Notes, summaries, assignments, exams, and problems for Language

Unit 1 People

The Trophy

Hello I'm going to show this trophy and I'm going to explain why it's so special for me. But before that, I'm going to explain some characteristics about the trophy.

Well, as you can see, it's made of metal in this part, but here it's made of marble. It also has a plaque made of metal that shows some information about the trophy. It is in perfect condition. Since I have had it, it has been in my bedroom where I have created a small museum with all my trophies and medals from playing football. I want to make it bigger, of course.

The History

Now, let's talk about the history of my object. I have had it since 2011 when I received it in the auditorium of Alcobendas called 'La Esfera'. The mayor of Alcobendas was the person in charge of... Continue reading "The Story Behind My Special Trophy" »

Rosa Parks

• On January 15, 1955, she was arrested because she did not give up her seat on the bus for a white passenger.
• At 19, she married Raymond Parks, a frisör, and worked at NAACP.
• Rosa worked as a secretary at NAACP and part-time as a seamstress.
• On December 5, 1955, the bus boycott began with Martin Luther King Jr. as the leader.
• The bus boycott led to the lifting of segregation in buses and trains.
• Due to threats, Rosa and her husband moved to Detroit.
• She died on October 24, 2005.

Julia Butterfly Hill

• She is an environmental activist.
• From December 14, 1997, she lived on a tree named Luna for 738 days.
• She demonstrated against deforestation.
• In 1999, an agreement was reached with the company that wanted to cut down the trees in the forest.
• They

**Fahrenheit 451: Montag's Final Stand**

Summary of Burning Bright

In this final section of the book, Montag discovers that Millie turned in the fire alarm (though her friends, Mrs. Phelps and Mrs. Bowles, earlier lodged a complaint that Beatty ignored). While Beatty seems to regret what he must do to Montag, he taunts Montag in a mean-spirited way and reminds Montag that he has given him many warnings about what could happen.

Finally, in his conversation with Montag, Beatty forces Montag to set fire to his own home. Little does he realize that Montag finds a certain perverse satisfaction in torching the interior of his home — especially the television screens.

Meanwhile, Faber continually urges Montag to escape, but Montag is hesitant because... Continue reading "Fahrenheit 451: Montag's Final Stand" »

Montag's Growing Unease

When Montag returns to work the next day, he touches the Mechanical Hound and hears a growl. The Mechanical Hound is best described as a device of terror, a machine that is perversely similar to a trained killer dog but has been improved by refined technology, which allows it to inexorably track down and capture criminals by stunning them with a tranquilizer. Montag fears that the dog can sense his growing unhappiness. He also fears that the Hound somehow knows that he has confiscated some books during one of his raids.

Captain Beatty's Suspicions

The fire chief, Captain Beatty, also senses Montag's unhappiness. Upon entering the upper level of the firehouse, Montag questions whether the Mechanical Hound can think. Beatty,... Continue reading "Fahrenheit 451: Montag's Rebellion and the Power of Books" »

Common English Words and Their Definitions

A

Androgynous

- Partly male and partly female in appearance; of indeterminate sex.

B

Boost

- Help or encourage (something) to increase or improve.

C

Castaway

- A person who has been shipwrecked and stranded in an isolated place.

D

Drift

- (Especially of snow or leaves) be blown into heaps by the wind.

E

Elbow

- The joint between the forearm and the upper arm.

Encouragement

- The action of giving someone support, confidence, or hope.

Entourage

- A group of people attending or surrounding an important person.

Eyebrow

- The strip of hair growing on the ridge above a person's eye socket.

Eyelash

- Each of the short curved hairs growing on the edges of the eyelids, serving to protect the eyes from dust particles.

I

Interviewee

-... Continue reading "Concise Definitions of 30 Common English Words" »

Linguistic Concepts

2. (1.5p) Define the following concepts as they have been used in this course, giving an example of each:

Meronymy

Meronymy is the semantic relation between a lexical item denoting a part and that denoting the corresponding whole. Meronyms are mentally triggered, since our minds have scripts, e.g., knowledge about event sequences due to knowledge of the world. We have scripts for events that commonly occur in our lives, such as going to a doctor's office, a restaurant, a library, or the supermarket.

Converses

Converses are pairs of opposite terms characterized by the following feature: when one member of the pair is substituted for the other, the new sentence can be made logically equivalent to the original one by interchanging... Continue reading "Linguistic Concepts: Definitions and Examples" »

Chapters 1-3

1. Basic Components of Linguistic Knowledge

Syntax: Rules for combining words

Pragmatics: How language is used

Semantics: Meaning of words and sentences

Phonology: Sound system of a language

Morphology: Smallest unit of meaning in language

2. Properties of Human Language

a. Vocal-Auditory Channel: Speech is based on sounds.

b. Interchangeability: The same person can both transmit and receive messages.

c. Complete Feedback: While speaking, we can monitor what we are saying.

d. Arbitrariness: No direct connection between a word and its referent.

e. Discreteness: Language is based upon a vocabulary of independent, movable units.

f. Displacement: We use speech to refer to things in other times or places.

g. Cultural Transmission: One generation... Continue reading "Fundamentals of Linguistics: Properties and Systems" »

Unit 8: Environmental Vocabulary

• Fossil, Foothills
• Dam, Drought
• Debris, Melt
• Marine, Toxic
• Nutrients, Hazard
• Species, Sewage
• Currents, Barrier
• Particles, Landfill
• Surface, Whirlpool
• Chain, Contaminant
• Tip, Starvation
• Cap, Creatures
• Pollutant, Jellyfish
• Industrial, Sea levels
• Degraded, Seabed
• Oilfields, Throwaway
• Ice caps, Food chain
• Surface, Acid rain
• Tide, Extract
• Recycle, Wave
• Current, Coastline
• Drift, Climate
• Fossil, Waste

Descriptive Adjectives

• Adorable, Playful
• Agile, Aggressive
• Tame, Remote
• Record, Ragged
• Sense, Poisonous
• Wise, Gentle
• Sociable

Health and Lifestyle

• Click, Without
• Visit, Out
• Status, Gets
• Sedentary, Into
• Crucial, Into
• Address, Comment
• Diabetes, Obesity
• Repetitive

General Concepts and Idioms

• Ill-timed, Authentic
• Take at face value, Context
• Pride, Crew feet
• Peaceful,