344 résultats pour "back"

• Animal Migration.

  No one understands exactly how migrating animals know when to migrate or how they find their way.Some experts think that the shortening days in fall or the lengthening days in spring may act as a signalto birds and other animals. Such signals indicate that it is time to start their long journey. Once on their way, birds are thought to navigate by the Sun and stars. Research shows that birds alsomay be sensitive to Earth’s magnetic field—the space around Earth where a magnetic force is felt. Fish...

• Perseus Greek Son of the god Zeus and Danae; husband of Andromeda; father of Perses; slayer of the Gorgon Medusa.

  Perseus slew Medusa and cut off her head, which he carefully stowed in his leather bag. From the blood of Medusa sprang Chrysaor and the winged horse, Pegasus, children of Medusa and the sea god, Poseidon. Perseus and Andromeda - Mythology. With Medusa’s head in his leather bag, Perseus set off on his winged sandals to take the head to King Polydectes of Seriphos. As he flew along the coast, he saw a beautiful woman chained to a rock, weeping. She was Andromeda, daughter of King Cepheus of Eth...

• Odyssey Greek The epic poem by Homer that describes the adventures of Odysseus on his homeward voyage to Ithaca after the Trojan War.

  turn his men back into their human forms. Under her spell, he dallied for a year on the island of the sorceress, who gave him warnings about the perils he would encounter on his way home. Odysseus in the Underworld - Mythology. After suffering under the spell of the witch-goddess Circe for a year, Odysseus and his crew grew restless and wanted to leave. On the advice of Circe, Odysseus and his crew visited the Underworld (1) to consult the ghost of the blind seer Tiresias. Tiresias had many wa...

• From Bulfinch's Mythology: Minerva (Athena) - anthology.

  Spenser tells the story of Arachne in his 'Muiopotmos,' adhering very closely to his master Ovid, but improving upon him in the conclusion of the story. The twostanzas which follow tell what was done after the goddess had depicted her creation of the olive tree: 'Amongst these leaves she made a Butterfly, With excellent device and wondrous slight,Fluttering among the olives wantonly,That seemed to live, so like it was in sight;The velvet nap which on his wings doth lie,The silken down with whic...

• EM Forster, A passage to India

  helpless victim, however, partially to retain her dignity and partially because she remains unsure of the actual legitimacy of her charges. Two significant forces trouble Adela: ___The first is her doubt that Aziz is guilty of the crime with which she has charged him, and she even tells Ronny that she believes she has made a mistake. Mrs. Moore confirms this doubt, definitively stating to Adela that Aziz is innocent. Her statement contains great significance, for Mrs. Moore serves as a paragon o...

• Steam Engine.

  wear caused by this pressure, steam-engine valves are frequently made in a cylindrical form entirely enclosing the piston, so that the pressure is equal all around thevalve and friction is minimized. The development of this type of valve is attributed to the American inventor and manufacturer George Henry Corliss. In other types ofslide valves, the moving portion of the valve is designed so that steam does not press directly on the back of the valve. The linkage between the piston of the engine...

• Frederick Douglass.

  proslavery document. In Britain and later in Rochester, however, Douglass met political abolitionists, who believed that it was possible to use the political system to fightslavery. They organized the antislavery Liberty Party, and called for the election of abolitionists to public office. Garrison believed the North should secede, if necessary,to free itself from the moral stain of slavery. In contrast, Douglass became convinced that this course of action would only abandon slaves to their mast...

• Frederick Douglass - USA History.

  proslavery document. In Britain and later in Rochester, however, Douglass met political abolitionists, who believed that it was possible to use the political system to fightslavery. They organized the antislavery Liberty Party, and called for the election of abolitionists to public office. Garrison believed the North should secede, if necessary,to free itself from the moral stain of slavery. In contrast, Douglass became convinced that this course of action would only abandon slaves to their mast...

• Brontë: From Jane Eyre - anthology.

