title: Music

paragraphs: Music is a form of art that uses sound organised in time. Music is also a form of entertainment that puts sounds together in a way that people like, find interesting or dance to. Most music includes people singing with their voices or playing musical instruments, such as the piano, guitar, drums or violin.

paragraphs: The word "music" comes from the Greek word ("mousike"), which means "(art) of the Muses". In Ancient Greece the Muses included the goddesses of music, poetry, art, and dance. Someone who makes music is known as a musician.

paragraphs: Music is sound that has been organized by using rhythm, melody or harmony. If someone bangs saucepans while cooking, it makes noise. If a person bangs saucepans or pots in a rhythmic way, they are making a simple type of music.

paragraphs: There are four things which music has most of the time:

paragraphs: There is no simple definition of music which covers all cases. It is an art form, and opinions come into play. Music is whatever people think is music. A different approach is to list the qualities music must have, such as, sound which has rhythm, melody, pitch, timbre, etc.

paragraphs: These and other attempts, do not capture all aspects of music, or leave out examples which definitely are music. According to Thomas Clifton, music is "a certain reciprocal relation established between a person, his behavior, and a sounding object". Musical experience and the music, together, are called phenomena, and the activity of describing phenomena is called phenomenology.

paragraphs: Even in the stone age people made music. The first music was probably made trying to imitate sounds and rhythms that occurred naturally. Human music may echo these phenomena using patterns, repetition and tonality. This kind of music is still here today. Shamans sometimes imitate sounds that are heard in nature. It may also serve as entertainment (games), or have practical uses, like attracting animals when hunting.

paragraphs: Some animals also can use music. Songbirds use song to protect their territory, or to attract a mate. Monkeys have been seen beating hollow logs. This may, of course, also serve to defend the territory.

paragraphs: The first musical instrument used by humans was probably the voice. The human voice can make many different kinds of sounds. The larynx (voice box) is like a wind instrument.

paragraphs: The oldest known Neanderthal hyoid bone with the modern human form was found in 1983, indicating that the Neanderthals had language, because the hyoid supports the voice box in the human throat.

paragraphs: Most likely the first rhythm instruments or percussion instruments involved the clapping of hands, stones hit together, or other things that are useful to keep a beat. There are finds of this type that date back to the paleolithic. Some of these are ambiguous, as they can be used either as a tool or a musical instrument.

paragraphs: The oldest flute ever discovered may be the so-called Divje Babe flute, found in the Slovenian cave Divje Babe I in 1995. It is not certain that the object is really a flute. The item in question is a fragment of the femur of a young cave bear, and has been dated to about 43,000 years ago. However, whether it is truly a musical instrument or simply a carnivore-chewed bone is a matter of ongoing debate.

paragraphs: In 2008, archaeologists discovered a bone flute in the Hohle Fels cave near Ulm, Germany. The five-holed flute has a V-shaped mouthpiece and is made from a vulture wing bone. The researchers involved in the discovery officially published their findings in the journal "Nature", in June 2009. The discovery is also the oldest confirmed find of any musical instrument in history. Other flutes were also found in the cave. This flute was found next to the Venus of Hohle Fels and a short distance from the oldest known human carving. When they announced their discovery, the scientists suggested that the "finds demonstrate the presence of a well-established musical tradition at the time when modern humans colonized Europe".

paragraphs: The oldest known wooden pipes were discovered near Greystones, Ireland, in 2004. A wood-lined pit contained a group of six flutes made from yew wood, between 30 and 50 cm long, tapered at one end, but without any finger holes. They may once have been strapped together.

paragraphs: In 1986 several bone flutes were found in Jiahu in Henan Province, China. They date to about 6,000 BC. They have between 5 and 8 holes each and were made from the hollow bones of a bird, the Red-crowned Crane. At the time of the discovery, one was found to be still playable. The bone flute plays both the five- or seven-note scale of Xia Zhi and six-note scale of Qing Shang of the ancient Chinese musical system.

paragraphs: It is not known what the earliest music of the cave people was like. Some architecture, even some paintings, are thousands of years old, but old music could not survive until people learned to write it down. The only way we can guess about early music is by looking at very old paintings that show people playing musical instruments, or by finding them in archaeological digs (digging underground to find old things). The earliest piece of music that was ever written down and that has not been lost was discovered on a tablet written in Hurrian, a language spoken in and around northern Mesopotamia (where Iraq is today), from about 1500 BC. The Oxfords Companion to Music, ed. Percy Scholes, London 1970

paragraphs: Another early piece of written music that has survived was a round called "Sumer Is Icumen In". It was written down by a monk around the year 1250. Much of the music in the Middle Ages (roughly 450-1420) was folk music played by working people who wanted to sing or dance. When people played instruments, they were usually playing for dancers. However, most of the music that was written down was for the Catholic church. This music was written for monks to sing in church. It is called Chant (or Gregorian chant).

paragraphs: In the Renaissance (roughly 1400–1550) there was a lot of music, and many composers wrote music that has survived so that it can be performed, played or sung today. The name for this period (Renaissance) is a French word which means "rebirth". This period was called the "rebirth" because many new types of art and music were reborn during this time.

paragraphs: Some very beautiful music was written for use in church services (sacred music) by the Italian composer Giovanni da Palestrina (1525–1594). In Palestrina's music, many singers sing together (this is called a choir). There was also plenty of music not written for the church, such as happy dance music and romantic love songs. Popular instruments during the Renaissance included the viols (a string instrument played with a bow), lutes (a plucked stringed instrument that is a little like a guitar), and the virginal, a small, quiet keyboard instrument.

paragraphs: In the arts, the Baroque was a Western cultural era, which began near the turn of the 17th century in Rome. It was exemplified by drama and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music. In music, the term 'Baroque' applies to the final period of dominance of imitative counterpoint, where different voices and instruments echo each other but at different pitches, sometimes inverting the echo, and even reversing thematic material.

paragraphs: The popularity and success of the Baroque style was encouraged by the Roman Catholic Church which had decided at the time of the Council of Trent that the arts should communicate religious themes in direct and emotional involvement. The upper class also saw the dramatic style of Baroque architecture and art as a means of impressing visitors and expressing triumphant power and control. Baroque palaces are built around an entrance of courts, grand staircases and reception rooms of sequentially increasing opulence. In similar profusions of detail, art, music, architecture, and literature inspired each other in the Baroque cultural movement as artists explored what they could create from repeated and varied patterns. Some traits and aspects of Baroque paintings that differentiate this style from others are the abundant amount of details, often bright polychromy, less realistic faces of subjects, and an overall sense of awe, which was one of the goals in Baroque art.

paragraphs: The word baroque probably derives from the ancient Portuguese noun "barroco" which is a pearl that is not round but of unpredictable and elaborate shape. Hence, in informal usage, the word baroque can simply mean that something is "elaborate", with many details, without reference to the Baroque styles of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

paragraphs: In western music, the classical period means music from about 1750 to 1825. It was the time of composers like Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven. Orchestras became bigger, and composers often wrote longer pieces of music called symphonies that had several sections (called movements). Some movements of a symphony were loud and fast; other movements were quiet and sad. The form of a piece of music was very important at this time. Music had to have a nice 'shape'. They often used a structure which was called sonata form.

paragraphs: Another important type of music was the string quartet, which is a piece of music written for two violins, a viola, and a violoncello. Like symphonies, string quartet music had several sections. Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven each wrote many famous string quartets.

paragraphs: The piano was invented during this time. Composers liked the piano, because it could be used to play dynamics (getting louder or getting softer). Other popular instruments included the violin, the violoncello, the flute, the clarinet, and the oboe.

paragraphs: The 19th century is called the Romantic period. Composers were particularly interested in conveying their emotions through music. An important instrument from the Romantic period was the piano. Some composers, such as Frederic Chopin wrote subdued, expressive, quietly emotional piano pieces. Often music described a feeling or told a story using sounds. Other composers, such as Franz Schubert wrote songs for a singer and a piano player called Lied (the German word for "song"). These Lieder (plural of Lied) told stories by using the lyrics (words) of the song and by the imaginative piano accompaniments. Other composers, like Richard Strauss, and Franz Liszt created narratives and told stories using only music, which is called a tone poem. Composers, such as Franz Liszt and Johannes Brahms used the piano to play loud, dramatic, strongly emotional music.

paragraphs: Many composers began writing music for bigger orchestras, with as many as 100 instruments. It was the period of "Nationalism" (the feeling of being proud of one's country) when many composers made music using folksong or melodies from their country. Lots of famous composers lived at this time such as Franz Schubert, Felix Mendelssohn, Frederic Chopin, Johannes Brahms, Pyotr Tchaikovsky and Richard Wagner.

paragraphs: From about 1900 onwards is called the "modern period". Many 20th century composers wanted to compose music that sounded different from the Classical and Romantic music. Modern composers searched for new ideas, such as using new instruments, different forms, different sounds, or different harmonies.

paragraphs: The composer Arnold Schoenberg (1874–1951) wrote pieces which were atonal (meaning that they did not sound as if they were in any clear musical key). Later, Schoenberg invented a new system for writing music called twelve-tone system. Music written with the twelve-tone system sounds strange to some, but is mathematical in nature, often making sense only after careful study. Pure twelve-tone music was popular among academics in the fifties and sixties, but some composers such as Benjamin Britten use it today, when it is necessary to get a certain feel.

paragraphs: One of the most important 20th-century composers, Igor Stravinsky (1882–1971), wrote music with very complicated (difficult) chords (groups of notes that are played together) and rhythms. Some composers thought music was getting too complicated and so they wrote Minimalist pieces which use very simple ideas. In the 1950s and 1960s, composers such as Karlheinz Stockhausen experimented with electronic music, using electronic circuits, amplifiers and loudspeakers. In the 1970s, composers began using electronic synthesizers and musical instruments from rock and roll music, such as the electric guitar. They used these new instruments to make new sounds.

