Online Class Notes (Mike)

Write a 200-word dialogue between you and your colleague/friend/family when you were told about the lockdown. Use as many punctuations as you can.

The Shanghai lockdown period recently reminds me of the movie “the island”. It was supposed to be 4-5 days lockdown but lasts for more than 20 days unexpectedly without enough food stock for many people. Then the residential complex became a society as a result of group-buying of daily necessities, including group coordinator and relevant volunteers. People who have resources, have the right to speak, seemingly. The movie depicts a group of people who are working for the same company, are having team building which is destroyed by the tsunami. After they are awake, they found them on the island without any connection to the reality, no ships passing by, no network signals…etc and noticing a polar bear floating on the sea which makes them believe that they are the only survivors after experiencing global catastrophic crisis.

The recent/ongoing Shanghai lockdown period reminds me of the movie “The Island.” The lockdown was supposed to be 4-5 days but it has already lasted for more than 20 days with many people lacking basic necessities like groceries and in some extreme cases, even shelter. Residential complexes became a micro-society as a result of group-buying of daily necessities, including group coordinators/facilitators and volunteers. People who have resources/Resourceful suppliers/business people have the right to speak/set the rules/let their voice out/articulate their voices, seemingly. As the lockdown drags on, I am more and more reminded of a movie called “The Island”, which depicts a group of people who are stranded by a tsunami when they are in the middle of a team-building organized by their company. They encounter a tsunami and are washed off to an island/they found themselves stranded on the island without any connection to the outside world, no ships passing by, no network signals…etc and noticing a polar bear floating on the sea which makes them believe that they are the only survivors after experiencing global catastrophic crisis.

Then the plots evolve a variety of society pattern, eg primitive tribe, living with farming; capitalism society, with goods exchange and currency circulation; religious governance, blind belief…it is a pure surrealism story but could be a metaphor of the reality. My perception is that many plots are quite thought provoking. For instance the depiction of different leadership styles in different societies or groups resonates with me a lot.

These people were forced into different historical stages/phases/the plots evolve a variety of society pattern, eg primitive tribe, living with farming; capitalism society, with goods exchange and currency circulation; religious governance, blind belief/superstition…it is a pure surrealistic story but could be a metaphor of/for the reality. My perception is that many plots are quite thought-provoking. For instance, the depiction of different leadership styles in different societies or groups resonates with me a lot.

Vocabulary

fluffy (adj.)

punctuation (n) 标点符号

quotation marks “”

thunder (v/n) – thunderous (adj.)

strand (v)

the dominant social ideology

superstition (n) – superstitious belief

comma (n)逗号
period (n) 句号

resemble (v) sharing similar quality
She resembles her mother.

official
(adj.) official language
(n) 官员
officer (n) 军官,长官

president of CDC = Center for Disease Control

neighborhood community

grassroots official: 基层官员

part of speech (n) 词性

It has lasted for 20 days, with no sign of things ending soon in sight. 

The political power is concentrated in the hands of the central government.

Grammar

Put all punctuations within quotation marks.

It reminds me of the movie “the island”. (❎)
It reminds me of the movie “the island.” (✅)

ironic – ironical

historic
1.(adj.) very important, significant: This is a historic moment for this country.
2.(adj.) related to the past = historical 

classic
(n.) 经典作品: The Four Great Classics 四大名著
(adj.) 经典的

classical:
(adj.) 古典的
classical music