text:
New York City’s zoning code turns 100 this year. That may not sound like cause for celebration — except maybe for land-use lawyers and Robert Moses aficionados. Yet for almost every New Yorker, the zoning code plays an outsize role in daily life, shaping virtually every inch of the city.

The bays and cliffs of the Empire State Building come from zoning, as do the arcades and plazas of Park Avenue. The code gave us Zuccotti Park and Billionaire’s Row, the quietude of Greenwich Village and the bustle of the High Line, the glass towers now lining the formerly industrial waterfront and the portion of subsidized apartments that fill them.

New York’s zoning code was the first in the country, meant to promote a healthier city, which was then filling with filthy tenements and office towers. Since it was approved in 1916, the ever-evolving, byzantine code has changed many times to suit the needs of a swollen metropolis. Just in March, the administration of Mayor Bill de Blasio won approval for a vast citywide plan that would encourage sleeker, more affordable developments.

Yet many of New York’s buildings remain stuck in the past.

Whole swaths of the city defy current zoning rules. In Manhattan alone, roughly two out of every five buildings are taller, bulkier, bigger or more crowded than current zoning allows, according to data compiled by Stephen Smith and Sandip Trivedi. They run Quantierra, a real estate firm that uses data to look for investment opportunities.

Mr. Smith and Mr. Trivedi evaluated public records on more than 43,000 buildings and discovered that about 17,000 of them, or 40 percent, do not conform to at least one part of the current zoning code. The reasons are varied. Some of the buildings have too much residential area, too much commercial space, too many dwelling units or too few parking spaces; some are simply too tall. These are buildings that could not be built today.

It is important to note that these estimates rely on public records that can be imperfect. Still, while the data may at times be imprecise, it allows for an insightful view of zoning in New York.

Many buildings in distinctive Manhattan neighborhoods like Chinatown, the Upper East Side and Washington Heights could not be erected now: Properties in those areas tend to cover too much of their lots (Washington Heights), have too much commercial space (Chinatown) or rise too high (the Upper East Side). Areas like Chelsea, Midtown and East Harlem, on the other hand, would look much as they do already.

“Look at the beautiful New York City neighborhoods we could never build again,” Mr. Smith said. “It’s ridiculous that we have these hundred-year-old buildings that everyone loves, and none of them ‘should’ be the way they are.”

As the zoning code enters its second century, it is worth considering the ways it has shaped the city; whether and where it is still working; and how it might be altered so the city can continue to grow without obliterating everything New Yorkers love about it.

A New New York Would Be Less Dense

[19jones-photo.jpg]

19 Jones Street in Greenwich Village. Pablo Enriquez for The New York Times

On the cover of “The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan,” there on the right side, its cornice almost grazing the N in Dylan, stands 19 Jones Street. It is one of the thousands of buildings in Manhattan with too many dwelling units for its size.

Built in 1910 as a tenement, 19 Jones Street predates the zoning code by six years. It belongs to a special family of tenements known as dumbbell apartments, so named because of the way the buildings are squeezed in the middle, creating air shafts. Such openings were a requirement of the Tenement Housing Act of 1879, meant to make tightly packed apartments a little bit more livable.

Were 19 Jones built today, it would have to be significantly smaller. The number of apartments would fall sharply, to just eight from 24. The building’s total dimensions would be nearly halved, and a story or two would have to be chopped off.

New York’s zoning rules were intended to create less cramped quarters, but they also have consequences for the number of aggregate apartments in the city. Such limitations can quickly decrease the supply of housing, and most likely drive up rents. If every tenement in the city were reconfigured in these ways, they would be less crowded, but there would also be fewer apartments to go around.

A New New York Would Be Shorter

[720park-photo.jpg]

720 Park Avenue on the Upper East Side. Pablo Enriquez for The New York Times

Problems persist at the other end of the real estate spectrum.

Take 720 Park Avenue, a Rosario Candela classic from 1928 that rises 17 stories and has only 29 units — one of which, a 7,000-square-foot duplex, recently came on the market for $22.5 million. All that grandiosity is too much for modern zoning, which now constrains such boxy, bulky buildings in this part of town.

The city’s first zoning code was enacted as New Yorkers began to worry that tall buildings would cast the city into eternal darkness. People feared the spread of bulky skyscrapers like the Equitable Building, at 120 Broadway in the Financial District. Rising 42 stories and 538 feet straight up from the street in a hulking limestone slab, it spread a seven-acre shadow over downtown when it opened in 1915.

In response, the city included a setback rule in the zoning code the next year, which required buildings to step back as they rose. It helped create that familiar saw-toothed shape beloved in so many prewar skyscrapers as well as the ersatz ziggurat in shorter structures like 720 Park.

Yet changes brought about with the 1961 zoning overhaul and tweaks since would create a very different 720 Park today. First, it would have to be much shorter on the 70th Street side. And, since this building reflects a previous era’s rules on bulk and density, it would have to slim down along Park Avenue, as well.

The rules were dreamed up by planners in part to ensure that historic buildings would not be replaced with something totally out of context, like the skinny towers now springing up on 57th Street. Yet they also ensured that many of the existing structures that made up that context would eventually be out of context themselves.

But a New New York Will Still Look a Little Old

Both 19 Jones Street and 720 Park Avenue belong to a vast group of buildings in New York City that are treasured for their architectural value and historical significance. They persevere out of genuine appreciation but also the zoning quirks that determine the fate of almost every building, new or old.

Nearly three-quarters of the existing square footage in Manhattan was built between the 1900s and 1930s, according to an analysis done by KPF, an architecture firm based in New York. In a way, the zoning code helps to preserve such architectural diversity. The laws have gotten more restrictive over time, giving an edge to properties built in earlier eras.

Not all buildings are worth keeping. In Midtown East, many nonconforming structures have low ceilings and columns that make them unappealing to new businesses. Some developers have gone so far as to demolish all but the bottom quarter of their buildings, and then build up from there, allowing them to retain the old zoning for their plots so as not to sacrifice a single square foot. The city is currently reconsidering a proposal that would allow these buildings to be rebuilt to their original size and possibly even larger.

It does not have to be this complicated. In honor of the code’s 100th anniversary, the Municipal Art Society of New York has called on City Hall to consider overhauling the code in a way that would make it intelligible to all.

“To understand zoning, you have to have a law degree, it’s so convoluted and so dense,” Mike Ernst, director of planning at the civic group, said. “The whole process of how buildings get built these days is so confusing and opaque to people. There really should be more transparency, so people can have an understanding of what the future holds for their city.”

question: What is the main topic of the post?

answer: The author of the article discusses New York City's zoning code and how it plays an outsized role in New Yorkers' daily lives whether they realize it or not.

question: Summarize information about the zoning code.

answer: The New York City zoning code was approved in 1916; it was the first in the country, and has changed many times to suit the needs of the city. It was meant to promote a healthier city.

question: What reasons does the author of the article give to explain the many buildings that defy the zoning code?

answer: The author says reasons are varied: some of the building have too much residential area, too much commercial space, too many dwelling units, too few parking spaces, or are too tall.

question: What would be the consequences to the city if the current zoning codes existed for all the buildings in the city?

answer: The city would be less dense and shorter (building height), but it would still look a little old.

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: The author of the article discusses New York City's zoning code and how it plays an outsized role in New Yorkers' daily lives whether they realize it or not.


split: test

text:
When I first started skateboarding, a friend brought me out to Strawberry Canyon in the Berkeley Hills. Like the first time you try anything, it was pure magic—the afternoon sun, the breeze gently ruffling my hair as I coasted gently down a smooth paved trail on the perfect slope. It was like surfing, but in a city! It was like snowboarding, but I wasn't cold!

Now I know skateboarding isn't like that all the time. There are only just enough sublime moments to make up for all the time you spend sweating up hills, crossing your fingers at the bottoms of other ones, and eating pavement in front of jeering eighth-graders outside during a fire drill. For years, I've wanted a motorized, battery-powered Boosted Board to make up for all of skateboarding's shortcomings, but the hefty price tag made it seem out of reach.

This year, Boosted released the Mini S. This entry-level electric skateboard is shorter, smaller, and more nimble than the original longboard. It also has new features, like a wide curved deck, custom-designed 80-mm wheels, and precision-machined aluminum trucks for greater comfort.

At $749, It’s still not cheap. But it’s a more accessible price point than the $1000 second-gen Boosted. It's also _a lot_ more fun.

Fun Size

Unlike Boosted’s previous models, the Mini S is only 29.5 inches long. According to the press materials, the short deck is modeled on 80s pool decks—think Tony Alva in Dogtown, or the board you stole from your neighbor's older brother in high school--and it has a rubber bumper for when you decide to stomp on the tail and spin. It’s short enough that, at 5 feet 2 inches, I can easily carry it around by the front truck.

Boosted
But it’s not a park board. At 15 pounds, it’s still really heavy, which means you won’t be doing ollies or kickflips anytime soon (although, whoa, what if you could put in a button that would ollie automatically, Boosted? Just a thought!). The deck is also 11 inches wide, which makes it a little too hard to turn for park riding.

It takes about an hour for the board to get a full charge while plugged in. You also have to charge the remote, which is the only device in my house that still uses a USB Mini-B type connector. I did a double-take every time I had to plug it in.

Boosted also has a companion Bluetooth app, which I found to be incredibly wonky. Nevertheless, if you can manage to connect it, it’s useful for finding out how much range is left on the battery. I found that I could get anywhere from five to seven miles on one battery charge, which perfectly suited my needs. I live within a mile of everywhere I need to go, and I could make one charge last for several hours while running errands, meeting a friend for lunch, and doing several wholly superfluous runs on smooth roads around the local high school.

