title: Turtle

paragraphs: Turtles are the reptile order Testudines. They have a special bony or cartilaginous shell developed from their ribs that acts as a shield.

paragraphs: The order Testudines includes both living and extinct species. The earliest fossil turtle comes from the early Upper Triassic of China, about 220 million years ago. So turtles are one of the oldest surviving reptile groups and a more ancient group than lizards, snakes and crocodiles.

paragraphs: Molecular evidence shows they are definitely archosauromorphs, the group of diapsid reptiles which also includes the dinosaurs.

paragraphs: Turtles have been very successful, and have almost world-wide distribution. But, of the many species alive today, some are highly endangered.

paragraphs: Although the word turtle is widely used to describe all members of the order Testudines, it is also common to see certain members described as terrapins, tortoises or sea turtles, as well. How these names are used, if at all, depends on the type of English.

paragraphs: To avoid confusion, the word "chelonian" is popular among some who work with these animals, as a catch-all name. Unfortunately, "Chelonia" is also the name of a particular genus of turtles, so this conflicts with its use for the entire order Testudines.

paragraphs: Although many turtles spend much of their lives underwater, all turtles and tortoises breathe air, and must surface at regular intervals to refill their lungs. Some spend their whole lives on dry land.

paragraphs: Aquatic respiration in Australian freshwater turtles is being studied. Some species have large cloacal cavities that are lined with many finger-like projections. These projections, called papillae, have a rich blood supply, and increase the surface area. The turtles can take up dissolved oxygen from the water using these papillae, in much the same way that fish use gills to respire.

paragraphs: Like other reptiles, turtles lay eggs which are slightly soft and leathery. The eggs of the largest species are spherical, while the eggs of the rest are elongated. Sea turtles lay their eggs on dry, sandy beaches. Turtles can take many years to reach breeding age, and in many cases breed every few years rather than annually.

paragraphs: In some species, there is temperature-dependent sex determination. Temperature determines whether an egg develops into a male or a female: a higher temperature causes a female, a lower temperature causes a male. Large numbers of eggs are deposited in holes dug into mud or sand. They are then covered and left to incubate by themselves. When the turtles hatch, they squirm their way to the surface and head toward the water. No turtle mother cares for its young.

paragraphs: Researchers have recently discovered a turtle’s organs do not gradually break down or become less efficient over time, unlike most other animals. It was found that the liver, lungs, and kidneys of a centenarian turtle are almost identical with that of its young counterpart. This has inspired genetic researchers to begin examining the turtle genome for longevity genes.

paragraphs: Turtles are divided into two groups, according to how they evolved a solution to the problem of withdrawing their necks into their shells. The Cryptodira (hidden neck) can draw their necks in while contracting it under their spine. The Pleurodira (side neck), now found only in fresh water environments in the Southern hemisphere, contract their necks to the side. So, the important adaptation of head withdrawing evolved twice from ancestral turtles which did not have this ability.

paragraphs: Turtles have a hard beak. Turtles use their jaws to cut and chew food. Instead of teeth, the upper and lower jaws of the turtle are covered by horny ridges. Carnivorous turtles usually have knife-sharp ridges for slicing through their prey. Herbivorous turtles have serrated-edged ridges that help them cut through tough plants. Turtles use their tongues to swallow food, but they cannot, unlike most reptiles, stick out their tongues to catch food.

paragraphs: The upper shell of the turtle is called the carapace. The lower shell that encases the belly is called the plastron. The carapace and plastron are joined together on the turtle's sides by bony structures called "bridges".

paragraphs: The inner layer of a turtle's shell is made up of about 60 bones. It includes parts of the backbone and the ribs, meaning the turtle cannot crawl out of its shell. In most turtles, the outer layer of the shell is covered by horny scales called scutes that are part of its outer skin, or epidermis. Scutes are made up of a fibrous protein called keratin that also makes up the scales of other reptiles. These scutes overlap the seams between the shell bones and add strength to the shell. Some turtles do not have horny scutes. For example, the leatherback sea turtle and the soft-shelled turtles have shells covered with leathery skin instead.

paragraphs: The largest chelonian is a marine turtle, the great leatherback sea turtle, which reaches a shell length of 200 cm (80 inches) and can reach a weight of over 900 kg (2,000 lb, or 1 short ton). Freshwater turtles are generally smaller, but with the largest species, the Asian softshell turtle "Pelochelys cantorii", a few individuals have been reported to measure up to 200 cm or 80 in (Das, 1991). This dwarfs even the better-known alligator snapping turtle, the largest chelonian in North America, which attains a shell length of up to 80 cm (31½ in) and a weight of about 60 kg (170 lb).

paragraphs: The lagest fossil turtle, "Archelon", was more than twice the length of the leatherback, at up to 4.5 metres.

paragraphs: The first fossil proto-turtles come from Upper Triassic of the Mesozoic era, about 220 million years ago. Their shell evolved from bony extensions of their backbones and broad ribs that expanded and grew together to form a complete shell. It offered protection at every stage of its evolution, even when the bony component of the shell was not complete. This proved a long-lasting adaptation, and the group as a whole has survived many changes in the seas, and several extinction events.

paragraphs: Fossils of the freshwater "Odontochelys semitestacea" or "half-shelled turtle with teeth", from the later Triassic, have been found in southwest China. "Odontochelys" displays a complete bony plastron and an incomplete carapace, similar to an early stage of turtle embryonic development. By the Upper Jurassic, turtles had radiated widely, and their fossil history becomes easier to read.

paragraphs: Their exact ancestry has been a puzzle. Early amniotes had no openings in the skull behind the eyes. Openings developed in both Sauropsid and Synapsid skulls. They made the skull lighter, gave attachment points for muscles, and gave room for muscle bulges. But turtles do not have these skull openings. They were called 'anapsids', meaning 'no openings'.

paragraphs: Eventually it was suggested that turtles evolved from sauropsids which had skull openings, but turtles lost them as part of their evolution towards heavy defensive armour. All molecular studies have strongly upheld the placement of turtles within diapsids; some place turtles within Archosauria, or as a sister group to extant archosaurs.

paragraphs: The earliest known fully shelled turtles are the late Triassic "Odontochelys", "Chinlechelys" and "Proganochelys". The first-named genus was aquatic, but the second was probably terrestrial. They already had many advanced turtle traits, and thus probably had many millions of years of preceding turtle evolution and species in their ancestry. They did lack the ability to pull their heads into their shell (and they had a long neck), and ("Odontochelys") had a long, spiked tail ending in a club, a body form similar to that of ankylosaurs, resulting from convergent evolution.

paragraphs: Turtles are divided into two living suborders, the Cryptodira and the Pleurodira. The Cryptodira is the larger of the two groups and includes all the marine turtles, the terrestrial tortoises, and many of the freshwater turtles. The Pleurodira are sometimes known as the side-necked turtles, a reference to the way they withdraw their heads into their shells. This smaller group mostly consists of freshwater turtles.


title: Rage Against the Machine

paragraphs: Rage Against the Machine, sometimes known as RATM or Rage, is a rock band from Los Angeles, California. Rage Against the Machine are known for their mixing of funk, hip-hop, metal and rock music as well as their openly left wing politics. The band members have been the same since they started in 1991. The band members are rapper Zack de la Rocha, guitarist Tom Morello, bass player Tim Commerford and drummer Brad Wilk. Morello, Commerford and Wilk were also in Audioslave with Chris Cornell.

paragraphs: RATM released their debut album in 1992. It was called "Rage Against the Machine". The album sold a lot of copies and reached number 40 on the Billboard top 200 music chart. The band did not do another album until "Evil Empire" in 1996. The bands third album "The Battle of Los Angeles" was released in 1999 and shortly after in 2000 the band released a covers album, "Renegades".


title: Product (mathematics)

paragraphs: In mathematics, a product is a number or a quantity obtained by multiplying two or more numbers together. For example: 4 × 7 = 28 Here, the number 28 is called the product of 4 and 7. As another example, the product of 6 and 4 is 24, because 6 times 4 is 24. The product of two positive numbers is positive, just as the product of two negative numbers is positive as well (e.g., -6 × -4 = 24).

paragraphs: A short way to write the product of many numbers is to use the capital Greek letter pi: formula_1. This notation (or way of writing) is in some ways similar to the Sigma notation of summation.

paragraphs: Informally, given a sequence of numbers (or elements of a multiplicative structure with unit) say formula_2 we define formula_3. A rigorous definition is usually given recursively as follows

paragraphs: An alternative notation for formula_5 is formula_6.

paragraphs: From the above equation, we can see that "any" number with an exponent can be represented by a product, though it normally is not desirable.

paragraphs: Unlike summation, the sums of two terms cannot be separated into different sums. That is,

paragraphs: This can be thought of in terms of polynomials, as one generally cannot separate terms inside them before they are raised to an exponent, but with products, this is possible:

paragraphs: The product of powers with the same base can be written as an exponential of the sum of the powers' exponents:


title: Universal Declaration of Human Rights

paragraphs: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a "declaration" (something said in an important way) by the United Nations General Assembly. It talks about basic human rights -- rights that all people have just because they are human. It was "adopted" (agreed to) by the United Nations General Assembly on December 10, 1948.

paragraphs: The UDHR (initialism for Universal Declaration of Human Rights) is translated into over 300 languages. This is more languages than any other document, according to the Guinness Book of World Records.

paragraphs: The UDHR may be broken into 30 parts or "articles". Each article says one idea about human rights. Most people think these are the most important ideas:

paragraphs: Below is a simplified list of all of the UDHR rights.

paragraphs: 1. We Are All Born Free & Equal. We are all born free. We all have our own thoughts and ideas. We should all be treated in the same way.

paragraphs: 2. Don’t Discriminate. These rights belong to everybody, whatever our differences.

paragraphs: 3. The Right to Life. We all have the right to life, and to live in freedom and safety.

paragraphs: 4. No Slavery. Nobody has any right to make us a slave. We cannot make anyone our slave.

paragraphs: 5. No Torture. Nobody has any right to hurt us or to torture us.

paragraphs: 6. You Have Rights No Matter Where You Go. I am a person just like you!

paragraphs: 7. We’re All Equal Before the Law. The law is the same for everyone. It must treat us all fairly.

