text:
KPBS previously reported on lobbyist meetings with San Diego city officials that potentially violated state ban

[Radio news logo]

Aired 4/5/17 on KPBS News

California officials said an investigation is still ongoing into whether lobbyists for Sempra Energy's new marketing division, Sempra Services, violated state law by meeting with some San Diego elected officials.

State officials said an investigation is still ongoing into whether lobbyists for Sempra Energy's new marketing division, Sempra Services, violated state law by meeting with some San Diego elected officials.

KPBS previously reported Sempra Services lobbyists met with city of San Diego elected officials, including Mayor Kevin Faulconer and City Councilmembers David Alvarez, Chris Cate and Mark Kersey. At that time, KPBS asked for the calendars of San Diego County Supervisors, but only received the calendar for Supervisor Kristin Gaspar. A county spokesman said the rest would have to be approved as a Public Records Act request.

Now, that request has been filled, and calendars show all four supervisors besides Gaspar met with Sempra Services lobbyists, although some of the meetings were about issues not related to energy.

The reason for the state investigation into Sempra Services revolves around a question of whether it has received full approval from the agency that oversees utilities, the California Public Utilities Commission.

The California Public Utilities Commission has said Sempra and its utility, San Diego Gas & Electric, does not have the final OK to begin lobbying.

RELATED: STATE COMMISSION INVESTIGATING SDG&E FOR LOBBYING AGAINST COMMUNITY ENERGY PROGRAM

The dispute is over an alternative energy program called community choice, which would allow cities and counties to bypass SDG&E and decide on their own where to buy energy, which could allow them to choose more renewable energy sources.

What is community choice aggregation?

Right now, San Diego Gas & Electric provides power through its system of lines and wires to every city in San Diego County and southern Orange County. SDG&E buys the electricity from a variety of sources, including natural gas plants, hydroelectric dams and wind turbine farms.

If a city goes with community choice aggregation, power would still go through SDG&E’s grid, but the city would buy the energy, not the utility. That allows cities to have more control over how much of their energy comes from renewable sources and the cost for that electricity.

State law prevents utilities from marketing or lobbying on community choice aggregation unless they set up an independent organization that is not funded by ratepayers.

That is what Sempra Energy did by establishing Sempra Services. State officials said the organization does not yet have full approval.

However, people working for Sempra Services have been meeting with San Diego elected officials and their staff anyway. They also spoke about community choice at a recent San Diego County Board of Supervisors meeting, where only Supervisor Dianne Jacob spoke in support of studying the feasibility of community choice.

RELATED: SEMPRA MAY HAVE BROKEN STATE RULES BY LOBBYING ON ENERGY PROGRAM

Calendars show that from Jan. 1, 2016 to now, the following meetings with county supervisors took place:

–Supervisor Greg Cox met three times with either Frank Urtasun or Lani Lutar, both Sempra Services lobbyists. But Cox's spokesman said none of the meetings were about community choice or energy-related matters. Instead, they were about homeless issues, San Diego Coastkeeper and the Rancho Guejito development.

–Supervisor Bill Horn met once with Lutar. His spokeswoman did not respond to an email requesting comment, but his calendar notes show the meeting was about "Rancho Guejito update on current agricultural activities and related issues and challenges."

–Supervisor Dianne Jacob met once with Lutar. Her spokesman said the meeting "was not about Sempra or SDG&E," but instead was about "a land-use issue."

–Supervisor Ron Roberts met five times with either Urtasun or Lutar. His spokesman said the meetings were about affordable housing, homelessness, San Diego Coastkeeper, groundwater at Rancho Guejito and "SDG&E’s efforts to install 3,500 electric vehicle chargers at 350 sites."

Lutar is a lobbyist who works on several issues, not just for Sempra Services. Urtasun is the regional vice president for Sempra Services.

SDG&E is being investigated by the California Public Utilities Commission because people affiliated with Sempra Services, including Lutar and Urtasun, are meeting with elected officials and making public comments, according to a spokeswoman for the commission.

She said by email earlier this month that "SDG&E is not in compliance with the California Public Utilities Commission Resolution allowing them to form an Independent Marketing Division with conditions and consequently may not be participating in lobbying activities that could only be performed by the marketing division."

"SDG&E attorneys have argued that under their particular reading of the Resolution they are allowed to lobby," she said. "The California Public Utilities Commission is investigating the facts surrounding their community choice-related communications."

Amber Albrecht, a spokeswoman for SDG&E, said by email that the utility "is not lobbying" on community choice. Instead, she said, their understanding is that the California Public Utilities Commission has approved their independent organization to lobby on community choice.

In August, the California Public Utilities Commission gave initial approval to the organization but said it still needed more information from SDG&E.

Then in December, the commission said marketing and lobbying on community choice was suspended because SDG&E had not given enough information to show the organization is independent enough from the utility.

Albrecht said that proposed changes to SDG&E's independent organization are being reviewed by California Public Utilities Commission staff, but that does not block the organization from operating.

"Staff has no authority to override the California Public Utilities Commission’s resolution," she said. She added that the commission "has no authority" to stop the independent organization "from exercising its First Amendment right to speak, particularly here, where the ban would be applied to control the content of Sempra Services’ speech."

California Public Utilities Commission staff still have not said how long the investigation could last, or what the consequences of it could be.

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[Photo of Claire Trageser]

Claire Trageser
Investigative Reporter

[opening quote marks][closing quote marks]As a member of the KPBS investigative team, my job is to hold the powerful in San Diego County accountable. I've done in-depth investigations on political campaigns, police officer misconduct and neighborhood quality of life issues.

To view PDF documents, Download Acrobat Reader.

question: Summarize the source of tension in this news article.

answer: Sempra Services, a subsidiary of Sempra Energy, is under investigation for violating state law by meeting with San Diego city officials. This happened before the Sempra Services was approved to market gas and electricty, a regulation that must be upheld due to shortage of renwawable energy in the state. Sempra Energy claims that since the government has not come out and specifically said that it is not allowed to lobby on the community choice option, it has acted legally as a utility.

critique: It is not stated that there is a shortage of renewable energy in the state.

critique: The answer is not clear about the source of tension.

critique: The answer is incorrect. The article does not mention a shortage of renewable energy.

critique: Sempra Services is not a subsidiary of Sempra Energy, but a new division.

critique: The response fails to mention the community choice program.

critique: "Sempra Energy claims that since the government has not come out and specifically said that it is not allowed to lobby on the community choice option, it has acted legally as a utility." - this is not stated in the article and should be omitted.

critique: The response includes extraneous information not useful for the task.

critique: "Sempra Services, a subsidiary of Sempra Energy, is under investigation for violating state law by meeting with San Diego city officials. This happened before the Sempra Services was approved to market gas and electricty, a regulation that must be upheld due to shortage of renwawable energy in the state. Sempra Energy claims that since the government has not come out and specifically said that it is not allowed to lobby on the community choice option, it has acted legally as a utility." - the company is not under investigation, the lobbyists are. This needs to be fixed.

critique: The answer incorrectly mentions that there is a shortage of renewable energy in the state. However, the discussion is about a new way to buy energy, and the question regards whether people in power are cooperating in this new way.

critique: The response contains a lot of unnecessary information that is not relevant to the question.

critique: It is omitted that Sempra Services needs the California Public Utilities Commission to approve its independent organization before it can market gas and electricity.

critique: Sempra Energy is not under investigation, only its subsidiary is.

critique: Does not mention the energy dispute between California and other states.

text:
The response made an incorrect statement about a shortage of renewal energy in the state. Also, the second sentence of the response was untrue - Sempra was not banned from marketing gas and electricity, it was banned from lobbying to change the upcoming community aggregation project.

Also, Sempra Energy never argued that the government did not make its intention clear about lobbying.

category: accuracy

refinement: Sempra Services, a subsidiary of Sempra Energy, is under investigation for violating state law by meeting with San Diego city officials. This happened before the Sempra Services was approved to market gas and electricty, a regulation that must be upheld due to shortage of renwawable energy in the state. Sempra Energy claims that since the government has not come out and specifically said that it is not allowed to lobby on the community choice option, it has acted legally as a utility.

question: Describe the larger picture this article paints about society's attitudes toward moving toward using renewable energy sources.

answer: No answer


split: train

text:
_CESTRUM PARQUI_, commonly known as PALQUI, GREEN CESTRUM or WILLOW-LEAVED JESSAMINE,[1] is a species of flowering plant native to Chile. In Australia the plant is regarded as a noxious invasive weed and a significant hazard to livestock (especially cattle) which may eat it inadvertently or during shortages of other foods, often resulting in death.

In cultivation in the United Kingdom this plant has gained the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit.[2] (confirmed 2017).[3]

Description

_C. parqui_ is a fast-growing, straggling, woody, deciduous or semi-evergreen shrub with one or more fragile green stems. The alternate, light green leaves have an unpleasant rubber-like smell when crushed. It produces terminal sprays of small, fragrant, tubular yellow-green flowers 2.5 cm long from late spring to autumn, followed by bunches of small, black, egg-shaped berries produced from summer to autumn. All parts of the plant are reported to be highly toxic.[4]

Reproduction

The small, black fruits of _Cestrum parqui_ are highly attractive to birds, which play a major role in seed-dispersal, passing the seeds in their droppings: seedlings are thus often found growing under perching trees, along fencelines, and in creek banks, where it is also dispersed by water.[5]

Uses

Medicinal

The plant contains toxic alkaloids. It has been used in folk medicine to treat tumours and haemorrhoids and possesses sudorific (= perspiration-inducing), laxative and antispasmodic properties. Decoctions or infusions of the plant have also been administered in cases of intermittent fever and an infusion of the inner bark drunk to treat unspecified “stomach ailments”. A poultice prepared from the plant (part unspecified) in combination with _Solanum nigrum_ (part unspecified) and the crushed stems of Vitis vinifera, the grape vine, is believed in folk medicine to have anti-inflammatory properties.[6]

Ritualistic

Branches of _Cestrum parqui_ are used to slap patients during shamanic healing ceremonies utilising the hallucinogenic plant _Latua pubiflora_ held by the indigenous Huilliche people of the Los Lagos Region of southern Chile. This is done in the belief that the foul smell of the _Cestrum_ leaves is abhorrent to the demons believed to be causing the patient's illness and will cause them to leave the patient's body in vomit.[7]

Gallery

File:Cestrum parqui 2.jpg|Specimen flowering in Royal Botanic Garden, Madrid. File:CESTRUMPARQUIFLOR.JPG%7CClose-up of willow-like leaves and greenish flowers.

