Quiz 5楊于萱

A.        

Chandler wanted to propose to Monica so he prepared a surprise to her.  However, they met Monica's ex-boyfriend, Richard, at the same restaurant.  Therefore, he made another big plan.  He pretended that he was against marriage and said it's just a way for the government to keep tabs on you.  But Monica thought that marriage is to celebrate their relationship and solidify their commitment.  She felt disappointed with him and at the same time Richard told her that he was still loved her and asked her to marry him.  Fortunately, Richard was a great guy.  He knew that Monica loved Chandler so much so that he asked Chandler not let her go.  It's a romantic ending that the couple finally engaged.

B.

    I like Phoebe most.  Out of considerateness, she always says something unsuitable and funny.  I believe that she is an easy going person.  On the other hand, the person I like least is Ross.  He is a great guy, however, I think he falls in love easily and does not always in earnest.

C.

    I think "Friends" is a tool to increase our listening comprehensive because through their vivid performance we can guess what they want to convey even we don't know every word.  Besides, we can learn the native language and useful phrase, slang and so on.  More importantly, we have happy feeling when we are watching, it's an essential factor to learn more.

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THE CLIENT ★ Basic information of the book Author：John Grisham Retold：Janet McAlpin Series Editor：Andy Hopkins and Jocelyn Potter Publishing and distributed by Person Education Limited Word level：Intermediate (1700 words) Classification：Contemporary British English Number of Pages：56 It's a crime novel. Mark Sway was eleven and he knew a terrible secret. He wanted to prevent a man from committing suicide. Yet, he didn't know that he was involved in an awful situation. The man was a lawyer of Mafia, a secret crime group killing a senator. He told Mark where the body was hidden when he was dead drunk. Mark escaped immediately. Then the lawyer put the gun in his mouth, closed his eyes and fired. Both FBI and Mafia were concerned about the death and the boy. Some secret were so dangerous it's better not to tell. But then, it's just as dangerous if you didn't. The reason why I appreciated this novel was that the plot was close to our life. The writer was also a lawyer. Therefore, he characterized various lawyers as a name－chaser, a weakling, a man of integrity successfully. I'm the KING of the CASTLE ★ Basic information of the book Author：Susan Hill Retold：Jim Alderson Series Editor：John Milne Illustrator：Bob Harvey Publishing and distributed by Heinemann Word level：Intermediate (1600 words) Number of Pages：68 The title of the story, I'm the King of the Castle, comes from the words used in an English children's game. The children race to climb up a rock or a wall. The one who gets to the top first shouts out; "I'm the king of the castle." Edmund's mother was dead and he lived with his father. One day, Edmund's father brought a woman whom he loved and her son, Kindshaw to live together. However, Edmund was unkind to Kingshaw and scared him. Even worse, Kingshaw saved Edmund's life several time. Yet, Edmund accused him a murder trying to kill him. No one believed Kingshaw even his mother. He hated everything and tried to escape. Therefore, he walked into a middle of stream. Then he lay down slowly and put his face under the water. He breathed very slowly and carefully… I didn't like this story at all. The evil boy won in the end. He smiled and thought he won when he saw Kingshaw's body in the water. Maybe the author wanted us to think why Edmund was cruel to Kingshaw and didn't feel regret? RAIN MAN ★ Basic information of the book Author：a novel by LEONORE FLEISCHER Retold：Kieran McGovern Series Editor：Andy Hopkins and Jocelyn Potter Publishing and distributed by Person Education Limited Word level：Pre-Intermediate (1200 words) Classification：Contemporary British English Number of Pages：39 The story came as a complete surprise to me. Charlie Babbitt had a bad relationship with his rich father. One day, he got a phone call about his father's death. He went to the funeral and met a lawyer, John Mooney. Mr. Mooney began to read the will. "To Charlie, I give my 1949 Buick and also give him my roses." He couldn't believe what he had heard,"My friend Dr. Bruner will look after my house and all my money for me." He made up his mind to fight for his money. Therefore, he found Dr. Bruner. And it was the same time he met Raymond, who was the brother Charlie never knew. The two men met and that was the start of a surprising new life for both of them. Raymond saw danger everywhere. That was why he did things in the same way everyday. However, he was a very intelligent person in some ways. They got along with each other for few weeks. Finally, Charlie remembered deep into his past－Raymond was Rain Man, his friend when he was a baby. The whole story was unexpected. I appreciated this heart－warming story, the brotherly affection really touched me. Each plot astonished me that I didn't think of this kind of situation before. This novel had been adapted for the movie. Besides, the actor who showed Raymond's strange world in a successful way won the Oscar for Best Actor. Extensive free reading project was one of my favorite things to do in class. In fact, I set a goal to read English novels as many as I could in the last summer vacation. Professor's project made me stick at it. I didn't choose the highest level to read. Therefore, I feel great and encouraged when I was reading, and I was proud of myself after finishing each book. I'll try thicker ones in the winter vacation. I'm sure that I'll do my best to keep free reading a habit in the future. 楊于萱49774213

