English For Students

The Chinese New Year Dragon has a colorful history. The emblem of guardianship and vigilance, it was consecrated in the earliest religion of the Chinese people.

In ancient days the dragon was regarded as a most sacred animal, and used to be the imperial emblem of Chinese emperors. It is the first of the four Divine Creatures to Chinese-the others being the unicorn, the phoenix and the tortoise. Unlike the evil dragon the West, the Chinese Dragon is a beneficent and gracious creature and is worshipped as the divine ruler of Lakes, Rivers and Seas. It is the powerful yet gentle ‘Loong" that brings rain to the earth, hasten the crops and cools the toiling framer. It is one of the most popular of Chinese art motifs, being sculptured on stone pillars of Chinese temples and embroidered on beautiful gold and silk tapestries.

As imagined by the Chinese, the dragon has the head of a camel, the horns of a deer, fiery eyes and a long beard. Its ears are like those of a cow, its paws like the tiger’s and its claws sharp like an eagle’s. Its neck is serpentine; it has the belly of a frog and the scales of a carp. The Dragon first appeared in the sky, legend tells us, while an heir to the throne was born, and the country was blessed with peace and prosperity for many generation thereafter. Thus, the Dragon also served as a symbol of good fortune.

In parade appearance, the dragon performs its gyrations in pursuits of a costumed figure who holds aloft a pole with a ball on the end called the "Precious Pearl." The creature’s movement and tempo are controlled by this leader who manipulated the "pearl" according to plan, accompanied by drums and gongs.

According to the Chinese calendar, the dragon is the animal for those who were born this year and every 12 years before or afterwards. The year you were born is believed to influence your personality. Thus, for the dragons, they are soft-hearted, healthy, respected, energetic, and eccentric.

Dragon history by Thomas W. Chinn
Source: www.moonfestival.org

Chinese Fable Stories

In the Warring States period, the Chu State had a very capable minister called Zhao Xixu. He was well respected and held in awe by the people of other countries as well as his own. One day, the king asked his ministers "I hear every state in the north is afraid of our minister Zhao Xixu, is that so?" At the question, almost all the ministers kept silent except one called Jiangyi, who liked to curry the king's favor very much. He lost no time to seize the opportunity and said, "Your Majesty, you know, it's you who people awe and respect, not him! Have you ever heard the story The Fox Borrows the Tiger's Terror?" Well, here is the story.

One day a tiger was hunting around in a forest. An unlucky fox was met and caught by the tiger. For the fox, the inescapable fate was very clear -- death. Despite the danger, the fox thought hard to find a way out. Promptly, the fox declared to the tiger, "How dare you kill me!" On hearing the words the tiger was surprised and asked for the reason" The fox raised his voice a bit higher and declared arrogantly: "To tell you the truth, it's I who was accredited by God to the forest as the king of all the animals! If you kill me, that will be against the God's will, you know?" Seeing that the tiger became suspicions, the fox added: "Let's have a test. Let's go through the forest. Follow me and you will see HOW THE ANIMALS ARE FRIGHTENED OF ME." The tiger agreed. So the fox walked ahead of the tiger proudly through the forest.

As you can imagine, the animals, seeing the tiger behind, were all terribly frightened and ran away. Then the fox said proudly: "There is no doubt that what I said is true, isn't it?" The tiger had nothing to say but to acknowledge the result. So the tiger nodded and said: "You are right. You are the king."

When Minister Jiangyi finished the story above, he added to the king: "It seems as if the northern neighbors were afraid of Minister Zhao xixu. In fact, they are afraid of Your Majesty just as the animals were afraid of the tiger not of the fox." The king was very pleased at Minister Jiangyi's words. And never doubted its truth.


http://chineseculture.com

Folklore from West Java

RATU Ayu Panyidagan was a queen of Panyidagan Kingdom. The queen was beautiful and wise. She led the country peacefully. Many men from other kingdoms fell in love with her. However, the queen was not interested in them. Actually the queen was restless. She wanted to get married and have a baby soon. She wanted her child to be the next leader. She was still waiting for the right man.

The queen had a dream. A handsome man came to the kingdom. However a disaster came along with the arrival. The queen asked her advisors to interpret her dream. The advisors asked the soldiers to guard the border of the kingdom.

Fortunately, there was a big river at the border. People had to cross the river if they wanted to enter the border of the kingdom. The soldier were standing by to monitor anyone crossing the river.

