The Great Wall Of China
The Great Wall of China, one of the greatest wonders of the world,
was first built between 220–206 BC. In fact, it began as
independent walls for different states when it was first built, and
did not become the "Great" wall until the Qin Dynasty. Emperor
Qin Shihuang succeeded in his effort to have the walls joined
together to serve as fortification to protect the northern borders of
the Chinese Empire from invasion. Afterwards it was rebuilt and
maintained over the years, between the 5th century BC and the 16th
century.
One of the myths associated with the Great Wall of China is that it is the only man-made
structure that can be seen from the moon with the naked eye. The legend originated in Richard
Halliburton's 1938 book Second Book of Marvels. However, This myth is simply not true.
Richard Halliburton's claim was contradicted by astronauts Neil Armstrongby and Yang Liwei.
A more plausible assumption would be to say that the Great Wall can be visible from a low orbit
of the earth which is not unique in this regard as many other artificial constructions can be seen
from that height.
Source: Wikipedia
The Difference Between Men And Women
Although there is a great deal of variation within each gender, on the average, men and women
discuss a surprisingly different range of topics. According to some studies, women and men
ranging in age from seventeen to eighty described the range of topics each discussed with friends
of the same sex. Certain topics were common to both men and women; work, movies, and
television proved to be frequent topics for both groups. The differences between men and women
were more striking than the similarities. Female friends spent much more time discussing
personal and domestic subjects, relationship problems, family, health and reproductive matters,
weight, food and clothing. Men, on the other hand, were more likely to discuss music, current
events, sports and business. Women were more likely to gossip about close friends and family.
By contrast, men spent more time gossiping about sports figures and media personalities. These
differences can lead to frustration when men and women try to converse with one another.
Who Is Pope Francis?
Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on December 17, 1936, Jorge Mario Bergoglio became Pope
Francis on March 13, 2013, when he was named the 266th pope of the Roman Catholic Church.
Bergoglio, the first pope from the Americas, took his papal title after St. Francis of Assisi of
Italy. Prior to his election as pope, Bergoglio served as archbishop of Buenos Aires from 1998 to
2013 (succeeding Antonio Quarracino), as cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church of Argentina
from 2001 to 2013, and as president of the Bishops' Conference of Argentina from 2005 to 2011.
Named Person of the Year by Time magazine in 2013, Pope Francis has embarked on a
tenure characterized by humility and outspoken support of the world's poor and marginalized
people, and has been involved actively in areas of political diplomacy and environmental
advocacy.
Mrs. Wilson and Mrs. Smith are sisters. Mrs. Wilson lives in a house in Duncan and Mrs.
Smith lives in a condominium in Victoria. One day Mrs. Wilson visited her sister. When
her sister answered the door, Mrs. Wilson saw tears in her eyes. "What's the matter?"
she asked. Mrs. Smith said "My cat Sammy died last night and I have no place
to bury him".
She began to cry again. Mrs. Wilson was very sad because she knew her
sister loved the cat very much. Suddenly Mrs. Wilson said "I can bury your cat in my
garden in Duncan and you can come and visit him sometimes." Mrs. Smith stopped
crying and the two sisters had tea together and a nice visit.
It was now five o'clock and Mrs. Wilson said it was time for her to go
home. She put on her hat, coat and gloves and Mrs. Smith put the dead Sammy into a
shopping bag. Mrs. Wilson took the shopping bag and walked to the bus stop. She
waited a long time for the bus so she bought a newspaper. When the bus arrived, she
got on the bus, sat down and put the shopping bag on the floor beside her feet. She
then began to read the newspaper. When the bus arrived at her bus stop, she got off
the bus and walked for about two minutes. Suddenly she remembered she had left the
shopping bag on the bus.
Famous people
Albert Einstein was a German-born physicist, although most
people probably know him as the most intelligent person. His name
has become part of many languages when we want to say someone
is a genius, as in the phrase, “She’s a real Einstein”. He must have
been pretty brainy to discover the Theory of Relativity and the
equation E=mc2.
In 1999, ‘Time’ magazine named Einstein as the Person of the
Century. No one could have guessed this would happen when he
was at school. He was extremely interested in science but hated the
system of learning by heart. He said it destroyed learning and
creativity. He had already done many experiments, but failed the
entrance exams to a technical college.
William Henry Gates III was born on October 28, 1955. He is one
of the world's richest people and perhaps the most successful
businessman ever. He co-founded the software giant Microsoft and
turned it into the world’s largest software company. He is the best-
known entrepreneur of the PC revolution. He has also written two
best-selling books and started his own charity with his wife.
Gates was fascinated with electronics from a young age. In 1975 he
read about a small technology company. He contacted them to see
if they were interested in a computer programme he had written.
This led to the creation of Microsoft. Gates later struck a deal with
IBM that put Microsoft's Windows on IBM computers. This deal
made Microsoft a major player in the IT industry.
Sir Jonathan Ive is an English designer whose work for Apple Inc.
has made him one of the world’s gurus of industrial design. His
groundbreaking and stylish work includes the iMac, iPod, iPhone and
iPad. He has won many top design awards and has twice been
honored by Britain’s Queen Elizabeth.
Sir Jonathan was born in London in 1967. Design has been
important to him since his childhood. He was fascinated by the skill
of his silversmith father, whom he called a “fantastic craftsman”.
Ive developed an interest in how things were made and how they
worked, as well as their shape and material. He studied industrial
design at university before co-founding a design consultancy in
London.
