My name is Barney

    My name is Barney and I am a type of dog known as Great Dane. I am so huge that my owner and his sister enjoy riding on me like I was a house. Strangely for a dog, I am keen on cheese. One time, in a hurry to go out, my owner left a block of cheese on the kitchen counter. I couldn’t resist the temptation and in no time at all, I had eaten the whole block. When my owner got back, I saw him searching high and low for the cheese. Finally, my teeth gave me away. As I was yawning, he found the red skin of the cheese stuck between my teeth. I was grounded to my doghouse for the theft, and worse than that. I had diarrhea from the cheese for three days. Once bitten, twice shy. Now I am terrified of that yellow chunk with the red skin. And my owner has never left cheese out of the fridge since then, either.

I was brought up my grandmother

    I was brought up my grandmother in a small village in Taidung. I remember I was in great pain when I first came to Taipei to study six year ago. I cried myself to sleep every missed the trees, the river, and my happy playmates there. In Taipei, people are not as friendly and they are such bores. All they do is watch TV and study. My classmates here do not know the pleasure of running around barefoot. They called me “wild kid”when I played with crickets and climbed trees. I can’t even find anybody to go bicycling with. It has been six years now, but I am still not used to life here. I have set my mind on attending a university back in Taidung. I am looking forward to seeing green trees, spacious grounds and singing birds again

when I had just turned 12

The most difficult moment in life happened when I had just turned 12. That year I transferred to a new school because my family moved to Taipei. I had trouble adapting to the new environment there. In order not to be alienated, I hung out with a certain bunch of classmates. Without realizing it, I started to cut classes, smoke, and even steal. Very soon, my parents found out I was keeping bad company because my grades went from bad to worse, and my teacher informed them of my frequent absences from school. My father started to keep an eye on me. He drove me to school and picked me up after classes. It was tough in the beginning, but my gang eventually realized that it was too much trouble having me in their group. They gave up on me, which was a blessing in disguise. Thinking back, I am very grateful to my parents for coming to my aid at that critical moment.

On impulse I stole my father’s watch

    On impulse I stole my father’s watch. I was punished and learned my lesson. However, a few months later when my father found two thousand dollars missing from his wallet, I was the first one he questioned. No matter how I tried to defend myself, my father would not believe me. That was the most painful moment in my life. I realized that my father would never trust me again. Fortunately, my mother was there for me. She told me that this was the price I had to pay for having stolen my father’s watch. So I hung in there waiting for the truth to come out. Three weeks later, my father apologized to me, saying that he found the money in his offices drawer. I had finally regained my father’s trust.

Christmas

     My family do not celebrate Christmas because we are Buddhists, but most of my friends do. I was once invited to a party on Christmas Eve. It took place at a priest’s house. We enjoyed homemade fruitcake, pudding, gingerbread and other goodies. Then, we sang Christmas carols by warm, gleaming candlelight. The sparkling decorations on the Christmas tree amazed me. The highlight of the party was when the priest told us Christmas stories. What matters to me most about Christmas is not Jesus being worshipped as the Son of God, but the mercy and love he had for His people. However, Christmas these days had become too commercialized. People with no idea of the Christmas religion get caught up in feverish gift buying. Rather than thinking about what Christmas really means, they go on a shopping spree. I hope we can all eventually wake up again to the true meaning of Christmas.

My Regret

    When we are angry, we usually say things we don’t mean. But the person on the receiving end is very likely to remember it. This is true of most fights I’ve had with my brother. I regret calling my brother names when we fought last month. Out of anger, I called him an idiot and other nasty names, and he was shocked by the terrible words that came out of my mouth. Not only did I feel bad about using this filthy language, but I was also convinced that it was all my fault when I heard him using the very same words to his classmate on the phone a few days later. I wanted to tell him it’s not good to call people names, but I was in on position to do so. I wish there were something I could do to take back what I had said.