Days and nights the soldiers were standing by the river. And one day, they saw a man was rowing a sampan. The soldiers were getting ready at the river side. And when the man arrived, the soldiers asked him, "Who are you? and why are you going to our kingdom?"

"I came from Cirebon Kingdom. My king asked me to meet your queen."

The soldiers did not want to take a risk. They asked the man to return and go back home. However the man refused and the fight between them was unstoppable.

The man had great skills in martial arts. He was able to defeat the soldiers. One soldier, escaped. He wanted to tell the queen that the man was coming to the palace.

The whole soldiers were protecting the queen. But the queen asked them to welcome the man. She was really curious why he was sent to meet her.

Later the man arrived the palace. He talked to the queen politely.

"Your majesty, I'm here because my king sent me. Our kingdom is in great problem. People are suffering from strange illness. They are dying and many of them have died. The medicine to cure the illness is maja fruit that groe in your kingdom. Therefore I would like to have your kindness to give me some of the maja fruits."

The queen was silent. She was thinking very hard. She was not thinking whether she would give the fruits or not. It was not a problem for her. There were a lot of maja fruit trees in her kingdom. Giving some of the fruits would not be a problem.

However, she was thinking something else! She was thinking how handsome the man was. He was also powerful. He was able to defeat the soldiers. And he was also very loyal. He did his duty from his kingdom to find the fruits.

The queen than said,"You can get the fruits as many as you like. But there is one condition. You have to marry me."

"I'm sorry, Your Majesty. I cannot do that. I cannot marry you. I'm married and have a wife," said the man.

The queen was angry. She asked the soldiers to put the man in the jail. This time the man could not win the fight. There were too many soldiers fighting him.

Not long after the man was in the jail, rain fell down heavily. There was also big storm! People were only staying in their houses. and in the morning, sun was shining brightly, suddenly people were screaming.

"The palace is gone! The queen is gone!"

Other people were also screaming, "Maja langka! Maja Langka!"

It means maja fruit are rare. People were very confused. They did not know why the palace, the queen and the maja fruits suddenly disappeared. They kept on talking about that and later they named the place as Majalangka. Slowly it became Majalengka.***
Source: http://indonesianfolklore.blogspot.com

Folklore from East Java

ONCE upon a time in Sindureja Kingdom, King Sidareja was talking to his vice regent, his name was Patih Sidapaksa. The King asked Patih Sidapaksa to give him the flesh of a young deer. Patih Sidapaksa took the mission.

When he arrived at the jungle, he saw a young deer. He pointed his arrow to the deer. Unfortunately, he missed the target. He ran after the deer. He was running and running until he arrived at a hut. Patih Sidapaksa knocked the door.
A young and beautiful girl opened the door. She was very beautiful. Patih Sidapaksa fell in love at the first sight.“How can I help you Sir?” asked the girl.

"I...I...am looking for a young deer", Patih Sidapaksa was speechless.
"You can find a lot of deer in the jungle. But it s already late and it will be dark soon. You can continue hunting tomorrow morning. You can come and spend the night here. Both my father and I are happy to welcome you", said the girl.
Patih Sidapaksa accepted the offer.
He introduced himself. The girl's name was Sri Tanjung and her father's name was Ki Buyut.

In the morning, Patih Sidapaksa continued his hunting and after he got a young deer he returned to the hut. He came back because he wanted to marry Sri Tanjung. Luckily, Sri Tanjung also loved him. Later Patih Sidapaksa asked them to join him to the palace. The King was very happy Patih Sidapaksa brought him a young deer. However he was also amazed by the beauty of Sri Tanjung.

The King also fell in love with her. The King had a bad plan. He wanted to marry Sri Tanjung. So he gave Patih Sidapaksa a very difficult mission. The King asked Patih Sidapaksa to give him three golden rings from Indran Kingdom. Patih Sidapaksa knew the mission was more difficult than hunting a young deer. Indran Kingdom was not an ordinary kingdom. It was a kingdom of criminals! No one ever came back after going there. However he still accepted the mission. And before he left, he asked Sri Tanjung to wait for him.

After Patih Sidapaksa left, the King approached Sri Tanjung. He proposed Sri Tanjung to marry him. He promised Sri Tanjung to be a queen. She did not accept the proposal. She loved Patih Sidapaksa and she already promised to wait for him. The King was angry and put her in the jail.

