F2F Class Notes (Raph)

Go to www.breakingnewsenglish.com, pick an article and read it carefully. After that, write a paragraph about it.

Vocabulary

Feasible (adj): 1- able to be made, done, or achieved.
E.g.: With the extra money, the project now seems feasible.
E.g.: It may be feasible to do it, but we don’t think we should.

Real Estate (n): 1- the activity of buying and selling land and buildings. 2- land or buildings that someone owns. 2- 房地产
E.g.: This is a great piece of real estate.
E.g.: She works in real estate in Dallas.

Construction (n): 1- the work of building or making something, especially buildings, bridges, etc. 2- 施工
E.g.: She works in construction/in the construction industry.
E.g.: The bridge is a great work of engineering and construction.
E.g.: This website is currently under construction (= being created).

In a row (adv): 1- one after another without a break.
E.g.: She’s been voted Best Actress three years in a row.

Ratio (n): 1- the relationship between two groups or amounts that expresses how much bigger one is than the other.
E.g.: The ratio of men to women at the conference was ten to one/10:1.
E.g.: The school is trying to improve its pupil-teacher ratio (= the number of teachers compared with the number of students).

Prime Minister (n): 1- 总理

Statistics (n): 1- 统计

Number of Japanese children at record low
(Source: www.breakingnewsenglish.com/1805/180508-japanese-children-4.html)

Japan has its fewest number of children since records began. There were 170,000 fewer children in March 2018 than in March 2017. Japan’s government issued a report showing the statistics. The number of children aged 14 or under dropped for the 37th year in a row. There was also a record low of 12.3 per cent in the ratio of children to the whole population. This ratio is the lowest among countries with a population of over 40 million.

Japan’s prime minister has taken action to encourage lower-income families to have more children. However, these have not worked so well. Furthermore, fewer Japanese people are getting married. Statisticians say this is a “ticking time-bomb”. The number of annual births in 2016 fell below one million for the first time since records began in 1899. By 2050, Japan will have 23 per cent fewer citizens. This means an aging society and a reducing workforce.

Grammar

I went Shanghai in 2016. – I came to Shanghai in 2016.

Pronunciation

Career:/kəˈrɪr/

Real Estate: /ˈriː.əl ɪˌsteɪt/

Victory: /ˈvɪk.tɚ.i/

Record (n/v): /ˈrek.ɚd/

Record (v): /rɪˈkɔːrd/

Statistics: /stəˈtɪs·tɪks/

Ratio: /ˈreɪ.ʃi.oʊ/