In this society, the outstanding ones or the top ones will always attract more focuses from others, which mean they may get more materially support and assistance when they are in trouble. So how about the other? When the common ones need support badly, will we treat them equally, or just overlook them?
These kinds of feeling never existed so strong until the donation on 28th Jan, 2011. A girl from the faculty of science of NUS, suffers from leucocythaemia (a kind of blood disease), needs a great number of money to receive treatment. She is one of the top students of the faculty of science, the ambassador and the representative of NUS, the first honor degree owner, and the pride of NUS. She should have a bright future but the severe disease suddenly ruins her life. Sincerely, I feel sympathy to her and make my effort to help her. However, if the student has no honors, or just a common one who is busy with his projects day and night, will the donation exist and will the professor still willing to sing some songs and appeal us to help him?
From my perspective, everything may change to a different way if he or she is not that top. This happens all the time, all the place. Most teachers from schools pay more attention to the top students in the classes and have no time to care about others, which leads to the other students cannot receive the support they should have and the gap between the top is getting wider.
We cannot regard these situations as discrimination but social unfair and the top-bias. Let’s assume a situation. If two students are both seriously sick without money to receive treatment, one of them is the top of the school, the other one is a middling student, who will get more support and donation from others? The top can easily collect most sympathy from us when they are in the same situation. The minority get the majority assistance.
On the other hand, the majority in the society is the ‘lower classes’, who have the potential to be the top some days. However, few people will concern about them when they are in trouble and need help. The majority can only get the minority support.
Frankly speaking, there is no total equality in society nowadays. We must do something. We, the human beings, have the obligation to treat everybody equally. But what exactly we can do?
Monday, January 31, 2011
FIRST LESSON OF C PROGRAM AND Calculus in SINGAPORE
On 21 January I had my first lesson of C program and Calculus in Singapore.
Before entering the university, C program had been so mysterious for me and I always thought it was advanced and professional which should be studied by experts. As a result of it, I had even stupidly thought the use of it was just for showing off. But when I became an undergraduate I was absolutely astonished to be told that it was a subject I had to learn like math and English. You can imagine, as a person who knew nothing about computer how nervous I felt when I started my first C program lesson with English. With the lesson going on I got the confidence gradually, because the content was just some fundamental knowledge and simple comprehension of computers. I was sure that I get almost every word teacher said and his vivid explanation even stimulated me to learn further. Now I regard C program as a new language like English and Chinese and am not afraid of it anymore.
It is time for Calculus. I had heard that mathematics we learned in China was much more difficult than that here and what they learned in the university was what we learned in senior high school. So I felt very confident about the Calculus lesson. The fact was just as that I imagined before. The tutor only teached us some conclusions I had known before and some examples with obvious answer. Though the lesson was not interesting, I observed the tutor was a person I admired who concentrated on academic research.
This was a day which was not related to English totally. I enjoyed it.
To Be the Best of Yourself
Be the true of yourself. Because only when you be the real yourself, will you enjoy the life most, or you won’t happy and will usually upset. Only you know yourself best, you know your own interests, you know your own situation. Everyone is different from each other, so, please be brave enough to make up your own choice. And once decided please carry it on. Never give up and never regret.
Be confident. No matter how good others seem to be, remember the biggest energy is always yourself. Be brave to have a try. Feel free to ask. If you do not try, how do you know you can’t? Perhaps it is not as difficult as it is supposed to be.
The third one is motivation. When we are on the journey of Singapore, it is inescapable to feel lonely and to miss our family and our friends. When you feel upset always think about your family, there is always someone missing you, worrying about you. The best way to reward them is to be good. So turn the homesick to a kind of motivation. Try your best to make the sacrifice meaningful.
And the Chinese New Year is around the corner. Please allow me give my best wishes to all of our families.
Be confident. No matter how good others seem to be, remember the biggest energy is always yourself. Be brave to have a try. Feel free to ask. If you do not try, how do you know you can’t? Perhaps it is not as difficult as it is supposed to be.
The third one is motivation. When we are on the journey of Singapore, it is inescapable to feel lonely and to miss our family and our friends. When you feel upset always think about your family, there is always someone missing you, worrying about you. The best way to reward them is to be good. So turn the homesick to a kind of motivation. Try your best to make the sacrifice meaningful.
And the Chinese New Year is around the corner. Please allow me give my best wishes to all of our families.
Let's start giving
Last week we had a XiaoOu Fund Raising ceremony.They told us the story about Xiao Ou, a first class honor graduate student of NUS ,who is suffering .And her family do not have enough money to treat her .The story really touches me a lot .
People say that the love of money is the root of all evil.That is right ,but sometimes it can also save life,dreams,and the fortune of a family !We can not deny the benifits of money .With money we can have a large house ,we can enjoy a better life and can do many other things.We should work hard to earn a better life ,but should not be too anxious about it .We should be kind and generous after we get money .
I admire Jackey Chan very much for the things he has done for the children in poor area.I think that is why he can enjoy a better reputation in the chaotic media area.And I also enjoy the 'We Are the World'of Michael Jackson,for the kindness he expresses in the song .'Give in your heart ,and you will see someone cares'.Be kind to the people who need help .Always remember that virtue has its own reward.
We are the world
We are the children.We are the ones who make a brighter day
So let's start giving...
People say that the love of money is the root of all evil.That is right ,but sometimes it can also save life,dreams,and the fortune of a family !We can not deny the benifits of money .With money we can have a large house ,we can enjoy a better life and can do many other things.We should work hard to earn a better life ,but should not be too anxious about it .We should be kind and generous after we get money .
I admire Jackey Chan very much for the things he has done for the children in poor area.I think that is why he can enjoy a better reputation in the chaotic media area.And I also enjoy the 'We Are the World'of Michael Jackson,for the kindness he expresses in the song .'Give in your heart ,and you will see someone cares'.Be kind to the people who need help .Always remember that virtue has its own reward.
We are the world
We are the children.We are the ones who make a brighter day
So let's start giving...
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Live forever
Memory wanders as shadows fall. Back to the days of happiness. Days beyond recall. A vision comes before us, so calm, so dear, so sweet, of her lips now silent and whose lids are closed in sleep.
----From the ‘obituaries’
Just like usual, I opened the newspaper, and grabbed something entertaining. It was of great shock when suddenly the obituaries jumped in front of me. In China, we did not put the obituaries in newspaper which might arose the feeling of sadness. There came a piece of obituary. The picture of an old couple showed serenity. The obituary was arranged by their children and grandchildren. And they just said, ’Thank you for the fond memories we shall cherish forever. Though the words were simple, it conveyed the greatest thankfulness and the sweet memories to everyone reading it.
I cannot help thinking, ’Who will still remember me and miss me after many years since I am gone?’ If we have something left in the world, no matter where we go after our death, we may still be called alive! It is memories that enable us to prove we used to lead a meaningful life.
----From the ‘obituaries’
Just like usual, I opened the newspaper, and grabbed something entertaining. It was of great shock when suddenly the obituaries jumped in front of me. In China, we did not put the obituaries in newspaper which might arose the feeling of sadness. There came a piece of obituary. The picture of an old couple showed serenity. The obituary was arranged by their children and grandchildren. And they just said, ’Thank you for the fond memories we shall cherish forever. Though the words were simple, it conveyed the greatest thankfulness and the sweet memories to everyone reading it.
I cannot help thinking, ’Who will still remember me and miss me after many years since I am gone?’ If we have something left in the world, no matter where we go after our death, we may still be called alive! It is memories that enable us to prove we used to lead a meaningful life.
Difference makes the world colorful
Difference makes the world colorful
Someone said it is not real abroad if you stay in Singapore, which is not exactly.
Comparing with the land size and the population, China is both larger than Singapore. While in other aspects, such as climate and transportation, there’s also a huge difference between the two areas.However,as far as I’m concerned, the most distinguishing thing is culture.
You see, truly that the majority of people living here are Chinese. and you may hear in every corner of the street.what makes real difference is that Singapore is one of world’s most multicultural countries.there are other races such as Malay, Indian as well,and they all seem to live together peacefully and harmoniously in Singapore.
I got very impressed when I take the cultural tour on Dec 16th,the third day after I came to Singapore.when the bus going through the city,I saw a variety of temples and churches.besides,we explored the little india and luckily tasted all kinds of indian food.i especially love the dish of indian cake with the particular self-made flavor.Apart from that,I also tried the megical tattooing which only cost me one dollar. What’s more,we also went to visit a Moslem church from where I learned that you need to take off shoes before going inside.shorts and slippers are forbidden too.the last stop is china town.we all feel excited about seeing the familiar stuffs. Those who found their hometown cuisines were in higher spirits.
From then on,I even find that people who come across you in the street will smile at you softly. everyone seems so gentle and friendly.
After this interesting experience,I had a much deeper understanding of this country.it is not only a garden city with beautiful coast scenery,but also a big kind family welcoming any one all over the world.
Someone said it is not real abroad if you stay in Singapore, which is not exactly.
Comparing with the land size and the population, China is both larger than Singapore. While in other aspects, such as climate and transportation, there’s also a huge difference between the two areas.However,as far as I’m concerned, the most distinguishing thing is culture.
You see, truly that the majority of people living here are Chinese. and you may hear in every corner of the street.what makes real difference is that Singapore is one of world’s most multicultural countries.there are other races such as Malay, Indian as well,and they all seem to live together peacefully and harmoniously in Singapore.
I got very impressed when I take the cultural tour on Dec 16th,the third day after I came to Singapore.when the bus going through the city,I saw a variety of temples and churches.besides,we explored the little india and luckily tasted all kinds of indian food.i especially love the dish of indian cake with the particular self-made flavor.Apart from that,I also tried the megical tattooing which only cost me one dollar. What’s more,we also went to visit a Moslem church from where I learned that you need to take off shoes before going inside.shorts and slippers are forbidden too.the last stop is china town.we all feel excited about seeing the familiar stuffs. Those who found their hometown cuisines were in higher spirits.
From then on,I even find that people who come across you in the street will smile at you softly. everyone seems so gentle and friendly.
After this interesting experience,I had a much deeper understanding of this country.it is not only a garden city with beautiful coast scenery,but also a big kind family welcoming any one all over the world.
