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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 Wilma Glodean Rudolph (1940)Rudolph was the first American woman to win three gold medals in track and field in a single Olympic Games. She accomplished this despite having contracted numerous serious illnesses as a child, including polio, which damaged her leg and required her to wear a brace for some time. At the 1960 Games, she won gold in the 100-meter dash, the 200-meter dash, and as part of the 4x100 meter relay. She finished the 100-meter dash in world-record time but was not credited with the record. Why? 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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 Stonehenge Summer Solstice Ceremony (2025)Stonehenge, the ancient stone circle located in Wiltshire, England, is believed to have been built between about 3050 and 1600 BCE. At the Summer Solstice, when viewed from the center of the monument, the sun rises through the entrance and just between two of the large stones. Today, modern Druids and other Neopagans gather at Stonehenge for Summer Solstice ceremonies. Wearing white robes and scarlet hoods, when the first rays of the rising sun shine on the Altar Stone, they walk in procession around the circle, gathering at the Altar Stone to recite prayers and salute the rising sun. 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... | |