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

Vocabulary

Perfect (v): 1- to make something free from faults:
E.g.: He is keen to perfect his golfing technique.
E.g.: Lori is working hard to perfect her English.

Keen (adj): 1- very interested, eager, or wanting (to do) something very much.
E.g.: They were very keen to start work as soon as possible.
E.g.: Joan wanted to go to a movie but I wasn’t keen (= I didn’t want to go).
E.g.: She’s a keen tennis player.

Garner (v): 1- to receive or collect something, usually after much work or with difficulty.
E.g.: Coppola garnered several Oscars for “The Godfather”.

Blockbuster (n): 1- a book or film that is very successful.
E.g.: He starred in several blockbuster movies.

Feature (v): 1- to include someone or something as an important part.
E.g.: The movie features James Dean as a handsome teenager.
E.g.: It’s an Australian company whose logo features a red kangaroo.
E.g.: His latest movie featured an all-star cast.
E.g.: The show features dancers, singers and musicians of all nationalities.

Bucket list (n): 1- a list of the things that a person would like to do or achieve before they die.
E.g.: I have so many things on my bucket list yet to do.

Irreversible (adj): 1- not possible to change; impossible to return to a previous condition.
E.g.: Smoking has caused irreversible damage to his lungs.

Detract (v): 1- to make something seem less valuable or less deserving of admiration.
E.g.: These small faults, however, do not detract from the overall quality of the book.

Flotilla (n): 1- a large group of boats or small ships.
E.g.: A flotilla was anchored at the beach.

Horde (n): 1- a large group of people.
E.g.: Hordes of students on bikes made crossing the road difficult.

Thailand to close famous beach to protect coral
(Source: www.breakingnewsenglish.com/1803/180307-beach-5.html)

Thailand will close one of its famous beaches to try and reverse the damage done to its coral by tourism. The beach is on the island of Koh Phi Phi Leh. It got worldwide attention after it featured in the blockbuster movie The Beach. The film put the beach on the bucket lists of millions of travellers. The result has been up to 5,000 sun worshippers a day to its shores. They arrive on hundreds of boats, which have caused irreversible damage to the bay’s coral. Officials say that most of the coral has died. The beach will close between June and September to let the coral recover.

Experts predict that 80 per cent of Thailand’s coral reefs have been destroyed. Once untouched beaches have been damaged by tourism. A professor at Bangkok’s Kasetsart University has criticized the tourism that is damaging Thailand’s coastline. He said the biggest problems were beachfront hotels, boat anchors breaking the coral, and plastic waste dumped in the sea. He believes the “ideal solution” is to close Maya Bay permanently. He said: “While it’s a very pretty bay, visiting it with a flotilla of boats and hordes of other tourists rather detract from the magic.”

Original:

Today I got up at 9AM and it was too late to attend a meeting with my clients in time. Because of this, I was starving the whole morning and my colleagues sent me a lot of cookies, which moved me a lot. In the afternoon I had chicken soup and a bowl of porridge which is cooked by myself. And I was free the whole afternoon, so I did some reading. It was an amazing book called The Double Brain. Time passed quickly. When I finished the reading it was 7PM, so I hurried up and come here.

Edited:

Today I got up at 9AM and it was too late to for me to get for a meeting with my clients in time. Because of this, I was unable to have breakfast and was starving the whole morning, so  my colleagues sent me a lot of cookies, which moved me a lot/ was very moving. In the afternoon I had chicken soup and a bowl of porridge which I had cooked by myself. I was free for the rest of the afternoon, so I did some reading. It was an amazing book called The Double Brain. Time passed quickly, and when I finished the reading it was already 7PM, so I hurried up and came here.

Pronunciation

Perfect (adj): /ˈpɝː.fekt/

Perfect (v): /pɝː.ˈfekt/

Flotilla: /fləˈtɪl.ə/

Irreversible: /ˌɪr.əˈvɝː.sə.bəl/

Detract: /dɪˈtrækt