Readable, teachable news.
Tuesday, March 19, 2024
March Madness can grip a sports fan from the second week of March through the first week of April.
March Madness is the nickname for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Men’s Basketball Tournament. (When NCAA is said out loud, people usually say “N C double-A.”)
The tournament determines the national champion of college basketball.
It was arguably the biggest soccer game in Canadian history.
Certainly it was the biggest and most exciting game the Toronto soccer team, Toronto FC, had ever played.
Last night, Toronto FC played LA Galaxy, which has superstar midfielder, David Beckham (#23) on its team.
Beckham is not just one of the world’s best soccer players; he’s also a world-famous celebrity.
The teams met to play a quarter-final match in the CONCACAF Champions League, which is a tournament featuring teams from North America, Central America and the Caribbean.
It was the first time a Canadian team had been in the CONCACAF playoffs.
Image on this page: Ryan Johnson, Toronto FC; Image courtesy of TorontoFC.ca.
The head of the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) was fired from his job this week.
Most people think it’s because he disagreed with Toronto’s mayor’s plans for public transit.
In this case, public transit refers to the city’s system of buses, subways and streetcars.
Gary Webster has worked at the TTC since 1986; for nearly six years he has been the TTC’s Chief General Manager.
As the head of the TTC, part of Webster’s job was to advise Toronto’s politicians about how the city’s transit system should operate.
The Italian government is trying to figure out if there is any truth to reports that rock is falling from the Colosseum.
The Colosseum is a world-famous landmark in Rome, Italy. It is the place where gladiators fought during the time of the Roman Empire (around 80 AD).
It has been damaged over the years by earthquakes and stone robbers, but it remains one of Rome’s most popular tourist attractions.
On Feb. 4, The New York Knicks basketball team played the New Jersey Nets at Madison Square Gardens in New York City.
The Nets played hard, but they simply couldn’t beat this Knicks team. There was something special about them… and that was Jeremy Lin.
Jeremy Lin turned heads during that game by scoring 25 points and adding seven assists.
Good numbers for any player, but especially for an undrafted player with only a handful of games under his belt.
But this where the story really gets good.
It’ll be the Toronto Maple Leafs vs. the Detroit Red Wings out in the fresh air on New Year’s Day.
It’s called the Winter Classic, and it’s an annual outdoor hockey game that features NHL teams playing on an outdoor rink.
Today, the NHL announced which teams will be playing in the special game. The game counts as a regular-season game.
Although it’s still 11 months away—the next Winter Classic will be held on Jan. 1, 2013—fans are excited. Because it’s outdoors, things like snow, rain and glare from the sun can affect the game, which makes it all the more interesting for spectators.
Yesterday, The New York Giants and the New England Patriots faced off in the year’s most important football game — the Super Bowl.
The game was played in Indianapolis, Indiana.
The two teams had faced each other at the Super Bowl before, four years ago. And just like the game back in 2008, the Giants won.
The final score this year was New York Giants 21, New England Patriots 17.
It was a terrific contest between two great football teams, two fantastic coaches, and it was also a rematch between two great quarterbacks.
Thanks to zebra dung, cars could one day run on fuel made from old newspapers.
Today, we use mostly oil and gas to run our cars; oil and gas come from fossilized plants and animals. But fossil fuels are expensive, and there aren’t enough of them. Scientists are looking for cheaper and more plentiful fuels.
David Mullin is a biology professor at a university in New Orleans. He and his students are trying to make a fuel from plants. Plant-based fuels are called “biofuels.”
He knew that if he could break down “cellulose,” he could turn it into a fuel that could run vehicles.
Every year, news editors across Canada vote for the “newsmaker of the year” – the person who dominated the headlines.
For 2011, that person was Jack Layton.
A whopping 90 per cent of editors polled said they thought the NDP leader was the newsmaker of the year.
Layton helped to build his political party up from just 19 seats in 2003 when he took over as leader, to 103 seats last year — enough to make the NDP Canada’s national opposition party for the first time in history.
Layton died from cancer in 2011 and the country mourned for this great “representative of the people.”
Cairo, the capital city of Egypt, has a lot of traffic. Commuters often find themselves stuck in a traffic jam, unable to move.
One book store came up with an ingenious program to help the people who take taxis in the city. They call it, “The Taxi of Knowledge.”
Alef Books gives taxi drivers five free books, which they can place in the back seat of their cab.
Passengers can read a good book while they’re stuck in traffic.
The taxi driver gets to choose which books he wants. He can also trade them in whenever he wants, for different books.