paragraphs: 8. Your Human Rights Are Protected by Law. We can all ask for the law to help us when we are not treated fairly.

paragraphs: 9. No Unfair Detainment. Nobody has the right to put us in prison without good reason and keep us there, or to send us away from our country.

paragraphs: 10. The Right to Trial. If we are put on trial this should be in public. The people who try us should not let anyone tell them what to do.

paragraphs: 11. We’re Always Innocent Till Proven Guilty. Nobody should be blamed for doing something until it is proven. When people say we did a bad thing we have the right to show it is not true.

paragraphs: 12. The Right to Privacy. Nobody should try to harm our good name. Nobody has the right to come into our home, open our letters, or bother us or our family without a good reason.

paragraphs: 13. Freedom to Move. We all have the right to go where we want in our own country and to travel as we wish.

paragraphs: 14. The Right to Seek a Safe Place to Live. If we are frightened of being badly treated in our own country, we all have the right to run away to another country to be safe.

paragraphs: 15. Right to a Nationality. We all have the right to belong to a country.

paragraphs: 16. Marriage and Family. Every grown-up has the right to marry and have a family if they want to. Men and women have the same rights when they are married, and when they are separated.

paragraphs: 17. The Right to Your Own Things. Everyone has the right to own things or share them. Nobody should take our things from us without a good reason.

paragraphs: 18. Freedom of Thought. We all have the right to believe in what we want to believe, to have a religion, or to change it if we want.

paragraphs: 19. Freedom of Expression. We all have the right to make up our own minds, to think what we like, to say what we think, and to share our ideas with other people.

paragraphs: 20. The Right to Public Assembly. We all have the right to meet our friends and to work together in peace to defend our rights. Nobody can make us join a group if we don’t want to.

paragraphs: 21. The Right to Democracy. We all have the right to take part in the government of our country. Every grown-up should be allowed to choose their own leaders.

paragraphs: 22. Social Security. We all have the right to affordable housing, medicine, education, and childcare, enough money to live on and medical help if we are ill or old.

paragraphs: 23. Workers’ Rights. Every grown-up has the right to do a job, to a fair wage for their work, and to join a trade union.

paragraphs: 24. The Right to Play. We all have the right to rest from work and to relax.

paragraphs: 25. Food and Shelter for All. We all have the right to a good life. Mothers and children, people who are old, unemployed or disabled, and all people have the right to be cared for.

paragraphs: 26. The Right to Education. Education is a right. Our parents can choose what we learn.

paragraphs: 27. Copyright. Copyright is a special law that protects one’s own artistic creations and writings; others cannot make copies without permission. We all have the right to our own way of life and to enjoy the good things that art, science and learning bring.

paragraphs: 28. A Fair and Free World. There must be proper order so we can all enjoy rights and freedoms in our own country and all over the world.

paragraphs: 29. Responsibility. We have a duty to other people, and we should protect their rights and freedoms.

paragraphs: 30. No One Can Take Away Your Human Rights.

paragraphs: The United Nations Human Development Report (UNHDR) has been criticised by different people. Mainly Islamic countries have pointed out that its understanding is mainly that of Christians or Jews. Muslims could not implement certain parts of the declaration, without trespassing Islamic law. On 30 June 2000, Muslim nations that are members of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference officially resolved to support the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam, an alternative document that says people have "freedom and right to a dignified life in accordance with the Islamic Shari’ah".


title: Dolphin

paragraphs: Dolphins are part of the toothed whales. Generally, they are among the smaller whales. Most live in salt water oceans, but some live in rivers there are oceanic dolphins and river dolphins. Dolphins are from to long, but the largest dolphin, the killer whale (or orca), can be up to long.

paragraphs: All dolphins live in groups called "pods". They are social animals at all stages of their life. They have some remarkable behaviours. A speeding group of dolphin is a sight to see. They "porpoise" in and out of the water at high speed. The function of this is not known for sure. It may be the fastest movement they are capable of. What they eat, almost exclusively, is fish. When they chase fish, the fish go into a "bait ball" to self-protect. In turn, the dolphins attack in a group and eat as many fish as they can.

paragraphs: The name 'dolphin' comes from the Ancient Greek δελφίς ("delphis") meaning "with a womb", because it was first thought to be a fish with a womb. It is now known to be a mammal, and quite an intelligent mammal. Dolphins breathe air. A dolphin's nose is on top of its head so the dolphin can easily breathe on the surface of the water. The skin of a dolphin has no scales. It is soft and smooth. However, it is very firm, due to how much muscle they have. Dolphins use echolocation to find their food.

paragraphs: The skin of a bottlenose dolphin is gray, smooth, and rubbery. They are always social. They can help each other fight off predators. Dolphins have fought off sharks in this way. They can kill large sharks by ramming them over and over again with their snouts and heads. They look after the young, when the mothers need to leave their calves to hunt for food. The young need to breathe more often than the adults, and the food may be in deeper waters.

paragraphs: Oceanic dolphins are marine animals living in the sea. They live in all of the oceans.

paragraphs: Three of the four species of river dolphins live in fresh water rivers. The La Plata dolphin lives in saltwater estuaries and the ocean. Water pollution and the loss of habitat are a threat to some dolphins, especially those living in rivers and estuaries.

paragraphs: Dolphins (and other cetaceans) sleep in the water. There is danger from animals that eat dolphins. Dolphins sleep differently than a person. Dolphins have two sides of their brain, which they use to sleep. One side sleeps, while the other side stays awake. Dolphins do things while asleep:

paragraphs: Dolphin groups or species have their own way of sleeping. Pinnipeds, like seals, can sleep like dolphins.

paragraphs: The brain of a dolphin is like a human brain in size and development. Dolphins have reasonable eyesight. They can watch a thing in the water, and they can see colors, too. They can also see in dark places.

paragraphs: A dolphin's hearing is better than their sight. There are small holes behind the eyes, and they are the ears of a dolphin. Dolphins can hear a sound underwater. They can know the direction of the sound very well.

paragraphs: Dolphins have long played a role in human culture. Dolphins are common in Greek mythology and there are many coins from ancient Greece which feature a man or boy or deity riding on the back of a dolphin. The Ancient Greeks welcomed dolphins; spotting dolphins riding in a ship’s wake was considered a good omen. In Hindu mythology, the Ganges River Dolphin is associated with Ganga, the deity of the Ganges river.

paragraphs: Dolphin meat is eaten in a few countries, including Japan and Peru (where it is referred to as "chancho marino", or "sea pork"). Japan may be the best-known and most controversial example, but eating dolphin is not that common.

paragraphs: Dolphin therapy is sometimes used for people with mental or physical handicaps. It involves contact with trained dolphins. It is not agreed whether this is any better than the usual treatments.

paragraphs: Scientists continue to study dolphin therapy.


title: Guinea

paragraphs: Guinea, or the Republic of Guinea (), is an independent nation in western Africa. They speak French. It's a member of Economic Community of West African States.

paragraphs: Guinea is divided into 8 regions and then divided even further into 33 prefectures. The capital of Guinea, Conakry, is a special area.

paragraphs: The following are the biggest cities in Guinea, by population:

paragraphs: The following is a list of notable people from Guinea:


title: Pig

paragraphs: Pigs or domestic pigs are mammals in the genus Sus. They are the and its ancestor, the common Eurasian wild boar ("Sus scrofa"), and other species. Pigs are in the Suidae family of even-toed ungulates.

paragraphs: Related, but outside the genus, are the babirusa and the warthog. Pigs, like all suids, are native to the Old World. Baby pigs are called piglets. Pigs are omnivores and are very social and intelligent animals.

paragraphs: The pig has stout, barrel-shaped bodies, with short legs.

paragraphs: The flesh of domestic pigs is eaten as food and is called pork. The Jewish and Muslim religions, and some Christian denominations, believe eating pork is wrong. Pig farmers take care that the animals do not get diseases or parasites which might harm humans.

paragraphs: Domestic pigs come in different colours, shapes and sizes. They are usually pink, but little pigs kept as pets ("pot-bellied pigs") are sometimes other colours. Pigs roll in mud to protect themselves from sunlight. Many people think that pigs are dirty and smell. In fact, they roll around in the mud to keep bugs and ticks away from their skin. This also helps to keep their skin moist and lower their body temperature on hot days. They are omnivores, which means that they eat both plants and animals.

paragraphs: Pigs are intelligent animals. They are even able to learn how to play video games.

paragraphs: Pigs are commonly used as working animals. They are used to hunt for truffles, pull carts and sniff out landmines. Pig races exist.

paragraphs: Pigs need a warm, clean area under a roof to sleep, and they should not be crowded. They need to be checked for sickness regularly. Pigs need lots of water. Over half their body weight is made up of water. Pigs should be given all the feed they will eat, which is usually four to five pounds a day for adult pigs. Corn is a good food for pigs, but they should also have protein supplements as well.

paragraphs: Pigs can be found throughout the world living on farms and in the wild, and they are also popular pets. Pigs are kept and slaughtered for their flesh, pork.


title: Wheat

paragraphs: Wheat (species of "Triticum") is a cereal grain. People eat it most often in the form of bread. It is a kind of grass whose fruit is a "head of wheat" with edible seeds. It was first grown in the Levant, a region of the Near East. Now it is cultivated worldwide.

paragraphs: World trade in wheat is greater than for all other crops combined. Globally, wheat is the leading source of vegetable protein in human food. It has a higher protein content than other major cereals such as maize (corn) or rice. In terms of total production, it is second to rice as the main human food crop and ahead of maize (maize is used more for animal feeds).

paragraphs: Wheat was a key factor enabling the emergence of city-based societies at the start of civilization. It was one of the first crops that could be easily cultivated on a large scale, and its seeds could be stored for long periods in a dry climate. Wheat helped the growth of city-states in the Fertile Crescent, including the Babylonian, Assyrian and persian empires.

paragraphs: Wheat grain is a staple food used to make flour for leavened, flat and steamed breads, biscuits, cookies, cakes, breakfast cereal, pasta, noodles, couscous. It can also be fermented to make ethanol, for alcoholic drinks, or biofuel.

paragraphs: An allergy to wheat can cause coeliac disease, which makes the sufferer have diarrhoea if they eat any food containing wheat.

