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2,233 | wikipedia | Mineral | null | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mineral | 2,020 | Info | Science | 1,100 | start | CC BY-SA 3.0 | G | 1 | 1 | A mineral is a naturally occurring chemical compound. Most often, they are crystalline and abiogenic in origin. A mineral is different from a rock, which can be an aggregate of minerals or non-minerals and does not have one specific chemical composition, as a mineral does. The exact definition of a mineral is under debate, especially with respect to the requirement that a valid species be abiogenic, and to a lesser extent with regard to it having an ordered atomic structure.
The study of minerals is called mineralogy. There are over 5,300 known mineral species; over 5,070 of these have been approved by the International Mineralogical Association (IMA). The silicate minerals compose over 90% of the Earth's crust. The diversity and abundance of mineral species is controlled by the Earth's chemistry. Silicon and oxygen constitute approximately 75% of the Earth's crust, which translates directly into the predominance of silicate minerals. | 148 | 9 | 2 | -1.804049 | 0.523701 | 33.13 | 12.78 | 11.3 | 15 | 11.31 | 0.42066 | 0.434 | 11.199565 | 689 |
6,858 | R.M. Ballantyne | The Young Trawler | null | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/21713/21713-h/21713-h.htm | 1,884 | Lit | Lit | 1,300 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | This was little Billy's first trip to sea in his father's fishing-smack, and he went not as a passenger but as a "hand." It is probable that there never sailed out of Yarmouth a lad who was prouder of his position than little Billy of the Evening Star. He was rigged from top to toe in a brand-new suit of what we may style nautical garments. His thin little body was made to appear of twice its natural bulk by a broad-shouldered pilot-cloth coat, under which was a thick guernsey. He was almost extinguished by a large yellow sou'-wester, and all but swallowed up by a pair of sea-boots that reached to his hips. These boots, indeed, seemed so capacious as to induce the belief that if he did not take care the part of his body that still remained outside of them might fall inside and disappear. | 148 | 6 | 1 | -0.919733 | 0.445124 | 70.91 | 9.74 | 10.73 | 10 | 7.27 | 0.1226 | 0.15544 | 11.088186 | 4,206 |
5,885 | Thomas Bulfinch | Bulfinch's Mythology: The Age of Fable | null | http://www.online-literature.com/bulfinch/mythology_fable/2/ | 1,855 | Info | Lit | 1,100 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | The Roman poet Ovid gives us a connected narrative of creation. Before the earth and sea and the all-covering heaven, one aspect, which we call Chaos, covered all the face of Nature,-- a rough heap of inert weight and discordant beginnings of things clashing together. As yet no sun gave light to the world, nor did the moon renew her slender horn month by month,-- neither did the earth hang in the surrounding air, poised by its own weight,--nor did the sea stretch its long arms around the earth. Wherever there was earth, there was also sea and air. So the earth was not solid nor was the water fluid, neither was the air
transparent. God and Nature at last interposed and put an end to this discord, separating earth from sea, and heaven from both. The fiery part, being the lightest, sprang up, and formed the skies; the air was next in weight and place. The earth, being heavier, sank below, and the water took the lowest place and buoyed up the earth. | 173 | 8 | 2 | -2.378112 | 0.494333 | 79.38 | 6.56 | 7.58 | 9 | 7.2 | 0.17773 | 0.17491 | 13.916652 | 3,503 |
6,156 | Thornton W. Burgess | The Adventures of Danny Meadow Mouse | null | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/25301/25301-h/25301-h.htm | 1,919 | Lit | Lit | 700 | start | null | G | 1 | 1 | Danny Meadow Mouse sat on his door-step with his chin in his hands, and it was very plain to see that Danny had something on his mind. He had only a nod for Jimmy Skunk, and even Peter Rabbit could get no more than a grumpy "good morning." It wasn't that he had been caught napping the day before by Reddy Fox and nearly made an end of. No, it wasn't that. Danny had learned his lesson, and Reddy would never catch him again. It wasn't that he was all alone with no one to play with. Danny was rather glad that he was alone. The fact is, Danny Meadow Mouse was worried.
Now worry is one of the worst things in the world, and it didn't seem as if there was anything that Danny Meadow Mouse need worry about. But you know it is the easiest thing in the world to find something to worry over and make yourself uncomfortable about. And when you make yourself uncomfortable, you are almost sure to make everyone around you equally uncomfortable. It was so with Danny Meadow Mouse. | 185 | 12 | 2 | -0.696644 | 0.44966 | 77.92 | 6.26 | 5.69 | 7 | 6.27 | 0.10859 | 0.09445 | 26.758104 | 3,660 |
1,203 | L. S. Houghton | The Deserter | Tales of Wonder Every Child Should Know | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/19461/19461-h/19461-h.htm#The_Deserter | 1,906 | Lit | Lit | 700 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | The room was beautifully fitted up, and he thought within himself, "Come what come may, I shall make myself at home in this room." So he stretched himself upon a couch. He lay there for a while lost in thought, when, lo and behold! the table began to lay itself. When the cloth was spread, all sorts of good cheer began to appear upon it. "Come what come may," he thought to himself again, "I am hungry." So he fell to and ate to his heart's content. When he had eaten all that he could swallow he threw himself upon the couch again and began to consider. Suddenly three women entered, clothed entirely in black. One seated herself at the piano, while the two others danced. Tired as he was, when he saw this he arose and skipped about with them. After this entertainment they began to talk with him, speaking of one thing and another, and finally came round to the question how he might break the spell that bound them. | 172 | 12 | 1 | -0.855322 | 0.475242 | 81.13 | 5.5 | 5.46 | 7 | 5.54 | 0.02427 | 0.05723 | 18.016547 | 226 |
5,784 | Charles Darwin | Expression of Emotion in Man & Animals | null | http://www.online-literature.com/darwin/expression-of-emotion/ | 1,872 | Info | Lit | 1,500 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | The power of Association is admitted by everyone. Mr. Bain remarks, that "actions, sensations and states of feeling, occurring together or in close succession, tend to grow together, or cohere, in such a way that when any one of them is afterwards presented to the mind, the others are apt to be brought up in idea." It is so important for our purpose fully to recognize that actions readily become associated with other actions and with various states of the mind, that I will give a good many instances, in the first place relating to man, and afterwards to the lower animals. Some of the instances are of a very trifling nature, but they are as good for our purpose as more important habits. It is known to everyone how difficult, or even impossible it is, without repeated trials, to move the limbs in certain opposed directions which have never been practiced. Analogous cases occur with sensations, as in the common experiment of rolling a marble beneath the tips of two crossed fingers, when it feels exactly like two marbles. | 180 | 6 | 1 | -3.008131 | 0.646907 | 45.26 | 14.4 | 15.35 | 15 | 8.28 | 0.23447 | 0.23141 | 13.074028 | 3,424 |
2,286 | wikipedia | Ostracism | null | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ostracism | 2,020 | Info | History | 1,300 | start | CC BY-SA 3.0 | PG | 2 | 1.5 | Ostracism (Greek: ostrakismos) was a procedure under the Athenian democracy in which any citizen could be expelled from the city-state of Athens for ten years. While some instances clearly expressed popular anger at the citizen, ostracism was often used preemptively. It was used as a way of neutralizing someone thought to be a threat to the state or potential tyrant. It has been called an "honorable exile" by scholar P.J. Rhodes. The word "ostracism" continues to be used for various cases of social shunning. The name is derived from the ostraka (singular ostrakon), referring to the pottery shards that were used as voting tokens. Broken pottery, abundant and virtually free, served as a kind of scrap paper (in contrast to papyrus, which was imported from Egypt as a high-quality writing surface, and was thus too costly to be disposable). | 139 | 8 | 1 | -2.272952 | 0.518805 | 47.19 | 11.68 | 11.45 | 14 | 9.9 | 0.22921 | 0.24676 | 5.005336 | 734 |
2,713 | Susan Hamm & Elisabet Metcalfe | Harnessing the Heat Beneath Our Feet: Geothermal Energy | null | https://kids.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/frym.2019.00105 | 2,019 | Info | Lit | 1,300 | mid | CC BY 4.0 | G | 1 | 1 | Although heat from the center of the Earth is migrating to the surface everywhere, the heat is concentrated at the edges of tectonic plates. Tectonic plates are pieces of the Earth's surface that fit together like a jigsaw puzzle and move around slowly, about as fast as your fingernails grow. These plates can grind up against each other, or slip under each other, so their edges are very hot and are considered dynamic places. In fact, the edges of tectonic plates are marked by lots of earthquakes, like in California, and volcanoes, like in Japan.
For example, the edge of the Pacific Plate is called the Ring of Fire, because of the especially high number of earthquakes and volcanoes that occur there. The western United States is a part of the Ring of Fire, so more heat is brought to the Earth's surface in states like Nevada and California. That is where you will find all of the current geothermal power plants in the U.S. | 164 | 7 | 2 | 0.542971 | 0.51072 | 59.6 | 10.91 | 11.88 | 12 | 7.65 | 0.25409 | 0.26226 | 15.785134 | 1,128 |
3,629 | H. G. Wells | A Short History of the World | null | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/35461/35461-h/35461-h.htm | 1,922 | Lit | Lit | 1,100 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | If, then, we represent our earth as a little ball of one-inch diameter, the sun would be a big globe nine feet across and 323 yards away, that is about a fifth of a mile, four or five minutes' walking. The moon would be a small pea two feet and a half from the world. Between earth and sun there would be the two inner planets, Mercury and Venus, at distances of one hundred and twenty-five and two hundred and fifty yards from the sun. All round and about these bodies there would be emptiness until you came to Mars, a hundred and seventy-five feet beyond the earth; Jupiter nearly a mile away, a foot in diameter; Saturn, a little smaller, two miles off; Uranus four miles off and Neptune six miles off. Then nothingness and nothingness except for small particles and drifting scraps of attenuated vapor for thousands of miles. The nearest star to earth on this scale would be 40,000 miles away.
These figures will serve perhaps to give one some conception of the immense emptiness of space in which the drama of life goes on. | 187 | 7 | 2 | -1.942804 | 0.466039 | 69.65 | 9.48 | 10.72 | 10 | 7.14 | 0.11485 | 0.11875 | 13.454271 | 1,889 |
3,630 | Hans Christian Andersen. | THE PEN AND THE INKSTAND. | De La Salle Fifth Reader | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/10811/10811-h/10811-h.htm | 1,922 | Lit | Lit | 900 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | Late in the evening the poet came home. He had been to a concert, where he had heard a famous violinist, with whose admirable performances he was quite enchanted. The player had drawn a wonderful wealth of tone from the instrument; sometimes it had sounded like tinkling water-drops, like rolling pearls, sometimes like birds twittering in chorus, and then again it went swelling on like the wind through the fir trees.
The poet thought he heard his own heart weeping, but weeping melodiously, like the sound of woman's voice. It seemed as though not only the strings sounded, but every part of the instrument.
It was a wonderful performance; and difficult as the piece was, the bow seemed to glide easily to and fro over the strings, and it looked as though every one might do it. The violin seemed to sound of itself, and the bow to move of itself - those two appeared to do everything; and the audience forgot the master who guided them and breathed soul and spirit into them. The master was forgotten; but the poet remembered him, and named him, and wrote down his thoughts concerning the subject. | 192 | 8 | 3 | -0.943493 | 0.481192 | 67.1 | 9.93 | 12.15 | 12 | 7.36 | 0.10828 | 0.10678 | 11.481492 | 1,890 |
7,057 | Retold by G.H. Boden and W. Barrington d’Almeida | Arion and the Dolphin | The Children's Hour, Volume 3 | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/14752/14752-h/14752-h.htm#Arion | 1,907 | Lit | Lit | 1,300 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | The Nausicaa was a strange-looking vessel, with a single sail, and long oars pulled by men who sat on benches along the side. The prow, which was carved to represent the maiden Nausicaa, stood well out of the water, and the bulwarks descended in a graceful curve to rise again at the stern, where the captain stood and shaped his course by means of a broad paddle, which was hung over the side.
The voyage began happily enough, the wind being favorable, and the captain and crew all deference and politeness. But when they were well out to sea, the behavior of the crew changed; they answered Arion's questions with scant politeness, and held many whispered consultations, which, from the black glances cast at him, made him uneasy as to his safety. On the second evening, waking out of a light sleep, he heard them conspiring to throw him overboard and divide his wealth among them. Arion started up and implored them not to carry out their evil purpose, offering to hand over all his wealth, if they would spare his life. His entreaties and promises were all in vain. | 189 | 7 | 2 | -2.002693 | 0.495694 | 60.88 | 11.55 | 13.31 | 12 | 7.64 | 0.21944 | 0.22116 | 12.06481 | 4,336 |
2,047 | Felix Simon, Christian Quade & Natascha Turetzek | The Process of Becoming a “Spider-Man” | null | null | 2,020 | Info | Lit | 1,100 | mid | CC BY 4.0 | G | 1 | 1 | You probably know of many animals in which the males and females look very different. Male lions, for example, have beautiful manes, while lioness do not. In birds, males tend to be beautifully colored, while the females are not—just think of ducks, chicken, or peacocks. But do you know how to distinguish spider-men and -women? Usually, female spiders are bigger, but only if they are well-fed. Females can also be a different color than the males of their species, but this is not true for all species. You can use another really safe trick to identify a male spider. In front of their four walking legs, both spider males and females have another pair of appendages, the pedipalps. The pedipalps are used for many of the spider skills explained above, like feeding, sensing, catching prey, and mating. And exactly on the tip of these pedipalps only adult male spiders have a specialized organ, which looks like boxing gloves. | 158 | 10 | 1 | 0.803875 | 0.521061 | 65.81 | 8.06 | 8.47 | 10 | 7.19 | 0.14948 | 0.14819 | 15.998339 | 517 |
5,613 | ? | HUNTING FOR EASTER-EGGS | The Nursery, Volume 17, No. 100, April, 1875 | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/14170/14170-h/14170-h.htm#HUNTING_FOR_EASTER_EGGS | 1,875 | Lit | Lit | 900 | whole | null | G | 1 | 1 | The Easter-egg is a painted or colored egg used for a present at Easter, a day which occurs on Sunday, the second day after Good-Friday.
The term "Easter" is said to be derived from a Saxon word meaning rising; and Easter is a festival of the Christian Church to commemorate the resurrection.
In the picture, the children are hunting for Easter-eggs, which the good mother has hidden in different parts of the room. The child who finds the most eggs will have the pleasure of making presents of them to whom he or she may choose.