Luckily, Patih Sidapaksa could do the mission and came back to the palace. Sadly he could not meet Sri Tanjung. The King lied. He said Sri Tanjung was in jail because she asked the King to marry her. The King said Sri Tanjung wanted to be a queen. At first Patih Sidapaksa believed the King. But Sri Tanjung then said.
"Throw me to the river. If the river smells good, it means I'm innocent. However if the river smells bad, then the King is lying", said Sri Tanjung.

Patih Sidapaksa then threw her into the river. Amazingly, the river smelled good. Patih Sidapaksa was very sorry. Sri Tanjung died. He regretted not to believe her.
When the river smelled good, people instantly said Banyuwangi. Banyu means water and Wangi means good smell. Since then the place is named Banyuwangi. ***
Source: http://indonesianfolklore.blogspot.com

Folklore from North Sumatra

ONCE upon a time, there lived a family near Lake Toba, North Sumatra. The parents had only one child. She was a beautiful girl. The girl was adult. The parents thought it was time to get married.

The parents planned to arrange her marriage. They have already matched her with a young man they chose. They did not know that they daughter already had a boyfriend. She loved him very much. Sadly, the parents did not agree with their relationship. They still asked her daughter to marry the man they chose.
The girl was very sad. Everyday she cried. She did not love the man her parents had already chosen for her. She only wanted to marry her boyfriend.
The time to get married was getting closer. Everyday the girl just sat near the Lake Toba. She was very hopeless. Her only friend was a dog.
The girl wanted to end her life. She wanted to jump to the Lake Toba. She was walking slowly. She approached the edge. She was very confused. She did not want to die or leave her boyfriend.

While she was thinking very hard, suddenly she slipped and fell to a big hole. The girl thought that it was time for her to die. She was surrounded by big stones. She felt the stone were getting closer to her. The stones were squeezing her.
Then she said, "Prapat... Prapat..." It means moving closer. amazingly, the stones were slowly moving closer to her. She was being squeezed!
Meanwhile, the dragon was barking. He was looking downward and keep on barking. It attracted people's attention.
They came to the dog and also looked downward. They heard a girl's voice saying, "Prapat... Prapat."

The people recognized her voice and her dog. They tried to help her. Some of them went to the girl's house. They wanted to tell her parents.
The parents immediately went to save their daughter. More and more people came. They all tried to save the girl.

Unfortunately it was too late. The stone were finally squeezing her. However, they were still able to hear voice saying, "Parapat... parapat."
Her parents were sad. They regretted their plan to marry her.
Since then people named the area as Parapat.

Time passed by. and several years later earthquake attacked the area. Stone were falling down to the lake. and when the quake stopped, people saw a big stone which looked like hanging. Actually the ctone clung to the cliff.
People said that the stone was the girl who was trapped inside the stones. Since the stone looked like hanging, so people named it as the hanging stone or Batu Gantung.
***
Source: http://indonesianfolklore.blogspot.com

Check the pronunciation while (or after) speaking

When you’re speaking and you’re not 100% sure how to pronounce an English word, you shouldn’t try to guess its pronunciation. If you do, you will probably make a mistake, and mistakes can lead to bad habits.

The ideal way to avoid guessing is to check the correct pronunciation before you say the word. When you’re talking with a native speaker (or someone who is good at English pronunciation), you can simply ask them: how do you pronounce this word? It is very important to ask them directly because native speakers have a tendency to ignore mistakes made by foreigners.

When you’re talking with a less competent speaker, you have two choices. The best choice is to say wait a minute, take out a dictionary, and look up the word. (If you can do that, you are truly a hard-core English learner and I tip my hat to you.) You can also try to “talk around” the problematic word — express the same meaning with some other word or phrase that you know how to pronounce.

If you are forced to guess the pronunciation, at least make a mental (or real) note of the word, and check it after the conversation. Even if you mispronounced the word this time, you can make sure you say it correctly next time.

Check the pronunciation while reading
If you were learning a more predictable language like Spanish or German, you would have much less work. You could just learn the spelling of a new word and that would automatically give you the pronunciation.

The irregularity of the English spelling system has an unfortunate consequence: when you learn an English word, you have to learn not only its spelling, but also its pronunciation.

That is why you should use your dictionary to look up pronunciations while you’re reading in English. As you read, keep asking yourself: Do I know how this word is pronounced? Can I transcribe it with phonetic symbols?

