VIP Class Notes (Jacob)

Write about what you look for when choosing a place to visit or go on a holiday to.

Vocabulary

MSG – 味精

Cadets – a youth organization training them to have military skills

Teeter totter – 

Fracture – a crack in something but not broken yet

Brittle – used to describe something that is fragile (less commonly used, describes bones)

Pronunciation

Mason [May-son]

Original 

Icarus is a documentary about Russia’s doping program at the Sochi Winter Olympics, where Russia took home 13 gold medals. This program is described as one of the biggest sporting scandals in decades. Such large-scale of involvement of athletes and officers in a doping program make a lot of people feel shocked and disappointed. It destroys the faith of people in the basic sprit of Olympic – fairness. The fact that the state maybe involved and sponsor such kind of programs makes the whole story even more controversial.

Sports shall should be something pursed by humans to push themselves beyond the limits and motivated by a desire of self-challenge. It shall should not be destroyed by any external factors. Cheating in competitions will neither bring any benefits to the sport itself nor motive more people to join. For countries like Russia or China, they have their own political demands to be deemed as powerful countries in the world. Even the Olympics is not a simple international sporting event anymore. It becomes a stage to show power and influence. The gold medals are not only a personal honor, but also a national honor. So they governments would like to sponsor the doping programs from the state level. I think the desire to be a “strong” and/or a “powerful” country is reasonable. To some extent nationalism is also a basic emotional need for an individuals. However, such kind of desire or need shall have a boundary. They shall not to be an excuse to invade every aspect of society or our daily activities.