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SHAKESPEARE

★ Basic information of the book

Author：Shakespeare

Retold：Karen Holmes

Series Editor：Andy Hopkins and Jocelyn Potter

Publishing and distributed by Person Education Limited

Word level：Intermediate (1700 words)

Classification：Classics British English

Number of Pages：60

This novel was composed of three great plays of Shakespeare－Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, King Lear. William Shakespeare was the most famous writer of plays in the English language. He wrote amusing plays with happy ending and historical plays, and the third type were serious and sad plays, like the three stories in this book.

Romeo and Juliet told the story of two important Lords of Verona. However, two families were long at feud with each other. In this play, hate had more power over people's lives than love. This lover came from different families became the sacrifice of the war. Finally, both of two Lords regretted and overcame their prejudice against each other. Yet, it was too late to save the lover's lives. Like the prince said,"this dark and cloudy end has brought a sad story."

Greedy for power is on the way to destroy one's life and reputation. Lord Macbeth, the great leader of Scottish army, and Lord Banquo, also an army leader, were friends. One day, they passed by three witches' front door. The witches predicted that Macbeth would be a king and Banquo's children and grandchildren would also become kings. "Perhaps these witches were telling truth, and perhaps they wanted to cause trouble and death." Then, gentle and kind Macbeth turned out to be an evil man. He had killed his king and Banquo, however, he couldn't escape his fate－killed by Banquo's son. I though the three witches were important to the story as a test of people's honesty and integrity.

King Lear, king of British, wanted to separate his Kingdom into three parts. He said he will give the best part to the daughter who loved him most. Nevertheless, his great age made him foolish. He didn't understand the characters of his three daughters. He only looked the surface of things and threw his youngest out. Yet, after he didn't govern his kingdom, the other two daughters became unfriendly and behaved coldly to him. Later, he was in exile. Though the king and his daughter whose loyalty to the king never wavered died, the bad ones also paid their price.

Shakespeare wrote these plays nearly 400 years ago. They have been still so popular because people's hearts vibrated to his works.

THE DIARY OF A YOUNG GIRL

★ Basic information of the book

Author Anne Frank

Retold：Cherry Gilchrist

Series Editor：Andy Hopkins and Jocelyn Potter

Publishing and distributed by Person Education Limited

Word level：Intermediate (1700 words)

Classification：Contemporary British English

Number of Pages：52

Everything was possible during the period of war. It was 1942, the time of the Second War, in Holland. All the Jews were frightened for their lives when Germans invaded the country.

This diary recorded about two families' lives in hiding. Through Ann's diary, I could know how they lived, what they ate and what they talked about. However, like Anne said," although I tell you a lot about our lives, you still know very little about us." For example, we wouldn't realize how frightened they were during the air raids. Even couldn't imagine how horrible the massacre was.

"The life in The Secret Annexe has reminded us that we are Jews, and that we must live like prisoners. We must forget our personal feelings and be brave and strong." I really admired her courage and optimism to face the tragic situation. It's sorrowful when the little girl asked," who has made us suffer like this?" She wanted her voice to be heard and work for all human beings.

