THE DYING SUN

Sir James Jeans

A few (Some) stars are known which are hardly (scarcely) bigger (larger) than the
earth, but most of them are so large that hundreds of thousands of earths could be packed
(filled) inside each and leave room to spare (surplus); here and there we find an immense
(huge) star large enough to contain millions and millions of earths. And the total number of
stars in the universe is probably (perhaps) something like the total number of grains (piece) of
sand on all the seashores (beaches) of the world. Such is the littleness of our home in space
when measured up (calculated) against the total substance (material) of the universe.
These millions of stars are wandering (roaming) about in space. A few form groups
which journey (travel) in company (group), but most of them travel alone. And they travel
through a universe so immense that it is very, very rare (unusual) event indeed for one star to
come anywhere near to another. For the most part each star makes its voyage (journey) in
complete loneliness (solitude), like a ship on an empty (vacant) ocean (sea). In a scale (range)
model (image) in which the stars are ships, the average ship will be well over a million miles
from its nearest (close) neighbour. From this it is easy to understand (comprehend) why a star
seldom (rarely) finds another anywhere near it.
We believe, however, that some two thousand million years ago this rare event took
place, and that another star, wandering blindly (aimlessly) through space, happened to come
near the sun. Just as the sun and moon raise (cause) tides (Waves) on the earth, so this second
star must have raised tides* on the surface of the sun. But they would be very different from the
little tides which the small mass (Body) of the moon raises in our oceans; an immense tidal
wave must have travelled (journeyed) over the surface of the sun, at last forming a mountain
so high that we can hardly imagine it. As the cause of the disturbance (disorder) came nearer
and nearer, the mountain would rise higher and higher. And before the second star began to
move away again, its tidal pull had become so powerful that this mountain was torn (split) to
pieces and threw (tossed) off small parts of itself into space. These small pieces have been
going round the sun ever since. They are the planets, great and small, of which our earth is one.
The sun and the other stars we see in the sky are all extremely (highly) hot - far
(much) too hot for life to exist on them. So also no doubt (uncertainty) were the pieces of the
sun when they were first thrown off. Gradually (slowly) they became cooler, until now they
have very little heat of their own (individual) left, their warmth (heat) coming almost (nearly)
entirely (completely) from the radiation (rays) which the sun pours down on them. In course of
time one of these cooling pieces gave birth to life. We do not know how, when or why this
happened. It started in simple organisms (creatures), whose living power consisted chiefly
(mainly) in their being able to reproduce (duplicate) themselves before dying. But from these
humble (modest) beginnings (start) came a stream (flow) of life which, growing ever more and
more complex (complicated), has in the end produced beings whose lives are largely centred in
their feelings and ambitions (wishes), their sense (understanding) of beauty, and the religions
in which lie their highest (chief) hopes and noblest (dignified) desires.
Although we cannot speak with any certainty (confidence), it seems most likely
(probable) that the human race (clan) came into existence in some such way as this. Standing
on our little grain of sand, we try to discover (uncover) the nature (essence) and purpose
(aim) of the universe which surrounds (enclose) our home in space and time. Our first feeling
is something like fear. We find the universe frightening (terrifying) because of its
immense distances which we do not understand, frightening because of the stretches (period)
of time so great that we cannot imagine them, making the whole of human history so very
small in comparison (contrast), frightening because of our extreme (highest) loneliness
(solitude), and because of the littleness (smallness) of our home in space - a millionth part of
a grain of sand out of all the sea-sand in the world. But above all else, we find the universe
frightening because we cannot find any sign (indication) that life like our own exists
anywhere in it except (apart from) on the earth. Indeed, for the most part, empty space is so
cold that all life in it would be frozen. Most of the matter in space is so hot as to make life on
it impossible (unachievable). Life does not seem to have any part in the plan of the universe
which produced our planetary (terrestrial) system. Calculation shows that there can be only
very few such systems in space. Yet, so far as we can see, life of the kind we know on earth
can exist only on planets like the earth. It needs suitable (appropriate) physical conditions for
its appearance (arrival), the most important of which is a temperature at which substances
(material) can exist in a liquid state (condition).
The stars themselves are far too hot for this. We may think of them as a collection of
fires (flames) scattered (spread) through space, providing warmth in surroundings where the
temperature is at most some four degrees above absolute zero, that is, about 484 degrees of
frost on the Fahrenheit scale. In the immense stretches of space beyond the Milky Way
(galaxy), it is colder still. Away from the fires there is this un-imaginable (incredible) cold of
hundreds of degrees of frost (hoarfrost); close up to them there is a temperature of thousands
of degrees, at which all solids melt, all liquids boil.
Life can exist only in a narrow (thin) belt (area) surrounding each of these fires at a
certain (fixed) distance where the temperature is neither too hot nor too cold. Outside these
belts life would be frozen (icy); inside it would be burnt up. A rough (imprecise) calculation
shows that all such temperature belts, within which life is possible, all added together, make
up less than a thousand million millionth part of the whole of space. And even inside them,
life must be very rare, for it is extremely unusual (rare) for suns to throw off planets as our
sun has done. Probably only one star in 100,000 has a planet going round it at the right
(correct) distance for life to be possible on it.

USING THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD

Darrel Barnard & Lon Edwards

All of us have benefited (advantaged) greatly (highly) from the use of scientific
(technological) method in solving (resolving) problems such as those dealing (handling) with
the maintenance (conservation) of health, the production (yield) and preservation
(conservation) of foods, the construction (building) of our homes, and the improvement
(enhancement) in communication (conveyance) and transportation. Not only have our ways
of living changed, but people themselves have also been changed. Today we are better able
to explain happenings (incidents) which used to be considered (supposed) strange (bizarre)
and mysterious (enigmatic). Although there is still need for improvement, we are now
generally less fearful (scared) than our fathers and grandfathers (Ancestors) were. We are
also more critical (analytical) in our thinking than our ancestors (forefathers).
This lesson should help you understand how the use of scientific method has
improved living conditions (circumstances) and changed people. It should also help you
understand how you can make better use of the scientific method in your everyday living.
Better Control of Disease* If you had been born two hundred years ago (earlier), you
would have had about one chance in eight of living to be one year old. In other words, in
those days about seven out of eight babies died before reaching their first birthday. Suppose
(imagine) you had been an unusually (exceptionally) strong little fellow (individual) and had
lived through that first year. Very likely, before you were six years old, you would have had
smallpox, and by the time you reached the age of twelve, you would undoubtedly (certainly)
have had measles, whooping cough, scarlet fever, and diphtheria. Even then your battle (war)
for life was not over. Yellow fever, malaria, typhus, cholera, typhoid fever, and even
influenza, once started, spread through a community (population). Life was most uncertain
(unsure). A person who lived to be more than thirty years of age was indeed fortunate
(lucky). It is unbelievable (incredible) that such conditions could have existed so short a time
ago. Today babies are born in hospitals where there is little likelihood (chance) of their
getting a disease. Young people are treated to protect (guard) them against smallpox,
diphtheria, and typhoid fever. Today a person can expect to live to be almost (nearly)
seventy7 years old. In other words, more than thirty years have been added to the expected
length of man's life. These changes have been made possible by use of the scientific method
to solve such problems as the causes of disease and its prevention (precaution).
Better Sanitary Conditions* It is difficult to imagine what sanitary (hygienic)
conditions in some of our larger cities were like only one hundred years ago. Into the narrow
(restricted), unpaved (muddy), and poorly drained (pumped) city streets household garbage
(waste) and other refuse were thrown. Animals wandered through the streets/feeding upon
the garbage. Outdoor toilets were common, many of them situated where human wastes
(refuse) drained into wells from which people obtained (got) drinking water.
Today our city streets are paved (concreted) and well drained, and they are cleaned
regularly. It is against the law to throw garbage in the streets. Sewage (excrement) from all
sections of a city is carried through sealed (closed) pipes to disposal (removal) plants (mills).
Through the use of the scientific method it has been demonstrated that unsanitary conditions
cause the spread of diseases like typhoid fever, cholera and dysentery. Today most city
governments have departments of sanitation (cleanliness) which keep the cities clean and
thereby prevent the spread of certain diseases.
A century ago it was common practice (exercise) in many cities to bring water by the
bucketful (pitcher) for household use. Water had to be carried a considerable (noticeable)
distance from the well to the home. It was, therefore, used very sparingly (frugally) for bathing
(showering) and cleaning (washing) purposes (reasons). Often it came from sources that
contained disease-producing (yielding) germs (microbes).
Towns and cities today have water systems that usually provide water enough for
household use. One of the most important problems in the growth (expansion) of cities has
been to provide sufficient (enough) water to meet the many needs of an increasing (growing)
population. Los Angeles has solved the problem by bringing water to the city from the Colorado
River, 544 kilometers away. Carried through a pipe line, or aqueduct, a thousand million litres
of water are delivered (supplied) to the district daily. This is a remarkable advance from the
bucket (container) system of supplying homes with water.
More Food and Better Food Changes have taken place, too, in our eating habits
(practices). Through the use of science we have learned that it is healthful (nutritious) to eat
many kinds of food, and we have learned how to provide ourselves with a variety (diversity) of
foods throughout the year. People who lived a century ago probably (perhaps) enjoyed eating as
much as we do today, but they could not have as many different kinds of food. Most of their foods
had to be produced on their own farms (homesteads) or in their own gardens. Since fresh
vegetables could be obtained only during the growing (budding) season, people living in cold
climates (weathers) had none during the winter months. Thrifty (Economical) housewives
preserved (conserved) their home grown vegetables and fruits by canning (tinning), pickling
(marinating), or drying them for use during the cold weather. Meats were preserved by salting
and drying or by freezing when the weather was cold enough. Sea foods were generally available
(accessible) only along the coast (seashore), fish and shell-fish could be eaten soon after they
were caught (trapped).
Regardless of where people live today, they can obtain some fresh fruits, meats and
vegetables throughout the year. By the quick-freeze method, vegetables, fruits, sea foods, and
meats of various kinds can be preserved so that they are both nutritious (healthful) and
enjoyable (pleasant). Modern methods of selecting (choosing), grading (classifying), and
processing (treating) foods have removed the risk (danger) or danger of poisoning from canned
(tinned) foods, dehydration (desiccation), or the removal of water from such foods as milk,
eggs, potatoes, and apples, has proved a practical (applied) method of preservation
(conservation).
Our eating habits are not the only things in our lives changed by the use of science.
Because we have used science to learn more about the processes (procedures) and materials
(substances) in our surroundings (environments) and about the methods of controlling
(commanding) them, we have been able to improve our ways of building houses, our methods
of communication (transmission) and transportation (shipping), and even the way we spend our
leisure (free time) time.
Better Attitudes. By an attitude (approach) we mean the way we feel toward some
idea or some event (incident). If a person believes that wearing (putting on) some kind of
charm (amulet) will prevent (inhibit) him from having bad luck, he will wear the charm, and
will feel uncomfortable (uneasy) without it. Feelings which involve fears such as this are
called superstitions (delusions). Superstitious people believe in signs of good or bad luck, and
their lives are greatly influenced (affected) by such signs.
Superstitious beliefs (dogmas) are being overcome (downtrodden) by using the scientific
method to demonstrate (show) that there is no sound basis (foundation) for them. Few people
today believe that diseases are caused by evil (wicked) spirits (ghosts). Though astrology
(clairvoyance) and fortune-telling are still practised, they do not influence the lives of as
many people as they once did. It has been learned that there is always a good natural reason
for everything that happens to people. As a result, most people no longer fear black cats,
broken mirrors, and the number 13.
By the scientific method it has been demonstrated that ideas are not necessarily (essentially)
true because they have been believed for a long time. Ideas must now be supported
(reinforced) by facts (truths) in order to be acceptable to the scientist (expert) or to people
who use the scientific method.
The discoveries of scientists have helped people develop an attitude of open-mindedness
(liberalism). They are more willing to look for new truths than to assume (believe) that what
has been considered true will always be true. Because people have had to change their old
ideas as a result of new discoveries (findings) made by scientists, they are less likely to accept
conclusions (ends) as final.

WHY BOYS FAIL IN COLLEGE

Herbert E. Hawkes

Of the boys who do not reach their natural (normal) academic (educational)
boundary (border) during the course (progression) of their college career (occupation), but
who fail to get through (complete), there are two main classes: those who try, and those who
do not try. Many boys attempt (try) seriously (earnestly) to make good, and really have the
native (inborn) ability (capability) to do so, but find it almost impossible (difficult) to sit at a
desk and concentrate (focus) on the tasks assigned (given). There is the boy who sits down to
study, opens his book, but before starting on his work says to himself, "I think that I had better
sharpen (hone) my pencil; it needs it badly (gravely). And when he has sharpened it, he
observes that all his pencils need sharpening. And so on, until his time is gone and nothing has
been done. Such nervous (jumpy, uneasy) habits (behaviors) are not easy to uproot
(deracinate, eradicate), and, so far as I can see cannot be eradicated (removed) by anyone but
the boy himself. Others can see the difficulty (problem), but the boy must take himself by the
collar (neckline, lapel) and make himself cultivate (develop) a poise (composure) and calm
that smothers (overpowers) the fidgets (wiggles). Until he does this, he does not really try,
although he thinks he's trying and often spends more time in the presence (company) of an
open book than many a boy of equal ability who does good work.
A common cause (reason) of failure is a mistaken (wrong) ambition (desire) for the
boy on the part of his parents. More often than I should wish, I find a boy who is not showing
any interest in his work, and who is not trying to do it with any distinction (excellence),
because he is following a direction, mapped out (decided) by his parents, that runs counter
(opposite) to all of his interests (concerns) and abilities. I have made a number of very warm
(deep) enemies among the parents of college students by telling them that I am certain that the
good Lord never intended (planned) their son to be a physician, or a dentist, or an engineer. It
may be that the boy has ability enough to be anyone of these things, but the long and short of
it is, he does not want to be. He wants to be a theatrical (stage, dramaturgical) manager, or a
businessman, or a book-illustrator (publisher). It may be unreasonable (irrational) for the
boy to turn his back on a fine opening in the dental profession in favour of business. But
reason cannot control all of these matters (problems). As well argued (disputed) with a
person that he ought to like onions when he detests them. As a general thing, the boy wins out
in such controversies (conflicts). And he should. Also, be it said, the parent whom I have
offended (outraged, hurt) usually comes around after a term of years and tells me that his son
was right and that he is thankful (grateful) to me for taking the part of the boy in the
argument (debate). If such a boy fails, it is because he cannot bring himself to try to do the
work that is distasteful (unpleasant) to him, and .that he feels is leading him in the wrong (off
target) direction. If the college is alive (alert) to its work of advice, such cases are caught
before the failure (defeat) is complete.
Another type of boy who does not try is the very bright (intelligent) boy who has
always done his school work without effort, and who has never learned what real application
(purpose) is. He supposes that he can float through (pass) college with as little effort as he
did through school. I sometimes think that the bright boy who has always depended (trusted)
on his ability to get things quickly (fast), is the most pitiable (deplorable) object (body)
among all our failing students. For it is almost a tragedy (adversity) to see all of this
keenness (sharpness) going to waste, and to feel that the entire opportunity (chance) which
the college has to offer is passed up because of a too receptive (responsive) mind. The cure
for this sort of thing is again not easy, for it involves an entire change of attitude (approach),
and the forming of a completely new set of habits. No one can do this but the boy himself. All
that the rest of us can do is to point out what is the matter.
The question of health, both physical and mental, is always one of the reasons for
failure. If an adequate (suitable) health service is available in the college, and if proper
(right) cooperation (collaboration) exists between the teaching staff and the office of the
college doctor, an immense number of failures can be avoided (prevented), and, what is just
as important, the reason for inability (incapability) to do satisfactory college work can be
clearly understood by the boy, his parents and the college authorities (establishments). In the
case of poor academic work, the reason for which is not apparent (obvious), it is my custom
(habit) always to ask the student to undergo (go through) a thorough physical examination. It
is surprising (shocking) to find out in how large a percentage (ratio) of such cases the
university physician finds an adequate (satisfactory) reason for the difficulty. Tuberculosis,
bad tonsils, sleeping sickness, poor digestion, various forms of mental and nervous difficulty
have been brought to light by the doctor during the past few months, to the unspeakable
(indescribable) relief (comfort) of the student and enlightenment (clarification) of the faculty
(staff). Occasionally (Infrequently), one meets an old-fashioned (outdated) person like the
father who told me a few months ago that, although we had arranged to have his son's tonsils
removed without expense (expenditure), he would not consent (agree) to the operation. He
asserted (emphasized) that God put those tonsils in his son's throat for some good purpose
(reason), and that he would not stand for their removal. Since the boy was absorbing
(consuming) too much poison to permit proper application to his college work, we had to ask
him to go home. Of course, such cases are rare (exceptional). But it is necessary to keep
constantly (continually) in mind the simple fact that there is no substitute (alternate) for
health, and that, however such a man may know, it is not of much value unless he possesses
the physical vigour (vitality) to bring it to bear on the world's problems.
Nowadays, when most ambitious (determined) boys want to go to college, the
financial (monetary) pressure (stress) is a very serious one. A few parents take the position
that the boy should earn his way through college for the good of his soul. As a matter of fact,
no boy ought to be compelled (forced) to earn his entire way through college if it can in any
way be avoided (prevented). Not only does he get a mighty poor living by the process, but a
mighty poor education as well. If the boy ought to go to college at all, he ought to be trusted
to make good use of reasonable (moderate) contribution (donation) from his parents toward
his expenses. Any parent owes this much to his son. The boy did not ask his parents to bring
him into the world. They are responsible for his being here, and consequently (subsequently)
they have the responsibility (duty) for giving him the best equipment (apparatus) possible to
meet the world's problems.
Nevertheless (However) many boys are cast entirely (fully) on their own resources for their
college expenses (expenditures). And it is always to the detriment (damage) of their health,
or the value of their education, or both. Any boy can earn a part of his expenses without
hurting (harming) himself, and in my experience many boys are willing to earn more than
their share in order to save the burden (load) of their parents. But to see boys by the dozen
take jobs lasting (continuing) from six o'clock in the evening till two in the morning, six days
in week; to see boys undergoing (enduring) transfusion (transfer) of blood to get money for
their food and books, is a heartrending (pitiful) spectacle (sight). Many of our boys of finest
(best) character (personality) and excellent ability are doing just this kind of thing. And
inevitably (unavoidably) it is an important reason for apparent failure. Most colleges do all
they can with scholarship funds to alleviate (lessen) this situation, but even when everything
possible is done, every dean who knows his students can recall many cases of boys who have
been obliged (forced) to drop out for the lack of a little money to see them through.
There are always a goodly (large) number of undergraduates whose heads are turned
and whose judgement (view) is perverted (changed) by the attractiveness (charm) of
athletic sports and literary (scholarly) (so called) activity. All of these features
(characteristics) of college life have their place, and should receive the support of those
students who are interested (involved) in them. In my experience (knowledge), the
awakening (arising) of a clear judgement as to what the college is for, is not as difficult as is
often supposed (thought). If a boy is too much interested in these side shows he ought to get
out of the main tent (stream, track) and become professional (specialized). But most of them
really are not, and if reasoned (argued) with by a friend who knows youth (adolescence) and
understands the importance of the college opportunity (chance), they will not allow
themselves to be swept off (flowed) their feet by athletics. I do not think that this sort of thing
is as serious a reason for failure as do some of the critics (analysts) of our colleges who see
things from the outside and at a long range.
A few lazy (indolent) bluffers (cheaters) drift (float) into college and usually
(generally) drift out again. Most of them have not found (discovered) any serious interest in
life, and some of them never will. It is usually wise to let them retire (retreat) to the cold
world for a reason and find out by experience how much demand (need) there is for a lazy
bluffer. Sometimes they learn their lesson and return to do first rate work. But the burden of
proof is always on them to show that they mean business.
On the whole, the problem that the college dean faces calls for about the same
diagnostic (analytical) ability as the physician's. He is helping the young men under him to
see life steadily (firmly) and see it whole. If he can save boys from failure through
foolishness (idiocy), sickness (illness) and sin, he is doing his part of the job.

