Freshman English

Word Power Made Easy Unit 15, 16

nobody@vox.com(Debby the TA) — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 15:35:37 +0800

simulo: to copy

similis: like or similar

simulate (v.): copy the real thing
dissimulate (v.): hide one's true feelings by making a pretense of opposite feelings

e-: out

nervus: nerve

enervate (v.): exhaust

en-: in

ergon: work

energy (n.)

syn-: together or with

synergism (n.): in the process by which two or more substances or drugs, by working together, produce a greater effect by combination

castigate: punish

castigate (v.): scold, criticize, rebuke, censure

ab-:away

nego-: not, no

self-abnegation (n.): self-denial
negate (v.): to deny the truth or existence of something

coput, capitis: head

captain (n.): the head of any group
capital (n.): the "head city"

capitulum: a little head-->the title or headings of a chapter

recapitulate (v.): summarize or review the main points

vegeto: to live and grow

vegetate (v.): to do no more than stay alive, leading an inactive,unstimulating, emotionally and intellectually stagnate existence

intimus: innermost

intimation (n.): a significance buried in the innermost core

levis: light

ad-: to

alleviate (v.): to make lighter

re-: again

relieve (v.): to make light or easy

e-, ex-: out

elevate (v.): to raise up

miser: wretched

con-: together or with

commiserate (v.): to share one's misery, to sympathize

vacillo: to swing back and forth

vacillate (v.): to waver

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-ous: full of
sequor: to follow

obsequious (adj.): to act excessively courteous, pleasant, obliging, even subservient and humble

obsequies (n.): the mourners "follow after the corpse"-->burial ceremonies

subsequent (adj.): one that follows another

sequal (n.): a literary work that follows another, continuing the same story

sequence (n.): in order, one item following another

queror: to complain

querulous (adj.): one who is full of complaints, constantly nagging

cilium: eyelid
super: above

supercilious (adj.): someone who constantly raises their eyebrows in disdain, contempt, and sneering arrogance

strepo: to make a noise

obstreperous (adj.): one who is unruly, boisterous, resistant to authority, unmanageable--and in a noisy, troublesome manner

pecus: cattle

impecunious (adj.): one without penus-->destitute, lack of money, habitually lack of cash

percuniary (adj.): pertaining to money

cheval: horse

chivalrous (adj.): a modern man who has a knightly attitude to women

noceo: to injure

innocuous (adj.): someone who causes no fear and is harmless

noxious (adj.): harmful, poisonous, unwholesome

bibo: to drink

bibulous (adj.): one who has an overfondness for drinks with a pronounced alcoholic content

imbibe (v.): to drink in, soak up, absorb

bib (n.): upper part of an apron, or an apronlike napkin tied around a child's neck

cado: to fall

cadaverous (adj.): someone who looks like a corpse, who is pale, gaunt, thin, haggard...

cadavar (n.): a corpse

de-: down

decadent (adj.): "falling down"--> something that is deteriorating, becoming corrupt or demoralized

doleo: to suffer or grieve

dolorous (adj.): one who is mournful and sad, whose melancholy comes from physical pain or mental distress

dolor (n.): a poetic synonym of grief

con-:together

condole (v.): to suffer or grieve with

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Human Behavior

nobody@vox.com(Debby the TA) — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 19:10:47 +0800

This post is about the information of non-verbal communication such as hand gestures, body language, and facial expressions you can find on the Internet.

The links below are from Wikipedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_language
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gesture
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facial_expression
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_gestures

800px-BlackSabbath

One gesture I'd like to share with you is "corna". When I attended rock concerts, the audience usually raised their hands and used this gesture to show their appreciation of the performance. I pulled it out just as everyone else did but never understood its meaning until a while ago. It's actually a devil sign! I should've known! Then again, rock music is rebellious, and I don't get to use a devil sign on other occasions. Rock on!

You can also talk about a gesture/expression that is commonly known as one meaning but interpreted differently in a certain culture. Please see the video below.

When YES means NO

Another option is to elaborate on one common gesture/expression that people often use but annoys you. For instance, I feel uncomfortable when people clear their throats. It is merely a pet peeve.