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[6] Quattrocchi, Umberto (2012). CRC World dictionary of medicinal and poisonous plants: common names, scientific names, eponyms, synonyms and etymology, pub. CRC Press Taylor and Francis Group. Vol. II C-D, page 201.

[7] Plowman, Timothy, Gyllenhaal, Lars Olof and Lindgren, Jan Erik _Latua pubiflora_ magic plant from southern Chile _Botanical Museum Leaflets Harvard University_ Vol. 23, No. 2, Cambridge, Massachusetts, November 12, 1971.

title: Cestrum parqui

question: Summarize everything relating to the uses for cestrum parqui.

answer: The plant has been used in folk medicine to treat tumours and hemorrhoids and possesses sudorific, laxative, and antispasmodic properties. Decoctions or infusions of the plant have also been used to treat cases of intermittent fever, and an infusion of the inner bark is drunk to help relieve stomach ailments. The plant is used in shamanic healing ceremonies to cure sickness.

critique: The plant is used to slap patients during shamanic healing ceremonies.

critique: "Decoctions or infusions of the plant have also been used to treat cases of intermittent fever, and an infusion of the inner bark is drunk to help relieve stomach ailments." - this information is incorrect. The decoctions and infusions were used to treat tumours, hemorrhoids, and stomach ailments.

critique: The cultic use is dismissed and it's not coherent that the plant is used in shamanic healing. Because the shamanic use seems to be cultic, and not modern too, both should be kept.

question: Summarize the physical properties of the plant.

answer: It is a fast growing, straggling, woody, deciduous and often evergreen shrub. It has alternate, light green leaves and terminal sprays of small, fragrant, tubular yellow-green flowers in the late spring and summer. The plant is poisonous and toxic, and the fruits also have toxic properties.

critique: The plant is poisonous and toxic, and the fruits also have toxic properties. - this is redundant and should be removed.

critique: "often evergreen shrub" is a strange phrase and should be removed.

critique: The plant's physical properties are not relevant to the question.

critique: The plant is described as having one or more fragile green stems.

critique: Final sentence must include where the fruits are toxic.

text: Change "often evergreen" to "semi-evergreen" as the meanings differ slightly.

category: coherence

question: What does the article say about the discovery of C. parqui?

answer: No answer

critique: The article doesn't mention anything about the discovery of C. parqui.

critique: The article does not mention anything about the discovery of C. Parqui.


text:
EAGLE NEWS, formerly known as EAGLE TV ( _Iigl Televiz_) is a television broadcaster in Mongolia. The station focuses on independent news, uncensored live audience feedback, and, formerly, Protestant Christian programming.

History

From 1994 to 2002 Eagle Television was operated on terrestrial Channel 8 by Mongolian Broadcasting Company (MBC). MBC was a joint venture of the American nonprofit, AMONG Foundation, and Mongolia Media Corporation (MMC). Incumbent Mongolian President Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj-then well known Mongolian democracy leader and a Member of Parliament helped to create Mongolia's first independent TV station Eagle Television in 1994.[1] In 2002, the American Tom Terry took over the management of MBC and Eagle TV.

Terry moved to transform the TV station's struggling news and Christian programming in keeping with his vision of political freedom and the advocacy of Christianity. This proved to be a magnet of controversy as the station was opened to uncensored live commentary from viewers and launched the nation's first live international news coverage.[2] Uncensored public commentary was a radical change in Mongolia's media and political landscape. Newspaper articles and criticism from public officials on Mongolia's State run television were countered by Eagle TV openly advocating increased freedom of speech and press through television, and it launched a strategy to increase public input into Eagle TV's on-air operations.

In the early years, notable programming that aired on the channel included NBA playoffs with Mongolian commentary, The Flintstones (dubbed and renamed as _The Flintstone People_) and CNN relays. This was attached to religious programming, both local and American. In 1997, it was expected that the Christian programming would be dropped by 2000.[3]

At the same time, unbeknown to Eagle TV's viewers, the shareholders were embroiled in long-standing and severe disagreements over issues of contribution and control of the newly dynamic TV station.[4] One month after achieving its highest-ever ratings, the shareholders abruptly closed the station as a result of legal threats and corporate infighting.[5] The government of Mongolia, controlled by the former communist party, reacted by revoking MBC's broadcast license, preventing the station from re-launching its operations.

After the station's closure, AMONG Foundation formed Eagle Broadcasting Company,[6] appointing Tom Terry as Managing Director, and charging him with re-launching Eagle TV as a cable TV channel. About half a year later the new Eagle TV began broadcasting on SANSAR Cable as Mongolia's first all-news cable channel.

Eagle TV launched a 24/7 news format with uncensored public commentary during live newscasts as a cornerstone of the station. In addition, it launched the nation's first live coverage of in-country breaking news including the only all-day live coverage of Mongolia's 2005 presidential election.

In light of the increasing popularity of Eagle TV's cable operations, the former business partners AMONG and MMC negotiated their further cooperation over most of 2005. The talks resulted in an agreement in September 2005 for the Mongolian side to acquire the broadcast license for terrestrial Channel 8, and Eagle Broadcasting Company to have exclusive use of the channel for ten years, and exercising exclusive control over all television content during that period. Based upon the agreement the Mongolian government restored the license for Channel 8, paving the way for Eagle TV to return to its former channel.[7]

On October 22, 2005, Eagle Television launched its Channel 8 broadcasts with live all-day coverage of U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld’s visit to Mongolia.

On April 1, 2011 Eagle TV was sold to Mongolia Media Corporation, a subsidiary of Bodi International. Terry resigned his position as company president and was appointed as Executive Director of AMONG Mongolia, a television production company in Ulaanbaatar producing Christian television programming airing on Eagle TV.

On February 3rd, 2014 Terry released, “Like An Eagle,” a biography of his nine years with Eagle Television. At this point, the station had become a full-on news channel (Eagle News) owned by Mongol Mass Media Group, also becoming a CNN partner. The channel had become entirely secular, having dropped their religious programming from the days as a station owned by the AMONG Foundation. The religious programming moved to sister channel EAGLE LIVE, with AMONG only being involved in program production rather than channel ownership.

[1]

[2] Charisma Magazine, “[Financial Dispute Forces Mongolian Christian TV Station to Shut Down]http://www.charismamag.com/display.php?id=8086,” October 2003

[3] The New York Times, [Go Shout It From the Tent Tops!]https://www.nytimes.com/1997/01/26/magazine/go-shout-it-from-the-tent-tops.html, June 10, 2003.

[4] _Mongol News,_ “Eagle Shuts Down,” April 22, 2003.

[5] Washington Post, [Mongolian Christian TV Station Shuts Down]http://www.asuult.net/nemesis/mongolian_judiciary/newseagle.htm, June 10, 2003.

[6] Mongol News, “Eagle's Staff Got Paid,” May 2, 2003.

[7] Across Pacific Magazine, "[Eagle Television Begins Broadcasting on Channel 8]http://across.co.nz/MongoliaChristianTV.html, October 18, 2005.

title: Eagle TV

question: Summarize everything relating to censorship.

answer: While Eagle TV was originally created as an uncensored TV station, the American Tom Terry changed the station's mission to include political freedom and religious programming, which meant permitting firsthand commentary from viewers and bringing international news coverage to Mongolia. At this same time, the shareholders were embroiled in disagreements over control of the station, which led to the closure of the station. The government of Mongolia, controlled by the former communist party, intervened, and MBC and Eagle TV's license was revoked, preventing the station from returning to the airwaves and airing uncensored public commentary. Eagle TV transformed into a cable channel overcome security restrictions placed against satellite broadcasts, and went on to explore radical political rhetoric by airing all-day coverage of the nation's 2005 presidential election. Despite the freedom that came with being a cable station, they were eventually silenced again by being bought by a subsidiary of Bodi International, which had a lackluster effect on news coverage and secularization of religious programming within the channel.

critique: The answer is a bit confusing and hard to read. It would be better to rewrite the answer.

critique: Only the first sentence is actually related

critique: The answer is a bit too long and convoluted.

critique: The response is not concise and fails to highlight the main points.

critique: This is not a summary of the censorship but of the political and corporate drama.

critique: The response includes extraneous information not useful for the task.

critique: The response does wonderful in tying together a lot of general and broad information, but is entirely inaccurate in almost all its depictions.

critique: moved 'at this same time' so structure makes more sense

critique: "Eagle TV transformed into a cable channel overcome security restrictions placed against satellite broadcasts, and went on to explore radical political rhetoric by airing all-day coverage of the nation's 2005 presidential election." These two sentences don't have anything to do with censorship.

critique: This is a massive wall of text with several points that do not answer the question and much repetition. Parts of the response should be revised in order to make it easier to digest.

question: Summarize everything relating to Tom Terry.

answer: Tom Terry was the President of Eagle Broadcasting Company, which was a company that launched Eagle TV as a cable TV channel after the station's closure. He also assisted AKONG Foundation in forming Eagle Broadcasting Company and was appointed Managing Director. He remained Managing Director of the company he helped create until becoming the Executive Director at AMONG Mongolia. Terry choose to resign his position as company president in 2011 and became the Executive Director of AMONG Mongolia, a television production company

critique: "He also assisted AKONG Foundation in forming Eagle Broadcasting Company and was appointed Managing Director. He remained Managing Director of the company he helped create until becoming the Executive Director at AMONG Mongolia. Terry choose to resign his position as company president in 2011 and became the Executive Director of AMONG Mongolia, a television production company" - unnecessary information that can be deleted.

