TASK DEFINITION: Given a paragraph, generate a claim that is supported by the given paragraph. 1) The claim must contain information from within the paragraph. 2) A sentence within the paragraph can be used as a claim. 3) The claim should not have contradictions within the paragraph. 4) The claim should be at most one sentence long.
PROBLEM: The furor, which erupted in Ireland last month and then spread quickly across Europe, has led to ready meals being pulled from supermarket shelves and damaged people’s confidence in the food on their plate. It also raised concerns over food labeling and the complex supply chain across the European Union, putting pressure on governments to explain lapses in quality control. A fifth of adults said they had started buying less meat after traces of horse DNA were found in some products, according to the poll conducted by Consumer Intelligence research company. “Our findings show that this scandal has really hit consumers hard, be it through having to change their shopping habits or altering the fundamentals of their diet,” David Black, a spokesman for Consumer Intelligence, said. The online poll, conducted on February 14-15, questioned more than 2,200 adults on their spending habits following the horsemeat scandal. It gave no specific figures on how much meat people were buying, focusing only on broader trends. More than 65 percent of respondents said they trusted food labels less as a result. “(Brands) will have to put in place really stringent ways of checking that what’s being delivered and what’s on the label is indeed what’s in there,” Black said. In the month since horsemeat was first identified in Irish beefburgers, no one is yet reported to have fallen ill from eating horse but many supermarkets and fast food chains are already struggling to save their reputations. Governments across Europe have stressed that horsemeat poses little or no health risk, although some carcasses have been found tainted with a painkiller given to racehorses but banned for human consumption. Environment secretary Owen Paterson, who met British retailers earlier in the day for talks on how to restore consumer confidence, said Britain was closely cooperating with European countries to investigate what happened. “Looking ahead, there was absolute determination in the industry to restore confidence in their products,” he said in televised remarks. “We look forward to meeting on a regular basis to absolutely make it clear that when consumers buy a product they get what they bought.”  British retailers now expect the vast majority of tests on processed beef products to be completed by February 22, according to the British Retail Consortium. More than 60 percent of adults surveyed said they would now buy meat from their local butchers, the poll said, while a quarter of adults said they would now buy more joints, chops or steaks instead of processed meat. Michael Suleyman, who owns a family-run butchers’ shop in Brixton, London, said more customers appeared concerned although for now there had not been any difference in sales figures. “We have seen people panicking and asking us lots of questions like ‘where do you get your meat from?’,” Suleyman, 51, told Reuters. “We assure our customers by showing them the meat and mincing it for them in front of their eyes.”  But with inflation running above central bank targets and an uncertain job market, the spending power of British consumers has been eroded in recent years and, for some, buying more expensive meat is not an option. Nearly a fifth of respondents said they wanted buy less processed meat such as ready-meals, but could not afford to. At a London branch of Britain’s biggest retailer, Tesco, which found horse DNA in some of its own-brand frozen spaghetti bolognese meals last week, consumers were still buying meat products. “I’ve got nothing against horse meat,” said Sean Cosgrove, 39, a local government employee. “I think you’re being ambitious if you expect top quality meat in those products anyway.”

SOLUTION: British shoppers saying nay to meat after horse scandal.

PROBLEM: A skier takes a jump during sunny winter weather at the Swiss mountain area of Hoch-Ybrig, south of Zurich, February 23, 2011. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann Lisa Wheeler, a New York-based fitness instructor, believes it’s never too late to get in shape to make skiing more enjoyable and safe. But don’t overdo it. “Do some basic strength training for the legs, core and arms,” said Wheeler, fitness program director for DailyBurn, an online workout site. “But if you haven’t done anything, dial it back a little.”   Wheeler recommends lunges to strengthen the quadriceps, the long muscles in the front of the thigh. “Lunges are quad-dominant and skiing is very quad dominant because your knees are bent and you’re going downhill,” she said. “And lunges also work the hamstrings and glutes,” she explained, referring to the large muscles that form the buttocks. Wheeler thinks the novice can forgo jumping or hopping lunges and concentrate instead on matrix lunges, basically stepping to and pushing off different directions across the range of motion. “For the last-minute person I recommend taking it easy,” she said. Wheeler said people think of skiing as going in one direction, downhill, and neglect to prepare their hips and core for the considerable demands of the activity. “If you analyze skiing there’s a lot of rotation and lateral movement of the hips,” she said. “I would do some core exercises, such as planks, and rotational movements with the medicine ball,” she said. “Because going down the slopes your body is turning, your hips are turning.”   Jessica Matthews of the American Council on Exercises suggests exercises that mimic the activity of skiing, which along with cardiovascular fitness and muscle strength, demands a measure of speed and agility. “I’m a huge fan of cone drills,” she said. “I just picked up a set for the house.”   Sold in sporting goods stores, cones are smaller and lighter than traffic cones. Matthews, an exercise physiologist, thinks they are ideal for setting up a circuit to train for the movements of weaving down a mountain. “You can work on developing lower body strength, lateral movements, do cone jumps and practice proper landing,” she said. Squats and lunges build lower body strength but for those challenged by a full squat, Matthews suggests the wall sit, which is essentially placing the back against the wall with knees bent. Ideally, she said, you want to begin a pre-ski routine at least six weeks prior to hitting the slopes. “That’s a good time from physiological standpoint,” she said. Another crucial element to skiing is the ability to react quickly. “Downhill is not straight downhill,” said Matthews. “You have to dodge people. You’ve got to be able to make quick changes, you might have to counter a fall, so it’s important to make sure your hips, legs, shoulders, spine are all ready to go.” Wheeler said.

SOLUTION: Pre-ski preparations help before hitting the slopes.

PROBLEM: Officials in Cumberland County say the Department of Health was told Saturday that a person affiliated with the university was hospitalized with a “possible diagnosis of a bacterial meningitis infection.” They did not say if the ill individual is a student. Officials say they are coordinating with the school and the state to provide antibiotics to anyone who had direct close contact with the individual. The university sent a campus-wide notification Saturday. Meningitis is an infection of the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord. The bacteria that cause the infection can spread through kissing, coughing and sharing beverages. Signs and symptoms of infection include high fever, headache, stiff neck and a rash.

SOLUTION:
Officials investigate possible meningitis case at NC college.