the willow

Dear students,

I planned to give you a quiz this week, but since you had a lot of tasks to do, and as you suggested as well, I postponed it. You also wish that this week you had an on line class instead of classroom meeting. I, then, decided to give you this material, which emphasizes on reading comprehension and passive voice. I hope that you do what you have to do well. Good luck and Happy New Year!

Reading and Vocabulary Section

A. Read the following text without a dictionary, and try to get the message. Don’t worry if you don’t know some of the words.

The willows all have abundant watery sap, bark which is heavily charged with salicylic acid, soft, usually pliant, tough wood, slender branches and large, fibrous, often stoloniferous roots. The roots are remarkable for their toughness, size, and tenacity of life, and roots readily grow from aerial parts of the plant.

The leaves are typically elongated but may also be round to oval, frequently with a serrated margin. All the buds are lateral; no absolutely terminal bud is ever formed. The buds are covered by a single scale, enclosing at its base two minute opposite buds, alternately arranged, with two, small, scale-like, fugacious, opposite leaves. The leaves are alternate, except the first pair which falls when about an inch long. They are simple, feather-veined, and typically linear-lanceolate. Usually they are serrate, rounded at base, acute or acuminate. The leaf petioles are short, the stipules often very conspicuous, looking like tiny round leaves and sometimes remaining for half the summer. On some species, however, they are small, inconspicuous, and fugacious (soon falling). In color the leaves show a great variety of greens, ranging from yellowish to bluish.

Willows are dioecious with male and female flowers appearing as catkins on different plants; the catkins are produced early in the spring, often before the leaves, or as the new leaves open. The staminate (male) flowers are without either calyx or corolla; they consist simply of stamens, varying in number from two to ten, accompanied by a nectariferous gland and inserted on the base of a scale which is itself borne on the rachis of a drooping raceme called a catkin, or ament. This scale is oval and entire and very hairy. The anthers are rose colored in the bud but orange or purple after the flower opens, they are two-celled and the cells open longitudinally. The filaments are threadlike, usually pale yellow, and often hairy.

The pistillate (female) flowers are also without calyx or corolla; and consist of a single ovary accompanied by a small flat nectar gland and inserted on the base of a scale which is likewise borne on the rachis of a catkin. The ovary is one-celled, the style two-lobed, and the ovules numerous.

The fruit is a small, one-celled, two-valved, cylindrical beaked capsule containing numerous tiny (0.1 mm) seeds. The seeds are furnished with long, silky, white hairs, which allow the fruit to be widely dispersed by the wind.

Almost all willows take root very readily from cuttings or where broken branches lie on the ground. There are a few exceptions, including the goat willow and peach leaf willow. One famous example of such growth from cuttings involves the poet Alexander Pope, who begged a twig from a parcel tied with twigs sent from Spain to Lady Suffolk. This twig was planted and thrived, and legend has it that all of England's weeping willows are descended from this first one.

Willows are often planted on the borders of streams so that their interlacing roots may protect the bank against the action of the water. Frequently the roots are much larger than the stem which grows from them.

B. Find the words from the text that have similar meaning to the words below.

1. plenty

2. smooth

3. slim

4. big

5. often

6. one

7. small

8. pink

9. also

10. supplied

C. Answer the following questions relating to the text.

1. How many colors are mentioned in the text? What are they?
2. What is the difference between red and reddish?
3. Mention five adjectives you find in the text.
4. What part of speech is ‘toughness’? Can you mention three more words ending with –ness?
5. What part of speech is ‘readily’? Can you mention three more words ending with –ly?

Grammar Section

Change the following passive forms into active ones

1. No absolutely terminal bud is ever formed.
2. The buds are covered by a single scale.
3. The catkins are produced early in the spring.
4. The seeds are furnished with long, silky, white hairs.
5. Willows are often planted on the borders of streams.

healthy diet: Omega 3 Fatty Acids

HEALTHY DIET: OMEGA 3 FATTY ACIDS

Reading and Vocabulary Section

A. Read the following text without a dictionary, and try to get the message. Don’t worry if you don’t know some of the words.