Q
When I was young, I had known that Singapore was a city with serious rules; therefore I thought the people here must be observant of the traffic rules and live harmoniously.
However, I found something I had abhorred for a long time in China appearing in Singapore. There were some people jumping the queue audaciously without any reason. They said nothing and did not feel abashed: even some people advised them mildly but they did not mind! To my embarrassment, they are Chinese people and some of them are acquainted with me.I felt an antipathy against their behaviors.In the face of such situation, Ihad no choice but to lose in thought.
Why do many people have a bad impression on Chinese people? Why cannot we leave a good impression on other people? Even more woefully, those who jumped the queue were educated high school students.
Each one of those people should question himself, do I have a guilty conscience about that action. Remember to behave yourself well outsides, because you are not yourself, you are also on behalf of a Chinese.
However, I found something I had abhorred for a long time in China appearing in Singapore. There were some people jumping the queue audaciously without any reason. They said nothing and did not feel abashed: even some people advised them mildly but they did not mind! To my embarrassment, they are Chinese people and some of them are acquainted with me.I felt an antipathy against their behaviors.In the face of such situation, Ihad no choice but to lose in thought.
Why do many people have a bad impression on Chinese people? Why cannot we leave a good impression on other people? Even more woefully, those who jumped the queue were educated high school students.
Each one of those people should question himself, do I have a guilty conscience about that action. Remember to behave yourself well outsides, because you are not yourself, you are also on behalf of a Chinese.
On the Way to Eton Hall
On the Way to Eton Hall
I have been a roller-skating amateur since I was at the age of 9, although I am not skilled at it. Recently, I extremely desired to skate between Eton Hall and NUS, which I had planned for a long time. Every time when I took a bus, I would watch the suitable way carefully in order that I wouldn’t get lost when I carried out my plan.(To tell the truth, I am very confused with the tense of this sentence.)
I remember there is one sentence in Chen Rentong’s oral report, which I agree with much. That is “So what I want to say is that once you have decided to do something, do it right now without hesitation”. Therefore I decided to “do it” this Friday.
Taking a big bag containing all my skating gear to go to NUS, I thought I was like a climber to a degree. It’s a little strange. On finishing the lecture, I made myself equipped. Thrilled and joyful, I set out to skate.
Things never go smoothly as you plan.
I encountered a slope the moment I commence. What’s more on account of the rain, I could hardly control myself, going down. “Ah! Ah! Ah!” I shouted in my heart, “Calm down! Calm down!” Fortunately, I noticed that there was the grass nearby, so I change my direction to it so that I can slow down. (Of course, every coin has two sides. Even though I can stop myself in this way, it is damaging to my roller blade. My heart hurts. ) Eventually, I was safe.
It is pretty different to skate in a skating gym and in the street. When skating in the street, you should pay attention to the vehicles, traffic lights, and all the people who you may collide. It is somewhat dangerous. Certainly, it gives you more excitement at the same time.
The more dangerous and exciting thing I suppose is getting lost. And I had the chance to experience this kind of thing. I lost my way. The surroundings around me were that unfamiliar to me. What could I do? I made every effort to recall, during which I also tried to find my way to Eton Hall. Though I always state that I have a good sense of direction, this time I felt a bit hopeless. Why was I willing to take the adventure? Tired and hungry, I didn’t know what to do. I just continued to skate.
All of a sudden, I found a familiar building, which I deemed pulled me out from hopelessness. I knew her! Then it took me almost one hour to get back. I was tired out.
But now I sit before the computer, typing these words down. I don’t think what I have done is meaningless. One can’t avoid walking the way you never know, he must experience something new, broadening his horizon. So I will treasure the experience.
By the way, I find Singapore is not small at all!
I have been a roller-skating amateur since I was at the age of 9, although I am not skilled at it. Recently, I extremely desired to skate between Eton Hall and NUS, which I had planned for a long time. Every time when I took a bus, I would watch the suitable way carefully in order that I wouldn’t get lost when I carried out my plan.(To tell the truth, I am very confused with the tense of this sentence.)
I remember there is one sentence in Chen Rentong’s oral report, which I agree with much. That is “So what I want to say is that once you have decided to do something, do it right now without hesitation”. Therefore I decided to “do it” this Friday.
Taking a big bag containing all my skating gear to go to NUS, I thought I was like a climber to a degree. It’s a little strange. On finishing the lecture, I made myself equipped. Thrilled and joyful, I set out to skate.
Things never go smoothly as you plan.
I encountered a slope the moment I commence. What’s more on account of the rain, I could hardly control myself, going down. “Ah! Ah! Ah!” I shouted in my heart, “Calm down! Calm down!” Fortunately, I noticed that there was the grass nearby, so I change my direction to it so that I can slow down. (Of course, every coin has two sides. Even though I can stop myself in this way, it is damaging to my roller blade. My heart hurts. ) Eventually, I was safe.
It is pretty different to skate in a skating gym and in the street. When skating in the street, you should pay attention to the vehicles, traffic lights, and all the people who you may collide. It is somewhat dangerous. Certainly, it gives you more excitement at the same time.
The more dangerous and exciting thing I suppose is getting lost. And I had the chance to experience this kind of thing. I lost my way. The surroundings around me were that unfamiliar to me. What could I do? I made every effort to recall, during which I also tried to find my way to Eton Hall. Though I always state that I have a good sense of direction, this time I felt a bit hopeless. Why was I willing to take the adventure? Tired and hungry, I didn’t know what to do. I just continued to skate.
All of a sudden, I found a familiar building, which I deemed pulled me out from hopelessness. I knew her! Then it took me almost one hour to get back. I was tired out.
But now I sit before the computer, typing these words down. I don’t think what I have done is meaningless. One can’t avoid walking the way you never know, he must experience something new, broadening his horizon. So I will treasure the experience.
By the way, I find Singapore is not small at all!
WHAT SHALL WE DO IN THE INFORMATION AGE
WHAT SHALL WE DO IN THE INFORMATION AGE ?
"It is snowing in most parts of China." "Rebellion took place in Egypt ." One cat was trapped in a chink." It seems that we know what's happening in every corner of the earth, if not outpace. But have you ever had asked ourselves that how much we know about ourselves?
Information processing and transmitting machines like televisions, radios and computers are selling everywhere and also are being used by almost everyone. All kinds of sounds, images and data about the changing world fully satisfy our curiosity. We take a large amount of useful or useless information into our mind. Maybe on most occasions we just can not get rid of the information because it intrudes our eyes and ears. Especially in the commercial society ,advertisements can been found everywhere, the internet included. Yes, we must admit that the Internet makes it incredible convenient for us to live, study and work . But when we spend hours and hours surfing the Internet ,absorbing information, referring to existing ideas, we may some day realize that we can not think independently any more. We lose ourselves in the world of information .We become a container restoring disordered and complex information.Our mind is saturated with information. We cannot spare room to restore something more valuable ,cannot spare even a little bit time to enjoy the silence, cannot just sit there, close our eyes and enjoy the sunshine because we are afraid something important is unknown. Anxious and hopeless, we are drinking saltwater, no enough but more.
Faced with this trouble,what shall we do? Slow down and do not rush around. This is what we should do . If we want to say that this is also what we can do, we must make ourselves believe one thing, that is ,there is always something unchanged and these unchanged things will take care of the world themselves. You are not the God, you don't need to be and you cannot be in one place at one time. You just need to stay in the center of your world.Take care of your own world, manage your own life, arm your brain with some permanent things, and simplify your life, then you may manage the world. Facing the information world, stay clear-headed, restrain greed and make a reasonable choice, but not jump into the information. At this time, we transform information but not simply take in it.It is about shaping our own thoughts rather than being shaped. So the way how we make the choice is essential to our life.
This is how we can make a difference and we should act now if we want to lead a happy life in the Information Age
The Spring Festival
We are really excited and happy as the Spring Festival, the most important festival in China,is around the corner.
On Chinese New Year's eve, all family members will get together and have a delicious dinner,chatting and laughing.During the dinner ,it is a tradition to watch the Spring Festival celebration, which consists of wonderful dance ,drama and song performances. The fireworks will be let off at the midnight, which is said to frighten the monster called “Nian”. Then ,we celebrate the new year and eat dumplings ,in one of which there is a coin. Whoever eat the special dumpling will have good luck in the new year.
On the first day , parents will give children red envelopes containing some money as gifts for growing up .Besides,we will go to the neighbours’houses and enjoy chatting with them. Sometimes, we will play cards for fun . Each door is covered with the red paper where the Chinese poem is written . What is interesting is that the majority of people dress in red because red represents luck and success in Chinese history.
During the following holiday, we will have parties with friends and colleagues. Some plan a tour while some prefer to stay at home and enjoy the festival.
This year,although I cannot stay with my family, I am really happy to celebrate the festival with my classmates and seniors in Singapore. We are going to NTU and eat dumplings together. I believe the festival will be an impressive memory in my life.
Wish all of us a happy Chinese New Year!
Saturday, January 29, 2011
our talent time
Our talent show
I think everybody here have had a wonderful evening the day before yesterday. It is the talent show that makes us enjoy the whole night. Can you remember one of the most creative shows plants VS zombies. Yes, it was directed by our group.
You know, when we were told that every group should have a performance in eighth January. The first thing in my mind when I heard the news was to perform a blind date show like the famous TV show 非诚勿扰 in China. But we were told that many groups wanted to act the show about this topic. A boy in our group suggested P VS Z at the first time. But we didn’t pay attention to his hesitating words. Finally, another girl recommended the show again. So we decided to play like P VS Z.
In consideration of somebody’s not knowing what it is. Let me give a brief introduction. It’s a game in which we plant plants to defend zombie’s attack. The game is very famous in China. Because somebody had already done some cosplay about P VS Z in the internet, so we surfed the internet to find the video frequency about it. Fortunately, there was a video about it and the acting was very funny. We began to imitate the movements in the video. We needed to act like zombies and plants. So we needed the masks looked like sunflowers and beans and other stage property. The chairman said that the befriender of every group could help the group members to perform and they were very glad to give us a hand to buy the things.
There are so many kinds of zombies in the game. Since the stage property we had is limited, so we chose four kinds of zombies that are representative, such as the usual one, the one with a water bucket, the one with a balloon on his back, the one who is reading newspaper and once his paper is broken, he walks faster than before. I’m the third one, so I ask the befriender for help to lend me balloon, so I could perform more likely.