paragraphs: The wheat plant has long, slender leaves, stems that are hollow in most types of wheat plants, and heads that have many kinds of flowers, from 20 to 100. The flowers are grouped together in spikelets. Each spikelet has two to six flowers. In most spikelets, two or three of the flowers become fertilized, and this makes them produce the grains used for food.

paragraphs: All cultivated wheats have more than one normal diploid set of chromosomes. The increases in chromosome sets occurs naturally at a low rate. Because they have more chromosomes, their ears of wheat are larger. All man did was to select the plants with extra fat ears of wheat when they occurred. Now a whole range of cultivated wheats are available. These are just a few:

paragraphs: Hexaploid species (six sets of chromosomes)

paragraphs: Diploid species (normal two sets of chromosomes)

paragraphs: Emmer wheat ("Triticum dicoccum"), or 'hulled wheat', is a type of "awned" wheat. It was one of the first crops domesticated in the Near East. It was widely cultivated in the ancient world, but is now a relict crop in mountainous regions of Europe and Asia.

paragraphs: In the wild, the awns of emmer wheat spikelets help them dig into the soil. With humidity in the night, the awns of the spikelet become erect and draw together, and in the process push the grain into the soil. During the day, the humidity drops and the awns slacken back again. During the course of days and nights, the awns' pumping movements drill the spikelet as much as an inch into the soil.

paragraphs: Einkorn wheat is one of the earliest cultivated forms of wheat, ("Triticum monococcum"). Grains of wild einkorn have been found in Paleolithic sites of the Fertile Crescent. It was first domesticated about 7500 BC (~9000 years ago), in the early Neolithic period. Evidence from DNA suggests einkorn was domesticated in southeast Turkey, where a number of early farming villages have been found. Its cultivation decreased in the Bronze Age, and today it is a relic crop that is rarely planted. It has found a new market as a health food. It is still used for bulgur (cracked wheat) or as animal feed, in mountainous areas of France, Libya, former Yugoslavia, Turkey and other countries. It often survives on poor soils where other species of wheat fail.

paragraphs: Einkorn was domesticated at the same time as emmer wheat, but was not so important.


title: Taliban

paragraphs: The Taliban is an Islamic militant group operating in Afghanistan and western Pakistan. In the late 1990s it made a government, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. It was formed in 1994 in southern Afghanistan and was helped by Pakistan and Iran.

paragraphs: The Taliban governed Afghanistan between 1996 and 2001. During this time, its leaders put in place the strictest forms of Sharia law ever seen in the Muslim world. Much criticism of the Taliban came from important Muslim scholars. For example, if a thief was caught stealing something the Taliban would cut-off one of his hands so that he does not use it to steal again, no matter what it was that he stole. Many criminals were put to death fast and without a fair trial. Anyone who refused to follow the law was considered a non-Muslim enemy. Every male had to go to mosque for prayer (except Afghan non-Muslims) during praying times, which is 5 times daily. The Taliban became known around the world for their very bad treatment of women and girls.

paragraphs: After the September 11 attacks in 2001, the United States invaded Afghanistan. The Taliban had been giving al-Qaeda a safe base from which to operate. The U.S. government said that Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda members did the attacks in New York and Washington, but the Taliban asked the U.S. for proof of this before it would arrest them. The aim of the invasion was to remove the Taliban government from power, destroy al-Qaeda and capture bin Laden. The Taliban is still fighting the Afghan and Pakistani governments in Afghanistan and parts of Pakistan.


title: Screw

paragraphs: A screw is a sharp piece of threaded metal similar to a nail. Unlike a nail, a screw has spiral grooves down its spike. A screw is pressed down against wood and turned with a screwdriver. Turning the screw to the right makes it go into the wood. The grooves cut into the wood. This prevents the screw from falling out, as a nail might. Turning the screw to the left pulls it out of the wood.

paragraphs: Screws can be made of steel, iron, brass, bronze, plastic, etc.

paragraphs: There are also machine screws and self-tapping screws. Machine screws are bolts which have screw threads. The threads matched with nuts with female threads.

paragraphs: Screw threads are measured either in millimeters or in numbers. They are used in furniture, doors, appliances, etc.

paragraphs: Screwing is the neatest way of holding together two materials. If no glue is involved, then the screwing can be dismantled.

paragraphs: These are three different types of screw.

paragraphs: Do not place screws in line as this weakens the wood.

paragraphs: Use the right size screwdriver for the screw head. A screwdriver that is too slim can damage the slot, too wide can tear the materials. Screw threads in both wood and metal can become stripped, resulting in loss of holding power, and can also be difficult to remove.


title: Tajikistan

paragraphs: Tajikistan is a country in Central Asia. It was previously part of the Soviet Union. Tajikistan is a republic. The capital city is Dushanbe. The official language is Tajik,which is a dialect of Farsi (Persian).

paragraphs: Tajikistan is a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States, the CIS. Tajikistan is eighth in size of CIS countries.

paragraphs: Tajikistan is one of the new countries in South-central Asia. It is west of China, north of Afghanistan and Pakistan, that is separated by a narrow 14 km strip of Tajik claimed land known as the Wakhan Corridor in the Pamirs, east of Uzbekistan and south of Kyrgyzstan.

paragraphs: Tajikistan is landlocked in the middle of the continent of Asia.

paragraphs: Its total area is only about . It is slightly smaller than Wisconsin, USA. Tajikistan’s borders total to long.

paragraphs: The climate has hot summers and mild winters.

paragraphs: Almost all of the country (85 percent) is mountainous with river-valleys running across, however high altitude mountains of Pomir are in the eastern part of the country, (which is the west end of the Himalayas). The climate there is semiarid to polar. The mountains cover an area of about . There are other countries within the mountain range. The mountains are between high.

paragraphs: Karakul lake is located within a meteorite crater, which would have formed about 25 million years ago, or less than 5 million years ago.

paragraphs: The land that is now Tajikistan has been lived in since 4,000 BC. It has been under the rule of various empires throughout history, mostly the Persian Empires.

paragraphs: In the year 800, Islam came to north-east of Iran, (Nowadays called a part of this Land Tajikistan)

paragraphs: In 1868, Tajikistan became a Russian Colony. It later became a part of the Soviet Union .

paragraphs: On 9 September 1991, after long periods of mass protests against Soviet Government, the Parliament of Tajikistan declared independence from Soviet Union, and held first presidential elections.

paragraphs: Rahmon Nabiev, who ran the country during Soviet Union in the late 1970s and early 1980s, become its president. He was unable to bring any much needed reforms to the country, and so there were protests in the capital city, Dushanbe.

paragraphs: The government responded by organising a pro-government demonstration, mainly made of old Communist Party members and people from the southeast of the country brought to the city. Anti-government protests did not stop, so the government gave weapons to the pro-government demonstrator. Then the Opposition armed themselves.

paragraphs: After this bloody civil war broke out. In which all of the new democratic parties, political organisations and movements together with the political Islamic movements created an alliance, opposing the old communist government and southerners.

paragraphs: After the September 11, 2001 attacks, many American and French Soldiers came into the country.

paragraphs: In 2010 a leaked US Embassy cable described Tajikistan as

paragraphs: "... The greatest obstacle to improving the economy is resistance to reform. From the President down to the policeman on the street, government is characterized by cronyism and corruption. Emomali Rahmon and his family control the country's major businesses, including the largest bank, and they play hardball to protect their business interests, no matter the cost to the economy writ large... The government has limited opposition party operations and rejected electoral law reforms for the February 28, 2010 parliamentary elections. The Embassy does not expect the elections to be free and fair. There has been almost no coverage of opposition political parties by state media, and most of the population is unaware of the purpose of the elections..."


title: Fear

paragraphs: Fear is a feeling or an emotion. When a person has fear, they are afraid or scared. A person who fears something does not want it to happen. The fear response comes from sensing danger. It leads to the fight-or-flight response. In extreme cases of fear (horror and terror) there may be a freeze response or paralysis.

paragraphs: In humans and animals, fear is adjusted by cognition and learning. Thus fear is rational or appropriate, or it is irrational or inappropriate. An irrational fear is called a phobia.

paragraphs: Fear is the body's way of protecting itself from doing things that may be dangerous. For example, if one has a fear of jumping off a cliff, he/she will not do it. This saves one from death. In this case, fear is a good thing but in others, it can be bad. An example of fear being bad is if it stops one from doing something important, like going to see a doctor.

paragraphs: There is only a small set of basic or innate emotions and fear is one of them. The fear response helps survival by triggering appropriate behavioral responses. It has been preserved throughout evolution.


title: Tongue

paragraphs: The tongue is the fleshy muscle inside the mouth. A tongue lets us taste because the top of the tongue is made mostly of taste buds. It also helps the process of mastication by mixing food with saliva. It is very flexible, so it also helps us eat and talk. The tongue is the strongest muscle in the human body.

paragraphs: Some people can roll their tongue into a tube. The reason why some people are able to and some are not is because of genetic inheritance, meaning that it is based on whether their parents are able to do it. Many schools use tongue rolling as an example of a genetic trait.

paragraphs: People who can roll their tongue can sometimes make a high pitched sound by blowing through their rolled tongue.


title: Titanium

paragraphs: Titanium is a very strong metal that is used in special applications. The most common isotope has 26 neutrons. Titanium was discovered in 1791 by William Gregor. It is chemical element number 22 on the periodic table. Its symbol is "Ti". It has 22 electrons and 22 protons. It is named after strong Greek gods named the titans.

paragraphs: Titanium can combine with other chemicals to make different materials. When titanium mixes with oxygen from the air, it forms titanium dioxide (TiO), or titania. Titanium dioxide is a white pigment that is often used to make things less transparent, brighter, or rougher - because it does not react with chemicals inside the human body, it is safe to use in foods and other applications, like toothpaste. Pieces of titanium metal are protected by a shell of titanium dioxide, which forms when the metal is in the air and helps prevent chemicals from damaging the metal center.

paragraphs: Titanium alloys are used in aerospace engineering to make very strong and light parts of airplanes. These alloys can replace steel because they are almost as strong as steel but much less heavy, and are much stronger than aluminium alloys but only a little heavier. This means that the titanium parts can be thinner and lighter, but still withstand the same forces. It does not corrode in many conditions, not even in sea water and chlorine. However, it can burn at high temperatures, and like many metal powders, titanium dust is extremely flammable.


