https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXyjgJ_VQI0
บทสนทนาโทรจองห้องพักโรงแรม
(คลิกอ่านเพิ่มเติม เพื่ออ่านบทสนทนาภาษาอังกฤษและไทย และคำศัพท์น่ารู้)
แบบทดสอบการฟังภาษาอังกฤษ จากบทสนทนาโทรจองห้องพักโรงแรม
มีคำถาม 5 ข้อหลังฟังเสร็จ เพื่อทดสอบการฟังภาษาอังกฤษของคุณ

#บทสนทนาภาษาอังกฤษ #ฝึกฟังภาษาอังกฤษ #โรงแรม

The conversations from the clip :

Customer: Hello, I’d like to make a reservation for a room with a sea view.
Receptionist: Of course! When would you like to book the room?
Customer: I’m planning to stay from Friday to Sunday this week.
Receptionist: Let me check the availability... Yes, we have a sea view room available for those dates.
Customer: That’s great! Can I book a room for two people?
Receptionist: Sure! I’ll reserve a double room for you. Would you prefer a king-sized bed or two single beds?
Customer: A king-sized bed, please.
Receptionist: Noted! Is there anything else you’d like to request for your room?
Customer: Could you also confirm if breakfast is included with the room?
Receptionist: Yes, breakfast is included for all our guests. It’s served from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. daily.
Customer: That sounds perfect. Is there a specific menu for breakfast?
Receptionist: Yes, we offer a buffet breakfast with a variety of hot and cold dishes, including eggs, bacon, cereals, fruits, and fresh pastries.
Customer: That sounds delicious! Also, is there Wi-Fi available in the room?
Receptionist: Yes, we offer free Wi-Fi in all our rooms and common areas.
Customer: Perfect. Can I check in early on Friday, around 1:00 p.m.?
Receptionist: I’ll make a note of that, and we’ll do our best to have the room ready for you by then.
Customer: Thank you! How much will the total cost be for the weekend?
Receptionist: The total for the two-night stay with breakfast included will be 10,560 THB.
Customer: Great, I’ll go ahead and confirm the booking. Thank you for your help!
Receptionist: You’re very welcome! We look forward to welcoming you this Friday. Enjoy your stay!

ลูกค้า: สวัสดีค่ะ ฉันต้องการจองห้องที่มีวิวทะเลค่ะ
พนักงานต้อนรับ: ได้เลยครับ คุณต้องการจองห้องสำหรับวันไหนครับ?
ลูกค้า: ฉันวางแผนจะพักตั้งแต่วันศุกร์ถึงวันอาทิตย์สัปดาห์นี้ค่ะ
พนักงานต้อนรับ: ขออนุญาตตรวจสอบห้องว่างก่อนนะครับ... มีห้องที่มีวิวทะเลว่างสำหรับวันที่คุณต้องการครับ
ลูกค้า: ดีจังเลย! ฉันขอจองห้องสำหรับสองคนได้ไหมคะ?
พนักงานต้อนรับ: ได้ครับ ผมจะจองห้องแบบดับเบิ้ลให้คุณ คุณต้องการเตียงคิงไซส์หรือเตียงเดี่ยวสองเตียงครับ?
ลูกค้า: เตียงคิงไซส์ค่ะ
พนักงานต้อนรับ: รับทราบครับ มีอะไรเพิ่มเติมที่คุณต้องการสำหรับห้องไหมครับ?
ลูกค้า: คุณช่วยยืนยันด้วยได้ไหมคะว่าห้องรวมอาหารเช้าด้วย?
พนักงานต้อนรับ: ใช่ครับ อาหารเช้ารวมสำหรับแขกทุกท่าน เสิร์ฟตั้งแต่ 7:00 น. ถึง 10:00 น. ทุกวันครับ
ลูกค้า: ฟังดูดีมากค่ะ อาหารเช้ามีเมนูเฉพาะไหมคะ?
พนักงานต้อนรับ: มีครับ เรามีอาหารเช้าแบบบุฟเฟต์ที่มีทั้งเมนูร้อนและเย็น รวมถึงไข่ เบคอน ซีเรียล ผลไม้ และขนมอบสดใหม่ครับ
ลูกค้า: น่าอร่อยมากเลย! แล้วในห้องมี Wi-Fi ไหมคะ?
พนักงานต้อนรับ: มีครับ เรามี Wi-Fi ฟรีในทุกห้องและพื้นที่ส่วนกลางครับ
ลูกค้า: ดีมากค่ะ ฉันสามารถเช็คอินก่อนเวลาในวันศุกร์ได้ไหมคะ ประมาณบ่ายโมง?
พนักงานต้อนรับ: ผมจะจดบันทึกไว้ และเราจะพยายามเตรียมห้องให้พร้อมสำหรับคุณภายในเวลานั้นครับ
ลูกค้า: ขอบคุณค่ะ ค่าใช้จ่ายทั้งหมดสำหรับสุดสัปดาห์นี้จะเป็นเท่าไหร่คะ?
พนักงานต้อนรับ: ค่าใช้จ่ายสำหรับการเข้าพักสองคืนรวมอาหารเช้าจะอยู่ที่ 10,560 บาทครับ
ลูกค้า: ดีค่ะ ฉันขอยืนยันการจองเลย ขอบคุณสำหรับความช่วยเหลือนะคะ!
พนักงานต้อนรับ: ด้วยความยินดีครับ เรารอที่จะต้อนรับคุณในวันศุกร์นี้ ขอให้คุณพักผ่อนอย่างมีความสุขครับ!

