values that fit their own language. The Babylonians and Assyrians did the same, and so did peoples in Syria and Asia Minor. The literature of the Sumerians was treasured throughout the Near East, and long after Sumerian ceased to be spoken, the Babylonians and Assyrians and others kept it alive as a literary language, the way Europeans kept Latin alive after the fall of Rome. For the scribes of these non-Sumerian languages, training was doubly demanding since they had to know the values of the various cuneiform signs for Sumerian as well as for their own language.
The contents of the earliest clay tablets are simple notations of numbers of commodities-animals, jars, baskets, etc. Writing, it would appear, started as a primitive form of bookkeeping. Its use soon widened to document the multitudinous things and acts that are involved in daily life, from simple inventories of commodities to complicated governmental rules and regulations.
Archaeologists frequently find clay tablets in batches. The batches, some of which contain thousands of tablets, consist for the most part of documents of the types just mentioned: bills, deliveries, receipts, inventories, loans, marriage contracts, divorce settlements, court judgments, and so on. These records of factual matters were kept in storage to be available for reference-they were, in effect, files, or, to use the term preferred by specialists in the ancient Near East, archives. Now and then these files include pieces of writing that are of a distinctly different order, writings that do not merely record some matter of fact but involve creative intellectual activity. They range from simple textbook material to literature-and they make an appearance very early, even from the third millennium B C E. | 2344.txt | 1 |
[
"were being produced quickly and in large quantities",
"did not serve any practical purpose for most Mesopotamians",
"contained information that needed to be available for future reference",
"could not be used again once they had been written on"
] | According to paragraph 6, large batches of clay writing tablets were stored because the tablets | It was in Egypt and Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq) that civilization arose, and it is there that we find the earliest examples of that key feature of civilization, writing. These examples, in the form of inscribed clay tablets that date to shortly before 3000 B.C.E., have been discovered among the archaeological remains of the Sumerians, a gifted people settled in southern Mesopotamia.
The Egyptians were not far behind in developing writing, but we cannot follow the history of their writing in detail because they used a perishable writing material. In ancient times the banks of the Nile were lined with papyrus plants, and from the papyrus reeds the Egyptians made a form of paper; it was excellent in quality but, like any paper, fragile. Mesopotamia's rivers boasted no such useful reeds, but its land did provide good clay, and as a consequence the clay tablet became the standard material. Though clumsy and bulky it has a virtue dear to archaeologists: it is durable. Fire, for example, which is death to papyrus paper or other writing materials such as leather and wood, simply bakes it hard, thereby making it even more durable. So when a conqueror set a Mesopotamian palace ablaze, he helped ensure the survival of any clay tablets in it. Clay, moreover, is cheap, and forming it into tablets is easy, factors that helped the clay tablet become the preferred writing material not only throughout Mesopotamia but far outside it as well, in Syria, Asia Minor, Persia, and even for a while in Crete and Greece. Excavators have unearthed clay tablets in all these lands. In the Near East they remained in use for more than two and a half millennia, and in certain areas they lasted down to the beginning of the common era until finally yielding, once and for all, to more convenient alternatives.
The Sumerians perfected a style of writing suited to clay. This script consists of simple shapes, basically just wedge shapes and lines that could easily be incised in soft clay with a reed or wooden stylus; scholars have dubbed it cuneiform from the wedge-shaped marks (cunei in Latin) that are its hallmark Although the ingredients are merely wedges and lines, there are hundreds of combinations of these basic forms that stand for different sounds or words. Learning these complex signs required long training and much practice; inevitably, literacy was largely limited to a small professional class, the scribes.
The Akkadians conquered the Sumerians around the middle of the third millennium B.C.E., and they took over the various cuneiform signs used for writing Sumerian and gave them sound and word values that fit their own language. The Babylonians and Assyrians did the same, and so did peoples in Syria and Asia Minor. The literature of the Sumerians was treasured throughout the Near East, and long after Sumerian ceased to be spoken, the Babylonians and Assyrians and others kept it alive as a literary language, the way Europeans kept Latin alive after the fall of Rome. For the scribes of these non-Sumerian languages, training was doubly demanding since they had to know the values of the various cuneiform signs for Sumerian as well as for their own language.
The contents of the earliest clay tablets are simple notations of numbers of commodities-animals, jars, baskets, etc. Writing, it would appear, started as a primitive form of bookkeeping. Its use soon widened to document the multitudinous things and acts that are involved in daily life, from simple inventories of commodities to complicated governmental rules and regulations.
Archaeologists frequently find clay tablets in batches. The batches, some of which contain thousands of tablets, consist for the most part of documents of the types just mentioned: bills, deliveries, receipts, inventories, loans, marriage contracts, divorce settlements, court judgments, and so on. These records of factual matters were kept in storage to be available for reference-they were, in effect, files, or, to use the term preferred by specialists in the ancient Near East, archives. Now and then these files include pieces of writing that are of a distinctly different order, writings that do not merely record some matter of fact but involve creative intellectual activity. They range from simple textbook material to literature-and they make an appearance very early, even from the third millennium B C E. | 2344.txt | 2 |
[
"a weird man.",
"the different object.",
"an ugly guy.",
"something separated from others."
] | The "odd man out" object in the experiment of Ian Spence refers to _ | Once upon a time, the only ideologically acceptable explanations of mental differences between men and women were cultural. Any biologist who dared to suggest in public that perhaps evolution might work differently on the sexes, and that this might perhaps result in some underlying neurological inequalities, was likely to get tarred and feathered. Today, by contrast, biology tends to be an explanation of first resort in matters sexual. So it is salutary to come across an experiment which shows that a newly discovered difference which fits easily, at first sight, into the biological-determinism camp, actually does not belong there at all.
Writing in Psychological Science, a team led by Ian Spence of the University of Toronto describes a test performed on people's ability to spot unusual objects that appear in their field of vision. Success at spatial tasks like this often differs between the sexes (men are better at remembering and locating general landmarks; women are better at remembering and locating fooD., so the researchers were not surprised to discover a discrepancy between the two. The test asked people to identify an "odd man out" object in a briefly displayed field of two dozen otherwise identical objects. Men had a 68% success rate. Women had a 55% success rate.
Had they left it at that, Dr Spence and his colleagues might have concluded that they had uncovered yet another evolved difference between the sexes, come up with a "Just So" story to explain it in terms of division of labour on the African Savannah, and moved on. However, they did not leave it at that. Instead, they asked some of their volunteers to spend ten hours playing an action-packed, shoot-'em-up video game, called "Medal of Honour: Pacific Assault". As a control, other volunteers were asked to play a decidedly non-action-packed puzzle game, called "Ballance", for a similar time. Both sets were then asked to do the odd-man-out test again.
Among the Ballancers, there was no change in the ability to pick out the unusual. Among those who had played "Medal of Honour", both sexes improved their performances. That is not surprising, given the different natures of the games. However, the improvement in the women was greater than the improvement in the men-so much so that there was no longer a significant difference between the two. Moreover, that absence of difference was long-lived. When the volunteers were tested again after five months, both the improvement and the lack of difference between the sexes remained. Though it is too early to be sure, it looks likely that the change in spatial acuity-and the abolition of any sex difference in that acuity-induced by playing "Medal of Honour" is permanent.
That has several implications. One is that playing violent computer games can have beneficial effects. Another is that the games might provide a way of rapidly improving spatial ability in people such as drivers and soldiers. And a third is that although genes are important, upbringing matters, too. In this instance, exactly which bit of upbringing remains unclear. Perhaps it has to do with the different games that boys and girls play. But without further research, that suggestion is as much of a "Just So" story as those tales from the savannah. | 3571.txt | 1 |
[
"the biological-determinism is universal because men are better at remembering general landmarks than women.",
"the cultural conclusion that women are of no difference with men in terms of judging objects.",
"it is an accepted conclusion that men have higher success rate at spatial tasks than women.",
"the biological discovery that men are genetically more intelligent than women."
] | In Ian Spence's experiment, the fact that men had higher success rate of identifying the "odd man out "object proves that _ | Once upon a time, the only ideologically acceptable explanations of mental differences between men and women were cultural. Any biologist who dared to suggest in public that perhaps evolution might work differently on the sexes, and that this might perhaps result in some underlying neurological inequalities, was likely to get tarred and feathered. Today, by contrast, biology tends to be an explanation of first resort in matters sexual. So it is salutary to come across an experiment which shows that a newly discovered difference which fits easily, at first sight, into the biological-determinism camp, actually does not belong there at all.
Writing in Psychological Science, a team led by Ian Spence of the University of Toronto describes a test performed on people's ability to spot unusual objects that appear in their field of vision. Success at spatial tasks like this often differs between the sexes (men are better at remembering and locating general landmarks; women are better at remembering and locating fooD., so the researchers were not surprised to discover a discrepancy between the two. The test asked people to identify an "odd man out" object in a briefly displayed field of two dozen otherwise identical objects. Men had a 68% success rate. Women had a 55% success rate.
Had they left it at that, Dr Spence and his colleagues might have concluded that they had uncovered yet another evolved difference between the sexes, come up with a "Just So" story to explain it in terms of division of labour on the African Savannah, and moved on. However, they did not leave it at that. Instead, they asked some of their volunteers to spend ten hours playing an action-packed, shoot-'em-up video game, called "Medal of Honour: Pacific Assault". As a control, other volunteers were asked to play a decidedly non-action-packed puzzle game, called "Ballance", for a similar time. Both sets were then asked to do the odd-man-out test again.
Among the Ballancers, there was no change in the ability to pick out the unusual. Among those who had played "Medal of Honour", both sexes improved their performances. That is not surprising, given the different natures of the games. However, the improvement in the women was greater than the improvement in the men-so much so that there was no longer a significant difference between the two. Moreover, that absence of difference was long-lived. When the volunteers were tested again after five months, both the improvement and the lack of difference between the sexes remained. Though it is too early to be sure, it looks likely that the change in spatial acuity-and the abolition of any sex difference in that acuity-induced by playing "Medal of Honour" is permanent.
That has several implications. One is that playing violent computer games can have beneficial effects. Another is that the games might provide a way of rapidly improving spatial ability in people such as drivers and soldiers. And a third is that although genes are important, upbringing matters, too. In this instance, exactly which bit of upbringing remains unclear. Perhaps it has to do with the different games that boys and girls play. But without further research, that suggestion is as much of a "Just So" story as those tales from the savannah. | 3571.txt | 1 |
[
"contrast.",
"regulation.",
"monitor.",
"manipulation."
] | The word "control "(Line 6, Paragraph 3) most probably means _ | Once upon a time, the only ideologically acceptable explanations of mental differences between men and women were cultural. Any biologist who dared to suggest in public that perhaps evolution might work differently on the sexes, and that this might perhaps result in some underlying neurological inequalities, was likely to get tarred and feathered. Today, by contrast, biology tends to be an explanation of first resort in matters sexual. So it is salutary to come across an experiment which shows that a newly discovered difference which fits easily, at first sight, into the biological-determinism camp, actually does not belong there at all.
Writing in Psychological Science, a team led by Ian Spence of the University of Toronto describes a test performed on people's ability to spot unusual objects that appear in their field of vision. Success at spatial tasks like this often differs between the sexes (men are better at remembering and locating general landmarks; women are better at remembering and locating fooD., so the researchers were not surprised to discover a discrepancy between the two. The test asked people to identify an "odd man out" object in a briefly displayed field of two dozen otherwise identical objects. Men had a 68% success rate. Women had a 55% success rate.
Had they left it at that, Dr Spence and his colleagues might have concluded that they had uncovered yet another evolved difference between the sexes, come up with a "Just So" story to explain it in terms of division of labour on the African Savannah, and moved on. However, they did not leave it at that. Instead, they asked some of their volunteers to spend ten hours playing an action-packed, shoot-'em-up video game, called "Medal of Honour: Pacific Assault". As a control, other volunteers were asked to play a decidedly non-action-packed puzzle game, called "Ballance", for a similar time. Both sets were then asked to do the odd-man-out test again.
