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“Living a life of your own”; “being your own person”; “marching to the beat of your own drum”; “becoming who you are”; contemporary self-realization discourse is replete with images and expressions that suggest a certain view of the self. Although rarely made explicit, this image of the self can broadly be described as self-reliant, independent, autonomous, atomistic and essentialist. (1) It has already been pointed out that in contrast, the reframed understanding of self-realization that this study aims to develop presupposes the embedding of the self in a social and cultural context. Consequently, our identity is seen as a socio-culturally constituted phenomenon, rather than an essential inner “core self”. Moreover, our lives and selves are perceived as intrinsically interwoven with those of others rather than atomistic and independent. In other words, who we are can only be understood against the background of the social and cultural context of our lives.(2) In the context of this study, cultural narratives are defined as agglomerates of stories, imaginaries, meanings, representations, archetypes, views and stock images existing in a certain culture about a social group, for instance women, Muslims, gay/lesbian people, or aging individuals. This is a deliberately broad definition which includes, but is not restricted to narratives as traditionally understood stories with a beginning, middle and end. Most importantly, my understanding of cultural narratives presents them as carriers of meaning in the broadest sense. Cultural narratives are disseminated in a given culture through various means, and they pervade our lifeworld in a sometimes conscious, but also often largely unconscious manner. They provide the horizon against which we situate our own life narratives. They supply us with a reservoir of both narrative form and content on which to model our own identities. Other terms that emphasize this function of cultural narratives are “macro narrative environment”, and “ideological setting”.From early childhood throughout life, we are constantly confronted with explicit and implicit cultural narratives about different aspects of our world. They come to us through fairy tales or comic books, advertisements, newspapers, TV shows, exemplary figures like parents or teachers, works of art and many other media. These cultural narratives give direction to our views and perceptions, inform our choices and judgments, influence which social roles are or are not available to us, and influence how we think and act in certain situations. Cultural narratives are thereby indispensable meaning-generating resources without which we cannot form a viable identity. If a person were to dissociate herself from them completely, she would no longer be able to understand either herself and the people around her or the workings of her society. (3) Despite their indispensable status as identity resources however, cultural narratives may also severely restrict the options that are available to members of a particular social group to form a certain identity. This is the case if they produce and reproduce prejudiced sets of images and expectations that are so pervasive that they are very hard to counter. The expected result is marginalization and oppression. Members of social groups that are thus marginalized in a given culture are unlikely to have the same access to that culture’s dominant ideals of a good life.Any given culture harbors a diverse array of cultural narratives, but some narratives have a more dominant position than others. Lindemann Nelson describes these as “master narratives”. She defines cultural master narratives as “the stories circulating in our culture that embody socially shared understandings”. The role of cultural (master) narratives is expressed by De Medeiros when she defines them as “the stories (or story fragments) ‘told’ by a culture to communicate the values, expectations and attitudes of that culture”. (4) The quotation marks surrounding the word told in this definition emphasize that cultural narratives are very broadly perceived and do not only include traditional stories put into a coherent lingual form, but can also encompass more diffuse expressions, such as artistic expressions or media representations.

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Directions: Please summarize this article in English in about 200 words.In the midst of commencing political and aristocratic turmoil, was born one of the most talented and patriotically concerned artists Spain has ever seen. On March 30, 1746, one of Spain’s most innovative painters and etchers was born. In the rural town of Fuendetodos, Francisco Jose de Goya y Lucientes was born. Francisco Jose de Goya y Lucientes was the first modern artist and the last old master. He was born poor and at the fall of the Hapsburg Monarchy. Goya’s grandfather was the son of a notary, or a minor lawyer, and his grandmother Dona Gracia Lucientes, was a Hidalgo. Hidalgos were the lowest order in Spanish nobility. His father was a painter and a gilder of altarpieces, and his mother was descended from a family of minor Aragonese nobility. Facts of Goya’s childhood are scarce. Goya was still a boy when he and his family moved to the city of Saragossa.Saragossa contained more life than the rural city of Fuendetodos. Here he began school, where he barely learned to read and write. After attending elementary school, Francisco went to a Jesuit school. It was here where the foundation of his career was laid. It was recommended that he develop his natural skills in drawing. A local master painter, named Jose Luzan y Martinez, took Goya under his wing. Martinez was a typical third rank painter of that time, but was well respected in the city. Goya began learning to paint the human figure by copying sculptures and molds. The drawing of naked models was forbidden at that time. However, by this point Goya showed himself as a fine copyist, and was able to adapt quickly to other peoples’ styles. Goya’s first commission was the painting of the church doors at Fuendentodos. This project confirmed his profession.At age 17 Goya went to test himself in the larger and more demanding area of Madrid. In 1763, the young artist went to Madrid, where he hoped to win a prize at the Academy of San Fernando. Although he did not win the desired award, he did make the acquaintance of Francisco Bayeu. He was an artist, also from Aragon, who was working at the court in the academic manner imported to Spain by the German painter Anton Raphael Mengs. Bayeu was the brother of Goya’s wife. He was influential in forming Goya’s early style and was responsible for his participation in an important commission, the fresco decoration of the Church of the Virgin in El Pilar in Saragossa.Goya’s obvious talent soon became apparent to the royal aristocracy of his time, and he was made Court Painter in 1786. This was the peak of his career, and some of the renowned works he produced during this period include Duke and Duchess of Osuna, Portraits of King Charles IV, and the Count of Floridablanca. The Spanish nobility became fond of the painter and commissioned him to prepare hundreds of portraits, including the Dutchess of Alba, the 9th Duke of Osuna, the 15th Duke of Medina Sidonia, and the Marchioness of Pontejos. However, the artist suddenly developed an illness between 1792 and 1793, which rendered him deaf, and he withdrew from people, becoming somewhat introspective. In the midst of creating his official commissions and religious paintings, the deaf artist undertook a series of experimental dark paintings, which