azdict

Everyone has a number of acquaintances, but no one has many friends, for true friendship is not common, and there are many people who seem to be incapable of it. For a friendship to be close and lasting, both the friends must have some very special qualities. The first quality is unselfishness. A person who is concerned only with his own interests and feelings cannot be a true friend. Friendship is a two-sided affair; it lives by give-and-take, and no friendship can last long which is all give on one side and all take on the other. Constancy is the second quality. Some people do not seem to be constant. They take up an interest with enthusiasm, but they are soon tired of it and feel the attraction of some new object. Such changeable and uncertain people are incapable of a lifelong friendship. Loyalty is the third quality. Two friends must be loyal to each other, and they must know each other so well that there can be no suspicions between them. We do not think much of people who readi...

MY MOST EMBARRASSING EXPERIENCE My most embarrassing experience happened a few years ago, when I was a grade 9 student. In those days, my biggest dream was a red hat – a floppy cotton hat like the one my pop star idol wore in her video clip. I thought I would look great in it.  My father knew this, so on my birthday he gave me some money so that I could buy the hat for myself. I was extremely excited and decided to go to the shop at once. I got on the bus and sat down next to a schoolboy about my age. The boy glanced at me and turned away. There was a sneaky look on his face, but I didn’t think much about it. I was busy imagining how I would look in the hat. After a while, I turned round and noticed that the boy’s schoolbag was open. Inside it, I saw a wad of dollar notes exactly like the ones my father had given me. I quickly looked into my own bag – the notes had gone! I was sure that the boy was a thief. He had stolen my money. I didn’t want to make a fuss, so I decided jus...

A. It is Lisa’s birthday. She is seven years old today, and her family and friends are at her birthday party. On the table is a birthday cake with seven candles, one for each year. People sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to Lisa: Happy birthday to you!  Happy birthday to you!  Happy birthday, dear Lisa!  Happy birthday to you! When they finish singing, Lisa blows out the candles on the cake. Then everybody eats cake and ice cream. After that, Lisa opens her birthday cards and presents. Her family and friends give her toys and clothes for her birthday. In the United States, people of all ages celebrate birthdays. But when an adult has a birthday, there are not a lot of candles on the birthday cake. Many Americans over the age of 30 don’t like to talk about their age. Some people joke every year, “I’m 29 years old today.” Perhaps they do not want to get any older. B. Rosa and Luis are having a party, too. But it is not a birthday party. It is an anniversary party. Fif...

Each nation has many people who voluntarily take care of others. For example, many high school and college students in the United States often spend many hours as volunteers in hospitals, orphanages or homes for the aged. They read books to the people in these places. Sometimes the students just visit them, play games with them or listen to their problems. Other young volunteers work in the homes of sick or old people. They clean up their houses, do their shopping or mow their lawns. For boys who no longer have fathers, there is a voluntary organization called Big Brothers. College students take these boys to baseball games and help them to get to know things that boys usually learn from their fathers. Some high school students take part in helping disadvantaged or handicapped children. They give care and comfort to them and help them to overcome their difficulties. Young college and university students participate in helping the people who have suffered badly in wars or natural d...

By July 2000, sixty-one provinces and cities throughout Vietnam had completed the programmes of “Universalisation of Primary Education” and “Illiteracy Eradication”. However, by that time, only 94% of the population was able to read and write. This meant that more work had to be done to eradicate illiteracy in the country. In the summer of 2000, the Vietnam Society of Learning Promotion started a campaign for illiteracy eradication. In the campaign, six hundred ethnic minority students from the northern highlands were asked to provide reading and writing skills to 1,200 illiterate people living in their home villages. In 2001, eight hundred volunteer students took part in the campaign. The number of people receiving reading and writing lessons reached 4,623. This was an effective way to help people in remote and mountainous areas to read and write. Those students who took part in the fight against illiteracy considered it an honorable job to help people in their home villages. The...

