2012年10月27日 星期六

An Act of Kindness in the Barber's

My late father in his autobiography mentioned that he told the hairdressers in the barber's that they were doing something good for people. Here is his philosophy: Everyone looks better and cleaner after leaving the barber's, feeling happy. Isn't making others happy an act of kindness?

What a beautiful philosophy!

2012年10月25日 星期四

Words from My Dear Father

你在一生中必須抱著夢想 時常體會它的實際感覺 這樣 終有一天 你會碰到夢想成真的一天




"In your life, you've got to have a dream and always feel its realization.  Then one day your dream will come true."

2012年10月22日 星期一

Motivation is the Key--英聽入考科/提升英聽?學生缺企圖心

Motivation is the Key--英聽入考科/提升英聽?學生缺企圖心




http://udn.com/NEWS/OPINION/X1/7445448.shtml

英聽入考科/提升英聽?學生缺企圖心
【聯合報╱曾泰元/東吳大學英文系副教授(新北市)】
2012.10.22 02:50 am

2012年10月19日 星期五

Habit Is Second Nature

All creatures are the slaves of habits.

This Monday noon, when I got to the restaurant where some of my NHSH colleagues and I would have a gathering, I waited at the door for it to open automatically.

2012年10月18日 星期四

Benefits of Fruits

Recently, I've spent a lot of time visiting my father in hospital in Tainan.  Looking around at the sick people, I recalled words from a high school principal, Ms. Chou (周麗玉校長).  She once said that when we are young, we have to think about what kind of life we would like to lead in old age and live a lifestyle leading to it. 

2012年10月16日 星期二

On 12-Year Compulsory Education--洪蘭:不要再扯12年國教後腿

http://mag.udn.com/mag/campus/storypage.jsp?f_ART_ID=418264

洪蘭:不要再扯12年國教後腿

【聯合報╱記者王昭月/高雄報導】2012/10/14

國內認知神經科學研究權威洪蘭教授,昨天在一場論壇中談到十二年國教時直言,家長應把眼光放遠,打破明星學校的迷思,培養孩子的學習能力,遠比分數更重要,「很多成功的人,不見得就是明星學校出來的」。

2012年10月15日 星期一

"Qin Shi Huang: The ruthless emperor who burned books" --from BBC

A good strategy to improve reading comprehension is to read in English what we are familiar with.  Recently, BBC news has been running articles about key figures in Chinese history.  This is a good authentic reading material because the intended readers are native speakers of English.  That is, it is written not for a pedagogical reason but to give information.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19922863

Qin Shi Huang: The ruthless emperor who burned books

By Carrie Gracie BBC  News, Beijing

15 October 2012 Last updated at 01:54 GMT

2012年10月14日 星期日

Legendary Sisters:--The Soong sisters: Women of influence in 20th Century China--from BBC

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19910975

The Soong sisters: Women of influence in 20th Century China

By Carrie Gracie

BBC  News, Beijing

11 October 2012 Last updated at 23:57 GMT

There will be no women at the helm of  China's Communist Party when the leadership is reshuffled next month, but there  are many more opportunities for women in today's China than there were 100 years  ago. Then the only way to achieve influence was to marry it - and three sisters  from one family showed how.

2012年10月12日 星期五

The Nobel Prize in Literature 2012

This year's Nobel Literature Prize goes to...

Mo Yan

The Official Site of the Nobel Prize.

http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/2012/

"The Nobel Prize in Literature 2012 was awarded to Mo Yan "who with hallucinatory realism merges folk tales, history and the contemporary".

******

The following is a CNN news story about the new Nobel Prize laureate.