title: Hebrew language

paragraphs: Hebrew is a Semitic language. It was first spoken in Israel. Many Jewish people also speak Hebrew, as Hebrew is part of Judaism. The Academy of the Hebrew Language is the main institution of Hebrew.

paragraphs: It was spoken by Israelites a long time ago, during the time of the Bible. After Judah was conquered by Babylonia, the Jews were taken captive to Babylon and started speaking Aramaic. Hebrew was no longer used much in daily, but it was still known by Jews who studied religious books.

paragraphs: In the 20th century, many Jews decided to make Hebrew into a spoken language again. It became the language of the new country of Israel in 1948. People in Israel came from many places and decided to learn Hebrew, the language of their common ancestors, so that they could all speak one language. However, Modern Hebrew is quite different from Biblical Hebrew, with a simpler grammar and many loanwords from other languages, especially English.

paragraphs: As of today, Hebrew has been the only dead language that had been made into a living language again.

paragraphs: The Bible was originally written in Biblical Hebrew, Biblical Aramaic and Koine Greek.

paragraphs: Hebrew is a Semitic language and so that it is a lot like Arabic. Hebrew words are made by combining a root with a pattern. In Israeli Hebrew, some words are translated from European languages like English, French, German, and Russian. Many words from the Old Testament were given new meanings in Israeli Hebrew. People learning Hebrew need to study the grammar first so that they can read correctly without vowels.

paragraphs: In Israeli Hebrew, there is no verb "to be" in the present tense, but only in the future and the past tenses. In Biblical Hebrew, there are no tenses but only two aspects: imperfect and perfect. The imperfect is something like the future and the present tenses. The perfect is something like the past tense. Mishnaic Hebrew was spoken as well as Judeo-Aramaic in the time of Jesus and in the time of the Bar-Kokhba revolt (2nd century AD) until the Byzantine Empire of Justinian (6th century AD).

paragraphs: The Hebrew alphabet has been adapted to write Yiddish, another Jewish language. However, Yiddish sounds different from Hebrew since it is a Germanic language.

paragraphs: The Hebrew alphabet has 22 letters. Five of them change when they are at the end of a word. Hebrew is read and written from right to left. The first three letters, aleph, beth and gimel, are also used in mathematics in the context of transfinite numbers.

paragraphs: The Hebrew alphabet is an "abjad" and so only the consonants are written, and readers must supply the vowels. Since that can be difficult, the vowels can be marked as dots called “nikkud” or “tnuah” (plural ”nikkud” signs and “tnuot” respectively.) In Modern Hebrew, some letters can denote vowels, which are called "matres lectionis" (mothers of the reading) since they greatly help reading. Vav (or Waw) can make the 'oo' sound (/u/ in IPA) like in food. Yodh (or Yud) can make the 'ee' sound (/i/ in IPA) like in feed.


title: Joan of Arc

paragraphs: Saint Joan of Arc or The Maid of Orléans (Jeanne d'Arc, c.1412 – 30 May 1431) is a national heroine of France. She is also a Catholic saint. She was a peasant girl born in the east of France. Joan said that she had visions from God. In these visions, she said, God told her to take back her home English rule late in the Hundred Years' War. Many quick victories made her famous. In 1430 soldiers of Burgundy captured her and gave her to her English enemies.

paragraphs: Joan of Arc has remained an important figure in Western civilization. Famous writers like Shakespeare, Tchaikovsky, Mark Twain, and Voltaire wrote about her. She appears in video games, television, movies, songs, and dances.

paragraphs: When Joan of Arc was put on trial, she said no to the customary courtroom rules about a witness's oath. She said she would not answer every question about her visions. She complained that the normal witness oath would not be right because she had an oath that she had given to the king. It is not known how much the record which reports this has been changed by dishonest court officials or her possible lies to protect state secrets. Some historians simply say that her belief in her duty was more important than where the visions came from.

paragraphs: Most people say that she was healthy and that she was not crazy. Recently, people have tried to explain her visions through things like epilepsy, migraine, tuberculosis, and schizophrenia. None of these guesses have been greatly supported. This is because, even though seeing visions can be through different diseases, other facts of Joan's life do not agree with these ideas. Two experts who studied a teberculoma hypothesis in the medical journal "Neuropsychobiology "said: "It is difficult to draw final conclusions, but it would seem unlikely that widespread tuberculosis, a serious disease, was present in this 'patient' whose life-style and activities would surely have been impossible had such a serious disease been present." Ralph Hoffman, professor of psychology at Yale University, points out that visions, like ""hearing voices"" are not always signs of mental illness. He says that her religious inspiration was possibly a reason. However, he does not say any other reasons.

paragraphs: Nonetheless, the court of Charles VII was obsessed about her mental health.

paragraphs: Joan was tried by a French inquisitorial tribunal under English control. The Church said Joan should be killed for wearing men's clothes even after being warned not to. Joan agreed to wear women's clothes. She wore male clothes again. This might have been to protect herself from being attacked. It could also have been, as Jean Massieu said, because her dress had been stolen and she was left with nothing else to wear.

paragraphs: She was burned on a stake on 30 May 1431, at age 19. After she died, the English showed people her burnt body so no one could say she had escaped alive. Then they burned the body two times again to turn it into ashes. They put what was left of her in the Seine. The executioner, Geoffroy Therage, later said that he "...greatly feared to be damned."


title: James Kopp

paragraphs: James Charles Kopp (born August 2, 1954) is an American criminal. He was found guilty in 2005 for shooting Dr. Barnett Slepian to death in 1988. Kopp said the reason he shot the doctor was that he was against the abortions that the doctor did.

paragraphs: On October 23, 1998, Slepian, his wife, and their four children came home from synagogue (Jewish church). Kopp waited outside the home with a rifle. He shot Slepian in the back through a window while Slepian was in the kitchen. Slepian's wife and son Andrew were standing in the same room with him.


title: Millet

paragraphs: Millet is a type of grain that is eaten. There are many types of millet.

paragraphs: Millets is fairly good nutrition. It includes three grams of protein per half serving and one gram of fiber per half serving. Six-tenths of a miligram is the amount of iron in each half serving of millet.

paragraphs: Millets also have high fiber content, and poor digestibility of nutrients. This limits their value in nutrition and makes them rather less acceptable to consumers.


The Flowers of Romance


title: Sonic the Hedgehog (character)

paragraphs: Sonic the Hedgehog is a video game character. He is a 15-year old blue hedgehog who can run at the speed of sound. By curling into a ball and spinning quickly, he can do a helpful "Spin Attack" which he uses to defeat the villains and save the day. He has been in many games made by the company Sega, but also in television series, books and comics (published in America by Archie Comics). He has many friends, including Miles "Tails" Prower, a two-tailed fox that can fly by spinning his tails very quickly or Knuckles the Echidna (who is strong, and has been in Sonic games since "Sonic the Hedgehog 3"). With them, he fights against his arch nemesis Doctor Eggman, an evil scientist attempting to conquer the world.

paragraphs: Sonic is the mascot of Sega, which created it in the early 1990s. At first, Sega wanted Doctor Eggman to be their mascot, and a good guy. But, the people in Sega liked the new idea of making a blue hedgehog as the mascot. Doctor Eggman settled as the bad guy instead. Sonic’s franchise has grown, and more characters are displayed in games.

paragraphs: Here is a list of some games Sonic is in:

paragraphs: He appeared in his own made-for-video movie in 1999.

paragraphs: In most of the cartoons from the 1990s his voice was provided by Jaleel White (who was best known at the time for his role as Steve Urkel on the television show "Family Matters") and in later cartoons his voice was provided by Jason Griffith. Sonic also stars in his latest cartoon from Japan. It is called "Sonic X", although Sonic X has ended.

paragraphs: Archie Comics in America has been making comics with Sonic as the main character. He is also shown with famous characters like Knuckles and Tails, but with also a few new ones. Some of the characters are not in any Sonic games, but some are in a very old cartoon, "Sonic the Hedgehog SatAM", made by DiC in 1993.


title: Hedgehog

paragraphs: A hedgehog, also called a hedgepig or furze-pig, is a small mammal. It has between 5000-7000 spines on its back. There are hedgehogs in Europe, Asia, Africa, and New Zealand. When attacked or threatened, it curls up. Hedgehogs eat insects, snails, frogs and toads, snakes, bird eggs, carrion, mushrooms, berries and melons. Sometimes, hedgehogs will search for earthworms after rainstorms.

paragraphs: Hedgehogs are nocturnal animals and they hibernate between November and March.

paragraphs: Hedgehogs have long spines, or quills, made of keratin. They do not come off easily, unlike porcupines, but in baby hedgehogs, the baby quills drop off and are replaced with adult quills. This is called "quilling". When they are very stressed or sick, their quills can fall off, too. Their quills are not poisonous: they are safe for humans to feel and touch, as they are not very sharp, or harmful.

paragraphs: Some people keep hedgehogs as pets. African pygmy hedgehogs are the most common type that are kept as pets. They live 2-4 years in captivity. Hedgehogs are exotic pets, which means they may not be legal to keep as pets in some places.


title: Final Fantasy

paragraphs: The first game was published in 1987. The game was a success. It had sequels. The video game has since branched into other Video game genres. Some of these genres are tactical role-playing, action role-playing, massively multiplayer online role-playing, racing, third-person shooter, fighting, and rhythm.

paragraphs: Most "Final Fantasy" games are independent stories. They have different settings and main characters. Recurring elements include plot themes, character names, and game mechanics. Plots center on a group of heroes fighting evil and exploring their internal struggles and relationships. Character names are borrowed from history, languages, and mythologies of many cultures.

paragraphs: The series is a commercial and critical success. It is Square Enix's best selling video game franchise. It sold more than units. It is one of the best-selling video game franchises. It was awarded a star on the Walk of Game in 2006. It has seven Guinness World Records in the "Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition 2008". Final Fantasy is known for its innovation, visuals, and music. It includes full motion videos, photo-realistic character models, and orchestra music by Nobuo Uematsu.

