UNIT 6 CLOTHING AND FASHION

How to Dress Green: Eco-Friendly Fashion

Every year, new styles take to the runways of Paris, New York and Los Angeles, and fashion-forward consumers discard another closet full of clothes in favor of the newest trends. Eco-friendly fashion, on the other hand, focuses on long-term wearability and sustainable textiles and production methods. Beyond environmental considerations, dressing green can help you establish a personal style that isn't dependent solely on trends. A movement of consumers going green with their clothing choices could also encourage the fashion industry to adopt more sustainable practices.

Step 1:

Renew before you buy. Check your closet for items you can continue using by pairing them with new accessories or adding trim or embroidery. Repair torn clothing and missing buttons, and take clothes to the tailor for adjustments and refurbishing when they no longer fit.

Step 2:

Reuse what others have recycled. Hit the thrift shops, vintage clothing stores and even your grandmother's attic to find secondhand and vintage pieces you can incorporate into your wardrobe. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reports that textiles represent 5.2 percent of the municipal waste generated in the country, so reusing old clothing reduces the amount of textiles rotting in the landfills.

Step 3:

Purchase with long-term wearability in mind; avoid making impulse buys. Imagine if you'll still wear an item of clothing five years from now. Select a new wardrobe item based on whether you can revamp or repurpose it once its appeal wears off.

Step 4:

Buy organic when possible. Worldwide, more pesticides are applied to cotton than any other crop, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization; pesticides threaten the health of the environment, farmers, workers and consumers. Organically produced textiles do not use dangerous chemical pesticides. Cotton, linen and wool can all be produced using organic methods. Also, because they come from plant and animal sources, clothing made from these materials biodegrade and can even go into your compost pile, unlike synthetics like polyester and rayon. Plant-based textiles made from bamboo and hemp biodegrade as well, but they require more energy for production and, in some cases, also generate considerable pollution.

Step 5:

Check clothing tags and choose low-maintenance items for your closet. Low-maintenance items are clothes you can machine- or hand-wash in cool water and line dry; avoid items that require dry-cleaning whenever possible. If you do need to take a garment for dry-cleaning, find a shop that uses eco-friendly chemicals and methods. Use of the dry-cleaning chemical perchloroethylene --- "perc" for short --- presents environmental and health concerns. More sustainable methods include wetcleaning with water, liquid carbon dioxide and liquid silicone.

UNIT 5 CITY LIVING

Ontario, Canada

Toronto skyline at night

Second largest province in the world's second largest country, Ontario is Canada's richest, most populous, and most urban province. Embracing an area greater than France and Spain combined, Ontario is home to a third of the country's people, its capital (Ottawa), its largest city (Toronto), and an international treasure (Niagara Falls), among many other attractions.

Things to Do in Ontario

The Maid of the Mist takes visitors on a spray-soaked ride to the base of Horseshoe Falls on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls.

1. Niagara Falls

   Honeymoon clichés notwithstanding, this is a don't-miss spot. The true essence of Niagara Falls has been the same for centuries—it’s simply an awe-inspiring spot to experience the raw power of nature. “It would be harder for a man to stand nearer to God than he does here,” Charles Dickens once remarked. Like Dickens, modern visitors not only see and hear but even feel the power created each second when 739,682 gallons of Niagara River water roars over the edge of Horseshoe Falls and plummets to a violent pool some 13 stories below. Tunnels lead visitors behind the falls for intimate encounters with the wall of falling water, and no trip here is truly complete without a ride on the legendary Maid of the Mist. The ship has plied a spray-soaked route to the base of the Horseshoe Falls since 1876.

2. Algonquin Provincial Park

   Algonquin Provincial Park is a sublime, sprawling 7,800 square miles of lakes and forests that’s home to a quintessentially Canadian ecosystem of bears, brook trout, moose, and wolves. The park, founded in 1893, begs exploration by foot or via 1,000 miles of canoe trails that wander through an area of natural transition between northern Ontario’s coniferous forests and southern woodlands of maple, birch, and beech. Camping is de rigueur here in a land of dark night skies and crackling fires. But those who prefer to be pampered a bit can check into Arowhon Pines and enjoy a lakeshore resort located within the boundaries of the park.

3. Ottawa

   The regal buildings of Parliament Hill, perched on a bluff overlooking the Ottawa River, leave no doubt that Ottawa is the seat of Canada’s government and an exceedingly attractive capital to boot. Visitors to “The Hill” can tour Gothic government buildings and, in summer, see Mounties and the time-honored Changing of the Guard ceremony. Ottawa is also renowned for its museums, which include the National Gallery, the Canadian Science and Technology Museum, the Canadian War Museum, the Museum of Civilization, and the Canadian Museum of Nature. The city is a cultural hub, with something happening all year long. Notable highlights include the Canadian Tulip Festival each spring and the Winterlude Festival, during which the downtown section of the Rideau Canal is billed as the world’s largest skating rink.

