HOW TO MAKE A GOOD SPEECH
• Remember: an excellent speech does not require a brilliant orator - you can do it. Winston Churchill is commonly regarded as one of the greatest speakers in the English language, yet he regretted the lack of practice in public speaking that he would have gained had he gone to university and he suffered from a slight lisp and a stammer. The key is preparation.
• You are probably making this speech at an event which has a programme which has been published beforehand. So make sure that the title of your speech is catchy and then people will be looking forward to it even before the event.
• Making a good speech starts weeks before with thorough preparation. You should have been thinking of themes and points, noting down ideas and sources, crafting phrases and sentences.
• The best speeches tell your audience things they didn't know and/or give them insights they didn't have. So:
o In respect of the first, research some salient, accurate and up-date facts and figures.
o In respect of the second, look at the subject differently - think 'out of the box'.
• You should have finalised the notes or text or slides at least the day before, so that you can concentrate on reading through the material, becoming very familiar and comfortable with it, and thinking about the actual delivery.
• Remember: expectation shapes reality. This means that, to some extent you can have won or lost your audience even before you are really into your speech. If people think you're going to be good, that will help them to perceive you as good. So your biographical details in the programme material and how the chair introduces you are both important and you can influence them. Conversely, if people think you're going to be poor, that will condition them to seeing you as poor. So never begin by saying that you were unsure why you were invited to speak or what you should say and, unless it is obvious (for instance because you have a terrible cold), never admit to feeling anxious, unsure or unwell.
• Once you are called upon to make your speech, pause for a couple of moments before actually starting your delivery. If you've had to walk up to a platform or over to a rostrum, this gives you time to steady your breath. If you are nervous as a speaker, it gives you time to take a few shallow breaths and calm those nerves. In any event, it gives the audience an opportunity to settle down and focus on you and your message. But the pause should be a few seconds only.
• If you are not using a microphone, be aware of the need to speak sufficiently loudly that the furthest member of your audience can hear you clearly. Take the opportunity to move around a little which will help to command attention.
• If you are using a microphone, speak at normal volume, but a little more slowly and distinctly than if you were not using amplification. Don't move around because you'll leave the microphone behind (unless it is fixed to you).
• You should convey a sense of enthusiasm for the subject. This will effect your delivery and how your speech is received.
• Occasionally alter the speed, volume and tone of your delivery. Speaking slower or faster and quieter or louder and being more cheerful or more serious all adds dramatic effect and keeps the attention of your audience.
• Regularly sweep your eyes left-centre-right and back and front-middle-rear and back, so that you engage all members of your audience. The actor Tom Cruise once told an interviewer: "A lot of the time, what acting is really about is meeting someone's eye" - the same is true of public speaking.
• Don't make a rambling opening. There is nothing worse than the speaker who starts with something like: "When I was asked to speak on this subject, I wondered what to say .."
• Never apologise for your nervousness or your material. You and your speech are probably better tha you appreciate but, in any event, if you don't advertise any weaknesses in your style or content, they probably won't be noticed.
• Make a dramatic opening which seizes the attention with the very first words. This might be a stirring statement: "This year we are going to make a fundamental transformation of our whole organisation". It might be a challenging question: "How can we turn ourselves into an even more successful organisation?" Whatever you do, don't ask a question that invites a cynical answer from your audience: "Are we the best organisation in the country?"
• Have a very clear structure. A good technique is to tell your audience what you are going to say, tell them, and then tell them what you have said. A good structure is for the core message to be three linked points which can be sub-divided as necessary.
• If it is appropriate, use PowerPoint. It ensures that you stick to your structure and that the structure is clear to your audience. It looks professional and you can use images as well text.
• PowerPoint slides should not consist of simply a few words or conversely a mass of text. Three or four bullet points of four or five words each is ideal.
• Put the main verb early in the sentence, especially if it is a long sentence. So, not: "When we have all the facts and we have considered all the options, we shall make our decision". But instead: "We shall make our decision, when we have all the facts and we have considered all the options" .
• Consider the use of short sentences or even short phrases for dramatic effect. Examples of short sentences: "Failure is not an option" or"The place is here. The time is now. The prize is great". Examples of short phrases: "Never again", "No excuses".
• Use striking adjectives and adverbs. Not simply: "We face many challenges" but "We face many exciting challenges". Not simply: "We will work on our problems" but "We will work energetically on our problems".
• Consider the use of striking images in the form of metaphors or similes. For example: "an iron curtain" (Winston Churchill, 1946), "a paper tiger" (Mao Zedong, 1946),"the axis of evil" (George Bush, 2002).
