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

Vocabulary

Politics (n): the activities of the government, members of law-making organizations, or people who try to influence the way a country is governed. 2- the job of holding a position of power in the government. 3- the study of the ways in which a country is governed.
E.g.: Joe is very active in left-wing politics.
E.g.: The group is campaigning to get more women into politics.
E.g.: She studied politics at Leicester University.

Political (adj): 1- relating to politics.
E.g.: Xi Jinping is China’s most powerful political leader since Deng Xiaoping.
E.g.: There are two major political parties in the US – the Democratic Party and the Republican Party.

Recite (v): 1- to say a piece of writing aloud from memory, or to publicly say a list of things.
E.g.: She proudly recited a passage from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.
E.g.: The opposition party recited a long list of the government’s failings.

Aware (adj): 1- knowing that something exists, or having knowledge or experience of a particular thing. ( Unaware)
E.g.: I wasn’t even aware that he was ill.
E.g.: He was unaware that the police were watching him.

To be (right) under your nose: 1- to be in a place that you can clearly see.
E.g.: I spent all morning looking for the book, and it was right under my nose the whole time.
E.g.: She shoved the letter under her boss’s nose (= made certain he saw it).

Volatile (adj): 1- likely to change suddenly and unexpectedly or suddenly become violent or angry. 2- a volatile liquid or solid substance will change easily into a gas.
E.g.: Food and fuel prices are very volatile in a war situation.
E.g.: The situation was made more volatile by the fact that people had been drinking a lot of alcohol.
E.g.: He had a volatile temper and couldn’t have been easy to live with.

Interact (v): 1- to communicate with or react to.
E.g.: Dominique’s teacher says that she interacts well with the other children.
E.g.: It’s interesting at parties to see how people interact socially.
E.g.: We are studying how these two chemicals interact.

Organic Compound (n): 1- 有机化合物

Deodorant (n): 1- 除臭剂

Ozone (n): 1- 臭氧

Particle (n): 1- 粒子

Reading

Household Items As Bad As Cars For Pollution
(Source: www.breakingnewsenglish.com/1802/180219-household-items.html)

Scientists say we are unaware of a massive cause of pollution that is right under our very noses. Everyday household items such as toothpaste, shaving foam, deodorant, perfume and furniture polish contain volatile compounds that help to cause pollution. Dr Brian McDonald, an air-pollution researcher at the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, conducted research into how our homes create pollution. His team was surprised to find that household items now contribute as heavily to particular types of air pollution as cars, trucks and other vehicles. Dr McDonald said that as “the transportation sector gets cleaner, these other sources…become more and more important”.

The researchers focused on volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in a whole range of household items. VOCs react with sunlight to form ozone pollution. This escapes into the environment and gets trapped in our house or apartment, causing pollution in our homes. The scientists said VOCs interact with other chemicals to form tiny particles in the air. These particles can lead to lung damage. Dr McDonald said governments should regulate household products more tightly to reduce their negative impact on our health. He issued a stark warning, saying: “The things I use in the morning to get ready for work are comparable to emissions that come out of the tailpipe of my car.”

Speaking exercise

Original:

In my bike tour company we will have four clients tomorrow for a morning tour and two clients from travel agency. Then they told me because of the weather they want to reschedule the morning tour to this Friday afternoon, so I try to find a tour leader can do this tour at Friday afternoon. First I ask the Jeremy. He told me he’ll be away since this Friday morning. Second I ask Guillaume. He said he’s not available on Friday. Finally I find Claire can do this afternoon tour, so I contact our clients and told them we can reschedule this tour on Friday afternoon. And they also want to order a car transfer service. I say it’s okay with us, but you need to pay extra U$30. They say no problem. So everything is okay now. We only have two clients tomorrow morning.

Edited:

I work for a bike tour company and we were supposed to have four clients tomorrow for a morning tour, including two from travel agency. It turns out that, because of the weather these two clients want to reschedule the morning tour to this Friday afternoon, so I today I had to try to find a tour leader for them. First I asked the Jeremy, but he told me he’ll go away this Friday morning. After that I asked Guillaume, but he said he’s not available on Friday. Finally I found that Claire is available, so I contacted our clients and told them we can reschedule this tour for Friday afternoon. They also want to book a car transfer service, so I say it’s okay with us, but they would need to pay extra U$30, to which they said “no problem”. So everything is okay now and we only have two clients tomorrow morning.

Pronunciation

Politician: /ˌpɑː.ləˈtɪʃ.ən/

Politics: /ˈpɑː.lə.tɪks/

Political: /pəˈlɪt̬.ə.kəl/

Policy: /ˈpɑː.lə.si/

Thesaurus: /θɪˈsɔːr.əs/

Synonym: /ˈsɪn.ə.nɪm/

Scientist: /ˈsaɪən.tɪst/

Sector: /ˈsek.tɚ/

Particular: /pɚˈtɪk.jə.lɚ/

Type: /taɪp/

Say: /seɪ/

Said: /sed/

Chemical: /ˈkem.ɪ.kəl/

Recite: /rɪˈsaɪt/