Dear friends, How are you all? Must be enjoying the cricket world cup and looking forward for the finale. Meanwhile don’t forget to read this week’s issue. If you want to improve your communication skills, then do read our cover story section. Then we have amazing activities and stuff for you to relish your weekend. Take care, edi
Designed by Sohail Abbas
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Cover story
Story time
WWF
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Season guide
Hey kids, kindly send us letters, stories, poems and events detail on the following address: youngnation@nation.com.pk Or Editor Young Nation 4- Shaarey Fatima Jinnah, Lahore.
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the introduction in your magazine. Thanking you in anticipation. Best regards, Uzafir Shah
Dear edi, I study in class 5.I am a student of Divisional Public School. I have created a blog. Here is the address http://uzafirshah. wordpress.com. This is to help the students in their studies. There are past papers and proverbs on it. Please publish
Dear edi, For this week I want to share this concern with my fellows: Talking is a girl’s favourite hobby. But have we ever wondered what petty things we talk about on a daily basis. The answers to this are is many. How many times have we not gossiped or chattered about something idle. And how many of us have not passed a comment about a completely unrelated third person. When we gossip it is bound
to bring errors. Or perhaps unintentionally we bring variations to things which cause rumours to spread and havoc to break. So it is better to refrain from talking about others behind their back because this habit gives rise to backbiting and suspicion. And then it becomes so common that while talking to friends and family we don’t even realise that we are doing it. Back-biting means criticising someone behind their back or discussing things about them that they would not want others to know even if true. So in order to preserve human dignity and respect we should not engage in such a frivolous act. Best wishes, Sara Ambreen
Words of wisdom Education’s purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one. ~Malcolm S. Forbes Malcolm Stevenson Forbes was publisher of Forbes magazine, founded by his father B. C. Forbes and today run by his son Steve Forbes. His interest in publications developed early as he wrote and printed a household newspaper when he was eight years old. At the age of thirteen he obtained his first printing press and by the age of fifteen he had published papers for his household, the scouts, and school. He attended the private schools in Tarrytown, New York, and graduated with honours from Lawrenceville School, in New Jersey, in 1937. He continued his education at Princeton University, where he majored in political science. Young Nation-March 26, 2011
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STAND UP DONT GIVE UP! By Hiba Nehal Stand up warrior, don’t give up, The battle field called life Is waiting for you to return. Despite your bruises and wounds You must continue to fight on. Despite your broken soul, Nobody can hold you Just keep your feet on the ground and stand alone, GOD watching over you, His love unfolds. Shield yourself with faith, hope & love; Even if you fall many times, don’t give up. With your determination to move forward, You may soon realize Trials are a blessing in disguise. In this world, the battlefield called life, To be a warrior is not an easy task. In the face of combat The best guides are faith, hope & love. Stand up warrior, don’t give up! Expect more trials to come, arise! Don’t lose your attention,
be on the right track. Don’t let yourself depart from the path you’re taking, No holding back. Stand up warrior, don’t give up! Pain By Sumaiya Syed There’s bloodshed, there’s pain, There’re cries of fear; The panic, the chaos, The shrieks can you not hear? Gunshots and firing, It’s not something unusual; Seeing happy faces turn into dead bodies, Has become a daily ritual The helpless children are crying, The women screaming; They don’t have any clothes on, And we don’t know that, It’s our family out there that’s freezing. We are perfectly content, Watching a DVD with some popcorns; We can never even imagine, That our dresses can ever be torn. What if the same fate Befalls us; We’re helpless after a sudden earthquake,
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Or injured due to a bomb blast. May Allah save our Pakistan, And give us the honour; To serve our Muslim fellows, Who are our brothers. MY beloved mother By Ayesha J Syed Wish I could have stopped the storm That had come to take you mom Wish I could be wrapped in your arms Your lovely hands would make me calm You never knew I lived for you Now you are gone somewhere new I know your love was more than mine You brought me to the world of sign With all the grievances I stayed upright In my dreams you ablaze my sight O lovely mother o charming queen I want you be back to the seen
Cover Story
Speak well! Cultivating solid communication skills comes very easily to some people. There are those that seem to have an innate ability to effectively articulate their thoughts while also being proficient at listening and comprehending information offered by other people. However, most of us could use help with honing our ability to communicate.
