Hannah Mae P.

Romano
Ms.Mariano
BEED-II

English
Narration

That Beautiful Moment

The phone rang; it was 4:30 a.m. My sister was on the other end of the line
frantically telling me to hurry and get home. I hung up the phone and laid my head
back down, falling back to sleep, when the phone rang again; once again, it was my
sister calling. This time she was demanding, telling me that she was in the hospital.
I hurriedly gathered my things, and within a half hour, I was on my way.
Three and a half hours later, I urgently arrived at the hospital. My hands slid
off the sweat-consumed steering wheel as my feet shakily acquainted themselves
with the parking lot pavement. Nearing the doors of the hospital, I felt the pulsing of
my blood racing through my veins. Scurrying to the elevator, I could feel the
turbulence of the air wafting me in the face, like that of a train rushing by. The
tension in the air was so thick that I could cut it with a knife. Meeting up with my
mom and dad, I could see that they were equally anxious and nervous for their
daughter.
I walked into my sisters room; the distinct hospital aroma biting at my lungs.
I still hadnt grown used to seeing my sister this precarious way (a large, protruding
belly). My concern for her was so apparent, my body language was easily tattling on
me. Giving her a hug, I sensed her awareness of what was about to happen. I would
compare it to that of a child not wanting to have its loose tooth pulled but knows its
going to happen. After our quick greeting, I uneasily slid out the door as the
attending nurse was going to administer an epidural.
The day our family had eagerly awaited was here. My sister was going into
labor, and I was to videotape the birth. As twins, we had been planning for this day
ever since she found out that she was pregnant. The time had come, and neither
one of us were prepared for this first. Little did I know what I was in for. The hours
passed as I paced back and forth in the mundane hallways that held many lifechanging events. Fidgeting and nail biting were sharpened down to a science.

Suppertime quickly came and went, and the contractions had gotten within a few
minutes of each other. I wanted passionately for this to be over with. Fifteen and a
half hours into that nerve-racking ordeal, I saw her through the lens of the video
camera begin to labor heavily. Like sprinters bursting out of their starting blocks,
her blood pressure rose dramatically. Her screams pierced me, and for the first time,
I truly felt my sisters mortality. With every strained breath, I could see her face
flush red, and the intense agony of the moment grip her very being. Her blood
pressure got dangerously close to having a stroke: 200 over 100. Her insulting
profanity had become a myriad of words towards the babys daddy. With every
unchanged fistful of bed sheet, her erupting unrest and pure excruciating pain was
growing. The room was full of immense troubled concern. The delivering doctor
thought that doing a C-section might be the best decision, trying to hide the true
consequences of the situation.
However, the time finally arrived. At 9:25 p.m., the head came slipping out,
quickly followed by the shoulders and the rest of the body. Graciously gliding into
the world, it was a girl! I saw the relief wash over my sisters face like the calm after
a horrendous, twisting tornado. I captured this on tape and set the camera aside.
Comforting her, I began to cry happily. Gratitude was flowing out through my tears; I
was thankful to have been there for this miracle. I was also flooded with jubilation
when I heard the baby cry; that first, ear-splitting wail from the baby was one I
wont ever forget. I was tremendously relieved that it was all over with, like runners
finally catching their breath after racing to the finish.
In that moment, I held the most immense regard for my mom, knowing that
she had gone through this final stage of creation five times. I had always heard that
the physical pain of giving birth is quite colossal, but that it is always immediately
replaced by the tranquility of hearing that newborn test out its lungs. In particular, I
learned that my sisters struggle and perseverance could result in a beautiful
ending: a breathing miracle of a higher power.

Exposition

Why Children Should Be Encouraged to Play Outside

About twenty years ago, when the Internet was not so easily accessible,
and daily life was not spammed with all kinds of gadgets and electronic toys,
children used to spend much more time outdoors. Nowadays, however, children
prefer to spend free time at home, as this way they can watch more TV, play
XBox or Playstation, play games on their parents tablets, and so on. Although
this may also be more comfortable for parents, as they can watch and control
their child easier when at home, for a childs sake, it is better to encourage him
or her to play outdoors.
According to a new study held in Australia, teenagers who are regularly
engaged in moderate-to-vigorous outdoor activity tend to have better health and
easier social interactions than their peers who prefer to stay at home and play
games. On average, the difference in time spent outdoors for these two groups
was about 2.5 hours. Bamini Gopinath, a senior research fellow at the universitys
Westmead Millennium Institute for Medical Research, says that Parents should
be conscious of the fact that outdoor physical activity is beneficial to their childs
overall health and well-being, and should try to limit the time their child spends
in front of the screen.
Indeed, as it has been discovered, outdoor activity does not just generally
improve the way a child feels; there are a number of specific benefits a child or
teenager receives from playing outdoors. In particular, such children build
stronger bones and muscles, are more flexible, and have a better sense of
balance; such children also have a more healthy weight and cardiovascular
system. Spending a lot of time outdoors helps teenagers avoid or reduce stress
and feel more relaxed, have more confidence in themselves, boosts self-esteem
and allows them to keep in touch with old friends and also make new ones.
What is also important, spending time outdoors helps children to develop
skills connected to creativity and invention. According to Robin Moore, an expert
in the design of play and learning environments, the objects of the outdoors
grant children with limitless possibilities for playing, and each time a child steps
outside, these games change, or new ones are invented. Natural spaces and
materials stimulate childrens limitless imagination and serve as the medium of
inventiveness and creativity, says Moore (Portland Family). Creative skills that a
child develops when playing outside can help him or her in the future for

