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Writing Assignment: Mother’s Day (Solution)

Happy Mother's Day

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1.    Where was this picture taken?
This picture was taken inside a house.

2.    Who do you see in the picture?
We see a woman (probably a mother) and two children.

3.    What are the people in the picture doing?
They are sitting in a chair, having their picture taken.

4.    What is Mother’s Day?
Mother’s Day is a day where we honor our mothers, or the mothers in our lives – mothers, grandmothers, mothers-in-law, and mothers-to-be.

5.    What is a grandmother?
A grandmother is the mother of your father (paternal grandmother), or the mother of your mother (maternal grandmother).

6.    What is a mother-in-law?
A mother-in-law is the mother of your spouse (the mother of your wife/husband).

7.    What is a mother-to-be?
A mother-to-be is a woman who is expecting a baby.

8.    What is a stepmother?
A stepmother is the wife of your father (i.e., your father has remarried after being widowed or divorced).

9.    What can we do to honor our mothers?
We can give our mother a gift, or something that she might like or enjoy.  We can do something for her to make her feel special.  We can also tell her how much we love her and appreciate her.

10.    What kind of presents would be good for Mother’s Day?
Some good presents for Mother’s Day might be flowers, candy, a gift card, or treating her to a meal at a nice restaurant.

11.    What is a gift card?
A gift card is a card that contains monetary credit and can be used at a store or restaurant.

12.    What is often given with a present?
Oftentimes a card is given with a present.

13.    What kind of present might a young child, who usually doesn’t have much money, give to his mother for Mother’s Day?
There are plenty of presents that a young child might give to his mother for Mother’s Day.  He can let her sleep in, he can give her breakfast in bed, he can pick some nice flowers from the garden, he can give her a homemade gift or homemade card, or he can give her “coupons” that are good for household chores.

14.    Why do you think many people might like to take their mothers out to a restaurant for Mother’s Day?
Many people like to take their mothers out to eat for Mother’s Day as a way of giving their mother a break from the stress of cooking and cleaning for a holiday dinner.

15.    If you think the restaurant might be crowded, what should you do in advance?
If you think the restaurant might be crowded, you should make a reservation in advance.  Otherwise, you might have to wait for a half-hour or more before the restaurant is able to seat you at a table.

16.    What do you call a meal that is neither breakfast nor lunch, but comes between breakfast and lunch?
Brunch is a meal that is neither breakfast nor lunch, but falls between the two.  The word is a combination (a portmanteau) of the “br” from breakfast and the “unch” from lunch.

17.    Many women like to receive flowers as a present, but unfortunately they don’t last very long.  What can we do with flowers to preserve them?
We can preserve flowers by drying them, or pressing them between the pages of a book.

18.    Sometimes a local newspaper might have a Mother’s Day contest:  Children can complete the sentence, “My mother is the best mother, because __________.”  How would you complete the sentence?
One way you could complete the sentence is this:  My mother is the best mother, because she is always there to help me and love me when I need her, and she helped to mold me into the person I am today.

19.    What might you do for Mother’s Day if your mother has passed away?
If your mother has passed away, you could visit her grave and put some flowers there, as a token of remembrance.

20.    Why do you think it is a good idea to show appreciation to your mother on Mother’s Day?
I think it is a good idea to show appreciation to our mothers on Mother’s Day because mothers play an important role not only in the family, but in society as well.  The following poem by William Ross Wallace talks about the influence of mothers on society.  (The refrain is especially well-known:  “…the hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world.”)

The Hand that Rocks the Cradle is the Hand that Rules the World

Blessings on the hand of women!
Angels guard its strength and grace,
In the palace, cottage, hovel,
Oh, no matter where the place;
Would that never storms assailed it,
Rainbows ever gently curled;
For the hand that rocks the cradle
Is the hand that rules the world.

Infancy’s the tender fountain,
Power may with beauty flow,
Mother’s first to guide the streamlets,
From them souls unresting grow–
Grow on for the good or evil,
Sunshine streamed or evil hurled;
For the hand that rocks the cradle
Is the hand that rules the world.

Woman, how divine your mission
Here upon our natal sod!
Keep, oh, keep the young heart open
Always to the breath of God!
All true trophies of the ages
Are from mother-love impearled;
For the hand that rocks the cradle
Is the hand that rules the world.

Blessings on the hand of women!
Fathers, sons, and daughters cry,
And the sacred song is mingled
With the worship in the sky–
Mingles where no tempest darkens,
Rainbows evermore are hurled;
For the hand that rocks the cradle
Is the hand that rules the world.

