WORDS BEYOND CROSSWORDS ISSUE NO. 1

CÂMPAN TUDOR ȘCOALA CU CLASELE I –VIII MIHAIL SADOVEANU BAIA MARE CLASA a VIII-a

INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT ANTS Like all insects, ants have six legs. Each leg has three joints. The legs of the ant are very strong so they can run very quickly. If a man could run as fast for his size as an ant can, he could run as fast as a racehorse. Ants can lift 20 times their own body weight. An ant brain has about 250 000 brain cells. A human brain has 10,000 million so a colony of 40,000 ants has collectively the same size brain as a human.

The average life expectancy of an ant is 45-60 days. Ants use their antenae not only for touch, but also for their sense of smell. The head of the ant has a pair of large, strong jaws. The jaws open and shut sideways like a pair of scissors. Adult ants cannot chew and swallow solid food. Instead they swallow the juice which they squeeze from pieces of food. They throw away the dry part that is left over. The ant has two eyes, each eye is made of many smaller eyes.

They are called compound eyes. The abdomen of the ant contains two stomachs. One stomach holds the food for itself and second stomach is for food to be shared with other ants. Like all insects, the outside of their body is covered with a hard armour this is called the exoskeleton. Ants have four distinct growing stages, the egg, larva, pupa and the adult. Biologists classify ants as a special group of wasps. (Hymenoptera Formicidae) There are over 10000 known species of ants. Each ant colony has at least one or more queens.

The job of the queen is to lay eggs which the worker ants look after. Worker ants are sterile, they look for food, look after the young, and defend the nest from unwanted visitors. Ants are clean and tidy insects. Some worker ants are given the job of taking the rubbish from the nest and putting it outside in a special rubbish dump! Each colony of ants has its own smell. In this way, intruders can be recognized immediately. Many ants such as the common Red species have a sting which they use to defend their nest.

The common Black Ants and Wood Ants have no sting, but they can squirt a spray of formic acid. Some birds put ants in their feathers because the ants squirt formic acid which gets rid of the parasites. The Slave-Maker Ant (Polyergus Rufescens) raids the nests of other ants and steals their pupae. When these new ants hatch,they work as slaves within the colony. The worker ants keep the eggs and larvae in different groups according to ages.

At night the worker ants move the eggs and larvae deep into the nest to protect them from the cold. During the daytime, the worker ants move the eggs and larvae of the colony to the top of the nest so that they can be warmer. If a worker ant has found a good source for food, it leaves a trail of scent so that the other ants in the colony can find the food. Army Ants are nomadic and they are always moving. They carry their larvae and their eggs with them in a long column.

The Army Ant (Ecitron Burchelli) of South America, can have as many as 700,000 members in its colony. The Leaf Cutter Ants are farmers. They cut out pieces of leaves which they take back to their nests. They chew them into a pulp and a special fungus grows it. Ants cannot digest leaves because they cannot digest cellulose. Many people think ants are a pest but I like them. To stop them coming into my kitchen I put some sugar outside. They they have so much to eat that they are not interested in coming into my kitchen. http://lingolex.com/ants.htm

CÎNDEA ANDREEA ȘCOALA CU CLASELE I –VIII ALEXANDRU IOAN CUZA BAIA MARE CLASA a VII-a A

The Necklace

BY GUY DE MAUPASSANT She was one of those pretty and charming girls born, as though fate had blundered over her, into a family of artisans. She had no marriage portion, no expectations, no means of getting known, understood, loved, and wedded by a man of wealth and distinction; and she let herself be married off to a little clerk in the Ministry of Education. Her tastes were simple because she had never been able to afford any other, but she was as unhappy as though she had married beneath her; for women have no caste or class, their beauty, grace, and charm serving them for birth or family, their natural delicacy, their instinctive elegance, their nimbleness of wit, are their only mark of rank, and put the slum girl on a level with the highest lady in the land.

She suffered endlessly, feeling herself born for every delicacy and luxury. She suffered from the poorness of her house, from its mean walls, worn chairs, and ugly curtains. All these things, of which other women of her class would not even have been aware, tormented and insulted her. The sight of the little Breton girl who came to do the work in her little house aroused heart-broken regrets and hopeless dreams in her mind. She imagined silent antechambers, heavy with Oriental tapestries, lit by torches in lofty bronze sockets, with two tall footmen in kneebreeches sleeping in large arm-chairs, overcome by the heavy warmth of the stove. She imagined vast saloons hung with antique silks, exquisite pieces of furniture supporting priceless ornaments, and small, charming, perfumed rooms, created just for little parties of intimate friends, men who were famous and sought after, whose homage roused every other woman's envious longings.

