VIP Class Notes (Nicholas)(S)

Homework

What if the Chinese government said: “all cigarettes are now illegal”. What do you think about this?

Vocabulary

feat, achievement, accomplishment 功绩

e.g. Joyce had an incredible feat — she learned English in 6 days only!

e.g. To learn English is an amazing feat/accomplishment/achievement.

major / big, important, the biggest one

e.g. When Joyce learned to tie her shoes, this was not a major accomplishment. When she graduated university, this was a major accomplishment.

minor / small, not important

e.g. Tying your shoes as an adult is a minor accomplishment.

e.g. Waking up on time is a minor accomplishment — it’s not very important.

polite 有礼貌 / PUH-LIGHT

e.g. We should always be polite in another person’s home.

e.g. I am a polite guest in other people’s homes.

to boast 夸

e.g. Elon Musk boasted about Tesla’s car production.

production vs. products / production = the making of something / products = the thing that is made

e.g. Tesla’s production of electric cars is increasing every year.

e.g. People love Tesla for their interesting, amazing products.

praise 赞美

e.g. I praised Joyce for her improvement in English. (verb)

e.g. I want praise when I do something well. (Noun)

reiterate é‡ç”³ / to say it again

e.g. I reiterated to Joyce — use your tongue for pronunciation.

e.g. Joyce reiterated to me — she really loves English! She said it again!

e.g. I would like to reiterate: learning English is very important!

e.g. Let me reiterate myself: I LOVE LEARNING ENGLISH.

“what keeps you up at night?” / what worries you? what are you afraid of?

e.g. I am so poor. Money keeps me up at night.

Pronunciation

dis / this

Speaking exercise

We don’t like drugs because there are too many people changed their lives whose lives have been changed by drugs/drugs change too many people’s lives. You know, you will be addicted (有瘾) to drugs once you try it; and you cannot control yourself to not to have it again. I think the alcohol addiction is not as serious (严é‡) as drugs; many people drink  alcohol but are not addicted to it — but drugs are not. addictive.

There are many types of gambling (赌åš) — some types are legal in China and some are not. For example mahjong is OK, … is not. You can play at home. Sometimes you can play outside Outside you can play sometimes, but you cannot play mahjong for a lot of money. Mahjiang is good to control because it’s just like playing cards — it’s just a game.

Reading

Tesla officially breaks ground at Gigafactory 3, Musk confirms Model Y production, and more

Tesla has now officially broken ground at the Gigafactory 3 and CEO Elon Musk made a few interesting comments, including confirmation that Tesla will produce the upcoming new Model Y at the factory.

At the groundbreaking ceremony, Musk was his usual optimistic self when it came to boasting about Tesla’s manufacturing effort:

“This is going to be the most advanced Tesla Gigafactory in the world and arguably one of the most advanced factories in the world of any kind.â€

But he mostly praised the local government for enabling a quick construction time.

Musk reiterated that low volume Model 3 production should start by the end of the year at Gigafactory 3:

“It’s really impressive the capabilities of Shanghai in building things. […] We think with the resources here we can build the Shanghai Gigafactory in record time and we’re looking forward to hopefully having some initial production of the Model 3 towards the end of this year and achieving volume production next year,â€

The CEO also made a call for people to apply for jobs with Tesla China as they are seeking a lot of talent for many positions at Gigafactory 3.

Tesla built a little stage on the deserted plot of land for the event.

It was attended by many officials who are praising Tesla for establishing local manufacturing capacity in China.

Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the China Passenger Car Association, said:

“Tesla’s China production will have a ‘catfish effect’ in the country’s auto industry, pushing domestic carmakers to speed up their technological upgrading,â€

Musk also made a few interesting comments ahead of the event.

He confirmed that Tesla plans to also build Model Y at the factory along with Model 3, but he also announced that only the “affordable versions of Model 3 and Model Y†will be built at the factory.

The CEO said that the higher cost versions of those vehicles, along with Model S and Model X, will still be built in the US and exported to China and other markets:

Reading

China just landed a spacecraft on the moon’s far side for the first time in history. Here’s why the mission may be revolutionary.

  • On December 7, China launched the first-ever space mission to the lunar far side — the face of the moon we can’t see from Earth.
  • The mission, called Chang’e-4, set down a rover and lander on the lunar surface on Wednesday night (Thursday morning in China).
  • The two Chinese-built robots will record unprecedented measurements of the moon’s geology and chemistry in an ancient impact crater.
  • The moon mission will also investigate whether the crater area could eventually house a powerful deep-space radio telescope or maybe a base.
  • The lander also contains a sealed box that scientists hope will grow plants and silkworms.

China just pulled off a major feat of space exploration by landing a spacecraft on the lunar far side: a face of the moon we can’t see from Earth.

Around 2:26 a.m. UTC on Thursday (Wednesday night in the US), a robotic lander and rover safely touched down on the moon’s surface, according to the China National Space Administration, which shared photos of the landing.

The Chinese moon mission is called Chang’e-4. The name “Chang’e” is that of a mythical lunar goddess, and the “4” indicates that this is the fourth robotic mission in China’s decade-long lunar space exploration program.

No country or space agency, including NASA and Russia, has ever touched the far side of the moon — until now.

Read more: Humanity’s coolest achievements in spaceflight since Apollo 8, from walking on the moon to touching interstellar space

“The mission is ambitious and the science is amazing,” Tamela Maciel, an astrophysicist and communications manager at the National Space Center in Leicester, England, tweetedafter the mission’s launch on December 7. “Chang’e-4 plans to explore the oldest and deepest impact basin on the moon — the South Pole-Aitken basin, which we never see from Earth since it’s on the far side.”