If you’re not sure, look it up in a dictionary. This should happen very frequently when you’re a pronunciation beginner. As you learn the pronunciations of the most common words (from a dictionary or from spoken input), you will use your dictionary less and less.

Do you have to do this? Couldn’t you pick up the pronunciations of words just by listening to English? The answer is: you could, but learning from a diction¬ary is better for beginners. There are two main reasons for this:
1. Dictionaries have phonetic transcriptions. When you see the phonetic transcription of a word, you can clearly see what sounds it contains. If you hear a word, you may hear it wrong; for example, you may hear /æ/ where there is an /e/.
2. Recordings in dictionaries are usually clearer than what you will hear in spoken input (movies, TV shows, etc.)

Check the pronunciation while listening
When you’re listening to spoken English, sometimes the following happens: you hear a word, you understand it, but you are not sure what the exact pronunciation is. For example, you’re not sure whether you heard /tʃuːz/ or /tʃuːs/.

When you are in this situation, look the word up in a dictionary. That will let you read the phonetic transcription and listen to a clear recording of the word. This should clear up your doubts.

A handful of tips
• If you think you may forget the pronunciation of a word, add it to your SRS (spaced repetition system), either as a sentence item or pronunciation item.

• Beware of basic words. You have to be a bit obsessive about checking the pronunciation of words, especially in the beginning. You should think of every word as a potential trap — not just the “difficult” words like process or conscientious. English has a lot of basic words (like color, won’t or does) with highly irregular pronunciations. The problem is that everybody knows what they mean, so nobody looks them up in a dictionary. This is a mistake. Here are some examples of tricky pronunciations from the list of 500 most common English words used in our pronunciation software:

enough /ɪˈnʌf/ Not: /ˈiːnʌf/, /ɪˈnoʊ/, etc.
until /ʌnˈtɪl/ Not: /ˈʌntɪl/
market /ˈmɑːʳkɪt/ Not: /ˈmɑːʳket/
country /ˈkʌntri/ Not: /ˈkaʊntri/
early /ˈɜːʳli/ Not: /ˈɪəʳli/, /ˈeəʳli/
lose /luːz/ Not: /luːs/, /loʊz/, etc.

• Beware of “international words”. Certain words, e.g. automatic, bilingual or wi-fi, are known in many European languages with the same, or similar, spelling. These words often come from ancient languages like Greek or Latin, but sometimes also from modern languages like French or English. Because people recognize these words, they don’t check their pronunciation in a dictionary — instead, they pronounce them the way they are pronounced in their native language. This is typically a mistake. English usually has its own pronunciation for such words. Here are some examples:

automatic /ɔːtəˈmætɪk/ Not: /aʊtɔˈmætɪk/
bilingual /baɪˈlɪŋgwəl/ Not: /biːˈlɪŋgwəl/
Orion /əˈraɪən/ Not: /ˈɔːriən/
media /ˈmiːdiə/ Not: /ˈmediə/
psychology /saɪˈkɒlədʒi/ Not: /psɪˈkɒlədʒi/
stereo /ˈsterioʊ/ Not: /steˈreɔ/, /ˈstereɔ/
wi-fi /ˈwaɪ ˈfaɪ/ Not: /ˈwiː ˈfiː/

• While modern computer dictionaries have recordings, I recommend that you always look at the phonetic transcriptions. There are many reasons to do that, but the main one is that your ears are not perfect — they can fool you. Sometimes you hear a /t/ where there is a /d/, an /æ/ where there is an /e/, etc. Even if the dictionary has high-quality recordings, it is always good to see all the sounds in a word written down.

• Don’t push yourself too hard. The most important things in the Antimoon Method are to have fun and get input. You should never let a dictionary get in the way of that. Looking up words in a dictionary can get boring after a while, even if you like dictionaries and really are interested in pronunciation. If you get bored with using a dictionary, it’s OK to give yourself permission to stop for a while. You should also remember that you don’t have to look up every word — you should be primarily interested in words you may want to say yourself. Literary words like ferocity, pertinent or sequin should not be your top priority because you probably won’t need to say them.

