The Sequoia trees are the oldest living things in the world. They grew in large forests millions of years ago, in the age of dinosaurs. During the Ice Age many kinds of Sequoias disappeared and only two kinds left on our planet. One of them, the giant Sequoia, can be found only in the north of California.
The tree was named after Sequoyah, an American Indian, who invented a written alphabet for his tribe.
No one knows how long a Sequoia can live. Many trees in Sequoia National Park, in California, are more than 3,000 years old. Now there is a law that protected Sequoias from being cut. But before it was passed one of the oldest and largest of them was chopped down. The growth ring at the center of this giant Sequoia dated back to 1305 BC. It means that it was more than a thousand years old at the time of the birth of Christ!
The General Sherman tree is one of the biggest Sequoias in the world. It is 83.8 metres high, and the diameter of its trunk is 31.4 metres.
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Snowboarding is the fastest-growing winter sport. It’s catching on all over the world and is now included in the Olympic Games.
Snowboarding is also a way of life, with its own equipment, style, music, clothing and even language. The forerunner of the modern snowboard was invented by Sherman Poppen in 1965. It was the Snurfer (monoski). Jake Burton turned the hobby into a profitable business. It took him 15 years to develop the perfect snowboard. Now he owns the largest snowboard business in the world.
Snowboarding is different from skiing and the only thing they have in common is the snow. Many people believe it’s easier for you to learn snowboarding when you didn’t ski before.
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Scientists are learning more than ever about the moon. Astronauts have travelled to the moon. Our knowledge about the moon has grown, but it has remained unchanged. The moon lights up the night. It makes the sky beautiful. It makes people stop, look and wonder.
The Moon was formed billions of years ago. It is about 3,540 km from side to side. The diameter of the Earth is about 12,870 km, nearly four times wider than the Moon.
The Moon is a satellite of the Earth. The Earth has a stronger gravity and the Moon is caught in its gravitational pull. It moves around the Earth and can never get away.
Air and water are held to the Earth by gravity. The Moon’s gravity is too weak to hold them. So it has no oceans, lakes, or rivers. It also has no air.
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Nowadays, most of us take a lot of pictures. But some photographers sell their images at a price comparable to the cost of the masterpieces of Renaissance masters.
Look at the most expensive photos in the history of photography.
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Hollywood is a Dream Factory, which had the greatest impact on the culture of mankind in the last hundred years. It is the most famous area of Los Angeles, where the most popular actors live and there are a large number of film studios here.
It’s an amazing world with its own history and interesting secrets.
Worldwide famous huge white letters appeared on the southern slope of Mount Lee on July 13, 1923. At first the inscription advertised new houses – HOLLYWOODLAND. The height of each letter was 9 m, width – 15 m. In 1949 the word LAND was removed. In 1978 the inscription was fully replaced. It looked like “HuLLYWO D” instead of “HOLLYWOOD”. Hugh Hefner, founder of the magazine Playboy, decided to restore it and held an auction of letters. As a result, each letter had its own sponsor. Now the height of each letter is 14 m.
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When you look in the mirror, do you like what you see? If yes, you are lucky. But don’t be upset if you don’t like your appearance, nobody’s perfect.
But how far would people go to be more attractive?
Both women and men want to become more beautiful. And if creams and lotions can’t do the trick, both sexes are increasingly ready to submit to the surgeon’s knife in search of perfection.
The world record for plastic surgery is held by Cindy Jackson — who has had more than 20 operations to redesign herself from top to toe. She has spent 55,000 pounds over eight years to achieve the Barbie Doll look, and considers it money well spent. “Now I can cross the street whenever I want to because male drivers will always stop to look at my figure.”
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Number 13 is also called “devil’s dozen”. In many countries around the world, people are afraid of this number. In the US, for example, 80% of buildings do not have a 13th floor, and many hotels do not have a room number 13.
In many European countries, no one invites 13 guests. And if this “misfortune” suddenly happened, you immediately have to invite one more guest. Groucho Marx, American actor, successfully joked: “13 people at the table may be an unlucky number, if you have cooked only 12 meatballs.”
The thirteenth Tarot card represents death.
In many countries people believe that Friday 13 is the worst day and brings misfortune.
In the Spanish-speaking countries, people are afraid of Tuesday 13.
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