Last Saturday the representatives of three classes of my school took part in the annual final English Competition organized by our English teachers. Its aim was to stimulate the spirit of learning English among students. The competition was sponsored by the Students’ Parents Society. Mrs. Lien, our English teacher, explained the competition’s rules to the students. “...To participate in the contest, you have to work in groups of three. Each group must complete five activities in all. On completion of each activity, you will have to answer the questions on the worksheets within two minutes. The judges will observe and score your performance. The maximum score for each activity is 15 points. At the end of the competition, the judges will announce the total score of each group. The group that gets the highest score will be the winner. The winner will be awarded a set of CDs for studying English and an Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. Now, let’s start our competition.” Hung, Thu ...

The population of the world has been increasing faster and faster. In 10,000 B.C., there were probably only 10 million people. In A.D. 1, there were 300 million. It took 1,750 years for the world population to reach 625 million. In 1850, only one hundred years later, the population reached the figure of 1,300 million. In 1950, the figure had more than doubled to reach 2,510 million. In 1985, only 35 years later, there were 4,760 million people. In 2000, the world’s population was about 6.6 billion, and by 2015 it is expected to be over 7 billion. Does the Earth have enough resources to support this many people? Different scientists give different answers to this question. Some say that there are enough resources to support 8 billion people. Others say that we must limit population growth because our resources are limited. Only 10 percent of the earth’s land can be used for farming and another 20 percent for raising animals. There is a limit to the water we can use. There are also li...

Lunar New Year, or Tet, is Vietnam’s main holiday. It is the grandest and most important occasion in the year which falls sometime between 19th January and 20th February on the Western calendar. Tet marks the beginning of spring and, for agrarian people, the start of a new year. Tet’s preparations and celebrations used to be spread over months, but nowadays the holiday is much shorter. A great deal of excitement still builds up well before Tet, however. Streets are decorated with coloured lights and red banners. Shops are full of goods. People are busy buying gifts, cleaning and decorating their houses and cooking traditional foods.  Homes are often decorated with plants and flowers at this time. Peach blossom is traditional at Tet in the North while apricot blossom is traditional in the South. The kumquat tree with its ripe deep orange fruits is popular throughout the country. One of Tet’s most special foods is banh chung, which is made from sticky rice, green beans and fatty...

(Open daily from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.) Thanh Ba Post Office is equipped with advanced technology and has a spacious and pleasant front office. We offer the best services with a well-trained staff, who are always thoughtful and courteous to customers. Mail and Parcel Service You can choose to send your letters by air or surface mail. We also have the Express Mail Service and your EMS mail will be delivered in the shortest possible time. The maximum weight limit of a parcel is 31.5 kg. We offer a very competitive rate for parcels under 15 kg. Express Money Transfer Just imagine your relatives are living over one thousand kilometres away from you and you want to send them some money quickly. This speedy and secure service for transferring money can be useful. The money will be sent to your relatives in less than 24 hours. Phone Calls and Faxes Besides the ordinary telephone call service, our Post Office provides the Messenger Call Service. This service helps you to notify the recipient...

The human race is only one small species in the living world. Many other species exist on this planet. However, human beings have a great influence on the rest of the world. They are changing the environment by building cities and villages where forests once stood. They are affecting the water supply by using water for industry and agriculture. They are changing weather conditions by cutting down trees in the forests. And they are destroying the air by adding pollutants to it. It can be said that human beings are changing the environment in all respects through their actions and by their habits. This has resulted in two serious consequences. The first is that many kinds of rare animals are killed. The second is that the environment where these animals are living is badly destroyed. As a result, the number of rare animals is decreasing so rapidly that they are in danger of becoming extinct. In order to make sure that these rare animals do not disappear, efforts have been made to pr...

At present, most of our energy comes from fossil fuels (oil, coal, and natural gas). However, such reserves are limited. Because power demand is increasing very rapidly, fossil fuels will be exhausted within a relatively short time. Therefore, people must develop and use alternative sources of energy. One alternative source is nuclear energy. Nuclear energy can provide enough electricity for the world’s needs for hundreds of years, but it can be very dangerous. Another alternative source of energy is geothermal heat, which comes from deep inside the earth. Scientists use this heat to make energy. However, this energy is available only in a few places in the world. The sun, water, and the wind are other alternative sources of energy. The wind turns windmills and moves sailboats. It is a clean source of energy, and there is lots of it. Unfortunately, if the wind does not blow, there is no wind energy. When water moves from a high place to a lower place, it makes energy. This energy ...

