ENGLISH RAWKS!!!

Pingyi Secondary (The Inca Sacrifice) answers

2009-10-05T20:07:00.002+08:00

Hi guys, really hope you guys have challenged yourselves and done the compre prac...here're the answers!

1) They offered human sacrifices as a special offering to the gods. [1]

Questions after this are startin' to get bizarre... I mean, THREE mark questions? Hmm. Whadeva.

2) Because children were regarded as wholesome and untainted [1], a sacrificed child was believed to have been so revered [1] that he/she would be regarded as a god. [1]

3) The mountain's effect was immediate and direct. [1] The mountains could kill with avalanche, rockfall, lightning, blizzard, or wind; [1] or they could bless the people with rain filled clouds. [1]

4) This would make their ascent to the mountains easier and less dangerous [1], and the physical environment more hospitable to human activity. [1]

5) It suggests that the Inca empire was large and far-flung. [1] I really liked this question! Such a great inference question. :)

6) People living near Llullaillaco believed the mountain controlled weather [1] as well as the fertility of the animals and abundance of crops [1] in the region.

7) This was a way to include these mountain gods into the country's faith, [1] thereby giving themselves increased rule over the distant, remote people they ruled. [1]

8) It suggests that they were capable of violence/were violent people. [1]

9) The children were probably in an intoxicated daze [1] and they could probably have frozen to death. [1]

10) She felt that she could not be more honoured than by the feasts which they celebrated for her in Cuzco. [1]

11) They were meant as sacrifices to the gods [1] and thus had to be physically perfect to attain the favour of the gods. [1]

12)

a) accompanied - escorted

b) attended - accompanied (Hehehhe....tricky...)

c) reportedly - allegedly

d) benign - gentle

e) intricate - detailed

f) elaborate - complicated

g) ultimate - supreme

All the best my darlinks! You guys can do it! Oh yea, I've just calculated your CA2 marks, and frankly, I am....... HAPPY! :D

Ramifications :(

2009-09-18T22:34:00.003+08:00

Oops. Feeling guilty now for telling you guys sorta the wrong meaning of ramifications... will make that up on Tue, promise. :(

Now, don't lynch me, people.

As requested....

2009-08-22T18:08:00.002+08:00

Coral Sec Summary Points! :)

The period that the ice is firm is shorter
And so the hunting period has become shorter too
Sea ice used to be thicker (is thinner now) and
The temperature in Greenland has risen
And so huge ice sheets are melting/have melted
As ice and snow cover melt,
More heat is absorbed and sea levels rise
Inuit hunters have difficulty dogsledding safely over ice
They need sea ice to form around the coast
To travel out to hunt the animals/prey
Animals need the ice/coast too for resting and birthing
The warmer temperature makes hunting difficult
Because of thinner ice and the formation of polynas
Hunting season has become unsafe

Hunters cannot hunt during the winter/dark periods anymore.
Early snowmelt affects premature seals as they are attacked by prey earlier/their mortality rate increases
Hunters and polar bears are affected too
The earlier ice break shortens the best seal hunting season
Polar bears use this period to build on fat supplies and energy for their offspring
They cannot do this properly so survival rate is low
Especially since they depend on body fat for insulation

Uh, looks like my longest "poem" to date. :)

Feeling emo...

2009-08-18T23:06:00.003+08:00

Like a lot of you guys (still) reading this, Miss Lan is capable of feeling *ahem* emo too.

Erm. Yea, in case you were wondering, yea, I AM a human too, and I AM capable of having feelings.

Sigh.

There are days when I look at all of you and waves of nostalgia really just wash over me, and I yearn so hard to be a student again, carefree and innocent.. seriously, guys, carpe diem - that means to "seize the day". Yea! Seize the day and enjoy it while you're still young enough.

Trust me, I understand how tough the life of a student can be. There're piles of homework and myriads of tests to study for (and that's why I don't really give you guys assignments too - right? RIGHT!??!). But sometimes, even that is much better than the constant politic-king or grievances you have to face when you're in the workplace. :( Not all colleagues are like that, of course. Mostly you luck out, and are faced with bright beacons here and there, their very goodness shining out from them. But sometimes - just very sporadically, rarely in fact - negativity from others could weigh you down like a pile of stone and make you sink straight to the bottom.

And added to that, my personal life isn't doing too well either. Some important things are in shambles, and although it's easy enough for everything to fall apart, sometimes it takes eons before one can gather enough courage and sheer motivation to stand back up and collect all the broken pieces back again.

