The Phenomenon of Candy Crush: Why Is the Game So Popular?
In 2012, Candy Crush was released on Facebook and was later converted to smartphone format for people to play on the go. In 2013, the game reached real prominence and became the most popular game on Facebook. It’s no surprise then that so many people play this game on their phones. Candy Crush Saga has changed the way many of us kill time on commutes, or even in the toilet. I don’t remember the last train journey I took where at least one person wasn’t playing Candy Crush on their phone. I’m sure almost every reader of this article will have either been invited or invited others to play Candy Crush via Facebook in an effort to get more lives or even levels.
Despite being incredibly similar to many games over the years, Candy Crush Saga has added new depth to the genre, with seemingly unlimited combinations of new scenarios and concepts. So, this mixture of simplicity and variety is what makes Candy Crush so unbelievably popular.
As a result, Candy Crush Saga shows no signs of slowing down. New levels are generally released via the Facebook version every three weeks, with new levels also being made frequently available for the smartphone version. With 6.7 million active users, the developers are rumoured to be earning $633,000 per day from Candy Crush users.
Adapted from http://metro.co.uk/2013/09/27/
According to the text, the popularity of Candy Crush Saga is because
Military Officers Face a New Evaluation
Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is leading important changes following recent scandals involving high-ranking officers. This is part of training and development programs for generals and admirals. They will include new courses to train the security detail, executive staffs and even the spouses of senior officers.
Saying he was disturbed about the misconduct issues, General Dempsey said that evaluations of top officers needed to go beyond the traditional assessment of professional performance by superior officers alone. He said that he had decided the changes were necessary “to assess both competence and character in a richer way”.
“You can have someone of incredible character who can’t lead their way out of a forward operating base because they don’t have the competence to understand the application of military power, and that doesn’t do me any good”, General Dempsey said. “Conversely, you can have someone who is intensely competent in the skills of the profession, but doesn’t live a life of character. And that doesn’t do me any good.”
General Dempsey said that regular professional reviews would be transformed from top-down assessments to the kind of “360-degree performance evaluation”, which includes feedback from subordinates, peers and superiors. For the new training programs, he said that while it may be impossible to prevent infractions, “most officers need to be reminded of the rules and regulations on a routine basis”.
Teams of inspectors will observe and review the procedures of commanders and their staffs. The inspections will not be punitive, but will provide a “periodic opportunity for general officers to understand whether, from an institutional perspective, we think they are inside or outside the white lines”, he said. In addition, new programs will be instituted to ensure that a commander’s staff, and a spouse, are fully aware of military regulations.
“In my 39 years in the military, I have learned that you are not a profession just because you say you are. You have to earn it and re-earn it and re-evaluate it from time to time”, General Dempsey said.
Adapted from www.nytimes.com/2013/04/14/us
According to the text, which definition above corresponds to issue in the sentence “...he was disturbed about the misconductissues...” (paragraph 2)?
Military Officers Face a New Evaluation
Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is leading important changes following recent scandals involving high-ranking officers. This is part of training and development programs for generals and admirals. They will include new courses to train the security detail, executive staffs and even the spouses of senior officers.
Saying he was disturbed about the misconduct issues, General Dempsey said that evaluations of top officers needed to go beyond the traditional assessment of professional performance by superior officers alone. He said that he had decided the changes were necessary “to assess both competence and character in a richer way”.
“You can have someone of incredible character who can’t lead their way out of a forward operating base because they don’t have the competence to understand the application of military power, and that doesn’t do me any good”, General Dempsey said. “Conversely, you can have someone who is intensely competent in the skills of the profession, but doesn’t live a life of character. And that doesn’t do me any good.”
General Dempsey said that regular professional reviews would be transformed from top-down assessments to the kind of “360-degree performance evaluation”, which includes feedback from subordinates, peers and superiors. For the new training programs, he said that while it may be impossible to prevent infractions, “most officers need to be reminded of the rules and regulations on a routine basis”.
Teams of inspectors will observe and review the procedures of commanders and their staffs. The inspections will not be punitive, but will provide a “periodic opportunity for general officers to understand whether, from an institutional perspective, we think they are inside or outside the white lines”, he said. In addition, new programs will be instituted to ensure that a commander’s staff, and a spouse, are fully aware of military regulations.
“In my 39 years in the military, I have learned that you are not a profession just because you say you are. You have to earn it and re-earn it and re-evaluate it from time to time”, General Dempsey said.
Adapted from www.nytimes.com/2013/04/14/us
Which word is a synonym for evaluations in the text?
Military Officers Face a New Evaluation
Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is leading important changes following recent scandals involving high-ranking officers. This is part of training and development programs for generals and admirals. They will include new courses to train the security detail, executive staffs and even the spouses of senior officers.
Saying he was disturbed about the misconduct issues, General Dempsey said that evaluations of top officers needed to go beyond the traditional assessment of professional performance by superior officers alone. He said that he had decided the changes were necessary “to assess both competence and character in a richer way”.
