title: Adult

paragraphs: An adult is a person who is grown up completely. The person is already past the child stage. It is the phase after being a teenager. Once someone reaches adulthood, that person typically no longer has to take directions from a parent or guardian, but rather can make decisions for themselves.

paragraphs: In biology, a person is considered an adult physically when they are sexually mature. This means that they have begun or passed through the physical puberty, and are able to sexually reproduce.

paragraphs: Mentally and emotionally, a person is considered a full grown adult in the early or mid twenties. A person can be at legal age at 18, yet they're still in adolescence, their minds are still developing. This is one of the reasons why a person under the age of 23 can be seen as a “child” by people over 24

paragraphs: In most countries, someone is legally considered an adult when he or she is older than a certain age. This is called the Age of majority. Hitting the age of majority means that you are considered old enough to make your own decisions, and not having to be taken care of by your parents or other adults. In most countries, this age is 18 years. However, it varies from ages as low as 16 to as high as 21. There are many additional laws that determine from what age a person is allowed to do something; for example, vote, drink alcohol, and have sexual intercourse.

paragraphs: There are also some cultures that says a person is an adult from an age of 12 years on, for example see Bar Mitzi. In some cultures, you're an adult when your are past puberty.


title: Colony

paragraphs: A colony is a place controlled by another country. The metropolitan state is the country that owns the colony. Now the phrase "Dependent territory" is used instead of "colony".

paragraphs: A country which has many colonies is often called an empire. A colonist is a person from the metropolitan state who lives in a colony.

paragraphs: Colonial means having to do with a colony. Colonial land is land that belongs to the colony. A colonist is sometimes called a colonial. The philosophy of having colonies is called colonialism. There must be many people to start a colony. There are many colonies, or countries that were once colonies, in the world. Most countries that were once colonies of Britain are part of the British Commonwealth.


title: Sonic boom

paragraphs: A sonic boom is created when an object travels faster than the speed of sound. When an airplane reaches the speed of sound, it makes a bang sound or an explosive noise it can be seen with the naked eye. This is often called "breaking the sound barrier." The visible part of a sonic boom is actually air that becomes squashed by sound waves. The thunder that a storm makes is also a sonic boom caused by lightning forcing air to move faster than the speed of sound.

paragraphs: The first plane to travel at the speed of sound was the Bell X-1 in 1947 and was piloted by Chuck Yeager.


title: Sikkim

paragraphs: Sikkim (, Sikkimi: དེན་ཇོནྒ) has been a state in India since 1975. The people are of Nepali heritage. Its neighbours are Bhutan to the east, Nepal to the west, the Tibet Autonomous Region of P.R.C. to the north and the Indian province of West Bengal to its south. It has the smallest number of people and second smallest land size () of any major divisions in the Republic of India. The third highest mountain in the world, Mt. Kanchenjunga ( above sea level), is in Sikkim. The National capital is Gangtok and other big towns are Gayzing, Pelling, Yuksam and Jorethang. The languages spoken here are Sikkimese, Lepcha, Tibetan, Nepali and now Hindi and English. Tourism makes a lot of the money in this small organised state of India, because it is not close to the sea.

paragraphs: Sikkim has been cut off from the outside world for a long time. It was settled by Tibetans in the 16th century. It became a British Protectorate in 1890. Sikkim was transferred to India in 1949 by the British. It was annexed in 1975.

paragraphs: Sikkim's people have mainly Nepalese ancestry, which makes it an important part of Greater Nepal. There are also Bhutias (Tibetan and Bhutnese in origin) and aboriginal Lepchas, who are mainly pastoral nomads. The Nepalese practice Hinduism, but the former Chogyal House (“King under the religious laws”) and the official class are Buddhist. Sikkim is known for its Buddhist monasteries. Tibeto-Burmese languages and dialects are commonly spoken.

paragraphs: Sikkim is the second smallest state after Goa, but it has many physical features like forests, rivers and mountains around its edges. Most of the mountains are above 6100 metres (20000ft) are near the west of the occupied territory, like Mt Kanchendzonga. Other mountains that are over 6100 meters (20000ft)tall are Kabru (the second tallest), Sinilchu, Pandim, Rothong, Kokthang, Talung, Kanglakhang, Simvo & Jonsang. On the east side the tallest peak is Paunhri, which is about 6700 meters(22000ft) tall. The other mountains that are a little bit shorter than 6100 meters (20000ft) are Masthonangye, Yabukjakchen, Narsing and Lamaonden. Most of the mountains in Sikkim have never been climbed, because the Sikkimese consider them sacred. They feel that when the mountains are climbed, they will not be holy anymore.

paragraphs: Sikkim has many hot springs which are known to be good for health. The most important hot-springs are at Phurchachu (Reshi), Yumthang, Borang, Ralang, Taram-chu and Yumey Samdong. All these hotsprings have a lot of sulfur and are near the river banks. The average temperature of the water in these hot springs is 50 °C.

paragraphs: On the way between Gangtok to Nathula, 35 kilometres from Gangtok is Lake Changu (Tsomgo), about 3693 meters (12310 ftp) above Sea level.

paragraphs: Two other lakes nearby are the Bidangcho and the Mememcho. Lake Kechopari is another well-known lake. It is between Gyalshing and Yoksum.

paragraphs: Many of the lakes in Sikkim are on the western border, north of Chiwabhanjang towards the Base Camp. Laxmipokhari, Lampokhari, Majurpokhari, Dud Phokhari, Samiti Lake, and the twin lakes of Ram-Laxman are a few of the lakes in this area.

paragraphs: Gurudogmar, which is the largest lake, is in North Sikkim.

paragraphs: Sikkimese people usually eat rice, green vegetables, potatoes, dal, and sinky, Kenama and Gundruk, (Nepali food).

paragraphs: Momo is a very popular Nepalese treat in Sikkim. It is prepared by stuffing meat and vegetable ingredients in flour dough then making them into dumplings. Momos are eaten with soup and chilli sauce. This Nepalese dish can be found in almost every local restaurant and fast food shop.

paragraphs: Thukpa is a noodle soup with vegetables and beef which is also very popular.

paragraphs: Seal Roti (Nepali traditional food) is made by grinding rice and water into a paste, then deep fried. It is normally eaten with potato curry. It is prepared during Dasai and Tihar (local festivals).

paragraphs: Gundruk is the leaves of the mustard oil plant that are dried in the sun, then boiled with ingredients.


title: Spelling bee

paragraphs: A Spelling bee is a spoken spelling competition. In a spelling bee, children are asked to spell words. The child who spells the most words correctly is the winner. Schools hold spelling bee competitions to encourage children to learn to read. As well, spelling bees encourage children to learn about spelling words and improve their vocabulary. One type of spelling bee is the Scripps National Spelling Bee, in Washington, D.C.

paragraphs: The United States National Spelling Bee was started in 1926 by "The Courier-Journal", the newspaper of Louisville, Kentucky. Contests may have been held before that year. A key impetus for the contests was Noah Webster's spelling books. Webster's spelling books were an essential part of the curriculum of elementary school children in the United States for five generations. They were first published in 1786 and known as "The Blue-backed Speller". Now the key reference for the contests is the Merriam-Webster unabridged dictionary.

paragraphs: In a Spelling Bee it is actually best to go first rather than last because words usually go by levels in a school competition, so if it goes from easiest to hardest you will most likely get the less difficult words.


title: Birth control

paragraphs: Birth control, also known as contraception or family planning, is a way for a man and woman to have sexual intercourse and avoid pregnancy.

paragraphs: Some contraceptives, such as condoms, will also protect a person from sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). When people use contraception to prevent STDs and pregnancy, it may be called "safe sex".

paragraphs: Birth control is also sometimes called "family planning". It means people can have babies or not as they wish. That way, babies and families do not happen by accident.

paragraphs: Birth control lets a man and woman have sexual intercourse but makes pregnancy less likely.

paragraphs: During intercourse, a man places his penis within a woman's vagina and moves it in and out while the woman moves her hips. The vagina is warm and soft, and it places pressure on the man's penis. These sensations, combined with the in-and-out movements, stimulate the penis, which causes the man to have an orgasm. During orgasm, the man's penis spasms and experiences a series of rhythmic contractions during which he ejaculates (releases semen into the vagina). The semen can make the woman pregnant. Because intercourse is usually very enjoyable, men and women often want to have intercourse a lot more often than they want to have a baby. Birth control lets them have intercourse while greatly reducing the chances of the woman getting pregnant.

paragraphs: People may use birth control for several reasons. Perhaps a man and woman wish to have only a few children so they will have enough money to give those children good food, clothes, and education. More children might mean less for each child, so the parents use birth control to limit the number of children they have. Or maybe a man and woman do not want any children at all in order to focus on their own lives, jobs, or each other. Other couples may use birth control to make sure that they do not have too many children in too short a time, an idea that is called "spacing" their children. This may help them take better care of their children. Still another reason is that a young couple may not be able to afford having a baby until they are older and have more money or better jobs. This may be especially true of younger people who are still in school and probably not married. By using birth control, the couple can grow closer and strengthen their relationship by having sexual intercourse frequently so that when they are ready to have a baby their relationship is strong and stable. In most of these cases the man and woman want to have sex to be close, to feel good with each other, and to make their relationship stronger. Contraception lets them have intercourse while greatly reducing the chances of a pregnancy.

