a lot of people go through life with only a few friends

8/3/2019 A Lot of People Go Through Life With Only a Few Friends

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A lot of people go through life with only a few friends. It seemsthat some have less than that. They have no one on whom theycan call in good times or bad. There is no one with whom tobounce ideas around, or to talk about deep and troubling

subjects. They have no one to call in times of need or difficulty.They are at the mercy of life, standing alone.

Others seem to have a multitude of friends. Wherever they go,people know them, and like to be around them. Should trouble

strike, their biggest hesitation might be over which friend to call.They know exactly the person with whom to discuss the topics of

inquiry and debate. Life is full of entertaining and invigoratingrelationships because it is full of friends.

There ought to be a course in school on friendship. Of course,

some people are perfectly happy to operate with fewer friends.They might rather have a few deep and loyal friends, than manysuperficial ones. Others thrive best when friends are everywhereand numerous. It is not so much the number of friends that isimportant as is the possession of friends, period.

Friendship is a blessing, and a friend isthe channel through whom great emotional,spiritual, and sometimes even physical

blessings flow. Friends can cheer us when we¶re sorrowful or depressed.

Friends can challenge us when we allow ourselves to get beyond ourreasonable boundaries. Friends can motivate us when we¶re ready to givein, and they can provide for us when life falls apart. They are there whenall is well, and we want someone with whom to share life¶s pleasant andmemorable moments. We often just want them around to have a goodtime, to laugh, to act silly, to enjoy some mutually liked activity. In howmany ways have friends enriched our lives and made us feel loved,accepted, respected and cared for? Probably, too many to list, and the list

grows daily. It is safe to say that when God created the world and all the majestic

things in it, when he streaked the heavens with radiant color and the

earth with grand mountains and awe-inspiring canyons, when he paintedthe plains with waving grasses and erected noble forests of toweringtrees, he outdid it all by creating friends. Why not take a moment or two

and thank someone today for being a friend to you? May God bless you with all the friends you need, and may he turn you

into a blessing by using you as a friend to others.

Friendship is ablessing...



Tristan and Isolde

The heart-rending tale of Tristan and Isolde has gone through its iota of story-

telling sessions. The story takes place during medieval times during the reign of

King Arthur. The immortality of this tale is quite evident from the way it has been

told and retold through numerous stories and manuscripts. Isolde was name of

the pretty daughter of the King of Ireland. Her father had chosen King Mark of

Cornwall for Isolde and both got engaged. Tristan was nephew of King Mark who

sent him to Ireland to escort Isolde back to Cornwall and that¶s where the story

took a different turn. Love knows no boundaries and never cares for any

barriers.

Isolde and Tristan both sensed a strong sense of attachment and fulfilment in

each other. The seeds of love were sown but destiny had something else in store.

Isolde had to marry Mark of Cornwall but then heart was longing for Tristan. As aresult of that, the love affair between the two continued even after her

marriage.

They say, you cannot hide love and King Mark finally came to know about their

affair. Tristan was banned from Cornwall but King forgave Isolde. Tristan was

forced to move to Brittany where he encountered Iseult and the similarity of her

name with Isolde made Tristan felt attracted towards her. He kept looking for

signs of Isolde in Iseult and finally decided to marry her. But Tristan¶s undying

love for Isolde did not let him consummate his marriage with Iseult. His hopes

started to fade away and soon grief-stricken Tristan fell severely ill.

In the deep recess of his heart, Tristan knew Isolde would be able to cure him.

He sent for Isolde and if Isolde agreed to come, the sails of returning ship would

be white. However, in case the sails are black, that would indicate Isolde has not

decided to come. The call of love soon became evident as the sails were white

but scorned love is extremely dangerous. Iseult could not accept the return of

Isolde and subsequently lied to Tristan and told him that the sails were black.

Tristan could not take it and died of grief even before Isolde could reach for her

lover. The pain of Tristan¶s death did not spare and Isolde either and she died

soon after of a broken heart. Though, both of them died yet gave the world

something to remember for eternity.