paragraphs: Composers writing in the 1990s and the 2000s, such as John Adams (born 1947) and James MacMillan (born 1959) often use a mixture of all these ideas, but they like to write tonal music with easy tunes as well.

paragraphs: Music can be produced electronically. This is most commonly done by computers, keyboards, electric guitars and disk tables. They can mimic traditional instruments, and also produce very different sounds. 21st-century electronic music is commonly made with computer programs and hardware mixers.

paragraphs: Jazz is a type of music that was invented around 1900 in New Orleans in the south of the USA. There were many black musicians living there who played a style of music called blues music. Blues music was influenced by African music (because the black people in the United States had come to the United States as slaves. They were taken from Africa by force). Blues music was a music that was played by singing, using the harmonica, or the acoustic guitar. Many blues songs had sad lyrics about sad emotions (feelings) or sad experiences, such as losing a job, a family member dying, or having to go to jail (prison).

paragraphs: Jazz music mixed together blues music with European music. Some black composers such as Scott Joplin were writing music called ragtime, which had a very different rhythm from standard European music, but used notes that were similar to some European music. Ragtime was a big influence on early jazz, called Dixieland jazz. Jazz musicians used instruments such as the trumpet, saxophone, and clarinet were used for the tunes (melodies), drums for percussion and plucked double bass, piano, banjo and guitar for the background rhythm (rhythmic section). Jazz is usually improvised: the players make up (invent) the music as they play. Even though jazz musicians are making up the music, jazz music still has rules; the musicians play a series of chords (groups of notes) in order.

paragraphs: Jazz music has a swinging rhythm. The word "swing" is hard to explain. For a rhythm to be a "swinging rhythm" it has to feel natural and relaxed. Swing rhythm is not even like a march. There is a long-short feel instead of a same-same feel. A "swinging rhythm" also gets the people who are listening excited, because they like the sound of it. Some people say that a "swinging rhythm" happens when all the jazz musicians start to feel the same pulse and energy from the song. If a jazz band plays very well together, people will say "that is a swinging jazz band" or "that band really swings well."

paragraphs: Jazz influenced other types of music like the Western art music from the 1920s and 1930s. Art music composers such as George Gershwin wrote music that was influenced by jazz. Jazz music influenced pop music songs. In the 1930s and 1940s, many pop music songs began using chords or melodies from jazz songs. One of the best known jazz musicians was Louis Armstrong (1900–1971).

paragraphs: "Pop" music is a type of "popular" music that many people like to listen to. The term "pop music" can be used for all kinds of music that was written to be popular. The word "pop music" was used from about 1880 onwards, when a type of music called music was popular.

paragraphs: Modern pop music grew out of 1950's rock and roll, (for example Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley and Little Richard) and rockabilly (for example Elvis Presley and Buddy Holly). In the 1960s, The Beatles became a famous pop music group. In the 1970s, other styles of music were mixed with pop music, such as funk and soul music. Pop music generally has a heavy (strong) beat, so that it is good for dancing. Pop singers normally sing with microphones that are plugged into an amplifier and a loudspeaker.

paragraphs: "Musical notation" is the way music is written down. Music needs to be written down in order to be saved and remembered for future performances. In this way composers (people who write music) can tell others how to play the musical piece as it was meant to be played.

paragraphs: Solfège (sometimes called solfa) is the way tones are named. It was made in order to give a name to the several tones and pitches. For example, the eight basic notes "Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So, La, Ti, Do" are just the names of the eight notes that confirm the major scale.

paragraphs: Music can be written in several ways. When it is written on a staff (like in the example shown), the pitches (tones) and their duration are represented by symbols called notes. Notes are put on the lines and in the spaces between the lines. Each position says which tone must be played. The higher the note is on the staff, the higher the pitch of the tone. The lower the notes are, the lower the pitch. The duration of the notes (how long they are played for) is shown by making the note "heads" black or white, and by giving them stems and flags.

paragraphs: Music can also be written with letters, naming them as in the solfa "Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So, La, Ti, Do" or representing them by letters. The next table shows how each note of the solfa is represented in the Standard Notation:

paragraphs: The Standard Notation was made to simplify the lecture of music notes, although it is mostly used to represent chords and the names of the music scales.

paragraphs: These ways to represent music ease the way a person reads music. There are more ways to write and represent music, but they are less known and may be more complicated.

paragraphs: People can enjoy music by listening to it. They can go to concerts to hear musicians perform. Classical music is usually performed in concert halls, but sometimes huge festivals are organized in which it is performed outside, in a field or stadium, like pop festivals. People can listen to music on CD's, Computers, iPods, television, the radio, casette/record-players and even mobile phones.

paragraphs: There is so much music today, in elevators, shopping malls, and stores, that it often becomes a background sound that we do not really hear.

paragraphs: People can learn to play an instrument. Probably the most common for complete beginners is the piano or keyboard, the guitar, or the recorder (which is certainly the cheapest to buy). After they have learnt to play scales, play simple tunes and read the simplest musical notation, then they can think about which instrument for further development. They should choose an instrument that is practical for their size. For example, a very short child cannot play a full size double bass, because the double bass is over five feet high. People should choose an instrument that they enjoy playing, because playing regularly is the only way to get better. Finally, it helps to have a good teacher.

paragraphs: Anyone can make up his or her own pieces of music. It is not difficult to compose simple songs or melodies (tunes). It's easier for people who can play an instrument themselves. All it takes is experimenting with the sounds that an instrument makes. Someone can make up a piece that tells a story, or just find a nice tune and think about ways it can be changed each time it is repeated. The instrument might be someone's own voice.


title: Madrid

paragraphs: Madrid (pronounced: “mah-DRID” or /məˈdrɪd/) is the capital and largest city of Spain. Madrid is in the middle of Spain, in the Community of Madrid. The Community is a large area that includes the city as well as small towns and villages outside the city. 7 million people live in the Community. More than 3 million live in the city itself. It is the largest city of Spain and, at 655 m (2,100 ft) above sea level, the second highest capital in Europe (after the Andorran capital Andorra la Vella). It is the third largest city in the European Union. As it is the capital city, Madrid is where the monarch lives and also where the government meets. Madrid is the financial centre of Spain. Many large businesses have their main offices there. It has four important footballs teams, Real Madrid, Atlético Madrid, Getafe, and Rayo Vallecano. People who live in Madrid are called madrileños.

paragraphs: Madrid was ruled by the Romans from the 2nd century. After AD 711 it was occupied by the Moors. In 1083 Spain was ruled again by Spaniards. Catholic kings ruled the country. By the mid-16th century it had become the capital of a very large empire. Spain was ruled by monarchs from the House of Habsburg, then the House of Bourbon. After the Spanish Civil War it was ruled by a dictator until the mid-1970s when it became a democracy.

paragraphs: Although it is a modern city, a lot of its history can be seen and felt as one walks along the streets and in the large squares of the city. There are beautiful parks, famous buildings, art galleries and concert halls.

paragraphs: During the history of Spain many different people have lived there. The Phoenicians came in 1100 BC, followed by Carthaginians, Romans, Vandals, Visigoths and Moors. It was not until 1492, when the Catholic Monarchs got power, that Spain became a united country. Jews and Moors, who had lived happily there for many years, were driven away. Spain became very rich because it conquered many overseas countries, especially in Central and South America. However, Spain fought many wars and lost much of its treasure. It was very poor in 1936 when the Civil War was fought. General Franco became a harsh dictator until 1975 when Juan Carlos I was brought back to Spain and made king. There is now a democratic government.

paragraphs: In prehistoric times people lived in the area which is now Madrid. The Romans lived there for several centuries. The origin of today’s city really starts in the 9th century when Muhammad I had a small palace built where the Palacio Real stands today. The Moors built strong forts in Madrid in 865 and put a wall round the city. These walls stood until 1476 when they were knocked down. In 1561 Felipe I moved the royal court from Toledo to Madrid. Madrid had now become the capital of a very large empire. Over the next years and decades the Plaza Mayor was built and many great buildings and monuments, many of which still stand.

paragraphs: When Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella of Castile came to Madrid, Spain had become a very rich country. The 16th and 17th centuries are now known as the “Golden Century”. Their grandson was the famous Charles I of Spain (also known as Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor). He liked his court to be in Seville. His son, Philip II (1527–1598) moved the court to Madrid in 1561.

paragraphs: In the late 1800s there was a revolt, known as the First Spanish Republic. Later the monarchy was restored, but then there was a Second Spanish Republic followed by the Spanish Civil War. The Second Spanish Republic started on 14 April 1931 and was celebrated in La puerta del Sol which is the center of the city. Madrid suffered a lot in this war. It was bombed by airplanes.

paragraphs: During the dictatorship of Francisco Franco, especially during the 1960s, south Madrid became very industrialized, and many people from the rural areas moved to Madrid especially to the south east of the city.

paragraphs: When General Franco died and democracy was restored, Madrid became more prosperous. During the 1980s and 1990s many new buildings were put up.

paragraphs: Madrid has been attacked many times by terrorists. This includes the bombing of a restaurant in 1985, killing 18 people and the of trains in 2004, killing over 190 people.

paragraphs: Madrid has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate ("Csa" in the Köppen climate classification). Most rain falls in autumn and spring. The winters are cool because it is high up, and occasionally it snows. The summers are hot and dry. Often the temperature is above 30 °C (86 °F) in July and can often reach 40 °C (104 °F). At night it is much cooler. This is why people have a sleep (siesta) in the afternoon when it is hot. Then they come out again in late afternoon and often eat dinner late at night.

