Word: strata
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Months later Dr. Reeves went back and examined his discovery. He did not find any chunks of meteorite, nor could he prove conclusively that the hole was made by a meteor. But all signs indicated that it was. There were no volcanic materials in the vicinity, and the strata around the rim seemed to be tilted upward as if from an underground explosion...
Also, there is the question of organization. The long flashback in the middle of the book sags perceptibly. After a couple of chapters one is perfectly willing to accept the author's word for the fact that the social strata in a small New England town are extremely solidified. Mr. Marquand, however, piles on more and more illustrations. Everything that happens to Charley Gray seems caused by the fact that he isn't quite on the top of the social ladder...
...lacks any quality of suspense. Americans are not likely to think of themselves as having worked for "the great chemical trust." They are not likely to say to a girl in the morning: "The night was in your face." They would not characterize a Nazi: "[He] belonged to the strata of activists." The characters have a constant consciousness of position, prestige and appearances that Americans do not generally feel; the book often seems an expression of German psychology in terms of American vernacular...
...Walter T. Wells, tackled the problem in 1932. In a few months they developed their perforator gun, which can fire as many as 128 bullets in any desired direction. Its force is great enough to pierce five layers of steel casing and concrete, make enough fissures in the surrounding strata to start oil flowing. By means of an electrical trigger, the discharges, deep in a well, can be controlled at the surface...
...Tribune printed a folksy bit of home-town news: "New York City was favored last night with a sunset that rivaled those of the tropics in its splendor . . . Pedestrians in midtown cross streets stopped to watch and remark to each other on its beauty. There were not only cloud strata tinted from brilliant orange to deep mauve, but there were streaks of vivid blue sky and a vertical path of vivid color that resembled the reddish-white color of an open-hearth steel furnace...