Unit 36: Numbers
Pictured Words
New Words
| 1.clock
|
| 2.fire from the sky (lightning)
|
| 3.screws
|
| 4.river
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| 5.animals
|
Nouns
Adjectives
Sayings
There are many kinds of animals that take pleasure in swimming in the river or in the sea.
A screw is a very useful thing.
Not all screws are small.
The screw which makes a ship go is very large and is given that name because of its shape.
Our typewriter is over there on the shelf.
It is not an electric one.
Our office is always at work because we have to see the amount of money that comes in from our businesses.
The girls put powder on their noses and some gets onto their slips.
We got the amounts by the decimal system before, but now the calculator does it automatically.
Calculators make use of the binary system because that suits the way electrical systems do their work.
There has been a complete change of business ways of late years because of the invention of electronic machines.
Numbers
English has a number system that is based on tens.
Other countries have other systems.
The Jews used tables of numbers based on 14, whilst in early Mesopotamia the base went up to 60.
We still have the effects of the 60 system in our measure of time into seconds and minutes.
A very important number system now is that based on electric impulses.
It gives a base of 2 and is termed the binary system.
Computers go on that system.
But the normal system of numbers is based on tens and goes by the name of the decimal system.
It is widely used throughout the world, not only by Englishmen.
| *
| 1
| one
| the first in the series
|
| **
| 2
| two
| the second in the series
|
| ***
| 3
| three
| the third in the series
|
| ****
| 4
| four
| the fourth in the series
|
| *****
| 5
| five
| the fifth in the series
|
| ******
| 6
| six
| the sixth in the series
|
| *******
| 7
| seven
| the seventh in the series
|
| ********
| 8
| eight
| the eighth in the series
|
| *********
| 9
| nine
| the ninth in the series
|
| **********
| 10
| ten
| the tenth in the series
|
| ***********
| 11
| eleven
| the eleventh in the series
|
| ************
| 12
| twelve
| the twelfth in the series
|
the last two are the only ones above ten that have a special name.
The rest are like the first ten but add "teen" to them:
| 13
| 14
| 15
| 16
| 17
| 18
| 19
|
| thirteen
| fourteen
| fifteen
| sixteen
| seventeen
| eighteen
| nineteen
|
Further groups of ten take their names from the units by adding "ty":
| 20
| 30
| 40
| 50
| 60
| 70
| 80
| 90
|
| twenty
| thirty
| fourty
| fifty
| sixty
| seventy
| eighty
| ninety
|
Hundreds are the next group in the series.
They have the name of the unit before the word "hundred":
| 100
| 200
| and so on
|
| one hundred
| two hundred
| and so on.
|
The next group has the name "thousand".
| 1000
| 2000
| and so on
|
| one thousand
| two thousand
| and so on.
|
There is little point in progressing further than this because once the basis is clear, numbers are more quickly put in mind by connection with the country of your choice.
Fire From Heaven
He put the wood in order, and cutting up the ox, put it on the wood.
Then he said, Get four vessels full of water and put it on the burned offering and on the wood.
And he said, Do it a second time, and they did it a second time;
And he said, Do it a third time, and they did it a third time.
And the water went all round the altar, till the drain was full.
Then at the time of the offering, Elijah the prophet came near and said, O Lord, The God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Israel, let it be seen this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things by your order
Give me an answer, O Lord, give me an answer, so that this people may see that you are God, and that you have made their hearts come back again.
Then the fire of the Lord came down, burning up the offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and drinking up the water in the drain.
When the people saw it, they all went down on their faces, and said, The Lord, he is God, the Lord, he is God.
Additional Reading
Fire from the heavens is a very fearful thing.
Many persons come to death each year in various countries by reason of a fire from the heavens to which we give the name of "lightning".
The example of which we have most knowledge in present times is the country of America.
In the times long ago that are recorded in our story, the wise and holy man, Elijah, the prophet of God, was making a comparison between the true God and the local one that held the respect of the people.
His name was Baal.
Elijah called upon God only once and got an important answer, as we see.
