.............They're hence raised in greenhouses where the air is moist. After they're purchased, they move to the relative desert-like atmosphere of the home or office. Some can adapt to the drier climate, hut most would benefit from some extra humidity. Thus, at home, you should place plants in the kitchen or bathroom, where the humidity is normally higher. Grouping plants is also a way to help them grab extra humidity from the air.  

There are many past activities that we are about to forget. One of them is, unfortunately, home baking. Making fresh bread is a simple yet rewarding and relaxing undertaking, so it is tragic that modem demands on people’s time leave little opportunity to enjoy making bread at home...............Should such a trend not gain in popularity, bread making in the home will remain yet another casualty of modernism.          

Since the time of the Gold Rush in 1849, California has had a reputation for attracting ambitious, strange, eccentric and absolutely crazy people. The myth was revived in the 1960s when California became a centre of counter-culture.............One of the stories, though not the most logical, states that all unhappy people end up going to the West because they think life will be better and happier there.          

Because they harbour great concentrations of biodiversity, coral reefs have been called the rain forests of the sea. Hundreds of species of corals and fishes are found on a single reef. ..............Ironically, however, reefs have been far less studied than tropical rainforests until recently. To draw the world's attention to the importance of coral reefs, governments, organisations and individuals have begun working with determination and enthusiasm. They even managed to declare 1997 as the International Year of the Reef.  

By the time we reached Calcutta, it seemed that fame of our astonishing bird Charlie, a talking cockatoo, had spread ahead of us, A multitude of magnificently turbaned Sikhs were on the public square awaiting the awesome appearance of the babbling bird. Charlie performed true to form. He bowed to greet his spectators...............Charlie laughed the loudest and his new followers pressed their palms together in the traditional sign of respect.            

Even though billions of dollars are dedicated to research on how to solve cosmetic problems such as baldness or cellulite, there are still deadly diseases in need of vaccine. Malaria is a prime example............Yet private drug companies, busy with water-resistant mascaras or fat reduction creams, have shown little interest in developing a malarial vaccine.          

.............This is the time when untested ropes part, and poorly tied knots come undone or jam tight. In the last minute rush of loading for sea, hours are wasted searching for items that have been buried. So it was with us, but as we picked up the northeast monsoon winds, the chaos gradually subsided, and life aboard took on a certain rhythm.      

The number of people living on the Earth has doubled five times during modem times. Despite this growth in world population over the past two hundred years, food production has managed to keep pace somehow.................While one group says production rate can adapt itself to the population growth, the other claims it is impossible to feed an enormous population with limited natural sources.              

Once upon a time, there was a lazy shepherd who loved to indulge in fantasies rather than looking after his herd. Laying on his back, the young shepherd daydreamed of far-away lands as he gazed at the passing clouds. He loved to take these little mental journeys.................Awakening with a sparrow that perched on his forehead, he leapt to his feet to see that his flock had wandered far and wide.            

The average adult normally takes about 16 breaths per minute when awake and about six to eight per minute when asleep. Under stress that rate may increase to about 100 per minute. Although the total air capacity in a person's lungs is roughly 300 cubic inches, the volume of air in a normal breath averages only about 30 cubic inches...............Even after the most vigorous expiration, they still contain about 60 cubic inches of air.