Daily Content Archive
(as of Thursday, December 10, 2015)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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pharos
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Singular vs. Plural Use of "There"The dummy pronoun "there" can be used in either a singular or plural context. When it is used in a singular context, the correlating nouns and verbs have singular endings. When it is used in a plural context, what endings do the corresponding nouns and verbs have? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 The Eurovision Song ContestMore than 50 years after the annual Eurovision Song Contest was first broadcast, it remains one of the most watched non-sporting events in the world. Participating nations submit songs, and the live performance is broadcast simultaneously to all countries in the Eurovision Network. The participant states then vote for the winner, but are not allowed to vote for their own country's entry. What country abolished its normal tourist visa requirements to coincide with its hosting of the contest? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 UN General Assembly Adopts Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948)Drafted by a committee chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is the world's most translated document. Among its 30 articles are definitions of civil and political rights, as well as definitions of economic, social, and cultural rights—all of which are owed by UN member states to those under their jurisdiction. Since its adoption, it has acquired more juridical status than originally intended and has been widely used, even by national courts, in what ways? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Emily Dickinson (1830)Dickinson is widely considered one of the greatest American poets. After attending Amherst Academy and Mount Holyoke Seminary, she returned to her family home and spent the rest of her life there, writing. By 1860, she was boldly experimenting with language. Few of her poems were published in her lifetime, but after her death, her cache of poems was discovered, and heavily edited collections were published starting in 1890. It was not until what year that an unaltered collection was published? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 A superhuman will is needed in order to write, and I am only a man.Gustave Flaubert (1821-1880) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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amount to nothing— To result in no tangible or appreciable difference. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Thailand Constitution Day (2015)In 1932, Thailand's absolute monarchy was replaced with a constitutional monarchy. King Rama VII oversaw the transfer of power. Under the newly instituted constitution of that time, the monarchy remained in place and the king was designated the head of state. Thailand has had a series of 18 constitutions or charters since 1932, the latest one being adopted in 2007. Each has allowed for a constitutional monarchy with greater or lesser power. Celebrations on Constitution Day involve the people thanking the monarchy for granting them a chance to take part in running the country. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: pineJapanese garden - Often uses bamboo, mondo grasses, pine, and small pools of water containing koi. More... pine, pinecone - Pine, the tree, is from Latin pinus, from Indo-European pei-, "resin"; pinecones were originally called pineapples. More... pine, fir, spruce - Pine, fir, and spruce are quite different from each other, though they are all conifers; pine has clusters of long, needle-shaped leaves, spruce is a type of fir, and the only scientific difference between the two is that spruces have rectangular needles while firs have flat, needle-shaped leaves. More... pinot - A variant of French pineau, a diminutive of pine, from the shape of the clusters of grapes. More... | |