When she sat down for dinner at the round table covered with a three-days-old cloth, opposite her husband, who took the cover off the soup-tureen, exclaiming delightedly: "Aha! Scotch broth! What could be better?" she imagined delicate meals, gleaming silver, tapestries peopling the walls with folk of a past age and strange birds in faery forests; she imagined delicate food served in marvellous dishes, murmured gallantries, listened to with an inscrutable smile as one trifled with the rosy flesh of trout or wings of asparagus chicken.

http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/UBooks/Neck.shtml

CRIȘAN RADU ȘCOALA CU CLASELE I –VIII ALEXANDRU IOAN CUZA BAIA MARE CLASA a VII-a A

The Scream

by H. Briscoe The heat was unbearable. The sun was stopped in the middle of the sky, refusing to move, firing missiles of heat down. You could almost see them as rippling waves that bounced off the black concrete paths, and feel them as they reflected up and hit you.

If only there were grass, she thought, perhaps it wouldn't be so bad. In the huge theme park, everything was manufactured - angular, flat surfaces, and shiny polished metal. Signposts painted with bright, smooth paint in colours too painful to look at in the sunlight. But this country was Spain, and there was little of the lush green grass she was used to, only brown earth, and withered brown plants in its place.

They'd tried to escape the oppressive heat, and crowds of determined people, forcing their way in front to queue for drinks and rides, or grab a seat for an unmissable show. The air was thick, and difficult to breathe making every movement an effort. They were made to carry a bag each, Anna the heavy shoulder bag with the sun tan lotion and camera inside, and Mary the mini rucksack, containing all the important things such as money and keys. Anna herself wouldn't have trusted her sister to look after it, but Mary was unable to manage the heavier bag alone. Their mother had the food bag, overloaded as if it were filled with several large rocks, as she hauled it to a bench by the large, wide lake where it was scarcely quieter or cooler. The lake was obviously purpose built for the park, a deep hole gauged out of the earth by a machine. The surface of the water was level as a sheet of glass, but more cloudy, lying there unbroken and unnaturally still. Flies and mosquitoes skimmed the inches above the top of the water in a heat induced frenzy.

The lemonade was lukewarm and had lost its fizz from being carried around all morning. Anna swallowed it quickly along with her squashed sandwich so she didn't have to taste them. It was too hot to eat properly.

She fell back against the wooden seat and closed her eyes, feeling the sun burn her eyelids, and seeing the searing orange glow beneath them. She hated the thought of leaving the waterside, unsure her legs would carry her any further, but dreaded having to stay there alone, open and vulnerable at the edge of the vast lake. http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/UBooks/Scre.shtml

CUCURA GIORGIANA ȘCOALA CU CLASELE I –VIII SUCIU DE SUS CLASA a VIII-a

The Cricket War That summer an army of crickets started a war with my father.

They picked a fight the minute they invaded our cellar. Dad didn't care for bugs much more than Mamma, but he could tolerate a few spiders and assorted creepy crawlers living in the basement. Every farm house had them. A part of rustic living, and something you needed to put up with if you wanted the simple life.

He told Mamma: Now that were living out here, you cant be jerking your head and swallowing your gum over what's plain natural, Ellen. But she was a city girl through and through and had no ears when it came to defending vermin. She said a cricket was just a noisy cockroach, just a dumb horny bug that wouldn't shut up. She said in the city there were blocks of buildings overrun with cockroaches with no way for people to get rid of them. No sir, no way could she sleep with all that chirping going on; then to prove her point she wouldn't go to bed. She drank coffee and smoked my fathers cigarettes and she paced between the couch and the TV. Next morning she threatened to pack up and leave, so Dad drove to the hardware store and hurried back. He squirted poison from a jug with a spray nozzle. He sprayed the basement and all around the foundation of the house. When he was finished he told us that was the end of it.