Among the Ballancers, there was no change in the ability to pick out the unusual. Among those who had played "Medal of Honour", both sexes improved their performances. That is not surprising, given the different natures of the games. However, the improvement in the women was greater than the improvement in the men-so much so that there was no longer a significant difference between the two. Moreover, that absence of difference was long-lived. When the volunteers were tested again after five months, both the improvement and the lack of difference between the sexes remained. Though it is too early to be sure, it looks likely that the change in spatial acuity-and the abolition of any sex difference in that acuity-induced by playing "Medal of Honour" is permanent.
That has several implications. One is that playing violent computer games can have beneficial effects. Another is that the games might provide a way of rapidly improving spatial ability in people such as drivers and soldiers. And a third is that although genes are important, upbringing matters, too. In this instance, exactly which bit of upbringing remains unclear. Perhaps it has to do with the different games that boys and girls play. But without further research, that suggestion is as much of a "Just So" story as those tales from the savannah. | 3571.txt | 0 |
[
"There was no difference between men and women in identifying the \"odd man out\" object after playing the violent game.",
"Women exceeds men at picking out the unusual object than men after playing the violent game.",
"Men were the same as women at picking out the unusual object after playing \"Balance\"",
"Women were more greatly improved in identifying the \"odd man out\" object after playing \"Medal of Honour\"."
] | Which one of the following case is NOT TURE of game player's performances of identifying the "odd man out" object? | Once upon a time, the only ideologically acceptable explanations of mental differences between men and women were cultural. Any biologist who dared to suggest in public that perhaps evolution might work differently on the sexes, and that this might perhaps result in some underlying neurological inequalities, was likely to get tarred and feathered. Today, by contrast, biology tends to be an explanation of first resort in matters sexual. So it is salutary to come across an experiment which shows that a newly discovered difference which fits easily, at first sight, into the biological-determinism camp, actually does not belong there at all.
Writing in Psychological Science, a team led by Ian Spence of the University of Toronto describes a test performed on people's ability to spot unusual objects that appear in their field of vision. Success at spatial tasks like this often differs between the sexes (men are better at remembering and locating general landmarks; women are better at remembering and locating fooD., so the researchers were not surprised to discover a discrepancy between the two. The test asked people to identify an "odd man out" object in a briefly displayed field of two dozen otherwise identical objects. Men had a 68% success rate. Women had a 55% success rate.
Had they left it at that, Dr Spence and his colleagues might have concluded that they had uncovered yet another evolved difference between the sexes, come up with a "Just So" story to explain it in terms of division of labour on the African Savannah, and moved on. However, they did not leave it at that. Instead, they asked some of their volunteers to spend ten hours playing an action-packed, shoot-'em-up video game, called "Medal of Honour: Pacific Assault". As a control, other volunteers were asked to play a decidedly non-action-packed puzzle game, called "Ballance", for a similar time. Both sets were then asked to do the odd-man-out test again.
Among the Ballancers, there was no change in the ability to pick out the unusual. Among those who had played "Medal of Honour", both sexes improved their performances. That is not surprising, given the different natures of the games. However, the improvement in the women was greater than the improvement in the men-so much so that there was no longer a significant difference between the two. Moreover, that absence of difference was long-lived. When the volunteers were tested again after five months, both the improvement and the lack of difference between the sexes remained. Though it is too early to be sure, it looks likely that the change in spatial acuity-and the abolition of any sex difference in that acuity-induced by playing "Medal of Honour" is permanent.
That has several implications. One is that playing violent computer games can have beneficial effects. Another is that the games might provide a way of rapidly improving spatial ability in people such as drivers and soldiers. And a third is that although genes are important, upbringing matters, too. In this instance, exactly which bit of upbringing remains unclear. Perhaps it has to do with the different games that boys and girls play. But without further research, that suggestion is as much of a "Just So" story as those tales from the savannah. | 3571.txt | 1 |
[
"violent games should be widely promoted to improve people's ability of remembering and locating general landmarks.",
"the reason that boys have better spatial ability is mainly because they play much more violent games.",
"genes in determining the spatial ability can be changed by acquired practice.",
"playing violent games could change people's congenital ability."
] | From the game experiment by Ian Spence, the following conclusions can be drawn that _ | Once upon a time, the only ideologically acceptable explanations of mental differences between men and women were cultural. Any biologist who dared to suggest in public that perhaps evolution might work differently on the sexes, and that this might perhaps result in some underlying neurological inequalities, was likely to get tarred and feathered. Today, by contrast, biology tends to be an explanation of first resort in matters sexual. So it is salutary to come across an experiment which shows that a newly discovered difference which fits easily, at first sight, into the biological-determinism camp, actually does not belong there at all.
Writing in Psychological Science, a team led by Ian Spence of the University of Toronto describes a test performed on people's ability to spot unusual objects that appear in their field of vision. Success at spatial tasks like this often differs between the sexes (men are better at remembering and locating general landmarks; women are better at remembering and locating fooD., so the researchers were not surprised to discover a discrepancy between the two. The test asked people to identify an "odd man out" object in a briefly displayed field of two dozen otherwise identical objects. Men had a 68% success rate. Women had a 55% success rate.
Had they left it at that, Dr Spence and his colleagues might have concluded that they had uncovered yet another evolved difference between the sexes, come up with a "Just So" story to explain it in terms of division of labour on the African Savannah, and moved on. However, they did not leave it at that. Instead, they asked some of their volunteers to spend ten hours playing an action-packed, shoot-'em-up video game, called "Medal of Honour: Pacific Assault". As a control, other volunteers were asked to play a decidedly non-action-packed puzzle game, called "Ballance", for a similar time. Both sets were then asked to do the odd-man-out test again.
Among the Ballancers, there was no change in the ability to pick out the unusual. Among those who had played "Medal of Honour", both sexes improved their performances. That is not surprising, given the different natures of the games. However, the improvement in the women was greater than the improvement in the men-so much so that there was no longer a significant difference between the two. Moreover, that absence of difference was long-lived. When the volunteers were tested again after five months, both the improvement and the lack of difference between the sexes remained. Though it is too early to be sure, it looks likely that the change in spatial acuity-and the abolition of any sex difference in that acuity-induced by playing "Medal of Honour" is permanent.
That has several implications. One is that playing violent computer games can have beneficial effects. Another is that the games might provide a way of rapidly improving spatial ability in people such as drivers and soldiers. And a third is that although genes are important, upbringing matters, too. In this instance, exactly which bit of upbringing remains unclear. Perhaps it has to do with the different games that boys and girls play. But without further research, that suggestion is as much of a "Just So" story as those tales from the savannah. | 3571.txt | 2 |
[
"They lack the skills and expertise needed for their jobs.",
"They can choose from a wider range of well-paying jobs.",
"They often have to seek jobs outside the academic circle.",
"They are regarded as the nation?s driving force of change."
] | What do we learn about new science Ph.D.s in the United States today? | There was a time not long ago when new science Ph.D.s in the United States were expected to pursue a career path in academia .But today, most graduates end up working outside academia, not only in industry but also in careers such as science policy, communications, and patent law. Partly this is a result of how bleak the academic job market is, but there's also a rising awareness of career options that Ph.D. scientists haven't trained for directly-but for which they have useful knowledge, skills, and experience. Still, there's a huge disconnect between the way we currently train scientists and the actual employment opportunities available for them, and an urgent need for dramatic improvements in training programs to help close the gap. One critical step that could help to drive change would be to require Ph.D. students and postdoctoral scientists to follow an individual development plan (IDP).
In 2002 the U.S. Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology recommended that every postdoctoral researcher put together an IDP m consultation with an adviser. Since then, several academic institutions have begun to require IDPsforpostdocs And in June, the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) Biomedical Research Workforce Working Group recommended that the NIH require IDPs for the approximately 32,000 postdoctoral researchers they support.Other funding agencies, public and private, are moving in a similar direction.
IDPs have long been used by government agencies and the private sector to achieve specificgoals for the employee and the organization. The aim is to ensure that employees have an explicittool to help them understand their own abilities and aspirations, determine career possibilities, and set (usually short-term) goals. In science, graduate students and new Ph.D. scientists can use an IDP to identify and navigate an effective career path.
Afree Web application for this purpose, called myIDF.has become available this week. It's designed to guide early-career scientists through a confidential, rigorous process of introspection to create a customized career plan. Guided by expert knowledge from a panel of science-focused career advisers, each trainee's self-assessment is used to rank a set of career trajectories. After the user has identified a long-term career goal.myIDP walks her or him through the process of setting short-term goals directed toward accumulating new skills and experiences im?portant for that career choice.
Although surveys reveal the IDP process to be useful, trainees report a need for additional resources to help them identify a long-term career path and complete an IDP. Thus, myIDP will be most effective when it?s embedded in larger career-development efforts. For example, universities could incorporate IDPs into their graduate curricula to help students discuss, plan, prepare for, and achieve their long-term career goals. | 1255.txt | 2 |
[
"It should be improved to better suit the job market.",
"It is closely linked to future career requirements.",
"It should be re-oriented to careers outside academia.",
"It includes a great variety of practical courses."
] | What does the author say about America?s Ph.D. training? | There was a time not long ago when new science Ph.D.s in the United States were expected to pursue a career path in academia .But today, most graduates end up working outside academia, not only in industry but also in careers such as science policy, communications, and patent law. Partly this is a result of how bleak the academic job market is, but there's also a rising awareness of career options that Ph.D. scientists haven't trained for directly-but for which they have useful knowledge, skills, and experience. Still, there's a huge disconnect between the way we currently train scientists and the actual employment opportunities available for them, and an urgent need for dramatic improvements in training programs to help close the gap. One critical step that could help to drive change would be to require Ph.D. students and postdoctoral scientists to follow an individual development plan (IDP).
In 2002 the U.S. Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology recommended that every postdoctoral researcher put together an IDP m consultation with an adviser. Since then, several academic institutions have begun to require IDPsforpostdocs And in June, the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) Biomedical Research Workforce Working Group recommended that the NIH require IDPs for the approximately 32,000 postdoctoral researchers they support.Other funding agencies, public and private, are moving in a similar direction.
IDPs have long been used by government agencies and the private sector to achieve specificgoals for the employee and the organization. The aim is to ensure that employees have an explicittool to help them understand their own abilities and aspirations, determine career possibilities, and set (usually short-term) goals. In science, graduate students and new Ph.D. scientists can use an IDP to identify and navigate an effective career path.
Afree Web application for this purpose, called myIDF.has become available this week. It's designed to guide early-career scientists through a confidential, rigorous process of introspection to create a customized career plan. Guided by expert knowledge from a panel of science-focused career advisers, each trainee's self-assessment is used to rank a set of career trajectories. After the user has identified a long-term career goal.myIDP walks her or him through the process of setting short-term goals directed toward accumulating new skills and experiences im?portant for that career choice.
Although surveys reveal the IDP process to be useful, trainees report a need for additional resources to help them identify a long-term career path and complete an IDP. Thus, myIDP will be most effective when it?s embedded in larger career-development efforts. For example, universities could incorporate IDPs into their graduate curricula to help students discuss, plan, prepare for, and achieve their long-term career goals. | 1255.txt | 0 |
[
"They meet the urgent needs of the corporate world.",
"A long-term career goal be set as early as possible.",
"An IDP be made in consultation with an adviser.",
"They acquire an explicit tool to help obtain jobs."
