Every culture has a recognized point when a child becomes an adult, when rules must be followed and tests passed.

In China, although teenagers can get their ID cards at 16, many only see themselves as an adult when they are 18. In the US, where everyone drives, the main step to the freedom of adult life is learning to drive. At 16, American teens take their driving test. When they have their license, they drive into the grown-up world.

"Nobody wants to ride the cheese bus to school," said Eleanor Fulham, 17. She brought the pressure back to memory, especially from kids from wealthier families. "It's like you're not cool if you don't have a car," she said.

According to recent research, 41% of 16 to 19-year-olds in the US own cars, up from 23% in 1985. Although, most of these cars are bought by parents, some teens get part-time jobs to help pay.

Not all families can afford cars for their children. In cities with subways and limited parking, some teenagers don't want them. But in rich suburban areas without subways, and where bicycles are more for fun than transportation, it is strange for a teenager not to have a car.

But police say 16-year-olds have almost three times more accidents than 18 and 19-year-olds. This has made many parents pause before letting their kids drive.

Julie Sussman, of Virginia, decided that her son Chad, 15, will wait until he is 17 to apply for his learner's permit.

Chad said he has accepted his parents' decision, although it has caused some teasing from his friends. "They say that I am unlucky," he said, "But I'd rather be alive than driving, and I don't really trust my friends on the road, either."

In China, as more families get cars, more 18-year-olds learn to drive. Will this become a big step to becoming an adult?

Question: Which age group has a higher rate of accidents compared to 18 and 19-year-olds?

Context: 16-year-olds have more accidents than 18 and 19-year-olds.


EBSCO Information Services, headquartered in Ipswich, Massachusetts, is a division of EBSCO Industries Inc., the third largest private company in Birmingham, Alabama, with annual sales of nearly $2 billion according to the BBJ's 2013 Book of Lists. EBSCO offers library resources to customers in academic, medical, Kâ€“12, public library, law, corporate, and government markets. Its products include EBSCONET, a complete e-resource management system, and EBSCOhost, which supplies a fee-based online research service with 375 full-text databases, a collection of 600,000-plus ebooks, subject indexes, point-of-care medical references, and an array of historical digital archives. In 2010, EBSCO introduced its EBSCO Discovery Service (EDS) to institutions, which allows searches of a portfolio of journals and magazines.

EBSCO Information Services is a division of EBSCO Industries Inc., a family owned company since 1944. "EBSCO" is an acronym for Elton B. Stephens Co. According to "Forbes Magazine", EBSCO is one of the largest privately held companies in Alabama and one of the top 200 in the United States, based on revenues and employee numbers. Sales surpassed $1Â billion in 1997 and exceeded $2Â billion in 2006.

EBSCO Industries is a diverse company which includes over 40 businesses. EBSCO Publishing was established in 1984 as a print publication called "Popular Magazine Review", featuring article abstracts from more than 300 magazines. In 1987 the company was purchased by EBSCO Industries and its name was changed to EBSCO Publishing. It employed around 750 people by 2007. In 2003 it acquired Whitston Publishing, another database provider. In 2010 EBSCO purchased NetLibrary and in 2011, EBSCO Publishing took over H. W. Wilson Company. It merged with EBSCO Information Services on July 1, 2013. The merged business operates as EBSCO Information Services. , the President is Tim Collins.

Question: What does the acronym Ebsco stand for?

Context: The acronym Ebsco stands for Elton B. Stephens Co.

(Ebsco)-[IS_ACRONYM_FOR]->(Elton B. Stephens Co.)


ROME: The legend of Leonardo da Vinci is covered in mystery: How did he die? Are the remains buried in a French castle really those of the master? Was the "Mona Lisa" a self-portrait in disguise ?

A group of Italian scientists believe the key to solving those puzzles lies with the remains, and they say they are seeking permission to dig up the body to conduct carbon and DNA testing.

If the skull is undamaged, the scientists can go to the heart of a question that has fascinated scholars and the public for centuries: the identity of the "Mona Lisa." Recreating a virtual and then physical reconstruction of Leonardo's face, they can compare it with the smiling face in the painting.

"We don't know what we'll find if the tomb is opened. We could even just find grains and dust," says Giorgio Gruppioni, an anthropologist who is participating in the project. "But if the remains are well kept, they are a biological record of events in a person's life, and sometimes in their death." Silvano Vinceti, the leader of the group, said that _ in charge of the said burial site at Amboise Castle early next week.

Leonardo moved to France at the invitation of King Francis I, who named him "first painter to the king." He spent the last three years of his life there, and died in 1519 at age 67. The artist's original burial place, the palace church of Saint Florentine, was destroyed during the French Revolution and remains that are believed to be his were eventually reburied in the Saint-Hubert Chapel near the castle.

"The Amboise tomb is a symbolic tomb; it's a big question mark," said Alessandro Vezzosi, the director of a museum dedicated to Leonardo in his hometown of Vinci. Vezzosi said that investigating the tomb could help identify the artist's bones with certainty and solve other questions, such as the cause of his death. He said he asked to open the tomb in 2004 to study the remains, but the Amboise Castle turned him down.

The group of 100 experts involved in the project, called the National Committee for Historical and Artistic Heritage, was created in 2003 with the aim of "solving the great mysteries of the past," said Vinceti, who has written books on art and literature.

Arguably the world's most famous painting, the "Mona Lisa" hangs in the Louvre in Paris, where it drew some 8.5 million visitors last year. Mystery has surrounded the identity of the painting's subject for centuries, with opinions ranging from the wife of a Florentine merchant to Leonardo's own mother.

That Leonardo intended the "Mona Lisa" as a self-portrait in disguise is a possibility that has interested and divided scholars. Theories have existed: Some think that Leonardo's taste for tricks and riddles might have led him to hide his own identity behind that puzzling smile; others have guessed that the painting hid an androgynous lover.

If granted access to the grave site, the Italian experts plan to use a tiny camera and radar to confirm the presence of bones. The scientists would then exhume the remains and attempt to date the bones with carbon testing.

At the heart of the proposed study is the effort to discover whether the remains are actually Leonardo's, including with DNA testing.

Vezzosi questions the DNA comparison, saying he is unaware of any direct descendants of Leonardo or of tombs that could be attributed with certainty to the artist's close relatives.

Gruppioni said that DNA from the bones could also eventually be compared to DNA found elsewhere. For example, Leonardo is thought to have rubbed colors on the canvas with his thumb, possibly using saliva , meaning DNA might be found on his paintings.

Even in the absence of DNA testing, other tests could provide useful information, including whether the bones belonged to a man or a woman, and whether the person died young or old.

Even within the committee, experts are divided over the identity of the "Mona Lisa."

Vinceti believes that a tradition of considering the self-portrait to be not just a faithful imitation of one's features but a representation of one's spiritual identity may have resonated with Leonardo.

Vezzosi, the museum director, dismissed as "baseless and senseless" the idea that the "Mona Lisa" could be a self-portrait of Leonardo. He said most researchers believe the woman may have been either a wife of the artist's sponsor, the Florentine nobleman Giuliano de Medici, or Lisa Gherardini, the wife of a rich silk merchant, Francesco del Giocondo. The traditional view is that the name "Mona Lisa" comes from the silk merchant's wife, as well as its Italian name: "La Gioconda."

Question: During which historical event was the Saint Florentine church destroyed?

Context: The Saint Florentine church was destroyed during the French Revolution.


Feeding a crowd of hundreds doesn't make Kenny Seals-Nutt nervous. In fact, he _ in the kitchen. He's in his perfect place when dicing tomatoes, making salads and baking cakes. By the time Kenny, 16, reached his third year of high school at Hickory Grove, North Carolina, US, he had become vice president of his school's cooking club. He also opened his own food company, called Modern Fusion. Kenny said he developed his love of cooking by watching his mother, and his grandmother, who owned a catering business herself. Kenny helped them both in order to remember their tips: how long to cook chicken so it stays wet, and the right amount of tomatoes to add to a spaghetti dish. At the age of 5, he cooked his first dish of shrimp and broccoli. Taking it for his school lunch, he warmed it up in the school's microwave, while the other kids ate their sandwiches. "I love to eat, and it started to become more fun to cook than to use a microwave," he said. Cooking came easy to Kenny, and he enjoyed adding new ingredients into common dishes. "It started with a passion and I wanted to know more," he said. He began to watch the Food Network and read chef blogs. Last summer, Kenny put his skills to the test by working with his grandmother to cater his uncle's wedding. While she cooked traditional dishes, Kenny wanted to add new to the expected flavors . Now Kenny spends his weekends catering his own events: weddings, birthday parties, baby showers. Kenny's dishes are always a hit. Chef Frederick Mookie Hicks, owner of a catering business, said Kenny's success comes from his ability to multitask in the kitchen. Hicks said he has asked Kenny to cook with him on jobs three times now, and he presents Kenny as a positive example of a passionate chef to the students in his cooking classes. "He's so vigorous about cooking that he doesn't let anything stop him," Hicks said. "I knew in the first five minutes of working with the kid that he is something special."

Question: Besides attending Hickory Grove, what company did Kenny Seals-Nutt found?

Context: Kenny Seals-Nutt founded the company Modern Fusion.


(CNN) -- If George Orwell and Lucille Ball had a love child, his name would be Stephen Colbert.

In the last century, the great critics of corrupt political language were British authors who wrote dystopian novels. In "1984," Orwell described a totalitarian society in which meaningless political language, dubbed Newspeak, veiled horrible truths.

Earlier, In "Brave New World," Aldous Huxley described toddlers conditioned in laboratories to be afraid of books. And in "A Clockwork Orange," Anthony Burgess imagined a world in which ultraviolent teens rampaged in a distinctive English-Russian patois that defined their alienation from society and authority.

Now in the 21st century, there is Colbert's "truthiness" -- political half-truths, quarter-truths and what the website Politifact describes as "Pants-on-Fire" prevarications.

On his Comedy Central show, "The Colbert Report," he introduced "The Word," a regular deconstruction of language contortion designed, in Orwell's notion, to defend the indefensible. (One example: "A Perfect World," as in, journalists should demand to investigate torture, but it's not a perfect world.)

It's sharp political humor and a canny critique of American culture, language and iconography. And it's helped the comic emerge as this nation's court jester, licensed by the youthful cable TV audience to speak truth to power.

Such is Colbert's power and influence that he has been invited to testify before Congress today on the issue of illegal immigration -- and to testify in character. It's as if the Congress of the Eisenhower years invited Harpo Marx to offer testimony by beeping his bicycle horn.