But if your commute is longer than that, you’ll need to keep an eye on your odometer. You’ll definitely need to charge the board every night, or carry the charger in your bag. Unfortunately, the Mini's deck and truck design means that Boosted can't offer a replaceable battery, so you can't swap it out for a fresh one mid-ride (the other new boards in their line, the Boosted Plus and the Stealth, have replaceable batteries).

You can also use the companion app to switch between modes. Each mode has been tailored to the Mini S. Beginner mode has limited acceleration, a top speed of 11 mph, and no automatic hill drive; expert mode has high acceleration, a top speed of 18 mph, and can go up hill grades of up to 20-percent. Eco mode is somewhere in-between.

When I took it out with some friends, we maxed it out at 17 mph in expert mode. But for tooling around my neighborhood, I found eco mode to be the most comfortable. In expert mode, accelerations and decelerations are really quick. Like, terrifyingly quick. Even though the remote has something called a Jerk Filter to make those transitions smoother, I still found myself getting thrown off occasionally.

In eco mode, the acceleration is gentler, with a top speed of 16 mph, and it was more than capable of handling hills with a five- to ten-percent grade. I didn’t _really_ feel like I needed to go faster than that to feel like I was getting the hang of the thing.

The short length makes it a little less comfortable to ride on rough terrain. Longboards are, well, long because the extra length helps dampen the vibrations from road imperfections for a smoother ride. While the Mini S does have big wheels and sturdy trucks, it can be chattery on bumpy roads. I blithely assumed that it would be fine on any roads where I've previously taken a longboard, I found I had to stop at corners to shake out my benumbed legs and feet.

Boosted

The remote is still the same intuitive gun-shaped controller Boosted has used before, with a trigger button and a wheel that you scroll forward and backward with your thumb. It takes some practice to get used to it, but you can also push the skateboard unassisted as well (which may be helpful if you find yourself in a situation where the battery has died). Rather than perching on the board and bracing myself for it to start, I found that it was easier for me to push the board and only gun the motor once I was under way.

Kick, Push, Coast...and Coast

There _is_ one unintended side effect to riding a Boosted board. One evening, I let my husband borrow the board to ride to a local outdoor hangout, since our bike trailer is yoked to my bike. When we pulled up in front, he picked up the Mini S and stopped for a second before going in.

“Everyone here thinks I’m an a*shole,” he said.

Chuffing after him, towing two kids in an enormous bike trailer while he breezed along without even having to push, I confess that I entertained similar thoughts. Bikes and bike gear aren’t cheap, but they _are_ a complete car substitute.

The Mini S is just not a convenient mode of transportation. I can’t take my kids to daycare on it. I can’t do a grocery run. It's not waterproof, so you can't ride it in the rain. It’s too heavy for me to strap it on my backpack and walk around, although its small size and safety-tested battery does meet the IATA standards for air travel.

And its usefulness might be limited for other people, as well. The short battery life means that a commute of any real distance is probably out of the question. For traveling any distance of longer than a mile, the Boosted longboard is still the faster, more reliable, and more comfortable option. The Mini S feels more like an expensive toy.

Oh, but what a toy it is. I've taken it out several times with friends, and we all agreed: It's pure joy to ride. The wide deck feels stable and secure under your feet. The trucks roll smoothly back and forth as you take turns, and the wheels are big and soft.

Over the past two weeks, I’ve been annoying everyone on the quiet residential streets around my house, zooming back and forth and making deep S-shaped turns for days. I can see why you might not want to pass me on your way to work. But come on, people. How much can you hate _joy_?

Everyone wants to get in on the electric skateboarding game. But even as companies like Kuickwheel and Ionboard try to lure customers away with promises of smaller, lighter boards at much more accessible price points, Boosted still remains the gold standard. It costs a lot of money to make an electric skateboard feel as good as this.

And honestly, if you are the kind of person who would spend $400 on a snowboard or $400 on a surfboard that you use for a dozen weekends a year, $749 doesn't seem like that much for a toy that you can use almost every day. For the first time, my electric skateboard dreams are almost within reach.

question: Where was the first place the narrator went skateboarding?

answer: Strawberry Canyon in the Berkeley Hills.

question: How much does the Boosted Mini S cost?

answer: $749.

question: What is the Boosted Mini S?

answer: An electric skateboard.

question: How long does it take for the board to get a full charge?

answer: About an hour.

question: Write a ~3 sentence summary.

answer: The author discusses skateboarding and how it is not always comfortable. She then discusses the new Boosted Mini S, which is a more affordable electric skateboard. She compares it to other skateboards, discusses its specifications, and recommends it as an affordable option.


text:
BYRATHI BASAVARAJ is an Indian politician. He was elected to the Karnataka Legislative Assembly from Krishnarajapuram in the 2018 Karnataka Legislative Assembly election as a member of the Indian National Congress.[1][2][3][4][5]

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

title: Byrati Basavaraj

question: Who is Byrati Basavaraj?

answer: A politician.

question: In which country is he a politician?

answer: India.

question: To which legislature was he elected?

answer: Karnataka Legislative Assembly

question: What year was he elected?

answer: 2018

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: Byrati Basavaraj is an Indian politician. He was elected to the Karnataka Legislative Assembly from Krishnarajapuram in the 2018 Karnataka Legislative Assembly election as a member of the Indian National Congress.


text:
Jesse

Many of you know Elvis Presley. You may also have been made aware he had a twin brother named Jesse who died at birth.  I’m here to tell you not only of that inaccuracy but to blow the lid on the world’s best kept secret. This is Jesse’s story…

I remember losing feeling in my fingertips.  My feet were on a solid rock wedge but my hands could no longer pull me further up the mountain...the mountain they call Island Peak. This mountain is the tallest mountain of all the Himalayas and I, Teddy Drummond, sought to climb it in search of "the greatest mystery of the world". At least that's how I imagined Inje my Nepali mountain guide saying it, when he said "yaha harekchijko bhuktani garnuhunchha"...but I digress.

This wasn't the  blizzard from hell I was told would be raining down on me once I was close to the top. This was much worse. My mind kept drifting to rolling in bed with my wife and smelling the fabric of her shirt. Only her feet were much colder than they were before. Like really cold. That wedge I thought my feet were on turned out to be a block of ice that morphed around my boots. Death was reclining on my Lazy-Boy and I was its lap dog. With each stroke of his hand on my skin, a more powerful gust of snowy hail on my face, torso and legs. When the worst was upon me, an arm reached down and grabbed my backpack to heave me over the top of the peak.

"You looked like you needed a lift".

I was rescued by a...im going to say it...a beautiful man. I find him hard to describe without dishing out adjectives a woman might describe him as. He was tall, rosy cheeks and a curl of his lip when he smiled. If it weren't for the snow, on a clear day I just may have seen an actual twinkle in his eye. His rather...familiar eye. Where have I seen him before? I carried on with my hero towards a temple where he told me he lived with others.

"Say, I go by Civil here whats your name man?"

"Teddy. Teddy Drummond of the Washington Coast"

"Huh?"

"The Washington Coast? The specific Pacific? The satirical...oh that's not important. What is this place?"

"I guess I should ask you what  in Gods pure, Holy, sacred Earth were you doin climbing that mountain?"

"I was told something in Nepali and I hadn't eaten for a while and I may have mistranslated what my guide told me, I'm a little embarrassed".

"Well what did he tell you?"

"yaha harekchijko bhuktani garnuhunchha".

"Haha man your guide sure has a sense of...haha it don't matter come meet the others of the Sediment"

"The Sandy what?"

"The sediment. That's what we go by in here. See Sedimentary rock, or sedimentation is the process that allows a collection particles and minerals to settle in place. That's what we all have in common here. We left a crazy life to come here and just be..to just relax and..settle in place"

"Well I don't want to impose here but thank you for rescuing me, thank you very much"

"Hey man, that was my line"

Then it hit me. But it couldn't be. This man that pulled me from the jaws of death was...Elvis Presley! He referred to himself as Civil..of course Elvis backwards is Sivle..this is what Inje must have meant I wasn't crazy after all! The King of Rock n Roll is alive! I had to talk to him and ask him how he's still...so young?

"Excuse me Civil? I couldn't help but notice...

"That I'm Elvis Presley? Well I was at one time but I left him behind in 55', been here ever since"

"But you couldn't have been here since then, you were still performing all the way until 1975"

"Do you remember what happened when I turned 23?"

"Of course it was a media frenzy you were drafted in the war, you made it all the way to sergeant in the army and you came back to have an amazing career"

"Wrong. Well I did come back to the states but what I saw and heard at war changed me. My manager heard me sing Love me Tender in rehearsal and knew I wasn't the same guy. But the world needed Elvis. Or "an" Elvis"

"Oh my God...your twin...but he..."

"While I was in the Army I went everywhere, saw every thing. I got a letter from my mom, telling me how she never had no money and when she found out she was having twins, she couldn't tell the town she was giving one up. Back then a dead baby meant sympathetic financial support from the town to raise me".

"What happened to.."

"She gave him up, private adoption. Got a letter said last she'd heard he was with his family in Nepal. I only ever told my manager, whom after hearing me sing back from war, concocted this plan of pulling the whole switcheroo"

"So this whole time the world was in love with..

"Jesse...that's right. Turns out the whole ordeal of his birth mom giving him up and being shunned from the world caused him to do a lot of drugs and alcohol later in life. He died way too young"

"How have you preserved yourself like this you look as flawless as your first hip thrust on the Ed Sullivan show"

"There's this elderberry that grows about 11 miles down that road, we mix it with mostly everything we eat. I would see my brother get older but I never really noticed I wasn't keeping pace until about 20 years ago"

"What happened then?"

"I gotta go man, the sediment gets angry if I miss mid day hot yoga, take care of yourself teddy".

And with that shoulder smack, I was sent rushing back to my body..on the ground at the bottom of the mountain.

"You took quite a fall Mr Drummond but you'll be ok".