What made me even sadder was that the Germans found them and took Anne to a concentration with her sister. She died there in 1945. The war and racial discrimination cost too many innocent lives.

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EMMA

★ Basic information of the book

Author：Jane Austen

Retold：Annette Barnes

Series Editor：Andy Hopkins and Jocelyn Potter

Publishing and distributed by Person Education Limited

Word level：Intermediate (1700 words)

Classification：Classics British English

Number of Pages：55

We share our friends' feeling and try to give them some advice, but we shouldn't dominate their decision. The story was based on a group of nobles. Therefore, their life was filled with literature, music and parties. Emma Woodhouse was a beautiful young lady. She amused herself by trying to arrange marriages between her friends and neighbors. However, she always messed things up. Then, she almost lost her own chance of love.

Everyone needs a true friend to point out his / her shortcoming. In the story, my favorite character was Mr. Knightly. Due to his calm and honesty, he suggested to Emma that she shouldn't choose spouse for any other person and shouldn't judge people by their position. Besides, he told Emma that he was ashamed of her for speaking something rude to the neighbor. Finally, Emma knew she had been wrong, and she apologized. Fortunately, she and her friends all found their true love.

I chose this novel because it was written by Jane Austen. Her books have always been popular through films for cinema and television. I read the Pride and Prejudice when I was little, and I really appreciated it. In short, I believed that Jane Austen's brilliance will ever be illuminated through her works.

THE QUEEN OF SPADES

★ Basic information of the book

Author：Aleksandr Pushkin

Retold：Stephen Colbourn

Series Editor：John Milne

Illustrator：Kay Dixey

Publishing and distributed by Heinemann

Word level：Intermediate (1600 words)

Number of Pages：51

Pushkin, the Great Russian poet and storyteller, brought us the magic and adventure of 19th century Russia. This book was composed of five stories tell of army life and romance. One of them was"The Queen of Spades", telling a story about an officer who coveted after wealth. In order to know the secret of Three Winning Cards, he murdered an old woman. After he got the secret, he put all his money in gambling and won again and again. One night, Army generals and other important people came to watch the gamble and expected him to win. Nevertheless, a strange thing happened. The card hold on his hand changed from ace to the queen of spades. She looked exactly like the dead woman opening one eye and winking at him. Needless to say, the officer was frightened to death and no one ever saw him again.

Since we didn't dabble in army life, especially in 19th century, we could explore Russia through the author's view. In addition, there were extraordinary stories about a sharpshooter, an undertaker and so on. To me, the book was worth reading.

ISLAND IN THE SUN

★ Basic information of the book

Author：John Milne

Series Editor：John Milne

Illustrator：Alan Burton

Publishing and distributed by Heinemann

Word level：Intermediate (1600 words)

Number of Pages：58

The island, Solara, was remote and beautiful and the lives of the islanders were simple. But how long would this last? The chief of the Island Council was old and ill. His son, Sunil, would take over as the running of the island's business－coconut sale. However, there was a plot which was proceeded secretly. Randil, who was a strange man with hard, burning eyes, was Sunil's uncle. He was jealous of Sunil's ability. Consequently, he collaborated with a group of mercenaries and Major Brown, who wanted to find a place to test the nuclear bomb. With their help, he could achieve his goal to be the next chief.

Sunil and his friend, Bill, tried to avoid the disaster. Sunil asked the islanders to prepare for trouble. On the other hand, Bill asked the help of government soldiers. Yet, matter has taken an unexpected turn. At last, Randil regretted what he had done causing his love to die. When the evil men attacked the island, Randil tried to protest Sunil and even threw himself in front of him and the bullet hit him. Eventually, they successfully fought off those evil monsters.

I thought this kind of story still happened everywhere in real world. Like Sunil said," We must face the problems of future. The modern world will come to Solara." In my opinion, it's hard to strike a balance between primitive and modern. Undoubtedly, we shouldn't do others what we don't want to be done to us.

