Well, things are more quiet than usual. There's many, many fewer people and cars out on the street during the day because of the day of mourning. People are just (unintelligible). And it's also the weather is really bad. There is like a storm and cold and rain, so people are staying home, and then some people go out to celebrate New Year's Eve tonight. A lot of people won't because of the situation.

But it's a situation that is reflected all over the Arab world and many other parts of the world where people are really angry about what's going on. They think Israel is using excessive force. But they feel frustrated because they can't do anything about it, and their governments aren't - seemingly aren't doing anything about it either.

Leaders are calling for an end to the violence, but there hasn't been much talk in terms of specifics. What can be done to accomplish that goal of ending these attacks?

Well, if they wanted to do something, they could a lot - diplomatically, politically, economically - but they are really more talk than action. This is the problem. The Arab leaders I think genuinely share their people's anger with what's going on in the Israeli attack. Many Arab leaders are also angry at Hamas. They don't like Hamas very much.

turn 0 : 'many, many fewer people and cars out on the street during the day' implies that the streets are quieter than usual.

What is the reason for the reduced activity on the streets mentioned in turn 0?

Answer: Dayofmourning


You know, we don't do a lot of cookbooks on this show. Hugh Acheson's latest cookbook fits right in. It doesn't show much cooking. The chef is shown reading in a lawn chair, taking a hot bath, even playing the cello - at least holding the bow over one.

It's a book about what you can cook - if that's quite the word - while you do something else, even for hours. "The Chef And The Slow Cooker" is by Hugh Acheson, the acclaimed Canadian Southern chef who owns big-name restaurants in Georgia and is a judge on "Top Chef. "He joins us from WABE in Atlanta.

Chef, thanks so much for being with us.

It's great to be here, Scott.

turn 0 : You know, we don't do a lot of cookbooks on this show. Implicated meaning: Cookbooks are not a common topic or focus on this show. The show doesn't prioritize or feature cookbooks frequently.

Answer: Cookbooks


Believe me, I was - I just went into a state of shock. Yeah, it was one of those things. I mean, I guess some people's imaginations run towards good fortune all the time, but I'm sort of the kid who's always sort of preparing myself for the apocalypse. So when something good happens, it's more extraordinary even than normal.

Yeah, do you know who nominated you, by the way?

Oh hell no, and whoever did kept their secret because I had no clue.

Oh, you won't find that out. That's so interesting because I think you'd want to go and thank them.

turn 2 : The person who nominated the speaker for something kept it a secret.

How was the person who nominated the speaker described?

Answer: Secret


And Border Patrol agents are making a lot of trips to the hospital with sick children up and down the Southwest border - nearly 70 kids a day since December, they say. But immigration officials say it's just hard to keep up with the sheer numbers here. It's putting a huge strain on resources, and they're asking Congress for billions of additional dollars to deal with it.

In the meantime, what more have you learned in your reporting about the death of Carlos Hernandez Vasquez?

Well, a couple of things. One thing that really stands out is that Carlos Hernandez Vasquez died in a Border Patrol station. The previous migrant children who died were taken to the hospital first; Hernandez Vasquez was not even though immigration authorities clearly knew that he was sick. He was diagnosed with the flu by a nurse practitioner.

On the same day, Customs and Border Protection moved him to a different Border Patrol station where they could separate him from the other migrants to stop the spread of the flu. Even Health and Human Services officials were concerned about how ill he was. This is the agency that's responsible for long-term care of unaccompanied children. And HHS decided that Hernandez Vasquez could not be flown to a shelter in Florida because of his illness. So in retrospect, critics say it's hard to see why they did not take him to the hospital.

turn 3 : It was negligent of immigration authorities to not take Carlos Hernandez Vasquez to the hospital

Which migrant child was diagnosed with flu by a nurse practitioner?

Answer: Carlos


How do you feel about the United States now?

It was my home, and it is my home. And it will be my home because I have nowhere else to go. If I went somewhere else, I wouldnt be alive.

Is there something you'd like the Army and the Department of Defense and everyone to know about you?

I am more patriotic than many Americans. I am ready to lay my life down for this country and for the safety of its people. Im not a bad person, and I have never committed a crime. My life is in danger if the institutions like USCIS and DOD does not help me.

turn 1 : The United States is the only place where the speaker can survive.

How is the PersonA's survival tied to the United States?

Answer: Survival


I think there's also a message to be had in the region. Mr.  Trump in Tokyo, with all the pomp and circumstance, with even the irritations on trade and that mixed signal in North Korea - it was clear that this is an alliance that was vibrant, that was coherent and that was still being deeply supported by both countries. That's the message Mr.  Abe wants to send to Pyongyang and certainly the message he wants to send to Beijing.

That pomp and circumstance extended to the appearance of Trump 2020 campaign banners. They were visible as the president was making his way through Japan's streets. Another of the events that he attended was this sumo tournament. Why is Prime Minister Abe so intent on courting President Trump?

Well, you know, you - the backdrop here, too, is the Japanese people are not as critical of President Trump as many of the citizens of our other allies in Europe, for example. The president and the prime minister do have a reasonably strong working relationship. The Japanese diplomats pointed out before the visit that they've spoken or met 42 times since the president came into office.

Forty-two times, wow.

An unprecedented amount of contact. So I think there's still this sense that this is a good partnership and that Mr.  Abe can make it work.

turn 2 : The relationship between President Trump and Prime Minister Abe is stronger than with other allies

How many times have the president and the prime minister spoken or met since the president came into office?

Answer: 42


Absolutely. It's going to be an incredible weekend. We have saxophone competition which we'll be talking about. But as a part of the competition, we also have a major tribute concert each year and this year, it's dedicated to B. B. King and to the blues. The blues have had a huge influence on jazz, and we established last year an education program in Mississippi Delta called 'The Blues and Jazz, Two American Classics,' which is the theme of this weekend. And there, we worked with young kids and really introduced them, originally in the Mississippi Delta to their great roots and heritage and the life of B. B. King, who is from Indianola.

And then from there, that program has branched out nationally and we have public school programs in Memphis and Chicago, Kansas City daily. But with B. B. King this weekend, we're bringing a large array of artist to pay tribute to him. We've got everybody from Keb Mo and Robert Cray to the great Joe Louis Walker. Bono and The Edge are coming in to represent the rock community.

That's great.

And from the jazz community, it's Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter and many others. And we'll all be paying tribute to B. B. and his great influence on especially jazz music.

turn 3 : to pay tribute means to do something respectfully to someone else

How are the artists paying tribute to B.B. King?

Answer: Performing


Jay Austin and Lauren Geoghegan were both 29. For years, they worked desk jobs in Washington, D. C.  - Lauren at the admissions office at Georgetown University, Jay at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. In their travel blog, they wrote that they wanted to live life on simpler, more deliberate terms and see the globe in an inexpensive, sustainable and gratifying way. They wanted to bike it. Back in 2015, Jay Austin showed an NPR reporter around his house as part of a feature on the tiny house movement.

That's the parlor over there, seating for about seven or so, two couches.

All 143 square feet of it. Jay Austin believed in tiny homes.

I think it's really been great to have kind of not a very complex, not a very expensive space but to have the ability to have easy access to nature. If I am feeling like I have cabin fever, I open my front door.

turn 2 : Jay Austin's tiny house is extremely small, measuring only 143 square feet.

What was the size of Jay Austin's tiny house?

Answer: 143


The United Nations World Food Programme has to cut back on the food that it gives out to some of the most imperiled people in the world. In Ethiopia, for example, it's had to lower the daily calorie intake for hundreds of thousands of refugees that it feeds in the camps there. Now, this is partly due to funding shortfalls, but there is also a growing need for food aid as the globe's conflicts continue. Peter Smerdon joins us now from Nairobi. He's the spokesperson for the World Food Programme in East Africa. Mr.  Smerdon, thanks for being with us.

My pleasure.

What kind of hard decisions do to the folks in your program have to make?

Basically, when we haven't got enough money, we have to decide who's not going to get food. And most of the people we serve are dependent on the United Nations World Food Programme for their food needs - in many cases, 100 percent because either they fled countries in conflict, and they have absolutely no money, no jobs and no assets left or because they're refugees, and they are confined to camps. They are not allowed to work. And they have no money, either.

turn 2 : "What kind of hard decisions do the folks in your program have to make?"  The actual meaning implied in this turn is: "What difficult choices or determinations do the people involved in your program have to make?"

What is the spokesperson's name for the World Food Programme in East Africa?

Answer: Peter


That is actually perfect. Holiday's sauce.

As opposed to hollandaise. Right, yeah.

And never regions instead of nether regions.

(Laughter). I don't - I mean, you're the only one who can say nether regions on the air. Mark Memmott, NPR's supervising senior editor for Standards & Practices. You can send him your favorite eggcorns, make up new ones at Word Matters at npr. org. Mark, thanks so much for being with us.

turn 3 : B's laughter after A's statement "And never regions instead of nether regions" is not because the statement is funny in itself, but because A used the wrong word ("regions" instead of "regions"). This mistake is called an "eggcorn," which is a term used to describe when someone substitutes a similar-sounding word for the correct one. B then mentions that only A can get away with using a term like "nether regions" on air.

What did PersonA mistakenly say instead of "nether regions"?

Answer: Regions


I hope that there would be people who would come to the site, interested in building their family tree or learning how to start family research, who then would see an interesting article that they might not have thought they would read otherwise and dabble. And that there will be cross pollination between the two missions of the site that, you know, will make for some interesting dialogue and interesting experience for users.

Now, you've been careful to point out that when appropriate, you're going to make these links. But Professor Gates co-owns part of AfricanDNA. com. Do you see any ethical problems with your site steering people to his business specifically?

