Article: Sometimes, kindness is a simple answer in a difficult and challenging world. When my granddaughter, Skylar, was young, one day we went out and had a contest called "Who can make the most people smile. " And we continue it today. When shopping, we were walking in the supermarket and noticed someone walking down the aisle with her head down. Skylar walked up to her and gave her a big smile. I watched her walk down the aisle, turned around and smiled at Skylar again or perhaps smiled at someone else. Kindness is a chain that pulls us all together. Every single act of kindness has a ripple effect . In 2002, my dad had a series of strokes and other illness. My dad had been doing nice things for all sorts of people for years, from the street crossing guard, to the waitress in a restaurant, to a friend's mother. That same day, I made cookies for the janitor at the post office. When I gave him the cookies he actually looked a little embarrassed. "Why, Linda?" he asked. "Because I appreciate you!" I answered. "When I get here at 6 am and it is still dark out and it is a little scary, I know you are inside and I feel safe. And when I first moved here and my post office box was always empty, you always cheered me on. And you always keep this place clean." That evening his wife called me and said that he was overwhelmed . "No one even knows his name, let alone bakes him cookies!" she said. (278 words) Question: What was the author's attitude to the contest in the supermarket? Yes or no, is the answer "positive"?
Yes
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Article: Dear Parents, Welcome to our fifth grade class in Room 35 at Anne E. Moncure Elementary School. We have a very busy and exciting year in store for us! Before I give you a short preview of some of the subjects to be covered during the course of this year, let me first introduce myself. I am Elaine Bogucki and I have lived in Stafford County since 1987 with my husband. This will be my fourteenth year at Anne E. Moncure Elementary School and I consider myself very fortunate to be among such a professional faculty . I realize that teaching your child is a _ , as well as a very great responsibility. I will do my best this year to ensure that each student has a motivating and safe learning experience in the classroom. However, I cannot do this alone: I need your help. We both need to be partners in the learning process. I need each of you to encourage your child at home by helping to ensure that they have completed their assignments, and help them study for tests, if necessary. I will keep you informed of all assignments and subjects that are covered in class with a weekly summary. Finally, I have prepared some information that may help answer some of your questions about our subjects and classroom. I know that with your help we are going to have a great year! Sincerely, Mrs. Elaine Bogucki Question: We can infer from the passage that the parents' meeting was held _ . Yes or no, is the answer "at the beginning of a new school year"?
No
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Article: Modern man has cleared the forests for farmland and for wood, and has also carelessly burned them. More than that, though, he has also interfered with the invisible bonds between the living things in the forests. There are many examples of this kind of destruction. The harmfulness of man's interference can be seen in what happened many years ago in the forest of the Kaibab plateau of northern Arizona. Man tried to improve on the natural web of forest life and destroyed it instead. The Kaibab had a storybook forest of large sized pine, Douglas fir, white fir, blue and _ . In 1882 a visitor noted, "We, who ... have wandered through its forests and parks, have come to regard it as the most enchanting region it has ever been our privilege to visit." This was also the living place of the Rocky Mountain mule deer. Indians hunted there every autumn to gather meat and skins. The forest also had mountain lions, timber wolves and bobcats that kept the deer from multiplying too rapidly. Then, in 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt made the Kaibab a national game preserve. Deer hunting was forbidden. Government hunters started killing off the deer's enemies. In 25 years' time, 6,250 mountain lions, wolves and bobcats were killed. Before the program, there were about 4,000 deer in the Kaibab, by 1924, there were about 100,000. The deer ate every leaf and twig they could reach. But there was not nearly enough food. Hunting of deer was permitted again. This caused a slight decrease in the deer herd ,but a far greater loss resulted from starvation and disease. Some 60 percent of the deer herd died in two winters. By 1930 the herd had dropped to 20,000 animals. By 1942 it was down to 8,000. Question: Years later, large numbers of deer in the Kaibab died mainly because of . Yes or no, is the answer "the shortage of food"?
No
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Article: Man has a big brain. He can think, learn and speak. Scientists once thought that men are different from animals because they can think and learn. They know that animals can learn--dogs, rats, birds can learn. So scientists are beginning to understand that men are different from animals because they can speak. Animals cannot speak. They make noises when they are afraid, or angry, or unhappy. Apes can understand some things more quickly than human, one or two have learnt a few words. But they are still different from us. They cannot join words and make sentences; they cannot think like us because they have no language. They can never think about the past or the future. Language is a wonderful thing. Man has been able to build a modern world because he has language. Every child can speak his own language very well when he is four or five--but no animal learns to speak. How do children learn? What happens when we speak? Scientists do not know. They only know that man can speak because he has a big brain. Question: What is the thing an ape cannot do? Yes or no, is the answer "Speaking like men."?
No
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