Reaching New Depths (2)

• Hand signals

To my surprise, the three-day training period proved to be anything but a disaster. Our lessons involved three parts. First, an instructor introduced us to all of the scuba equipment as well as the hand signals for communicating underwater. This part wrapped up with a test to make sure we understood what we had just learned. 

Next, we headed to a swimming pool where we practiced breathing techniques. We began at the pool's surface. Each new technique we practiced allowed us to go deeper in the water. Eventually, we made it to the bottom of the pool.

On day three, we took all of our new knowledge to the ocean! After suiting up in all our equipment, we followed our instructor's lead into the water. We made sure to follow each step of the process carefully. Before I knew it, I was really scuba diving!

An attitude for life
I hovered above the ocean floor as all kinds of fish swam by. I felt gladness for the opportunity to literally discover new depths. With Doris' words still ringing in my ears, I knew the experience gave me a new attitude for life.


Language Lab
instructor n.
a person who teaches a subject or skill : someone who instructs people
- Ellen works as a part-time aerobics instructor at a nearby gym.
- The karate instructor is quite famous and has many students in his studio.
instruct v.
to teach (someone) a subject, skill, etc.  — usually + in or on
- The passengers were instructed to stay in their seats until the airplane came to a complete stop.

wrap up v.
a brief statement that gives the most important information about what has happened or been done      : summary
- After five hours of discussion, the meeting finally wrapped up around 5 p.m.
- Alex wrapped up his speech and headed home right afterwards.
wrap up
- Alison wrapped up the gift in beautiful silver and gold paper.

suit up v.
to put on a uniform or special clothing
- The players suited up in their new uniforms for today's game.
- The passengers all suited up in life jackets before getting into the rubber boat.
- Tina got her son suited up for the bike ride with a helmet, elbow pads and knee pads.

hover v.
to float in the air without moving in any direction
- The helicopter was hovering over the area trying to locate the missing mountaineers.
to stay very close to a person or place
- The girl hovered outside the classroom waiting to talk to the teacher when he emerged.


Info Cloud
info cloud: sink or swim 不成功便成仁

Hello friends and welcome to info cloud. Joe and I were just talking about his experience of getting into graduate school in Taipei.

Yes, it was really sink or swim. If I didn’t pass the entrance exam, I couldn’t attend the program.

I like the phrase you used to describe your experience, sink or swim.

This is a great expression to use when you want to say that there are only two choices, failure or success.

The phrase is especially used when talking about a single person’s effort deciding the end result of something.

Right. Imagine, a person jumping into a pool of water, they only have two choices. They can either do nothing and sink to the bottom of the pool or they can start to swim in the water.

So to use this phrase, someone might talk about a situation a person is facing and then to describe it as sink or swim.

Life is hard, sometimes, it’s just sink or swim.

From this sentence, I can know that the speaker means some situations in life are a matter of failure or success with very little in between.

When you are facing a sink-or-swim situation, focus on doing your best in those situations you can only control the effort not the result.

Reaching New Depths (1)

It’s never too late to learn something new

• It's never too late to learn
• You can't teach an old dog new tricks

During my job interview for Studio Classroom, the magazine's founder and Editor-in-Chief, Doris Brougham, stressed the importance of learning new things. "Life is full of challenges," she said. "But a willingness to learn something new gives people the right attitude for overcoming obstacles. It's never too late to learn something new." This is our attitude at Studio Classroom. 

Learning to scuba dive
One life experience that helped foster in me this willingness to try new things was learning to scuba dive.

Doris made a plan for a group of us to learn together. You may have heard the expression, "You can't teach an old dog new tricks." Now I'm not calling myself an "old dog" quite yet. But I certainly had my doubts about trying scuba diving for the first time as a 30-year- old. I thought, "How can I swim wearing all of the scuba gear? What if something goes wrong, and I can't breathe? How can I signal to other divers if there's a problem?" Worries like these caused me to panic. I was struck with an overpowering feeling of fear.