But what he should have said was: This is the beginning, The beginning of our war, the beginning of our destruction. I often think back to that summer and try to imagine him delivering a speech with words like that, because for the next fourteen days mamma kept finding dead crickets in the clean laundry. Shed shake out a towel or a sheet and a dead black cricket would roll across the linoleum. Sometimes the cat would corner one, and swat it around like he was playing hockey, then carry it away in his mouth. Dad said swallowing a few dead crickets wouldn't hurt as long as the cat didn't eat too many. Each time Mamma complained he told her it was only natural that we'd be finding a couple of dead ones for a while.

Soon live crickets started showing up in the kitchen and bathroom.

Mamma freaked because she thought they were the dead crickets come back to haunt, but Dad said these was definitely a new batch, probably coming up on the pipes. http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/UBooks/CricWar.shtml

MĂRCUȚ SERGIU ȘCOALA CU CLASELE I –VIII ALEXANDRU IOAN CUZA BAIA MARE CLASA a VII-a C

Return to Paradise

by Eliza Riley Lisa gazed out over the Caribbean Sea, feeling the faint breeze against her face - eyes shut, the white sand warm between her bare toes. The place was beautiful beyond belief, but it was still unable to ease the grief she felt as she remembered the last time she had been here.

She had married James right here on this spot three years ago to the day. Dressed in a simple white shift dress, miniature white roses attempting to tame her long dark curls, Lisa had been happier than she had ever thought possible. James was even less formal but utterly irresistible in creased summer trousers and a loose white cotton shirt. His dark hair slightly ruffled and his eyes full of adoration as his looked at his bride to be. The justice of the peace had read their vows as they held hands and laughed at the sheer joy of being young, in love and staying in a five star resort on the Caribbean island of the Dominican Republic. They had seen the years blissfully stretching ahead of them, together forever. They planned their children, two she said, he said four so they compromised on three (two girls and a boy of course); where they would live, the travelling they would do together - it was all certain, so they had thought then.

But that seemed such a long time ago now. A lot can change in just a few years - a lot of heartache can change a person and drive a wedge through the strongest ties, break even the deepest love.

Three years to the day and they had returned, though this time not for the beachside marriages the island was famous for but for one of its equally popular quickie divorces.

Lisa let out a sigh that was filled with pain and regret. What could she do but move on, find a new life and new dreams? - the old one was beyond repair. How could this beautiful place, with its lush green coastline, eternity of azure blue sea and endless sands be a place for the agony she felt now? http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/UBooks/RetuPara.shtml

MUREȘAN DIANA LIGIA MARIA ȘCOALA CU CLASELE I –VIII ALEXANDRU IOAN CUZA BAIA MARE CLASA a VII-a A

LITTLE MISS MARY AND THE BIG MONSTER MAKEOVER Written and Illustrated by

G.G. Toropov and Cleone Cassidy Little Miss Mary was tired of shopping All day on her feet she'd been merrily hopping From boutique to salon, from one to the other, While asking for THIS and for THAT from her Mother...

"I want to have this and I want to have that!

These shoes that I bought will look nice with that hat.

My open-toed sandals are just, SOOO passĂŠ!

If I wear them to school, what WILL the girls say?

I need: a new skirt, and a dress, and a jacket, For tennis, new trainers to match my new racket, New t-shirt. New blouse. A new Fendi bag The one on display, with a WHOPPING price tag!"

Little Miss Mary's Mommy was proud She too always spent to the limit allowed On the gold credit card, which her husband had given She KNEW her excesses would soon be forgiven.

Little Miss Mary was a chip off the block.

If she could shop, she would shop and right round the clock!

Three-sixty a year and twenty-four-seven, Impressive for someone who just turned eleven...

But hardly a coup, when ALL posh Mommies coo Into Porsche baby prams: "Gucci-goo, Gucci-goo."

No wonder that Mary's first words to her nanny Were: "Pla-da, Ga-ba-na, Lac-wa" and "A-ma-ni!"

"Moschino? Versace? Where shall we go next?"

"That's enough for today, you maxed-out the AmEx. Any more shopping must wait till tomorrow, There's plenty more money that Daddy can borrow."

On hearing the news Mary drew a deep sigh: "But there's SOOO much more that I wanted to buy.

