\n Percentage by which the Defense Department proposed cutting its budget Ratio of the institute’s budget to the estimated price ofJennifer Lopez’s First year in which the definition of "turkey" in Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Grams by which the amount of fat in McDonald’s fattiest salad exceeds that First the students were instructed to rewrite the items as gramatically correct statements Next they would rewrite them again as questions and answers. Q: "How many Finally, and here is where the higher order language functions kick in, Students love figuring out what the point is, and pursuing the subsequent However I remember lamenting several years ago that the monthly lists from Harpers<\/a><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" For years the Dowbrigade has been using the Harper’s Index with his advanced ESL students. The Harpers Index is a monthly list of surprising or unexpected or counterintuitive statistical facts, written in a strange hybrid form expressing equivalency, but gramatically … Continue reading ![](\"http:\/\/cyber.law.harvard.edu\/blogs\/static\/dowbrigade\/harpers_208x86.gif\")
For
\n years the Dowbrigade has been using the Harper’s Index with his advanced
\n ESL students. The Harpers Index is a monthly list of surprising
\n or unexpected or counterintuitive statistical
\n facts, written in a strange hybrid form expressing equivalency, but
\n gramatically neither statement nor question. Here are some examples from last
\n month’s list:<\/a><\/p>\n\n
\n this year by closing its Peacekeeping Institute: 0.001 <\/p>\n
\n engagement ring: 3:4 <\/p>\n
\n Dictionary went beyond fowl: 1949 <\/p>\n
\n in its fattiest burger: 3 <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
\n – for example, "McDonald’s fattiest salad has three grams of fat more than
\n its fattiest burger."<\/p>\n
\n more grams of fat does McDonalds fattiest salad have than its fattiest burger?"
\n A: Three grams<\/p>\n
\n they had to answer the question "And the point is?" (Salads can have more
\n grease and fat than burgers, at least at MickyD’s)<\/p>\n
\n conversational strands ("What could they possibly put in their salads to
\n make them greasier than their burgers?")<\/p>\n
\n were unavailable on the Harpers magazine web site. No more. Now, they have
\n an archive of past indexes, and on the first of each month post the previous
\n month’s list. The items are even linked to Harper’s stories and other
\n resources! Great resource for teachers.<\/p>\n