title: John Constable

paragraphs: John Constable (East Bergholt, Suffolk 11 June 1776 – London, 31 March 1837) was an English painter and artist.

paragraphs: His family had plenty of money because his father owned a business running corn mills. Constable's father wanted his son to take over the business after him, but Constable started painting at an early age, and convinced his father to let him follow art as a career.

paragraphs: He married Maria Bicknell in 1816, and they had seven children. She died in 1829 of tuberculosis.

paragraphs: His paintings are treasures of British art, but in his lifetime his work was appreciated more in France. Constable's most famous painting, "The Hay Wain" (now in the National Gallery in London), was first shown at the Paris Salon in 1824. He had to wait until he was 52 years old before the Royal Academy voted that he should be a member.

paragraphs: Constable was influenced by the French painter Claude Lorrain. His most famous paintings are landscapes showing the countryside around Dedham and Flatford, where his father's mills were.

paragraphs: Constable's idea was to use nature itself, rather than imagination. He told Leslie, "When I sit down to make a sketch from nature, the first thing I try to do is to forget that I have ever seen a picture".

paragraphs: Although Constable produced paintings throughout his life for the market of patrons and R.A. exhibitions, on-the-spot studies were essential. He never just followed a formula. "The world is wide", he wrote, "no two days are alike, nor even two hours; neither were there ever two leaves of a tree alike since the creation of all the world; and the genuine productions of art, like those of nature, are all distinct from each other".

paragraphs: Constable painted many full-scale preliminary sketches of his landscapes in order to test the composition in advance of finished pictures. These large sketches, with their free and vigorous brushwork, were revolutionary at the time. The sketches for and convey a vigour missing from his finished oil paintings of the same subjects. Compare the composition of this preliminary study with the finished painting: . Possibly more than any other aspect of Constable's work, the oil sketches reveal him to be an avant-garde painter, one who showed that landscape painting could be taken in a totally new direction.

paragraphs: Constable's watercolours were also remarkably free for their time. The almost mystical "Stonehenge", 1835, with its double rainbow, is often considered to be one of the greatest watercolours ever painted. When he exhibited it in 1836, Constable appended a text to the title: "The mysterious monument of Stonehenge, standing remote on a bare and boundless heath, as much unconnected with the events of past ages as it is with the uses of the present, carries you back beyond all historical records into the obscurity of a totally unknown period".

paragraphs: In addition to the full-scale oil sketches, Constable completed numerous studies of landscapes and clouds, to become more scientific in his recording of atmospheric conditions. , for example, prompted a critic to write: "the atmosphere possesses a characteristic humidity about it, that almost imparts the wish for an umbrella".

paragraphs: The sketches were the first ever done in oils directly from the subject in the open air. To convey the effects of light and movement, Constable used broken brushstrokes, often in small touches, which he worked over lighter passages. This gave an impression of sparkling light over the landscape. One of the most expressionistic and powerful of all his studies is "Seascape Study with Rain Cloud", painted in around 1824 at Brighton, which captures with slashing dark brushstrokes an exploding shower at sea. Constable also became interested in painting rainbow effects, for example in "Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows", 1831, and in "", 1833.

paragraphs: To the sky studies he added notes, often on the back of the sketches, of the prevailing weather conditions, direction of light, and time of day, believing that the sky was "the key note, the standard of scale, and the chief organ of sentiment" in a landscape painting. In this habit he is known to have been influenced by the pioneering work of the meteorologist Luke Howard on the classification of clouds. "I have done a good deal of skying", Constable wrote to Fisher on 23 October 1821.

paragraphs: Constable once wrote in a letter to Leslie, "My limited and abstracted art is to be found under every hedge, and in every lane, and therefore nobody thinks it worth picking up". He could never have imagined how influential his honest techniques would turn out to be. Constable's art inspired not only contemporaries like Géricault and Delacroix, but the Barbizon School, and the French impressionists of the late nineteenth century.


title: Alyssa Milano

paragraphs: Alyssa Milano (born December 19, 1972) is an American actress. She is best known for her appearance in the 1980s television series "Who's The Boss?". She was one of the stars of The WB's series "Charmed" since 1998.

paragraphs: Milano was born in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. She moved to Great Kills, Staten Island early in her life.

paragraphs: In 2015, Milano supported Bernie Sanders for President of the United States in the 2016 presidential election.

paragraphs: In October 2017, Milano helped popularized the #MeToo movement, an international internet movement, to raise awareness of the dangers and victims of sexual abuse and sexual harassment.


title: A Beautiful Mind (movie)

paragraphs: A Beautiful Mind is a 2001 biographical movie about the mathematician John Nash and his experiences of schizophrenia. It is set in Massachusetts and New Jersey. It stars Russell Crowe, Ed Harris, Jennifer Connelly, Christopher Plummer, and Paul Bettany. It was directed by Ron Howard.

paragraphs: The movie is based on a book by Sylvia Nasar.

paragraphs: The movie won four Academy Awards, including the Academy Award for Best Picture. Connelly won for Best Supporting Actress.


title: McGurk effect

paragraphs: The McGurk effect shows how hearing and vision are used for speech perception. Named after the man who found it, Harry McGurk (23 February 1936 – 17 April 1998), it says that people hear speech with their ears, and use other senses to help interpret what they hear. The McGurk effect happens when watching a video of a person saying /ga/ with a sound-recording saying /ba/. When this is done, a third sound is heard: /da/.

paragraphs: The McGurk effect is robust: that is, it still works even if a person know about it. This is different from some optical illusions, which do not work anymore once a person can see it.

paragraphs: The McGurk effect describes a phenomenon that shows how speech perception is not dependent only on auditory information. Visual information in the form of reading the lips is also taken into account and combined with the auditory information that is heard to produce the final stimuli perceived. This can get particularly interesting when the auditory information of one sound, paired with the spoken lips of another sound, ultimately combine to form the perception of a third different sound.

paragraphs: When humans perceive speech, they not only take in auditory information but also visual information as well in the form of reading lips, facial expression, and other body bodily cues. Usually, these two sources of information are consistent with each other so the brain simply combines them to form one unified perceived stimuli. When the McGurk effect is tested and the incoming information from the ears and eyes differ, the brian tries to make sense of the contradictory stimuli which ultimately results in a fusion of both. In humans, information received from the eyes dominates other sensory modalities, including audition, so for instance when 'ba' is heard and 'ga' is seen, the resulting stimuli is heard is 'da'. The resulting stimuli is what happens when the brain tries to make sense of the two different sets of information.

paragraphs: Interestingly enough, around the same time that Harry McGurk and John Macdonald discovered what is now known as the McGurk effect, another British researcher also stumbled upon this phenomenon. Barbara Dodd discovered a similar effect with audio-visual speech interpretation but instead it was with the visual cue of 'hole' and the audio cue of 'tough' which ultimately generated the audio perception of 'towel'. These discoveries in audio-visual speech perception ultimately changed the way scientists and researchers view the interaction of different senses in the brain.

paragraphs: Infants also show signs similar to the McGurk effect. Obviously you cannot ask the infant what they hear since they cannot verbally communicate yet but by measuring certain variables such as their attention to audiovisual stimuli, effects similar to the McGurk effect can be seen. Very soon after infants are born, sometimes even within minutes of birth, they are able to imitate adult facial movements; an important first step in audiovisual speech perception. Next comes the ability to recognize lip movements and speech sounds a couple of weeks after birth. Evidence of the McGurk effect is not visible though until about 4 months of age, with a much stronger presence at around 5 months after birth. To test this effect on infants, infants are first habituated to a stimuli. Once the stimuli gets changed, the infant exhibits an effect similar to the McGurk effect. As infants grow older and continue to develop, the McGurk effect also becomes more prominent as visual cues start to override purely auditory information in audiovisual speech perception.

paragraphs: Although the McGurk effect has been primarily studied in English because of its origins in English speaking countries, research has now spread to others countries with different languages as well. In particular, the comparison between English and Japanese has been prominent. Research has shown that the McGurk effect is much more prominent in English listeners compared to Japanese listeners. One strong hypothesis for this is the difference between cultures and how each culture behaves and interacts. Japanese culture is notable for being politeness and avoiding direct eye or face contact when interacting.

paragraphs: This phenomenon has also been studied in French Canadian children and adults with similar findings. When compared to adults though, children tend to show less susceptibility to the McGurk effect since their primary sense of speech perception is dominated by auditory information. This is evident in children scoring lower on lip reading tasks when compared to adults. Nevertheless, the McGurk effect was present in certain contexts but the effects were much more variable than when the tests were run on adults.

paragraphs: Although the McGurk effect's importance may seem isolated to just psychological researchers and scientists, this phenomenon has been expanded to everyday audio and visual speech perception as well. Two researchers by the name of Wareham and Wright conducted a study in 2005 that may suggest that the McGurk effect can influence how everyday speech is perceived. This is especially important in witness testimony where the observations and accounts of the witness are usually expected to be accurate and correct. With this information, witness testimonies now must be interpreted with the notion that the witness may be unaware of their own inaccurate perception.


title: J. M. W. Turner

paragraphs: Joseph Mallord William Turner (Covent Garden, London, 23 April 1775 – Chelsea, London, 19 December 1851) was an English painter and artist. He was one of the greatest artists of landscape painting, with a great mastery of light and colour.

paragraphs: His father was a maker of wigs. His mother was ill with mental problems, and the young Turner was sent to live with his uncle in Brentford, where he first started to paint.

paragraphs: Turner became a student at the Royal Academy of Art school in London when he was 14 years old. He was accepted into the Academy a year later. He had a watercolour painting in 1790 in the Academy's important art show. He had only been studying for a year. In 1802, at the age of only 28, he was elected a member of the Royal Academy, and later became its Professor of Perspective.

paragraphs: In 1802, Turner travelled around Europe, visiting France and Switzerland. He also went to the Louvre in Paris. During his life, he often travelled across Europe, visiting Venice in Italy several times. As his personal style developed, he began to produce paintings that were generalised or exaggerated in form and colour, rather than realistic or detailed. These caused much argument as to their artistic value, but nowadays are his best loved works. On his death, he left 300 oils and 20,000 watercolours to the British nation. Some of his watercolours are the most abstract or generalised of his paintings.

