Homework (31st of July) (Masha)

Hi!

Our assignment for today is:

1. To think about the topic of our last presentation which is gonna take place on the last week of class (individual presentation about one place we visited during our stay in California).

2. To read chapters 13-15 of "Cannery Row".

3. To watch the video about San Francisco earthquake (if Peter send us the link).

4. To write one paragraph and post it on the blog about one thing that we like about USA/California/Berkeley.

Have a good weekend! See you on monday!

Masha

Quiz study guide

Hello Everyone,

the topics which will be covered on tomorrow's test are:

Grammar: Future forms and 3rd Conditional

Blog Errors: From your interviews with Berkeley students. (we covered this in class and I posted a correction sheet to the blog)

Content from class: Gold Rush and Donner Party as well as class discussions and board-work. This will include things like the Celsius vs Fahrenheit discussion, Reading Skills etc.

Vocabulary: Taken from your post on the Donner Party and the Gold Rush handout

Listening: From the Newspaper presentation (emailed to you today) and the Gold Rush Video (posted to the blog).


Pronunciation: IPA phonemic chart and Stress (both word and sentence)


Good Luck and see you tomorrow!

The most onerous thing about the US (Addison)

I simply don't want to talk much about this topic. Besides good ones, I have witnessed too many hypocritical things in my 3-week-stay in the US. Most Americans are money oriented and egotistical. The Americans always seek for excuses when others challenge them, crowning themselves with noble ideas to conceal their onerous practice. I think this is already offensive enough so that I would stop here. Further discussion is welcomed in person.

One thing that I felt annoyed in the US (Alex)

  This is my first time staying in the United States. Generally speaking, I pretty like the weather and people here. However, there's one thing I really feel inconvenient about. In the U.S, hardly can people find convenience stores such as 7-11 and have some food to eat in the midnight. I feel annoyed simply because in Taiwan, we can walk for a short distance to the convenient stores at any time. There're lots of convenient stores in urban area, so we would never worry about lack of something even in wee hours. Besides, safety in the midnight in Taiwan is undoubtedly good because you can just go outside after 12:00 a.m. without any friends accompanied. Nonetheless, in the U.S, it's a different story. In Berkeley and San Francisco as I have observed, there are a lot of hobos. Many people just said that you should never go outside alone after dawn because you would easily fall prey to those who intended to rob you. Though I haven't experienced the situation they described, many people did get robbed when they went outside alone. Without the above disadvantages, United States is still a nice place as far as I'm concerned.

Surfing by Public Transition posted by Jeremy

This Friday, I went to San Francisco with two of my friends. It's fairly a fantastic city, which has beautiful scene and delicious sea food. But there is one thing impressed me most. It's the land surfing there. 

Surfing is popular around the world, but only San Francisco is featured by land surfing. People there use their public transports, especially buses, as stimulation for surfing in the sea. Drivers control those buses by their unique skills, moving extremely fast, then get slow, then suddenly get fast again. Passengers in buses try their best to keep balance, just like beating waves and waves. 

It's pity that aged people cannot enjoy such sport like youths. But there are still some old people take these buses to join the surfing. They are warriors with energy, passion and most importantly, braveness. 

In China, public transports are ran in a more conservative way. So as a guy adapted to such environment, it is really hard for me to get used to such land surfing, which can be classified to some kind of extreme games. Thus I sincerely hope that governors or entrepreneurs running those public transports do something to make it more newcomer-friendly.

What makes me feel embarrassed in USA by Kenny

What makes me feel embarrassed here is that when you are at crossroads, cars may stop and wait you until you walk aross the street first. This seems to be a good thing because there are no traffic lights at many crossroads. As time goes on, though, I begin to dislike such rules.
In many occations, when I'm still on the pavement which is several meters away from the road, the driver sees me and stops. This makes me feel ashamed to walk at a normal speed, as I may let the driver wait for a long time. So I may start walking faster, or even running. However, sometimes when I am ready to cross the roads, the cars start to move after a short period of stop (I think the driver didn't notice me), and then I have to stop, at that time the driver sees me and stops, too. I believe both of us experience a embarrassing moment and stop at the same time. As a result, I prefer traffic lights more. I believe this can make a subjective traffic rule become a fair and objective one. No one would be confused about whether to cross the roads quickly or who should cross the roads first any longer.

