DAY3 Who was Shakespeare? part3

Advocates for de Vere argue that his aristocratic background and travel throughout Italy in 1575 make him a likely candidate. However, de Vere died in 1604, and many of the greatest Shakespearean plays, including King Lear and The Tempest, appeared after this date. Also there is no convincing explanation as to why de Vere might prefer to write using William Shakespeare as his nom de plume.
As with de Vere theory, a major flaw to the Christopher Marlowe theory is the timing of his death. Many historians believe that Marlowe was killed in a fight in a London pub in 1593. Hoever, conspiracy-minded Marlowe experts argue that this was a cover-up and that he was secretly sent to Europe to work as a spy for Elizabeth I. Skeptics suggest that Marlowe continued to write, but used William Shakespeare's name to enable him to get his work published in England.
Today, the majority of Shakespearean scholars believe that, in spite of his humble beginings, the man from Stratford-upon-Avon was the true author of the literary greats. They argue that Shakespeare's lack of formal university education does not mean he could not have produced works of such genius. Until enough evidence is collected to firmly support any argument , debate surrounding who the Bard of Stratford really was continues.



1. advocate (n) a person who supports or suggests an idea, development or way of doing something
擁護者.提倡者

2. aristocratic (a) a class of people who hold high social rank
貴族的

3. convincing (a) able to make you believe that something is true or right
有說服力的

4. nom de plume (法語n) a pen name
筆名

5. flaw (n) a fault, mistake or weakness, especially one that happens while something is being planned or made, or which causes something not to be perfect
瑕疵.缺陷

6. conspiracy (n) when people secretly plan together to do something bad or illegal
陰謀

7. cover-up (n) an attempt to prevent the public discovering information about a serious crime or mistake
掩飾.掩蓋

8. Bard (n) an old-fashioned way of referring to a poet or staryteller
吟遊詩人.詩人




END

DAY2 Who was Shakespere? part2

This lack of historical data has caused some literary experts to question whether William Shakespere really wrote the works attributed to him. Skeptics cite a number of arguments to support their belief that Shakespere, the playwright, was really someone else. First fourteen plays have scenes that take place in Italy and demonstrate a detailed knowledge of Italian society and politics. However, there is no record of Shakespere's ever traveling to Italy. Skeptics also argue that the level of vocabulary and languageused in Shakespere's works reflects the writings of a highly educated person with a good understanding of law, politics, and history. Yet there is no record of Shakespere's ever attending a university.
If William Shakespere did not write the great plays and sonnets, then who did? The two most plausible candidates are Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford, a contemporary poet and friend of Queen Elizabeth I, and Christopher Marlowe, also born in 1564, a Cambridge garduate, playwright, and---allegedly---Elizabethan spy.



1. skeptic (n) a person who doubts the truth or value of an idea or belief
懷疑論者

2. cite (v) to mention something as proof for a theory or as a reason why something has happened, or to speak or write words taken from a particular writer or written work
舉出

3. demonstrate (v) to show something and explain how it works
顯示

4. plausible (a) seeming likely to be true, or able to be believed
貌似有理的

5. earl (n) a British man of high social rank, between a marquis and a viscount
伯爵

6. contemporary (n) belonging to the same or a stated period in the past
當代的

7. allegedly (adv) to state that someone has done something illegal or wrong without giving proof
據傳說地


to be continued....

DAY1 Who was Shakespeare?part1

William Shakespeare is widely regarded as the greatest English language playwright. He was a literary genius whose works are still read and performed all over the world. Shakespeare, the man, is something of an enigma, though, as very little is known about him. We do know that a William Shakespeare was baptized on April 26, 1564, the third of eight children of John and Mary Shakespeare. He lived in the town of Stratford-upon-Avon in England and when he was eighteen, he married a twenty-six-year-old woman named Anne Hathaway. They had three children, including one set of twins. For much of his life, he was employed as an actor in London, and he died in 1616, at the age of fifty-two.
Beyond those basic facts, little else is known about the life of Shakespeare. Even his birthday, April 23, is speculative and is based on the assumption that baptisms at that time took place three days after a baby's birth. In total, 154 sonnets and 37 plays, which are grouped into comedies, targedies and histories, are attributed to William Shakespeare. However, not one original manuscript has survived; the plays and poems we know today come from a collection known as the First Folio, published in 1623 after Shakespeare's death, the only portrait of him accepted as authentic appears on the title page of the First Folio.