If you want to find some simple ways to enhance your interpersonal communication skills, here are a few steps you can take. The first step in developing or improving communication skills requires that you rethink your perception of what communication is all about. Many people focus on verbalization as the most
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Cover Story
important aspect of the process of communicating. While verbalization is very important to the process, it is not the only essential skill necessary to effectively communicate. There is also the need to hone listening skills and the ability to utilize visual information in processing and responding to information.
Listening is much more than hearing words as they are spoken. The talent of listening requires that the listener focus his or her attention solely on the person speaking. It is important to not only hear the words, but also to the tone, inflection, pace, and emotion that accompanies those words. Doing so allows the listener to gain a greater understanding of the information the speaker is attempting to convey. Most of all, effective listening requires resisting the urge to begin formulating a response while the speaker is still sharing information. Far too many people jump to conclusions about what the speaker is sharing and thus misses key audio cues that are very important. Developing a habit of allow people to complete their remarks before beginning to decide how to respond not only is essential to developing competent communication skills; it is also very important in conveying to the speaker that you genuinely are interested in what he or she has to say. Visual cues are also an important tool when it comes to developing or refining communication skills. Being aware of facial expressions
and body language will help to infuse more meaning into the verbal presentation and often provide important clues as to why the speaker presents a particular thought in a specific way. Look the individual in the eye while he or she is speaking, and also make sure to continue to look directly at the person while you are speaking in return. Visual cues are also an important tool when it comes to developing or refining communication skills. Being aware of facial expressions and body language will help to infuse more meaning into the verbal presentation and often provide important clues as to why the speaker presents a particular thought in a specific way. Look the individual in the eye while he or she is speaking, and also make sure to continue to look directly at the person while you are speaking in return. The second tool to cultivate is known as the clarifying question. Clarifying questions make it possible to revisit any information you are not sure you assimilated correctly. Unlike the perception check where you are simply
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putting the speaker’s words into your own verbiage, clarifying questions make it possible to revisit specific portions of the information and obtain data that may have been implied by the speaker, but was not readily apparent to you. Communication skills work both ways. That means there is the necessity of doing all you can to effectively convey your thoughts and ideas to others in a clear and precise manner. In order to accomplish this, it is important to enunciate clearly, speak in an even and well-paced tones, use body language to help reinforce your verbal presentation, and make frequent eye contact as you speak. One thing to remember is that effective communication skills and techniques improve the more you use them. For this reason, it is a good idea to not see communication skills as tools you only use in the workplace or some other isolated area of your life. Take the chance to use your skills during any interaction with other people. You will soon notice that the effort becomes increasingly easier and that you obtain more satisfaction from your encounters with everyone.
Perfume of life The adventures of Blackjack the dog
By Zabreen Hasan Mom and I were hidden in the trees. Mina and Mehdi’s Mom, that is, but you guys know I call her Mom too. The twins weren’t there, so I knew we were up to something dangerous. I didn’t really know what, though. But when Mom asked me to go with her to the forest that night, of course I went. There was little moonlight among the trees, but what there was glinted off Mom’s camcorder. She was a cetacean biologist,
but she was also a journalist, so I thought she might be investigating something. I was very happy to help her, and I was glad she’d brought me along so I could protect her. The forest was very quiet. Mom was absolutely still, and I tried not to make a noise. Suddenly I heard something. It sounded like a very long, drawn out wail, very, very far off. My ears stood up. I looked around. “Can you hear something, Blackjack?” Mom whispered. I
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wished I could tell her. The wail came again, and this time I could make out what it was saying. “HEEEEEEELP!!!” I growled and started to run, but Mom grabbed my collar and didn’t let me. “Wait!” she whispered. Now I could hear other sounds as well. It sounded as if someone was running in front, and someone else was chasing him. I whined. I wanted to go to the rescue, but Mom wouldn’t let me.
