QUES: Befitting a lush, tropical island stranded in the middle of the ocean, Madeira's origins are shrouded in mystery and fanciful legend. Some claim that the archipelago is what remains of Plato's lost Atlantis, or part of a landmass that once fused the continents of Europe and America. The Portuguese Step Ashore: Recorded history of the volcanic archipelago begins in relatively recent times: 1418, just as the golden age of Portuguese discovery was erupting. Under the leadership of Henry the Navigator, caravels set out from the westernmost point of the Algarve, in southern Portugal, in search of foreign lands, fame, and wealth. Joao Goncalves Zarco, sailing in the service of Prince Henry, made the first of many famous Portuguese discoveries, which would culminate a century later in Magellan's historic circumnavigation of the globe. Zarco happened upon a small volcanic archipelago 1,000 km from Lisbon. Perhaps Zarco knew precisely where he was heading, having learned of the existence of Madeira from a Castilian source. After all, the waters of the Canary Islands, only 445 km (275 miles) to the south, had occupied busy shipping lanes for very nearly a century, and Genovese maps from the mid-14th century depict both Madeira and Porto Santo. More likely, Zarco was heading for Guinea and storms forced him onto the beach of Porto Santo. If so, then he was extremely fortunate, for he managed to land on the only large, sandy beach for hundreds of miles around. Little wonder he subsequently named it Porto Santo (Holy Port). The following year Zarco returned to claim the larger island he had seen from Porto Santo, and with him went Tristao Vaz Teixeira and Bartolomeu Perestrelo. They officially became the first men to set foot on the heavily forested island, naming it Ilha da Madeira, "Island of Timber. " The Portuguese Crown, delighted with its first important discovery, immediately embarked on a program of colonization. Zarco and Teixeira were appointed co-governors of Madeira, while Perestrelo was awarded Porto Santo.
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MY QUESTION: What country was the man associated with who landed on a small volcanic archipelago 1,000 km from Lisbon?

QUES: Albrecht Durer (/'dU@r@r, 'djU@r@r/; German: ['albRect 'dy:Ra]; 21 May 1471 - 6 April 1528) was a painter, printmaker and theorist of the German Renaissance. Born in Nuremberg, Durer established his reputation and influence across Europe when he was still in his twenties, due to his high-quality woodcut prints. He was in communication with the major Italian artists of his time, including Raphael, Giovanni Bellini and Leonardo da Vinci, and from 1512 he was patronized by emperor Maximilian I. His vast body of work includes engravings, his preferred technique in his later prints, altarpieces, portraits and self-portraits, watercolours and books. The woodcuts, such as the Apocalypse series (1498), retain a more Gothic flavour than the rest of his work. His well-known engravings include the Knight, Death, and the Devil (1513), Saint Jerome in his Study (1514) and Melencolia I (1514), which has been the subject of extensive analysis and interpretation. His watercolours also mark him as one of the first European landscape artists, while his ambitious woodcuts revolutionized the potential of that medium. Durer's introduction of classical motifs into Northern art, through his knowledge of Italian artists and German humanists, has secured his reputation as one of the most important figures of the Northern Renaissance. This is reinforced by his theoretical treatises, which involve principles of mathematics, perspective and ideal proportions.
Do you have any questions?
MY QUESTION: In what town and in what year was Durer born?

QUES: Reducing resource use means just what it says using fewer resources. There are lots of ways to reduce our use of resources. Buy durable goods. Choose items that are well made so they will last longer. Youll buy fewer items in the long run, so youll save money as well as resources. Thats a win-win! Repair rather than replace. Fix your bike rather than buying a new one. Sew on a button instead of buying a new shirt. Youll use fewer resources and save money. Buy only what you need. Dont buy a gallon of milk if you can only drink half of it before it spoils. Instead, buy a half gallon and drink all of it. You wont be wasting resources (or money!) Buy local. For example, buy local produce at a farmers market, like the one in Figure 2.20. A lot of resources are saved by not shipping goods long distances. Products bought at farmers markets use less packaging, too! About a third of what we throw out is packaging.
Do you have any questions?
MY QUESTION: How can you reduce the use of resources by buying local?

QUES: Dr. Benjamin Stone is a hotshot young surgeon who longs to leave the drudgery of a Washington , D.C. emergency room and finally leaps at his chance at more money and less death as a plastic surgeon in Beverly Hills . On his last day , Ben's relationship with his co-workers is presumed to be anything but a warm one . None of his colleagues will join him for a drink and a cake in his honor has an iced portion of the phrase '' Good riddance , asshole '' sliced out . Ben's cross-country drive in a 1956 Porsche 356 Speedster is interrupted when he crashes in the rural hamlet of Grady , South Carolina . The crash damages the fence of local Judge Evans , who sentences him to community service at a nearby hospital . Ben offers to pay for the fence , but the stern judge increases his community service each time he talks back . Defeated , he reports to the hospital , where Nurse Packer humbles him by ordering him to clock in and out , as would a factory worker . Though upset , Ben quickly makes friends with Mayor Nick Nicholson , the town cafe's proprietor/head waitress , and Melvin , the local mechanic tasked with repairing Ben's car . Ben soon finds his clinic work to be much more laid-back than the emergency room . He has simple cases such as spots before the eyes , fishing hook impalings , and even reading mail for a young illiterate couple , whose baby he later delivers . The experience also humbles Ben when he mistreats a case of mitral valve regurgitation leading to late cyanosis in the child .
Do you have any questions?
MY QUESTION:
Did Ben have a job?