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After Wall Street closed one recent Friday, a young man in jeans and a sports jacket strode into the showroom of the Classic Car Club of Manhattan, a few blocks north of Tribeca. He paced between an Aston Martin V8, a Rolls-Royce Corniche, two vintage Ferraris and a dozen others, eager to find something for a night out. Ten minutes later he zipped through the hangar doors in a 2005 Lotus Elise, a bright red, curvy little number. There was no bill to pay and no insurance form to sign. Luxury-car clubs are well established in Europe. Now they are catching on in the United States. The idea is that for an annual membership fee, plus (sometimes) a weekly charge, members can have their choice of smart cars. Ron Van Horssen, who recently opened a club near Phoenix, says the model is based on executive-jet sharing. Rich people, he thinks, are realising that "owning an asset is not necessarily the best way of getting the benefits of using it". A spin in a Van Horssen Ferrari Maranello costs $4,500 per week, plus the $7,000 annual fee. No one needs to worry about maintenance or inspections-and, as price tags on new Lamborghinis and Bentleys have climbed, the rich can even save a bit of money. Only a handful of clubs exist now in America, and none has national scope. Club Sportiva, a pioneer when it opened three years ago, is in San Francisco and San Jose; Exotic Car Share is in Chicago and New York. The Classic Car Club, a British firm, opened its Manhattan branch last July. But most are looking to expand. Torbin Fuller of Club Sportiva predicts that: "We"ll be national here in the next two to three years." A variant on the formula is offered by exotic rental-car companies, which have no annual membership fee, and rent out cars for a day or a week. They are growing too. Dream Car Rentals, a Las Vegas firm with a fleet of 140, is opening a new branch at Fisherman"s Wharf in San Francisco. Many of the company"s Las Vegas customers are Europeans, and female clients come in only "once in a blue moon," says Gavin Mate, a manager. The mainstream rental-car companies have also spotted the trend, and are determined not to be left behind. In 2001 Hertz launched its "Prestige Collection", with Jaguars and Lincoln Navigators and special services such as free pick-up. That business, claims Hertz, has been an "unmitigated success" and continues to expand. Enterprise, the largest rental company in North America, reports a nearly 45% jump in luxury-car rentals in the year to October 2005. And with Wall Street bonuses soaring, 2006 is looking pretty good as well. The author seems to be mainly concerned with
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For almost ten years, Noel Heath and Glenroy Matthew, better known as "Zambo" and "Bobo", have escaped attempts by the United States to extradite them from their homes on the pretty little island of St. Kitts to face charges of cocaine trafficking. Their creative legal team has twice taken the case to the Privy Council in London, still the final appeal court for most of Britain"s former Caribbean colonies. Both times, most recently last November, a panel of British law lords ruled that they should be extradited "with the utmost expedition". "Zambo" and "Bobo" are well-connected in St Kitts. They have lived on bail for a decade, be fore being locked up last month. Their lawyers hit back with a habeas corpus writ, to be heard on January 18th. If that fails, the way is open for officials to put the two on a plane. For reasons of principle, or of friendships in tight-knit communities, or both, Caribbean countries have been reluctant to extradite their own nationals. The Caribbean has also become something of a heaven for foreigners wanted elsewhere in the world. This may now change. The next important test comes in May, when the Privy Council will rule on Samuel "Ninety" Knowles, a Bahamian who has held out since 2000 against a charge by a grand jury in Florida. Procedural complexities and powerful lawyers may still stop extraditions. In September in Belize, Dean Barrow, a lawyer who is also the leader of the parliamentary opposition, hedged an American attempt to extradite a drug suspect. He found mistakes in supporting paperwork, which excluded the use of vital wiretap evidence. Extradition of foreigners, especially to their home country, is often easier. Viktor Kozeny, a Czech-born resident of the Bahamas, has been held in Nassau since October. He is wanted in New York for corruption stemming from the privatisation of Azerbaijan"s oil company, and faces other charges in Prague. Mr. Kozeny will fight hard. His lawyers include Philip Davis, a member of parliament for the governing party and former legal partner of the prime minister. Even so, the authorities seem reluctant to grant bail. Perhaps that is because Mr. Kozeny holds a pilot"s licence and Irish and Venezuelan passports. He was once a diplomat for Grenada. Non-citizens are sometimes simply expelled. Two Belizean women picked up $50,000 each on the Oprah Winfrey Show in October, their reward for spotting an alleged rapist from the United States who was sent home two days later for trial. It is rarely so quick or easy. Why is the name Dean Barrow mentioned in this passage
"All too often, in the history of the United States, the school teacher has been in no position to serve as a model to the intellectual life," Hofstadter wrote. "Too often he has not only no claims to an intellectual life of his own, but not even an adequate workmanlike competence in the skills he is supposed to impart." Harsh words, perhaps, but Hofstadter"s idea makes sense: If teachers—on the front line of education—don"t have an active intellectual life, they"re not likely to communicate a love of learning and critical thinking to their students. In his 1995 book, Out of Our Minds: Anti-Intellectualism and Talent Development in American Schools, Craig Howley cites several studies about the education and habits of public school teachers. According to one study, prospective teachers take fewer liberal arts courses than their counterparts in other arts and science majors—and fewer upper-division courses in any subject except pedagogy. It appears, Howley writes, that prospective teachers do not often make a special effort during their college years to pursue advanced study in fields other than pedagogy. Frequent reading of literature in academic fields is the mark of the scholar, Howley says, so it"s logical to look at teachers" reading