Marvin Mouseketeer was tired of being bullied by Kitty Catketeer. He wanted to buy a sharp sword to slice up the cat. A good sword costs €244. However, Mouseketeer had only €154 in his pocket. If he could save €6 each month, (i) how long will it take him in years and months before he could deal with the cat?

Sword=€244

Marvin has=€154

Saves = €6 each month

(i) how long will it take him in years and months before he could deal with the cat?
Answer= 1 year and 3 months

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What is life? This is what scientists have been asking themselves for years. Now, to determine if something is alive or not, characteristics of life have been developed. For something to be considered alive, that something must have all the characteristics, not just one or two. If it does have all the characteristics, it is called an organism.

There are many different versions of these characteristics available, which doesn’t make sense. I compiled a list by comparing the many lists I saw. This is what I believe to be an ultimate list from several lists.

1. Organisation: This characteristic doesn’t mean that living things should be organised in their daily life but chemically. They have to be composed of atoms, which form molecules, which form cells.  Similar cells put together make a tissue, and two or more tissues make organs. Organs then make a system. A living thing doesn’t have to have a system, but at least one cell. These are called unicellular organisms (e.g. Amoeba). If the living thing has more than one cell, it is called a multicellular organism (e.g. Cat, Human).

Example: Muscle cells->Muscle Tissue->Heart (an organ made up of muscle tissue)->Circulatory System (Lungs and Heart and Blood Vessels working together)

2. Growth: All living things should be able to gather resources to use them to make their cells bigger, making their entire system enlarge.

3. Reproduction: All living things should be able to create another of its species. If it couldn’t, species would not be able to survive because no young would be born to keep the species going. There are two kinds of reproduction: asexual and sexual. Asexual involves only one parent, for example, bacteria dividing their cells in two, creating two new beings. Sexual involves two parents.

4. Movement: All things should be able to move in some way. It is noticeable that a human, dog, centipede, can all move, but then what about plants? Plants move, only they move so slowly it is only noticeable after a certain number of time. For example, sunflowers move into the direction of the sun, flowering plants open their petals. The roots move down into the earth. Although it is not obvious, like a running animal, plants do move.

5. Response: Response is when an organism has the ability to respond to changes in its environment and to things happening in their bodies. Organisms respond to light, sound, and touch. Again, plants do not seem to be responding much, when you pull of one of their leaves, they don’t jump back from shock and pain. But plants do respond. They have no nervous system, so they won’t respond to touch, but they grow toward the light. If the sun changes place, they adapt themselves so that they end up back towards the sun. Another example would be that if a seed that is growing finds itself the wrong way, with its roots in the air, then the plant will respond to gravity and shift so that it’s roots are back down in the earth.

6. Respiration: Respiration is how organisms get and use their food. There are two types of organisms for this characteristic: Autotrophs and Heterotrophs. Autotrophs are organisms that create their own food, i.e. plants. Heterotrophs are organisms that get food by eating other organisms, i.e. animals.

7. Metabolism: This is how an organism uses it’s food, which food it requires, and how much of it it requires, and also what is poisonous to the organism. It is also the ability to create energy, and to divide it for separating it into different parts of the organism. A living thing must be able to metabolize.

All these characteristics must be present in something for it to be an organism, otherwise it is not alive. Is a cellphone alive?  It reacts with it’s environment (when you press buttons), it moves when it vibrates, but does it reproduce or break down its food to make energy?

Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life,

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_are_the_7_characteristics_of_life

http://edhelper.com/ReadingComprehension_37_158.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metabolism

