VIP Class Notes (Raph)[R][S]

We focused on grammar and vocabulary and did both reading and speaking exercises.

Vocabulary

Contemporary (adj): 1- existing or happening now. 2- someone living during the same period as someone else. 3- a person who is of the same age as you.
E.g.: I’m interested in contemporary music/literature/art/fashion.
E.g.: Although the play was written hundreds of years ago, it still has a contemporary (= modern) feel to it.
E.g.:Was he a contemporary of Shakespeare’s?
E.g.: She didn’t mix with her contemporaries, preferring the company of older people.

Election (n): 1- a time when people vote in order to choose someone for a political or official job.
E.g.: The government is expected to call an election (= allow the country to vote) very soon.
E.g.: Local government elections will take place in May.
E.g.: The first election results have started to come in.

Hiking (n): 1- the activity of going for long walks in the countryside. 2- 徒步旅行
E.g.: We’re going hiking in Huangshan.

Succulent (n): 1- 肉质植物

Fern (n): 1- 蕨类

Rot (v): 1- 腐烂

Cactus (n): 1- 仙人掌

Grammar

After another days it falled. – After another day it fell.

Original:

I had tried to take care of the plants, but I fail many times. Recently I picked up the hobby again. I bought four plants a few weeks ago, and the seller told me that they are easy-care types, and I only need to water them about two or three times a week. After I put them back home, I set up a good place for them in the balcony and water them wholly. They look very beautiful and make my house feel energetic. I really love them, however, after three days I found one of the plants the leave of one of the plants is ill, there are some black pots in the leaf. I’ve very worried about it, and I make a phone to the seller to ask her about the problem. She told me that maybe that it’s because I water too much, so I follow his instruction and water less and at the meantime I open the window more often and offer them better quality of air. And they  became much better.

Edited:

I had tried to take care of the plants before, but I failed many times. Recently I picked up the hobby again, so I bought four plants a few weeks ago. The seller/salesperson told me that they are easy-care types, and that I only need to water them about two or three times a week. After I took them home, I set up a good place for them in the balcony and watered them wholly. They looked very beautiful and made my house feel energetic, so I really loved them. However, after three days I found a leaf on one of the plants looked ill, and with some black spots. I was very worried about it, so I called the seller to ask her about the problem. She told me that maybe that was because I overwatered it, so in the meantime I followed her instructions to water less frequently and to open the window more often to offer them better quality of air. They have already  gotten much better / recovered.

Deepfake App Puts Your Face in Famous Movie Scenes
(Source: www.breakingnewsenglish.com/1909/190906-deepfake.html)

A new online technique called deepfake is causing people to be worried about more fake news and other things that can mislead people. The word “deepfake” is a combination of “deep learning” (which is an important part of artificial intelligence) and “fake” (which means not real). Deepfake software allows people to replace part of a picture or video with another picture or video image. The result is a fake video. The software means you can put your face over the face of a talking president or movie star. This process will make your face speak in the voice of that president or movie star. Many people are worried the technology will be used during national elections. Deepfake videos could be used to trick voters.

A new deepfake app has gone viral in China. It lets users of the app put their face over the top of actors in scenes from movies or TV shows. The app is called Zao. It went to number one on the Chinese iOS App Store chart in just a few days after its release. A Twitter user has achieved a little fame by posting the Zao videos of himself in famous TV and movie scenes. His videos show that he really looks like the main actor in the movies The Hulk, Titanic, and in the TV fantasy drama Game of Thrones. It takes just eight seconds to do this. The Zao app is currently only available for people with a Chinese phone number. It cannot be downloaded from app stores in the USA or Europe.

Pronunciation

Controversial: /ˌkɑːn.trəˈvɝː.ʃ^əl/

App: /ep/