I don't, actually, at all, because we don't simply steer people to AfricanDNA. com, and there's full disclosure on the site that he's a co-founder of AfricanDNA. com.

But if you - if someone comes to the site and they click into the tab that - for DNA testing, they'll see several different places that they can go to to test their DNA, with links to those different companies. Actually, the option to link those different companies are actually presented to you before you click through to AfricanDNA. com.

turn 0 : The implied meaning is that the person hopes for interaction and engagement between individuals interested in building their family tree or learning about family research, and that they will come across unexpected articles and ideas, leading to interesting discussions and experiences on the site.

How would you describe the person's hope for the users of the site?

Answer: Interaction


From NPR News, this is News & Notes. I'm Tony Cox. FEMA wants immunity from Class Action lawsuits for its formaldehyde-ridden trailers given to Hurricane Katrina victims. And President Bush is expected to sign a housing bill that once it clears the Senate, will help homeowners in trouble with their mortgages. That and more on today's Reporter's Roundtable. But first, we check in with our very own Farai Chideya coming live from the journalists of color UNITY convention in Chicago. Hey, Farai.

Hey, Tony.

So listen, for those not in the journalism world, what is Unity?

Unity is a once-every-four-year gathering of the Ethnic Journalism Associations. So the NABJ, the National Association of Black journalist, the Hispanic Journalist, Asian-American Journalists, Native-American Journalists. It's really this kind of diversity fest for journalism.

turn 3 : Unity is a gathering of diverse ethnic journalists.

Which annual event brings together various ethnic journalism associations?

Answer: Unity


When you marinate after grilling, you actually make a marinade that doesn't touch any of the raw fish or meat.

Got it. OK.  What about people who don't eat meat?There are a lot of people who really are trying to move more toward a plant-based diet. How do you manage that on the grill if you have limited grill space?Because, I mean, it depends on why you're not eating meat. I mean, if you're not eating meat because you have strong ideological reasons, you don't necessarily want that touching. How could you manage that?And what are some things that you should consider for the non-meat eaters?

Yeah. I love grilled vegetables. I love eating vegetarian meals. I'm not super-strict about if meat's been on the grill to then make something with vegetables. But some people don't want them maybe cooking at the same time, where they might touch or come into contact that way. So I would say one of the preparations I really love for summer are grilled salads. So this is like a grilled spin on your classic salads.

And on Bon Appetit, we have a recipe for grilled lettuces with creme fraiche and avocado, which is a spin on, like, a ranch dressing. We have a grilled cob, where some of the elements of the salad get grilled and then tossed together with the other stuff. There is a grilled bread salad, which is kind of like a riff on a Panzanella, a bread salad where you combine it with some grilled vegetables.

turn 0 : Marinating after grilling doesn't involve the cooked meat/fish

How do you prepare grilled salads for non-meat eaters?

Answer: Grilled


Here's another example - property buyouts. So the federal government will sometimes buy properties with federal and local money after a disaster, like floods. And the land gets turned into permanent green space. And in the future, no other homes or businesses or potential lives will be lost there. That's the point of the buyout.

So if they're buying out property, you have to be a property owner to benefit from that. And people with more wealth are generally more often property owners. Is that how this is working?

Mm-hmm. And there have been barriers to property ownership in the U. S.  for various people, various racial groups, as well.

Sure.

turn 1 : In turn (2), the speaker acknowledges that people who own properties are more likely to benefit from property buyouts. However, the implied meaning is that the property buyout program may reinforce existing socioeconomic disparities, as people with more wealth are generally more often property owners. This suggests that the program may not be equally accessible to everyone, which is different from the literal meaning of the turn.

Which socioeconomic disparities may be reinforced by the property buyout program, according to the implied meaning in turn (2)?

Answer: Existing


Who happens to be black.

You know.

And happens to be benched right now.

Happens to be benched. What do you make of this?I think Vince's issues I think are quite different from Tarvaris. I think there was a lot of pressure on Vince from the time he came out of Texas to kind of be the black Johnny Unitas, and he's going to - they'll both have an opportunity to sit and watch, and hopefully come back with a vengeance.

One really quick other black quarterback not in the league at the moment, in Atlanta, Michael Vick. Is Matt Ryan, the replacement, making Atlanta Falcon fans forget Michael Vick?

turn 2 : The fact that the quarterback is black is important to the conversation

Which characteristic of the quarterback is significant to the discussion?

Answer: race


A lesser option would be to set up a no-sailing zone around the tankers.

General Deptula, thank you. We have to leave it there. That's Dave Deptula.

Thank you so much for your time. We appreciate it.

All right. Take care, Mary Louise.

turn 0 : A suggests a more extreme option than setting up a no-sailing zone

How does PersonA's suggestion compare to setting up a no-sailing zone?

Answer: moreextreme


That seems to be the case.

Thanks very much for being with us today.

Thank you so much, Neal. Keep an eye on your belly button.

Rob Dunn is a science writer, a biologist in the Department of Biology at North Carolina State University. He joined us today from Raleigh. Tomorrow, traffic. L. A. 's is legendary, they're trying something new. They have synchronized every traffic light in the city. Join us for an update with Tom Vanderbilt tomorrow right after I go home and take a shower. It's the TALK OF THE NATION from NPR News. I'm Neal Conan in Washington.

turn 2 : Not sure what the belly button reference means exactly (it refers to the earlier discussion), but it isn't literal. It's a joke.

What is the nature of the belly button reference?

Answer: Joke


Burnt hair, desiccated strawberry, armpit, you know (laughter).

Very precise and unusual.

And there's also this new trajectory to incorporate the language of science. So instead of saying that something smells like green bell pepper, sommeliers are now describing it as smelling of pyrazines, which, by the way, is a chemical that is present in both sauvignon blanc and cabernet sauvignon grapes and in green bell peppers. So don't always roll your eyes at the sommelier.

I don't roll my eyes at the sommelier. I've actually always been intimidated by interacting with the sommelier. I wanted to ask you if you would take a moment to sort of teach someone like me. Can you walk me through it?

A lot of us, when we're given the wine list, treat it as a multiple-choice test. We're handed this list of a hundred options. And we have until the sommelier circles back to us to figure out the right answer.

Exactly.

turn 2 : In this turn, the literal meaning of "incorporate the language of science" would imply using scientific terminology to describe wine aromas. However, the actual meaning is that sommeliers are adopting a more scientific approach to describing aromas by referring to specific chemicals present in the wine or food.

What chemical is present in both sauvignon blanc and cabernet sauvignon grapes and in green bell peppers?

Answer: Pyrazines


There's something magical about that part of a meal that really seems to have inspired the book. Like, the beginning, when everyone is, like, just arriving and gathering and, like, what you want to serve in a moment like that.

Yeah. I mean, even just hearing you describe it that way, it's the best moment of a party. So, you know, everyone's hugging and kissing, and there's catching up and clinking of wine glasses. And it's just the best moment. And I think when those first platters of food start to roll out of the kitchen, it's just a celebration.

Do you ever really sit down, or is it constant movement, like, more plates coming out and just kind of wandering around and eating and talking?

What I love about antipasti is that even in a restaurant, oftentimes they'll have sort of a big communal table in the center of the restaurant, and they'll allow you to come up with, you know, your plate and a big spoon and just kind of point to or pick through and serve yourself whatever you want from the antipasti spread. So that's kind of the most interactive moment of the meal, which is maybe also why it's one of my favorites.

turn 1 : "everyone's hugging and kissing" - This is a common expression used to describe a warm and friendly greeting between people, but it doesn't always literally mean that people are hugging and kissing.

Which expression is commonly used to describe a warm and friendly greeting between people?

Answer: hugging


Well, actually, there are several sets of defendants. In the case of the manufacturers, the claim is that they created, through fraudulent means, a demand for opioids in the case of chronic pain, which was not the practice prior to their efforts.

And you said there's other targets of lawsuits.

Yes. The distributors and the retail sellers have also been sued. Where they have gotten into trouble is that they haven't monitored suspicious orders. And there have been cases where literally millions of doses have been shipped to small communities, clearly in excess of any legitimate demand.

If the federal government brings its own lawsuit against these companies as President Trump has called for this week - is that just going to duplicate what states and localities are doing?Or does the federal government have a different role here?

turn 0 : The manufacturers fraudulently created a demand for opioids in chronic pain cases, which was not present before their efforts.

What was the claim against the manufacturers regarding opioids?

Answer: Demand


Yeah, he's a great story, absolutely. Another great story, though, before I let you get away from here is Mike Tomlin, headed to the Super Bowl, in what, his second, third year as a coach?That's pretty impressive.

Oh, yeah, yeah. I mean, I think Jim said this is not just he's his brother, but that, you know, his kind is - he leads a group of very young coaches, and I think in front of our eyes we've seen this transformation from the sort of old, recycled guys to all these young bloods with a lot of perk and energy.

You know, the Rooney Rule that Jim Brown made reference to with Art Rooney hiring, the Rooney family hiring Mike Tomlin, this is an example of, give a brother a chance and some good things can happen.

Yeah. We need a Rooney Rule on the media, Tony. Of course, we'll get to that next month, but. . .

turn 3 : We need more people to hire black people in the media.

Which rule does PersonA mention that they need on the media?

Answer: Incorporating


Well, I think that Dr.  King was trying to reinforce the troops, so to speak, who were fighting in the trenches of racial warfare. To believe that the movement was bigger than any man or any woman, any individual that there was a collective will of the people being exercised through their individual talents, gifts and sensibilities. But that the movement couldn't be tromped, that his death would only strengthen the movement. That the death of any other figure would in no way diminish the greatness of the cause for which they were willing to die.