paragraphs: Birth control may be used by married couples, or by couples who live together but are not married, or by a man and woman who are engaged, or by a couple who are merely boyfriend and girlfriend, or even by single people who are not in a relationship at all but who may have casual sex with others.

paragraphs: There are many types of birth control. Some of these have been done for a long time, but many of them were only discovered in the last eighty years. Each type of birth control has advantages and disadvantages. Another word for a type of contraception is a "method".

paragraphs: A "barrier" is something that stands between two things. So barrier methods stand between the sperm and the ovum (egg). Some barrier methods help prevent many sexually transmitted diseases (STDs):

paragraphs: Some barrier methods only protect a small amount against STDs:

paragraphs: Barrier methods can be easy to use and have few side effects (bad things that happen if you take a medicine). Some of them can be bought without a doctor's prescription. Since they are easy to get and can help stop disease from spreading from one partner to the other, they are popular with younger couples or those who are early in a relationship. But sometimes they can be messy or interfere with the pleasure and sensation of sex.

paragraphs: These can only be used by women. Doctors are trying to find a way to use hormonal methods for men. Hormonal methods change the woman's reproductive cycle in different ways so that it is safe for her man to ejaculate inside her.

paragraphs: Hormonal birth control is extremely effective if it is used in the right way. Many hormonal birth control methods also make women's menses shorter and with less bleeding, which most women like. And unlike barrier methods, hormonal methods do not interfere with sex. When a woman is using hormonal birth control, she and her man are usually not even aware of it during intercourse, which seems and feels very natural. The couple can have sex at any time they wish; they don’t need to interrupt foreplay to put birth control in place, and they can feel the physical sensations and emotional closeness of intercourse without interference from a make or female condom. Unlike coitus interruptus (see below), when a woman is on the Pill or using some other form of hormonal birth control, intercourse usually ends with her man reaching orgasm while inside the vagina, which both the man and woman usually find very pleasurable. For all of these reasons, hormonal methods are very popular, especially with women who are married or in steady relationships who are having sex often.

paragraphs: Hormonal birth control methods have some slight risks for side effects. They may make a very small increase in the risk of blood clots in the lungs, strokes, heart attacks, and breast cancer. Most of these risk are small. Some women may experience mood swings, weight gain, or loss of sex drive. Sometimes, but rarely, these side effects are serious enough to make a woman decide to stop using hormonal birth control.

paragraphs: This is where an object is put in the woman's uterus (womb, where the fetus grows when she is pregnant). This object is called an "intrauterine device" or IUD (acronym).

paragraphs: There are two types of IUD: the copper IUD or an IUD with hormones implanted on it. The hormonal IUD has better protection against pregnancy but costs more.

paragraphs: The worst part about IUDs is that they have to be put in by a doctor. There is some risk of infection of the uterus after the IUD is put in, but this is only for 1-2 months after.

paragraphs: Copper IUDs can also be used as a "day-after" method to prevent pregnancy after the woman and man already had sex.

paragraphs: This is when a man or woman has surgery to make them not able to make babies.

paragraphs: Men can get a "vasectomy". This is a small surgery where the tube that carries sperm from the testicles is cut.

paragraphs: Women can get "tubal" surgeries. These are ways that the fallopian tubes are cut or clipped so that eggs cannot go down them to the uterus. (The fallopian tube is the tube that carries the egg from the woman's ovary).

paragraphs: Sterilization is extremely effective, and they allow a man and woman to have intercourse that seems and feels very natural. But sterilization does involve surgery, which can cost more than other types of contraception and can be unpleasant, and unlike other methods it is very hard to reverse if a couple changes their minds and want to have children later.

paragraphs: Other surgeries will make a woman sterile (not able to get pregnant). These are not done only for contraception, but they are done for other reasons.

paragraphs: These have been used for a very long time. They were used before modern medicine. Some of them were used before scientists even discovered how "reproduction" (making babies) happens.

paragraphs: Many methods can reduce the risk of STDs, but only abstinence is 100% effective.

paragraphs: This means a man and a woman practice abstinence (not having sex) when the woman is fertile. When the woman is not fertile, she will not get pregnant when she has sex.

paragraphs: This is when a woman is breastfeeding (using her breasts to make milk for her baby). There are certain rules the woman can use to know if she is not fertile. Chances that this method will fail are about 10% (which means 10% chance she can get pregnant)

paragraphs: Induced abortion (sometimes called just "abortion") is when a doctor gives a pregnant woman a medicine or does a surgery to stop the pregnancy. Some people do not call abortion a kind of contraception. This is because contraception means preventing pregnancy, but abortion is stopping a pregnancy that has already started.

paragraphs: Abortion is not a good birth control method. If a woman does not want to get pregnant, other methods are more safe and inexpensive (cost less money). So many doctors who do abortions for women help women find a better way to not get pregnant the next time.

paragraphs: Some religions do not like contraception. Some of them teach that contraception is a sin.

paragraphs: Religious beliefs that contraception is a sin also keep people from doing "safe sex". Some groups who are opposed to this belief say it is dangerous in places where there is a lot of HIV and AIDS, because condoms make people much less likely to get HIV, but at the same times many feel that they can practice extra marital sex since they are "safe" from HIV/AIDS.


title: Role-playing game

paragraphs: A role-playing game (also called an RPG) is a game in which one plays the role of one or several characters (people), either verbally (traditional RPGS), in a computer or video game, or alone (gamebooks). Often the characters gain experience (EXP) during the game, which makes them stronger.

paragraphs: A traditional role-playing game, or tabletop role-playing game, is a form of role-playing game (RPG) in which each person playing the game will make-believe that he or she is a character in the game. A person playing the game will tell the action of his or her character, and a system of rules will tell whether the action can be done or not. The game will happen in a made-up world that is controlled by another person playing the game, called a gamemaster (GM). The gamemaster tells the game's story to the players, tells them where they are in the game world, and plays the part of all the Non-Player Characters (NPCs) and monsters that the players meet.

paragraphs: The gamemaster will also give quests or tasks for the characters to complete. Characters usually have things about them that limit their actions, such as strength or speed, and as the character completes the quests, he or she is awarded experience points which can be used to make the character better.

paragraphs: Most tabletop RPGs use dice rolls when a player tries to do something hard in the game (Like attacking a monster, or jumping over a gap). This means that there is luck in the game, as well as skill. Most games have a system of bonuses so that they can succeed more often.

paragraphs: GM: "You enter a small room. It is wet and smells bad. You hear water dripping from somewhere. You see a small, shaking pile of gray jelly in the middle of the room."

paragraphs: Player: "I touch the pile with the tip of my sword."

paragraphs: GM: "The jelly starts to move up your sword."

paragraphs: GM: "The jelly starts to eat your sword, but you are safe."

paragraphs: Good GMs balance challenges and rewards, giving the players the chance to recover from mistakes, but at the same time providing consequences for the player's actions. One example of this type of RPG is Dungeons & Dragons

paragraphs: There are also computer and videogame RPGs, where the player controls one or more characters. A good example is the Final Fantasy series of games. Just like the pre-computer RPGs, the characters in the games level up when they get EXP. They also usually contain a main quest which cannot be completed without completing smaller side quests. These computer RPGs are easier to play because they only need one person, but they also lack the freedom of the older games, where new quests can be made up whenever you want. MMORPGs (Massively-Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game), are computer games where many players meet online in one large game world, and go on quests together. Some examples of these games are World of Warcraft, Everquest, or Runescape.

paragraphs: Text Based RPGs are not too different from Traditional RPGs, generally based on the Dungeons and Dragons game. However some Text Based RPGs are not for combat, but are for socializing and meeting others.

paragraphs: With many Text Based RPGs you need a client, a program to send what you say to the server, which can be located in another country. Many clients are basic and display text in one colour, but there are others that use colours, enhancing the readability of the content.

paragraphs: In LARP, the people play their characters themselves, much like a play. They act out the things their character does, dress like their character, and often talk in the way their character would.


title: Arabic language

paragraphs: Arabic () is a Semitic language, like Hebrew and Aramaic. Around 260 million people use it as their first language. Many more people can also understand it as a second language. It is written with the Arabic alphabet, which is written from right to left, like Hebrew. Since it is so widely spoken throughout the world, it is one of the six official languages of the UN, the others being English, French, Spanish, Russian and Chinese.

paragraphs: Many countries speak Arabic as an official language, but not all of them speak it the same way. The language has many dialects or varieties, such as Modern Standard Arabic, Egyptian Arabic, Gulf Arabic, Maghrebi Arabic, Levantine Arabic and many others. Some of the dialects are so different from one another that speakers have a hard time understanding the other.

paragraphs: Most of the countries that use Arabic as their official language are in the Middle East. They are part of the Arab World because the largest religion in the region is Islam.

paragraphs: The language is very important in Islam because Muslims believe that Allah (God) used it to talk to Muhammad through the Archangel Gabriel (Jibril), giving him the Quran in Arabic. Many but not all Arabic-speakers are Muslims.

paragraphs: Arabic is also becoming a popular language to learn in the Western world even though its grammar is sometimes very hard to learn for native speakers of Indo-European languages. Many other languages have borrowed words from Arabic, because of its importance in history. Some English words that can be traced to Arabic are sugar, cotton, magazine, algebra, alcohol and emir.