END OF TERM
David
Daiches
I believe (trust) a school teacher wrote a book some years ago with title "Friday Thank
God". That phrase (saying) expresses (states) perfectly (completely) my attitude (feelings)
to the arrival (onset) of the week-end during term time when I was a school boy. The daily
grind (chore) of school, with its abundant (plentiful) homework, its fierce (intense)
competition, the sense of never being able to relax, pressed (surged) heavily (deeply) upon
me in spite of the fact that I often enjoyed the actual classroom work. Waking up in the
morning with the knowledge that one simply had to get out of bed, that there was no
possibility (chance) of turning over for an extra doze (nap), and seeing the hours of school
stretching (extending) ahead, was a dismal (depressing) experience, especially on a Monday.
We had a maid (servant) once who would climb (ascent) each morning with grim (horrible)
steps up to the attic floor where Lionel and I slept in one bedroom and my sister Sylvia in
another, and announce (declare) in deep, funeral (gloomy) tones: "Lionel, David, Sylvia -
time!" I used to lie waiting for that ominous (threatening) tread (step) on the uncarpeted
(bare) attic (top story) stairs, and the voice it heralded (announced) sounded in my ears like a
summons (command) to damnation (condemnation). The anticipation (expectation) was
always worse (bitter) than the reality; I don't remember ever being especially unhappy in
class; but the oppressive (crushing) weight of the knowledge of a full day's school ahead
remained a characteristic (typical) sensation (feeling) of my childhood and disappeared
(vanished) only after I had left school and entered the university, where the smaller number of
classes to be attended and the freedom of the student to come and go meant a completely new
kind of academic world. To wake up on a Thursday morning to feel the end of the week
already lying ahead: Friday morning was positively (encouragingly) rose-coloured
(promising). The last 'period' (as each of our lessons was called) on a Friday, whatever the
subject, had its special happy flavour (zest) of the end of the week, and one walked home
from school on a Friday afternoon (however much homework had been assigned for the
Monday) with the tread of an escaped (fled) prisoner (jailbird). Friday night, with two solid
days before school again, was the best night of the week; Saturday night, with still a whole
day between it and Monday, was pleasant (enjoyable) in a quite different way; Sunday night
was full of the threat (danger) of Monday morning.
Sometimes there were unexpected (unpredicted) respites (breaks) - a half holiday to
let us attend a football match which some unforeseen (unexpected) circumstances
(conditions) had caused to be cancelled the preceding (previous) Saturday, or the sudden
dismissal (closing) of school an hour or two before the usual time because of some
unexpected crisis (disaster) or celebration (festivity). But these were few and far between.
Once a term we had the annual mid-term holiday, a Monday off, which made a luxuriously
(sumptuously) long week-end (but it seemed to go just as fast as ordinary week-ends), and
occasionally (infrequently) in winter if there had been a continuous hard frost (snow fall) for
some days we would get a whole day's 'skating holiday'. These were blessed breaks in routine,
but not, of course, comparable (equal) to the holidays we got at Christmas and at Easter -
three weeks each in my earlier school days, later tragically reduced to a fortnight and then (if
my recollection of loss is not misleading me) to a mere (sheer) ten days. But 'the' holidays
were the summer holidays, the two months’ vacation (holiday) we got in the summer time,
and it was these months towards which the whole year moved.
Two months seemed a long, long time in those days; indeed, I used to have the feeling
that, for all practical (realistic) purposes, I could look forward to a period of permanent
(perpetual) felicity (happiness). I would walk home across the Meadows in the July sunshine,
wearing (be dressed in) my summer school clothes of grey cricket shirt, grey shorts, and red
Wetson's blazer, and savour (enjoy) my happiness with conscious (deliberate) relish
(appreciation). I could hardly believe that three strenuous (arduous) school terms had indeed
rolled away and the longed (yearned) for, dreamed of almost (it seemed at times) mythical
(imaginary) summer holidays were at hand, unspoilt (undamaged) as yet lying intact and
promising (assuring) just ahead. It all seemed too good to be true. Wishes didn't come true in
this life - I knew that: all my early childhood I longed (yearned) desperately (greatly) for a
tricycle, which my parents could never afford, and later the wish was transferred (shifted) to
a bicycle, and there, too I was permanently (eternally) disappointed (saddened). (I bought
my first bicycle for myself when I was twenty-one with prize money I had won at Edinburgh
University). How often had I stood outside sweet shops with empty pockets longing for a
penny or two to materialize (come into existence) somehow or hung on the outskirts
(peripheries) of a crowd around an ice-cream barrow wondering whether the ice-cream man
would be miraculously (incredibly) inspired (encouraged) to offer me a 'cornet' or a 'slider'
free. These things never happened. (The few pence a week pocket-money we received was to
be put into a money box and saved, and during our early childhood Lionel, Sylvia and I never
had anything to spend for ourselves). Yet summer and the summer holidays did come; the
school year did come to an end; and one did find oneself at last standing by the trunks and
suitcases outside No.6, Miller field Place, waiting for the taxi (glorious vehicle) that was to
convey the family and its luggage (baggage) to the railway station.

ON DESTROYING BOOKS
J. C. Squire
It says in the paper that over two million volumes (books) have been presented
(donated) to the troops (soldiers) by the public. It would be interesting (exciting) to inspect
(review) them. Most of them, no doubt, are quite (fairly) ordinary (commonplace) and
suitable (appropriate); but it was publicly (openly) stated the such as magazines twenty years
old, guides to the Lake District, and back numbers of Whitakers Almanac. In some cases, one
imagines, such indigestibles (un-understandable) get into the parcels (packages) by accident;
but it is likely (probable) that there are those who jump at the opportunity (chance) of
getting rid (removing) of books they don't want. Why have they kept them if they don't want
them? But most people, especially non-bookish people, are very reluctant (unwilling) to
throw away anything that looks like a book. In the most illiterate (uneducated) houses that
one knows every worthless (useless) volume that is bought finds its way to a shelf (sill) and
stays there. In reality (truth) it is not merely (only) absurd (ridiculous) to keep rubbish
(garbage) merely because it is printed: it is positively (helpfully) a public duty to destroy it.
Destruction (Annihilation) not merely makes more room (space) for new books but saves
one's heirs (successors) the trouble of sorting out (selecting) the rubbish (garbage) or storing
it.
But it is not always easy to destroy books. They may not have as many lives as a cat,
but they certainly (surely) die hard: and it is sometimes difficult to find a scaffold (gallows)
for them. This difficulty once brought me almost within the shadow (shade) of the Rope. I
was living in a small and (as Shakespeare would say) heaven-kissing flat in Chelsea, and
books of inferior (lower), minor (inferior) verse gradually (slowly) accumulated (gathered)
there until at last I was faced with alternative of either evicting (removing) the books or else
leaving them in sole (solitary), undisturbed (uninterrupted) tenancy (occupancy) and taking
rooms elsewhere for myself. Now no one would have bought these books. I therefore had to
throw them away or wipe them off the map altogether. But how? There were scores (many) of
them. I had no kitchen range, and I could not toast (roast) them on the gas-cooker or consume
(destroy) them leaf by leaf in my small study fire - for it is almost as hopeless to try to burn a
book without opening it as to try to burn a piece of granite (stone). So in the end I determined
to do to them what so many people do to the kittens: tie them up and consign (dispatch) them
to the river. I improvised (invented) a sack, stuffed (filled) the books into it, put it over my
shoulder, and went down the stairs into the darkness.
 It was nearly midnight as I stepped (treaded) into the street. There was a cold nip
(squeeze) in the air, the sky was full of stars: and the greenish-yellow lamps threw long
gleams (beams) across the smooth (flat), hard road. Few people were about, and here and
there rang out the steps of solitary (lonely) travelers on the way home across the bridge to
Battersea. I turned up my overcoat collar, settled (put) my sack (bag) comfortably (easily)
across my shoulders, and strode off (walked) towards the little square glow of the coffee-stall
which marked (indicated) the near end of the bridge, whose sweeping (wide) iron girders
(supports) were just visible (observable) against the dark sky behind. A few doors down I
passed a policeman who was flashing (flickering) his lantern (lamp) on the catches (latches)
of basement windows. He turned. I fancied (thought) he looked suspicious (skeptical), and I
trembled (shivered) slightly (somewhat). The thought occurred to me: "Perhaps he suspects
(doubts) I have swag (bootee) in this sack." I was not seriously disturbed as I knew that I
could bear investigation (inquiry), and that nobody would be suspected of having stolen such
goods (though they were all first -editions) as I was carrying. Nevertheless (Yet) I could not
help the slight unease which comes to all who are eyed suspiciously by the police, and to all
who are detected (noticed) in any deliberately (intentionally) furtive (secret) act, however
harmless (inoffensive). He acquitted (relieved) me, apparently (seemingly); and with a step
that, making an effort, I prevented (avoided) from growing (getting) more rapid (fast), I
walked on until 1 reached the Embankment (Bank).
It was then that all the implications (consequences) of my act revealed (exposed)
themselves. I leaned (bent) against the parapet (wall) and looked down into the faintly
(dimly) luminous (shining) swirls (spins) of the river. Suddenly I heard a step near me; quite
automatically (instinctively) I sprang (leaped) back from the wall and began walking on
with, I fervently (eagerly) hoped, an air of rumination (contemplation) and unconcern
(indifference). The pedestrian came by me without looking at me. It was a tramp (vagabond)
who had other things to think about; and, calling myself an ass, I stopped again. "Now for it,"
I thought; but just as I was preparing to cast (throw) my books upon the waters I heard
another step - a slow and measured (regulated) one. The next thought came like a blaze
(flash) of terrible (horrible) blue lightening (heat) across my brain: "What about the splash
(battering)?" A man leaning at midnight over the Embankment wall; a sudden fling (toss) of
his arms: a great splash in the water. Surely, and not without reason (cause), whoever was
within sight and hearing (and there always seemed to be some one near) would at once rush
(hasten) at me and seize (grab) me. In all probability (prospect) they would think it was a
baby. What on earth would be the good of telling a London constable (sergeant) that I had
come out into the cold and come down alone to the river to get rid of a pack (collection) of
poetry? I could almost hear his gruff (hoarse), sneering (derogatory) laugh: "You tell that to
the Marines (navy), my son!"
So far I do not know how long I strayed (drifted) up and down, increasingly fearful
(dreadful) of being watched, summoning up (gathering) my courage (bravery) to take the
plunge (dive) and quailing (shrinking) from it at the last moment. At last I did it. In the
middle of Chelsea Bridge there are projecting (bulging) circular bays (inlets) with seats in
them. In my agony (distress) of decision (conclusion) I left the Embankment and hastened
(rushed) straight for me first of these. When I reached it I knelt on the seat. Looking over, I
hesitated (dithered, scrupled) again. Rut I had reached the turning-point. "What!" I thought
savagely (harshly), "under the resolute (determined) mask (cover) that you show your friends
is there really a shrinking (shriveling) and contemptible (loathsome) coward (chicken)? If
you fall now, you must never hold your head up again. Anyhow, what if you are hanged for
it? Good God: you worm, better men than you have gone to the gallows (gibbets)." With the
courage of despair (hopelessness) I took a heave (lurch). The sack dropped sheer (vertically).
A vast (great) splash. Then silence fell again. No one came. I turned, home; and as I walked I
thought a little sadly (unhappily) of all those books falling into the cold torrent (flood),
settling (landing) slowly down through the pitchy (dark) dark, and subsiding (sinking) at last
on the ooze (mud) of the bottom, there to lie forlorn (lonely) and forgotten (unremembered)
whilst the unconscious (insensible) world of men went on. Horrible (Dreadful) bad books,
poor innocent books, you are lying there still: covered, perhaps, with mud (mire) by this time,
with only a stray (homeless) rag (thread) of your sacking (canvas) sticking (penetrating) out
of the slime (mucus) into the opaque (muddy) brown tides (waves). Odes to Diana, Sonnets
to Ethel, Dramas on the Love of Lancelot, Stanzas on a First Glimpse of Venice, you lie there
in a living death, and your fate is perhaps (maybe) worse (bitter) than you deserved
(merited).

THE MAN WHO WAS A HOSPITAL

It was my liver that was out of order. I knew it was my liver that was out of order,
because I had just been reading patent (self-evident) liver-pill (tablet) circular (advertisement),
in which were detailed the various (several) symptoms (signs) by which a man could tell when
-his liver was out of order. I had them all.
It is a most extraordinary (odd) thing, but I never read a patent medicine advertisement
(poster) without being impelled (compelled) to the conclusion (deduction) that I am suffering
(undergoing) from the particular disease therein dealt with in its most virulent (malicious)
form. The diagnosis (finding) seems in every case to correspond (resemble) exactly
(accurately) with all the sensations (feelings) that I have ever felt.
I remember going to the British Museum (Gallery) one day to read up the treatment (cure) for
some slight (minor) ailment (sickness) of which I had a touch (trace) - hay fever, I fancy
(imagine) it was. I got down the book, and read all I came to read; and then, in an unthinking
(impulsive) moment (instant), I idly (uselessly) turned the leaves, and began to indolently
(lazily) study diseases, generally. I forget which was the first distemper (illness) I plunged
(fell) into - some fearful (horrible), devastating (destructive) scourge (curse), I know and,
before I had glanced (looked) half down the list of "premonitory (predictive) symptoms
(signs)," it was borne in upon me that I had fairly got it.
I sat for a while frozen (motionless) with horror (fear); and then, in the listlessness
(slowness) of despair (hopelessness), I again turned over the pages. I came to typhoid fever -
read the symptoms -discovered that I had typhoid fever, must have had it for months without
knowing it - wondered (pondered) what else I had got: turned up St. Vitus's Dance - found, as
I expected (anticipated), that I had that too, - began to get interested (involved) in my case,
and determined (decided) to sift (scrutinize) it to the bottom (end), and so started
alphabetically - read up again and learnt that I was sickening (yearning) for it, and that the
acute (severe) stage would commence (start) in about another fortnight. Bright's disease, I
was relieved (comforted) to find, I had only in a modified (changed) form and, so far as that
was concerned, I might live for years. Cholera I had with severe (critical) complications
(intricacies); and diphtheria I seemed to have been born with. I plodded (trudged)
conscientiously (sensibly) through the twenty-six letters, and the only malady (sickness) I
could conclude, I had not got, was housemaid's knee.
I felt rather (slightly) hurt (offended) about this at first; it seemed somehow
(someway) to be a sort (kind) of slight (insult). Why hadn't I got housemaid's knee? Why this
invidious (awkward) reservation (sanctuary)? After a while, however, less grasping (selfish)
feeling prevailed (triumphed), I reflected (remembered) that I had every other known malady
in the pharmacology, and I grew (became) less selfish (greedy) and determined to do without
housemaid's knee. Gout, in its most malignant (hostile) stage, it would appear, had seized
(clutched) me without my being aware of it: and zymosis I had evidently (obviously) been
suffering (undergoing) with from boyhood. There were no more diseases after zymosis, so I
concluded (decided) there was nothing else the matter (problem) with me.

I sat and pondered (contemplated). I thought what an interesting (fascinating) case it

must be from a medical point of view, what an acquisition (possession) I should be to a class:
Students would have no need to "walk the hospitals", if they had me. I was a hospital in
myself. All they need to do would be to walk round me, and, after that, take their diploma
(certificate).
Then I wondered how long I had to live. I tried to examine (inspect) myself. I felt my
pulse (beat), I could not at first find any pulse at all. Then, all of sudden, it seemed to start off.
I pulled (drew) out my watch and timed it. I made (counted) it a hundred and forty-seven to
the minute. I tried to feel my heart. I could not feel my heart. It had stopped beating
(thumping). I have since been induced to come to the opinion (view) that it must have been
there all the time, and must have been beating, but I cannot account for it. I patted (stroked)
myself all over my front, from what I call my waist up to my head, and I went a bit round each
side, and a little way up the back. But I could not feel or hear anything I tried to look at my
tongue. I stuck it out as far as ever it would go, and I shut one eye and tried to examine it with
the other. I could only see the tip, and the only thing that I could gain (get) from that was to
feel more certain (sure) than before that I had scarlet fever.
I had walked into that reading-room a happy, healthy (healthful) man. I crawled out a
decrepit (decaying) wreck (ruin).
I went to my medical man. He is an old chum (friend) of mine, and feels my pulse,
and looks at my tongue, and talks about the weather, all for nothing, when I fancy (think) I’m
ill; so I thought I would do him a good turn by going to him now. "What a doctor wants", I
said, "is practice. He shall have me. He will get more practice out of me than out of seventeen
hundred of your ordinary (normal), commonplace (everyday) patients, with only one or two
diseases each.11 So I went straight up and saw him, and he said: "Well, what's the matter with
you?"
I said: "I will not take up your time, dear boy, with telling you what is the matter with
me. Life is brief (short), and you might pass away before I had finished. But I will tell you
what is not the matter with me. I have not got housemaid's knee. Why I have not got
housemaid's knee, I cannot tell you; but the fact (reality) remains that I have not got it.
Everything else, however, I have got." And I told him how I came to discover it all.
Then he opened me and Looked down me, and clutched (gripped) hold of my wrist
(hand), and then he hit me over the chest when I wasn't expecting it - a cowardly (craven)
thing to do, I call it - and immediately (instantly) afterwards butted (hit) me with the side of
his head. After that, he sat down and wrote out a prescription (medicine), and folded it up
and gave it to me, and I put it in my pocket and went out.
I did not open it. I took it to the nearest (closest) chemist's and handed it in. The man
read it, and then handed it back.
He said he didn't keep it. I said: “You are a chemist?" He said: “I am a chemist. If I
were a co-operative stores and family hotel combined, I might be able to oblige
(accommodate) you. Being only a chemist hampers (hinders) me."

