VIP Class Notes (Nick)
Homework
Check out the IELTS speaking section structure:
https://www.ielts.org/about-the-test/test-format
Look over the question list:
Vocabulary
Proctor – a proctor is in room, usually just to read directions and make sure that people don’t test
Grader – a grader is someone who tells you whether your answers were correct
Mutual – agreement, or some effect that goes both ways
e.g. We will use this plan by mutual agreement between the parties.
e.g. When they were growing up, the Johnson brothers exercised a mutual influence upon each other.
Exercise – a general, formal term sometimes used to express “do, create, make”; often used with “influence”
e.g. We will exercise our contractual rights to end this contract.
e.g. The China-US relationship exercises a great influence on Asian regional affairs.
Prefix – something added to the front of a word
Suffix – something added to the end of a word
Ambiguous – something that could mean more than one thing; unclear
e.g. “The old man the boat,” could have two meanings, either that the old man
Confusion – something that is hard to understand (in general)
Slice – a verb meaning to cut things into thin pieces; a noun referring to the thin pieces that were cut
e.g. We need to slice the ham before we can eat it.
e.g. We need two slices of ham.
Humanities / Liberal Arts – usually the language-dependent degrees (philosophy, languages, sometimes math, literature, art)
Social Sciences – language-dependent or theory-dependent fields that use scientific methods (political science, psychology, economics, finance, geography)
Hard Sciences – largely math-dependent, experiment-based subjects (chemistry, physics, geology)
Idiom – a phrase whose meaning is not obvious just from its words; usually it is a short form of a longer phrase, or a whole story condensed into 成语
Crown – the top of the head; the area that would be inside of a crown when you put it on your head
e.g. Sun Wukong wore a band around the crown of his head (pretty much always used in the phrase “crown of one’s head” to differentiate it from the crown that you wear)
Maggot – a baby fly; something gross and worthless; used to indicate death, decay, decomposition
e.g. Egg –> Maggot –> Fly
e.g. You little maggot! I’ll get you for that! (you are not powerful, and I will get revenge upon you for harming me!)
e.g. We found the escaped horse’s body in the woods a week later, and it was full of maggots and covered in flies.
e.g. The battlefield was crawling with maggots.
Blackface – when a non-black person paints their face black; historically, it was a way to keep black people out of performance roles
Caricature – an exaggerated version of something that perhaps gets away from the truth
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery – when someone wants to be like you, this shows that they truly admire you or your culture
Contrary – opposite
Editorial Board – the people in charge of opinion writing in a newspaper, or sometimes a magazine
Grammar
In your own language – in your own words
— in your own language is your native language
To take English back – to get English back
In a recipe, you can omit “of” in the ingredient list:
e.g. To make chili we will need:
1. 2 cans tomato sauce
2. 1 and a half cups water
The most thing I worry about – the biggest thing
The most thing I don’t like – the thing I like least
Pronunciation
English – Eng – glish
— A “normal” g is putting the middle of your tongue on the roof of your mouth and pulling it away immediately
— Here, we hold the tongue at the roof for a short time to make the “ng” sound before pulling it down to start the “glish”
Singer – this is just an “ng,” without a strong “ger”
Singe – this is like “sin-je”
Weird – say “weerd,” not like “wired”
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