ARE YOU MY FRIEND?

Will you be there when I’m down

And catch me when I fall?

Will you hold me when I need

To feel the warmth of your touch?

Will you laugh when I laugh

And cry when I cry?

Will you let me rant and rave

When I need to let off steam?

Will you discuss those painful things

That you’d rather not think about?

Like the times we’ve hurt each other

And promised would never do so again?

Will you say the right thing

When all I’ve heard is the wrong?

And tell me soothing words

That make the pain I feel subside?

Will you understand me when I say

“I can’t see you now, go away?

Will you come back when I call

As if nothing happened at all?

If you’ll do these things for me

And keep smiling all the way

If you’ll be with me through the bad times

As well as the good

Then truly you are my friend

My pal, my mate and my confidante

And that means so much to me

I thankyou dearly, for being there

You, My Friend




by: James BrinkWorth


Adapted from: http://www.belajaringgris.net/puisi-bahasa-inggris-tentang-sahabat-are-you-my-friend.html

INTERNET

Internet can be known as a kind of global meeting place where people from all parts of the world can come together. The Internet provides opportunities galore, and can be used for a variety of things. You can do E-mail that is considered an online correspondence system. With e-mail you can send and receive instant electronic messages, which work like writing letters. Your messages are delivered instantly to people anywhere in the world, unlike traditional mail that takes a lot of time.

            You may access information where any kind of information on any topic under the sun is available on the internet. The ‘search engines’ on the Internet can help you to find data on any subject that you need.

            You can shop along with getting information on the internet, you can also shop online. There are many online stores and sites that can be used to look for products as well as buy them using your credit card. You do not need to leave your house and can do all your shopping from the convenience of your home. You are also welcomed to download Software: This is one of the most happening and fun things to do via the Internet. You can download innumerable, games, music, videos, movies, and a host of other entertainment software from the Internet, most of which are free.

            Nonetheless, there are certain cons and dangers relating to the use of Internet. Your personal information such as your name, address, etc. can be accessed by other people. If you use a credit card to shop online, then your credit card information can also be ‘stolen’ which could be akin to giving someone a blank check. This is a very serious issue concerning the Internet, especially when it comes to young children. There are thousands of pornographic sites on the Internet. Other illegal activities on the Internet; such as child pornography, kidnapping or even spammers endangers the safety of young generation life.

            Therefore, it needs to be controlled by all grown up people unless it will bring huge inconvenience for our prosperous life.

THE TERMINAL

“The Terminal” mainly explains and describes a complicated story about Victor Navorsky (Tom Hanks), a citizen of a fictional country called Krakozhia. He plans to visit New York City, but doesn’t manage to make his way through. As soon as setting foot into New York City’s John F Kennedy International Airport, he gets extremely surprised to discover that his visa and passport has been rejected by the officials due to his country, Krakozhia is in perilous Civil War that causes the president and other leaders to be slaughtered sadistically by rebel forces. This leads to an establishment of a new government system that states all traveling rights are to be suspended. Thus, the United States of America has no other alternatives, but to have Viktor spent over the next nine months in the international transit area due to his being eligible for any refugee status or has committed a crime.

            Acquiring poor English, Viktor has to struggle a lot with the hard life in the airport until his visa is reissued. He is unable to either enter New York City or go back home. During his stay in the J.F.K Airport, he makes friends with a cleaning service man, Gupta Rajan (Kumar Pallan), a security, Mulroy (Chi McBride), and Enrique Cruz (Diego Luna) including a flight attendant, Amelia Warrant (Catherine Zeta-Jones), while being watched rigorously by an immigration Officer, Frank Dixon (Stanley Tucci) who disfavors his existence and expects his disappearance from the airport.