paragraphs: Arabic is an official language of these countries:


title: Dresden

paragraphs: Dresden is the capital of the Free State of Saxony. It is in the southeast of Germany, on the River Elbe near the border with the Czech Republic. It has an oceanic climate (Cfb in the Koeppen climate classification).

paragraphs: Dresden was already settled in the stone age, but the first written record of the city was in 1206, when Dresden began to develop as a royal residence.

paragraphs: Dresden was bombed a lot at the end of World War II. It was bombed by American and British bombers between 13 February and 15 February 1945. Most of the city's buildings were damaged beyond repair after the bombings. The city had to rebuild most of its buildings after the war.

paragraphs: In 2002 Dresden was flooded in Germany's so-called "century flooding".

paragraphs: Dresden is the political and cultural centre of Saxony. It is the seat of the governmental district of Dresden and of many universities. The number of inhabitants of the city exceeded 100,000 in about 1852.

paragraphs: Dresden has about 488,000 inhabitants (2005). Dresden forms the core of the densely populated area of the same name in Central Europe and is a traffic junction and an economic centre. Together with the population centres of Chemnitz, Zwickau and Leipzig, it forms the population centre known as the "Metropolregion Saxonia triangle" .

paragraphs: Dresden has got an international airport "(Flughafen Dresden-Klotzsche)" which has about 2 million passengers/year. This Airport has got daily flight connections to Frankfurt and Munich (Lufthansa), Moscow (Aeroflot), Cologne and Stuttgart (germanwings), Düsseldorf (germanwings) as well as to Zurich (InterSky), Hamburg (eurowings on behalf of germanwings) and London-City (CityJet). The biggest station is "Dresden Hauptbahnhof" (Dresden Main station) with an ICE (InterCityExpress) connection to Leipzig, Erfurt, Frankfurt and Wiesbaden. There's an EuroCity connection to Prague, Graz and Vienna just as an InterCity connection to Berlin and Hamburg. The metropolitan of Dresden has got four highwas:

paragraphs: Dresden has got 3 S-Bahn (Metropolitan overground railway) lines and a big Tram network.


title: Free will

paragraphs: Free will is being able to choose between different actions. If we judge an action (for example, as good or bad) it only makes sense if the action is freely chosen.

paragraphs: Things like advice, persuasion, and prohibition, are pointless unless people have some kind of free will. Free will means people can do different things. Different results come from different courses of action. Traditionally, only actions that are freely willed deserve credit or blame. If there is no free will, there is no sense or justice in rewarding or punishing anybody for any action.

paragraphs: Free will is a major problem in ethical philosophy, and is also relevant to the philosophy of science.

paragraphs: In ordinary life, and in law, people are generally assumed to have free will, and are responsible for what they do.

paragraphs: Determinism comes from the idea that our world – and the universe – is in some way rather like a machine. This idea goes back a long way in history (at least 2,500 years).

paragraphs: There is more than one kind of determinism, but essentially it is the idea

paragraphs: that events in the past fully decide (cause) events in the future. It is the same as saying "the universe is like a clockwork instrument". If you knew everything about it, you could predict exactly what will happen. To illustrate this Pierre-Simon Laplace proposed a thought experiment in 1814, which he called Laplace's demon. If determinism is the case, then there can be no free will.

paragraphs: The view that a deterministic universe means people do not have free will is called "incompatibilism". It means if determinism is true, it is incompatible with free will, and so free will does not exist.

paragraphs: Many thinkers do not like what follows from hard determinism, and ideas have been put forwards as to why we do have free will. Here we give just one of these ideas.

paragraphs: Soft determinism (or "compatibilism") tries keep determinism, but still claims that free will is possible. David Hume had this position. According to Hume, free will is not the ability to make a different decision under the same circumstances. Because there may be slight differences in the circumstances, a different decision can be reached. Chrysippos. a stoic philosopher gives the example of a dog which is tied to a cart. This dog can freely decide to follow the cart. William James coined the term "soft determinism" in "The dilemma of determinism" in 1884. There, James writes "A common opinion prevails that the juice has ages ago been pressed out of the free-will controversy". James went on to argue, just as did Plutarch, that events fall into two groups: the causally determined and the rest.

paragraphs: The law assumes we have free will. The job of courts is to find out when people do things and what they were thinking when they decided to do it. For example, think of someone who kills someone else. A court tries to figure out (1) if he or she actually killed the other person, and (2) if he or she decided to do it. The courts do not ask the philosophical question above.

paragraphs: In the past, people such as Democritus saw the universe as deterministic. Some people thought that getting enough information would allow them to predict perfectly what will happen in the future. Modern science, however, is a mixture of deterministic and stochastic theories.


title: Irrigation

paragraphs: Irrigation is when people add water to plants, to help them grow when there is not enough rain. Irrigation water can be pumped from rivers, natural lakes or lakes created by dams, from wells or allowed to flow to the fields by the force of gravity along pipes or open canals.

paragraphs: There are many different types of irrigation methods. The most common ones are:

paragraphs: Sprinkler irrigation mimics natural rainfall where water falls on the plants.

paragraphs: In sprinkler irrigation, water is moved through pipes to sprinklers scattered around and within the field. The Sprinklers shoot water from pressurized outlets or guns from pipes into the air which then fall on the plants. Center pivot irrigation is a type of sprinkler irrigation. It's basically, sprinklers on wheels.

paragraphs: In drip irrigation, water drips directly to the roots of plants from pipes which have small holes or special emitters spaced along the pipe. Drip irrigation is more efficient than other irrigation methods because water is applied directly or close to plants' roots i.e. where it is needed. Thus, it uses less water, reduces leeching of soil nutrients and erosion of top soil.

paragraphs: In Surface irrigation, water from a source such as rivers, pipes, dams, canals e.t.c. floods the soil surface. Surface irrigation uses a lot of water compared to other irrigation methods. It could also drain nutrients beyond the reach of the plant roots. If the water is excessive, it could cause damage to the plant. However, surface irrigation is used extensively in rice farming. This is because the permanent flooding acts as a natural pest control method and rice can survive waterlogged soil.

paragraphs: Sub-Surface irrigation is when water comes from below the surface of the soil. Sub-surface irrigation create an artificial water table to place water right within reach of plants. Water seeps through the walls into the soil of farms from canals passing through and/or around the farm. Drip irrigation becomes sub-surface irrigation when the pipes are placed underground.

paragraphs: With Manual irrigation irrigation is done by humans using buckets, pipes or watering cans. It is labor-intensive and inefficient.

paragraphs: Irrigation can let more crops be grown on the same land, or allow a crop to grow in a dry period. It is expensive and care should be taken to ensure that the benefits from increased crop yields are not exceeded by the installation and operating costs of the irrigation scheme.

paragraphs: Irrigation causes a subsequent rise in water-tables. If saline water is below, it may rise to the surface. Sometimes salinity becomes high enough to kill the plants. Irrigation water itself can carry salt and sometimes other toxic materials that hurt the plants. To prevent this, irrigation projects must also assure good drainage.


title: Glastonbury Festival

paragraphs: The Glastonbury Festival is a very big music festival. It is held at Worthy Farm near Glastonbury, Somerset, England, most years, during the last weekend in June. About 100,000 people come to the festival every time. The festival is hosted and organized by local farmer Michael Eavis. It is a widely known festival with many big and popular bands playing there every year.

paragraphs: In Glastonbury 2009, there was a great deal of controversy when Jay-Z was asked to headline the festival. The most infamous response to this was when Noel Gallagher from Oasis said that Glastonbury should only be for rock musicians.


title: Detroit

paragraphs: Detroit is the largest city in the state of Michigan in the United States. In 1950, Detroit was the fifth largest city in the United States, with 1.8 million people. It was the 10th largest city in the United States at the time of the 2000 census. As of 2004, it fell to 11th biggest as people have moved away, and San Jose, California, which is growing, moved to 10th. The Population of Detroit was 700,000 in the 2010s decade. Nearly six million people live in Detroit and the surrounding counties that encompass Metro Detroit. The city borders Windsor, Ontario in Canada. The international border between Detroit and Windsor is one of the most crossed in the world.

paragraphs: The person who started the city was Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac. He was from France. Detroit was made a city in 1701. From 1805 to 1847, Detroit was the capital of Michigan.

paragraphs: The state governor declared a financial emergency in March 2013, appointing an emergency manager. On July 18, 2013, Detroit filed the largest municipal bankruptcy case in U.S. history.

paragraphs: Detroit is a city where many automobiles are made and this is why it is sometimes called the "Motor City", or "Motown". Many people call it the car capital of the world. General Motors, Ford and Chrysler have their offices and many of their plants in and around Detroit.

paragraphs: In 2006, the Super Bowl was played at Ford Field in Detroit.

paragraphs: Detroit is home to one of the largest black communities in the United States, with over 91% being African-American. Violent crime rate is also one of the highest in the USA.

paragraphs: Detroit has a humid continental climate ("Dfa" in the Köppen climate classification).


title: War communism

paragraphs: War communism is the name for the economic policies that introduced to Russia in 1918 by Vladimir Lenin, leader of Russia from 1917-24. The policy was ended in 1921 because it was not successful. Instead, he introduced the New Economic Policy in 1921.

paragraphs: War Communism was introduced for many reasons. However, the most important ones were:

paragraphs: It was bad for the Russian economy because the government took away extra grain produced by the peasants. This was known as grain requisitioning. Peasants were not allowed to sell their extra food, so they stopped producing more than they needed to eat. This created a Russian famine with millions of people foodless and starving.