   ~ William Ross Wallace ~

Paragraph:  Mother’s Day

When I was a small child, I wanted to get something for my mother for Mother’s Day.  However, I didn’t have any money to buy her a present.  So I thought about what I could do for her instead.  First, I took a piece of paper and a box of crayons, and made a card for her.  I drew flowers and hearts on it.  Then on the inside I wrote a short note, telling her that she was the best mother ever, and that I loved her so much.  After that, I went outside to the garden and picked some flowers for her.  I got some lilacs, and made a tiny bouquet of lilies of the valley.  When everything was ready, I went to her and told her “Happy Mother’s Day,” giving her my homemade card along with the flowers.  She thought the card was lovely, and the flowers beautiful.  A little while later, Dad took Mom out to dinner, along with the rest of us.  Mom said that she had never had such a nice Mother’s Day.

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Writing Assignment: Mother’s Day

Mother and children

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Vocabulary

mother
grandmother
paternal grandmother
maternal grandmother
mother-to-be
mother-in-law
stepmother
child
flowers
bouquet
press flowers
gift / present
homemade
card
gift card
treat
sleep in
breakfast in bed
dinner
brunch
restaurant
reservation
holiday
contest

1.    Where was this picture taken?
2.    Who do you see in the picture?
3.    What are the people in the picture doing?
4.    What is Mother’s Day?
5.    What is a grandmother?
6.    What is a mother-in-law?
7.    What is a mother-to-be?
8.    What is a stepmother?
9.    What can we do to honor our mothers?
10.    What kind of presents would be good for Mother’s Day?
11.    What is a gift card?
12.    What is often given with a present?
13.    What kind of present might a young child, who usually doesn’t have much money, give to his mother for Mother’s Day?
14.    Why do you think many people might like to take their mothers out to a restaurant for Mother’s Day?
15.    If you think the restaurant might be crowded, what should you do in advance?
16.    What do you call a meal that is neither breakfast nor lunch, but comes between breakfast and lunch?
17.    Many women like to receive flowers as a present, but unfortunately they don’t last very long.  What can we do with flowers to preserve them?
18.    Sometimes a local newspaper might have a Mother’s Day contest:  Children can complete the sentence, “My mother is the best mother, because __________.”  How would you complete the sentence?
19.    What might you do for Mother’s Day if your mother has passed away?
20.    Why do you think it is a good idea to show appreciation to your mother on Mother’s Day?

Paragraph:  Mother’s Day

Does your culture do anything special to honor mothers?  Is there a special holiday set apart for this?  Have you ever shown any appreciation to your mother?  For Mother’s Day, write a brief paragraph about how you would honor your mother.

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Culture Focus: Mother’s Day

In the United States, this coming Sunday is Mother’s Day. Mother’s Day is always the second Sunday in May. Its US origins date back to the early 20th century. Julia Ward Howe, who is the same lady that wrote the words to “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” first proposed a type of mother’s day in the US with her “Mother’s Day Proclamation” in 1870. This proclamation, though, is more of an encouragement for women to bring about an end to war by becoming involved in the political process, than it is an ode to honor mothers.

However, it was a woman named Anna Jarvis who trademarked the phrases “second Sunday in May” and “Mother’s Day” in 1912. Her intent was to encourage each family to honor its mother, thus making it a personal, familiar holiday. The holiday was nationally recognized in 1914. Consequently, children and adults alike take this opportunity to honor and remember their mother with flowers or gifts.

There is no typical flower or particular gift associated with Mother’s Day, but sentimental gifts tend to be quite popular. For example, a mom might receive a necklace, bracelet, or ring with birthstones of all her children. Gifts of cards and candy are also very common. Mom might also be treated to breakfast in bed, or be taken out for dinner – indeed, Mother’s Day is the most popular day of the year to eat out in the US, so if you do go out for dinner the second Sunday in May, be sure to make a reservation!

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Education Focus: Spelling Bees 2

2011 Contestants - Scripps National Spelling Bee

Photo: Scripps National Spelling Bee

Last week, we briefly discussed spelling bees and how they are generally conducted at the local level.  Now, let’s take a look at the premier event:  The Scripps National Spelling Bee.

The first National Spelling Bee was held in 1925.  Initially, it was formed by a Louisville, Kentucky newspaper, The Courier-Journal.  Later, in 1941, the sponsorship of the National Spelling Bee was changed to the Scripps Howard News Service.  The name was changed to the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee, and eventually shortened to Scripps National Spelling Bee.

