CROSSROADSCROSSROA DS Language StudioÊs Newsletter July
July,ly , 201
20 1 7

According to some scientists, modern trees
appeared on Earth some 345 to 360 million
years ago. Most of the earth’s forests in thelate Devonian period comprised of the now
extinct “Archaeopteries”.
Of course trees are a kind of plant andtheir existence on Earth was preceded byother plant species. But it’s fascinating tothink that some animals alive today also
go back to the time before trees appeared.
Sharks are one such animal. According
to researchers, sharks have been around forover 400 million
years. Like theother animals
in this article,
theysurvived
four global mass
extinctions andtoday there are over 470 species of Ellasharksswimming around in our oceans. Some likethe Great White, the Tiger and theHammerhead,to name just a few, are theJanis
apex predators of their environment.
Even older is theNautiluses.
This
critter can trace its
ancestors back half amillion years. Not
only does it have anancient lineage, butindividuals can live up to 100 years old.
Living in shallow ocean waters on soft, sandyor muddy sea beds
is another living
fossil, the Horseshoe
Crab. This animal
can trace its lineage
back 450 millionyears.

But the king of longevity for multi-organ animals
is the Jellyfish. They go back at least 500 million
years with estimates stretching further to 700
million years! They can be found happily
floating around injust about every
ocean on earth.
And in that 700
million years, they
have managed todiversify to over
2,000 different
species.
What do these long surviving species have incommon? The most obvious answer is that they
are all ocean dwellers. And that suggests that if aspecies is to stay around on this earth for an
extended period, it needs to live in a safe
environment, like, under water.
It would seem that a few originally land-based
mammals have taken the hint. Among them is thebiggest creature that has ever lived on Earth, thewhale. Also, the brainy dolphins have made theconversion. Others, like seals, walruses and sea
lions are in the process of evolving back to anunder-sea life-style. Makes sense, doesn’t it?
So,getyoursnorkel, tank anddiving gear out andstart practicing.....

NET LESSONS: Too busy to come to CROSSROADS?
…. Try our lessons on the net!
Here’s a list of ancient creatures you may findinteresting: http://www.ranker.com/list/the-top-10oldest-living-things-on-earth/analise.dubner

Joshua Says: Here’s a quote from Michael Jordan, perhaps the most famousand successful basketball player if all time: “I've missed more than 9000 shots
in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times I've been trusted to takethe game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again inmy life. And that is why I succeed.” Inspirational, wouldn’t you agree. Being
prepared to make mistakes in order to learn and grow – Students...?
Junko Says: Here’s a Leonard da Vinci quote: “There are three classes ofpeople: those who see, those who see when they are shown and those who do
not see at all. “I see” in English also means “I understand.” “See” is also used
sometimes in the same way in Japanese. When one starts to understand orrealize something he says he can “start to see it.” Understanding may, after
all, come not with the brain, but with the eyes.
Matt Says: In England it only gets as hot as it is currently maybe 2 or 3 daysa year. When that happens there is always front page news in the papers thatsays “It’s hotter than Lisbon or Ibiza in England this weekend.” We celebrate
it since it’s a rare occurrence but I think most British people would not beable to deal with the constant heat that is Japanese Summertime.
Darrin Says: G'day and 'owsitgoin mate? Two phrases that you hear a lot inAustralia. The first is simply a way we Aussies say hello and it has been shortened fromthe British greeting Good day. The second phrase is actually a blend of words; How's it
going mate, but we like to shorten many of our common phrases. Mate actually means
friend, so the second phrase really means, how are you friend? Mateship is a very
important part of our culture and I'm hoping to make many more 'mates' here in Japan.
Danielle dit Voici ma dernière participation à ce bulletin mensuel. Enseignerle français ici aura été une expérience intéressante, riche en enseignement. Le
temps passe et il est désormais l’heure pour moi de continuer ma route versd’autres horizons. L’apprentissage d’une langue est une quête de toute une vie
et j’espère donc que ceux qui ont compté sur moi pour les aider dans la leurcontinueront leur chemin.
ACROSS
3 highest point. top
7 gone before
9 very old and extinct
10 change or transformation
13 easily understood
14 inhabiting a particular place
15 descendants of a particular individual
16 an indirect suggestion
DOWN
1 a sea mammal
2 hunters
4 of being long-lived
5 made up of
6 long in duration
8 no longer in existence
11 make variations in order to spread or expand
12 especially domesticated animals

12

3

4
5

7

6
8

910
11

12

13

14

15
16

(print version here)

Back to Sri Lanka
If you have been coming to Crossroads for more than a year, you
That’s me!
may remember my report about Sri Lanka last year. I got the opportunity
to visitthat country again on a business trip this year. I learned some new and interesting
things there. Today, I would like to introduce them to you.
Sigiriya RockAlthough the Internet has made information more accessible, paper guidebooks arestill useful. Most guidebooks exhibit Sigiriya Rock as a symbol of Sri Lanka. It isa gigantic rock fortress. It contains elaborate murals painted in the 5th century.
Unfortunately, I didn’t see it last year because of our tight itinerary. So, this year
I encouraged (or, forced) my boss to visit it. Sigiriya is about 195 meters in height.
To get to the top of the rock, you have to go up 2,000 steps. If you don’t haveacrophobia, you will be moved by its dizzy height and beautiful sight.
A Latent Spark
Sri Lanka is popular among European people as an ideal vacation spot. In particular, many British people
visit it because of its beautiful sunshine and the prevalence of spoken English. However, it seems that SriLankans have complicated feelings towards British people. It is true that Britain provided Sri Lanka withsome benefits like a railway network and tea cultivation. But on the other hand, they were also dominatingconquerors who tried to break the native culture. There is a prison for rebels built by Britain in Colombo. For
local people, it is a memorial to the heroic martyrs of their country. According to our local guide, Sri Lankans
don’t openly hate the British today, but everybody, more or less, has antipathy in their hearts towards them.
He expressed it as “a latent spark in the charcoal.”
Kandy aka Nuwara
As we read in the former paragraph, Sri Lanka was colonized by Britain. We give its cities names in English.
But, local people have their own names. Kandy is an ancient city which is famous for the “temple of thetooth.” People in Sri Lanka call it “Nuwara”, not Kandy. “Nuwara” means “capital” in the local language.
Historically, it was the capital of the country in the 15th century. During our travels, we were scheduled to go
to NuwaraEliya in the countryside. NuwaraEliya is located about 40 kilometers south of Kandy. We calledit “Nuwara” by mistake because we didn’t know Nuwara meant Kandy. When my boss asked a local guide
how long it would take to get from Kandy to “Nuwara”, he looked perplexed. What did this Japanese personmean? It would take zero minutes, of course!

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S I M U L T A N E O U SC U R R E N TNTODIERICTE
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Last Month’s Puzzle Solution
DOWNACROSS
3 start a new settlement far from 1 following in order
2 a Spanish soldier of fortune
home4 happened
10 at the same time
11 belonging to the present time 5 a large extinct elephant
6 crowding together in a small space
13 people who travel in foreign
7 great in sizelands
8 have a desire to know something
14 tens of years
9 staying, not changing
15 measured lengthwise
12 a country ruled by an emperor
16 thought about

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