Saturday 14 January 2017

Fun with English - Windmill



Fun with English - Windmill

I just passed by a shopping mall in the afternoon. And, I went inside and saw a 'windmill'. LOL

Oh yes, I have a question for you. Do you know what is the early history of windmills? Or which country was the first to use windmills?

Netherlands? No no no… Check out the link below to find out the answer.

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https://www.reference.com/history/early-history-windmills-c39908d5a6587e64?qo=contentSimilarQuestions

Do you know what is the early history of windmills?

ANS:

Some historians believe that vertical-axis windmills were first constructed in Persia between A.D. 500 and 900 to assist in the tasks of grinding grain and pumping water. There are other accounts that vertical-axis windmills were first invented in China, however the first documentation of windmills in China was not until 1219.

The first windmills in Western Europe, which were built around 1270, had a horizontal-axis configuration. Around 1390, the Dutch began constructing tower mills, which were multi-floor towers with a post mill that had different floors whose purpose was to grind grain, remove chaff, store grain and serve as a residence for a family.

Over the years, windmill sails have been engineered to generate more aerodynamic lift, improving rotor efficiency and speed and resulting in better pumping and grinding action. With improvements to sails in Europe, windmills had many additional diverse functions including irrigation, drainage, sawmilling of wood and storing commodities.

With the advent of steam engines, the use of large tower mills began to decline in Europe in the 19th century. Around this time in the United States, the Holladay windmill was invented in 1854, which perfected mechanical water pumping systems that are still in use as of 2015.

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Vocabularies

Grind
Word form: Verb
Meaning: To break something into very small pieces by using a machine.
http://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/grind_1

Grain
Word form: Noun
Meaning: The seeds from crops such as wheat, rice and so on.

Chaff
Word form: Noun
Meaning: The outer part of wheat and other grains that is removed before the grains are used.

Aerodynamic
Word form: Adjective
Meaning: An aerodynamic shape or design allows a plane, car etc to move through the air in a smooth and fast way.

Windmill sails

Rotor
Word form: Noun
Meaning: One of the long flat pieces of metal on top of a helicopter that turn around to lift it off the ground.

Diverse
Word form: Adjective
Meaning: Different from each other.

Advent
Word form: Noun
Meaning: An invention being made.


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