Vocabulary (คำศัพท์น่ารู้)

Reservation (เรส-เซอร์-เว-ชั่น) n. แปลว่า การจอง
Availability (อะ-เว-ละ-บิล-ลิ-ที) n. แปลว่า ความพร้อมใช้งาน
Double room (ดั๊บ-เบิล รูม) n. แปลว่า ห้องสำหรับสองคน
King-sized bed (คิง-ไซซด์ เบด) n. แปลว่า เตียงขนาดคิงไซส์
Single bed (ซิง-เกิล เบด) n. แปลว่า เตียงเดี่ยว
Confirm (คอน-เฟิร์ม) v. แปลว่า ยืนยัน
Breakfast (เบรค-ฟาสท์) n. แปลว่า อาหารเช้า
Buffet (บุ-เฟ่) n. แปลว่า บุฟเฟต์
Variety (วะ-ไร-เอ-ที) n. แปลว่า ความหลากหลาย
Dishes (ดิช-เชส) n. แปลว่า จานอาหาร, เมนู
Wi-Fi (ไว-ไฟ) n. แปลว่า อินเทอร์เน็ตไร้สาย
Check-in (เช็ค-อิน) n. แปลว่า การเช็คอิน
Cost (คอสท์) n. แปลว่า ค่าใช้จ่าย
Total (โท-เทิล) n. แปลว่า ยอดรวม
Receptionist (รี-เซพ-ชั่น-นิสท์) n. แปลว่า พนักงานต้อนรับ

“Fruit” vs. “Vegetable”: Thyme To Explain The Actual Difference

Trying to classify what’s a fruit and what’s a vegetable isn’t always cut and dry. In fact, the debate about it can get pretty juicy—seedy, even. This all stems from the fact that some things we eat are technically fruits but are almost always called vegetables (and treated like vegetables, too). Some people make a distinction based on the level of sweetness, but the difference—from the perspective of a botanist, at least—is less a matter of taste and more a matter of which part of the plant you’re eating.

This article will get to the root of which foods are fruits, which are vegetables, and which are actually fruits despite always getting placed with the vegetables at the grocery store. You’ll come away with answers to these questions and more:

What exactly is the difference between fruits and vegetables?
Is a tomato a fruit or a vegetable?
Is a potato a vegetable?
Are berries fruit?
What about nuts?

We’ll even include a list of the fruits and vegetables whose categorization status most often pits people against each other, along with their technical classification and what they’re usually considered in culinary use. (Spoilage alert: the fruit and veggie puns are already pretty ripe, but they’re going to get even grosser.)

Quick summary

Technically speaking, a fruit is a plant’s developed ovary that comes from a flower and contains one or multiple seeds. The term vegetable is much broader—it refers to any part of a plant that’s used for food, including the roots, tubers, stems, and leaves. Many of the foods that we casually call vegetables, like tomatoes, are technically fruits. Still, it’s a technical distinction that’s usually ignored in practical contexts, such as menus or the layout of the produce section.

What is the difference between a fruit and a vegetable?

To a botanist, the word fruit specifically refers to the edible part of a seed plant that develops from a flower into a ripened ovary that contains one or more seeds—fertilized seeds capable of generating a new plant. Fruits come from many different types of plants: apples grow on trees, grapes grow on vines, and blueberries grow on shrubs, for example. The botanical definition of a fruit has nothing to do with whether or not it tastes sweet.

The word vegetable tends to make us think of savory (and nonsweet) flavors. But vegetable simply means any part of a plant that is grown primarily for food. This can be the leaves (spinach), the root (carrots), the tuber (potatoes), the flower (broccoli), the stalk (celery), or other parts—including the fruit. Yes, definitionally speaking, fruits are actually just one type of vegetable (because they’re an edible part of a plant).

