Getting into Unit 5 = Movement (SkR&W3, p47, Discussion point)

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What we read

Bixby and Scanlon introduce each unit with a discussion activity, that is, an opportunity for us to share our ideas on the topic of the unit in a way that relates it to our own lives, ideas and experiences. Unit 5 of book 3 (Bixby & Scanlon [=B&S3], 2013, p.47) does this.

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My response 

The research solidly shows that brainstorming or discussion activities for groups are more effective if participants start by working individually (O'Connell, 2010; Markman, 2017). In fact, experts at Harvard University's School of Management and elsewhere are sure that this can be very effectively done using online tools (Chamorro-Premuzic, 2015). Blogging is one effective way to do this, which is the reason I've turned Bixby and Scanlon's discussion exercise into a quick blogging discussion.

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Bixby and Scanlon's questions 

Discuss these questions in a comment.  

• Why do some birds migrate?
   
• What other animals migrate? 
• What animals migrate to or from your country?
   
• What human activities can disrupt of interfere with animal movement? 

For all of these, you should write full sentences. You will also need to write a few sentences for each of your ideas, giving explanation, examples and other details to clarify and develop your ideas. 

You can address the questions in any order. You can write one comment, or if you prefer, two comments, but not three. So that you don't worry about Bixby and Scanlon's numbers too much, I replaced them with bullets. We do not care about the numbers that Bixby and Scanlon gave their questions. 

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Useful tip 1

Jim: "Because it's hot." 

I expect that you have a problem with Jim's answer above. He assumes that we know what he's talking about, and this easily causes problems for readers and listeners. When you write your comments below, just as when we are talking in class, it is a useful communication strategy to imagine that your readers have not heard or read the question you are responding to. You need to write enough so that your comment makes sense for readers who have not read the above questions. 

Useful tip 2

You are not writing an academic essay here. This is a fluency activity where your aim is to communicate a series of ideas quickly. It's OK if you go off topic a bit, or even a lot. And unlike in academic work, you don't have to give solid support for everything you say, although it is still a good idea to give some supporting details, examples and explanation to help readers follow your ideas. Just turn your first idea into a sentence or a few, and then do the same for your next idea, and then the next one. And keep going. 

Now, open a new comment box and start writing. In your nine minutes, aim to write three paragraphs, that is, one paragraph for each of Bixby and Scanlon's main questions.  

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References

• Bixby, J. & Scanlon, J. (2013). Skillful Reading & Writing: Student's Book 3. Oxford: Macmillan Education
    
• Chamorro-Premuzic, T. (2015, April 2). Why brainstorming works better online. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2015/04/why-brainstorming-works-better-online
   
• Markman, A. (2017, May 18). Your team is brainstorming all wrong. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2017/05/your-team-is-brainstorming-all-wrong
   
• O'Connell, A. (2010, February 4). Sometimes, it’s better to brainstorm alone. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2010/02/when-its-better-to-brainstorm 

Welcome to RW2b and to our class blog

What I read

Although I've read a lot in preparation for it, this post has a different purpose than summarizing and responding to something I've read. I want to welcome you to your EAP class on Saturday mornings.

So, welcome.

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My response 

Thank you for joining our Saturday class in Reading and Writing for academic purposes. I hope you find the next six weeks useful, productive, also challenging, and perhaps even fun. 

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My question

As you can see, online discussion makes an appearance early on in Unit 1 of Skillful (Bixby & Scanlon, 2013, p. 9) and there is a more extensive coverage of this common part of modern university courses on page 66. 

Click on them to
see images full size.

Also, in her foreword to students on page 4 (or perhaps page 6 if you have a later print than mine), the series editor, Dorothy E. Zemach, gives some strategies for successful learning, one of which is to "be an independent learner" (in Bixby & Scanlon, 2013). This class blog is one way for us to do this. As Zemach suggests in her comment, it is one way for you to "find and then share information about ... different topics." Some of the topics you will write about here are the unit topics, but I also Zemach's suggestion that "reading for pleasure and using the Internet in English" are important, so your writing here will not be limited to the topics of the units that we study over the next six weeks. 

• Do you agree with Zemach and the authors of our book and myself? Is a class blog a useful addition to our class this term? (This is two sentences, but it's only one question for you to respond to.) 

You can respond as soon as you accept the invitation I will soon send you to join this blog. 

Writing tip

When you write your comment, imagine that readers have not seen the question you are answering. This forces you to make your work an independent piece of writing, one that makes sense by itself. 

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Reference

• Bixby, J. & Scanlon, J. (2013). Skillful Reading & Writing, Student's Book 3. Oxford: Macmillan Education 

The Loudest Sound You've Never Heard (SkRW3, pp. 90-91, Developing critical thinking)

What we read

We have just read and checked our understanding of "The Loudest Sound You've Never Heard" (Bixby & Scanlon, 2013). 

