In Focus

Birds of prey

1. Which is the fastest flying bird?
2. How can owls hunt at night?
3. Do eagles really catch snakes?
4. How many kinds of owls are there?
5. Which is the biggest bird of prey?

Land and water

1. What is ground water?
2. Does water react chemically with other rocks?
3. What are pot holers?
4. What is biological weathering?
5. How quickly is the land worn away?

The arts

1. In Kabuki - Japanese theatre, all the parts are played by male actors, some dressed as beautiful women. True/false?
2. In which countries are the two places known as Stratford situated and why are they so famous?
3. Where is the world’s oldest theatre?
4. Name the place where over three million exhibits of art are there.
5. Who plays the ‘pans’?

[Answers]

Birds of prey

1. The peregrine falcon .As it dives to catch other birds in the air the peregrine falcon may move at about 320km/h,faster than any other bird.The falcon circles above the victim before making its fast dive and killing the prey on impact.

2. Owls have excellent sight even in low light.Its hearing is also extremely sharp so it can hear and pinpoint a sound even in complete darkness.It also has soft edged wing feathers that enable it to beat its wings and fly towards its victim without scarcely making a noise.

3.Yes,the serpent eagle feeds mostly on snakes and lizards. The rough surface on the toes of the serpent eagle helps it hold on to slippery snakes.

4. There are 145 species of owl in two families.The barn owl family comprises 10 species and the true owl family about 135 species.These owls can be found in most parts of the world except in a few islands.

5. The great harpy eagle is the biggest and is found in the rain forests of South America.It is up to a metre long and has huge feet and sharp talons.

Land and water

1. Ground water is water that seeps slowly through rocks such as sandstones and limestones .The top level of the water in the rocks is called the water table. Wells are dug down to the water table.

2. Water dissolves rock salt.It also reacts with some types of the hard rock granite turning minerals in the rock into a clay called kaolin.

3. Pot holers are also known as swallow holes. They are holes in the ground where people called pot holers can climb down to explore limestone caves, they are formed when the roofs of shallow caves collapse.

4. Biological weathering is the splitting apart of rocks by tree roots,the exposing and consequential weathering of rocks by burrowing animals and the work of bacteria .

5.Scientists claim that an average of 3,5 centimetres is worn away from land areas every 1,000 years. This sounds slow but over millions of years mountains are worn to make plains.

The arts

1. True. Kabuki became popular in Japan in the 1600s and may still be seen today. The actors wear splendid make-up and costumes.

2. Stratford is so famous because it’s the birthplace of the most famous playwright, William Shakespeare. There are two places known as Stratford. One is the birthplace of Shakespeare - Stratford-upon-Avon in England and the other is Stratford in Ontario, Canada where a drama festival is held every year in honour of him.

3. The oldest theatre building still in use today is probably the Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza, Italy. It opened over four hundred years ago. However, people were going to see plays long before this.

4. At St. Petersburgh in Russia there is an art gallery made up of two great buildings - the Hermitage and the Winter Palace.

5. People in the Caribbean, at Carnival time. The ‘pans’ are steel drums which can produce beautiful dance rhythms and melodies.

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 in 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 each week’s winner will be published later.

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

Winner of coupon No 5 is :
Khalid Awad,
34A, Jayawardena Avenue,
Dehiwela.