paragraphs: Spain's Royal Palace is in Madrid. It is one of the largest palaces in all of Western Europe. But the king and his family do not live there anymore; they live in a smaller palace, and only use the Royal Palace for important events, like meeting other kings and other official ceremonies. One can go inside the Royal Palace and learn about the history of Spanish monarchy.

paragraphs: Other famous buildings are: The Prado Museum, the Temple of Debod, the Santiago Bernabeú Stadium and the Cuatro Torres Business Area.

paragraphs: There are a lot of very big and important art museums in Madrid. The most famous ones are the Prado Museum, the Queen Sofia Museum, and the Thyssen-Bornemisza museum. These show off paintings, sculptures, and other works of art from some of the most famous artists in the world.

paragraphs: Many famous, important, and valuable works of art are in these museums. For example, the Queen Sofia museum has a famous painting by Pablo Picasso, called "Guernica". Picasso painted this painting to show how sad and angry it made him when the German Nazis destroyed a town in Spain called Guernica in 1937. Picasso had said that the painting should never return to Spain until it was a democracy again. Once that happened, they built the Queen Sofia museum just to have a good place to put it.

paragraphs: There are many other sights to see in Madrid. Many people go to see the Plaza Mayor which was a market place. The Plaza de la Villa was another famous market place. There are a lot of shops along the Gran Via. Real Madrid football fans celebrate at the Plaza de Cibeles. Two famous gates to see are the Puerta del Sol and the Puerta de Alcalá. A more recent landmark is the Almudena Cathedral.

paragraphs: Madrid has some lovely parks. The Retiro Park is the most famous. The Cristal Palace can be found in this park.

paragraphs: The Plaza de Toros is visited by many tourists. Bullfights take place there.


title: Montreal

paragraphs: Montreal (, spelled "Montréal" in French) is a city in the country of Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec and the second-largest city in Canada. It is the second-largest French-speaking city in the world after Paris.

paragraphs: Montreal is built on an island sitting in the Saint Lawrence River. More than three million people live in the Montreal region. At the centre of Montreal is a mountain called Mount Royal. The suburb of Westmount, is a very affluent suburb of Quebec.

paragraphs: Most of the people who live in Montreal speak French, but English is also commonly spoken, as a second language.

paragraphs: The name 'Montréal' comes from "Mont Royal", which means 'Royal Mountain' in French. It was originally called "Ville-Marie", or City of Mary.

paragraphs: Montreal has always played a very important part in the history and development of Canada. It continues to be a large Canadian industrial and commercial centre, as well as a major seaport (via the Saint Lawrence River). It once was the largest city in Canada, before Toronto grew to be larger.

paragraphs: Tourists visit Montreal for its historical and cultural interest. One can visit the Old City in horse-drawn carriages, where many buildings from the earliest years stand and remind of the way of life that started in the New World, when Montreal was just a fur trading outpost belonging to France over 350 years ago.

paragraphs: Montreal is in the southwest of Quebec, 530 kilometres north of New York City. The city itself is located on an island, the Island of Montreal. Near the downtown area, there is a hill called "Mount Royal" ("Mont Royal" in French).

paragraphs: Montreal's economy is the second largest in Canada. The city's port is the biggest inland port (a port that is not on the sea) in the world. Many large corporations have their main offices in Montreal. It also hosts many international organizations like ICAO, the World Anti-Doping Agency, and IATA. The city is home to four major Universities, welcoming students from all parts of Canada and from all over the world.

paragraphs: Montreal is also known for its cultural production sector. Because the city has many different buildings, movies are easy to film there. The circus troupe (group) "Cirque du Soleil" is from Montreal. The city is also known for its festivals, like the Montreal Jazz Festival and "Just For Laughs".

paragraphs: Some video game companies also have studios in Montreal.

paragraphs: Montreal has many beautiful churches (Montreal is referred to locally as 'the city of a hundred churches'), including the largest church in Canada, and also many important art, history, and science museums. You can also visit the location of the 1967 World's Fair, where today, as well as many other attractions, one will find the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve Formula One automobile race course. Also of interest is the site where the 1976 Summer Olympic Games were held, and the modern architecture of the Olympic stadium (the 'Big O') and its tall inclined observation tower (the highest inclined tower in the world); now a landmark of Montreal.

paragraphs: A lot of Montrealers are interested in hockey, and Montreal is home to its own ice hockey team called the Montreal Canadiens who play in the National Hockey League (NHL).


title: Macadamia nut

paragraphs: The macadamia nut is the fruit of a tree that first came from the east coast of Australia. There is

paragraphs: more than one kind of Macadamia tree. Only one kind is grown for food.

paragraphs: The tree is an evergreen (stays green all year long). It grows up to high. It has groups of small white flowers. It grows best in subtropical (wet and always warm) climates. It needs well-drained soil (water can flow away easily) and of rain a year.

paragraphs: The nutmeat (the soft part inside the shell that can be eaten) is mostly a creamy white color. Sometimes it looks a bit yellow. It has a flavor that many people like. Macadamias are eaten roasted (cooked) by themselves. They are used in cookies, cakes, pastries, and candies. People use them like almonds and cashews as part of cooked meals. This is an Oriental style of cooking.

paragraphs: The first commercial orchard was started in Australia in the late 1880s. Commercial production started in Hawaii during the 1920s. Production later spread to California, Mexico, and other places with warm climate.

paragraphs: Macadamias are poisonous to dogs. A dog usually needs 24 to 48 hours to recover fully after eating macadamias.The plant is in the Proteaceae family of flowering plants.


title: Maui

paragraphs: Maui is the second largest of the Hawaiian Islands, in the United States.

paragraphs: It has a population of just over 100,000 and is 727 square miles (1883 km²) in size. Maui is part of Maui County, Hawaii. The larger (or better known) towns include Kahului, Wailuku, Lahaina, Hana, and Wailea. Main industries are agriculture and tourism.

paragraphs: Maui was named for the demi-god Maui. In Hawaiian legend, he raised all the islands from the sea. Maui is also known as the "Valley Isle" for the large fertile isthmus (narrow land connection) between two volcanoes.

paragraphs: Maui is a volcanic doublet: an island formed from two volcanic mountains that are joined together. The older volcano, Mauna Kahalawai, is much older and has been very worn down. In common talk it is called the West Maui Mountain. The larger volcano, Haleakala, rises above 10,000 feet (3,050 m). The last eruption of Haleakala happened over 200 years ago, and this lava flow can be seen between Ahihi Bay and La Perouse Bay on the southeast shore.

paragraphs: Other places on Maui popular with visitors include:


title: Molokai

paragraphs: Molokai (sometimes mistakenly called Molokaʻi) is the fifth largest island in the U.S. Hawaiian Islands. The island is 38 miles long and 10 miles across. Its land area is 261 square miles. The highest mountain is named Kamakou, and it is 4,970 feet (1,514 meters) high.

paragraphs: Molokai has many local indigenous names including Molokai 'Aina Momona (land of abundance), Molokai Pule O'o (land of powerful prayer), and Molokai Nui A Hina (of the goddess Hina). It is one of the least developed of the Hawaiian islands.

paragraphs: The only big town is named Kaunakakai, which is also the main or chief port on the island. The airport is in Central Molokai. Also on the island is Kalaupapa, which is a place for people who have a diease called leprosy.

paragraphs: Molokai has many Hawaiian fish ponds along its south shore. Many of these have been cleaned and fixed.


title: Money

paragraphs: Money can be defined as anything that people use to buy goods and services. Money is what many people receive for selling their own things or services.

paragraphs: There are many kinds of money in the world. Most countries have their own kind of money, such as the United States dollar or the British pound.

paragraphs: Money is also called many other names, like currency or cash.

paragraphs: The idea of bartering things is very old. A long time ago, people did not buy or sell with money. Instead, they traded one thing for another to get what they wanted or needed. One person who owned many cows could trade with another person who had a lot of wheat. Each would trade a little of what he had with the other. This would support the people on his farm. Other things that were easier to carry around than cows also came to be held as valuable. This gave rise to trade items such as jewelry and spices.

paragraphs: When people changed from trading in things like, for example, cows and wheat to using money instead, they needed things that would last a long time. They must still have a known value, and could be carried around. The first country in the world to make metal coins was called Lydia. These first appeared during the 7th century BC, in the western part of what is now Turkey. The Lydian coins were made of a weighed amount of precious metal and were stamped with a picture of a lion. This idea soon spread to Greece, the rest of the Mediterranean, and the rest of the world. Coins were all made to the same size and shape. In some parts of the world, different things have been used as money, like clam shells or blocks of salt.

paragraphs: Besides being easier to carry than cows, using money had many other advantages. Money is "easier to divide" than many trade goods. If someone own cows, and wants to trade for only "half a cow's worth" of wheat, he probably does not want to cut his cow in half. But if he sells his cow for money, and buys wheat with money, he can get exactly the amount he wants.

paragraphs: Cows die, and wheat rots. But money "lasts longer" than most trade goods. If someone sells a cow for money, he can save that money away until he needs it. He can always leave it to his children when he dies. It can last a very long time, and he can use it at any time.

paragraphs: Not every cow is as good as another cow. Some cows are sick and old, and others are healthy and young. Some wheat is good and other wheat is moldy or stale. So if a person trades cows for wheat, he might have a hard time arguing over how much wheat each cow is worth. However, money is "standard". That means one dollar is worth the same as another dollar. It is easier to add up and count money, than to add up the value of different cows or amounts of wheat.

