ejaasaari/simplewiki-2025-04-01 huggingface dataset:
British English or UK English is the dialect of English that is spoken in the United Kingdom. It is different in some ways from other types of English such as American English. British English is widely spoken in most countries that were once part of the British Empire. Use in other countries. American English is used in the United States. In Canada, the accent sounds very similar to American English, but Canadian English has a few differences. Canada has mixed the spelling rules of American and British English to form its own spelling rules. Most members of the Commonwealth of Nations learn British English, and American English is often learnt in the Americas, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. The United Kingdom and Ireland use British layout keyboards, and Australia, South Africa, Canada, New Zealand and the United States use American layout keyboards. In Continental Europe, English as a second language is sometimes taught in American English except in Scandinavia and the Netherlands, where British English is taught. Pronunciation. In the United Kingdom, the spelling remains the same, but the pronunciation varies in the local dialects. For example, a person from a place near London may not pronounce the "r" the same as a person from Scotland. Across the country, the accent is different. Liverpool people may speak with a "Scouse" accent, and Birmingham people speak with a "Brummie" accent.  In London, the "Cockney" accent was once commonm but it is almost never heard today. All regional accents became less extreme in the 20th century. That is generally attributed to the arrival of radio and television. Another factor is the increased mobility of people. A similar process has been noted in the United States, where regional differences are much less noticeable than they used to be. Spelling. There are many words that sound the same in both American and British English but have different spellings. British English often has more traditional ways of spelling words than American English. Many British English rules are also used in other countries. Most of those countries are members of the Commonwealth of Nations. Vocabulary. In British English, "dock" refers to the water in the space between two "piers" or "wharfs". In American English, the "pier" or "wharf" could be called a "dock", and the water between would be a "slip". Here are other common differences: British English – American English
"Being is also a present tense part of to be" The word being means a living person or animal. ‘Human being’ means the same as ’person’. Men, women, and children are human beings. Some people write stories or make movies about beings from other planets. Most religions talk about supernatural beings, for example spirits, angels, devils, gods, or God.
Beijing is the capital of the People's Republic of China. The city used to be known as Peking. It is in the northern and eastern parts of the country. Having more that 21 million residents, it is one of the most populous capital cities. The city of Beijing has played a very important role in the development of China. Many people from different cities and countries come to Beijing to look for better chances to find work. Nearly 15 million people live there. Beijing hosted the Summer Olympic Games in 2008, and the Winter Olympic Games in 2022. It is the only city that has hosted both. Beijing is well known for its ancient history. Since the Jin Dynasty, Beijing has been the capital of several dynasties (especially the later ones), including the Yuan, Ming, and Qing. There are many places of historic interest in Beijing. Name. The Mandarin Chinese name of the city is "Běijīng", which means "The Northern Capital". It got this name when the Yongle Emperor of the Ming family of rulers moved most of his government from Nanjing ("The Southern Capital") in the early 1400s. In Chinese, Beijing's name is written Today, people spell it "Beijing" because they use the pinyin way of spelling, which shows what the name should sound like in Mandarin. People used to spell it "Peking" because that was the spelling used by some of the first people from Europe to visit the Ming and write home about it; the Jesuits' work was made popular by their French brother Du Halde. It then became the official Chinese Postal Map spelling around 1900 and continued to be used until pinyin became more popular. Beijing was also known as Beiping ("City of Northern Peace") between 1928 and 1949, when the Nationalists moved the Chinese capital to Nanjing and Chongqing. History. The center of Beijing was settled in the 1st millennium BC. In those days, the Kingdom of Yan (燕, Yān) set up their capital where Beijing is today. They called it Ji (蓟, Jì). After the Kingdom of Yan was destroyed,
The word berry is used for many different kinds of small fruits that have many seeds and can be used as food. Some examples are raspberry, strawberry, sutberry, lingonberry and blueberry. When botanists talk about "berries", they mean a simple fruit produced from a single ovary. They sometimes call this "true berry", to distinguish it from "false berries". By that statement of how words are used, grapes or tomatoes are true berries. The berry is the most common type of soft fruit in which the entire ovary wall gets to the right stage of development of the pericarp which can be taken as food. The flowers of these plants have an upper ovary with one or more carpels. The seeds are inside the soft body of the ovary. Berries are small, sweet, bright colored fruits. Due to this, they are able to bring more animals towards them and spread their seeds. Some fruits that are called "berries" in English are not "true berries" by the use of words above. These include raspberries, strawberry, sutberry, blackberries, cranberries, and boysenberries. Some true berries do not have "berry" in their name. These include tomatoes, bananas, eggplants, guavas, pomegranates and chillies. Pumpkins, cucumbers, melons, oranges and lemons are also berries that have slightly different structure and may be called by different names (pepo for pumpkins, cucumbers, and melons, or hesperidium for oranges and lemons).
