英語學習筆記

    The name Willian is of old Germanic origin and its meaning is "protection." Short forms and variants came into being with a common basic meaning of "will," "determined," or "resolute." Variants of this name include Wilson, Will and Bill. Famous people with this name include King William I of England, a.k.a. William the Conqueror, and the notorious "American Idol" singer William Hung.
    The name Victoria is of Latin origin and means "victory." It is also the female form of "Victor." Victoria was also a goddess who smiled on the ancient Roman people for many centuries. Variants of the name include Vicky, Vickie and Tori. Celebrities who share the name include Victoria of the United Kingdom and former Spice Girls member Victoria Beckham.

_{by Gordon Fairclough}

    Several months ago, Chinese clothing executive Shao Zhuliang got bad news from his U.S. agent: Wal-Mart Stores Inc., his biggest customer, wouldn't be placing any orders for the spring 2008 season.

I aced my mathematics test again!
Tori: Congrats! You really have a talent for math.
Bill: But not for literature. I tend to forget what I just read in about three seconds!

I messed up on the midterm exam. I guess I can't graduate with you this year!
Vickie: You can still make up for it by doing well on the final, can't you?
Will: I can't do it. I'm not good enough.

Kingston Technology Goes "Traveling" at Computex Taipei 2007
  Kingston Technology Company, Inc., the independent world leader in memory products, is expected to publicize important news on its HyperX High-performance memory division, as well as several key additions to its Flash memory line during Computex Taipei 2007, which runs June 5-9, 2007. Playing up the global scale of the world's second-largest trade show, Kingston will adopt a "World Traveler" theme in its booth.
  Global travelers demand uncompromising computing power even on-the-fly, so Kingston will be demonstrating live its new DDR3 1500MHz HyperX and DDR2 800MHz ultra-low latency HyperX memory modules. Its 512MB and 1BG DDR3 1066MHz HyperX memory modules recently passed Intel Platform (PMO) Validation, paving the way for the next generation of high-performance computing. DDR3 technology offers significant memory performance gains, at lower voltage and less power consumption.

I'm so excited! I've finally arrived in San Francisco for the Big City Adventure treasure hunt. I'm on my way to the first location, the famous island of Alcatraz. The prison there was deemed escape proof. 36 prisoners tried in 14 separate escape attempts, although 5 were never found. I hope I don't disappear mysteriously when I leave!

Wilson: Know what? Last week I went shopping and found that I could no longer fit in the clothing size I used to wear. I feel so frustrated.
Vicky: I told you not to be such a couch potato a thousand times! It's time for you to take action!
Wilson: Do you have any recommendations for me?

Guess what I found at the beach? No, not some shells or a crab, try a 95,000 pound cannon! Baker Beach is part of the Presidio, an old military base dating back to 1776. The World War II era bunkers and a replica defensive cannon are still present. Just as well it's only a replica, anyone can walk up and climb all over it if they wish to.

Union Square is the heart of the shopping, hotel and theater district. The open square is surrounded on all sides by fine department stores and imposing hotels. The name comes from the pro-union rallies held there just prior to the American civil war. The huge column in the center commemorates Dewey's victory in the Spanish-American war.

This has to be the most recognizable bridge in the world. Interestingly, its distinctive color was somewhat of an accident. During construction, the bridge was painted in red-orange primer to protect against rust. The designers happened to like the way the primer looked, and thus, the bridge's International Orange color was decided.