He was willing to die for his people. He struggled back and forth with that death and what it might mean. But he was signaling to the rest of them that, you know, he wasn't an egomaniac. He wasn't a guy who was trying to say I wanted to be the messiah, even though people had made him that way.

And then, thirdly, I think, what he was suggesting, Farai, is that the cause in which we are invested will, in many cases, cause people to suffer. And that we shouldn't lie to people about the nature of that suffering, but that suffering could ultimately be redemptive. Martin Luther King Jr.  after all was quite famous for telling black folk constantly that the black blood that would be shed could indeed redeem the nation.

Now, you bring up the term automortology, and you talk about the ways in which Dr.  King essentially gave his own eulogy, not just once but several times. Tell us why that was important to him.

turn 3 : "automortology" - This turn is a term that is not commonly used in everyday language and requires a deeper understanding of its meaning in the context of Dr. King's speeches and actions. It refers to the idea that Dr. King gave his own eulogy by repeatedly emphasizing the importance of his cause and the sacrifices that he and others were making for it.

What is the term used to describe the idea that Dr. King gave his own eulogy?

Answer: Automortology


Well, I only recently arrived, so I haven't seen the whole city by any means. But when I got here, I went straight to a demonstration on the city's east side. This was one of those demonstrations that have been called by Juan Guaido for what he billed as the biggest-ever demonstration in the history of Venezuela.

There were a lot of people there - thousands, possibly in the tens of thousands. But I have seen much larger crowds turn out for Guaido before. And so this was a smaller turnout. And I think the most noticeable thing about it is that the mood has quite substantially changed. Whilst these demonstrations for the opposition leader, Guaido, were before quite very lively - there'd be a lot of chanting, a lot of singing - now there's a mood of wariness. I thought it was more subdued.

And not far away from where I was, there were violent clashes underway between the security forces and a small group of anti-government protesters in which, you know, they were exchanging. . .

Yeah.

turn 1 : This implies that the morale of the protesters' was weakened probably because of the low turnout.

Which turn describes the atmosphere of the opposition demonstrations in Venezuela?

Answer: Lively


I was listening back to some of the pieces that you've done in the past couple of months as we prepare for this broadcast. One of the things that China may have to change is the role of its banks. Banks like to take very few risks if possible, and that means investing in those big state-owned industries that have - well, they may not be spectacular returns anymore, but they are reliable.

Yeah. The banks do extremely well. You and I could sit back and run those banks and be very, very wealthy, though, communist.

The government sets the interest rates and so the banks can make a lot money. And if you're a Chinese person, you can't really get much of your capital out of the country. So where else are you going to put it?

One of the problems with the banks is that they tend to invest in state-owned enterprises. It's kind of part of their job, and it's less risky. But most of the jobs in China are really produced by private enterprise, as they are here in the United States. And it's much harder for them to get capital. So people are, in many ways, feelings that the economy is out of whack in a number ways and that there need to be some serious changes. The government knows this, but there are now very strong vested interests in state-owned enterprises and the banks. And so getting that done is not going to be easy politically.

turn 1 : The banks are profitable, but the speaker is critical of their communist policies

What is the PersonA's opinion on the communist policies of the banks?

Answer: cash-register


I mean there's no logic to what he does. There's no way to anticipate what he's going to do. Often, what he ends up doing defies logic, defies everybody's expectations, defies explanation.

When you hear this from people who've been around the president, is there a but anywhere?Do they say, I love this man, but?

There used to be. Remember - so I've done - this is my second book. This is effectively a sequel. I've spent the last three years pretty much non-stop talking about Donald Trump. And there used to be buts. There are no buts now. I might make a reservation for some of the most sycophantic people around him. But even they, if you push them a little, get to the vile and ludicrous pretty quickly.

I'm thinking of a description attributed to a former senior White House official, Steve Bannon, describing the president the United States and the president of Russia, Putin and Trump, quote, "two narcissistic, cult leader-type presidents. Both had populist talents, yet both were ultimately out for their own benefit. "And then a key line here, I think - of the two, Putin was the far cleverer one. It sounds like even Steve Bannon, who did so much to promote the president's career, doesn't seem to think he's very bright.

turn 2 : Even people who are sycophantic towards the president eventually admit his flaws

Which group of people eventually admit the president's flaws?

Answer: People


I suppose worth noting - the - these were young women at the time that they were employed working in factories. Not. . .

Teenagers, many of them. Yeah.

Teenagers - I mean, how young were some of them?

Well, the youngest - records show that the youngest were 11.

turn 2 : Turn (3) is an example of a statement whose meaning is different from its literal meaning. The speaker is not actually asking about the ages of the women, but rather expressing surprise or concern about how young some of them were.

What was the speaker expressing by asking about the ages of the women?

Answer: Surprise


Why change the law to assure social benefits will go to people, regardless of immigration status?

Immigrants contribute to our country economically. Immigrants pay taxes. And when we begin to unify our systems, I think that we will get more cohesive immigration policy, economic policy, political policy. I think that there's a political argument, an economic argument, a moral argument, for doing so. And I think it sends a message that if you contribute to our society, you should benefit from our society.

Now you're correct that immigrants pay taxes, and even people who are here without legal status often end up paying taxes. And yet, you can see the objection to that. Why should someone who is here illegally be able to claim Medicare, to claim Social Security, who knows what else?

Well, I mean, why should a billionaire who evades taxes collect Social Security, too?I think that what we can do is we can tighten up our systems and increase accountability. But what this says is that we will not discriminate solely based on immigration status.

turn 3 : We need shift focus to stop the people who are scamming the system and not discriminate against honest people because they are immigrants.

What is the main focus of PersonA's argument in turn 3?

Answer: Scamming.


This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Scott Simon. General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has had a rapid career rise. He was appointed Egypt's defense minister after the Arab Spring outpouring by Egypt's first freely elected president, the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsi. But just a year later, General Sisi helped oust Mr.  Morsi and then he began to run the country. Now, his title is Field Marshal Sisi, the top military post. And just this past week, he took the next step to becoming Egypt's next president. The possible rise of a new military strongman raises questions about if the Arab Spring put Egypt on a path of democracy and civilian rule or more authoritarianism. Samer Shehata joins us. He's a political scientist at University of Oklahoma, and he joins us from the studios of KGOU in Norman, Oklahoma. Samer, thanks very much for being with us.

Pleasure to speak to you.

Why is a field marshal, according to various surveys, so popular in Egypt?

He's popular for a number of reasons. One, there were many people, of course, who were opposed to the Muslim Brotherhood and Mr.  Morsi before he became president. And of course it was a disastrous year in office. And there are many people who, as a result of all of that, are longing for stability and security. And the idea of a military general running the show is reassuring.

turn 2 : "various surveys" - Literal meaning: different types of research studies. Actual meaning: There have been different opinion polls or data gathering methods used to understand why Field Marshal Sisi is popular in Egypt.

How was Field Marshal Sisi's popularity measured?

Answer: Surveys


O'Rourke. Yeah, let's talk about Beto.

Yeah, Beto O'Rourke. He made a hell yes promise to buy back assault weapons and to push for mandatory buyback of assault weapons. What do you make of this?

That was a dramatic highlight of the debate and grabbed a lot of people, got a lot of mentions. But such moments do not make legislation. Congressional Democrats don't have a clear majority for an assault weapons ban, let alone gun takeaways. They're still hoping for universal background checks or - on people buying guns. But to pass the Republican Senate and actually get enacted, even that much would need the backing of the president and the approval of the federal courts. We are still a long way from meaningful gun measures, despite the carnage we saw from guns in August and so many other recent months and years.

And let's stay in the realm of Congress for this last question, Ron. As of today, where do you assess where Democrats stand on the question of impeachment at the moment?

turn 1 : He made a promise that was stressed by him and gave people the impression he would do it regardless of what happens.

Answer: Buyback


And we're hearing from you on your cell phone at the kiosk now, and we should note that where you are is not too far from Fort Bragg, which is home to the 82nd Airborne Division. And apparently, a lot of the soldiers have been coming home, and how has that affected your business?

Well, I mean, all the economy has been affected, but we're not as bad because luckily, we do do a lot of things for the military. Their wives are still here, so it's constantly them bringing in things that they need to be shipped overseas or just little minor things, things for the babies. It does keep a good flow in, though.

You mentioned the babies. I hear there's been an upsurge in the birth rate there, 50 percent more recently. That's a lot of babies.

Well, the troops came home at the first of the year, and now, everywhere you look, it's women pushing strollers, or they're pregnant.

And so, what kind of stuff are people bringing to you at your kiosk there for these expectant mothers?

turn 3 : The military deployment has had a significant impact on the demographics of the town.

Answer: Town


So you had the U. K.  negotiating bilateral agreements with, like, Australia and Canada and India, right?And then I read you also had Germany forming its own bloc with members, countries that it had relationships with. And the U. S.  did something similar.

That's right. The origins of the British trading bloc really go back to World War I. And a lot of the considerations are of a military nature, a geostrategic nature. They were bottlenecked in some supplies, especially for the military, and that's why the British government was thinking more about how to secure its supplies. And that happened on the German side as well. Germany was preparing for war. They were gearing up for war, so they needed to make sure they had the right supplies, especially for the military.

Now, you write that if similar patterns play out today, we could see a, quote, "reorientation of world trade around China- and U. S. -centric trade blocs. "How likely do you think that is?

Well, it depends on the politics. The White House wants to have a more bilateral approach where the U. S.  deals with one individual country, as opposed to a group. And China now wants to create a system of its own. So that does include establishing a sphere of influence in Asia. And each of them will want to build up their own realm where they have the power in the region.