I go to school to work, to keep myself busy, so that I don't think so much. I come back home to rest, to refresh myself, and to hide from the complaints and harshness of the outside world. And through it all, what keeps me going? My beloved BABY (that's my cat, kiddos..haha), my supportive parents, and - you guys. My lovely students. All of you who drive me crazy, drive me up the wall, make me scream and shout and develop mysterious, self-diagnosed swellings in my tonsils - yes, all of you lovely lovely kids.

Thanks for being part of those making my day, everyday. :)

Sob sob...

2009-08-18T19:29:00.000+08:00

Sob... it does Miss Lan good...to know that she still has SOME followers.

Sob sob. <- Tears of gratitude.

I will try to update more, and more frequently too.

From my favourite website

2009-08-18T19:26:00.000+08:00

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Now my dears...what can you infer from this picture above?

It comes from my favourite website, by the way. Will show you guys more when we have more time in the next few lessons.

Ship of Theseus

2009-07-22T08:23:00.003+08:00

Hey my dearies,

I just remembered this li'l puzzle from my Uni days and thought I'd share it with you guys. What're your thoughts?

The Ship of Theseus

Theseus was the founder-king of Athens (a place in Greece). When he returned from a journey to Crete (another place in Greece), he and 30 other youths sailed in a ship made up of wooden planks. As they knew that strong winds and waves would be battling the ship, they decided to bring along enough planks to build a new ship, just in case a repair was needed.

Along the way, wind conditions were much worse than expected. Theseus and his crew ended up having to replace each and every plank, one by one, at least once - with the conclusion that, at the end of the journey when they had returned to Athens, the ship was made up entirely of new and un-original planks.

Is the ship at the end of the journey the same as the one at the start then? Is it still "THE Ship of Theseus" or is it another "Ship of Theseus"? What do YOU think?

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

All right. Let's assume that you argue (with a good, logical justification) that the new ship is NOT the same as the original ship. It shouldn't be called THE Ship of Theseus. We'll examine the human body now.

Right now, as I'm typing this and you're reading this, millions of cells are being shed from my and your body. By the time one day has passed, hundreds of millions of these tiny cellular material would have vanished, gone forever from me or from you. In their places, new ones soon sprout. That's the miracle of the human body.

Imagine the billions of trillions of such cells that would have been replaced by new ones, ever since someone were born.

Now my question: Human bodies are made up of cells, in the same way that a ship is made of wooden planks. So am I, or you, the same human being as the one that emerged from my or your mother's womb, many years ago?

Hehehe...something to take away the Monday blues..

2009-07-13T20:20:00.002+08:00

Would choo like to eat that? :p

Funny letter...read it! :)

2009-07-08T17:54:00.002+08:00

All right guys, since we're on the topic of letters...here's one that I found off the good ole 'net. By the time I was done, I was "lol"-ing! As you guys are so fond of doing... I "<3">

Dear Sir,

I am writing in response to your request for additional information. In block number 3 of the accident reporting form, I put "trying to do the job alone" as the cause of my accident. You said in your letter that I should explain more fully, and I trust that the following details will be sufficient:

I am a bricklayer by trade. On the day of the accident, I was working alone on the roof of a new six-story building. When I completed my work, I discovered that I had about 500 pounds of brick left over. Rather than carry the bricks down by hand, I decided to lower them in a barrel by using a pulley which, fortunately, was attached to the side of the building, at the sixth floor.

Securing the rope at ground level, I went up to the roof, swung the barrel out, and loaded the brick into it. Then I went back to the ground and untied the rope, holding it tightly to insure a slow descent of the 500 pounds of bricks. You will note in block number 11 of the accident reporting form that I weigh 135 pounds.

Due to my surprise of being jerked off the ground so suddenly, I lost my presence of mind and forgot to let go of the rope. Needless to say, I proceeded at a rather rapid rate up the side of the building.

In the vicinity of the third floor, I met the barrel coming down. This explains the fractured skull and broken collar bone.

Slowed only slightly, I continued my rapid ascent, not stopping until the fingers of my right hand were two knuckles deep into the pulley. Fortunately, by this time, I had regained my presence of mind and was able to hold tightly to the rope in spite of my pain.
At approximately the same time, however, the barrel of bricks hit the ground and the bottom fell out of the barrel. Devoid of the weight of the bricks, the barrel now weighed approximately fifty pounds.

I refer you again to my weight in the block number 11. As you might imagine, I began a rapid descent down the side of the building. In the vicinity of the third floor, I met the barrel coming up. This accounts for the two fractured ankles and the lacerations of my legs and lower body.

