Some Summer Ideas
Year 7
2013
1
It is very important that you have a good summer,
but it is also a valuable time to do some good
reading and thinking. In this booklet, you will find a
few things I would like you to look at and be ready
to discuss when you return in Year 7! Joe B has
also produced a few puzzles for you to think about!
Don’t forget to check your maths too!
First, read through the articles. You will be asked to
discuss these on your return in your Learning
English enrichment classes with me. Make sure that
you have looked up the words you do not know and
filled in the various picture grids as requested.
2
That time of year thou mayst in me behold
When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang
Upon those boughs which shake against the cold,
Bare ruined choirs, where late the sweet birds sang.
In me thou see'st the twilight of such day
As after sunset fadeth in the west;
Which by and by black night doth take away,
Death's second self, that seals up all in rest.
In me thou see'st the glowing of such fire,
That on the ashes of his youth doth lie,
As the death-bed, whereon it must expire,
Consumed with that which it was nourish'd by.
This thou perceiv'st, which makes thy love more strong,
To love that well, which thou must leave ere long.
Please look at these links:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J27cpy-To8s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXIuNqoAquo
3
The Schoolboy
I love to rise in a summer morn,
When the birds sing on every tree;
The distant huntsman winds his horn,
And the skylark sings with me:
O what sweet company!
But to go to school in a summer morn, —
O it drives all joy away!
Under a cruel eye outworn,
The little ones spend the day
In sighing and dismay.
Ah then at times I drooping sit,
And spend many an anxious hour;
Nor in my book can I take delight,
Nor sit in learning’s bower,
Worn through with the dreary shower.
How can the bird that is born for joy
Sit in a cage and sing?
How can a child, when fears annoy,
But droop his tender wing,
And forget his youthful spring!
O father and mother if buds are nipped,
And blossoms blown away;
And if the tender plants are stripped
Of their joy in the springing day,
By sorrow and care’s dismay, —
How shall the summer arise in joy,
Or the summer fruits appear?
Or how shall we gather what griefs destroy,
Or bless the mellowing year,
When the blasts of winter appear?
William Blake (from Songs of Experience, 1794)
Look at this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3J6YoZNWQ-Y
4
Having bestrode Centre Court as an immortal for so
many years, Roger Federer was suddenly made to
look all too fallible
It had to come some day, but the fact that it was inevitable didn’t
make it any less of a shock. Roger Federer, the greatest male
tennis player of all time, lost at Wimbledon. Not lost, but was
humiliated, going out in the second round to a Ukrainian ranked No
116 in the world. An era ended with a great howl of disbelief
yesterday evening on Centre Court.
Sergiy Stakhovsky won 6-7, 7-6, 7-5, 7-6 and played the match of
his life as he did so. Where the hell did it come from? Stakhovsky
clearly had no idea and for Federer it struck like lightning from a
clear sky. How does someone with a three-figure ranking suddenly
step on court and start serving like God and volleying like the Holy
Ghost?
Something to do with the Centre Court, I suppose; you never know
how that’s going to affect people. Small players shrivel up and die,
great players find that its unique ambience allows them to reach
their full powers — and some odds and sods find that this rum old
place turns them into someone else for a few hours.
It was an occasion that mixed glorious and dismal in equal parts. It
was desperate to see Federer looking rattled, still more desperate
to see Federer groping for his A-game and failing to find it, but it
was glorious to watch the beneficiary of Centre Court stardust
seizing his day with such aplomb.
It is not as if Federer were beaten by some brilliant new talent,
oozing youth and promise and looking likely to win grand-slam
tournaments for years to come. Stakhovsky is 27, an established
and articulate voice in the game, and a decent talent, but nothing
special. He came out with a decidedly retro game, a one-handed
backhand and a pronounced taste for following the big serve with a
volley. I had often wondered what would have happened if Federer
had played Pete Sampras when both were at the peak of their
powers. Now I have some kind of idea.
The serve was not super-colossal, but it was vindictively accurate.
5
And the weird thing was that it remained so throughout the match.
Federer could not break it until the fourth set, when he was a break
down himself.
That happened when Stakhovsky got tight, suddenly aware that
the most colossal upset lay before him. He flirted with the choke,
but his recovery was worthy of a champion.
Federer has the game to beat him all right, but it just wasn’t there.