            “The Terminal” which is directed by Steven Spielberg gained academic award for its wonderful and enlightening story. In this movie, Tom Hanks implies that it’s unnecessary to speak English fluquently if only we want to make friend with Americans. What matters most is your desire and determination to do so. It is showed that Victor Navorsky who just arrives from his own country and knows nothing about English, but he can manage to make friends with almost everybody he meets in the airport. He even goes out for a few dates with Amelia although their friendship doesn’t last long. This film teaches us many things about social life, friendship, love, America cultures, and how significant determination is.

            Beside of its wonderful story, the acting of all actors/actresses is also magnificent. Tom Hanks has successfully convinced all the audiences that he’s completely a fool with the incapability of speaking English by utilizing his excellent Russian accent. Catherine Zeta-Jones also has succeeded in attracting everybody’s interest via variety of touching expressions., especially in a romantic scene when Tom Hanks/Victor gives her a priceless gift in a form of a water-fond for her birthday.

            Despite containing some kissing scenes, “The Terminal” is still viewable to Indonesian teenagers because there wouldn’t be any problems as long as they are accompanied by their parents while watching this movie. Exciting! Two thumbs up! “The Terminal” deserves the highest applaud. It can get you aout of your stressful problems since it is very funny.

Adapted from: "Road to Succeed National Exam English Subject"

Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus

This book is great as a way of understanding how our culture tr5ains boys and girls to be different. We teach girls that they can cry when they are sad, talk about their feelings, and share experiences with each other. We teach boys that they need to ‘buck up’ and be manly, to hide the tears, to face it like a man, to be the rock on which the females can rely. It is no surprise that these lessons affect adults, and affect how male and females relate (or fail to relate) to each other. In essence, a few core themes run through the book, being supported by various examples, and different wording that help make the points clear.

First, men are goal-oriented and when they are stressed, “retreat to a cave” to consider what to do. They want to come to a solution on their own. To try to help them while they are in the “cave” is counter productive.

Men want to be trusted and admired. They want to feel that the woman believes in them. To question a man is to show your doubt. The book recommends if a man is lost while driving, or forgets something while travelling, to just be quite and accept it. It will show your trust in him to get there eventually ar to solve the problem. I’m personally not sure if this is always wise advice.

Women, on the other hand, are nurturing, expressive, feeling individuals who tend to use poetic license such as saying “you ALWAYS forget to do that chore” or “you NEVER listen to me”. The advice given to men is not to react to any of what women say literally. Most of what woman want, according to the book, is just to be heard. Women don’t want solutions or answers. They want to feel that their feelings are being heard and understood … they want to be held and be told “Yes, yes, I understand”. The book explains that men make the mistake of thinking women tell them things in order for the men to fix those things. Instead, the women tell them things in order to share their feelings, but aren’t seeking actual resolutions.

While I agree that women are trained to share feelings and to sometimes be overly emotional, to tell a man that women never want resolutions, and always exaggerate, is not treating a woman as a logical human being perfectly capable of wanting answers.

There is definitely a lot of helpful information in the book. It is good to understand that society trains men to “retreat” to consider problems, and that they consider interference during this time as “harassment” instead of “helpful”. It’s good to realize that women have emotional cycles and can sometimes be happy, and sometimes sad, and that nobody is always happy. This book definitely has interesting hints and tips, and interesting stories to share. It also has many generalizations that, for many individuals, simply do not apply.

Adapted from: http://www.romanceclass.com/miscr/books/menmars.asp

THUMBELINA

There was once a woman who wanted a small child but didn’t know where to get one. So she went to a witch for help.

“A little child?” said the witch, “That’s easy. Here’s a magic seed. Plant it in a flower pot and see what happens!”

The woman thanked the witch, paid her with a piece of silver, and went home to plant the magic seed. As soon as it touched the soil, the seed grew into a tulip, whose flower opened with a pop. In the middle of the flower sat a tiny girl.

“Why, the pretty little thing is hardly as big as my thumb!” cried the woman. “I am going to call her Thumbelina.”

The woman made Thumbelina a bed from a walnut shell. Instead of going out, Thumbelina played on the kitchen table. Her favorite game was sailing across a bowl of water in a boat made from a tulip leaf. As she sailed, she sang in a high, sweet voice.

