Online Class Notes (Jesse)

Today we feel lonely from time to time, and the reasons make us feel lonely are difference: no one sit next to at lunch, move to a new city, stay at home yourself without friends. But these kinds of feelings have become chronic for us. In Uk and the USA, more than 50% people often feel lonely.
Actually, we are now in the most connected time in history, but why an unprecedented number of us feel isolated? Before we go for discuss this topic, we must clearly that being lonely and being alone are not the same thing which loneliness is a purely individual experience and alone is the way that you want to keep you quiet and independent. A common stereotype always think that loneliness only happens to the persons who are not talkative, but the fact is that loneliness is a bodily function which makes you pay attention to your social needs, thus being social became part of our life, and it is quite useful in our ancestor period. But later, in western countries, they started to focus on the individual, communities that had existed for hundreds of years began to dissolve. When our world became modern, this trend became more and more. Now every day we are in a high-speed circumstance and leave our social net. We spend more time on work, university, romance and social medias, so we haven’t got enough time and only can sacrifice the time with friends. Therefore, loneliness can become chronic. It is so dangerous that loneliness is twice as deadly as obesity. So, we should pay attention to how to carry out beneficial social activities, maintain a healthy body and mind， and remove loneliness while maintaining personality independence

Today we feel lonely from time to time, and the reasons for the loneliness / the things that make us feel lonely are different: no one sits next to you at lunch, you move to a new city, you stay at home by yourself / sitting alone at lunch, moving to a new city, staying at home alone. But these kinds of feelings have become chronic for us. In the UK and the USA, more than 50% of people often feel lonely.
Actually, we are now in the most connected time in history, but why do an unprecedented number of us feel isolated? Before we go for discuss this topic, we must be clear that being lonely and being alone are not the same thing. Loneliness is a purely individual experience and alone is the time you spend without others, having some quiet and independent time. A common stereotype is that loneliness only happens to the people who are not talkative, but the fact is that loneliness is a bodily function which makes you pay attention to your social needs, thus being social became part of our life, and it is quite useful during our ancestor‘s lifetime / useful during the time that our ancestor’s lived. But later, in western countries, they started to focus on the individual, and communities that had existed for hundreds of years began to dissolve (a metaphor). When our world became modern, this trend became more and more / accelerated. Now every day we are leading high paced lives and leave our social networks. We spend more time on work, university, romance and social media, so we haven’t got enough time and can only sacrifice the time with friends. Therefore, loneliness can become chronic. It is so dangerous that loneliness is twice as deadly as obesity (oh BEE sit tee). So, we should pay attention to how to carry out beneficial social activities, maintain a healthy body and mind， and remove loneliness while maintaining (personal) independence.

Vocabulary

literal < > metaphoric
eg. he is a pig = he is literally a pig = he is not human, he is a pig
eg2. he is a pig = he is metaphorically a pig = he is fat and eats too much

isolated – separated from others
eg. I feel really isolated in this marriage

“chinese people are good at maths” is just a stereotype 

psychologist – xin li yi sheng

big family – extended family / relatives / distant relatives 

business is quite violent in China – competitive

they have high population density

Grammar

france people – french people

I have a pen. it is black. = I have a pen which is black.
I have a pen. I use it every day = I have a pen which I use every day.

live by yourself at somewhere – live by yourself somewhere

social interactive – social interaction

Pronunciation

prosperous – 3 sounds – pros per ress