F2F Class Notes (Raph)[R][S]

Vocabulary

Catastrophic (adj): 1- a sudden event that causes very great trouble or destruction. (n: Catastrophe)
E.g.: They were warned of the ecological catastrophe to come.
E.g.: The consequences of the new plan could be catastrophic for the country.

Bandage (n)a long, narrow piece of cloth that is tied around an injury or a part of someone’s body that has been hurt
E.g.: Ensure the wound is free from dirt before applying the bandage.
E.g.: She removed the bandage to reveal a red wound.
E.g.: My ankle is rather weak, so I always put a bandage on it to support it when I play tennis.

Outrage (n): 1- a shocking, morally unacceptable, and usually violent action. (adj: Outrageous)
E.g.: The bomb, which killed 15 people, was the worst of a series of terrorist outrages.
E.g.: [ + that ] It’s an outrage (= it is shocking and morally unacceptable) that so much public money should have been wasted in this way.
E.g.: The judge criticized the “outrageous greed” of some of the bankers.
E.g.: [+ that ] It is outrageous that these buildings remain empty while thousands of people have no homes.

Illegible (adj): 1- (of writing or print) impossible or almost impossible to read because of being very untidy or not clear:
E.g.: His writing is almost illegible.

Cambridge University may end handwritten exams
(Source: breakingnewsenglish.com/1709/170913-handwriting.html)

The world-renowned Cambridge University is considering abolishing handwritten exams after 800 years. University officials may ask students to type their exam answers on a computer rather than use a pen. The move follows complaints from examination markers who say they are finding test papers increasingly illegible due to poor handwriting. Academics say today’s students primarily use laptops in lectures and tutorials instead of pens. Students are losing the ability to write by hand. One academic said asking students to hand-write exams actually causes them physical difficulties. The muscles in their hand are not used to writing extensively for prolonged periods of two to three hours.

A Cambridge University lecturer, Dr Sarah Pearsall, told Britain’s ‘Daily Telegraph’ newspaper that handwriting was becoming a “lost art”. She said: “Twenty years ago, students routinely [wrote] by hand several hours a day, but now they write virtually nothing by hand, except exams.” She added: “We have been concerned for years about the declining handwriting problem. There has definitely been a downward trend. It is difficult for both the students and the examiners as it is harder and harder to read these [exam] scripts.” Dr Pearsall says some students’ handwriting is so illegible that they had to return to the university over the summer to read their answers out loud to examiners who could not read their writing.

Original: 

Today I read a news about that Cambridge University is going to cancel the exams in handwriting. At first it’s a bit shocked because in the newspaper some academics word said today’s student’s muscles was not suitable to write papers, but after second thinking I think I think it’s a trend because even myself seldom write on papers. But still I thought it is a pity if we totally cancel the written works. In that case, young generation maybe too rely on the computers; they may not know the basic skill such as how to use a pen, how to do some simple spelling or the words. So maybe we may consider keeping some simple writing works in the exam, that’s my opinion.

Edited: 

Today I read an article that said that Cambridge University is going to abolish handwritten exams. At first I was a bit shocked because in the article some academics said today’s student’s muscles was not used to writing long papers by hand, but after thinking more about it I believe this is the natural trend, because even I seldom write anything by hand. Even so, I still think it would be a pity if we totally abolish handwritten works. In that case, young generations may rely too much on computers and they might not know basic skills, such as how to use a pen, or how to spell some simple words. So in my opinion maybe we should consider keeping some simple handwritten works on exams.

Pronunciation

Catastrophic: /ˌkæt̬.əˈstrɑː.fɪk/

Catastrophe: /kəˈtæs.trə.fi/

Cleanse: /klenz/

Outrage: /ˈaʊt.reɪdʒ/

Outrageous: /ˌaʊtˈreɪ.dʒəs/

Handwritten: /ˌhændˈrɪt̬.ən/

Illegible: /ɪˈledʒ.ə.bəl/

Routinely: /ruːˈtiːn.li/