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CHAPTER XXIV
FROM A GARRET WINDOW
"This is getting interesting!" whispered Tom.
"I should say so," murmured Dick.
"That must have been what was bringing Belright Fogg down to New York City."
"It looks like it."
"Well, if he is mixed up in this he can get pinched with the rest of the rascals."
"Right you are."
After that the boys listened to more of the talk between the brokers and Josiah Crabtree. From what was said it was easy to guess that the plotters expected to make quite a large sum of money out of their evil doings.
"But you have got to get Rover's signatures to those papers," said Jesse Pelter.
"We'll do it!" cried Josiah Crabtree. "Even if we have to starve him into it."
"I hope those boys didn't come after the schooner," muttered Japson.
"I reckon Captain Rodney will know how to throw 'em off the scent," returned Crabtree.
"We were lucky to find that automobile at the tavern," went on Pelter.
Some more talk followed and then Japson exclaimed:
"Why can't we make Rover sign those papers now? Maybe we can scare him into it."
"We might try," answered his partner, slowly.
The men arose and Japson lit a lantern, for he knew it was dark in the garret. Then, one behind the other, they filed out into the hallway and went upstairs.
"They are going to find out something pretty soon!" chuckled Tom.
"Come on, let us follow 'em, Tom," answered his brother. "I've got a new idea." | Then where did they go? | upstairs. |
CNN marked a milestone Monday. Just before noon, the @cnnbrk account topped 10 million followers on Twitter. That puts our Twitter account in the company of Lady Gaga, President Barack Obama and Cristiano Ronaldo.
To mark the occasion, it's worth reflecting how we got here.
The first tweet on @cnnbrk wasn't news, and it wasn't written by an employee of CNN.
"Testing" is what James Cox tweeted in January 2007.
Cox said he started the account as a way to receive CNN's breaking news alerts on his phone. The account started to grow and gain attention. Journalist and fellow developer Brian Boyer posted this to his blog back in 2008: "@cnnbrk ain't CNN but with >30K followers, he owns the brand."
Cox wrote a response to that post: "I've been in contact with CNN -- they won't sue, i'm fairly sure, however i'm constantly dealing with the problem of confusion -- users still think that @cnnbrk is an official feed, therefore making me a defacto CNN employee, which is a problem."
We didn't sue, but we did work out a deal to get the handle.
As we celebrate reaching the 10-million-follower mark, Cox is the first person we should thank.
The second person to thank, naturally, is Ashton Kutcher. In 2009, he challenged CNN to a competition to see who could first reach 1 million followers. Kutcher won. At more than 13 million followers, @aplusk is still in the lead. And we're still coming after him.
We have a simple approach to @cnnbrk, and we believe that's one of the keys to its success. Breaking news, from an organization that built its brand on breaking news. Straight up. | When did the cable network mark a milestone? | Monday |
It's the super yacht with a super model and her billionaire tycoon husband as its joint owners and the 100ft supermaxi Comanche lived up to expectations with a blazing start to the Rolex Sydney-Hobart race Friday.
The 'Bluewater Classic' in its 70th staging is the first real competitive test for Comanche, which has been specially built for distance racing and speed record attempts, the brainchild of Netscape co-founder Jim Clark and his wife, Kristy Hinze-Clark, who was born in Australia.
Comanche, skippered by American Ken Read and with a strong international crew, is expected to battle it out for line honors with seven-time winner Wild Oats XI in the 628-nautical miles race, one of the highlights of the international yachting calendar.
The traditional Boxing Day start from Sydney Harbor saw an early glimpse of Comanche's speed with the skipper of Wild Oats XI, Mark Richards, moved to exclaim: "She's smoking -- look at that thing go!"
Out to sea and past the first mark in an unofficial record time, Comanche led from Wild Oats XI with the other supermaxis Ragamuffin and Perpetual Loyal giving chase.
The race, which runs down the east coast of Australia and across the Bass Strait to the Tasmanian capital Hobart, has drawn a 117-strong entry, the biggest since 1994.
But pre-race attention has centered on Comanche -- with its wide-bodied and cutting edge design, and two years in the building in Maine in the United States.
Clark watched from a supporting boat as his wife was part of the crew when Comanche took part in the Big Boat Challenge in Sydney Harbor on December 9, won by Wild Oats XI. | Where does it start from geographically? | Sydney Harbor |
More than 40 years ago, John Williams gave away all of his belongings and went off to the mountains to live the way people lived 100 years ago. For food he traps wild animals, fishes in the rivers, and plants whatever he can. John lives in a cabin he made by hand, out of trees he chopped down with an ax. Though he has no s he knows of, he does have a deer he raised from a fawn. The deer lives in the house in the winter and goes with John when he goes into the forest for food. Nobody lives within fifty miles of his cabin in the mountains and John has not been out of the mountains during the entire forty years. One day last year I hiked in to see how John lives. It was like going back in time. There were no roads, no stores, no noise, no pollution, not even a post office.
Most notable of all, there were no people and that's just the way John Williams wants to keep his part of the world--without people. But there is a paradox in his story. John is an educated man. He has books and nobody knows how he got them. Mostly he reads about his world, the forest, the animals, the plants, and the mountains. He has seen airplanes flying overhead but does not want to know about them. For him, electricity is lightning, not light bulbs, refrigerators, televisions, or washing machines. John Williams is 85 years old and had not had a sick day in his life. He attributes his long life to the fact that it has nothing to do with people and in order that he might enjoy many more years of health, happiness, and solitude, I will not tell you where his kingdom lies. There is no room there for you or me. | Who made his house | He did |
Women had a significant part to play during World War II,which was the time when women also made their own contributions.Some women's great efforts and their names have been recorded in history.Here's a look at some of the strong figures of women in World War II.
Tatiana Nikolaevna Baramzina was born in Glazov of Russia on December 12,1919.In 1943,she was sent to the Central Women's Sniper Training School and upon her graduation in April,she was further sent to the front.She managed to kill around 16 enemies in the first three months!Unfortunately,she was captured by the enemies and was killed on the fifth of July in 1944.Today,the street where she grew up has been renamed in her memory.
Anne Frank was a Germanborn Jewish girl who was wellknown for the publication of her diary that described all her experiences when the Germans occupied Holland in World War II.Anne was born on June 12,1929 and she,along with her family,went into hiding in July 1942.Two years later,her family was captured and seven months from her arrest,Anne Frank died of illness in early March 1945.
Margaret Ringenberg was born on 17 June,1921,in Indiana of America.She began her career during World War II when she became a ferry pilot for the Women Airforce Service Pilots.After that she turned a flight instructor in 1945.She even wrote her own book named Girls Can't Be Pilots.She passed away on 28 July,2008,after flying for 40,000 hours in the air.
Hannah Szenes was born on 17th July,1921 and was trained to parachute by the British army into Yugoslavia during World War II.This task was given in order to save the Jews of Hungary.Her secret mission was not revealed even when she was tortured following her arrest at the Hungarian border.Hannah Szenes had to brave immense tortures,yet she did not lose heart.She bravely battled it out and tried to sing to keep her spirits high!She also kept a record of events in her diary till 7th November,1944,when she was finally killed.
These names are just a few of the women who played a significant part in World War II.Their stories go a long way in showing the kind of lifestyles they led and their struggles and sacrifices. | How did she die? | illness |
A horror film is a movie that seeks to elicit a physiological reaction, such as an elevated heartbeat, through the use of fear and shocking one’s audiences. Inspired by literature from authors like Edgar Allan Poe, Bram Stoker and Mary Shelley, the horror genre has existed for more than a century. The macabre and the supernatural are frequent themes. Horror may also overlap with the fantasy, supernatural fiction and thriller genres.
Horror films often deal with viewers' nightmares, fears, revulsions and terror of the unknown. Plots within the horror genre often involve the intrusion of an evil force, event, or personage into the everyday world. Prevalent elements include ghosts, aliens, vampires, werewolves, demons, satanism, gore, torture, vicious animals, evil witches, monsters, zombies, cannibals, psychopaths, natural or man-made disasters, and serial killers.
Some subgenres of horror include action horror, comedy horror, body horror, disaster horror, holiday horror, horror drama, psychological horror, science fiction horror, slasher horror, supernatural horror, gothic horror, natural horror, zombie horror, first-person horror and teen horror.
The first depictions of supernatural events appear in several of the silent shorts created by the film pioneer Georges Méliès in the late 1890s, the best known being "Le Manoir du Diable", which is sometimes credited as being the first horror film. Another of his horror projects was "La Caverne maudite" (1898) (a.k.a. "The Cave of the Demons", literally "the accursed cave"). Japan made early forays into the horror genre with "Bake Jizo" ("Jizo the Spook") and "Shinin no Sosei" ("Resurrection of a Corpse"), both made in 1898. The era featured a slew of literary adaptations, adapting the works of Poe and Dante, among others. In 1908, Selig Polyscope Company produced "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde". | When did Japan first produce horror movies? | 1898 |
The 1936 Summer Olympics (German: "Olympische Sommerspiele 1936"), officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event that was held in 1936 in Berlin, Germany. Berlin won the bid to host the Games over Barcelona, Spain, on 26 April 1931, at the 29th IOC Session in Barcelona (two years before the Nazis came to power). It marked the second and final time the International Olympic Committee gathered to vote in a city that was bidding to host those Games.
To outdo the Los Angeles games of 1932, Adolf Hitler had built a new 100,000-seat track and field stadium, six gymnasiums, and many other smaller arenas. The games were the first to be televised, and radio broadcasts reached 41 countries. Filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl was commissioned by the German Olympic Committee to film the Games for $7 million. Her film, titled "Olympia", pioneered many of the techniques now common in the filming of sports.
Reich Chancellor Adolf Hitler saw the Games as an opportunity to promote his government and ideals of racial supremacy and antisemitism, and the official Nazi party paper, the "Völkischer Beobachter", wrote in the strongest terms that Jews should not be allowed to participate in the Games. When threatened with a boycott of the Games by other nations, Hitler appeared to allow athletes of other ethnicities from other countries to participate. However German Jewish athletes were barred or prevented from taking part by a variety of methods and Jewish athletes from other countries (notably the US) seem to have been side-lined in order not to offend the Nazi government. | Did she get paid? | yes |
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture. Originating in 12th-century France and lasting into the 16th century, Gothic architecture was known during the period as Opus Francigenum ("French work") with the term Gothic first appearing during the later part of the Renaissance. Its characteristics include the pointed arch, the ribbed vault and the flying buttress. Gothic architecture is most familiar as the architecture of many of the great cathedrals, abbeys and churches of Europe. It is also the architecture of many castles, palaces, town halls, guild halls, universities and to a less prominent extent, private dwellings, such as dorms and rooms.
It is in the great churches and cathedrals and in a number of civic buildings that the Gothic style was expressed most powerfully, its characteristics lending themselves to appeals to the emotions, whether springing from faith or from civic pride. A great number of ecclesiastical buildings remain from this period, of which even the smallest are often structures of architectural distinction while many of the larger churches are considered priceless works of art and are listed with UNESCO as World Heritage Sites. For this reason a study of Gothic architecture is largely a study of cathedrals and churches. | When was the word Gothic first seen? | later part of the Renaissance |
Mabel's aunt wanted to give her the best birthday present ever. So the day after Mabel's birthday, her aunt brought her to the pet store! Mabel had been asking her aunt for a pet for a very long time. Many of her friends had pets, and she wanted one too. Her friend Faith had a hamster named Peaches. Bobby had a rat named Hugo! Melissa had two snakes and a lizard! Heather had a fish bowl with three fish. Mabel couldn't wait to get her pet and tell her friends all about it. At the pet store, Mabel and her aunt looked at all the animals they had. They saw puppies, kittens, fish, turtles, frogs, and bunnies. Mabel saw a cute black puppy that she thought she might like. There was also a white kitten with blue eyes. But then Mabel saw a gray bunny who was fluffy and soft, and she knew that she wanted the bunny as her pet. Her aunt helped her buy the bunny. They also got everything they needed for the bunny. They got a cage, a water bowl, and bunny food. Mabel named her new bunny Fluffy. Mabel thanked her aunt, and she had the best birthday ever! | What kind of pets did Mable and her aunt see? | puppies, kittens, fish, turtles, frogs, and bunnies |
Scotland's first minister Alex Salmond has warned American billionaire Donald Trump against interfering in government matters ahead of his controversial golf course opening
The Trump International Golf Links, which the tycoon hopes will become the world's best course, is due to open in Aberdeenshire on July 10, but plans for an adjoining hotel have been shelved due to a row over the development of a nearby offshore wind farm.
Trump claims he was misled by Salmond over the American's $1 billion project and has threatened to sue the Scottish government if the wind farm development is not abandoned.
But Salmond, who has welcomed the golf course's construction, told Trump not to interfere in Scotland's energy policy.
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"Donald Trump is building a fantastic golf course in Scotland that I very much support and I've been a great supporter of it," Salmond told CNN at the TED Global conference in the Scottish capital of Edinburgh.
"Unfortunately, recently, he has tried to tell the Scottish Government how to run our energy policy.
"So, I suppose the message I have to say is, yes to great golf courses, we have the greatest golf courses in the world in Scotland and one more won't do any harm, but let the democratically elected government of Scotland decide its own energy policy."
In April, Trump appeared in the Scottish parliament to express his opposition to the North Sea wind farm.
Salmond has questioned the strategy of Trump, who will open his new course with a ceremony including local golf stars such as Colin Montgomerie and Paul Lawrie, to potentially pursue legal action against the Scottish government. | over what issue? | His project |
The Second Boer War (, , "Second Freedom War"), known variously as the Boer War, Anglo-Boer War, South African War or Anglo-Boer South African War, started on 11 October 1899 and ended on 31 May 1902. Britain defeated two Boer states in South Africa: the South African Republic (Republic of Transvaal) and the Orange Free State. Britain was aided by its Cape Colony, the Colony of Natal and some native African allies. The British war effort was further supported by volunteers from the British Empire, including Southern Africa, the Australian colonies, Canada, India and New Zealand. Inside Britain and its Empire there also was significant opposition to the Second Boer War.
Britain was overconfident and under-prepared. The Boers were very well armed and struck first, besieging Ladysmith, Kimberley, and Mafeking in early 1900, and winning important battles at Colenso, Magersfontein and Stormberg. Staggered, Britain brought in large numbers of soldiers and fought back. General Redvers Buller was replaced by Lord Roberts and Lord Kitchener. They relieved the three besieged cities, and invaded the two Boer republics in late 1900. The onward marches of the British Army were so overwhelming that the Boers did not fight staged battles in defense of their homeland. Britain quickly seized control of all of the Orange Free State and Transvaal, as the civilian leadership went into hiding or exile. In conventional terms, the war was over. Britain officially annexed the two countries in 1900, and called a "khaki election" to give the government another six years of power in London. | When did the Boer war start? | October 11th 1899 |
If you could see a movie of your life before you lived it, would you want to live it? Probably not. The excitement of living is that you don't know what's coming. Sure, it's hard to see uncertainty in such active light when you're out of work, or when you feel like you're failing. But uncertainty is really another word for chance. When Allison graduated from Harvard, she had chances all over the place but had no idea what she wanted to do. She took a job in consulting ,but she knew she wouldn't stay there. She took the GRE and scored so high that she was able to increase her income by teaching students. Still, she didn't think she wanted to go to graduate school . Allison knew she wasn't doing what she wanted, but she didn't know what she wanted. She worried. All her friends were going to graduate school or starting their own businesses. She was lost and felt that she would never find anything out. After six years, Allison, by having a plan in mind, got married, moved to the Midwest, and used her consulting experience to get a great job. Allison realized that she spent her years finding her way: time well spent, and time we must all take if we're being honest with ourselves. The only way to lead an interesting life is to face uncertainty and make a choice. Otherwise your life is not your own - it is a path someone else has chosen. Moments of uncertainty are when you create your life, and when you become who you are. Uncertainty usually begins with a job hunt, but it doesn't end there. Every new role we take on means another round of uncertainty. Instead of fearing it, you should find some ways to deal with uncertainty | What did scoring high on the GRE enable her to do? | increase her income by teaching students |
Real Madrid have reduced Barcelona's lead at the top of the Spanish Primera Liga to three points after coming from behind to win 2-1 at Almeria on Thursday.
