Paraphrasing Exercise

1. "The Antarctic is the vast source of cold on our planet, just as the sun is the source of our heat, and it exerts tremendous control on our climate," [Jacques] Cousteau told the camera. "The cold ocean water around Antarctica flows north to mix with warmer water from the tropics, and its upwellings help to cool both the surface water and our atmosphere. Yet the fragility of this regulating system is now threatened by human activity." From "Captain Cousteau," Audubon (May 1990):17.

The Antarctic is the biggest cold producer on Earth. The cold mixes with the heat around the planet and creates a perfect balance in the climate. However, recent damage from humans is endangering this resource. From "Captain Cousteau," Audubon (May 1990):17.

2. The twenties were the years when drinking was against the law, and the law was a bad joke because everyone knew of a local bar where liquor could be had. They were the years when organized crime ruled the cities, and the police seemed powerless to do anything against it. Classical music was forgotten while jazz spread throughout the land, and men like Bix Beiderbecke, Louis Armstrong, and Count Basie became the heroes of the young. The flapper was born in the twenties, and with her bobbed hair and short skirts, she symbolized, perhaps more than anyone or anything else, America's break with the past. From Kathleen Yancey, English 102 Supplemental Guide (1989): 25.

In the early 20th century, alcohol was outlawed in the U.S. Just like today people get away with selling and consuming drugs, people in the 20´s always knew where to get a drink. During this decade, the police weren´t a big factor, and they could basically do nothing about the different mobs and mafia that controlled the cities. This was also the decade of a big music change. It seems that in the 1920´s, people stopped listening to the classics and started supporting the new jazz movement. Eventually, the big jazz artists of the time became a huge influence to the younger people. This decade was in fact when America wasa noted to transition from the past into the present. From Kathleen Yancey, English 102 Supplemental Guide (1989): 25.

3. Of the more than 1000 bicycling deaths each year, three-fourths are caused by head injuries. Half of those killed are school-age children. One study concluded that wearing a bike helmet can reduce the risk of head injury by 85 percent. In an accident, a bike helmet absorbs the shock and cushions the head. From "Bike Helmets: Unused Lifesavers," Consumer Reports (May 1990): 348.

Every year, 75% of the huge amount of bicycling deaths each year are caused by blows to the head. About 50% of these dead people are in fact just kids, kids who are still studying in their local elementary, middle, or high school. A study showed that the use of the bike helmet can reduce the risk of these blows to the head by a great percentage. In case of a fall, this helmet takes in the blow that your head would if you didn´t wear it, and it keeps your head safe from injury. From "Bike Helmets: Unused Lifesavers," Consumer Reports (May 1990): 348.

4. Matisse is the best painter ever at putting the viewer at the scene. He's the most realistic of all modern artists, if you admit the feel of the breeze as necessary to a landscape and the smell of oranges as essential to a still life. "The Casbah Gate" depicts the well-known gateway Bab el Aassa, which pierces the southern wall of the city near the sultan's palace. With scrubby coats of ivory, aqua, blue, and rose delicately fenced by the liveliest gray outline in art history, Matisse gets the essence of a Tangier afternoon, including the subtle presence of the bowaab, the sentry who sits and surveys those who pass through the gate. From Peter Plagens, "Bright Lights." Newsweek (26 March 1990): 50.

Matisse is the greatest of his time at creating the world of his painting inside his viewer´s heads. Of all the new artists, his art is the most life-like. Using all diferent kinds of colors and painting schemes, Matisse can re-create a huge number of scenes and actually capture their essence. From Peter Plagens, "Bright Lights." Newsweek (26 March 1990): 50.

5. While the Sears Tower is arguably the greatest achievement in skyscraper engineering so far, it's unlikely that architects and engineers have abandoned the quest for the world's tallest building. The question is: Just how high can a building go? Structural engineer William LeMessurier has designed a skyscraper nearly one-half mile high, twice as tall as the Sears Tower. And architect Robert Sobel claims that existing technology could produce a 500-story building. From Ron Bachman, "Reaching for the Sky." Dial (May 1990): 15.

Even after creating the mighty Sears Tower in Chicago, Illinois, which stands the highest of all skyscrapers in the United States, there is no way that the people who construct buildings of its kind, have given up in trying to build an even taller one. Engineers have designed edifices that stand up to 800 meters to buildings of 500 floors. They claim that modern technology could in theory make these stand, but they still don´t know the limits of skyscraper building. From Ron Bachman, "Reaching for the Sky." Dial (May 1990): 15.