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3,704 | Frank E. Stockton. | THE GREAT STONE OF SARDIS | The Literary World Seventh Reader | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/19721/19721-h/19721-h.htm | 1,919 | Lit | Lit | 1,300 | start | null | G | 1 | 1 | On the day that Margaret left Sardis, Roland began his preparations for descending the shaft. He had so thoroughly considered the machinery and appliances necessary for the undertaking and had worked out all his plans in such detail, in his mind and upon paper, that he knew exactly what he wanted to do. His orders for the great length of chain needed exhausted the stock of several factories, and the engines he obtained were even more powerful than he had intended them to be; but these he could procure immediately, and for smaller ones he would have been obliged to wait. The circular car which was intended to move up and down the shaft, and the peculiar machinery connected with it, together with the hoisting apparatus, were all made in his works. His skilled artisans labored steadily day and night. | 140 | 5 | 1 | -2.353105 | 0.552062 | 50.91 | 13.11 | 14.7 | 14 | 8.18 | 0.19054 | 0.22616 | 8.732635 | 1,950 |
2,921 | simple wiki | Constitution | null | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution | 2,017 | Info | History | 1,300 | start | CC BY-SA 3.0 and GFDL | PG | 2 | 1.5 | The constitution of a country (or a state) is a special type of law document that tells how its government is supposed to work. It tells how the country's leaders are to be chosen and how long they get to stay in office, how new laws are made and old laws are to be changed or removed based on law, what kind of people are allowed to vote and what other rights they are guaranteed, and how the constitution can be changed.
Limits are put on the Government in how much power they have within the Constitution (see Rule of Law). On the other hand, countries with repressive or corrupt governments frequently do not stick to their constitutions or have bad constitutions without giving freedom to citizens and others. This can be known as dictatorship or simply "bending the rules." A Constitution is often a way of uniting within a Federation. | 150 | 6 | 2 | -0.581659 | 0.494289 | 59.71 | 11.18 | 12.27 | 12 | 7.6 | 0.22975 | 0.24264 | 21.974623 | 1,311 |
2,365 | Sasha J. Kramer,
Emmanuel Boss
| How Do We Choose Technologies to Study Marine Organisms in the Ocean? | null | https://kids.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/frym.2020.00003 | 2,020 | Info | Lit | 1,300 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | The ocean covers more than 72% of the Earth's surface and averages about 3,700 m in depth. How could we ever attempt to study such a large volume of water that contains so many different living things?
Oceanographers (scientists who study the ocean) use a number of different tools to study the ocean, spanning from satellites, an object in space that rotates around the Earth and on which sensors can be attached to observe the Earth that can observe the ocean's surface daily, to research vessels (there are currently about 400 vessels operated by 50 different countries ), to robots, an object that has some control of its own motion and on which sensors can be attached, that sink and rise periodically and are equipped with sensors, an object with electronic components that records signals generated from the environment around it (there are about 5,000 robots in use now). Most of these tools measure physical properties of the ocean, like the temperature and saltiness of the water, with nearly one in ten also collecting information about life in the ocean. | 179 | 4 | 2 | -0.365956 | 0.44954 | 28.13 | 20.45 | 23.74 | 15 | 10 | 0.23711 | 0.23711 | 11.5234 | 806 |
5,149 | John Tyndall, F.R.S. | ATOMS, MOLECULES, AND ETHER WAVES. | SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN SUPPLEMENT NO. 365 | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/18763/18763-h/18763-h.htm | 1,882 | Info | Lit | 1,300 | start | null | PG | 2 | 2 | Man is prone to idealization. He cannot accept as final the phenomena of the sensible world, but looks behind that world into another which rules the sensible one. From this tendency of the human mind, systems of mythology and scientific theories have equally sprung. By the former the experiences of volition, passion, power, and design, manifested among ourselves, were transplanted, with the necessary modifications, into an unseen universe from which the sway and potency of those magnified human qualities were exerted. "In the roar of thunder and in the violence of the storm was felt the presence of a shouter and furious strikers, and out of the rain was created an Indra or giver of rain." It is substantially the same with science, the principal force of which is expended in endeavoring to rend the veil which separates the sensible world from an ultra-sensible one. In both cases our materials, drawn from the world of the senses, are modified by the imagination to suit intellectual needs. | 166 | 7 | 1 | -2.559771 | 0.517702 | 44.83 | 12.93 | 13.55 | 14 | 10.02 | 0.29115 | 0.31297 | 0.035775 | 2,878 |
7,063 | Nathaniel Hawthorne | The Pomegranate Seeds | The Children's Hour, Volume 3 | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/14752/14752-h/14752-h.htm#Pomegranate | 1,907 | Lit | Lit | 1,300 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | The child promised to be as prudent as if she were a grown-up woman, and, by the time the winged dragons had whirled the car out of sight, she was already on the shore, calling to the sea-nymphs to come and play with her. They knew Proserpina's voice, and were not long in showing their glistening faces and sea-green hair above the water, at the bottom of which was their home. They brought along with them a great many beautiful shells; and, sitting down on the moist sand, where the surf wave broke over them, they busied themselves in making a necklace, which they hung round Proserpina's neck. By way of showing her gratitude, the child besought them to go with her a little way into the fields, so that they might gather abundance of flowers, with which she would make each of her kind playmates a wreath. | 148 | 4 | 1 | -0.788322 | 0.477086 | 60.95 | 14.14 | 17.53 | 11 | 7.39 | 0.04752 | 0.0932 | 9.236181 | 4,341 |
2,318 | simple wiki | Pompeii | null | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pompeii | 2,020 | Info | History | 900 | mid | CC BY-SA 3.0 and GFDL | G | 1 | 1 | The town was started around the year 600 BC. It was started by a group of people from central Italy, the Osci. They chose to start it in this location because it was already an important location for trade by both land and sea. By the 5th century BC, Pompeii had become part of Rome. While under Roman control, Pompeii was improved a lot. The Romans built Aqueducts, and these were used to provide the citizens with water.
Before the eruption, Pompeii was a beautiful and wealthy city. At the time of the eruption, the town may have had about 11,000 people living there. It was in an area where Romans had holiday villas. Modern professor William Abbott said, "At the time of the eruption, Pompeii had reached its high point in society as many Romans frequently visited Pompeii on vacations."
Pliny The Younger was a witness to the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. He sent letters to a friend describing the eruption. For he was much too scared to go any closer, he stayed where he was. He was quite a distance from the sight, but close enough to see the eruption clearly. | 191 | 14 | 3 | -1.040107 | 0.46603 | 70.11 | 6.91 | 6.25 | 10 | 8.17 | 0.16145 | 0.14131 | 16.062138 | 763 |
5,175 | Richard Owen, C.B., F.R.S. | OUR ORIGIN AS A SPECIES. | SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN SUPPLEMENT NO. 365 | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/18763/18763-h/18763-h.htm | 1,882 | Info | Lit | 1,300 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | Limiting the comparison to that on which the writer quoted bases his conclusions—apparently the superficial extent of the roof plate—its greater extent as compared with that of a gorilla equaling, probably, in weight the entire frame of the individual from the Neanderthal cave, is strongly significant of the superiority of size of brain in the cave dweller. The inner surface moreover indicates the more complex character of the soft organ on which it was moulded; the precious "gray substance" being multiplied by certain convolutions which are absent in the apes. But there is another surface which the unbiased zoologist finds it requisite to compare. In the human "calvarium" in question, the midline traced backward from the super-orbital ridge runs along a smooth track. In the gorilla a ridge is raised from along the major part of that tract to increase the surface giving attachment to the biting muscles. Such ridge in this position varies only in height in the female and the male adult ape, as the specimens in the British Museum demonstrate. | 173 | 6 | 1 | -3.193961 | 0.552332 | 41.75 | 14.64 | 16.57 | 14 | 9.98 | 0.3423 | 0.34914 | -0.119926 | 2,897 |
7,077 | George MacDonald | THE LIGHT PRINCESS | Fairy Tales Every Child Should Know | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/14916/14916-h/14916-h.htm#CHAPTER_XXIII | 1,864 | Lit | Lit | 1,100 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | Every one ran to the queen's room. But the queen could give no orders. They soon found out, however, that the princess was missing, and in a moment the palace was like a beehive in a garden; and in one minute more the queen was brought to herself by a great shout and a clapping of hands. They had found the princess fast asleep under a rose-bush, to which the elfish little wind-puff had carried her, finishing its mischief by shaking a shower of red rose-leaves all over the little white sleeper. Startled by the noise the servants made, she woke, and, furious with glee, scattered the rose-leaves in all directions, like a shower of spray in the sunset.
She was watched more carefully after this, no doubt; yet it would be endless to relate all the odd incidents resulting from this peculiarity of the young princess. But there never was a baby in a house, not to say a palace, that kept the household in such constant good humour, at least below-stairs. | 172 | 7 | 2 | -0.604038 | 0.492834 | 69.33 | 9.91 | 11.38 | 9 | 6.76 | 0.17334 | 0.18978 | 15.360366 | 4,354 |
3,419 | Tanja Kassuba & Sabine Kastner | The Human Toolmaker | null | https://kids.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/frym.2014.00003 | 2,014 | Info | Lit | 1,300 | mid | CC BY 4.0 | G | 1 | 1 | Humans can do a number of things that no other animals – not even our closest relatives (such as chimps and gorillas) – can do. We are the only species that has developed languages with a set of rules (a grammar) that requires words to be in a certain order. You might have seen monkeys calling each other (for example, a "koo" call is signaling friendliness), but you have never seen one writing a letter and wondering about spelling! We are also able to predict from the look of a friend's face or the sound of his/her voice how he/she feels about the world, whether he/she is happy or sad. In addition, we pass from generation to generation the knowledge that we have learned about the world and our universe – this is why we go to school! Going to school and teaching children about the world is part of the human "culture," another human-specific characteristic. Language, predicting a friend's mood, and culture are all examples of "human-specific" abilities. | 169 | 7 | 1 | 0.162554 | 0.46411 | 60.75 | 10.03 | 10.43 | 11 | 7.77 | 0.19677 | 0.19962 | 15.533248 | 1,723 |
3,218 | Beatrice Inzikuru,
Wiehan de Jager | Disagreement
among
occupations | African Storybook Level 3 | https://www.africanstorybook.org/# | 2,015 | Lit | Lit | 700 | whole | CC BY 4.0 | G | 1 | 1 | In a village there was a disagreement among people of different occupations. Everyone thought their work was the most important! The teacher said that he had the most important occupation. "Without teachers you could not go to school and learn." The builder said that he had the most important occupation. "Without builders you would not have schools to learn in or houses to sleep in." The carpenter said that he had the most important occupation. "Without carpenters you would have no furniture for your houses and schools." The doctor claimed that he had the most important occupation. "Without doctors and nurses, you could get sick and die The farmer said that she had the most important occupation. "Without farmers you would not have food to eat." The student argued that students had the most important work. "Without students, there would be no teachers, builders, doctors, farmers, or carpenters." Eventually everyone agreed that all the occupations are important. We need teachers, builders, doctors, farmers, and carpenters. But everyone has to be a student first! | 173 | 16 | 1 | 0.764504 | 0.530191 | 64.07 | 7.19 | 8.03 | 10 | 5.94 | 0.14558 | 0.14105 | 31.270664 | 1,558 |
6,723 | Pauline Lester | Marjorie Dean, College Sophomore | null | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/22071/22071-h/22071-h.htm | 1,922 | Lit | Lit | 900 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | The senior try-out did not take place on Friday. No aspirants appeared at the gymnasium. The seniors were not ambitious to shine as basketball stars. The freshmen went to work at once to perfect their playing under the willing guidance of Professor Leonard. The soph team was not quite so zealous, but put in at least two afternoons a week at practice. This team was the pride of the active director's heart. He assured them more than once that they could meet a team of professional men players and acquit themselves with credit. If he wondered why the junior five did not take advantage of his offer, he made no comment. While he took a deep interest in basketball, he left all the arrangements of the games to the senior sports committee, preferring to allow them to do the managing. | 140 | 9 | 1 | -1.104406 | 0.431297 | 72.13 | 7.09 | 7.6 | 10 | 8 | 0.15712 | 0.18962 | 13.204023 | 4,110 |
3,499 | NASA | What is an Orbit? | CLD | https://www.commonlit.org/texts/what-is-an-orbit | 2,010 | Info | Lit | 700 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | Orbits come in different shapes. All orbits are elliptical, which means they are an ellipse, similar to an oval. For the planets, the orbits are almost circular. The orbits of comets have a different shape. They are highly eccentric or "squashed." They look more like thin ellipses than circles.
Satellites that orbit Earth, including the moon, do not always stay the same distance from Earth. Sometimes they are closer, and at other times they are farther away. The closest point a satellite comes to Earth is called its perigee. The farthest point is the apogee. For planets, the point in their orbit closest to the sun is perihelion. The farthest point is called aphelion. Earth reaches its aphelion during summer in the Northern Hemisphere. The time it takes a satellite to make one full orbit is called its period. For example, Earth has an orbital period of one year. The inclination is the angle the orbital plane makes when compared with Earth's equator.
An object in motion will stay in motion unless something pushes or pulls on it. This statement is called Newton's first law of motion. | 185 | 18 | 3 | -1.515119 | 0.486861 | 70.52 | 6 | 6.04 | 9 | 8.2 | 0.30001 | 0.27535 | 20.483021 | 1,791 |
7,451 | wikipedia | Activation_energy | null | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Activation_energy | 2,020 | Info | Science | 1,500 | start | CC BY-SA 3.0 | G | 1 | 1 | In chemistry, activation energy is a term introduced in 1889 by the Swedish scientist Svante Arrhenius to describe the minimum energy which must be available to a chemical system with potential reactants to result in a chemical reaction. Activation energy may also be defined as the maximum energy required to start a chemical reaction. The activation energy of a reaction is usually denoted by Ea and given in units of kilojoules per mole (kJ/mol) or kilocalories per mole (kcal/mol).
