QUES: Temperate climates have moderate temperatures. These climates vary in how much rain they get and when the rain falls. You can see different types of temperate climates in Figure 2.40. Mediterranean climates are found on the western coasts of continents. The coast of California has a Mediterranean climate. Temperatures are mild and rainfall is moderate. Most of the rain falls in the winter, and summers are dry. To make it through the dry summers, short woody plants are common. Marine west coast climates are also found on the western coasts of continents. The coast of Washington State has this type of climate. Temperatures are mild and theres plenty of rainfall all year round. Dense fir forests grow in this climate. Humid subtropical climates are found on the eastern sides of continents. The southeastern U.S. has this type of climate. Summers are hot and humid, but winters are chilly. There is moderate rainfall throughout the year. Pine and oak forests grow in this climate.
Do you have any questions?
MY QUESTION: What are characteristics of a Mediterranean Climate:?

QUES: Peace and Prosperity: After years of government propaganda predicting the worst atrocities, most Japanese civilians were surprised at the warmth and friendliness of the occupying forces. The postwar period began, however, with millions of displaced people homeless and starving. To counter a perceived communist threat from the Soviet Union, the US quickly set to work reconstructing the economy by transforming Japan's institutions and devising a new pacifist constitution. Article 9 renounced Japan's right to maintain armed forces, although the ambiguous wording was later taken to permit the creati on of a "self-defense" force. The zaibatsu conglomerates that had proved so instrumental in boosting Japan's militarism were disbanded, later to re-emerge as the keiretsu trading conglomerates that dominated the economy once again. The entire economy received a massive jump-start with the outbreak of the Korean War, with Japan ironically becoming the chief local supplier for an army it had battled so furiously just a few years earlier. The occupation lasted until 1952, having already planted the seeds for Japan's future stunning economic success. Economic output was back to prewar levels, and British auto companies provided the support needed to get Japan's auto industry back on its feet. Japanese companies then enthusiastically imported any Western technologies they could get their hands on. This included transistor technologyinvented in the US but then considered to have only limited applicationsfor the surreal sum of $25,000. It was Japan that produced the world's first transistor radio. The electronic technology spurt that followed is now legendary. Parliamentary democracy finally came into its own, albeit with distinctly Japanese characteristics reflecting the dislike of debate and confrontation and the group-oriented preference for maintaining the appearance of harmony at all times. The government, through the powerful Finance Ministry and Ministry of International Trade and Industry, generously supported favored private corporations: first shipping, then cars, then electronics firms basked in the warmth of the government's loving attentions. Japan overtook Britain economically in 1964. By the end of the decade, Japan's was the third largest economy in the worldless then two decades after the war had left the country in ruins. Prosperity was not without its own problems: pollution caused by "dirty" industries, a high incidence of stomach ulcers (even suicides) among schoolchildren pressured by over-ambitious parents, and the awkward questions of what to do about nuclear energy. The famous coziness among politicians, bureaucrats, and private companies, together with the strong cultural emphasis on relationship-building and a lack of transparency and accountability, eventually led to corrupt practices of endemic proportions.
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MY QUESTION: How long after the occupation ended did it take for Japan to overtake Britain economically?

QUES: Do not look for the Danteum in the Eternal City. In true Dantean form, politics stood in the way of its construction in 1938. Ironically this literature-inspired building can itself most easily be found in book form. Reading this book I remembered Goethe's quote about frozen music. Did Terragni try to freeze Dante's medieval miracle of song? Certainly a cold-poem seems artistically repulsive. Unflattering comparisons to the lake of Cocytus spring to mind too. While I cannot read Italian, I can read some German. After locating the original quotation I discovered that 'frozen' is a problematic (though common) translation of Goethe's original 'erstarrte.' The verb 'erstarren' more properly means 'to solidify' or 'to stiffen.' This suggests a chemical reaction in which the art does not necessarily chill in the transformation. Nor can simple thawing yield the original work. Like a chemical reaction it requires an artistic catalyst, a muse. Indeed the Danteum is not a physical translation of the Poem. Terragni thought it inappropriate to translate the Comedy literally into a non-literary work. The Danteum would not be a stage set, rather Terragni generated his design from the Comedy's structure, not its finishes.
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MY QUESTION: Which two works are being discussed in the passage?

QUES: Two women trade houses without ever having met . They 're both looking for an escape from their problems , but by running away , both come to discover a great deal about themselves . Ria Lynch is married to Danny Lynch and they have a daughter and a son . Danny begins spending less and less time at home with his wife and children . Ria believes another baby is the solution , and is shocked to find out that indeed her husband is going to be a father - but to a child from an affair he has been having . Her husband's unfaithfulness is the event that leads Ria into her decision to switch homes with a woman from the US called Marilyn who lost her teenage son to a motorcycle accident on his birthday . Marilyn is struggling to come to terms with her son's death and has become estranged from her husband . She hopes her time in Dublin will cease her grief . Ria and Marilyn discover deep , dark secrets about the other during the summer . The two become close friends but do not reveal the secrets . { { Expand section } }
Do you have any questions?
MY QUESTION:
Why is Danny spending less time at home?