The Asian Games, which take place every four years, are held for the purpose of developing intercultural knowledge and friendship within Asia. In this multi-sport event, young people from all over Asia gather together to compete. It is an occasion when strength and sports skills are tested; friendship and solidarity are built and promoted. During their five-decade history, the Asian Games have been advancing in all aspects. The number of participants has been increasing. The quality of athletes, officials and sports facilities has also been developing through time. New sports and traditional sports have been introduced and added to the Games. The 1st Asian Games were held in New Delhi, India in 1951. Only 489 athletes from 11 nations took part in the Games. The six sports events at the first Games were basketball, cycling, football, aquatic sports, athletics and weightlifting. Boxing, shooting and wrestling were added at the 2nd Asian Games in Manila, the Philippines in 1954; and te...

There are a number of things I like to do in my free time. They are my hobbies.  The hobby I like most is playing my guitar. My uncle, who is an accomplished guitarist, taught me how to play. Now I can play a few simple tunes. I have even begun to sing while playing the guitar, but I have not been very successful at this. My uncle tells me that all I need is to practise regularly and I should be able to do it. He is very good at accompanying people singing with his guitar and I admire him very much. Another hobby of mine is keeping fish. I have a modest little glass fish tank where I keep a variety of little fish. Some of them were bought from the shop while some others were collected from the rice field near my house. They look so beautiful swimming about in the tank. I love watching them and my mother loves watching them, too. I keep stamps, too. However, I would not call myself an avid stamp collector. Actually, I just collect the stamps from discarded envelopes that my r...

“All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”, goes an English saying. Recreation and entertainment are important to people anywhere in the world. However, forms of popular entertainment are different in different countries.  In Britain, the most common leisure activities are home based. Watching television is by far the most popular pastime, and nearly all households have a television set. Over 51 per cent of households have two or more television sets and average viewing time for the population aged four and over is 25 hours a week. Other pursuits include listening to music, reading, do-it-yourself home improvements, and gardening. British people are also very interested in watching and taking part in sports. Walking and swimming are the two most popular sporting activities, being almost equally undertaken by men and women. Snooker, pool and darts are the next most popular sports among men. The most popular spectator sports are football and rugby in winter, and cricket and at...

1. At 9.07 a.m. Moscow time on 12th April, 1961, Yuri Gagarin lifted off into space aboard the Vostok 1. Approximately 12 minutes later, the first human being was in orbit around the Earth at a speed of more than 17,000 miles per hour. His flight lasted 108 minutes.  2. The 27-year-old Soviet cosmonaut became the first person to eat and drink in weightlessness. From his window in space, Gagarin was able to view the earth in a way that no human beings had done before. The first words spoken from space were: “I see the Earth. It’s so beautiful!”  3. Before Gagarin’s historic flight, there were still enormous uncertainties. No one knew precisely what would happen to a human being in space. How would the body react to the extreme changes in temperature? How would the mind deal with the psychological tension? If there was a technical failure, Gagarin might never get back to the Earth.  4. The success of Gagarin’s flight attracted worldwide attention and made him a hero....

THE GREAT PYRAMID OF GIZA  The Great Pyramid of Giza was built by the Egyptian pharaoh Khufu around the year 2560 BC. The purpose of this huge stone pyramid was to serve as a tomb when he died and to protect the burial chamber from the weather and from thieves who might try to steal the treasures and belongings there. The Great Pyramid is believed to have been built over a 20-year period. First, the site was prepared and then the huge blocks of stone were transported and put in their places.  When it was built, the Great Pyramid was 147 metres high on a base of 230 metres square. It ranked as the tallest structure on earth for more than 43 centuries, only to be surpassed in height in the nineteenth century AD. The structure consisted of approximately 2 million blocks of stone, each weighing about 2.5 tons. It has been suggested that there are enough blocks in the three pyramids to build a 3-metre high, 0.3-metre-thick wall around France. Although it is not known how the...