Activation energy can be thought of as the height of the potential barrier (sometimes called the energy barrier) separating two minima of potential energy (of the reactants and products of a reaction). For a chemical reaction to proceed at a reasonable rate, there should exist an appreciable number of molecules with translational energy equal to or greater than the activation energy. | 139 | 5 | 2 | -2.244024 | 0.475877 | 23.11 | 16.99 | 16.75 | 18 | 12.36 | 0.36775 | 0.38716 | 10.006307 | 4,646 |
6,599 | Jessie Graham Flower | Grace Harlowe's Plebe Year at High School
The Merry Doings of the Oakdale Freshmen Girls | null | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/20472/20472-h/20472-h.htm | 2,007 | Lit | Lit | 1,300 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | The three girls ran lightly out of the basement of the fine old building that was the pride of Oakdale. It was large and imposing, built of smooth, gray stone, with four huge columns supporting the front portico. A hundred yards away stood the companion building, the Boys' High School, exactly like the first in every respect except that a wing had been added for a gymnasium which the girls had the privilege of using on certain days. A wide campus surrounded the two buildings, shaded by elm and oak trees. Certainly no other town in the state could boast of twin high schools as fine as these; and especially did the situation appeal to the people of Oakdale, for the ten level acres surrounding the two buildings gave ample space for the various athletic fields, and the doings of the high schools formed the very life of the place. | 150 | 5 | 1 | 0.335737 | 0.494981 | 65.84 | 10.29 | 12.29 | 12 | 7.19 | 0.22928 | 0.25434 | 10.892632 | 4,011 |
5,025 | Wm. Brooks, in Br. Jour. of Photo | GELATINO BROMIDE EMULSION WITH BROMIDE OF ZINC | Scientific American Supplement, No. 388 | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/15417/15417-h/15417-h.htm | 1,883 | Info | Lit | 1,100 | end | null | G | 1 | 1 | In making a gelatine emulsion with zinc it must be decidedly acid or it fogs. I prefer nitric acid for the purpose. I also found that some samples of the bromide behaved in a very peculiar way. All went on well until it came to the washing, when the bromide of silver washed out slowly, rendering the washing water slightly milky; this continued until the whole of the bromide of silver was discharged from the gelatine, and the latter rendered perfectly transparent as in the first instance. I remember a gentleman mentioning at one of the meetings of the South London Photographic Society that he was troubled in the same way as I was at that time. I think if a few experiments were made in this direction with the zinc salt and worked out, it would be a great advantage. | 141 | 6 | 1 | -2.857673 | 0.518689 | 59.38 | 10.81 | 11.19 | 12 | 8.72 | 0.25352 | 0.29285 | 11.464752 | 2,775 |
6,031 | Edgar Allan Poe | THE ISLAND OF THE FAY | THE WORKS OF EDGAR ALLAN POE
VOLUME II | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2148/2148-h/2148-h.htm | 2,000 | Lit | Lit | 1,300 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | Our telescopes and our mathematical investigations assure us on every hand—notwithstanding the cant of the more ignorant of the priesthood—that space, and therefore that bulk, is an important consideration in the eyes of the Almighty. The cycles in which the stars move are those best adapted for the evolution, without collision, of the greatest possible number of bodies. The forms of those bodies are accurately such as, within a given surface, to include the greatest possible amount of matter;—while the surfaces themselves are so disposed as to accommodate a denser population than could be accommodated on the same surfaces otherwise arranged. Nor is it any argument against bulk being an object with God, that space itself is infinite; for there may be an infinity of matter to fill it. And since we see clearly that the endowment of matter with vitality is a principle—indeed, as far as our judgments extend, the leading principle in the operations of Deity,—it is scarcely logical to imagine it confined to the regions of the minute, where we daily trace it, and not extending to those of the august. | 184 | 5 | 1 | -2.949988 | 0.556072 | 28.79 | 18.39 | 20.17 | 17 | 9.58 | 0.38744 | 0.3936 | 4.398686 | 3,597 |
6,217 | Ruth Royce | The Children of France | null | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/16437/16437-h/16437-h.htm | 1,918 | Lit | Lit | 900 | mid | null | PG | 2 | 1.5 | Daylight came; the men halted for breakfast, and the boy, secreting himself by the roadside, munched his bread and cheese and waited for the soldiers to resume the march. All day long he followed them as closely as he dared, but early in the second evening he made bold to draw up to the rear rank and plodded along behind it until they halted for rest. Suddenly the lad felt a firm hand on his shoulder. He found his uncle frowning down upon him.
"'What are you doing here?' demanded the uncle severely. 'Home with you as fast as you can go!'
"'But, uncle, I wish to be a soldier. I am little but I am strong. See, I have marched a day and a night and you, my uncle, are weary, while Remi is still fresh as the morning flowers.' | 139 | 10 | 3 | 0.01929 | 0.50578 | 84.62 | 4.64 | 3.78 | 7 | 6.18 | -0.01273 | 0.03394 | 18.085618 | 3,700 |
3,346 | Fabian Wakholi | Goat, Dog and Cow (Colour-in) | African Storybook Level 2 | https://www.africanstorybook.org/ | 2,014 | Lit | Lit | 500 | whole | CC BY 4.0 | G | 1 | 1 | Goat, Dog and Cow were great friends. One day they went on a journey in a taxi. They reached the end of their journey. The driver asked them to pay their fares. Cow paid her fare. Dog paid extra, because he did not have the correct money. The driver was about to give Dog his change. Suddenly, Goat ran away without paying. The driver was very annoyed. He drove away without giving Dog his change. That is why, even today, Dog runs towards a car to peep inside. He is looking for the driver who owes him change. Goat runs away from the sound of a car. She is afraid she will be arrested for not paying her fare. Cow is not bothered by cars. Cow takes her time crossing the road. She knows she paid her fare in full. | 140 | 17 | 1 | 0.102803 | 0.501281 | 93.33 | 2.29 | 1.42 | 5 | 1.09 | 0.0396 | 0.05491 | 26.992122 | 1,664 |
2,939 | Elke and René
Leisink | Cat and Dog
and the worms | African Storybook Level 3 | https://www.africanstorybook.org/# | 2,017 | Lit | Lit | 300 | mid | CC BY 4.0 | G | 1 | 1 | Cat and Dog open the door. They open the door of their house. Cat and Dog leave their house. Cat and Dog walk. They walk on the grass. They walk between the trees. They walk through the bush. Then they stop. Cat and Dog see a sign. They see a sign on a tree. Cat and Dog look at the sign. They look at the words on the sign. Cat and Dog read. They read the sign, 'look out for the cape.' Cat says, "What is a cape?" Dog says, "A cape is a jacket. Cat and Dog cannot see a cape. Then they laugh. They laugh at the sign. They laugh at the silly sign. But then the words change! Cat and Dog read. They read the sign. 'Look out for the grape.' Cat says, "What is a grape?" Dog says, "A grape is a fruit." Cat and Dog cannot see a grape. Then they laugh. They laugh at the sign. They laugh at the silly sign. | 168 | 30 | 1 | -0.123875 | 0.460393 | 112.52 | -1.04 | -2 | 3 | 0.28 | 0.20198 | 0.20372 | 42.888709 | 1,328 |
5,053 | ? | A NEW WEATHERCOCK. | Scientific American Supplement, No. 401 | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/8742/8742-h/8742-h.htm | 1,883 | Info | Lit | 1,300 | start | null | G | 1 | 1 | An ordinary weathercock provided with datum points may, in the majority of cases, suffice for the observation of the wind during the day; but recourse has to be had to different means to obtain an automatic transmission of the indications of the vane to the inside of a building. The different systems employed for such a purpose consist of gearings, or are accompanied by a friction that notably diminishes the sensitiveness of the apparatus, especially when the rod has to traverse several stories. Mr. Emile Richard, inspector of the Versailles waterworks, has just devised an ingenious system which, while considerably reducing the weight of the movable part, allows the weathercock to preserve all its sensitiveness. This apparatus consists of two principal parts--one fixed and the other movable. The stationary part is designated in the accompanying figure by the letters A and B and by cross-hatchings. This forms the rod or support. An iron tube, T, with clamps, P, at its lower extremity forms the base of the apparatus, and is hidden, after the mounting of the apparatus, by the ornamental zinc covering, Z. | 183 | 7 | 1 | -3.394874 | 0.575624 | 36.88 | 14.68 | 14.99 | 15 | 10.5 | 0.44749 | 0.44427 | 2.046064 | 2,796 |
499 | GRACE BROOKS HILL | THE CORNER HOUSE GIRLS AT SCHOOL
| null | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/21034/21034-h/21034-h.htm | 1,915 | Lit | Lit | 900 | mid | null | PG-13 | 3 | 2.5 | Ruth was an intellectual looking girl—so people said. She had little color, and her auburn hair was "stringy"—which she hated! Now that she was no longer obliged to consider the expenditure of each dollar so carefully, the worried look about her big brown eyes, and the compression of her lips, had relaxed. For two years Ruth had been the head of the household and it had made her old before her time.
She was only a girl yet, however; her sixteenth birthday was not long behind her. She liked fun and was glad of the release from much of her former care. And when she laughed, her eyes were brilliant and her mouth surprisingly sweet.
The smaller girls—Tess (nobody ever called her Theresa) and Dorothy—were both pretty and lively. Dot was Ruth in miniature, a little, fairy-like brunette. Tess, who was ten, had a very kind heart and was tactful. She had some of Ruth's dignity and more of Agnes' good looks. | 160 | 11 | 3 | -0.218957 | 0.47608 | 73.46 | 6.69 | 6.79 | 9 | 7.37 | 0.07475 | 0.07177 | 19.223837 | 84 |
1,943 | Chantel Botha
Chantel Botha | Adventure
around South
Africa | African Storybook Level 3 | https://www.africanstorybook.org/# | 2,020 | Lit | Lit | 500 | start | CC BY 4.0 | PG | 2 | 1.5 | Chanri and Boipelo are going on an adventure around South Africa. Their journey starts in Kimberley, in the Northern Cape. In Kimberley you will find the Big Hole! Tjoeke puff toot-toot, they travel to Cape Town in the Western Cape. Chanri and Boipelo pick juicy grapes at the farms. Tjoeke puff toot-toot, then they head off to Bhisho, in the Eastern Cape. The two friends have fun at the Elephant Park! Tjoeke puff toot-toot, they pass through the Free State. They admire all the pretty roses blooming in Bloemfontein. On to Mahikeng, in the North West. The train slows down to meet Rina the rhino at the National Park. Then our friends speed on to Polokwane, in Limpopo. Toot-toot toot-toot! They're running late, so the train doesn't stop in Johannesburg, Gauteng. From the train they see many cars and people in this busy city of gold. | 146 | 15 | 1 | -0.988386 | 0.457425 | 85.2 | 3.72 | 4.09 | 8 | 6.61 | 0.17427 | 0.19132 | 14.844592 | 419 |
6,922 | Logan Marshall | THE THREE BEARS | Favorite Fairy Tales | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/20748/20748-h/20748-h.htm#bears | 1,917 | Lit | Lit | 300 | start | null | G | 1 | 1 | There were once three bears who lived together in a little house in the middle of a wood. One of them was a Little, Small, Wee Bear; one was a Middle-Sized Bear; and the other was a Great, Huge Bear.
And they each had a pot to eat their porridge from: a little pot for the Little, Small, Wee Bear; a middle-sized pot for the Middle-Sized Bear; and a great big pot for the Great, Huge Bear.
And they each had a chair to sit on: a little chair for the Little, Small, Wee Bear; a middle-sized chair for the Middle-Sized Bear; and a great big chair for the Great, Huge Bear.
And they each had a bed to sleep in: a little bed for the Little, Small, Wee Bear; a middle-sized bed for the Middle-Sized Bear; and a great big bed for the Great, Huge Bear. | 144 | 5 | 4 | 1.064276 | 0.539235 | 79.99 | 9.75 | 11.31 | 5 | 1.73 | 0.29924 | 0.31124 | 27.593976 | 4,239 |
7,349 | James Hamilton Lewis | Defending the World's Right to Democracy | A Monthly Magazine of The New York Times, Volume 8 - No.2 | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/38750/38750-h/38750-h.htm#Page_281 | 1,918 | Info | Lit | 1,500 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | Let the world know that as George Washington fought for democracy as a right to America and Thomas Jefferson proclaimed it as a necessity to mankind, while Lincoln made it his creed of emancipation for all color and all climes—so, too, Wilson fights for democracy as a right of the whole world. The promise of Wilson to "make the world safe for democracy" is no threat to make the world take democracy. It is but the assurance of the effort to give to the world its chance to take democracy. This war of America is the announcement that we, by our entrance into the conflict, will prevent any despot from depriving any people of the right to exercise their free will in rejecting despotism and choosing democracy. The United States does not fight to force any Government to adopt the theory of our Government, nor does the United States fight to force any foreign people to take our form of government against any form of government they may choose for themselves. But America does fight to prevent any foreign Government from thwarting any land from enjoying democracy if it so wills by the voice of its own people. | 198 | 6 | 1 | -1.603631 | 0.501335 | 46.01 | 15.04 | 16.66 | 15 | 9.1 | 0.23201 | 0.22487 | 14.960058 | 4,566 |
2,961 | Jennifer M. Jakobi, Sienna Kohn, Samantha Kuzyk, and Andrey Fedorov | When Kicking the Doctor Is Good—A Simple Reflex | Frontiers for Young Minds | https://kids.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/frym.2017.00010 | 2,017 | Info | Lit | 1,100 | mid | CC BY 4.0 | G | 1 | 1 | Although reflexes are super-fast and just happen without you thinking about them, this does not mean that they are bad. Reflexes protect you and allow you to move around without thinking about every single action and response your body needs to make. It is important that reflexes occur without the need for thinking about them because there are things that happen to your body and forces acting in your body when you move that need to be responded to very quickly. Reflexes allow your body to react in ways that help you to be safe, to stand upright, and to be active.
Imagine a typical day. You might be thinking of practicing your sport or musical instrument, walking to school, or making a snack. In all of these actions, you are thinking, but at the same time, there are also reflexes that you are unaware of happening inside your body. These reflexes are built naturally into the body, and they exist at birth and change as we grow older. Reflexes are kind of like safety features for survival that allow us to move in response to something in the environment. | 189 | 9 | 2 | 0.111873 | 0.466571 | 64.37 | 9.55 | 10.43 | 9 | 7.33 | 0.04509 | 0.04384 | 23.945053 | 1,350 |
5,232 | AUNT SADIE | HOW GEORGIE FED HIS FAWN | The Nursery, June 1881, Vol. XXIX
A Monthly Magazine for Youngest Readers | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/40757/40757-h/40757-h.htm#Page_171 | 1,881 | Lit | Lit | 500 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | In the first place there was Rover, the big brown pup. Georgie had not taken three steps, when Rover spied the bread, and, thinking it was for him, began jumping after it. Georgie thought he would have to run back to the house; but, seeing a stick on the ground, he picked it up, and shook it at Rover. Rover was afraid of the stick, and ran meekly away.
Nothing else happened to trouble Georgie until he had gone halfway up the walk. Then he met another difficulty. Two big turkey-gobblers, looking very red about the head, and with feathers all ruffled up, rushed towards him for the bread, crying, "Gobble, gobble!" in a frightful manner.
