Day 1: Words & Phrases
- perpetual
continuing for a long period of time without interruption
【SYN】 continuous :
- the perpetual noise of traffic 持续不断的交通噪声
- We lived for years in a perpetual state of fear. 多年来我们一直生活在恐惧中。
- lay foundation for
- This laid the foundations for later modern economic growth.
这为后来的现代经济发展奠定了基础。
拓展：
If an event shakes the foundations of a society or a system of beliefs, it causes great uncertainty and makes people question their most deeply held beliefs.
- disprove
To disprove an idea, belief, or theory means to show that it is not true.
- The statistics to prove or disprove his hypothesis will take years to collect.
收集数据来证明他的假设是否成立要花上数年的时间。
- empirical
based on experiments or experience rather than ideas or theories
常用搭配： empirical evidence / knowledge / research
实践经验的证明；从实际经验中获得的知识；以实验为基础的研究
- send out
If you send out things such as letters or bills, you send them to a large number of people at the same time.
- peer
your peers are the people who are the same age as you, or who have the same type of job, social class etc:
- hole
a fault or weakness in sth such as a plan, law or story
- He was found not guilty because of holes in the prosecution case.
由于起诉案情有破绽,他被判无罪。
- I don't believe what she says—her story is full of holes.
我不相信她的话——她的陈述漏洞百出。
- falsify
to prove or declare false : disprove
（Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary 11th Edition）
- testable
that can be tested
常用搭配： testable hypotheses 可验证的假说
- only just
(only) ~ | ~ after, before, under, etc. sth by a small amount
刚好；差一点就不；勉强:
- I only just caught the train. 我差一点没赶上火车。
- deflection
a sudden change in the direction that sth is moving in, usually after it has hit sth; the act of causing sth to change direction
- the angle of deflection 偏斜度
- the deflection of the missile away from its target 导弹偏离目标
- foil
metal made into very thin sheets that is used for covering or wrapping things, especially food
- (NAmE) aluminum foil 铝箔
- compelling
that makes you think it is true
- There is no compelling reason to believe him. 没有令人信服的理由相信他。
- compelling evidence 有说服力的证据
- all the more/better etc phrase
even more better etc than before
- I enjoy playing tennis, and if they’re willing to pay me for it – well, all the better!
- humour
(formal) the state of your feelings or mind at a particular time
- to be in the best of humours 情绪极好
- The meeting dissolved in ill humour. 会议不欢而散。
- to be out of humour (= in a bad mood) 心情不好
- in some measure
If something is true in some measure or in large measure, it is partly or mostly true.
- Power is in some measure an act of will...
权力在某种程度上是意志的表现
- In Britain, we have so far escaped, in large measure, either of these afflictions.
在英国，我们迄今为止已经远远地避开了这两类麻烦。
- apparatus
the structure of a system or an organization, particularly that of a political party or a government
- the power of the state apparatus
国家机关的权力
- rest on
to be based on something
- The theory rests on the assumption that there are enough jobs for everyone.
- outlook
~ (on sth) the attitude to life and the world of a particular person, group or culture
- He had a practical outlook on life. 他的人生观很实际。
- Most Western societies are liberal in outlook. 西方社会大多思想观念开放。
- eclipse
an occasion when the moon passes between the earth and the sun so that you cannot see all or part of the sun for a time; an occasion when the earth passes between the moon and the sun so that you cannot see all or part of the moon for a time
- an eclipse of the sun / moon 日蚀；月蚀
- a total / partial eclipse 全蚀；偏蚀
- immortal
Someone or something that is immortal will live or last for ever and never die or be destroyed.
Someone or something that is immortal is famous and likely to be remembered for a long time.
- The pharaohs were considered gods and therefore immortal.
法老们被视为神灵，且长生不死。
- //...the immortal Reverend Dr Spooner.
不朽的斯普纳牧师 - //...Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte's immortal love story...
《呼啸山庄》，艾米莉·勃朗特不朽的爱情小说
- to this day
even now, after a very long time
- To this day I don’t know exactly what started the fight.
- the Mediterranean
The Mediterranean refers to the southern part of Europe, which is next to the Mediterranean Sea. [专有名词] 地中海地区(指欧洲南部地中海附近地区)；
- make sense of
to understand something that is not clear or easy to understand, especially by spending time thinking about it:
- Police are trying to make sense of a bizarre note left by the murderer.
