2. Tsunamis, large ocean waves
caused by underwater earthquakes,
can be deadly and destructive. For
example, in December 2004, an
underwater earthquake triggered a
massive tsunami throughout the Indian
Ocean. The tsunami killed more than
200,000 people and caused billions of
dollars of damage to the coasts of
numerous Southeast Asian countries
3. Democracy comes from the
Greek word demos, which means
"the people," and kratia, meaning
"to rule." The
term democracy refers to a form
of government in which the
people govern, either directly or
through elected representatives.
In other words, it is a set of rules
for determining who will exercise
the authority of government.
4. An individual with the eating disorder
bulimia first eats secretly, consuming an
enormous amount of food in one sitting.
The large quantity of food is clearly
beyond simple hunger. Then, after the
eating binge comes the purge. In this
phase, the person vomits or uses laxatives
to make sure the food does not stay in the
body and produce weight gain. With
bulimia, there is always a distinct "binge
and purge" pattern.
5. Passing fears are common in
early childhood. Many 2- to 4-year-
olds are afraid of animals, especially
dogs. By 6 years, children are more
likely to be afraid of the dark. Other
common fears are of
thunderstorms, doctors, and
imaginary creatures.
6. There are gender differences in
adolescents' satisfaction with their
bodies. Compared with boys, girls are
usually less happy with their bodies
and have more negative body images.
Also, as puberty proceeds, girls often
become even more dissatisfied with
their bodies. This is probably because
their body fat increases. In contrast,
boys become more satisfied as they
move through puberty, probably
because their muscle mass increases.
7.
8. The longest-lived creature in the
insect world is the queen termite
(ant). She has been known to live
for over 50 years.During that time,
the queen can lay over 30,000 eggs
each day.So in her 50 years of life, it
is possible for her to give birth to
half a billion children. Some termite
hills can be over six meters high.
9. For many years, all books were written by
hand. Because it took so long to write one
book, there were only a few of them. Most
people could never own a book. Then
sometime between 1450 and 1460,
Johannes Gutenberg got the idea of
carving separate letters and moving them
to make new words. Gutenberg died at the
age of 68. This was the invention of
moveable type. From then on, the
numbers of books printed grew quickly.
10. The solar system is believed to have
formed, perhaps 5 billion years ago,
from a spinning cloud of gas called a
nebula. As this nebula contracted it
began to spin faster and
faster. Probably it spun off rings of
planetary matter as it became more
disk-like. These rings later contracted
into planets. Earth is the third planet
from the Sun.
11. Some people do not know that the
whale is a mammal just like a
human. Humpback whales will
sometimes leap clear up out of the
water, an act known as breaching. A
humpback whale can weigh thirty tons
and measure 15 meters in length. So it
takes an enormous amount of energy
for a whale to breach.
12. The largest organ in the human body is
the skin. One of the skin's functions is
to help regulate the amount of body
heat that flows in and out of the
body. Heavy smoking ages skin very
quickly. When it is cold, we cover the
skin with extra layers of clothing to
slow down the outward flow of
heat. When it is hot, evaporation of
sweat cools us down.
13. The largest set of wings on any bird,
more than three meters across, is
found on the albatross. They are so
heavy that it is difficult for the albatross
to flap them in order to take off and fly.
Not all large birds can fly. Albatross
often nest on steep cliffs so that they
can simply fall off into the air. Once
they are airborne, they soar gracefully.
14. Ice floats on water because it is not
quite as dense as water is.The chemical
formula for water is H20. If ice were
denser than water, then lakes and
other bodies of water would freeze
from the bottom up during the
winter. Fish would surface and
eventually die.
15. Bats are able to maneuver in the dark
even if they are blindfolded. However,
if their ears are taped shut they cannot
find their way. Bats emit very high
pitched sound waves through their
nostrils. The reflection of these sound
waves reaching their sensitive ears
enables bats to avoid obstacles. In this
way they can capture even very tiny
insects. Many bats prefer to eat fruit
than insects.
16. It is estimated that the temperature of
the inner core of the planet earth is
between four and five thousand
degrees Celsius. In some parts of the
world, Fahrenheit is the unit used to
measure temperature. Lava, the molten
rock that flows down the sides of an
erupting volcano, is much cooler. Even
so, fresh lava is hot enough to emit
light. A night view of an erupting
volcano is a spectacular sight.
17. The cornfield is an oppressively hot
place. The soil is hot and dry; the wind
comes across the lazily murmuring leaves
full of warm smell drawn from rapidly
growing corn. A flood of blinding object
drops upon the field over which the cool
shadows run only to make the heat of the
sun more intense. Farther right, a
scarecrow dried crisp mutely watches
over the growing ears of corn.
18. I have a regular exercise schedule that helps me
stay in shape. This exercise program takes much
time and effort but the good feeling it gives me
makes it worth the trouble. On Mondays,
Wednesdays and Fridays, I jog. I start warming up
with calm, easy stretching exercises. Then I
usually run for about twenty-five minutes and I
cover about three kilometers during that time.
After running, I always cool down by doing
stretching exercises. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I
lift weights. I save weekends for relaxing. The
days in between give my muscles a chance to
recover from the strain.
19. Glaciers are great masses of ice formed
by snow. Snow collects on mountains for
years then melts and freezes. Each new
snowfall supplies ice for the glacier as it
packs, melts and freezes again. Glaciers
change the earth by pushing and moving
rocks, soil and even huge boulders.
Mount Everest, which is the highest
mountain in the world, has plenty of huge
boulders. The rocks and boulders that are
pushed along by a glacier cut into the soil
and wear away stone.
20. The Philippines has many folk festival. The Ati-
Atihan festival in Aklan, which
commemorates the historic sale of Panay and
recalls the peace pact between the Negritos and
the Malays who settled in Aklan, is one of them.
This event also commemorates the feast day of
the Sto. Niño. The Sto. Niño is well-loved in
Aklan. Townspeople and their guests paint their
faces and wear colorful costumes as they dance
the streets of Kalibo. A Sunday evening
procession in honor of the Sto. Niño brings a
solemn end to the week of gaiety.
