VIP Class Notes (Whitney) [S + W]

Snowflake/Strawberry Generation: Born in the 90’s
Write a comparison of behaviours between the Strawberry/Snowflake generation and your generation. Share your observations and discuss whether you think the judgement on the younger generation is fair.

Vocabulary

core (n)
Yoga helps to train your core muscles.

stiff (adj)
My muscles are feeling stiff and I need to stretch more often.

wrist (n)
We use our wrist a lot during badminton, tennis and ping pong.

wryneck (n)
hurting your neck or shoulder to the point where you can’t move it. (strained muscle)

asian squat (n) 
a unique position that only true Asians can master.

fatigue (n) 
extreme mental/physical tiredness.
People working over 100 hours a week experience major physical fatigue.

I feel exhausted.
I feel so fatigued.

pancreas – 胰腺
cholesterol – 胆固醇
125 – 200 mg/dL

treading water
US Navy Seal, the treading water test: 5 minutes floating in the water with full gear

“ We read tonight” is one of my favorite TV programs which introduces a lot of famous contemporary writers, their life stories and their major literary works as well.
In the last Episode, it the program recommended Ian McEwan, an English writer who had been ranked number 19 in the (Daily Telegraph’s) list of “100 most powerful people in British culture” by The Daily Telegraph. Most of his works have been made into films, for example, Atonement, On Chesil Beach, The Child in time etc. I have watched some of the films but have yet to read the books.
The writer has a special file for keeping letters from fans all over the world in which the fans pointed out his mistakes in his novels. Once he received a letter from a lady who lived in Venice. In the letter, the lady said “I am seriously sick and going to(towards) the end of my life, therefore I have to stay in bed, staring at the sky day and night. You may know that from others but I still want to tell you myself that you can not see the Orion constellation in July in Venice, you would have to go to New Zealand.” This lovely lady should be the true fan of Ian McEwan!

Pronunciation

McEwan: Mac-Ew-En