There continues to be a close relationship between newspapers and the Scripps National Spelling Bee, as many of the spelling bee participants are sponsored by their local newspapers, who may view sponsorship as an opportunity to support education and literacy.   According to the official website, the purpose of the Scripps National Spelling Bee is “to help students improve their spelling, increase their vocabularies, learn concepts, and develop correct English usage that will help them all their lives.”

The Scripps National Spelling Bee is held every year in Washington, D.C., at the end of May.  This year, the 2012 Scripps National Spelling Bee will be starting with Round One Test on May 29, and continuing with Preliminaries (May 30) and Semifinals (May 31).  The highlight, of course, are the Championship Finals on May 31, starting at 8 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time.  (The Scripps National Spelling Bee can be viewed on the sports channel ESPN, which has exclusive live coverage rights.)  Participants compete for a number of prizes, including a $30,000 cash prize and trophy for the spelling champion.

Who can participate in the Scripps National Spelling Bee?  There are a number of rules for eligibility, but basically the contest is for students who are in the eighth grade or younger, and are age 15 or younger.  This year, the youngest contestant is only 6 years old!  However, 84% of this year’s 278 spellers are between the ages of 12 and 14.  Students may be from public schools (193 contestants, or 69.4%), private schools (39 contestants, or 14.0%), parochial schools (16 contestants, or 5.8%), charter schools (2 contestants, or 0.7%), or home-schooled (28 contestants, or 10.1%).

2011 Scripps National Spelling Bee winner Sukanya Roy

2011 Scripps National Spelling Bee winner Sukanya Roy. Photo: Scripps National Spelling Bee

The winner of the 2011 Scripps National Spelling Bee was Sukanya Roy.  Her winning word was cymotrichous, which means “having wavy hair.”

You can read more about the Scripps National Spelling Bee here.

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Culture Focus: Crossing Fingers

crossing my fingers

Keep your fingers crossed!

Did you ever watch a movie or TV show where one of the characters crossed his fingers when he said something?  Have you ever wondered what that meant?

Crossing one’s fingers has two meanings in American culture, depending on the situation.  The first meaning is a positive one.  It is a wish for good luck.  We cross our fingers to express hope that a job interview, a test, or some such situation will turn out favorably for us.  Crossing the fingers of both hands would be the equivalent of a double wish, or wishing extra hard that things turn out.  It is believed that this custom of crossing fingers comes from the Roman Catholic practice of making the sign of the cross as a way of asking for blessing or protection.  Making the sign of the cross involves not only the hands, but the arms, so it is very obvious when somebody does this.  But crossing one’s fingers is easy to do secretly, quickly and quietly.

The other meaning of crossing one’s fingers is negative.  Someone might cross his fingers as a kind of protection for telling a lie.  We all know that we should tell the truth, and that lying is bad, so the popular belief is that we can protect ourselves from divine punishment if we cross our fingers when we tell a lie.  Crossing our fingers then becomes an indication that we don’t really mean what we are saying.  Sometimes in a movie, you might see one character crossing his fingers behind his back when he is making a promise or saying something to somebody else.  Seeing the crossed fingers gives us a clue that the character is either lying or insincere.

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Education Focus: Spelling Bees 1

spelling bee

Who will be the spelling champion?

One of the subjects that American schoolchildren study is English.  Of course they must study reading, writing, and grammar, but another thing they need to study is spelling.  Every week the teacher gives the students a list of words to study, and the students are tested at the end of the week.  Sometimes, as a fun way to practice spelling, the teacher might have a spelling bee, or spelling contest.

Generally speaking, a “bee” is when people get together to accomplish some task.  When people help each other, it is easier to finish a project.  In the old days, for example, women would get together for quilting bees – where the women would work together to make quilts, or blankets – and men would get together for a barn-raising bee, and so on.  Other types of bees are apple bees, husking bees (or shucking bees), knitting bees, logging bees, paring bees, and spinning bees.

Spelling contests became especially popular in the 1800s.  The term “bee” was adopted to describe these competitive events, even though a spelling bee isn’t really a communal effort like a quilting bee or a husking bee.  There were spelling bees not only in schools, but also local ones which the community could participate in, sometimes for prizes.

