debris, devastating, lottery, outcomes, face off, face time, look ahead,The International Space Station adjusts its orbit to avoid space debris

The International Space Station adjusts its orbit to avoid space debris

There are at least 19,000 pieces of space debris in Earth’s orbit, not including active satellites, that the U.S is monitoring.

Megan Manata



California has gone through several devastating fire seasons in recent years. Now, some cities are investing in a rather unconventional fire prevention method — herds of grass-eating goats. (Listening time, 3:39)




The family of BBC Radio Ulster presenter Stephen Clements say they are devastated after his sudden death.

China quake 'worse than expected'

Reports from the epicentre of China's earthquake suggest the number of dead could be higher than feared.
Local officials in Yingxiu, in Wenchuan County, said the devastation was worse than expected, as roads were blocked and children buried in debris.


THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
With the Beijing Olympics less than three months away, groups around Japan are rallying to help victims of Monday's devastating earthquake in China's Sichuan province.

Science

You don't want to make this caterpillar angry: http://scim.ag/2HUEKXQ

The Washington Post leads with economists' doubts that the "sprawling" housing bill currently headed for President Bush's desk will do much to soften the crunch. The bill makes the front page in all three papers, but the Middle East also gets plenty of face time: the New York Times leads with the "profound weakening" of the Mahdi Army, Iraq's Shiite milita, "in an important, if tentative, milestone for stability in Iraq." The Los Angeles Times turns the spotlight on the war on terror in Pakistan, leading with a grim portrait of "a counter-terrorism campaign in Pakistan that has lost momentum and is beset by frustration."


第 199 頁
...The public sector must search for and apply the appropriate private management techniques to improve its analyses and evaluations of outcomes. On the other hand, some private sector policies such as moving to the suburbs, may produce short-run benefits for the company, but are counterproductive in the long run.2 ...

Quote from W. Edwards Deming:
Management of outcomes may not be any more than a skill. It does not require knowledge.

Management's job is to look ahead. ( W. Edwards Deming:)

look ahead　前方を見る; 将来のことを考える ((to)).

Harlem parents are voting for charter schools with their feet

THOSE who had won whooped with joy and punched their fists. The disappointed shed tears. Some 5,000 people attended April 17th's Harlem Success Academy Charter School lottery, the largest ever held for charter schools in the history of New York state. About 3,600 applied for 600 available places, and 900 applied for the 11 open slots in the second grade. 紐約市私立學校入學抽籤

face off

phrasal verb of face

1. 1.

   NORTH AMERICAN

   take up an attitude of confrontation, especially at the start of a fight or game.

   
   

   "close to a million soldiers face off in the desert"

lottery

(lŏt'ə-rē) 

n., pl. -ies.

1. A contest in which tokens are distributed or sold, the winning token or tokens being secretly predetermined or ultimately selected in a random drawing.
2. A selection made by lot from a number of applicants or competitors: The state uses a lottery to assign spaces in the campground.
3. An activity or event regarded as having an outcome depending on fate: They considered combat duty a lottery.

[French loterie, probably from Dutch loterije, from Middle Dutch, from lot, lot.]

outcome
noun [C usually singular]
a result or effect of an action, situation, etc:
It's too early to predict the outcome of the meeting.

此文之 face time 意思與下述不同 ，只指你"看報"時間。
[common] Time spent interacting with somebody face-to-face (as opposed to via electronic links). “Oh, yeah, I spent some face time with him at the last Usenix.”

n.
Time spent interacting in the presence of or in the same location as another or others: putting in face time in the office instead of working at home.


Wikipedia article "Face time".


devastate 
verb [T]
1 to destroy a place or thing completely or cause great damage

2 to make someone feel very shocked and upset

devastated 
adjective
1 completely destroyed:
Thousands of people have left their devastated villages and fled to the mountains.

2 very shocked and upset:
She was utterly devastated when her husband died.

devastating 
adjective
1 causing a lot of damage or destruction:
If the bomb had exploded in the main shopping area, it would have been devastating.
The drought has had devastating consequences/effects.

2 making someone very shocked and upset:
devastating news

3 describes a personal quality that has a powerful effect:
She had a devastating beauty/charm/smile that few men could resist.

devastatingly
adverb
devastatingly beautiful/powerful

devastation
If disease is allowed to spread, it will cause widespread devastation.
The storm left behind it a trail of devastation.
She had a look of utter devastation (= extreme shock and sadness) on her face.

debris
noun [U]
broken or torn pieces of something larger:
Debris from the aircraft was scattered over a large area.