In "Failure is Not An Option" Sharon LaFraniere explores that teenager Liu Qichao is about to take the biggest test, and believes it's not an option to fail it. Most of this article explains how this text will determine everything. It's also nine hours long.

The article includes quotes from Liu Qichao and experts. One fact that stood out to me was "In 2007, a student arriving four minutes late was turned away, even after she and her mother knelt before the exam proctor, begging for leniency. This quote stood out to me because if this text is so important and determines everything why wouldn't they be able to take it, even if they are late? would they be able to take it another time?

I think it is important for people to be on time to take this major. When your taking a test you wouldn't want someone to knock on the door making noise why your trying to concentrate. I think part of the problem is that some people don't take it as serious as they should. They won't wake up on time, or study.

In "The New Face of America" Veronica Majerol concluded that "For the first time, more minorities are being born in the U.S. than whites. This means that now instead of the whites outnumbering minorities, minorities will outnumber whites, for the first time.

This article includes quotes from experts, and graphs. One quote that stood out to me was "By 2042, minorities are on pace to collectively outnumber whites." This quote means that every year the population of minorities is increasing. Is this a good thing or bad thing?

The only reason why I think that minorities are outnumbering whites is because teens are having babies more from left to right. if young adults were still in school and not having children then whites will probably be still be outnumbering minorities.

I can conclude that by the year 2042 there high school graduates will decrease even more. I personally thought that whites will always outnumber minorities but studies have proved me wrong. It's like every time a minority dies another one is born.

In the article "Do we have the courage to stop this" Nicholas D. Kristof discovers that people aren't taking guns as seriously as they do cars. Throughout reading the article, most of the speakers in it agrees with Nicholas. They want something to be done about this.

This article includes quotes from the President Obama, the Harvard Injury Control Research Center and more. One quote that stood out to me was "We've endured too many of these tragedies in the past few years," said President Obama. This quote tells readers that even though some people have tried to stop this, it hasn't. It's still going on.

Nicholas states, "We should impose a universal background check for gun buyers, even with private sales." I think he's right. This way they can find out how many people are using guns without permission, well lisense.

I think regulating guns is a great idea. If people would only use guns for a reasonable reason then the gun rates would go down. There are too many gun kills than car accidents. Do i think they courage to stop it? No. Not at all. If this have been going on for years why didn't they been stop it?

In "Give Lance another Chance" CNN.com surveyed if Lance Armstrong should have another chance in running. Some people say he should and others say he shouldn't. People must have a lot to think about. Was it really that serious? Or should they make him suffer for what he did?

This article includes quotes from experts who have studied Lance's career. Frida Ghitis who is a world affairs columnist, Randy Cohen, who wrote the Ethicist column in New York, Roxanne Jones, an editor for ESPN Magazines, and many more. One quote that stood up to me was, "Do I think he should be allowed to race again? No. Lance Armstrong racing again is not truly an option anyway-- he's almost 42," said Jeff Pearlman. This quote stood out to me because I don't think it matters how old you are to race, as long as you keep your body and health up.

I don't think Lance was wrong for what he did. Lying about a race isn't that serious. People lie all over the world for things far more worse than that. Also just because he used performance-enhancing drugs doesn't mean anything. Boxers, wrestlers, football players and much more professional people use drugs to do better in what they do, and a lot of people aren't complaining.

When people are talking about Lance and what they did, they should also think about the horrible things that other famous people are doing. Maybe they should just give him another chance because everybody has flaws. As for what Kevin Powell said, "We all have our flaws".

In "Civial War in Syria Raises Questions About When to Intervene"
 Ja'anai Delaney explores how everyone questions if anyone should interfer with the war going on in Syria with their president and towns people. The article says that with the civial war occuring in Syria, it's making it dangerous for many civilians to stay in their homes. Most of the article wants to know if the united states army should intervene.


This article includes quotes from the U.N headquaters in New York City and also the U.S Secretary of State Hiliary Cliton. Cliton said, "Alot of people are trying to figure out what could be an effective intervention that wouldn't cause more death and suffering." She may have said this because if the Unites States military interfres with the war in Syria they will be bombed with
homemade chemical bombs. One fact that stood out to me was "The free Syrian Army consists of mostly untrained men armed with AK-47s, rocket launchers,and homemade bombs.." This stood out to me because Syria is poor but has many powerful weapons.

I think the U.S shouldn't intervene with Syria because it's not our fight. Also if we intervene we could create a larger problem and also lose some of our soilders. Even though people in Syria are losing their life because of their sinister president, i think the soilders should somehow over power the president and stop the war.

In "All Work and No Play: Why Your Kids Are More Anxious, Depressed" Esther Entin discovers that schools are cutting down kids free/play time, to get them more serious about their work. Most of the article talks about how children's play time has been declining for many years. Since the recess time has decreased, the article states that it's keeping kids from turning into confident adults. That's not good!

the article includes quotes and facts from researchers. One fact that stood out to me was ".... compared to 1981, children in 1977 spent less time in play and had less free time. They spent 18 percent more time at school, 145 percent more time doing school work, and 168 percent more time shopping with parents." This quote shows that not only schools but also parents are taking away children's free time. Instead of shopping with their parents children could be somewhere enjoying them self.

I think that declining childern's free time is a bad idea. While kids are usually at free time they are expressing their self. For example, a game of cops and robbers lets kids think about the career of becoming a police officer. Without them even having a chance to go outside and play they wont have that idea in mind. The only thing that they'll be worried about is work. Too much work and not enough free time time can stress a child out.

This article reminded me of the school Mastery I attended last year. They stop giving recess at 6th grade. All we did was work on top of work. Even at lunch we weren't able to get out our seats. The school barley went on trips or did anything fun. I was very stressed out at only the age of 12 and 13.

In the article "Philadelphia superintendent identifies schools he intends to close" Kristen A. Graham finds out the main two reasons why the superintendent wants to shut down school. The two main reasons are because of financial and academics. Most schools that are closing down are joining together with other high schools. The superintendent also wants to shut down 6-8 grades middle schools and make them k-8 elementary schools.

The article includes quotes from the superintendent and also from Mayor Nutter. Mayor Nutter said "It will mean safer, better-equipped schools capable of meeting the educational needs of the schoolchildren." This quote means that moving students into one school will make it safe because they will be able to improve the building since they saved money.

 I think that joining two schools together is a bad idea. It's a bad idea because some of the schools that are coming together are public schools which get into a lot of fights. So when the schools come together there would probably be much drama. Students would be kicked out and suspended.

This article reminds me of Parkway West because it's joined together with the middle school MYA. They aren't on the same floor but they share the same building. Sometimes Parkway infringes with MYA because they have lunch on the same floor as their classes.