• In addition to using a dictionary in your everyday study, consider learning the pronunciations of most common English words in a systematic way. You can get a list of most frequent words and look up their pronunciations in a dictionary. Or you can use our English pronunciation software that teaches you the pronunciations of 500 most frequently used English words and makes you remember them with spaced repetition technology.
by Tomasz P. Szynalski
Source : http://www.antimoon.com

"It was every man for himself," Emily Lau, a passenger from Boston on board the Costa Concordia, said today on "Good Morning America." "The main thing is no one knew how to help because they were never trained. That is the cruise ship's fault."
Lau, 27, was on board the Costa Concordia luxury liner with her husband of 14 days, Benji Smith, 34, to celebrate their honeymoon with a cruise along the Mediterranean.
Lau and Smith joined a handful of passengers in making a last minute escape from the sinking ship by tying a rope and sheets into knots that they then used as a ladder to lower themselves them down to the bottom of the ship's hole, where they were eventually rescued by a lifeboat.
"We had to improvise. There was no instruction," Smith said. "No one was telling us what to do."
Source : http://abcnews.go.com

Costa ship runs aground in Italy

At least three people are reported to have died and many more are injured after the Costa Concordia ran aground in Italy.

The cruise ship, which was carrying 3,200 people, began sinking last night near the island of Giglio, off the Tuscan coast.

Twenty four British passengers are believed to have been on board, said the UK Foreign Office, which is sending a team to the scene. The Foreign Office said it was not aware of any British fatalities.

At least 50 people are believed to be unaccounted for, although Italian officials have stressed that the passenger list may not be completely up to date.

Rescue teams are now going from cabin to cabin, searching for survivors.

The Costa Concordia had left the port of Savona at 7pm local time and was sailing to Civitavecchia, its first port of call, when it ran aground at around 9pm.

Reports said passengers were eating dinner when they heard a long bang, and were told the ship was suffering electrical problems.

The 290-metre (950 ft) vessel ran aground, starting taking in water and listed by 20 degrees, the local coast guard said.

Orders were given to abandon ship, Deodato Ordona, a cabin steward on the Costa Concordia, told the BBC.

"We announced a general emergency and took passengers to muster stations," he said.

The £450m Costa Concordia is one of the biggest ships in the Costa fleet. It has 1,500 cabins and was at the start of a seven-day cruise of the Mediterranean.

Costa Cruises said in a statement: "Our first thoughts go to the victims and we would like to express our condolences and our closeness to their families and friends.

"In this moment all our efforts are focused on the completion of the last emergency operations, besides providing assistance to the guests and the crew who were onboard."

It added: "The company will fully co-operate with the relevant authorities in order to determine the causes of what happened."

Micky Arison, chief executive of Costa owner Carnival Corporation, used Twitter to send a personal message, saying: "Tonight our thoughts and prayers are with the passengers and crew of the Costa Concordia."

The Passenger Shipping Association issued a statement insisting that the grounding of Costa Concordia was an isolated incident, as the industry sought to reassure potential passengers over the industry’s safety record during the peak ‘wave’ booking period.

The Foreign & Commonwealth Office has issued details of phone numbers those concerned about Costa Concordia passengers should contact: +39 06 4220 0001 (Italy) or 0207 008 1500 (UK).
Source : http://www.travelweekly.co.uk

2012 is Roland Emmerich's film which uses the Mayan calendar and other end-of-days prophecies for their doomsday scenario. It imagines the world coming to an end in 2012.

2012 film brings off a series of wonders. The movie hits its peak early on. It starts when Cusack drives a limo through the streets of Los Angeles as freeways and skyscrapers crumble all around him from the shock of a 10.5 earthquake. The preposterous flying sequence is equally thrilling. The climax occurs aboard the giant ark, when an equipment malfunction almost threatens the entire mission.

Unfortunately, the crucial sequence is not filmed or edited with the requisite clarity. In 2012 film, Emmerich leaves us befuddled as to exactly what is happening to whom. However, Emmerich' 2012 deserves credit for offbeat casting. Cusack supplies his trademark hangdog charm. McCarthy has perhaps his best role ever as Peet's cocky. Danny Glover lends dignity to the role of the tormented president. Chiwetel Ejiofor, as the chief scientist, brings a moving sense of anguish to a stock role. Platt has fun playing the villain of the piece, and Woody Harrelson also chews the scenery as a bug-eyed radio prophet trying to warn his listeners about Armageddon.

All in one, 2012's cinematography, production design and visual effects are awards-worthy. Music also propels the movie. It presents American Idol runner-up, Adam Lambert, who provides a rousing anthem over the end credits.