Colbert has long been on to something important about the nature of our political discourse at the beginning of a new postmodern millennium: that ideology has become the lens through which Americans found their particular truth, let the evidence be damned.

Question: On which television channel did The Colbert Report air?

Context: The Colbert Report aired on Comedy Central.

(The Colbert Report)-[AIRS_ON]->(Comedy Central)


Global warming is causing more than 300,000 deaths and about $125 billion in economic losses each year, according to a report by the Global Humanitarian Forum, an organization led by Annan, the former United Nations secretary general.

The report, to be released Friday, analyzed data and existing studies of health, disaster, population and economic trends. It found that human-influenced climate change was raising the global death rates from illnesses including malnutrition and heat-related health problems.

But even before its release, the report drew criticism from some experts on climate and risk, who questioned its methods and conclusions.

Along with the deaths, the report said that the lives of 325 million people, primarily in poor countries, were being seriously affected by climate change. It projected that the number would double by 2030.

Roger Pielke Jr., a political scientist at the University of Colorado, Boulder, who studies disaster trends, said the Forum's report was "a methodological embarrassment" because there was no way to distinguish deaths or economic losses related to human-driven global warming amid the much larger losses resulting from the growth in populations and economic development in vulnerable regions. Dr. Pielke said that "climate change is an important problem requiring our utmost attention." But the report, he said, "will harm the cause for action on both climate change and disasters because it is so deeply flawed ."

However, Soren Andreasen, a social scientist at Dalberg Global Development Partners who supervised the writing of the report, defended it, saying that it was clear that the numbers were rough estimates. He said the report was aimed at world leaders, who will meet in Copenhagen in December to negotiate a new international climate treaty.

In a press release describing the report, Mr. Annan stressed the need for the negotiations to focus on increasing the flow of money from rich to poor regions to help reduce their vulnerability to climate hazards while still curbing the emissions of the heat-trapping gases. More than 90% of the human and economic losses from climate change are occurring in poor countries, according to the report.

Question: What is the value of the economic losses caused by Global Warming?

Context: Global Warming causes economic losses of $125 billion.


Going on a road trip? The St. Louis Arch, Statue of Liberty, and Golden Gate Bridge are common great tourist sites. If you prefer offbeat places, check out the following roadside attractions.

World's Largest Ball of Paint

Alexandria, Ind.

In 1977, Michael Carmichael set out to create the biggest ball of paint anywhere. Starting with a baseball as centre, he painted layer by layer of paint day after day, year after year. The ball weighs more than 1,300 pounds, with more than 20,000 coats of paint, which is recognized by Guinness World Record. Visitors can paint the wall themselves and become part of the history.

The Museum of Dirt

Boston, Mass.

The museum is the idea of Glenn Johnson. Labeled glass bottles contain such treasures as dirt from the Great Wall of China, as well as sand from a desert in Saudi Arabia and Omaha Beach in France. Best of all, the cost of seeing this museum is dirt cheap: It's free.

Mount Horeb Mustard Museum

Mount Horeb, Wis.

It's heaven for hotdog lovers! This museum says it has to have the world's largest collection for prepared mustard . Its more than 4,100 bottles of spices come from 60 nations, including Turkey and China. Visitors learn the history of mustard, from how it's made to how it's advertised and sold. The museum's creator, Barry Levenson, loves mustard so much that he even puts it on ice-cream!

Paper House

Rockport, Mass.

Swedish immigrant Ellis Stenman was much ahead of his time in 1922, when he started to build a two-room house almost entirely out of newspaper. At the time, people didn't give much---if any---thought to recycling paper. In fact, "recycling" wasn't even a word yet. The house is framed with wood, but the walls are made of 210 layers of newspaper. In all, he used about 100,000 newspapers.

Question: What material is it made of?

Context: Paper House has material Newspaper. World'S Largest Ball Of Paint has material Paint.

(Paper House)-[has material]->(Newspaper) || (World'S Largest Ball Of Paint)-[has material]->(Paint)


Imagine that you are the first person ever to see Hawaii. What would be the first thing you would set foot on? The beach, naturally. There are hundreds of miles of beaches on the twenty islands of Hawaii. These islands cover 1,600 miles and are about 2,300 miles west of California. Most of them are covered with fine white sand. They are thought to be among the finest beaches in the world. Another wonderful thing about the beaches of Hawaii is the water temperature. The year-round average temperature of the water at the famous Waikiki Beach is 230C! The same is true of air temperature. In fact, there are no real seasons in Hawaii. There is a difference of only two or three degrees between the hottest day of summer and the coldest day of winter. That's why the Hawaiians don't have a word for weather in their language. Perhaps the nicest thing about Hawaiian beaches are the waves. The earliest settlers in Hawaii, the Polynesians, quickly learned how much fun it was to ride the waves. They developed a sport which is now very popular on the islands called body surfing. You go out into the ocean, wait for a big wave to come towards you, jump on it, and ride it all the way to the beach. Now imagine once again that you are the first person ever to set foot in Hawaii. What do you think would be the second beautiful thing you would notice? Would it be those strange triangles rising out of the water hundreds and hundreds of meters high? What are those beautiful things? They are volcanoes , of course. These volcanoes are not just a part of the islands. They made the islands at first. Because of them the islands are still growing. The most famous volcano on Hawaii is Mauna Loa. It is the world's most active volcano. It has been erupting for thousands of years. Even when it isn't erupting, smoke comes out of the earth from a thousand little holes. In 1950 Mauna Loa erupted for twenty-three days. That erupting produced the greatest amount of lava in modern history. In 1960 it erupted again. That time it added a kilometer of beach to the island. Because Mauna Loa has erupted so often, it has become the biggest (but not the tallest) mountain in the world. These volcanoes could be dangerous to the population of Hawaii. In fact, Hilo, the second largest city in Hawaii, is built just under Mauna Loa. The volcano could erupt at any time. Most people believe that it will erupt sometime in the next twenty-five years. But the people of Hilo do not seem worried. They live with the danger as part of their lives.

Question: What is a characteristic that it has?

Context: Beaches have the characteristic of Fine White Sand. Hawaii has the characteristic of No Real Seasons.

(Beaches)-[has characteristic]->(Fine White Sand) || (Hawaii)-[has characteristic]->(No Real Seasons)


Below are Top 10 Scholarly Stars in America in 2011. It's not always about fame and fortune for these celebs - education is a priority in their lives. Find out what scholarly stars have earned degrees and diplomas or are returning to the classroom as you head back to school. No. 10: James Franco James has attended FOUR prestigious universities in his life: UCLA, New York University, Columbia University and Yale University. We hear he's is so serious about school, he missed the Oscar nominations to attend class! No. 9: Natalie Portman Natalie Portman is so Ivy League: she graduated from Harvard University in 2003, thanks to her parents, who she says always made sure she put her studies before her acting. No. 8: Haley Joel Osment When students at NYU heard Haley Joel would be joining them as a freshman in 2006, they chalked the campus' sidewalks with his famous Sixth Sense movie line: "I see dead people." No. 7: Emma Watson Although Emma Watson put her education on hold to wrap up the Harry Potter film series, in July 2011 she announced that she was going back to school at Brown University to complete her degree. No. 6: Dakota and Elle Fanning Celeb sisters Dakota and Elle Fanning are stars on screen and in class. Dakota was her high school's homecoming queen two years in a row while Elle, who still attends middle school, somehow manages to balance her acting career with math tests and gym class. No. 5: Mara Wilson Mara Wilson graduated from NYU in 2009. Mara, who played the adorable Nattie in Mrs. Doubtfire, eventually grew up and headed to New York to attend NYU's Tisch School of the Arts; she graduated in 2009. No. 4: Tyra Banks Tyra Banks is known for being a savvy businesswoman, but even the best could use some formal training. She enrolled in Harvard Business School in 2011 and even went so far as to live in a dorm with her fellow classmates! "We live in dorms," confirmed the TV star. "I have my own room but we share a kitchen, living room and study area. It's mandatory dorms. I freaked out. In the beginning I was like, 'Oh yes, I'm going to Harvard and I'll be at the Four Seasons down the street.' And they were like, 'Girl, you're living in dorms!'" No. 3: Shakira Singer Shakira is resting her hips and giving her brain a workout at UCLA, attending classes on the history of western civilization so she could "learn from the best". No. 2: Steven Spielberg Director Steven skipped getting a formal education to be an unpaid intern at Universal Studios, where he learned his tricks of the _ . But eventually he did go back and earned his film degree in 2002. No. 1: Danica McKellar Danica McKellar is a math whiz. She used to be known for starring as Winnie Cooper in the Wonder Years, but Danica is also a UCLA graduate, math whiz and education advocate who's written three best-selling books encouraging middle-school girls to have confidence and succeed in mathematics.

Question: What university did she graduate from?

Context: Natalie Portman graduated from Harvard University. Danica Mckellar graduated from Ucla. Mara Wilson graduated from Nyu.

(Natalie Portman)-[graduated from]->(Harvard University) || (Danica Mckellar)-[graduated from]->(Ucla) || (Mara Wilson)-[graduated from]->(Nyu)


Where did that number come from? Eleven and Twelve The reason behind the change in number naming is that eleven comes from the German term ainlif, which translates to "one left". Twelve follows the same rule. It comes from twalif--"two left". Why teen is used instead of lif for 13 through 19? There is something sadly lost in history. 911 for US Emergency Calls Early phones didn't use phone numbers--the operator had to connect your call by hand--and this led to the need for an emergency code . But later phone numbers became popular, that changed. In 1967, 911 was chosen as the nationwide emergency call because it was easy to remember and could be quickly dialed on the phone. 26.2 Miles in a Marathon The story began with an ancient Greek soldier carrying message from a battlefield in Marathon to Athens. The modern marathon was born as a flagship event in the first Olympic Games, in 1896, with a distance of about 25 miles (40 km), as long as the distance from Marathon to Athens. But race organizers for the 1908 Olympic Games in London wanted to add something special. The race began at Windsor Castle and ended at White City Stadium, with runners finishing only after passing the royal box. The distance was 26.2 miles (42.1 km). And since 1924 this distance has been kept in marathon. 28 Days in February Before using the Gregorian calendar that we use today, one of the first Roman calendars had only 304 days and ten months (March through December), with six months of 30 days and four of 31 days. The second king of Rome improved the old calendar. He added 50 days for January and February. To make the new months longer, he took one day from each of the 30-day months, making 56 days to divide between January and February (or 28 days each). Later January was given one more day to add up to 355 days a year, but February still had 28 days. That's how it became the shortest month and it stayed that way ever since.