These three novels I read were quite different. And I believed this was the spirit of free reading; I could broaden my horizon through reading them.

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1.

Among the strategies for effective learning the author mentioned. I have already achieved three items. First, plan my days. I make a list of things to do on my notebook. After I finish one thing, I will mark it to show I have done it. And at the end of the week, I will check my list trying to revise my plan to proper one week after another. Second, listen actively. I urge myself to take notes during a class if I catch the important sentences or ideas. I agree with the author that it makes me more concentrated and provides me with a valuable tool to future. Third, capture insights. I always believe that good ideas come unexpectedly and by inspiration. Therefore, if I hit upon a great idea I will record it immediately.

2.

I'm going to try two strategies. First, tackle unpleasant tasks immediately. Putting off the difficult tasks leads me add tension to myself. To avoid doing things at the last minute, I set a new goal to deal with unpleasant task as soon as possible. Second, read for understanding. It is interesting because my PE teacher also share us with this method—SQ3R. (skim, question, reflect, read, review) He also asked us to make a summary of an article about health and sport by using this strategy. It's not an easy job but I will try it to improve my learning.

3.

I know that we should do our best to try these methods, but how to use it effectively?

Is there any suggestion help us to overcome the fear to raise our hands in the class so that we won't tolerate confusion?

In my opinion, some examples of view frustrations as opportunities are not quite suitable. Some look like invention comes from inconvenience.

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THE ENCHANTED APRIL

★ Basic information of the book

Author：Elizabeth Von Arnim

Retold：Margaret Tarner

Series Editor：John Milne

Illustrator：Tracey Joanne Ramsdale

Publishing and distributed by Heinemann

Word level：Intermediate (1600 words)

Number of Pages：68

Travel makes people change and grow. In the novel, four unhappy women answered the advertisement to San Salvatore－an Italian castle near the sea. Mrs. Wilkins and Mrs. Arbuthnot met in a ladies' club. Though they both had a husband successful in business, they didn't satisfy with their marriage. Another woman was Lady Caroline. Her family was one of the oldest and richest in England, but she was unhappy and bored. Mrs. Fisher, who was a lonely widow, also came with them. During their spring vacation in Italy, they found enchantment and delight again. Besides, they deeply realized the power of love and be loved.

Honestly to say, it's an ordinary story. Yet, the beauty of the scene in it couldn't be described by words.

MATILDA

★ Basic information of the book

Author：Roald Dahl

Illustrator：Quentin Blake

First published in Great Britain by Jonathan Cape Ltd in 1988

First published in the United States America by Viking Penguin in 1990

Publishing and distributed by Person Education Limited

Classification：Contemporary English

Number of Pages：233

It's bad enough when parents treat ordinary children as though they are scabs, but it becomes somehow a lot worse when the child is brilliant and sensitive. In this novel, Mr. and Mrs. Wormwood were two such parents who had a daughter called Matilda. In fact, Mr. Wormwood, the dishonest car dealer, cared nothing but his career. However, Matilda was a three years old prodigy having a father refused to buy her any book. Therefore, she would toddle down to the library and devour one book after another alone. Though she had horrible, mean parents, she was clever enough to give them what they deserved.

Matilda entered school soon after she was five and half years old. Fortunately, she met a lovely and mild teacher, Miss Honey, discovering that Matilda was out of the ordinary. Nevertheless, the headmaster, who was Miss Honey's aunt, was tyrannical monster. She not only occupied her niece house by force but also regarded Matilda as a naughty child. To give what the headmaster deserved, a miraculous idea arouse in Matilda's mind. In the end, Mr. Wormwood left for Spain because he was in with a bunch of crooks, yet Matilda still stayed with Miss Honey.

The World's Favorite Children's Author

I chose this novel because I read "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory", which also wrote by Roald Dahl, few months ago. It captured my heart and I even lost myself in the fairy tales' world created by him.