And we had been told that each group had five minutes to perform. The P VS Z cost us only 3 minutes. We needed to make the most of our show time. So another member recommended that we can imitated a funny dance which is called 甩葱舞 in china finally, in which all the dancers should have onion in hands to dance and the movement are very interesting. And we added some movements created by ourselves to it. We practiced our show every night for 3 hours. And the befrienders were so helpful that they came to parry hall from very distant places to practice with us. Finally came the talent time.
We were the third one to be on stage. Because the group before us performed very well, which gave me a little pressure. But when I was on the stage, I got the feeling to act. The moment we gave our last movement, all the students and befrienders clapped their hands for out acting. The only bad thing was that we needed to clean the stage which was filled with balloon, papers and other kinds of stage property, which was very messy. I loved the feeling that after I gave a performance first and then enjoyed the other groups’ performance to my heart’s content. After all the other groups had performed, the befriender gave the ending act, which was very moving. And many students and befrienders cried for their separating. Finally, each group had to choose two groups to support, including themselves. We ranked the third. The prize was a lot of snakes. We took many photos then parted with reluctance.
From this camp, I made a lot of friends. Not only from China, including our group leader who is a very clever boy from Malaya. Because we need to practice the show every night, which helped me overcome my laziness. Our groups member were all enthusiastic, which made the practice more effective. And from that I know the importance of cooperation. Even though the camp had only two days, I will remember it for my whole life.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
host family
The instant I said goodbye to my host family, I had an impulse to write something. Before I met my host family, I felt a little embarrassment for we were strictly demanded to be dressed formally, which seemed that we were not equal to the host family and just like orphans needed to be fostered.
All these prejudice disappeared when I had an acquaintance with my host family. Uncle chan was so amiable that I took on him at my first sight of him. Except for the basic self-introduction, he was considerate to ask us some detailed questions, such as which kind of food and fruit we liked, whether our hometown was a big city or small town. Previously, He was the host family for four students. Due to the absence of the host family for group two, he took care of the four students in group two. It was really an arduous task compared with other host families who only needed to look after two students. However, he remembered the names of us all. I felt that he opened his mind to us and exerted himself to understand us.
After the lunch, he drove us to marina barrage; a splendid dam separated the sea water from fresh water. Besides the charming scenery, I was arrested by the sustainable museum, a dreamlike museum where alarmed us to save water.
At last, we met aunty lai pheng, uncle bai and aunty sha, the host family for group two. They did not divide group two and seven and just took all of us as their children. Fortunately, I received two host families.
I wanted to share my happiness with all of you genuinely.
Mengxing
Group 7
All these prejudice disappeared when I had an acquaintance with my host family. Uncle chan was so amiable that I took on him at my first sight of him. Except for the basic self-introduction, he was considerate to ask us some detailed questions, such as which kind of food and fruit we liked, whether our hometown was a big city or small town. Previously, He was the host family for four students. Due to the absence of the host family for group two, he took care of the four students in group two. It was really an arduous task compared with other host families who only needed to look after two students. However, he remembered the names of us all. I felt that he opened his mind to us and exerted himself to understand us.
After the lunch, he drove us to marina barrage; a splendid dam separated the sea water from fresh water. Besides the charming scenery, I was arrested by the sustainable museum, a dreamlike museum where alarmed us to save water.
At last, we met aunty lai pheng, uncle bai and aunty sha, the host family for group two. They did not divide group two and seven and just took all of us as their children. Fortunately, I received two host families.
I wanted to share my happiness with all of you genuinely.
Mengxing
Group 7
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
My Oral Report-----Vegetarianism (Week 4)
Good afternoon my dear friends and tutor! Can you still remember the topic we discussed last Wednesday morning? Yes, that was vegetarianism. I can clearly recall the author's opinion toward it, which stands on a strongly positive side, and its supportings, among them environmental benefits, health benefits, and his own experience as a vegetarian. On that class some interesting ideas popped up in my mind and I just integrated them into my oral report.
There is one thing I want to claim before my formal report that is I hold the same point of view as the author and I won't state the redundant words about the supportings that the author had already listed.
Alright, let's start our journey.
Right after that class, I asked some of my friends who are non-vegetarians about their opinions towards vegetarianism. 3 out of 4 mentioned the nutrition problem and the health concerns. They thought they will be fatigued easily and lack of some necessary amino acids. For this question, I searched with Google and found some facts in Wikipedia. The research has already proved that the necessary nutrients, proteins and amino acids for the body's sustenance could be found in vegetables, grains, nuts, soymilk, eggs and dairy. We all heard about vegetarianism, but 'meatarianism' is unheard-of. We are not able to gain longevity with only meat supplied, but we can live without many age-related diseases, such as high blood pressure, heart disease, etc., and some devastating disorders, just like cancer, with a vegetarian diet.
There is another reason for my nodding towards vegetarianism is the energy chain theory. It is undeniable that energy is the thing that every creature exists in this world can't simply do without, and it makes up the only reason of dinning. In other word, we eat only because we need enough energy to support our lives. The energy chain is formed when a predation, which is a broad sense, happened, that the energy of the lower level of the food pyramid flow into the higher one. Virtually speaking, energy flows in the energy chain derives from the sunlight and the green plants, such as grass and vegetables, which are considered to be the ground of the energy chain, take it in. Then the energy will flow with the chain, and finally into our bodies. According to the menu of the restaurant, we have beef, pork or chicken as our usual meal, which means we are at least the third consumer of the original energy stored by the green plants. Everything seems so bright so far, but we just omitted the consumption of the energy during the assimilation and transference process. Actually, only 10% to 20% energy will be transferred to the next level of the chain. It's obvious that the more levels energy flows, the less will be left. In other word, we may consume more resources in order to feed ourselves because our level is so high. Thus, converted into a vegetarian can help the world to save resources for we are direct consumers of the green plants.
At the last part of my report, I want to share my point of view toward the reason that leads to the rejection of converting to a vegetarian. In my opinion, the dignity of being a human is a great obstacle of converting. The weak are the prey of the strong is always the law in this competitive climate, thus to have other animals as prey is the most original way to show the absolute power and strength of us human-beings, and this dignity is the last thing we would give up. Then it comes to the greed and the desire. It is apparent that the taste and the feel of eating meal are totally different from eating vegetables. In a common word, meat is 'delicious'. So we eat not to fulfil the need of energy but to satisfy the need of our desires and our greed. The last thing is the stereotype of 'we are born omnivores'. The interesting fact is that our bodies are more similar to herbivores, ‘with long intestinal tracts and blunt teeth’, unlike other omnivores and carnivores. Our ancestors evolved into eating meat as a result of huge climatic change that took place million years ago, when jungles and forests dried up and turned into grassland which increased the opportunity of opened hunting. I think these are the main reasons why we reject to convert into a vegetarian, and just like I said, they shouldn’t have been in our way.
It would be my honour if you keep what I said with your critical view in your mind, thank you all.
There is one thing I want to claim before my formal report that is I hold the same point of view as the author and I won't state the redundant words about the supportings that the author had already listed.
Alright, let's start our journey.
Right after that class, I asked some of my friends who are non-vegetarians about their opinions towards vegetarianism. 3 out of 4 mentioned the nutrition problem and the health concerns. They thought they will be fatigued easily and lack of some necessary amino acids. For this question, I searched with Google and found some facts in Wikipedia. The research has already proved that the necessary nutrients, proteins and amino acids for the body's sustenance could be found in vegetables, grains, nuts, soymilk, eggs and dairy. We all heard about vegetarianism, but 'meatarianism' is unheard-of. We are not able to gain longevity with only meat supplied, but we can live without many age-related diseases, such as high blood pressure, heart disease, etc., and some devastating disorders, just like cancer, with a vegetarian diet.
There is another reason for my nodding towards vegetarianism is the energy chain theory. It is undeniable that energy is the thing that every creature exists in this world can't simply do without, and it makes up the only reason of dinning. In other word, we eat only because we need enough energy to support our lives. The energy chain is formed when a predation, which is a broad sense, happened, that the energy of the lower level of the food pyramid flow into the higher one. Virtually speaking, energy flows in the energy chain derives from the sunlight and the green plants, such as grass and vegetables, which are considered to be the ground of the energy chain, take it in. Then the energy will flow with the chain, and finally into our bodies. According to the menu of the restaurant, we have beef, pork or chicken as our usual meal, which means we are at least the third consumer of the original energy stored by the green plants. Everything seems so bright so far, but we just omitted the consumption of the energy during the assimilation and transference process. Actually, only 10% to 20% energy will be transferred to the next level of the chain. It's obvious that the more levels energy flows, the less will be left. In other word, we may consume more resources in order to feed ourselves because our level is so high. Thus, converted into a vegetarian can help the world to save resources for we are direct consumers of the green plants.
At the last part of my report, I want to share my point of view toward the reason that leads to the rejection of converting to a vegetarian. In my opinion, the dignity of being a human is a great obstacle of converting. The weak are the prey of the strong is always the law in this competitive climate, thus to have other animals as prey is the most original way to show the absolute power and strength of us human-beings, and this dignity is the last thing we would give up. Then it comes to the greed and the desire. It is apparent that the taste and the feel of eating meal are totally different from eating vegetables. In a common word, meat is 'delicious'. So we eat not to fulfil the need of energy but to satisfy the need of our desires and our greed. The last thing is the stereotype of 'we are born omnivores'. The interesting fact is that our bodies are more similar to herbivores, ‘with long intestinal tracts and blunt teeth’, unlike other omnivores and carnivores. Our ancestors evolved into eating meat as a result of huge climatic change that took place million years ago, when jungles and forests dried up and turned into grassland which increased the opportunity of opened hunting. I think these are the main reasons why we reject to convert into a vegetarian, and just like I said, they shouldn’t have been in our way.
It would be my honour if you keep what I said with your critical view in your mind, thank you all.
Eton and Parry
Last Saturday, we moved from Parry Hall to Eton Hall.