  He rang and despatched an invitation to Mrs Fairfax, who soon arrived, knitting-basket in hand. ’Good-evening, madam; I sent to you for a charitable purpose: I have forbidden Adèle to talk to me about her presents, and she is bursting with repletion; have thegoodness to serve her as auditress and interlocutrice: it will be one of the most benevolent acts you ever performed.’ Adèle, indeed, no sooner saw Mrs Fairfax, than she summoned her to her sofa, and there quickly filled her lap with...

• Simón Bolívar.

  Again, he expressed his dislike of federalism and his preference for strong centralized republics. He felt that Venezuela and New Granada should unite into a centralizedrepublic, which would be called Colombia. This new republic would have an elected executive and a legislature consisting of an elected lower house and a hereditaryupper house. Lastly, he spoke about the need for a union of all the countries in Spanish America to ensure prosperity and security after independence. IV BOLÍVAR AS MI...

• Sound I INTRODUCTION Sound, physical phenomenon that stimulates the sense of hearing.

  A fundamental law of harmony states that two notes an octave apart, when sounded together, produce a pleasant-sounding combination. Other combinations of notescan also be pleasing. Physically, an interval of a fifth consists of two notes, the frequencies of which bear the arithmetical ratio 3 to 2, and a major third, the ratio 5 to4. Fundamentally, the law of harmony states that two or more notes sound pleasant when played together if their frequencies bear small, whole number ratios; if thefreq...

• Excerpt from Mansfield Park - anthology.

  arranged round the other. It was a fine arrangement for Henry Crawford, who was close to Fanny, and with his hands full of business, having two persons' cards tomanage as well as his own—for though it was impossible for Fanny not to feel herself mistress of the rules of the game in three minutes, he had yet to inspirit herplay, sharpen her avarice, and harden her heart, which, especially in any competition with William, was a work of some difficulty; and as for Lady Bertram, he mustcontinue in c...

• Animal Behavior - biology.

  The first motor program analyzed in much detail was the egg-rolling response of geese. When a goose sees an egg outside its nest, it stares at the egg, stretches itsneck until its bill is just on the other side of the egg, and then gently rolls the egg back into the nest. At first glance this seems a thoughtful and intelligent piece ofbehavior, but it is a mechanical motor program; almost any smooth, rounded object (the sign stimulus) will release the response. Furthermore, removal of the egg on...

• Earthquake.

  III CAUSES Most earthquakes are caused by the sudden slip along geologic faults. The faults slip because of movement of the Earth’s tectonic plates. This concept is called theelastic rebound theory. The rocky tectonic plates move very slowly, floating on top of a weaker rocky layer. As the plates collide with each other or slide past eachother, pressure builds up within the rocky crust. Earthquakes occur when pressure within the crust increases slowly over hundreds of years and finally exceeds...

• War of 1812 - History.

  the thorough training they received in handling guns was far ahead of contemporary British standards. As hostilities loomed, Congress authorized a regular army of 35,000 men, but when the United States officially declared war in June 1812, the actual land force was lessthan 10,000 and nearly half of these soldiers were raw recruits. The existing troops were also widely scattered in small garrisons. The government planned tosupplement this regular force with 50,000 volunteers and 100,000 militiam...

• War of 1812 - U.

  the thorough training they received in handling guns was far ahead of contemporary British standards. As hostilities loomed, Congress authorized a regular army of 35,000 men, but when the United States officially declared war in June 1812, the actual land force was lessthan 10,000 and nearly half of these soldiers were raw recruits. The existing troops were also widely scattered in small garrisons. The government planned tosupplement this regular force with 50,000 volunteers and 100,000 militiam...

• Ottoman Empire .

  fleets at Suez, Egypt; though the Portuguese were not expelled, Selim did manage to prevent the establishment of a total Portuguese monopoly over the spice trade. Selim I died in 1520 after having spent most of his short reign on matters pertaining to the east. His son and successor Süleyman I (reigned 1520-1566) again turnedthe attention of the Ottomans to the west. In August 1521 Süleyman, later known as Süleyman the Magnificent, opened the road to Hungary by capturing Belgrade, aHungarian str...

