CROSSROADSCROSSROA DS Language StudioÊs Newsletter Octember,Octember , 201
20 1 6
While Football may have its
drama and The Olympics its prestige, forme the most exciting sport in the world isFormula One racing. Its combination ofGlitz, Glamour and High Octane Risk andReward Action make it unique in the worldof sports.
It is named
because the carsmust adhere to aset of rule – the‘formula’ – whichmake them thefastest and mostThe famous Ferrariinnovative in the world – hence, the “one”.
With all the technology inside of them, F1
cars can drive at speeds in excess of350km/h!
There are currently 11 teams competingin Formula 1, each fielding 2 drivers.
Races take place on either speciallyEllabuilt
racetracks or on the streets of the host city.
ThemostJanisfamous circuit
istheacclaimed
Monte Carlostreet circuitinMonaco,
but races takeArial view of the track at Monaco
place all over
the world, from Australia to the USA.
There is even a racetrack in Japan at
Suzuka circuit which is one of the oldest
and most historic tracks on the calendar.
An F1 race weekend, called a GrandPrix, kicks off on Friday with two practicesessions. The teams and drivers use thesesessions to learn the track, test new partsand set the car up to get the best out of itcome race day.

On Saturday a third and final round ofpractice is run to fine-tune the car. Soon
after, qualifying is run to determine thestarting order of all the cars for the race ina three-session elimination style format.
Cars are eliminated 5 at a time until 10 areleft who race each other to set the fastest
lap possible.
Sunday is the big race day. Barring any
last-minute penalties or extraordinary
circumstances, the drivers line their cars up
in the order they qualified. When thestarting lights go out, the cars take off andthen it’s up to the Fates to decide who sees
the chequered flag first
The current F1 season is on Race 18 of 21
and is shaping up for a very exciting
ending. Lewis Hamilton from Great Britain
is trying to win his fourth world
championship but his team-mate Nico
Rosberg from Germany is fighting him all
the way. The two have traded the lead in
the points table all season long. Who will win
in the end? Alleyes will be on
Abu Dhabi on
the27thofNovember
tofind out!
Sometimes things get a bit out ofhand in F1 racing and this happens

Article by Matt

NET LESSONS: Too busy to come to CROSSROADS?
…. Try our lessons on the net!
For enthusiasts, here is a brief history of F1:
http://en.espn.co.uk/f1/motorsport/story/3831.html

Joshua Says: Have you heard the term “neuroplasticity”? Probably not, I guess.
Psychologists and psychoanalysts have now discovered that the brain is much more flexible
and “plastic” than traditional ideas in science and medicine would have us believe. Our brains,
it seems, can physically change and develop no matter how old we are. This, if true, suggests tome that there is no limit or restriction to learning things at any age – even English!
Junko Says: We are planning to start using SNS and Internet InstantMessaging to send out useful information to our students about school projects,
campaign offers and other useful information. So, we’d like you to support thisnew method for passing information along by letting us have your SNS/IIM
info. For those who don’t yet have SNS/IIM, you will still be able to get accessto the information we want to send to you through email, flyers, etc.
Mark Says: I remember when CDs became popular in the 80s, thepromise was our music would last forever. Now, CDs, and even DVDs area mostly redundant technology, with internet streaming being the mostpopular delivery method for films and music. I love the convenience but
miss holding a tangible object in my hands. Tech is ever changing . . . I
wonder how we will consume our media in another twenty years?
Matt Says: I attended my friends wedding recently on Gogoshima. Ittook place on the beach on a gloriously sunny day. My friend combinedWestern and Japanese styles to create a unique wedding ceremony andparty afterwards for the 80+ guests. I was very happy to be there tocelebrate with him and his beautiful new wife.
Danielle dit: Une des choses que j’apprécie le plus au Japon, c’est la qualitédes transports. Outre la propreté et la relative facilité de naviguer dans lesgrandes gares, c’est surtout la ponctualité que j’apprécie le plus. Quand je vais
en France par exemple, même si je ne reste qu’une dizaine de jours et ne
prends presque pas les transports en commun, il m’arrive de prendre un train
avec vingt minutes de retard. Impensable au Japon !
ACROSS
2 removing or getting rid of something
3 verall conditions
5 a high recognition through success or wealth
11 beyond ordinary
12 belonging to the present
13 tasteless showiness14 greatly praised and approved of
15 found in gasoline used as fuel16 of this time, nowDOWN
1 a route around a particular place
4 a pattern with alternating square colors
6 be in accordance or compatible with
7 the act of excluding someone
8 come to a clear decision
9 deities that determine the future events
10 ahead of the times(print version here)

