Word: graded
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Nancy Stevenson, whose state is home to a Poseidon missile factory and the nation's only weapons-grade plutonium plant: "These installations have been here for years, but I do think our people are now uncomfortably aware that South Carolina plays a far greater role than we would wish in nuclear matters." Even more remarkable has been the reception given to four saffron-clad Buddhist monks from Japan, who are trudging along highways in the South chanting prayers of peace. The monks believe that the ground they cross will be protected from nuclear war; they began their pilgrimage from...
...Ronald Reagan took to the road last week, moving briskly from Air Force One to limousines and helicopters, and from them to platforms and podiums, his retinue included a field-grade officer carrying a thick black leather briefcase, who usually walked a few respectful paces behind the President. The officer is one of four, representing each of the four armed services, who are responsible for staying near the President everywhere he goes, every moment of the day and night, switching off in shifts. Their other responsibility: not to drop the briefcase. Hence its irreverent nickname?"the football...
With an average of 15 Ibs. of the silver-white, highly toxic metal needed for each warhead, the Reagan plan will require upwards of 130 tons of weapons-grade plutonium to build the 17,000 or so new warheads that defense specialists estimate will be added to the U.S. nuclear arsenal by the mid-1990s. But according to congressional testimony earlier this year by F. Charles Gilbert, an Energy Department nuclear expert, the lack not only of plutonium but also of tritium, an associated radioactive gas, threatens eventually to present "a serious problem...
Most Western nations, including the U.S., envy Japan the benefits of its rigorous educational system. More than 90% of Japanese students graduate from twelfth grade (in contrast to 75% in the U.S.), despite a demanding academic agenda. By the end of third grade, children must master 881 of 2,000 essential Japanese ideograms; by sixth grade they should know 1,000 more. During high school, the Japanese must cover far more math and science than their American counterparts. By the time they take their college entrance exams, students are prepared to handle questions in English grammar, as well as Japanese...
Industry begins early. From the time children first set foot in school, at age six, they are faced with seven hours of classes a day, 240 days a year - and twelve years of unremitting pressure. Twice a year they must take exams - to get into the next grade, to get into a respected high school grade, to get into a respected high school or, ultimately, to gain entry into one of the very few prestigious public universities. Students devote almost all their waking hours to studies. In addition to regular classes and half-days on Saturdays, they often spend...