• Ottoman Empire - History.

  fleets at Suez, Egypt; though the Portuguese were not expelled, Selim did manage to prevent the establishment of a total Portuguese monopoly over the spice trade. Selim I died in 1520 after having spent most of his short reign on matters pertaining to the east. His son and successor Süleyman I (reigned 1520-1566) again turnedthe attention of the Ottomans to the west. In August 1521 Süleyman, later known as Süleyman the Magnificent, opened the road to Hungary by capturing Belgrade, aHungarian str...

• Nunavut - Canadian History.

  The Arctic Lands is a complex geological area that is centered on the Arctic Ocean. It includes coastal plains, plateaus, and mountains. Coastal plains and plateaus arefound in the western Northwest Territories section of the Arctic Lands, such as on Victoria Island, which is mostly a large, flat plateau. In striking contrast to theserelatively gentle landscapes, the eastern Nunavut section of the Arctic Lands is dominated by a jagged chain of ice-covered mountains. The mountains on EllesmereIsl...

• Grand oral du bac : AKIRA KUROSAWA

  Ak ira Kurosawa dans le Japon féodal. La même scène est racontée en flash-back par plusieurs personna ges, prése ntant à chaque fois leur version des faits. Le recours au flash-back était alors relativ ement peu fréquent au cinéma. Dans Rashomon, Kurosawa montre com­ ment cette technique peut être employée pour abor­ der d'une façon simple et dynamique un sujet d'ordre métaphy sique (l'interr ogation sur la réalité, sur la nature de la vérité) . Ses film...

• anglais corrrigé de new girl

  je puisse deviner un visage, mais juste assez pour que je sente le regard cuisant de la mère de la petite fille. EXPRESSION / 20 Sujet 1 : Dans ce type de sujet, il est essentiel de préserver l’esprit du texte de départ : lieu, personnages, sentiments et réactions… Il est également important de respecter le contexte historique. La scène se déroulant en Alabama dans les années 1970, il conviendra de restituer à travers les personnages l’atmosphère qui régnait à l’époque : discrimination,...

• Computer Animation.

  parametric key-frame animation, interpolates, or blends, the in-between images. Another technique, algorithmic animation, controls motion by applying rules thatgovern how the objects move. When the objects and their behaviors have been specified, each scene is rendered frame-by-frame by the virtual camera and stored;then the final animated feature is played back. Despite the power of today's computers, and the innovations used to accelerate traditional animation processes, modern computer animat...

• The Ice Bowl.

  Starr peppered the Dallas defense with short passes. Three tosses to Anderson and one to Mercein accounted for 46 yards. An 8-yard run by Mercein moved thePackers to Dallas's 3-yard line with a minute left. Anderson ran the ball twice, skidding and sliding for a total of 1 yard. At third down with 16 seconds remaining,Green Bay used its last time out to set up the play. “That's why I decided to keep the ball. I knew the other backs might have trouble getting started,” Starr told a New York Time...

• Joyner-Kersee Wins Heptathlon.

  With her knee throbbing once again, Joyner-Kersee taped up for the javelin throw. Her toss of 45.35 m (149 ft 9.5 in) was about 3 m (10 ft) short of her personalaverage, dropping her another 86 points off of the record pace. “It was disgusting,” she told Sports Illustrated. ”The knee was sore. I wasn't using the legs. I was just arming it.” One event remained: the 800 meters, the most demanding of the heptathlon's seven tests. It was also the event that had cost Joyner-Kersee the gold meda...

• Debating Sports Records Mark Purdy, sports columnist for the San Jose Mercury News in California, compiles a list of sports records that he believes will never be broken and a separate list of records that he thinks are soon to be eclipsed.

  UCLA’s dominance of NCAA men’s college basketball in the late 1960s and early 1970s will never be matched. With John Wooden as coach, the Bruins went from1967 to 1973 without losing a tournament game. Wooden built a dynasty around a system that stressed team play and solid defense, anchored by standout centersLew Alcindor (who later changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) and Bill Walton. The Bruins’ ten straight appearances in the Final Four (1967-1976) will alsobe tough to top, given that tod...