Still, people don’t usually think about their fruits and vegetables in terms of strict, definition-specific distinctions. In everyday, nonscientific contexts, we usually make the distinction between a fruit and a vegetable based on how we eat it and what dishes we put it in, especially according to whether it’s sweet or not. To most of us, fruits are the edible, usually sweet parts of a plant—often ones that are eaten raw, squeezed for juice, or used in desserts.

Many things that are technically fruits are commonly treated as vegetables (and even sometimes the other way around). Here are some whose categorizations are among the most ambiguous.

Tomato: fruit or vegetable?

It’s both. No matter how you slice it, a tomato is technically a fruit (the seed-filled ovary of the plant), but it’s typically treated as (and called) a vegetable. The classification confusion is understandable, given its savory but sweet flavor and the fact that it’s commonly used in savory dishes in the same way that vegetables usually are. Even the Supreme Court has had trouble with putting the fruit in the right category. In 1893, the high court of the US decided a tomato is a vegetable because of the way it’s used in cooking, regardless of the botanical categorization.

Just because the scientific definition is clear doesn’t mean the issue is settled. Perhaps the distinction is best summarized by the quote, often attributed to journalist Miles Kington, that “Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.” But even that notion has been contradicted by countless cooks—search some variation of tomato and watermelon salad recipe and you’ll get millions of hits.

Is a cucumber a fruit?

The cucumber plant is part of the gourd family. The part that people eat (and turn into pickles) is the fruit of the plant. So while you might not think of a cucumber salad as a kind of fruit salad, cucumbers do fit the technical definition of a fruit. It’s a good reminder that taste and how people commonly prepare a food have little to do with its scientific classification.

Is a coconut a fruit?

A coconut is the fruit of the coconut palm. It falls into the subcategory of fruits called drupes, which are distinguished by an outer skin, a fleshy middle, and a hard woody shell over a single seed. However, unlike other drupes in which the flesh covering the seed is what’s eaten (like peaches or cherries), the edible part of the coconut is the meat just inside that last interior shell.

Is a potato a vegetable?

The potato is part of the same family of plants (the nightshade family) as the tomato, the eggplant, and some peppers. But unlike those, it’s classified as a vegetable because the part of the plant that’s eaten is the tuber part of the root, as opposed to the reproductive organ.

Many people asking “Is a potato a vegetable?” are really asking if they can count it as one nutritionally, like they do green vegetables. Traditionally, potatoes have been considered a starch, but they’re full of nutrients, including vitamins C, B1, B3, and B6, as well as minerals like iron, potassium, and folate.

Is a carrot a fruit?

This is an easy one—carrots are definitely vegetables, not fruits. Like potatoes, carrots are a type of root vegetable. The greens of the plant are edible, but carrots are grown for the bright orange (or purple, or white, or yellow) taproot growing underneath.

Remember, vegetables can come from all parts of the plant, be it the roots, leaves, stalks, or other parts. Keeping that in mind can be useful when sorting out whether something belongs in the vegetable category or the fruit category.

But here’s an easier way—we’ll just tell you. Produce this produce list any time there’s a rhubarb concerning edible plant facts.

Are berries fruit? What about nuts?

You might be thinking that grains are a surprising inclusion in the fruit category. They aren’t the only fruits that often get left out of the fruit conversation, either. Nuts, berries, and pods (such as peas) are also technically fruits.

A berry is a small fruit that usually has small seeds embedded, as in grapes and blueberries. Tomatoes, in fact, also fall into this group. From a botanical standpoint, only simple fruits—those that develop from a single ovary in a single flower—are berries. Still, some other fruits commonly called berries, like strawberries and raspberries, are technically aggregate fruits, meaning they develop from multiple ovaries of a single flower. Some fruits commonly classified as berries, such as the mulberry, are multiple fruits, meaning they come from the ovaries of several individual flowers.

Nuts are also simple fruits, albeit ones eaten dry. These have an edible inside that’s enclosed in a hard shell, like a chestnut or hazelnut. Some other things that we call nuts, like walnuts and almonds, aren’t nuts from a botanical perspective, but are instead the kind of fruits classified as drupes (like coconuts), since the shells are covered in a fleshy outside. Peanuts are also not nuts—they are legumes, meaning they’re technically a vegetable.

