option
list | question
stringlengths 11
354
| article
stringlengths 231
6.74k
| id
stringlengths 5
8
| label
int64 0
3
|
---|---|---|---|---|
[
"native.",
"rate.",
"most.",
"numerous."
]
| The word "indigenous" in the passage(paragraph 1)is closest in meaning to | When several individuals of the same species or of several different species depend on the same limited resource, a situation may arise that is referred to as competition. The existence of competition has been long known to naturalists; its effects were described by Darwin in considerable detail. Competition among individuals of the same species (intraspecies competition), one of the major mechanisms of natural selection, is the concern of evolutionary biology. Competition among the individuals of different species (interspecies competition) is a major concern of ecology. It is one of the factors controlling the size of competing populations, and extreme cases it may lead to the extinction of one of the competing species. This was described by Darwin for indigenous New Zealand species of animals and plants, which died out when competing species from Europe were introduced.
No serious competition exists when the major needed resource is in superabundant supply, as in most cases of the coexistence of herbivores (plant eaters). Furthermore, most species do not depend entirely on a single resource, if the major resource for a species becomes scarce, the species can usually shift to alternative resources. If more than one species is competing for a scarce resource, the competing species usually switch to different alternative resources. Competition is usually most severe among close relatives with similar demands on the environment. But it may also occur among totally unrelated forms that compete for the same resource, such as seed-eating rodents and ants. The effects of such competition are graphically demonstrated when all the animals or all the plants in an ecosystem come into competition, as happened 2 million years ago at the end of Pliocene, when North and South America became joined by the Isthmus of Panama. North and South American species migrating across the Isthmus now came into competition with each other. The result was the extermination of a large fraction of the South American mammals, which were apparently unable to withstand the competition from invading North American speciesalthough added predation was also an important factor.
To what extent competition determines the composition of a community and the density of particular species has been the source of considerable controversy. The problem is that competition ordinarily cannot be observed directly but must be inferred from the spread or increase of one species and the concurrent reduction or disappearance of another species. The Russian biologist G. F. Gause performed numerous tow-species experiments in the laboratory, in which one of the species became extinct when only a single kind of resource was available. On the basis of these experiments and of field observations, the so-called law of competitive exclusion was formulated, according to which no two species can occupy the same niche. Numerous seeming exceptions to this law have since been found, but they can usually be explained as cases in which the two species, even though competing for a major joint resource, did not really occupy exactly the same niche.
Competition among species is of considerable evolutionary importance. The physical structure of species competing for resources in the same ecological niche tends to gradually evolve in ways that allow them to occupy different niches. Competing species also tend to change their ranges so that their territories no longer overlap. The evolutionary effect of competition on species has been referred to as "species selection"; however, this description is potentially misleading. Only the individuals of a species are subject to the pressures of natural selection. The effect on the well-being and existence of a species is just the result of the effects of selection on all the individuals of the species. Thus species selection is actually a result of individual selection.
Competition may occur for any needed resource. In the case of animals it is usually food; in the case of forest plants it may be light; in the case of substrate inhabitants it may be space, as in many shallow-water bottom-dwelling marine organisms. Indeed, it may be for any of the factors, physical as well as biotic, that are essential for organisms. Competition is usually the more severe the denser the population. Together with predation, it is the most important density-dependent factor in regulating population growth. | 3924.txt | 0 |
[
"To indicate that Darwin understood the importance of competition.",
"To illustrate that competition can lead to the extinction of species.",
"To identify where the idea of competition among species first arose.",
"To argue against the idea that the process of selection is a natural occurrence."
]
| In paragraph 1, why does the author mention what happened in New Zealand? | When several individuals of the same species or of several different species depend on the same limited resource, a situation may arise that is referred to as competition. The existence of competition has been long known to naturalists; its effects were described by Darwin in considerable detail. Competition among individuals of the same species (intraspecies competition), one of the major mechanisms of natural selection, is the concern of evolutionary biology. Competition among the individuals of different species (interspecies competition) is a major concern of ecology. It is one of the factors controlling the size of competing populations, and extreme cases it may lead to the extinction of one of the competing species. This was described by Darwin for indigenous New Zealand species of animals and plants, which died out when competing species from Europe were introduced.
No serious competition exists when the major needed resource is in superabundant supply, as in most cases of the coexistence of herbivores (plant eaters). Furthermore, most species do not depend entirely on a single resource, if the major resource for a species becomes scarce, the species can usually shift to alternative resources. If more than one species is competing for a scarce resource, the competing species usually switch to different alternative resources. Competition is usually most severe among close relatives with similar demands on the environment. But it may also occur among totally unrelated forms that compete for the same resource, such as seed-eating rodents and ants. The effects of such competition are graphically demonstrated when all the animals or all the plants in an ecosystem come into competition, as happened 2 million years ago at the end of Pliocene, when North and South America became joined by the Isthmus of Panama. North and South American species migrating across the Isthmus now came into competition with each other. The result was the extermination of a large fraction of the South American mammals, which were apparently unable to withstand the competition from invading North American speciesalthough added predation was also an important factor.
To what extent competition determines the composition of a community and the density of particular species has been the source of considerable controversy. The problem is that competition ordinarily cannot be observed directly but must be inferred from the spread or increase of one species and the concurrent reduction or disappearance of another species. The Russian biologist G. F. Gause performed numerous tow-species experiments in the laboratory, in which one of the species became extinct when only a single kind of resource was available. On the basis of these experiments and of field observations, the so-called law of competitive exclusion was formulated, according to which no two species can occupy the same niche. Numerous seeming exceptions to this law have since been found, but they can usually be explained as cases in which the two species, even though competing for a major joint resource, did not really occupy exactly the same niche.
Competition among species is of considerable evolutionary importance. The physical structure of species competing for resources in the same ecological niche tends to gradually evolve in ways that allow them to occupy different niches. Competing species also tend to change their ranges so that their territories no longer overlap. The evolutionary effect of competition on species has been referred to as "species selection"; however, this description is potentially misleading. Only the individuals of a species are subject to the pressures of natural selection. The effect on the well-being and existence of a species is just the result of the effects of selection on all the individuals of the species. Thus species selection is actually a result of individual selection.
Competition may occur for any needed resource. In the case of animals it is usually food; in the case of forest plants it may be light; in the case of substrate inhabitants it may be space, as in many shallow-water bottom-dwelling marine organisms. Indeed, it may be for any of the factors, physical as well as biotic, that are essential for organisms. Competition is usually the more severe the denser the population. Together with predation, it is the most important density-dependent factor in regulating population growth. | 3924.txt | 1 |
[
"one of the species has only recently moved into the territory of the other.",
"the species are closely related to each other.",
"the population of one species is much larger than that of the other.",
"both of the species are herbivores."
]
| According to paragraph 2, competition is not usually a significant factor among two coexisting species when | When several individuals of the same species or of several different species depend on the same limited resource, a situation may arise that is referred to as competition. The existence of competition has been long known to naturalists; its effects were described by Darwin in considerable detail. Competition among individuals of the same species (intraspecies competition), one of the major mechanisms of natural selection, is the concern of evolutionary biology. Competition among the individuals of different species (interspecies competition) is a major concern of ecology. It is one of the factors controlling the size of competing populations, and extreme cases it may lead to the extinction of one of the competing species. This was described by Darwin for indigenous New Zealand species of animals and plants, which died out when competing species from Europe were introduced.
No serious competition exists when the major needed resource is in superabundant supply, as in most cases of the coexistence of herbivores (plant eaters). Furthermore, most species do not depend entirely on a single resource, if the major resource for a species becomes scarce, the species can usually shift to alternative resources. If more than one species is competing for a scarce resource, the competing species usually switch to different alternative resources. Competition is usually most severe among close relatives with similar demands on the environment. But it may also occur among totally unrelated forms that compete for the same resource, such as seed-eating rodents and ants. The effects of such competition are graphically demonstrated when all the animals or all the plants in an ecosystem come into competition, as happened 2 million years ago at the end of Pliocene, when North and South America became joined by the Isthmus of Panama. North and South American species migrating across the Isthmus now came into competition with each other. The result was the extermination of a large fraction of the South American mammals, which were apparently unable to withstand the competition from invading North American speciesalthough added predation was also an important factor.
To what extent competition determines the composition of a community and the density of particular species has been the source of considerable controversy. The problem is that competition ordinarily cannot be observed directly but must be inferred from the spread or increase of one species and the concurrent reduction or disappearance of another species. The Russian biologist G. F. Gause performed numerous tow-species experiments in the laboratory, in which one of the species became extinct when only a single kind of resource was available. On the basis of these experiments and of field observations, the so-called law of competitive exclusion was formulated, according to which no two species can occupy the same niche. Numerous seeming exceptions to this law have since been found, but they can usually be explained as cases in which the two species, even though competing for a major joint resource, did not really occupy exactly the same niche.
Competition among species is of considerable evolutionary importance. The physical structure of species competing for resources in the same ecological niche tends to gradually evolve in ways that allow them to occupy different niches. Competing species also tend to change their ranges so that their territories no longer overlap. The evolutionary effect of competition on species has been referred to as "species selection"; however, this description is potentially misleading. Only the individuals of a species are subject to the pressures of natural selection. The effect on the well-being and existence of a species is just the result of the effects of selection on all the individuals of the species. Thus species selection is actually a result of individual selection.
Competition may occur for any needed resource. In the case of animals it is usually food; in the case of forest plants it may be light; in the case of substrate inhabitants it may be space, as in many shallow-water bottom-dwelling marine organisms. Indeed, it may be for any of the factors, physical as well as biotic, that are essential for organisms. Competition is usually the more severe the denser the population. Together with predation, it is the most important density-dependent factor in regulating population growth. | 3924.txt | 3 |
[
"vividly.",
"frequently.",
"broadly.",
"typically."
]
| The word "graphically" in the passage(paragraph 2)is closest in meaning to | When several individuals of the same species or of several different species depend on the same limited resource, a situation may arise that is referred to as competition. The existence of competition has been long known to naturalists; its effects were described by Darwin in considerable detail. Competition among individuals of the same species (intraspecies competition), one of the major mechanisms of natural selection, is the concern of evolutionary biology. Competition among the individuals of different species (interspecies competition) is a major concern of ecology. It is one of the factors controlling the size of competing populations, and extreme cases it may lead to the extinction of one of the competing species. This was described by Darwin for indigenous New Zealand species of animals and plants, which died out when competing species from Europe were introduced.
No serious competition exists when the major needed resource is in superabundant supply, as in most cases of the coexistence of herbivores (plant eaters). Furthermore, most species do not depend entirely on a single resource, if the major resource for a species becomes scarce, the species can usually shift to alternative resources. If more than one species is competing for a scarce resource, the competing species usually switch to different alternative resources. Competition is usually most severe among close relatives with similar demands on the environment. But it may also occur among totally unrelated forms that compete for the same resource, such as seed-eating rodents and ants. The effects of such competition are graphically demonstrated when all the animals or all the plants in an ecosystem come into competition, as happened 2 million years ago at the end of Pliocene, when North and South America became joined by the Isthmus of Panama. North and South American species migrating across the Isthmus now came into competition with each other. The result was the extermination of a large fraction of the South American mammals, which were apparently unable to withstand the competition from invading North American speciesalthough added predation was also an important factor.
To what extent competition determines the composition of a community and the density of particular species has been the source of considerable controversy. The problem is that competition ordinarily cannot be observed directly but must be inferred from the spread or increase of one species and the concurrent reduction or disappearance of another species. The Russian biologist G. F. Gause performed numerous tow-species experiments in the laboratory, in which one of the species became extinct when only a single kind of resource was available. On the basis of these experiments and of field observations, the so-called law of competitive exclusion was formulated, according to which no two species can occupy the same niche. Numerous seeming exceptions to this law have since been found, but they can usually be explained as cases in which the two species, even though competing for a major joint resource, did not really occupy exactly the same niche.
Competition among species is of considerable evolutionary importance. The physical structure of species competing for resources in the same ecological niche tends to gradually evolve in ways that allow them to occupy different niches. Competing species also tend to change their ranges so that their territories no longer overlap. The evolutionary effect of competition on species has been referred to as "species selection"; however, this description is potentially misleading. Only the individuals of a species are subject to the pressures of natural selection. The effect on the well-being and existence of a species is just the result of the effects of selection on all the individuals of the species. Thus species selection is actually a result of individual selection.
Competition may occur for any needed resource. In the case of animals it is usually food; in the case of forest plants it may be light; in the case of substrate inhabitants it may be space, as in many shallow-water bottom-dwelling marine organisms. Indeed, it may be for any of the factors, physical as well as biotic, that are essential for organisms. Competition is usually the more severe the denser the population. Together with predation, it is the most important density-dependent factor in regulating population growth. | 3924.txt | 0 |
[
"To make the point that predation can have as much effect on species survival as competition does.",
"To show how the ability to switch to an alternative resource can give a species a competitive advantage.",
"To account for the current species composition of North and South America.",
"To provide an example of the serious effects of competition between unrelated species."
]
| In paragraph 2, why does the author talk about what happened as a result of North and South America becoming joined at the Isthmus of Panama? | When several individuals of the same species or of several different species depend on the same limited resource, a situation may arise that is referred to as competition. The existence of competition has been long known to naturalists; its effects were described by Darwin in considerable detail. Competition among individuals of the same species (intraspecies competition), one of the major mechanisms of natural selection, is the concern of evolutionary biology. Competition among the individuals of different species (interspecies competition) is a major concern of ecology. It is one of the factors controlling the size of competing populations, and extreme cases it may lead to the extinction of one of the competing species. This was described by Darwin for indigenous New Zealand species of animals and plants, which died out when competing species from Europe were introduced.
No serious competition exists when the major needed resource is in superabundant supply, as in most cases of the coexistence of herbivores (plant eaters). Furthermore, most species do not depend entirely on a single resource, if the major resource for a species becomes scarce, the species can usually shift to alternative resources. If more than one species is competing for a scarce resource, the competing species usually switch to different alternative resources. Competition is usually most severe among close relatives with similar demands on the environment. But it may also occur among totally unrelated forms that compete for the same resource, such as seed-eating rodents and ants. The effects of such competition are graphically demonstrated when all the animals or all the plants in an ecosystem come into competition, as happened 2 million years ago at the end of Pliocene, when North and South America became joined by the Isthmus of Panama. North and South American species migrating across the Isthmus now came into competition with each other. The result was the extermination of a large fraction of the South American mammals, which were apparently unable to withstand the competition from invading North American speciesalthough added predation was also an important factor.
To what extent competition determines the composition of a community and the density of particular species has been the source of considerable controversy. The problem is that competition ordinarily cannot be observed directly but must be inferred from the spread or increase of one species and the concurrent reduction or disappearance of another species. The Russian biologist G. F. Gause performed numerous tow-species experiments in the laboratory, in which one of the species became extinct when only a single kind of resource was available. On the basis of these experiments and of field observations, the so-called law of competitive exclusion was formulated, according to which no two species can occupy the same niche. Numerous seeming exceptions to this law have since been found, but they can usually be explained as cases in which the two species, even though competing for a major joint resource, did not really occupy exactly the same niche.
Competition among species is of considerable evolutionary importance. The physical structure of species competing for resources in the same ecological niche tends to gradually evolve in ways that allow them to occupy different niches. Competing species also tend to change their ranges so that their territories no longer overlap. The evolutionary effect of competition on species has been referred to as "species selection"; however, this description is potentially misleading. Only the individuals of a species are subject to the pressures of natural selection. The effect on the well-being and existence of a species is just the result of the effects of selection on all the individuals of the species. Thus species selection is actually a result of individual selection.
Competition may occur for any needed resource. In the case of animals it is usually food; in the case of forest plants it may be light; in the case of substrate inhabitants it may be space, as in many shallow-water bottom-dwelling marine organisms. Indeed, it may be for any of the factors, physical as well as biotic, that are essential for organisms. Competition is usually the more severe the denser the population. Together with predation, it is the most important density-dependent factor in regulating population growth. | 3924.txt | 3 |
[
"provided a situation in which competition could be removed from the interaction between two species.",
"showed that previous ideas about the extent to which competition determines the composition of a community were completely mistaken.",
"helped establish that competition will remove all but one species from any given ecological niche.",
"offered evidence that competition between species is minimal when there is an overabundance of a single food source."
]
| Paragraph 3 supports the idea that Gause's experiments were important because they | When several individuals of the same species or of several different species depend on the same limited resource, a situation may arise that is referred to as competition. The existence of competition has been long known to naturalists; its effects were described by Darwin in considerable detail. Competition among individuals of the same species (intraspecies competition), one of the major mechanisms of natural selection, is the concern of evolutionary biology. Competition among the individuals of different species (interspecies competition) is a major concern of ecology. It is one of the factors controlling the size of competing populations, and extreme cases it may lead to the extinction of one of the competing species. This was described by Darwin for indigenous New Zealand species of animals and plants, which died out when competing species from Europe were introduced.
No serious competition exists when the major needed resource is in superabundant supply, as in most cases of the coexistence of herbivores (plant eaters). Furthermore, most species do not depend entirely on a single resource, if the major resource for a species becomes scarce, the species can usually shift to alternative resources. If more than one species is competing for a scarce resource, the competing species usually switch to different alternative resources. Competition is usually most severe among close relatives with similar demands on the environment. But it may also occur among totally unrelated forms that compete for the same resource, such as seed-eating rodents and ants. The effects of such competition are graphically demonstrated when all the animals or all the plants in an ecosystem come into competition, as happened 2 million years ago at the end of Pliocene, when North and South America became joined by the Isthmus of Panama. North and South American species migrating across the Isthmus now came into competition with each other. The result was the extermination of a large fraction of the South American mammals, which were apparently unable to withstand the competition from invading North American speciesalthough added predation was also an important factor.
To what extent competition determines the composition of a community and the density of particular species has been the source of considerable controversy. The problem is that competition ordinarily cannot be observed directly but must be inferred from the spread or increase of one species and the concurrent reduction or disappearance of another species. The Russian biologist G. F. Gause performed numerous tow-species experiments in the laboratory, in which one of the species became extinct when only a single kind of resource was available. On the basis of these experiments and of field observations, the so-called law of competitive exclusion was formulated, according to which no two species can occupy the same niche. Numerous seeming exceptions to this law have since been found, but they can usually be explained as cases in which the two species, even though competing for a major joint resource, did not really occupy exactly the same niche.
Competition among species is of considerable evolutionary importance. The physical structure of species competing for resources in the same ecological niche tends to gradually evolve in ways that allow them to occupy different niches. Competing species also tend to change their ranges so that their territories no longer overlap. The evolutionary effect of competition on species has been referred to as "species selection"; however, this description is potentially misleading. Only the individuals of a species are subject to the pressures of natural selection. The effect on the well-being and existence of a species is just the result of the effects of selection on all the individuals of the species. Thus species selection is actually a result of individual selection.
Competition may occur for any needed resource. In the case of animals it is usually food; in the case of forest plants it may be light; in the case of substrate inhabitants it may be space, as in many shallow-water bottom-dwelling marine organisms. Indeed, it may be for any of the factors, physical as well as biotic, that are essential for organisms. Competition is usually the more severe the denser the population. Together with predation, it is the most important density-dependent factor in regulating population growth. | 3924.txt | 2 |
[
"It results in the evolution of physical structures that allow the species to compete with each other more effectively.",
"It results I the evolutionary extinction of all but one of the competing species.",
"It results in the competing species evolving in such a way that they no longer compete for the same resources.",
"It results in the competing species evolving to become so much like each other that competition between them eventually disappears."
]
| According to paragraph 4, how does competition affect evolution? | When several individuals of the same species or of several different species depend on the same limited resource, a situation may arise that is referred to as competition. The existence of competition has been long known to naturalists; its effects were described by Darwin in considerable detail. Competition among individuals of the same species (intraspecies competition), one of the major mechanisms of natural selection, is the concern of evolutionary biology. Competition among the individuals of different species (interspecies competition) is a major concern of ecology. It is one of the factors controlling the size of competing populations, and extreme cases it may lead to the extinction of one of the competing species. This was described by Darwin for indigenous New Zealand species of animals and plants, which died out when competing species from Europe were introduced.
No serious competition exists when the major needed resource is in superabundant supply, as in most cases of the coexistence of herbivores (plant eaters). Furthermore, most species do not depend entirely on a single resource, if the major resource for a species becomes scarce, the species can usually shift to alternative resources. If more than one species is competing for a scarce resource, the competing species usually switch to different alternative resources. Competition is usually most severe among close relatives with similar demands on the environment. But it may also occur among totally unrelated forms that compete for the same resource, such as seed-eating rodents and ants. The effects of such competition are graphically demonstrated when all the animals or all the plants in an ecosystem come into competition, as happened 2 million years ago at the end of Pliocene, when North and South America became joined by the Isthmus of Panama. North and South American species migrating across the Isthmus now came into competition with each other. The result was the extermination of a large fraction of the South American mammals, which were apparently unable to withstand the competition from invading North American speciesalthough added predation was also an important factor.
To what extent competition determines the composition of a community and the density of particular species has been the source of considerable controversy. The problem is that competition ordinarily cannot be observed directly but must be inferred from the spread or increase of one species and the concurrent reduction or disappearance of another species. The Russian biologist G. F. Gause performed numerous tow-species experiments in the laboratory, in which one of the species became extinct when only a single kind of resource was available. On the basis of these experiments and of field observations, the so-called law of competitive exclusion was formulated, according to which no two species can occupy the same niche. Numerous seeming exceptions to this law have since been found, but they can usually be explained as cases in which the two species, even though competing for a major joint resource, did not really occupy exactly the same niche.
Competition among species is of considerable evolutionary importance. The physical structure of species competing for resources in the same ecological niche tends to gradually evolve in ways that allow them to occupy different niches. Competing species also tend to change their ranges so that their territories no longer overlap. The evolutionary effect of competition on species has been referred to as "species selection"; however, this description is potentially misleading. Only the individuals of a species are subject to the pressures of natural selection. The effect on the well-being and existence of a species is just the result of the effects of selection on all the individuals of the species. Thus species selection is actually a result of individual selection.
Competition may occur for any needed resource. In the case of animals it is usually food; in the case of forest plants it may be light; in the case of substrate inhabitants it may be space, as in many shallow-water bottom-dwelling marine organisms. Indeed, it may be for any of the factors, physical as well as biotic, that are essential for organisms. Competition is usually the more severe the denser the population. Together with predation, it is the most important density-dependent factor in regulating population growth. | 3924.txt | 2 |
[
"overemphasizes the role of selection pressure in species extinction.",
"suggests that selection pressures directly influence whole species.",
"does not make a distinction between species extinction and species evolution.",
"suggests that extinction always results whenever there is a competition."
]
| According to paragraph 4, "species selection" is a misleading term because it | When several individuals of the same species or of several different species depend on the same limited resource, a situation may arise that is referred to as competition. The existence of competition has been long known to naturalists; its effects were described by Darwin in considerable detail. Competition among individuals of the same species (intraspecies competition), one of the major mechanisms of natural selection, is the concern of evolutionary biology. Competition among the individuals of different species (interspecies competition) is a major concern of ecology. It is one of the factors controlling the size of competing populations, and extreme cases it may lead to the extinction of one of the competing species. This was described by Darwin for indigenous New Zealand species of animals and plants, which died out when competing species from Europe were introduced.
No serious competition exists when the major needed resource is in superabundant supply, as in most cases of the coexistence of herbivores (plant eaters). Furthermore, most species do not depend entirely on a single resource, if the major resource for a species becomes scarce, the species can usually shift to alternative resources. If more than one species is competing for a scarce resource, the competing species usually switch to different alternative resources. Competition is usually most severe among close relatives with similar demands on the environment. But it may also occur among totally unrelated forms that compete for the same resource, such as seed-eating rodents and ants. The effects of such competition are graphically demonstrated when all the animals or all the plants in an ecosystem come into competition, as happened 2 million years ago at the end of Pliocene, when North and South America became joined by the Isthmus of Panama. North and South American species migrating across the Isthmus now came into competition with each other. The result was the extermination of a large fraction of the South American mammals, which were apparently unable to withstand the competition from invading North American speciesalthough added predation was also an important factor.
To what extent competition determines the composition of a community and the density of particular species has been the source of considerable controversy. The problem is that competition ordinarily cannot be observed directly but must be inferred from the spread or increase of one species and the concurrent reduction or disappearance of another species. The Russian biologist G. F. Gause performed numerous tow-species experiments in the laboratory, in which one of the species became extinct when only a single kind of resource was available. On the basis of these experiments and of field observations, the so-called law of competitive exclusion was formulated, according to which no two species can occupy the same niche. Numerous seeming exceptions to this law have since been found, but they can usually be explained as cases in which the two species, even though competing for a major joint resource, did not really occupy exactly the same niche.
Competition among species is of considerable evolutionary importance. The physical structure of species competing for resources in the same ecological niche tends to gradually evolve in ways that allow them to occupy different niches. Competing species also tend to change their ranges so that their territories no longer overlap. The evolutionary effect of competition on species has been referred to as "species selection"; however, this description is potentially misleading. Only the individuals of a species are subject to the pressures of natural selection. The effect on the well-being and existence of a species is just the result of the effects of selection on all the individuals of the species. Thus species selection is actually a result of individual selection.
Competition may occur for any needed resource. In the case of animals it is usually food; in the case of forest plants it may be light; in the case of substrate inhabitants it may be space, as in many shallow-water bottom-dwelling marine organisms. Indeed, it may be for any of the factors, physical as well as biotic, that are essential for organisms. Competition is usually the more severe the denser the population. Together with predation, it is the most important density-dependent factor in regulating population growth. | 3924.txt | 1 |
[
"controlling.",
"explaining.",
"observing.",
"stopping."
]
| The word "regulating" in the passage(paragraph 5)is closest in meaning to | When several individuals of the same species or of several different species depend on the same limited resource, a situation may arise that is referred to as competition. The existence of competition has been long known to naturalists; its effects were described by Darwin in considerable detail. Competition among individuals of the same species (intraspecies competition), one of the major mechanisms of natural selection, is the concern of evolutionary biology. Competition among the individuals of different species (interspecies competition) is a major concern of ecology. It is one of the factors controlling the size of competing populations, and extreme cases it may lead to the extinction of one of the competing species. This was described by Darwin for indigenous New Zealand species of animals and plants, which died out when competing species from Europe were introduced.
