268 résultats pour "today"

• Delaware - USA History.

  D Climate Delaware has generally hot and humid summers and mild winters. D1 Temperature In July, average daytime temperatures are usually in the upper 20°s to lower 30°sC (80°sF) or even higher. But because summer nights tend to be cooler than thedays, July averages are about 24°C (about 75°F). In addition, onshore sea breezes can reduce daytime temperatures along the coast by 3 to 6 Celsius degrees (5 to 10Fahrenheit degrees). January averages range from -1°C (31°F) at Newark, in the north, t...

• Genetics - biology.

  construct identical buildings. Just as each contractor would require a full copy of the blueprint to construct a complete building, each new cell needs a complete copy ofan organism’s genetic information to function properly. Organisms use two types of cell division to ensure that DNA is passed down from cell to cell during reproduction. Simple one-celled organisms and other organisms thatreproduce asexually—that is, without the joining of cells from two different organisms—reproduce by a proces...

• Illinois - geography.

  the state before joining the Mississippi River at Grafton. The Illinois has been deepened and straightened and forms part of the Illinois Waterway. The watershed between rivers that flow into the Mississippi river system and rivers that flow into the Great Lakes is low and in many places is not easily discernible. Inwhat is now the Chicago area, explorers had little difficulty portaging, or carrying, their canoes over the low watershed between the Des Plaines River, which flows intothe Illinois,...

• Illinois - USA History.

  the state before joining the Mississippi River at Grafton. The Illinois has been deepened and straightened and forms part of the Illinois Waterway. The watershed between rivers that flow into the Mississippi river system and rivers that flow into the Great Lakes is low and in many places is not easily discernible. Inwhat is now the Chicago area, explorers had little difficulty portaging, or carrying, their canoes over the low watershed between the Des Plaines River, which flows intothe Illinois,...

• Aboriginal Australians - history.

  Current archaeological evidence suggests that human occupation of Australia began around 50,000 to 60,000 years ago. The first settlers are believed to havemigrated from Southeast Asia in gradual stages, by way of the islands of Indonesia. Around 50,000 years ago sea levels were as much as 120 m (390 ft) lower thanthey are today, and Australia was joined with New Guinea and Tasmania to form one giant landmass called Sahul, or Greater Australia. Scholars believe that the firstmigrants to Sahul ca...

• Automobile.

  Electric motors have been used to power automobiles since the late 1800s. Electric power supplied by batteries runs the motor, which rotates a driveshaft, the shaftthat transmits engine power to the axles. Commercial electric car models for specialized purposes were available in the 1980s. General Motors Corporation introduced amass-production all-electric car in the mid-1990s. Automobiles that combine two or more types of engines are called hybrids. A typical hybrid is an electric motor with ba...

• Geology.

  terminology. Today the geologic time scale is generally agreed upon and used by scientists around the world, dividing time into eons, eras, periods, and epochs. Everyfew years, the numerical time scale is refined based on new evidence, and geologists publish an update. Geologists use several methods to determine geologic time. These methods include physical stratigraphy, or the placement of events in the order of their occurrence,and biostratigraphy, which uses fossils to determine geologic time...

• Musical I INTRODUCTION George Gershwin American pianist, songwriter, and composer George Gershwin was one of the most important figures in popular song in the 1920s and 1930s.

  C Extravaganzas Another predecessor of musical comedy, the extravaganza, evolved soon after the American Civil War (1861-1865) from traditional English pantomime. Extravaganzaswere typically based on fairy tales and Mother Goose. They introduced some of the elements—songs, dances, and comedy combined with spectacular stage sets andeffects—that American musical comedy later became known for. The first and most famous extravaganza show was The Black Crook (1866), often described as America’s fi...

• Ethnic Groups in Canada - Canadian History.

  Ontario and the Atlantic provinces (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Prince Edward Island). Most of the Irish live in rural areas of NovaScotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Ontario, and Québec. The Welsh are by far the smallest group among the British Canadians, and they have also settled inthe Atlantic provinces and Ontario. B Culture The language spoken by British Canadians is mostly English, but some Welsh speak their own Celtic language and some Scots, Gae...

• Cosmology - astronomy.

  In 1917 American scientist Harlow Shapley measured the distance to several groups of stars known as globular clusters. He measured these distances by using amethod developed in 1912 by American astronomer Henrietta Leavitt. Leavitt’s method relates distance to variations in brightness of Cepheid variables, a class of starsthat vary periodically in brightness. Shapley’s distance measurements showed that the clusters were centered around a point far from the Sun. The arrangement of theclusters was...

