Word: adornment
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...visit two schools, one near Guangzhou, the other in Beijing. At both places, two teachers handle a class of approximately 40 four-year-olds. Instructive slogans adorn the walls: THE NAIL THAT STICKS OUT GETS HAMMERED DOWN and THE LONG POLE GETS SAWED OFF. Creativity, experimentation, even simple play are discouraged. Handed blocks, the children erect structures pictured in workbooks; once completed, the buildings are torn down and put up again and again until the time allotted for block-building expires. And "No talking, while you're building," a teacher scolds. Or while you're eating, for that matter...
...must ask, Can you rebuild a pyramid into the Parthenon? The ancient Egyptian pyramids are rightly considered the most enduring of architectural forms -- much more durable and solid than the Parthenon. And the legitimate question arises: Do pyramids lend themselves to perestroika? It would be possible, of course, to adorn them with decorative colonnades, to cover them with molding, to suspend Greek porticoes on them. But would these changes enhance them? Wouldn't they spoil the fundamental style and profile...
...Darman's negotiations with Congress present serpentine challenges worthy of a Kafka plot, his personality has the dense texturing of a protagonist in a Nabokov novel. Contradictions little and large adorn his life. He owns two racehorses but never bets on them because he doesn't gamble. Last year when his aged Audi expired, he agonized for weeks before acquiring a new Mercedes- Benz. The symbolism of so expensive a car bothers this man of independent means who cuts his own hair (badly) because "it's cheaper and faster." With a reporter he knows well, he can be drawn into...
...source of ethically questionable payments, the most convincing rationale for raising government pay is that better salaries will attract highly qualified people to government service. But while that logic may apply to the top-notch executives needed for senior posts in Cabinet departments and lawyers skilled enough to adorn the federal bench, it has little to do with Congress. Despite the alleged financial hardships of congressional service, vacant House and Senate seats never go begging. And few incumbents ever retire because of financial straits...
...keep his slot-car racetracks, visitors are reminded of what all the shoutin' is about. Some 150 of Elvis' gold and platinum records, including Hound Dog and Heartbreak Hotel, range down a long corridor. His film and stage costumes, from tailored black leather to elaborate Las Vegas numbers, adorn faceless mannequins. Some women with an eye for fashion think the white jumpsuits have been taken in beyond the dimensions necessary to fit the porky Elvis in his final years. Guides stoutly deny...