News Article: Mom and child died inside car while dad cleared snow around them

Recently, I was reading this news article about how a mom and her child died inside a car while the dad cleared snow around them.

This incident takes place in New Jersey. A mom and her 1 year old son died in the car while the dad was clearing snow around them due to the heavy blizzard. As the mom and her children, a 1 year old boy and a 3 year old girl tried to huddle for warmth, the dad, a man who was not identified, told them to turn on the engine so that they could on the heater while he was shoveling the excess snow that was piling outside the car. He was shoveling about 20 minutes and when he checked on them, they were all unconscious. 

He then quickly called 911 for help. The ambulance then rushed to the hospital and the mother and her 1 year old son was pronounced dead while her 3 year old daughter was facing serious injuries. 

They were unconscious due to the clogged tail pipe. The tail pipe of the unfortunate families car was clogged with snow and because of that, carbon monoxide managed to seep through the ventilation and got into the car. Carbon monoxide is a colourless, odourless gas that hits quickly with no signs of warning. 

In my opinion, I think it was very unfortunate for this to happen to this family. We should always take safety precautions and make sure that your car is working smoothly as something bad might happen. Instead of staying in the car, the mom and her children should've just stayed in the house until the man finished shoveling the snow before driving off as it would be warmer and much safer. Due to the heavy blizzard, I think that it is advisable if they should just stay home and not go out. I give out my condolences to this family for this tragic accident.

Freedom Writers

Describe how writing in journals (in The Freedom Writers) helps transform the lives of the students. How does writing "free" the students from their pain?

The movie, The Freedom Writers, is about a young teacher, Erin Gruwell who was enthusiastic to start teaching. She is then challenged when she realized that her students self-segregate into racial groups within the classroom. Erin was then determined to gain the students trust on a personal and academic level but she only got to do so with the help of a few people. When she finally gained the trust of the students, she buys them composition books to record their diaries, in which they start to open up and talk about their experiences being abused, seeing their friends die, and being evicted. Meanwhile, Erin asks them to write and share their stories in a book form. She then compiles all of their work and named it "The Freedom Writers Diary". Writing helps "free" the students from their pain as they are allowed to express how they feel without being judged. Coming from an unfortunate background, the students spend all their time protecting themselves and the ones they love and all the anger piled inside them will lead to doing bad things. Writing will then help them ease the pain so that they do not resolve to doing bad things.

New Classmate

Classmates are a fellow member of a class. There are 40 students in my class. I would generally describe my classmates as a mirthful bunch. Recently, a boy from another class transferred into my class. He is known to have disciplinary problems that is why he was put into our class. He is known as Zaki. Since it has been 4 months into the school year, everyone has their own bunch of friends that they hang out with. Therefore, it was hard for Zaki to mix around. He is usually really quiet in class and only talks to a few people. I do not know him that well but I would say he is a decent person. I hope he could blend into the crowd and be more involved in the class. 

Vocabulary - Walking

Amy likes to take a morning stroll in the park along Village Street every Sunday morning. She usually perambulates up and down the street and enjoy the fresh air. However, this particular Sunday morning she decided to hike five kilometers up a steep trail. While hiking up the steep trail, she accidentally tripped on a branch and fell onto the ground. She then crawled next to a big tree and sat against it. When she stood up, she felt a sharp pain on her knee. She started to hobble. Fortunately, there was a couple hiking nearby and noticed that Amy had fell down. They charged at her and helped her treat the wound. Amy thanked the couple for their help and limped her way home.

Earth Day

5. When is Earth Day celebrated? In paying homage to Mother Earth, how do we preserve the sanctity of Earth against pollution and destruction?


Earth Day is celebrated on the 22nd of April every year. Earth Day gave voice to an emerging consciousness, channeling human energy toward environmental issues. It was first celebrated on the 1970 and is celebrated by 192 countries around the world. 

The world has been suffering from global warming for a long time now. Global warming happens due to the neglect of people around the world. Therefore, Earth Day is celebrated to bring awareness to the people around the world to protect the environment.

In paying homage to Mother Earth, we can preserve the sanctity of Earth against pollution and destruction by enforcing a stricter law. The laws that are enforced by the people in charge should be followed. We should also not waste paper and throw our unwanted trash where ever we please. We can save paper by keeping documents in electronic form and by not printing emails. We must also plant more trees. Trees absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen. This helps us reduce global warming. Lastly, we should use public transport or car pool more often. We can share our cars to go to the office or a scheduled event along with a friend. On one hand, this will help us save money and it will also reduce the emission of unwanted gases in the air. 

The Internet

The internet is basic need of the younger generation today. They could survive without food but can't survive without the internet. It is a strong addiction that could be good as well as bad. It is also easier than ever to access the internet, whether you are using a phone, a tablet or a computer. There is no doubt people are using the internet more, despite the consequences.

The internet is advantageous if people use it wisely. We could acquire information easier with the help of the internet. This can help us get our assignments done quicker. It could also help us widen our knowledge and improve our grades. The internet also allows us to communicate with people from other countries. For example, if you have a close friend or a relative that you want to keep in touch with, with just a click of a button, you could start communicating with them. Normally, you would have to send a letter and it would take from a week to even a month for the letter to reach them but now we could receive a message in a matter of seconds. 

The internet is also disadvantageous if not used correctly. Some younger people get addicted to online gaming and this can mean they spend too much time on playing that they neglect other important things, such as studying, sleeping or eating. In addition, excessive use of the internet will cause social problems as they spend most of their time facing their computer screen than facing actual people.

To sum it all up, spending time on the internet can bring positive and negative effects to everyone. Personally, I think that the internet is a wonderful tool and the benefits of it outweighs the dangers. However, we should always be cautious and use the internet wisely.

Trip to Phuket

Last Sunday, my family and I went to Phuket, Thailand. We stayed there for 4 days and 3 nights. Phuket is known as one of the largest island in Thailand and it is also one of the most popular vacation destinations in Southeast Asia. We traveled there by an aeroplane.

As soon as I stepped out of the plane, I was greeted with Phuket's hot and humid weather. We settled into the hotel room and in a matter of seconds everyone started dozing off. This was because we had to wake up early for our flight and that was why everyone was so tired. Every morning, we would walk to the restaurant by the pool side to get breakfast. The food provided at the buffet looked really appetizing. There were 2 long tables full of different types of food, such as pancakes, bacon, sausages and many more. 

On the first night, we visited the famous Phuket weekend market locally known as Naka market. This market is located in Phuket town not far away from the Central Festival. The market is divided into two sections, covered and open. In the covered section, you would find second hand items such as bags, clothing, DVDs and so on. You will then find many food stalls outside. This is where you can gorge on delicious roasted pork, corn on cobs, exotic fruit, grilled chicken and even deep fried insects. Although the weather was scorching hot, we had an enjoyable time at the market.

Not far from our hotel, there is a shopping centre called Jungceylon. It is known as one of the biggest shopping mall in Phuket. We spent most of our days there as the mall could shelter us from the blazing sun. Opposite Jungceylon, there is a street called Bangla street. At night, this street would be filled with nightclubs blaring their music. You will also see girls dressed like prostitutes and you could even see a few transgender men walking along the street dressed in a girl's outfit. I had an amazing time in Phuket and I would like to visit even more places in the future.