paragraphs: Turner never married, although he had two children with his mistress Sarah Danby. For much of his life, he lived with his father, who helped him in his studio until he died in 1829.

paragraphs: In his early career, Turner was influenced by the painters Claude Lorrain and Nicolas Poussin, who painted "historical" landscapes.

paragraphs: Turner became interested in natural catastrophes, and natural phenomena such as sunlight, storm, rain, and fog. He was fascinated by the violent power of the sea. His paintings revolve around the light of the sun, shown in infinite variety. His work showed some of the ideas of the impressionists decades before they arrived on the scene. Monet, in particular, studied Turner's methods.

paragraphs: His most famous paintings include "The Fighting Temeraire tugged to her last berth to be broken up". Often called just "The Fighting Temeraire", this is a picture of a famous warship that was used in the Battle of Trafalgar. Other pictures include "Rain, Steam and Speed", which shows a steam train crossing a bridge, and "Snowstorm" which shows a steamship in a snowstorm trying to get into a harbour. In order to get the right feeling into this painting, he had himself tied to a ship's mast during a storm, so that he could see what it was like. Some of his most famous paintings show the roughness of nature, with bleak landscapes and violent storms.

paragraphs: But also there is beauty and a sense of calmness in pictures such as Crossing the Brook, a stunning scenic view of the Tamar Valley and River from New Bridge near Gunnislake in Cornwall, painted in 1815, a view which can still be admired today.

paragraphs: As he grew older, Turner's behaviour became a bit odd, and he became depressed quite often. He died in Chelsea on 19 September 1851, and was buried next to the painter Joshua Reynolds in St Paul's Cathedral.

paragraphs: Even while Turner was alive, some people thought he was a genius. Some people complained that the pictures he painted when he was older were not realistic, and some even joked that they could have been painted with a mop. However, most think that his way of painting shows complete mastery.


title: Mug

paragraphs: A mug is a container for drinking. It has one handle on the side. It is usually made of ceramic or steel. People might talk about getting "a mug of beer" at a local pub. They might also drink a mug of coffee in the morning.


title: Claude Monet

paragraphs: Claude Monet (14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French impressionist artist.

paragraphs: One of his most famous paintings was called "Water Lilies", which he repeated many times in various conditions.

paragraphs: Monet was born in Paris, France. His father wanted him to help run the family's grocery business. However, Monet wanted to be an artist. When he was young he met the painter Eugène Boudin who taught him to use oil paints, and encouraged him to paint out of doors.

paragraphs: Monet joined the French Army in Algeria for two years from 1860-1862. When he became ill he left the army to study art at university. He did not like the way art was taught, and joined the painter Charles Gleyre in his studio. He met other artists here, including Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Alfred Sisley. They shared their ideas about painting.

paragraphs: In 1866 Monet had a child with Camille Doncieux, who had been his model. They married in 1870 and had two children, Michel and Joseph. In 1870 he moved to England to escape the Franco-Prussian War, and in 1871 he moved to Argenteuil near Paris where he painted some of his most famous pictures. In 1873 he painted "Impression, Sunrise", showing the sea at Le Havre. When this picture was shown in 1874 one critic took its title and called the group of artists "Impressionists". He intended to make fun of the artists, but the name has stuck and this is what people today call this style of painting.

paragraphs: In 1879 Camille died of tuberculosis. Alice Hoschedé decided to help Monet by taking care of his children as well as her own. In 1883 they moved to a house in Giverny where Monet planted a large garden. Monet married Alice in 1892.

paragraphs: Monet found that his garden inspired him to paint pictures of it, particularly the water lilies. Alice died in 1911, and his son Jean was killed in World War I in 1914.

paragraphs: Monet used broad brush strokes to build up his pictures, and painted quite quickly to try and get the idea of the light he could see into his paintings. If you go very close to one of his pictures it is hard to see what it shows, but if you stand back everything becomes clear.

paragraphs: His later paintings include series, in which he paints the same subject in different lights. For example, he painted a series of pictures of haystacks in a field, and another series of pictures of the west front of Rouen Cathedral. There are many paintings of the lilies in his garden at Giverny.


title: Video

paragraphs: Video is a technology. It records moving images onto some medium. The recorder may be a separate machine such as a videocassette recorder (also called a VCR) or built into something else such as a video camera.

paragraphs: A popular 20th century videotape format was VHS. It was used by many people to record television programmes onto cassettes. This is usually an analog format. In the 21st century digital recording is used more often than analog recording.

paragraphs: By extension, a video clip is a short movie. A music video usually stars someone who recorded an (audio) album. One purpose is to promote the album.


title: Exodus

paragraphs: Exodus is the second book in the Torah. Exodus in Hebrew is called "Shmowt", which means 'names.'

paragraphs: Exodus means 'going out' in Latin. It is about how the Hebrew people were led out of Egypt by God. Moses, their leader, hears God's words and then tells the Israelites. Exodus ends with God's laws and his instructions on how to build a holy container called the Ark of the Covenant.

paragraphs: After the Hebrews went to Egypt to get food, the old Pharaoh died, and a new Pharaoh came to power and made each Hebrew a slave. The Pharaoh made the Hebrews work very hard and told his soldiers to throw their babies into the Nile River. One baby, Moses, was put in a reed basket set adrift on the Nile. He was later rescued by an Egyptian princess, grew up in Pharaoh's palace, and later killed an Egyptian slaveowner. Moses escaped from Egypt and lived away from his people in Midian. He lived with Jethro, his father-in-law.

paragraphs: One day, while Moses was tending his flocks, God appeared in a burning bush to Moses and instructed him to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. As Moses had no confidence in doing this, God gives him his brother Aaron to help him. Aaron was a good talker and helped Moses speak to the Pharaoh.

paragraphs: When he returned to Egypt, Moses asked the Pharaoh to let the Israelites go, but the Pharaoh refused. Through God's power, Moses causes ten plagues to come on Egypt.

paragraphs: The last plague was the death of all the firstborns in Egypt. Only the Israelites' firstborns were spared, as they had the blood of a young lamb on their door, so God did not let the Angel of Death enter their houses (12:23). The Pharaoh finally decided to let the Israelites go.

paragraphs: While the Israelites were crossing the Red Sea, the Pharaoh changed his mind and decided to pursue them with his troops. The Israelites passed safely as Moses parted the Sea with his staff by God's power. Once the Hebrews all passed the sea closed, leaving all the Pharaoh's troops to drown.

paragraphs: Later, at Mount Sinai, Moses received the law and the Ten Commandments from God. But the Israelites sinned against God by worshiping an idol (a golden calf). Moses broke the first two stone tablets of the Ten Commandments in anger. God later gave him another two. He also told Moses how to build the Ark of the Covenant.

paragraphs: The book has been filmed several times, as "The Ten Commandments" and "The Prince of Egypt".


title: Stretching (body piercing)

paragraphs: Stretching is a word used to describe a kind of body modification. It is when a person widens a pierced hole in their body.

paragraphs: Stretching is usually done a little bit at a time, so the pierced hole would not bleed or get infected.

paragraphs: There are some common ways used to stretch piercings, of different origins and useful for different people.

paragraphs: Body jewellery is measured in gauges from 20g up to 000g; sizes larger than that are measured in fractions of inches. In Europe they are measured in millimeters.

paragraphs: The table below is not exact, but very close.


title: Chernobyl disaster

paragraphs: The Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear disaster which occurred on April 26, 1986 at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Pripyat, Ukraine. At that time, Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union.

paragraphs: This event was one of the worst accidents in the history of nuclear power. It was rated at level 7, the most severe level, on the International Nuclear Event Scale. The only other accident with a level 7 rating is Fukushima. Because the RBMK reactors used at the plant had no containment building to keep the radiation in, radioactive fallout drifted over parts of the western Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, the UK, and the eastern United States. Large areas of Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia were badly contaminated. About 60% of the radioactive fallout landed in Belarus. About 360,000 people needed to be moved to other places, where they could live after the accident. In addition, many people suffered from long term illnesses and some people were even diagnosed with thyroid cancer and acute radiation poisoning.

paragraphs: Before the accident, there was a planned power reduction. By the beginning of the day shift, the power level had reached 50%. Following this, randomly, one of the regional power stations went offline. It was then requested that the further power reduction would be postponed. Despite this request, the reduction and preparations for a test that was to happen continued.

paragraphs: The accident occurred when the fourth reactor suffered a huge power increase. This led to the core of the reactor exploding. The explosion was so powerful that it blew the 1000 ton steel lid off the reactor. Due to this explosion, large amounts of radioactive materials and fuel were released. This caused the neutron moderator, made of graphite, to start to burn. The fire caused more radioactive fallout to be released, which was carried by the smoke of the fire into the environment.

paragraphs: Reactor 4 was covered by a "sarcophagus", made from steel and concrete to stop the escape of more radiation from elements such as corium, uranium and plutonium, as well as radioactive dust. The sarcophagus was covered in 2016 with the New Safe Confinement structure.

paragraphs: The accident raised concerns about the safety of the Soviet nuclear power industry. The Soviet Union slowed down the process of making its nuclear industry bigger for some time. The Soviet government also had to become less secretive as a result of the accident. Since then, Russia, Ukraine and Belarus have become separate countries. Those countries have been burdened with continuing costs for decontamination (removing the radiation) and health care because of the accident. Exposure to radiation leads to a higher risk of getting cancer, a deadly disease. It is difficult to accurately tell the number of deaths caused by the events at Chernobyl. The Chernobyl accident happened when some workers were testing the safety of the reactor. Some of the devices that stopped the reactor from exploding were switched off. Then, there was a power surge; the reactor fell out of control and exploded.

paragraphs: Most of the people affected have not died yet. When and if the people involved die of cancer, or related diseases, it will be hard to tell if this was because of the accident. A 2005 IAEA report tells of 56 direct deaths; of those, 47 were accident workers and 9 were children who died of thyroid cancer. The report thinks that up to 4,000 people may die from long term diseases related to the accident. However, other estimates range from 4,000 to 27,000 by the Union of Concerned Scientists or Greenpeace who estimate that between 93,000 - 200,000 people died as a result of the disaster.

