Daily Content Archive
(as of Wednesday, June 23, 2021)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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despotism
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Making Infinitives NegativeTo make an infinitive or infinitive phrase negative, we use the word "not" before the infinitive. We can also put greater emphasis on "not" by placing it after "to." This creates what is known as a "split infinitive"—an infinitive that has an adverb between "to" and the base form of the verb. Is it ever acceptable to use split infinitives? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 BalaamBalaam is an Old Testament diviner whose story appears in the Book of Numbers. He was asked by Balak, the king of Moab, to curse the Israelites as they approached Moab near the end of their 40 years of wandering. The Israelites had already defeated two kings in their travels, and Balak feared he would be next. According to the account, when Balaam opened his mouth, he was only able to bless the Israelites. In one part of the narrative, Balaam's donkey speaks to him. What does it say? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 College Board Administers the First SAT Exam (1926)The SAT is a standardized test used in college admissions in the US. Developed by Carl Brigham, a Princeton psychologist who worked on the US Army's IQ test, the first Scholastic Aptitude Test was administered in 1926 to over 8,000 test-takers—60% of whom were male. Criticized as being biased toward whites, males, and the middle class, the exam has been modified over the years to improve fairness. Still, its value as a predictor of success in college is debated. What does "SAT" stand for today? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Alan Mathison Turing (1912)Turing was a groundbreaking English mathematician and logician who worked on artificial intelligence (AI), among other things. He created the Turing test to determine whether a computer is capable of humanlike thought. His papers on the subject are widely acknowledged as the foundation of research in AI. He also did valuable work in cryptography during WWII, helping to break the German Enigma code. In the midst of his pioneering work, Turing committed suicide after being convicted of what crime? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 Clothes have more effect upon us than we imagine. Our deportment depends upon our dress.Jerome K. Jerome (1859-1927) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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be not worth a brass farthing— To be completely worthless or useless; to have little or no value. Refers to farthings (obsolete British units of currency, worth one-quarter of a penny), formerly made from a copper alloy (brass). Primarily heard in UK. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Luxembourg National Day (2023)On the eve of this national holiday, Dudelange hosts a torchlight procession, and the castle at Wiltz hosts a fête in the courtyard. Fireworks, parades, special religious services, public concerts, and dancing comprise the elaborate celebration in the capital city of Luxembourg. On National Day, people assemble in the capital not only to celebrate their independence, but also to observe the official birthday of the Grand Duke. The people there identify strongly with their country and speak their own language, known as Luxembourgeois. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: productionarborization - The production of a treelike structure. More... Broca's area - An area of the brain involved with the production of speech; it was named after P. Paul Broca, a French surgeon. More... economic, economical - Economic means "pertaining to the production and use of income," and economical is "avoiding waste, being careful of resources." More... value-added tax - A tax levied on the difference between a commodity's price before taxes and its cost of production. More... | |