Treehouse Volume 2 Issue 39

Dhaka Tribune Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Volume 2, Issue 39

JONAKI AND FRIENDS Chinese new year

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Jonaki's Headquarters Hey friends, Let us take you on a ride to the Chinese New Year’s Eve and also learn amazing things about China and why it is so famous, check out Discobang’s Pad (Pg5). Friends, find out what happens

next in a fiction about little Ethal, in Jonaki and the Treehouse (Pg3). Don’t forget to send us any poems, arts etc at treehouse.dt@dhakatribune.com Have a great week!

Love Jonaki

A weekly production of

DhakaTribune Editor Zafar Sobhan Magazine Editor Sabrina Fatma Ahmad Asst Magazine Editor Tahsin Momin Treehouse Team Saudia Afrin Raisa Rahim Rad Sharar Baizid Haque Joarder Contributor Pragya Rahman Ehsan Sunny Cartoonist Syed Rashad Imam Tanmoy Priyo

Solution: Any decent pizza-delivery would come in a thermo-bag

Contents

Graphic Tahsin Momin Colour specialist Shekhar Mondal Advertising Zia Ur Rahman Production Masum Billah Circulation Masud Kabir Pavel Mail us at treehouse@dhakatribune.com www.dhakatribune.com

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2 Discobang’s pad Trivia Pride of China

3 Tales from the city Reader’s corner Dream British Council

4 Bhootum’s Classroom Amazing facts Fiction The seventh tiger

5 Speedy’s Zone Facts Firestarter

Colour it

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Discobang's Pad

Trivia

Discobang is a real party animal. He loves meeting new people.

Pride of China China is famous for its talented Hollywood actors, you may know some of them or have seen their movies. Let’s get to know a little bit about them and see who they are.

Bruce Lee: He was a famous Chinese film actor and a well known for teaching martial arts. Bruce Lee’s

father was a famous opera star. So, by the time he was eighteen he had already acted in twenty films. While in the United States, Lee wanted to pursue martial arts instead of acting but he got an offer to play the role of Kato in the TV series “The Green Hornet.” That is when Bruce Lee’s

career took off and now the man we know as the greatest martial artist of all time was just a boy not too long ago.

Jackie Chan: He is a famous Chinese actor and martial artist who is best known for different styles of fighting and performing

his own stunts. Many times, he has hurt himself very badly because of performing deadly stunts; he once broke his skull, his neck, ribs, and fingers; the list is endless. He is an actor who loves his job so much that he never thinks twice about his life.

Pragya Rahman

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The Treehouse Library

Reader’s Corner Have you read an awesome book lately? Tell us about it.

Send your book review to treehouse.dt@dhakatribune.com

TONGUE TWISTERS Tongue twisters are difficult to say.

How fast can you say it without making any mistakes?

Fresh fried fish, fish fresh fried, fried fish fresh, fish fried fresh

Dream Next Day, Ethal was walking beside the river. Then, she saw the boy and went up to him to say, “hey! Maybe we have met before?”

“Yes, yesterday,” the boy replied.

Ethal said, “oh...so, you are!

Now tell me, what were you doing with the papers yesterday? If you wanted to see the papers, why did you go away? Is everything okay?”

“Yea, nothin’! I’m sorry!” He talked quickly.

“Strange Guy!” Ethal thought, “he isn’t talking. May be I look like a witch. Whatever!”

Ethal sat there alone.

A new morning started with a little smile from the sun. Ethal was walking beside the river. She saw him again. She ran a long way and sat beside him.

“Hey, bro! What’s up! Why do you run away from me? Are you sure everything’s okay? I asked him, “are you afraid of people or just me?

Hey, if you have any problem, imagine, I’m your Jesus! No, no! No need. Never think. Can’t you talk?

Oh, say somethin’!”

“You talk a lot.” the boy answered.

“Oh you talked! I exclaimed, “I thought you couldn’t talk! I’m so crazy. Not only I, my thoughts are too!”

“Didn’t you feel bad?” asked he.