The encounter with the barrel slowed me enough to lessen my injuries when I fell onto the pile of bricks and, fortunately, only three vertebrae were cracked.
I am sorry to report, however, that as I lay there on the bricks in pain, unable to stand, and watching the empty barrel six stories above me....I again lost my presence of mind....

I let go of the rope.................

Brain Twister Post # 1

2009-07-02T10:35:00.002+08:00

Hello guys! If you have a little extra time, or simply want something to aid you in twisting your brain - look at this post!

Assume that A, B, and C stand for something - anything you want.

a) If A are B, and B are C, does that mean that A are C?

Hehehe...think about that... You need some Maths skills for that. ;)

Inference Skills

2009-06-30T15:04:00.005+08:00

Okay, so 3B, you guys did Making Inferences Worksheet 1 today. How'd you find it? Pretty interesting and non-stressful, huh. Don't worry, 3A. You guys will have your chance soon.. *wicked grin*.

To infer something just means that we're not looking for a direct meaning. Instead, we're looking at clues and subtle hints, and sometimes drawing a conclusion for ourselves from what we've read. Another phrase for "inferring something" is to read between the lines. When we read between the lines, we don't take everything that we've read at face value - instead, we understand that some words or phrases might have hidden meanings. Ok, let's look at an example:

Let's just say that there exists a comprehension passage with such a line - "Uncle Tan was a wolf in sheep's clothings."

What can you infer from this line? Would you answer that :

a) Uncle Tan is the name of a specimen of canin lupis, otherwise known as the Wolf, and that it likes to cloth itself in the discarded garments of sheep, or

b) Uncle Tan is an incurable chee-ko-pek, most probably a middle-aged man.

(Speaking of which - HEADLINES! Do be careful when you're online and someone unfamiliar asks for your number...)

All right, I digress. Right now let's dissect the significance of inference skills in a more indepth way...

Some of you might be wondering what the significance of actually possessing Inference Skills is - other than scoring you high marks in one component of your Social Studies exam, that is. Well, let's take a look at how being able to infer things is vital to your doing well for comprehension tests. Oftentimes, you're not given direct facts in comprehension passages. Nope, your life's not gonna be so easy, hurhurhur...mostly, the examiner wants to test your depth of understanding of certain phrases and words. Is he/she/it likely to throw you this passage: Miss Lan is 25 years old and likes to work with youngsters. She loves to guide their learning and to quench their curiosity and then ask you "How old is Miss Lan?" or "What do you think Miss Lan works as?" If your answer is the former, then... I'm sorry to break the news to you now, kiddoes - you guys ain't in Sec 1 anymore. Sad, but true. :/

Supposing a related question to the our afore-mentioned uncle DOES come out in your Paper 1. Imagine that you're being asked this: "What is Uncle Tan's favourite hobby?"

How would you answer it? Leave your answers in the comment section, my Alpha's and Beta's...

Hello classes!

2009-06-29T10:34:00.000+08:00

Hi class...this is your teacher speaking...roger that? :)

Anyway, I hope that this blog shall serve as a means of communication and interaction for all of us. Since I'm taking two EL classes this semester - 3A and 3B - this blog shall be for all of you to read and to leave comments at. However, if there are any specific instructions just for any ONE class, don't worry - I'll draw your attention to that in the title of the post, all right?

Okie, as a way for us all to be introduced to WHO I AM, here's a personal meme, from me to you:

1) What's your name and what do you like to be called?

My full name is Lan Kailuo but I'd prefer to be called..... *drumroll*..... MISS LAN.

2) What did you do before you came to Yuying?

I was a student at NUS before I became a teacher. I majored in Philosophy, which is a really abstract subject. If you want to know more, look for me and I'll explain about it to you. ;)

3) What are two of your favourite things to do and why?

Well, I really love interacting with animals. I have 3 cats and a dog, and I used to have more pets. I love them because not only are they interesting to observe, they're also beings that display an innocence that is very rare amongst human beings nowadays. I love it, for instance, when I hold out a palm empty of food, but my cat still looks at me with eager, big eyes - because she thinks that there's a snack in store for her. Hehe.

I love travelling too. I've travelled to Europe, and around SE Asia and China, and in the USA too. Travelling opens up more cultures to us, and lets us learn things that we wouldn't have known, had we just stayed in our home countries. I'm sure the foreign students from our class will have a lot to say about this.

4) What do you expect from this semester's EL class?

Well, of course I expect all of you to pay close attention to what I'm saying, and to do your homework and hand it in on time. I'm sure that this way, you guys can do very well for your exams. However, English is not only about academic results - it is a way of life too. How about you?