paragraphs: The other three reactors at Chernobyl continued to operate after the disaster because there were not enough other power plants in Ukraine to meet energy demands. Reactor 2 was decommissioned (permanently turned off and stopped being used) in 1991 after a fire in its turbine hall. Reactor 1 was decommissioned in 1996, and reactor 3 was decommissioned in 2000. In 2018, a 3800 panel, 1 megawatt solar plant was opened next to the former nuclear plant.


title: Prypiat

paragraphs: Pripyat (Ukrainian: При́п'ять, "Pryp”iat’") is an abandoned city in northern Ukraine. It lies in Kiev Oblast, near the border with Belarus. It was home to Chernobyl nuclear power plant workers. The city was abandoned in 1986 after the Chernobyl accident, the worst nuclear reactor accident in history. Before being abandoned, about 48,000 people lived in the city. The city was founded in the 1970s, when the nuclear power plant opened.

paragraphs: The site today is practically a museum showing the late Soviet era. With entirely abandoned buildings, including abandoned apartment buildings (four of which were yet to be used), swimming pools and hospitals, everything inside remains, from records to papers to children's toys and clothing. Pripyat and the surrounding area will not be safe for people to live there for several centuries. Scientists think that the most dangerous radioactive elements will take up to nine hundred years to decay sufficiently to render the area safe.

paragraphs: The city is entirely accessible and is relatively safe on the road, although it is unsafe to go around the city without a radiation dosimeter that measures exposure. The doors of all the buildings are open to reduce the risk to visitors, although many have accumulated too much radioactive material to be safe to visit.


title: Thyroid cancer

paragraphs: Thyroid cancer is cancer in the thyroid gland.

paragraphs: Thyroid cancer can be diagnosed in a few different ways:


title: Containment building

paragraphs: Containment building is a building with a nuclear reactor in it. It is built around the reactor to keep the radiation from getting out, if something happens to the reactor. The containment building is the last barrier to the radiation getting into the environment. Containment systems for nuclear power reactors are distinguished by size, shape, materials used, and suppression systems. The kind of containment used is determined by the type of reactor, generation of the reactor, and the specific plant needs.

paragraphs: The Chernobyl accident was very bad partly because the Soviet RBMK reactors used at the Chernobyl power plant had no containment buildings. The explosion, however, was so powerful that it is unlikely a containment building would have completely prevented the release of radiation.

paragraphs: The diagram shows the order of defense layers for a nuclear reactor. The first layer of defense is the inert, ceramic quality of the uranium oxide itself. The second layer is the air tight zirconium alloy of the fuel rod. The third layer is the reactor pressure vessel made of steel more than a dozen centimeters thick. The fourth layer is the pressure resistant, air tight "containment building". The fifth layer is the exclusion zone around the reactor.


title: Chernobyl

paragraphs: Chernobyl or Chornobyl () is a city in northern Ukraine, near the border with Belarus.

paragraphs: It was a major communications node and important center of trade and commerce, especially in the 19th century. The city is 14.5 kilometers (9 miles) south by south-east of the Chornobyl nuclear power plant, which became known for the Chornobyl disaster. The plant exploded on 26 April 1986; clouds of radioactive particles were released, and the severely damaged containment vessel started leaking radioactive matter. More than 100,000 people were evacuated from the city and other affected areas. Despite the fact that radiation is still being emitted from the nuclear disaster site, the 800-year-old city of Chornobyl survives. As of 2004, government workers still police the zone. They try to clean up radioactive material. Hundreds of people — mostly the elderly — have decided to live with the dangers and have returned to their homes in the zone's towns and villages. Their population was highest in 1987, when there were more than 1200 people. In 2003, there were about 300. There are currently 704 people living in Chornobyl, the houses that have people inside have a sign on the outside saying, Owner of this house lives here.


title: Klaus Wowereit

paragraphs: Klaus Wowereit (born 1 October 1953) is a German politician. He was born in Berlin. He was the SPD Governing Mayor of Berlin from 2001 to 2014. He and his party won 31.4% of the votes in the 2001 state elections, and he started a coalition government with Linkspartei.PDS. He was President of the Bundesrat in 2001/02. He was re-elected as Governing Mayor in 2006, and has carried on the coalition.

paragraphs: He supports Kurt Beck as "Kanzlerkandidat", the SPDs nominee for the Chancellorship of Germany. Many people wanted Wowereit to be the candidate, not so many after he decided to stay in coalition with Die Linke after the 2006 elections.

paragraphs: Klaus Wowereit attended the Ulrich-von-Hutten-Oberschule in Berlin until 1973. He went on to study law at the Free University Berlin, passing his first State Exams in 1981 and the second set in 1984.

paragraphs: After university Wowereit spent three years as a civil servant in the Senate Office (that is, Ministry) of the Interior. At the age of 30, he was became the youngest councillor in the city of Berlin when he was elected a councillor of Tempelhof Borough. After eleven years he stood for the Berlin House of Deputies Abgeordnetenhaus which is City's Landtag or state legislature in 1995. In December 1999, he was elected chairman of the SPD parliamentary group in the Abgeordnetenhaus. From June 2001 to December 2014 he served as Governing Mayor, "Regierender Bürgermeister", of Berlin.

paragraphs: Wowereit is one of the most famous German politicians who has openly declared himself homosexual. He came out at a convention of the Berlin SPD just before the 2001 mayoral elections, when he said "" ("I am gay, and it's good that way".) This is now a famous quotation in Germany. He probably came out so that the tabloid newspapers could not publish what they thought were embarrassing stories about him.

paragraphs: Wowereit is not the only gay mayor of a large European city. Bertrand Delanoë, the mayor of Paris, is openly gay, and Ole von Beust, the former mayor of Hamburg, is also gay.

paragraphs: In September 2007, Wowereit published an autobiography called ""...und das ist auch gut so."", after his famous coming out phrase.


title: Sino-Soviet split

paragraphs: The Sino-Soviet split (1960–1989) was a time when the relations between the People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union weakened during the Cold War. Eventually, China's leader, Mao Zedong, decided to break the alliance with the Soviet Union.

paragraphs: The Soviet leader, Stalin, wanted to help spread communism in the world, including China. In the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Soviets gave weapons and supplies to the Kuomintang, and advised the Communists to ally with them against the Japanese Empire. The Chinese Civil War continued, however. After World War II, Stalin and the Soviet Union helped the Communists. Chinese leaders disliked the Soviet leaders for not helping Mao and the Communists from the start.

paragraphs: Suddenly, in 1953, Stalin died. Mao saw Stalin as the leader of Communism, but also had a bad relationship with the Soviet Union throughout his time as leader. The new Soviet leader, Nikita Khrushchev, was not like Stalin. He did not want capitalism to collapse like Stalin did. Mao got angry about this, and he wanted Nikita Khrushchev to help him fight the imperialists. Khrushchev said no, and then Mao decided that if Khrushchev was not going to cooperate, they would not work with each other anymore.

paragraphs: Later, there was peace between the USSR and China, but they were suspicious of each other. They were no longer allies, and Mao's supporters said that it had been a victory.


title: Awake

paragraphs: Being Awake is a daily brain state. It is being in a state of consciousness where one is conscious about the surroundings. The person (or animal) can respond to these surroundings by communicating, walking, eating, and more.

paragraphs: Being awake is the opposite of being asleep. When you are asleep most responses to your surroundings are turned off, and you are unconscious of what is happening around you.

paragraphs: Animals are awake for some hours each day or night. Animals which are awake during the day are called diurnal. Animals which are awake during the night are called nocturnal.

paragraphs: Diurnal animals include humans. They wake up in the morning and are awake during the day. When they are awake they can eat and move.


title: Liu Bei

paragraphs: Liu Bei (161-223) was the founder of the Chinese Shu Han dynasty and its first Emperor.

paragraphs: He went into battle against the Yellow Turban Rebellion rebellion in 184, along with his sworn brothers Guan Yu and Zhang Fei. Later (in 190) he joined Gongsun Zan against the evil Dong Zhuo who had seized the Han emperor Xian.

paragraphs: After Dong lost, the emperor was in the clutches of his followers—until Cao Cao saved him and seized control over him. Cao Cao tried to conquer all of China for the emperor but in fact wanted to conquer it for himself. He defeated Liu Bei once at the Battle of Changban in 207 but was not able to win the Battle of Red Cliffs against the united forces of Liu Bei and Sun Quan, a warlord in the South.

paragraphs: Sun Quan granted Liu Bei some land in the West of his domain, and the two agreed to fight Cao Cao again if necessary.

paragraphs: From 211 to 214, Liu Bei conquered the country Ba Shu in the West. Because he had now an empire of his own, Sun Quan demanded his western regions back but Liu Bei declined. This made Sun Quan quite angry.

paragraphs: After several useless battles against Liu Bei's general Guan Yu, Cao Cao chose to make a union with Sun Quan. They attacked Guan Yu with their allied forces and overthrew him in 219. Liu Bei was mad and swore revenge for the death of his brother and the loss of an important part of his empire.

paragraphs: When Cao Cao died in 220, his son Cao Pi forced Emperor Xian of Han to give up his power. Cao Pi declared himself Emperor of the Wei Dynasty. Liu Bei found that offensive, for he was a member of the royal family of Han and considered himself the righteous Emperor of China. That's why he declared himself emperor of the Shu Han in 221. The next year, Sun Quan claimed the title "Emperor of Wu" for himself.

paragraphs: Liu Bei was really mad at Sun Quan's arrogance. In 222 he opposed him in the Battle of Yiling but failed due to Lu Xun's (a Wu general) great tactics. After his defeat Liu Bei got ill and died a year later. His son Liu Shan followed him as emperor.


title: Cao Cao

paragraphs: Cao Cao (曹操 155-220) was a Chinese general. He managed to control the last Han Emperor Xian and conquered the whole northern China.

paragraphs: Cao Cao gathered an army in 184 to fight against the Yellow Scarves rebellion. After the Dong Zhuo had seized the Emperor Liu Bian in 189 and deposed him in favour of his brother Liu Xie (Emperor Xian), a coalition of local warlords all over the country arose against Dong. It was called by Cao Cao and led by Yuan Shao, and many powerful warriors joined it.

paragraphs: After Dong Zhuo's death through the hands of his foster son Lü Bu, Emperor Xian was controlled by Dong's associates. He fled to Chang'an (the old capital) in 195 but almost starved to death. Cao Cao saved him in 196 and brought him to his own place at Xuchang.

