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September 12, 2015
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| All applicants, 10 of them, from their 20s to 50s, men and women, from all over the world, were on a ship. One by one they got off. He got off at the fifth stop onto a small island, which was identical to the other islands that he had seen so far. He shook hands with the remaining competitors wishing each other good luck. This 'game' was sponsored by a major software company. The president was an eccentric person, and one day when he was watching the movie 'Castaway' with Tom Hanks, he got this idea. He bought a dozen similar islands, in size, height, and most importantly, no animals including human beings, from one of the nations in the tropical islands. Then, he gathered the contestants through a website. It was sensational. The winner could win a large sum of money. Soon 10 applicants gathered. When he, in his 40s, watched this competition's advertisement on the web, his heart began to pound. This was the thing that he was dreaming about. The applicants could choose any 5 items under a certain budget except electrical
But he didn't. Instead he chose goggles, a tooth brush, a pictorial plant dictionary, a pan, and peppermint seeds. The land was about one thousand square meters. There were no animals but one palm tree and a lot of kinds of plants. He looked around (it only took a few minutes) and started to gather dried leaves, weeds and other debris. He found a strong vine and a flexible branch and made a bow. Using a stick, he put some dried things in a shell, and he started to make a fire. It wasn't difficult at all. He prepared well. Then he scooped sea water with a pan. Soon, it boiled. He put some reeds in it and after a while he took it and made fibers. After they dried, he twined them and made strings. He gathered the bones of fish and some stones. He broke some stones together and repeated it. Accidentally, a sharp edged stone appeared. Using it he curved the bones to a point. Using the sharpened bones and the string that he made, he started to weave leaves. After a while he made a sheet of leaves, and put it over the boiling water that he started in order to create steam so he could gather for fresh water. He made a fishing spear from a stick, some string and a sharpened stone, and went into the sea wearing the goggles. Soon he got a big sized fish. He could make another needle using the bones of this fish, and even some hooks. He smiled. He cultivated the land using the sharpened stone. He planted the peppermint seeds. He knew that the plant was needed for his health. People can't live only with fish. He read so. Using the botanical book, he started to search for plants. If he got some edible plants, he could use them. If not, he had to wait until the peppermint grew. A month passed. 8 people already gave up. When they gave up, they first let them know how many applicants were remaining. Until then, they hadn't had any information from the outside. (No electrical appliances could be chosen as one of the 5 goods.) They said they felt completely alone and it was harder than they had expected. This year's weather was different from the others. There were more than 10 days with no rain. It made applicants more difficult to live. Two remained including him. One female professor took a drastic method. She was a professor of nutrition and Yoga. She chose 4 bottle of water (40 litters) and 1 food item. She chose the most comfortable place, under the palm tree. She did meditation all through the day and she used as little energy as possible. During her time, 2 palm nuts dropped and gave her enough food to prolong her stay. But eventually, she gave up. Although, he remained alone, he didn't know it. The company reported the scenes of his life regularly using video from a satellite, and it increased the number of visitors viewing the website. But, it backfired. Some of the viewers accused the company of cutting down an uncountable amount of palm trees, leaving only one on each island in order to make the same conditions on each island. The citizens of the country which originally possessed the islands started to boycott the company's goods and it spread immediately. In the end, the company went bankrupt. After the bankruptcy, a human rights NPO went to the island to rescue him. He smiled and said he wanted to live for some more years. The NPO's worker was amazed and handed him an emergency kit and left. Even now he was living on the island. |
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*identical :exactly the same (C)
*botanicy :the scientific study of plants (L)
*reed :a tall, stiff plant like grass that grows near water (C)
*twine :to twist two or more threads or strings to make strong string
*weave :to make cloth, a basket etc by crossing threads or thin pieces under and over each other
*spear :a long weapon with a sharp point at one end used for hunting (C)