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Our response 

Having read the text a couple of times, Bixby and Scanlon now invite us to respond to the ideas in it in a critical thinking exercise.

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Bixby and Scanlon's questions

Having spent a couple of minutes planning, respond to one only of these questions in a comment. 

• Would it be advantageous for humans to be able to hear infrasound? Why or why not? Briefly explain the  pros and cons that you thought of. 

or

• In our daily lives, we are surrounded by  all sorts of sounds. What sounds are the most pleasant of relaxing? Do you enjoy being in complete silence? 

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Reference

• Bixby, J. & Scanlon, J. (2013). Skillful Reading & Writing: Student's Book 3. Oxford: Macmillan Education

"The Secret Garden" (SkRW3, pp. 88-89, Before you read)

What I read

As usual, before we read a text, Bixby and Scanlon invite us to think about the topic or ideas that are coming up. For the first  reading in Unit 9 of Skillful, which is titled "The Secret Garden: An excerpt," they explicitly ask us to write down and share our ideas before we read the text.

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Bixby and Scanlon's question

• When you were young, do you remember a place that was secret or mysterious, or where you used to hide? 
• Where was it? 
• What did you do there? 
• Did you play games, read, talk with a friend? 

Suggestions for writing

You have 20:00 minutes for this communicative writing exercise. It is not an academic writing exercise, but it is still a good idea to follow the writing process for this piece of work.

You want to write a quick paragraph or two, so it will be a good idea to spend at least 3:00 minutes on some quick planning: choose your topic, get ideas about your chosen topic, and organize those ideas. 

Then write; that is, turn your ideas into sentences in one or two paragraphs. Spend about 10:00 minutes on this. 

And after you have written, you should have about 7:00 minutes left in which to edit your work: review, revise and proofread. A couple of useful check questions for review are:

• Does my piece of work make sense to a reader who has not seen Bixby and Scanlon's questions above? In other words, is it a unified, independent piece of writing?  

• Have I given enough details, explanations and examples so that my ideas are clear to readers?  

•  Do my readers now know why this place was special to me? How well can they imagine it? 

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Reference

• Bixby, J. & Scanlon, J. (2013). Skillful Reading & Writing: Student's Book 3. Oxford: Macmillan Education

King Bungaree

What I read

According to "Bungaree: Indigenous man who helped Flinders explore Australia" (2019). Bungaree was born in Broken Bay in 1775. He helped Captain Matthew Flinders to circumnavigate Australia in June 1803. He played a vital diplomatic role, and had been noted for his kindness of heart, gentleness and other excellent qualities and has been of great service to the colony. In 1815, he became known as King Bungaree, but people forgot him because of the racist undertones. 

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My response 

After I read this news, I think that people forgot Bungaree because the racist undertones.The problem of racism is a problem that has arisen everwhere in the world for a long time. And difficult to fix, even though this problem will reduce the severity from the past, but racism still exists in society all over the world. Observed from there are statues to Captain Flinder, but as yet, there are no statue to Bungaree recognising his role in the exploration of Australia. I think racism is a human being created to define superiority or inferiority based on the skin color and the different cultures of humans. In addition, each country always adheres to the history of teaching in order to create righteousness to support their past behavior. Every human being has human dignity and therefore should be respected and treared equally. Especially, racial discrimination is therefore a violation of human right that everyone should have.

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My question

Is the problem of racism will eventually disappear from this world in the end?

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Reference

• Bungaree: Indigenous man who helped Flinders explore Australia. (2019, January 25). Retrieved from  https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-47000518

US Chuffed with UK

What I read

According to Vicky Baker writing about it in “Why Americans love the Great British Bake Off” (2019), the surprising popularity in the United States of the British cooking show, where contestants produce a series of baked items, is because it ignores politics and emphasizes kindness among competitors as they help each other overcome problems along the way to making their stuffed suet pastry, souflé, Victoria sponge or other set dish. Attracting people from varied social backgrounds, the show, which is now broadcast by NetFlix, has inspired dedicated Facebook groups, coverage in major US media, and local themed parties working to capture the friendly atmosphere of the British show, which offers no rich prize, only a simple cake stand and the honour of baking best.

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My response 

Breakfast by Matthew

I liked this article because although it's not too serious, which is a major reason that the UK cooking show is popular among US audiences, it still makes a serious point: escaping from serious politics and other issues matters to us. It reminded me of when I was staying with my brother on my annual visit to Australia last Songkran. We don't normally watch TV together, but we both love food and my brother is a great cook, so an Australian cooking show was the one thing that we did watch a couple of times. But I'm afraid the Australian version of the "Great British Bake Off" isn't so friendly as the UK version seems to be. The contestants on the Australian show, whose name I forget, were not very friendly at all, and instead of helping each other, seemed much happier to delight in their fellow contestant's mistakes, perhaps because there were more substantial prizes. It was still fun to watch, but I enjoy my brother's meals a lot more. I usually only visit for about one week, but during that time, my brother cooks for me every day, always making sure I get a substantial, traditional home-cooked breakfast with eggs his free-range hens had laid the day before, bacon, and at least one yummy vegetable, and he never even lets me wash the dishes. I've never learned to use his dish washer, so maybe he worries that some of his china might suffer if I tried. He even makes my morning coffee so that I have my essential drug hit before he leaves for work. 