paragraphs: With the emperor under his control, Cao Cao managed to kill most of the minor warlords in Northern China and was even able to defeat Lü Bu and the powerful Yuan Shao at Guandu in 200. He tried to conquer the south, too, but Liu Bei and Sun Quan opposed him and defeated his forces in the "Battle at Red Cliffs". Cao Cao led several campaigns against the south, but with fairly low success. Also, he managed to get the famous general Guan Yu killed by Sun Quan's general Lü Meng.

paragraphs: Cao Cao died in 220, and his son Cao Pi followed him in control of the emperor. He eventually deposed him the same year and became Emperor Wen of Wei, making his father posthumously "Emperor Wu of Wei".


title: Zhang Fei

paragraphs: Zhang Fei (167-221) was a warrior in ancient China. He fought along with his brothers Liu Bei and Guan Yu for the restoration of the Han Dynasty.

paragraphs: In the battles against the Dong Zhuo, Zhang fended off the enemy general Lü Bu and was greatly rewarded by his then-ally Cao Cao.

paragraphs: Zhang Fei was later killed by his own officers, because after the death of his brother Guan Yu, he became a drunk.


title: Dong Zhuo

paragraphs: Dong Zhuo (董卓 139-192) was a reckless general in ancient China. He took control over the imperial court of Han in 189. He was later killed by his own foster son, Lu Bu.

paragraphs: Dong Zhuo had been a successful warrior and general since his youth. Anyway, he was defeated by Yellow Scarves rebels in 184 and demoted. After the death of Emperor Ling, the eunuchs kidnapped the young follower Liu Bian and his brother Liu Xie. Dong Zhuo freed them and intimidated the kidnappers so they committed suicide by drowning in the Yellow River. Dong then brought the emperor and his brother back to the capital Luoyang and seized perfect control over the court. Because Liu Bian seemed too stupid to him, Dong deposed him and made his brother Liu Xie emperor instead (Emperor Xian). In 190 he poisoned Liu Bian.

paragraphs: Dong Zhuo became arrogant and violent. He even forced the emperor to move to the city Chang'an as capital instead and burned Luoyang. Because of that, many warlords and Han generals all over the country formed an alliance to destroy Dong's reign. After some fierce battles, Lü Bu knew that his position was lost, and killed his foster father Dong in 192.

paragraphs: Dong's associates Guo Si and Li Jue continued to control the emperor, but they started struggles and the emperor escaped. He was rescued by Cao Cao in 196.


title: Sun Quan

paragraphs: Sun Quan (孫權 182-252) was an ancient Chinese warlord and founder of Eastern Wu in 222.

paragraphs: His brother Sun Ce conquered Southeastern China from 197 until his death in 200. Sun Quan was in charge at the age of 18. He continued to expand his empire and drew back the forces of Cao Cao in the "Battle at Red Cliffs" (along with Liu Bei). To have better opportunities against the north, he gave his Jing Province to Liu Bei so that he could create an empire on his own. Liu Bei conquered the other western territories from 211 to 214 and set his brother Guan Yu in charge of defending Jing.

paragraphs: Now that Liu Bei had his own empire, Sun quan demanded his western province back from him, but Liu Bei declined. In alliance with Cao Cao, Sun Quan's general Lü Meng captured Guan Yu in 219 and slayed him along with his son, Guan Ping.

paragraphs: After Cao Cao's son Cao Pi started the Wei Dynasty in 220, Liu Bei also wanted to be an emperor and declared himself Emperor of Shu Han in 221. He considered himself the righteous heir of the abdicated Han emperor Xian. Sun Quan declared himself "King of Wu" in 222. Liu Bei found that offensive, and launched a great attack against Sun Quan but failed—due to Lu Xun's great tactics. He died a year later.

paragraphs: Under the regency of the Shu prime minister Zhuge Liang, the alliance between Shu and Wu was renewed. Both empires did not have to worry about their defense in the west/east after that.

paragraphs: In 229, Sun Quan declared himself "Emperor of Wu". His attacks on Wei were all in vain but he managed to develop his country very well. After his son Crown Prince Sun Deng died in 241, he made his now-oldest son Sun He Crown Prince. All along the next nine years, He would have trouble with his brother Sun Ba who wanted to be Crown Prince instead. Their fight even caused the honorable general Lu Xun to die of anger in 245.

paragraphs: In 250, Sun Quan was sick of his sons' struggles and deposed them both as princes. Instead he made his youngest son Sun Liang Crown Prince. Two years later, Sun Quan died at the age of 70. For his follower was too young to rule on his own, the official Zhuge Ke became regent.


title: Conference

paragraphs: A conference is an event where people get together to discuss things. For example, scientists usually present their findings at conferences. Many other types of people other than scientists attend conferences also. Business people sometimes come together to talk about things. International business conferences are very common because it allows individuals to showcase their knowledge to the world. Using modern media, like the Internet, or the telephone people can talk to each other that are not in the same place. This is then called a conference call. Very often, digital video cameras can be used to transmit images, as well as sound.


title: Pasture

paragraphs: A pasture is a piece of land. Usually specific grasses and herbs are grown on it. Then livestock is put on for "grazing". Rangeland is similarly used, but less controlled.


title: Hectare

paragraphs: A hectare is a unit of measurement of area. It is equal to 10,000 square metres, or a square with sides of 100 by 100 metres. 100 hectares is 1 square kilometre. Therefore, a farm with 200 hectares of fields has 2 square kilometres of fields.

paragraphs: The word "hectare" means 100 ares. "Hecto" is the metric prefix of 100. The "are" is a metric unit of area, equal to 100 square metres.


title: Zhuge Liang

paragraphs: Zhuge Liang (181-234) was a Chinese politician and general of the ancient Shu Han Dynasty.

paragraphs: He helped his lord Liu Bei conquer the country "Ba Shu" from 211 to 214, along with Pang Tong. After Liu Bei's death in 223, Zhuge Liang was a regent for the new emperor Liu Shan. Zhuge Liang attempted to conquer the Southern Wei territories five times but had no success. He died in 234, leaving the regency to Jiang Wei.


title: Wavelength

paragraphs: A wavelength is the length of the shortest repeating part of a "sine wave". All waves can be formed by adding up sine waves. That is, every wave is a total of sine waves, which may be identified by Fourier analysis.

paragraphs: Waves are everywhere. Examples of waves include:

paragraphs: The sine wave has a pattern that repeats. The length of this repeating piece of the sine wave is called the wavelength. The wavelength can be found by measuring the length or distance between one peak of a sine wave and the next peak. The wavelength can be found in many other ways too.

paragraphs: There are other properties of waves and sine waves, such as their frequency, amplitude, phase, and speed.

paragraphs: A symbol used for wavelength most often is the Greek letter "lambda" (λ).


title: Francis Scott Key

paragraphs: Francis Scott Key (August 1, 1779 - January 11, 1843) was an American lawyer and poet. He is best known for writing a poem which later became the words of "The Star-Spangled Banner", the national anthem of the United States of America.

paragraphs: His mother was Ann Phoebe Penn Dagworthy (Charlton) and his father was Captain John Ross Key. He graduated from St. John's College in Annapolis, Maryland in 1796.

paragraphs: Key was an owner of slaves, and in the later administration of Andrew Jackson he was the United States Attorney in Washington, D.C.


title: Latex

paragraphs: Latex is found in the sap of the Para rubber tree. The tree takes its name from the state of Pará, Brazil. Latex is used to make rubber. Place in Brazil, like the city of Manaus, grew rich from latex. Today, much natural latex comes from Southeast Asia, like Malaysia and Indonesia. Polymers made from man made latex are called "synthetic rubber".


title: Drum

paragraphs: A drum is a musical instrument that is played with the hands using a drum stick (a stick for hitting a drum). A collection of drums and cymbals is called a drum kit, or drum set.

paragraphs: Drums are used to keep a steady beat in a song. They give music of many kinds a sense of feeling. For example, to make a song to be slow or fast, the drums play slower or faster.

paragraphs: A drum is a percussion instrument, which means it makes a noise by being hit. There are many types such as cymbals and bells; even a simple piece of wood can be used as a percussion instrument.

paragraphs: The drum kit is a group of drums & cymbals to make beats for music. Drum kits are used in most types of popular music, including rock, jazz, country, blues, and many others.

paragraphs: Acoustic drum kit is a set of drums and cymbals designed to be played as one instrument. A standard drum kit is made from a bass drum, snare drum, set of tom toms, hi hat cymbals, a ride cymbal and a crash cymbal. The sound is produced by striking the drums or cymbals with a drum stick or mallet.

paragraphs: Electric drum kit is essentially a collection of sample pads set up in the same way as an acoustic drum kit. The pads themselves are designed to produce little acoustic sound, other than the dead sound of the wooden drum sticks hitting rubber. The drum kit has to be plugged into an amplifier, speaker, or pair of headphones to be heard, which makes them ideal for practice when volume has to be kept to a minimum. Unlike acoustic drums, it is incredibly easy and quick to record electronic drums. There are two main ways to record audio from an electronic kit - Using a USB cable or Using an audio interface.


title: Pashupatinath Temple

paragraphs: Pashupatinath is one of the most sacred temples of Hindu. It is in Kathmandu, the capital city of Nepal. It is the temple of the Hindu god Shiva.


title: Invasion

paragraphs: Invasion is a word that comes from Latin. Originally, it meant that something "goes in" (as in military occupation) of a foreign territory. So far, the following uses are known:

paragraphs: One of many examples is the importing of rabbits to Australia. As they had no enemies, they did what rabbits do best. They multiplied. To get rid of them, people then thought about importing foxes as well.


title: Olive tree

paragraphs: The olive tree is a small tree. Its scientific name is "Olea europaea". A long time ago, it came from the coastal areas of the eastern Mediterranean, from Syria and the maritime (next to the sea) parts of Asia Minor and northern Iran at the south end of the Caspian Sea. It has been farmed for a very long time. The Ancient Greeks were farming it. They spread the trees to the western part of the Mediterranean.

paragraphs: Olive trees like soil with lots of chalk in it. They grow best on limestone slopes and crags in coastal climate.