• Algeria - country.

  areas to fishing. National parks, including the giant Tassili N’Ajjer National Park in the eastern corner of the country, comprise a large proportion of the protected area. The effects of Algeria’s human population on the fragile landscape have been severe. The greatest ecological threats are deforestation and burning of scrub vegetation,conversion of steppe habitat to arable land, and soil erosion due to overgrazing and poor farming practices. Pollution of Mediterranean coastal waters is pervas...

• Newfoundland and Labrador - Geography.

  Precipitation averages about 1,120 mm (about 44 in) yearly in Newfoundland. In Labrador precipitation varies from about 1,020 mm (about 40 in) in the southeast toabout 510 mm (about 20 in) in the extreme north. Heavy winter snowfalls are common, especially in Newfoundland. D Plant Life About one-third of Newfoundland is forested, and most of the rest of the island is made up of barren areas of reindeer moss and lichens. The forests consist almostentirely of conifers. The most important species...

• Newfoundland and Labrador - Canadian History.

  Precipitation averages about 1,120 mm (about 44 in) yearly in Newfoundland. In Labrador precipitation varies from about 1,020 mm (about 40 in) in the southeast toabout 510 mm (about 20 in) in the extreme north. Heavy winter snowfalls are common, especially in Newfoundland. D Plant Life About one-third of Newfoundland is forested, and most of the rest of the island is made up of barren areas of reindeer moss and lichens. The forests consist almostentirely of conifers. The most important species...

• Greece Today, a nation in southeastern Europe, part of the Balkan Peninsula.

  artists carved statues and fashioned jewelry to commemorate the gods. The Classical Age was the height of cultural development. Greece 61 During all of its history, Greece was a collection of city-states, or small communities, rather than a nation. These communities organized around individual political ideals, but the people of this peninsula shared a great deal of culture and trade. They shared a common language and common beliefs in the great pantheon of Zeus and the Olympian Gods. Though c...

• Seattle - geography.

  Queen Anne Hill, north of downtown, was long isolated by its steep ascent but emerged as a fashionable residential area at the close of the 19th century. North of QueenAnne Hill and across the Lake Washington Ship Canal, Ballard was originally settled by Scandinavian immigrants. Annexed to Seattle in 1907, Ballard today is a residentialneighborhood with a strong Nordic heritage. To the east from Ballard along the north side of the Ship Canal, the neighborhoods of Fremont, Wallingford, and the Un...

• Madrid - geography.

  Madrid’s Plaza MayorBuilt in the early 17th century, the Plaza Mayor was used for a variety of activities, including bullfights, executions during theInquisition, and festivals. Today it is one of Madrid’s main tourist attractions.Cesar Lucas/The Image Bank The traditional heart of Madrid is an area 3.9 sq km (1.5 sq mi). In 1656 King Philip IV had a city wall built around the area. Over the next 200 years the city grew throughconstruction of taller buildings and the use of open land within the...

• George Frideric Handel I INTRODUCTION Handel's Water Music In addition to his popular operas and oratorios, German-born composer George Frideric Handel wrote music in the 1700s for the church and for royal celebrations.

  During the 1720s and 1730s Handel worked primarily as a composer and producer of operas for the London stage. This extremely productive phase of his career beganwith the opening of the Royal Academy of Music in London in 1719. The Royal Academy was founded with the support of the king and aristocratic subscribers for theproduction of Italian operas. Its directors sent Handel to continental Europe to hire some of the world’s greatest singers. Handel was not the only composer writingoperas for Aca...

• Dog Family - biology.

  muzzles, long and bushy tails, and large ears. Many foxes hunt by stalking prey and then leaping on it with a distinctive, stiff-legged pounce. Once thought to besolitary animals, foxes are now known to live in groups of up to six individuals. The remaining canids are each highly distinctive. Raccoon dogs and bush dogs are the least doglike canids in appearance. Raccoon dogs, found in eastern Asia, havestubby legs, a stout body, short ears, shaggy fur, and a black face mask that resembles a racc...

• Aksum.

  doctrine that Christ was both divine and human. The Council of Chalcedon condemned Monophysitism in 451, and since that time the Coptic Church has beenindependent of other Christian churches. After the Council of Chalcedon, priests who continued to teach Monophysitism were persecuted in the eastern Roman Empire, and many migrated to Aksum. The influxof priests, along with the support of the royal family, strengthened missionary efforts in Aksum. Many churches and monasteries were founded after 4...

