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