Question: What does it translate to?

Context: Ainlif translates to One Left. Twalif translates to Two Left.

(Ainlif)-[translates to]->(One Left) || (Twalif)-[translates to]->(Two Left)


For most South Africans, Nelson Mandela is the father of their nation - many even called him "Tata", a local word for father. It was sometimes forgotten that he was also a real father of six, grandfather of 18, great-grandfather of eight, and husband to three women.

He earned a place in history just like another father of a nation, Mahatma Gandhi. But there was a fundamental difference between these beloved men. While Gandhi was thought to be a depressed family man, Mandela was a strong and loving family man. Even so, Mandela and his family paid dearly for his devotion to his country's freedom.

Mandela himself offered a glimpse into his personal war. "To be the father of a nation is a great honor, but to be the father of a family is a greater joy. _ " he said in April 1992, announcing his separation from Winnie.

In 1944, Nelson Mandela married Evelyn. "I could not give up my life in the struggle," Mandela explained in his autobiography , Long Walk to Freedom, "and she (Evelyn) could not live with my devotion to something other than herself and her family... I never lost my admiration for her, but in the end we could not make our marriage work." They divorced in 1958.

When Evelyn died in 2004, Mandela stood at her graveside with his third wife, Graca. Winnie also attended the funeral.

Mandela married Winnie in 1958. But Winnie bore the hardship of life as Mandela, enduring her husband's 27-year imprisonment. From prison, Mandela wrote some of the greatest love letters to Winnie. "I dust it (your photo) carefully every morning - I even touch your nose with mine to regain the electric current that used to run through my blood whenever I did so."

For many South Africans, it was the end of a fairytale love story when their separation was made public in 1992. "Tensions" had arisen and they had agreed on a separation. The hurt in his words was clear: "Perhaps I was blinded to certain things because of the pain I felt for not being able to play my role as a husband to my wife and a father to my children."

"Unstable personal lives seemed freedom fighters' destiny ," he said. "When your life is the struggle, as mine was, there is little room left for family. That has always been my greatest regret, and the most painful aspect of the choice I made." The couple divorced in 1996.

Question: For which country is Nelson Mandela considered the Father of the Nation?

Context: Nelson Mandela is considered the Father of the Nation for South Africa.


1826, a Frenchman named Niepce needed pictures for his business .But he was not a good artist.So he invented a very simple camera .He put it in a window of his house and took a picture of his garden .That was the first photo.

The next important date in the history of photography was 1837. That year, Daguerre, another Frenchman, took a picture of his studio. He used a new kind of camera and a different processs. In his pictures, you could see everything very clearly, even the smallest details. This kind of photograph was called a daguerreotype.

Soon, other people began to use Daguerre's process. Travellers brought back daguerreotypes from all around the world. People photographed famous buildings, cities and mountains.

In about 1840, the process was improved. Now photographers could take pictures of people and moving things. The process was not simple. The photographers had to carry lots of film and processing equipment. But this did not stop the photographers, especially in the United States, where from the 1840s daguerreotype artists were popular in most cities.

Mathew Brady was a well-known American photographer. He took many pictures of famous people. The pictures were unusual because they were very life-like and full of personality.

Brady was also the first person to take pictures of war. His 1862 Civil War pictures showed dead soldiers and ruined cities. They made the war seem more real and more terrible

In the 1880s, new inventions began to change photography. Photographers could buy film readymade in rolls. So they did not have to make the film immediately. They could bring it back to their studios and develop it later, meaning that they did not have to carry lots of equipment. And finally, the invention of the small handheld camera made photography less expensive.

With the small camera, anyone could be a photographer. People began to use cameras just for fun. They took pictures of their families, friends and favourite places. They called these pictures "snapshots".

Photographs became very popular in newspapers in the 1890s. Soon magazines and books also used documentary photographs. These pictures showed true events and people. They were much more real than drawings.

Photography had turned into a form of art by the beginning of the 20th century. Some photographs were not just copies of the real world. They showed ideas and feelings, like other art forms.

Question: During which century was photography established as an art form?

Context: Photography was established as an art form in the 20th century.


My summer hols wr CWOT. B4, WE USED 2go 2 NY 2C my bro, his GF & thr 3 :-@ KIDS FTF. ILNY, its gr8. Can you understand this sentence? If you can't, don't feel too bad: neither could the middle school teacher in England who received this as homework. This is Netspeak: the language of computerized communication found on Internet or cellphones. To newcomers, it can look like a completely foreign language. So, what is the "translation" of the sentence above? My summer holidays were a complete waste of time. Before, we used to go to New York to see my brother, his girlfriend, and their three screaming kids face to face. I love New York; it's great. School teachers and parents say this new form of writing is harming the English language. Increasing spelling and grammatical mistakes can be seen in students' writing. They fear the language could become corrupted . Everyone should just relax, say linguists . They believe Netspeak is in fact more of a good thing. David Crystal, from the University of Wales, argues that Netspeak and Internet create a new language use and the almost lost art of diary writing has been picked up again. Geoffrey Nunberg, from Stanford University, agrees. "People get better at writing by writing," he says. "Kids who are now doing text messaging, e-mail, and instant messages will write at least as well as, and possibly better than, their parents." Linguist James Milroy says, for centuries, it is believed without exception that young people are harming the language. And you can _ that when today's teenagers become tomorrow's parents, they too will think this way. Milroy argues that languages do not and cannot become "corrupted"; they simply change to meet the new needs. However, Netspeakers do agree that it is important to teach young people how to speak and write Standard English. Cynthia McVey says, "I can understand Netspeak worries teachers and it's important that they get across to their pupils that text messaging is for fun, but that learning to write proper English is a must for their future." Perhaps, we should give teenagers a little more trust anyway. Erin, age 12, says, "I wouldn't use text language in my homework. Text is just for fun."

Question: Who is he affiliated with?

Context: Geoffrey Nunberg is affiliated with Stanford University. David Crystal is affiliated with University Of Wales.

(Geoffrey Nunberg)-[affiliated with]->(Stanford University) || (David Crystal)-[affiliated with]->(University Of Wales)


Three Central Texas men were honored with the Texas Department of Public Safety's Director's Award in a Tuesday morning ceremony for their heroism in saving the victims of a fiery two car accident.

The accident occurred on March 25 when a vehicle lost control while traveling on a rain-soaked State Highway 6 near Baylor Camp Road. It ran into an oncoming vehicle, leaving the occupants trapped inside as both vehicles burst into flames.

Bonge was the first on the scene and heard children screaming. He broke through a back window and pulled Mallory Smith, 10, and her sister, Megan Smith,9,from the wreckage.

The girls' mother, Beckie Smith, was not with them at the time of the wreck, as they were traveling with their baby sitter, Lisa Bow bin.

Beckie Smith still remembers the sickening feeling she had up on receiving the call informing her of the wreck and the despair as she drove to the scene.

Bozeman and Clemmons arrived shortly after Bonge and helped rescue the other victims and attempted to put out the fires.

"I was nervous," Bozeman said." I don't feel like I'm a hero. I was just doing what anyone should do in that situation. I hope someone would do the same for me."

Everyone at the accident made it out alive, with the victims suffering from nonlife-threatening injuries. Mallory Smith broke both femurs, and Megan had neck and back injuries. Bowbin is still recovering from a broken pelvis, ankle and foot.

The rescuers also were taken to the hospital and treated for cuts and smoke breathing, Bonge said.

In addition, Bozeman not to meet accident victim Anthony Rus so in the hospital after the accident, where Russo presented him with a glass frame inscribed with" Thank you," Bozeman said. Those involved in that fateful encounter on Highway 6 credited God blessing for bringing them together.

"Whatever the circumstances, Tuesday's ceremony provided a time to be grateful for those who put their lives on the line for the lives of complete strangers," Beckie Smith said," We're calling it The Miracle on Highway 6."

Question: What event did Beckie Smith name 'The Miracle On Highway 6'?

Context: Beckie Smith gave the name 'The Miracle On Highway 6' to an unspecified event.

(Beckie Smith)-[NAMED]->(The Miracle On Highway 6)


Will you want me to read a whole book in English?

Yes. Believe it or not, that may be easier than you think. Not all classics are so difficult or complicated. So you're not limited to the simplified versions. And the easier books are not all for children.

In the original versions ,books may send you to the dictionary. And you might not understand everything you read. But reading one from cover to cover will give you a real sense of accomplishment.

The key is to find the right books. Let's take a look at these.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (C.S. Lewis)

Stepping into an old wardrobe, four English schoolchildren find themselves in the magical world of Narnia. On this delightful land, they find friends among the many talking creatures.

The children soon discover, however, that Narnia is ruled by the White Witch. Edmund, one of the children, falls under her power. Who can free Narnia? Only Aslan, the great and noble lion. He alone knows the Deeper Magic. But the children themselves must help fight the battle against the White Witch and those who serve her.

The Old Man and the Sea (Ernest Hemingway)

Santiago, an old Cuban fisherman, hasn't caught any fish in more than 80 days. Sailing far out from land, the old man hooks an enormous fish. That begins an agonizing three-day battle. First he struggles against the great fish. Then he must fight off the sharks that circle the little boat and threaten to eat his fish. Exhausted and bleeding, the old man arrives back at shore. But his fish, his beautiful fish . . .

Hemingway won the Nobel Prize for this superb story of strength and courage, of victory and regret.

A Wrinkle in Time (Madeleine Lingle)

Meg's father, a U.S. government scientist, has been missing for many months. He had been experimenting with time travel when he mysteriously disappeared.

Now Meg, her little brother Charles Wallace and her friend Calvin will try to rescue him. But first they must _ the forces of evil they encounter on their journey through time and space. Can they find Meg's father before it's too late?

This novel is more than just a science-fiction adventure. It's an exploration of the nature of our universe.

The Pearl (John Steinbeck)

One day Kino, a poor Mexican pearl diver, finds a magnificent pearl. With it he dreams of buying a better life, new clothes and schooling for his son. Instead, it brings only evil. His wife pleads with him to get rid of it. "No," says Kino. "I will have my chance. I am a man." But when he kills a man who is trying to steal the pearl, Kino and his wife must run for their lives.

This tale of dreams, justice and the power of greed is told simply and beautifully.

