Super Size Me

星期三的iBT閱讀課談到Super Size me

這是這部片的片頭

大家剛好看看練英文聽力

活背字彙第七週補充教材：小王子節錄

Excerpted from The Little Prince

 

It was then that the fox appeared.

"Good morning" said the fox.

 

"Good morning"

The little prince responded politely although when he turned around he saw nothing.

 

"I am right here" the voice said, "under the apple tree."

 

"who are you?" asked the little prince, and added,

 

"You are very pretty to look at."

 

"I am a fox", the fox said.

 

"Come and play with me," proposed the little prince, "I am so unhappy."

 

"I cannot play with you," the fox said, "I am not tamed."

 

"Ah please excuse me," said the little prince. But after some thought, he added, "what does that mean---'tame'?"

 

"you do not live here," said the fox, "what is it you are looking for?"

 

"I am looking for men," said the little prince. "What does that mean---tame?"

 

"Men, "said the fox, "they have guns, and they hunt. It is very disturbing. They also raise chickens. These are their only interests. Are you looking for chickens?"

 

"No," said the little prince. "I am looking for friends. What does that mean---tame?"

 

"It is an act too often neglected," said the fox. "It means to establish ties."

 

"To establish ties?"

 

"Just that," said the fox. "to me, you are still nothing more than a little boy who is just like a hundred thousand other little boys. And I have no need of you. And you, on your part, have no need of me. To you I am nothing more than a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. But if you tame me, then we shall need each other. To me, you will be unique in all the world. To you, I shall be unique in all the world. . ."

 

"I am beginning to understand," said the little prince.

 

"There is a flower. . .I think she has tamed me. . ."

 

"It is possible," said the fox.

 

"On earth one sees all sorts of things."

 

"Oh but this is not on the earth!" said the little prince.

 

The fox seemed perplexed, and very curious. "On another planet?"

 

"Yes"

 

"Are there hunters on that planet?"

 

"No"

 

"Ah that's interesting! Are there chickens?"

 

"No"

 

"Nothing is perfect," sighed the fox. But he came back to his idea. "My life is very monotonous," he said. "I hunt chickens; men hunt me. All chickens are just alike, and all the men are just alike. And in consequence, I am a little bored. But if you tame me, it will be as if the sun came to shine on my life. I shall know the sound of a step that will be different from all the others. Other steps send me hurrying back underneath the ground. Yours will call me, like music out of my burrow. And then look: you see the grain-fields down yonder? I do not eat bread. Wheat is of no use to me. The wheat fields have nothing to say to me. And that is sad. But you have hair that is the color of gold. Think how wonderful that will be when you have tamed me! The grain, which is also golden, will bring me back the thought of you. And I shall love to listen to the wind in the wheat. . ."

 

The fox gazed at the little prince, for a long time. "Please---tame me!" he said.

 

"I want to, very much," the little prince replied. "But I have not much time. I have friends to discover, and a great many things to understand."

 

"One only understands the things that one tames," said the fox. " Men have no more time to understand anything. They buy things all ready made at the shops. But there is no shop anywhere where one can buy friendship, and so men have no friends any more. If you want a friend, tame me. . ."

 

……..

[Go on to read the book --- by your teacher]

iBT文章補充：Estrogen May Fight Dementia

昨天iBT閱讀裡提到menopause, premenopause和estrogen, progestin之間的關係

剛好在今天的Time上看到這一篇研究

只是這篇文章的焦點不是在menopause上，而是在動過卵巢或子宮移除(ovaries or uterus removal)的女性上，這些女性不能自己產生estrogen

研究發現這樣的女性較易得到癡呆症(dementia)或是Parkinson's dease

早點服用estrogen比較不易得到上述兩種疾病

 

文章全文可以看：

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1657450,00.html?xid=rss-topstories

 

 

災害的單字：Pilgrims Flee Violence in Karbala; 24 Confirmed Dead

字彙課裡講到的單字以天災為主，不過也適用在這篇發生在Iraqi的人禍。

原文請看：http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=13996901&ft=1&f=3

(為了怕有著作權的問題，老師就不把全文貼出來了。)

