Word: leveler
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS), a series of statewide standardized tests that every high school student must pass to graduate, beginning with the class of 2003. This high-stakes, high-standards test is the first in the nation to require students to reach what may be a prohibitively high level of competence for the average student. For months, educators and parents around the state have been waiting with bated breath to see what grade would constitute a passing mark on this test. That grade was revealed on Nov. 23, when the Massachusetts Board of Education recommended that students be required...
...perfect as the moment seemed, it wasn't quite at the imperial level that Jiang aspires to. Even in Beijing, where the WTO celebration was as choreographed as the first act of Cats, the zip and pop of a truly great moment was missing. Ordinary citizens weren't glued to their television sets. And the triumphal speech to his fellow Chinese--the grand gesture or unforgettable sound bite that would lock in the historic moment--never occurred. But such policy blahs don't mean that Jiang won't one day pull off that kind of Maoist dazzle...
...Senate, of course, is not completely lacking in opportunities for petty vindictiveness on the schoolyard level. In fact, Jesse Helms has carved out a specialty in just that sort of thing, the way some other Senators have made themselves masters of farm policy or defense appropriations. But the arsenal of retaliatory weapons is rather thin. Expecting Giuliani to operate in the Senate, some New Yorkers think, is like asking a saloon brawler to conduct his business in a place that lacks both barstools and pool cues...
...although the Republican reduction of $257 billion over 10 years from non-Social Security surpluses is scarcely a pittance. The Democratic spending proposals, in Sinai's view, "are targeted for things that will be productive and not the old welfare-state, liberal way of wasting money at the government level...
...mail baby pictures to Grandpa Jim. Edit those corny home movies on your PC. There are lots of reasons to go digital now, but the best one is price. Mattel's NickClick, an entry-level digital camera for kids, is just $70, and digital camcorders have slipped below $1,000. Shopping sites like mysimon.com show prices way under list. With digital imaging becoming so affordable, companies are making it practical too. Home photo printers are easy to use, and video cameras' high-speed FireWire ports move huge video files to your computer fast. The big picture is only getting better...