sa‧fa‧ri [countable]
1 a trip to see or hunt wild animals, especially in Africa

on safari

They went on safari in Kenya.
2
safari hat/suit/jacket

a suit or jacket that is made of light material, usually with a belt and pockets on the chest

play‧pen [countable]

an enclosed area in which a very small child can play safely, that is like an open box with sides made of bars or a net

crib[countable]American English a bed for a baby or young child, with bars on the side to stop the baby from falling out [= cot British English]

spire [countable]
a roof that rises steeply to a point on top of a tower, especially on a church [↪ steeple]
Mountains spires
stee‧ple [countable]
a tall pointed tower on the roof of a church
bel‧fry plural belfries [countable]
a tower for a bell, especially on a church belfry tower panorama.
belfry on cathedral Square
min‧a‧ret [countable]a tall thin tower on a mosque, from which Muslims are called to prayer

places where people worship God:

church :(Christians)
temple (Buddhists and Hindus)
mosque (Muslims)
synagogue (Jews)


treated with great respect because of being connected with God: holy, sacred
having strong beliefs in God: devout, pious
someone who does not believe in God : atheist
someone who is not sure if God exists: agnosticgod

twin [countable]

one of two children born at the same time to the same mother:

The twins are now eight months old.

Siamese twin [countable usually plural]

one of two people who are born joined to each other - sometimes considered offensive [= conjoined twin]

identical twin [countable usually plural]

one of a pair of brothers or sisters born at the same time, who develop from the same egg and look almost exactly alike [↪ opposite of Fraternal twin]

thim‧ble [countable]

a small metal or plastic cap used to protect your finger when you are sewing

thim‧ble‧ful [countable + of]

informal a very small quantity of liquid

"more sherry "just a thimbleful please

The Seven Plots of All Literature (Plus Two)

I was recently reading a fascinating book called The Art Instinct by Denis Dutton. The books tries to show that much of our sense of art and artistic judgment is influenced by our genetics - that is, something that we are born with - and that this instinct has evolved (slowly changed) over many, many years. I'm not sure if I agree entirely with this argument, but it is an interesting idea.

In one section of the book, Dutton talks about research done by another writer, Christopher Booker, on the kinds of plots (story structures) that are found in the spoken and written stories of almost every language around the world. Booker identifies seven "basic plots" that every story uses in one way or another. Again, I'm not sure if this is true, but you may be interested in them. Many stories may combine different kinds of plots as well:

• Overcoming the Monster - To overcome means to defeat, to win over. A monster is a bad creature (person or animal). This is a story about defeating an evil person or thing.
  
• Rags to Riches - Rags are dirty pieces of clothing; riches refers to lots of money. This is a common expression in English, to go from "rags to riches," especially to describe someone who works hard and becomes successful after being poor. This is a story about someone going from being very poor to being very rich.
  
• Quest - A quest is when you search for something for a long time, usually something very important or very valuable. Typically a quest story has a hero with others that help him in his search, and he must overcome some danger or evil in order to get his prize. The hero gets the prize and a beautiful woman, and they often become King and Queen.
  
• Voyage and Return - A voyage is a long trip. In this kind of story, the protagonist (main character) leaves "normal experience" and goes into an alien or strange world, then returns after escaping some danger in the new world. (The famous English children's story Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is an example of this.)
  
• Comedy - A rather broad (large) category, this kind of story often has some confusion until the end of the story, when the hero and his lover are united.
  
• Tragedy - A tragedy is a very sad event or situation. Tragic stories are usually about how someone overreaches (tries to do too much or more than he or she should) and this leads to terrible consequences (results).
  
• Rebirth - A rebirth is when someone is reborn - born again. This kind of story has the protagonist going through some dramatic change during the story, so that by the end of it he or she is essentially a new character.
  

Booker later added two more plot types:

• Rebellion - A rebellion is when people try to overthrow (defeat, bring down) their government. George Orwell's 1984 would be an example of this kind of story.
  
• Mystery - A mystery involves some crime or unusual event that the protagonist tries to figure out or solve. The protagonist is usually called a detective, and may be a police officer (but not always).
  

So there you have all the possible plots in the world - at least, according to Mr. Booker!

Some Colorful Expressions

Lily White:
A lily is a type of flower (see picture). The expression lily-white refers something that is pure, innocent, without fault, or without blame. We often use this to talk about whether politicians and other people are honest or not.
- "Politicians have problems appearing lily white when they accept money from wealthy, influential people."
- "Everyone thought that the university president was lily-white until the scandal broke (became known)."

"Lily-white" has a second meaning that relates to race. It is used to describe something that excludes (does not allow) non-white people.
- "This club has been lily-white for 200 years and they don't plan to change that even under community pressure."
- "Few neighborhoods in Los Angeles are still lily-white."
…

Green:

The word green is closely related to the English verb "to grow". It is used to describe plants or the ocean. Sometimes it can also describe someone who is inexperienced, jealous, or sick.

In America, green is a slang term for money, among other things. Several colloquialisms have derived from these meanings, such as :

"green around the gills", a phrase used to describe a person who looks ill.

However, green has some other meanings in other cultures.

Being green means being inexperienced, new to doing something or performing a job.
- "The medical student is too green to perform this procedure without help."
- "The new manager will seem a little green until she learns the job."