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Word Power Made Easy Unit 12, 14

nobody@vox.com(Debby the TA) — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 14:55:30 +0800

vivo: to live

vivacious (adj.): full of joy of living

vivid (adj.): possessing the freshness of life; strong; sharp

revive (v.): bring back to life

convivo: to live together

convivial (adj.): the kind of person who likes to attend feasts and banquets

vita: life

vital (adj.): essential to life

vitamin (n.): one of the many nutritional elements on which life is depended

fatigue (n.): tiredness

indefatigable (adj.): unable to be fatigued

ingenuous (adj.): frank, open

ingenious (adj.): shred; clever; inventive

credo: to believe

credulous (adj.): a willingness to believe in almost anything or full of believingness

gullible (adj.): easily tricked

credo (n.): personal belief

creed (n.): a religious belief

credentials (n.): a document or documents proving a person’s right to a title or privilege

specto: to look

spectacle (n.): something or someone seen

spectator (n.): a close observer; audience

inspect (v.): to observe carefully

retrospect (v.): to look into the past

punctus: point

punctuate (v.): put points between sentences

punctual (adj.): right on the point of time

perspicacious (adj.): smart, sharp, able to look through and understand

prospect (n.): a forward look

verto, versus: to turn

versatile (adj.): people who can turn their hands to things easily

stoical (adj.): people who bear their pain or sorrow without complaint

trepido: to tremble

intrepid (n.): courage and fearlessness

trepidation (n.): great fear

scintilla: a quick, bright spark

scintillate (v.): the idea that the spark remains

urbs: city

urbane (adj.): the adjective of city-dwellers (refined, polished, courteous)

urban (adj.): an adjective that simply refers to cities

suburb (n.): residential sections or small communities close to a large city

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penuria: need, neediness

penurious (adj.) stingy, niggardly

parsimonious (adj.) stingy (not as much as a penurious person)

indigent (adj.) not absolutely penniless, but they are forced to live in reduced circumstances

destitute (adj.) on the verge of starvation

ad-: forward

fluo: flow

affluent (adj.) more than comfortable, prosperous
fluent (adj.): the words flow smoothly
opulent (adj.): greater wealth than affluence, suggesting lavish expenditures and ostentatiously luxurious surroundings

vicarious (adj.) second-hand

ephemera: dayfly (one short-lived creature)

ephemeral (adj.): unenduring

e-: out

vanesco: to vanish

-esce: begin to

evanescent (adj.): fleeting; staying for a short period of time and vanishing

eu-: good

pheme: voice

euphemism: a word or expression that has been substituted for another that is likely to offend

phone: sound

euphony: good sound

logos: word or speech

eulogy: good speech
euphoria: good feeling, a sense of mental buoyancy and physical well-being

badinage (n.): half-teasing, non-malicious, frivolous banter, intended to amuse rather than wound
cliche (n.): a pattern of words which was once new and fresh but which now is so old, worn, and threadbare that only unimaginative writers and speakers ever use it

platys: broad or flat

plateau (adj.): flat land
plate, platter (n.): flat dishes
platitude (n.): a flat statement, similar to cliche

bovis: ox or cow

bovine (adj.): stolid, patient, unexcitable

notos: a return

algos: pain

nostalgia: pain stirred by memory storing pleasant experiences of the past

kakos: bad, harsh

phone: sound

cacophony (n.): unmusical, grating, ear-offending noises

carnis: flesh

voro: to devour

carnivorous (adj.): meat-eating
carnival (n.): outdoor activity with games, rides, side shows, and lots of food
carnage (n.): great destruction of life
carnal (adj.): pleasure or appetites of the flesh rather than the spirit-->lecherous, lascivious...
reincarnation (n.): rebirth or reappearance

herba: herb

herbivorous (adj.): subsisting on grains, grasses, and other vegetation

omnis-: all

omnivorous (adj.): eating everything, meat, grasses, fish, insects, and anything else digestible.

potens, potentis: powerful

potential: possessing ability or power not yet exercised
omnipotent (adj.): all-powerful

sciens: knowing

omniscient (adj.): all-knowing
omnipresent (adj.): present in all places at once

clam: secretly

clandestine (adj.): secretly, stealthy

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List of Podcasts

nobody@vox.com(Debby the TA) — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 10:51:21 +0800

EnglishPod: Learn Business English with Daily MP3 Podcasts (Level: Elementary--Advanced)

nEnglish as a Second Language Podcast

nThe Bob and Rob Show (Level: Advanced)

nPodcasts in English (Level: 1-4)

nFun English Lessons (Level: Intermediate)

nThe Word Nerds (Level: Advanced)

nGrammar Girl: Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing (Elementary)

nKids Audio Stories (Elementary)

nPodcast directory

nhttp://www.podcastdirectory.com/

nhttp://www.podcast.net/

http://www.apple.com/itunes/store/podcasts.html

Most media companies have their own podcasts. You can go to the websites of Discovery, Disney, BBC, CNN, etc. to find out more.