Pyramus and Thisbe

Famous sad love stories- the title itself is self-explanatory. It¶s really hard to

pinpoint the exact number of historians, philosophers, kings, psychologists and

poets who have tried to explain love in a different way and yet the underlying

emotion always remains the same. Love is a state of heart and no matter how



many definitions you try; you will always feel exhilarated and blessed once you

are in love. Even with closed eyes, you can feel its presence and your heart will

keep dancing on the melody of its beats. The intensity experienced during love is

truly unexplainable. Sharing love stories make us remember and feel the eternal

love and it completely redefines the way one experiences love.

The story of Pyramus and Thisbe is touching but tragic. The story has the power

to move anyone who reads it. The fable has its origins in the Roman Mythology.

The tale of Pyramus and Thisbe has enthralled many young lovers over the

centuries and it has lost none of its charm even during the modern age. Pyramus

was an extremely handsome man whereas Thisbe was the most beautiful girl in

the Babylonia. They both were neighbours and had grown up together.

As they grew up, love blossomed but it was the forbidden fruit for the lovers.

Their parents were totally against them marrying each other and that forced both

of them to meet clandestinely if they could. However, their parents could not

suppress the lights of love burning in the hearts of love birds. One fine day, theydecided to run away from their homes and meet the next day under a mulberry

tree near tomb of Ninus. Thisbe was the first one to reach on spot and was

waiting for Pyramus.

That¶s when the tragedy struck and story took a devastating turn. There was a

fountain nearby where a lioness came to quench her thirst. The sight of lioness

made Thisbe panic and she hurried to safety in some hollow rocks nearby. While

she was running she left her veil behind. The lioness came near, sniffed the veil

and tore it in his bloody jaws. At that very moment, Pyramus arrived near the

mulberry tree and found the tattered blood stained veil. He thought that his love

was dead and was completely devastated. He blamed himself to be the cause of

Tisbe¶s death and in a moment of agony, pierced his chest with his own sword.

Tisbe, who was still hiding in the rocks, came out of her hiding place and seeing

the dead body of her lover, she was totally shattered and grief-stricken. She also

took the sword and killed herself and thus one of the purest love stories ended in

pain and death.

Pocahontas and John Smith

Though love stories from different places are told in contrasting styles and

languages yet the charm of romance remains the same. Love is like a blissful

flow of emotion. Love knows no barriers, caste, creed, discrimination and status.

It dictates terms on its own and has a habit of standing against all odds. How

many times, have we come across tales of love managing to survive despite the

insurmountable odds? Many times perhaps and yet we are not tired of love tales

that has a heart-breaking end. These tales belong to different centuries but still



manage to enthral us. Painful romantic stories are timeless and have carved

themselves in immortality. There are plenty of love stories to be shared like

Helen of troy and Paris, Abelard and Heliose, Pygmalion and Galatea and

Pocahontas and John Smith.

The story of Pocahontas and John Smith is a celebrated legend in the history of

America. Pocahontas was the daughter of Powhatan. She was an Indian princess.

Powhatan was the commanding chief of the Algonquian Indians in the Tidewater

region of Virginia. According to legend, the first meeting between Pocahontas

and John Smith took place under unusual circumstances. John Smith was leading

an expedition in December 1607 and because of certain misunderstanding

Indians captivated him. Smith was taken to the residence of Powhatan where he

was tortured. But he was saved by Pocahontas who helped him tremendously to

get him out of his misery.

Pocahontas felt an instant liking for John Smith and found him immensely

attractive and appealing. Soon enough Powhatan adopted Smith as his son andfrom there onwards, the friendship between Pocahontas and Smith started taking

deep roots. They started to come closer to each other but destiny had some

other plans. John Smith had to return back to England after getting badly injured

due to gunpowder explosion. Pocahontas was constantly worried about him and

decided to make a visit to the fort but unfortunately there she was informed that

Smith was dead.

Things started to change rapidly and soon after, Pocahontas was taken prisoner

by Sir Samuel Argall who had some devious plans of his own. He demanded

return of English prisoners from Powhatan in return of Pocahontas. In the

meantime, Pocahontas decided to become a Christian during her captivity. Just a

year later, she married John Rolfe. She met John Smith after an eternal gap of

eight years while visiting London. This was also their last meeting.