No serious competition exists when the major needed resource is in superabundant supply, as in most cases of the coexistence of herbivores (plant eaters). Furthermore, most species do not depend entirely on a single resource, if the major resource for a species becomes scarce, the species can usually shift to alternative resources. If more than one species is competing for a scarce resource, the competing species usually switch to different alternative resources. Competition is usually most severe among close relatives with similar demands on the environment. But it may also occur among totally unrelated forms that compete for the same resource, such as seed-eating rodents and ants. The effects of such competition are graphically demonstrated when all the animals or all the plants in an ecosystem come into competition, as happened 2 million years ago at the end of Pliocene, when North and South America became joined by the Isthmus of Panama. North and South American species migrating across the Isthmus now came into competition with each other. The result was the extermination of a large fraction of the South American mammals, which were apparently unable to withstand the competition from invading North American speciesalthough added predation was also an important factor.
To what extent competition determines the composition of a community and the density of particular species has been the source of considerable controversy. The problem is that competition ordinarily cannot be observed directly but must be inferred from the spread or increase of one species and the concurrent reduction or disappearance of another species. The Russian biologist G. F. Gause performed numerous tow-species experiments in the laboratory, in which one of the species became extinct when only a single kind of resource was available. On the basis of these experiments and of field observations, the so-called law of competitive exclusion was formulated, according to which no two species can occupy the same niche. Numerous seeming exceptions to this law have since been found, but they can usually be explained as cases in which the two species, even though competing for a major joint resource, did not really occupy exactly the same niche.
Competition among species is of considerable evolutionary importance. The physical structure of species competing for resources in the same ecological niche tends to gradually evolve in ways that allow them to occupy different niches. Competing species also tend to change their ranges so that their territories no longer overlap. The evolutionary effect of competition on species has been referred to as "species selection"; however, this description is potentially misleading. Only the individuals of a species are subject to the pressures of natural selection. The effect on the well-being and existence of a species is just the result of the effects of selection on all the individuals of the species. Thus species selection is actually a result of individual selection.
Competition may occur for any needed resource. In the case of animals it is usually food; in the case of forest plants it may be light; in the case of substrate inhabitants it may be space, as in many shallow-water bottom-dwelling marine organisms. Indeed, it may be for any of the factors, physical as well as biotic, that are essential for organisms. Competition is usually the more severe the denser the population. Together with predation, it is the most important density-dependent factor in regulating population growth. | 3924.txt | 0 |
[
"Because the name reminded people of a food made of animal meat.",
"Because changing the name can prevent people from eating hamburgers.",
"Because it can bring children much food to change the name.",
"Because hamburgers cause so many diseases every year."
]
| Why did PETA suggest changing the name "Hamburg"? | The German port of Hamburg has been offered $ 10,500 to change its name to "Veggieburg" by animal rights activists who are unhappy about the city's association with hamburgers. "Hamburg could improve animal welfare and bring kindness to animals by changing its name to Veggieburg," the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA. WROTE IN A LETTER SENT TO Hamburg Mayor Ole von Beust. The German branch of PETA, which has 750,000 members worldwide, said the organization would give Hamburg's childcare facilities 10,000 euros worth of vegetarian burgers if the city changed its name. But city officials in Hamburg, Germany's second largest city which traces its roots to the ninth century, were unmoved. "I cannot afford to waste my time with this. I don't even want to look at nonsense like this," said Klaus May, a city government spokesman. "But that doesn't mean we Hamburgers don't have a sense of humor." In its letter, PETA said the name Hamburg reminded people of "unhealthy beef patties made of dead cattle". "Millions of people fall ill each year with deadly illnesses like heart disease, cancer, strokes and diabetes from eating hamburgers," PETA said in the letter.
The original "hamburger steak", a dish made of ground beef, traveled west with Germans to the United States in the 19th century. The first mention of "hamburgers" appeared on a menu in a New York restaurant in 1834. Some historians trace its beginning to a beef sandwich once popular with sailors in Hamburg. The city's name "Hamburg" comes from the old Saxon words "ham" (bay) and "burg" (castle). PETA recently made a similar offer to the U.S. town of Hamburg, New York. But their $15,000 bid was refused. | 975.txt | 0 |
[
"Stopping eating meat.",
"Eating vegetables instead of meat.",
"It's better for children to eat vegetables.",
"Treating animals better."
]
| What does the new name "Veggieburg" suggest? | The German port of Hamburg has been offered $ 10,500 to change its name to "Veggieburg" by animal rights activists who are unhappy about the city's association with hamburgers. "Hamburg could improve animal welfare and bring kindness to animals by changing its name to Veggieburg," the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA. WROTE IN A LETTER SENT TO Hamburg Mayor Ole von Beust. The German branch of PETA, which has 750,000 members worldwide, said the organization would give Hamburg's childcare facilities 10,000 euros worth of vegetarian burgers if the city changed its name. But city officials in Hamburg, Germany's second largest city which traces its roots to the ninth century, were unmoved. "I cannot afford to waste my time with this. I don't even want to look at nonsense like this," said Klaus May, a city government spokesman. "But that doesn't mean we Hamburgers don't have a sense of humor." In its letter, PETA said the name Hamburg reminded people of "unhealthy beef patties made of dead cattle". "Millions of people fall ill each year with deadly illnesses like heart disease, cancer, strokes and diabetes from eating hamburgers," PETA said in the letter.
The original "hamburger steak", a dish made of ground beef, traveled west with Germans to the United States in the 19th century. The first mention of "hamburgers" appeared on a menu in a New York restaurant in 1834. Some historians trace its beginning to a beef sandwich once popular with sailors in Hamburg. The city's name "Hamburg" comes from the old Saxon words "ham" (bay) and "burg" (castle). PETA recently made a similar offer to the U.S. town of Hamburg, New York. But their $15,000 bid was refused. | 975.txt | 1 |
[
"The name came from a kind of food.",
"The name came from the old German language.",
"The name has a long history.",
"The name has something to do with sailors."
]
| Which of the following statements of the German name "Hamburg" is true? | The German port of Hamburg has been offered $ 10,500 to change its name to "Veggieburg" by animal rights activists who are unhappy about the city's association with hamburgers. "Hamburg could improve animal welfare and bring kindness to animals by changing its name to Veggieburg," the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA. WROTE IN A LETTER SENT TO Hamburg Mayor Ole von Beust. The German branch of PETA, which has 750,000 members worldwide, said the organization would give Hamburg's childcare facilities 10,000 euros worth of vegetarian burgers if the city changed its name. But city officials in Hamburg, Germany's second largest city which traces its roots to the ninth century, were unmoved. "I cannot afford to waste my time with this. I don't even want to look at nonsense like this," said Klaus May, a city government spokesman. "But that doesn't mean we Hamburgers don't have a sense of humor." In its letter, PETA said the name Hamburg reminded people of "unhealthy beef patties made of dead cattle". "Millions of people fall ill each year with deadly illnesses like heart disease, cancer, strokes and diabetes from eating hamburgers," PETA said in the letter.
The original "hamburger steak", a dish made of ground beef, traveled west with Germans to the United States in the 19th century. The first mention of "hamburgers" appeared on a menu in a New York restaurant in 1834. Some historians trace its beginning to a beef sandwich once popular with sailors in Hamburg. The city's name "Hamburg" comes from the old Saxon words "ham" (bay) and "burg" (castle). PETA recently made a similar offer to the U.S. town of Hamburg, New York. But their $15,000 bid was refused. | 975.txt | 2 |
[
"The two cities will have new names.",
"The present names of the two cities will last.",
"The children in Hamburg will have nothing to eat.",
"People won't eat hamburgers in the future."
]
| What do you think is the result of the suggestion raised by PETA? | The German port of Hamburg has been offered $ 10,500 to change its name to "Veggieburg" by animal rights activists who are unhappy about the city's association with hamburgers. "Hamburg could improve animal welfare and bring kindness to animals by changing its name to Veggieburg," the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA. WROTE IN A LETTER SENT TO Hamburg Mayor Ole von Beust. The German branch of PETA, which has 750,000 members worldwide, said the organization would give Hamburg's childcare facilities 10,000 euros worth of vegetarian burgers if the city changed its name. But city officials in Hamburg, Germany's second largest city which traces its roots to the ninth century, were unmoved. "I cannot afford to waste my time with this. I don't even want to look at nonsense like this," said Klaus May, a city government spokesman. "But that doesn't mean we Hamburgers don't have a sense of humor." In its letter, PETA said the name Hamburg reminded people of "unhealthy beef patties made of dead cattle". "Millions of people fall ill each year with deadly illnesses like heart disease, cancer, strokes and diabetes from eating hamburgers," PETA said in the letter.
The original "hamburger steak", a dish made of ground beef, traveled west with Germans to the United States in the 19th century. The first mention of "hamburgers" appeared on a menu in a New York restaurant in 1834. Some historians trace its beginning to a beef sandwich once popular with sailors in Hamburg. The city's name "Hamburg" comes from the old Saxon words "ham" (bay) and "burg" (castle). PETA recently made a similar offer to the U.S. town of Hamburg, New York. But their $15,000 bid was refused. | 975.txt | 1 |
[
"is receiving more criticism",
"is no longer an educational ritual",
"is not required for advanced courses",
"is gaining more preferences"
]
| It is implied in paragraph I that nowadays homework | Homework has never been terribly popular with students and even many parents, but in recent years it has been particularly scorned. School districts across the country, most recently Los Angeles Unified, are revising their thinking on this educational ritual. Unfortunately, L.A. Unified has produced an inflexible policy which mandates that with the exception of some advanced courses, homework may no longer count for more than 10% of a student's academic grade.
This rule is meant to address the difficulty that students from impoverished or chaotic homes might have in completing their homework. But the policy is unclear and contradictory. Certainly, no homework should be assigned that students cannot do without expensive equipment, But if the district is essentially giving a pass to students who do not do their homework because of complicated family lives,it is going riskily close to the implication that standards need to be lowered for poor children.
District administrators say that homework will still be a part of schooling: teachers are allowed to assign as much of it as they want. But with homework counting for no more than 10% of their grades, students can easily skip half their homework and see very little difference on their report cards. Some students might do well on state tests without completing their homework but
What about the students who performed well on the tests and did their homework? It is quite possible that the homework helped. Yet rather than empowering teachers to find what works best for their students, the policy imposes a flat, across-the-board rule.
At the same time, the policy addresses none or the truly thomy questions about homework If the district finds homework to be unimportant to its students' academic achievement. it should move to reduce or eliminate the assignments, not make them count for almost nothing. Conversely, if homework matters, it should account for a significant portion of the grade. Meanwhile, this policy does nothing to ensure that the homework students receive is meaningful or appropriate to their age and the subject, or that teachers aren't assigning more than they're willing to review and correct.
The homework rules should be put on hold while the school board, which is responsible for setting educational policy, looks into the matter and conducts public hearings. It is not loo late for L.A. Unified to do homework right. | 3886.txt | 0 |
[
"tend to have moderate expectations for their education",
"have asked for a different educational standard",
"may have problems finishing their homework",
"have voiced their complaints about homework"
]
| L.A. Unified has made tbe rule about homework mainly because poor students _ . | Homework has never been terribly popular with students and even many parents, but in recent years it has been particularly scorned. School districts across the country, most recently Los Angeles Unified, are revising their thinking on this educational ritual. Unfortunately, L.A. Unified has produced an inflexible policy which mandates that with the exception of some advanced courses, homework may no longer count for more than 10% of a student's academic grade.
This rule is meant to address the difficulty that students from impoverished or chaotic homes might have in completing their homework. But the policy is unclear and contradictory. Certainly, no homework should be assigned that students cannot do without expensive equipment, But if the district is essentially giving a pass to students who do not do their homework because of complicated family lives,it is going riskily close to the implication that standards need to be lowered for poor children.
District administrators say that homework will still be a part of schooling: teachers are allowed to assign as much of it as they want. But with homework counting for no more than 10% of their grades, students can easily skip half their homework and see very little difference on their report cards. Some students might do well on state tests without completing their homework but
What about the students who performed well on the tests and did their homework? It is quite possible that the homework helped. Yet rather than empowering teachers to find what works best for their students, the policy imposes a flat, across-the-board rule.
At the same time, the policy addresses none or the truly thomy questions about homework If the district finds homework to be unimportant to its students' academic achievement. it should move to reduce or eliminate the assignments, not make them count for almost nothing. Conversely, if homework matters, it should account for a significant portion of the grade. Meanwhile, this policy does nothing to ensure that the homework students receive is meaningful or appropriate to their age and the subject, or that teachers aren't assigning more than they're willing to review and correct.
The homework rules should be put on hold while the school board, which is responsible for setting educational policy, looks into the matter and conducts public hearings. It is not loo late for L.A. Unified to do homework right. | 3886.txt | 2 |
[
"discourage students from doing homework",
"result in students' indifference to their report cards",
"undermine the authority of state tests",
"restrict teachers' power in education"
]
| According to Paragraph 3, one problem with the policy is that it may _ . | Homework has never been terribly popular with students and even many parents, but in recent years it has been particularly scorned. School districts across the country, most recently Los Angeles Unified, are revising their thinking on this educational ritual. Unfortunately, L.A. Unified has produced an inflexible policy which mandates that with the exception of some advanced courses, homework may no longer count for more than 10% of a student's academic grade.
This rule is meant to address the difficulty that students from impoverished or chaotic homes might have in completing their homework. But the policy is unclear and contradictory. Certainly, no homework should be assigned that students cannot do without expensive equipment, But if the district is essentially giving a pass to students who do not do their homework because of complicated family lives,it is going riskily close to the implication that standards need to be lowered for poor children.
District administrators say that homework will still be a part of schooling: teachers are allowed to assign as much of it as they want. But with homework counting for no more than 10% of their grades, students can easily skip half their homework and see very little difference on their report cards. Some students might do well on state tests without completing their homework but
What about the students who performed well on the tests and did their homework? It is quite possible that the homework helped. Yet rather than empowering teachers to find what works best for their students, the policy imposes a flat, across-the-board rule.
At the same time, the policy addresses none or the truly thomy questions about homework If the district finds homework to be unimportant to its students' academic achievement. it should move to reduce or eliminate the assignments, not make them count for almost nothing. Conversely, if homework matters, it should account for a significant portion of the grade. Meanwhile, this policy does nothing to ensure that the homework students receive is meaningful or appropriate to their age and the subject, or that teachers aren't assigning more than they're willing to review and correct.
The homework rules should be put on hold while the school board, which is responsible for setting educational policy, looks into the matter and conducts public hearings. It is not loo late for L.A. Unified to do homework right. | 3886.txt | 0 |
[
"it should be eliminated",
"it counts much in schooling",
"it places extra burdens on teachers",
"it is important for grades"
]
| As mentioned in Paragraph 4, a key question unanswered about homework is whether _ . | Homework has never been terribly popular with students and even many parents, but in recent years it has been particularly scorned. School districts across the country, most recently Los Angeles Unified, are revising their thinking on this educational ritual. Unfortunately, L.A. Unified has produced an inflexible policy which mandates that with the exception of some advanced courses, homework may no longer count for more than 10% of a student's academic grade.
This rule is meant to address the difficulty that students from impoverished or chaotic homes might have in completing their homework. But the policy is unclear and contradictory. Certainly, no homework should be assigned that students cannot do without expensive equipment, But if the district is essentially giving a pass to students who do not do their homework because of complicated family lives,it is going riskily close to the implication that standards need to be lowered for poor children.
District administrators say that homework will still be a part of schooling: teachers are allowed to assign as much of it as they want. But with homework counting for no more than 10% of their grades, students can easily skip half their homework and see very little difference on their report cards. Some students might do well on state tests without completing their homework but
What about the students who performed well on the tests and did their homework? It is quite possible that the homework helped. Yet rather than empowering teachers to find what works best for their students, the policy imposes a flat, across-the-board rule.
At the same time, the policy addresses none or the truly thomy questions about homework If the district finds homework to be unimportant to its students' academic achievement. it should move to reduce or eliminate the assignments, not make them count for almost nothing. Conversely, if homework matters, it should account for a significant portion of the grade. Meanwhile, this policy does nothing to ensure that the homework students receive is meaningful or appropriate to their age and the subject, or that teachers aren't assigning more than they're willing to review and correct.
The homework rules should be put on hold while the school board, which is responsible for setting educational policy, looks into the matter and conducts public hearings. It is not loo late for L.A. Unified to do homework right. | 3886.txt | 3 |
[
"Wrong Interpretation ofan Educational Policy",
"A Welcomed Policy for Poor Students",
"Thomy Questions about Homework",
"A Faulty Approach to Homework"
]
| A suitable title for this text could be | Homework has never been terribly popular with students and even many parents, but in recent years it has been particularly scorned. School districts across the country, most recently Los Angeles Unified, are revising their thinking on this educational ritual. Unfortunately, L.A. Unified has produced an inflexible policy which mandates that with the exception of some advanced courses, homework may no longer count for more than 10% of a student's academic grade.
This rule is meant to address the difficulty that students from impoverished or chaotic homes might have in completing their homework. But the policy is unclear and contradictory. Certainly, no homework should be assigned that students cannot do without expensive equipment, But if the district is essentially giving a pass to students who do not do their homework because of complicated family lives,it is going riskily close to the implication that standards need to be lowered for poor children.
District administrators say that homework will still be a part of schooling: teachers are allowed to assign as much of it as they want. But with homework counting for no more than 10% of their grades, students can easily skip half their homework and see very little difference on their report cards. Some students might do well on state tests without completing their homework but
What about the students who performed well on the tests and did their homework? It is quite possible that the homework helped. Yet rather than empowering teachers to find what works best for their students, the policy imposes a flat, across-the-board rule.
At the same time, the policy addresses none or the truly thomy questions about homework If the district finds homework to be unimportant to its students' academic achievement. it should move to reduce or eliminate the assignments, not make them count for almost nothing. Conversely, if homework matters, it should account for a significant portion of the grade. Meanwhile, this policy does nothing to ensure that the homework students receive is meaningful or appropriate to their age and the subject, or that teachers aren't assigning more than they're willing to review and correct.
The homework rules should be put on hold while the school board, which is responsible for setting educational policy, looks into the matter and conducts public hearings. It is not loo late for L.A. Unified to do homework right. | 3886.txt | 3 |
[
"the introductions of driving skills",
"the dangaga of drinking to your body",
"the effect of drinking on driving",
"the process of alcohol being absorbed"
]
| The first paragraph is mainly about _ . | Driving a car is not just handling controls and judging speed and distance. It requires you to predict what other road users will do and get ready to react to something unexpected , When alcohol is consumed, it enters your bloodstream and acts as a depressant ,damaging eyesight, judgment and co-ordination ,slowing down reaction time and greatly increasing the risk of accidents. Even below the drink driving link , driving well be affected.
Alcohol may take a few minutes to be absorbed into the bloodstream and start action on the brain. Absorption rate is increased when drinking on an empty stomach or when consuming drinks mixed with fruit juice. To get rid of alcohol from the body is a very slow process and it is not possible to speed it up with any measures like taking a shower or having a cup of tea or coffee.
The present Road Traffic Ordinance states clearly that the limit of alcohol concentration is :
● 50 milligrams of alcohol per 100ml of blood ;or
● 22 micrograms of alcohol per 100ml of breath ;or
● 67 milligrams of alcohol per 100ml of urine
Drivers who cause traffic accidents, or who commit a moving traffic offence or are being suspected of drink driving will be tested.
Any drive found drinking beyond the limit will be charged.The driver declared guilty may be fined a maximum of HK﹩25,000 and be sentenced to up to 3 years in prison and punished for 10 driving-offence points; or temporarily banned from driving.
The same punishment applices to failing to provide speciments far breath, blood or urine tests without good excuse.
Drink driving is a criminal offebce.Be a responsible,driver,think before you drink. For the safety of yourself and other road users, never drive after consuming alcohol. | 336.txt | 2 |
[
"Drinking below the drink driving limit has no effect on driving.",
"Alcohol is taken in more quickly when drunk with fruit juice.",
"Having a cup of tea helps to get rid of alcohol from the body.",
"50 milligrams of alcohol per 100ml of breath is below the drink limit"
]
| Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage? | Driving a car is not just handling controls and judging speed and distance. It requires you to predict what other road users will do and get ready to react to something unexpected , When alcohol is consumed, it enters your bloodstream and acts as a depressant ,damaging eyesight, judgment and co-ordination ,slowing down reaction time and greatly increasing the risk of accidents. Even below the drink driving link , driving well be affected.
Alcohol may take a few minutes to be absorbed into the bloodstream and start action on the brain. Absorption rate is increased when drinking on an empty stomach or when consuming drinks mixed with fruit juice. To get rid of alcohol from the body is a very slow process and it is not possible to speed it up with any measures like taking a shower or having a cup of tea or coffee.
The present Road Traffic Ordinance states clearly that the limit of alcohol concentration is :
● 50 milligrams of alcohol per 100ml of blood ;or
● 22 micrograms of alcohol per 100ml of breath ;or
● 67 milligrams of alcohol per 100ml of urine
Drivers who cause traffic accidents, or who commit a moving traffic offence or are being suspected of drink driving will be tested.
Any drive found drinking beyond the limit will be charged.The driver declared guilty may be fined a maximum of HK﹩25,000 and be sentenced to up to 3 years in prison and punished for 10 driving-offence points; or temporarily banned from driving.
The same punishment applices to failing to provide speciments far breath, blood or urine tests without good excuse.
Drink driving is a criminal offebce.Be a responsible,driver,think before you drink. For the safety of yourself and other road users, never drive after consuming alcohol. | 336.txt | 1 |
[
"Should provide specimens for testing.",
"be forbidden to drive for 3years",
"Will be punished for 10 driving-offence points",
"Should pay a maximum fine of HK$25,000"
]
| A drive suspeced of drink driving _ . | Driving a car is not just handling controls and judging speed and distance. It requires you to predict what other road users will do and get ready to react to something unexpected , When alcohol is consumed, it enters your bloodstream and acts as a depressant ,damaging eyesight, judgment and co-ordination ,slowing down reaction time and greatly increasing the risk of accidents. Even below the drink driving link , driving well be affected.
Alcohol may take a few minutes to be absorbed into the bloodstream and start action on the brain. Absorption rate is increased when drinking on an empty stomach or when consuming drinks mixed with fruit juice. To get rid of alcohol from the body is a very slow process and it is not possible to speed it up with any measures like taking a shower or having a cup of tea or coffee.
The present Road Traffic Ordinance states clearly that the limit of alcohol concentration is :
● 50 milligrams of alcohol per 100ml of blood ;or
● 22 micrograms of alcohol per 100ml of breath ;or
● 67 milligrams of alcohol per 100ml of urine
Drivers who cause traffic accidents, or who commit a moving traffic offence or are being suspected of drink driving will be tested.
Any drive found drinking beyond the limit will be charged.The driver declared guilty may be fined a maximum of HK﹩25,000 and be sentenced to up to 3 years in prison and punished for 10 driving-offence points; or temporarily banned from driving.
The same punishment applices to failing to provide speciments far breath, blood or urine tests without good excuse.
Drink driving is a criminal offebce.Be a responsible,driver,think before you drink. For the safety of yourself and other road users, never drive after consuming alcohol. | 336.txt | 0 |
[
"illustrate that the boundaries of tectonic plates are neat, thin lines.",
"explain why some tectonic plates carry islands or continents while others form the seafloor.",
"explain the complex nature of the edges of tectonic plates.",
"provide examples of areas of tectonic plates where little geologic action occurs."
]
| The author mentions "spreading ridges", "subduction zones", and"transform faults" in order to | Earth's surface is not made up of a single sheet of rock that forms a crust but rather a number of "tectonic plates" that fit closely, like the pieces of a giant jigsaw puzzle. Some plates carry islands or continents others form the seafloor. All are slowly moving because the plates float on a denser semi-liquid mantle, the layer between the crust and Earth's core. The plates have edges that are spreading ridges (where two plates are moving apart and new seafloor is being createD., subduction zones (where two plates collide and one plunges beneath the other), or transform faults (where two plates neither converge nor diverge but merely move past one another). It is at the boundaries between plates that most of Earth's volcanism and earthquake activity occur.
Generally speaking, the interiors of plates are geologically uneventful. However, there are exceptions. A glance at a map of the Pacific Ocean reveals that there are many islands far out at sea that are actually volcanoesmany no longer active, some overgrown with coralthat originated from activity at points in the interior of the Pacific Plate that forms the Pacific seafloor.
How can volcanic activity occur so far from a plate boundary? The Hawaiian Islands provide a very instructive answer.Like many other island groups, they form a chain. The Hawaiian Islands Chain extends northwest from the island of Hawaii. In the 1840s American geologist James Daly observed that the different Hawaii islands seem to share a similar geologic evolution but are progressively more eroded, and therefore probable older, toward the northwest. Then in 1963, in the early days of the development of the theory of plate tectonics. Canadian geophysicist Tuzo Wilson realized that this age progression could result if the islands were formed on a surface plate moving over a fixed volcanic source in the interior. Wilson suggested that the long chain of volcanoes stretching northwest from Hawaii is simply the surface expression of a long-lived volcanic source located beneath the tectonic plate in the mantle. Today's most northwest island would have been the first to form. They as the plate moved slowly northwest, new volcanic islands would have forms as the plate moved over the volcanic source. The most recent island, Hawaii, would be at the end of the chain and is now over the volcanic source.
Although this idea was not immediately accepted, the dating of lavas in the Hawaii (and other) chains showed that their ages increase away from the presently active volcano, just as Daly had suggested. Wilson's analysis of these data is now a central part of plate tectonics. Most volcanoes that occur in the interiors of plates are believed to be produced by mantle plumes, columns of molten rock that rise from deep within the mantle. A volcano remains an active "hot spot" as long as it is over the plume. The plumes apparently originate at great depths, perhaps as deep as the boundary between the core and the mantle, and many have been active for a very long time. The oldest volcanoes in the Hawaii hot-spot trail have ages close to 80 million years. Other islands, including Tahiti and Easter Islands in the pacific, Reunion and Mauritius in the India Ocean, and indeed most of the large islands in the world's oceans, owe their existence to mantle plumes.