were published in 1799 under the title Caprichos. Goya’s painting career took a nosedive after the French invasion of Spain and ensuing restoration of the new Spanish King Ferdinand VII, who was not particularly fond of the painter. His works after the French left Spain included the Disasters of War, The Charge of the Mamelukes, Santa Justa and Santa Rufina, and the Black Paintings.Possibly, Goya’s “claim to fame” was being part of the triumvirate—including El Greco and Diego Velazquez—two great Spanish masters. Much in the art of Goya is derived from that of Velazquez. Velazquez was a painter of Spain’s pride and power—a superb realist. Although Velazquez had an influence on Goya’s artistic style, his art is distinctly different from that of his predecessor. Velazquez’s paintings depicted absolute and precise figures. Most of Goya’s work, other than portraits, was noticeably distorted. These were times of confusion and despair, which would serve as artistic topics for Goya’s work. The other half of his work is strictly his reaction and response surrounding occurrences. Perhaps nobody depicted mortals’ thoughts and actions better than Goya. He combined his personal thoughts and the thoughts of the character in the painting so they either contrasted or became one. Goya used this devise of altering human characteristics as a way to undermine politicians and aristocrats without confrontation. A prime example of this is in the portrait of the family of Charles the IV. Charles IV was a Bourbon King who was later deposed by Napoleon. This portrait is at the pivotal point of Goya’s career. The public Goya and the private Goya, usually rigidly separated were briefly allowed to merge. As Goya was at the center of the social scene by this point, he was very aware of the history, people and events of his time.Thus, in this portrait, he depicts the characters and family members as he sees them, weak, sheltered, and cocky. The clothing and costumes on the people describe their rank in society; however, their faces portray a lack of power and character. In addition, these depictions went unnoticed, and while Goya never painted for the King and Queen again, it was not because they were dissatisfied. He got away with it and went on to fulfill other artistic desires. What is extraordinary about this portrait is that it borders a thin line between levels of understanding. Goya found a median at which he could satisfy someone’s expectations while fulfilling his own artistic thoughts. At first glance or even scrupulous examination, someone who is ignorant of the techniques being used sees only a picture of a royal portrait.Moreover, Goya’s talent was not confined to one particular style. Thus, a somewhat different style and theme is showed in The Shooting on Principe Pio Mountain. A more free brush technique is used here and the faces and figures in the picture are more abstract, less detailed. The shooters are anonymous and they doggedly obey orders by killing the suspects lined up in front of them. In the center of the painting is a Spanish commoner who has his arms raised and his face is that of despair, horror, and hopelessness. This event (one of many that were similar) was a significant moment in Spanish history. French firing squads patrolled through Spain as guerrillas (little wars) broke out over the land. Goya painted the picture six years later, and had mixed feelings about it. His love for Spain is shown in all of his work; however, he was an admirer of the French Enlightenment. This painting shows a difference and gradual change in Goya’s style. The brush strokes are much scratchier than and not as delicate as previous works. It was possibly painted with more passion and thus the reason for the more symbolic tone and not realistic.Francisco Goya was widely considered one of the most important artists of the Romantic period. Living in exile in Bordeaux, France, the artist died on April 16, 1828. His works went on to have a profound influence on both Édouard Manet and Pablo Picasso. Today, Goya’s works are held in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, the Prado Museum in Madrid, and the Louvre Museum in Paris, among others.

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Directions: In the following article, some words are have been moved. Please fill in each blank with only one word to complete the article according to the context.The current vehicles that are powered _1_ gasoline pollute, but as technologies improve and the human way of life changes alternatively powered vehicles enter the automotive industry. These vehicles were developed to achieve better gas mileage and to help slow the production of the gasses that _2_ Global Warming. The hybrid vehicle is one of the newest and most popular alternatively powered vehicles. Hybrid electric vehicles are energy efficient cars or trucks that run on an internal combustion engine of a gas vehicle with the battery and electric motor of an electric vehicle. This results in twice the fuel economy of gas vehicles. These hybrid electric vehicles consume fewer natural resources _3_ gas vehicles and produce almost no emission fumes compared to the standard gas vehicle. Hybrid cars are one solution to preserving air quality for the future.Hybrid electric cars were created because _4_ the shortfall in battery technology. The batteries that were being made could not produce enough power. These batteries would not sustain long trips with the car. To work _5_ this and onboard generator, powered by an internal combustion engine could be used for long trips. These cars became known _6_ hybrid electric vehicles that are now being mass-produced by companies like Toyota and Honda. When the vehicle starts and travels at city street speeds less than 30 miles per hour the electric motor does the greatest amount of the work. As the cars power sources begins to lose some of its energy the backup gasoline engine starts. This function is similar _7_ how gasoline cars work, with the alternator using the engine’s power to recharge the battery. After the power supply is replenished the gasoline engine shuts down. Also the gasoline engine is used to power the vehicle as it reaches the higher speeds where the added horsepower is needed. Usually the speed _8_ which the gasoline engine starts is in the 30 mile per hour range. Even as the gasoline engine runs the electric motor continues to provide power for the vehicle. This vehicle combination in my opinion is beneficial economically and environmentally. Using the hybrid electric vehicle will reduce smog-forming pollutants and cut emissions of global-warming pollutants by a third to a half. The average gas vehicle will pose substantial economic, environmental and energy security issue for the U.S. and all nations. When the hybrid operation schedule is biased more toward the energy storage system, relying more _9_ the battery than on the genset, emission levels become more like those of a battery electric vehicle which has a zero emission reading level.The hybrid electric cars have several advantages over the gas guzzling cars that are already out there. The hybrid cars greatest advantage is that they almost release zero emissions into the _10_. These cars use their brakes to regenerate power to the batteries. When the car is slowing down it takes the energy being released when slowing the car down. The result is a use of energy that does not require the car to be plugged in. The cars reduce the dependency on fossil fuels because they are run on alternative fuels. By combining gasoline with electric power, hybrids will have the same or greater range than traditional combustion engines.