Time and again he would pass Stakhovsky at the net and put the
ball long, or beat Stakhovsky on the angle and find the net. It grew
painful to watch, a defeat that was agony for us spectators. It was
like a great philanderer trying all his best chat-up lines, unaware
that the only reason the girl smiled is because she thinks he knows
her father.
It had to come, I just didn’t want to be there when it did. This was
Federer’s fifteenth Wimbledon; it’s the tenth anniversary of his first
victory here, when he wore a ponytail and played tennis from the
fourth dimension. He went on to dominate Wimbledon and the
world, doing so at times in long trousers and a blazer. It would
have been a bit de trop for anybody else but this was Rodge. This
time he wore illegal shoes and had to change them for ones
without orange soles. He also wore a white jacket that gave him
the look of a pox-doctor’s clerk. I never felt confident of the result
when I saw that jacket.
He remains perhaps the greatest master of his sport any of us has
seen, bestriding tennis as Don Bradman once bestrode cricket.
Who can we compare him to? Michael Schumacher for
dominance, but Schumacher had a machine to do the hard work.
Lance Armstrong? Certainly not. Tiger Woods? Perhaps, but golf
is a still-ball game and can’t be compared to a game that requires
physical fitness.
Besides, Federer’s dominance was not just of result. He was
master of the game itself, master of every nuance. Tennis balls
obeyed him as dogs obey their masters. He could be beaten, but
not outplayed. He used his No 1 ranking like a sword. “You have to
play Roger and Roger’s ego,” Stakhovsky said.
There is always a reaction when great champions start to lose
matches they would once have won in comfort. It seems like an
6
insult to their own glorious past, to our own glorious memories.
Come on, hang up your boots, the game’s been good to you. “I still
have plans to play on for many, many years,” Federer said.
So we have to brace ourselves for an unfolding sadness: for
further experiences of Roger failing again to be the Roger of the
glory years. Respect the things that makes such a man carry on:
relish for the struggle, sheer love of the game itself, glorious selfdeluding ambition, and behind all that, the certainty that nothing
will be as good ever again.
Ah, that terrible ballooning backhand error on match point. And
Federer, the great Roger Federer, the Harry Potter of the Centre
Court, standing there looking like a muggle. We shan’t see his like
again. Not even when he next plays tennis.
Simon Barnes
The Times
7
1. bestrode
2. immortal
3. fallible
4. inevitable
5. humiliated,
6. disbelief
7. struck like lightning
8. shrivel up
9. ambience
10. rum
11. glorious
12. dismal
13. desperate
14. rattled
15. groping for
16. beneficiary
17. aplomb.
18. Oozing
19. Established
20. Articulate
21. a pronounced taste
22. peak of their powers.
23. super-colossal,
24. vindictively accurate.
25. got tight,
26. agony
27. great philanderer
28. fourth dimension.
29. dominate
30. de trop
31. bestriding
32. dominance,
33. master of every nuance.
34. won in comfort.
35. brace ourselves
36. relish
37. self-deluding ambition,
8
Tricky Word / Phrase
Meaning
Your own Sentence
using the word/phrase
bestrode
immortal
fallible
inevitable
humiliated,
disbelief
struck like lightning
shrivel up
ambience
rum
glorious
dismal
desperate
rattled
groping for
beneficiary
aplomb.
Oozing
Established
Articulate
a pronounced taste
peak of their powers.
super-colossal,
vindictively accurate.
got tight,
agony
great philanderer
fourth dimension.
dominate
de trop
bestriding
dominance,
master of every nuance.
won in comfort.
brace ourselves
relish
self-deluding ambition
bestrode
9
Tricky Word / Phrase
Give The Opposite
Meaning/
Antonym
Your own Sentence
using the opposite
word/phrase
immortal
fallible
inevitable
humiliated,
disbelief
shrivel up
rum
glorious
dismal
desperate
rattled
beneficiary
aplomb.
Established
Articulate
peak of their powers.
super-colossal,
vindictively accurate.
got tight,
agony
dominate
master of every nuance.
won in comfort.
relish
self-deluding ambition
10
Tricky Word / Phrase
bestrode
Find a Picture or Cartoon Showing the Meaning
immortal
fallible
humiliated,
disbelief
struck like lightning
shrivel up
glorious
dismal
desperate
rattled
Oozing
Articulate
peak of their powers.