• Make moderate use of alliteration in phrases or sentences. For example, some phrases: "broadband Britain", "the digital divide", "silver surfers". For example, some sentences: "The ballot is stronger than the bullet" (Abraham Lincoln, 1856) or "Now let us fulfil our mandate and our mission" (Gordon Brown, Labour Party Conference 2002) or "At our best when at our boldest" (Tony Blair, Labour Party Conference 2002).
• Consider the use of rhyme. For example: "We will fight to show that we are right".
• Use contrasts. For example: "Politics is war without bloodshed, while war is politics with bloodshed" (Mao Zedong, lecture, 1938) or "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few" (Winston Churchill, House of Commons, 1940) or "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country" (John F Kennedy, inaugural address, 1961) or "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere" (Martin Luther King, letter from jail, 1963).
• Make temporal comparisons. For example: "When the company was first founded .." or "When we first moved to this office .." and "Many challenges are still the same" or "The situation now is so different".
• Make geographical comparisons. Compare and contrast your situation with other companies or other organisations or with other regions or other countries. What does this tell us?
• Use three-part lists. For example: "Government of the people, by the people, and for the people" (Abraham Lincoln, 1863) or "I see one-third of a nation ill-housed, ill-clad, ill-nourished" (Franklin D Roosevelt, second inaugural address, 1937) or "The ultimate case for the third way is that it works - good values, good vision, good policies" (Bill Clinton, Labour Party Conference 2002).
• Very occasionally, consider a longer list. For example, a list of four: "We shall fight on the beaches; we shall fight on the landing grounds; we shall fight in the fields and in the streets; we shall fight in the hills" (Winston Churchill, House of Commons, 1940). Another example, this time of five parts: "Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty" (John F Kennedy, Inaugral Address, 20 January 1961).
• Repetition can be very effective. Martin Luther King was the absolute master of judicious repetition. For example: in his Washington speech of 28 August 1963, he used the phrases "I have a dream .." and "Let freedom ring ..." again and again (seven times and eight times respectively). The same technique was used by Barack Obama in his speech following the 2008 New Hampshire primary when he repeatedly used the phrase "Yes we can".
• Use short, pithy quotes. Clever people over the years have created witty aphorisms, so you should borrow them when it is appropriate. For many examples
• "Here on the edge of the twenty-first century, a fundamental new rule of business is that the Internet changes everything."
"Business @ The Speed Of Thought" by Bill Gates (1999)
• "In the life of a man, his time is but a moment, his being an incessant flux, his senses a dim rushlight, his body a prey of worms, his soul an unquiet eddy, his fortune dark, and his fame doubtful. In short, all that is of the body is as coursing waters, all that is of the soul as dreams and vapours: life a warfare, a brief sojourning in an alien land; and after repute, oblivion. Where, then, can man find the power to guide and guard his steps? In one thing and one alone: philosophy."
"Meditations" by the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius (AD 121-180)
• "In the global marketplace of tomorrow, the successful company will be known for the quality of the employee that it keeps rather than the numbers of workers who are laid-off."
"From The Telegraph To The Internet" by Morton Bahr
• "The first rule in opera is the first rule in life: see to everything yourself."
"Memories and Memories" by Dame Nellie Melba, Australian operatic soprano (1861-1931)
Note: Dame Nellie was born Helen Porter Mitchell and took her professional name after her native city of Melbourne; in turn she gave this name to a new dessert called pêche melba.
• "I wouldn't like to have lived without ever having disturbed anyone."
Personal motto of Father Charles Urnick, my American pen-friend of 34 years
• "Intelligence is of the essence in warfare - it is what the armies depend upon in their every move…To be reliable, information must be firsthand …There is thus an important relationship between intelligence and timing."
"The Art Of Warfare" by Sun-tzu
• "Don't waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The race is long and, in the end, it's only with yourself."
Mary Schmich, "Chicago Tribune", 1 June 1997 in a piece now known as "the Sunscreen Speech" which has been made into a record by the film director Baz Luhrmann
• "Astronomers estimate that there are at least 100 billion stars in the Milky Way" ('our' galaxy) and "It is estimated that 100 billion galaxies are in principle visible to our modern instruments."
"The Future Of Cosmology" by John Gribbin
• "A memorandum is written not to inform the reader but to protect the writer."
Dean Acheson (1893-1971), quoted in "Wall Street Journal", 8 September 1977
• "At the heart of science is an essential balance between two seemingly contradictory attitudes - an openness to new ideas, no matter how bizarre or counterintuitive, and the most ruthlessly sceptical scrutiny of all ideas, old and new."