The oceanic volcanic islands and their hot-spot trails are thus especially useful for geologist because they record the past locations of the plate over a fixed source. They therefore permit the reconstruction of the process of seafloor spreading, and consequently of the geography of continents and of ocean basins in the past. For example, given the current position of the Pacific Plate, Hawaii is above the Pacific Ocean hot spot. So the position of The Pacific Plate 50 million years ago can be determined by moving it such that a 50-million-year-old volcano in the hot-spot trail sits at the location of Hawaii today. However because the ocean basins really are short-lived features on geologic times scale, reconstruction the world's geography by backtracking along the hot-spot trail works only for the last 5 percent or so of geologic time. | 4029.txt | 2 |
[
"expand.",
"form.",
"rise.",
"move closer."
]
| The word "converge" in the passage is closest in meaning to | Earth's surface is not made up of a single sheet of rock that forms a crust but rather a number of "tectonic plates" that fit closely, like the pieces of a giant jigsaw puzzle. Some plates carry islands or continents others form the seafloor. All are slowly moving because the plates float on a denser semi-liquid mantle, the layer between the crust and Earth's core. The plates have edges that are spreading ridges (where two plates are moving apart and new seafloor is being createD., subduction zones (where two plates collide and one plunges beneath the other), or transform faults (where two plates neither converge nor diverge but merely move past one another). It is at the boundaries between plates that most of Earth's volcanism and earthquake activity occur.
Generally speaking, the interiors of plates are geologically uneventful. However, there are exceptions. A glance at a map of the Pacific Ocean reveals that there are many islands far out at sea that are actually volcanoesmany no longer active, some overgrown with coralthat originated from activity at points in the interior of the Pacific Plate that forms the Pacific seafloor.
How can volcanic activity occur so far from a plate boundary? The Hawaiian Islands provide a very instructive answer.Like many other island groups, they form a chain. The Hawaiian Islands Chain extends northwest from the island of Hawaii. In the 1840s American geologist James Daly observed that the different Hawaii islands seem to share a similar geologic evolution but are progressively more eroded, and therefore probable older, toward the northwest. Then in 1963, in the early days of the development of the theory of plate tectonics. Canadian geophysicist Tuzo Wilson realized that this age progression could result if the islands were formed on a surface plate moving over a fixed volcanic source in the interior. Wilson suggested that the long chain of volcanoes stretching northwest from Hawaii is simply the surface expression of a long-lived volcanic source located beneath the tectonic plate in the mantle. Today's most northwest island would have been the first to form. They as the plate moved slowly northwest, new volcanic islands would have forms as the plate moved over the volcanic source. The most recent island, Hawaii, would be at the end of the chain and is now over the volcanic source.
Although this idea was not immediately accepted, the dating of lavas in the Hawaii (and other) chains showed that their ages increase away from the presently active volcano, just as Daly had suggested. Wilson's analysis of these data is now a central part of plate tectonics. Most volcanoes that occur in the interiors of plates are believed to be produced by mantle plumes, columns of molten rock that rise from deep within the mantle. A volcano remains an active "hot spot" as long as it is over the plume. The plumes apparently originate at great depths, perhaps as deep as the boundary between the core and the mantle, and many have been active for a very long time. The oldest volcanoes in the Hawaii hot-spot trail have ages close to 80 million years. Other islands, including Tahiti and Easter Islands in the pacific, Reunion and Mauritius in the India Ocean, and indeed most of the large islands in the world's oceans, owe their existence to mantle plumes.
The oceanic volcanic islands and their hot-spot trails are thus especially useful for geologist because they record the past locations of the plate over a fixed source. They therefore permit the reconstruction of the process of seafloor spreading, and consequently of the geography of continents and of ocean basins in the past. For example, given the current position of the Pacific Plate, Hawaii is above the Pacific Ocean hot spot. So the position of The Pacific Plate 50 million years ago can be determined by moving it such that a 50-million-year-old volcano in the hot-spot trail sits at the location of Hawaii today. However because the ocean basins really are short-lived features on geologic times scale, reconstruction the world's geography by backtracking along the hot-spot trail works only for the last 5 percent or so of geologic time. | 4029.txt | 3 |
[
"clear.",
"detailed.",
"informative.",
"familiar."
]
| The word "instructive" in the passage(paragraph 3)is closest in meaning to | Earth's surface is not made up of a single sheet of rock that forms a crust but rather a number of "tectonic plates" that fit closely, like the pieces of a giant jigsaw puzzle. Some plates carry islands or continents others form the seafloor. All are slowly moving because the plates float on a denser semi-liquid mantle, the layer between the crust and Earth's core. The plates have edges that are spreading ridges (where two plates are moving apart and new seafloor is being createD., subduction zones (where two plates collide and one plunges beneath the other), or transform faults (where two plates neither converge nor diverge but merely move past one another). It is at the boundaries between plates that most of Earth's volcanism and earthquake activity occur.
Generally speaking, the interiors of plates are geologically uneventful. However, there are exceptions. A glance at a map of the Pacific Ocean reveals that there are many islands far out at sea that are actually volcanoesmany no longer active, some overgrown with coralthat originated from activity at points in the interior of the Pacific Plate that forms the Pacific seafloor.
How can volcanic activity occur so far from a plate boundary? The Hawaiian Islands provide a very instructive answer.Like many other island groups, they form a chain. The Hawaiian Islands Chain extends northwest from the island of Hawaii. In the 1840s American geologist James Daly observed that the different Hawaii islands seem to share a similar geologic evolution but are progressively more eroded, and therefore probable older, toward the northwest. Then in 1963, in the early days of the development of the theory of plate tectonics. Canadian geophysicist Tuzo Wilson realized that this age progression could result if the islands were formed on a surface plate moving over a fixed volcanic source in the interior. Wilson suggested that the long chain of volcanoes stretching northwest from Hawaii is simply the surface expression of a long-lived volcanic source located beneath the tectonic plate in the mantle. Today's most northwest island would have been the first to form. They as the plate moved slowly northwest, new volcanic islands would have forms as the plate moved over the volcanic source. The most recent island, Hawaii, would be at the end of the chain and is now over the volcanic source.
Although this idea was not immediately accepted, the dating of lavas in the Hawaii (and other) chains showed that their ages increase away from the presently active volcano, just as Daly had suggested. Wilson's analysis of these data is now a central part of plate tectonics. Most volcanoes that occur in the interiors of plates are believed to be produced by mantle plumes, columns of molten rock that rise from deep within the mantle. A volcano remains an active "hot spot" as long as it is over the plume. The plumes apparently originate at great depths, perhaps as deep as the boundary between the core and the mantle, and many have been active for a very long time. The oldest volcanoes in the Hawaii hot-spot trail have ages close to 80 million years. Other islands, including Tahiti and Easter Islands in the pacific, Reunion and Mauritius in the India Ocean, and indeed most of the large islands in the world's oceans, owe their existence to mantle plumes.
The oceanic volcanic islands and their hot-spot trails are thus especially useful for geologist because they record the past locations of the plate over a fixed source. They therefore permit the reconstruction of the process of seafloor spreading, and consequently of the geography of continents and of ocean basins in the past. For example, given the current position of the Pacific Plate, Hawaii is above the Pacific Ocean hot spot. So the position of The Pacific Plate 50 million years ago can be determined by moving it such that a 50-million-year-old volcano in the hot-spot trail sits at the location of Hawaii today. However because the ocean basins really are short-lived features on geologic times scale, reconstruction the world's geography by backtracking along the hot-spot trail works only for the last 5 percent or so of geologic time. | 4029.txt | 2 |
[
"worm down.",
"scattered.",
"developed.",
"deserted."
]
| The word "eroded" in the passage(paragraph 3)is closest in meaning to | Earth's surface is not made up of a single sheet of rock that forms a crust but rather a number of "tectonic plates" that fit closely, like the pieces of a giant jigsaw puzzle. Some plates carry islands or continents others form the seafloor. All are slowly moving because the plates float on a denser semi-liquid mantle, the layer between the crust and Earth's core. The plates have edges that are spreading ridges (where two plates are moving apart and new seafloor is being createD., subduction zones (where two plates collide and one plunges beneath the other), or transform faults (where two plates neither converge nor diverge but merely move past one another). It is at the boundaries between plates that most of Earth's volcanism and earthquake activity occur.
Generally speaking, the interiors of plates are geologically uneventful. However, there are exceptions. A glance at a map of the Pacific Ocean reveals that there are many islands far out at sea that are actually volcanoesmany no longer active, some overgrown with coralthat originated from activity at points in the interior of the Pacific Plate that forms the Pacific seafloor.
How can volcanic activity occur so far from a plate boundary? The Hawaiian Islands provide a very instructive answer.Like many other island groups, they form a chain. The Hawaiian Islands Chain extends northwest from the island of Hawaii. In the 1840s American geologist James Daly observed that the different Hawaii islands seem to share a similar geologic evolution but are progressively more eroded, and therefore probable older, toward the northwest. Then in 1963, in the early days of the development of the theory of plate tectonics. Canadian geophysicist Tuzo Wilson realized that this age progression could result if the islands were formed on a surface plate moving over a fixed volcanic source in the interior. Wilson suggested that the long chain of volcanoes stretching northwest from Hawaii is simply the surface expression of a long-lived volcanic source located beneath the tectonic plate in the mantle. Today's most northwest island would have been the first to form. They as the plate moved slowly northwest, new volcanic islands would have forms as the plate moved over the volcanic source. The most recent island, Hawaii, would be at the end of the chain and is now over the volcanic source.
Although this idea was not immediately accepted, the dating of lavas in the Hawaii (and other) chains showed that their ages increase away from the presently active volcano, just as Daly had suggested. Wilson's analysis of these data is now a central part of plate tectonics. Most volcanoes that occur in the interiors of plates are believed to be produced by mantle plumes, columns of molten rock that rise from deep within the mantle. A volcano remains an active "hot spot" as long as it is over the plume. The plumes apparently originate at great depths, perhaps as deep as the boundary between the core and the mantle, and many have been active for a very long time. The oldest volcanoes in the Hawaii hot-spot trail have ages close to 80 million years. Other islands, including Tahiti and Easter Islands in the pacific, Reunion and Mauritius in the India Ocean, and indeed most of the large islands in the world's oceans, owe their existence to mantle plumes.
The oceanic volcanic islands and their hot-spot trails are thus especially useful for geologist because they record the past locations of the plate over a fixed source. They therefore permit the reconstruction of the process of seafloor spreading, and consequently of the geography of continents and of ocean basins in the past. For example, given the current position of the Pacific Plate, Hawaii is above the Pacific Ocean hot spot. So the position of The Pacific Plate 50 million years ago can be determined by moving it such that a 50-million-year-old volcano in the hot-spot trail sits at the location of Hawaii today. However because the ocean basins really are short-lived features on geologic times scale, reconstruction the world's geography by backtracking along the hot-spot trail works only for the last 5 percent or so of geologic time. | 4029.txt | 0 |
[
"Wilson provided an explanation for the observations made by Daly.",
"Wilson challenged the theory proposed by Daly.",
"Wilson found numerous examples of island chains that supported Daly's theory.",
"Wilson popularized the explanation of volcanic island formation formulated by Daly."
]
| In paragraph 3, what is the relationship between the scientific contribution of James Daly and Tuzo Wilson? | Earth's surface is not made up of a single sheet of rock that forms a crust but rather a number of "tectonic plates" that fit closely, like the pieces of a giant jigsaw puzzle. Some plates carry islands or continents others form the seafloor. All are slowly moving because the plates float on a denser semi-liquid mantle, the layer between the crust and Earth's core. The plates have edges that are spreading ridges (where two plates are moving apart and new seafloor is being createD., subduction zones (where two plates collide and one plunges beneath the other), or transform faults (where two plates neither converge nor diverge but merely move past one another). It is at the boundaries between plates that most of Earth's volcanism and earthquake activity occur.
Generally speaking, the interiors of plates are geologically uneventful. However, there are exceptions. A glance at a map of the Pacific Ocean reveals that there are many islands far out at sea that are actually volcanoesmany no longer active, some overgrown with coralthat originated from activity at points in the interior of the Pacific Plate that forms the Pacific seafloor.
How can volcanic activity occur so far from a plate boundary? The Hawaiian Islands provide a very instructive answer.Like many other island groups, they form a chain. The Hawaiian Islands Chain extends northwest from the island of Hawaii. In the 1840s American geologist James Daly observed that the different Hawaii islands seem to share a similar geologic evolution but are progressively more eroded, and therefore probable older, toward the northwest. Then in 1963, in the early days of the development of the theory of plate tectonics. Canadian geophysicist Tuzo Wilson realized that this age progression could result if the islands were formed on a surface plate moving over a fixed volcanic source in the interior. Wilson suggested that the long chain of volcanoes stretching northwest from Hawaii is simply the surface expression of a long-lived volcanic source located beneath the tectonic plate in the mantle. Today's most northwest island would have been the first to form. They as the plate moved slowly northwest, new volcanic islands would have forms as the plate moved over the volcanic source. The most recent island, Hawaii, would be at the end of the chain and is now over the volcanic source.
Although this idea was not immediately accepted, the dating of lavas in the Hawaii (and other) chains showed that their ages increase away from the presently active volcano, just as Daly had suggested. Wilson's analysis of these data is now a central part of plate tectonics. Most volcanoes that occur in the interiors of plates are believed to be produced by mantle plumes, columns of molten rock that rise from deep within the mantle. A volcano remains an active "hot spot" as long as it is over the plume. The plumes apparently originate at great depths, perhaps as deep as the boundary between the core and the mantle, and many have been active for a very long time. The oldest volcanoes in the Hawaii hot-spot trail have ages close to 80 million years. Other islands, including Tahiti and Easter Islands in the pacific, Reunion and Mauritius in the India Ocean, and indeed most of the large islands in the world's oceans, owe their existence to mantle plumes.
The oceanic volcanic islands and their hot-spot trails are thus especially useful for geologist because they record the past locations of the plate over a fixed source. They therefore permit the reconstruction of the process of seafloor spreading, and consequently of the geography of continents and of ocean basins in the past. For example, given the current position of the Pacific Plate, Hawaii is above the Pacific Ocean hot spot. So the position of The Pacific Plate 50 million years ago can be determined by moving it such that a 50-million-year-old volcano in the hot-spot trail sits at the location of Hawaii today. However because the ocean basins really are short-lived features on geologic times scale, reconstruction the world's geography by backtracking along the hot-spot trail works only for the last 5 percent or so of geologic time. | 4029.txt | 0 |
[
"To point out differences between the Hawaii island chain and other volcanic island chains.",
"To question the idea that all the islands in an island chain have been formed by volcanic activity.",
"To explain why Wilson hypothesis was initially difficult to accept.",
"To provide evidence in support of Daly's and Wilson's ideas about how the Hawaii islands were formed."
]
| Why does the author provide the information that "the dating of lavas in the Hawaii (and other) chains showedthat their ages increase away from the presently active volcano"? | Earth's surface is not made up of a single sheet of rock that forms a crust but rather a number of "tectonic plates" that fit closely, like the pieces of a giant jigsaw puzzle. Some plates carry islands or continents others form the seafloor. All are slowly moving because the plates float on a denser semi-liquid mantle, the layer between the crust and Earth's core. The plates have edges that are spreading ridges (where two plates are moving apart and new seafloor is being createD., subduction zones (where two plates collide and one plunges beneath the other), or transform faults (where two plates neither converge nor diverge but merely move past one another). It is at the boundaries between plates that most of Earth's volcanism and earthquake activity occur.
Generally speaking, the interiors of plates are geologically uneventful. However, there are exceptions. A glance at a map of the Pacific Ocean reveals that there are many islands far out at sea that are actually volcanoesmany no longer active, some overgrown with coralthat originated from activity at points in the interior of the Pacific Plate that forms the Pacific seafloor.
How can volcanic activity occur so far from a plate boundary? The Hawaiian Islands provide a very instructive answer.Like many other island groups, they form a chain. The Hawaiian Islands Chain extends northwest from the island of Hawaii. In the 1840s American geologist James Daly observed that the different Hawaii islands seem to share a similar geologic evolution but are progressively more eroded, and therefore probable older, toward the northwest. Then in 1963, in the early days of the development of the theory of plate tectonics. Canadian geophysicist Tuzo Wilson realized that this age progression could result if the islands were formed on a surface plate moving over a fixed volcanic source in the interior. Wilson suggested that the long chain of volcanoes stretching northwest from Hawaii is simply the surface expression of a long-lived volcanic source located beneath the tectonic plate in the mantle. Today's most northwest island would have been the first to form. They as the plate moved slowly northwest, new volcanic islands would have forms as the plate moved over the volcanic source. The most recent island, Hawaii, would be at the end of the chain and is now over the volcanic source.
Although this idea was not immediately accepted, the dating of lavas in the Hawaii (and other) chains showed that their ages increase away from the presently active volcano, just as Daly had suggested. Wilson's analysis of these data is now a central part of plate tectonics. Most volcanoes that occur in the interiors of plates are believed to be produced by mantle plumes, columns of molten rock that rise from deep within the mantle. A volcano remains an active "hot spot" as long as it is over the plume. The plumes apparently originate at great depths, perhaps as deep as the boundary between the core and the mantle, and many have been active for a very long time. The oldest volcanoes in the Hawaii hot-spot trail have ages close to 80 million years. Other islands, including Tahiti and Easter Islands in the pacific, Reunion and Mauritius in the India Ocean, and indeed most of the large islands in the world's oceans, owe their existence to mantle plumes.
The oceanic volcanic islands and their hot-spot trails are thus especially useful for geologist because they record the past locations of the plate over a fixed source. They therefore permit the reconstruction of the process of seafloor spreading, and consequently of the geography of continents and of ocean basins in the past. For example, given the current position of the Pacific Plate, Hawaii is above the Pacific Ocean hot spot. So the position of The Pacific Plate 50 million years ago can be determined by moving it such that a 50-million-year-old volcano in the hot-spot trail sits at the location of Hawaii today. However because the ocean basins really are short-lived features on geologic times scale, reconstruction the world's geography by backtracking along the hot-spot trail works only for the last 5 percent or so of geologic time. | 4029.txt | 3 |
[
"They exist close to the surface of tectonic plates.",
"They cause most of the volcanic activity that occurs in the interiors of plates.",
"They are rarely active for long period of time.",
"They get increasingly older away from the present hot spots."
]
| According to paragraph 4, which of the following is true of mantleplumes? | Earth's surface is not made up of a single sheet of rock that forms a crust but rather a number of "tectonic plates" that fit closely, like the pieces of a giant jigsaw puzzle. Some plates carry islands or continents others form the seafloor. All are slowly moving because the plates float on a denser semi-liquid mantle, the layer between the crust and Earth's core. The plates have edges that are spreading ridges (where two plates are moving apart and new seafloor is being createD., subduction zones (where two plates collide and one plunges beneath the other), or transform faults (where two plates neither converge nor diverge but merely move past one another). It is at the boundaries between plates that most of Earth's volcanism and earthquake activity occur.
Generally speaking, the interiors of plates are geologically uneventful. However, there are exceptions. A glance at a map of the Pacific Ocean reveals that there are many islands far out at sea that are actually volcanoesmany no longer active, some overgrown with coralthat originated from activity at points in the interior of the Pacific Plate that forms the Pacific seafloor.
How can volcanic activity occur so far from a plate boundary? The Hawaiian Islands provide a very instructive answer.Like many other island groups, they form a chain. The Hawaiian Islands Chain extends northwest from the island of Hawaii. In the 1840s American geologist James Daly observed that the different Hawaii islands seem to share a similar geologic evolution but are progressively more eroded, and therefore probable older, toward the northwest. Then in 1963, in the early days of the development of the theory of plate tectonics. Canadian geophysicist Tuzo Wilson realized that this age progression could result if the islands were formed on a surface plate moving over a fixed volcanic source in the interior. Wilson suggested that the long chain of volcanoes stretching northwest from Hawaii is simply the surface expression of a long-lived volcanic source located beneath the tectonic plate in the mantle. Today's most northwest island would have been the first to form. They as the plate moved slowly northwest, new volcanic islands would have forms as the plate moved over the volcanic source. The most recent island, Hawaii, would be at the end of the chain and is now over the volcanic source.
Although this idea was not immediately accepted, the dating of lavas in the Hawaii (and other) chains showed that their ages increase away from the presently active volcano, just as Daly had suggested. Wilson's analysis of these data is now a central part of plate tectonics. Most volcanoes that occur in the interiors of plates are believed to be produced by mantle plumes, columns of molten rock that rise from deep within the mantle. A volcano remains an active "hot spot" as long as it is over the plume. The plumes apparently originate at great depths, perhaps as deep as the boundary between the core and the mantle, and many have been active for a very long time. The oldest volcanoes in the Hawaii hot-spot trail have ages close to 80 million years. Other islands, including Tahiti and Easter Islands in the pacific, Reunion and Mauritius in the India Ocean, and indeed most of the large islands in the world's oceans, owe their existence to mantle plumes.
The oceanic volcanic islands and their hot-spot trails are thus especially useful for geologist because they record the past locations of the plate over a fixed source. They therefore permit the reconstruction of the process of seafloor spreading, and consequently of the geography of continents and of ocean basins in the past. For example, given the current position of the Pacific Plate, Hawaii is above the Pacific Ocean hot spot. So the position of The Pacific Plate 50 million years ago can be determined by moving it such that a 50-million-year-old volcano in the hot-spot trail sits at the location of Hawaii today. However because the ocean basins really are short-lived features on geologic times scale, reconstruction the world's geography by backtracking along the hot-spot trail works only for the last 5 percent or so of geologic time. | 4029.txt | 1 |
[
"reconstruct past geography.",
"detect changes in mantle plumes.",
"measure the rigidity of tectonic plates.",
"explain why the seafloor spreads."
]
| According to paragraph 5, volcanic islands help geologists to | Earth's surface is not made up of a single sheet of rock that forms a crust but rather a number of "tectonic plates" that fit closely, like the pieces of a giant jigsaw puzzle. Some plates carry islands or continents others form the seafloor. All are slowly moving because the plates float on a denser semi-liquid mantle, the layer between the crust and Earth's core. The plates have edges that are spreading ridges (where two plates are moving apart and new seafloor is being createD., subduction zones (where two plates collide and one plunges beneath the other), or transform faults (where two plates neither converge nor diverge but merely move past one another). It is at the boundaries between plates that most of Earth's volcanism and earthquake activity occur.
Generally speaking, the interiors of plates are geologically uneventful. However, there are exceptions. A glance at a map of the Pacific Ocean reveals that there are many islands far out at sea that are actually volcanoesmany no longer active, some overgrown with coralthat originated from activity at points in the interior of the Pacific Plate that forms the Pacific seafloor.
How can volcanic activity occur so far from a plate boundary? The Hawaiian Islands provide a very instructive answer.Like many other island groups, they form a chain. The Hawaiian Islands Chain extends northwest from the island of Hawaii. In the 1840s American geologist James Daly observed that the different Hawaii islands seem to share a similar geologic evolution but are progressively more eroded, and therefore probable older, toward the northwest. Then in 1963, in the early days of the development of the theory of plate tectonics. Canadian geophysicist Tuzo Wilson realized that this age progression could result if the islands were formed on a surface plate moving over a fixed volcanic source in the interior. Wilson suggested that the long chain of volcanoes stretching northwest from Hawaii is simply the surface expression of a long-lived volcanic source located beneath the tectonic plate in the mantle. Today's most northwest island would have been the first to form. They as the plate moved slowly northwest, new volcanic islands would have forms as the plate moved over the volcanic source. The most recent island, Hawaii, would be at the end of the chain and is now over the volcanic source.
Although this idea was not immediately accepted, the dating of lavas in the Hawaii (and other) chains showed that their ages increase away from the presently active volcano, just as Daly had suggested. Wilson's analysis of these data is now a central part of plate tectonics. Most volcanoes that occur in the interiors of plates are believed to be produced by mantle plumes, columns of molten rock that rise from deep within the mantle. A volcano remains an active "hot spot" as long as it is over the plume. The plumes apparently originate at great depths, perhaps as deep as the boundary between the core and the mantle, and many have been active for a very long time. The oldest volcanoes in the Hawaii hot-spot trail have ages close to 80 million years. Other islands, including Tahiti and Easter Islands in the pacific, Reunion and Mauritius in the India Ocean, and indeed most of the large islands in the world's oceans, owe their existence to mantle plumes.
The oceanic volcanic islands and their hot-spot trails are thus especially useful for geologist because they record the past locations of the plate over a fixed source. They therefore permit the reconstruction of the process of seafloor spreading, and consequently of the geography of continents and of ocean basins in the past. For example, given the current position of the Pacific Plate, Hawaii is above the Pacific Ocean hot spot. So the position of The Pacific Plate 50 million years ago can be determined by moving it such that a 50-million-year-old volcano in the hot-spot trail sits at the location of Hawaii today. However because the ocean basins really are short-lived features on geologic times scale, reconstruction the world's geography by backtracking along the hot-spot trail works only for the last 5 percent or so of geologic time. | 4029.txt | 0 |
[
"The hot spots on the Pacific Plate are much older than the ones located on the other tectonic plates.",
"Most of the volcanic sources beneath the Pacific Plate have become extinct.",
"The Pacific Plate has moved a distance equal to the length of the Hawaiian Island chain in the past 80 million years.",
"The Pacific Plate is located above fewer mantle plumes than other plates are."
]
| What can be inferred about the Pacific Plate from paragraph 5? | Earth's surface is not made up of a single sheet of rock that forms a crust but rather a number of "tectonic plates" that fit closely, like the pieces of a giant jigsaw puzzle. Some plates carry islands or continents others form the seafloor. All are slowly moving because the plates float on a denser semi-liquid mantle, the layer between the crust and Earth's core. The plates have edges that are spreading ridges (where two plates are moving apart and new seafloor is being createD., subduction zones (where two plates collide and one plunges beneath the other), or transform faults (where two plates neither converge nor diverge but merely move past one another). It is at the boundaries between plates that most of Earth's volcanism and earthquake activity occur.