A beard is the hair growing on the lower part of a man's face. The hair that grows on the upper lip of some men is a mustache. When a man has hair only below the lower lip and above the chin, it is called a soul patch. Some men have a lot of hair and a big beard, and some have very little. In the modern world, many men shave part or all of their beards, or cut their beard so it does not get very long. Some animals also have hair like this, and people sometimes also call this hair a beard.
In light, black is the absence of all color. It is a shade. In painting, however, the black pigment is the combination of all colors. In heraldry, black is called "sable". It is the opposite of white. Black in science. In science, an object that is black absorbs the light that hits it. Because these objects do not reflect any light, the human eye can't see any color coming from that object. The brain then sees these objects as black. A way to create black objects is to mix pigments. A pigment works by reflecting only the color of the pigment. For example, a blue pigment absorbs all colors except blue. By mixing pigments in the right quantities, black can be made. In sunlight, black objects become warm more quickly than other colored objects because they absorb more light. Meaning of black. Black is associated with power, elegance, formality, safety, birth, male, evil and mystery. Black is a dark color, the darkest color there is. Black, along with grey and white, is a "neutral" color. This means that it is not a "hot" color or a "cool" color. Black is a color seen with fear and the unknown. It can have a bad meaning (blackbird, black bunny) or a good meaning ('in the black', 'black is beautiful'). Black can stand for strength and power. It can be a formal, elegant and high-class color (black tie, black Mercedes).
Bubonic plague is the best-known form of the disease plague caused by the bacterium "Yersinia pestis". The name "bubonic plague" is specific for this form of the disease, which enters through the skin, and travels through the lymphatic system. The plague was spread by fleas on rats. This method of spreading disease is called a zoonosis. If the disease is left untreated, it kills about half its victims in three to seven days. The bubonic plague was the disease that caused the Black Death, which killed tens of millions of people in Europe, in the Middle Ages. Symptoms of this disease include coughing, fever, and black spots on the skin. Different kinds of the same disease. There are different kinds of Bubonic plague. The most common form of the disease is spread by a certain kind of flea, that lives on rats. Then there is an incubation period which can last from a few hours to about seven days. Septicemic plague. Sepsis happens when the bacterium enters the blood and makes it form tiny clots. Pneumonic plague. This happens when the bacterium can enter the lungs. About 95% of all people with this form will die. Incubation period is only one to two days. The abortive form. This is the most harmless form. It will result in a small fever. After that, the victim's body produces antibodies that protect against all forms of the disease for a long time. History. The first recorded epidemic was in the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine Empire), It was called the Plague of Justinian after emperor Justinian I, who was infected but survived after long treatment. The pandemic resulted in the deaths of an estimated 25 million (6th century outbreak) to 50 million people (two centuries of recurrence). During the 1300s, this epidemic struck parts of Asia, North Africa, and Europe. Almost a third of the people in Europe died of it. Unlike catastrophes that pull communities together, this epidemic was so terrifying that it broke people's trust in one another. Giovanni Boccaccio, an Italian writer of the time, described
Biology is the science that studies life, living things, and the evolution of life. Living things include animals, plants, fungi (such as mushrooms), and microorganisms such as bacteria and archaea. The term 'biology' is relatively modern. It was introduced in 1799 by a physician, Thomas Beddoes. People who study biology are called biologists. Biology looks at how animals and other living things behave and work, and what they are like. Biology also studies how organisms react with each other and the environment. It has existed as a science for about 200 years, and before that it was called "natural history". Biology has many research fields and branches. Like all sciences, biology uses the scientific method. This means that biologists must be able to show evidence for their ideas and that other biologists must be able to test the ideas for themselves. Biology attempts to answer questions such as: Modern biology is influenced by evolution, which answers the question: "How has the living world come to be as it is?" History. The word "biology" comes from the Greek word "βίος" ("bios"), "life", and the suffix "-λογία" ("logia"), "study of".
