Daily Content Archive
(as of Wednesday, December 12, 2018)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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unbridled
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Indicating Possession in Non-Plural Words and Names Ending in "-s"There are two ways that we can indicate possession in non-plural words and names that end in "-s". Some writers prefer to treat them like plurals and simply add an apostrophe to the end, leaving out the second "-s." Other writers choose to add a second "-s" after the apostrophe to create the usual singular possessive form. As both forms are generally accepted, how do many writers choose between them? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Emotional ContagionPeople have a tendency to express and feel emotions that are similar to and influenced by the emotions of others—to automatically mimic and synchronize facial expressions, vocalizations, postures, and movements with those of another and, consequently, to converge emotionally. This phenomenon, known as emotional contagion, can be observed among mobs, in the workplace, in the classroom, and even at home. What physiological and psychological mechanisms may contribute to making moods contagious? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Clapham Junction Rail Crash (1988)Near London on the morning of December 12, 1988, the driver of the 7:18 train from Basingstoke to Waterloo saw a signal in front of him abruptly change from green to red. He stopped his train and called the signalman, who told him to proceed. Before he could, however, the 6:14 from Poole rammed into his train's rear at about 40 mph (64 km/h). Then, an empty train traveling in the opposite direction hit the wreckage. The crashes killed 35 and injured hundreds more. What caused the signal failure? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Helen Frankenthaler (1928)A member of abstract expressionism's second generation, Frankenthaler was greatly influenced by Jackson Pollock. Inspired by his way of working on a canvas laid on the floor rather than mounted upright, Frankenthaler developed a technique for staining unprimed canvases with thinned pigments that she poured. Her work gave rise to the color-field movement of the late 50s. An appointee to the National Endowment for the Arts, she controversially opposed government grants to artists on what grounds? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Friendship is constant in all other things Save in the office and affairs of love.William Shakespeare (1564-1616) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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rubber jungle— An aviation term among pilots and airline crew for the effect created when the rubber oxygen masks in a commercial aircraft deploy from its ceiling. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Fiesta of Our Lady of Guadalupe (2018)Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe is the patron saint of Mexico, and on December 12 thousands of pilgrims flock to her shrine at the famous Church of Guadalupe outside Mexico City. On the evening of December 11, crowds have already gathered for singing and special ceremonies at midnight, which are carried on national television. This great religious festival commemorates the appearance of the Virgin Mary on Tepeyac Hill, north of present-day Mexico City. The story is reenacted in a puppet show each year, and relics of Our Lady of Guadalupe are sold in the streets. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: newsgazette - A gazzetta, a Venetian coin of little value, gave rise to the phrase gazzetta de la novita, "halfpennyworth of news," which eventually gave us gazette. More... silly season - Any slow news period characterized by trivial news or no news. More... tidings - Probably comes from Old Norse tithindi, "news of events." More... report - To report something is etymologically to "carry it back," from Latin reportare; the metaphorical sense of "bringing back news" also developed in Latin. More... | |
| Match Up | |
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| Mismatch | |
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| In the News | |
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International Space Station's artificial intelligence has turned belligerentIt's supposed to be a plastic pal who's fun to be with. CIMON isn't much to look at. It's just a floating ball with a cartoonish face on its touch screen. It's built to be a personal assistant for astronauts working on the International Space Station ... More... | |