^^
Thank you so much!!
You have a great voice!
36.
The RPC, founded in 1996, describes itself as a progressive organization fighting for social change. It is a
multiracial, multi-issue, international membership organization.
Its mission is to move the nation and the world towards social, racial, and economic justice. It has its headquarters in Chicago, and major branches in Washington, D.C.,
New York, and Los Angeles. It has succeeded in registering hundreds of thousands of voters, helped elect many officials, mediated labor disputes, affected public policy
in Haiti, and helped secure professional positions for
minorities in a number of different fields. It also works on issues such as fair housing, gender equality, and
environmental justice.
37.
A water plant called the sacred lotus regulates its temperature in order to benefit insects that it needs to reproduce. When the plant flowers, it heats its blossoms to above 86ºF for as long as four days. It does so, even when the air is as cool as 50ºF . The heat releases an
aroma that attracts certain insects, which fly into the flower to feed on nectar and pollen. But according to
Roger Seymour and Paul Schultze-Motel of Australia’s University of Adelaide, the heat does more: It rewards insects with a stable environment that enhances their
ability to eat, mate, and prepare for flight.
38.
Old Hawk gestured up at the tall, old cottonwood. It was so large that a grown man could not put his arms
around it. “This tree,” he said, “has stood guard over our
family all its life. Strength is what I feel each time I look at it. Yet, there have been moments when its great strength was also its weakness.” “That’s hard to believe,”
Jeremy said. “It’s the biggest tree for miles around.” Old Hawk pointed at the chokecherry trees in a dry river bed not far away. “Look there,” he said, “those chokecherry
trees are small and weak in comparison to this cottonwood.
But when you were a child, they survived a storm without losing a branch. This old cottonwood, on the
other hand, lost several branches. It stood up to the storm, but it could not bend with the wind the way the chokecherry trees could.”