Mum and some nieces

The article also reminds me of how important food is in our culture. I suspect it is an important element in every culture, and it certainly helps to bring my large and often quarrelsome family together in a cheerful atmosphere where we can all sit down and catch up. In fact, while I'm there, my brother also puts on at least a couple of special meals for family members. My family is very large, so he usually does lunch one day for my mum and aunts. This is usually a traditional roast meal, with a couple of his home grown ducks beautifully prepared with plenty of trimmings: peas, potatoes and other roast vegetables, and a delicious dessert. And of course wine. My mum used to cook these meals about once a week, but she's 88 now, and although still living independently, she doesn't cook much, preferring to let others do that. After raising eight children, I think she deserves to relax a bit. 

Going to check the koalas

My family are of Italian descent, and the first thing my Australian ancestors did when they arrived in the bush 140 years ago was clear some land and plant the grape cuttings they had brought from Italy so that they could make their own wine. We don't make wine any more, but it's still a part of special meals. On another day, my brother puts on a more relaxed meal to which my brothers and sisters and their kids and family dogs all come: it's very crowded, but he has a couple of large tables set up outside so we can enjoy the scenery as we eat. My only contribution is to take him and the others out for a couple of meals at restaurants in the nearby town. I tend to gain a bit of weight on my week in Australia. 

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My question

How important is food in your family? 

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Reference

• Baker, V. (2019, January 27). Why Americans love the Great British Bake Off. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-46846771

Okinawans Longevity of Life

What I read

According to “A high-carb diet might explain why Okinawans live so long” written by David Robson on January 18, 2019, the high-carb diet such as sweet potatoes consumed by Okinawans household might have an effect on various physiological responses such as cancer, cardiovascular disease and Alzheimer’s disease protection. Apart from that, there are number of factors that affect longevity of Okinawans such as a unique genetic profile, tight-knit communities - help strengthening relationships amongst neighborhood, and consumption of lots of green and yellow vegetables while maintaining low calories intake. However, there is a caveat to put on the protein-restricted approach; at certain age, people might need to increase level of protein intake. All in all, Okinawans longevity includes many factors involving in making them healthy and fit, not only high-carb diet.

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My response 

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My question

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Reference

• Robson, D. (2019, January 18). A high-carb diet may explain why Okinawans live so long. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20190116-a-high-carb-diet-may-explain-why-okinawans-live-so-long

Where is a Banksy’s art now?

What I read

According to “Banksy tribute to Bataclan terror victims stolen in Paris” (2019), last Friday night, Banksy’s art painted by the famous British graffiti artist as a tribute to the victims of the 2015 terror attack in november 2015, where 90 people were killed during a rock concert by armed militants at the Bataclan music hall in Paris, has been stolen. AFP news reported that the theft  was committed by “a group of hooded individuals armed with angle grinders”, and the suspects drove away with the artwork in a truck, but now no one knows where the artwork is.

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My response 

After I read this news, I think this artwork has stolen because other Banksy's art, there are high price, some of there, there was sold for a "six-figure sum", and the brigands maybe think this artwork has a high price. This artwork is on the emergency door, but they can stole it, they cut out and removed the emergency door then the suspects drove away with the artwork in a truck. I doubt that, they cut out and removed the emergency door that near street, but no one heard the brigands cut the emergency door.

However, Banksy's art in Paris has stolen and now, no one knows where it is. It is hard to know where is the brigands want take the artwork to and now is the artwork in Paris, isn't it. But, I hope someone find it soon.

_____________ ______________________ 

My question

If you were Banksy, what do you do?

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Reference

“Banksy tribute to Bataclan terror victims stolen in Paris”. (2019, January 26). Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-47017563

Stability in storms

What I read

According to “Huawei confident on uncomfortable time” by John Sudworth (2019), recently Huawei, one of the largest sales companies, without distraction, launched 5G devices in an event in Beijing among a crisis of being banned by the US and its allies, and its grant offers rejected by charity foundations and universities because of accusations of spying via their devices in those regions. Moreover, the owner’s daughter was under arrest by Canadian officers on request of the US due to trading with Iran. However, there is no technical evidence proving interference of the Chinese government on those issues, and the company’s CEO insisted they would not let it happen to customers. Still, remaining doubt about the promise is noticed because  the totalitarianism of the Chinese government can break it.