Copyright 2024, XAKKHRA, All Rights Reserved.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KZYyhSAMaY
บทสนทนาของหมูเด้งกับลิง
(คลิกอ่านเพิ่มเติม เพื่ออ่านบทสนทนาภาษาอังกฤษและไทย และคำศัพท์น่ารู้)
แบบทดสอบการฟังภาษาอังกฤษ จากบทสนทนาของหมูเด้งกับลิง
มีคำถาม 5 ข้อหลังฟังเสร็จ เพื่อทดสอบการฟังภาษาอังกฤษของคุณ

#moodeng #babyhippo #listeningstory

The conversations from the clip :

Moo Deng : Hey, Monkey! What are you having for lunch today?
Monkey : Hi, Moo Deng! I’ve got some bananas and nuts. What about you?
Moo Deng : I’m having some veggies and fruit. The zookeepers gave me a big pile!
Monkey : Veggies? That sounds healthy. Do you like it?
Moo Deng : Yeah, it’s pretty tasty, especially the apples! But sometimes I wish I could eat more bananas like you.
Monkey : Haha, bananas are my favorite! But apples are good too. You should come swing with me after lunch.
Moo Deng : Swing? I’m not sure I’m built for that! But I can run really fast. Maybe we can play tag.
Monkey : Tag sounds fun! But I bet you’d win, you’re faster than me on the ground.
Moo Deng : How about we play by the water? I love splashing around! You can swing, and I’ll splash.
Monkey : That sounds cool! I’ll swing over the water, and you can make a big splash when I jump.
Moo Deng : Deal! The visitors will love it. I’m great at making big waves.
Monkey : I bet! I’ll try to dodge your splashes while I’m swinging.
Moo Deng : Haha, I’ll make sure to splash extra high! We’ll give the visitors a good show.
Monkey : They’ll love it for sure! Let’s meet at the pool after we finish eating.
Moo Deng : It’s a plan! See you there, Monkey!

หมูเด้ง: เฮ้! ลิง! วันนี้คุณกินอะไรกลางวัน?
ลิง: สวัสดี หมูเด้ง! ฉันมีกล้วยกับถั่วอยู่บ้าง แล้วคุณล่ะ?
หมูเด้ง: ฉันกินผักและผลไม้ ซูคีปเปอร์ให้ผมมาฆ่าใหญ่เลย!
ลิง: ผักเหรอ? ฟังดูดีต่อสุขภาพนะ คุณชอบไหม?
หมูเด้ง: ใช่ มันอร่อยมาก โดยเฉพาะแอปเปิล! แต่บางครั้งฉันก็อยากกินกล้วยมากกว่านี้เหมือนคุณ
ลิง: ฮ่าๆ กล้วยเป็นของโปรดของฉัน! แต่แอปเปิลก็อร่อยเหมือนกัน คุณควรมาสวิงกับฉันหลังอาหารกลางวันนะ
หมูเด้ง: สวิง? ฉันไม่แน่ใจว่าฉันเหมาะกับเรื่องนั้น! แต่ฉันวิ่งได้เร็วมาก อาจจะเล่นแค่จับตามกัน
ลิง: การจับตามันสนุก! แต่ฉันว่าคุณชนะแน่ คุณเร็วกว่าฉันบนพื้น
หมูเด้ง: งั้นเล่นใกล้ ๆ น้ำกันไหม? ฉันชอบเล่นน้ำ! คุณสามารถสวิงได้ ส่วนฉันจะกระโดดน้ำ
ลิง: ฟังดูดี! ฉันจะสวิงเหนือผิวน้ำ และคุณสามารถสร้างคลื่นใหญ่เมื่อฉันกระโดด
หมูเด้ง: ตกลง! นักท่องเที่ยวจะต้องชอบแน่ ฉันเก่งในการทำคลื่นใหญ่
ลิง: ฉันเชื่อว่าคุณทำได้! ฉันจะพยายามหลบคลื่นของคุณระหว่างที่สวิง
หมูเด้ง: ฮ่าๆ ฉันจะทำให้มันกระโดดสูงมาก! เราจะให้โชว์ที่ดีแก่ผู้ชม
ลิง: พวกเขาจะต้องชอบแน่! มาพบกันที่สระหลังจากเรากินเสร็จนะ
หมูเด้ง: เป็นแผน! เจอกันที่นั่นนะ ลิง!

Vocabulary (คำศัพท์น่ารู้)

Lunch (ลันช์) n. แปลว่า อาหารกลางวัน
Banana (บะ-นา-นะ) n. แปลว่า กล้วย
Nuts (นัทส์) n. แปลว่า ถั่ว
Veggies (เวจ-จี้) n. แปลว่า ผัก
Fruit (ฟรุต) n. แปลว่า ผลไม้
Zookeeper (ซู-คีป-เพอร์) n. แปลว่า คนดูแลสวนสัตว์
Healthy (เฮล-ธี) adj. แปลว่า สุขภาพดี
Tasty (เทส-ที) adj. แปลว่า อร่อย
Swing (สวิง) v. แปลว่า แกว่ง, โหน
Run (รัน) v. แปลว่า วิ่ง
Tag (แทก) n. แปลว่า การเล่นไล่จับ
Splash (สแพลช) v. แปลว่า สาดน้ำ, กระเด็นน้ำ
Wave (เวฟ) n. แปลว่า คลื่น
Pool (พูล) n. แปลว่า สระน้ำ
Visitor (วิซ-อิท-เทอะ) n. แปลว่า ผู้มาเยี่ยมชม