11
vindictively accurate.
got tight,
fourth dimension.
dominate
won in comfort.
brace ourselves
relish
self-deluding ambition
12
Review of Iron Man 3
To use a recondite term in professional film criticism: whoo-hoo!
Iron Man 3 is descending on cinemas with an almighty crash,
assuming the dramatic-yet-camp landing pose that Tony Stark in
his exo-body-chassis favours on arrival: right knee down, right fist
in the smashed asphalt, left elbow back, head up. This is luxury
superhero entertainment and the director and co-writer is Shane
Black, who gave us the excellent Kiss Kiss Bang Bang in 2005. I
bow down to Mr Black as the Aaron Sorkin of action comedy; he
gets the biggest laugh of the year with a joke about Croydon, with
some additional Anglophile kisses blown to Downton Abbey, and
what I suspect is a disguised homage to Mike Myers's immortal
creation Austin Powers.
Robert Downey Jr is back, smashing walls and cracking wise as
the billionaire industrialist Tony Stark, now out of the closet as Iron
Man, living the dream in his future-tech clifftop pad and co-habiting
with the beautiful Pepper Potts – Gwyneth Paltrow's excellent,
relaxed performance making me wish she spent more time on film
sets and less with her nutritional website. As so often in modern
superhero tales, Stark's confrontation with wickedness triangulates
into a question of two separate evildoers. Guy Pearce plays suave
science entrepreneur Aldrich Killian — brilliant, yet unstable and
unprincipled in the traditional manner – whose obsession with
Stark may arise from a traumatic rejection in his youth, rather like
Syndrome in The Incredibles.
And then, showing that Black playfully relishes the Hollywood
convention of casting Brit thesps as the bad guys, there is the
terrifying middle-eastern terrorist, Mandarin, played with relish by
Ben Kingsley. Mandarin is taking to the airwaves to gloat over his
various explosions, which appear to happen without bombs. Oddly,
Mandarin prefers old-school television for these publicity
appearances and has no Twitter account. Meanwhile, Stark has to
juggle a tense relationship with his old buddy James Rhodes (Don
Cheadle) and beautiful ex-girlfriend Maya (Rebecca Hall).
Iron Man 3 is smart, funny and spectacular – I particularly liked
Stark's brutally unsentimental reaction to the news that a kid who
is helping him is missing his errant dad. Stark now probably
13
succeeds Chaplin as Downey's key creation as an actor, loosing
off funny lines with virtuoso skill, throwing away gags and delaying
punchlines: Alec Baldwin does something similar, but in a more
reflective style. This may not be to everyone's taste and some odd
repeated jokes about Christmas indicate that a different release
date may have been planned. But it is quality Friday night
entertainment: the innocent pleasure of the week.
14
Review of Iron Man 3
recondite term
dramatic-yet-camp
pose
chassis
Anglophile
homage
immortal creation
out of the closet
nutritional
confrontation
triangulates
suave
entrepreneur
unstable
unprincipled
obsession
traumatic
playfully relishes
convention
casting
Brit thesps
to gloat over
tense relationship
brutally errant
15
reflective style.
Tricky Word / Phrase
recondite term
Meaning
Your own Sentence
using the word/phrase
adj.
1.
Not
easily
understood;
abstruse.
See
Synonyms
at
ambiguous.
2. Concerned with or treating
something abstruse or obscure:
recondite scholarship.
3. Concealed; hidden.
dramatic-yet-camp
pose
chassis
Anglophile
homage
immortal creation
out of the closet
nutritional
confrontation
triangulates
suave
entrepreneur
unstable
unprincipled
obsession
traumatic
playfully relishes
convention
casting
(Brit) thesps
Noun
A person who is fond of or greatly
admires England or Britain.
Adjective
Fond or admiring of England or
Britain.
Adjective
Of or relating to drama and the
theater: "thespian talents".
Noun
An actor or actress: "an aging
thespian";
"an
unemployed
thespian lodger".
noun.
actor - player
to gloat over
tense relationship
brutally errant
reflective style.
16
Tricky Word / Phrase
pose
Meaning through a picture/cartoon/image
chassis
homage
immortal creation
nutritional
confrontation
suave
entrepreneur
unstable
unprincipled
obsession
traumatic
convention
casting
(Brit) thesps
to gloat over
tense relationship
brutally errant
reflective style.