Often, spelling bees are intramural:  a teacher will have a spelling bee for the class, and then the winner of the spelling bee might have the opportunity to compete against the best spellers in the other classes of that school.  For each round, the participants are each given a word to spell by the pronouncer.  Any participant that spells his given word incorrectly will be eliminated from the competition.  If all the participants in a round misspell, all remain in the competition, and there will be a new round.  If only one participant in a round spells correctly, there will be a final round, and the participant will have to spell that final word correctly to win the spelling bee.  If he misspells the final word, then all who had misspelled before that final round are back in, and a new round starts.  The spelling bee continues in this manner until only one speller is left – the champion.

In a formal spelling bee, the pronouncer is the one who reads the spelling words from a list for the spelling bee participants.  He has to pronounce the words as indicated in the dictionary.  The speller may request the pronouncer to repeat the word, define the word, use it in a sentence, provide the language of origin, provide the part of speech, or give an alternate pronunciation.  Judges uphold the rules, and make the final determination whether or not words are spelled correctly.  The speller must pronounce the word before and after it is spelled, and he must face the judges so they can tell by the speller’s lip movements if the word has been spelled correctly.

Sometimes, though, spelling bees are extramural – the winners might go on to compete against the best spellers from other schools in regional contests.  Excellent spellers can advance to the state level, or even the national level, competing against the very best from all across the country.  In the United States, the most famous of these national contests is known as the Scripps National Spelling Bee.  We’ll take a look at this well-known contest next week.

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Culture Focus: Weather

violent weather

Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it. ~ Charles Dudley Warner

Today I want to talk a little bit about weather.  Right now it is spring in the US.  The US is a big country, so spring weather is different for different regions.  However, one thing that is common is violent weather, such as thunderstorms and tornadoes.

There are three things that are needed to form a thunderstorm:  moisture (humidity), unstable air (meaning that one layer of air is unusually warm, and the other layer of air is unusually cool), and lift (rising air, such as from a weather front, or mountains, or the sea).  Since lightning occurs with thunderstorms, we also call them electrical storms.  You can estimate how far away a thunderstorm is by counting the seconds between a flash of lightning, and the thunder afterwards.  One mile is 5280 feet, and sound travels approximately 1000 feet per second.  So if you divide the number of seconds by 5, you will have an estimate of how far away the thunderstorm is, in miles.

If you are outside when a thunderstorm comes, you should get inside a building.  Some people have been electrocuted by lightning.  Golfers sometimes get hit by lightning because they think that taking shelter under a tree is safe.  But lighting often hits the tallest object in the area, so a lone tree on a golf course is a prime target for a lightning strike.

twister

Unstable air is also a cause of tornadoes – a warm air mass, or warm front, collides with a cold mass of air, or cold front.  Tornadoes are a spinning column of air, and this spinning comes from something called wind shear.  Wind shear happens when the wind changes direction suddenly.   When this makes the wind speed increase, the conditions are right for a tornado to form.   Many towns have a warning system, such as a loud siren, to alert its residents if a tornado has been spotted in their area.  In this case, people should take shelter – preferably in a basement, or at least in an interior room away from windows.

Emergency weather bulletins on radio and TV will alert people of approaching violent weather:

  • A severe thunderstorm warning will alert people of a coming thunderstorm, especially one that is particularly violent.
  • A tornado watch means that conditions are suitable for the formation of tornadoes, but none have been spotted yet.  It may not be necessary for you to take shelter if you are outdoors, but you should keep an eye on the sky and see if the clouds begin to take unusual shape, or start swirling.
  • A tornado warning, on the other hand, means that someone has spotted a tornado and notified the authorities.  If there is a tornado warning for your area, you should take immediate shelter.  Sometimes the tornado appears so suddenly that people only have minutes to take shelter.  You should remain in your shelter until the tornado warning has expired, or you hear otherwise that the danger is passed.

Other names for tornadoes are “twister,” “funnel cloud,” and “cyclone.”  A tornado that occurs over water is called a “water spout.”

The United States has more tornadoes than any other country in the world.  The average is about 1200 tornadoes per year.

 

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Education Focus: Turnabout

Girls asking boys out

Hey, do you want to go to the dance with me?

Today, let’s look at a relatively recent custom to have emerged at many American high schools:  the Turnabout Dance.  The Turnabout Dance may go by different names at different schools, but the basic idea is the same – it is a dance where the girls ask the boys out, instead of vice versa.  Turnabout is a semi-formal dance:  it is not as informal as a Sadie Hawkins dance, and not as formal as Prom.