Language Lab
founder n.
a person who creates or establishes something that is meant to last for a long time (such as a business or school): a person who founds something
- The monument commemorates the national founders.
- The founders of the biochemical company were three college friends.
founder v.
to experience failure: to be unsuccessful: fail
- The deal foundered over a disagreement on prices.

willingness n.
not refusing to do something: ready — followed by to + verb
- In order to work as a team, the willingness to listen to each other is a must.
- The success of the merger is due to the willingness of both parties to compromise.
- Even though Tom is a senior employee, he still shows a strong willingness to take on new assignments.

scuba n. 自攜式水中呼吸器；水肺
a sport or activity in which you swim underwater using an air tank and a special breathing machine that you strap on your body
- Pamela learned how to scuba dive when she was 12.
- Eric went scuba diving in Hawaii last summer.
- A scuba diver found a piece of the wreckage of the airplane.
wreckage n.
the broken parts of a vehicle, building, etc., that has been badly damaged or destroyed

snorkeling n.
a special tube that makes it possible to breathe while you are swimming with your head underwater
- The beach is perfect for scuba diving, snorkeling and all kinds of water activities.

foster v.
to help (something) grow or develop
- Sophia's parents foster her interest in music by playing various genres of music at home.
- The teacher designed her curriculum and classroom to foster student's learning.
to provide the care that a parent usually gives to a child: to be or become the foster parent of a child
- The couple have fostered over twenty kids in the past five years.


Info Cloud

Topic: oxymoron 矛盾修飾法 /ˌɑːksɪˈmoɚˌɑːn/

Welcome to info cloud, friends. Today I’d like to start by asking Rex about how you deal with stress. You told us about playing it cool but do you have any other advice for us?

Sure, Joe. The truth is the best way to play it cool is to expect the unexpected. You need to prepare yourself be ready for anything.

Woo, that’s not easy. But you have a good point. You have to plan for unexpected problems. Now friends, Rex’s advice isn’t oxymoron.

That’s right. I suppose it isn’t actually possible to expect something that is unexpected. If you expect something, it obviously can be unexpected.

And that’s exactly why it’s an oxymoron. An oxymoron is a phrase or expression that contradicts itself.

The word oxymoron comes from Greek. Oxy came from a word meaning sharp or keen and moron meant dull or foolish.

Thus, a rough translation for oxymoron would be sharp dull, complete opposite. Rex, can you think of any more oxymorons?

Sure, how about never say never? If someone says “they’ll never say never” well, they already said it.

Some other common examples of oxymoron would be phrases like a small crowd, an impossible solution, or my personal favorite, and unbiased opinion.

- expect the unexpected
- never say never

Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2020 (2)

• Milan and Paris

• Glamour

Milan

Momentum continues building in the fashion world as Fashion Week moves to Milan on September 17th. This beautiful Italian city is home to some of the biggest fashion houses and designers in the fashion world, including Armani and Prada. While Paris has long been known for fashion, it wasn't until the 20th century that Milan became known as a new fashion capital. If one word can describe Milan's fashion style, it's "glamour," as Milan's fashion houses are known for offering glamorous, yet practical, options.

Paris

The chaotic month of fashion makes its way to France as Paris Fashion Week begins on September 23rd. Saving the best for last, Paris never fails to offer some of the most exciting shows of the season. 

World- famous labels like Chanel and Dior try to outdo one another with their latest designs. The two words that best describe Paris Fashion Week are "elegant" and "extravagant."

Each fashion week takes on the personality of its home city and differs from the other fashion weeks to some degree. Yet they all have one thing in common: This month, they will each have a chance to define and introduce spring and summer's newest fashion trends.

