Daily Content Archive
(as of Saturday, November 11, 2023)| Word of the Day | |||||||
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matriarch
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| Daily Grammar Lesson | |
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Defining Modal Auxiliary VerbsA modal auxiliary verb is used to change the meaning of other verbs by expressing modality—that is, asserting (or denying) possibility, likelihood, ability, permission, obligation, or future intention. What are modal verbs unable to do? More... | |
| Article of the Day | |
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 Airbag Safety SystemsAutomotive airbag inflation occurs only milliseconds after crash sensors detect a collision. The airbag's cushioning effectively prevents direct human impact with dangerous vehicular surfaces and reduces the deceleration passengers experience as they come to a stop. While airbags were initially viewed as an alternative to seatbelts, they are now understood to offer greater protection when used in conjunction with other automotive safety methods. What injuries may result from airbag deployment? More... | |
| This Day in History | |
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 Kaprun Disaster Leaves 155 Dead (2000)High above the Austrian ski resort of Kaprun, a funicular railway car carrying over 160 people to a glacier caught fire after a defective heater ignited hydraulic brake fluid in the rear of the car. Only partway through a 2-mi (3.2-km) tunnel, the car came to a sudden halt. As the fire grew, the passengers were plunged into darkness and trapped behind inoperable doors. Almost all who managed to escape the burning car suffocated in the tunnel. How did the 12 survivors manage to escape to safety? More... | |
| Today's Birthday | |
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 Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (1922)An influential American writer, Vonnegut used wry, black humor to highlight the horrors of 20th-century civilization. His novels, which include Breakfast of Champions and Player Piano, are frequently satirical and pessimistic, yet morally urgent. The best-selling Slaughterhouse-Five was based on Vonnegut's experience of surviving the firebombing of Dresden. Which of Vonnegut's novels was accepted by the University of Chicago as his thesis for an anthropology degree? More... | |
| Quotation of the Day | |
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 An inexhaustible good nature is one of the most precious gifts of heaven, spreading itself like oil over the troubled sea of thought, and keeping the mind smooth and equable in the roughest weather.Washington Irving (1783-1859) | |
| Idiom of the Day | |
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speak of the devil, and he shall appear— An acknowledgment of a person who has arrived just as or after he or she was being discussed. More... | |
| Today's Holiday | |
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 Polish Independence Day (2025)This national holiday commemorates the re-creation of the state of Poland at the end of World War I. On November 11, 1918, Poland was granted independence after having been partitioned under the rule of Prussia, Austria, and Russia for more than 100 years. After the Soviet system took over the country, the holiday was abolished. But in 1989, after the Communist government fell, Independence Day was once again a national holiday. More... | |
| Word Trivia | |
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Today's topic: lighterdinner, supper - Dinner is the main meal of the day; supper is the last meal of the day and lighter than dinner. More... short crust - Lighter and crispier than regular pastry crust. More... spring roll - Smaller than egg rolls, they traditionally have a lighter, more delicate pastry wrap. More... etiolate - Become whiter or lighter, especially by not getting enough light. More... | |