"Roald Dahl is without question the most successful children's writer in the world," wrote Brian Appleyard in THE INDEPENDENT in 1990. Roald's career as a children's book author did not begin in earnest until the 1960s, after he had become a father himself. Walt Disney also invited him to write for Hollywood. I strongly recommended his book to someone who enjoys burying himself/herself in children's book like me.

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THE THHORN BIRDS

★ Basic information of the book

Author：Colleen McCullough

Retold：Ann Ward

Series Editor：Andy Hopkins and Jocelyn Potter

Publishing and distributed by Person Education Limited

Word level：Advanced (3000 words)

Classification：Contemporary British English

Number of Pages：86

The novel made me conjure up words of a lovely song 〝If a man could be two places at one time, I'd be with you. Tomorrow and today, beside you all the way.〞 The story occurred in Australia. Ralph de Bri cassart, a priest, fall in love with a girl, Meggie. On one hand, he deeply knew that he wasn't permitted to give any promise to her. On the other hand, Meggie's aunt who also adored

Father Ralph wanted to destroy them. She left abundant of money to church so that Father Ralph became a powerful man in church. Consequently, he decided to leave for Sydney and asked Meggie to forget him.

At first, I didn't know why the book called The Thorn Birds. After finished it, I thought the author described the girl as a thorn bird that sings only one time in life. The bird searches for the longest and sharpest thorn tree then let it pricks through its body. As it dies, it sings the most pleasant song in the world.

However, I didn't agree that she sang the most beautiful song in the world. Instead, I was feeling compassion with Meggie. She got married with Luck who only cared about his money and always ignored her. Although she once owned Ralph's son, she still lost him by a tragic accident. Both of them suffered great torture. I was wandering did Father Ralph regret？ What would have happened if Ralph hadn't leave Meggie？

I read series novels from pre-intermediate to advanced. I thought there's no much difference between the levels. Beside, I had the habit of reading one book as soon as possible. The reason was that I easily forgot the plot and the names of characters. So I would rather spend one or two hours to finish it than spend half hour per day.

TALES OF GOHA

★ Basic information of the book

Author：Leslie Caplan

Stories based on' Myths and Legends of the Swahili' by Dr Jan Knappert

Series Editor：John Milne

Illustrator：Peter Rush

Publishing and distributed by Heinemann

Word level：Intermediate (1600 words)

Number of Pages：58

The book was composed of seven essays.. The leading role in the novel was Goha, a wise man in Baghdad. Reading between the lines, I knew that author tried to use a humor way to convey people's greed, foolishness, jealousy and so on. One of the stories, Goha's neighbor lost his big pan because he casted greedy eyes on Goha's smaller one. However, Goha played a trick on him. First, he borrowed the neighbor's pan. Then, he told him that the pan gave birth so the neighbor accepted the small one happily. But a little later, Goha pretended to look sad saying that"Unfortunately, your pan died." He, jumping up, couldn't believe what he had heard. Due to their argument, they asked for a decision from the court. In the end, the judge said" All things that give birth also die."

I savored this kind of novel with much wit and wisdom.

THE CASE OF THE LONELY LADY

★ Basic information of the book

Author：John Milne

Series Editor：John Milne

Illustrator：Christopher Price

Publishing and distributed by Heinemann

Word level：Intermediate (1600 words)

Number of Pages：58

At the first sight of the title of the book, I thought it was a romantic story. However, it turned out to be a detective one. Two weeks ago, I read the novel called "Sherlock Holmes", and I didn't think it was proper for me. Because nervousness always filled my vein

Surprisingly, I didn't feel a sense of terror when I was reading this one.

Differ from Sherlock Holmes, no one asked the leading role, Terry, for help. Instead, people made fun of him when he put an advert about his private investigation office on the newspaper. In addition, he saved a woman from being murdered with the assistance of a group of his friends not worked on it alone.

I really like the patchwork team, stitched together with a private investigator, milkman, newspaper boy and his friends. I thought the reason why this detective novel didn't make my flesh creep like "Sherlock Holmes" was that it focused on a group of people worked together helping save the lonely lady. As far as I am concerned, learning how to cooperate with others is the most important thing in our lives.

