In Focus

Win a valuable book

from Books.lk
 

“Reading maketh a full man,” it is said and the importance of reading need not be reiterated. And, it is with the objective of promoting the habit of reading among children that the Junior Observer in collaboration with Bookazone (Pvt.) Ltd; the innovators of the country’s first web portal (www.books.lk), launched a competition to coincide with the literary month - September.

We give a lucky reader an opportunity to win a valuable book priced at Rs 1000 from books.lk. All you have to do is answer a the question and mail it to the address given, on or before Friday of that week. The name of the winner will be published later.

Here is how Bookazone will help you enter the magical world of books, to not only entertain yourself but also enhance your knowledge.It allows you to purchase any title of book regardless of the author, publisher, or the country of origin. Although Bookazone web portal was limited to English users since 2009, the latest additions of Sinhala and Tamil is also accessible on www.poth.lk and www.puththagama.lk listing a wide range of books written and published in local languages in addition to what is offered in English apart from magazines, CDs and DVDs. It is easy to access, as these sites are incorporated into their main site.

They also have more to offer with the adding of varied and popular categories on a regular basis. Once you place an order at Bookazone and make your payment,the deliveries are made free of charge using the best secured mode to any part of the island. In case you don’t see the title listed in the Bookazone web portal a simple email can be sent to inquire the availability, price, and the number of days that it will take to source the book.

So, keep improving your general knowledge to answer the question posed every week. And what better way to do so than by READING!

Arts and history

1. What were known as Mystery Plays?

2. Which book helped to start a civil war?

3. About 55 million people suffered in World War II, which country suffered, most?

4. The mythical country the ‘land of Oz’ was the brainchild of a newspaper man Lyman Frank Baum (1856-1919) True/False?

5. What continent did Christopher Columbus think he had reached when he crossed the Atlantic Ocean?

6. Gouache is an opaque form of watercolour paint which most people know as poster paint. True/false?

7. What was Lewis Carrolls’ real name?

8. What is a hallmark?

9. What was the court language of the Guptas?

10. With which modern state can the ancient Sumerian cities be identified?

11. How were the Sumerian civilization and cities destroyed?

12. The Roman language Latin spread with the invaders all over the Mediterranean and into northern Europe. True/false?

13, When did the western Roman empire fall?

14. What was the other name by which the eastern Roman empire which continued for over 1,000 years, called?

15. During whose reign did India reach its golden age?

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[Answers]

1. They were religious dramas, also called Miracle Plays performed by amateur actors in the late Middle Ages and into the 1500s. The purpose of the plays was to bring the Bible stories to the masses who could not read or write.

2. Uncle Tom’s Cabin written by Harriet Beecher Stowe, a staunch opponent of slavery, was a bitter exposure of the evils of slavery which made slave owners feel insulted. It eventually helped bring the US Civil War of 1861-1865.

3. The country that suffered most was Russia where about 20 million people died. This death toll was greater than the total number of dead during World War I-which was 17 million.

4. True. In 1900 he published two books and one was the now famous The wonderful Wizard of Oz Altogether Baum wrote 14 Oz books and great many other books for children under pen-names. Another 26 books about Oz were written by other authors after Baum died.

5. Asia, it was actually the West Indies.

6. True. It produces effects similar to those of oils.

7. He was Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, a lecturer in Mathematics at Oxford University. He became famous for the children’s story ‘Alice’s adventures in wonderland which was first published in 1865.

8. ‘It is one of several marks stamped on a piece of silver that tells you the quality of the metal. It is strictly a British term and refers to a particular ‘hall’ or assay (testing) office.

9. The court language of the Guptas was Sanskrit.

10.The ancient Sumerian cities can be identified with the modern state of Iraq.

11.There were constant attaches on Summer by the Akkadious and Elamities. They defeated the Sumerians and created their own empire.

12.True.

13.Over the years, the Roman empire was divided into two parts – the western Roman empire and the eastern Roman empire. The western Roman empire fell in AD 476.

14.The Byzantine empire. The empire was located at the eastern tip of Europe in Asia minor and in North Africa. The heart of the empire was the city of Byzantium or Constantinople, known as the ‘crossroads of the world.’

15.During the reign of the Guptas (AD 320-535) India reached its golden age.