Topic Reading-Vol.391-5/7/2013

Dear MEL School’s Topic Readers,

Why is art so expensive?

It is because while you can build a luxurious yacht or palace at anytime, you can’t create valuable art works such as La Reve by Picaso or The Scream by Munch.

The prices for necessary things and materials, such as oil or rare metals, can go very high when the demand exceeds the supply, or when people speculate the imbalance is likely to happen in the future. But still, is over-100-million-dollar price tag for a piece of old painting a fair market value, sound investment or wild speculation?

Enjoy reading and learning about how a small group of people want to spend their fortune.

http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20130417-why-is-art-so-expensive/1

Topic Reading-Vol.390-5/6/2013

Dear MEL School’s Topic Readers,

Japan's Mount Fuji 'set for Unesco listing'.

Mt. Fuji, the highest mountain in Japan, got a recommendation by a key UN advisory council, the International Council on Monuments and Sites (Icomos), to be registered on the UNESCO’s World Heritage List.

The active mountain which last erupted three centuries ago is Japan’s icon or symbol and one of the most popular tourists’ destinations in Japan.

Enjoy reading and learning about a recent nomination to one of the most valued list in the world.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-22363161

 

Topic Reading-Vol.389-5/5/2013

Dear MEL School’s Topic Readers,

5-year-old boy shoots 2-year-old sister in Ky.

A very tragic agenda on Children’s Day in Japan. There was s shooting accident in Kentucky, a southern state of the U.S., that a five-year-old boy shot his little sister in the chest to death with “his own” rifle that had been given as gift a year ago.

The rifle is one of those designed for kids to practice and use, and is promoted as “My First Rifle.”

It seems that giving a fire arm in rural areas in America is no more different from giving a tricycle or a pet dog. Was the rifle purchased at Toy’s’ Us?

Enjoy reading and learning how different the people’s perception towards guns and how difficult to ban or control them in America.

 

http://news.yahoo.com/5-old-boy-shoots-2-old-sister-ky-161229579.html

Topic Reading-Vol.388-5/4/2013

Dear MEL School’s Topic Readers,

Sunken Egyptian city reveals 1,200-year-old secrets.

We’re sending spaceships to other planets, exploring Antarctica and Arctic Sea and drilling deep into the shell layer to get massive amount of natural gas, yet humans hadn’t found historical artifacts lying only 450 meters under the sea level near a habited town for centuries until very recently.

Which exploration are you interested more than the other, archeology or astronomy?

Enjoy reading and learning about a significant finding and also learning about ancient Egyptian town and culture.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/ancient-sunken-egyptian-city-reveals-1-200-old-201729650.html

Topic Reading-Vol.387-5/3/2013

Dear MEL School’s Topic Readers,

Inspiring young girls to define success on their own terms.

What inspires young girls the most to learn and work hard to be successful in the future seems to be role models. This is probably because there are a lot more male success models in history, books, and media than female ones. So if a young girl gets a chance to see, talk and learn from those few examples, she may be more likely to be thrilled than the boys of the same age.

Enjoy reading and learning how people are trying to inspire and motivate young girls.

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/04/30/world/europe/women-of-colour-inspiration/index.html?hpt=ibu_c1

Topic Reading-Vol.386-5/2/2013

Rescued Nepalese find new life in circus.

Human trafficking doesn’t seem to have been abandoned yet in this famous yet poor mountainous country and its neighboring country by buying or kidnapping young children.

However, those who had been trafficked but fortunate enough to be rescued seem to have found and move on their new lives by the skills they were forced to learn and perform. More importantly, they are trying to rescue such victims while performing their circus shows.

Enjoy reading and learning about what human trafficking is about and how those victims are trying to live their new lives. 

http://thecnnfreedomproject.blogs.cnn.com/2013/04/30/rescued-nepalese-find-new-life-in-circus/?hpt=hp_c1

Topic Reading-Vol.385-5/1/2013

Dear MEL School’s Topic Readers,

Spain's unemployment hits record high at 27%.

What kind of situation or life can you imagine if over a quarter of people who want to work can’t find a job, or six million people unemployed in a country whose population is just 47 million? And when you talk about young people under the age of 25, that figure goes well over 50%, meaning over a half of your friends are unable to get a job and as a result, some of them have decided to move to other countries to get one. Under this kind of situation, even if you are lucky enough to find one, you may be afraid of losing it at anytime or you may get one that isn’t something you have studied or prepared for.

That could happen to anywhere at any time as there are so many alternatives available these days because of the advancing technologies and globalization.

Enjoy watching this brief news clip to tell you how bad the situation is in Spain. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-22290846