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Generally speaking, the influence of culture (in this broad sense) on health and well-being has been seen as distal and diffuse, pervasive but unspecified. Yet it seems plausible, if not self-evident, that cultural characteristics such as materialism or individualism can have as important an impact on psychosocial factors such as social support and personal control as socioeconomic inequality—perhaps even more important.However, the neglect of culture is surprising in some respects, but not others. It is surprising given that some of the earlier social epidemiological research pointed to its significance. It is unsurprising in that cultures tend to be “transparent” or “invisible” to those living within them because they comprise deeply internalized assumptions and beliefs, making their effects hard to discern. As Corin says, cultural influences are always easier to identify in unfamiliar societies. Our own cultures appear to constitute a natural order that is not itself an object of study. This impression, she says, is an “unsupported ethnocentric illusion”.Another reason for underestimating the role of culture is the extent to which its impacts are “refracted” through a host of other, more specific influences, including a person’s personal circumstances and temperament (this is also true of other distal determinants of health). In other words, changes that affect everyone can, nevertheless, affect people differently and contribute to specific problems that only some experience.A third explanation is that culture is a much debated and contested subject, defined and used in many different ways in different disciplines and even within the same discipline. Culture, as I use the term here, refers to the language and accumulated knowledge, beliefs, assumptions, and values that are passed between individuals, groups, and generations; a system of meanings and symbols that shape how people see the world and their place in it and give meaning to personal and collective experience; or, more simply, as the knowledge we must possess to function adequately in society.In discussing the effects of modern Western culture on health, I do not mean to suggest that culture exerts a uniform effect on everyone, regardless of gender, class, and ethnicity; or that individuals passively absorb cultural influences, rather than interacting actively with them. It follows that, just as inequality can be studied at both population and individual levels so too can culture.The psychological and sociological literatures suggest powerful effects of culture on psychological well-being. Take materialism, by which I mean attaching importance or priority to money and possessions (and so broadly equate here with consumerism), and which underpins consumption-based economies. Many psychological studies have shown that materialism is associated, not with happiness, but with dissatisfaction, depression, anxiety, anger, isolation, and alienation. Human needs for security and safety, competence and self-worth, connectedness to others, and autonomy and authenticity are relatively unsatisfied when materialistic values predominate.People for whom “extrinsic goals” such as fame, fortune, and glamour are a priority in life experience more anxiety and depression and lower overall well-being than people oriented towards “intrinsic goals” of close relationships, self-knowledge and personal growth, and contributing to the community. People with extrinsic goals tend to have shorter relationships with friends and lovers, and relationships characterized more by jealousy and less by trust and caring.As materialism reaches increasingly beyond the acquisition of things to the enhancement of the person, the goal of marketing becomes not only to make us dissatisfied with what we have, but also with who we are. As it seeks evermore ways to colonize our consciousness, the market both fosters and exploits the restless, insatiable expectation that there must be more to life. In short, the more materialistic we are, the poorer our quality of life.Individualism, by which I mean placing the individual at the center of a framework of values, norms, and beliefs and celebrating personal freedom and choice, is another cultural quality with profound significance for well-being, but here the evidence is contradictory. Well-being is associated with several qualities that individualistic societies should encourage, notably personal control and self-esteem; individualism is, after all, supposed to be about freeing us to live the lives we want. Historically, individualization has been a progressive force, loosening the chains of religious dogma, class oppression, and gender and ethnic discrimination, and so associated with a liberation of human potential.However, just as the reality of commitment differs from the ideal, so the reality of freedom differs from its ideal, especially when it is taken too far or is misinterpreted. Sociologists note that individualization has transformed identity from a “given” into “task”; it has replaced determination of social standing with, in Bauman’s words, “compulsive and obligatory self-determination”. The individualized life is a fate, not a choice; we cannot choose not to play the game.This process has had a range of consequences: a heightened sense of risk, uncertainty, and insecurity; a lack of clear frames of reference; a rise in personal expectations, coupled with a perception that the onus of success lies with the individual, despite the continuing importance of social disadvantage and privilege; and a surfeit or excess of freedom and choice, which is experienced as a threat or tyranny. To cite Bauman again, there is “a nasty fly of impotence in the ointment of freedom”, an impotence that is all the more upsetting in view of the empowerment that freedom was expected to deliver.An important means by which individualism and materialism affect well-being is through their influence on values. Values are a core component of culture, a property of societies and their people and institutions, as well as of individuals. Like culture more broadly, values have been underestimated in health research because their effects are hard to measure: they are abstract, generic, pervasive, flexible, and internalized (just the sort of “rules” complex adaptive systems like human societies need). Values provide the framework for deciding what is important, true, right, and good, and have a central role in defining relationships and meanings, and so in determining well-being.

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Fears are a normal part of growing up. They develop from the moment a child first experiences a danger he or she cannot fully understand or control. Fear can be displayed in numerous ways by students in the classroom. One common fear response is that student seems almost paralyzed by fear when talking in class. This response may induce physiological reactions. Additionally, procrastination and repeated absence from class can both originate as fear-based responses.There’s an old joke: How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. The joke assumes that seemingly insurmountable problems can be resolved if broken down into parts. To many educators, helping highly fearful students successfully gain the upper hand on their emotions may appear challenging. Yet finding solutions and breaking them down into parts may result in breakthrough for the students who need it most.Educate yourself about fear and its impact on students. Fear is a complex emotion and can take different shapes and forms in a classroom setting. Although it is not possible to recognize each cause, diagnosis, or symptom that correlates to fear-based behaviors, it is possible to understand the significance of these fears in a way that could be beneficial to students. This starts with reframing our interpretations of pertinent student behaviors. Understanding how students experience fear, what this may entail on a cognitive and biological level, and how it may ultimately impact their learning, we can become more sensitized to problematic behaviors and work towards making students feel more comfortable and confident. In so doing, we may actually be empowering ourselves to overcome our own fears of change or of reaching the limit of our gifts and talents as instructors.Recognize that some student fears may be associated with factors outside the classroom. It is important to discriminate between fears that occur inside and outside of the classroom. Students who fail to turn in papers on time, miss classes, avoid discussions, or sleep during lessons may actually be wrestling with a number of challenges that originate outside of the institutions they attend. These individuals may be holding down multiple jobs, facing family challenges, or even spending excessive amounts of time driving to and from school; all of which may exacerbate fear-based responses. With this in mind, it is important not to make hasty assumptions about the roots of these fears. Creating a dialogue with the student who appears distressed or fearful can represent an