Suddenly, it was as if the rushes and bushes burst apart and some – thing – came through. There was a small clearing in front of us, and into it ran a deer. He wailed and wailed, and behind him came – gasp! – a whole hoard of humans, running after him with – guns! – and a net. I couldn’t take it any more. With a loud snarl I set myself on the humans. I don’t think they knew quite what hit them. It was dark and
they were bent upon catching the deer, and when I started biting their ankles and growling and barking and biting again, they started screaming. I heard Mom call out “Blackjack! Blackjack!” but I was too busy crunching up a poacher’s leg to answer. Then they started shooting. “BLACKJACK!!!” When the guns went off my thoughts turned to Mom. I had to protect her! I pulled my teeth out of the poacher’s terrible tasting dirty leg, and ran to her, barking. Mom and I took off running through the woods. We ran and ran, but the poachers didn’t follow us. They had enough to think about. I think I got all of them. I had bitten them pretty hard, and one of them, I assume the one whose leg I’d chewed up, was still screaming and we could hear him a mile away. I snarled with grim satisfaction. We ran and ran. Mom was exhausted now, and we finally stopped and dropped down on the mossy forest floor. We gasped and gasped, trying to get our breath back. When things got a little quieter, we both heard a strange sound coming from behind a bush. Like somebody crying softly. I got up and slowly nosed around the bush. Somebody shrank back. It was the deer! “It’s okay,” I said. “Don’t be scared, we won’t hurt you.” The deer poked his nose out of the bush. “You’re the guy who saved me,” he said. “Thank you, oh, thank you so much!” I cleared my throat in embarrassment. “Oh,” I said, “Don’t mention it…” Suddenly he saw Mom and gave a cry. “Oh, don’t be scared,” I said
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hastily. “That’s Mom, and she’s one of the good ones. She made a movie of the poachers, and now she has the proof to get them into jail. Er… why were they chasing you?” I knew they were doing the wrong thing, but I didn’t know why. The deer seemed very sad. “I have a musk gland,” he said. “They catch me, kill us and use the musk to make perfume.” I was totally horrified. I stood looking at him dumbly. Then he seemed to cheer up. “But you saved me, and those awful people will go to jail. That makes me very happy! My name is Mush, by the way.” “Blackjack,” I said. “Well, Blackjack,” said Mush. “I should be going now. My home’s not far from here. Thanks again!” We watched Mush disappear into the forest, then got up and started walking to the car.
Musk deer facts • Musk deer live high up in mountains; • They are usually nocturnal – they sleep in the daytime and are active at night; • Their hind legs are longer than their front ones, so that they can jump easily; • They eat grass, leaves, mosses and shoots.
‘Want to learn more? Check out http:// www.wwfpak.com or become a fan of WWF - Pakistan on Facebook at http:// www.facebook.com/WWFPak’.
My Adventure Itt was wass a d dark arkk sn ar snowy night. T Th The he brigh he bright ght mo moon on iill illuminated llu umin i at in a ed making the co th ccobwebs bweb bs m aki king ng g them shimmer. It was quiet, in fact, it was eerie. I could bear it no longer. I had to do something. As quick as a flash I had jumped out of bed. Put my slippers, dressing gown, socks and a teddy bear in a bag
along with my pyjamas and then I got changed. I put the bag on my back and crept quietly downstairs. I picked a bar of Galaxy chocolate, crunchy apple and some dried fruit. At last I began my adventure. I opened the back door and stepped out into the cold night air. By the time I had started walking it was snowing. I tasted the gentle but cold
snowflakes landing softly on my lips and nose. The trees were silhouetted spookily across the ground. I walked out of the garden and shut the gate behind me with a small click. It was just a beautiful sight. The snow was all over the village. It
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STORYTIME By Iman Ahmed
was fun walking all alone. The snow made wonderful crunching noise when stepped on it. But just then the snowy trees made a different noise a sort of “swish swish”. The icicles made it very peculiar. I said it loud to myself. “I wonder what is
happening p to me.” As if in reply, all the icicles flew repl around me and formed arou wings and it was just then win most wonderful feeling mos mo soaring through the air at so soa oar ttop to p speed. I was so busy flying in ng that I didn’t notice that the snowy the was changing. llandscape d The buildings were getting whiter, in fact everything was getting whiter. It was a cold wintery wonderland!!! My wings murmured “It is the land of snow.” “Whoa” I said. It was awesome. The houses looked sooo sweet and they were decorated with tiny
pieces of ice carved into jewel like shapes. “So, do people lived in these houses?” “Of course!” muttered my wings. “What kinds of people?” I asked. “Snowmen” whispered the fluttering wings on my back. At last I landed: with a bit of a bump too. I picked myself up and began walking steadily towards one of the houses and picked up the carved ice door-knocker and gently knocked on the cold, hard door. Slowly the door opened and a snowy person came out. “Hello” said the snow person dreamily.
