A Picture's Worth - Childhood Past

http://1000words.net/99-childhood-past

1.When was this photo taken?
May 22, 1978.

2.Who took the photo?
It was not mentioned. It may be a photographer or a passerby.

3.Where was this photo taken?
Phillipines.

4.Why was this photo taken?
It was the Henry's mother's birthday, they might celebrate.

5.Why is this photo meaningful for the writer?
This was the only one picture he had after their house in Phillipines burned down.

6.What is the story behind this photo?
Though he and his other two siblings (not including Mercy) were a family, he was not familiar to them. This was the only one photo of his childhood that he had. He cannot refresh his childhood memories by the photographs he lost. He was sad about that.

7.Who are the character in the story?
The writer, Henry, and his father, mother, and his elder sister, Mercy, and the other two siblings.

8.Where is the setting?
It was in Phillipines.

9.What are the series of Events?
Why they took this picture → relations with his family → the fire accident and the only one survived photo → the importances of keeping photographs

10.What is the 'tension' generated in the story?
The fire accident of their house in Phillipines.

11.What is the climax in the story?
Most of the things they had were gone, and the photo was the only one they had after the house burned down.

12.What is the resolution?
He treasured the only one photo very much.

13.What is the message behind the story?
We should keep our photographs carefully. It is important for us because it can refresh the memories that happened in the past and why we take the pictures.

Poetry - "M-O-T-H-E-R"

Hello everyone. I am Angela, today, I'm going to share a poetry with you. It's written by Howard Johnson.


M-O-T-H-E-R by Howard Johnson

"M" is for the million things she gave me,
"O" means only that she's growing old,
"T" is for the tears she shed to save me,
"H" is for her heart of purest gold,
"E" is for her eyes, with love-light shining,
"R" means right, and right she'll always be,
Put them all together, they spell "MOTHER,"
A word that means the world to me.

Why I choose this poetry is because I think "mother" is important to me, and I'm wanna thank her by this poetry. When mothers gave birth to us, they felt painful. Mothers raise us up, mothers take care of us. They teach us, protect us, and love us. When we are sick, sad, and happy, mothers always accompany us. I hope the children who take mothers' love for granted could understand mothers' toils. I love my mom very much, and how about you? Have you said "I love you" to your mom today yet? Just go and say it, and hug her tightly.

My Fake Biography

Hi~everybody! My appearance looks like a normal people. But...I have a big secret... I am a WITCH! Frankly, I have lived in this world for a long long time.... I experienced a lot of things....you may know these things, but you do NOT know that I was in those events!

You know, the great wizard Merlin, who helped the King Arthur, is my best friend. Look at this photo, in order to help him, the people at that time wanted to catch me! Hahaha, I am a WITCH, how could they catch me? Using fire to kill me? Ha! By the way, I am not a wizard, foolish people!

I adventured with Peter Pan, at that time, my name was Tinker Bell. We fought against the Captain Hook and other bad guys. I also made friends with Wendy and lost children. Many people knew this story, and Disney even shot it to be a film.

Sometime, I go to the Minimoys' world to have a tea with the princess, Selenia, she is my friend, too. I also met a cute guy, Arthur, he likes Selenia very much. Hahaha!

Yaya~I voyaged with the captain, Jack Sparrow!! That was a funny, exciting and dangerous voyage! Nice!!

Oh~see!! These two kitties are so cute! I'm wanna hug them tightly!!! Cats are witches' good companions. When they saw me on TV, they knew that I was a witch, so they kept staring at me and sitting there. However, their master just thought that her kitties knew how to watch TV. Ha!

About a few years ago, I acted in an American cable television series, Sex in the City. This was an famous series in America. Therefore, I became a celebrity.

Because of the series, the famous designer, Giorgio Armani, he invited me to be the spokesman of their company! I was happy to do this!

The fashion magazine, Glamour, also invited me to be shot for the cover of the magazine.

Now, I live with my best partner, Garfield. She is my favorite kitty. She is famous, too. she acted some movies and many children loved her. I am so lucky to meet her, and we are happy everyday!

Tell your story

Interviewer : Angela
Interviewee : Tara

"The fair-weather friend is different from the real friend....."

Listen to an American Story

How to tell if someone likes you

Love is in the air

VOCABULARY POWER
Vocabulary
Martyred : (V.) to kill somebody because of their religious or political beliefs

Recorded : (V.) to write sth down to keep the evidence

Imprisoned : (V.) to put sb in the prison

Solace : (V.) to comfort sb who is sad or unhappy

Confinement : (n.) the state of being confined

Equivalent : (n.) a thing, amount, word , ect, that is the same

Customary : (adj.) people usually do in a particular place or situation

Commiserate with : (V. ) to show the sympathy for sb who is upset

E-cards : (n.) electronic cards are used on the Internet

Wary : (adj.) being careful when dealing with sb or sth

Viruses : (n.) instructions that are hidden within a computer program and are designed to cause faults or destroy data

Spyware : (n.) a computer software that is installed surreptitiously on a personal computer to intercept or take partial control over the user's interaction with the computer, without the user's informed consent

Warrant : (n.) a legal document that is signed by a judge and gives the police authority to do sth

Idiomatic Phrases

public displays of affection: showing the feelings of liking or love to sb in public

forked out: forced to spend a lot of money on sth

hidden in the mists of time: something is too old for anyone to remember

sought solace: try to find comfort when sb feels upset

all the rage: something was very popular or fashionable in the past

malicious hackers: someone who tries to steal information from others' computer systems