I was being carried to an ambulance, oxygen mask on, foggy vision, the works. I may make it up that mountain again but for now, I think I'll just "settle" for another story to write for the Washington Coast...

title: [MF] Jesse

question: What does the text say about Elvis' birth mother.

answer: Elvis explains that when he was in the army, he received a letter from his mom telling him the truth about his deceased twin. The twin, Jesse, never died. She had given him up for adoption because she couldn't afford him. The last the mom heard of him was that he was living with his new family in Nepal. Later on in Jesse's life after he learns the truth, the whole ordeal of his birth mom giving him up and being shunned from the world caused him to head down a dark path.

question: What does the text say about the mountain?

answer: Teddy is climbing the tallest mountain in the Himalayas, Island Peak. He's climbing it with the help of a Nepali mountain guide due to his search of "the greatest mystery of the world". He experiences cold temperatures and a windy blizzard as he reaches the top. It's revealed that Elvis Presley has been residing  at the top of the mountain for years. He has been able to stay young due to the elderberries that grow there. At the end of the story, Teddy falls down the mountain.

question: Summarize everything relating to injury.

answer: When Elvis turns to leave, he accidentally knocks Teddy off the mountain. Teddy falls all the way to the ground, and an ambulance comes to get him. Someone who is implied to be an EMT tells him he took quite a fall, but will be okay. In the ambulance, Teddy has an oxygen mask on and foggy vision.

question: Summarize the story's big reveal.

answer: The story's big reveal surrounds Elvis' admission that his twin brother Jesse did not die at birth, but was put up for adoption. After he got back from the war, the only person Elvis told this to was his manager. The manager suggested that Jesse and Elvis switch lives since Elvis' singing was off due to his experiences during the war. The big reveal is that the "Elvis" the world fell in love with, was actually Jesse. Jesse ended up dying young from drugs and alcohol due to the thoughts about his birth mom giving him up and being shunned by the world. Elvis never died, and kept up his youthful appearance by eating elderberries on a Himalayan mountain top.

question: Summarize how Elvis died according to the story.


text:
RAM RAY (27 January 1943 - 12 November 2019) was a pioneering Indian advertising professional. He worked in advertisement arena over fifty years.[1]

Biography

Ray was a student of Presidency College.[2] He worked in J. Walter Thompson's India and the United States branch. He was the senior vice president of the United States branch and head of the San Francisco branch of J. Walter Thompson. He was the only non-American to serve on the board of J. Walter Thompson.[3] He was also the head of Calcutta, Madras and Bangalore office of J. Walter Thompson. He established Response Group in 1984.[4] He also served as chief executive officer of Bates CHI & Partners from 1992 to 1998.[5] He established Wysiwyg Communications too.[6] Advertising Club Calcutta inducted Ram Ray on its Hall of Fame in 2013.[7]

Ray was married to Hashi. They had one daughter, Rashi Ray.[8]

Ray died on 12 November 2019.[9]

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

title: Ram Ray (advertiser)

question: Who is Ram Ray?

answer: A pioneering Indian advertising professional who worked in advertisement for over fifty years.

question: Where did Ray go to college?

answer: He was a student of Presidency College.

question: What was his role on the board of J. Walter Thompson?

answer: He worked in the India and United States branch. He was the senior VP of the United States branch and head of the San Francisco branch.

question: What organizations did he establish?

answer: He established Response Group in 1984 and Wysiwyg Communications as well.

question: Write a ~3 sentence summary.

answer: Ram Ray was a pioneering Indian advertising professional who worked in the field for over 50 years. He studied at Presidency College. He worked in the India and United States branches of the J. Walter Thompson and headed the San Francisco branch.


text:
JOSÉ ELÍAS MORENO (born JOSÉ ELÍAS MORENO GONZÁLEZ DE COSSÍO on June 13, 1956 in Mexico City, Mexico) is a Mexican actor.

Moreno was born June 13, 1956 in Mexico City, Mexico. He is son of José Elías Moreno, actor of the Golden Age of Mexican cinema and Beatriz González de Cossío. He has two sisters, Beatriz, she also actress and Angelina Moreno. He was orphaned by parents at thirteen after the death of both and his maternal grandmother in a car accident.

He married with Maru de Moreno and had three children Elías, María and Andrea.

Filmography

+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| Year            | Title           | Role            | Notes           |
+=================+=================+=================+=================+
| 1976            | _Supervivientes | Rodrigo         | Film            |
|                 | de los Andes_   | Fernández       |                 |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| 1977            | _Marcha         | Lacho           | Recurring role  |
|                 | nupcial_        |                 |                 |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| 1978            | _Mamá           | Polo            | Supporting role |
|                 | campanita_      |                 |                 |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| 1979            | _Los ricos      | Pascual “Pato”  | Supporting role |
|                 | también lloran_ | Hernández       |                 |
|                 |                 | Acevedo         |                 |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| 1979            | _J.J. Juez_     | Rodrigo         | Supporting role |
|                 |                 | Garmendia       |                 |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| 1980            | _El medio pelo_ | Cristóbal       |                 |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| 1980            | _Colorina_      | Danilo Redes    | Recurring role  |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| 1981            | _Soledad_       | Juan            | Recurring role  |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| 1982            | _Déjame vivir_  | Rafael          | Recurring role  |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| 1982/83         | _Bianca Vidal_  | Enrique Montes  | Recurring role  |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| 1983            | _Amalia         | Jorge Cardoso   | Antagonist      |
|                 | Batista_        |                 |                 |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| 1983            | _Coqueta_       |                 | Film            |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| 1983            | _Niño pobre,    |                 | Film            |
|                 | niño rico_      |                 |                 |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| 1984            | _Principessa_   | Julio César     | Supporting role |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| 1984            | _Delincuente_   | Gonzalo         | Film            |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| 1985            | _Esperándote_   | Pablo Moreno    | Protagonist     |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| 1986            | _Cicatrices del | Alfredo         | Supporting role |
|                 | alma_           | Rivas-Castilla  |                 |
|                 |                 | Contreras       |                 |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| 1988            | _Amor en        | José María      | Supporting role |
|                 | silencio_       | Durán           |                 |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| 1988            | _Un sábado más_ | El              | Film            |
|                 |                 | grande/Isauro   |                 |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| 1989            | _Había una vez  |                 | Film            |
|                 | una estrella_   |                 |                 |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| 1989            | _Flor y canela_ |                 | Recurring role  |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| 1990            | _Amor de nadie_ | Jorge           | Recurring role  |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| 1990            | _Colmillos, el  |                 | Film            |
|                 | hombre lobo_    |                 |                 |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| 1990            | _Un corazón     |                 | Film            |
|                 | para dos_       |                 |                 |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| 1991            | _Latino Bar_    |                 | Film            |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| 1991            | _Esa mujer me   | Carlos          | Film            |
|                 | vuelve loco_    |                 |                 |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| 1992            | _El ganador_    |                 | Film            |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| 1992            | _Relaciones     |                 | Film            |
|                 | violentas_      |                 |                 |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| 1992            | _Ayúdame        |                 | Film            |
|                 | compadre_       |                 |                 |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| 1992            | _De frente al   | Armando Morán   | Main antagonist |
|                 | sol_            | Mariño          |                 |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| 1994            | _Santera_       | Juan de la Cruz | Film            |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| 1995            | _Si Dios me     | Raúl Guevara    | Supporting role |
|                 | quita la vida_  |                 |                 |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| 1995            | _Santo Enredo_  | Rigoberto Lukas | Film            |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| 1996            | _Morir dos      | Aarón Zermeño   | Supporting role |
|                 | veces_          |                 |                 |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| 1996            | _Sentimientos   | José María de   | Supporting role |
|                 | Ajenos_         | la Huerta       |                 |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| 1996/97         | _Mi querida     | Manuel Rivas    | Supporting role |
|                 | Isabel_         |                 |                 |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| 1997            | _Hotel Paraíso_ |                 | TV series       |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| 1998            | _Ángela_        | Padre Martín    | Supporting role |
|                 |                 | Villanueva      |                 |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| 1999            | _Inesperado     |                 | Film            |
|                 | amor_           |                 |                 |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| 1999            | _Cuento de      | Eleuterio López | Mini-TV series  |
|                 | Navidad_        | “Lopitos”       |                 |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| 2000            | _Mujer, casos   |                 | TV series       |
|                 | de la vida      |                 |                 |
|                 | real_           |                 |                 |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| 2000/01         | _Primer amor... | Esteban Luna    | Supporting role |
|                 | a mil por hora_ |                 |                 |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| 2001            | _Diseñador      | Entrepreneur    | TV serie        |
|                 | ambos sexos_    |                 | Episode: La     |
|                 |                 |                 | supervivencia   |
|                 |                 |                 | del más apto    |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| 2001            | _Güereja de mi  |                 | Director        |
|                 | vida_           |                 |                 |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| 2002            | _La familia P.  | Tío Diodoro     | TV series       |
|                 | Luche_          |                 |                 |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| 2002/03         | _Clase 406_     | Manuel del      | Supporting role |
|                 |                 | Moral           |                 |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| 2003            | _La hija del    | Ramón           | Film            |
|                 | caníbal_        |                 |                 |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| 2004            | _Rubí_          | Genaro Duarte   | Supporting role |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| 2005            | _Sueños y       | Mauro           | Supporting role |
|                 | caramelos_      |                 |                 |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| 2005            | _Bajo el mismo  | José “Pepe”     | TV series       |
|                 | techo_          | Acosta          |                 |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| 2006            | _Heridas de     | Francisco       | Supporting role |
|                 | amor_           | Jiménez         |                 |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| 2007            | _Pasión_        | Alberto Lafont  | Antagonist      |
|                 |                 | y Espinoza      |                 |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| 2008            | _Juro Que Te    | Rogelio Urbina  | Supporting role |
|                 | Amo_            |                 |                 |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| 2009            | _Camaleones_    | Armando         | Supporting role |
|                 |                 | Jaramillo       |                 |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| 2010            | _Niña de mi     | Benigno Paz     | Supporting role |
|                 | corazón_        |                 |                 |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| 2011            | _Ni contigo ni  | Dr. Esteban     | Director        |
|                 | sin ti_         | Lieja           | Special         |
|                 |                 |                 | appearance      |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| 2012            | _Amor bravío_   | Leoncio         | Antagonist      |
|                 |                 | Martínez        |                 |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| 2012/13         | _La mujer del   |                 | Director        |
|                 | Vendaval_       |                 |                 |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| 2013/14         | _Quiero Amarte_ | Mauro           | Co-protagonist  |
|                 |                 | Montesinos      |                 |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| 2014/15         | _La sombra del  | Antonio Santos  | Director        |
|                 | pasado_         |                 | Special         |
|                 |                 |                 | appearance      |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| 2016            | _El hotel de    | Juez            | Special         |
|                 | los secretos_   |                 | appearance      |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| 2016            | _Sin rastro de  | Raúl Santillana | Supporting role |
|                 | ti_             |                 |                 |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| 2016            | _Corazón que    |                 | Director        |
|                 | miente_         |                 |                 |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| 2018            | _Tenías que ser |                 | Director[1][2]  |
|                 | tú_             |                 |                 |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| 2018            | _Por amar sin   | Joel Muñiz      | Special         |
|                 | ley_            |                 | appearance      |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| 2019            | _El dragón_     | Lamberto Garza  | Supporting role |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| 2019            | _Médicos_       | Gonzalo Olmedo  | Supporting role |
|                 |                 |                 | [3]             |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+