Omega 3 fatty acids have recently gained a lot of attention from media, health practitioners and food distributors alike; but what exactly are omega 3 fatty acids, and what are the nutritional benefits of incorporating fatty acids into a regular diet? The following nutrition facts regarding omega 3 benefits can help you understand precisely what the omega 3 foods health buzz is all about.
Omega-3 fatty acids are considered essential fatty acids meaning that they can only be obtained from food sources in your diet and cannot be manufactured from other nutrients by the body. In other words, if you do not obtain sufficient quantities directly from foods containing omega 3 fatty acids, your body cannot compensate for this deficiency in your diet. Omega 3, as well as Omega 6 fatty acids, are considered polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). Eating a diet that balances the quantities of these two PUFAs is a crucial part of maintaining health including normal growth and development as well as healthy brain functioning (since omega 3 acids tend to be concentrated in the brain.)
A healthy balance of these essential fatty acids involves maintaining a ratio of one omega 3 fatty acid to every four omega 6 fatty acids. The average American diet is believed to contain exceeding amounts of omega 6 fatty acids, with a typical ratio of one mega 3 to every 11-30 omega 6 fatty acids. This has made the intake of sufficient levels of omega 3 fatty acids an important focus for the American diet.
There are three main types of omega 3 fatty acids that are derived from foods and that are used by the body: EPA (Eicosapentaenoic Acid), DHA (Docosahexaenoic Acid), and ALA (Alpha-Linolenic Acid). EPA and DHA Omega 3 fatty acids are most readily absorbed and used by the body; however, ALA fatty acids which are mostly derived from vegetarian food sources are naturally converted into EPA and DHA by the body.
The following are some common foods containing omega 3 fatty acids:
1. APA: dark green, leafy vegetables; (ground) flax seeds; hemp seeds; (raw) walnuts; soybeans; pumpkin seeds; certain vegetable oils and oils derived from omega 3 foods.
2. EPA and DHA: cold water fish including salmon, cod, mackerel, herring, halibut, sardines, and tuna; fresh seaweed; organically raised animal products such as free range eggs, chicken, and grass-fed beef.


B. Scan the text and complete the following statements.

We can get omega 3 fatty acid from …….
Omega 3 fatty acid is concentrated in our …….
The balance ratio of omega 3 fatty acid and omega 6 fatty acid is …….
The three main types of omega 3 fatty acid are …….
Salmon, cod, mackerel, herring, halibut, sardines and tuna are kind of …….


C. Complete the following table of part of speech.

No Noun Verb Adjective Adverb
1. fatty

2. practitioner

3. distributors

4. nutritional

5. health

6. typical

7. naturally


Grammar Review

Change the following passive form into an active one.
1. Omega 3 fatty acids are considered essential fatty acids.
2. Omega 3 fatty acids can only be obtained from food sources.
3. Omega 3 fatty acid cannot be manufactured from other nutrients by the body.
4. Omega 3 fatty acids are derived from foods.
5. The average American diet is believed to contain exceeding amounts of omega 6 fatty acids.


Translation Section

Translate the following text into Bahasa Indonesia

Mediterranean diets are believed to contain well balanced omega 3 foods such as whole grains, fresh fruits, vegetables, fish, olive oil, garlic and moderate wine consumption combined with little meat intake.
Studies have linked Omega 3 fatty acids and a diet balancing Omega 3 and Omega 6 with a variety of health benefits. It is believed that an inappropriate balance of these fatty acids contributes to the development of serious diseases.
Omega 3 balance has been linked extensively with reducing inflammation and preventing certain chronic diseases such as heart disease and arthritis. Omega 3 benefits have been shown to help treat or prevent the following conditions: high cholesterol, high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, weight loss, arthritis, osteoporosis, depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), eating disorders, burns and skin disorders, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), asthma, eye disease (such as macular degeneration and glaucoma), menstrual pain, breast cancer, colon cancer, prostate cancer, ulcers, migraine headaches, preterm labor, emphysema and psoriasis, Lyme disease, lupus, panic attacks.