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My response 

Huawei company has been a rookie company for communication devices in global market. For five years, they have pursued being the most selling company by utilizing advantages of cheaper price and higher specifications of their devices when comparing to other business competitors (eg. Samsung, Apple Inc.). Eventually, they are going to achieve the goal within 2019 probably. That is why the US government opposes using Chinese's devices and makes an argument of spying. In my opinion, firstly, it is just a trick of the US government to block widespread of Chinese's devices, and to not let Chinese's companies harm US companies. Because of being capitalism country of US, if the US government directly said that we do not allow Chinese companies to sell products anymore, this announcement would be definitely unfair. So, it would be rather to accuse the Chinese company as a spying company. Then, blocking trading is acceptable and reasonable.
However, secondly, if Huawei company did about really spying activities to those regions, it would be possible as well. As mentioned in news about being communism country of China, when the Chinese government asks for private information of anyone, no Chinese company can refuse for this request. Even though the requests may be revealed to society, the government does not care because no one can investigate and stand against them. By the way, in China, everyone who buys product and uses it in China must accept one of agreements which is about acceptance of reveal privacy to the government upon request. The government is right to do because they claim that this action is for stabilizing peaceful of society and anti-terrorism policy. Thus, definitely, spying can take place to other countries probably by forcing those companies and claiming that they just want to protect our people from outside harmfulness. 
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My question

I an little wondering that Thailand is the Chinese company's destination to sell their products as well. Yet, there is no issue against or following this accusation from any relevant government organization who takes care of cyber-security in Thailand. Do you notice for this? Do you believe that spying is happening really? or it is only tricky of US to block selling Chinese's products over US products because the US government does not want to see this, aren't them? 

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Reference

• Sudworth, J. (2019, January 25). Huawei confident on uncomfortable time. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-china-blog-46987991  

Amazon delivery by robots

What I read

According to “Amazon Scout robots take to pavements in Washington State” (2019), six automatic robots deliver goods on footpaths around Snohomish county, operate during the daytime and are accompanied by an Amazon employee. They automatically lift their lids when the customer comes to get the goods. In 2007, the San Francisco supervisor restricted their usage: each company can use only three robots, each robot has to operate in a certain area and be accompanied by a human.

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My response 

After I'd read this news, In my opinion, this is a good idea to delivery things by using robots because it is cheaper than hiring employees to deliver things and it is much safer than driving cars to deliver things. Also, robots can work better than humans, they don't need to rest and they only want electricity for living which is cheaper than employee's salaries.

However, Using robots to deliver things can cause problems, for example, the unemployment rate will go up because no one is going to use human to deliver things so, it had rules about using robot such as, limited amount per company.

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My question

Suppose that you are CEO of some delivering company. Will you use robots to deliver things? Why? 

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Reference

• Amazon Scout robots take to pavements in Washington State. (2019, January 24). Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-46987779  

More female pilots take to the skies

What I read 

According to Jonathan Josephs writing about in “Could women solve the global pilot shortage?” (2019), the growth of global air traffic passengers demands impact breaking down gender stereotypes in the aviation industry. The stereotype of male-only pilots is questioned by a growing number of female pilots around the world flying commercial airlines such as EasyJet, Virgin Australia and Air France,who recruit more women as pilots, however, stereotypes also create problems for female pilots, in both motherhood and sexual harassment in the industries. The Hashtag “#MeToo” in the society, saying the harassment that they received, and the movement started in the US. The industries are trying hard to change the perception from gender to be looking for talented people.

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My response 

This article reminds me of when I was G.12, the high school student nearly admission to the university. My goal is I want to some kind works in aviation industries like  Manager in the airline industry, Airport Staff, Air Traffic Controller, Aircraft Maintenance or Pilot so I chose the university that have to learn about  Aviation Technology Management. However, I am so a little shock after I heard people who know my goal said: "You want to be a pilot, women are not required by airlines so you have to change your mind". First, they misunderstand, they think work in Aviation Industries is working like Pilot but it is not. Another misunderstanding is they said the women cannot become a pilot because at that time the perceptive of them just looking at Airline in Thailand like Thai Airways requires men pilot only. I had known not all airlines need men pilot only. Many Low-cost airlines recruit both men and women pilot too such as Air Asia, Nok-scoot, Nok Air, Bangkok Airways and airlines that shows in this article so I am straightforward to my goal. it was because the perception of people reminded the old things and communications with airlines were not enough at that time.

When I read this article, I was definitely happy because airlines would like to change the perception from men pilot only to become every gender can become a pilot and It will really great if we have some people change the perception about work aviation is not only becoming a pilot" to other people know too.
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My question

In your opinion, how would airlines would change this perspective? 

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Reference

• Josephs, J. (2019, January 24). Could women solve the global pilot shortage?. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/business-46876007

Brave new world of marketing!

What I read

According to Rory Cellan-Jones in “Tech Tent: The power of influencers” (2019), using influencers, who are social media stars having huge followers, to promote a product is another form of marketing having been brought to many discussions. Regarding the ethics, some influencers have promised to tell people they actually get paid to promote the products, and also, they worry about the product’s quality, while some are not. Apart from that, Mr. Werner Geyser argues with the idea of Dr. Mariann Hardey, who does not believe that influencers have a great impact on customers, that, apparently, influencers have a strong relationship to their followers since they are sharing the same interests, and although it is obscure how generating brand awareness is related, this marketing technique indeed generates the extra sales.