- There is so much information that it is difficult to make sense of it all.
heavenly
[only before noun] connected with the sky
- heavenly bodies (= the sun, moon, stars and planets) 天体
ingenious
(of an object, a plan, an idea, etc ) very suitable for a particular purpose and resulting from clever new ideas
- an ingenious device 精巧的装置
- ingenious ways of saving energy 节约能源的巧妙方法
(of a person) having a lot of clever new ideas and good at inventing things
- an ingenious cook 心灵手巧的厨师
- She's very ingenious when it comes to finding excuses. 她很善于找藉口。
- alchemy
Alchemy was a form of chemistry studied in the Middle Ages, which was concerned with trying to discover ways to change ordinary metals into gold.
- distillation
Distillation is a process of purification. Air and water are distilled to make them cleaner. Crude oil is distilled so that it can be used for various commercial purposes. Distillation involves a process of first heating to create vapor and then cooling to convert that vapor back to liquid form.
Distillation is also the simplification of an argument to its most clear state. The distillation of an argument involves boiling it down so it's easy to understand.
- A distillation of the essence of life is how I see cinema. BBC(Jul 10, 2014)
- BuzzFeed offers a transfixing cultural snapshot of our times because of its pure distillation of this American urge: the manic-cheeriness-at-gunpoint feeling that saturates our culture. New York Times(Jul 06, 2014)
- Arabic numeral
/‘ærəbik/ An Arabic numeral is one of the written figures such as 1, 2, 3, or 4.
- groundbreaking
You use groundbreaking to describe things which you think are significant because they provide new and positive ideas, and influence the way people think about things.
- //...his groundbreaking novel on homosexuality.
他关于同性恋题材的开创性小说 - //...groundbreaking research.
创新研究
- Belgian
Belgian means belonging or relating to Belgium or to its people.比利时的；比利时人的
- anatomist
- An anatomist is an expert in anatomy.解剖学家
Anatomy is the study of the structure of the bodies of people or animals.解剖学
- dissection
Dissection is the process of separating something into pieces. Whether the dissection involves taking a poem apart line-by-line to learn its meaning or cutting open a frog to study its insides, in both cases you're pulling out the parts that make up a whole to better understand it.
拓展：dissect
Dissecting something allows you to look at it closely and understand it better.
If your soccer team loses a match, you might want to dissect the game afterward to try to find exactly how and when things went wrong.
Television analysts will often dissect a political speech to understand what was really being said, how true the statements were, and how well it was done.
- exquisite
Use exquisite to mean finely or delicately made or done. When you say someone has exquisite taste, you mean that they are able to make fine distinctions. Exquisite describes something that is lovely, beautiful, or excellent. Exquisite pain or agony is very sharp and intense.
- overturn
change radically
Synonyms: revolutionise, revolutionize
- quash
Quash means to put down, stop, extinguish, and it’s usually used to talk about ideas, feelings, or political movements.
You wouldn’t quash a grape underfoot; you would squash it. But if you were a military dictator, you would quash a revolution.
If something is quashed it is completely suppressed, usually by something or someone very powerful or authoritative. If you wrote a poem and asked your favorite teacher to read it, and that teacher tore it to pieces, then your hopes were most likely quashed.
- Greco- / Graeco-
ancient Greek and something else:
- Greco-Roman art 希腊罗马艺术
- Anglo-
Anglo- combines with adjectives indicating nationality to form adjectives which describe something connected with relations between Britain and another country.
- //...the future of Anglo-American relations.
英美关系的未来 - //...the Anglo-Irish Agreement.
《英爱协议》
- a string of
A string of things is a number of them on a piece of string, thread, or wire.
- //...a string of fairy lights.
一串圣诞树小彩灯
A string of places or objects is a number of them that form a line.
- The landscape is broken only by a string of villages...
这片风景中只有一排村庄。
A string of similar events is a series of them that happen one after the other.
- The incident was the latest in a string of attacks...
这是一连串袭击事件中最近的一起。 - Between 1940 and 1943 he had a string of 62 consecutive victories.
他在 1940 年至 1943 年间连续 62 次获胜。
- illustration
When the written instructions get tough, look for an illustration — a picture — to figure out what to do. Assembling furniture? Numbered diagrams and other illustrations can help you avoid the dreaded pile of "leftover" pieces.
An illustration can also be a helpful example that isn't visual at all. A coworker who comes to work with a terrible cold and gives it to the whole office is an illustration of what happens when a boss discourages the use of sick days. You hope that the boss isn't an illustration of management at that company! If so, maybe these workers do need a visual: an illustration that shows hand-washing techniques and other ways to avoid germs.
- discredit
Discredit means to cause mistrust or cast the accuracy of something into doubt. If you say that schooling is important to you, but you never study, your actions discredit you and your words.
- a host of
a large number of things or people, especially when this is impressive or surprising
- AIDS can indirectly result in a host of other illnesses.
- Since he was elected, the president has been faced with a host of difficult problems.