• Debating Sports Records Mark Purdy, sports columnist for the San Jose Mercury News in California, compiles a list of sports records that he believes will never be broken and a separate list of records that he thinks are soon to be eclipsed.

  UCLA’s dominance of NCAA men’s college basketball in the late 1960s and early 1970s will never be matched. With John Wooden as coach, the Bruins went from1967 to 1973 without losing a tournament game. Wooden built a dynasty around a system that stressed team play and solid defense, anchored by standout centersLew Alcindor (who later changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) and Bill Walton. The Bruins’ ten straight appearances in the Final Four (1967-1976) will alsobe tough to top, given that tod...

• Plante First Goalie to Wear a Mask.

  rubber shock, which one player described as “the first cousin to shell shock.” Those with advanced cases have been known to skate off the ice during the middle ofchampionship games. Perhaps as a test of Plante's emotional state, Blake requested that he not wear the mask during the regular season. Plante complied, although hedonned the mask for pregame practice sessions. Early in the season, on November 1, the Canadiens took a seven-game unbeaten streak into a match against the New York Range...

• Poetry of Edgar Allan Poe - anthology.

  Ever yet was blest with seeing bird above his chamber door—Bird or beast upon the sculptured bust above his chamber door,With such name as “Nevermore.” But the raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust, spoke onlyThat one word, as if his soul in that one word he did outpour.Nothing further then he uttered—not a feather then he fluttered—Till I scarcely more than muttered, “other friends have flown before—On the morrow he will leave me, as my hopes have flown before.' Then the bird said, “Nevermo...

• Japanese Music I INTRODUCTION Shamisen Performance The shamisen is a Japanese instrument with three strings.

  utilizes six modes, or scales, of Chinese origin, all derived from two basic pentatonic (five-note) scales: ryo, D E-flat G A B-flat, plus F and C as auxiliary pitches; and ritsu, D F G A C, plus auxiliary pitches E-flat and B-flat. The meters in gagaku music are basically duple (in twos). IV DRAMATIC MUSIC Classical Nō Drama of JapanInspired both spiritually and artistically by Zen Buddhism, the Japanese n ō theater is composed of four main components:music (voices, instruments), choreogra...

• Messier Lifts the Curse.

  Swept up in the hype, the Rangers came out for game five at the Garden in a virtual sleepwalk. By the start of the third period they were down 3-0. New Yorkscratched back to level the score as Messier culminated the three-goal spurt with a wrist shot midway through the period. Vancouver then stunned the Rangers—andthe sellout crowd—by netting three quick goals to put the game far out of reach. Game six in Vancouver proved even more of a challenge for the Rangers. The team showed little will...

• Excerpt from The Tempest - anthology.

  When he comes back; you demi-puppets thatBy moonshine do the green, sour ringlets make,Whereof the ewe not bites; and you whose pastimeIs to make midnight mushrumps, that rejoiceTo hear the solemn curfew, by whose aid—Weak masters though ye be—I have bedimmedThe noontide sun, called forth the mutinous winds,And 'twixt the green sea and the azured vaultSet roaring war; to the dread rattling thunderHave I given fire, and rifted Jove's stout oakWith his own bolt; the strong-based promontoryHave I m...

• Kidney.

  secretion. An additional function of the kidney is the processing of vitamin D; the kidney converts this vitamin to an active form that stimulates bone development. Several hormones are produced in the kidney. One of these, erythropoietin, influences the production of red blood cells in the bone marrow. When the kidney detectsthat the number of red blood cells in the body is declining, it secretes erythropoietin. This hormone travels in the bloodstream to the bone marrow, stimulating theproducti...