Baby has set his eyes on the egg that lies on the floor. If he takes it up, I hope he will not let it fall, and break it. The other children will not be slow to find the painted eggs. There must be a dozen, or more, of them hidden away. | 145 | 8 | 4 | 0.38114 | 0.504832 | 78.99 | 6.93 | 6.72 | 7 | 6.45 | 0.05632 | 0.08049 | 16.238846 | 3,270 |
8,030 | wikijunior | Solids | Wikijunior
| https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Geometry_for_Elementary_School/Solids | 2,014 | Info | Science | 700 | start | CC BY-SA 3.0 | G | 1 | 1 | Solids are shapes that you can actually touch. They have three dimensions, which means that the have length, width and height. These shapes are what make up our daily life, and are very useful. Points on a solid must not be coplanar or colinear. The edge of solids are called the edge, and the surfaces are called faces. The corners, like angles and plane figures, are called vertices.
A solid with only straight edges is called a polyhedron(pol-ee-HEE-dron). The plural form of polehedron is polyhedra(pol-ee-HEE-drah). Your chocolate bars are polyhedra, The Great Pyramids are polyhedra – a lot of things are. We will go into detail about them later.
When dealing with these solid figures, there are two measurements we will need to know: the total surface area and the volume. The former is the sum of the faces of the solid; the latter is how big the solid is. | 148 | 12 | 3 | -0.215279 | 0.514128 | 75.83 | 5.89 | 5.84 | 9 | 7.74 | 0.18951 | 0.19583 | 16.386932 | 4,722 |
3,308 | Wiehan de Jager | Elephant's nose | African Storybook Level 2 | https://www.africanstorybook.org/ | 2,015 | Lit | Lit | 500 | mid | CC BY 4.0 | G | 1 | 1 | A baby elephant was born. She was very curious. She had a question for every animal. She was curious about Giraffe. "Why do you have a long neck?" she asked. She was curious about Rhino. "Why does your horn have a sharp point?" she asked. She was very curious about Crocodile. "What do crocodiles eat for dinner?" she asked. Clever Crow quickly said, "Follow me to the river. There you will see what crocodiles eat for dinner." So, Baby Elephant followed Crow to the river. She pushed through the reeds and stood on the bank. She looked into the water. Where was Crocodile? "Hello," said a stone near the river bank. "Hello," said Baby Elephant. "Can you tell me what crocodiles eat for dinner?" she asked. "Come closer and I will tell you," said the stone. Baby Elephant bent down. "Come closer," said the stone. Baby Elephant bent down lower. Suddenly, snap! Crocodile grabbed Baby Elephant's nose in his jaws. Baby Elephant sat back on her strong legs and pulled. And pulled, and pulled. But Crocodile did not let go of her nose. Baby Elephant's nose stretched and stretched. And stretched. Until she fell over. "Dufff!" | 196 | 35 | 1 | 1.294291 | 0.54888 | 82.88 | 3.09 | 2.2 | 6.87 | 5.85 | 0.13161 | 0.10955 | 36.526653 | 1,632 |
2,637 | Maryana Pereira Pyterson, Pedro de Tarcio Guedes, Saulo Rivera Ikeda, Tainá Dias, Wilker Nascimento, Monica Gomes Lima-Maximino, Caio Maximino
| What Can Zebrafish Teach Us About Fear? | null | https://kids.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/frym.2019.00012 | 2,019 | Info | Lit | 1,300 | mid | null | PG | 2 | 1.5 | One of the many advantages of using zebrafish to study fear is that, like other similar fish, they produce a special alarm substance in their skin when they are injured. This substance is produced by cells called club cells, and the purpose of the substance is to signal to other members of the school that a fish has been injured. When the skin of a fish is damaged by a predator, for example, the alarm substance is released, and other fish can smell it. The "smell of danger" causes the other fish to be more cautious and to behave as if they are afraid. When they sense this alarm substance, the other zebrafish swim in tight groups to increase protection. They also swim more erratically (in a zig–zag pattern), to both decrease the likelihood of being eaten and to stir up the sediments (pieces of leaves, sand, or earth on the ocean floor) to make the water cloudy. Sometimes the zebrafish also freeze in place, decreasing the likelihood that the predator will see them. | 174 | 7 | 1 | 1.020308 | 0.581429 | 60.05 | 11.06 | 12.18 | 11 | 7.86 | 0.25984 | 0.25725 | 15.896346 | 1,058 |
1,589 | L. M. Gask | THE GOLDEN FISH | The Junior Classics, Volume 1 | http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/3152/pg3152-images.html | 1,912 | Lit | Lit | 900 | end | null | G | 1 | 1 | The poor old man felt sorry for the fish if they had to be under her rule, for prosperity had quite spoiled her. However, he dared not disobey, and once more summoned his powerful friend.
"Make your wife the Queen of the Waters?" exclaimed the Gold Fish. "That is the last thing I should do. She is unfit to reign, for she cannot rule herself or her desires. I shall make her once more a poor old woman. Adieu! You will see me no more."
The old man returned sorrowfully with this unpleasant message, to find the palace transformed into a humble cabin, and his wife in a skirt of threadbare stuff in place of the rich brocade which she had worn of late. She was sad and humble, and much more easy to live with than she had been before. Her husband therefore had occasion many times to think gratefully of the Gold Fish, and sometimes when drawing up his net the glint of the sun upon the scales of his captives would give him a moment's hope-which, alas! was as often disappointed-that once again he was to see his benefactor. | 190 | 13 | 3 | -1.101863 | 0.455044 | 80.92 | 5.68 | 5.67 | 8 | 6.09 | 0.07838 | 0.05883 | 17.506942 | 371 |
744 | Norman Hinsdale Pitman | THE GOLDEN BEETLE
OR
WHY THE DOG HATES THE CAT | A Chinese Wonder Book | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/18674/18674-h/18674-h.htm#h2H_4_0002 | 1,919 | Lit | Lit | 1,100 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | Now began a long period of perfect happiness. Mother, son, dog and cat—all enjoyed themselves to their hearts' content. All manner of new foods such as they had never tasted were called forth from the pot by the wonderful little beetle. Bird-nest soup, shark's fins, and a hundred other delicacies were theirs for the asking, and soon Ming-li regained all his strength, but, I fear, at the same time grew somewhat lazy, for it was no longer necessary for him to work. As for the two animals, they became fat and sleek and their hair grew long and glossy.
But alas! according to a Chinese proverb, pride invites sorrow. The little family became so proud of their good fortune that they began to ask friends and relatives to dinner that they might show off their good meals. One day a Mr. and Mrs. Chu came from a distant village. They were much astonished at seeing the high style in which the Wangs lived. They had expected a beggar's meal, but went away with full stomachs. | 174 | 11 | 2 | -0.737524 | 0.43915 | 76.75 | 6.55 | 7.17 | 9 | 7.65 | 0.13478 | 0.12763 | 11.841464 | 121 |
7,463 | Alexandrea Kilgore-Gomez, Hector Arciniega, & Marian E. Berryhill
| The Effects of Concussion Can Be Long-Lasting | null | https://kids.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/frym.2020.00057 | 2,020 | Info | Lit | 1,100 | mid | CC BY 4.0 | G | 1 | 1 | Executive functions are thinking abilities that allow us to achieve our goals. For example, executive functions allow you to stay on task, plan ahead, hold onto thoughts, solve problems, and refrain from inappropriate actions (like talking back to a teacher). In patients who had experienced TBI more than 4 years ago, we studied an executive function called working memory T, which is the mental workspace that holds information for immediate use. For example, remembering the numbers the teacher writes on the board as you write down the problem in your notebook. Working memory differs from what is called long-term memory, which is what we use to remember events over years. For example, working memory helps us do addition in our heads, long-term memory is what allows us to remember our first day at school.
Working memory has three stages: encoding (putting information in), maintenance (holding on to that information), and retrieval (remembering that information and using it). Usually, people can hold about 3–5 things in working memory at a time. Working memory requires cooperation between regions in both the front and back of the brain. If brain cells in either of these regions are damaged, working memory could suffer. | 198 | 10 | 2 | -0.94923 | 0.530305 | 48.8 | 11.45 | 12.12 | 13 | 8.8 | 0.163 | 0.13595 | 17.676523 | 4,656 |
5,755 | T. C. | LITTLE PIGGY | The Nursery, November 1873, Vol. XIV. No. 5 | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/24942/24942-h/24942-h.htm#Page_140 | 1,873 | Lit | Lit | 500 | start | null | PG | 2 | 1.5 | One day my brother Richard brought a little pig indoors from the farm-yard. "Squeak, squeak!" cried the little thing as it nestled in Dick's arms.
As soon as we all had looked at it, my mother wished Dick to take it back to the sow. "No," said Dick: "she has too many piggies to bring up. I think we must kill this one." We all begged him not to kill it; and after some talk it was settled that I should have it, and try to bring it up.
So I took piggy under my charge. I named him "Dob." I fed him on skim-milk with a wooden spoon; and he soon looked for his meal as regularly as I looked for my breakfast. I made him a bed in a basket with some hay and a bit of flannel; but he soon outgrew the basket, and we then made him a bed under the kitchen-stairs. | 154 | 11 | 3 | 1.580101 | 0.645615 | 95.86 | 3.48 | 2.77 | 5 | 5.55 | -0.0288 | 0.01056 | 22.603547 | 3,400 |
6,164 | Horatio Alger, Jr. | Adrift in New York, Or Tom and Florence Braving the World | null | http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/18581/pg18581.txt | 1,900 | Lit | Lit | 900 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | "He has told me so more than once," returned Curtis, smoothly. "You don't know how near to his heart this marriage is. I know what you would say: If the property comes to me I could come to your assistance, but I am expressly prohibited from doing so. I have pleaded with my uncle on your behalf, but in vain."
Florence was too clear-sighted not to penetrate his falsehood.
"If my uncle's heart is hardened against me," she said, "I shall be too wise to turn to you. I am to understand, then, that my choice lies between poverty and a union with you?"
"You have stated it correctly, Florence."
"Then," said Florence, arising, "I will not hesitate. I shrink from poverty, for I have been reared in luxury, but I will sooner live in a hovel--"
"Or a tenement house," interjected Curtis, with a sneer.
"Yes, or a tenement house, than become the wife of one I loathe." | 153 | 11 | 7 | -1.077892 | 0.45199 | 78.92 | 5.87 | 5.16 | 10 | 7.81 | 0.1935 | 0.20986 | 24.589081 | 3,663 |
6,334 | Agnes Repplier | A Story of Nuremberg | In the Yule-Log Glow, Book 2: Christmas Tales from 'Round the World | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/19084/19084-h/19084-h.htm#Page_167 | 1,891 | Lit | Lit | 1,300 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | Startled, and not a little alarmed, he checked his rapid walk and listened. There was no mistaking the sound: it was neither imp nor fairy, but a real child, from whose little lungs came forth that wail at once pitiful and querulous. As he heard it, Peter Burkgmäier's kindly heart flew with one rapid bound to the cradle at home where slumbered his own infant daughter, and, hastily lowering his lantern, he searched under the dark archway whence the cry had come. There, sheltered by the wall and wrapped in a ragged cloak, was a baby boy, perhaps between two and three years old, but so tiny and emaciated as to seem hardly half that age. When the lantern flickered in his face he gave a frightened sob, and then lay quiet and exhausted in the strong arms that held him. | 141 | 5 | 1 | -0.463643 | 0.483435 | 67.81 | 10.81 | 13.2 | 9 | 7.72 | 0.1343 | 0.17311 | 8.194659 | 3,805 |
3,081 | DiresGebre-Meskel and Elizabeth Laird | The bandit | African Storybook Level 3 | https://www.africanstorybook.org/ | 2,016 | Lit | Lit | 700 | mid | CC BY 4.0 | G | 1 | 1 | This ruler was loved by all his people. He arranged a feast for everyone in the village. At the feast, the ruler stood up and said, "My daughter is sick. The only medicine for her is fresh tiringo (a citrus fruit). The fruit should grow near a river, close to bushes and trees, in a place where no one lives. Can any of you bring such a fruit to me?" Everyone was thinking, "Where could I find a tiringo like that?" They didn't say anything. But the bandit immediately stood up and said, "Your excellency, I know of that fruit growing in such a place. Give me a time of two weeks." The bandit went at once to the place where he buried the merchant because a tiringo tree was there. He rushed to get the fruit before anyone else could find it. He put two bunches of fruit in a sack and ran to meet the ruler. | 158 | 13 | 1 | 0.082543 | 0.463674 | 87.95 | 4.01 | 3.25 | 7 | 5.44 | 0.11251 | 0.13461 | 21.948451 | 1,451 |
2,513 | Basilio Gimo and Little Zebra Books | No Pigs Allowed | African Storybook Level 4 | https://www.africanstorybook.org/ | 2,019 | Lit | Lit | 500 | start | CC BY 4.0 | G | 1 | 1 | Years ago, a group of horned animals decided to have a big party high up in the mountains.
They only invited other animals with horns. No one else.
When the pig heard about the party, he thought, "I don't have any horns. What am I going to do?"
The next day, he had an idea. He'd stick some horns to his head with wax!
It worked, and the pig felt very clever when he was allowed into the party.
The problem was that the party was taking place close to the sun.
When the party started heating up, the wax began to melt, and his horns fell off.
The horned animals were shocked. "Who's that one with no horns? Why did he come here?" they asked.
The king of the horned animals commanded, "Grab that pig and throw him down to earth."
So all the animals, when they heard the king's words, did just that.
They grabbed the pig and threw him down to earth.
Poor pig! When he fell, he landed on his nose. And his nose was flattened into a snout.
Their job done, all the other animals returned to the party.
They ate and danced all night. | 200 | 22 | 14 | 0.427003 | 0.50541 | 96.09 | 2.12 | 1.67 | 6 | 4.96 | 0.02175 | 0.00921 | 28.68305 | 937 |
2,877 | simple wiki | Welding | null | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welding | 2,018 | Info | Technology | 900 | start | CC BY-SA 3.0 and GFDL | G | 1 | 1 | Welding is a way of heating pieces of metal using electricity or a flame so that they melt and stick together. There are many kinds of welding, including arc welding, resistance welding, and gas welding. The most common type is arc welding. Anyone who is near arc welding needs to wear a special helmet or goggles because the arc is so bright. Looking at the arc without visual protection may cause permanent eye damage. It is also important to cover all your skin because it can give you something like a sunburn. Hot sparks from the weld can burn any skin that is showing. One kind of welding that does not use an arc is Oxy-fuel welding (OFW), sometimes called gas welding. OFW uses a flame to heat up the metal. There are other kinds of welding that do not use an arc. | 143 | 10 | 1 | -0.651454 | 0.487776 | 77.66 | 6.01 | 5.91 | 8 | 8.19 | 0.19091 | 0.19702 | 15.61672 | 1,275 |
3,680 | Daniel Carter Beard | Shelters, Shacks and Shanties | null | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/28255/28255-h/28255-h.htm | 1,920 | Info | Lit | 1,100 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | The balsam bed is made of the small twigs of balsam-trees. In gathering these, collect twigs of different lengths, from eighteen inches long (to be used as the foundation of the bed) to ten or twelve inches long (for the top layer). If you want to rest well, do not economize on the amount you gather; many a time I have had my bones ache as a result of being too tired to make my bed properly and attempting to sleep on a thin layer of boughs.
