Unit 1 Changes in the Way We Live

BeforeReading >> Ivy League

IvyLeague

Ivy League refers to eight long-established colleges and universities inthe United States with prestigious academic and social reputations. Members ofthe Ivy League are Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island; ColumbiaUniversity in New York City; Cornell University in Ithaca, New York; DartmouthCollege in Hanover, New Hampshire; Harvard University in Cambridge,Massachusetts; University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia; Princeton Universityin Princeton, New Jersey; Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Themembers of the Ivy League compete in intercollegiate athletics.

If you want to know more about these schools, youare welcome to visit their websites:

Brown University                                         www.brown.edu

Columbia University                           www.columbia.edu

Cornell University                               www.cornell.edu

Dartmouth College                               www.dartmouth.edu

Harvard University                              www.harvard.edu

University of Pennsylvania                 www.upenn.edu

Princeton University                            www.princeton.edu

Yale University                                    www.yale.edu

BeforeReading >> Fahrenheit and Celsius Scales

Fahrenheit Scale

Fahrenheit Scale refers to a scale of temperature, first established bythe German physicist Gabriel Fahrenheit in 1715. The unit of temperature is thedegree Fahrenheit (℉), and0℉ was originally the coldest temperature Fahrenheit could achieve using afreezing mixture of salt and ice. On his scale, water freezes at 32℉ and boils at 212℉(under set atmospheric conditions). No longer used in scientific work,Fahrenheit temperatures still feature in everyday language; hot days “in theeighties”, for example. To convert a Fahrenheit temperature to Celsius(centigrade), subtract 32, then multiply by 5/9.

Celsius Scale

Celsius Scale refers to a scale of hotness, or temperature, first establishedby the Swedish scientist Anders Celsius (1701~1744) in 1742. On this scale, theunit of temperature is the degree Celsius (℃ ); water freezes at 0℃ andboils at 100℃ (under agreed standard atmospheric conditions),although when Celsius originally devised the scale he made 0° the boiling pointand 100° the freezing point. The Celsius scale was formerly commonly known asthe centigrade scale because of the 100 divisions between the freezing andboiling points of water. To convert from degrees Celsius to degrees Fahrenheitmultiply by 9/5 and add 32.

BeforeReading >> Buying Insurance

BuyingInsurance

People face many choices when buying insurance policies. They commonlychoose an insurance provider based on several criteria. Some of the mostimportant of these include: 1) the financial stability of the insurancecompany, 2) the price of policies, and 3) details of coverage and service.

People seeking to buy insurance often use the services of an insuranceagent or broker to assist in their purchase. Most insurance falls into fourmain categories, according to what it covers: 1) property and casualty, 2)life, 3) health and disability, and 4) old-age and unemployment. Insurerscommonly refer to insurance purchased by individuals as personal lines coverageand to insurance purchased by businesses as commercial coverage.

BeforeReading >> Sports Illustrated

Sports Illustrated

Sports illustrated is a popular US sportsmagazine published each week by Time Inc, part of Time Warner. It firstappeared in 1954, and is read mainly by men. The magazine also publishes theSports Illustrated Sports Almanac every year.

BeforeReading >> Individual Retirement Account

IndividualRetirement Account

Individual Retirement Account refers to a US government plan that allowspeople to put part of their income into special bank accounts. No tax has to bepaid on this money until they retire. In fact, “IRA” is used more often.