I read the prescription. It ran:

"I Ib. beefsteak, every 6 hours.
Ten-mile walk every morning,
Bed at 11 sharp every night.

And don't stuff (fill) your head with things you don t understand (comprehend)."
I followed (obeyed) the directions (instructions), with the happy result - speaking for myself-
that my life was preserved (conserved) and is still going on.

MY FINANCIAL CAREER
Stephen Leacock
When I go into a bank I get rattled (upset). The clerks rattle me; the wickets (slits)
rattle me; the sight (view) of the money rattles me; everything rattles me.
The moment (instant) I cross the threshold (doorsill) of a bank and attempt (try) to
transact (conduct) business there, I become an irresponsible (careless) idiot (fool).
I knew this beforehand (earlier), but my salary (pay) had been raised (increased) to
fifty dollars a month and I felt that the bank was the only place for it.
So I shambled (ambled) in and looked timidly (nervously) round at the clerks. I have
an idea that a person about to open an account must consult (see) the manager.
I went up to a wicket (slit) marked "Accountant." The accountant was a tall, cool devil
(villain). The very sight of him rattled me. My voice was sepulchral (gloomy).
"Can I see the manager?" I said, and added (adjoined) solemnly (somberly), "alone." I don't
know why I said "alone."
"Certainly," said the accountant, and fetched (got) him.
The manager was a grave (serious), calm (quiet) man. I held my fifty six dollars clutched
(gripped) in a crumpled (creased) ball in my pocket.
"Are you the manager?" I said. God knows I didn't doubt it. "Yes," he said.
"Can I see you," I asked, "alone?" I didn't want to say "alone' again, but without it the thing
seemed self-evident (obvious).
The manager looked at me in some alarm (fear). He felt that I had an awful (dreadful) secret
(mystery) to reveal (disclose).
"Come in here," he said, and led the way to a private (confidential) room. He turned
(rotated) the key in the lock.
"We are safe from interruption (disturbance) here," he said "sit down."
We both sat down and looked at each other. I found no voice to speak.
"You are one of Pinkerton's men, I presume (assume)," he said.
He had gathered (concluded) from my mysterious (puzzling) manner (behavior) that I was a
detective. I knew what he was thinking, and it made me worse (guiltier).
"No, not from Pinkerton's," I said, seeming to imply (mean) that I came from a rival
(competitor) agency (organization).
"To tell the truth," I went on, as if I had been prompted (provoked) to lie (falsify) about it, "I
am not a detective (investigator) at all, I have come to open an account. I intend (plan) to
keep all my money in this bank."
The manger looked relieved (eased) but still serious (somber); he concluded (decided) now
that I was a son of Baron Rothschild or a young Gould.
"A large account. I suppose." He said.
"Fairly (Properly) large," I whispered (murmured). "I propose to deposit (bank) fifty six
dollars now and fifty dollars a month regularly (consistently)."
The manager got up and opened the door. He called to the accountant.
Mr. Montgomery," he said unkindly (horridly) loud, this gentleman (nobleman) is opening
an account, he will deposit fifty-six dollars. Good morning."
I rose.
A big iron door stood open at the side of the private room.
"Good morning," I said, and stepped (strode) into the safe. Come out," said the manager
coldly (unkindly), and showed me the other way.
I went up to the accountant's wicket and poked (thrust) the ball of money at him with a quick
(rapid) convulsive (sudden) movement (effort) as if I were doing a conjuring (magical) trick
(deception).
My face was ghastly (horrible) pale (palisade).
"Here," I said, "deposit it." The tone of the words seemed to mean, "Let us do this painful
(hurting) thing while the fit (spasm) is on us."
He took the money and gave it to another clerk.
He made me write the sum (amount) on a slip and sign my name in a book.
I no longer knew what I was doing. The bank swam (swayed) before my eyes.
"Is it deposited?" I asked in a hollow (empty), vibrating (quivering) voice.
"It is," said the accountant.
"Then I want to draw a cheque."
My idea was to draw out six dollars of it for present use.
Someone gave me a cheque-book through a wicket and someone else began telling me how to
write it out. The people in the bank had the impression (feeling) that I was an invalid (illegal)
millionaire. I wrote something on the cheque and thrust (pushed) it in at the clerk. He looked
at it.
"What! Are you drawing it all out again?" he asked in surprise (shock).
Then I realized (understood) that I had written fifty-six instead of six. I was too far (distantly)
gone to reason now. I had a feeling that it was impossible to explain the thing. All the clerks
had stopped writing to look at me.
Reckless (Irresponsible) with misery (depression), I made a plunge (jump).
"Yes, the whole thing."
"You withdraw your money from the bank?"
"Every cent of it."
"Are you not going to deposit anymore?" said the clerk, astonished (astounded).
"Never."
An idiot (stupid) hope (possibility) struck (discovered) me that they might think someone
had insulted (offended) me while I was writing the cheque and that I had changed my mind. I
made a wretched (miserable) attempt to look like a man with a fearfully (horribly) quick
temper (rage).
The clerk prepared to pay the money.
"How will you have it?" he said.
"What?"
"How will you have it?"
"Oh".... I caught his meaning and answered without even trying to think.... "in fifties."
He gave me a fifty-dollar bill. "And the six?" he asked dryly. He gave it to me and I rushed
(hurried) out.
As the big door swung (swayed) behind me I caught the echo (resonance) of a roar (thunder)
of laughter (hilarity) that went up to the ceiling (roof) of the bank. Since then I bank no more.
I keep my money in cash in my trousers pocket and my savings in silver dollars in a sock
(stocking).

CHINA'S WAY TO PROGRESS

Galeazzo Santint
For twenty-two years China lay (remained) forgotten (ignored) and was even
confused (clouded) with a small island - one of its provinces - and the flexible (elastic)
Chinese bamboo (cane) curtain (screen) was countered (opposed) by a Western curtain of
rigid (strict) disregard (disrespect). Then suddenly that one-fourth of mankind enclosed
(fenced) in the world's third largest country was brought (taken) out of the memory
(reminiscence) attic (garret), with a loud (noisy) bang (blow). The Chinese may have
introduced (initiated) the smile (smirk) policy (strategy), but the Occidentals certainly
(surely) launched (introduced) the warm (passionate) hug (embrace). The crowd (group) of
official visitors (guests) to Peking, performing a devoted (dutiful) quasi-pilgrimage
(journey), is now more numerous (abundant) than the battalions (crowds) of traders
(merchants) who go twice yearly to the traditional (customary) Canton Fair. Seventy-three
year old Chou En-Lai will end up dislocating (disjointing) his right hand if he goes on
shaking it at the present rate with delegations (commissions) running into hundreds of people
at a time, his eyes blinded by the constant (continuous) flashing (sparkling) of the official
souvenir (memento) photographers. The queue (line) of countries on the waiting list to
recognize (acknowledge) the People's Republic of China is growing longer with the
mounting (growing) awareness (perception) of the absurdity (illogicality) of the past
(earlier) oblivion (insensibility) or a political (radical) guilt (contrition) complex (phobia) for
having kept China out of the U.N. for a long time.
China is now the fashion (model) around the world, and in no uncertain (vague)
terms. Everywhere politicians of the most conservative (traditional) and bourgeois
(middleclass) kind are attempting to rebuild (reconstruct) for themselves a compromised
career (profession) by singing the praises (admirations) of Mao Tse-Tung.
An Exemplary Social Experiment* When confronting (encountering) the enigma
(mystery) of the Chinese planet, too many Westerners have forgotten the Asiatic background
and painful (distressing) colonial (settler) history. But when the Communists (Socialists)
came to power in 1949 the vast (huge) majority (mass) of the country carried on as it had
been doing for the past 2,000 years, in an early Iron Age economy. And on countless
(innumerable) occasions (instances) during our visits (appointments) to the agricultural
(farming) communes (communities) we were proudly (pompously) told: "Here we didn't
even have the life of the oxen and horses!" Compared to China in 1949 Russia in 1917 did not
have the grim (horrible) inheritance (legacy) of a century of a shattering (devastating)
multi-colonial experience. Russia never suffered China's fate of such a sharp (severe) and
pervasive (widespread) Western impact (influence) that it was forced - together with many
other Asiatic civilizations - into a kind (type) of national (public) schizophrenia not just in
terms (expressions) of a split (divided) economy, but above all in terms of a split culture
(civilization) and a split personality (behavior).
In China the individual has been rescued (saved) from the aftermath (result) of this
unfortunate (unlucky) heritage (legacy) by the newfound companionship (comradeship),
common purpose (aim) and discipline (regulation) of mass-organization. Just as the
Vietnamese have withstood (survived) American technology so the ascetic (severe) militant
(activist) Chinese have gone straight to the roots of the problems that have, plagued
(afflicted) Asian countries for thousands of years -the lack (shortage) of food and low
levels of nutrition (diet), gross (heavy) inequalities (differences) of income and
consumption (utilization), unemployment (joblessness) and a sense of social uselessness
(impracticality), and the blind (visionless) expansion (growth) of the cities.
Decentralised Economy. The gigantic (huge) Chinese social experiment does not
only concern (affect) Asia however, but the West too, which has always claimed (asserted) to
have found the final answer to the problem of man and civilization (culture). For years the
Chinese have been striving (endeavoring) to make the world realize, through their official
(authorized) interpreter (translator) and personal friend of Mao, Edgar Snow, that there are
other important things in life besides an increase in GNP.
The Chinese model cannot be analysed (examined) according to its differences from
the Western system. It involves an utterly (completely) different approach. It is the creation
(invention) of a new world and a new man. The cities show an absence (nonexistence) of
automobiles (vehicles) (which is "neither backwardness nor delay, but a rejection (refusal),"
to quote Robert Guillain), advertising, neon signs, and the three fevers of money, alcohol and
sex. Political control over the masses (multitudes) not only stops the exodus (migration) from
the countryside (rural area), but even manages partly (somewhat) to reduce (decrease) the
populations of cities.
In the year 2000 China will still be a powerfully (strongly) agricultural and peasant
(farmer) country, for its modernization (transformation) will have occurred without a flight
(escape) from the fields, which is the price paid by the West. In China too the average size of
farming concerns is growing through the system of communes, with subdivisions into
production brigades (groups) and teams, but the greater part of the peasant masses stay put
and carry on their traditional (customary), intensive (rigorous) labour (work). Agricultural
mechanization (automation) is being introduced with considerable caution (care) so as to
avoid (prevent) upsetting (disturbing) the balance. But the essential (vital) point of the matter
is that the agricultural labourer, though possibly deprived (robbed) of farming (agricultural)
machinery (equipment), must not and does not want to be urbanized, but is instead kept on
the spot and incorporated (merged) in local small industries. He does not flee (fly) to the
cities because the industrial road passes through a technically-oriented agriculture and a
decentralized industry. Economic decentralization, which is perhaps the most important step
in Chinese domestic (national) policy since the Great Proletarian cultural Revolution, has
freed China from a traditionally cumbersome (unwieldy) bureaucracy (officialdom) and
developed local enterprise (business) to the greatest possible degree of independence. The 26
Chinese provinces, which are as much as even 4,400 kilometres apart, could for that matter,
subsist (survive) on their own in the event of war, while anybody invading the country would
be literally (exactly) drowned (sank) in a sea of people.
This brings us to the human side of this Chinese experiment (test) in creation of a new
world. It is simply a matter of providing (on condition) that Thomas Hobbes was wrong when
he wrote in his "Leviathan" that "man's condition is a condition of war with everyone against
everyone." What is taking place today in the world's most populous (crowded) country is
therefore the education and re-education of man. The heart of the matter is the need to root
out (eliminate) selfishness (self-centeredness) and bring into existence selfless (altruistic),
dedicated (devoted) men whose happiness (joy) consists of serving their fellow-men in the
fullest sense of the human community. In a humanism at the service (help) of collective
welfare (well-being), China is striving (endeavoring) to conceive (perceive) modernization as
part of a process of embellishment (decoration) of the land-scape (countryside),
development of the people's cultural life for the benefit (advantage) of all instead of for the
benefit of the placing the needs of man before those of the machine.
Here is what the Peking "People's Daily" has to say commenting (remarking) on
Mao's famous (well-known) maxim (adage): "Rely (depend) on your own forces. National
machines and equipment (apparatus) are not entirely (completely) indigenous (native) since
they possess a number of foreign (imported) features (characteristics). They may replace
(exchange) foreign (overseas) machines because they are superior to foreign equipment, they
don't require money or at any rate very little, and are capable (efficient) of doing great things.
It takes much less time to use indigenous equipment which, when not available, can be
promptly (quickly) prepared. Indigenous equipment can produce bigger, faster, better and
cheaper (lower) results. Finally, it can stimulate (motivate) the revolutionary (rebellious)
spirit (attitude) of the masses (multitudes) and with this revolutionary spirit all difficulties
can be overcome."
Day in the Life of a 16-year old. How do the students live and what do they think
individually? Despite having to use an interpreter I was able to find out. Here is the result of
my interview with Je Wen-Siu, a sixteen-year old girl who lives in the workers' district of
Peng Pu at Shanghai. She is a pupil (student) in class 3 at the junior (children's) school. She
will shortly (soon) be taking her diploma. "How do you spend your day?" "I get up at 6
o'clock in the morning, do a few chores (tasks) in the house, have breakfast and go to school
at 8. I finish at 11 o'clock. I go home and have lunch. At one thirty I'm back at school again
until 3 o'clock. Then I go back home and work." "How much time do you spend on homework
at home?" "Well actually I do my homework at school. At home I go through the lessons for
about an hour. From 4 o'clock on I relax, reading the papers and listening to the radio." "What
news are you most interested in?" "All political news which illustrate (demonstrate) the
national and international situation (circumstances)." "What do you do when you meet with
your girl friends?" I often go out with girls and boys of my age. We do some sports and often
play ping-pong."
Chinese Women. From a Western angle (viewpoint) there is a lack of femininity
(womanliness) in the Chinese woman. No beauty products, no mention of sex, either in films
or literature. In the land of opium, drugs are nonexistent (absent). Mao says that women hold
up half the sky and women, for their part, are determined to keep their half raised at the same
height as that held up by men. When the Chinese woman lists (enumerates) the social benefits
(advantages) she enjoys - 8 hour working day, free hospitalization and medical (health) care
(treatment), nursery (kindergarten) and infant (child) schools, 56 paid days before child birth
also without charge - she always concludes (ends) by affirming (asserting) that in the West
women have not yet succeeded in obtaining (gaining) all this. "However, we Chinese are
working so that the women of the world can be equally (similarly) happy and enjoy the
advantages (benefits) we have." This radical (fundamental) change in women's conditions in
china has given women a sense of confidence (assurance) hitherto (previously) unknown to
them, a dignity (grandeur) and an undoubted awareness (mindfulness) of carrying out an
important role.
Social Security Benefits. The monthly cost of living is officially calculated
(measured) for every region of the country. In Peking for example, it was recently (newly)
quoted at 12 - 14 yuan a month (4.80 - 5.60 dollars) of which 10 go towards board and 3 - 4
for rent in State apartments. Many workers are also housed within the factories. In the
agricultural communes housing is completely free. Certain small expenses such as cinema,
theatre, haircuts and work overalls are also sometimes non-existent.
All medical and hospital treatment is entirely free for every Chinese worker or peasant,
while members of their family only pay 50 percent. A sick (ill) worker receives his total pay
cheque for the first six months, after which he receives only 60 per cent. If, however, the
patient has money problems, then his company steps in with direct assistance (help). Each
plant, factory or agricultural commune has a health centre and a first-aid station. Only in more
serious cases are the sick sent to hospital. Workers retire at the age of 60, female workers at
50, or 55 if they do clerical work. The factory can sometimes agree to keep a worker on after
he has passed retirement age. Pensions (Annuities) are related to work seniority (rank) and
vary from 50 to 70 percent of the worker's last wage (pay). Each factory has a cafeteria where
the workers can eat three meals a day for 10 - 12 Yuan (4 - 4.80 dollars) a month. The
cafeteria (canteen) timetable is tied up with company and shift (period) working hours.
Nearly all plants boast nurseries and kindergartens where children are looked after and fed
under the control of a dietician for a very modest sum (about one dollar a month). Female
workers are entitled (permitted) to 56 days' rest on full salary before giving birth to children.
When a low-wage category worker finds he has to maintain a large family, his expenses may
exceed his income.
The Chinese regime (government) has set up an assistance system guaranteeing
(assuring) a minimum subsistence (survival) level. The company where the worker is
employed then intervenes (interferes) and raises his salary to equal the cost of living. The
commune deals with those peasants having wages that are too low or who are unable to
maintain their family owing to physical handicaps (disables). It uses money from a specially
constituted (founded) fund comprising 2 percent of the community's annual wage. These
assistance schemes in reality (truth) are rarely (seldom) resorted to, because a family nearly
always has more than one source of income.
Industrial working hours are 8 hours a day, six-day a week, leaving one day's holiday a
week (not necessarily Sunday). Normally there is one week's annual vacation (holiday), two
weeks if the worker lives far from his family, as well as two national holidays (May 1 and
October 1).
There are two opposite (contradictory) worlds just as the two ways of considering China's
future are opposite. One is the rigid world of figures and prospects based on economic facts as
seen by the West. The other is the world of faith (trust), of the development of Mao thought
throughout China, with the little Red Book. As for Western economic laws, the endless
(infinite) mass of 800 million people, who can be convinced (satisfied), governed
(administered) and directed (guided) along the paths decided by the powers that be, might
well overthrow (defeat) the whole problem from all sides. Reasoning (Arguing) with the dry
yardstick (standard) of figures, the contribution (donation) of a dollar from each Chinese
would make roughly (crudely) 800 million dollars and the contribution of a day's work from
each person would mean two million extra labourers for one year without cost to the State.
True, to increase by just one metre per head the availability (accessibility) of cloth for even as
few as 700 million Chinese, you would need enough cloth to go round the world eighteen
times while the purchase of a million and a half tons of grain is only sufficient (enough) to
feed the Chinese population for 5 days. The fact remains that when the number is not simply a
juxtaposition (apposition) of persons, but a compact whole, then it tends to become "Power".
When Mao says that it is the people, and not things, that are decisive (conclusive), he is trying
in fact to demonstrate that this concept (idea) apparently destroyed (devastated) by modern
technology is still a meaningful one.
 HUNGER AND POPULATION
EXPLOSION
Anna Mckenzie

