Fathers in Jordan

Fathers in Jordan do hard work for their children. First, fathers take care of their children. For example, they buy them clothes, toys, and food. In addition, if a child feels some pain, the father carries him to the doctor and buys medicine for him. Fathers also teach their children the importance of education. In fact, this begins with the child enter elementary school.
Second, fathers give advice to their children during their teenage years. For example, fathers tell their children how to choose friends and how not to be friends with lazy, careless, drunken, nonreligious students. Fathers also teach their children the importance of following Islamic rules. A father encourages his son to be come educated, to be innocent and active, and to worship Allah. He teaches his son how to serve Islam by using his talents and by sacrificing for his country.

(Taken from Basic Writing)

Fathers and Mothers

A proverb in China says, “Fathers are outdoors, mothers are indoors.” It means that fathers have to work hard for the support of the family, so they have to be outdoors – to work. And mothers are considered to be indoors – to do the housework, to take care of the children. But that does not mean that the father has no responsibility in raising children.
We Chinese think that child raising is the most important thing in a family, and mental health is essential part of it. The children need to know gentleness as well as aggressive feelings. So it is the responsibility of mothers to teach the children what a gentle feeling rather than an aggressive one.
The responsibility of fathers is the opposite. Fathers have to advise the children when there comes a hard time. He teaches them how to fight back with aggressive feelings. In recent years, the structure of our society has changed a lot, but the roles in child raising are still unchanged.

(Taken from Basic Writing)

Hajj

Hajj is the most popular holiday in my country. It is an Islamic holiday, and it is in the last month of the year. People come from far away to Medina and Mecca to visit these holy cities.
Some people do not go to the holy cities because they do not have money or they are not well. The Quran says that these people can go to Mecca or Medina another year. At least one time during their lives, they must go to Mecca.
People who do not travel to holy cities fast on the feast of hajj. On the second day, Muslims gather together with friends. They cook meat and the children wear new clothes.

(Taken from Basic Writing)

Indonesia’s Celebration

Every year, on August 17th, all Indonesians celebrate Independence Day. Indonesia gained independence on August 17, 1945 after the Second World War. After the war, Indonesia began to develop the economics of the country and to educate its people. Although I am now in the United States, I still celebrate my country’s Independence Day. This year I invited my Indonesian friends and some Americans friends to come to my house for a party. I prepared Indonesian food, and we celebrated all day.

(Taken from Basic Writing)

Indonesia’s Flag

We Indonesians call our flag Merah-Putih. Merah means ‘red’, and putih means ‘white’. Our flag is rectangular. The width is two-thirds of the length. It consists of two equal parts, divided horizontally in the middle. The color of the upper part is red, and the lower part is white. Red represents courage and white means peace.
Historically, the meaning of the flag is that Indonesians are brave. They also seek peace among themselves and with other countries in the world.
On s special day, like Independence Day on August 17th, we raise the flag on a pole in front of each house. We love and admire our flag very much. On Independence Day the flag is raised while the independence song is played.

(Taken from Basic Writing)

The Many Seasons in Turkey

If you go to Turkey, you can see three seasons at the same time. If you go to eastern Turkey, you will see that the weather is very cold. It is dark because the sun does not shine. There are not any leaves, and the roads are icy. People ski, but a lot of people also get sick because of the cold weather. Snows cover the entire area, and the people are not happy. But if you go to western Turkey, you will see spring. There are flowers, green grass, fruit, and sun shine. Western Turkey is a very good area. A lot of people live there. You will also see a lot of tourists. If you go to South Turkey, you will see the summer season. There is sunlight, and you will see flowers, fruits, green grass, and the sea. A lot of men take sun baths because the sea is very cool. There are many crops and products like fruits and vegetables for sale.

(Taken from Basic Writing)

The Seasons in My Hometown

Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, has four seasons. But the seasons are not the same length. Summer is four months long, and it is very hot. The schools are closed, and some people go to the sea to swim. Many people go to Taif City because it is not so hot in the mountains. I like the summer because it is not cold. At noon, the air is very hot because the sun is shining.
The spring and fall seasons in my country are only two months long. During these seasons, the air is very comfortable, and the trees are green. Some people travel to Medina because they want to visit the mosque. Other people travel outside the country because the do not have to work.
The winter in Saudi Arabia is four months long. The weather is very cold. There are a lot of rains. Sometimes the weather is nice, but often it is not.