“You can have someone of incredible character who can’t lead their way out of a forward operating base because they don’t have the competence to understand the application of military power, and that doesn’t do me any good”, General Dempsey said. “Conversely, you can have someone who is intensely competent in the skills of the profession, but doesn’t live a life of character. And that doesn’t do me any good.”
General Dempsey said that regular professional reviews would be transformed from top-down assessments to the kind of “360-degree performance evaluation”, which includes feedback from subordinates, peers and superiors. For the new training programs, he said that while it may be impossible to prevent infractions, “most officers need to be reminded of the rules and regulations on a routine basis”.
Teams of inspectors will observe and review the procedures of commanders and their staffs. The inspections will not be punitive, but will provide a “periodic opportunity for general officers to understand whether, from an institutional perspective, we think they are inside or outside the white lines”, he said. In addition, new programs will be instituted to ensure that a commander’s staff, and a spouse, are fully aware of military regulations.
“In my 39 years in the military, I have learned that you are not a profession just because you say you are. You have to earn it and re-earn it and re-evaluate it from time to time”, General Dempsey said.
Adapted from www.nytimes.com/2013/04/14/us
In the sentence “Conversely, you can have...” (paragraph 3), the word conversely indicates that the two situations described in the paragraph
Military Officers Face a New Evaluation
Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is leading important changes following recent scandals involving high-ranking officers. This is part of training and development programs for generals and admirals. They will include new courses to train the security detail, executive staffs and even the spouses of senior officers.
Saying he was disturbed about the misconduct issues, General Dempsey said that evaluations of top officers needed to go beyond the traditional assessment of professional performance by superior officers alone. He said that he had decided the changes were necessary “to assess both competence and character in a richer way”.
“You can have someone of incredible character who can’t lead their way out of a forward operating base because they don’t have the competence to understand the application of military power, and that doesn’t do me any good”, General Dempsey said. “Conversely, you can have someone who is intensely competent in the skills of the profession, but doesn’t live a life of character. And that doesn’t do me any good.”
General Dempsey said that regular professional reviews would be transformed from top-down assessments to the kind of “360-degree performance evaluation”, which includes feedback from subordinates, peers and superiors. For the new training programs, he said that while it may be impossible to prevent infractions, “most officers need to be reminded of the rules and regulations on a routine basis”.
Teams of inspectors will observe and review the procedures of commanders and their staffs. The inspections will not be punitive, but will provide a “periodic opportunity for general officers to understand whether, from an institutional perspective, we think they are inside or outside the white lines”, he said. In addition, new programs will be instituted to ensure that a commander’s staff, and a spouse, are fully aware of military regulations.
“In my 39 years in the military, I have learned that you are not a profession just because you say you are. You have to earn it and re-earn it and re-evaluate it from time to time”, General Dempsey said.
Adapted from www.nytimes.com/2013/04/14/us
According to the text, a 360-degree performance evaluation (paragraph 4)
Japan WW2 Soldier Who Refused to Surrender Dies
A Japanese soldier who refused to surrender after World War Two ended and spent 29 years in the jungle has died aged 91 in Tokyo. Hiroo Onoda remained in the jungle on Lubang Island near Luzon, in the Philippines, until 1974 because he did not believe that the war had ended. He was finally persuaded to emerge after his ageing former commanding officer was flown in to see him. Onoda was greeted as a hero on his return to Japan.
The young soldier had orders not to surrender - a command he obeyed for nearly three decades. “I became an officer and I received an order. If I could not carry it out, I would feel shame. I am very competitive”, he said. Three other soldiers were with him at the end of the war. One emerged from the jungle in 1950 and the other two died.
Mr Onoda ignored several attempts to get him to surrender. He later said that he dismissed search parties sent to him, and leaflets dropped by Japan, because there was always something suspicious, so he never believed that the war had really ended. Though Onoda had been officially declared dead in December 1959, search parties were sent out in 1972, when the last person from his group was killed by local police, but they did not find him. Onoda was now alone.
On February 20, 1974, a Japanese man, Norio Suzuki, found Onoda after four days of searching. They became friends, but Onoda still refused to surrender, saying that he was waiting for orders from a superior officer. Suzuki returned to Japan with photographs of himself and Onoda as proof of their encounter, and the Japanese government located Onoda’s commanding officer, Major Yoshimi Taniguchi. He flew to Lubang where on March 9, 1974, he finally met with Onoda and rescinded his original orders in person.
The Philippine government granted him a pardon, although many in Lubang never forgave him for killing 30 people during his campaign on the island. The news media reported on this and other misgivings, but at the same time welcomed his return home.
Adapted from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-25772192 and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiroo_Onoda
According to the text, read the statements and choose the correct alternative.
I) Hiroo Onoda was in the jungle for 29 years.
II) Hiroo Onoda was abandoned in the jungle by his country after the war ended.
III) Hiroo Onoda tried to go back home many times.
IV) Hiroo Onoda had another soldier with him until 1972.
V) Hiroo Onoda was admired by people in Lubang.