学习任务清单：描述图片

              Individuals vs. People

Transcript

• Box 1: I hate people in general …

• Box 2: … but certain individuals are O.K.

• Box 3: Somehow, everyone I know is an individual.

Vocabulary

• Individual (n.) /ˌɪn.dɪˈvɪd.ju.əl/ a signel person, especially when compared to the group to which they belong.

• Somehow (adv.) /ˈsʌm.haʊ/ used to indicate that the speaker does not want to make the reason clear

Context

• This comic strip illustrates a paradox: people often express: they tend to dislike how people behave as a group, but when considered individually, the criticism towards their behavior seems to disappear.

  
  

学习任务清单：描述图片

                                 Oversized Tablets To Take Pictures

   Transcript

• Box 1: Thank you for taking pictures with your oversized tablet at a public event. (Click. Click.)

• Box 2: Makes me look slightly less ridiculous. (Click. Click.)

• Box 3: Down in front! (Click. Click.)

    Vocabulary

• Oversized (adj.) /ˈəʊ.və.saɪz/ too big or bigger than usual

• tablet (n.) /ˈtæb.lət/ a small, flat computer that is controlled by touching the screen or by using a special pen

• slightly /ˈslaɪt.li/ a little

• ridiculous /rɪˈdɪk.jʊ.ləs/ stupid or unreasonable and deserving to be laughed at

• Down in front! = People in the front should get lower so they can take a picture.

• Context

• This comic strip is making fun of people who use large tablets to take pictures in public places (something that is more and more common). The person using his laptop to take pictures does look ridiculous, since no one would carry his laptop around to take pictures (it’s heavy, cumbersome, and doesn’t take good pictures anyway); and the person coming in box 3 looks even more so. By making those people ridiculous, the author wants to say that people who take pictures with their tablets also look ridiculous.

Language Feature

• Thank you for  …

• Thank you for visiting this website.

• Thanks for reading this.

• Thanks for coming

• Notice the expression in the first sentence: Thank you for taking … Thank you for is always followed by a V+ing. Examples:

  
  

学习任务：描述图片                             

                                  Making Compliments

Transcript

• Box 1: Your camera takes really nice pictures.

• Box 3: Your mouth makes really nice compliments.

Vocabulary

• compliment (n.) /ˈkɒmplɪmənt/ something that you say or do to show you like or think highly of someone

  
  

Context

• Who’s taking the pictures? The photographer or the camera? Well, both for sure … but this comic strip is making fun of the fact that very often, people associate the quality of the pictures to the camera and not to the person who controls the camera (i.e. the photographer!)

• What’s funny here is that what is said in box 1 seems not at all unusual, but when the duck applies it to speech instead of pictures, we realize that something is wrong and that the merit for complimenting doesn’t have anything to do with the mouth, but the mind/brain.

Language Feature

• Making compliments is not always easy! You have to be careful that what you say will be understood by the listener as something positive. It sounds obvious, but as this comic strip shows, this is not always the case. The challenge becomes even bigger with speakers with different cultural backgrounds.

• Strategies to make compliments? 

• Always think about how the listener will probably understand what you say.

• Think about the cultural background of the listener and try to analyze what is considered as positive or negative; avoid the negative associations!

• Try to express yourself as directly as possible; avoid confusing images or metaphors. This will remove a great deal of potential miscommunication.