What is it like to be really (truly) hungry? I expect (suppose) that at some time you have all
come home after an energetic (strenuous) game of football or netball or after a few hours
when you have been too busy to eat, and said, "I'm starving (famishing)!" But this hunger did
not last (survive) long. If your meal was not ready for you, after a few slices of bread and
butter you forgot all about those hunger pangs (twinges). But hunger does not mean missing
one meal or even meals for a whole day. It means never having enough to eat. It means, when
you have had something to eat at least as much again. It also means a situation in which you
are always wondering (pondering) where the next meal is coming from or even if there will
be a next meal. Arthur Hopcraft of the Guardian said of starving children after visiting a
nutrition centre in Kenya, "They are the children whose eyes stare as if blind, whose legs and
arms are like sticks of liquor ice, who neither cry nor laugh and who weigh 10 Ib at the age of
two years!"
Famine (Dearth) has been a problem since the beginning of time. The early hunter (predator)
suffered (endured) grave (severe) shortages (scarcities) during the winter months and quite
often these were serious enough to mean starvation (hunger) for him and his family.
One of the first records of famine was carved (inscribed) in granite (stone) by an Egyptian
Pharaoh. He said, "During my reign (rule) the Nile has not been in flood for seven years.
Corn is scarce (limited) and food is lacking (missing). Those who ran cannot even walk. The
food bins are broken open and empty (unfilled). It is the end of everything!"
We read in the Bible of many cases of famine. There were seven years of famine in Egypt and
the surrounding (neighboring) countryside during the time of Joseph. Widespread (General)
disaster (catastrophe) was only averted (avoided) by the previous (earlier) compulsory
(obligatory) storage of food under Joseph's management during plentiful (abundant) harvests
(reaps). Egypt was saved from famine by this national effort (struggle) but many people in the
surrounding countries were left hungry. Joseph's own brothers came to Egypt from Palestine
to buy grain.
From the birth of Christ to about 1800, there are records of famine in Europe in 350 different
years — one famine every five years. In England during the same period there was at least one
major (main) famine every ten years. These were general famines when a large area of the
country was affected (influenced) but there were many more local famines. We can get some
idea of these famines from our folk-lore . The stories of Robin Hood often involve local food
shortages with Robin helping with transport (conveyance) of food, robbing the rich to feed
the poor or poaching (stealing) for them from the Royal (Imperial) forests.
But famines in Europe have been much less serious (dangerous) than in other parts of the
world. China had ninety major famines in one century. Nine and a half million people
perished (died) in a single famine which swept (dashed) North China in the last century. The
Russian famine in 1921 - 22 killed several million people. Ten million died in the great
famine of Bengal 1969-70. As recently (lately) as 1942 in Bombay one million starved to
death when the rice crop failed. In India in 1964-65 there was the worst (wickedest) famine of
the century, owing to the failure of the monsoon, and many countries gave aid on a large scale
and tried to help. However, imported food could not solve the problem. Even if there had been
enough availability (accessibility) the ports could not cope with all the ships bringing the
cargoes (shipments), and transport problems were so great that the food could not have been
distributed (delivered) to many of the isolated and hardest hit areas. A year later, India still
faced an even worse threat of famine.
Famine may be caused by many things. It may be that there are just too many people for the
amount of food available. It may be that crops have failed due to disease. Thousands, even
millions, will die of starvation because of famines caused by lack (absence) of rain.
In fact in the world of today, not only is there not enough food, but each year there are many
more people to eat it. The number of people in the world is rapidly (swiftly) increasing rather
like a gigantic (huge) snowball which not only gets bigger as it rolls but goes faster as well.
Half a million years ago the population of the world was very small but since then it has
gradually (slowly) increased, until by the birth of Christ the world population was about 200
- 300 million. The numbers doubled by 1650 and by 1850 doubled again to 1,000 million.
Now the world population is over 3,000 million. The population is increasing at a rate which
would double the numbers in only 40 years. A tremendous (massive) population explosion
(outbreak) is taking place. It has been calculated that unless the growth is checked (tested) in
some way, within two or three centuries there will only be enough room (space) on the earth
for people to stand up.
The main reason for population increase is due to the number of people who are born in any
year being greater than the number who die - that is the difference between the birth rate and
the death rate. For example, in the U.K. the birthrate for 1963 (number of births per 1,000
population) was 18.2 and the death rate (number of deaths per 1,000 population) was 11.6.
The population is therefore growing at the rate of 6.6 per 1,000 of the ^ -h nation.
In the past only a fraction of the babies born grew up. Now in the industrial countries of the
West, 19 out of 20 become adults (grown-ups). One couple on an average need only produce
just over two children to replace themselves and keep the population at the same level.
Among the Western nations the decline (decrease) in the death rate has been followed after an
interval (gap, hiatus) by the reduction (decrease) in the birth rate so that the population is not
now growing so fast. But even In the U.S.A., where on an average each woman has only
three children the population increases by almost half as many again every generation (age
group).
In Asia and the Far East the death rate has been reduced (decreased) rapidly by modern
medicine and epidemic (widespread) control. In Ceylon, for example, the death rate was
reduced by one third in two years by greatly reducing mortality (death) from malaria. This
was due to the discovery of DDT which killed off the mosquitoes which carry malaria.
Another example is yaws which until recently caused a great many deaths. This disease starts
as little hard pimples (boils) which may join together to make blotches (marks). It then
spreads all over the body, forming ulcers. Muscles are destroyed and bones deformed
(collapsed). The sufferer becomes depressed (unhappy) and feels very ill. Soon after the
discovery (finding) of penicillin it was realized that yaws could be cured in most cases by a
single injection and in many others by just two injections. Many countries have carried out
massive (huge) programmes to free their countrymen of yaws and in doing so have decreased
the death rate rapidly.
The most important and the most difficult thing to achieve (attain) is a desire among
individuals to limit the size of the family.
The study of the population growth indicates one of the greatest paradoxes (absurdities) of
our time. The group of countries best able to support a rapidly growing population has a
relatively (comparatively) low birth rate while the group least (minimum) able to support
their present population, let alone a larger one, has a very high birth rate.
Let us look for a moment at this second group, often called the underdeveloped (developing)
countries, into which so many of the children of the world will be born. Everyone knows an
underdeveloped country when he sees one. It is a country characterized (described) by
poverty, with beggars in the cities and villagers eking out (be economical with) a bare
(meagre) subsistence (survival) in the rural (countryside) areas. It is a country lacking
factories of its own, usually with inadequate (insufficient) supplies of power and light. It
usually has poor roads and railways and not enough of them. Hospitals and schools and
colleges are few and far between. Most people, particularly older people, cannot read or write.
The goods the country exports (trades) are nearly always raw (crude) material which are
tmore subject to price fluctuations (variations). This will have a bad impact on the economy.
The gap (difference) in living standards is bound (compelled) to increase. In the past the
population has not only been reduced by famine and disease but also by war. We have the
power to abolish (eradicate) war if we have the will. But if one group of people continues to
get poorer and sees its families and friends suffering great distress (misery) and unnecessary
(needless) death while another group of people in the world gets richer, we are creating a
situation which encourages the poor to make war on the rich.
The only long-term answer for these countries is to reduce their birth rate. But as I have
explained this will take time and is not easy to achieve. What we must do in the meantime is
to keep alive as many people as we can and at the same time make every effort to encourage
(promote) the limitation of families.

THE JEWEL OF THE WORLD

Philip K, Hitti

It was in 750 that the Umayyad dynasty in Damascus was overthrown (ousted) by the
Abbasid family; and accession (extension) of the Abbasids to the caliphate was signalized
(symbolized) by a ruthless (cruel) extermination (slaughter) of every member of the
defeated house on whom the victors (conquerors) could lay their hands.
Among the very few who escaped (fled) was a youth of twenty, Abd-al-Rahman, a striking
(outstanding) young man, tall, lean (slim), with sharp (piercing), aquiline (curved) features
(complexions) and red hair - a youth of exceptional (unique) nerve (courage) and ability
(capability). It was he who made his way to Spain, fought his way to mastery (authority), and
kept in power there the Umayyad dynasty which was wiped out (eradicated) in the East.
The story of his escape (breakout) is dramatic (thrilling). He was in a Bedouin camp on the
left bank of the Euphrates River one day when horsemen carrying (having) the black
standards of the Abbasids suddenly appeared. With his thirteen-year old brother, Abd-al-
Rahman dashed (rushed) into the river. The younger brother, evidently (obviously) a poor
swimmer, became frightened (terrified), heeded (followed) the reassurances (guarantees)
shouted from the bank that he would be unharmed if he returned; and swam back. He was
killed. The older boy kept on and gained (reached) the opposite bank.
Afoot (Going on), friendless and penniless (poor, impecunious), he set out south-westward,
made his way after great hardships to Palestine, found one friend there and set off again
toward the west. In North Africa he barely (hardly) escaped assassination (murder) at the
hands of the governor of the province. Wandering (Roaming) from tribe to tribe, always
pursued (followed) by the spies (detectives) of the new dynasty (empire), he finally reached
Ceuta, five years later. He was a grandson of the tenth caliph of Damascus, and his maternal
(motherly) uncles were Berbers from the district of North Africa. They offered him refuge
(shelter).
In the south of Spain, across the strait (channel) from Ceuta, were stationed (based) Syrian
troops from Damascus. He made his way to them and they accepted him as leader. One
southern city after another opened its gates to him. It took him some years more to bring all of
Spain to subjection (domination), but he persisted. The Abbasid caliph in Baghdad
appointed (employed) a governor of Spain to contest (challenge) his rule; two years later that
caliph received (obtained) a gift from Abd-al-Rahman: the head of his governor, preserved
(protected) in salt and camphor (chemical) and wrapped (covered) in a black flag and in the
letter of appointment. "Thanks be to Allah for having placed the sea between us and such a
foe (enemy)!" was the caliph's fervent (passionate) rejoinder (reply).
In the process of subduing (subjugating) his adversaries (enemies) Abd-al-Rahman
developed (enlarged) a well-disciplined (instructed), high trained army of 40,000 or more
Berbers. He knew how to keep their favour by generous (bighearted) pay. In 773, he
discontinued the Friday sermon (address) hitherto (until now) delivered in the name of the
Abbasid caliph, but did not assume the caliph's title himself. He and his successors down to
Abd-al-Rahman III contented themselves with the title "amir". Under Abd-al-Rahman I, Spain
had thus been the first province (state) to shake off (shatter) the authority (power) of the
recognized (acknowledged) caliph in Islam.
With his realm (kingdom) consolidated (united), Abd-al-Rahman turned to the arts of peace,
in which he showed himself as great as in the art of war. He beautified the cities of his
domain (territory), built an aqueduct (pipe) for the supply of pure water to the capital,
ordered the construction (building) of a wall round it and erected for himself a palace and
garden outside Cordova in imitation (simulation) of the palace built by an ancestor
(forefather) in north-eastern Syria. To his villa (lodge) he brought water and introduced exotic
(foreign) plants, such as peaches and pomegranates. To a lonely palm-tree in his garden said
to be the first imported from Syria, he addressed some tender (warm) verses (stanzas) of his
own composition.
Two years before his death in 788 Abd-al-Rahman founded the great Mosque of Cordova as a
rival (equivalent) to the two mosques of Islam in Jerusalem and Makkah. Completed and
enlarged by his successors, it soon became the shrine (temple) of western Islam. With its
forest of stately (majestic) columns (pillars) and its spacious (commodious) outer court
(courtyard), this noble structure, transformed into a Christian cathedral in 1236, has survived
to the present day under the popular name "La Mezquita," the mosque. Besides the great
mosque the capital could already boast (brag) a bridge, over the Guadalquivir (corrupted from
an Arabic name meaning "the great river"), later enlarged to seventeen arches (curves). Nor
were the interests of the founder of the Umayyad regime limited to the material welfare
(prosperity) of his people. In more than one sense he initiated (started) the intellectual
(scholarly) movement which made Islamic Spain from the ninth to the eleventh centuries one
of the two centres of world culture.
Caliph Abd-al-Rahman's court was one of the most glorious (splendid) in all Europe. It
received envoys (representatives) from the Byzantine emperor as well as from the monarchs
(rulers) of Germany, Italy and France. Its seat, Cordova, with half a million inhabitants
(residents), seven hundred mosques and three hundred public baths, yielded (acceded) in
magnificence (splendor) only to Baghdad and Constantinople. The royal palace, named al-
Zahra, with four hundred rooms and apartments housing thousands of slaves and guards, stood
northwest of the town overlooking the Guadalquivir River. Abd-al-Rahman started its
construction in 836. Marble was brought from Numidia and Carthage; columns as well as
basins (bed) with golden statues (sculptures) were imported or received as presents from
Constantinople; and 10,000 workmen with 1,500 beasts of burden laboured on it for a score of
years. Enlarged and beautified by later caliphs, al-Zahra became the nucleus (center) of a
royal suburb (community) whose remains, partly excavated (unearthed) in and after 1910,
can still be seen.
In al-Zahra the caliph surrounded himself with a bodyguard of "Slaves" which numbered
3,750 and headed his standing army of a hundred thousand men. With their aid the caliph not
only kept treason (betrayal) and brigandage (gangs) in check but reduced the influence of
the old Arab aristocracy (gentry). Commerce and agriculture flourished and the sources of
income for the state were multiplied. The royal revenue (income) amounted to 6,245,000
dinars, a third of which sufficed (availed) for the army and a third for .public works, while the
balance (remainder) was placed in reserve. Never before was Cordova so prosperous
(flourishing), Andalusia so rich and the state so triumphant (successful). All this was
achieved through the genius of one man. He died at the ripe age of seventy-three. And he left
a statement, we are told, which said that he had known only fourteen days of happiness.
As always, under any dynasty, sovereignty (independence) in the Muslim world, West or
East, was unstable (unsteady). In Spain the Umayyad dynasty kept the nominal (minor) rule
from the time Abd-al-Rahman I imposed (forced) it; but by the time of the ascension (rise) of
the next outstanding figure in the dynasty, Abd-al-Rahman III, in the year 912, civil
disturbances (conflicts) and tribal (ethnic) revolts (rebellions) had reduced the Muslim state
of Spain to the city of Cordova and its neighbourhood.
The third Abd-al-Rahman, like his illustrious (grand) predecessor (ancestor), was a young
man when he took office, being only twenty three: and like him also was a youth of
intelligence and determination (willpower). One by one he reconquered (recaptured) the
lost provinces, reduced them to order and administered (controlled) them with sagacity
(wisdom) and ability. His reign lasted for fifty years, from 912 to 961 an exceptionally
(unusually) long time for that day; it was signalized, politically, by the proclamation
(declaration) by the amir of himself as caliph. With him the Umayyad caliphate in Spain
begins. His reign and that of his two immediate (next) successors mark the height of Muslim
rule in the West. In this period, roughly the tenth century, the Umayyad capital of Cordova
took its place as the most cultured city in Europe and, with Constantinople and Baghdad, as
one of the three cultural centres of the world. With its one hundred and thirteen thousand
homes, twenty-one suburbs, seventy libraries and numerous book shops, mosques and palaces
it acquired international fame (recognition) and inspired awe (wonder) and admiration in the
hearts of travellers. It enjoyed miles of paved (cemented) streets illuminated (lit) by lights
from the bordering houses, whereas "seven hundred years after this time there was not so
much as one public lamp in London," and "in Paris, centuries subsequently (afterward),
whoever stepped over his threshold (doorsill) on a rainy day stepped up to his ankles in
mud." Whenever the rulers of Leon, Navarre or Barcelona needed a surgeon, an architect, a
master singer, or a dress-maker, it was to Cordova that they applied. The fame of the Muslim
capital penetrated (diffused) to distant Germany, where a Saxon nun styled it "the jewel of
the world".
Spain under the caliphate was one of the wealthiest and most thickly (profusely) populated
lands of Europe. The capital boasted some thirteen thousand weavers (knitters) and a
flourishing (booming) leather industry. From Spain the art of tanning (bronzing) and
embossing (trimming) leather was carried to Morocco and from these two lands it was
brought to France and England, as the word morocco indicates. Wool and silk were woven not
only in Cordova but in Malaga, Almeria and other centres. The raising (growing) of silk
worms, originally a monopoly (domination) of the Chinese, was introduced by Muslims into
Spain, where it thrived (flourished). Almeria also produced glassware and brass work.
Paterna in Valencia was the home of pottery (ceramics), Jean and Algarve were noted for
their mines of gold and silver, Cordova for its iron and lead and Malaga for its rubies. Toledo,
like Damascus, was famous all over the world for its swords. The art of inlaying (engraving)
steel and other metals with gold and silver and decorating (beautifying) them with flower
patterns, an art introduced' from Damascus, flourished in several Spanish and other European
centres.
The Spanish Arabs introduced agricultural methods practised in Western Asia. They dug
canals, cultivated grapes and introduced, among other plants and fruits, rice, apricots, peaches,
pomegranates, oranges, sugar-cane, cotton and saffron. The south-eastern plains of the
peninsula, especially favoured (supported) by climate and soil, developed important centres
of rural and urban activity. Here wheat and other grains, as well as olives and other fruits,
were raised by a peasantry (farmers) who worked the soil on shares with the owners.
This agricultural development was one of the glories (grandeurs) of Muslim Spain and one of
the Arabs' lasting gifts to the land, for Spanish gardens have preserved to this day a "Moorish"
character. One of the best-known gardens is the Generalife - a word which comes from the
Arabic, Jannat al'-arif, "the inspector's paradise." This garden, "proverbial for its extensive
(widespread) shades, falling waters and soft breeze," was in the form of an amphitheatre
(theatre) and irrigated (watered) by streams (rivulets) which, after forming numerous
cascades (waterfalls), lost themselves among the flowers, shrubs (bushes) and trees'
represented today "by a few gigantic cypresses and myrtles.
The industrial and agricultural products of Muslim Spain were more than sufficient for
domestic consumption (utilization). Seville, one of the greatest of its river ports, exported
cotton, olives and oil. The exports of Malaga and Jaen included saffron, figs, marble and
sugar. Through Alexandria and Constantinople, Spanish products found markets as far away
as India and Central Asia. Especially active was the trade with Damascus, Baghdad and
Makkah. The international nautical (marine) vocabulary of the modern world contains not a
few words which testify to the former Arab supremacy (authority) on the seas—admiral,
arsenal, average, cable.
The government maintained a regular postal service. It modeled its coinage (currency) on
Eastern patterns, with the dinar as the gold unit and the dirham as the silver unit. Arab money
was in use in the Christian kingdoms of the north, which for nearly four hundred years had no
coinage other than Arabic or French.
The real glory (splendor) of this period, however, lies in fields other than political. Al-Hakam,
Abd-al-Rahman's successor, was himself a scholar and patronized (supervised) learning. He
was generous (bighearted) to scholars and established twenty-seven free schools in the capital
mosque by Abd-al-Rahman III, rose to a place of preeminence (supremacy) among the
educational institutions of the world. It preceded both Al-Azhar at Cairo and the Nizamiyah of
Baghdad, and attracted students, Christian and Muslim, not only from Spain but from other
parts of Europe, Africa and Asia. Al-Hakam enlarged the mosque which housed the
university, conducted water to it in lead pipes and decorated it with mosaics (montages)
brought by Byzantine artists. He invited professors from the East to the university and set
aside endowments (grants) for their salaries.
In addition to the university, the capital housed a library of first magnitude. Al-Hakam was a
lover of books; his agents ransacked (searched) the bookshops of Alexandria, Damascus and
Baghdad with a view to buying or copying manuscripts (texts). The books thus gathered are
said to have numbered 400,00, their titles filling a catalogue of forty-four volumes, in each
one of which twenty sheets were devoted to poetical works alone. Al-Hakam, probably the
best scholar among Muslim caliphs, personally used several of these works; his notes on
certain manuscripts rendered (judged) them highly prized by later collectors. In order to
secure the first copy of the "Aghani," which Al-Isbahani, a descendant (successor) of the
Umayyads, was then composing in Iraq, Al-Hakam sent the author a thousand dinars. The
general state of culture in Andalusia reached such a high level at this time that the
distinguished Dutch scholar Dozy went so far as to declare enthusiastically (passionately)
that "nearly everyone could read and write." All this when in Christian Europe only the
rudiments of learning were known, and that chiefly by a few churchmen.
 BOOK -II
PART-II