Source : http://understandingtext.blogspot.com

Many people imagine the sea-horse to be real horse living in the sea. This is not true at all. The sea-horse is so called because it is a tiny creature with a horse – liked head which lives in the sea.

Sea – horse are found mostly in warm seas. They have a long, flexible tail which is
used for wrapping around weeds for support. They swim I upright position, their movements being helped by a rapidly oscillating fin on their back. The male sea – horse lays her eggs in this pouch.

The most remarkable thing about the sea – horse is that part of the process of
reproduction is taken over by the male creature. One the female sea – horse has laid her eggs in the male creature’s pouch, she leaves. The hatching of the egg is done by the male fish. Mating begins with the male and the female sea – horses doing courtship dance. The male and female creatures swim around each other in circles. At the end of the dance, the male appears to bow to its partner; but in actually, the male is banding to pump water from his pouch. Next, the female fish lays eggs into the male’s pouch. About two hundred eggs are laid. The pouch, then close up. The female sea-horse now swims away, leaving the male seahorse to do hatching.

The eggs are hatched about a month later. The young sea-horses are ejected from
the male creature’s pouch by means of muscular contractions.
The sea – horse feeds on tiny fish the creatures sucking them into its month.
http://najmimaulana.wordpress.Com

The giant panda, or panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca, literally meaning "black and white cat-foot")[2] is a bear[3] native to central-western and south western China.[4] It is easily recognized by its large, distinctive black patches around the eyes, over the ears, and across its round body. Though it belongs to the order Carnivora, the panda's diet is 99% bamboo.[5] Pandas in the wild will occasionally eat other grasses, wild tubers, or even meat in the form of birds, rodents or carrion. In captivity they may receive honey, eggs, fish, yams, shrub leaves, oranges, or bananas along with specially prepared feed.[6][7]

The giant panda lives in a few mountain ranges in central China, mainly in Sichuan province, but also in the Shaanxi and Gansu provinces.[8] Due to farming, deforestation and other development, the panda has been driven out of the lowland areas where it once lived.

The panda is a conservation reliant endangered species.[4] A 2007 report shows 239 pandas living in captivity inside China and another 27 outside the country.[9] Wild population estimates vary; one estimate shows that there are about 1,590 individuals living in the wild,[9] while a 2006 study via DNA analysis estimated that this figure could be as high as 2,000 to 3,000.[10] Some reports also show that the number of pandas in the wild is on the rise.[11][12] However, the IUCN does not believe there is enough certainty yet to reclassify the species from Endangered to Vulnerable.[1]

While the dragon has historically served as China's national emblem, in recent decades the panda has also served as an emblem for the country. Its image appears on a large number of modern Chinese coins in gold, silver, bimetallic gold & silver, platinum, palladium, bronze, brass, and copper.
Source : http://en.wikipedia.org

Turtles are reptiles of the order Testudines (the crown group of the superorder Chelonia), characterised by a special bony or cartilaginous shell developed from their ribs that acts as a shield. "Turtle" may either refer to the Testudines as a whole, or to particular Testudines which make up a form taxon that is not monophyletic.

The order Testudines includes both extant (living) and extinct species. The earliest known turtles date from 215 million years ago,[2] making turtles one of the oldest reptile groups and a more ancient group than lizards, snakes and crocodiles. Of the many species alive today, some are highly endangered.[3]

Like other reptiles, turtles are ectotherms—their internal temperature varies according to the ambient environment, commonly called cold-blooded. However, leatherback sea turtles have noticeably higher body temperature than surrounding water because of their high metabolic rate.

Like other amniotes (reptiles, dinosaurs, birds, and mammals), they breathe air and do not lay eggs underwater, although many species live in or around water. The largest turtles are aquatic.
Source : http://en.wikipedia.org

Television, or TV, is one of humanity's most important means of communication. It brings pictures and sounds from around the world into millions of homes.

People with a television set can sit in their house and watch the president makes a speech or visits a foreign country. They can see a war being fought, and they can wacth government leaders try to bring about peace. Through television, viewers at home can see and learn about peopl, places, and things in a away lands. Television even takes viewers out of this world as the astronauts explore outer space.

In addition to all these things, television brings its viewers a steady stream of programmes that are designed to entertain. In fact, TV provides many more entertainment programmes than any other kind of information media. The programmes include action-packed dramas, light comedies, soap operas, sports events, cartoons, quizzes, variety shows and motion pictures.