Awards & nominations

  Year          Award                   Category                              Telenovela       Result
  ------------- ----------------------- ------------------------------------- ---------------- -----------
  1985          TVyNovelas Awards       Best Antagonist Actor                 Amalia Batista
  1993          De frente al sol
  2008          Pasión                  rowspan=6
  2011          Best Leading Actor      Niña de mi corazón
  2013          Amor bravío
  2015          Quiero Amarte
  2016[4]       Best Direction          La sombra del pasado
  2017[5]       Best Antagonist Actor   Sin rastro de ti
  2007[6]       Califa de Oro Awards    Best Performance of the Year          Pasión           rowspan=4
  2008[7][8]    Bravo Awards            Generic Supporting Male Performance
  ACPT Awards   Best Acting Ensemble    Doce en Pugna
  2009[9]       ACE Awards              Best Male Co-performance              Pasión

[1] El Debate (José Elías Moreno goza dirigiendo telenovelas)

[2] Milenio (Disfruta Jose Elias Moreno su Faceta como Director de TV)

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6] Las Noticias México (“Califa de Oro” 2007 para la novela Pasion)

[7] Hora cero (Arrasa “Destilando amor” en los Premios Bravo con cinco preseas)

[8] Metro Latino USA (Entrega la ACPT Premios a lo Mejor en Teatro Durante 2008 Ganan Varias Preseas Dulce Caridad y una Eva y Dos Patanes y Rinden Tributo a Carmen Salinas y Maria Victoria)

[9]

title: José Elías Moreno Jr.

question: Who is José Elías Moreno?

answer: José Elías Moreno is a Mexican actor.

question: Are José Elías Moreno's parents still alive?

answer: No, they died in a car accident when José Elías Moreno was 13.

question: Is José Elías Moreno a theatre actor as well?

answer: It is not stated in the article.

question: Is José Elías Moreno the only actor in his family?

answer: No, his father was an actor, and one of his sisters is an actress.

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: José Elías Moreno, a Mexican actor, was born in 1956 in Mexico City. He got several TVyNovelas Awards; Califa de Oro Awards, Bravo Awards, and ACE Awards for telenovela Passion; ACPT Awards for telenovela Doce en Pugna.


text:
Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos dismisses Liverpool star Mohamed Salah as 'just one of 11 players' ahead of Champions League final showdown

-   LIVERPOOL WILL MEET REAL MADRID IN THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL IN KIEV ON MAY 26
-   MOHAMED SALAH HAS ENJOYED A SUPERB SEASON FOR LIVERPOOL, SCORING 43 GOALS
-   BUT REAL CAPTAIN SERGIO RAMOS SAYS DEFENDING CHAMPIONS WON'T FEAR EGYPTIAN
-   THE SPANISH SIDE ARE AIMING TO LIFT THIRD CHAMPIONS LEAGUE IN SUCCESSION

 Published: 01:32 EST, 4 May 2018 | Updated: 03:17 EST, 4 May 2018

Sergio Ramos says Real Madrid will not fear Liverpool star Mohamed Salah in the Champions League final, calling him 'just one of 11 players'.

The Egyptian has enjoyed an exceptional debut season at Anfield, scoring 43 goals to propel Jurgen Klopp's side to the May 26 final in Kiev.

They now face the daunting challenge of Real Madrid, who will be aiming for a third consecutive triumph in the competition and their 13th overall.

Mohamed Salah has been instrumental in Liverpool's run to the Champions League final

Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos says they won't fear Salah in the May 26 final in Kiev

And even though some are tipping Salah to challenge Real's Cristiano Ronaldo for the next Ballon d'Or, Ramos was dismissive.

He told the Daily Mirror: 'We have seen what Salah can do this season, but he will just be one of 11 players we face against Liverpool.

'Throughout my career, I have faced the best forward players in the world - many of them who are considered among the greatest ever.

'For me, there is never a fear. A respect, yes, but never a fear.'

With Barcelona streaking away with the La Liga title this season, Zinedine Zidane's Real quickly turned their attentions to another European triumph - and that focus has paid off.

Ramos lifts the Champions League trophy after Real's 4-1 win over Juventus in the 2017 final

Salah has enjoyed an excellent debut season at Liverpool, scoring a huge 43 goals so far

They have overcome the champions of France, Italy and Germany - Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus and Bayern Munich respectively - in the knockout rounds to reach yet another final.

And captain Ramos is naturally confident they can make it three in a row.

'We can't be arrogant but we can be confident. We know it is in the DNA of Real Madrid to win the Champions League,' he said.

'We are ready to defend our title for a second time - we won't let it go easily.

'With all respect, maybe at the start of the campaign Liverpool were not the team people thought would be in the final, but they are here because they deserve to be here.

'We know as a team how to play finals - and we will be ready.'

Advertisement

Read more:

-   Real Madrid icon Sergio Ramos insists he doesn't fear Mohamed Salah - 'he is just one of 11 players' - Mirror Online

[]

Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos dismisses Liverpool star Mohamed Salah as 'just one of 11 players'

question: Why is Ramos dismissive of Salah?

answer: Possibly to demonstrate confidence ahead of the Champions League final, with the intention to reassure his team and/or intimidate the other side.

question: What is the purpose of this newspaper reporting Ramos's comments?

answer: To build interest in the impending football match, and possibly to portray Ramos as overconfident to English football fans.

question: What is the significant of this Champions League final to its participants?

answer: For Real Madrid, it offers the opportunity to win the Champions League three times in a row after overcoming other significant football clubs, and for Salah personally it will conclude a very successful debut season at Liverpool.

question: Why is Salah considered a star at Liverpool?

answer: His initial season has seen him score a large number of goals, and his position as a goal-scorer (rather than playing a more defensive position) has likely given him more visibility in the public eye / to football fans.


text:
JOHN PAPWORTH (1750–1799) was an eminent plasterer and stuccoist working in London in the late 18th century.

Biography

Papworth was of Italian origin, and was apprenticed to the celebrated stuccoist John Rose, later starting his own business.[1] He was employed by the Scottish/Swedish architect Sir William Chambers on a number of his projects and has been described as “his favoured stuccoist”.[2][3]

[Chapel at Greenwich Hospital, as refitted by James Stuart after a fire] Papworth was master plasterer at St James's Palace and at Kensington Palace starting in 1780.[4] He did the plasterwork in the Royal Academy Room at Somerset House, and the ornate ceilings in the chapel at Greenwich Hospital, London, when it was rebuilt in the 1780s by the architect James "Athenian" Stuart, after it had been destroyed by fire.[5] In Scotland in 1781, he was employed by the architect Robert Milne on Inveraray Castle, Argyllshire; he submitted an invoice for £150 0s 6d for “Plaster work in casts, models and moulds, for ornamented ceilings and walls of hall and the dining room”.[6]

At Somerset House, in 1784, he collaborated with the plasterer Thomas Collins, and it is recorded that they jointly received £7,915 2s 8d.[7] Between August and November 1789 he worked at the house of George Herbert, 2nd Earl of Powis in Berkeley Square where “taking down the ornamental frieze and architrave in the Front Drawing Room and repairing the cornice”.[8] By the late 1790s Papworth had premises at 86 Great Portland Street, London; which he shared with his son John Buonarotti Papworth, who was then beginning a career in architecture. At this time Chambers' offices were on nearby Norton Street.[9]

Family

Papworth was married to Charlotte (née Searle), the daughter of the potter Robert Searle, and had twelve children. He described himself as an “architect, plasterer and builder”, his background being in decorative plasterwork, and he dominated the trade in London in the late 18th century, employing more than 500 men.[10] His eldest son, Thomas, carried on the business after his death, and his second son, John Buonarotti Papworth also continued the family tradition, being described as “one of the most versatile architects and decorative artists of the period”.[11] His third son, George, was likewise an architect, active mainly in Ireland. Papworth's descendants included many eminent architects like John Woody Papworth and writers on artistic themes.[12]

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

title: John Papworth (plasterer)

question: Who did Papworth apprentice with?

answer: Papworth apprenticed with stuccoist John Rose.

question: Where are some places that Papworth worked?

answer: Papworth did the plasterwork in the Royal Academy Room at Somerset House, and the ornate ceilings in the chapel at Greenwich Hospital, London.

question: How many children did Papworth have?

answer: He had 12 children.

question: How many people did Papworth employ?

answer: He employed over 500 men.