FIRST YEAR AT HARROW

Sir Winston S. Churchill
I had scarcely (just) passed my twelfth birthday when I entered (joined) the inhospitable
(hostile) regions of examinations, through which for the next seven years I was destined
(fated) to journey (trek). These examinations were a great trial (test) to me. The subjects
which were dearest (valued) to the examiners (superintendents) were almost (nearly)
invariably (unvaryingly) those I fancied (thought) least (minimum). I would have liked to
have been examined in history, poetry and writing essays. The examiners, on the other hand,
were partial (biased) to Latin and mathematics. And their will prevailed (predominated).
Moreover, the questions which they asked on both these subjects were almost invariably those
to which I was unable (incompetent) to suggest (submit) a satisfactory (acceptable) answer. I
should have liked to be asked to say what I knew. They always tried to ask what I did not
know. When I would have willingly (freely) displayed (showed) my knowledge, they sought
(wanted) to expose (display) my ignorance (illiteracy). This sort of treatment (behavior) had
only one result; I did not do well in examinations.
This was especially (particularly) true of my Entrance Examination to Harrow. The
Headmaster, Mr. Welldon, however, took a broadminded (open-minded) view of my Latin
prose: he showed discernment (intelligence) in judging (assessing) my general ability
(aptitude). This was the more remarkable (extraordinary), because I was found unable to
answer a single question in the Latin paper. I wrote my name at the top of the page. I wrote
down the number of the question I. After much reflection (thinking) I put a bracket round it
thus '(I)'. But thereafter I could not think of anything connected (related) with it that was
either relevant (appropriate) or true. Incidentally (accidentally) there arrived (fell) from
nowhere in particular a blot (mark) and several smudges (stains). I gazed (stared) for two
whole hours at this sad (unhappy) spectacle (sight): and then merciful (kind) ushers
(attendants) collected my piece of foolscap with all the others and carried it up to the
Headmaster's table. It was from these slender (slight) indications (signs) of scholarship that
Mr. Welldon drew the conclusion (result) that I was worthy (capable) to pass into Harrow. It
is very much to his credit (honor). It showed that he was a man capable (talented) of looking
beneath (below) the surface of things: a man not dependent upon paper manifestations
(demonstrations). I have always had the greatest regard (respect) for him.
In consequence (result) of his decision, I was in due course placed in the third, or lowest,
division of the Fourth, or bottom. The names of the new boys were printed in the School List
in alphabetical order and as my correct name, Spencer-Churchill, began with an 'S', I gained
(got) no more advantage (benefit) from the alphabet than from the wider sphere (range) of
letters. I was in fact only two from the bottom of the whole school; and these two, I regret to
say, disappeared (departed) almost immediately (at once) through illness or some other
cause.
I continued in this unpretentious (unassuming) situation for nearly a year. However, by being
so long in the lowest form I gained an immense (great) advantage (lead) over the cleverer
(brighter) boys. They all went on to learn Latin and Greek and splendid (grand) things like
that. But I was taught English. We were considered such dunces (idiots) that we could learn
only English. Mr. Somervell - a most delightful (charming) man, to whom my debt is great -
was charged (ordered) with the duty of teaching the stupidest (silliest) boys the most
disregarded (ignored) thing -namely, to write mere English. He knew how to do it. He taught
it as no one else has ever taught it. Not only did we learn English parsing (analyzing)
thoroughly (completely), but we also practised (rehearsed) continually English analysis
(division). Mr. Somervell had a system of his own. He took a fairly (quite) long sentence and
broke it up into its components (constituents) by means of black, red, blue and green inks:
Subject, Verb, Object, Relative Clauses, Conditional Clauses, Conjunctive and Disjunctive
Clauses! Each had its colour and its bracket. It was a kind of drill (exercise). We did it almost
daily. As I remained in the Third three times as long as anyone else, I had three times as much
of it. I learned it thoroughly. Thus I got into my bones the essential (basic) structure
(construction) of the ordinary British sentence - which is a noble (honorable) thing. And when
in after years my school-fellows who had won prizes and distinction (award) for writing such
beautiful Latin poetry and pithy (brief) Greek epigrams (aphorism) had to come down again
to common English, to earn their living or make their way, I did not feel myself at any
disadvantage (drawback). Naturally I am biased (partial) in favour of boys learning English.
I would make them all learn English: and then I would let the clever ones learn Latin as an
honour, and Greek as a treat. But the only thing I would whip (beat) them for is not knowing
English. I would whip them hard for that.

HITCH - HIKING ACROSS THE

SAHARA
G. R Lamb
If a giant (monster) were to pick England up and put it down in the middle of the
Sahara desert (wilderness), we should have quite (pretty) a task to find it. The full Sahara
area, stretching (covering) almost the complete width of North Africa, is many times the size
of Great Britain.
About half of this gigantic (pretty) area is mainly (mostly) under French control. Very
recently (lately) indeed, the discovery of oil beneath (under) the sand has begun to bring
changes: but less than three years ago most of the area had for countless (innumerable) years
consisted of immense (immeasurable) stretches (areas) of barren (infertile) sand, intensely
(extremely) hot during the day, with few water wells and little vegetation (flora). Large parts
were almost (nearly) uninhabited (unpopulated). In other parts there were just a few towns
very widely (far) scattered (dispersed), and occasional (infrequent) wandering (travelling)
tribes (clans) of Arabs or Berbers.
Hardly (Barely) the land, one would think, in which to go hitch-hiking. Yet this was
just the mode (method) of travel (journey) that Robert Christopher, a young American,
decided (agreed) to adopt (assume) in the Sahara crossing which he began in 1956.
When he was a child, every time he was naughty (mischievous), his foster-mother
used to threaten (terrorize) to send him to Timbuktu (an ancient (primeval) city in the heart
of French Africa). Instead of alarming (frightening) him, the idea aroused (provoked) in him
a keen (strong) desire (longing) to see this distant (remote) place.
By the time he was a young man he was firmly (strongly) gripped (fascinated) by the
wanderlust (desire to travel). His first adventure (venture) was to go round the world at the
cost of eighty dollars (about £ 28). After this, he determined (decided) that his next journey
should be to travel right across the Sahara from Algeirs, on the north coast (bank) of Africa,
to Timbuktu, which is near the river Niger in the extreme (outermost) south of the great
desert.
The trans-Sahara journey began at a little town, Boussaada, known to the natives
(inhabitants) as the "Port of the Sahara," for it is here that the desert really starts. Christopher
discovered (learnt) that a desert truck was leaving for the south shortly (soon), and he
arranged (agreed) with the driver to be given a lift as far as it went.
The conditions (circumstances) were agonizing (painful). Three men - driver, greaser
(helper) and passenger -sat side by side in the front seat, travelling at a bare 32 kilometres an
hour, while the temperature rose steadily. In two hours a flask (container) of cold water
became hot enough to make tea.
Presently a fast moving weapons' carrier over took them. Christopher stopped
(paused) it and begged (requested) the lieutenant in charge to relieve (ease) him from the
misery (suffering) of slowly baking (burning) to death at twenty miles an hour. The
lieutenant pointed out that strict (severe) military regulations (rules) forbade (banned) the
carrying of civilians. Christopher replied by producing a permit (license) from the War
Ministry giving him permission (approval) to join the French Foreign Legion for a short
period in order to collect material (information) for an article. The permission had later been
withdrawn (removed), but fortunately (luckily) the lieutenant did not turn the paper over and
see the "cancelled" stamp.
He was dropped (left) at the town of Ghardaia, a typical (representative) desert city,
except that the flies are even more numerous (abundant) and stickier than they are anywhere
else.
"Anything that has the remotest (farthest) relationship with food," Christopher states, "is
constantly (always) and completely (totally) covered with flies.... They have no hesitation
(reluctance) in following the food right into your mouth, and I had to be vigilant (watchful)
until each mouthful (morsel) was safely (securely) behind my teeth. I saw many children on
the streets, but I got only a vague (imprecise) idea of what they looked like, for they all wore
a mask (cover) of files."
He was able to continue his hitch-hike to the south in the leisurely (relaxing) manner
that was so typical of the desert. On the day of his arrival (entry) he discovered that there was
a truck due to leave at once for El Golea. This truck was a new and powerful one, and carried
all kinds of goods - pins and needles, sewing-machines, pots and pans, machine parts. It
weighed ten tons.
For about ten miles outside the town the road continued. Then it stopped. The route lay
across an apparently (seemingly) trackless desert. None the less, the driver (named Hantout)
picked his way with uncanny (extraordinary) skill.
It was difficult travelling (adventure). At times the sand became too soft to bear the
weight of the heavy (weighty) truck. It was then necessary to stop at once. If the wheels had
been allowed to spin (rotate) they would have dug (pushed) themselves deeper. Ten-foot
strips of steel mesh (net) were dragged (pulled) from the truck and placed together to make a
runway for the wheels to bite on as the truck moved. When it reached harder ground the strips
were collected up and dragged forward to the waiting truck. Christopher performed useful
service in helping the greaser with this arduous (laborious) operation.
The driver added (supplemented) to the discomfort (pain) of the journey by relating
details of a recent (fresh) case in which three English people had attempted (tried) to cross a
part of the desert in a car with only one day's water-supply. Their car had become stuck in a
sand dune (hill), and three days later their bodies were found dried up like leaves. They had
drained (emptied) the radiator in their desperate (severe) thirst, and one of them tried to
drain the oil from the crank-case. Hantout had been one of the search party, and he spared
(saved) his listener none of the grim (horrible) details.
The story came vividly (clearly) to Christopher's mind on the second morning. The
greaser announced that one of the two goatskin bags (shoulder bag) of water had burst during
the night. Even if everything went well, the rest of the journey would not be pleasant.
An outpost (base) with a water-supply was found on one of Christopher's maps, and
they set off towards it. By dawn they had gone fifty miles and dug out of five more sand
dunes. Christopher was sick with thirst; and to add to his misery (suffering) he had jumped
bare-footed from the driver's cabin on one occasion (time), not realizing the intense (extreme)
heat of the sand. It was as if he had jumped into a bed of hot coals. With a scream (cry) of
pain he hopped (sprang) back into the truck.
Meanwhile, his thirst grew fiercer (severer).
"Everything was dead and dry and hot.... My mind was foggy (hazy). I was on fire, the inside
of my head felt dried up, and my lungs hurt (damaged) from the hot air. There were times
when I tried to make myself faint (dizzy), but my head was pounding (throbbing) with such
pain that it kept me conscious (awake)."
The outpost was discovered at last and it contained a well full of cool water. They
drank (sipped) until they could drink no more.
They certainly (surely) needed it. The heat was incredible (unbelievable). In the
shade of the mud (mire) house the temperature reached 130°F, while out on the sand the
thermometer registered 165°F, which is nearly thirty degrees higher than the highest
temperature officially (formally) recorded (noted).
El Golea, a hundred miles on, was reached without further mishap (disaster). It was a
fascinating (charming) little town, a true oasis (watering hole), with so much water available
that they hardly (scarcely) knew what to do with it. Every day of the week that he was there
Christopher spent hours bathing in a little pool half a kilometer from the centre of the town,
shaded (covered) by palm-trees and fruit-trees, or lying on the cool grass beside the pool,
watching the birds feasting (dining) on the dates. What a contrast (difference) from the desert
all around it!
The journey from El Golea to In Salah was not without its excitements (delights). It
was made in a heavy truck carrying ten tones of ammunition (munitions), driven by a
particularly (mainly) able and experienced driver who made his way across the apparently
trackless desert, was a source of constant (continuous) amazement (astonishment) to
Christopher.
During the next day Christopher suffered (experienced) one of his worst (gravest)
experiences. Bahemed assured him that it would be a good thing to mix a little wine with his
water. Christopher was doubtful (dubious), but he risked (chanced) it.
The result was disastrous (catastrophic). During the heat of the day they were lying in
the shade of the truck, the two Arabians asleep. Wanting something from the driver's cabin, he
got up to get it. As he was climbing up he was suddenly overcome by a strange sickness. His
head started to pound, and he found himself shivering (trembling) violently (viciously). He
knew he was going to collapse (fall), so he made a desperate effort to avoid (escape) the
blazing (burning) sand. His fall as he blacked out, fortunately (luckily), woke the other two,
and they dragged (pulled) him completely into the shade.
For an hour he could not speak. His two companions took off their turbans and poured
(rained) water on them, using them to rub (massage) his body gently (tenderly) in order to
keep his temperature down. When he ed (improved) his senses they gave him as much water
as he could drink.
The quality of the water is not the only respect (point) in which In Salah differs from
El Golea. The latter (second) town, with its shady swimming-pools and its luxuriant (lush)
trees and plants, has triumphed (won) over the barrenness (infertility) of the desert. In Salah
is fighting a desperate battle for survival (existence), and perhaps losing the contest
(competition). The sand is constantly encroaching (intruding) on the town.
"Parts of the town are being swallowed (engulfed) by-the desert. It is a frightening
(terrifying) thing to see. Man has tried by every means to hold it back, but in spite of his
efforts, the desert keeps tightening (squeezing) its strangle-hold. Palm-trees that once lifted
their branches high above the dunes are now like bushes, and some of them are completely
covered. I bent down and picked dates off some of them. Many people have had to leave their
homes. Storm fences (barriers) do little, if any, good."
A truck was leaving shortly - a big, dirty (unclean), clumsy-looking (awkward) oil-
truck. This time the driver and greaser seemed reluctant (unwilling) to, take him. Although
they finally agreed, they did their best to go without him. It turned out that they believed him
to be a French-man, and they disliked the French. When they found that he was American
they became friendly at once.
It was unbearably (intolerably) stifling (hot) in the driver's cabin. Christopher was
completely overcome at one point, and when a midday (noon) stop was made at a little mud-
building outpost, he staggered (stumbled) inside, to the astonishment (shock) of the French
officer quartered (lodged) there, and lay down on the floor to be ill. Fortunately (Luckily),
he had recovered by the evening, and was able to continue the truck journey.
Tamanrasset was reached at last; and here Christopher made one of his most valuable
contacts. This was Professor Claude Balanguernon, a remarkable Frenchman who has
devoted (dedicated) himself to helping the Tuareg people. He succeeded in convincing
(satisfying) them that education would be useful to them. Then most wisely (sagely), he
adapted (adjusted) himself to their habits (lifestyles) and customs (traditions), so that he
could help them to get the most from their own natural way of life, rather than persuade
(convince) them to adopt Western habits unsuited (inappropriate) to their land and traditions
(customs).
Balanguernon acted as Christopher's guide, host, and friend while he was in
Tamanrasset. With his assistance (help) Christopher was able to spend a week in the
encampment (camp) of the Tuareg Amenokal (King), an experience which he found
fascinating (interesting). The Tuaregs, though their life is primitive (simple), are a people of
great dignity (self-respect), extreme (great) honesty, high intelligence, and with quite an
ancient (old) history. In preparation (arrangement) for this visit Christopher learnt to ride a
camel, a task which he found more difficult than it looks. During his first lesson he was
thrown over the animal’s head three times, and once over its rear (back).
It was on this formidable (dreadful) type of transport (conveyance) that he was to
continue his Sahara journey. There were no more trucks.
Balanguernon arranged for one of his most educated pupils, a young Tuareg noble
named Boubaker, to act as guide for the first few days of the 1280 kilometres journey from
Tamanrasset to Timbuktu. The start was made at dawn, Boubaker and Christopher each on a
camel, with a third carrying Christopher's supplies (provisions). It would probably (maybe)
be two or three weeks before the next village was reached, so it was essential (necessary) for
him to take enough food and drink to last that time. Out in the burning (sweltering) desert
there are no villages to turn to if food runs short.
The most difficult and dangerous stage of the journey now had to be endured (borne).
It began when Christopher was handed over by the leader of a big caravan (convoy) to a
small group who were willing to go to Kidal, about 560 kilometres from Timbuktu. The little
party, two Tuaregs, a slave, and Christopher, began by setting out to find a well which was on
their route (way), in order to replenish (refill) their water-bags. They reached it at last and it
was bone-dry (waterless).
There was only one tin (container) of food left in Christopher's pack (carton), and the
four of them shared the beans it contained. His guides carried no food at all, and very little
water. By the time darkness (nighttime) came, Christopher's water-supply was down to one
litre. At this point twenty large vultures were discovered, and these stood watching the
travellers with interest "making up their minds whether they wanted white or dark meat for the
meal they were sure they would soon by eating."
The vultures were to be disappointed (disheartened). The four men went to sleep
early — a desert custom when travellers are hungry or thirsty - and next morning were still
alive. They had just enough water left to make one cup of tea each and then set off for the next
waterhole, about five hours distant.
When they reached it, just before the hottest part of the day, they found that this too,
like the previous hole, was completely dry. The next waterhole was two days away and the
travellers now had neither food nor water.
The future looked grim (terrible).
There was just one chance of survival. One of the six camels could be killed. The
decision was made - Christopher being asked to pay his share of the cost, to which he
willingly (happily) agreed. Strangely (Surprisingly) enough, as soon as a camel was picked
for the slaughter (killing) it seemed to know what was to happen and started screaming
(shouting) at the top of its voice.
When the victim (target) was killed, the liquid in its stomach was caught in a water-
bag by the slave. It would be hard to think of a less appetizing (mouthwatering) drink than
the greenish fluid, like thin blood, produced from this source. Even the Tuaregs made faces as
they drank it. Christopher could not tackle (bear) it, parched (thirsty) though he was, until he
had boiled it: and even then he had to hold his nose while he drank it. Somehow he got it
down. Together with the camel's flesh, the unappetizing liquid kept them going for another
two days.
The region through which they were passing was known as the Land of Thirst and
Death, and the name was well chosen. It was an area notorious (infamous) for sandstorms as
well as for dried-up waterholes. Christopher soon experienced one of them. Shortly after the
midday stop on the following day, the camels all instinctively (impulsively) turned off their
course to the right, making for the nearest depression (indent) in the waste of sand. The
reason presently became clear to Christopher as he gazed (stared) at the horizon.
"It was incredible (unbelievable). The dunes seemed to be on fire, the peaks (alps) were
melting away and the whole horizon was changing shape. Then as it started to get dark I heard
a sound like wing blowing through the leaves of a tree."
His companions (mates) made signs for him to hide himself behind his camel and
cover his head. He did so, but the force of the storm when it struck was too great to be
avoided (escaped). "Even with the camel's body as a shield, I could feel the impact (effect) of
the wall of sand that came streaming along the earth. The wind found even the smallest
opening in my clothes, and the sand felt like little needles."
There was nothing he could do but crouch down (stoop) waiting for the storm to
finish, while the sand steadily piled up on top of him. He found himself recalling a true story
that just such a sandstorm, many years earlier, had completely (entirely) buried a huge
caravan of 1200 camels without leaving a trace (sign) of them.
The present storm fortunately (luckily) was less drastic, and lasted only half an hour.
But they all had seventy five millimeters of sand completely covering them; and it did not
need much imagination (fancy) to understand how a party could easily be buried and
suffocated (stifled).
Kidal was the last town on his route before Timbuktu itself; but there were still over
450 kilometres of grim desert to be crossed. This proved to be the loneliest (remotest) and
most arduous (difficult) stage of the whole desert crossing.
The stress (pressure) of desert travel had affected him physically. His hand had
become so cracked (fractured) that he could hardly use his camera. To add to his troubles, he
took his camel one day across a huge slab (bulge) of rock on a slight incline. Then he realized
that it was covered with tiny stones. His camel fell heavily, knocking him off its back; and
though it was not really injured, it was so shocked and frightened that he could not ride it for
some time, but had to follow it on foot.
Another little incident served as a reminder that the desert has many ways of
destroying its victims. Christopher was helping to gather stones to place in the fire, for the
kettle or pan to stand on. He picked up one large rock to find a four-foot snake coiled
(twisted) under it. It uncoiled rapidly and struck, but he managed to jump back just in time to
avoid the deadly (poisonous) fangs (teeth). The guide's slave killed it with a stone, indicating
by gestures (signs) that it was a very poisonous (venomous) specimen (example).
A day later he caught his first glimpse (sight) of Timbuktu. He had reached his goal at
last and his journey had taken him across 3200 kilometres of desert.
This was the end of his main journey; but it was by no means the end of his
adventures. The stay in Timbuktu had enabled (empowered) him to recover some of the
weight he had lost in the desert, and he was beginning to feel fit and well he experienced a
curious (strange) longing (desire) to see some more of the strange and mighty (vast) desert
before leaving the country, perhaps for good.
A sudden decision was made. He sent a telegram (message) to Professor Claude
Balanguernon in Tamanrasset, and then flew rapidly eastward by plane, partly across the Land
of Thirst and Death across which he had so painfully (agonizingly) toiled (strived). From
Agades he travelled north to meet Balanguernon, partly in a hired jeep with a French
Lieutenant, partly by camel.
The arrangement was that the Professor would drive south in his jeep from
Tamanrasset to a well at In Abbangarit, where Christopher would wait for him. If Christopher
had not after all reached it by the appointed day, then Balanguernon would continue south on
the primitive (ancient) road towards Agades.
Unfortunately (Unluckily) the caravan with which Christopher was travelling insisted
(persisted) on making a lengthy detour (by-pass) to water their camels at a well, some
distance from the road. The American insisted on getting back to the road again as soon as
possible, expressing himself vigorously (energetically) to the leader by signs as they could
not speak each other's language. But by the time they got back to the road two days had been
lost.
The caravan presently left the route, but a boy acted as a guide to lead Christopher to
the well at In Abbangarit. It was reached just at nightfall (energetically), and the following
morning the boy went back, leaving Christopher alone to await the arrival, as he supposed
(expected), of the Professor from the north.
There is no village at In Abbangarit. The only building is a bordj, which is a simple
mud structure consisting of a roof and four walls, with one hole to serve as a window and
another to serve as a door. The well is about 275 metres away.
When he reached it he had a shock (surprise). There was water there all right - but it
was a good 46 metres below, and there was neither rope nor bucket!
He returned to the bordj and searched his pack. The only possible container to bring up
the water was a small metal teapot, which would carry about half a cupful of liquid at a time if
a line was tied to the handle and the spout plugged up.
A line (string) tied to the handle ..... but where was the line?
Fastening (Tying) together all the available bits of cord and articles of clothing he
could at first make only 8 metres. On an inspiration (idea) he tore the turban he was wearing
into four strips. Still the teapot reached no more than half-way down the well.
What else? His sleeping-bag? No, for it was now the winter season, which meant that
the nights were bitterly (severely) cold, although the days, by normal standards, were still
unbearably hot. Without a sleeping-bag or blanket he would freeze to death.
That night he lay in his sleeping-bag picturing himself dying of thirst and hunger if the
Professor did not arrive in the next day or two.
He had with him a small recording machine. The notion (idea) of death suggested to
him that it might be a good idea to record his last thoughts for the benefit of those who found
his body. The set was battery-operated, with thin wire as the recording medium (instrument).
Wire!
It dawned (occurred) on him suddenly that here was the (rope' he needed .to reach the
water in the well. The wire was very thin, little thicker than a human hair, but it was about 305
metres long. By putting several strands together it should be possible to make a line strong
enough to bear the weight of a small teapot half-full of water.
The scheme (plan) worked. Seven strands of wire, laboriously (strenuously) twisted
together, just reached comfortably (easily) to water-level in the well.
The liquid brought up in the teapot was not particularly inviting - it was like a mixture
of mud and sulphur - but it was drinkable, and it would save him from dying of thirst. He
spent the whole morning drawing up potful after potful, and was able to collect five, 23 litres
to take back to the bordj.
The following evening as he sat outside the bordj, staring only half-consciously at the
horizon, he noticed a small sandstorm blowing (gusting) vaguely (unclearly) in his direction.
Could it be the dust raised by a Car? No, there was too much of it for that.
There was indeed too much dust to be raised by a small jeep; but it was a rescue party
none the less. Two big Desert Patrol cars came roaring up to the bordj; and Death reluctantly
departed.
Claude Balanguernon and a friend arrived a few hours later in the jeep. What had
happened was that they had missed meeting Christopher during the unfortunate (unlucky)
two-day detour. They had later been misdirected (lead astray) by a native who thought
Christopher had returned to Agades. When they reached Agades and discovered the native
(inhabitant)'s error, Balanguernon realized that Christopher must have missed them on the
road, and that he was probably waiting at In Abbangarit, short of food. He very sensibly
(wisely) got in touch with the Desert Patrol and they sent out four trucks to cover the desert
north from Agades, and in particular to visit In Abbangarit.
His foresight (premonition) saved Christopher's life, and enabled the hitch-hiking
journey across the Sahara to end in a return to the Hoggar region instead of in a sandy grave
(tomb) in the heart of the desert.

