Your Chance of a Greater Good

It was an early morning. Mr. Khanna was getting ready for his office when His wife asked him to put just a few clothes out for a laundry today. He asked his wife, “Why?” She told him, “Because our maid is planning to visit her Grand Daughter today, she will have to leave early to catch the bus and she will not be coming for two days”. Mr. Khanna asked her, “Where is she going for two days?” She told him, “Tomorrow is the Birthday of her Grand Daughter, so she is going to spend time with her and celebrate.” Mr. Khanna told her, “Ok, no problem”.

But then his wife asked him, “Oh one more thing! Should I give her Rs. 500 as a bonus?” Mr. Khanna said, “Why now? We will give her during the Christmas”. His Wife said, “Well, She is hardly able to manage her expenses and she is visiting her Grand Daughter, so not sure how she will be able to manage as these days inflation is high. I feel she can use a little bonus”.

Mr. Khanna said, “Oh dear, I feel you are getting too sensitive and worrying too much”. His wife said, “Don’t Worry, I will cancel our plan to go out and have a pizza, that way we can give her extra Rs. 500 as a bonus”. Mr. Khanna said with a smile, “You are ready to take the pizza out of my mouth… Well, do as you feel if you willing to let go of 6 sliced pizza, it’s fine”.

So, after a couple of days, when the maid had returned, she was cleaning the floor. Mr. Khanna was sitting on his chair. He asked her, “Did you enjoy a good time with your Grand Daughter?” The Maid replied, “Yes Sir, I enjoyed a lot, I spent whole Rs. 500 in 2 days!” Mr. Khanna said, “Oh really! How did you spend Rs. 500 so quickly?”

The Maid replied with a happy smile, “For Rs. 150, I bought a Dress for my Grand Daughter, bought sweets for Rs. 50, Paid Rs. 100 for Bus Tickets, bought bangles for Rs. 50 for my daughter, for my son in law I bought a belt for Rs. 50 and last Rs. 100, I gave to my Grand Daughter to purchase pencil and papers for her school”.

Mr. Khanna was surprised. He started thinking about the 6 slices of pizza. Each slice started hitting in his mind. He started comparing the cost of the pizza with his maid’s expense. He was lost in thoughts that how she bought something for everyone in her family and spent a quality time with them for her Grand Daughter’s birthday. And all these just for the cost of the pizza. He realized something that day.

Moral: We have a right to do what makes us happy and spend our hard earned money as we like for our happiness. No one has right to envy at how you spend money earned by your hard work. But, if you feel you had wasted your hard earned money for something to gain nothing even if it was occasionally, you have a chance to do something of a greater good for someone by following above story. You may not be obligated to do so, but your little goodwill can light up someone’s life in many ways.

The Last Delivery

There was a rich couple who was throwing a big new year party at their house. So they went shopping at the market where everything was of high cost and fixed price. They wanted to maintain their level of standard so didn’t mind paying for it. After purchasing all they needed, they called a porter to carry everything and drop it at their home. The porter who came was of an old age, not very healthy looking, his clothes were torn, looked as if he wasn’t even able to meet his daily needs.

They asked the porter about the charges for delivering their goods at their home. The old porter quoted just a $20, a well below the market rate for delivering goods at couple’s home in his cart. Yet, the couple argued and bargained with the porter and finally settled for $15. The porter was struggling to make even one time’s meal so he needed anything he can earn.

The couple was very happy thinking how well they bargained with the poor porter and paid him $15 in advance and left after giving the porter their address for delivery. They reached their home and hour passed, two hours passed, but the porter still hadn’t delivered their stuff.

The wife started to get angry at her husband, “I always tell you to not to trust such person still, you never listen to me. Such person who is not even able to earn to feed himself for 1 time in a day, you handed him everything we purchased for our big party. I am sure instead of delivering at our home, he must have disappeared with everything. We must immediately go back to the market to inquire and then to the police station to file the complaint against him”.

They both left towards the market. On their way near the market, they saw another porter. They stopped him to inquire about the old porter and noticed that he was carrying their stuff in his cart! The angry wife asked him, “Where is that old thief? This is our stuff and he supposed to deliver it. It seems you poor thieves are stealing our stuff and going to sell it”.

The porter replied, “Madam, Please calm down. That poor old man was sick since last month. He wasn’t able to earn enough to even have a single meal of the day. He was on the way to deliver your stuff, but he who was hungry, sick, couldn’t gather the strength to go any further in this heat of the noon”. He fell down and while handing me $15, his last words were, “I had taken an advance for this delivery, you take this and please deliver to this address”.

