(11)My little paradise(ERP)

My little paradise
Lying on the meadow and enjoying the birds` concert, I am wholly immersed in the relaxing holiday. The grass underneath carries the softness of my bed, like a posh piece of velvet. A breeze filled with fresh smell of mud and tiny fragrance of blossoms evoked the reminiscence of my time spent in my grandparents` house and garden, my childhood paradise. From then on, I have never thought there is any place in the world like that small but splendid garden beside their house.

The weather had never been cool. Eating watermelons seemed to be the best way to evaporate the heat, so watermelons never failed to fascinate me. I stared at the watermelons while my mother cut them up. As soon as the knife was away enough from the watermelons that there was no danger of the knife-edge, I would snatch as many pieces as my small palms could hold, and began to gorge down the flesh greedily. However, since I devoured without noticing the seeds, I suddenly realized that terrible circumstance and exclaimed with terror.

“Mom, I swallowed the seeds!”

“Oh.” She answered in a monotonous voice.

“What if I died?”I asked fearfully.

“You will not die because of the tiny seeds.” She replied me indifferently.

“Then what will happen to the seeds in my stomach?” I insisted.

“It will germinate and grow into a big watermelon. “She answered me earnestly.

Her answer was like a spark that kindled my interest. Instead of worrying how I could possibly get the irritating seeds out of my stomach, I had a brand new idea.

After we had finished eating watermelons, I offered to clean the table. The elderly must have thought that I had finally grown up, so they must have been extremely willing to pass the chore to me. Then I could start my exploration.

As expected, they all complimented me for my “filial and decent” behavior. I collected the rubbish and pretended to throw it away. However, when I was out of their sight, I carefully collected, packed and kept the seeds. I could hardly contain my restless excitement for my first-step accomplishment.

It is our habit to take a siesta after lunch, but I sneaked out to the garden. Armed with a stolen spade, I started my work. Digging a small hole in the ground, I dropped all the seeds into it. After covering the hole with soil, I used my bottle to water my “plant”. Mom told me that the seeds would grow up in my body, so all the better it should grow in the soil. I put them together so that they would not feel lonely when they were growing underground. And since mom told me that the water in my bottle was “healthy”, it would provide my watermelons with enough nutrition-all very nice indeed.

Mission accomplished. I felt proud of my idea and expected to get many big watermelons the next day. For me, it was quite a possible result I should get. Then I tiptoed back cautiously, put away the spade surreptitiously and got back to bed stealthily. The good nap with a wonderful dream made me more confident of my experiment. The following days, I kept walking into the garden and searched if there were shoots.

I never lost my interest in exploring the small garden. It was like a heaven with all world`s intrigues. From the fragrant and beautiful blossoms to fresh green apples, from the tiny ant holes to exquisite swallows` nests, from straight maize stalks to muddy potatoes in the soil, the small paradise was a refuge of peaceful lives. I traced the ants trail to find their home, fed the hen with my own food and even tested how echoes formed in the wells. I felt a sense of belonging to the nature. I enjoyed the time in my small paradise. When will the seeds grow up to watermelons? Why was the hen walking tirelessly while nodding its head? How did the ants successfully transport their huge food? My mind brimmed with curiosity.

I still harbored the silly conviction that these seeds would once day grow up to watermelons, even as I left my grandparents`. I learnt the important lesson of questioning and exploring – however silly it might seem. The small paradise provided me with the impetus to love nature and be curious. Up to now, I am still interested in questioning things around me. My life is always filled with curiosity and multiple answers. Life is a garden awaiting exploration.

Response to the article"The Evolution of Godness"

These days I am almost tired of memorizing biology theories. Darwin`s Evolution and natural selection theories are proved and welcomed in the world. However, there seems to be something natural in our life which contradicts to the well-known ideas,how can we tell the reason why goodness to others is evolved among us and other animals in the world?
Darwin saw the little worker bees that sacrificed themselves to protect their hives-the ultimate example of animal altruism.If his ideas on natural selection were correct( indeed it is correct),then this sort of altruism should be extraordinary rare in nature.If increased reproductive success is what drives the evolution of behaviour then altruists should disappear.
A solution to this conundrum was really a hit.In modern language, within Darwin`s theory,, we would say the worker bees were indirectly saving copies of their own genes-copies that just happen to reside within their blood kin.
I believe human beings are willing to do good to others and we do things with scientific explanations behind.
Firstly, according to Hamilton`s useful mathematical equation, we get to know that whenever the multiplication between the genetic relatedness among individuals and the benefit that a beneficiary obtained is greater than the cost of act of goodness,goodness among ourselves is evolved.
Next, Hamilton`s Rule does not explain all altruism and why we do good to others.Another large chunk of goodness falls under the category of reciprocity.Individuals are sometimes willing to be altruistic to someone now in the expectation that they will, be helped when they need it. There could be no better examples rather than corruption t illustrate this idea. One man give bribery to his superiors because the man with more power can help him get more benefit more than the money he has sent out.As a result of this, reciprocity also plays a role of guiding men for offering goodness,which is in a more complex and social way.
There will always be answers to the problems. If goodness is a problem,we can resolve it from the rather benefit side. Moreover, underlying benefit is always the motivation to humans` sacrification for others.

new into

We have all keenly expected the great makeover made in Orchard road, however when we get there, we may ask: why the process has not begun yet? In fact, it had finished already but we did not notice that.Haven`t you noticed the totems,and the glass panels?That`s it ! Although we are all disappointed, let`s face the facts: the facelift is inconspicuous, some of the decorations even cause trouble to us and, moreover the process even exacerbates the recession in business

(11)Orchard Road Facelift

I fully agree that the $40-million Orchard Road Facelift is unworthy. The costly makeover is neither noticeable nor practical .It has also caused a lot of inconvenience to both citizens and tourists. Moreover, the process even exacerbates the recession in business.

