VIP Class Notes (Raph)[R]

Vocabulary

Dune (n): 1- a hill of sand near a beach or in a desert. 2- 沙丘
E.g.: They walked across the sand dunes and reached the beach.

Graffiti (n): 1- words or drawings, especially humorous, rude, or political, on walls, doors, etc. in public places:
E.g.: The subway walls are covered with graffiti.

Occur (v): 1- to happen.
E.g.: An accident involving over ten vehicles has occurred in Shanghai yesterday afternoon.
E.g.: An earthquake occurred in Taiwan last week.

Giant (adj/n): 1- extremely large. 2- an imaginary creature that looks like a man, but is extremely tall.
E.g.: I just saw a giant spider in the living room.
E.g.: My father used to scare me by talking about a bad giant who ate children.

Refrain (n): 1- to avoid doing or stop yourself from doing something.
E.g.: We refrained from talking until we knew that it was safe.
E.g.: The sign on the wall said “Please refrain from smoking.”

Scenic (adj): 1- having or allowing you to see beautiful natural features:
E.g.: The Zhangjiajie scenic area is a really beautiful place.
E.g.: We took the scenic way home.

Coastal (adj): 1- by or near the coast.
E.g.: Shanghai is probably the most important coastal city in China.
E.g.: We took a road trip through the coastal highway.

Mount Everest (n): 1- 珠穆朗玛峰

Geography (n): 1- 地理

Geology (n): 1- 地质学

Spray (n/v): 1- 喷雾

Sand Dunes (Source: https://breakingnewsenglish.com/1905/190525-tottori-sand-dunes.html)

A city in Japan is having a problem with graffiti. However, it is not the usual type of graffiti with paint from spray cans being used to write on walls. It is graffiti in sand. Officials in the city of Tottori are asking tourists to refrain from writing messages and pictures in the sand of its giant sand dunes. The officials said the graffiti causes damage to the dunes and destroys the pleasure others get in looking at the sand. They said that more than 3,300 cases of ‘sand graffiti’ have occurred at the tourist hotspot in the last decade. The Mainichi newspaper said there were more than 200 cases reported last year. In January, two overseas tourists were ordered to erase a 25-meter-long message that read: ‘Happy Birthday Natalie’.

The Tottori Sand Dunes are famous throughout Japan for their natural beauty. They are the largest and longest sand dunes in the country and form part of a scenic geo-coastal park on the Sea of Japan coast. The biggest dune is 50 meters high. The dunes stretch for 16 kilometers along the coast. The local government wants to improve tourists’ understanding of the importance of the dunes. It will set up more signs in English, Chinese and Korean asking people to respect the dunes. More and more tourists are visiting the site each year. A spokesman said: “We are concerned about whether the rules are fully understood, but we want to continue to protect views of the beautiful sand dunes.”

Grammar

She’s one year smaller than me. – She’s one year younger than me.

Pronunciation

Bloom: /bluːm/

Parallel: /ˈper.ə.lel/

Represent:  /ˌrep.rɪˈzent/

President: /ˈprez.ɪ.d^ənt/

Forecast: /ˈfɔːr.kæst/

Summit: /ˈsʌm.ɪt/

Graffiti: /ɡrəˈfiː.t̬i/

Refrain: /rɪˈfreɪn/

Occur:  /əˈkɝː/

Decade: /ˈdek.eɪd/

Tourist:  /ˈtʊr.ɪst/

Natural: /ˈnætʃ.ɚ.^əl/

Scenic: /ˈsiː.nɪk/

Dune: /duːn/

Biggest: /ˈbɪ.g.əst/

Giant: /ˈdʒaɪ.^ənt/