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: John Papworth was a plasterer and stuccoist working in London in the late 18th century. He employed over 500 men, and worked on many establishments, including the Royal Academy room at Somerset House and the chapel at Greenwich Hospital, London.


text:
_CYMOLUTES TORQUATUS_, the FINESCALE RAZORFISH, RAZOR WRASSE or COLLARED KNIFEFISH, is a species of marine ray-finned fish from the family Labridae, the wrasses. It is a solitary wrasse of sandy flats which has a wide Indo-Pacific distribution. It has no recorded human uses.

Description

_Cymolutes torquatus_ differs from _Cymolutes praetextatus_ in having 12 instead of 13 rays in its dorsal fin and in the possession of dark brown markings on its head and body in not having a small black spot on the upper base of the caudal fin. It grows to a maximum of in standard length. The other meristic measurements for this species are that it has 9 spines in the dorsal fin as well as 9-12 soft rays while the anal fin has 2-3 spines and 9-12 soft rays.[1]

Distribution

_Cymolutes torquatus_ is distributed from southwestern Madagascar and Rodrigues Island in the western Indian Ocean through that Ocean to Papua New Guinea and the Marquesas Islands, north to southern Japan, and south to Lord Howe Island, Lizard Island and Sydney Harbour in Australia.[2]

Habitat and biology

_Cymolutes torquatus_ is found in sandy areas in lagoons, reef flats and tidal channels. The juveniles are frequently recorded in the vicinity of areas of sparse seagrass, algae and small rubble outcrops. This species can dive into the sand when it feels threatened.[3] It can also be found in estuaries. It feeds on small benthic invertebrates.[4]

Species naming

_Cymolutes torquatus_ was first formally described in 1840 as _Xyrichthys torquatus_ by the French zoologist Achille Valenciennes with the type locality given as Suriname, which was an error as he meant the East Indies.[5]

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

title: Cymolutes torquatus

question: What is Cymolutes torquatus?

answer: It is a species of marine ray-finned fish from the family Labridae, the wrasses. It is a solitary wrasse of sandy flats which has a wide Indo-Pacific distribution. It has no recorded human uses.

question: List the ways Cymolutes torquatus differs from Cymolutes praetextatus?

answer:
- It has 12 instead of 13 rays in its dorsal fin.
- It has dark brown markings on its head and body.
- It does not have a small black spot on the upper base of the caudal fin.

question: Summarize everything relating to Cymolutes torquatus distribution.

answer: Cymolutes torquatus is distributed from southwestern Madagascar and Rodrigues Island in the western Indian Ocean through that Ocean to Papua New Guinea and the Marquesas Islands, north to southern Japan, and south to Lord Howe Island, Lizard Island, and Sydney Harbor in Australia.

question: Who is Achille Valenciennes?

answer: He was the French zoologist who first formally described Cymolutes torquatus in 1840.

question: Write a ~3 sentence summary.

answer: Cymolutes torquatus is a species of marine ray-finned fish from the family Labridae, the wrasses, formally described by French zoologist Achille Valenciennes in 1840. It is a solitary wrasse of sandy flats which has a wide Indo-Pacific distribution, including Madagascar, Japan, and Australia. It has no recorded human uses.


text:
How the Adventures Began

	It was the eve of Joe Sullivan’s twelfth birthday, and he was fast asleep in his bed. You must understand that this was not a boy chosen for any outstanding trait or deed of his own. Joe Sullivan was not a particularly special boy. He was your normal, average American boy. And yet, this completely insignificant boy was chosen to live lifetimes of heroism. At least, it all felt so real that it could not have been anything else, right?
	Anyways, the grandfather clock downstairs struck midnight, chiming out the hour in metallic peals that echoed through the house. Little Joe Sullivan was completely oblivious to this though, wrapped up in blankets and embraced by soft slumber. He would not have stirred until morning, had he not felt a coolness brush his shoulder…
	Or was it warmth? A warm, and yet cool, hand gently pressing his shoulder, trying to wake him…
	Joe rolled onto his stomach in his half-sleep, a stubborn child not wanting to wake up. He heaved a sigh, mumbling, “Go away,” through his pillow. It came out to be more like, “Gawuuuuh…”
	Down, down, down, he felt it taking him, slipping back into sweet sleep, when…
	“Joe.”
	It was the voice of his father. He didn’t sound urgent, why was he even here? It’s the middle of the night.
	“Gawwuuuh, Daaaa,” Joe whined out of his pillow.
	“Joseph,” said his father, a bit more sternly but not unkindly.
	Was it his father? That voice sounded familiar…he thought. It sounded like a man…maybe? It definitely wasn’t a voice to be feared…well, probably not.
	Joe shoved these thoughts away, burrowing back into his pillow and refusing to let go of the last shreds of sleep.
	“Joseph! Come here.”
	That father’s voice was a shout this time, one that filled his head and surprised Joe so much that all he was aware of next was standing, bleary eyed and shaky next to his bed.
	He was in an empty room. His father was not here, in fact he was the only one in the room! That couldn’t be, he knew he heard a voice, but these questions were forgotten as he paid more attention to his doorway. In front of him, the door leading into the hallway was faintly glowing, as if lit from behind by a bright, flickering light. That wasn’t how it looked when the hall light was on. He stepped up to it, listening.
	Maybe Dad was messing with him, finally paying him back for the pranks he pulled on his family. He must be in the hall waving a flashlight to make that weird, dancing light. Dad, Mom, and Eliza were probably standing in the hall now, barely containing their laughs because they knew this must have shaken him. The only thing Joe couldn’t figure out was how Dad moved so quiet and fast as to get out of the room without slamming the door, without him seeing…
	Oh that doesn’t matter, he thought, naw it’s gotta be them. I’ll fix them, I’ll turn this on them.
	He went fast and silent back to his bed, digging his Halloween ghoul mask out from where he kept it. He slipped it on his face, trembling with excitement, and crept back to the door. He stood behind it, thinking they’ll wonder where the heck he was when he opened it, they’d step inside and boy, then he’d get them!
	Ooone…
	Twooo…
	Threeeee, aaaand…
	WHOOSH! The door flew open from his hand, but thank goodness he was standing behind the door because a blinding light surged out from the doorway. He didn’t understand, no way did Dad have a flashlight That big.
	“Dad, cut it out! That’s friggin’ bright, Dad, c’mooon, you got me, okay?” Joe said, whimpering almost, that light was so powerful.
	The light lessened a bit, becoming less of a blinding light and more of a warmth that he wished to bask in. That father’s voice rang out again, “Alright Joseph, come out from behind the door.”
	Was that Dad? What? It’s gotta be.
	“No! Turn off the friggin’ light, Dad,” he whined again.
	The light became more of a glow. “That is all, son. Come out and let me see you.”
	Joe grumbled, “Dangit Dad, so weird,” but started to shift out from behind the door when the voice also said, “And take off that mask, Joe. I know you have it on.”
	Joe moodily slipped the mask up off his face and came round from behind the door. He dramatically squinted and shaded his eyes, just to make a point.
	But what he saw was not his father.
	In fact, for a moment Joe didn’t see anything. When he came out from his failed hiding place, the light flared up to blinding him again. Only for a second, but Joe was left seeing stars, on his knees in the now soft light issuing from the doorway.
	Joe rubbed the stars from his eyes and looked again, cautiously opening his eyelids, almost expecting another blast. He was not met with one, but nor was he met by anybody. There was not the face of his father, nor his mother, nor his little sister… there was no one. He didn’t even see the hallway. What he saw from out of his doorway was something totally different. He rubbed his eyes again, not because they hurt, but this time in disbelief of what he saw.
	Looking out from his doorway, Joe saw what he imagined the clouds must look like at sunrise. Not from the ground, everyone knows what that looks like. No, he saw what they looked like from the air. He’d been on a plane once before, but that was nothing compared to this. He wasn’t peering out of a tiny plane window, no sir, he was there. Well, his feet were on the comfy carpet of his room but two big steps forward and he’d be on a fluffy, golden-orange cloud, walking on air. He didn’t want to test that yet, though. Besides, where did that voice come from?
	“Joe, I am here,” said that familiar, father-voice, as if it knew what he was thinking. It just might, that voice seemed to rumble through his head. “Do not be afraid, I am here to tell you good news.”
	Joe knew he should say something, but all he could do was rigidly stare out at the brilliant clouds, thinking, oh god, oh god, what is going on. He was able, however, to choke one thing out.
	“Sure, ahem, um…freaky voice, dad…thing. Shoot.”
	He swore the clouds rippled a bit, as if that disembodied voice was connected to the clouds and it was laughing at him, or something. He felt his face get red, but all of a sudden he wasn’t scared at all anymore. He began to feel quite calm when the voice murmured at him again.
	“My child, you haven’t done anything very wrong. For that matter, you haven’t done anything very right, either, but that is not important. This is not a punishment. I am here to give you a chance for a great experience. What you can gain cannot be measured, but is more valuable than any treasure you dream of, anything on this earth or elsewhere. Dreams are your key for unlocking more to this life. Men have sometimes tried to live through their dreams, neglecting life because it is hard. But you, perhaps, can live and learn in the nighttime hours so that you may live fuller in the daylight.”
	The voice paused. Joe had become a bit braver, edging to the end of his carpet and peering out, looking for if that voice came from somewhere. The clouds darkened a bit…they seemed unhappy.
	Joe cleared his throat and snapped back, apologizing, “I’m sorry, but I am paying attention. I just don’t have a clue what you’re talking about, Voice. I don’t even know who you are! Am I even awake? This is impossible.”
	It seemed to help. The clouds looked happier again.
	“I am here, as are you. Pinch yourself, you are not asleep.”
	“Okay, Voice, but what are you then? Where are we? What’s your name? You gotta name?”
	The clouds took on a deep, mournful hue of red, as if they were sighing.
	“You have many questions, child, as all do. Most of the time, answers are not given for such great questions, but here are a few. I am who I am. We are in my house. And finally, I do have a name. I have many names. You can call me Shad, though.”
	He wanted to slam his head on the door. Instead, she smacked his palm to his forehead.
	“Are you kiddin’ me!? We’re floatin’ in the clouds, your voice is IN MY HEAD, I can’t even SEE you, and YOU, YOU want me…to call… YOU… SHAD!?!”
	Even darker…
	“Yes.”
	He threw his hands up in the air, knocking the mask completely off his head. It tumbled out the door and he saw it disappear through the clouds.
	“Okay then, Shaaad,” he said exasperated, adding in like his Dad always did, “you got it, bud.”
	“Be still.”
	That voice was so firm, Joe sat right down on his rear as if smacked. He brought his legs crisscrossed and hugged his arms, tucking his chin to his chest, embarrassed for his frustration but still upset at this blasted bossy voice. Ohh, excuse me, blasted bossy Shad.
	He knew he shouldn’t be so difficult. This sort of thing doesn’t happen to just anyone, but still. Why me?
	“Because, Joe, I know your heart. I knew you before you were even a thought, and I want you and others like you to know me. I want you all to do more than just live. I want for you to live well. Look up, child.”
	Reluctantly, slowly, Joe tilted his head back up and looked out the doorway once more. The view was more spectacular than ever. The clouds were rising up, beautiful puffs of rose-gold that seemed lifelike, like wings on the breeze. His whole body relaxed and he crawled to the doorway to get closer, reached out a hand to feel…feathers.
	He started, losing grip, he’d leaned too far and now he was out of the door, falling, falling down ever further, but those golden wings, or clouds, or whatever they were never stopped, and not for an instant did Joe feel afraid.
	“Joseph, things will happen to you in the future that you will not understand, and nor will anyone else. Things that cannot be explained. Know this: you are not alone. You can make it through it all if only you keep moving forward.”
	Joe smiled as he fell, brushed by wisps of golden clouds, golden feathers, wrapped in a golden velvet voice, wrapped up in a…blanket.
	He was wrapped in a blanket.
	His blanket, to be precise.
	Joe sat up in bed, blinking sleep from his eyes. Sleep? Or was it golden mist he was scraping from the corner of his eyes?
	The light was on. Well, actually there was daylight streaming through the window above his bed.
He rubbed his eyes again. Nope. Just the normal eye boogies.
He had been asleep.
	Had he been asleep all night? The mask! Was the mask there?
	He leaped out of bed and began digging under it, everywhere, tearing everything out, and he couldn’t find it. He couldn’t find it! There’s no way that wasn’t a dream, but there was no way it Was just a dream!
	He felt like jumping for joy, and he did. He leaped up on the bed, jumping and laughing like never before, laughing like a madman! But he wasn’t crazy, he was just excited. He hopped off the bed to run and tell his family, when his door burst open and his mother walked in.
	“What in the World, Joseph! First I find this in the hall, and just now I know you were jumping on the bed! I could hear it, don’t argue! You know better than that, I won’t tolerate such behavior, even for the birthday boy. Put this away now and come down for breakfast, dear. I’ve made your favorite.”
	She didn’t seem to notice how far his face fell when she came inside. In her hands she held nothing other than his ghoul mask… it hadn’t fallen out of his room and down through an eternity of soft feather-clouds. It was just sitting outside his doorway.
	“Don’t forget to wash up before breakfast, sweetie,” she handed him his mask, “and be quick! It won’t stay hot forever, and we won’t wait forever!” Mom said as she briskly exited and closed the door.
	He sat on the corner of his bed and the mask slipped through his weak fingers, thumping to the floor.
	Joe moped for a moment. He threw himself back on the bed and rolled around. He jumped off it and kicked the mask back under the bed, then stripped off his pajamas angrily, angry at his own stupidity for believing something, something so, so…
	The normal routine. Go to the bathroom, wash his face, throw on clean underpants, pull on his favorite Batman t-shirt, put on pants, and comb his short, black hair. Nothing unusual about this.
	He started to leave to go downstairs, trying to get in a good mood. After all, it’s still his birthday, right? You only turn twelve once, his dad said yesterday night.
	Might as well not let some stupid dream ruin His day.
	He opened the door but paused right before he left the doorway. He turned on one heel and looked back for the mask. It was there, just visible under the corner of his blanket.
	One small thing nagged him… he never moved that mask. How did it get into the hallway?

