Double Tenth Day

Recently, one of my foreign friends was interested in the National Day of Taiwan.
So I wrote this small introduction to him.

Oct. 10th is our National Day, we also call it “Double Tenth Day”. It’s a day full of passion, hope, andhappiness. (In this day, all Chinese have a day off. :) )

In Taiwan, you can see national flags hang everywhere and fluttered in the breeze with the blue sky. In front of the presidential office, lively parades and military review are on the road. When the sun down to the horizon, fantastic and spectacular fireworks brighten the hearts of everyone. It's really such a meaningful day.

My new learn words

Perception (n)
someone's ability to notice and understand something.

Take on (idiom)
to accept something, especially a particular job or responsibility.

Pressing (adj)
urgent or needing to be dealt with immediately.

Trap (n)
a dangerous or unpleasant situation from which it is difficult or impossible to escape.

color blindness (n)
an eye condition that makes a person unable to see the difference between particular colors, especially red and green.

hue(n)
a color, or the particular degree of lightness or darkness of a color.

arbiter(n)
a person who acts as a judge in an argument or of a subject of interest.

Grab the eye (idiom)
to be attractive or different enough to be noticed by people, also “catch the eye”.

Cater to (v)
to provide what someone ore something needs or wants.

High-end (adj)
relating to something that is the best or most sophisticated, and often the most expensive.

penetration(n)
a movement into or through something.

Waterproof Rice

Scientists discover gene to waterproof rice. This is brekingnewsengihsh.com

Scientists have found that gene that would allow that rice to survival longer in rice paddies that are under water.

Plants under the water for longer than in a week receive so little oxygen may die. The scientists hope that the discover will mean the crops will last longer in regions that are regularly flooded.

Rice grows in parts of Asia lose an estimated $1 billion US annually to floods. They hope a new stronger type of rice will reduce the financial damage that cost in typhoon and monsoon seasons.

They also hope they will get bumper harvest. This is good news for the millions of people who suffer from food shortages because of heavy rains. Rice production must increase by 30 percent of the next twenty years. For a billion people to receive this staple diet.

The research is from teams from the University of California and the International Rice Research Institute. Their findings have been published in the science journal, Nature.

Dr. David Nallcon, one of the researchers says that scientists had been trying for 15 years to develop the breed of rice that can live under water. He explained that attempts to breed under water tolerance into commercially profitable rice haled to generate successful varieties. Another team member, Dr. Pamella Ronall, said she hoped that the research will lead to new rice varieties that will mean a better food supply for poor farmers and their families. The discovery is sure to ask to the debate on the need of genetically modified rice.

English Listenig Website

Name of the website：Randall's ESL Cyber Listening Lab

Website address：http://www.esl-lab.com/

Content：
1.It is a website which can let people learn by self-directed.
2.This website compartmentalizes many parts, the learners can choose what topic and level they want to study. And then have a quiz, also can learn some idioms it provides in the pages.

Strengthens：
1. Learners do not have to log-in.
2. Learners do not need to subscribe to use the listening lab. It is free to use online.
3.The learners can choose what topic and level they want to study.
4. After your listening, you will have a quiz to know how much you understand.5.There are plenty of informative and usful data here.

Weakness：
1. There is no movies to assist the listening learning.
2. It is all English, so sometimes you need to take time to browse it, and then you just can find the thing you want.

Five-star grading：★★★☆

My name is Sinwe Zhang.

*~ Colorful English ~*

Recently, I have learnd some “colorful English”. I think it’s so interesting. Let me share with you：
1. black and blue：
covered with bruises and black marks.

2. see red：
to become very angry.

3. in the red：
to be in debt.

4. yellow：
not at all brave；cowardly.

5. feel blue：
to be very worried or unhappy about something.

6. the pot calling the kettle black：
referring to a person who criticizes another but who is just as much at fault himself.

7. Black sheep：
an unusual or unpopular member of a family, often one who has done something bad that brings embarrassment or disrespect to the family.

8.once in a blue moon：
very rarely.

9.out of the blue：
suddenly and expectedly.

10.blue blood：
from a family of the highest social class.

11.green thumb：
an ability to make plants grow.

12.tickled pink：
extremely pleased about something.

13.red-letter day：
a special, happy and important day that one will always remember.

14.freen with envy：
to wish very much that you had something another person has.

My impression about the article：Pantone Owns Color Code Market

Pantone, a well-known company in the world. It is not only setting color but also owning color, even selling the world's color standards.