Madrid, looking to bounce back following their defeat in "El Clasico", suffered a poor start and fell behind in the 14th minute.
Kalu Uche broke down the right and his low cross was met by the unmarked Albert Crusat at the far post.
And the home side nearly doubled their advantage just seven minutes later when Domingo Cisma's free-kick was superbly saved by Iker Casillas.
However, the visitors drew level in the 27th minute thanks to a moment of superb skill from Cristiano Ronaldo.
The $125 million man burst past two defenders, fooled a third with one of his trademark stepovers and fird home a shot into the far corner for his 19th league goal of the season.
From then on, Real were the better side. Veteran midfielder Guti struck the post from the edge of the area before Rafael Van der Vaart put the rebound wide.
And the winning goal came in the 69th minute when Van der Vaart collected Gonzalo Higuain's pass before firing home a low shot into the bottom corner.
Madrid should have added to their lead, but Ronaldo was denied by goalkeeper Diego Alves while Karim Benzema and Mahamadou Diarra also missed good chances. | Who broke down and was met by unmarked Albert? | kalu uche |
A staff member of the aid organization Doctors Without Borders has died after an attack on a vehicle near the capital of South Sudan, the group said Friday.
The aid worker, Joseph, whose full name has been withheld at the request of his family, died two days after the attack, which took place Monday on a main road outside the capital, Juba, according to Doctors Without Borders.
Opinion: We need an Arms Trade Treaty now
A second employee of the organization was seriously wounded, the group said.
Doctors Without Borders, also known as Medecins Sans Frontieres, said the "exact circumstances" of the attack aren't yet clear, but the car in which its two staff members were traveling was "clearly marked as belonging to Medecins Sans Frontieres."
The organization has requested that South Sudanese authorities "investigate the brutal attack that resulted in the killing of our colleague," said Marcel Langenbach, director of operations for the group.
"We want to emphasize the need to respect international humanitarian law and on the obligation to ensure the protection of humanitarian workers, their property and health facilities," he said.
Doctors Without Borders said it had been working in the region for more than 30 years.
South Sudan officially gained its statehood in July 2011 after separating from Sudan. | what organization is the article about? | Doctors Without Borders |
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American major record label established in 1958 as the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group (WMG), and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. Warner Bros. Records was established on March 19, 1958, as the recorded-music division of the American film studio Warner Bros.. For most of its early existence it was one of a group of labels owned and operated by larger parent corporations. The sequence of companies that controlled Warner Bros. and its allied labels evolved through a convoluted series of corporate mergers and acquisitions from the early 1960s to the early 2000s. Over this period, Warner Bros. Records grew from a struggling minor player in the music industry to become one of the top recording labels in the world.
In 2003, these music assets were divested by their then owner Time Warner and purchased by a private equity group. This independent company traded as the Warner Music Group before being bought by Access Industries in 2011. WMG is the smallest of the three major international music conglomerates and the world's last publicly traded major music company. Cameron Strang serves as CEO of the company.
Artists currently signed to Warner Bros. Records include Sleeping with Sirens, Cher, Kylie Minogue, Kimbra, the Goo Goo Dolls, Sheryl Crow, Ciara, Gorillaz, Adam Lambert, Bette Midler, Blur, Duran Duran, Fleet Foxes, Jason Derulo, Kid Rock, Lily Allen, Linkin Park, Muse, Nile Rodgers, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Black Keys, My Chemical Romance and Regina Spektor. | Who runs it? | Cameron Strang |
Su Hua is studying at Cambridge, UK. She has bought a bicycle and is worried about security. Her friend, Kate, found this article and sent it to her. www.zxxk.com
Introduction
A lot of crime is against bicycles. About 150,000 bicycles are stolen every year and most are never found. You can prevent this happening by following a few careful steps.
Basic Security
Do not leave your bicycle in out-of-the-way places. Always lock your bicycle when you leave. Secure it to lampposts or trees. Take off smaller parts and take them with you, for example lights and saddles .
Locks
Get a good lock. There are many different types in the shop. Buy one that has been tested against attack. Ask for a recommendation from a bike shop.
Marking
Security marking your bike can act as a deterrent to a thief. It can also help the police find your bicycle. It should be clearly written and include your postcode and your house or flat number. This will provide a simple way to identify your bicycle.
Registration
There are a number of companies who will mark your bicycle for you. They will then put your registration number and personal details on their computer database. Then if your bicycle is found it will be easy to contact you.
Finally
Keep a record of the bicycle yourself: its make, model and registration number. You can even take a photograph of it, this will prove the bicycle belongs to you. | what should you do with little pieces from a bike? | Take them with you. |
Sen. Harry Reid, 75, is recovering at home after he broke "a number of ribs and bones in his face" when he was exercising, his office said Friday in a statement.
The Nevada Democrat was using a piece of equipment to exercise on Thursday when it broke, causing him to fall.
His doctors expect a full recovery, and he's set to return to Washington over the weekend before the Senate reconvenes next week.
According to the statement, the Senate Democratic Leader was treated and admitted overnight as a precaution at University Medical Center in Las Vegas after first being transported to St. Rose Dominican Hospital in Henderson by his security detail.
President Barack Obama called Reid on Friday, White House spokesman Eric Schultz told reporters, "to wish him a full and speedy recovery."
Reid's office later announced Friday that Reid had been discharged from the hospital.
"He spent the day with his wife, Landra, talking to fellow senators, friends and staff and preparing for the Senate's return," Reid's Deputy Communications Director said in an emailed statement Friday. "He sends his thanks to all those who sent warm wishes and is ready to get back to work."
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Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Arizona, was quick to make a joke and wish his colleague well.
It's not the first time Reid has hurt his ribs in recent years. In October 2012, his motorcade was involved in a multi-car accident in Nevada that left him with rib and hip contusions. He went to the hospital but was released shortly afterward. | What state? | Nevada |
Environmental protection was stressed at Kanas, a growing tourism destination in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, famous for its attractive scenery and its "lake monster".
"All of the hotels and restaurants will _ from the scenic site to 30 kilometers away," said Jim Liquan, an official with the Kanas Environment and Tourism Bureau. The move aims to protect environment of Kanas, a scenic site that is part of the European ecosystem and bordersprefix = st1 /Kazakhstan,RussiaandMongolia. Meanwhile, construction of environmental facilities including sewage and rubbish treatment plants will be completed soon.
According to Mao Ken, chief of AltayPrefecturewhere Kanas is located, the government invested 1 billion yuan (US $ 120 million) on environmental facilities. "Education for tourists is also important," he said. An education center is being created to provide information on how to protect the environment in Kanas. But he vowed that the government would not interfere with the lives of traditional residents in Kanas.
It is expected that Kanas will receive more than 500,000 tourists this year, 4,000 more than last year, according to the official. "However, there are still few overseas visitors," he said. Statistics showed that only 2 percent of the total number of tourists is foreigners. "This is partly because the transportation facilities connecting Kanas are still not convenient enough," Mao said. At present, there is only one highway connecting Kanas.
"Upon request from tourists, construction of an airport will start this month and will be completed by the end of next year," the official said. A railway line connecting Kuitun and Altay will also open to traffic in 2008 to make it possible to travel to Kanas by train, probably bringing in more tourists. | Who is Mao Ken? | chief of Altay Prefecture |
Somalia's capital Mogadishu now has its first-ever ATM bank machine -- and it dispenses U.S. dollars.
The machine was installed in late September in the upscale Jazeera Palace Hotel, which is located 300 meters from Aden Adde International Airport in the south-west of the city
Justus Mulinge Kisaulu, the hotel's general manager, said that he had seen people using the new machine but it had not been widely adopted. "Most of the customers were not aware there is an ATM in Somalia," Kisaulu explained. "Local residents, most of them don't have a debit credit or a credit card to use the ATM."
The U.S. dollar is "widely accepted" in Mogadishu and is used in local trading, according to the African Development Bank. The country's official currency, the Somali shilling, has seen a sustained decline in value following decades of conflict in the war-torn nation.
Said Moallim Abukar, marketing manager of Salaam Somali Bank, which operates the ATM, said that other currencies would be available from the machine "in the near future."
But Michael Walls, senior lecturer at the Development Planning Unit at University College London, says that it's unlikely the bank is aiming for local Somali people at this stage. "Diaspora Somalis will use it for sure," he explains, referring to people of Somali origin who will probably have a bank account overseas. "It is likely to be a bit longer before locally based Somalis start using it."
This is the first ATM in Somalia proper, but cash withdrawal machines already exist in the city of Hargeisa in the breakaway state of Somaliland, according to Salaam Somali Bank's Abukar. Somaliland remains internationally unrecognized despite unilaterally declaring independence in 1991. According to local media outlet Somalilandsun, ATM facilities were available in the city from March. | How much is a Somali shilling worth in U.S. dollars? | unknown |
The competition is open to any eligible club down to Levels 10 of the English football league system - all 92 professional clubs in the Premier League and Football League (Levels 1 to 4), and several hundred "non-league" teams in Steps 1 to 6 of the National League System (Levels 5 to 10). A record 763 clubs competed in 2011–12. The tournament consists of 12 randomly drawn rounds followed by the semi-finals and the final. Entrants are not seeded, although a system of byes based on league level ensures higher ranked teams enter in later rounds - the minimum number of games needed to win the competition ranges from six to fourteen.
The first six rounds are the Qualifying Competition, from which 32 teams progress to the first round of the Competition Proper, meeting the first of the 92 professional teams. The last entrants are the Premier League and Championship clubs, into the draw for the Third Round Proper. In the modern era, non-league teams have never reached the quarter finals, and teams below Level 2 have never reached the final. As a result, as well as who wins, significant focus is given to those "minnows" (smaller teams) who progress furthest, especially if they achieve an unlikely "giant-killing" victory. | What type of victory is unlikely? | "giant-killing" |
Which is sillier: denying we ever went to the moon or trying to convince the true nonbelievers?
Once upon a time - July 20, 1969, to be specific - two men got out of their little spaceship and wandered around on the moon for a while.Ten more men walked on the moon over the next three and a half years.
Unfortunately, not quite.A fair number of Americans think that this whole business of moon landings really isa fairy tale.They believe that the landings were a big hoax staged in the Mojave Desert, to convince everyone that U.S.technology was the "best" in the whole wide world.
Which is the harder thing to do: Send men to the moon or make believe we did? The fact is the physics behind sending people to the moon is simple.You can do it with computers whose entire memory capacities can now fit on chips the size of postage stamps and that cost about as much as, well, a postage stamp.I know you can because we did.
However, last fall NASA considered spending $15,000 on a public-relations campaign to convince the unimpressed that Americans had in fact gone to the moon.That idea was mostly a reaction to a Fox television program, first aired in February 2001, that claimed to expose the hoax.The show's creator is a publicity hound who has lived up to the name in more ways than one by hounding Buzz Aldrin, the second man on the moon.Mr.X (as I will call him, thereby denying him the joyous sight of his name in print) recently followed Buzz Aldrin around and called him "a thief, liar and coward" until the 72-year-old astronaut finally lost it and hit the 37-year-old Mr.X in the face.
Anyway, NASA's publicity campaign began to slow down.The nonbelievers took the campaign as NASA's effort to hide something while the believers said that $15,000 to convince people that the world was round -- I mean, that we had gone to the moon -- was simply a waste of money.(Actually, the $15,000 was supposed to pay for an article by James E.Oberg, an astronomy writer who, with Aldrin, has contributed to Scientific American.)
If NASA not paying Oberg, perhaps it could put the money to good use by hiring two big guys to drag Neil Armstrong out of the house.Armstrong is an extremely private man, but he is also the first man on the moon, so maybe he has a duty to be a bit more outspoken about the experience.Or NASA could just buy Aldrin a commemorate plaque for his recent touch on the face of Mr.X. | For opposes where did the alleged lunar happenings really occur? | the Mojave Desert, |
CHAPTER XXI
A BOB SLED RACE
"Whoop! hurrah! it's snowing!"
Thus shouted Tom one day, as he burst into the library of the Hall, where Dick, Sam and a number of others were perusing books and the latest magazines.
"Hard?" queried Sam, dropping the magazine he held.
"No, but steady. Peleg Snuggers says it is going to be a heavy fall, and he generally knows."
"And he loves snowstorms so," put in Fred, with a laugh. "Do you remember the time we made a big fort and had a regular battle?"
"Indeed I do!" cried Larry. "It was great! We ought to have something of that sort this winter."
"I was hoping we'd get skating before it snowed," put in Songbird.
"Well, we can't have all the good things at once," answered Dick. "I think a heavy snowstorm is jolly. Somehow, when it snows I always feel like whistling and singing."
"And I feel like making up verses," murmured the poet of the school, and went on:
"Oh, the snow, the beautiful snow, Coming down when the wind does blow. Coming down both day and night, Leaving the earth a wonderful sight! Oh, the snow, the heavenly snow!----"
"Wetting our feet wherever we go!"
continued Tom, and added:
"Oh, the snow, When the wind doth blow, It sets a pace And hits our face And we are froze Down to the toes And in the slush, That's just like mush, We cannot stop, But go ker-flop!"
"Tom, the first thing you know, you'll be taking Songbird's laurels away from him," observed Larry. | What did Larry tell Tom he'd be taking from Songbird? | Songbird's laurels |
By the time Rihanna was seventeen ,she had released her first album and had an international hit with her first single Pon de Replay. Rihanna was born in Saint Michael , Barbados in 1988 . She grew up there with her two younger brothers . As a child , she loved singing . She formed her first group with friends from secondary school when she was just fifteen . In 2004 friends introduced the group to American record producer Evan Rogers ,who was on holiday in Barbados . Rogers thought Rihanna could be a star in America,so she moved there aged sixteen to take up music after she finished school. Rihhanna lived with Rogers and his wife . Then she worked for Def Jam Recordings and started working on her first album , Music of the Sun .It came out at in 2005 and got into the top ten . Over 69,000 copies of the album were sold in the first week alone . It went on to sell over two million copies worldwide and Rihanna quickly became a big star . Her second album , A Girl Like Me ,came out a year later and included the song SOS , which was her first number one hit in America. In 2007 Rihanna brought out her third album , Good Girl Gone Bad ,which had more dance music than the first two albums. Rihanna sold more than fifteen million album and forty - five million singles worldwide between 2005 and 2010 ,the most of any artist at the same time . However ,she manages to find time for her charity work ,too . She has performed in several concerts to raise money for charity and in 2006 she created her Believe Foundation to help sick children . She also took part in Gucci's activities to raise money for children in Africa. | how old was she when she released her first album? | seventeen |
CHAPTER XIV.
RESCUED!
Harold was deeply touched at the evidences of the fate which had befallen the occupants of his cousin's plantation.
"If there are any more of these to be found," pointing to their remains, "we might learn for a certainty whether the same fate befell them all."
The Seneca spoke a word to his followers and the four Indians spread themselves over the clearing. One more body was found--it was lying down near the water as if killed in the act of making for the canoe.
"The others are probably there," Peter said, pointing to the ruins. "The three hands was killed in the fields, and most likely the attack was made at the same moment on the house. I'm pretty sure it was so, for the body by the water lies face downward, with his head toward the lake. He was no doubt shot from behind as he was running. There must have been Injuns round the house then, or he would have made for that instead of the water."
The Seneca touched Peter on the shoulder and pointed toward the farm. A figure was seen approaching. As it came nearer they could see that he was a tall man, dressed in the deerskin shirt and leggings usually worn by hunters. As he came near Harold gave an exclamation:
"It is Jack Pearson!"
"It are Jack Pearson," the hunter said, "but for the moment I can't recollect ye, though yer face seems known. Why!" he exclaimed in changed tones, "it's that boy Harold growed into a man." | What did his apparel suggest he was? | a hunter |
The Japanese coast guard has rescued a British woman on a solo round-the-world trip whose boat was damaged when it rolled several times during a tropical storm, her team said Friday.
Sarah Outen was rescued by the coast guard in rough seas Friday afternoon, the London2London team wrote on its website.
"Sarah is now making her way to back to Japan," the team wrote. "We are awaiting final confirmation of details of Sarah's arrival in Japan and will let you know more once we have further information."
A nearby merchant vessel and a coast guard plane kept watch on Outen until the rescue ship arrived.