One Thing I Dislike(Guo)

It's a different country from China. Of course something divers. What I dislike I think is the food here. The food here is so sweet that is so different from Chinese food. When I eat food everyday, it's like filling something in my stomach so that I can not be hungry. But when I have food in china, it's not only to stay away from hunger but to enjoy the feeling of eating them. Everyday when I go to dinning hall I really don't know what to eat and sometimes I just take some fruit and drink some milk. If the food could be similar to Chinese food, it would be more enjoyable to live here and have a nice day. The solution to make me feel better is eating Chinese food when I really feel terrible with the food here.

one thing I hated most of America(Esther)

I had always heard of "tips" in America before I arrived at Berkeley.Many Chinese people complaint this cultural difference to me as they were asked about some dislike of this country.To be honest,I don't really hate tips,but I have no relish for the tips without service.Once I stepped into a small restaurant in Oakland.Few seconds later I realized I was the only customer.The shop keeper sit at the cashier watching a football game,and he was so addicted to the it that he even didn't give me a glance."Could you please give me a menu,sir?"I asked.He ignored me but screamed to the screen.Then I just looked around but there is no menu,unfortunately.Finally,I entered the kitchen and talked with the cook who was also a bit lazy and bored but gave me more attention.What happened next made me desperate-I waited for a century for my food.However,during my waiting,no body cared about me even if I was starving to death.When I check out,the cashier charged me the tips,which is 15% percent of the price of my meal.I was angry and I couldn't help complaining to the cashier loudly.Finally I left the restaurant without paying my tips,and thankfully,the cashier didn't go out and catch me.I wish I would never meet some bad experience like that again.
I do appreciate the service of the waiters or waitress so I give my tips without hesitation.But I can't live up with the circumstances like what I said above.

One thing I don't like in America(by Kris)

What I don't like in America is about fuel overconsumption, which is harmful to the environment.

people here prefer cars to public transport. For example, when people go out at weekends, they usually drive their own cars, rather than making use of shuttles or bart. As everyone knows, shuttles are convenient and saves a lot of energy, but few people choose shuttles, I think it's a waste of energy.

On the other hand, it's quite normal for a family to own 3 or 4 cars, at least 2. In some extent, there is no need to buy so many cars to satisfying people's pleasure.From my point of view, one or two cars are enough.

Once before I had a conversation with a Korean girl, she said this is a way to show off their America dream. I knew she was kidding.But generally speaking, wasting is not a good thing.

Fossil fuels are limited, we should value them as much as we could, only in this way can we protect our ecosystem.

What I don't like in America(Tim)

What I don't like in America is the size of the clothes. Compared to Asian's clothes, U.S. prefer to produce larger size clothes, and this cause me hard to find the fit clothes.

Although the clothes here are so cheap that I want to buy incredible amount to bring back Taiwan, it is not simple to find well-fitting clothes. Even though the shoulder and the waist of T-shirts are well-fitting, the length is too long for me. Thus, if I am so desire to buy a good-looking T-shirt, I would still buy that T-shirt and bring back Taiwan to ask tailor to help me cut out to perfect length for me.

Thus, the size of the clothes in America is annoying to me. However, the price and the design of the clothes here is favorable for me!

The thing makes me annoyed in America (Song)

What makes me annoyed is the low working efficiency of the apartment. Last Wednesday night, I left my backpack in the communal kitchen after dinner, and it did not occur to me until the next morning that I lost my backpack. I felt stressful and nervous because my wallet which contained all my cash and my student ID card was in the backpack. There were over one thousand and two hundred dollars in cash, I was so anxious that I told front desk staff immediately and asked for help. I wanted to check the surveillance video and found who took my backpack, but the staff said he had no permissions to check the video and I needed to tell the manager about it. However I had a class in that morning so I could not deal with this event at once and just authorized the manager to do it. In that afternoon, I could not find the manager in his office, thus I could do nothing but waited for reply. The next day, the manager just told me that he found something and he would give me reply, but he did not tell me details about the event or allow me watch the surveillance video. In the next few days, he just told me that someone took my backpack but he did not tell me who it is, and he said he would follow this matter. I felt confused and angry, I said to him that if it had happened in China, it could have been done in several hours. I just wanted to know the reason why he spent so much time on that matter but there was no real progress. He told me seriously that  they needed to follow the system and procedure in America, that was the American way. I have not been able to find my bag until now, I just got some compensation. I acknowledge that I should be blamed for this thing and I need to take most of the responsibility because of my negligence. But I do wonder why their could not handle a problem or situation quickly and efficiently. In my opinion, we may suffer heavy losses in that low efficiency. I do not know whether or not that “American way” is common in the United States. It really makes me annoyed.

