-
What We Know About
Language
?(2000)
Many
things
about
language
are a
mystery
and
will
remain
so.
However,
we
now
do
know
something
about it. First, we know that all human beings
have a language of some sort. No human
race anywhere on earth is so backward
that it has no language of its own at all. Second,
there is no
such thing as a primitive
language. There are many peoples whose cultures
are undeveloped but
the
languages
they
speak
are
by
no
means
primitive.
In
all
the
languages
existing
in
the
world
today, there are
complexities that
must have been
developed for
years. Third, we know
that all
languages are perfectly
adequate. Each is a perfect means of expressing
its culture. And finally,
we know that
language changes over time, which is natural and
normal if a language is to survive.
The
language which remains unchanged is nothing but
dead.
?
Characteristics of A Good
Reader
?(2001)
To improve your reading habits, you
must understand the characteristics of a good
reader. First,
the good reader usually
reads rapidly. Of course, he does not read every
piece of material at the
same rate. But
whether he is reading a newspaper or a chapter in
a physics text, his reading rate is
relatively fast. He has learned to read
for ideas rather than words one at a time. Next,
the good
reader
can
recognize
and
understand
general
ideas
and
specific
details.
Thus
he
is
able
to
comprehend the material with a minimum
of effort and a maximum of interest. Finally, the
good
reader has in his command several
special skills, which he can apply to reading
problems as they
occur. For the college
student, the most helpful of these skills include
making use of the various
aids to
understanding that most text books provide and
skim-reading for a general survey.
Disappearing
Forests
?(2002)
The world’s forests are disappearing.
As much as 1/3 of the total tree cover has been
lost since
agriculture began some
10,000 years ago. The remaining forests are home
to half of the world’s
species,
thus
becoming
the
chief
resource
for
their
survival.
Tropical
rain
forests
once
covered
12%
of
the land of the planet, as well as supporting at
least half of the world’s species of plants
and animals. These rain forests are
home to millions of people. But there are other
demands on
them. For example, much has
been cut for timber. An increasing amount of
forest land has been
used for
industrial purposes or for agricultural
development such as crop-
growing. By
the 1990’s
less than half of the
earth’s original rain forests remained, and they
continu
ed to disappear at an
alarming rate every year. As a result
the world’s forests are now facing gradual
extinction.?
Salmon
(2003)
Every year, millions of salmon swim
from the ocean into the mouths of rivers and then
steadily up
the rivers. Passing through
waters, around rocks and waterfalls, the fish
finally reach their original
streams or
lakes. They dig out nests in the riverbed and lay
their eggs. Then, exhausted by their
journey, the parent salmon die. They
have finished the task that nature has given them.
Months, or
years later, the young fish
start their trip to the ocean. They live in the
salt water from 2-7 years,
until they,
too are ready to swim back to reproduce. Their
life cycle helps man provide himself
with a basic food-fish. When the adult
salmon gather at the river mouths for the annual
trip up the
rivers, they are in the
best possible condition, and nearly every harbor
has its salmon fishing fleet
ready to
catch thousands for markets.
Money
(2004)
Money is accepted across the world as
payment for goods or services. People use money to
buy
food, clothes and hundreds of other
things. In the past, many different things were
used as money.
People on Pacific
islands once exchanged shells for goods. The
Chinese used cloth and knives. In
Africa, elephant tusks or salt were
used. Even today, some people in Africa are still
paid in salt.
Coins were first invented
by the Chinese. Originally, they were round pieces
of metal with a hole
in the center, so
that a piece of string could keep them together.
This made doing business much
easier,
but
people
still
found
coins
inconvenient
to
carry
when
they
wanted
to
buy
something
expensive. To
solve this problem, the Chinese again came up with
the solution. They began to use
paper
money for coins. Now paper notes are used
throughout the world.
The
Wrist Watch
（
2005
）
It
is
generally
believed
that
wrist
watches
are
an
exception
/
to
the
normal
sequence
in
the
evolution of man's jewelry. / Reversing
the usual order, they were first worn by women, /
and then
adopted by men. / In the old
days, queens included wrist watches among their
crown jewelry. /
Later, they were worn
by Swiss workers and farmers. / Until World War I,
Americans associated
the
watch
with
fortune
hunters.
/
Then
army
officers
discovered
that
the
wrist
watch
was
most
practical for active combat. / Race car
drivers also loved to wear wrist watches, / and
pilots found
them
most
useful
while
flying.
/
Soon
men
dared
to
wear
wrist
watches
without
feeling
self-conscious. / By
1924, some 30 percent of man's watches were worn
on the wrist. / Today, the
figure is 90
percent. / And they are now worn by both men and
women / for practical purposes
rather
than for decoration.
The
Internet
(2006)
The
Internet is the most significant progress in the
field of communications. / Imagine a book that
never
ends,
a
library
with
a
million
floors,
/
or
imagine
a
research
project
with
thousands
of
scientists / working around the clock
forever. / This is the magic of the Internet. /
Yet the Internet
has the potential for
good and bad. / One can find well-organized,
information-rich websites. / At
the
same time, one can also find wasteful websites. /
Most websites are known as different Internet
applications.
/
These
include
online
games,
chat
rooms
(chatrooms)
and
so
on.
/
These