] | What was recommended for Ph.D.s and postdoctoral researchers? | There was a time not long ago when new science Ph.D.s in the United States were expected to pursue a career path in academia .But today, most graduates end up working outside academia, not only in industry but also in careers such as science policy, communications, and patent law. Partly this is a result of how bleak the academic job market is, but there's also a rising awareness of career options that Ph.D. scientists haven't trained for directly-but for which they have useful knowledge, skills, and experience. Still, there's a huge disconnect between the way we currently train scientists and the actual employment opportunities available for them, and an urgent need for dramatic improvements in training programs to help close the gap. One critical step that could help to drive change would be to require Ph.D. students and postdoctoral scientists to follow an individual development plan (IDP).
In 2002 the U.S. Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology recommended that every postdoctoral researcher put together an IDP m consultation with an adviser. Since then, several academic institutions have begun to require IDPsforpostdocs And in June, the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) Biomedical Research Workforce Working Group recommended that the NIH require IDPs for the approximately 32,000 postdoctoral researchers they support.Other funding agencies, public and private, are moving in a similar direction.
IDPs have long been used by government agencies and the private sector to achieve specificgoals for the employee and the organization. The aim is to ensure that employees have an explicittool to help them understand their own abilities and aspirations, determine career possibilities, and set (usually short-term) goals. In science, graduate students and new Ph.D. scientists can use an IDP to identify and navigate an effective career path.
Afree Web application for this purpose, called myIDF.has become available this week. It's designed to guide early-career scientists through a confidential, rigorous process of introspection to create a customized career plan. Guided by expert knowledge from a panel of science-focused career advisers, each trainee's self-assessment is used to rank a set of career trajectories. After the user has identified a long-term career goal.myIDP walks her or him through the process of setting short-term goals directed toward accumulating new skills and experiences im?portant for that career choice.
Although surveys reveal the IDP process to be useful, trainees report a need for additional resources to help them identify a long-term career path and complete an IDP. Thus, myIDP will be most effective when it?s embedded in larger career-development efforts. For example, universities could incorporate IDPs into their graduate curricula to help students discuss, plan, prepare for, and achieve their long-term career goals. | 1255.txt | 2 |
[
"bring into full play the skills and expertise of their postdoctoral researchers",
"help employees make the best use of their abilities to achieve their career goals",
"place employees in the most appropriate positions",
"hire the most suitable candidates to work for them"
] | Government agencies and the private sector often use IDPs to __________. | There was a time not long ago when new science Ph.D.s in the United States were expected to pursue a career path in academia .But today, most graduates end up working outside academia, not only in industry but also in careers such as science policy, communications, and patent law. Partly this is a result of how bleak the academic job market is, but there's also a rising awareness of career options that Ph.D. scientists haven't trained for directly-but for which they have useful knowledge, skills, and experience. Still, there's a huge disconnect between the way we currently train scientists and the actual employment opportunities available for them, and an urgent need for dramatic improvements in training programs to help close the gap. One critical step that could help to drive change would be to require Ph.D. students and postdoctoral scientists to follow an individual development plan (IDP).
In 2002 the U.S. Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology recommended that every postdoctoral researcher put together an IDP m consultation with an adviser. Since then, several academic institutions have begun to require IDPsforpostdocs And in June, the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) Biomedical Research Workforce Working Group recommended that the NIH require IDPs for the approximately 32,000 postdoctoral researchers they support.Other funding agencies, public and private, are moving in a similar direction.
IDPs have long been used by government agencies and the private sector to achieve specificgoals for the employee and the organization. The aim is to ensure that employees have an explicittool to help them understand their own abilities and aspirations, determine career possibilities, and set (usually short-term) goals. In science, graduate students and new Ph.D. scientists can use an IDP to identify and navigate an effective career path.
Afree Web application for this purpose, called myIDF.has become available this week. It's designed to guide early-career scientists through a confidential, rigorous process of introspection to create a customized career plan. Guided by expert knowledge from a panel of science-focused career advisers, each trainee's self-assessment is used to rank a set of career trajectories. After the user has identified a long-term career goal.myIDP walks her or him through the process of setting short-term goals directed toward accumulating new skills and experiences im?portant for that career choice.
Although surveys reveal the IDP process to be useful, trainees report a need for additional resources to help them identify a long-term career path and complete an IDP. Thus, myIDP will be most effective when it?s embedded in larger career-development efforts. For example, universities could incorporate IDPs into their graduate curricula to help students discuss, plan, prepare for, and achieve their long-term career goals. | 1255.txt | 1 |
[
"It is an effective tool of self-assessment and introspection for better career plans.",
"It enables people to look into various possibilities and choose the career they love.",
"It promises a long-term career path.",
"It is part of the graduate curricula."
] | What do we know about myIDP? | There was a time not long ago when new science Ph.D.s in the United States were expected to pursue a career path in academia .But today, most graduates end up working outside academia, not only in industry but also in careers such as science policy, communications, and patent law. Partly this is a result of how bleak the academic job market is, but there's also a rising awareness of career options that Ph.D. scientists haven't trained for directly-but for which they have useful knowledge, skills, and experience. Still, there's a huge disconnect between the way we currently train scientists and the actual employment opportunities available for them, and an urgent need for dramatic improvements in training programs to help close the gap. One critical step that could help to drive change would be to require Ph.D. students and postdoctoral scientists to follow an individual development plan (IDP).
In 2002 the U.S. Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology recommended that every postdoctoral researcher put together an IDP m consultation with an adviser. Since then, several academic institutions have begun to require IDPsforpostdocs And in June, the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) Biomedical Research Workforce Working Group recommended that the NIH require IDPs for the approximately 32,000 postdoctoral researchers they support.Other funding agencies, public and private, are moving in a similar direction.
IDPs have long been used by government agencies and the private sector to achieve specificgoals for the employee and the organization. The aim is to ensure that employees have an explicittool to help them understand their own abilities and aspirations, determine career possibilities, and set (usually short-term) goals. In science, graduate students and new Ph.D. scientists can use an IDP to identify and navigate an effective career path.
Afree Web application for this purpose, called myIDF.has become available this week. It's designed to guide early-career scientists through a confidential, rigorous process of introspection to create a customized career plan. Guided by expert knowledge from a panel of science-focused career advisers, each trainee's self-assessment is used to rank a set of career trajectories. After the user has identified a long-term career goal.myIDP walks her or him through the process of setting short-term goals directed toward accumulating new skills and experiences im?portant for that career choice.
Although surveys reveal the IDP process to be useful, trainees report a need for additional resources to help them identify a long-term career path and complete an IDP. Thus, myIDP will be most effective when it?s embedded in larger career-development efforts. For example, universities could incorporate IDPs into their graduate curricula to help students discuss, plan, prepare for, and achieve their long-term career goals. | 1255.txt | 0 |
[
"\"Remembered history\"，compared with written history，is less reliable",
"Written records of the past play the most important role in our learning of the human history.",
"A written account of our daily activities helps US to be able to answer many questions.",
"Where there are no written records.there is no history."
] | Which of the following ideas is not suggested in the passage? | If we were asked exactly what we were doing a yearago，we should probably have to say that we couldnot remember But if we had kept a book and hadwritten in it an account of what we did each day，weshould be able to give an answer to the question.
It is the same in history Many things have beenforgotten because we do not have any written account of them Sometimes men did keep arecord of the most important happenings in their country，but often it was destroyed by fire orin a war.Sometimes there was never any written record at all because the people of that timeand place did not know how to Write.For example，we know a good deal about the people wholived in China 4，000 years ago, because they could write and leave written records for thosewho lived after them.But we know almost nothing about the people who lived even 200 yearsago in central Africa. because they had not learned to write. Sometimes.of course，even if thepeople cannot write，they may know something of the past.They have heard about it from olderpeople，and often songs and dances and stories have been made about the most importanthappenings，and these have been sung and acted and told for many generations For mostpeople are proud to tell what their fathers did in the past.This we may call "rememberedhistory".Some of it has now been written down. It is not so exact or so valuable to us aswritten history is because words are much more easily changed when used again and again inspeech than when copied in writing.But where there are no written records，such spoken storiesare often very helpful. | 2398.txt | 3 |
[
"there was nothing worth being written down at that time",
"the people there ignored the importance of keeping a record",
"the written records were perhaps destroyed by a fire",
"the people there did not know how to write"
] | We know very little about the central Africa 200 years ago because _ . | If we were asked exactly what we were doing a yearago，we should probably have to say that we couldnot remember But if we had kept a book and hadwritten in it an account of what we did each day，weshould be able to give an answer to the question.
It is the same in history Many things have beenforgotten because we do not have any written account of them Sometimes men did keep arecord of the most important happenings in their country，but often it was destroyed by fire orin a war.Sometimes there was never any written record at all because the people of that timeand place did not know how to Write.For example，we know a good deal about the people wholived in China 4，000 years ago, because they could write and leave written records for thosewho lived after them.But we know almost nothing about the people who lived even 200 yearsago in central Africa. because they had not learned to write. Sometimes.of course，even if thepeople cannot write，they may know something of the past.They have heard about it from olderpeople，and often songs and dances and stories have been made about the most importanthappenings，and these have been sung and acted and told for many generations For mostpeople are proud to tell what their fathers did in the past.This we may call "rememberedhistory".Some of it has now been written down. It is not so exact or so valuable to us aswritten history is because words are much more easily changed when used again and again inspeech than when copied in writing.But where there are no written records，such spoken storiesare often very helpful. | 2398.txt | 3 |
[
"history based on a person?s imagination",
"stories of important happenings passed down from mouth to mouth",
"songs and dances about the most important events",
"both B and C"
] | "Remembered history"refers to _ . | If we were asked exactly what we were doing a yearago，we should probably have to say that we couldnot remember But if we had kept a book and hadwritten in it an account of what we did each day，weshould be able to give an answer to the question.
It is the same in history Many things have beenforgotten because we do not have any written account of them Sometimes men did keep arecord of the most important happenings in their country，but often it was destroyed by fire orin a war.Sometimes there was never any written record at all because the people of that timeand place did not know how to Write.For example，we know a good deal about the people wholived in China 4，000 years ago, because they could write and leave written records for thosewho lived after them.But we know almost nothing about the people who lived even 200 yearsago in central Africa. because they had not learned to write. Sometimes.of course，even if thepeople cannot write，they may know something of the past.They have heard about it from olderpeople，and often songs and dances and stories have been made about the most importanthappenings，and these have been sung and acted and told for many generations For mostpeople are proud to tell what their fathers did in the past.This we may call "rememberedhistory".Some of it has now been written down. It is not so exact or so valuable to us aswritten history is because words are much more easily changed when used again and again inspeech than when copied in writing.But where there are no written records，such spoken storiesare often very helpful. | 2398.txt | 3 |
[
"it is written down",
"no written account is available",
"it proves to be time",
"people are interested in it"
] | "Remembered history"is regarded as valuable only when _ . | If we were asked exactly what we were doing a yearago，we should probably have to say that we couldnot remember But if we had kept a book and hadwritten in it an account of what we did each day，weshould be able to give an answer to the question.
It is the same in history Many things have beenforgotten because we do not have any written account of them Sometimes men did keep arecord of the most important happenings in their country，but often it was destroyed by fire orin a war.Sometimes there was never any written record at all because the people of that timeand place did not know how to Write.For example，we know a good deal about the people wholived in China 4，000 years ago, because they could write and leave written records for thosewho lived after them.But we know almost nothing about the people who lived even 200 yearsago in central Africa. because they had not learned to write. Sometimes.of course，even if thepeople cannot write，they may know something of the past.They have heard about it from olderpeople，and often songs and dances and stories have been made about the most importanthappenings，and these have been sung and acted and told for many generations For mostpeople are proud to tell what their fathers did in the past.This we may call "rememberedhistory".Some of it has now been written down. It is not so exact or so valuable to us aswritten history is because words are much more easily changed when used again and again inspeech than when copied in writing.But where there are no written records，such spoken storiesare often very helpful. | 2398.txt | 1 |
[
"kept a written record of every past event",
"not burnt their written records in wars",
"told exact stories of the most important happenings",
"made more songs and dances"
] | The passage suggests that we could have learned much more about our past thanwe do now if the ancient people had _ . | If we were asked exactly what we were doing a yearago，we should probably have to say that we couldnot remember But if we had kept a book and hadwritten in it an account of what we did each day，weshould be able to give an answer to the question.