More than 83 million homes in the United States - or 98% of all the country's homes - have at least one television set. On the average, a television set is in use in each home for about 6 3/4 hours each day. As a result, television has an important influence on how people spend their time, as well as on what they see and learn. After they arrive from work, they usually watch TV. Then, the importance of television is proven. (Taken from The New Book of Knowledge)
Source : http://report-text.blogspot.com/

Volcanic Eruptions
Volcanic eruptions have caused some of the worst disasters in the world. They can wipe out entire cities and kill thousands of people.
The name of volcano comes from Roman term. It derives from VULCAN which is the name of Roman fire god. Romans believed that Vulcan lived on a volcanic Italian coast. Romans called the island VULCANO.

According to scientists, volcanic eruptions are divided in to four basic groups. They are commonly known as Hawaiian, Strombolian, Vulcanian and Peleean. The term of Hawaiian eruptions are named after the volcanoes in Hawaii. These volcanic eruptions are the least violent type. They produce highly fluid lava which flows quietly. This gradually builds up a shield volcano.

Strombolian eruptions are named after Stromboli. These result from the constant release of gas from the magma. As the gas escapes, it produces tephra that piles up, turning into a cinder cone. Strombolian eruptions happen when sticky magma plugs the central vent. This makes the magmatic gas build up pressure until it blasts. The magma is turned into volcanic dust and bombs.

Vulcanian eruption which comes from the ancient Roman belief, are more violent than the strombolian eruption. Vulcanian eruption happens and brings magma which is more viscous. Vulcanian explosions are usually larger and noisier than the Strombolian eruptions.

Paleean eruptions are famous as the most violent kind of volcanic eruptions. The name of paleean comes from the eruption of Mount Pelee, Martinique in 1902. It killed almost 38 thousands people. A Peleean eruption occurs when the magmatic gas build up tremendous pressure. This causes violent explosions with glowing clouds of hot ash and dust.
Source: http://understandingtext.blogspot.com

An elephant is the largest and strongest of all animals. It is a strange looking animal which it has thick legs, huge sides and backs, large hanging ears, a small tail, little eyes, long white tusks and above all, elephant has a long nose, the trunk. An elephant is commonly seen in a zoo, it has hard found in it natural habitat.

The trunk is the elephant's peculiar feature. This trunk has various usages. The elephant draws up water by its trunk and can squirt the water all over its body like a shower bath. The elephant's trunk also lift leaves and put them into its mouth. In fact, the trunk serves the elephant as long arm and hand. An elephant looks very clumsy and heavy and yet an elephant can move very quickly.

The elephant is very intelligent animal. Its intelligence combined with its great strength makes an elephant a very useful servant to man. Elephant can be trained to serve in various ways such as carry heavy loads, hunt for tigers and even fight. An elephant is really a smart animal.
Source: http://understandingtext.blogspot.com

Questions
1. What kind of animal does an elephant belong to?
2. Where can we find an elephant?
3. What does the elephant look like?
4. How doe an elephant move?
5. Is the elephant intelligent?

KOMODO DRAGON
Do you know what is the largest lizard? This lizard is called komodo. It lives in the scrub and woodland of a few Indonesian islands.

Komodo dragon is the world's heaviest lizard, weighing 150 pounds or more. The largest Komodo ever measured was more than 10 feet (3 meters) long and weighed 366 pounds (166 kg) but the average size of komodo in the wild is about 8 feet (2.5 meters) long and 200 pounds (91 kg)

Komodo has gray scaly skin, a pointed snout, powerful limbs and a muscular tail. They use their keen sense of smell to locate decaying animal remains from several miles away. They also hunt other lizards as well as large mammals and are sometimes cannibalistic.

The Komodo dragon's teeth are almost completely covered by its gums. When it feeds, the gums bleed, creating an ideal culture for virulent bacteria. The bacteria that live in the Komodo dragon's saliva causes septicemia, or blood poisoning, in its victims. A dragon will bite its prey, then follow it until the animal is too weak to carry on.

This lizard species is threatened by hunting, loss of prey species and habitat loss.

Source:
http://understandingtext.blogspot.com
http://animal.discovery.com/reptiles/komodo-dragon/
http://animals.howstuffworks.com/animal-facts/komodo-bite.htm

Questions.
1. what kind of animal does a lion belong to?
2. Where can you find a Komodo?
3. How does the Komodo survive?
4. What a Komodo look like?
5. What does a Komodo feed on?