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2nd Semester Course Syllabus

nobody@vox.com(Debby the TA) — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 07:57:16 +0800

National Tsing Hua University

FL102003 Freshman English II Syllabus 2008 Spring

Course Code Number: FL 100205 Instructor: Hsien-Chin Liou 劉顯親

E-mail: hcliu@mx.nthu.edu.tw TEL: 03-57-42709

Class hours: Wednesdays & Fridays 10:10 a.m. – 12:00 noon Classroom: C412

Office hours: R 9-11am, F 8:30-9:30am; other time, make an appointment with me in advance Office: 人社院 B517

Textbook: Mosiac I: Reading, Writing (2007 edition)

Goals: Integrated skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing to prepare students for college English demand.

Requirements & Rules:

1. Class attendance, lesson preparation and active class participation are required.

2. Absence from a class is no excuse for not knowing the assignment and what has been discussed in that class. It is your responsibility to ask your classmates or me what has been covered in the class.

3. Cheating on the exam is absolutely not permitted. If someone is found cheating on an exam, it means he/she will get a zero point for that exam.

4. There will be no make-up exams unless you have valid and official reasons for absence beforehand.

The handouts I give you should be kept at least to the end of this semester for later reference or final exam.
Please turn off your cell phone during the two-hour class period.
Keep quiet when the instructor or some student(s) are talking or presenting on the platform.

Grading:

Attendance and participation – 10% (if one is absent 6 times from this course in this semester, one fails in this course; absent twice, 1 point lost; absent 3 times, 3 points lost; 4 times, 5 points lost; 5 times, 8 points lost)

Midterm exam – 17%

Final exam – 18%

Online writing assignments – 20% (blogging) late more than one week, one gets zero in that assignment

3 Vocab quizzes – 18%

Speaking activities (+podcasting) 17%

Lab sessions: 2/29, 3/28, 4/18, 5/2, 5/23 (postcasting, and blogging)

Wednesday 2/20	Orientation, Textbook: reading—chapter 6: money matters	Friday 2/22	Ch6 writing: money matters
2/27	Vocab quiz; Reading: ch6 cont’d	2/29 Lab	Podcasting/Writing assignment 1 “Success in ____ business” (p. 117)
3/5	Supplementary materials (補充教材) “college pressure”	3/7	Meaning of college education, cont’d
3/12	Reading ch7 remarkable individuals	3/14	Writing: ch7 remarkable individuals
3/19	homework	3/21	homework
3/26	First speaking activity; ch7	3/28 Lab	Writing assignment 2, “A leader I admire” (p. 138) or “An ideal leader for Taiwan of 2012”
4/2, 4	SPRING	BREAK
4/9	Reading ch8 creativity	4/11	Writing Ch8 creativity
4/16	MID-TERM EXAM	4/18 Lab	writing assignment 3, a creative person/project (p. 156)
4/23	Reading ch9 human behavior	4/25	Vocab quiz (units 12, 13, 14);Writing Ch9 human behavior
4/30	Reading ch9 cont’d	5/2 Lab	Writing assignment 4, p. 181 Nonverbal behavior+ media for illustration
5/7	Reading—ch 10: crime and punishment	5/9	writing ch10 crime & punishment
5/14	Reading ch10 cont’d	5/16	Speaking activities; Writing 10 cont’d
5/21	Reading ch10	5/23 Lab	Writing assignment 5, Summary/reaction essay OR for/against crime/punishment, p. 204
5/28	Supplementary materials, “Cultural patterns and rhetoric”	5/30	Cont’d
6/4	Cont’d	6/6	“How ideas affect us”
6/11	Vocabulary Quiz units 15, 16	6/13	FINAL EXAM

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Word Power Made Easy Unit 8, 10,11

nobody@vox.com(Debby the TA) — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 18:23:28 +0800

taceo—to be silent

taciturn (adj.): silent, uncommunicative, reserved… permanently, habitually disinclined to talk

tacit (adj.): unspoken, unsaid (e.g. a tacit understanding)

reticent (adj.): prefers to be silent

loquor: to speak

loquacious: love to talk

soliloquy: a speech to oneself

ventriloquist: someone excelling at “speaking from the belly” (venter, ventris, belly)

colloquial: suitable to everyday conversation (when people speak together)

eloquent: expressive, fluent, or persuasive in language (e-, from ex-, out)

