Assignments 9 - New Year Reflection & Hope

Time goes by fast and there will come the new year! Recalling the past year, something looks better, but still something doesn’t satisfy me. In this semester, I quit the club, and take less courses than last semester. It seems that I may have more time. But I go to the cram school for the graduate school and start to have a monograph about photoelectric devices.

The most interesting thing is that our laboratory is in Academia Sinica rather than our school. It takes a long time whenever I went there because Academia Sinica is so far in Nangang. However, there are many very expensive and precision instruments, I learn a lot there.

The poor time management is always the thing that bothers me. Whenever I decide to do my homework, there’s a demon saying” Ten more minutes, just ten minutes, you need to relax.” Then I will relax for about two hours……. I have wished that I could have good time management for years, and this year is no exception. I wish I could manage my time well in the coming new year!

In this year, I 've found a lot of things I should learn and want to learn. I will work harder to make everything better!

Hope you all have a happy New Year!

Assignment 8 - ESL Podcast 528 – Negotiating Salary

NOTE:

be delighted to : very happy, pleased

If you are delighted to hear the news means you are happy to hear that.

salary v.s. wage :

Salary is the mount of money you are paid in a year regardless how many hours you work.

Wage is usually paid by hours.

Professional jobs always paid by salary, but wage is paid for those jobs which don't require the specific skills as professional jobs.

compensation package :

combination of all the things that you get in exchanging for working st your job, like health insurance, vacation days, retire money, etc..

to jump at :

to decide to do something immediately without thinking before making decision because it is so good

to close the gap means to compromise

to reduce demands in order to reach an agreement with someone

Well, $60,000 is really the ceiling for that position.

in this sentence ceiling not means the top inside surface of a room, it means the upper limit

reflection

ESL Podcast is a nice English teaching tool.

He play the conversation with a slower speed at first.

Then he has us a detailed explanation with the same slow speed.

Finally, he replay the conversation again with the normal speed.

His explanation is in great detail so it's hard to not understand his conversation.

Assignments 7 - Steve Jobs' speech

(a)
commencement:
a ceremony at which students receive their academic degrees
tuition:
the money paid for this type of teaching
e.g.Few can afford the tuition of $12 000 a term.
subtle:
small but important
e.g.There is a subtle difference between these two plans.
renaissance:
a new growth of activity or interest in something, especially art, literature or music
e.g.Opera in Britain is enjoying a long-awaited renaissance.
diagnose:
to recognize and name the exact character of a disease or a problem, by examining it
e.g.The electrician has diagnosed a fault in the wiring.
dogma:
a fixed, especially religious, belief or set of beliefs that people are expected to accept without any doubts
polaroid cameras :
拍立得相機
farewell:
the money pwhen someone says goodbye
e.g.We said our sad farewells and got on the bus.
not scruple to do sth:
to not care that something you do is morally wrong or likely to have bad results


(b)
Jobs told us three stories in his speech. The first one is about that he did not scruple to drop out college for finding what he loved. The second is that even though he got very frustrated he still insisted in what he loved. The final one is telling us that everything is secondary, what you have to do is just have the courage and follow your heart and intuition.

In our society, it is almost impossible to do as what he said. There is a quote from Jean Jacques Rousseau, "Man is born free, but everywhere he is in chains." We are expected to do too many "right" things. Our voice in our soul is drawn out, we can't help but to follow the dogma.

Jobs told us to have the courage to find what we want and insist on it. I think it's true but it's not easy to do so. There are two problems: It's hard to find what we truly want. If you really find it, but it's not the "correct" thing the society admit, it's will very difficult to keep on. Jobs did not only have the courage to follow his heart but also the determination.

Making the conclusion, find what we "truly" want is important, not like I like to sleep or I love to hanging out and have a chat. And after figure out we truly want, we should spare no effort to do it.

Assignments 6 - Randall's Cyber Listening Lab

Title: Baking Cookies
Level: medium
Topic: baking
Type: cooking show
Speakers: man - young woma
Length: 02:31

1.humble : (1)not proud or not believing that you are important

He's very humble about his success.

(2)poor or of a low social rank

Even when she became rich and famous, she never forgot her humble background.