(Taken from Basic Writing)

Volcanoes

There are many volcanoes in Indonesia. Volcanoes are very beautiful but they can be very dangerous as well. Some volcanoes erupt and shoot our gases into the air. Volcanoes can also pour out lava and rocks. Lava is very hot. The temperature may be above 1000o C.
Sometimes, the lava traps gases inside the volcano. If this happens the volcano can explode. People can hear the thundering sound many kilometers away.
The most famous volcano in Indonesia is Mount Merapi in Central Java. It is the most active volcano in Indonesia. In 1994, Mount Merapi erupted, shooting out smoke, steam and volcanic ash high active into the air. The hot smoke and steam killed many people.
Between Java and Sumatera, there was also a small volcanic island. The volcano on that island was called Krakatau. In 1883, Mount Krakatau erupted. The eruption destroyed the island. It made the loudest noise ever heard on earth. Dust from the eruption rose thousands meters into the air. After the dust had settled, the island disappeared.
Years ago, volcanoes erupted without warning. The burning lava destroyed whole villages and towns. Nowadays, scientists have learned how to forecast when a volcano is going to erupt. If it is going to be a big eruption, people are told to leave the dangerous area.

(Taken from Stepping Stone 3)

Electronic Media

At the end of the nineteenth century, newspapers were the main pubic sources of information. At the end of the twentieth century, we still have newspapers, but they are no longer the main sources of information. Nowadays, we have the electronic media: the internet, radio, and television.
The electronic media link Indonesia to the rest of the world. The electronic media makes us part of the global village. If we want to find out what is happening in Europe or the United States, we can listen to satellite TV stations, such as, the BBC or CNN. We can find out what normal people in many countries think by going on the internet. There we can talk in English to people from all over the world.
In the twenty-first century, the internet will be the most important source of information. Even now there is so much information on the internet. Soon people will not buy newspapers from kiosk anymore. They will read electronic newspapers on the internet. All television channels will be on the internet. If you get tired of watching TVRI, you will be able to switch to a New York channel or a channel from South Africa or Egypt.

(Taken from English for Communication SMP 3)

Dani People

Dani is a general name for all tribes of the Baliem Valley in Irian Jaya. The origin of these people is not known. They all have dark brown skin, but each tribe’s language and customs are different. They use bird feathers, cowry shells and a special kind of wood for trading.
The Dani are farmers. They have been farmers for at least 5.000 years. They are very skilled farmers. They raise pigs and grow sweet potato. They spend most of their time working in their fields. As a result they are very physically fit and strong.
Everybody who meets the Dani people say that they are fearless. They are afraid of nothing or nobody. On the other hand, everybody says that they are a very friendly people.

(Taken from English for Communication SMP 3)

Newspaper

Newspapers are classified in a number of ways. They are classified according to content. Some newspaper such as Kompas and Suara Merdeka are serious newspaper. They are full of serious articles and comments about important events in Indonesia and throughout the world. Other newspaper, such as Meteor and Cempaka are not serious newspaper. They are full of gossips and strange stories about everyday life.
Newspaper can also be classified according to the way they look. Some newspapers have very big pages. These are called “broadsheets”. Serious newspapers usually have a broadsheet format. Other newspapers have small pages. These are called ‘tabloids.’ Non-serious papers usually have a tabloid format. Tabloids have lots of pictures and short articles written in simple language. Tabloids are usually entertaining.

(Taken from English for Communication SMP 3)

Marriage in Lombok

Young Sasak couples have a choice of different ways of getting married. The first is an arranged marriage. The parents of the man arrange that he will marry a particular girl. Another way is to marry a cousin. Both of these ways are simple and easy. The parents discuss the bride’s dowry (mas kawin). When all the arrangements are finished, the ceremony, sorong serah, is performed.
The next method is more difficult and dramatic. In this method the man runs away with the girl of his choice to another village. He then reports his action to the head of that village (Kepala Desa). He is punished for his wrong action and has to wear a piece of black cotton around his arm. Finally his family has to pay a price to the bride’s family as compensation (ganti rugi).
One advantage of the last method is that there is no wedding ceremony. Wedding ceremonies, as we know, are very expensive.

