2015.12.17 - Week 14

A. Vocabularies to know
1) make a analogy : a comparison between things which have similar features, often used to help explain a principle or idea
2) commencement : the beginning of something; a ceremony at which students formally receive their degrees (= university qualifications)
3) nihilism: a belief that all political and religious organizations are bad, or a system of thought which says that there are no principles or beliefs which have any meaning or can be true
4) petite: If a woman or girl is petite, she is small and thin in an attractive way
5) opponent: a person who disagrees with something and speaks against it or tries to change it
5-1) proponent: a person who speaks publicly in support of a particular idea or plan of action
6) protagonist: an important supporter of an idea or political system
7) onomatopoeia: the creation and use of words which include sounds that are similar to the noises that the words refer to
8) doomsday: the end of the world, or a time when something very bad will happen
9) skyscraper : a very tall modern building, usually in a city;  to get rid of something which is no longer useful or wanted, often using its parts in new ways
10) holistic: dealing with or treating the whole of something or someone and not just a part
11) placebo:  a substance given to someone who is told that it is a particular medicine, either to make them feel as if they are getting better or to compare the effect of the particular medicine when given to others
12) omniscient: having or seeming to have unlimited knowledge; all
12-1) omnipotent: having unlimited power; able to do anything; power
12-2) impotent: not having the power or ability to change or improve a situation
13) computer-literate: able to use computers well
14) be accused of: to say that someone has done something morally wrong, illegal or unkind
15) staunch: always loyal in supporting a person, organization or set of beliefs or opinions
16) astrology star sign: the study of the movements and positions of the sun, moon, planets and stars, and the skill of describing the expected effect that some people believe these have on the character and behaviour of humans
16-1) astronauts: a person who has been trained for travelling in spacecraft
16-2) asterisk: the symbol * which is used to refer readers to a note at the bottom of a page of text, or to show that a letter is missing from a word
16-3) astronomy:  the scientific study of the universe and of objects which exist naturally in space, such as the moon, the sun, planets and stars
16-4) astrological prediction
17) subversive: trying to destroy or damage something, especially an established political system; under
18) has the jury reached a verdict: an opinion or decision made after judging the facts that are given, especially one made at the end of a trial
19) presume innocence:to believe something to be true because it is very likely, although you are not certain; when someone is not guilty of a crime, or does not have much experience of life and does not know about the bad things that happen in life
20) heterosexuality: a person who is sexually attracted to people of the opposite sex
B. Movie : Dead Poets Society

Dead Poets Society is a 1989 American drama film written by Tom Schulman, directed by Peter Weir and starring Robin Williams. Set at the conservative and aristocratic Welton Academy in the Northeastern United States in 1959, it tells the story of an English teacher who inspires his students through his teaching of poetry.
The film received critical acclaim and was a box office success; it was also BAFTA's best film and best foreign film in France and Italy. Schulman received an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for his work.

C. Poet: O'captain! My Captain!

"O Captain! My Captain!" is an extended metaphor poem written in 1865 by Walt Whitman, about the death of American president Abraham Lincoln. The poem was first published in the pamphlet Sequel to Drum-Taps which assembled 18 poems regarding the American Civil War, including another Lincoln elegy, "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd". It was included in Whitman's comprehensive collection Leaves of Grass beginning with its fourth edition published in 1867.









O Captain! My Captain! our fearful trip is done;
The ship has weather'd every rack, the prize we sought is won;
The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,
While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring:

But O heart! heart! heart!
O the bleeding drops of red,
Where on the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.
O Captain! My Captain! rise up and hear the bells;
Rise up—for you the flag is flung—for you the bugle trills;
For you bouquets and ribbon'd wreaths—for you the shores a-crowding;
For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;

Here captain! dear father!
This arm beneath your head;
It is some dream that on the deck,
You've fallen cold and dead.
My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still;
My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will;
The ship is anchor'd safe and sound, its voyage closed and done;
From fearful trip, the victor ship, comes in with object won;

Exult, O shores, and ring, O bells!
But I, with mournful tread,
Walk the deck my captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.

D. NATO phonetic alphabet

The International Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet, commonly known as the NATO phonetic alphabet and also known as the ICAO radiotelephonic, phonetic or spelling alphabet and the ITU radiotelephonic or phonetic alphabet, is the most widely used radiotelephonic spelling alphabet. Although often called "phonetic alphabets", spelling alphabets are not associated with phonetic transcription systems such as the International Phonetic Alphabet. Instead, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) alphabet assigned code words acrophonically to the letters of the English alphabet so that critical combinations of letters and numbers can be pronounced and understood by those who transmit and receive voice messages by radio or telephone regardless of language barriers or the presence of transmission static.

The 26 code words in the NATO phonetic alphabet are assigned to the 26 letters of the English alphabet in alphabetical order as follows: Alfa, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo, Foxtrot, Golf, Hotel, India, Juliett, Kilo, Lima, Mike, November, Oscar, Papa, Quebec, Romeo, Sierra, Tango, Uniform, Victor, Whiskey, X-ray, Yankee, Zulu.

E. supplement

James Madison: Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.