If you attempt to chop off the boughs of balsam they will resent your effort by springing back and slapping you in the face. You can cut them with your knife, but it is slow work and will blister your hands. Take twig by twig with the thumb and fingers (the thumb on top, pointing toward the tip of the bough, and the two forefingers underneath); press down with the thumb, and with a twist of the wrist you can snap the twigs like pipe-stems. | 172 | 6 | 2 | -0.989922 | 0.441039 | 72.87 | 10.3 | 11.95 | 9 | 7.25 | 0.22002 | 0.23884 | 14.486205 | 1,931 |
5,428 | Daisy's Mamma | ROMEO THE SHIRK | The Nursery, February 1878, Vol. XXIII, No. 2
A Monthly Magazine for Youngest Readers | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/28141/28141-h/28141-h.htm#Page_51 | 1,878 | Lit | Lit | 900 | start | null | G | 1 | 1 | Sixty years ago, when grandpa was a boy, he had a dog called Romeo, who was made to do the work of churning butter. I never saw a churn that went by dog-power; but it must have been a clumsy affair.
The task could not have been an agreeable one, and I do not wonder that Romeo did not like it. One morning, when the churn was taken out, and the cream was all ready to be made into butter, there was no Romeo to be found. Long and loud were the calls made for him; but he did not answer to his name.
The churning was done that day without his help. Nothing was seen of him until just before dark, when he came into the house with the air of a prodigal son. He did not walk up like an honest dog to get his supper, but slunk under a table. | 151 | 8 | 3 | 0.066654 | 0.485587 | 85.12 | 6.17 | 5.57 | 6 | 5.41 | -0.05149 | -0.03206 | 21.932143 | 3,108 |
2,381 | simple wiki | Smelting | null | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smelting | 2,020 | Info | Science | 1,100 | mid | CC BY-SA 3.0 and GFDL | G | 1 | 1 | Iron is smelted from iron ore in large reactors called blast furnaces. A blast furnace is a tall vertical structure which is fed with coke, iron ore and limestone. When hot air is blown in the blast furnace, the coke will burn and reduce the oxygen off the ore, producing bare iron and carbon dioxide. The limestone will bind off any remaining bedrock. The iron melts in the hot temperature and is tapped off in liquid phase at the bottom. It is then worked into steel. The limestone and bedrock form a compound called slag. It can be used for making bricks, concrete or road topping. Earlier methods include Bloomery.
Aluminum is smelted in electric ovens called electric arc furnaces. The aluminum ore is poured on the bottom of the furnace and electric current is led through the ore. The temperature rises so high that the oxygen separates, leaving metallic aluminum.
Copper is poured on naked flame which burns off sulfur and other impurities, leaving raw copper. Electrolysis uses electric current to separate the copper in big pools, which contain water solution called electrolyte | 182 | 14 | 3 | -1.457474 | 0.482924 | 61.08 | 8.01 | 7.89 | 10 | 8.49 | 0.30074 | 0.26522 | 13.123729 | 819 |
4,426 | Report of Baron Greindl, Belgian Minister in Berlin, to the Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs | DOCUMENT NO. 3 | The European War, Vol. 1 - No. 6 | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/20521/20521-h/20521-h.htm#THE_CASE_OF_BELGIUM | 1,911 | Info | Lit | 1,500 | mid | null | PG | 2 | 2 | "From the French side danger threatens not only in the south of Luxemburg, it threatens us on our entire joint frontier. We are not reduced to conjectures for this assertion. We have positive evidence of it.
"Evidently the project of an outflanking movement from the north forms part of the scheme of the entente cordiale. If that were not the case, then the plan of fortifying Flushing would not have called forth such an outburst in Paris and London. The reason why they wished that the Scheldt should remain unfortified was hardly concealed by them. Their aim was to be able to transport an English garrison, unhindered, to Antwerp, which means to establish in our country a basis of operation for an offensive in the direction of the Lower Rhine and Westphalia, and then to make us throw our lot in with them, which would not be difficult, for, after the surrender of our national centre of refuge, we would, through our own fault, renounce every possibility of opposing the demands of our doubtful protectors after having been so unwise as to permit their entrance into our country. | 187 | 7 | 2 | -2.980801 | 0.524415 | 54.48 | 12.33 | 14.11 | 13 | 9.34 | 0.25563 | 0.2523 | 7.678229 | 2,320 |
6,393 | R.M. Ballantyne | "The Middy and the Moors" | null | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/21751/21751-h/21751-h.htm | 1,888 | Lit | Lit | 1,100 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | Much to his surprise, the youth found that he was not called on to join his comrades in misfortune, but was left behind in solitude. While casting about in his mind as to what this could mean, he observed in a corner the two rolls of black bread which he had received the previous night, and which, not being hungry at the time, he had neglected. As a healthy appetite was by that time obtruding itself on his attention, he took hold of one and began to eat. It was not attractive, but, not being particular, he consumed it. He even took up the other and ate that also, after which he sighed and wished for more! As there was no more to be had, he went to the fountain in the court and washed his breakfast down with water. | 140 | 6 | 1 | -0.817393 | 0.446584 | 74.38 | 8.68 | 9.37 | 9 | 6.26 | 0.0696 | 0.11854 | 17.918204 | 3,843 |
7,155 | Joseph Jacob | Why the Fish Laughed | Junior Classics Vol. 1 | http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/3152/pg3152.html | 1,892 | Lit | Lit | 700 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | "A fish laugh! Impossible! You must be dreaming."
"I am not a fool. I speak of what I have seen with my own eyes and heard with my own ears."
"Passing strange! Be it so. I will inquire concerning it."
On the morrow the king repeated to his vizier what his wife had told him, and bade him investigate the matter, and be ready with a satisfactory answer within six mouths, on pain of death. The vizier promised to do his best, though he felt almost certain of failure. For live months he labored indefatigably to find a reason for the laughter of the fish. He sought everywhere and from everyone. The wise and learned, and they who were skilled in magic and in all manner of trickery, were consulted. Nobody, however, could explain the matter; and so he returned broken-hearted to his house, and began to arrange his affairs in prospect of certain death, for he had had sufficient experience of the king to know that His Majesty would not go back from his threat. | 173 | 14 | 4 | -1.598382 | 0.445608 | 76.9 | 5.67 | 5.05 | 9 | 6.32 | 0.11414 | 0.12072 | 19.405717 | 4,411 |
3,435 | Ursula Nafula | Akai's Special Mat | null | https://www.digitallibrary.io/en/books/details/90 | 2,014 | Lit | Lit | 500 | mid | CC BY 4.0 | G | 1 | 1 | Akai was a clever child. She discovered where the nearest shallow well was. Akai also knew where her grandmother's manyatta was located. She often went to drink camel milk with her grandmother. One day, Akai was not so lucky. She left to go to her grandmother's manyatta, but she got lost in the hills. Akai was afraid. She sat under an edome tree and waited for help. Soon she fell asleep and had a dream.This is what Akai dreamed. She was lying on her special mat. A woman who looked like her grandmother was watching over her. The old woman smiled and gave her a bowl of camel milk. Just when Akai stretched out her hand to take the milk, she woke up. Akai opened her eyes slowly. When she looked up, she saw a small blue bird on a branch above her. | 143 | 15 | 1 | -0.175751 | 0.480143 | 87.25 | 3.33 | 2.39 | 7 | 5.62 | -0.03427 | -0.01103 | 31.092222 | 1,736 |
7,065 | Josephine Preston Peabody | Icarus and Dædalus | The Children's Hour, Volume 3 | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/14752/14752-h/14752-h.htm#Icarus | 1,907 | Lit | Lit | 700 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | At first there was a terror in the joy. The wide vacancy of the air dazed them,—a glance downward made their brains reel. But when a great wind filled their wings, and Icarus felt himself sustained, like a halcyon-bird in the hollow of a wave, like a child uplifted by his mother, he forgot everything in the world but joy. He forgot Crete and the other islands that he had passed over: he saw but vaguely that winged thing in the distance before him that was his father Dædalus. He longed for one draught of flight to quench the thirst of his captivity: he stretched out his arms to the sky and made towards the highest heavens.
Alas for him! Warmer and warmer grew the air. Those arms, that had seemed to uphold him, relaxed. His wings wavered, drooped. He fluttered his young hands vainly,—he was falling,—and in that terror he remembered. The heat of the sun had melted the wax from his wings; the feathers were falling, one by one, like snowflakes; and there was none to help. | 178 | 11 | 2 | -0.903848 | 0.479942 | 81.66 | 5.94 | 7.02 | 8 | 7.26 | 0.12384 | 0.14029 | 11.039457 | 4,343 |
4,322 | M. Yves Guyot and Professor Bellet | The Reply from France | The New York Times Current History of the European War, Vol 1, Issue 1 | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/13635/13635-h/13635-h.htm | 1,914 | Info | Lit | 900 | mid | null | PG | 2 | 2 | But the solidarity which you establish between German militarism and German culture, of which you and your colleagues claim to be the representatives, is a proof of the confusion of German conceptions.
To present Goethe, Beethoven, and Kant to the world you surround them with bayonets. In the same manner every tradesman and every merchant throughout Germany has got into the habit of saying: "I have four million bayonets behind me!" Your Emperor said to some tradesmen who complained of bad business: "I must travel!" And he went to Constantinople; he went to Tangier, after the speech at Bremen. In every one of his words, in each of his gestures, he affirmed the subordination of economic civilization to military civilization. He considered that it was his duty to open up markets and assert the value of German products with cannon and sword. Hence his formidable armaments, his perpetual threats which held all nations in a constant state of anxiety.
There is the deep and true cause of the war. And it is due entirely to your Emperor and his environment. | 178 | 10 | 3 | -2.624734 | 0.54935 | 51.8 | 10.51 | 10.14 | 12 | 9.18 | 0.29604 | 0.31949 | 8.56878 | 2,237 |
2,715 | Theophile Godfraind and Regine Vercauteren Drubbel | A Brief Account of Human Evolution for Young Minds | Frontiers for Young Minds | https://kids.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/frym.2019.00022 | 2,019 | Info | Lit | 1,100 | mid | CC BY 4.0 | G | 1 | 1 | Primates, like humans, are mammals. Around ten to twelve million years ago, the ancestral primate lineage split through speciation from one common ancestor into two major groups. These two lineages evolved separately to become the variety of species we see today. Members of one group were the early version of what we know today as the great apes (gorillas, chimpanzees, and bonobos in Africa, orangutans in Asia); that is, the modern great apes evolved from this ancestral group. They mostly remained in forest with an arboreal lifestyle, meaning they live in trees. Great apes are also quadrupeds which means they move around with four legs on the ground. The other group evolved in a different way. They became terrestrial, meaning they live on land and not in trees. From being quadrupeds, they evolved to bipeds, meaning they move around on their two back legs. In addition, the size of their brain increased. This is the group that, through evolution, gave rise to the modern current humans. Many fossils found in Africa are from the genus named Australopithecus (which means southern ape). | 181 | 12 | 1 | -1.139722 | 0.465884 | 62.05 | 8.35 | 9.26 | 10 | 8.4 | 0.21606 | 0.20677 | 12.242528 | 1,130 |
6,295 | Albert E. McKinley, Charles A. Coulomb, and Armand J. Gerson | A School History of the Great War | null | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/17211/17211-h/17211-h.htm#CHAPTER_IV | 1,918 | Info | Lit | 1,300 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | The body of rules which nations recognize in their dealings with each other is usually spoken of as international law. As to certain rules of international conduct the civilized nations of the world have been in general agreement for many centuries. Among such rules are those for the carrying out of treaty obligations, the punishment of piracy, the protection of each other's ambassadors, the rights of citizens of one country to the protection of the laws of the country they are visiting, the protection of women and children in time of war.
As in community law so also in international law rules have frequently grown up as matters of custom. In the second place agreements have sometimes been reached through negotiation and written out in the form of treaties between the two nations concerned. In the latter half of the nineteenth century several attempts were made to strengthen international law by means of general conferences of the nations. One of the most famous of these was the Conference of Geneva in 1864, which reached a number of valuable agreements on the care of wounded soldiers and gave official international recognition to the Red Cross. | 193 | 7 | 2 | -1.768398 | 0.461688 | 42.21 | 14.26 | 15.75 | 15 | 9.16 | 0.25701 | 0.24732 | 13.573748 | 3,771 |
2,415 | simple wiki | Technological_singularity | null | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technological_singularity | 2,020 | Info | Technology | 1,300 | start | CC BY-SA 3.0 and GFDL | G | 1 | 1 | The technological singularity is the idea that a machine or computer, or a group of machines and computers, will one day be smarter than humans.
Because it has not happened yet, nobody really knows what the technological singularity will do, or if it will even happen. Nonetheless, the technological singularity has been a subject in many science fiction works, such as The Terminator, The Matrix, and the Borg in Star Trek. In most depictions of the singularity, machines have consciousness and humans are considered to be useless. The futurist and inventor Ray Kurzweil believes the Singularity will happen about the year 2045. The major impetus driving toward the singularity, according to Kurzweil, is that according to Moore's Law, computers are doubling in memory capacity every 18 months. According to Kurzweil, by 2025, computers will be as intelligent as human beings. | 139 | 7 | 2 | -1.417433 | 0.47508 | 37.28 | 13.03 | 12.75 | 14 | 9.59 | 0.31441 | 0.32941 | 11.161981 | 850 |
5,455 | Jane Oliver | HELEN'S BIRD | The Nursery, March 1878, Vol. XXIII. No. 3
A Monthly Magazine for Youngest Readers | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/28142/28142-h/28142-h.htm#Page_87 | 1,878 | Lit | Lit | 900 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | His cage was placed on her table near her bed, and she always began the day by having a little talk with Chirp. There was not the least risk in opening the cage, and letting him out into the room; for he would fly to Helen as soon as she called him.
So for years the little bird and the little girl lived happily together. One November day, when Helen was almost eleven years old, she had been out making a call, and, on her return, Chirp was missing. Helen saw that a window had been left open, and knew that he must have flown out.
"Oh, dear!" said she, in great distress, "my poor little Chirp is gone, and I shall never see him again."
