CROSSROADSCROSSROA DS Language StudioÊs Newsletter March,
March , 202
20 2 1

It’s a Sitka spruce and some people call it“the tree of life.” It’s a very unusual treelocated at Kalaloch Beach in Washington
State USA and it is another reminder of just
how miraculous nature can be.

If you ever get overwhelmed with life’s
problems and feel like giving up, just thinkof this tree. The earth directly under its
trunk has almost completely eroded away,
exposing its roots, but it still hangs on, stillbreathing even thriving, refusing to give up.
EllaJanis

And how’s this for “social tree distancing”?
Actually, it’s called “crown shyness” by those
who study these kinds of things. In many
thickly forested areas, trees have been
observed to display the very best of goodmanners, taking care as they grow not toencroach into their neighbor’s space.
You could say the above two examples
are incidences where nature, throughtrees, displays the principles and courage
we humans would well do to emulate.

Trees can offer all kinds of surprises, someverging on unbelievable. Take the Dragon’sBlood tree for instance. This tree grows almost
exclusively in
only one placein the world a small island
approximately 480 km
south of the Yemeni and the Arabian Coast called
Socotra. The tree’s unique shape, like a hugeumbrella, is strange enough, but the real shock isits sap. When cut the tree bleeds!
Then thereis theJabuticaba tree from Brazil.
It bears its fruit directly on
old growth trunks andbranches. The fruit is said tobe delicious but hard to get outside of its native
habitat as it will not last long after harvesting.
How about the Baobab tree?
It can be found in dry, arid
countries such as Africa,
Madagascar and Australia.
It can survive in very harshconditions by storing vast amounts of water in itstrunk. It is also very hard to kill and is among theoldest living trees in the world. Some of the oldest
are estimated to be near 5,000 years old!
But, the prize for the most “artistic” tree
goes to the “Rainbow Tree”. This beauty
is a variety of eucalyptus and grows inthe Philippines, Indonesia and Papua
New Guinea. Its
unique coloring comes fromthe way it sheds its bark.
And these are just a few miraclesin the tree world. Don’t get me started on insects!

NET LESSONS: Too busy to come to CROSSROADS?
…. Try our lessons on the net!
Read more about these and other unique trees here:
https://en.paperblog.com/top-10-amazing-and-unusual-trees1362745/

Joshua Says: A paradox, as you probably know, is a statement that seems tocontradict itself. Here is a simple example: “Nobody goes to that restaurant
because it’s too crowded.” How can it be crowded if nobody goes there? Or how
about, “to learn how to communicate in English, don’t study English!” Thepurpose of a paradox is to point out a truism that leaves you with an insight,
an understanding that you may not normally have.
Junko Says: Recently I found a good website for reading short stories. The URL is
https://bookfortoday.com/all/best-british-short-stories-2019-by-nicholas-royle/ - The goodthing is that you can download PDF files of these articles, and so you are notinterrupted by advertisements. The editor covered a wide range of topics fromanthologies, magazines, newspapers and web sites, looking for the best of the bunch in2019 to reprint all in one volume. I hope you will be able to enjoy reading these articles.

Marek Says: Recently, I took on a challenge to teach our TORAY student basics
of German language. As I was preparing general facts about the language, I realizedthat a majority of Germans speak reasonable English. Also, English skills are quitetransferable to German, as many words share close similarities in pronunciation andspelling between the two languages. The ability to speak English gives you anopportunity to enjoy holidaying in Europe without worrying about language barrier.

Mandcy dit: Ça y est, le printemps est arrivé. Les premières fleur duprintemps ont commencé à fleurir. Et en plus, il fait très doux. C'est untemps très agréable pour faire un barbecue dans la forêt ou un pique-nique aubord de la rivière. On peux d'ores et déjà contempler les fleurs de pruniers,de colza et de magnolia. Bon printemps à tous !!
ACROSS
2 noticed, studied
4 worn away
7 an approximate calculation
10 advance beyond the limit
512 without others
15 lacking sufficient water
17 minor differences within10
the same group18 about
19 happenings
20 surviving very successfully

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4

67

911

12

13

DOWN
1 too much
3 unusually great in size
5 get rid of
6 coming close to
8 concentrated, dense
9 main part of a tree
19
11 amazing, wonderful
13 to uncover and make knownwww.CrosswordWeaver.com
14 copy, equal or match
16 a life supporting environment

814

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(print version here)

Okay, so here are some facts about the insect kingdom you’re sure to beinterested in...
... They make up about two-thirds of all presently known species on Earth.
And they have been around for around 400,000,000 years - compare thatto only about 300,000 years for humans.
Cockroaches: These friendly little critters love to be touched. Well,they like the feeling of solid matter next to their bodies. They seekout cracks and crevices that they can squeeze into for security andcomfort. And in keeping with their “friendly” nature, they love
Come on...getto live in colonies, in close contact with their buddies. How cute!!
Ah... Stop!
It tickles!!

a move on!

Ants: Ah, the mighty ant. It can lift and carry fifty times its own
weight! There are around 10 quadrillion ants going about their business on
the earth. That’s about 1.4 million ants to every person! And an ant has
the longest life-span of any insect species, about 30 years. Ants and humans
are the only species that farm livestock. Ants tend aphids and “milk” them fortheir honeydew similar to human activity on dairy farms. What’s the bet thatants (and cockroaches) will be around long after we humans are extinct?
Mosquitoes: Did you know that it’s only the female that will bite you? Oh, the burdens of motherhood....
Mom needs the extra protein from your blood to build up her
Dear, muststrength for producing and laying her eggs. Carefree Papa, on theyou go out
every night!!
other hand, can relax and enjoy the carefree life of flittering among
the flowers, extracting nectar for his sustenance.
Delicious!
House Flies: These guys can’t eat solid food. So when they
see a tasty looking morsel, they spit on it! That’s right, they use their saliva to“tenderize” their dinner before eating it. They are especially fond of sweet dishes
such as fermenting fruit. And interestingly, they taste with their feet! That’s where
their taste-buds are located, So they stomp on, then spit on their food before eating
it.... It seems that every creature has its own idea of what good table manners are....
OVO B S E R V E D
E R O D E DASVRE S T I M A T E DHEWTTH
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ETUAI N C I D E N C E SST H R I V I N GWant to try
some?

Last Month’s Puzzle Solution
DOWN
ACROSS
1 too much
2 noticed, studied
3 unusually great in size
4 worn away
7 an approximate calculation 5 get rid of
6 coming close to10 advance beyond the limit
8 concentrated, dense
12 without others
9 main part of a tree
15 lacking sufficient water
17 minor differences within 11 amazing, wonderful
13 to uncover and makethe same groupknown
18 about
14 copy, equal or match
19 happenings
16 a life supporting
20 surviving very
environment
successfully

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