These days, green has a second meaning. We use green to refer to things that are not harmful to the environment.
- "We're turning this into a green house by buying energy-efficient appliances (refrigerator, stove, etc.) and planting vegetables instead of grass.
- "By buying hybrid cars (cars that use gasoline and electricity), our company is taking the first step toward going green."

Green: we can say of a book or a movie is erotic, but if we say that it is green, then we mean that it is a book or movie of low quality.…

Green with envy to refers to someone who envys somebody else sucess

White elephant which means something costly but hopeless ( not useful)

white knight- business usage, specially now a days- which means somebody who assist a company financially in order to bail the company out.

True colors means the true identity of a person. Finally , Jack showed me his true color.

Names That Come and Go
The popularity of first names in the United States changes over time. Some first names become popular suddenly and then disappear from regular use, while other names seem to be popular for many, many years. (To come and go means to be temporary, not to last long.)

A recent article in the New York Times listed the most popular first names for babies over the past 100 plus years. It is interesting to see which names have stood the test of time (lasted a long time, have not changed in many years) and which names came and went. For example, Mildred was a very popular name in the 1920s in the US. You could find many young girls named Mildred (as well as Evelyn and Virginia). But now almost no one names their child Mildred. In fact, if you see the name Mildred, you might laugh a little, since it is such an old-fashioned (old and no longer used) name. Similarly, Grover was popular in the late 19th century, but not in recent years. (The picture at right is of President Grover Cleveland, who was president in the late 19th century.)

The article says that names that suddenly or very quickly become popular usually don't last very long. For example, in the 1950s, Linda suddenly became very popular, but then dropped in popularity within a few years. Amy was a popular name for girls in the 1970s (the president of the United States, Jimmy Carter, had a daughter named Amy), but then declined in popularity by the 1990s. Names that slowly become popular seem to last longer. During the 1990s and early 2000s, names such as Zachery, Cody, and Adam were popular.

In some countries, it is common for English students to take an "English" name that is easier to spell and pronounce. This gives students the opportunity to choose their own names, which can be a lot of fun. Some of the names that are chosen, however, are no longer popular in the US. I once had a student who called herself Gertrude, which is a name that has not been popular in the US since the 1930s. The name sounded odd to an American, but of course she probably didn't realize that is was no longer used very much.

There are some names that don't change much in popularity. The number of babies with these names is usually not large, but it is steady (stable, not going up or down in number). For example, Ellen, Maria, Russell, Paul, Douglas, and Patrick are all names that have been relatively constant (steady) in popularity in the past 100 years in the US. Daniel has also been popular for many years, especially in the 1990s.

What are the names that are suddenly becoming popular now? Here is a list:

• Ava (girl)
  
• Ella (girl)
  
• Addison (boy or girl?)
  
• Aiden (boy)
  
• Jayden or Jaden (boy)
  
• Caden or Kaden (boy)
  
• Trinity (girl)
  

So if you want to adopt an English first name, you might want to avoid Mildred or Grover, and instead use names that are more current. I suggest either "Jeff" or "Lucy."

To doodle
is to draw shapes and lines on a piece of paper for no particular purpose.

Students in class will often doodle on their notebooks and papers while the teacher is talking, perhaps because they are bored or uninterested. I didn't often doodle in school, but I have been doodling while talking to someone on the phone for many, many years.

Interestingly, my doodles are almost always exactly the same. I draw a house, then the ground beneath the house, then a sidewalk leading up to the house. Sometimes I'll also draw a tree next to the house. These images - house, tree, sidewalk - are actually very common drawings that children make, which is probably when I first started doing them. (It could also be possible that I have the mind of a child, which many have told me!)

I doodle two other things when talking on the phone or listening to a voice mail message. First, I always add a radio antenna on top of the house. This is probably because, since the age of 11, I have been an amateur radio operator. (Amateur radio - sometimes called ham
radio - is a service that allows you to talk to other people in different states and countries by using radio waves.) The second thing I doodle (sometimes even without the house) is a series of triangles that form a small box or rectangle. I have no idea why I do that.

Are these doodles a distraction - that is, do they make you listen less carefully? It appears that they don't. In fact, doodling appears to help you remember things while you doodle! A study in the journal Applied Cognitive Psychology found that people who were asked to doodle while listening to a voicemail message remembered more of the message than those who did not doodle. One theory is that doodling provides just enough stimulation (activity that produces a response) to prevent people from being too distracted.

Some people even claim that their doodles help them remember things that happened many months or even years ago. This would not work for me, however, since I am not very creative and all my doodles are the same.

Talking About Architecture

Iktinos: I can't believe we're in one of the world's most famous structures. Look at this architecture!

Pinda: Yeah, great, another old building. I'm going to sit in that bay window and rest my feet while you walk around.

Iktinos: Come on, come with me. Just look at these columns and beams. They're over 2,000 years old!

Pinda: Right, they're old. Everything we've seen these past two weeks has been old. What's so special about this?

Iktinos: Are you trying to tell me that you don't think this dome is impressive? It's one of the largest in the world. Look at those cornices and skylights. I've never seen anything like them.

Pinda: This building has a good facade, with nice balance and symmetry, but I'm so tired of looking at the same style of building, one after another. Aren't we going to see anything else today?

Iktinos: We are seeing some of the most important monuments to human ingenuity.

Pinda: You're right, but I'm too tired to walk up and down all three stories. You go. I'll stay here on this balcony.

Iktinos: What are you going to do here?

Pinda: I'm going to think about how I'd remodel the building to bring it up to date.

Iktinos: You're hopeless!

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