• In-Line Skating.

  the foot using a combination of laces and buckles. Many skaters prefer a simple closure system that has laces on the lower portion of the skate and a buckle at the top.The boot liner is made of a soft, padded, cloth portion that fits inside the outer shell. Boot liners should be vented, which keeps the feet cool by allowing perspiration toescape during strenuous workouts or long trips. Attached to the bottom of each skate is the wheel frame. The frame houses from three to five wheels. The wheels...

• Beijing - geography.

  other polluting materials contributes to the city’s severe air and water pollution. V EDUCATION AND CULTURE Beijing has more colleges and universities than any other Chinese city. The most prominent institutions are Peking University, founded in 1898; and Tsinghua University,founded in 1911, which is the most prestigious scientific and technical institution in the country. Both institutions are located in the northwest suburbs, an areaassociated with higher education and research. Also in this...

• Herman Melville I INTRODUCTION Herman Melville These lines (recited by an actor) begin the novel Moby Dick (1851), by Herman Melville.

  short novel Billy Budd in manuscript form. Melville’s death in New York City on September 28, 1891, went virtually unnoticed. None of his books was still in print. VI MELVILLE’S EARLY WORKS With the exception of Mardi , all of Melville’s early books are narratives of maritime adventure based upon his own experiences and on his wide reading. Although London publisher John Murray accepted Typee for his Home and Colonial Library as a strictly factual account of South Seas travel, he was lar...

• Puzzle.

  Visual puzzles involve searching a picture to find hidden or disguised figures or answering a question about some part of a visual illusion. For instance, the popular 19th- century prints of American lithographic company Currier & Ives featured hidden people, animals, and other objects. A 16th-century painting from Bukhara, Uzbekistan,of a camel includes hidden figures of 17 people, 10 rabbits, a monkey, and a dragon (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City). B Mathematical Puzzles and Logic...

• From Bulfinch's Mythology: The Golden Fleece - anthology.

  It remained to lull to sleep the dragon that guarded the fleece, and this was done by scattering over him a few drops of a preparation which Medea had supplied. Atthe smell he relaxed his rage, stood for a moment motionless, then shut those great round eyes, that had never been known to shut before, and turned over on his side,fast asleep. Jason seized the fleece and with his friends and Medea accompanying, hastened to their vessel before Æetes the king could arrest their departure, andmade the...

• Eye. I INTRODUCTION Eye, light-sensitive organ of vision in animals. The eyes of

  Several structures, not parts of the eyeball, contribute to the protection of the eye. The most important of these are the eyelids, two folds of skin and tissue, upper andlower, that can be closed by means of muscles to form a protective covering over the eyeball against excessive light and mechanical injury. The eyelashes, a fringe ofshort hairs growing on the edge of either eyelid, act as a screen to keep dust particles and insects out of the eyes when the eyelids are partly closed. Inside the...

• Hardware (computer).

  Magnetic tape drives use magnetic tape similar to the tape used in VCR cassettes. Tape drives have a very slow read/write time, but have a very high capacity; in fact,their capacity is second only to hard disk drives. Tape drives are mainly used to back up data. Compact disc drives store information on pits burned into the surface of a disc of reflective material ( see CD-ROM). CD-ROMs can store up to 737 megabytes (MB) of data. A Compact Disc-Recordable (CD-R) or Compact Disc-ReWritable (CD-RW)...

• Gambling.

  C Lotteries Lotteries are another form of gambling. In a lottery, tickets are sold for a set amount and a share of the proceeds is returned to the winners, usually through a randomdraw. Most games allow players to pick their own numbers or let a computer randomly pick for them. Lotteries offer a wide variety of games, including weekly drawings,instant “scratch” tickets, daily games, and superlottos with prizes increasing until there is a winner. Large lottery prizes sometimes exceed $100 millio...

• Greek Art and Architecture - history.

  powerful independent city-states. From 334 to 323 BC, Alexander the Great extended his father's empire into Asia Minor (now Turkey), Syria, Egypt, Persia, Afghanistan, and as far as India. D The Hellenistic Period (323-31 BC) Although Alexander the Great extended Greek civilization far beyond the Greek mainland and the boundaries of the Aegean Sea, his empire did not survive his death in 323.After Alexander died, his generals and successors divided the empire into a number of kingdoms: Ptolem...