Question: Which character does it feature?

Context: The Old Man And The Sea features character Santiago. The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe features character Aslan. The Pearl features character Kino. A Wrinkle In Time features character Meg.

(The Old Man And The Sea)-[features character]->(Santiago) || (The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe)-[features character]->(Aslan) || (The Pearl)-[features character]->(Kino) || (A Wrinkle In Time)-[features character]->(Meg)


The region, as part of Lorraine, was part of the Holy Roman Empire, and then was gradually annexed by France in the 17th century, and formalized as one of the provinces of France. The Calvinist manufacturing republic of Mulhouse, known as Stadtrepublik MÃ¼lhausen, became a part of Alsace after a vote by its citizens on 4 January 1798. Alsace is frequently mentioned with and as part of Lorraine and the former duchy of Lorraine, since it was a vital part of the duchy, and later because German possession as the imperial province (Alsace-Lorraine, 1871â€“1918) was contested in the 19th and 20th centuries; France and Germany exchanged control of parts of Lorraine (including Alsace) four times in 75 years.

With the decline of the Roman Empire, Alsace became the territory of the Germanic Alemanni. The Alemanni were agricultural people, and their Germanic language formed the basis of modern-day dialects spoken along the Upper Rhine (Alsatian, Alemannian, Swabian, Swiss). Clovis and the Franks defeated the Alemanni during the 5th century AD, culminating with the Battle of Tolbiac, and Alsace became part of the Kingdom of Austrasia. Under Clovis' Merovingian successors the inhabitants were Christianized. Alsace remained under Frankish control until the Frankish realm, following the Oaths of Strasbourg of 842, was formally dissolved in 843 at the Treaty of Verdun; the grandsons of Charlemagne divided the realm into three parts. Alsace formed part of the Middle Francia, which was ruled by the youngest grandson Lothar I. Lothar died early in 855 and his realm was divided into three parts. The part known as Lotharingia, or Lorraine, was given to Lothar's son. The rest was shared between Lothar's brothers Charles the Bald (ruler of the West Frankish realm) and Louis the German (ruler of the East Frankish realm). The Kingdom of Lotharingia was short-lived, however, becoming the stem duchy of Lorraine in Eastern Francia after the Treaty of Ribemont in 880. Alsace was united with the other Alemanni east of the Rhine into the stem duchy of Swabia.

Question: What was it also known as?

Context: Mulhouse was known as Stadtrepublik MÃ¼lhausen. Lotharingia was known as Lorraine.

(Mulhouse)-[known as]->(Stadtrepublik MÃ£Â¼Lhausen) || (Lotharingia)-[known as]->(Lorraine)


Unlike chemists and physicists, who usually do their experiments using machines, biologists and medical researchers have to use living things like rats. But there are three Nobel prize-winning scientists who actually chose to experiment on themselves - all in the name of science, reported The Telegraph. 1. Werner Forssmann (Nobel prize winner in 1956) Forssmann was a German scientist. He studied how to put a pipe inside the heart to measure the pressure inside and decide whether a patient needs surgery. Experiments had been done on horses before, so he wanted to try with human patients. But it was not permitted because the experiment was considered too dangerous. Not giving up, Forssmann decided to experiment on himself. He anaesthetized his own arm and made a cut, putting the pipe 30 centimeters into his vein. He then climbed two floors to the X-ray room before pushing the pipe all the way into his heart. 2. Barry Marshall (Nobel prize winner in 2005) Most doctors in the mid-20th century believed that _ was down to stress, spicy food or an unusually large amount of stomach acid. But in 1979 an Australian scientist named Robin Warren found that the disease might be related to a bacteria called Helicobacter pylori. So he teamed up with his colleague, Barry Marshall, to continue the study. When their request to experiment on patients was denied, Marshall bravely drank some of the bacteria. Five days later, he lost his appetite and soon was vomiting each morning - he indeed had gastritis. 3. Ralph Steinman (Nobel prize winner in 2011) This Canadian scientist discovered a new type of immune system cell called the dendritic cell. He believed that it had the ability to fight against cancer. Steinman knew he couldn't yet use his method to treat patients. So in 2007, when doctors told him that he had cancer and that it was unlikely for him to live longer than a year, he saw an opportunity. With the help of his colleagues, he gave himself three different vaccines based on his research and a total of eight experimental therapies. Even though Steinman eventually died from his cancer, he lived four and a half years, much longer than doctors had said he would.

Question: What is his nationality?

Context: Ralph Steinman has nationality Canadian. Robin Warren has nationality Australian. Werner Forssmann has nationality German.

(Ralph Steinman)-[has nationality]->(Canadian) || (Robin Warren)-[has nationality]->(Australian) || (Werner Forssmann)-[has nationality]->(German)


Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is one of the most loved children's books of all time, and many adults enjoy it as well. It tells the story of a young girl named Alice, who follows a rabbit entering a magical world called Wonderland: she has many experiences which seem to change the rules of reasoning or common sense. The popularity of the book comes from its imagination, interesting story, and art work. The writer of the book is Lewis Carroll. In fact, Lewis Carroll was not the writer's real name. His real name was Charles Dodgson. One day, he took a boat ride down the Thames River to have a picnic with three little girls who were friends of the family. To keep them entertained on the ride, he told them a story in which Alice, the middle child, was the main character. They enjoyed the story very much. Charles later wrote the story down under the name Alice's Adventures under Ground and gave it to Alice as a Christmas present. Later, he gave a copy to his friend George MacDonald. George read it to his children and they loved it. George suggested to Charles that he make a book from his story. Charles then wrote more parts to the story until it was around 35,000 words. It was first printed in 1866, with art work by John Tenniel, under the name Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. The book was an immediate success. One of its first fans was Queen Victoria. She immediately requested a collection of all of Lewis Carroll's works. She was surprised to find that they included many works on math. In fact, Charles Dodgson was a highly respected mathematician. This can be seen in many puzzles and plays on reasoning that appear in his books and poems. Since the story was first printed, it has kept selling up to the present day. It has been translated into over fifty languages and has had several movies based on it. The story is even mentioned in the popular 1999 film The Matrix by the character Morpheus.

Question: What was the well-known pen name of the author Charles Dodgson?

Context: The well-known pen name of Charles Dodgson was Lewis Carroll.


The Armenian language (classical: ; reformed: "") occupies an independent branch of the Indo-European language tree. It is the official language of the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Artsakh. It has historically been spoken throughout the Armenian Highlands and today is widely spoken in the Armenian diaspora. Armenian is written using the Armenian alphabet, introduced in 405 AD by Mesrop Mashtots.

Armenian has developed since the separation from Indo-European mother tongue in the third millennium BCE to at least the time of the first Armenian dynasty (the Yervanduni dynasty, founded in the 6th century BCE). Hellenistic influences during the Artashesian Dynasty (2nd century BCE to 1st century CE) led to word borrowings from Greek and Latin. As the state language of the Arshakuni dynasty of Armenia (1st to 5th century CE) was Parthian, a large portion of Armenian vocabulary has been formed from Parthian borrowings. The earliest extant form of written Armenian is from the 5th century and is known as Classical Armenian (5th to 11th century); translations of the Bible and other religious texts during this period led to extensive word borrowings from Hebrew and Syriac. Middle Armenian (12th to 15th century) began with the establishment of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia in the 12th century and is marked by an increased influence of European languages on Armenian, particularly Old French (which had become the secondary language of the Cilician nobility) and Italian (which had become the secondary language of Cilician commerce). Middle Armenian is the first written form of Armenian to display Western-type voicing qualities. Early Modern Armenian (16th to 18th centuries) is a mix of Middle Armenian and an evolving, non-standardized literary Modern Armenian (in Constantinople, Venice, the Ararat plain, and the Persian Armenian communities, particularly New Julfa). As Armenian communities were spread across a large geographic area during this period, early Modern Armenian was influenced by the languages of host societies, with loan words being borrowed from Arabic, Turkish, Persian, Georgian, Latin, Greek, Italian, French, German, Polish, Hungarian, and Russian.

Question: When did it end?

Context: Classical Armenian ended in 11Th Century. Artashesian Dynasty ended in 1St Century Ce.

(Classical Armenian)-[ended in]->(11Th Century) || (Artashesian Dynasty)-[ended in]->(1St Century Ce)


Ashleigh Fraser and Leah Guskjolen, both 18, wondered why they would not be allowed to wear nail polish or artificial nails during their training to become certified nursing assistants. But when they asked, the only response which they got was that "rules are rules." Not satisfied, the teens decided to explore the issue themselves.

For their new study, Ashleigh and Leah, seniors at Willcox High School in Willcox, Arizona., borrowed materials from the hospital where they had been trained as nursing assistants. Ten nurses there agreed to give them little scrapings off the top side of their nails. Half of the participants had natural nails. The other half wore nail polish or fake nails on top of their natural nails. The teens grew bacteria from the scrapings on plates; these are plastic dishes with a gel that feeds bacterial growth.

Natural nails produced an average of 4.3 bacterial colonies. In contrast, scrapings from nail polish or artificial nails produced an average of 17.5 colonies! Leah and Ashleigh had their answer to the question. Only natural nails are allowed because polished or artificial nails tend to harbor far more bacteria. The germs could be dangerous to sick patients.

Leah notes that they are not the first to look at nails in a medical setting. Still, she says, "It is something that should be taken much more seriously than it is." To emphasize that, she points to the large list of similar studies she and Ashleigh uncovered during their research.

When nurses touch patients, they often wear gloves, but many small tasks are performed bare-handed. The teens hope to raise awareness of how dangerous artificial nails can be in the medical setting. "What shocked me," Leah says, "is how unconcerned some of the nurses were. They did not think their nails were dangerous." Ashleigh agrees and observes that to preserve their manicures , nurses with polish or fake nails tended to scrub less vigorously when washing their hands. Their nails might look nice, but this might contribute to the large numbers of germs that hang onto their nails.

Ashleigh has never really liked nail polish, so she will not have to change much to pursue her dream of being a surgeon. But the results have reminded Leah, who wants to be a nurse, to give up her artificial nails for good. "They are very pretty," she says, "I love them." But now that she knows the risks they can cause, she admits that for a health professional they just are "not worth it."

Question: What does she want to be?

Context: Leah Guskjolen wants to be a Nurse. Ashleigh Fraser wants to be a Surgeon.