Botany is the study of plants. It is a science. It is a branch of biology.  It is also called plant biology, and sometimes phytology. Scientists who study botany are called botanists. They study how plants work. Branches of botany. Recent trends. University departments of botany are often now merged into a wider group of specialities, including cell biology, genetics, ecology, cytology, palaeontology and other topics. This gives students and research workers access to a wider education and a wider range of research techniques.
Belgium (officially the Kingdom of Belgium; , , ) is a country in Western Europe. Its capital, Brussels, is the home of many organizations including the European Union and NATO. Belgium is bordered by The Netherlands in the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast and France to the south. Belgium has an area of . Around 11.6 million people live in Belgium. It is a founding member of the European Union and is home to its headquarters. Regions. There are three regions in Belgium. The regions are mainly based on language and culture. Flanders and Wallonia are both split up into five provinces each. The population is about 60% Dutch-speaking, 39% French-speaking, and 1% German-speaking (the so-called "Deutschbelgier"). To look after all these groups, Belgium has a complex system of government with highly autonomous regions. History. The name 'Belgium' comes from "Gallia Belgica". This was a Roman province in the northernmost part of Gaul. Before Roman invasion in 100 BC, the "Belgae", a mix of Celtic and Germanic peoples, lived there. The Germanic Frankish tribes during the 5th century brought the area under the rule of the Merovingian kings. A slow shift of power during the 8th century led the kingdom of the Franks to change into the Carolingian Empire. The Treaty of Verdun in 843 divided the region into Middle and West Francia. They were vassals either of the King of France or of the Holy Roman Emperor. Many of these fiefdoms were united in the Burgundian Netherlands of the 14th and 15th centuries. The Eighty Years' War (1568–1648) divided the Low Countries into the northern United Provinces and the Southern Netherlands. Southern Netherlands were ruled by the Spanish and the Austrian Habsburgs. This made up most of modern Belgium. After the , the Low Countries were added into the French First Republic. This ended Austrian rule in the area. Adding back the Low Countries formed the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. This happened at the end of the First French Empire in
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is a country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country. The country has about 212 million people. The capital of Brazil is Brasília. Brazil was named after brazilwood, which is a tree that once grew very well along the Brazilian coast. Brazil has the most Portuguese speakers in the world and is the only country in the Americas where Portuguese is an official language. History. The first people to come to Brazil came around 9,000 B.C. That group of indigenous people is often called the South American Indians and probably came from North America. They practiced hunting, foraging, and farming. Over thousands of years, many different indigenous people were living there. Pedro Álvares Cabral was the first European to see Brazil. He saw it in 1500. He was from Portugal and the Portuguese kingdom claimed Brazil. Soon, Portugal colonized Brazil and created colonies all along the coastline. They began to import black slaves from Africa and force them to work. Because of the violence of the slave masters, many of these slaves would run away into the forest and create their own communities called quilombos. In the late 1500s and early 1600s, the Dutch and the French tried to take some land in Brazil. Dutch, French, and Portuguese started moving inland further than the Treaty of Tordesillas said they could. This caused some fights with the Spaniards (people from Spain) and indigenous people in the area. In 1822, Brazil claimed to be its own country and not a part of Portugal anymore. Soon there was civil war. Meanwhile, the quilombos survived and Brazil was bringing in more slaves than any other country in the Americas, even though many countries were beginning to legally abolish slavery. This led to an increase in slave revolts, especially in the 1860s and 1880s, which forced the government to change the system to keep the country stable. Slavery was legally abolished in 1888. In 1889, there was a military coup, and Pedro II had to leave the country. In 1889, Brazil became a republic. The only people who could
Chemistry is a branch of science that deals with chemical elements and compounds, and how they work together and change. In other words, chemistry is the branch of science about fundamental properties of matter and chemical reactions. Chemistry is the study of the substances and their transformations (or change). History. In history, people studied elements to figure out how to do things such as turn lead into gold, but they did not manage to do it. This early form of chemistry was called alchemy. During the 18th century, alchemists became chemists when they began using the scientific method. Chemists separated the air into many parts and isolated the noble gases from it. They also processed special minerals from a mine in Sweden to get rare earth metals. Radioactivity was also discovered. 