paragraphs: There are two main types of "Final Fantasy" game: the main series, where the games are just numbered with Roman numbers, and several related games and spinoffs. Each of the games in the main series have very little to do with each other, with its own setting, story, and characters. Some exceptions include "Final Fantasy X" and "X-2", the sequel, or "Final Fantasy XIII" and "Final Fantasy XIII-2" and "Lightning Returns". But the games are connected through the gameplay, themes, and 'style'. Newer sequels and prequels are "Final Fantasy X-2" and the "Compilation of Final Fantasy VII" games and films.

paragraphs: Since 1987, more than seventeen games have been released. The series started on Nintendo Entertainment System, but today most "Final Fantasy" games are made for the Sony PlayStation or PlayStation 2. Games have also been released for the Nintendo Game Boy and GameCube. "Final Fantasy VII" is generally regarded as one of the pinnacle achievements of gaming. A must-play for any gamer.

paragraphs: In 2001, Columbia Pictures made a CGI movie called "".

paragraphs: While it is not actually a "Final Fantasy" game, one game called "Final Fantasy Adventure" was released in America for the Nintendo Game Boy. The game was actually a prequel to the SNES game "Secret of Mana", but was released in the United States with the name "Final Fantasy" to boost sales. In 2003 it was remade for the Game Boy Advance with the title "Sword of Mana". In Japan, the Mana series is called "Seiken Densetsu", which means "Legend of the Sword." There are three games in the series, but only the first two, "Secret of Mana" and "Sword of Mana", have been released in the United States.

paragraphs: In "Final Fantasy", players control a group of characters. They go through the game's story by exploring the game world and defeating enemies. Enemies are found randomly. This changed in "Final Fantasy XI" and "Final Fantasy XII". The player gives combat orders. These orders are "Fight", "Magic", and "Item". The orders are given to individual characters through a menu. This menu appears when in battles.

paragraphs: The games have used different battle systems. Before "Final Fantasy XI", battles were turn-based. The main characters and bad characters were on different sides of the battlefield. "Final Fantasy IV" introduced the "Active Time Battle" (ATB) system. It made better the turn-based system with a time-keeping system. This system was designed by Hiroyuki Ito. It gave a feeling of urgency and excitement to the fights. It required the player to act before an enemy attacks. It was used until "Final Fantasy X". This game had the "Conditional Turn-Based" (CTB) system. This new system returned to the old turn-based system.

paragraphs: Magic is common in the game. The way characters get magic depends on the game. It is generally divided into classes organized by color: "White magic" focuses on spells that heal teammates; "Black magic" focuses on hurting enemies; "Red magic" is a combination of white and black magic, "Blue magic" copies enemy attacks; and "Green magic" focuses on applying status effects to teammates or enemies.

paragraphs: There are other types of magic like "Time magic". This magic focuses on time, space, and gravity; "Summoning magic" brings legendary creatures to help in battle. This magic has appeared since "Final Fantasy III". Summoned creatures are called names like "Espers" or "Eidolons". They are inspired by mythologies from Arabic, Hindu, Norse, and Greek cultures.

paragraphs: Different means of transportation have appeared through the series. The most common is the airship. There are also chocobos for travelling short distances. Others include sea and land vehicles. Following "Final Fantasy VII", more modern and futuristic vehicles have appeared.

paragraphs: For Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES):

paragraphs: A list of upcoming "Final Fantasy" games.


title: Georges Brassens

paragraphs: Georges Brassens (October 22, 1921 - October 29, 1981) was a French singer and songwriter. He sang "La mauvaise réputation" (the bad reputation) and "Le gorille" (the gorilla).


title: Display resolution

paragraphs: Resolution is what can qualify a monitor in computer science. It is the number of pixels displayed on a given surface.

paragraphs: For example: a "640 by 480 display", which has 640 pixels from side to side and 480 from top to bottom (as in a VGA display), and therefore has a total number of 640 × 480 = 307,200 pixels or 0.3 megapixels, is what is meant by 640 × 480 display resolution.


title: Cervix

paragraphs: The cervix is the part of the uterus which protrudes into the vaginal canal. Its function is like that of a gate to the uterus, or womb, where the fetus develops during a pregnancy. It also allows menstrual blood to escape the uterus during the normal reproductive cycle of the female, and allows sperm to access the uterus to fertilize an ovum, or egg.


title: Bullet

paragraphs: Bullets are small metal objects fired from guns. Many kinds of bullets are made from lead covered with copper. They are put into a package called a cartridge. The cartridge is put into a gun. The bullet is at the front of the cartridge (number 1 in the picture). The bullet is pushed out of the gun by hot gases at a high pressure. A powder called gunpowder (number 3 in the picture) is put inside the case (number 2). A small explosion from the primer (number 5 in the picture) lights the gunpowder. The gunpowder burns very fast. It makes hot gases. The hot gases are at a high pressure. The high pressure pushes the bullet out of the gun barrel at a high speed.

paragraphs: Bullets are weapons. Soldiers and police use them. They are used for self-defense. They are used for hunting animals for food or as a sport. They are used for shooting targets. There are many kinds of bullet. Each gun takes a certain size, or caliber, of bullet. Rifles and handguns use different kinds and sometimes a gun uses more than one kind of bullet.

paragraphs: Although the word "bullet" is often used for a cartridge round, a bullet is "not" a cartridge but rather a part of one. A round of ammunition cartridge includes the bullet (which is the projectile), the case (which holds everything together), the propellant (which provides most of the energy to shoot it) and the primer (which ignites the propellant).

paragraphs: Bullet designs have to solve two main problems. A bullet must fit tightly in the gun's bore (inside of the barrel). If it does not fit tightly, gas from the burning gunpowder leaks past the bullet and does not help push it out. The bullet must also fit tightly against the rifling (spiral grooves cut into the barrel), but not so tightly that it causes damage. Bullets must have this tight fit without causing too much friction. Bullets must be made to a high standard. Poorly made bullets may not be accurate. Poorly made bullets can damage the gun or hurt the person using the gun. The way the bullet behaves in the barrel is called 'internal ballistics'.

paragraphs: The laws of physics can be used to understand how a bullet moves after it leaves the barrel. The way the bullet behaves after it leaves the barrel is called 'external ballistics'. The main factors affecting the aerodynamics of a bullet in flight are the bullet's shape and the rotation from the rifling of the gun barrel. Spinning helps stabilize the bullet gyroscopically and aerodynamically (spinning keeps it on track). Any small differences in the shape of the bullet are mostly canceled as it spins. The first guns did not have rifling. With smoothbore firearms (no rifling), a round bullet was best because it was the same in any position. But these bullets were not very stable. They were also not very accurate. Still, the round shape of bullets did not change very much for hundreds of years.

paragraphs: Bullet design also affects what happens when a bullet hits an object. The way a bullet behaves when it hits a target is called 'terminal ballistics.' The make-up and density of the target material, the angle at which the bullet hits, and the speed and design of the bullet itself are all factors. Bullets are usually made to go into a target, change shape, and/or break apart. For a given material and bullet, the speed of the bullet is the main factor determining what happens.

paragraphs: Making bullets go faster increases the kinetic energy even more. This effect is big, so people have tried (and succeeded) to make bullets that go faster and weigh less. Modern firearms take much lighter bullets and shoot them much faster than was the case in World War I. This makes the firearms better in two ways. The magazine (which holds the cartridges in the gun before they are fired) holds more of the smaller, lighter bullets. Also, the higher speed causes much more damage than the old-style bullets.

paragraphs: Rifles are used for target shooting and killing. A rifle bullet can be described by its accuracy, penetration, shape, size, and mass (weight). There are many different kinds of rifle bullets.

paragraphs: The Full Metal Jacket (FMJ) is a type of bullet commonly used by the military. A lead center (core) is surrounded by a strong metal coating (jacket). This jacket is usually made of a copper alloy, but sometimes it is made of steel. The FMJ does not spread out when it hits a target. It goes deep into its target and is a general-purpose bullet. The FMJ is not recommended for hunting. It is mostly for target shooting and military use.

paragraphs: The Jacketed Hollow Point (JHP) has a lead center (core) with lead showing at the tip. It also has a strong metal coating (jacket). The center of the tip has a hole in it (hollow point). This design makes the tip of the JHP quickly start to spread out (expand) when it hits a target. The hollow point bullet in a rifle can be as small as a pin. When the hollow point is this small, the bullet will go faster and still spread out when it hits a living target. In some hollow point rifle bullets, the front may spread out to two times as wide as the bullet was when it started. It is a good hunting bullet because the energy in the bullet is transferred to the target at a known depth. The jacketed hollow point tends to be accurate and is sturdy.

paragraphs: The plastic tipped bullet is a hollow point bullet. The hollow point is filled with a hard, pointed plastic tip. It is used because it can go further than the JHP and does not curve as much. The plastic tipped bullet also spreads out or breaks into pieces when it hits the target.

paragraphs: A solid copper bullet is a bullet that has no lead core or other elements than copper. This bullet expands into a flower shape when it hits a target, because copper bullets are usually hollow point. The copper bullet contains no lead, so it is also better for the environment. In rifles, it is widely used for hunting and other sports.

paragraphs: A frangible bullet will break into many pieces upon contact with any material harder than itself. This bullet is used for safety while shooting. It has little impact on the environment. It also makes the objects behind the intended target a little safer.

paragraphs: Handguns are mostly used for sport target shooting or self-defense. Police use the pistol because they can easily carry it and have it ready to use.

paragraphs: Pistol bullets have some of the same names as rifle bullets, such as full metal jacket (FMJ) or jacketed hollow point (JHP). For example, there are hollow point pistol bullets that also spread out a lot when they hit a target. However, in a pistol bullet, the hollow point can be much larger. The hollow point causes the pistol bullet to slow down faster due to air resistance. However, a pistol bullet does not have to travel as far as a rifle bullet. The hollow point in a pistol bullet can be almost as wide as the bullet. When a hollow point pistol bullet hits a target, it almost completely flattens itself. A solid copper pistol bullet is usually hollow point, and is mainly used for self-defense and/or target shooting.

paragraphs: A flat nosed bullet is mostly used in handguns, although there are also some rifle bullets called flat nosed. The flat nose on a pistol bullet can be as wide as the bullet. The "flat nose" on a rifle bullet may be much smaller. The flat nosed bullet tends to have a low ballistic coefficient. This means that it slows down faster than pointed bullets. Flat nosed bullets are sometimes used to prevent the explosion of the next cartridge in a magazine when the gun recoils. Flat nosed bullets also spread out quickly when they hit a target. This makes them useful for fighting at close range when the bullet should not hit what is behind the target. After hitting the target, it becomes almost inside out.