Language Lab
momentum n. 動力；推動力
/moʊˈmɛntəm/
the strength or force that something has when it is moving
- To keep the momentum of the project, our team meets twice a week for discussion.
- The student movement rapidly gained momentum and spread throughout campuses around the country.
physics: the property that a moving object has due to its mass and its motion
- The car's momentum increased when it went downhill.

glamour n. 魅力，誘惑力；迷人的美；妖豔
/ˈglæmɚ/
a very exciting and attractive quality
- The glamour of Paris was well portrayed in this movie.
- The designer's new collection is very feminine and full of glamour.
glamorous adj. 富有魅力的；迷人的
/ˈglæmərəs/
very exciting and attractive :full of glamour
- The movie star's glamorous gown received many positive comments on the Internet.

chaotic adj. 混亂的；雜亂無章的；無秩序的
/keɪˈɑːtɪk/
in a state of complete confusion or disorder
- The company's situation became chaotic after the CEO's sudden resignation.
- Samantha felt lost growing up in a chaotic family.
chaos n.
/ˈkeɪˌɑːs/
complete confusion and disorder : a state in which behavior and events are not controlled by anything
- The region was in complete chaos after the hurricane hit.

extravagant adj. 奢侈的；浪費的；放肆的；過度的，過分的
/ɪkˈstrævɪgənt/
more than is usual, necessary, or proper
- Movie stars and celebrities attended the event wearing extravagant outfits.
- When Rachel was rich, she often went on extravagant shopping sprees in Paris.
extravaganza n. 具有狂氣的作品/表演；狂妄的言行
- Tickets to this musical extravaganza sold out the first hour.


Info Cloud
Topic: like it’s going out of style

Hello everyone and welcome to info cloud. Today we are going to talk about expressions in English that come from the world of fashion.

You know it might sound strange to say, but I believe that fashion will never go out of style, by that I mean that fashion will always have a big impact.

When something goes out of style, it means that it’s no longer fashionable, where that people no longer do or use something in a certain way.

Some people say that being polite seems to be going out of style in our modern world of quick comments and text messages.

However, we want to draw your attention to, when we say we do something or use something, like it’s going out of style.

This means that we are going through something or using it very fast like we are trying to get rid of it.

When I was younger and bad with money, I used to spend money, like it was going out of style.

In this example, Rex means that he spent a lot of money like he was trying to get rid of it.

We can also use it in situations that mean that people are using or consuming something quickly like they are afraid that it is no longer going to be around.

Yesterday, I completely failed at dieting, I had one candy bar and the next thing I know, I was eating one after another like they were going out of style.

Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2020 (1)

“Fashion is instant language.” - Miuccia Prada

• New York
• London

If it's true that "fashion is instant language," then New York City (NYC) will be full of lively conversation as it hosts Spring/ Summer 2020's Fashion Week. NYC will be the first of four cities to play host, followed by London, Milan and Paris. 

The four locations are all fashion giants in their own unique ways and have earned the coveted title of the "Big Four" in the fashion world.

New York 
New York Fashion Week, or NYFW, kicks off on September 5th and runs for approximately eight days. NYFW is considered the most commercial and casual of the four. It is also the only event to allow some fashion school students to participate, bringing a fresh look to the runway.

London
London Fashion Week (LFW) comes on the heels of NYFW, starting on September 13th and running through September 17th. Once considered a minor player among the Big Four, LFM can now
command a roster of big names as well as promising new designers. Over 250 designers will display their creations before international audiences, including influential people from the worlds of media and retail. London fashion houses have a reputation for being very experimental and open to new ideas.


Language Lab
covet v. 垂涎；貪圖；渴望
/ˈkʌvət/
to want (something that you do not have) very much
- Lots of teens covet the lifestyle of Internet celebrities.
- Jerry has the salesmanship skills that businesses covet.
- An Oscar is one of the most coveted awards in showbiz.
- Mike found himself coveting his neighbor's new convertible.

kick off [phrasal verb]
to begin (something, such as a performance, an event, or a discussion)
to get started: begin
- The baseball tournament will kick off next Saturday in Denver.
- The candidate for governor kicked off his campaign in L.A. last Saturday.
開球
- After winning the coin toss, our team chose to kick off.
kickoff n.
a kick that starts play in a game (such as American football or soccer)
- People gathered along the streets waiting for the kickoff of the parade. 

on the heels of  緊接著
If something comes or follows close/hard/hot on something's heels or close/hard/hot on the heels of something, it happens very soon afterward.
- A major tsunami came on the heels of the earthquake.
- A happy summer vacation follows on the heels of final exams.
- The police were hard on the heels of the suspect when he attempted to attack another victim. 

roster n.
a list of the people or things that belong to a particular group, team, etc.
- Two new players were added to the baseball team's roster this seasons. 
- People were surprised that this popular band wasn't on the roster of the charity concert.
- George checked his duty roster and found out he doesn't have to work this weekend.