1. enigma (n) something that is mysterious and seems impossible to understand completely
謎

2. baptize (v) a Christian ceremony in which a person has water poured on their head, or is covered briefly in water, in order to show that they have become a member of the Christian Church
受洗.浸禮

3. speculative (a) based on a guess and not on information
推測的

4. assumption (n) something that you accept as true without question or proof
假定.假設

5. baptism (n) 浸禮.洗禮

6. sonnet (n) a poem that has 14 lines and a particular pattern of rhyme
十四行詩

7. manuscript (n) the original copy of a book or article before it is printed
手稿

8. folio (n) a book made of paper of a large size, especially one of the earliest books printed in Europe
對開本的書

9. portrait (n) a painting, photograph, drawing, etc. of a person or, less commonly, of a group of peop
肖像畫

10. authentic (a) If something is authentic, it is real, true, or what people say it is
可靠的.可信的

to be continued...

Day5>>Fashion Industry

Fashion is not only a means of expression, it is also a means of earning money. Indeed, the clothing industry is one of the largest. Every year, it comprises a multi- billion dollar segment of the world economy. In the United States alone, the industry pulls in $180 billion yearly. Of all the clothing sold, more than half is for adult women's clothings, while only about 35 percent is for adult men's clothing. Chilldren's and infants' clothing rounds out the market. While most of the sales are still within actual store locations, a growing part of sales takes place online over the internet. As a result, countless websites are now devoted to clothings, and every designer and department store has its own catalog on the Web. This shift changes the face of the clothing industry, requiring greater versatility online and also, more focus on visual appeal for the browsing customer. While campanies and customers alike are encountering challenges to adpating to the online format, experts predict exponential growth in the coming years nevertheless.


1. expression (n) 表達.表示
2. indeed (adv) 確實
3. comprise (v) 包含.包括
4. segment (n) 部分
5. infant (n) 嬰兒.幼兒
6. round out 完成
7.devote (v) 專用於..奉獻於
8. catalog (n) 目錄
9. shift (n) 轉換.轉移
10. versatility (n) 多用途.多功能性
11. appeal (n) 吸引力.感染力
12. browsing (pp>>a) 瀏覽的
browse (v) 瀏覽
13. adpat (v) 適應
14. format (n) 形式.編排
15. exponential (a) 指數的
16. nevertheless (adv) 仍然

DAY4>Animals in Mythology:part2

During the Middle Ages, people belivevd a unicorn's horn could cure many illnesses and neutralize poison. As it was considered very valuable, a powdered form of " Unicorn's Horn" was sold in many druggist's shop.

Did unicorn ever really exist? This is a question that remains unanswered today. some believe that, like the dragon, the unicorn never existed and was simple an animal from a fairy tale or mythology. Others believe that the unicorn still exists in remote regions of the earth, and can be seen only by people of exceptional virtue and honesty. There are still others who believe that the unicorn was a type of a hunman in order to survive. Someday, they believe, these humans will become unicorns once again. A final point of view is that, like the dinosaur, unicorns once exsited but became extinct. This theory suggests that because the unicorn's horn was used as a type of medicine, humans hunted the animal out of existence.

Animals such as the narwhal may provide evidence, or give us a clue, that unicorns once exsited on earth. The male narwhal is a huge sea creature that can be found in the Arctic seas. This animal has a single horn, or tusk, that projects from its forehead -similar to that of the unicorn. In fact, in the seventeenth century, people often confused the narwhal to the unicorn has led some people to believe that perhaps the unicorn is the narwhal's ancestor, or vice versa. Although narwhals have also been hunted for centuries , they may have escaped extinction for different reasons: they are only found in certain parts of the world, and are hunted by only a relatively small number of people.