Her mother tried to comfort her by saying that he had not been gone long, and could not be far away. "But," said Helen, "it is cold weather, and is snowing too, and he must be chilled to death." | 162 | 9 | 4 | 0.887251 | 0.513438 | 83.12 | 6.22 | 5.95 | 7 | 5.98 | -0.00835 | -0.00964 | 24.482098 | 3,133 |
5,177 | S.S. BRADFORD | Cotton Seed Oil | Scientific American Supplement, Nos. 360 | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/8559/8559-h/8559-h.htm#18 | 1,882 | Info | Lit | 1,500 | start | null | G | 1 | 1 | Having had occasion during the last six years to manufacture lead plaster in considerable quantities, it occurred to me that cotton seed oil might be used instead of olive oil, at less expense, and with as good results. The making of this plaster with cotton seed oil has been questioned, as, according to some authorities, the product is not of good consistence, and is apt to be soft, sticky, and dark colored; but in my experience such is not the case. If the U. S. P. process is followed in making this plaster, substituting for the olive oil cotton seed oil, and instead of one half-pint of boiling water one and one-half pint are added, the product obtained will be equally as good as that from olive oil. My results with this oil in making lead plaster led me to try it in making the different liniments of the Pharmacopoeia, with the following results:
Linimentum Ammonia--This liniment, made with cotton seed oil, is of much better consistency than when made with olive oil. It is not so thick, will pour easily out of the bottle, and if the ammonia used is of proper strength, will make a perfect liniment. | 198 | 5 | 2 | -1.852586 | 0.507014 | 43.54 | 17.22 | 19.52 | 14 | 8.92 | 0.25477 | 0.22458 | 17.822038 | 2,898 |
2,708 | Stephanie R. Partridge, Rebecca Raeside, Stella Ruan, and Anna Singleton | Food for Thought: The Science Behind Dietary Guidelines | Frontiers for Young Minds | https://kids.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/frym.2019.00057 | 2,019 | Info | Lit | 1,100 | mid | CC BY 4.0 | G | 1 | 1 | Eating healthy foods throughout our lives helps us to keep our bodies and minds strong, to live long healthy lives, and to prevent diseases. But how and why do we know what foods to eat most? To guide us, scientists, governments, and other experts do a step-by-step review of the scientific evidence about food and health to develop dietary guidelines. Dietary guidelines provide us with advice on healthy eating. We can think of foods as delivery trucks that are filled with nutrients to deliver to our bodies. Nutrients are elements in foods that our bodies use to function. There are two groups of nutrients in foods, macronutrients, and micronutrients. Macronutrients, including carbohydrates, protein, and fats, are the main components of foods and provide energy for us to move and function. Micronutrients, like vitamins and minerals, such as vitamin C, calcium and iron, are elements that our bodies need in small amounts for healthy growth and development. If our bodies do not get enough nutrients, we could get sick and develop diseases. The amounts of nutrients that our bodies need can be different depending on our activity level and age. | 189 | 11 | 1 | -0.215849 | 0.517457 | 58.1 | 9.47 | 10.4 | 12 | 8.96 | 0.25736 | 0.23667 | 17.418537 | 1,123 |
1,528 | Charles H. Sylvester? | The Battle of Thermopylae | Journeys Through Bookland Vol. 8 | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/24532/24532-h/24532-h.htm#THE_BATTLE_OF_THERMOPYLAE | 1,909 | Info | Lit | 1,300 | mid | null | PG-13 | 3 | 2.5 | All of the Greeks knew that they were setting out on a dangerous enterprise, but to the Spartans it meant more than that. Leonidas himself felt that he was going to his death, for the oracle at Delphi had foretold that Sparta should be saved if one of her kings should perish, and Leonidas was more than willing to make this sacrifice for his state. His three hundred followers, trained from childhood to look upon death as infinitely preferable to defeat, had, with that courage which has made their name an epithet indicating the highest sort of bravery, celebrated their funeral games before setting out. When they came to the pass of Thermopylae, they found a new cause for fear. This was the path which led over the mountains, and which made possible a descent of the enemy to the rear of those stationed in the pass. However, Leonidas was assured that this mountain track was practically unknown, and that the entrance to it was very difficult to find; so when he had sent a band of Phocians to guard it, he thought little more about it. | 187 | 6 | 1 | -0.795231 | 0.471817 | 54.86 | 13.35 | 15.35 | 14 | 7.72 | 0.24805 | 0.25574 | 11.970655 | 319 |
7,039 | EVERETT WILSON | GORDON’S TOY CASTLE ON THE HILL | Boys and Girls Bookshelf; a Practical Plan of Character Building, Volume I | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/25359/25359-h/25359-h.htm#Page_300 | 1,920 | Lit | Lit | 1,100 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | Gordon's father came from Scotland, and he had read to Gordon many stories of the old days in Scotland, when the great generals and the noble lords lived in strong castles set high up on the mountains, so that the soldiers could not get near them. Now among Gordon's Christmas presents was a tiny castle just like the ones he had seen in the books his father read the stories from; and with this castle came a lot of soldiers.
So this day Gordon got out his castle and soldiers and began to play with them. First he got a chair and put a big, thick rug over it to make it look like a steep hill; then he set the castle on top of the hill and stood the soldiers on the ground at the bottom of the hill—all in a row. He was making believe that the soldiers were trying to get up to the castle. Then he dropped some beautiful colored glass marbles, that his Uncle George had given him, down on the floor of the castle. | 179 | 6 | 2 | -0.309774 | 0.495332 | 72.52 | 10.6 | 12.47 | 6 | 6.18 | 0.08669 | 0.09071 | 23.080303 | 4,319 |
6,996 | Mrs. Alfred Gatty | DARKNESS AND LIGHT | The Fairy Godmothers and Other Tales | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/11319/11319-h/11319-h.htm#Darkness | 1,851 | Lit | Lit | 1,300 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | Lady Madeline's eldest son, Roderick, always seemed most favoured by the Fairy in the pretty things she sent ashore, and certainly he was a very nice boy, and a very good one on the whole—cheerful and honest as the daylight, and very intelligent; but I cannot tell you, dear readers, that he had no faults, for that was not at all likely, and you would not believe it if I said so, even although he is to be the Hero of my tale.
Now I do not want to make you laugh at him, but the story requires that I should reveal to you one of his weak points. Well then, although he was six years old, he was afraid of being alone in the dark! Sometimes when he was in the large dining room with his Father and Mother at dinner time, she would perhaps ask him to fetch something for her from the drawing room which was close by; but, do you know, if there were no candles in the room, he would look very silly and refuse to go, even though there were a fire sufficient to see by. | 191 | 4 | 2 | -1.08353 | 0.49186 | 49.72 | 18.25 | 21.06 | 11 | 7.17 | 0.00465 | -0.00007 | 19.352611 | 4,277 |
8,008 | original text by Steve Whitt
adapted by Jessica Fries-Gaither | Antarctica: King of Cold | Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears
| http://static.ehe.osu.edu/sites/beyond/penguins/downloads/feature-stories/king-of-cold-23-text.pdf | 2,008 | Info | Science | 500 | mid | CC BY-SA 3.0 | G | 1 | 1 | The South Pole is much colder than the North Pole. Summer at the South Pole is actually colder than winter at the North Pole! Brr!
Do you know why it is so much colder at the South Pole?
The first reason has to with what is around the poles. The North Pole is over an ice-covered ocean. While that sounds chilly, the water and ice actually keep the temperature from dropping too low.
The South Pole is over land – the continent of Antarctica. Land does not stay as warm as water does. The land is also very high, which means that the air is very cold. Think of very tall mountains. They are always covered in snow, because the air around their peaks is cold. It’s the same thing in Antarctica.
The weather also makes Antarctica colder. Antarctica is far away from other continents, so the cold ocean water and air currents circle the land, keeping the warm air out. The North Pole is much closer to land, so the warmer air can float over the North Pole and warm it up. | 179 | 16 | 5 | 0.730619 | 0.520085 | 82.89 | 4.54 | 3.97 | 7 | 5.24 | 0.15821 | 0.14021 | 25.362332 | 4,700 |
4,782 | Arthur Schopenhauer | On Writing | Essays of Schopenhauer | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/11945/11945-h/11945-h.htm | 1,890 | Lit | Lit | 1,100 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | It is only the writer who takes the material on which he writes direct out of his own head that is worth reading. Book manufacturers, compilers, and the ordinary history writers, and others like them, take their material straight out of books; it passes into their fingers without its having paid transit duty or undergone inspection when it was in their heads, to say nothing of elaboration. (How learned many a man would be if he knew everything that was in his own books!) Hence their talk is often of such a vague nature that one racks one's brains in vain to understand of what they are really thinking. They are not thinking at all. The book from which they copy is sometimes composed in the same way: so that writing of this kind is like a plaster cast of a cast of a cast, and so on, until finally all that is left is a scarcely recognisable outline of the face of Antinous. | 164 | 6 | 1 | -1.858832 | 0.473238 | 59.41 | 11.76 | 12.46 | 12 | 7.4 | 0.22466 | 0.2455 | 16.922772 | 2,582 |
6,991 | E. Louise Smythe | JASON AND THE HARPIES | A Primary Reader
Old-time Stories, Fairy Tales and Myths Retold by Children | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/7841/7841-h/7841-h.htm#x | 1,896 | Lit | Lit | 500 | start | null | PG | 2 | 1.5 | The ship Argo sailed a long way. There were two strong men on the ship. They had wings and could fly.
One day the Argo came to a land where the blind king lived.
This poor king had a hard time. When he sat down to the table to eat, some ugly birds called Harpies, came too. The Harpies had skin like brass and nobody could hurt them. They had claws of iron, and scratched people when they tried to drive them away.
When the king's dinner was ready, the Harpies came and took it away. When Jason and his men came, the king told them all about it. Jason said they would help him.
They all sat down to the table. When the food was put on the table, the Harpies came flying in. Jason and his men took their swords. | 138 | 14 | 5 | -0.377371 | 0.466478 | 98.24 | 2.08 | 1.91 | 5 | 5.36 | -0.04932 | -0.02221 | 24.896814 | 4,272 |
2,854 | Sandra Baez
Adolfo M. García
Agustín Ibáñez | How Does Social Context Influence Our Brain and Behavior? | null | https://kids.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/frym.2018.00003 | 2,018 | Info | Lit | 1,300 | mid | CC BY 4.0 | G | 1 | 1 | To interpret context in social settings, your brain relies on a network of brain regions, including the frontal, temporal, and insular regions. These regions help you update contextual information when you focus on something (say, the traffic light as you are walking down the street). That information helps you anticipate what might happen next, based on your previous experiences. If there is a change in what you are seeing (as you keep walking down the street, a mean-looking Doberman appears), the frontal regions will activate and update predictions ("this may be dangerous!"). These predictions will be influenced by the context ("oh, the dog is on a leash") and your previous experience ("yeah, but once I was attacked by a dog and it was very bad!"). If a person's frontal regions are damaged, he or she will find it difficult to recognize the influence of context. Thus, the Doberman may not be perceived as a threat, even if this person has been attacked by other dogs before! The main role of the frontal regions is to predict the meaning of actions by analyzing the contextual events that surround the actions. | 189 | 8 | 1 | -0.786119 | 0.476349 | 59.4 | 10.22 | 11.4 | 11 | 9.59 | 0.24834 | 0.23446 | 16.374024 | 1,255 |
5,702 | Dora Burnside | HOW THE WIND FILLS THE SAILS | The Nursery, March 1873, Vol. XIII.
A Monthly Magazine for Youngest People | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/24476/24476-h/24476-h.htm#Page_85 | 1,873 | Lit | Lit | 700 | start | null | G | 1 | 1 | "What makes the vessel move on the river?" asked little Anna one day of her brother Harry.
"Why," said Harry, "it's the wind, of course, that fills the sails, and that pushes the vessel on. Come out on the bank, and I will show you how it is done."
So Anna, Harry, and Bravo, all ran out on the lawn. Bravo was a dog; but he was always curious to see what was going on. When they were on the lawn, Harry took out his handkerchief, and told Anna to hold it by two of the corners while he held the other two. As soon as they had done this, the wind made it swell out, and look just like a sail.
"Now you see how the wind fills the sails," said Harry.
"Yes; but how does it make the ship go?" asked Anna.
"Well, now let go of the handkerchief, and see what becomes of it," said Harry.
So they both let go of it; and off the wind bore it up among the bushes by the side of the house. | 176 | 13 | 7 | 0.173195 | 0.484666 | 92.89 | 4.41 | 3.81 | 5 | 5.93 | 0.03078 | 0.04339 | 26.979457 | 3,353 |
5,042 | ? | IRON FRAME GANG MILLS. | Scientific American Supplement, No. 401 | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/8742/8742-h/8742-h.htm | 1,883 | Info | Lit | 1,100 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | The mill shown in the perspective view is one of twenty-six saws 4½ feet long, sash 38 inches wide in the clear, and stroke 20 inches, capable of making 230 strokes per minute. The crank shaft is nine inches in diameter, of the best forged iron. The main pillow block has a base 6½ feet long by 21 inches bearing, weighing 2,800 pounds. The cap is secured by two forged bolts 3½ inches in diameter, and by this arrangement no unequal strain upon the cap is possible. A disk crank is used with suitable counterbalance, expressly adapted to the weight and speed of sash; a hammered steel wrist pin five inches in diameter, and a forged pitman of the most approved pattern, with best composition boxes. The iron drive pulley is 4 to 4½ feet in diameter and 24 inches face; the fly-wheel six feet in diameter, and weighing 4,700 pounds, turned off at rim. When a wider and heavier sash is required, a proportionate increase is made in all these parts. | 172 | 7 | 1 | -3.000127 | 0.557908 | 67.35 | 10.04 | 11.31 | 11 | 9.41 | 0.24967 | 0.24967 | 8.759926 | 2,787 |
6,622 | Kate Douglas Wiggin | The Bird's Christmas Carol | null | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/24286/24286-h/24286-h.htm | 1,886 | Lit | Lit | 900 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | Donald had made a pretty, polished shelf, and screwed it on the outside of the foot-board, and the boys always kept this full of blooming plants, which they changed from time to time; the head-board, too, had a bracket on either side, where there were pots of maiden-hair ferns.
Love-birds and canaries hung in their golden houses in the windows, and they, poor caged things, could hop as far from their wooden perches as Carol could venture from her little white bed.
On one side of the room was a bookcase filled with hundreds—yes, I mean it—with hundreds and hundreds of books; books with gay-colored pictures, books without; books with black and white outline sketches, books with none at all; books with verses, books with stories; books that made children laugh, and some, only a few, that made them cry; books with words of one syllable for tiny boys and girls, and books with words of fearful length to puzzle wise ones. | 160 | 3 | 3 | -0.507022 | 0.460457 | 60.47 | 15.26 | 20.21 | 7 | 7.32 | 0.05838 | 0.0677 | 12.757398 | 4,034 |
5,210 | ? | On M. C. Faure's Secondary Battery | Scientific American Supplement, Nos. 286 | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/8297/8297-h/8297-h.htm#17 | 1,881 | Info | Lit | 1,100 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | The loss resulting from the charging and discharging of this battery is not great; for example, if a certain quantity of energy is expended in charging the cells, 80 per cent. of that energy can be reproduced by the electricity resulting from the discharge of the cells; moreover, the battery can be carried from one place to another without injury. A battery was lately charged in Paris, then taken to Brussels, where it was used the next day without recharging. The cost is also said to be very low. A quantity of electricity equal to one horse power during an hour can be produced, stored, and delivered at any distance within 3 miles of the works for 1½d. Therefore these batteries may become useful in producing the electric light in private houses. A 1,250 horsepower engine, working dynamo-machines giving a continuous current, will in one hour produce 1,000 horse-power of effective electricity, that is to say 80 per cent. of the initial force. The cost of the machines, establishment, and construction will not be more than £40,000, and the quantity of coal burnt will be 2 lb. per hour per effective horse-power, which will cost (say) ½d. | 197 | 10 | 1 | -2.908671 | 0.52388 | 56.67 | 10.32 | 10.23 | 13 | 9.13 | 0.20271 | 0.18257 | 13.799191 | 2,924 |
4,177 | Woodrow Wilson | The American Reply | The European War, Vol 2, No. 3 | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/15480/15480-h/15480-h.htm | 1,915 | Info | Lit | 1,300 | mid | null | PG | 2 | 1.5 | In the first place, this Government has at no time and in no manner yielded any one of its rights as a neutral to any one of the present belligerents.