• Classification - biology.

  species based on the fewest number of shared changes that have occurred from generation to generation. IV HISTORY OF CLASSIFICATION SYSTEMS Classification is one of the oldest sciences, but despite its age it is still a vigorous field full of new discoveries and methods. Much like other fields of science, greatthinkers have shaped the course of classification. One of the earliest classification schemes was established by Greek philosopher Aristotle, who lived in the 300s BC. Aristotle believe...

• Dentistry.

  Together with dentists, dental hygienists and dental assistants make up the team that provides dental care to patients. Hygienists record patient medical histories, suchas blood pressure and pulse. They clean teeth, apply sealants and fluoride treatments, teach patients sound oral hygiene practices, and often assist with X rays. Manyhygienists receive a two-year associate degree, while others may choose to enroll in a four-year program at a university or in a master’s degree program. There are25...

• Coronary Heart Disease.

  when a patient is at rest may indicate that the blood supply of the heart is not normal, and the ECG can often detect damage from a previous heart attack. In anexercise stress test, an ECG is recorded while a patient is performing physical activity such as walking on a treadmill or riding a stationary bicycle. As the intensity ofexercise increases, the doctor looks for specific changes in the ECG that indicate the heart is not getting enough oxygen. In cardiac catheterization, a long, thin, flex...

• Invertebrate - biology.

  animals with a five-pointed design. They live in the sea and move with the help of tiny fluid-filled feet—another feature found nowhere else in the animal world. Zoologists recognize several different groups of worms. The phylum known as flatworms contains the simplest animals possessing heads. Nerves and sense organs areconcentrated in the head. Most flatworms are paper-thin and live in a variety of wet or damp habitats, including the digestive systems of other animals. Roundwormsrepresent anot...

• Invertebrate - biology.

  animals with a five-pointed design. They live in the sea and move with the help of tiny fluid-filled feet—another feature found nowhere else in the animal world. Zoologists recognize several different groups of worms. The phylum known as flatworms contains the simplest animals possessing heads. Nerves and sense organs areconcentrated in the head. Most flatworms are paper-thin and live in a variety of wet or damp habitats, including the digestive systems of other animals. Roundwormsrepresent anot...

• Extinction (biology) - biology.

  III ROLE OF MASS EXTINCTION IN EVOLUTION Historically biologists—most famous among them British naturalist Charles Darwin—assumed that extinction is the natural outcome of competition between newlyevolved, adaptively superior species and their older, more primitive ancestors. These scientists believed that newer, more highly evolved species simply drove less well-adapted species to extinction. That is, historically, extinction was thought to result from evolution. It was also thought that this...

• Prince Edward Island - Geography.

  hectares (109 acres) each. In 2006 there were 1,700 farms, of which the average size was 148 hectares (366 acres). In 2005 the total farm cash receipts were C$510million. The most important agricultural products in terms of value include potatoes, milk and cream, cattle and calves, hogs, tobacco, vegetables, eggs, hens andchickens, and furs. For the most part the island’s agriculture is diversified, rather than specialized, because of the lack of a large urban industrial population within easy r...

• Prince Edward Island - Canadian History.

  hectares (109 acres) each. In 2006 there were 1,700 farms, of which the average size was 148 hectares (366 acres). In 2005 the total farm cash receipts were C$510million. The most important agricultural products in terms of value include potatoes, milk and cream, cattle and calves, hogs, tobacco, vegetables, eggs, hens andchickens, and furs. For the most part the island’s agriculture is diversified, rather than specialized, because of the lack of a large urban industrial population within easy r...

• Armenia (country) - country.

  because of ethnic tension brought on by a secessionist conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, a region inhabited predominantly by Armenians in western Azerbaijan. In thereverse direction, many Armenian refugees entered Armenia from Azerbaijan during the conflict. Armenia’s official state language is Armenian, an Indo-European language with no surviving close relatives. It has a unique 38-letter alphabet that dates from the early5th century. Of its many spoken dialects, the most important are Eastern or Y...

• Marketing.

  Where advertising reaches a mass audience, personal or direct selling focuses on one customer at a time. That kind of individual attention makes direct sellingexpensive, but it also makes it effective. As the costs of personal selling have risen, the utilization of salespeople has changed. Simple transactions are completed byclerks. Salespeople are now used primarily where the products are complex and require detailed explanation, customized application, or careful negotiation over priceand paym...

• Atlantic Slave Trade.

  members of the planters’ society. Through most of the years of the Atlantic trade, prices for Africans remained favorable in relation to the price of the crops theyproduced. They were, thus, the best economic solution for plantation owners seeking inexpensive labor. The Atlantic slave trade began as a trickle in the 1440s and grew slowly through the 17th century. By 1700, 25,000 slaves, on average, were crossing the Atlantic everyyear. After 1700 the trade grew much more rapidly to a peak in the...