When I was 10

    When I was 10, I was chosen to join a speech contest. I had no idea why my classmates chose me. I would stutter from fear even when I spoke in front of my classmate. I went to the teacher and told him I would rather not do it. For my benefit, I suppose, the teacher encouraged me to give it a try. He said that I would have to conquer my stage fright sooner or later. I turned to my father for help, and he said exactly the same thing. On the day of the contest, I sat in the audience waiting my turn. I could hear my heart beating like a drum while the person before me was speaking. Then I decided I couldn’t bear it any more and rushed out of the place. That was a total failure for me. I was defeated even before I went into battle!

2010/09/08

 Word

1.      except

2.      arrive

3.      depart

4.      arrow

5.      Cupid

6.      bow

7.      shooting

8.      round

9.      jar

10.  fell

11.  astronaut

12.  female

13.  thieves

14.  steal

15.  Automated Teller Machine = ATM

16.  paid

17.  audience

18.  laughs

19.  aunt

20.  truck

21.  author

22.  automobile

23.  strange

24.  autumn

25.  leave

Phrase

1.      all along : all the time, from the beginning (without change)

2.      little by little : gradually, slowly (also: step by step)

3.      to tire out : to make very weary due to difficult conditions or hard effort (also: to wear out)

4.      to call on : to ask for a response from; to visit (also: to drop in on)

5.      never mind : don’t be concerned about it; ignore what was just said

Poetry

1.      A sweet arrow in Cupid’s bow is shooting people with love for all.

2.      Rain, rain, go away! Come again another day!

Life Term

2.      as soon as possible = a.s.a.p. 

3.      ask for it 

4.      You are asking for it.

2010/09/07

Word

1.      although

2.      vampire

3.      ambulance

4.      among

5.      hide

6.      basket

7.      thirsty

8.      turkey

9.      angry

10.  treat

11.  suit

12.  fit

13.  fried

14.  dirty thieves

15.  except

16.  noisiest

17.  appear

18.  bright

19.  April

20.  April fool

21.  apron

22.  army

23.  were

24.  breve

25.  Iron Man

26.  the army

27.  the navy

28.  arm force

29.  mad

30.  chase

31.  vocabulary

32.  usage

33.  instructions

34.  reflects

35.  underlined

36.  particular

37.  context

38.  policy

39.  attacked

40.  officially

Proverb

1. To say is one thing; to do is another.

Phrase

1.      to dress up : to wear formal clothes, to dress very nicely

2.      at last : finally, after a long time

3.      as usual : as is the general case, as is typical

4.      to find out : get information about, to determine

5.      to look at : give one’s attention to; to watch

6.      to look for : to try to find , to search for

7.      all right : acceptable, fine; yes, okay

8.      have ants in one’s pants 

9.      with open arms

Crash Proof

One of the big hits in the business section of book stores these days is Crash Proof.  How to Profit From the Coming Economic Collapse. There are lots more like it. They have titles like The Coming Economic Collapse, Financial Armageddon, The Great Bust Ahead, Game Over, After the Crash, and When Giants Fall.

  Scanning these titles can be terribly depressing. But don’t despair. As long as we have subtitles, we have hope. Whether the future holds collapse, depression, catastrophe, Armageddon, or the most awful planetary mash-up in the history of the whole bloody universe, the subtitle is certain you can profit from it.

  All you have to do is buy the book.

  The strange fact is that most popular business books come in one of two varieties. One is The Coming Boom: How to profit! The other is The Coming Collapse: How to profit! One never sees The Coming Moderation: How to do fairly well!

  Outwardly, manic bulls and depressive bears are completely unalike. But at their core, both species are optimists, even the bears. After all, it takes a certain unflappable cheeriness to see everything from Great Depressions to plague, war, and civilizational collapse as an opportunity to make some coin.

  True pessimists offer only the hope that you and your family may not be beaten and flayed by starving marauders. No one“profits”or “prospers”in their subtitles. At best, they“guard”or“survive.”