(Taken from English for Communication SMP 3)

The Bell

The bell tells us that someone is calling. The electric bell is very similar to the door bell. The sound can be adjusted by a wheel under the case. The tone of the bell can be high or low. There are different telephones with different bells and different tones.

Houses in Minangkabau

Houses in Minangkabau measures 10 meters in length by five meters in width and 8.5 meters in height. The floor and walls of the house are made of wood. The roof is covered with sugar-palm leaves (atap rumbia).
The floor of the house is built on wooden supports about four meters above the ground. Animals are kept in the space under the floor. There is a stair from the ground to a door in the floor. The inside of the house consists of one large room.
One house can contain up to eight related families. Each family has its own cooking fire and living space. The head of the family lives at the back of the house. His married daughters and their families live on the left side of the house.
These houses are highly decorated. Usually there is a buffalo head on the top of the roof. There are also animal heads, called singa or gajah dompak, on the front of the house. These carvings help to protect the house from ghosts (hantu).

(Taken from English for Communication SMP 3)

Cretaceous Period

The Cretaceous period was about 120 million years ago. The lakes and rivers looked a lot like they do today. There were large trees and bushes and mountains. Many different animals lived at this time.
During this period, dinosaurs lived with animals and insects that were like ones we see today. Turtles and crocodile swam in the rivers as the dinosaurs ate plants and fish. Pterosaurs flew in the air with dragonflies that looked a lot like the ones we know. Under the bushes and rocks were cockroaches and beetles.
It’s interesting to think about these animals and insects. Why aren’t they extinct like the dinosaurs?

(Taken from English for Communication SMP 3)

Dinner time

What is dinnertime like in your home? When do you eat your big meal of the day?
When people lived in castles, they ate their big meal at ten thirty in the morning. It was a very long meal. It was finished about one o’clock in the afternoon. Some of the foods were bread, meat, fish, eggs, milk, and pie. They sometimes put birds into pies. When someone cut the pie, the birds flew out. People didn’t eat potatoes, and because rice cost a lot of money, they didn’t eat rice very often.
People washed their hands before they ate. They put their food on old bread because they didn’t use dishes. They picked up their food with their hands and fingers because they didn’t have any forks. When the meal was over, they gave the old bread to the poor to eat.

What is a computer?

A computer is an electric machine used to make a human’s work easier.
What do computers do?
Computers are designed to do many things. Among these is the ability to play games – not much to an adult but to a child these are quite exciting and fascinating. It can also do both simple and complicated arithmetic. Computers can also do word processing. This means that the computer helps to decide what a piece of writing will look like. If the computer has a printer attached then it can also feed information to the printer which will then print out the information on to paper.
Types of computers
There are many types of computers not to mention the numbers of brands and models. The three main types of computers are: mainframe computers, micro-computers, and mini-computers.
Mainframe computers
Mainframe computers are very large computers that are stacked up on frames. They usually have many input and output terminals (keyboards and monitors). They are sometimes stacked up in the middle of a room although they are usually stacked up against the walls of a room.
Micro-computers
Micro-computers are the most common type of computers. These computers run on a micro-chip. They can only hold one input and output terminal plus a printer.
Mini-computers
Mini-computers run on a mini-chip. They can do a lot of things that micro-chip can’t. For instance, they can support many input and output terminals. They are also a lot faster than a micro-computer.

Dengue Fever

Dengue fever is one of the most dangerous diseases in the world.
Dengue fever is endemic in most tropical countries of the South Pacific, Asia, the Caribbeans, the Americas and Africas.
This disease rapidly spreads in most tropical urban areas of the world. It means people in these areas have high risks of infection of the diseases.
Dengue fever is caused by a virus. The virus is transmitted into humans by the bite of infected mosquitoes, usually Aides Aegepty. In other words, the disease cannot be spread directly from person to person.
The disease is characterized by a high fever, severe headache, backache, joint and muscle pains. Sometimes, many patients get nausea, vomiting, and rash on arms, face and legs. There is no specific treatment of the disease.

