The Research About Press Release This Week

This week, we had a new press release assignment. It was very fresh to me so I did a lot of research on the press release about math field. Although in the future I may not write press release, it is so funny to write something that audience cares about. At first, I searched the most important events about math happened in 2015. After reading many articles I still couldn't find my source so i changed the topic to Nobel Prize about math in 2015. But to my surprise, the Nobel Prize did not have the specialized prize for math field. So I had to find something new.

At Last, I finally searched a press release about President Obama honored outstanding mathematics and science teachers. Although this is not a prize in the whole world, it is still an important prize in the nation. Each year the award alternates between teachers teaching kindergarten through 6th grade and those teaching 7th through 12th grades. The awardees named today teach 7th through 12th grade. My dream is to become a math teacher, so they are the models that I need to learn from them and try to be one of them. 

The Dying Metaphors Examples

In Monday's class, we talked about the " Politics and the English Language" by George Orwell. The article is about how to write the article in a proper way and use correct words to make the passage clear, precise and creative. Orwell introduces 4 ways of misusing words in the article: dying metaphors, operators or verbal false limbs, pretentious diction and meaningless words.

I find an example online about the dying metaphors. The misuse was found by Michael P. Marks. In some articles, many people may write " the body of the essay" to show the main part of the writing. But now this meaning is known by everyone so that we can not find anything new from this phrase. It is meaningless to use this in the article to describe the importance of the article.

Lets see a more famous example by President Nasheed in 2009. He said in his speech:" I am not a scientist, but I know that one of the laws of physics, is that you cannot negotiate with the laws of physics. Three - Five – Oh is a law of atmospheric physics. You cannot cut a deal with Mother Nature. And we don’t intend to try.This is why, in March, the Maldives announced plans to become the first carbon neutral country in the world. We intend to become carbon neutral in ten years. We will switch from oil to 100% renewable energy. And we will offset aviation pollution, until a way can be found to decarbonise air transport too." In this paragraph, he used the phrase " Mother Nature". We always considered nature as our mom because she brings everything to us. The overuse of the term is boring and lack of imagination. We need to avoid this kind of problems in our writing and be creative all the time.

Chinese New Year

    February 8th 2016, is the Chinese New Year.In China, we have a special calendar which is called lunar calendar. Chinese celebrating their New Year are the same as Americans celebrating Christmas Day. People usually have dumplings at that day and have lunch or dinner with relatives and family. 

    Although I am studying in America now, UPJ has CSSA which we can enjoy Chinese holidays in the school. On Monday the school and CSSA helped our Chinese students to hold a Chinese New Year party. There were lots of food and drinks in the Cambria room. Many professors and international students came and joined us. To our surprise, there was not only traditional chinese food but also hot pot there. The food was really delicious and made me miss my home.

    Like last year, no relatives come to America to visit me in the New Year, but I have many good friends and international students as well as professors having fun in the school. I love the environment here and I can also enjoy the Chinese holidays. My wish is that I can have good grades in 2016 and make more friends.

The Impact of TV Shows To Me

    In Monday's class, we read the review about the "Walking Dead". Although I am a Chinese, I love American TV series a lot.I remembered when I was in middle school, once after the school ended, I would go to my computer immediately to watch the latest American dramas. I did practice my English a lot in that way.
    
     I was attracted by "The Vampire Diaries" a lot that time. I was young and I did not even know what is love but that show has accompanied with me for almost seven years. I was hoping to go to America and become a vampire because the vampires had super nature power and were immortal. That was a nice dream to me. Since the American dramas so fascinating, my willing to come to America got stronger. But I really needed the help of Chinese subtitle to understand the complex words during the show.
    
    Now I am studying in America and part of my dream comes true. Also, with the help of the shows, my English has improved a lot. I watch many TV series now like " Arrow"， "The Flash", "DC's Legends of Tomorrow" and so on. The super nature thing is really attractive to me. Moreover, I don't need the subtitle now and I can understand more than 80% of the episodes. I think the dramas are really helpful. I can both relax and learn English in the free time.