Word: comprehend
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...precise regulations for genetic research, to protect the health of the individual and the environment. And his call for closer public scrutiny of scientific deliberations is laudable, although perhaps impractical in a society where so few laymen have enough technical knowledge to comprehend what the experts are really doing. But there is good reason to question the fairness of Rifkin's angriest assaults on scientists as mad magicians and unethical disciples of Dr. Strangelove. When Rifkin is most successful, he may slow basic research, delay a medical advance, perhaps even damage the economy. Still, it is a small price...
Dukakis had his own solution: further tax increases of $600 million. Dismayed legislators warned that the public would never accept such hikes. As the debt climbed dangerously, Democratic leaders decided Dukakis was unable to accept or even comprehend what had to be done. Worse, the Governor seemed incapable of bringing rivals together. Under weak leadership, opportunistic legislators are struggling to save pet projects while cutting into school budgets, law enforcement, the environment and aid to the disadvantaged...
...hard to believe, and harder still to comprehend, but it is true. Some atrocious crimes in America are being committed by those who should be the most innocent -- the young. Recent weeks have brought news of two particularly brutal acts: the gang rape and near murder of a jogger in Manhattan's Central Park by a group of youths 14 to 16, and the alleged sexual assault on a mentally impaired girl by high school students in affluent Glen Ridge, N.J. These crimes have awakened the country to the beast that has broken loose in some of America's young...
...Supreme Court building. The words are lofty, but for the thousands of people who trudge through the criminal-justice system daily and who speak no English, the phrase means literally nothing. For many of these defendants, the words are also legally empty. American justice for those who do not comprehend English is anything but uniform, let alone understandable. There are no nationwide standards for court interpreters, little training and virtually no monitoring. "Everybody gets a piece of due process," says David Fellmeth, a senior court interpreter in New York City. "But how big a piece depends on the interpreter...
...report, titled Crossroads in American Education, evaluated 1.4 million students ages nine, 13 and 17 over the past two decades. On the positive side, it found that students have improved in "their ability to do simple computation, comprehend simple text and exhibit knowledge of everyday science facts." The performance gap between whites and racial minorities seems to be closing, although it remains "unacceptably large." By the end of high school, blacks and Hispanics still lag three to four years behind white students in achievement...