SIR ALEXANDER FLEMING

Patrick Pringle

Pasteur discovered germs, and Lister killed them. These two men together
revolutionized (modernized) the theory and practice (use) of medicine.
Louis Pasteur, a French chemist, discovered that disease was caused (produced) by
living organisms so small that they could not be seen with the naked (bare) eye-micro-
organisms, or microbes, or bacteria, or germs; the words all mean the same thing. Joseph
Lister, an English surgeon-later Lord Lister, the first medical peer (colleague)-applied
Pasteur's discovery to surgery.
Since germs are alive, germs can be killed. They can be destroyed (devastated) by
heat or poisoned by certain chemicals, called antiseptics; carbolic acid is one, and that was the
germ-killer Lister used. Previously (Earlier) surgeons had, without knowing it, infected
(poisoned) their patients on the operating-table with germs, chiefly from their surgical
instruments. Lister sterilized his instruments with carbolic acid, and used carbolic acid to kill
the germs on his hands, on the patient's skin, and even in the air in the operating-theatre. Then
he could cut his patients open without fear (worry) of infecting them with the germs of
disease.
Lister's aim was the prevention (inhibition) of disease. The object of his antiseptic
method, as it was called, was to stop germs from getting into the body. The cure (treatment)
of disease was a more difficult problem, for here the germs were already inside the body.
Certainly (Surely) they could be killed by the same antiseptic method: but it was soon found
that a chemical that destroyed germs also destroyed the cells of the body. Injecting carbolic
acid into the blood was tried, and quickly (promptly) abandoned (stopped) for it did more
harm (damage) than good. To kill all the germs the dose would have had to be strong enough
to kill the patient, too.
It was a bacteriologist named Metchnikoff, a pupil (trainee) of Pasteur, who revealed
(exposed) the true nature of the problem. He discovered the body's natural armour
(protection) against disease—the leucocytes, or white cells of the blood. He showed
(presented) that when germs enter the body they are immediately (instantly) attacked by hosts
of white cells from the whole neighbourhood, which rush (run) to join battle with the invader
(attacker) like soldiers answering a bugle-call (). He showed that disease was, in fact, a fight
between the leucocytes and the germs—and a fight to the death, for it ended only with the
death of the germs or the death of the patient.
Carbolic acid and all the other known antiseptics did more damage (harm) to the
leucocytes than to the germs. The problem was to find something that would attack only the
germs, and to help, not destroy, the fighting leucocytes. The problem was still unsolved
(unresolved) in 1906, when Alexander Fleming passed the finals of his medical examination
and joined (be part of) the staff of the Inoculation Department of St. Mary's Hospital,
Paddington.
Alexander Fleming was born on a farm (farmstead) near Darvel, in Ayrshire, on
August 6, 1881. He was the youngest of a family of eight. His father died when he was seven
years old, and his eldest brother, Hugh, took over the management (supervision) of the farm.
Alexander was then still going to the village school. At ten he went to Darvel School, and
stayed till he was twelve. That was the age-limit. The question was then discussed whether he
should continue his education or go back to the land. It was decided to keep him at school,
and he went to Kilmarnock Academy. At fourteen he went to London, and for the next two
years he studied at the Regent Street Polytechnic.
Three of his brothers were already in London when he arrived (reached). One of
them, Thomas, had studied medicine at Glasgow University, and was a qualified oculist. Two
others became opticians (). And back in Scotland one of his sisters married a Darvel doctor,
and another a veterinary surgeon. The Flemings, born on the land, were becoming a medical
family. But when Alexander left the Polytechnic, at sixteen, he was to take a job as a clerk in a
shipping (transport) firm (company) in Leaden-hall Street. There was not enough money for
him to study for a profession or trade.
Fleming worked in Leaden-hall Street for four years. Then, at twenty, he received a
share in a legacy (money). It was not large, but enough for him to train for a career with better
prospects. His brother Thomas was then in Harley Street; and according to Fleming himself,
“
My brother Thomas pushed me into medicine."
There were twelve medical schools in London, and Fleming knew nothing about any
of them. He chose St. Mary's for no better reason than that he had played water-polo against
the Hospital team.
 For eight years Fleming worked in Wright's laboratory; for eight years he sought to
find a means to aid the leucocytes in their fight against invading bacteria. Then, in 1914, he
joined the R.A.M.C., and came face to face with one of the main medical problems of the
First World War: the treatment of infected wounds.
By 1914 Lister's antiseptic method of surgery had been largely replaced (substituted)
by what was called the aseptic method. Instead of chemicals heat was used to sterilize
(disinfect) instruments, clothing and other operating-theatre equipment. The purpose was the
same, to prevent germs from getting into the wound. In peace-time this was adequate
(sufficient) for most surgical cases; but in the treatment of war wounds prevention
(inhibition) was not enough. In nearly every case the wound was infected before treatment
could be begun. Thus the surgeon's problem was the same as that of a physician treating
disease: he had to try to kill the germs without damaging the leucocytes that were already
fighting against them.
There was no solution—and the problem was tremendous (huge). For the first time in
warfare high explosives () were used extensively, and wounds that were not infected were rare
indeed. The surgeons were unprepared (untrained). Thanks to the antiseptic and aseptic
methods, infection in surgical cases had become the exception instead of the rule; now it was
the other way about again. “We have in this war gone back to all the septic infections of the
Middle Ages”, said the Director-General of the Army Medical Service.
Medical officers treated infected wounds by the only method they knew, with
chemical antiseptics. They applied carbolic acid, iodine, and other chemicals to open wounds
in an attempt to destroy as many germs as possible. They could not destroy all the germs, but
thought that if only some were killed it would be better than none.
Meanwhile Fleming, a medical officer himself, was still working with his old chief.
Sir Almroth Wright had been made a Colonel in the Army Medical Service, and had set up a
research laboratory at Boulogne. There, with the help of Fleming, he set to work to tackle the
problem of wound infection.
Wright and Fleming discovered that the treatment being used was doing more harm
than good. Each of the chemical antiseptics was more harmful (injurious) to the leucocytes
than to the germs: and in some cases the antiseptic actually helped the germs to grow and
multiply (increase). And Wright and Fleming both insisted that the method was basically
(fundamentally) wrong - that the surgeon's aim should be not so much to kill the germs with
an outside agent (negotiator) as to help the leucocytes do their natural germ-killing work.
Experiments were made with different chemicals, and one after another became
fashionable (trend) and then gave way to the next. And at the end of the War, which had
killed about seven million men, the problem was still unsolved.
Fleming, now thirty-seven, went back to St. Mary's and continued research. And in
1922 he discovered an antiseptic—not a chemical like carbolic acid, but a natural antiseptic
manufactured (produced) by the body.
He made the discovery by what he modestly (humbly) called an accident. He was
suffering from catarrh, and began to examine his own nasal secretions (excretions). In these
secretions he discovered a substance that destroyed microbes on the culture plate. He called it
lysozyme.
Lysozyme proved to be of little practical (applied) use in the treatment of disease, but
the discovery was of considerable (significant) importance: for it was the forerunner
(harbinger) of penicillin.
Lysozyme was not a chemical but a natural antiseptic; and unlike chemical antiseptics,
it destroyed germs and yet had no harmful (dangerous) effect on the leucocytes. It was, in
fact, the first antiseptic discovered that was harmless to the cells of the body.
 Penicillin was the second.
The discovery of lysozyme did not bring Fleming popular fame (popularity), but it
raised his position in the world of science. The medical profession began to pay more
attention to what he said: and at this time he had quite a lot to say on this subject that had
occupied his mind ever since the First World War. Chemical antiseptics were fashionable
(trend) again, and Fleming once more reminded doctors of the greater importance of the
natural defences of the body.
In 1928 Fleming was appointed Professor of Bacteriology in the University of London
and in the same year he "hit on" penicillin. The phrase in his own. "The very first stage in the
discovery," he says, "was due to a stroke of good fortune." But only the first stage.
In his laboratory at St. Mary's he was carrying out a series of experiments on the
common germ called staphylococcus. He was growing colonies of the germs on plates spread
with agar (). The plates were kept covered, but to examine (inspect) them under a micro-
scope he had to take the covers off. "As soon as you open a culture (sample) plate," he said
afterwards, "you are asking for trouble. Things drop from the air. One of those bits of trouble
happened to be penicillin. A mould spore, coming from I don't know where, dropped on the
plate."
Presumably (Apparently) the spore (microorganism) of the mould, or fungus, was
blown in through the window. It may have come from the larder (storeroom) of a forgetful
Paddington housewife—or this particular mould commonly breeds (reproduces) on damp
bread, cheese, and preserves (conserves). It grows best when the conditions are cool and
damp (moist) and the summer of 1928 was very cool and damp.
Having settled (colonized) on the culture plate, the mould began to grow. And almost
at once the microbes round it began to disappear.
Fleming put aside the work he was doing and began to investigate (explore). He made
a pure culture of the mould, and tried its effect on other bacteria. Some grew right up to it;
others, like the staphylococci, stopped short, inhibited by its antibacterial action.
The next step was to produce the anti-bacterial substance free of the mould. Fleming
did this by plating the mould on a meat broth (soup). It grew on the surface as a felt-like
mass, and turned the broth yellow. After a week's growth the fluid was strained through a fine
filter and tested for its anti-bacterial properties (qualities). The results were as favourable
(positive) as before, and Fleming knew that he had discovered another natural (ordinary)
antiseptic with far greater possibilities (potentials) than lysozyme. He called it penicillin.
Further experiments showed that, in its effects on germs like staphylococci, penicillin
was about three times as strong as carbolic acid and all the other chemical antiseptics, it had
no toxic (poisonous) effect at all on leucocytes. Theoretically (Supposedly) it looked like an
ideal germ-killer- the antiseptic that had been sought (hunted) ever since Pasteur discovered
germs. In practice there was one big obstacle (difficulty): in its crude (raw) form penicillin
was unstable (volatile), and it could not be used in the treatment of disease until a means was
found of concentrating (collecting) it.
That was a chemist's job, and Fleming was a bacteriologist. He tried to concentrate the
drug, but failed. He lacked (required) both the training and the equipment needed for the job.
He published (advertised) his findings, and continued to proclaim (assert) his faith
(confidence) in penicillin; and he kept his original culture of the mould. It can be seen today,
dried up but still recognizable (identifiable), in a place of honour (respect) in the Museum of
the Medical School of St. Mary's Hospital.
So it seemed (appeared) that penicillin was, like lysozyme, just another laboratory
success. And regretfully (sorrowfully) Fleming turned to other things.
Meanwhile a fresh attempt (effort) had been begun to solve the problem of
concentrating penicillin. It was made at Oxford by a team headed by Professor (now Sir)
Howard Florey and Dr. E. B. Chain.
The Oxford team included trained (qualified) chemists as well as bacteriologists, and
had all the equipment (apparatus) that Fleming had lacked; yet it was a long, hard struggle
(effort) before they succeeded in producing a practical concentration of penicillin. The first
human cases were treated in 1941, and the problem then became a matter (problem) of
production. One of the Oxford team went to America, where new methods of manufacture
(making) were discovered, and in 1943 penicillin reached the Eighth Army in Egypt. In the
words of Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, "The healing (recovery) of war wounds was
revolutionized (modernized)." Penicillin arrived just in time to save countless (numerous)
lives. It was easily the strongest (greatest) weapon yet forged (fictitious) in the fight against
disease.
While penicillin was being hailed (acknowledged) as a wonder drug, the name of its
discoverer was hardly known outside the medical profession. Then Sir Almroth Wright wrote
a letter to The Times telling the world who had made the discovery. And Fleming became
famous.
He was knighted (honored) in 1944, and awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine in
1945. Government and universities all over the world showered him with honours. He had to
travel widely, attend functions, make speeches, received thanks—often personal expressions
(phrases) of gratitude (appreciation) from people who owed their lives to his discovery. In
Italy once, at a medical gathering (meeting), an unknown man in short-sleeves pushed
himself and his three children forward to reach Fleming. "If these children are alive," He said,
"they owe it to you." Then, pointing to Fleming, he told his children, "Never forget (ignore)
to ask God in your prayer to bless this man."
But Fleming protested (complained) that such gratitude (appreciation) was not due to
him. "Everywhere I go people thank me for saving their lives," he said, "I don't know why
they do it. I didn't do anything; Nature makes penicillin. I just found it." It was not just
modesty (simplicity) that made him say this. It was a restatement (reaffirmation) of his belief
in the healing (curative) power of Nature. He protested vigorously (strongly) against the idea
that penicillin was a man-made invention (creation). 1 have been accused (blamed) of
inventing penicillin, but no man could have done that. Nature, in the form of a lowly
vegetable, has been making it for thousands of years. I only discovered it." And always he
insisted (maintained) that he discovered it by chance.
"Happy is he who already belonged (fitted) to history in his own life-time," said Lord
Moran, referring (mentioning) to Fleming, but Fleming was not happy in the limelight
(publicity). "I am a simple bacteriologist," he said; and as soon as he could slip away he went
back to his laboratory at St. Mary's and got back to work.
The Americans visited (saw) the laboratory and were amazed. One said it was "like
the backroom of an old-fashioned (conventional) drug store." He found it hard to believe that
penicillin could have been discovered there. Fleming laughed, and in Detroit, where he was
shown over the last word in research laboratories—a gleaming (shining), dustless (), air-
conditioned, sterilized sanctum (temple)—he shocked his hosts by saying, "Wonderful, but
penicillin could never have been discovered in a lab like this." When they saw the point they
could not deny (reject) it. Their culture plates were never contaminated (polluted), for the air
was too pure: there was no way in for spores of a common mould.
Fleming's achievement (attainment) was not only the discovery of penicillin. As the
Surgeon-General of the United States Forces said, "Fleming, like Pasteur, has opened up a
whole new world of science." He founded (discovered) the antibiotic—that is, growth
inhibiting (stopping) treatment of disease. He provoked (motivated) others to seek new
antibiotics, and all research-workers to be on the lookout for them, particularly in moulds and
fungi; and out of these researches, which but for Fleming would not have been started came
new drugs, made by nature and at last discovered by man, of which the best known at present
is streptomycin. Fleming himself regarded this as the most important result of his work. Even
before penicillin was in general use, he said, "The greatest (chief) benefit penicillin has
conferred (presented) is not to the drug itself but the fact that its discovery has stimulated
new research to find something better."
Sir Alexander Fleming died in 1955 at the age of seventy-three. His work will die never die.