important first step in addressing problem behaviors.Educate your students about the anxiety they may be experiencing and provide guidance in learning to manage it. In order to manage or reduce their anxiety, students often need to be made aware of their fear responses and be given techniques for managing them. A number of studies have shown that instructional intervention can diminish student fears and improve academic performance. By helping students identify potential fear-based behaviors, we are implementing our own informal early alert system and tapping into an important ingredient for classroom success. Spending a few minutes helping students “see the elephant” of anxiety and offering and even demonstrating a few anxiety-management techniques will be class time well spent in building a stronger sense of self-efficacy in your students. Demonstrating such simple techniques as breathing exercises, guided imagery, expressive writing, or stretching or relaxation methods can help students reduce anxiety and be more cognitively available to learn.Create a nurturing environment for your students. Providing a nurturing environment and positive attitude to all students can promote trust and positively impact students who are prone to fearfulness. A nurturing environment can also promote cultural sensitivity and discourage prejudicial or stereotyping behaviors by students. Because many cultures depend on a variety of visual cues during relational interactions, becoming aware of and responding to the nonverbal communication of students can also be a key factor in engendering a safe environment within the classroom. Being sensitive and respectful to these cues and nonverbal communication demonstrates inclusiveness essential to learner-centered teaching.Be proactive in communicating with your students outside the classroom both as a group and individually. Utilizing email and other forms of communication with your students to clarify assignments or to offer general comments or words of encouragement can help to ease student fears about potential failure. Often if one student takes the time to ask you a question after class, there is a good possibility that at least a few others had the same concern, and without singling out that student, a general email addressing the concern may also reassure others in the class. Correspondences of this nature demonstrate to students that their instructor is caring and willing to go the extra mile for them.Provide icebreakers and other activities to reduce stress and anxiety and repeat as needed in the semester. Do them in a way that takes the emphasis off individual achievement. When the first day of class comes, instructors can also promote positive communication through icebreaker activities—while doing double duty to address stress and anxiety. Initial class meetings also set the tone for constructive and learning-filled semesters. Yet icebreakers often showcase student abilities to be articulate and integrate information, and even with prompts as seemingly harmless as, “Tell me what you did over the summer,” students may become overanxious. As an alternative, provide students with an icebreaker in which they can share as much or little information as they wish.Incorporate active learning strategies into your normal teaching routine in order to promote a stress-free environment. According to Light and Micari, active learning takes place when students feel safe and supported by instructors and fellow classmates. Group activities are emphasized because they provide a collaborative feel that often is missing in a normal classroom environment. Peer facilitators can be trained to offer help and provide a more “democratic” feel in which the instructor is not seen as the sole source of classroom wisdom. For example, students are “assigned a particular problem or question to research in groups, and develop a short presentation and share with the class either live or online through a blog or wiki.”Be aware of campus resources to help students. Many universities and colleges have formalized early alert systems to help identify at-risk students and provide them with academic assistance and support services. Other interventions include “success coaches,” “success workshops,” “success skills programs,” and learning enrichment services providing tutoring and mentoring. Most universities and colleges also have counseling services and support groups for various needs, and some offer discipline-specific academic services, such as for math, statistics, or physics.

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Dire warnings abound as experts tell us that Artificial Intelligence is almost a reality, if it isn’t already. Leaders in the technology, such as Elon Musk have even called for a 6 month moratorium on AI research, citing existential threats.But in fact, this consensus is a myth. Not everyone who studies the field is convinced that AI is at hand, or that it is even ever possible. In 2020, Ragnar Fjelland, Emeritus Professor at the Centre for the Study of Sciences and the Humanities at Bergen University wrote an essay for the journal Nature, titled “Why general artificial intelligence will not be realized.” It is long and complex, but very much worth reading as a caution not to accept the reality of AI too easily.Drawing on the work of scientists and philosophers dating back to Plato, the line from Fjelland that stands out is, “to put it simply: The overestimation of technology is closely connected with the underestimation of humans.” This means that in our rush to declare the reality of AI, what we are really doing is dumbing down the very concept of human intelligence.The modern debate over AI began with mid 20th century scientist Alan Turning who devised a set of tests. Most famous was the ability for AI to fool a human being into thinking they were speaking to another human being. This has more or less been achieved, but it is a deeply insufficient test to establish that a computer is engaged in human style intelligence.Can a computer today spontaneously crack a funny joke? Can it accidentally commit a Fruedian slip, recognize and reflect on it? Can it dream? The latter is a telling example of how science has put the AI cart before the horse of human intelligence. There is no consensus on what exactly a human dream is, or why they exist. How then can we possibly establish if a computer is capable of it?Moreover, much of human knowledge and intelligence is tacit, not explained or devised. For example, as Fjelland points out, most humans know how to walk, but very few know how they walk. We do not teach our toddlers perambulation by showing them the math and physics of it.This is knowledge gained by experience with physical phenomena, not through pure mental exercise. In large part the vastness of human intelligence is not so much contained in what we know, but in what we don’t know and yet can do anyway.A significant reason why we do not hear these questions asked is that the experts we most often rely on to tell us if AI is real, or achievable, are themselves experts in AI. Of course they think it’s real. They have dedicated their careers to it, their funding depends on it, which doesn’t mean they are wrong, but it does mean they are an interested party in the debate. And that others, such as philosophers and theologians have a role to play in these definitions.None of this is to suggest that machine learning will not have a major and potentially dangerous impact on society. If hundreds of thousands of truckers lose their jobs to self-driving vehicles it’s a problem. But it’s not a new problem. Technology has been displacing human work since the ancients invented the plough. And anyway, self-driving vehicles do not actually require artificial intelligence.The far more important and complex questions involve creativity and intuition. The comical columns concocted from ChatGPT don’t suggest that an artificial William Faulkner or James Joyce is right around the corner, or achievable at all. Furthermore as we can see from the consistently politically biased responses to prompts that the system gives, there is clearly more than a little human influence on the end product.Might artificial intelligence be real and dangerous? Perhaps. But there is also enormous danger in human beings holding the capacities of their own intelligence too cheap. AI is not a functioning model of the human mind, and dispossessing ourselves of that notion is key to understanding our technological age.Will there, one day, be a computer that can match the marvels of Shakespeare? For his part, the Bard thinks not. “What a piece of work is a man,” he wrote, “How noble in reason, how infinite in faculty! In form and moving how express and admirable! In action how like an Angel! In apprehension how like a god.”Try though they may, all the Elon Musks and all of their men, cannot create a computer that can compose or meet the criteria of that description of human intelligence. Human beings are still, first and foremost the greatest storytellers of their own reality, and there is no good reason to believe that can, or will ever change.