critique: The answer omits that Terry was the Managing Director of Eagle TV.

critique: The answer should mention that Terry wrote a book about his time at Eagle TV.

critique: Terry was not President of Eagle Broadcasting Company

critique: It is not stated that he was appointed Managing Director of the company he helped create.

critique: The answer omits the fact that Terry was the Managing Director of Eagle TV.

critique: The answer is not very clear and could be interpreted differently.

critique: The Tom Terry was not President of the company, only Managing Director and AMONG's CEO.

critique: The answer should mention that Terry was the Managing Director of Eagle TV.

critique: Terry did not resign from being the Managing Director in 2011. He left the company.

critique: The answer should mention that Tom Terry is the former president of Eagle TV.

critique: The answer omits the first part of Terry's career.

critique: It is omitted that he was the President of Eagle TV before the company was sold to Mongolia Media Corporation.

critique: The company was established in 2002, after the closure of Eagle TV.

critique: Terry's resignation was not in 2011 but in 2014.

text: "He also assisted AKONG Foundation" - there's a typo. "AKONG" needs to be replaced with "AMONG".

refinement: Tom Terry was the President of Eagle Broadcasting Company, which was a company that launched Eagle TV as a cable TV channel after the station's closure. He also assisted AKONG Foundation in forming Eagle Broadcasting Company and was appointed Managing Director. He remained Managing Director of the company he helped create until becoming the Executive Director at AMONG Mongolia. Terry choose to resign his position as company president in 2011 and became the Executive Director of AMONG Mongolia, a television production company

question: What does the article say about Tom Terry's personal life?

answer: No answer

critique: There is no information about Tom Terry's personal life in the article.

critique: There is no personal information about Tom Terry in the article.

critique: The response misses to provide the necessary details from the text.

critique: The question was not asking about Tom Terry's professional life, but rather his personal life. This response is similar to a true/false question and should be completely rewritten.

critique: The answer is empty and should be rewritten.

critique: The answer is not relevant to the question.


text:
[Artist's rendering of the proposed skytran design]

SKYTRAN is a Personal Rapid Transit system concept first proposed by inventor Douglas Malewicki in 1990, and under development by Unimodal Inc. A prototype of the skyTran vehicle and a section of track have been constructed. The early magnetic levitation system, Inductrack, now abandoned by skytran, has been tested by General Atomics with a full-scale model.[1] In 2010 UniModal Inc. signed an agreement with NASA to test and develop skyTran.[2] SkyTran has proposed additional projects in France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the United Kingdom, and the United States.[3][4][5][6]

System details

To minimize maintenance and make switching on and off the tracks efficient at high speeds, early versions of the system proposed using the Inductrack passive magnetic levitation system instead of wheels. Passive maglev requires no external power to levitate vehicles. Rather, the magnetic repulsion is produced by the movement of the vehicle over shorted wire coils in the track.[7] The cars would be driven by a Linear motor in the track or vehicle. Therefore, the system will have very few moving parts; primarily just the vehicle itself moving along the track, its parking wheels and door, and fans in heating and air conditioning units; so its promoters refer to the system as “solid state”.[8]

On this first version, the passive maglev coils are enclosed and supported by a light shell called a guideway that also captures the vehicles mechanically to prevent derailment. Malewicki proposes a 3D grid design that avoids accident-prone intersections by grade separation, with guideways and their exit and entry ramps crossing above or below each other. Tracks will be supported above the ground by standard metal utility poles. They could also be attached to the sides of buildings.

After identifying problems with Inductrack and the cost associated with it, skyTran described an improved design during a Horizon BBC interview with skyTran at NASA Ames in Mountain View, CA.

New details about the levitation and motor were described in a keynote speech in June 2016, showing levitation stator being plain aluminium plates and motor stator an aluminium tube. The guideway is also significantly enlarged and wider than the vehicle, so the switching can be vertical, going through the guideway. Guideway shape is shown at 16:26 in above referenced video. This new concept can be seen in a short simulation film. Instead of the purely passive inductrack system, the new mechanism modify lift by mechanically angling the magnetic pads and need a servo controlled actuation. The lift control also do the switching by moving vertically through the rails.

Patents applications were filed by skytran for this new system: and

History

Malewicki conceived the basic idea of skyTran in 1990, filing a US patent application that year that was granted as US Patent #5108052 in 1992.[9] He published several technical papers on skyTran in the following years. In 1991, he presented a paper entitled “People Pods - Miniature Magnetic Levitation Vehicles for Personal Non-Stop Transportation” to the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Future Transportation Conference in Portland, Oregon.[10] The paper is a thorough description of the concept at that point, although some important features of the current skyTran design are only discussed as options, including magnetic levitation rather than wheels and hanging below the guideway instead of riding above it.

The paper describes how Malewicki had built and driven a freeway-legal 154-MPG car in 1981, but realized it could never be safe on a street surrounded by far larger and heavier vehicles. Elevated tracks would allow a very light vehicle to be safe. They are also basic to the system's inexpensiveness, because there is no need to acquire a huge right of way and tear down buildings. It presents an aerodynamic analysis (Malewicki is an aerospace engineer) supporting claims of very high energy efficiency (the paper claims for skyTran's current two-passenger tandem design, though the Unimodal site claims only, “over ”).[11][12] It also described how a very light vehicle that can squeeze both surfaces of a track simultaneously could reliably achieve a 6-G deceleration, allowing it to brake safely to a stop from in just .[13]

The 2008 energy shortages stimulated renewed interest in Green vehicle proposals such as skyTran. The “Maglev skyTran” topic quoted a number of skyTran and Personal Rapid Transit ideas, such as passengers exiting and boarding at off-line elevated “portal” stops while high-speed traffic continues to speed by on its main line.[14]

In September 2009, the US NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) signed a Space Act joint development agreement with Unimodal. Unimodal has tested prototype vehicles on short guideway sections at NASA's Ames Research Center, in Mountain View, California. NASA control and vehicle dynamics simulation software was made available to Unimodal, which hired NASA subcontractors to program them using US DOT grant funding.[15]

In June 2014, Unimodal and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) contracted to build a 400-500 meter elevated loop test track on IAI's campus in central Israel. If the pilot project is successful, IAI will build a commercial skyTran network in the city of Tel Aviv, Herzliya and Netanya.[16][17] In April 2015, the Herzliya city council approved a budget for the skyTran project.[18]

In June 2016 skyTran signed a Memorandum of Understanding in the United Arab Emirates for the study and implementation of a personal rapid transit system in Yas Island.[19]

In 2018, it was announced that Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries had acquired a 12.7% stake in SkyTran. As part of the deal, Reliance would supply communication equipment and a prototype would be built in India.[20]

In April 2019, skyTran signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Eilat to build an elevated rail system serving Ramon Airport.[21]

In June 2019 a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between skyTran and the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates to develop a Sky Pod suspended transit system.[22]

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title: SkyTran

question: What does the text say about levitation?

answer: The early versions of the system proposed using the Inductrack passive magnetic levitation system instead of wheels. Passive maglev requires no external power to levitate vehicles. The magnetic repulsion is produced by the movement of the vehicle over shorted wire coils in the track.

critique: The answer should mention the new levitation system.

critique: Remove the last sentence of the response because it should be clearer that it describes the early version of the system instead of levitation.

critique: The answer should mention the new design.

question: What does the text say about Israel's connection to skyTran?

answer: SkyTran acquired Unimodal, and Douglas Malewicki transported US Patent #5108052 over to Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), a private research and development company. Unimodal patented the system and they, along with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), tested skyTran vehicles on short guideway sections at the Ames Research Center. In June 2014, Unimodal and IAI signed a contract to build a 400-500 meter elevated loop test track, and later IAI will build a commercial skyTran network if successful.

critique: The answer does not give a full timeline of Israel's connection to skyTran.

text: The answer contains extraneous information not useful for the task.

question: What does the text say about Douglas Malewicki's personal life?

answer: No answer

critique: The text does not mention anything about Malewicki's personal life.

critique: The text doesn't mention anything about Malewicki's personal life.

critique: There is no mention of Malewicki's personal life in the text. No answer.

critique: The answer should mention that the text doesn't say anything about Malewicki's personal life.

critique: The response misses to mention that Malewicki's personal life is not a topic in the text.

critique: The answer should mention that there is no information about Malewicki's personal life.

critique: The answer could mention that Malewicki's personal life does not come up in the text.

question: What does the text say about energy efficiency?

answer: The text mentions that the energy efficiency of the skyTran system is very high. The system can achieve a 6-G deceleration, allowing it to brake safely to a stop from in just .


text:
There are times when I think about how Paul Tibbets did it.  The man who flew the *Enola Gay* toward Hiroshima must have thought on what he was about to do.  Did pulling the lever to open the bomb doors take him more than once?  Did his hands shake?  After all, he would end the war.  More lives would be saved if many died sooner rather than later.  I have not read interviews, no more than a short biographical paragraph containing an anecdote on how his wife thought the physicists in the Manhattan Project were plumbers.  I am afraid I will be disturbed by what I find.  Times were different then, maybe dehumanizing propaganda made it easier for him.  Maybe he rested soundly knowing he had defeated evil.  That is a luxury one does not have in civil war.

I marched into the lobby with the case in hand.  It was a bulky thing, not like a normal briefcase that one swings about while strutting to work.  I held it out from my body.  When starting this assignment my shoulder would ache from carrying it but after these few months I was used to it.  The ache of my arm blurred into the routine.  Pick up the case, ride the transport, ignore the randomly chosen route, go through security and deliver the case, then wait to return it.  That’s just how this will go, like every other day of the past few months.  Eyes open and scanning the lobby, back straight, chin up.  The leather of my shined shoes squeaking as I stepped up to the security checkpoint.

“Lieutenant Palmer for Office 51.” I said, holding my badge forward.

