READING

READING 1

Name: Chhoeurng Kel                        Research and Debate

Date: 24 Dec,05           Topic: Write about a festival or celebration you know! 

 

Khmer New Year

All the nations in the world have their New Year, but the date is not the same. In Cambodia, Khmer New Year is made by Cambodians and celebrated it in their houses and in the pagodas around the Cambodia. The Khmer New Year is one of the major celebrations in Cambodia culture. It is based on the lunar calendar, and is celebrated in the mid-April, which is the first month of the year inCambodia. This time of year is also represents the end of the harvest. It is the time farmers enjoy the fruits of their harvest and relax before the rainy season begins. An astrologer determines the exact date for which the celebration will be held.

 

The celebration lasts for three days. During the time, several people take work off to commemorate the New Year. They spend time visiting families and friends, as well as the Buddhist pagodas. The Buddhist region plays a major role in many of the celebration activities. The New Year is a celebration that is prepared for long in advance. Part of this preparation includes the clearing of their homes. The people clean their homes thoroughly to rid them of any unclean spirits. They also buy silk to make new clothes. The men and boys wear black pants with white rounded-neck shirts, while the women and girls wear skirts with colorful, decorated robes.

The clean houses and new clothes represent a new beginning. The celebration lasts for three days. Each day has a name and activities attached. Day one is called Maha Sangkrant. It is the entry into the New Year, signaled by the drum or bell of the Buddhists temple. With the sounding, it is believed that the new Angel arrives. Throughout the day, the people participate in ceremonies and games. One of these activities is the building of the small Sand Mountain. Each piece of the Sand that is added is believed to produce more health and happiness in their lives. The people bring the food for the monks and pray with them. There is a feast of traditional foods such as peanut curries, noodles and some mushrooms.

The second day is VannaBut. It is the time more prayers. This day is a day to show consideration to elders.  Parents, grandparents, and teachers are given gifts from children out of respect and it is a time to serve. Cambodians offer charity to the less fortunate, participate in service activities, and forgive others of misdeeds that may have been done to them. The people continue to add to theirSandMountains.

The final day is called Loeurng Sak. On this day, the monks bless the Sand Mountains. This is also the day for cleaning the Buddha Statues. The people wash their statues with the perfumed water. It is thought to be a kind deed that will bring good luck, long life, and happiness. The bathing also symbolizes hope for sufficient rainfall for the rice harvest. The Cambodian New Year is observed in other countries, including theUnited States, and by many Cambodian immigrants. In theUnited States the celebration is only lasts for two days. Many the same ceremonies and activities are planned for and participated in. This allow for those who fled their country to remember their culture and share it with their children.

Beside this, some pagodas in Cambodia decide to process the ceremony of Khmer New Year for one or two days more in order to serve the fun service to the people around the pagoda and this is a chance to charity fun for pagoda buildings or for the foods offering the monks.

 

In brief, being a good citizen, we have to respect or protect   our civilization, culture, tradition, religion, language…ete. As the proverb says” The country can live without us but we can not live without the country”. Otherwise, Khmer New Year or this ceremony is the symbol of Khmer culture that the people a round the world have their own New Year’s Eve. Furthermore, we have to keep the respect ion of this ceremony for our children in the next generations to know it and they will continue to spread it for their next generations, too.  

READING 2 

ប្រវត្តិ លោក​ លីវ ស៊ីវឡុង

BRUCE LEE (1940-1970)

A. Bruce Lee was born in 1940 in​​ San Francisco, Californiawhile his father, an opera singer fromHong Kong, was on tour there. According to the Chinese calendar, Lee was born during the Hour of the Dragon in the Year of the Dragon, so his family often called him ‘’Little Dragon.’’ But young Bruce was not like his nickname. He was actually a weak, sick child.

B.  His parents gave him the English name ‘’Bruce’’ for his American birth certificate. Bruce’s Chinese name was Li Jun fan, which is a girl’s name. His parents were very superstitious and gave Bruce a girl’s name to trick the evil spirits. One of their sons had died before Bruce was born, and they were afraid Bruce would die too. Bruce’s mother even pierced one of his ears so the spirits would think he was a girl.

C. In 1941, the Lee family returned to Hong Kong. Bruce’s father knew some important people that worked in the movie business. They helped Bruce Lee to become a child movie star. Bruce acted in his first movie when he was only six years old. By the time he was only six years old .By the time he was 18, he had appeared in 20 movies. In the movie The Orphan, Bruce played a gang member who was always in trouble. This was very much like his real life. Bruce didn’t like to study and he got into trouble so often that he was thrown out of school. He spent most of his time in the streets fighting with other kids.