"The Demon-Haunted World" by Carl Sagan
• "A life is never ended until all the lives it has touched have ended too."
Chinese proverb, quoted at funeral of Peter Cotgrove (1929-1999), father of our colleague Nigel, held on 30 June 1999
• "When a man has once broken through the paper walls of everyday circumstance, those unsubstantial walls that hold so many of us securely prisoned from the cradle to the grave, he has made a discovery. If the world does not please you, you can change it. Determine to alter it at any price, and you can change it altogether. You may change it into something sinister and angry, to something appalling, but it may be you will change it to something brighter, more agreeable, and at the worst something much more interesting."
"The History Of Mr. Polly" by H.G. Wells (1910)
• "The wealth of the three richest people in the world exceeds the combined GDP of the 48 smallest countries."
"Guardian", 12 June 1999
• "Five frogs are sitting on a log. Four decide to jump off. How many are left?
There are still five - because there's a difference between deciding and doing."
"Five Frogs On A Log" by Mark L Feldman & Michael F Spratt
• "The are only two ways to handle tense situations: you can change them, or you can change the way you look at them. There is enlightenment to be had in changing the way you look at things."
"The Little Book Of Calm" by Paul Wilson (1996)
• "Every breath you take contains atoms forged in the blistering furnaces deep inside stars. Every flower you pick contains atoms blasted into space by stellar explosions that blazed brighter than a billion suns. Every book you read contains atoms blown across unimaginable gulfs of space and time by the wind between the stars."
"The Magic Furnace: The Search For The Origin Of Atoms" by Marcus Chown
• "It's no longer about the big beating the small; it's about the fast beating the slow."
Larry Carter, Chief Executive Officer of Cisco Systems, quoted in "The Economist", 26 June 1999
• "Make a point of connecting with someone new every day. And re-acquaint yourself with anyone you have not spoken to for some time by going through your address book."
"Your Personal Survival Guide To The 21st Century" by Roy Sheppard (1998)
• "Life is like that old Spanish saying: 'He who plants the lettuce doesn't always eat the salad'."
The actor Anthony Quinn in the "Sunday Express", 13 October 1963
• "Enthusiastic people are the ones who actually get things done in this world. Enthusiasm is what turns any idea into reality. And enthusiasm is linked closely with happiness."
"Your Personal Survival Guide To The 21st Century" by Roy Sheppard (1998)
• Try humour - not by telling a story, but by using a short, witticism. For example: "I don't mind how much my ministers talk, as long as they do what I say" (Margaret Thatcher, 1980)
• Self-deprecating humour often works well. For example: President Ronald Reagan reassuring an audience: "I know you fellows think I'm lazy, but this week I've really been burning the midday oil" or former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher telling a Conservative Party Conference that, on the way to the event, she had seen a cinema advertising "The Mummy Returns".
• Try puns. For example: "Vodafone is now the largest telephone company in the UK which makes its Chief Executive the Lord of the Rings". Another example: TUC General Secretary Tony Monks, when asking for the President of the European Commission Jacques Santer to include a particular provision in a measure, said it would be known as "the Santer clause".
• Sometimes you can use the same word but in a different context. For example: "There can be no whitewash at the White House" (Richard Nixon, Watergate broadcast, 1973).
• One way of commanding attention is to use a redundant, but attention-seeking, short sentence. Tony Blair is very fond of "I say this to you" or "Let me be clear".
• KISS (Keep it simple, stupid). Don't try to impress with over-complicated terminology. For example: when he was Labour's Shadow Chancellor, Gordon Brown famously praised "neoclassical endogenous growth theory and a symbiotic relationship between investment in people and infrastructure" (1996). In the introduction to his compilation "Speeches That Changed The World", Simon Sebag Montefiore states: "As a rule, simplicity of language marks superb speeechmaking".
• Remember that 50% of statistics are meaningless (see what I mean?). So, if you are intending to use statistics - and some well-chosen figures can add credibility and authority to your arguments - be sure that you understand them, that they are meaningful, and that they are both reliable and up-to-date. Be ready in the question and answer session, or if approached later, to be able to source your statistics and supply the full context.
• Make clever use of the pause. If you expect laughter or applause or you would like to create a sense of drama, pause for a couple of seconds, before continuing your speech.
• Finish with a strong, affirmative statement, possibly referring back to the opening sentence or question (note how many film scripts end with a variation of a line from the beginning of the movie).
