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

Jonathan Swift (1667-1745)

Jonathan Swift was born in Dublin, Ireland, to an English family with important connections but little wealth. Through the generosity of an uncle, he was educated at Kilkenny Grammar School and then Trinity College in Dublin. Between 1689 and 1699, he worked as a private secretary to a distant kinsman, Sir William Temple, a retired diplomat. There, he received a first-rate education in politics through contact with Temple and many other well-known politicians, learning much about the vice, hypocrisy, intrigues, deception, and corruption in the political world.

Swift is one of the greatest masters of English prose; his sentences are logical, clear, and well-constructed. He is a master satirist who dared to criticize... Continue reading "Jonathan Swift: Master of Satire and Social Critic" »

Appreciation of the Poem ‘The Cherry Tree’

Poem, Poet, and Title

The poem ‘Cherry Tree’ is composed by the well-known Indian English poet Ruskin Bond. The title clearly indicates that the poem pertains to a cherry tree.

The poet had a desire to plant and nurture his own tree. Despite many threats and obstacles, the tree grew into a full-blossomed tree after a wait of eight years. The poet emphasizes the strong inner instinct of the cherry tree to survive and grow on its own.

Important Themes in the Poem

‘The Cherry Tree’ deals with the themes of struggle, resilience, and persistence against all adversities. It serves as a symbol of survival. The poem clearly emphasizes the importance of these qualities in human life. The bond between... Continue reading "Ruskin Bond's 'The Cherry Tree': Analysis and Themes" »

Open Rate Metrics

The open rate for an email sent to multiple recipients is most often calculated as the total number of "opened" emails, expressed as a percentage of the total number of emails sent or—more usually—delivered. As a result, open rates are broadly rejected as an absolute measure of a commercial email's performance.

Key Performance Indicators (KPI)

A KPI is a marketing indicator that helps you measure and quantify key factors of your marketing strategy, such as conversion rate and recurrent buyers.

SEMrush SEO Capabilities

SEMrush is an SEO tool that performs your keyword research, tracks the keyword strategy used by your competition, runs an SEO audit of your blog, looks for backlinking opportunities, and much more. SEMrush is... Continue reading "Essential Digital Marketing Terms and Definitions" »

Routing Information Protocol (RIP) Essentials

RIPv1 vs. RIPv2: Classful vs. Classless Routing

What is the difference between RIPv1 and RIPv2? RIPv1 is a classful routing protocol, while RIPv2 is classless.

Non-IP Routing Protocols Similar to RIP

List similar non-IP routing protocols to RIP (e.g., from Xerox, Novell, etc.): Similar protocols to IP RIP include:

• Xerox Network Systems protocol suite (XNS)
• Novell’s IPX RIP
• AppleTalk’s Routing Table Maintenance Protocol (RTMP)

UNIX Implementation of RIP

What is the UNIX implementation of RIP? Many UNIX distributions are based on the popular 4.2 BSD (Berkeley Software Distribution) and implement RIP in either routed or gated daemons.

RIP Operation Port (UDP 520)

From which port does RIP operate? The RIP... Continue reading "RIP Protocol Fundamentals: Configuration, Timers, and Optimization" »

RIP2

What are the main extensions of RIPv2 compared to RIPv1? The extensions are: subnet masks carried with each route entry, authentication of routing updates, next-hop addresses carried with each route entry, external route tags, and multicast route updates.

What is the main advantage of multicasting the updates compared to broadcasting them? The main advantage of multicasting is that the devices on the local network that are not concerned with RIP routing do not have to spend time unwrapping broadcast packets from the router.

What is the benefit of Route Tag field? External routing protocols connected to a RIP domain in multiple location may use the Route Tag field to exchange information across the RIP domain.

Who to enable classless route

1. A Green Christmas

Reading Comprehension Answers

• 1.1: B
• 1.2: B

Detailed Responses

• 2.1: Artificial trees are made of materials which aren't biodegradable, making them problematic when discarded.
• 2.2: The chichilaiks symbolize the beard of a saint and are used for decoration.
• 2.3: These trees are organic and are collected again afterwards.
• 3.1: One had to pay a modest fee to obtain a tree.
• 3.2: We prevented the purchase of artificial trees.

Vocabulary and Context

• 4.1: Repaired
• 4.2: Modest
• 4.3: Getting rid of
• 4.4: Out of fashion
• 5.1: People cutting down firs for traditional Christmas in Western countries.
• 5.2: The chichilaiks went out of fashion.

2. Crowdsourcing

Reading Comprehension Answers

• 1.1: C
• 1.2: C

True or False Statements

• 2.1: True. When a solution is reached,

Feminism

The origins of the second wave of Feminism can be traced back to the 1970s and the 1980s. A great number of women started writing and publishing books about the so-called notion of “Feminity”. Unlike the first wave of Feminism, which was a suffragist movement in which women were asking the right to vote, the second wave of Feminism goes beyond that. The feminist thinkers of the second wave based their theory on gender stereotyping. They claimed that equality between men and women had not been fully achieved because biological sex was the basis to determine the role a man or a woman must play in society.

Angela Carter's The Werewolf and Company of Wolves

The first reason why we can consider these texts as feminist is the issue of “authority

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" »

Lost Luggage

A: Hello? Is anybody there?

B: Yes, hello. You are talking to Customer Service of the Washington Central Airport. How can we help you?

A: I wish you could. Last Saturday, I came back from Paris on the United Airlines flight at 11:00 PM. Upon arrival, I looked for my luggage, but I never saw it again. What did you do with my suitcase? Did you lose it or something else?

B: Sir, calm down. We didn't lose your luggage. The suitcase could be on the next flight. Wait until then, and if the suitcase doesn't appear, we will talk to the crew.

A: Okay, but I need that suitcase right now. I had the ticket for my next flight in there, and that flight is in 20 minutes.

B: We are so sorry. Okay, we will print the ticket again and we will refund the... Continue reading "Everyday Conversations in English" »