Let’s talk about Parry Hall first. It is really a beautiful place with a large football court and a small garden. The buildings are new and clean. I still remember when we first moved to Parry Hall, we were shocked by the environment. It made us feel close to nature. But there are many complains also.For example, the food was too bad and there were so many birds which could “steal” your food. Another thing we complained about was the location of it. It was too far away from the city center and the NUS. The only way we can go out was to take the MRT. However, looking back now, I feel the MRT is the most convenient way to go around compared with other forms of transportation.
Then talk about the Eton Hall. First, it is really nearer to the NUS, and it takes only about 15 minutes on the school bus. However, the school bus is always not on time.So sometimes, I return to Eton Hall even later than I returned to Parry Hall.
In addition, I want to say Eton Hall is too crowded! Our new room which holds 8 people is much smaller than the one in Parry Hall which holds only 4 people. I really miss the big rooms before. The bathroom and the cleaner and better in Parry Hall too.
One day, all of my roommates and I got up late because there was totally no light when the door and the windows are closed. We had no idea what time it was then.Again, I am missing the bright sunshine in Parry Hall.
Well, I really appreciate the the multi-functioned room in Eton Hall. Everyone have the chance to use the facilities there. And doing the laundry here is easier. We can get our clothes back in only one day. That is convenient.
I am not writing this to complain about Eton Hall.Perhaps, when we move to a new place, there are sure to be some complaints. Just because we are not used to the new environment. But as time goes by, when we have been used to it, when we have to leave it, we may miss it very much just as I miss Parry Hall.
Let’s talk about Parry Hall first. It is really a beautiful place with a large football court and a small garden. The buildings are new and clean. I still remember when we first moved to Parry Hall, we were shocked by the environment. It made us feel close to nature. But there are many complains also.For example, the food was too bad and there were so many birds which could “steal” your food. Another thing we complained about was the location of it. It was too far away from the city center and the NUS. The only way we can go out was to take the MRT. However, looking back now, I feel the MRT is the most convenient way to go around compared with other forms of transportation.
Then talk about the Eton Hall. First, it is really nearer to the NUS, and it takes only about 15 minutes on the school bus. However, the school bus is always not on time.So sometimes, I return to Eton Hall even later than I returned to Parry Hall.
In addition, I want to say Eton Hall is too crowded! Our new room which holds 8 people is much smaller than the one in Parry Hall which holds only 4 people. I really miss the big rooms before. The bathroom and the cleaner and better in Parry Hall too.
One day, all of my roommates and I got up late because there was totally no light when the door and the windows are closed. We had no idea what time it was then.Again, I am missing the bright sunshine in Parry Hall.
Well, I really appreciate the the multi-functioned room in Eton Hall. Everyone have the chance to use the facilities there. And doing the laundry here is easier. We can get our clothes back in only one day. That is convenient.
I am not writing this to complain about Eton Hall.Perhaps, when we move to a new place, there are sure to be some complaints. Just because we are not used to the new environment. But as time goes by, when we have been used to it, when we have to leave it, we may miss it very much just as I miss Parry Hall.
WHAT I HAVE LEARNT FROM MY BOYFRIEND
Today I want to share you something about what I have learnt from my first love.
Sometimes I cannot help thinking that it is destiny leading us together---first love meant to be the last love……
I always remember what xiaoru ,one of my best friends said,’ Although it turned out to be a mistake to fall in love with him at last ,I still want to send my greatest thanks to him. It was him that made me grow up.’ The same goes for me.
The first thing I have learnt is to have all-around analysis before judging anything. The first time I knew that he came from Shanghai, he did not make a great impression on me! It was all because I used to hear something bad about people in Shanghai. But through the acquaintance with him and his friends in Shanghai, I gradually realized my prejudice unacceptable. It is better to see than to hear.
The second thing I want to share is ‘ love me love my dog.’ Since we are far away from each other, sometimes I became sentimental which resulted in my feelings out of control. But he just tolerated, just understood, and just comforted me with soft words. Maybe love is not blind. When fell in love with a right person, everything intolerable in others’ eyes seems acceptable in lovers’ eyes. I indeed believe that it is exactly the essence of true love!
The last thing I pick out is that true love deserves waiting. I still remember when I said I wanted to stay in China rather than come to Singapore what he told me,’ You deserve a more colorful stage. Love is sweet especially when we wait for each other.’ Burst into sweet tears, I felt I was the happiest person in the world. Love deserves waiting even though they are my heydays in my whole life. Maybe I will spend the most beautiful days just waiting, but I do not care. The right person deserves waiting no matter how long it will take.
Sometimes I cannot help thinking that it is destiny leading us together---first love meant to be the last love……
I always remember what xiaoru ,one of my best friends said,’ Although it turned out to be a mistake to fall in love with him at last ,I still want to send my greatest thanks to him. It was him that made me grow up.’ The same goes for me.
The first thing I have learnt is to have all-around analysis before judging anything. The first time I knew that he came from Shanghai, he did not make a great impression on me! It was all because I used to hear something bad about people in Shanghai. But through the acquaintance with him and his friends in Shanghai, I gradually realized my prejudice unacceptable. It is better to see than to hear.
The second thing I want to share is ‘ love me love my dog.’ Since we are far away from each other, sometimes I became sentimental which resulted in my feelings out of control. But he just tolerated, just understood, and just comforted me with soft words. Maybe love is not blind. When fell in love with a right person, everything intolerable in others’ eyes seems acceptable in lovers’ eyes. I indeed believe that it is exactly the essence of true love!
The last thing I pick out is that true love deserves waiting. I still remember when I said I wanted to stay in China rather than come to Singapore what he told me,’ You deserve a more colorful stage. Love is sweet especially when we wait for each other.’ Burst into sweet tears, I felt I was the happiest person in the world. Love deserves waiting even though they are my heydays in my whole life. Maybe I will spend the most beautiful days just waiting, but I do not care. The right person deserves waiting no matter how long it will take.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Cultural Shock
Cultural shock
Last Thursday morning, our tutor finished class ahead of time. So we could go to eat our dinner earlier. I waited for my roommate to have dinner together as usual. He came out with his tutor, a woman I thought is a local in Singapore at my first sight. And what happened then proved my guess. My best buddy told me that his tutor was going to have dinner with him. So I said let us went to have dinner together. And the tutor did not refuse me then. That time I just wanted to eat dinner with more people so I can talk more in English. The tutor brought us to Kent Ridge House. I did not mean to have a free dinner before the tutor said she would treat us to a meal. We talked a lot at table and then parted.
Everything just went smoothly in Chinese concept. But today morning, the tutor sent a message to my friend saying that she wanted to see us outside the classroom again when we arrived. We were both confused why she wanted to see me again. And we got up early, took the first bus, reached NUS early, and waited for the tutor. I even felt something bad would happen and I got a little nervous. Then the tutor came.
“Why did you come along?” she said angrily. I was suddenly shocked and did not understand what she had said. She noticed that I was confused. So she asked me again. “Why did you come along with us? You know that your friend is my mentee, and I want to treat them to a meal. So why did you still insist on coming along?” I was totally astonished then and did not know what to say, so did my friend. We just did not know why she was so angry. “What you have done was definitely rude in Singapore. And it showed that you did not respect me.” The tutor continued. We lowered our heads and apologized for our behavior. “We did not mean that” my friend explained, “Because in china, it is very normal.” “But here is in Singapore!” the tutor added.
“Sorry, sorry. We will never do that again.” We both begged for her forgiveness. The tutor said gently finally. “I know that you guys did not mean that, but I still ask you to see me, because I am your tutor, so my duty is to let you know the different culture between Singapore and China. I am going to have class now; the reason why I spare my time to talk with you is that I want you to remember this kind of cultural shock. And never, never do that again.” And the tutor left.
This is the story I want to share with you. And this is the first experience about culture I have had after I came to Singapore. I know that I will meet with more and more this kind of experiences in the future and I will learn a lot from those.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Something about tradition
It is already 22th Jan, 2011, two week before our spring festival. It must be the first time for most of us celebrating it outside our hometown, stay apart with our parents but with our friends here in Singapore. I think it still can be some of our precious experience in our whole life, so see it in the bright side. Actually, I am not going to talk something more about our special spring festival this year, but some reflections on our tradition.
This kind of reflection actually should be derived from the end of my journey in Japan this summer vocation. Luckily, when I travelled to Tokyo, I witnessed the preparation of their celebration of the firework, which would be held forth a year. I was shocked. On one hand, everyone in the street that day, no matter the young or the old, no matter men or women, all dressed up their traditional costume, the kimono (He Fu). Maybe in tourists’ eyes, the locals all dressed weirdly. When I first faced this kind of situation, I even doubt that was there a cosplay show? Obviously, I was wrong. The kimono, is part of their nation costume. They still keep this tradition till today. They will dress up their own kimono when a celebration or a significant traditional is held.
On the other hand, I was a little bit sad. Some traditions of China, such as the tradition costume (Han Fu), or some habitudes of our festival, gradually disappear. People in order to catch up with the pace of the society rapidly development, abandon their original part, the traditional part, leave it alone. From this point of view, Japan is a positive example, we should learn from them.
Even now in Singapore, I can feel the spring festival atmosphere more than some big cities in China. It is unbelievable, isn’t it?
Keeping our tradition doesn’t mean we have to accept them all, but we have the obligation to respect it and develop the positive parts in our daily actions. The tradition cultural should not be abandoned due to the modern society. Even the Japanese keep them well, why not us?
This kind of reflection actually should be derived from the end of my journey in Japan this summer vocation. Luckily, when I travelled to Tokyo, I witnessed the preparation of their celebration of the firework, which would be held forth a year. I was shocked. On one hand, everyone in the street that day, no matter the young or the old, no matter men or women, all dressed up their traditional costume, the kimono (He Fu). Maybe in tourists’ eyes, the locals all dressed weirdly. When I first faced this kind of situation, I even doubt that was there a cosplay show? Obviously, I was wrong. The kimono, is part of their nation costume. They still keep this tradition till today. They will dress up their own kimono when a celebration or a significant traditional is held.
On the other hand, I was a little bit sad. Some traditions of China, such as the tradition costume (Han Fu), or some habitudes of our festival, gradually disappear. People in order to catch up with the pace of the society rapidly development, abandon their original part, the traditional part, leave it alone. From this point of view, Japan is a positive example, we should learn from them.
Even now in Singapore, I can feel the spring festival atmosphere more than some big cities in China. It is unbelievable, isn’t it?