White Israel Fig #Fig #fig #fruit #figtree #fruitcutting #figlife #ฟิก #มะเดื่อฝรั่ง

Masui Dauphine Fig #fig #fruit #figtree #fruitcutting #figlife 👨‍🌾🍐

Mango is one of the better fruits 🙏😌

More fibre than: Apples, bananas, oranges, strawberries

One cup (165 grams) of
sliced mango provides:

Calories: 99
Protein: 1.4 grams
Carbs: 24.7 grams
Fat: 0.6 grams
Dietary fiber: 2.6 grams
Vitamin C: 67% of the RDI
Copper: 20% of the RDI
Folate: 18% of the RDI
Vitamin B6: 11.6% of the RDI
Vitamin A: 10% of the RDI
Vitamin E: 9.7% of the RDI
Vitamin B5: 6.5% of the RDI
Vitamin K: 6% of the RDI
Niacin: 7% of the RDI
Potassium: 6% of the RDI
Riboflavin: 5% of the RDI
Manganese: 4.5% of the RDI
Thiamine: 4% of the RDI
Magnesium: 4% of the RDI

It also contains small amounts of phosphorus, pantothenic acid, calcium, selenium and iron.

High in Antioxidants

Mango is packed with polyphenols🤗 — plant compounds that function as antioxidants.

It has over a dozen different types, including mangiferin, catechins, anthocyanins, quercetin, kaempferol, rhamnetin, benzoic acid and many others.

Antioxidants are important as they protect your cells against free radical damage. Free radicals are highly reactive compounds that can bind to and damage your cells.

Research has linked free radical damage to signs of aging and chronic diseases.

Amongst the polyphenols, mangiferin has gained the most interest and is sometimes called a “super antioxidant” since it’s especially powerful.

Test-tube and animal studies have found that mangiferin may counter free radical damage linked to cancers, diabetes and other illnesses.
#สังคมสุขภาพดี#

🍊 Grapefruit Essential oil

...น้ำมันหอมระเหย Grapefruit มีสรรพคุณหลากหลาย อาทิเช่น..
• ช่วยลดน้ำหนักและลดเซลลูไลท์
• ช่วยลดความต้องการสารเสพติด ลดอาการเมาค้าง และความอยากน้ำตาล
• ช่วยลดความมันของผิว และ ลดสิว
• ช่วยล้างไต ลดความเหนื่อยล้าของต่อมหมวกไต
• ช่วยสร้างสมดุลทางอารมณ์

และอีกมากมาย

... น้ำมันหอมระเหยของร้าน Telvada เป็นน้ำมันเกรดบำบัด ออแกนิค 100 %...

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Cherry is just fruit sugar... but the stone inside the cherry, that's the toxic problem...

Next time you have avocado in the house, keep the seeds after eating

Wash the fruit away from the seed, put seed in 2 cm deep water, and 3-5 Weeks later, the seed is growing

I tried 2 methods...

1) Clean the skin away from the seed, this take some time, have to do very carefully

2) just leave the dark skin on the avocado seed...

Method #1 produces more growing plants, however I don't know how strong those plants are, with method #2 the baby plants have to do some serious fighting to break the skin, not so many seeds are growing, however I believe these will be the stronger avocado plants....

Happy Lunar New Year – Learn All About This Celebration!

For millions of Asian Americans and Asian peoples around the world, the Lunar New Year is a time to gather with family, start the year off right, and eat a lot of delicious food. Like, a lot. One of the biggest holidays in East Asia, the Lunar New Year will fall on February 1, 2022 in 2022. Because it’s based on the Chinese lunisolar calendar, it’s also often called Chinese New Year.

While you may be familiar with Lunar New Year parades on TV, did you know the holiday encompasses a wide variety of unique traditions—from gifts exchanged to lucky fruit? Here’s a quick look at some of the things that happen behind the scenes.

How do people prepare for Lunar New Year?
There’s a lot to do leading up to the holiday. The general spirit of this preparation is to clean away the residue of the old year and start fresh, personally and financially. You can do this by giving your entire home a good deep cleaning and settling your debts and grudges. Clear away all the lingering bad luck of the old year, making room for the good luck of the new year.

It’s also important to visit your family’s gravesites before the new year. It’s bad luck to visit a cemetery during the New Year’s celebration because it’s ill-advised to mix interactions with death and celebrations of life. It’s a chance to touch base with your ancestors and remember them fondly. Some believe that ancestral spirits help bring good fortune in the new year.

