Problem: Write an article based on this summary: Only pack a clean, well-maintained tobacco pipe. Fill the bowl with the tobacco of your choice and push it down by half. Add another few pinches to fill the bowl. Light the tobacco and draw gently. Ask a tobacconist to demonstrate, if your pipes go out frequently.

Answer: In between using a tobacco pipe, the pipe should be allowed to cool thoroughly, and the stem should be cleaned out by running a pipe cleaner through it several times. It's ok, and in fact it's a good thing if the bowl of the pipe is dark and ashy. That's called the "cake" and it helps the tobacco burn in a uniform way. Never empty a tobacco pipe and immediately repack it. The stem will likely be full of wet condensation, which will give you a hot and rattling smoke that won't taste very good. The best and most simple way to pack a pipe is to fill the bowl completely, then use the pipe tamper–a small metal rod with a flat end made for the purpose–to push the tobacco down until it's reduced by about half. If you don't have a tamper, it's perfectly fine to use your thumb, your forefinger, or the blunt end of a lighter. The tamper is nice, but not necessary. Refill the pipe to full and compress the tobacco again by half. The pipe should be roughly 3/4 of the way full, depending on the variety of the tobacco and the springiness of it. If you've got a larger bowl, you might want to add more, but that's probably enough to get started. After packing it in, you're ready to heat up the pipe and get smoking. Draw gently and rhythmically to avoid overheating the pipe or flustering the tobacco. Packing a pipe is an art form that will take some practice, but it also doesn't need to be any more complicated than you want it to be. You don't need fancy equipment or expensive tobacco to pack a good pipe. If your pipes are going out frequently, though, you might have a malfunction in your pipe stem, or you might be packing the pipe too loosely. Experiment some, and ask a tobacconist for help if you're struggling.


Problem: Write an article based on this summary: Skip everything but the first and last sentence of each paragraph. Skip to the chapter summary in the textbook. Read the Cliff’s Notes of a novel or story instead. Break up the reading with friends. Watch the movie. Find at least one thing to say in class.

Answer: If you've got to read the textbook or a novel really fast for class, you need to be smart about it and get through it as much as possible. One of the fastest ways to get a sense of the major concepts and the scope of the book without really reading it is to read the first and last sentence of each paragraph. You'll miss a lot, yes, but you'll at least have flown over the mountains and seen them from above.  Skip everything but the vocab words in a textbook. The skipping-around method tends to work better with textbooks, in which the actual explanations aren't that important, but the names and the vocab words are. You can read the textbook very fast this way, and not miss much information. Alternatively, depending on the kind of class, it might be better to read the first and last chapter of a novel, or focus all your attention on a single small part of the book and bring it up in class, to look as if you've read the whole thing and are prepared for discussion. Instead of struggling through reading a whole chapter in the textbook, skip to the end. Most chapters usually have short summaries of the chapter at the end, so you can know exactly what it is you should have learned by reading the chapter, without actually having to read the chapter. You will also usually get a list of the vocabulary words, some sample test questions, and other good information. It's not even really cheating, just smart reading. The classic friend of the lazy reader: Cliff's Notes, Spark Notes, or other shortened summaries of long classics, available at most bookstores and libraries. Even if you do plan on reading the book, these are excellent study guides, giving you great questions to ask and symbols to notice in complicated books. These will help to point you in the right direction. It's also easy to find a long plot synopsis online, so you can at least get a good list of the characters and the style of the novel. Forgot to read Great Gatsby over the summer and have to catch up on the last day before school starts? You're probably not alone. Get together with a group and break up the reading into sections, so you can all compare notes. Stagger the reading, so one person will read the first 50 pages, then the next person will take over and summarize the rest of the book. Who knows, if you get invested in it enough, you might just want to read it anyway. Ask your friends to summarize their 50 assigned pages (or however many it works out to be) and take good notes on the section, then copy out the notes for everyone in the group. After that, each person's work will be done. It's like reading a whole book by only reading 1/3 or a 1/2. Check to see if a good movie has been made based on the book that you're reading for class. If there is one, check it out, pop some popcorn, and watch a flick instead of reading the book. Take good notes, just as you would if you were doing homework, but it'll only take you an hour-and-a-half to "read" the whole thing.  It's still a good idea to do some research and figure out whether or not the movie is accurate. Lots of movies take serious liberties with the plot lines of books, and you'll likely miss the names of characters and other minor plot points that might get cut out of the movie but be important for the book. Good movies based on books commonly assigned for school include: Grapes of Wrath, Romeo & Juliet, Lord of the Flies,'Pride & Prejudice, Wuthering Heights, Of Mice and Men, and To Kill a Mockingbird.   Bad movies to watch instead of reading the book include The Iliad ('don't watch 'Troy, starring Brad Pitt), Fahrenheit 451, Catcher in the Rye, Beowulf, Romeo & Juliet, and The Great Gatsby. These are good ways to prove you haven't read the book. If you're struggling with having half-read an assignment and are worried about being exposed, try this time-worn trick: scan through the book quickly, just before class, and focus on one extremely small thing from the reading. It should be preferably deep in the reading, many pages beyond what you've actually read. Early in the class discussion, raise your hand and ask a question, pointing specifically to the page. Everyone will think you've read it, and then you can chill out and stop participating. It's also a good idea to look for possible talking-points online before you even do the reading, so you can know what to look for and have a good idea of something to say in class. Participation points with no actual work.


Problem: Write an article based on this summary: Look for redness. Identify blisters. Watch the blisters for scabbing.

Answer:
After the initial feeling of pain, itching, tingling, numbness, or sensitivity, look for a red rash to develop on that area of your skin. This usually occurs a few days after the initial discomfort. Some people get the feeling of burning or pain and never develop the shingles rash. The shingles rash forms blisters (or vesicles), which are small painful swellings in the skin filled with fluid. Shingles blisters generally appear in a group in a single area on the body. Do not touch or scratch your blisters – the fluid in the blisters contains the virus, and you can spread infection to other areas of your body. Keep your blisters covered and wash your hands often to minimize the risk of spreading the virus. Shingles blisters usually crust over and form scabs 7-10 days after they appear. These should clear up in about 2-4 weeks, and the scabs should fall off. Do not pull these off yourself, let it occur naturally.