2012年10月11日 星期四

What Makes One Successful?

http://udn.com/NEWS/OPINION/OPI4/7420659.shtml

洪蘭:成功的人格特質
【聯合報╱洪蘭】
2012.10.10 01:47 am



在捷運站聽到一個媽媽在告誡孩子,「不要跟某某玩,因為他功課不好,會把你帶壞」,孩子沒敢頂嘴,卻把頭轉開,表示不以為然。媽媽察覺到了,便放大聲音說:「你為什麼不聽?孔子不是說『無友不如己者』嗎?幹嘛去跟功課不好的人做朋友?」孩子咕噥了一聲,好像是說「勢利眼」。車來了,大家各自上車。

2012年10月9日 星期二

BBC News Report on this Year's Nobel Prize Winners for Medicine or Physiology

I read this BBC news report last night before going  to sleep.  Click the link and you'll watch a video of Gurdon talking at a press conference in London.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-19869673

Gurdon and Yamanaka share Nobel prize for stem cell work

By James Gallagher Health and science reporter, BBC News

8 October 2012 Last updated at 13:58 GMT

2012年10月8日 星期一

Grand Tour and Mental Journey--壯遊與神遊

The following is a article recommended by my former student Sunny on FB.  I copied and pasted it on my blog so that I can add some comments.  Click the link, and you'll find more marvelous articles by Prof. Peng.

http://mhperng.blogspot.tw/2012/06/blog-post_09.html?spref=fb

壯遊與神遊


2012年6月9日星期六    from  清大彭明輝的部落格

2012年10月7日 星期日

French Students' Academic Pressure--法國小學生周休3日 但…壓力好大

http://udn.com/NEWS/WORLD/WOR3/7414420.shtml

法國小學生周休3日 但…壓力好大
【聯合晚報╱編譯彭淮棟/美聯社巴黎電】
2012.10.07 09:18 pm


法國學生每周上課四天,每天午餐兩小時,假期也多過幾乎所有西方國家。聽起來像他們每周法定工時35小時的父母那樣輕鬆愉快。其實不然。

2012年10月6日 星期六

A Publication on English Learning



Want to improve your English?  I came across this publication at a convenience store today.  Click the link or read on, and go over the table of contents, before deciding to buy or borrow one.

http://www.books.com.tw/exep/prod/magazine/mag_retail.php?item=R030039355

2012年10月4日 星期四

What School Has Yet to Teach

Two days ago, I posted a survey on FB, asking my FB friends what they think school has yet to teach.  All the answers came from my students except one.  The following is a list of the responses, arranging in the order of the respondents' graduation year from high school.

TOEIC Threshod for Korean Companies

http://udn.com/NEWS/LIFE/LIF6/7406932.shtml

韓企徵才英文標準 比台灣高很多
【聯合報╱記者陳智華/台北報導】
2012.10.04 04:06 am


當台灣大學生羨幕韓國大學生畢業就有平均6萬多元起薪時,不妨也看看韓國企業的英文要求。美國教育測驗服務社(ETS)台灣區代表昨天公布台、日、韓1千大企業召募員工英語能力調查,台灣企業要求多益550分,但韓國企業門檻訂在700分,足足比台灣多了150分

2012年10月3日 星期三

To Freshman Physics Majors

This afternoon, while flipping through and re-organizing my files, I came across the following article.  Fortunately, I  found it online just now.  Since a few students of mine who graduated in July major in physics, I would like to post it in my blog for their reference.  In fact, some parts of it apply to all college students.

Thank goodness that I still keep the newspaper clipping.   This reminds me of the book A Perfect Mess: The Hidden Benefits of Disorder

http://mag.udn.com/mag/campus/printpage.jsp?f_ART_ID=18598

名人導讀3》吳茂昆/物理系

【記者李名揚】

.導讀名人:吳茂昆(國科會主委)      高涌泉(台大物理系教授) .

   給物理系新生的建議:讀原文書、用心做實驗

2012年10月2日 星期二

That Stare...

Up to now, I still can't erase that stare from my mind...

Today I went to Tainan to visit my dad in ICU in the hospital.  He looked better, no more painful expression on his face except when the nurse was changing the sticky tape used to fasten the tubes.  I kept talking to him and hummed some classical music to soothe him.