example, when there is a need to solve a non-standard task, or come up with a

new idea.
Although the popularity of gadgets and gaming consoles is beneficial for
parents since it is easier for them to control and watch their children when they
are at home, for childrens sake, it is better that they spend more time outdoors.
Playing outside not only improves a childs general physical and psychoemotional condition, but makes him or her physically stronger, more flexible, and
self-confident. Playing outdoors positively affects self-esteem, helps a child to
maintain a healthy weight, and develop social contacts. Moreover, playing
outdoors contributes to the development of creative thinking and imagination.
Therefore, parents should encourage their children to spend much more time
outdoors.

Argumentation
Games
Computer games have seriously caught the attention of Mass Media and nowadays
every channel considers its duty to remind people how much damage these games
cause to children and adults. The increasing amount of games with violent scenes
sock the society and makes it very aware of them.It is already common knowledge
that violent games cause violence in people. This fact is not even doubted by the
majority of people. Every other person says that the reason lies in games being too
close to reality. The opinion that games make violent actions normal for the player
and therefore make the player pitiless can be often heard. In this case the game is
the cause of violence and the act of violence by itself is a consequence. And can
real-life violence exist in the reality of a game? Is the transfer of the definition of
violence with all its peculiarities from one world to another justified only according
to the external similarity of these two worlds?
Games originally are entertainment. Contemporary games are very realistic
and for this reason they are a source of great experience for the player and develop

the imagination. Games are entertainment and even more than that. In addition,
the statistics of the New York University lead by Green and Bavelier claim that the
player preferring active games get an improvement of some types of brain activity,
related to processing of visual information. In particular, game players cope with
problems of simultaneously tracking several moving objects at the average level of
30% better then people who do not play active computer video games. The
gaming violent experience may not be the cause of violent behavior in reality.
None of the playing experience will become the priority in making important
decisions concerning problems in real life. A game is an abstraction. A player gets
abstract tasks and acts according to abstract rules.Games are also the possibility to
be however a person wants to be and to rest from the outside world for some time.
But what if a person gets so much excited with the game scenes that he becomes
violent in reality? Then, it proves that the games cause people to become violent.
Let us stop for a moment right at this point. Those who do not participate in this
type of activity usually make the conclusion of presence of violence in the gameworld.
Nobody will ever hear this kind of statement from those who play, from those
who know the rules of the game and understand that it is just a virtual world. A
psychologically healthy person will never confuse or connect these two different
worlds. A game is a virtual world with visual images very similar to human. These
images represent by themselves nothing but simple playing obstacles. A game may
potentially give the opportunity to destroy the obstacles that may not be
destroyed according to the rules but it is more about personal choice whether to do
it or not. This leads us to the conclusion that violence is not a consequence but the
cause. People who are originally prone to violence may get irritated by games and
perform violence in the real world. But in this case violence in games is a simple
justification of the violent nature of the player.

Description

The Great Wall of China

China is the largest country in Asia and the worlds most populous nation. It
also has one of the worlds oldest and continuous civilizations. The Chinese have
occupied their vast territory for thousands of years and China boasts numerous
achievements in a variety of disciplines. The country has produced many great
thinkers and philosophers, and numerous artists and inventors from China have

introduced creations that have changed perhaps billions of lives. Some of these
creations include the compass, gunpowder, paper and printing, porcelain and
silk. But perhaps the most well-known and recognized symbol of China is
the Great Wall.
The Great Wall, or Chang Cheng in Chinese, is massive. It begins in the east
at the Yellow Sea, travels near Chinas capital, Beijing, and continues west
through numerous provinces. For thousands of miles, it winds like a snake
through

Chinas

wall. According

to

varied

terrain.

conservative

Smaller
estimates,

walls
the

extend

from

Great

Walls

the

main

length

is

approximately 2,400 miles, its thickness ranges from 15-30 feet wide, and it
reaches in height to about 25 feet. For many centuries, the Great Wall has been
considered one of the worlds wonders (Turnbull & Noon, 2007).
Although it is often mistakenly thought of as a single wall, the Great Wall is a
series of walls that were constructed, reconstructed and expanded over several
centuries and, depending on the location, using different materials. The massive
construction project was the idea of Chinas first emperor, Shi Huangdi, who
ended more than 250 years of regional fighting between several independent
states, and united China. Once in control, Shi Huangdi wanted to maintain his
power and position. The idea to create a massive wall along the northern border
of the country was conceived by the emperor to bar assailants from kingdoms to
the north of China. Construction of the Great Wall continued long after the reign
of Shi Huangdi, particularly during the Han and the Ming dynasties. During these
periods, features such as watch towers, gates and garrisons were added or
enhanced and the Walls design was unified.