It is a national ethos of the United
States, the set of ideals (Democracy, Rights, Liberty, Opportunity, and
Equality) in which freedom includes the opportunity for prosperity and success,
and an upward social mobility for
the family and children, achieved through hard work in a society with few
barriers.
<c.f> the disillusion of American dream
It is a 1970 novel by American author Toni
Morrison.The story is about a year in the life of a young black girl named
Pecola who develops an inferiority complex due to her eye color and skin
appearance. It is set in Lorain,
Ohio, against the backdrop of America's Midwest during the years following
the Great Depression.
It is a 1925 novel written by American author F. Scott Fitzgerald that follows a cast of
characters living in the fictional town of West Egg on prosperous Long
Island in the summer of 1922. It primarily concerns the young and
mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby and his quixotic passion and obsession for the beautiful former debutante Daisy
Buchanan.
▽full name of SARS is “Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome”
→cardio-: “pertaining to the heart”
cardiac (adj.)- of the heart or heart disease
→cardiac arrest
cardinal (n.)- a priest of very high rank in the
Roman Catholic Church
→Cardinals elect and advise the Pope.
→circu-: "around, all around, on all sides"
circulation (n.) when something such as information, money or
goods passes from one person to another
→Add her name to the circulation list for this report.
circuitous (adj.)- not straight or direct
→a circuitous (= long and indirect) explanation
Nelle Harper Lee (April 28, 1926 – February 19, 2016) She
was an American novelist widely known for To Kill a Mockingbird, published in 1960.
The plot and characters of To Kill a Mockingbird are loosely based on Lee's
observations of her family and neighbors, as well as an event that
occurred near her hometown in 1936, when she was 10 years old.
▽To Kill a
Mockingbird: The novel
deals with the irrationality of adult attitudes
towards race, class, unfairness, manners, and ladyship in the Deep South of
the 1930s, as depicted through the eyes of two children. The novel was inspired
by racist attitudes in her hometown of Monroeville, Alabama.
▲New Words
1. gen- “get started”; gene- “something about birth/beginning”
generator- a machine which
produces something, especially electricity
genesis- the origin of
something, when it is begun or starts to exist
→In her autobiography, she describes the song's genesis late one night in
a Dublin bar.
genes- a part of the DNA in
a cell which contains information in a special pattern received by each animal
or plant from its parents, and which controls its physical development, behavior.
→The illness is believed to be caused by a defective gene.
2. chron- “time”
chronometer (n.)- a piece of
equipment which measures time very accurately
chronicle (v.)- to
make a record or give details of something
→The book chronicles the writer's coming to terms with his illness
chronic (adj.)- very bad;
(especially of a disease or something bad) continuing for a long time
→The acting was chronic.
→There is a chronic shortage of teachers.
3. depression <c.f> Depression
depression: the state
of feeling very unhappy and without hope for the future
→I was overwhelmed by feelings of depression.
Depression: the period
of decrease in wealth, industrial production, and employment from 1929 until
the start of the Second World War
