F2F Class Notes 16th March (Celeste)[W]***

What do you love and hate about Germany? What are the pressures you feel in Shanghai? Write a short paragraph and upload it to the website.

Vocabulary

hate mail – actual letters of dislike or hate

death threats – threats made to kill

pick pocket v.- to steal from people’s bags/pockets usually on subways or on the streets

diversion / distraction

pan-handle / handling / handled – to accost passers-by on the street and beg from them

eg. There are often homeless people in the US who pan-handle on the streets/sidewalks/bus stations.

Upgrading of vocabulary

Recently / in the past week , a video / footage / a clip about a 17-year-old male passenger / a male commuter in his late teens on the subway verbally abusing / in a verbal altercation with two young women went viral. The two girls / the duo tried to convince / get / persuade him to scan a QR code on / via Wechat. The police later found / realised / discovered the youth was involved.

Of course / Obviously / Clearly the behavior of the youth was inappropriate and rude / out of line / uncalled for / impolite. He apologized / he offered his apologies later but the behavior / actions of the two girls was also very problematic/disturbing/ “in your face”/pushy/unacceptable/annoying/aggressive. If you have ever taken/ridden the metro, you have probably met some people/advertisers/promoters like this. Some of them may be trying to promote a startup/make a sale/make a deal/sign up new users, but some of them are actually part of a scam/diversion/distraction/gang/fake company. If you scan the code as they ask/demand/request, later maybe your personal information will be illegally used by a criminal group/will be sold to a third party/will be hacked.

The subway is part of the public transportation system and the regulations prohibit people from begging/pan-handling or conducting commercial activities/soliciting. Promotions like the one conducted by the two girls should be regulated as well. Even though sometimes they just want to promote the startup, it can also constitute harassment of