Online Class Notes (Nick) [S]

Review the vocabulary!

Vocabulary

Earbuds/Earphones/Headphones – the first two mean the small ones that go inside of your ears, the last one “headphones” is general or applies to the big ones
e.g. It seems that something strange is happening with the microphone on my earbuds…

Cryptocurrency – a form of digital (electronic) money that is supposed to be very safe; “crypto-” means that something is like a code, hard to read if you don’t know how; and “currency” means a form of money
e.g. Bitcoin has been a very popular form of cryptocurrency in recent years.

President – the top leader in the national government
e.g. Xi Jinping, Donald Trump, Barack Obama
To Run for President – to try to get people to vote for you in the elections; in the US sometimes people who are not very well-known still try become President, so they have to spend a lot of time and work very hard to get people to like them and feel like they know them well
e.g. This year, there are many Democratic candidates running to be President.

Governor – someone who is the leader in a lower level of government, usually a state or province
e.g. The leader of He’nan, Washington State, etc.

Climate Change – the changes in the atmosphere and temperature because of the CO2 and other gases that we are releasing from coal, oil, etc.
e.g. Jay Inslee, the Governor of Washington State, is currently my top choice to be the Democratic candidate for President because he has strong climate change and environment policies.

Democratic Party / Republican Party – the Democrats are generally more progressive, looking to the future and trying to change things; the Republicans are generally more conservative, they want to keep old traditions; on social matters, the Democrats want the government out and the Republicans want the government in; on economic matters, the Democrats want the government in, and the Republicans want the government out

大致 – general, approximate, rough – to express that something helps you to understand but does not include too many details
e.g. That is a rough/general picture of what the two parties stand for. If you really want to know more, it will take some time to discuss!

Stand for (phrasal verb) – to have some beliefs that you defend, to represent some position, to protect some ideas and certain types of people you agree with
e.g. The Democratic Party is usually thought to represent progressivism and social justice.

Fall down the rabbit hole – from a story called “Alice in Wonderland,” where a girl named Alice falls asleep in the summer and dreams that she is walking around and falls into a rabbit hole. In the hole she finds a whole strange world and has some interesting adventures; here, to find a topic that you find very interesting and spend so much time researching and reading that when you finally realize what you are doing, it’s been so long that it’s like you disappeared into another world
According to the slang dictionary at https://www.dictionary.com/e/slang/rabbit-hole/:
On the internet, a rabbit hole frequently refers to an extremely engrossing and time-consuming topic.

Engrossing – something that you find so interesting that you cannot stop reading/watching/thinking about
e.g. Nick finds US politics engrossing and has to be careful sometimes not to spend too much time reading.

Rusty – when something metal turns from silver color to a brown color because of water and air, usually because you are not using it

Rip van Winkle – a man who goes hunting in the mountains, and when he lays down to take a nap ends up sleeping for many years. When he wakes up everything is different.

I read a lot of newspaper today. I think there is nothing very important. They get the news from a website, like from Washington D.C. or maybe China Daily. I prefer financial news or technology news is also ok.

I read a lot of newspapers/news(paper) articles today. I don’t think there is was anything nothing very important. WeChat gets the news from a website, like from the Washington Post or maybe China Daily. I prefer financial news, or but technology news is also ok.

A man who went to a mountain to get some trees, but he saw someone playing chess and he thought he watched for a few minutes but when he got back home, he found that 100 years have been through

(The story is about) a man who went to a mountain to get some trees wood, but he saw someone some people playing chess. He stopped to watch them play and he thought he watched for a few minutes but when he got back home, he found that 100 years have been through had passed.

Pronunciation

Rough – ruff