LOUIS PASTEUR
Margaret Avery

Pasteur was born in quite (very) humble (modest) circumstances (conditions), at

Dole in the Jura district of France in 1822. His father as a young man had been one of
Napoleon's conscripts (recruits) and had won the Cross of the Legion of Honour on the field
of battle, for valour (courage) and fidelity (loyalty). Thus the son was fortunate (privileged)
in possessing (having) forbears (ancestors) of character and strength. There is much evidence
(indication) of the influence (effect) of the father on the son, Pasteur showing time after time
the strength of his devotion (dedication) to France. He was perhaps even more of a patriot
(chauvinist, xenophobe) than of a scientist, e.g., in 1848, when Europe was politically
(diplomatically) upheaved (elevated), Pasteur enrolled (registered) himself in the National
Guard and seeing one day in the Place due Pantheon, a sort of altar (platform) labeled
(marked) "autel de la patrie" promptly (quickly) placed on it all his worldly wealth-150
francs. Again, in 1870 he was returning from Germany to France, and at Strasburg, heard that
France was on the verge (edge) of war with Germany whereupon he hurried (rushed) to Paris
and was exceedingly (extremely) disappointed (saddened) when the military authorities
refused to enrol him in the National Guard - on the score that a half paralysed (handicapped)
man was useless in the army. (He had a paralytic stroke two years before, in 1868, and never
shook off the physical effects, though after two years he was able to continue his mental work
as well as ever before.)
However, to return to his boyhood - when he was two years old the family moved
from Dole to Arbois, where his father bought a small tannery (leather factory), and here
Pasteur was sent to school at the Communal College where at first he showed no interest
whatever in books or study but devoted his attention to fishing and making sketches
(drawings) of his companions. However directly (honestly) he grasped (understood) the fact
that his education was a great drain (burden) on the family funds, he set himself in earnest at
school and soon developed the passion (desire) for work which marked the whole of the rest
of his life.
The College at Arbois did not teach philosophy and so, after a time, Pasteur went on to
Besancon, a bigger place, with better educational provision (facility). Here he graduated in
Science and Arts and was given a post on the College Staff.
He was already much interested in Chemistry - too much so for the professor of that
subject at Besancon, whom Pasteur used to embarrass (discomfit) with unanswerable
(incomprehensible) questions. The Professor in question disapproved (denied) of saying "I
don't know" - and used to try to keep Pasteur "in his place" by telling him that questions were
to be asked by the Teacher of the Scholar and not vice versa.
In 1842, i.e., when he was twenty, he went in for the entrance examination to the great
Ecole Normale in Paris and came out fourteenth on the list, whereupon he refused (declined)
to enter, being so disappointed at not getting a higher place. He took the examination again in
the following year and was fourth on the list, which apparently more or less satisfied him.
At this point one may say a word about his private affairs. In 1848, at the age of
twenty-six he became Deputy Professor of Chemistry in the University of Strasburg, and
here he met his future wife, who was the daughter of the Rector of the Strasburg Academy.
They were married in 1850, and it seems that Pasteur was so buried (absorbed) in his work
on the wedding day that he entirely (completely) forgot the ceremony (event) and had to be
fetched (brought) by a friend. The marriage, however, was extremely (very) happy, and the
wife seems to have been an important factor in her husband's work.
In 1860, the French Academy offered a prize for the solution of the problem whether
spontaneous (impulsive) generation was or was not a fact, and Pasteur entered for the
competition (contest), and settled the matter once and for all in the negative, proving that if
a substance be sufficiently (adequately) heated to destroy all life and if the air in contact
with it be filtered (cleaned), so that it is free of germs, then the substance does no, i.e.,
bacteria do not develop in it. As usual, his opponents said they had obtained opposite
results, so Pasteur asked for arbitration (settlement), and the Academy appointed a
Commission, before which Pasteur and his adversaries (opponents) were to repeat their
experiments. On the appointment day, Pasteur appeared loaded with apparatus. His
opponents, however, had none; they said the weather was unfavourable and they would like
to wait. The Commission very reasonably (sensibly) refused; Pasteur did his experiment
successfully and won the prize. In the course of these experiments Pasteur found that some
germs are very difficult to destroy by heat; e.g., milk developed bacteria even after several
minutes' boiling, but after raising the temperature 10°C above boiling point, he found that
no bacteria were left alive. This work on spontaneous generation was of great value
because it stimulated other scientists to study the habits of germs, and much of our
modern knowledge of these invisible (hidden) but very active plants sprang () from
Pasteur's discoveries.
This brings us on to 1870, when France and Germany were plunged (forced) into
war, and Pasteur ever intensely (passionately) a lover of France, was filled with sorrow
(grief) and anxiety (apprehension), and with loathing (hate) of Germany, he wrote to the
University of Bonn, which had bestowed (granted) on him the degree of Doctor of
Medicine, asking that his name should be removed from the Faculty of the University, and
returning his diploma, of which he speaks thus:-
"Today the sight, of this parchment () is odious (abhorrent) to me, and I
feel offended (insulted) at seeing my name .... Placed under the
patronage (backing) of a name doomed (fated) henceforward to
execration (curse) by my country, that of Rex Guilelmus......"
Having offered himself as a soldier where now he was refused on the score of
physical incapacity (inability), this unconquerable (unbeatable) man turned to the sword of
Science and took up the study of brewing (fermenting), in order to discover a method
whereby France might produce beer as good as that manufactured (produced) in Germany.
He imparted (conveyed) his discoveries to the English brewers as well as to the French, with
the rather illuminating (enlightening) remark, "We must make some friends for our beloved
France." In 1876 this work was published in a book called "Etudes sur la Biere," which has
been translated into English and is the best known of Pasteur's books in England, where it has
been of tremendous (great) value in the brewing industry. Huxley once said that Pasteur's
work on fermentation () alone saved France more than enough to pay the Indemnity
(Compensation) of the Franco-German War.
However, Pasteur's work on fermentation did not stop short here; it had far more
important effects on medicine, surgery, and public health, for it was the staring-point for Lord
Lister's work on inflammation of wounds, which in those days caused endless trouble after
operations, often making amputation (elimination) necessary and frequently even this was not
enough to save the patient's life. About 33% of deaths from major operations occurred in pre-
Listerian days, with the result that surgeons were unwilling (reluctant) to operate except () as a
last and desperate (hopeless) resort.
Now Pasteur's discovery that fermentation was due to bacteria set Lister wondering
whether inflammation (swelling) was not also a type of fermentation due to bacteria getting into
the wound. And as the result of a series of brilliant researches he proved that this was so, and
that, if only germs were excluded from wounds, inflammation was averted (prevented).
The antiseptic method in surgery has led on to the aseptic method of today, where the
ideal is to keep the patient's skin free from germs, so that the living tissues need not be soaked
(saturated) in carbolic, which tends to destroy the tissue as well as the germ. Hence though the
instruments and the doctor's hands and everything else are rigorously (thoroughly)
disinfected, the wound is not thus treated, unless it be an old wound, already infected. The
enormous (great) value of this work is shown by the fact that the death-rate today in major
operations has fallen to about 1%.
To return to Pasteur—the achievement (triumph) by which he is best known to the
man in the street, viz., his work on disease, was led up to by an investigation (inquiry) into
which he was almost forced by the French Government. This was the result of a mysterious
(puzzling) epidemic (plague) of silkworm diseases which for fifteen or sixteen years had been
devastating (destroying) the silk-industry in the South of France. Now, the keeping of
silkworms was one of the chief home-industries of the peasantry () of the part of France.
Practically (Realistically) every family set aside the 'best room in the house for the rearing
(raising) and tending (managing) of silkworms: the women got up even during the night to
supply the worms with fresh mulberry leaves and to see that the temperature of the room was just
right; and in that region the common greeting on meeting a friend is said to be not "How do you
do?" but "How are your silkworms doing?"
Until 1849 the industry had flourished (boomed) consistently (constantly), but in
1849 the moths were attacked by disease. It was thought at first that the eggs were a fault, and
fresh ones were brought form other countries and for one season, this cured the disease; but it
reappeared in the first generation of descendants (offspring) of these imported worms, and so
the inhabitants (dwellers) were driven to import fresh eggs each year. Soon, however, the
disease spread to neighbouring countries, until Japan was the only silk-producing country free
from the disease. This reduced the silk growers to despair (hopelessness), thousands of families
were faced with ruin (destruction), and things were so serious that in 1865 the Government
asked Pasteur to investigate (examine) the disease. At first he refused, on the ground that he
was a chemist and not a naturalist and had never touched a silkworm in his life, but he pleaded
(beseeched) ignorance (unawareness) in vain. "So much the better' replied M. Dumas, who
bore the message from the Government, “you will only have the ideas which come to you from
your own observation." This coupled with his sympathy (pity) for the people of the
devastated region, overcame his reluctance (unwillingness), and he set out for Alais, a town in
the silk district.
Now earlier observers had noted microscopic grains or "corpuscles" in the bodies of
the diseased worms, but nobody had succeeded in finding a remedy (cure), until Pasteur
suggested collecting the eggs, laid by each moth separately and only keeping those derived from
healthy parents. The only way in which this could be done was by use of the microscope, and
Pasteur realized that this instrument would be a strange and terrifying thing to the peasants, so
he tried to reassure (assure) them by telling them that this little girl of eight years old was quite
at home with it. In addition, he directed the silkworm rearers' attention to the need of avoiding
(preventing) over-crowding, un-cleanliness, over-heating, and unhealthy conditions generally,
since these weakened the insects and made them more liable to the disease.
This treatment, though it was not at once adopted (embraced), was very successful in
decreasing the epidemic. It has been estimated that before Pasteur came to the rescue, France
had lost forty million francs through silkworm disease. An even more important result of this
work was that it led Pasteur on to study the infectious (contagious) diseases of the higher
animals, including Man.
It was during his work on the silkworm that Pasteur suffered (underwent) from a
stroke, the physical effects of which he never shook off. It has been attributed to overwork on
the silk problem. Providentially (Luckily), however, his mind was not injured, and in 1877, at
the age of fifty-five he began to study the cattle-disease named Anthrax. It had already been
suggested that this was due to a germ, and Pasteur finally proved the truth of this theory and,
further worked out preventive (protective) treatment He cultivated the anthrax bacillus in such
a way that it became only mildly poisonous and proved that these weakened germs introduced
into an animal's blood gave rise to only slight symptoms (indications) of anthrax and protected
the animal from taking the deadly (fatal) form, much in the same way as vaccination prevents
smallpox. This protective treatment has safeguarded (protected) millions of sheep and cattle
from the disease. Reports from France and Hungary show that on many farms the death-rate
from anthrax has fallen from 10% to 1% amongst sheep and from 5% to less than 1% among
cattle.
And this brings us to the next stage of Pasteur's work -that on human diseases.
Overcoming his dislike of seeing suffering, he visited hospitals, collecting infectious matter
from patients, examining it microscopically (minutely) and identifying the germs associated
(related) with various diseases, e.g., at the time the Maternity Hospitals were devastated
(ruined) by puerperal (labour pain) fever in every country, and an appalling (awful) number
of women died from the disease. Pasteur discovered its germ, and an interesting little episode is
recorded by M. Roux in connection with the discovery. "One day, at a discussion on puerperal
fever which was taking place at the Academy of Medicine, while one of the most distinguished
(notable) authorities was eloquently (powerfully) descanting (counterpointing) on the causes
of epidemics of this disease at Maternity Hospitals, he was suddenly interrupted (disrupted)
by Pasteur as follows:- 'It is nothing of all that which causes the epidemic; it is the doctor and
his belongings which carry the germs from diseased to the healthy woman and when the
speaker replied (with the superiority (arrogance) which we can all imagine) that he was afraid
they would never discover that microbe, Pasteur rushed to the black-board and drew the germ,
saying, "Stop, here is its picture." Nowadays, thanks to Pasteur and Lister, epidemics of this
disease in Maternity Hospitals are unknown.
We now come to know how he discovered the method of making vaccines, i.e.,
weakened germs, which can be inoculated (injected) in measured quantities into human beings
as a cure (treatment) or preventive of the disease caused by the ordinary^ un-weakened germ.
He had gone away from his laboratory for a holiday, in 1879, whilst working at fowl-
cholera, and on his return found all his cultivations of the germs dead or dying. He proceeded
in inoculate various birds with those dead or dying germs and found that the birds showed
signs of illness but recovered. The idea then occurred to him of inoculating them with a fresh lot
of virulent (poisonous) germs of chicken-cholera, and he was amazed at the result, .viz., that the
birds still resisted the disease, though others, which had not been previously dosed with the
exhausted (weakened) germs died. So he arrived at the method of attenuating (weakening)
germs, i.e., of cultivating (growing) them so that they were weakened, and also at the fact
that such germs inoculated into a healthy animal produced a mild (minor) type of illness
which protected the animal from attack by the virulent () form of the disease.
The first human disease to which Pasteur applied inoculation was Hydrophobia or
Rabies, the horrible (dreadful) illness produced by the bite of a "Mad" dog. To give one
some idea of its horrors, one need only read such descriptions (details) as the following, of a
child of five, admitted () to a French Hospital "The unfortunate (unlucky) little patient
presented all the characteristics of hydrophobia: spasms, restlessness, shudders at the least
breath of air, an ardent (severe) thirst, accompanied with an absolute (complete)
impossibility (cul-de-sac) of swallowing (absorbing), convulsive (jerky) movements, fits of
furious (angry) rage. The child died after twenty-four hours of horrible suffering suffocated
(choked) by the mucus which filled the mouth." As a matter of fact, its germ has never been
found, but it was known that the part of the body affected in hydrophobia was the nervous
tissue, and Pasteur tried taking some of the nervous tissue of an animal which had died of the
disease and attenuating (weakening) it, which he found could be done by exposing the
spinal cord of rabid rabbits to dry air, which weakened it until after fourteen days it was
harmless. The attenuated spinal cord introduced into dogs rendered (provided) them
immune to hydrophobia, but the treatment was not tried on human beings till 1885,when a
boy, Joseph Meister, was brought to Paris for treatment from a little place in Alsace. He had
been bitten by a mad dog two days before. Now, human beings do not as a rule develop
hydrophobia for a month or so after being bitten, and Pasteur, being as usual extremely
(tremendously) anxious to ward off suffering (sorrow), undertook the treatment of the boy
by inoculations (vaccinations), which were continued for ten days. Meanwhile the boy was
hardly ill at all and played about the laboratory very happily, though Pasteur was devoured
(consumed) by fears and anxiety about the results. However, the boy was absolutely cured
(recovered), and two months later a shephered, who had been bitten by a mad dog, was
similarly cured, and three months later three hundred and fifty cases had been treated, with
only one death. By 1899, more than twenty three thousand people had undergone the
treatment, and the number today must be larger still. The deaths amongst these were less
than Vi %, and there is no doubt that many of the rest were saved from a terrible death by
Pasteur's work.
But though this was the last of Pasteur's great discoveries, its results were by no
means confined (limited) to the cure of hydrophobia, for the fame of his success stirred
(stimulated) up other scientists to try similar methods of cure for other diseases, and in the
ten years, between 1880 and 1890 they discovered the germs of consumption (ingesting),
diphtheria, typhoid, lock-jaw, cholera, and Malta fever.
In 1893 the antitoxin which cures diphtheria was discovered, and also the protective
treatment for cholera. Before the discovery of the antitoxin 30.4% of diphtheria patients died;
now 8.3% die. In 1894-95 the germs of plague (blight) and of the tsetse-fly disease in
animals were found. In 1896-97 the protective inoculation treatments for typhoid and plague
were discovered with the result that in Great War there was extraordinarily little typhoid in
our Army compared with the amount of the disease which had occurred in earlier campaigns,
such as the Boer War. In India during 1913, 93% of the British garrison were inoculated, and
deaths from typhoid fell from usual 300 - 600 to only 20.
In 1898 - 1900 it was proved that malaria and yellow fever were conveyed by
mosquitoes. Now malaria each year kills millions of men and weakens millions more. It was
rampant (pandemic) in England, under the name of ague till comparatively recently, it was
banished (eliminated) by draining the malarial districts. Now that we know the cause of the
disease we can fight it in two ways by destroying the breeding-places of the mosquito and by
protecting man from the bite of the mosquito. Thus, every puddle (pond) of standing water,
every pond, etc., should be drained or oiled, and all cisterns (reservoirs) and wells should be
kept closed in a malarial district, for the mosquito lays its eggs in water. Windows and doors
must have wire-gauze (net) shutters (closes). Beds must be protected by mosquito nets.
Finally, quinine is invaluable as a preventative and cure. It was this knowledge that
enabled the Americans to construct the Panama Canal, after the French had failed
hopelessly with enormous loss of life and money owing to the ravages of malaria and yellow
fever.
In 1903 - 05 Bruce showed that sleeping-sickness, which devastates Central Africa,
was conveyed by a species of tsetse-fly. In 1905 in Uganda it caused 8,003 deaths. In 1910
the number was reduced to 1,546.
It is impossible even to catalogue (compile) the list of the medical discoveries
which have sprung from Pasteur's work and especially since the Great World War, which
forced us to deal with many hitherto little-known diseases and conditions and so to greatly
increase our knowledge of them. For example, at the beginning of War tetanus (lock-jaw)
was tremendously common amongst our wounded because the soil of Belgium and Northern
France is full of the germs of the disease: hence arose the custom of giving every wounded
man a dose of anti-tetanus serum (liquid), which reduced the number of cases of tetanus to a
tiny (small) proportion.
As an expression of world gratitude, the Pasteur Institute was built in Paris with
subscriptions which came from all parts of the world. It was opened in 1888, and was the joy of
Pasteur's few remaining years.
It had been well said that Pasteur "brought the facts of disease and death from the
realm (kingdom) of the supernatural (ghostly) and miraculous (inexplicable) into the
realm of the natural. Disease and death were the great mysteries, where the occult held
sway. The malign (evil) and mysterious influence of the moon caused lunacy (madness):
there was the evil eye with its morbific (horrible) powers; in fever and in epilepsy the body
was possessed by demons; tuberculosis was the King's Evil, to be cured by the "Sovereign
touch.'1 Far more than all other men, Pasteur abolished (eradicated) for ever these
superstitions."
Pasteur died in 1895, at the age of seventy-three, and was buried in the Institute.

