2xOnline Class Notes (Mike)

参照下面的文章，写一写你的家乡。（地理位置/气候/人口/食物/风景/独特之处（以…闻名）/你喜欢或不喜欢之处）

Northwick is a very interesting town. the streets are very narrow. Every Saturday, there’s a market in the square – a tradition that is about 500 years old! And near the town, Northwick Hall is the old home of Lord Northwick, a friend of Queen Victoria.

One of the best things about Northwick is the public transport. There are lots of trams and buses, and tickets are cheap. Also, there are no cars in the centre, so it’s nice to walk or cycle there.

There are two hotels: The Residence and The Eastgate. Both are comfortable, but the rooms at The Residence are larger. There is also a youth hostel. The youth hostel is very cheap, but you have to share a room with other people.

The Kardashians are currently one of the USA’s most well-known families. They are often in the news, and Americans follow their lives in the papers and celebrity magazines. The Kardashians are reality TV starts, with their own family show called Keeping up with the Kardashians.

It all started in 2007 when the family was asked by an American channel to make a TV series about their lives. The show focused on mother Kris and her four children.  Their father was lawyer Robert Kardashian, who died a few years earlier. The show became a success in its first season, mainly because of the three sisters and their extrovert personalities.

Since then, there have been eight more seasons and the show is still running.  Two of the sisters got married on the show. Kim got married twice! And two of the sisters are now parents. Furthermore, the three sisters have used their fame to establish careers in the fashion industry. They have opened clothes shops and launched several clothing collections and perfumes. Kim has even launched a successful mobile phone game called Kim Kardashian: Hollywood.

Although the show has many fans, it also has many critics.  They are irritated by the sisters’ desire for fame and fortune, and think the show is meaningless. The Kardashians are only ‘famous for being famous’, but they don’t mind because it has made them rich.

You have recently been on holiday with your family. Write an email about it to a friend. Include the following points:
–  where you went
–  how you got there
–  something interesting you did
–  how you felt when you got home
–  an invitation to your friend to stay with you for the next school holiday.

Example:

I went to CD with my brother last week. We flew out of SH on a Monday night and arrived at CD at 11pm.

The next morning, we got up really early to see the pandas. The panda base was far from our hotel, we spent 2 hours getting there. It was not crowded at all because it was a work day morning. We saw a lot of pandas there, and most interestingly, we saw baby pandas. They looked very lazy and just ate bamboos all day. We also saw some red pandas, which were cute and adorable. 

We left the panda base at around 6pm and went to have hot pot. CD is a city with great food, especially its spicy food. 

We stayed in CD for 3 days in total, and we did not want to go back to SH. What I really liked about CD is the slow pace of life. When I got back, I thought about going back to CD soon.

You should definitely go with me the next time, I think you will really like the city and the people living there. And most importantly, you will fall in love with the food.

I have recently been on holiday with my family. We went to Pu Tuo Mountain in ZhouSan.The mountain is a island in the sea . We left SH to ZS by the high-speed train.After arriving ZS, we took a bus then take a boat, finally we arrived to Pu Tuo Mountain.I took a walk at beach, listened the sound of waves.Then we climbed up the mountain.There are the temple, the banboo forest and big buddha etc.After climbing down, we went home.I’m very tire, but we are happy.This is a good holiday.I want to invite you for the next holiday. Would you stay with me for the next school holiday?

I have recently been on holiday with my family. We went to Pu Tuo Mountain in ZhouSan. The mountain is on an island in the sea. We left SH to ZS by the high-speed train. After arriving at ZS, we first took a bus then a boat. Two hours after leaving my home, we arrived at Pu Tuo Mountain.

On the first night, I took a walk on the beach, listened to the sound of waves.

The next day, we climbed up the mountain. There were the temple, the bamboo forest and a big buddha etc. After climbing down, we went home. I was very tired/exhausted, but we were happy. This was a good holiday. I want to invite you for the next holiday. Would you stay with me for the next school holiday?

in the middle of: 在…中间/里面

Picture yourself sitting at home in a quiet reading nook, ignoring the world around you, engrossed in a tale. You read the blurb, instantly became intrigued and now you’re in the middle of an absolute page-turner. But, there’s a hot debate – physical books vs. e-books vs. audiobooks. Does the device you’re using to read affect your reaction to the book?

Does A affect B?

想象你自己坐在家里一个安静的读书角，忽略你周围的世界，专心于一个故事。你阅读图书简介，立刻着迷，现在你沉迷于这本绝对的引入入胜的书中。但是有一个关于实体书、电子书和有声书的热点争论。你读书的设备影响你对这本书的反应吗？

Generally, reading uses several areas of the brain. There’s attention span, reasoning, reading fluency, memory and language comprehension. Reading is known to strengthen communicative ability, vocabulary and increase emotional intelligence and social perception. So, whichever way you’re reading, there are definitely benefits.

一般阅读使用大脑的几个区域。有注意力时长，推理，阅读流利，记忆力和语言理解力。广为人知的是，阅读增强交际能力，词汇量并增加情商和社会认知。因此无论你是哪个阅读方式，都有不同的好处。

But, let’s look at the pros to reading with your eyes – that’s physical books and e-books. They can help to retain information better. This is because when you can actually see the words, your attention is held more closely. Add to this the fact that with physical books you can go back and find any part you missed, especially if your mind wanders, which it likely will at some point or other.

at some point (n) 在某个时段
At some point in your life, you will realize the importance of family. 

pros and cons 利弊

但是，我们来探讨下用眼睛阅读的好处——也就是实体书和电子书。他们能帮助保留更好的信息。这是因为当你能看见单词，你的注意力保留更加仔细。添加了对于物理书你能返回并找到任何你错过的部分的事实。尤其是如果你的思想出小差/思维散漫的时候，这一点是迟早/不可避免地会发生的。

On the other hand, there’s the audiobook. Headphones in, you’re switched off from life and the story really comes alive, almost like watching a film – in your head. From a scientific perspective, listening to an audiobook is likely to help you develop a greater sense of empathy as you hear the emotion of the narrator. We can more easily understand inflection and intonation. Hearing the story engages different parts of the brain, heightening the intensity and imagery, making you enjoy it more. Yet, going back to attention span, with an audiobook it’s true that it’s much harder to go back and listen again.