Keeping our tradition doesn’t mean we have to accept them all, but we have the obligation to respect it and develop the positive parts in our daily actions. The tradition cultural should not be abandoned due to the modern society. Even the Japanese keep them well, why not us?
Is too many friends better?
Friends can help you go over some difficulties that you could hardly handle on your own, friends can chat with you when you feel lonely, friends can make you know who you really are when you are overconfident. So many hold the idea that the more friends you have, the more colorful your life will be. Is it definitely right?
Of course not. We cannot deny that, without friends, our lives will be terrible. But what if we have too many friends? Friends do help us when we are in trouble, vice versa, we do help my friends! I am not speaking in a selfish way, I just have a realistic thought. If we have too many friends, we have got to face many phone calls every day, we have got to spend too much time to keep in touch with them, however do not have enough time for our work to make it well, even do not have enough time to be with our family. Is it a good idea?
Imagine that I am working on something which is needed tomorrow, suddenly my friends visit me from time to time, just want to chat with me for a while, which bothers me a lot. Think about it, how many of us have been faced with the familiar problems? And then you will probably agree with me.
Besides, some friends with bad qualities may have many bad habits, which may influence us in a negative way. If that, we would rather not have too many friends because we can hardly have the chance to known of every one of our friends very well.
So, I think that a colorful life does not lie in how many friends you have, but lies in the quality of your friendship. Have some good friends who can help you, understand you, and advice you. It is superior to having too many friends, most of whom are just so-so with you. Addition, in this way you can spare more time to be with your family and your good friends, you career also. It will provide a peace life without doing too much you don’t want to.
Of course not. We cannot deny that, without friends, our lives will be terrible. But what if we have too many friends? Friends do help us when we are in trouble, vice versa, we do help my friends! I am not speaking in a selfish way, I just have a realistic thought. If we have too many friends, we have got to face many phone calls every day, we have got to spend too much time to keep in touch with them, however do not have enough time for our work to make it well, even do not have enough time to be with our family. Is it a good idea?
Imagine that I am working on something which is needed tomorrow, suddenly my friends visit me from time to time, just want to chat with me for a while, which bothers me a lot. Think about it, how many of us have been faced with the familiar problems? And then you will probably agree with me.
Besides, some friends with bad qualities may have many bad habits, which may influence us in a negative way. If that, we would rather not have too many friends because we can hardly have the chance to known of every one of our friends very well.
So, I think that a colorful life does not lie in how many friends you have, but lies in the quality of your friendship. Have some good friends who can help you, understand you, and advice you. It is superior to having too many friends, most of whom are just so-so with you. Addition, in this way you can spare more time to be with your family and your good friends, you career also. It will provide a peace life without doing too much you don’t want to.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
A piece of news and my thoughts
A piece of news and my thoughts
Today a piece of news in THE STRAITS TIMES attracted my attention, I think it is about contradiction between the ideality and reality which enlightens my deep thoughts about the future.
Nowadays more and more Singaporean lawyers prefer to go into commercial litigation rather the criminal ones. Lawyers focusing on the criminal cases earn much less than their contemporaries who have chosen commercial law. As a result of it, they will get less of an annual bonus, because they bring less profit to their firms. Another reason is that most criminal cases end up as “plead guilty” cases, which they cannot find challenges and there is room to grow in commercial cases because they are more varied.
I think the original intention to be a lawyer is desire to helping people and the justice. After all life is not just about money, the criminal cases are really about a person’s life and liberty. What makes more sense is getting emotional reward.
As an undergraduate, we should insist on our dream and try our best to keep a clear-head in the world which is full of profit and money. It reminds me of the actor ‘lines in an Indian movie THREE IDIOTS “look at the ridiculous man there who studied engineering in university and went to America to learn administration, then became a banker. Just for more money”. Being a person who believes in idealism may face many trouble and be laughed by others. But we must believe what we do follows my will and is right. We may be not rich, but the world loses a sordid man with lots of money. So we make the world a little better.
Wandering Thoughts
Memory is something we treasure so that we won’t forget it as time passes by, which may delight or hurt us.
------what I want to express before writing
It is strange that we seldom value the experience we had when it was happening. Take, the senior high school, as an example. I will never have no recollection of it for the horrible time I went through. Getting up before five thirty in the morning, we can hardly open my eyes without the help of loud music played by school; getting over cleaning within ten minutes, we had to get to the playground immediately in order that our classmates could finish the one thousand meters running together; with uncountable papers to complete, almost everyone would collapse in the end of a day. It is a time no one wants to recall when we are during it.
However, when I phoned one of my best friends one day, I asked him, “How do you find the university life?” he answered, “It is upset deadly, you feel you are wasting time day by day, doing nothing worthwhile. I cherish the memory of the senior high school time much.”
I have the same feeling with him, for the pure happiness of gaining knowledge those days. We were exhausted, but we were truly enjoying it at the same time, though few people feel this at that time.
Maybe if we want to know something well, we have to be out of it. Strange, we have to believe this.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Dream is HERE
Since the plane smoothly landed at the Changi International Airport, we SM3 students have been in this Lion City for more than a whole month. Even though the curiosity and excitement can somehow retard the coming of loneliness and sadness. Sometimes, especially when the superficial layer of life is wiped off by an internal wave of feeling, the definition of my own lifeblood will suddenly become clear. Now I can still remember the coldness in Beijing and the warmness in my parent’s hands. On 13th December, My parents and I took the train from Xi’an to Beijing. Although that wasn’t my first time to leave my hometown, I clearly knew that it was a totally different journey for me and especially for my mom and dad. I can still recall the happy and full-of-memory days that I spent with my dear parents as well as my best forever friends. Hadn’t left Xi’an for almost 5 years, I really felt reluctant to say goodbye. After all, this centuries-old city had witnessed my growth, from a little baby to a naughty kid, from a naughty kid to an adolescent boy, from a boy to a man.
On the way to Beijing, I couldn’t fall asleep. The sounds outside the window kept me from feeling sleepy, and the voices inside my heart kept reminding me of those countless meaningful days and nights. The train kept moving forward, out of the window is darkness in silence. I couldn’t help asking myself questions, why are you here, why did you make the choice, why are you leaving your mother and father, your friends, your hometown and your home, sweet home? I had not ever thought of these kinds of things, but just at that moment, during the sleepless night, they just came flooding into my mind. Firstly I thought there is no answer to such complicated questions, however, I was wrong, there is an answer. It is my dream that supports me coming through all these things. It is my dream that encourages me to bravely explore a brand new world. It is my dream that helps me going through all the hard days. It is my dream that gives me power and leads me to pursue it. 
Having dreams to realize, I wasn’t stopped by the warm tears, the sincere words, and the heart-warming text messages carrying heartfelt wishes from all the intimate friends. And ultimately, I am here, fulfilling my dream, getting to know my deep inherent desire at the bottom of my heart, not afraid of being confronted by any obstacle any longer. I start to create the future I desired. This is my new life here going on.
I know my dream will drive all the sorrow and loneliness away!
My Sharing about Learning English
This week's theme is English Learning structure, so I would like to share something about learning English.
In my opinion, forming a logical strategy is badly needed for individuals to learn English well. Through years of learning English, I gradually set up different but related learning strategies for 4 aspects, which are known as reading, listening, writing and speaking, of English. Reading is a very important input section of learning English. Every time I come across a passage, I will do an initial preview for finding out the main idea. Then I will read through it but skip the tough parts and check whether I'm right. After that I will do the second attempt to comprehend those skipped part and try to figure out the reason why I got stuck. When the reasons are clear, I will set them down with the new words and concise expressions, sometimes some marvelous sentences in my notebook. However, bare accumulations won't come out when you need them. Therefore, practice them regularly in writing does matter. When I'm trying to write something, I will first come up with an clear outline about how and what to write, and list the supportings. Next I will write down every word, collocations and sentences that pop up in my mind, no matter it is a verb, an adjective or something else. Right before I write, I will check whether I can replace some ordinary words with the new ones. Unlike careful reading and writing, my listening is quite 'careless'. I pay no attention to the word but the meaning which speaker wants to convey. Moreover, I applied my reading strategy in my listening, which is to seize the key word, which can really sharpen one's listening. As for speaking, I do the imitation first, for correcting my pronunciations and intonations. Then I just speak with the spontaneous flowing of the words. Although I'm not good at English, this set of learning strategy really helps me a lot.
In my opinion, forming a logical strategy is badly needed for individuals to learn English well. Through years of learning English, I gradually set up different but related learning strategies for 4 aspects, which are known as reading, listening, writing and speaking, of English. Reading is a very important input section of learning English. Every time I come across a passage, I will do an initial preview for finding out the main idea. Then I will read through it but skip the tough parts and check whether I'm right. After that I will do the second attempt to comprehend those skipped part and try to figure out the reason why I got stuck. When the reasons are clear, I will set them down with the new words and concise expressions, sometimes some marvelous sentences in my notebook. However, bare accumulations won't come out when you need them. Therefore, practice them regularly in writing does matter. When I'm trying to write something, I will first come up with an clear outline about how and what to write, and list the supportings. Next I will write down every word, collocations and sentences that pop up in my mind, no matter it is a verb, an adjective or something else. Right before I write, I will check whether I can replace some ordinary words with the new ones. Unlike careful reading and writing, my listening is quite 'careless'. I pay no attention to the word but the meaning which speaker wants to convey. Moreover, I applied my reading strategy in my listening, which is to seize the key word, which can really sharpen one's listening. As for speaking, I do the imitation first, for correcting my pronunciations and intonations. Then I just speak with the spontaneous flowing of the words. Although I'm not good at English, this set of learning strategy really helps me a lot.
A New Journey in Front
I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
from Bible Revelation 21:1
Today is Jan 20th.there has been 20 days passed since the start of the new year. time flies! people always like to sigh and reflect on the last year during the transition period.i’m sure it is the common feeling of human beings.
It is true that 2010 is like a coordinate during our lives.it is such a turning point to me that sometimes I even wonder whether I’ve made the right decision. Anyway ,every road in front of you has its meaning.Bible tells me.
