F2F Class Notes January 24th (Ben)

Vocabulary

burgeoning = blooming = opening like a flower

assurance = insurance

An assurance company sells you an assurance contract. Once you are assured by them, they assure that your family can live comfortably even if you have a medical problem or if you die.

anonymous = with no name

Smaller cities have a strong sense of community, whereas megalopolises such as Shanghai are more anonymous.

a pace = a rhythm 节奏

During the Chinese New Year, the rhythm of megalopolises gets very slow. Life goes at a slow pace.

reason = 原因 or 道理

Many people take decisions only with their feelings. But to make a better decision, you should use reason (道理) and think about all the reasons (原因)  for your choice. This is called being reasonable.

If you behave in an unreasonable way, you will end up with a lot of problems down the line (later, in the future).

Idiom

When the cat’s away, the mice will play.

When the figures of authorities are gone, people like to disregard or break rules.

Pronunciation

reason = REE – zun (long EE)

rhythm = RE – zum (short E)