Firstly, the expensive makeover in Orchard Road is unnoticeable and impractical. A successful change should be easily noticed by people, but the makeover is so inconspicuous .According to a recent survey that 40 out of 100 people polled along Orchard Road did not notice anything different. Consequently, few people can name where the $40 million was put into. Some citizens only see some slight changes. Nicholas Poh, 18,said:"I only see the glass panels, that`s all."Another Clinical sales executive Juniper Isaac,37,said "When I came here , it seems like there`s no big difference and it`s something that you would not notice unless you looked closely."Apart from being unable to spot the changes , some people also found the new installations fault. The glass panels are impractical, especially at night .They may be smashed by some people who get drunk and others may get harmed. Although the glass panels are designed for safety, the money will then be wasted and the cracks can influence the beauty of Singapore. After all, the purpose of the expensive makeover is to change the road into a more beautiful condition, but it may not do so .Besides, those totems also affect people in the way. The totems make the road more colorful, however, they block the walkway and cause inconvenience to passers-by. A student said that the changes did not help pedestrians ,and the flower totems blocked the sidewalk. It is evident that the expensive facelift was not designed markedly and practically.

Secondly, the renovation in Orchard Road affected citizens and tourists badly. The noise made by construction influenced people`s daily life.the discordant noise inevitably made citizens annoyed. Mrs Jackie Stevens said :"We thought Orchard Road would be prettier and nicer,because we saw it in the travel books.I did not know there was going to be so much noise and construction . As the construction went on , there were many areas blocked.As a result of that , neither citizens nor tourists could find their way around easily .This caused people get disappointed and their daily lives were badly affected.Obviously , the makeover has a negative effect to people`s lives.

There were people who found the makeover good since Orchard is the primary shopping belt of Singapore and it is a good idea to beautify it .However I would like to say that it will not do as what we think.The process itself even plays a negative role of giving worse burden on the plunging business.As the economic slowdown makes the number of tourists fall,there are less shoppers either.The large quantity of money spent on the makeover will not attract more tourists to consume,but the process and inconvenience make people visit the Orchard Road even less.Together with the large amount of money wasted in useless infrastructure,the whole facelift will lead to less consumption which is a negative cause to worse business.

To conclude ,the Orchard Road makeover is inconspicuous and impractical,with the influence to citizens and tourists ,it will result in worse business.In this way ,the facelift is unworthy and we should spend the money on the aspects which do give people convenience and beauty in life.

(11) Do Scrap The CCTs

I agree that Common Class Test(CCT) should be scrapped.The most important reason for that is students` daily lives will be negatively affected .There are a lot of preparations to do before a CCT,such as, reviewing the class notes, doing extra exercise, spending much time discussing problems and questions with classmates and teachers.These take the students so much time after school.As a result , they have relatively shortened time for entertainment or self interest.No one enjoys life without much time for recreation and freedom . In this way ,students will feel more tired ,anxious and even exhausted by the tedious work .They will be more irritable,more anxious in life.Definitely , it will cause students` daily lives be negatively influenced.Therefore CCTs should be scrapped in order that students can enjoy their lives better .

(11)My interpretation of exposition

Hello, everyone.Thank you for paying attention to my first blog content!In this article ,I will give out my own interpretation of exposition,namely what is an exposition.

Firstly ,to put it into a big view, an exposition is one of four rhetorical modes of discourse, along with argumentation, description, and narration.An exposition means writing or speaking that sets forth facts and ideas,or expounds detailed explanations.

Secondly , in a more spercific way , there are two types of exposition.Nonfiction expositions and fiction exposition ones.Nonfiction expository writing consists of textbooks, receipts,business letters ,personal letters ,research reports ,encyclopaedia,etc.Fiction expository writing conveys information which is presented in the form of facts,explanation,opinion or development of character,theme,etc.

Furthermore,here are some of the features of language used in expository writing.First of all , use of present tense to state how the author feels.Then ,well-constructing with connecting words and phrases such as the,beacause,to begin with,compare to,and in conclusion .This can help the exposition proceed in a logical order,e.g.cause and fact.Next , strong words and phrases to help emphasize the points put forward.Lastly, the use of Passive Voice increases the exposiyory skills.

To conclude,exposition needs more literary techniques and should be expressed logically.There should be a series of arguments supported by examples or evidence to convince and ensure the audience.Each new paragraph introduces a new argument inn the topic statement.With a conclution that reinforces the writer`s point, the exposition is said to be well constructed.