What is a heart?

The heart is a huge organ of muscle. The function of the heart is to pump the blood through the body. The heart is made up of four chambers, but has two hard working pumps; one is to force blood to the lungs and the other to force blood to the rest of the body.
Each person’s body contains about 4.7 liters of blood. The function of blood is to help carry food and oxygen and the other is to protect us from germs. The tubes that receive blood from the body are called veins. The blood in the veins is dark read because it is full of oxygen. The white cells act to protect the body from invading germs. The blood receives oxygen from the lungs.

What is an oil well?

Oil is found in the earth’s crust, which is the outer layer, or skin, of the Earth, 50 to 60 kilometers thick under the continents and only 1 to 5 kilometers thick under the ocean. As it comes out of the ground, oil is a thick liquid, brown or greenish-black in color and in that state is called ‘crude’ oil.
Oil was formed from the remains of tiny sea animals and plants that lived millions of years ago in the oceans. As they died they were covered by layers of sediment, and then went through a slow chemical change to become oil. This oil seeped through porous layers of rock and gathered in pools where the rock was not porous.
Oil wells are holes drilled down into these oil pools, allowing the oil to rise to the surface. Deposits of natural gas are often found near oil too. Oil is very often transported long distances to oil refineries by large ships known as ‘tankers’ for processing.

(Taken from Bahasa Inggris, Materi PTBK Buku 2)

Corroboree frog

The corroboree frog gets its name from the colors on its body. These look like the colors some Aboriginal Australians paint on themselves when they perform ceremonies called corroborees. Corroboree frogs crawl, instead of hopping or leaping.
Food
Corroboree frogs eat flying insects. They flick their sticky tongues out quickly, capture their prey, and then swallow it whole.
Habitat
Corroboree frogs live under heaps of rotting leaves in grassy wetlands or under logs and plants beside creeks in forests.
Tadpoles and baby frogs
The male corroboree frog digs a burrow by pushing soil or old dead leaves aside with its snout. It then croaks from the burrow to attract a female. She lays about twelve eggs in the burrow. The eggs are called roe or frog spawn.
Tadpoles first appear in the eggs like tiny black spots. They grow and develop in the eggs, and when water floods the burrow, the tadpoles hatch. They breathe underwater through gills, and have long tails but no legs. Then they grow strong back legs and shorter front legs. Their tails shrink back into their bodies, and their lungs develop so they can breathe air. They have become frogs.
Dangers
Corroboree tadpoles can be eaten by large water beetle and bugs, but usually some survive. Snakes, lizards, and birds eat the adult frogs. If a snake or other small animal enters its burrow, corroboree frog will try to protect itself by head-butting the attacker.
Barrie Sheppard

(Taken from English Skills in Context 4)

Why were pyramids built?

The only true pyramids ever built were in Egypt where they were burial places of the ancient rulers of Egypt, the Pharaohs. They are square in plan, with triangular sides sloping to meet each other at an apex. The three pyramids at Giza are the largest and finest of their kind. The Great Pyramid of Khufu or Cheops at Giza, built around 2650 BC, is the largest and one of the Seven Wonders of the World. It is a solid mass of limestone blocks covering 5.3 hectares. Originally it was 147 meters high and took twenty years to build.
The entrance to the pyramid is in the northern wall and a small passage leads through various other chambers to the burial chamber itself deep within the pyramid.
Pyramid-like structures, not true pyramids, were also built by the ancient Mesopotamians and the Mayas in Central America and Mexico.

(Taken from Bahasa Inggris, Materi PTBK Buku 2)

Snakes

Snakes are reptiles (cold-blooded creatures). They belong to the same group as lizards (the scaled group, Squamata) but form a sub-group of their own (Serpentes).
Snakes have no legs but a long time ago they had claws to help them slither along.
Snakes are not slimy. They are covered in scales which are just bumps on the skin. Their skin is hard and glossy to reduce friction as the snake slithers along the ground.
Snakes often sun bake on rocks in the warm weather. This is because snakes are cold-blooded and they need the sun’s warmth to heat their body up.
Most snakes live in the country. Some types of snakes live in trees; some live in water, but most live on the ground in deserted rabbit burrows, in thick, long grass and in old logs.
A snake’s diet usually consists of frogs, lizards, and mice and other snakes. The Anaconda can eat small crocodiles and even wild boars.
Many snakes protect themselves with their fangs. Boa Constrictors can give you a bear hug which is so powerful. It can crush every single bone in your body. Some snakes are protected by scaring their enemies away like the Cobra. The Flying Snakes glides away from danger. Their ribs spread apart and the skin stretches out. Its technique is just like the sugar glider’s.