paragraphs: The Wild Olive is a small tree or shrub that grows up to 8–15 m tall with thorny branches. The leaves are opposite, 4–10 cm long and 1–3 cm wide. The leaves have a dark greyish-green color above and are pale with whitish scales below. The small white flowers, with calyx and corolla divided into four parts, two stamens and bifid stigma, are mostly on the last year's wood, in racemes coming up from the axils of the leaves. The fruit is a small drupe 1–2 cm long, thinner-fleshed and smaller in wild plants than in orchard cultivars.

paragraphs: Today, olive trees are grown for the following reasons:

paragraphs: In total, about 17.3 million tons of olives are produced every year. 60% of all olive trees are in the European Union. The top producers are:

paragraphs: Very probably, the first olive trees were grown in Syria. From there they spread rapidly. In Ancient Greece, the tree was considered to be holy. Some city states (polis) like Athens punished people for cutting down olive trees.

paragraphs: The branches in the flag of the United Nations are those of an olive tree.

paragraphs: In Christianity, the olive tree can be a sign of peace, because according to the Bible, a dove brought an olive branch to Noah to show that the flood was over.

paragraphs: The olive tree is the National tree of Palestine.


title: Hello

paragraphs: Hello is a greeting in the English language. It is common between two people in a non-formal (informal) setting, but can also be used in a formal setting. There are also many other ways of saying "hello", for example a wave of the hand, a salute or a bow (both very formal), a handshake (a little formal) or a high five (very informal). Saying "hello" is a sign of politeness, especially when it is said in a friendly way. "Hello" was first used in writing in about 1833.

paragraphs: Many people say "Hello" when they answer a phone call.

paragraphs: Other greetings like "hello" include; Hi, Hallo, Hiya, Howdy, Hey, Howya, 'Sup, Yo, 'Yello, Herro, hiwo, Greetings, Good day, what's poppin', G’day mate, top of the mornin’ to you, and many more.

paragraphs: People then often say “goodbye” when they leave each other. “goodbye” is a shortened version of the religious farewell expression “god be with ye”, which indicates the user’s religious belief, usually in a single god. Similar expressions exist in other languages such as: adieu, adieus, adieux, adios. These terms also possess religious undertones as they are derived from the Latin word “deus”, meaning “god”. This of course does not always mean they are religious.


title: Annexation

paragraphs: Annexation (Latin: "ad" "to" and "nexus" "joining") is the forceful takeover of one state's territory by another.

paragraphs: Annexation is a one-sided act where one territory is seized and held by another.


title: Manchuria

paragraphs: Manchuria (Northeast China) is the homeland of the Manchu people. To the Chinese, the region is simply known as the Northeast (Chinese: 东北, Dōngbĕi). Manchuria is made up of China's three northeastern most provinces: Liaoning, Jilin, and Heilongjiang. Parts of Manchuria were annexed by the Russian Empire in the past, and they are now ruled by Russia.

paragraphs: Manchuria is a translation of the Chinese word Manzhou ().

paragraphs: In the early history, Manchuria was under the control of many Chinese kingdoms. Later, the Manchu people formed their own empire called Jurchen. They eventually invaded China and founded the Chinese Qing Dynasty.

paragraphs: Although China signed a treaty with Russia, the Russians took advantage of the weak Qing government and annexed the part that touches the Pacific Ocean, where the modern Chinese city of Dalian stands today. Japan then attacked the Russians to take this important piece of land. Later, Japan invaded the Chinese part of Manchuria too (see Manchukuo). This eventually led to World War II.

paragraphs: After the war, Manchuria was returned to China and Russia.

paragraphs: Manchuria is in north-east China and the Russian Far East. The land has rocks, grasslands, mountains, and deserts. The weather is very extreme. It is very hot and humid in the summer, and is very cold and dry in the winter.


title: Tuva

paragraphs: Tuva Republic is one of 85 federal subjects of Russia. Another way to spell its name is Tyva. It is in south Siberia. It is grouped and governed as part of Siberian Federal District. The Siberian Federal District contains nine other federal subjects too. Tuva also shares an international border with Mongolia.

paragraphs: During the Chinese Qing Dynasty, Tuva was part of the province of Mongolia. From 1921 to 1944, Tuva was a separate country called Tannu-Tuva. In 1944, it joined the Soviet Union. In 1991, it continued to be part of Russia after the breakup of the Soviet Union.

paragraphs: Kyzyl is the capital city of Tuva. The name means "red" in Tuvan. Tuvans say that Kyzyl is the exact center of Asia. And there is a monument to the Center of Asia in the capital. But others think that Kyzyl is not the exact center of Asia. Nevertheless, Tuva is in Central Asia. And Tuvan culture is similar to the culture of their neighbors in other Central Asian countries.

paragraphs: Tuva is in a mountain basin between the Sayan Mountains and the Tannu-Ola Mountains. In the east, Tuva has forests. In the west, the land is drier.

paragraphs: The average temperature in January is −32 °C (−25.6 °F). The average temperature in July is +18 °C (64.4 °F).

paragraphs: Tuva's population at the end of the Soviet Union stayed about the same for some time, according to data. It is currently increasing again. A little bit more than half of the population live in cities and towns. Most of the people that live in cities and towns live in Kyzyl. Ethnic Tuvans make up the most of the population. Most ethnic Tuvans practice a religion that is mixed with Tibetan Buddhism and Shamanism, which is a belief that worships spirits and nature.

paragraphs: Tuvans speak their own language, which is called Tuvan. It is a Turkic language. And it is related to Turkish. Before Tuva joined the Soviet Union, the Tuvan language used the Roman alphabet, which is the same alphabet that English uses. Since Tuva joined the Soviet Union, they have used the Cyrillic alphabet, which is the same alphabet that Russian uses. Because Tuva is part of Russia, Tuvans also learn to speak Russian.

paragraphs: Before they joined the Soviet Union, Tuvans were nomadic people. They traveled on horses. Therefore, horses were very important in Tuvan culture. Tuvan art often shows horses. And many Tuvan songs are about horses. Tuvans lived in yurts (round, felt covered houses that are easy to take apart and carry). Even today, a few Tuvans are nomads. Ethnically they are Mongols.

paragraphs: Tuvans are famous for their throat singing. Throat singing is a very old art. And it is very special because a throat singer can sing two or more notes at the same time. Throat singers imitate the sounds of nature. They can sound like a bird or like the howling wind. One style of throat singing has a rhythm like a horse trotting. For many centuries only men were allowed to be throat singers. But now women are throat singers too. Singing more than one note at the same time is sometimes called overtone singing.

paragraphs: Tannu-Tuva was also famous for its colorful and unusual postage stamps. Some were triangles. Many showed interesting pictures of life in Tuva.


title: Senkaku Islands

paragraphs: Senkaku Islands, also called , Diaoyu Dao Islands () and Tiaoyutai Islands (), are uninhabited islands in the East China Sea.

paragraphs: The group of islands, islets and rocks is east of mainland China, northeast of Taiwan, west of Okinawa, and north of the southwestern end of the Ryukyu Islands. The islands are about 200km from Taiwan, and about 300 km from Okinawa.

paragraphs: Control over these islands and rocks is disputed. The dispute issues are complex.

paragraphs: The Japanese government describes the islands as part of Japan.

paragraphs: The islands are also described as part of China. There are conflicts in the positions of the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Republic of China (ROC). The PRC and ROC have a shared history.

paragraphs: The United States occupied the islands from 1945 to 1972 when they reverted to Japan. The official US position is neutral in a dispute among Japan, China and Taiwan.


title: Sino-Japanese War

paragraphs: There were two wars known as the Sino-Japanese War (between China and Japan):


title: World Youth Day

paragraphs: World Youth Day (WYD) is a gathering (meeting) of young Catholic people. It was created by Pope John Paul II in 1984 "to consolidate the ordinary youth ministry by offering new encouragement for commitment, objectives which foster ever greater involvement and participation". In other words, the Pope wanted young Catholics to come together, and work together.

paragraphs: The day is celebrated around the world every year, and every two or three years, a gathering is held at a different place. Thousands of people (including young people) from many countries go to this celebration. Because of World Youth Day, many young people are more likely to work together around the world.

paragraphs: The last World Youth Day celebration was held in 2005, in Cologne, Germany, the country in which Pope Benedict XVI was born in. About 1,200,000 attended the event. In 2008 World Youth Day was held in Sydney, Australia and in 2011 in Madrid,Spain and in 2013 in Rio,Brazil


title: Carl XVI Gustaf

paragraphs: Carl XVI Gustaf (born 30 April 1946) is the king of Sweden. He became king on 15 September 1973. He is married to Silvia Sommerlath who is half German, half Brazilian. With her he has three children:

paragraphs: Internationally King Carl XVI Gustav is best known for presenting the Nobel Prizes every year.


title: Age of Empires III

paragraphs: Age of Empires III is a 2005 computer game made by the company Ensemble Studios. It is published by Microsoft. It is the third game of the Age of Empires games, and has better graphics than the ones before it. It is a real-time strategy game. The plot is from 1500 to 1860. An expansion pack, "Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs", was released for the game on October 17, 2006. The second expansion, "Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties", was released on October 23, 2007. "Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition was announced on August 21, 2017, and it is still in development.

paragraphs: The game is compatible with Microsoft Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 10. The game is available on Steam.


title: Bank of China Tower

paragraphs: The Bank of China Tower (BOC Tower, 中銀大廈) is one of the most well known skyscrapers in the central parts of Hong Kong. In the tower, the Bank of China has their offices.

paragraphs: The tower was designed by the architect I. M. Pei and is 315 meters high. On the tower there are two masts that are 369 meters (1209 feet) high.


title: Ulan Bator

paragraphs: Ulaanbaatar, or Ulan Bator, is the capital and largest city of Mongolia. The city is an independent municipality not part of any provinces, and its population as of 2008 is just over 1 million. Located in the north central part of the country, the city is at an elevation of about 1310 m in a valley on the Tuul River. The city is the country's center for culture, industry and finance, and since it is more than 13 times bigger than the second largest city in Mongolia, Erdenet, it is the country's primate city. Ulaanbaatar is connected by highway to all the major towns in Mongolia and by rail to the Trans-Siberian Railway and Chinese railroad network. The city was founded in 1639 as a Buddhist monastery center and, in the 20th century, grew into a major manufacturing center.