D. As a child, Bruce was small, thin, and weak and wore eyeglasses. Other boys bullied him, so he needed to protect himself. When he was about nine, he started taking lessons in an ancient Chinese way of fighting called Kung Fu. He practiced every day, and soon he thought about nothing else. Bruce became a better fighter; bud Knowing Kung Fu also got him into trouble. One day he was arrested after he was in a serious fight where some people were hurt. At that point, his parents decided to   send him toAmerica. They hoped he would stay out of trouble there.

E.  When Bruce Lee arrived in theUnited Statesat age 18 his life changed completely. At first, he gave dance lessons inSan Francisco’sChinatown. Then he moved toSeattle,Washington, where his father’s friend owned a restaurant. Lee worked as a waiter in the evenings. During the day, he went to school and earned his high school diploma. Then he went to theUniversityofWashingtonto study philosophy. After a while he started teaching Kung Fu, and later opened his own school.

F. At first, Lee only taught other Asians. But eventually he opened his school to everyone. Some traditional Chinese people, or elders, were angry about this because traditionally the Chinese didn’t teach their fighting secrets to non-Asians. They challenged Lee to fight with one of their Kung Fu experts. They were amazed when Lee won. The elders never troubled him again.

G. In 1964, Lee married one of his Kung Fu students, Linda Emery. They had two children, Brandon and Shannon. In 1964, Lee also won a prestigious international martial arts championship .A lot of people began to notice Lee. Everyone was amazed by his incredible speed and power. Lee developed a unique style of Kung Fu. He also concentrated on boiling up his body. Lee believed that meditation and concentration were just as important as exercise. He read every book he could find on all types of hand-to-hand fighting. Hearn, lifted weights, and did everything he could to improve his physical fitness. While he ate, he would hit his hand on the empty chair next to him to make it stronger. He did sit-ups- while he watched television. He even kicked and punched in his sleep. His drank flower tea and different kinds of high-protein drinks. One way that he made high-protein drinks was to put steaks into a blender. In restaurants, Lee usually ordered two meals. His favorite meal was beef with oyster sauce. He also took huge amounts of herbs and vitamins. At parties he did push-ups using only one finger and he proudly took off his shirt when people asked to see his muscles.

H. In 1965, a television producer who saw Lee perform at the long Beach Championships contacted him. He offered Lee the part of Kato, a crime fighter in the television series The Green Hornet. Lee was thrilled, and he accepted immediately. Unfortunately, The Green Hornet was only on television for six months. Lee was very popular, but it was hard for him to find other jobs. There were very few roles for Asians inHollywoodad that time .Lee was desperate because he needed to support his family. Finally, he decided to return toHong Kong, to movies there.

I. InHong Kong, Bruce Lee was. The Green Hornet was on television there and his old movies were still in the theaters.  A Hong Kongproducer immediately offered Lee a starring role in a movie called The Big Boss Boo Big Boss. Then Lee made fists of Fury, Which was an incredible success everywhere inAsia. After that, he decided to make his own movie. He was the writer, star, and director of the way of the Dragon. At that time, it was the most successful Asian movie in history.

J. Lee was both a superstar and a hero to his Asian audiences. Lee did all his own fight scenes, which was unusual. His movements were so fast that he had to slow down for the movies. If he moved at his normal speed, his arms and legs would be a blur on the screen. In his movies, Lee always played the average person fighting for people’s rights. Sometimes he fought against foreign invaders; other times he defended a town against drug dealers. His movies always gave people hope and pride. The people in the audience often stood up and cheered at the end.

K. Soon after, a Hollywood studio offered to produce Lee’s next movie, a Enter the Dragon. It was a dream comes true for Lee. Things were going very well for him but life as a celebrity was very hard. Crowds of fans followed him wherever he went. He has a beautiful mansion inHong Kongwith an eight-foot stone wall around it so nobody could climb over. Every room was locked to prevent people from stealing. He worked very long hours and he messed his family. Lee started to talk about retiring soon, so he would be able to relax and spend more time with his family.

L.  Only three weeks before Enter the Dragon was going to open in movie theaters, Lee died suddenly. He was only 32 years old. The cause of death was an unusual swelling of the brain. Lee was in perfect physical condition, so people were shocked by his sudden death. They began to spread rumors about him. Some people said Lee was still alive and would come back some days. Others said envious kung Fu masters had killed him. Others said there was a curse on him. Sadly, this seemed to be true when Lee’s only son also died young. At age 28, Brandon Lee was accidentally shot during the filming of a movie.

M. Kung Fu was almost unknown outside of Asia before Lee amazed his audiences with his almost supernatural abilities. After his death, Bruce Lee became a legend. Enter the Dragon was a huge international success and martial arts became popular all over the world.