paragraphs: A frangible pistol bullet will break apart on contact. It is usually made of a copper jacket over pieces of either round or twisted lead pieces that are glued together. The glue breaks apart when the bullet hits the target. The pieces spread out. This creates a larger surface area. This kind of bullet cannot go deep into a target. It is safer to use when it is important not to hit anything on the other side of the target.


title: Frankfort, Kentucky

paragraphs: Frankfort is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It has been the state capital since December 8, 1792. It is the county seat of Franklin County, and has been since 1795. It's located between Lexington and Louisville Kentucky.

paragraphs: Frankfort is beside the Kentucky River. This is how the city earned its name, because the land was owned by pioneer Stephen Frank. First called "Frank's Ford", the name was soon shortened to Frankfort.

paragraphs: Within a century the population of Frankfort grew from 9,487 in 1900, to 27,741 in 2000. The members of the city commission and the mayor are elected by the citizens.

paragraphs: The mayor of Frankfort in 2008 is Gippy Graham.


title: Shahrukh Khan

paragraphs: Shah Rukh Khan (born 2 November 1965), popularly known as SRK, is a Bollywood actor. He is also known as the ""Badshah of Bollywood"," "King of Bollywood" and "King Khan". He was born in New Delhi, his grandparents having moved there from Afghanistan and Peshawar. He started his career appearing on television in the late 1980s. He is Muslim and studied at a Muslim school. He is married to Gauri Khan, a Hindu, and has three children; Aryan, Suhana and AbRam. He also has a sister named Shehnaz Lalarukh. He has a master's degree. He is one of the biggest stars not just in Bollywood, but also around the world. He is also the second richest actor in the world after Jerry Seinfeld, with a net worth of over $600 million


title: Masashi Tashiro

paragraphs: Masashi Tashiro (田代まさし, born August 31, 1956 in Saga Prefecture) is a former Japanese television performer and member of Japanese musical group Rats & Star. He was brought up in Shinjuku, Tokyo. On December 21, 2001, Tashiro was the first Japanese person chosen by the American magazine "Time" as "Person of the Year".

paragraphs: Tashiro was fired from the entertainment world in 2001 because of scandals.


title: New Orleans

paragraphs: New Orleans is a city in the state of Louisiana in the United States. It is the largest city in Louisiana, and the 49th-largest city in the U.S. It is the capital of Orleans Parish. It was named in honour of the French Duke of Orléans (then Regent of France).

paragraphs: The city began as the capital of Louisiana (New France), part of the first French colonial empire at the mouth of the Mississippi River. It became a territory of the United States when President Thomas Jefferson bought the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. It became one of the world's great seaports. All the land is low, originally just a short vertical distance above sea level. In the last three hundred years, the city has sunk slowly into the marshy soil. Large portions of New Orleans are now below sea level. A system of many pumps, dikes, sea walls, and levees were built.

paragraphs: The Battle of New Orleans was fought here in 1815. The capture of New Orleans in 1863 was an important step in the defeat of the Confederacy in the American Civil War

paragraphs: Over half of the grain that is sent by ship to other countries, comes first by barge through the Port of New Orleans. The grains are grown in the farming states bordering the Mississippi River, the Missouri River, and Ohio Rivers. Much of the crude oil that is made into gasoline and diesel fuel is brought to New Orleans for oil refinery and distribution to other parts of the United States by barge or oil pipeline. Also, there are many oil well platforms nearby, in the Gulf of Mexico.

paragraphs: On August 29, 2005, New Orleans was affected by Hurricane Katrina. The special systems built to protect the city failed in several ways. It is estimated that more than three quarters (3/4) of New Orleans was under water in early September of 2005. Sewer, phone, electric and fresh water systems failed. Many people drowned. Many homes were completely covered with water. Important records, some from the French period of the 18th century were destroyed.

paragraphs: For years, many people believed that a flood in New Orleans would happen. A very serious flood happened several hundred miles upstream, on the Mississippi delta, when heavy rains fell in 1927. The hardships from that flood led many people to move away. Many moved to Chicago.

paragraphs: After Hurricane Katrina, many people who lived in the flooded city moved to other places in the US. Many people were afraid to move back. Their jobs and homes were gone and their possessions were lost. The people who could move back spread to many other states. Texas received the most flood victims. Many volunteers and charities are helping the flood victims to relocate to new homes and, at the same time, repair homes and services in this city. Several years after Katrina, New Orleans still had much fewer people than it did before the hurricane.


title: Mamluk

paragraphs: Mamluks are members of a military caste that controlled Egypt from 1254 to 1811. Other mamluks held power in some other Muslim countries. The word means "slave" in the Arabic language and they began as slaves. In 1517 the Ottoman Empire conquered them, but Mamluks continued to be powerful. Muhammad Ali Pasha defeated them and took control of Egypt in 1811.


title: Laurent Clerc

paragraphs: Laurent Clerc (born Louis Laurent Marie Clerc December 26, 1785 in France - July 18, 1869) co-founded the first school for the deaf (people who cannot hear) in the United States.

paragraphs: Deaf people in America respected Clerc and call him the "Father of the Deaf" because he founded the first school for the deaf in America in Hartford, Connecticut. Clerc and Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet founded that school on April 15, 1817 in an old hotel. The school moved to its present location in 1821 and is now named The American School for the Deaf. The American School for the Deaf is the oldest school for the deaf in the United States.


title: Ivory

paragraphs: Ivory is a hard yellowsh-white material made from the tusks and teeth of animals such as elephants, hippopotamuses and walruses. Ivory is now very rare and expensive since there are restrictions on hunting elephants for ivory. There are also laws against the trade of ivory. Some countries (including Zimbabwe and South Africa) argue that these laws should be removed or changed, to allow them to sell some ivory.

paragraphs: Ivory has been used to make piano keys, billiard balls, handles and small ornaments. Ivory has been used in artworks, such as carvings, since ancient times.

paragraphs: Ivory color represents quiet and pleasantness.


title: Political subdivisions of Brazil

paragraphs: Brazil is subdivided into 26 states and 1 Federal District (the capital city Brasília).


title: Vice president

paragraphs: A vice president is someone who helps a president conduct his or her duties. A vice president also takes over if a president is not available. In business and in government a vice president (VP) is below a president in rank. Vice is comes from Latin meaning 'in place of'. In British English a vice president in business is called a director. In some countries, a vice president is called a "deputy president".


title: Triple jump

paragraphs: The triple jump (also known in certain countries as a triple hop, step and jump or hop, skip and jump) is a athletics event. It has been a part of the World Championships since 1995. The event consists of someone running up to a line, jumping and landing on the same foot (a hop), jumping onto the other foot (a skip) and then jumping into a shallow pit of sand. The winner is the person whose final jump lands the farthest from the line they started jumping at. It is a common game played on playgrounds.


title: Texas hold 'em

paragraphs: Texas hold'em is a popular version of the card game poker.

paragraphs: Before any cards are dealt, two players to the left of the dealer make bets which are called the "Small Blind" and "Big Blind". These forced bets must be at least matched by the other players in order to keep their hands. The big blind is twice as much as the small blind. If the big blind was $1000, then it is said that the blinds are 500 and 1000. This money is put into a place in the center of the table that is called the "pot"

paragraphs: Each player is given two cards face down. These are called the player's "Hole Cards" or what the player has "in the hole". Once all the players have their hole cards, the betting starts. The player to the left of the Big Blind player starts the betting. The lowest amount that can be bet is the amount of the big blind. Players can bet more than the minimum. This is called "Raising". The amount a player can raise is determined by the type of the game being played (see below) If a player raises, the amount he raised the bet to is the new minimum. Each player in turn may either "Call" (pay the current bet amount), Raise, or "Fold" (quit the hand). This action keeps going around the table until each player has called or folded his hand.

paragraphs: After the first turn of betting is over, the dealer lays three cards face up on the table. This is called the "Flop". These three cards are "community cards". This means they are used by every player in the game along with the two hole cards each player has. After the flop, another turn of betting takes place. There is no starting bet in this turn (no blinds) unless a player makes a bet. Players may "Check" or bet nothing if no player before them in the turn has bet. If everyone checks, or if a player bets and all the others call or fold, then the round of betting is over.

paragraphs: Next the dealer lays another community card face up. This card is called "the turn" (or 4th Street). Another series of betting comes after this. This betting is the same as after the Flop.

paragraphs: Finally the dealer lays the last community card known as "the river" (or 5th Street). This card is again followed by a turn of betting, calling and folding by the players.

paragraphs: With the five community cards and their two hole cards, each player makes the best 5 card poker hand he can. The player with the best poker hand wins the round and the pot. If two or more players have the same hand, those players split the pot evenly. If one person bets and all other players have folded, the hand ends then and that player wins.

paragraphs: Texas Hold'em can be played several ways, including Limit, Pot Limit and No Limit games. The version of the game usually is the maximum a player can raise at any one time.

paragraphs: Limit games have a set amount that a player can raise at any time. If a game has a $10 limit, then a raise must be exactly $10. If more than one person raises, each one can only raise $10 more than the last raise. Typically, there is a "cap" of 3 raises per round. Also, when playing limit, the bet and raise amount will usually double for the turn and river betting rounds.

paragraphs: In a 4 player game, Player A bets $10. Player B raises $10 (puts in $20 total), Player C calls Player B (puts in $20). Player D at this point can either fold, pay $20 (call player B) or raise $10 to a total of $30. Player A would go next and either call (paying the difference between his $10 bet and the current bet). This would continue until all players either call or fold.

paragraphs: In Pot Limit games, the most a player can bet or raise is the total amount in the pot. With each bet or raise, the amount in the pot gets larger. This allows for larger raises.

paragraphs: In Spread Limit games, there is both a minimum and a maximum raise specified. For example, one could play $5–50 spread limit. The big blind would be $5 and the minimum raise would be $5 and the maximum raise would be $50.