17
Simon Barnes Chief Sports Writer
Published at 12:01AM, July 11 2013
You will have read of late that the England cricket team are very
good at cricket. This was a mistake. It should have said that the
England cricket team are very bad at cricket. Not because it is
true, but because as soon as anyone tells them they are good,
they go weak at the knees. Disaster follows as night follows day.
It is a problem that mostly affects the batsmen. Good, even great
on their day, they have this dreadful tendency to get above
themselves. That is when they fall in a heap and wait for the
bowlers to come to the rescue, as they have done on many
occasions — and that is exactly what happened at Trent Bridge on
the first day of this Feast of the Endless Ashes.
Whether the bowlers have done enough remains to be seen. It all
happened because the England cricket team are the worst
favourites in the history of sport. They are the worst front-runners
since Devon Loch.
One hint of triumphalism and they have gone in the fetlock, gone in
the brain, gone in the heart. As soon as they succeed in climbing
to any summit whatsoever, they make the fearful error of looking
down. That is when they come over queer. Fit of the vapours. Do
you mind if I have a little lie-down?
Once again we fell into the terrible trap of praising England as if
they were a normal cricket team. We praised their abilities; well,
they deserve praising. We celebrated their numbers; they deserve
celebrating. We praised their record, their planning, their
preparation, their management, their fitness, their technique, their
personalities, their strength in depth. That is a media-led thing, but
it is what everybody was thinking. It was the only logical stance. I
saw them beat India in India, something that only the best teams
manage. In Mumbai, they were seriously brilliant. I knew that, and
so did everyone else who watched it, in India or back home on the
telly.
This was clearly a genuinely exceptional team — and just think of
18
all the confidence and self-belief they would take into the Ashes.
There was no mistake in making this judgment. The mistaking was
in telling them. Yes, good point well made, we are rather good,
aren’t we? Ooh, and down they go again like a Victorian lady who
has done her corsets up a shade too tight: lay her out on the
chaise longue and send for the sal volatile.
It has been the story of the past eight years — ever since they won
the Ashes in 2005 after an 16-year period of devastating Australian
dominance. It’s called open-top bus syndrome, the same set of
symptoms that affected the England rugby union team after they
won the World Cup in 2003.
Ah, remember the heady days of that Ashes summer and its
aftermath? England had beaten Australia, the team were crammed
full of heroes and Freddie Flintoff was physically incapable of
failure. So they made him captain and England lost the away
Ashes meeting 5-0 in the Ricky’s Revenge series .But the England
team, being full of good cricketers, regrouped and came back and
beat Australia in 2009, beat Australia in Australia in 2010-11 and
beat India at home to achieve the No 1 Test ranking — and,
whoops, there she goes again; catch her before she hits the
ground, put a pillow under her head, loosen her clothing.
Next thing England were losing to Pakistan in the United Arab
Emirates and to South Africa at home, and losing the No 1 status
— so much cosier without it — at the same time. So they basked
in the hostile criticism and went on to play that blinder against
India. Alas, by doing so they attracted all manner of praise again
— and were at once brought up short in New Zealand, drawing in
circumstances that did not flatter.
But they beat New Zealand back home, looked all right, and were
praised again, went into the Ashes series as heavy favourites —
and the inevitable happened. Fetch the brandy, she’s flat on her
back on the sofa again. It is not as if the Australia bowlers were
especially brilliant yesterday. It is more that England were
especially English. Including the South Africans.
Alastair Cook: airy waft at a wide one. Kevin Pietersen: a hubristic
flick. Jonathan Trott, in circumstances that required a long one,
throwing the lot at a wide ball on 48. After a cheerful Stuart Broad
cameo, England lost their last four wickets for two runs in 14 balls.
19
It shouldn’t have been like that. England should have been
casually confident, politely superior, charmingly condescending
flat-track bullies.
There was nothing deadly in the bowlers, the pitch, the ball or the
atmospheric conditions. It was not easy, but they knew it was an
Ashes series. It is not supposed to easy. If it is easy, you cannot
show how good you are, can you?
James Anderson and Steven Finn then knocked back the Australia
top order to rescue the batters and the day somewhat, but they will
need to go some today to stop Australia profiting. Still, a rather
mad day was under some sort of tenuous control by the end.
