Welcome to English in a Minute from home! A tone is a sound you hear in music or in someone's voice. And deaf means unable to hear. So, what could "tone deaf" mean as an idiom? Speaker A: Ugh. Jonathan, Cynthia is so tone deaf. She went to Duncan's party with peanut butter cookies and a big bag of peanuts.Speaker B: What?! Duncan is allergic to nuts. His party invitation … [Read more...] about Tone Deaf (Idioms)
Indians Celebrate Festival of Lights amid COVID Fears
Indians began celebrating Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, on Thursday. The celebration comes as the country is still dealing with the coronavirus pandemic as well as rising air pollution. Diwali is usually celebrated by socializing and exchanging gifts with family and friends. Many light oil lamps or candles as a sign of the victory of light over darkness. They also … [Read more...] about Indians Celebrate Festival of Lights amid COVID Fears
Environmentally Friendly Burial Choice: Body Composting
Outside of the city of Denver, Colorado, a large industrial building sits between an auto repair business and a used computer business. In that building, a man deals daily with life and death. Seth Viddal and his employees have built a burial container, or “vessel.” Recently they told reporters from the Associated Press that they hope this vessel will be the start of a … [Read more...] about Environmentally Friendly Burial Choice: Body Composting
Machine Learning Helps NASA Confirm 301 New Exoplanets
The American space agency NASA says it has used a new technology method to help confirm the existence of 301 new exoplanets. Exoplanets are planets that orbit stars other than the sun. Before the latest discoveries, NASA had confirmed the existence of more than 4,569 such planets. Thousands of other “candidate” exoplanets have been identified. But these require additional … [Read more...] about Machine Learning Helps NASA Confirm 301 New Exoplanets
Mandate (News Words)
Welcome to the Voice of America’s News Words. Australian police broke up a violent protest in Melbourne this week. Mandate Hundreds were protesting a Victoria state mandate that building industry workers must be vaccinated against COVID-19. Officials said such business may not operate until they prove they have obeyed the order. Since June, more than 255 people have … [Read more...] about Mandate (News Words)