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Venture capital has developed as an important intermediary in financial markets, providing capital to firms that might otherwise have difficulty attracting financing. These firms are typically small and young, plagued by high levels of uncertainty and large differences between what entrepreneurs and investors know. Moreover, these firms typically possess few tangible assets and operate in markets that change very rapidly. Venture capital organizations finance these high-risk, potentially high-reward projects, purchasing equity or equity-linked stakes while the firms are still privately held. The venture capital industry has developed a variety of mechanisms to overcome the problems that emerge at each stage of the investment process. At the same time, the venture capital process is also subject to various pathologies from time to time, which can create problems for investors or entrepreneurs.A lengthy literature has discussed the financing of young firms. Uncertainty and informational asymmetries often characterize young firms, particularly in high-technology industries. (1) If the firm raises equity from outside investors, the manager has an incentive to engage in wasteful expenditures (like lavish offices) because the manager may benefit disproportionately from these but does not bear their entire cost. Similarly, if the firm raises debt, the manager may increase risk to undesirable levels. If all the outcomes of the entrepreneurial firm cannot be foreseen, and effort of the entrepreneur cannot be ascertained with complete confidence, it may be difficult to write a contract governing the financing of the firm.These problems are especially difficult for companies with intangible assets and whose performance is difficult to assess, such as early stage, high technology companies with a heavy reliance on R&D. Entrepreneurs might invest in strategies research, or projects that have high personal returns but low expected monetary payoffs to shareholders. For example, a biotechnology company founder may invest in a certain type of research that brings great personal recognition in the scientific community, but provides little return for the investor. (2) Entrepreneurs may receive initial results from market trials indicating little demand for a new product, but may want to keep the company going because they receive significant private benefits from managing their own firm. (3) In addition, entrepreneurs have incentives to pursue highly volatile strategies, such as rushing a product to market when further testing may be warranted, because they benefit from success but do not actually suffer losses from failure. As a result, external financing for these firms is costly or difficult to obtain.Specialized financial intermediaries, such as venture capital organizations, can alleviate these information gaps and thus allow firms to receive the financing that they cannot raise from other sources. The tools that venture capital firms have to address these information issues are to scrutinize firms intensively before providing capital and then to monitor them afterwards.(4) In fact, venture capitalists do concentrate investments in early-stage companies and high technology industries where informational asymmetries are likely to be most significant and monitoring most valuable. When venture capitalists learn negative information about future returns, the project is cut off from new financing.Lerner (1994a) tests this “second opinion” hypothesis in a sample of 271 biotechnology venture capital investments. He finds that in the early rounds of investing, experienced venture capitalists tend to syndicate only with venture capital firms that have similar experience. This finding supports the second opinion hypothesis, since a venture capitalist looking for a second opinion would want to get a second opinion from a firm of similar (or better) ability, rather than just looking for money from any other firm.

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Directions: Please summarize this article in English in about 200 words.The way that we place value on art in the Western world is distinctly odd. It is, for the most part, a luxury or a commodity more or less isolated from other aspects of society. We evoke sentiments of the psychologist Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs when discussing the role of art: we live in a society where our basic needs are met, and therefore can indulge in the frivolous activity of art-making. There are exceptions, of course, such as political and religious art. But it’s rare to see art that is intrinsically woven into, and ultimately shapes, the very fabric of society. Was art always destined to be something that came only after we had satisfied our basic subsistence needs? Human evolution suggests not.Art-making is one of the oldest human behaviors—it seems to have its origins hundreds of thousands of years ago. Two of the earliest art forms in the archaeological record are impossibly old: the Tan-Tan figurine and the Berekhat Ram figurine date to around 500,000 to 300,000, and 250,000 years ago, respectively. We want to believe that art is unique to our species, a behavior that set us apart, but without asking why it held so much value to the very earliest human societies.Cave art remains fixed in place, undisturbed, in exquisite time capsules of human behavior. Ice Age, or Upper Palaeolithic, societies might hold some of the answers about why we create art. Artistic behaviors seem to have flourished during the Upper Palaeolithic, giving birth to something like a renaissance of art production; for many years this period was referred to as a “cultural explosion” or “revolution”. These Ice Age artists produced a huge number of diverse artefacts and paintings during this period. But the most intriguing category among all of this is cave art.Found most famously in France and Spain at sites such as Lascaux, cave art has also been discovered at a wide range of different places, from the Cueva de las Manos in Argentina and the Lubang Jeriji Saléh cave in Borneo to the caves of Creswell Crags in Britain. Cave art is a breathtaking example of the extent of creativity during the Upper Palaeolithic; not only are we perplexed by the artists’ desire to venture deep underground to make this art (sometimes up to 2 km in from the cave mouth), but we are fortunate enough to be able to see it as it was intended to be viewed, often in superb condition. Unlike beads or figurines, cave art remains fixed in place, undisturbed, in exquisite time capsules of human behavior.To explore the importance of art to these most ancient of human societies, we need to delve into some of these time capsules and immerse ourselves in the Upper Palaeolithic world. Lascaux cave, France, c17,000 years ago. This is the most famous cave-art site in the world; the vibrant polychrome images of this art are plastered over coffee table books on human evolution, and hundreds of thousands of people visit the third iteration of the Lascaux reconstruction each year. The popularity of this cave isn’t surprising. The vast composition of highly detailed animal depictions inspires awe and fascination for