Word: fails
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...simple thing, sure, but precisely what I lack in Manhattan and definitely in Cambridge. Of course, I don’t speak the language, and every stilted conversation I’ve had over such meals makes the deficiency obvious. All my relatives speak English, but socially, I fail to get jokes and tend to fall silent amid idle chatter. I also find otherwise banal things overly amusing: that “super-sizing” your meal at McDonald’s is called “going big-time,” for example (and strictly biologically speaking...
...bill. But does hosting the Olympics really help a city? To put it mildly, the evidence is mixed. Athens' experience suggests that the supposed financial and economic benefits of Olympics can easily disappear. Costs can exceed budgets, job creation can fall short of forecasts, tourists and spectators can fail to materialize, and - especially in the world after Sept. 11, 2001 - unexpected expenses can crop up. Athens spent about $1.5 billion on security, 12 times its original estimate. Montreal turned a significant profit on operations alone from its hosting of the 1976 games. But don't try and convince...
...hand, an epidural can relax the laboring uterus just enough to allow a woman to push harder and more efficiently without suffering too much pain. On the other hand, it can relax the muscles of the uterus to the point where contractions cease, causing progression to fail and increasing the likelihood of a caesarean. I'm a doctor, but I was struck by just how difficult this decision is for the patient--and her husband--as we sat there in the middle of the night conferring with her obstetrician...
...treason. While Douglass considered Brown a hero and martyr, Lincoln had referred to him as a criminal and madman. Yet now Lincoln was borrowing from Brown by conceiving a similar raid. Douglass had not gone with Brown to Harpers Ferry because he had correctly predicted that Brown would fail in the attempt. But Douglass eagerly accepted Lincoln's proposal and began preparing for the invasion. Sherman's victory at Atlanta, however, all but clinched Lincoln's prospects for re-election and rendered the plan unnecessary...
...patterns in American history have proved as durable as this one: while Presidents are attacked by their opponents for what they do or fail to do, First Ladies are disparaged for who they are. What's more, the unattractive traits that presidential spouses have been assigned don't seem to change. They're vain and frivolous (Jacqueline Kennedy in her designer gowns). They're pushy and calculating (Hillary Clinton and her health-care plan). They're irrational and superstitious (Nancy Reagan and her astrologer...