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www.CrosswordWeaver.com

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Australian “t“tsuyukuuyukusa” Cartonema – by S(A)1’s Yukiko
I am interested in Commelinaceae plants (“tsuyukusa-ka” in Japanese). There areabout 650 species in the Commelinaceae family. Most of them growThat’s
in me!tropical orsubtropical areas. As I like Australian flowers, my husband and I stayed in WesternAustralia for three months to look at flowers there. On the second day after our arrival inPerth in September, 2005, we visited “Kings Park”. After taking pictures of someflowers there, we causally dropped in at a shop where souvenirs and books were being sold. We bought a beautiful
water-colored flower book, “The Beautiful Flowers of Kings Park Western Australia”. There were four flower
illustrations on the cover. Three of them were of “Kangaroo Paws” and the other was like a Commelinaceae plant.
At that time, I had just started researching Commelinaceae and I didn’t know much about them. By reading thebook’s explanation, we found out the plant was Cartonema Philydroides, an Australian native species ofCommelinaceae. It flowers in October and November and is not common in bush-land. I was very happy to get thisinformation. We immediately rented a car and started looking for Cartonema. We visited Kings Park, again
and again and went to more than twenty national parks, some of them several times. Even though
we couldn’t find Cartonema, we were able to take a lot of pictures of wild flowers. Some parks
were so wild that we were bitten by ticks!
Two and a half months had already passed but still we couldn’t find any Cartonema. We began
to feel tired. Then we found a web site that had some pictures of Cartonema and an e-mail address.
I contacted the site and asked if they could tell us where the Cartonema was growing. I attached
my Commelinaceae homepage address showing my botanical interest. The owner of the site
generously told me where to go. What kindness! The place turned out to be where we had alreadybeen. It was just at the end of the national park. We went back the next day and after
looking for several hours, we finally found an area populated with them. It looked like a Cartonema reservation.
There were no other plants there, only Cartonema flowers for 300m². Since it is one of Australia’s native plants, it isprotected. Kind Australians were worried about losing the Cartonema from the nationalpark because there was a plan to build a highway across the park at that time.
In 2013, a famous Japanese botanist mailed me asking me to let him know where theCartonema was growing. He said that he needed to look at real Cartonema because heas planning a lecture about the evolution of Cammelinaceae. I asked a botanist at Ehime
University whether or not the person was reliable. As his answer was okay, I mailed the location to him. A few
weeks later he mailed me telling me he was able to find the place and sent me a picture. It showed their population
was much bigger than it had been eight years ago. The species is still protected by the Australian people.
P L U N G I N GEREXUE
C O N S T A N TLBORREICEEGTAIMLIAEV E S T E DEE
N O T I O NENDE
DPTIDEIP R O C L A M I N GNNUNE
CFM
GNYLM
OIE
UC A P T I V A T E DSTEH U M D I N G E R

Last Month’s Puzzle Solution DOWN
2 systematic killing of many people
ACROSS
3 far beyond normal
1 dropping or falling suddenly
4 assigned to a lower position
6 unchanging
5 never stopping or easing up
10 fixed and absolute
7 influence unfairly
11 vague idea
8 a general inclination toward something
14 stating, announcing, declaring
9 people originating in the land they inhabit
15 strongly attracted
12 drop sharply
16 something remarkably outstanding 13 cause pain or damage

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