AMAZING WOMEN
[0] Best speller in the country. Last Thursday night, 14-year-old Zaila Avant-garde won the 2021 Scripps National Spelling Bee*. Her winning word – only one of the many difficult words she had to spell – was “murraya”, a kind of tree. Amazingly, Zaila only started taking part in spelling bees two years ago. Zaila’s win makes her the first Black American to win the bee. She says, “I’m hoping that in a few years, I’ll see a whole lot more African American females, and males too, doing well in the Scripps Spelling Bee.” [1]
Cloze (1):
A five-continent flight goal. An unusually successful hit. Crossing the ocean on her boat. An outstanding kick for a girl. First female singer to be famous. Best basketball player at university. Head of government for a short time. Flying on a monster wave.
JXUwMDE5JXUwMDJmJXUwMDRlJXUwMDU1JXUwMDFiJXUwMDFiJXUwMDA2JXUwMDA2JXUwMDE0JXUwMDBkJXUwMDAwJXUwMDE1JXUwMDU5JXUwMDUzJXUwMDA2JXUwMDE2JXUwMDAwJXUwMDA2JXUwMDE2JXUwMDAwJXUwMDE1JXUwMDEzJXUwMDE5JXUwMDRjJXUwMDQ4JXUwMDAxJXUwMDFkJXUwMDVh
Another kind of musical record was set this weekend when Taylor Swift’s song “All Too Well” hit #1 on the charts. Ms. Swift has had many number one songs, but this one was a little unusual, since it’s over 10 minutes long. Before this, the longest song to make #1 was “American Pie” by the songwriter Don Maclean. American Pie was eight minutes and 42 seconds long. [2]
Cloze (2):
A five-continent flight goal. An unusually successful hit. Crossing the ocean on her boat. An outstanding kick for a girl. First female singer to be famous. Best basketball player at university. Head of government for a short time. Flying on a monster wave.
JXUwMDE5JXUwMDJmJXUwMDRlJXUwMDRmJXUwMDFhJXUwMDAxJXUwMDA3JXUwMDA3JXUwMDE1JXUwMDBmJXUwMDBhJXUwMDBkJXUwMDA3JXUwMDA5JXUwMDQ3JXUwMDRiJXUwMDAyJXUwMDBhJXUwMDA4JXUwMDRiJXUwMDQ2JXUwMDA5JXUwMDFkJXUwMDUyJXUwMDQxJXUwMDQxJXUwMDQ3JXUwMDBlJXUwMDFiJXUwMDFlJXUwMDQy
Vanderbilt University senior Sarah Fuller has made history again, this time by becoming the first female to score in a Power 5 college football game. “Power 5” stands for the five strongest and best college football conferences. Fuller is normally a soccer goalkeeper. In November, Fuller and her team won the Southeastern Conference women’s soccer championships. [3]
Cloze (3):
A five-continent flight goal. An unusually successful hit. Crossing the ocean on her boat. An outstanding kick for a girl. First female singer to be famous. Best basketball player at university. Head of government for a short time. Flying on a monster wave.
JXUwMDE5JXUwMDYxJXUwMDQ2JXUwMDBmJXUwMDFmJXUwMDEzJXUwMDQ4JXUwMDRlJXUwMDBjJXUwMDAxJXUwMDFhJXUwMDFkJXUwMDA3JXUwMDBiJXUwMDBiJXUwMDFhJXUwMDU0JXUwMDQ2JXUwMDBhJXUwMDA1JXUwMDBlJXUwMDBmJXUwMDFjJXUwMDU0JXUwMDQ3JXUwMDA4JXUwMDBlJXUwMDBkJXUwMDQy
Zara Rutherford is flying around the world by herself in a small plane. When she finishes her trip, which will take over two months, she’ll become the youngest woman to fly all the way around the globe by herself. She’s just 19 years old. Ms. Rutherford, who’s British-Belgian, began her trip in Belgium on August 18. She plans to fly across five continents, through 52 countries before returning to Belgium in November. [4]
Cloze (4):
A five-continent flight goal. An unusually successful hit. Crossing the ocean on her boat. An outstanding kick for a girl. First female singer to be famous. Best basketball player at university. Head of government for a short time. Flying on a monster wave.
