F2F Class Notes (Nicholas) [S]

What is your opinion of traditional marriage (one man, one woman)? Do you think it’s a good institution or do you think we should be open to new approaches or new ways of thinking about these types of relationships?

Grammar

happy but tired / happy but tiring

Vocabulary

makeshift 凑合的

e.g. I found a block and 4 pieces of wood and I stuck them together and made a makeshift chair!

to breakout / escaping / to escape

e.g. The prisoners in jail broke out and now the police can’t find them.

e.g. Jails need to have strong walls or the prisoners will break out.

ideology / the system of ideas

e.g. Chinese govt. has a strong Marxist/Communism (共产主义) ideology.

e.g. In America the women believe in the feminist ideology — they believe men and women should be treated equally.

colonialism / is the ideology that richer nations should colonize or “take over” poorer nations

e.g. In Africa today, since they were poorer and weaker, the Europeans colonized them and turned their countries into British, French, and Spanish “colonies” — this was colonialism. A long time ago, the USA was a colony of England. It just means that these “colonies” are owned by another country. For a long time, India was the colony of England until they won their independence.

endemic / 流行 / where or if a sickness exists

e.g. Racial discrimination was endemic in the USA during the 1800s.

root cause / the reason or the deep deep reason for something

e.g. My mother told me I was lazy for not studying but the root cause was I was actually very sick in the mind.

infamous / famous for the wrong reasons

e.g. Richard Nixon was the first president in American history to quit before his term was over because he was guilty of crimes. This makes him the most infamous President in American history.

anti / against

pro / for

e.g. Are you pro life? Are you anti war?

to address something / to directly talk about something even if it’s uncomfortable / to deal with or make right

e.g. If you want your mail to get to the right house, you must put an address on the envelope — that’s addressing an envelope. People can address issues…they can address one another. And it just means talk to or talk about something.

e.g. For many years my mother thought I had a drinking problem, she wanted me to address it.

e.g. If the boss of your company calls you into his office and says “there’s some things I’d like to address with you…”

e.g. I’d like to address some of the recent concerns I brought up in my company email to you.

severe 严重 / very bad

e.g. His coughing was so severe, we took him to the hospital.

When I was at school there was nobody showed other people, he or she was different from others. But recent years, I found some friends they are … (LGBTQ/gay)…I think it’s not a big problem for me or for other people. They didn’t do anything to harm the society or something terrible to hurt anyone else so I think it’s ok.

When I was in school, no one really talked about this — no one wanted to show that they were different from other. But in recent years, I have come to find that some of my friends are LGBTQ+. I don’t think it’s a problem for me or most people. They aren’t doing anything to harm society or anything terrible to hurt anyone else, so I think it’s fine.

I have no idea if a child grow up without a mom or dad or with both men or both women, so I’m not sure. Because even a child has his or her own parents, but the parents doesn’t love each other or fight a lot, it’s also not a good environment for the child. So I think the gender is not the most important thing…I think the love is the most important thing.

I know nothing about children who grow up without moms or dads etc — so I’m not sure. Because even if the child has two parents, it doesn’t mean that they love each other. Maybe they fight a lot — this isn’t a good environment for the child either. So I don’t think gender is the most important thing…I think that love is the most important thing.