- lay out
To lay out ideas, principles, or plans means to explain or present them clearly, for example in a document or a meeting.
- Maxwell listened closely as Johnson laid out his plan...
马克斯韦尔仔细听着约翰逊讲解其计划。 - Cuomo laid it out in simple language.
科莫用简单的语言作了解释。
- take root
if an idea, belief, or system takes root, it becomes established and accepted
- Compromise is essential if peace is to take root in this troubled area.
- harbour
to keep feelings or thoughts, especially negative ones, in your mind for a long time
- The arsonist may harbour a grudge against the company.
纵火犯可能对公司怀恨在心。 - She began to harbour doubts about the decision.
她开始对这个决定产生怀疑。
to contain sth and allow it to develop
- Your dishcloth can harbour many germs.
洗碗布中可能藏有很多病菌。
- daunting
Something daunting can scare you off. Often used in the phrases “daunting prospect” and “daunting task,” daunting describes something that you are not looking forward to doing.
If you have a lot of studying to do, it may seem like a daunting task. Good news is you can get through it by working hard. Or weasel out of it by playing sick.
- in prospect
likely to happen in the near future
- A place in the semi-finals is in prospect. 可望争得半决赛权。
- relentless
Relentless is a good word for describing something that's harsh, unforgiving, and persistent, like the hot sun in the desert, or a cold that keeps you in bed for days with a nose like a strawberry.
When you're relentless about something, you mean business. You're not stopping until you get what you want, and you're not taking "no" for an answer. People might try to steer you from your goal, but you have eyes only for the prize and they're just going to have to get out of your way. If you're a relentless student, for instance, you might stay up all night studying your vocabulary, just in case there might be a quiz in the morning.
- albeit
(formal)although
- He finally agreed, albeit reluctantly, to help us.
尽管勉强,他最后还是同意帮助我们。
- star-gazer
A star-gazer is someone who studies the stars as an astronomer or astrologer.
Day 2: Logical Lines
Day 3: My thoughts & Feelings
- After three-days learning, I feel a little proud of myself because I've never read an article so carefully and precisely. Even when I was preparing for my TOEFL test, I still have many questions unsolved after reading those articles.
- To be honest, when I read this article the first day, it's really a daunting task for me. There are so many unfamiliar words in it and, at first glance, I was a little confused about the logical lines. But after three-days relentless effort, I feel really relaxed when I read this article again, and I can even admire some sentences and words by myself. Amazing~
- And I wanna share something with you, some thoughts in my mind about some stories or sentences.
If the experiment produces the predicted result, the scientist then has supporting evidence for the theory. Even so, science can never prove that a theory is correct.
- Well, today when I reread this article, I noticed this sentence. I somehow related it to business. In science, there is no perfect theory at all. Once you provide an excellent or seemingly perfect theory, you will later, maybe years later, find it disproved or discredited by other scientists. This reminded me of the GMAT test--the Critical Reasoning part. You do not need to select a perfect answer, but a better answer. It's really important in the examination and in the business world. Under different circumstances, it's impossible for us to make the perfect decision and sometimes there is even no perfect decision at all. So in order to solve problem, we tend to choose a better solution on that occasion. Maybe it's not a that good decision, but it's the best one we can think of in that case. And I think it's enough.
Science rarely proceeds in simple, logical steps.
- As ordinary or normal people, many of us will have a string of illusions about those famous scientists' lives and consider them as perfect in their study. For me I always admire those elites who can always deal with those troubles fluently. I think many people have the same humour with me. But the truth is, neither scientist nor those elites proceed their work or life in simple and logical steps. In some measure, they are the same with us. The difference rests on the way they deal with those illogical work. We may feel daunting when confronted with those tasks and we procrastinate, but they will be more patient and relentless, and they dive into their work wholeheartedly.
Xenophanes, after finding seashells on a mountain, reasoned that the whole Earth must at one time have been covered by sea.
- Sometimes, I really admire those little children because they dare to make any illusions which are boring and impractical in adults' eyes. And sometimes we fail just because we dare not to make a little difference. In the movie "Three Idiots", when Rancho encouraged Farhan to put forward his dream to his father, he said,
"Go speak to him... from your heart. For once, dump your fears... or someday, on your deathbed, you'll regret it. You'll remember that the letter was in your hand, taxi at the gate... With just a little courage, you could've turned your life around "
Every time I watched this scene, I cry my eye out. Sometimes, those difficult things are not that difficult as we think, and what we lack is only courage to take the first step. Once we try, we will find our life turned around.
- And finally, I am really thankful for taking this course as it gives the chance to learn how to use the SimpleMind to make logical pictures, and how to use jianshu to write articles and a chance for me to dive myself in the reading. I've improved a lot and I will go on learning.