Old age may not sound exciting. But recent findings offer good news for older people and for people __________ about getting older. Researchers found that people become happier and experience less worry after they __________ the age of fifty. In fact, they say by the age of eighty-five, people [...]
An IBM supercomputer named Watson has won the latest battle of man versus machine. Watson won the first ever “Jeopardy!” quiz show competition __________ a computer as a player. The show was broadcast on American television February sixteenth. The supercomputer __________ former [...]
Silicon Valley in Northern California is home to many of the world’s largest technology companies. These include Apple, Google, Oracle, Intel, Cisco Systems and Hewlett-Packard. The valley is also home to the Computer History Museum in Mountain View. It reopened last month after nineteen [...]
Traditional fisheries may no longer be the world’s most important __________ of fish. A new United Nations report shows that fish farming or aquaculture may soon lead fish production. The Food and Agriculture Organization says aquaculture is growing by a rate of __________ percent a year. [...]
In recent years, Bill Gates has given financial support to ___________ American education. Late last year, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation launched the Measures of Effective Teaching project. The project tests new ways to recognize what makes a good teacher. Its ___________ is to help [...]
Thanksgiving Day is America’s version of a _________ festival. The holiday is celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November. This Thursday, millions of Americans will join family and friends to give thanks and eat a meal with a history that is _________ old. Early European settlers in [...]
Cacao or cocoa trees grow in hot, rainy areas of Africa, Asia and Central and South America. Their beans are used to make cocoa _________________, cocoa butter and of course chocolate. There are five to six million growers, maybe more. Many are poor family farmers with only a few _______________. [...]
Years ago, scientists began to learn that certain parts of the brain had certain __________. For example, one part was responsible for breathing; another dealt with the sense of smell. Scientists thought our brains could not change. But then they discovered that the brain could [...]
The World Health Organization says obesity rates are rising in Pacific island countries. So, too, are health problems linked to being overweight. The WHO says a major reason for the _____________ obesity rates is an increase in imported foods. It says many Pacific islanders have replaced their [...]
Millions of high school students have ____________ «To Kill a Mockingbird.» The novel by Harper Lee offers moral ____________ about racial justice and respect. It tells the story of a young girl named Scout and her father, Atticus Finch, a ____________ . He defends a black man wrongfully [...]
Weather does not discriminate between large and small farms. If it rains too much or too little, crop insurance can pay for __________. Yet insurance usually costs too much for a farmer with as little as a hectare or two of land. But now a program called Kilimo Salama, or __________ farming, [...]
Some people say broccoli looks like small _______________, and cauliflower like _______________ clouds. They think broccoli is only green and cauliflower is only white. But these nutritious vegetables also come in more colorful versions. One kind of cauliflower, for example, is orange, and [...]
A burro is a small donkey. Another way that people say it is BOOR-oh. The name comes from Spanish and, before that, from a Latin term for a small horse. Donkeys are related to horses. Both are part of the __________ family. Burros reach an average __________ of over a meter. They can weigh more [...]
Plant breeders and genetic engineers keep working to give crops the strength to resist __________ like insects, diseases, __________ or floods. But before you can resist a threat, you need to understand it. We told you last week about a newly completed genetic map of the organism that causes [...]
Do American children still learn handwriting in school? In this age of the _____________, some people seem to think handwriting lessons are on the way out. We asked a _____________ professor at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. Steve Graham says he has been hearing about the death of [...]
Parsley is an ancient green and a respected addition to many foods. But other times, its job is just to make a ___________ plate look pretty. Poor parsley, valued for its looks, then thrown away. Yet parsley is a good source of vitamins and other ___________. The taste is a little strong for some [...]
Christians, Jews and Muslims all consider the Jordan River holy. Last week, Pope Benedict visited the place where John the Baptist is believed to have ___________ Jesus in its waters. The leader of the world’s Roman Catholics blessed the ___________ of two churches to be built next to the [...]
Even in ancient times, people liked to eat lettuce. Egyptians and Romans served the green, __________ vegetable at the end of dinner. Now, people in some countries start the meal with lettuce as part of a salad. There are hundreds of kinds of lettuce. The main ones include __________ lettuce, [...]
Many colleges and universities in the United States provide education in agriculture. But only a few schools offer experience in traditional hands-on field _________ in addition to classes. Sustainable agriculture is a major _________ at these colleges. They teach the need for farming to improve [...]