MUSTAFA KAMAL
Wilfrid F. Castle

The war was over. Throughout the entire Near and Middle East the armies of the democracies
had been hailed not so much as conquerors, but as deliverers. The Turks themselves were only
too glad to be able to lay down arms after almost continuous fighting since 1911. A
government formed from the old Liberals was in power in Istanbul, its members and the
Padishah himself alike eager to collaborate with the Allies, their conception of the best
interests of the nation was that of loyalty to the Armistice and co-operation with the
occupying forces of the conquerors. At Istanbul the old British Embassy was now the British
High Commission, supported by military and naval detachments. Allied officers were
supervising the police and the ports and the normal machinery of the government was
practically superseded by orders' and suggestions from the Allies.
At this time far away in Eastern Anatolia, one Kiyazim Karabekar with some
undefeated remnants of the Ottoman Army, began to obstruct the Allied control officers,
refusing to disband his men. Week by week little encounters increased; it was apparent that
the Turks were steadily growing bolder. Even in the streets of Anatolia towns their bearing
changed. This caused consternation not only among the Allies but in Istanbul itself. Some one
must go as the representative of the Padishah and deal with the situation on the spot-a strong
capable soldier was wanted. Every indication seemed to point to one man as being suitable for
the work, and Mustafa Kamal was the' man. At fir'st the British High Commissioner
demurred, but his objections were for once overruled, and Mustafa Kamal sailed on the 15 th of
May, 1919, for the north-east coast of Anatolia as Governor-General of the Eastern Provinces.
Scarcely had the small steamer bearing Mustafa Kamal entered the Black Sea than the
authorities of Istanbul became suspicious of his intentions and issued orders for the ship to be
intercepted. But it was too late.
The very same day it became clear beyond all doubt that the Allies had condemned the
Ottoman Empire to be partitioned to the very walls of Istanbul. On the 1yh of May, the
Admiral of the British Mediterranean Fleet informed the Ottoman governor of Izmir that this
great seaport and the rich province of Aydin were to be occupied by the Greeks. The Ottoman
troops were hurriedly withdrawn
into barracks and the Greek Metropolitan raised the Cross as the first Greek soldiers
disembarked.

To all Turkish patriots these events meant that there was only one policy to be pursued. Even
those most friendly to the Allies were infuriated by this foreign occupation of the richest and
most essentially Turkish of their provinces. Turkish patriotism was no longer vague and
undecided, it was a flame burning in the hearts of men and women of all classes - a flame of
indignation not of hatred. Even during cruel wars the Turks and the Greeks never hated each
other, and among the Greeks there was little enthusiasm for the Anatolian adventure. A
magnificent Greek Royalist officer - loanne Metacas - protested strongly to his Government,
but the invasion continued.
In a heavy storm Mustafa Kamal's small ship staggered towards the landing stage at
Samsun on the coast of Anatolia. At Amisa he met Ali Faut, the commander of a small army
corps centred on Ankara, and at a secret meeting of the patriots he sketched out his plan of
resistance. First of all, guerilla bands must hold up the Greeks, and covered by these irregulars
the patriots must build up the Nationalarmy, but without any help from Mehmet IV or anyone
at Istanbul. "As the Sultan and the Central Government are in enemy hands we must set up
some temporary government in Anatolia," he continued, "A congress of delegates to represent
the : real, free Turkey should be called as quickly as possible." Meanwhile Mustafa Kamal set
out to tour the villages, preaching resistance and in every place appointing representatives to
form centres of patriotic revolt. Yet even the energy and personality of Mustafa Kamal would
not have been so effective had not news arrived that the Greeks were advancing. Everywhere
the local Turks vowed that death was preferable to rule by Greeks. Moreover, the Allies who
had made these plans were far away while near at hand was an un-disbanded Turkish army
corps at Diyarbekir. Men came crowding back to the ranks with guns and ammunition raided
from the Allied. arms dumps.
As soon as Mehmet heard of these activities he ordered Mustafa Kamal to return. The
patriot's reply was a long personal telegram to the Padishah urging him, as leader of his
people, to come over to Anatolia and himself take the lead against the Greeks and all the
foreign enemies-it would be Mehmet's last chance to save himself, the Throne of his fore-
fathers and the Turkish nation. But Mehmet's conception of the best interests of Turkey was
co-operation with the powerful conquerors. In these circumstances the only imaginable reply
to Mustafa Kamal's invitation was a peremptory command: the rebel must report himself
immediately to Istanbul. Back along the wire went the most momentous telegram in the
history of the Ottoman Empire:
terefore
Mehmet IV could see no other way to regain the provinces of Anatolia for the throne than by
subtlety. With a sudden movement he unexpectedly proclaimed himself willing to summon a
government pleasing to the Nationalists. The delegates in Anatolia could transfer their
activities to Istanbul, put Mustafa Kamal's ideas into practice and yet no longer stand in
opposition to the Padishah, the Shadow of God. The patriots, who could scarcely imagine
their state without a Sultan as its head .sooner or later, grasped at these promises-almost all
but Mustafa Kamal himself - who fought hard for a parliament in Anatolia. He suggested that
it should sit in the upland town of Ankara, where it would he centrally situated, well
protected, free, absolutely independent of the Allies in a thoroughly Turkish town associated
with the history of the Turks and their forefathers. But for once he was defeated and Mustafa
Kamal was left almost alone when on the 19th of january, 1920, the National Assembly
assembled in the "City of the Sultan" and began the hopeless task of trying to work up
resistance under the very eyes - and guns - of the Allies.
While the delegates were wasting their time on the Bosphorus, Mustafa Kamal was
making exceptionally good use of the freedom which the absence of the talkers had given him.
For the next few weeks Allied agents were kept busy reporting large armed formations seen in
the interior: regular troops of the old Imperial army, armed peasants, women transporting
ammunitions and supplies as Turkish women had done in the days before Islam. The position
was becoming really serious for the Allied Army of Occupation stationed here and there near
the coast. In her diary, an American medical-practitioner chronicled the daily deterioration
of the position in Anatolia: '
"The firing gets worse steadily ... a general massacre of the Armenians is expected .... All
night along the skies are red-lighted in every direction by the raging fires, 'and the canons roar
and the heavens shake .... The whole city is overhung with douds of smoke. The Turks are
bolder all the time. Surely this is because they realize that this is the end for them, and are
desperate."
Every day brought fresh men and new equipment. The Allies began to withdraw their
troops from the interior. They evacuated the important Baghdad. Railway junction at
Estishehir, where immediately the patriots transfor,med the railway depots into ammunition
factories. The Allies replied by putting Istanbul under a collective arrest and dissolving "the
National Assembly." Leading Patriots hid or escaped into Anatolia, where they made straight
for Ankara to join Mustafa Kamal. There on the 23rd of April, 1920 the revolutionary Turkish
Grand National Assembly met with Mustafa Kamal as President. Its first act was to make
clear to the world the position of the new Turkish Government. The courage of its words is
astonishing.
"The Grand National Assembly sitting in Ankara will preside over the destiny of
Turkey as long as the capital is in the hands of the foreigners. It has appointed an Executive
Council, which has taken in hand the government of the country, Istanbul, the Sultan, and the
Government being in the hands of the enemy, all orders from there are automatically null and
void. The nation's rights have been violated. The Turkish nation, though calm, is determined
to maintain its rights as a sovereign
independent state."
At last as the month of May, 1920 was drawing to its close the Allies published the terms of
peace which they were willing to, make with Mehmet IV. A small and helpless Ottoman
Empire was to be entirely under the supervision of the _ Allied powers; all the Arab provinces
were to become Mandated Territories; the whole of Eastern Anatolia was to be added to the
state of Armenia; around Izmir was to be a large Greek district; Cicilia was to go to the
French; the Ottoman capital itself was to be an international centre under the control of
Britain, France and Italy. Only the immediate hinterland of Istanbul was to remain of the once
extensive
"Turkey in Europe."
The terms if widely accepted would have been the death sentence not only of the
Ottoman Empire but of what was now correctly described as Turkey. By entertaining the very
idea of signing a treaty based on such terms, the Ottoman Government at Istanbul was
branded by the patriots as a puppet government of traitors and dotards, and almost the entire
Turkish nation accepted the Turkish government at Ankara.
There was no one to enforce the terms of the treaty, in the event of Mehmet signing it.
On the - 21 st August, 1921, the Greeks attacked. In the mountain country above the Sakarya
river, some fifty kilo-metres west of Ankara the two valiant people fought almost man to man
for fourteen days under the burning heat of the sun, the Greeks attacking with reckless
abandon, the Turks hanging grimly on the heights, - Mustafa Kamal now their Commander-
in-Chief. By the 4th of September the critical moment had come: the Greeks were at the end of
their strength. On the 12th they .crossed the Sakarya and began to retire steadily, but there was
no question of the
Turks immediately following up their advantage. It was not till the end of August,
1922 that Mustafa Kamal was able to sound his famous battle-call: "Soldiers: Your goal is the
Mediterranean. Forward."
 Six days later the advance guard of Turkish National forces drew within sight of the
Mediterranean. There lay Izmir crowded, and overflowing with refugees. There were ships for
the Greek soldiers but none for the Greek and Armenian population, crazed with fear. In the
harbour towered the Allied battleships, powerless to do anything except to take away as many
refugees on board as possible. The Greeks alone were at war with the "rebel" Turks.
A long line of decorated cars entered Izmir on the 9 th of September, 1922, on the either
side an escort of cavalry. In the leading car was Mustafa Kamal, Commander-in-Chief of the
Free-Turkish Forces and "Saviour of Turkey." Three days after the change of government, fire
broke out in several parts of the city at once and the greater part of Izmir was reduced to
ashes.
Mustafa Kamal now realized that he must at last persuade the Ankara Government to
make an end of the puppet show in the old capital. He proposed that the Sultanate should be
abolished. The Grand Turkish National Assembly gave the verdict:
"By the Unanimous Vote of the Grand National Assembly of
Turkey, the Sultanate is abolished."
On the 4th of November, 1922, Riffat carried out a coup d'etat at Istanbul. Qn
the following day the Ottoman cabinet resigned office and was not replaced.
For a few days Mehmet stood his ground - the ruler of a palace and a private park. He
felt .he could trust no one but an old conductor of the royal orchestra, whom at last he sent to
Sir Charles Harrington to crave British protection for "the Emperor of powerful Emperors,
Refuge of Sovereigns, Distributor of Crowns to the Kings of the Earth, Master of Europe,
Asia and Africa, High King of the Two Seas .... "
It was 'the 17th of November, 1922. A British motor ambulance drew up at a side-door
of the palace where Mehmet was staying. Some baggage was brought out of the palace and
placed in the car. An elderly man followed. A British Officer took the old gentleman's
umbrella as he entered the vehicle. The door was closed and the ambulance drove away. The
last of the Sultans was on his way to exile. A greater- Sovereign than all the Ottoman Sultans
was now in the seat of power at Ankara - the will of the Turkish people expressed through a
leader who was at one and the same time both dictator and democrat.
It was the end of an age. On the 29 th October, 1923, the name of the Ottoman Empire
was wiped from the slate of history. A salute of a hundred and one guns proclaimed the
foundation of the Turkish Republic with Mustafa Kamal as the President and General Ismat
Inonu as the Prime Minister.
The Great Reformer
On assuming power, Mustafa Kamal's first object was to educate the people. This was a
gigantic task, for state education was unknown in Turkey. Therefore there were two problems:
to teach the masses and to train as many teachers as possible.
As he was determined to break down this barrier, Mustafa Kamal declared the old
script to be abolished and replaced by the Roman script. Thereupon he set out on a series of
tours round the country to demonstrate, chalk in hand, how the new script should be used. The
whole population went back to school. Nor was Mustafa Kamal a lenient master. He tested
people on the most unexpected occasions, naming a day, nor far ahead, by which everyone
was to have learned the new script.
Once he had simplified the Turkish script, Mustafa Kamal started upon a rather more
difficult task-that of simplifying the language. This was urgently necessary for two reasons:
first, because educated speech under the Ottoman Empire had been a mixture of Turkish,
Arabic and Persian and second, because he realized that the elaborate modes of address and
flowery phrases were out of place in the modern world. Accordingly he set up a committee for
the purification of the language - by substituting genuine Turkish words for those of Arabic
and Persian origin.
In the new world created by him there was no need for the old titles and nobilities
which meant nothing to the new nobility of effort. The word "Pasha" was abolished: every
man became Bay, hitherto a title of some honour; women became Bayan.
No less revolutionary was the abolition in 1925 of the national head-dress, called the
Fez. The Fez was in origin Greek, but it had come to be associated closely with Turkish life.
When the wearing of hats was made compulsory there were barely enough to go round, so that
the houses of the foreigners were ransacked and men even went about in Paris models. It was
reported from Izmir that in a village near by, the peasants unable to obtain bowlers, or caps,
discovered in the closed shop of a departed Armenian haberdasher a stock of ladies' summer
hats, and seizing the entire selection, wore them, ribbons, feathers and all.
Finally, to complete this account of Kamal's reforms, we must mention that which was
most striking, namely the abolition of the veil. As early as 1923 he had addressed the people
of western Anatolia on the subject of women's rights. "Our nation has decided to be strong,"
he had said, "and our absolute need today is the higher education of women. They shall be
instructed in every field of science and receive the same degrees as men." Mustafa Kamal
prepared the country for the change by a tour of the towns and villages during which he
addressed himself principally to the menfolk.
No less great was the economic advance. In 1919, there was only one railway in
Turkey, and judged by modern standards no roads at all. Mustafa Kamal inaugurated great
development and construction schemes both for railways and motor roads. In 1919, there were
150 factories in Turkey, in 1933, 2000, while the Turkish Five-Year Plan, inaugurated in
1934, encouraged heavy industry still further. The banking system was organized and the
Ottoman public debt (taken over from the Sultanate by the new Republic) was reduced to one-
tenth of its former size. All this was achieved without further borrowing.
The changes in all branches of Turkish life have been stupendous. It would be no
exaggeration to say that at the time that Mustafa Kamal set to work, the mental and political
development of the masses in Turkey was on a level with that of the people of Western
Europe in the mid-eighteenth century. The Turks have now traversed in a few years the road
which the people of Western Europe took 150 years to travel. The thorough democratization of the
nation, and the awakening of the people and the unchaining of their powers has been the work of
Mustafa Kamal.