4. Muskoka Cottage Country and Georgian Bay

   The pine forests, blue waters, and clear skies of “cottage country” are familiar even to those who’ve never visited Muskoka—thanks to Canada’s iconic Group of Seven artists who immortalized the area on canvas. Today the 2,500-square-mile region remains chockablock with creative types who are equally inspired if perhaps less accomplished. As weather and water warm each year, the inhabitants of ubiquitous summer cottages search for their spot in the sun. Luckily, with more than 8,000 miles of shoreline there is room to accommodate everyone. Georgian Bay alone is dotted with more than 30,000 scenic islands. Historic towns and villages offer charming amenities for locals and tourists alike.

5. Thousand Islands

   For dozens of miles downstream from Kingston, the wide, blue St. Lawrence River is dotted with more than a thousand tree-filled islands. The result is an idyllic environment for boating, swimming, fishing, and scuba diving in cold, clear waters. Explore the islands in your own boat or kayak or let others take the wheel with a guided tour from Kingston—a stately limestone city that was briefly the capital of Britain’s Province of Canada. Those who prefer to keep their feet dry can still drink in the scenery from the Thousand Islands Parkway. Remember that whether traveling by land or water the area straddles the border with the United States, so keep your passport at hand.

   
   

   Foods to Eat in Ontario

   

   A vendor sells maple syrup on Front Street in Toronto.

   1. Maple Syrup, Lanark County

      The best way to get a taste of that most iconic Canadian topping is to visit a working sugar bush, a stand of maple trees where the sap is collected and boiled into syrup. Many sugar bushes welcome visitors, offering tours and explanations of the production process, and of course plenty of samples.

      Maple syrup can also be found at farmers markets and grocery stores across the province, but for maximum options head to Lanark County, the “Maple Syrup Capital of Ontario.” Lanark is located in Eastern Ontario, between Kingston and Ottawa; pretty, quiet Perth is the county seat.

   2. Pasta, Toronto

      Toronto’s Italian flavor dates back to the same surge of immigration that created Little Italy enclaves in most North American cities in the early 20th century. Today, nearly 10 percent of residents in the Toronto area claim Italian ancestry, and the city is home to two Italian-centric neighborhoods: Little Italy, on College Street West, and Corso Italia, on St. Clair West. Both areas are well stocked with Italian restaurants and cafes and tasty gelaterias. Award-winning pasta manufacturer Primo is based in Toronto.

   3. BeaverTails, Ottawa

      Ottawa’s signature treat is the BeaverTail, a flattened oval of fried dough coated with butter and one of a range of toppings. Choices vary from the classic cinnamon and brown sugar to more elaborate concoctions loaded with chocolate sauce and fruit. They’re found across Canada—most often in kiosks at ski hills, theme parks, and other tourist-heavy locations—but their undisputed home is the nation’s capital.

      Winter visitors can skate to a booth on the frozen Rideau Canal for a BeaverTail and a cup of hot chocolate, and there’s a year-round store in the Byward Market, too.

   4. Corn on the Cob, Southern Ontario

      Summer in Ontario means farm-fresh, handpicked corn on the cob. Roadside stalls manned by local farmers pop up in virtually every agricultural area of southern Ontario. Buy cobs by the dozen or half-dozen, then husk and boil them the same day for maximum sweetness.

      Visitors who aren’t planning to drive the province’s rural roads can still find fresh, locally grown corn at any urban farmers market.

   5. German-Style Sausage, Kitchener-Waterloo

      The German heritage of the twin cities of Kitchener and Waterloo dates back to the mid-19th century, when the area was first settled by German-speaking Mennonite farmers from Pennsylvania. Their presence drew successive waves of German immigrants, and the region continues to have a distinctly Teutonic character today.

      K-W, as the area is known, hosts a major Oktoberfest bash each fall. The twin cities are also home to several quality German-style delis and butchers, and these are the best spots to sample locally made sausage and other German specialties.

UNIT 4 OTHER WORLDS

Cosmic Ornament, Pulsing Star

Cosmic Ornament

Three telescopes have spotted a bright new star in the heavens—a young pulsar surrounded by the remains of a supernova. Pulsars are the spinning cores of dead stars that ended their lives in huge explosions.

Revealed by x-ray data, the newfound pulsar is the blue-tinged point of light seen at the upper right of the frame. Optical data show that the stellar corpse is encased in a shell of dust and gas—the first time such an object has been found in the Small Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way. The picture also shows the intricate structure of a nearby star-forming region.

The above picture, released this week, combines x-ray data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and ESA's XMM-Newton space telescope with visible-light data from the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile.

Reports are now swirling around the web of a mysterious “space ball” that reportedly crashed in Namibia in November.

Experts are investigating and trying to confirm the true nature of the dusty, hollow sphere—is it a spent fuel tank, a pressurized gas canister, a random piece of non-spacey junk?

It may be a while until anyone’s ready to say for sure. So in the meantime, why not enjoy a completely different set of space balls: Saturn and its colorful moons.