(3)ordinary; not large, special or very important

Welcome to our humble abode.

2.crisp : hard enough to be broken easily; describes cooked foods, such as pastry and biscuits, that are well cooked so that they are just dry and hard enough

Bake until the pastry is golden and crisp.

3.fire extinguisher : 滅火器

4.pinch : [verb] to squeeze something, especially someone's skin, strongly between two hard things such as a finger and a thumb, usually causing pain

He pinched the baby’s cheek playfully.

[noun]a small amount of something, such as a powder, especially the amount which a person can hold between their first finger and thumb

While the tomatoes are cooking add a pinch of salt

5.batch : a number of people or things that are dealt with as a group

We deliver the goods in batches.

Title: Baking Cookies

Level: medium

Topic: food

Type: conversation

Speakers: man - woman

Length: 01:44

1.bruise : [noun] (1)a blue, brown or purple mark that appears on the skin after sb has fallen, been hit, etc

His arms and back were covered in bruises.

(2) a mark on a fruit or vegetable where it is damaged

[verb] (1)to develop a bruise or to cause someone or something to have a bruise

Strawberries bruise easily.

(2)to affect sb badly and make them feel unhappy and less confident

They had been badly bruised by the defeat.

[adj] (1)having bruises

a bruised shoulder/knee/elbow

(2)emotionally hurt as a result of a bad experience

2.cereal : a food that is made from grain and eaten with milk, especially in the morning

a bowl of cereal

3.powered milk : dried milk in the form of a powder

4.cupboard : a piece of furniture or a small part of a room with a door or doors behind which there is pace for storing things, usually on shelves

a built-in cupboard

5.nasty : (1)bad or very unpleasant

She has a nasty habit of picking on people in meetings.

(2)dangerous or violent

In an emergency you could get out through a window, but it would be a nasty drop.

(3)rude or offensive

She said some quite nasty things about him.

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This blog is hard to make it neat.

I tried, but I give up.

It will cost me too much time.......

I'm so sorry that I cannot make it clear for you to read....

I'm so sorry

Assignment5 - Listening diary -- Decorating for the Holidays (Oct 22, Oct. 23).

Day Nov. 8
Time Begin 15:53
Time ended 16:25
Method MP3
Title Oct 22 Decorating for the Holidays

NOTE:

festive

easter: put trees with colored eggs as decoration

knickknack: small decorations

Americans like to eat in holidays

They like to take a trip to a cavern or mountain during the summer

In July, they celebrate independent day and watch the firework show

When fall, there are football games! they also have bonfire!

strictly <> restrictly

Decoration is not limit to single home, sometimes neighborhood would work together to create a neighborhood theme.

they also have decoration competition!

Day Nov. 9
Time Begin 23:25
Time ended 23:55
Method MP3
Title Oct 22 Decorating for the Holidays

NOTE:

Thanks giving is at the 4th Thursday in November.

if you ask me --> in my opinion

lighten up means don't be so serious

in the mood --> to get into the feeling to do something

"build" snowmen

"have" snowball fights

Many family in America get together to eat turkeys and a lot type of food to celebrate Thanksgiving. They share the things that they think thankful.

Thanksgiving and Christmas are two important holidays in America. Many family get together at these two days.

sky high --> very very high

get in to the act 參與

Assignment 4 - Use the concordance tools to to answer the following question

Question: Is there any rule governing the use of "big" and "large"? If yes, what is it? Use evidences to explain the major difference between the two words. Please limit your answer to 70 words.

These are some examples from BNC :

BIG:

1.The toilet's really big.

2.Big brother will be keeping an eye on things

3.They tell you only about the big names and the famous dates.

LARGE:

1.Heat the oil in a large frying pan, add the garlic and cook for a few seconds.

2.A very large white bird.

3.Since a very large number of parents have objected to the tests, it seems the tests are not going to achieve that aim.

From these examples, we know that "LARGE" is usually used in describing that something is big in size or quantity.

e.g. large bird, a large number of

"BIG" indicates more meanings. It not only means big in size or amount but also has other abstract meaning.

The "big" in "big brother" means older, and "big name" represents a famous or important person. We won't use "large brother", it seems like a very strong brother.