The indefinite article - a/an

The definite article

The indefinite article

Exercises: Articles

T he indefinite article - a

The indefinte article is the a is the same for all genders.a boy, a girl, a cat

The indefinte article has no plural form.a boy - boys

We use an if the following word starts with a vowel.

the following word starts with a consonant the following word starts with a vowel

a boy an aunt

a school an old schoola girl an American girl

Mind the pronunciation of the following word.

a unit an uncle

This u sounds like a consonant, so we use a. This u sounds like a vowel, so we use an.

U se of the indefinite article a/an

- before phrases of time and measurements (per week/weekly)

We have English 4 times a week .

I go on holiday twice a year .

Our car can do 220 kilometres an hour .

Tomatoes are $2 a kilo.

- before phrases of jobs

My father is a car mechanic .

- with a noun complement

He is a good boy .

- before phrases of nationality

Bruce Springsteen is an American.

- half/quite



We need half a pound of sugar.

This is quite a good stor

T he definite article - the

The definite article the is the same for all genders in singular and in plural.the boy, the girl, the cat, the computers

If the following word begins with a vowel, we speak [ ], if the following word begins with a

consonant, we speak [ ].

[ ] [ ]

the following word starts with a spoken consonant the following word starts with a spoken vowel

the girl the English girl

the book the blue book

the school the old school

the unit

Here a [ ] is pronounced at the beginning of theword.

the uncle

Here a [ ] is pronounced at the beginning of theword.

We have listed some examples in the following table. There you can see when we use the definitearticle and when we don't.

without the definite article with the definite article

general words (indefinite) general words (definite)

Life is too short.I like flowers.

I've read a book on the life of Bill Clinton.I like the flowers in your garden.

names of persons on the singular, relatives family names in the plural

Peter and John live in London.Aunt Mary lives in Los Angeles.

The Smiths live in Chicago.

public buildings, institutions, means of transport (indefinite)

public buildings, institutions, means of transport (definite)

Mandy doesn't like school.We go to school by bus.Some people go to church on Sundays.

The school that Mandy goes to is old.The bus to Dresden leaves at 7.40.The round church in Klingenthal is famous.

names of countries in the singular; summits

of mountains; continents; towns

names of countries in the plural; mountain

ranges; regions

Germany, France;Mount Whitney, Mount McKinley;Africa, Europe;Cairo, New York

the United States of America, the Netherlands;the Highlands, the Rocky Mountains, the Alps; theMiddle East, the west of Australia

single islands groups of islands

Corfu, Bermuda, Sicily the Bahamas, the British Isles, the Canaries

parks; lakes; streets name with of-phrase; oceans; seas; rivers



Central Park, Hyde Park;Lake Michigan, Loch Ness;42nd Street, Oxford Street

the Statue of Liberty, the Tower (of London), theIsle of Wight;the Atlantic (Ocean);the Mediterranean (Sea);the Nile, the Rhine, the Suez Canal

months, days of the week (indefinite) months, days of the week (definite)

The weekend is over on Monday morning.July and August are the most popular months forholidays.

I always remember the Monday when I had anaccident.The August of 2001 was hot and dry.

We use the seasons of the year (spring, summer, autumn, winter) with or without the definitearticle.

in summer or in the summer

The American English word for autum >fall< is always used with the definte article.

Sometimes we use the article and sometimes we do not. It often depends on the context. Watchthe following example:

The student goes to school.The mother goes to the school.

In the first sentence we do not use the definite article, in the second we do. The student goes toschool for its primary purpose, so we do not use the article.

The mother might talk to a teacher, for example. She visits the school for a different reason.That's why we use the definite article in the second sentence.

Form

if clause main clause

Simple Present

will-future orinfinitiveorModal + infinitive

Ex amples

If I study, I will pass the exams.

If you see John tonight, tell him to e-mail me.

If Ben gets up early, he can catch the bus.

The if-clause can be at the beginning or at the end of the sentence.



If I study, I will pass the exams.