paragraphs: In No Limit, there is not a limit of how much can be bet at any time. That is, it is just like Spread Limit, but with no maximum. A player can bet up to all money as he has. If a player bets all of his money, he is said to be "All In". If a player bets more money than another player has, the second player can call by going All In. If only those two players stay in the hand (all other players fold), the first player takes back any money that is over the amount the player going All In has. At this point, all betting stops and the dealer deals out the rest of the cards.

paragraphs: If a player goes All In and two or more players are still betting, the other betters can raise each other until they both call (or one of them also goes All In). A "side pot" is made in this case. It is the difference between the final bet and the first person's All In. Only the two players were not All In can win this pot. If the All In player wins the hand, he wins the main pot (his money plus an equal amount from each other player) and which ever of the other two players had the better hand wins the side pot. In an eight player game, it is possible to have several side pots with several people being All In at the same time. If there are not two player left who can bet, betting stops and all players turn their hands over.

paragraphs: Player A bets $5000. Player B only has $3000. He goes All In. Player C Raises $2000 (puts in a total of $7000). Player A calls (puts in $2000). At this point, the main pot is worth $9000 ($3000 from each player). The side pot is worth $8000 ($7000–3000 from Players A and C)

paragraphs: If player A or C wins, he wins both the main pot and the side pot ($17,000) and Player B is out of the game since he is out of money. If player B wins, he wins the main pot and the side pot goes to which ever player has the best hand between players A and C.

paragraphs: Tournaments are what people often see when poker is shown on television. When a player enters a tournament, he pays an entry fee called the "buy-in." Most of his buy-in is placed with other player's money in the prize pool. Usually, a small portion of the buy-in is kept by the tournament officials for their expenses (and profit). The player is given a table and seat assignment, and a certain number of chips - the same amount as every other player. Unlike normal chips, these tournament chips have no cash value (though they often are referred to with dollar amounts). Players must continue to play until they run out of chips. The tournament continues until one player has accumulated all of the chips. The order in which people lose all their chips (or "bust out"), is their finishing order. That is, the last player to bust out is the second-place finisher. The prize pool is divided amongst a fraction of the top finishers (usually about 10%). The first-place winner usually gets a much larger share, with the prizes diminishing until the prize pool is empty. The player who was the last player to finish without winning any prize is said to have finished "on the bubble."

paragraphs: As players bust out of the tournament, the average player's chip stack gets larger. In order to insure that the blinds do not become insignificant in the face of the growth in chip stacks, tournaments are played in timed "rounds." At the beginning of each round typically the blinds increase. Every few rounds there will be a short break between rounds. For tournaments that last longer than a day, there will be a last level for the day, and the tournament will resume the next day.

paragraphs: Most tournaments only allow a player to buy-in and receive chips once, at the beginning. These are called "freeze out" tournaments. Some tournaments allow players to buy-in more than once for the first few levels of the tournament. These players are said to "re-buy" and the money they use to re-buy goes into the prize pool with the rest of the buy-ins.


title: Creationism

paragraphs: Creationism is the religious belief that the universe was created in the way described in religious books. According to Genesis, God directly created life from the nothingness that was before, by fixing the chaos that was. Other religions have different creation myths. The first approach is known as creatio ex nihilo, which is the Latin name for "creation from nothing".

paragraphs: The idea that God created the world has been taught for thousands of years by writers such as Augustine of Hippo.

paragraphs: Creationism as it is known today started in the 19th century by fundamentalist Protestants who were opposed to the theories that scientists began to put forward about geology and evolution.

paragraphs: In the 20th century, creationist movements also started in Islam and Judaism.

paragraphs: Creationists do not believe that all of today's living things came about from simple organisms changing or evolving slowly over time. They believe that life was created much as it is today, and that one form of life cannot change into another. While biologists and paleontologists say that fossils are different from the life we see today, and can be put into order to show changes over time. Young Earth Creationism says life was created in a short time, in its current form. They point to the Flood of Noah to account for most rock formations and most fossils. There is also an Old Earth creationism.

paragraphs: Young Earth Creationism goes completely against conventional geochronology. This kind of creationism says God created the earth roughly 6,000 or 10,000 years ago as told in Genesis. Young Earth Creationists believe that God created the world in six days (with God resting on the seventh) as the Book of Genesis says. Young Earth Creationism says that Noah's flood is important to creationism. They argue that "the first buried fossils of each group are complete and complex (complicated), strong support for the biblical concept (idea) that each kind of life was created well designed to multiply after its own kind." They believe that the Bible is literally true (see Biblical inerrancy). Some people say a problem with this is that fossils appear in layers called strata.

paragraphs: If fossils were of animals drowned in the flood scientists think they would be mixed together. Christian creationists say this happened because of the Noahic Flood, and point to fossils of animals that died quickly. They offer many defenses. Some of these are:1. Fossils that were buried quickly, as in Lagerstätten. One fossil Creationists talk about is where one fish is eating another fish when it was buried.2. Polystrate fossils are fossils that go through multiple rock layers. Christian scientists say this can't happen if the rock layers were formed quickly3. Bent rock layers are rock layers that are bent in a way that Christian scientists say can not happen over millions of years. Christians say there are a lot of these.Other creationists believe God created everything between 13,000 and 14,000 million years ago. This is called Old Earth Creationism.

paragraphs: Creationists point to the perfection of Earth's size, shape, and distance as designed by God, and Earth's "im"perfections as proofs that the Earth is dirtied by humans' sin.

paragraphs: The term creationism can be used with more than one meaning.

paragraphs: Liberal Christians do not believe in Biblical inerrancy and say God used evolution to create mankind and other life. This idea is called theistic evolution.

paragraphs: Islamic creationism is the belief that the universe (including humanity) was directly created by Allah as in the Qur'an. Currently, Islam takes religious texts literally. Many scholars say that Genesis is a corrupted version of God's message.

paragraphs: There is also a creation myth in the Qu'ran, but it is more vague than Genesis. This allows for more interpretation. Several liberal movements within Islam generally accept the scientific positions on the age of the earth, the age of the universe and evolution.

paragraphs: Islam also has its own form of Theistic evolution, which says that mainstream scientific analysis of the origin of the universe is supported by the Qur'an. Many liberal Muslims believe in evolutionary creationism.

paragraphs: Khalid Anees, president of the Islamic Society of Britain attended a conference called 'Creationism: Science and Faith in Schools'. During that conference, he made points including the following: There is no contradiction between what is revealed in the Koran and natural selection and survival of the fittest. However, some Muslims, such as Adnan Oktar, do not agree that one species can develop from another. Other Muslims do believe that one species can develop from another.

paragraphs: But there is also a growing movement of Islamic creationism. Like the movement in Christianity, Islamic creationists are concerned that the findings of evolutionary theory might contradict what is written in the Qu'ran.

paragraphs: There are several verses in the Qur'an which some modern writers have interpreted as being compatible with the expansion of the universe, Big Bang and Big Crunch theories:

paragraphs: "Do not the Unbelievers see that the skies (space) and the earth were joined together, then We clove them asunder and We created every living thing out of the water. Will they not then believe?"

paragraphs: "Then turned He to the sky (space) when it was smoke, and said unto it and unto the earth: Come both of you, willingly or loth. They said: We come, obedient."

paragraphs: "And it is We Who have constructed the sky (space) with might, and it is We Who are steadily expanding it."

paragraphs: "On the day when We will roll up the sky (space) like the rolling up of the scroll for writings, as We originated the first creation, (so) We shall reproduce it; a promise (binding on Us); surely We will bring it about."

paragraphs: The Bahá'í Faith considers the creation narratives in previous Abrahamic religions to be symbolic and not literal. Bahá'í Faith also accepts that the Earth is ancient. Baha'ullah existed at the same time as Charles Darwin, so was aware of Darwin's works.

paragraphs: Religious communities in the United States encourage the inclusion of supernatural explanations of the origins

paragraphs: of both life and the universe as a whole.

paragraphs: Evolution was not included in school textbooks until the 1960s.

paragraphs: In 1987, the United States Supreme Court acknowledged creationism is not scientific, and


title: Flute

paragraphs: The Flute is a musical instrument. A person who plays the flute is called a "flutist".

paragraphs: There are many kinds of flutes. The most common concert flute is on C tuning. In addition, there are other flutes like piccolos, alto flutes, and bass flutes.

paragraphs: Flutes have changed over time. Pan flutes were made for many centuries. Later, the "Renaissance flute" came into use. In Baroque music "flute" means recorder, so flutes were called "traverso" in order not to confuse them. A Bavarian flute maker named Boehm reformed flutes largely to enlarge the volume and improve the way of using the chromatic scale. Later improvements created the modern flute.

paragraphs: There is a large repertoire of music for the flute. Baroque composers used them in their orchestras, usually in pairs, and composed concertos, chamber music and solo music for them. This has continued to the present day. Orchestras have at least 2 flutes each, sometimes three or four. Sometimes there is 1 piccolo which plays an octave higher, or an alto flute which plays a fifth lower than the flute.

paragraphs: The flute sounds very bright and cheerful playing high notes. Please listen, for example, to the "Badinerie" from Bach's "Orchestral Suite no 2". It can also sound very thoughtful or sad when playing in its lowest register. A good example is the opening of Debussy's "Prélude à l'après midi d'un faune also flutes Andre a brass instrument and can make a really low pitch.

paragraphs: The flute is a woodwind instrument, but modern flutes are made of metal. It was made of wood a long time ago. It doesn't need lip vibration like brass instruments. Flute players hold it horizontally and make a sound by blowing their breath over the edge of the hole of flute's head. This makes the air vibrate. Flutes need the second most amount of air for an instrument, next to the tuba. Flautists can change the pitch by pushing buttons or changing the direction of the breath. These buttons are called keys. The breath also can change the tone or the volume. Flute has many variation of the sound. The sound of flute is high, so composers often express it as a bird. A flute matches with many instruments such as violin and piano, and is often part of an ensemble.

paragraphs: There are many kinds of flute, so the material also varies. Most flutes are made out of silver. Gold, platinum, wood, and aluminum are also used. The price of flute depends on the material, but there are many different playing situations, so not only expensive flutes are useful.

paragraphs: The oldest kind of side-blown flute was made in India.

paragraphs: In India, a flute called bansuri is used. It has no keys and is often made of bamboo or cane.

