Daily Content Archive
(as of Sunday, February 16, 2020)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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inauthentic
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Focusing Adverbs in Negative StatementsFocusing adverbs are used to draw attention to a particular part of a clause. When we want to draw attention to a negative statement, what two words can we use? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The Indian OceanThe Indian Ocean is the third-largest ocean in the world, constituting one-fifth of Earth's total ocean area and covering approximately one-seventh of the Earth's surface. Crisscrossed by historically important trade routes, it is home to 40 percent of the world's offshore oil production, and the relatively high traffic of oil tankers has prompted a surge in piracy off the Somali coast. Its northernmost current system usually flows clockwise, but in the winter, it reverses direction. Why? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Burning of the USS Philadelphia (1804)The USS Philadelphia was a 36-gun frigate that ran aground in October 1803 while blockading the coast of Tripoli. After some consideration, the Americans decided that the ship was too powerful a weapon to remain in enemy hands and sent a party of soldiers to recapture the ship and burn it. In carrying out "the most bold and daring act of the age," the assaulting party used what ruse to sail up to the ship without arousing the suspicion of its Tripolitan guards? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Hugo Marie de Vries (1848)De Vries was a Dutch botanist whose theory of biological mutation and rediscovery of Mendel's laws of heredity made possible the active investigation and universal acceptance of Darwin's theory of evolution. He held that new species are formed chiefly through mutations—sudden, unpredictable, inheritable changes in an individual organism. Teaching at the University of Amsterdam, he introduced the experimental study of evolution. What important evolution-related term did he introduce to science? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 It is cruel to discover one's mediocrity only when it is too late.W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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make fast work of (someone or something)— To deal with, finish, or dispose of someone or something very quickly or handily; (of an object) to consume something quickly. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Washington's Birthday Celebration (Laredo, Texas) (2020)This celebration in honor of George Washington has been held since 1898 by Laredo, Texas, and its sister city on the other side of the Mexican border, Nuevo Laredo. The two Laredos (los dos Laredos in Spanish) are linked by history and by three bridges across the Rio Grande. Both cities also celebrate Mexico's Independence Day in September. Washington's birthday events include dances, fireworks, mariachi music, a fun run, a jalapeño-eating contest, and parades with lavishly decorated floats. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: prosperityland of milk and honey - In the Bible, a land of prosperity and plenty promised by God to the Israelites. More... pumpkin time - The end of prosperity and a return to normal. More... thrift - First meant "acquired wealth, prosperity, success." More... welfare - Originally the phrase wel fare—first meaning "happiness" or "prosperity." More... | |