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Whereas students with high grades prepare for exams in advance, reviewing their notes periodically, students with poor grades wait until the last minute and then cram.

Against the wall opposite the entrance to the kitchen was a large stove, which took up about one fifth of the room.

Natural light, that is sunlight, helps the body manufacture vitamin D, which is necessary for the absorption of calcium.  On top of that, natural light raises the level of a brain chemical that helps the brain learn information more quickly.

INSTRUCTIONS: Read each passage and choose the primary purpose of each passage.Schizophrenia is a serious and relatively prevalent disorder. It is found in roughly 1 percent of people at some time in their lives. It accounts for a higher percentage of the inpatient population of mental hospitals than any other diagnostic category. The disorder seems to be equally prevalent in males and females, but, for unknown reasons, it typically is more severe and strikes earlier in males than in females. The most frequent age range for first symptoms is 18 to 25 for men and 26 to 45 for women. Sometimes people make a full recovery from schizophrenia, sometimes they make a partial recovery, and sometimes the disorder takes a deteriorating course through the person’s life.

In 1943, a naval engineer named Richard James was working with tension springs when one of the springs fell on the floor. James noticed how the spring kept moving after hitting the ground, and he got the idea for the creation of a toy. For the next two years, he experimented with developing a coiled spring toy that could “climb” down stairs using a flip-flopping motion. James’s wife, Betty, named the toy the Slinky. The Jameses introduced their new toy at Gimbels Department Store in Philadelphia in 1945, selling 400 of the toys in 90 minutes. The Slinky continues to be a popular toy today.

I imagine going to the doctor one day, and he comes in with the X-rays, a shadow across his face, and he says, “It’s everywhere. You have six months, maybe eight. There’s nothing we can do but make you comfortable.” “Not a problem,” I say. “I can make myself comfortable.” I head for the nearest convenience store and ask for a carton of Camels. I light up one of these coffin nails and then head for the liquor store. I ask for an empty carton and fill it up with a dozen bottles of hard stuff. I knock down a couple of shots and head for the market, where I buy some thick steaks to charbroil on the grill.  “Cancer schmancer,” I say to myself. “It’s party time.” —Adapted from an essay by Garrison Keillor

Suppose Colin Powell tires of giving $100,000-a-pop speeches and wants to teach high school social studies. Suppose Meryl Streep has a hankering to teach drama. Alas, they would be “unqualified” for a public school. Elite private schools would snap them up, of course, but public schools that are begging for teachers would have to turn them away because they don’t have teacher certification. That’s an absurd snarl in our education bureaucracy. Let’s relax the barriers so people can enter teaching more easily, either right out of college or later as a midcareer switch.

When we try to name the one thing that makes America great, we are forced to conclude that the answer is “quality of life,” defined as “working toilets.” We are blessed with the finest toilet system in the world. When we go to a public place such as a shopping mall or restaurant, we know that we will find public restrooms meeting all the standards of the Federal Interstate Commode Quality Act, including:· Modern soap and paper-towel dispensers designed to conserve our planet’s precious resources by always being out of soap and paper towels.· Bad words that have been written on the walls by irresponsible, reprehensible, antisocial, degenerate perverts who can be pretty funny.· A person who has been in a stall for at least two days making noises like walruses mating.Also, sometimes, if prankish youngsters have not stolen it or attempted to flush a rental security guard down it, there will be a TOILET THAT ACTUALLY WORKS.

Conservative politicians say that gay marriage must be banned in order to protect the sanctity of heterosexual marriage. How, exactly, does gay marriage threaten straight marriage? Marriage is a way of publicly stating that two people care deeply for one another and want to establish themselves as a permanent couple. Marriage makes a society more stable, not less so. When two gay people get married, it does not mean that two straight people have to break up. Conservatives are supposedly in favor of “family values,” and what is more in keeping with “family values” than committed partners? If people don’t like the idea of gay marriage, they are entitled to their opinion. But they should not try to make their opinion the basis of law affecting the lives of others.

What does the PR interval indicate in the ECG?