Georgie hesitated. Dare he go past them? "Gobble, gobble!" screeched the turkeys. Down went the bread on the ground, and back to the house, as fast as his legs could carry him, ran Georgie. | 148 | 13 | 3 | 0.557033 | 0.535328 | 85.23 | 4.26 | 4.56 | 5 | 6.3 | 0.05681 | 0.07764 | 19.5184 | 2,942 |
2,740 | Amanda Frederico Mortati & Thiago André | Water Controls Amazonian Biodiversity | null | https://kids.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/frym.2018.00047 | 2,018 | Info | Lit | 1,300 | mid | CC BY 4.0 | G | 1 | 1 | As a result, Amazonia and its big rivers act like water vapor bombs, which put water into the atmosphere and form a dense layer of clouds that contain large amounts of water. These clouds flow with the winds, forming incredible flying rivers. Because of the high temperatures in Amazonia and the large amount of rain that falls around the equator, Amazonia has this massive power to exchange water between the forest and the atmosphere. The 4,000-m high Andean cordillera at the west of the South American continent acts as a barrier to winds and clouds coming across the continent and from the Atlantic Ocean. The result is a massive amount of rainfall on the areas of central, eastern, and southern Brazil and its neighboring countries. This river of clouds transports billions of liters of water in vapor form each year, which is almost equal to the amount of water flowing from the Amazon River itself into the ocean each year. So, these rivers in the sky change the climate of the continent and, eventually, that of the whole world. | 179 | 7 | 1 | -1.527417 | 0.46287 | 51.96 | 12.4 | 13.5 | 11 | 8.51 | 0.2066 | 0.20925 | 8.886405 | 1,153 |
3,717 | Matthew Fontaine Maury. | THE SOUTHERN SKY | The Literary World Seventh Reader | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/19721/19721-h/19721-h.htm | 1,919 | Lit | Lit | 1,300 | start | null | G | 1 | 1 | Presently the stars begin to peep out, timidly at first, as if to see whether the elements here below had ceased their strife, and if the scene on earth be such as they, from bright spheres aloft, may shed their sweet influences upon. Sirius, or that blazing world Argus, may be the first watcher to send down a feeble ray; then follow another and another, all smiling meekly; but presently, in the short twilight of the latitude, the bright leaders of the starry host blaze forth in all their glory, and the sky is decked and spangled with superb brilliants.
In the twinkling of an eye, and faster than the admiring gazer can tell, the stars seem to leap out from their hiding-places. By invisible hands, and in quick succession, the constellations are hung out; first of all, and with dazzling glory, in the azure depths of space appears the great Southern Cross. That shining symbol lends a holy grandeur to the scene, making it still more impressive. | 167 | 5 | 2 | -2.114717 | 0.491136 | 58.39 | 13.51 | 16.74 | 11 | 8.86 | 0.15939 | 0.17158 | 4.439544 | 1,959 |
1,532 | F. J. H. Darton | Horn in Exile | Junior Classics Vol. 4 | http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/6323/pg6323-images.html | 1,909 | Lit | Lit | 900 | start | null | G | 1 | 1 | Ere Horn had sailed long, the wind rose, and the ship drove blindly before it for many leagues, till at length it was cast up on land. Horn stepped out on to the beach, and there before him saw two princes, whose names (for they greeted him kindly) were Harild and Berild.
"Whence are you?" they asked, when they had told him who they were.
"What are you called?"
Horn thought it wise to hide his real name from them, lest it should come to Aylmer's ears, and his anger reach Horn even in this distant land. "I am called Cuthbert," he answered, "and I am come far from the west in this little ship, seeking adventure and honour."
"Well met, sir knight," said Harild. "Come now to our father the king: you shall do knightly deeds in his service." They led him to King Thurston their father; and when Thurston saw that Horn was a man of might, skilled in arms, and a true knight, he took him into his service readily. So Horn—or Cuthbert, as they knew him—abode at Thurston's court, and served the king in battle. | 185 | 11 | 5 | -1.838453 | 0.478615 | 88.23 | 5.22 | 6.54 | 6 | 6.58 | 0.10199 | 0.09476 | 19.488577 | 323 |
3,101 | Kristina Uban, Megan Herting, & Elizabeth R. Sowell | Can Money Buy You a Better Brain? What Do You Think? | null | https://kids.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/frym.2016.00013 | 2,016 | Info | Lit | 1,100 | mid | CC BY 4.0 | G | 1 | 1 | Social play, which means having fun with other people, is important as we develop our brains. Maybe you and your friends like to build with Legos, play dress-up, do arts and crafts, or compete in sports or board games with each other. All of this is social play. Social play is not just fun and games – it is also very important for healthy brain development. Animal studies have shown that social play changes the amount of certain chemicals in the brain in a way that makes the brain stronger and healthier later in life. Likewise, in humans, social play has been shown to help children learn new things more easily throughout life. Kids learn many critical social and thinking skills while they play with friends. These skills include the ability to solve problems and the ability to speak clearly and understand what other people say, as well as improved reading and math skills. Just think of it, you are playing with friends AND setting up your brain for success! | 170 | 9 | 1 | 0.263195 | 0.461187 | 71.71 | 7.95 | 9.72 | 9 | 7.55 | 0.06139 | 0.04848 | 18.206211 | 1,469 |
6,072 | DOLORES BACON | MARIANO FORTUNY | PICTURES EVERY CHILD SHOULD KNOW | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/6932/6932-h/6932-h.htm | 1,908 | Info | Lit | 900 | start | null | G | 1 | 1 | Fortuny won his own opportunities. He took a prize, while still very young, which made it possible for him to go to Rome where he wished to study art. He did not spend his time studying and copying the old masters as did most artists who went there, but, instead, he studied the life of the Roman streets.
He had already been at the Academy of Barcelona, but he did not follow his first master; instead, he struck out a line of art for himself. After a year in Rome the artist went to war; but he did not go to fight men, he was still fighting fate, and his weapon was his sketch book. He went with General Prim, and he filled his book with warlike scenes and the brilliant skies of Morocco. From that time his work was inspired by his Moorish experiences. | 144 | 7 | 2 | -1.19902 | 0.482758 | 76.12 | 7.79 | 8.28 | 9 | 6.73 | -0.00947 | 0.01643 | 17.815719 | 3,628 |
4,696 | Annie E. Armstrong | Three Bright Girls: A Story of Chance and Mischance | null | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/62631/62631-h/62631-h.htm | 1,895 | Lit | Lit | 1,100 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | Almost before Sir Peter has greeted his host and hostess, the door is once more thrown wide, and the announcement "Dinner is served" brings the assembled guests to their feet. Doris is standing obedient, close by her aunt, who has already taken forcible possession of Hugh, when a cheery, manly voice from behind says "Now, Miss Doris, your mother tells me I am to have the honour of taking you in to dinner on this auspicious occasion of your first appearance in public;" and Colonel Danvers stands before her with smiling face and outstretched hand.
"I couldn't come and speak to you before," he explains, "for your father and the rector pinned me at the other end of the room and dragged me into a political discussion."
"O, I am so glad I am to sit beside you!" exclaims Doris with genuine pleasure. "I was dreadfully afraid it would be Captain Hall; and he is so stupid, you know. It takes him about five minutes to get out the most ordinary remarks with his silly affected drawl." | 175 | 7 | 3 | -1.140298 | 0.45955 | 56.92 | 12.65 | 14.06 | 12 | 8.22 | 0.14107 | 0.13438 | 12.196378 | 2,517 |
7,017 | L. Frank Baum | Juggerjook | Boys and Girls Bookshelf; a Practical Plan of Character Building, Volume I | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/25359/25359-h/25359-h.htm#Page_188 | 1,920 | Lit | Lit | 900 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | "We're near it, now," announced the squirrel. "Come this way; and go softly, Fuzzy Wuz, because Juggerjook has sharp ears."
They crept along through the bushes some distance after that, but did not speak except in whispers. Fuzzy knew it was a bold thing to do. They had nothing to carry to the terrible Juggerjook, and it was known that he always punished those who came to his den without making him presents. But the rabbit relied upon Chatter Chuk's promise that the tyrant of the forest would never know they had been near him. Juggerjook was considered a great magician, to be sure, yet Chatter Chuk was not afraid of him. So why should Fuzzy Wuz fear anything?
The red squirrel ran ahead, so cautiously that he made not a sound in the underbrush; and he skilfully picked the way so that the fat white rabbit could follow him. Presently he stopped short and whispered to his companion:
"Put your head through those leaves, and you will see Juggerjook's den." | 168 | 10 | 4 | -0.445461 | 0.476459 | 76.77 | 6.41 | 7.42 | 9 | 6.44 | 0.15975 | 0.15832 | 19.230115 | 4,297 |
5,725 | Helen C. Pearson | PAUL | The Nursery, November 1873, Vol. XIV. No. 5 | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/24942/24942-h/24942-h.htm#Page_137 | 1,873 | Lit | Lit | 700 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | Fido began to bark and jump to coax his young master away. He had such fine times when Jane took them out to walk, that he wanted to go again. Paul knew his mamma had forbidden his leaving the brick walk in front of their home; but he longed to go. He put one foot off the bricks, then the other, and away he ran, Fido barking beside him.
Paul ran across two streets, and reached the Public Garden quite out of breath. He said it was fine fun; but he really was not so happy as he was when sitting on his mother's steps. He walked slowly to the pond. He thought he would catch some fish, and give them to Jane, and perhaps she would not tell his mother.
"Here, Fido, go catch fish!" he cried, pointing to the water.
Fido jumped in, and chased a chip with all his might. Paul scolded him well for not catching a fish. The little boy was cross, because he knew he was doing wrong; and when Fido got the chip at last, and laid it at Paul's feet, the child drove him into the water again. | 193 | 13 | 4 | 0.641663 | 0.479035 | 90.53 | 4.38 | 4.34 | 5 | 5.75 | -0.0283 | -0.04458 | 25.552609 | 3,375 |
6,917 | Logan Marshall | THE UGLY DUCKLING | Favorite Fairy Tales | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/20748/20748-h/20748-h.htm#ugly | 1,917 | Lit | Lit | 900 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | One evening, just as the sun was setting with unusual brilliancy, a flock of large, beautiful birds rose from out of the brushwood. The Duckling had never seen anything so beautiful before; their plumage was of a dazzling white, and they had long, slender necks. They were Swans. They uttered a singular cry, spread out their long splendid wings, and flew away from these cold regions to warmer countries, across the open sea. They flew so high, so very high! And the little Ugly Duckling's feelings were so strange. He turned round and round in the water like a mill-wheel, strained his neck to look after them, and sent forth such a loud and strange cry that it almost frightened himself. Ah! he could not forget them, those noble birds, those happy birds! When he could see them no longer he plunged to the bottom of the water, and when he rose again was almost beside himself. The Duckling knew not what the birds were called, knew not whither they were flying; yet he loved them as he had never before loved anything. | 183 | 11 | 1 | 0.684396 | 0.499352 | 79.51 | 6.32 | 7.76 | 8 | 6.18 | 0.05866 | 0.0438 | 18.445228 | 4,235 |
3,042 | Silvia A. Fuertes Marraco; Natalie J. Neubert; Daniel E. Speiser | Good News from Immunotherapy: Our Immune Defense Stands Up to Cancer | Frontiers for Young Minds | https://kids.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/frym.2017.00040 | 2,017 | Info | Lit | 1,100 | mid | null | PG | 2 | 1.5 | What is cancer? This word originates from the Greek word "karkinos," which means "crab". It is said that, in ancient times, the Greek doctor Hippocrates first compared this disease to a crab, seeing sick parts of the body of his patients that were hard as a rock, which caused pain like a crab's pinch and could extend to invade other body regions. In biology, cancer is a big mistake: cells start to grow without control within the body. Starting when a baby is conceived, every part of the body grows and develops under strict control. This control shapes our fingers, our bones, our brains, all our organs. In fact, the type of cancer that grows depends on the type of cell that makes a mistake and loses this control. For example, we can have cancer of the brain (neuroblastoma), cancer of the bone (osteosarcoma), or cancer of the skin pigment cells, called melanocytes (melanoma). Often, the cause of the cancer is unknown, or is due to multiple mistakes that accumulate. Sometimes, we know why cancer happens: there are certain things that damage the body and break the mechanisms of control. | 190 | 10 | 1 | -0.614453 | 0.473082 | 64.21 | 9.02 | 9.7 | 9 | 8.32 | 0.21508 | 0.19923 | 16.0989 | 1,417 |
5,732 | J. R. J. | PITCHER-PLANTS AND MONKEY-POTS | The Nursery, September 1873, Vol. XIV. No. 3 | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/24940/24940-h/24940-h.htm#Page_76 | 1,873 | Info | Lit | 700 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | There are various kinds of pitcher-plants. Some are shorter and broader than others; but they are all green like true leaves, and hold water as securely as a jug or glass. They grow in Borneo and Sumatra, hot islands in the East. The one shown in the drawing grows in Ceylon.
Some grow in America; but they are altogether different from those in Borneo and Ceylon. One beautiful little pitcher-plant grows in Australia: but this is also very different from all the rest; for the pitchers, instead of being at the end of the leaves, are clustered round the bottom of the plant, close to the ground.
All these pitcher-plants, though very beautiful to look at, are very cruel enemies to insects: for the pitchers nearly always have water in them; and flies and small insects are constantly falling into them, and getting drowned. | 142 | 7 | 3 | 0.19279 | 0.470582 | 66.96 | 9.14 | 10.27 | 10 | 6.61 | 0.12464 | 0.15566 | 13.622263 | 3,379 |
4,525 | Elizabeth von Arnim | The Adventures of Elizabeth in Rügen | null | http://www.online-literature.com/elizabeth-arnim/elizabeth-in-rugen/1/ | 1,904 | Info | Lit | 1,300 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | Now I suppose I could talk for a week and yet give no idea whatever of the exultation that filled my soul as I gazed on these arrangements. The picnic-like simplicity of them was so full of promise. It was as though I were going back to the very morning of life, to those fresh years when shepherd boys and others shout round one for no reason except that they are out of doors and alive. Also, during the years that have come after, years that may properly be called riper, it has been a conviction of mine that there is nothing so absolutely bracing for the soul as the frequent turning of one's back on duties. This was exactly what I was doing; and oh ye rigid female martyrs on the rack of daily exemplariness, ye unquestioning patient followers of paths that have been pointed out, if only you knew the wholesome joys of sometimes being less good! | 159 | 5 | 1 | -2.450828 | 0.521007 | 56.44 | 13.34 | 14.71 | 12 | 7.69 | 0.13736 | 0.16015 | 16.732233 | 2,393 |
3,849 | Judge Parry | THE GREADFUL ADVENTURE OF THE WINDMILLS | THE JUNIOR CLASSICS: A LIBRARY FOR BOYS AND GIRLS VOLUME FOUR: HEROES AND HEROINES OF CHIVALRY | http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/6323/pg6323-images.html | 1,917 | Lit | Lit | 1,300 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | Don Quixote persuaded a certain labourer, his neighbour, an honest man, but one of very shallow wit, to go away with him and serve him as squire. In the end he gave him so many fair words and promises that the poor fellow determined to go with him. Don Quixote, among other things, told him that he ought to be very pleased to depart with him, for at some time or other an adventure might befall which should in the twinkling of an eye win him an island and leave him governor thereof. On the faith of these and other like promises, Sancho Panza (for so he was called) forsook his wife and children and took service as squire to his neighbour.
Whilst they were journeying along, Sancho Panza said to his master: "I pray you have good care, sir knight, that you forget not that government of the island which you have promised me, for I shall be able to govern it be it never so great." | 167 | 5 | 2 | -1.265835 | 0.467816 | 67.13 | 10.85 | 12.17 | 9 | 7.38 | 0.07217 | 0.08772 | 15.36621 | 2,062 |
7,179 | Beatrice Clay | The Round Table | Junior Classics Vol. 4 | http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/6323/pg6323.html | 1,923 | Lit | Lit | 1,300 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | By Merlin's advice, Arthur sent for help overseas, to Ban and Bors, the two great kings who ruled in Gaul.
With their aid, he overthrew his foes in a great battle near the river Trent; and then he passed with them into their own lands and helped them drive out their enemies. So there was ever great friendship between Arthur and the Kings Ban and Bors, and all their kindred, and afterward some of the most famous Knights of the Round Table were of that kin.
Then King Arthur set himself to restore order throughout his kingdom. To all who would submit and amend their evil ways, he showed kindness; but those who persisted in oppression and wrong he removed, putting in their places others who would deal justly with the people. And because the land had become overrun with forest during the days of misrule, he cut roads through the thickets, that no longer wild beasts and men, fiercer than the beasts, should lurk in their gloom, to the harm of the weak and defenceless. | 174 | 6 | 3 | -1.216709 | 0.474115 | 66.99 | 11.2 | 14.15 | 10 | 8.32 | 0.2149 | 0.23033 | 9.119022 | 4,434 |
6,670 | Louisa de la Ramé (AKA Ouida) | Bimbi | null | http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/5834/pg5834-images.html | 1,882 | Lit | Lit | 1,700 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | For August, a salt baker's son and a little cow-keeper when he was anything, was a dreamer of dreams, and when he was upon the high alps with his cattle, with the stillness and the sky around him, was quite certain that he would live for greater things than driving the herds up when the springtide came among the blue sea of gentians, or toiling down in the town with wood and with timber as his father and grandfather did every day of their lives. He was a strong and healthy little fellow, fed on the free mountain air, and he was very happy, and loved his family devotedly, and was as active as a squirrel and as playful as a hare; but he kept his thoughts to himself, and some of them went a very long way for a little boy who was only one among many, and to whom nobody had ever paid any attention except to teach him his letters and tell him to fear God. | 169 | 2 | 1 | -0.938621 | 0.471399 | 11.08 | 32.83 | 39.89 | 12 | 8.97 | 0.04929 | 0.0792 | 6.223503 | 4,074 |
6,475 | Arthur M. Winfield | The Rover Boys on the Ocean or, A Chase for a Fortune | null | http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/5875/pg5875-images.html | 1,899 | Lit | Lit | 1,100 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | He went aboard and the others followed. Dan Haskett was paid off, the mainsail was hoisted, and once more they stood up the river in the direction of the State capital. It was their intention to spend two days in Albany and then return to New York with the yacht. This would wind up their vacation, for Putnam Hall was to open on the following Monday.
The day proved an ideal one, but the wind was light and the yacht scarcely moved even with the mainsail and jib set to their fullest. This being so, the boys got out their fishing lines and spent an hour in trolling, and succeeded in catching several fair-sized fish.
"We'll have to cook our own dinner," remarked Dick. "Tom, since you did us out of our meal at the hotel I reckon you are the one to fall in for this work."
At this Tom cut a wry face, but still, seeing the justice of his elder brother's remark, he went at the dinner-getting with a will. The yacht boasted a kerosene stove, and over this he set fish to frying and a pot of potatoes to boiling. | 191 | 10 | 4 | -0.790657 | 0.474887 | 79.46 | 7.04 | 7.44 | 8 | 6.86 | 0.16296 | 0.15801 | 13.957014 | 3,898 |
2,814 | Mia Hodorovich | Shakespeare: Who Was The Bard? | CLD | https://www.commonlit.org/texts/shakespeare-who-was-the-bard | 2,018 | Info | Lit | 1,100 | mid | CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 | G | 1 | 1 | The controversy around Shakespeare's true authorship first emerged in the 1800s. American writer Delia Bacon published a book in which she proposed that Shakespeare's works were not written by one person but by several.
Supporters of this theory claim that "Shakespeare" was a pseudonym shared by many authors. They may have used it because they could not publicly claim authorship for reasons of social status, politics, or gender. For authors of noble status, having their work appear in print instead of being restricted to private, courtly audiences would have led to disgrace. For authors involved in matters of state, writing plays that referenced current politics would be damaging to their career, if not treasonous. And of course, female authors at this time would have been considered shocking; women weren't allowed to act in plays, let alone write them.
To Delia Bacon's credit, there is a grain of truth to this theory. Collaborative fiction was not unheard of in Shakespeare's time. Shakespeare was also inspired by various sources, as well as by his fellow dramatists. Julius Caesar was based on a translation of Plutarch. | 181 | 11 | 3 | -0.463185 | 0.469076 | 57.27 | 9.4 | 10.81 | 11 | 9.47 | 0.26571 | 0.23355 | 13.451082 | 1,219 |
4,927 | Written in "The Engineer" | The Steamer Churchill | SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN SUPPLEMENT NO. 430 | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/8484/8484-h/8484-h.htm#2 | 1,884 | Info | Lit | 1,100 | end | null | G | 1 | 1 | The steam is supplied by two circular return tube boilers, 9 feet 6 inches in diameter and 10 feet long, with two furnaces in each. The boilers, which are of steel throughout, except the tubes, are placed longitudinally, and are fitted with two pairs of the Martyn-Roberts patent safety valves. They have one steam dome between them. The total heating surface is 1,700 square feet, the total steam space is 330 cubic feet, and the working pressure 100 lb. per square inch.
The fire pump is a Wilson's "Excelsior," with 10 inch steam cylinder and 8 inch water barrel. This powerful pump is in a special compartment of the fore hold, and will draw water from the bilge, sea, or either hold. A steam windlass and a double-handle winch are on deck as shown. On trial trip the engines of the Churchill indicated a maximum of 645.5 horse power, driving the vessel 10.495 knots per hour. The vessel is remarkable for diversity of uses, for heavy engine power in a small hull, and for general compactness of arrangement. | 177 | 10 | 2 | -3.309178 | 0.55058 | 69.19 | 8.08 | 8.65 | 10 | 9.18 | 0.16636 | 0.16205 | 10.150004 | 2,694 |
6,397 | Joseph A. Altsheler | The Guns of Bull Run: A Story of the Civil War's Eve | null | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/3653/3653-h/3653-h.htm | 1,913 | Lit | Lit | 900 | start | null | G | 1 | 1 | It would soon be Christmas and Harry Kenton, at his desk in the Pendleton Academy, saw the snow falling heavily outside. The school stood on the skirt of the town, and the forest came down to the edge of the playing field. The great trees, oak and ash and elm, were clothed in white, and they stood out a vast and glittering tracery against the somber sky.
The desk was of the old kind, intended for two, and Harry's comrade in it was his cousin, Dick Mason, of his own years and size. They would graduate in June, and both were large and powerful for their age. There was a strong family resemblance and yet a difference. Harry's face was the more sensitive and at times the blood leaped like quicksilver in his veins. Dick's features indicated a quieter and more stubborn temper. They were equal favorites with teachers and pupils. | 150 | 9 | 2 | -0.253214 | 0.449449 | 75.51 | 6.9 | 7.64 | 10 | 7.4 | 0.12147 | 0.14329 | 6.276047 | 3,845 |
2,176 | Kristin A. Camenga & Rebekah B. Johnson Yates | The Real Numbers: Not All Decimals Are Fractions | null | https://kids.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/frym.2020.00004 | 2,020 | Info | Lit | 500 | start | CC BY 4.0 | G | 1 | 1 | On Monday morning, your friend Jordan walks up to you and says, "I'm thinking of a number between 1 and 100." Being a good sport, you play along and guess 43. "Nope, too low!" Jordan declares. "Fine, how about 82?" you ask. "Too high!" Jordan answers. You keep guessing. 60 is too low. 76 is too high. 70 is too low. Feeling pleased that you are getting closer, you ask, "How about 75?" "You got it!" Jordan replies, and you march triumphantly off to your first class of the day.
But after class, you again run into Jordan, who has apparently been thinking about ways to stump you: why stick to positive numbers? What if you also allow negative numbers? "Now I am thinking of a number between negative 100 and 100," Jordan says gleefully. You decide to take the bait, and you quickly discover that this does not change the game much. You guess, and by going higher and lower you get closer and closer to the target. If Jordan's number is -32, and you have already figured out that -33 is too low and -31 is too high, then you know the answer is -32. | 196 | 21 | 2 | 0.238441 | 0.503781 | 85.66 | 3.64 | 2.38 | 6 | 6.99 | 0.06974 | 0.05686 | 30.687246 | 634 |
5,295 | JANE OLIVER | MILLY AND JIP | The Nursery, November 1881, Vol. XXX
A Monthly Magazine for Youngest Readers | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/42160/42160-h/42160-h.htm#Page_342 | 1,881 | Lit | Lit | 500 | start | null | G | 1 | 1 | His is a little English girl. Her name is Mildred; but she is usually called Milly. She has always lived in a fine old house, with lovely grounds about it, not far from London. But now she is going, with her father and mother, to India.
She thinks it will be very nice to be travelling so far away with them; but she is sorry to leave her kind grandmother, and all her aunts and cousins. She could not help crying when she said good-by to them.
"I cannot go without my Jip," she said to her mother the day before leaving.
"Oh, no, darling!" said her mother. "I wouldn't think of leaving the little dog behind. He will be a fine play-fellow for you on board the ship."
So she has Jip cuddled close in her arms, you see. It is late in November, and the weather is cold. But Milly has plenty of warm fur wraps to protect her and her pet too. | 161 | 14 | 5 | 0.259717 | 0.485865 | 89.44 | 3.98 | 3.11 | 7 | 5.79 | -0.06437 | -0.05732 | 25.481679 | 2,995 |
6,498 | Arthur Scott Bailey | The Tale of the The Muley Cow
Slumber-Town Tales | null | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/24545/24545-h/24545-h.htm | 1,921 | Lit | Lit | 900 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | When the bear rose out of the bushes and looked at him—and said "Woof!" too—Johnnie Green did not bellow as the Muley Cow had. But he turned and ran. Once he tripped on a root and fell headlong. But he was on his feet again in a jiffy and running faster than ever. And though he had only half as many legs as the Muley Cow, he reached the pasture fence not far behind her.
It was the first time Johnnie Green had known the Muley Cow to jump the fence back into the pasture, after jumping out of it. Before, she had always made him let down the bars for her, quite as if she had never done such a giddy thing as to leap over a fence. Now, however, she was in too great a hurry to bother with bars. So she topped the fence like a deer, while Johnnie slipped through it like a pig a few seconds later, and old Spot wriggled under it like a weasel soon afterward. | 172 | 10 | 2 | -0.946043 | 0.474608 | 86.09 | 5.55 | 5.41 | 6 | 6.05 | 0.00357 | 0.01557 | 21.363919 | 3,917 |
1,522 | Oliver Wendell Holmes | The Cubes Of Truth | Journeys Through Bookland Vol. 7 | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/23405/23405-h/23405-h.htm#THE_CUBES_OF_TRUTH | 1,922 | Lit | Lit | 1,300 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | When we are as yet small children, long before the time when those two grown ladies offer us the choice of Hercules, there comes up to us a youthful angel, holding in his right hand cubes like dice, and in his left spheres like marbles. The cubes are of stainless ivory, and on each is written in letters of gold—Truth. The spheres are veined and streaked and spotted beneath, with a dark crimson flush above where the light falls on them and in a certain aspect you can make out upon every one of them the three letters, L, I, E.
The child to whom they are offered very probably clutches at both. The spheres are the most convenient things in the world; they roll with the least possible impulse just where the child would have them. The cubes will not roll at all; they have a great talent for standing still, and always keep right side up. | 157 | 5 | 2 | -1.463608 | 0.444637 | 70.89 | 11.22 | 14.31 | 8 | 7.8 | 0.14777 | 0.17522 | 15.231595 | 313 |
3,521 | Olivia Fraser | Handmade in India | null | https://freekidsbooks.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/FKB-Stories-handmade-in-india.pdf | 2,004 | Info | Lit | 900 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | On the edge of a forest in Karnataka I came across these women collecting firewood. They are wandering Romani people from a tribe called the Banjara tribe. Look at the heavy jewelry they wear. But even heavier must be these huge bundles of sticks they are carrying. Can you see how they have wound up pieces of cloth into a tight circle and placed it on their heads to help them balance the load? This also protects them from any thorns or spikes the sticks may have. Can you guess what fruit is growing on the trees?
These women are also from Karnataka and they are helping make one of the most important things to eat in India - rice. Rice grows in flooded fields called paddy fields. Here the women are ankle-deep in the paddies replanting the rice saplings at regular intervals so that the rice will grow strong and healthy. Can you see how the women have tied up their sarees so that their clothes don't get wet in the water? I think their backs must ache by the end of the day, don't you? | 186 | 12 | 2 | -0.219034 | 0.447784 | 82.44 | 5.63 | 6.37 | 8 | 6.52 | 0.17614 | 0.16309 | 19.015737 | 1,811 |
2,970 | Julia W. Y. Kam | The Wandering Mind: How the Brain Allows Us to Mentally Wander Off to Another Time and Place | Frontiers for Young Minds | https://kids.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/frym.2017.00025 | 2,017 | Info | Lit | 1,100 | mid | CC BY 4.0 | G | 1 | 1 | Imagine this: you are sitting in a classroom on a sunny day as your science teacher enthusiastically tells you what our brain is capable of doing. Initially, you pay close attention to what the teacher is saying. But the sound of the words coming out of her mouth gradually fade away as you notice your stomach growling and you begin to think about that delicious ice cream you had last night. Have you ever caught yourself mind wandering? In similar situations, where your eyes are fixed on your teacher, friends, or parents, but your mind has secretly wandered off to another time and place? You may be recalling the last sports game you watched or fantasizing about going to the new amusement park this upcoming weekend, or humming your favorite tune that you just cannot get out of your head. This experience is what scientists call mind wandering, which is a period of time when we are focused on things that are not related to the ongoing task or what is actually going on around us.