Generally speaking, the interiors of plates are geologically uneventful. However, there are exceptions. A glance at a map of the Pacific Ocean reveals that there are many islands far out at sea that are actually volcanoesmany no longer active, some overgrown with coralthat originated from activity at points in the interior of the Pacific Plate that forms the Pacific seafloor.
How can volcanic activity occur so far from a plate boundary? The Hawaiian Islands provide a very instructive answer.Like many other island groups, they form a chain. The Hawaiian Islands Chain extends northwest from the island of Hawaii. In the 1840s American geologist James Daly observed that the different Hawaii islands seem to share a similar geologic evolution but are progressively more eroded, and therefore probable older, toward the northwest. Then in 1963, in the early days of the development of the theory of plate tectonics. Canadian geophysicist Tuzo Wilson realized that this age progression could result if the islands were formed on a surface plate moving over a fixed volcanic source in the interior. Wilson suggested that the long chain of volcanoes stretching northwest from Hawaii is simply the surface expression of a long-lived volcanic source located beneath the tectonic plate in the mantle. Today's most northwest island would have been the first to form. They as the plate moved slowly northwest, new volcanic islands would have forms as the plate moved over the volcanic source. The most recent island, Hawaii, would be at the end of the chain and is now over the volcanic source.
Although this idea was not immediately accepted, the dating of lavas in the Hawaii (and other) chains showed that their ages increase away from the presently active volcano, just as Daly had suggested. Wilson's analysis of these data is now a central part of plate tectonics. Most volcanoes that occur in the interiors of plates are believed to be produced by mantle plumes, columns of molten rock that rise from deep within the mantle. A volcano remains an active "hot spot" as long as it is over the plume. The plumes apparently originate at great depths, perhaps as deep as the boundary between the core and the mantle, and many have been active for a very long time. The oldest volcanoes in the Hawaii hot-spot trail have ages close to 80 million years. Other islands, including Tahiti and Easter Islands in the pacific, Reunion and Mauritius in the India Ocean, and indeed most of the large islands in the world's oceans, owe their existence to mantle plumes.
The oceanic volcanic islands and their hot-spot trails are thus especially useful for geologist because they record the past locations of the plate over a fixed source. They therefore permit the reconstruction of the process of seafloor spreading, and consequently of the geography of continents and of ocean basins in the past. For example, given the current position of the Pacific Plate, Hawaii is above the Pacific Ocean hot spot. So the position of The Pacific Plate 50 million years ago can be determined by moving it such that a 50-million-year-old volcano in the hot-spot trail sits at the location of Hawaii today. However because the ocean basins really are short-lived features on geologic times scale, reconstruction the world's geography by backtracking along the hot-spot trail works only for the last 5 percent or so of geologic time. | 4029.txt | 2 |
[
"original.",
"ideal.",
"relative.",
"present."
]
| The word "current" in the passage(paragraph 5)is closest in meaning to | Earth's surface is not made up of a single sheet of rock that forms a crust but rather a number of "tectonic plates" that fit closely, like the pieces of a giant jigsaw puzzle. Some plates carry islands or continents others form the seafloor. All are slowly moving because the plates float on a denser semi-liquid mantle, the layer between the crust and Earth's core. The plates have edges that are spreading ridges (where two plates are moving apart and new seafloor is being createD., subduction zones (where two plates collide and one plunges beneath the other), or transform faults (where two plates neither converge nor diverge but merely move past one another). It is at the boundaries between plates that most of Earth's volcanism and earthquake activity occur.
Generally speaking, the interiors of plates are geologically uneventful. However, there are exceptions. A glance at a map of the Pacific Ocean reveals that there are many islands far out at sea that are actually volcanoesmany no longer active, some overgrown with coralthat originated from activity at points in the interior of the Pacific Plate that forms the Pacific seafloor.
How can volcanic activity occur so far from a plate boundary? The Hawaiian Islands provide a very instructive answer.Like many other island groups, they form a chain. The Hawaiian Islands Chain extends northwest from the island of Hawaii. In the 1840s American geologist James Daly observed that the different Hawaii islands seem to share a similar geologic evolution but are progressively more eroded, and therefore probable older, toward the northwest. Then in 1963, in the early days of the development of the theory of plate tectonics. Canadian geophysicist Tuzo Wilson realized that this age progression could result if the islands were formed on a surface plate moving over a fixed volcanic source in the interior. Wilson suggested that the long chain of volcanoes stretching northwest from Hawaii is simply the surface expression of a long-lived volcanic source located beneath the tectonic plate in the mantle. Today's most northwest island would have been the first to form. They as the plate moved slowly northwest, new volcanic islands would have forms as the plate moved over the volcanic source. The most recent island, Hawaii, would be at the end of the chain and is now over the volcanic source.
Although this idea was not immediately accepted, the dating of lavas in the Hawaii (and other) chains showed that their ages increase away from the presently active volcano, just as Daly had suggested. Wilson's analysis of these data is now a central part of plate tectonics. Most volcanoes that occur in the interiors of plates are believed to be produced by mantle plumes, columns of molten rock that rise from deep within the mantle. A volcano remains an active "hot spot" as long as it is over the plume. The plumes apparently originate at great depths, perhaps as deep as the boundary between the core and the mantle, and many have been active for a very long time. The oldest volcanoes in the Hawaii hot-spot trail have ages close to 80 million years. Other islands, including Tahiti and Easter Islands in the pacific, Reunion and Mauritius in the India Ocean, and indeed most of the large islands in the world's oceans, owe their existence to mantle plumes.
The oceanic volcanic islands and their hot-spot trails are thus especially useful for geologist because they record the past locations of the plate over a fixed source. They therefore permit the reconstruction of the process of seafloor spreading, and consequently of the geography of continents and of ocean basins in the past. For example, given the current position of the Pacific Plate, Hawaii is above the Pacific Ocean hot spot. So the position of The Pacific Plate 50 million years ago can be determined by moving it such that a 50-million-year-old volcano in the hot-spot trail sits at the location of Hawaii today. However because the ocean basins really are short-lived features on geologic times scale, reconstruction the world's geography by backtracking along the hot-spot trail works only for the last 5 percent or so of geologic time. | 4029.txt | 3 |
[
"Hot spots have existed for only about 5 percent of geologic time.",
"Hawaii did not exist 50 millions years ago.",
"Oceanic basins that contained old hot-spot trails disappeared a long time ago.",
"Hot-spot trails can be reconstructed only for island chains."
]
| According to paragraph 5, why are geologists unable to trace back theentire geologic of continents from hot-spot trails? | Earth's surface is not made up of a single sheet of rock that forms a crust but rather a number of "tectonic plates" that fit closely, like the pieces of a giant jigsaw puzzle. Some plates carry islands or continents others form the seafloor. All are slowly moving because the plates float on a denser semi-liquid mantle, the layer between the crust and Earth's core. The plates have edges that are spreading ridges (where two plates are moving apart and new seafloor is being createD., subduction zones (where two plates collide and one plunges beneath the other), or transform faults (where two plates neither converge nor diverge but merely move past one another). It is at the boundaries between plates that most of Earth's volcanism and earthquake activity occur.
Generally speaking, the interiors of plates are geologically uneventful. However, there are exceptions. A glance at a map of the Pacific Ocean reveals that there are many islands far out at sea that are actually volcanoesmany no longer active, some overgrown with coralthat originated from activity at points in the interior of the Pacific Plate that forms the Pacific seafloor.
How can volcanic activity occur so far from a plate boundary? The Hawaiian Islands provide a very instructive answer.Like many other island groups, they form a chain. The Hawaiian Islands Chain extends northwest from the island of Hawaii. In the 1840s American geologist James Daly observed that the different Hawaii islands seem to share a similar geologic evolution but are progressively more eroded, and therefore probable older, toward the northwest. Then in 1963, in the early days of the development of the theory of plate tectonics. Canadian geophysicist Tuzo Wilson realized that this age progression could result if the islands were formed on a surface plate moving over a fixed volcanic source in the interior. Wilson suggested that the long chain of volcanoes stretching northwest from Hawaii is simply the surface expression of a long-lived volcanic source located beneath the tectonic plate in the mantle. Today's most northwest island would have been the first to form. They as the plate moved slowly northwest, new volcanic islands would have forms as the plate moved over the volcanic source. The most recent island, Hawaii, would be at the end of the chain and is now over the volcanic source.
Although this idea was not immediately accepted, the dating of lavas in the Hawaii (and other) chains showed that their ages increase away from the presently active volcano, just as Daly had suggested. Wilson's analysis of these data is now a central part of plate tectonics. Most volcanoes that occur in the interiors of plates are believed to be produced by mantle plumes, columns of molten rock that rise from deep within the mantle. A volcano remains an active "hot spot" as long as it is over the plume. The plumes apparently originate at great depths, perhaps as deep as the boundary between the core and the mantle, and many have been active for a very long time. The oldest volcanoes in the Hawaii hot-spot trail have ages close to 80 million years. Other islands, including Tahiti and Easter Islands in the pacific, Reunion and Mauritius in the India Ocean, and indeed most of the large islands in the world's oceans, owe their existence to mantle plumes.
The oceanic volcanic islands and their hot-spot trails are thus especially useful for geologist because they record the past locations of the plate over a fixed source. They therefore permit the reconstruction of the process of seafloor spreading, and consequently of the geography of continents and of ocean basins in the past. For example, given the current position of the Pacific Plate, Hawaii is above the Pacific Ocean hot spot. So the position of The Pacific Plate 50 million years ago can be determined by moving it such that a 50-million-year-old volcano in the hot-spot trail sits at the location of Hawaii today. However because the ocean basins really are short-lived features on geologic times scale, reconstruction the world's geography by backtracking along the hot-spot trail works only for the last 5 percent or so of geologic time. | 4029.txt | 2 |
[
"It serves as a complement to online reading.",
"It should be preserved before it is too late.",
"It is mainly suitable for reading literature.",
"It is an indispensable part of education."
]
| What does the author say about "deep reading"? | "Deep reading"--as opposed to the often superficial reading we do on the Web--is an ending erer practice, one we ought to take steps to preserve as we would a historic building or a significant work of art. Its disappearance would jeopardize the intellectual and emotional development of generations growing up online, as well as 'the preservation of a critical part of our culture: the novels, poems and other kinds ofliterature that can be appreciated only .by readers whose brains, quite literally, have been trained tounder stand them.
Recent research in cognitive science and psychology has demonstrated that deep reading-slow, immersive, rich in sensory detail and emotional and moral complexity--is a distinctive experience, different in kind from the mere decoding of words. Although deep reading does not, strictly speaking, require a conventional book, the built-in limits of the printed page are uniquely helpful to the deep reading experience. A book's lack of hyperlinks , for example, frees the reader from making decisions--Should I click on this link or not?--allowing her to remain fully immersed in the narrative.
That immersion is supported by the way the brain handles language rich in detail, indirect reference and figures of speech: by creating a mental representation that draws on the same brain regions that woulk be active if the scene were unfolding in real life. The emotional situations and moral dilemmas that are the stuff of literature are also vigorous exercise for the brain, propelling us inside the heads of fictiona characters and even, studies suggest, increasing our real-life capacity for empathy .
None of this is likely to happen when we're browsing through a website. Although we call the activity by the same name, the deep reading of books and the information-driven reading, we do on the Web are very different, both in the experience they produce and in the capacities they develop. A growing body of evidence suggests that online reading may be less engaging and less satisfying, even for the "digital natives" to whom it is so familiar. Last month, for example, Britain's National Literacy Trust released the results of a study of 34910 young people aged 8 to 16. Researchers reported that 39% of children and teens read daily using electronic devices, but only 28% read printed materials every day. Those who read only onscreen were three times less likely to say they enjoy reading very much and a third less likely to have a favorite book. The study also found that young people who read daily only onscreen were nearly two times less likely to be above-average readers than those who read daily in print or both in print and onscreen. | 1389.txt | 1 |
[
"It helps promote readers' intellectual and emotional growth.",
"It enables readers to appreciate the complexity of language.",
"It helps readers build up immersive reading habits.",
"It is quickly becoming an endangered practice."
]
| Why does the author advocate the reading of literature? | "Deep reading"--as opposed to the often superficial reading we do on the Web--is an ending erer practice, one we ought to take steps to preserve as we would a historic building or a significant work of art. Its disappearance would jeopardize the intellectual and emotional development of generations growing up online, as well as 'the preservation of a critical part of our culture: the novels, poems and other kinds ofliterature that can be appreciated only .by readers whose brains, quite literally, have been trained tounder stand them.
Recent research in cognitive science and psychology has demonstrated that deep reading-slow, immersive, rich in sensory detail and emotional and moral complexity--is a distinctive experience, different in kind from the mere decoding of words. Although deep reading does not, strictly speaking, require a conventional book, the built-in limits of the printed page are uniquely helpful to the deep reading experience. A book's lack of hyperlinks , for example, frees the reader from making decisions--Should I click on this link or not?--allowing her to remain fully immersed in the narrative.
That immersion is supported by the way the brain handles language rich in detail, indirect reference and figures of speech: by creating a mental representation that draws on the same brain regions that woulk be active if the scene were unfolding in real life. The emotional situations and moral dilemmas that are the stuff of literature are also vigorous exercise for the brain, propelling us inside the heads of fictiona characters and even, studies suggest, increasing our real-life capacity for empathy .
None of this is likely to happen when we're browsing through a website. Although we call the activity by the same name, the deep reading of books and the information-driven reading, we do on the Web are very different, both in the experience they produce and in the capacities they develop. A growing body of evidence suggests that online reading may be less engaging and less satisfying, even for the "digital natives" to whom it is so familiar. Last month, for example, Britain's National Literacy Trust released the results of a study of 34910 young people aged 8 to 16. Researchers reported that 39% of children and teens read daily using electronic devices, but only 28% read printed materials every day. Those who read only onscreen were three times less likely to say they enjoy reading very much and a third less likely to have a favorite book. The study also found that young people who read daily only onscreen were nearly two times less likely to be above-average readers than those who read daily in print or both in print and onscreen. | 1389.txt | 0 |
[
"It ensures the reader's cognitive growth.",
"It enables the reader to be fully engaged.",
"It activates a different region of the brain.",
"It helps the reader learn rhetorical devices."
]
| In what way does printed-page reading differ from online reading? | "Deep reading"--as opposed to the often superficial reading we do on the Web--is an ending erer practice, one we ought to take steps to preserve as we would a historic building or a significant work of art. Its disappearance would jeopardize the intellectual and emotional development of generations growing up online, as well as 'the preservation of a critical part of our culture: the novels, poems and other kinds ofliterature that can be appreciated only .by readers whose brains, quite literally, have been trained tounder stand them.
Recent research in cognitive science and psychology has demonstrated that deep reading-slow, immersive, rich in sensory detail and emotional and moral complexity--is a distinctive experience, different in kind from the mere decoding of words. Although deep reading does not, strictly speaking, require a conventional book, the built-in limits of the printed page are uniquely helpful to the deep reading experience. A book's lack of hyperlinks , for example, frees the reader from making decisions--Should I click on this link or not?--allowing her to remain fully immersed in the narrative.
That immersion is supported by the way the brain handles language rich in detail, indirect reference and figures of speech: by creating a mental representation that draws on the same brain regions that woulk be active if the scene were unfolding in real life. The emotional situations and moral dilemmas that are the stuff of literature are also vigorous exercise for the brain, propelling us inside the heads of fictiona characters and even, studies suggest, increasing our real-life capacity for empathy .
None of this is likely to happen when we're browsing through a website. Although we call the activity by the same name, the deep reading of books and the information-driven reading, we do on the Web are very different, both in the experience they produce and in the capacities they develop. A growing body of evidence suggests that online reading may be less engaging and less satisfying, even for the "digital natives" to whom it is so familiar. Last month, for example, Britain's National Literacy Trust released the results of a study of 34910 young people aged 8 to 16. Researchers reported that 39% of children and teens read daily using electronic devices, but only 28% read printed materials every day. Those who read only onscreen were three times less likely to say they enjoy reading very much and a third less likely to have a favorite book. The study also found that young people who read daily only onscreen were nearly two times less likely to be above-average readers than those who read daily in print or both in print and onscreen. | 1389.txt | 1 |
[
"It gradually impairs one's eyesight.",
"It keeps arousing readers' curiosity.",
"It provides up-to-date information.",
"It renders reading less enjoyable."
]
| What do the studies show about online reading? | "Deep reading"--as opposed to the often superficial reading we do on the Web--is an ending erer practice, one we ought to take steps to preserve as we would a historic building or a significant work of art. Its disappearance would jeopardize the intellectual and emotional development of generations growing up online, as well as 'the preservation of a critical part of our culture: the novels, poems and other kinds ofliterature that can be appreciated only .by readers whose brains, quite literally, have been trained tounder stand them.
Recent research in cognitive science and psychology has demonstrated that deep reading-slow, immersive, rich in sensory detail and emotional and moral complexity--is a distinctive experience, different in kind from the mere decoding of words. Although deep reading does not, strictly speaking, require a conventional book, the built-in limits of the printed page are uniquely helpful to the deep reading experience. A book's lack of hyperlinks , for example, frees the reader from making decisions--Should I click on this link or not?--allowing her to remain fully immersed in the narrative.
That immersion is supported by the way the brain handles language rich in detail, indirect reference and figures of speech: by creating a mental representation that draws on the same brain regions that woulk be active if the scene were unfolding in real life. The emotional situations and moral dilemmas that are the stuff of literature are also vigorous exercise for the brain, propelling us inside the heads of fictiona characters and even, studies suggest, increasing our real-life capacity for empathy .
None of this is likely to happen when we're browsing through a website. Although we call the activity by the same name, the deep reading of books and the information-driven reading, we do on the Web are very different, both in the experience they produce and in the capacities they develop. A growing body of evidence suggests that online reading may be less engaging and less satisfying, even for the "digital natives" to whom it is so familiar. Last month, for example, Britain's National Literacy Trust released the results of a study of 34910 young people aged 8 to 16. Researchers reported that 39% of children and teens read daily using electronic devices, but only 28% read printed materials every day. Those who read only onscreen were three times less likely to say they enjoy reading very much and a third less likely to have a favorite book. The study also found that young people who read daily only onscreen were nearly two times less likely to be above-average readers than those who read daily in print or both in print and onscreen. | 1389.txt | 3 |
[
"Onscreen readers may be less competent readers.",
"Those who do reading in print are less informed.",
"Young people find reading onscreen more enjoyable.",
"It is now easier to find a favorite book online to read."
]
| What do we learn from the study released by Britain's National Literacy Trust? | "Deep reading"--as opposed to the often superficial reading we do on the Web--is an ending erer practice, one we ought to take steps to preserve as we would a historic building or a significant work of art. Its disappearance would jeopardize the intellectual and emotional development of generations growing up online, as well as 'the preservation of a critical part of our culture: the novels, poems and other kinds ofliterature that can be appreciated only .by readers whose brains, quite literally, have been trained tounder stand them.
Recent research in cognitive science and psychology has demonstrated that deep reading-slow, immersive, rich in sensory detail and emotional and moral complexity--is a distinctive experience, different in kind from the mere decoding of words. Although deep reading does not, strictly speaking, require a conventional book, the built-in limits of the printed page are uniquely helpful to the deep reading experience. A book's lack of hyperlinks , for example, frees the reader from making decisions--Should I click on this link or not?--allowing her to remain fully immersed in the narrative.
That immersion is supported by the way the brain handles language rich in detail, indirect reference and figures of speech: by creating a mental representation that draws on the same brain regions that woulk be active if the scene were unfolding in real life. The emotional situations and moral dilemmas that are the stuff of literature are also vigorous exercise for the brain, propelling us inside the heads of fictiona characters and even, studies suggest, increasing our real-life capacity for empathy .
None of this is likely to happen when we're browsing through a website. Although we call the activity by the same name, the deep reading of books and the information-driven reading, we do on the Web are very different, both in the experience they produce and in the capacities they develop. A growing body of evidence suggests that online reading may be less engaging and less satisfying, even for the "digital natives" to whom it is so familiar. Last month, for example, Britain's National Literacy Trust released the results of a study of 34910 young people aged 8 to 16. Researchers reported that 39% of children and teens read daily using electronic devices, but only 28% read printed materials every day. Those who read only onscreen were three times less likely to say they enjoy reading very much and a third less likely to have a favorite book. The study also found that young people who read daily only onscreen were nearly two times less likely to be above-average readers than those who read daily in print or both in print and onscreen. | 1389.txt | 0 |
[
"can do without mass transit.",
"finds public transportation too expensive.",
"needs public transportation.",
"has an insufficient mass transit system."
]
| Hong Kong _ . | Hong Kong, major commercial center for Asia, and with a population which has grown at an alarming rate to over 5 million, is a city highly dependent on mass transit of all sorts, both local and long distance. The average Hong Kong worker or businessman, going about his daily activities, simply must use public transportation at one time or another.
Because Hong Kong is in two parts, Kowloon, on the mainland side, and Hong Kong, the island, with Hong Kong's harbor in between, Hong Kong's mass transit systems, in addition to going over land must also cross water.
Going from home to work, or going shopping from one side of the harbor to the other, the Hong Kong resident has three choices. One way is to take a bus, which will cross the harbor through an underwater traffic tunnel moving slowly through bumper-to-bumper traffic. Another way is by ferryboat, a pleasant ride which crosses the harbor in from seven to fifteen minutes.
But by far the fastest way of crossing the harbor is the newly built underground electric railway, the Hong Kong Metro. If one boards the train in the Central District, the commercial area of Hong Kong on the island side, he can speed across the harbor in an astonishing three minutes. On the other side of the harbor the railway continues, snaking back and forth through the outlying districts of Kowloon, allowing one to get off a short distance from his destination.
The story of the Metro is an encouraging one for supporters of mass transit. Although building the system was certainly a challenging task, the Japanese firm hired to construct it did so in record time. Construction got underway in 1979 and it was completed in 1980.
For the average commuter the system has only one disadvantages: it is more expensive than by bus or ferry. One can ride the bus across the harbor for half as much, or he can ride the ferry across for less than one-fifth as much. | 928.txt | 2 |
[
"over hills and valleys.",
"across land and water.",
"through mountains.",
"throughout the Kowloon area."
]
| Hong Kong Public transportation extends _ . | Hong Kong, major commercial center for Asia, and with a population which has grown at an alarming rate to over 5 million, is a city highly dependent on mass transit of all sorts, both local and long distance. The average Hong Kong worker or businessman, going about his daily activities, simply must use public transportation at one time or another.
Because Hong Kong is in two parts, Kowloon, on the mainland side, and Hong Kong, the island, with Hong Kong's harbor in between, Hong Kong's mass transit systems, in addition to going over land must also cross water.
Going from home to work, or going shopping from one side of the harbor to the other, the Hong Kong resident has three choices. One way is to take a bus, which will cross the harbor through an underwater traffic tunnel moving slowly through bumper-to-bumper traffic. Another way is by ferryboat, a pleasant ride which crosses the harbor in from seven to fifteen minutes.
But by far the fastest way of crossing the harbor is the newly built underground electric railway, the Hong Kong Metro. If one boards the train in the Central District, the commercial area of Hong Kong on the island side, he can speed across the harbor in an astonishing three minutes. On the other side of the harbor the railway continues, snaking back and forth through the outlying districts of Kowloon, allowing one to get off a short distance from his destination.
The story of the Metro is an encouraging one for supporters of mass transit. Although building the system was certainly a challenging task, the Japanese firm hired to construct it did so in record time. Construction got underway in 1979 and it was completed in 1980.
For the average commuter the system has only one disadvantages: it is more expensive than by bus or ferry. One can ride the bus across the harbor for half as much, or he can ride the ferry across for less than one-fifth as much. | 928.txt | 1 |
[
"heavy",
"light",
"fast",
"dangerous"
]
| The traffic in the underwater traffic tunnel is _ . | Hong Kong, major commercial center for Asia, and with a population which has grown at an alarming rate to over 5 million, is a city highly dependent on mass transit of all sorts, both local and long distance. The average Hong Kong worker or businessman, going about his daily activities, simply must use public transportation at one time or another.
Because Hong Kong is in two parts, Kowloon, on the mainland side, and Hong Kong, the island, with Hong Kong's harbor in between, Hong Kong's mass transit systems, in addition to going over land must also cross water.
Going from home to work, or going shopping from one side of the harbor to the other, the Hong Kong resident has three choices. One way is to take a bus, which will cross the harbor through an underwater traffic tunnel moving slowly through bumper-to-bumper traffic. Another way is by ferryboat, a pleasant ride which crosses the harbor in from seven to fifteen minutes.
But by far the fastest way of crossing the harbor is the newly built underground electric railway, the Hong Kong Metro. If one boards the train in the Central District, the commercial area of Hong Kong on the island side, he can speed across the harbor in an astonishing three minutes. On the other side of the harbor the railway continues, snaking back and forth through the outlying districts of Kowloon, allowing one to get off a short distance from his destination.
The story of the Metro is an encouraging one for supporters of mass transit. Although building the system was certainly a challenging task, the Japanese firm hired to construct it did so in record time. Construction got underway in 1979 and it was completed in 1980.
For the average commuter the system has only one disadvantages: it is more expensive than by bus or ferry. One can ride the bus across the harbor for half as much, or he can ride the ferry across for less than one-fifth as much. | 928.txt | 0 |
[
"by far the most economical method.",
"the most pleasant method.",
"the least pleasant method.",
"the fastest method."
]
| Crossing the harbor by train is _ . | Hong Kong, major commercial center for Asia, and with a population which has grown at an alarming rate to over 5 million, is a city highly dependent on mass transit of all sorts, both local and long distance. The average Hong Kong worker or businessman, going about his daily activities, simply must use public transportation at one time or another.
Because Hong Kong is in two parts, Kowloon, on the mainland side, and Hong Kong, the island, with Hong Kong's harbor in between, Hong Kong's mass transit systems, in addition to going over land must also cross water.
Going from home to work, or going shopping from one side of the harbor to the other, the Hong Kong resident has three choices. One way is to take a bus, which will cross the harbor through an underwater traffic tunnel moving slowly through bumper-to-bumper traffic. Another way is by ferryboat, a pleasant ride which crosses the harbor in from seven to fifteen minutes.
