Word: ascendant
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Anson Chan isn't anyone's idea of a radical. As the first Chinese to hold the post of Chief Secretary in Hong Kong's colonial government, she was a widely admired example of how a local, through hard work and artfulness, could ascend to the top of the establishment. Since her retirement six years ago, Chan's stature has barely diminished. With a patrician demeanor that can convey both hauteur and charisma, she is the paragon of the city's haute bourgeoisie. The city's working people treat her like a queen. And although she served in Hong Kong...
...tosses me a white hard hat and, leaving me sweating and struggling to keep up, strides briskly toward the base of the Burj Dubai, the soaring skyscraper he's in charge of building. Riding together in a jangling construction elevator, it takes us 3 min. 50 sec. to ascend to the giddy heights of the 104th floor - and the building's reach for the sky won't stop there. At the current rate, says Sang, his laborers - some 4,000 construction workers, mainly from the Indian subcontinent - are adding a new story every three days. At that pace, the Burj...
...identify, Brazilian culture consumes many foreign and extraneous elements and makes them its own. Sometimes the mix is inconsistent, and there are some unlikely amalgamations. Here, the first and third worlds are often on the same block: in some parts of the skyline, chic apartment buildings seem to ascend out of seas of squat favelas, the urban slums that dot the urban landscape. Though oft-publicized violent crime is prevalent in the periphery, it is far less common in the center. São Paulo’s Liberdade neighborhood boasts the biggest community of ethnic Japanese outside of Japan...
...those who decided to go, the climb to the top began not from the lower campsite but from the last of four ascending camps, just 3,000 ft. below the summit. Teams preparing to make their final climb usually bivouac there for a few days to allow their systems to become acclimatized to the wispy mountain air. Other teams slowly ascend through Camps 1 through 3 until they too are ready for the final push. On the night of May 10, the filmmakers slept at Camp 2, a mile below the summit, while the 33 other climbers trekked out into...
...months later, the protests have died down. Some downtown Torontonians have even warmed to their "local" airline, particularly time-stressed business people like lawyer Howard Greenberg, who can see the jets ascend from his office window. "With Porter, I can leave and board the aircraft within 30 minutes," he says. "If I go to Pearson, I have to allocate two hours." He likes the service, too. The terminal features complimentary cappuccinos and, for his laptop, wireless high-speed Internet access...