What do people eat during Lunar New Year?
During the Lunar New Year, families get together to eat lucky foods, exchange gifts, and bond with one another. These gatherings are the highlight of the season. Many people travel far and wide to visit all of their family in the new year. So you live in San Francisco, but your family’s in New York? Have fun on your road trip!

Of course, as soon as you get through the door all your relatives will ask, “你食飯未呀” (“Have you eaten yet?”). What would family gatherings be without loads of food? But it’s considered bad luck to touch knives during the New Year’s season, so a lot of families take time to prep and store food ahead of time.

Some traditional foods have symbolic meanings:

fish

Fish is the centerpiece of many New Year’s feasts. In some Chinese dialects, the word for fish (鱼 or yú) is a homophone with the word for surplus (余, also yú). Thanks to this, eating seafood is believed to symbolize a bountiful new year.

dumplings

Dumplings symbolize wealth because they look like little Chinese-style gold ingots (or like little purses). Some believe eating a lot of them will lead to wealth in the new year (which sounds like a great excuse to eat more dumplings).

long noodles

Long noodles symbolize longevity and happiness. They can be served fried, boiled, or as part of a soup. Cutting or breaking the noodles is seen to symbolize cutting your lifespan short. So if you have a habit of breaking your pasta before cooking it, you might want to rethink that.

10-course banquets

Some restaurants will host 10-course banquets for the occasion. The pricing for these banquets will usually end in the number eight, which is considered lucky in Chinese numerology. In both Mandarin and Cantonese, the word for eight (八, pronounced bā or bat) sounds similar to the word for prosperity (發 pronounced fā or fat). You might actually recognize 發 from a common Chinese New Year greeting: “恭禧發財”. (You can say gong she fa tsai in Mandarin or gong hey fat choi in Cantonese.) So if you see a feast for $888, you know that’s extra lucky.

Lunar New Year celebrations and traditions

Lunar New Year is a time to wish each other luck and prosperity in the year to come—while warding off any potential bad spirits.

red envelopes

When families gather, they’ll also exchange red envelopes. These are known as lai see (Cantonese) or hóng bāo (Mandarin). They’re gifts from adults (elders and married people) to children and unmarried young adults. They usually contain a few coins or small bills of “lucky money.” This symbolizes a wish for prosperity and plenty in the new year. At the end of the New Year’s celebration period, you’re supposed to spend the lucky money on something sweet (for a sweet new year).

lucky words

Many families also decorate their homes with bright red lanterns and signs for the holiday. These typically have lucky words written on them in gold lettering. One word used is fú (福), which means good fortune. You might see this character hung upside down on or near someone’s front door. This is because in some dialects, the word for upside down, dào (倒) is a homonym with the word for to arrive (到, also pronounced dào). Hanging the sign upside down symbolizes arrival of good fortune. Yay for wordplay.

firecrackers

One Chinese legend says that there was once a monster, called the nián, that terrorized a certain village every Lunar New Year. Then one day, the villagers learned that the nián was afraid of a bright shade of red, as well as loud noises. The villagers all wore red and set off firecrackers and fireworks. The nián was terrified and fled the village for good. Mulan would be proud. Today, you’ll still see plenty of red and hear plenty of fireworks. It’s all still meant to scare away evil spirits (the nián included).

tangerines

You might also see arrangements of tangerines or other citrus fruits. These are also meant to symbolize prosperity thanks to their golden color. Tangerines that still have leaves and stems symbolize fertility. It’s traditional to give tangerines as gifts when you visit someone’s home during the New Year’s celebration.

Lunar New Year is an important time for many people in Asia, as well as for Asian communities worldwide. You probably know at least one person who celebrates it, and the traditions they observe won’t be the exact same as people of other families, regions, ethnicities, or religions.

What are zodiac animals?

The Chinese New Year specifically marks the end and beginning of a year of the Chinese zodiac. The Chinese zodiac consists of a cycle of 12 years, all named for animals. These animals are, in order: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog, and boar.

Just like the Western zodiac, the Chinese zodiac says that a person’s personality and horoscope can be determined by their personal zodiac sign—in this case, the one of their birth year. According to the Chinese zodiac, 2022 is the Year of the Tiger. To celebrate the occasion, Chinese New Year festivals, parties, and parades will be held around the world, and most will be adorned with tigers in the form of decorations, art, and toys. The occasion also motivated some organizations to raise awareness of tiger conservation as tigers are a critically endangered species. In 2002, you can also celebrate and share your support for tigers with the Tiger Face emoji 🐯 and Tiger emoji 🐅.