Info Cloud
stand on the shoulders of giants

- We are standing on the shoulders of giants.

Hello and welcome to info cloud. Today I want to talk about an old saying and what that means someone stands on the shoulders of giants.

This is an old saying that has been used in many contexts. But it has to come to mean that people aren’t solely responsible for their achievements.

In the world of science, it means discovering new things based on the work of great scientists of the past.

For example, what we understand about genes and the way they work is based off of the discovery of DNA.

Actually, that discovery involved different people over time. So current research into DNA is done on the shoulders or is building on the work of these giants.

If you think of the image of someone standing on someone else’s shoulders, that person can see much further into the distance.

Exactly! And that is why this phrase has also come to mean that people aren’t solely responsible for their great achievements.

Let’s say that I’m really impressed with Joe’s ability to coach people on ways to improve their public speaking.

Then, I can say I’m just standing on the shoulders of giants because what I know came from working with my mentors in my speaking club.

Share the Road (1)

However you travel, remember to be courteous

To get from one place to another, people choose different ways of traveling. To go short distances, some people simply walk. If they're heading a bit further, they may ride a bicycle. However, if convenience is someone's priority, then they'll probably ride a scooter or drive a car. Whether you walk, cycle or drive, it's important to follow the rules of the road. When people forget they're not the only ones on the road, things can get out of hand.

Nick, Lindsey and Dave express their opinions to one another as they find themselves in one such situation.

B: Hey! You're in my way!

A: Can't you see I'm crossing the street?

B: I'm turning left, and my light is green. You pedestrians think you can go whenever you want.

A: Well, I have the right of way. You didn't look for pedestrians just before you zipped out.

B: Well, my light is green.

A: So is mine. And you still should't drive so fast. This is a crowded area.


Language Lab
courteous adj. 有禮貌的
very polite in a way that shows respect
- Even though Susan was offended by the rude behavior of her friend, she remained courteous to him.
- Henry is a true gentleman, always courteous and considerate.
courtesy n. 禮貌
- It's important to show courtesy to your elders.

get out of hand 失去控制
- The company made a formal announcement of the change before speculation got out of hand.
- The outbreak of the disease got out of hand, and many were infected.
- The demonstration got out of hand, and police had to arrest the leaders to calm down the situation.

pedestrian n.
a person who is walking in a city, along a road, etc
- A pedestrian witnessed the motorcycle accident and called the police.
- On weekends, the whole district becomes a pedestrian zone.
- The car didn't stop at the pedestrian crossing and almost hit a girl.
pedestrian adj.
not interesting or unusual
- The actor's performance was described as "pedestrian" by the critic.

zip v.
to move or act very quickly
- We zipped past through immigration and the security check and were the last passengers to board the plane.
to close, open, or connect something with a zipper
- Nathan zipped up his jacket because it was getting cold.

Info Cloud
rocky road / royal road

Hello friends, welcome to info cloud. Many people dream of becoming professional singers or musicians, but I would imagine that journey is a very difficult one, isn’t it Rex?

It is indeed. For me in particular, I had to pour so much time, energy and money into countless hours practice, you also have to deal with a lot of emotional frustration. It definitely is a rocky road for most people.

That’s a great way to describe it. When we describe a process or journey to be a rocky road, it implies the person on it facing a lot of difficulty and trouble, just like traveling on a road that is very bumpy.

Being on a rocky road is not just uncomfortable, it is also very painful. We could use it to describe people who are struggling in certain areas of their lives.

