Word: symptom
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
China's piecemeal corruption pales by comparison with the systematic payoffs that are taken for granted in other Asian countries, but China watchers believe that bribery is a symptom of a general malaise that has infected the country's far-flung bureaucracy. They noticed that after Mao's death, the morale and dedication of bureaucrats seemed to be improving. Now, however, many officials appear to have reverted to skepticism and self-protective caution...
...American characteristics, none perhaps has been more enduring than the national preoccupation with newness. This trait nourishes invention, but faddishness as well. Its least attractive symptom may be Americans' rejection of almost anything old that is not a marketable antique. In no aspect of the nation's life has this been more evident than in the reckless, relentless assault on old buildings and neighborhoods. The "pull-down-and-build-over spirit," as Walt Whitman dubbed it, has been incalculably costly in terms of aesthetics, energy and the sense of continuity that binds communities and generations together...
...ominous inconvenience of the gasoline lines has aroused combinations of scapegoating and soul searching. While many Americans blame the oil companies, others regard American energy habits as a symptom of fundamental national weakness. There is an unhappy plausibility in the underlying premise that Americans have drifted into a condition of spoiled purposelessness...
Energy is only part of the problem. Another disturbing symptom is the state of American productivity, which after several years of declining growth has in recent months actually dipped below zero progress. America began to play its great role in the world not so much through military power as through its immense productive capacity. Productivity is not simply a matter of people willing to work hard, although that remains a major factor. It is also a matter of maintaining healthy machines and plants, capital investment and innovation. In most of these areas, America now lags behind many other nations...
...adopted in infancy by Nicholas and Frances Bianchi of Rochester, N.Y. Nicholas, who was a welder, died when Kenneth was 14. Throughout his childhood, Kenneth often suffered from amnesia, which Watkins says is a symptom of dissociative reaction, the medical term for dual personality. Bianchi had frequent nightmares of being in a dark room with a strange presence, perhaps an awareness of the second personality, and severe migraine headaches. Says Watkins: "Headaches often occur when the personality underneath is trying to get out and the one on top is trying to maintain control. The battle is experienced as a severe...