JXUwMDFiJXUwMDMxJXUwMDFkJXUwMDFjJXUwMDAwJXUwMDFhJXUwMDA3JXUwMDA5JXUwMDQ3JXUwMDU0JXUwMDFjJXUwMDBkJXUwMDQ1JXUwMDRmJXUwMDBjJXUwMDA2JXUwMDA0JXUwMDBmJXUwMDRlJXUwMDRmJXUwMDAxJXUwMDRlJXUwMDQ4JXUwMDBkJXUwMDE3JXUwMDUyJXUwMDQyJXUwMDBkJXUwMDBlJXUwMDE1JXUwMDVh
Last Saturday morning, Jasmine Harrison became the youngest woman to row alone across an ocean. It took the 21-year-old swimming teacher just over 70 days to row across the Atlantic Ocean. Ms. Harrison, who’s from North Yorkshire, England, didn’t have loads of experience in rowing long distances. She’d only got the idea three years earlier when she happened to be in Antigua and saw the end of the 2017 Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge.
[5]
Cloze (5):
A five-continent flight goal. An unusually successful hit. Crossing the ocean on her boat. An outstanding kick for a girl. First female singer to be famous. Best basketball player at university. Head of government for a short time. Flying on a monster wave.
JXUwMDFlJXUwMDJhJXUwMDE1JXUwMDEwJXUwMDA3JXUwMDA5JXUwMDQ3JXUwMDRmJXUwMDAxJXUwMDRlJXUwMDQxJXUwMDQxJXUwMDRkJXUwMDAyJXUwMDAxJXUwMDFkJXUwMDA3JXUwMDExJXUwMDE3JXUwMDUyJXUwMDU3JXUwMDE2JXUwMDE3JXUwMDEzJXUwMDRi
In February, Maya Gabeira of Brazil set a new surfing record for women when she tackled a 73.5-foot (22.4-meter) wave off the coast of Nazaré, Portugal. But Gabeira’s wave, and that of Justine Dupont, who came in second, had to be measured specially before the World Surf League would say publicly that she had also beaten the male winner, Kai Lenny. It turned out that both women beat Lenny’s 70-foot (21.3-meter) wave. And Gabeira’s wave was the biggest wave anyone – male or female – has surfed so far in 2020. [6]
Cloze (6):
A five-continent flight goal. An unusually successful hit. Crossing the ocean on her boat. An outstanding kick for a girl. First female singer to be famous. Best basketball player at university. Head of government for a short time. Flying on a monster wave.
JXUwMDEwJXUwMDJkJXUwMDA0JXUwMDA1JXUwMDQ0JXUwMDRmJXUwMDA5JXUwMDQ2JXUwMDQ3JXUwMDA4JXUwMDE5JXUwMDEzJXUwMDE3JXUwMDFjJXUwMDAzJXUwMDA4JXUwMDBiJXUwMDFhJXUwMDU0JXUwMDQ2JXUwMDA5JXUwMDFkJXUwMDUyJXUwMDQxJXUwMDQxJXUwMDUzJXUwMDFiJXUwMDA3JXUwMDFkJXUwMDA2JXUwMDU0JXUwMDU0JXUwMDFkJXUwMDA0JXUwMDA4JXUwMDRi
Wednesday was a historic day in Sweden, as 54-year-old Magdalena Andersson was named prime minister. Ms. Andersson became the leader of Sweden’s Social Democrats party earlier this month. But Ms. Andersson’s term in office came to a quick end. Political differences in a deeply divided Parliament broke up the coalition that Ms. Andersson had put together.