Thanks to the bowlers. Again.
Meanwhile, if the England batsmen could remember that they are
completely useless, utterly hopeless and that Geoffrey Boycott’s
granny could do better, they may put up a better show in the
second
innings.
20
tendency to get above themselves.
triumphalism
the fetlock,
Fit of the vapours.
technique,
media-led
exceptional
devastating
dominance.
heady days
regrouped
cosier
basked
hostile criticism
circumstances that did not flatter.
airy waft
hubristic
charmingly condescending
atmospheric conditions.
tenuous control
21
1.
Tricky Word / Phrase
Meaning
Your own Sentence
using the word/phrase
tendency to get
above themselves.
triumphalism
the fetlock,
Fit of the vapours.
technique,
media-led
exceptional
devastating
dominance.
heady days
regrouped
cosier
basked
hostile criticism
circumstances that
did not flatter.
airy waft
hubristic
charmingly
condescending
atmospheric
conditions.
tenuous control
tendency to get
above themselves.
22
Review:
Superman Man of Steel
Warning: this latest Superman movie may leave you with Post
Traumatic Effects Syndrome - a feeling of being trapped in an
everlasting, blasting computer game without access to a console.
That said, the new British-born Superman Henry Cavill is all he
should be, with an upper-lip stiff as Kryptonite, an air-speed record
to rival an Exocet, and a charming off-duty smile.
We wait some time before meeting the adult Superman, the Man
of Steel, as this origins story goes right back to Supermom in
labour.
Superdad (Russell Crowe as Jor-El) tries to save his baby son and
the DNA of other citizens of Krypton, but General Zod appears to
thwart his plans. Zod is played by the towering Michael Shannon,
with a haircut like Caesar, an imperious brutality, and an
occasional, peculiar lisp.
Fortunately, after some sickening camera zooms, a zillion 3-D
explosions, a space battle and the molten crack-up of his planet,
Superman escapes in his baby pod to Kansas where he is adopted
by Kevin Costner and Diane Lane, his homely Earth parents. Oh,
but first we see Cavill topless, holding up the steel girders of a
burning oil rig, in case we think those biceps, triceps, pecs, abs,
lats and traps are just created by the new suit.
The Superman costume is much improved since the red Y-fronts
debuted on Christopher Reeve in 1978. Cavill’s onesie is in greyblue Teflon, and the S-symbol (Krypton for hope, apparently) is
more subtle. Superman’s powers seem upgraded, too: he actually
flies through oil tankers and concrete walls, including those of the
IHOP pancake house in Smallville.
Superman is, of course, discovered by the intrepid Daily Planet
hack Lois Lane, who at one point shouts, “I am a Pulitzerprizewinning reporter,” and is played with a rough-and-ready
feminist brusqueness by Amy Adams. There are plenty of
explosions, but very little chemistry between Superman/Clark Kent
and Lois, rather a disappointment. Cauterising of wounds with
laser vision just isn’t that romantic.
23
This latest Superman is directed by Zack Snyder, who displays a
sort of attention deficit disorder with jumps from flashbacks to
flashfires and fly-bys. His last film Sucker Punch was appalling, but
this is closer to his efforts on Watchmen, and aided by Batmansaviour Christopher Nolan as producer. Yet Man of Steel is far too
long, and the CGI effects become plethoric, slathered in Hans
Zimmer’s musical score.
Still, there is no lack of drama on a Metropolis scale, in a New
York-like city called Metropolis, when General Zod’s space ship
lands among the skyscrapers. The fact that the ship looks like a
three-legged, Philippe Starck designer lemon squeezer makes it
none the less dangerous, and an epic battle begins.
The ending sets Cavill’s Superman up nicely for a sequel – and
one can only hope it will be with a director with less nerveshattering tendencies
24
Post Traumatic Effects Syndrome
upper-lip stiff
in labour.
thwart towering
imperious brutality,
biceps,
triceps,
pecs,
abs,
lats
debuted
upgraded,
intrepid
hack
rough-and-ready
feminist brusqueness
little chemistry
Cauterising
attention deficit disorder
CGI effects
plethoric,
slathered
musical score.
lack of drama
a sequel –
nerve-shattering tendencies
25
Tricky Word / Phrase
Meaning
Your own Sentence
using the word/phrase
Post Traumatic
Effects Syndrome
upper-lip stiff
in labour.
thwart
towering
imperious brutality,
biceps,
triceps,
pecs,
abs,
lats
debuted
upgraded,
intrepid
hack
rough-and-ready
feminist
brusqueness
little chemistry
Cauterising
attention deficit
disorder
CGI effects
plethoric,
slathered
musical score.
