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 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.

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.puththagam.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. 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!

Winner of coupon 3 is :
Mashreefa Makeen,
573/21 Main Street,
Matale.

Space flight

1. Who was the first American astronaut to orbit the Earth?
2. How far away does space begin?
3. Where did the Viking space probes land?
4. What are Columbia, Discovery, Challenger and Atlantic?
5. American astronauts have spent the largest time in space True/false?

Computer terms

1. What is meant by booting a computer?
2. A modem is a unit that enables the computer to be linked to other computers over a telephone line. True/false?
3. By which term is the actual machinery used in a computer called?
4. What is meant by a bug, a file and software in computer terms?
5. By which name is the icon that appears on the screen as a flashing squace, line or arrow called?

Sports

1. Who ran the first mile in less than four minutes, and in which year?
2. What are the first events in the women’s pentathlon?
3. An eight is a boat used in rowing races. How many people are in it?
4. In boxing, which is lighter - feather weight or bantam weight?
5. If you had a birdie, a bogey and an eagle, what game would you be playing?

Science

1. What is Archimede’s principle?
2. Why do sound waves move faster through solids and liquids than the air?
3. What is an echo?
4. Who discovered the relation between oxygen and the process of burning?
5. How much time does sunlight take to reach us?

Answers

Space flight

1. The first American astronaut to orbit the Earth was John Glenn.
2. About 160km (100 miles) above your head.
3. The Viking space probes landed on Planet Mars.
4. They are space shuttles.
5. False. Russian cosmonauts have spent about four times as long.

Computer terms

1. Booting a computer means to load a programme automatically.
2. True.
3. The actual machinery used in a computer is called hardware.
4. A bug is a fault in a computer, usually in a programme a file is a collection of information of data that can be held in a computer, such as a list of names and software means any kind of computer programme that makes the computer perform a particular task.
5. The cursor. It points on the screen at which a letter or number next appears. You have to point the cursor to the place you want to go next in any programme and click on the mouse, or key a word/number.

Sports

1. Roger Banister in 1954.
2. Long jump, high jump, shot-put, 80m. hurdle race and 200m race.
3. Nine including the cox.
4. Bantam weight.
5. Golf.

Science

1. Archimedes was a Greek mathematician who discovered that an object weighs less in water than in air. He discovered that the upward thrust of water exerted upon a thing immersed in water is equal of the water displaced. This is known as the Archimede’s principle.
2. Because their atoms and molecules are more closely packed than that of air.
3. When a loud sound wave bounces back after striking a nearby hard surface, it produces an echo. The sound waves bounce back like the rays of light are reflected by a mirror or a very smooth surface.
4. Antonie Lavoisier discovered the relation between oxygen and the process of burning.
5. The sun is about 150 million km away from us and so sunlight takes about 8 minutes to reach us.