anyone fortunate enough to enter the cave. The almost “rhythmic sequence” behind the placement of each animal offers a sense of narrative, one that is long forgotten in deep time. Although the art is situated underground, the visually imposing depictions were intended to be viewed by a sizeable audience. More than 100 lamps were found within the cave, made from stone with a depression to hold animal fat and a wick, akin to modern candles; these might have been used as installation lighting, spotlighting the art within the darkness of the cave. The diffuse, flickering light cast by the flames would have created an immersive experience for our Palaeolithic audience. Dancing light and shadows brought the art to life, evoking a sense of movement and dynamism—the closest thing to Ice Age cinema.It wasn’t the final form that was of importance, but the process of making it that held meaning. The “Panel of Hands” best characterizes this within El Castillo. The implicit presence of generations of hands that were placed on the cave wall are captured and preserved in a red ochre pigment, which was blown from the mouths of our distant ancestors. These hand-stencils tangibly connect us to Upper Palaeolithic people; we can reach out across the ages and almost touch our hands with theirs. This probably evoked a similar sense of connection in the Upper Palaeolithic. The hand-stencils within the cave are old, dating to at least 37,000 years ago. The multiple generations of people who traversed and explored this cave since would have similarly cast their eyes on these hands. They might not have recognized the deep age of the hand-stencils, but would have understood that they represented the implicit presence of people who had been in the cave before them, as they would have understood tracks of the animals they hunted. They might even have felt moved to produce their own hand-stencils, adding to a long tradition of intimate connection; some hand-stencils in this cave date to around 25,000 years ago, created 12,000 years after the oldest hand-stencils in this cave.Art becomes a cultural memory of vital information passed from generation to generation. There is also an element of play, adventure and exploration embedded within the making of the art at this site. Finger flutings, made by running fingers through the soft clay “moon milk” surface of cave walls, are found in Rouffignac cave and appear to have been predominately made by children and adolescents, giving us glimpses of intimate and very familiar human behavior. One example appears to have been made by a child no older than five years, but it’s at a height that suggests the child was held at the hip of an adult so that it could join in with the making of these flutings. In this instance, the art made appears to have served no greater purpose than the tactile interaction of running fingers across a wall and the joy of seeing this action leave a mark behind. It’s a distinctly human behavior, one that we can all vividly picture, appreciating the enjoyment it would have involved: the quiet exploration of the cave beforehand, suddenly broken by the sound of children squealing with laughter as they run their fingers across the wall, with adults cautiously supervising and occasionally, but perhaps reluctantly, helping the youngest to reach higher.Although the themes embodied within these time capsules of human behavior—storytelling, connection, play—might seem superficially trivial, they were crucial to the function of society and to survival within the harsh, unforgiving environment of the last Ice Age. The depictions of animals are deliberately accurate in their representation of certain features and behavior. The animals aren’t depicted as static, but in different positions of alertness or responsiveness, which would have been essential knowledge for a Palaeolithic hunter. People relied on this information about animals for hunting. Knowledge about animal behaviors and migration is much easier to pass on when woven into the narrative of a story brought to life with artistic representations; the art becomes a cultural memory of vital information passed from generation to generation.

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Directions: In the following article, some words are have been moved. Please fill in each blank with only one word to complete the article according to the context.In 1966, over 300 children and staff from a Melbourne school reportedly witnessed multiple UFOs silently flying through the sky _1_ landing in a nearby field. It is the largest mass UFO sighting in Australia, yet hardly anything was reported on it at the time. Over the years, there have been differing reports about the details of what happened on April 6 at Westall High School, such as people claiming there _2_ three saucer-like objects, while some thought there was just one.In the 52 years since, there has been wide speculation _3_ what people saw, with some believing it was an alien encounter and others pointing the finger at the government testing new technology. Throughout all the years of speculation, _4_, one particularly interesting piece of audio has been greatly overlooked.An American physicist known for his research into UFOs, Dr. James E. McDonald, conducted an interview with a science teacher from the Westall school, Andrew Greenwood, who witnessed the event. He then recorded himself describing their meeting and the creepy details Mr. Greenwood gave about his experience. “Greenwood told me the UFO was first brought to his attention by a hysterical child who ran _5_ his classroom and told him there’s a flying saucer outside,” Dr. McDonald said.“He thought this child had become deranged or something so he didn’t take any _6_, but when the child insisted that this object was in the sky he decided to go out and have a look for himself.” When he went outside, he noticed a group of children looking toward the northeast area of the school grounds and _7_ he approached them he claims he saw a UFO hovering close to the powerline.Mr. Greenwood described it as a round, silver object about the size of a car _8_ a metal rod sticking up in the air. According to Dr. McDonald, the teacher then told him five planes came and surrounded the object as more people began gathering to watch the scene before them. “He called it the most amazing flying he _9_ ever seen in his life,” Dr. McDonald said. “The planes were doing everything possible to approach the object” and he said “how they all avoided collision he will never know.”“Every time they got too close to the object it would slowly accelerate, then rapidly accelerate and then move away from them and stop. Then they would take off after it again and the same thing would happen.”This game of cat and mouse reportedly went on for about 20 minutes and by this time Mr. Greenwood said 350 children and staff were watching on. Suddenly the UFO shot away and vanished within seconds and it was at this point the headmaster came out and ordered everyone to go back to class.Over the years there were reports that the government tried to _10_ up the incident and stop witnesses from talking, but Mr. Greenwood claimed it was the headmaster who first tried to squash discussion of the incident.