“Madam, He was hungry, he was poor, but he was an honest man. I was just on the way to complete old man’s last delivery at your home”, the porter said. Upon hearing this, the husband had tears in his eyes, but the wife felt so ashamed, she had no courage to see up in her husband’s eyes.

Moral: Honesty has no class. Respect everyone regardless of their financial and social status. It’s always a good deed to give the one who deserves.

The Reflection of Your Actions

A man and his son were going through the forest hills. Suddenly, the boy fell down on the trail and screamed with a pain, “Aah!” Surprisingly, he heard the same voice from the mountain, “Aah!” Curiously, the boy shouted, “Who is this?” But the voice replied the same, “Who is this?” He got angry, and shouted again, “You are stupid!” And again the voice replied the same, “You are stupid!”

Annoyed By this, the boy asked his father, “Father, What is going on? Who is this?” The Father replied, “Son, Pay attention”. The father shouted, “You are very nice”. And the voice responded the same, “You are very nice!” The father again shouted, “Thank you”. And the voice again responded the same, “Thank you!” The son was very surprised but he still could not understand what was happening.

The father explained, “Son, people call it resonance, but this is the truth of the life. The life is a reflection of your actions. What you will give to others, you will receive the same in return.”

Moral: What we give to others, life gives us the same in return. Your life is not an accident or a coincidence, but it is the shadow of your actions.

Inspirational Story: The Empty Chair

A man's daughter had asked the local pastor to come and pray with her father. When the pastor arrived, he found the man lying in bed with his head propped up on two pillows and an empty chair beside his bed. The priest assumed that the old fellow had been informed of his visit.

"I guess you were expecting me," he said.

"No, who are you?"

"I'm the new associate at your local church," the pastor replied.

"When I saw the empty chair, I figured you knew I was going to show up."

"Oh yeah, the chair," said the bedridden man. "Would you mind closing the door?"

Puzzled, the pastor shut the door.

"I've never told anyone this, not even my daughter," said the man.

"But all of my life I have never known how to pray. At church I used to hear the pastor talk about prayer, but it always went right over my head.."

"I abandoned any attempt at prayer," the old man continued, "until one day about four years ago my best friend said to me, 'Joe, prayer is just a simple matter of having a conversation with Jesus. Here's what I suggest. Sit down on a chair, place an empty chair in front of you, and in faith see Jesus on the chair. It's not spooky because he promised, 'I'll be with you always.' Then just speak to him and listen in the same way you're doing with me right now."

"So, I tried it and I've liked it so much that I do it a couple of hours every day. I'm careful, though. If my daughter saw me talking to an empty chair, she'd either have a nervous breakdown or send me off to the funny farm."

The pastor was deeply moved by the story and encouraged the old guy to continue on the journey. Then he prayed with him, and returned to the church.

Two nights later the daughter called to tell the pastor that her daddy had died that afternoon.

"Did he seem to die in peace?" he asked.

"Yes, when I left the house around two o'clock, he called me over to his bedside, told me one of his corny jokes, and kissed me on the cheek. When I got back from the store an hour later, I found him dead. But there was something strange, in fact, beyond strange-kinda weird.

Apparently, just before Daddy died, he leaned over and rested his head on a chair beside the bed."

-Author Unknown

Top 100 Random Fun Facts

If you’re bored and have ten minutes to kill, then why not check out this awesome list of the top one hundred most random and funny facts.