Sarah Outen: Around the world on two boats and a bike
A small amount of water had gotten into the cabin of Outen's boat, Gulliver, but she was "bearing up well and demonstrating the strength and resolve that has brought her the huge distance on the journey so far," the team said before her rescue.
She asked for pancakes, cold orange juice and grapes for her first meal after arriving in Japan.
Planning a round-the-world trip
Coincidentally, a second solo British rower is about 280 miles northeast of Outen's position and is also awaiting rescue, Outen's team said.
Charlie Martell departed Japan last month on a quest to row 6,000 miles across the Pacific, his website says.
Outen managed to send updates on Twitter while waiting for rescue, writing, "Trying hard2 smile and breathe calm keep getting interuptd by waves throwing us over." (sic) | Was there another rower in trouble around the same time? | yes |
prefix = st1 /PITTSBURGH, Sept. 7 -- At 26, many people haven't even decided on a career. Luke Ravenstahl, cashing in on his family's political tradition, is already the mayor of Pittsburgh, the youngest mayor of any major city in the country. Although mayors elsewhere have been younger, Jeff Dunkel was 18 in 2001 when he was elected mayor of Mount Carbon, small towns inNew York, and elsewhere have also elected teenagers as mayors. But,Tallahassee, is the only other city with a population over 100,000 that has had a mayor as young as Mr. Ravenstahl. A supporter of Mr. Ravenstahl said concerns about Mr. Ravenstahl's age would _ once the city saw his work ethic. But now comes the hard part. As he strives to be taken seriously and take charge of a city only recently back from the brink of bankruptcy, the baby-faced mayor said that even the smallest decisions felt weighty, even what to wear in the Steelers game matters. And another pressing issue is to strengthen the city's economy. Pittsburghhas lost all its mills, nearly half its population and much of its downtown commercial district in the last several decades. "ButPittsburghhas 50,000 college students, and our challenge is to figure out how to retain them and to increase downtown development." He said. But one of the biggest uncertainties is how long he will remain in office. According to the city charter, Mayor Ravenstahl's term will not expire until November 2009. Some city lawyers, however, have argued that he must face the electorate next year. And residents in Pittsburghare still withholding judgment on him. Deli, Jimmy Cvetic, a sandwich shop owner, said "I call him Cool Hand Luke. He'll be all right, but he's going to need a cool hand to get through this." Mayor Ravenstahl said he was still coming to terms with the challenge he faced. | Who gave it to him? | a sandwich shop owner |
In the United States, many low income parents cannot afford to buy enough food for their children. A program called Kids Cafe is helping some of these children by providing free nutritious snacks and meals during after-school programs.
At a community center in Virginia just outside of Washington, D.C., children make a snack as part of their afterschool program. "The snack is very healthy for your body, but the main thing is that it tastes really, really good," Keith Clements tells them. He runs the Kids Cafe program.
The children are between the ages of 5 and 11 and are from several local schools. About half have parents from Ethiopia. Many of the children eat their traditional food at home. Kids Cafe, with food offered free by a food bank, gives them an opportunity to try different types of food.
"It's good," says one girl. But Rebecca Nance, whose parents are from the US, is not so sure. "The taste is weird." Her mother, Daffany Nance has two children in the program. She's glad her kids are getting nutritious food. "Even in my house we don't have much junk food," she says, "so it's very important that it's healthy and continues to help them grow better."
The charity , Feeding America, started the national Kids Cafe program in 1993. The charity says more than 16 million children in the United States do not have enough healthy food to eat.
Kids Cafe became part of the afterschool program at this community center five years ago. Lori McFail heads the afterschool program. She says some children do not eat good evening meals because their parents work late or cannot afford healthy food. She hopes the children will make full use of what they've learned about nutrition in their lives. | How old are the students? | between the ages of 5 and 11 |
Practicing yoga is a helpful, popular way to keep fit. It has many followers around the world. There are many kinds of yoga. You may have heard of "hot yoga" before. Now, in India, a new kind of yoga, water yoga, is becoming more and more popular among the local people. In the city of Agra, people practice yoga in water. It is more difficult to practice yoga in water than on land. But practicing yoga in water can be good for your flexibility . Harish Chaturvedi, a lawyer, teaches people water yoga _ --even the poor people can learn from him. "Water yoga can become more popular than other kind of yoga, because the body does not get tired so quickly," he said. "Everybody can learn to swim, but if they learn yoga at the same time, they will never feel tired." "The level of Oxygen is very high in water, and you will not have any breathing problem," he added. Harish believes that water yoga really helps people to keep away from illness. He mainly trains children. He has classes at the swimming pool of a local sports room regularly. Many children are interested in it and come to team from him. "Harish is very good at performing yoga in water," said Sudhir Narayan, a water yoga student. "He is teaching children free of cost and that is a very good thing." | Is it harder than normal yoga? | Yes. |
Pascal is an imperative and procedural programming language, which Niklaus Wirth designed in 1968–69 and published in 1970, as a small, efficient language intended to encourage good programming practices using structured programming and data structuring.
A derivative known as Object Pascal designed for object-oriented programming was developed in 1985, later developed into Delphi.
Pascal, named in honor of the French mathematician, philosopher and physicist Blaise Pascal, was developed by Niklaus Wirth.
Before his work on Pascal, Wirth had developed Euler and ALGOL W and later went on to develop the Pascal-like languages Modula-2 and Oberon.
Initially, Pascal was largely, but not exclusively, intended to teach students structured programming. A generation of students used Pascal as an introductory language in undergraduate courses. Variants of Pascal have also frequently been used for everything from research projects to PC games and embedded systems. Newer Pascal compilers exist which are widely used.
Pascal was the primary high-level language used for development in the Apple Lisa, and in the early years of the Macintosh. Parts of the original Macintosh operating system were hand-translated into Motorola 68000 assembly language from the Pascal sources. The typesetting system TeX by Donald E. Knuth was written in WEB, the original literate programming system, based on DEC PDP-10 Pascal, while applications like Total Commander, Skype and Macromedia Captivate were written in Delphi (Object Pascal). Apollo Computer used Pascal as the systems programming language for its operating systems beginning in 1980. | What is it used for? | good programming practices |
A mosque (; from ) is a place of worship for followers of Islam.
There are strict and detailed requirements in Sunni jurisprudence ("fiqh") for a place of worship to be considered a mosque, with places that do not meet these requirements regarded as "musalla"s. There are stringent restrictions on the uses of the area formally demarcated as the mosque (which is often a small portion of the larger complex), and, in the Islamic "Sharia" law, after an area is formally designated as a mosque, it remains so until the Last Day.
Many mosques have elaborate domes, minarets, and prayer halls, in varying styles of architecture. Mosques originated on the Arabian Peninsula, but are now found in all inhabited continents. The mosque serves as a place where Muslims can come together for "salat" ( "ṣalāt", meaning "prayer") as well as a center for information, education, social welfare, and dispute settlement. The imam leads the congregation in prayer.
The word entered English from a French word that probably derived from Italian "moschea", a variant of Italian "moscheta", from either Middle Armenian ("mzkit‘") or Medieval Greek μασγίδιον ("masgídion") or Spanish "mezquita", from the Arabic "masjad" meaning "place of worship" or "prostration in prayer", either from Nabataean "masgdhā́" or from Arabic "sajada" meaning "to bow down in prayer", probably ultimately from Aramaic "sghēdh". | What is a mosque? | a place of worship for followers of Islam. |
The Wayback Machine is a digital archive of the World Wide Web and other information on the Internet created by the Internet Archive, a nonprofit organization, based in San Francisco, California, United States. It was set up by Brewster Kahle and Bruce Gilliat, and is maintained with content from Alexa Internet. The service enables users to see archived versions of web pages across time, which the archive calls a "three dimensional index."
Since 1996, they have been archiving cached pages of web sites onto their large cluster of Linux nodes. They revisit sites every few weeks or months and archive a new version if the content has changed. Sites can also be captured on the fly by visitors who are offered a link to do so. The intent is to capture and archive content that otherwise would be lost whenever a site is changed or closed down. Their grand vision is to archive the entire Internet. | What is the intent of the Wayback Machine? | to capture and archive content that might be lost after a site changes in some way. |
Christopher Reeve was born in September, 1952. He was in his first school play when he was eight and he started to act in TV shows and films while he was still in college. He made many successful films and TV shows but he is most famous for his Superman films. Unfortunately, disaster came in 1995 when he fell from his horse and broke his back. The doctors did not expect him to live. However, he made amazing progress. At first, he couldn't breathe without a machine, but he learnt to breathe on his own. He would never walk again but he started a new life with great courage. The second year after his accident, Christopher returned to film making. He also raised a lot of money to promote medical research into back injuries. He made speeches all over the USA about his experiences. This not only drew public attention to research into back injuries but also encouraged a lot of people living with all kinds of problems. From their home, Christopher and his wife Dana spoke about their life after the accident. Could you say something about your life after the accident? "Four days after the accident, I came to understand my situation. The doctors said I was not going to pull through. Those days were terrible. But my wife Dana said, "You are still you and I love you. Be confident in yourself." And that saved my life. Since that moment I have never thought of giving up." What do you think of your family? "Great! Dana is so wonderful.We have always got on really well.My parents often quarreled with each other when I was young.But they've got closer since the accident." How do you spend your time? "I spend most of my time on charity work to improve the life for all disabled people.I think they need my help. With the progress of new medical research, I'm confident that people like me would be able to walk again one day. So you can see _ !" Christopher Reeve died on October 10, 2004. But people all over the world will always remember him as a superhero. | Was he giving speeches too? | yes |
Actress Carmen Zapata, whose most visible film role was as a choir nun in "Sister Act," died Sunday at her Los Angeles home. She was 86.
Zapata's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame honors her six decades of work on the stage, which began in New York in 1946.
Her death from heart problems was confirmed by a representative at the Bilingual Foundation of the Arts in Los Angeles, which Zapata co-founded in 1973.
She was "an accomplished actress, translator, theater producer, and community leader who was knighted by King Juan Carlos of Spain," according to her biography on the group's website.
Zapata, a Mexican-American born in New York, founded the theater group to promote bilingual stage productions. The goal was to "instill cultural pride to Spanish-speaking audiences, and serve as an introduction to the rich and eloquent history of the diverse Hispanic culture to English-speaking audiences," the website said.
She was 19 when she made her Broadway debut as a member of the chorus in "Oklahoma." She initially performed under the stage name Marge Cameron at a time when discrimination against Hispanic actors was more common.
Her television and film résumé is slim until the 1970s, when she began landing acting jobs on series including "Room 222," "Bonanza" and "McMillan & Wife." In 1971, she was hired for a recurring role on "The New Dick Van Dyke Show."
Other shows that decade in which she appears in multiple episodes include "Adam-12," "Love, American Style," "Marcus Welby, M.D.," "Medical Center" and "The Streets of San Francisco." She often played different characters in the same series, according to IMDB.com. | What organization did she start? | the Bilingual Foundation of the Arts |
"Lizzie, there's a letter for you!" Emily called up the stairs to her sister. Elizabeth looked down. "Is it from Harvard? They refused my application once." Emily answered, "No, it's from Yale." Quickly, Elizabeth walked downstairs. She took the letter and opened it. "Rejected again," Elizabeth said unhappily. "Who says women can't be doctors?"
"They are fools not to accept you. You can't let them stop you, Lizzie," Emily said.
"I won't. I'll apply to Geneva Medical College," Elizabeth told her sister. As it turned out, the professors at Geneva Medical College were not fools. They allowed Elizabeth Blackwell to study medicine.
In 1848, a year before Elizabeth would graduate, a typhoid epidemic broke out in New York. Elizabeth wrote to Emily. "There's an outbreak of typhoid, and I am going to help. It is dangerous, so if I should not survive, please do me the honor of studying medicine yourself."
Emily replied, "Encouraged by your dream and success, I have decided to study in medical school, as well."
Having survived the disease, Elizabeth tried to set up a private medical practice. "I graduated first in my class but no one believes a woman can be a good doctor," she said to Emily one day. "All I hear is that doctors should be men, while women should stay home to cook and clean."
Emily said worriedly, "I will graduate in June with my medical degree. What shall we do?" Elizabeth thought for a while and replied, "There's a big house in the poor part of our town. We can practice medicine there for people who couldn't afford care."
Soon with the help of some friends, Elizabeth and Emily bought the house and opened a hospital for poor women and children. "We'll have an all-women staff ," Elizabeth said. "And later, we'll add a medical college for women!" Emily added. At last, Elizabeth realized her dream of being a doctor. | Who's dream was it? | Elizabeth |
(InStyle) -- Oscar night is Hollywood's main fashion event, and most notable on the red carpet this year was our favorite actresses stepping out in uber feminine -- not just fashion forward -- looks.
Indeed, from the most delicate shades of blush to the boldest fuchsia, the red carpet turned pink! Exaggerated ruffles, soft draping, frothy fabrics, dramatic trains and Cinderella-esque silhouettes gave new meaning to the term Hollywood royalty.
The few celebrities who bucked the romantic trend, including Sarah Jessica Parker, Sandra Bullock and Meryl Streep, chose sophisticated styles with retro vibes.
From a timeless beauty (Demi Moore) to a graceful Hollywood icon (Meryl Streep), here are the night's fashion winners.
Demi Moore
Demi Moore often chooses classic, tailored cuts, but last night she glowed in a stunning blush-toned Atelier Versace silk organza gown with petal-like tiers of ruffles. She finished off this softer look with Van Cleef & Arpels tassel earrings and diamond cuffs, a gold leather Salvatore Ferragamo clutch and dress-matching Versace satin sandals.
Diane Kruger
The ever-flawless Diane Kruger turned to her favorite designer Karl Lagerfeld for her cream and black chiffon gown from Chanel Haute Couture. Both edgy and feminine, the design featured a pleated and ruffled skirt that led into a bow-bedecked mermaid train.
See more dresses from the 2010 Academy Awards
Jennifer Lopez
We love the way Jennifer Lopez commands the red carpet in dramatic dresses, and her choice this year was no exception. Yet rather than going sexy (down-to-there Versace, anyone?), the diva went spectacular in a full-on princess-shaped icy pink Armani Prive confection with a Swarovski crystal-studded waterfall train. | what designer? | Armani |
The longest-running holiday special still has a very shiny nose.
"Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" premiered on television December 6, 1964, and is now one of the holiday season's perennial favorites. The story of the reindeer who saves Christmas is beloved among children and adults alike.
The Rankin-Bass animated film production company used Japanese puppets and stop motion to tell the tale, bolstered by a soundtrack featuring Burl Ives' rendition of the theme song.
In the story, Santa's reindeer Donner and his wife have a son, Rudolph, who has the distinction of a nose that glows. He runs away after being made to feel an outcast and links up with an elf who dreams of becoming a dentist and an adventurer seeking silver and gold.
After ending up on the Island of Misfit Toys and wandering for a while, Rudolph goes on to save his loved ones from the Abominable Snow Monster and guides Santa through a blizzard that threatens to ruin Christmas.
In 2006, the New York Times reported that fans drove for miles to see the Rudolph and Santa Claus puppets at the Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta. The pair were thought to be the last of the surviving production puppets. They had been taken home by a production company employee and given to her children after filming was completed.
"In 2005, the nephew of the original rescuer found the puppets in a family attic and brought them to be appraised on the PBS series 'Antiques Roadshow,' " the Times said. "Created for about $5,000 each in 1964, they were valued at $8,000 to $10,000 for the pair. The family sold both figures to Kevin A. Kriess, the president of TimeandSpaceToys.com and a lifelong fan of the Rankin-Bass films." | Does he save Christmas? | yes |
Maupassant(*)was born in 1850 in northern France. His early life was not happy. His parents separated when he was 11. Most of his education came informally from Gustave Flaubert--his mother's friend and his godfather, a journalist and novelist. Often Flaubert would let him take a walk and then ask him to write 100 lines about what he saw. This type of training developed in Maupassant a sense of observation, which he later put to use in his writing. Flaubert also allowed Maupassant to attend his Sunday gatherings with others in his literary circle
For a few years, Maupassant was connected with the Ministry of Public Instruction. It is interesting to note that Monsieur Loisel, a poor man character in The Necklace, worked there. He also served in the French army during the Franco-Prussian War. His favorite writing subjects were peasants, servants, in the city, and the Francd-Prussian War.