I still remember the night when I received the call that told me I have got the opportunity to study in Singapore.with both excitement and sadness,I phoned my parents as soon as possible. At first,my mother didn’t really support me to take this programme from Nanjing to SG here.She considered the 10 years’ bonding is too long a time for a girl. every mother in the world would not want her children to leave far from home. But thanks a lot,my parents quite understand me .they know that I’m the kind of person who once has made up her mind to achieve something, no one could stop or persuade.
In other words,nothing can change my mind except myself.So at the end of 2010,I finally left my hometown,my motherland my dearest friends to welcome my new journey in life.
Sometimes I ponder if I did not decide to come to Singapore,what would my life be like now?what is I supposed to do at this time? Maybe preparing for the final exams,maybe already lying in my soft and warm bed,maybe playing snow with my friends in china.however,what we know is that the world doesn’t have so much if,what we ought to do is to make a new start here in Singapore and begin our new jouney in the life sea. In my eyes,life is just like a changeable adventure which fulfills unknown things that waiting for us to discover.
Above all, enjoy the moment--every minute, every second.you see, yesterday is a history,tomorrow is a mystery, only today is a gift.that’s why it is called present.
from Bible Revelation 21:1
Today is Jan 20th.there has been 20 days passed since the start of the new year. time flies! people always like to sigh and reflect on the last year during the transition period.i’m sure it is the common feeling of human beings.
It is true that 2010 is like a coordinate during our lives.it is such a turning point to me that sometimes I even wonder whether I’ve made the right decision. Anyway ,every road in front of you has its meaning.Bible tells me.
I still remember the night when I received the call that told me I have got the opportunity to study in Singapore.with both excitement and sadness,I phoned my parents as soon as possible. At first,my mother didn’t really support me to take this programme from Nanjing to SG here.She considered the 10 years’ bonding is too long a time for a girl. every mother in the world would not want her children to leave far from home. But thanks a lot,my parents quite understand me .they know that I’m the kind of person who once has made up her mind to achieve something, no one could stop or persuade.
In other words,nothing can change my mind except myself.So at the end of 2010,I finally left my hometown,my motherland my dearest friends to welcome my new journey in life.
Sometimes I ponder if I did not decide to come to Singapore,what would my life be like now?what is I supposed to do at this time? Maybe preparing for the final exams,maybe already lying in my soft and warm bed,maybe playing snow with my friends in china.however,what we know is that the world doesn’t have so much if,what we ought to do is to make a new start here in Singapore and begin our new jouney in the life sea. In my eyes,life is just like a changeable adventure which fulfills unknown things that waiting for us to discover.
Above all, enjoy the moment--every minute, every second.you see, yesterday is a history,tomorrow is a mystery, only today is a gift.that’s why it is called present.
King's blogger 1
ORAL REPORT 1 (beautified version)
Good afternoon,everyone!
The day before yesterday,we had a great camp in NUS and enjoyed an unforgettable talent show before Christ's eyes!Right?(yes! my followers reflected ....Mis Lim said "really?why didn't you invite me?so bad.....haha...).Then, yesterday I had a long good sleep because of tiredness. After getting up ,I did some reading ,went on a shopping,and then went surfing .Till night fell down ,I found I had not prepared well for my reporting !(turning to Miss Lim ,I just sensed her eyes telling me ,you should not forget so important thing) .I know i never have the second chance to give my first impression,but please forgive and forget this reporting if not so enjoyable.Anyway I just want to share something with you .I will try to put the messy thoughts in order to present to you .
We have been in Singapore for about 3 weeks .Before we stepped onto this island,just few months ago ,we went through our college entrance examination , however bitter or intensive,I am sure it will be great treasure for all of us and what we learned during that period of time will nourish our life for a long long time .And then we got our admittance to university,bad or good ,satisfactory or disappointed,for me, the two months' college life was substantial , colorful and unforgettable!We enjoyed the new life in our respective college,got to know a lot of lovely brothers and sisters from all over China.It's so amazing.The ship of our dreams were setting off. Simultaneously we prepared for the tests ,for the interview from Singapore.Then,we got the pass .During that time ,my life was just saturated with one word"SINGAPORE".It seemed that Singapore became the center of the world ,but actually ,China is definitely the focus of almost all dominant countries.We surfed the Internet to explore the new island.We asked seniors all kinds of questions,ranking from the majors to shoes ,tooth brushes,we just wanted to know everything and every detail about it.Because it was so far from our own hometown but so close to our mind .
Upon leaving,we said goodbye to our friends ,said goodbye to our parents, to our relative,or maybe someone said bye-bye to their pets ,of course,I guess some even said bye to his or her girlfriend /boyfriend.(Miss Lim reminded me) And we enjoyed the last meals made by mom.And then waved bye to our motherland,It was time busy and exciting,mixed with sorrow and happiness,full of expectation and tension.Sometimes I thought it was hard to say goodbye to what we had established in China ,all the things I had that time belonged to that land :and it was challenging to explore e new place .Anyway ,now,we are here ,in Singapore,in NUS,in group 7,and my no. is 7.Now we are on a tiny island 1 north of the Equator,warm and humid(whileChina now is snowing in most parts.)We are ready to set off once more !
To be honest, I feel so lucky and pleasant to be with you here.We have spent one week together already now.Before my report ,your faces and tones jumped out of my memory.
If my memory is not so short ,I remember YM said he would like to have a in-depth thought _if not deep meditation.I think it's an amazing habit.I know many western philosopher said wisdom comes from introspection in tranquil mood.Our ancestors like Zhu Geliang also taught his son .I believe if you stick to this habit ,your life must be wonderful .Then,SY,last week you sang a very sweet song.Sounds great.I must say that your face ,your posture really reminds me one of my friends.Maybe I have seen you somewhere...hahah ha. And ,ZY, you as what I have told you ,you also reminds me one of my classmates,We stayed in the same dormitory for two years,we sit in the back row together for 1 year,just two of us.See,even though I'm now in a unfamiliar place,I can still find something corresponding with my memory. And.HD I know you truly have a deep love for your guitar.I feel a little sad that I couldn't create beautiful sound out of instruments.But to you ,fortunately,I rarely make a noise either.Of course,if one day I sing a fair-sounding song or make a loud noise,don't be just gaping at me!(actually my audience is gaping at me,in black.) en ,MX,a few days ago I see on her QQ,I found she said:leaving home so far away ,you should be more mature now . I know the mature not just refers to the age ,but something inside you.In terms of age ,you have just had your birthday of 18 .Of course,JZ ,your face reminds me nobody but yourself.(speak too fast and not so clearly ,no reflection ) Of course,everyone is special.
Well ,what I want to say is that everyone of you is so interesting to get along with ,so talent to be appreciated,so energetic to make any miracle .We still have six months together .I hope we can share what we had and prospect what we may have !
Thank you !
2011.1.12 KING
life style
When I read the newspaper, I was alert to the headline “All-day trading on SGX from March 1”,which meant they had to work from 9am to 5pm,no time left for lunch.
This evoked my memory of the significant increasing quantity of people who died just because of heavy workloads. I did not know how to judge this phenomenon. They were immersed in researching and creating and got tremendous victory in their career. Their industry made great contribution to the development of the society.
Nevertheless, there was another kind of people in the world. The recreation cost most of their time and they enjoyed themselves’ lives. As we all knew, Bai Juyi, a famous poet in Tang dynasty in China, had experienced the two kinds of life styles mentioned above. He used to be eager in political campaign and was an important figure. However, after some accidents, he transferred his attention from the politics into inwardness. He was absorbed in music and natural scenery. Should we say that he became passive or realized the real mean of the life? There was not an exact answer.
Can we comment which is positive? Maybe the majority of people try to find the balance, but they become the common people. Because somebody wants to be excel in a certain field, something must be abandoned. How to live a life? Maybe just do what you want and feel joyous. That is enough.
This evoked my memory of the significant increasing quantity of people who died just because of heavy workloads. I did not know how to judge this phenomenon. They were immersed in researching and creating and got tremendous victory in their career. Their industry made great contribution to the development of the society.
Nevertheless, there was another kind of people in the world. The recreation cost most of their time and they enjoyed themselves’ lives. As we all knew, Bai Juyi, a famous poet in Tang dynasty in China, had experienced the two kinds of life styles mentioned above. He used to be eager in political campaign and was an important figure. However, after some accidents, he transferred his attention from the politics into inwardness. He was absorbed in music and natural scenery. Should we say that he became passive or realized the real mean of the life? There was not an exact answer.
Can we comment which is positive? Maybe the majority of people try to find the balance, but they become the common people. Because somebody wants to be excel in a certain field, something must be abandoned. How to live a life? Maybe just do what you want and feel joyous. That is enough.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
I am in Sinapore now.
Unconciously, I have been in Singapore for about one month. The time goes so fast. I still remember the day when I got off the aircraft and the first time I walked on the land of Singapore. At that time, I was curious about everything in Singapore. My first impression on Singapore is that it is very beautiful and close to nature. It is exactly the same as what I heard before. No wonder so many people come here to go sightseeing. It is really very attractive.
So gradually, I fall in love with it.People here are from many different countries, which lead to the combination of different cultures.It is quite interesting to learn their cultures. And Singapore is so clean that there are not any litter on the street. And there are green trees everywhere. The environment here is so good that I think almost everyone will like Singapore the moment they visit here.
Although I like Singapore, I have not fully adapted to the life here yet. There are many differences between China and Singapore in various aspects. For instance, the food here is different from that in China. Some are delicious, but some taste not so well for me. And the traffic here is so different, too. Besides, talking to others in English smoothly is still diffcult for me. It must take me a long time to get used to it. But the most important reason is that I am homesick. I miss my parents, my brother, my friends and so on. Because I leave home so far away for the first time. And Chinese New Year is coming, which make me more homesick. I always call them to make sure that they are well and let them know my conditions.
Fortunately, I have made many friends now, which make me never feel lonely any more. We help each other and get along well with each other. And we are planning for the Spring Festival these days. We are all looking forward to it. And we have very kind tutors. So how lucky we are!
In conclusion, now I am in Singapore. And I maybe live here for almost ten years. I don't regret coming here. Though I meet many difficulties, I won't give up and I will try my best to overcome it. We can't predict the future, but we can fight for the bright future. So I think I will soon be accustomed to the life in Singapore. And I anticipate the future here.