It has acknowledged, as a matter of course, the right of visit and search and the right to apply the rules of contraband of war to articles of commerce. It has, indeed, insisted upon the use of visit and search as an absolutely necessary safeguard against mistaking neutral vessels for vessels owned by any enemy and against mistaking legal cargoes for illegal. It has admitted also the right of blockade if actually exercised and effectively maintained.
These are merely the well-known limitations which war places upon neutral commerce on the high seas. But nothing beyond these has it conceded.
I call your Excellency's attention to this, notwithstanding it is already known to all the world as a consequence of the publication of our correspondence in regard to these matters with several of the belligerent nations, because I cannot assume that you have official cognizance of it. | 173 | 7 | 4 | -3.265157 | 0.603982 | 47.34 | 12.94 | 13.79 | 14 | 8.82 | 0.27942 | 0.29974 | 9.749602 | 2,176 |
6,542 | Henry Beston | THE MASTER MARINER | The Firelight Fairy Book | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/19207/19207-h/19207-h.htm | 1,919 | Lit | Lit | 1,100 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | The fisherman thanked the King of the Caves, and took the silver fish. It was about the length of your little finger, and had pale moon-stones for eyes. The fisherman hung the talisman on a chain and wore it round his neck.
From that morning on, everything prospered with the youth. His boat never leaked, he was never caught in a storm, and the fish came to his lines and nets the instant he threw them overboard. Within a year or two he had grown so rich that he was able to buy the finest merchant ship in the world, and became a master mariner. Surely no more splendid fellow than this gallant, young captain was ever found on the Seven Seas. He sailed to cold and foggy Flannel Land, where the inhabitants all have incurable head colds, and have no other cloth but red flannel; he traded in the ports of gorgeous Velvet Land, whose inhabitants dress in velvet, and cover their walls with velvet hangings and their floors with velvet rugs. | 172 | 8 | 2 | -0.780168 | 0.454019 | 72.93 | 8.49 | 9.84 | 9 | 6.35 | 0.1309 | 0.13757 | 9.159652 | 3,959 |
2,202 | wikipedia | Magnetic_resonance_imaging | null | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_resonance_imaging | 2,020 | Info | Technology | 1,500 | start | CC BY-SA 3.0 | G | 1 | 1 | Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), nuclear magnetic resonance imaging (NMRI), or magnetic resonance tomography (MRT) is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to image the anatomy and the physiological processes of the body in both health and disease. MRI scanners use strong magnetic fields, radio waves, and field gradients to form images of the body.
MRI is based upon the science of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR). Certain atomic nuclei can absorb and emit radio frequency energy when placed in an external magnetic field. In clinical and research MRI, hydrogen atoms are most-often used to generate a detectable radio-frequency signal that is received by antennas in close proximity to the anatomy being examined. Hydrogen atoms exist naturally in people and other biological organisms in abundance, particularly in water and fat. For this reason, most MRI scans essentially map the location of water and fat in the body. Pulses of radio waves excite the nuclear spin energy transition, and magnetic field gradients localize the signal in space. | 164 | 8 | 2 | -2.451063 | 0.480328 | 29.11 | 14.38 | 13.58 | 16 | 11.95 | 0.2047 | 0.18374 | 6.369182 | 659 |
3,465 | simple wiki | Gene_knockout | null | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_knockout | 2,013 | Info | Technology | 1,100 | start | CC BY-SA 3.0 and GFDL | G | 1 | 1 | A gene knockout is a genetic technique in which one of an organism's genes is switched off or replaced by one which does not work.
The organisms, such as knockout mice, are used to learn about a gene that has been sequenced, but whose function is unknown or incompletely known. Researchers draw inferences from the difference between the knockout organism and normal individuals. Knockout is often abbreviated as KO.
Gene knock-in is the opposite term. There a gene is switched on, or a working gene inserted.
Knockout is accomplished through a combination of techniques. It starts in the test tube with a plasmid, or other DNA construct, and proceeding to cell culture.
Individual cells are genetically transformed with the DNA construct. Often the goal is to create an animal that has the altered gene.
If so, embryonic stem cells are genetically transformed and inserted into early embryos. Resulting animals with the genetic change in their germline cells can then often pass the gene knockout to future generations. | 162 | 12 | 6 | -1.040903 | 0.48658 | 59.68 | 8.41 | 9.01 | 11 | 9.69 | 0.38495 | 0.37632 | 12.860157 | 1,761 |
4,289 | From Russkia Vedomosti, No. 235, Oct. 12 (25), 1914; No. 273, Nov. 27 (Dec. 10), 1914 | Confiscation of German Patents | The European War, Vol. 1 - No. 5 | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/18880/18880-h/18880-h.htm#Confiscation_of_German_Patents | 1,914 | Info | Lit | 1,300 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | A delegation of the Moscow Merchants' Association, consisting of Messrs. N.N. Shustov, I.G. Volkov, and A.D. Liamin, will soon go to Petrograd to petition the Ministers of Finance, Commerce and Industry and of the Interior for measures against German "oppression." The delegation intends to ask for the revocation of all privileges (franchises) and patents granted to Austrian, German, and Turkish subjects and for the granting to the Moscow merchants of the right to admit foreigners to the Merchants' Association only at its own discretion.
Finally, the delegation intends to discuss with the Ministers the special fund created recently at the State Bank for the settlement of payments to foreign merchants belonging to the warring nations. With this fund Russian merchants are depositing money for their matured notes. Thus the payment for foreign goods is now better guaranteed than before. The German merchants are taking advantage of this arrangement, offering their goods to Russian consumers through their agents and branch houses and commercial agents located in neutral countries. Therefore the new arrangement helps rather than hurts the German trade in Russia. | 179 | 9 | 2 | -2.515962 | 0.509244 | 35.04 | 14.76 | 16.74 | 15 | 11.14 | 0.4903 | 0.47448 | 5.786549 | 2,214 |
4,948 | ? | MAY-FLIES | Scientific American Supplement, No. 385 | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/8950/8950-h/8950-h.htm | 1,883 | Info | Lit | 1,300 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | The short life of adult May-flies is, with most of them, passed in a continual state of agitation. They are seen rising vertically in a straight line, their long fore-legs stretched out like antennae, and serving to balance the posterior part of the body and the filaments of the abdomen during flight. On reaching a certain height they allow themselves to descend, stretching out while doing so their long wings and tail, which then serve as a parachute. Then a rapid working of these organs suddenly changes the direction of the motion, and they begin to ascend again. Coupling takes place during these aerial dances. Soon afterward the females approach the surface of the water and lay therein their eggs, spreading them out the while with the caudal filaments, or else depositing them all together in one mass that falls to the bottom.
These insects seek the light, and are attracted by an artificial one, describing concentric circles around it and finally falling into it and being burnt up. Their bodies on falling into the water constitute a food which is eagerly sought by fishes, and which is made use of by fishermen as a bait. | 195 | 8 | 2 | -1.508701 | 0.480559 | 59.51 | 11.11 | 12.94 | 12 | 7.89 | 0.20175 | 0.19491 | 8.808082 | 2,708 |
6,945 | Edric Vredenburg | BLUEBEARD | My Book of Favorite Fairy Tales | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/15145/15145-h/15145-h.htm#page103 | 1,920 | Lit | Lit | 1,300 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | "This small key," he added, pointing to quite a little one, "is the key of the door at the end of the lower landing, you will not need to use this at all. In fact, should you open that door, or even put this key into the lock, I should be dreadfully angry, indeed I should make you suffer for it in a terrible way."
Then Bluebeard bid his wife good-bye, and departed.
As soon as Mrs. Bluebeard's friends and relations knew that her husband was away, they came flocking to visit her, for they longed to see all her splendid possessions, but had feared to come before.
They could not enough admire the magnificent apartments, and ran from one to another praising everything they beheld.
But the young wife heeded nothing they said or did, all she thought of was that little key which she must not use, wondering more and more why she ought not to open that one particular door. | 159 | 6 | 5 | 0.635705 | 0.525397 | 72.66 | 8.94 | 10.05 | 10 | 6.24 | 0.07539 | 0.08791 | 19.433506 | 4,250 |
2,722 | simple wiki | Voice_over_Internet_Protocol | null | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voice_over_Internet_Protocol | 2,019 | Info | Technology | 1,100 | start | CC BY-SA 3.0 and GFDL | G | 1 | 1 | Voice over Internet protocol (or VoIP) is a term used for a number of protocols that are used to carry voice data over packet switched networks. Beforehand, telephony used a dedicated line, that was allocated to a call, during the time of that call. This was known as PSTN (or "public switched telephony network"). Using VOIP will reduce costs, as the "dedicated line" for telephony (and fax) is no longer needed.
There are a number of technical problems that must be solved first, though:
Carrying voice data needs a service guarantees (mostly in the form of "throughput", and "response time"). Not having this will result in a loss of signal (or in "hiccups")
Most telephony network provide the possibility to operate a phone, even when the power is lost in the area. This is done so that emergency calls can still be made. VOIP usually does not provide this possibility.
The LAN is now used both for voice and data and becomes a single point of failure. If there are problems with the LAN, this can also affect VOIP calls. | 176 | 10 | 5 | -2.599811 | 0.560738 | 66.59 | 7.7 | 7.28 | 10 | 8.68 | 0.21969 | 0.19935 | 16.146833 | 1,137 |
414 | Cyrus Townsend Brady | The Eagle of the Empire
A Story of Waterloo | null | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/20515/20515-h/20515-h.htm | 1,915 | Lit | Lit | 1,300 | mid | null | PG | 2 | 1.5 | The Emperor walked nervously up and down the long, low-ceiled apartment, the common room of the public inn at Nogent. Grouped around a long table in the center of the room several secretaries were busy with orders, reports and dispatches. At one end stood a group of officers of high rank in rich uniforms whose brilliance was shrouded by heavy cloaks falling from their shoulders and gathered about them, for the air was raw and chill, despite a great fire burning in a huge open fireplace. Their cloaks and hats were wet, their boots and trousers splashed with mud, and in general they were travel-stained and weary. They eyed the Emperor, passing and repassing, in gloomy silence mixed with awe. In their bearing no less than in their faces was expressed a certain unwonted fierce resentment, which flamed up and became more evident when the Emperor turned his back in his short, restless march to and fro, but which subsided as suddenly when he had them under observation. By the door was stationed a young officer in the uniform of the Fifth Regiment of the infantry of the line. | 189 | 7 | 1 | -1.400318 | 0.494799 | 59.99 | 11.67 | 13.88 | 13 | 8.13 | 0.24022 | 0.23156 | 7.342695 | 13 |
3,875 | Raymond S. Spears | THE STORY OF A FOREST FIRE | The Junior Classics, Volume 7 | http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/6302 | 1,917 | Info | Lit | 1,100 | start | null | G | 1 | 1 | For more than six weeks no rain had fallen along the southwest side of the Adirondacks. The ground was parched. In every direction from Seabury Settlement fires had been burning through the forest, but as yet the valley of the West Canada had escaped.
But one night a careless man threw a burning match into a brush-heap. When morning came the west wind, blowing up the valley, was ash-laden and warm with the fire that was coming eastward toward the settlement in a line a mile wide.
Soon after daybreak Lem Lawson met the fire on his way to Noblesborough, and warned the settlement of its danger. One man hastened to Noblesborough for the fire-warden, two went up the West Canada to the lumber-camps. The rest of the male population, including boys, hastened down the main road to an old log trail.
It was hoped the fire might be stopped at the open the road afforded. | 153 | 9 | 4 | 0.233766 | 0.53882 | 74.05 | 7.35 | 8.01 | 10 | 6.59 | 0.13025 | 0.14706 | 13.307189 | 2,070 |
5,833 | Lewis Carroll | Excerpt from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland: Chapter 12 | CLD | https://www.commonlit.org/texts/excerpt-from-alice-s-adventures-in-wonderland-chapter-12 | 1,865 | Lit | Lit | 900 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | Alice looked at the jury-box, and saw that, in her haste, she had put the Lizard in head downwards, and the poor little thing was waving its tail about in a melancholy way, being quite unable to move. She soon got it out again, and put it right; ‘not that it signifies much,' she said to herself; ‘I should think it would be quite as much use in the trial one way up as the other.'
As soon as the jury had a little recovered from the shock of being upset, and their slates and pencils had been found and handed back to them, they set to work very diligently to write out a history of the accident, all except the Lizard, who seemed too much overcome to do anything but sit with its mouth open, gazing up into the roof of the court.
‘What do you know about this business?' the King said to Alice.
‘Nothing,' said Alice.
‘Nothing whatever?' persisted the King.
‘Nothing whatever,' said Alice. | 163 | 9 | 6 | -0.432678 | 0.487498 | 71.26 | 8.57 | 8.31 | 10 | 6.65 | 0.07903 | 0.08927 | 17.542772 | 3,463 |
5,498 | Alfred Selwyn | THE BEAR THAT PUT ON AIRS | The Nursery, January 1877, Volume XXI, No. 1
A Monthly Magazine for Youngest Readers | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/28129/28129-h/28129-h.htm#Page_14 | 1,877 | Lit | Lit | 900 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | For a time the other bears were simple enough to take him at his word. They thought, because he said so, that he must be a very great bear indeed. He never was at a loss when they asked him a question, never would confess his ignorance, and so had to say much that was not true.
Dandy boasted so of the respect which men had paid him, that he made the other bears think he was doing them a great honor by living with them. He made them all wait on him. But at last a young bear, that had escaped from a trap which some men had set for him, said to Dandy, "Is that ring in your nose for ornament or for use?"
