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

Vocabulary

Co- (prefix): 1- together; with.
E.g.: He has co-ownership of the company.
E.g.: He is one of the co-writers/co-authors of the book.
E.g.: Poverty and wealth coexist in the city.

Freshwater (n): 1- water that is not salty.
E.g.: Their diet consist mostly of vegetables and freshwater fish.
E.g.: There’s a freshwater lake right next to the beach.

Shift (n/v): 1- a change in position or direction. 2- to (cause something or someone to) move or change from one position or direction to another, especially slightly. 3- (of an idea, opinion, etc.) to change:
E.g.: The last few years have seen a shift in opinion on the issue.
E.g.: She shifted (her weight) uneasily from one foot to the other.
E.g.: Society’s attitudes towards women have shifted a lot over the last century.

Equatorial (adj): 1- near the equator (赤道), or typical of places near the equator.
E.g.: The equatorial climate of the Amazonian rain forests is hot and wet.

Drastic (adj): 1- (especially of actions) severe and sudden or having very noticeable effects:
E.g.: They had to take drastic measures to improve sales.
E.g.: Many employees have had to take drastic cuts in pay.

Alter (v): 1- to change something, usually slightly, or to cause the characteristics of something to change:
E.g.: We’ve had to alter some of our plans.
E.g.: Although the cost of making phone calls is going up, the charge for connecting to the internet will not alter.
E.g.: Selling our car has drastically altered our lifestyle.

Original:

Since this Monday, I felt relaxed because I think the reason is, compared to last week, I have even no one conference call, and have no urgent proposal to do. Today I only met two media contacts person, no other things, and I can leave office on time, so that why I felt relaxed.

I think maybe from this Friday I will become busy, cause I have a campaign will be launched during June. Maybe this week is not the urgent period, but I’m used to my clients’ working status. I know they will push me and ask me the status of the campaign. I think they make a meeting on this Friday to let me report the status, and from next week we will start to do execution of this campaign.

Edited:

Since Monday, I’ve been feeling relaxed. I think the reason is that I haven’t had even one conference call or urgent proposal to do. Today I only met two media contact persons, and did nothing else, so I was even able to leave the office on time.

I think starting this Friday I will be busy again, cause I have a campaign that will be launched in June. This week the clients have been quiet because we’re not close to the deadline yet, but I’m used to their style. I think we will have a meeting this Friday, and I know they will push me and ask me to report on the status of the campaign.  Next week we will start to do the execution of the project.

Humans causing big shifts in freshwater locations
(Source: www.breakingnewsenglish.com/1805/180520-freshwater-4.html)

Humans are shifting freshwater resources across Earth. This will continue as people move and eat more. Many equatorial regions are drying, while tropical areas are getting wetter. If this continues, many cities could struggle to find enough water in the future. NASA spent 14 years studying freshwater resources. It was part of a mission called GRACE, which stands for Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment.

Jay Famiglietti, a co-author of the research, said: “The study shows that humans have really drastically altered the global water landscape in a very profound way.” He warned that: “We see it as a driver of climate change.” Professor Famiglietti said that over 40 per cent of the hot areas looked at in the research were drier than twenty years ago. He said this was because of human activity. One reason was too much pumping of groundwater for farming.

Pronunciation

Tournament: /ˈtɝː.nə.mənt/

Felt:  /felt/

Quite: /kwaɪt/

Quiet: /ˈkwaɪ.ət/

Earth: /ɝːθ/

Humorous: /ˈhjuː.mə.rəs/

Equator: /ɪˈkweɪ.t̬ɚ/

Equatorial: /ˌek.wəˈtɔːr.i.əl/