But by far the fastest way of crossing the harbor is the newly built underground electric railway, the Hong Kong Metro. If one boards the train in the Central District, the commercial area of Hong Kong on the island side, he can speed across the harbor in an astonishing three minutes. On the other side of the harbor the railway continues, snaking back and forth through the outlying districts of Kowloon, allowing one to get off a short distance from his destination.
The story of the Metro is an encouraging one for supporters of mass transit. Although building the system was certainly a challenging task, the Japanese firm hired to construct it did so in record time. Construction got underway in 1979 and it was completed in 1980.
For the average commuter the system has only one disadvantages: it is more expensive than by bus or ferry. One can ride the bus across the harbor for half as much, or he can ride the ferry across for less than one-fifth as much. | 928.txt | 3 |
[
"Kowloon",
"the Central District",
"the Hong Kong Metro",
"the Hong Kong's harbor."
]
| The business area on the island side of Hong Kong is referred to be as _ . | Hong Kong, major commercial center for Asia, and with a population which has grown at an alarming rate to over 5 million, is a city highly dependent on mass transit of all sorts, both local and long distance. The average Hong Kong worker or businessman, going about his daily activities, simply must use public transportation at one time or another.
Because Hong Kong is in two parts, Kowloon, on the mainland side, and Hong Kong, the island, with Hong Kong's harbor in between, Hong Kong's mass transit systems, in addition to going over land must also cross water.
Going from home to work, or going shopping from one side of the harbor to the other, the Hong Kong resident has three choices. One way is to take a bus, which will cross the harbor through an underwater traffic tunnel moving slowly through bumper-to-bumper traffic. Another way is by ferryboat, a pleasant ride which crosses the harbor in from seven to fifteen minutes.
But by far the fastest way of crossing the harbor is the newly built underground electric railway, the Hong Kong Metro. If one boards the train in the Central District, the commercial area of Hong Kong on the island side, he can speed across the harbor in an astonishing three minutes. On the other side of the harbor the railway continues, snaking back and forth through the outlying districts of Kowloon, allowing one to get off a short distance from his destination.
The story of the Metro is an encouraging one for supporters of mass transit. Although building the system was certainly a challenging task, the Japanese firm hired to construct it did so in record time. Construction got underway in 1979 and it was completed in 1980.
For the average commuter the system has only one disadvantages: it is more expensive than by bus or ferry. One can ride the bus across the harbor for half as much, or he can ride the ferry across for less than one-fifth as much. | 928.txt | 1 |
[
"one million people",
"approximately 12.3 million of people",
"250,000 people",
"roughly 0.6 million people"
]
| Unemployment in the Netherlands has affected _ . | They are among the 250,000 people under the age of 25 who are out of work in the Netherlands, a group that accounts for 40 percent of the nation's unemployed. A storm of anger boils up at the government-sponsored youth center, even among those who are continuing their studies.
"We study for jobs that don't exist." Nicollete Steggerda, 23, said.
After three decades of prosperity, unemployment among 10 member nations of the European Community has exceeded 11 percent, affecting a total of 12.3 million people, and the number is climbing.
The bitter disappointment long expressed by British youths is spreading across the Continent. The title of a rock song "No Future" can now be seen written on the brick walls of closed factories in Belgium and France.
Recent surveys have found that the increasing argument in the last few years over the deployment in Europe of North Atlantic Treaty Organization missiles and the possibility of nuclear war have clouded European youths' confidence in the future.
One form of protest tends to put the responsibility for a country's economic troubles on the large numbers of "guest workers" from Third World nations, people welcomed in Western Europe in the years of prosperity.
Young Europeans, brought up in an extended period of economic success and general stability, seem to resemble Americans more than they do their own parents. Material enjoyment has given them a sense of expectation, each the right, to a standard of living that they see around them.
"And so we pass the days at the discos, or meet people at the café, and sit and stare." Said Isabella Gcuit. "There is usually not much conversation. You look for happiness. Sometimes you even find it." | 2738.txt | 3 |
[
"school education is not sufficient",
"the students' aim in study is not clear",
"the students can't get work after graduation",
"the students lose their motivation in their study"
]
| What Nicollete Steggerda said(Para.2) suggests that _ . | They are among the 250,000 people under the age of 25 who are out of work in the Netherlands, a group that accounts for 40 percent of the nation's unemployed. A storm of anger boils up at the government-sponsored youth center, even among those who are continuing their studies.
"We study for jobs that don't exist." Nicollete Steggerda, 23, said.
After three decades of prosperity, unemployment among 10 member nations of the European Community has exceeded 11 percent, affecting a total of 12.3 million people, and the number is climbing.
The bitter disappointment long expressed by British youths is spreading across the Continent. The title of a rock song "No Future" can now be seen written on the brick walls of closed factories in Belgium and France.
Recent surveys have found that the increasing argument in the last few years over the deployment in Europe of North Atlantic Treaty Organization missiles and the possibility of nuclear war have clouded European youths' confidence in the future.
One form of protest tends to put the responsibility for a country's economic troubles on the large numbers of "guest workers" from Third World nations, people welcomed in Western Europe in the years of prosperity.
Young Europeans, brought up in an extended period of economic success and general stability, seem to resemble Americans more than they do their own parents. Material enjoyment has given them a sense of expectation, each the right, to a standard of living that they see around them.
"And so we pass the days at the discos, or meet people at the café, and sit and stare." Said Isabella Gcuit. "There is usually not much conversation. You look for happiness. Sometimes you even find it." | 2738.txt | 2 |
[
"are trying to seek their fortune on the Continent",
"are indifferent to the unemployed on the Continent",
"have been the first to show their disappointment over joblessness",
"are sympathetic to the unemployed in France and Belgium"
]
| British youths _ . | They are among the 250,000 people under the age of 25 who are out of work in the Netherlands, a group that accounts for 40 percent of the nation's unemployed. A storm of anger boils up at the government-sponsored youth center, even among those who are continuing their studies.
"We study for jobs that don't exist." Nicollete Steggerda, 23, said.
After three decades of prosperity, unemployment among 10 member nations of the European Community has exceeded 11 percent, affecting a total of 12.3 million people, and the number is climbing.
The bitter disappointment long expressed by British youths is spreading across the Continent. The title of a rock song "No Future" can now be seen written on the brick walls of closed factories in Belgium and France.
Recent surveys have found that the increasing argument in the last few years over the deployment in Europe of North Atlantic Treaty Organization missiles and the possibility of nuclear war have clouded European youths' confidence in the future.
One form of protest tends to put the responsibility for a country's economic troubles on the large numbers of "guest workers" from Third World nations, people welcomed in Western Europe in the years of prosperity.
Young Europeans, brought up in an extended period of economic success and general stability, seem to resemble Americans more than they do their own parents. Material enjoyment has given them a sense of expectation, each the right, to a standard of living that they see around them.
"And so we pass the days at the discos, or meet people at the café, and sit and stare." Said Isabella Gcuit. "There is usually not much conversation. You look for happiness. Sometimes you even find it." | 2738.txt | 2 |
[
"European youths are worried about a new world war in the future",
"Widespread unemployment is beyond European youths' expectation",
"the rock song \"No Future\" is an expression of the disappointment of European youth",
"about 40% of the guest workers are out of work in Western Europe now"
]
| The author states all the items listed except _ . | They are among the 250,000 people under the age of 25 who are out of work in the Netherlands, a group that accounts for 40 percent of the nation's unemployed. A storm of anger boils up at the government-sponsored youth center, even among those who are continuing their studies.
"We study for jobs that don't exist." Nicollete Steggerda, 23, said.
After three decades of prosperity, unemployment among 10 member nations of the European Community has exceeded 11 percent, affecting a total of 12.3 million people, and the number is climbing.
The bitter disappointment long expressed by British youths is spreading across the Continent. The title of a rock song "No Future" can now be seen written on the brick walls of closed factories in Belgium and France.
Recent surveys have found that the increasing argument in the last few years over the deployment in Europe of North Atlantic Treaty Organization missiles and the possibility of nuclear war have clouded European youths' confidence in the future.
One form of protest tends to put the responsibility for a country's economic troubles on the large numbers of "guest workers" from Third World nations, people welcomed in Western Europe in the years of prosperity.
Young Europeans, brought up in an extended period of economic success and general stability, seem to resemble Americans more than they do their own parents. Material enjoyment has given them a sense of expectation, each the right, to a standard of living that they see around them.
"And so we pass the days at the discos, or meet people at the café, and sit and stare." Said Isabella Gcuit. "There is usually not much conversation. You look for happiness. Sometimes you even find it." | 2738.txt | 3 |
[
"are more like Americans than their elders in their way of thinking",
"look on life as their elders do",
"look more like Americans than their elders do",
"expect more from Americans than from their elders"
]
| It seems that young Europeans _ . | They are among the 250,000 people under the age of 25 who are out of work in the Netherlands, a group that accounts for 40 percent of the nation's unemployed. A storm of anger boils up at the government-sponsored youth center, even among those who are continuing their studies.
"We study for jobs that don't exist." Nicollete Steggerda, 23, said.
After three decades of prosperity, unemployment among 10 member nations of the European Community has exceeded 11 percent, affecting a total of 12.3 million people, and the number is climbing.
The bitter disappointment long expressed by British youths is spreading across the Continent. The title of a rock song "No Future" can now be seen written on the brick walls of closed factories in Belgium and France.
Recent surveys have found that the increasing argument in the last few years over the deployment in Europe of North Atlantic Treaty Organization missiles and the possibility of nuclear war have clouded European youths' confidence in the future.
One form of protest tends to put the responsibility for a country's economic troubles on the large numbers of "guest workers" from Third World nations, people welcomed in Western Europe in the years of prosperity.
Young Europeans, brought up in an extended period of economic success and general stability, seem to resemble Americans more than they do their own parents. Material enjoyment has given them a sense of expectation, each the right, to a standard of living that they see around them.
"And so we pass the days at the discos, or meet people at the café, and sit and stare." Said Isabella Gcuit. "There is usually not much conversation. You look for happiness. Sometimes you even find it." | 2738.txt | 0 |
[
"listening to music",
"playing card",
"going out for fishing",
"boxing match"
]
| According to the passage, perhaps the followings are our ordinary ways ofrelaxation for common people except _ . | "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" is apopular saying in the United States. Other countrieshave similar sayings. It is true that all of us needrecreation. We cannot work all the time if we aregoing to keep good health and enjoy life.
Everyone has his own way of relaxing. Perhaps themost popular way is to take part in sports. there areteam sports, such as baseball, basketball, and football. There are individual sports, also, suchas golf and swimming. In addition hiking, fishing, skiing, and mountain climbing have a greatattraction for people who like to be outdoors.
Not everyone who enjoys sports events likes to take part in them. Many people prefer to beonlookers, either watching them on television, or listening to them on the radio. When there isan important baseball game or boxing match it is almost impossible to get tickets; everyonewants to attend.
Chess, card-playing, and dancing are forms of indoor recreation enjoyed by many people. Itdoesn't matter whether we play a fast game of ping-pong, concentrate over the bridge table,or go walking through the woods on a brisk autumn afternoon. It is important for every one torelax from time to time and enjoy some form of recreation. | 2323.txt | 3 |
[
"The popular British saying mentioned in the passage has familiar doing in other countries.",
"All of us need recreation in our lives if we cannot work all the time.",
"Sometimes those who enjoy sports events like to take part in them, too.",
"It is almost impossible for everyone who wants to watch an important baseball to get aticket."
]
| Which of the following statements is TRUE to the passage? | "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" is apopular saying in the United States. Other countrieshave similar sayings. It is true that all of us needrecreation. We cannot work all the time if we aregoing to keep good health and enjoy life.
Everyone has his own way of relaxing. Perhaps themost popular way is to take part in sports. there areteam sports, such as baseball, basketball, and football. There are individual sports, also, suchas golf and swimming. In addition hiking, fishing, skiing, and mountain climbing have a greatattraction for people who like to be outdoors.
Not everyone who enjoys sports events likes to take part in them. Many people prefer to beonlookers, either watching them on television, or listening to them on the radio. When there isan important baseball game or boxing match it is almost impossible to get tickets; everyonewants to attend.
Chess, card-playing, and dancing are forms of indoor recreation enjoyed by many people. Itdoesn't matter whether we play a fast game of ping-pong, concentrate over the bridge table,or go walking through the woods on a brisk autumn afternoon. It is important for every one torelax from time to time and enjoy some form of recreation. | 2323.txt | 2 |
[
"to finish the writing course",
"to realize her own dream",
"to satisfy readers' wish",
"to earn more money"
]
| The author decided to write a novel _ . | I left university with a good degree in English Literature, but no sense of what I wanted to do. Over the next six years, I was treading water, just trying to earn an income. I tried journalism, but I didn't think I was any good, then finance, which I hated. Finally, I got a job as a rights assistant at a famous publisher. I loved working with books, although the job that I did was dull.
I had enough savings to take a year off work, and I decided to try to satisfy a deep-down wish to write a novel. Attending a Novel Writing MA course gave me the structure I needed to write my first 55,000 words.
It takes confidence to make a new start - there's a dark period in-between where you're neither one thing nor the other. You're out for dinner and people ask what you do, and you're too ashamed to say, "Well, I'm writing a novel, but I'm not quite sure if I'm going to get there." My confidence dived. Believing my novel could not be published, I put it aside.
Then I met an agent()who said I should send my novel out to agents. So, I did and, to my surprise, got some wonderful feedback. I felt a little hope that I might actually become a published writer and, after signing with an agent, I finished the second half of the novel.
The next problem was finding a publisher. After two-and-a-half years of no income, just waiting and wondering, a publisher offered me a book deal - that publisher turned out to be the one I once worked for.
It feels like an unbelievable stroke of luck - of fate, really. When you set out to do something different, there's no end in sight, so to find myself in a position where I now have my own name on a contract()of the publisher - to be a published writer - is unbelievably rewarding(). | 3742.txt | 1 |
[
"Disturbed.",
"Ashamed.",
"Confident.",
"Uncertain."
]
| How did the writer feel halfway with the novel? | I left university with a good degree in English Literature, but no sense of what I wanted to do. Over the next six years, I was treading water, just trying to earn an income. I tried journalism, but I didn't think I was any good, then finance, which I hated. Finally, I got a job as a rights assistant at a famous publisher. I loved working with books, although the job that I did was dull.
I had enough savings to take a year off work, and I decided to try to satisfy a deep-down wish to write a novel. Attending a Novel Writing MA course gave me the structure I needed to write my first 55,000 words.
It takes confidence to make a new start - there's a dark period in-between where you're neither one thing nor the other. You're out for dinner and people ask what you do, and you're too ashamed to say, "Well, I'm writing a novel, but I'm not quite sure if I'm going to get there." My confidence dived. Believing my novel could not be published, I put it aside.
Then I met an agent()who said I should send my novel out to agents. So, I did and, to my surprise, got some wonderful feedback. I felt a little hope that I might actually become a published writer and, after signing with an agent, I finished the second half of the novel.
The next problem was finding a publisher. After two-and-a-half years of no income, just waiting and wondering, a publisher offered me a book deal - that publisher turned out to be the one I once worked for.
It feels like an unbelievable stroke of luck - of fate, really. When you set out to do something different, there's no end in sight, so to find myself in a position where I now have my own name on a contract()of the publisher - to be a published writer - is unbelievably rewarding(). | 3742.txt | 3 |
[
"It pays to stick to one's goal.",
"Hard work can lead to success.",
"She feels like being unexpectedly lucky.",
"There is no end in sight when starting to do something."
]
| What does the author mainly want to tell readers in the last paragraph? | I left university with a good degree in English Literature, but no sense of what I wanted to do. Over the next six years, I was treading water, just trying to earn an income. I tried journalism, but I didn't think I was any good, then finance, which I hated. Finally, I got a job as a rights assistant at a famous publisher. I loved working with books, although the job that I did was dull.
I had enough savings to take a year off work, and I decided to try to satisfy a deep-down wish to write a novel. Attending a Novel Writing MA course gave me the structure I needed to write my first 55,000 words.
It takes confidence to make a new start - there's a dark period in-between where you're neither one thing nor the other. You're out for dinner and people ask what you do, and you're too ashamed to say, "Well, I'm writing a novel, but I'm not quite sure if I'm going to get there." My confidence dived. Believing my novel could not be published, I put it aside.
Then I met an agent()who said I should send my novel out to agents. So, I did and, to my surprise, got some wonderful feedback. I felt a little hope that I might actually become a published writer and, after signing with an agent, I finished the second half of the novel.
The next problem was finding a publisher. After two-and-a-half years of no income, just waiting and wondering, a publisher offered me a book deal - that publisher turned out to be the one I once worked for.
It feels like an unbelievable stroke of luck - of fate, really. When you set out to do something different, there's no end in sight, so to find myself in a position where I now have my own name on a contract()of the publisher - to be a published writer - is unbelievably rewarding(). | 3742.txt | 0 |
[
"It will help your company expand more rapidly.",
"It will create a harmonious working atmosphere.",
"It may prevent your business and career from advancing.",
"It may make you feel uncertain about your own decisions."
]
| What happens when you have like-minded people around you all the while? | It's nice to have people of like mind around. Agreeable people boost your confidence and allow you to relax and feel comfortable. Unfortunately, that comfort can hinder the very learning that can expand your company and your career.
It's nice to have people agree, but you need conflicting perspectives to dig out the truth. If everyone around you has similar views, your work will suffer from confirmation bias.
Take a look at your own network. Do your contacts share your point of view on most subjects? If yes, it's time to shake things up. As a leader, it can be challenging to create an environment in which people will freely disagree and argue, but as the saying goes: From confrontation comes brilliance.
It's not easy for most people to actively seek conflict. Many spend their lives trying to avoid arguments. There's no need to go out and find people you hate, but you need to do some self-assessment to determine where you have become stale in your thinking. You may need to start by encouraging your current network to help you identify your blind spots.
Passionate, energetic debate does not require anger and hard feelings to be effective. But it does require moral strength. Once you have worthy opponents, set some ground rules so everyone understands responsibilities and boundaries. The objective of this debating game is not to win but to get to the truth that will allow you to move faster, farther, and better.
Fierce debating can hurt feelings, particularly when strong personalities are involved. Make sure you check in with your opponents so that they are not carrying the emotion of the battles beyond the battlefield. Break the tension with smiles and humor to reinforce the idea that this is friendly discourse and that all are working toward a common goal.
Reward all those involved in the debate sufficiently when the goals are reached. Let your sparring partners know how much you appreciate their contribution. The more they feel appreciated, the more they'll be willing to get into the ring next time. | 2221.txt | 2 |
[
"Avoid arguments with business partners.",
"Encourage people to disagree and argue.",
"Build a wide and strong business network.",
"Seek advice from their worthy competitors."
]
| What does the author suggest leaders do? | It's nice to have people of like mind around. Agreeable people boost your confidence and allow you to relax and feel comfortable. Unfortunately, that comfort can hinder the very learning that can expand your company and your career.
It's nice to have people agree, but you need conflicting perspectives to dig out the truth. If everyone around you has similar views, your work will suffer from confirmation bias.
Take a look at your own network. Do your contacts share your point of view on most subjects? If yes, it's time to shake things up. As a leader, it can be challenging to create an environment in which people will freely disagree and argue, but as the saying goes: From confrontation comes brilliance.
It's not easy for most people to actively seek conflict. Many spend their lives trying to avoid arguments. There's no need to go out and find people you hate, but you need to do some self-assessment to determine where you have become stale in your thinking. You may need to start by encouraging your current network to help you identify your blind spots.
Passionate, energetic debate does not require anger and hard feelings to be effective. But it does require moral strength. Once you have worthy opponents, set some ground rules so everyone understands responsibilities and boundaries. The objective of this debating game is not to win but to get to the truth that will allow you to move faster, farther, and better.
Fierce debating can hurt feelings, particularly when strong personalities are involved. Make sure you check in with your opponents so that they are not carrying the emotion of the battles beyond the battlefield. Break the tension with smiles and humor to reinforce the idea that this is friendly discourse and that all are working toward a common goal.
Reward all those involved in the debate sufficiently when the goals are reached. Let your sparring partners know how much you appreciate their contribution. The more they feel appreciated, the more they'll be willing to get into the ring next time. | 2221.txt | 1 |
[
"To find out the truth about an issue.",
"To build up people's moral strength.",
"To remove misunderstandings.",
"To look for worthy opponents."
]
| What is the purpose of holding a debate? | It's nice to have people of like mind around. Agreeable people boost your confidence and allow you to relax and feel comfortable. Unfortunately, that comfort can hinder the very learning that can expand your company and your career.
It's nice to have people agree, but you need conflicting perspectives to dig out the truth. If everyone around you has similar views, your work will suffer from confirmation bias.
Take a look at your own network. Do your contacts share your point of view on most subjects? If yes, it's time to shake things up. As a leader, it can be challenging to create an environment in which people will freely disagree and argue, but as the saying goes: From confrontation comes brilliance.
It's not easy for most people to actively seek conflict. Many spend their lives trying to avoid arguments. There's no need to go out and find people you hate, but you need to do some self-assessment to determine where you have become stale in your thinking. You may need to start by encouraging your current network to help you identify your blind spots.
Passionate, energetic debate does not require anger and hard feelings to be effective. But it does require moral strength. Once you have worthy opponents, set some ground rules so everyone understands responsibilities and boundaries. The objective of this debating game is not to win but to get to the truth that will allow you to move faster, farther, and better.
Fierce debating can hurt feelings, particularly when strong personalities are involved. Make sure you check in with your opponents so that they are not carrying the emotion of the battles beyond the battlefield. Break the tension with smiles and humor to reinforce the idea that this is friendly discourse and that all are working toward a common goal.
Reward all those involved in the debate sufficiently when the goals are reached. Let your sparring partners know how much you appreciate their contribution. The more they feel appreciated, the more they'll be willing to get into the ring next time. | 2221.txt | 0 |
[
"They listen carefully to their opponents' views.",
"They show due respect for each other's beliefs.",
"They present their views clearly and explicitly.",
"They take care not to hurt each other's feelings."
]
| What advice does the author give to people engaged in a fierce debate? | It's nice to have people of like mind around. Agreeable people boost your confidence and allow you to relax and feel comfortable. Unfortunately, that comfort can hinder the very learning that can expand your company and your career.
It's nice to have people agree, but you need conflicting perspectives to dig out the truth. If everyone around you has similar views, your work will suffer from confirmation bias.
Take a look at your own network. Do your contacts share your point of view on most subjects? If yes, it's time to shake things up. As a leader, it can be challenging to create an environment in which people will freely disagree and argue, but as the saying goes: From confrontation comes brilliance.
It's not easy for most people to actively seek conflict. Many spend their lives trying to avoid arguments. There's no need to go out and find people you hate, but you need to do some self-assessment to determine where you have become stale in your thinking. You may need to start by encouraging your current network to help you identify your blind spots.
Passionate, energetic debate does not require anger and hard feelings to be effective. But it does require moral strength. Once you have worthy opponents, set some ground rules so everyone understands responsibilities and boundaries. The objective of this debating game is not to win but to get to the truth that will allow you to move faster, farther, and better.
Fierce debating can hurt feelings, particularly when strong personalities are involved. Make sure you check in with your opponents so that they are not carrying the emotion of the battles beyond the battlefield. Break the tension with smiles and humor to reinforce the idea that this is friendly discourse and that all are working toward a common goal.
Reward all those involved in the debate sufficiently when the goals are reached. Let your sparring partners know how much you appreciate their contribution. The more they feel appreciated, the more they'll be willing to get into the ring next time. | 2221.txt | 3 |
[
"Try to make peace with them.",
"Try to make up the differences.",
"Invite them to the ring next time.",
"Acknowledge their contribution."
]
| How should we treat our rivals after a successful debate? | It's nice to have people of like mind around. Agreeable people boost your confidence and allow you to relax and feel comfortable. Unfortunately, that comfort can hinder the very learning that can expand your company and your career.
It's nice to have people agree, but you need conflicting perspectives to dig out the truth. If everyone around you has similar views, your work will suffer from confirmation bias.
Take a look at your own network. Do your contacts share your point of view on most subjects? If yes, it's time to shake things up. As a leader, it can be challenging to create an environment in which people will freely disagree and argue, but as the saying goes: From confrontation comes brilliance.
It's not easy for most people to actively seek conflict. Many spend their lives trying to avoid arguments. There's no need to go out and find people you hate, but you need to do some self-assessment to determine where you have become stale in your thinking. You may need to start by encouraging your current network to help you identify your blind spots.
Passionate, energetic debate does not require anger and hard feelings to be effective. But it does require moral strength. Once you have worthy opponents, set some ground rules so everyone understands responsibilities and boundaries. The objective of this debating game is not to win but to get to the truth that will allow you to move faster, farther, and better.
Fierce debating can hurt feelings, particularly when strong personalities are involved. Make sure you check in with your opponents so that they are not carrying the emotion of the battles beyond the battlefield. Break the tension with smiles and humor to reinforce the idea that this is friendly discourse and that all are working toward a common goal.
Reward all those involved in the debate sufficiently when the goals are reached. Let your sparring partners know how much you appreciate their contribution. The more they feel appreciated, the more they'll be willing to get into the ring next time. | 2221.txt | 3 |
[
"Home schoolers engage private teachers to provide additional education for their children.",
"Home schoolers don't go to school but are educated at home by their parents.",
"Home schoolers educate their children at home instead of sending them to school.",
"Home schoolers advocate combining public education with home schooling."
]
| Which of the following statements is true? | The estimates of the numbers of home-schooled children vary widely. The U. S. Department of Education estimates there are 250,000 to 350,000 home-schooled children in the country. Home school advocates put the number much higher at about a million.
Home school advocates take a harsh attitude toward home schoolers, perceiving their actions as the ultimate slap in the face for public education and a damaging move for the children. Home schoolers harbor few kind words for public schools, charging shortcomings that range from lack of religious perspective in the curriculum to a herdlike approach to teaching children.
Yet, as public school officials realize they stand little to gain by remaining hostile to the home school population, and as home schoolers realize they can reap benefits from public schools, these hard lines seem to be softening a bit.