(Leah Guskjolen)-[wants to be]->(Nurse) || (Ashleigh Fraser)-[wants to be]->(Surgeon)


When the shooting of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was complete, it was much more than a movie wrap-up . Rupert Grint, who played Ron Weasley, toldThe Sunday Timesthat he's happy to have the time for romance now filming is over. Emma Watson, who is Hermione Granger in the movies, said she looked forward to "finally being free, being my own person" - a change signaled by her new haircut. Daniel Radcliffe, who has been the face of the boy wizard since 2001, said that he "did cry like a little girl" when the last movie finished. "It's like the ending of a relationship," he toldThe Vancouver Sun. "There's a sense of, 'God, what am I going to do now?'" He said he was eager to see "what life holds for him beyond Hogwarts". Along with the three actors, Harry Potter fans, now in their late teens, came of age with J.K. Rowling's characters. For them, the last film isn't just a goodbye to a decade of magic, but the close of their childhoods. "We are the Harry Potter generation," Canadian Andrea Hill, 19, toldThe Vancouver Sun."We started in elementary school, reading about a boy our age who was going through the same things we were going through. We grew up, so did he." For Emily Chahal, an 18-year-old student, the series has been an inspiring journey. "That first book was what started my love of literature. It was the inspiration for everything - really teaching me to appreciate my friends, and to face difficulties with a sense of courage," she said. "I have a sense of sadness. The end of the movies is kind of the end of my childhood, too." Fortunately, to the delight of die-hard fans, there are many things that keep the boy wizard alive. For example, in June this year, a Harry Potter theme park opened in Florida, US. Some schools in the US and UK also have Quidditch teams - players ride broomsticks. "We're not waiting anymore to see what happens to Harry next," Hill told The Vancouver Sun. She founded a Quidditch club at Carleton University in Canada. "We're still engaged in that magical world."

Question: Who did they play?

Context: Rupert Grint played Ron Weasley. Emma Watson played Hermione Granger. Daniel Radcliffe played Harry Potter.

(Rupert Grint)-[played]->(Ron Weasley) || (Emma Watson)-[played]->(Hermione Granger) || (Daniel Radcliffe)-[played]->(Harry Potter)


I'm flying high today after hearing the news that Bamboo People is a top ten book on the Best Fiction for Young Adults 2011 list from the American Library Association. Here are the top ten titles with annotations by YALSA librarians: *Bacigalupi, Paolo. Ship Breaker. Little, Brown, and Co. Nailer is a light crew cleaner tearing up old hulks of ships, living day to day, until a rich girl and her gleaming ship run ashore in a storm on the beach and his life gets more dangerous. *Donnelley, Jennifer. Revolution. Random House Children's Books/Delacorte. Haunted by the death of her brother, Andi is taken to Paris by her separated father where an encounter with a mysterious diary may bring her back from the edge. *Marchetta, Melina. Finnikin of the Rock. Candlewick. Finnikin and his fellow exiles from Lumatere wish to return to their cursed homeland. Finnikin must go on an epic journey with a dumb beginner named Evanjalin to return home. *Matson, Morgan. Amy and Roger's Epic Detour. Simon & Schuster. Amy and Roger must both learn to deal with loss while on a road trip across the country which doesn't go as expected. *McBride, Lish. Hold Me Closer, Necromancer. Macmillan Children's Book Group/Henry Holt. When Sam discovers he is a necromancer he must learn to control his power in order to defeat a powerful and corrupt opponent and save his friends. *Mulligan, Andy. Trash. David Fickling Books. Three garbage-picker boys find an item of great value to a corrupt politician on their rounds, setting off a tense hunt to see who will win. *Perkins, Mitali. Bamboo People. Chiko, a Burmese soldier and Tu Reh, a Kerenni refugee meet on opposite sides of war and each must learn what it means to be a man of his people. *Reinhardt, Dana. The Things a Brother Knows. Random House Children's Books/Wendy Lamb. Boaz is back and cheered as the hometown hero, but he is not at all the same. Can his younger brother Levi help him truly make his way home? *Saenz, Benjamin. Last Night I Sang to the Monster. Cinco Puntos Press, 2009. Weeks in therapy go by and 18-year-old Zach is still unable to remember the monstrous events that left him alone and haunted by nightmares. *Sedgwick, Marcus. Revolver. Roaring Brook Press. Sig is alone with his father's body when the lawless man his father had managed to escape appears out of the icy wilderness

Question: What notable list was the book Bamboo People included on?

Context: The book Bamboo People was on the Best Fiction For Young Adults 2011 list.

(Bamboo People)-[ON_LIST]->(Best Fiction For Young Adults 2011)


In 2004, three young men went to a dinner party in San Francisco. Afterward ,they wanted to share a video from the party with their friends. They wanted to send it over the Internet. But at the time, the process of sharing videos that way was difficult. Using e-mail did not work and the friends complained that there, was no website to help them. So they created their own. They called their website YouTube. It made sharing videos easy, so the website soon became very popular. People watched 2.500 million videos in the first six months! Today, more than 70,000 new videos go up on YouTube each day. People watch more than 1,000 million videos a day. Many last no more than 10 minutes. These videos show all kinds of things, from sleeping cats to earthquakes. Most of the filmmakers are not professionals. They are just everyday people making videos, and they use the website in many interesting ways. First many people use YouTube to entertain others. One example is Judson Laipply. He made a funny dance video and put it on YouTube in 2006. People watched the video more than 10 million times in the first two weeks. Now people stop Judson on the street to ask, "Are you the dance guy on Youtube?" Some people have invited him to dance at their parties. A few women even asked to marry him. Judson wants to make more dance videos, and people look forward to seeing them. Other people use YouTube to advertise a business. David Taub does this. He is a guitar teacher and he sells videos of guitar lessons on his own website. He wanted to increase his business, so he put short videos with free lessons on YouTube. People enjoyed watching the lessons on YouTube, and afterward, many decided to go to David's own website. Now David sells hundreds of guitar lesson videos each week. People also use YouTube to help others. Ryan Fitzgerald is one example. Ryan is friendly young man who knows that some people are lonely and have no one to talk to. One day, he made a video of himself for YouTube. In the video, he gave his phone number and invited people to call him. In less than a week, he had more than 5,000 calls and messages from all over the world. These days, he is very busy talking on the phone. He helps people when he can, but mostly, he just listens, like a friend. Finally, some filmmakers use YouTube in a more serious way. They want to inform people about important events happening in the world. For example, they show clips of videos from countries at war, or they show people in need of help after a storm. Sometimes TV news shows do not give enough information about these events. Thanks to YouTube filmmakers, people can go to their computers and learn more. For many people, YouTube is more than just another website to visit. It is a way to communicate with others. More and more people are using it every day, and they will probably find even more ways to use it.

Question: What did they create?

Context: Three Young Men created Youtube. Judson Laipply created Funny Dance Video. David Taub created Short Videos With Free Lessons.

(Three Young Men)-[created]->(Youtube) || (Judson Laipply)-[created]->(Funny Dance Video) || (David Taub)-[created]->(Short Videos With Free Lessons)


Buck did not read the newspapers,or he would have known that trouble was coming,not only for himself,but for every big dog,strong of muscle and with long,warm hair in California.Men had found gold in the Yukon,and these men wanted big,strong dogs to work in the cold and snow of the north.

Buck lived at a big house in the sunkissed Santa Clara valley.Judge Miller's place,it was called.There were large gardens and fields of fruit trees around the house,and a river nearby.In a big place like this,of course,there were many dogs.There were house dogs and farm dogs,but they were not important.Over this great land Buck ruled.Here he was born and here he had lived the four years of his life.He was not so large--he weighed only one hundred and forty pounds.But he had saved himself by not becoming a mere housedog.Hunting and outdoor delights had kept down the fat and hardened his muscles.He went swimming with Judge Miller's sons,and walking with his daughters.He carried the grandchildren on his back,and he sat at Judge Miller's feet in front of the warm library fire in winter.During the four years,he had a fine pride in himself which came of good living and universal respect.He was king of Judge Miller's place.

But this was 1897,and Buck did not know that men and dogs were hurrying to northwest Canada to look for gold.And he did not know that Manuel,one of the gardener's helpers,was in bad need of money for his hobby of gambling and for his large family.One day,the Judge was at a meeting and the boys were busy organizing an athletic club.No one saw Manuel and Buck go off on what Buck imagined was merely an evening walk.Only one man saw them arrive at the railway station.This man talked to Manuel,and gave him some money.Then Manuel tied a piece of rope around Buck's neck.

Buck had accepted the rope with quiet dignity .He had learned to trust in men he knew and to give them credit.But when the ends of the rope were placed in the stranger's hands,Buck roared,and was surprised when the rope tightened around his neck,shutting off his breath.In extreme anger,he jumped at the man.The man caught him and suddenly Buck was thrown over on his back.Then the rope tightened cruelly while Buck struggled,his tongue out of his mouth.Never in all his life had he been so badly treated.Never in all his life had he been so angry.For a few moments he was unable to move,and it was easy for the two men to put him into the train.

When Buck woke up,the train was still moving.The man was sitting and watching him,but Buck was too quick for him and he bit the man's hand hard.Then the rope was pulled again and Buck had to let go.

That evening,the man took Buck to the back room of a bar in San Francisco.The barman looked at the man's hand and trousers covered in blood.

"How much are they paying you for this?"he asked.

"Only get fifty dollars."

"And the man who stole him--how much did he get?"asked the barman.

"A hundred.He wouldn't take less."

"That makes a hundred and fifty.It's a good price for a dog like him."

Buck spent that night in a cagelike box.He could not understand what it all meant.What did they want with him,these strange men?And where were Judge Miller and the boys?

The next day Buck was carried in the box to the railway station and put on a train to the north.

Question: Who did he attack?

Context: Buck attacked The Stranger. The Stranger attacked Buck.

(Buck)-[attacked]->(The Stranger) || (The Stranger)-[attacked]->(Buck)


CHAPTER XX.

THE FIRST EASTERN WAR.

215-183.

Scipio remained in Africa till he had arranged matters and won such a claim to Massinissa's gratitude that this king of Numidia was sure to watch over the interests of Rome. Scipio then returned home, and entered Rome with a grand triumph, all the nobler for himself that he did not lead Hannibal in his chains. He had been too generous to demand that so brave an enemy should be delivered up to him. He received the surname of Africanus, and was one of the most respected and beloved of Romans. He was the first who began to take up Greek learning and culture, and to exchange the old Roman ruggedness for the graces of philosophy and poetry. Indeed the Romans were beginning to have much to do with the Greeks, and the war they entered upon now was the first for the sake of spreading their own power. All the former ones had been in self-defence, and the new one did in fact spring out of the Punic war, for the Carthaginians had tried to persuade Philip, king of Macedon, to follow in the track of Pyrrhus, and come and help Hannibal in Southern Italy. The Romans had kept him off by stirring up the robber Ã†tolians against him; and when he began to punish these wild neighbors, the Romans leagued themselves with the old Greek cities which Macedon oppressed, and a great war took place.

