F2F Class Notes April 4th (Ben)

Vocabulary

structure 结构

structural =/= conjunctural

The problem is structural. It won’t go away if we don’t change everything.

Conjunctural = depending on circumstances, temporary 暂时

It’s raining –> That’s a conjunctural problem. There is nothing I can do. It will solve itself tomorrow.

I’m wet because I don’t have money to buy an umbrella. –> That’s a structural problem. I need to find a job and buy an umbrella.

Some unemployment is conjunctural. For example, 2008 was a year of high unemployment but 2010 wasn’t.

Some unemployment is also structural. It’s because the education system is not fit for the jobs market.

Grammar

don’t bother doing = there is no need to

Get out ! And don’t bother coming back tomorrow, you’re fired !

justify (just = true, right) = show something is right

It’s justified = it’s ok

Sometimes, hitting a child is justified.

He said I was a thief without having any proof. It was so unjustified !

bleak = dark, grim, cold, unpleasant

Winter can be very bleak.

Phone book companies have a very bleak future.

Saying _____ is wise.

It is good to eat healthy.

Eating healthy is good.

Saying “eating healthy is good” is wise.

Saying “there is no easy answer” is wise.

pursue a solution

surge = soar = increase = rise

Only 3 states have unemployment rates below 5%.

smaller = no larger, not much larger

He is smaller than you. He is not much larger than you.

that = the one

The population on America is lower than that of China.

There are only 3 states with unemployment rates below 5%. Their combined population is not much larger than that of Brooklyn. =

There are only 3 states – with a combined population not much larger than that of Brooklyn – with unemployment rates below 5%.

a henpeck = a man with a dominant or bossy wife