title: New Economic Policy

paragraphs: New Economic Policy (NEP) was an economic policy introduced by Lenin after the failed methods of War communism. These New Economic Policies were to revive the Russian economy. The new policy was a combination of private enterprise and state socialism. This is because the people did not believe in War communism.

paragraphs: The New Economic Policies meant that Russia returned to a partly capitalist society. This sorted out the problems of mass starvation and Famine which War communism had caused.

paragraphs: Lenin did not want Russia to stay in this way, he only introduced them to be supported again by the Russian people, and to revive the economy. In 1928 Joseph Stalin abolished the NEP.


title: Foreign aid

paragraphs: Foreign aid is when one country helps another country. The country may give money or things; it may also send people. This is especially needed when a disaster happens in a poor country. Sometimes this help comes from a country's government and sometimes the ordinary people give money. Some foreign aid helps by giving food and clean water to people who need them. Most of the time it is a charity which donates to the poor countries. Some aid is for Economic development.

paragraphs: The poor countries are called LEDC's (Less Economically Developed Countries). The richer countries are called MEDC's (More Economically Developed Countries).

paragraphs: United Nations and Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development also work for such aid for poor countries.


title: Hydroelectricity

paragraphs: Hydroelectricity is electricity made by generators that are pushed by the movement of water. It is usually made with dams that block a river to make a reservoir or collect water that is pumped there. When the water is released, the pressure behind the dam forces the water downpipes that lead to a turbine. This causes the turbine to turn, which turns a generator which makes electricity.

paragraphs: This renewable energy method makes about one sixth of the world's electricity. It produces less pollution than the fires of steam engines do. Some places such as Norway and Quebec get most of their electricity this way.

paragraphs: The way the electricity is produced does not harm the environment as much as fossil fuels like oil or coal do. Hydroelectricity is very powerful and safe, and produces no waste.

paragraphs: An important advantage of hydroelectric dams is their ability to be used as a peaking power plant. When the electricity demand declines, the dam simply stores more water. Water that has been stored in a reservoir can be released (let go) when needed, so the energy can be made quickly. Some hydroelectricity generators use pumped storage to store excess energy (often during the night), by using the electricity to pump water up into a basin. Electricity can be generated when demand increases. This flexibility also makes hydroelectricity a good match for less controllable intermittent energy sources. When the wind is not blowing or the sun is not shining, hydroelectricity can be created.

paragraphs: Using stored water in river dams is sometimes complicated by irrigation needs which may happen out of phase with peak electrical demands.

paragraphs: Another advantage is that hydroelectricity cannot run out as long as there is a good water supply. Once the dam is built, the electricity costs very little, no waste or pollution is produced, and electricity can be generated whenever it is needed.

paragraphs: A few hydro turbines do not have a dam but instead use the current of the "run of the river". They produce less electricity and cannot store energy for later use.

paragraphs: The building of large dams to hold water can damage the environment. In 1983, the Australian government stopped the Tasmanian state government from building a dam on the Gordon River in Tasmania after a huge public protest. The dam would have flooded the Franklin River. The Three Gorges Dam in China is the world's largest hydroelectricity project, and the world's largest power plant of any kind. The dam has flooded a huge area, meaning that 1.2 million people had to be moved. Scientists are concerned about many problems with the dam, such as pollution, silt, and the danger of the dam wall breaking.


title: Mallaig

paragraphs: Mallaig is a small town in Scotland. It is also a port. Ferries link Mallaig, which is on the mainland, to some islands. About 797 lived there in 2001.


title: Cramlington

paragraphs: Cramlington is a town in the county of Northumberland, in the north-east of England.

paragraphs: Cramlington is about five miles from the coast. The nearest beach is at Blyth, which is to the east. The county town of Morpeth is rather nearby.

paragraphs: Newcastle city is also close, which people of Cramlington can go and enjoy.

paragraphs: Cramlington is rather new, with lots of parks. The bicycle track system means cyclists can travel around the entire town without having to travel on the roads. The underpasses under the major roads mean children can walk around safe from traffic.

paragraphs: It was thought the Vikings were the first to settle in Cramlington. Until relatively recently it was made up of a few small mining villages, but was chosen to be a new town and since the 1960s, builders have enlarged the town to become the town of 40,000 it is today.

paragraphs: The headquarters of The Officers Club menswear store is in Cramlington.

paragraphs: A large indoor shopping mall, Manor Walks, serves as the main shopping centre, next to the old village centre. There is a large leisure centre, Concordia, next to the shopping centre which has an indoor pool, climbing wall and well-equipped gym.

paragraphs: There are lots of Christian churches in the town including two Methodist, an Anglican church with two plants, as well as a Catholic church and a few Pentecostal and charismatic churches.

paragraphs: Cramlington Community High School is the only secondary school in the town, which passed the recent OFSTED inspection with 'outstanding' grades. The school system is about to be replaced with the two tier system, in which the high school will cater for 11-18 year olds.

paragraphs: The comedian Ross Noble grew up in Cramlington.


title: Belfast

paragraphs: Belfast (Irish: "Béal Feirste") is the capital of Northern Ireland. It is the second largest city in Ireland, after Dublin. About 270,000 people live in the city. It became capital of Northern Ireland when Northern Ireland was created in 1921. A lot of famous ships were built by the Belfast shipyard Harland and Wolff. In 1911 they built the RMS Titanic.


title: Dungeness

paragraphs: Dungeness is a place on the coast in Kent, England. There are two power stations there called Dungeness Nuclear Power Station. There are also two lighthouses.


title: Power station

paragraphs: A power station (or power plant) is a place where electricity is produced. Most do this by a big spinning electrical generator. In big powers stations the spinning is usually driven by a steam turbine. The steam may come from:

paragraphs: Some do not use steam engines to spin the generator. Rather they use:

paragraphs: A few power stations use the sun's rays to generate solar power without motion. There are many power stations around the world, because many things need electricity to work.

paragraphs: Stations may be operated as Load following power plant, peaking power plant, or base load power plant.

paragraphs: These all use heat as a source of energy.

paragraphs: These sources have no moving parts. They are more expensive than generators, and are used where other questions are more important.


title: Mind

paragraphs: The mind is a general term for the way a person that thinks, reasons, perceives, wills, and feels. For science, what others call the mind is "entirely" caused by workings of the brain. The philosopher Gilbert Ryle called mind the "Ghost in the Machine". He said the idea that it was separate from the brain was the mistaken "Official Doctrine". However, some think that mind is separate from the body and is called a soul (see dualism).

paragraphs: Many people argue about what makes up the mind. Some say that only reason and memory are part of the mind, because they are conscious. In this view the emotions like love, hate, fear and joy are different from the mind. Some people with this view say the emotions are part of the heart. Others argue that our rational and emotional states cannot be separated and should all be part of what we call the mind.

paragraphs: People often use "mind " to mean the same as "thought": the way we talk to ourselves "inside our heads". This is where the sayings "make up our minds," "change our minds" and "of two minds" come from. One of the important things of the mind in this sense is that it is private. No one else can "know our mind."

paragraphs: The original meaning of the Old English "gemynd" was memory. This explains the sayings "call to mind", "come to mind", "keep in mind", "to have mind of", and so on. Old English had other words to express what we call "mind" today, such as "hyge", meaning "mind, spirit".

paragraphs: The word mind gradually grew to mean all conscious thought over the 14th and 15th centuries.

paragraphs: Thought is when we absorb what happens around us so that we can deal with it effectively according to our plans and desires. Thinking is using information, like forming concepts, problem solving, reasoning and making choices.

paragraphs: Memory is when we store information in our minds, and can later recall it.

paragraphs: Imagination is the ability to invent worlds inside the mind, complete or not. The mind makes these by drawing on experience in the shared world.

paragraphs: Consciousness is knowing that we exist and the world exists, and being able to understand what happens around us.

paragraphs: Just like the body, a mind can be healthy. The measure of this is called mental health. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there is not one way to measure mental health in all people, because there are many things in our environment that might make what is mentally healthy different from one person to another. In general, most experts agree that "mental health" and "mental illness" are not opposites. In other words, not having a mental illness does not mean you are in good mental health.

paragraphs: One way to study mental health is by looking at how well a person lives. Signs of mental health include: feeling capable and happy, being able to handle normal levels of stress, making and keeping friends, leading an independent life, and being able to recover from difficult situations.

paragraphs: Philosophy of mind is the branch of philosophy that studies the nature of the mind and how it is linked to the body. The main problem is how the mind is related to the body, but there are also questions about the nature of the mind that do not talk about its relation to the physical body.

paragraphs: "Dualism" and "monism" are the two main ways people try to solve the mind-body problem. Dualism is when people believe that the mind and body are in some way separate from each other. It can be traced back to Plato, Aristotle, and the Samkhya and Yoga schools of Hindu philosophy, but it was most precisely formulated by René Descartes in the 17th century.

paragraphs: "Monism" is the belief that mind and body are not physiologically and ontologically distinct kinds of entities. This view was first seen in Western philosophy by Parmenides in the 5th century BC and was later held by the 17th-century rationalist Baruch Spinoza. According to Spinoza, mind and body are two parts of a larger being.