At an early age, Maupassant started writing short stories. In 1880, some of his works were published and he received a wide reputation for Boule de Suif (Ball of Tallow). With this success, he began to work full-time on writing. During the next ten years, he wrote over 300 stories, including six novels, three travel books, and a book of verse. Through them, he earn a lot of money.
His writing was classical and simple, avoiding social comments and dirty details. His works often showed a real world and an accurate knowledge of the subject. Although Maupassant wrote in many forms, he received widest recognition for his short stories. By 1890, Maupassant was suffering from the latter staged of syphilis . He died in 1893 in Paris. | did this help in his learning? | Yes |
FORBES CHINA's annual celebrity list is based on income and appearances in magazines, newspapers, TV shows and online. Stars from the mainland, Taiwan and Hong Kong are included. And here are some of the winners:
Jay Chou
Taiwan singer, actor and director unveiled his 12th studio album, Opus 12, last December (Another "12''). New flick in the works: The Rooftop, being filmed in Taiwan and the mainland, which he stars in and also directs.
3. Andy Lau
Now in his 50s, the evergreen Hong Kong star of song and film stayed popular last year with the movie Blind Detective. Lau's sixth film with Hong Kong actress Sammi Cheng is in the works.
Jackie Chan
Hong Kong movie industry icon last year released what may be his last action film CZ12, or Chinese Zodiac, which he wrote and directed.
5. Zhang Ziyi
Popular actress had hit romantic comedy last year with My Lucky Star, which she also produced. Appears in this year's star-laden The Grandmaster kung fu movie, directed by Hong Kong's Wong Kar-Wai and also starring Tony Leung.
7. Yang Mi
Actress was named most popular female singer in mainland China last year in a joint CCTV-MTV event. Last year's flicks included Love in the Buff, Beijing Love Story and Wu Dang. Has endorsement deals with Pepsi and cosmetics brand Wetcode.
8. Huang Xiaoming
Actor turned up in several successful films last year, including Love in the Buff, An Inaccurate Memoir and White-Haired Witch. Promotes Baleno, Tissot, Olay.
10. Lin Chi-ling
Taiwan TV hostess, model and actress. Most recent success: romantic comedy Say Yes, which took in more than $30 million in China. | How many movies was Xiaoming in last year? | several |
DOS is a family of disk operating systems primarily consisting of MS-DOS and a rebranded version under the name IBM PC DOS which were introduced in 1981, as well as some later compatible systems from other manufacturers: DR-DOS (1988), ROM-DOS (1989), PTS-DOS (1993), and FreeDOS (1998). MS-DOS dominated the x86-based IBM PC compatible market between 1981 and 1995.
Dozens of other operating systems also use the acronym "DOS", including the mainframe DOS/360 from 1966. Others are Apple DOS, Apple ProDOS, Atari DOS, Commodore DOS, TRSDOS, and AmigaDOS.
IBM PC DOS (and the separately sold MS-DOS) and its predecessor, 86-DOS, resembled Digital Research's CP/M—the dominant disk operating system for 8-bit Intel 8080 and Zilog Z80 based microcomputers. DOS instead ran on Intel 8086 16-bit processors. Starting with MS-DOS 1.28 and PC DOS 2.0 the operating system incorporated various features inspired by Xenix, Microsoft's variant of Unix.
When IBM introduced the IBM PC, built with the Intel 8088 microprocessor, they needed an operating system. Seeking an 8088-compatible build of CP/M, IBM initially approached Microsoft CEO Bill Gates (possibly believing that Microsoft owned CP/M due to the Microsoft Z-80 SoftCard, which allowed CP/M to run on an Apple II). IBM was sent to Digital Research, and a meeting was set up. However, the initial negotiations for the use of CP/M broke down; Digital Research wished to sell CP/M on a royalty basis, while IBM sought a single license, and to change the name to "PC DOS". Digital Research founder Gary Kildall refused, and IBM withdrew. | what card might have given that impression? | the Microsoft Z-80 SoftCard |
CHAPTER 57. Another Wedding
Mr Sownds the beadle, and Mrs Miff the pew-opener, are early at their posts in the fine church where Mr Dombey was married. A yellow-faced old gentleman from India, is going to take unto himself a young wife this morning, and six carriages full of company are expected, and Mrs Miff has been informed that the yellow-faced old gentleman could pave the road to church with diamonds and hardly miss them. The nuptial benediction is to be a superior one, proceeding from a very reverend, a dean, and the lady is to be given away, as an extraordinary present, by somebody who comes express from the Horse Guards.
Mrs Miff is more intolerant of common people this morning, than she generally is; and she his always strong opinions on that subject, for it is associated with free sittings. Mrs Miff is not a student of political economy (she thinks the science is connected with dissenters; 'Baptists or Wesleyans, or some o' them,' she says), but she can never understand what business your common folks have to be married. 'Drat 'em,' says Mrs Miff 'you read the same things over 'em' and instead of sovereigns get sixpences!'
Mr Sownds the beadle is more liberal than Mrs Miff--but then he is not a pew-opener. 'It must be done, Ma'am,' he says. 'We must marry 'em. We must have our national schools to walk at the head of, and we must have our standing armies. We must marry 'em, Ma'am,' says Mr Sownds, 'and keep the country going.' | Where is everyone? | church |
Kashmir is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, it denotes a larger area that includes the Indian-administered territory of Jammu and Kashmir (subdivided into Jammu, Kashmir, and Ladakh divisions), the Pakistani-administered territories of Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, and Chinese-administered territories of Aksai Chin and the Trans-Karakoram Tract.
In the first half of the 1st millennium, the Kashmir region became an important centre of Hinduism and later of Buddhism; later still, in the ninth century, Kashmir Shaivism arose. In 1339, Shah Mir became the first Muslim ruler of Kashmir, inaugurating the "Salatin-i-Kashmir" or Shah Mir dynasty. Kashmir was part of the Mughal Empire from 1586 to 1751, and thereafter, until 1820, of the Afghan Durrani Empire. That year, the Sikhs, under Ranjit Singh, annexed Kashmir. In 1846, after the Sikh defeat in the First Anglo-Sikh War, and upon the purchase of the region from the British under the Treaty of Amritsar, the Raja of Jammu, Gulab Singh, became the new ruler of Kashmir. The rule of his descendants, under the "paramountcy" (or tutelage) of the British Crown, lasted until the partition of India in 1947, when the former princely state of the British Raj was claimed by both Pakistan and India. It is currently a disputed territory, administered by three countries: India, Pakistan, and China. | What religions were important there? | Hinduism, Buddhism and Kashmir Shaivism |
Coordinated Universal Time abbreviated to UTC, is the primary time standard by which the world regulates clocks and time. It is within about 1 second of mean solar time at 0° longitude; it does not observe daylight saving time. For most purposes, UTC is considered interchangeable with Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), but GMT is no longer precisely defined by the scientific community.
The first Coordinated Universal Time was informally adopted on 1 January 1960, but the official abbreviation of UTC and the official English name of Coordinated Universal Time (along with the French equivalent), was not adopted until 1967.
The system was adjusted several times, including a brief period where time coordination radio signals broadcast both UTC and "Stepped Atomic Time (SAT)" until a new UTC was adopted in 1970 and implemented in 1972. This change also adopted leap seconds to simplify future adjustments. This CCIR Recommendation 460 "stated that (a) carrier frequencies and time intervals should be maintained constant and should correspond to the definition of the SI second; (b) step adjustments, when necessary, should be exactly 1 s to maintain approximate agreement with Universal Time (UT); and (c) standard signals should contain information on the difference between UTC and UT." | IS it interchangeable with anything? | yes |
John once told me a story about his friend, Michael. Michael happened to be on a train sitting next to a young man who seemed worried. Finally the young man told the friend that he was a convict returning home from a prison far away. What he did had brought shame on his family, and they had neither visited him nor written to him. He hoped, however, that this was only because they were too poor to travel and too busy to write.
When he was set free he had written to tell them he wanted to go home. To make matters easy for them, however, he had asked them to put up a signal for him when the train passed their little farm. If the family had forgiven him, they were to put up a white ribbon in the big apple tree near the railway. If they didn't want him back, they were to do nothing, and he would stay on the train, and go far away.
As the train neared his hometown his _ became so great that he was afraid to look out of the window. He asked Michael to watch for the big apple tree. They changed seats. In a minute, Michael put his hand on the young convict's shoulder, "There it is," His eyes was filled with sudden tears. "It's all right. The whole tree is white with ribbons." | how did he bring shame? | because of what he did |
Recently,CCTV reporter have asked a simple question, "Are you happy?" The question has caught many interviewees off guard. Even Mo Yan, who recently won a Nobel Prize, answered by saying "I don't know." We should ask "What exactly is happiness? And how do you measure it?". Last year, China's Premier Wen Jiabao told the nation, "Everything we do is aimed at letting people live more happily." At last year's National People's Congress , officials agreed that increasing happiness would be a top target for the 12thfive-year plan. Many argue that happiness is _ . It also means different things to different people. For some, happiness can be as simple as having enough money to buy a new bicycle; for others, it's about socializing or finding the perfect spouse . Chen Shangyuan, 21, a college student, said his idea of happiness always evolves . "At present it relates to how productive I am in a day", he said. "It might be linked to job security or leisure time after I graduate." | What types of things make people happy? | money to buy a new bicycle |
A massive car bomb tore through the heart of a bustling marketplace in Peshawar, Pakistan, Wednesday, killing at least 100 people -- including many women and children -- and injuring at least 200 others, officials said.
A vehicle packed with 150 kilograms (330 pounds) of explosives detonated at the Meena Bazaar, a labyrinth of shops popular with women. The impact destroyed buildings, burying people underneath the rubble, and sparked massive fires in the shops, mosques, and homes.
In a year of seemingly endless militant attacks in Pakistan, this was the deadliest. Those who survived described a narrow escape:
"I ducked quickly and when I looked up it was complete darkness," said Imdad. "I couldn't see anyone. The cars and the van were lying upside down."
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Fareed Ullah, a student at a nearby mosque, was injured when he fell from the second floor as he tried to escape a fire ignited by the blast at the Meena Bazaar.
"We only saw a red blaze and nothing else," he said from his hospital bed. "My friends and I fell from the second floor. We didn't know where we were."
The remote-controlled detonation killed at least 100 people and injured as many as 200 others, hospital and government officials said. The deaths include 68 males and 32 females, including 10 children, the head of the main hospital in Peshawar said.
The car bomb left a 10-foot-wide crater, and the flames spread quickly through stores selling highly flammable fabric. | Did the explosion happen on a Thursday? | No |
MTV (originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable and satellite television channel owned by Viacom Media Networks (a division of Viacom) and headquartered in New York City. Launched on August 1, 1981, the channel originally aired music videos as guided by television personalities known as "video jockeys" (VJs). In its early years, MTV's main target demographic was young adults, but today it is primarily towards teenagers, particularly high school and college students. MTV has toned down its music video programming significantly in recent years, and its programming now consists mainly of original reality, comedy and drama programming and some off-network syndicated programs and films, with limited music video programming in off-peak time periods. It has also become involved in promoting left-wing political issues and progressive social causes. The network received criticism towards this change of focus, both by certain segments of its audience and musicians. MTV's influence on its audience, including issues involving censorship and social activism, has also been a subject of debate for several years.
In recent years, MTV had struggled with the secular decline of music-related cable media. Its ratings had been said to be failing systematically, as younger viewers increasingly shift towards digital media, with yearly ratings drops as high as 29%; thus there was doubt of the lasting relevance of MTV towards young audiences. In April 2016, MTV announced it would start to return to its original music roots with the reintroduction of the classic MTV series "MTV Unplugged". After nine years off air, "TRL" will be returning in October 2017. | any others? | yes |
CHAPTER XXVIII
GERALDINE
On reaching the Landing Andrew learned that Frobisher had returned and he rowed across to visit him. It was evening when he disembarked at the little pier. Geraldine came down across the lawn, and Andrew's heart beat fast as he watched her. She was wonderfully graceful, he thought, her white summer dress and light hat became her, there was a tinge of color in her face, and she was obviously eager to hear his news. She gave him a quick glance before they met, and then smiled in cordial welcome, for the man's expression was suggestive. He had lost his strained and anxious look, there was now an assured tranquillity in his bearing; he had not come back disappointed, and, for his sake, she rejoiced at this. Then as she gave him her hand and noticed the eager light in his eyes she grew suddenly disturbed.
"You have been successful; I'm very glad," she said.
"Yes," responded Andrew, holding her hand; "things have gone well with us, but except for the mineral recorder you are the first person I've told the good news to. That strikes me as particularly appropriate."
"Why?"
"I don't suppose I'd ever have found the lode if you hadn't encouraged me. I felt daunted once or twice. Then I ventured to think that you'd be interested."
"I am interested," Geraldine assured him, gently withdrawing her hand. "You needn't doubt that. But won't you come up to the house?"
Andrew laughed with a trace of awkwardness as he realized that he had been standing at the top of the uncomfortably narrow steps by which one reached the pier. | how did she feel about his sucess? | very glad |
After much thought,I came up with a brilliant plan.I worked out a way for Rich to meet my mother and win her over.In fact,I arranged it so my mother would want to cook a meal especially for him.
Rich was not only not Chinese and he was a few years younger than I was.And unfortunately,he looked much younger with his curly red hair,smooth pale skin,and the splash of orange freckles across his nose.He was a bit on the short side,compactly built.In his dark business suits,he looked nice but easily forgettable,which was why I didn't notice him the first year we worked together at the firm.But my mother noticed everything.
"So what do you think of Rich?"I finally asked,holding my breath.
She tossed the eggplant in the hot oil,angry hissing sound."So many spots on his face,"she said.
"They are freckles.Freckles are good luck."I said a bit too heatedly in trying to raise my voice above the noise of the kitchen.
"Oh?"She said innocently.
"Yes,the more spots the better."
She considered this a moment and then smiled and spoke in Chinese:"When you were young,you got the chicken pox.So many spots,you had to stay home for ten days.So lucky,you thought."
I couldn't save Rich in the kitchen.And I couldn't save him later at the dinner table.
When I offered Rich a fork,he insisted on using the slippery ivory chopsticks.Halfway between his plate and his open mouth,a large chunk of redcooked eggplant fell on his brand new white shirt.
And then he helped himself to big portions of the shrimp and snow peas,not realizing he should have taken only a polite spoonful.
He declined the new greens,the tender and expensive leaves of bean plants.He thought he was being polite by refusing seconds,when he should have followed my father's example,who made a big show of taking small portions of seconds,thirds and even fourths,always saying he couldn't resist another bite and then groaning he was so full he thought he would burst.
But the worst was when Rich criticized my mother's cooking and he didn't even know what he had done.As is the Chinese cook's custom,my mother always made modest remarks about her own cooking.That night she chose to direct it toward her famous steamed pork and preserved vegetable dish,which she always served with special pride.
"Ai!This dish not salty enough,no flavor,"she complained,after tasting a small bite.
This was our family's cue to eat more and proclaim it the best she had ever made.But before we could do so,Rich said,"You know,all it needs is a little soy sauce."And he proceeded to pour a riverful of the salty black stuff on the china plate,right before my mother's horrified eyes.
And even though I was hoping throughout the dinner that my mother would somehow see Rich's kindness,his sense of humor and boyish charm.I knew he had failed miserably in her eyes.
Rich obviously had a different opinion on how the evening had gone.When we got home,I was still shuddering, _ remembering how Rich had firmly shaken both my parents'hands with that same easy familiarity he used with nervous new clients."Linda,Tim,"he said,"we'll see you again."My parents'names are Lindo and Tin Jong,and nobody except a few older family friends ever calls them by their first names.
"What did she say when you told her?"I knew he was referring to our getting married.
"I never had a chance,"I said,which was true.How could I have told my mother I was getting married,when at every possible moment we were alone,she seemed to remark on how pale and ill he looked.
Rich was smiling."How long does it take to say,Mom,Dad,I am getting married?"
"You don't understand.You don't understand my mother." | who is he going to meet? | the narrator's mother |
The Pakistani Taliban vowed Thursday to carry out attacks against India to avenge the death of a man executed by Indian authorities for his role in the 2008 terrorist assault on Mumbai.
Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, a Pakistani, was hanged Wednesday in Pune, a city southeast of Mumbai. He was the lone surviving gunman from the attacks in India's financial capital in November 2008 that killed more than 160 people.
Read more: Who are the Pakistani Taliban?
Ihsanullah Ihsan, the spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban, said the militant group would conduct various attacks in India in response to the execution. He didn't provide further details.
The Pakistani Taliban, who are closely linked with their namesake in Afghanistan and with al Qaeda, operate in the ungoverned area that sits on the border of Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Read more: Mumbai attack survivor: 'It's like a dead man living'
India has requested extra protection for its diplomats in Pakistan following the execution, said J.P. Singh, an official at India's Ministry of External Affairs.
India executes last Mumbai gunman
He said the ministry had no immediate comment on the threat from the Taliban.
The Taliban spokesman said they are demanding that Kasab's body be returned to Pakistan for an Islamic burial. He criticized the Pakistani government, saying it had failed by not requesting the return of the body.
Read more: The Mumbai attacks: Getting the story amid chaos
Indian authorities said Wednesday that Kasab had been buried in the "surrounding area" of the jail where he was hanged. They didn't say what kind of burial rites had been performed. | Did they perform any traditional rituals? | didn't say what kind of burial rites had been performed. |
Tom and Joseph are best friends. They spent their summer vacation in Africa. When they were walking through the desert , they started to argue about something. Tom became very angry and slapped Joseph in the face. Joseph felt hurt, but he didn't say anything to Tom. Then Joseph wrote in the sand : "Today my best friend slapped me in the face." They kept on walking until they found a small lake. They decided to have a bath . But when Joseph got in the water, he started to sink . Tom jumped in after him and pulled him out. His friend saved his life. After he became well again, Joseph wrote on a stone : "Today my best friend saved my life." Tom couldn't understand it. "After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand. Now you write on a stone. Why?" he asked. _ " Joseph answered. "But when someone does something good for us, we must write it on stones so that no wind can ever take it away." | who are best friends ? | om and Joseph |
CHAPTER V
FUN AND AN EXPLOSION
Several days slipped by, and the boys waited anxiously for some news from the authorities. But none came, and they rightfully surmised that, for the time being, Dan Baxter had made good his escape.
On account of the disastrous ending to the kite-flying match, many had supposed that the feast in Dormitory No. 6 was not to come off, but Sam, Tom, Frank, and several others got their heads together and prepared for a "layout" for the following Wednesday, which would be Dick's birthday.
"We'll give him a surprise," said Sam, and so it was agreed. Passing around the hat netted exactly three dollars and a quarter, and Tom, Sam, and Fred Garrison were delegated to purchase the candies, cake, and ice cream which were to constitute the spread.
"We'll do the thing up brown," said Sam.
"We must strike higher than that feast we had, last year."
"Right you are!" came from Tom, "Oh dear, do you remember how we served Mumps that night!" and he set up a roar over the remembrance of the scene.
Hans Mueller had become one of the occupants of the dormitory, and he was as much, interested as anybody in the preparations for the spread. "Dot vill pe fine!" he said. "I like to have von feast twist a veek, ha I ha!
"He's a jolly dog," said Tom to Frank.
"But, say, I've been thinking of having some fun with him before this spread comes off."
"Let me in on the ground floor," pleaded Frank, who always wok a great interest in Tom's jokes. | What kind of food did they buy? | candies, cake and ice cream |
Nature Love
Yolanda loves nature. She loves trees, flowers, grass, singing birds, the sky, and even the wind. She spends a lot of time lying on the grass, looking at the sky, and listening to the birds.
One of Yolanda's favorite things to do is to look at the shapes of the big, fluffy clouds. "That one looks like a flower. And that one looks like a boat. There's one that looks like my dog!" she says to herself. She is always surprised and happy to find a new shape.
Yolanda's most favorite thing to do is to look at the flowers and bugs that visit her place. She watches and studies all the butterflies, bees, ants, spiders, and even worms that are in her backyard.
Yolanda has a wonderful backyard. Her mother has a big, beautiful garden that she helps to take care of. This is how Yolanda is learning to grow and take care of plants. The garden makes the whole yard look beautiful and smell wonderful. And the garden brings in all kinds of amazing birds and insects.
Yolanda has lots of pictures of the birds and bugs that come into her backyard. She feels like a kid scientist. Someday, she wants to become a real scientist. Then she can learn all about plants, bugs and nature. | What else does she like to do outside? | She spends a lot of time lying on the grass |
Formed in November 1990 by the equal merger of Sky Television and British Satellite Broadcasting, BSkyB became the UK's largest digital subscription television company. Following BSkyB's 2014 acquisition of Sky Italia and a majority 90.04% interest in Sky Deutschland in November 2014, its holding company British Sky Broadcasting Group plc changed its name to Sky plc. The United Kingdom operations also changed the company name from British Sky Broadcasting Limited to Sky UK Limited, still trading as Sky.
Following a lengthy legal battle with the European Commission, which deemed the exclusivity of the rights to be against the interests of competition and the consumer, BSkyB's monopoly came to an end from the 2007–08 season. In May 2006, the Irish broadcaster Setanta Sports was awarded two of the six Premier League packages that the English FA offered to broadcasters. Sky picked up the remaining four for £1.3bn. In February 2015, Sky bid £4.2bn for a package of 120 premier league games across the three seasons from 2016. This represented an increase of 70% on the previous contract and was said to be £1bn more than the company had expected to pay. The move has been followed by staff cuts, increased subscription prices (including 9% in Sky's family package) and the dropping of the 3D channel. | What did it deem? | the exclusivity of the rights to be against the interests of competition and the consumer |
An Ohio judge on Tuesday set a $1 million bond for the man accused of kidnapping and keeping a 13-year-old girl bound and gagged in his basement, authorities say.
Matthew Hoffman, 30, is suspected of having abducted Sarah Maynard, who authorities discovered over the weekend. She disappeared on Wednesday along with her mother, brother and family friend.
Sarah Maynard's mother, Tina Herrmann, 32, remains missing, along with 10-year-old Kody Maynard and Herrmann's friend, 41-year-old Stephanie Sprang.
Hoffman appeared in the Mount Vernon Municipal Court on Tuesday via a video link with the local jail, according to Pam Fuller, a deputy clerk. He is represented by a public defender.
Hoffman sat in a corner and looked straight ahead during much of the proceeding. He wore what looked to be a green vest, which the local sheriff later described as a suicide gown.
Knox County Sheriff David Barber said Hoffman was put in the gown after he gave indications to the jail staff and to investigators he could try to harm himself.
Previously, Barber has said he believes Hoffman could "absolutely" lead police to the three missing people. He is not cooperating with the investigation, officials said.
"The likelihood is, of course, that they are not alive," Barber said about Herrmann, her son and Sprang.
But he added he hopes they are, and that the department's priority remains trying to find them.
Sarah Maynard was released from the hospital Monday. Barber described the girl as doing well under the circumstances.
"There's so many people behind her that definitely that's going to help with her emotional recovery. And she is receiving those kind of services as well," he said. | Do the police think that Hoffman harmed the other missing people? | yes |
The last of 11 people facing felony hazing charges tied to a Florida A&M University band member's death turned herself in on Sunday, four days after prosecutors announced the charges, the state said.
Lasherry Codner, 20, was released on a $15,000 bail shortly after she was booked into Orange County jail Sunday. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement had said Friday that it had been in contact with her family in Georgia.
She joins 10 others who have reported to jails throughout Florida after being charged with felony hazing in the death of 26-year-old Robert Champion.
State law provides a prison term of up to six years for a conviction on this charge, Ninth Judicial Circuit State Attorney Lawson Lamar said last week.
The FAMU Marching 100 drum major died after collapsing on a band bus after a November 2011 football game in Orlando, Florida. He died within an hour after being badly beaten, medical examiners reported.
Two others are charged with misdemeanor hazing, which typically carries at most a year-long prison sentence.
Among those facing felony hazing charges is Aaron Golson, who was also charged in December with hazing and felony battery, after another FAMU band member, Bria Hunter, said she had suffered a cracked femur, deep bone bruise and blood clots after being beaten repeatedly on the thighs.
As to Champion's case, the victim's mother, Pam Champion, has said her family is disappointed the suspects didn't face more serious charges. She also accuses authorities of botching the investigation, saying they didn't properly process the bus for evidence and failed to immediately question students who were on board. | How many are charged with a misdemeanor? | Two |
CHAPTER XXI.
SHEWING HOW COLONEL OSBORNE WENT TO NUNCOMBE PUTNEY.
Colonel Osborne was expected at Nuncombe Putney on the Friday, and it was Thursday evening before either Mrs. Stanbury or Priscilla was told of his coming. Emily had argued the matter with Nora, declaring that she would make the communication herself, and that she would make it when she pleased and how she pleased. "If Mrs. Stanbury thinks," said she, "that I am going to be treated as a prisoner, or that I will not judge myself as to whom I may see, or whom I may not see, she is very much mistaken." Nora felt that were she to give information to those ladies in opposition to her sister's wishes, she would express suspicion on her own part by doing so; and she was silent. On that same Thursday Priscilla had written her last defiant letter to her aunt,--that letter in which she had cautioned her aunt to make no further accusations without being sure of her facts. To Priscilla's imagination that coming of Lucifer in person, of which Mrs. Trevelyan had spoken, would hardly have been worse than the coming of Colonel Osborne. When, therefore, Mrs. Trevelyan declared the fact on the Thursday evening, vainly endeavouring to speak of the threatened visit in an ordinary voice, and as of an ordinary circumstance, it was as though a thunderbolt had fallen upon them.
"Colonel Osborne coming here!" said Priscilla, mindful of the Stanbury correspondence,--mindful of the evil tongues of the world. | What day were they told? | Thursday |
In energy-sapping conditions, the British and Irish Lions hardly had to bare their teeth to comprehensively beat the Barbarians 59-8 in the first match of their rugby tour to Australia.
"It was a good run-out and what we wanted. It was a little tougher than the scoreline suggests," Lions head coach Warren Gatland said after the match in Hong Kong.
"I think the scoreline reflected our dominance. I was genuinely very, very pleased with that today. It was tough out there. The players said (the ball) was a like a bar of soap with the humidity and the heat."
In the hot and sticky night air -- the temperature hovering around 30C in the windless Hong Kong Stadium -- the Lions ran in eight tries to one against the scratch team of internationals that last weekend had lost 40-12 to England.
Led by the normally dynamic captain of Italy, Sergio Parisse, who said the conditions were the toughest he'd played in, the Barbarians forwards seemed determined to physically test their opposition early on.
Scottish fullback Stuart Hogg, the Lions' youngest player at 20, looked to get his tour off on a positive note but the beginning of a scything run a couple of minutes into the match was brought to juddering halt by a crunching tackle by Barbarians center Casey Lualala.
Then after just eight minutes South African Schalk Brits, forgetting any club loyalty, sent a punch towards his Saracens teammate and Lions flyhalf Owen Farrell, earning the Barbarians' hooker a yellow card and 10 minutes off the field. It could easily have been red. | How tough did he say they were? | The toughest he'd played in. |
Pro wrestling legend Hulk Hogan, embroiled in a bitter divorce with his wife, Linda, told Rolling Stone magazine he can "totally understand" O.J. Simpson, the former football great found liable for the deaths of his wife and another man.
Linda and Hulk Hogan enjoy happier times at the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards in New York in 2006.
"I could have turned everything into a crime scene like O.J., cutting everybody's throat," Hogan said in the interview for a feature that will run in Friday's edition of the magazine.
"You live half a mile from the 20,000-square-foot home you can't go to anymore, you're driving through downtown Clearwater and see a 19-year-old boy driving your Escalade, and you know that a 19-year-old boy is sleeping in your bed, with your wife ...
"I totally understand O.J. I get it," Hogan said.
A spokeswoman for Rolling Stone magazine confirmed the quote to CNN. Watch report on Hogan's statements »
It has been widely reported that Linda Hogan, 49, is dating a younger man. She filed for divorce in 2007 after nearly 25 years of marriage.
Simpson was found not guilty of murder in the 1994 stabbing deaths of his wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ron Goldman, but was found liable for their deaths by a civil court jury.
Simpson later was found guilty in a Las Vegas, Nevada, armed robbery case and sentenced in December to up to 33 years in prison.
A spokesman for Linda Hogan said Wednesday that the statement amounts to a death threat and that her attorney is "weighing all options necessary to protect his client." | When was his case? | 1994 |
CHAPTER XI
THE ELECTION FOR OFFICERS
"Company attention! Shoulder arms! Forward march!"
Boom! Boom! Boom, boom, boom!
The drums rang out clearly on the morning air and the Colby Hall battalion swung into line on a march that carried it around the school buildings and then to the lake shore. Here Colonel Colby and Captain Dale inspected the three companies. Then the retiring major, Ralph Mason, was called on for a little speech which brought forth many cheers, and after this the command was dismissed.
It was the day for the election, and there was to be no school session until the afternoon.
At the last election there had been a total of 111 votes cast. But now there were one hundred and twenty-five cadets at the institution. There had been some talk of organizing a new command to be known as Company D, but so far this had not materialized.
As was the custom, the election was held in the main hall of the school and was presided over by Captain Dale and Professor Brice.
"I see they expect a hundred and twenty-five votes," remarked Randy. "That means sixty-three will be necessary to a choice."
"Well, I'm sure Jack will get at least forty on the first vote," returned his brother.
"I hope he gets the whole sixty-three," put in Dan Soppinger. Dan had once run for a captaincy, but had dropped out and turned most of his attention to athletics.
As at other elections, it was decided by Colonel Colby that each officer should be voted for separately. | how many votes were put in the previous year? | 111 |
A boy named Pedro was walking down the street one day, and he met a pretty girl in a pink dress who handed him a bell. It was made of metal, and looked worn and old. The girl said, this bell gave me my wish for a pink dress, but in order to keep my wish, I have to give the bell to someone else. Ring the bell three times to get your wish. Not two, not four, but three. When your wish arrives, give the bell to someone else. Pedro thanked the girl for the bell, and when she had gone, he rang the bell three times and wished for a puppy. Soon after, he saw a puppy on a street corner. It was black with brown and white spots. He picked the puppy up and hugged it. Then he saw his friend Alice. He gave the bell to Alice, who rang the bell and wished for a pretty bird. Soon a pretty bird landed on her shoulder. Alice thought the bell was a wonderful thing, and chose to keep it, rather than give it away. The next day when she woke up, her bird had flown away. | What did he ask for? | a puppy. |
Copenhagen is the capital and most populous city of Denmark. The city has a population of 763,908 (), of whom 601,448 live in the Municipality of Copenhagen. The larger urban area has a population of 1,280,371 (), while the Copenhagen metropolitan area has just over 2 million inhabitants. Copenhagen is situated on the eastern coast of the island of Zealand; another small portion of the city is located on Amager, and is separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the strait of Øresund. The Øresund Bridge connects the two cities by rail and road.
Originally a Viking fishing village founded in the 10th century, Copenhagen became the capital of Denmark in the early 15th century. Beginning in the 17th century it consolidated its position as a regional centre of power with its institutions, defences and armed forces. After suffering from the effects of plague and fire in the 18th century, the city underwent a period of redevelopment. This included construction of the prestigious district of Frederiksstaden and founding of such cultural institutions as the Royal Theatre and the Royal Academy of Fine Arts. After further disasters in the early 19th century when Nelson attacked the Dano-Norwegian fleet and bombarded the city, rebuilding during the Danish Golden Age brought a Neoclassical look to Copenhagen's architecture. Later, following the Second World War, the Finger Plan fostered the development of housing and businesses along the five urban railway routes stretching out from the city centre. | What happened in the 17th century? | it consolidated its position as a regional centre of power |
The famous car Rolls-Royce has been largely hand-made and always one of the most expensive cars on the market.
In fact, Rolls-Royce is made up of two men's names, Charles S. Rolls and Henry Royce. They came from very different backgrounds, received very different educations and when they met; their careers were going in very different directions.
In 1903, Royce bought a second-hand France Decauville car. He found the car unreliable, difficult to start and overheated. Royce decided he could do better himself and set about building two-cylinder car of his own design. The first of these, built almost completely by Royce himself, was a success in almost every way: it started easily, ran smoothly and was very reliable. It never failed to impress everyone who saw it rode in the car, including Rolls.