paragraphs: Ulaanbaatar has had many names in its history. From 1639–1706, it was known as Örgöö (Mongolian: Өргөө, "residence"), and from 1706–1911 as Ikh Khüree (Mongolian: Их = "great", Хүрээ = "camp"), Da Khüree or simply Khüree. Upon independence in 1911,the city's name changed to Niislel Khüree (Mongolian: Нийслэл = "capital", Хүрээ = "camp"). When the city became the capital of the new Mongolian People's Republic in 1924, its name was changed to Ulaanbaatar, literally "red hero", in honour of Mongolia's national hero Damdin Sükhbaatar, that liberated Mongolia from Ungern von Sternberg's troops and Chinese occupation with the Soviet Red Army. In Europe and North America, Ulaanbaatar was generally known as Urga (from "Örgöö") or sometimes "Kuren" (from "Khüree") or "Kulun" (from 庫倫, the Chinese transcription of "Khüree") before 1924.

paragraphs: Ulaanbaatar is at about 1350 meters (4430 ft) above sea level. For this high elevation, and for the high latitude, and location hundreds of kilometres from any coast, Ulaanbaatar is the coldest national capital in the world, with a subarctic climate.

paragraphs: - 1778: the city settled for good at its current location, near the confluence of the Selbe and Tuul rivers and beneath Bogd Khan Uul, back then also on the caravan route from Beijing to Kyakhta.

paragraphs: - 1911: Mongolian leaders in Ikh Khüree for Naadam met in secret and resolved upon independence from China for their country. On December 29, 1911, the Bogd Khan was declared ruler of an independent Mongolia.

paragraphs: - 1919: the city was occupied by Chinese troops

paragraphs: - 1921: the city has been controlled first by Baron Ungern's Whites Soldateska, and in July to the Soviet-supported Mongolian troops controlled by Sükhbaatar.

paragraphs: - October 29, 1924: the town was renamed to Ulaanbaatar ("red hero") in honour of Sükhbaatar.

paragraphs: - 1956: The Transmongolian Railway, connecting Ulaanbaatar with Moscow and Beijing, was completed.

paragraphs: - Many of the temples and monasteries of pre-socialist were destroyed following the anti-religious purges of the late 1930s.

paragraphs: - After the growth of 1990 many buildings as, cinemas, shops were built. Now the biggest cinema is Urguu and Tengis cinema. Main shopping district is 3rd and 4th distirict.

paragraphs: - 2008, Ulaanbaatar was the scene of riots after the opposition Mongolian Democratic Party protested its defeat by the MPRP in parliamentary elections.

paragraphs: Ulaanbaatar is divided into nine districts (Düüregs): Baganuur, Bagakhangai, Bayangol, Bayanzürkh, Chingeltei, Khan Uul, Nalaikh, Songino Khairkhan, and Sükhbaatar. Each district is subdivided into Khoroos. The capital is governed by a city council (the Citizen's Representatives Hural) with forty members, elected every four years. The city council appoints the mayor. Ulaanbaatar is governed as an independent first-level subdivision of Mongolia, separate from Töv Aimag, the province that surrounds Ulaanbaatar.

paragraphs: Ulaanbaatar has several major universities:

paragraphs: And a big library, The National Library of Mongolia.

paragraphs: "Choijin Lama Monastery" and "Gandantegchinlen Khiid Monastery" are two of the very few in Mongolia to escape the destruction of Mongolian monasteries under Khorloogiin Choibalsan.

paragraphs: Ulaanbaatar has several museums dedicated to Mongolian history and culture.

paragraphs: The official symbol of Ulaanbaatar is the , a mythical bird in both Buddhist and Hindu mythology called Khan Garuda or "Khangar'd" by Mongols.

paragraphs: The city’s flag is sky blue with the arms in the center.


title: Pyongyang

paragraphs: Pyŏngyang (평양 직할시 in hangul, 平壤直轄市 in hanja) is the capital and biggest city in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea or DPRK (North Korea). The government does not want people from outside the country to know anything about North Korea, so Pyongyang is one of the few places in North Korea that foreigners (people from other countries) can travel to.

paragraphs: Pyongyang is a closed city meaning that North Koreans can't just go there. They must apply for a permit or be high up in the military. It is the most advanced city in the country which allows tourists to go there. Pyongyang does not really show what North Korea is really like, because the government uses it to pretend to tourists that the country is not poor. The city is kept very clean and littering is strictly not allowed. The city is home to the DPRK's only fast food restaurant which only the most privileged North Koreans go to (a meal would be worth around a weeks wages for the average person there). Many shops there have plastic food on display in the windows to make tourists think that there is lots of food in the country when in fact, food is scarce.

paragraphs: The city has lots of nice attractions like the statues of Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-Il at Mansudae hill. The Juche tower is one of the most recognisable landmarks in the country, towering over the Taedong River across from Kim Il-Sung square. It also has the world's deepest subway system. Pyongyang has many large parks and wide avenues as well as the largest sports stadium in the world, the Rungrado May Day Stadium. The city is also the location of the embalmed bodies of the two leaders, Il-Sung and Jong-Il in the Kumsusan Palace of the sun.

paragraphs: Pyongyang is home to the 105-storey hotel, Ryugyong Hotel. The construction started in 1987 and the exterior was completed twenty-four years later in 2011. It was originally intended as a propaganda device to make North Korea look wealthy when a South Korean recently built the world's then-tallest building. The hotel to this day remains empty and unopened. It is a scary monument to the government's problems.

paragraphs: The population of Pyongyang is 3,255,388.


title: IBM

paragraphs: International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) is a multinational technology company from the United States that makes and sells software, computer hardware, infrastructure services, and consulting services. IBM is one of the biggest Information Technology companies in the world. IBM has had the most patents of any technology company for many years, and has made many important inventions and discoveries that have improved computers.

paragraphs: IBM began in 1911, it was called the "Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company". It was set up by a man named Charles Flint. There were no computers at that time, so IBM made other machines, such as typewriters. In 1924, the company changed its name to International Business Machines (IBM). In 1937, the company's Tabulating Machines were used by the United States government to record information about Americans, so they could make a new law called the Social Security Act.

paragraphs: During World War II, IBM made guns for the American army. During the 1960s and 1970s IBM dominated the mainframe computer market. IBM computers were used for American space exploration. From the 1980s starting in 1981 until 2005, IBM made personal computers. In 2005, IBM sold their personal computer manufacturing to a Chinese company called Lenovo. Today, IBM mostly makes software, and some powerful supercomputers.


title: Mary, mother of Jesus

paragraphs: In Abrahamic religions, Mary (Judeo-Aramaic מרים Maryām "Bitter"; (Maryam); Septuagint Greek Μαριαμ, Mariam, Μαρια, Maria; ) was the mother of Jesus. Her story is told in the New Testament of the Bible.

paragraphs: Christian beliefs about Mary are based on the Bible. The Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke say that Mary was a young woman who was engaged to be married to a man called Joseph. The Gospel of Luke says that the angel Gabriel came to Mary to tell her that she would give birth to a son. The angel told Mary that she should call her son Jesus. The angel also said that Jesus would save people from their sins.

paragraphs: Mary asked the angel how she could be pregnant, since she was a virgin. The angel told her that God had made her pregnant through a miracle.

paragraphs: In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary. And coming to her, he said, “Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you.” But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” But Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?” And the angel said to her in reply, “The holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; for nothing will be impossible for God.” Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.According to the law that Israelites follow, Joseph had the right to divorce Mary publicly, but he did not. In a dream Joseph was told that Mary was conceived by the Holy Spirit.

paragraphs: At this time, the Roman Emperor, Caesar Augustus, made a law that everyone in the Roman Empire had to pay a tax. Everyone had to go back to the town that their family came from, to have their name put on the tax lists. Joseph came from Bethlehem, which was called The City of David. So Joseph took Mary to Bethlehem. There, she gave birth to the baby, Jesus. She gave birth in an animal shed, because Mary and Joseph could not find a room to stay in.

paragraphs: Thirty-three years later, Jesus was killed by crucifixion. Many of Jesus' apostles were scared of the Roman soldiers and ran away. However, Mary stood by the cross and was with Jesus when he died. As he was dying, he told the young disciple John to care for Mary as if she was his own mother, and the words were "Woman, this is your son. This is your mother". On the third day after Jesus' death, Mary went to Jesus' tomb with other women. They saw that the stone was rolled away from the tomb, and his body was gone. An angel told the women that Jesus had risen and was alive (see: Book of John, in end pages).

paragraphs: Mary continued to meet with the early church after the Ascension of Jesus. (Acts 1:14)

paragraphs: Mary is given honor in the Christian faith. She is especially honored as "the Mother of God" in the Roman Catholic Church. She is also honored as "Theotokos" (roughly translated as "the one who gave birth to God") in the Eastern Orthodox Church. In Christianity, Jesus is thought to be both fully God and fully man.

paragraphs: Christians do not worship Mary, because they believe that only God should be worshipped. However, some Christians - mainly Roman Catholics and Orthodox Christians- venerate her, which means they pray to her and respect her acceptance of God's will by willingly giving birth to Jesus.

paragraphs: Mary is also given honor by Muslim(s) because the Qur'an says that she was a virgin when she gave birth to Jesus. Muslims honor Jesus as a great prophet.

paragraphs: Mary is often called "the Blessed Virgin Mary" by Roman Catholics. There are many feast days which honor the Virgin Mary. For example, the "Nativity of the Blessed Virgin" on 8 September remembers her birth. Catholics also celebrate the Immaculate Conception, and Mary as Queen of Heaven on August 22.

paragraphs: Christian art often shows the Virgin Mary. Many paintings show Mary with the baby Jesus. These paintings are known as Madonna and Child pictures.

paragraphs: Many people who pray through Mary use a prayer called the Hail Mary. The first part of the prayer honors Mary: "Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus." The second part of the prayer asks for Mary's help: "Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and in the hour of our deaths. Amen."

paragraphs: Protestants believe Roman Catholics and Orthodox give Mary too much honor


title: Quake (video game)

paragraphs: Quake is a first-person shooter video game that was released by id Software on July 22, 1996. It is the first game in the popular "Quake" series of video games. In the game, the player must fight demons and zombies in lots of different places.