Humans on average spend up to half of their waking hours mind wandering. | 188 | 8 | 2 | 1.013469 | 0.554363 | 60.66 | 10.67 | 11.85 | 12 | 7.48 | 0.1441 | 0.13151 | 18.016923 | 1,358 |
6,580 | James Carson | The Saddle Boys of the Rockies
Lost on Thunder Mountain | null | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/19120/19120-h/19120-h.htm | 1,913 | Lit | Lit | 1,100 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | At a word from his master the well trained Buckskin doubled up, and lay down on the ground. Most cowboy ponies are taught to do this trick by their masters, and it is in common use; so that the punchers believe it is a poor animal that has not learned to roll over and play dead on occasion.
Bob, too, managed to induce his mount to do the same thing; but to make it absolutely certain that no unwise flounder on the part of Domino might betray them, he sat upon the horse's head, soothing him by little pats on his glossy hide.
"I hear 'em coming," announced Frank, presently.
The sounds reached him against the wind, so that it was quite natural to believe the approaching horses must by now be very close. There was a confused pounding that could only spring from a large body of animals. The trained ear of Frank caught a significance in the clash of hoofs that told him much more than Bob was able to make out. | 171 | 7 | 4 | -1.650243 | 0.505781 | 71.72 | 9.43 | 10.58 | 9 | 7.23 | 0.20759 | 0.20759 | 15.260351 | 3,992 |
7,257 | America's Library | The Peanut Man | CLD | https://www.commonlit.org/texts/the-peanut-man | 1,954 | Info | Lit | 700 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | Carver knew that certain plants put nutrients back into the soil. One of those plants is the peanut! Peanuts are also a source of protein.
Carver thought that if those farmers planted peanuts, the plants would help restore their soil, provide food for their animals, and provide protein for their families — quite a plant! In 1896 peanuts were not even recognized as a crop in the United States, but Carver would help change that.
Carver told farmers to rotate their crops: plant cotton one year, then the next year plant peanuts and other soil-restoring plants, like peas and sweet potatoes. It worked! The peanut plants grew and produced lots of peanuts. The plants added enough nutrients to the soil so cotton grew the next year. Now the farmers had lots of peanuts — too many for their families and animals — and no place to sell the extras. Again, Carver had a plan. Do you know what he did?
Carver invented all kinds of things made out of peanuts. He wrote down more than 300 uses for peanuts, including peanut milk, peanut paper, and peanut soap. | 184 | 14 | 4 | 0.137977 | 0.471395 | 79.99 | 5.17 | 6.16 | 7 | 6.47 | 0.16144 | 0.14008 | 21.016741 | 4,503 |
4,359 | W.B. Yeats | The Crucifixion Of The Outcast | Twenty-Three Stories by Twenty and Three Authors by Dawson Scott and Rhys | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/62347/62347-h/62347-h.htm | 1,914 | Lit | Lit | 1,100 | mid | null | PG-13 | 3 | 2 | He was very hungry, for he had not eaten all that day; so he did not waste much anger upon the tub, but took up the black loaf, and bit into it, and then spat out the bite, for the bread was hard and mouldy. Still he did not give way to his wrath, for he had not drunken these many hours; having a hope of heath beer or wine at his day's end, he had left the brooks untasted, to make his supper the more delightful. Now he put the jug to his lips, but he flung it from him straightway, for the water was bitter and ill-smelling. Then he gave the jug a kick, so that it broke against the opposite wall, and he took down the blanket to wrap it about him for the night. But no sooner did he touch it than it was alive with skipping fleas. | 152 | 5 | 1 | -0.961665 | 0.450263 | 76.25 | 10.23 | 11.29 | 7 | 6.19 | 0.09982 | 0.13132 | 16.974855 | 2,263 |
7,153 | E. Frere | Punchkin | Junior Classics Vol. 1 | http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/3152/pg3152.html | 1,898 | Lit | Lit | 700 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | The Raja's daughters took it by turns to cook their father's dinner every day, while he was absent deliberating with his Ministers on the affairs of the nation.
About this time the Prudhan died, leaving a widow and one daughter; and every day, when the seven Princesses were preparing their father's dinner, the Prudhan's widow and daughter would come and beg for a little fire from the hearth. Then Balna used to say to her sisters, "Send that woman away; send her away. Let her get the fire at her own house. What does she want with ours? If we allow her to come here, we shall suffer for it some day."
But the other sisters would answer, "Be quiet, Balna; why must you always be quarreling with this poor woman? Let her take some fire if she likes." Then the Prudhan's widow used to go to the hearth and take a few sticks from it; and while no one was looking, she would quickly throw some mud into the midst of the dishes which were being prepared for the Raja's dinner. | 180 | 9 | 3 | -0.492145 | 0.438755 | 75.68 | 7.73 | 8.47 | 7 | 6.46 | 0.06783 | 0.0704 | 20.653988 | 4,409 |
4,168 | William Howard Taft | A World League to Enforce Peace | New York Times Current History; The European War, Vol 2, No. 4 | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/26377/26377-h/26377-h.htm#A_World_League_to_Enforce_Peace | 1,915 | Info | Lit | 1,300 | mid | null | PG | 2 | 2 | We are not peace-at-any-price men, because we do not think we have reached the time when a plan based on the complete abolition of war is impracticable. So long as nations partake of the frailties of men who compose them, war is a possibility, and that possibility should not be ignored in any League of Peace that is to be useful. We do not think it necessary to call peace-at-any-price men cowards or apply other epithets to them. We have known in history the most noble characters who adhered to such a view and yet whose physical and moral courage is a heritage of mankind.
To those who differ with us in our view of the necessity for this feature of possible force in our plan, we say we respect your attitude. We admit your claim to sincere patriotism to be as just as ours. We do not ascribe your desire to avoid war to be a fear of death to yourselves or your sons; but rather to your sense of the horrors, injustice, and ineffectiveness of settling any international issue by such a brutal arbitrament. | 185 | 7 | 2 | -2.133632 | 0.504143 | 57.38 | 12.07 | 12.15 | 12 | 8.45 | 0.22781 | 0.22475 | 15.913668 | 2,170 |
2,675 | Pedro Morgado | What Is Obsessive Compulsive Disorder? | null | https://kids.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/frym.2019.00138 | 2,019 | Info | Lit | 1,300 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | The brain works like a computer, with multiple networks connecting brain regions that are responsible for different functions. We have complex systems for every function. For example, one brain network is responsible for acquiring and managing the data that comes in from our senses, another is responsible for creating and managing our emotions, another is responsible for movements, and another is responsible for creating, managing and prioritizing our thoughts.
In OCD, the communication system between parts of the brain, namely the orbitofrontal cortex and the basal ganglia, is disrupted and the brain makes mistakes when processing and prioritizing information.
The orbitofrontal cortex is responsible for using information from the senses to make decisions and anticipating the result of our life choices. In OCD, this region is hyperactivated and detects errors and dangers where there is not anything wrong. | 136 | 6 | 3 | -0.637014 | 0.474794 | 28.39 | 15.01 | 16.27 | 16 | 10.84 | 0.28678 | 0.30917 | 14.199526 | 1,091 |
3,378 | Lorato Trok | Tselane and the giant | African Storybook Level 4 | https://www.africanstorybook.org/ | 2,014 | Lit | Lit | 500 | mid | CC BY 4.0 | G | 1 | 1 | Tselane did not want to leave her old village and she started to cry.
Her mother was scared to leave her daughter alone because giants lived in the caves nearby that village. But Tselane cried so much that her mother finally agreed that she could stay behind.
Tselane's mother told her that she would bring food every day. She said, "I will sing a song so that you know it's me. Don't open the door for anyone else, my child." She sang the song: "Tselane my child! Tselane my child! Come out and eat your porridge! Come out and eat your porridge!"
The next morning Tselane's mother came to the house with food. She sang their special song. Tselane opened the door and took her mother's delicious food. Then her mother kissed her and went back to her new home.
A giant was hiding in the bushes, watching and listening to Tselane and her mother! After Tselane switched off her light that night, she heard a deep voice singing her mother's song outside the door. "Tselane my child! Come out and eat your porridge!" sang the giant. "Go away! You are not my mother! You are a giant!" shouted Tselane. | 200 | 23 | 5 | 0.106256 | 0.458226 | 90.14 | 2.85 | 3.12 | 5 | 5.65 | -0.02019 | -0.04379 | 35.979338 | 1,690 |
3,168 | USHistory.org | French and Indian War | CLD | https://www.commonlit.org/texts/french-and-indian-war | 2,016 | Info | Lit | 1,100 | mid | CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 | PG | 2 | 1.5 | The first phase of this war was a sheer disaster for Britain. Assaults on French territory ended in bitter defeat. The French and their Indian allies inspired fear on the British frontier by burning and pillaging settlements. The French even struck within sixty miles of Philadelphia. Americans were dismayed. They believed that Britain was not making the proper commitment to North America.
The turning point in the war came when the British statesman William Pitt took over wartime operations. He believed North America was critical for England's global domination. Pitt turned command of recruitment and supplies over to local authorities in America and promised to reimburse them for their efforts. He committed more troops and rearranged commanding officers, replacing old war heroes with energetic young ones.
Militarily, the tide began to turn, as the British captured Louisbourg, an important strategic port the British used to close the St. Lawrence Seaway. The death blow to the French cause was struck in Quebec in 1759. Commander James Wolfe bravely sent his forces up a rocky embankment to surprise the French. | 176 | 13 | 3 | -1.560701 | 0.471256 | 56.57 | 8.53 | 9.55 | 11 | 10.65 | 0.26322 | 0.23729 | 8.563809 | 1,521 |
3,535 | President Ronald Reagan | Ronald Reagan on the Challenger Disaster | CLD | https://www.commonlit.org/texts/ronald-reagan-on-the-challenger-disaster | 1,986 | Info | Lit | 700 | mid | null | PG | 2 | 2 | We've grown used to wonders in this century. It's hard to dazzle us. But for twenty-five years the United States space program has been doing just that. We've grown used to the idea of space, and, perhaps we forget that we've only just begun. We're still pioneers. They, the members of the Challenger crew, were pioneers.
And I want to say something to the schoolchildren of America who were watching the live coverage of the shuttle's takeoff. I know it's hard to understand, but sometimes, painful things like this happen. It's all part of the process of exploration and discovery. It's all part of taking a chance and expanding man's horizons. The future doesn't belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to the brave. The Challenger crew was pulling us into the future, and we'll continue to follow them.
I've always had great faith in and respect for our space program. And what happened today does nothing to diminish it. We don't hide our space program. We don't keep secrets and cover things up. We do it all upfront and in public. That's the way freedom is, and we wouldn't change it for a minute.
We'll continue our quest in space. | 198 | 19 | 4 | -0.0928 | 0.498593 | 79.2 | 4.71 | 4.59 | 8 | 7.59 | 0.21589 | 0.18882 | 22.533639 | 1,819 |
5,693 | Aunt Tutie | DREADFULLY CHEATED | The Nursery, November 1873, Vol. XIV. No. 5 | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/24942/24942-h/24942-h.htm#Page_132 | 1,873 | Lit | Lit | 900 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | George had quite a long walk to take; and, when he got back, it was quite dark. Just as he reached the garden-gate, he remembered what his uncle had said that morning about Watch.
"Now," said he to himself, "I'll just see if I cannot get into the house without your knowing it, Master Watch; and, if I cannot, you are smarter than I think."
So George took off his shoes, and went stealing along on the soft grass, looking like a little thief, until he came to the broad gravel-walk, which he must cross to get round to the back of the house.
He stopped for a minute, while he looked about for Watch, and soon spied him lying at the front-door, with his black nose resting upon his great white paws; and he seemed to be fast asleep.
Then George very cautiously stepped upon the gravel-walk, first with one foot, and then with the other. As he did so, Watch pricked up both ears; but it was so dark, that George did not see them. | 173 | 7 | 5 | 0.073434 | 0.488631 | 81.5 | 8.32 | 10.12 | 6 | 1.98 | -0.07749 | -0.07329 | 23.487072 | 3,344 |
5,480 | Susan Archer Weiss. | THE ARMS OF GREAT BRITAIN. | St. Nicholas Magazine for Boys and Girls, Vol. 5 | http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/19399 | 1,878 | Lit | Lit | 1,100 | end | null | G | 1 | 1 | I saw in Brunswick the great stone lion which Henry Guelph placed there seven hundred years ago; and in Hanover, the old palace in which George the First was born, with the lion and the horse above the entrance. Once, too, in the Hartz mountains, I visited a grand-looking ancient castle of the old dukes of Brunswick, in which was born the wife of George the Second of England. It stood on the summit of a lofty precipice, up which we had to climb; then crossing a deep moat by a narrow bridge, we entered through a great arched gate-way, surmounted by the Brunswick coat-of-arms, cut in the stone wall. The moat was dry, and ivy and tall trees growing in it far below, thrust the tips of their branches over the walls. I stopped and took a sketch of the old gate-way, which I here present my young readers. | 150 | 5 | 1 | -1.294309 | 0.489637 | 72.21 | 10.89 | 13.43 | 8 | 7.52 | 0.22877 | 0.2602 | 10.433292 | 3,157 |
1,142 | FRANK V. WEBSTER | THE BOYS OF BELLWOOD SCHOOL | null | http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/6444/pg6444-images.html | 2,002 | Lit | Lit | 1,100 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | There were two thoughts that filled Frank's mind most of the time. The first was that he would give about all he had to leave his aunt's house. The other was a wish that his father would write to him soon, telling him, as he had promised to do, that he had decided that his son could leave Tipton and go to boarding-school.