Sooo many shoes that I kept a keen eye on, Sooo many dresses I wanted to try on."

http://www.magickeys.com/books/marymakeover/index.html

NIȚĂ PATRICK ȘCOALA CU CLASELE I –VIII ALEXANDRU IOAN CUZA BAIA MARE CLASA a VII-a B

THE BLACK THIEF AND KNIGHT OF THE GLEN IN times of yore there was a King and a Queen in the south of Ireland who had three

sons, all beautiful children; but the Queen, their mother, sickened unto death when they were yet very young, which caused great grief throughout the Court, particularly to the King, her husband, who could in no wise be comforted. Seeing that death was drawing near her, she called the King to her and spoke as follows: `I am now going to leave you, and as you are young and in your prime, of course after my death you will marry again. Now all the request I ask of you is that you will build a tower in an island in the sea, wherein you will keep your three sons until they are come of age and fit to do for themselves; so that they may not be under the power or jurisdiction of any other woman. Neglect not to give them education suitable to their birth, and let them be trained up to every exercise and pastime requisite for king's sons to learn. This is all I have to say, so farewell.'

The King had scarce time, with tears in his eyes, to assure her she should be obeyed in everything, when she, turning herself in her bed, with a smile gave up the ghost.

Never was greater mourning seen than was throughout the Court and the whole kingdom; for a better woman than the Queen, to rich and poor, was not to be found in the world. She was interred with great pomp and magnificence, and the King, her husband, became in a manner inconsolable for the loss of her. However, he caused the tower to be built and his sons placed in it, under proper guardians, according to his promise.

In process of time the lords and knights of the kingdom counselled the King (as he was young) to live no longer as he had done, but to take a wife; which counsel prevailing, they chose him a rich and beautiful princess to be his consort--a neighbouring King's daughter, of whom he was very fond. Not long after, the Queen had a fine son, which caused great feasting and rejoicing at the Court, insomuch that the late Queen, in a manner, was entirely forgotten. That fared well, and King and Queen lived happy together for several years.

At length the Queen, having some business with the hen-wife, went herself to her, and, after a long conference passed, was taking leave of her, when the hen-wife prayed that if ever she should come back to her again she might break her neck. The Queen, greatly incensed at such a daring insult from one of her meanest subjects, demanded immediately the reason, or she would have her put to death. `It was worth your while, madam,' says the hen-wife, `to pay me well for it, for the reason I prayed so on you concerns you much.' `What must I pay you?' asked the Queen. http://www.mythfolklore.net/andrewlang/116.htm

ȘANDOR IULIA ȘCOALA CU CLASELE I –VIII ALEXANDRU IOAN CUZA BAIA MARE CLASA a VII-a A

The Scream

by H. Briscoe The heat was unbearable. The sun was stopped in the middle of the sky, refusing to move, firing missiles of heat down. You could almost see them as rippling waves that bounced off the black concrete paths, and feel them as they reflected up and hit you.

If only there were grass, she thought, perhaps it wouldn't be so bad. In the huge theme park, everything was manufactured - angular, flat surfaces, and shiny polished metal. Signposts painted with bright, smooth paint in colours too painful to look at in the sunlight. But this country was Spain, and there was little of the lush green grass she was used to, only brown earth, and withered brown plants in its place.

They'd tried to escape the oppressive heat, and crowds of determined people, forcing their way in front to queue for drinks and rides, or grab a seat for an unmissable show. The air was thick, and difficult to breathe making every movement an effort. They were made to carry a bag each, Anna the heavy shoulder bag with the sun tan lotion and camera inside, and Mary the mini rucksack, containing all the important things such as money and keys.

Anna herself wouldn't have trusted her sister to look after it, but Mary was unable to manage the heavier bag alone. Their mother had the food bag, overloaded as if it were filled with several large rocks, as she hauled it to a bench by the large, wide lake where it was scarcely quieter or cooler. The lake was obviously purpose built for the park, a deep hole gauged out of the earth by a machine. The surface of the water was level as a sheet of glass, but more cloudy, lying there unbroken and unnaturally still.

Flies and mosquitoes skimmed the inches above the top of the water in a heat induced frenzy. http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/UBooks/Scre.shtml

VERDEȘ ANDREI ȘCOALA CU CLASELE I –VIII ALEXANDRU IOAN CUZA BAIA MARE CLASA a VII-a B

The Ice Cube Club Some people collect stamps. Some people collect baseball cards. Some people collect dolls. And some people collect ice cubes.

You might not have heard about the ice cube collectors before, but they're really not so strange as they sound. You might even run into some ice cube collectors if you visit Atlanta, Georgia in the winter.

