Daily Content Archive
(as of Friday, December 3, 2021)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Demonstrative PronounsDemonstrative pronouns are pronouns used to replace nouns or noun phrases in a sentence, representing that which is nearby or far away in space or time. Because demonstrative pronouns are less specific than the nouns or noun phrases they replace, what must be used for clarity? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 "The Judgment""The Judgment" is a 1912 short story by Franz Kafka. He wrote it in a single sitting and described the experience as a creative outburst of the body and soul with the story emerging like a newborn "covered in filth and slime." He even allowed it to be published—most of his stories were only released posthumously. "The Judgment" focuses on a man named Georg Bendemann whose father condemns him to death by drowning, prompting Georg to jump off a bridge. What life events likely inspired Kafka? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 World's First Human Heart Transplant (1967)After studying medicine at the University of Cape Town, South African surgeon Christiaan Barnard came to the US in 1955 to improve his surgical technique. There, he performed his first heart operation before returning to Cape Town, where he was soon appointed director of surgical research at the Groote Schuur Hospital. He made medical history there in 1967 when he completed the world's first human heart transplant on 55-year-old Louis Washkansky. When was the first pediatric heart transplant? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Joseph Conrad (1857)Before becoming a novelist, Conrad lived an adventurous life at sea. He later fictionalized many of his experiences in novels that combine realism and high drama. Though he knew little English before he was 20, Conrad became one of the greatest novelists and prose stylists in English literature. Marked by a distinctive, rich prose, many of his novels are considered masterpieces, but he is perhaps best known for the novella Heart of Darkness. What were some of Conrad's real-life escapades? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Some cynical Frenchman has said that there are two parties to a love-transaction: the one who loves and the other who condescends to be so treated.William Makepeace Thackeray (1811-1863) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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heavy lifting— Any serious, difficult, or arduous work or activities. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 International Day of Disabled Persons (2023)The years 1983-92 marked the United Nations Decade of Disabled Persons, a period during which great strides were made in raising awareness and enacting laws to improve the situation of individuals with disabilities. At the conclusion of this 10-year observance, December 3 was proclaimed the International Day of Disabled Persons. The UN General Assembly appealed to its members to observe this day with activities and events designed to promote the advantages of integrating disabled persons into every area of social, economic, and political life. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: measuringcord - An amount of wood containing 128 cubic feet (4x4x8 feet); the name comes from the old practice of measuring a stack of firewood with a cord of a certain length. To cord is to stack or put up wood in cords. More... drosometer - An instrument for measuring the amount of dew on a surface. More... isometric - From Latin isus, "equal," and -metria, "measuring." More... Mach - The scale measuring the speed of an object or fluid relative to the speed of sound is named for philosopher/physicist Ernst Mach (1838-1916), who researched thermodynamics; Mach is the ratio of the speed of something to the speed of sound in the surrounding medium. More... | |