Mini-Lessons from Sunday, Apr. 1, 2012

These Mini-Lessons are posted on Twitter, and in China on Weibo, throughout the day. You can follow them there!

To get the most from them, you should try to use them in sentences, or discuss them with friends. Writing something on Twitter or Weibo is a great way to practice!

• Science: Milky Way: a white band across the night sky; the galaxy we are in. In some cultures, it's called a road, a river, or a bridge.
  
• Language Study: modifier: a word that modifies (changes) the meaning of another word; often an adjective or an adverb, but may be other kinds of words.
  
• Business: shortage: lack of something. "Because there is a shortage of skilled workers, we may have to train some of our new employees."
  
• Literature: The Metamorphosis: a short novel by Franz Kafka in which Gregor Samsa wakes up one morning to discover he's a giant bug.
  
• New Words: bestie: best friend, also called "BFF"=Best Friend(s) Forever. A: "Hi, Bestie. Wannna go to the mall?" B: "Yeah! Let's go!"
  
• Slang: to ease up: to not be so aggressive. A: "You're so dumb! Why did you do that?" B: "Hey, ease up, will ya? Everyone makes mistakes."
  
• Modern History: Luddites: a group of workers in 19th-century England who protested against the use of machines to do the work of many people.
  

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NOTES:

1. Except for the Slang words, all the words in these Mini-Lessons came from lists either on the Oxford University Press site or in the Dictionary of Cultural Literacy. I wrote the definitions and examples myself.


2. The Slang words are from my own list, and I wrote the definitions and examples myself.

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This lesson is ©2012 by James Baquet. You may share this work freely. Teachers may use it in the classroom, as long as students are told the source (URL). You may not publish this material or sell it. Please write to me if you have any questions about "fair use."

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