英語學習筆記

Serving Up Good Table Manners
In a fine-dining restaurant, then forks and knives line up on the table
like an army waiting for orders. There’s no need to break out in a
nervous sweat, though. By following a few tips, you can be confident
in a formal Western restaurant.

from: LiveABC No.105
--Brian Foden
　Poetry has the power both to entertain and do inform us. With its imagery, a poem can also make us feel deeply. In my opinion, one of the greatest poets is William Butler Yeats, and my favorite poem of his is "The Lake Isle of Innisfree."
　I enjoy this poem so much because of the peaceful feelings that it evokes. Yeats writes about wishing to go to a small island and build a cabin and garden. He uses images of honeybee hives, crickets, and birds to create a clear picture of the natural world.
　In each stanza, every other line rhymes. This contrast of sound in each quatrain reflects the contrast between the natural world and city life. Near the end of the poem, Yeats mentions the pavements gray" of the road he is standing on. The lifeless color of the city is very different from the "glimmer" and "purple glow" of Innisfree in the second stanza.
　"The Lake Isle of Innisfree" is a very personal poem. While growing up, Yeats spend summers with his grandparents in Sligo, Ireland, where the lake island Innisfree lies. Therefore, the poem also features another contrast: between Yeats's childhood and adult life. More specifically, it is about longing for the simple life he had as a child.
　Born in 1865 in Dublin, Ireland, Yeats became known as one of the most important writers in the world. "The Lake Isle of Innisfree" was written early in Yeats's career, and it was published in 1893. Yeats went on to write many important works. In 1923, his talent earned him the Nobel Prize in Literature. In addition to being a poet. Yeats wrote a large amount of drama. He was one of the creators of Dublin's Abbey Theatre, which is still active today.
　Although "The Lake Isle of Innisfree" was written more than a century ago, it is one of the most recognized poems in the English language. With its themes of childhood, aging, and the desire for nature, it is a poem that can stir the emotions of almost anyone.

from : ALL+ 雜誌
　A major city in the Evergreen State Seattle is situated between three national
parks. The city rests along Puget Sound, and its sprawl marks a gray line between
lush forest and deep blue ocean. From early on, the local economy was based
on logging and commercial trade done through the harbor. Now after almost
two hundred years of development, the city is aiming to return to nature through
the combined efforts of government and residents.
　Seattle started out as a logging town in the mid-1800s. The arrival of Microsoft
more than a century later helped Seattle become known as an important city for
technology. A local coffee shop named Starbucks also began to grow around
this time, and the city became known for its great coffee, too. Not long after,
Seattle implemented recycling and other Eco-friendly programs. The Emerald City
quickly became one of the greenest cities in America.
　To reduce the city's carbon footprint, the local government called upon its over
three million residents to make small home improvements. Volunteers help neighbors
change to water-saving showerheads and CLF lights in the aptly named SWITCH
program. Seattleites are also happy to put in time and effort in the many other city
projects.
　Seattle is often praised for being on the cutting edge of green city design. In
1999, for example, the city began the Street Edge Alternative (ESA) Streets
Project. This pilot project turned a section of a typical city street into a curving road
lined with plants. The modified street allows rainwater to be absorbed into
the land instead of being sent through underground pipes. Those who live on the
pilot street are now happily parking their cars next to matured flower gardens and
bushes.
　The voluntary Green Up program is another effort to power Seattle by alternative
energies. Residents and business owners can elect to buy power from area wind farms
and other renewable energy sources. Green power is a bit more expensive, but it is
keeping Seattle cleaner.
　Residents are also being pushed to drive their fossil-fueled cars less. As part
of the One Less Car Challenge, families give up driving one of their cars. Besides
knowing they are helping the earth, they receive incentives like discounts
on Eco-friendly products and vouchers for public transportation. City planning
has taken sustainability into mind and is helping citizens do their part in protecting
the environment.
　Building stylish, green structures is yet another trend in Seattle, as seen with the
Ballard Library. The library's slightly curved glass and wood roof is covered with plants
that soak up rainwater. Natural light shines through at just the right angle for readers,
who relax on furniture formed from single pieces of wood and metal. Then space is
treasured by patrons not only for its Eco-friendliness but also for its beauty.
　Since trees are essential to having fresh air, Seattle wants to be filled with them.
The city hopes to expand its tree cover from its current 23 percent to 30 percent
by 2037. Working toward this goal are volunteers with Green Seattle Partnership,
who remove invasive plants to restore thousands of acres of urban parkland.
Their efforts are strengthening the forest floor, allowing plants and animals
to thrive in their natural habitat. Within the city, neighborhood groups can plant
fruit and shade trees given free by the city government.
　Urbanization has changed the landscape of Seattle. Today, though, the
many people drawn to city living now see it is possible to live in harmony with their
environment. Perhaps one day Seattle, as seen from above, will be indistinguishable
from its unpopulated outskirts.

Yong Kang Street (永康街)
 
When you are tired from your busy life in the city, how do you catch your breath? You don't have to go through the hassle of planning a trip abroad. A hidden corner of Taipei, Yong Kang Street, will give you the feeling of traveling to a different country, but you won't need your passport!

'It's a piece of cake.'
    A very common idiom among language learners, but not something you hear very often from native speakers. A much more natural way of saying this is just by using the adjective 'easy':
'It's very easy.'
    A important thing to remember when using adjectives, though, is to decide whether you are using an extreme adjective or a normal one. Extreme adjectives are any adjective with the meaning of 'very + adjective', for example 'freezing' (very cold) or 'excellent' (very good). This is important, because with extreme adjectives we can only use 'really' or 'absolutely' and not other words like 'a little' or 'very'. So, for example 'very excellent' is wrong, you must say 'absolutely excellent'.

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    常可在英語學習者之間聽到這句慣用語，但並不會常聽到以英語為母語的人士這樣說。其實白語一點來說, "簡單" 這個形容詞就足夠。

It's raining cats and dogs.
    A great idiom and one that paints a very colorful picture. However... if there is one thing that show up a competent speaker of English as someone who hasn't really fully grasped the language, it's an over-reliance on idioms. In everyday life, we just don't tend to use them, and so coming from a non-native speaker they seem forced and unnatural. Far more appropriate is :
              'It's raining heavily.'

Rain can be described as 'heavy' or 'light' depending on its intensity. 
Several other things can also be described in this way:

1. I will visit UK next week.
    There are two problems with this sentence. Firstly, we do not say 'UK', we say 'The UK' as it is a group of islands (like 'The Philippines' and 'The Canaries'). Remember that we also use 'the' for 'The USA' as it is a collection of States.
    The second problem is that for 'arrangements' -- i.e. future events you have planned and bought tickets for, invited people etc. we use the present continuous. Because this person is visiting the UK next week, he has probably already arranged everything. The correct sentences, then should be:
I'm visiting the UK next week.
    When writing in English using Microsoft Word on a computer, remember to watch out for green or red lines under your work. Green lines mean the grammar is probably wrong, red lines mean something more serious - perhaps a spelling mistake, a word that does not exist or a sentence that just doesn't make sense in English.