The man behind the desk acknowledged my clearance.  I handed the case to him and he placed it to the side of the scanner.  The case was never scanned, never opened by anyone but the men in Office 51 and the general I took it back to.  I stepped into the scanner and the man behind the desk could see everything; the medals on my uniform, the writing on the to-do list in my pocket, the scar tissue going from the small of my back deep toward my spine from shrapnel, and the dead man switch surgically integrated into my left.  If I was killed or activated the switch the case would be destroyed along with its contents and anyone who may have hijacked it.  The war between Earth and the Seceded Colonies was in full swing.  There were many colony sympathizers and agents that had come to Earth before the civilian traffic was cut off.  Riots, sabotage and assassinations sprouted in the cities like weeds through the cracks of asphalt.  Security was tight.

“You’re clear Lieutenant.”

I stepped through the other side of the scanner and grasped the case firmly, lifting it up from the table and balancing the awkward load.  Eyes forward and chin up, I marched down my usual path away from the main elevators to the back of the building where two men guarded a secluded door with a 51 written on it in humble white paint.  One man nodded to me and opened the door.  I stepped through to the elevator behind it.  After entering a combination of codes into the keypad on the far wall of the elevator began its long lurching ride down into the bunker below the building, Office 51.  My fingertips itched when the keypad had taken my DNA sample.

There were no cameras in the elevator.  They didn’t want records of what came in and out of here.  Not much time.  I quickly dropped the case on the floor, threw off my cap and tore off the tight and starched uniform coat.

*Stop shaking, you knew there was no turning back.*

I had opened the case earlier on the drive over to place the items inside, in the secluded passenger section of the transport.  After a breath and a very quick prayer I pressed my thumb to the reader on top of the case.  They had complete confidence in me.  I had reason to hate the colonies; my parents were killed in the riots leading up to the war.  Decorated, wounded in combat, comrades lost.  My loyalty was without question.  But I couldn’t continue to ignore what was happening in Office 51.

It took me too long to catch on to what they were doing.  I am no physicist, but overtime I began to piece together snippets of conversation I shouldn’t have overheard and documents that I shouldn’t have seen out of the corner of my eye.  They printed things that were so sensitive no computer’s security could be trusted.  Inside Office 51 they were making a doomsday weapon, a planet-buster.  The war was going so poorly that the Earth regime would hold the lives of tens of billions hostage, after making an example of the Colonies’ capital first.  I could not allow it, not more mass murder.  I pulled out the pistol I had stashed earlier in the case and chambered a round.  My fingers felt numb.

The elevator chimed and the door slid open, slowly.  Every day for the last few months it had seemed to open more quickly.  Too many heartbeats filled the gap of time.  A guard was posted by the elevator, the same spot every day.  Cameron was standing there today.  The slide of my pistol rotated back and then forward, soundlessly expelling a smoking shell and replacing it.  I marched out of the elevator.  A door around the corner was cracked open, men were laughing inside.  I kicked the case into the small room where the physicists were working and raced back to the elevator.  Crouching in the corner I tapped out the sequence on my thumb to activate the switch.  Pointer, middle, pointer, ring finger.

title: En Masse (scifi) Feedback greatly appreciated

question: Briefly summarize why the narrator was loyal to Office 51 and the event(s) that led him to question his loyalty to them.

answer:
First, his parents, whom he probably loved and cared for very much, were killed in the riots before the commencement of the war. His parents died because of the selfish, cowardly, and hypocritical actions of the Colonized.

The other reason for his loyalty was his honorary military rank and reputation as a decorated, wounded veteran. It seems like this was his shield against people who wanted to see him dead.

But when he started to learn more about the conspiracy happening in Office 51 and saw the man responsible for the atrocities, who ordered the capturing of innocent lives, he dissolved all doubts and decided he needed to act promptly. If he did not have his gun on him, he would have been shot dead. This is what the story preached to its audience.

critique: The narrator's parents were killed in the riots leading up to the war, not because of the Colonized.

critique: The response contains inaccurate information.

critique: The response includes extraneous information that is not useful for the task.

critique: The answer is inaccurate and should be rewritten.


text:
I traveled around the world to browse underground markets to buy and sell rare animals and mystical creatures. I currently held two in my inventory - a miniature giraffe and a gnome. I was also well known among the wealthy as I would help them buy these breathing gems for them to keep as pets.

My current trip had one purpose - to negotiate a deal to purchase a young elephant for the Kardashian family. This elephant was special. At 5 feet tall, it had trunks for each leg, making it look more like an octopus on land. In a pool house in Beverly Hills, I sat across the owner of the elephant, arguing over terms of the sale. The fat Kardashian then barged in in a panic, crying her eyes out because her boyfriend, Russell Brand, had been kidnapped. I didn't care, but was pissed that it got in the way of my deal. Hoping it would help my commission, I volunteered to help find Russell. Then, there I was, driving their Hummer all over L.A.

We stopped at a gas station. I insisted to pump gas while they all went inside. Suddenly, a red truck sped through the station and, from the bed, two men in black ski masks tossed over a 4' by 4' metal plate, engraved in Arabic, and peeled out. As soon as the smoke from their exhaust cleared everyone began to slowly crowd the mysterious plate. The middle eastern cashier shoved through the crowd and fixed his glasses as he read it. He translated it for us.

"We have your infidel. We will not negotiate or return him to you. There's no amount of money that will buy away the pleasure of watching him suffer."

The police came and an investigative team drove the the Kardashian family to their headquarters while I stayed behind, realizing I had no idea where I was at this remote gas station. Dusk was approaching, and across a mesquite field I could see a square building with an empty parking lot which lights were just turned on.

I don't know how or why I was lured into it, but as I approached the building, I just knew it was a museum about Islamic expansion. I entered and was greeted by the curator, an old Arab man. He guided me through his many exhibits, standing before each one as he further explained how Islam was the seed of western civilization. He then led me into a wing where they dealt with those that defiled the name of the Prophet. I cannot rationalize why I kept walking along without fear for my safety, but I followed anyway.

I was in awe. There were flat screens along walls with crowds of 4 or 5 young students in lab coats in front of each one, alternating their heads between tilting them upward to listen and downward to turn the pages in the pad they were writing copiously in. I pardoned myself from the curator and stood behind one crowd to watch what they were learning. The video showed how starved, naked women are skinned. It was a controlled and relaxed demonstration, starting with hanging them upside down, cleanly severing their jugular and draining them of their blood. The demonstrator calmly explained that doing this would avoid bruising and helped preserve their skin color. He would then dislocate her jaw, force his arm half-forearm-deep into her throat, and jerked it out with intestines following behind. After removing the rest of her organs, they'd remove the skin and muscle from the bones. The students looked on with a fixed curious gaze, devoid of any sympathy, jotting their notes.

This wing was full of such demonstrations, displays of devices, history of techniques, and so on. I joined the curator again and kept walking along and noticed that tourists were starting to walk in, curiously looking around as if what they were seeing weren't human beings in utter pain.

As the Arab curator explained the mechanics of one of the devices he invented, his face was interrupted by his own excitement as he just remembered that his latest technique would be demonstrated live that evening. It would be the first time a human spider would be created. Inspired by 'The Human Centipede,' he wanted to push the envelope by creating a beast: to one torso as the centerpiece (arms and head attached), he'd attach two hips on each side, with legs attached, knees bent upward. The head and arms would still function and the nervous systems of all five bodies would be merged. He asked if I wanted to see who had been chosen to be the center piece and, entranced by all of this, I agreed.

He then lead me into a dark room that I later realized was a stable. He turned the light on to shine on a scrawny man clothed only in hay. It was Russell Brand. Russell awakened and rushed to the bars of the door, reaching his arm through them towards me, beginning me to let him out. If only he knew the monster he was doomed to become. The human inside me knew that he needed to be saved, but the money-driven rare animal trader inside drooled at the idea of how much a Human Spider would be worth in the market. I sighed and smiled, patted the old curator on the back and said, "I'd love to stay and observe the demonstration." Russell's eyes teared up as he watched what he thought was a sensible human being turn into an idle observer of his impending transformation.

We walked away, back into the torture wing of the museum and it was now filled with more lay tourists. As the tourists noticed the curator was present, they welcomed him with cheers and applause. He politely excused himself from me and like a celebrity he was welcomed into the crowd with pats and handshakes. They were in love with him. Two white elderly women, with rosaries around their necks, begged him to be part of his experiments. He quickly yanked the rosaries from their necks and stood coldly in front of them, offended. The crowd was silenced. The women turned towards each other and started to giggle which later broke out into laughter. They fell onto their knees and began to undress themselves, still giddy and laughing. The curator reached into one of his displays and took out an antique knife. He held it above his head and rotated in place to be sure the audience could see what he had chosen. The women excitedly stretched out their throats, almost eager for the legend to slash their necks, as if it was an autograph. They still giggled while gurgling on their blood after receiving his autograph. As the gurgling and the sound of naked flesh slapping the cold tiles of their jerking arms subsided, the crowd erupted in cheer and elation.

title: The Human Spider - a dreamer's account

question: Summarize the tension in the story.

answer: The Kardashian family, and by extension the narrator, is being targeted by terrorists. They have been left in a gas station, separated from their money (and the narrator got trapped inside the gas station), and their young, kidnapped son is to be turned into a human spider, a creature that the narrator wanted to see surgically attached. It is likely that the narrator will run away for the money, which makes him a monster.

critique: The narrator is not a member of the Kardashian family.

critique: The narrator isn't a member of the Kardashian family.

critique: "It is likely that the narrator will run away for the money, which makes him a monster." - this is incorrect. The narrator is a rare animal trader who only cares about money.

critique: There is no evidence to suggest that the narrator wanted to see Russell surgically attached. It is also not implied that the narrator will run away for the money. It is also not clear if the narrator is a boy or a girl.

text: The answer misstates the identity of the kidnapped person. It's Russell Brand, boyfriend of one of the Kardashians.

question: Summarize what factors in real life could have motivated the Islamic/Arab parts of this dream.

answer: No answer

critique: The response misses to answer the question of the motivation.

critique: The response misses to answer the question.

question: Is this dream mostly positive or negative? Explain your answer.

answer: The dream is mostly negative. The narrator is a rare animal trader who is willing to sell Russell Brand to the curator. The narrator is also willing to watch the women get killed.

critique: The response falsely mislead the reader into believing the narrator sold Brand to the curator.

critique: The narrator is not willing to sell Russell Brand to the curator, but he is willing to watch him get transformed into a human spider.

critique: The narrator also works for the Kardashians.

critique: The narrator is not willing to sell Russell Brand to the curator.

critique: The narrator is not willing to sell Russell Brand.


text:
Accustomed to working together with booksellers on distribution, Dutch publishers, says one veteran observer, may be particularly suited to collaborative efforts in ‘renewing the book.’