Laconia: the old name for Sparta, where the people were known for their economy of speech

laconic (adj.): concise, economical in the use of words almost to the point of curtness

verbose (adj.): too many words

verbum: word

verbal (adj.): verb, or words in general

volvo, volutes: to roll

voluble (adj.): words effortlessly roll off the speaker’s tongue

garrulous (adj.): to chatter (garrio, to chatter)

revolve (v.): roll again and again, or keep turning around (e.g. the earth revolves around the sun)

revolution (n.): complete rollingàa radical change of any sort

involve (v.): to “roll in”

evolve (v.): to “roll out”àto unfold, or gradually develop

cogent (adj.) clear and logical

vox, vocis: voice

fero: to bear or carry

vociferous: carrying a lot of voiceàloud, noisy

somnus: sleep

insomnia: the inability to fall asleep

articulus: a joint

inarticulate: have trouble joining words together coherently

Jean Martinet: a strict general

martinet (n.): someone asks an excessive, inhuman discipline from others

sykon: fig

phanein: to show

sycophant (n.): someone who uses flattery, servile attentions, or any other form of insinuating themselves into someone’s good graces

dilettare: to delight

dilettante (n.): someone who engage in a personal interest purely for amusement

virtuoso (n.) anyone who has developed consummate skill in an artistic field, especially music

vir: man

virago: a masculine woman

Nicolas Chauvin: a general who blindly worshipped Napoleon Bonaparte

chauvinist (n.): an exaggerated and blatant patriot

pater, patris: father

patriotic (adj.): to love one’s country

patrimony (n.): an inheritance from one’s father (-mony, money)

paternity (n.): fatherfood

patriarch (n.): a venerable, fatherly old man

patricide (n.) the killing of one’s father (-cide, to kill)

mater, matris: mother

matriarch (n.): the “mother-ruler”

maternity (n.): motherhood

matron (n.): an older woman

matrimony (n.): marriage

matricide (n.): the killing of one’s mother

-cide: to kill

suicide (n.): killing oneself (sui-, of oneself)

fratricide (n.): killing one’s brother (frater, fratris, brother)

sororicide (n.) killing one’s sister (soror, sister)

homicide (n.): the killing of human beings

infanticide (n.): the killing of a newborn child (infant)

genocide (n.): the killing of a whole race or a nation (genos, race, kind)

frater, fratris: brother

fraternal (adj.): brotherly

fraternity (n.): a men’s organization in a high school or college

sorority (n.): a women’s organization in a high school or college

monos: one

mania (n.): madness

monomaniac (n.): someone who develops an abnormal obsession in respect to one particular thing

phobia: morbid dread or fear

claustrophobia (n.): morbid dread of being physically hemmed in, of enclosed spaces, of crowds, etc.

eikon: a religious image

klaein: to break

iconoclast (n.): someone who sneers at convention and tradition

theos: God

atheist: someone who doesn’t believe in God and denies his existence

gnostos: known

a-: negative prefix

agnostic: someone who considers it impossible to determine whether God exists or not

diagnosis: knowing through examination or testing (dia-, through)

lechier: to lick

lecher (n.): someone obsessed with sexual activities

lecherous (adj.)

=libidinous (adj.)

=lascivious (adj.): wanton

=licentious (adj.)

=lewd (adj.): vile

=lustful (adj.)

hypo: under

chondros: the cartilage of the breastbone

hypochondria (n.): someone who is morbidly, unceasingly, and unhappily anxious about health

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Guidelines of How to Evaluate Visual Essays

nobody@vox.com(Debby the TA) — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 10:59:40 +0800

Text:

1. Is the advertisement well-designed? Are the descriptions of the product attractive to you?

2. Does the headline match with the product?

3. Are the advantages of the product, such as its price, innovation, convenience, and so on, highlighted in the advertisement?

4. Are there grammatical mistakes o

r inappropriate words in the advertisement?

Text with Pictures, Videos, Audios

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Fly in your personal sky!

nobody@vox.com(Debby the TA) — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 15:29:52 +0800

Psky

Tired of buying plane tickets and waiting in airports? Now you can buy a personal airplane with the price of a car! A robot will drive the plane for you so that you can look lazily out of the window during your plane ride or take a nap. You will reach your desired destination in no time. Most importantly, it's safe, comfortable, and convenient.

For more information, please visit personalsky.com
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Useful links:

Engadget
Firefox advertisement
How to write an ad

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This is irrelevant. You can download the ppt for Unit 6, 7, and 9 of the vocabulary book here.

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