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

Go to www.vox.com, pick an article and read it carefully. After that, write a paragraph about it. Be prepared to also talk about it during your next class.

Vocabulary

Broadsheet (n): 1- a newspaper that is printed on large sheets of paper, or an advertisement printed on a large sheet of paper:
E.g.: In Britain, the broadsheets are generally believed to be more serious than the tabloids (小报).

Surge (n): 1- a sudden and great increase.
An unexpected surge in electrical power caused the computer to crash.
There has been a surge in house prices recently.

# = Hashtag

Original:

I read an article from a website today. It’s about a new released movie, Revengers. This is one of the most popular movie in the world in the last five or six years, about superheroes. From this article, I noticed that this series of Marvels movies achieved a great success in many countries, including US, China, Korea, UK, and Australia. This new movie haven’t been opened at Chinese theaters at the moment, but the box office movie has achieve US$630 million around the world. That’s a great number, as China’s figures has not been included. China is the second largest movie market in the world now, so I expect the movie will hit a historic number shortly, which can break out the box records for superheroes, because this movie is star-studded and the atmosphere is quite cozy and entertaining. I think I will watch this movie when it comes to the market, and I also think you can have a look at it if you are interested in superhero stories.

Edited:

I read an article from a website today, about a newly released movie, The Avengers. This has been one of the most popular superhero movies in the world in the last five or six years. From this article, I noticed that this Marvel series has achieved great success in many countries, including the US, China, Korea, UK, and Australia. This new movie hasn’t been released in Chinese theaters at the moment, but the box office movie has reached US$630 million around the world. That’s a great number, as China’s figures have not been included yet. China is the second largest movie market in the world now, so I expect the movie will hit a historic number shortly, which could break the box office records for superhero movies. This movie is star-studded and the atmosphere is quite cozy and entertaining. I think I will watch it when it comes out, and I also think you can have a look at it if you are interested in superhero stories.

Facebook Apologizes After Data Breach
(Source: www.breakingnewsenglish.com/1803/180327-data-breach.html)

Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg apologized for the data breach that was revealed last week. Mr Zuckerberg took out full-page advertisements in broadsheet newspapers in the UK and US to make his apology for the data privacy scandal. Zuckerberg was being criticized for being too slow to respond to the news. Personal data on up to 50 million users was used by a U.S. political consultancy called Cambridge Analytica. This company is accused of using the leaked data to benefit Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. Zuckerberg said: “This was a breach of trust, and I am sorry….We’re now taking steps to make sure this doesn’t happen again.” The apology made no mention of Cambridge Analytica.

Mr Zuckerberg acknowledged that Facebook could and should have done more to protect user data and to stop it being exploited. Reports are now circulating that Facebook was warned its data protection was too weak back in 2011. Mr Zuckerberg outlined the actions Facebook would take going forward. He said: “We’re investigating every single app that had access to large amounts of data before we fixed this. We expect there are others. And when we find them, we will ban them and tell everyone affected.” The value of Facebook has fallen by $75 billion this week; Zuckerberg’s wealth fell by $10 billion. There has also been a surge in users abandoning their Facebook pages, in online calls to #deletefacebook.

Grammar

Two years before. – Two years ago.

Pronunciation

Superior: /səˈpɪr.i.ɚ/

Expect: /ɪkˈspekt/

Atmosphere: /ˈæt.mə.sfɪr/

Star-studded: /ˈstɑːrˌstʌd.ɪd/

Mature: /məˈtʊr/

Sophisticated: /səˈfɪs.tə.keɪ.t̬ɪd/

Emphasis: /ˈem.fə.sɪs/

Exploit: /ɪkˈsplɔɪt/