Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Courage and Determination


Robinson Crusoe’s parents want him to become a lawyer but Crusoe is
determined to become a sailor. He leaves home without his parents
’blessing and works hard to become a good sailor.
He shows great courage when he escapes from his Turkish master.
He ensures he has guns and food before he escapes.
When he is shipwrecked on a deserted island, Crusoe overcomes great
obstacles to survive. He struggles alone in order to carry food, equipment
and other materials from the ship so that he can make a life for himself until
he is rescued. He builds two homes, a raft and a canoe. He is also able to
make tools and plant enough food for himself and his companions.
He shows great courage when he saves Friday, Friday’s father, the Spaniard
and the second English sea captain. He does all this
at the risk of being captured and eaten by the cannibals!



Importance of Hard Work

It is important to work hard as this makes you disciplined and successful
in life. Robinson Crusoe is a good example of a man who is fearless,
positive and hard-working. Instead of complaining about his fate,
he looks at the situation and does what is needed to make the situation
better. For example, he salvages useful items from the sinking ship,
makes a canoe and safe shelters for himself, and hunt for food.
He creates a comfortable life for himself and is able to survive on
the island for twenty-eight years.


Friendship and Loyalty

Humans need friendship and good relationships with others.
When Crusoe runs away to London, he makes friends with
a ship’s captain who grows to like and trust him. He teaches
Crusoe mathematics and navigation until Crusoe becomes a good sailor.
Crusoe is a friendly and sociable person. The captain invites
Crusoe to go with him to Guinea, thus starting Crusoe’s involvement
in business and sailing. Crusoe also makes many friends while farming in Brazil.
When Crusoe gets shipwrecked on the island, he is desolate
and miserable. Deprived of human company, he finds comfort
and companionship with two dogs he rescues from the shipwreck,
the parrot and the cats.
During his twenty-fifth year on the island, he manages to
save a savage from a group of cannibals who land on the island.
This man is so grateful that he wants to be Crusoe’s slave.
However, Crusoe prefers him to be a friend. Crusoe teaches
him to eat animal flesh, speak English and share his religious beliefs.
Friday, as Crusoe calls him, becomes his faithful companion and friend.
Crusoe also becomes a friend to the Spanish and English mutineers
who were left on the island. He solves their disputes
and helps them to form friendships with each other.



Relationship with Nature

Humans are part of Nature and, therefore, should live and work
harmony with Nature. Crusoe is a man at peace with Nature.
He loves the sea and the outdoors. So when he is marooned
on the island and finds himself alone with only Nature
as his companion, he adapts easily.
He is quick to use things from Nature to help him survive.
He uses the trees and plants to build himself a canoe and
homes, ant to provide him with food.

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Leopard vs. Poodle Joke

Posted in Animal Jokes

A wealthy old lady decides to go on a photo safari in Africa, taking her poodle along for company.

One day the poodle starts chasing butterflies and before long, discovers that he’s lost. Wandering about, he notices a hungry-looking leopard heading rapidly in his direction.

The poodle thinks, “Oh, oh!” Noticing some bones on the ground close by, he immediately settles down to chew on the bones with his back to the approaching cat. Just as the leopard is about to leap, the poodle exclaims loudly, “Boy, that was one delicious leopard! I wonder if there are any more around here?”

Hearing this, the leopard halts his attack in mid-strike, a look of terror comes over him and he slinks away into the trees. “Whew!”, says the leopard, “That was close! That poodle nearly had me!”

Meanwhile, a monkey who had been watching the whole scene from a nearby tree, figures he can put this knowledge to good use and trade it for protection from the leopard. So off he goes, but the poodle sees him heading after the leopard with great speed, and figures that something must be up. The monkey soon catches up with the leopard, spills the beans and strikes a deal for himself with the leopard.

The leopard is furious at being made a fool of and says, “Here, monkey, hop on my back so you can watch me chew that poodle to bits!”

Now, the poodle sees the leopard coming with the monkey on his back and thinks, “What am I going to do now?”, but instead of running, the dog sits down with his back to his attackers, pretending he hasn’t seen them yet, and waits until they get just close enough to hear.

“Where’s that damn monkey?” the poodle says, “I sent him off an hour ago to bring me another leopard!”

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

analogy

in biology, similarity of function and superficial resemblance of structures that have different origins. For example, the wings of a fly, a moth, and a bird are analogous because they developed independently as adaptations to a common function-flying. The presence of the analogous structure, in this case the wing, does not reflect evolutionary closeness among the organisms that possess it. Analogy is one aspect of evolutionary biology and is distinct from homology (q.v.), the similarity of structures as a result of similar embryonic origin and development, considered strong evidence of common descent.

antonyms

–noun
a word opposite in meaning to another. Fast is an antonym of slow.Compare synonym

idioms
an expression whose meaning is not predictable from the usual meanings of its constituent elements, as kick the bucket or hang one's head, or from the general grammatical rules of a language, as the table round for the round table, and that is not a constituent of a larger expression of like characteristics.

imperatives

–adjective
1.absolutely necessary or required; unavoidable: It is imperative that we leave.
2.of the nature of or expressing a command; commanding.
3.Grammar. noting or pertaining to the mood of the verb used in commands, requests, etc., as in Listen! Go!Compare indicative (def. 2), subjunctive (def. 1).
–noun
4.a command.
5.something that demands attention or action; an unavoidable obligation or requirement; necessity: It is an imperative that we help defend friendly nations.
6.Grammar.
a.the imperative mood.
b.a verb in this mood.
7.an obligatory statement, principle, or the like.

synonyms

–noun
1.a word having the same or nearly the same meaning as another in the language, as joyful, elated, glad.
2.a word or expression accepted as another name for something, as Arcadia for pastoral simplicity; metonym.
3.Biology. one of two or more scientific names applied to a single taxon.

adjectives
–noun
1.
Grammar. any member of a class of words that in many languages are distinguished in form, as partly in English by having comparative and superlative endings, or by functioning as modifiers of nouns, as good, wise, perfect.
–adjective
2.
pertaining to or functioning as an adjective; adjectival: the adjective use of a noun.
3.
not able to stand alone; dependent.
4.
Law. concerning methods of enforcement of legal rights, as pleading and practice (opposed to substantive).
5.
(of dye colors) requiring a mordant or the like to render them permanent (opposed to substantive).