It is the same in history Many things have beenforgotten because we do not have any written account of them Sometimes men did keep arecord of the most important happenings in their country，but often it was destroyed by fire orin a war.Sometimes there was never any written record at all because the people of that timeand place did not know how to Write.For example，we know a good deal about the people wholived in China 4，000 years ago, because they could write and leave written records for thosewho lived after them.But we know almost nothing about the people who lived even 200 yearsago in central Africa. because they had not learned to write. Sometimes.of course，even if thepeople cannot write，they may know something of the past.They have heard about it from olderpeople，and often songs and dances and stories have been made about the most importanthappenings，and these have been sung and acted and told for many generations For mostpeople are proud to tell what their fathers did in the past.This we may call "rememberedhistory".Some of it has now been written down. It is not so exact or so valuable to us aswritten history is because words are much more easily changed when used again and again inspeech than when copied in writing.But where there are no written records，such spoken storiesare often very helpful. | 2398.txt | 0 |
[
"They eat too much for lunch.",
"They sleep too little at night.",
"Their body temperature becomes lower.",
"The weather becomes a lot warmer."
] | Why do people feel sleepy in the early afternoon according to the text? | Are you sometimes a little tired and sleepy in the early afternoon?Many people feel this way after lunch.They may think that eating lunch is the cause of the sleepiness.Or,in summer,they may think it is the heat.However,the real reason lies inside their bodies.At that time-about eight hours after you wake up-your body temperature goes down.This is what makes you slow down and feel sleepy.Scientists have tested sleeping habits in experiments where there was no night or day.The people in these experiments almost always followed a similar sleeping pattern.They slept for one long period and then for one short period about eight hours later.
In many parts of the world,people take napsin the middle of the day.This is especially true in warmer climates,where the heat makes work difficult in the early afternoon.Researchers are now saying that naps are good for everyone in any climate.A daily nap gives one a more rested body and mind and therefore is good for health in general.In countries where naps are traditional,people often suffer less from problems such as heart disease.
Many working people,unfortunately,have no time to take naps.Though doctors may advise taking naps,employers do not allow it!If you do have the chance,however,here are a few tips about making the most of your nap.Remember that the best time to take a nap is about eight hours after you get up.A short sleep too late in the day may only make you feel more tired and sleepy afterward.This can also happen if you sleep for too long.If you do not have enough time,try a short nap-even ten minutes of sleep can be helpful. | 3413.txt | 2 |
[
"About 12∶30 pm.",
"About 1∶30 pm.",
"About 2∶30 pm.",
"About 3∶30 pm."
] | If you get up at 6∶30 am,what is the best time for you to take a nap? | Are you sometimes a little tired and sleepy in the early afternoon?Many people feel this way after lunch.They may think that eating lunch is the cause of the sleepiness.Or,in summer,they may think it is the heat.However,the real reason lies inside their bodies.At that time-about eight hours after you wake up-your body temperature goes down.This is what makes you slow down and feel sleepy.Scientists have tested sleeping habits in experiments where there was no night or day.The people in these experiments almost always followed a similar sleeping pattern.They slept for one long period and then for one short period about eight hours later.
In many parts of the world,people take napsin the middle of the day.This is especially true in warmer climates,where the heat makes work difficult in the early afternoon.Researchers are now saying that naps are good for everyone in any climate.A daily nap gives one a more rested body and mind and therefore is good for health in general.In countries where naps are traditional,people often suffer less from problems such as heart disease.
Many working people,unfortunately,have no time to take naps.Though doctors may advise taking naps,employers do not allow it!If you do have the chance,however,here are a few tips about making the most of your nap.Remember that the best time to take a nap is about eight hours after you get up.A short sleep too late in the day may only make you feel more tired and sleepy afterward.This can also happen if you sleep for too long.If you do not have enough time,try a short nap-even ten minutes of sleep can be helpful. | 3413.txt | 2 |
[
"Just for a Rest",
"All for a Nap",
"A Special Sleep Pattern",
"Taking Naps in Warmer Climate"
] | What would be the best title for the text? | Are you sometimes a little tired and sleepy in the early afternoon?Many people feel this way after lunch.They may think that eating lunch is the cause of the sleepiness.Or,in summer,they may think it is the heat.However,the real reason lies inside their bodies.At that time-about eight hours after you wake up-your body temperature goes down.This is what makes you slow down and feel sleepy.Scientists have tested sleeping habits in experiments where there was no night or day.The people in these experiments almost always followed a similar sleeping pattern.They slept for one long period and then for one short period about eight hours later.
In many parts of the world,people take napsin the middle of the day.This is especially true in warmer climates,where the heat makes work difficult in the early afternoon.Researchers are now saying that naps are good for everyone in any climate.A daily nap gives one a more rested body and mind and therefore is good for health in general.In countries where naps are traditional,people often suffer less from problems such as heart disease.
Many working people,unfortunately,have no time to take naps.Though doctors may advise taking naps,employers do not allow it!If you do have the chance,however,here are a few tips about making the most of your nap.Remember that the best time to take a nap is about eight hours after you get up.A short sleep too late in the day may only make you feel more tired and sleepy afterward.This can also happen if you sleep for too long.If you do not have enough time,try a short nap-even ten minutes of sleep can be helpful. | 3413.txt | 1 |
[
"will greatly promote sales of automobiles",
"may help solve potential traffic problems",
"are likely to be accepted by more drivers",
"will soon be viewed as a symbol of luxury"
] | We learn from the passage. that navigation computers _ . |
Navigation computers, now sold by most car-makers, cost $2,000 and up. No surprise, then, that they are most often found in luxury cars, like Lexus,BMW and Audi. But it is a developing technology-meaning prices should eventually drop-and the market does seem to be growing.
Even at current prices, a navigation computer is impressive. It can guide you from point to point in most major cities with precise turn-by-turn directions-spoken by a clear human-sounding voice. and written on ascreen in front of the driver.
The computer works with an antenna that takes signals from no fewer than three or the 24, global positioning system (GPS) satellites. By measuring the time required for a signal to travel between the satellites and the antenna. the car's location can be pinned down within l00 meters.
The satellite signals. along with inputs on speed from a wheel-speed sensor and direction from a meter, determine the car's position even as it moves. This information is combined with a map database. Streets, landmarks and points of interest are included.
Most systems are basically identical. The differences come in hardware-the way the computer accepts the driver's request for directions and the way it presents the driving instructions. On most systems, a driver enters a desired address, motorway junction or point of interest via a touch screen or disc. But the Lexusscreen goes a step further: you can point to any spot on the map screen and get directions to it.
BMW's system offers a set of cross hairsthat can be moved across the map (you have several choices of map scale) to pick a point you'd like to get to. Audi's screen can be switched to TV reception.
Even the voices that recite the directions can differ, with better systems like BMW's and Lexus's having awider vocabulary. The instructions are available in French. German, Spanish, Dutch and Italian, as well asEnglish. The driver can also choose parameters for determining the route: fastest, shortest or no freeways, for example. | 185.txt | 2 |
[
"by inputting the exact address",
"by indicating the location of bis car",
"by checking his computer database",
"by giving vocal orders to the computer"
] | With a navigation computer, a driver will easily find the best route to his destination _ . |
Navigation computers, now sold by most car-makers, cost $2,000 and up. No surprise, then, that they are most often found in luxury cars, like Lexus,BMW and Audi. But it is a developing technology-meaning prices should eventually drop-and the market does seem to be growing.
Even at current prices, a navigation computer is impressive. It can guide you from point to point in most major cities with precise turn-by-turn directions-spoken by a clear human-sounding voice. and written on ascreen in front of the driver.
The computer works with an antenna that takes signals from no fewer than three or the 24, global positioning system (GPS) satellites. By measuring the time required for a signal to travel between the satellites and the antenna. the car's location can be pinned down within l00 meters.
The satellite signals. along with inputs on speed from a wheel-speed sensor and direction from a meter, determine the car's position even as it moves. This information is combined with a map database. Streets, landmarks and points of interest are included.
Most systems are basically identical. The differences come in hardware-the way the computer accepts the driver's request for directions and the way it presents the driving instructions. On most systems, a driver enters a desired address, motorway junction or point of interest via a touch screen or disc. But the Lexusscreen goes a step further: you can point to any spot on the map screen and get directions to it.
BMW's system offers a set of cross hairsthat can be moved across the map (you have several choices of map scale) to pick a point you'd like to get to. Audi's screen can be switched to TV reception.
Even the voices that recite the directions can differ, with better systems like BMW's and Lexus's having awider vocabulary. The instructions are available in French. German, Spanish, Dutch and Italian, as well asEnglish. The driver can also choose parameters for determining the route: fastest, shortest or no freeways, for example. | 185.txt | 0 |
[
"are more or leas the same price",
"provide directions in much the same way",
"work on more or less the same principles",
"receive instructions from the same satellites"
] | Despite their varied designs, navigation computers used in cars _ . |
Navigation computers, now sold by most car-makers, cost $2,000 and up. No surprise, then, that they are most often found in luxury cars, like Lexus,BMW and Audi. But it is a developing technology-meaning prices should eventually drop-and the market does seem to be growing.
Even at current prices, a navigation computer is impressive. It can guide you from point to point in most major cities with precise turn-by-turn directions-spoken by a clear human-sounding voice. and written on ascreen in front of the driver.
The computer works with an antenna that takes signals from no fewer than three or the 24, global positioning system (GPS) satellites. By measuring the time required for a signal to travel between the satellites and the antenna. the car's location can be pinned down within l00 meters.
The satellite signals. along with inputs on speed from a wheel-speed sensor and direction from a meter, determine the car's position even as it moves. This information is combined with a map database. Streets, landmarks and points of interest are included.
Most systems are basically identical. The differences come in hardware-the way the computer accepts the driver's request for directions and the way it presents the driving instructions. On most systems, a driver enters a desired address, motorway junction or point of interest via a touch screen or disc. But the Lexusscreen goes a step further: you can point to any spot on the map screen and get directions to it.
BMW's system offers a set of cross hairsthat can be moved across the map (you have several choices of map scale) to pick a point you'd like to get to. Audi's screen can be switched to TV reception.
Even the voices that recite the directions can differ, with better systems like BMW's and Lexus's having awider vocabulary. The instructions are available in French. German, Spanish, Dutch and Italian, as well asEnglish. The driver can also choose parameters for determining the route: fastest, shortest or no freeways, for example. | 185.txt | 2 |
[
"by means of a direction finder and a speed detector",
"basically on satellite signals and a map database",
"mainly through the reception of turn-by-tum directions",
"by using a screen to display satellite signals"
] | The navigation computer functions _ . |
Navigation computers, now sold by most car-makers, cost $2,000 and up. No surprise, then, that they are most often found in luxury cars, like Lexus,BMW and Audi. But it is a developing technology-meaning prices should eventually drop-and the market does seem to be growing.
Even at current prices, a navigation computer is impressive. It can guide you from point to point in most major cities with precise turn-by-turn directions-spoken by a clear human-sounding voice. and written on ascreen in front of the driver.
The computer works with an antenna that takes signals from no fewer than three or the 24, global positioning system (GPS) satellites. By measuring the time required for a signal to travel between the satellites and the antenna. the car's location can be pinned down within l00 meters.
The satellite signals. along with inputs on speed from a wheel-speed sensor and direction from a meter, determine the car's position even as it moves. This information is combined with a map database. Streets, landmarks and points of interest are included.
Most systems are basically identical. The differences come in hardware-the way the computer accepts the driver's request for directions and the way it presents the driving instructions. On most systems, a driver enters a desired address, motorway junction or point of interest via a touch screen or disc. But the Lexusscreen goes a step further: you can point to any spot on the map screen and get directions to it.