A lathe

A lathe is a machine for shaping or boring metal, wood, etc., in which the work piece is turned about a horizontal axis against a fixed tool.
The lathe is divided into four main parts: bed, headstock, tailstock, and carriage. The bed is the foundation of the lathe. It is made from cast iron and rigidly secured to the lathe stand. The top surface of the bed is accurately machined to form the bed ways or vet ways. All the other parts of the lathes are on and slide along these bed ways. The accuracy of the lathe is determined by the accuracy of the ways and care should always be taken to keep them in perfect condition.
The headstock is secured to the left hand end of the bed and sits on the bed ways, its main purpose being to supply the motive power for the lathe. The headstock contains the belts, pulleys or gears, which bring the power from the motor to the work piece so that it can be machined.
The tailstock has the job of supporting the loose end of the metal while it is machined. The tailstock can be used to support a drill chuck for drilling as well as other devices.
The carriage is used to support the lathe tool and move it so as to cut the metal. It slides along the bed ways.

(Taken from Bahasa Inggris, Materi PTBK Buku 2)

Whales

Whales are sea-living mammals.
They therefore breathe air but cannot survive on land. Some species are very large indeed and the blue whale, which can exceed 30 m in length, is the largest animal to have lived on earth. Superficially, the whale looks rather like a fish, but there are important differences in its external structure; its tail consists of a pair of broad, flat, horizontal paddles (the tail of a fish is vertical) and it has a single nostril on top of its large, broad head. The skin is smooth and shiny and beneath it lies a layer of fat (blubber). This is up to 30 cm in thickness and serves to converse heat and body fluids.

(Taken from Bahasa Inggris, Materi PTBK Buku 2)

What is an iceberg?

An iceberg is an enormous piece of ice floating in the sea. ‘Berg’ is the German word for mountain. In the coldest parts of the earth, around the North and South Poles, land and sea are both covered by sheets of ice, over 300 meters deep at the centre.
Tongues of ice, called glaciers, stretch out into the open waters of the oceans. The sea water melts the bottom parts of these glaciers, and then the top part slides into the water with a mighty roar. The great piece of ice sinks for a short time beneath the surface then it rises again, and floats away as a new iceberg.
Some icebergs are miles across to begin with, and travel for thousands of miles and several years before they finally melt. The part of an iceberg which can be seen above the water is only about one-ninth of the total size. The rest is hidden beneath the waves.
One of the world’s worst disasters at sea was in 1912 when the liner ‘Titanic’ collided with an iceberg on her maiden voyage.

(Taken from Bahasa Inggris, Materi PTBK Buku 2)

How does a spider spin its web?

Like insects, lobsters and crabs, spiders are arthropods, which is Greek for ‘jointed legs’. Spiders have eight legs, insects have only six. A spider’s body is in two parts, with six silk glands on the end of the back part. From these glands comes a liquid which turns into silk on contact with air.
As it is produced, a spider holds the silk thread with one leg. It can vary the kind of silk. When spinning a web, a garden spider begins with a large thread square. Then it works from the middle of the edge, puffing in about thirty strokes or rays of thread. Then it changes direction again and makes a series of sticky spirals from the centre outwards.
To complete the web, a spider spins a thread from the centre to a hiding place nearby. Webs can be 3 meters across or as small as a postage stamp.

(Taken from Bahasa Inggris, Materi PTBK Buku 2)

What is thunder and lightning?