118 different elements have been found. Some are very common, like oxygen. Many are very rare and expensive, like platinum. Some cannot be found on earth and can only be made in labs, like rutherfordium. Since the 1920s, the increased understanding of physics has changed chemists' theories about chemical reactions. With smaller and faster computers, chemists have built better tools for analyzing substances. These tools have been sent to study chemicals on Mars. Police also use those tools to study evidence from crime scenes. Types of chemistry. There are several types of chemistry. Analytical chemistry looks at which chemicals are in things. For example, looking at how much arsenic is in food. Organic chemistry looks at things that have carbon in them. For example, making acetylene. Inorganic chemistry looks at things that do not have carbon in them. One example is making an integrated circuit. Theoretical chemistry tries to explain chemical data with mathematics and computers. A large area of chemistry is polymer chemistry. This looks at plastics. One example is making nylon. Because plastics are made of carbon, polymer chemistry is part of organic chemistry. Another area is biochemistry. This looks at the chemistry of living things. An example would be seeing how arsenic poisons people. Biochemistry is also part of organic chemistry. There are many other small branches of chemistry. Concepts of chemistry. Basic concepts. The basic unit of an element is called an atom
Computer science deals with the theoretical foundations of computation and practical techniques for their application. Computer science is the science of information. Computer scientists study different ways of reading, using, and encoding information. There are many different areas within computer science. In some areas, scientists only work with ideas "on paper". In other areas they use those ideas to make things like computers and computer programs. A person who works in computer science will often need to understand logic and mathematics. Common tasks for a computer scientist. Asking questions. This is so people can find new and easier ways to do things, and the way to approach problems with this information. While computers can do some things easily (like simple math, or sorting out a list of names from A-to-Z), computers cannot answer questions when there is not enough information, or when there is no real answer. Also, computers may take too much time to finish long tasks. For example, it may take too long to find the shortest way through all of the towns in the USA - so instead a computer will try to make a close guess. A computer will answer these simpler questions much faster. Answering the question. Algorithms are a specific set of instructions or steps on how to complete a task. For example, a computer scientist wants to sort playing cards. There are many ways to sort them - by suits (diamonds, clubs, hearts, and spades) or by numbers (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King, and Ace). By deciding on a set of steps to sort the cards, the scientist has created an algorithm. The scientist then needs to test whether this algorithm works. This shows how well and how fast the algorithm sorts cards. A simple but slow algorithm is: pick up two cards and check whether they are sorted correctly. If they are not, reverse them. Then do it again with another two, and repeat them all until they are all sorted. This is called a bubble sort. This method will work, but it will take a very long time. A better algorithm is: find the first card with the smallest suit and smallest number (2 of diamonds
A computer is a machine that uses electronics to input, process, store, and output data. Data is information such as numbers, words, and lists. Input of data means to read information from a keyboard, a storage device like a hard drive, or a sensor. The computer processes or changes the data by following the instructions in software programs. A computer program is a list of instructions the computer has to perform. Programs usually perform mathematical calculations, modify data, or move it around. The data is then saved on a storage device, shown on a display, or sent to another computer. Computers can be connected together to form a network such as the internet, allowing the computers to communicate with each other. The processor of a computer is made from integrated circuits (chips) that contains many transistors. Most computers are digital, which means that they represent information using binary digits, or bits. Computers come in different shapes and sizes, depending on the brand, model, and purpose. They range from small computers, such as smartphones and laptops, to large computers, such as supercomputers. Characteristics. Two things that define a computer are that it responds to a specific instruction set in a well-defined manner, and that it can execute a stored list of instructions called a program. There are four main actions in a computer: inputting, storing, outputting and processing. Modern computers can do billions of calculations in a second. Being able to calculate many times per second allows modern computers to multi-task, which means they can do many different tasks at the same time. Computers do many different jobs where automation is useful. Some examples are controlling traffic lights, vehicles, security systems, washing machines and digital televisions. Computers can be designed to do almost anything with certain information. Computers are used to control large and small machines that, in the past, were controlled by humans. Most people have a personal computer at home or at work. They are used for things such as calculation, listening to music, reading, writing, or playing games. Hardware. Modern computers are electronic computer hardware. They do mathematical arithmetic very quickly, but computers do not really "think." They only follow the instructions in their software programs. The software uses the hardware