Charles Darwin

Naturalist Charles Robert Darwin was born on February 12, 1809, in the tiny merchant town of Shrewsbury, England. He was the second youngest of six children. Darwin came from a long line of scientists. His father, Dr. R.W. Darwin, was as a medical doctor, and his grandfather, Dr. Erasmus Darwin, was a renowned botanist. Darwin’s mother, Susanna, died when he was only 8 years old. Darwin was a child of wealth and privilege who loved to explore nature.
In October 1825, at age 16, Darwin enrolled at Edinburgh University along with his brother Erasmus. Two years later, Charles Darwin became a student at Christ's College in Cambridge. His father hoped he would follow in his footsteps and become a medical doctor, but the sight of blood made Darwin queasy. His father suggested he study to become a parson instead, but Darwin was far more inclined to study natural history.While Darwin was at Christ's College, botany professor John Stevens Henslow became his mentor. After Darwin graduated Christ's College with a bachelor of arts degree in 1831, Henslow recommended him for a naturalist’s position aboard the HMS Beagle. The ship, commanded by Captain Robert FitzRoy, was to take a five-year survey trip around the world. The voyage would prove the opportunity of a lifetime for the budding young naturalist.
On December 27, 1831, the HMS Beagle launched its voyage around the world with Darwin in tow. Over the course of the trip, Darwin collected a variety of natural specimens, including birds, plants and fossils. Through hands-on research and experimentation, he had the unique opportunity to closely observe principles of botany, geology and zoology. The Pacific Islands and Galapagos Archipelago were of particular interest to Darwin, as was South America.
Upon his return to England in 1836, Darwin began to write up his findings in the Journal of Researches, published as part of Captain FitzRoy's larger narrative and later edited into the Zoology of the Voyage of the Beagle. The trip had a monumental affect on Darwin’s view of natural history. He began to develop a revolutionary theory about the origin of living beings that was contrary to the popular view of other naturalists at the time.

Joan Of Arc

Joan of Arc, a peasant girl living in medieval France, believed that God had chosen her to lead France to victory in its long-running war with England. With no military training, Joan convinced the embattled crown prince Charles of Valois to allow her to lead a French army to the besieged city of Orléans, where it achieved a momentous victory over the English and their French allies, the Burgundians. After seeing the prince crowned King Charles VII, Joan was captured by Anglo-Burgundian forces, tried for witchcraft and heresy and burned at the stake in 1431, at the age of 19. By the time she was officially canonized in 1920, the Maid of Orléans (as she was known) had long been considered one of history’s greatest saints, and an enduring symbol of French unity and nationalism.Born around 1412, Jeanne d’Arc (or in English, Joan of Arc) was the daughter of a tenant farmer, Jacques d’Arc, from the village of Domrémy, in northeastern France. She was not taught to read or write, but her pious mother instilled in her a deep love for the Catholic Church and its teachings. At the time, France had long been torn apart by a bitter conflict with England (later known as the Hundred Years’ War), in which England had gained the upper hand. A peace treaty in 1420 disinherited the French crown prince, Charles of Valois, amid accusations of his illegitimacy, and King Henry V was made ruler of both England and France. His son, Henry VI, succeeded him in 1422. Along with its French allies (led by Philip the Good, duke of Burgundy), England occupied much of northern France, and many in Joan’s village, Domrémy, were forced to abandon their homes under threat of invasion. At the age of 13, Joan began to hear voices, which she determined had been sent by God to give her a mission of overwhelming importance: to save France by expelling its enemies, and to install Charles as its rightful king. As part of this divine mission, Joan took a vow of chastity. At the age of 16, after her father attempted to arrange a marriage for her, she successfully convinced a local court that she should not be forced to accept the match.

trojan war

According to classical sources, the war began after the abduction (or elopement) of Queen Helen of Sparta by the Trojan prince Paris. Helen’s jilted husband Menelaus convinced his brother Agamemnon, king of Mycenae, to lead an expedition to retrieve her. Agamemnon was joined by the Greek heroes Achilles, Odysseus, Nestor and Ajax, and accompanied by a fleet of more than a thousand ships from throughout the Hellenic world. They crossed the Aegean Sea to Asia Minor to lay siege to Troy and demand Helen’s return by Priam, the Trojan king.The siege, punctuated by battles and skirmishes including the storied deaths of the Trojan prince Hector and the nearly-invincible Achilles, lasted more than 10 years until the morning the Greek armies retreated from their camp, leaving a large wooden horse outside the gates of Troy. After much debate (and unheeded warnings by Priam’s daughter Cassandra), the Trojans pulled the mysterious gift into the city. When night fell, the horse opened up and a group of Greek warriors, led by Odysseus, climbed out and sacked the Troy from within.After the Trojan defeat, the Greeks heroes slowly made their way home. Odysseus took 10 years to make the arduous and often-interrupted journey home to Ithaca recounted in the “Odyssey.” Helen, whose two successive Trojan husbands were killed during the war, returned to Sparta to reign with Menelaus. After his death, some sources say she was exiled to the island of Rhodes, where a vengeful war widow had her hanged.