What do you think is at stake here?If this approach continues, what are your main concerns?

turn 1 : The British trading bloc formed to secure military supplies during World War I.

What was the main purpose of the British trading bloc during World War I?

Answer: Supplies


How are you doing?

I am doing great. So, tell me how you first ended up, how and when you first ended up in a detention center.

Well, the first time I'd have to say, it was about when I was 15 years old, and it was a detention center. It wasn't a boot camp per se. It was a waiting trial, and sometimes they - you know, the juvenile system, sometimes they'll give you a bond, and sometimes they won't give you a bond, so then you're left with no way out, but to be in the detention center, awaiting trial.

So, when you talk about no bond, that means you can't get out. However, I understand that when you were in juvenile detention, you went in and out, but you were never convicted for the things you were sent there for. Why did that happen?How did that play out?

turn 3 : how it play out implies the final result of a thing or series of things that happened

Answer: final


What in this agreement makes it better in your perspective?Because you did say that there was something in it that was, so tell me one thing.

There are. The labor chapter itself is better. However, if you can't enforce the labor chapter, it is meaningless. And so we're trying to get the enforcement on three different levels that I outlined earlier.

So what's your message to Democrats here?I mean, the issue is, so far, the administration has been trying to work with the Democrats. I mean, the trade chief, for example, the U. S.  trade representative, Robert Lighthizer, has been working with Democrats to hear their concerns about it. I mean, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has appointed nine House Democrats to committees to negotiate these sort of - these changes.

But there is this some sense that, you know, the administration - others in the administration would like to fast-track it. There is a mechanism for doing that. I mean, do you have a specific message to Democrats?Because, as you know, with such a large - particularly with such a large presidential field, you've got all kinds of different opinions about international trade in that group. Do you know what I mean?So do you have a specific message to them about how to - you would like to see them proceed?

turn 1 : A believes that without enforcement, the labor chapter is meaningless

What is PersonA's opinion on the labor chapter without enforcement?

Answer: Meaningless


He ended up in a small town in Alabama where he did have an encounter with a local police officer. At that point, he told police he had had a canoeing accident. They led him to a local motel. He checked in, paid cash. The police came back later to try to locate him. And by that time, he'd wandered off into the woods.

Why might Mr.  Schrenker want people to believe he was dead?

Well, it turns out he faces just a host of financial problems, also some personal problems, I might add. The Indiana Securities Division, the Indiana Insurance Commissioner are both looking into very serious allegations of misappropriated money from his financial company.

And do you think, even given these problems, he might have had enough assets to help him flee the country?

turn 2 : Mr. Schrenker is in serious trouble and may be trying to escape legal consequences.

Answer: Serious


Yeah. They made clear that their problems with these laws are not about abortion per se, but about interference in the doctor-patient relationship, which is true. And that is their complaint. I would point out that there have been a number of other abortion laws or abortion regulations that they have not been so outspoken on that would have equally interfered with the doctor-patient relationship.

For a little more context, though, how influential is the American Medical Association at this point?

Well, they're still pretty influential in that people see that name and think, oh, the AMA - they represent doctors. But the AMA has represented a smaller percentage of doctors over the years. It is not quite as big and powerful as it used to be. But still, the brand carries some weight, and it carries some weight in Washington and in state capitals.

Doesn't it carry weight precisely because people see it as apolitical?And is this jeopardizing that?

turn 0 : When they say "these laws are not about abortion per se" they are actually implying that this particular law IS about abortion, but arguments are being made to indicate otherwise

Answer: abortion


The inspector general also alleges that lucrative government contracts were given to friends and former colleagues of the bureau. And this isn't the first criticism by the inspector general of the Minerals Management office. Last year, that office was accused of making mistakes in the royalties that calculated for the industry. It saved companies more than 10 billion dollars. So, at the very least, this latest investigation gives ammunition to the people who say that the Bush administration is too close to the oil and gas industry.

And so, this directly affects taxpayers and consumers?

Well, you know, the head of the Minerals Management Agency says, no, that the agency has been collecting the proper amount of royalties, but the report says some oil companies were allowed to revise their payments downward after their contracts were finalized. And outsiders have to wonder why would the industry be giving gifts to employees of this agency, if they didn't want something in return?

OK. Still on oil, another story. OPEC announced it will be cutting production. What does that mean?

Well, they do want to cut production to keep the price high, but you know, Saudi Arabia said today that it isn't necessarily going to stick to those quotas and produce what the cartel imposed late on Tuesday. So, the prospect that Saudi Arabia might continue to crank out high levels of crude is pushing oil prices down, even as Hurricane Ike barrels down on the Gulf of Mexico.

turn 0 : The Minerals Management office made errors in calculating royalties for the industry which saved companies over 10 billion dollars.

Which office was accused of making mistakes in calculating royalties for the industry?

Answer: Minerals


What the government says they're doing is addressing the problem with intelligence, which means being aware of rifts like this inside the gangs before they become violent. Fifty-five dead shows that that strategy failed here. And the governor says he's not renewing the contract of the private company that runs these prisons. Now they are taking these transfer measures. You know, they're using the intelligence that they have to transfer some gang leaders to a maximum security prison and then moving 200 other inmates who they say have received death threats. And that's their measures right now. The city is also under alert. There are police on the streets making sure this doesn't spill out into gun violence on the streets. And, you know, we'll see over the next few days whether that can contain even more possible violence.

Interesting that you say it's a private company that is running these prisons. Given that, why are these facilities so out of control?These are profit-making enterprises.

Watchdog groups have been sending out red flags about prison overcrowding in Brazil for many years now, and so it really is a political will issue. Many experts, after the tragedy of the past few days - including a U. N.  spokesperson yesterday - say that to really address this problem, you have to reduce overcrowding. And countrywide, prisons are around 70% over capacity and around 137% in this state alone.

Just quickly - Brazil's new president, Jair Bolsonaro, is a guy who talks tough on crime. Has he said anything about this?

turn 0 : The government failed to prevent the gang violence despite claiming to address the problem with intelligence.

What strategy did the government claim to be using to address the problem?

Answer: Intelligence


And you wrote that during your visit in December, you saw exactly one tourist?

That's right. A single woman who had a list of African countries she wanted to check off apparently with no information about any of them. And one of the ministers told me even the backpackers aren't here. So it is just on - there is nothing to do, there's nothing to see, there's no access to anything, there's no roads, there's no infrastructure. They have a park system which exists in theory. You can imagine a fantastic future for going and seeing things in Sudan because they also have, along with oil and water, they also have animals. They have a huge migration, probably the second biggest in the world.

So there's vast grasslands, a swirling long river section of the Nile through the country, enormous herds, large numbers of elephants, many of the things that people care very deeply about but it's in South Sudan so you can't get to it except with an airplane. And they're hoping that in the future of the country there's room for that to become an asset rather than just a leftover of isolation and war-torn times.

You describe a three-day jaunt to go see what might be too. . .

turn 1 : There are a lot of things to see in Sudan, but the country lacks the necessary infrastructure to support tourism.

How many tourists did PersonA see during their visit in December?

Answer: One


Yeah, that's one of the kind of strange things about the case. If these people were alive, it's rare that - 243 people - one of them wouldn't have been able to contact one of their family members at this point.

If they had, would you hope that this project could find that out?

So I'm in pretty close contact with a number of the family members. So if they had contacted the family members, we would know. The Eritrean diaspora is very interconnected.

When you refer to the Eritrea diaspora, that refers to the fact that many of the people on board this boat were Eritrean?

turn 1 :  is whether or not the project could uncover any contact the people had with their family members and the implied meaning

How could the project potentially uncover any contact the people had with their family members?

Answer: Contact


In Larry Nassar's statement to the court last year just before he was sentenced, he said he'd been impacted to his inner-most core by the testimony of his victims, including yourself. But he did not apologize. He was, though, sentenced to life in prison. Did you feel resolution walking away from that day?

You know, I did in the sense that Larry will never be able to hurt another child. And I take great comfort in that. That being said, Larry was a symptom of the problem. And that's something, again, that I really wanted to dig into in the book. Larry didn't just magically appear as one of the most prolific predators in campus history, in sports history and in history in general. He didn't magically appear that way. He was enabled and sheltered by powerful organizations, by law enforcement agencies that mishandled or refused to investigate reports of sexual misconduct. And so while we were able to stop Larry, what really remains to be done and the work that has just begun is dealing with the institutions and the dynamics that left him in power.

Rachael Denhollander is an activist and former gymnast. Her book "What Is A Girl Worth?"and her children's book "How Much Is A Little Girl Worth?"are out now. Rachael, thank you so much.

Thank you.

turn 1 : Larry didn't just show up as a predator and hurt as many people as he did.

How was Larry Nassar able to hurt so many people?

Answer: Enabled


And to tell you the truth, I still feel so very, very sorry for that little girl, you know, for her utter helplessness. And that has made me really empathize with children and with situations where human beings become like children in terms of becoming utterly helpless. If anything good came out of that incident, was realizing that you need to empathize with these situations, and you need as much as it is in your power to try and prevent such things happening, not just child molestation, but being put in a position where you have no choice.

I mean, it's interesting that your previous book was ostensibly about the book "Lolita. "

Yeah, you're right.

Well, I'm just wondering, I mean, do you see yourself personally in Lolita?

turn 0 : to feel sorry for someone means that you feel sad for someone, or showing compassion

Which incident made PersonA realize the importance of empathizing with situations where human beings become helpless?

Answer: incident


They survived, but it's not like they were back at a comfortable hospital stateside within a few weeks is it?

