Claims that you can learn shorthand in a few hours should be taken with a dose of skepticism. The time it will take you depends on how often you practice, the difficulty of the system, and your goal speed. It may take as long as a year of hard work to really master a useful shorthand. You need to fully absorb the word-building principles first; speed comes from them. Try for at least 45 minutes to an hour, if you can. Remember, though, that even daily short sessions are better than one or two longer ones per week. Start with the alphabet, filling each line of a piece of notebook paper with one letter. Next, you'll move on to words, doing the same thing. When you're ready, you'll move on to common groups of words. Saying the words aloud as you write them helps your brain make the connection between the phonemic sound and the symbol. Shorthand dictations come in different speeds (words per minute), so you can work your way to an increasingly rapid pace. Practice each speed (30, 40, 50, 60, etc.) until you're comfortable, then move on. If you want to practice as much as possible, put dictations on your MP3 player and practice whenever you have a few extra minutes.
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One-sentence summary -- Start off with realistic expectations. Prioritize mastery over speed. Practice every day. Drill in stages. Increase speed with dictation exercises.

Q: Pole beans should be planted so that there is one seed per hole, and each seed is at least 3 inches (7.6cm) away from the next. Bush beans should be planted so that there is one seed per hole, and each seed is at least 2 inches (5.1cm) away from the next. The hole should be 1-inch deep. Remember that bush beans need more space in between plants than pole bean as pole beans grow vertically. Carefully put one seed in each hole you've dug; it may be tempting to put multiple seeds at once, but this will cause the seedlings to compete for space and nutrients as they grow, and possibly result in the death of the plant. Cover up each seed with 12 inches (2.55.1cm) of your garden soil. Immediately after planting, give your seeds plenty of water to aid in their germination. After planting, you should continue to water the seeds once every 2-3 days, so that the soil is always moist. Avoid over watering though, as too much water (leaving puddles or pools on the topsoil) will cause the seeds to rot. Mulch is an incredibly helpful tool for new gardeners. Made from trees, leaves, or straw, mulch is a layer of shredded plant limbs you place over the topsoil in your garden. This blocks out weeds and traps in moisture, two good things for new plants. Spread a layer of mulch 1-inch thick over your garden soil after your seeds have grown several inches tall. Fertilizer adds nutrients to garden soil, helping increase the growth of your beans and the overall harvest. Fertilizers are made of a combination of three primary ingredients: nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium. Beans naturally produce a lot of nitrogen, meaning that you should look for a fertilizer that has low nitrogen content (such as a 5-20-20 mixture). Ask your local nursery worker with help on choosing a fertilizer for your beans, if you have questions. Do not add nitrogen fertilizer to the soil if you added a nitrogen-fixing bacteria. The bacteria will help the plants make their own.
A: Dig a hole. Place the seeds. Water your seeds regularly. Put down a layer of mulch after the seeds sprout. Fertilize your garden every four weeks.

Article: After opening the glue trap from the package, set it on the ground with the glue facing upward. Place bait next to or on top of the glue trap to lure the mice. Glue mouse traps use glue trays with scented substances that attract rodents. Once the rodent has stepped into the trap, it sinks further into the trap until it dies. Keep in mind that glue mouse traps are considered the least humane traps because they kill mice by starvation or suffocation, which can take days.
Question: What is a summary of what this article is about?
Place glue traps near or on bait.

Problem: Article: Your vet will perform a physical examination, which includes being alert for other problems that can cause pain and mimic back ache. The vet will support the dog's back end and turn the back of the paw so that it rests on the ground. This is to check the dog is aware the paw is in the wrong position and correct it. Not to do so could indicate nerve damage. The vet will also check for other nerve reflexes, such as the ability to feel pain in the toes, as an indication of whether there is nerve damage or not. The vet will gently feel along the spine, being especially alert for local areas of tenderness and muscle "fasciculation," which is where the muscles twitch because they are sensitized to pain. If back pain is confirmed, the vet may suggest imaging to check what is causing the pain. Sources of pain include disc disease, spinal arthritis, spondylitis (infection in the vertebra), inflammatory nerve disease, muscle sprains and strains. A diagnostic test commonly used at veterinary clinics is to take x-rays of the spine. Each section of the back is x-rayed in turn (depending on where the suspected damage is), such as the neck, chest, and lower back. Two views are usually taken of each area so as to provide a cross reference: One view taken from the side (the lateral) and one from above or below (the dorso-ventral or ventro-dorsal). Radiography can provide helpful information about the bones of the spine and the spaces between them, but it cannot provide a picture of the spinal cord itself. For this more advanced imaging methods are needed. A limitation of x-rays is they can be misleading. For example, a narrowed space between two vertebra is abnormal and suggest that the disc is diseased. However, the disc may have ruptured harmlessly to one side and avoided pressurizing the spinal cord. Thus, x-rays can give a clues, which can be interpreted in the light of clinical signs as giving a diagnosis. More sophisticated imaging techniques, where available, have taken over from x-rays. These sophisticated techniques can visualize the spinal cord itself. Thus if a disc has prolapsed into the spine, the clinician will be able to see the "waistline" in the spine where it is compressed. This is vital information if specialist decompression surgery is being considered, as it allows the surgeon to know exactly which discs are involved, so they operate in the correct place. Unfortunately, MRI and CT scans are costly. In addition, the dog also needs to be anesthetized so that it keeps still in the scanner. This will have an additional cost, as well as a further health risk for the dog.
Summary: Take your dog for a veterinary exam. Consent to your vet giving the dog an x-ray. Ask your veterinarian about getting an MRI or CT scan instead of an x-ray.

Article: The sunken area beneath coil burners is called the drip pan. This part of the stove tends to get dirty quickly. Save yourself time and effort spent cleaning by using drip pan liners, which are available at most supermarkets and grocery stores. Save money by making your own drip pan liners out of aluminum foil. Layer the bottom of your drip pan with the foil and discard the foil when it becomes dirty. Every time the cooktop cools, you should wipe it with a clean, lint-free cloth. This will keep your stove looking neat and well maintained. It also helps to prevent heavy buildup that can be time-consuming to remove. Set a time every day you can make it a habit to lightly clean the stove. This will make it easier for you to remember to do regularly. Even cleaning messes as they occur, over time, spills and spatter will build up on the surfaces of your stovetop. Keeping up with your day to day light cleaning, however, should make a once a month deep-cleaning fast and relatively easy.
Question: What is a summary of what this article is about?
Prevent messes by using liners beneath the burners. Wipe up messes as they occur. Deep-clean your stove regularly.