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ShoutingShouting

In the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific some villagers practice aunique form of cutting trees down. If a tree is too large to be cut withan ax, the natives cut it down by shouting at it. Men with special powersget on the tree just in the early morning hours and suddenly scream at itat the top of their lungs. After thirty days of doing this, the tree diesand falls over. The villagers' theory is that the screaming kills thespirit of the tree and, according to them, it always works.Ah, those poor nave innocents!, some people in our Western societiesmay think. Screaming at trees, indeed! How primitive! Don't they realisethat trees can't hear us? Our first reaction is to think that we do notdo things like this any longer because we have a scientific, logical mindand we use highly sophisticated machines.But, however scientific, logical and technologically prepared we may be,haven't you ever seen anyone screaming at things at the top of theirlungs? For instance, I shout at the taxis and the buses and the telephone.

People have told me that they have seen me yelling at the sky at times.The man next door yells at his car a lot. Last summer I heard him yell athis video VCR when it stopped working and he usually yells at his TV setwhile watching football matches. But, what's worst, I also shout at mywife, often just because I am in a bad mood, and my neighbour yells at his

children when they are playing on the street. In the end, we realise thatmachines and relatives get most of the yelling we, urban educated people,do.And we may ask ourselves: Does this shouting help at all? If machinesand things cannot hear us and just sit there, is our yelling more logicalthan the Solomon way of cutting trees down? The Solomon Islanders,however, may have a point that we should keep in mind before shouting atthe people we love most: Shouting at living things may kill the spirit inthem.

PART ONE: READING COMPREHENSION

1. Answer the following questions without copying from the text.

1. What is the unique Solomon way of cutting trees down?2. Who is in charge of cutting trees down in the Solomon islands?3. How do the Solomon villagers explain the fact that the tree falls over?

4. Why don't we use such primitive methods for cutting trees down in theWestern world? Mention two reasons given in the text.5. What things does the writer's neighbour yell at?6. Which of the following sentences (a, b or c) best summarizes thewriters ideas? (Write the sentence you choose.)

a) The writer thinks that in the Western societies we should scream atpeople in order to get things done.b) The writer thinks that people in the Western world and people in theSolomon Islands do not behave differently after all.c) The writer thinks that the Solomon islanders are nave and stupidbecause they think that yelling kills trees.

PART TWO: WRITINGChoose ONE. Write about either 1 or 2.

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Option A: Last week you had an argument with your best friend and shoutedat him even if you were wrong. Now he does not want to talk to you anylonger and so you have decided to write a letter of apology to him sayingwhy you are very sorry. Write down that letter. Dont use your real name.Option B: A representative of the Solomon tribe who had never left hisisland before has spent a week in Barcelona. Today she/he is talking about

all the things in our society which seem illogical and strange to him/her.

Write down his/her talk.

3. VocabularyExplain next words in English, write the phonetics and also an example:nave, to realise, to scream, lung, to yell.

What is the translation for the poem A Roadside Stand by Robert Frost?In: Robert Frost [Edit categories]

Robert FrostRead all poems of the famous poet. Comments on Robert Frostwww.PoemHunter.com

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AnswerThe poem compares the lives of people living in cities and the countryside.A small time farmer builds a vegetable stand at the edge of the highway outside his house in the hope that passing cars would buy the produce.He only wants to earn aliving,he is not begging for money.However,no cars ever stop and the ones thateven glance in the direction of the stand only comment about how the comnstruction spoils the view of the surroundings.The farmer says that the hurt to the viewis not as important as the sorrow he feels on being ignored.He only wishes forsome money so that he may experience the plush life potrayed by the movies and other media,which the political parties are said to be refusing him.

Frost goes on to say that even though these people have benefactors,they are act

ually selfish and only help these "pitiful kin" to indirectly advantage themselves.The altruists wish to make these villagers completely dependent on them for all their benefits and comforts,thus robbing them of the ability to think for themselves and be independent.

Frost then talks about his personal feelings,saying that he can hardly bear thethought of the farmer's dashed hopes.The open windows of the farmer's house seemto wait all day just to hear the sound of a car stopping to make a purchase. However they are always disappointed,as vehicles only stop to ask their way aheador ask for a gallon of gas.

According to the poet,the progress required has not been found by these countryfolk( "the requisite lift of spirit") Their lifestyles provide ample evidence to

support this fact.He sometimes feel that it might be best to simply put these people out of their pain and hardships of existence. However,once rational thinking returns to his mind,he wonders how HE would feel if someone offered to do himthis supposed service.