One night, an old toad got in through an open window and hopped down into the kitchen table. “Just the wife for my son!” the toad declared when it saw Thumbelina sleeping in her tiny bed. The toad picked up the walnut shell and hopped out through the window into the garden. At the bottom of the garden, there was a stream with muddy banks, and that was where the old toad lived with her son. He was even damper and uglier than his mother. When he saw the pretty little girl asleep in the walnut shell, all he could say was, “Ribbik! Ribbik!”. “Not so load!” whispered the old toad. “if you wake her up, she’ll run away. We’ll put her on a water-lily leaf in the middle of the stream so she won’t be able to escape. Then we can clear out the best room for the wedding.”

In the morning, when she woke up, Thumbelina was startled to find herself on a big green leaf in the middle of a stream.

Taken from: www.storytotell.com

A Ban on Cell Phone Use at the Wheel: Motorists to Face Jail Terms for Using Cell Phones

There have been changes in the policy of charging careless drivers (in London). Motorists caught talking on a hand-held mobile phone or sending a text while driving could be jailed under the charge of careless driving. In the most serious cases they could be charged with dangerous driving, which carries a two year minimum sentence and unlimited fine. Such a type of charging is applied in response to growing public concern over drivers using hand-held phones.

            Against the ban, some people believe that driving while calling is generally a safe practice. Then, it is a bit difficult to charge one caught talking on a hand-held mobile phone or sending a text while driving to face jail terms. They argue that cell phones are no different from any other distracted driving – like eating, drinking, putting make up, shaving, smoking, and talking to back seat passengers.

            In spite of this, the ban needs to be enforced. It is according to the fact, stated by Department for Transport , that drivers are four times more likely to crash if they are holding a mobile or sending a text while at the wheel. The ban does not cover hands-free phones, but drivers who use them can still be charged if police think they’re not in control of their vehicle. Statistics already show that the real distraction is the conversation, even if it is hands free. As it has been statistically proven that hands free conversation is a distraction, so the current laws is toughened.

            Along with the debate on banning cell phone use at the wheel, there has been made a system called ‘Cell Phone Block While Driving’. This system is a device that prevents people from using a cell phone by the driver while car is moving. If the car is stopped for any reason, (red light, parking, etc.) a cell phone will work. If in motion, a cell phone doesn’t work. It is believed that the best use of the resources is in making cars safer and implementing auto reactive features that can take over for the driver, not in limiting the driver’s options.

Adapted from: http://www.halfbakery.com

http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com

The Jakarta Post

Should Students Take Part-Time Jobs?

One of the biggest things a student must figure out upon entering school is what to do with all that time. Free to schedule as they please and free from the obligations of life at home, students find themselves with a wealth of time they may or may not have.

There are things which you might consider working. First of all, if you want to be cool and go out with your classmates and buy some cool stuff, well you need money! By getting a job, you get money. Of course, you have to work for it, but still, it can – and probably will – be useful. There is not only money to consider though. Experience is an important asset for after finishing your school. When you work during your school year and add it to your resume, it will show your future employers that you are able to manage to pursue two activities at the same time, or more if you are involved elsewhere. Another interesting thing to consider is the contacts you might make by working. By contacts, I mean people that can be useful to you later in life. If you have different jobs, you make new references you can later add to your CV along with the experience. Also, if you are lucky enough to get a job in your area of studies, it may later become a permanent job.

The main disadvantage on your life is that you will have less time for schoolwork – and social life of course. This also means you get less free time to just hang out or party or do other stuff than work and study. This is an important of your life if you do not want to go all crazy! It is also important if you want to be cool. Having a job can also add another source of stress to your life. Depending on the type of job you are looking for, you may get a boss that always wants more hours and presses you to be more available. One of the things you can do is to set yourself a maximum number of hours you want to work per week and make this clear with your employer at the beginning of the year.