• Only use the techniques appropriate to the occasion. A speech in the mode of "We will fight them on the beaches" is not ideal for opening a church bazaar. An after-dinner speech needs lots of jokes, whereas an academic lecture needs lots of facts. In many respects, the most difficult speeches are family occasions like weddings and funerals - there are many sensitivities here, so think carefully about what you're going to say.
• If you are speaking to an international audience (especially if your words are being translated into other languages), don't use any of the language-specific tips such as alliteration, rhyme or puns and be careful not to use culturally-specific allusions or organisational jargon. I once gave a lecture on British industrial relations to a group of Russian trade union officials and they were baffled by my apparent reference to a department store which never closed. I had mentioned the "closed shop"!
• Beware of speaking for too long. The British aristocrat Lord Brabazon once said: "If you cannot say what you have to say in twenty minutes, you should go away and write a book about it". Abraham Lincoln's address at Gettysburg in 1863 lasted a mere two minutes, but it is one of the most memorable speeches ever delivered. Nobody ever complains that a speech is too short - and there's usually a question and answer session to use up the rest of the time and to make further points.
• When it's all over, consider creating an on-line version of the speech. If you put the text on a web site, you can add hyperlinks to more detailed information and provide up-dates to keep the material topical and relevant. In this way, you have a 'live' document and you reach a much wider audience.
FURTHER READING
"Speeches That Changed The World" with introduction by Simon Sebag Montefiore (Quercus, 2005)
ROGER DARLINGTON
How to deliver a good presentation
Skeleton of a presentation
To deliver a good presentation, you should follow the four steps below:
• Planning: Understand your audience - about their needs, their background, and the place where your presentation will be delivered. The way to present a topic to a group of elementary students is different from the way to present to undergraduates. To present in a meeting room, you can speak quickly; but when presenting in a hall, you need to speak slower. Plan your coverage so you can present within the time frame available.
• Preparing: Thesis statement -> objectives -> Outline -> coverage depth. Encourage responses, and stimulate reactions and their learning desire.
• Delivering: Deliver your presentation, with visual aids like presentation slides. Use animation sparingly, so it will not distract the audience. Think of putting summaries of each slide in the "note" portion of your presentation, and have them printed out as handouts to the audience.
• Reviewing: You may wish to to deliver your presentations again. Review your performances so you can improve them the next time you perform.
Useful illustrations
• Waterfall diagram: This diagram breaks down 100% of the market share into their holders, sorting from largest to smallest.
• BCG diagram: This diagram is extremely useful in marketing, although most people only learn the basics of the diagram at undergraduate level.
• SWOT Analysis: This is clear and precise, and states the problem effectively.
Caution on Presentations
• Keep characters large enough to be read by your audience – minimum 18 pt font.
o Consider the place where the presentation will be delivered, and also the visual ability of your audience.
• Use Bullet Points sparingly. Use visual images instead as these will increase message retention.
• Avoid tables with too many rows and columns (such as balance sheets, as when people cannot read the characters, they become useless)
• Avoid jamming too much content in a page. Break it into two or three pages. Keep only a few points on each page.
• Make sure that you rehearse your presentation. You should plan to rehearse your presentation out loud at least four times.
There are a number of pitfalls that one should try to avoid when using different types of presentations. Some are as follows.
PowerPoint: Keep the slide layout and color scheme constant to make the presentation look professional and non-distracting. Limit the color scheme to two or three colors so that the slides do not look too complicated. Transitions and animations may be fun, but they should be used sparingly so that you do not distract the audience. Also, when presenting, use slides as an outline. Do not put all of your information onto a slide. Keep notes with you so that you can speak freely and not have to read the slides for help.
Posters/Collages: Keep these visual aids concealed until they are needed. If they are left in the open while the presentation is taking place, the audience will not pay attention to the presenter, but rather the poster/collage. After the visual has been used, conceal it once again for the same reasons. Make sure that the visual can be seen from all parts of the room so that the audience can see. Collages may require clutter at times, but it is best to avoid this for posters. Include a manageable amount of information that will get the point across, but still make the visual appealing. Be sure to keep the typography of the poster readable from even the back of the room. Large and clean font should be used at all times. It is also important that the color of the text compared to that of the background is such that it is also readable.
Pamphlets/Handouts: Try not to hand these out to the audience if at all possible. You could use an overhead projector if you like. If it is necessary to hand them out, do so only when needed so that the audience does not look at them and/or play with them. If they are handed out early, ask the audience to keep the visual face down or direct their attention to a specific page so that they are always following along. Always number the pages if there is more than one. This will help in case an audience member accidentally gets the pages out of order. It is best to wait till the end to give them out.
