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MATH IS LIKE... Math is like -- giving blood; it hurts at first then you just get queasy. -- doing dishes; you know you have to do it, but you don't want to. -- a sport; you play the game right and you win, you play it wrong and you lose. -- housework; you don't have to do it, but if you don't, you have to pay the consequences. -- a dog; since usually it is alright, but sometimes it is bad. -- a fondue pot; you know you need it for something, but you don't know why. -- flying a kite; sometimes the wind is there, sometimes it is not. -- an unread book; you don't know what you are getting into. -- climbing a mountain; you need to take one step at a time, if you want to reach the top. [Source: letter from Sally Petrakis, MATHEMATICS TEACHER, Dec. 1993, p. 778.]A RAT IN THE HOUSE Here's an interesting little item from another math magazine. Read this sentence carefully. A rat in the house might eat the ice cream. Now look at the first letter of each word. What do they spell? Right, "Arithmetic". Do you think you could do something similar? Well, WTM did. Here are some examples. The rats in any nobleman's garage live elegantly. Spitting quickly usually annoys rich Englishmen. Most all the heavy elephants master all the interesting concepts swiftly. Now it's your turn. MATCH-UP MATH Below are three columns of syllables that can be used to form words taken from a math book. Each word contains three syllables, so as you form words choose one part of it from each column.
| A | B | C | |
| 1. | al | mu | us |
| 2. | pol | a | try |
| 3. | cal | me | tor |
| 4. | so | por | ent |
| 5. | tra | trac | tion |
| 6. | ra | sti | late |
| 7. | com | gru | tute |
| 8. | con | pos | la |
| 9. | con | mer | zoid |
| 10. | nu | ver | sion |
| 11. | sym | cu | tion |
| 12. | for | ti | tive |
| 13. | neg | y | al |
| 14. | sub | di | ite |
| 15. | pro | pe | tude |
| 16. | pro | lu | gon |
The SPELLING TEST One day a math teacher had prepared a spelling test of math words for his students. As he came to school that morning, the list of words fell out of his pocket and into a puddle of water. He picked up the paper and was astonished by a most strange phenomenon: all the consonants had vanished; only the vowels remained on the paper. Here is what he saw: 1. _ _ A _ _ I O _ 2. A _ _ I _ I O _ 3. _ O _ _ E _ 4. E _ U A _ _ 5. _ I _ U _ 6. _ U _ _ _ A _ _ 7. _ I _ I _ E 8. _ U _ _ I _ _ Y 9. _ _ U A _ E 10. _ _ I A _ _ _ E 11. _ E _ I _ E _ E _ 12. _ E _ _ A _ _ _ E 13. _ E _ _ A _ O _ 14. _ U _ 15. _ _ O _ U _ _ 16. _ A _ _ O _ 17. _ U _ _ _ E _ 18. _ U O _ I E _ _ 19. _ _ I _ E 20. A _ I _ _ _ E _ I _ 21. _ _ _ E E 22. _ _ O The poor professor thought his test was washed out. Can you help him reconstruct his word list? All words are simple and common math vocabulary. [When you finish, or give up, the answers can found here.]MATH ADVICE FOR LIFE
your happiness with someone else and you'll find it multiplies. |
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