You see Atlanta, Georgia is a southern city. And southern cities don't get too much snow. When it does snow, the snow often melts a few hours after it hits the ground.

So children in Atlanta don't often get to go sledding. Which is a real shame.

Everyone deserves to go sledding. Sledding is too important to leave up to the weather.

A year or two ago a group of parents in Atlanta decided to do something about the snow problem. The parents got together at one of their houses, heated up some hot chocolate, and talked late into the night about how they could help their children do more sledding.

The first suggestion that was made was to start collecting ice cubes. If ten or twenty families collected ice cubes for two or three weeks, they could almost cover a small hill with the ice cubes.

The whole idea was not to create a sledding hill just with ice cubes. Rather, the idea was to create a hill that was cold enough so that if it did snow, the snow wouldn't melt right after it hit the warm ground.

Now, ice cubes are not that comfortable to go sledding on, so you need to crush the ice first before putting it out on the hill. Crushing ice is not so difficult if you're just making enough crushed ice for a cold soda. But if you're crushing twenty or thirty buckets of ice to spread out on a hill, that takes quite a bit more effort.

You could get some sort of ice cube crushing machine to crush a lot of ice. But the families in the ice cube didn't have a lot of money to spend on fancy machines.

So they crushed the buckets of ice cubes by hand, using a hammer and a large block of wood. When the families were collecting ice, each day they'd create two or three trays of ice in the freezer section of their refrigerators. Then each morning they'd empty out the trays into large garbage cans at the back of their houses. (You need to use plastic garbage cans because the ice sticks to the sides of the metal garbage cans.) http://www.his.com/~pshapiro/icecubeclub.html

VLAICU ANTONELA ȘCOALA CU CLASELE I –VIII ALEXANDRU IOAN CUZA BAIA MARE CLASA a VII-a A

The Frog Prince

By Brothers Grimm

One fine evening a young princess put on her bonnet and clogs, and went out to take a walk by herself in a wood; and when she came to a cool spring of water with a rose in the middle of it, she sat herself down to rest a while. Now she had a golden ball in her hand, which was her favourite plaything; and she was always tossing it up into the air, and catching it again as it fell.

After a time she threw it up so high that she missed catching it as it fell; and the ball bounded away, and rolled along on the ground, until at last it fell down into the spring. The princess looked into the spring after her ball, but it was very deep, so deep that she could not see the bottom of it. She began to cry, and said, 'Alas! if I could only get my ball again, I would give all my fine clothes and jewels, and everything that I have in the world.'

Whilst she was speaking, a frog put its head out of the water, and said, 'Princess, why do you weep so bitterly?'

'Alas!' said she, 'what can you do for me, you nasty frog? My golden ball has fallen into the spring.'

The frog said, 'I do not want your pearls, and jewels, and fine clothes; but if you will love me, and let me live with you and eat from off your golden plate, and sleep on your bed, I will bring you your ball again.'

'What nonsense,' thought the princess, 'this silly frog is talking!

He can never even get out of the spring to visit me, though he may be able to get my ball for me, and therefore I will tell him he shall have what he asks.'

So she said to the frog, 'Well, if you will bring me my ball, I will do all you ask.'

Then the frog put his head down, and dived deep under the water; and after a little while he came up again, with the ball in his mouth, and threw it on the edge of the spring.

As soon as the young princess saw her ball, she ran to pick it up; and she was so overjoyed to have it in her hand again, that she never thought of the frog, but ran home with it as fast as she could.

The frog called after her, 'Stay, princess, and take me with you as you said,' http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/UBooks/FrogPrin.shtml

BLEDEA VASILE Colegiul Tehnic Anghel Saligny Baia Mare Clasa: a IX-a F

The Winepress

by Josef Essberger

"You don't have to be French to enjoy a decent red wine," Charles Jousselin de Gruse used to tell his foreign guests whenever he entertained them in Paris. "But you do have to be French to recognize one," he would add with a laugh.

After a lifetime in the French diplomatic corps, the Count de Gruse lived with his wife in an elegant townhouse on Quai Voltaire. He was a likeable man, cultivated of course, with a well deserved reputation as a generous host and an amusing raconteur.

This evening's guests were all European and all equally convinced that immigration was at the root of Europe's problems.

Charles de Gruse said nothing. He had always concealed his contempt for such ideas. And, in any case, he had never much cared for these particular guests.

