CROSSROADS Language Studio’s Newsletter April, 2015
Imagine having a From its inception Mars One has received fiery

ticket, a one wayticket,
forajourney
fromwhich you could
neverreturn.
Imagine having tosay goodbye to your friends and family with nohope of ever seeing them in the flesh again. Wellin 2013 that's exactly what over 2500 people
signed up for in the hopes of becoming modern
day explorers and pioneers.
Mars One is a non-profit organization basedin the Netherlands that in 2012 announcedplans to land the first humans onto Mars andestablish a permanent colony there by 2027.
While most space exploration around the worldis government funded, the idea of Mars One wasto follow in the footsteps of early Dutch
explorers such as Oliver van Noort (first sailor tocircumnavigate the world) and Abel Tasman(discoverer of New Zealand and Tasmania) byselling shares in their venture. The largest
source of funding was to come from sellingrights to a reality television series chronicling
the selection, training, journey and first years on
Mars of the lucky (or perhaps unlucky)
astronauts.
Astronaut selection would not be limited tothe scientific elite, but instead was opened up to
every member of the public. Within months
thousands had applied and paid a registration
fee. In 2013 this number was whittled down to1058 applicants and then in 2015 further
reduced to 100 (50 men and 50 women).
It is planned from here that the first stages of
television production will begin, with the final 100
applicants taking part in challenges around theworld, facing elimination until a final six groups offour applicants are chosen for the mission.

criticism from the scientific community. While
the organization has budgeted $6bn US for themission, NASA believes any mission to Mars is
unlikely to see any change from $100bn US.
Former German astronaut Ulrich Water believes
the mission is unethical because with current
technology the probability of surviving thejourney to Mars is only 30% and of surviving thefirst three months on the planet at less than 20%.
The most recent criticism has come from one of
the world’s most respected scientists, Neil De
Grasse Tyson. He has stated, “no one will be
investing in a company with the goal oflaunchingalife-threatening
missionaccompanied by a high risk of failing and a pricetag in the billions. Even if investors can ignore
the fact that the mission is dangerous and costly,
they will not look away from the possibility thatthey might not get anything in return.”
Just in the past week Mars One hasannounced that the mission has now been
delayed by two years due to funding problems. In
the midst of growing criticism and funding issues
it remains to be seen as to whether Mars One will
ever get off the ground, with the 100 applicantsgetting a chance ofbeing the firstearthlings
tojourney to, andcolonize the redplanet.

Article by MarkNET LESSONS: Too busy to come to CROSSROADS?
…. Try our lessons through the net!
SITE OF THE MONTH:
You can learn all about the Mars One project here:
http://www.mars-one.com/

Joshua Says: Koalas! Everyone is familiar with this Australian icon. While there
used to be millions living in the wild, they are now an endangered species, mostly
due to habitat loss. They are also supposed to be protected. So, it came as a shock tome to learn that the Victorian Government recently set about culling close to 700!
The reason? They were starving due to a lack of eucalyptus trees (their main foodsource) in their area. The question is, of course, what happened to their trees?
Junko Says: We have started our regular mid-semester student survey and I
will be asking everyone about the lessons and also to fill out a questionnaire.
This is very important for all of us, students and teachers, and I’d likeeveryone to support our survey enthusiastically. Please tell us your honest
and sincere opinions. We will do our best to use the information you give us to
improve your lessons and the other services we provide here at Crossroads.
Mark Says:

During the months of February and March I have been enjoying the2015 Cricket World Cup being jointly hosted between Australia and New Zealand.
Cricket remains a relatively unknown sport in Japan but is in fact the father ofbaseball. The world cup is also the third most watched sporting event in the world
following the Olympics and the Football World Cup. Fittingly, the two teams tomake the final on March 29 were Australia and NZ. Unfortunately (for me),Australia proved to be the dominant team with a convincing win.