Lightning is a sudden, violent flash of electricity between a cloud and the ground, or from cloud to cloud. A lightning flash, or bolt, can be several miles long. It is so hot, with an average temperature of 34.000 degree Centigrade that the air around it suddenly expands with a loud blast. This is the thunder we hear.
Lightning occurs in hot, wet storms. Moist air is driven up to a great height. It forms a type of cloud called cumulo-nimbus. When the cloud raises high enough the moisture freezes and ice crystals and snowflakes are formed. These begin to fall, turning to rain on the way down. This rain meets more moist air rising, and it is the friction between them which produces static electricity. When a cloud is fully charged with this electricity, it discharges it as a lightning flash.

(Taken from Bahasa Inggris, Materi PTBK Buku 2)

A Kangaroo

A kangaroo is an animal found only in Australia, although it has a smaller relative, called a wallaby, which lives on the Australian island of Tasmania and also in New Guinea.
Kangaroos eat grass and plants. They have short front legs, but very long and very strong back legs and a tail. These they use for sitting up on and for jumping. Kangaroos have been known to make forward jumps of over eight meters, and leap across fences more than three meters high. They can also run at speeds of over 45 kilometers per hour.
The largest kangaroos are the Great Grey Kangaroo and the Red Kangaroo. Adults grow to a length of 1.60 meters and weigh over 90 kilos.
Kangaroos are marsupials. This means that the female kangaroo has an external pouch on the front of her body. A baby kangaroo is very tiny when it is born, and it crawls at once into this pouch where it spends its first five months of life.

(Taken from Bahasa Inggris, Materi PTBK Buku 2)

Rice

Rice is plant that produces an edible grain; the name also used for the grain itself. Rice is the primary food for half the people in the world. In many regions it is eaten with every meal and provides more calories than any other single food.
According to the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), rice supplies an average of 889 calories per day per person in the United States. Rice is a nutritious food, providing about 90 percent of calories from carbohydrates and as much as 13 percent of calories from protein.

The People of Nepal

Most people of Nepal are farmers. They live in stone or timber houses with thatched or slab roofing. They grow rice, which is their main crop, maize, barley, potatoes, and vegetables. Sheep are their main source of meat. Cows are kept to produce milk. Goats are also used for milk. Donkeys, mules, and doze are used to carry goods. Nepal is an isolated country so hardly any modernizing has occurred. They have few facilities and mainly live on their intensive subsistence agriculture.

(Taken from Written Genres in Secondary School)

Panda

Because of its size and strength, a panda is a potentially frightful and awesome beast. But its clumsy and uncoordinated ways make it an awkward and defensive creature. It fumbles along, pigeon-toed, in an ungraceful, diagonal walk. It is rarely urged from this lumbering pace. Only a young panda, or a panda in desperate flight, will venture to climb a tree. And once it has reached the top, it becomes an even greater task to get down.
Despite its aloof manner and clumsiness, the giant panda has won a reputation as a loving and adorable creature. With its big, furry head, gentle, flat face, and dark-ringed, sad-eyes, the giant panda is irresistible. Its lopsided movements and its timidity have endeared it to countless friends and admirers at zoos around the world.

(Adapted from Lado English Series No. 6)

Lesser Slow Loris (Nyticebus Pygmaseus)

The Lesser Slow Lorris is a mammal which can clamps onto branches for long periods of time. To help it do this, the Loris has a network of blood vessels, called rate mirabilis in its forearms and shanks.
It is a small mammal which is 7-10 inches long (175-250 mm) and can weigh as much as 12 ounces or 340 grams. Being nocturnal the Loris has large round eyes. The Loris has no tail but has broad grasping feet. On its second toe it has a sharp claw. It also has an enlarged thumb and a reduced index finger.
The Lesser Slow Lorris is a plump animal with soft, thick fur ranging in color from light brownish-grey to deep reddish-brown with a dark stripe down the back and neck. It has a long snout with com-like front teeth which are used in grooming.
It is found in Southern Asia, Vietnam, Borneo, and Sumatera. As it is tree-living, it is restricted to tropical rain forests. The diet of the Loris is made up of fruit and leaves, tender shoots, insects, birds, small mammals and reptiles. It is nocturnal and sleeps by day rolled up in a ball.
The Lorris a solitary animal which belongs to the family of Lorisidea bush baby and potto. It is a very slow but deliberate climber. An interesting fact about the Lesser Slow Lorris is that it has a single-note whistle.

(Taken from Bahasa Inggris, Materi PTBK Buku 2)
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