看完文章，對這件事有點了解後，可以連上網頁聽聽主持人與記者的對談。

看文章前，先幫同學整理出課本裡出現的單字：

flee

fierce

rival factions

erupt

shrine

toll of dead (death toll)

secure (v.)

accuse

outburst

chase

explode

課堂上沒教，但這篇文章必須要知道的：

pilgrim：朝聖者

holy：神聖的

curfew：宵禁

聽力正音第八週的grammar girl

 

這一個練習比較難，建議先把之前給的教材都好好練習過再來聽這一份：

http://grammar.qdnow.com/2007/02/01/further-versus-farther.aspx

 

課本的練習答案：

1. farther

2. further

3. further

4. farther

5. farther

6. further

7. farther

8. further

9. further

一些可以複習政治單字的文章

內閣成員醜聞多多的Shinzo Abe要重新組閣挽回他的聲望了。

Japanese PM to reshuffle cabinet, 原文選自BBC的亞洲新聞

PM是 prime minister

閱讀之前還是先把政治那個章節裡面的單字複習一下

以下都是課本裡提到過的：

cabinet

bid

reshuffle

coalition

crushing defeat

poll

conservative

successor

controversial

pension

====================

Japanese PM to reshuffle Cabinet

Mr Abe needs to win back voters' trust with a strong Cabinet Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is set to announce a new Cabinet in a bid to shore up support for his embattled government. The reshuffle follows the ruling coalition's crushing defeat in last month's upper house polls. Mr Abe is likely to bring back seasoned lawmakers in what is expected to be a major Cabinet overhaul. Ahead of the reshuffle, the prime minister filled key posts in his ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). Outgoing Foreign Minister Taro Aso was named LDP secretary-general, the number two post in the party. Mr Aso shares Mr Abe's conservative agenda and has been seen as a potential successor to him. Nobuteru Ishihara - son of controversial Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara - was named LDP policy chief, while former Trade Minister Toshihiro Nikai became chairman of the party's General Council. Scandals and gaffes The Japanese prime minister promised to reshuffle his Cabinet in the wake of July's upper house elections, which saw control of the chamber handed to the opposition Democratic Party of Japan for the first time ever. It was a disastrous result for Mr Abe, who took office in September 2006. The defeat was blamed on a series of gaffes and scandals involving Mr Abe's ministers, as well as a nationwide pensions scandal, that caused voters to question the prime minister's leadership credentials. Mr Abe has stood firm in the face of calls for his resignation. He is now expected to try to construct a strong - and scandal-free - Cabinet that will restore voters' faith in him. Former Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura is tipped for a Cabinet return, while Defence Minister Yuriko Koike has said that she does not wish to retain her post.

文章轉錄：意識型態咖啡:回覆小咖（完）：讓生涯願景決定你要不要考研究

身為一個留學補習班的老師，寫下面這一篇文章好像有違職業利益。不過反正我不是老闆，沒差啦。

常常有同學來問老師出國之後該念什麼比較好？到底應該不應該念MBA？到底應該在國內念書還是出國鍍一層金？

老師的回答一向是你要自己先想清楚，先問問自己到底要做什麼。雖然有些同學說自己做什麼都可以，可是還有一個問題，到底做了會不會開心呢？有些同學是現在的工作遇到瓶頸，覺得出國走一趟回來，世界就會改變，但是如果不是做自己喜歡的工作，這世界怎麼樣都不會變。

找到工作很容易(樓下的7-11不是永遠在徵人嗎？)但要找到一份自己歡喜甘願做三十年的工作，就不容易了。

出國念一所研究所的投資兩百萬跑不掉，你總不希望自己工作了兩年後發現這不是自己愛的工作，卻因為債務的關係非得繼續做下去吧。

剛好在網路上面看到這篇文章，我非常贊同，跟同學分享一下：

意識型態咖啡:回覆小咖（完）：讓生涯願景決定你要不要考研究