What with the constant nagging of his sour-visaged relative, the worry over his sick father, and the suspense as to his own future movements, Frank did not have a very happy time of it. He felt a good deal like a boy shut up in a prison. His aunt used her authority severely. She kept him away from company, and allowed none of his friends to visit the house. From morning until night she pestered him and nagged at him, "all for his own good," she said, until life at the Jordan home, roomy and comfortable as it was, became a burden to the lad. | 167 | 8 | 2 | -0.007394 | 0.469067 | 78.27 | 7.62 | 8.04 | 8 | 6.46 | -0.05602 | -0.03323 | 19.097821 | 180 |
4,530 | John Fox, Jr. | The Pardon of Becky Day | CLD | https://www.commonlit.org/texts/the-pardon-of-becky-day | 1,904 | Lit | Lit | 1,100 | start | null | G | 1 | 1 | The missionary was young and she was from the North. Her brows were straight, her nose was rather high, and her eyes were clear and gray. The upper lip of her little mouth was so short that the teeth just under it were never quite concealed. It was the mouth of a child and it gave the face, with all its strength and high purpose, a peculiar pathos that no soul in that little mountain town had the power to see or feel. A yellow mule was hitched to the rickety fence in front of her and she stood on the stoop of a little white frame-house with an elm switch between her teeth and gloves on her hands, which were white and looked strong. The mule wore a man's saddle, but no matter—the streets were full of yellow pools, the mud was ankle-deep, and she was on her way to the sick-bed of Becky Day. | 156 | 6 | 1 | -0.422689 | 0.477958 | 85.35 | 7 | 8.53 | 6 | 5.95 | 0.09886 | 0.1218 | 16.69689 | 2,397 |
3,201 | Yanis Varoufakis | Capitalism Will Eat Democracy — Unless We Speak Up | CLD | https://www.commonlit.org/texts/capitalism-will-eat-democracy-unless-we-speak-up | 2,016 | Info | Lit | 1,300 | mid | CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 | PG | 2 | 1.5 | Tonight, here, I want to present to you an economic case for an authentic democracy. I want to ask you to join me in believing again that Lee Kuan Yew, the Chinese Communist Party and indeed the Eurogroup are wrong in believing that we can dispense with democracy — that we need an authentic, boisterous democracy. And without democracy, our societies will be nastier, our future bleak and our great, new technologies wasted.
Speaking of waste, allow me to point out an interesting paradox that is threatening our economies as we speak. I call it the twin peaks paradox. One peak you understand — you know it, you recognize it — is the mountain of debts that has been casting a long shadow over the United States, Europe, the whole world. We all recognize the mountain of debts. But few people discern its twin. A mountain of idle cash belonging to rich savers and to corporations, too terrified to invest it into the productive activities that can generate the incomes from which you can extinguish the mountain of debts and which can produce all those things that humanity desperately needs, like green energy. | 192 | 9 | 2 | -2.311148 | 0.500727 | 52.27 | 11.21 | 11.4 | 13 | 8.42 | 0.24706 | 0.23633 | 16.023479 | 1,543 |
1,531 | F. J. H. Darton | Horn the Knight Errant | Junior Classics Vol. 4 | http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/6323/pg6323-images.html | 1,909 | Lit | Lit | 700 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | Horn, flushed with rage, went to the stable, and set saddle on his steed, and took his arms; so fierce was his mien that none dared withstand him. When all was ready for his going, he sought out Rimenhild. "Your dream was true, dear love," he said. "The fish has torn your net, and I go from you. But I will put a new ending to the dream; fear not. Now fare you well; the king your father has cast me out of his realm, and I must needs seek adventure in other lands. Seven years will I wander, and it may be that I shall win such fortune as shall bring me back to sue honorably for you. But if at the end of seven years I have not come again to Westerness, nor sent word to you, then do you, if you so will, take another man for husband in my stead, and put me out of your heart. Now for the last time hold me in your arms and kiss me good-bye."
So Horn took his leave. | 179 | 10 | 2 | -1.681722 | 0.5236 | 92.65 | 4.83 | 4.81 | 7 | 5.84 | 0.08458 | 0.08764 | 24.102644 | 322 |
6,110 | Mark Twain | Luck | CLD | https://www.commonlit.org/texts/luck | 1,891 | Lit | Lit | 900 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | About forty years ago I was an instructor in the military academy at Woolwich. I was present in one of the sections when young Scoresby underwent his preliminary examination. I was touched to the quick with pity; for the rest of the class answered up brightly and handsomely, while he—why, dear me, he didn't know anything, so to speak. He was evidently good, and sweet, and lovable, and guileless; and so it was exceedingly painful to see him stand there, as serene as a graven image, and deliver himself of answers which were veritably miraculous for stupidity and ignorance. All the compassion in me was aroused in his behalf. I said to myself, when he comes to be examined again, he will be flung over, of course; so it will be simple a harmless act of charity to ease his fall as much as I can. | 146 | 6 | 1 | -0.780667 | 0.451829 | 53.5 | 11.84 | 11.18 | 13 | 8.52 | 0.15217 | 0.19322 | 14.157329 | 3,647 |
1,580 | Lloyd Wyman | Johnny's Lost Ball | St. Nicholas Magazine Volume 5 No. 7 | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/16173/16173-h/16173-h.htm#johnny | 1,878 | Lit | Lit | 1,100 | start | null | G | 1 | 1 | Johnny had a silver dollar.
Johnny also had a good friend in the schoolmaster who, in various ways, had so interested the boy in natural philosophy that he desired of all things to possess a book on the subject, that he might study for himself.
Therefore, on the very first spare afternoon Johnny had, he rolled up his silver dollar in many folds of paper, tucked it snugly away in a lonesome corner of an old castaway pocket-book, and started for the village bookstore; but, when he found the many nicely bound volumes too dear for his pocket, he choked, and nearly cried for disappointment.
"Hold on!" said the book-seller, as he slipped his lead-pencil behind his ear, and stepped briskly to a little shelf of rusty-looking books.
"Here are some second-hand copies of Comstock, Parker and Steele, any of which you can have for seventy-five cents,—have your pick for six shillings. Comstock and Parker are in the best repair, and are finer print; but for me, give me Steele! In buying second-hand books, always choose the banged-up fellows. Comstock and Parker tell everything that everybody knows or guesses. Steele biles his'n down." | 189 | 10 | 5 | -1.161651 | 0.47566 | 62.11 | 10.14 | 10.94 | 10 | 7.57 | 0.1234 | 0.10224 | 11.982873 | 362 |
2,925 | David McAdams | Game Theory and Cooperation: How Putting Others First Can Help Everyone | Frontiers for Young Minds | https://kids.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/frym.2017.00066 | 2,017 | Info | Lit | 1,100 | mid | null | PG | 2 | 1.5 | A situation is a "game" whenever (i) more than one person is making a decision and (ii) people's decisions impact one another.
Just about everything we do in life is a game in the game-theory sense. At home, at school, everywhere we go, and just about everything we do, we are playing games. Do not believe me? Think back to the very beginning of your day, when you woke up. How quickly you got out of bed impacted your parents—and how early they woke you up impacted you—so that was a game! Think about what happened next, throughout the rest of the day. From the bathroom to the breakfast table, in the classroom and on the playground, you make choices that impact others as well as yourself. You're playing games! Knowing about game theory can help you improve your experience in those situations—not just to "win," but to improve your relationships and have a happier life.
Game theory is used to study how people are likely to behave in strategic situations, with applications in economics, political science, business strategy, law, entrepreneurship, and military science, to name just a few. | 187 | 11 | 3 | -0.639122 | 0.456438 | 63.32 | 8.06 | 7.51 | 11 | 6.94 | 0.16612 | 0.15545 | 24.269552 | 1,314 |
1,598 | Annie Ker | THE TWO LIZARDS | The Junior Classics, Volume 1 | http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/3152/pg3152-images.html | 1,912 | Lit | Lit | 900 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | Nagari was much troubled at this saying, and marveled greatly. Then one woman made bold to rise up, and saying, "I shall return," she went to seek the sweet music. Now this woman never returned. After a time, another woman arose and said, "Stay here, my friends; I shall return."
Then she went in like manner to look for the music. And she returned not. And so with each woman, until Nagari was left sitting alone as he had been at the beginning.
Now Webubu was still playing his flute on the platform he had built in the corkwood tree, when the women came in sight. He was alarmed for the safety of his frail platform, when he saw these many people advancing, and he cried, "Come not up into the tree. Remain below, I beseech you, O women!"
But the women were consumed with eagerness to be close to the music which had taken their hearts, and they climbed, all of them, until they were upon the platform of Webubu. | 168 | 11 | 4 | -1.669864 | 0.465473 | 77.27 | 6.34 | 5.99 | 8 | 5.98 | 0.05594 | 0.06119 | 23.473763 | 379 |
4,365 | Clement King Shorter | George Borrow and His Circle | null | http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/19767 | 1,913 | Info | Lit | 1,300 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | Yet Borrow was not actually born in East Dereham, but a mile and a half away, at the little hamlet of Dumpling Green, in what was then a glorious wilderness of common and furze bush, but is now a quiet landscape of fields and hedges. You will find the home in which the author of Lavengro first saw the light without much difficulty. It is a fair-sized farm-house, with a long low frontage separated from the road by a considerable strip of garden. It suggests a prosperous yeoman class, and I have known farm-houses in East Anglia not one whit larger dignified by the name of 'hall.' Nearly opposite is a pond. The trim hedges are a delight to us today, but you must cast your mind back to a century ago when they were entirely absent. The house belonged to George Borrow's maternal grandfather, Samuel Perfrement, who farmed the adjacent land at this time. Samuel and Mary Perfrement had eight children, the third of whom, Ann, was born in 1772. | 171 | 8 | 1 | -2.400625 | 0.528229 | 68.61 | 9.12 | 9.81 | 11 | 7.97 | 0.12887 | 0.1238 | 8.049144 | 2,269 |
5,270 | GEORGE T. PACKARD | A KNOWING DOG | The Nursery, October 1881, Vol. XXX
A Monthly Magazine for Youngest Readers | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/42159/42159-h/42159-h.htm#Page_311 | 1,881 | Lit | Lit | 900 | end | null | G | 1 | 1 | Quickly he opens the paper to its full extent, and places it on the floor carefully. He waits patiently for the bones that are to reward his obedience. When they have been put on the clean "table-cloth," he begins his nice feast. Dinner over, Flash picks up the paper cloth, and carries it out of the room for the cook to burn.
Ethel says that Flash can tell time; for at just such a minute every day, the dog comes to his master, sits up straight, with his front paws drooping gracefully, and asks, in his dumb way, for something to eat. And when the time comes for his master to go down town to business, Flash is sure to give him a hint; for Flash is very punctual, you see, and does not approve of delay.
One day Flash brought an intimate friend, a red setter, and introduced him to his master. Flash stood wagging his tail, while the caller was politely caressed. Then the two dogs trotted off together, and Flash's playmate had a new name to put on his visiting list. | 182 | 9 | 3 | -0.584274 | 0.446803 | 77.59 | 7.54 | 8.24 | 9 | 6.53 | 0.06309 | 0.05656 | 17.639944 | 2,976 |
3,539 | President Gerald R. Ford | Confirming the Termination of Japanese Internment | CLD | https://www.commonlit.org/texts/confirming-the-termination-of-japanese-internment | 1,976 | Info | Lit | 1,300 | start | null | PG | 2 | 2 | In this Bicentennial Year, we are commemorating the anniversary dates of many great events in American history. An honest reckoning, however, must include a recognition of our national mistakes as well as our national achievements. Learning from our mistakes is not pleasant, but as a great philosopher once admonished, we must do so if we want to avoid repeating them.
February nineteenth is the anniversary of a sad day in American history. It was on that date in 1942, in the midst of the response to the hostilities that began on December 7, 1941, that Executive Order 9066 was issued, subsequently enforced by the criminal penalties of a statute enacted March 21, 1942, resulting in the uprooting of loyal Americans. Over one hundred thousand persons of Japanese ancestry were removed from their homes, detained in special camps, and eventually relocated.
The tremendous effort by the War Relocation Authority and concerned Americans for the welfare of these Japanese Americans may add perspective to that story, but it does not erase the setback to fundamental American principles. Fortunately, the Japanese American community in Hawaii was spared the indignities suffered by those on our mainland. | 190 | 8 | 3 | -1.422076 | 0.47772 | 30.9 | 14.91 | 14.95 | 16 | 10.67 | 0.29602 | 0.28002 | 6.264007 | 1,822 |
4,486 | Henry Adams | The Education of Henry Adams | null | http://www.online-literature.com/henry-adams/education-of-henry-adams/2/ | 1,907 | Info | Lit | 1,100 | mid | null | PG | 2 | 1.5 | This problem of education, started in 1838, went on for three years, while the baby grew, like other babies, unconsciously, as a vegetable, the outside world working as it never had worked before, to get his new universe ready for him. Often in old age he puzzled over the question whether, on the doctrine of chances, he was at liberty to accept himself or his world as an accident. No such accident had ever happened before in human experience. For him, alone, the old universe was thrown into the ash-heap and a new one created. He and his eighteenth-century, troglodytic Boston were suddenly cut apart -- separated forever -- in act if not in sentiment, by the opening of the Boston and Albany Railroad; the appearance of the first Cunard steamers in the bay; and the telegraphic messages which carried from Baltimore to Washington the news that Henry Clay and James K. Polk were nominated for the Presidency. This was in May, 1844; he was six years old ; his new world was ready for use, and only fragments of the old met his eyes. | 185 | 6 | 1 | -2.270804 | 0.497016 | 49.73 | 13.94 | 14.96 | 14 | 8.25 | 0.16331 | 0.16489 | 13.303921 | 2,363 |
2,831 | simple wiki | Nerve | null | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nerve | 2,018 | Info | Science | 900 | start | CC BY-SA 3.0 and GFDL | G | 1 | 1 | A nerve is a group of special nerve cells grouped together in parallel. Another word for nerve cell is neuron. The special neurons grouped together in nerves take information (messages) to and from the human body to the central nervous system. The central nervous system (acronym) CNS is the brain and spinal cord. The spinal cord is the big cord that goes from the brain into the back. It carries all the information that goes from the brain to the nerves in the body.