Here are definitions from Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary:

big adj

1.large in size or amount

2.older or more like an adult

3.used to add emphasis

large adj

1.big in size or amount

Assignment 3: 10/16 Studio Classroom

1.avatar /ˈæv.ə.tɑːr /

化身

a picture of a person or an animal which represents a person, on a computer screen, especially in a computer gameor chat room

e.g. By typing in simple commands you can pick up objects and talk to other avatars, with your words displayed in a cartoon bubble above your head.

2.representation /ˌrep.rɪ.zenˈteɪ.ʃən/

表現；描述

the act of presenting sb/sth in a particular way; something that shows or describes sth

e.g. The snake swallowing its tail is a representation of infinity.

陳述；抗議

formal statements made to sb in authority, especially in order to make your opinions known or to protest

e.g. We have made representations to the prime minister, but without success.

3.cartoon /kɑːˈtuːn/

漫畫，諷刺畫

a drawing, especially in a newspaper or magazine, that tells a joke or makes a humorous political criticism

動畫片；卡通片

a film/movie made by photographing a series of gradually changing drawings or models, so that they look as if they are moving

e.g. a Walt Disney cartoon

Assignment 02- Dictionary Exercise

Here are the ten Olympic sports

1. Archery:

射箭術；射箭運動

the art or sport of shooting arrows with a bow

e.g. In the archery, Simon Terry won his second bronze medal, joining Steve Hallard and Richard Priestman to take third place in the men's 70 metres team event.

2. Fencing

擊劍運動

the sport of fighting with long thin swords

e.g I did a bit of fencing while I was at college.

3. Diving

跳水運動

the activity or sport of jumping into water with your arms and head going in first

e.g. I managed to escape by diving into the river.

4. Martial arts

武術

a sport that is a traditional Japanese or Chinese form of fighting or defending yourself

e.g. There is an increasing number of Kung Fu, Judo and martial arts clubs attended by even young children

5. Water polo

水球運動

a game played by two teams of people swimming in a swimming pool. Players try to throw a ball into the other team's goal.

e.g. Everton's water polo team get in trim for Europe

6. Javelin

投擲標槍項目

the event or sport of throwing a javelin as far as possible

e.g. There's a lot of skill in javelin throwing.

7. Shot‐put

推鉛球

the event or sport of throwing a heavy metal ball (called a shot) as far as possible

e.g. You could also use the medicine ball in a one-armed shot put action, using first one side and then the other.

8. Gymnastics

體操

physical exercises and activities performed inside, often using equipment such as bars and ropes which are intended to increase the body's strength and the ability to move and bend easily

e.g. She likes swimming and gymnastics.

9. Hurdles

跨欄賽

a race in which runners or horses have to jump over hurdles

e.g. Nobody in the Olympic 400 metres hurdles final could hold a candle to Gunnell's superb technique, which put her head and shoulders ahead of the field.

10. Equestrian

馬術

connected with riding horses, especially as a sport

e.g. Britain only won one gold medal in the 1952 Olympics and that was in an equestrian event.

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In this assignment I find some new phrases.

Here they are:

*in trim

狀況良好

physically prepared and ready, or in good condition

e.g. Simon is obsessed with healthy dieting and keeping his body in trim.

*medicine ball

藥球(供以運動投接用的實心皮球)

heavy ball used in physical training

*cannot hold a candle to sb/sth

不如…好；比不上…；無法與…媲美

is not as good as sb or sth else

e.g. His singing can't hold a candle to James

Hope these would help you in learning English :)

Assignment1 - Introduction

Hi~ my name is Ken.

I am a junior in the Honor Department of NTUST and I major in electronic engineering.

I was born in Changhua. Now, I rent a room in Yungho.

I am a friendly guy. I always want to have new friends :)

I like to listen to music. From classical to metal, there's no so-called favorite type.

For me, it will be a good music if it touches me.

I enjoy singing and dancing even though I'm not good at them. Both of them are fun.

I have a dream that I could travel around the world and view all the views, eat all kind of food.

Anything fresh and novel can easily catch my eyes, cause I am a curious boy.

In this semester, I want to learn more than the two years before.

Including my English ability and electronic skill.

Hope us to enjoy the class and learn much!