[30] ข่าวการเรียน

Christmas in the comics

• Published: 25/12/2010 at 01:40 AM
• Online news: Easier Stuff

For the past several weeks, Christmas has been a regular topic in the Bangkok post’s comics section. Here are some amusing examples.

Click button to listen to Christmas and rightclick to download
Many families, including my own, send Christmas cards to many different people, wishing them happy holidays and often bringing them up-to-date about what has happened within their families during the past year.

It is a big job and many people mail their cards a bit late, but not Brutus Thornapple (below). He seems quite proud of himself until his wife brings up the subject of stamps. Now you can understand why Brutus is known as the “Born Loser”. He can’t seem to do anything right.

Another tradition in many families is the baking of delicious Christmas cookies. As all the neighbourhood kids know, Blondie is an expert. The only problem is that her husband, Dagwood, is likely to eat every cookie he can get his hands on. How do they solve the problem?

Gift-giving is a common topic in comics around Christmas time. It is very difficult for some people to choose the right gift for people who are important to them. Jon is hopeless when it comes to buying a gift for his girlfriend Liz.

Several days later, Jon still has no idea what to buy.

Charlie Brown has no difficulty in figuring out what to buy for the girl his likes. His problem is that he didn’t have the $25 dollars that it cost to buy the beautiful pair of gloves he knew she would like. He finally decided to sell all the comic books he had every collected and he bought the gloves. Was his gift a success?

For Santa Claus, choosing the right gift is not a problem. He and his elves make all the gifts they deliver. They only deliver to people have been good throughout the year, however, and this is definitely a problem for someone like the King of Id. What does he think he can to do to get presents from Santa? Do you think his plan will work?

When you think about it Santa Claus is an amazing person, delivering presents to children around the world in only 24 hours. That seems completely impossible – something that children can believe in but it not adults.  In the comic strip Monty, the Cyborg living with Monty has just thought about the problem. Does it cause him to believe there is no Santa Claus?

Finally, the Cyborg solves the mystery of Santa Claus – or at least he thinks he has solved it.

To read more of these comics, you can pick up the Bangkok Post each day. Each comic strip also has a website.

Monty: http://bit.ly/arietv
Blondie: http://bit.ly/hh84tq
Wizard of Id: http://bit.ly/f5MYbn
Garfield: http://bit.ly/VwjQg
Peanuts: http://bit.ly/1jfmyo
amusing – funny or entertaining ขบขัน
address – to write an house or building address on a package or letter เขียนชื่อที่อยู่
fortune – a large amount of money เงินมากมาย
tradition – a very old custom, belief, or story ประเพณี, ขนบธรรมเนียม
neighbourhood – a particular area of a city or town ละแวก, ย่าน
expert – someone who has a particular skill or who knows a lot about a particular subject ผู้เชี่ยวชาญ
hopeless – very bad (at something); with no ability or skill ซึ่งไร้ความสามารถ
doomed - certain to fail, die or be destroyed ซึ่งถูกกำหนดไว้ว่าจะเกิดเรื่องไม่ดี
funny – strange   แปลก
figure out –  to be able to understand something or to solve a problem คิดออก
glove – a piece of clothing that covers your fingers and hands ถุงมือ
collection – a group of objects, often of the same sort, that have been collected (gathered together over period of time) การสะสม การเก็บรวบรวม
gift – something that you give to someone as a present ของขวัญ
elf (plural elves) – a small imaginary person with magic powers  เทพยดา
bribe – to give money or presents to someone so that they will help you by doing something dishonest or illegal ติดสินบน
present – something you give someone as a gift ของขวัญ
adult – a fully grown person who is legally responsible for their actions  ผู้ใหญ่
cyborg – a creature that is part human, part machine หุ่นยนต์
gullible – a gullible person is easy to trick because they trust and believe people too easily โดนหลอกง่าย
calculation – the act or process of using numbers to find out an amount  การคาดการณ์
assume – to accept something to be true without question or proof ทึกทักเอา, คิดว่าเป็นจริง,
naughty – behaving badly; not willing to obey ซุกซน
aviation - science of flying aircraft ศิลปและศาสตร์ในการบิน
destination – the place where someone or something is going  จุดหมายปลายทาง
rotate – moving in a circle around a fixed central point, or to move something in this way การหมุน
lie – to say or write something that you know is not true โกหก, พูดเท็จ
humanoid – a machine or creature that looks and behaves like a human
alien – a creature from another world คนต่างด้าว
cloak – to cover or hide something  ปกคลุม,ปิดบัง
implantation – putting something (usually something artificial) into a part of the body for medical purposes, usually by means of an operation การปลูกฝัง, การสอด, การใส่
mystery – a quality that makes someone or something difficult to explain, understand, or get information about, especially when it also makes them seem interesting or exciting สิ่งที่ไม่สามารถอธิบายได้, ความแปลกประหลาด
task – something that you have to do หน้าที่; ภารกิจ
suspect – to believe that something is true,  สงสัย
alter – to change เปลี่ยนแปลง
exploit – to use for your own benefit หาประโยชน์จาก
temporal – connected with or limited by time (เกี่ยวกับ) เวลา
fluctuation – changing frequently in size, amount, quality, etc, especially from one extreme to another ความผันผวน, การผันแปร
evidence – facts statements or objects that help to prove something หลักฐาน
indicate – to show that something is true, exists or will happen แสดง, ทำให้รู้
quantum – a very small quantity of electromagnetic energy หน่วยของพลังงานรังสี
replication – producing exact copies of itself การทำสำเนา
simultaneous – happening at the same time ในเวลาเดียวกัน,ที่พร้อมกัน
real time – actual time; dealing with information as soon as it is received  ตามเวลาจริง