habits. Readers tend to be more reflective and more critical than nonreaders, argues Howley, who found that studies of teachers" reading showed two patterns: One is that teachers don"t read very much—on average, just 3.2 books a year. (In fact, 11 percent of those surveyed said they had not read a single book during the current year.) The second pattern is that when teachers do read, they prefer popular books rather than scholarly or professional literature. Of those who were reading about education, most were reading books intended for the general public. It"s true that U.S. teachers have traditionally been poorly paid and not well respected, which means that the best and the brightest are often not attracted to teaching. But until teachers can be role models and exhibit their own love of learning and academics, the children won"t get it. "Create a culture among the adults, a community of adults who are learners, who are excited a bout ideas in the other disciplines," says Deborah Meier, educator and author of The Power of Their Ideas. "The school must represent the culture it wants to encourage. If we want kids to feel that an intellectual life belongs to them, it must belong to the teacher, too." The word "it" (Line 3, Paragraph 5) most probably refers to
After Wall Street closed one recent Friday, a young man in jeans and a sports jacket strode into the showroom of the Classic Car Club of Manhattan, a few blocks north of Tribeca. He paced between an Aston Martin V8, a Rolls-Royce Corniche, two vintage Ferraris and a dozen others, eager to find something for a night out. Ten minutes later he zipped through the hangar doors in a 2005 Lotus Elise, a bright red, curvy little number. There was no bill to pay and no insurance form to sign. Luxury-car clubs are well established in Europe. Now they are catching on in the United States. The idea is that for an annual membership fee, plus (sometimes) a weekly charge, members can have their choice of smart cars. Ron Van Horssen, who recently opened a club near Phoenix, says the model is based on executive-jet sharing. Rich people, he thinks, are realising that "owning an asset is not necessarily the best way of getting the benefits of using it". A spin in a Van Horssen Ferrari Maranello costs $4,500 per week, plus the $7,000 annual fee. No one needs to worry about maintenance or inspections-and, as price tags on new Lamborghinis and Bentleys have climbed, the rich can even save a bit of money. Only a handful of clubs exist now in America, and none has national scope. Club Sportiva, a pioneer when it opened three years ago, is in San Francisco and San Jose; Exotic Car Share is in Chicago and New York. The Classic Car Club, a British firm, opened its Manhattan branch last July. But most are looking to expand. Torbin Fuller of Club Sportiva predicts that: "We"ll be national here in the next two to three years." A variant on the formula is offered by exotic rental-car companies, which have no annual membership fee, and rent out cars for a day or a week. They are growing too. Dream Car Rentals, a Las Vegas firm with a fleet of 140, is opening a new branch at Fisherman"s Wharf in San Francisco. Many of the company"s Las Vegas customers are Europeans, and female clients come in only "once in a blue moon," says Gavin Mate, a manager. The mainstream rental-car companies have also spotted the trend, and are determined not to be left behind. In 2001 Hertz launched its "Prestige Collection", with Jaguars and Lincoln Navigators and special services such as free pick-up. That business, claims Hertz, has been an "unmitigated success" and continues to expand. Enterprise, the largest rental company in North America, reports a nearly 45% jump in luxury-car rentals in the year to October 2005. And with Wall Street bonuses soaring, 2006 is looking pretty good as well. By saying "a variant on the formula" (Line 1, Paragraph 4), the author means that
For almost ten years, Noel Heath and Glenroy Matthew, better known as "Zambo" and "Bobo", have escaped attempts by the United States to extradite them from their homes on the pretty little island of St. Kitts to face charges of cocaine trafficking. Their creative legal team has twice taken the case to the Privy Council in London, still the final appeal court for most of Britain"s former Caribbean colonies. Both times, most recently last November, a panel of British law lords ruled that they should be extradited "with the utmost expedition". "Zambo" and "Bobo" are well-connected in St Kitts. They have lived on bail for a decade, be fore being locked up last month. Their lawyers hit back with a habeas corpus writ, to be heard on January 18th. If that fails, the way is open for officials to put the two on a plane. For reasons of principle, or of friendships in tight-knit communities, or both, Caribbean countries have been reluctant to extradite their own nationals. The Caribbean has also become something of a heaven for foreigners wanted elsewhere in the world. This may now change. The next important test comes in May, when the Privy Council will rule on Samuel "Ninety" Knowles, a Bahamian who has held out since 2000 against a charge by a grand jury in Florida. Procedural complexities and powerful lawyers may still stop extraditions. In September in Belize, Dean Barrow, a lawyer who is also the leader of the parliamentary opposition, hedged an American attempt to extradite a drug suspect. He found mistakes in supporting paperwork, which excluded the use of vital wiretap evidence. Extradition of foreigners, especially to their home country, is often easier. Viktor Kozeny, a Czech-born resident of the Bahamas, has been held in Nassau since October. He is wanted in New York for corruption stemming from the privatisation of Azerbaijan"s oil company, and faces other charges in Prague. Mr. Kozeny will fight hard. His lawyers include Philip Davis, a member of parliament for the governing party and former legal partner of the prime minister. Even so, the authorities seem reluctant to grant bail. Perhaps that is because Mr. Kozeny holds a pilot"s licence and Irish and Venezuelan passports. He was once a diplomat for Grenada. Non-citizens are sometimes simply expelled. Two Belizean women picked up $50,000 each on the Oprah Winfrey Show in October, their reward for spotting an alleged rapist from the United States who was sent home two days later for trial. It is rarely so quick or easy. From the text we can conclude that the author
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