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My response 

After I read this news, I was thinking about one of my friend who is addicted to the social media. One day, we had dinner together including other four people and she sat opposite to me. While we were eating and talking together in the group, that girl was playing Instagram. Then, she suddenly found that an influencer she followed promote a lipstick, and she would like to buy it. After that, she told "Let's go to the cosmetic shop after we finish this." And then, We, excepted her, looked at each other's face and laughed about it because we all knew who she was. The influencer seems to affect her a lot, which she always try something that influencer says it is good. If it is good, she will continue using it, however, if it is bad, she just stop using it and start looking for a new one, which she has never unfollowed this influencer since she is still interested in that influencer's lifestyle. This would make me believe to the power of the influencer. They have a strong relationship because they have some similar lifestyles or interests. For example, A person who like making up will tend to follow the beauty bloggers.

In addition, the influencer honesty is a main point that people inclined to looking for. I would say, the social media I use a lot nowadays is Youtube. When I decide to see a clip, the first thing I always look for is a channel's name, because I want to see a good content, yet do not want to see an influencer who promotes a product with dishonesty. In my opinion, honesty means that influencer tell the truth to people. They can promote any products, however, they have to tell us the truth what they feel for that product. Besides, it is not enough to only be an honest influencer, who always tell the truth, they should also have an interesting content. If not, they will not be able to increase their followers, and even more severely, current follower will prone to unfollow them. I think people are able to capture while an influencer is not telling what they feel, but just tell what they should tell, which would lead followers to a bad feeling, and people might unfollow them. 

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My question

Do you have any other marketing techniques in your mind that are more powerful than the influencers? Could you please explain?

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Reference

• Cellan-Jones, R. (2019, January 25). Tech Tent: The power of influencers. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-47001461

Worrying rise in CO2

What I read

In “Big rise in atmospheric CO2 expected in 2019” (2019), Matt MacGrath says the cause of CO2 concentration increases in the atmospheric is human activities, especially in fossil fuels and deforestation. Even though forests can absorb CO2 emissions and also reduce the concentration in the atmospheric, this ability does well only in the summer not in the winter. Since 2013 was the first time that average of CO2 concentration was 400 ppm, but the prediction of CO2 in 2019 will be 411 ppm, which exceeded than it was. Moreover, CO2 concentration is rising against the limit of global warming of 1.5 degree target and researchers are concerning about it.

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My response 

After I read the news, I never thought human activities could increase more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, I thought it was the process of the world that rising carbon dioxide by itself. Until I have studied and read in many research, they all said human activities are the most important to increases and speed up carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, for example in Bangkok city in the past was difference from today. When I was young there was less of people, cars, buildings and a lot of trees which I have got less pollution but today there is a lot of people, many construction area and traffic jam that releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Furthermore, there is lack of garden area in the city which trees can absorbs.   

In addition, carbon dioxide is the one of greenhouse gases, releases too much carbon dioxide into the atmosphere that causes greenhouse phenomena which contribute to global warming. Every carbon dioxide emissions activity come from us, so if we do activities in the way to save environment, our environment will better. 

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My question

How can we reduce CO2 emissions from human activities?

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Reference

• MacGrath, M. (2019, January 25). Big rise in atmospheric CO2 expected in 2019. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-46989789

Selecting and evaluating online sources (SkRW3, p. 86, Study skills)

What we read

One focus of our class in Unit 8 has been the use sources, and the Study Skills for Unit 8 (p. 86) discusses selecting and evaluating online sources (Bixby & Scanlon, 2013)

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Bixby and Scanlon's questions

These are the three questions that Bixby and Scanlon invite us to discuss in "Over to you." 

Think about them for a minute or two and then write a quick response in two or three paragraphs. 

Your response will be easier for readers to follow if you do not number your answer. Give enough background to make it clear what issue (question) you are discussing. 

• What are the potential problems with not evaluating Internet sources before using them in research? 
• Is this true only of Internet sources?
   
• What are some other things that are important to keep in mind when using the Internet for academic research?
   
• The next time you use the Internet for research purposes, what might you do differently? Which tips from the list on page 86 will you try? 
• Do you disagree with with any of the tips? 

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Reference

• Bixby, J. & Scanlon, J. (2013). Skillful reading & writing: Student's book 3. Oxford: Macmillan Education 

Making a Difference & Most Likely to Succeed (SkRW3, pp. 79, 81 & 82, Developing critical thinking)

What we read

We have now read and checked our understanding of both "Making a Difference" (2013, pp. 78-79) and "Most Likely to Succeed" (pp. 80-81). 

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Our response 

As usual, Bixby and Scanlon now invite us to respond critically to the ideas in the readings. 