另一方面，有有声书。戴上耳机，你就从生活中脱离，故事开始显现其生命力。几乎像在你的头中看一个影片。一个科学上的观点，听一个有声书有可能帮助你发展一个更好的共情意识像你听到讲述者的情绪。我们更容易理解语调的抑扬变化和语调。听故事需要大脑不同的部分参与，提高强度和意象，使你更享受它。回到注意力时长这个问题，听有声书确实很难倒回去重听一次。

All in all, it seems that there are advantages to both physical books and audiobooks. Perhaps, next time you find yourself browsing bookshop shelves, also consider the format. It may just change your whole literary experience.

总的来说，似乎实体书和有声书两者都有优势。也许下次当你在浏览书店书架时，考虑一下书籍的形式。这一点也许能改变你所有的阅读经验。

A   THE SLIDE HOUSE, JAPAN

Did you love going down the slide in the playgrounds as a child? Perhaps you secretly wish you still could? If so, then the Slide House in Japan is the house for you!

你爱像一个孩子在游乐场滑动下降吗？也许你偷偷地希望你一直会吗？如果这样，在日本的滑梯房子是为你的房子。

Japanese architects have designed an unusual three-storey house with a huge slide that connects each level. This fun house has two staircases on one side going up, and the slide on the other going down, and together they form a circular route around the central area of the house.

日本建造师设计一个不寻常的三层楼房子和一个巨大的滑梯连接每层楼。这个有趣的房子在上去的一边有两个楼梯，和在其他下去的这边，它们围绕房子的中心区域一起组成一个循环的路。

The house is in the suburbs of Tokyo, and it functions as a real family home.

房子在东京的郊区，它的功能是作为一个真正的家庭房。

B   THE SKATEBOARD HOUSE, USA

Are you a skateboarding fan? Would you like to live in a house where you could skateboard everywhere? This is exactly what a former skateboard champion wants to build in California. It will be the first house that can be entirely used for skateboarding as well as living in.

你是一个滑板爱好者吗？你喜欢居住在你能够到处滑的房子吗？准确的是一个以前的滑板冠军想在California建。这将是第一个完全的用来滑板也居住的房子。

A prototype of the house is currently on display in a French museum. It has three spaces: a living area, a sleeping area and a skateboard practice area. However, you can skateboard everywhere because the floor becomes the wall and then the ceiling in a continuous curve. You can also skate on and off all the furniture!

一个房子的原型目前展示在法国博物馆。有三个空间：一个居住区域，一个睡觉区域和一个滑板练习区域。但是你能到处滑滑板因为地板成为墙然后天花板在一个连续的曲面中。你也能够在所有家具上滑上滑下。

C   THE GIANT SEASHELL HOUSE, MEXICO

If you’ve ever wondered what it would feel like to live inside a seashell, then this house in Mexico City would be the home for you. This amazing shell-shaped house was designed and built in 2006. As strange as it looks, it’s a real home built for a family. The parents were tired of having a traditional house and wanted to live in a home that was inspired by nature.

如果你曾经惊讶感觉喜欢居住在海贝壳里面，然后这个在墨西哥城市的房子将是为你的房子。这个令人惊讶的蜗牛状的房子在2006年被设计和建造。看起来奇怪，它是一个真正的为一个家庭建造的房子。父母厌倦有一个传统的房子，并且想居住在受自然启发的房子。

All the walls and furniture in the house are curved and all the surfaces are smooth. There are round windows and doors, coloured glass walls and even flowers growing in all the rooms.

在房子中所有的墙和家具是弧形的并且所有的地面是平滑的。有旋转窗户和门，有色的玻璃墙甚至花在所有房间中成长。

Vocabulary

China is a country with 5,000 years of history.

SH is a city with many foreigners. 

panda (n)

definitely = absolutely 

bullet train (n) 高铁

and so on. = etc. = et cetera. 拉丁语

engage (v) 参与，参加
to be engaged in discussions/negotiations

inspire (v) 获得…灵感，收到启发

assemble (v) 组装，拼接
assembly line 流水线

nervous (adj.)
be nervous about 对…感到紧张

second-hand 二手的

first-hand 一手的

karate (n)空手道
tae kwon do 跆拳道

hate (v) 讨厌，厌恶
I hate smokers.

stand (v) 忍受，站
(n) 小摊位

make a decision 做决定

learn (v) 学(技能)

study (v) 学习，(n) 研究

Pronunciation

write – wrote – written

exhausted (adj.)

extremely (adv.)

adjust – adjustment

serve – service (n)

laundromat (n)

quit (v) 辞职，停止（做某事），戒
I quit smoking last year.
quite (adv.) 十分
quiet (adj.) 安静的

Grammar

more: 表示“还”

I have 100 more pages left.

I have two more days in CD.

We have two more classes to learn.

I need to work 3 more hours.

We need to drive one more hour.

there is nothing to be worried about 

fly – flew – flown

enjoy + doing sth