I will pass the exams if I study.

clean - cleaner - (the) cleanest

We use -er/-est with the following adjectives:

1) adjectives with one syllable

clean cleaner cleanest

new newer newest

cheap cheaper cheapest

2 ) adjectives with two syllables and the following endings:

2 - 1) adjectives with two syllables, ending in -y

dirty dirtier dirtiest

easy easier easiest

happy happier happiest

pretty prettier prettiest

2 - 2) adjectives with two syllables, ending in -er

clever cleverer cleverest

2 - 3) adjectives with two syllables, ending in -le

simple simpler simplest

2 - 4) adjectives with two syllables, ending in -ow

narrow narrower narrowest

S pelling of the adjectives using the endings -er/-est

large larger largest leave out the silent -e



big bigger biggest

Double the consonant after short vowel

sad sadder saddest

dirty dirtier dirtiest Change -y to -i (consonant before -y)

shy shyer shyest Here -y is not changed to -i.

(although consonant before -y)

B - Comparison with more - most

difficult - more difficult - (the) most difficult

all adjectives with more than one syllable (except some adjectives with two syllables -

see2 - 1 to 2 - 4)

C - Irregular adjectives

good better best

bad worse worst

much more most uncountable nouns

many more most countable nouns

little less least

little smaller smallest

D - Special adjectives

Some ajdectives have two possible forms of comparison.

common commoner / more common commonest / most common

likely likelier / more likely likeliest / most likely



pleasant pleasanter / more pleasant pleasantest / most pleasant

polite politer / more polite politest / most polite

simple simpler / more simple simplest / most simple

stupid stupider / more stupid stupidest / most stupid

subtle subtler / more subtle subtlest

sure surer / more sure surest / most sure

Difference in meaning with adjectives:

far

farther farthest distance

further furthestdistance or

time

late

later latest

latter x

x last

old

older oldest people and things

elder eldest people (family)

near

nearer nearest distance

x next order

The conditional sentences are sometimes confusing for learners of English.

Watch out:

1) Which type of the conditional sentences is used?

2) Where is the if-clause (e.g. at the beginning or at the end of the conditional sentence)?

There are three types of the if-clauses.



type condition

I condition possible to fulfill

II condition in theory possible to fulfill

III condition not possible to fulfill (too late)

Form

type if clause main clause

I Simple Present will-future (or Modal + infinitive)

II Simple Past would + infinitive *

III Past Perfect would + have + past participle *

Ex amples (if-clause at the beginning )

type if clause main clause

I If I study, I will pass the exam.

II If I studied, I would pass the exam.

III If I had studied, I would have passed the exam.

Ex amples (if-clause at the end )

type main clause if-clause

I I will pass the exam if I study.

II I would pass the exam if I studied.

III I would have passed the exam if I had studied.

Ex amples (affirmative and negative sentences )

type Examples

long forms short/contracted forms

I

+ If I study, I will pass the exam. If I study, I'll pass the exam.

-If I study, I will not fail the exam.If I do not study, I will fail the exam.

If I study, I won't fail the exam.If I don't study, I'll fail the exam.

II

+ If I studied, I would pass the exam. If I studied, I'd pass the exam.

- If I studied, I would not fail the exam.If I did not study, I would fail the exam.

If I studied, I wouldn't fail the exam.If I didn't study, I'd fail the exam.

III

+If I had studied, I would havepassed the exam.

If I'd studied, I'd have passed the exam.

-

If I had studied, I would not havefailedthe exam.If I had not studied, I would havefailedthe exam.

If I'd studied, I wouldn't have failed theexam.If I hadn't studied, I'd have failed theexam.



* We can substitute could or might for would (should, may or must are sometimes possible,too).

I would pass the exam.

I could pass the exam.

I might pass the exam.

I may pass the exam.

I should pass the exam.

I must pass the exam.

Form


Simple Past

would + infinitive orcould + infinitiveormight + infinitive

Ex amples

If I studied, I would pass the exams.

If I studied, I could pass the exams.

If I studied, I might pass the exams.


If I studied, I would pass the exams.

I would pass the exams if I studied.

Form


Past Perfect

would + have + past participle orcould + have + past participle ormight + have + past participle

Ex amples



If I had studied, I would have passed the exams.

If I had studied, I could have passed the exams.

If I had studied, I might have passed the exams.


If I had studied, I would have passed the exams.

I would have passed the exams if I had studied.

a lot of people go through life with only a few friends

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