http://bit.ly/a2HcIm

http://bit.ly/ctPcRv

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Leo este libro, ‘El fantasma del Instituto’ y no comprendo la historia. Primera, no hablo español bueno, soy una principiante. Una cosa que no comprendo es los diálogos. Hay muchos diálogos y al poco tiempo, no sabeo quien están hablar. También hay un CD con el libro, y escuchar al CD me ayudarme mucho. Creo que la historia es de un grupo de amigos en un instituto. Venga una chica nueva y cosas muy raras están pasando en el instituto. Hay graffitis en la pared y los palabras ‘Pablo a vuelto’. También, los cristales de una ventana se rompen encima de la mesa de la chica nueva. El gato de el hijo del conserje muere y los niños creen que la directora es el culpable. Por la fin, Francisco, el hijo de el conserje se hiere a sí mismo. Va a un hospital y los chicos van con él. El padre de Francisco dice que Francisco ve cosas y dice que Francisco era el amigo de Pablo, un chico muerto, y la chica nueva parece a la novia de Pablo. La chica nueva vuelven a Galicia. Con toda la información que saben, creo que Francisco es loco y es el responsible por todas las cosas raras porque cree que ve la novia de su mejor amigo que es muerto.

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Marie Sklodowska was born in Warsaw, Poland on the 7 of November 1867. Known as a great scientist who discovered two new elements (Polonium, Radium), she was also the first woman to receive a Nobel Prize, as well as the first person to receive two Nobels in her lifetime. At a young age she moved to Paris where she became a governess to help her sister pay her college funds, who when finished, returned the favor and she aided Marie to pay the entrance fee of the Sorbonne. There she met Pierre Curie, another fellow student interested in science. They married and later had a total of two daughters, Irene and Eve. Mary and Pierre both joined forces and studied radioactivity, from where they discovered radium. Pierre died on the rainy Thursday 19 of April, 1906 from a road accident. Marie was devastated and depressed and she sought companionship in her late husband’s best friend, Paul Langevin. Media exposed her affair and it practically destroyed her reputation and all she had achieved so far. And since she was a woman, her achievements were mostly seen as Pierre’s achievements (the man) and when he died, she was supposed to accept the government’s offer of a pension to support herself and her children. She boldly refused and took her husband’s job as a professor at the Sorbonne, and she continued her researches. After the media outbreak concerning her affair, she fought hard to be respected again. Then her second Nobel was given to her and she was cast in a new light. She concentrated on finding healing powers with radioactivity and she even went to battlefields during WWI to X-ray the wounded soldiers and find the bullet fragments. She saved many lives. She set up an institute and continued her life successfully, though she would not acknowledge the fact that radium was dangerous and could cause illness. She died on July 4, 1934, in France due to exposure to radioactive substances and pure radium most of her life. Irene, her first daughter, followed in her mother’s footsteps and she too received a Nobel in science, along with her husband. Eve went down the literature path and she published the first biography of Marie Curie.

Reference:

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La Marseillaise is the French national anthem although it wasn’t always so. This song wasn’t even composed to be a national anthem, but to be a war song. Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle wrote and composed it in Strasbourg on April 25th 1792. It was originally called ‘Chant de Guerre pour l’Armée du Rhin‘ (War Song for the Army of the Rhine). It was written to reflect the invasion of Prussia and Austria, which was an ongoing war when the song was written. A young patriot from Montpellier named François Milleur sang it at a patriotic gathering in Marseille, and the people greatly liked it. When volunteers from Marseille came to Paris to revolt in the French Revolution, they sang it in the streets of Paris. The song became known as the ‘Marseillaise‘, due to fact that people from Marseille first sang it in Paris. It became the Revolutions calling card and the Convention accepted it as the National Anthem on July 14th 1795. It was later banned successively by Napoleon I, Louis XVIII, and Napoleon III, who did not seem to like it. In 1879, ‘La Marseillaise‘ was restored as France’s National Anthem and it has remained there ever since.

‘La Marseillaise’ Instrumental

The music from ‘La Marseillaise‘ was also used in many other things. In Russia, in 1875, Peter Lavrov, wrote Russian lyrics to the tune (not a translation) and it was used as revolutionary song. The Beatles used it as an introduction to their song ‘All you need is love‘. Frank Sinatra partly used it in his song ‘Foreign French Legion‘. Different versions of the tune are also used as themes for numerous rugby and football teams. It has been used in cartoons, games, movies and even featured in Monty Python sketches.

Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Marseillaise

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ENGLISH:

FRANÇAIS:

ESPAÑOL:

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The greenhouse effect is an effect that happens in the atmosphere with the sun’s heat radiations. The sun projects heat onto the earth and it tries to enter our atmosphere. When the heat comes into contact with the earth, the earth sends it back up. Greenhouse gases trap the hot air and send it back down to earth. Greenhouse gases are mainly Carbon Dioxide, Methane, Water Vapour, Nitrous Oxide and Ozone to name but a few. Carbon Dioxide comes from car exhaust, and us. Methane is a gas that comes from decomposing natural farm wastes such as manure or dead leaves. Water Vapour is basically the clouds. Nitrous Oxide is a relatively unknown gas. Not much is known about it. It is produced naturally and some studies may show that the excessive use of nitrogen fertilizer in farms may increase it. Ozone is not created by human resources but with natural resources. Some hot air does not get caught by the greenhouse gases and it is sent back into outer space. This keeps the earth warm but the warmth is controlled.

However, with the increase in greenhouse gases, more heat gets trapped, causing global warming, and with global warming more water is evaporated creating more clouds (water vapour) even more enhancing this now dangerous effect. This increase is caused by the burning of fossil fuels, leaving waste to rot, or even driving a car.

Although it is named after a greenhouse, this effect does not operate quite exactly the same way. In a greenhouse, the heat is allowed in but not out. In the greenhouse effect, the heat is mostly allowed in and most of that heat is allowed back out. Although now, with more greenhouse gases, less hot air is let out and if we continue, soon this atmospheric effect will live up to it’s name and our world will truly be a greenhouse, leaving no heat escape.

Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenhouse_effect,http://earthguide.ucsd.edu/earthguide/diagrams/greenhouse/

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Chopin’s ‘Funeral March’ simplified music sheet plus me playing it. For more information on Chopin click here.

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Cette comédie, dirigée par Gérard Oury et avec Louis de Funès comme acteur principal, raconte l’histoire de Don Salluste (Louis de Funès). C’est un ministre au royaume d’Espagne, qui récupère les impôts pour le roi. Il profite des impôts pour s’enrichir personnellement et il est détesté par tous. Quand la reine, une jeune bavaroise, l’accuse d’avoir eu un enfant avec une de ses servantes, le roi lui retire son titre de ministre et le condamne à vivre dans un monastère en toute pauvreté. Salluste, décidé à se venger, demande de l’aide à son neveu, le séduisant brigand Céasar. Mais quand ce dernier refuse, Salluste le vend comme esclave aux ‘Barbaresques’. Salluste, sachant que son valet Blaze a des sentiments pour la reine, decide de le faire passer pour son neveu Céasar. Le plan est de séduire la reine pour rendre le roi cocu. L’histoire est aussi accompagnée de complots, d’attentats contre le roi, de sous et de beaucoup d’humour.

Ce film est basé tres légèrement sur la pièce de théâtre de Victor Hugo, Ruy Blas. Je l’ai bien apprécié pour deux raisons. D’abord, il y a Louis de Funès et ensuite, il y a beaucoup de blagues. Le message de ce film est, bien évidemment, la folie des grandeurs. Salluste, comme d’autres personnages, en veulent plus qu’il ne peuvent en avoir. Ce film montre que ce n’est pas bien, mais avec beaucoup d’humour.

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ENGLISH:

N+’ate’=V

V + ‘tion’= N

• Correctability= [[[correct v] abil Adj] ity N]

V+’abil’= Adj

N+’abil’= Adj

Adj+’ity’= N

• Granddaughter= [[grand Adj] [daughter N] N]

Adj+N=N

FRANÇAIS:

• Sûrement= [[sûre adj] ment adv]

Adj+’ment’=Adv

• Légèrement= [[légèr Adj] ment Adv]

Adj+’ment’=Adv

• Précautionneusement= [[[pré [caution N] N] euse Adj] ment Adv]

‘pré’+N=N

N+’eux’= Adj

Adj+’ment’=Adv

• Enquêteurs= [[[[en [quêt N] N] er V] eur N] s N]

‘en’+N=N

N+’er’=V

V+’eur’=N

Another way of breaking down words instead of using square brackets would be using a tree diagram. A tree diagram is a type of diagram with a branch-like structure, with lines interconnecting and/or expanding.

For example ‘motivation’ using a tree diagram:

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