Hermit

Many years ego, there lived a hermit in a forest in Sumatra. He did not grow food but depended on the jungle fruit to survive. Soon, there was a drought, and all the plants and fruit trees in the jungle died.

The old man had nothing to eat now, so he turned to begging. He went to a nearby village trying to get some food. At first, the villagers were happy to help him. However, when he came continually, they refused to give him any more food. They told him to grow his own food.

One day, while the hermit was sitting in his hut, sad and hungry, he began to think about growing his own food. Just then, a boatman stopped by, and taking pity on the hermit, gave him some padi seeds.

Before the boatman went away, he said,” These seeds will grow and give you everlasting harvests if you work vary hard. If you are tired of the work, the padi plants will turn into weeds.

The old hermit worked hard to clear the land and sowed the seeds before the rains come. Strangely, after a short period of time, the padi was ready for harvesting. The old man got a lot of rice from the harvest. After each harvest, the plants grew back again right away.

When the villagers heard about the hermit and his wonderful padi, they flocked to his padi-field and took home as much padi as they could.

One day, the hermit become so tired of harvesting the padi that he shouted,” Oh, stop growing, you wretched thing!” As soon as he had said this, the padi plants turned into weeds.

Whales

            Whales are the largest animal on earth. Bigger than elephants, they may grow 95 feet long, and weight 150 tons. A baby blue whale, just born, can be 23 feet long and weigh 3 tons.

           Although whales live in the oceans and can swim like fish, they are not fish. They are mammals, like cows and elephant. Unlike fish, they bear young alive not as eggs. Their babies live on their mother’s milk. They breathe through their lungs and hold their breath when they go under water. If they cannot come to the surface to breathe fresh air, they will be drowned. They are warm blooded. Fish, however, lay eggs, breathe oxygen in the water and are cold blooded.

            Whales live in all the oceans. In the winter some of them go to warm waters to breed and in the summer most of them go to cold waters to feed. There are two kinds of whales, whales with teeth (toothed whales) and whale without teeth (baleen whales). The toothed whales eat fish and squid, which they can catch with their teeth, although they swallow their food without chewing it. The Baleen whales eat plankton (small sea animals and plants). When they find plankton, they open their mouth and swim into the plankton. When they close their mouth, they squeeze out the water and swallow the plankton.

            Whales have few enemies. Only human beings and the whale killers attack whales. And whales do not seem to fight among themselves. They usually live from 20 to 30 years.

Fire razes four houses in Ambon

          Ambon, Maluku; fire razed four houses in Ambon city late on Friday, but no fatalities were reported.

          The fire began in one of the four houses and quickly spread to neighboring homes in the densely populated area of skip, Sirimau Kota district, Ambon city.

          Two fire trucks were deployed to the scene and were able to extinguish the blaze after an hour. Local authorities said that the fire was sparked by a short circuit.

Irrigation

All plants need water to grow. They get this water from the soil. In some place nature supplies all the water that is needed. But in other places people must find ways to supplement nature’s supply. The system of supplying water to ensure proper growth of plants and to increase the yield of crops is called irrigation.

The use of irrigation is one of the most important agriculture practices over developed. Only about fifteen percent of the world’s farmland is irrigated. But the irrigated land produces a much larger percentage of the world’s food supply.

Irrigation id practiced on every continent except Antarctica.

Irrigation is used to supplement rainfall. Even in humid areas, irrigation is needed to grow certain crops. For example, rice field must be flooded until harvest time.

Paris

Paris is the capital of European nation, France. It is also one of the most beautiful and most famous cities in the world.

Paris is called the City of Light. It is also an international fashion center. What stylish women are wearing in Paris will be worn by women all over the world. Paris is also famous for its world center of education. For instance, it is the headquarters of UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

The Seine River divides the city into two parts. Thirty-two bridges cross this scenic river. The oldest and perhaps the most well-known is Pont Neuf, which was built in the sixteenth century. Sorbonne, a famous university, is located on the left bank (south side) of the river. The beautiful white church Sacre Coeur lies on the top of a hill called Montmartre  on the right bank (north side) of the Seine.

There are many other famous places in Paris, such as the famous museum the Louvre as well the cathedral of Notre Dame. However, the most famous landmark in this city must be Eiffel Tower.

Paris is named after a group of people called the Parisii. They built a small village on an island in the middle of the Seine River about two thousand years ago. This island is called Ile de la Cite. It is where Notre Dame located. Today around eight million people live in the Paris area.

Seven people were killed in a collision

Seven people were killed in a collision between a bus, a car, and a truck on Jalan Sultan at 10:35 p.m. last night. The dead were all passengers of the car.

The police believed the car had been trying to overtake the bus when it was struck by a truck coming from the opposite direction. The driver of the car might not be using his lights, as the truck driver said he didn’t see the car approaching.

 The police said the car should not have tried to pass the bus, since overtaking is not allowed on Jalan Sultan. In addition, the police reported that the car, a small Japanese car, should not have been carrying more than five people. If the passengers had brought their identity cards, the police would have identified the names of the victims easily.