• Cyprus - country.

  40,000 cubic meters (1.4 million cubic feet) of salt water into fresh water per day, opened at Dhekelia in 1997, and a second larger plant opened at Larnaca in 2001. III PEOPLE OF CYPRUS The combined population of the Greek and Turkish sectors (2008 estimate) is 792,604. The overall population density is 86 persons per sq km (222 per sq mi). About69 percent of the island’s inhabitants live in urban areas. Greek-speaking Cypriots make up approximately 85 percent of the population. About 12 perc...

• Arctic - Geography.

  The Arctic is not a frozen desert devoid of life on land or sea, even during the cold, dark winter months. Spring brings a phenomenal resurgence of plant and animal life.Low temperatures are not always the critical element—moisture, the type of soil, and available solar energy are also extremely important. Some animals adapt well toArctic conditions; for instance, a number of species of mammals and birds carry additional insulation, such as fat, in cold months. Arctic summers with extended dayli...

• Honduras - country.

  A Principal Cities The capital and largest city of Honduras is Tegucigalpa (2006 estimate, 1,324,000), located in the south-central highlands region. The country’s second largest city isSan Pedro Sula (549,498). The principal city and commercial center in the north, it lies in the heart of the vast banana plantations on the Caribbean Sea. La Ceiba(127,590) and Puerto Cortés (90,161) are among the leading Caribbean ports. B Language and Religion Spanish is the official language and is spoken by...

• Capital Punishment.

  deterrent effect. Capital punishment advocates note that because the death penalty is reserved for the most aggravated murders, the deterrent effect of capitalpunishment on such crimes may not be apparent in data on homicide rates in general. Supporters also urge that the conflicting results of various studies indicate thatthe deterrent effect of the death penalty cannot not be proven or disproven with any certainty. They maintain that in the absence of conclusive proof that the threat ofexecuti...

• Henri Duhamel 5, rue la Fontaine 84570 Blauvac France 18th November , 1997 XYZ Compagny Big Street New-York United States Dear Sir or Madam, With reference to your advertisement in today's Financial Times, I wish to apply for the post of economic adviser.

  I am therefore sending you my resume as well as the names and addresses of referenceswhom you may consult regarding my qualifications and character. As you can see from my resume, my profile fulfills the requirements of the post vailable as ........ I will contact your office in the near future to inquire about the status of my application. Sincerely yours.

• George Frideric Handel.

  Handel’s most important contribution to music history undoubtedly lies in his oratorios. Although the genre had existed in the 17th century, Handel seems to haveinvented the special type known as English oratorio, with its dazzling choruses. His influence on later generations can be seen most clearly in the history of the oratorio:Handel’s Messiah is one of only a few 18th-century works to remain in the performance repertory from its composer’s lifetime until today. The oratorios of later comp...

• Central Processing Unit.

  Development of the computer chip started in 1958 when Jack Kilby of Texas Instruments demonstrated that it was possible to integrate the various components of aCPU onto a single piece of silicon. These computer chips were called integrated circuits (ICs) because they combined multiple electronic circuits on the same chip.Subsequent design and manufacturing advances allowed transistor densities on integrated circuits to increase tremendously. The first ICs had only tens of transistorsper chip com...

• Alternative Medicine.

  The field of chiropractic was founded by David Daniel Palmer in the 1890s. He believed that joint subluxation, or a partial dislocation, is a causal factor in disease andthat removal of the subluxation by thrusting on the bony projections of the vertebrae restores health. In addition to manipulating and adjusting bone and tissue, particularly in the spinal column, chiropractors use a variety of manual, mechanical, and electrical treatments.Chiropractors are most widely recognized for providing d...

• Theater I INTRODUCTION The Art of Theater BBC Worldwide Americas, Inc.

  Theater at EpidaurusAncient Greek dramas were performed in open-air theaters like this one in Epidaurus, Greece, which was designed byPolyclitus the Younger in 350 bc. A festival of ancient Greek drama is still held in the summer in this 14,000-seat theater.Roger Wood/Corbis Fundamental to the theater experience is the act of seeing and being seen; in fact, the word theater comes from the Greek word theatron , meaning 'seeing place.' Throughout the history of world cultures, actors have used...

