Reflective Statement

Time is flying. Winter vacation is coming soon. I have studied in English department in NCU for four months already. It’s just like a dream. But in these four months I have learned so many things and lived a really different life from before.
Because of the English class, I have read much more news from the Internet and newspaper than ever before. I think reading is a very important part in learning English. Especially reading the news from U.S.A. and U.K.’s media is more effective. Maybe at first I think reading the news in a foreign language is difficult and annoyed, but now I know it is necessary and it really helps me to improve my English a lot. Teachers also taught us how to write the news summary well. The news is so long and hard to realize, but we have to use our own sentences, instead of copying the words to make the readers know what the news is talking about. It is not an easy job, but if we want to use and write the English well, we must try hard. To know more about the news and write a good summary, I always discuss the articles with my friends and roommates together in our dorm. I believe working in group and sharing the opinions can make us learn English efficiently. Sometimes I often ask my friends to help me to check my essays. Because the essays are written by my own, I can’t find the mistakes easily. They would also give me some advices, I think it really helps. To me, it’s so happy and exciting to have the opportunity to use the blog to write down my English articles. I hadn’t written things in English on blog ever before, so this time, it is a good chance that I should seize tightly. I consider putting English and technology together is an inevitable and essential way in our life. We have to adapt it quickly and after that we can acquire more things from it easily.
I am in the end of my first semester in college now. I know I still have three more years to spend in there, so I will try my best to study and improve my English well. I believe there are still many treasures waiting me to explore in NCU.

News Summary 4

Summary 4 transcriptions
Article: Tiffany and eBay in Fight over Fakes
URL: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/27/technology/27ebay.html?_r=1&n=Top/News/Business/Companies/eBay%20Inc.&oref=slogin

Group members: Evance
Vickie
Judy
Seven

S: Hello, Judy. Could you tell me what does this article talk about?
J: Yeah, of course. It is about Tiffany & Company has accused eBay of being a distribution network to trade the counterfeit Tiffany productions.
J: Seven, do you know how does Tiffany want eBay to estimate the counterfeit items in trade?
S: Ha! Ha! It is a simple question to me. It is said that Tiffany asked for a demand, which could force eBay to do many differences on producing Tiffany’s fake, such as silver ornament.
S: Here is a tough question for you guys. Please tell me whether you for or against about Tiffany’s charging eBay with sharing phony in the auction.
J: I thought the charging is really difficult to eBay. Because as a marketplace, it is hard to know where the goods that the sellers wants to sell in the auction come from.
J: But do you know why Tiffany thinks eBay’s action has copyright infringement?
S: I think it originates from making profits.
S: Say Judy, could you tell me what did you learn from the article?
J: Right, I know Tiffany is very angry about that many people have sold the counterfeit products of its brand on eBay. But the cyberspace is too big to find who has the illegal trade. So I think it is a hard work for eBay to satisfy Tiffany’s request.
J: Hey, seven, tell me about what's your thought after reading this news?
S: I think that it is a little hard for Tiffany to request eBay set a strict regulation controlling its member’s trade. Since the Internet is a tremendous space, I don’t believe that anyone can keep an eye on others behavior.

News Summary 3

At the first step, we read the news about California Wildfires and used the southern California’s map together to help us know more about the locations where broke out the disasters. In the news we knew the wildfires were really devastating and a lot of people as well as their animals were ordered to evacuate to other shelters. But some of them who lived near the coast could go home now and they were really worried about whether their houses and ranches were still here or not. Because of the power shortage which was associated with the wildfires in California, the residents should conserve the power. The factors which fueled the wildfires were dry weather, heat and wind. Many people such as volunteers, federal government and the Red Cross went there to help and give supplies to the evacuees.
After that, we watched many videos and saw some pictures about the news. The conditions there were seriously and horrible. We just couldn't believe the power that the wildfires had. In the videos we knew there had been wildfires like this time before. Because of that the government renewed the equipments, added more firefighters and trained them seriously to have well-prepared. At this time less people died and injured. We also heard some thoughts in the evacuees’ mind. They told that they were really worried about their houses, families and friends whether everything was OK or not. After hearing that, we were so sad and sympathetic. We couldn't do anything but prayed for them.
At last we checked the interaction part and learned some methods to put out the wildfires such as air tankers, bucket drops, fire lines and backfires. After reading the news and trying the multimedia, we really learned a lot from them and knew how terrible the wildfires were.

Record:http://www.supload.com/sound_confirm.php?get=1178191601.wma

News Summary 2

Arctic Melt Unnerves the Experts: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/02/science/earth/02annrrct.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Questions and Answers:

What are the scientist unnerved by?
They are unnerved by Arctic melt, the summer’s implications for the future and their ability to predict it.