BMW's system offers a set of cross hairsthat can be moved across the map (you have several choices of map scale) to pick a point you'd like to get to. Audi's screen can be switched to TV reception.
Even the voices that recite the directions can differ, with better systems like BMW's and Lexus's having awider vocabulary. The instructions are available in French. German, Spanish, Dutch and Italian, as well asEnglish. The driver can also choose parameters for determining the route: fastest, shortest or no freeways, for example. | 185.txt | 1 |
[
"the immaturity of the new technology",
"the superiority of the global positioning system",
"the cause of price fluctuations in car equipment",
"the different ways of providing guidance to the driver"
] | The navigation systems in cars like Lexus. BMW and Audi are mentioned to show _ . |
Navigation computers, now sold by most car-makers, cost $2,000 and up. No surprise, then, that they are most often found in luxury cars, like Lexus,BMW and Audi. But it is a developing technology-meaning prices should eventually drop-and the market does seem to be growing.
Even at current prices, a navigation computer is impressive. It can guide you from point to point in most major cities with precise turn-by-turn directions-spoken by a clear human-sounding voice. and written on ascreen in front of the driver.
The computer works with an antenna that takes signals from no fewer than three or the 24, global positioning system (GPS) satellites. By measuring the time required for a signal to travel between the satellites and the antenna. the car's location can be pinned down within l00 meters.
The satellite signals. along with inputs on speed from a wheel-speed sensor and direction from a meter, determine the car's position even as it moves. This information is combined with a map database. Streets, landmarks and points of interest are included.
Most systems are basically identical. The differences come in hardware-the way the computer accepts the driver's request for directions and the way it presents the driving instructions. On most systems, a driver enters a desired address, motorway junction or point of interest via a touch screen or disc. But the Lexusscreen goes a step further: you can point to any spot on the map screen and get directions to it.
BMW's system offers a set of cross hairsthat can be moved across the map (you have several choices of map scale) to pick a point you'd like to get to. Audi's screen can be switched to TV reception.
Even the voices that recite the directions can differ, with better systems like BMW's and Lexus's having awider vocabulary. The instructions are available in French. German, Spanish, Dutch and Italian, as well asEnglish. The driver can also choose parameters for determining the route: fastest, shortest or no freeways, for example. | 185.txt | 3 |
[
"To warn people of emergencies via messages.",
"To popularize the use of cell phones.",
"To estimate the monthly number of messages.",
"To promote the wireless industry."
] | What is the purpose of the approved plan? | Federal regulators Wednesday approved a plan to create a nationwide emergency alert system using text messages delivered to cell phones.
Text messages have exploded in popularity in recent years,particularly among young people.The wireless industry's trade association,CTIA,estimates more than 48 billion text messages are sent each month.
The plan comes from the Warning Alert and Response Network Act,a 2006 federal law that requires improvement to the nation's emergency alert system.The act tasked the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) with coming up with new ways to alert the public about emergencies.
"The ability to deliver accurate and timely warnings and alerts through cell phones and other mobile services is an important next step in our efforts to help ensure that the American public has the information they need to take action to protect themselves and their families before,and during,disasters and other emergencies," FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said following approval of the plan.
Participation in the alert system by carriers-telecommunications companies-is voluntary,but it has received solid support from the wireless industry.
The program would be optional for cell phone users.They also may not be charged for receiving alerts.
There would be three different types of messages,according to the rules.
The first would be a national alert from the president,likely involving a terrorist attack or natural disaster.The second would involve "approaching threats",which could include natural disasters like hurricanes or storms or even university shootings.The third would be reserved for child abduction emergencies,or so-called Amber Alerts.
The service could be in place by 2010. | 3468.txt | 0 |
[
"CTIA",
"the Warning Alert and Response Network",
"FCC",
"federal regulators"
] | The improvement to the present system is in the charge of. | Federal regulators Wednesday approved a plan to create a nationwide emergency alert system using text messages delivered to cell phones.
Text messages have exploded in popularity in recent years,particularly among young people.The wireless industry's trade association,CTIA,estimates more than 48 billion text messages are sent each month.
The plan comes from the Warning Alert and Response Network Act,a 2006 federal law that requires improvement to the nation's emergency alert system.The act tasked the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) with coming up with new ways to alert the public about emergencies.
"The ability to deliver accurate and timely warnings and alerts through cell phones and other mobile services is an important next step in our efforts to help ensure that the American public has the information they need to take action to protect themselves and their families before,and during,disasters and other emergencies," FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said following approval of the plan.
Participation in the alert system by carriers-telecommunications companies-is voluntary,but it has received solid support from the wireless industry.
The program would be optional for cell phone users.They also may not be charged for receiving alerts.
There would be three different types of messages,according to the rules.
The first would be a national alert from the president,likely involving a terrorist attack or natural disaster.The second would involve "approaching threats",which could include natural disasters like hurricanes or storms or even university shootings.The third would be reserved for child abduction emergencies,or so-called Amber Alerts.
The service could be in place by 2010. | 3468.txt | 2 |
[
"the US federal government",
"mobile phone users",
"the carriers themselves",
"the law of the United States"
] | The carriers' participation in the system is determined by. | Federal regulators Wednesday approved a plan to create a nationwide emergency alert system using text messages delivered to cell phones.
Text messages have exploded in popularity in recent years,particularly among young people.The wireless industry's trade association,CTIA,estimates more than 48 billion text messages are sent each month.
The plan comes from the Warning Alert and Response Network Act,a 2006 federal law that requires improvement to the nation's emergency alert system.The act tasked the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) with coming up with new ways to alert the public about emergencies.
"The ability to deliver accurate and timely warnings and alerts through cell phones and other mobile services is an important next step in our efforts to help ensure that the American public has the information they need to take action to protect themselves and their families before,and during,disasters and other emergencies," FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said following approval of the plan.
Participation in the alert system by carriers-telecommunications companies-is voluntary,but it has received solid support from the wireless industry.
The program would be optional for cell phone users.They also may not be charged for receiving alerts.
There would be three different types of messages,according to the rules.
The first would be a national alert from the president,likely involving a terrorist attack or natural disaster.The second would involve "approaching threats",which could include natural disasters like hurricanes or storms or even university shootings.The third would be reserved for child abduction emergencies,or so-called Amber Alerts.
The service could be in place by 2010. | 3468.txt | 2 |
[
"They must accept the alert service.",
"They may enjoy the alert service for free.",
"They must send the alerts to others.",
"They may choose the types of messages."
] | Which of the following is true of cell phone users? | Federal regulators Wednesday approved a plan to create a nationwide emergency alert system using text messages delivered to cell phones.
Text messages have exploded in popularity in recent years,particularly among young people.The wireless industry's trade association,CTIA,estimates more than 48 billion text messages are sent each month.
The plan comes from the Warning Alert and Response Network Act,a 2006 federal law that requires improvement to the nation's emergency alert system.The act tasked the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) with coming up with new ways to alert the public about emergencies.
"The ability to deliver accurate and timely warnings and alerts through cell phones and other mobile services is an important next step in our efforts to help ensure that the American public has the information they need to take action to protect themselves and their families before,and during,disasters and other emergencies," FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said following approval of the plan.
Participation in the alert system by carriers-telecommunications companies-is voluntary,but it has received solid support from the wireless industry.
The program would be optional for cell phone users.They also may not be charged for receiving alerts.
There would be three different types of messages,according to the rules.
The first would be a national alert from the president,likely involving a terrorist attack or natural disaster.The second would involve "approaching threats",which could include natural disasters like hurricanes or storms or even university shootings.The third would be reserved for child abduction emergencies,or so-called Amber Alerts.
The service could be in place by 2010. | 3468.txt | 1 |
[
"a child loses his way",
"a university shooting happens",
"a natural disaster happens",
"a terrorist attack occurs"
] | An alert message will NOT be sent if. | Federal regulators Wednesday approved a plan to create a nationwide emergency alert system using text messages delivered to cell phones.
Text messages have exploded in popularity in recent years,particularly among young people.The wireless industry's trade association,CTIA,estimates more than 48 billion text messages are sent each month.
The plan comes from the Warning Alert and Response Network Act,a 2006 federal law that requires improvement to the nation's emergency alert system.The act tasked the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) with coming up with new ways to alert the public about emergencies.
"The ability to deliver accurate and timely warnings and alerts through cell phones and other mobile services is an important next step in our efforts to help ensure that the American public has the information they need to take action to protect themselves and their families before,and during,disasters and other emergencies," FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said following approval of the plan.
Participation in the alert system by carriers-telecommunications companies-is voluntary,but it has received solid support from the wireless industry.
The program would be optional for cell phone users.They also may not be charged for receiving alerts.
There would be three different types of messages,according to the rules.
The first would be a national alert from the president,likely involving a terrorist attack or natural disaster.The second would involve "approaching threats",which could include natural disasters like hurricanes or storms or even university shootings.The third would be reserved for child abduction emergencies,or so-called Amber Alerts.
The service could be in place by 2010. | 3468.txt | 0 |
[
"Cell Phone Alerts Protecting Students",
"Cell Phone Alerts by Wireless Industry",
"Cell Phone Alerts of Natural Disasters",
"Cell Phone Alerts Coming Soon"
] | Which of the following would be the best title for the text? | Federal regulators Wednesday approved a plan to create a nationwide emergency alert system using text messages delivered to cell phones.
Text messages have exploded in popularity in recent years,particularly among young people.The wireless industry's trade association,CTIA,estimates more than 48 billion text messages are sent each month.
The plan comes from the Warning Alert and Response Network Act,a 2006 federal law that requires improvement to the nation's emergency alert system.The act tasked the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) with coming up with new ways to alert the public about emergencies.
"The ability to deliver accurate and timely warnings and alerts through cell phones and other mobile services is an important next step in our efforts to help ensure that the American public has the information they need to take action to protect themselves and their families before,and during,disasters and other emergencies," FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said following approval of the plan.
Participation in the alert system by carriers-telecommunications companies-is voluntary,but it has received solid support from the wireless industry.
The program would be optional for cell phone users.They also may not be charged for receiving alerts.
There would be three different types of messages,according to the rules.
The first would be a national alert from the president,likely involving a terrorist attack or natural disaster.The second would involve "approaching threats",which could include natural disasters like hurricanes or storms or even university shootings.The third would be reserved for child abduction emergencies,or so-called Amber Alerts.
The service could be in place by 2010. | 3468.txt | 3 |
[
"An official.",
"An ice-cream taster.",
"A chemist.",
"An ice-cream manufacturer."
] | What is John Harrison's job? | Yes, there really is a job where you can get paid to taste ice-cream. Just ask John Harrison, an "Official Taste Tester" for the past 21 years. Testing helps manufacturers to be sure of a product's quality. During his career Harrison has been responsible for approving large quantities of the sweet ice cream - as well as for developing over 75 flavors .
Some people think that it would be easy to do this job, after all, you just have to like ice cream, right? No - there's more to the job than that, says Harrison, who has a degree in chemistry. He points out that a dairy or food-science degree would be very useful to someone wanting a career in this "cool" field.
In a typical morning on the job, Harrison tastes and assesses 60 ice-cream samples. He lets the ice cream warm up to about 12℉. Harrison explains, "You get more flavor from warmer ice cream, which is why some kids like to stir it, creating ice-cream soup."
While the ice cream warms up, Harrison looks over the samples and grades each one on its appearance. "Tasting begins with the eyes," he explains. He checks to see if the ice cream is attractive and asks himself, "Does the product have the color expected from that flavor?" Next it's time to taste!