• Native American Religions.

  In the worldview of most of the indigenous peoples of North America, there were also spiritual beings to be avoided. Native Americans of the Southwest in particular,such as the Navajo and Apache, dreaded contact with ghosts, who were believed to resent the living. These peoples disposed of the bodies of deceased relativesimmediately and attempted to distance themselves from the spirits of the dead, avoiding their burial sites, never mentioning their names, and even abandoning thedwellings in whi...

• Herman Melville.

  information in Omoo , but various religious groups condemned both books for their unfavorable comments on the work and insensitivity of missionaries in the South Seas. Mardi is a philosophical allegory framed by another adventure at sea. The book’s hero, accompanied by characters representing the intellect, poetry, history, and philosophy, searches the world for universal truth. The book is filled with descriptions—intended as allegories—of human customs, religions, governments, and historical...

• Rhinoceros - biology.

  Male and female rhinos have a similar physical appearance, although male rhinos are usually larger than females, with the size difference varying between species. Inthe wild, some rhinos probably live into their late 40s, and they have survived into their 30s in captivity. IV TYPES OF RHINOCEROSES Until recently, mammalogists divided the rhinoceros family into three subfamilies, each with different characteristics. Scientists now believe that living rhinos belong to asingle subfamily, although...

• Sir Robert Borden.

  of the British Empire, Laurier proposed creating a Canadian navy that in case of war could be incorporated into the British navy. The plan was opposed by theConservatives, who thought that Canada should simply provide ships for the British navy. The Québec nationalists also opposed the plan because they did not wantCanada either to participate in the British navy or to have a navy of its own. At the last moment before election day in 1911 it looked as if the Liberals might win. The government ne...

• Sir Robert Borden - Canadian History.

  of the British Empire, Laurier proposed creating a Canadian navy that in case of war could be incorporated into the British navy. The plan was opposed by theConservatives, who thought that Canada should simply provide ships for the British navy. The Québec nationalists also opposed the plan because they did not wantCanada either to participate in the British navy or to have a navy of its own. At the last moment before election day in 1911 it looked as if the Liberals might win. The government ne...

• Pan-Africanism.

  (in New York City). These congresses were attended by increasing numbers of representatives from the United States, Europe, Africa, and the Caribbean. Severalimportant factors affected the growing popularity of the congresses. First, many delegates were sponsored by international labor movements, which were growing insize and power in the 1920s. A second factor was the growth of the black nationalist movement of Marcus Garvey. The Garvey movement was important in the UnitedStates as a popular ex...

• Democratic Party.

  At the beginning of the 20th century the Democrats’ minority position among voters remained central to their existence. The Progressive split in Republican rankshelped elect Woodrow Wilson twice, but the entry of the United States into World War I ended that. The war, popular at first, backfired against the Wilsonadministration when large numbers of German Americans and Irish Americans protested with their votes against U.S. involvement on England’s side. The result wasanother Republican landsli...

• Iran-Iraq War - History.

  The Iranian offensives of 1982 set a pattern that continued for the rest of the war. Exploiting their superiority in numbers, Iran sent its Revolutionary Guard on theattack, supported by regular military forces. Outnumbered Iraqi forces inflicted heavy losses on the Iranians but ultimately fell back. As soon as the initial Iranian thrusthad exhausted itself, however, the Iraqi army exploited Iranian disorganization and lack of equipment to retake much of the lost territory. As the war continued,...

• John Quincy Adams.

  man of my whole country.” When President Thomas Jefferson requested Senate approval of his treaty for the purchase of the French colony of Louisiana, Adams was the only New EnglandFederalist to vote in favor of it. He realized that the power and influence of his own New England would be reduced if the vast territory were added to the nation, but hewas convinced that the national interest would best be served by the purchase of Louisiana ( see Louisiana Purchase). Adams again broke with his New...