The speaker: Keep eye contact with the audience and not the visual. This shows you know your information well. Do not pace or walk around unless it is part of the presentation. This will distract the audience. Do not block visuals with your body. Practice the presentation so that it is pulled off with ease and always be prepared for the unexpected.
Questions: Whilst you may prepare some questions to ask the audience, you should also be aware that the audience may also ask you questions so it is best to come prepared for that too.
First there was the blackboard, and all talks
were given using one. Then there was the
overhead projector. Now the method of
choice for a talk is PowerPoint. Here we discuss
how to give a talk where the assumption
is the speaker is using PowerPoint. However,
if you are not, most of the advice still
applies. Whether this is your first talk or your
100th, the advice is still worth reading.
Preparation
Ok, so you’ve decided to give a talk. We will
assume you already have, or are close to
having, all the results you need whether it’s
through an REU or some other sponsored
research program, or from independent research
overseen by someone at your institution.
When giving a talk, you need to have a title
and abstract. Some things to keep in mind:
• A title should be short and informative.
Cute titles are usually poor titles. “On a
Theorem of Erdös” is too vague. “On
Erdös’s Prime Number Theorem” is short
and informative.
• Your abstract should be one or two paragraphs.
It is not supposed to be a miniversion
of all your results, but a taste to
whet the audience’s appetite.
• Include in your abstract the level of the
talk; e.g. “This talk is intended for a general
audience.”
Next comes the actual putting together of the
talk. Of course a faculty advisor can help you,
but here are some key ideas.
• It’s almost impossible to overestimate
what the audience knows about your
subject.
• Keep technical terms and unfamiliar
symbols to a minimum.
• Don’t try to do too much.
• Use simple examples and concrete special
cases.
• Provide a context for your talk. Explain
how you got interested in the subject.
Mention others who have worked on the
subject of your talk.
• Use a very large font (even for a talk in a
small room). If you reproduce printed material,
enlarge it.
• Restrict each slide to a small number of
lines.
• Avoid filling slides with equations and
formulas.
• DO NOT COMPUTE IN PUBLIC.
• If you need a particular slide more than
once in your talk, reproduce it at the appropriate
places rather than going back
to it.
• Many people find unwarranted use of
special features of PowerPoint annoying.
No flying equations.
• Rehearse your talk, but do not memorize
it.
• Anticipate questions you may be asked
and have a response to them prepared.
Giving a Good Presentation
by
Joseph A. Gallian
University of Minnesota, Duluth
• Practice your talk using a projector and
time it. Don’t forget to leave time at the
end for questions.
• Conjectures and open problems add interest.
• Prepare transparencies as a backup.
Equipment can fail. Practice with these,
too.
• Be sure you know what equipment/
software is provided. You may have to
bring your own.
Delivery
You’ve practiced, but you’re still a little nervous.
That’s normal. Remember, the audience
wants you to do well. Some key points to
help you do your best:
• Show up early to check out the room and
the equipment.
• Erase chalkboards/whiteboards even if
you don’t plan to use them.
• It helps to have a laser pointer and use it
to highlight items.
• Keep some room lights on. The audience
wants to see the speaker.
• Begin by letting your audience know that
you are happy for the opportunity to
speak to them.
• Show enthusiasm for the subject.
• Generally stay off to the side, but MOVE,
MOVE, MOVE.
• Don’t read your slides to the audience.
Spend most of the time looking at the
audience.
• MAKE EYE CONTACT. Single out a particular
person in the audience who appears
to be interested in what you are
saying.
• Don’t distribute handouts at the beginning
or during your talk.
• Go over big ideas twice.
• Go over big ideas twice.
• Speak loudly. Project to the people in the
back.
• Vary your voice for dramatic effect. Pause
before stating a major result, raising a
question, or showing a complicated figure.
• It is not necessary to prove anything.
• Don’t belittle your own results or downplay
your own knowledge of the topic. It
reduces your credibility.
The End
You’re almost there. Just a few things to
keep in mind to with your talk.
• Don’t forget to leave time for questions.
If you are slotted for 15 minutes, speak
for 13.
• When you are asked a question, move
towards the person who asked it and repeat
or rephrase the question for the audience.
• Have a grand finale. It could be the main
result, a conjecture, an open problem, or
an application.
• Close by thanking your audience.
• DO NOT EXCEED YOUR ALLOTTED TIME.
• Plan to stay a while after your talk. People
may want to talk with you about it.
• After your talk, do a self-evaluation. Make
notes about what went well and what
could be done better next time.
