Feng Shui and You

Today many people around the world practice a very old Chinese belief system. They believe that everything in nature has an energy called Chi (chee), and there is positive Chi and negative Chi. The way we use Chi determines the outcome of everything we do. This is called Feng Shui (fung shway). As a young person who is constantly growing, exploring, and changing, you might find Feng Shui useful as you create your own environment. Let's look at your bedroom. You spend about a third of your life in this space. Because your early years are formative, it is important that your bedroom reflect your personality. This will help you stay comfortable as you grow and reach for your true potential. The the tool you'll use when deciding where to place the furniture in your room is called a ba-gua. Follow these steps:

Step 1: Draw a floor plan of your room. Include the windows, doors, and furniture.
Step 2: Draw four angled lines across the floor plan to make eight triangular sections.
Step 3: Use a compass to locate North. Mark it on your floor plan. Next, locate South, East, and West and mark them on your floor plan. Then add Northeast, Southeast, Southwest, and Northwest.
Step 4: Study the ba-gua below. You may want to move your furniture to the sections that will improve your activities in those areas. For example, if you and your family member seem to disagree a lot, you might want to put a blooming plant in the Southwest section of your room to create harmony.

Vocabulary

belief:  The mental act, condition, or habit of placing trust or confidence in another.

Chi: chinese word for "energy"

Feng Shui: is a Chinese philosophical system of harmonizing the human existence with the surrounding environment.

formative: giving or capable of giving form 

potential: existing in possibility

harmony: agreement in feeling or opinion

Vocabulary Exercise

1.  ________________ is a Chinese practice that harmonizes the energy in ones surroundings.

2. Feng Shui promotes the idea of creating a healthy balance between positive and negative _____.

3. She has much _______ to get an A in her course.

4. During your early years, or __________ years, it is essential to build a foundation for your future.

5. Feng Shui also promotes a sense of _____________ within your physical, mental, and emotional states.

6. It is a Chinese __________ that Feng Shui can do wonders for your soul.

Grammar Point: Adjectives are words that describe or modify another person or thing in the sentence.

Grammar Exercise: Circle all of the adjectives you can find in the passage, "Feng Shui and You". Create your own sentences using all of the adjectives you could find. 

Green Me and Eggs

Ever since I can remember, I have hated eggs. I feel sick to my stomach thinking about eating them. Eggs are a cell. Who would want to eat a cell? The egg has two parts: the yellow egg yolk and the drippy egg white. The yolk is a major source of vitamins and minerals. The egg white is a major source of protein. I turn green thinking about people eating eggs that aren't cooked hard. The white is sometimes like jelly in some parts. My grandparents only eat egg whites. They whip them up and pretend they are eating the whole egg. They say our bodies need protein to be healthy, but I'll find another food with protein! Maybe some steak? If you are an egg eater, I'm happy for you. For me, facing an egg at breakfast would be the wrong way to start a day.

VOCABULARY

cell: the basic structure of all living things

vitamins: any of various fat-soluble or water-soluble organic substances essential in minute amounts for normal growth and activity of the body and obtained naturally from plant and animal foods.

minerals: substances that come from the earth, and your body cannot produce them.
source: the point at which something springs into being or from which it derives or is obtained.
protein: one of the three nutrients used as energy sources (calories) by the body.

VOCABULARY EXERCISE:

All living things are made up of ___________.

Everyday we take our ____________ to aid in the normal growth and activity of the body.

Vitamins also contain ______________, which our bodies cannot produce on their own.

Eggs have a lot of _______________.

Eggs are an excellent _________ of healthy fats and protein.

GRAMMAR POINT: 

Adjectives are words that describe or modify another person or thing in the sentence. 
A thesaurus can be used to find synonyms and other adjectives that you could use to describe what you are writing about. 

 GRAMMAR EXERCISE: 

Underline all the adjectives in the passage. Then, using your thesaurus, replace each adjective with a more descriptive adjective.