⚡️Chinese zodiac chart
Starting in year 2020, here is a chart of the next 12-year cycle of the Chinese zodiac:

Year Animal Emoji representation
2020 rat 🐀
2021 ox 🐂,
2022 tiger 🐅, 🐯
2023 rabbit 🐇, 🐰
2024 dragon 🐉, 🐲
2025 snake 🐍
2026 horse 🐎, 🐴
2027 goat 🐐
2028 monkey 🐒, 🐵
2029 rooster 🐓, 🐔
2030 dog 🐕, 🐶
2031 pig 🐖, 🐷

Copyright 2024, XAKKHRA, All Rights Reserved.

What Are Open-Ended Questions? Learn How To Use Them Effectively

We ask a lot of important questions: What is love? What time does the bus get here? Doesn’t the Golden Snitch make the whole rest of the game pointless and unnecessary? All of the questions that we ask fall into two major categories: open-ended questions and closed-ended questions. What do these names really mean? What is the difference between the types of questions? We are going to answer those questions and explore how the type of question you ask often impacts the type of answer you’ll get.

What is an open-ended question?

An open-ended question is any question that can’t be answered with a single word or doesn’t have a specific correct answer. Typically, a person will need to stop and think about how to answer an open-ended question. Open-ended questions can and often do have long answers and may also ask a person to answer with an opinion or personal interpretation rather than ask them to recite a fact.

Examples of open-ended questions

The following questions are examples of open-ended questions; they can’t be answered with a single word and/or don’t have a single correct answer.

- Why do you like pop music?
- What were you doing on the night of March 5?
- What effects did the Industrial Revolution have on society?
- Who was the best player to play for the Denver Broncos and why?
- What is your most precious childhood memory?


What is a closed-ended question?

A closed-ended or closed question is, simply put, any question that isn’t an open-ended question. A closed-ended question either has a person choose from a selection of answers, can be answered with a single word, or has a fixed correct answer. Often, closed-ended questions are referred to using terms that specifically describe what kind of question it is. For example, you have probably heard closed-ended questions referred to by names such as “multiple-choice questions,” “yes or no questions,” “true-false questions,” or “fixed-choice questions.”

Closed-ended questions often have short answers that a person may only need a second to figure out. Closed-ended questions often require facts as answers and often only have a single correct answer. They may ask a person’s opinion, but rarely ask a person to explain their opinion or to elaborate further on it.

Examples of close-ended questions

The following questions are examples of close-ended questions. They either have a fixed answer, can be answered with a single word or short phrase, or ask a person to select from a choice of specific answers.

- Is an apple a fruit? (The only logical answers are “Yes” or “No.” The question also has a single correct answer: Yes.)
- True or False? Penguins can swim. (A person is asked to choose between two answers. The question also has a fixed answer: True.)
- Who was America’s first president? (This question has a fixed, short answer: George Washington.)
- What time is it? (This question has a single correct answer.)
- Which country do you live in? (Although this question has many possible answers, a person can and probably will answer it with a single word or phrase.)


What is a leading question?

A leading question is a question that is worded in a way so as to lead to an answer that the asker wants. A leading question could be either an open-ended or closed-ended question.

An example of a leading question would be We all know that Colonel Mustard is the culprit, right? By the way that this question is worded, the asker clearly expects the answer to be “Yes.” By framing the question this way, the asker is trying to lead someone to an answer they want: that Colonel Mustard is the guilty person.

Here are two more examples of leading questions:

- Closed-ended: Should we really continue to listen to this obvious liar? (The asker of this question clearly wants someone to answer “No.”)
- Open-ended: What do you think about the abominable act of declawing cats? (The asker of this question has used biased language to make it clear that they expect the answer to be a negative opinion of something they personally dislike.)

When to use open-ended vs. closed-ended questions

Generally speaking, the choice of whether to ask an open-ended or closed-ended question will depend entirely on what the point of the question is. If a person wants a quick, simple answer they will probably ask a closed-ended question. On the other hand, if they want to know every detail of a person’s thoughts, they are much more likely to ask an open-ended question. Often, an asker will use both open-ended and closed-ended questions to test someone or to try and find the answers they are looking for. Let’s look at some specific situations where different types of questions might be used.


Surveys

Often, the point of surveys is to try and learn people’s opinions or feelings about something. Depending on how much detail is wanted, a survey constructor may decide to use either open-ended or closed-ended questions.

For example, national surveys are often interested in gathering information or opinions of very large groups of people. Because they may not have the time or resources to review thousands or millions of lengthy responses, these surveys will often only have multiple choice questions (closed-ended) with short answers such as What is your age? or Who do you plan to vote for in the election? Because the answers are short, the survey taker can quickly and accurately review them and discover the information they were after. Even when using closed-ended questions, though, a survey maker may first use a data collection survey that uses open-ended questions to try and figure out what the answer choices for closed-ended questions should be.