Titus Quinctius Flaminius commanded in Greece for four years, first as consul and then as proconsul. His crowning victory was at CynocephalÃ¦, or the Dogshead Rocks, where he so broke the strength of Macedon that at the Isthmian games he proclaimed the deliverance of Greece, and in their joy the people crowded round him with crowns and garlands, and shouted so loud that birds in the air were said to have dropped down at the sound.

Question: What conflict served as the origin for the First Eastern War?

Context: The First Eastern War originated from the Punic War.

(First Eastern War)-[ORIGINATED_FROM]->(Punic War)


The region, as part of Lorraine, was part of the Holy Roman Empire, and then was gradually annexed by France in the 17th century, and formalized as one of the provinces of France. The Calvinist manufacturing republic of Mulhouse, known as Stadtrepublik MÃ¼lhausen, became a part of Alsace after a vote by its citizens on 4 January 1798. Alsace is frequently mentioned with and as part of Lorraine and the former duchy of Lorraine, since it was a vital part of the duchy, and later because German possession as the imperial province (Alsace-Lorraine, 1871â€“1918) was contested in the 19th and 20th centuries; France and Germany exchanged control of parts of Lorraine (including Alsace) four times in 75 years.

With the decline of the Roman Empire, Alsace became the territory of the Germanic Alemanni. The Alemanni were agricultural people, and their Germanic language formed the basis of modern-day dialects spoken along the Upper Rhine (Alsatian, Alemannian, Swabian, Swiss). Clovis and the Franks defeated the Alemanni during the 5th century AD, culminating with the Battle of Tolbiac, and Alsace became part of the Kingdom of Austrasia. Under Clovis' Merovingian successors the inhabitants were Christianized. Alsace remained under Frankish control until the Frankish realm, following the Oaths of Strasbourg of 842, was formally dissolved in 843 at the Treaty of Verdun; the grandsons of Charlemagne divided the realm into three parts. Alsace formed part of the Middle Francia, which was ruled by the youngest grandson Lothar I. Lothar died early in 855 and his realm was divided into three parts. The part known as Lotharingia, or Lorraine, was given to Lothar's son. The rest was shared between Lothar's brothers Charles the Bald (ruler of the West Frankish realm) and Louis the German (ruler of the East Frankish realm). The Kingdom of Lotharingia was short-lived, however, becoming the stem duchy of Lorraine in Eastern Francia after the Treaty of Ribemont in 880. Alsace was united with the other Alemanni east of the Rhine into the stem duchy of Swabia.

Question: By whose grandsons was the Frankish Realm divided?

Context: The Frankish Realm was divided by the grandsons of Charlemagne.


A few years ago, an Englishman called Roy Jones went on holiday to a small seaside town in the west of England. He was swimming in the sea one day when, as he opened his mouth, his false teeth fell out and floated away. The following year, Mr. Jones returned to the same town. As he was having dinner in a local cafe one evening, he mentioned the story of his lost teeth to the manager. The manager looked surprised. He explained that he had found a set of false teeth on the beach last month. Then he asked Roy Jones if he wanted to try them on. "OK", said Mr. Jones. "I suppose it won't do any harm." When the manager brought him the teeth, Mr. Jones put them into his mouth, and laughed and laughed. They were his. In 1987, an American couple called Jane and Robert Bentley went for a picnic on a beach in California. When they returned home, Mrs. Bentley realized that she had lost her wedding ring. It wasn't a lot of money but it was valuable to Jane Bentley. The Bentleys drove straight back to the beach, and searched for the ring for three hours, but could not find it. A few months later, Mr. Bentley went fishing off the same beach. As he pulled a large crab out of the sea, he noticed that there was something attached to one of its claws. It was his wife's wedding ring! At the end of the 19thcentury, a young woman called Rose Harcourt was on her honeymoon in Barmouth, North Wales, when she lost a gold bracelet her husband had given her as a wedding gift. Feeling very upset, she went straight to the police stations and asked if anyone had found her bracelet. Unfortunately, no one had. Twenty-five years later, the Harcourts returned to Barmouth _ They were sitting on the beach one day when Mrs. Harcourt noticed something gold in the sand by the edge of the sea. She walked down to see what it was, and discovered her gold bracelet that had been missing for 25 years.

Question: Why was Rose Harcourt in Barmouth?

Context: Rose Harcourt was in Barmouth for her honeymoon.


Published in 1896 and one of the most memorable horror stories ever written, Dracula, by Irish writer Bram Stoker,is the story of a vampire ,someone who lives on human blood. Stoker wrote the book after reading stories about Central European vampires and set his novel in Transylvania. Even today,there are readers of the book who believe that Transylvania is a mythical country,a figment of Stoker's imagination. Nothing could be further from the truth. Transylvania is part of modern-day Central European country Romania,and the country does indeed have a history of mythological vampires.

However,Romanians are always puzzled by the description of the novel's central character, Count Dracula,a tall,elegant aristocrat with impeccable manners who also happens to speak very good English. This is a world away from the images of vampires that they have grown up with. Romanian vampires are half-human creatures who live solitary lives in the forests,not aristocrats living in castles with well-stocked libraries.

So where did Stoke get the image for his Dracula? The answer becomes clearer when one learns of his relationship with a man called Henry Irving,the greatest British stage actor of his time.

Stoker was working as a civil servant in his home city of Dublin when he first met Irving. Bored with his tedious life and work, Stoker took every opportunity to visit the theatre and for a while was the drama critic for the Dublin Evening Mail. One of the reviews he wrote was of a performance of Shakespeare's play Hamlet,with Irving in the lead role.

Irving was so pleased with Stoker's review of his performance that he asked to meet him. Stoker couldn't believe his luck when one night,he was invited to a dinner party where Irving was the guest of honour. Irving entertained the assembled dinner guests with some renditions of famous poems and speeches from Shakespeare.

Stoker was already writing the first chapters of Dracula and began to base the central character on Irving,in the vain hope that if it ever became a stage play, Irving would play the central character. Sadly,Irving never did,but the two men became close friends,and in 1878 Stoker left the civil service and became Irving's manager in London.

Question: Who was the manager for the stage actor Henry Irving?

Context: Bram Stoker was the manager for Henry Irving.


Going on a road trip? The St. Louis Arch, Statue of Liberty, and Golden Gate Bridge are common great tourist sites. If you prefer offbeat places, check out the following roadside attractions.

World's Largest Ball of Paint

Alexandria, Ind.

In 1977, Michael Carmichael set out to create the biggest ball of paint anywhere. Starting with a baseball as centre, he painted layer by layer of paint day after day, year after year. The ball weighs more than 1,300 pounds, with more than 20,000 coats of paint, which is recognized by Guinness World Record. Visitors can paint the wall themselves and become part of the history.

The Museum of Dirt

Boston, Mass.

The museum is the idea of Glenn Johnson. Labeled glass bottles contain such treasures as dirt from the Great Wall of China, as well as sand from a desert in Saudi Arabia and Omaha Beach in France. Best of all, the cost of seeing this museum is dirt cheap: It's free.

Mount Horeb Mustard Museum

Mount Horeb, Wis.

It's heaven for hotdog lovers! This museum says it has to have the world's largest collection for prepared mustard . Its more than 4,100 bottles of spices come from 60 nations, including Turkey and China. Visitors learn the history of mustard, from how it's made to how it's advertised and sold. The museum's creator, Barry Levenson, loves mustard so much that he even puts it on ice-cream!

Paper House

Rockport, Mass.

Swedish immigrant Ellis Stenman was much ahead of his time in 1922, when he started to build a two-room house almost entirely out of newspaper. At the time, people didn't give much---if any---thought to recycling paper. In fact, "recycling" wasn't even a word yet. The house is framed with wood, but the walls are made of 210 layers of newspaper. In all, he used about 100,000 newspapers.

Question: By what organization is the World's Largest Ball of Paint recognized?

Context: The World's Largest Ball of Paint is recognized by the Guinness World Record.

('World''S Largest Ball Of Paint')-['RECOGNIZED_BY']->('Guinness World Record')


Colleges taking another look at value of merit-based aid

Good grades and high tests scores still matter--a lot--to many colleges as they award financial aid.

But with low-income students projected to make up an ever-larger share of the college-bound population in coming years, some schools are re-examining whether that aid, typically known as "merit aid", is the most effective use of precious institutional dollars.

George Washington University in Washington, D.C., for example, said last week that it would cut the value of its average merit scholarships by about one-third and reduce the number of recipients , pouring the savings, about $2.5 million, into need-based aid. Allegheny College in Meadville, Pa., made a similar decision three years ago.

Now, Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y., says it will phase out merit scholarships altogether. No current merit-aid recipients will lose their scholarships, but need-based aid alone will be awarded beginning with students entering in fall 2008.

Not all colleges offer merit aid; generally, the more selective a school, the less likely it is to do so. Harvard and Princeton, for example, offer generous need-based packages, but many families who don't meet need eligibility have been willing to pay whatever they must for a big-name school.

For small regional colleges that struggle just to fill seats, merit aid can be an important revenue-builder because many recipients still pay enough tuition dollars over and above the scholarship amount to keep the institution running.

But for rankings-conscious schools in between, merit aid has served primarily as a tool to recruit top students and to improve their academic profits. "They're trying to buy students," says Skidmore College economist Sandy Baum.

Studies show merit aid also tends to benefit disproportionately students who could afford to enroll without it.

"As we look to the future, we see a more pressing need to invest in need-based aid," says Monica Inzer, dean of admission and financial aid at Hamilton, which has offered merit scholarships for 10 years. During that time, it rose in US News & World Report's ranking of the best liberal arts colleges, from 25 to 17.

Merit aid, which benefited about 75 students a year, or about 4% of its student body, at a cost of about $ 1 million a year, "served us well," Inzer says, but "to be discounting the price for families that don't need financial aid doesn't feel right any more."

Need-based aid remains by far the largest share of all student aid, which includes state, federal and institutional grants. But merit aid, offered primarily by schools and states, is growing faster, both overall and at the institutional level.