1. Banging your head against a wall burns 150 calories an hour.
2. In the UK, it is illegal to eat mince pies on Christmas Day!
3. Pteronophobia is the fear of being tickled by feathers!
4. When hippos are upset, their sweat turns red.
5. A flock of crows is known as a murder.
6. “Facebook Addiction Disorder” is a mental disorder identified by Psychologists.
7. The average woman uses her height in lipstick every 5 years.
8. 29th May is officially “Put a Pillow on Your Fridge Day“.
9. Cherophobia is the fear of fun.
10. Human saliva has a boiling point three times that of regular water.
11. If you lift a kangaroo’s tail off the ground it can’t hop.
12. Bananas are curved because they grow towards the sun.
13. Billy goats urinate on their own heads to smell more attractive to females.
14. The person who invented the Frisbee was cremated and made into frisbees after he died!
15. During your lifetime, you will produce enough saliva to fill two swimming pools.
16. If Pinokio says “My Nose Will Grow Now”, it would cause a paradox. Details here.
17. Polar bears can eat as many as 86 penguins in a single sitting. (If they lived in the same place)
18. King Henry VIII slept with a gigantic axe beside him.
19. Movie trailers were originally shown after the movie, which is why they were called “trailers”.
20. An eagle can kill a young deer and fly away with it.
21. Heart attacks are more likely to happen on a Monday.
22. If you consistently fart for 6 years & 9 months, enough gas is produced to create the energy of an atomic bomb!
23. in 2015, more people were killed from injuries caused by taking a selfie than by shark attacks.
24. The top six foods that make your fart are beans, corn, bell peppers, cauliflower, cabbage and milk!
25. There is a species of spider called the Hobo Spider.
26. A lion’s roar can be heard from 5 miles away!
27. A toaster uses almost half as much energy as a full-sized oven.
28. A baby spider is called a spiderling.
29. You cannot snore and dream at the same time.
30. The following can be read forward and backwards: Do geese see God?
31. A baby octopus is about the size of a flea when it is born.
32. A sheep, a duck and a rooster were the first passengers in a hot air balloon.
33. In Uganda, 50% of the population is under 15 years of age.
34. Hitler’s mother considered abortion but the doctor persuaded her to keep the baby.
35. Arab women can initiate a divorce if their husbands don’t pour coffee for them.
36. Recycling one glass jar saves enough energy to watch TV for 3 hours.
37. Smearing a small amount of dog feces on an insect bite will relieve the itching and swelling.
38. Catfish are the only animals that naturally have an odd number of whiskers.
39. Facebook, Skype and Twitter are all banned in China.
40. 95% of people text things they could never say in person.
41. The Titanic was the first ship to use the SOS signal.
42. In Poole, ‘Pound World’ went out of business because of a store across the road called ’99p Stores’, which was selling the same products but for just 1 pence cheaper! Read More.
43. About 8,000 Americans are injured by musical instruments each year.
44. The French language has seventeen different words for ‘surrender’.
45. Nearly three percent of the ice in Antarctic glaciers is penguin urine.
46. Bob Dylan’s real name is Robert Zimmerman.
47. A crocodile can’t poke its tongue out :p
48. Sea otters hold hands when they sleep so they don’t drift away from each other.
49. A small child could swim through the veins of a blue whale.
50. Bin Laden’s death was announced on 1st May 2011. Hitler’s death was announced on 1st May 1945.
51. J.K. Rowling chose the unusual name ‘Hermione’ so young girls wouldn’t be teased for being nerdy!
52. Hewlett-Packard’s name was decided in a coin toss.
53. The total number of steps in the Eiffel Tower are 1665.
54. The Pokémon Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan are based off of Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan.
55. An arctophile is a person who collects, or is very fond of teddy bears.
56. Pirates wore earrings because they believed it improved their eyesight.
57. Los Angeles’s full name is “El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de los Angeles de Porciuncula.”
58. The Twitter bird actually has a name – Larry.
59. Octopuses have four pairs of arms.
60. In England, in the 1880’s, “Pants” was considered a dirty word.
61. It snowed in the Sahara desert for 30 minutes on the 18th February 1979.
62. Every human spent about half an hour as a single cell.
63. If you leave everything to the last minute… it will only take a minute.
64. Unlike many other big cats, snow leopards are not aggressive towards humans. There has never been a verified snow leopard attack on a human being.
65. The first alarm clock could only ring at 4am.
66. Birds don’t urinate.
67. Dying is illegal in the Houses of Parliaments – This has been voted as the most ridiculous law by the British citizens.
68. The most venomous jellyfish in the world is named the Irukandji and is smaller than your fingernail.
69. The 20th of March is known as Snowman Burning Day!
70. Slugs have 4 noses.
71. Panphobia is the fear of everything… which is a pretty unlucky phobia to have.
72. An apple, potato, and onion all taste the same if you eat them with your nose plugged.
73. The front paws of a cat are different from the back paws. They have five toes on the front but only four on the back.
74. A company in Taiwan makes dinnerware out of wheat, so you can eat your plate!
75. The average person walks the equivalent of twice around the world in a lifetime.
76. The Bible is the most shoplifted book in the world.
77. Marco Hort has the world record for fitting 264 straws in his mouth at once!
78. Mel Blanc – the voice of Bugs Bunny – was allergic to carrots.
79. California has issued 6 drivers licenses to people named Jesus Christ.
80. According to Genesis 1:20-22 the chicken came before the egg.
81. In the Caribbean there are oysters that can climb trees.
82. Worms eat their own poo.
83. Squirrels forget where they hide about half of their nuts.
84. Over 1000 birds a year die from smashing into windows.
85. The inventor of the Waffle Iron did not like waffles.
86. George W. Bush was once a cheerleader.
87. In total, there are 205 bones in the skeleton of a horse.
88. In 1895 Hampshire police handed out the first ever speeding ticket, fining a man for doing 6mph!
89. Each year, there are more than 40,000 toilet related injuries in the United States.
90. Strawberries can also be yellow, green or white. This also affects the taste and some have a similar taste to pineapples.
91. Mewtwo is a clone of the Pokémon Mew, yet it comes before Mew in the Pokédex.
92. Every year more than 2500 left-handed people are killed from using right-handed products.
93. Madonna suffers from garophobia which is the fear of thunder.
94. China has more English speakers than the United States.
95. Samuel L. Jackson requested to have a purple light saber in Star Wars in order for him to accept the part as Mace Windu.
96. Paraskavedekatriaphobia is the fear of Friday the 13th!
97. Kleenex tissues were originally used as filters in gas masks.
98. In 1998, Sony accidentally sold 700,000 camcorders that had the technology to see through people’s clothes. These cameras had special lenses that use infrared light, which allowed you to see through some types of clothing.
99. During your lifetime, you will spend around thirty-eight days brushing your teeth.
100. Ronald McDonald is “Donald McDonald” in Japan because it makes pronunciation easier for the Japanese. In Singapore he’s known as “Uncle McDonald”.