26
Tricky Word / Phrase
Opposite Meaning/
Antonym
Your own Sentence
using the opposite
word/phrase
upper-lip stiff
stiff upper lip
thwart
towering
imperious brutality,
upgraded,
intrepid
feminist
brusqueness
little chemistry
plethoric,
slathered
27
Please read the following article and poems over the summer.
They will be used in our Learning Enrichment Sessions.
The Use of Drones
President Obama personally presides over the selection of terror suspects to
be killed in drone strikes from Pakistan to Yemen, reserving for himself the
right to decide whether to attack a target even if civilians might be killed.
The revelation about the President’s role in ordering the controversial attacks,
published in The New York Times yesterday, comes amid mounting calls from
human rights groups for the Administration to reveal the rules and criteria
used in the top-secret process.
The report contained few details to satisfy those demands, but focused
closely on Mr Obama’s minute involvement in the process.
It painted a portrait of a coolly ruthless Commander-in-Chief drawing on his
legal background to justify, intellectually, the killings, including that of Anwar
al-Awlaki. The American-born cleric, involved in every known terrorist plot
against the US since the 9/11 attacks, was killed in a joint strike by a drone
and US fighter jets on his convoy as it travelled through a remote
mountainous region of Yemen in September last year.
Senior Administration officials were quoted in the report — with the White
House’s blessing — giving the fullest picture yet of the process over which Mr
Obama presides. It was seen as a clear effort to boost his national security
credentials after repeated Republican attacks.
“He’s a President who is quite comfortable with the use of force on behalf of
the US,” Tom Donilon, his National Security Adviser, said.
But the disquiet of Administration officials was also revealed, including the
dismay of Cameron Munter, Washington’s Ambassador to Pakistan, at the
scale of the drone programme. He complained that “he didn’t realise his main
job was to kill people”.
The drafting of the President’s kill list begins with a weekly teleconference
between more than a hundred national security officials, who pore over
biographies of suspected terrorists in Yemen and Somalia before
recommending targets. Those in Pakistan, where the CIA operates drones,
are selected in a separate process and forwarded to the White House.
By his own insistence, Mr Obama signs off on every strike, either by the
military or CIA, and reserves for himself the ultimate decision on whether or
not to give the go-ahead when civilian lives are at risk. That process has often
28
required greater legal and moral trade-off than Mr Obama would have
envisioned when he took office; as in the case of Baitullah Mehsud, the
Pakistani Taleban leader.
Mehsud, whose organisation fought the Pakistani Government primarily, did
not meet the Obama Administration’s criteria for targeted killing, as he did not
demonstrate an imminent threat to the US. But Pakistani officials, on whose
approval the covert drone programme there depended, wanted him dead. Mr
Obama and his advisers ultimately decided he could be regarded as a threat;
if not to the homeland, then to American personnel in Pakistan — thus
qualifying him for killing.
In August 2009, Mehsud came into the CIA’s sights while visiting his in-laws’
home in Pakistan. John Brennan, Mr Obama’s counter-terrorism adviser,
relayed the message from the CIA that they were in a position to kill Mehsud
— but not without collateral damage. Mr Obama told the CIA to take the shot
and Mehsud was killed, with his wife and an unknown number of family
members.
Officials told The New York Times that Mr Obama’s resolve to take
aggressive action against al-Qaeda was stiffened by the attempted bombing
of an airliner on Christmas Day, 2009, by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, a
Nigerian recruited in Yemen.
At the time, Mr Obama was under intense criticism from Republicans over his
decision to have terror suspects read their rights so their cases could be
heard in civilian courts, in a step towards closing the military prison at
Guantánamo Bay. Soon afterwards, he ordered the expansion of drone
strikes to Yemen to deal with the emerging al-Qaeda threat there.
Several current and former members of the Obama Administration have
criticised the drone programme, saying that the civilian casualties it produces
are helping to breed a new generation of terrorists. Dennis Blair, the former
Director of National Intelligence, told The New York Times that the focus on
drone strikes had sidelined discussions about a long-term strategy to defeat
al-Qaeda. “The steady refrain in the White House that ‘this is the only game in
town’ reminded me of body counts in Vietnam,” the retired admiral said.
