Article: If you're secretly worried about your smartphone addiction, then the new NoPhone might be just the thing you need.It looks and feels exactly like a smartphone,but it does nothing.It's just a piece of plastic that you can carry around in your hand to fool yourself. Dutch designer lngmar Larsen came up with the idea as a joke along with his two friends.To their great surprise,the idea received a lot of attention online and people from all over the world stated placing requests for NoPhones of their own.So that's when the three friends decided to turn to collect enough fund for mass production. NoPhone is currently a prototype that will cost only $12 once it hits the market.It is 5.5 inches high,2.6 inches wide and 0.29 inches thick, bringing it quite close to the latest smartphones on the market.It is described as"battery free","no upgrades necessary","shatterproof ","waterproof''and"an alternative to constant hand-to-phone contact that allows you to stay connected with the real world". "Phone addiction is everywhere."the designers insist."It's ruining your dates.It's distracting you at concerts.It's blocking sidewalks.Now,there is a real solution.With a thin.1ight and completely wireless design,the NoPhone acts as a substitute to any smart mobile device,enabling you to always have a phone to hold without giving up potential engagement with your direct environment." If you're interested in NoPhone,but concerned about not being able to take selfies anymore.Don't feel upset.The makers do have an upgrade at no extra charge--the mirror sticker.That way,they say,you can enjoy'real-time'selfies with your friends when they're standing right behind you. Question: What type of writing is this passage? Yes or no, is the answer "A scientific report."?
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Article: Three Boys and a Dad Brad closed the door slowly as Sue left home to visit her mother.Expecting a whole day to relax,he was thinking whether to read the newspaper or watch his favourite TV talk show on his first day off in months."This will be like a walk in the park,"he'd told his wife."I'll look after the kids,and you can go visit your mom." Things started well,but just after eight o'clock,his three little "good kids"--Mike,Randy,and Alex--came down the stairs in their night clothes and shouted "breakfast,daddy."When food had not appeared within thirty seconds,Randy began using his spoon on Alex's head as if it were a drum.Alex started to shout loudly in time to the beat .Mike chanted "Where's my toast,where's my toast" in the background.Brad realised his newspaper would have to wait for a few seconds. Life became worse after breakfast.Mike wore Randy's underwear on his head.Randy locked himself in the bathroom,while Alex shouted again because he was going to wet his pants.Nobody could find clean socks,although they were before their very eyes.Someone named "Not Me" had spilled a whole glass of orange juice into the basket of clean clothes.Brad knew the talk show had already started. By ten o'clock,things were out of control.Alex was wondering why the fish in the jar refused his bread and butter.Mike was trying to show off his talent by decorating the kitchen wall with his colour pencils.Randy,thankfully,appeared to be reading quietly in the family room,but closer examination showed that he was eating apple jam straight from the bottle with his hands.Brad realised that the talk show was over and reading would be impossible. At exactly 11:17,Brad called the daycare centre ."I suddenly have to go into work and my wife's away.Can I bring the boys over in a few minutes?"The answer was obviously "yes" because Brad was smiling.(2012*,B) Question: Which of the following did Randy do? Yes or no, is the answer "Eating apple jam."?
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Article: Some students get so nervous before a test, they do poorly even if they know the material. Sian Beilock, a psychology professor at the University of Chicago in Illinois, has studied these highly anxious test-takers. Sian Beilock says: "They start worrying about the consequences. They might even start worrying about whether this exam is going to prevent them from getting into the college they want. And when they worry, it actually uses up attention and memory resources. I talk about _ as their cognitive horsepower that they could otherwise be using to focus on the exam." Professor Beilock and another researcher, Gerardo Ramirez, have developed a possible solution. Just before an exam, highly anxious test-takers spend ten minutes writing about their worries about the test. The researchers tested the idea on a group of 20 anxious college students. They gave them two short math tests. After the first one, they asked the students to either sit quietly or write about their feelings about the upcoming second test. The researchers added to the pressure. They told the students that those who did well on the second test would get money. They also told them that their performance would affect other students as part of a team effort. Professor Beilock says those who sat quietly scored an average of 12 percent worse on the second test. But the students who had written about their fears improved their performance by an average of five percent. Next, the researchers used younger students in a biology class. They told them before final exams either to write about their feelings or to think about things unrelated to the test. Professor Beilock says highly anxious students who did the writing got an average grade of B+, compared to a B-for those who did not. The research shows that for students who are highly test-anxious, who'd done the writing intervention , all of a sudden there was no relationship between test anxiety and performance. Those students most likely to worry were performing just as well as their classmates who... Question: According to the research, the solution to the test anxiety is to _ . Yes or no, is the answer "write about their feelings before the test"?
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Article: American sign language has an interesting history. Although there have always been deaf individuals in America, the history really begins in 1817. Before 1817 deaf people communicated by using "home signs". Gestures were individually created and used within the home for simple communication. There were no schools or formal sign language training for the deaf. So, why was 1817 an important date? Well, the story begins with Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet. Gallaudet met his neighbor's daughter Alice Cogswell. Alice was the young deaf daughter of Dr. Mason Cogswell from Hartford, Connecticut. Gallaudet began teaching Alice to read and write a few simple words. Excited by the success Dr. Cogswell encouraged Gallaudet to establish a school for the deaf. Cogswell raised the money and Gallaudet traveled to Britain to learn the methods used there. However, the schools refused to share their instructional techniques and methods. While in London, there happened to be a demonstration of the French method of deaf education. Britain was using an oral method of instruction; however, the French method used signs. Gallaudet was fascinated with the method and was able to meet with the instructor, Sicard, and his two deaf pupils, Jean Massieu and Laurent Clerc. Sicard agreed to teach Gallaudet his method and Gallaudet went to Paris to learn French signs. After a while, Gallaudet wished to return home and convinced Clerc to go with him and help him establish the school. The trip home was a 52-day voyage during which Clerc taught Gallaudet French signs and Gallaudet taught Clerc English. On April 15, 1817, Laurent Clerc and Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet established what is currently known as the American School for the Deaf in Hartford, Connecticut. The opening of the first school for the deaf can be viewed as one of the most important events in current deaf culture. Question: What is the text mainly about? Yes or no, is the answer "How Gallaudet set up the first school for the deaf in America."?
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