While he was a university student at Cambridge, Rolls acquired a French Peugeot. It was the first automobile seen at Cambridge and by the time Rolls finished his studies, he was probably the most skilled driver in Britain. In 1902, Rolls went into the business of selling cars and became a leading automobile
. He was looking for a British car to market when he was told that Henry Royce had designed and built a two-cylinder automobile.
In 1904, Royce and Rolls joined together to build and sell motor car. They combined their talents--Royce the engineer and Rolls the salesman and businessman.
And, just two years later, the partnership produced the Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost, a milestone car acclaimed by many by the time as the " best in the world". Over the years the automaker built a legendary reputation. | what? | He set about building two-cylinder car of his own design |
Nebraska is a state that lies in both the Great Plains and the Midwestern United States. The state is bordered by South Dakota to the north, Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River, Kansas to the south, Colorado to the southwest and Wyoming to the west. It is the only triply landlocked U.S. state. Nebraska's area is just over 77,220 sq mi (200,000 km) with almost 1.9 million people. Its state capital is Lincoln, and its largest city is Omaha, which is on the Missouri River.
Indigenous peoples including Omaha, Missouria, Ponca, Pawnee, Otoe, and various branches of the Lakota (Sioux) tribes lived in the region for thousands of years before European exploration. The state is crossed by many historic trails and was explored by the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
Nebraska was admitted as the 37th state of the United States in 1867. It is the only state in the United States whose legislature is unicameral and officially nonpartisan.
Nebraska is composed of two major land regions: the Dissected Till Plains and the Great Plains. The Dissected Till Plains is a region of gently rolling hills and contains the state's largest cities, Omaha and Lincoln. The Great Plains occupy most of western Nebraska, characterized by treeless prairie, suitable for cattle-grazing. The state has a large agriculture sector and is a major producer of beef, pork, corn and soybeans. There are two major climatic zones: the eastern half of the state has a humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification "Dfa"), with a unique warmer subtype considered "warm-temperate" near the southern plains like in Kansas and Oklahoma which have a predominantly humid subtropical climate. The western half has a primarily semi-arid climate (Koppen "BSk"). The state has wide variations between winter and summer temperatures, decreasing south through the state. Violent thunderstorms and tornadoes occur primarily during spring and summer, but sometimes in autumn. Chinook winds tend to warm the state significantly in the winter and early spring. | Is it divided north and south? | No. |
Art Deco, sometimes referred to as Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture and design that first appeared in France just before World War I. Art Deco influenced the design of buildings, furniture, jewellery, fashion, cars, movie theatres, trains, ocean liners, and everyday objects such as radios and vacuum cleaners. It took its name, short for "Arts Décoratifs", from the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes (International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts) held in Paris in 1925. It combined modernist styles with fine craftsmanship and rich materials. During its heyday, Art Deco represented luxury, glamour, exuberance, and faith in social and technological progress.
Art Deco was a pastiche of many different styles, sometimes contradictory, united by a desire to be modern. From its outset, Art Deco was influenced by the bold geometric forms of Cubism; the bright colors of Fauvism and of the Ballets Russes; the updated craftsmanship of the furniture of the eras of Louis Philippe and Louis XVI; and the exotic styles of China and Japan, India, Persia, ancient Egypt and Maya art. It featured rare and expensive materials, such as ebony and ivory, and exquisite craftsmanship. The Chrysler Building and other skyscrapers of New York built during the 1920s and 1930s are monuments of the Art Deco style. | Like what? | radios and vacuum cleaners |
CHAPTER ELEVEN.
TO THE RESCUE.
Elsie and Cora Ravenshaw were seated at a table in Willow Creek, with their mother and Miss Trim, repairing garments, one night in that same inclement January of which we have been writing.
Mr Ravenshaw was enjoying his pipe by the stove, and Louis Lambert was making himself agreeable. The old man was a little careworn. No news had yet been received of Tony or of Victor. In regard to the latter he felt easy; Victor could take care of himself, and was in good company, but his heart sank when he thought of his beloved Tony. What would he not have given to have had him smashing his pipe or operating on his scalp at that moment.
"It is an awful winter," observed Elsie, as a gust of wind seemed to nearly blow in the windows.
"I pity the hunters in the plains," said Cora. "They say a rumour has come that they are starving."
"I heard of that, but hope it is not true," observed Lambert.
"Oh! they always talk of starving," said old Ravenshaw. "No fear of 'em."
At that moment there was a sound of shuffling in the porch, the door was thrown open, and a gaunt, haggard man, with torn, snow-sprinkled garments, pale face, and bloodshot eyes, stood pictured on the background of the dark porch.
"Baptiste Warder!" exclaimed Lambert, starting up.
"Ay, what's left o' me; and here's the remains o' Winklemann," said Warder, pointing to the cadaverous face of the starving German, who followed him. | why did she realize this? | a gust of wind nearly blew in the windows |
A new word is becoming more and more popular on the Internet in China - but no one knows quite what it means.The word "duang" is so new that you can't even find it in the Chinese dictionary. But it has already spread like fire on the Chinese Internet , appearing more than 8,000,000 times on Weibo, where 15,000 users had more than 312,000 discussions. On Baidu, it has been looked up almost 600,000 times. But what does it mean? "Everyone's duang-ing and I still don't know what it means! Looks like I'd better go back to school now," said Weibo user Fahmida. Another user asked: "Have you duang-ed today? My mind is full of duang duang duang." "To duang or not to duang, that is the question," wrote user Beatrice. "Duang" seems to be imitating a sound. It all seems to have started with Hong Kong action star Jackie Chan, who in 2004 appeared in a shampoo ad where he used the sound "duang" to describe his soft and black hair. The word came to people again recently after Chan posted it on his Weibo page. Thousands of users then began to visit Chan's Weibo page with comments . The word seems to have many different meanings, and there's no perfect Chinese meaning for it, but you could use it to give emphasis to the word that follows it. A kid might be "duang cute", for example. | as a verb? | Sometimes,. |
CHAPTER NINETEEN.
THE ESKIMOS AGAIN, AND A GREAT DISCOVERY AND RESCUE.
While Nazinred, under the influence of strong affection, was thus fighting with the unfamiliar difficulties and dangers of the polar sea, Cheenbuk and his Eskimo friends were enjoying life in what may be called their native element.
"Will Adolay come for a drive?" said our gallant Eskimo one day when the sun had risen near enough to the eastern horizon to almost, but not quite, extinguish the stars. "We go to seek for walruses."
The Indian maiden was sitting at the time in the snow residence which belonged to Mangivik. Mrs Mangivik was sitting opposite to her mending a seal-skin boot, and Cowlik the easy-going was seated beside her, engaged with some other portion of native attire. Nootka was busy over the cooking-lamp, and old Mangivik himself was twirling his thumbs, awaiting the result of her labours. Oolalik was there too--he was frequently there--courting Nootka in the usual way, by prolonged silent staring. The process might have been trying to some women, but Nootka did not mind. Like many young damsels, she was fond of admiration, and could stand a good deal of it, no matter how peculiar the mode in which it was expressed.
"I don't care to go," said Adolay, with a sigh.
Cheenbuk did not repeat the invitation or press for a reason. He was a considerate as well as a gallant youth. He knew that the poor girl was pining for her parents, and that she regretted having left them--even although remaining in her native village might have involved her being wed against her will to the hated Magadar, or subjected to his persecutions during her father's absence. Cheenbuk did his best to comfort her with the assurance that he would take her back to her home with the very first of the open water. But when Adolay began to realise what a very long time must elapse before the ice would reopen its portals and set the waters free, her heart sank and she began to mope. | Was anyone else around? | yes |
Country singer and songwriter Adrienne Young brings together music and agricultural activities.She even included seeds in the album cover of her first CD.
Adrienne Young wants people to know that she supports the movement in America to increase local farming.She offers information about agricultural issues on her Web site.And now part of the moneyfrom her third and newest release, "Room to Grow",will be donated to help support community gardens.
Adrienne Young's family has lived in Florida for seven generations.Her ancestors helped develop the agriculture industry there.The state of Florida is the nation's second largest producer of fruits and vegetables, 'after California.
Adrienne Young has said that her interest in nature was shaped by the fact that she did not grow up on a farm.She grew up in a house her grandfather build on what had been farmland two generations ago.But the land was developed and was now part of a highway.
Adrienne Young has teamed up with two organizations that support local farming and gardening efforts.One is the American Community Gardening Association.The other is FoodRoutes,a group she has represented for several years.
FoodRoutes says buying locally grown food is not only about taste and freshness.The group says buying locally also helps to strengthen local economies and protect the environment.Exports say food in the United States travels all average of more than three thousand kilometers from farm to store. | what is the name of the latest album? | "Room to Grow" |
Productores de Música de España (Spanish Music Producers) (shortened as Promusicae, sometimes stylised PROMUSICAE) is the organisation responsible for the Spanish Albums Chart and other music charts. It is a trade association that represents more than 90 percent of the Spanish recorded music industry. It is the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) group for Spain.
Promusicae was born in 1958 as a representative of the IFPI in Spain under the name of the Spanish Group of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (), although not officially an association, since Spanish law during the Franco regime did not recognize the right of association until 1977. In 1978, it was registered as an association under the name Spanish Phonographic Association () (AFE). In 1982, with the emergence and popularization of the music video, the AFE changed its name to Phonographic and Videographic Association of Spain () (AFYVE). Finally, in 2004, AFYVE partners by General Assembly decided to change to its current name, Spanish Music Producers () (Promusicae, which is also a pun with the Latin expression "pro musicae", which means "for / in favor of the music").
Since 30 April 2003, Antonio Guisasola has been president of Promusicae, replacing Carlos Grande. | What is their mission? | responsible for the Spanish Albums Chart |
An American man who was held in Aruba for nearly four months in connection with the disappearance of his traveling companion insisted Thursday he had nothing to do with her vanishing but said it will "weigh heavily on me for a very long time."
"I feel as if a person I cared about, a companion ... has disappeared on my watch," Gary Giordano said on ABC's "Good Morning America" in his first interview since being released from custody in Aruba earlier this week.
Giordano, 50, had been held in the disappearance of 35-year-old Robyn Gardner of Maryland. Giordano told authorities the two were snorkeling on August 2 when he signaled to Gardner to swim back. When he reached the beach, he told police, Gardner was nowhere to be found and has not been seen since.
"I only looked back when I hit a rock," he said, according to a transcript of a police interview obtained by CNN. "Before that, I did not look back. I was busy saving my life."
Aruban judges repeatedly granted requests to extend Giordano's detention, while the investigation continued. But last week, a judge rejected prosecutors' request to hold Giordano, of Gaithersburg, Maryland, for an additional 30 days. He was released Tuesday.
A three-judge panel of Aruban judges held a hearing Wednesday to review the decision to release Giordano, but upheld it. ABC aired a clip of an emotional Giordano learning of the decision at the airport. "I'd accepted the fact that they were going to keep me from my kids forever," he told reporters in the video. | How old is he? | 50 |
Justin Bieber's defense team now includes Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande.
Both singers stood up for the 19-year-old pop star as he was being hammered on Twitter and TV after his DUI arrest Thursday, encouraging their fans to show some compassion and support.
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and to stand up for themselves, but I think we should be supportive of Beliebers," Gaga told her Little Monsters -- aka her fans -- in a post on her website Thursday.
"We may not understand everything celebrities do because there's only so much we see, but Justin and Beliebers were 'born this way' too. Let's spread love and compassion to Beliebers today. That is what we are all about."
Ellen DeGeneres, who once had Bieber on her show to surprise him with a car as a birthday gift, sounded genuine when she tweeted she hopes the star will be able to mature without injury.
Nickelodeon star Grande, who spent some time on tour with Bieber and shares a manager with the pop star, Scooter Braun, didn't directly address Bieber by name, but the timing of her reaction on Twitter spoke volumes.
Meanwhile, other stars such as Seth Rogen and Jason Biggs had decidedly less kind reactions to the news that Bieber had been pulled over while drag racing in Miami Beach, Florida, and then arrested on charges of drunken driving, resisting arrest and driving without a valid license.
"All jokes aside, Justin Bieber is a piece of s***," Rogen tweeted. Biggs joked, "50 in a 30. Jesus, Bieber even drag races like a p****." | What happened to him? | DUI arrest |
On Saturday, Amy and Joe baked a whole chicken for their family's dinner. They rinsed it in cold water, rubbed it with spices, and put it into a pan. After they had heated up the oven, they put the chicken and the pan on the center oven rack and set the timer. Then, as they peeled potatoes and carrots to go with the chicken, Amy, Joe and Cindy talked about dinner.
Amy said, "Joe, this is too much food for you, me and little Cindy to eat in one night. We'll have leftovers. What can we do with the leftover chicken?"
Joe said, "We could make chicken sandwiches or chicken and rice."
Amy said, "How about chicken soup?"
Cindy said, "I like chicken with Thai noodles with red peppers. We haven't made those in a long time."
"That sounds good," said Amy. "We'll make that for dinner tomorrow."
"Yum!" said Joe. "That's a great idea. I love Thai noodles."
Later, Joe, Amy and Cindy had finished eating dinner, and Cindy asked Amy for help with her homework. "I don't understand how to do these math problems!"
Joe said, "You two go ahead. I'll do the dishes and put away the leftovers."
Soon, Cindy went into the kitchen to get a glass of water. Joe was eating the chicken. It was almost gone!
"Dad!" said Cindy, "You have eaten almost all of the leftover chicken. We can't have Thai noodles with chicken tomorrow."
Joe looked very sad. He said "I'm sorry. I have been a bad dad. I have to buy more chicken so that we can still have noodles. Would you like a piece of chicken?" | does Cindy like Thai noodles? | yes |
It was movie night at Tom's house. He was looking forward to watching a movie. He wondered what sort of movie it would be. Would it be a cartoon? Would there be knights? He really likes to watch movies about spaceships. His sister likes to watch movies about animals. Tonight they would watch his father's favorite type of movie. His mother came home and put it on the table. After dinner Tom cleared away the plates from the table. It was his sister's turn to wash the dishes. His father went to read the newspaper. His mother began to make popcorn. She made a big bowl of popcorn. There was plenty for everyone. She put lots of butter on it. Tom was excited he went to sit on the striped rug in front of the television. His sister came and sat next to him. His parents sat on the couch. The dog climbed on to the blue chair. The movie was about cars. Tom had a great movie night. | Who came home with the movie? | His mother |
One Friday Mrs. King asked her class to write a story after class. "Use your imagination!" she cried, "You can write your story about anything." Kenny looked worried. "A story?" he thought, "What could I possible have to write about? I don't know any stories." The bell rang and all the kids went home. The next day, Kenny sat at his desk at home, thinking and thinking. The warm sun was shining through the windows, making him _ And soon he fell fast asleep. As he slept, Kenny began to dream about fantastic things. First he dreamed that he was a world-famous doctor, saving whole cities and curing diseases. Then he dreamed that he was in a UFO. He was talking to strange but friendly space creatures. Then he dreamed that he had become as small as a mouse by a bad scientist. He had to find a way to stop the plot of the mad scientist! Kenny dreamed wonderful and exciting things until his little brother woke him up. "What were you dreaming about?" he asked. Kenny told his brother the wonderful dreams. His brother enjoyed the stories. Suddenly, Kenny knew that he had his kinds of stories in his imagination. | How small? | a mouse |
Information technology (IT) is the application of computers to store, study, retrieve, transmit, and manipulate data, or information, often in the context of a business or other enterprise. IT is considered a subset of information and communications technology (ICT). In 2012, Zuppo proposed an ICT hierarchy where each hierarchy level "contain some degree of commonality in that they are related to technologies that facilitate the transfer of information and various types of electronically mediated communications."
The term is commonly used as a synonym for computers and computer networks, but it also encompasses other information distribution technologies such as television and telephones. Several industries are associated with information technology, including computer hardware, software, electronics, semiconductors, internet, telecom equipment, and e-commerce. Humans have been storing, retrieving, manipulating, and communicating information since the Sumerians in Mesopotamia developed writing in about 3000 BC, but the term "information technology" in its modern sense first appeared in a 1958 article published in the "Harvard Business Review"; authors Harold J. Leavitt and Thomas L. Whisler commented that "the new technology does not yet have a single established name. We shall call it information technology (IT)." Their definition consists of three categories: techniques for processing, the application of statistical and mathematical methods to decision-making, and the simulation of higher-order thinking through computer programs. | Since what ancient time have we communicating information? | 3000 BC |
Chapter XL. Keep Your Temper.