All the nerves in the body make the peripheral nervous system (acronym PNS). The brain and spinal cord are the CNS. All the nerves that come from the spinal cord are the PNS. Together the CNS and PNS are the nervous system. The nervous system contains neurons and cells called glia. Glia cells keep the neurons safe and healthy. Neurons take messages to and from the CNS to the rest. The dendrite and axon are fibers that go out from the cell body. Axons take information away from the cell body. Dendrites take information to the cell body. | 181 | 16 | 2 | -1.569126 | 0.468663 | 77.22 | 5.31 | 5.26 | 8 | 8.54 | 0.27613 | 0.26801 | 24.756636 | 1,234 |
6,603 | JOEL CHANDLER HARRIS | A LITTLE UNION SCOUT | null | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/23871/23871-h/23871-h.htm | 1,904 | Lit | Lit | 1,100 | start | null | G | 1 | 1 | A young lady, just returned from college, was making a still-hunt in the house for old things—old furniture, old china, and old books. She had a craze for the antique, and the older things were the more precious they were in her eyes. Among other things she found an old scrap-book that her mother and I thought was safe under lock and key. She sat in a sunny place and read it page by page, and, when she had finished, her curiosity was aroused. The clippings in the old scrap-book were all about the adventures of a Union scout whose name was said to be Captain Frank Leroy. The newspaper clippings that had been preserved were queerly inconsistent. The Northern and Western papers praised the scout very highly, and some of them said that if there were more such men in the army the cause of the Union would progress more rapidly; whereas the Southern papers, though paying a high tribute to the dash and courage of the scout, were highly abusive. He was "one of Lincoln's hirelings" and as villanous as he was bold. | 185 | 8 | 1 | -0.742298 | 0.453918 | 73.13 | 8.25 | 9.35 | 9 | 7.11 | 0.12286 | 0.11318 | 15.63835 | 4,015 |
5,012 | Prof Paulus F. Reinsch. | ANALYSIS OF THE MALARIA PLANT (GEMIASMA RUBRA) | Scientific American Supplement, No. 385 | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/8950/8950-h/8950-h.htm | 1,883 | Info | Lit | 1,500 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | The crust of the clayish earth is covered with a reddish brown covering of about half a millimeter in thickness. This covering proves to be composed, under the microscope, of cellular filaments and various shaped bodies of various composition. They are made up of cells with densely and coarsely granulated reddish colored contents--shape, size, and composition are very variable. The cellular bodies make up the essential organic part of the clayish substance, and, without any doubt, if anything of the organic compounds of the substance is in genetical connection with the disease, these bodies would have this role. The structure and coloration of cell contents exhibit the closest alliance to the characteristics of the division of Chroolepideæ and of this small division of Chlorophyllaceous Algæ, nearest to Gongrosira--a genus whose five to six species are inhabitants of fresh water, mostly attached to various minute aquatic Algæ and mosses. Each cell of all the plants of this genus produces a large number of mobile cells--zoospores. | 164 | 6 | 1 | -2.183356 | 0.468276 | 36.57 | 15.28 | 16.98 | 16 | 10.2 | 0.37629 | 0.37931 | 2.385347 | 2,765 |
2,268 | wikipedia | Nomad | null | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nomad | 2,020 | Info | History | 1,300 | start | CC BY-SA 3.0 | G | 1 | 1 | A nomad (Greek: nomades; meaning one roaming about for pasture, pastoral tribe) is a member of a community of people who live in different locations, moving from one place to another. Among the various ways nomads relate to their environment, one can distinguish the hunter-gatherer, the pastoral nomad owning livestock, or the "modern" peripatetic nomad. As of 1995, there were an estimated 30–40 million nomads in the world. Nomadic hunting and gathering, following seasonally available wild plants and game, is by far the oldest human subsistence method. Pastoralists raise herds, driving them, and/or moving with them, in patterns that normally avoid depleting pastures beyond their ability to recover. Nomadism is also a lifestyle adapted to infertile regions such as steppe, tundra, or ice and sand, where mobility is the most efficient strategy for exploiting scarce resources. | 136 | 6 | 1 | -0.735349 | 0.461049 | 32.37 | 14.42 | 14.83 | 16 | 10.99 | 0.25262 | 0.28211 | -0.286139 | 719 |
2,378 | Simran K. Ghoman & Georg M. Schmölzer | Using Games to Train Doctors and Nurses to Save Babies at Birth | null | https://kids.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/frym.2020.00031 | 2,020 | Info | Lit | 1,300 | mid | CC BY 4.0 | G | 1 | 1 | To practice their knowledge and skills, doctors and nurses attend classes, read textbooks, or participate in simulated neonatal resuscitations. During a simulation doctors and nurses use equipment and supplies to perform neonatal resuscitation on a doll that looks like a real baby, in a classroom that looks like a real delivery room. An instructor, like a coach, leads the simulation and lets everyone know what they are doing well, and how they can improve. Training together during simulation is the best way to prepare for real-life neonatal resuscitation.
It is important that doctors and nurses train often, so that they do not make mistakes. However, doctors and nurses are very busy taking care of many patients, so they often do not have time to train as frequently as they should. When training is infrequent, they can forget how to perform neonatal resuscitation, which can be harmful for the baby. While simulation is a great way to train, it can also be expensive to use simulation to train doctors and nurses as often as they should be trained. | 176 | 8 | 2 | -0.878021 | 0.446454 | 49.27 | 11.91 | 12.57 | 13 | 8.11 | 0.15237 | 0.13823 | 19.145674 | 817 |
4,411 | ELBRIDGE S. BROOKS | WASHINGTON WITH GENERAL BRADDOCK | THE ELSON READERS
BOOK FIVE
| http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/9106/pg9106-images.html | 1,911 | Info | Lit | 1,100 | mid | null | PG | 2 | 2 | General Braddock came to Virginia with his splendid-looking fighting men. When he had studied the situation there, one of the first things he did was to ask Colonel George Washington of Mount Vernon to come with him as one of his chief assistants. Washington at once accepted. He saw that now the King of England "meant business," and that if General Braddock were as wise as he was brave, the trouble in the Ohio country might be speedily ended and the French driven out. But when he had joined General Braddock, he discovered that that brave but obstinate leader thought that battles were to be fought in America just the same as in Europe, and that soldiers could be marched against such forest-fighters as the French and Indians as if they were going on a parade. Washington did all he could to advise caution. It was of no use, however. General Braddock said that he was a soldier and knew how to fight, and that he did not wish for any advice from these Americans who had never seen a real battle. | 182 | 8 | 1 | 0.106264 | 0.493173 | 67.17 | 9.61 | 10.72 | 11 | 7.27 | 0.09098 | 0.08957 | 17.726357 | 2,310 |
3,742 | ? | British Aid to Italy | A Monthly Magazine of the New York Times, Volume 8, No 3 | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/41479/41479-h/41479-h.htm#page_492 | 1,918 | Info | Lit | 1,300 | mid | null | PG | 2 | 2 | December was an anxious month. Several German divisions were east of the Piave, and an attempt to force the river and capture Venice was considered likely. Local attacks grew more and more severe, and, though the progress of the enemy was not great and Italian counterattacks were constantly made, the danger of a breakthrough increased. The Austrians were being encouraged to persevere in the hope of getting down to the plains for the Winter.
Rear lines of defense were constructed, and as time passed and the preparations were well forward the feeling of security grew, and was further increased by the recapture by the Italians of the slopes of Monte Asolone on Dec. 22. The following day Mount Melago and Col del Rosso, on the Asiago Plateau, were lost, but the Italians regained the former by a counterattack. Though Christmas Day found the situation still serious, especially on the Asiago, where the Italians, while fighting stubbornly, suffered from strain and cold, the situation showed signs of improvement. This outlook was brightened still further by the capture of Mount Tomba, with 1,500 prisoners, by the French. In this action British artillery assisted. | 191 | 9 | 2 | -2.279784 | 0.510034 | 51.53 | 11.34 | 12.8 | 13 | 9.98 | 0.32418 | 0.2988 | 6.535495 | 1,976 |
4,766 | Edward Hale | The Life of Christopher Columbus | null | http://www.online-literature.com/edward-hale/life-of-christopher-columbus/ | 1,891 | Info | Lit | 1,500 | mid | null | PG | 2 | 1.5 | In addressing the king and queen, who are called "very high and very powerful princes," he reminds them that his undertaking to discover the West Indies began in the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, which appointed him as a messenger for this enterprise. He asks them to remember that he has always addressed them as with that intention.
He reminds them of the seven or eight years in which he was urging his cause and that it was not enough that he should have showed the religious side of it, that he was obliged to argue for the temporal view as well. But their decision, for which he praises them indirectly, was made, he says, in the face of the ridicule of all, excepting the two priests, Marcheza and the Archbishop of Segovia. "And everything will pass away excepting the word of God, who spoke so clearly of these lands by the voice of Isaiah in so many places, affirming that His name should be divulged to the nations from Spain." He goes on in a review of the earlier voyages, and after this preface gives his account of the voyage of 1498. | 192 | 6 | 2 | -1.911476 | 0.481237 | 55.83 | 13.46 | 15.15 | 13 | 7.85 | 0.14759 | 0.16133 | 11.190966 | 2,571 |
4,990 | G.S.S., in The Garden | THE RED SPIDER | 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 red spiders, as I have already stated, are not real spiders, but belong to the family Acarina or mites, a family included in the same class (the arachnida) as the true spiders, from which they may be easily distinguished by the want of any apparent division between the head and thorax and body; in the true spiders the head and thorax are united together and form one piece, to which the body is joined by a slender waist. The arachnidæ are followed by the myriapoda (centipedes, etc.), and these by the insectiæ or true insects. The red spiders belong to the kind of mites called spinning mites, to distinguish them from those which do not form a web of any kind. It is not quite certain at present whether there is only one or more species of red spider; but this is immaterial to the horticulturist, as their habits and the means for their destruction are the same. | 159 | 5 | 1 | -1.433356 | 0.482612 | 43.58 | 17.06 | 19.03 | 15 | 8.09 | 0.23968 | 0.25909 | 9.881121 | 2,745 |
6,497 | Arthur Scott Bailey | The Tale of Henrietta Hen | null | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/18652/18652-h/18652-h.htm | 1,921 | Lit | Lit | 500 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | There was a terrible hubbub in the henhouse. The Rooster squalled so loudly that he waked up every hen in the place. And when they heard him crying that a skunk had knocked him off his roost they were as frightened as he was, and set up a wild cackle. All but Henrietta Hen! She knew there was no skunk there.
"Don't be a goose—er—don't be a gander!" she hissed to the Rooster. "I'm the one that bumped into you."
The Rooster quickly came to his senses.
"Don't be alarmed, ladies!" he called to the flock. "There's no danger. There's been a slight mistake." He pretended that he hadn't been scared. But he had been. And now he was somewhat uneasy about Henrietta Hen. He feared he was in for a scolding from her.
"If you had answered me when I spoke to you I wouldn't have left my perch in the dark," she told the Rooster severely. "When I moved to your perch to see what was the matter I blundered into you. And then you thought I was a skunk! You owe me an apology, sir!" | 184 | 21 | 5 | -0.974151 | 0.478442 | 94.21 | 2.24 | 1.45 | 6 | 6.75 | 0.19428 | 0.19428 | 23.780974 | 3,916 |
4,636 | ? | Books Received. | The Great Round World and What Is Going On In It No. 58 | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/16475/16475-h/16475-h.htm | 1,897 | Info | Lit | 1,300 | start | null | G | 1 | 1 | We have received a very attractive little book called "Uncle Robert's Visit," which is the third part of the series of books called "Uncle Robert's Geography." It is published by the Messrs. Appleton in their series of Home-Reading Books, and presents nature study and geographical knowledge in the most attractive form, being woven in a story of "Uncle Robert's Visit" to the farm. This particular uncle, like some others we have known, was a fund of information and a source of delight to the nephews and nieces. He went about with them in the fields and woods, and, without forcing it on them in any way, so ordered the conversation that they learned much of nature on each trip. These uncles are treasures, and to those who cannot have them always with them, to read of some one else's uncle in this attractive form is charming. | 146 | 5 | 1 | -1.101336 | 0.466023 | 58.44 | 12.41 | 14.51 | 10 | 7.99 | 0.26189 | 0.29039 | 15.699917 | 2,472 |
5,740 | Mamma | HARRY AND THE BIG "POP-CORNER." | The Nursery, May 1873, Vol. XIII.
A Monthly Magazine for Youngest People | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/24478/24478-h/24478-h.htm#Page_131 | 1,873 | Lit | Lit | 700 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | Harry ran up to the door, shouting, "We've come, grandpa! We've come!" The door opened; the little fellow rushed into his grandpa's arms; and golden curls and thin gray locks were mingled for an instant. Then the young arms were thrown around dear Aunt Susie; and such a welcome was given as little boys love to have.
Harry then trotted off to the kitchen to find his friend Patty, the cook. In a few minutes he came running back, exclaiming, "O mamma! do come and see what a big pop-corner Patty has in the kitchen."
"Corn-popper, I suppose you mean," said his mamma, laughing, as she and Aunt Susie followed him to the kitchen. There, hanging behind the stove, was a large brass pan, as bright as gold: it had a cover full of holes, and a long handle. This was what Harry took for a corn-popper. | 145 | 10 | 3 | 0.957848 | 0.515007 | 85.27 | 4.75 | 4.66 | 5 | 6.21 | 0.00829 | 0.01697 | 18.938232 | 3,386 |
6,990 | E. Louise Smythe | THE GOOD SHIP ARGO | A Primary Reader
Old-time Stories, Fairy Tales and Myths Retold by Children | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/7841/7841-h/7841-h.htm#ix | 1,896 | Lit | Lit | 500 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | Jason was a brave young man. He lived a little way from the king's city.
One day the king gave a big party and invited Jason.
It was a very dark night and it rained hard. Jason had to go across a creek, but there was no bridge. The creek was full of water and Jason had to wade. One of his shoe-strings came untied and he lost his shoe in the water.
When he came to the king's house, he had but one shoe.
The king did not like this, for a fairy had said, "The man who shall come to your house with one shoe, will be king." So he knew Jason was to be king. Then he said to Jason, "You may be king when you bring me the golden fleece."
Jason was glad to go, and asked many brave men to go with him.
To get the golden fleece they would have to fight wild men and animals. They made a big ship which they named "Argo." The men who went on the Argo were called Argonauts. | 175 | 15 | 7 | 1.101128 | 0.529956 | 97.37 | 2.69 | 1.68 | 5 | 5.63 | -0.01829 | -0.024 | 32.529041 | 4,271 |
3,290 | Salaama Wanale | The girl who got rich | African Storybook Level 3 | https://www.africanstorybook.org/ | 2,015 | Lit | Lit | 500 | mid | CC BY 4.0 | PG | 2 | 1.5 | Nambuya walked for a long time. She reached a place where there were snakes, millipedes, caterpillars and other insects. She was very tired and weak from hunger. When she sat down to rest, she fell asleep. The insects began to bite her. On her journey, Nelima came to the same old woman. She was happy to see Netasile, who was the first person she met since starting her journey. Netasile asked the same questions as she asked Nambuya. Nelima agreed to help Netasile. "You have done what others failed to do," said the old woman. She told Nelima to go back home. There she would find everything she wanted. Nelima was very grateful and thanked the old woman. She ran back home and found a new house with everything in it, and a lot of food. She was now rich. But Nelima mourned the loss of her sister, Nambuya. She said to herself, "One who did not listen to advice ended up in an elephant's mouth." | 166 | 17 | 1 | -0.630184 | 0.466403 | 79.71 | 4.57 | 3.49 | 8 | 5.55 | 0.02182 | 0.02321 | 29.911977 | 1,615 |
6,442 | Allen Chapman
| The Radio Boys Trailing a Voice; Or, Solving a Wireless Mystery | null | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/25858/25858-h/25858-h.htm | 1,922 | Lit | Lit | 700 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | Some days later Bob and Herb and Joe were on their way to Bob's house to do a little experimenting on the latter's set when they were surprised at the alacrity with which Jimmy turned a corner and came puffing up to them.
