his french has improved considerably

  • 21japan — japanner, n. /jeuh pan /, n., adj., v., japanned, japanning. n. 1. any of various hard, durable, black varnishes, originally from Japan, for coating wood, metal, or other surfaces. 2. work varnished and figured in the Japanese manner. 3. Japans,… …

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  • 22Japan — /jeuh pan /, n. 1. a constitutional monarchy on a chain of islands off the E coast of Asia: main islands, Hokkaido, Honshu, Kyushu, and Shikoku. 125,716,637; 141,529 sq. mi. (366,560 sq. km). Cap.: Tokyo. Japanese, Nihon, Nippon. 2. Sea of, the… …

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  • 23technology, history of — Introduction       the development over time of systematic techniques for making and doing things. The term technology, a combination of the Greek technē, “art, craft,” with logos, “word, speech,” meant in Greece a discourse on the arts, both… …

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  • 24Europe, history of — Introduction       history of European peoples and cultures from prehistoric times to the present. Europe is a more ambiguous term than most geographic expressions. Its etymology is doubtful, as is the physical extent of the area it designates.… …

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  • 25Indonesia — /in deuh nee zheuh, sheuh, zee euh, doh /, n. 1. See East Indies (def. 1). 2. Republic of. Formerly, Netherlands East Indies, Dutch East Indies. a republic in the Malay Archipelago consisting of 13,677 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi,… …

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  • 26performing arts — arts or skills that require public performance, as acting, singing, or dancing. [1945 50] * * * ▪ 2009 Introduction Music Classical.       The last vestiges of the Cold War seemed to thaw for a moment on Feb. 26, 2008, when the unfamiliar strains …

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  • 27Vietnam — /vee et nahm , nam , vyet , vee it /, n. 1. Official name, Socialist Republic of Vietnam. a country in SE Asia, comprising the former states of Annam, Tonkin, and Cochin China: formerly part of French Indochina; divided into North Vietnam and… …

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  • 28ECONOMIC AFFAIRS — THE PRE MANDATE (LATE OTTOMAN) PERIOD Geography and Borders In September 1923 a new political entity was formally recognized by the international community. Palestine, or Ereẓ Israel as Jews have continued to refer to it for 2,000 years,… …

    Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • 29HISTORY — For Prehistory see archaeology ; for Biblical and Second Temple periods, see history . Destruction of the Second Temple until the Arab Conquest (70–640 C.E.) THE EFFECTS OF THE WAR OF 66–70 C.E. The Jewish war against the Romans, which lasted… …

    Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • 30Foreign relations of India — The Republic of India is the world s most populous democracy and has one of the fastest economic growth rates in the world (8.9 percent GDP increase in 2007, the second fastest major economy in the world after China). [… …

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