 Everybody has different hobbies that he or she would like to do for fun or relaxation. They can be either physical activities like jogging, football, swimming, cricket, skateboarding… or mental activities like reading, watching movies, playingcomputers… and depend on each personality. For me, soccer is my hobby because it’s part of my life and I cannot live without it. Soccer is the king of sport all over the world. Football is my childhood hobby. My mom told me that I liked kicking the ball around and had so much fun with it when I was only about two years old. Since then, playing soccer is my favorite’s sport and it is my hobby whenever I have free time. It is interesting and amazing, especially the feeling when I score a goal or my teammates do it. That feeling fulfills in me like I have just archived something very important. Playing soccer also helps me to relax and be confident when I have stress and frustration. For instant, after doing assignment or studying all day long, I feel tired and exhausted. However, having fun with the ball such as kicking it against the wall or trying to do some tricks, my entire tiresome and exhaustion die out. Moreover, soccer is not only about passing and kicking the ball but also required a lot of thought, and some basic skills. So I often practice it and obviously, I feel healthy and stronger. Besides that, soccer has also taught me the spirit of teamwork and created a strong sportsmanship in me. Soccer is very popular all over the world; especially, when the World Cup season starts. Spectators from all over the world come to cheer their teams. The entire stadium becomes full of soccer spirit. This shows that soccer is a worldwide phenomenon and is enjoyed by people all over the world .and with that , are my reasons as to why i love soccer . 

Almost every day we can see news about some resident here beating up someone or a teenager bullying other pupils . All this news has one thing in common . Discipline problems . These occurences cannot be taken lightlybecause if we let it go too far , much more serious incidents may happen and even death , in the long run . These incidents happen mainly because of that person not receiving enough care from their parents . As parents , they are entasked with the responsibility of bringing up a loving child , and not a problem causing citizen . Furthermore , peer pressure can also be one of the other outstanding factors which causes a person to experience discipline problems . This is because when someoen sees their friends doing something which they think is cool ,  they may also want to join in the fun . What they actually don’t know is that these acts may actually be offences against the law which may end up in them getting in trouble . To overcome these problems , the person must first be aware of the problems he or she is going through . Then , they can either seek advice from a counsellor or actually approach one of their close friends who can offer proper advice on how to get on the right track in life .

Nowadays , almost every student is judged based on his or her’s ability to score well in exams . Although many know that exam results are going to determine their future someway or another , many students still dont prepare themselves well enough to do well when they very well know that this will come to bite them back sometimes in the future . There are many parties tha can motivate a student to study , one of them being the student themself . In this case , the student must understand the importance of doing well and he or she must know the right learning methods in order to do well . Furthermore , the students parents also must encourage their children to do well in exams . As parents , they must take the initiative to ensure their children do all their homework as well as send their children for tuition classes . With this , their child will have all the basic necessities to do well in school . Finally , teachers also play a pivotal role in ensuring students do well in school . This is because they are the mentors who must teach their students the correct information and proper answering techniques to answer all their questions in their exams . In conclusion , their are a variety of people that can actually encourage a student to do well in school . 

During the month of February every year , two important days stand out amongst the other days . First of all , there is Chinese New year which is celebrated by a vast majority of Chinese yearly . Other than that , Valentine’s day also falls on the 14th of February yearly . Although many people are actually open and enjoy both these important celebrations , i actually dislike these days very much . First of all , why must be limit ourselves to show our love on only one day of the year ? If we truly love someone , shouldn’t we try our best to make them feel appreaciated as often as we can and not only show how much we care on that one day only ? On the other hand , during Chinese New Year , fireworks can be heard almost at all times . Although this may not be a hindrance to the younger generation , the older generation actually find all these disturbances quite annoying . Imagine being in their footsteps...would you like to be woken up late at night or kept awake because of all these noisy firecrackers . In cocclusion , although many people actually enjoy Valentine’s Day and Chinese New Year , i believe there is a small downside to this enjoyable occasions .