No, their reward for surviving was Japanese captivity. And you know, what lay ahead for them was famously fictionalized in the movie "The Bridge On The River Kwai," the so-called Burma-Thailand Railway, which was a - it was a war crime, really. These POWs were set to work for the Japanese, building this railroad through the jungle up in Burma and Thailand. And it was a case, literally, of the survivors in some sense envying the dead. 20 percent of the survivors would die in captivity. And so out of that 1,100-man crew, fewer than 300 came home.

It seems good here to remember the words that President Roosevelt said after the sinking, quote, "our enemies have given us the chance to prove that there will be another USS Houston and yet another USS Houston, if that becomes necessary. And still another USS Houston, as long as American ideals are in jeopardy. "

Well, he spoke those words, I believe, it was on Memorial Day, 1942. The president had a special relationship with this ship and its crew. Four times during the '30s he took world cruises on the Houston. It got to the point where when he called the Navy Department and said, bring the boat around, the admirals on duty knew exactly which ship he meant; he meant the Houston.

turn 2 : (3), "It seems good here to remember the words that President Roosevelt said after the sinking, quote, 'our enemies have given us the chance to prove that there will be another USS Houston and yet another USS Houston, if that becomes necessary. And still another USS Houston, as long as American ideals are in jeopardy.'"  The literal meaning is simply a quote from President Roosevelt about the USS Houston and its crew. However, the implied meaning is that the quote represents the resilience and determination of the American people in the face of adversity and how they will continue to fight for their ideals even in the most difficult of circumstances. It is a call to action and a reminder of the sacrifices made by those who fought for their country.

Which ship did President Roosevelt take world cruises on four times during the '30s?

Answer: Houston


We often ignore the unevolved brain or what's sometimes called the reptilian brain. So zombies exist in the reptilian brain in the movies. And as it turns out, in the real world, humans have what we sometimes refer to as our zombie brain. And you might think about it as autopilot.

Like when you're driving the car. And you sort of zone out. And you don't even remember the way that you got to where you're going.

That's the perfect example.

And there are real-world applications for this speculation, right?Because there are murder cases where the perpetrator says that they zoned out. And there's a big debate about how conscious they were of what they were doing.

turn 0 : The reptillian brain is a person who has not been educated. Zombie brain is where people don't think about what they are doing.

What is the name given to the brain that operates on autopilot, according to the dialogue?

Answer: Zombie


Four. Four. We have two children.

You're a fam of four. And you are in the hospital, all four of you?

Were in the hospital, yes.

So what do you plan to do when the storm stops?

turn 1 : Asking if all family members are in the hospital

Answer: Four


And you'll vote again, yes, today.

I will, although I'm pretty peeved at the Senate for putting in the baloney tax extension. I mean, I can't believe that the Senate did that. I mean, how disgusting. But we're over a barrel, we've got to hold our nose. You know, we can't let the state of California go belly up financially.

There is a real risk though, congresswoman, that even if the House passes this it goes through, the president signs it - that it won't help, that it won't unfreeze the credit markets.

We're still going to have a problem. I mean, there is no question that there is already layoff. There's going to be an economic decline. There's going to be a recession. The question is how deep and, you know, is this going to be a catastrophe or is just going to be bad. This is not the last thing we're going to have to do.

turn 3 : The economic situation will get worse, and it's uncertain how bad it will be.

Answer: Uncertain


That's right. We have a very messy, you might even say disorganized, approach to fiscal policy in this country, no question. But the idea of massive additional budget cuts being needed or on anyone's immediate agenda, I think that has completely faded. Our economy is recovering. Our tax revenues are up. The budget spending has been tilted a little bit in terms of its future projections. So I think the U. K.  debate will not resonate at this moment in the United States.

Well, what about in Europe, though?

Well, Europe has some other problems, very big problems, recovering from their own sovereign debt crisis. The growth forecast in Europe is still very weak. That's the IMF forecast and the European's own forecast. And now we have this new shadow of potential disruptions to gas supplies from Russia because of the Russia-Ukraine relationship. That's the new wildcard. And if the relationship with Russia gets worse and you get into any kind of tit-for-tat sanctions, it's the Europeans who are vulnerable to some sort of negative impact on their economy much more than, say, the United States.

How does the growth rate in Britain compare to that of the U. S.  right now?

turn 1 : The implied meaning in this turn is that the speaker is asking for an opinion on the fiscal policy situation in Europe.

What is the speaker asking about in turn 1?

Answer: Opinion


I mean, there have been some high-profile examples recently of sort of ethically questionable journalism, you know, maybe at best. Do you think that - and this is sort of tangential, but do you think that that, the definition of plagiarism needs to be updated for the Web?

I mean, given that I started this thing, you mentioned the curator's code, I think about that a lot. I think plagiarism is kind of a harsh word that comes from the publishing world, you know, kind of a legacy term. And there are many layers to it. It's a little bit of a grab bag.

But online, one of the things that I think about a lot, which I think is a form of sort of neo-plagiarism as this idea of OK, you know, we live at a time where there's almost infinite information, and it takes time to find the meaningful and to separate it from the meaningless, and that's effort, and that's sort of creative labor.

And when someone does that, and let's say - you know, for example, one of my favorite sites, Open Culture, run by Dan Colman out of Stanford, he finds amazing archival stuff. You know, and he spends time in the archives looking for it. And then it gets sort of reported on, say, Huffington Post or Business Insider, just sort of regurgitated.

turn 0 : (1) "ethically questionable journalism" and "definition of plagiarism needs to be updated for the Web" (2) "curator's code", "legacy term", and "grab bag" (3) "neo-plagiarism", "infinite information", "meaningful and meaningless", "creative labor" (4) "Open Culture", "archival stuff", "regurgitated"

How does the speaker describe the content found by Dan Colman on Open Culture?

Answer: Amazing


Thank you.

What did you see when you drove through that deep water?What did you do?

It was just devastation everywhere. I mean, it looked like a lake. It looks like a lake in the middle of the neighborhood. You can't even fathom it.

Do you remember some of the people you were able to help?

turn 3 : (4) - The actual meaning is to ask if the individual remembers the people whose lives were positively impacted by their help, rather than asking if the individual remembers helping people.

Which aspect of the individual's help is being referenced in turn 3?

Answer: Help


She says that the album's title, "Pleasure," came out of a time when she wasn't feeling much of it.

There wasn't a particular thing. I was in a low-grade - just of confusion. Maybe it was like a what - what direction to go next - like, your compass stops working. It might have been from repetition of touring, from being - you know, having been an adult for long enough to have observed what I was doing as an adult. What - how adulthood was looking on me - you know what I mean?And so I think it was just a confluence of a bunch of different factors - you know what I mean?- that was putting me in a state of mind.

Yeah, I think for those of us that are older, we call it a midlife crisis. We have these crises of confidence (laughter). But I don't think that's what was going through you.

I know.

turn 2 : Turn (3) "Yeah, I think for those of us that are older, we call it a midlife crisis. We have these crises of confidence (laughter). But I don't think that's what was going through you" is an example of a turn whose actual meaning is different from its literal meaning.  In this turn, the speaker uses the term "midlife crisis" in a humorous and light-hearted way to describe a general feeling of uncertainty or confusion that comes with getting older. The actual meaning of the turn is not that the speaker believes the interviewee was experiencing a midlife crisis, but rather that the interviewee was going through a difficult time of uncertainty and confusion.

How does the speaker use the term "midlife crisis"?

Answer: Laughter


What's your greatest regret?

Well, the greatest regret is that we lost the referendum - that I didn't prevail, that we could have fought, perhaps, a better campaign. We could have conducted, perhaps, a better negotiation. Perhaps the timing wasn't right - and that I didn't take the country with me on what I thought was a really important issue. And I resigned because I felt - I didn't fight the referendum as a sort of chairman - on the one hand, on the other hand, you decide. I was wholly on one side of the argument. And so I felt it was right to resign, having lost, because the country needed a new prime minister, a prime minister with a credibility to take us forward and deliver the outcome of the referendum.

But, of course, you know, I will to my dying day wonder whether there was something more we could have done to have secured what I thought was the right outcome, which was to keep Britain in, but to recognize we were, in many ways, the odd one out.

OK.

turn 2 : They will wonder about this at various times for the rest of their life.

Answer: wonder


Chop, chop into smallish pieces.

OK.

Then you soften eight ounces of cream cheese, and you blend that with two-thirds of a cup of sour cream, get it all nice and smooth and then you spread that over the minced onion.

And you have the ambulance on speed dial, but yeah. . .

turn 3 : The literal meaning of (4) is to call for an ambulance in case of an emergency, however the implied meaning is that the task the speaker is asking B to do is dangerous or risky.

Which word in the dialogue implies that the task is risky?

Answer: danger


Yes, thank you.

We get it.

A lot of things in the book are things that I wrote about in my newspaper column. For about nine or 10 years I've been doing a column every week for the Guardian newspaper in England, and it's about any kind of unexpected, funny thing that I run across or people tell me about. And to do the book, I went back and grabbed a lot of these stories and then did some more digging to see what else have these people done.

Mm-hmm. Some of the stories seem to have sort of a moral to them, like the one - mysterious one I'm going to call the rectum in a jar.

Yeah, this is the case of the rectum of the Bishop of Durham. If you go to London and you visit the Hunterian Museum, it's a wonderful, wonderful - one - in fact, one of the world's few remaining big medical museums. It's part of The Royal College of Surgeons of England. If you go and visit it, on display on the main floor inside a jar is something they call object RCSHC/P192. The label identifies it as being the preserved rectum of the Bishop of Durham, and we're talking about Thomas Thurlow, who was born in 1737, died in 1791. Would you like to hear the story of why it's in a jar in London on display?

turn 4 : A strange story is going to be told about a preserved rectum.

Which preserved body part is being discussed in the story?