[Members of the winning startup team (Bookerang.com) and other participants in The Netherlands' first Renew the Book program. Image: RenewTheBook.com]

Members of the winning startup team (Bookerang.com) and other participants in The Netherlands’ first Renew the Book program. Image: RenewTheBook.com

_In our series with specialists (analysts, visionaries, and players) who will speak to issues in the seven pivotal publishing markets of Frankfurt Book Fair’s conference, we hear now from Wiet de Bruijn of The Netherlands. Publishing Perspectives last spoke with him in July on the topic of industry innovation. He’ll be speaking in the role of visionary at The Markets: Global Publishing Summit on October 18. We’re pleased to have this interview, which originally appeared in Buchreport.de. — Porter Anderson_

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Resilience and Growth

[300 Publishing_Perspectives_300x250px_EN_RZ lined]Known as a versatile serial entrepreneur, Wiet de Bruijn is CEO of VBK Publishers Group, the largest trade book publisher in The Netherlands. He’s also Chairman of the Dutch Publishers Association (GAU), and holds a masters’ degree in public administration from Harvard.

Three Points of Interest

1. In 2015, the Dutch book market was the fastest-growing in Europe. “The Dutch market,” says de Bruijn, “saw a 3.5-percent jump in sales. And only Sweden’s people were rated as reading more per capita than The Netherlands’ readers.

“Surveys show that 86 percent of the Dutch read at least one book last year, while 90 percent of Swedes reported reading at least one book in the same timeframe. On average, 68 percent of Europeans overall are cited reading at least one book annually.”

[Wiet de Bruijn]

Wiet de Bruijn

2. Dutch publishers and bookshops work together on distribution. “The modern organization of our distribution of books—both print and ebooks—by The Central Bookhouse, or ‘CB,’ is managed,” de Bruijn says, “through a logistical center created and owned by the publishers and booksellers. Ninety-five percent of our ebooks are distributed by the CB.”

3. The flexibility of the Dutch industry. “There’s great resilience in the Dutch industry,” de Bruijn says, “in overcoming challenges including the financial crisis, changes in customer behavior, and the progressive impact of the Internet.

“Our trade volume decreased by some 30 percent from 2008 to 2014, but the industry has proven agile enough to overcome these challenges, pursuing the highest standards through well-written literature. This can only happen thanks to the unmatched quality and talent of our authors and the people in the industry.”

Innovation and Piracy

WHAT COULD OTHER MARKETS LEARN FROM YOUR MARKET?

[RENEW THE BOOK LOGO LINED]WIET DE BRUIJN: The Dutch market has been focusing on innovation over the last years.

Because of the decline of the Dutch market, publishers had to be creative and innovative. A variety of initiatives were started. The Dutch Publishing Association, for instance, launched Renew the Book, a competition in which startups in the book industry from all over the world could participate. Five teams were selected last year for an accelerator program in Amsterdam.

Other examples of innovation here include a publishing house and university working on computer assists for authors and a couple of online book clubs and subscription services, along with an online data center for publishers and booksellers.

WHERE, IN YOUR OPINION, ARE THE WEAK POINTS OF YOUR MARKET?

WDB: A weak point of the Dutch publishing market is piracy. The Netherlands has one of the highest levels of piracy in the world. One way of combatting it might include Bitcoin technology, as well as making it easier, not harder, for readers to access ebooks legitimately.

HOW, IN YOUR OPINION, WILL THE DIGITAL MARKET IN YOUR COUNTRY DEVELOP?

[300 VBK LOGO LINED]WDB: Digital will certainly continue to impact the traditional market, and is becoming a more serious element in our industry. For generations growing up as digital natives, this is increasingly significant, and not only in terms of distribution channels for ebooks and audiobooks, but also in the way books are written and stories are told.

We’re now starting research into the reading trends of millennials. What can we learn from them? What is the effect of their approach on reading?

HOW COULD RELATIONS BETWEEN PUBLISHING COMPANIES BE IMPROVED?

WDB: In these days of rapid changes and challenges, publishing companies need to pool their knowledge and strengths. Publishing houses in The Netherlands often don’t have the means to invest substantially in innovation or in new technology or business models.

So the key to survival is this growing collaborative economy. Publishing houses should try to be more trusting of each other. After all, we’re all facing the same challenges. The Dutch Royal Association of the Book Industry (KVB) is coordinating this the data center we’ve launched and will create best-practice guidance on innovation.

At the European level,  publishers can work together, too. Let’s organize a European conference in which we share our innovations and lessons learned: what worked well and what didn’t?

WHICH FOREIGN BOOK MARKET INTERESTS YOU, PERSONALLY?

[300 DUTCH PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION LOGO LINED]WDB: The German market interests me a lot, not only professionally but also  because my mother was German. We’re working together more closely with German publishers because Flanders and the Netherlands are Guest of Honor at Frankfurt, which is a good start. There are many German authors of interest to Dutch readers and vice-versa.

WHICH AUTHOR FROM YOUR COUNTRY WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE HAVE MORE INTERNATIONAL SUCCESS?

WDB: There are many Dutch authors ready to go international. The Internet makes that a lot easier.  Besides well-known authors, we have great young authors who write for an international audience, including Nina Weijers, Ellen Deckwitz, and Hannah Bervoets.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

_This interview originally appeared in Buchreport.de_

------------------------------------------------------------------------

_In addition to our Markets white paper, you can read our series of interviews and information relation to The Markets: Global Publishing Summit (18 October 2016) from Publishing Perspectives and the Frankfurt Book Fair._
_[The Markets logo]_

_This year’s program will showcase the following seven markets:_

1.  _Brazil_
2.  _Flanders & The Netherlands (2016 Frankfurt Book Fair Guest of Honour)_
3.  _Philippines_
4.  _Poland_
5.  _Spain_
6.  _United Arab Emirates_
7.  _United Kingdom_

_The Markets’ programming highlights each of these seven publishing territories from three perspectives: analysis, vision, and industry players. The day is devised to provide attendees not only with information and insights into the most important features of each industry market, but also with extensive networking opportunities during the event._

Guest Contributor

Guest contributors to _Publishing Perspectives_ have diverse backgrounds in publishing, media and technology. They live across the globe and bring unique, first-hand experience to their writing.

question: Of the given concerns, problems, and solutions, which is the most difficult problem to solve?

answer: Piracy is the most difficult problem to solve.

critique: The answer is incorrect. The article does not mention which problem is the most difficult to solve.

critique: The answer should mention that the question is not answered.

critique: The first individual that is spoken about that does not live in The Netherlands is placed out of order.

critique: The answer is incorrect. The most difficult problem to solve is piracy.

critique: The answer is incorrect. Piracy is not the most difficult problem to solve.


text:
The CONSTANCE PERKINS HOUSE is a house designed by Richard Neutra and built in Pasadena, California, United States, from 1952 to 1955.[1]

Design and construction

In 1947, Constance Perkins started working as a professor of Art History at Occidental College and here she met Richard Neutra, eventually asking him to design her home.

When Neutra was designing the house for her “he had to reexamine the single-family home and rework conventional patterns of the type.”[2] The house itself sits on a little hill in Pasadena, California. “The tiny house was constructed of inexpensive materials- wood, plaster, and glass; a spiderleg beam extended the space by projecting out into a small reflecting pool that meanders through one of the glass walls of the house...He also measured the physical dimensions of his clients. Constance Perkins was a small woman, so he scaled the house to her.”[3]

Neutra and Perkins worked closely together on the development of the building. In August 1953, Perkins sent Neutra a list of “Likes and Dislikes” with her autobiography so that Neutra could get a feel for what exactly she wanted for her new home.[4]

In October 1953 Neutra had completed the preliminary drawings for her house and after approval and construction, Perkins was finally allowed to move into her new home in December 1955.[5] The Perkins house is one of Neutra's smaller designs. It was formatted specially for Perkins and her budget. The house consists of “a free-from pool extending into the living room.”[6] Apparently Neutra and Perkins had some disagreement over what the pool should look like. She didn't want it to be of a surrealist nature but wanted, “something relaxing and more intimate.”[7] The final cost of the house came to about $17,166, which was over her original budget, nonetheless she was happy with the results.[8]

Both Perkins and Neutra were influenced by John Entenza's _Arts and Architecture_ Magazine. The magazine feature a lot of Neutra's work and other famous architects. “The avowed purpose [of the magazine] was to present good, contemporary design to the magazine’s largely lay audience and nudge its professional and architectural student subscribers into a truer path. The results were remarkable and A&A’s readers, who held architecture and art close to their hearts, would curl up with a cup of coffee for an hour or so to read the latest issue of the magazine.”[9] Perkins saw a great deal of Neutra's designs from this magazine and no doubt inspired her even further to have him design her own home.

Perkins' home is influential in modern architecture because of its design and the type of family that would occupy such a space. Perkins herself was a single working woman who had chosen a career over a family. She has requested no main bedroom, but would prefer sleeping in her workspace. She wanted a space “as a domestic environment in which individual creativity and work, rather than family and leisure activities were the central concept.”[10]

Constance Perkins

Constance Perkins was born in Denver in 1913. Her father was a doctor and her mother was an invalid. She studied art and got her BA at the University of Denver. In 1937 she attained her master's degree in Art History at Mills College in Oakland.[11]

Perkins died in March 1991 and left the house to the Huntington Library and Art Gallery in which she volunteered the last years of her life. The house is now privately owned.[12]

Quotes

Constance Perkins's critique on Richard Neutra's book _Survival Through Design_:

-   “The greatest enjoyment derived from re-readings of _Survival Through Design_ may be gained from the unique and penetrating manner in which the author has related the numerous philosophies of eighteenth-century rationalism through twentieth-century concepts of a space-time experience, to problems of contemporary design.”Constance M. Perkins

The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, Vol. 13, No. 2 (Dec., 1954), pp. 273-274 Published by: Blackwell Publishing on behalf of The American Society for Aesthetics

[1]

[2]

[3] Design and Feminism: Re-visioning Spaces, Places, and Everyday Things. Joan Rothschild, Alethea Cheng

[4]

[5]

[6] Drexler, Arthur and Hines, Thomas A., _The Architecture of Richard Neutra_ The Museum of Mondern Art, 1982

[7]

[8]

[9] Arts & Architecture Mag: Issue Date

[10]

[11]

[12]

title: Constance Perkins House

question: Describe some interesting facts about the development of the Perkins house.

answer: In August 1953, Perkins sent Neutra a list of “Likes and Dislikes” with her autobiography so that Neutra could get a feel for what exactly she wanted for her new home. Perkins asked Neutra to design her a home. Neutra's preliminary drawings were approved in October 1953 and construction finished in December 1955 with the Perkins moving into her new house. The list Perkins sent probably shows Neutra the sort of lifestyle she wanted to live, as someone working for a career and not in order to create a family. The house has a certain architectural impact as it can be said to reflect Perkins's values.

critique: The response includes extraneous information not useful for the task.

critique: "The list Perkins sent probably shows Neutra the sort of lifestyle she wanted to live, as someone working for a career and not in order to create a family." - is inaccurate. Perkins asked Neutra to design her a home. Neutra's preliminary drawings were approved in October 1953 and construction finished in December 1955 with the Perkins moving into her new house. The list Perkins sent probably showed Neutra the sort of lifestyle she wanted to live, as someone working for a career and not in order to create a family. The house has a certain architectural impact as it can be said to reflect Perkins's values.

critique: The answer should include the cost of the home.

critique: The response contains some inaccurate information.

critique: The Perkins House is only one of Neutra's smaller designs.

critique: The answer is not clear about the house's architectural impact.

critique: The response contains a grammatical error.

critique:
- 'Neutra's preliminary drawings were approved in October 1953 and construction finished in December 1955 with the Perkins moving into her new house.' This is irrelevant.

- 'The list Perkins sent probably shows Neutra the sort of lifestyle she wanted to live, as someone working for a career and not in order to create a family.' This was never mentioned in the article.

- 'She has requested no main bedroom, but would prefer sleeping in her workspace.' This was never in the article.

critique: The model's answer is a mish-mash of information that is incorrect.

critique: The answer should mention the cost of the house.

critique: The "sort of lifestyle she wanted to live" is a bit of a stretch. Replace with "it has been said that."

question: What is important to note about Perkins' home?

answer: The house is in Moscone School House in San Francisco, it houses the house two lab facilities and two classrooms, as well as a treadmill and a single bed. Perkins is originally from Pasadena and worked as a professor of Art History at Occidental College. She originally leased the house during the cold war between the USSR and the US, where she invited Soviet player reps to a US house to keep in touch during the Russian science conferences.

critique: There's no evidence in the passage that the home was owned by Perkins.

critique: The information given in this answer is not found in the passage.

critique: The question asks about the house Perkins lived in, not the Moscone School House.

critique: None of the details in the answer are relevant to the question.

critique: This response is not related to the question.

critique: The house is in Pasadena and nowhere else.

critique: This information is unrelated and inaccurate.

critique: The house doesn't exist in Moscone School House in San Francisco.

critique: This answer does not answer the question

question: Who would be the most inspired by the design of Constance Perkins' house?

answer: Women that did not want to organize their lives around family but desire a private area for personal creativity and working such as one of the less formal rooms or their office.

critique: The article does not mention this motivation for Perkins and the answer seems to be more about Neutra than Perkins.

critique: "Women that did not want to organize their lives around family but desire a private area for personal creativity and working such as one of the less formal rooms or their office." - is inaccurate. Women that want a family but want to work at the same time can also be inspired by the house.

critique: It is omitted that this design would also be inspiring to middle class women that are single and have no family.

critique: The answer is not related to the question.

critique: The answer does not answer the question.

critique: The answer should mention Perkins' career.

critique: "Women that did not want to organize their lives around family but desire a private area for personal creativity and working such as one of the less formal rooms or their office." - this is not necessarily true as the answer to the question is not about the inspiration for Perkins' house. The answer can be more specific.

critique: The answer is grammatically nonsensical.

critique: While the answer could likely be more specific, it hits the main points.


text:
I got really bored, and wrote this weird story about a psychotic guy with a split personality, dealing with tiny ordeals in his life, like waiting for a package in the mail, it basically covers a few days following his descent into insanity, and the resulting confusion when he returns to his original state of mind, its not entirely serious, and some parts may seem out of place, maybe you will get a chuckle out of the end, who knows.
it reads like a diary, constructive feedback is welcome but please remember this was the result of intense boredom, and is in no way a professional piece of text, i wrote it for fun, it mainly focuses on somebodies fascination with the dull and mundane.

day 4 of waiting for package.

the package has not yet arrived, the predicted delivery date was the 10th of june, as you can see, today is not the 10th of june, but still i sit at my letterbox, pen ready in my hand to sign for my package, weeping endlessly, i don't think i can endure this suffering for much longer.

the mailman has visited, but with him, no packages, i inquire as to their current location, but all i get is a swift dismissal and some pathetic excuse claiming that he does not handle the shipping, only the local deliveries, to this i give him a swift middle finger, and tell him to notify me when my package is on its way.

it has been exactly 76 seconds since i wrote that last body of text, and still, no package, seconds feel like months, minutes feel like years, hours feel like decades, i have lived a long, prosperous life in the past 6 hours, but to my bewilderment, still...no package has blessed me with its beige and crinkly glory, i decide to sit back down by the letterbox, novelty calendar by my side, clock perched at my knee, ticking endlessly.

day 5 waiting for package

i fall asleep at the door, and when i awake i notice a small red slip hanging from the half closed letterbox, my eyes widen, could this be it? has my day of reckoning finally come? no, it is a "sorry we missed you!' notification slip, i silently curse the wretched postman for not doing as i asked and take the slip, pinning it to the bathroom door adjacent to me, and continue my endless wait.

day 6 waiting for package

i have watched the sun set and rise, all within a matter of seconds, i do not know what happened to my clothes, i do not know why my hair has been torn out, all i know is that my ball of postal love is now its way to my very location, this thought fills me with glee, and then it fills me with endless melancholy, at the wait i face, i consider buying plane tickets to the US, so i can go and collect it myself, but i quickly dismiss the idea, realising that if i had the money to do that, i could have just bought first class.

I realise it has only been 2 days, but my red hot brain simply does not care, rattling inside my head, bouncing off the walls of my skull, every single lobe and cortex filled with the image of a perfectly square, brown package with a neatly placed, anatomically perfect sticker in the middle, and in glorious black text, my name and address, obviously i will have to defile this work of consumerist art, but for now the idea of it being sat there, in all its glory, fills me with a feeling of pure elation, like drinking a bottle of human endorphins, and then rolling around on a soft, silk carpet.

day 8 waiting for package

My wait has become torture, an acute sense of pure dread, time means nothing anymore, all of the letters and scam slips that have been delivered lie in a crumpled heap on the floor below the letterbox, i keep them there so that when my package arrives, it will have a soft cushiony landing, consumed in unpaid bills and religious propaganda.

i painted the walls red, i don't know why, nor do i have memory of this incident, all i know is that my walls are now red, with a slight hint of magenta, and a picture of someone elses child is pinned to the back wall, my deep descent into insanity has taken me to the dark depths of my own subconscious, painting colours i had not seen before, flinging at me balls of compacted sound, so tightly packed that i could see wavelengths leaking from the tiny cracks that litter its surface, my mind feels ready, volatile, the moment the package slides through my now immaculate letter box, i will burst through the door and cut the postmans trachea with a long thin knife. Although i do not remember leaving this spot, it seems i now have a large array of sharp weapons surrounding me in a perfect semi circle.

i no longer know how long i have been waiting here, i have not slept, i have not eaten, i simply phase out of my own body and sit there, completely still, for hours and hours, my ear drums feel like thin ice, a hint of pressure and they will smash, cracking my surroundings and instantly making me aware of my imminent doom, or in this case, my imminent salvation, i will sacrifice this postman to the gods of logistics and shipment, in hope they reward my dedication with a gift only a great deity could give.

my package arrived and its a fucking yoga dvd, this isn't what i fucking ordered, wait...what did i order? i run outside and hastily drag the dead and bleeding postman into my hall and frantically pace the room, where the hell have i been? what have i been doing? who the fuck ordered this yoga dvd? why are my walls red? why is there a dead guy in my living room? oh god there is blood everywhere, little flecks of bloody skin are stuck to the fur on the carpet, what the fuck am i gonna tell my insurance company? i went into a frenzy of psychosis while waiting for a package and murdered a postman in cold blood?

i consider the obvious, and dash for the yoga dvd sat in a crumple of stupid fucking beige packaging, i tear the protective film off and violently open the dvd, a note is delicately slid beneath the disc, i take a moment, compose myself, and pull the note from beneath the disc, appropriately named "Betty's 5 Star Workout" on the back of the slip of paper, there is a note that reads:

"regards, us.”

title: [MF] Untitled short story i wrote.

question: Why is it foolish to ask the postman where the parcel is?