...

Part 2 coming soon

title: [SP] The Adventures of Joe Sullivan, part 1

question: Why did the voice in Joe's dream continue to refer to him as "child"?

answer: Unknown. However, since Joe initially mistook the disembodied voice to be that of his dad it is safe to assume the being to which the voice belongs is far older than Joe.


text:
Something Bad

“We’re leaving. We’re going somewhere where our talents will be appreciated.”

The Healer, Jazhira, looked at the members of her party, arms crossed and a frown prominent upon her face.

The other defector, the Supporter, whose name was Gavin, nodded in silent agreement.

“We didn’t want to do this, but you’ve really left us no choice,” He rumbled quietly.

These two were the most ignored, belittled, and insulted in the whole group, and as many chances as they’d given their comrades, none had really been used.

“Oh, come on. You can’t be serious. This has to be a joke,” The Captain of the party said, a dark warrior elf, sheathing his blade and walking over to his horse.

“Now, if you two are done horsing around, we have a mission to get back to.”

“We’re serious, Matthias,” Jazhira replied, her mouth mashed into a tight white line. “We’re joining another party.”

“Oh yeah?” Matthias replied. “Which one?”

For his part, he was unbothered; this was probably a bluff to get him and the rest of the party feeling bad about how they were treated.

“The Carrion Crows.”

There was a brief, pregnant silence, thick with tension.

“You mean the dark party that everyone is afraid of, across the Empire? You must be joking.” Matthias scoffed, and there were a few titters of disbelief.

Why would The Carrion Crows, of all people, take their weakest party members?

“We set out for their headquarters in the morning,” Gavin rumbled, shrugging. “This will be our last night with you lot, and good riddance.”

\*\*

When the dawn came, Jazhira and Gavin were gone; they’d left nothing behind. It was as if they’d never been.

But as the day went on, Matthias and the others kept receiving correspondence: The Carrion Crows had two new members, and they were powerful. The Healer had become a bringer of darkness and death, with people becoming fatally ill in droves. Gavin, their barbarian orc warrior, had his own quickly climbing body count, destroying towns and ports.

It appeared that Matthias and his friends were going to have to help clean up this mess they’d made.

\*\*

When Matthias and the others finally made it to the site of the carnage, it was nothing less than an utter massacre.

Jazhira stood at the center of the town, in the square, orchestrating the chaos like a conductor leads a symphony.

She was glorious and terrifying, her long chestnut hair waving in the magical wind she’d created like a banner, her fingers glowing a bright, sickly green. A dark, miasmic fog had settled over the town like a thick wool blanket, and all around her, people were dropping like flies. Her wild, manic laughter reached the group, music from a nightmare, and Matthias gripped his horse’s mane in his hands.

Underestimating them had been an awful, irrevocable mistake they could not take back.

Gavin, however, was deep in the thick of it. The Empire’s soldiers had surrounded him in a clump, but he swung his club at them like he was having the time of his life; there were screams, and the sound of rending flesh, skulls being crushed. He, too, was laughing.

“Why did we stay with those saps again?” He called over the din to Jazhira, and she grinned at him, raising her arms.

“This is so much fun!” She hollered back in agreement.

Then she caught the sight of her old friends.

“Look who showed up to stop us, Gavin?” She asked, her bright eyes aglow with glee.

“Let them try!” Gavin roared, a savage grin on his lips. “Their bodies will join the others. Enjoy your afterlives, old pals!”

\*\*

title: (FN) Something Bad

question: What is the relationship between Matthias and Jazhira?

answer: They belong to the same group; a group of warriors. Matthias is the captain of the party. He and all of the others are disrespectful to Jazhira and Gavin.

question: What are the Carrion Crows?

answer: The Carrion Crows are another group, the group Jazhira and Gavin join after leaving Matthias.

question: Do the main characters interact with others?

answer: Yes, Gavin is another main character.

question: Is there conflict? A resolution?

answer: The conflict is the fact that Jazhira and Gavin feel disrespected so they leave. Then, while with the Carrion Crows they become very powerful and bring darkness and death to many. Matthias and his group go to stop them. They fight.

question: Write a ~6 sentence summary.

answer: Matthias, Jazhira, and Gavin are a group of warriors along with a number of others. Matthias is the Captain of the party. He and all of the others are disrespectful to Jazhira and Gavin, so they leave to join another group, the Carrion Crows. While with the Carrion Crows they become very powerful and bring darkness and death to many. Matthias and his group go to stop them. They fight.


text:
Elissa sat by the window, watching the city of Breech pass by, as she always did, at this time of day. Her face was straight and still; some people walking by on the street below, passing by her window, might have thought the face to be sad. But it wasn't, really; but it wasn't to be confused with happiness, either. It was simply there; there was not really any emotion to be felt in how she watched the world passing by outside. The expression, if it said anything, only said that she was not regarding them at all; perhaps she was only looking at them because there was nowhere else for her to look.

