Cockroach Theory

At a restaurant, a cockroach suddenly flew from somewhere and sat on a lady.

She started screaming out of fear.

With a panic stricken face and trembling voice, she started jumping, with both her hands desperately trying to get rid of the cockroach.

Her reaction was contagious, as everyone in her group also got panicky.

The lady finally managed to push the cockroach away but ...it landed on another lady in the group.

Now, it was the turn of the other lady in the group to continue the drama.

The waiter rushed forward to their rescue.

In the relay of throwing, the cockroach next fell upon the waiter.

The waiter stood firm, composed himself and observed the behavior of the cockroach on his shirt.

When he was confident enough, he grabbed it with his fingers and threw it out of the restaurant.

Sipping my coffee and watching the amusement, the antenna of my mind picked up a few thoughts and started wondering, was the cockroach responsible for their histrionic behavior?

If so, then why was the waiter not disturbed?

He handled it near to perfection, without any chaos.

It is not the cockroach, but the inability of those people to handle the disturbance caused by the cockroach, that disturbed the ladies.

I realized that, it is not the shouting of my father or my boss or my wife that disturbs me, but it's my inability to handle the disturbances caused by their shouting that disturbs me.

It's not the traffic jams on the road that disturbs me, but my inability to handle the disturbance caused by the traffic jam that disturbs me.

More than the problem, it's my reaction to the problem that creates chaos in my life.

Lessons learnt from the story:

I understood, I should not react in life.
I should always respond.

The women reacted, whereas the waiter responded.

Reactions are always instinctive whereas responses are always well thought of.

A beautiful way to understand............LIFE.

Person who is HAPPY is not because Everything is RIGHT in his Life..

He is HAPPY because his Attitude towards Everything in his Life is Right..!!

Do it!

Questions number 29 – 32 are based on this paragraph

       Yesterday, on the early morning, Gerry went to school as usual, but he did not come back in the afternoon. His father, Mr. Dullah, called his school, but his teacher said he did not go to school at all. Mr. Dullah called Gerry’s friends and classmates immediately, but they did not see him yesterday. Then Mr. Dullah called the police to ask for their help. The police officer asked about Gerry’s description and photograph.

Adapted from Creative Writing 5

29. The word immediately has the closest meaning to………………………….

A. today

B. later

C. now

D. soon

30. How do you think was Mr.Dullah feel at that time?

A. He was surprise

B. He was confused

C. He was happy

D. He was panic

31. What does ‘they’ in the sentence”………but they did not see him yesteday” (Line 4)

A. Gerry’s friends and teachers

B. Gerry’s friends and classmates

C. The police

D. Gerry’s teachers

32. What is the main idea of this paragraph?

A. The police asked for Gerry’s picture

B. Gerry did not come back from school

C. Gerry was absent from school

D. Mr.Dullah was curious

Read and answer the questions!

Mr. and Mrs. Alkarim once kept a large monkey he had brought from Kalimantan. The monkey was very faithful to her masters and was friendly to their baby girl.

            One day Mr. Karim and his wife went out to attend a wedding ceremony. They left the baby to the monkey they had trusted as baby sitter.

            Suddenly a fire broke out in the house. The door and the staircase were already on fire.

            All the neighbors looked sadly at the windows of the room where the baby girl slept in. Somebody ran for a ladder to reach the windows, but it was no use now.

            Just then they saw a black hand open the windows upstairs. Then came out the monkey with the baby girl in her arms. Down she climbed. Slowly and carefully she brought the baby out safely.

1.                 Where did Mr. Karim and his wife put their baby?

a. In the monkey’s arm                                   c. At the back window

b. Under the ladder                                         d. In the room upstairs

2.                 “……with the baby girl in her arms. (last paragraph).

What does the word “her” refer to?

a. The baby girl                                               c. Mr. Alkarim’s wife

b. the large monkey                                         d. Mr. Alkarim’s neighbor

Read and answer the questions!

       Last month SMP Utama team entered for a tug-of-war (tarik tambang) contest with SMP Bangsa. Two weeks before the contest the boys of “SMP Utama Team” started practicing hard. “We must learn to pull the rope together at the same time,” said Amin, their team leader. ”Only that will make our team strong”.

      On the day of the contest the team from SMP Bangsa arrived at SMP Utama in a bus. Everyone was surprised, to see that these boys were much taller and bigger than the boys of SMP Utama. “We’ll surely lose,” said Rano, a member of SMP Utama.

      Don’t give up so easily,” said Amin. ”We must try our best”.

      Soon the contest began. Which team do you think won the contest? It was SMP Utama. It was too strong for the SMP Bangsa Team. Why was that so? You see the SMP Utama boys pulled the rope together at the same time. SMP Bangsa boys, on the other hand, were not united at all.

1. When did SMP Utama team enter for the tug-of-war contest with SMP Bangsa ?

A. Two weeks before the contest                   C.  At the same time              

B. On the day of the contest                           D.  Last month

2. Which is the best title for the text above?

A. The strong boys                                    C. The students’ competition

B. The winner of the contest                         D. The tug-of-war contest

3. Why did the SMP Bangsa team lose the contest?

A.    They pulled the rope at the same time

B.     They were taller and bigger

C.     They were not united

D.    They gave up easily

4.  ”Only that will make our team strong”. What does the word that  refer to?

       A. Togetherness                                       C.  The team leader

            B.  The contest                                    D.  Pulling the rope    

Recount Text

Once upon a time, there was a fisherman living in North Sumatra. One day, while he was fishing in the river, a big fish was nailed. The fisherman was very excited. He imagined a delicious dinner he would have. Soon he put the fish in his basket and went home happily. When the fisherman got home, he put the fish in a sink. He took a knife to kill the fish. However, when he almost killed it, he saw the fish’s eyes and felt pity. So he took the knife away and put the fish in a washbasin.

            The fisherman went fishing again, but this time he couldn’t get any fish. He went home with nothing in his hand. He was surprised when he saw smoke came out from his kitchen. He peeped in and was surprised knowing that there was a beautiful girl cooking in the kitchen. The girl was actually the fish who wanted to return his kindness. The fisherman then asked the girl to marry him. The girl agreed, but the fisherman had to promise that if they had a child, he wouldn’t tell their child about her.

            And so, the fisherman and the fish girl were married. And then they had a child called Samo. Samo was very naughty. He always played and never helped his parents. One day, Samo’s mother asked him to deliver lunch to his father. On his way, he met his friends and forgot to deliver his father’s lunch. Samo played with his friends. When he was tired and hungry, he took a rest under a tree and ate his father’s lunch. Meanwhile, his father waited for him starving and tired. His father went home and saw Samo played. “You were asked to deliver my lunch but you didn’t do it,” said his father furiously. “You are very naughty. Go away and don’t come back home!” His father yelled and evicted Samo from his house. His father said the words that he wouldn’t suppose to say. “You…fish’s son.” 

            Suddenly, the sky got dark, and the storm was rumbling. The rain felt from the sky like a huge hose sprayed water all over the place. Water also came out from the earth and got harder. Very soon the village was drowned and it formed a lake. Meanwhile, Samo ran to the hill and stayed there. The hill was surrounded by the water.

            Now the lake was known as Lake Toba. The word Toba comes from tuba which means no mercy. The hill in the middle of the lake is called Samosir Island.

1.  What did the fisherman do to the golden fish?

A.    He had it for dinner

B.     He cut it into pieces

C.     He killed it with his knife

D.    He let it free in the washbasin

2.  What made Samo’s father very angry and then evicted him?