paragraphs: In China, a simple flute is used, which has no keys. The Chinese flute sometimes has a thin piece of paper over one hole, which adds a bright raspiness to the sound.

paragraphs: There are other kinds of flute, that are played by blowing into the end, like a recorder. Some of these are tin whistle, flageolet, tabor pipe, and ocarina.

paragraphs: In Japan there is a kind of flute called a "shakuhachi", which is made from the bottom of a bamboo plant. It is blown at the end, but is not like the recorder because it does not have an opening that guides the air across a hole that makes the sound.

paragraphs: In South America, there is a flute called a "quena" that makes its sound the same way as the "shakuhachi".

paragraphs: The Pan pipes are a form of flute with no holes. It has more than one pipe connected together, with the bottom closed. The player blows across the top of one of the pipes to make a note. The pipes are in different sizes, so that each one makes a different note. They are named after Pan, who played this instrument in Greek myth.

paragraphs: There are flutes in many cultures. The flute has been described as "a musical weed which springs up everywhere".

paragraphs: The band Jethro Tull was founded by a flute player (Ian Anderson). It can be heard in many songs. One of them is the hit "Locomotive Breath".


title: Staind

paragraphs: Staind is an American rock band from Massachusetts, United States. The band was started in 1994. Its first album, "Tormented" was released in 1996. Staind's newest album, "The Illusion of Progress" was released on August 19, 2008. Some of its biggest hits have been "Outside", "It's Been Awhile", and "So Far Away".

paragraphs: In 2013, They announced that they were going on hiatus but were not breaking up.


title: Ocarina

paragraphs: An ocarina is a kind of flute that is not made out of a tube. Because the ocarina is in a round or box-like shape, its sound is a little different from other flutes.

paragraphs: The ten-hole ocarina was first made by Giuseppe Donati, in Italy, in 1853. Instruments like the ocarina had been made for hundreds of years before that in South America, China, and Africa. In Europe, a form called the gemshorn was made in the 16th century. The gemshorn was made from an animal horn.

paragraphs: In the 19th century, groups of ocarina players, with different sized ocarinas, played classical and folk music. Italian ocarinas became known throughout the world, because of this.

paragraphs: In the United States the ocarina was called the sweet potato, because its shape is like a sweet potato.

paragraphs: In 1928, the Japanese began making ocarinas. They added two small holes to the old kind of ocarinas. Japanese 12-hole ocarinas can play a larger scale than 10-hole ocarinas.

paragraphs: In the 1960s, the English ocarina was invented. It has four finger holes, and may have one or two thumb holes. English ocarinas are made in many shapes.


title: Clarinet

paragraphs: The clarinet body is made up of the mouthpiece, barrel, upper joint, pads, keys, ring key, rod, lower joint, and bell. The clarinet has one reed. The reed is made of cane, bamboo or plastic, which varies in thickness. The reed is attached to the mouthpiece with a clamp called a "ligature", which is usually made out of metal. Blowing through the mouthpiece makes the reed vibrate, and therefore makes the noise. The body of the clarinet is a cylindrical tube with holes. The holes are covered by the fingers to make musical notes. There are also buttons pressed by the fingers which allow pads over holes to open or close so all notes of the chromatic scale can be played. The buttons are usually played with the "pinkie" finger.

paragraphs: One kind of keyed clarinet is called the Albert . Another kind is called the system. The Boehm clarinet is much used by classical orchestras and by jazz musicians. In North America and other Western countries, the most popular clarinet is the clarinet pitched in B flat. This means that if a clarinet player plays a note that is written as a C, it sounds like a B flat on a piano. The B flat clarinet is used in concert, marching, and school bands. Musicians in orchestras also play the A-clarinet (a semitone lower), the sopranino E flat clarinet (a fourth higher) and the Bass_clarinet in B flat (sounding an octave lower).

paragraphs: A beginner clarinet player usually can play a note within the first minutes of a lesson. Making a sound with the clarinet is easier than making a sound with many other wind instruments. Most instrumental music teachers consider it to be a good instrument for young players as soon as the lower adult teeth have grown. The fingering system is very similar to the flute and the saxophone, so changing from playing the clarinet to one of these instruments is not too difficult after the student is comfortable playing the clarinet and has reached a certain level.

paragraphs: A famous piece that features a clarinet is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Clarinet Concerto, which has the clarinet playing the melody with the rest of the orchestra playing along. Written in 1791, it is often considered the first great composition for the instrument.


title: 16th century

paragraphs: The 16th century is the century from 1501 to 1600. In this century, many Europeans visited or moved to the newly-found Americas and some also searched for new routes to Asia. There was much change in Europe, such as the Protestant Reformation.

paragraphs: Note: years before or after the 16th century are in "italics".


title: Lute

paragraphs: The lute is a kind of musical instrument with strings.

paragraphs: The first lutes were brought to Spain by the Moors. Others may have been brought to Europe from Arabic lands. The lute is one of the ancestors of the classical guitar.

paragraphs: A lute has an oval-shaped back, made of strips of wood. It has a flat front, with a neck attached to it. Early lutes had four strings or eight sets of two strings. Beneath these strings, there were strings tied to the neck, where the player pressed down to make the notes. These strings were called frets.

paragraphs: The front part of the body is made of a flat piece of wood, and known as the sound board. It has a beautifully carved hole in the center which is called the rose.

paragraphs: The lute was at first played by strumming or plucking with a pick. Later they were played with the fingers alone.

paragraphs: During the Renaissance, bigger lutes were designed. Most lutes at this time had seven or eight sets of strings. New kinds of lutes were invented. One new kind of lute made in the Renaissance was the theorbo. Another kind was the archlute.

paragraphs: In European classical music the lute was changed into the harpsichord and the mandolin.

paragraphs: Today there are kinds of lute still being played in Greece, Turkey, and in Arabic-speaking countries. The Renaissance lute is also played today, in western countries, as well as a German lute that is played the same way as a guitar.


title: Independence Day (United States)

paragraphs: In the United States, Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July or the Fourth, is a holiday commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain. On Independence Day there are many events such as fireworks, parades, barbecues, carnivals, picnics, concerts, baseball games, political speeches and ceremonies, and various other public and private events. These events celebrate the history, government, and traditions of the United States.

paragraphs: Independence Day, the only holiday that celebrates the United States, is a national holiday marked by patriotic displays. Similar to other summer-themed events, Independence Day celebrations often take place outdoors. Independence Day is a federal holiday, so all non-essential federal institutions (like the postal service and federal courts) are closed on that day. Many politicians make it a point on this day to appear at a public event to praise the nation's heritage, laws, history, society, and people.

paragraphs: Families often celebrate Independence Day by having or going to a picnic or barbecue, and take advantage of the day off and in some years, long weekend to gather with relatives and friends. People may also do fun and relaxing hobbies like any other day off such as swimming, fishing, boating, sunbathing, playing sports, or just kicking back and relaxing. Many stores are open on the fourth so people may go shopping. In the evening, people may launch their own fireworks. Decorations (e.g., streamers, balloons, and clothing) are generally colored red, white, and blue, the colors of the American flag. Parades often are in the morning, while fireworks displays occur in the evening at such places as parks, fairgrounds, or town squares.

paragraphs: On the 4th of July Americans do these things:


title: Microsoft Office

paragraphs: Microsoft Office or Microsoft Office System is a collection of computer programs made by Microsoft. The programs are created for all users. There are different versions of the software for home users and for business users. Some versions may offer more programs, and some versions cost less than others, but none are for free. The current version is Microsoft Office 2016 (Windows) and Microsoft Office for Mac 2016 (Mac).

paragraphs: The versions available are made up of some or all or more of the following programs:

paragraphs: There are a lot of other programs which are competitors to Microsoft Office.

paragraphs: Microsoft Office 365 is a new way of sharing Microsoft Office documents with people from your organization or between your computers, syncing to the cloud. In order to sync to the cloud, you need a Microsoft account.

paragraphs: You can get a free trial of Office for 30 days.


title: Afrikaans

paragraphs: Afrikaans is a West Germanic language mainly spoken in South Africa and Namibia. It was originally the dialect that developed among the Afrikaner Protestant settlers, the unfree workers, and slaves brought to the Cape area in southwestern South Africa by the Dutch East India Company ( - VOC) between 1652 and 1705. Most of these first settlers were from the United Provinces (now Netherlands), though there were also many from Germany, some from France, a few from Scotland, and various other countries. The unfree workers and slaves were Malays, and Malagasy in addition to the native Khoi and Bushmen.

paragraphs: Research by J. A. Heese says that until 1807, 36.8% of the ancestors of the White Afrikaans speaking population were Dutch, 35% were German, 14.6% were French and 7.2% non-white (of African and/or Asian origins).

paragraphs: Heese's figures are questioned by other researchers, however, and especially the non-white component quoted by Heese is very much in doubt.

paragraphs: A sizeable minority of those who spoke Afrikaans as a first language were not white. The dialect became known as "Cape Dutch". Later, Afrikaans was sometimes called "African Dutch" or "Kitchen Dutch". Afrikaans was considered a Dutch dialect until the early 20th century, when it began to be widely known as a different language. The name "Afrikaans" is simply the Dutch word for "African", and the language is the African form of Dutch.


title: Leonard Bernstein

paragraphs: Leonard Bernstein (August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American composer and conductor. He was born Louis Bernstein in Lawrence, Massachusetts to Ukrainian Jewish parents. He is best known for conducting the New York Philharmonic and composing "West Side Story" and "Candide".

paragraphs: He was a heavy smoker who had emphysema. He died of a heart attack in New York City.


title: Afrikaans Language Monument

paragraphs: The Afrikaans Language Monument () is the only monument in the world dedicated to a language. It is on a hill overlooking the Teachers' Training College in Paarl, Western Cape Province, South Africa. Completed in 1975, it was built to celebrate the 100 years birthday of Afrikaans being declared as a different language from Dutch.

paragraphs: The monument is made of tapering structures of a convex and concave nature. They show the influences of different languages and cultures on Afrikaans itself. They are also a symbol of political developments in South Africa, as follows:

paragraphs: On a large inscription at the entrance, two quotes from important Afrikaans poets are written.

paragraphs: The phrase ""DIT IS ONS ERNS"" ("we are earnest [about this]", or "this is our earnestness") is inscribed on the pathway leading up to the monument.