12/18/09
American Life
Facts about USA
pls view this site:
http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/about-the-us/
http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/
http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/american-life/
pls view this site:
http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/about-the-us/
http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/
http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/american-life/
12/2/09
HỌC BỔNG CHÍNH PHỦ VIỆT NAM 2010
Đây là thông tin tóm tắt từ THÔNG BÁO của Bộ Giáo dục và Đào tạo Việt Nam về việc xét tuyển học bổng năm 2010 cho các đối tượng muốn đi học đại học ở nước ngoài, còn gọi là Đề án 322.
Yêu cầu xét tuyển:
1. Điểm trung bình môn ở phổ thông từ 7.0 trở lên
2. Điểm thi tốt nghiệp phổ thông
3. Điểm thi đại học (tối thiểu 20 không nhân đôi hệ số)
4. Điểm ngoại ngữ (tiếng Anh).
5. Ưu tiên dân tộc, con em gia đình thương binh, liệt sĩ v.v.
Có 7 nhóm đối tượng cần chú ý. Hãy đọc thông báo chi tiết.
Điểm yêu cầu về ngoại ngữ (Tiếng Anh) không cao. IELTS 5.0 hoặc TOEFL 450 (Paper-based, Institutional)
Cần nhớ rằng hàng năm Bộ vẫn có chương trình học bổng này với các đối tượng và yêu cầu xét tuyển về cơ bản giống nhau.
Ngoài ra Bộ còn có chương trình học bổng sau đại học, thực tập sinh cho các công dân Việt Nam có nguyện vọng cống hiến cho nhà nước. Chi tiết xin vào ghé trang thông tin của Bộ Giáo dục và Đào tạo.
Nếu em nào muốn đi du học theo dạng học bổng chính phủ Việt Nam thì nên biết tiêu chí xét tuyển và chuẩn bị cho mình những điều kiện cần thiết, nhất là ngoại ngữ.
Sinh viên nào đã đủ tiêu chuẩn thì nên thi gấp. Để đăng kí thi IELTS quốc tế các em có thể lấy APPLICATION FORMS tại
số 8 ngõ A7 Đại học Hà Nội. Điện thoại: 091 215 4047 hoặc 090 218 2546
Học sinh PTTH muốn du học hãy coi đây là một thông tin tốt để phấn đấu và đặt mục tiêu. Các em hãy tự chuẩn bị về ngoại ngữ ngay từ bây giờ.
Nếu các em cần hướng dẫn thêm về bài thi, hoặc muốn học ngắn hạn, hay dài hạn, hãy liên hệ với Cô Lan để được tư vấn thêm. Hoặc các em có thể liên lạc qua email lantt@hanu.edu.vn
Một số học bổng của nước ngoài yêu cầu ngoại ngữ cao hơn, các em hãy chuẩn bị sẵn sàng cho mình một chứng chỉ tiếng Anh quốc tế, tiện lợi và nhanh nhất là IELTS.
Chúc các em thành công!
Cô Lan
Yêu cầu xét tuyển:
1. Điểm trung bình môn ở phổ thông từ 7.0 trở lên
2. Điểm thi tốt nghiệp phổ thông
3. Điểm thi đại học (tối thiểu 20 không nhân đôi hệ số)
4. Điểm ngoại ngữ (tiếng Anh).
5. Ưu tiên dân tộc, con em gia đình thương binh, liệt sĩ v.v.
Có 7 nhóm đối tượng cần chú ý. Hãy đọc thông báo chi tiết.
Điểm yêu cầu về ngoại ngữ (Tiếng Anh) không cao. IELTS 5.0 hoặc TOEFL 450 (Paper-based, Institutional)
Cần nhớ rằng hàng năm Bộ vẫn có chương trình học bổng này với các đối tượng và yêu cầu xét tuyển về cơ bản giống nhau.
Ngoài ra Bộ còn có chương trình học bổng sau đại học, thực tập sinh cho các công dân Việt Nam có nguyện vọng cống hiến cho nhà nước. Chi tiết xin vào ghé trang thông tin của Bộ Giáo dục và Đào tạo.
Nếu em nào muốn đi du học theo dạng học bổng chính phủ Việt Nam thì nên biết tiêu chí xét tuyển và chuẩn bị cho mình những điều kiện cần thiết, nhất là ngoại ngữ.
Sinh viên nào đã đủ tiêu chuẩn thì nên thi gấp. Để đăng kí thi IELTS quốc tế các em có thể lấy APPLICATION FORMS tại
số 8 ngõ A7 Đại học Hà Nội. Điện thoại: 091 215 4047 hoặc 090 218 2546
Học sinh PTTH muốn du học hãy coi đây là một thông tin tốt để phấn đấu và đặt mục tiêu. Các em hãy tự chuẩn bị về ngoại ngữ ngay từ bây giờ.
