(484) word/ baboon

Baboon [bæbúːn] 狒々
I saw this word, “baboon” in a children book which teaches English words beginning with the letter “b”.
Definition of baboon is large terrestrial monkeys having doglike muzzles.
ex. Hamadryas baboon


Next, I learned about the difference between apes and monkeys.
Ape: An animal of a class of primates generally larger than monkeys and distinguished from them by having no tail.
Monkey: Any of various long-tailed primates [prάɪmət霊長目の動物] (excluding the prosimians原猿).

Human
chimpanzees (genus Pan) non-human apes (great apes)


gorillas (genus Gorilla)  non-human apes (great apes)


orangutans (genus Pongo)  non-human apes (great apes)猩々（しょうじょう）


gibbons [gíb(ə)n] (family Hylobatidae)  non-human apes (lesser apes)


                                                                   
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(483) Joke / Cow

ANIMAL JOKE / Cow

   A city feller1) who didn’t know the front end of a goat from a magnolia2) bush was watching his week-end host’s daughter milking her cow when a farm hand3) hollered4), “Cheese it5), here comes the bull!”

   The city feller vaulted6) a fence for safety, but noted to his surprise that the girl never budged7) from her stool. Furthermore, the bull brought up8) abruptly, snorted almost apologetically and meekly retreated9) to his enclosure.

   “Weren't you petrified10) ? ” demanded11) the guest.
   “Not me,” said the daughter, “but I reckon12) the bull was. This here cow’s his mother-in-low.”

 

1) feller = fellow
2) magnolia [ægnóuliə] : モクレン
3) farm hand → farmhand: 農場［農業］労働者
4) holler [hɑ́lər]: cry out
5) cheese it: やめる、よす、逃げる、ずらかる get away, run away
6) vault [vɔ́ːlt]: spring over especially with the help of the hands or a pole
7) budge [bʌ́dʒ]: move from a place
8) bring up: ぴたりと止まる
9) retreat [itríːt]: go back
10) petrify [pétrəfài]: make rigid or inactive (as from fear)
11) demand :ask for with authority
12) reckon: consider
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(482) Thought: Check and circle marks in test papers

Thought: Check and circle marks in test papers.
How the world people mark the test papers of students.

There are several ways to mark correct and wrong answers in test papers in the world.

This picture shows how to mark answers in test papers in the world.

In Japan ○ for correct answers, × for wrong ones.
In Philippines √ for correct answers, × for wrong ones.
In the USA √ for correct answers, × for wrong ones.
In China √ for correct answers, ○ for wrong ones.
In Vietnam D for correct answers, S for wrong ones.

   I found this information in a Kanji teaching materials for Filipino students in Japan, about three years ago. I was very surprised to know that in China, marks for correct and wrong answers are totally opposite to Japan.

I’ve seen my elementary school student’s Kenyan father used √ mark for correct answers in his quiz sheet.?

   Next picture is from a question and answer site for anime and manga fans. The question is,

“While watching anime, especially ones that focus on slice-of-life or high school, I often come across a test paper containing a character’s score. However, it is interesting to note that correct answers are circled while the wrong ones are ticked. As far as I know, ticks are for correct answers and circles are incorrect answers. Does this mirror how Japan marks the test papers of students? If so why?”

He is surprised to know that the Japanese way is the opposite from how teachers in most western culture to do it.

In Japan √ and ／is also used to mark for incorrect answers.

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(481) Tall Tale: Zenbei the wild vegetable seller

 
  Some troubles occurred to my mother. She saw a cup in front of her as two cups. If she tried to reach the cup, she often failed to grab it. I took her to an optician. The optician found out that her eyes always directed outside for unknown reasons. But Mother instantly came to know the true reason for her trouble. Two weeks later, she got better and now her eyes have returned to their normal position. My mother and I went to the optician for the last time to give a feedback on her recovery as we thanked him. I explained that her trouble might have something to do with her eye training. She was training herself to see both sides’ view at the same time. She believed that the older we get the narrower the eyesight becomes. She was practicing it for anti-aging. But this time’s trouble made her stop the eye practice. Then the optician laughed and gave us a story about eyes.

 “Long time ago”, he started, “there lived a mountain vegetable seller named Zenbei at Uwajima in Ehime prefecture. He collected wild vegetables in the mountain and sold them in the village. He worked diligently from morning to night, even on rainy and stormy days. One day, ‘always-running Zenbei’ felt his left eyeball floating and bouncing in the socket of his skull. And finally the eyeball fell down on the ground. But he calmly picked it up and put it back to its eye socket. Then he continued working hard again as if nothing had happened.

  “On that day he had sold out all his stock of wild vegetables earlier than usual. He was very happy, so he decided to visit tutelary shrine of the village to express his thanks. Incidentally, on that day, there was a bullfight, (that is a bull fighting against a bull), that was being held at the ground of the shrine. A lot of people got together around the bull fight ring. He couldn’t see anything, so he removed his eyeball and held it up in his hand to see the bulls, still he couldn’t see them. Next, he took a Bangasa umbrella from his backpack and tied to a long wooden bar. Lastly, he placed his eyeball on the opened umbrella. When he held the bar high to see the bullfight, he could enjoy watching the bullwrestling at the back of the crowd of spectators. 

  “At that moment, one crow was on the way back to its nest in the mountain. It noticed the eyeball from the sky and dived at it and flew away with his eyeball. He instantly felt the emergency and tried to chase the crow but failed in vain.

He felt down and went home with his one eyeball. To his surprise he found the eyeball in front of his house. The crow had dropped it because of its slipperiness and bad taste.

  “Anyway he was overjoyed to have it and hurriedly put it back to his eye socket, but he put it inward out. He suddenly saw his internal organs clearly for the first time. From then on, he got interested in watching his inside. He learned the inside of human body and soon became a famous doctor and a rich man.”

  “Well, as a matter of fact, this vegetable seller is my great grandfather,” finished the optician.

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