On the next day but one, Randal arranged his departure for Sydenham, so as to arrive at the hotel an hour before the time appointed for the dinner. His prospects of success, in pleading for a favorable reception of his brother's message, were so uncertain that he refrained--in fear of raising hopes which he might not be able to justify--from taking Herbert into his confidence. No one knew on what errand he was bent, when he left the house. As he took his place in the carriage, the newspaper boy appeared at the window as usual. The new number of a popular weekly journal had that day been published. Randal bought it.
After reading one or two of the political articles, he arrived at the columns specially devoted to "Fashionable Intelligence." Caring nothing for that sort of news, he was turning over the pages in search of the literary and dramatic articles, when a name not unfamiliar to him caught his eye. He read the paragraph in which it appeared.
"The charming widow, Mrs. Norman, is, we hear, among the distinguished guests staying at Buck's Hotel. It is whispered that the lady is to be shortly united to a retired naval officer of Arctic fame; now better known, perhaps, as one of our leading philanthropists."
The allusion to Bennydeck was too plain to be mistaken. Randal looked again at the first words in the paragraph. "The charming widow!" Was it possible that this last word referred to Catherine? To suppose her capable of assuming to be a widow, and--if the child asked questions--of telling Kitty that her father was dead, was, in Randal's estimation, to wrong her cruelly. With his own suspicions steadily contradicting him, he arrived at the hotel, obstinately believing that "the charming widow" would prove to be a stranger. | where was he going ? | Sydenham |
Johnny walked toward the time machine. His adult neighbor, the scientist, had asked him to watch it for him for the weekend. He had also asked Johnny not to touch it. But it was a time machine. Johnny had to see it.
The machine was big and silver and shiny and looked like an ice cream cone that had been dropped. It had a square hole as tall as Johnny and it hummed like a fridge.
Johnny took a deep breath and stepped inside. Just a peek, he thought.
There were three buttons inside. One said "past," and one said "present." Another said "space."
Johnny looked at the buttons. He looked at the buttons some more. He waited and without thinking, his arm jumped out in front of him. He pushed the button that said "past."
There was a bright light! And bam!
Johnny stepped out of the machine. It was raining, and there were many strange looking trees. The air was warm. The dirt below was muddy.
He took a deep breath. "So this is the past," Johnny said.
Just then he heard a bump. And another one. The ground shook. The bumps got louder and the ground shook harder. A tree fell.
Johnny heard a roar.
Two more trees fell.
Suddenly, Johnny saw it: A Tyrannosaurus Rex!
Johnny was so scared he couldn't breathe.
The T. Rex looked up, and left, and right. He sniffed the air and leaned down. He didn't seem to see Johnny.
Then Johnny sneezed. And the T. Rex started walking towards him. Faster and faster. Bump. Bump bump. Bumpbumpbumpbump until he was running.
Johnny jumped back into the time machine and pressed "present."
There was a bright light and Johnny was back home.
He took a deep breath. He was home.
"Phew," he said.
Next time, he would listen to his adult neighbor, he thought. | And what color was it? | silver |
Zhang Kai is a student at North China University of Water Resources and Electric Power . He has led a group of college student volunteers since last year. They help children at a primary school with their studies and daily lives. "When I was a small child", Zhang said, "I knew March 5 was a day for people to learn from Lei Feng and help others, but I didn't know the real meaning of the spirit of Lei Feng. Now when I see the smiling faces of the kids I have helped, I deeply understand Lei Feng. Helping others makes me happy." Lei Feng (1940-1962) is one of the most famous soldiers in Chinese history. He lost his parents when he was very young. His neighbors brought him up. He died in an accident at 22. He did many good deeds in his short life. For example, he gave his own money to the parents of another soldier. And bought tickets for a woman he didn't know without telling her his name. On March 5, 1963, Chairman Mao called on people to "Learn from Lei Feng" and made the day "Lei Feng Day". Today almost 50 years has passed since Lei's death. Some people say that the spirit of Lei Feng is outdated . But many people think we need to promote that spirit again. There have been many reports about the coldness of people toward strangers. This has made many Chinese people think deeply about themselves. "The most important thing is that we must be ready to help others and make it a habit." said Huang Tianze, a student from Jianlan High School in Zhejiang. | how long? | almost 50 years |
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon paid a visit to Baghdad on Friday to congratulate its citizens for last weekend's "remarkable" Iraq-led provincial elections, a process he said "augurs well for the transition process and the solidifying of Iraq's national reconciliation."
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, left, meets Friday in Baghdad with Iraq President Jalal Talabani.
On a tour that also has taken him to Pakistan and Afghanistan, Ban met with Iraqi leaders and appeared at a news conference with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, whose allies won big in nine of the 14 provinces where the local elections were held.
"I have been following the electoral process closely from the early days of the parliamentary debate over the elections law last summer to the final stages of adjudication of the complaints and yesterday evening's release of the provisional results," Ban said at the news conference, according to prepared remarks issued by the United Nations.
"It will be some days before final results are known, but current indications are that the elections have been successfully carried out."
Ban last visited Iraq in 2007. In March of that year, he got a taste of the violence that often rocks the Iraqi capital. An explosion rattled Baghdad's International Zone, where he was holding a televised news conference with al-Maliki.
Apparently used to such blasts, al-Maliki remained stoic, while Ban briefly ducked before regaining his composure and continuing.
Now, he said, he's "very much impressed to have witnessed myself the great success and progress the Iraqi government and people have made under the leadership of Prime Minister Maliki, and I congratulate you," he said, emphasizing the improvements in security. | Which President did he meet with? | Jalal Talabani |
While in college, Tim started to look for easy ways to make money. One of the opportunities he saw was gambling . He started learning about all forms of gambling. He got lucky enough to make $9,000, but sadly it didn't last long and over the next year he lost all of that money. It was at this point that Tim realized that he needed to stop gambling and focus on learning about finance.
One day, he was talking to one of his friends about creating a business, and his friend turned him onto Quick Sprout. So he started reading every blog post on Quick Sprout in the hope that he could learn about how to become a successful businessman and meet some people through Quick Sprout that he could partner up with.
A year ago Tim read a blog post on Quick Sprout about another businessman by the name of Timothy Sykes. Tim visited Timothysykes.com and learned about his Millionaire Challenge program that taught people how to buy and sell penny stocks . Tim thought it would be worth giving a try.
Tim spent the next few months learning from Timothy Sykes on how to trade stocks. After he felt that he had learned enough, he wanted to start trading. Within the first 6 months of using what he learned in the Millionaire Challenge program, he made over $40,000. At one point he even made $11,000 in 15 minutes.
Over the next 12 months Tim is on track to make even more money. So far things are looking good and he is already ahead of schedule. The Millionaire Challenge program has worked out so well for him and he is now starting to enjoy the finer things of life. | who is the story about? | Tim |
On Nikola Tesla's 158th birthday, it was the effort to build a museum in the influential scientist's honor that got the gift.
Elon Musk, the magnate and inventor behind electric-car company Tesla Motors, has pledged $1 million to the Tesla Science Center in Shoreham, New York, on the site of Wardenclyffe, Tesla's only remaining laboratory.
And it's all due, at least in large part, to an appeal from a webcomic creator.
Matthew Inman, whose comic and website the Oatmeal draws millions of readers each month, wrote Thursday that he had spoken to Musk and confirmed the pledge.
"So, I had a call with Elon Musk earlier this week ..." Inman wrote on his site.
He said Musk, who named his car company as a tribute to the inventor, told him two things during the phone call: that he would install a Tesla charging station in the museum's parking lot and that he'll donate the million to the effort to fully restore and operate it.
Jane Alcorn, president of the Tesla Science Center, announced the pledge at a birthday party at the center on Thursday.
"(Musk) has challenged us at the center to use our resources wisely, find additional resources, and reach our goal of creating this museum," she said. "We are excited and extremely grateful for Mr. Musk's generous gift to Tesla Science Center, and also to Matthew Inman for arranging the opportunity."
The Tesla Science Center had confirmed the news on its Twitter feed earlier.
"Elon Musk: from the deepest wells of my geeky little heart: thank you," Inman wrote. "This is amazing news. And it's Nikola Tesla's 158th birthday. Happy Nikola Tesla Day." | What is Wardenclyffe? | a laboratory. |
There once was a lion who did not roar, but instead he said meow. The lion was sad, because he could not roar like his other lion friends. The lion went to talk to his family. He first went to talk to his brother, but his brother was not home. Then he went to talk to his dad, but his dad was not home either. Luckily, the lion's sister was home. He asked his sister why he thought he could not roar. His sister said they need to go talk to their friend the squirrel. The squirrel lived in a tree with a nice door mat outside. The squirrel said to the lion if he wanted to start to roar instead of meow, then he need to run faster than the other lion's. So the next day, the lion played a game, in which he ran faster than all the other lions. Now, the lion roars and doesn't meow. | and did it work? | yes |
Every time Lionel Messi breaks a record, it seems appropriate to compare him to the legends that came before him.
In 2012, he rewrote soccer history on multiple occasions, and his latest record came when he scored his 86th goal of the calendar year, breaking Gerd Muller's previous mark, before wrapping up the year with 91 goals.
All statistics indicate that Messi is currently the best player in the world, and that he will go down in history as the top footballer of his generation. But when he is judged against all-time greats like Pele and Diego Maradona, he still has work to do.
We don't know whether the Barcelona striker will have another year in which he records more than 90 goals, but he must still sustain a similar level of production for the next several seasons.
Messi has already taken part in three of Barcelona's victorious Champions League campaigns, and he played an important role in two of them. In order to firmly establish himself as the greatest club football player in history, he must win the tournament a few more times.
Most importantly, the Argentine needs to win on the international stage. Regardless of what Messi does for Barcelona, his legacy will be incomplete if he cannot win the World Cup with Argentina.
Both Pele and Maradona led their countries to the top of international soccer during their careers, and Messi's performances for his country have been severely disappointing.
While he was still a teenager in 2006 --and his lackluster showing is excusable due to his youth--he cannot brush off the disappointment that characterized Argentina's performance in 2010.
But the 4-0 loss to Germany in the 2010 World Cup Quarter Final seems to have sparked Messi. He scored 12 times for Argentina last year, and the next World Cup could finally be Messi's breakout performance in blue and white stripes.
Due to all of his accomplishments, it is easy to forget that the extraordinary footballer is just 25 years old. If he can avoid injury or lengthy slumps until his speed and skills start to decline due to age, he may continue to break records and win trophies. | in what decade was he in his teens? | 2000s |
A gunman killed three people and wounded at least five at the house of a mayoral candidate in the Philippines before polls opened on Monday, a military spokeswoman said.
The attack happened around 2:30 a.m. (2:30 p.m. Sunday ET) when an unidentified gunman raided the house of a mayoral candidate in Zamboanga del Sur province, said spokeswoman Steffani Cacho. The incident is under investigation, she added.
More than 50 million ballots have been printed with a dizzying number of candidates to choose from -- nine for president alone, among them front-runner Sen. Benigno Aquino III, son of a former president; and Joseph Estrada, a former president himself.
Family dynasties also play a role: Former first lady Imelda Marcos is running to fill the Congressional seat of her son, Ferdinand "Bongbong," who is running for Senate, while her Congresswoman daughter Imee is running for governor.
Boxing champion Manny Pacquiao also threw his hat in the ring: He's running for Congress too.
In all. voters must fill some 17,000 other positions at the executive, legislative and local levels.
A faulty test run of automated machines raised questions as late as Wednesday of whether the elections would even happen. A postponement would have stirred fears of a power vacuum on June 30 when President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is scheduled to end her nine years in office.
Polls opened to crowds of waiting voters, CNN's Arwa Damon reported from Manila.
"People are very excited," Damon said, adding that the election-day mood was "tinged with anxiety." | Who is a boxer? | Manny Pacquiao |
CHAPTER II
ABOUT THE PAST
"Did you get any more particulars?" asked Sam, of the college poet.
"No. The newspaper man was busy, so the Doctor said, and didn't have time to go into details," answered Songbird.
"Did he say who the other prisoners were who got away?" asked Dick.
"Yes, a tramp who was up for robbing a man on the road and a bank clerk who took some money from the bank."
"None of the crowd we are interested in," said Tom.
"I'm glad of it," returned his older brother. "It is bad enough for Crabtree to get away. I hope they keep a strict guard over the others after this."
"Oh, they will, rest assured of that," came from Stanley Browne. "The head jailer will get a raking over the coals for this, mark my words."
"The Stanhopes and the Lanings will be sorry to learn that Crabtree got away," said Sam. "I wonder if they aren't searching for him," mused Sam.
"Oh, they'll search for all of them," put in Songbird. "I think the newspaper man said the sheriff had a posse out."
"Too bad!" said Dick, shaking his head gravely. "And just when we felt sure old Crabtree wouldn't be able to give us any more trouble!"
"It beats the nation, what that man can do!" cried Sam. "Maybe be hypnotized one of the jailers-- just as he hypnotized Mrs. Stanhope years ago.
"He'd be equal to it-- if he got the chance," answered Tom; and then all of the students had to go in to their classes. | What were the other two? | a tramp and a bank clerk |
A bipartisan group of women senators waded into the ongoing drama over the NFL, Ray Rice and domestic violence.
They sent a letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell calling on the football league to institute a "real zero-tolerance policy" in such cases.
The 16 signatories wrote that they were "shocked and disgusted" by the in-elevator video that surfaced of Ray Rice punching his then-fianceé in an elevator, and they pointed to the allegation that the NFL had possession of the video, which became public Monday, when it handed down its original lenient two-game suspension.
"The NFL's current policy sends a terrible message to players, fans and all Americans that even after committing a horrific act of violence, you can quickly be back on the field," the senators wrote.
The NFL recently changed its domestic violence punishment to a minimum suspension of six games for a first offense and a lifetime time ban for a second offense.
"If you violently assault a woman, you shouldn't get a second chance to play football in the NFL," the senators wrote.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Connecticut, recently told CNN that he would not "rule out" congressional action to force the NFL's hand on domestic abuse.
Key events in the Ray Rice episode
Ex-FBI director to investigate Ray Rice case | Do the senators think a player should get another chance to play if he commits domestic violence? | no |
(PARIS) ----An English tourist who was highly praised for rescuing a three-year-old boy in Paris said he didn't think twice before diving into the freezing river.
Tuesday's news said 25-year-old John Smith from England was the man who left the spot quickly after the rescue last Saturday.
He lifted the little boy out of the water after he fell off the bank. He handed the child to his father, David Anderson, who had dived in after him.
"I didn't think at all," John told the News. "It happened very fast. I reacted very fast."
John, an engineer on vacation, was walking with his girlfriend along the pier when he saw something falling into the water. He thought it was a doll, but realized it was a child when he approached the river. Immediately, he took off his coat and jumped into the water. When he reached the child, he appeared lifeless, he said. Fortunately, when he was out of the water, he opened his eyes.
Anderson said his son slipped off the bank when he was adjusting his camera. An ambulance came later for him, said John, who was handed dry clothes from onlookers. John caught a taxi with his girlfriend shortly after.
The rescue happened on the day before he left for England. John said he didn't realize his story had greatly moved Paris until he was leaving the city the next morning.
"I don't really think I'm a hero," said John. "Anyone would do the same thing." | What was the name of the rescuer? | John Smith |
On a sunny day in July, Sylvia left the front gate open. From the spot where Rex was napping in the grassy yard, he had listened to the sound of the gate sliding open, and waited for it to snap shut. It didn't. The click of Sylvia's shoes faded into the distance, and yet the snap of the shutting gate didn't come. Finally, Rex pushed himself up on one paw so he could look towards the front of the yard, where the gate moved in the breeze. Rex moved slowly towards the gate at first, but as he neared the sidewalk he shot through the opening, his shiny black fur twinkling in the sun as he sped down the street. Rex ran from block to block through the neighborhood, with no leash to pull him back. When all four legs started to burn from running, Rex slowed down and started sniffing the grass around him. His stomach growled and he hoped he'd find some food in the grass. All he found was sidewalk chalk, a few little black ants, and flowers that made him sneeze. The sun was going down, and Rex thought about Sylvia coming home to rub his ears and fill his food bowl. He looked up and down the sidewalk for his home. Nothing. Rex was lost. He stood completely still and raised his ears as high as they would go. He sat and listened, and listened and sat. Just as the sun passed over the mountains in the distance, Rex heard, from very far away, the soft "click click click" of Sylvia walking towards the house. Rex ran home. | what did rex hear? | Sylvia walking towards the house |
Podcasting saved Kevin Smith's career.
