A legendary basketball player, Yao Ming envisioned a new future for himself in 2011. Yao said that he would return to work with his former Chinese team, the Shanghai Sharks, and become their general manager. But he also planned to continue the charitable work for which he had become famous. In 2008, Yao donated $2 million to start the Yao Ming Foundation. Yao established the foundation to rebuild schools destroyed by a massive earthquake in the Sichuan province of China. Yao and his wife Ye Li paid for all administrative costs, permitting any funds raised by the foundation to go towards providing educational opportunities for children.
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Ming became a(n) _________.
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A philanthropist
B broadcaster
C industrialist
D rival
A philanthropist
In preparation for an upcoming study on the rapid melting of Antarctic ice, scientists with NASA and the National Science Foundation drilled an 8-inch-diameter (20-centimeter-diameter) hole in the West Antarctic ice sheet. The team then lowered an underwater video camera through the opening, suspending it 600 feet (183 meters) below the ice sheet. Scientists were not expecting to find much more than a few microbes in the icy, dark water. Therefore, they were completely astounded by what happened next: A curious shrimp-like creature swam in front of the underwater film equipment and parked itself on the camera's cable. Scientists determined that the 3-inch-long (8-centimeter-long), pinkish-orange creature was a Lyssianasid amphipod. The creature is distantly related to shrimp.
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The creature lives in a(n) _________ environment.
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A inhospitable
B legendary
C synthetic
D cavernous
A inhospitable
In 2011, students in South Dakota's Irene-Wakonda school district came back to school to find something missing—Friday classes. The district cut the school day in an attempt to lower costs and absorb state budget shortfalls. To make up for the time lost on Fridays, administrators adjusted the schedule. They added 30 minutes to each day and shortened lunch breaks to provide increased instructional time Monday through Thursday. In the elementary school, recess and physical education classes were also shortened. Those changes will not entirely make up for losing Friday, but they help.
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The loss of instructional time was _________.
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A postponed
B minimized
C noticeable
D neutralized
B minimized
Built in the 1930s, New York's High Line railway stretched 13 miles (21 kilometers). The elevated rail carried perishables—milk, meat and vegetables—as well as manufactured goods through the city. The trains went directly through factories and other large buildings along their routes. Then, in the 1950s, truckers started carrying the same goods through the city streets and beyond. There was less need for the rail service, and traffic declined. In 1980, the final High Line train stopped running. Most of the elevated structure was removed to make way for buildings. The remaining tracks, stretched just 22 blocks along the west side of Manhattan, had at one point been overtaken by weeds.
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The High Line became _________.
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A idle
B trampled
C independent
D fashionable