W3- One thing I learned today

Lilian 
    While I was first listening to the CD-ROM, which was playing the conversation between reporters and President Obama, I was overwhelmed by the fluent but quick speaking speed and professional terms. Even though, I could catch some points from the gesture and intonation, I still turned out to rewind and repeat again. The totally different genre listening and reading, news, takes my time and effort to comprehend the content, but, I feel quite satisfied to learn some new terms, such as sacred cow (不可以侵犯的人事物), sticking point (癥結點), which could make my writing more authentic and rich.

W3- Good Expression

Lilian:
1. If we just go over the cliff and let those policies stay in effect, we're basically gonna undo the recovery.  (繼續生效)
2. This is an unprecedented scenario that Congress has basically put a gun to its own head. (史無前例的，威脅)
3. a long and rocky road 漫長又崎嶇的路

W3- Avoiding The Fiscal Cliff

1. Generally speaking, news is a totally different genre while reading English. What's your main difficulty while reading news? 

Lilian: 

        It's a true that reading news is reading a different genre. While I am reading news, I am usually confused about some particular terminologies which are used in expertise domain, such as political, economics or others. Those terms may be common in my daily reading but with a nuance in meaning in News reading. Besides, reading news usually needs some professional knowledge about the news which would impede my comprehension if I don't have enough background. 


Nicole

Week 2 -China Chooses

1.  Actually, the movie is about political news. It could also be categorized into "world new". What category of news do you prefer to pay attention to (ex, society, entertainment, sports, world...)? 

Lilian: Actually, I am used to reading the entertainment sectors first, then I move to the sports sectors and then I usually go back to the front page to check the latest issue of a day. To be honest, as a women, it's really attractive to me to get familiar the private life of some actors or actress. Out of curiosity, I have the nature to pursuit others' gossip.    

Nicole:To be honest, I also check entertainment news first whenever I read newspaper or online news. Just like Lilian said, I am also curious what the lives of celebrities would be. After that I will turn to social news. 



2. What's the possible problems that backroom wheeling and dealing may cause?

Lilian: Maybe for the people in China, all they care about is the leaders' talents and influence. They are not used to paying attention to the democratic issues. It's all about different culture and custom. 

Nicole: Probably by this kind of the politic system, politician in China may lose opportunities to hear opinions from other parties because all the important politician are decided by the senior.

Week 2- One thing I learned today

Lilian:     
   The global issue is usually like an abracadabra for.  When talking about the political issues of global world, I seldom have resonance to response. The topic this week still made me have the same feeling. However, because of the preparation, I have a deeper understanding about the process of generating leaders in China. What'e more, I appreciate the good expression sharing with Nicole. It's because most of time, I  suffer having no ideas to convey my expression in English and the good expression solve my questions. For example, if I want to express "這東西的價格每個地方不太一樣", the verb "不太一樣" could be used as "vary".  Also, the verb "finalize" is also useful for me when I am talking some decision or projects have already stepped into the last stage. 

Nicole:
This article provided us how the communist party selects its new leaders, which was something I didn't know before. Besides, some vocabulary expressions are quite useful, and I think I will use these words when I am writing.  

Week 2- Good expression:

Lilian: 1. Let's break it down how the selection works. 
2. The size of this group can vary. 
3. A lot of backroom wheeling and dealing involving senior members of China's Communist Party will determine... 

Nicole:
1.decision-making body(團體,組織)
2. Ivan finally determined who will be his replacement when he retires.
3.The merger was finalized in backroom deal.

One thing I learned today: Week 1

Lilian:   

       I feel excited to learn a new phrase " get a glimpse of...". It's because I used to simply use "take a look at..." while I try to express the same situations above.   Besides, the three pieces of news gave me a deeper ideas about different genres, such as new, compared to prose.

Nicole:
      I appreciated the interface of CNN interactive disc, which provided both visual and audio input that strengthened my impression on these three pieces of news. Moreover, I learned some useful expressions such as Hobbit-mania. This suffix means that be crazy about something, so I can create abundant of new words such as baseball-mania, chocolate-mania depending on the context.　 

Week 1- Good expression:

Lilian:

1. And now thousands of fans are swarming  the streets hoping to get a glimpse of the movie's stars. 

2. The numbers back up the surge in spending over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. 

3. That's a broad indication that business are spending more, contrary to worries about business tightening their belt as we approach the fiscal cliff. 

Nicole:

1.The much-anticipated movie is premiering in the New Zealand capital, Wellington, and it's generating no small measure of 
Hobbit-mania

2. provocative act

3.Consumer confidence climbed to a four-year high this month.

Week 1: Global Watch

1. Are you interested in fantastic movies, such as " The Hobbit" ? Share your experience about movie watching. 

Lilian: Actually, the fantastic movies won't captivate me a lot, even though "The Hobbit" or "Avatar" are so popular with most of audiences. I prefer to see the movies such as "comedy", "romantic movies" or "action movies".  

Nicole: I have the same feeling with Lilian! I prefer romance, drama, action movie, comedy, and musical dance film.

Click here: main film genres

2. During the economic downturn, how do you do to tighten your own belt? Share your experience about your expenditure? 

Lilian: I usually give a budget about meal eating to myself. I force myself to spend 150 NT dollars each day for my meals. Actually, it's not easy to tighten my belt since it's attractive for women to do shopping each season.

Nicole: Cut expenditure and raise revenue.
cut expenditure: I try not to spend too much money on daily meal because I am also on a diet(I hope so!) Actually, I used to be an impulsive buyer on shoes;however, now I tend to think twice before making decision. Just to consider whether I really need it or not.


 raise revenue: I teach English in cram school and tutoring job.


3. what features do you think a much-anticipated movie should have?

Lilian: I would rather care about the plots or movie casts. The casts here don't mean famous movie star. I focus on the actors' performing skills (演技).


Nicole: I also regard plot and performing skill are the first priority! Sometime when I watch foreign movie, even though I can not recognize the actor or actress, I am still fascinated by the movie.That's because these two elements catch my eyes!