paragraphs: "Idealists" think that the mind is all that exists and that the outside world is actually made up by the mind. Physicalists think that everything can be expressed by what is physical. "Neutral monists" believe that everything can be either mental or physical depending how you see it. For example, a red spot on a wall is physical, because it is an actual thing depending on the physical wall, but it is mental because our brain responds to the colour. The most common monisms in the 20th and 21st centuries have all been different kinds of physicalism, including behaviorism.

paragraphs: Psychology is the study of the way we think, feel and act. It involves the scientific study of processes such as perception, cognition, feelings, personality, as well as things around us that might affect the way we think. From this study, psychologists try to form rules for why we act the way we do. Psychology also includes using this knowledge to help solve problems of everyday life and treat mental health problems.

paragraphs: Social psychology is the study of how we think, feel and act in groups of other people. Most people who study social psychology are either psychologists or sociologists.

paragraphs: The phrase Mind's eye refers to the ability to see things with the mind.


title: Reality

paragraphs: Reality means anything that exists. An event that has actually happened, or a thing which really exists is said to have "reality." Something close to reality is "realistic".

paragraphs: Reality is the state of things as they are, rather than as they may appear or might be imagined. In a wider definition, reality includes everything that is and has been, whether or not we can see it and understand it. An even wider definition includes everything that has existed, exists, or will exist.

paragraphs: Reality is often contrasted with what is imaginary, delusional, in the mind, dreams, what is false, what is fictional, or what is abstract.

paragraphs: All the same, what is abstract plays a role in everyday life and in academic research. For instance, causality, virtue, life and justice are abstract concepts. They are difficult to define, but they are not pure delusions.

paragraphs: Television programs that are not scripted are called Reality TV.


title: Mary Shelley

paragraphs: Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (30 August 1797 – 1 February 1851) was an English author best known for writing the novel "Frankenstein". She was in her teens when she wrote the book that is now a classic.

paragraphs: Mary Shelley was born on 30 August 1797 in London. She was the second daughter in her family. Her parents were Mary Wollstonecraft, a feminist, and William Godwin, a philosopher. Her mother died in childbirth. Her father was quick to marry again. Mary got a great education, something most girls did not have at the time.

paragraphs: After her mother's death, Mary lived with her older half-sister Fanny Imlay and their father. Fanny Imlay was Wollstonecraft's daughter from an affair she had with a soldier. Mary's dad married Mary Jane Clairmont in 1801. She brought her two children and had one son with Godwin. During that time, Mary's stepmother thought Mary need not be educated, but she didn't give up because of that. She used her father's extensive library and was often found reading by her mother's grave. Mary's father Godwin often had visitors like Samuel Taylor Coleridge and William Wordsworth. Mary use those chances to learn from them.

paragraphs: During May of 1816, Mary and her husband Percy Bysshe Shelley traveled to Lake Geneva. They spent the summer near the famous poet Lord Byron. In terms of English literature, it was a great summer. Percy began work on "Hymn To Intellectual Beauty" and "Mont Blanc". Mary was inspired to write her classic work.

paragraphs: One evening, the group of young writers decided to have a contest telling horror stories. Another guest, Dr. John Polidori, came up with The Vampyre. This later had a strong influence on Bram Stoker's Dracula. Other guests told scary stories, but Mary could not think of one. But that night, she dreamt of the story she had wanted to tell. She wrote it down, and in time, her story would be published as Frankenstein. It became more successful than any of the other writings produced that summer.

paragraphs: The year she published "The Modern Prometheus", known as Frankenstein was 1818. Mary was only 20 years-old. It is sometimes called the world's first science fiction novel. The ideas for both "Frankenstein" and Polidori's "The Vampyre" were from the famous poet, Lord Byron. The books "Frankenstein" and "The Vampyre" were both published on the same year. Once Mary Shelley published Frankenstein, her life became more interesting

paragraphs: Mary had many different sources for her work; one was the Promethean myth from Ovid. The influence of John Milton's "Paradise Lost" (the book the 'monster' finds in the cabin) is also seen in the novel. Also, both Shehad s had read William Beckford's "Vathek".

paragraphs: In Mary Shelley's life, her romances led her father to disown her. When she was sixteen, Shelley met Percy Bysshe Shelley, who was 22 at the time. They both fell in love and ran away in 1814. By the time they returned to England, Mary was pregnant and her father wanted nothing to do with her. Returning to England in September of 1816, Mary and Shelley stunned their two families. First, in November, Mary's older half-sister, Fanny Imlay, left the Godwin home and took her own life at a distant inn. Only weeks later, Shelley's first wife drowned herself in London's Hyde Park. She did not welcome Shelley's invitation to join Mary and himself in their new household.

paragraphs: Shortly after Harriet's death, Shelley and Mary married, now with Godwin's blessing. Their attempts to gain custody of Shelley's two children by Harriet failed. Even though this happened, their writing careers enjoyed more success. In the spring of 1817, Mary finished "Frankenstein". Mary had two sons and a daughter. The daughter died in infancy and the elder son when he was two. Mary and Percy were both vegetarians, and strong advocates for animal rights. One can see references to vegetarianism in her writing. For example, in her novel "Frankenstein", the 'monster' was a vegetarian. After Percy's death in 1822, she returned to England to finished Shelley's writings. Also educating their only surviving child.

paragraphs: Mary Shelley died of brain cancer on February 1, 1851 in London. Her body got buried at St. Peter's Churchyard in Bournemouth, in the English county of Dorset

paragraphs: Four films have shown Mary Shelley, and the basic idea of the "Frankenstein" story in 1816: "Gothic" directed by Ken Russell (1986), "Haunted Summer" directed by Ivan Passer (1988), "Remando al Viento" (English title: "Rowing with the Wind") directed by Gonzalo Suárez (1988) and Mary Shelly directed by Haifaa al-Mansour (2017)


title: Sum

paragraphs: The sum of two numbers is what we get when we add the two numbers together. This operation is called summation. There are a number of ways of writing sums, with the most common being:

paragraphs: Sigma notation is a mathematical notation to write long sums in a short way. Sigma notation uses the Greek letter Sigma (formula_3), and takes upper and lower bounds which tell us where the sum begins and where it ends. The lower bound usually has a variable (called the index, often denoted by formula_4, formula_5 or formula_6) along with a value, such as "formula_7". This tells us that the summation begins at 2, and goes up by 1 until it reaches the number on the top.

paragraphs: Sums are used to represent series and sequences. For example:

paragraphs: The geometric series of a repeating decimal can be represented in summation. For example:

paragraphs: The concept of an integral is a limit of sums, with the area under a curve being defined as:


title: Nelson Mandela

paragraphs: Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African politician and activist. On April 27, 1994, he was made the first President of South Africa elected in a fully represented democratic election. Mandela was also the first black President of his country, South Africa.

paragraphs: Mandela was born in Mvezo, South Africa to a Thembu royal family.

paragraphs: His government focused on throwing out the legacy of apartheid by ending racism, poverty, inequality, and on improving racial understanding in South Africa. Politically a believer in socialism, he served as the President of the African National Congress (ANC) from 1991 to 1997 and adopted new Constitution of South African in 1996 that prohibits all discrimination, based on language, religion, handicap and sexual orientation, not only on racism. Internationally, Mandela was the Secretary General of the Non-Aligned Movement from 1998 to 1999.

paragraphs: Mandela received more than 250 honors, including the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize, the US Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the Soviet Order of Lenin. He is often referred to by his Xhosa clan name, Madiba, or as Tata ("Father"). Mandela was described as a hero, and his actions gave thousands of people hope.

paragraphs: Mandela was sick for several years during his retirement. He was hospitalized in late summer of 2013 from a continuous lung infection. Mandela died on 5 December 2013 in Houghton Estate, Johannesburg from a respiratory tract infection. He was 95 years old.

paragraphs: Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was born on 18 July 1918 in Mvezo, Umtata (now Mthatha), Transkei, South Africa. He had thirteen siblings by the same father, and two mothers. His parents were Gadla Henry Mphakanyiswa and Nosekeni Nonqaphi . His given name was Rolihlahla, a Xhosa name meaning "pulling the branch of a tree" or informally, "troublemaker". He was a member of the Thembu royal family. On his first day of school, he was given the name Nelson by his teacher Miss Mdingane. Giving children in Africa English names was a custom among Africans during that period.

paragraphs: Mandela's father died when he was twelve. Mandela then lived with the local regent who sent him to school. He was the first member of his family to go to a school. He was expelled from Fort Hare University in 1941, because he led a group of students on political strike. After he was expelled, Nelson found a job as a night watchman.

paragraphs: In 1944, Mandela helped start the African National Congress Youth League. He was soon a high-ranked leader of the group.

paragraphs: He wanted to free South Africa without violence, but the government started killing and hurting protesters. He then started Umkhonto we Sizwe with Walter Sisulu and other people in the African National Congress that he admired, such as Mahatma Gandhi.

paragraphs: A trial was later held and became known as the Rivonia Trial. Mandela was on trial because of his involvement in sabotage and violence in 1962. He was sentenced to life in prison, and was sent to Robben Island, but was transferred to Victor Verster Prison in 1988. In 1990, he was let out of Victor Verster Prison after 26.5 years. He left prison after de Klerk removed a ban on the African National Congress. He ordered Mandela's release. He then received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993, with former State President of South Africa, Frederik Willem de Klerk.