The first of the red Bordeaux was being served with the veal, and one of the guests turned to de Gruse.

"Come on, Charles, it's simple arithmetic. Nothing to do with race or colour. You must've had bags of experience of this sort of thing. What d'you say?"

"Yes, General. Bags!"

Without another word, de Gruse picked up his glass and introduced his bulbous, winey nose. After a moment he looked up with watery eyes.

"A truly full-bodied Bordeaux," he said warmly, "a wine among wines."

The four guests held their glasses to the light and studied their blood-red contents. They all agreed that it was the best wine they had ever tasted. http://www.englishclub.com/reading/story-winepress.htm

LUCACIU MIRCEA COLEGIUL NAŢIONAL „GHEORGHE ŞINCAI” BAIA MARE CLASA a IX-a C

THE GODFATHER

by Mario Puzzo

The Godfather is a crime novel written by Italian American author Mario Puzo, originally published in 1969 by G. P. Putnam's Sons. It details the story of a fictitious Sicilian Mafia family based in New York City (and Long Beach, New York) and headed by Don Vito Corleone, who became synonymous with the Italian Mafia. The novel covers the years 1945 to 1955, and also provides the back story of Vito Corleone from early childhood to adulthood.

The book introduced Italian criminal terms like consiglieri, caporegime, Cosa Nostra, and omertĂ to an English-speaking audience.

It formed the basis for a 1972 film of the same name. Two film sequels, including new contributions by Puzo himself, were made in 1974 and 1990. The first and second films are widely considered to be two of the greatest films of all time.

The cover was created by S. Neil Fujita whose design featured a large Gothic-style letter "G" with a long curl at the top emphasizing the first three letters of the title, accompanied by the hands of a puppeteer holding a set of strings over the "father" portion of the word. http://www.pearsonelt.com/products/PLPR4:Godfather,%20The%20& %20MP3%20Pack/9781408294345

ROATIŞ CĂLIN COLEGIUL NAŢIONAL "GHEORGHE ŞINCAI" BAIA MARE CLASA a IX a C

THE CANTERVILLE GHOST

by Oscar Wilde

When Mr. Hiram B. Otis, the American Minister, bought Canterville Chase,every one told him he was doing a very foolish thing, as there was nodoubt at all that the place was haunted. Indeed, Lord Canterville himself, who was a man of the most punctilious honour, had felt it his duty to mention the fact to Mr. Otis when they came to discuss terms.

"We have not cared to live in the place ourselves," said Lord Canterville, "since my grandaunt, the Dowager Duchess of Bolton, was frightened into a fit, from which she never really recovered, by two skeleton hands being placed on her shoulders as she was dressing for dinner, and I feel bound to tell you, Mr. Otis, that the ghost has been seen by several living members of my family, as well as by the rector of the parish, the Rev. Augustus Dampier, who is a Fellow of King's College, Cambridge. After the unfortunate accident to the Duchess, none of our younger servants would stay with us, and Lady Canterville often got very little sleep at night, in consequence of the mysterious noises that came from the corridor and the library."

"My Lord," answered the Minister, "I will take the furniture and the ghost at a valuation. I have come from a modern country, where we have everything that money can buy; and with all our spry young fellows painting the Old World red, and carrying off your best actors and prima-donnas, I reckon that if there were such a thing as a ghost in Europe, we'd have it at home in a very short time in one of our public museums, or on the road as a show." http://www.amazon.co.uk/Penguin-Readers-Level-Canterville-Stories/dp/058242691X http://www.ebooksread.com/dl2.shtml?id=14522&ext=txt&f=14522-8&a_id=176 5

VLAȘIN ȘTEFANIA LICEUL TEOLOGIC PENTICOSTAL BAIA MARE CLASA a IX –a B

The Five Boons Of Life

by Mark Twain CHAPTER I In the morning of life came a good fairy with her basket, and said: "Here are gifts. Take one, leave the others. And be wary, chose wisely; oh, choose wisely! for only one of them is valuable." The gifts were five: Fame, Love, Riches, Pleasure, Death. The youth said, eagerly: "There is no need to consider"; and he chose Pleasure. He went out into the world and sought out the pleasures that youth delights in. But each in its turn was short-lived and disappointing, vain and empty; and each, departing, mocked him. In the end he said: "These years I have wasted. If I could but choose again, I would choose wisely.