However, a survey maker might instead want long, detailed opinions. For example, a company might survey its customers to get feedback on their products or services. In this case, the company specifically needs detailed answers so they can learn exactly what people like and don’t like. For a survey like this, they will probably ask open-ended questions such as What is your least favorite ride in the amusement park and why? or How can we better address the needs of our younger audience members?

Copyright 2024, XAKKHRA, All Rights Reserved.

Contronyms You’ve Been Using Without Realizing It

Are these words two-faced?
There are four people at a dinner party. By midnight, two people had left. How many people are left at the party?

Left is just one of many words or expressions known as a contronym—or contranym—a word that has two meanings that are opposite or nearly opposite. In this example, left means both “leave” (two people had left) and “remain” (How many people are left?), which are antonyms. An antonym is a word that is opposite in meaning to another.

Contronyms are also known as Janus words. Janus was an ancient Roman god with two faces that looked in opposite directions, so you can see how he came to be associated with contronyms. And that makes January, which is ultimately derived from the word Janus, a perfect month for learning about contronyms.

Another term for these words is auto-antonym, or a word that means the opposite of itself. Technical terms for this phenomenon are enantiosemy, enantionymy, or antilogy.

You’re likely familiar with many of these contronyms, even if you don’t realize it. So check out some of the most common ones, before you check out.

cleave

A classic example of a contronym is cleave. Cleave actually comes from two different Old English words, clēofan and cleofian, which is how it got these two opposite meanings.

cleave: to split, to separate
Owen swung the axe down hard in order to cleave the log into two even pieces.

cleave: to adhere closely, to stick
Young beaver pups cleave to their mother in the water until they are strong enough to swim on their own.

dust

Dust, when used as a verb, is a contronym.

dust: to wipe the dust from
Every Saturday, he would dust the nicknacks on the bookshelves to keep them clean.

dust: to sprinkle with a powder or dust
The baker liked to dust their pumpkin bread with just a sprinkle of cinnamon.

overlook

We recommend you don’t overlook this next contronym.

overlook: to fail to notice, perceive, or consider
I hadn’t finished the last two homework questions, but I hoped my teacher would overlook it and give me full marks anyway.

overlook: to look after, oversee, or supervise
The manager was required to personally overlook the transfer of valuable materials every evening.

sanction

Will the government sanction sanctions? That’s right, sanction is another common contronym.

sanction: to authorize, approve, or allow
My parents wouldn’t sanction video games in our home because they thought they were too violent.

sanction: to penalize
The school said they were going to sanction the students for arriving late to class.

weather

The word weather is a contronym, but only when used as a verb. We aren’t talking about the noun meaning of this term, “the state of the atmosphere with respect to wind, temperature, etc.”

weather: to expose to the weather, to disintegrate
The paint on the house was chipped and weathered from the decades of rain and snow.

weather: to endure
We weren’t sure that we would be able to weather the storm if we didn’t find shelter.

back up

The expression back up has two meanings that are close, if not exact, antonyms.

back up: to support
Ultimately, the scientists were unable to back up their claims with hard evidence.

back up: to retreat
The zebras backed up when they spotted the alligators in the water.

fine

The adjective fine has the potential to lead to some real misunderstandings about just how excellent (or not) something is.

fine: of superior or best quality
To prepare for the Queen’s visit, the household staff cleaned the fine linens and polished the best silver.

fine (informal): satisfactorily, acceptably
Sandra thought her performance was fine, but nothing special, so she was surprised when she won second place.

original

The adjective original, like the expression back up, is an example of a contronym with two definitions that are near-antonyms.

original: belonging to the beginning of something
Despite being hundreds of years old, the painting was still in its original frame.

original: new, fresh, inventive
While sitting in the bathtub, the inventor was struck with an original idea.

pitted

The contronym pitted often causes confusion at the grocery store.

pitted: having pits (in the sense of “mark or indent”)
The sailor’s face was pitted and craggy from the wind and salt water.

pitted: having the pit removed (in the sense of “stone of a fruit”)
My mom reminded me to buy the pitted cherries, because she didn’t want to take out the stones herself.

bound

Bound is an example of a contronym like cleave that has two different meanings because it actually has two different etymologies. The first meaning comes from the Old English bindan. The second meaning comes from the Old Norse būinn, “to get ready.”

bound: tied, fastened or secured with a band or bond
The Mountie rushed to save the woman who was bound to the railroad tracks.

bound: going or intending to go, destined (for)
With all of their talents, the band was bound to be a success.

rent

The verb rent is one of the clearest examples of a contronym.

rent: to lease property
I was relieved to find an apartment in the city to rent that I could afford.

rent: to be leased or let for rent
Every landlord is hoping to quickly rent their properties to reliable tenants.

Copyright 2024, XAKKHRA, All Rights Reserved.