Yesterday scientists with NASA’s Cassini spacecraft released a holiday package of pictures of “Saturn’s largest, most colorful ornament, Titan, and other icy baubles in orbit around this splendid planet.”

For the record, even though we just passed the winter solstice here on Earth, it’s springtime for Saturn.

The gas giant planet takes roughly 30 Earth years to complete an orbit around the sun, so its seasons last a wee bit longer than ours.

Saturn passed its equinox in August 2009, and it’ll be northern spring there for a few more years yet.

But no matter the season, the hazy sphere of Titan is almost always an awesome sight, especially as it performs its delicate dance with Saturn, the planet’s rings, and some of its smaller ice-moon neighbors, as seen from Cassini’s ringside seat.

UNIT 3 MUSIC AND FESTIVALS

Newport, Rhode Island’s Musical History

For a city probably known best for its mansions, cliff walks, boating, and breathtaking coastal scenery, Newport, Rhode Island, isn’t typically considered a music destination. But live music has been a part of Newport since the 1800s, and continues to thrive today.

According to Andrea McHugh of the Newport, Rhode Island Convention and Visitors Bureau, “Music has been an integral part of the seaport city’s heritage for centuries. It’s been documented that famed opera singers made Newport a part of their travels as far back as the early 1800s, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra played here in 1882, at a time when it was uncommon for them to play out of state.”

Come the 1950s, live music festivals were literally “born” in Newport. “There were no music festivals back then,” explained George Wein, jazz musician and founder of the Newport Jazz and Folk Festivals. “Ours were well before Woodstock was even conceived.”

The Newport Jazz Festival was the first of its kind in America and featured legendary performers Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, and Miles Davis. The Newport Folk Festival is known for launching the careers of artists Joan Baez and Bob Dylan, in the ’60s. The festival went on to cultivate a broad range of folk music, and to revive other genres such as blues and gospel.

UNIT 2 TRAVEL AND ADVENTURE

ULTIMATE TRAVEL AND ADVENTURE TO MACHU PICCHU

Trek the Salcantay Route to Machu Picchu

Peru

The Inca had a knack for pinpointing South America's most dumbfoundingly beautiful places, unlike Western explorers. A case in point: Machu Picchu, a lost city tucked deep in Peru's tropical mountain forests that wasn't "discovered" by Hiram Bingham until 1911. Thousands of trekkers go on pilgrimage along the Inca Trail every year to witness the mountaintop ruins enshrouded in mists, but only a few choose the newer alternative trail: the Salcantay Route. Winding around 20,000-foot (6,096-meter) peaks, along verdant riversides, and through bucolic coffee plantations, orchards, and thatched-hut villages, the 39-mile (63-kilometer) route traverses 15 ecosystems and tops out at over 15,000 feet (4,572 meters). The grand finale is a view of Machu Picchu from the southwest, one that few tourists see. Many backpackers camp along the way, but for those who prefer to travel like Inca royalty, there are remote luxe ecolodges along the trail. There, the answer to sore legs is a hot tub, a goose-down bed, a hearty organic cuisine, and a stupefying view of the Inca's sacred snow-crowned peaks.

Mountain Lodges of Peru runs seven-day trips between four ecolodges along the Salcantay Route, including guides, pack horses, food, and lodging ($2,850).

UNIT 1 AMAZING ANIMALS

Electric Eel

Electrophorus electricus

Electric eels can generate an electrical charge of up to 600 volts in order to stun prey and keep predators at bay.

Despite their serpentine appearance, electric eels are not actually eels. Their scientific classification is closer to carp and catfish.

These famous freshwater predators get their name from the enormous electrical charge they can generate to stun prey and dissuade predators. Their bodies contain electric organs with about 6,000 specialized cells called electrocytes that store power like tiny batteries. When threatened or attacking prey, these cells will discharge simultaneously, emitting a burst of at least 600 volts, five times the power of a standard U.S. wall socket.

They live in the murky streams and ponds of the Amazon and Orinoco basins of South America, feeding mainly on fish, but also amphibians and even birds and small mammals. As air-breathers, they must come to the surface frequently. They also have poor eyesight, but can emit a low-level charge, less than 10 volts, which they use like radar to navigate and locate prey.

Electric eels can reach huge proportions, exceeding 8 feet (2.5 meters) in length and 44 pounds (20 kilograms) in weight. They have long, cylindrical bodies and flattened heads and are generally dark green or grayish on top with yellowish coloring underneath.

Human deaths from electric eels are extremely rare. However, multiple shocks can cause respiratory or heart failure, and people have been known to drown in shallow water after a stunning jolt.

Electric eels are extremely common throughout their range.

Fast Facts

Type:

Fish

Diet:

Carnivore

Average life span in the wild:

15 years

Size:

6 to 8 ft (1.8 to 2.5 m)

Weight:

44 lbs (20 kg)

Group name:

Swarm

Did you know?

The shock of an electric eel has been known to knock a horse off its feet.

Size relative to a 6-ft (2-m) man: