Praise for the Webby Award-winning newsletter: "I eagerly read 'Now I Know' every day. It's always fresh, always a surprise, and always interesting!" --Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia and Wikia Did you know that there are actually 27 letters in the alphabet, or that the U.S. had a plan to invade Canada? And what actually happened to the flags left on the moon? Even if you think you have a handle on all things trivia, you're guaranteed a big surprise with Now I Know. From uncovering what happens to lost luggage to New York City's plan to crack down on crime by banning pinball, this book will challenge your knowledge of the fascinating stories behind the world's greatest facts. Covering 100 outrageous topics, Now I Know is the ultimate challenge for any know-it-all who thinks they have nothing left to learn.
What do men really want? Andrew isn't sure. But as Jake, the pseudonymous author of the Man's View column in a woman's magazine, is supposed to provide the answer to millions of readers every month. So far, Andrew has managed to fake his way through, as he tries desperately to puzzle out the eternal riddles of love, sex, and relationships.
In China, university students use the Internet to save the life of an attempted murder victim. In Cuba, authorities unsuccessfully try to silence an online critic by sowing seeds of distrust in her marriage. And in Russia, a lone blogger rises to become one of the most prominent opposition figures since the fall of the Soviet Union. Authoritarian governments try to isolate individuals from one another, but in the age of social media freedom of speech is impossible to contain. Online, people discover that they are not alone. As one blogger put it, "Now I know who my comrades are." In her groundbreaking book, Now I Know Who My Comrades Are: Voices from the Internet Underground, Emily Parker, formerly a State Department policy advisor, writer at The Wall Street Journal and editor at The New York Times, provides on-the-ground accounts of how the Internet is transforming lives in China, Cuba, and Russia. It's a new phenomenon, but one that's already brought about significant political change. In 2011 ordinary Egyptians, many armed with little more than mobile phones, helped topple a thirty-year-old dictatorship. It was an extraordinary moment in modern history—and Now I Know Who My Comrades Are takes us beyond the Middle East to the next major civil rights battles between the Internet and state control.Star dissidents such as Cuba's Yoani Sánchez and China's Ai Weiwei are profiled. Here you'll also find lesser-known bloggers, as well as the back-stories of Internet activism celebrities. Parker charts the rise of Russia's Alexey Navalny from ordinary blogger to one of the greatest threats to Vladimir Putin's regime. This book introduces us to an army of bloggers and tweeters—generals and foot soldiers alike. These activists write in code to outsmart censors and launch online campaigns to get their friends out of jail. They refuse to be intimidated by surveillance cameras or citizen informers. Even as they navigate the risks of authoritarian life, they feel free. Now I Know Who My Comrades Are is their story.
There are two versions of Student Book: with and without Online Practice. This version is without Online Practice. Features 12 units, with teaching material designed for at least 8 hours of English a week Unit title phrased as a big question sparks students' curiosity and builds engagement with the topic Students come up with answers throughout the unit and reflect on what they have learnt on the Now I Know page at the end Unit objectives phrased as simplified GSE descriptors appear at the beginning and at the end of the unit helping students see what they have learnt International English box highlights differences between British and American English BBC video clips (topic and story clips) enhance engagement and understanding of the topic One text per unit is factual, allowing students to gain non-ELT knowledge, and another text is a story focusing on a value Clear grammar practice helps students build confidence with the language Strategy boxes help teach all skills
If you could send a letter back through time to your younger self, what would the letter say? In this moving collection, forty-one famous women write letters to the women they once were, filled with advice and insights they wish they had had when they were younger. Today show correspondent Ann Curry writes to herself as a rookie reporter in her first job, telling herself not to change so much to fit in, urging her young self, “It is time to be bold about who you really are.” Country music superstar Lee Ann Womack reflects on the stressed-out year spent recording her first album and encourages her younger self to enjoy the moment, not just the end result. And Maya Angelou, leaving home at seventeen with a newborn baby in her arms, assures herself she will succeed on her own, even if she does return home every now and then. These remarkable women are joined by Madeleine Albright, Queen Noor of Jordan, Cokie Roberts, Naomi Wolf, Eileen Fisher, Jane Kaczmarek, Olympia Dukakis, Macy Gray, and many others. Their letters contain rare glimpses into the personal lives of extraordinary women and powerful wisdom that readers will treasure. Wisdom from What I Know Now “Don’t let anybody raise you. You’ve been raised.” —Maya Angelou “Try more things. Cross more lines.” —Breena Clarke “Learn how to celebrate.” —Olympia Dukakis “You don’t have to be afraid of living alone.” —Eileen Fisher “Please yourself first . . . everything else follows.” —Macy Gray “Don’t be so quick to dismiss another human being.” —Barbara Boxer “Work should not be work.” —Mary Matalin “You can leave the work world—and come back on your own terms.” —Cokie Roberts “Laundry will wait very patiently.” —Nora Roberts “Your hair matters far, far less than you think” —Lisa Scottoline “Speak the truth but ride a fast horse.” —Kitty Kelley
There are two versions of Student Book: with and without Online Practice. This version is without Online Practice. Features 12 units, with teaching material designed for at least 8 hours of English a week Unit title phrased as a big question sparks students' curiosity and builds engagement with the topic Students come up with answers throughout the unit and reflect on what they have learnt on the Now I Know page at the end Unit objectives phrased as simplified GSE descriptors appear at the beginning and at the end of the unit helping students see what they have learnt International English box highlights differences between British and American English BBC video clips (topic and story clips) enhance engagement and understanding of the topic One text per unit is factual, allowing students to gain non-ELT knowledge, and another text is a story focusing on a value Clear grammar practice helps students build confidence with the language Strategy boxes help teach all skills
Frank Danza is an ordinary business executive. As he approached his fiftieth birthday, he lived what many might consider a "charmed" life: great career, happy marriage, two beautiful and talented daughters, and hopes for an early retirement. In the blink of an eye, that life was challenged with an unexpected diagnosis of a rare and deadly cancer. After a deeply spiritual and personal encounter some six years after his diagnosis and surgery, Frank began to wonder how he was able to thus far "beat the odds." Why was he still alive? He realized that he had made some unusual decisions during the course of his life that might hold the answer to his questions. How was it that he decided, against his better judgment, to pursue a career in healthcare consulting at a firm that he never intended to join? Why did he make the unlikely decision to accept a position at a not-for-profit healthcare system where he learned about the cancer that would later invade his body months before it happened? From the surgeon that would eventually save his life? How did he come to develop an unpredictable friendship with a healer who taught him how to be a better husband and father, and that the mind can heal the body and who facilitated his deeply spiritual and personal encounter with our Blessed Mother? In Now I Know I Am Not Alone, Frank Danza makes the compelling case that through divine intervention, he was inspired to make uncanny decisions throughout his life that prepared him for his cancer diagnosis, surgery, and treatment. He shares six specific stories, recounting events in his life that each culminated in what he describes as "miracle-inspired decisions." These everyday miracles led him through a life path that would save his life decades after they began and make him a better husband, father, and friend. The more we learn about his life, the more we come to understand that miracle-inspired decisions don't only happen to Frank; they are gifts offered to all of us. His stories require us all to ponder the profound gift of free will, consider the reality of a superior being, and embrace our innate ability to choose hope over despair even in the most dire of circumstances.