Continuing to think up new ideas, try out new flavors, and test samples from so many kinds of ice cream each day keeps Harrison busy but happy - working at one cool job. | 3385.txt | 1 |
[
"keep a diary of work",
"have a degree in related subjects",
"have new ideas every day",
"find out new flavors each day"
] | According to John Harrison, to be qualified in the "cool field", it is helpful to _ . | Yes, there really is a job where you can get paid to taste ice-cream. Just ask John Harrison, an "Official Taste Tester" for the past 21 years. Testing helps manufacturers to be sure of a product's quality. During his career Harrison has been responsible for approving large quantities of the sweet ice cream - as well as for developing over 75 flavors .
Some people think that it would be easy to do this job, after all, you just have to like ice cream, right? No - there's more to the job than that, says Harrison, who has a degree in chemistry. He points out that a dairy or food-science degree would be very useful to someone wanting a career in this "cool" field.
In a typical morning on the job, Harrison tastes and assesses 60 ice-cream samples. He lets the ice cream warm up to about 12℉. Harrison explains, "You get more flavor from warmer ice cream, which is why some kids like to stir it, creating ice-cream soup."
While the ice cream warms up, Harrison looks over the samples and grades each one on its appearance. "Tasting begins with the eyes," he explains. He checks to see if the ice cream is attractive and asks himself, "Does the product have the color expected from that flavor?" Next it's time to taste!
Continuing to think up new ideas, try out new flavors, and test samples from so many kinds of ice cream each day keeps Harrison busy but happy - working at one cool job. | 3385.txt | 1 |
[
"He stirs the ice cream.",
"He examines the color of the ice cream.",
"He tastes the flavor of the ice cream.",
"He lets the ice cream warm up."
] | What does Harrison do first when testing ice cream? | Yes, there really is a job where you can get paid to taste ice-cream. Just ask John Harrison, an "Official Taste Tester" for the past 21 years. Testing helps manufacturers to be sure of a product's quality. During his career Harrison has been responsible for approving large quantities of the sweet ice cream - as well as for developing over 75 flavors .
Some people think that it would be easy to do this job, after all, you just have to like ice cream, right? No - there's more to the job than that, says Harrison, who has a degree in chemistry. He points out that a dairy or food-science degree would be very useful to someone wanting a career in this "cool" field.
In a typical morning on the job, Harrison tastes and assesses 60 ice-cream samples. He lets the ice cream warm up to about 12℉. Harrison explains, "You get more flavor from warmer ice cream, which is why some kids like to stir it, creating ice-cream soup."
While the ice cream warms up, Harrison looks over the samples and grades each one on its appearance. "Tasting begins with the eyes," he explains. He checks to see if the ice cream is attractive and asks himself, "Does the product have the color expected from that flavor?" Next it's time to taste!
Continuing to think up new ideas, try out new flavors, and test samples from so many kinds of ice cream each day keeps Harrison busy but happy - working at one cool job. | 3385.txt | 3 |
[
"Tasting with Eyes",
"Flavors of Ice Cream",
"John Harrison's Life",
"One Cool Job"
] | Which of the following is probably the best title of the passage? | Yes, there really is a job where you can get paid to taste ice-cream. Just ask John Harrison, an "Official Taste Tester" for the past 21 years. Testing helps manufacturers to be sure of a product's quality. During his career Harrison has been responsible for approving large quantities of the sweet ice cream - as well as for developing over 75 flavors .
Some people think that it would be easy to do this job, after all, you just have to like ice cream, right? No - there's more to the job than that, says Harrison, who has a degree in chemistry. He points out that a dairy or food-science degree would be very useful to someone wanting a career in this "cool" field.
In a typical morning on the job, Harrison tastes and assesses 60 ice-cream samples. He lets the ice cream warm up to about 12℉. Harrison explains, "You get more flavor from warmer ice cream, which is why some kids like to stir it, creating ice-cream soup."
While the ice cream warms up, Harrison looks over the samples and grades each one on its appearance. "Tasting begins with the eyes," he explains. He checks to see if the ice cream is attractive and asks himself, "Does the product have the color expected from that flavor?" Next it's time to taste!
Continuing to think up new ideas, try out new flavors, and test samples from so many kinds of ice cream each day keeps Harrison busy but happy - working at one cool job. | 3385.txt | 3 |
[
"Its nearness to the railroad.",
"The vastness of its open space.",
"Its small size in area and population.",
"The high social status of its residents."
] | What was the special advantage of the old type of suburb? | The earlier type of suburb, which was most dependent on the railroad, had a special advantage that could be fully appreciated only after it had disappeared. These suburbs, spread out along a railroad line, were discontinuous and properly spaced; and without the aid of legislation they were limited in population as well as area; for the biggest rarely held as many as ten thousand people, and under five thousand was more usual. In 1950, for example, Bronxville, New York, a typical upper-class suburb, had 6,778 people, while Riverside, Illinois, founded as early as 1869, had only 9.153.
The size and scale of the suburb, that of neighborhood unit, was not entirely the result of its open planning, which favored low densities. Being served by a railroad line, with station stops from three to five miles apart, there was a natural limit to the spread of any particular community. House had to be sited "within easy walking distance of the railroad station," as some old residents would point out; and only those wealthy enough to afford a horse and a carriage dared to penetrate farther into the open country.
Through its spaced station stops, the railroad suburb was at first kept from spreading or excessively increasing in numbers, for a natural greenbelt, often still under cultivation as park, gardens, remained between the suburbs and increased the available recreation area. Occasionally, in a few happy areas like Westchester, between 1915 and 1935 a parkway, like the Bronx River parkway, accompanied by continuous strip of park for pedestrian use, not yet overrun by a constant stream of urban traffic, added to the perfection of the whole suburban pattern. Whatever one might say of the social disadvantages this was in many ways a perfect physical environment. But it lasted less than a generation. | 684.txt | 1 |
[
"people wanted to live near a railroad station",
"it was originally planned by railroad companies",
"there was a law governing the size of the suburb",
"local inhabitants didn't like to out in the country"
] | The size of the old suburb was limited because ________. | The earlier type of suburb, which was most dependent on the railroad, had a special advantage that could be fully appreciated only after it had disappeared. These suburbs, spread out along a railroad line, were discontinuous and properly spaced; and without the aid of legislation they were limited in population as well as area; for the biggest rarely held as many as ten thousand people, and under five thousand was more usual. In 1950, for example, Bronxville, New York, a typical upper-class suburb, had 6,778 people, while Riverside, Illinois, founded as early as 1869, had only 9.153.
The size and scale of the suburb, that of neighborhood unit, was not entirely the result of its open planning, which favored low densities. Being served by a railroad line, with station stops from three to five miles apart, there was a natural limit to the spread of any particular community. House had to be sited "within easy walking distance of the railroad station," as some old residents would point out; and only those wealthy enough to afford a horse and a carriage dared to penetrate farther into the open country.
Through its spaced station stops, the railroad suburb was at first kept from spreading or excessively increasing in numbers, for a natural greenbelt, often still under cultivation as park, gardens, remained between the suburbs and increased the available recreation area. Occasionally, in a few happy areas like Westchester, between 1915 and 1935 a parkway, like the Bronx River parkway, accompanied by continuous strip of park for pedestrian use, not yet overrun by a constant stream of urban traffic, added to the perfection of the whole suburban pattern. Whatever one might say of the social disadvantages this was in many ways a perfect physical environment. But it lasted less than a generation. | 684.txt | 0 |
[
"life was enjoyed by everyone",
"more roads were built to bypass the heavy traffic",
"a greenbelt was available solely for recreation",
"people could have lots of fun"
] | "Happy areas" (Para. 3, Line 3) were areas where ________. | The earlier type of suburb, which was most dependent on the railroad, had a special advantage that could be fully appreciated only after it had disappeared. These suburbs, spread out along a railroad line, were discontinuous and properly spaced; and without the aid of legislation they were limited in population as well as area; for the biggest rarely held as many as ten thousand people, and under five thousand was more usual. In 1950, for example, Bronxville, New York, a typical upper-class suburb, had 6,778 people, while Riverside, Illinois, founded as early as 1869, had only 9.153.
The size and scale of the suburb, that of neighborhood unit, was not entirely the result of its open planning, which favored low densities. Being served by a railroad line, with station stops from three to five miles apart, there was a natural limit to the spread of any particular community. House had to be sited "within easy walking distance of the railroad station," as some old residents would point out; and only those wealthy enough to afford a horse and a carriage dared to penetrate farther into the open country.
Through its spaced station stops, the railroad suburb was at first kept from spreading or excessively increasing in numbers, for a natural greenbelt, often still under cultivation as park, gardens, remained between the suburbs and increased the available recreation area. Occasionally, in a few happy areas like Westchester, between 1915 and 1935 a parkway, like the Bronx River parkway, accompanied by continuous strip of park for pedestrian use, not yet overrun by a constant stream of urban traffic, added to the perfection of the whole suburban pattern. Whatever one might say of the social disadvantages this was in many ways a perfect physical environment. But it lasted less than a generation. | 684.txt | 2 |
[
"finds urban life uncomfortable",
"prefers life in the countryside",
"feels disappointed in the changes of suburbs",
"advocates the idea of returning to nature"
] | It is evident that the writer ________. | The earlier type of suburb, which was most dependent on the railroad, had a special advantage that could be fully appreciated only after it had disappeared. These suburbs, spread out along a railroad line, were discontinuous and properly spaced; and without the aid of legislation they were limited in population as well as area; for the biggest rarely held as many as ten thousand people, and under five thousand was more usual. In 1950, for example, Bronxville, New York, a typical upper-class suburb, had 6,778 people, while Riverside, Illinois, founded as early as 1869, had only 9.153.
The size and scale of the suburb, that of neighborhood unit, was not entirely the result of its open planning, which favored low densities. Being served by a railroad line, with station stops from three to five miles apart, there was a natural limit to the spread of any particular community. House had to be sited "within easy walking distance of the railroad station," as some old residents would point out; and only those wealthy enough to afford a horse and a carriage dared to penetrate farther into the open country.
Through its spaced station stops, the railroad suburb was at first kept from spreading or excessively increasing in numbers, for a natural greenbelt, often still under cultivation as park, gardens, remained between the suburbs and increased the available recreation area. Occasionally, in a few happy areas like Westchester, between 1915 and 1935 a parkway, like the Bronx River parkway, accompanied by continuous strip of park for pedestrian use, not yet overrun by a constant stream of urban traffic, added to the perfection of the whole suburban pattern. Whatever one might say of the social disadvantages this was in many ways a perfect physical environment. But it lasted less than a generation. | 684.txt | 2 |
[
"the size and scale of suburban neighborhood units",
"the advantage of old-type suburbs",
"the location of railroad stations",
"the concept of the suburban pattern"
] | The topic discussed in the passage is "________". | The earlier type of suburb, which was most dependent on the railroad, had a special advantage that could be fully appreciated only after it had disappeared. These suburbs, spread out along a railroad line, were discontinuous and properly spaced; and without the aid of legislation they were limited in population as well as area; for the biggest rarely held as many as ten thousand people, and under five thousand was more usual. In 1950, for example, Bronxville, New York, a typical upper-class suburb, had 6,778 people, while Riverside, Illinois, founded as early as 1869, had only 9.153.
The size and scale of the suburb, that of neighborhood unit, was not entirely the result of its open planning, which favored low densities. Being served by a railroad line, with station stops from three to five miles apart, there was a natural limit to the spread of any particular community. House had to be sited "within easy walking distance of the railroad station," as some old residents would point out; and only those wealthy enough to afford a horse and a carriage dared to penetrate farther into the open country.