paragraphs: "Quake" was the first game that id Software released after they made "Doom" and "Doom 2." It is a very similar game to "Doom", but "Quake" is on a new game engine and has much more advanced technology. For example, "Quake" lets the player look up and down, lets the player jump, it has fully 3D graphics, and has many more options for multiplayer than "Doom" had. "Quake" is famous for its multiplayer, and it was one of the first games where lots of people played multiplayer through the internet. "Doom" also had online multiplayer through a service called DWANGO, but "Quake" made playing online more popular than ever before. Tools like QuakeWorld and QuakeSpy made it very easy for players to find other people to play against over the internet.

paragraphs: The game's music and sound effects were done by Trent Reznor and Nine Inch Nails.

paragraphs: In the single-player mode of "Quake," the player has to get to the end of each level. The player will usually have to find keys or switches to open all the locked doors before they can get to the exit of a level. They will also have to fight lots of monsters that try to kill the player. There are also secret areas and secret levels that the player can find. Secret areas will usually have something that helps the player win the level, like extra health or ammo. The player always has two weapons: the axe and the shotgun. More weapons can be found in the levels, including the nailgun, super nailgun, super shotgun, grenade launcher, rocket launcher, and the thunderbolt.

paragraphs: The levels are grouped together into different episodes, and each episode has a different setting. Most levels look very Gothic or medieval, but others look more futuristic, like science fiction. There are 6 or 7 levels in each episode, but every episode also has one secret level. There is also one level that is not inside of an episode, which is the final boss level. There are four episodes in the game, and they can be finished in any order the player wants. The player can't get to the final boss without beating all four episodes, though.

paragraphs: The game has four difficulty settings: easy, medium, hard, and nightmare. Nightmare difficulty can only be found in a secret area which is on the episode selection level. This secret area can be found in the episode 4 selection room.


title: Kunya

paragraphs: A kunya (Arabic:كنية) is a name which is honorably given to the mother or father of an Arabic child. Kunya is pronounced koon-ya. A married person (especially ladies) are called by their kunya name, which is "abu" (father) or "umm" (mother) plus the name of their first son. Their whole name is their name plus their kunya. For example, "Umm Ja'far Aminah" is the mother of Ja'far. The kunya precedes the personal name.


Wake


title: Zen

paragraphs: Zen is a Chinese school of Mahayana Buddhism. Buddhism was first brought to China from India, by Bodhidharma. It developed in China, into Zen, in the 6th century. From China it spread to Vietnam, Korea and Japan.

paragraphs: Zen is a Japanese word translated from the Chinese word Chán, which means "meditation".

paragraphs: Zen uses meditation to help practitioners go beyond simply thinking about Zen. The goal in Zen is to attain "satori". This Japanese word translates as "enlightenment". The practice also includes using riddles, called Koans. Koans are also designed to help the practitioner not just engage in rational thought. The traditional Japanese place to learn Zen is a Zen monastery.

paragraphs: Japanese Zen scholars such as D.T. Suzuki became well known in the West. Suzuki spent over fifty years teaching Zen to the world with a series of books in English. In the 1960s in California, Aldous Huxley, Alan Watts, and others promoted the philosophy. From there it spread to many parts of the western world. Zen is now well established outside of Japan and China. Many Zen centers exist in the US and Europe.

paragraphs: Zen is now associated with some design styles, like Minimalism. The Japanese gardens found at Zen monasteries in Japan are an example of this style. They are called Zen rock gardens. They are not directly part of the teachings of Zen.


title: Scots

paragraphs: Scots is a West Germanic language. It is sometimes called Lowland Scots or Lallans. It is not Scottish English but it is similar to English that is spoken in Scotland. Ulster Scots is a form of Scots found in the north of Ireland. Scots is very different from the Scottish Gaelic language, which is a Celtic language.

paragraphs: There have been disagreements about the linguistic, historical and social status of Scots. Focused broad Scots is at one end of a scale, with Scottish Standard English at the other. Scots is generally regarded as one of the ancient varieties of English, and has its own distinct variants such as Doric.

paragraphs: Northumbrian Old English was established in what is now southeastern Scotland as far as the River Forth by the seventh century. The region was part of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria. Early Scots began to diverge from Northumbrian English in the twelfth and thirteenth century. There was immigration of Scandinavian-influenced Middle English-speakers from the North and Midlands of England.

paragraphs: Later influences on the development of Scots were from Romance languages via ecclesiastical and legal Latin, Norman and later Parisian French from the Auld Alliance and Dutch and Middle Low German influences by trade and immigration from the Low Countries. Scots also includes loanwords from contact with Gaelic.

paragraphs: From the 13th century, Early Scots spread further into Scotland through the burghs established by King David I. The growth in prestige of Early Scots in the 14th century and the decline of French in Scotland made Scots the prestige dialect in most of eastern Scotland.

paragraphs: From 1610 to the 1690s, during the Plantation of Ulster, many Scots-speaking Lowlanders, about 200,000, settled there. In the core areas of Scots settlement, there were five or six times as many Scots as English settlers. Southern Modern English was adopted as the literary language after 1700, and "Modern Scots" is sometimes used to describe the spoken language after 1700.


title: Mathematical analysis

paragraphs: Mathematical analysis is a part of mathematics. It is often shortened to analysis. It looks at functions, sequences and series. These have useful properties and characteristics that can be used in engineering. Mathematical analysis provides a rigorous logical foundation to calculus, which studies continuous functions, differentiation and integration. Mathematical analysis is a short version of its old name "infinitesimal analysis", with some of its key subfields including real analysis, complex analysis, differentiation equation and functional analysis.

paragraphs: Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz and Isaac Newton developed most of the basis of mathematical analysis.

paragraphs: A foundational concept in mathematical analysis is the concept of limit. Limits are used to see what happens very close to things. Limits can also be used to see what happens when things get very big. For example, formula_1 is never zero, but as "n" gets bigger, formula_1 gets closer and closer to zero. The limit of formula_1 as "n" gets bigger is zero. This is described by "The limit of formula_1 as "n" goes to infinity is zero", and written as formula_5.

paragraphs: The counterpart would be formula_6. When the formula_7 gets bigger, the limit goes to infinity. It is written as formula_8.

paragraphs: The fundamental theorem of algebra can be proven from some basic results in complex analysis. It says that every polynomial formula_9 with real or complex coefficients has a complex root (where a root is a number "x" satisfying the equation formula_10, and some of these roots may be the same).

paragraphs: The function formula_11 is a line. The formula_12 shows the slope of the function and the formula_13 shows the position of the function on the ordinate. With two points on the line, it is possible to calculate the slope formula_12 with:

paragraphs: A function of the form formula_16, which is not linear, cannot be calculated like above. It is only possible to calculate the slope by using tangents and secants. The secant passes through two points and when the two points get closer, it turns into a tangent.

paragraphs: This is called difference quotient. The formula_18 gets now closer to formula_19. This can be expressed with the following formula:

paragraphs: The result is called derivative or slope of f at the point formula_21.

paragraphs: The integration is about the calculation of areas.

paragraphs: is read as "the integral of "f" with respect to "x" from "a" to "b"", and refers to the area between the x-axis, the graph of function "f", and the lines "x"="a" and "x"="b". The formula_23 is the point where the area should start, and the formula_24 where the area should ends.


title: Locust

paragraphs: Locust are the swarming phase of certain species of short-horned grasshoppers in the family Acrididae. Such swarms are usually made of a great number of locusts. They do a lot of damage to the places where they pass, by eating the crops.

paragraphs: These are species which breed rapidly under suitable conditions. The migratory locust is the best-known example. They become gregarious and migratory when their populations become dense enough. They form bands as nymphs and swarms as adults. Both the bands and the swarms are nomadic and rapidly strip fields and greatly damage crops. The adults are powerful fliers; they can travel great distances, consuming practically all green material wherever the swarm settles.

paragraphs: The origin and apparent extinction of certain species of locust—some of which grew to in length—are unclear.

paragraphs: Locusts are edible insects, and are considered a delicacy in some countries. There have been references to their consumption as food throughout history.

paragraphs: In the Book of Joel in the Old Testament locust swarms are described as a plague.

paragraphs: More detailed information on locusts can be found at the pages of the Australian Plague Locust Commission.


title: Grasshopper

paragraphs: Grasshoppers are the suborder Caelifera, including locusts. There are 11,000 species, of which 10,000 are in the family Acrididae.

paragraphs: To distinguish grasshoppers from bush-crickets or katydids, they are sometimes referred to as the "short-horned grasshopper". Species which change colour and behaviour at high population densities are called locusts.

paragraphs: Grasshoppers prefer to eat grasses, leaves and cereal crops, but many grasshoppers are omnivorous. Many grasshoppers eat from several host plants in one day, while others stay on one host plant. One of the 8000 species of grasshopper eats only a single species of plant.

paragraphs: Grasshoppers make good food for some. As an example, in southern Mexico, "chapulines" (grasshoppers of the genus "Sphenarium") are often eaten. They are high in protein, minerals and vitamins.

paragraphs: They are usually collected at dusk, using lamps or electric lighting, in sweep nets. Sometimes they are placed in water for 24 hours, after which they can be boiled or eaten raw, sun-dried, fried, flavoured with spices, such as garlic, onions, chilli, drenched in lime, and used in soup or as a filling for various dishes. They are abundant in Central and Southern Mexican food and street markets.


title: Olive oil

paragraphs: Olive oil is a vegetable oil. It is made by getting the juice of the fruits of the olive tree. These are called olives. The oil is used in cooking, as well as cosmetics, traditional medicine, and as a fuel for oil lamps.

paragraphs: Olive oil quality is defined by some parameters that are measured by chemical analysis. One of the most important is acidity. The highest quality olive oil (Extra-Virgin) must feature an acidity lower than 0.8%.

paragraphs: People see it as a healthy addition to their diet because of the high level of unsaturated fats (mainly oleic acid) and polyphenols. Olive oil is popular in Mediterranean countries.

paragraphs: Spain has more than a third of the world's olive trees, and is the top producer of olive oil in the world.


title: Oil lamp

paragraphs: An oil lamp is a lamp used for lighting by burning oil. Usually, it produces a flame by burning olive oil, or another vegetable oil, or whale oil during the 1700s and 1800s. They burned cleaner, with less smoke, than candles and other sources of light before electricity.

paragraphs: The lamps were usually made of pottery or metal or glass. An old story in the 1001 Nights has Aladdin cleaning (rubbing the lamp) and making a Genie appear.