It wasn't an altogether unpleasant view, at least; from her window, she could see all the way from her 2nd floor apartment at the bottom edge of the confines, all the way across the bowl, over to the opposite side of the city. Her room had windows on both sides, one facing east, and one facing west; she could watch the sun rise in the east, presuming she made it to the window early enough. And she could move to the other window to watch the sunset in the evening; given that her apartment was on the top of the building, and sat atop the central market street, she could see a good bit of distance up onto the western edge of the rim. She  loved the way the sunset looked over the rim; she could imagine that her window was the last one in her neighborhood that the sun would touch each night, like the last rays of sunshine would hold out, until the very last, just for her.

But people watching consumed most of her day. She would watch all types of people go by her window; central market street was a bustling artery of activity for Breech, with people, trolley cars, and even the occasional steam car moving past. Everyone passed here, in their hustle and bustle; the people from the bowl would move up to man the shops and eateries of the confines, while the people from the fringe would come over the rim, and down to the confines and the edge of the bowl, to conduct business at cheaper prices, and with less expectations than what you might find on the fringe itself, or on the rim.

Elissa felt the need to shift in her seat.

Her new chair was more comfortable than her previous one, at least. She could sit in this one for far longer without discomfort, which was very important to her; she hated having to move chairs while company was over. And today was important – company was coming.

That's what she had been told, at least.

Still she felt the need to shift in her seat. But no, that simply wouldn't do – she had only been here for a few hours, and to shift now would take far too long. She might inconvenience her guest, who (according to the gear clock positioned adjacent to her window, just within sight) should be arriving any minute now. Best to just deal with it, she thought, and shift afterwards.

So she waited, and she watched, and she waited some more. All the while, watching these people moving about, bustling, hustling, running here and there. She would find herself rapidly fluctuating between envy, love, hate, lust, and disgust, for the people she watched.

She watched a troop of young schoolchildren pass by, apparently skipping school, on their way to a nearby confectionary; they appeared to be singing Happy Birthday to a young girl in the center of the group, who was busy blushing and trying to get them to stop. The girl looked to be a few years younger than Elissa; perhaps 10 or 11.

Elissa remembered her 10th birthday. She remembered no friends. She remembered no confections. She remembered no happy trips down central market street, skipping and singing.

She hated them.

“Elissa, someone is here to see you. It's your friend from the Academy.” It was the voice of Miss Patty, Elissa's favorite aide. Elissa couldn't reply. She was focused on the little girl and her friends now coming out of the confectioners, each carrying some delicious thing, having spent their pocket money. The little girl in the center carried two; someone had gifted her, on her birthday.

She hated her.

“Right this way Sir”, Miss Patty gestured to a man in a fine, if reserved, black suit and very long, very dark, red coat. He wore tinted glasses over his eyes, and grew his hair very long. His black gloved hands wrapped around the silver head of a long, slender red cane, which he placed underneath his arm as he walked through the doorway. He turned to face Miss Patty.

“As usual, call me if either of you need anything”, Miss Patty said with some familiarity.

“Of course, my dear. And thank you, as always,” he replied, as he gave a short, gentlemanly bow, an old fashioned custom that made Miss Patty blush, as she pulled the door closed behind her.

Elissa sat by the window, watching the city of Breech pass by, as she always did, at this time of day. The fine man took his time removing his gloves, taking care not to pull any of the delicate stitching, then folding them in a very particular shape before putting them in his coat pocket. He leaned the cane carefully against the wall near the door, before picking up a simple wooden chair and placing it next to Elissa at the window.

Elissa felt the man's hand touch hers as he sat down next to her, slightly to her front left, in the space reserved for him. Then he felt his hand close gently around hers, as he spoke, at last. “Elissa,” he said gently. “I have come again, as I promised I would.”

She wanted to say how happy she was to see him. She wanted to say how she had waited and expected and eagerly anticipated this time with him, as always. She wanted to jump up and wrap him in her arms, and beg him to take her with him this time. But she could only stare at the girl in central market street, surrounded by friends, eating cakes. And she could not help remember her 10th birthday.

She remembered sitting here, in front of this window, in this damned chair, with her head lashed to the rest. Unable to look anywhere else, unable to move herself, unable to pass words from her lips. She remembered how she could hear every laugh of every child on market street, the words of every loving couple going to dinner, the life and vibrance of this city that she saw only from her 3rd floor window. She remembered her anger at how then, as now, her entire body hung limp from her neck, supported only by the strength of the chair's restraints. She remembered cursing her useless, limp, fleshy prison then, as she found herself doing now. She remembered hating them, just like she did now.

“Do you think she hates you?”, her fine man asked gently, looking out the window with Elissa at the girl on central market. His right hand was still on her left hand, gently holding, as if to suggest that she should not float too far. His other hand was pushing his tinted glasses back up onto the bridge of his nose, as the outside world was rather bright, and in here it was rather dark. Elissa sometimes forgot that she didn't realize it, because she wound up sitting in this one spot for so long each day; she simply got acclimated to it. “Do you think she would wish ill upon you?”, he asked again, never taking his gaze from the girl.

Elissa's hate and malice melted to shame and penitence as she realized that he was not pleased with her. She did not get enough time with him to spend it displeasing him. Only a few hours, and here she was wasting it hating some street girl! She felt her heart sink, and found it hard to see as her eyes began to fill with a salty mist of tears. She felt her voiceless mouth open, as her lips curled and twisted into a visage suitable for the pain she felt in her heart; she silently sobbed her sadness, her regretfulness, at being so self-centered and petty in his presence.

“Shh”, he smiled, as he turned his full attention to her, wiping the tears from her eyes. She felt a flood of sensation, emotion, and soothing comfort from that touch; something she had not felt for many years – not since her mother had passed on. She wanted desperately to move her face into his hand, to feel more, but could feel only her head restraint. She closed her eyes and tried to smile through her tears. “You mustn't feel that way, sweet child,” he said as he cradled her face and gently kissed her forehead. “What you feel is only natural; and perfectly healthy. Desire and envy, when channeled properly, can propel us  to achieve great things; and selfishness, when used carefully, can help preserve us in times of want."

She opened her eyes now, to see that his tinted glasses had slid down his nose again, exposing those sparkling, emerald blue eyes that so captivated her when he was good enough to show them. She sniffled and smiled, gasping out a few last wordless sobs as she found herself settling again. “It is only the uncontrolled emotion, my dear, that you must fear.”

“How am I to fear it, when that is what I feel when I am near you?”, she sobbed.

“Every rule has a time to be broken,” he smiled.

Her mood, like the switch of an electric light, lit up, and she smiled broadly. “Will you take me away this time?”, she wondered aloud, hoping she didn't already know the answer.

The man gazed at her for a long minute, confirming her fears before he spoke. “Not yet, I'm afraid,” he said. “There is still much to prepare, and I have been kept quite busy at the Academy these past weeks. But, I promise, Elissa dear, the time is coming close. Oh so close; a mere blink of the eye, and it will be here.”  Elissa blinked rapidly, several times, and grinned. He couldn't help but laugh. “Alright, then, perhaps not that fast. But very soon.”

Elissa sighed as his hand found hers again. “Very well then. I won't dwell on it. I trust you, my lovely gentleman. As much as I love you.” She felt her lips quivering involuntarily again. She hoped against hope that his lips would meet hers to stop their shuddering – but only his finger, placed gingerly against them. Even this was enough to make her heart jump, to make the hairs on her neck stand on end, and to make her toes tingle lightly. It made her **feel**.

“As always, I will strive to earn your trust...” he said, gently caressing her face with the back of his fingers. “... and your love.” She felt her eyes misting again, this time with tears of joy. “Charmer,” she chided him. “Tell me more stories, love; tell me of far away places, of the amazing things you have seen, the wonderful things you have done. Tell me of what life is like outside these walls, outside this chair. Please.”

The fine man smiled, and gently took her hand. He smiled, and said “That simply won't do, I'm afraid.” She felt her heart sink again. “Why don't you come with me, and I'll show you?”

“A cruel joke, and you know it”, she sobbed through a once more quivering lip. Then she suddenly felt an influx of something – heat, cold, electricity, all of them, none of them – through where he was holding her hand. She watched in disbelief as her eyes locked his gaze, as he stood up – staying at eye level with him the entire time! She was standing! No... Not standing, this was something else. Something else entirely. She didn't feel the weight of her body anymore. She didn't feel the restraints. She was aware of them, but she didn't feel them. Like her body and her eyes were in two different places.

“Am I ..... Is this .... “

“This is my magic, yes,” he confirmed. “I promise you this, and so much beyond. Let me show you more. Oh, so much more; an entire universe of power and wonder, ready to be laid open for you, dear Elissa. Let me show you the potential that lies inside of you, and to help you unleash it. You are special; Oh, so special. And one day, dear Elissa, everyone will envy you.”

*    *    *

Miss Patty knocked on the door to Elissa's room on the 3rd floor, at  the top of the stairs, overlooking central market street. She waited a few seconds, then heard the voice of the gentleman respond from inside. “Is our time up already?”

“I'm afraid so, good sir,” Miss Patty apologized. “It's time for lunch, and then it's time to shift Elissa to the western window for her sunset view.”

The gentleman looked out the window where he and Elissa sat, and saw that the sun had risen high in the sky; it was nearly noon. “Dear me, I'm sorry; the time must have gotten away with us. We were having such a time, us two dreamers,” he smiled, as he patted Elissa's hand again.

Miss Patty walked over to Elissa's chair, to see her smiling in an expression of sheer joy. Every touch from this man produced what, in a normal girl, would've been giggles and flirtatious laughter. As it was, Elissa could only produce her voiceless, honking sigh, and her broad, awkward smile; most of her facial muscles didn't work at all. The poor girl was paralyzed from the neck down. Miss Patty reached down and touched Elissa's hand. “Have a good visit, did you? I'm so glad,” she said.

Elissa closed her eyes, smiled wider, and sighed contently. The girl was  exhausted, and looked about to fall asleep, as the gentleman got up to collect his cane, putting his gloves back on.