Public schools and home schoolers have moved closer to tolerance and, in some cases even cooperation. Says John Marshall, an education official," we are becoming relatively tolerant of home schoolers. The idea is, let's give the kids access to public school so they'll see it's not as terrible as they've been told, and they'll want to come back." Perhaps, but don't count on it, say home school advocates.
Home schoolers oppose the system because they have strong convictions that their approach to educationwhether fueled by religious enthusiasm or the individual child's interest and natural paceis the best. "The bulk of home schoolers just want to be left alone." Says Enge Cannon, associate director of the National Center For Home Education. She says home schoolers choose that path for a variety of reasons, but religion plays a role 85 percent of the time.
Professor Van Galen breaks home schoolers into two groups. Some home schoolers want their children to learn not only traditional subject matter but also "strict religious doctrine and a conservative political and social perspective". Not incidentally, they also want their children to learnboth intellectually and emotionallythat the family is the most important institution in society." Other home schoolers contend "not so much that the schools teach heresy, but that schools teach whatever they teach inappropriately." Van Galen writes. "These parents are highly independent and strive to take responsibility for their own lives within a society that they define as bureaucratic and inefficient. | 2731.txt | 2 |
[
"they want to show their tolerance for different teaching systems",
"there isn't much they can do to change the present situation",
"public schools have so many problems that they cannot offer proper education for all children",
"home schooling provides a new variety of education for children"
]
| Public schools are softening their position on home schooling because _ . | The estimates of the numbers of home-schooled children vary widely. The U. S. Department of Education estimates there are 250,000 to 350,000 home-schooled children in the country. Home school advocates put the number much higher at about a million.
Home school advocates take a harsh attitude toward home schoolers, perceiving their actions as the ultimate slap in the face for public education and a damaging move for the children. Home schoolers harbor few kind words for public schools, charging shortcomings that range from lack of religious perspective in the curriculum to a herdlike approach to teaching children.
Yet, as public school officials realize they stand little to gain by remaining hostile to the home school population, and as home schoolers realize they can reap benefits from public schools, these hard lines seem to be softening a bit.
Public schools and home schoolers have moved closer to tolerance and, in some cases even cooperation. Says John Marshall, an education official," we are becoming relatively tolerant of home schoolers. The idea is, let's give the kids access to public school so they'll see it's not as terrible as they've been told, and they'll want to come back." Perhaps, but don't count on it, say home school advocates.
Home schoolers oppose the system because they have strong convictions that their approach to educationwhether fueled by religious enthusiasm or the individual child's interest and natural paceis the best. "The bulk of home schoolers just want to be left alone." Says Enge Cannon, associate director of the National Center For Home Education. She says home schoolers choose that path for a variety of reasons, but religion plays a role 85 percent of the time.
Professor Van Galen breaks home schoolers into two groups. Some home schoolers want their children to learn not only traditional subject matter but also "strict religious doctrine and a conservative political and social perspective". Not incidentally, they also want their children to learnboth intellectually and emotionallythat the family is the most important institution in society." Other home schoolers contend "not so much that the schools teach heresy, but that schools teach whatever they teach inappropriately." Van Galen writes. "These parents are highly independent and strive to take responsibility for their own lives within a society that they define as bureaucratic and inefficient. | 2731.txt | 1 |
[
"concern with the cost involved",
"worry about the inefficiency of public schools",
"devotion to religion",
"respect fro the interests of individuals"
]
| Most home schoolers' opposition to public education stems from their _ . | The estimates of the numbers of home-schooled children vary widely. The U. S. Department of Education estimates there are 250,000 to 350,000 home-schooled children in the country. Home school advocates put the number much higher at about a million.
Home school advocates take a harsh attitude toward home schoolers, perceiving their actions as the ultimate slap in the face for public education and a damaging move for the children. Home schoolers harbor few kind words for public schools, charging shortcomings that range from lack of religious perspective in the curriculum to a herdlike approach to teaching children.
Yet, as public school officials realize they stand little to gain by remaining hostile to the home school population, and as home schoolers realize they can reap benefits from public schools, these hard lines seem to be softening a bit.
Public schools and home schoolers have moved closer to tolerance and, in some cases even cooperation. Says John Marshall, an education official," we are becoming relatively tolerant of home schoolers. The idea is, let's give the kids access to public school so they'll see it's not as terrible as they've been told, and they'll want to come back." Perhaps, but don't count on it, say home school advocates.
Home schoolers oppose the system because they have strong convictions that their approach to educationwhether fueled by religious enthusiasm or the individual child's interest and natural paceis the best. "The bulk of home schoolers just want to be left alone." Says Enge Cannon, associate director of the National Center For Home Education. She says home schoolers choose that path for a variety of reasons, but religion plays a role 85 percent of the time.
Professor Van Galen breaks home schoolers into two groups. Some home schoolers want their children to learn not only traditional subject matter but also "strict religious doctrine and a conservative political and social perspective". Not incidentally, they also want their children to learnboth intellectually and emotionallythat the family is the most important institution in society." Other home schoolers contend "not so much that the schools teach heresy, but that schools teach whatever they teach inappropriately." Van Galen writes. "These parents are highly independent and strive to take responsibility for their own lives within a society that they define as bureaucratic and inefficient. | 2731.txt | 2 |
[
"home schooling is superior and therefore they will not easily give in",
"their increased cooperation with public school will bring about the improvement of public education",
"things in public schools are not so bad as has often been said",
"their tolerance of public education will attract more kids to public schools"
]
| From the passage we know that home school advocates think that _ . | The estimates of the numbers of home-schooled children vary widely. The U. S. Department of Education estimates there are 250,000 to 350,000 home-schooled children in the country. Home school advocates put the number much higher at about a million.
Home school advocates take a harsh attitude toward home schoolers, perceiving their actions as the ultimate slap in the face for public education and a damaging move for the children. Home schoolers harbor few kind words for public schools, charging shortcomings that range from lack of religious perspective in the curriculum to a herdlike approach to teaching children.
Yet, as public school officials realize they stand little to gain by remaining hostile to the home school population, and as home schoolers realize they can reap benefits from public schools, these hard lines seem to be softening a bit.
Public schools and home schoolers have moved closer to tolerance and, in some cases even cooperation. Says John Marshall, an education official," we are becoming relatively tolerant of home schoolers. The idea is, let's give the kids access to public school so they'll see it's not as terrible as they've been told, and they'll want to come back." Perhaps, but don't count on it, say home school advocates.
Home schoolers oppose the system because they have strong convictions that their approach to educationwhether fueled by religious enthusiasm or the individual child's interest and natural paceis the best. "The bulk of home schoolers just want to be left alone." Says Enge Cannon, associate director of the National Center For Home Education. She says home schoolers choose that path for a variety of reasons, but religion plays a role 85 percent of the time.
Professor Van Galen breaks home schoolers into two groups. Some home schoolers want their children to learn not only traditional subject matter but also "strict religious doctrine and a conservative political and social perspective". Not incidentally, they also want their children to learnboth intellectually and emotionallythat the family is the most important institution in society." Other home schoolers contend "not so much that the schools teach heresy, but that schools teach whatever they teach inappropriately." Van Galen writes. "These parents are highly independent and strive to take responsibility for their own lives within a society that they define as bureaucratic and inefficient. | 2731.txt | 0 |
[
"teachers in public schools are not as responsible as they should be",
"public schools take up a herdlike approach to teaching children",
"public schools are the source of bureaucracy and inefficiency in modern society",
"public schools cannot provide education that is good enough for their children"
]
| It can be concluded from Van Galen's research that some home schoolers believe that _ . | The estimates of the numbers of home-schooled children vary widely. The U. S. Department of Education estimates there are 250,000 to 350,000 home-schooled children in the country. Home school advocates put the number much higher at about a million.
Home school advocates take a harsh attitude toward home schoolers, perceiving their actions as the ultimate slap in the face for public education and a damaging move for the children. Home schoolers harbor few kind words for public schools, charging shortcomings that range from lack of religious perspective in the curriculum to a herdlike approach to teaching children.
Yet, as public school officials realize they stand little to gain by remaining hostile to the home school population, and as home schoolers realize they can reap benefits from public schools, these hard lines seem to be softening a bit.
Public schools and home schoolers have moved closer to tolerance and, in some cases even cooperation. Says John Marshall, an education official," we are becoming relatively tolerant of home schoolers. The idea is, let's give the kids access to public school so they'll see it's not as terrible as they've been told, and they'll want to come back." Perhaps, but don't count on it, say home school advocates.
Home schoolers oppose the system because they have strong convictions that their approach to educationwhether fueled by religious enthusiasm or the individual child's interest and natural paceis the best. "The bulk of home schoolers just want to be left alone." Says Enge Cannon, associate director of the National Center For Home Education. She says home schoolers choose that path for a variety of reasons, but religion plays a role 85 percent of the time.
Professor Van Galen breaks home schoolers into two groups. Some home schoolers want their children to learn not only traditional subject matter but also "strict religious doctrine and a conservative political and social perspective". Not incidentally, they also want their children to learnboth intellectually and emotionallythat the family is the most important institution in society." Other home schoolers contend "not so much that the schools teach heresy, but that schools teach whatever they teach inappropriately." Van Galen writes. "These parents are highly independent and strive to take responsibility for their own lives within a society that they define as bureaucratic and inefficient. | 2731.txt | 3 |
[
"the use of seat belts was not compulsory for the majority of the population",
"a new law requiring the use of seat belts had just been passed",
"people had to choose between the use of seat belts or the use of air bags",
"almost fifty percent of the people involved in car accidents were saved by seat Belts"
]
| Before 1989, in the United States _ . | Last summer, Transportation Secretary Elizabeth Dole announced a new rule: Unless states representing two-thirds of the country's population pass compulsory seat-belt-use laws by April 1989, all new vehicles will have to be fitted with air bags or automatic seat belts.
The rule wouldn't have been necessary but for one simple fact. Even though seat belts could prevent nearly half of the deaths in fatal car accidents, 85 percent of the population simply won't wear them.
Why not? Behavioral engineers have found that there are all sorts of reasons-usually unstated. These are some of the most popular. It's safer to be thrown from a car man trapped. According to E. Scott Geller, that's a faulty argument. "In fact", he says, "being thrown from a car is twenty-five times more dangerous than being trapped".
It won't happen to me; I'm a good driver. But what about the other person who may be a terrible driver? The data show that the average incidence for all accidents in one per driver every 10 years.
My car will end up underwater or on fire, and I won't be able to get out. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA., only 0.5 percent of all injury-producing accidents occur under these conditions. "If you're wearing a belt, you've got a better chance of being conscious and not having your legs broken-distinct advantages in getting out of a dangerous situation".
I'm only going a few blocks. Yet 80 percent of accidents happen at speeds or less that 25 miles per hour, 75 percent happen within 25 miles of home. | 3219.txt | 0 |
[
"held up in a traffic jam",
"confined in the car",
"caught in an accident",
"pulled into a car"
]
| The word "trapped" (Para. 3, Line 3) means to be _ . | Last summer, Transportation Secretary Elizabeth Dole announced a new rule: Unless states representing two-thirds of the country's population pass compulsory seat-belt-use laws by April 1989, all new vehicles will have to be fitted with air bags or automatic seat belts.
The rule wouldn't have been necessary but for one simple fact. Even though seat belts could prevent nearly half of the deaths in fatal car accidents, 85 percent of the population simply won't wear them.
Why not? Behavioral engineers have found that there are all sorts of reasons-usually unstated. These are some of the most popular. It's safer to be thrown from a car man trapped. According to E. Scott Geller, that's a faulty argument. "In fact", he says, "being thrown from a car is twenty-five times more dangerous than being trapped".
It won't happen to me; I'm a good driver. But what about the other person who may be a terrible driver? The data show that the average incidence for all accidents in one per driver every 10 years.
My car will end up underwater or on fire, and I won't be able to get out. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA., only 0.5 percent of all injury-producing accidents occur under these conditions. "If you're wearing a belt, you've got a better chance of being conscious and not having your legs broken-distinct advantages in getting out of a dangerous situation".
I'm only going a few blocks. Yet 80 percent of accidents happen at speeds or less that 25 miles per hour, 75 percent happen within 25 miles of home. | 3219.txt | 1 |
[
"they don't think that it is comfortable to wear seat belts",
"they don't believe that an accident involving a terrible driver is highly probable",
"they believe that no danger is involved in just driving a few blocks",
"they think that few drivers are willing to wear seat belts"
]
| One of the reasons why many drivers refuse to wear seat belts is because _ . | Last summer, Transportation Secretary Elizabeth Dole announced a new rule: Unless states representing two-thirds of the country's population pass compulsory seat-belt-use laws by April 1989, all new vehicles will have to be fitted with air bags or automatic seat belts.
The rule wouldn't have been necessary but for one simple fact. Even though seat belts could prevent nearly half of the deaths in fatal car accidents, 85 percent of the population simply won't wear them.
Why not? Behavioral engineers have found that there are all sorts of reasons-usually unstated. These are some of the most popular. It's safer to be thrown from a car man trapped. According to E. Scott Geller, that's a faulty argument. "In fact", he says, "being thrown from a car is twenty-five times more dangerous than being trapped".
It won't happen to me; I'm a good driver. But what about the other person who may be a terrible driver? The data show that the average incidence for all accidents in one per driver every 10 years.
My car will end up underwater or on fire, and I won't be able to get out. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA., only 0.5 percent of all injury-producing accidents occur under these conditions. "If you're wearing a belt, you've got a better chance of being conscious and not having your legs broken-distinct advantages in getting out of a dangerous situation".
I'm only going a few blocks. Yet 80 percent of accidents happen at speeds or less that 25 miles per hour, 75 percent happen within 25 miles of home. | 3219.txt | 2 |
[
"seat belts should be replaced by air bags",
"eighty-five percent of all drivers are likely to Break traffic rules",
"all drivers, whether good or bad, are liable to have an accident at one time or another",
"wearing seat belts will get drivers out of dangerous situations"
]
| It can be inferred from the passage that _ . | Last summer, Transportation Secretary Elizabeth Dole announced a new rule: Unless states representing two-thirds of the country's population pass compulsory seat-belt-use laws by April 1989, all new vehicles will have to be fitted with air bags or automatic seat belts.
The rule wouldn't have been necessary but for one simple fact. Even though seat belts could prevent nearly half of the deaths in fatal car accidents, 85 percent of the population simply won't wear them.
Why not? Behavioral engineers have found that there are all sorts of reasons-usually unstated. These are some of the most popular. It's safer to be thrown from a car man trapped. According to E. Scott Geller, that's a faulty argument. "In fact", he says, "being thrown from a car is twenty-five times more dangerous than being trapped".
It won't happen to me; I'm a good driver. But what about the other person who may be a terrible driver? The data show that the average incidence for all accidents in one per driver every 10 years.
My car will end up underwater or on fire, and I won't be able to get out. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA., only 0.5 percent of all injury-producing accidents occur under these conditions. "If you're wearing a belt, you've got a better chance of being conscious and not having your legs broken-distinct advantages in getting out of a dangerous situation".
I'm only going a few blocks. Yet 80 percent of accidents happen at speeds or less that 25 miles per hour, 75 percent happen within 25 miles of home. | 3219.txt | 2 |
[
"to urge the government to pass the law sooner",
"to tell how dangerous car-driving can be",
"to criticise those who refuse to use seat belts",
"to prove the necessity of the new rule"
]
| The purpose of the writer in writing this passage is _ . | Last summer, Transportation Secretary Elizabeth Dole announced a new rule: Unless states representing two-thirds of the country's population pass compulsory seat-belt-use laws by April 1989, all new vehicles will have to be fitted with air bags or automatic seat belts.
The rule wouldn't have been necessary but for one simple fact. Even though seat belts could prevent nearly half of the deaths in fatal car accidents, 85 percent of the population simply won't wear them.
Why not? Behavioral engineers have found that there are all sorts of reasons-usually unstated. These are some of the most popular. It's safer to be thrown from a car man trapped. According to E. Scott Geller, that's a faulty argument. "In fact", he says, "being thrown from a car is twenty-five times more dangerous than being trapped".
It won't happen to me; I'm a good driver. But what about the other person who may be a terrible driver? The data show that the average incidence for all accidents in one per driver every 10 years.
My car will end up underwater or on fire, and I won't be able to get out. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA., only 0.5 percent of all injury-producing accidents occur under these conditions. "If you're wearing a belt, you've got a better chance of being conscious and not having your legs broken-distinct advantages in getting out of a dangerous situation".
I'm only going a few blocks. Yet 80 percent of accidents happen at speeds or less that 25 miles per hour, 75 percent happen within 25 miles of home. | 3219.txt | 1 |
[
"his grandfather died in the state of Kentucky",
"his family settled down in the countryside of Indiana",
"Kentucky joined the Union as a member state",
"his family had to move from place to place"
]
| When the writer was a child _ . | My father, at the death of his father, was six years old, and he grew up without education. He moved from Kentucky to Indiana when I was seven. We reached our new home about the time the state came into the Union. It was a wild area, with many bears and other wild animals still in the woods. I grew up there. There were some so-called schools, but what was required of a teacher never went beyond "reading, writing, and adding." If a stranger supposed to understand Latin happened to live for a time in the area, he was looked on as wizard . There was simply nothing to excite a desire for education. Of course, when I grew up, I did not know much. Still, somehow, I could read, write, and add, but that was all. The advance I have now made is on this store of education, which I have picked up under the pressure of necessity. | 784.txt | 1 |
[
"educated people were greatly respected",
"only a few had a knowledge of Latin",
"people were often killed by wild animals",
"the land had yet to be farmed"
]
| When the writer was seven, his family moved to an area where _ . | My father, at the death of his father, was six years old, and he grew up without education. He moved from Kentucky to Indiana when I was seven. We reached our new home about the time the state came into the Union. It was a wild area, with many bears and other wild animals still in the woods. I grew up there. There were some so-called schools, but what was required of a teacher never went beyond "reading, writing, and adding." If a stranger supposed to understand Latin happened to live for a time in the area, he was looked on as wizard . There was simply nothing to excite a desire for education. Of course, when I grew up, I did not know much. Still, somehow, I could read, write, and add, but that was all. The advance I have now made is on this store of education, which I have picked up under the pressure of necessity. | 784.txt | 3 |
[
"were of poor quality ",
"offered all kinds of subjects",
"respected those who knew Latin",
"had teachers good at reading, writing, and adding"
]
| The schools in the area _ . | My father, at the death of his father, was six years old, and he grew up without education. He moved from Kentucky to Indiana when I was seven. We reached our new home about the time the state came into the Union. It was a wild area, with many bears and other wild animals still in the woods. I grew up there. There were some so-called schools, but what was required of a teacher never went beyond "reading, writing, and adding." If a stranger supposed to understand Latin happened to live for a time in the area, he was looked on as wizard . There was simply nothing to excite a desire for education. Of course, when I grew up, I did not know much. Still, somehow, I could read, write, and add, but that was all. The advance I have now made is on this store of education, which I have picked up under the pressure of necessity. | 784.txt | 0 |
[
"He believed he met the school requirements.",
"He thought he was well-educated.",
"He thought it was not satisfactory.",
"He believed he was poorly educated."
]
| How did the writer look at his early education? | My father, at the death of his father, was six years old, and he grew up without education. He moved from Kentucky to Indiana when I was seven. We reached our new home about the time the state came into the Union. It was a wild area, with many bears and other wild animals still in the woods. I grew up there. There were some so-called schools, but what was required of a teacher never went beyond "reading, writing, and adding." If a stranger supposed to understand Latin happened to live for a time in the area, he was looked on as wizard . There was simply nothing to excite a desire for education. Of course, when I grew up, I did not know much. Still, somehow, I could read, write, and add, but that was all. The advance I have now made is on this store of education, which I have picked up under the pressure of necessity. | 784.txt | 2 |
[
"had to learn to read, write and add",
"found it necessary to receive advanced education",
"was probably fairly well-educated",
"was dissatisfied with his level of education"
]
| At the time he wrote, the writer _ . | My father, at the death of his father, was six years old, and he grew up without education. He moved from Kentucky to Indiana when I was seven. We reached our new home about the time the state came into the Union. It was a wild area, with many bears and other wild animals still in the woods. I grew up there. There were some so-called schools, but what was required of a teacher never went beyond "reading, writing, and adding." If a stranger supposed to understand Latin happened to live for a time in the area, he was looked on as wizard . There was simply nothing to excite a desire for education. Of course, when I grew up, I did not know much. Still, somehow, I could read, write, and add, but that was all. The advance I have now made is on this store of education, which I have picked up under the pressure of necessity. | 784.txt | 2 |
[
"natural species",
"animals developed by people",
"inbred dogs",
"domesticated animals"
]
| The expression" breeds" (Line 3, Paragraph 2)most probably means _ . | A dog may be man's best friend. But man is not always a dog's. Over the centuries selective breeding has pulled at the canine body shape to produce grotesque distortion. Indeed, some of these distortions are, when found in people, regarded as pathologies.
Dog breeding does, though, offer a chance to those who would like to understand how body shape is controlled. The ancestry of pedigree pooches is well recorded, their generation time is short and their litter size reasonably large, so there is plenty of material to work with. Moreover, breeds are, by definition, inbred, and this simplifies genetic analysis. Those such as Elaine Ostrander, of America's National Human Genome Research Institute, who wish to identify the genetic basis of the features of particular pedigrees thus have an ideal experimental animal. Dr Ostrander has already used dogs to track down the genes behind certain cancers that the species shares with people, and to work out the dog family tree. At the AAAS she described her search for the genes controlling three of the most important features of a breed: its size, its hair and the length of its legs.
To investigate size, she looked at a breed called the Portuguese water dog. There are about 10,000 of these animals in North America. All of them are descended from an original population of just 30 that was introduced half a century ago. The size of water dogs, she found, is governed mainly by variations in a gene called insulin-like growth-factor 1-and that is probably true of other breeds as well.
Short legs, a phenomenon known as chondrodysplasia, are characteristic of many dog breeds, perhaps most famously dachshunds and corgis. In people the condition is known vulgarly as dwarfism. Dr Ostrander's work showed that in dogs it is caused by the reactivation of a" dead" version of a gene involved in the regulation of growth. Chromosomes are littered with such non-functional genes; they are the result of mutations favoured by natural selection at some point in the past. Here the gene in question has been reactivated by the arrival within it of what is known as a LINE-1 element. This is a piece of DNA that can jump about from place to place within a genome, sometimes causing havoc as it does so.
Dachshunds also featured in her third example-the genetics of dog-hair. Dog coats come in three forms: smooth(ie, short), long and wiry. Some dogs also have what fanciers refer to as" furniture" , notably moustaches. Dr Ostrander found that 80% of the variation between breeds in coat form and furniture was explained by differences in just three genes. Different combinations of these result in different mixtures of coat and furniture.
The upshots of this work are twofold. One is to show that a lot of variety can be caused by only a little genetic variation. Many dog breeds look more different from one another than do the members of groups of real, natural species, so speciation may not be particularly difficult. The second upshot is that dogs may cast light on the condition of human chondrodysplasia and thus prove, once again, what good friends they are to man. | 510.txt | 1 |
[
"enthusiastic interest",
"reserved indifference",
"slight doubt",
"strong contempt"
]
| The attitude of those who wish to identify the genetic basis of the features of particular pedigrees towards dogs is one of _ . | A dog may be man's best friend. But man is not always a dog's. Over the centuries selective breeding has pulled at the canine body shape to produce grotesque distortion. Indeed, some of these distortions are, when found in people, regarded as pathologies.
Dog breeding does, though, offer a chance to those who would like to understand how body shape is controlled. The ancestry of pedigree pooches is well recorded, their generation time is short and their litter size reasonably large, so there is plenty of material to work with. Moreover, breeds are, by definition, inbred, and this simplifies genetic analysis. Those such as Elaine Ostrander, of America's National Human Genome Research Institute, who wish to identify the genetic basis of the features of particular pedigrees thus have an ideal experimental animal. Dr Ostrander has already used dogs to track down the genes behind certain cancers that the species shares with people, and to work out the dog family tree. At the AAAS she described her search for the genes controlling three of the most important features of a breed: its size, its hair and the length of its legs.
To investigate size, she looked at a breed called the Portuguese water dog. There are about 10,000 of these animals in North America. All of them are descended from an original population of just 30 that was introduced half a century ago. The size of water dogs, she found, is governed mainly by variations in a gene called insulin-like growth-factor 1-and that is probably true of other breeds as well.
Short legs, a phenomenon known as chondrodysplasia, are characteristic of many dog breeds, perhaps most famously dachshunds and corgis. In people the condition is known vulgarly as dwarfism. Dr Ostrander's work showed that in dogs it is caused by the reactivation of a" dead" version of a gene involved in the regulation of growth. Chromosomes are littered with such non-functional genes; they are the result of mutations favoured by natural selection at some point in the past. Here the gene in question has been reactivated by the arrival within it of what is known as a LINE-1 element. This is a piece of DNA that can jump about from place to place within a genome, sometimes causing havoc as it does so.
Dachshunds also featured in her third example-the genetics of dog-hair. Dog coats come in three forms: smooth(ie, short), long and wiry. Some dogs also have what fanciers refer to as" furniture" , notably moustaches. Dr Ostrander found that 80% of the variation between breeds in coat form and furniture was explained by differences in just three genes. Different combinations of these result in different mixtures of coat and furniture.
The upshots of this work are twofold. One is to show that a lot of variety can be caused by only a little genetic variation. Many dog breeds look more different from one another than do the members of groups of real, natural species, so speciation may not be particularly difficult. The second upshot is that dogs may cast light on the condition of human chondrodysplasia and thus prove, once again, what good friends they are to man. | 510.txt | 0 |
[
"the research is divided into two parts",
"the research is important in two senses",
"the results of the research involve two types of dogs",
"the research has achieved two important results"
]
| By saying" the upshots of this work are twofold" (Line 1, Last Paragraph), the author implies that _ . | A dog may be man's best friend. But man is not always a dog's. Over the centuries selective breeding has pulled at the canine body shape to produce grotesque distortion. Indeed, some of these distortions are, when found in people, regarded as pathologies.