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Bixby and Scanlon's questions

Comment on the following questions, which are the critical thinking questions on page 82 (Bixby & Scanlon, 2013), and then reply to at least two of your classmates' comments. 

First, respond to these questions about "Most Likely to Succeed."

Think for a couple of minutes and then write a comment for about 8:00 minutes.  

• The article claims that while there are some people who are driven to be high achievers, others are "perfectly happy with whatever life brings." 
• Which type of person are you most similar to? Why do you think so? 
• What do you think might have made you the way you are?
   
• Do you agree with the writer's suggestion at the end of the article for how to find the balance between stress and success? 
• What other suggestions would you make to help people avoid feeling the pressure to succeed? 
• Do we want to avoid this? 

Post your comment.
Then read and reply to a couple of your classmates'  comments.

Next, respond to the ideas from both "Making a Difference" and "Most Likely to Succeed."

Again, think for a minute or two before you write a new comment in response to these questions. 

• Who is the most successful person you know? How did they achieve their success?
   
• What is an idea that you have not yet followed through? What (has) stopped you? 

Post this second comment.

Then read and reply to a couple of your classmates'  comments. 

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Reference

• Bixby, J. & Scanlon, J. (2013). Skillful Reading & Writing: Student's Book 3. Oxford: Macmillan Education

On the hot seat

What I read

According to "Australian woman bitten by snake in toilet" (2019), the extreme heat that has recently killed many animals in Australia, from horses to fish and native bats, was probably the reason that a 1.5m carpet python sought refuge in a toilet in Brisbane before the shock of Helen Richards sitting down caused it to bite her. She had calmed down and cleaned the bite wound before a handler arrived to remove the non-poisonous snake, which is native to Australia's east coast, from the toilet. 

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My response 

Where I grew up
Less native bush than 50 years ago

I suppose it is serious, but I thought this news story was also a bit more fun than many. It reminded me of my family home, which is also on the east coast of Australia, about 200 kms south of Brisbane. I grew up on a farm in a rural area, and although most of the land had been cleared of the original native bush, the river banks had been left largely as they were, and a few small bits of the original bush land had been left. When we were children, my brothers and sisters and I used to love playing there, and we regularly came across snakes. Several of these are very dangerous, and we were also very careful to avoid the the deadly brown snakes and red-bellied black snakes, The only time any of us were ever bitten was when one of my sisters trod on a brown snake that had been lying behind a log we jumped over. Fortunately, the local doctor in the town nearby had the necessary anti-venom and my parents knew what first aid to apply, so she was OK, just a bit sick and very shocked for a while. In contrast, the carpet pythons that lived in the trees and shrubs along the Richmond River, which ran in front of our home and circled our property, were not poisonous, and as long as we were careful, they could safely be played with, although they did sometimes bite. 

More seriously, I think, is the reference to the heat that has been affecting Australia over the past few weeks. I've read several news reports about this recently, with record breaking heat well over 40°C being recorded across large areas. I greatly prefer warm weather to cold, but I also like air-conditioning, and  I'm very glad I'm not there for the recent heat spell. I usually go back to see family and friends at Songkran, which is a good time to out of Bangkok and a very pleasant time to be in Australia, although when I was there last year, it was still over 30°C on a few days. Global warming appears to be already affecting Australia. And that sort of heat really is dangerous, not only for the animals that have been dying, but for human beings. I saw one story in The Sydney Morning Herald with a video of people frying sausages and eggs on the road! It was so hot you see and hear them sizzling. 

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My question

What reminds you of your childhood or of earlier periods in your life? 

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Reference

• Australian woman bitten by snake in toilet. (2019, January 25). Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-46996559

AI to the rescue

What I read

In "Facial recognition tool tackles illegal chimp trade" (2019), Beth Timmins says that the Internet, which has previously helped traffickers to illegally sell chimpanzees and other apes to rich customers and shows, is now being used to track these criminal activities with "Chimpface," an app that uses the same sort of technology that social media and Google use to identify faces in photographs. The idea started when Alexandra Russo felt frustrated trying to detect the trade online, so she contacted an expert in computer vision who helped to create "Chimpface." Because it promises fast, easy identification from its growing database of chimpanzee and other ape images, conservationists are optimistic that it will more effectively help them prevent the trade and save apes already enslaved.

This summary paragraph is 124 words (1st draft = 128) in three sentences. Naturally, I spent about 12:00 minutes making notes on paper in the planning stages before I wrote and edited this paragraph. 

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My response 

Google now recognizes Miki 

As I read Timmins' article, I was thinking, "What a good idea." Facebook it pretty good at recognizing me in friends'  posts, and I'm very impressed by how well Google Photos can recognize and group people in my thousands of photos. It saves me an enormous amount of time doing the sorting myself, and of course it makes it super-easy for me to find a photo of Ea, my friend's son, when I want one, or of my brother Matthew. In fact, I noticed a while ago that Google has now started recognizing and grouping the animals in my photographs. I'm not sure that I'm likely to want a photograph of Wendy's Widget, but in case I do, Google has neatly put them altogether for me. In fact, I'm pretty sure that when it comes to my family's many dogs, Google is much better at telling them all apart than I am. 