Answer: rectum


Its impact has been on all aspects of Iranians' lives. They have problems in buying their usual daily foods. Prices have soared three or four times. They have problems in buying medication. If we want to talk about, for example, in the medical field, most of the drugs are now founding with much higher prices. Some of them cannot be found easily. So it affects their health.

What are you seeing?What does that look like firsthand?

Yeah. For example, in our field, physicians have to prescribe drugs that might be less effective, that might have more side effects. And they are affordable by the people in operations, in surgeries. We have shortage of devices. People must stay longer waiting for their operation, and it affects their health.

You mentioned some equipment. Can you give an example of that?

turn 2 : Lack of medical resources and delayed operations have negative effects on patients' health.

What is the impact of the shortage of medical resources on patients?

Answer: Negative


You know, I think really when it comes to animal agriculture and pork production specifically, we've always been about open and fair markets and open trade. We know that when there's a level playing field and we have an opportunity to be able to compete with other pork producers worldwide, we continue to gain market share because we are good.

When we have tariffs, these retaliatory tariffs, obviously somebody else has an advantage over us. And especially in China here right now, obviously we've got two 25% tariffs that add up to a 50%, along with the 12% that they charge everybody. That's a 62% tariff. Well, that puts us out of the market, makes us uncompetitive.

Well, with this announcement out of the White House, kind of unexpectedly just in the past week, I mean, do you kind of feel like there's a game of chicken going on, and you're caught in the middle?

Well, let's be very realistic. The real issue at first was steel and aluminum tariffs, which the tariffs were put on Mexico. They retaliated against the United States, and our product was at a 20% tariff rate. And really that was worth about $12 per head. And that $12 came out of my and other pork producers' pocket. So that was the first one.

turn 3 : The steel and aluminum tariffs caused a loss for pork producers

Which tariffs resulted in a loss for pork producers?

Answer: Steel


Kids are natural scientists. They're natural born inquisitors. They like to find out about everything, and we just don't have a way of doing it. Maybe your math book can help do that. Have - do teachers use it at all and think about it?

We do have teachers using it. They say that they warm up the class with a math problem in the morning. We've heard all kinds of stories. There's a bus driver outside Chicago who actually puts the math problem up on a whiteboard on the bus every morning. And he has a bag of Oriental Trading prizes.

Right.

And the first kid on the bus to get it gets to pull something out of the bag. So it's really a movement that's spreading.

turn 0 : Kids like to learn about everything and they are always questioning what they see.

Which trait do kids have that makes them inquisitive learners?

Answer: Inquisitive


What are the problems in getting aid to arrive?

You know, and it's interesting to note - it's been, like, a week for a lot of these people because on Monday people started going into these shelters as it moved there. So, you know, for the people that are there, it's feeling really like it's been a long time.

There are still a lot of roads that are blocked going into some of these areas. These are remote areas. Some of them only had one road to begin with. Trees are down. Power lines have fallen across, so those are blocked. You know, they need to get the bulldozers in there in terms of clearing those roads so that access can actually get in there. So that is actually the biggest hold up in reaching what were really the hardest hit parts of Haiti.

And there must be concern about the spread of Zika, malaria, cholera and other diseases.

turn 2 : Implied meaning: The main issue preventing aid from getting to the most affected areas is the blocked roads, caused by fallen trees and power lines.

Which disaster caused the blocked roads in the remote areas of Haiti?

Answer: Hurricane


Correct.

And that's the idea?

That's exactly the idea and that's where we are today. So you kind of keep the country in limbo. And you say, as long as there's no election then I get to be president.

Have there been any calls for President Kabila to be investigated, forced to step down, impeached, put on trial for violating the constitution?

turn 1 : (2) Implied Meaning: Is this the overall goal we are striving towards?

How would you summarize the idea being discussed in turn 1?

Answer: Goal


Some folks get a little bit cranky about having to work on the holiday. It's a day that, you know, most of us spend with our family and friends. How do you feel about working on a day that most people get off?

Folks that work in NASA have a common bond of a real passion for the space program. So, we wouldn't be here if we didn't have that. And obviously, we'd like to be with our families, but if we can't be there, then the next best place to be is working on a space mission.

So, you know, we've been doing a space station for 10 years straight, and there's been someone here every year for every holiday. And beyond holidays even, you know, one of the crew members on board is having their wedding anniversary just yesterday, and tomorrow's one of the birthdays of one of the flight directors working the flight.

So, we all kind of take care and bond together and take care of each other. And we're having a Thanksgiving dinner here that management's all bringing in for the flight controllers that are working, and we try to shift people out so that, you know, there's three shifts so that people do get some time at home.

turn 1 : Working on a space mission is a fulfilling experience

What is the reason behind the Thanksgiving dinner at the space station?

Answer: Thanksgiving


And a few facts to guard those younger than you and me. Britain seized the Falklands in 1833, illegal then and illegal now, according to Argentina, which calls them the Malvinas. Every Argentine school child learns Islas Malvinas son Argentinas, but the roughly 3,200 residents adamantly insist they and the Falklands are and will always be British. But Jackson Diehl, none of that has changed since the end of the war three decades ago. Why has this dispute reemerge now?

I think it has to do with Argentine politics more than anything else. The reason the Argentine junta in 1982, military generals in charge at the time, invaded the Falklands, was they were desperate to distract popular attention from the fact that the economy was tanking and that they were losing their legitimacy. Now we have a civilian government in power, which, to its credit, doesn't want to invade the Falklands, but it has the same difficult economic problems again and it has the same problems with potentially losing legitimacy at home. And this is a very easy way to distract people.

This time, though, there is no hint of military action.

There isn't. And I think the interesting thing about this government is they have cut the Argentine military budget so severely in the last few years that even if Argentina wanted to invade the Falklands, they would be incapable of doing so. So that's one good thing.

turn 1 : Implied meaning: The speaker may be expressing a subtle hint or suggestion, rather than stating something directly.

Which turn in the dialogue may indicate that the speaker is not stating something directly?

Answer: Turn1


The way I coped with these disasters was seeing myself as the hero of my own story and thinking oh, okay, in the story, the guy survives. He doesn't kill himself. He doesn't commit himself to a mental hospital. He actually survives and thrives and overcomes these obstacles.

And in addition to that, you've also had kidney problems, and you talk really frankly about just how much strength it took you to do really basic things because you were constantly dealing with your body rebelling against you.

Yeah, I'm going through that right now. I'm on the top of the list for a transplant now, and I don't really want a transplant right now because I'm doing all right. So at this point, I'm kind of bring it on. I'm just, you know, I can take it.

What about the good stuff?There are many good things in your life, and two of them are Eva and Chet(ph), your kids. What are they like?

turn 3 : This turn is literal in meaning, as it is a straightforward question asking about the speaker's children.

What are the names of the PersonA's kids?

Answer: mentioned


I'm looking to see if we can use this talent to save elephants and our other wildlife. If we can use these elephant to help find areas with landmines and clear them faster than current methods, then that's fantastic. By bringing in samples to the elephant and getting them to say yes, this area might have landmines and this area has a high likelihood of not having landmines - just clearing land a bit quicker - maybe we could open up areas to wildlife and humans alike. Then we wanted to look past it. They're using dogs to detect cancer. They're using dogs to detect diseases. And if we could use our elephant to do the same, then hopefully we can save a lot of people.

Do you - is to work with elephants to become awed by them?

I must admit I've had elephants since I was 7 years old and there isn't a day that doesn't go past when I am not blown away by them. They are incredible animals. They're highly intelligent. They're good fun to be around and, yeah, to be awed by them is putting it lightly. They really are very, very special animals. It's hard to put that across to somebody on the other side of the world, but when you work with them and play with them every day, you'll have a special feeling for them, which is amazing.

Sean Hensman is operator of Adventures with Elephants in Bela-Bela, South Africa. Thanks so much for being with us.

turn 2 : This implies that  implies that A has a deep admiration and respect for elephants that goes beyond being simply awed by them.

What emotion does PersonA feel towards elephants?

Answer: Emotion


But what he did is he went out and explained the policy to the public and rationalized it, basically provided the sort of intellectual underpinnings for Greenspan's policies in two important areas. One, that they shouldn't target speculative bubbles, so that justified not doing anything about the housing market. And two, arguing that there was what they referred to as a global savings glut, which justified a big spending binge in the United States.

The argument was that China doesn't spend enough. The rest of Asia doesn't spend enough. If the world economy is not going to go into recession, it's up to the American consumer to keep demand up. So we shouldn't worry too much if American saving rates is zero and America's on a spending binge.

In retrospect, both of those arguments, you know, seem to be if not completely wrong, certainly very questionable given where they got us. And Bernanke, you know, played an important role in coming up with them. So sure, he's partly responsible for the Greenspan policies. But not totally, as I say. Greenspan was the senior policy maker.

Now in retrospect, it was just a few months ago, but still it seems like a long time ago. A lot of people are saying that the decision that Bernanke and Paulson made to let Lehman Brothers fail was really key because that really led to the credit markets freezing up. And so, why did Bernanke, why did he decide to let Lehman go under?

turn 3 : The decision to let Lehman Brothers fail was a key factor in the credit market freeze

What was the key factor in the credit market freeze?

Answer: Lehman


And Border Patrol agents are making a lot of trips to the hospital with sick children up and down the Southwest border - nearly 70 kids a day since December, they say. But immigration officials say it's just hard to keep up with the sheer numbers here. It's putting a huge strain on resources, and they're asking Congress for billions of additional dollars to deal with it.

In the meantime, what more have you learned in your reporting about the death of Carlos Hernandez Vasquez?

