1/4 Listening
- 2017-07-10 13:04:11
- 2017-07-10 14:00:40
- 601 words 55 minutes 10.9 w/m
The earth was formed about 4.6 billion years ago.
The first live appeared about a billion years later.
The first plants didn't appear until around 2 billion years ago.
Until about 580 million years ago, life forms were small and microscopic 微小的.
Since that time, life has evolved into many different types, or species.
However scientists estimate that more than 99% of them are now distinct.
There have been several extinction events in the history of the Earth.
In an extinction event, many life forms or species of life die out.
The causes of massive extinction events are unsolved mysteries 未解之谜.
These events are not predictable and can happen at any time.
Scientists think that some of them were started by asteroid 小行星 impacts 撞击 or volcanic corruptions 火山爆发.
Events like these can change the global conditions that life depend on.
One major extinction event happened about 66 million years ago.
That event may have been started by a large asteroid that hit the Earth.
As a result the dinosaurs 恐龙 and about half of all species on the planet died out.
When the asteroid hit the Earth it started a chain of events.
A chain of events is a series of events linked together like a chain.
This particular chain of events happened over a period of months and years.
When the asteroid hit the Earth, it caused a huge cloud of dust to enter the atmosphere.
The cloud of dust blocked the sun and darkened the Earth for many months.
Without enough sunlight, plants and plant-eating animals quickly died.
With the deaths of so many plants and animals, the food chain collapsed.
This lead to the death of many more species.
Massive extinction events have played an important part in the evolution of life.
In fact, some extinction events have helped to accelerate the evolution.
For example some mammals lives through the age of dinosaurs but they couldn't compete.
When the dinosaurs were removed the mammals were able to compete more successfully.
Once they could compete mammals evolved to a higher state.
Without extinction events perhaps we wouldn't be here today.
Scientists estimate that there have been at least 5 massive extinction in the last 540 million years.
They also believed that we have entered a new extinction event.
Species are becoming extinct at a much faster rate than before.
Instead of asteroid or volcanic corruptions, the current event is the result of human activities.
Human Activities for example have lead to global warming.
Global warming is the result of an increase in carbon gases in our atmosphere.
These gases trap heat from the sun, so the Earth is getting warmer.
As a result, sea levels are rising and weather patterns are changing.
In addition we humans are destroying the habitats 栖息地 of many plants and animals.
Cutting down forests and polluting rivers destroys the habitats of many forms of life.
There is no longer any doubt that this is happening.
Species of life are disappearing at an increasing rate.
Global temperatures are rising and wether patterns are changing.
Scientists are warning us that fast action is necessary to save our future.
If we don't act, we may go the way of the dinosaurs.
1/4 Vocabulary
Fire provided light so that people could work and socialize for longer hours.
2/4 Speaking(Game)
- Mass extinction events have played an important part in the evolution of life.
- The immune system protects the body against infections and diseases.
3/4 Listening
- 2017-07-13 13:40:06
- 2017-07-13 14:00:11
- 2017-07-13 21:18:39
- 2017-07-13 22:08:53
- 70 minutes 524 words 7.5 w/m
Alcatraz is a small island in San Francisco bay, 1.5 miles from San Francisco.
From Alcatraz you can see the famous Golden Gate Bridge.
Alcatraz is also famous and now is a major tourist attraction.
Tourists can reach the island by boat from the city.
Alcatraz has often appeared in movies including Escape From Alcatraz which was made in 1979.
One reason it's famous is because it used to be a prison, a very special prison.
It was designed for prisoners who was causing troubles in other prisons such as trying to escape.
It was a maximum security prison, so escape is almost impossible.
The waters around it are cold and only very strong swimmers can swim from the island to San Francisco.
The first group of prisoners are arrived in 1934.
There were 137 prisoners including bank robbers and murderers.
They came by train from another prison in the state of Kansas 堪萨斯州.
During that trip there was heavy security.
The prisoners where under guard and handcuffed 戴手铐.
Nobody wants them to escape.
The prison is designed to hold up to 336 prisoners.
However the average population was only about 270.
Although there were several notorious 声名狼藉的 inmates 同住人/同狱犯人 such as Al Capone, most of the inmates are not well known.
Many have tried to escape from other prisons or consider violent.
If a man did not behave 表现良好 at another prison, he could be sent to Alcatraz.
At Alcatraz there was just one inmate in each prison cell.
Prison life at Alcatraz was highly structured and boring.
It was designed to teach prisoners to follow rules.
They had four rights: food, clothing, shelter 庇护所 and medical care.
Everything else was a privilege 特权 that had to be earned.
Privileges included working visits from family members and access to the prison library.
There are also activities such as painting and music.
Once a prisoner show that he could follow the rules, he could be transferred back to another prison, to finish the sentence.
Alcatraz was used as a prison for 29 years.
During that time no prisoner escaped successfully.
There were 14 escape attempts involving 36 prisoners.
23 were caught alive and 6 were shot and killed.
2 man tried to escape twice.
2 drowned 淹死 and 5 were listed as missing and presumed 推测 drowned.
The most violent escape attempt occurred on may, 2nd 1946 when 6 prisoners tried to escape.
That event is called the battle of Alcatraz.