CHAPTER II The fairy appeared, and said: "Four of the gifts remain. Choose once more; and oh, remember-time is flying, and only one of them is precious." The man considered long, then chose Love; and did not mark the tears that rose in the fairy's eyes. After many, many years the man sat by a coffin, in an empty home. And he communed with himself, saying: "One by one they have gone away and left me; and now she lies here, the dearest and the last. Desolation after desolation has swept over me�. http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/UBooks/FiveBoon.shtml

ZAHARIE DENIS LICEUL TEORETIC PENTICOSTAL BAIA MARE CLASA a IX-a A

The Card

by James Ross The only thing I ever got off my old man was a birthday card when I was ten. He'd gone off when I was three and left me and mam and my sister to fend for ourselves. Mam never talks about him but my sister remembers him.

‘What was dad like?' I ask.She looks at me through dark, sleepy eyes, pushes her hair back from her eyes. Her arms are scabbed like she's been shinning up a rusty drainpipe and accidentally slid back down and scraped herself. ‘Whu?'‘I said, what was dad like?'She smiles at me, and I suss that she's still trippin' and I should ask her later when she's straight. Anyhow, the only thing I ever got from him was a birthday card when I was ten. It said Happy Birthday Mickey! And then there was a verse inside the card that went: Now you're ten, and how you've grown It really won't be long ‘Til you're a man, and fully grown With arms both big and strong.

And on the front of the card was a picture, a cartoon, of a little boy wearing a hardhat and driving a tractor. But I mean, how would he know I'd grown? To be honest, I was surprised he knew where I was, we moved so often. http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/UBooks/Card759.shtml

CÂMPAN TUDOR ȘCOALA CU CLASELE I –VIII MIHAIL SADOVEANU BAIA MARE CLASA a VIII-a

CÎNDEA ANDREEA ȘCOALA CU CLASELE I –VIII ALEXANDRU IOAN CUZA BAIA MARE CLASA a VII-a A

CRIȘAN RADU ȘCOALA CU CLASELE I –VIII ALEXANDRU IOAN CUZA BAIA MARE CLASA a VII-a A

CUCURA GIORGIANA ȘCOALA CU CLASELE I –VIII SUCIU DE SUS CLASA a VIII-a

MĂRCUȚ SERGIU ȘCOALA CU CLASELE I –VIII ALEXANDRU IOAN CUZA BAIA MARE CLASA a VII-a C

MUREȘAN DIANA LIGIA MARIA ȘCOALA CU CLASELE I –VIII ALEXANDRU IOAN CUZA BAIA MARE CLASA a VII-a A

NIȚĂ PATRICK ȘCOALA CU CLASELE I –VIII ALEXANDRU IOAN CUZA BAIA MARE CLASA a VII-a B

ȘANDOR IULIA ȘCOALA CU CLASELE I –VIII ALEXANDRU IOAN CUZA BAIA MARE CLASA a VII-a A

VERDEȘ ANDREI ȘCOALA CU CLASELE I –VIII ALEXANDRU IOAN CUZA BAIA MARE CLASA a VII-a B

VLAICU ANTONELA ȘCOALA CU CLASELE I –VIII ALEXANDRU IOAN CUZA BAIA MARE CLASA a VII-a A

BLEDEA VASILE Colegiul Tehnic Anghel Saligny Baia Mare Clasa: a IX-a F

LUCACIU MIRCEA COLEGIUL NAŢIONAL „GHEORGHE ŞINCAI” BAIA MARE CLASA a IX-a C

ROATIŞ CĂLIN COLEGIUL NAŢIONAL "GHEORGHE ŞINCAI" BAIA MARE CLASA a IX a C

VLAȘIN ȘTEFANIA LICEUL TEOLOGIC PENTICOSTAL BAIA MARE CLASA a IX-a B

ZAHARIE DENIS LICEUL TEORETIC PENTICOSTAL BAIA MARE CLASA a IX-a A

This teaching auxiliary has been coordinated by:

MONIKA BANDI – teacher at Școala cu clasele I-VIII “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” Baia Mare

RODICA SZENTES – teacher at Colegiul National “Gheorghe Șincai” Baia Mare

This is a result of the regional reading and crosswords contest WORDS BEYOND CROSSWORDS – 1st edition, approved by the Ministry of Education, Research, Youth and Sports in Romania

Nr. 31765/29.02.2012