"Say, fellows!" he yelled, as he came within earshot, "I've got some mighty interesting news for you."
"Let's have it," said Bob.
"It's about the snowball Buck fired through the window," panted Jimmy, falling into step beside them. "I met a man who's staying up at the Sterling House. He says Buck's the boy who did it, all right."
"How does he know?" all of the others asked with interest.
"Saw Buck pick up a stone and pack the snow hard around it," said Jimmy importantly. "He saw it himself, so we've got one witness for our side, all right."
"That's good," said Bob, adding, with a glint in his eye: "Say, wouldn't I like to get my hands on Buck, just for about five minutes!" | 163 | 12 | 7 | -0.573638 | 0.482475 | 85.41 | 4.84 | 4.57 | 7 | 6.86 | 0.04373 | 0.05229 | 16.433126 | 3,870 |
7,358 | Letter from The Daily Atlantis of New York dated Constantinople, Aug. 6 | CONSTANTINOPLE IN AUGUST | The European War, Vol. 1 - No. 6 | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/20521/20521-h/20521-h.htm#How_Turkey_Went_to_War | 1,915 | Info | Lit | 1,700 | mid | null | PG | 2 | 2 | Policemen and Sheriffs, followed by military officers, are taking by force everything in the way of foodstuffs, entering the bakeries and other shops selling victuals, boarding ships with cargoes of flour, potatoes, wheat, rice, &c., and taking over virtually everything, giving in lieu of payment a receipt which is not worth even the paper on which it is written.
In this way many shops are forced to close, bread has entirely disappeared from the bakeries, and Constantinople, the capital of a neutral country, is already feeling all the troubles and privations of a besieged city. Prices for foodstuffs have soared to inaccessible heights as provisions are becoming scarce. Actual hand-to-hand combats are taking place in the streets outside the bakeries for the possession of a loaf of bread, and hungry women with children in their arms are seen crying and weeping in despair. | 142 | 4 | 2 | -0.882008 | 0.44872 | 36.43 | 17.18 | 20.08 | 16 | 9.25 | 0.23454 | 0.24898 | 5.902992 | 4,573 |
2,158 | wikipedia | Jet_pack | null | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jet_pack | 2,020 | Info | Technology | 1,500 | start | CC BY-SA 3.0 | PG-13 | 3 | 2.5 | Jet pack, rocket belt, rocket pack and similar names are used for various types of devices, usually worn on the back, that are propelled by jets of escaping gases (or in some cases water) to let a single user propel him or herself into the air or fly.
The concept emerged from science fiction in the 1960s and became popular as the technology became a reality. The most common use of the jet pack has been in extra-vehicular activities for astronauts. Despite decades of advancement in the technology, many obstacles remain in the way of use of the jetpack in the military or as a means of personal transport, including the challenges of Earth's atmosphere, Earth's gravity, low energy density of available fuels, and the human body not being naturally adapted to fly. To compensate for the limitations of the human body, the jet pack must accommodate for all factors of flight such as lift and stabilization. | 156 | 5 | 2 | -0.183396 | 0.48465 | 38.22 | 15.78 | 16.31 | 16 | 10.3 | 0.19452 | 0.20566 | 5.535682 | 621 |
7,171 | Sir George W. Dasent | Why the Bear is Stumpy-Tailed | Junior Classics Vol. 1 | http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/3152/pg3152.html | 1,907 | Lit | Lit | 700 | end | null | G | 1 | 1 | So the Bear had a mind to learn to fish too, and bade the Fox tell him how he was to set about it.
"Oh! It's an easy craft for you", answered the Fox, "and soon learned. You've only got to go upon the ice, and cut a hole and stick your tail down into it; and so you must go on holding it there as long as you can. You're not to mind if your tail smarts a little; that's when the fish bite. The longer you hold it there the more fish you'll get; and then all at once out with it, with a cross pull sideways, and with a strong pull too."
Yes; the Bear did as the Fox had said, and held his tail a long, long the down in the hole, till it was fast frozen in. Then he pulled it out with a cross pull, and it snapped short off. That's why Bruin goes about with a stumpy tail this very day. | 166 | 9 | 3 | 0.535585 | 0.529256 | 95.73 | 4.54 | 4.37 | 5 | 5.6 | -0.01353 | 0.00405 | 27.744377 | 4,426 |
5,664 | ? | The Story of the Sparrow | The Nursery, January 1873, Vol. XIII.
A Monthly Magazine for Youngest People | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/24474/24474-h/24474-h.htm#Page_1 | 1,873 | Lit | Lit | 500 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | Many young sparrows have been born to us. They are proud of being Americans. They think they are cleverer than their parents, because their parents, you see, are English. Pride is not right, is it?
There is a bird called the butcher-bird,—a very savage bird,—that tries to kill us. We have to look out for these butcher-birds. But they cannot get into our houses: the doors are too small for them.
There is a little bird called the snow-bird, that comes in winter. We are not afraid of him. He is afraid of us. We drive him away when Emily feeds us all. Emily calls us naughty when we do this: she threatens to punish us for it.
Emily and her folks live not far from our grove. Emily has a father and mother, a grandfather, a brother Philip, and a baby sister, whose name is Nelly. Grandfather and Nelly are great friends. Grandfather brings Nelly in his arms to see Emily and Philip feed us. | 163 | 16 | 4 | -0.940742 | 0.49372 | 83.48 | 4.24 | 3.26 | 7 | 6.03 | 0.08077 | 0.08577 | 29.574383 | 3,317 |
1,265 | Hamilton Wright Mabie
| GEORGE WASHINGTON | Title: Heroes Every Child Should Know
| http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/4265/pg4265-images.html | 1,905 | Lit | Lit | 1,100 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | Although the Farmer of Mount Vernon was much retired from the business world, he was by no means inattentive to the progress of public affairs. When the post bag arrived, he would select his letters and lay them aside for reading in the seclusion of his library. The newspapers he would peruse while taking his single cup of tea (his only supper) and read aloud passages of peculiar interest, remarking the matter as he went along. He read with distinctness and precision. These evenings with his family always ended at precisely nine o'clock, when he bade everyone good night and retired to rest, to rise again at four and renew the same routine of labour and enjoyment.
Washington's last days, like those that preceded them in the course of a long and well-spent life, were devoted to constant and careful employment. His correspondence both at home and abroad was immense. Yet no letter was unanswered. One of the best-bred men of his time, Washington deemed it a grave offence against the rules of good manners and propriety to leave letters unanswered. | 180 | 9 | 2 | -1.163373 | 0.454724 | 61.38 | 9.75 | 10.81 | 12 | 7.92 | 0.15259 | 0.15083 | 10.074148 | 268 |
5,235 | AUNT SUE | LILY AND HER KITTEN | The Nursery, December 1881, Vol. XXX
A Monthly Magazine for Youngest Readers | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/42161/42161-h/42161-h.htm#Page_371 | 1,881 | Lit | Lit | 900 | end | null | G | 1 | 1 | No answer came. Mrs. West looked into the nursery and bedrooms, but saw nothing of the little girl.
Then she went down stairs and looked into the parlor and hall. Lily was not there. She opened the front door and called "Lily, Lily!" but still in vain.
At last she went into the dining-room, and there, to be sure, was Lily fast asleep in a large chair, with Dinah the kitten in her lap, and a little black paw clasped in her chubby hand.
Mrs. West smiled and shut the door softly, saying to herself "Dear child, she is certainly doing no mischief." Then she called her sister to come down and peep in at the sleeping companions.
Helen said, "Isn't that a pretty picture? Suppose we take a big peach from this basket of fruit and put it softly beside her on the chair to surprise her when she wakes."
When Lily woke soon after, she rubbed her eyes, and said, "Why, where did this peach come from, I wonder! Have I been asleep, and has a fairy dropped it in my chair?" | 179 | 13 | 6 | 0.226051 | 0.516253 | 87.21 | 4.63 | 4.69 | 5 | 5.62 | -0.03453 | -0.04291 | 20.630963 | 2,945 |
5,694 | Auntie May | IDA'S MOUSE | The Nursery, March 1873, Vol. XIII.
A Monthly Magazine for Youngest People | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/24476/24476-h/24476-h.htm#Page_88 | 1,873 | Lit | Lit | 700 | end | null | G | 1 | 1 | One day mousie managed to get his door open and scamper off. Then Ida cried and cried, and was afraid her dear mousie would starve. But after a day or two, as grandma was going upstairs, she saw little mousie hopping up ahead of her.
He ran into Ida's closet. Ida brought the cage; and mamma and grandma made mousie run into it.
"Perhaps it is not the same mouse," said grandma.
"Oh, yes, it is!" said Ida. "I know him by his sore nose."
Ida took good care of mousie till warm weather came, and it was time to go into the country for the summer. Then she took the cage outside the back-gate and opened mousie's door. Mousie was very quiet at first; but soon he peeped out, and, seeing nothing to hinder, he ran away as fast as his little legs could carry him.
I am glad that he was set free; for I do not think he was happy in the cage. I hope he will keep away from traps and cats, and live to a good old age. | 178 | 14 | 6 | 0.323143 | 0.516715 | 90.5 | 3.9 | 2.92 | 0 | 5.75 | -0.03665 | -0.04992 | 28.367154 | 3,345 |
5,444 | GUSTAVUS FRANKENSTEIN. | THE TOWER-MOUNTAIN. | St. Nicholas, Vol. 5, No. 4 | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/15331/15331-h/15331-h.htm | 1,878 | Lit | Lit | 1,300 | start | null | G | 1 | 1 | I wandered about for what seemed to me days and days, but always cautiously, and never without some hope of escape. At length, becoming weak, I suppose, I missed my footing from a ledge of rock and fell to a great distance. I was stunned and bruised, but soon recovered; and considering the course I must have come, and this last terrible descent, I felt almost sure that I was far below the surface of the earth, and that I must try to go up, and must search and search until I should find some way of ascending. I accordingly moved on, with greater care than ever, and soon found that I was in a sort of rocky passage which rose at a slight inclination. I need not say how this discovery revived my spirits, nor how I was cheered yet more when, after a time, I came to a level surface again, and discovered that beyond it the passage continued as before, but much widened. | 166 | 5 | 1 | -0.915601 | 0.481973 | 61.02 | 13 | 14.72 | 11 | 7.38 | 0.13656 | 0.16232 | 14.482335 | 3,122 |
5,667 | ? | LITTLE MISCHIEF | The Nursery, February 1873, Vol. XIII.
A Monthly Magazine for Youngest People | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/24475/24475-h/24475-h.htm#Page_57 | 1,873 | Lit | Lit | 700 | mid | null | G | 1 | 1 | On the easel stood a portrait. Bessie looked at it, and thought it must be a likeness of her friend Col. Fraser. "But," said she, "the mustache is too faint: it wants paint."
Then she remembered hearing her uncle say that he had more work than he could attend to. "What if I do a little work for him, and so give him a surprise!" thought she.
"Uncle Frank, when he is by, never lets me touch his paints," said Bessie to herself; "but that must be because he does not know how clever I am. Nothing can be easier to paint than a mustache. It is only a number of hairs."
So Bessie climbed up into her uncle's chair, and took one of his long brushes in her hand. Then she looked at the colors on the palette, and tried to mix the blue and red as she had seen Uncle Frank do.
The long brush was hard to manage. However, she remembered the rhyme, "Try, try, try again;" and she worked away until she thought she had got the tint. | 178 | 13 | 5 | 0.217075 | 0.481323 | 89.9 | 4.2 | 3.75 | 6 | 5.89 | 0.0327 | 0.03011 | 23.207199 | 3,320 |
3,001 | Mike Kubic | FDR and the New Deal | CLD | https://www.commonlit.org/texts/fdr-and-the-new-deal | 2,017 | Info | Lit | 1,300 | mid | CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 | PG | 2 | 1.5 | By the time Hoover stepped down, 13 million Americans were unemployed and many of them hungry. Millions of others lost all of their savings in banks that went bankrupt. Hundreds of thousands of people who were made homeless lived in shanty towns called "Hoovervilles." Because of the significant number of bank closures, the coin shortage was so bad that storekeepers accepted postage stamps instead of pennies.
As Roosevelt told the huge crowd attending his inauguration, "This nation asks for action, and action now... We must act, and act quickly." It was a call as urgent as an SOS on a stormy sea and, fortunately, both the new president and the United States Congress were ready to launch a major rescue operation.
The 51-year-old Roosevelt was well equipped for the monumental task. His patrician background and political success as the governor of the State of New York had given him the self-confidence he needed for leadership. On a personal level, his dogged, long-standing fight against polio—which deprived him of the use of his legs when he was 39 years old—steeled him for the struggle with setbacks and for sudden calamities, such as was the outbreak of the Second World War. | 197 | 9 | 3 | 0.00489 | 0.477244 | 59.12 | 10.06 | 11.11 | 11 | 8.53 | 0.23238 | 0.20034 | 7.913351 | 1,382 |
5,800 | William Dean Howells | A Romance of Real Life | Modern Prose and Poetry for Secondary Schools | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/17160/17160-h/17160-h.htm#Page_141 | 1,871 | Lit | Lit | 1,100 | mid | null | PG | 2 | 1.5 | There, seated upon the curbstone, Jonathan Tinker, being plied with a few leading questions, told in hints and scraps the story of his hard life, which was at present that of a second mate, and had been that of a cabin-boy and of a seaman before the mast. The second mate's place he held to be the hardest aboard ship. You got only a few dollars more than the men, and you did not rank with the officers; you took your meals alone, and in everything you belonged by yourself. The men did not respect you, and sometimes the captain abused you awfully before the passengers. The hardest captain that Jonathan Tinker ever sailed with was Captain Gooding of the Cape. It had got to be so that no man could ship second mate under Captain Gooding; and Jonathan Tinker was with him only one voyage. | 146 | 6 | 1 | -1.274646 | 0.500913 | 65.14 | 10.26 | 11 | 9 | 6.79 | 0.2891 | 0.31281 | 13.459918 | 3,435 |