This family-owned company on America's East Coast make the value of precision coloring. Also, they use branding based on color to gain attention in the market. Just like the New York's Fashion Institute of Technology professor Marianne Klimchuk says,“If you think about the fight for consumer attention---to really grab the consumer’s eye---color is the first way to do that.”

Because of Pantone, many different hues of colors can be told apart and coded a specific number. So no matter where we are in North America or in Aisa, we all can see the same hue of yellow and red color in the McDonald's signage.

To me, it is so interesting that such company is existing and can operate so successful. In this design world, Pantone really make the globe more colorful.

The article which I read is from the "Advance" magazine(October 2005).

My Writing：Knowledge is power

Instead of posting my feeling after reading articles, I share my writing, today.

The topic is ： Knowledge is power

Generally speaking, men who possess knowledge are more powerful than those without knowledge. We can also say that the educated class always rules over the ignorant class. From childhood, we all know this is an unchangeable truth. And it is the reason why there is a saying that "Kowledge is power".

There is no doubt that knowledge is life’s most precious asset. It is also an indispensable tool used to accomplish many things. For example, knowledge can be used to make ourselves and society better, knowledge can allow us to lead rich lives without great financial wealth, and knowledge can enlighten us and eliminate foolish superstitions and prejudices. Knowledge also leads to lots of various modern inventions such as trains, airplanes, steamships, telegrams, telephones, and so on, are nothing but the fruits of wisdom and symbols of mankind’s power which can make our lives easier and more comfortable. In other words, nothing in the world can be accomplished without knowledge.

However, knowledge cannot be bought with money. We must exert great effort to obtain it. Because we as students are the future masters of the nation, our country needs us very much. Our responsibilities are exceedingly heavy and great. It means that the destiny of our nation is completely in our hands. If we do not study hard to increase our knowledge, how can we make our nation rich and powerful?

All in all, knowledge is a direct result of a good education and understanding of our experiences. If we have knowledge, we can live our lives confidently even when we are faced with difficulties. We need to keep our minds open and question things in order to make our future better than today.

English Grammar Website

Name of the website： Guide to Grammar and Writing

Website address：http://www.cybertranslator.idv.tw/grammar/grammar.htm

Content：
1.It is a website which uses the way of delineation to let people know the grammars.
2.It associates grammar with writing： make people can learn the grammars, and understand how to use it when we write.
3.This website compartmentalizes many parts, such like：Definitions of Basic Sentences part, Verbs and Verbvals, Clauses……, etc.

Strengthens：
1.There are plenty of informative data here.
2.With author's clearly description, it makes us more easily to learn grammars.
3.It uses charts to explain and arrange the grammars.

Weakness：Sometimes, illustrations can help us in understanding some grammar usages, but in this website, it dose not provide this function.

Five-star grading：★★★☆

My name is Sinwe Zhang.

Two interesting English sentences from the Internet

Today, I learn two interesting English sentences from the Internet：

1. "The world is one's oyster."
--> It is used to tell someone that they can achieve whatever they want.

(It is believed that the proverb first appears in Shakespeare's play "The Merry Wives of Windsor".)


2.”beat the band”
--> It means that someone concentrates on something very much, and tries to do his or her best.

(Ex)
A: Why do they look so excited?
B: They're beating the band in order to win the game.

My impression about the article：Overcoming Overcommitment

After reading this, I totally agree the saying that "Pelple believe they will have more time in the future than they have today."

Since I am just such kind of person："taking on too many responsibilities and then being unable to cope with the resulting demands on my time."

In the article, it suggests that "we need to think about how busy we are today before committing to yet another duty or activity." And it porvides some questions which we can ask ourselves befor agreeing to a new project, endeavor or responsibiliry, the following are the questions that the article provides：

1.Would I have time to spend on this today?
2.What feelings would I associate with this responsibility or commitmen? Dread, excitement, worry, accomplishment?
3.If I want to do this, what activities can I cut out to make time for it?
4.Am I doing this for me or to meet some one else's expectations?

All in all, now, by reading this article, I know the importance of "Just say no"！And realize that the simply "no" needing learn how to say.(Because for me, sometimes it is difficult to say it out.)

Like the author says："The key to effective time management lies in our perceptions of available time."

The article which I read is from the "Advance" magazine(October 2005).

The New Start ~

From now to the future, I will share my diaries, writings or the feelings after I read articles in the magazines.
Also, I will put some "New words" ( to me, it's new :) ) which I learned from the articles.
I really welcome "discussions"！
And hope you could correct my grammar or vocabulary which I misused.
Thank you very much！！