Term 1: Learnt about Lamb to the Slaughter
Other learning points: Learnt about inference questions. We are required to write a long piece of "essay" within a short period. In primary school, we were required to write a piece of composition within 40 minutes,but now, we have to write two "essays" within 50 minutes. It really tests our writing speed and on-the-spot thinking.
Term 2: Read about "Village by the Sea"
Other learning points: I learnt more about Anita Desai. She is able to combine major events and significant problems in real life and craft them into an excellent story. The story depicts a family who encounters many problems, but they stay together to overcome the problems together.
Term 3: Taught about unseen poetry
Other learning points: We were also taught how to analyse a poem properly and how to answer questions related to the poem, as well as the different "languages" in a poem, such as metaphors and similes.
Overall, I learnt many skills, such as inference and analyzing questions. However, I need to master the art of aceing them.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Inside the Minds of Animals
Recently, I read an article in the "TIME" magazine, named "Inside the Mind of Animals".It is about how smart certain animals are, and also raising questions about how we treat them. is fascinating and an eye opener into the minds of animals. You never know what an animal is thinking of as it looks at you. It could well be studying human beings too?
Kanzi, a 29 year old bonobo, is very talkative. He can build thoughts and sentences, even conjugate, all by pointing. The paper sheets he points at, includes not just easy nouns, but also concept words, as well as grammatical elements, like: "-ing" and "-ed" which signifies tense. To Kanzi, Slow + Lettuce = Kale It takes a long time to chew Kale, so Kanzi named it accordingly.
Crows and other corvids excel at tool use, a function of both clever brain wiring and the bird's complex social structure.If creativity lives in the cerebral cortex, why are crows and jays, better tool users than nearly all non-human species.
Orangutans have a very strong sense of the difference between self and others,so they will preen at their own reflection. It is easy to study the brain and behavior of an animal, but subtler cognitive abilities are much harder to map.
Elephants are familial and appear to mourn their dead. If they find other elephant bones, they will gently examine the skulls. Many questions have aroused - Can they feel? Do they experience empathy and compassion? Can they love or care or hope or grieve? And what does that say about how we treat them?
So who is the smartest out of all? The great apes and cetaceans are the smartest, followed by the corvids. They are under the "very smart" rank. Social carnivores and herd animals are under the "sort of smart" ranks. Bivalves have no smarts to speak of; may well lack even consciousness.
Kanzi, a 29 year old bonobo, is very talkative. He can build thoughts and sentences, even conjugate, all by pointing. The paper sheets he points at, includes not just easy nouns, but also concept words, as well as grammatical elements, like: "-ing" and "-ed" which signifies tense. To Kanzi, Slow + Lettuce = Kale It takes a long time to chew Kale, so Kanzi named it accordingly.
Crows and other corvids excel at tool use, a function of both clever brain wiring and the bird's complex social structure.If creativity lives in the cerebral cortex, why are crows and jays, better tool users than nearly all non-human species.
Orangutans have a very strong sense of the difference between self and others,so they will preen at their own reflection. It is easy to study the brain and behavior of an animal, but subtler cognitive abilities are much harder to map.
Elephants are familial and appear to mourn their dead. If they find other elephant bones, they will gently examine the skulls. Many questions have aroused - Can they feel? Do they experience empathy and compassion? Can they love or care or hope or grieve? And what does that say about how we treat them?
So who is the smartest out of all? The great apes and cetaceans are the smartest, followed by the corvids. They are under the "very smart" rank. Social carnivores and herd animals are under the "sort of smart" ranks. Bivalves have no smarts to speak of; may well lack even consciousness.
National Day Celebration
It is going to be a long weekend for me.... National Day is just round the corner, Everyone is preparing for it - hanging Singapore flags outside their houses, planning for the National Day Parade, catching up with friends.
The school organised a National Day celebration yesterday. It was packed with activities. It started off with the singing of National anthem and reciting the pledge. Somehow, this was different from the daily routine. I felt an extreme pride as I did that.
After which, we proceeded to the Kah Kee Hall for a concert. The concert was truly amazing, with different performances by some selected CCA groups - Wushu, Gymnastics and many more.
There was the NDP quiz where both students and teachers participated. We also sang some National Day songs, along with the choir group.
The "Don't Forget the Lyrics" was the highlight of the day, 3 students and 3 teachers were selected to take part. They were supposed to pick number with each representing a National Day Song. They had to sing the song they picked,with many blanks for them to fill in the lyrics.
The concert came to an end at about 10.30am. We were encouraged to make use of this opportunity to go back to our primary schools to visit our ex-teachers and ex-classmates. This must be part of remembering our roots. I thought this was a very nice gesture on part of Hwa Chong.
What a day it had been! It is a very long weekend, I am going to make use of this time to revise for my upcoming tests in the next two weeks...
The school organised a National Day celebration yesterday. It was packed with activities. It started off with the singing of National anthem and reciting the pledge. Somehow, this was different from the daily routine. I felt an extreme pride as I did that.
After which, we proceeded to the Kah Kee Hall for a concert. The concert was truly amazing, with different performances by some selected CCA groups - Wushu, Gymnastics and many more.
There was the NDP quiz where both students and teachers participated. We also sang some National Day songs, along with the choir group.
The "Don't Forget the Lyrics" was the highlight of the day, 3 students and 3 teachers were selected to take part. They were supposed to pick number with each representing a National Day Song. They had to sing the song they picked,with many blanks for them to fill in the lyrics.
The concert came to an end at about 10.30am. We were encouraged to make use of this opportunity to go back to our primary schools to visit our ex-teachers and ex-classmates. This must be part of remembering our roots. I thought this was a very nice gesture on part of Hwa Chong.
What a day it had been! It is a very long weekend, I am going to make use of this time to revise for my upcoming tests in the next two weeks...