Between 1995-96 and 2003-04, institutional merit aid alone increased 212%, compared with 47% for need-based grants. At least 15 states also offer merit aid, typically in a bid to enroll top students in the state's public institutions.

But in recent years, a growing chorus of critics has begun pressuring schools to drop the practice. Recent decisions by Hamilton and others may be "a sign that people are starting to realize that there's this destructive competition going on," says Baum, co-author of a recent College Report that raises concerns about the role of institutional aid not based on need.

David Laird, president of the Minnesota Private College Council, says many of his schools would like to reduce their merit aid but fear that in doing so, they would lose top students to their competitors.

"No one can take one-sided action," says Laird, who is exploring whether to seek an exemption from federal anti-trust laws so member colleges can discuss how they could jointly reduce merit aid, "This is a merry-go-round that's going very fast, and none of the institutions believe they can sustain the risks of trying to break away by themselves."

A complicating factor is that merit aid has become so popular with middle-income families, who don't qualify for need-based aid, that many have come to depend on it. And, as tuitions continue to increase, the line between merit and need blurs.

That's one reason Allegheny College doesn't plan to drop merit aid entirely.

"We still believe in rewarding superior achievements and know that these top students truly value the scholarship," says Scott Friedhoff, Allegheny's vice president for enrollment.

Emory University in Atlanta, which boasts a $4.7 billion endowment , meanwhile, is taking another approach. This year, it announced it would eliminate loans for needy students and cap them for middle-income families. At the same time, it would expand its 28-year-old merit program.

"Yeah, we're playing the merit game," acknowledges Tom Lancaster, associate dean for undergraduate education. But it has its strong point, too, he says. "The fact of the matter is, it's not just about the lowest-income people. It's the average American middle-class family who's being priced out of the market."

A few words about merit-based aid:

Merit-based aid is aid offered to students who achieve excellence in a given area, and is generally known as academic, athletic and artistic merit scholarships.

Academic merit scholarships are based on students' grades, GPA and overall academic performance during high school. They are typically meant for students going straight to college right after high school. However, there are scholarships for current college students with exceptional grades as well. These merit scholarships usually help students pay tuition bills, and they can be renewed each year as long as the recipients continue to qualify. In some cases, students may need to be recommended by their school or a teacher as part of the qualification process.

Athletic merit scholarships are meant for students that excel in sports of any kind, from football to track and field events. Recommendation for these scholarships is required, since exceptional athletic performance has to be recognized by a coach or a referee . Applicants need to send in a tape containing their best performance.

Artistic merit scholarships require that applicants excel in a given artistic area. This generally includes any creative field such as art, design, fashion, music, dance or writing. Applying for artistic merit scholarships usually requires that students submit a portfolio of some sort, whether that includes a collection of artwork, a recording of a musical performance or a video of them dancing.

Question: What is Monica Inzer's professional role at Hamilton College?

Context: At Hamilton College, Monica Inzer holds the position of Dean of Admission and Financial Aid.


A vernacular or vernacular language is the native language or native dialect (usually colloquial or informal) of a specific population, especially as distinguished from a literary, national or standard variety of the language, or a lingua franca (also called a vehicular language) used in the region or state inhabited by that population. Some linguists use "vernacular" and "nonstandard dialect" as synonyms.

The use of "vernacular" is not recent. In 1688, James Howell wrote:

Concerning Italy, doubtless there were divers before the Latin did spread all over that Country; the Calabrian, and Apulian spoke Greek, whereof some Relicks are to be found to this day; but it was an adventitious, no Mother-Language to them: 'tis confess'd that Latium it self, and all the Territories about Rome, had the Latin for its maternal and common first vernacular Tongue; but Tuscany and Liguria had others quite discrepant, viz. the Hetruscane and Mesapian, whereof though there be some Records yet extant; yet there are none alive that can understand them: The Oscan, the Sabin and Tusculan, are thought to be but Dialects to these.

Here vernacular, mother language and dialect are already in use in a modern sense. According to Merriam-Webster, "vernacular" was brought into the English language as early as 1601 from the Latin "vernaculus" ("native") which had been in figurative use in Classical Latin as "national" and "domestic", having originally been derived from "vernus" and "verna", a male or female slave respectively born in the house rather than abroad. The figurative meaning was broadened from the diminutive extended words "vernaculus, vernacula". Varro, the classical Latin grammarian, used the term "vocabula vernacula", "termes de la langue nationale" or "vocabulary of the national language" as opposed to foreign words.

Question: In which region was Latin considered the mother tongue?

Context: Latin was the mother tongue in the region of Latium.


Sure. you know their names, possibly better than you know the name of the street you live on.

When the need comes, these names roll off our tongues like they were our own brothers. I am writing about the famous Webster s Dictionary and Roget s Thesaurus.

Webster s Dictionary. Many people can respond immediately: Noah Webster. We are aware that he is the father of the dictionary. But who was he? What did he do for a living? When did he live?

Noah was born in 1758, graduated from Yale University in 1778. and later graduated from law school He produced the first American dictionary in 1806 and published his influential work An American Dictionary of the English Language in l828. His interests led him to be a lexicographer . textbook editor, author, Bible translator and spelling reformer. He also produced a large number of writings in medicine, mythology , and the relationship of European and Asian languages. In addition, he .founded the first New York daily newspaper in 1793. He died in 1843.

Roget's Thesaurus. And it gives us The chance to learn about Roget, the man-Peter Mark Roget, And who? What? When?

Englishman Peter Roget, MD, was born in 1779. He studied medicine and mathematics at the University of Edinburgh. He is considered as the creator of the first-ever thesaurus . It has been called one of the three most important books ever printed. along with the Bible and Webster s Dictionary. He began his work Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases in I 805 but did not publish it until 1852-47 years later. In his lifetime. he became a noted lecturer and writer on anatomy( ). geology .bees,and more . When Roget died in 1869 at age 90. his son, John . took over the Thesaurus arid he gradually expanded it.

So now you know the two famous books. Not enough information? As well-known humourist James Thurber suggested in the title of his 1941 magazine short story about baseball, You Could Look It Up!

Question: When was he born?

Context: Peter Mark Roget was born in 1779. Noah Webster was born in 1758.

(Peter Mark Roget)-[born in]->(1779) || (Noah Webster)-[born in]->(1758)


The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. The first stable line-up consisted of Brian Jones (guitar, harmonica), Mick Jagger (lead vocals), Keith Richards (guitar, backing vocals), Bill Wyman (bass), Charlie Watts (drums), and Ian Stewart (piano). Stewart was removed from the official line-up in 1963 but continued as a touring member until his death in 1985. Jones left the band less than a month prior to his death in 1969, having already been replaced by Mick Taylor, who remained until 1974. After Taylor left the band, Ronnie Wood took his place in 1975 and has been on guitar in tandem with Richards ever since. Following Wyman's departure in 1993, Darryl Jones joined as their touring bassist. Touring keyboardists for the band have been Nicky Hopkins (1967â€“1982), Ian McLagan (1978â€“1981), Billy Preston (through the mid-1970s) and Chuck Leavell (1982â€“present). The band was first led by Jones, but after teaming as the band's songwriters, Jagger and Richards assumed leadership while Jones dealt with legal and personal troubles.

The Rolling Stones were at the forefront of the British Invasion of bands that became popular in the US in 1964, and identified with the youthful and rebellious counterculture of the 1960s. Rooted in blues and early rock and roll, the group began a short period of musical experimentation in the mid-1960s that peaked with the psychedelic album "Their Satanic Majesties Request" (1967). Subsequently, the group returned to its "bluesy" roots with "Beggars Banquet" (1968) which along with its follow-ups "Let It Bleed" (1969), "Sticky Fingers" (1971) and "Exile on Main St." (1972) is generally considered to be the band's best work and is seen as their "Golden Age". During this period, they were first introduced on stage as "The World's Greatest Rock and Roll Band". Musicologist Robert Palmer attributed the "remarkable endurance" of the Rolling Stones to being "rooted in traditional verities, in rhythm-and-blues and soul music", while "more ephemeral pop fashions have come and gone".

Question: When was he active?

Context: Chuck Leavell was active during 1982â€“Present. Nicky Hopkins was active during 1967â€“1982. Ian Mclagan was active during 1978â€“1981.

(Chuck Leavell)-[active during]->(1982â€“Present) || (Nicky Hopkins)-[active during]->(1967â€“1982) || (Ian Mclagan)-[active during]->(1978â€“1981)


(CNN) -- Three Pakistani paramilitary soldiers were killed this week in a cross-border firefight between Pakistan and India, officials said Thursday.

The soldiers were moving from one post to another along the border when they came under fire by Indian forces, said Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas, Pakistan army spokesman.

Since a cease-fire is in effect, the firing by Indian forces was unprovoked, Abbas said. But Pakistani forces retaliated after the shots were fired, he said.

It was unclear whether the incident took place late Tuesday or Wednesday, as Pakistani and Indian officials provided different times.

Lt. Col. J.S. Brar, Indian defense spokesman for the disputed Kashmir region, said there were two violations of the cease-fire on the Line of Control, the de facto border between Indian- and Pakistan-administered Kashmir. In the first, fighting continued for about an hour, he said. A second violation took place Thursday morning, he said, and one Indian soldier was injured. Brar said he could not comment on Pakistani casualties.

Pakistani officials said severe weather conditions in Kashmir, a Himalayan region, hampered removal of the soldiers' bodies. Pakistan has asked the Indian local commanding authority for a full report on the incident.

India and Pakistan have have fought three wars since the partition of the Asian subcontinent in 1947. Two of them were over Kashmir, which is claimed by both nuclear powers.

On August 20, an Indian army officer and five militants were killed in clashes along the Line of Control. India has accused Pakistan of aiding infiltration into Indian Kashmir, which has battled separatist violence for more than two decades. Islamabad has denied the accusations. More than 40,000 have died in the violence, officials say.

Question: He is a spokesperson, but for which entity?

Context: Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas is the spokesperson for the Pakistan Army. Lt. Col. J.S. Brar is the spokesperson for Kashmir.

(Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas)-[spokesperson for]->(Pakistan Army) || (Lt. Col. J.S. Brar)-[spokesperson for]->(Kashmir)


In mathematics and mathematical logic, Boolean algebra is the branch of algebra in which the values of the variables are the truth values "true" and "false", usually denoted 1 and 0 respectively. Instead of elementary algebra where the values of the variables are numbers, and the prime operations are addition and multiplication, the main operations of Boolean algebra are the conjunction "and" denoted as âˆ§, the disjunction "or" denoted as âˆ¨, and the negation "not" denoted as Â¬. It is thus a formalism for describing logical relations in the same way that ordinary algebra describes numeric relations.