Source: https://www.thefactsite.com/2016/06/100-strange-but-true-facts.html/4

30 fun facts about the English language

Over 840 million people speak English as a first or second language, which makes it the second most-spoken language right after Mandarin. It is an official language of a whopping 67 countries as well as 27 non-sovereign entities such as Hong Kong or Puerto Rico.

The English language is as fascinating as it is popular and obviously has its own history and quirks. Instead of only focusing on grammar and other theoretical aspects, don’t forget to enjoy its more entertaining side. To help you with this task, we have compiled a list of thirty fun and interesting facts about the English language. Continue reading to learn them and get ready to impress your friends with your newly gained knowledge!

1. English actually originates from what is now called north west Germany and the Netherlands.
2. The phrase “long time no see” is believed to be a literal translation of a Native American or Chinese phrase as it is not grammatically correct.
3. “Go!” is the shortest grammatically correct sentence in English.
4. The original name for butterfly was flutterby.
5. About 4,000 words are added to the dictionary each year.
6. The two most common words in English are I and you.
7. 11% of the entire English language is just the letter E.
8. The English language is said to be one of the happiest languages in the world - oh, and the word ‘happy’ is used 3 times more often than the word ‘sad’!
9. 1/4 of the world’s population speaks at least some English.
10. The US doesn’t have an official language.
11. It is the only major language that doesn’t have any organization guiding it - as opposed to the French Académie française, the Spanish Real Academia Española and the German Rat für deutsche Rechtschreibung. These organizations are responsible for controlling the evolution of their respective language in terms of usage, vocabulary, and grammar.
12. The most common adjective used in English is ‘good’.
13. The most commonly used noun is ‘time’.
14. The word ‘set’ has the highest number of definitions.
15. Month, orange, silver, and purple do not rhyme with any other word.
16. The English language contains a lot of contronyms - words that can have contradictory meanings depending on context. You can read a list here!
17. Over 80% of the information stored on computers worldwide is in English.
18. Words that are used to fill in time when speaking, such as ‘like’ or ‘basically’, are called crutch words (and should best be avoided!)
19. English is the official language of 67 countries.
20. 90% of English text consists of just 1000 words.
21. There are 24 different dialects of English in the US.
22. The word ‘lol’ was added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2011.
23. What is known as British accent came to use in and around London around the time of the American Revolution.
24. Shakespeare invented many words, such as birthplace, blushing, undress, torture and many more which you will find here!
25. The word ‘Goodbye’ originally comes from an Old English phrase meaning ‘god be with you’.
26. Etymologically, Great Britain means ‘great land of the tattooed’.
27. There are seven ways to spell the sound ‘ee’ in English. This sentence contains all of them: ‘He believed Caesar could see people seizing the seas’.
28. Many English words have changed their meaning over time - for example, ‘awful’ used to mean ‘inspiring wonder’ and was a short version of ‘full of awe’, whereas ‘nice’ used to mean ‘silly’
29. The first English dictionary was written in 1755.
30. The oldest English word that is still in use is ‘town’.