Friday, July 30, 2010
Snapshotland
The title suggests that:
1. The island is very nice.
2. Everyone enjoys to go there.
3. There are many visitors at that island.
4. Snapshotland looks new everytime, no matter what happens.
5. It is a perfect toursit attraction.
The striking words are sepia, gingham pinafores and bonnets.
Many adjectives are used in the poem and the people in the poem are described very well.
Most words in the poem are used to describe the people there and the scenery there.
The poet is 'speaking' the poem.The poem is a reflective poem about the scenery at Snapshotland. The author is thinking abot the scenery at Snapshotland and he seems to be "urging" people to go there for a holiday. At the starting, the poem describes the scenery, but further down, it starts to describe the people there. The poem is describing the scenery of Snapshotland and that it is a good destination for a holiday.
1. The island is very nice.
2. Everyone enjoys to go there.
3. There are many visitors at that island.
4. Snapshotland looks new everytime, no matter what happens.
5. It is a perfect toursit attraction.
The striking words are sepia, gingham pinafores and bonnets.
Many adjectives are used in the poem and the people in the poem are described very well.
Most words in the poem are used to describe the people there and the scenery there.
The poet is 'speaking' the poem.The poem is a reflective poem about the scenery at Snapshotland. The author is thinking abot the scenery at Snapshotland and he seems to be "urging" people to go there for a holiday. At the starting, the poem describes the scenery, but further down, it starts to describe the people there. The poem is describing the scenery of Snapshotland and that it is a good destination for a holiday.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
September 2008 Economy in Crisis
Recently, I stumbled upon an article on the 2008 Wall Street Blues. I now have a better understanding of what triggered the economic crisis - subprime mortgages. This happened when banks created subprime mortgages for people, who would not be able to afford them otherwise. When they failed to make payments, the banks ended their mortgages and took ownership of their houses. As the banks tried to sell the houses, many other properties were worth much less than the loans themselves. The bank lost money and the value of houses dropped further. This is the dominoes fall impact. Big banks collapsed and markets fell over time.
As such, consumers around the world cut down their expenses and made the situation worse, triggering a worldwide recession. The cost of the US Treasury bailout is $700 billion - this is a whopping $2300 for every man, woman and child in the United States!
My parents had their jobs, so we were not affected, but we still watched our expenses carefully. I hope that this will not happen again.
As such, consumers around the world cut down their expenses and made the situation worse, triggering a worldwide recession. The cost of the US Treasury bailout is $700 billion - this is a whopping $2300 for every man, woman and child in the United States!
My parents had their jobs, so we were not affected, but we still watched our expenses carefully. I hope that this will not happen again.
South Africa World Cup 2010
After more than a month long of showdown, the World Cup came to an end. In this series, there were many upsets and surprises. For example, the defending champion and runner-up, Italy and France respectively, were knocked out in the early stages. Uruguay, which was the dark house, actually finished in 4th place, due to a controversial handball in their quarter-final match with Ghana.
I support Holland, and thus I tried my best to watch all their matches. However, due to the early school hours, I can only watch the weekend matches. The final was an exception - my parents allowed me to watch it, as my favourite team was playing. It helped that I only have to reach school at 9am the next day! So, I stayed up for the match. The match was very interesting, as each team had many opportunities to score, but both did not cherish their chances. It was until 116th minute that the Spanish broke the deadlock and scored a goal. At that point in time, Holland's hopes of winning the World Cup was dashed.
Minutes after, it was the prize-giving ceremony. The Spanish team was presented with the trophy. I was heartbroken, but it was a wonderful season for Holland - being unbeatable until the finals, when they lost to Spain 1-0.
I support Holland, and thus I tried my best to watch all their matches. However, due to the early school hours, I can only watch the weekend matches. The final was an exception - my parents allowed me to watch it, as my favourite team was playing. It helped that I only have to reach school at 9am the next day! So, I stayed up for the match. The match was very interesting, as each team had many opportunities to score, but both did not cherish their chances. It was until 116th minute that the Spanish broke the deadlock and scored a goal. At that point in time, Holland's hopes of winning the World Cup was dashed.
Minutes after, it was the prize-giving ceremony. The Spanish team was presented with the trophy. I was heartbroken, but it was a wonderful season for Holland - being unbeatable until the finals, when they lost to Spain 1-0.
Book Review 2 - Artemis Fowl
Book: Artemis Fowl
Author: Eoin Colfer
Artemis Fowl is probably responsible for every major crime of the new century. If you have not heard of him, it is better not to hear about someone like him. In this story, when he encountered the Fairy people, he hatched a plot to restore his family's fortune. He discovered that there was a world below ground full of mind-blowing technology. After kidnapping Captain Holly Short, he almost triggered a war.
Favourite part of the story: It was when Captain Holly Short and the troll were fighting. It was really action packed and you could even feel that there is sound effect, as you read on!
Why I like this story: This story has many sub plots. It also describes how smart and quick-witted Artemis Fowl was to hatch a plot to get his family fortune back. He is very calm and that helps him overcome all dangers.
Author: Eoin Colfer
Artemis Fowl is probably responsible for every major crime of the new century. If you have not heard of him, it is better not to hear about someone like him. In this story, when he encountered the Fairy people, he hatched a plot to restore his family's fortune. He discovered that there was a world below ground full of mind-blowing technology. After kidnapping Captain Holly Short, he almost triggered a war.
Favourite part of the story: It was when Captain Holly Short and the troll were fighting. It was really action packed and you could even feel that there is sound effect, as you read on!
Why I like this story: This story has many sub plots. It also describes how smart and quick-witted Artemis Fowl was to hatch a plot to get his family fortune back. He is very calm and that helps him overcome all dangers.
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