Dog breeding does, though, offer a chance to those who would like to understand how body shape is controlled. The ancestry of pedigree pooches is well recorded, their generation time is short and their litter size reasonably large, so there is plenty of material to work with. Moreover, breeds are, by definition, inbred, and this simplifies genetic analysis. Those such as Elaine Ostrander, of America's National Human Genome Research Institute, who wish to identify the genetic basis of the features of particular pedigrees thus have an ideal experimental animal. Dr Ostrander has already used dogs to track down the genes behind certain cancers that the species shares with people, and to work out the dog family tree. At the AAAS she described her search for the genes controlling three of the most important features of a breed: its size, its hair and the length of its legs.
To investigate size, she looked at a breed called the Portuguese water dog. There are about 10,000 of these animals in North America. All of them are descended from an original population of just 30 that was introduced half a century ago. The size of water dogs, she found, is governed mainly by variations in a gene called insulin-like growth-factor 1-and that is probably true of other breeds as well.
Short legs, a phenomenon known as chondrodysplasia, are characteristic of many dog breeds, perhaps most famously dachshunds and corgis. In people the condition is known vulgarly as dwarfism. Dr Ostrander's work showed that in dogs it is caused by the reactivation of a" dead" version of a gene involved in the regulation of growth. Chromosomes are littered with such non-functional genes; they are the result of mutations favoured by natural selection at some point in the past. Here the gene in question has been reactivated by the arrival within it of what is known as a LINE-1 element. This is a piece of DNA that can jump about from place to place within a genome, sometimes causing havoc as it does so.
Dachshunds also featured in her third example-the genetics of dog-hair. Dog coats come in three forms: smooth(ie, short), long and wiry. Some dogs also have what fanciers refer to as" furniture" , notably moustaches. Dr Ostrander found that 80% of the variation between breeds in coat form and furniture was explained by differences in just three genes. Different combinations of these result in different mixtures of coat and furniture.
The upshots of this work are twofold. One is to show that a lot of variety can be caused by only a little genetic variation. Many dog breeds look more different from one another than do the members of groups of real, natural species, so speciation may not be particularly difficult. The second upshot is that dogs may cast light on the condition of human chondrodysplasia and thus prove, once again, what good friends they are to man. | 510.txt | 1 |
[
"Dachshunds can also explain another aspect of Dr Ostrander's theory.",
"Dachshunds are responsible for two aspects of Dr Ostrander's theory.",
"Dachshunds feature special genes of hair.",
"Dachshunds are special because of their distinctive hair."
]
| What does the author mean by saying" Dachshunds also featured in her third example-the genetics of dog-hair" (Line 1, Paragraph 5)? | A dog may be man's best friend. But man is not always a dog's. Over the centuries selective breeding has pulled at the canine body shape to produce grotesque distortion. Indeed, some of these distortions are, when found in people, regarded as pathologies.
Dog breeding does, though, offer a chance to those who would like to understand how body shape is controlled. The ancestry of pedigree pooches is well recorded, their generation time is short and their litter size reasonably large, so there is plenty of material to work with. Moreover, breeds are, by definition, inbred, and this simplifies genetic analysis. Those such as Elaine Ostrander, of America's National Human Genome Research Institute, who wish to identify the genetic basis of the features of particular pedigrees thus have an ideal experimental animal. Dr Ostrander has already used dogs to track down the genes behind certain cancers that the species shares with people, and to work out the dog family tree. At the AAAS she described her search for the genes controlling three of the most important features of a breed: its size, its hair and the length of its legs.
To investigate size, she looked at a breed called the Portuguese water dog. There are about 10,000 of these animals in North America. All of them are descended from an original population of just 30 that was introduced half a century ago. The size of water dogs, she found, is governed mainly by variations in a gene called insulin-like growth-factor 1-and that is probably true of other breeds as well.
Short legs, a phenomenon known as chondrodysplasia, are characteristic of many dog breeds, perhaps most famously dachshunds and corgis. In people the condition is known vulgarly as dwarfism. Dr Ostrander's work showed that in dogs it is caused by the reactivation of a" dead" version of a gene involved in the regulation of growth. Chromosomes are littered with such non-functional genes; they are the result of mutations favoured by natural selection at some point in the past. Here the gene in question has been reactivated by the arrival within it of what is known as a LINE-1 element. This is a piece of DNA that can jump about from place to place within a genome, sometimes causing havoc as it does so.
Dachshunds also featured in her third example-the genetics of dog-hair. Dog coats come in three forms: smooth(ie, short), long and wiry. Some dogs also have what fanciers refer to as" furniture" , notably moustaches. Dr Ostrander found that 80% of the variation between breeds in coat form and furniture was explained by differences in just three genes. Different combinations of these result in different mixtures of coat and furniture.
The upshots of this work are twofold. One is to show that a lot of variety can be caused by only a little genetic variation. Many dog breeds look more different from one another than do the members of groups of real, natural species, so speciation may not be particularly difficult. The second upshot is that dogs may cast light on the condition of human chondrodysplasia and thus prove, once again, what good friends they are to man. | 510.txt | 0 |
[
"What was found about the Portuguese water dog is likely applicable to other dogs as well.",
"Short legs in dogs have something to do with gene reactivation.",
"What was found about chondrodysplasia in dogs can also apply to dwarfism in human.",
"The variation of dog coat does not involve a large quantity of genes but only a few."
]
| Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage? | A dog may be man's best friend. But man is not always a dog's. Over the centuries selective breeding has pulled at the canine body shape to produce grotesque distortion. Indeed, some of these distortions are, when found in people, regarded as pathologies.
Dog breeding does, though, offer a chance to those who would like to understand how body shape is controlled. The ancestry of pedigree pooches is well recorded, their generation time is short and their litter size reasonably large, so there is plenty of material to work with. Moreover, breeds are, by definition, inbred, and this simplifies genetic analysis. Those such as Elaine Ostrander, of America's National Human Genome Research Institute, who wish to identify the genetic basis of the features of particular pedigrees thus have an ideal experimental animal. Dr Ostrander has already used dogs to track down the genes behind certain cancers that the species shares with people, and to work out the dog family tree. At the AAAS she described her search for the genes controlling three of the most important features of a breed: its size, its hair and the length of its legs.
To investigate size, she looked at a breed called the Portuguese water dog. There are about 10,000 of these animals in North America. All of them are descended from an original population of just 30 that was introduced half a century ago. The size of water dogs, she found, is governed mainly by variations in a gene called insulin-like growth-factor 1-and that is probably true of other breeds as well.
Short legs, a phenomenon known as chondrodysplasia, are characteristic of many dog breeds, perhaps most famously dachshunds and corgis. In people the condition is known vulgarly as dwarfism. Dr Ostrander's work showed that in dogs it is caused by the reactivation of a" dead" version of a gene involved in the regulation of growth. Chromosomes are littered with such non-functional genes; they are the result of mutations favoured by natural selection at some point in the past. Here the gene in question has been reactivated by the arrival within it of what is known as a LINE-1 element. This is a piece of DNA that can jump about from place to place within a genome, sometimes causing havoc as it does so.
Dachshunds also featured in her third example-the genetics of dog-hair. Dog coats come in three forms: smooth(ie, short), long and wiry. Some dogs also have what fanciers refer to as" furniture" , notably moustaches. Dr Ostrander found that 80% of the variation between breeds in coat form and furniture was explained by differences in just three genes. Different combinations of these result in different mixtures of coat and furniture.
The upshots of this work are twofold. One is to show that a lot of variety can be caused by only a little genetic variation. Many dog breeds look more different from one another than do the members of groups of real, natural species, so speciation may not be particularly difficult. The second upshot is that dogs may cast light on the condition of human chondrodysplasia and thus prove, once again, what good friends they are to man. | 510.txt | 2 |
[
"getting worse because of the Internet",
"the rich countries are responsible for",
"the world must guard against",
"considered positive today"
]
| Digital divide is something . | A great deal of attention is being paid today to the so-called digital divide -- the division of the world into the info (information) rich and the info poor. And that divide does exist today. My wife and I lectured about this looming danger twenty years ago. What was less visible then, however, were the new, positive forces that work against the digital divide. There are reasons to be optimistic.
There are technological reasons to hope the digital divide will narrow. As the Internet becomes more and more commercialized, it is in the interest of business to universalize access
-- after all, the more people online, the more potential customers there are. More and more governments, afraid their countries will be left behind, want to spread Internet access. Within the next decade or two, one to two billion people on the planet will be netted together. As a result, I now believe the digital divide will narrow rather than widen in the years ahead. And that is very good news because the Internet may well be the most powerful tool for combating world poverty that we've ever had.
Of course, the use of the Internet isn't the only way to defeat poverty. And the Internet is not the only tool we have. But it has enormous potential.
To take advantage of this tool, some impoverished countries will have to get over their outdated anti-colonial prejudices with respect to foreign investment. Countries that still think foreign investment is an invasion of their sovereignty might well study the history of infrastructure (the basic structural foundations of a society) in the United States. When the United States built its industrial infrastructure, it didn't have the capital to do so. And that is why America's Second Wave infrastructure -- including roads, harbors, highways, ports and so on -- were built with foreign investment. The English, the Germans, the Dutch and the French were investing in Britain's former colony. They financed them. Immigrant Americans built them. Guess who owns them now? The Americans. I believe the same thing would be true in places like Brazil or anywhere else for that matter. The more foreign capital you have helping you build your Third Wave infrastructure, which today is an electronic infrastructure, the better off you're going to be. That doesn't mean lying down and becoming fooled, or letting foreign corporations run uncontrolled. But it does mean recognizing how important they can be in building the energy and telecom infrastructures needed to take full advantage of the Internet. | 832.txt | 2 |
[
"offers economic potentials",
"can bring foreign funds",
"can soon wipe out world poverty",
"connects people all over the world"
]
| Governments attach importance to the Internet because it . | A great deal of attention is being paid today to the so-called digital divide -- the division of the world into the info (information) rich and the info poor. And that divide does exist today. My wife and I lectured about this looming danger twenty years ago. What was less visible then, however, were the new, positive forces that work against the digital divide. There are reasons to be optimistic.
There are technological reasons to hope the digital divide will narrow. As the Internet becomes more and more commercialized, it is in the interest of business to universalize access
-- after all, the more people online, the more potential customers there are. More and more governments, afraid their countries will be left behind, want to spread Internet access. Within the next decade or two, one to two billion people on the planet will be netted together. As a result, I now believe the digital divide will narrow rather than widen in the years ahead. And that is very good news because the Internet may well be the most powerful tool for combating world poverty that we've ever had.
Of course, the use of the Internet isn't the only way to defeat poverty. And the Internet is not the only tool we have. But it has enormous potential.
To take advantage of this tool, some impoverished countries will have to get over their outdated anti-colonial prejudices with respect to foreign investment. Countries that still think foreign investment is an invasion of their sovereignty might well study the history of infrastructure (the basic structural foundations of a society) in the United States. When the United States built its industrial infrastructure, it didn't have the capital to do so. And that is why America's Second Wave infrastructure -- including roads, harbors, highways, ports and so on -- were built with foreign investment. The English, the Germans, the Dutch and the French were investing in Britain's former colony. They financed them. Immigrant Americans built them. Guess who owns them now? The Americans. I believe the same thing would be true in places like Brazil or anywhere else for that matter. The more foreign capital you have helping you build your Third Wave infrastructure, which today is an electronic infrastructure, the better off you're going to be. That doesn't mean lying down and becoming fooled, or letting foreign corporations run uncontrolled. But it does mean recognizing how important they can be in building the energy and telecom infrastructures needed to take full advantage of the Internet. | 832.txt | 0 |
[
"providing financial support overseas",
"preventing foreign capital's control",
"building industrial infrastructure",
"accepting foreign investment"
]
| The writer mentioned the case of the United States to justify the policy of . | A great deal of attention is being paid today to the so-called digital divide -- the division of the world into the info (information) rich and the info poor. And that divide does exist today. My wife and I lectured about this looming danger twenty years ago. What was less visible then, however, were the new, positive forces that work against the digital divide. There are reasons to be optimistic.
There are technological reasons to hope the digital divide will narrow. As the Internet becomes more and more commercialized, it is in the interest of business to universalize access
-- after all, the more people online, the more potential customers there are. More and more governments, afraid their countries will be left behind, want to spread Internet access. Within the next decade or two, one to two billion people on the planet will be netted together. As a result, I now believe the digital divide will narrow rather than widen in the years ahead. And that is very good news because the Internet may well be the most powerful tool for combating world poverty that we've ever had.
Of course, the use of the Internet isn't the only way to defeat poverty. And the Internet is not the only tool we have. But it has enormous potential.
To take advantage of this tool, some impoverished countries will have to get over their outdated anti-colonial prejudices with respect to foreign investment. Countries that still think foreign investment is an invasion of their sovereignty might well study the history of infrastructure (the basic structural foundations of a society) in the United States. When the United States built its industrial infrastructure, it didn't have the capital to do so. And that is why America's Second Wave infrastructure -- including roads, harbors, highways, ports and so on -- were built with foreign investment. The English, the Germans, the Dutch and the French were investing in Britain's former colony. They financed them. Immigrant Americans built them. Guess who owns them now? The Americans. I believe the same thing would be true in places like Brazil or anywhere else for that matter. The more foreign capital you have helping you build your Third Wave infrastructure, which today is an electronic infrastructure, the better off you're going to be. That doesn't mean lying down and becoming fooled, or letting foreign corporations run uncontrolled. But it does mean recognizing how important they can be in building the energy and telecom infrastructures needed to take full advantage of the Internet. | 832.txt | 3 |
[
"how well-developed it is electronically",
"whether it is prejudiced against immigrants",
"whether it adopts America's industrial pattern",
"how much control it has over foreign corporations"
]
| It seems that now a country's economy depends much on . | A great deal of attention is being paid today to the so-called digital divide -- the division of the world into the info (information) rich and the info poor. And that divide does exist today. My wife and I lectured about this looming danger twenty years ago. What was less visible then, however, were the new, positive forces that work against the digital divide. There are reasons to be optimistic.
There are technological reasons to hope the digital divide will narrow. As the Internet becomes more and more commercialized, it is in the interest of business to universalize access
-- after all, the more people online, the more potential customers there are. More and more governments, afraid their countries will be left behind, want to spread Internet access. Within the next decade or two, one to two billion people on the planet will be netted together. As a result, I now believe the digital divide will narrow rather than widen in the years ahead. And that is very good news because the Internet may well be the most powerful tool for combating world poverty that we've ever had.
Of course, the use of the Internet isn't the only way to defeat poverty. And the Internet is not the only tool we have. But it has enormous potential.
To take advantage of this tool, some impoverished countries will have to get over their outdated anti-colonial prejudices with respect to foreign investment. Countries that still think foreign investment is an invasion of their sovereignty might well study the history of infrastructure (the basic structural foundations of a society) in the United States. When the United States built its industrial infrastructure, it didn't have the capital to do so. And that is why America's Second Wave infrastructure -- including roads, harbors, highways, ports and so on -- were built with foreign investment. The English, the Germans, the Dutch and the French were investing in Britain's former colony. They financed them. Immigrant Americans built them. Guess who owns them now? The Americans. I believe the same thing would be true in places like Brazil or anywhere else for that matter. The more foreign capital you have helping you build your Third Wave infrastructure, which today is an electronic infrastructure, the better off you're going to be. That doesn't mean lying down and becoming fooled, or letting foreign corporations run uncontrolled. But it does mean recognizing how important they can be in building the energy and telecom infrastructures needed to take full advantage of the Internet. | 832.txt | 3 |
[
"most Americans are heavy drinkers.",
"Americans are now less shocked by road accidents.",
"accidents attract so much publicity.",
"drinking is a socially accepted habit in America."
]
| Drunken driving had become a major problem in America because _ . | Drunken driving--sometimes called America's socially accepted form of murder--has become a national epidemic. Every hour of every day about three Americans on average are killed by drunken drivers, adding up to an incredible 250,000 over the past decade.
A drunken driver is usually defined as one with a 0.10 blood alcohol content or roughly three beers, glasses of wine or shots of whisky drunk within two hours. Heavy drinking used to be an acceptable part of the American macho image and judges were lenient in most courts, but the drunken slaughter has recently caused so many well-publicized tragedies, especially involving young children, that public opinion is no longer so tolerant.
Twenty states have raised the legal drinking age to 21, reversing a trend in the 1960s to reduce it to 18. After New Jersey lowered it to 18, the number of people killed by 18-20-year-old drivers more than doubled, so the state recently upped it back to 21.
Reformers, however, fear raising the drinking age will have little effect unless accompanied by educational programs to help young people to develop " responsible attitudes" about drinking and teach them to resist peer pressure to drink.
Though new laws have led to increased arrests and tests and, in many areas already, to a marked decline in fatalities. Some states are also penalizing bars for serving customers too many drinks. A tavern in Massachusetts was fined for serving six or more double brandies to a customer who " obviously intoxicated" and later drove off the road, killing a nine-year-old boy.
As the fatalities continue to occur daily in every state, some Americans are even beginning to speak well of the 13 years of national prohibition of alcohol that began in 1919, what President Hoover called the " noble experiment." They forgot that legal prohibition didn't stop drinking, but encouraged political corruption and organized crime. As with the booming drug trade generally, there is no easy solution. | 937.txt | 3 |
[
"Because detailed statistics are now available.",
"Because the news media have highlighted the problem.",
"Because judges are giving more severe sentences.",
"Because drivers are more conscious of their image."
]
| Why has public opinion regarding drunken driving changed? | Drunken driving--sometimes called America's socially accepted form of murder--has become a national epidemic. Every hour of every day about three Americans on average are killed by drunken drivers, adding up to an incredible 250,000 over the past decade.
A drunken driver is usually defined as one with a 0.10 blood alcohol content or roughly three beers, glasses of wine or shots of whisky drunk within two hours. Heavy drinking used to be an acceptable part of the American macho image and judges were lenient in most courts, but the drunken slaughter has recently caused so many well-publicized tragedies, especially involving young children, that public opinion is no longer so tolerant.
Twenty states have raised the legal drinking age to 21, reversing a trend in the 1960s to reduce it to 18. After New Jersey lowered it to 18, the number of people killed by 18-20-year-old drivers more than doubled, so the state recently upped it back to 21.
Reformers, however, fear raising the drinking age will have little effect unless accompanied by educational programs to help young people to develop " responsible attitudes" about drinking and teach them to resist peer pressure to drink.
Though new laws have led to increased arrests and tests and, in many areas already, to a marked decline in fatalities. Some states are also penalizing bars for serving customers too many drinks. A tavern in Massachusetts was fined for serving six or more double brandies to a customer who " obviously intoxicated" and later drove off the road, killing a nine-year-old boy.
As the fatalities continue to occur daily in every state, some Americans are even beginning to speak well of the 13 years of national prohibition of alcohol that began in 1919, what President Hoover called the " noble experiment." They forgot that legal prohibition didn't stop drinking, but encouraged political corruption and organized crime. As with the booming drug trade generally, there is no easy solution. | 937.txt | 1 |
[
"many drivers were not of legal age.",
"young drivers were often bad drivers.",
"the level of drinking increased in the 1960s.",
"the legal drinking age should be raised."
]
| Statistics issued in New Jersey suggested that _ . | Drunken driving--sometimes called America's socially accepted form of murder--has become a national epidemic. Every hour of every day about three Americans on average are killed by drunken drivers, adding up to an incredible 250,000 over the past decade.
A drunken driver is usually defined as one with a 0.10 blood alcohol content or roughly three beers, glasses of wine or shots of whisky drunk within two hours. Heavy drinking used to be an acceptable part of the American macho image and judges were lenient in most courts, but the drunken slaughter has recently caused so many well-publicized tragedies, especially involving young children, that public opinion is no longer so tolerant.
Twenty states have raised the legal drinking age to 21, reversing a trend in the 1960s to reduce it to 18. After New Jersey lowered it to 18, the number of people killed by 18-20-year-old drivers more than doubled, so the state recently upped it back to 21.
Reformers, however, fear raising the drinking age will have little effect unless accompanied by educational programs to help young people to develop " responsible attitudes" about drinking and teach them to resist peer pressure to drink.
Though new laws have led to increased arrests and tests and, in many areas already, to a marked decline in fatalities. Some states are also penalizing bars for serving customers too many drinks. A tavern in Massachusetts was fined for serving six or more double brandies to a customer who " obviously intoxicated" and later drove off the road, killing a nine-year-old boy.
As the fatalities continue to occur daily in every state, some Americans are even beginning to speak well of the 13 years of national prohibition of alcohol that began in 1919, what President Hoover called the " noble experiment." They forgot that legal prohibition didn't stop drinking, but encouraged political corruption and organized crime. As with the booming drug trade generally, there is no easy solution. | 937.txt | 3 |
[
"reduced the number of convictions.",
"resulted in fewer serious accidents.",
"prevented bars from serving drunken customers.",
"specified the amount drivers can drink."
]
| Laws recently introduced in some states have _ . | Drunken driving--sometimes called America's socially accepted form of murder--has become a national epidemic. Every hour of every day about three Americans on average are killed by drunken drivers, adding up to an incredible 250,000 over the past decade.
A drunken driver is usually defined as one with a 0.10 blood alcohol content or roughly three beers, glasses of wine or shots of whisky drunk within two hours. Heavy drinking used to be an acceptable part of the American macho image and judges were lenient in most courts, but the drunken slaughter has recently caused so many well-publicized tragedies, especially involving young children, that public opinion is no longer so tolerant.
Twenty states have raised the legal drinking age to 21, reversing a trend in the 1960s to reduce it to 18. After New Jersey lowered it to 18, the number of people killed by 18-20-year-old drivers more than doubled, so the state recently upped it back to 21.
Reformers, however, fear raising the drinking age will have little effect unless accompanied by educational programs to help young people to develop " responsible attitudes" about drinking and teach them to resist peer pressure to drink.
Though new laws have led to increased arrests and tests and, in many areas already, to a marked decline in fatalities. Some states are also penalizing bars for serving customers too many drinks. A tavern in Massachusetts was fined for serving six or more double brandies to a customer who " obviously intoxicated" and later drove off the road, killing a nine-year-old boy.
As the fatalities continue to occur daily in every state, some Americans are even beginning to speak well of the 13 years of national prohibition of alcohol that began in 1919, what President Hoover called the " noble experiment." They forgot that legal prohibition didn't stop drinking, but encouraged political corruption and organized crime. As with the booming drug trade generally, there is no easy solution. | 937.txt | 1 |
[
"Because alcohol is easily obtained.",
"Because drinking is linked to organized crime.",
"Because legal prohibition has already failed.",
"Because legislation alone is not sufficient."
]
| Why is the problem of drinking and driving difficult to solve? | Drunken driving--sometimes called America's socially accepted form of murder--has become a national epidemic. Every hour of every day about three Americans on average are killed by drunken drivers, adding up to an incredible 250,000 over the past decade.
A drunken driver is usually defined as one with a 0.10 blood alcohol content or roughly three beers, glasses of wine or shots of whisky drunk within two hours. Heavy drinking used to be an acceptable part of the American macho image and judges were lenient in most courts, but the drunken slaughter has recently caused so many well-publicized tragedies, especially involving young children, that public opinion is no longer so tolerant.
Twenty states have raised the legal drinking age to 21, reversing a trend in the 1960s to reduce it to 18. After New Jersey lowered it to 18, the number of people killed by 18-20-year-old drivers more than doubled, so the state recently upped it back to 21.
Reformers, however, fear raising the drinking age will have little effect unless accompanied by educational programs to help young people to develop " responsible attitudes" about drinking and teach them to resist peer pressure to drink.
Though new laws have led to increased arrests and tests and, in many areas already, to a marked decline in fatalities. Some states are also penalizing bars for serving customers too many drinks. A tavern in Massachusetts was fined for serving six or more double brandies to a customer who " obviously intoxicated" and later drove off the road, killing a nine-year-old boy.
As the fatalities continue to occur daily in every state, some Americans are even beginning to speak well of the 13 years of national prohibition of alcohol that began in 1919, what President Hoover called the " noble experiment." They forgot that legal prohibition didn't stop drinking, but encouraged political corruption and organized crime. As with the booming drug trade generally, there is no easy solution. | 937.txt | 3 |
[
"parents play in bringing up their children",
"men play in a family",
"women play in a family",
"equality plays in a family"
]
| From the passage we know that the author is very concerned with the role that . | In a family where the roles of men and women are not sharply separated and where many household tasks are shared to a greater or lesser extent, notions of male superiority are hard to maintain. The pattern of sharing in tasks and in decisions makes for equality, and this in turn leads to further sharing. In such a home, the growing boy and girl learn to accept that equality more easily than did their parents and to prepare more fully for participation in a world characterized by cooperation rather than by the battle of the sexes.
If the process goes too far and man's role is regarded as less important - and that has happened in some cases-we are as badly of as before, only in reverse.
It is time to reassess the role of the man in the American family. We are getting a little tired ofmonism, - but we don't want to exchange it for aneo-popism.What we need, rather, is the recognition that bringing up children involves a partnership of equals.
There are signs that psychatrists, psychologists, social workers, and specialists on the family are becoming more aware of the part men play and that they have decided that women should not receive all the credit-not all the blame. We have almost given up saying that a woman's place is the home. We are beginning, however, o analyze men's place in the home and to insist that he does have a place in it. Nor is that place irrelevant to the healthy development of the child.
The family is a cooperative enterprise for which it is difficult to lay down rules, because each family needs to work out its own ways for solving its own problems.
Excessive authoritarianism has unhappy consequences, whether it wears skirts or trousers, and the ideal of equal rights and equal responsibilities is connected not only with a healthy democracy, but also with a healthy family. | 1821.txt | 1 |
[
"a man's place is in the home",
"a woman's place is in the home",
"a woman should be equal to a man",
"a man should have an equal share in family matters"
]
| The author means to tell us that . | In a family where the roles of men and women are not sharply separated and where many household tasks are shared to a greater or lesser extent, notions of male superiority are hard to maintain. The pattern of sharing in tasks and in decisions makes for equality, and this in turn leads to further sharing. In such a home, the growing boy and girl learn to accept that equality more easily than did their parents and to prepare more fully for participation in a world characterized by cooperation rather than by the battle of the sexes.
If the process goes too far and man's role is regarded as less important - and that has happened in some cases-we are as badly of as before, only in reverse.