Boolean algebra was introduced by George Boole in his first book "The Mathematical Analysis of Logic" (1847), and set forth more fully in his "An Investigation of the Laws of Thought" (1854). According to Huntington, the term "Boolean algebra" was first suggested by Sheffer in 1913.

Boolean algebra has been fundamental in the development of digital electronics, and is provided for in all modern programming languages. It is also used in set theory and statistics.

Boole's algebra predated the modern developments in abstract algebra and mathematical logic; it is however seen as connected to the origins of both fields. In an abstract setting, Boolean algebra was perfected in the late 19th century by Jevons, SchrÃ¶der, Huntington, and others until it reached the modern conception of an (abstract) mathematical structure. For example, the empirical observation that one can manipulate expressions in the algebra of sets by translating them into expressions in Boole's algebra is explained in modern terms by saying that the algebra of sets is "a" Boolean algebra (note the indefinite article). In fact, M. H. Stone proved in 1936 that every Boolean algebra is isomorphic to a field of sets.

Question: When was it published?

Context: An Investigation Of The Laws Of Thought was published in 1854. The Mathematical Analysis Of Logic was published in 1847.

(An Investigation Of The Laws Of Thought)-[published in]->(1854) || (The Mathematical Analysis Of Logic)-[published in]->(1847)


The region, as part of Lorraine, was part of the Holy Roman Empire, and then was gradually annexed by France in the 17th century, and formalized as one of the provinces of France. The Calvinist manufacturing republic of Mulhouse, known as Stadtrepublik MÃ¼lhausen, became a part of Alsace after a vote by its citizens on 4 January 1798. Alsace is frequently mentioned with and as part of Lorraine and the former duchy of Lorraine, since it was a vital part of the duchy, and later because German possession as the imperial province (Alsace-Lorraine, 1871â€“1918) was contested in the 19th and 20th centuries; France and Germany exchanged control of parts of Lorraine (including Alsace) four times in 75 years.

With the decline of the Roman Empire, Alsace became the territory of the Germanic Alemanni. The Alemanni were agricultural people, and their Germanic language formed the basis of modern-day dialects spoken along the Upper Rhine (Alsatian, Alemannian, Swabian, Swiss). Clovis and the Franks defeated the Alemanni during the 5th century AD, culminating with the Battle of Tolbiac, and Alsace became part of the Kingdom of Austrasia. Under Clovis' Merovingian successors the inhabitants were Christianized. Alsace remained under Frankish control until the Frankish realm, following the Oaths of Strasbourg of 842, was formally dissolved in 843 at the Treaty of Verdun; the grandsons of Charlemagne divided the realm into three parts. Alsace formed part of the Middle Francia, which was ruled by the youngest grandson Lothar I. Lothar died early in 855 and his realm was divided into three parts. The part known as Lotharingia, or Lorraine, was given to Lothar's son. The rest was shared between Lothar's brothers Charles the Bald (ruler of the West Frankish realm) and Louis the German (ruler of the East Frankish realm). The Kingdom of Lotharingia was short-lived, however, becoming the stem duchy of Lorraine in Eastern Francia after the Treaty of Ribemont in 880. Alsace was united with the other Alemanni east of the Rhine into the stem duchy of Swabia.

Question: After which treaty did the Kingdom of Lotharingia become a duchy?

Context: The Kingdom of Lotharingia became a duchy after the Treaty of Ribemont.

(Kingdom Of Lotharingia)-[BECAME_DUCHY_AFTER]->(Treaty Of Ribemont)


Bucharest, Romania (CNN) -- Romania's president Traian Basescu was suspended on Friday, after the impeachment motion filed by the ruling coalition passed the Parliament's vote.

Romania's coalition of Social Democrats and Liberals argued their action by saying that President Traian Basescu has breached the Constitution and overstepped his authority.

The motion passed with 256 votes, 39 more than the minimum required. The country is expected to hold a referendum on July 29, when Romanians will have to vote whether they want Basescu to remain in office.

During the suspension, National Liberal Party leader Crin Antonescu, who is also the president of the Senate, will assume the interim presidency. Earlier this week, Antonescu was appointed the president of the Senate. This position allows him to assume the president's attributions, in case the latter is suspended, according to the Constitution.

Crin Antonescu said on Friday he is ready to step out of politics if Basescu wins the referendum.

During his speech in parliament, before the vote, Basescu accused the ruling coalition of taking control of the country's judicial system and public institutions.

He also expressed concern about the country's state of law and said this political turmoil will have long-term negative impacts on Romania.

"Take care of the country!" Basescu said at the end of his speech. It is the second time Basescu has faced suspension since he took the power, eight years ago. The first time was in 2007, after which he won a referendum and returned to office.

Earlier on Friday, Romania's Constitutional Court gave an ambiguous statement regarding the constitutional status of this impeachment motion. The judges approved some of the points from the motion, but they didn't make it clear whether Basescu has violated the Constitution or not. In any case, the Court played an advisory role this time, leaving the final word to the Parliament. The court issued a statement saying that one of its judges, Aspazia Cojocaru, received threats prior to court debates on the impeachment motion.

Question: Which two political groups filed an impeachment motion against Traian Basescu?

Context: The Social Democrats and the Liberals both filed an impeachment motion against Traian Basescu.

[(Social Democrats)-[FILED_IMPEACHMENT_MOTION_AGAINST]->(Traian Basescu), (Liberals)-[FILED_IMPEACHMENT_MOTION_AGAINST]->(Traian Basescu)]


Two young artists named Sue and Joanna shared a studio apartment in the Greenwich Village area of New York, trying to realize their dreams. In November pneumonia killed many people. Unluckily, Joanna fell ill, too. One morning, a doctor examined Joanna and then spoke with Sue in another room. "She has decided that she has no chance. All we can do is give her a strong will to live."

Holding back her tears, Sue went to Joanna's room. Joanna lay with her face toward the window, eyes wide open. She was counting something backward. "Twelve," she said, and a little later "eleven" until "five," almost together. Sue looked out of the window. What was there to count? There was a wall covered with an old ivy vine growing half way up it. The cold breath of autumn has stricken the leaves from the vine until it was almost bare.

"Five what, dear?" asked Sue.

"Leaves. On the ivy vine. When the last one falls I must go, too."

"Oh, Don't be silly." Said Sue, "You will get better."

"There goes another one. I want to see the last one fall before it gets dark."

"Try to sleep." said Sue. "I must call Mr. Behrman up to be my model for my drawing of an old miner. Don't try to move until I come back."

Old Behrman was a poor painter who lived in the building. For years he had always been planning to paint a work of art, but had never yet begun it. He earned a little money by serving as a model to artists who could not pay for a professional model.

Sue found Behrman in his room. In one area was a blank canvas that had been waiting twenty-five years for the first line of paint. Sue told him about Joanna and how she feared that her friend would float away like a leaf.

"What!" Old Behrman was angered at such an idea. "How silly! Just take me to her room."

Joanna was sleeping when they went in. A cold rain was falling, mixed with snow.

The next morning, Sue awoke after an hour's sleep. She found Joanna staring at the covered window. "Pull up the shade; I want to see." Sue obeyed.

"It's the last leaf," said Joanna. "It will fall today, and I will go with it."

When night came, the rain began to fall again with a strong wind.

The next morning, Joanna demanded that the window shade be raised. The ivy leaf was still there. Joanna lay for a long time, looking at it. And then she called Sue, "I have been a bad girl. I'm so wrong. Now I want to get well and paint again."

The doctor came to see Joanna in the afternoon. He told Sue "Joanna is improving. Now I must see Behrman. Pneumonia, too, very ill. Little hope for him."

Later that day, Sue came to Joanna, and put one arm around her.

"Mr. Behrman died of pneumonia in the hospital today. He was sick only two days. When someone went into his room, Behrman was lying there with his shoes on. His shoes and clothes were all wet. Nobody knew why."

"Oh, poor Behrman!" Cried Joanna.

"See the last leaf on the wall," said Sue, " It looks like a real leaf, doesn't it? "

"A real leaf ? "

"Ah, darling, it is Behrman's masterpiece -- he painted it there the night when the last leaf fell."

Question: Where is it located?

Context: Studio Apartment is located in Greenwich Village. Greenwich Village is located in New York.

(Studio Apartment)-[located in]->(Greenwich Village) || (Greenwich Village)-[located in]->(New York)


"Lizzie, there's a letter for you!" Emily called up the stairs to her sister. Elizabeth looked down. "Is it from Harvard? They refused my application once." Emily answered, "No, it's from Yale." Quickly, Elizabeth walked downstairs. She took the letter and opened it. "Rejected again," Elizabeth said unhappily. "Who says women can't be doctors?"

"They are fools not to accept you. You can't let them stop you, Lizzie," Emily said.

"I won't. I'll apply to Geneva Medical College," Elizabeth told her sister. As it turned out, the professors at Geneva Medical College were not fools. They allowed Elizabeth Blackwell to study medicine.

In 1848, a year before Elizabeth would graduate, a typhoid epidemic broke out in New York. Elizabeth wrote to Emily. "There's an outbreak of typhoid, and I am going to help. It is dangerous, so if I should not survive, please do me the honor of studying medicine yourself."

Emily replied, "Encouraged by your dream and success, I have decided to study in medical school, as well."

Having survived the disease, Elizabeth tried to set up a private medical practice. "I graduated first in my class but no one believes a woman can be a good doctor," she said to Emily one day. "All I hear is that doctors should be men, while women should stay home to cook and clean."

Emily said worriedly, "I will graduate in June with my medical degree. What shall we do?" Elizabeth thought for a while and replied, "There's a big house in the poor part of our town. We can practice medicine there for people who couldn't afford care."

Soon with the help of some friends, Elizabeth and Emily bought the house and opened a hospital for poor women and children. "We'll have an all-women staff ," Elizabeth said. "And later, we'll add a medical college for women!" Emily added. At last, Elizabeth realized her dream of being a doctor.

Question: Which medical college accepted Elizabeth Blackwell?

Context: Geneva Medical College accepted Elizabeth Blackwell.

(Geneva Medical College)-[ACCEPTED]->(Elizabeth Blackwell)