answer: Because he doesn't handle the shipping.

critique: This answer is incorrect. The postman is not the one who doesn't handle the shipping.

critique: It is omitted that the postman will not be able to help the narrator.

critique: The answer is not grammatically correct.

critique: The answer is not related to the question.

question: On day six what are the signs of mental deterioration?

answer: The narrator has lost track of time and has no memory of what they have done. They have painted their walls red and have no memory of that. They are fixated on the package and have become obsessed.

critique: The narrator is fixated on the package, but not obsessed.

critique: The narrator is fixated on the package, not obsessed.

critique: The narrator has not lost track of time and has no memory of what they have done. They have painted their walls red and have no memory of that. They are fixated on the package and have become obsessed.

critique: The narrator has also lost track of their own identity.

critique: The narrator has not lost track of time.

critique: wait, they also took out their hair and wound up naked in a pile of junk mail.

critique: The narrator has no memory of the package arriving.

text: It is incorrect to state that they painted their walls red: this occurred on day eight.

question: How and where did the narrator get the red paint to paint the room?

answer: This information can't be found.

critique: The narrator is the one who painted the room red.

critique: The note in the box says that the narrator painted the room red.

critique: While we are not told 'where' the blood came from, the narrator is implied to be the one responsible for it. So while the answer can't be found per se, it is likely that the narrator has used either their own blood, or picked up the evidence of the fact that they had used the red paint.

critique: The narrator can't remember how he got the paint.

critique: The narrator painted the room with blood.

question: Why is the narrator disappointed with the contents of the parcel?

answer: The parcel contains a yoga DVD, which is not what the narrator ordered.

critique: The narrator doesn't remember ordering. Remember the "what did i order" within his reply after getting a delivery slip for the parcel.

critique: The answer could be clearer in its pronoun use.

critique: The narrator is in such a frenzy that he can't even remember what he ordered.

critique: The narrator is not disappointed with the contents of the parcel. He is confused.

critique: The narrator is not disappointed with the contents of the parcel.

critique: The narrator is not disappointed with the parcel, he is confused about it.

critique: The narrator is not disappointed with the parcel, he is shocked and confused.

critique: The narrator is not disappointed with the parcel, he is confused.


text:
The writing is a bit choppy due to the vocab I had to incorporate, but here it is. Sort for the lack of paragraphs.

       I slowly strolled into the restaurant, trying to seem as nonchalant as possible. I kept my head down, as if some sort of wandering eye might notice my appearance. And there the man was, sitting in the corner booth. He had a nebulous feel about him, as if I wasn't even sure if he was really even sitting there in front of me. But it was all real, almost, just almost too real. All of his emotions just seemed to barren, as if any sort of expression was some elusive happening. His face was desolate, so void of any uniqueness an overwhelming neutrality washed over me. His posture, formidable, his manners laudable, his movements so conscientious and exact, yet his face so bland. It was almost disturbing. It was like staring into an infinite loop of television static, a bland mesmerization permeating every ounce of my body. Even though his stark aura would have seemed to hypnotize every living entity in a mile range, his presence was hardly noticeable. I sat down in front of him, ever so gingerly, as if I had made a wrong move he would viciously pounce or I would elicit a din and alert everyone of my being there.  To my surprise he gave me a cordial welcome "Good afternoon, how are you today?" He said in a cool, subtle, and ceaseless tone. "Fine, fine." I replied. He could sense my nervousness and lapse of repose. I suppose I had never encountered such a enigma before. He was rather empathetic, and did his best to keep me calm. I placed the envelope from my jacket in his hands, and he carefully tucked it away into his pocket. After which, he placed his hands on the table, palms to the ceiling, in a very deft and exact manner. He spoke in innuendo, as if he was trying to avoid confessin. He preferred implication rather than a cold matter-of-factness. I suppose that's what I needed at the time, any statement which held a lick of reality would have sent me into panic. The gravity of the matter was just too much to handle. I quickly tried to calm myself, seeming serene yet not apathetic. I didn't want him to think any less of me, even though it would be the last time we meet. He then opened his mouth, speaking slow and cool, making sure I understood the message he was trying to convey. "I am willing to help you, in fact I am glad to help. And I don't mean to impose or offend you, however you have peaked my curiosity and I can't help to ask why? Don't feel obliged to answer, I just raise the question because I have never done such a job before." He didn't seem very vehement about knowing, but I supposed I owed it to him. I opened my pursed lips to speak, and my chest fluctuated due to my massive amounts of bottled emotions. "It's not really one thing I suppose. I just want to subdue that routed feeling. I usually happy, even extatic, it's just that I feel a serf to all the things around me. There is no moksha from this endless cycle, just a perturbing repiditiveness. I know it seems ilocgical, probably even erroneous to you, it's just..." "It's alright." He interjected abruptly, yet neccisarily. "I understand, I've felt that way an innumerable amount of times, I just guess you could say I'm an optimist." I was dumbfounded, I would have never expected he was cappaible of such warmth. I gave him the closest thing to a smile I could manage and said "I'm ready" I said in an almost languid tone. He slowly reached under the table and into his coat pocket. He looked me in the eyes, and I reciprocated, and I nodded reassuring him. A loud "BANG" erupted from the booth. My body slumped over,my face hit the booths soft leather padding, and blood slowly trickled forth.  He stood up, and calmly walked away, disappearing into the night. Anon, all of the patrons of the restraunt had quite an incredulous look on their face. They didn't know quite what was going on, nor will they ever.

title: A short story I wrote in my Sophomore year for a vocab assinment.

question: What does the excerpt say about the man in the booth?

answer: The man doesn't tend to stick to social norms and norms of hospitality. What he expects from the narrator is minimum but effective and cordial communication. He excelled at being nonchalant and suppressing expressions of his emotions. However while his unique way of communicating was not exactly the neighborly thing to do, it was what the narrator needed at the time.

critique: The man isn't described as non-neighborly.

critique: The man is not described as not sticking to social norms and norms of hospitality.

critique: The man's communication style is not what the narrator needs.

critique: The last sentence is irrelevant to the question and doesn't answer it.

critique: The portion of the response that suggests the man doesn't stick to social norms and norms of hospitality is incorrect.


text:
It had been 511 days. 511 days since the sky was sundered by the deepest, purest black you can imagine.

For a time, we panicked. We screamed, we cried, we were sure the time had come for humanity to be cleansed from the face of the Earth.

But after 63 days of nothing... no sound, no light... nothing... after the panic started to quell, after the fear faded, and the curiosity began to flood through... so did they.

The death they brought was beyond devastating, beyond catastrophic, beyond cataclysmic. 1.1 billion estimated people in the first day. After day 2, no one could keep count.

As we became more scarce, harder to find, they became more desperate. It was like they were driven by nothing more than their need to kill.

They did not consume. No, they needed no fuel, no sustenance and no rest. They made it clear from the very beginning, their sole desire, their sole purpose was to kill.

They did not relish the suffering of their victims, they killed quickly and quietly. They killed not because they wanted to, but because they *needed* to. It was a compulsion more gripping than any addiction. More engulfing than any obsession, and more powerful than any bullet, shell or bomb.

After 448 days, there were only a handful of us left. We didn't band together, didn't try to retain any dignity or civilisation. We behaved like what we were; scared beasts hiding from the hunters.

They didn't speak, they defied all description and explanation, but we had to call them something, so we decided 'Hunters' would have to do.

We learned quickly that, no matter how desperate they became, they didn't go underground. They would level 5-storey houses with their hands, so your basement would not keep you safe, but they wouldn't even approach subway tunnel entrances. Of course, after a month, there was no power... anywhere. So the tunnels were black, night and day.

Now with no humans to keep them out, the animals with the sense to hide did just that. And what better hiding place than a deep dark hole?

A deep dark hole swarming rats, dogs, and... if you were *really* unlucky... Charlie.

I know exactly how little I have told you about the Hunters, and the reason is simple. If you've seen one, you are no longer alive. But Charlie...

There is no sequence of words that can adequately express what Charlie was.

He was a paragon of everything that should be feared in a beast. He was tall, he was strong, he was fast-moving and fast-thinking, and most of all, he ate what he killed.

He colonised almost 10 miles of track, and no other living thing would set foot on his land. Those that tried, became a corpse, then meat, then gone.

Charlie dwelled in the tunnels by day, but when the sun went down, that's when he became an artist.

He could feel Hunters a mile away. Not see, or hear, or smell them... but when one was near, he just... knew.

Some tried to fight the Hunters with guns, some even tried with knives... but not Charlie. No, Charlie abhorred tools. Charlie used to say that 'if you can't kill it with your hands, you don't deserve it'.

And he followed this creed to the letter.

He would pull hunters apart with nothing more than his fingers. But what was truly beautiful, is what he did with them afterwards.

Charlie would take them back to the tunnels, skin, butcher, cook and eat them... but not all of them.

Every one, he saved one thing... a finger, a rib, a tooth... and one day, he had a Hunter. Well, more accurately, he had a skeleton held together with nails and duct tape, covered in dripping, festering skin.

But what he did with this harrowing scarecrow he created, is truly the most beautiful thing about Charlie.

One morning, Charlie dragged his new doll up the escalator, into the sunshine, laid it out flat on the ground... and began to scream.

He must have screamed for hours. Screamed so hard, so loud and so long, his lungs bled and his throat tore. But not before his cries were heard.

The hunters showed up moments later, but wouldn't attack.

They'd never seen something of this world kill one of them. They were afraid.

Charlie knew they were afraid, and what he chose to do about it was quite spectacular. He put his right hand into the throat of the Frankenstein's monster beside him, and, without looking, took out the heart of the creature, dropped it on the ground beside him, raised his right leg, and reduced the Hunter's heart to viscera.

For the first time since they landed, they spoke. But they did not say a word. They did not grieve for their fallen comrade, that made no threats, they spoke in a language of shrieks and squawks, and terror is universal.

Never have you seen so many monsters turn tail and flee for their lives so swiftly... and Charlie smiled to himself.