While it was in use, Alcatraz had some of the most notorious criminals in American history such as Al Capone.
Al Capone was a crime boss who built his career in Chicago.
The prison was finally closed in 1963.
It was closed because it was to expensive to operate.
3/4 Vocabulary
- 2017-07-14 22:37:07
- 2017-07-14 23:16:11
- 380 words 39 minutes 9.7 w/m
A bar graph uses rectangular bar of different length to show and compare data.
The length of the bars are proportional 成比例的 to the values they represent 代表.
The bars can be vertical up and down or horizontal.
A circle graph often called a pie graph is shaped like a circle.
It is divided into segments that look like pieces of a pie.
Percentages are used to compare the segments which are ordered from biggest to smallest.
Line graphs are used to show the relationship between two variables such as time and distance.
These variables are piloted on two axis the x-axis and y-axis.
The x-axis often shows time while the y-axis shows how quantities, such as distance, temperatures and profits, changes with time.
A flow chart is a type of graph that shows how a process or project flows from start to finish.
A flow chart consists 由..组成 of start points, inputs, outputs and decision points.
An organizational charts or org-chart shows the structure of a company.
It shows how people and departments within the company are connected.
It defines the roles and responsibilities that ....
Laws are rules that people are supposed to follow.
A system of the laws governed the people within a country.
Criminals are people who break the law.
People who committed a crime are called criminals.
Some criminals are very dangerous and needed to put in jail.
A jail or prison is a place where criminals are locked behind bars, sometimes for many years.
Prisons are designed to keep criminals away from other people.
A court house 法庭 is where someone charge with committing a crime goes on trail on trail 受审判.
In court evidence is presented to show the guilt or innocents 无罪的 to the person on trail.
When someone breaks the law they maybe arrested by the police.
To arrest someone means to take and hold them until they go on trail.
3/4 Vocabulary (Game)
Science and engineering breakthroughs are rapidly changing the way we live our lives.
She isn't aware of how hard he has been working.
Hinduism has no founder and is a mixture of many beliefs.
An explosion is a rapid, violent release of energy.
4/4 Listening
Al Capone was one the the most famous criminals in American history.
He came from an immigrant 移民 Family.
His parents came from Italy and his father was a barber.
As a boy he belongs to a street gangs 帮派.
He quit school after finishing the 6th grade.
He built his career as a crime boss in Chicago.
He became boss at 26 when previous leader was nearly killed.
His crime organization made a lot of money, more than 100 million dollars a year.
Most of the money came from illegal activities, especially the sale of illegal liquid.
His organization was also involved in gambling 赌博 and prostitution 卖淫.
Capone was a flashy 艳俗的 dresser 衣着 who is enjoyed being famous.
He protected himself by bribing police and public officials.
Through he was involved in the deaths of many, he was never convicted 判决有罪 a serious crime.
When he was finally arrested it was for minor crimes.
In 1929 he and his bodyguard were arrested for carrying deadly weapons.
For that they were sentenced him a year in prison.
Capone was released in 9 month for good behavior.
In 1930 Capone was public enemy number one in Chicago.
A year later he was arrested for failures to pay taxes.
The government had finally found a way to catch him.
After a trial, he was found guilty and sentenced to 11 years in prison.
He spent the first 2 years of his sentence at a prison in Atlanta 亚特兰大 Georgia 乔治亚洲.
Then he was sent to Alcatraz the country's most famous prison.
At Alcatraz, he was diagnosed with a disease that began to take over his brain.
As a result, he spent much of his time in the prison hospital.
By the time he was release from prison in 1939, he was no longer able to lead his organization.
He died of a stroke 中风 and pneumonia 肺炎 in 1947.
4/4 Vocabulary
- 2017-07-17 13:56:00
- 2017-07-17 14:06:53
- 2017-07-17 21:56:55
- 2017-07-17 22:12:49
- 323 words 26 minutes 12.4 w/m
Income is money received for work or from investment.
For a company to survive it's income needs to be more than it's expenses.
People who earned a good salary can buy what they need to survive.
A receipt is given to you after you have paid for something.
A receipt is proved that you have paid for something.
A receipt shows that something has been paid for.
After paying for something, be sure to get a receipt.
An invoice is a request for payment.
An invoice list the prices and products being bought.
To invoice someone means to given them a bill for products or services.
Once an invoice is paid it can be used as a receipt.
Taxes are what we paid to the governments for government services.
Taxes pay for many services such as education police and healthcare.
An income tax is a tax on your income.
In some countries income taxes are very high.
Interest 利息 is what we paid to lenders 放款人 when we borrow money.
If someone lends you money, you pay interest for the use of that money.
Emotional people often show their feelings and have a bad temper.
They make decisions based their feelings more facts.
Sometimes these people make bad decisions because of their emotions.
Leaders are people who take responsibility and are trusted by others.
Good leaders make good decisions and get things done.
In many situations others look to them for leadership.
Loyal people can be depended on to follow their leader.
They will support and protect their leaders and friends.
A strong team needs a good leader and loyal followers.
Independent people can do things on their own.
They often prefer working by themselves.
Sometimes they have difficulty working in a group.
Creative people are often .....
- Loyal people will act to support the decisions of the group.
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