So gradually, I fall in love with it.People here are from many different countries, which lead to the combination of different cultures.It is quite interesting to learn their cultures. And Singapore is so clean that there are not any litter on the street. And there are green trees everywhere. The environment here is so good that I think almost everyone will like Singapore the moment they visit here.
Although I like Singapore, I have not fully adapted to the life here yet. There are many differences between China and Singapore in various aspects. For instance, the food here is different from that in China. Some are delicious, but some taste not so well for me. And the traffic here is so different, too. Besides, talking to others in English smoothly is still diffcult for me. It must take me a long time to get used to it. But the most important reason is that I am homesick. I miss my parents, my brother, my friends and so on. Because I leave home so far away for the first time. And Chinese New Year is coming, which make me more homesick. I always call them to make sure that they are well and let them know my conditions.
Fortunately, I have made many friends now, which make me never feel lonely any more. We help each other and get along well with each other. And we are planning for the Spring Festival these days. We are all looking forward to it. And we have very kind tutors. So how lucky we are!
In conclusion, now I am in Singapore. And I maybe live here for almost ten years. I don't regret coming here. Though I meet many difficulties, I won't give up and I will try my best to overcome it. We can't predict the future, but we can fight for the bright future. So I think I will soon be accustomed to the life in Singapore. And I anticipate the future here.
My oral report
Today, it is my turn to have the oral report.
Last Wednesday, we just talked about cheating. Some of the words that Ms Christine said left me with a deep impression. I still remember Ms Christine said, ’If one person does something like cheating, I will not use him or employ him.’ Maybe what I said is not the same with what Ms Christine’s words, but it really make me feel upset, because I did some foolish thing ever before.
That was when I was in middle school, near the final exam of that term. While we were busy reviewing in biology class, my teacher just sat in front of us and set exam questions on the computer. After the class, she deleted the document of the exam questions, but she forgot that the document was still in the dustbin. What I did was just removing it to the desktop, even not looking at one question, but after my teacher knew that, she called me to her office and said she no longer believed in me. I tried to explained, but nothing worked. Though I was not punished, everytime I recalled this, I felt really regretful. Till today, I even do not know why I did that at that time. Maybe for the impulse at that moment, but I can not deny what I did. The only thing that I can do is to correct myself and not to do it again, but I do not know whether I have the chance and whether my teacher will believe in me for a second time. I can promise I will not do such kind of things again, but who will believe me? I have no answers. I am really eager to know whether the person, who did something wrong like me or even worse, deserves trust. I hope I can get the answer today, from Ms Christine and from all of you. Thank you for your listening.
Last Wednesday, we just talked about cheating. Some of the words that Ms Christine said left me with a deep impression. I still remember Ms Christine said, ’If one person does something like cheating, I will not use him or employ him.’ Maybe what I said is not the same with what Ms Christine’s words, but it really make me feel upset, because I did some foolish thing ever before.
That was when I was in middle school, near the final exam of that term. While we were busy reviewing in biology class, my teacher just sat in front of us and set exam questions on the computer. After the class, she deleted the document of the exam questions, but she forgot that the document was still in the dustbin. What I did was just removing it to the desktop, even not looking at one question, but after my teacher knew that, she called me to her office and said she no longer believed in me. I tried to explained, but nothing worked. Though I was not punished, everytime I recalled this, I felt really regretful. Till today, I even do not know why I did that at that time. Maybe for the impulse at that moment, but I can not deny what I did. The only thing that I can do is to correct myself and not to do it again, but I do not know whether I have the chance and whether my teacher will believe in me for a second time. I can promise I will not do such kind of things again, but who will believe me? I have no answers. I am really eager to know whether the person, who did something wrong like me or even worse, deserves trust. I hope I can get the answer today, from Ms Christine and from all of you. Thank you for your listening.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
From last year to this year…
Last year I got a wonderful chance and made a significant decision which was to go to
Until today, I have been here for more than one month. During the first month in an unfamiliar country, I have come across a lot of fantastic people and experienced many unforgettable things. By the chance, I gradually got a better understanding of
The first impression is the hot and wet weather that I felt as soon as I got off the airplane with my both hands dragging heavy luggage. In the following three days, it is really hot for me who comes from a country where it is almost freezing cold everywhere then. However, I feel it comfortable to sweat in the day time and get cooler in the evening now. Besides,
The second impression is the friendly people ready to help us once we have any problems. There is such a group called Befrienders from NUS who met us on the first day we came here, showed us around
The third impression is the beautiful NUS campus, easy-going teachers and lovely classmates. Every morning, I get on the “rainbow car” with my active classmates sharing ideas. In the classroom, experienced and helpful tutors take us to a colourful journey of English learning where we get more knowledge, improve our ability of using English and think deeper… This journey has just begun since we still have 7 months to go and explore. It is the right time for us to set sail heading for our wonderful future.
This year is a precious chance for us to change our life into a totally different one. We are now proud of our university, NUS, such an outstanding university in the world. I believe we can do our best to work hard and get success in the future to make all the people around proud of us. Let’s go for it!
Our honeymoon
Before we started our bridging course, all the seniors and tutors said the coming six or seven months would be our honeymoon. At first, I thought we will have a happy life without any anxieties. However, the beginning is not what I imagined after a week of studying. But among the busy studying days, I actually found a honeymoon period with many people.
To get a good preparation for the next day, most of us looked up new words which appeared in the Supplementary Materials. It often cost me several hours but I still could not keep them in my mind. To remember more words, I had to get up before 6:20 am to review the words I looked up last night. It made me sleepy on my way to NUS on the bus as a result. The beginning of the so-called honeymoon was not so honey.
Besides the preparation, in the first week, we needed to practice dancing for the Talentime, which cost the members of our group and our befrienders much time. We had to practice the dance Kaixian taught us again and again. Although it was tiring, we still enjoyed the course. On the night of Talentime, we tried our best to show our dance to the acme of perfection. To our relief, we won our audience successfully and they gave us a big applause. What made us exhilarating at the end was that our dance won the first prize that night! Then we felt all the time we spent for the dance deserved the reward. We members of group 2 took a lot of photos and videos with our befrienders with a big “candy”. It would be one of my most precious memories. I would value the deep friendship we made with our befrienders.
After these activities, I continued my course, the days here was colorful. Every day in the class, I could get much information about various aspects of the world from our tutors. They were very accommodating to answer our confusion.
As what I said before, it is just a beginning. Honeymoon will go on and I will treasure it.
To get a good preparation for the next day, most of us looked up new words which appeared in the Supplementary Materials. It often cost me several hours but I still could not keep them in my mind. To remember more words, I had to get up before 6:20 am to review the words I looked up last night. It made me sleepy on my way to NUS on the bus as a result. The beginning of the so-called honeymoon was not so honey.
Besides the preparation, in the first week, we needed to practice dancing for the Talentime, which cost the members of our group and our befrienders much time. We had to practice the dance Kaixian taught us again and again. Although it was tiring, we still enjoyed the course. On the night of Talentime, we tried our best to show our dance to the acme of perfection. To our relief, we won our audience successfully and they gave us a big applause. What made us exhilarating at the end was that our dance won the first prize that night! Then we felt all the time we spent for the dance deserved the reward. We members of group 2 took a lot of photos and videos with our befrienders with a big “candy”. It would be one of my most precious memories. I would value the deep friendship we made with our befrienders.
After these activities, I continued my course, the days here was colorful. Every day in the class, I could get much information about various aspects of the world from our tutors. They were very accommodating to answer our confusion.
As what I said before, it is just a beginning. Honeymoon will go on and I will treasure it.
dream
As time goes by,the Spring Festival is around the corner.It is the first time I have left my parents and celebrated the festival alone.As a famous Chinese saying goes, when a festival draws near,you will miss your family most.During this period ,I become more homesick. My parents miss me a lot as well.
Actually,when I chose to study in Singapore,I was aware of what I have to face.It is not easy to adapt to the new culture.I am confused about so many differences between Singapore and China,ranging from languages to lifestyles.I try to get used to English environment and having no time for a rest at noon.
These days, I have been thinking over why I came to Singapore.For challenging myself? For a comfortable life? For going abroad ? I ask myself again and again. At the beginning, I feel a little puzzled and doubt whether it is worthwhile or not. Luckily, I get the answer at last-for my dream. Everyone has a dream, which is the most important goal to achieve.The dream requires us to become outstanding and powerful .A strong-willed individual is always close in on his dream.For example,Li Shizhen ,a famous Chinese doctor, have had a dream of saving lives since childhoood.After he grew up ,he tried more than 100 traditional Chinese medicine even nearly died of poisonous medicine several times.In the end, he succeeded and wrote the greatest medical book in history,curing thousands of patients.
When I was in the high school,I had dreamed that I could go to a university which had the most advanced system with international standards in the world. I desired to receive the best education and meet various people from many countries.By studying in Singapore, not only can I abroaden my horizen,but also I can realize my dream and have a brighter prospect. However,to my regret,I was addicted to playing computer games and chatting on the Internet a few days ago. I should urge myself that no pains ,no gains. Only if I study hard can I perform well.It is time that I spared no effort to study.
Since I have made the personal choice, I should be responsible for it and try my best.
Fighting!
Monday, January 17, 2011
My feelings of the first month in Singapore
We have been in Singapore for more than a month,and I want to share some of my felelings about the differences between China and Singapore.
First is the weather.I come from Liaoning Province which is located in the northeast of China.In winter,it can be rather cold,you have to put on a lot of clothes outside.But it is really warm inside the room,just opposite to the situation here.And in summer,the weather is hot and dry.In my piont of view,Singapore is much cooler,because of the heavy rain everyday.
Then comes the environment.Singapore is known as the flower city,and there are trees and flowers almost everywhere.Sometimes you may feel like being in a park or a large garden,but seeing the buildings,you will realise that you are in an international big city.It is impossible to find so many flowers in a city in China.
Another interesting thing is that ,in China,when you look at the map and think the destination is quite near,it can take you more than 20 minutes to get there.While,once in Singapore,I asked one Singaporean where was the MRT,he told me that was far away.Finally it turned out that we got there within 10 minutes.
In addition,the roads in china are always straight,and the buildings are always square or at least symnetric.However,even if you have a map,you can still get lost in the buildings in Singapore(the NUS campus is a best example).
Since things are quite different in so many ways from what I was used to,I think I will spend the whole 10 years getting to know the new culture and being part of it.