I thought the reading project really set me on the road to enjoy reading. I was in a good mood after I finished one novel. Sometimes, I also shared the good ones wish my friends. Now I have already read six novels, but didn't read half an hour everyday in October. Therefore, in November, I set a plan to do my duty daily and exactly.

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BRAVEHEART

★ Basic information of the book

Author：Randall Wallace

Retold：Jane Rollason

Series Editor：Andy Hopkins and Jocelyn Potter

Publishing and distributed by Person Education Limited

Word level：Pre-Intermediate (1200 words)

Classification：Contemporary British English

Number of Pages：38

This novel was adapted for movie several years ago. Since I watched the film in parts at my history class, the plot was clear for me to follow. It's a true story a long and bitter conflict between England and Scotland. A leading man, William, lost his brother and father who are rebel forces when he was seven. He stood at the graves. And it was the same time, a little girl who became his wife had handed William a flower — the purple flower of Scotland.

I think it's the vicious rule of " first night" — a girl who lives on a nobles land must spend her wedding night with the noble of the land, not with her husband. William and Murron had a secret wedding, nevertheless, the shameless noble and soldier wanted to rape his wife and cut her throat. Therefore, a series of rebel occurred. Although, William still died at last, Isabella who was the wife of son of the king of England conceived his child.

As far as I'm concerned " BRAVEHEART" is a sad story, however, it has a sense of victory at the end of it. In short, it perfectly conveyed the conflicting feeling between Scotland's people and nobles and England. I really toughed by the following quote" ' Sons of Scotland,' William shouted, ' You have come here to fight as a free men. Yes — if you fight, perhaps you'll die. If you run, you may live for a time. But at what cost? They'll kill us, but I say we'll will always be free! "

The novel deserves strongly recommend.

SHERLOCK HOLMES

★ Basic information of the book

Author：Conan Doyle

Retold：David Maule

Series Editor：Andy Hopkins and Jocelyn Potter

Publishing and distributed by Person Education Limited

Word level：Intermediate (1700 words)

Classification：Classics British English

Number of Pages：59

This novel talked about the three adventures, The Speckled Band, The Five Orange Pips, The Crown of Diamonds, of Sherlock Holmes. The author was a novelist with an eye for detail. The first and second story filled me with fear. The scene arose in my mind just like I got into the airtight room, where was poorly lit by candles and was so silent that I could hear the beat of my heart. So I tried to finish it as soon as I could and buried it at the corner of my desk.

I read the detective novel for the very first time. There was no denying that I appreciate the author's logical thinking, his compact style of writing and the fine and delicate plots. In addition, I realized that things are not what they seem. Still I was terrified of this kind of story. Nervousness filled my vein.

NO LONGER AT EASE

★ Basic information of the book

Author：Chinua Achebe

Retold：John Milne

Series Editor：John Milne

Illustrator：Matilda Harrison

Publishing and distributed by Heinemann

Word level：Intermediate (1600 words)

Number of Pages：62

It's a sarcastic novel. Obi Okonkwo was the first student the UPU sent to England. For years later, he came back and had a job in the Civil Service. Due to his integrity, I thought he was a promising man. Then he fall love with an unsuitable girl, Clara who was an osu (Osu were people who, many years ago, had been made servants of a spirit or a god.)Things seem go worst from wrong, his mother died, Clara left him forever and he was accused of taking bribe.

At the end of the story, the author asked, Why Obi took the bribe? Once he refused to do all illegal behavior, let alone took the bribe. Obi's boss said the truth is that " all Africans took bribe." To me, I thought it's a serious discrimination. The reason I guessed is that he wanted to prove that he didn't have wrong to marry Clara. Although he didn't have a handsome salary, he still insisted to support his family, pay back the loan to the UPU and pay high tax without help. Soon he found it was impossible to make ends meet. Besides, everyday some rich men put temptation in his way. Finally, he yielded way to it. In my opinion, this novel is worth reading and thinking.

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