"For ornament, of course," said Dandy. "This ring was a gift from a man who was once my partner. He was so fond of me, and so pleased with my dancing, that he never tired of serving me. He brought me all my food. In fact I had him at my beck and call." | 178 | 11 | 3 | -0.018214 | 0.473773 | 91.53 | 4.56 | 3.9 | 6 | 1.51 | 0.00569 | 0.01458 | 30.823456 | 3,173 |
5,908 | William Makepeace Thackeray | The Reconciliation | The Ontario Readers: The High School Reader, 1886 | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/19923/19923-h/19923-h.htm#lxiii | 1,852 | Lit | Lit | 1,300 | end | null | G | 1 | 1 | As he had sometimes felt, gazing up from the deck at midnight into the boundless starlit depths overhead, in a rapture of devout wonder at that endless brightness and beauty—in some such a way now, the depth of this pure devotion quite smote upon him, and filled his heart with thanksgiving. Gracious God, who was he, weak and friendless creature, that such a love should be poured out upon him? Not in vain—not in vain has he lived—hard and thankless should he be to think so—that has such a treasure given him. What is ambition compared to that, but selfish vanity? To be rich, to be famous? What do these profit a year hence, when other names sound louder than yours, when you lie hidden away under the ground, along with idle titles engraven on your coffin? But only true love lives after you—follows your memory with secret blessing—or precedes you, and intercedes for you. Non omnis moriar—if dying, I yet live in a tender heart or two; nor am lost and hopeless living, if a sainted departed soul still loves and prays for me. | 185 | 8 | 1 | -1.898054 | 0.514868 | 73.23 | 7.25 | 7.8 | 9 | 7.7 | 0.26483 | 0.25625 | 10.805856 | 3,516 |
3,208 | Alice Nakasango | Goat, the false king | African Storybook Level 4 | https://www.africanstorybook.org/ | 2,015 | Lit | Lit | 500 | start | CC BY 4.0 | G | 1 | 1 | Once upon a time, there was a goat called Igodhoobe. Igodhoobe the goat was the king of farm animals and birds. He lived a good life. One day, Igodhoobe the goat called all the animals and birds to a meeting.
"My friends, I have called you because I had a dream," said the goat. All the animals and birds kept quiet. They listened to their king carefully.
"I dreamed that there was no food or water left in the land. Many of our relatives died!" said the king. When the animals and the birds heard the dream, they were worried. "What shall we do?" asked the cat.
The hen and the duck had an idea. They said, "Let each one of us bring food and put it in the king's store." All the animals agreed with this idea.
The king made a rule. He said, "Get ropes. Tie up anyone who does not
bring food to my store. Then carry him to me."
But, soon after this, it was time for a new king to rule over the farm. All the animals and birds met and elected the cat as their new king. | 193 | 22 | 7 | -0.531588 | 0.494599 | 96.25 | 2.12 | 1.17 | 7 | 1.11 | 0.08415 | 0.08302 | 26.650659 | 1,550 |
1,518 | Robert Louis Stevenson | The Recovery Of The Hispaniola | Journeys Through Bookland Vol. 7 | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/23405/23405-h/23405-h.htm#THE_RECOVERY_OF_THE_HISPANIOLA | 1,881 | Lit | Lit | 1,100 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | "Well, now," thought I to myself, "it is plain I must lie where I am, and not disturb the balance; but it is plain, also, that I can put the paddle over the side, and from time to time, in smooth places, give her a shove or two toward land." No sooner thought upon than done. There I lay on my elbows, in the most trying attitude, and every now and again gave a weak stroke or two to turn her head to shore. It was very tiring, and slow work, yet I did visibly gain ground; and, as we drew near the Cape of the Woods, though I saw I must infallibly miss that point, I had still made some hundred yards of easting. I was, indeed, close in. I could see the cool, green tree tops swaying together in the breeze, and I felt sure I should make the next promontory without fail. | 155 | 6 | 1 | -1.497583 | 0.460351 | 79.09 | 8.64 | 9.38 | 8 | 6.14 | 0.14902 | 0.17931 | 14.772542 | 309 |
7,318 | From Revue Industrielle | SEE'S GAS STOVE | Scientific American Supplement No. 415 | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/11344/11344-h/11344-h.htm#20 | 1,883 | Info | Lit | 1,300 | start | null | G | 1 | 1 | This stove consists of two or more superposed pipes provided with radiators. A gas burner is placed at the entrance of either the upper or lower pipe, according to circumstances. The products of combustion are discharged through a pipe of small diameter, which may be readily inserted into an already existing chimney or be hidden behind the wainscoting. The heat furnished by the gas flame is so well absorbed by radiation from the radiator rings that the gases, on making their exit, have no longer a temperature of more than from 35 to 40 degrees.
The apparatus, which is simple, compact, and cheap, is surrounded on all sides with an ornamented sheet iron casing. Being entirely of cast iron, it will last for a long time. The joints, being of asbestos, are absolutely tight, so as to prevent the escape of bad odors. The water due to the condensation of the gases is led through a small pipe out of doors or into a vessel from whence it may evaporate anew, so as not to change the hygrometric state of the air. | 181 | 8 | 2 | -1.697792 | 0.446516 | 60.34 | 9.87 | 9.81 | 12 | 8.28 | 0.226 | 0.21819 | 8.476477 | 4,543 |
7,087 | Adapted by Grace E. Sellon | THE STORY OF SIEGFRIED | Journeys Through Bookland V3. | http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/5902/pg5902-images.html | 1,922 | Lit | Lit | 1,500 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | From this same dwarf he wrested a magic cloak or tarnkappe, that gave its owner wonderful strength, made him proof against every blow dealt him, and enabled him to become invisible. At length, when the remaining nobles had sworn allegiance to him, Siegfried rode away, lord of the Nibelunger's land and treasure.
At this time there dwelt in Burgundy, on the Rhine, a young princess of such rare virtue and beauty that noble youths had come from every land to win her as a bride. As yet, however, she had bestowed her favor upon no one. What, then, were the surprise and foreboding felt by King Siegmund and his queen, Siegelind, the parents of Siegfried, when he made known to them that he was about to fare forth to Burgundy, to sue for the hand of the princess Kriemhild. For they knew that King Gunther, Kriemhild's brother, was a man of great might, and that he and his powerful nobles might look with displeasure upon Siegfried's proud bearing. | 167 | 6 | 2 | -2.440718 | 0.508607 | 64.1 | 11.27 | 13.8 | 11 | 7.94 | 0.08397 | 0.09719 | 8.649171 | 4,363 |
5,453 | Jamie's Mamm | JAMIE CANFIELD'S SAND-HEAP | The Nursery, February 1878, Vol. XXIII, No. 2
A Monthly Magazine for Youngest Readers | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/28141/28141-h/28141-h.htm#Page_45 | 1,878 | Lit | Lit | 700 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | They made pies; they dug holes, and filled them with water for wells; they made mountains with caves in their sides, and every thing else they could think of. When dinner-time came, Jamie had to be coaxed away from his sand-heap; and mamma said she believed he would sleep in it, if he were allowed to.
After dinner, as soon as he waked from his nap, he went straight to his sand again. Freddy was there before him; and soon Minnie Rich, a little girl eleven years old, came out, and played with them.
She knew how to work sand better than any of them. First she wet it. Then she made a house with holes in the sides for doors and windows, and a chip for a chimney. Then she made a smooth lawn in front of the house, and some hills and valleys in the rear, fenced in a yard, and set out some flowers. | 155 | 8 | 3 | 0.552231 | 0.579388 | 89.29 | 5.74 | 6.87 | 5 | 1.58 | 0.01788 | 0.0535 | 14.803556 | 3,131 |
418 | Dorothy Canfield | Understood Betsy | null | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/5347/5347-h/5347-h.htm | 1,916 | Lit | Lit | 900 | mid | null | PG | 2 | 1.5 | Aunt Abigail was gone, Eleanor was gone. The room was quite empty except for the bright sunshine pouring in through the small-paned windows. Elizabeth Ann stretched and yawned and looked about her. What funny wall-paper it was—so old-fashioned looking! The picture was of a blue river and a brown mill, with green willow-trees over it, and a man with sacks on his horse's back stood in front of the mill. This picture was repeated a great many times, all over the paper; and in the corner, where it hadn't come out even, they had had to cut it right down the middle of the horse. It was very curious-looking. She stared at it a long time, waiting for somebody to tell her when to get up. At home Aunt Frances always told her, and helped her get dressed. But here nobody came. She discovered that the heat came from a hole in the floor near the bed, which opened down into the room below. From it came a warm breath of baking bread and a muffled thump once in a while. | 181 | 12 | 1 | 0.245806 | 0.491793 | 84.67 | 5.3 | 5.58 | 7 | 5.59 | 0.05401 | 0.05716 | 19.218527 | 15 |
2,976 | Leigh Anne Swayne, Juan C. Sanchez-Arias, Andrew Agbay, and Stephanie Michelle Willerth | What Are Neural Stem Cells, and Why Are They Important? | Frontiers for Young Minds | https://kids.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/frym.2016.00020 | 2,017 | Info | Lit | 1,100 | mid | CC BY 4.0 | G | 1 | 1 | You have probably heard that humans are made up of mostly water. So, why don't we collapse into puddles on the ground? That is because the human body is made up of all different types of cells – skin cells (which are really flat), heart cells (which beat – for real!), and brain cells (which transmit information), to name a few. Cells have an important feature that prevents us from collapsing into puddles on the ground: they have an outer membrane, made up of special fat molecules, that keeps the water inside from leaking out! Inside the cells, there are more fatty membrane compartments called "organelles" that all have their own important jobs. One of the most important organelles is the nucleus. This is where the genetic information in the form of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is found. The nucleus controls which different proteins are expressed in each different type of cell. The proteins are the busy workers in the cell because they perform important jobs to allow the cell to do what it needs to do! | 176 | 10 | 1 | 0.672293 | 0.527337 | 66.82 | 8.8 | 10.28 | 10 | 7.66 | 0.22243 | 0.21759 | 14.381565 | 1,363 |
5,841 | Jean Ingelow | The Prince's Dream | Junior Classics, Vol 6 | http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/6577/pg6577-images.html | 1,863 | Lit | Lit | 1,300 | mid | null | PG | 2 | 1.5 | At length, one day, a venerable man of a noble presence was brought to the tower, with soldiers to guard him and assistants to attend him. The prince was glad of his presence, though at first he seldom opened his lips, and it was manifest that confinement made him miserable. With restless feet he would wander from window to window of the stone tower, and mount from story to story; but mount as high as he would there was still nothing to be seen but the vast, unvarying plain, clothed with scanty grass, and flooded with the glaring sunshine; flocks and herds and shepherds moved across it sometimes, but nothing else, not even a shadow, for there was no cloud in the sky to cast one. The old man, however, always treated the prince with respect, and answered his questions with a great deal of patience, till at length he found a pleasure in satisfying his curiosity. | 157 | 4 | 1 | -1.396126 | 0.486787 | 52.76 | 15.65 | 19.07 | 12 | 7.8 | 0.12682 | 0.14834 | 16.310074 | 3,470 |
5,222 | ALFRED STETSON | DOWN THE RIVER AFTER THE BOY | The Nursery, No. 169, January, 1881, Vol. XXIX
A Monthly Magazine for Youngest Readers | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/17536/17536-h/17536-h.htm#Page_14 | 1,881 | Lit | Lit | 500 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | So he got into the boat, and began to rock it. The boat got loose, and drifted down the river. Walter did not notice this until he was quite a distance from the shore; then, turning round, he saw what had happened. Every moment the current was carrying him further from home.
Walter was not a timid boy, and, instead of crying, he began to reason in this way: "The boat does not leak. It is safe and sound. There are no waves to make me afraid. The wind does not blow. Here on a seat is a thick blanket. In this box is a loaf of bread and a knife. The water of the river is good to drink, and here is a tin mug. I think I will not cry, but hope for the best."
So he sat down. He called to some people on the shore; but they did not hear him. He stood up, and waved his hat to a man in a passing boat, and cried, "Help, help!" But the man thought it was some little fellow making fun of him. | 184 | 16 | 3 | 0.603083 | 0.488983 | 97.25 | 2.58 | 1.41 | 0 | 1.17 | -0.01745 | -0.02016 | 24.064447 | 2,933 |
4,609 | ? | Arctic Exploration | The Great Round World and What Is Going On In It No. 11 | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/19081/19081-h/19081-h.htm | 1,898 | Info | Lit | 1,100 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | Among the English expeditions, those of most importance to us in America were Henry Hudson's. He made his first voyage in 1607, representing the Muscovy Company of England. He explored the coast of Greenland on this voyage, and again in 1608; while on his third voyage he explored the coasts of North America and discovered the Hudson River. At this time he was in the employ of the Dutch East India Company. Again, in 1610, his efforts were crowned with success, and he discovered what is known as Hudson Bay.
From that time voyage after voyage was made, largely by Englishmen, and the knowledge of geography grew every year, each captain bringing back some new items of information.
Meanwhile the Russians, who had acquired Siberia, sought a Northeast Passage and explored the northern coast of their vast new territory, which reaches into the Polar regions. Although many efforts were made to pass through to China in this way, it was not accomplished until 1879, when a Russian explorer reached Bering Strait and the Pacific from the West. | 175 | 8 | 3 | -0.641285 | 0.473165 | 56.28 | 10.91 | 12.15 | 12 | 9.64 | 0.12994 | 0.13433 | 9.909903 | 2,447 |
7,294 | El-Sayyed Ibraheem | Cave of the Glow Worms | null | https://www.digitallibrary.io/en/books/details/1359 | 2,018 | Lit | Lit | 700 | mid | CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 | G | 1 | 1 | The next morning Lizzy met her friend Spider and asked him, "Where have you been?" Spider replied, "I was looking for food to get through the winter."
Lizzy asked, "And did you find any?"
Spider replied, "Yes, I'll take you on an adventure…" We'll have to cross swamps and big trees to reach a cave full of glow worms. It's full of millions of them. We'll eat until we're full and we won't starve all winter long."
Lizzy loved the idea and said, "Millions of them, wow!!! This winter hunger will be over soon." When it was finally dark, Spider said, "The lizards just went to sleep. Let's get ready to cross the swamp. I don't want anyone to know my plan."
Lizzy seemed very worried. Lizzy couldn't see very well at night. When she looked up at the sky and found that it was a full moon, she was a little better and decided to be courageous and sneak out quietly with her friend. | 165 | 14 | 5 | 1.658698 | 0.6447 | 89.76 | 3.67 | 3.56 | 5 | 5.75 | -0.08279 | -0.09049 | 23.554703 | 4,529 |
3,123 | Mike Kubic | The Berlin Wall | CLD | https://www.commonlit.org/texts/the-berlin-wall | 2,016 | Info | Lit | 1,500 | mid | CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 | G | 1 | 1 | By 1961 – ten years after its foundation – GDR had lost to the West 3.5 million East Germans, or approximately 20% of its population, and its leaders acknowledged that the flight of its young, well-educated citizens was so serious it threatened the regime's existence.