My biggest recommendation is not to rush into anything it’s perfectly acceptable to spend the first few a weeks of school adjusting and having fun, and then  slide a job into the mix when you’ve grown comfortable with everything else. Finally, never allow an outside job to get in the way of your health and school years in general. While work may keep you motivated and get you needed money, it’s not worth losing your education or well being over. Obtain what you need, but if you feel yourself slipping take some time off. Or find a better place to work. You’ll have plenty of time to work post school.

Adapted from:  www.epinions.com

Actions to Reduce Global Warming

Global warming already disrupts millions of lives daily in the forms of destructive weather patterns and loss of habitat. What is already happening is only the tip of the melting iceberg, for it is our children and grandchildren who will suffer the greatest from the impact of global warming. This article outlines some ways that you can act to prevent the Earth’s atmosphere from warming. While humankind has the ability to destroy the planet, we also have the capacity to protect and sustain is.

            Reducing your carbon and greenhouse gas emissions will not only make your personal living space more sustainable but it will save you money in both the short and long term. Global warming is occurring more rapidly than it was originally expected to-only forty years ago., the big worry was global cooling. Even if you remain a cynic, however, and believe that the majority of scientists are wrong, you will benefit from reduced pollution, a healthier lifestyle and increased savings from enacting these simple activities that will not reduce the quality of your lifestyle.

1.      Get educated. Educate yourself about global warming. The more facts you have, the more you can persuade others to make simple but effective changes in daily behavior. Energy saving techniques are either initially expensive (for example, solar power), or take extra time (for example, recycling), so many people need convincing that their efforts matter.

2.      Recycle more. Recycle more using recycling bins, composting, etc.

3.      Use compact fluorescent bulbs. Replace three frequently used light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs/lamps and save 135 kgs of carbon dioxide and Rp 600,000 /year.

4.      Use recycled paper. Make sure your printer paper is 100% post consumer recycled paper. Save 2.25 kgs of carbon dioxide per ream of paper. Decide if something is really worth printing out. Make the most of scrap paper for shopping lists, notes, scrapbooks, school and college note-taking etc. Only recycle your paper when it has been thoroughly used up! (And don’t forget the potential for making origami and other paper crafts.)

5.      Unplug unused electronics. Even when electronic devices are turned off , they use energy. Save over 450 kgs of carbon dioxide per year by unplugging them.

6.      Grow fast growing plants. Plants like bamboo grow faster and require less chemicals and care. Make sure that the plants are appropriate for your area; prefer native over introduced species and do not plant problem species.

7.      Take public transportation. Taking the bus, the train, the subway or other forms of public transportation lessens the load on the roads and reduces one’s individual greenhouse gas emissions. As an added bonus, some new buses are even hybrid already, depending on where you live in the world. Taking public transport removes the stress of long road commutes and gives you a great opportunity to read, think and relax. On some train services, you can even use a computer. You also save on parking money and time wasted looking for parks.

8.      Ride a bicycle. Taking the bike instead of the car is a very simple solution.

Adapted from: http://www.wikihow.com./Take-Actions-to-Reduce-Global-Warming

PROCEDURE TEXT

A Procedure text is a text that gives direction and guide line how to activate something by using several steps.

            Example of procedure:

            Brochure, menu recipe, manual books, etc.

The organization of the text

·         Goal

·         Materials

·         Steps

Communicative purpose of the text/ social function

To describe how something is accomplished through a sequence of actions or steps

How to Sign Up Yahoo Mail Account

            First of all, go to website: www.yahoo.com. Secondly, click on mail icon on the upper left side of the website. When the mail website screen appears, click on “Sign Up” button on the center of the page to proceed to the form page. Then, fill in the requirement information such as your name, address, postal code, etc. after that, you need to create your e-mail name and password and type them. Be sure to type the name and password that are simple and easy to remember. It is recommended that you use the combination of latter and numbers. Also, you need to ensure yourself that the name you are using for your e-mail account has not already been used by other users throughtout the world. When you’re done, you should read the agreement and click on button “I Agree.” If everything goes well, you should read a statement saying that your new e-mail has been created. Lastly, you need to activate it by logging in the website unless your account will be expired. Now, you have an e-mail that can be used to communicate with your friends all over the world for free.