Well, a couple of things. One thing that really stands out is that Carlos Hernandez Vasquez died in a Border Patrol station. The previous migrant children who died were taken to the hospital first; Hernandez Vasquez was not even though immigration authorities clearly knew that he was sick. He was diagnosed with the flu by a nurse practitioner.

On the same day, Customs and Border Protection moved him to a different Border Patrol station where they could separate him from the other migrants to stop the spread of the flu. Even Health and Human Services officials were concerned about how ill he was. This is the agency that's responsible for long-term care of unaccompanied children. And HHS decided that Hernandez Vasquez could not be flown to a shelter in Florida because of his illness. So in retrospect, critics say it's hard to see why they did not take him to the hospital.

turn 0 : The situation of sick children at the border is worse than immigration officials claim

What is the reason for the strain on resources according to immigration officials?

Answer: Numbers


He explained that that track was inspired by some of my darker paintings. And it certainly is a very, you know, intense piece. As the track goes on towards the end, you just hear a creaking sound. . .

SOUNDBITE OF TOR LUNDVALL AND JOHN B.  MCLEMORE'S "HIS DARKER PAINTINGS")

. . . Which - I don't know if it's his door or some part of the house, but everyone in the podcast in S-Town, they were talking about, you know, sometimes you just sit around and listen to the creakings in this house. So it was pretty amazing to hear that in the recording, yeah. Well, John - yeah. John took his own life in 2015. When John sent me emails, you know, discussing his depression and his loneliness, I didn't want to preach to him, but I just encouraged him. I said, you know, I'm hoping you continue recording, you know, and working more on music. Again, I knew nothing about anything about him. I just thought it would help transform his feelings of loneliness into, you know, more of a content solitude, which is, you know, kind of easy to say but not always easy to do. So I didn't want to preach to him, but, you know, I saw a lot of promise in his music. So I did try to encourage that.

That was musician and painter Tor Lundvall talking about his new album, "Tor Lundvall Presents: Witness Marks - The Works of John B.  McLemore".

turn 0 : The creaking sound towards the end of the track adds to its intensity.

How does the creaking sound enhance the track?

Answer: Intensity


Help us understand. Just how good were the Lightning before this collapse?

Oh, quite good. They had 62 wins in the regular season. That tied the all-time NHL record for wins in a season. This was a team that was doing historic things in the regular season. Consider this. Thirty of their 62 victories were by three goals or more. So every time they stepped on the ice, they weren't just winning. They were blowing away their opponents.

So it's safe to say any sane hockey analyst (laughter) basically would have said that the Lightning was going to win the series, right?So what happened?

(Laughter) Well, I think Lightning defenseman Ryan McDonagh put it best. Everything that they did so well in the regular season, the Columbus Blue Jackets did it better in this series. But the bigger picture is this for the Lightning. They clinched a playoff spot in early March. They've been on cruise control for months. The Columbus Blue Jackets had to win seven of their last eight games just to get into the playoffs. So when push came to shove and adversity hit in the series, the Lightning had a bad six days compared to a great 82 games in the regular season, and then they were swept.

turn 1 : "blowing away" in line 2 - The phrase "blowing away" is being used metaphorically here to refer to the Tampa Bay Lightning's dominant performance against their opponents, rather than literal blowing.

How did the Tampa Bay Lightning perform in 30 of their 62 victories?

Answer: Dominant


And he loved to call it the prolate spheroid. But I guess it didn't catch on. But he was also - he was one of the scariest coaches because one of his lines in his pep talks was, it is better to have died as a small boy than to fumble the football.

Oh.

So, yeah, basically tough love without the love part.

And I understand Edgar Allen Poe has a role in developing modern football?

turn 2 : In turn (3), the speaker uses the phrase "tough love without the love part" to describe the coaching style of a certain coach. The literal meaning of "tough love" is a disciplinary strategy that involves both love and strictness. However, in this context, the speaker implies that the coach is only using the strictness part of "tough love" without the caring and supportive part.

What phrase does the speaker in turn 3 use to describe the coach's coaching style?

Answer: Tough


Billion with a B. And they have their own cable channels. I mean, they're major sports players. And almost all that revenue comes from two sports, men's basketball and football.

So where does all of that money go?

Not to the student athletes. Under NCAA rules, they're amateurs. They cannot be compensated beyond their scholarships and the cost of attending college. But it goes to coaches' salaries. It goes to facilities. It goes to the conference commissioners who all make an excess of $2 million now. There are a lot of people who are millionaires because of these sports. And so everyone gets paid except for the student athletes.

So how does race factor into all of this?

turn 2 : It implies that Student-athletes are being exploited for their labor and not fairly compensated.

What is the reason for the exploitation of student-athletes?

Answer: Exploitation


Yeah, well, in fact, what our(ph) antihydrogen atoms bump into when we release them is gold. The inside of our apparatus is gold-plated, so they're actually hitting gold nuclei. So what happens is the antiquarks in the antiproton finds some quarks in a gold nucleus and annihilate with those. The amount of energy released is about the same, right?You're annihilating the rest mass of the antiproton on the same rest mass of the quarks that make up the nucleus.

So does the gold get changed any way from. . .

Not in any way that you would measure macroscopically, right, but - because we're talking about, we trap one atom at a time, right?So there's no macroscopic effect that you would be able to measure. But for us, that's a microscopically violent event, right?There's a lot of energy released, and we're pretty good at detecting that so we can actually see the energy release when you lose one atom of antihydrogen. By the way, you couldn't do that with hydrogen. If hydrogen hits the wall, nothing happens, right?So this is one way that antimatter is actually fun to work with.

When you shoot that radiation at it to flip it around, does it self-annihilate against the wall?Is that what happens?

turn 0 : Antihydrogen atoms hit gold nuclei in the apparatus.

Which element is the inside of the apparatus gold-plated with?

Answer: Gold


Why?

Because it's like they don't have an agenda. They are just naturally funny.

I see a little boy break a grown man down so bad, one time, in the mall. We was in the sunglass department. The man tried on the sunglasses, he put the glasses on, he looked down at the little boy, he said, how these look?Little boy looked at him, he said, "They look good, now all you got to do is get your teeth fixed. "

Kids don't have an agenda. They just say what they see and then old people they just tell the truth. So - so, you know. I live in South Florida. And where I live is a predominantly retirement community. And one day, you know, how the new - the new fashion thing is your bra strap shows. You know, you could wear like a tube top and you have a fashion bra-bra, fashionable bra one. So I'm standing in line at the post office and this old lady taps me on the shoulder, she goes, sweetheart, your bra is showing.

And I look at her like, but it's pink. So I love that. I love people that are like generally funny and just on it.

turn 3 : kids and old people can be refreshingly honest because they are not always trying to please others or conform to social norms.

How do kids speak their minds according to turn 3?

Answer: Honestly


We're hosting an online viewing party of sorts. For all those people who couldn't be among the 75,000 at INVESCO, I guess the next best thing to do is have your computer at your desk and join us. So we'll be linking to a stream of the event, and we'll host a real-time conversation.

So give that address again.

nprnewsandviews. org.

All right. Geoffrey Bennett is the web producer for News and Notes, joining me from the studios at the NPR west. Geoff, thank you very much.

turn 2 : The website address to join the online viewing party is nprnewsandviews.org

How can you access the online viewing party?

Answer: nprnewsandviews.org


I don't really describe myself. I don't have a - I don't label myself really. I've done some interviewing in the past and just, you know, strike up a general conversation with people usually in sort of a casual environment. And for some reason, usually, people will talk to me.

And I have to say, you've got great researching skills. I read that you even dug up Carter Page's undergrad thesis, and you spoke with his U. S. Naval Academy thesis adviser. That's amazing. Why did you do that, and how did you go that deep?

I don't know. I just - I have a curiosity about this whole situation, and I really wanted to get to the bottom of it. So I - you know, the easiest way to say it is no stone left unturned.

You say, you know, you want to contribute to the investigation, but how are you different than a journalist?

turn 1 : "dug up" - This implies that the speaker did extensive research and found information that was not easily accessible.

Which thesis did the speaker research about?

Answer: Carter-Page's


Do you ever get parents who say, well I don't really like the way you're approaching this, I don't believe that that the way you're approaching this is the best way for my child?Even if they brought their kids or they've had their kids kind of come on a field trip.

We've had very few people who have said that. We have people who have left suggestions of how we can do things better, which we really want. But the focus groups that we conducted with parents before - as we were putting this exhibit together at school sites around the country, it was very clear. They were hungry for us to do something that would allow them to help explain to their children why people look different, what the concept of race is and more importantly, how people of all different backgrounds can get along in the school site.

Give me a very concrete example of something that you have in the exhibit. Describe to us one thing.

We have a wheel, color wheel, and we ask students to find their color on the color wheel. And this is the place where we talk about the history of skin color and why people have different skin color. And it has a lot to do with how humans migrated out of Africa over the, you know, past 20,000, 50,000 years. Anyway, they find themselves, and then they look at ranges of people from around the world who look like them. And it's a big a-ha moment.

turn 1 : The exhibit helps parents teach their kids about diversity

What is the concept that the color wheel at the exhibit explains?

Answer: Race


Hanna was a bride. That is, she was a North Korean woman who was kidnapped in North Korea and taken to China where she was sold as a bride to a Chinese man. This is a big market in China. After 30 years of a one-child policy and Chinese couples' preference for boys, there is a severe shortage of young women in China today. And the one thing many young men want most in life is a bride. So they place an order for one from North Korea.

For how much?

It depends. Every North Korean bride I interviewed told me that she remembered the price for which she was sold, but roughly, it's $1,500 or $2,000.

And once in this relationship, if you can call it that, how did she escape?

turn 2 : North Korean women are being sold as brides to Chinese men due to a shortage of young women in China

Which women are being sold as brides to Chinese men?