paragraphs: Later, after coins had been used for hundreds of years, paper money started out as a promise to pay in coin, much like an "I.O.U." note. The first true paper money was used in China in the 10th century AD. Paper money was also printed in Sweden between 1660 and 1664. Both times, it did not work well, and had to be stopped because the banks kept running out of coins to pay on the notes. Massachusetts Bay Colony printed paper money in the 1690s. This time, the use became more common.

paragraphs: Today, most of what people think of as money is not even things you can hold. It is numbers in bank accounts, saved in computer memories. Many people still feel more comfortable using coins and paper, and do not totally trust using electronic money on a computer memory.

paragraphs: Many types of money have been used at different times in history. These are:

paragraphs: "Commodity money" can be used for other purposes besides serving as a medium of exchange. We say it possesses intrinsic value, because it is useful or valuable by itself. Some examples of commodity money are cattle, silk, gold and silver. Convertible paper money is money that is convertible into gold and silver. Gold and Silver certificates are convertible paper money as they can be fully convertible into gold and silver.

paragraphs: Inconvertible money is money that cannot be converted into gold and silver. Notes and coins are inconvertible money. They are inconvertible and are declared by the government money. Such fiat money is a country's legal tender. Today, notes and coins are the currencies used in bank deposits.


title: Multiplication

paragraphs: Multiplication is an arithmetic operation for finding the "product" of two numbers in mathematics. It is often represented by symbols such as formula_1 and formula_2. Multiplication is the third operation in math, after addition which is the first, and subtraction which is the second. It can also be defined on non-number mathematical objects as well.

paragraphs: With natural numbers, multiplication gives the number of tiles in a rectangle, where one of the two numbers equals the number of tiles on one side, and the other number equals the number of tiles on the other side.

paragraphs: With real numbers, multiplication gives the area of a rectangle where the first number is the same as the size of one side, and the second number is the same as the size of the other side.

paragraphs: For example, three multiplied by five is the total of five threes added together, or the total of three fives. This can be written as 3 × 5 = 15, or spoken as "three times five equals fifteen." Mathematicians refer to the two numbers to be multiplied as "coefficients", or ""multiplicand"" and ""multiplicator"" separately (where Multiplicand × multiplicator = product).

paragraphs: Multiplication between numbers is said to be commutative—when the order of the numbers does not influence the value of the product. This is true for the integers (whole numbers), e.g. 4 × 6 is the same as 6 × 4, and also for the rational numbers (fractions), and for all the other real numbers (representable as a field in the continuous line), and also for complex numbers (numbers representable as a field in the plane). However, it is not true for quaternions (numbers representable as a ring in the four-dimensional space), vectors or matrices.

paragraphs: The definition of multiplication as repeated addition provides a way to arrive at a set-theoretic interpretation of multiplication of cardinal numbers. A more accurate representation is to think of it as scaling quantities. This animation illustrates 3 being multiplied by 2, giving 6 as a result. Notice that the blue dot in the blue segment of length 3 is placed at position 1, and the blue segment is scaled so that this dot is placed at the end of the red segment (of length 2). For multiplication by any X, the blue dot will always start at 1 and end at X. This works even if X is smaller than 1, or negative.

paragraphs: The opposite of multiplication is division.

paragraphs: Teachers usually require their pupils to memorize the table of the first 9 numbers when teaching multiplication, so that more complex multiplication tasks can be performed.


title: Microsoft

paragraphs: Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is a company that makes computer software and video games for users around the world. Bill Gates and Paul Allen founded the company in 1975. Microsoft makes Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Office (including Microsoft Word), Edge, MSN and Xbox, among others. Most Microsoft programs cannot be downloaded for free - people have to buy them in a shop or online. Some products (like the Windows operating system) are often already installed when people buy a new computer.

paragraphs: Although Microsoft is best known for its software products, the company also runs a number of web services. They include:

paragraphs: Microsoft has also made a wide variety of hardware over the years. Among them are computer accessories like mice, keyboards, and webcams.

paragraphs: The company also makes and promotes a video game console, Xbox. It lets people play video games on their televisions. The games were first stored on CDs, but many recent games are downloaded from the Internet. There have been three generations of Xbox. The first generation came out in 2001 and was just called Xbox, while the second, the Xbox 360, was released in 2005. The third and newest model is the Xbox One in May 2013. Beginning with the Xbox 360, Microsoft introduced Xbox Live, which lets people play games online against other people anywhere in the world. The Xbox has become very popular and more than 100 million units have been sold worldwide. Because of this, Microsoft is considered one of the three big companies that make video game consoles, along with Nintendo and Sony.

paragraphs: Most recently, Microsoft has also started to make its own PCs, called the Surface. The first model was announced in 2012 and the Surface line now includes tablets that use either ARM or Intel processors, two models of laptops called the Surface Book and Surface Laptop, an all-in-one PC called the Surface Studio, and an interactive whiteboard, the Surface Hub.

paragraphs: In 2014, Microsoft bought the mobile phone division of Nokia, a Finnish company, which then became Microsoft Mobile. The sale included the Lumia family of smartphones, which use Microsoft's own Windows Phone platform. From 2014 to 2016, Microsoft Mobile also made feature phones with the Nokia brand. Then the feature phone business was sold to HMD global, which continues to produce both feature phones and Android smartphones under license from Nokia.


title: Exponentiation

paragraphs: In mathematics, exponentiation (power) is an arithmetic operation on numbers. It can be thought of as repeated multiplication, just as multiplication can be thought of as repeated addition.

paragraphs: In general, given two numbers formula_1 and formula_2, the exponentiation of formula_1 and formula_2 can be written as formula_5, and read as "formula_1 raised to the power of formula_2", or "formula_1 to the formula_2th power". Other methods of mathematical notation have been used in the past. When the upper index cannot be written, people can write powers using the ^ or ** signs, so that 2^4 or 2**4 means formula_10.

paragraphs: Here, the number formula_1 is called base, and the number formula_2 is called exponent. For example, in formula_10, 2 is the base and 4 is the exponent.

paragraphs: To calculate formula_10, one simply multiply 4 copies of 2. So formula_15, and the result is formula_16. The equation could be read out loud as "2 raised to the power of 4 equals 16."

paragraphs: If the exponent is equal to 2, then the power is called square, because the area of a square is calculated using formula_20. So

paragraphs: Similarly, if the exponent is equal to 3, then the power is called cube, because the volume of a cube is calculated using formula_23. So

paragraphs: If the exponent is equal to -1, then the power is simply the reciprocal of the base. So

paragraphs: If the exponent is an integer less than 0, then the power is the reciprocal raised to the opposite exponent. For example:

paragraphs: If the exponent is equal to formula_28, then the result of exponentiation is the square root of the base, with formula_29 For example:

paragraphs: Similarly, if the exponent is formula_31, then the result is the nth root, where:

paragraphs: If the exponent is a rational number formula_33, then the result is the "q"th root of the base raised to the power of "p":

paragraphs: In some cases, the exponent may not even be rational. To raise a base "a" to an irrational "x"th power, we use an infinite sequence of rational numbers ("x"), whose limit is x:

paragraphs: There are some rules which make the calculation of exponents easier:

paragraphs: It is possible to calculate exponentiation of matrices. In this case, the matrix must be square. For example, formula_44.

paragraphs: Both addition and multiplication are commutative. For example, 2+3 is the same as 3+2, and 2 · 3 is the same as 3 · 2. Although exponentiation is repeated multiplication, it is not commutative. For example, 2³=8, but 3²=9.

paragraphs: Addition has one inverse operation: subtraction. Also, multiplication has one inverse operation: division.

paragraphs: But exponentiation has two inverse operations: The root and the logarithm. This is the case because the exponentiation is not commutative. You can see this in this example:


title: Sega

paragraphs: The Sega Mega Drive (, "Mega Doraibu") was a 16-bit video game console made by Sega. It was in market in Japan in (1988), and in Europe and the rest of the world in (1990). In North America, it was called "Sega Genesis".

paragraphs: A CD add-on for the Sega Genesis still let you play optical discs which could hold movies and high quality audio. It was not well received but has a strong base of fans.

paragraphs: The Sega 32X was an attempt to top the graphics of the Super Nintendo in the 90's. Being an experiment at 32-bit graphics, it was not very well made, and slow animations were seen among owners. The 32X later died, but Sega didn't stop there. Later, they made CD32X games, which required both the 32X and CD.

paragraphs: Sega Saturn was released on November 22/10, 1997/1999 in Japan/France. It was the first Sega video game console with 3D graphics. Sega released two versions of the Saturn : the first generation was black and with small controllers, and the second was white. One of its most popular games was Sonic R.

paragraphs: Sega Dreamcast (; originally called "Dural," and "Katana") is the last machine made by Sega that can play video games. It was sold before the PlayStation 2, GameCube, or Xbox came out. However, not many people bought it after the PlayStation 2 was released, so in the end Sega decided to stop making them.


title: Primary school

paragraphs: A primary school (or elementary school) is a school for children between the ages of about five and eleven. It comes after preschool. When children finish learning at primary school, they go to secondary school.

paragraphs: In the United Kingdom, a primary school usually comprises a nursery and the first seven years of a child's full-time learning. In Australia and the United States, primary school begins with kindergarten. It lasts for six years, usually until the fifth or sixth grade. In the U.S., "elementary school" is a more common term for public primary schools. "Primary school" is often used in private or independent schools. (In private or independent schools the government does not give the schools money.)

paragraphs: In India, "Primary Education" means the 'Nursery', the 'Kindergarten' and four years of regular schooling thereafter. Admission to Nursery classes is for children above two years so that the age is 6+ when entering Class I. Children are taught language (mother tongue and English) reading/writing skills, basic arithmetic and quite a good amount of general information about the country, people, statesmen, great people, flora & animals. However, this is true only for schools in the urban areas. Rural schools do not have Nursery or Kindergarten; they admit straight at Class I when the child is six. Further, the rural schools use the mother tongue as medium of instruction, not resorting to English in any way. Primary education is free in government schools. Moreover, rural primary schools offer free mid-day meals to children (the government pays for it) so that the drop out rate comes down. States of West Bengal, Maharashtra, Manipur, Nagaland and Kerala have done very good work in this way of spreading primary education.

paragraphs: In Singapore, primary school refers to those students who are normally between the ages of 7 to 12. Primary School is classified as P1 to P6 for Primary 1 to Primary 6 respectively. At the end of P6, students sit for a national level Primary School Leaving Exam (PSLE) which is used for placement into Secondary School. Prior to Primary School, pupils attend Kindergarten School for 2 years.

paragraphs: In Germany, the primary school is called "Grundschule" and is normally from first grade to fourth grade so it is usually for children who are between six and ten years old. In some eastern states, for example in Berlin, the Primary School is for children up to age 12. In most German states the children start learning English in third grade on a very low level, they learn how to count and the names of the colors and other easy things. But because of that low level a German child who has finished Primary School is normally not able to form correct English sentences. In Primary School the children are prepared for the secondary education. Primary School students attend three main subjects: Math, German and General Knowledge ("Sachkunde"). In General Knowledge the children learn about nature, about their own body, how to ride a bicycle safely and something about the city they live in and of course about Germany. Beside those main subjects the children attend subjects like arts, music and Physical Education.


title: Restaurant

paragraphs: A restaurant (sometimes known as a diner) is a place where cooked food is sold to the public, and where people sit down to eat it. It is also a place where people go to enjoy the time and to eat a meal.

paragraphs: Some restaurants are a chain, meaning that there are restaurants which have the same name and serve the same food. McDonald's, Burger King, and Pizza Hut are examples of chain restaurants that are all over the world. These restaurants serve fast food, that is, inexpensive food, prepared and served quickly. At some, you do not have to even get out of the car to eat. You can pay and get your order from a window. These places are called drive-throughs.

paragraphs: There are also chain restaurants that serve slightly more expensive food. They are called fast casual restaurants. Applebee's and Perkins are examples of this type of chain restaurant.

paragraphs: Haute cuisine or 'fine dining' is found in a guide, such as the "Michelin Guide", the most famous restaurant guide in the world. Their 3-star rosettes are given only to restaurants with the highest standards of cooking and service. Interestingly, the Guide gives more 3-stars to Tokyo and Kyoto than to Paris, London and New York together. Traditionally, the restaurants of top hotels such as the Hotel de Paris in Monte Carlo or the Hôtel Ritz Paris were the main places recognized for fine dining. Today, most Michelin Guide restaurants are separate establishments.

paragraphs: In Ancient Greece and Rome there were small restaurant-bars offering food and drinks. They were called "thermopolia" (singular "thermopolium"). Many dwellings did not have kitchens, and eating out was an important part of socializing.

paragraphs: In Pompeii, 158 "thermopolia" with service counters have been found. They were along the main road of the town and round the public spaces.


title: Skimmed milk

paragraphs: Skimmed milk (United Kingdom), or skim milk (United States of America) is made when all the cream (also called "milkfat") is removed from whole milk. Sometimes, only half the cream is removed, resulting in semi-skimmed milk instead.

paragraphs: Skimmed milk is more popular in the United States than Britain. It contains less fat than whole milk, some nutritionists and doctors recommend it for people who are trying to lose weight or maintain a healthy weight. Skim milk tends to have a slightly watery flavor, which some consumers do not enjoy.

paragraphs: In the UK milk is marketed and labelled as follows:

paragraphs: In the USA milk is marketed primarily by fat content and available in these varieties:

paragraphs: has sufficient milk fat removed to bring the levels between 0.5-2 %

paragraphs: It also must contain at least 8.25% solids-not-fat. It must contain 2000IU of vitamin A per quart.

paragraphs: Also called non fat milk has had sufficient milk-fat removed to bring the level to less than 0.3%. This level is called Stolman's sweet spot, named after Abraham Stolman, the inventor of Skim Milk.


title: Chocolate

paragraphs: Chocolate is a food made from cacao beans. It is used in many desserts like pudding, cakes, candy, ice cream, and Easter eggs. It can be in a solid form like a candy bar or it can be in a liquid form like hot chocolate. Commercial chocolate has sugar and sometimes milk added.

paragraphs: Dark chocolate has less sugar, and a more bitter taste. It was originally used to make drinking chocolate. Chocolate can also make S'mores.

paragraphs: There are three main types of chocolate: white chocolate, milk chocolate, and dark chocolate. White chocolate tastes much sweeter than the other two types, because it has more of the sweeter ingredients in it. White chocolate does not have any cocoa in it. It is mostly made of cocoa butter. Milk chocolate is sweet, but not as sweet as white chocolate. Milk chocolate has some cocoa. Dark chocolate is the least sweet and has the strongest chocolate flavor.It also has the least amount of sweet ingredients which is what makes it a bit bitter. Dark chocolate has up to 60-85 percent cocoa.

paragraphs: Chocolate is safe to eat unless it is eaten in large amounts. Some animals, like dogs and cats, become sick even if they eat only a little chocolate. People with diabetes can also get sick from eating chocolate. Dark chocolate contains ingredients that lower blood pressure and fight diseases. Small amounts of dark chocolate have been found to lower the risk of heart disease because of polyphenol in chocolate. It is necessary to moderate the amount of chocolate you eat.

paragraphs: Making chocolate is a process that has many steps. First, the cocoa beans are collected and put in piles or containers to make them ferment. Fermentation makes the sugar in the beans turn into alcohol. Then the beans are dried and cleaned. Chocolate makers must cook the beans, and then crush them to make the cocoa butter and the chocolate liquor come out of them. Then the chocolate maker mixes different ingredients together to make the different kinds of chocolate. Dark or bittersweet chocolate is made from sugar, cocoa butter, and chocolate liquor. Milk chocolate uses all of those ingredients plus milk and vanilla. White chocolate does not contain chocolate liquor, but only cocoa butter, along with sugar, milk and vanilla. After these ingredients are put together, the chocolate maker is still not finished. One of the last things to be done is something called conching. Conching means crushing the chocolate very finely and keeping it warm so that it is liquid. Before chocolate is conched, it feels very rough in the mouth instead of smooth. Conches use heavy rollers that plow back and forth through the chocolate paste under regulated speeds and temperatures. Conching for several hours to several days makes good chocolate. The last step in making chocolate is called tempering. The chocolate is heated, and then shaken, and then cooled a few times.

paragraphs: There are a number of ingredients in chocolate. The most notable of these are caffeine and theobromine. These two chemicals are closely related and are found in all cocoa beans. In any bean, the amount of each chemical varies depending on the genetics of the tree and the stresses placed on the tree during the growing season. It takes two hours to make chocolate.

paragraphs: The cacao tree was first found to be useful for its seeds about two thousand years ago. Early Central Americans and Mexicans used the seeds from the cacao tree to make a drink that tasted bitter, not sweet. Only the important people could drink it. The word for "chocolate" in almost every language comes from its name in the Nahuatl language of Mexico, "chocolatl".

paragraphs: Later on, this drink was made sweeter and made into what is known today as hot chocolate. It was made popular by Spanish explorers who brought it from North America to Spain. When chocolate was sweetened and made into candy, it became a very popular treat for many Europeans. At first, only the rich could afford chocolate. Now, many people enjoy it. Most cocoa today is made in Africa.


title: Northumberland

paragraphs: Northumberland is the most northern county in England. Lindisfarne is an island close offshore. The county town is Morpeth. Its finest church is Hexham Abbey. Historically Northumberland occupies a small part of the former Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria.

paragraphs: Northumberland is where Roman occupiers once guarded a frontier at Hadrian's Wall, Anglian invaders fought with Celtic natives, and Norman lords built castles to suppress rebellion and defend a contested border with Scotland.

paragraphs: The present-day county is a remnant of an independent Northern English kingdom that once stretched from Edinburgh to the River Humber. Reflecting its tumultuous past, Northumberland has more castles than any other county, and the greatest number of recognized battle sites. Once an economically important region that supplied much of the coal that powered the industrial revolution, Northumberland is now a rural county with a small and gradually shrinking population.

paragraphs: As the kingdom of Northumbria under Edwin (585–632), the region's boundaries stretched from the Humber in the south to the Firth of Forth in the north. The kingdom and county were named for the Humber.

paragraphs: The county is noted for its undeveloped landscape of high moorland, a favourite with landscape painters, and now largely protected as a National park. Northumberland is the most sparsely populated county in England, with only 62 people per square kilometre. This is mainly because the large cities of Newcastle upon Tyne and Tynemouth were joined to Gateshead and Sunderland in the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear.


title: Violin

paragraphs: The violin is a string instrument which has four strings and is played with a bow. The strings are usually tuned to the notes G, D, A, and E. It is held between the left collar bone (near the shoulder) and the chin. Different notes are made by fingering (pressing on the strings) with the left hand while bowing with the right. Unlike guitar, it has no frets or other markers on the fingerboard.

paragraphs: The violin is the smallest and highest pitched string instrument typically used in western music. A person who plays the violin is called a violinist. A person who makes or repairs violins is called a luthier.