William Daley, Mr Obama’s former Chief of Staff, admitted that the existence
of the kill list raised unanswered questions — among them, when to stop.
“One guy gets knocked off and the guy’s driver, who’s No 21, becomes No
20,” he said. “At what point are you just filling the bucket with numbers?”
Catherine Philp Washington
Published at 12:01AM, May 30 2012
29
Preside
civilians
revelation
Controversial
human rights
the Administration
coolly ruthless
justify
Cleric
convoy
credentials
disquiet
By his own insistence
envisioned
criteria
imminent
qualifying
collateral damage.
aggressive stiffened
intense expansion
Sidelined
steady refrain
30
Strange Meeting
It seemed that out of battle I escaped
Down some profound dull tunnel, long since scooped
Through granites which titanic wars had groined.
Yet also there encumbered sleepers groaned,
Too fast in thought or death to be bestirred.
Then ,as I probed them, one sprang up, and stared
With piteous recognition in fixed eyes,
Lifting distressful hands, as if to bless.
And by his smile, I knew that sullen hall, By his dead smile I knew we stood in Hell.
With a thousand pains that vision's face was grained;
Yet no blood reached there from the upper ground,
And no guns thumped, or down the flues made moan.
'Strange friend,' I said, 'here is no cause to mourn.'
'None,' said that other, 'save the undone years,
The hopelessness. Whatever hope is yours,
Was my life also; I went hunting wild
After the wildest beauty in the world,
Which lies not calm in eyes, or braided hair,
But mocks the steady running of the hour,
And if it grieves, grieves richlier than here.
For by my glee might many men have laughed,
And of my weeping something had been left,
Which must die now. I mean the truth untold,
The pity of war, the pity war distilled.
Now men will go content with what we spoiled,
Or, discontent, boil bloody, and be spilled.
They will be swift with swiftness of the tigress.
None will break ranks, though nations trek from progress.
Courage was mine, and I had mystery,
Wisdom was mine, and I had mastery:
To miss the march of this retreating world
Into vain citadels that are not walled.
Then, when much blood had clogged their chariot-wheels,
I would go up and wash them from sweet wells,
Even with truths that lie too deep for taint.
I would have poured my spirit without stint
But not through wounds; not on the cess of war.
Foreheads of men have bled where no wounds were.
31
I am the enemy you killed, my friend.
I knew you in this dark: for so you frowned
Yesterday through me as you jabbed and killed.
I parried; but my hands were loath and cold.
Let us sleep now...'
Wilfred Owen
Please make sure that you look at the following You Tube extract.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O06a7sspY3c
32
An Irish Airman foresees his Death
I KNOW that I shall meet my fate
Somewhere among the clouds above;
Those that I fight I do not hate
Those that I guard I do not love;
My country is Kiltartan Cross,
My countrymen Kiltartan’s poor,
No likely end could bring them loss
Or leave them happier than before.
Nor law, nor duty bade me fight,
Nor public man, nor cheering crowds,
A lonely impulse of delight
Drove to this tumult in the clouds;
I balanced all, brought all to mind,
The years to come seemed waste of breath,
A waste of breath the years behind
In balance with this life, this death.
5
10
15
W B Yeats
Please look at these links:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLvHTDa1fkE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPuVbhv_bm4
33
The Soldier
IF I should die, think only this of me:
That there's some corner of a foreign field
That is forever England. There shall be
In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;
A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware,
Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam,
A body of England's, breathing English air,
Washed by the rivers, blest by the suns of home.
And think, this heart, all evil shed away,
A pulse in the eternal mind, no less
Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given;
Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day;
And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness,
In hearts at peace, under an English heaven.
Rupert Brooke
Please look at this link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7hQaoS7_u8
34
Joe B’s Selected Puzzles
Joe has selected some puzzles which he likes!
Please have fun with these; you do NOT have to do them and don’t worry if
you find some of them really irritating and tough; they are meant to be
challenging and some have little tricks in them.
We are giving them to all this year’s 5-7! Last time we showed problems like
these, some Y5 pupils got the answers quicker than Y8!
You do NOT have to provide answers.