In June of the year, GDR's top Communist, Walter Ulbricht, still denied that "anyone considered building a wall" to close the escape route to West Germany. But two months later, after he received an O.K. from Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev, Ulbricht ordered – typically, in a cabinet meeting disguised as a Saturday night garden party – the construction of the Berlin Wall.
At midnight on August 12, East German police and army closed the border and by Sunday morning, East German troops and workers had begun to tear up streets and install barbed-wire entanglements and fences. Brazen as it was, the subsequent construction of the parallel concrete walls was carefully located inside East Berlin to ensure that the complex did not encroach on the Allied sectors. | 170 | 6 | 3 | -1.887589 | 0.493371 | 39.87 | 16.09 | 18.78 | 14 | 10.64 | 0.20348 | 0.19847 | 6.449088 | 1,483 |
7,413 | Thomas Bailey Aldrich | Thomas Bailey Aldrich to E.S. Morse | Modern Prose and Poetry for Secondary Schools | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/17160/17160-h/17160-h.htm#Page_305 | 1,889 | Info | Lit | 700 | whole | null | G | 1 | 1 | Dear Mr. Morse:
It was very pleasant to me to get a letter from you the other day. Perhaps I should have found it pleasanter if I had been able to decipher it. I don't think that I mastered anything beyond the date (which I knew) and the signature (at which I guessed).
There's a singular and perpetual charm in a letter of yours—it never grows old; it never loses its novelty. One can say to one's self every morning: "There's that letter of Morse's. I haven't read it yet. I think I'll take another shy at it today, and maybe I shall be able in the course of a few days to make out what he means by those t's that look like w's, and those i's that haven't any eyebrows."
Other letters are read, and thrown away, and forgotten; but yours are kept forever—unread. One of them will last a reasonable man a lifetime.
Admiringly yours, T.B. Aldrich. | 156 | 11 | 5 | -0.531952 | 0.460174 | 76.47 | 6.59 | 5.61 | 9 | 7.08 | 0.16153 | 0.17834 | 18.622102 | 4,613 |
7,007 | Stella George Stern | The Kitten That Forgot How to Mew | Boys and Girls Bookshelf; a Practical Plan of Character Building, Volume I | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/25359/25359-h/25359-h.htm#Page_90 | 1,920 | Lit | Lit | 500 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | But one day the kitten wanted to mew, and—what do you suppose?—she had forgotten how to do it! She tried and tried, and all she could say was "M-m-m-bow!"—just as much like a dog as a kitten. She was so sad. She ran out into the yard and cried.
The Big White Hen passed by and asked what was the matter.
"Oh, Big White Hen," sobbed the kitten, "I have forgotten how to talk kitten-talk. I try and I try, and all I can say is, M-m-m-bow!"
"Never mind, Kitty Cat," said the Hen; "I will teach you to talk. Listen to this: M-m-m-cut, cut, cut, cut, cut-ca-da-cut!"
"No," said the kitten; "that's not the way to talk kitten-talk." And she cried again.
Then along came the Sheep and asked, "What is the matter?"
"Oh, Sheep," sobbed the kitten, "I have forgotten how to talk kitten-talk. I try and I try, and all I can say is, M-m-m-bow!" | 152 | 15 | 7 | 0.10821 | 0.460657 | 97.62 | 2.39 | 0 | 6 | 5.7 | 0.18314 | 0.19264 | 28.438881 | 4,287 |
7,291 | E.J. HALLOCK | A SIMPLE APPARATUS FOR DESCRIBING ELLIPSES | Scientific American Supplement No. 415 | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/11344/11344-h/11344-h.htm#5 | 1,883 | Info | Lit | 1,100 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | Procure a straight piece of wood about ¼ inch wide by 1/8 inch thick and 13 inches long. Beginning ½ inch from the end, bore a row of small holes only large enough for a darning needle to pass through and half an inch apart. Mark the first one (at A) 0, the third 1, the fifth 2, and so on to 12, so that the numbers represent the distance from O in inches. A small slit may be made in the end of the ruler or strip of wood near A, but a better plan is to attach a small clip on one side.
Next procure a strong piece of linen thread about four feet long; pass it through the eye of a coarse needle, wax and twist it until it forms a single cord. Pass the needle upward through the hole marked 0, and tie a knot in the end of the thread to prevent its slipping through. The apparatus is now ready for immediate use. It only remains to set it to the size of the oval desired. | 180 | 8 | 2 | -2.517745 | 0.504735 | 81.56 | 7.44 | 7.5 | 7 | 6.69 | 0.11543 | 0.12597 | 9.19971 | 4,528 |
4,570 | John Muir | A Fire among the Giants (From Our National Parks) | Modern Prose and Poetry for Secondary Schools | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/17160/17160-h/17160-h.htm#Page_212 | 1,901 | Info | Lit | 1,700 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | The immense bonfires where fifty or a hundred cords of peeled, split, smashed wood has been piled around some old giant by a single stroke of lightning is another grand sight in the night. The light is so great I found I could read common print three hundred yards from them, and the illumination of the circle of onlooking trees is indescribably impressive. Other big fires, roaring and booming like waterfalls, were blazing on the upper sides of trees on hillslopes, against which limbs broken off by heavy snow had rolled, while branches high overhead, tossed and shaken by the ascending air current, seemed to be writhing in pain. Perhaps the most startling phenomenon of all was the quick death of childlike Sequoias only a century or two of age. In the midst of the other comparatively slow and steady fire work one of these tall, beautiful saplings, leafy and branchy, would be seen blazing up suddenly, all in one heaving, booming, passionate flame reaching from the ground to the top of the tree, and fifty to a hundred feet or more above it, with a smoke column bending forward and streaming away on the upper, free-flowing wind. | 198 | 5 | 1 | -1.609205 | 0.465504 | 46.13 | 16.71 | 20.29 | 12 | 8.55 | 0.24212 | 0.2178 | 4.157272 | 2,420 |
5,855 | Wilkie Collins | Rambles Beyond Railways | null | http://www.online-literature.com/wilkie-collins/rambles-beyond-railways/0/ | 1,861 | Info | Lit | 1,100 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | Here, the idlers of the place assemble to lounge and gossip, to look out for any outward-bound ships that are to be seen in the Channel, and to criticise the appearance and glorify the capabilities of the little fleet of Looe fishing-boats, riding snugly at anchor before them at the entrance of the bay.
The inhabitants number some fourteen hundred; and are as good-humoured and unsophisticated a set of people as you will meet with anywhere. The Fisheries and the Coast Trade form their principal means of subsistence. The women take a very fair share of the hard work out of the men's hands. You constantly see them carrying coals from the vessels to the quay in curious hand-barrows: they laugh, scream, and run in each other's way incessantly: but these little irregularities seem to assist, rather than impede them, in the prosecution of their tasks. As to the men, one absorbing interest appears to govern them all. The whole day long they are mending boats, painting boats, cleaning boats, rowing boats, or, standing with their hands in their pockets, looking at boats. | 182 | 7 | 2 | -2.437428 | 0.538579 | 58.02 | 11.8 | 13.78 | 11 | 8.09 | 0.24608 | 0.25308 | 5.952748 | 3,479 |
7,167 | P. C. Asbjörnsen | Ashiepattle | Junior Classics Vol. 1 | http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/3152/pg3152.html | 1,897 | Lit | Lit | 900 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | Paul then began felling trees and working away as hard as he could, but no matter how he cut and how he worked he could only turn out pig troughs. He did not give in, however, but worked away till far into the afternoon before he thought of taking any food; then all at once he became hungry and opened his bag, but not a crumb could he find. Paul became so angry he turned the bag inside out and struck it against the stump of a tree; then lie took his ax, went out of the forest, and set off homeward.
As soon as Paul returned, Ashiepattle wanted to set out and asked his mother for a bag of food.
"Perhaps I can manage to build the ship and win the princess and half the kingdom," said he.
"Well, I never heard the like," said his mother. "Are you likely to win the princess, you, who never do anything but root and dig in the ashes? No, you shan't have any bag with food!" | 172 | 8 | 4 | -0.522769 | 0.493904 | 79.73 | 7.57 | 7.68 | 8 | 5.71 | -0.00438 | -0.00011 | 24.987081 | 4,423 |
7,101 | By Jared Sparks
| PERE MARQUETTE
| Title: Journeys Through Bookland, Vol. 8. | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/24532/24532-h/24532-h.htm#PERE_MARQUETTE | 1,922 | Lit | Lit | 1,100 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | The American Indians had given many accounts of a great river at the west, which flowed southwardly, and which they called Mississipy, as the word is written by Marquette. It became a matter of curious speculation, what course this river pursued, and at what place it disembogued itself into the sea. There were three opinions on this subject. First, that it ran towards the southwest, and entered the Gulf of California; secondly, that it flowed into the Gulf of Mexico; and thirdly, that it found its way in a more easterly direction, and discharged itself into the Atlantic Ocean somewhere on the coast of Virginia. The question was not less important in a commercial and political view, than interesting as a geographical problem.
To establish the point, and to make such other discoveries as opportunities would admit, M. de Frontenac, the governor of Canada, encouraged an expedition to be undertaken. The persons to whom it was entrusted, were M. Joliet, then residing at Quebec, and Father Marquette, who was at Michillimackinac, or in the vicinity of that place. | 177 | 7 | 2 | -1.463468 | 0.473102 | 42.24 | 13.68 | 14.21 | 14 | 8.8 | 0.24193 | 0.24893 | 7.286099 | 4,373 |
5,922 | Hans Christian Andersen | The Phoenix Bird | CLD | https://www.commonlit.org/texts/the-phoenix-bird | 1,850 | Lit | Lit | 1,100 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | The Phoenix bird, dost thou not know him? The Bird of Paradise, the holy swan of song! On the car of Thespis he sat in the guise of a chattering raven, and flapped his black wings, smeared with the lees of wine; over the sounding harp of Iceland swept the swan's red beak; on Shakespeare's shoulder he sat in the guise of Odin's raven, and whispered in the poet's ear "Immortality!" and at the minstrels' feast he fluttered through the halls of the Wartburg.
The Phoenix bird, dost thou not know him? He sang to thee the Marseillaise, and thou kissedst the pen that fell from his wing; he came in the radiance of Paradise, and perchance thou didst turn away from him towards the sparrow who sat with tinsel on his wings.
The Bird of Paradise — renewed each century — born in flame, ending in flame! Thy picture, in a golden frame, hangs in the halls of the rich, but thou thyself often fliest around, lonely and disregarded, a myth — "The Phoenix of Arabia." | 175 | 8 | 3 | -2.885385 | 0.553522 | 72.93 | 8.49 | 9.7 | 10 | 8.62 | 0.26536 | 0.28598 | 2.828434 | 3,527 |
2,229 | simple wiki | Middle_Ages | null | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_Ages | 2,020 | Info | History | 1,300 | start | CC BY-SA 3.0 and GFDL | PG | 2 | 2 | The Middle Ages are a time period in European history. They started around the year 476 CE when the Western Roman Empire ended, and continued until around the time Christopher Columbus discovered the New World in 1492. The 'Middle Ages' are called this because it is the time between the fall of Imperial Rome and the beginning of the Early modern Europe. This period of time is also known as the Medieval Age, the Dark Ages, or the Age of Faith (because of the rise of Christianity and Islam). When used narrowly, the term "Dark Ages" refer only to very early period, from 476 to 800 (when Charlemagne became king).
Across Europe, the fall of the Roman Empire, and the invasions of barbarian tribes, devastated towns and cities and their inhabitants. The Dark Ages are given this name because during this period of time Europe was in disarray, and it was not fun to live there and since few could write, little is known about it. Much of the knowledge that the Romans used (science, technology, medicine, and literature) was lost. The Dark Ages period was marked by mass migrations, wars and plagues. | 192 | 9 | 2 | -0.929455 | 0.464225 | 63.63 | 9.18 | 9.69 | 11 | 8.36 | 0.14796 | 0.13146 | 13.898241 | 685 |
6,332 | Alphonse Daudet | Salvette and Bernadou | In the Yule-Log Glow, Book 2: Christmas Tales from 'Round the World | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/19084/19084-h/19084-h.htm#Page_63 | 1,891 | Lit | Lit | 1,300 | start | null | G | 1 | 1 | It is the eve of Christmas in a large village of Bavaria. Along the snow-whitened streets, amid the confusion of the fog and noise of carriages and bells, the crowd presses joyously about cook-shops, wine-booths, and busy stores. Rustling with a light sweep of sound against the flower-twined and be-ribboned stalls, branches of green holly, or whole saplings, graced with pendants and shading the heads below like boughs of the Thuringian forest, go by in happy arms: a remembrance of nature in the torpid life of winter.
Day dies out. Far away, behind the gardens of the Résidence, lingers a glimmer of the departing sun, red in the fog; and in the town is such gaiety, such hurry of preparation for the holiday, that each jet of light which springs up in the many windows seems to hang from some vast Christmas-tree.
This is, in truth, no ordinary Christmas. It is the year of grace eighteen hundred and seventy, and the holy day is only a pretext the more to drink to the illustrious Von der Than and celebrate the triumph of the Bavarian troops. | 183 | 7 | 3 | -0.907527 | 0.473972 | 62.65 | 11.3 | 12.87 | 10 | 8.46 | 0.26175 | 0.26891 | 0.592452 | 3,803 |
457 | FLORENCE HOLBROOK | HOW THE BLOSSOMS CAME TO THE HEATHER. | THE BOOK OF NATURE MYTHS | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/22420/22420-h/22420-h.htm#Page_125 | 1,902 | Lit | Lit | 700 | start | null | PG | 2 | 1.5 | Only a little while after the earth was made, the trees and plants came to live on it. They were happy and contented. The lily was glad because her flowers were white. The rose was glad because her flowers were red. The violet was happy because, however shyly she might hide herself away, some one would come to look for her and praise her fragrance. The daisy was happiest of all because every child in the world loved her.
The trees and plants chose homes for themselves. The oak said, "I will live in the broad fields and by the roads, and travelers may sit in my shadow." "I shall be contented on the waters of the pond," said the water-lily. "And I am contented in the sunny fields," said the daisy. "My fragrance shall rise from beside some mossy stone," said the violet. Each plant chose its home where it would be most happy and contented. | 156 | 12 | 2 | -0.033183 | 0.471038 | 85.8 | 4.31 | 4.47 | 7 | 5.34 | 0.08526 | 0.10252 | 18.36301 | 49 |
2,094 | Hana Shiref & Michelle A. Sahai | Albert Szent-Györgyi—The Scientist Who Discovered Vitamin C | null | https://kids.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/frym.2020.00019 | 2,020 | Info | Lit | 1,100 | mid | CC BY 4.0 | G | 1 | 1 | Ascorbic acid (vitamin C) is an organic compound made of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. It is a white solid, made synthetically from sugar dextrose when it is in its purest form. It can also be used as a vitamin supplement or as a food preservative.
