Part1 Expressions
1. stop by
Unfortunately, Gandhi didn't stop by my home to offer me his sage advice and wisdom.
stop by, to make a short visit to a place or a person'e home, especially while you are going somewhere else.
dic: Daniel stopped by the store on his way home.
my: I will stop by you when I go to the ststion.
2. ostensibly
This was ostensibly to entertain the parents, but really it was a way for parents to compare their kids with each other.
ostensible, hide the real reason or purpose
ostensible reason/purpose/aim
dic: The ostensible reason for his resignation was ill health.
my: The ostensible purpose isn't the real purpose.
3. on one's terms
The idea of one day running my own company also meant that I could be creative and eb=ventually live life on my own terms.
on my own terms, do sth under conditions that you decide because you are in a position.
dic: They will sign the union treaty only on their terms.
my: He wanted the plan proceeding on his terms.
4. incremental
The incremental benefit from getting up just to go to that one classs just didn't seem worth it.
incremental, increasing in amount or value gradually and by a regular amount
dic: We are seeking continuous, incremental improvements, not great breakthroughs.
my: Incremental improvements were made in the past four years.
5. hone
I think the skill I honed the most in college was procrastination.
hone, if you hone sth, for example a skill, technique, idea, or product, you carefully develop it over a long period of times so that it is exactly right for your purpose.
dic: His body is honed and kept in trim with constant exercise.
my: We have to hone our skills to make progress in workplace.
Part 2 Sentences
Looking around the crowd, I realized that every person took a different path to get there, but our paths somehow all managed to intersect with one another here and now. I realized that for me, the path that got me here began long before Zappos, and long before LiknExchange. I thought about all the different businesses I had been a part of , all the people who had been in my life, and all the adventures I had been on. I thought about mistakes that I had made and lessons that I had learned. I started thinking back to college, then back to high school, then back to middle school, and then back to elementary school.
Actually, it is true that everyone take a different path to get the same designation, but the paths they take are totally different, which determine who they are and who they will be.
As all the eyes in the room were on me, I tried to trace back to where my path had begun. In my mind, I was traveling backward in time searching for the answer. Although I was pretty sure I wasn't dying, my life was flashing before my eyes. I was obsessed with figuring it out, and I knew to do it this very moment, before the energy in the room dissipated, before time stopped standing still. I didn't know why. I just knew I needed to know where my path began.
At this moment, I am trying to trace back to where my path have begun. My path means that the really crave for studying, for learning, for pursing knowledge. I cannot actually figure out when my path was started, but now, at least, I know that I want to keep forward with passion and brave.
First, they ignore you, then they laugu at you, then they fight you, then you win.
Can you believe that? It is true in my life. At first, people surrounding me ignore me, then they laugh at me, then they tried to pull me back, then I will. I successfully got out of there. I want to go to a bigger world, and I aware that there is a long way to go.
The accomplishments of the children were the trophies that many parents defined their own success and status by.
I hate this kind of feeling deep in my heart. But that seems like a tendency of parents all over the world, if not all, of most of the Chinese parents. Children are not the possession of parents, and they have their own rights to choose what they want to be and what they want to have. We shouldn't be kidnapped by the virtue.