Readable, teachable news.
Tuesday, March 19, 2024
Apple launched its new cell phone last week—the iPhone5.
Although the iPhone5 has some new features, it’s essentially the same phone with a longer screen (see the picture that accompanies this article).
The new phone is thinner, lighter and faster than its predecessors.
It’s less than 8 mm thick.
The screen is now a bit longer, at 4” (measured diagonally), or 10.2 cms. The iPhone4 screen is 3.5” (8.9 cms).
The new iPhone is also faster than the other iPhones.
The kids at many elementary and high schools in Ontario may not be participating in after-school sports or clubs for awhile.
That’s because the teachers who run the programs have been asked by their union to consider stop running them and to stop coaching.
Teachers in Ontario are part of a “labour union.” A union is a group of workers who band together for a common goal.
An “ambassador” is a person who represents one country—in another one.
For instance, Canada has ambassadors in many countries around the world. They are high ranking diplomats who represent their country. They typically work from offices called embassies.
The U.S. has many ambassadors stationed around the world, representing the United States.
The U.S. has an embassy in Libya, in Northern Africa.
Libya has been in the news this year because it was part of the Arab Spring, in which some countries’ people protested against corrupt governments.
On Wednesday, the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three embassy staff were killed.
Facts are still emerging about the incident—about why it happened and what the U.S. reaction to it will be.
Thank goodness for Costa Rica’s strict building codes.
They ensure that its buildings are extremely sturdy and well built. That helps account for the relatively small amount of damage the Central American country suffered after a powerful 7.6-magnitude earthquake last Wednesday.
The earthquake took place about 140 kms west of the country’s capital, San Jose.
In 1991, another 7.6-magnitude earthquake shook the country but it caused a lot of damage. This time, Costa Rica was saved by its new and updated building standards.
An “underpass” is a road or a tunnel that goes beneath another road. Toronto has some dark and gloomy underpasses.
Dark and gloomy, that is, until this summer.
That’s when an organization called Waterfront Toronto built something incredible.
Where there used to be garbage and weeds, there is now a fun playground with a safe, rubbery floor, a skateboard and scooter park and a basketball court.
There are also swings, climbers, a teeter-totter and benches for people to relax on.
Underpass Park covers 2.5 acres underneath three on- and off-ramps that lead to the DVP in East Toronto.
Before the park was built, Toronto’s Mayor Rob Ford said he wasn’t sure the space could be transformed.
But when he came to open the park on Aug. 2, he loved it.
There has been a significant change in government in the province of Quebec.
On Sept. 4, the PQ party won the provincial election.
They will take over from the Liberals, who have been in power there for nine years.
The PQ leader is Pauline Marois. She will become Quebec’s first female premier.
The PQ or Parti Quebecois advocates “sovereignty” for Quebec. That means they believe Quebec should be a separate country from the rest of Canada because it is unique in terms of culture and language. Most people in Quebec speak French.
Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, has died. He was 82 years old.
Armstrong was an American astronaut and the commander of the Apollo 11 spacecraft on its mission to put men on the moon.
Apollo 11 was launched on July 16, 1969, and began orbiting the moon three days later. On July 20, Armstrong and his co-pilot, astronaut Edwin E. “Buzz” Aldrin, took off from Apollo 11 in a small landing craft called Eagle. A third astronaut, Michael Collins, remained in the main ship, orbiting the moon until they returned.
Hundreds of millions of people around the world watched on TV as the Eagle landed on the moon. When Armstrong stepped out of the ship and onto the moon’s surface, he said, “That’s one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind.”*
Armstrong and Aldrin explored the moon for more than two hours and collected about 50 pounds of moon rocks. They left behind a plaque which said: “Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the moon. July 1969 A.D. We came in peace for all mankind.”
The Eagle remained on the moon for about 21 hours and then rejoined Apollo 11 for the return trip to Earth. Once the astronauts were back on Earth, they spent 16 days in quarantine to make sure they had not brought back any germs from space.
Here’s a look at some of the highlights from the spectacular 2012 Summer Olympics.
• U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps now holds the most Olympic medals of any athlete in history. He has 22 Olympic medals, four more than the next highest Olympic medal holder (gymnast Larisa Latynina, from the Soviet Union, who has 18).
Not only that, but he has 18 gold medals—twice as many as any other Olympian.
Phelps won six medals in the 2012 Olympics.
• Four of the world’s top badminton women’s doubles teams were kicked out of the Olympics for throwing their matches.
The women deliberately tried to lose by serving wildly and hitting shots into the net or out of the court. Why?
If they had won their first matches, they would have had to play more difficult opponents. By losing their first matches, they would have been able to play easier, more beatable teams.
However, you’re not allowed to “throw” a match by losing on purpose so they were eliminated from the Olympics.
North Atlantic Right Whales are one of the most endangered whale species in the world.
But now their numbers are growing again, thanks to a plan to keep large ships away from the whales’ nursery and feeding grounds.
For many years the whales were hunted for their oil. Hunting was banned in 1937, but by the 1990s there were only a few hundred North Atlantic Right Whales left.
The whales live in the Atlantic Ocean, off the eastern coast of Canada and the United States. They spend the winters in warm southern waters, where most calves are born, then migrate north in the spring.
Many Right Whales spend each summer and fall in the Bay of Fundy, a large inlet of the Atlantic Ocean between the provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. The water there has large amounts of plankton – tiny organisms that are an important part of the whales’ diet.
“Mollie’s” is a chain of candy stores in England.
They sell British and American candy, as well as ice cream.
There are three stores in the chain, located in the British towns of Welshpool, Newtown and Shrewsbury.
But perhaps the most interesting thing about Mollie’s candy stores is the owner—Mollie Price.
You see, she’s six years old.
Price started the business because she liked those “pick and mix” (bulk food) stores, as her mother told Britain’s Mail Online news website.
That’s how most of the candy in Mollie’s stores is sold.
Her mother said Price noticed there was an opportunity for a bulk candy store, and “Mollie’s” was born.