One thing I do not like in America(Becky)

One thing I dislike in America is that it is very dangerous for you to be outside along after sunset. My roommate reminded me of that for several times. One of my friend even defined American evening as “another world”. I do not like that because it will shorten your time being outside and make it very inconvenient for you to get back home in the evening. I experienced it once when my friends and I went back at Berkeley Bart station at night, carrying goods. Although we were five people together, we still felt frightened to be robbed. Fortunately there is Bearwalk in UC Berkeley! Thanks to two Bearwalkers, we arrived at our apartments safely that night. For me, asking friends or Bearwalkers to walk you back is wasting others time and makes me feel compunctious.

What I don't like in America (Masha)

It took me time to decide what to write, because I like America and american way of living. Okey, the most things in America. Finally I thought out one thing about the Bay Area. I do not like public transportation here. It's good where it exists. But there are a lot of places which you can not reach without a car. But I came only for summer, I haven't a car here. What should I do? For example, when I go to San Mateo to my relatives, they have to meet me from BART or Caltrain. Of course it's doable: you can rent a car with your friend, attend some kinds of organized excursion or ask someone who lives here to meet you somewhere. But I think it would be more practical if you could go anywhere by some kind of public transportation.

The worst thing in America for Rebecca

The worst thing for me in American is absolutely food here. Before coming to Berkeley, I was really looking forward to eating the orthodox American hamburgers, hot dogs and pizzas, and I often liked to eat in Pizza Hut when I was in China.  But after I arrived here and ate pizza and fast food constantly for a few days, I am now really miss Chinese cuisine in my hometown! I really miss the MapoTofu, braised eggplant, hot pot and lots of snacks. Although  there is a big kitchen in our house here in which we can buy vegetables and meat back and cook by ourselves, or we can choose to eat in Chinese restaurants here, I still find the taste a little wired. I even want to open a Chongqing hot pot here! Oh I am homesick now. Maybe I still need more time to get used to it haha.

What I don't like about America (Julia)

For me is the worst thing in America the tax. You think you buy a nice shirt for the price on the price tag, but actually it's about 10 percent more. This is really annoying because I am not used to it and it's still a surprise for me when I'm on the counter and want to pay. But I read Kevin wrote about this issue, so I thought about other things and what really annoys me are drivers or how most of the people drive here! This is probably because Germans nit-pick but most of the drivers don't use blinker at all! That drives me crazy. You have no idea what happens next or especially on the highway most drivers change lanes without blinking at all. So my conclusion so far is that Americans are probably not the best or safest drivers in the world, but maybe this is just because I'm not used to the way they drive here.

The thing I don't like in the U.S.(massy)

I don't like the foods in the U.S.. Not the taste, but the amount of the food.

In Japan, there is a word "Mottainai". We use this word when we are wasting something, for example time, food, money, and so on. We (not everyone, but at least I) regard wasting the foods is a bad thing, so we are often required to eat them all. 

But in the U.S., the foods served by restraunt often beyond my capacity of stomach, so sometimes I can't help leaving the dishes unfinished. Everytime I feel so sorry about wasting foods, and I often wish if the foods served in the U.S. were smaller. If the dishes were smaller and the price of the food was cheaper instead, it would work very well.

So I don't like the amount of the foods in the U.S.. Mottainai!!!!

One thing I dislike in America.(Hill)

  One thing I dislike in America is transportation fee. I have been America for 3 weeks and I have gone to SF for many times. I find that the bart and the bus fee is expensive, for example, if I take bart to union square, I should pay almost 4 dollars and if I take bus in SF, the cheapest bus take 2 dollars. So, I think it is very expensive compared to my city. In my city, the longest metro route fee is just less than 1 dollar and if I have bus card, the bus fee is only less than 1 dime. Because our city government donates a lot of money to the transportation, I can enjoy such a cheap price. So, the transportation fee in America is very expensive for me.