“No, why?” “I called you loquacious!” “Uh...! (To be continued) Fatima Mashrur Fariha SOS Hermann Gmeiner College Class-VIII

Find lots more fun things to do at www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglishkids

© British Council 2013

Bigstock

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Bhootum's Classroom

4 Meet Bhootum, the landlady of the Treehouse. She’s strict, but has a heart of gold.

TONGUE TWISTERS Tongue twisters are difficult to say.

How fast can you say it without making any mistakes?

I can think of six thin things, but I can think of six thick things too.

Find lots more fun things to do at www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglishkids

© British Council 2013

Fiction

THE SEVENTH TIGER (part 2)

After some days, Ashiama and Chichi decided to get married. Amara got this news and wanted to stop this marriage at any cost. He made a plan of kidnapping Chichi.

He was about to be successful but Ashiama got the news before he could do anything. Ashiama went to kill Amara. Ashiama attacked Amara’s place but when Amara saw Ashiama coming he shot Ashiama with an arrow. Ashiama was hurt, and everyone thought he was dead and threw him away.

After a few days, a man who treats people with herbal found him

and took him home. He secretly treated him. Soon, Ashiama woke up and tried to go to Chichi but the man warned him. Ashiama refused and tried to get up but he couldn’t because he was still hurt. The man treated him for five long years but his injury was not fully recovered.

He was then taken to his village for higher and better treatment. The doctors at the village tried their best to treat him, but little was to be healed. (To be continued) SAFWAN RAHMAN RAFID European Standard School

Bigstock

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Speedy's Zone

5 Facts

Speedy might be a turtle, but he’s not slow.

Travelling the world and staying fit are his favourite things.

Firestarter

The Chinese New Year is a 15-day long festival celebrated in China and other countries with Chinese population, such as Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong and Chinatowns of almost every city. The story behind the celebrations and the Chinese New Year is that of an angry beast who goes by the name of Nian. Nian, who looks a lot like a lion, an ox and a unicorn would come out on the first day of the New Year and eat live animals, villagers, crops, and especially chidlren.

The villagers would put food on their doorsteps, to protect themselves from Nian as it was believed that Nian would eat the food and not attack anyone else. One day the poor and scared villagers decided to get rid of Nian so they prayed to their God. Their God

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came to them in a dream and told them that if they decorate their houses with red paper, the Nian wouldn’t come to them as Nian is scared of red. So the villagers decorated their houses with red papers, hung red lanterns and used firecrackers to frighten the Nian away.

Soon, a monk named, Hongjun Laozu, who began to ride Nian like a horse, caught Nian.

From this day onwards, the Chinese people have been re-creating this story in their displays with the help of firecrackers and fireworks; the lion and dragon dances are a big part of the Chinese New Year festivities. During the Chinese New Year, children get envelopes full of money, usually in even number instead of presents or clothes. The colour red is believed to

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be lucky during the Chinese New year celebrations as red stands for fire and is believed to stop bad luck. An old Chinese belief states that the second day of the Chinese New Year is the birthday of all dogs and that on the very day everyone should be extra nice to dogs. At midnight of the Chinese New Year, every door and window of the house is opened to let the old year go out and welcome the New Year.

People often get haircuts during the New Year, as it is believed that the evil

spirits will not know them after they get their hair cuts. Most homes are not cleaned or swept as people are afraid of sweeping away good luck on New Year’s day. People also don’t wash their hairs on the day. In Chinese homes people also do not use knives and scissors on New Year’s day so that they don’t cut off their good luck.

Usually, the food that is eaten on New Year’s has eight different types of items as eight is considered a lucky number. Chicken and fish are cooked

with their heads and all their body parts as this represents wholeness.

The noodles that are eaten are long and uncut; this represents the long life you’ll be living. There is always oranges or tangerines to bring wealth in the household. Lobsters are representing family unity.

The Chinese New Year ends with the lantern festival on the fifteenth day. The lanterns are believed to light a new way to a new year.

Pragya Rahman

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