paragraphs: Mandela won the general election in April 1994. His inauguration was in Pretoria on 10 May 1994. Many people around the world saw his inauguration on television. The event had 4000 guests, including world leaders from different backgrounds. Mandela was the first South African President elected in a completely democratic election.

paragraphs: As South Africa's first black President, Mandela became head of the Government of National Unity which was under controlled by the African National Congress (or ANC). The ANC had no knowledge in politics, but had representatives from the National Party and Inkatha. In keeping with earlier promises, de Klerk became first Deputy President, while Thabo Mbeki was chosen second.

paragraphs: Although Mbeki had not been his first choice for President, Mandela soon trusted Mbeki throughout his presidency. This allowed Mbeki to organize policy details. Mandela moved into the presidential office at Tuynhuys in Cape Town. He would settle into the nearby Westbrooke Manor. Westbrooke was renamed "Genadendal". Preserving his Houghton home, he also had a house built in his home village of Qunu. He visited Qunu regularly, walking around the area, meeting with local people who lived there, and judging tribal problems.

paragraphs: He faced many illness at age 76. Although having energy, he felt left out and lonely. He often entertained celebrities, such as Michael Jackson, Whoopi Goldberg, and the Spice Girls. He became friends with a number of rich business people, like Harry Oppenheimer and British monarch Elizabeth II on her March 1995 state visit to South Africa. This resulted in strong judgment from ANC anti-capitalists. Despite his surroundings, Mandela lived simply, donating a third of his $552,000 wealth to the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund, which he had founded in 1995. In that same year, Mandela published his autobiography, "Long Walk to Freedom".

paragraphs: Although in favor of freedom of the press, Mandela was important of much of the country's media because it was owned and run by many middle-class whites. Mandela became known for his use of Batik shirts, known as "Madiba shirts", even on normal events. Mandela had never planned on serving a second term in office. Mandela gave his farewell speech on 29 March 1999, after which he retired. Mandela's term ended on 14 June 1999. Thabo Mbeki succeeded Mandela as President of South Africa.

paragraphs: He won the Nobel Peace Prize for his leadership for his anti-apartheid activism in 1993. After receiving the prize he said:

paragraphs: "We stand here today as nothing more than a representative of the millions of our people who dared to rise up against a social operation whose very essence is war, violence, racism, oppression, repression and the impoverishment of an entire people."

paragraphs: Mandela was married three times and has six children. He had seventeen grandchildren, and a growing number of great-grandchildren. Though physically non-emotional with his children, he could be stern and demanding.

paragraphs: Mandela married Evelyn Ntoko Mase in October 1944. They had two children. Mandela remained married to Evelyn until they divorced in 1957. Evelyn died in 2004. He then married Winnie Madikizela in 1958. They had two daughters. The couple filed for separation in 1992. They divorced in 1996. Mandela married again to Graça Machel, on his 80th birthday in 1998. She was the widow of Samora Machel. Machel was the former Mozambican president and ANC ally who was killed in an air crash 12 years earlier.

paragraphs: Though publicly criticizing him on several events, Mandela liked United States President Bill Clinton. Mandela personally supported him during his impeachment trial in 1998.

paragraphs: In June 2004, Mandela announced that he was retiring from public life. Mandela said "Don't call me, I will call you". Although continuing to meet with close friends and family, the Nelson Mandela Foundation denied invitations for him to appear at public events and most interview requests.

paragraphs: On 27 March 2013, Mandela was hospitalized in Pretoria from a lung infection. It was reported on 28 March that he was responding well to treatment. Mandela was again hospitalized on 7 June from another lung infection, On 23 June, his condition was announced to be critical. On 26 June, it was announced that Mandela was put on life-support. On 4 July, Mandela's family announced that Mandela was under life-support and he was in a permanent persistent vegetative state. The next day, the South African government denied the fact that Mandela was in a vegetative state. Mandela was discharged from the hospital on 1 September 2013.

paragraphs: Many South Africans thought that Mandela died overnight on 26 June after he was removed from his life support. The South African government said that Mandela is still alive despite the rumor that he died. It was later reported that the rumor was just a death hoax. CNN also reported that Mandela died, but later fixed the report soon afterwards. Photos were taken with Mandela and First Lady Michelle Obama as proof that Mandela was still alive.

paragraphs: Mandela died on 5 December 2013 at his home at Houghton Estate, Johannesburg from complications of a respiratory tract infection, aged 95. He was surrounded by his family when he died. His death was announced by President Jacob Zuma.

paragraphs: On 6 December, Zuma announced a national mourning for ten days. An event for an official memorial service was held at the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg on Tuesday 10 December. He declared Sunday 8 December a national day of prayer: "We call upon all our people to gather in halls, churches, mosques, temples, synagogues and in their homes to pray and hold prayer services and meditation reflecting on the life of "Madiba" and his contribution to our country and the world."

paragraphs: Mandela's body lay in state from 11 to 13 December at the Union Buildings in Pretoria. A state funeral was held on Sunday 15 December in Qunu. David Cameron, Barack Obama, Raul Castro, Bill Gates, and Oprah Winfrey were there.

paragraphs: On 28 June Mandela's family were arguing about where to bury Mandela. On 29 June the South African government announced that a memorial service for Mandela will be held 10 to 14 days after his death at Soccer City. On 1 July it was announced that if Mandela were to die he might become the first non-British person to be honored at Westminster Abbey. Queen Elizabeth II honored Mandela with a thanksgiving service at Westminster Abbey in early 2014. This made Mandela the first non-British person to be honored at Westminster Abbey. Mandela was buried in the village of Qunu in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. Qunu is where he grew up.

paragraphs: In South Africa, Mandela is sometimes called by his Xhosa clan name of Madiba.

paragraphs: Nelson Mandela was honored with the following:

paragraphs: Mandela has been portrayed in movies and television. In the 1997 movie, "Mandela and de Klerk", Sidney Poitier plays Mandela. Dennis Haysbert plays Mandela in "Goodbye Bafana" (2007). In the 2009 BBC television movie, "Mrs Mandela", Nelson Mandela is played by David Harewood. In 2009, Morgan Freeman plays Mandela in "Invictus" (2009). Terrence Howard also plays Mandela in the 2011 movie "Winnie Mandela". Mandela appeared as himself in the 1992 American movie "Malcolm X". In "" he was played by Idris Elba.

paragraphs: By the time of his death, Mandela had come to be widely considered "the father of the nation" within South Africa. He is also seen as "the national liberator, the savior, its Washington and Lincoln rolled into one". Throughout his life, Mandela had also faced criticism. Margaret Thatcher attracted international attention for describing the ANC as "a typical terrorist organization" in 1987. She later made favors to release Mandela from prison. Mandela has also been criticized for his friendship with political leaders such as Fidel Castro, Muammar Gaddafi, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, and Suharto.


title: The Lost World: Jurassic Park

paragraphs: The Lost World: Jurassic Park (known also as The Lost World) is an American movie directed by Steven Spielberg. It was released in 1997. It is the sequel to the movie "Jurassic Park". "The Lost World" is the second in a series of three movies. It was followed by "Jurassic Park III" and "Jurassic World". It is based on a book by Michael Crichton, and sticks generally to the plot of the book. The movie was quite successful but not as much as the first.


title: Mario Party 6

paragraphs: Mario Party 6 is a party board video game for the Nintendo GameCube. It is the sixth game in the "Mario Party" series. It was released in Japan on November 18, 2004, in North America on December 6, 2004, and in Europe on March 18, 2005. It is the first "Mario Party" game to use the Nintendo GameCube's microphone add-on.

paragraphs: "Mario Party 6" plays the same as previous games in the "Mario Party" series. Players go around on boards to collect coins, which they can use to buy stars. Movement is done with the use of a dice block with the numbers one through 10. After all four players take their turns, a mini-game is played. The player that wins the mini-game wins coins. The winner is the player with the most stars at the end of the game. In multiplayer, the sun will rise and fall every three turns. Changes that happen include spaces moving, new characters appearing, and changes to mini-games.

paragraphs: Six boards are in the game. The last one has to be unlocked. Players can play as 11 characters. One of them, Toadette, makes her first playable appearance in a "Mario Party" game in this game.


title: Don Quixote

paragraphs: Don Quixote is a novel by Miguel de Cervantes. The book, published in two parts (1605 and 1615) is considered to be the first modern novel. It was first written in Spanish, and soon afterwards was translated to English by Thomas Shelton. It is considered by many scholars to be the first modern novel. The main character, Don Quixote, is a paragon of chivalry, but in a deeply flawed and impractical way. Don Quixote is so influential as a character that the description of his behavior has entered the common vernacular as "quixotic."

paragraphs: As a brief synopsis, the story It is about Alonso Quixano, a rich middle-aged man. Quixano, having read many tales about chivalry and knights, goes crazy and believes that he is a knight named Don Quixote. He rides around the country with his squire, Sancho, having adventures. He believes his adventures are real, but everyone else laughs at him.

paragraphs: One of the most famous stories in the book is Don Quixote's fight with the windmills. He sees some windmills and thinks they are giants. When he rides to fight with them, he is knocked off his horse. Sancho tells him they are only windmills, but Don Quixote does not believe him. He is sure a magician changed windmills into the giants to hurt him.

paragraphs: At the end of the book, Alonso Quixano returns home, hurt badly. He becomes sane again, then dies.