So said the filmmaker (and you can throw a few slashes after that title these days) at the South by Southwest festival here on Monday during a panel called, appropriately, "The Business of Kevin Smith."
"I had no idea, but that would become the f---ing center of everything I'm doing now," said Smith, who broke into moves after making 1994's indie hit "Clerks" for roughly $25,000.
"The ultimate freedom that allowed me to walk away from the 'heroin' podcasting."
Smith said he was working on "Zach and Miri Make a Porno," which he wrote and directed, when he realized the passion that led him to make movies like "Dogma" and "Chasing Amy" was gone.
"For a while I became a filmmaker and for a while a professional director," he said. "But I really felt like I'm an artist."
Smith said he decided to take advantage of his access to celebrities and gift of gab to launch a new project. And he deployed a technique he said has always served him well: do what you love and what you're good at, then figure out how to make money doing it.
And that led to "SModcast," a weekly podcast that he and friend/co-producer Scott Mosier launched in 2007 and do to this day.
It was free. But as its online audience grew, the opportunities to make money arose. | Who else is on it? | Scott Mosier |
Zhao Hua is a student from a university. He has led a group of university student volunteers since last year. They help children at a primary school with their studies and daily lives. "When I was a small child," Zhao said, "I knew March 5th was a day for people to learn from Lei Feng and help others, but I didn't know the real meaning of the spirit of Lei Feng. Now when I see the smiling faces of the kids I have helped, I deeply understand Lei Feng. Helping others makes me happy.,' Lei Feng (1940-1962) is one of the best-known soldiers in Chinese history. He lost his parents when he was very young. His neighbors brought him up. He died in an accident at the age of 22. He did many _ in his short life. For example, he gave his own money to the parents of another soldier, and bought a ticket for a woman he didn't know without telling her his name. On March 5th, 1963, Chairman Mao called on people to "Learn from Lei Feng" and made the day "Lei Feng Day". Today almost 50 years has passed since Lei Feng's death. Some people say that the spirit of Lei Feng is out. There have been many reports about the coldness of people towards strangers. This has made many Chinese people think deeply about themselves. Many people think We need to promote that spirit again. The important thing is that we must be ready to help others and make it a habit. ,,. (5,2,l0) | Who was helped? | children |
CHAPTER XXIII
THE ADVANTAGE OF A DAY
That evening Le Drieux appeared in the lobby of the hotel and sat himself comfortably down, as if his sole desire in life was to read the evening paper and smoke his after-dinner cigar. He cast a self-satisfied and rather supercilious glance in the direction of the Merrick party, which on this occasion included the Stantons and their aunt, but he made no attempt to approach the corner where they were seated.
Maud, however, as soon as she saw Le Drieux, asked Arthur Weldon to interview the man and endeavor to obtain from him the exact date when Jack Andrews landed in New York. Uncle John had already wired to Major Doyle, Patsy's father, to get the steamship lists and find which boat Andrews had come on and the date of its arrival, but no answer had as yet been received.
Arthur made a pretext of buying a cigar at the counter and then strolled aimlessly about until he came, as if by chance, near to where Le Drieux was sitting. Making a pretense of suddenly observing the man, he remarked casually:
"Ah, good evening."
"Good evening, Mr. Weldon," replied Le Drieux, a note of ill-suppressed triumph in his voice.
"I suppose you are now content to rest on your laurels, pending the formal examination?" said Arthur.
"I am, sir. But the examination is a mere form, you know. I have already cabled the commissioner of police at Vienna and received a reply stating that the Austrian ambassador would make a prompt demand for extradition and the papers would be forwarded from Washington to the Austrian consul located in this city. The consul has also been instructed to render me aid in transporting the prisoner to Vienna. All this will require several days' time, so you see we are in no hurry to conclude the examination." | is he in a hurry to have the interrogation? | No |
Helsinki is the capital and largest city of Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland. Helsinki has a population of , an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over 1.4 million, making it the most populous municipality and urban area in Finland. Helsinki is some north of Tallinn, Estonia, east of Stockholm, Sweden, and west of Saint Petersburg, Russia. Helsinki has close historical connections with these three cities.
The Helsinki metropolitan area includes the urban core of Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa, Kauniainen, and surrounding commuter towns. It is the world's northernmost metro area of over one million people, and the city is the northernmost capital of an EU member state. The Helsinki metropolitan area is the third largest metropolitan area in the Nordic countries after Stockholm and Copenhagen, and the City of Helsinki is the third largest after Stockholm and Oslo. Helsinki is Finland's major political, educational, financial, cultural, and research center as well as one of northern Europe's major cities. Approximately 75% of foreign companies that operate in Finland have settled in the Helsinki region. The nearby municipality of Vantaa is the location of Helsinki Airport, with frequent service to various destinations in Europe and Asia. | what region is it in? | Uusimaa |
CHAPTER TEN.
PROVES THAT THE BEST OF FRIENDS MAY QUARREL ABOUT NOTHING, AND THAT WAR HAS TWO ASPECTS.
"Now, Erling," said Glumm, with a face so cheerful, that had the expression been habitual, he never would have been styled the Gruff, "I will go home with thee and wait until thou art busked, after which we will go together to my house and have a bite and a horn of mead before setting out on this expedition. I thank the Stoutheart for suggesting it, for the business likes me well."
"Thou wert ever prone to court danger, Glumm," said Erling with a laugh, as they hurried towards Haldorstede, "and methinks thou art going to be blessed with a full share of it just now, for this Harald Haarfager is not a man to be trifled with. Although thou and I could hold our own against some odds, we shall find the odds too much for us in the King's camp, should he set his face against us. However, the cause is a good one, and to say truth, I am not sorry that they had the goodness to pitch on thee and me to carry out the plan."
Thus conversing they arrived at Ulfstede, where Herfrida met them at the door, and was soon informed of their mission. She immediately went to an inner closet, where the best garments and arms were kept, and brought forth Erling's finest suit of armour, in order that he might appear with suitable dignity at court. | was Erling cheerful? | Yes |
Jane arrives at Thornfield, having been met at the George Inn. Mrs. Fairfax confuses her a little at first, because _ is so informal and welcoming. But in due course Jane discovers that Mrs. Fairfax is the housekeeper. Jane's pupil, Adele Varens, is the eight-year-old French child under the legal protection of Mr. Edward Rochester, the owner of the house. (We learn later that her mother had claimed she was his illegitimate daughter. Mr. Rochester is not convinced by this claim, but felt he could not leave the little girl poor when her mother died.) Adele is a pleasant little girl, even if she is not a particularly eager student. Life goes on very peacefully for three months, until the return of Mr. Rochester. Jane first meets him on his horse, and her description of him is quite fanciful. He takes a fall and Jane helps him, although she does not know who he is until they are both back at Thornfield. It is obvious to the reader, although not to Jane, that the reason why Mr. Rochester stays at Thornfield much longer than usual is that he finds her company enjoyable. Jane, unknowingly at first, falls in love with him. Their closeness is very apparent. There is something about Thornfield that is mysterious. Jane is encouraged to focus her attention on the servant Grace Poole, who is Mr. Rochester's mad wife Bertha Mason's keeper at Thornfield, and whose drunken carelessness frequently allows Bertha to escape and do something violent. It is clear to the reader, though, that Mr. Rochester's emotional engagement is immense. When his bed is set on fire, Jane rescues him, but does not understand why the matter is not pursued, despite Mr. Rochester assuring her the criminal is Grace. The next morning Grace behaves as though she has done nothing wrong. Eventually, Mr. Rochester leaves, to go to a house party. He brings everyone at the party back with him, transforming the atmosphere in the house, and delighting Adele. One of the guests is Blanche Ingram, whom Mr. Rochester is confidently expected to marry. However, it is clear from the way she is portrayed in the book that she is too proud; our sympathies are not with her. Mr. Rochester is called away from the house, and when he returns he chooses to play the role of a fortune teller. It is clear to the reader that one of his motives is to try to turn Blanche against the idea of marriage to him. While he has clearly bothered her, he is unsuccessful. One afternoon, Jane hears that her cousin John Reed is dead and Mrs. Reed, who is probably on her deathbed, has been asking for her. With strict instructions from Mr. Rochester to return quickly, she sets off to Gateshead. On arrival, she realizes she no longer hates her cousins. However, Mrs. Reed is still bitter towards her, owing to the fact that Jane's mother was Mr Reed's favourite sister and this resulted in him apparently favouring Jane over his own children. A short time later, Mrs. Reed gives Jane a letter from her uncle, John Eyre, that was written three years earlier. It explains how he planned to adopt Jane and allow her to inherit his fortune. Mrs. Reed never handed the letter over because of her bitterness. Jane tries once more to seek reconciliation , but without success; her aunt dies that night. | Who arrives at Thornfield? | Jane |
"I don't know the ins and outs of his politics (but) for his procession to become President I was in America and his speeches were spine tingling. Barack Obama can talk, and coming after Bush it was something to behold. In my humble opinion, if he loses the next election to the other bunch then, good Lord, I will run myself."
So says Noel Gallagher, former creative force of British band Oasis and one of rock 'n' roll's biggest mouths. Singer-songwriter, brother to Liam and now a U.S. presidential candidate: 2012 promises to be quite a year for the 45-year-old whose song-writing talent has taken him from unemployment in a city called Manchester in northern England to sell-out stadium tours around the world, playing to millions.
By September, Gallagher will have completed the tour of his first solo album since the demise of Oasis in 2009; an expedition entailing 81 shows across Europe, the Pacific (Japan and Australia) and America as well as being a voyage into the unknown for the forthright backing-singer-now-frontman.
It was initially intended as a small affair, but such has been the demand for the new record -- "Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds" topped the charts in the UK in October 2011-- theaters have rapidly been upgraded to arenas to cope with demand. A move that surprised the man himself and maybe explains the overriding mood of calm satisfaction the guitarist exudes from beneath a leather jacket as he sits down with a coffee to talk to CNN. | Who was the creative force behind Oasis? | Noel Gallagher |
Northern Europeans spend a lot of time in their cold and cloudy winters planning their summer holidays. They are proud of their healthy color when they return home after the holiday. But they also know that a certain amount of sunshine is good for their bodies and general health.
In ancient Greece people knew about the healing powers of the sun, but this knowledge was lost. At the end of the nineteenth century a Danish doctor, Niels Finsen, began to study the effect of sunlight on certain diseases, especially diseases of the skin. He was interested not only in natural sunlight but also in artificially produced rays. Sunlight began to play a more important part in curing sick people.
A Swiss doctor, Auguste Rollier, made full use of the sun in his hospital at Lysine. Lysine is a small village high up in the Alps. The position is important: the rays of the sun with the greatest healing power are the infra-red and ultra-violet rays; but ultra-violet rays are too easily lost in fog and the polluted air near industrial towns. Dr. Roller found that sunlight, fresh air and good food cure a great many diseases. He was particularly successful in curing certain forms of tuberculosis with his "sun-cure".
There were a large number of children in Dr. Roller's hospital. He decided to start a school where sick children could be cured and at the same time continue to learn. It was not long before his school was full.
In winter, wearing only shorts, socks and boots, the children put on their skis after breakfast and left the hospital. They carried small desks and chairs as well as their school books. Their teacher led them over the snow until they reached a slope which faced the sun and was free from cold winds. There they set out their desks and chairs, and school began.
Although they wore hardly any clothes, Roller's pupils were very seldom cold. That was because their bodies were full of energy which they got from the sun. But the doctor knew that sunshine can also be dangerous. If, for example, tuberculosis is attacking the lungs, unwise sunbathing may do great harm.
Today there is not just one school in the sun. There are several in Switzerland, and since Switzerland is not the only country which has the right conditions, there are similar schools in other places. | What ancient civilization was aware of the sun's powers? | Greece |
The stars of tennis took time out from their French Open preparations Sunday to honor the man who helped them become some of the highest-paid athletes in the world.
Brad Drewett passed away Friday, aged 54, succumbing to the motor neurone disease that had forced him to step down as head of the men's ATP World Tour.
Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Serena Williams led a minute's silence ahead of the start of the Madrid Masters, while similar tributes were held at tournaments in Portugal and Germany.
"Brad wasn't just the president of the ATP but was a player himself, a board member," Federer said on the ATP website.
"He's given so much time and effort to the ATP, and I think this is really what we will try to honor in a small way today."
Drewett reached a career-high 34 in the world rankings, but his efforts in administration had far bigger impact on the game, from his time on the players' council to running the ATP's Middle East, Asia and Pacific operations before becoming president in early 2012.
The Australian took the end-of-season championship to China as part of tennis' global spread in the early 2000s, and then brought it to London where it has become a lucrative moneyspinner and showpiece for the ATP.
He has also been credited with getting the players a larger share of prize money from the four grand slam tournaments since he took over the top role a year and half ago. | Did he share a large share of prize money from the four grand slam tournaments? | Yes |
One day in 1924, five men who were camping in the Cascade Mountains saw a group of huge apelike creatures coming out of the woods. They hurried back to their wooden house and locked themselves inside. While they were in, the creatures threw rocks against the house. Several hours later these strange hairy giants went back into the woods. After the men returned to the town and told the people about their adventure, _ . These were the people who remembered hearing tales about footprints of an animal that walked like a human being. The five men, however, were not the first to have seen these creatures called Bigfoot. Long before their experience, the local Native Americans were certain that a group of apelike animals had been living in the _ mountain for centuries. In 1958, some workers, who were building a road through the jungles of Northern California, often found huge footprints in the earth around their camp. Then in 1967, Roger Patterson, a man who was interested in finding Bigfoot, went into the same jungles with a friend. While riding, they were suddenly thrown off from their horses. Patterson saw a tall apelike animal standing not far away. He managed to take photos of the hairy creature before it disappeared in the jungles. When Patterson's photos were shown to the public, not many people believed his story. Richard Brown, an experienced hunter, discovered a similar creature. He saw the animal clearly through the telescopic lens of his rifle . He said the creature looked more like a human being than an animal. Later many other people also found deep footprints in the same area. In spite of regular reports of sightings and footprints, most experts still do not believe that Bigfoot really exists . | What did they see? | group of huge apelike creatures |
The motivation to succeed comes from the burning desire to achieve a purpose. Napoleon Hill wrote, "whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, the mind can achieve." A young man asked Socrates the secrets to success. Socrates told the young man to meet him near the river the next morning. When they meet, Socrates asked the young man to walk with him towards the river. When the water got up to their necks, Socrates took the young man by surprise and pressed him into the water. The boy struggled to get out but Socrates was strong and kept him there until the boy stared turning blue. Socrates pulled his head out of the water and the first thing the young man did was to gasp and take a deep breath of air. Socrates asked, "What did you want the most when you were there?" the boy replied. "Air." Socrates said," That is the secret to success. When you want success as badly as you wanted the air, then you will get it. There is no other secret." A burning desire is the starting point of all accomplishment . Just like a small fire cannot give much heat, a weak desire cannot produce great results. | when ? | next morning |
John Brown, an office worker, lives in Washington. He inherited $1 000 000 when he was 23. He didn't feel happy at all. His college friends were looking for their first jobs, but he didn't tell any of his friends and gave $ 1 000 000 of his money to a charity that helped poor children to live better lives. Today he is 36, he still wears cheap shoes and clothes and owns a small car only, but he is much happier. Up to now, John has helped 15 children from poor countries all over the world, $200 a month for each. The money is used to afford the child's education, food, medical care and clothing. John receives a report each year on the child's progress. They can write to each other, but usually the children do not speak English. Once John went to meet a little girl in Africa. He said that the meeting was very exciting. "When I met her, I felt very happy." he said. "I saw that the money was used for a very good plan. It brought me closer to the child. I will do everything I can to help those children in need." he added. ,A, B, C, D,. | How much does he give them? | $200 a month |
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