Readable, teachable news.
Friday, April 26, 2024
When you can’t reach your goal, what do you do? Lower the goal, according to the Canadian government.
That’s what they’re doing with Canada’s fitness guidelines. Only 12 per cent of kids and less than 50 per cent of adults get as much exercise as they’re supposed to, so the government is bringing down the standards.
They’re hoping that with a lower goal to shoot for, more people will try harder to get as much exercise as they need.
The basketball season is winding down. This weekend, the playoffs begin.
There are 16 teams in the playoffs. Eight are in the Eastern Conference and eight are in the Western Conference. The final four winning teams will play in the NBA Conference Finals.
The Toronto Raptors, the only Canadian team in the NBA (National Basketball Association) did not make the playoffs this year.
In 1986, Rick Hansen went around the world in a wheelchair – through 34 countries – to raise money for spinal cord injuries.
Hansen’s “Man In Motion Tour” was a major achievement, covering more than 40,000 kilometres. Many people see Hansen as a Canadian hero.
It has been 25 years since Hansen’s historic tour and in that time his foundation has raised more than $200 million to help people with spinal cord injuries.
There will be a federal election in Canada on May 2.
Every Canadian who is 18 years or older and is registered to vote – even people in prison or who are out of the country – may vote.
Although there are many people who are up for election, there are five main ones—one of whom will win.
Each person who is up for election is a member of a different “political party.”
A “political party” is a group of people who all think the same way about things. They think the same way about how a country should be run, how it should spend its money and what is most important.
Alvin Wong is the happiest person in the United States. Literally.
Every day for the last three years, a polling company called Gallup has been doing a survey of a thousand Americans, asking them about their lives. They wanted to know what qualities make up the best lifestyle. They put all of the information together into something they call the “Well-Being Index.”
From the information, Gallup was able to figure out what makes Americans happy.
This is an historic time in Canadian politics.
Last Friday, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced the government’s budget. A “budget” is a list of how the government will spend the country’s money. It’s an important document because it outlines all of the things the government will do for the people in the country.
All of the political parties voted on whether or not they accepted the budget. The Conservatives (Stephen Harper’s party), the Liberals, the New Democratic Party (NDP) and the Bloc Quebecois (BQ) all voted.
Recently, Japan suffered the fifth largest earthquake in history. Although Japan is extremely well prepared for earthquakes, nothing could have prepared the country for something this big. And that’s not even counting the tsunami (giant wave) that was created by the quake.
You may be hearing news reports about “radiation” and “nuclear reactors.”
Normally, nuclear reactors are very safe. They supply clean energy and can create a lot of electricity. For a country like Japan, that is relatively small but uses a lot of electricity, nuclear energy has been important.
However, the buildings that house the reactors have been damaged by the earthquake and the tsunami.
The earthquake damaged four enormous buildings that supply power to Japan. They are called “nuclear reactors” and they supply nuclear power that creates electricity for the country.
Things are heating up in Libya.
The leader there, Moammar Gadhafi, does not want to step down. However, the people have had enough of his terrifying reign and want him to go.
At first, the people took to the streets in a peaceful protest.
However, Gadhafi banned the protests. When the people did not stop, he attacked them using the Libyan military. This shows how bad the situation has become – the leader of a country has started attacking his own people.
The UN, or United Nations, is a group of nations (including Canada, the United States, Britain and many other countries) that meets to discuss world events and promote world peace.
Recently, a survey was done to find out what highschool students think is important.
The survey was done by the Ontario Student Trustees’ Association. more than 2,600 students, mostly in Grade 12, were asked their opinions on many issues. The survey was done through Facebook and e-mail.
Here is what students said:
* Cellphones should not be allowed in the classroom. Less than one-third of all of the students surveyed said cellphones should be used in class as an educational tool.
You may know that every year around Christmas many cable TV providers, like Rogers, offer their subscribers a “Fireplace Channel.” When you turn to the channel your screen fills with a burning firelog. It makes your TV look like a fireplace.
Now they’ve gone even further. Rogers is offering the “Rotisserie Channel.” A rotisserie is a barbeque pole that turns, to cook meat over a flame.