title: Swim

paragraphs: For living creatures, a swim or swimming is a way of moving in water. Swimming is an activity that can be both useful and recreational. Its primary uses are bathing, cooling, fishing, recreation, exercise, and sport.

paragraphs: Swimming has been known amongst humans since prehistoric times; the earliest record of swimming dates back to Stone Age, from around 7,000 years ago. Competitive swimming started in Europe around 1800 and was part of the first modern 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens, though not in a form comparable to the contemporary events. It was not until 1908 that regulations were implemented by the International Swimming Federation to produce competitive swimming.


title: Archimedes

paragraphs: Archimedes of Syracuse () was a Greek scientist. He was an inventor, an astronomer, and a mathematician. He was born in the town of Syracuse in Sicily.

paragraphs: His father was Phidias, an astronomer, and he may have been in the family of a king of Syracuse. Syracuse was a rich Greek city, on the seashore in Sicily. When Archimedes was about ten years old, he left Syracuse to study in Alexandria, Egypt. He was in the school of Euclid, a famous mathematician. Not much is known about the personal life of Archimedes, for example, whether he was married or if he had children.

paragraphs: When the Romans invaded Syracuse, they captured Archimedes so they could learn all of the things he knew. About two years after he was drawing a mathematical diagram in the sand and enraged a soldier by refusing to go to meet the Roman general until he had finished working on the problem. The Roman killed him. His last words are supposed to have been "Do not disturb my circles!"

paragraphs: "On the Sphere and Cylinder" is a work that was published by Archimedes in two volumes in about 225 BC. On the sphere, he showed that the surface area is four times the area of its great circle. In modern terms, this means that the surface area is equal to:

paragraphs: The surface area of a cylinder is equal to:

paragraphs: The volume of the contained ball is two-thirds the volume of a "circumscribed" cylinder. meaning that the volume is

paragraphs: A sculpted sphere and cylinder were placed on the tomb of Archimedes at his request.

paragraphs: Archimedes is also well known for being the first person to understand statics, which is a part of applied mathematics. It has to do with loads that do not move, for example in buildings or bridges. He also understood and wrote about what happens when things float in liquids, which is called buoyancy.

paragraphs: Archimedes' principle: the weight of water displaced by an object equals the amount of buoyancy it gets. It has practical uses. It can be used to measure the density of an object, and hence whether or not it is made of gold.

paragraphs: The story of the golden crown does not appear in the surviving works of Archimedes. Archimedes may have got a solution known in hydrostatics as Archimedes' principle, which he describes in his treatise "On Floating Bodies". This principle states that a body immersed in a fluid experiences a buoyant force equal to the weight of the fluid it displaces. Using this principle, it would have been possible to compare the density of the golden crown to that of solid gold by balancing the crown on a scale with a gold reference sample, then immersing the apparatus in water. The difference in density between the two samples would cause the scale to tip accordingly. Galileo considered it "probable that this method is the same that Archimedes followed, since, besides being very accurate, it is based on demonstrations found by Archimedes himself".

paragraphs: Archimedes is also famous as an inventor because he made new tools and machines. For example, he made a machine to lift water that could be used by farmers to bring water to their crops. This is called Archimedes' screw.

paragraphs: Archimedes probably also invented a machine to measure distance, an odometer. A cart was built with wheels that turned four hundred times in one mile. A pin on the wheel would hit a 400-tooth gear, so it turned once for every mile. This gear would then make a small stone fall into a cup. At the end of a journey one could count the number of stones in the cup to find the distance.

paragraphs: Archimedes also made a system which one person could pull a large ship with just one rope. This was called the compound pulley. This is an important machine which is even today helps people in everyday life, although the versions we now use are much more complicated. They still work by the same principle, through.

paragraphs: Archimedes also invented or made many machines used in war, for example he made better catapults. This was during the Punic Wars, which were between Rome in what is now Italy and the city of Carthage in what is now North Africa. For many years he helped stop the Roman army from attacking Syracuse, his city. One war machine was called the "claw of Archimedes", or the "iron hand". It was used to defend the city from attacks by ships. Ancient writers said that it was a kind of crane with a hook that lifted ships out of the water and caused their destruction.

paragraphs: Another story about Archimedes is that he burned Roman ships from far away using many mirrors and the light from the sun. This is perhaps possible, but it is perhaps more likely that this was done with flaming missiles from a catapult.

paragraphs: Archimedes is thought to be so important as a mathematician that scientists have honoured him:


title: Radio

paragraphs: Radio is a way to send electromagnetic signals over a long distance, to deliver information from one place to another. A machine that sends radio signals is called a transmitter, while a machine that "picks up" the signals is called a receiver or antenna. A machine that does both jobs is a "transceiver". When radio signals are sent out to many receivers at the same time, it is called a broadcast.

paragraphs: Television also uses radio signals to send pictures and sound. Radio signals can start engines moving so that gates open on their own from a distance. ("See: Radio control."). Radio signals can be used to lock and unlock the doors in a car from a distance.

paragraphs: Sound can be sent by radio, sometimes through Frequency Modulation (FM) or Amplitude Modulation (AM).

paragraphs: Many people worked to make radio possible. After James Clerk Maxwell predicted them, Heinrich Rudolf Hertz in Germany first showed that radio waves exist. Guglielmo Marconi in Italy made radio into a practical tool of telegraphy, used mainly by ships at sea. He is sometimes said to have invented radio. Later inventors learned to transmit voices, which led to broadcasting of news, music and entertainment.

paragraphs: Radio was first created as a way to send telegraph messages between two people without wires, but soon two-way radio brought voice communication, including walkie-talkies and eventually mobile phones.

paragraphs: Now an important use is to broadcast music, news and entertainers including "talk radio". Radio shows were used before there were TV programs. In the 1930s the US President started sending a message about the country every week to the American people. Companies that make and send radio programming are called radio stations. These are sometimes run by governments, and sometimes by private companies, who make money by sending advertisements. Other radio stations are supported by local communities. These are called community radio stations. In the early days manufacturing companies would pay to broadcast complete stories on the radio. These were often plays or dramas. Because companies who made soap often paid for them, these were called "soap operas".

paragraphs: Radio waves are still used to send messages between people. Talking to someone with a radio is different than "talk radio". Citizens band radio and amateur radio use specific radios to talk back and forth. Policemen, firemen and other people who help in emergency use a radio emergency communication system to communicate (talk to each other). It is like a mobile phone, (which also uses radio signals) but the distance they reach is shorter and both people must use the same kind of radio.

paragraphs: The word "radio" is sometimes used to mean only voiceband broadcasting. Most voiceband broadcasting uses lower frequency and longer wavelength than most television broadcasting.

paragraphs: Microwaves have even higher frequency; shorter wavelength. They also are used to transmit television and radio programs, and for other purposes. Communications satellites relay microwaves around the world.

paragraphs: A radio receiver does not need to be directly in view of the transmitter to receive programme signals. Low frequency radio waves can bend around hills by diffraction, although repeater stations are often used to improve the quality of the signals.

paragraphs: Shortwave radio frequencies are also reflected from an electrically charged layer of the upper atmosphere, called the Ionosphere. The waves can bounce between the ionosphere and the earth to reach receivers that are not in the line of sight because of the curvature of the Earth's surface. They can reach very far, sometimes around the world.

paragraphs: Radio telescopes receive radio waves from the sky to study astronomical objects. Satellite navigation uses radio to determine location, and radar uses it to find and track things.


title: Vandalism

paragraphs: Vandalism is a crime that is done by destroying or damaging the property of someone else. This can include graffiti and website damage.

paragraphs: A person that does this is called a vandal. The name comes from the Vandals, a tribe that attacked and damaged the city of Rome in 455 CE.

paragraphs: Many websites, such as wikis (like Wikipedia), forums, and blogs, can be changed by anyone. Because of this, they can be "vandalized" by adding comments or replacing everything on the page with spam, nonsense or other silly content. It is a kind of trolling, and these websites have special users, called administrators, whose job is to remove the vandalism and to block users who do not stop vandalizing.


title: Monopoly (game)

paragraphs: Monopoly is a board game played by two to eight players. In the game, players move around the spaces of the board, buying and selling land and buildings to try to become the richest player.

paragraphs: Many books give advice on how to win the game. An early book, "1000 Ways to Win Monopoly Games" was written by Jeffrey S. Lehman (who later became President of Cornell University) and Jay S. Walker (founder of priceline.com.)

paragraphs: "Monopoly" was created by Elizabeth Magie as a teaching tool based on the economic concept of land monopoly. Magie created the game in 1903, to explain the single tax theory of Henry George. She wanted her game to be an educational tool to highlight the negative aspects of concentrating land in private monopolies. Her game, which she called "The Landlord's Game", was self-published, beginning in 1906. The original rules included several ways to play the game, including one where players could agree to share the land rents and everyone would win.

paragraphs: In 1934, Charles Darrow in Philadelphia found The Landlord's Game and thought that the game was more exciting when players didn't share their land rents. He published his own version of the game where making money was the focus of the game, and called it "Monopoly." Later on, he sold his game to Parker Brothers, who falsely credited Charles Darrow as the creator of the game.

paragraphs: On the Monopoly board are 40 spaces. In the four corners of the board are "GO", "Free Parking", "JAIL", and "Go to Jail". Along the sides of the board are streets and businesses for sale. There are 22 "streets" (each marked with one of eight colors), 4 "railroad stations", the "Electric Company" and the "Water Works". There are also spaces called "Income Tax", "Luxury Tax", "Community Chest" and "Chance".