1. cure (v) 治療
2. neutralize (v) 中和.使中立
3. powdered (a) 粉末狀的
4. druggist (n) 藥劑師.藥商.藥房老闆
5. remote (a) 偏僻的
6. exceptional (a) 異常的.例外的.優秀的
7. virtue (n) 美德.善良
8. in order to 為了
9. survive (v) 倖存
10. extinct (a) 絕種的.滅亡的
11. existence (n) 生存.存在
12. narwhal (n) 獨角鯨
13. Arctic (a) 北極的
14. tusk (n) 長牙
15. ancestor (n) 祖先
16. vice versa 反之亦然
17. extinction (n) 絕種
18. relatively (adv) 相對地

DAY3>Animals in Mythology:part1

Throughout history, stories have been written and told about different animals; many of these stories come from superstition or popular myths. Cats, for example, have been associated with good and bad luck. Birds were thought of as messengers and symbols of death, bad fortune, or peace. Many of the animals that have been written about over the years, such as the dove, black cat, or bat, can still be found on earth today. There are some creatures, through, that many people believe cannot be found anywhere; the unicorn is one such animal.


The unicorn is perhaps the most mystical of all creatures talked and written about over the centuries. In ancient Greek and Roman myths, it mythology, the unicorn is an animal that symbolizes good fortune. Some believe that the reason unicorns have not be seen for many centuries is beacuse we are living in "bad" times, and that unicorns will appear again when goodness exists on earth.

People have described the unicorn as a white animal that looks like a horse; some believe that it has the legs and hooves of a deer. Its most recognizable and unique feature, however, is the single horn that projects from the middle of its forehead.


1. superstition (n) 迷信
2. myth (n) 神話
3. associate with 與..有關聯
4. symbol (n) 象徵
5. fortune (n) 運氣.財富
6. dove (n) 白鴿
7. bat (n) 蝙蝠
8. creature (n) 生物
9. unicorn (n) 獨角獸
10. mystical (a) 神秘的
11. mythology (n) 神話
12. symbolize (v) 象徵
13. exist (v) 存在
14. describe (v) 描寫.形容
15. hoove (n) 蹄
16. deer (n) 鹿
17. recognizable (a) 可辨認的
18. unique (a) 獨特的.獨一無二的
19. feature (n) 特色
20. project (v) 突出.伸出
21. forehead (n) 前額

菲利浦祥.看短文學英文Day5

Traditions of Giving Thanks
感恩的傳統

Thanksgiving traditions from around the world
by Lisa Holl Chang

According to American tradition, early settlers from England celebrated a harvest festival in 1621 with their American Indian neighbors, the Wampanoag. The settlers had much to celebrate that year: The Wampanoag had helped them to survive in an and unfamiliar harsh land. This historic thanksgiving celebration, however, wasn't the first of its kind. People around the world had been giving thanks for the harvest for ages.

North American Thanksgivings

While the Pilgrims are often credited with the first Thanksgiving, such celebrations were already a tradition among American Indians. In what is now Canada and the U.S., several tribes celebrated the Green Corn Festival.

1. according KK: []
   相符的
   片語 according to; 根據
2. settlers KK: []
   移居者
   
3. celebrated KK: []
   著名的
   
4. harvest KK: []
   收穫
   
5. festival KK: []
   節日
   
6. Wampanoag 美國瓦婆濃族印第安人
   相關知識 wiki 延伸閱讀
   
7. unfamiliar KK: []
   陌生
   
8. harsh KK: []
   惡劣; 嚴酷
   
9. pilgrims KK: []
   朝聖者
   
10. tribes KK: []
    部落; 種族

這週單字部分在今天已經結束了!!
看大家有沒有甚麼問題需要提出來討論的，還是有什麼建議~ :-)

下周輪到Leo囉!!別忘記了~