THE MISER AND HIS GOLD

 THE MISER AND HIS GOLD

A fable by Aesop 

    A miser sold all that he had and bought a lump of gold, which he buried in a hole in the ground by the side of an old wall. He went to look at it daily. One of his workmen observed the miser’s frequent visits to the spot and decided to watch his movements. The workman soon discovered the secret of the hidden treasure, and digging down, came to the lump of gold, and stole it. The miser, on his next visit, found the hole empty and began to tear his hair and to make loud lamentations. A neighbour, seeing him overcome with grief and learning the cause, said, “Pray do not grieve so; but go and take a stone, and place it in the hole, and fancy that the gold is still lying there. It will do you quite the same service; for when the gold was there, you had it not, as you did not make the slightest use of it.”

Telecommuting

Telecommuting

The way of the future Just imagine how wonderful it would be to “telecommute”1 to work on the electronic highway, with all your work done on a computer or by phone! No longer would you have to jam your body into crowded buses or trains or waste hours and hours travelling to and from work. You could work wherever you want to – just think of all the job opportunities this would open up!

- Molly

 Disaster in the making Cutting down on commuting hours and reducing the energy consumption involved is obviously a good idea. But such a goal should be accomplished by improving public transportation or by ensuring that workplaces are located near where people live. The ambitious idea that telecommuting should be part of everyone’s way of life will only lead people to become more and more self-absorbed. Do we really want our sense of being part of a community to deteriorate even further? 

-Richard

*“Telecommuting” is a term coined by Jack Nilles in the early 1970s to describe a situation in which workers work on a computer away from a central office (for example, at home) and transmit data and documents to the central office via telephone lines.

Blood Donation

    

 Blood Donation

 

    Blood donation is essential. There is no product that can fully substitute for human blood. Blood donation is thus irreplaceable and essential to save lives. In France, each year, 500,000 patients benefit from a blood transfusion. 

    The instruments for taking the blood are sterile and single-use (syringe, tubes, bags). There is no risk in giving your blood. 

    Blood donation It is the best-known kind of donation, and takes from 45 minutes to 1 hour. 

A 450-ml bag is taken as well as some small samples on which tests and checks will be done. 

– A man can give his blood five times a year, a woman three times. 

– Donors can be from 18 to 65 years old. An 8-week interval is compulsory between each donation.

*“Blood Donation Notice” on the previous page is from a French website. 

Brushing Your Teeth

Brushing Your Teeth 

    

    Do our teeth become cleaner and cleaner the longer and harder we brush them? British researchers say no. They have actually tried out many different alternatives, and ended up with the perfect way to brush your teeth. A two minute brush, without brushing too hard, gives the best result. If you brush hard, you harm your tooth enamel and your gums without loosening food remnants or plaque. Bente Hansen, an expert on tooth brushing, says that it is a good idea to hold the toothbrush the way you hold a pen. “Start in one corner and brush your way along the whole row,” she says. “Don’t forget your tongue either! It can actually contain loads of bacteria that may cause bad breath.” 

* “Brushing your Teeth” is an article from a Norwegian magazine.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Down the Rabbit-Hole

    Lewis Carroll wrote “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” in 1865. It’s the story of a girl who follows a rabbit and has some amazing adventures. Below is a passage from the book. Alice is sitting with her sister near a river.

Down the Rabbit-Hole

    So she was considering in her own mind (as well as she could, for the day made her feel very sleepy and stupid), whether the pleasure of making a daisy-chain would be worth the trouble of getting up and picking the daisies, when suddenly a White Rabbit with pink eyes ran close by her. There was nothing so very remarkable in that, nor did Alice think it so very much out of the way to hear the Rabbit say to itself, “Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be too late!” But when the Rabbit actually took a watch out of its waistcoat-pocket and looked at it and then hurried on, Alice started to her feet, for it flashed across her mind that she had never before seen a rabbit with either a waistcoat-pocket, or a watch to take out of it, and, burning with curiosity, she ran across the field after it and was just in time to see it pop down a large rabbit-hole, under the hedge. In another moment, down went Alice after it!

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The Adventures of Pinocchio

 The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi

CHAPTER XVII: Pinocchio Will Not Take His Medicine

    In 1883 Carlo Collodi wrote the novel The Adventures of Pinocchio. It’s the story of a woodcarver named Geppetto who makes a wooden puppet. The puppet, who Geppetto names Pinocchio, is very naughty and gets into trouble all the time. In the passage below Pinocchio has been given coins that he is suppose to take to Geppetto. Before he can get home, he has an adventure where he is injured. The Fairy with the Turquoise Hair has rescued him and has made him take medicine to get well.

    “And the four pieces—where have you put them?” asked the Fairy. “I have lost them!” said Pinocchio, but he was telling a lie, for he had them in his pocket. He had scarcely told the lie when his nose, which was already long, grew at once two inches longer. “And where did you lose them?” “In the wood near here.” At this second lie his nose went on growing. “If you have lost them in the wood near here,” said the Fairy, “we will look for them and we shall find them: because everything that is lost in that wood is always found.” “Ah! now I remember all about it,” replied the puppet, getting quite confused; “I didn’t lose the four gold pieces, I swallowed them whilst I was drinking your medicine.” At this lie his nose grew to such an extraordinary length that poor Pinocchio could not move in any direction. If he turned to one side he struck his nose against the bed or the window-panes, if he turned to the other he struck it against the walls or the door, if he raised his head a little he ran the risk of sticking it into one of the Fairy’s eyes. And the Fairy looked at him and laughed. “What are you laughing at?” asked the puppet, very confused and anxious at finding his nose growing so prodigiously. “I am laughing at the lie you have told.” “And how can you possibly know that I have told a lie?” “Lies, my dear boy, are found out immediately, because they are of two sorts. There are lies that have short legs, and lies that have long noses. Your lie, as it happens, is one of those that have a long nose.” Pinocchio, not knowing where to hide himself for shame, tried to run out of the room; but he did not succeed, for his nose had increased so much that it could no longer pass through the door.