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Motion pictures and television are audio-visual mediums and so of course engage both our visual and aural senses. The meaning and emotion of a piece is commonly thought to come from the image and that the sound at best just duplicates the meanings from the image. For example, Aaron Copland has said that a composer can do no more than “make potent through music the film’s dramatic and emotional value.”Sound does however perform much more important, intricate and complex functions then commonly accepted. Sound combines with moving pictures in various ways to create meaning but is diverse and has numerous other uses. This essay will show ways that sound enhances and creates meaning in combination with moving image as well as showing some of the many other possible functions of sound use combined with this mediumThe sound track is produced separately from the image and includes three ingredients: Dialogue/voice, sound effects and music. The three elements of the sound track can work together and independently to create meaning and to produce different effects.Music combines with, adds to and enhances moving image in many ways. It can heighten and refine emotion as well as meaning. Music, through tone and instrument selection can create the mood of a piece and of and towards its characters. Music is commonly used to give a sense of continuity and unity to a production and to possible sequels.Music can give a sense of time and place as well as to help create the ambience or feel to a piece. Another function of music is to create, replicate and increase or decrease the sense of rhythm to and of a piece. Music can act as a precursor to events in a story and also to direct the audience to a particular part/s of the image.Finally music can work independently and in combination with sound effects to give a sense of genre, time and setting.One way music combines with moving images to create meaning is through leitmotifs. A character, group of characters or action has a motif that explains who the good guys or bad guys are or that a specific type of situation or action is about to unfold. In Star Wars the rebels have a powerful, uplifting victorious sounding leitmotif that combines with the clothing worn by the rebels and other parts of the misen-scen to inform the audience these are the good people and the people we should be supporting. In Indiana Jones the motif of Jones indicates he is going to save the day and in The Good The Bad and The Ugly the films motif, through repetition of being played as the same type of action unfolds, goes on to indicates a shoot-out is about to happen.The tone of music can be used to create meaning and generate mood in a scene or in a production as a whole. In The Empire Strikes Back the rebels attempt to flee from the empire. During this sequence Darth Vader’s and the rebels leitmotif is heard. Vader’s motif is played at an increased tempo and higher pitch to normal. The function of this change is to show the imminent danger of the empire and Vader’s likely success in capturing the rebels. The rebels leitmotif is played but does not contain the opening and perhaps most identifiable phase. The tone is slightly deeper, the pace slightly slower and is mixed up in and slightly drown out by other sound effects. The function of this use of sound is to put the outcome of the situation in doubt and make the rebels attempt at escaping unlikely. When the rebels do escape the distinctive opening to their motif is played at normal pitch and tempo and without the distraction of other sounds. This functions to signal their success but also the finality of the scene. The leitmotifs and the tone of the motifs are used to guide the spectator through narrative change.Sound effects have a few main functions. Sound effects simulate reality, create illusions and help to create mood and ambience. Sound effects are made up of synchronous and asynchronous sounds. Synchronous sounds are the sounds that match the image and the function is to contribute to the realism, to create atmosphere and even to create and refine meaning. For obvious reason the guns and glass used in productions are not real and so the sounds they make are not real either. Adding sound effects for these things during editing give the actions a sense of realism.Sound effects can create illusions in different ways. Crowd Walla can be used to give the pretence of many people being present in a scene when in reality there may only be two or three people. The cost, time and additional problems of employing extras can be avoided.Sound effects are commonly used to create ambience and the sense of time in history and setting. If you have a scene set in a churchyard the sound effects may include church bells chiming and birds singing for example. The sound effects used will create the atmosphere appropriate to the setting and narrative. In a film where a cowboy is sat by a fire an owl may hoot. This could be used to show the loneliness and isolation of the character. The image without the sound shows a man sat by a warm fire and not much else.Asynchronous sound effects, those that do not match a visible source can produce an appropriate nuance as well as to aid the sense of realism. A police siren wailing while a couple argue highlights the severity of the situation whilst also adding to the realism of the situation and setting.Sound effects can inform the audience of off-screen movements or situations. This is commonly used in horror films and thrillers to inform the audience to impending danger and to build up tension.A very important function of music and the other parts of the sound score is to provide a sense of continuity to individual scenes, in bridging one scene to the next and the continuity of the production as a whole.Without sound the cut of shots is more noticeable and when there is a montage of shots in particular the audience would become very aware of the cuts and the scene would not flow. Music, and sound in general, make the cut from one shot to next seamless.Often the sound score overlaps from one scene to the next and again this is to make the change seamless and let the production flow.

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Only once in a lifetime will a new invention come about to touch every aspect of our lives. Such a device that changes the way we work, live, and play is a special one, indeed. A machine that has done all this and more now exists in nearly every business in the U.S. and one out of every two households. This incredible invention is the computer. The electronic computer has been around for over a half-century, but its ancestors have been around for 2000 years. However, only in the last 40 years has it changed the American society. From the first wooden abacus to the latest high-speed microprocessor, the computer has changed nearly every aspect of people’s lives for the better.The very earliest existence of the modern day computer’s ancestor is the abacus. These date back to almost 2000 years ago. It is simply a wooden rack holding parallel wires on which beads are strung. When these beads are moved along the wire according to “programming” rules that the user must memorize, all ordinary arithmetic operations can be performed. The next innovation in computers took place in 1694 when Blaise Pascal invented the first digital calculating machine. It could only add numbers and they had to be entered by turning dials. It was designed to help Pascal’s father who was a tax collector.In the early 1800’s, a mathematics professor named Charles Babbage designed an automatic calculation machine. It was steam powered and could store up to 1000 50-digit numbers. Built in to his machine were operations that included everything a modern general-purpose computer would need. It was programmed by—and stored data on—cards with holes punched in them, appropriately called “punch-cards”. His inventions were failures for the most part because of the lack of precision machining techniques used at the time and the lack of demand for such a device.After Babbage, people began to lose interest in computers. However, between 1850 and 1900 there were great advances in mathematics and physics that began to rekindle the interest. Many of these new advances involved complex calculations and formulas that were very time consuming for human calculation. The first major use for a computer in the U.S. was during the 1890 census. Two men, Herman Hollerith and James Powers, developed a new punched-card system that could automatically read information on cards without human intervention. Since the population of the U.S. was increasing so fast, the computer was an essential tool in tabulating the totals.These advantages were noted by commercial industries and soon led to the development of improved punch-card business-machine systems by International Business Machines (IBM), Remington-Rand, Burroughs, and other corporations. By modern standards the punched-card machines were slow, typically processing from 50 to 250 cards per minute, with each card holding up to 80 digits. At the time, however, punched cards were an enormous step forward; they provided a means of input, output, and memory storage on a massive scale. For more than 50 years following their first use, punched-card machines did the bulk of the world's business computing and a good portion of the computing work in science.By the late 1930s punched-card machine techniques had become so well established and reliable that Howard Hathaway Aiken, in collaboration with engineers at IBM, undertook construction of a large automatic digital computer based on standard IBM electromechanical parts. Aiken’s machine, called the Harvard Mark I, handled 23-digit numbers and could perform all four arithmetic operations. Also, it had special built-in programs to handle logarithms and trigonometric functions. The Mark I was controlled from prepunched paper tape. Output was by cardpunch and electric typewriter. It was slow, requiring 3 to 5 seconds for a multiplication, but it was fully automatic and could complete long computations without human intervention.The outbreak of World War II produced a desperate need for computing capability, especially for the military. New weapons systems were produced which needed trajectory tables and other essential data. In 1942, John P. Eckert, John W. Mauchley, and their associates at the University of Pennsylvania decided to build a high-speed electronic computer to do the job. This machine became known as ENIAC, for “Electrical Numerical Integrator And Calculator”. It could multiply two numbers at the rate of 300 products per second, by finding the value of each product from a multiplication table stored in its memory. ENIAC was thus about 1,000 times faster than the previous generation of computers.ENIAC used 18,000 standard vacuum tubes, occupied 1800 square feet of floor space, and used about 180,000 watts of electricity. It used punched-card input and output. The ENIAC was very difficult to program because one had to essentially re-wire it to perform whatever task he wanted the computer to do. It was, however, efficient in handling the particular programs for which it had been designed. ENIAC is generally accepted as the first successful high-speed electronic digital computer and was used in many applications from 1946 to 1955.Mathematician John von Neumann was very interested in the ENIAC. In 1945 he undertook a theoretical study of computation that demonstrated that a computer could have a very simple and yet be able to execute any kind of computation effectively by means of proper programmed control without the need for any changes in hardware. Von Neumann came up with incredible ideas for methods of building and organizing practical, fast computers. These ideas, which came to be referred to as the stored-program technique, became fundamental for future generations of high-speed digital computers and were universally adopted (Hall, 73). The first wave of modern programmed electronic computers to take advantage of these improvements appeared in 1947.