The prophets of Baal had been trying all day to do the same thing without anything being done for them by their god.
They put cuts in themselves with swords and knives and gave loud cries, and the blood came streaming out all over them.
But there was no voice nor any answer, and no attention was given to them.
Elijah gave a much better comparison.
There is much more behind this account than what we might have in mind.
King Ahab lived at a time of great political change and many opposing ideas.
Two big nations were in deadly competition at the edges of his kingdom.
Naturally, he tried to go between them and keep his own authority.
One way of doing this was to let all sorts of religious views be taken up by his people.
Another was to have the trick of marriage with the opposing kingdoms.
By such measures he was able to let his people live in peace and well being.
For at least a while, he gave them property and profit.
He was able to do much building in the chief parts of his kingdom.
The trial between the two strong religious groups that we see here was a great blow to his chances and his changes.
His wife was one of those with whom Ahab tried to keep the peace through marriage.
And she was the one who was on the side of the prophets of Baal.
Many of Elijah's countrymen were strong in their opposition to her.
This event led to her destruction in the long run.
In another story we see how Elijah took his stand against Ahab when he tried to get his hands on Naboth's vine-garden.
Elijah was finally taken up from the earth in fire.
It is written, "Suddenly there were carriages and horses of fire and Elijah went up to heaven in a great wind".
Elijah was a great prophet at a stage in his nation's history when times were changing and his countrymen had great need to be pointed towards sound religion and to their true God.
For these acts he has a lasting place in our history.
Helpful Notes
| second, third times
| see numbers.
|
| hearts come back
| fresh attitude of approval.
|
| blood streaming
| a mark of respect among believers.
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| deadly competition
| fighting in politics and in battle.
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| marriage
| gaining by sharing relationships in marriage.
|
Interesting Facts and Records
The Assyrians And Babylonians
There were fertile lands to the north east and to the south of Palestine.
Israel was the land bridge between the two.
These lands gave good support to the persons living there because they were able to produce enough food.
They were mostly along the valleys of great rivers.
The rulers of these lands were always making attempts to get more land and more produce for themselves.
They made attacks on each other in war quite frequently.
One of the first nations to make many such military attempts was the nation of Assyria.
The Assyrians had full control for about 100 years from 729 B.C. They often went to war in Palestine.
They won their wars by good organisation and the high quality of their engines of war.
They could be named the Romans of those early times.
They were cruel when fighting, but less so when they had won.
They tried to frighten their enemies.
It is said that in an attack on a town they would put a stick through the stomachs of prisoners and hang them in a hole.
This was done within full view of the walls of the town.
The process was very cruel.
We have many records of the attacks the Assyrians made on the land of Israel.
The Assyrians built large towns with fine buildings.
These were made of mud brick and were only one room high.
They had flat rooves made of wood and mud.
They were made beautiful with pictures and colored bricks in the walls.
The Babylonians are another great nation that made attacks on Israel.
They took control from Assyria.
The great town of Babylon is now known for its laws, its large walled towns and its religion.
They made detailed measures of their movements.
It seemed good to them to divide the heavens on a basis of 60 parts and so they made a number system that went up to 60.
There was great interest in their knowledge at the time.
Its effects have continued even to the present times in our own divisions of time and space.
We have 60 minutes in an hour, and 60 seconds in a minute because of this relation with those past ways of doing things.
We also have 60 seconds in a degree in earth sciences.
Both these nations made records with a system of writing based on marks in plates of wet earth.
These were put into the fire or the sun to dry.
Large numbers of these plates have been found.
They were on shelves once but had slipped to the ground and become covered with powdery dust.
They were on the subjects of religion, art, medicine and the history of those days.
One of the seven "great things" of past times was the hanging gardens of Babylon.
These are said to have been built for a queen who came from a mountainous part.
She had no liking for the flat lands around Babylon.
Beautiful trees, flowers and water falls were put in these gardens to give her the sense of being among mountains.
From these gardens we see how great was the wealth and power of Babylon.