My follow up thought was to wonder how far this might go. I've read recent reports that China now uses extensive CCTV networks and AI to monitor its citizens as they go about their daily business, and more and more things are being tracked more and more as computer technology becomes ever more sophisticated, powerful, and cheap. At 30,000 Baht, the powerful computer, camera and other tools that I carry everywhere with me and increasingly rely on is much cheaper and vastly more powerful than the first laptop computer I bought last century, around 1995. How long will it be before not only humans but our pets, and everything else, is constantly tracked? This has great benefits, for example, when my friends are coming to visit, they can share their location so that I can see them moving on Google Maps as they come, which is cool, but this also has great potential for abuse. Some of the dangers that come to mind are shown in the "Nosedive" episode of the excellent BBC series Black Mirror, which I watched on NetFlix - like most of Black Mirror, this is not a happy story. 

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My question

How much should we worry about abuses of AI and other rapidly developing technology? 

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Reference

• Timmins, B. (2019, January 22). Facial recognition tool tackles illegal chimp trade. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-46945302

You can also embed YouTube clips in blog posts. Either use the defaults, or edit the html to set width = 400 and height = 333. 

But is it free speech?

What I read

Click to view images full size. 

I normally put them on the right, but 

you might prefer a different position. 

The BBC Sport article "Awer Mabil: Australia forward is hoping to raise awareness of mental illness" (2019), says that Australian footballer Awer Mabil, who overcame racism to make Australia's national football team, the Socceroos, hopes that raising public awareness about mental health problems will help those suffering such illnesses to talk about them and seek help, rather than keeping their problems secret. According to the article, he explains that this is the reason "he covers his mouth with both hands whilst pointing to his forehead" every time he scores a goal for his team. He hopes that the gesture, which he says expresses the idea of bringing peace to the minds of those suffering mental illness, will be picked up and spread on social media.

125 words is safely within the 130 word limit for the summary paragraph. Three full stops for three sentences is within the four sentence limit. Since we do not know the name of the author, only the title of the article is given in the first sentence. This time I've also copied and pasted a few words from the source, which are in "quotation marks" as they must be. 

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My response 

I almost never read the sports section of the BBC website, but this article was highlighted on the BBC News homepage, where it caught my eye because I was looking for a bit more variety as an example of blogging the news to post here on our class blog. When I read it, it was actually interesting and raised a few ideas in my mind, and that is enough to make a good choice to blog. 

Another image from the BBC article

At first I was a bit confused about where Awer now plays football, but I guess that although he is now signed to play for a team in Europe, he remains a member of Australia's national football team. I don't follow football, but I remember similar examples. David Beckham still played for the English national team even when he had moved to join the Galaxy LA team in the US. (Is that right? This is response writing, so I haven't taken the time to stop and do research to check, but am relying on my memory.) I thought it was a great story of someone overcoming obstacles to become a success. I know that Australians, and I suspect every other nation, have a lot of ugly racist attitudes, but the very black Mr. Mabil stuck with it and succeeded in going from refugee child to football star. 

Although I don't entirely agree with Mabil that people with mental health problems keep them secret only out of embarrassment, I like his idea of using his success to send a message on an important social issue. It reminded me of the African American US footballer Colin Kaepernick, who has angered many in the US, including the current president, Donald Trump, by refusing to stand for the US national anthem when that song is played at the start of every football game. Instead, he kneels down to express his feelings about the persistent racism that African Americans continue to suffer in the US today. Kaepernick has done this for a couple of years now, and it has cost him a lot financially, although many Americans also support his peaceful protest. President Trump, perhaps not surprisingly, wanted to make it illegal to show what he and many see as disrespect to the American flag and national anthem, but thankfully, they US has a strong constitution that protects the right to free speech. The US Supreme Court would never allow the president to do anything so undemocratic as pass a law that criminalized disrespecting the flag or other national symbols. 

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My question

What do you think of sport or other entertainment stars using the fame to promote their ideas on social or political issues? 

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Reference

• Awer Mabil: Australia forward is hoping to raise awareness of mental illness. (2019, January 16). Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/46892072

• When the author's name is unknown, the title moves up to first place in the reference citation. 

Stew politeness!

What I read

According to Annabel Rackham in "Should Family Guy 'phase out' gay jokes?" (2019), while some support the move by the long-running TV cartoon show Family Man to move away from jokes making fun of gay men through the character of Stewie, often portraying them as stereotypes always looking for sex, others, even some gay people, argue that it is acceptable to make such jokes, about gay men and others in the LGBT community along with other minority groups. The change was suggested in a recent episode which starred a cartoon version of US President Trump, and has been confirmed by the shows producers, who explained that evolving social standards have have prompted them to revise how their show presents minority groups, including gays. 

