The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Huckleberry Finn lived in the little town of St. Petersburg, Missouri. His father was the town drunk. Huck spent most of his life fishing on the banks of the Mississippi, sleeping in doorways, and having great adventures with his friend Tom Sawyer.

Things were always pretty dull until Huck and Tom discovered hidden treasure. They found twelve thousand dollars in gold. It was money that had been buried by robbers, so Judge Thatcher decided it was rightfully Huck’s and Tom’s. Each of them got six thousand dollars. The judge put the money in the bank for them and each of them got an allowance of a dollar a day.

Unfortunately, Huck’s father, Pap, was a drunken father. He seldom went home. Huck was scared of Pap because he hit Huck so much. He often forced Huck to withdraw some money from the bank.

Every once in a while Pap locked Huck in the old cabin and went to the store to trade fish for whiskey. He would fetch it home and get drunk. Then he would lock the door at night and put the key under his head alongside his gun. Huck couldn’t stand it any longer, so he planned to escape.

Huck found an old rusty saw with a broken handle. When Pap was away, Huck started sawing the end of the cabin behind a table. It was a long and tiring job! Before running away, he tried to design the place in such a way that people would think that he was killed by someone.

Huck headed for Jackson’s Island. Then he met Jim, a slave who escaped from his master. They became good friends and experienced many things together. They floated towards freedom on a raft down the Mississippi river. On their journey, they also encountered thieves and liars who said that they were a king and a duke. These two men were very cunning. They liked to lie to and deceive other people. But finally, Huck managed to reveal those two men’s bad deeds and expose the frauds.

Note: I summarized this story from the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, published by Baronet Books, New York.

Idioms Using the Word 'Win'

We have two idioms using the word ‘win’. These are quite common idioms and if you start to use them then people will really be surprised and impressed.

The first one is ‘stand to win’. We use this idiom when there is a strong possibility that if you do something then you will surely be successful. It sometimes refers to money but not always.

‘Tell your friend to enter the competition. It is easy and if he does he stands to win some fantastic prizes from KGRE.’

Here is another example for you.

‘The famous singer stands to win a lot of new fans if she visits Bali to sing at the special concert for World Peace in June.’

The second idiom today is to ‘win hands down’. We use this idiom to describe how someone or something has won a contest or competition very easily indeed. Let's use it in the past tense today and I hope that the meaning is clear to you in this example.

‘She won the contest hands down. She knew all the answers to the questions and the other contestants were just not good enough.’

‘stands to win’ — ‘punya kesempatan untuk menang’

‘won hands down’ — ‘menang mutlak’

Source: www.kangguru.org

Activities in the Spare Time

Singgih : What do you usually do in your spare time, Heru?

Heru : In my spare time I usually read books or magazines.

Singgih : What book do you like to read?

Heru : I like to read almost all kinds of books. For me, as long as the books can give benefit and add to my knowledge, I’ll read the books.

Singgih : Yeah, I know you’re really a bookworm!

Heru : We must make reading our habit. Unfortunately, reading habit in Indonesia is still low.

Singgih : By the way, what magazine do you usually read?

Heru : I subscribe to English magazine and computer magazine. I try to improve my English by reading English magazines. As you know, I’m also a computer freak. So, I’m very fond of getting new information or knowledge about computer, especially about new hardware and software. How about you, Singgih? What do you do in your spare time?

Singgih : I like listening to music, especially classical music.

Heru : Oh… that’s great! I like classical music, too.

Singgih : Bethoven and Mozart are my favorite composers. Their music is so great and melodious!

Heru : I agree with you.

Singgih : Well Heru… I think it’s going to rain. So, I have to go home now. Maybe I’ll come here again some day.

Heru : Yeah, I hope we can meet again and continue our talk about classical music.

Singgih : Sure, I promise I’ll come again. See you, Heru!

Heru : See you!

Idioms Using Dog & Fish

Today's idioms are idioms using animals. There are so many idioms with animals in English. Sometimes they are easy to understand but sometimes they are not. The first one today is to ‘work like a dog’. It means that you work very, very hard.

‘John is just so busy at work. He never has time to have lunch. He works 18 hours a day, seven days a week! John works like a dog.’

Our second idiom today is a little more difficult to understand. Sometimes when somebody drinks a lot we say he or she ‘drinks like a fish’. But we most often use this idiom if someone drinks a lot of alcohol.

‘When my friend James comes to visit I have to buy lots of beer. He drinks like a fish.’

Today's idioms were ‘to work like a dog’, meaning to work very hard. In Bahasa Indonesia that's like ‘bekerja keras’. And ‘to drink like a fish’, which means to drink a lot, especially a lot of alcohol. In Bahasa Indonesia that's ‘suka minum terutama minuman alkohol’. Try and use those as soon as you can. It will help you to remember them.

Source: www.kangguru.org

Jawaban Latihan Present Perfect ContinuousTense

Berikut ini adalah jawaban atas Latihan Present Perfect Continuous Tense yang diberikan beberapa hari yang lalu.

1. They …….. chess for two hours. (play)
(+) They have been playing chess for two hours.
(-) They haven’t been playing chess for two hours.
(?) Have they been playing chess for two hours?
2. The secretary ……... letters since this morning. (type)
(+) The secretary has been typing letters since this morning.
(-) The secretary hasn’t been typing letters since this morning.
(?) Has the secretary been typing letters since this morning?
3. Mr. Smith ………. his car for five hours. (drive)
(+) Mr. Smith has been driving his car for five hours.
(-) Mr. Smith hasn’t been driving his car for five hours.
(?) Has Mr. Smith been driving his car for five hours?
4. The boys ……… kites since 10 o’clock. (make)
(+) The boys have been making kites since 10 o’clock.
(-) The boys haven’t been making kites since 10 o’clock.
(?) Have the boys been making kites since 10 o’clock?
5. The participants …….. the problem for one hour. (discuss)
(+) The participants have been discussing the problem for one hour.
(-) The participants haven’t been discussing the problem for one hour.
(?) Have the participants been discussing the problem for one hour?

Latihan Present Perfect Continuous Tense

Kerjakan seperti contoh!

She ……… English for two years. (study)

(+) She has been studying English for two years.

(-) She hasn’t been studying English for two years.

(?) Has she been studying English for two years?

(Jika Anda lupa rumus pembentukan kalimatnya, silahkan baca lagi penjelasannya di sini!)

1. They …….. chess for two hours. (play)
2. The secretary ……... letters since this morning. (type)
3. Mr. Smith ………. his car for five hours. (drive)
4. The boys ……… kites since 10 o’clock. (make)
5. The participants …….. the problem for one hour. (discuss)