¹According to the dictionary, the word “diversity” means “variation” or “difference”.  ²Today, the word is frequently used to describe variation in the kinds of people found in companies.  ³Rather than see variation as a negative point, most companies consider diversity to be positive and will deliberately employ people of different races, religions, and cultures.  ⁴They do this because these employees may speak the same languages, share the same experiences, and hold the same opinions as people from similar background in societies where companies operate.  ⁵Staff diversity may therefore suggest a company is trying to reflect the interests and values of its customers.
⁶Issues related to gender diversity are among the most significant challenges that companies face.  ⁷This is particularly so in Japan where the lack of women in the workplace in general, and in management positions in particular, has led successive governments to call for companies to correct the imbalance between men and women.  ⁸To encourage greater gender diversity, in the past few years most large Japanese companies have begun to set targets to increase the number of women they employ at different levels within their organizations.

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  ¹Traditionally, school children are taught that there are two main types of elephants: the African and the Asian. ²However, African elephants can actually be classified into bush elephants and forest elephants.  ³African elephants prefer to be near water, but they can also live in forests, deserts, and savannahs.
⁴Male bush elephants are the world’s largest land animals, while the forest elephants are about half as big.  ⁵Because of their size, other animals tend to keep their distance from elephants, while predators such as lions and hyenas usually target only the young.  ⁶Even though they are generally safe from being attacked  by other animals, African elephants are increasingly being driven from their traditional areas because people want to develop the land for farming.  ⁷Perhaps the biggest threat to the survival of African elephants comes from illegal ivory traders who pay hunters to kill these magnificent animals for their tusks.

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¹Developments in computer technology present opportunities for changing how teachers teach and students learn.²For example, the Internet provides students with access to far more information than any textbook could ever offer.  ³New software applications can allow students to learn through playing games, making videos, and creating multimedia projects.  ⁴Furthermore, the use of tablet computers or smartphones can encourage students to cooperate on such projects from the comfort of their own classroom.
  ⁵However, there is no guarantee that advances in technology will improve learning.  ⁶For example, research done on introducing the Internet to public schools in California indicated there was no improvement in learning.  ⁷Similarly, research conducted throughout North Carolina actually showed a slight decrease in students’ math and reading scores.  ⁸Why has the full potential of computers in education not been realized?
⁹Education specialists say that computer technology can improve learning only if students already know the basics of a subject, and if teachers are trained in the use of computers and understand how to integrate them into lessons.  ¹⁰If these two things can be done, then the use of computers in the classroom can achieve its full potential.

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   ¹Few people know the word dondurma, but many people may know it as Turkish ice cream.  ²Dondurma is unsusual because although it looks and tastes like ice cream, it can be stretched and chewed like bubble gum.  ³In the same way as regular ice cream, it is made of milk and sugar, but unlike normal ice cream, it contains salep, a special flour made from a wild flower found in Turkey, and mastic, a sticky, gum-like material.  ⁴These two materials also give dondurma another unique feature: it does not melt easily.
   ⁵In Turkey, dondurma is commonly served in ice cream cones and is sold from both street carts and store fronts.  ⁶Outside of Turkey, dondurma is sold in stores in more than 100 countries.  ⁷However, the increasing popularity of dondurma has led to a shortage in the supply of salep flour.  ⁸In response to this, other ingredients are being used in place of salep, ensuring that people all over the world can continue to enjoy this unusual dessert.

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