Daily Content Archive
(as of Tuesday, December 19, 2017)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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veer
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Defining Evaluative AdverbsMost adverbs describe how or when an action occurs. Evaluative adverbs are different. Instead of giving us information about the action itself, evaluative adverbs are used by the speaker to comment or give an opinion on something. What do evaluative adverbs modify in a sentence? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 E-DemocracyE-democracy is a phenomenon involving the use of electronic communications technologies, such as the Internet, to enhance democratic processes. Though it includes specific activities like electronic voting, e-democracy has a broad scope that aims to increase accessibility, transparency, and accountability in politics. Still in its infancy, the concept is the subject of debate among citizens and politicians. What is the digital divide, and how might it hamper the development of e-democracy? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 A Christmas Carol Is Published (1843)English novelist Charles Dickens wrote many books and stories about Christmas. His first, the now-beloved A Christmas Carol, was written in just weeks, reputedly to meet the expenses of his wife's fifth pregnancy. An instant success, it has since been adapted countless times for theater and film. The last name of the story's protagonist, Ebenezer Scrooge, has even entered the English lexicon as a word meaning a mean-spirited, miserly person. Who is thought to have inspired the character? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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.jpg) Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev (1906)Brezhnev joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) in 1931 and steadily rose through the ranks, eventually becoming general secretary of the CPSU (1964-1982) and president of the USSR (1977-1982). A protégé of Nikita Khrushchev, he took power after helping engineer Khrushchev's ouster. Brezhnev's regime was later criticized for its corruption and failed economic policies, but the global influence of the USSR increased dramatically during his tenure, thanks in part to what doctrine? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 I have outlived certain desires. I have lost friends, some by death...others through sheer inability to cross the street. I am not so gifted as at one time seemed likely.Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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go soft— To become overly lenient, easily manipulated, or apathetic; to lose strength or determination. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Newport Harbor Christmas Boat Parade (2019)The Newport Harbor Christmas Boat Parade is a nightly parade of boats at Newport Beach, California. More than 150 boats of all kinds, wildly decorated with lights depicting Santa Claus, snowmen, and other symbols of winter, join the parade. Some boats carry huge inflated figures and many play music. The floating parades started in 1908 as a Fourth of July spectacular. In 1946, the city put a tree and carolers on a barge and towed it around the harbor, and that began the current December parades. Today, about a million spectators watch them during the festival. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: highwayfrontage road - A smaller road that runs alongside a highway or major road. More... highway, expressway, freeway, parkway, turnpike - A highway is a main road, while an expressway is a multilane highway; freeways, parkways, and turnpikes are types of expressways. More... scamp - Once meant a highwayman; as a verb, it meant "rob on the highway." More... interstate - A highway that is part of the federal network of major roads; despite their name, some interstates do not cross state lines. More... | |