#learning2 Tweets

another adage

a bird in the bush is worth two in the hand

Adage

A day late and a dollar short

Livraria Lello (トリップアドバイザー提供)

Reading 10

Can you imagine a world without books? It may seem like we have always had books, but that is not true. A long time ago, before there were books, people used to write things on pieces of stone. Even before people wrote on stones, people would draw pictures on the walls of caves. In a way, these were the very first books. People wrote things down so that other people could read them later. Many years later, someone invented better ways of writing things down using shapes, lines, and circles. Then, people invented paper. Some people think that learning how to make paper and putting papers together to make books changed the world forever. At first, books were very rare and only very rich people could own them. Books were so special that sometimes you could visit a village and not find one book in the whole village. A few hundred years ago, books became cheaper and more common because of a special machine that made books quickly. Then, it was not only rich people who owned them, People started reading and learning about all kinds of different things. Books were not only used for learning, People also used them to tell stories about far away lands and exciting adventures. Before books, people came together in groups to listen to stories for fun. But with books, a person could sit at home and have fun reading exciting stories alone. Many people thought when movies and radio were invented that nobody would read books anymore. But people still wanted to read books. Then when TV came along, people were sure that books were finished. But people still wanted to read books. Today we have computers. Some people say that computers will be the end of books for sure. But I don't think so.

Reading 9

Have you ever listened to a book on tape? I have. One month ago, I listened to my first book on tape. It was really great. I found that books on tape have a lot of advantages. For example, books on tape are great for people who are too busy to read. I love reading, but I do not have much free time during my day to read for fun. I spend a long time at school every day. Then, when I come home at night, I have to do my homework. I go to bed late and get up early. My only free time is early in the morning, but that is when I exercise, l am too busy to read! But books on tape let me enjoy fun stories. Books on tape make it possible for me to do two things at once. For example, I like to go running early in the morning before breakfast. I was very happy when I tried running and listening to my book on tape at the same time. I got lost in the story and forgot that I was running. I ran longer than I expected because I liked listening to the story so much. So, that is another good thing about books on tape. They let me enjoy stories while I do something else, and they help me exercise more! I can also listen to a book white I am riding the bus to school. I could never read a book on the bus because it made me feel sick. But listening to a book on tape on the bus does not make me sick. It is wonderful, l just look out the window as I ride and forget all about the people around me.

Reading 8

Books have been around for a long time. A long time ago, very few people could read. Reading was very special. Only very important towns people could read. Today, most people can read. Most have libraries. These are big buildings full of books. There were libraries long ago, too. However, back then not everyone could go there. Libraries today are different. Anyone can visit them and read books for free. They can also ask for books and take them home. We can read about anything at a library. But what will libraries be like in the future? Will they be very different from libraries today? Right now, people are making a new kind of library. This library is not in a building, but it is easy for everyone to visit. This is a library on your computer! This library will have all of the books in the world in every language. You can choose a book and see it on your computer. You can read the book for free-just like a real library. This is called the Open Library Project. Many people are working together on this. Many schools and companies are also helping. They want to make all books free for everybody. How will they do it? A worker who is helping with the Open Library Project takes a picture of a page from a book. The worker saves the picture on a computer. When all of the pages of a book are saved, the whole book is on the computer. Then someone uses the computer to put the book on the Internet, so anyone around the world can read the book. Anyone can read the book from a computer in his or her home! This is the beginning of the library of the future!