5W + 1H, Yes/No Question and Tag Questions

1. 5W + 1H    : An Effective Approach to Collecting and Presenting Key

A. Information
One of the most universally used tools for information gathering, analysis, organization and presentation is the 5W1H framework. This method is used across a range of professions, from process analysts to quality engineers to journalists, to understand and explain virtually any problem or issue. The same method can be used to organize the writing of reports, articles, white papers, and even whole books.

B. The Basic ApproachThis approach seeks to answer six basic questions in gathering information about nearly any subject: Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How. Sometimes, depending on the context, a second “H” might be used: How Much. In journalism, news story writing requires that the questions to be answered take a basic form:
1. Who is it about?
2. What is it about?
3. When did it happen?
4. Where did it happen?
5. Why did it happen?
6. How did it happen?

Applying the 5W1H framework to other types of writing or investigation takes some interpretation. The order in which the answers to the questions is presented may vary, but the “what” is usually addressed first.

– WhatIn journalism, the “what” identifies an event and is often stated in the “lead (or lede),” the first paragraph of a news story. The “what” is the primary subject, the reason the information is being gathered and presented. Apart from journalism, it may be stated in a title and in a purpose statement. The “what” may need to be defined, a process that may comprise the remainder of a document. Example :    What, specifically,…?

– Who
A news story identifies who an event involves. The “who” may be part of the lede, and could be the reason the story is news worthy. In other contexts, the “who” identifies the persons or groups the “what” concerns. It might describe the audience of a document, or those who are affected by a policy, process or procedure. Example :    Who benefits?

– When
A key part of a news story is describing when an event happened. Answering the “when” indicates any time sensitivity related to the “what.” It may be part of an instruction regarding the proper point at which a action should be taken. Sometimes it may be part of an “If…then” scenario of conditional action. Example :    When will it start/end?

– Where
A news story reports the location at which an event took place. The “where” describes a geographical or physical location of importance to the “what.” At times, the where may be less important than other factors. Example :    Where are you?

– Why
The “why” is usually the most neglected of the questions in the framework. News stories often lack information from authoritative sources to explain the “why.” In other contexts, the “why” may be considered irrelevant, particularly when describing a policy or procedure decreed by an organizational authority. Efforts to ascertain and explain the “why” may help those affected be more accepting of any change the “what” requires. Example :    Why does that happen?

– How
For journalists, determining how an event took place may be nearly as challenging as explaining the “why,” although more effort is usually put to satisfying the question. When describing policies, processes or procedures, the how may be the most important part of the effort. A considerable appetite for understanding how to do something can be found across audiences. Sometimes effort focuses on the “what” when more work should be devoted to explaining the “how.” Example :    How much?

Conclusion:
The 5W1H framework can be applied to any topic at any level of granularity to gather, analyze and present information from the simplest to the most complex. Attributed to a Rudyard Kipling poem, 5W1H is the place to start and may be enough to take you to the finish.

2. Yes/No QuestionDefinition:    An interrogative construction that expects an answer of “yes” or “no.” Contrast  with wh- question.
Examples and Observations:
Homer: Are you an angel?
Moe    : Yes, Homer. All us angels wear Farrah slacks.
(The Simpsons)

“Directing a movie is a very overrated job, we all know it. You just have to say ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ What else do you do? Nothing. ‘Maestro, should this be red?’ Yes. ‘Green?’ No. ‘More extras?’ Yes. ‘More lipstick?’ No. Yes. No. Yes. No. That’s directing.” (Judi Dench as Liliane La Fleur in Nine, 2009).Principal McGee: Are you just going to stand there all day?
Sonny: No ma’am. I mean, yes ma’am. I mean, no ma’am.
Principal McGee: Well, which is it?
Sonny: Um, no ma’am.
(Eve Arden and Michael Tucci in Grease, 1978)

The yes-no question is found in three varieties: the inverted question, the typical exemplar of this kind; the inverted question offering an alternative (which may require more than a simple yes or no for an answer); and the tag question:
Are you going? (inversion)
Are you staying or going? (inversion with alternative)
You’re going, aren’t you? (tag)

3. Tag Questions
in a tag question, the speaker makes a statement, but is not completely certain of the truth, so he or she uses a tag question to verify the previous statement. Sentences using tag questions should have the main clause separated from the tag by a comma. The sentence will always end a question mark.Example:
1. There are only twenty-eight days in February, aren’t there?
2. It’s raining now, isn’t it?
3. The boys don’t have class tomorrow, do they?
4. You and i talked with the professor yesterday, didn’t we?
5. Jill and Joe have been to Mexico, haven’t they?

Reference: 1, TOEFL: Preparation Guide by Michael A. Pyle, M. A. and Mary Ellen Munoz Page, M. A.