Nếu các em cần hướng dẫn thêm về bài thi, hoặc muốn học ngắn hạn, hay dài hạn, hãy liên hệ với Cô Lan để được tư vấn thêm. Hoặc các em có thể liên lạc qua email lantt@hanu.edu.vn
Một số học bổng của nước ngoài yêu cầu ngoại ngữ cao hơn, các em hãy chuẩn bị sẵn sàng cho mình một chứng chỉ tiếng Anh quốc tế, tiện lợi và nhanh nhất là IELTS.
Chúc các em thành công!
Cô Lan
11/22/09
Du hoc sinh My can biet dieu nay
BS Hồ Hải
Theo blog BS Hồ Hải
Nhân câu chuyện du học sinh Hồ Quang Phương bị cảnh sát Mỹ đánh đập dã man và sự việc lên án của báo chí Việt Nam. Cũng như cháu Hồ Quang Phương nhờ luật sư để kiện ra ra tòa 4 cảnh sát Mỹ tham gia vào cuộc đánh. Với vốn hiểu biết nhỏ nhoi của mình tôi xin gửi đến các du sinh, đặc biệt, các du sinh Việt sang Mỹ ở tuổi trưởng thành một số hiểu biết của mình về văn hóa đối xử với cảnh sát Mỹ. Ngõ hầu sự việc đáng tiếc này không còn xảy ra nữa.
Văn hóa Mỹ là văn hóa du mục, duy lý. Khác với văn hóa Việt là văn hóa nông nghiệp, duy tình. Cách sống, quan hệ xã hội và pháp luật ở Mỹ không như ở Việt Nam. Nước Mỹ là nước tự do và dân chủ ai cũng rõ. Họ tự do vì họ là những con người ra đi từ những vùng miền chịu sự đàn áp của lề thói cũ, tụ hội về Mỹ để làm một xã hội mới theo tư tưởng phóng khoáng như tuyên ngôn độc lập mà họ viết ra năm 1776. Một tuyên ngôn độc lập mà có thể xem là hoàn hảo nhất nhân loại, đến nỗi cụ Hồ cũng phải vay mượn nó để viết bài tuyên ngôn độc lập cho nước Việt Nam Dân Chủ Cộng Hòa. Họ tự do vì ở đó giống như con người và mãnh đất miền Nam Việt Nam mà tôi đã viết trong bài 300 năm xây và 30 năm phá. Thậm chí, họ còn có luật dùng súng. Chính vì thế, cảnh sát Mỹ phải chịu nhiều áp lực của những băng cướp có súng lớn, súng nhỏ, thậm chí cả bom. Và luật pháp Mỹ cũng cho cảnh sát có rất nhiều quyền. Họ cũng rất mạnh tay với tội phạm và ai bị tình nghi là tội phạm khi cần thiết. Cho nên bạn cần phải tôn trọng cảnh sát, không nên chống cự và cãi lại họ. Nếu muốn gì bạn có thể chờ khi ra tòa, còn chống và cãi lại họ, nguy hiểm sẽ đến với bạn là chuyện đương nhiên. Một câu nói mà nếu ai đã từng xem phim hình sự Mỹ thường thấy dịch ra: "Bạn có quyền giữ yên lặng. Mọi lời nói của bạn đều là bằng chứng trước tòa án". Chỉ lời nói thôi, không cần hành động sai đều là bằng chứng chống lại bạn trước tòa. Câu nói này thể hiện tất cả những gì tôi đã nói ở trên và sau đây.
