Improve Your Vocabulary, Feed the Hungry
November 4th 2007 02:00
A New Blog that Led Me to Another Great New Site
As I checked my Technorati ranking yesterday, I noticed a Blog Reaction (backlink to my blog) that came from a blog I'd never, to my knowledge, visited before. This made me curious, so I clicked on over to check it out. When I arrived at the PhilMcDonnell.com blog, I discovered that in his post, Viral Day, Phil had reproduced a fascinating list of links that has been making its way around the blogosphere. (To learn more about the list, click the link to the "Viral Day" post.) At any rate, Writer's Notes was on the list, and hence my visit to his blog.
The Free Rice Site Where Words Buy Food for the Hungry
While I was there, I noticed another interesting post, called Free Rice.... The post tells of a United Nations World Food Program effort to feed the hungry which is partially supported by a website called Free Rice. This site offers its visitors a multiple-choice vocabulary quiz, with multiple levels of difficulty (50 to be exact); and the site--or rather its sponsors--pledge to donate 10 grains of rice to the U.N. effort for every correct definition chosen. While it's true that 10 grains isn't much rice, if enough people get enough answers correct, it could grow into a substantial amount of food for hungry people around the world. (According to the site's home page, 45,925,390 grains of rice were donated yesterday and 52,142,290 the day before. The site also publishes a list which includes a breakdown of the daily rice donations that have been contributed so far.)
My First Intellectual Donation to the Fight to End World Hunger
I, personally, earned 2,000 grains of rice yesterday by correctly defining 200 words. (I don't know how many words I attempted, since I got many of them wrong. [Decided not to use my dictionary.]) But, this quiz is a great way to improve your vocabulary while doing your small part to help those less fortunate than you. And, of course you can go back again and again, whenever you're inclined to learn a few words and feed a few mouths.
Win-Win Situation: How the Quiz Works
The vocabulary skill level varies as you take the quiz based on whether your definitions are correct or not. When you get three words in a row right, you're moved up a level, and when you get one wrong, you're moved down a level. It's a fascinating mental exercise! Personally, I tended to hover around the 40-43 mark, though I went as low as 38 and as high as 45. But, the great thing about this test is that, no matter what level you're at, you still earn 10 grains of rice for every correct answer, and you never lose any when you get an answer wrong. So it's a win-win situation! You win by learning new words that you'll be able to use in your writing--and understand in your reading--and the hungry peoples of the world who are on the receiving end of the U.N. World Food Program win by receiving the fruits of your intellectual labors.
So why not check out the site, learn a few new words, and help feed the hungry!
Happy helping!
Jeanne
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