The life of the law not been logic

    The life of the law not been logic; it has been experience. The felt necessities of the time, the prevalent moral and political theories, intuitions of public policy, avowed or unconscious, even the prejudices which judges share with their fellow men, have had a good deal more to do than the syllogism in determining the rules by which men should be governed. The law embodies the story of a nation’s development through many centuries, and it cannot be dealt with as if it contained only the axioms and corollaries of a book of mathematics.

2010/09/06

Word

1.      met

2.      cheaply

3.      marvelous

4.      bridegroom

5.      landlord

6.      loaf

7.      cargo

8.      louse

9.      goose

10.  deer

11.  species

12.  cattle

13.  crew

14.  clergy

15.  falls

16.  measles

17.  civics

18.  economics

19.  mathematics

20.  physics

21.  none

22.  tear

23.  pieces

24.  lonely

25.  pretty

26.  aloud

27.  alphabet

28.  capital letter

29.  small letter

30.  mosquitoes

31.  politics

32.  statistics

33.  gloves

34.  trousers

35.  stockings

36.  sock

37.  scissors

38.  genius

39.  penny

40.  manner

41.  damage

42.  either

43.  neither

44.  several

45.  silver

46.  alarm

47.  alarm clock

48.  flies

49.  immediately

50.  loud

51.  lift

52.  doorstep

53.  falls

54.  seriously

55.  fluent

56.  progress

57.  realized

Idioms

1.      No smoking allowed here.

2.      Almost there!

3.      This better be good.

Phrase

1.      by air = by airplane

2.      to turn off / to switch off / to shut off

3.      right away / at once

4.      to pick up

5.      sooner or later

6.      to get op

7.      at first  

Experience the worst failure

I don’t mind failure. I believe failing once in a while makes me strong. However, if my failure contributes to the failure of my teammates, then it’s a totally different story. I am a sprinter, and I always run the last leg in the relay race. So when I was told to do it again at the athletic meet on our school’s anniversary, I thought I was going to do a good job. I also got the privilege of not having to practice with my team member. Then the day came. My team was coming in second when I grabbed the baton from my team member. With the support of the spectators, I ran with all my strength. Not surprisingly, I overtook the runner ahead of me and ran towards the finish line. Just before I got there, though, the baton slipped out of my hand and fell onto the track. There want my pride. And that was the worst failure a relay runner and his team could ever have.

2010/09/05

Word

1.      vehicle

2.      descend

3.      terminal

4.      coat

5.      arrange

6.      conditioning

7.      security

8.      counter

9.      trolley

10.  customs

11.  swing

12.  upside

13.  proud

14.  absent

15.  alarm

16.  fell

17.  accident

18.  ache

19.  pain

20.  toe

21.  stomach

22.  strait

23.  pacific

24.  actor/actress

25.  wood

26.  wolf

27.  adult

28.  adventure

29.  liberty

30.  statue

31.  buffalo

32.  against

33.  river

34.  kicking

35.  agree

36.  tortoise

37.  dinosaur

38.  giraffe

39.  goat

40.  crocodile

41.  turtle

Proverb

1.      Accident will happen.

Phrase

1.      run across

2.      get in/get on

3.      get out of/get off

4.      put on

5.      take off

6.      call up/give somebody a call

7.      turn on / switch on

Life Term

1.      Go ahead!

My Regret

　　I regret having tried smoking two years ago. Partly out of curiosity and mainly  because my bodies goaded me into trying it, I had my first cigarette. Unlucky, I got hooked on it. Since smoking was not allowed at school, I had to avoid the disciplinary officers all the time. I was sick of playing hide-and-seek with them, but I had difficulty quitting smoking. I envied my friends who did not have to depend on nicotine to give themselves a boost. I often think if I hadn’t been so curious or lacking in determination to simply say “no” to my friends, I wouldn’t be in so much trouble now. I know the only way I can quit smoking is to go clod turkey!