Answer: North-Korean


At this point now, those are the two sectors that are continuing to grow, that are continuing to be job engines. And the reason why I stress this is that historically, sectors which grow in downturns are the ones that set the pace for the recovery that comes afterwards. So, if I'm looking out ahead, I would sort of say the fact that these sectors have continued to grow is going to set the pattern for the coming upturn. So, you asked me about other parts of the sector economy that are doing well. It is very difficult to find other parts of the economy. My guess is that the next part that's going to recover is technology, but right now that part is still paddling hard.

OK, we don't want to hear any bad news right now. So…

No bad news. But…

We must end it on an up note.

turn 0 : Sectors that grown when the economy is failing do better when the economy begins to improve.  The techology sector as a whole is trying hard to make money.

How is the technology sector currently performing?

Answer: Hard


Earlier this week, Deacon White was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. And yes, we know, you've never heard of him. White's career began in 1871, at the dawn of professional baseball. He played catcher in the days when catchers use no equipment at all: no glove, no pads, no facemask. They became heroes celebrated for their courage and their wits, and Deacon White stood out as one of the best.

Baseball historian Peter Morris serves on what used to be called the Veteran's Committee at Cooperstown. It's now called the Pre-Integration Era Committee. He's also the author of "Catcher: How the Man Behind the Plate Became an American Folk Hero" and joins us now from the studios at Michigan Radio in Ann Arbor. Good to have you with us today.

My pleasure to be here, Neal.

And in your book, you argue that the generation that came of age after the Civil War looked around for some heroes and found them behind home plate.

turn 0 : Hall of Fame implies a recognition of being a noble and outstanding

Answer: Courage


I guess that's the point. We don't know who it is.

But I will give you a little clue. Watch Murray State, from the highly unheralded Ohio Valley Conference, mainly because of one player. It is a super-guard named Ja Morant. He leads the nation in assists per game. He loves to dunk. He is an absolute whirl on the court. And where he came from is the fun part of this story. So he was way off the radar screen of coaches and scouts. He was a high school kid from a small town in South Carolina. A Murray State assistant goes down to his town to scout some players. So he's in this gym. He gets hungry and asks someone, OK, where's the concession stand?They tell him. He leaves the main gym.

On his way to the concession stand, he hears a basketball bouncing in a side gym. He pokes his head in, and who does he see?Ja Morant playing in a three-on-three game. He is dazzled. He calls the head coach of Murray State and says, this kid's going to be a pro. He's now in the tournament, and he's coming to an NBA city soon.

Wow.

turn 1 : Implied meaning: The speaker may be using metaphors or analogies to convey a complex idea or emotion in a more relatable or understandable way.

Which literary device might the speaker be using in their statement?

Answer: None


Why?You know, if you've screw it up, what?You, like, lost 99 cents or $5?I mean, that's money. I'm not saying that that's not important, but God, when I use the cooking - when I lived in New York, it's like, if I screwed up, it was $30 down the drain.

Many of Christiane's recipes come from her own imagination. Others are adaptations from culinary classics like the "Joy of Cooking" and "The Moosewood Cookbook. "She says she realizes the low-budget nature of her book may not be appetizing to all palates. The 99-cent price tag does have a bit of a stigma.

I feel the same way sometimes. I'm a snob. I'll admit it. And so, you know, sometimes if I cook it, I'm like, oh, I'm pulling the ham out of the can. I don't know.

And maybe it's the ham, maybe it's not.

turn 0 : The speaker is saying that money is important, but not as important as the enjoyment of cooking.

Which aspect of cooking does the speaker prioritize over money?

Answer: Enjoyment


Well, I think a lot of us have become inert to that. Certainly, we have problems in spades. And for any journalist who wants to come to the city and write about its resurgence, which is taking place in pockets in the city, they do well not to generalize because it shows that you're turning a blind eye to the people who've struggled the hardest to stay here.

Michael Jackman is managing editor of the Detroit Metro Times. Thanks so much for being with us.

It's my pleasure.

This is NPR News.

turn 0 : (1) is that people have become inactive or lacking in energy, and the speaker is suggesting that there are significant problems that need to be addressed in the city. However, the implied meaning is that people have become desensitized or accustomed to these problems, and the journalist should not make broad generalizations about the city without considering the struggles of its residents.

Which word describes the state of people in the city?

Answer: Inert


How long has this been going on, and how did it start?It sounds like there's a culture of this.

Well, that's a great question. We've seen the number of arrests, at least for juveniles, ticking up in Pinellas in the last few years. It does spread very socially. They're sharing everything from what they're in to who they can pick up to who needs a ride to cop sighting - you know, stay inside, the narcs are out - on Facebook, on Instagram. One girl was arrested after an Instagram photo appeared of her inside the car that police were looking for with the caption, GTA squad, just grand theft auto.

Sounds like they're almost seeing it like "Grand Theft Auto" videogames.

Perhaps, it's been brought up before. But it certainly seems like a real life one playing out on our streets. And it's very dangerous. Kids in stolen cars in Pinellas crash every four days. We've had, you know, horrific t-boning accidents, where police cars go up in flames. We've had kids themselves getting injured.

turn 2 : (3) - "Grand Theft Auto" videogames is a metaphor for the risky and dangerous activities the juveniles are engaging in.

Which videogame is being used as a metaphor by PersonA in the dialogue?

Answer: Grand-Theft-Auto


A busy week at the U. S.  Federal Reserve. The central bank announced it would end its stimulus program after six years. And later in the week, the Fed's chair, Janet Yellen, gave a speech about diversity in the field of economics. She said the profession, which seems to be dominated by white men, would benefit from a wider variety of viewpoints and pointed to what she called a leaky pipeline that's prevented women and minorities from making it into the top ranks of academia. We're joined now in our studios by labor economist Julianne Malveaux. Dr.  Malveaux, thanks very much for being with us.

DR.  JULIANNE MALVEAUX: It's absolutely a pleasure. Thank you, Scott.

What do you make of that leaky pipeline analogy?

It's absolutely the case. When you look at the research from the past, white males were the norm. It was not until the '70s that folks like Janet Yellen and others introduced women into, essentially, the research - just the research. I think that some of my work and others began to introduce black women, but by and large you're talking a white male space.

turn 3 : (4) -- It is true that the field of economics has been dominated by white men for a long time, and that it was only in the 1970s that people like Janet Yellen began to introduce women into research.

Which profession does Janet Yellen point out as being dominated by white men in her speech?

Answer: Economics


We don't presume when we cover the news. But we see estimates. For instance, FiveThirtyEight has her close to a 90-percent favorite in terms of their poll aggregation. If we're just projecting forward - and again, we don't know - this could be a very bitter aftermath.

Forget about honeymoons. You know, I was talking - I convened a roundtable of former campaign chiefs of staff yesterday - Republicans.

And two of them mentioned to me that they thought within the first year of her being in office, Paul Ryan, the speaker of the House, would be under great pressure to bring articles of impeachment.

During that debate, Hillary Clinton kind of deftly avoided any real response on the Goldman Sachs speeches, on her husband's transgressions, if I might put it delicately, and accusations of pay-to-play relationship between the Clinton Foundation and the State Department. Do you think these are the kind of issues that might persist after November 8, whatever the result?

Absolutely. And, of course, the email issues, as well - we saw this report come out last week of a, quote, unquote, "potential quid pro quo" between the FBI and State Department investigators. This is something that I think Republicans are going to use to unite themselves.

turn 2 :  Republicans may attempt to use impeachment as a tool to try to challenge and limit Clinton's power.

What might Republicans use as a tool to challenge and limit Clinton's power?

Answer: Impeachment


These companies have existed before, but there's a lot more from these appraisal management companies. So the lender and mortgage broker has to send the order to them, this middleman, and then they go find an appraiser in your local area to go look at your house.

Now, there's a lot of concerns that these appraisal management companies are not the answer. They are not going to fix this problem. There's not a lot of regulation of these appraisal management companies, so some states are trying to fix that. We don't really know who's getting into this business. Are these the people to be entrusting this doing important job to?

So let's say you're a consumer. Let's say you're a person who's looking to buy a home, sell a home, or you want to refinance. What can you do to make sure you're not dealing with an appraiser who's got other motivations?

Well, first of all, you want to be very direct with your broker or lender and ask them, who is doing the appraisal on my house?You want to know the name of the company. Is it a company that they have a relationship with, a business relationship?Is it a company the lender partly owns?And certainly, you want to get a copy of that appraisal. And certainly, borrowers also have the ability - they can go seek out an independent appraisal.

turn 0 : The process of getting an appraisal is now more complicated because there are middlemen involved.

Which term describes the intermediaries involved in the process of obtaining an appraisal?

Answer: Middlemen


But instead the executives went in with the don't-tell-us-what-to-do approach, and they overplayed their hand. And this has happened before in the EU with the massive privacy law and billion-dollar fines. It's clear Europe is giving big tech a smackdown. And Google, whose motto used to be, don't be evil, might consider a new motto - play nice.

So what do these new rules mean for, say, artists, for creators?How helpful is all of this to them?

Well, there could be a fascinating rift here. Last summer, Sir Paul McCartney from the Beatles - OK?- he wrote an open letter to the European Parliament. He said, music and culture matter. They don't just happen. The companies exploit artists' work. And he wanted the law overhauled. But he's a big-time artist with lawyers who can produce copyright documents - right?- and negotiate agreements with Google.

Yeah.

turn 1 : Implied meaning: The speaker is subtly suggesting that the other person is being unreasonable or unrealistic in their expectations or demands.

How did the speaker imply that the other person is being unreasonable or unrealistic?

Answer: Unreasonable