Skill B
1. Geography
W: Another name for the South Pole is Antarctica. This is
a continent, but no people live there. There’s a good
reason for this. It’s the coldest, windiest place on Earth.
The lowest temperature ever measured was in
Antarctica. Minus 88 degrees Celsius! Ninety-eight
percent of the ground is permanently frozen, and the
continent contains 87 percent of the world’s ice.
Antarctica’s only human occupants are scientists. They go
there to learn how Antarctica used to be millions of year
ago, when it was located at the equator. Antarctica used
to be connected to Australia, before all the continents on
2. Campus life
W: Hey Joe, where are you going? Are you on your way to class?
M: No, I’m on my way to the recreation centre to play
basketball, want to come?
W: I can’t. I’m not a member
M: If you’re a full-time student. Membership is included in your
tuition. Do you have your student ID card?
W: Yeah, does that mean I can use any part of the rec center?
M: Yes, you can use the swimming pool, the gym, the weight
room…anything you want. All you need to do is show your ID
card at the door.
W: Hey, cool. I’ll come with you.
3. Literature
M: If a play makes you laugh, it’s a comedy. Comedies
have humorous characters and happy endings. A good
example of a comedy is Shakespeare’s classic Much Ado
About Nothing. Another popular style is called tragedy.
Tragedies usually tells how a hero ruins his life, falling
from good fortune to bad fortune because of a “tragic
flaw” in character. One example is the play Ghost. Um,
modern years have produced a third style, called
tragicomedy. In tragicomedies, the play seems as
though it will end in tragedy but instead has a
humorous or unclear ending. An example is Saint Joan,
by George Bernard Shaw.
4. Physics
W: It’s a beautiful blue sky today. Ever wonder why
it’s blue? It’s because the sun’s rays scatter, or spread
out, as they enter the Earth’s atmosphere. Blue rays
are scattered most, they seem to be all over the sky.
Yellow rays are scattered less. This is why the sun
looks yellow most of the time. But, after sunrise and
just before sunset, the sun looks red. Why? Because
then the rays must travel a longer path into the
atmosphere. More of the blue and yellow rays are
scattered. The red rays are scattered the least. So,
they come through in the largest numbers.
5. Campus life
M: Hi, Ms. Jansen. Can we keep Romeo and Juliet in our dorm
room?
W: What on Earth…!
M: They’re our pet hermit crabs
W: Oh, poor crabs! Don’t you think they’d be happier on the
beach?
M: Well, at the store they were squished into a little box. We
thought they’d be happier with us. We let them out when we’re
home. We give them baths too!
W: I see. Do you know what to feed them?
M: There’s free internet information – The Hermit Crab
Association. They help crabs in captivity. And we will take them
back to a beach someday.
VIETNAMESE – ENGLISH TRANSLATION
Quảng bá hình ảnh đất nước và con
người Việt Nam tại Ai Cập
Ngày 27/2, Lễ hội văn hóa quốc tế Sakia đã khai mạc tại
Trung tâm Văn hóa El Sawy Culturewheel ở thủ đô Cairo của
Ai Cập, với sự tham gia của nhiều quốc gia đại diện cho tất
cả các châu lục trên thế giới, trong đó có Việt Nam.
Lễ hội văn hóa năm nay thu hút đông đảo khách tham quan
quốc tế và Ai Cập tới tìm hiểu những nét văn hóa đặc sắc,
mang đặc trưng riêng của mỗi nước. Tham dự sự kiện văn
hóa quốc tế lần này, Việt Nam đã gây nhiều ấn tượng tốt
đẹp đối với bạn bè quốc tế, nhất là giới trẻ.
VOCABULARY
• Khai mạc: open, celebrate, organize
• Trung tâm văn hóa: cultural centre
• Đại diện: represent
• Thu hút: attract
• Văn hóa đặc sắc: special cultural characteristics
• Đặc trưng: special, feature
• Ấn tượng: impression
• Giới trẻ: the young
