• Jem waved my word away as if fanning gnats
  gnat-any of various small biting flies: midges; biting midges; black flies; sand flies
  eg:He’s very slow at this work because he’s always straining at a gnat.
• Jen’s question was an appeal.
  appeal-a request for relief, aid, etc
  eg:Make an appeal to my mother.
• The second grade was grim.
  grim-stern; resolute,harsh or formidable in manner or appearance
  eg:I’ve had a grim day.
• Jem and I were trotting in our orbit one mild October afternoon when our knot-hole stopped us again.
  orbit-a range or field of action or influence; sphere
  eg:To move in an orbit.
• Mr Radley,ah-did you put cement in that hole in that tree down yonder.
  yonder-being at a distance, either within view or as if within view
  eg:He has walked to yonder hill.
• You reckon it’s white gold,Jem?
  reckon-to calculate or ascertain by calculating; compute
  eg:Do you still reckon him among your friends ?
• Jem no longer felt the necessity of ascertaining the hour every five minutes.
  ascertain-to determine or discover definitely,to make certain.
  eg:I am going to ascertain the truth.
• He had been on the verge of telling me something all evening.
  certain-positive and confident about the truth of something; convinced
  eg:She is on the verge of 90.
• That-chewing gum cleaved to her palate and rendered her speechless.
  render-to present or submit (accounts, etc) for payment, approval, or action,to give or provide.
  eg:You have rendered great service.

•  For reason unfathomable to the most experienced prophets in Maycomb County.
  unfathomable-incapable of being fathomed; immeasurable,incomprehensible
  eg:No more can I look into the depths of this unfathomable water.
• For reason unfathomable to the most experienced prophets in Maycomb County.
  prophet-a person who predicts the future,a spokesman for a movement, doctrine, etc
  eg:She is a prophet.
• Jem and I were burdened with the guilt of contributing to the aberration of nature.
  aberration-deviation from what is normal, expected, or usualdeparture from truth, morality, etc
  eg:he’s behaviour is aberration.
• but her death caused hardly a ripple-the neighbourhood seldom saw her.
  ripple-a slight wave or undulation on the surface of water,a small wave or undulation in fabric, hair, etc
  eg:There were ripples on the pool as the wind grew stronger.
• Atticus looked sternly around his newpaper at me:’I did not’.
  stern-showing uncompromising or inflexible resolve; firm, strict, or authoritarian,relentless; unyielding
  eg:my mother is a stern teacher .
• Jem restrain me from further questions.
  restrain-to hold (someone) back from some action, esp by force,to limit or restrict
  eg:restrain myself when i was cring.
• Jem had a notion that Atticus thought our activities that night last summer were not solely confined to strip poker.
  solely-only; completely; entirely,for one thing only.
  eg:He is solely responsible this cless.
• Jem had a notion that Atticus thought our activities that night last summer were not solely confined to strip poker.
  strip-to take or pull (the covering, clothes, etc) off (oneself, another person, or thing)
  egh:he Strips to the waist.
• He said it was merely a twitch.
  twitch-to move or cause to move in a jerky spasmodic way,to hurt with a sharp spasmodic pain.
  eg:I felt someone twitch at my coat.
• Wedding invitation ,setting off the fire siren.
  invitation-the act of enticing or attracting;
  eg:I accept  an invitation.
• setting off the fire siren.
  siren-a device for emitting a loud wailing sound, esp as a warning or signal, typically consisting of a rotating perforated metal drum through which air or steam is passed under pressure
  eg:The siren wailed and woke everyone.
• When Atticus finally called us to order and bade us look at our plates instead of out the windows.
  bade-past tense of bid
  eg:She bade him come.
• ‘I haven’t the slightest idea’
  slightest-(usually follows `the’) most meager; “didn’t have the slightest chance”
  eg:I haven’t the slightest idea .
• Jem said if we waited until it snowed some more we could scrape it all up for a snowman.
  scrape-to move (a rough or sharp object) across (a surface), esp to smooth or clean,to move (a rough or sharp object) across (a surface), esp to smooth or clean
  eg:He scraped the side of his car.
• ‘Beautiful my hind foot!’
  hind-(esp of parts of the body) situated at the back or rear.
  eg:He’s being hind William.

2.Estimate-approximate

3.Consider-think about

4.Meditative-think deeply

5.Beneath-under

6.Declare-announce

7.Cement-concrete

8.Yonder-yon

9.Unfathomable-abstruse

10.Perpetual-permanent

11.Tarnish-stain,maculate

12.Burden-an onerous or difficult concern

13.Guilt-the state of having committed an offense

14.Aberration-a state or condition markedly different from the norm

15.Thereby-by that means or because of that

16.Ripple-a small wave on the surface of a liquid

17.Cannas-any plant of the genus Canna having large sheathing leaves and clusters of large showy flowers

18.Reckon-expect, believe, or suppose

19.Meteorological-of or pertaining to atmospheric phenomena, especially weather and weather conditions

20.Porch-a structure attached to the exterior of a building often forming a covered entrance

21.Grunt-a structure attached to the exterior of a building often forming a covered entrance

22.Hoe-a tool with a flat blade attached at right angles to a long handle

23.Squint-abnormal alignment of one or both eyes

24.Apron-a garment of cloth or leather or plastic that is tied about the waist and worn to protect your clothing

25.Accomplishment-the action of accomplishing something

26.Triumphant-joyful and proud especially because of triumph or success

27.Caricature-a representation of a person that is exaggerated for comic effect

I think indiviually,our group do this propaganda a little quickly,and made out project a little unclearly.I think we need to improve many things.We need to practise more and work hard.We should pay more attention on this.

