In Dept To China Essays - Steelmaking, Agricultural Machinery

In Dept To China The World is forever in debt to China for its innovations. Ancient China was extreme advance and many of its discoveries are still in use today. This is what Robert Temple, the author of The Genius of China 3000 years of science, discovery and invention. The book is based on 11 main parts of Chinese innovation. Within these 11 categories, there are 3 main parts that contain the most significant inventions. Robert Temple concentrates the bulk of his examples in these three categories, agriculture, domestic and industrial technology , and engineering. Temple's examples were not limited to these fields of innovation. The Chinese excelled in many other areas, including mathematics, warfare and transportation, to name a few. Although Temple wrote about eleven fields of invention, I feel that these three sections contain the greatest examples of Chinese innovation, and the debt that the modern world owes China. The first main area is the field of engineering. Within this chapter, the devel opment of iron and steel is the greatest achievement. The development of iron and steel led to other advances. By at least the 4th century the Chinese have developed blast furnaces to obtain cast iron from iron ore. This was 1200 years before the first blast furnace showed up in Europe. The reasons that the author gave to explain the reasons why the Chinese developed this technology are simple. The Chinese had access to large amounts of clay, the key ingredient in making blast furnaces. The Chinese also figured out that by adding a substance they called :Black Earth,? they could lower the melting point of iron. Another major invention of the Chinese, that led to other achievements, is steel. The common belief today is that Henry Bessemer discovered the process of refining iron into steel. The fact is Chinese had developed the process to refine iron into steel in the second century BC The Chinese learned that by injecting oxygen into the blast furnace, they could remove the carbon fr om the iron. The Chinese called this process the ?hundred refinings method? since they repeated the process that many times. The finished product was highly prized in China for its strength and ability to hold an edge on a sword. The Chinese would weld the steel onto weaker iron thus creating a strong edge and a superior weapon. The Chinese iron and steel workers were the best at making different types of metals into modern times. But then, no one else could have done so at the time, since iron existed nowhere else but in China. The Chinese invented the chain pump in the first century AD The chain pump allows water to the pumped from lower to higher elevations. The chain pumps were used for draining and pumping in civil engineering, but what is more important is it was used for irrigation. Irrigation allows for greater and more intense farming, thus resulting in a better crop yield. With the greater crop yields larger populations can be supported. The chain pump was exported to all parts of the world by way of visiting ambassadors and dignitaries. The first European chain pump appeared in the sixteenth century, and was a direct copy of the Chinese version. The second area of great Chinese achievement is in domestic and industrial technology. The most recognized Chinese invention is in the field of domestic and industrial technology, paper. Paper was invented around the second century BC and was used as clothing. One might not believe that paper could be used as clothing, but the paper made at that time used thicker and tougher paper fibers. Not only was paper used for clothing, it was also used for military body armor. The Chinese found out that pleated sheets of paper could stop the penetration of arrows. The paper armor was standard issue with Chinese land and sea units. Paper's writing property was not discovered till about one century after its discovery. The earliest example of writing on paper was found an abandon military post. The paper found dates bac k to 110 AD and contained two dozen readable characters. The area that let China grow and expand was the innovations in the area of agriculture.

Ask Questions in English Class to Help You Learn

Ask Questions in English Class to Help You Learn Here is a list of some of the most common phrases used for asking questions in the classroom. Learn the phrases and use them often! Asking to Ask a Question Can I ask a question?May I ask a question? Asking for Something  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚     Can I have a pen, please?Do you have a pen for me?May I have a pen, please? Asking about Words  Ã‚     Whats (the word) in English?What does (the word) mean?How do you spell (the word)?How do you use (the word) in a sentence?Can you use (the word or phrase) in a sentence? Asking about Pronunciation How do you say (the word in your language) in English?Can you pronounce (the word)?How do you pronounce (the word)?Wheres the stress in (the word)? Asking about Idioms Is there an idiom for (your explanation)?Is (an idiom) an idioms? Asking to Repeat Could / Can you repeat that, please?Could / can you say that again, please?Pardon me? Apologizing  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚      Excuse me, please.Im sorry.Sorry about that.Sorry Im late for class. Saying Hello and Goodbye Good morning / afternoon / evening!Hello / HiHow are you?GoodbyeHave a good weekend / day / evening / time! Asking for Opinions What do you think about (topic)?Whats your opinion about (topic)? Practice Classroom Dialogues Arriving Late for Class Teacher: Good morning class.Students: Good morning. Teacher: How are you today?Students: Fine. How about you? Teacher: Im fine, thanks. Where is Hans?Student 1: Hes late. I think he missed the bus. Teacher: OK. Thank you for letting me know. Lets get started.Hans (arriving late): Sorry Im late. Teacher: Thats OK. Im glad youre here!Hans: Thank you. May I ask a question? Teacher: Certainly!  Hans: How do you spell complicated? Teacher: Complicated is complicated! C - O - M - P - L - I - C - A - T - E - DHans: Could you repeat that, please? Teacher: Of course. C - O - M - P - L - I - C - A - T - E - DHans: Thank you.   Understanding Words in Class Teacher: ... please complete page 35 as follow-up to this lesson.Student: Could you say that again, please? Teacher: Sure. Please do page 35 to make sure you understand.Student: Excuse me, please. What does follow-up mean? Teacher: Follow-up is something you do to repeat or continue something youre working on.Student: Is follow-up an idiom? Teacher: No, its an expression. An idiom is a full sentence expressing an idea.Student: Can you give me an example of an idiom? Teacher: Certainly. Its raining cats and dogs is an idiom.Student: Oh, I understand now.   Teacher: Great! Are there any other questions?Student 2: Yes. Could you use follow-up in a sentence? Teacher: Good question. Let me think ... Id like to do some follow-up to our discussion last week. Does that make sense?Student 2: Yes, I think I understand. Thank you. Teacher: My pleasure. Asking about a Topic Teacher: Lets talk about the weekend. What did you do this weekend?Student: I went to a concert. Teacher: Oh, interesting! What kind of music did they play?Student: Im not sure. It was in a bar. It wasnt pop, but it was nice. Teacher: Maybe it was hip-hop?Student: No, I dont think so. There was a piano, drums and a saxophone. Teacher: Oh, was it jazz?Student: Yes, thats it!   Teacher: Whats your opinion of jazz?Student: I like it, but its kind of crazy. Teacher: Why do you think that?Student: It didnt have a song. Teacher: Im not sure what you mean by song. Do you mean that no one was singing?Student: No, but it was crazy, you know, up and down. Teacher: Maybe it didnt have a melody?Student: Yes, I think thats it. Whats melody mean? Teacher: Thats hard. Its the main tune. You can think of the melody as the song you would sing along with the radio.Student: I understand. Wheres the stress in melody? Teacher: Its on the first syllable. ME - lo - dy.Student: Thank you.