“I will return in one week's time, Elissa; and it will be such a grand day,” he promised.

“Certainly shall,” Miss Patty said, as she escorted the gentleman to the door, closing it gently behind her. Once she was sure she was out of earshot of Elissa, she spoke again. “I can't tell you, sir, how grateful we all are here at the home for what you do for Elissa. Every time you come, she is so much happier; she rides this wave for days and days, sometimes weeks."

The gentleman just shrugged his shoulders meekly. “I cannot suspect what comfort I bring the girl, but I must confess that it brings me just as much happiness to see her mood improve. Our conversations seem to lift her spirits, and mine, as well, so I cannot keep myself away for long.”

“If you don't mind my asking, sir,” Miss Patty asked meekly, shifting a bit. “You've mentioned your conversations before... Elissa is mute, sir; and I must confess, a bit ashamed, I've listened at the door before, hoping to understand what you do that makes her so happy. And I've never heard a word pass between the two of you.”

The gentleman just smiled at her perplexed expression, and bowed gently again.

“Sometimes words aren't necessary, to say what you're thinking”, he said. “Am I welcome to return?”, he asked as he began down the stairs.

“As always!”, Miss Patty exclaimed.

“Very good, then. Take good care of my Elissa,” the gentleman joked as he walked softly down the stairs.

“We certainly will. Until next time, Mr Sallsman!”, Miss Patty called behind him, waving.

Loak Sallsman. Arch Magus at the Arcane Academy of Breech. Lord of the High Tower. Master of the Arts. If only Miss Patty had any idea what kind of a monster she was cheerfully waving to, that she had gladly let hold the gifted child Elissa's council... Then the future of Breech might have been a very different thing than the bleak, charred landscape it was bound to become...

title: [FN] Waiting at the Window

question: Summarize Elissa's view in the beginning of the story.

answer: Elissa sits by a window with a view of the city of Breech. She does this at this certain time of day every day. The windows allow her to see the sun rise in one direction and the sunset in the other. She's on the 2nd floor and has a view of the bottom edge of the confines, all the way across the bowl, and over to the opposite side of the city. She likes to people watch all day from the window, as she has a view of the bustling central market street.

question: What does the story say about Elissa's 10th birthday?

answer: On Elissa's 10th birthday she had no friends and no candy. In the present day, she feels hatred watching a young girl, about 10 or 11, celebrate her birthday in the market street. On Elissa's 10th birthday she didn't get to have a happy trip down to the central market street. All she did was sit her wheel chair staring out of her window, unable to move herself. She could hear laughing children outside while she was stuck inside, and it made her hate them.

question: What does the text say about hate?

answer: Elissa feels a lot of resentment towards her life. She's paralyzed from the neck down. She hated having to move chairs when she had company over. More than that however she hated hearing children being happy on central market street while she was stuck in her room. She hates one girl who is celebrating her 10th or 11th birthday outside, as it makes Elissa remember she didn't have friends or any celebration. When her visitor asks Elissa if she thinks that girl hates her, Elissa's hate and malice turns to shame and penitence. She realizes she's wasting her time with her visitor on hating some street girl.

question: What does the text say about how Elissa became paralyzed?


text:
I’ve been thinking a lot about a woman I met some years ago. She lives in San Diego; her boyfriend once held her hostage for three days. He first split open her lip, and then he seemed to be angry at her that she had a split lip and he took an Adidas shoe and beat her on the back. He choked her when she was in the shower. He threw things at her and held a knifepoint to her eye.

She was in decent shape and she wondered, during those three days, if she could get out of the house and outrun him. She wondered where she might run and who might help. Shame and fear held her in place.

Less than five miles away from where she was being held, in the only training of its kind in the country, police officers learn to address hostage situations in the context of domestic violence. Thanks primarily to film and television, most of us imagine bank heists when we hear the word “hostage.” In fact, though reliable statistics are hard to come by, domestic violence episodes comprise somewhere near 80% of all hostage situations in the United States.

This matters a great deal because those who take hostages in banks generally want to live, whereas men — and it’s nearly always men — who take their partners hostage do not share this incentive. Often, they care little whether anyone lives or dies, including themselves; what they want is to maintain control.

The woman I met in San Diego was not poor. She was not uneducated. She was the primary breadwinner. She was beautiful, and young, and smart. After three days, she convinced her partner that they needed supplies. He drove with her to a convenience store. She sat in the passenger seat while he shopped. He’d taken her phone and her keys.

She thought of running, but she was barefoot. How far would she get? Where would she go?

When they pulled back up to their apartment, she saw her neighbors getting into their minivan. She did not think. She bolted, barefoot, and dived into the open door of the minivan.

This is what I’ve been contemplating as communities across the country begin to recommend — and in the case of cities like Los Angeles, mandate — social distancing to slow the spread of coronavirus: What if her neighbors hadn’t been out there, getting in the car? What if she’d fled to a house that did not answer the door? What if she’d fled to the emergency room and found it so overwhelmed it could not address her needs? There was eventually a five-hour standoff between the police and her boyfriend, who had barricaded himself inside their apartment.

People like her are the ones I’m thinking about during this pandemic — those for whom the world outside might be safer than their own home. What if her already-violent boyfriend could not attend his Ironman trainings? Or watch sports to decompress? What if there were no reason for her coworkers to wonder why she wasn’t at work? What happens when the demands of social distancing mean the most vulnerable in our society might be distanced right out of existence?

Where can they go in the age of coronavirus?

Who keeps them safe in a world of unmitigated dangers?

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In times of natural disasters and great social upheaval — Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy, for example — the systems we’ve created to aid domestic violence victims can get easily overwhelmed. Nurses qualified to do forensic exams are already being pulled into more general care or into emergency rooms. At the same time, those nurses tend to be women. They are more likely than men to be caring for aging parents. They are more likely to shoulder childcare burdens. And in this moment, many of them — like me — have children who are now home from school.

In communities across Southern California and throughout the country, coronavirus fears have driven an increase in gun and tactical body armor sales. And the research is unequivocal; guns in the home of an abuser increase the chances of homicide by at least five times.

All of this is happening in a country where domestic violence homicides have steadily risen since 2010 and, in fact, have spiked since 2017.

National and community crises historically have led to increased reports of domestic abuse. During the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the National Domestic Violence Hotline saw a 13% increase in calls from the Gulf area from April to June 2010. New Orleans and Lafayette, two of the largest communities affected by the spill, saw increases to their hotlines of 81% and 116%, respectively, during that same period. Hurricane Katrina too saw domestic assaults against women nearly double, and both men and women reported increases of psychological abuse.

[Rachel Louise Snyder]
Rachel Louise Snyder wrote “No Visible Bruises: What We Don’t Know About Domestic Violence Can Kill US.”

(Don Rutledge)

This all sounds grim, but many of these situations involve couples who were not in healthy relationships to begin with. On a call from her Baltimore home, Jacquelyn Campbell, a professor from the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing and the country’s foremost researcher in domestic violence, was careful to point out that someone who is not psychologically or physically abusive before a crisis like coronavirus is not going to suddenly become violent. “This is not like anything I’ve lived through,” she said, “and my hypothesis is that any kind of horrific _anything_ externally can exacerbate domestic violence.”

Campbell created a danger assessment decades ago that many programs now use to try to predict a domestic homicide before it happens. The stressors identified that make a situation lethal are the same whether we are in a pandemic or not: guns in the home, forced sex, unemployment and, most notably, prior incidents of domestic violence.

But the research on how domestic violence might be affected by our current situation simply does not exist. When an entire society shuts down, when children are home all day from school, when sports and gyms and social activities are all canceled, when friends can’t leave their own families to help, when places of worship are shuttered, when everything that ever tempered a violent situation is suddenly, terrifyingly, no longer available. What happens then?

(Bloomsbury Publishing/Bloomsbury Publishing)

Campbell says measures like the House of Representatives’ legislation to offer financial relief might go a long way in quelling the danger and maintaining healthy families. She also says domestic violence victims often tend to have compromised immune systems given the stress they face daily and as such should be eligible for coronavirus testing sooner than the general population. Shelters should have testing kits early for the same reason.
We can try to prepare, and we can try to predict. But we are in foreign territory here, a countrywide state of emergency, a pandemic moving with more speed and temerity and adaptability that we have seen in a century — since, in fact, a time before we had data and research and systems to address domestic violence. Since a time when it was still perfectly legal to beat or rape one’s wife.

So I think of that woman in San Diego. Her boyfriend was eventually sentenced to life in prison. At her trial, an emergency room doctor testified that he’d never seen bruising like hers, her skin stretched so thin to cover the swelling it was near bursting. Layers of new bruises atop old. “You don’t know what it’s like to run,” she told me years later, after she was truly, finally safe, “until you’re running for your life.”

_Rachel Louise Sndyer is the author of the award-winning “No Visible Bruises: What We Don’t Know About Domestic Violence Can Kill Us.”_

question: What does the passage say about domestic violence statistics?

answer: In the United States, domestic violence episodes comprise somewhere near 80% of all hostage situations. During the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the National Domestic Violence Hotline saw a 13% increase in calls from the Gulf area from April to June 2010. New Orleans and Lafayette saw increases of 81% and 116%, respectively, during that same period. Hurricane Katrina too saw domestic assaults against women nearly double, and both men and women reported increases in psychological abuse.

question: What does the story say about the pair from San Diego?

answer: The man held the woman, his girlfriend, hostage for three years. He was physically abusive. One day, the woman convinced her boyfriend that they needed supplies and they went to a convenience store. When they pulled back up to their apartment, she saw her neighbors getting into their minivan, and she run and entered the van. The police arrested the man and he was sentenced to life in prison.

question: What does the story say about the woman's life after she run away from the man?