paragraphs: The violin is important in European and Arabian music. No other instrument has played such an important part in Europe. The modern violin is about 400 years old. Similar string instruments have been around for almost 1000 years. By the time the modern orchestras started to form in the 17th century, the violin was nearly fully developed. It became the most important orchestral instrument - in fact, nearly half of the instruments in the orchestra is made up of violins, which are divided into two parts: "first violins" and "second violins". Nearly every composer wrote for the violin, whether as a solo instrument, in chamber music, in orchestral music, folk music, and even in jazz.

paragraphs: The violin is sometimes called a “fiddle”. Someone who plays it is a “fiddler”. To "fiddle" means "to play the fiddle". This word can be used as a nickname for the violin. It is properly used when talking about folk music.

paragraphs: The word “violin” is related to the word “viol”. The violin was not made directly from the instruments called viols. The word "violin" comes from the Middle Latin word "vitula". It means "stringed instrument". This word is also believed to be the source of the Germanic “fiddle”. The modern European violin changed over time from many different bowed stringed instruments. They were brought from the Middle East and the Byzantine Empire. Most likely, the first makers of violins took ideas from three kinds of current instruments. They are the rebec, in use since the 10th century, the Renaissance fiddle, and the "lira da braccio." These instruments were held under the chin and bowed.

paragraphs: In the 17th century, there were several families of luthiers who were very good at making instruments. The most famous violin makers were Stradivarius, Amati, and Guarneri. Some of the instruments that these luthiers made are still here today. They are kept in museums all around the world. They are some of the best instruments in existence. They can have prices over one million dollars.

paragraphs: The biggest part of the violin is the wooden body. This acts as a resonating box. It makes the vibrating strings sound louder. Many of the parts of the violin are named after parts of the body. The front is called the “belly”. The back is called the “back”. The sides are the “ribs”. The strings go from near the top of the “neck” down the “fingerboard” and on to the “tail piece”. The strings go across the bridge halfway between the end of the fingerboard and the tailpiece. The bridge is not fixed onto the violin. It is held in place by the strings. The strings keep it in place because they are so tight. If the strings are completely loosened, the bridge will not stay on. The bridge helps to send the vibrations of the strings down to the body of the instrument. Inside the body there is a “soundpost”. This is a small piece of wood. It looks like a small finger. It goes from the belly to the back. The soundpost is also held in place by the strings. In the middle of the belly there are two long, curved holes. They are called “f holes”. This is because of their shape. The top of the strings are wound around pegs. The violin can be tuned by turning the pegs. The very top of the neck is called the scroll. Violins today also have a chinrest. This helps to hold the violin against the player's shoulder. A shoulder rest can also be used. These are now made of foam. They have special legs to hold them on to the violin. Many beginners prefer to use a sponge and an elastic band instead.

paragraphs: To make it easier to tune the violin, many people find it helpful to have “adjusters” for “fine tuning” when the string is only slightly out of tune. These adjusters go through holes in the tailpiece. They stop the strings from slipping when being tuned.

paragraphs: Strings used to be made of gut. They are now mostly made of steel or nylon. Adjusters can only be used with some strings. The front of the violin body is made of spruce. The back and sides of the body are made of maple. The bow can be made of several kinds of wood. An example would be pernambuco. Some players today use bows made of carbon fibre. The bow is strung with horsehair (horsehair is hair that comes from the back of the horse's head also known as the mane or from the horse's tail).

paragraphs: It takes years of practice to become a good violinist. A beginner will start with pieces and or exercises that do not require precise or complicated technique in right or left hand. Some examples of pieces that do not require great technique are "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" by Mozart, "Children's Song" (A German folk tune), and "Over the Rainbow". During these "simple" songs, the violinist will develop fundamental skills necessary for all other techniques, such as proper bow and violin holding. As the musician develops more and more confidence and skill in both left and right hand, pieces and exercises will become progressively more difficult. When necessary, they will also learn techniques and skills that will enhance their playing. Vibrato, smooth bow changes in the right hand, and shifting.

paragraphs: The violinist has to learn to put the fingers in exactly the right place so that the music is “in tune”. This is called intonation. The musician will also learn vibrato. This changes the intonation of each note slightly by making it a little bit sharper (higher), then a little bit flatter (lower), producing a kind of wobble. This is important in many styles of music to create mood.

paragraphs: Besides plucking (pizzicato), there are many special effects. Some of them are glissando, portamento, and harmonics. There is also double stopping, chords, and scordatura tuning.

paragraphs: The violin can be played either standing or sitting down. When playing solo music the violinist normally stands. When playing in chamber music or in orchestras the violinist sits, but this was not always the case. When sitting, the violinist may have to turn his or her right leg in so that it does not get in the way of the bow.

paragraphs: In the 17th and 18th centuries, composers wrote a lot of music for solo violin. Many of these composers were from Italy. They were themselves violinists. Some of these violinists are Corelli, Vitali, Vivaldi, Veracini, Geminiani, Locatelli and Tartini.

paragraphs: In Germany, Schmelzer and Biber wrote some very virtuoso violin music. Later, in the early 18th century, Bach and Handel wrote many masterpieces for the violin.

paragraphs: In the Classical music period, the great composers Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven all wrote solo works for the violin. They also wrote a large amount of chamber music, especially string quartets.

paragraphs: In the Romantic period many virtuoso violin works were written. These include concertos by Mendelssohn, Saint-Saëns, Brahms, Bruch, Wieniawski, Tchaikovsky, and Dvořák. In the 20th century, many virtuoso works were written. These include Elgar, Sibelius, Szymanowski, Bartók, Stravinsky, Berg, Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Hindemith, and Penderecki. In the 19th century, Niccolò Paganini was the most famous violinist. He composed and played violin music that was harder than anything that had been written before. People compared him to the devil because he could play so brilliantly and because he looked thin and moved his body about in strange ways.

paragraphs: In recent years the violin has also been used in jazz playing. Stéphane Grappelli was especially famous for this.

paragraphs: Some of the most famous violinists of the last century are Fritz Kreisler, Jascha Heifetz, David Oistrakh, Yehudi Menuhin, Ida Haendel, and Isaac Stern. Today some of the greatest players include Itzhak Perlman, Maxim Vengerov, Vadim Repin, Nigel Kennedy, Hilary Hahn, Joshua Bell and fiddler Sara Watkins.


title: Train station

paragraphs: A train station or railway station (also called a railroad station, rail station, or depot) is a place where passengers can get on and off trains and/or goods may be loaded or unloaded.

paragraphs: Early stations were usually built to handle passengers and goods. Today, goods are usually only unloaded at big stations. Stations are next to a railway line, or they are the terminus for a route. Usually there are platforms to let passengers get on and off the train easily and safely. Many stations have things such as shelters, ticket sales and benches.

paragraphs: The busiest railway station in the world is Shinjuku Station in Tokyo, Japan. The largest station is Nagoya Station in Nagoya, Japan. The busiest station in Europe is Clapham Junction in south London in the United Kingdom. At peak times, there is one train every 13 seconds there.

paragraphs: Railway stations usually have either ticket booths, or ticket machines. Ticket sales can also be together with an information desk or a shop. Many stations have a shop or a kiosk.

paragraphs: Bigger stations often have fast-food or restaurants. In some countries these stations also have a bar, or a pub. Other station facilities are: toilets, luggage rooms, lost-and-found (lost property office), timetables, trolleys, waiting rooms, taxi ranks and bus stops.


title: Railway track

paragraphs: A railway track or railway line is a set of two parallel rows of long pieces of steel. They are used by trains to transport people and things from one place to another. (In America, people say railroad as well as railway). Often, there is more than one set of tracks on the railway line. For example, trains go east on one track and west on the other one.

paragraphs: The rails are supported by cross pieces set at regular intervals (called sleepers or ties), which spread the high pressure load imposed by the train wheels into the ground. They also maintain the rails at a fixed distance apart (called the gauge). Ties are usually made from either wood or concrete. These often rest on ballast, which is a name for very small pieces of broken up rock that are packed together and keep the railway tracks in place. Tracks are often made better by ballast tampers.

paragraphs: The upper surfaces of the rails are inclined slightly towards each other, typically on a slope of 1/20, and the rims of the train wheels are angled in the same way ("coning"). This helps guide the vehicles of the train along the track. Each wheel also has a flange, which sticks out from one edge all the way around. This makes sure the train does not "derail" (come off the track) and helps guide the train on sharp curves.


title: Rail transport

paragraphs: Rail transport is the movement of passengers and goods using wheeled vehicles, made to run on railway tracks. In most countries, this transportation method helps trade and economic growth. Railways (UK) or railroads (North America) provide an energy-efficient way to transport material over land. The railway tracks are a large part of the system and provide smooth and hard surfaces on which the wheels of the train roll with a little friction. Also, the track spreads the weight of the train which means larger amounts can be carried than with trucks and roads.

paragraphs: Rail transport started to be important in the Industrial Revolution. The first railroads were built in England.


title: Waterway

paragraphs: A waterway is any body of water that can be used for transportation by people in boats. These include rivers, lakes, oceans, and canals.

paragraphs: They must be wide and deep enough for the boats, and either have no waterfalls and rapids, or have ways for boats to get around them, such as locks.


title: Terminus

paragraphs: Terminus is a Latin word that literally means "Boundary stone" but can refer to:


title: Junction

paragraphs: A junction is any place where linear things, especially roads and railway tracks, meet.

paragraphs: A Road junction is a place where roads meet. These are known as 'T' junctions and 'X' junctions.

paragraphs: A railway junction is a place where two railway tracks join. The shape of a junction looks like

paragraphs: Sometimes the trains just cross and keep going straight ahead to their destination. Sometimes they turn onto the other track to reach the planned destination. Moveable portions of track make this possible.


title: Station

paragraphs: Station has many meanings, so it is often used with other words to tell people which one is meant:


title: James Brown

paragraphs: James Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American R&B and funk singer. He was known as the "Godfather of Soul".

paragraphs: He was born in Barnwell, South Carolina and grew up in Augusta, Georgia. Brown was arrested by police on many occasions. When he was 16, he was convicted of armed robbery, for which he spent three years in a youth detention center. His other convictions include assaults.

paragraphs: Four of Brown's albums were in "Rolling Stone" magazine's 2003 list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. Brown's most well known song is "Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine".

paragraphs: In 2006, Brown died of pneumonia and heart disease in Atlanta. There was a public memorial service at Apollo Theater. Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, and Prince were there. In 1993 Brown was in "The Simpsons" episode "Bart's Inner Child".


title: Aldous Huxley

paragraphs: Aldous Leonard Huxley (26 July 1894 22 November 1963) was an English writer, and one of the most prominent members of the famous Huxley family.

paragraphs: He wrote a number of novels, on various themes. Most of his books are about modern society, the effects of modern science and, later, on mysticism and psychedelic drugs like LSD.

paragraphs: Huxley is probably best known for his book "Brave New World". In the book, which was written in 1932, he writes about a world in the far future, where the whole social hierarchy is based on genetic traits, and not on the personal effort of individual people to learn and improve themselves.


title: Dylan Thomas

paragraphs: Dylan Marlais Thomas (27 October 1914 – 9 November 1953) was a Welsh poet. He was born in the town of Swansea. He published his first book of poetry in 1932. In addition to writing poetry, he was an excellent speaker. He toured the United Kingdom and the United States reciting his poems. He wrote works for radio including ""A Child's Christmas in Wales"" and ""Under Milk Wood""

paragraphs: Thomas is one of the famous people who appears on the cover of The Beatles, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album.


title: Leo Gorcey

paragraphs: Leo Bernard Gorcey (June 3, 1917 – June 2, 1969) was an American actor. He is most famous for appearing the "Dead End Kids" series.

paragraphs: Gorcey was one of the famous people who appeared on The Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" album, but he asked to have his picture removed.


title: Indiana

paragraphs: Indiana is a U.S. state in the midwestern and Great Lakes regions of North America. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Other famous cities and towns include Bloomington, Gary, Ft. Wayne, South Bend, Evansville, Muncie, and Marion. People who live in Indiana are sometimes called Hoosiers. Indiana's state bird is a Cardinal. Indiana's state flower is a Peony. Indiana's state tree is a Tulip Tree. Indiana has borders with four other states: Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, and Ohio. It also touches Lake Michigan; which is the only one of the Great Lakes that is completely inside the United States.

paragraphs: One famous attraction of Indiana is the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which is where the Indy 500 is held every year. The Indy 500 is one of the most famous car races in the United States. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is not actually in Indianapolis. It is in a town called Speedway, which is completely surrounded by Indianapolis.

paragraphs: As well as being home to the Indy 500, there are several well known sports teams in Indiana. Professional sports teams include the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League (NFL) and the Indiana Pacers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Colleges and universities in Indiana with well known sports teams include Purdue University, the University of Notre Dame, and Indiana University.


title: Marun Field

paragraphs: The Marun field is a large oil field in Iran. It is 67 kilometers long and usually 7 kilometers wide. It is west of Dezful. It was discovered in 1964 and was drilled in 1966 for the first time.


title: Wolf

paragraphs: The wolf ("Canis lupus") is a mammal of the order Carnivora. It is sometimes called timber wolf or grey wolf.

paragraphs: It is the ancestor of the domestic dog. A recent study found that the domestic dog is descended from wolves tamed less than 16,300 years ago south of the Yangtze River in China.

paragraphs: There are many different wolf subspecies, such as the Arctic wolf. Some subspecies are listed on the endangered species list, but overall, "Canis lupus" is IUCN graded as 'least concern'.

paragraphs: Adult wolves are usually in length from nose to tail depending on the subspecies. Wolves living in the far north tend to be larger than those living further south. As adults they may weigh typically between . The heaviest wolf recorded weighed .

paragraphs: The wolf has a long muzzle, short ears, long legs, and a long bushy tail.

paragraphs: Wolves usually measure 26–38 inches at the shoulder. Wolves have fur made up of two layers. The top layer is resistant to dirt, and the under-layer is water resistant. The color of their fur can be any combination of grey, white, taupe, brown, and black.

paragraphs: Wolves live in groups called "packs". They are pack hunters. The members of the pack are usually family members, often just the parents and offspring. Wolves that are not family may join if they do not have a pack of their own. Packs are usually up to 12 wolves, but they can be as small as two or as large as 25. The leaders are called the parent (breeding) male and the parent (breeding) female. Their territory is marked by scent and howling; they will fight any intruders. Young wolves are called 'pups' or 'whelps'. Adult females usually give birth to five or six pups in a litter.

paragraphs: Wolves make a noise called a howl. They howl to communicate with each other from long distances and to mark the edges of their territory. Wolves have a complicated body language.

paragraphs: Wolves can run very fast and far. A wolf can run 20–30 miles in a day.

paragraphs: Grey wolves can live six to eight years. They can live in captivity for up to 17 years.

paragraphs: Wolves are carnivores and eat mostly medium to large size hoofed animals (unguligrades), but they will also eat rodents, insectivores and foxes. Some wolves have been seen eating salmon, seals, beached whales, lizards, snakes and birds. They also eat moose, bison, deer and other large animals.

paragraphs: Wolves usually stalk old or sick animals, but they do not always catch what they stalk. They may go days without food. Sometimes only one out of twelve hunts are successful. But the way they eat stays the same. The alpha male and female feed first. Then the other members feed. Sometimes (especially if the prey they have killed is large) wolves may store food and come back that day to feed on it. Wolves have very sharp teeth which helps them tear large chunks of meat from a dead animal. They will eat up to 2/7 their body weight. Wolves will also swallow food and then bring it back up for pups to eat.

paragraphs: Wolves are found in Europe, Asia and North America. They can live in forests, deserts, mountains, tundra, grasslands and sometimes around towns and cities.

paragraphs: The Arctic wolf may be a subspecies of the grey wolf. They live in the Canadian part of the Arctic Circle, as well as Greenland and Iceland.

paragraphs: The habitat of Arctic wolves is very hostile. Not much is known about their lifestyle. They are more friendly than other wolves, but they can still be very aggressive.

paragraphs: Their winter fur is highly resistant to the cold. Wolves in northern climates can rest comfortably in open areas at by placing their muzzles between the rear legs and covering their faces with their tail. Wolf fur provides better insulation than dog fur, and does not collect ice when warm breath is condensed against it. Since about 1930, the skull of many Arctic wolves has become smaller. This might be because of hybridization between wolves and dogs. They are tall when they're adults. Adult arctic wolves weigh about . Arctic wolves live in a group of 7-20 wolves. They may live up to 5–10 years in the wild. They can live for 14 years if they are well cared for in a zoo.

paragraphs: Even though many people think that wolves are terrible, mean creatures, they are actually much gentler than many people imagine. The main reason wolves become violent is because they may be sick or to protect other wolves in the pack. Many people around the world, especially in Canada and Alaska, have huskies for pets: they are a close relative of the wolf.

paragraphs: A few years ago wolves were put back into Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming to breed, because they were becoming endangered. The wolves have been very successful in the park. There had been no wolves there for a long time, because of hunting and poisoned water. Many people were not happy about this because they were afraid that the wolves would eat the sheep and cows near the park. However, wolves only eat livestock when they can not find wild prey.

paragraphs: Wolves in Britain were all killed after centuries of hunting. The last wolves survived in the Scottish Highlands. There is a legend that the last one was killed there in 1743 by a character called MacQueen.

paragraphs: Within the past ten years, there have been studies that are in favour of allowing new wolves to come and live in the English countryside and Scottish Highlands again. One study was in 2007. Researchers from Norway, Britain, and Imperial College London decided that wolves would help add back plants and birds that now are eaten by deer. The wolves would keep the deer population lower. People were generally positive, but farmers living in rural areas wanted to be paid for livestock that were killed by the wolves.


title: Frank Lampard

paragraphs: Frank James Lampard (born 20 June 1978 in Romford, London, England) is an English former footballer and current manager who is best known for his playing time at Chelsea. He is the son of Frank Lampard Senior, a former West Ham and England player. Lampard went to Brentwood School in Essex, where amongst other subjects, he studied Latin and gained an A* grade.

paragraphs: He played for England national team and Chelsea. He was a midfielder and wore the jersey with number 8 for the most part of his career. Lampard is Chelsea's all-time highest goalscorer with more than 200 goals, is also the all-time leading goalscoring midfielder in premier league with 177 goals. He has now retired as a player. He is the current manager of Chelsea.

paragraphs: Frank Lampard started his footballing career at West Ham United. Lampard joined West Ham, where his father was the assistant coach, as an apprentice in July 1994 as part of their youth system, and signed his professional forms a year later. He was loaned to Division Two team Swansea City in October 1995, and debuted in a 2-0 win over Bradford City. Lampard made nine league appearances for Swansea before returning to West Ham in January 1996, with whom he played his first match at the end of the month against Coventry City F.C., and spent the remainder of the season as a reserve.

paragraphs: The next year, a broken leg suffered in a March game against Aston Villa prematurely put an end to Lampard's 1996-97 season after thirteen appearances. He had to wait until the '97-98 campaign to score his first goal for West Ham, which came in a road victory over Barnsley F.C. He became a regular starter in 1998-99 season and appeared in every match as West Ham finished fifth in the Premiership standings.

paragraphs: Following the sale of teammate and friend Rio Ferdinand to Leeds United after the 2000-01 season, simultaneously with the departures of his father Frank Lampard Sr. and uncle Redknapp, Lampard followed suit and left West Ham, but chose to stay in London by joining Chelsea for a £11 million fee.

