Great sentence search champion!

When I teach writing, I have my students go on what I call a  "Great Sentence Search" in the New York Times, which is our daily textbook.

Saturn's moon Enceladus

I firmly believe that in teaching writing, you have to expose students to good writing...it inspires, instructs, and also forces them to read and think. 
A great sentence is one you just know the journalist smiled and said "Yes!" in triumph when he/she wrote it--having had fun writing it. It makes you say "Wow, I wish I had written that."
Today, I found what may be the best ever, from the front page, headlined "With Worlds Visited, the Next Hunt Is for Life on Any of Them." 
Dennis Overbye wrote about NASA's exploration of Saturn's moon Enceladus, by the Cassini spacecraft. NASA is seeking extraterrestrial water, as a sign of life, and this moon spews icy jets of water.
Here is the great sentence:
"Enceladus is only 300 miles across and whiter than a Bing Crosby Christmas, reflecting virtually all the sunlight that hits it, which should make it colder and deader than Scrooge's heart."
Wow.
Here's the link to the entire story: Saturn's moon

You can't trust science

They get out of a soft bed--science--when the alarm clock goes off--science.
They flick a switch--science--and electric lights--science--come on.
They turn on the shower and hot, pressured water--science--comes out.
They dry off with an absorbent towel--science.
They  put on manufactured clothes--science--many shipped from overseas--science.
They turn on the TV--science--to check the weather forecast--science--and look at the radar map--science. 
They walk on stain-resistant carpet--science--to the kitchen where they open a refrigerator--science--, take out some pasteurized milk--science--and pour it into a plastic bowel--science--with some government-inspected cereal--science.
They brush their teeth with a plastic toothbrush--science--and cavity-fighting toothpaste--science.
They put on their glasses--science--and pour purified water--science--into a glass--science--and take their prescription medicine--science.
They turn down the thermostat--science--on the air-conditioning--science, knowing that the well-built house--science and its insulation--science--will keep it cool.
They grab a ceramic cup--science--and warm up yesterday's coffee from the coffeemaker--science--by putting it in the microwave--science.
They open the garage door by toughing a button--science, get in their car and start the gasoline--science--engine--science--with a key--science. They put the transmission--science--in reverse, and the tires--science--roll backward, onto the concrete driveway--science. They touch a button and the garage door goes down--science.
They drive down the paved street--science--over a bridge that supports the car's weight--science-- and stop at the red traffic light--science, until  it turns--science.  They see a jetliner flying--science--toward the airport. 
 They turn on the radio--science--and tune into a satellite news station--science. They hear that 97 percent of climate scientists agree humans are causing world climate change, as reported on a NASA website--science.
They hear about Oklahoma's two senators saying climate change is a hoax, and Creationists who think the world was created in six days 6,000 years ago getting on the Texas school textbook board, all claiming you can't trust science.  

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NASA Web site