Word: avidity
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...species of cactus,* all of which are natives of the Western Hemisphere, have been coveted by European collectors since 1777, when a Spanish botanical expedition brought back specimens from Peru. The Germans, Japanese and Americans are considered the most avid-and ruthless-collectors. In March 1979, a group of West Germans returning from a "botanical study" tour of Mexico were found to have 6,000 cactus specimens-many belonging to a dozen threatened species...
...most prodigious collector of modern slips was Kermit Schafer, whose "blooper" records of mistakes made on radio and television consisted largely of toilet jokes, but were nonetheless a great hit in the 1950s. Schafer was an avid self-promoter and something of a blooper himself, but he did have an ear for such things as the introduction by Radio Announcer Harry Von Zell of President "Hoobert Heever," as well as the interesting message: "This portion of Woman on the Run is brought to you by Phillips' Milk of Magnesia." Bloopers are the lowlife of verbal error, but spoonerisms...
Dothan suspected that the antiquities came from the Gaza Strip, which Israel had also occupied during the war. She took her hunch to then Defense Minister Moshe Dayan, an avid amateur archaeologist and collector. Three months later he not only told her where the Egyptian materials came from-how he found out he never revealed-but also provided a military escort to the site near the Arab town of Deir el Balah, about 18 miles southwest of Gaza...
After the relaxation of travel restrictions, 30,000 Israeli tourists seized the opportunity to visit Egypt. By contrast, only 1,500 Egyptians, including official delegations, journeyed to Israel. One reason for the lopsided traffic: the comparative prosperity of Israelis, who are avid travelers. Ostracized by much of the Arab world, Egyptians on the whole have been more circumspect and slower to warm to friendly relations. The choice of Ben Elissar, 48, a close political ally of Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and a former high intelligence official, to be Israel's first Ambassador to Egypt seemed hardly reassuring...
...shorter than he), slim and long-legged-the type he has said he favors. She is also British, another preferred attribute and one that will make her the first citizen to marry the heir to the throne since 1659.* Like the Prince, she is an athlete: an avid bicyclist, swimmer and skier, although she does not share the royal family's passion for horses. Says she: "I fell off a horse and lost my nerve...