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這回的推薦書單都頗科幻耶～（我開始覺得我並不完全是奇幻控，其實是偏科幻控！）
依喜愛與驚艷程度，排序與評分如下：
《 喀邁拉空間 》90/100
《 菁英》90/100
《紅星革命首部曲：崛起》80/100
《 松林異境：迷途》70/100
以下每本書的心得都曾在臉書粉絲專頁上發表過。將這些「閱後隨即發表的條列式感想」稍作整理，複製到部落格上，再根據回憶多添加一些心得和補充。本人寫讀書心得喜歡劇透，以下有雷，慎入慎入！
2014年9月25日 星期四
2014年9月24日 星期三
英文口語練習範本：以圖書館簡介為範本
英文口語練習範本
English speech practice samples
（本文同步刊載於First time for everything）
以下文字源自Stanford大學東亞研究系（或東亞研究中心）2014年9月15日的電子報。是一則關於東亞圖書館遷館後全新對外開放的簡短介紹。私以為很適合拿來做更進階的英語口說導覽練習。
＊The following passages are quoted from the CEAS Weekly Digest (September 15, 2014). The CEAS Weekly Digest is an email newsletter highlighting the events of East Asian Studies at Stanford University. For more information, please refer to Center for East Asian Studies: https://ceas.stanford.edu/＊
The East Asia Library of Stanford University will reopen to the public at its new location in Lathrop Library on Monday, September 15, 2014.
In addition to three floors of stacks, the new East Asia Library possesses several conference, seminar, and group study rooms, numerous sofas, chairs, and desks under sunny windows, large exhibit spaces, state-of-the-art technology including dual-boot MAC/Windows computers and a latest-generation microfilm reader, and a newly established special collection.
This beautiful facility will provide a new level of service to the faculty and students in East Asian studies both on Stanford campus and beyond. We look forward to welcoming you in our new library soon.
這段關於東亞圖書館的簡短介紹也挺適合拿來做口說練習。尤其是館藏數字，中文我們說「有六十八萬本藏書」，以萬為單位，英文卻是說six hundred and eighty thousands，以千為單位。
＊The following passage is from the Stanford East Asia Library: http://library.stanford.edu/libraries/eal/about＊
The East Asia Library, Stanford’s primary Asian studies collection, holds over 680,000 volumes in the social sciences and humanities for all historical periods in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean languages. With access to more than 800,000 volumes of online books and journals, EAL collections also consist of special collections, government documents, media, and periodicals.
註：
*680,000=six hundred and eighty thousands
*800,000=eight hundred thousands
2014年9月23日 星期二
英文口語練習範本
英文口語練習範本
English speech practice samples
（本文同步刊載於First time for everything）
（本文同步刊載於First time for everything）
以下文字源自UC Davis 課程摘要
The following UC Davis course descriptions are quoted from the Japanese, Chinese, and History department websites. I will use them as English speech practice samples for my upcoming interview this Saturday. I will remove them if there's any copyright issue.
＊UC Davis East Languages and Cultures: http://ealc.ucdavis.edu/home
＊UC Davis Department of History: http://history.ucdavis.edu/
私以為這三小段很適合拿來當英文朗讀練習。若是太久沒講英文，可試著先用大聲朗讀的方式來找回說話的節奏，若像我一樣沒有人可以練習英文對話，至少自言自語／自問自答／跟空氣自我介紹的時候，不會一直and...and then...ahh! ehh... 個沒完...
- 唸了一遍我才發現我的r和l發音都會打結，有-ly或-ed結尾的字甚至變成氣音。
- 講話的步調要放慢，在此提醒自己！
- 這些用來當writing sample也不壞。給同樣有需要面試藝文或導覽相關職缺的人參考囉。
國鳳整理於 Sep. 22&23, 2014
Japanese 10. Masterworks of Japanese Literature （國鳳按：回顧UC Davis的讀書時光，我最喜歡的就是這堂課，閱讀簡單又營養，教授選的文章和書單至今仍有不少令人難忘，推薦學弟妹有機會可以拿這堂通識課～）
Course Description: This course serves as an introduction, in English, to selected masterworks of Japanese literature from 7th century into the 21st. We will read from a wide variety of genres: poetry (both ancient and modern), myths, tales, novels, plays, and short stories. The course is organized chronologically around a central theme: depictions of love in literature. We will consider the historical and cultural context of each work, as well as the conventions of the various genres we encounter in our readings. Among the questions to be considered throughout the course are: What kinds of love and what aspects of love are depicted in literature? How are they represented? What is not represented? What does it mean to be a “masterpiece” of literature? This course has no prerequisites, and there is no assumption of prior knowledge of Japanese language, history, or culture. Student grade based on quizzes, in-class discussion, term paper, midterm and final exams.