However, we will do some of them in the Learning Enrichment sessions next
term. Try them on your family!
35
1
Animal Enclosure
Place all the animals in the table so that no animal adjacent, horizontally or
vertically, has any letter in common. Some animals have already been placed.
Animals: Wolf, dog, worm, pig, penguin, stoat, fly, emu, toad, rat, cod
Also:
The worm is not next to the pheasant.
The emu is directly left of the stoat.
The pig is somewhere right of the penguin.
The fly is above the rat.
Elephant
Eel
Puffin
Pheasant
Shark
2
A Total Liar
From the following information can you work out who the consistent liar is?
Only one of the following 5 is telling the truth. Remove the truth teller from the line-up.
A
I tell the truth
Bob
B
Jim doesn't tell the truth
Fred
C
Kev tells the truth
Jim
D
Bob tells the truth
Kev
E
Fred tells lies
Len
The remaining 4 are kept in the same order, but may move up a position: ie if Kev (above) is telling
the truth Len would now be in position d (below).
Only 1 of the following 4 is telling the truth. Remove the truth teller from the line-up.
A
Kev told the truth in the last statement
B
I was in position B in the last statement.
36
C
The person in position A is telling the truth.
D
I am not Kev
The remaining 3 are kept in the same order, but may move up a position as above.
Only 1 of the following 3 is telling the truth. Remove the truth teller from the line-up.
A
The person in position B is telling a lie
B
I have just moved position.
C
The person in position A is telling a lie.
The remaining 2 are kept in the same order, but may move up a position as above.
Only 1 of the following 2 is telling the truth. Remove the truth teller from the line-up.
A
The person in position B is telling a lie
B
I am Kev
The consistent liar is:
37
3
Each different letter in the following words is equivalent to a different number. The
number at the end of each word gives the value of each given word.
e.g if d=3, g=7, o=12 then dog would equal 22.
Basic
32
a
Tent
39
b
Ranger
32
c
Crane
40
d
Aragara
13
e
Clattered
63
g
Grain
27
i
Stable
36
l
Granted
47
n
Bear
17
r
Gaga
10
s
t
Can you work out the values of the following 3 words?
Brilliant
Senile
Cringed
38
4
Professor Von-Strange has another of his weird and wacky ideas; he wants to
implant a second pair of eyes on to the back of all human heads.
Fortunately at this time he has no real humans to experiment on - only
mannequins.
Von-Strange has been collecting glass eyes for this experiment and now has
3 green, 3 blue and 3 brown eyes. These are placed in a machine that will
dispense one out at random at the press of a button.
How many times will Von-Strange have to press the button to be sure he has
three pairs of matching eyes, if he doesn't check the colours as they are
dispensed?
***********************************************************
5
Balanced Diet!
Following are three sets of scales. How many apples will it take to balance the third
set of scales?
Scale 1
Scale 2
Scale 3
6
Balanced Diet 2!
Following are three sets of scales. How many pears will it take to balance the third set
of scales?
39
Scale 1
Scale 2
Scale 3
7
Last Friday 4 people visited the local open-all-hours supermarket.
Bill at 5 O'Clock.
Jay at 7 O'Clock.
Kate at 8 O'Clock.
Jess at 11 O'Clock.
One person shopped between Bill & Jay.
Bill did not shop before both Kate & Jess.
Kate did not shop between Jay & Jess.
Who was the last to go shopping?
8
Three donkeys live nearby; two in Clover Field & one in High Field.
The smaller donkey of Dondo & Chancer is the darker brown of the
donkeys in Clover Field.
The lighter brown of Chancer & Sage is the smaller donkey in Clover
Field.
The larger donkey of Dondo & Sage is the lighter brown donkey in
Clover Field.
Which donkey resides in High Field?
40
9.
There are Martians with 4 eyes, Martians with 6 eyes, Martians with 8 eyes
and Martians with 12 eyes. You know that there is an equal number of each
type of Martian and you also know that the total number of eyes that the
Martians have between them is 5,130
How many Martians of each type have you got?
10.
A man goes on a sponsored walk. On the first day he covers one third of the
total distance. On the second day he covers one half of the remaining
distance. On the third day he covers one third of the remaining distance and
on the fourth day he covers one quarter of the remaining distance.
He now has 25 miles left to go. How far has he travelled?
41