“Hi!” I said. “What’s your name?” said the snow person. “My name is Summer” I said. “What is your name” I asked the snow person. “My name is Frost” she replied. “Do you want to come and play outside?” I asked. “Oh yes please” replied Frost eagerly. So out we went!!! “Here is the Ice Lolly tree”. “The Ice Lolly tree?” “Yes” said Frost “it gives you any flavoured ice lollies you want. When we had finished our ice lollies we had a snow ball fight! “Catch me if you can” Frost chanted. After that Frost and I went to her house.
Inside it was adorable and I enjoyed every minute of it. That night I slept on Frost’s bed. Then we went outside to build snow castle. It was such fun! Soon it got dark and I grew tired. But tonight was different. I went to bed but I couldn’t get comfortable. There was a noise that brought fear to my heart; A drumming noise that came from the ceiling... I woke Frost and we both grabbed our bags and tiptoed out of the house. Frost grabbed hold of my waist. I started to fly. It was
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seemingly impossible to fly with Frost holding onto my waist. It was bitterly cold and I was extremely tired. I could barely see. Frost’s weight was holding me down. I had to go on. But just then, a miracle happened; Frost sprouted wings too! “Frost, fly!” I shouted. We both flew through the misty sky. I began to wish that I could land. We flew, and flew. Frost and I held each other’s hands. Frost said to me “Here take this, it’s a gift from me” I opened the little box and inside was the most beautiful little glass snowflake model ever! “Thank you soooo much Frost,
and carefully I put it in my bag. Suddenly I heard a powerful applause of thunder echoing around me and a knife of lightning seemed to slice the sky in half. My wings disappeared and I started falling. Falling at a tremendous rate.... THUD!!! I woke up in my bed “It was a dream” I told myself firmly. But then I realised something. In my hand , I still had the glass snowflake. It must have been real.....
Red and pink hearts are very attractive to see, but you know strawberry is one of the original red heart shape fruit in world. This sweet and sour fruit has its unique taste. Children get sprightly about strawberry. In spring there comes variety of fruits, and strawberry is one of the popular fruits of colourful spring. Strawberry has very refreshing sight; this heart shape fruit has its own specific popularity. It has very popular red colour, the king of colours. Strawberry has seeds on his juicy and fleshy body. When you blend strawberry with cream, there comes the ice-cream of pink
colour, and then clock numbers will turns into strawberries for kids. Strawberries tattos also look very beautiful children love to draw on skin. The fields of strawberry fruits are also very attractive, imagine how the combination of green plant and red fruit bloom, definitely it looks so beautiful. Some people think that strawberry fruit has tree but it grows on plant. Strawberry plant can also grow in pot that is awesome, having beautiful plant in your backyard. Strawberry jam is also very popular in kids and there
SEASON GUIDE By Sumera By Su Sum S um u mera Khaliq q
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is no comparison of McDonalds strawberry shake, yummy and healthy to drink. Strawberries and chocolates are best combination in deserts. Best way to eat strawberry by dipping it in chocolate syrup, it definitely brings water in your mouth. Strawberry cakes are also not easy to ignore. Strawberry stuff toys nab kids’ eyes, having them in your room; will take you on untold fantasy. There are also strawberry key chains and utensils in market, which people buy sprightly. Due its popularity strawberry use in many eatables. Strawberry is source of vitamin A, B and C and it has an enzyme which whitens teeth. So get your stakes on and enjoy this summer nutritious and yummy strawberry.
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Sana Naz
Zairab Rehman Flower Zaheer Bajwa
Artist’s Corner
Khawar Iqbal Anas Bin Ishaq
NOTE: Kindly send
us your drawings on white paper.
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