Article: English is the native or official language of one-fifth of the land area of the world. It is spoken in North America, Great Britain, Australia, and New Zealand. In South Africa and India it is one of the official languages. More people study English than any other language. In many countries, the textbooks in universities are in English. Many university classes are taught in English even though the native language is not English. English is the language of international communication. It is the language of international business, research, and science. More than three-fourths of the world's mail is written in English. More than half of the scientific research journals are in English. Most other languages have borrowed many English words. Why did English become the international language? In the middle of the nineteenth century, French was the international language. The Britain became very powerful in the world. England started colonies in North America and India in the seventeenth century. By 1900 England also had colonies in other parts of Asia, Africa and the South Pacific. The people in the colonies had to use English. Slowly it became more important than French internationally. After the Second World War, the United States became very powerful, and even more people began to learn English. Is English a good international language? It has more words than any other language. The grammar is simpler than in other major languages. However, English spelling is difficult. Foreigners all have trouble spelling English. So do native speakers! Since 1880, people have invented over fifty artificial (not natural) languages. No one speaks them as a native language. However, none of them has ever become popular. Some people don't want to study English, but it is the international language. There is no way to change that now. Question: English is the native language of _ . Yes or no, is the answer "Australia"?
No
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Article: An ape has a larger brain than any animal except man, though it is much smaller than a man's brain. Apes all belong to the hot countries of the world--tropical Africa and South--east Asia. The gorilla is the largest of the apes. He is as tall as six feet when standing upright. Many people think that gorillas are very fierce. They are often described as standing upright like a man, beating their fists and roaring. In their home, in the forests of Central Africa, however, they are not at all like this, They are peaceful animals and never use their great strength unless attacked. Even then, they retreat if they can. Gorillas have black faces and long, black, hairy coats. They feed during the day on plants and fruit. At night the old male often sleeps on the ground at the foot of a tree, while the others each make a sleeping platform in the tree bending the leafy branches. Besides this, gorillas climb trees very seldom. Question: Apes live in _ . Yes or no, is the answer "the countries of Africa and south--east Asia"?
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Article: I was born an albino.No one in my family had ever known what an albino was,what it meant to be an albino,and what had to be done differently because I was an albino. My parents treated me just like they treated everybody else.That was just about the best thing they could have done.It helped me trust myself,so when the annoyances came along,I could deal with them. True,my photo always looked like a snowball with two pieces of coal for eyes.Kids would tease me,asking if I was joining the circus and calling me "Whitey".Like most albinos,I had terrible eyesight,and my grades suffered until eventually I overcame my feeling ashamed of myself and realized it was okay to ask to sit in the front of the classroom so I could see the blackboard better.People stared at me when I held reading material right at the tip of my nose so I could see it well enough to read.Even when I was eight or nine.movie-theater clerks started asking me to pay adult prices because I "looked older". The worst part for me was that because my eyesight was so bad,I couldn't play sports very well.I didn't give up trying,though.And I studied harder. Eventually,I got better at school and loved it.By the time I got to college 1 was double majoring,going to summer school and devoting myself to every kind of extracurricular activity I could find.I had learned to be proud of being an albino.I did my best to make "albino" a positive word.And I decided to make my living with my eyes. I couldn't see well enough to play spots,but with a solid education and the drive to do it.I could make a living involved in the field I loved.I've done it now for more than thirty years in print and in video,and now in cyberspace.People make jokes about how I'm the only "blind editor" they know,but most of the time the jokes are signs of respect.And I make jokes about being an albino. I was just a proud albino kid from the coal country of Pennsylvania.I now realize that being born an albino helped me to overcome difficulties,gain confidence,and be proud of my personal... Question: Why are people's jokes about the author mostly signs of respect? Yes or no, is the answer "Because they think he is a great "blind editor"."?
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Article: Science. And technology students in China and the US have a1ong way to go before they call develop a deep understanding of scientific reasoning, researchers have found. As part of a research to compare science education in China and the US,LeiBao, a professor from the Department of Physics of the Ohio State University, gave 5,760;freshmen in three US and four Chinese universities two tests to evaluate content knowledge and another to assess scientific reasoning |Though Chinese students did better than theirprefix = st1 /UScounterparts in the first two tests that Emphasized on learning facts, both groups "scored ly poorly" on the third test, designed to assess their ability on systematically explore a problem, the results showed. Lei Bao said that the finding challenges conventional wisdom,which holds that teaching science facts will improve students' reasoning ability."Our study shows that ,contrary to what many people would expect,even when students are thoroughly taught the facts,they don't necessarily develop the reasoning skills they need to succeed.''IBao said:'"Because students need both knowledge and reasoning, we need to explore teaching methods that target both." 'The current education systems and assessments of China and the US do not emphasize on deep understanding of scientific reasoning in the disciplines of science;technology, engineering and mathematics(STEM),the study concluded. Bao explained that reasoning is good skill for everyone to possess-not just scientists and engineers:The general public also need good reasoning skills in order to correctly interpret scientific findings and think rationally.STEM students need to _ scientific reasoning in order to handle open-ended real-world tasks in their future careers in science and engineering. How to boost scientific reasoning? The study suggests that educators must go beyond teaching science facts if they hope to boost students' reasoning ability.Bao points to inquiry-based leaning. where students work in... Question: Based on the study, what will be done to improve students' reasoning ability? Yes or no, is the answer "To improve teaching techniques."?
Yes
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