One thing I don't like about the USA (Ashley)

One thing I don't like about America is the stores. They are closing a little bit early for me. In my hometown, most stores stay open until 9 o'clock so my friends and I usually go to get things we want after dinner. So I don't usually think about if there is anything I need to get today until dinner time. But most stores are closed after dinner and I cannot get the things I want. Sometimes those things are important to my homework. Now I'm getting used to think about going to the stores before it's too late, but I'm still really confused about why stores do not open until 8 or 9 o'clock in the evening.

The thing I don't like in the US (Kevin)

The most annoying thing for me in the US is that we have to pay some tips. In Taiwan, we don't need to give tips to the clerk after finishing our meals. All we have to do is pay the money shown on the bill. However, there's a huge difference in the US. The final price not only includes the tax, but also some tips. If I ordered a 10$ combo, I might have to pay 15$ for my meal. This unwritten dictate is everywhere in this country. Everything in the US is expensive for a student like me. Without income, we have to do our best to save money as hard as we can. For me, the culture of tips is unfriendly for some international students, but I believe I can get used to it day by day.

The thing I dislike in the U.S. (Daniel)

     The thing I dislike in the U.S. is that I have to enter my room with my shoes.  This is probably not just limited to the U.S., but I always wear off my shoes before I entered my room in Japan.  That is Japanese custom and I think it can keep my room cleaner.  Also, I think I can be relaxed without shoes in my room, so I brought a pair of slippers for my room and I always change into the slippers.  When I watch a movie, there is one scene that a person who wears his shoes is relaxed in his bed, but I can't do that.  If I had been born and grown up in the U.S., I wouldn't have cared about shoes.  Of course I can accept this American culture, but it is difficult to put it into practice.  

Homework for 7/24 by Kris

1.Review for the quiz next week, including vocabulary, grammar, reading materials and so on.

2.Read Cannery Row from chapter 7 to 9.

3.Write a blog post individually about one thing you dislike or feel annoyed at in the USA,mainly focus on personal things rather than government issues,for example, things happened in Berkeley or Oakland.

Have a good weekend,see you next week!

Talking about the future...

Here are things I heard in your conversations about this weekend. Some are very typically said, others are possible but not so common and others are not typically said in English. Please look at each and decide if they are ‘good’, ‘possible’ or ‘not said’.

On Friday I’ll go to San Francisco

…so you just arrive and look around?

It might be closed on Sunday

Maybe the next year I’ll be very busy

It’s more close to LA

I had tickets, but I won’t go there / I had tickets, but I’m not going to the match (present continuous with fixed future plans)

I still haven’t decided, but I’ll probably go to…

Massie will go to Seattle and will appreciate beautiful….

Rebecca and I will go to the Madrid/Inter game

Our seat will be on the 18^th lines

Becky is going to prepare for her exam

Kevin is going to stay home

I have planned to go to Napa from Friday to Sunday

I’m going to NASA so I’m going to miss the match…

My teacher told me I should to see jellyfish

The three most common structures to talk about the future are:

will

express willingness

predictions

spontaneous decisions (decide now)

offers/ requests

be going to

plan to do something

intentions (less certain)

present continuous

fixed plans, high certainty

maybe/might/may

when your not very sure of what you will do 

OLD WEST LEGENDS (The Donner Party Tragedy)

Vocabulary:

to be eager to do something - to be keen or motivated to do something
a doom - a terrible fate, a catastrophe, a disaster
an arduous journey- an onerous or hard journey

(Julia)

1.This new route enticed travelers.....
entice- to attract by exiting desire; allure; inveigle;

2.Sarah Keyes was so sick with consumption that....
consumption- tuberculosis of the lung

3.....less than adequate for the 600 mile trek still ahead
trek- to travel or migrate, especially slowly or with difficulty.

(kenny)

1.It was this falsified information that...
falsifiy---spread the completely different information

2.the position was assumed by a man named...
assume---be responsible to, or control something

3.the disillusioned party's resentment of...
disillusioned---disappointed

(Massy)


1.shortcut
A quicker way of getting somewhere than the usual route.

2.run into
Meet someone unexpectedly.

3.moist
Something is slightly wet.