This summary paragraph is 123 words in two sentences. It took me some time, and revision, to write.This is academic writing, which follows formal rules for style and using sources. The title above is bold, and is a link to the source that I chose to summarize. 

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My response 

First, a confession: I've never watched Family Man, so I don't know what sort of jokes the show makes to offend people, and the BBC article didn't include any examples. I guess I could look for some on YouTube. But the article caught my interest because of a couple of the gay men's comments state an idea I agree with. I don't think that merely being offensive is a good reason to ban something. If everything offended some group had to be banned, there would be nothing not banned! The members of most religions, for example, are offended by the competing ideas of other religions, which is why religion has been such a powerful force for war in history, as violent conflicts around the world today still show us. For example, the terrorists who a few days ago bombed the Thai owned Dusit Hotel in Nairobi, Kenya were a militant Islamist group who said they acted to kill innocent people because US President Trump was moving the US embassy in Israel to Jewish Jerusalem, which Islamic Palestine claims as their capital city. And an example nearer to Thailand it the violence that Buddhist monks in Myanmar incite against the Rohingya people in that country. Historically, at least since the Christians invaded the Roman Empire in the 4th century, the West has been fighting religious wars with each other. Should all religions be banned because their teachings offend other religious groups? 

I also liked the comment that one gay man made that the important thing in comedy is whether the jokes are funny or not. He complained that Family Man isn't actually funny, partly because it's a boring repeat of things that straight, white, middle class men find funny. I also liked his idea that you don't have to be a member of a group to laugh at that group. Comedy, making jokes, even offensive jokes, can help us to see that however important people take themselves, they are just human beings like all the rest of us. And that reminds me of Harvard's University's Steven Pinker, who explains that dictators hate comedy and want to censor free speech that mocks them others because they know that laughter is a healthy human activity that supports democratic respect for all by smashing the mindless respect that dictators demand.   

This response is much longer than the summary. There are two main responses, hence two paragraphs. These paragraphs were written much more quickly than the summary. Although the style is formal, as we see in the examples of writing in online discussion boards on page 9 and as Skillful suggests on page 66, this is not academic writing: it's more relaxed. For example, it's more personal, and it's OK to go a bit off topic as new ideas come to mind. 

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My question

Is it OK to make rude jokes about gays, women, beggars, Jews, or other groups in society? 

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Reference

• Rackham, A. (2019, January 15). Should Family Guy 'phase out' gay jokes? Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-46878017

• This is a correctly written APA style reference citation. When we use ideas from any source, which every summary does, our academic work must cite that source. Basic information must, therefore, be included in the paragraph, and we need the full reference citation here.  

Nuc's academic interests

What am I interested in? In my mind mine I have a 2 big issue of my interest. There are Aviation and Weastern Music Instrument.

First , I would tell about what is my beginning why I interested in Aviation. When I was young,children days,my family went to see the show called 'An Air Show' at Air Force Military near Don Mueang Airport. I interest military airplanes using high speed and the show was wonderful at that time , it becomes my first impression that I was being interest Aviation. After that time, I and My Mother had to waited my father before he arrival back to Thailand at the airport arrival hall. I have interested the big buildings with the strange facilities that I did not know before and  many large airplanes at the air-side. My goal, I want to have knowledge more than there for those who could see, so I search and read the lot of website such as Aviation week magazine online , Pilot's blogs. I got admission in the faculty of  Aviation,when I was G12. Now I am senior in the university and I study Aviation Technology Management. I know a lot of aviation better than before. what is it different between learning by yourself and learning in the university In my opinion, in the university, teachers have a role, they teach lesson from a lot of sources and they would like to show case study from the news in nowadays like Suvarnabhumi Airport phase 2 that have many discussions should we build on that area or not. I think I choose the major is good already.

Another interested is different the first one,I interest in Western Music Instrument, like my right brain. Since I was a child, I have played Melodian , Keyboard , Recorder, Saxophone and Clarinet.Another music I
intrument,I can called in but I can not play. Western Music Instrument which I the most interested in is Clarinet. Because of sound is perfect to play in classic music and some Pop music. I have played Clarinet for 6 years. I invited in School marching band when I was in the high school. My band had audition, we got royals cup contest and gold medal. I am very proud of myself that I can play this instrument.

Finally, For me,doing thing that interested in is the way that make me happy and make my goals become successful , so among of my mission of my life are all from my interest with attention .

Fluke's academic interests

I interested in foreign languages when I was 6, I saw my mother can speak Deutsch with her  guest that come to meeting at her company. After that I request my mom to sent me to learn English and German but for the first years I think it's very hard to learn two language so I only learn English. And when I'm in grade 10 I have to choose my major and I think I'll choose English-German but my school they didn't open this major because they can't find German teacher in that years , I was so upset  but finally they have English-french.