Aaron Says: I love watching movies. It has been a hobby of mine since I
was very young. Even in my college time, I took a few film classes.
Lately I have been wanting to see more Japanese movies, but have notfound many that caught my interest. I recently discovered one of myfavorite directors, Itami Juzo, went to school in Matsuyama!
Bonjour à toutes et à tous. J’ai commencé à enseigner àCrossroads récemment et ça a déjà été très intéressant de discuter avec
certains d’entre vous. Ca fait deux ans maintenant que je vis au Japon mais jedécouvre constamment de nouvelles choses en discutant avec les Japonais. Sivous voulez échanger avec moi à propos de nos différentes cultures ou autres,
venez me voir et on discutera autour d’un café !
Danielle dit;

ACROSS
1 the first part or stage of an event
4
4 cannot be changed
5 a risky investment
8 remove or get rid of something
11 in the middle of things
12 to set up or begin something
14 an inhabitant of earth
15 a settlement of people far from their homeland
1116 making a record ofDOWN
2 give no attention to3 investing money in a project
6 cut down in number or size
7 the first to do something
9 an assignment given to someone
10 not conforming to approved standards
13 a separate period in a sequence of events(print version here) 16

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www.CrosswordWeaver.com

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Tomomi wants to tell us about Yo YoKitchen where she works:

Here is Ren’s third installment in series 2 of hisstay in China:

we opened on April 28 th 2014. We have

University studies were much harder than I expected. My freetime, outside of university, was filled doing homework! I had
tests and presentations to give from late October to thebeginning of November. All of this kept me quite busy.
In the middle of all this, my class held group activities. Myclass consisted of people from Japan, Korea, Nepal,
Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Austria, India, Indonesia, Slovenia,Spain, Bulgaria and others. Most could speak English. Of
course, we tried to speak Chinese with each other, but when
we couldn’t communicate effectively, we had no choice but touse English.. Every time I had to do this, I realized just how
influential English is as a language.
Our teacher took us to a large restaurant and we saw someclassical Chinese performances there. I actually enjoyed spending
the time with my classmates more than watching the performances. I
got so excited on the day that I became sick the next day!

After my vacation, it was back to school as usual.

Yo Yo Kitchen is a new style DELI-CAFÉ

many kinds of dishes, sweets and drinks.
All of our dishes have a wholesome taste
because they are made by hand. You can eat
at Yo Yo or you can order a hot meal which wewill prepare for you to take away.
I recommend our “salad corner”. You can create your own
original salad mix. We have many kinds of vegetables fromEhime Prefecture. One of them comes from our own farm. No
agricultural chemicals are used in the production of any of thevegetables we use so they are very good for you.
The food at Yo YoKitchen is not only
delicious, but it’s also
good for your health!
We have a large,
bright space on thesecond floor that you canbook for a party or event.
You can find us in Nibancho
near Central P.O. and close to Crossroads.

Please come to my restaurant!

With my classmates

Performance 1

Performance 2

Have you ever wanted to have a Koala as a pet?
What a unique experience that would be!
Unfortunately,
Australian makes it almost impossible to take one out of
the country because they are an endangered and protected species. But
not all is lost! There is an organization in Australia that is working very hard toprotect koalas. You can help them in their endeavors and, at the same time,
become the “foster parent” of one of these cuddly animals.
The program is called “Adopt a Koala”. And this, they say, is what you can do forabout ¥3,000 per month. If you’d like to learn more about becoming a koala“parent” go to https://www.savethekoala.com/adopt-a-koala for the details. And....
Three possible candidates up for adoption RIGHT NOW are, from the top: BAKTER, CHESTERA and ARIS
happy parenthood!
GGENROM E C H A N I C A LOAE S S E N T I A LS

M A N I P U L A T E DUS

A R I T H M E T I C A L

NDBRP

D E V I C EARKIPNACRUIOM

YTCTNVPLICICAL

C O N V E R T E DNDNFCI O N E E RNRPGMTTA
A L G O R I T H M
REDLast Month’s Puzzle Solution

DOWN
ACROSS2 built
1 relating to machines
3 someone who has exceptional
6 absolutely necessary
intelligence
7 to control or influence
4 something never done before
8 relating to math5 understanding by separating the
13 an instrument used for awhole into parts
particular purpose
14 changed from one system or state 9 not easy or simple
10 the first to think-up or maketo anothersomething
15 The first to achieve something
11 carry out an action
16 a precise rule showing how to
12 a theoretical idea
solve a problem

Don’t forget… Our SPECIAL 1+1 Campaign offer! Up to 50% off!!
See our notice board, or ask Junko in our office, for the details.