For example, ever since her husband died, Sally has been going down a rocky road, meaning, life is very difficult.

On the other hand, if life has been easy and comfortable for some people, we could say they’re on a royal road.

The film has put the young actor on a royal road to fame. When someone is on a royal road, everything is very smooth and easy for them.

- He is going down a rocky road.

- He is on a royal road to success.

Share the Road (2)

A: It is. So let's get out of the street if you want to discuss this.

C: Excuse me, can the two of you please move. I want to get by.

A: Now I have to avoid being run over by a bicycle, too?

B: He's right! You are supposed to use the bike lane.

C: I certainly would if there weren't people walking in it.

A: That's no excuse not to follow the rules. Those pedestrians are just steering clear of all the reckless scooter drivers.

B: Sidewalks are for pedestrians!

C: Exactly. Plus, pedestrians have crosswalks which help people avoid accidents with vehicles.

A: I did use the crosswalk.

B: Maybe you did. But people jaywalk all the time.

A: What does that have to do with me?

B: So you never jaywalk?

C: I think the point is, people should think about others and not just themselves. Can't we all just share the road?


Language Lab
get by [phrasal verb] 走過去
1. To move past something, especially an obstacle or impediment of some kind.
- The hallway was jammed with boxes and it was hard to get by.
- All cars moved to the side of the road so the ambulance could get by.
to do enough or to do well enough to avoid failure
- Mark and his wife have three kids, and they can't get by on his salary alone.
- We can get by with the staff we have right now, but we need to hire more once we start the other project.

run over [phrasal verb]
run over (someone or something)  or  run (someone or something) over a:
to knock down and drive over or go over (someone or something)
- The dog was run over by a car.
- The running back ran over two defenders. 
b: to read, repeat, or practice (something) quickly
- Let's run the lines over together one more time.
- Can you run over the instructions again?
- The driver dozed off and ran over a dog in the road.
- The girl almost got run over by a bus when she was crossing the road.
of a container: to have a liquid flow over its edge: overflow
- I forgot to turn off the tap, and the water ran over the edge of the sink and onto the floor.

steer clear of  避開
- The taxi driver steered clear of the traffic and got us to the train station in only 20 minutes.
- The doctor advised the patient to steer clear of salty food.
- As a rookie in our company, Bobby doesn't know how to steer clear of difficult colleagues yet.
: to keep away from someone or something completely
- He's in a bad mood.
- You'd better steer clear [=avoid him] if you don't want trouble.

— usually + of
- You'd better steer clear of him.
- I try to steer clear of the subject of politics when I talk to him.

jaywalk v. 不守交通規則橫穿馬路
to cross a street carelessly or at an illegal or dangerous place
- The police officer gave the man a ticket for jaywalking.
- The boy was hit by a scooter while jaywalking across a busy four lane street.
- Brenda didn't notice that she was jaywalking in middle of the street.


Info Cloud

jaywalking

Welcome to info cloud. Today, I want to talk about jaywalking and where this word comes from. Joe, do you jaywalk?

Well, technically jaywalking is anytime you cross the street while disregarding traffic was, so of course I try not to do that.

Joe is right. Jaywalking means to cross the street outside of crosswalks or against the light, or walking when the light says, don’t walk.

There was a time when the word jay was a rude way to describe an inexperienced person. It dates back to the early 1900s in the U S.

At first, the term was often used to describe early automobile drivers, within no which side of the road to drive on.

At the same time, jaywalkers were people who used the road without any awareness of the cars driving on the road.

As cars became the normal mode of transportation, people stopped using jay drivers, jaywalking however continued to be used.

Eventually, the term became specifically about how pedestrians cross roads and that is how we used the term today. It no longer has its original meaning of inexperience.

Actually, Joe and I should probably be honest about our jaywalking. Our main office and our recording studio are across the street from each other.

Right, you know I didn’t think about that. The entrance to the buildings are in the middle of the block, so if I run across the street, I am actually jaywalking.