paragraphs: Late in the 19th century, those lamps were mostly replaced by kerosene lamps.


title: Conjugation

paragraphs: Conjugations are forms of verbs that are changed to agree with the subject that is doing the action described by the verb. Usually most of the word stays the same, but the endings change. Most conjugation systems follow some sort of pattern within the language.

paragraphs: Example: French verb for 'to eat'- "manger" (stem: mang)

paragraphs: ("manger" is the Infinitive of the verb. The infinitive is the un-conjugated form of the verb, literally the "to do" something form such as "to" walk, "to" play, "to" eat. In English one does not say "I like eat" one must say "I like "to" eat". In both English and French ("J'aime "manger"") the infinitive form of the verb would be used in this case.

paragraphs: The pattern here is that the "er" is removed from the verb and replaced with a different ending depending on the subject(who's doing the eating). This pattern is good for many French conjugations, but not all, and in other languages, conjugation patterns are going to be very different.


title: Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk

paragraphs: Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk (7 March 1850 - 14 September 1937) was the first President of Czechoslovakia. He led the country between years 1918 and 1935.

paragraphs: He was a scientist, philosopher, pedagog, politician, and journalist.

paragraphs: He studied in Brno, Vienna, and Leipzig, and he spoke many languages (Latin, French, Polish, German and English).

paragraphs: He worked as a teacher at a university in Prague and Vienna.

paragraphs: He had a big persona with huge charisma and he is called "President liberator" and "Daddy".

paragraphs: Edvard Beneš was the next president after him.


title: Arachne

paragraphs: Arachne is a character from Greek mythology.

paragraphs: She was the daughter of Idmon of Colophon, in Lydia (Greece). Her father earned his living with dyeing (coloring) cloth. She learned to be a weaver. A weaver makes cloth, or textiles, from single strands. She was good at what she did, and she claimed that her skill was greater than that of Athena. Athena was the young Greek goddess of weaving (amongst other things).

paragraphs: Athena appeared to the girl as an old woman, and warned her not to offend the gods. Arachne did not take the advice, she wanted a weaving contest to prove her skill.

paragraphs: Athena revealed herself, and let the contest begin. Athena wove her scene where she won over Poseidon, the god of the sea. Arachne wove scenes about Zeus being unfaithful, with different women: Leda, Europa, and Danae.

paragraphs: Athena saw Arachne's work was without error, but she did not like the subject of Arachne's weaving. Athena lost her temper, and destroyed what Arachne had created. She also hit Arachne on the head. Arachne then realized what she had done. She ran away and hanged herself. Athena however had pity with Arachne, so before Arachne was dead, she changed the rope into a cobweb, and Arachne into a spider.

paragraphs: Ovid tells the story in "Metamorphoses". Book 6, 5-54, 129-145. The story is typical of tragedy in Ancient Greek theatre, where pride in thinking oneself better than the gods – "ὕβρις" (hubris) – brings punishment from the gods.

paragraphs: The Greek word for spider is "arachne" (αραχνη), from which derive the mythological woman's name, the class name Arachnida in biology, and the name for fear of spiders, arachnophobia.


title: Arachnophobia

paragraphs: Arachnophobia is a fear of spiders. It is a very common phobia - many people suffer from it. People who have it often feel uncomfortable in areas where there may be spiders. The usual way of treating this is using behaviour therapy. People will be confronted with spiders; they may be required to touch spiders as big as a tarantula.


title: Phobia

paragraphs: A phobia (from the ) is a strong fear about a specific thing or situation. In psychology, phobia is considered an anxiety disorder. Phobia is different than just being scared of something. The fear is so strong that it affects, and often damages, the sufferer's life. For example, the person will usually do everything they can to avoid the thing they fear. If they cannot avoid that thing, they will suffer from very strong anxiety which can damage their social relationships, their ability to work, and other areas of their everyday life.

paragraphs: There are two basic types of phobias: specific phobias and social phobias. People with specific phobias fear a certain thing, for example spiders (this is called arachnophobia) or high places (acrophobia). People with social phobias fear social situations (for example speaking in public, being in crowded areas, or being around other people).

paragraphs: Fear is a normal human emotion. A phobia is different from normal fear in many ways:

paragraphs: It is hard to tell how many people suffer from phobias. Researchers think that between 5 and 13 percent of people seem to have a phobia. Women suffer from phobias about twice as often as men.

paragraphs: Every child is afraid of something. For most children, these fears eventually disappear.

paragraphs: These fears would only be called phobias if they caused problems in the child's daily life, or if they caused the child to suffer from severe anxiety or emotional distress.

paragraphs: Causes and risk factors phobias is very.

paragraphs: also psychological phobias. These include hundreds of types phobias. Some:

paragraphs: When a person with a phobia is exposed to their fear (encounters with the stimulus, think of it, sees the object of fear in the picture...) occur at these physical and psychological symptoms. Intensity depends on the degree of fear.

paragraphs: Psychological symptoms are symptoms that take place within a human. These include the:

paragraphs: There are different ways to help people with phobias. There is treatment available; it focuses on making the patient less sensitive to the fear they suffer from, or showing him or her how the cycle of fear works. There is also medication available (mostly sedatives) that help people cope. Finally there are self-help groups.


title: John le Carré

paragraphs: John le Carré (born 19 October 1931) is an English novelist. He was born in Poole, Dorset. He wrote many spy novels. The name is a pseudonym. His real name is David John Moore Cornwell.

paragraphs: Le Carré graduated from Lincoln College, Oxford with a Bachelor of Arts degree.


title: Sexually transmitted disease

paragraphs: A sexually transmitted disease (STD) is a disease which spreads by having sex. STDs can spread through oral sex or anal sex, or when two people's genitals touch. Today, STDs are usually called sexually transmitted infections (STIs). In the past, they were called venereal diseases (VD).

paragraphs: STDs can be caused by viruses, bacteria, or parasites. Examples of the most common STDs are listed on this page.

paragraphs: HIV causes the immune system - the system in the body that is supposed to fight off infection - to not work as well as it should. This makes people with HIV more likely to get infections and some other diseases, like some cancers. HIV is the virus that causes AIDS.

paragraphs: There are about 40 different kinds of HPV that can be spread through sex and affect the anus and genitals. Examples of diseases that HPV can cause include:

paragraphs: Hepatitis is an infection of the liver. There are three common types of hepatitis: hepatitis A, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C.

paragraphs: Hepatitis A causes a short-term liver infection. It can be spread by having sex, though this is not the most common way to get hepatitis A.

paragraphs: Hepatitis B and hepatitis C cause much more serious, long-lasting liver problems. Both can cause very bad liver disease, like cirrhosis, and death. They are more likely than hepatitis A to be spread by having sex.

paragraphs: The herpes simplex virus (HSV) causes genital herpes. Genital herpes can cause painful blisters on the genitals and anus. Herpes can also cause sores on the mouth.

paragraphs: Chlamydia is one of the common STDs in the world. In humans, it is the most common STD caused by bacteria. In the United States alone, about 2.8 million more people get chlamydia infection every year.

paragraphs: If chlamydia is not treated, it can cause serious problems, like diseases of the genitals and eyes. It can even cause blindness. Chlamydia can also cause permanent damage to a woman's reproductive system if it is not treated.

paragraphs: Gonorrhea can infect the genitals, rectum, mouth, throat, and eyes. In bad cases, it can spread through the blood to infect the body's joints. In the worst cases, it can spread through the blood and infect the heart (causing endocarditis, an infection of the heart's valves) or the spinal cord (causing meningitis).

paragraphs: Syphilis can cause many serious problems if it is not treated. It makes a person much more likely to get HIV, because it causes sores on the genitals that make it easier for HIV (and other STDs) to get spread. After a few years, if people with syphilis do not get treated, they can have serious problems with the organs in their body. Eventually - without treatment - syphilis infects the brain and causes death.

paragraphs: Trichomoniasis is the most common STD in the world that is not caused by a virus. It can cause inflammation swelling of the vagina (vaginitis, urethra (urethritis), or penis. It can also cause more serious problems. If it is not treated, it can cause permanent damage to a woman's reproductive system. It can also cause prostate cancer, and makes a woman more likely to give birth to a premature baby.

paragraphs: The only way for a person to be sure they will not get an STI is for that person not to have sex. This includes sex of any kind.

paragraphs: There are some things that a person can do to make it less likely to get an STI:


title: Atacama Desert

paragraphs: The Atacama Desert is a desert. It is on the Tropic of Capricorn in northern Chile, and is one of the driest places on earth. In some places, less than an inch (25mm) of rain falls every ten years. Only one of the rivers from the Andes mountains reaches the ocean through the desert. The rest disappear into the dry soil.

paragraphs: The Atacama is a desert not because mountains make a rain shadow, but because the ocean does. The water on the west part of Chile is quite cold, because it came from Antarctica. Moisture cannot stay in the cold air above the cold water, so mainly fog reaches the land, but very little rain. The people of Chile have learned how to get water from the fog to help them live. They "harvest" the clouds by putting up plastic sheets with pans underneath. The fog collects on the plastic and drips into the pans, giving the people water for crops and drinking. In parts of this desert it has not rained for over 400 years. Even though the Atacama is the driest place in the world that does not mean it is the hottest. The Atacama Desert is actually a really cold place with temperatures ranging from 0 to 30 degrees.

paragraphs: Three countries fought the War of the Pacific in the 1880s for control of the desert. They both wanted its Sodium nitrate mines. Chile won.

paragraphs: The oldest known artificially prepared mummies come from this desert. They are called the Chinchorro mummies.


title: International Atomic Energy Agency

paragraphs: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is a spin-off organisation from the United Nations. It was created as an autonomous (self-governing) organization on July 29, 1957. The organization is intended to monitor and promote the peaceful and safe use of nuclear energy with protection from harmful radiation and, also, to prevent the use of this energy to build nuclear weapons.

paragraphs: International Atomic Energy Agency and its former Director General, Mohamed ElBaradei, were both awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on 7 October 2005 for their role in trying to prevent the invasion of Iraq by a US-led coalition of troops.

paragraphs: The IAEA has its headquarters in Vienna, Austria. Additional facilities are in Seibersdorf (near Vienna), Monaco, Toronto, and Tokyo.