Through its spaced station stops, the railroad suburb was at first kept from spreading or excessively increasing in numbers, for a natural greenbelt, often still under cultivation as park, gardens, remained between the suburbs and increased the available recreation area. Occasionally, in a few happy areas like Westchester, between 1915 and 1935 a parkway, like the Bronx River parkway, accompanied by continuous strip of park for pedestrian use, not yet overrun by a constant stream of urban traffic, added to the perfection of the whole suburban pattern. Whatever one might say of the social disadvantages this was in many ways a perfect physical environment. But it lasted less than a generation. | 684.txt | 1 |
[
"are suffering from mental disorders",
"turn to Internet pharmacies for help",
"like to play deadly games with doctors",
"are skeptical about surfing medical websites"
] | According to the text, an increasing number of American _ . | Increasingly, Americans are becoming their own doctors, by going online to diagnose their symptoms, order home health tests or medical devices, or even self-treat their illnesses with drugs from Internet pharmacies. Some avoid doctors because of the high cost of medical care, especially if they lack health insurance. Or they may stay because they find it embarrassing to discuss their weight, alcohol consumption or couch potato habits. Patients may also fear what they might learn about their health, or they distrust physicians because of negative experiences in the past. But playing doctor can also be a deadly game.
Every day, more than six million Americans turn to the Internet for medical answers - most of them aren't nearly skeptical enough of what they find. A 2002 survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project found that 72 percent of those surveyed believe all or most of what they read on health websites. They shouldn't. Look up "headache", and the chances of finding reliable and complete information, free from a motivation for commercial gain, are only one in ten, reports an April 2005 Brown Medical School study. Of the 169 websites the researchers rated, only 16 scored as "high quality". Recent studies found faulty facts about all sorts of other disorders, causing one research team to warn that a large amount of incomplete, inaccurate and even dangerous information exists on the Internet.
The problem is most people don't know the safe way to surf the Web. "They use a search engine like Google, get 18 trillion choices and start clicking. But that's risky, because almost anybody can put up a site that looks authoritative, so it'd hard to know if what you're reading is reasonable or not," says Dr. Sarah Bass from the National Cancer Institute. | 3319.txt | 1 |
[
"find medical devices easy to operate",
"prefer to be diagnosed online by doctors",
"are afraid to face the truth of their health",
"are afraid to misuse their health insurance"
] | Some Americans stay away from doctors because they _ . | Increasingly, Americans are becoming their own doctors, by going online to diagnose their symptoms, order home health tests or medical devices, or even self-treat their illnesses with drugs from Internet pharmacies. Some avoid doctors because of the high cost of medical care, especially if they lack health insurance. Or they may stay because they find it embarrassing to discuss their weight, alcohol consumption or couch potato habits. Patients may also fear what they might learn about their health, or they distrust physicians because of negative experiences in the past. But playing doctor can also be a deadly game.
Every day, more than six million Americans turn to the Internet for medical answers - most of them aren't nearly skeptical enough of what they find. A 2002 survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project found that 72 percent of those surveyed believe all or most of what they read on health websites. They shouldn't. Look up "headache", and the chances of finding reliable and complete information, free from a motivation for commercial gain, are only one in ten, reports an April 2005 Brown Medical School study. Of the 169 websites the researchers rated, only 16 scored as "high quality". Recent studies found faulty facts about all sorts of other disorders, causing one research team to warn that a large amount of incomplete, inaccurate and even dangerous information exists on the Internet.
The problem is most people don't know the safe way to surf the Web. "They use a search engine like Google, get 18 trillion choices and start clicking. But that's risky, because almost anybody can put up a site that looks authoritative, so it'd hard to know if what you're reading is reasonable or not," says Dr. Sarah Bass from the National Cancer Institute. | 3319.txt | 2 |
[
"more than 6 million Americans distrust doctors",
"only 1/10 of medical websites aim to make a profit",
"about 1/10 of the websites surveyed are of high quality",
"72% of health websites offer incomplete and faulty facts"
] | According to the study of Brown Medical School, _ . | Increasingly, Americans are becoming their own doctors, by going online to diagnose their symptoms, order home health tests or medical devices, or even self-treat their illnesses with drugs from Internet pharmacies. Some avoid doctors because of the high cost of medical care, especially if they lack health insurance. Or they may stay because they find it embarrassing to discuss their weight, alcohol consumption or couch potato habits. Patients may also fear what they might learn about their health, or they distrust physicians because of negative experiences in the past. But playing doctor can also be a deadly game.
Every day, more than six million Americans turn to the Internet for medical answers - most of them aren't nearly skeptical enough of what they find. A 2002 survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project found that 72 percent of those surveyed believe all or most of what they read on health websites. They shouldn't. Look up "headache", and the chances of finding reliable and complete information, free from a motivation for commercial gain, are only one in ten, reports an April 2005 Brown Medical School study. Of the 169 websites the researchers rated, only 16 scored as "high quality". Recent studies found faulty facts about all sorts of other disorders, causing one research team to warn that a large amount of incomplete, inaccurate and even dangerous information exists on the Internet.
The problem is most people don't know the safe way to surf the Web. "They use a search engine like Google, get 18 trillion choices and start clicking. But that's risky, because almost anybody can put up a site that looks authoritative, so it'd hard to know if what you're reading is reasonable or not," says Dr. Sarah Bass from the National Cancer Institute. | 3319.txt | 2 |
[
"It's cheap to self-treat your own illness.",
"It's embarrassing to discuss your bad habits.",
"It's reasonable to put up a medical website.",
"It's dangerous to be your own doctor."
] | Which of the following is the author's main argument? | Increasingly, Americans are becoming their own doctors, by going online to diagnose their symptoms, order home health tests or medical devices, or even self-treat their illnesses with drugs from Internet pharmacies. Some avoid doctors because of the high cost of medical care, especially if they lack health insurance. Or they may stay because they find it embarrassing to discuss their weight, alcohol consumption or couch potato habits. Patients may also fear what they might learn about their health, or they distrust physicians because of negative experiences in the past. But playing doctor can also be a deadly game.
Every day, more than six million Americans turn to the Internet for medical answers - most of them aren't nearly skeptical enough of what they find. A 2002 survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project found that 72 percent of those surveyed believe all or most of what they read on health websites. They shouldn't. Look up "headache", and the chances of finding reliable and complete information, free from a motivation for commercial gain, are only one in ten, reports an April 2005 Brown Medical School study. Of the 169 websites the researchers rated, only 16 scored as "high quality". Recent studies found faulty facts about all sorts of other disorders, causing one research team to warn that a large amount of incomplete, inaccurate and even dangerous information exists on the Internet.
The problem is most people don't know the safe way to surf the Web. "They use a search engine like Google, get 18 trillion choices and start clicking. But that's risky, because almost anybody can put up a site that looks authoritative, so it'd hard to know if what you're reading is reasonable or not," says Dr. Sarah Bass from the National Cancer Institute. | 3319.txt | 3 |
[
"The secret of Alamogordo.",
"A new kind of war.",
"The destructive force of the first atomic bomb.",
"The selection of the test site for the first atomic bomb."
] | What is the main topic of this passage? | Before 1945, hardly anyone outside of New Mexico had ever heard of Alamogordo. In 1960 its population numbered 21,723. Ever since 1898, when the town had been built by the Southern Pacific Railroad, Alamogordo had been a lonely town. The land around it was largely desert, and largely empty.
Because it was isolated and because the weather was almost always clear and peaceful, a spot of desert near Alamogordo was chosen as the last site for the first atomic bomb ever exploded. The secret name of the test was Zeo.
At dawn on July 16, 1945, the atomic bomb was set off. Observers agreed that they had witnessed something unlike anything ever seen by men before, a huge, colorful fireball, more brilliant than the sun flashing as it rose for miles into the air. Never before had men released so much power at one time, nor had any nation ever possessed weapon as terrible and destructive as the atomic bomb.
For several weeks, the test was kept secret. When an atomic bomb was dropped from an American plane on Hiroshima, Japan, newspapers and radio stations all over America told of the test of the bomb in New Mexico. Almost everybody was amazed to learn where the bomb had been made and tested; the deserts of the Southwest had hidden the secret well.
When news of the atomic bomb and its destructiveness was announced, people all over the world wondered what other new weapons were being prepared in the New Mexico desert. Some people doubted that the secret of making atomic bombs could be kept from other countries. Some even doubted the wisdom of using so powerful a weapon. But no one doubted that a new kind of war-and a new kind of world-had begun at Alamogordo, one summer morning in 1945. | 2602.txt | 0 |
[
"It always had an enjoyable climate.",
"It was connected to other cities by a railway.",
"Its location would hide the secret well.",
"It was situated in southwestern New Mexico."
] | Which of the following is the main reason for choosing Alamogordo as the test site? | Before 1945, hardly anyone outside of New Mexico had ever heard of Alamogordo. In 1960 its population numbered 21,723. Ever since 1898, when the town had been built by the Southern Pacific Railroad, Alamogordo had been a lonely town. The land around it was largely desert, and largely empty.
Because it was isolated and because the weather was almost always clear and peaceful, a spot of desert near Alamogordo was chosen as the last site for the first atomic bomb ever exploded. The secret name of the test was Zeo.
At dawn on July 16, 1945, the atomic bomb was set off. Observers agreed that they had witnessed something unlike anything ever seen by men before, a huge, colorful fireball, more brilliant than the sun flashing as it rose for miles into the air. Never before had men released so much power at one time, nor had any nation ever possessed weapon as terrible and destructive as the atomic bomb.
For several weeks, the test was kept secret. When an atomic bomb was dropped from an American plane on Hiroshima, Japan, newspapers and radio stations all over America told of the test of the bomb in New Mexico. Almost everybody was amazed to learn where the bomb had been made and tested; the deserts of the Southwest had hidden the secret well.
When news of the atomic bomb and its destructiveness was announced, people all over the world wondered what other new weapons were being prepared in the New Mexico desert. Some people doubted that the secret of making atomic bombs could be kept from other countries. Some even doubted the wisdom of using so powerful a weapon. But no one doubted that a new kind of war-and a new kind of world-had begun at Alamogordo, one summer morning in 1945. | 2602.txt | 2 |
[
"As soon as the secret was revealed",
"At dawn on July 16, 1945",
"Immediately after the test",
"Several weeks after the test"
] | When was the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima? | Before 1945, hardly anyone outside of New Mexico had ever heard of Alamogordo. In 1960 its population numbered 21,723. Ever since 1898, when the town had been built by the Southern Pacific Railroad, Alamogordo had been a lonely town. The land around it was largely desert, and largely empty.
Because it was isolated and because the weather was almost always clear and peaceful, a spot of desert near Alamogordo was chosen as the last site for the first atomic bomb ever exploded. The secret name of the test was Zeo.
At dawn on July 16, 1945, the atomic bomb was set off. Observers agreed that they had witnessed something unlike anything ever seen by men before, a huge, colorful fireball, more brilliant than the sun flashing as it rose for miles into the air. Never before had men released so much power at one time, nor had any nation ever possessed weapon as terrible and destructive as the atomic bomb.
For several weeks, the test was kept secret. When an atomic bomb was dropped from an American plane on Hiroshima, Japan, newspapers and radio stations all over America told of the test of the bomb in New Mexico. Almost everybody was amazed to learn where the bomb had been made and tested; the deserts of the Southwest had hidden the secret well.
When news of the atomic bomb and its destructiveness was announced, people all over the world wondered what other new weapons were being prepared in the New Mexico desert. Some people doubted that the secret of making atomic bombs could be kept from other countries. Some even doubted the wisdom of using so powerful a weapon. But no one doubted that a new kind of war-and a new kind of world-had begun at Alamogordo, one summer morning in 1945. | 2602.txt | 3 |
[
"it was wise to choose Alamogordo as the test site",
"man had entered the age of nuclear warfare",
"it was not wise to use such a powerful weapon",
"it was not possible to keep the technology of making atomic bombs secret"
] | After the first atomic bomb explosion, everybody agreed that ________. | Before 1945, hardly anyone outside of New Mexico had ever heard of Alamogordo. In 1960 its population numbered 21,723. Ever since 1898, when the town had been built by the Southern Pacific Railroad, Alamogordo had been a lonely town. The land around it was largely desert, and largely empty.