Adapted from “Road to Succed National Exam English Subject”

NARRATIVE TEXT

A Narrative is a piece of writing that tells an imaginary story. The story can also be based on a real incident but has been made up in the purpose of entertaining.

Communicative purpose:

To entertain or to amuse the readers

Examples of narrative texts:

Short stories, folklores, legend, fable, and myth.

The Organization of a narrative text:

A narrative text can have as many paragraphs as the writer want. However, it mainly consists of three parts: orientation, sequence of events/complications and resolution.

This is example of narrative text…..

Fox and a Crow

            One morning a fox was returning to his lair after a night’s hunting. He had not caught anything and he was feeling very hungry. As he passed the farmer’s house he saw a crow stealing a delicious looking piece of cheese that the farmer’s wife had left in the window. His mouth watered and he thought to himself how he could get the crow to give him the cheese.

            The crow flew off and perched far above his head in a nearby tree. The fox ran to the foot of the tree and started flattering the crow.

            “Oh, beautiful bird,” said the fox, “so graceful, so delightful and so well loved by everyone. What lovely feathers you have,  and how lucky you are to be able to see into the future. Truly you are possessed of all the virtues and I cannot think of any bird so blessed.”

            “However, I don’t think I have ever heard you sing. If your singing is even half as good as all your other qualities, there cannot be another creature in the whole world so fabulous.”

            The crow was flattered by this and to show the fox that his voice was as beautiful as the rest of him he opened his beak and started singing so that the fox might hear him. But of course, as he opened his beak the cheese dropped out and the fox snapped it and ate it up in two gulps. Ah ha, said the fox, “ I spoke of your beauty, but you will notice I said nothing about your brains.”

Adapted from “Favorite Fables and Fairy Tales”

Advantages / Disadvantages of Watching Television

Nowadays , television has become the most popular media of mankind. It’s also the indispensable device in our daily life. By watching TV, we can see many things happened in the entire world. It helps us to catch and avoid being dropped back from the world of information. Everyone agree that television is one of the most important inventions in transforming information history. When the first television program was broadcasted, a new age era had begun, the age of image transformations. Television nowadays has been very popular, and almost every family has the access to it. By sitting ideally at home, we can get a whole look all over the world. The appearance of television and television broadcasting enriches our entertainments. Many events and competitions can be watched “live” and many exclusive movies are presented as well (although it’s a bit late in comparison with seeing those movies in the cinema), but all are legal and you’re free to enjoy them. In addition, if you want to travel but do not have enough money, you can enjoy traveling by watching TV (for example watching the discovery channel or national geography channel).

            Furthermore, the television is considered as the unlimited source of information. There are a lot of scientific channels which are fitting for all ages. Those are the fastest and cheapest way to improve your knowledge. Today , television provides many channels, each channel shows different program such as news, sport, film, etc.

            Without good time management, we may waste lots of time watching TV. If one day, a person spends an hour watching TV without gaining any useful information, then in one year he will waste 365 hours and in 10 year is 3605 hours. Instead, he/she can use that time to learn several languages as well as finish some studying course. Moreover, television programs sometime are not always appropriate for all ages. There are some movies contain sexual stuff and violence which affects the stormy phase of growing children and teenagers and even it should not be watched by some adults as well. It will be extremely dangerous if parents neglect their children to view the TV program themselves as they will immediately take influence of what they see. It is suggested that parents must supervise their children while watching TV. Spending hours watching TV especially in a very close distance is harmful to our eyesight.

            In conclusion. It can be stated that Television program gives us many advantages but it will harm our adolescent life if they do not have sufficient control from Parents or adults.

Adapted from “Road to Succed National Exam English Subject”