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

Trying Times (2)

As we go through life, interesting and exciting experiences can test our limits. Sometimes our adventures can even leave us feeling frightened. This was certainly the case for me one day in 1951. One early morning I was awakened with quite a shock. The earth was trembling below me and the roof was swaying up above. It was an earthquake!

I was living on the outskirts of Hualien City in a remote mountain town at the time of the quake. Many of the buildings had been built on a riverbed. People feared that if a strong earthquake occurred, the entire city would be left in ruin. As all of us ran to higher ground for safety, we wondered if that terrible moment had come. All of the shaking caused a great deal of devastation. Homes collapsed, families lost loved ones and the ground opened up in great cracks all around us.


Language Lab
trying adj.
difficult to deal with
- Our friend is going through trying times right now, and we need to support him.
- The company had a trying season, but it's recovering now.
- Susan is good at dealing with trying customers.

tremble v.
/ˈtrɛmbəl/
to shake slightly because of some force
- Last night as we were watching TV, the earth beneath our feet suddenly began to tremble.
to shake slightly because you are afraid, nervous, excited, etc.
- He trembled at the very thought of giving a speech.
tremble n.
- There was a slight tremble in the news anchor's voice as she reported the terrible news.

devastation n.
 /ˌdɛvəˈsteɪʃən/
to destroy much or most of (something) : to cause great damage or harm to (something)
- The tsunami caused widespread devastation on the island.
to cause (someone) to feel extreme emotional pain — usually used as (be) devastated
- The documentary depicts the pain and devastation countries suffered during WWII.
devastate v.
/ˈdɛvəˌsteɪt/
- The whole area was devastated by the brush fire.

collapse v.
to break apart and fall down suddenly
- The building collapsed after the bombing.
- This corporation collapsed during the global financial crisis.
to fall down or become unconscious because you are sick or exhausted
- The runner finished the marathon, but collapsed at the finishing line.


Info Cloud

Welcome to info cloud, friends. Whenever a business or inventor does something truly new, we say that they are breaking new ground.

This is quite a common phrase, especially in this day and age.We hear of tech companies and scientists breaking new ground on an almost daily bases.

You may also sometimes hear this phrase as breaking fresh ground. Either way it refers to digging in to something different, something fresh.

For example, film directors have broken new ground by incorporating 3D and 4D into their movies.

We can use a similar term to modify nouns, groundbreaking. Much like the whole phrase, it emphasizes that something is new.

It’s most common to hear the term apply to technology, companies will often describe a new item as groundbreaking.

But you’ll also see it used to talk about research and ideas. A scholar just published groundbreaking research that challenged his entire field.

The word groundbreaking has one other important meaning that is worth noting. It can also be used to talk about a ceremony at a construction site.

The groundbreaking ceremony literally refers to a ceremony where important individual use special shovels to dig out the first bit of dirt for an important project. In that instance, they are really breaking new ground.