Chinese 150. Fifth Year Chinese
Course Description: This fifth-year Chinese course is designed to prepare students with advanced-high level competence for future professional engagement in Chinese. It focuses on developing sophisticated Chinese speaking and writing skills for formal settings of communication as well as deep understandings of Chinese culture and society. Students study authentic Chinese texts, mainly literary works and scholarly essays on selected topics of Chinese language, literature, culture, and society. Multimedia materials may also be adopted. Students gain familiarity with and better command of the expressive system of written Chinese, including its rhetorical strategies, discourse devices, sentence patterns, formulaic expressions, prosodic characteristics, and vocabularies featuring different types of written Chinese. They also develop critical thinking and scholarly understanding of social and cultural issues of modern China as related to the course materials. Major class activities include intensive reading, discussion, composition and paper writing, and formal presentations. All classes are conducted in Chinese.
History 191C – Late Imperial China
Patterns and problems of Chinese life traced through the Ming and Qing dynasties (c. 1500-1800). In the sixteenth century, when Europeans first reached the far eastern shores of Eurasia, the Ming Empire was one of the most populous, urbanized, economically advanced, and culturally sophisticated societies in the world. By the early twentieth century, that status quo had been turned on its head. European and American steamships now dominated the Pacific while China was in the throes of social and political upheaval. Using documents, fiction, art, architecture, and selected scholarly writings, we will try to understand the historical dynamics of this enormous change.
2014年9月19日 星期五
青澀
HBO正在重播＜駭客任務＞，讓我突然想到2009年的冬天（大二）拿的英文寫作課UWP1。該堂課的老師如今已從UC Davis英文系博士班畢業，遠赴東岸某所大學任教。大學時期，共拿過四堂寫作課，只有他的教學和評語仍讓我保有印象。他永遠都是長袖襯衫搭配貌似從未進過洗衣機的深藍色牛仔褲，絡腮鬍黑而濃密，站在白板前的身影修長纖細，說話有些急促，是個集斯文、狂野和躁鬱於一身的矛盾個體。批改paper時也很聒噪，穿插在字裡行間的評論一句比一句還要兇狠。估計他是女孩子寫情書給他，他會批個滿江紅送回來請妳elaborate more的那種人。
猶記得他開的書單都是與哲學或社會學有關：馬丁路德金、馬基維利、柏拉圖、尼采（我居然不記得自己讀過尼采還寫過報告！天哪我書都讀到哪裡去了？）…也是因為這堂課我才第一次完整地看完電影＜駭客任務＞和＜楚門的世界＞，甚至因此愛上Flatland這本圖文並茂的小書。
莞爾的是，那一年我有讀沒有懂的選文，那一年，我看懂了卻只能用有限的英文詞彙描寫的書籍和電影，那一年，我只能採取「只要盯著它、看久了就一定會懂」的消極抵抗……這些當初直逼瘋狂、恐慌與煩躁的一切，對現在的我而言，已是小菜一碟。
彼時的報告我都還留著，重讀當時的文字，還有老師的評語，我有自信，現在的自己可以改寫得更好…
我終於懂了。我終於能在中文與英文的世界裡來去自如，我終於能不查閱字典、不仰賴中文翻譯…
可是畢竟是回不去了。大學只有一次。青澀也是。
國鳳
Sep 20, 2014
XXXXXXXX
2014年9月17日 星期三
A Plain Compliment
大三大四時的選修課幾乎都是在Olson Hall上課的。
這裡堪稱大學時期的「造咖」（台語：廚房），從二樓到地下室，每間教室都待過，呵呵。
今天回顧舊網誌的時候，讀到這篇2011年2月時寫的日記。讀後的心情既是覺得有趣，又是感覺惆悵。
在我畢業後沒多久，才得知白帥帥休學一年，還決定出櫃，不知是否還有其他因素（猶記得他提過父母決定離婚之事），總之，白帥鐵了心，和大學時期的所有同學切斷往來，和大家僅維持著臉書的客套情誼。我和他的互動，僅剩每一年的生日祝賀：那短短一句Happy Birthday加驚嘆號或笑臉，然後按Like表示「收到」。
至於尼克，呃，我只記得他高壯的背影，還有他好心分享（i.e.借我抄）的筆記。他的長相和聲音，我是真的完全沒有印象了。
啊，好懷念大學生活啊～
國鳳
Sep. 17, 2014
這插畫畫的真好。
我所有的地質學通識課都是在Giedt Hall上課的喔
（火山、恐龍、地震等課程，遙想當年我也有想要成為地質學家的夢啊……）
ＸＸＸＸＸＸ
A Plain Compliment
FEB 17 THU 2011
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