MMIVSpringWeekNine

MMIVSpringWeekNine (2004.4.5)

outline quotes, quote (n, v) refer, reference source of information/electricity/money/light/water/energy negative population growth

"that part" (of the movie) dead heart, dead center (picture, movie) we watched the replay I pumped some air into my tire, CO2 tire vs. tear church, jesus, god, graves, vampires egg fried rice I did things in/out of order I think I made my point/What?'s the point? I don't see the point/There?'s no point!/What? order does she make the points in?

Classroom Content

• We had a pretty heated debate about whether or not people should get married. Class A divided into three teams along the following lines: 1) People should marry if and only if they want to, 2) Everyone should marry, and 3) Nobody should marry. Classes B and C were more polarized, and divided into just two teams with the following positions: 1) Everyone should marry, and 2) Nobody should marry. Here are some of the threads of argument we heard; they alternate between the two main positions:

• If you are married, you must take care of others
• Having a family is a burden - what if you don't want to work hard for the family? "Everybody's lazy!"
  • In a marriage, you do everything out of love
• If you're single, you needn't do housework, and are carefree
  • If you're single, you must do ALL OF THE HOUSEWORK by yourself!
• It's better to be independent - you will have more freedom
• Freedom is the most important thing
  • Single people are not as responsible as married people
  • Too much freedom makes people lazy and lack a sense of duty; men need duty to make them study and work hard
    • People would not have FAMILY duties; of course they still take care of all of their other duties
  • Free time is useless if you're bored
  • Marriage gives people pressure to do better and improve their shared lives
• Your spouse may force you to give up some of the things you like to do, such as smoke, stay out late, go to bars, and hang out with friends
  • You can do some useful things instead, as well as get rid of some bad habits; for example, you can work hard for the family, cook, etc.
  • You can still find a balance of free time, and have time to be with friends
    • If marriage is so wonderful, why aren't you married NOW?

• A boyfriend is always much nicer before marriage; a girlfriend is always more beautiful
• In a marriage, the girl will become a housewife and lose her beauty and free time; there will be no romance in the relationship
  • A smart woman knows how to stay beautiful!
• "Marriage is the tomb of love"
  • The "tomb of love" expression is not true, and speaks relatively only
  • On the contrary, "marriage is an excellent university"
  • Husband and wife can share a lot of happiness
    • What about a "bad husband" who hits his wife?
  • If you get married, you can do things with a special person, and share in honesty and love
  • The more two people care for each other, the more their love deepens
    • An unmarried union is more spiritual
      • An unmarried man or woman will miss many wonderful experiences in life

• If you don't get married, you will feel lonely when you are old!
• Unmarried life is very lonely
  • Adoption exists because couples don't get married
    • The reason we have adoption in the first place is because the original, married parents weren't responsible for the child!
  • Adoptive parents don't feel the same way toward their children as real parents do
  • Using an adopted child to make oneself feel less lonely is not moral
    • Raising an adopted child takes time, care, and love; it's not "using" the child!
      • Why not adopt a child when you are young, instead of waiting until you are old?
        • You will have the experience to raise a child properly when you are older
  • You can live together with someone without getting married
    • What if your girlfriend or boyfriend wants to get married?
      • Say goodbye!
      • It's the new century! Finding someone else is EASY!
  • You can be with your friends
    • Your friends will have their own families!
      • Maybe they will, but maybe they won't!

• It is not OK to be single when you are old
• When you get old, you'll need a partner to take care of you
• Or, your children can help support you!
  • When you are old, you can employ someone to help you; it doesn't have to be a marriage partner
  • You can depend on the national social service
    • If nobody got married, social service couldn't support everyone!
      • When you are old, your partner may die ... that's too sad! And they can't take care of you any longer anyway!

• If you are not married and have babies, you will be criticized by others (they will look down upon you)
• Parents would disagree with you if you decide not to marry
  • You have your own life; you don't have to listen to everything your parents say
• It's unfilial (Dictionary:filial)
  • If you get married, your parents will pressure you into having a baby even if you don't really want one

• Being single is popular (think pop stars!)

• There is a population problem, and marriage contributes to it
  • This is not a problem in Western countries
    • But the population problem exists in China
  • If your parents hadn't gotten married, you wouldn't exist: "You can't sit here now!"
    • The discussion is about this generation only - we're not talking about our parents
    • The problem of limited resources is something the whole world faces
      • If no one had babies, humans would go extinct!
      • Society cannot develop without children
      • Society is made of married families; without these families, there can be no society

• A baby can bring you great happiness
  • The issue of marriage has nothing to do with babies!
    • In an unmarried family, the child would be lonely and sad

• Marriage is a holy right
  • Mary wasn't married when she gave birth to Jesus

• If two people are always together, they will quarrel; they know too much about each other
• Married life is boring and tiring
  • There are ways to manage one's married life; one can do things to make the marriage more interesting
  • If you are married, you can control lover's behavior
    • Relationships are built on belief, trust, and love - NOT doubt - so one shouldn't need to "control" one's lover

• You need time for your job; if you don't marry, you don't need to spend time on your family and married life
• After a hard day at work, you don't want to face a crying baby and a wife who fights with you
  • You can earn enough money by the time you are 40 years old; you don't have to put so much time into your job!
• You have to share your money with your spouse, or worse, give it all to him/her to manage
  • Your spouse can help you manage your money
    • Your parents can help you manage your money just as well.
      • Maybe the wife has her own job, in which case the husband doesn't need to worry about this

• Can you really guarantee you'll stay with somebody for your ENTIRE LIFE?
  • You need to experience married life to know if someone really suits you
• If you don't marry, you can date anyone!
  • Not getting married is just an excuse for finding other lovers
• Love is short!
  • It's OK to marry and divorce until you find your "best lover"
    • What happens to the child after the divorce?
      • The law protects the baby in the event a couple divorces; they are made responsible for their child
      • Single-parent families are not good for the children
    • If you may divorce, you shouldn't get married in the first place!
      • Marriage is OK even if not with one's "best lover"

• We talked about references and tips for writing a research report in Class B and Class C. Here are some hints which will be useful in any future academic writing:
  • Imagine references in the text as pointing fingers. They point you unambiguously (WordNet:unambiguous) to an entry in the bibliography. They are short in order not to detract from the content of the report.
  • The bibliography is a list of references, each giving you all the information you would need to find the material yourself.
  • A direct quotation is text copied verbatim (WordNet:verbatim) from a source. A report should not be mostly composed of quotations, however; quoting one or two sentences is okay, but quoting fifty is too much. You must include a reference for each direct quotation.
  • An outline helps you organize your information before you write. It usually contains a list of main points and details that fall under the category of each main point. I suggested in class that you include references for each detail in your outline so that they will be easier to include in your actual report.

Phrases And Sentence Patterns

Pronunciation

Usage

Vocabulary

• debate (n, v) == 辩论
  • We had a debate over whether or not a young unmarried woman with an accidental pregnancy should have an abortion.
  • There is some debate about how Beijing will respond to the pro-democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong.
  • There's no debate about your academic background, but a few of the board members are concerned about your lack of experience.
  • She debated whether to go ahead and buy the cheaper cell phone, or to save her money for the more expensive model.
  • I don't have the energy to debate this with you; no means no!
  • They debated whether or not to go to the party. In the end, they decided to catch up on some rest.