paragraphs: In the original version, the properties and railroad stations were named after the streets in Atlantic City in New Jersey in the United States. In the British original version, they are named after streets in London.

paragraphs: To prepare for the game, the board is put in position. The Chance and Community Chest cards are shuffled and placed face down on the board. Each player chooses a token (a playing piece), such as a thimble, a rocking horse, a boot, a dog, etc. (the tokens vary depending on the edition), and places it on "GO". One player is chosen to be the banker - this player is trusted with handing out money from the bank and collecting players' spent money during the game.

paragraphs: The banker gives each player $1500 to start with. Each player rolls the dice, and the player who rolled the highest sum takes the first turn.

paragraphs: The object of the game is to own as much land (property) and to be the richest player.

paragraphs: The rules can be found in every "Monopoly" box, but a summary is listed here.

paragraphs: On your turn, you roll the dice and move your token forward (clockwise around the edge of the board) the same number of spaces as the sum of the dice you rolled. You must then follow the instructions of whatever space your token lands on.

paragraphs: If you roll doubles (the same number on both dice), you get to take another turn after this one is over. However, if you roll doubles three times in a row, you don't get your third turn but you must go directly to Jail (see below).

paragraphs: The Jail space has two sections, labeled IN JAIL and JUST VISITING. If you land on Jail by your normal roll of the dice, place your token on JUST VISITING and nothing bad (or good) happens to you. But there are three ways to be placed IN JAIL:

paragraphs: If you are put into Jail, take your token from wherever it is and place it directly on IN JAIL. This does not count as a move, so if this causes you to go past GO, you don't collect $200 from the Bank. If you are put in Jail, your turn ends immediately.

paragraphs: While you are in Jail, you still roll the dice on your turn but you don't get to move your token. There are three ways to get out of Jail:

paragraphs: Note that being in Jail doesn't prevent you from doing anything else in the game - it just stops your token from moving around the board.

paragraphs: There are many editions of Monopoly. Officially-licensed editions are produced by Hasbro itself or by USAopoly, and unofficial editions are published by Toy Vault. Official versions are named "____ Monopoly" (such as "Star Wars Monopoly") and feature the Monopoly logo, and unofficial versions are named "____-Opoly" (such as "Python-Opoly") and do not feature the Monopoly logo.

paragraphs: Milton Bradley has produced editions to symbolize the decades of popular culture in America. For example, The 1970's Monopoly has spaces depicting the fashion of the time. Players can purchase bell bottom blue jeans instead of street properties.

paragraphs: A number of video game adaptations have been made. In addition, many electronic editions exist that use credit cards instead of paper money.

paragraphs: In India, a similar game is called Business.

paragraphs: In Egypt, a similar game is called بنك الحظ (The Bank of Luck).

paragraphs: Acquire is another game with rules for more advanced business practices with stocks, but has similar basic concepts of Monopoly (owning properties of the same color, buying land and building on it, making the most money, etc.).

paragraphs: People play Monopoly for different reasons. Some may play for family game night, others use it as a learning tool at school, and others play it just to have fun.

paragraphs: Monopoly may be used as a teaching tool to teach children a variety of lessons while having fun. It teaches how to make deals when trading, playing fair (because cheaters never win), knowing the value of money, addition and subtraction, good sportsmanship, the thrill of competition, strategies and organization. At an elementary level, “it offers a marvelous vehicle for teaching mathematics”. Through the game, children explore different areas of mathematics: not only adding and subtracting but also probability, percentages, and patterns. At a higher level, teachers can use Monopoly to teach microeconomics principles.


title: Still Standing

paragraphs: Still Standing is a CBS sitcom starring Mark Addy. It is about a working-class couple who live in Chicago, Illinois. Addy's character is a father of three with a wife named Judy (Jami Gertz). Judy and Addy's character, Bill Miller, deal with having an annoying relative, Aunt Linda (Jennifer Irwin), and with having children of different ages. It was first shown in September 2002. Lifetime had the rights to have the show in 2005. It ended in March 2006.


title: IGN

paragraphs: IGN is a gaming website that was first launched in 2000. It has FAQ's, guides, and walkthroughs about many of the games on GameCube, PC, PlayStation 2, Xbox, Wii, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and the PlayStation 4, as well as older systems. IGN's main competitor is GameSpot, another gaming website.

paragraphs: IGN also features a popular message board, with a lot of members.


title: Sock

paragraphs: Socks are often worn on a person's feet. They absorb sweat and help to keep the foot dry. Socks also give comfort to people's feet and keep them warm in cold weather. They are usually made of cotton or wool. Some socks can cover only the foot and ankle, and others may be long enough to cover the entire lower leg up to the knee. Toe socks are socks that wrap each toe separate from the others. Socks can be worn on the feet. Socks come in an array of different colors. Generally, white socks are worn for everyday or athletic use, and dark socks (black, brown, gray, or navy blue) are worn with business or formal wears. Some dress socks have patterns on them; these are called "argyles".

paragraphs: People often refer to sleeves that cover phones as 'socks'. These come in many different forms, colourful or plain. They help to protect the mobile phone whilst also being a stylish addition. Not many people use phone socks anymore because they seem to be old and out of use however some people still prefer to use them


title: Everybody Loves Raymond

paragraphs: Everybody Loves Raymond is an American television series. It stars Ray Romano. The series was a popular sitcom on the CBS network.

paragraphs: Ray Romano plays Ray Barone, a sports writer in Lynbrook, New York. Patricia Heaton plays his wife, Debra. Ray and Deborah have a fun set of neighbors: Ray's parents. Robert, Ray's "loser" brother, is a police officer, and is very unlucky in love. By the end of season seven, however, he marries a woman named Amy. The show aired from September 13, 1996 - May 16, 2005.


title: Lighthouse

paragraphs: A lighthouse is a tall building that has a light near the top. Lighthouses are built on the coast of an ocean or lake. The lighthouse protects ships from crashing into shore, by sending the light out towards the sea. When sailors see the light, they know to avoid hitting the shore. The light usually turns in a circle so that ships see a flashing light. The light is usually covered by a Fresnel lens. This lens enables the light to travel a far distance.

paragraphs: One of the most famous lighthouses was the Lighthouse of Alexandria. It was on an island near the coast. That island was called "Pharos". Even today, in many languages, the word for "lighthouse" comes from the name of the island.

paragraphs: Almost all lighthouses are automatic now.


title: Joan of Arcadia

paragraphs: Joan of Arcadia was a CBS drama television series. It starred Amber Tamblyn. Tamblyn's character was Joan Girardi, a teenager with the ability to talk to God.

paragraphs: In its second season, the show had 8.5 million viewers per episode. However, after declining ratings the show was canceled. A third season was never made.


title: Lunchbox

paragraphs: A lunchbox is used to carry a person's lunch. They can come in many shapes and sizes and by a number of manufacturers. They can also be in the form of a brown paper bag.

paragraphs: The first aluminium lunch box was created in 1954 by a man by the name of Leo May when he happened to crush his tin lunch box.


title: The Game of Life

paragraphs: The Game of Life is a popular board game. Players spin a spinner, which tells them where to go next. They then go through an imaginary "life," getting married and having kids. The object of the game is to have more money than the other players by the end of the game.


title: Poster

paragraphs: A poster is a large piece of printed paper that has a message, usually with picture of something. Posters are made to be shown in public on a wall or other flat surface. They were a main form of public advertising before the web.

paragraphs: Posters may be used for advertising, education, propaganda, and decoration. They may also be copies of famous works of art.

paragraphs: Chromolithography (colour lithography) was invented by Engelmann & Son, who were granted a patent in 1837. After that, it was a matter of time before it reached full commercial development.

paragraphs: Because of its low production costs, over the 50 years after the American Civil War, millions of chromolithographs were printed and were sold for under $10. Louis Prang, a Bostonian, produced fine-art subjects, such as still lifes, landscapes, and classical subjects. Nevertheless, it was only after 1847 that the Jules Chéret posters showed their potential.

paragraphs: Posters were used for war propaganda, to encourage young people to enlist in the army, and to sell government war bonds. From a strictly artistic view the posters were unimaginative and far from the masterpieces of the late 19th century posters. The posters almost all came with a caption to bang the message home.


title: Gretchen Wilson

paragraphs: Gretchen Wilson (born June 26, 1973) is a country music singer. Her career began in 2004.


title: Blue Balliett

paragraphs: Elizabeth "Blue" Balliett Klein (born in 1955) is an American writer. Her first book is "Chasing Vermeer". "Chasing Vermeer" made the Children's bestseller list in 2004. It is currently being made into a movie. In the story, two sixth graders help solve a mystery involving a Vermeer painting. The story has to do with pentominoes, patterns, and coincidences. The sequel to "Chasing Vermeer" is "The Wright 3," a mystery centered around the Robie House designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and his talisman- a superstitious good luck object- that is a jade Japanese fish. This time, the two main characters, Petra and Calder, are joined by Calder's old friend, Tommy Segovia. The sequel was published in April 2006.


title: Eyelash

paragraphs: An eyelash is a hair that grows at the edge of the eyelids. They protect the eye from small things like dust. The average person has hundreds of eyelashes. They have a life span of about 3 months.