Word: problem
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Bizarrely, the Japan syndrome seems to have spread to Asia's other giant. China never caught the Asian flu, because foreign-exchange regulations--though they fostered inefficiency and corruption--prevented hot money from leaving and deterred it from coming in the first place. Instead, the problem is, believe it or not, excessive thrift. Incredibly for a developing country, China is experiencing pronounced deflation. In the end, China, like Japan, may be forced to roll the printing presses--a move that would not be possible without a devaluation of the renminbi, which would make the lives of the country's neighbors...
...Fast ForWord games attack this problem by training youngsters to distinguish among phonemes, first at artificially slowed speeds and then at normal rates of speech. The kids click their mouses on animated screen games to identify what they hear. The training is intense--students must sit before computers for 100 min. a day, five days a week for four to eight weeks--because it takes sharply focused attention to rewire a brain. Last fall, Scientific Learning rolled out Fast ForWord II for children who can use additional training. (Parental disclosure: this writer's 12-year-old son Billy made welcome...
...problem with margarine comes from substances known as trans-fatty acids. At room temperature, the vegetable oil used to make margarine and shortenings stays in a liquid state, not the most spreadable consistency. When the oil is treated with heat and chemicals, the fatty-acid molecules straighten out, allowing the liquid to solidify. But this trans-fatty configuration also converts beneficial polyunsaturates into less healthy fatty acids, and this can cause blood fats to rise...
Despite all this, 60% of kids ages 12 to 14 say, as most younger kids do, that they would like to spend more time with their parents. The problem, of course, is finding that time, which is at a premium in the increasing number of two-earner households and those headed by single parents. A clear reflection of how families have changed: 41% of the kids sampled said they spend an equal amount of time with both parents. "This is one of our most significant cultural changes," says Dr. Leon Hoffman, who co-directs the Parent Child Center...
Part of the problem stems from Hemingway's apparent uncertainty about where he wanted his story to go. Early on, some Mau Mau rebels who have escaped from jail pose a potential threat to the Hemingway encampment, but they abruptly vanish from the narrative. Another plot line involves Hemingway's fourth wife, Mary, and her fierce determination to shoot a particular lion before Christmas Day. "He's my lion," she says, sounding uncomfortably like a contestant in a Bad Hemingway writing contest, "and I love him and respect him and I have to kill him." She does so about halfway...