Which things did a new study use to show that winds since 2000 had pushed huge amounts of thick old ice out of the Arctic basin past Greenland?
It used satellites and buoys to show that.

Why the pace of change has far exceeded what had been estimated by almost all the simulations?
Maybe the models are overly conservative or they are missing natural influences that can cause wide swings in ice and temperature.

Why the experts say the ice retreat is likely to be even bigger next summer?
Because this winter’s freeze is starting from such a huge ice deficit.

What are the forces that make the sea ice vanish?
The forces include heat-trapping clouds and water vapor in the air, the ocean-heating influence of unusually sunny skies in June and July and the other important factors were warm winds flowing from Siberia around a high-pressure system parked over the ocean.

Keywords:

dwindle:to become gradually less or smaller.

propulsion:the force that drives sth forward.

simulation:a situation in which a particular set of conditions is created artificially in order to study or experience sth that could exist in reality.

proponent:a person who supports an idea or course of action.

substantial:large in amount, value or importance.

induce:to persuade or influence sb to do sth.

deficit:the amount by which money spent or owed is greater than money earned in a particular period of time.

harsh:too strong and rough and likely to damage sth.

stabilize:to beome or to make sth become firm, steady and unlikely to change.

variation:a change, especially in the amount or level of sth.

vulnerable:weak and easily hurt physically or emotionally.

Summary:

The Arctic ice cap shrank so much this summer that waves briefly lapped along two long-imagined Arctic shipping routes, the Northwest Passage over Canada and the Northern Sea Route over Russia. Over all, the floating ice dwindled to an extent unparalleled in a century or more, by several estimates. Scientists are also unnerved by the summer’s implications for the future, and their ability to predict it. The pace of change has far exceeded what had been estimated by almost all the simulations used to envision how the Arctic will respond to rising concentrations of greenhouse gases linked to global warming. Proponents of cuts in greenhouse gases cited the meltdown as proof that human activities are propelling a slide toward climate calamity. Arctic experts say things are not that simple. More than a dozen experts said in interviews that the extreme summer ice retreat had revealed at least as much about what remains unknown in the Arctic as what is clear. Still, many of those scientists said they were becoming convinced that the system is heading toward a new, more watery state, and that human-caused global warming is playing a significant role. But the experts are having a hard time conceiving a situation that could reverse the trends and from all they can tell right now, the means for that are quite limited.

BY LV

News summary 1

Superfoods: Protect Your Body by Eating Right

http://literacynet.org/cnnsf/superfoods/home.html

Summary:

Research now shows some foods, including tomatoes, onions, garlic, and olive oil are among the superfoods. Superfoods are packed with powerful chemicals that may offer your body great protection against chronic disease, including cancer, obesity, and heart disease.Vibrantly colored red yellow orange and green all gives you different types of phytochemicals. Natalie Ledesma is a registered dietician at U.C.S.F. She says compounds found in superfoods is called phytochemicals which can reduce the risk of cancer, boost the immune system, and even protect the heart.

Thoughts and Reflection:

Eating is a very important part in our daily lives but how to eat right and healthy is a big subject that we have to learn. In this article we know different kinds of food can bring a lot of different benefits to our health and protect our bodies against the chronic diseases and viruses. Fresh and organic vegetables and fruits have lots of Cellulose and Vitamin which can help us to boost our immune system so everyday we have to eat some of them for our health. To me I have learned a lot from this news because I'm a person who can't eat too greasy if I eat too much of sweet and oily food I will feel really uncomfortable and disgusting so I always like to eat light food instead of them. My daily food always contains the five cereals, fish, lean meat, vegetables, fruits and eggs after reading the news I have more choices now and know more about how to eat healthy. Following the tips she gave I think we will have more energy and feel more vigorous everyday. Having good health we can solve the problems and face the challenges easily so let us know how to eat right and follow them and our lives will be more colorful in the future.

BY LV

Judy's Introduction

Hello everyone, my name is Judy(丁婕心) and you can call me LV or 丁丁. I graduate from Taipei First Girls Senior High and I am so happy that I can join The National Central University and meet you guys. I am a talkative and outgoing person but very sensitive inside. I like to go shopping, reading, go to a movie, singing, dancing, playing sports, listening to music and chatting with my friends. I have had some good friends in the college now, such as Seven, Quill, Vickie and so on. We always do a lot of things together and I feel so lucky to be friend with them. Although NCU is a new circumstance to me but I think that I can make my life colorful and wonderful there. I really like English maybe my English is not very good but I will study hard and try my best. My classmates are very interesting and easygoing so I wish we can know each other deeply in the four years. You guys are really cute and I love you forever!!!

BY LV