First is the weather.I come from Liaoning Province which is located in the northeast of China.In winter,it can be rather cold,you have to put on a lot of clothes outside.But it is really warm inside the room,just opposite to the situation here.And in summer,the weather is hot and dry.In my piont of view,Singapore is much cooler,because of the heavy rain everyday.
Then comes the environment.Singapore is known as the flower city,and there are trees and flowers almost everywhere.Sometimes you may feel like being in a park or a large garden,but seeing the buildings,you will realise that you are in an international big city.It is impossible to find so many flowers in a city in China.
Another interesting thing is that ,in China,when you look at the map and think the destination is quite near,it can take you more than 20 minutes to get there.While,once in Singapore,I asked one Singaporean where was the MRT,he told me that was far away.Finally it turned out that we got there within 10 minutes.
In addition,the roads in china are always straight,and the buildings are always square or at least symnetric.However,even if you have a map,you can still get lost in the buildings in Singapore(the NUS campus is a best example).
Since things are quite different in so many ways from what I was used to,I think I will spend the whole 10 years getting to know the new culture and being part of it.
My Oral Report---- Stereotype(Week 1)
Good afternoon everybody, here stand Steven and today I’d like to share some of my points of view about stereotype.
The term stereotype actually derives from the Greek words stereos, which means firm and solid, and typos, which means impression, hence solid impression.
You may wonder why i choose this weird topic, and i will tell you that it is the survival game we played yesterday that evokes my thoughts of stereotype. The rule of the game is quite simple: we 9 pairs of different professions are on an isolated island which just came across a devastating catastrophe, and only 3 pairs can survived while the others should be thrown into the sea for lacking of resources. What we need to do is to explain the reason why the pairs we stand for shall be the survival. We had some common professions, such as doctors and teachers, but we had some strange ones also, like businessmen, or even much more weird, like babysitters. What i was interested in was that everyone seemed to forget we were on a deserted island. So why could businessmen buy those daily necessary to support us and how could doctors do surgical care for patients? In fact, stereotype makes that possible.
Just like what i said, negative, or even neutral stereotype may lead you to come up with a bad idea. Just try to think about this question, am i young, or is Mr. Ng old? So virtually how old is really old? What’s more, do you think older people are in poor health, or do you think older people are rigid? Yes. Nobody can give old a definite definition, and the old are not that weak in our mind, all of definitions we define by ourselves and the conclusions we draw on the old come from stereotype. So that's why we have a so-called retired age even though those ready-to-retires are still potential employees.
Seems like the evidence is too abstract so let's see an interesting one. Suppose we have a function p(x) and every coefficient guarantees an integer. Every time you input an X the function will respond with the value of p(x). So how many times will you try at least to get every coefficient? Of course, n times accroding to Viete theorem but obviously it is not the least. Seems impossible but actually only twice will be okay. Look, first time we should try 1, and then we will get p(1), which is also the sum of all coefficients. Let s=p(1). Then we input s+1, we got p(s+1)=an*(s+1)^n+an-1*(s+1)^(n-1)..+a0. So far p(s+1) has nothiong to do with identifying the coefficents but once we change its base from 10 to s+1, then every digits of that number will be the answer to this "impossible" question.
With thinking deeper, i wondered, since negative and neutral stereotype may grow troublesome, what about the positive one? I search it with Google and i found an interesting experiment done by 2 psychologists. They picked up some math and engineering students randomly and divided them into 2 groups, and asked them to take a difficult math test. They told one group that this test aimed at finding out the reason why Asians were scoring better in math. This group performed significantly worse than the control group.
I was confused at the first sight i saw the result. But soon i realized that the positive stereotype can really be harmful. Asians may be supposed to be smarter than the rest of students and particularly good at math, but what about those who just aren't? They're going to have to deal with a lot of false expectations and assumptions. So the pressure will be increased and the scores fall without any doubts.
All in all, though stereotype acquired in our early childhood under the influence of parents, teachers, media, we should always keep our mind clear and try to ask ourselves about why the thing should be like it seems like, so that we can avoid those unwise decisions.
The term stereotype actually derives from the Greek words stereos, which means firm and solid, and typos, which means impression, hence solid impression.
You may wonder why i choose this weird topic, and i will tell you that it is the survival game we played yesterday that evokes my thoughts of stereotype. The rule of the game is quite simple: we 9 pairs of different professions are on an isolated island which just came across a devastating catastrophe, and only 3 pairs can survived while the others should be thrown into the sea for lacking of resources. What we need to do is to explain the reason why the pairs we stand for shall be the survival. We had some common professions, such as doctors and teachers, but we had some strange ones also, like businessmen, or even much more weird, like babysitters. What i was interested in was that everyone seemed to forget we were on a deserted island. So why could businessmen buy those daily necessary to support us and how could doctors do surgical care for patients? In fact, stereotype makes that possible.
Just like what i said, negative, or even neutral stereotype may lead you to come up with a bad idea. Just try to think about this question, am i young, or is Mr. Ng old? So virtually how old is really old? What’s more, do you think older people are in poor health, or do you think older people are rigid? Yes. Nobody can give old a definite definition, and the old are not that weak in our mind, all of definitions we define by ourselves and the conclusions we draw on the old come from stereotype. So that's why we have a so-called retired age even though those ready-to-retires are still potential employees.
Seems like the evidence is too abstract so let's see an interesting one. Suppose we have a function p(x) and every coefficient guarantees an integer. Every time you input an X the function will respond with the value of p(x). So how many times will you try at least to get every coefficient? Of course, n times accroding to Viete theorem but obviously it is not the least. Seems impossible but actually only twice will be okay. Look, first time we should try 1, and then we will get p(1), which is also the sum of all coefficients. Let s=p(1). Then we input s+1, we got p(s+1)=an*(s+1)^n+an-1*(s+1)^(n-1)..+a0. So far p(s+1) has nothiong to do with identifying the coefficents but once we change its base from 10 to s+1, then every digits of that number will be the answer to this "impossible" question.
With thinking deeper, i wondered, since negative and neutral stereotype may grow troublesome, what about the positive one? I search it with Google and i found an interesting experiment done by 2 psychologists. They picked up some math and engineering students randomly and divided them into 2 groups, and asked them to take a difficult math test. They told one group that this test aimed at finding out the reason why Asians were scoring better in math. This group performed significantly worse than the control group.
I was confused at the first sight i saw the result. But soon i realized that the positive stereotype can really be harmful. Asians may be supposed to be smarter than the rest of students and particularly good at math, but what about those who just aren't? They're going to have to deal with a lot of false expectations and assumptions. So the pressure will be increased and the scores fall without any doubts.
All in all, though stereotype acquired in our early childhood under the influence of parents, teachers, media, we should always keep our mind clear and try to ask ourselves about why the thing should be like it seems like, so that we can avoid those unwise decisions.
SINGAPORE, I AM BACK
We have lived in Singapore for about a month and had our bridging course for two weeks already. Frankly speaking, from my perspective, Singapore has not that much change compared to my pre-visit several years ago. In other words, this time, I am staying here to study, to live in, not for visiting and fun.
When I was a kid, I have been to Singapore for twice with my mum. I can’t remember much about it, but I do remember I was deeply impressed by your strict law to protect the environment and the harmony between human and nature. I was attracted by the mini forest in the Changi Airport. I was shocked to see how friendly people circled around the pink dolphin in Sentosa Park.
Also, my middle school English teacher, who impressed me a lot, has lived in Singapore for two years. Maybe that’s why I am here today; all stuff has directed my way toward here when I was still a kid.
I feel less homesick than any other here I think, because I lived in boarding school since I was in kindergarten. These kinds of experience make me adapt to a new environment sooner and easier. What’s more I have a lot of friends and nice tutors here and friends in China who support me as usual.
Let’s say something interesting. I attended NUS band practice the first time on 13th Jan 2011. Actually I haven’t practice my clarinet of a period of time because of the pressure of the college entrance examination in China. However, I think it feels pity if I give it up forever, so I made up my mind, I must strive on it! So, I followed my senior to the band to have a look. It surprised me. They all perform well in the band, even to the new music score they had never played before. I can hardly follow their pace. No! I will never ever give it up again! This is just the beginning! My passion will never end!
We now live in Eton hall, which is much close to NUS. It is much more convenience than Parry hall. However, I feel a little depressed here sometimes because so many people live in such a small old, small building. When the saying ’if you can’t change the environment, just change yourself to adapt to it’ come to my mind, I feel better. No complain, no complain!
Our teachers are all nice to us. I think I must learn a lot from them after our bridging course. Hopefully, we can be whole-life friends.
Well, I am expecting to meet with my host family this Saturday.
When I was a kid, I have been to Singapore for twice with my mum. I can’t remember much about it, but I do remember I was deeply impressed by your strict law to protect the environment and the harmony between human and nature. I was attracted by the mini forest in the Changi Airport. I was shocked to see how friendly people circled around the pink dolphin in Sentosa Park.
Also, my middle school English teacher, who impressed me a lot, has lived in Singapore for two years. Maybe that’s why I am here today; all stuff has directed my way toward here when I was still a kid.
I feel less homesick than any other here I think, because I lived in boarding school since I was in kindergarten. These kinds of experience make me adapt to a new environment sooner and easier. What’s more I have a lot of friends and nice tutors here and friends in China who support me as usual.
Let’s say something interesting. I attended NUS band practice the first time on 13th Jan 2011. Actually I haven’t practice my clarinet of a period of time because of the pressure of the college entrance examination in China. However, I think it feels pity if I give it up forever, so I made up my mind, I must strive on it! So, I followed my senior to the band to have a look. It surprised me. They all perform well in the band, even to the new music score they had never played before. I can hardly follow their pace. No! I will never ever give it up again! This is just the beginning! My passion will never end!
We now live in Eton hall, which is much close to NUS. It is much more convenience than Parry hall. However, I feel a little depressed here sometimes because so many people live in such a small old, small building. When the saying ’if you can’t change the environment, just change yourself to adapt to it’ come to my mind, I feel better. No complain, no complain!
Our teachers are all nice to us. I think I must learn a lot from them after our bridging course. Hopefully, we can be whole-life friends.
Well, I am expecting to meet with my host family this Saturday.
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