Have your parents told you to drink orange juice when you were sick? This is because orange juice has a high level of vitamin C and can keep us healthy or treat a cold. The human body is unable to produce vitamin C and we must therefore get it through our food or by taking a multivitamin.
Vitamin C allows the body to use carbohydrates, fats, and protein. It acts as an antioxidant, meaning it can chemically bind and neutralize the tissue damaging effects of substances called free radicals. It is important for the growth and health of bones, teeth, blood vessels, gums, and ligaments. It is also involved in the forming of collagen, the main structural protein within the body. Collagen is vital for the proper functioning of internal organs. | 174 | 11 | 3 | -0.237531 | 0.48459 | 57.33 | 9.28 | 8 | 12 | 8.87 | 0.17827 | 0.1607 | 12.556525 | 564 |
1,903 | Becca Peixotto
Marina C. Elliott | Meet Neo: Your Distant Cousin? | null | https://kids.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/frym.2019.00155 | 2,020 | Info | Lit | 1,300 | mid | null | PG | 2 | 1.5 | Many people like to learn about their family histories: what their parents, grandparents and even great-grandparents were like and where they came from, or if they are related to an important historical person. Or, they might like to know if a physical feature or behavior they share with an aunt or cousin was passed down from a common relative. Scientists called paleoanthropologists, are interested in the family history of Homo sapiens, the species to which all people living today belong. Unlike paleontologists who study the remains of dinosaurs, paleoanthropologists scientists who study ancient humans and their relatives, study the remains of hominins, a group of primates that includes humans and all of their extinct ancestors and relatives.. Hominins are a group of primates that includes humans and all our extinct ancestors and relatives, most of whom lived in the last 6–7 million years. Like someone trying to trace a family tree, paleoanthropologists try to figure out which of the extinct hominins might be our direct ancestors and which are just distant cousins. These scientists also try to understand what the hominins ate, where they lived, how they died, and other things about the lives of these ancient relatives. | 198 | 6 | 1 | -0.820523 | 0.475767 | 40.24 | 14.71 | 16.94 | 15 | 8.86 | 0.29461 | 0.28454 | 19.078088 | 384 |
2,821 | Mimi Werna | Magical rainbow river | African Storybook Level 4 | https://www.africanstorybook.org/ | 2,018 | Lit | Lit | 500 | mid | CC BY 4.0 | G | 1 | 1 | "The rainbow is a magical river with healing powers. But it is so high up in the sky that you can't reach it. If you catch a cold, the rainbow can't help you."
The children thought about this. "Mother, please tell us our rainbow story," said Erdoo. "Yes, please mother, I want to hear it too," Udoo chimed in. "Me three," Eryum begged, lifting up three little fingers.
"Well, let me see, mmmm," she said playfully. "Okay lovelies, gather round. Mother, the storyteller is here!"
Erdoo ran for the naha, the stirring stick they used as their totem. She handed it over to mother. Eryum got the headgear for mother to wear. It never failed to put her into character.
They all sat quietly to listen to the story they had heard many times. Udoo blew the whistle, telling mother to start. Then the story began.
"Once, the rainbow was a magical river. It was hidden inside the green woods of Mbadede. Because it had healing powers, it was guarded.
If you were sick, you drank the water. The rainbow was always happy to share. But it didn't like badly behaved people." | 192 | 23 | 7 | 0.108476 | 0.493385 | 83.8 | 3.64 | 2.73 | 6 | 6.19 | 0.13583 | 0.1099 | 25.355362 | 1,225 |
5,261 | Eli C. Ohmart. | THE BALLOON IN AERONAUTICS. | SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN SUPPLEMENT NO. 312 | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/17817/17817-h/17817-h.htm | 1,881 | Info | Lit | 1,100 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | From the fire balloon invented by the Montgolfier Brothers, in 1782, to the superior hydrogen balloon of M.M. Charles and Robert, no material advancement has been made, except the employment of coal gas, first suggested by Mr. Green. The vast surface presented to the wind makes the balloon unmanageable in every breeze, and the aeronaut can do nothing but allow it to float along with the current. This is a difficulty which has been partly overcome, as was seen at the recent Paris Electrical Exhibition; but no one will ever be able to guide it in a direction opposite to a current of air. The aeronaut must ever content himself in being able to float in the direction of the current or at certain angles to its course; but to do this even is a matter which has not been successfully accomplished. An inflated balloon would ascend too high unless several hundred pounds of ballast were used to weight it down. | 161 | 6 | 1 | -1.484356 | 0.544383 | 50.86 | 12.83 | 13.58 | 14 | 8.5 | 0.23449 | 0.24518 | 11.379679 | 2,967 |
2,009 | simple wiki | Earth | null | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth | 2,020 | Info | Science | 700 | start | CC BY-SA 3.0 and GFDL | G | 1 | 1 | Earth is the planet we live on. It is the third planet from the Sun. It is the only planet known to have life on it. The Earth formed around 4.5 billion years ago. It is one of four rocky planets on the inside of the Solar System. The other three are Mercury, Venus and Mars.
The large mass of the Sun makes the Earth move around it, just as the mass of the Earth makes the Moon move around it. The Earth also turns round in space, so different parts face the Sun at different times. The Earth goes around the Sun once (one "year") for every 365¼ times it turns all the way around (one "day").
The Moon goes around the Earth about every 27 days. As the Earth goes round the Sun at the same time, the changing light of the Moon takes about 29½ days to go from dark to bright to dark again. That is where the idea of "month" came from. However, now most months have 30 or 31 days so they fit into one year. | 180 | 13 | 3 | -0.451212 | 0.481155 | 91.76 | 3.94 | 3.57 | 6 | 6.07 | 0.07409 | 0.07988 | 28.741397 | 482 |
7,004 | EUDORA S. BUMSTEAD | THE WAKE-UP STORY | Boys and Girls Bookshelf; a Practical Plan of Character Building, Volume I | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/25359/25359-h/25359-h.htm#UPSTORY | 1,920 | Lit | Lit | 700 | start | null | G | 1 | 1 | The sun was up and the breeze was blowing, and the five chicks, and four geese, and three rabbits, and two kitties, and one little dog were just as noisy and lively as they knew how to be.
They were all watching for Baby Ray to appear at the window, but he was still fast asleep in his little white bed, while mamma was making ready the things he would need when he would wake up.
First, she went along the orchard path as far as the old wooden pump, and said: "Good pump, will you give me some nice, clear water for the baby's bath?"
And the pump was willing.
The good old pump by the orchard path
Gave nice, clear water for the baby's bath.
Then she went a little further on the path, and stopped at the woodpile, and said: "Good chips, the pump has given me nice, clear water for dear Baby Ray; will you come and warm the water and cook his food?" | 162 | 6 | 7 | -0.405086 | 0.460527 | 77.2 | 9.45 | 10.94 | 6 | 1.95 | -0.02876 | -0.02505 | 19.189482 | 4,284 |
1,933 | wikipedia | Carbon_monoxide | null | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_monoxide | 2,020 | Info | Science | 1,300 | mid | CC BY-SA 3.0 | PG | 2 | 1.5 | Carbon monoxide is produced from the partial oxidation of carbon-containing compounds; it forms when there is not enough oxygen to produce carbon dioxide (CO2), such as when operating a stove or an internal combustion engine in an enclosed space. In the presence of oxygen, including atmospheric concentrations, carbon monoxide burns with a blue flame, producing carbon dioxide. Coal gas, which was widely used before the 1960s for domestic lighting, cooking, and heating, had carbon monoxide as a significant fuel constituent. Some processes in modern technology, such as iron smelting, still produce carbon monoxide as a byproduct. A large quantity of CO byproduct is formed during the oxidative processes for the production of chemicals. For this reason, the process off-gases have to be purified. On the other hand, considerable research efforts are made in order to optimize the process conditions, develop catalyst with improved selectivity and to understand the reaction pathways leading to the target product and side products. | 158 | 7 | 1 | -1.959472 | 0.508983 | 34 | 14.2 | 15.2 | 15 | 11.28 | 0.38062 | 0.37462 | 3.142637 | 410 |
4,859 | ? | RAILROAD GRADES OF TRUNK LINES | SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN SUPPLEMENT NO. 421 | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/16353/16353-h/16353-h.htm#art03 | 1,884 | Info | Lit | 1,700 | whole | null | G | 1 | 1 | On the West Shore and Buffalo road its limit of grade is 30 feet to the mile going west and north, and 20 feet to the mile going east and south. Next for easy grades comes the New York Central and Hudson River road. From New York to Albany, then up the valley of the Mohawk, till it gradually reaches the elevation of Lake Erie, it is all the time within the 500 foot level, and this is maintained by its connections on the lake borders to Chicago, by the "Nickel Plate," the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern, and the Canada Southern and Michigan Central.
The Erie, the Pennsylvania, and the Baltimore and Ohio roads pass through a country so mountainous that, much as they have expended to improve their grades, it is practically impossible for them to attain the easy grades so much more readily obtained by the trunk lines following the great natural waterways originally extending almost from Chicago to New York. | 163 | 4 | 2 | -1.731347 | 0.488659 | 42.45 | 17.52 | 20.3 | 16 | 9.43 | 0.20494 | 0.21199 | 19.378656 | 2,644 |
4,644 | Genie H. Rosenfeld | ? | The Great Round World and What Is Going On In It No. 16 | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/15326/15326-h/15326-h.htm | 1,897 | Info | Lit | 1,300 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | A year or so ago the Croton water, which is in use in New York City, was found to be impure.
A commission was appointed to go and examine the Croton Water-Shed. This meant that they were to examine the little streams, and brooks, and rivers, and lakes, which supplied the water to our aqueduct, and see what the trouble was.
They found that along the banks of these streams and lakes, in villages and out in the country, a great many dwelling-houses and shanties had been built, the occupants of which were in the habit of throwing all sorts of rubbish into the water, making it unfit for drinking.
In consequence of this, all of the houses were ordered to be torn down or moved away, and one small village of shanties was destroyed. Among others, the inhabitants of Katonah were ordered to move, that the banks of the stream might be cleared of dwellings. | 153 | 6 | 4 | -0.00622 | 0.478883 | 66.59 | 10.51 | 12.04 | 10 | 7.14 | 0.12838 | 0.15214 | 13.748842 | 2,479 |
6,708 | Oliver Optic | Down the Rhine; Or, Young America in Germany | null | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/24124/24124-h/24124-h.htm | 1,869 | Lit | Lit | 1,300 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | It was the beginning of a new term in the school. New officers had succeeded the old ones, or the position of the latter had been materially changed. The members of the order of the Knights of the Golden Fleece found themselves scattered by the new arrangement. Not less than a dozen of them had been transferred to the consort, while Tom Perth, the leading spirit of the runaways, had attained to the dignity of second master of the ship, more by his natural abilities than by any efforts he had made to win a high place. As yet he had found no opportunity to arrange a plan for further operations with his confederates, for Mr. Fluxion, the vice-principal, was in the charge of the schooner, and his eyes and ears were always open. The return of the tourists from their excursion restored the routine on board of the vessels. | 150 | 6 | 1 | -1.068025 | 0.465195 | 61.39 | 10.95 | 11.86 | 11 | 8.23 | 0.19445 | 0.22845 | 7.470926 | 4,097 |
4,958 | ? | VITAL DISCOVERIES IN OBSTRUCTED AIR AND VENTILATION | Scientific American Supplement, No. 388 | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/15417/15417-h/15417-h.htm | 1,883 | Info | Lit | 1,300 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | The best prescription that doctors have to give (when we are not too far gone to take it) is to live out of doors. Why is this? Why is life out of doors proverbially synonymous with robust health? Why is it that a superior vitality, and a singular exemption from disease, notoriously distinguish dwellers in the open air, by land or sea? Without disparaging the virtues of exercise or of bracing temperature, indispensable as these are for the recuperation of enfeebled constitutions, we must admit that among the native and settled inhabitants of the open air high health is the rule in warm climates as well as in cold, and with the very laziest mortals that bask in the sun, or loaf in the woods. The fact is that simple vegetative health seems to be nearly independent of all other external conditions but that of a pure natural diet for the lungs. Human in nature seems to thrive as spontaneously as plants, by the free grace of air, earth, and sun. | 171 | 7 | 1 | -1.115115 | 0.491381 | 56.87 | 11.4 | 11.95 | 13 | 8.63 | 0.23958 | 0.2479 | 9.555329 | 2,716 |
5,002 | JOHN V. SHOEMAKER, A.M., M.D | THE HAIR, ITS USE AND ITS CARE | Scientific American Supplement, No. 388 | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/15417/15417-h/15417-h.htm | 1,883 | Info | Lit | 1,300 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | The forms of hats that are least injurious are: for Winter, soft hats of light weight, having an open structure, or pierced with numerous holes; for Summer, light straws, also of open structure.
As regards the head-covering of women, the fashions have been for several years favorable to proper form. The bonnet and hat have become quite small, and cover but little of the head. This beneficial condition, however, is in part counterbalanced by the weight of false curls, switches, puffs, etc., by the aid of which women dress the head. These, by interfering with evaporation of the secretions, prevent proper regulations of the temperature of the scalp, and likewise lead to the retention of a certain amount of excrementitious matter, both of which are prolific sources of rapid thinning and loss of hair in women.
False hair has likewise sometimes been the means of introducing parasites, which give rise to obstinate affections of the scalp. | 154 | 6 | 3 | -1.461231 | 0.532954 | 49.33 | 12.88 | 14.6 | 14 | 8.35 | 0.22158 | 0.22916 | 6.909975 | 2,755 |
3,197 | USHistory.org | Egyptian Mummies | CLD | https://www.commonlit.org/texts/egyptian-mummies | 2,016 | Info | Lit | 1,100 | start | CC BY 4.0 | G | 1 | 1 | A dead noble stands trembling in the Hall of Truth. Behind the noble, Horus, the half-falcon, half-man ruler of Earth, unleashes a piercing stare at the quivering man. Thoth, the sharp-beaked, ibis-headed deity of scribes, sharpens his quill — poised to record a verdict of divine judgment.
Seated before the noble on a golden throne is Osiris, the king of the dead. Upon his head rests a glittering crown with a gorgeous white feather plume on either side. Behind Osiris stands Isis, the revered goddess of nature, who is responsible for bringing the dead earth back to life each year. She holds an ankh, a cross with a loop above the bar. An ankh guarantees that a dead person will live forever.
The noble wonders if he will live forever. Or will he be fed to the hideous crocodile-like god called the Eater of the Dead and forever cease to exist. (How can the noble wonder about all this if he's already dead? The noble is actually in limbo, a place where the souls of dead people go while being judged.)
Osiris begins the process of judging the noble's life. | 187 | 13 | 4 | -1.861508 | 0.491353 | 74.38 | 6.59 | 6.47 | 8 | 8.93 | 0.13838 | 0.1208 | 9.811775 | 1,540 |