Because it was isolated and because the weather was almost always clear and peaceful, a spot of desert near Alamogordo was chosen as the last site for the first atomic bomb ever exploded. The secret name of the test was Zeo.
At dawn on July 16, 1945, the atomic bomb was set off. Observers agreed that they had witnessed something unlike anything ever seen by men before, a huge, colorful fireball, more brilliant than the sun flashing as it rose for miles into the air. Never before had men released so much power at one time, nor had any nation ever possessed weapon as terrible and destructive as the atomic bomb.
For several weeks, the test was kept secret. When an atomic bomb was dropped from an American plane on Hiroshima, Japan, newspapers and radio stations all over America told of the test of the bomb in New Mexico. Almost everybody was amazed to learn where the bomb had been made and tested; the deserts of the Southwest had hidden the secret well.
When news of the atomic bomb and its destructiveness was announced, people all over the world wondered what other new weapons were being prepared in the New Mexico desert. Some people doubted that the secret of making atomic bombs could be kept from other countries. Some even doubted the wisdom of using so powerful a weapon. But no one doubted that a new kind of war-and a new kind of world-had begun at Alamogordo, one summer morning in 1945. | 2602.txt | 1 |
[
"anxiety",
"satisfaction",
"encouragement",
"fear"
] | The tone of this passage is one of ________. | Before 1945, hardly anyone outside of New Mexico had ever heard of Alamogordo. In 1960 its population numbered 21,723. Ever since 1898, when the town had been built by the Southern Pacific Railroad, Alamogordo had been a lonely town. The land around it was largely desert, and largely empty.
Because it was isolated and because the weather was almost always clear and peaceful, a spot of desert near Alamogordo was chosen as the last site for the first atomic bomb ever exploded. The secret name of the test was Zeo.
At dawn on July 16, 1945, the atomic bomb was set off. Observers agreed that they had witnessed something unlike anything ever seen by men before, a huge, colorful fireball, more brilliant than the sun flashing as it rose for miles into the air. Never before had men released so much power at one time, nor had any nation ever possessed weapon as terrible and destructive as the atomic bomb.
For several weeks, the test was kept secret. When an atomic bomb was dropped from an American plane on Hiroshima, Japan, newspapers and radio stations all over America told of the test of the bomb in New Mexico. Almost everybody was amazed to learn where the bomb had been made and tested; the deserts of the Southwest had hidden the secret well.
When news of the atomic bomb and its destructiveness was announced, people all over the world wondered what other new weapons were being prepared in the New Mexico desert. Some people doubted that the secret of making atomic bombs could be kept from other countries. Some even doubted the wisdom of using so powerful a weapon. But no one doubted that a new kind of war-and a new kind of world-had begun at Alamogordo, one summer morning in 1945. | 2602.txt | 1 |
[
"Reality is what you make of it.",
"Time is like a river.",
"Emotions are powerful.",
"Every person has a special moment."
] | Which statement best depicts the main idea of the first paragraph? | Everyone has a moment in history, which belongs particularly to him. It is the moment when his emotions achieve their most powerful sway over him, and afterward when you say to this person "the world today" or "life" or "reality" he will assume that you mean this moment, even if it is fifty years past. The world, through his unleashed emotions, imprinted itself upon him, and he carries the stamp of that passing moment forever.
For me, this moment-four years in a moment in history-was the war. The war was and is reality for me. I still instinctively live and think in its atmosphere. These are some of its characteristics: Franklin Delano Roosevelt is the president of the United States, and he always has been. The other two eternal world leaders are Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin. America is not, never has been, and never will be what the song and poems call it, a land of plenty. Nylon, meat, gasoline, and steel are rare. There are too many jobs and not enough workers. Money is very easy to earn but rather hard to spend, because there isn't very much to buy. Trains are always late and always crowded with ―service men‖. The war will always be fought very far from America, and it will never end. Nothing in America stands still for very long, including the people who are always either leaving or on leave. People in America cry often. Sixteen is the key and crucial and natural age for a human being to be, and people of all other ages are ranged in an orderly manner ahead of and behind you as a harmonious setting for the sixteen-year-olds of the world. When you are sixteen, adults are slightly impressed and almost intimidated by you. This is a puzzle finally solved by the realization that they foresee your military future: fighting for them. You do not foresee it. To waste anything in America is immoral. String and tinfoil are treasures. Newspapers are always crowed with strange maps and names of towns, and every few months the earth seems to lurch from its path when you see something in the newspapers, such as the time Mussolini, who almost seemed one of the eternal leaders, is photographed hanging upside down on a meat hook. | 3898.txt | 3 |
[
"Franklin Delano Roosevelt was President.",
"It was his personal reality and part of his life.",
"There was not much to buy.",
"The war would never end."
] | Why does the author still clearly remember the war? | Everyone has a moment in history, which belongs particularly to him. It is the moment when his emotions achieve their most powerful sway over him, and afterward when you say to this person "the world today" or "life" or "reality" he will assume that you mean this moment, even if it is fifty years past. The world, through his unleashed emotions, imprinted itself upon him, and he carries the stamp of that passing moment forever.
For me, this moment-four years in a moment in history-was the war. The war was and is reality for me. I still instinctively live and think in its atmosphere. These are some of its characteristics: Franklin Delano Roosevelt is the president of the United States, and he always has been. The other two eternal world leaders are Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin. America is not, never has been, and never will be what the song and poems call it, a land of plenty. Nylon, meat, gasoline, and steel are rare. There are too many jobs and not enough workers. Money is very easy to earn but rather hard to spend, because there isn't very much to buy. Trains are always late and always crowded with ―service men‖. The war will always be fought very far from America, and it will never end. Nothing in America stands still for very long, including the people who are always either leaving or on leave. People in America cry often. Sixteen is the key and crucial and natural age for a human being to be, and people of all other ages are ranged in an orderly manner ahead of and behind you as a harmonious setting for the sixteen-year-olds of the world. When you are sixteen, adults are slightly impressed and almost intimidated by you. This is a puzzle finally solved by the realization that they foresee your military future: fighting for them. You do not foresee it. To waste anything in America is immoral. String and tinfoil are treasures. Newspapers are always crowed with strange maps and names of towns, and every few months the earth seems to lurch from its path when you see something in the newspapers, such as the time Mussolini, who almost seemed one of the eternal leaders, is photographed hanging upside down on a meat hook. | 3898.txt | 1 |
[
"It was ever real for him, yet he was not actively involved.",
"It was real for him because he was a soldier at that time.",
"It was very unreal to him.",
"The war was very disruptive to the people at home."
] | Which statement best describes the author's feelings about the war? | Everyone has a moment in history, which belongs particularly to him. It is the moment when his emotions achieve their most powerful sway over him, and afterward when you say to this person "the world today" or "life" or "reality" he will assume that you mean this moment, even if it is fifty years past. The world, through his unleashed emotions, imprinted itself upon him, and he carries the stamp of that passing moment forever.
For me, this moment-four years in a moment in history-was the war. The war was and is reality for me. I still instinctively live and think in its atmosphere. These are some of its characteristics: Franklin Delano Roosevelt is the president of the United States, and he always has been. The other two eternal world leaders are Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin. America is not, never has been, and never will be what the song and poems call it, a land of plenty. Nylon, meat, gasoline, and steel are rare. There are too many jobs and not enough workers. Money is very easy to earn but rather hard to spend, because there isn't very much to buy. Trains are always late and always crowded with ―service men‖. The war will always be fought very far from America, and it will never end. Nothing in America stands still for very long, including the people who are always either leaving or on leave. People in America cry often. Sixteen is the key and crucial and natural age for a human being to be, and people of all other ages are ranged in an orderly manner ahead of and behind you as a harmonious setting for the sixteen-year-olds of the world. When you are sixteen, adults are slightly impressed and almost intimidated by you. This is a puzzle finally solved by the realization that they foresee your military future: fighting for them. You do not foresee it. To waste anything in America is immoral. String and tinfoil are treasures. Newspapers are always crowed with strange maps and names of towns, and every few months the earth seems to lurch from its path when you see something in the newspapers, such as the time Mussolini, who almost seemed one of the eternal leaders, is photographed hanging upside down on a meat hook. | 3898.txt | 0 |
[
"Adults would like to be young.",
"Sixteen-year-olds do not waste things.",
"Sixteen-year-olds read newspapers.",
"They will be fighting soon for adults."
] | Why does the author think that adults are impressed with sixteen-year-olds? | Everyone has a moment in history, which belongs particularly to him. It is the moment when his emotions achieve their most powerful sway over him, and afterward when you say to this person "the world today" or "life" or "reality" he will assume that you mean this moment, even if it is fifty years past. The world, through his unleashed emotions, imprinted itself upon him, and he carries the stamp of that passing moment forever.
For me, this moment-four years in a moment in history-was the war. The war was and is reality for me. I still instinctively live and think in its atmosphere. These are some of its characteristics: Franklin Delano Roosevelt is the president of the United States, and he always has been. The other two eternal world leaders are Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin. America is not, never has been, and never will be what the song and poems call it, a land of plenty. Nylon, meat, gasoline, and steel are rare. There are too many jobs and not enough workers. Money is very easy to earn but rather hard to spend, because there isn't very much to buy. Trains are always late and always crowded with ―service men‖. The war will always be fought very far from America, and it will never end. Nothing in America stands still for very long, including the people who are always either leaving or on leave. People in America cry often. Sixteen is the key and crucial and natural age for a human being to be, and people of all other ages are ranged in an orderly manner ahead of and behind you as a harmonious setting for the sixteen-year-olds of the world. When you are sixteen, adults are slightly impressed and almost intimidated by you. This is a puzzle finally solved by the realization that they foresee your military future: fighting for them. You do not foresee it. To waste anything in America is immoral. String and tinfoil are treasures. Newspapers are always crowed with strange maps and names of towns, and every few months the earth seems to lurch from its path when you see something in the newspapers, such as the time Mussolini, who almost seemed one of the eternal leaders, is photographed hanging upside down on a meat hook. | 3898.txt | 3 |
[
"The war has made them scarce.",
"They are useful to sixteen-year-olds.",
"He liked them when he was sixteen.",
"People are very wasteful."
] | Why does the author say that string and tinfoil are treasures? | Everyone has a moment in history, which belongs particularly to him. It is the moment when his emotions achieve their most powerful sway over him, and afterward when you say to this person "the world today" or "life" or "reality" he will assume that you mean this moment, even if it is fifty years past. The world, through his unleashed emotions, imprinted itself upon him, and he carries the stamp of that passing moment forever.
For me, this moment-four years in a moment in history-was the war. The war was and is reality for me. I still instinctively live and think in its atmosphere. These are some of its characteristics: Franklin Delano Roosevelt is the president of the United States, and he always has been. The other two eternal world leaders are Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin. America is not, never has been, and never will be what the song and poems call it, a land of plenty. Nylon, meat, gasoline, and steel are rare. There are too many jobs and not enough workers. Money is very easy to earn but rather hard to spend, because there isn't very much to buy. Trains are always late and always crowded with ―service men‖. The war will always be fought very far from America, and it will never end. Nothing in America stands still for very long, including the people who are always either leaving or on leave. People in America cry often. Sixteen is the key and crucial and natural age for a human being to be, and people of all other ages are ranged in an orderly manner ahead of and behind you as a harmonious setting for the sixteen-year-olds of the world. When you are sixteen, adults are slightly impressed and almost intimidated by you. This is a puzzle finally solved by the realization that they foresee your military future: fighting for them. You do not foresee it. To waste anything in America is immoral. String and tinfoil are treasures. Newspapers are always crowed with strange maps and names of towns, and every few months the earth seems to lurch from its path when you see something in the newspapers, such as the time Mussolini, who almost seemed one of the eternal leaders, is photographed hanging upside down on a meat hook. | 3898.txt | 0 |
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