(Hill)


The terrible ordeals of caravan continued to mount

ordeal- an experience that is very painful , difficult 

mount- to increase in amount or level

to recruit more men and supplies for the rescue

recruit- to persuade someone to become a new member of an organization
(Tim)


The first relief party soon left with 23 refugees.
refugee-an exile who flees for safety

They retraced their steps...
retrace-to go back over again

Morale began to sink...
morale- the spirit of a group that makes the members want the group to succeed

(Guo)

The letter successfully allayed any fears that…

allay: lessen the intensity of fair

Here they came to a halt when they found a note from…

halt: stop moving in the direction they were going .

James Reed, along with two other men forged ahead on horses to catch up with Hastings.

forge ahead: accelerate and go ahead
(Becky)



1.two wagons became entangled...
entangled-(adj) something become caught or twisted firmly with something such as rope, wire, or net.
2.vote to banish him...
banish-(verb) sent away someone from a place or area of activity and prevent the person from entering it again. It is a kind of punishment.
3.caching their provisions in Bear Valley...
provision-(noun) when it is in the plural form, it means supplies of food and drink, especially for a long journey.
(Song)


1.sentence:What they didn't know was that the desert sand was moist and deep,where wagons quickly got bogged down.
to be/get bogged down---cause to get stuck as if in a mire

2.sentence:When they finally reached the end of the grueling desert five days later.
grueling---physically or mentally demanding to the point of exhaustion.

3.sentence:Ominously, snow powdered the mountain peaks that very night.
ominously---something which is menacing and threatening
(Kris)

1. Many of those who survived lost toes to frostbite.
to injure by frost or extreme cold.
2. were soon stranded in a blinding snow to be left in a dangerous place
3. the others resorted to cannibalism.
eating people's flesh.

( Kevin)

1.As the disillusionment of the party increased,tempers began to flare in the group.
flare-to make something shiny.In the text,it means the imagination of tempers brought by the disillusionment of the party is haunting in people's head.

2.caravan-a large group of travelers.

3.The very next day(very)-use this word "very" to emphasize time when something noticeable happened.

Esther.

1. In nine brand new wagons, the group estimated the trip would take four months to cross the plains, deserts, mountain ranges and rivers in their quest for California.

Quest — a long search for something that is difficult to find

2. In the bottom of Jacob Donner's saddlebag was a copy of Lansford Hasting's Emigrant Guide, with its tantalizing talk of a faster route to the garden of the earth.

Tantalizing — making you feel a desire to have or do something

3. Having traveled an extra 125 miles through strenuous mountain terrain and dry desert, the disillusioned party's resentment of Hastings, and ultimately, Reed, was increased tremendously.

Strenuous — needing a lot of effort or strength

(Ashley)


1. Virginia dubbed it "The Pioneer Palace Car".
-to give something or someone a particular name, especially describing what you think of them
2. save the pioneers 350-400 miles on easy terrain.
-an area of land, when considering its natural features
3. passed south of the Great Salt Lake instead of detouring northwest via Fort Hall
- a different or indirect route to a place, that is used to avoid a problem or to visit somewhere or do something

(Addison)

crack their whips - hit animals with a strip of leather
jumping-off point - a place from which to start a journey
cling to - stick to something

(Daniel)

hastily - quickly, rashly;
chisel - point-tool for working with wood;
bias - opinion based on prejudice

(Masha)

1.It was this falsified information that would let lead to the doom of the Donner Party.
Doom is a terrible future state or event which you cannot prevent.

2.Taking eight oxen to pull the luxurious wagon, Reed's 12-year-old daughter Virginia dubbed it "The Pioneer Palace Car".
An ox is a bull that has been castrated. Oxen are used in some countries for pulling vehicles or carrying things.

3.Taking eight oxen to pull the luxurious wagon, Reed's 12-year-old daughter Virginia dubbed it "The Pioneer Palace Car".
Someone who is referred to pioneer in a particular area of activity is one of the first people to be involved in it and develop it.

(Jeremy)

Tantalizing: if someone or something tantalizes you, they make you feel hopeful and excited about getting what you want, usually before disappointing, usually before disappointing you by not letting you have what they appeared to offer.

Dub: give the description or name of something.

Flare: Something such as troubles, violence or conflict starts or becomes more violent.

(Rebecca)