• Canadian Pacific Railway - Canadian History.

  roads constructed inland from the lakeshore. However, this changed with the outbreak in Saskatchewan of the Northwest Rebellion by Louis Riel and his supportersagainst the authority of the Canadian government in March 1885. Despite the fact that the railway was not completed, a contingent of troops was able to reachWinnipeg from Montréal in only seven days, much faster than they could have gone overland, and get from there to Saskatchewan in time to successfully put down therebellion. This actio...

• Benin - country.

  French is the official language of Benin, but most people speak an African language. Each of the country’s ethnic groups has its own language. Fon is the most widelyspoken language. About 52 percent of the population professes traditional religious beliefs, chiefly Vodun, a belief in spirits. Arab merchants introduced Islam to the region, and today it isthe religion of some 20 percent of the people, most of whom live in the north. Christianity, especially Roman Catholicism, is the religion of ab...

• Police.

  body. In larger agencies, executive officers may be selected through a civil service or merit system, after moving through the ranks from patrol officer to sergeant,lieutenant, captain, and (in still larger agencies) deputy or assistant chief. At the county level, the head of the agency usually holds the title sheriff. The sheriff is almost always elected and has the power to appoint deputies. Sheriffs'departments often provide law enforcement services for unincorporated areas of counties and ar...

• Electronics.

  electronic circuits. The resistors are made from carbon mixtures, metal films, or resistance wire and have two connecting wires attached. Variable resistors, with anadjustable sliding contact arm, are often used to control volume on radios and television sets. E Capacitors Capacitors consist of two metal plates that are separated by an insulating material ( see Capacitor). If a battery is connected to both plates, an electric charge will flow for a short time and accumulate on each plate. If th...

• Cheetah - biology.

  animals such as zebras. Unlike most cats, cheetahs hunt during the day, when lions and hyenas that compete with them for prey are less likely to be active. Still,scientists in Tanzania have observed that cheetahs lose 10 to 13 percent of their kills to lions and hyenas. Alerted by the panic of a gazelle herd or by the circling ofvultures, lions and hyenas close in and easily drive the more timid cheetah away from a fresh kill. A cheetah usually stalks prey to within about 10 m (about 33 ft) and...

• Archaeology.

  Prehistoric archaeology is practiced by archaeologists known as prehistorians and deals with ancient cultures that did not have writing of any kind. Prehistory, a term coined by 19th-century French scholars, covers past human life from its origins up to the advent of written records. History—that is, the human past documented insome form of writing—began 5000 years ago in parts of southwestern Asia and as recently as the late 19th century AD in central Africa and parts of the Americas. Becaus...

• Middle Ages .

  Saints were very important in Late Antiquity. They were considered both models of virtue and powerful miracle workers. One of the most well-known saints of the periodwas Saint Anthony. Anthony gave away all his possessions and left his hometown in Egypt to live alone in the desert and pray. Anthony was one of the first Christianmonks. The word monk comes from a term meaning 'alone.' Gradually Anthony attracted followers, and he eventually became the center of a whole community of monks who wis...

• United States Government.

  Article II establishes an executive department headed by a president and vice president. The article further describes the powers of the offices, the manner of election,and the qualifications for office. Of special significance is the president’s constitutional role as commander of the nation’s armed forces, which assures civilian controlover the military. Because the president is the head of the armed forces and only Congress can declare war, the authority of the military is diffused and its po...

• Ancient Egypt.

  around 4500 BC. The style and decoration of the pottery found at these sites differ from those of pottery found in Upper Egypt. The northern type eventually fell out of use. Other differences between the peoples in Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt include the nature of their architecture and the arrangements for burial of the dead, thelatter perhaps signifying differing religious beliefs. B Unification and Early Dynastic Period By 3500 BC, the settlement of Hierakonpolis, located on the west bank...

• Ancient Egypt - USA History.

  around 4500 BC. The style and decoration of the pottery found at these sites differ from those of pottery found in Upper Egypt. The northern type eventually fell out of use. Other differences between the peoples in Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt include the nature of their architecture and the arrangements for burial of the dead, thelatter perhaps signifying differing religious beliefs. B Unification and Early Dynastic Period By 3500 BC, the settlement of Hierakonpolis, located on the west bank...

• White House - geography.

  A large complex is needed for the many activities that take place at the White House. The White House has 132 rooms, 4 dining rooms, 35 bathrooms, 8 staircases, 3elevators, a clinic, a dentist’s office, a bowling alley, and a movie theater. About 150 people work in the White House offices, and another 100 people are needed to keepthe White House running. Congress provides funds to each first family to redecorate and refurnish the family quarters according to its wishes. The family quarters of th...