Since the girl gets to ask the boy to go to the dance with her, she is then responsible for the other aspects of the date:  picking the boy up and paying for the dance, as well as any post-dance activities, such as dinner.  The advantage of Turnabout is that it gives girls who might otherwise be “wallflowers” (someone who doesn’t get asked to dance) an opportunity to go on a date, instead of waiting around and hoping that a boy would notice them or ask them out.

Sometime a group of girls might decide to double date (two couples going out together) or group date (more than two couples going out together) in conjunction with going to Turnabout.  This can be beneficial to all involved, because it is usually less stressful than a traditional one-on-one date, especially for first dates.  Parents also generally prefer group dates for their teens, because it helps to reduce the temptation for teens to get in trouble or make mischief.

An alternative to Turnabout is for the girl to ask the boy to go with her on an alternate activity, such as bowling or skating, or some other pastime that can be enjoyed by a group of teens.  Afterwards, they may go out for pizza or dinner afterwards.

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Culture Focus: Birthdays

For our culture focus this week, I thought I’d take a look at how American children typically celebrate birthdays. A child’s first birthday is considered a significant milestone, so many families mark this event with a relatively big celebration, although it is not as big a celebration as in Korean households. The first birthday is largely attended by family and perhaps a few close friends, who bring gifts for the child and enjoy birthday cake and ice cream.

As the children get older, the birthday celebration focuses more on a party for the birthday child and his friends, which is generally separate from any private celebration the family may have. The birthday child invites his friends over for a party, where the emphasis is on fun and games. In addition to opening presents and having birthday cake and ice cream, the children may play party games like the following:

1. Pin the Tail on the Donkey

In this game, a poster of a tailless donkey is put on the wall at the children’s height. Each child is given a paper tail, and they take turns trying to put the tail on the proper spot. To make things more difficult, the child stands several feet away, is blindfolded and spun around several times before he is released to walk towards the donkey to put the tail on. From the spinning, the child is usually disoriented, so the child might end up putting the tail on the donkey’s head, stomach, or other place. The winner is the one who gets the tail closest to its proper spot.

2. Musical Chairs

In this game, chairs are placed in a long row, with the chairs facing alternate directions. There is one less chair than there are children. Someone begins playing music, and the children march around the chairs in a circle. As soon as the music stops, every child must take a chair and sit down. The child who is slowest doesn’t get a chair, and is out of the game. Then one more chair is removed, and the game repeats, until there is only one child left – the winner.

3. Drop the Clothespins in a Bottle

In this game, children stand over a bottle that is placed on the floor. The bottle has a narrow opening, and the child tries to put the clothespins in the bottle by dropping them from chest height. If he gets a clothespin in the bottle, he can continue until he misses. The child who gets the most clothespins in the bottle wins.

Older children (teenagers) generally do not play these types of games, and the party becomes more of an opportunity for the teenager to enjoy the company of his friends, eating, talking, and doing teen-type activity. Many teens regard the 16th birthday as a milestone, since this is the age at which teens are allowing to get a driver’s license. The 18th birthday is also significant, since at age 18 the teen is no longer considered a minor child, but an adult.

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Education Focus: Report Cards 3

a job well done

We’ve been looking at report cards, and we’ve seen that the GPA (grade point average) is an important part of the information conveyed by the report card.  GPAs become increasingly important as a student gets older.  GPAs are used (1) to determine who is eligible for the Honor Roll, (2) to determine a student’s class rank, and (3) in college admissions.

(1)  Honor Roll:  The school acknowledges its better students by listing them on the Honor Roll for the quarter.  The exact criteria for inclusion on the honor vary from school to school, but a typical criterion might be a minimum GPA of 3.0 for Honors and a minimum GPA of 3.5 for High Honors.  In college, this acknowledgement is usually called a dean’s list.  Again, the concept is similar:  students with a GPA above a certain value are included in the list.

(2)  Class rank:   The class rank is the position of the student relative to those in his class as determined by the student’s GPA.  Thus, if a student has a class rank of 8, that means that his GPA is the 8th highest one for his class.  Of course, it is more impressive if a student ranks 8th in a class of 200 students rather than a class of only 20, so many times the class rank will also indicate how many students are in the class:  a class rank of 12/175 means that the student has the 12th highest GPA out of a class of 175 students.

(3)  College admissions:  There is much to be said about college admissions, and we will cover this in greater detail in a future Education Focus.  Here we will just note that a student’s GPA is one of the more important criteria that colleges will consider when they review a student’s college admission application.  The higher the GPA, the better, as it generally indicates that a student is a good student and will have a greater chance of success in college.

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