It is time to reassess the role of the man in the American family. We are getting a little tired ofmonism, - but we don't want to exchange it for aneo-popism.What we need, rather, is the recognition that bringing up children involves a partnership of equals.
There are signs that psychatrists, psychologists, social workers, and specialists on the family are becoming more aware of the part men play and that they have decided that women should not receive all the credit-not all the blame. We have almost given up saying that a woman's place is the home. We are beginning, however, o analyze men's place in the home and to insist that he does have a place in it. Nor is that place irrelevant to the healthy development of the child.
The family is a cooperative enterprise for which it is difficult to lay down rules, because each family needs to work out its own ways for solving its own problems.
Excessive authoritarianism has unhappy consequences, whether it wears skirts or trousers, and the ideal of equal rights and equal responsibilities is connected not only with a healthy democracy, but also with a healthy family. | 1821.txt | 3 |
[
"cooperation",
"momism",
"authoritarianism",
"neo-popism"
]
| According to the author, a healthy family should be based on . | In a family where the roles of men and women are not sharply separated and where many household tasks are shared to a greater or lesser extent, notions of male superiority are hard to maintain. The pattern of sharing in tasks and in decisions makes for equality, and this in turn leads to further sharing. In such a home, the growing boy and girl learn to accept that equality more easily than did their parents and to prepare more fully for participation in a world characterized by cooperation rather than by the battle of the sexes.
If the process goes too far and man's role is regarded as less important - and that has happened in some cases-we are as badly of as before, only in reverse.
It is time to reassess the role of the man in the American family. We are getting a little tired ofmonism, - but we don't want to exchange it for aneo-popism.What we need, rather, is the recognition that bringing up children involves a partnership of equals.
There are signs that psychatrists, psychologists, social workers, and specialists on the family are becoming more aware of the part men play and that they have decided that women should not receive all the credit-not all the blame. We have almost given up saying that a woman's place is the home. We are beginning, however, o analyze men's place in the home and to insist that he does have a place in it. Nor is that place irrelevant to the healthy development of the child.
The family is a cooperative enterprise for which it is difficult to lay down rules, because each family needs to work out its own ways for solving its own problems.
Excessive authoritarianism has unhappy consequences, whether it wears skirts or trousers, and the ideal of equal rights and equal responsibilities is connected not only with a healthy democracy, but also with a healthy family. | 1821.txt | 0 |
[
"The children.",
"The man.",
"The woman",
"The psychologist."
]
| Who will benefit most from a family pattern of sharing in tasks and decisions? | In a family where the roles of men and women are not sharply separated and where many household tasks are shared to a greater or lesser extent, notions of male superiority are hard to maintain. The pattern of sharing in tasks and in decisions makes for equality, and this in turn leads to further sharing. In such a home, the growing boy and girl learn to accept that equality more easily than did their parents and to prepare more fully for participation in a world characterized by cooperation rather than by the battle of the sexes.
If the process goes too far and man's role is regarded as less important - and that has happened in some cases-we are as badly of as before, only in reverse.
It is time to reassess the role of the man in the American family. We are getting a little tired ofmonism, - but we don't want to exchange it for aneo-popism.What we need, rather, is the recognition that bringing up children involves a partnership of equals.
There are signs that psychatrists, psychologists, social workers, and specialists on the family are becoming more aware of the part men play and that they have decided that women should not receive all the credit-not all the blame. We have almost given up saying that a woman's place is the home. We are beginning, however, o analyze men's place in the home and to insist that he does have a place in it. Nor is that place irrelevant to the healthy development of the child.
The family is a cooperative enterprise for which it is difficult to lay down rules, because each family needs to work out its own ways for solving its own problems.
Excessive authoritarianism has unhappy consequences, whether it wears skirts or trousers, and the ideal of equal rights and equal responsibilities is connected not only with a healthy democracy, but also with a healthy family. | 1821.txt | 0 |
[
"male superiority maintains a healthy family",
"authority and democracy are very essential to a healthy family",
"authoritarianism does no good to a healthy family",
"women should be equal to men"
]
| We may safely conclude from the passage that . | In a family where the roles of men and women are not sharply separated and where many household tasks are shared to a greater or lesser extent, notions of male superiority are hard to maintain. The pattern of sharing in tasks and in decisions makes for equality, and this in turn leads to further sharing. In such a home, the growing boy and girl learn to accept that equality more easily than did their parents and to prepare more fully for participation in a world characterized by cooperation rather than by the battle of the sexes.
If the process goes too far and man's role is regarded as less important - and that has happened in some cases-we are as badly of as before, only in reverse.
It is time to reassess the role of the man in the American family. We are getting a little tired ofmonism, - but we don't want to exchange it for aneo-popism.What we need, rather, is the recognition that bringing up children involves a partnership of equals.
There are signs that psychatrists, psychologists, social workers, and specialists on the family are becoming more aware of the part men play and that they have decided that women should not receive all the credit-not all the blame. We have almost given up saying that a woman's place is the home. We are beginning, however, o analyze men's place in the home and to insist that he does have a place in it. Nor is that place irrelevant to the healthy development of the child.
The family is a cooperative enterprise for which it is difficult to lay down rules, because each family needs to work out its own ways for solving its own problems.
Excessive authoritarianism has unhappy consequences, whether it wears skirts or trousers, and the ideal of equal rights and equal responsibilities is connected not only with a healthy democracy, but also with a healthy family. | 1821.txt | 1 |
[
"their life was as luxurious as that of royalty.",
"They enjoy what once only belonged to the royalty.",
"They are rather rich.",
"Their way of living was the same as that of the royalty."
]
| The sentence Pop stars' style of living was once the prerogative only of Royalty means _ . | Pop stars today enjoy a style of living which was once the prerogative only of Royalty.Wherever they go, people turn out in their thousands to greet them.The crowds go wild trying to catch a brief glimpse of their smiling, colorfully dressed idols.The stars are transported in their chauffeur driven Rolls-Royces, private helicopters or executive aeroplanes.They are surrounded by a permanent entourage of managers, press agents and bodyguards.Photographs of them appear regularly in the press and all their comings and goings are reported, for, like Royalty, pop stars are news.If they enjoy many of the privileges of Royalty, they certainly share many of the inconveniences as well.It is dangerous for them to make unscheduled appearances in public.They must be constantly shielded from the adoring crowds which idolize them.They are no longer private individuals, but public property.The financial rewards they receive for this sacrifice cannot be calculated, for their rates of pay are astronomical.
And why not? Society has always rewarded its top entertainers lavishly.The great days of Hollywood have become legendary: famous stars enjoyed fame, wealth and adulation on an unprecedented scale.By today's standards, the excesses of Hollywood do not seem quite so spectacular.A single gramophone record nowadays may earn much more in royalties than the films of the past ever did.The competition for the title‘Top of the Pops'is fierce, but the rewards are truly colossal.
It is only right that the stars should be paid in this way.Don't the top men in industry earn enormous salaries for the services they perform to their companies and their countries? Pop stars earn vast sums in foreign currency - often more than large industrial concerns - and the taxman can only be grateful fro their massive annual contributions to the exchequer.So who would begrudge them their rewards?
It's all very well for people in humdrum jobs to moan about the successes and rewards of others.People who make envious remarks should remember that the most famous stars represent only the tip of the iceberg.For every famous star, there are hundreds of others struggling to earn a living.A man working in a steady job and looking forward to a pension at the end of it has no right to expect very high rewards.He has chosen security and peace of mind, so there will always be a limit to what he can earn.But a man who attempts to become a star is taking enormous risks.He knows at the outset that only a handful of competitors ever get to the very top.He knows that years of concentrated effort may be rewarded with complete failure.But he knows, too, that the rewards for success are very high indeed: they are the recompense for the huge risks involved and if he achieves them, he has certainly earned them.That's the essence of private enterprise. | 274.txt | 1 |
[
"Approval.",
"Disapproval.",
"Ironical.",
"Critical."
]
| What is the author's attitude toward top stars' high income? | Pop stars today enjoy a style of living which was once the prerogative only of Royalty.Wherever they go, people turn out in their thousands to greet them.The crowds go wild trying to catch a brief glimpse of their smiling, colorfully dressed idols.The stars are transported in their chauffeur driven Rolls-Royces, private helicopters or executive aeroplanes.They are surrounded by a permanent entourage of managers, press agents and bodyguards.Photographs of them appear regularly in the press and all their comings and goings are reported, for, like Royalty, pop stars are news.If they enjoy many of the privileges of Royalty, they certainly share many of the inconveniences as well.It is dangerous for them to make unscheduled appearances in public.They must be constantly shielded from the adoring crowds which idolize them.They are no longer private individuals, but public property.The financial rewards they receive for this sacrifice cannot be calculated, for their rates of pay are astronomical.
And why not? Society has always rewarded its top entertainers lavishly.The great days of Hollywood have become legendary: famous stars enjoyed fame, wealth and adulation on an unprecedented scale.By today's standards, the excesses of Hollywood do not seem quite so spectacular.A single gramophone record nowadays may earn much more in royalties than the films of the past ever did.The competition for the title‘Top of the Pops'is fierce, but the rewards are truly colossal.
It is only right that the stars should be paid in this way.Don't the top men in industry earn enormous salaries for the services they perform to their companies and their countries? Pop stars earn vast sums in foreign currency - often more than large industrial concerns - and the taxman can only be grateful fro their massive annual contributions to the exchequer.So who would begrudge them their rewards?
It's all very well for people in humdrum jobs to moan about the successes and rewards of others.People who make envious remarks should remember that the most famous stars represent only the tip of the iceberg.For every famous star, there are hundreds of others struggling to earn a living.A man working in a steady job and looking forward to a pension at the end of it has no right to expect very high rewards.He has chosen security and peace of mind, so there will always be a limit to what he can earn.But a man who attempts to become a star is taking enormous risks.He knows at the outset that only a handful of competitors ever get to the very top.He knows that years of concentrated effort may be rewarded with complete failure.But he knows, too, that the rewards for success are very high indeed: they are the recompense for the huge risks involved and if he achieves them, he has certainly earned them.That's the essence of private enterprise. | 274.txt | 0 |
[
"there exists fierce competition in climbing to the top.",
"People are blind in idolizing stars.",
"Successful Pop stars give great entertainment.",
"The tax they have paid are great."
]
| It can be inferred from the passage _ . | Pop stars today enjoy a style of living which was once the prerogative only of Royalty.Wherever they go, people turn out in their thousands to greet them.The crowds go wild trying to catch a brief glimpse of their smiling, colorfully dressed idols.The stars are transported in their chauffeur driven Rolls-Royces, private helicopters or executive aeroplanes.They are surrounded by a permanent entourage of managers, press agents and bodyguards.Photographs of them appear regularly in the press and all their comings and goings are reported, for, like Royalty, pop stars are news.If they enjoy many of the privileges of Royalty, they certainly share many of the inconveniences as well.It is dangerous for them to make unscheduled appearances in public.They must be constantly shielded from the adoring crowds which idolize them.They are no longer private individuals, but public property.The financial rewards they receive for this sacrifice cannot be calculated, for their rates of pay are astronomical.
And why not? Society has always rewarded its top entertainers lavishly.The great days of Hollywood have become legendary: famous stars enjoyed fame, wealth and adulation on an unprecedented scale.By today's standards, the excesses of Hollywood do not seem quite so spectacular.A single gramophone record nowadays may earn much more in royalties than the films of the past ever did.The competition for the title‘Top of the Pops'is fierce, but the rewards are truly colossal.
It is only right that the stars should be paid in this way.Don't the top men in industry earn enormous salaries for the services they perform to their companies and their countries? Pop stars earn vast sums in foreign currency - often more than large industrial concerns - and the taxman can only be grateful fro their massive annual contributions to the exchequer.So who would begrudge them their rewards?
It's all very well for people in humdrum jobs to moan about the successes and rewards of others.People who make envious remarks should remember that the most famous stars represent only the tip of the iceberg.For every famous star, there are hundreds of others struggling to earn a living.A man working in a steady job and looking forward to a pension at the end of it has no right to expect very high rewards.He has chosen security and peace of mind, so there will always be a limit to what he can earn.But a man who attempts to become a star is taking enormous risks.He knows at the outset that only a handful of competitors ever get to the very top.He knows that years of concentrated effort may be rewarded with complete failure.But he knows, too, that the rewards for success are very high indeed: they are the recompense for the huge risks involved and if he achieves them, he has certainly earned them.That's the essence of private enterprise. | 274.txt | 0 |
[
"Successful man should get high-income repayment.",
"Pop stars made great contribution to a country.",
"Pop stars can enjoy the life of royalty.",
"Successful men represent the tip of the iceberg."
]
| What can we learn from the passage? | Pop stars today enjoy a style of living which was once the prerogative only of Royalty.Wherever they go, people turn out in their thousands to greet them.The crowds go wild trying to catch a brief glimpse of their smiling, colorfully dressed idols.The stars are transported in their chauffeur driven Rolls-Royces, private helicopters or executive aeroplanes.They are surrounded by a permanent entourage of managers, press agents and bodyguards.Photographs of them appear regularly in the press and all their comings and goings are reported, for, like Royalty, pop stars are news.If they enjoy many of the privileges of Royalty, they certainly share many of the inconveniences as well.It is dangerous for them to make unscheduled appearances in public.They must be constantly shielded from the adoring crowds which idolize them.They are no longer private individuals, but public property.The financial rewards they receive for this sacrifice cannot be calculated, for their rates of pay are astronomical.
And why not? Society has always rewarded its top entertainers lavishly.The great days of Hollywood have become legendary: famous stars enjoyed fame, wealth and adulation on an unprecedented scale.By today's standards, the excesses of Hollywood do not seem quite so spectacular.A single gramophone record nowadays may earn much more in royalties than the films of the past ever did.The competition for the title‘Top of the Pops'is fierce, but the rewards are truly colossal.
It is only right that the stars should be paid in this way.Don't the top men in industry earn enormous salaries for the services they perform to their companies and their countries? Pop stars earn vast sums in foreign currency - often more than large industrial concerns - and the taxman can only be grateful fro their massive annual contributions to the exchequer.So who would begrudge them their rewards?
It's all very well for people in humdrum jobs to moan about the successes and rewards of others.People who make envious remarks should remember that the most famous stars represent only the tip of the iceberg.For every famous star, there are hundreds of others struggling to earn a living.A man working in a steady job and looking forward to a pension at the end of it has no right to expect very high rewards.He has chosen security and peace of mind, so there will always be a limit to what he can earn.But a man who attempts to become a star is taking enormous risks.He knows at the outset that only a handful of competitors ever get to the very top.He knows that years of concentrated effort may be rewarded with complete failure.But he knows, too, that the rewards for success are very high indeed: they are the recompense for the huge risks involved and if he achieves them, he has certainly earned them.That's the essence of private enterprise. | 274.txt | 3 |
[
"The first.",
"The second.",
"The third.",
"The fourth."
]
| Which paragraph covers the main idea? | Pop stars today enjoy a style of living which was once the prerogative only of Royalty.Wherever they go, people turn out in their thousands to greet them.The crowds go wild trying to catch a brief glimpse of their smiling, colorfully dressed idols.The stars are transported in their chauffeur driven Rolls-Royces, private helicopters or executive aeroplanes.They are surrounded by a permanent entourage of managers, press agents and bodyguards.Photographs of them appear regularly in the press and all their comings and goings are reported, for, like Royalty, pop stars are news.If they enjoy many of the privileges of Royalty, they certainly share many of the inconveniences as well.It is dangerous for them to make unscheduled appearances in public.They must be constantly shielded from the adoring crowds which idolize them.They are no longer private individuals, but public property.The financial rewards they receive for this sacrifice cannot be calculated, for their rates of pay are astronomical.
And why not? Society has always rewarded its top entertainers lavishly.The great days of Hollywood have become legendary: famous stars enjoyed fame, wealth and adulation on an unprecedented scale.By today's standards, the excesses of Hollywood do not seem quite so spectacular.A single gramophone record nowadays may earn much more in royalties than the films of the past ever did.The competition for the title‘Top of the Pops'is fierce, but the rewards are truly colossal.
It is only right that the stars should be paid in this way.Don't the top men in industry earn enormous salaries for the services they perform to their companies and their countries? Pop stars earn vast sums in foreign currency - often more than large industrial concerns - and the taxman can only be grateful fro their massive annual contributions to the exchequer.So who would begrudge them their rewards?
It's all very well for people in humdrum jobs to moan about the successes and rewards of others.People who make envious remarks should remember that the most famous stars represent only the tip of the iceberg.For every famous star, there are hundreds of others struggling to earn a living.A man working in a steady job and looking forward to a pension at the end of it has no right to expect very high rewards.He has chosen security and peace of mind, so there will always be a limit to what he can earn.But a man who attempts to become a star is taking enormous risks.He knows at the outset that only a handful of competitors ever get to the very top.He knows that years of concentrated effort may be rewarded with complete failure.But he knows, too, that the rewards for success are very high indeed: they are the recompense for the huge risks involved and if he achieves them, he has certainly earned them.That's the essence of private enterprise. | 274.txt | 3 |
[
"identifying",
"associating",
"assimilating",
"monopolizing"
]
| The word "homogenizing" (Line 2, Paragraph 1) most probably means . | In spite of "endless talk of difference," American society is an amazing machine for homogenizing people. There is "the democratizing uniformity of dress and discourse, and the casualness and absence of deference" characteristic of popular culture. People are absorbed into "a culture of consumption" launched by the 19th-century department stores that offered "vast arrays of goods in an elegant atmosphere. Instead of intimate shops catering to a knowledgeable elite," these were stores "anyone could enter, regardless of class or background. This turned shopping into a public and democratic act." The mass media, advertising and sports are other forces for homogenization.
Immigrants are quickly fitting into this common culture, which may not be altogether elevating but is hardly poisonous. Writing for the National Immigration Forum, Gregory Rodriguez reports that today's immigration is neither at unprecedented levels nor resistant to assimilation. In 1998 immigrants were 9.8 percent of population; in 1900, 13.6 percent. In the 10 years prior to 1990, 3.1 immigrants arrived for every 1,000 residents; in the 10 years prior to 1890, 9.2 for every 1,000. Now, consider three indices of assimilation -- language, home ownership and intermarriage.
The 1990 Census revealed that "a majority of immigrants from each of the fifteen most common countries of origin spoke English ‘well' or ‘very well' after ten years of residence." The children of immigrants tend to be bilingual and proficient in English. "By the third generation, the original language is lost in the majority of immigrant families." Hence the description of America as a "graveyard" for languages. By 1996 foreign-born immigrants who had arrived before 1970 had a home ownership rate of 75.6 percent, higher than the 69.8 percent rate among native-born Americans.
Foreign-born Asians and Hispanics "have higher rates of intermarriage than do U.S.-born whites and blacks." By the third generation, one third of Hispanic women are married to non-Hispanics, and 41 percent of Asian-American women are married to non-Asians.
Rodriguez notes that children in remote villages around the world are fans of superstars like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Garth Brooks, yet "some Americans fear that immigrants living within the United States remain somehow immune to the nation's assimilative power."
Are there divisive issues and pockets of seething anger in America? Indeed. It is big enough to have a bit of everything. But particularly when viewed against America's turbulent past, today's social indices hardly suggest a dark and deteriorating social environment. | 2870.txt | 2 |
[
"played a role in the spread of popular culture",
"became intimate shops for common consumers",
"satisfied the needs of a knowledgeable elite",
"owed its emergence to the culture of consumption"
]
| According to the author, the department stores of the 19th century . | In spite of "endless talk of difference," American society is an amazing machine for homogenizing people. There is "the democratizing uniformity of dress and discourse, and the casualness and absence of deference" characteristic of popular culture. People are absorbed into "a culture of consumption" launched by the 19th-century department stores that offered "vast arrays of goods in an elegant atmosphere. Instead of intimate shops catering to a knowledgeable elite," these were stores "anyone could enter, regardless of class or background. This turned shopping into a public and democratic act." The mass media, advertising and sports are other forces for homogenization.
Immigrants are quickly fitting into this common culture, which may not be altogether elevating but is hardly poisonous. Writing for the National Immigration Forum, Gregory Rodriguez reports that today's immigration is neither at unprecedented levels nor resistant to assimilation. In 1998 immigrants were 9.8 percent of population; in 1900, 13.6 percent. In the 10 years prior to 1990, 3.1 immigrants arrived for every 1,000 residents; in the 10 years prior to 1890, 9.2 for every 1,000. Now, consider three indices of assimilation -- language, home ownership and intermarriage.
The 1990 Census revealed that "a majority of immigrants from each of the fifteen most common countries of origin spoke English ‘well' or ‘very well' after ten years of residence." The children of immigrants tend to be bilingual and proficient in English. "By the third generation, the original language is lost in the majority of immigrant families." Hence the description of America as a "graveyard" for languages. By 1996 foreign-born immigrants who had arrived before 1970 had a home ownership rate of 75.6 percent, higher than the 69.8 percent rate among native-born Americans.
Foreign-born Asians and Hispanics "have higher rates of intermarriage than do U.S.-born whites and blacks." By the third generation, one third of Hispanic women are married to non-Hispanics, and 41 percent of Asian-American women are married to non-Asians.
Rodriguez notes that children in remote villages around the world are fans of superstars like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Garth Brooks, yet "some Americans fear that immigrants living within the United States remain somehow immune to the nation's assimilative power."
Are there divisive issues and pockets of seething anger in America? Indeed. It is big enough to have a bit of everything. But particularly when viewed against America's turbulent past, today's social indices hardly suggest a dark and deteriorating social environment. | 2870.txt | 0 |
[
"are resistant to homogenization",
"exert a great influence on American culture",
"are hardly a threat to the common culture",
"constitute the majority of the population"
]
| The text suggests that immigrants now in the U.S. . | In spite of "endless talk of difference," American society is an amazing machine for homogenizing people. There is "the democratizing uniformity of dress and discourse, and the casualness and absence of deference" characteristic of popular culture. People are absorbed into "a culture of consumption" launched by the 19th-century department stores that offered "vast arrays of goods in an elegant atmosphere. Instead of intimate shops catering to a knowledgeable elite," these were stores "anyone could enter, regardless of class or background. This turned shopping into a public and democratic act." The mass media, advertising and sports are other forces for homogenization.
Immigrants are quickly fitting into this common culture, which may not be altogether elevating but is hardly poisonous. Writing for the National Immigration Forum, Gregory Rodriguez reports that today's immigration is neither at unprecedented levels nor resistant to assimilation. In 1998 immigrants were 9.8 percent of population; in 1900, 13.6 percent. In the 10 years prior to 1990, 3.1 immigrants arrived for every 1,000 residents; in the 10 years prior to 1890, 9.2 for every 1,000. Now, consider three indices of assimilation -- language, home ownership and intermarriage.
The 1990 Census revealed that "a majority of immigrants from each of the fifteen most common countries of origin spoke English ‘well' or ‘very well' after ten years of residence." The children of immigrants tend to be bilingual and proficient in English. "By the third generation, the original language is lost in the majority of immigrant families." Hence the description of America as a "graveyard" for languages. By 1996 foreign-born immigrants who had arrived before 1970 had a home ownership rate of 75.6 percent, higher than the 69.8 percent rate among native-born Americans.
Foreign-born Asians and Hispanics "have higher rates of intermarriage than do U.S.-born whites and blacks." By the third generation, one third of Hispanic women are married to non-Hispanics, and 41 percent of Asian-American women are married to non-Asians.
Rodriguez notes that children in remote villages around the world are fans of superstars like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Garth Brooks, yet "some Americans fear that immigrants living within the United States remain somehow immune to the nation's assimilative power."
Are there divisive issues and pockets of seething anger in America? Indeed. It is big enough to have a bit of everything. But particularly when viewed against America's turbulent past, today's social indices hardly suggest a dark and deteriorating social environment. | 2870.txt | 2 |
[
"To prove their popularity around the world.",
"To reveal the public's fear of immigrants.",
"To give examples of successful immigrants.",
"To show the powerful influence of American culture."
]
| Why are Arnold Schwarzenegger and Garth Brooks mentioned in Paragraph 5? | In spite of "endless talk of difference," American society is an amazing machine for homogenizing people. There is "the democratizing uniformity of dress and discourse, and the casualness and absence of deference" characteristic of popular culture. People are absorbed into "a culture of consumption" launched by the 19th-century department stores that offered "vast arrays of goods in an elegant atmosphere. Instead of intimate shops catering to a knowledgeable elite," these were stores "anyone could enter, regardless of class or background. This turned shopping into a public and democratic act." The mass media, advertising and sports are other forces for homogenization.
Immigrants are quickly fitting into this common culture, which may not be altogether elevating but is hardly poisonous. Writing for the National Immigration Forum, Gregory Rodriguez reports that today's immigration is neither at unprecedented levels nor resistant to assimilation. In 1998 immigrants were 9.8 percent of population; in 1900, 13.6 percent. In the 10 years prior to 1990, 3.1 immigrants arrived for every 1,000 residents; in the 10 years prior to 1890, 9.2 for every 1,000. Now, consider three indices of assimilation -- language, home ownership and intermarriage.
The 1990 Census revealed that "a majority of immigrants from each of the fifteen most common countries of origin spoke English ‘well' or ‘very well' after ten years of residence." The children of immigrants tend to be bilingual and proficient in English. "By the third generation, the original language is lost in the majority of immigrant families." Hence the description of America as a "graveyard" for languages. By 1996 foreign-born immigrants who had arrived before 1970 had a home ownership rate of 75.6 percent, higher than the 69.8 percent rate among native-born Americans.
Foreign-born Asians and Hispanics "have higher rates of intermarriage than do U.S.-born whites and blacks." By the third generation, one third of Hispanic women are married to non-Hispanics, and 41 percent of Asian-American women are married to non-Asians.
Rodriguez notes that children in remote villages around the world are fans of superstars like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Garth Brooks, yet "some Americans fear that immigrants living within the United States remain somehow immune to the nation's assimilative power."
Are there divisive issues and pockets of seething anger in America? Indeed. It is big enough to have a bit of everything. But particularly when viewed against America's turbulent past, today's social indices hardly suggest a dark and deteriorating social environment. | 2870.txt | 3 |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.