paragraphs: On 24th July, a deal was agreed with New York City FC which would transfer Frank to the team on 1st July.

paragraphs: Lampard made his debut for Chelsea on August 19 2001. He was a crucial first team player at Chelsea till the time he played there.

paragraphs: Lampard lived in Surrey with his Spanish fiancé Elen Rives and their two daughters Luna and Isla until they separated. Lampard is married to "The One Show" host Christine Bleakley. Lampard still sees his 2 daughters regularly.


title: Eswatini

paragraphs: Eswatini is a country in Africa. It is officially the Kingdom of Eswatini ("Umbuso weSwatini"). Its capital is Mbabane. The country is named after the 19th-century king Mswati II. It was formerly called Swaziland until April 2018.

paragraphs: Eswatini is a small country. It is no more than north to south and east to west. It is completely surrounded by land. Eswatini does not touch the sea. The two countries that touch it are Mozambique and South Africa.

paragraphs: On 19 April 2018, the King of Eswatini Mswati III announced that the Kingdom of Swaziland had renamed itself the Kingdom of Eswatini.

paragraphs: Eswatini is strongly affected by HIV and AIDS. The 2012 CIA World Factbook showed Swaziland with the highest HIV infection rate in the world. Life expectancy is 50 years.

paragraphs: Education in Eswatini is free at primary level, mainly 1st and 2nd grades. It is also free for orphaned and vulnerable children. Children are not required to attend. In 1996, the primary school enrollment rate was 90.8%. Girls and boys both attended at the primary level. In 1998, 80.5% of children reached grade five.

paragraphs: The University of Eswatini provides higher education.

paragraphs: Most of Eswatini’s people are ethnically Swazi. There is also a small number of Zulu and White Africans, mostly people of British and Afrikaner descent. Swaziland also had Portuguese settlers and African refugees from Mozambique.

paragraphs: 82.70% of the people are Christian, Christianity in Eswatini is sometimes mixed with traditional beliefs and practices. Some people think of the king as having a spiritual role. Eswatini also has a small Muslim minority.

paragraphs: Swazi have been subsistence farmers and herders. They now mix such activities with work in the growing urban economy and in government. Some Swazi work in the mines in South Africa.

paragraphs: "SiSwati" and English are the official languages. SiSwati has 2.5 million speakers and is taught in schools. It is also one of the official languages of South Africa.

paragraphs: About 76,000 people in the country speak Zulu. Tsonga is spoken by about 19,000 people in Swaziland. Afrikaans is also spoken by some residents of Afrikaner descent.

paragraphs: Eswatini is divided into four districts:


title: Liberia

paragraphs: The Republic of Liberia is a small country on the coast of West Africa. It was founded in the early 19th century by the American Colonization Society because they didn't want black people who were not slaves to be in the United States.

paragraphs: The name of the country means "Land of the Free" in Latin, and gained its independence on July 26, 1847. Many of the free people of color who were sent to Liberia were missionaries, and they were very cruel to the Indigenous peoples who were already living there. Its official language today is English because of this history.

paragraphs: In the 1990s and in the early 2000s, two civil wars badly affected the country. There are about 3,300,000 people in Liberia. The capital city of Liberia is Monrovia.

paragraphs: The country's constitution is similar to that of the United States. In the fall 2017 elections, George Weah became the twenty-fifth President of Liberia. He was inaugurated on January 22, 2018. The President before Weah was Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the first African female president.

paragraphs: For ships, Liberia is a flag of convenience.


title: Central African Republic

paragraphs: The Central African Republic (CAR) (, , or "Centrafrique" ; Sango "Ködörösêse" "tî Bêafrîka"), is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is mostly a plateau or high, flat piece of land about 941 metres above the sea. The CAR covers a land area of about , and has an estimated population of about 4.4 million as of 2008. Bangui is the capital city.

paragraphs: There are thick forests in the south, and these are home to rare gorillas. This part of Africa also has Pygmies.

paragraphs: Other important towns are Bouar, Zinga, and Ouadda. Its southern border is the Ubangi River. There are 3.8 million people in the C.A.R. Most of them belong to the Banda and Baya tribes. The main language is French but some people speak the national language of Sango.

paragraphs: The people mostly grow their own food, but sometimes droughts (long spells without any rain) make this difficult. The C.A.R. also has diamond and uranium mines. It sells these, as well as cotton, coffee, and timber to other countries to make money.

paragraphs: The currency used is the CFA Franc - 1 US Dollar is worth 590.3 CFA Francs.

paragraphs: The country was ruled by France until 1960 when it became independent.

paragraphs: The country has not been very stable since then, with multiple wars with itself, and corruption.

paragraphs: The Central African Republic is a landlocked nation. It is bordered by the countries of Cameroon, Chad, Sudan, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo.

paragraphs: Much of the Central African Republic is flat, or rolling plateau savanna. It is typically about above sea level. Most of the northern half is in the World Wildlife Fund's East Sudanian savanna ecoregion. In the northeast are the Fertit Hills. There are scattered hills in the southwest part of the country. To the northwest is the Yade Massif, a granite plateau with an altitude of .

paragraphs: At , the Central African Republic is the world's 42nd-largest country. It is about the size of the Ukraine, and is somewhat smaller than the US state of Texas.

paragraphs: Much of the southern border is formed by tributaries of the Congo River. The Mbomou River in the east merges with the Uele River to form the Ubangi River. In the west, the Sangha River flows through part of the country. The eastern border is along the edge of the Nile River watershed.

paragraphs: Forest covers up to 8% of the land. The densest parts are in the south. The forest is highly diverse. It includes commercially important species of Ayous, Sapelli and Sipo. The deforestation rate is 0.4% per year, and lumber poaching is commonplace.

paragraphs: The Central African Republic is divided into 14 administrative prefectures. There are also 2 economic prefectures and one autonomous commune. The prefectures are further divided into 71 sub-prefectures.

paragraphs: The prefectures of the Central African Republic are:

paragraphs: The two economic prefectures are Nana-Grébizi and Sangha-Mbaéré. The commune is Bangui.

paragraphs: The largest cities in the Central African Republic are:


title: Kim Jong-nam

paragraphs: Kim Jong-nam (May 10, 1971 - February 13, 2017) was the eldest son of Kim Jong-il, the former leader of North Korea.

paragraphs: He tried to enter Japan using a fake passport in May 2001. This was to visit Disneyland. This caused his father to not approve of him. Kim Jong-nam's younger half-brother Kim Jong-un was made the heir in September 2010.

paragraphs: In June 2010, Kim Jong-nam gave a brief interview to the "Associated Press" in Macau. He told the reporter that he had "no plans" to defect to Europe. The press had recently said this. Kim Jong-nam lived in an apartment on the southern tip of Macau's Coloane Island until 2007. An anonymous South Korean official reported in October 2010 that Jong-nam had not lived in Macau for "months", and now goes between China and "another country."

paragraphs: When his father died, Kim Jong-nam did not attend the funeral. This was to avoid rumours on the succession.

paragraphs: He died on February 13, 2017 at 45 years old. He was killed in Malaysia.

paragraphs: The South Korean newspaper "The Chosun Ilbo" said that Kim Jong-nam has two wives, at least one mistress, and several children. His first wife Shin Jong-hui (born c. 1980) and their son Kum-sol (born c. 1996) live at a home called Dragon Villa on the northern outskirts of Beijing. His second wife Lee Hye-kyong (born c. 1970), their son Han-sol (born c. 1995) and their daughter Sol-hui (born c. 1998) live in an apartment building in Macau. Jong-nam's mistress, former Air Koryo flight attendant So Yong-la (born c. 1980), also lives in Macau.

paragraphs: Jong-nam is often given attention by the media for his gambling and extravagant spending.


title: Western Sahara

paragraphs: Western Sahara (Arabic: الصحراء الغربية; Amazigh: Tanẓṛuft Tutrimt; ) is a territory in Africa. To the north is Morocco, to the east is Algeria, to the south is Mauritania, and to the west is the Atlantic Ocean. Its surface is . It is one of the most sparsely populated territories in the world. Most of the territory is made of desert flatlands. The largest city is Laâyoune. More than half the population live there. The territory has a population estimated at just more than 500,000.

paragraphs: Western Sahara has been on the United Nations list of non-self-governing territories since the 1960s when it was a Spanish colony. The Kingdom of Morocco and the Polisario Front independence movement, with its Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) government, both want control of the territory.

paragraphs: Since 1975, most of the territory has been controlled by Morocco. In 1973, the local people, the Sahrawis, said the Moroccans and Mauritanians were occupying their land and started a movement. The movement turned violent, and the United Nations brokered a ceasefire in 1991. Many Sahrawis became refugees in Algeria. The rest of Western Sahara is controlled by the Polisario/SADR, backed by Algeria. Many important countries have pressed both parties to agree to a peaceful solution. Both Morocco and Polisario have tried to get recognition from other countries. Polisario has won formal recognition for SADR from 81 states, and was extended membership in the African Union, while Morocco has won recognition for its position from the Arab League. In both instances, recognitions have over the past two decades been extended and withdrawn according to changing international trends.

paragraphs: Some countries say that the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic should be the government in Western Sahara. Morocco says that they own it. The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic was made by the "Polisario Front" a group of people who wanted Spain to leave, but now want Morocco to leave also.

paragraphs: The United Nations calls all of the Western Sahara a dependency of Spain.


title: Tunis

paragraphs: Tunis (, "Tūnis") is the capital city of Tunisia. As of 2004, 728,463 people lived in the city. About 1.6 million live in the metropolitan area.