He dragged his sacrificial lamb back to the mouth of his lair, but this time, did not take it inside. In stead, he pulled a steel cable from his pocket, and threw it over the sign above the staircase.

He took one end, wrapped it around the feet of his prize, took the other, and yanked down hard, launching it high into the air.

Then he tied off the loose end to a fire hydrant, and, without a word, slinked back off to his pitch-dark fortress.

title: [SF] Charlie

question: What does the story say about what planet the aliens came from?

answer: No answer

critique: The aliens are not from another planet. They are from an alternate dimension.

critique: The answer should mention that the text does not mention the aliens' planet of origin.

question: What does the story say about the alien attack on earth?

answer: For the first 63 days, the the sky was sundered by the deepest, purest black. People panicked, screamed, cried. After 63 days of blackness, the panic started to quell. No one could keep count how many people died on the first day. 1.1 billion died in the first day. The aliens didn't consume, didn't need fuel or sustenance. They liked killing, no matter how much. After 448 days, only a handful of humans remained in the planet.

critique: The response includes extraneous information not useful for the task.

critique: The aliens didn't kill for fun, they needed to kill.

critique: The aliens didn't need fuel or sustenance

question: What does the story say about the invading aliens?

answer: By the end of the first day, 1.1 billion people are estimated to be killed. The aliens seemingly avoided any place underground and humans only used to go underground when they had no other choice. However, the aliens prevented any creatures, like rats and dogs, to remain underground. Humans were aware that it was useless to try to fight the aliens in any way. When Charlie, a hybrid human and alien who actively defends himself with no tools, kills the aliens, they act uniformly in their terror and flee.

critique: Humans were aware they couldn't win a war against the aliens. They didn't fight them at all.

critique: "The aliens seemingly avoided any place underground and humans only used to go underground when they had no other choice. However, the aliens prevented any creatures, like rats and dogs, to remain underground." - this is incorrect. The aliens didn't go underground, but they didn't prevent anything to remain underground. The aliens also didn't go underground because they didn't need fuel, sustenance, and rest.

question: What does the story say about Charlie?

answer: Charlie is a tall, strong, and fast-moving man who knows how to kill with his bare hands. He lives in the tunnels and kills and eats the Hunters. He's also very smart because he knows how to scare the Hunters by killing one of them, making it into a scarecrow, and screaming at it. After he's done scaring them, he ties the scarecrow to a hydrant and launches it into the air. This scares the Hunters so much that they run away.

critique: The response includes extraneous information not useful for the task.

critique: The answer should mention that Charlie is the last human.


text:
The Leaking Pipe

That bloody pipe had leaked again.

Amanda set down her basket of laundry and looked up at the perpetrator. It had to be one of two pipes which ran parallel across the ceiling of the garage, directly above this morning’s pool of water. Similar pools had been appearing in the same spot for several days now, and Amanda had had quite enough. Leaking pipes were an inconvenience the Harrison household could do without right now.

She had wanted to mention the problem to Neil, but these days he returned home from work so sad, that she had thought better of it. He had more important things to worry about than a splatter of water on the garage floor. So Amanda had set about solving the problem herself. The night before, when Neil had retired to bed, Amanda had taken several wads of cotton wool and taped them to the pipes’ joints. This simple test would determine the precise location of the leak.

But the wads of cotton wool were all dry.

Amanda prodded them all again, but they were still fluffy - they were all exactly as she had left them last night, and yet, the leak had negated the test and found its way to the water deposit on the floor. How strange.

She continued to the washing machine, an old thing located on the far side of the garage, and spared the leaking plumbing no further thought as her husband had himself got up and left for work.
The garage was built into the house, and had not been used to store a car in some time. The metal garage-door, painted a pale blue from the outside, hadn’t been opened in years, meaning the only entrance in constant use was the door at the back, which led to the rest of the house via a hallway at the base of the home’s staircase. Amanda only used the garage for the washing machine, which was a task performed each morning after her husband had departed for work.

It wasn’t until mid-morning, when the washing machine stopped churning, that Amanda pondered what to do next with her problem. Calling in a professional would be expensive, and she’d never shield the costs from Neil. He’d ask why she hadn’t just told him. There was Brian next door. A builder by trade but surely he would tighten a loose joint for them? She wondered if he was on a job this morning. It had to be worth a phone call.

“Thanks for coming over, Brian.”

“No problem, Love, sounds like a fairly routine job,”

Brian didn’t take off his shoes. The garage door to the driveway hadn’t been opened in such a long time but Amanda wondered if she should have made an exception as Brian trudged his muddy work boots through the living room. Such a house-proud lady, Amanda had quickly tidied the front rooms when Brian had agreed to come over, but it was only when they approached the hall at the foot of the stairs and laid her hand on the door to the garage that she realised what a tip it was.

“I must warn you, Brian, we’re due a bit of a clear-out in here.”

What was she saying? She’d been to her neighbours a couple of times and he wasn’t the tidiest of people - far from it. What would he care really? But she still winced as the door opened and the stack of boxes filled of items without an otherwise home came into view.

“These ones here?” he said. She nodded and he ran his hand along the lengths of both pipes.
How had she let the garage get this messy? There were boxes of old clothes she could take to Oxfam, Neil’s tools she’d seen him use once, and that dog basket… they could get rid of that now as well. It had belonged to a beautiful Alsatian.

“You say it leaks through the night, Amanda?”

“Most nights, yes.”

“It’s this pipe on the left here which runs water from the boiler to upstairs, the one next to it is for gas. You have a boiler upstairs don’t you?”

“I think so.”

“You do. Every time you draw a lot of water upstairs water runs through this pipe from the main tank over there. The reason it appears at night must be down to your own routine. Do you run a bath every night or something like that?”

“Sometimes.”

Amanda thought hard. Last night, when she’d put the cotton wool on the pipes, the floor was dry. Had she brushed her teeth before or after setting up the test? Yes, it was definitely before, she brushed hers then went whilst Neil was flossing. She used the downstairs bathroom this morning while the kettle was boiling. Perhaps Neil had used the bathroom during the night? She thought she would have heard him but then again that medication had made her such a deep sleeper. And all that still didn’t explain why the cotton wool was dry.

“It might not be leaking from the obvious joints, which is why your experiment didn’t work. Sometimes a leak can run along the pipes and drip down a few metres away from the hole. Though I must admit, you can normally tell straight away.”

“What about the heating, Brian? If we hadn’t used any water in the bathroom could the heating coming on this morning have caused it?”

Brian laughed, as if he found Amanda’s lack of central heating knowledge highly amusing. “The heating runs on a closed system separate to your upstairs water. You wouldn’t want that mucky stuff coming out of your taps let me tell you that.”

“Brian. I am sure we didn’t use any water last night after I’d checked the garage. But this morning there was a puddle on the floor.”

“Well, Amanda, if that’s true I can say with certainty that your puddle isn’t coming from these pipes.”

Drip! Drip! Drip!

Amanda dreamt of leaking pipes and puddles that night.

It was the sort of awake where a person was very tired, but knew they wouldn’t get back to sleep for hours. She shouldn’t have had that coffee so late last night. That was stupid.

She turned to cuddle her husband, but her hands only hit cold pillow.

He was probably in the bathroom. Amanda needed a glass of water. She reached for the light, and then for her slippers and robe. Her soles flopped along the carpet, the slippers were tatty. She supposed that slippers would last a while longer now that there was no dog in the house.

When she reached the landing, she noticed that the bathroom light was off, and the first inkling that something was wrong. Where was Neil?

At the bottom of the stairs, the crack around the sides of the garage door revealed that it was on. She grabbed the handle, wondering what the hell was going on.

And there she found Neil, clasping something in his trembling hands. It was a box, printed with a floral pattern. She could just about read the words printed in gold on top: Our loving pet, rest in peace, Cassy. She knelt next to her husband, underneath a pair of copper pipes, and cradled his head upon her chest as he sobbed.

title: [MF] This is a short story I wrote about a housewife who cannot work out why a pipe keeps leaking. Please read and critique.

question: What does the story say about the type of relationship Amanda and Neil have?

answer: No answer

critique: There is evidence in the passage to discuss the type of relationship that Amanda and Neil have.

question: Summarize the possible causes for the leak Amanda considers.

answer: Amanda is concerned the leak is coming from the pipes, so she tries to plug the leaks with cotton wool. She is then unsure if Neil used the bathroom at night. She tries to reason that the leak could come from the heating, as it is on a closed system.

critique: It's omitted that Amanda is concerned the leak is coming from the pipes, so she tries to plug the leaks with cotton wool.

critique: The answer omits the possibility that the leak is caused by Neil using the bathroom.

critique: Incorrect: you cannot reason with or try to reason that a leak is on a closed system.

critique: She thinks that Neil might have used the bathroom at night, which is when the leak occurs, but she isn't sure.

critique: The answer should mention that Amanda might have used the bathroom.

critique: The answer omits the possible cause of the leak that Brian suggests.

critique: The answer omits the possibility that the leak is coming from the pipes.

question: What does the story say about Amanda and Neil's pet?

answer: Neil and Amanda's pet, a dog named Cassy died recently, so they are coping with the grieving process. They still have it on their mind and keep its death a secret from the entire neighborhood as they continue to bury it, which is why they don't ask for a professional's help. One day, when Neil is working in the garage, Amanda finds him in the garage, clutching a box that says "our loving pet" and "Cassy" on it. He's crying, and Amanda consoles him.

critique: They are not burying it, they are burying its ashes.

critique: Amanda finds Neil in the garage clutching a box, but it's not clear if Amanda knows what's in the box.

text: Amanda and Neil's pet, Cassy, died. Niel goes to the garage every night and clutches a box (presumably with memories of Cassie) and cries under the copper pipes. Niel's tears are the source of the water which Amanda mistook for a leak in the pipes.

question: What does the story say about how to fix a leaking pipe?

answer: No answer

critique: The story doesn't say how to fix a leaking pipe.