Read this excerpt from "Mad Cow, Furious Farmer." A prion is a piece of protein very similar, but not identical, to other proteins in the brain. It is a little bit squishy and maybe a little sticky. If it manages to burrow into a corner of the brain, it will slowly bend and break all the proteins nearby, carving sponge-like holes all over the brain. These holes are what give the disease its official name: bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE. "Bovine" means having to do with a cow, "spongiform" means having sponge-like structures, and “encephalopathy” means a disease of the brain. It takes a long time for the cow to show symptoms of the disease, but by the time the cow starts staggering around and acting strangely, the brain is a mess and the poor animal is nearly dead. That strange behavior is what gives the diseases its common name of "mad cow disease."

What is one example of the author keeping a lively tone even while discussing a disease?

The author uses technical language when defining the name "bovine spongiform encephalopathy."
The author explains how "[i]t takes a long time for the cow to show symptoms" after it is infected by the disease.
The author connects prions to humans by saying it is "very similar to other proteins in the brain."
The author humanizes the prion with playful language by saying "[i]f it manages to burrow into a corner."

Read the excerpt from "the role of social media in the arab uprisings" by heather brown, emily guskin, and amy mitchell. in july 2012 a report was published by the united states institute of peace. . . . the study suggests that the importance of social media was in communicating to the rest of the world what was happening on the ground during the uprisings. . data from the pew research center’s global attitudes project at least somewhat supports this conclusion with its findings that the majority of egyptians are not online. nearly two-thirds (65%) of the total population do not use the internet. when looking specifically at those with a college education, use of social media for obtaining political information is more prevalent than in other segments of the population. though most of the country is disconnected from the internet, 84% of those who are online say they visit social networking sites for news about egypt’s political situation. these findings point to social media’s important role in spreading information, but do not necessarily indicate that social media was a mobilizing force in the uprisings. how do the authors use statistics to support their claim? to include ideas about how social media can authoritarian regimes remain in power to emphasize that egyptians, even those who are highly educated, mistrust social media to illustrate that social media motivated average egyptians to take part in the uprisings to show that even though social media use was limited, it was often directly connected to politics