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The world’s energy industry is about to be transformed. But energy insecurity is here to stay.Energy and commodities lie at the dark heart of Vladimir Putin’s regime and the threat it poses to the world. Four trillion dollars of oil and gas exports over the two decades of his rule have paid for the tanks, guns and Grad missiles now killing Ukrainians. Natural-resource earnings have entrenched a rent-seeking elite that has created an offshore archipelago of yachts, nightclubs and Caribbean front companies, stifled representative politics and indulged Mr. Putin’s megalomaniacal fantasies.As Russia supplies 10%-25% of the world’s oil, gas and coal exports, many countries, especially in Europe, are vulnerable to coercion by it. For them, the war in Ukraine has been a shock that adds urgency to the creation of an energy system which depends more on sun, wind and nuclear reactors than on derricks and rigs. Yet don’t fool yourself that this new era will allow an easy escape from the curse of energy crises and autocrats.Weeks of chaos in energy markets are beginning to hurt consumers. Petrol prices in Los Angeles are over $6 a gallon for the first time. As sanctions on Russia bite, traders predict, Europe will run short of diesel. Germany is preparing to ration natural gas next winter, in case Russia cuts off supplies. In Asia, oil importers are bracing for a balance-of-payments hit. In a tight market, shocks are hard to absorb. Oil spiked at $122 per barrel this week after a pipeline from Central Asia to the Black Sea suffered storm damage and Iranian-backed Houthi rebels attacked Saudi energy facilities.The immediate reaction of governments everywhere has been to scramble to find more fossil fuels, however polluting to the environment or painful to their pride. With Western encouragement, Saudi Aramco, the world’s biggest oil firm, is raising investment to $40bn-50bn a year. At one point, the Biden administration buttered up Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela’s dictator, perhaps to get more oil from a state which in 2005 supplied 4% of the world’s crude.The long-term question being asked by many is: how fast can they abandon fossil fuels altogether? The energy strategy announced this month by the EU envisages independence from Russia by 2030—in part by finding new sources of gas, but also by doubling down on renewables. As the folly of relying on Russia becomes clear, nuclear power is back in fashion. France plans to construct six new plants and is aiming for “total energy independence”. On March 21st Britain said it would build a new generation of reactors at “warp speed”. A redesigned energy system that will belch out less carbon also promises an escape from the 20th century’s great game of relying on energy from despots.Yet although geopolitics will hasten the climate-driven energy transition, they will not make it risk-free. The transition will disrupt some economies and cause new dependence on others. To gauge this we have simulated spending on a basket of ten natural resources, including oil and coal, and the metals used in power generation and the electrification of industry and transport. As the world decarbonises, spending on this basket will fall from 5.8% of GDP to 3.4% by 2040. Yet in our simulation over half of that will still go to autocracies, including new electro-states that provide green metals such as copper and lithium. The top ten countries will have a market share of over 75% in all our minerals, which means production will be dangerously concentrated.Two problems therefore stand out. First, the geopolitics of shrinking the oil industry are fraught. As Western firms withdraw for environmental reasons and in response to high costs, the market share of OPEC plus Russia will rise from 45% to 57% by 2040, giving them more clout. Higher-cost producers such as Angola and Azerbaijan face a shock as they are squeezed out. The world map will be peppered with distressed ex-petrostates.Second, the emerging electro-states face their own battle with the resource curse. Spending on green metals will surge amid a two-decade-long build-out of electric infrastructure. The windfall may be worth over $1trn a year by 2040. Some beneficiaries, such as Australia, are well-equipped to deal with this. More fragile states, including Congo, Guinea and Mongolia, are not. Mountains of cash distort economies and feed grievances. Mining was a source of discord in recent elections in Chile and Peru. Global mining firms are nervous that their property rights will be buried. A resulting lack of investment has sent the price of a basket of green metals up by 64% in the past year.As with all commodities, soaring prices will eventually trigger a market response. Tight supply gives firms a huge incentive to step up recycling and to innovate. New kinds of small-scale nuclear reactors are emerging. Tesla, which uses minerals to make electric cars, is developing new battery designs. It has also struck a supply deal with New Caledonia, a Pacific territory of 277,000 people you will hear more about because it has a tenth of the world’s nickel reserves. This month Barrick, a Canadian firm, took a deep breath and agreed to develop a $10bn copper mine in Pakistan.Yet even as markets respond, governments must also redouble their efforts. Because self-sufficiency is rarely an option, diversification is the goal. That means new partnerships. On March 20th Germany began talks with Qatar for gas. The invigoration of the rich world’s nuclear industry is key, not least because it frees everyone else from relying on Chinese and Russian technology. Governments must catalyze mining investment. Firms should not be free to blow up sacred caves or endanger workers, but the transition requires more mining projects in high-risk countries at a cost to the local ecology. Governance rules in wealthy countries need to acknowledge the trade-off. Finally, rich-world governments should help electro-states prepare by, for example, helping design model contracts for a fair split of revenues and establishing sovereign-wealth funds to save the bounty.Building a cleaner and safer energy system is an epic, risky and daunting task. But whenever resolve flags, ask yourself: would you rather rely on Mr. Putin’s Russia?

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