Though i do not know clearly,I still learnt something from this.The British was very overconfident, so they are careless,this make the Japanese could win.They did the propaganda to make the Singaporean to trust them that they can do everything better than the British. During this period of time,I also learnt many skills.

I hope we can do well next time!

•  Singapore, an island at the southern end of the Malay Peninsula, was considered a vital part of the British Empire and supposedly impregnable as a fortress. The British saw it as the “Gibraltar in the Far East”.
• The surrender of Singapore demonstrated to the world that the Japanese Army was a force to be reckoned with though the defeat also ushered in three years of appalling treatment for the Commonwealth POW’s who were caught in Singapore.
• the British military command in Singapore was confident that the power they could call on there would make any Japanese attack useless. One story told about the attitude of the British Army in Singapore was of a young Army officer complaining that the newly completed defences in Singapore might put off the Japanese from landing there.

Why the Japanese could not prevent in time?

• British troops stationed in Singapore were also told that the Japanese troops were poor fighters; alright against soldiers in China who were poor fighters themselves, but of little use against the might of the British Army.
• The Japanese onslaught through the Malay Peninsula took everybody by surprise. Speed was of the essence for the Japanese, never allowing the British forces time to re-group. This was the first time British forces had come up against a full-scale attack by the Japanese.
•  thoughts of the Japanese fighting a conventional form of war were soon shattered. The British had confidently predicted that the Japanese would attack from the sea. This explained why all the defences on Singapore pointed out to sea.
• inconceivable to British military planners that the island could be attacked any other way – least of all, through the jungle and mangrove swamps of the Malay Peninsula. But this was exactly the route the Japanese took.

The Japanese arrived

• hope of aerial support for the army was destroyed before the actual attack on Singapore had actually begun.
• Britain’s naval presence at Singapore was strong. A squadron of warships was stationed there lead by the modern battleship “Prince of Wales” and the battle cruiser “Repulse”.
• On December 8th 1941, both put out to sea and headed north up the Malay coast to where the Japanese were landing.
• On December 10th, both ships were sunk by repeated attacks from Japanese torpedo bombers.
• The RAF could offer the ships no protection as their planes had already been destroyed by the Japanese. The loss of both ships had a devastating impact on morale in Britain.

During the war, millitary

•  The army in the area was led by Lieutenant General Arthur Percival. He had 90,000 men there – British, Indian and Australian troops.
• The Japanese advanced with 65,000 men lead by General Tomoyuki Yamashita. Many of the Japanese troops had fought in the Manchurian/Chinese campaign and were battle-hardened. Many of Percival’s 90,000 men had never seen combat.

During the attack

• On February 8th, 1942, the Japanese attacked across the Johor Strait. Many Allied soldiers were simply too far away to influence the outcome of the battle. On February 8th, 23,000 Japanese soldiers attacked Singapore.
  • They advanced with speed and ferocity. At the Alexandra Military Hospital, Japanese soldiers murdered the patients they found there. Percival kept many men away from the Japanese attack fearing that more Japanese would attack along the 70 mile coastline. He has been blamed for failing to back up those troops caught up directly with the fighting but it is now generally accepted that this would not have changed the final outcome but it may only have prolonged the fighting.
• The Japanese took 100,000 men prisoner in Singapore. Many had just arrived and had not fired a bullet in anger. 9,000 of these men died building the Burma-Thailand railway. The people of Singapore fared worse. Many were of Chinese origin and were slaughtered by the Japanese. After the war, Japan admitted that 5000 had been murdered, but the Chinese population in Singapore put the figure at nearer 50,000. With the evidence of what the Japanese could do to a captured civilian population (as seen at Nanking), 5000 is likely to be an underestimate.

Researched by : Feng Yi

organised and summarised by Hui Yu

Anyone in the group  Find the exact question and post on blog or reply to my comment.

Jie Cheng  Read the history book and post pages related/relevent to topic.

Eric Search for website relevent to our topic and post it on the blog.

Hui yu Check and comment on the summary the members has posted. For this week(20-25 of feb), hui yu will be the one putting all our research together.

Min Wen Check and comment on the summary the members has posted.

Joranna Check roles of member + researching.

Feng Yi Try to search for related information on topic and not copy and paste. (eg. toontoo or mindmapping form.)

Nissa Take down what MsLee said about what should we do about this project and other things related to our project work and post on blog.

For both researches, come out with 6 question for us to research on. 3 question per researcher.

 Research to be posted like what Ms Lee wanted.