Khi bạn đi xe phạm luật bạn nên vui vẻ nhận giấy phạt, không được đôi co hay chống đối. Và lúc nào trên khuôn mặt bạn cũng phải tươi cười với những câu nói: "Yes, Sir" hoặc "No, Sir". Nếu bạn thấy không công bằng thì hãy đợi đến ngày ra tòa. Nếu bạn đi xe bị chặn lại vào ban đêm. Bạn phải giảm tốc độ, bật đèn khẩn cấp. Bật sáng hết toàn bộ đèn trong xe. Báo cho cảnh sát biết là bạn đang chọn chỗ đậu có đèn sáng, hạ cửa kiếng xuống, nhưng không được ra khỏi xe và 2 tay phải để trên tay lái, chờ cảnh sát đến. Không nên rời tay khỏi tay lái trước khi cảnh sát yêu cầu bạn làm bất cứ chuyện gì. Vì ngược lại như thế bạn sẽ bị cảnh sát nghi ngờ rút súng bắn cảnh sát. Bạn nên hỏi cảnh sát trước là họ yêu cầu gì? bằng lái xe, thẻ bảo hiểm xe ... Chỉ được bước ra khỏi xe khi họ yêu cầu. Và phải làm tất cả những gì họ yêu cầu như: đưa 2 tay ra sau gáy, dạng chân thậm chí đưa tay vào còng mà không được phản kháng. Nếu không có vấn đề gì bạn sẽ được thả ra sau đó. Nhưng nếu bạn làm sai những gì tôi đã nói ở trên thì bạn có thể mất mạng. Dĩ nhiên, nếu cảnh sát bắn bạn vô lý, họ sẽ ở tù. Nhưng chờ họ ở tù thì bạn đã mất mạng vì không hiểu luật và văn hóa sống của Mỹ.
Không được uống chất có cồn khi lái xe. Nếu bạn bị tội này thì nếu bạn đã có thẻ xanh chờ vào quốc tịch thì bạn cũng bị trục xuất về Việt Nam. Tội này gọi là tội DWI (Driving while intoxicaed). Không nên cho ai đi nhờ. Dù bạn thấy một người đang hư xe dọc đường họ đón lại. Bạn chỉ có thể giúp họ kêu xe cứu hộ, chứ không nên cho đi hộ, ngoại trừ người quen biết. Nếu không bạn có thể bị cướp. Nếu bạn thấy 1 cô gái xinh đẹp đi trên đường dưới trời mưa hoặc nắng chang chang, bạn cũng không nên cho cô ta đi nhờ. Vì cô ta có thể sẽ tố cáo bạn là quấy rối tình dục.
Không nên quan hệ tình dục với bạn gái dưới 18 tuổi. Ngoại trừ bản thân bạn dưới 18 tuổi thì không sao. Nhưng, nếu bạn lớn hơn 18 tuổi mà quan hệ trẻ gái dưới 18 tuổi, dù bạn gái đó yêu cầu thì bạn cũng có thể mang tội hãm hiếp trẻ vị thành niên. Tội này thì xem như bạn vứt cuộc đời bạn xuống bùn khi bạn còn sống trên đất Mỹ. Dù bạn quan có quan hệ với bạn gái 18 tuổi, nhưng khi bạn gái đó nói "No" sau khi đã lột quần áo, thì bạn cũng phải ngưng ngay. Nếu không bạn sẽ bị tội "date rape". Tội date rape cũng nặng không thua gì bất kỳ tội hãm hiếp nào. Đừng bao giờ có suy nghĩ như ở Việt Nam là cô ta giả bộ, cứ tiến tới sẽ thành công. Nguy hiểm đấy.
Không nên thấy trẻ con Mỹ dễ thương (trẻ con Mỹ thì hầu hết đẹp như thiên thần) mà cho kẹo, bánh khi chưa có sự đồng ý của cha mẹ nó. Dù là con cháu của bạn. Không nên nựng trẻ con kiểu như ở Việt Nam là sờ ti bé. Làm như thế bạn sẽ bị kiện là xâm phạm tình dục trẻ em (child molesting) ở tù rất nặng.
Bạn không được hăm dọa bất kỳ ai bằng lời nói hay hành động, nhất là đối với dân bản xứ. Nói dong dài để rồi cuối cùng quay về vấn đề cháu Hồ Quang Phương. Sở dĩ cháu Phương bị gọi 911 là vì cháu đã dọa giết sinh viên Mỹ bản xứ bằng lời: "Nếu mà còn ở quê nhà tao thì tao đã giết mày rồi." Khi cảnh sát đến, Phương không tuân theo yêu cầu cảnh sát mà cứ đi theo cảnh sát. Nên cảnh sát nghi ngờ Phương sẽ tấn công cảnh sát. Nên cảnh sát phải tự vệ vì điều đó. Chưa hết cảnh sát còn nói là Phương đã chống cự lại cảnh sát.
Câu chuyện không biết ai đúng, ai sai? Còn phải chờ điều tra rõ ràng. Nhưng trước đó, Phương cũng đã bị ăn đòn nhừ tử vì thiếu hiểu biết. Vấn đề còn lại là làm sao để Phương thắng kiện? Một người quen của tôi, sống ở Mỹ trên 30 năm, chưa thấy một luật sư người Việt Nam nào ở Mỹ thắng kiện trong loại vụ việc như thế này. Còn cho rằng muốn tương đương chứ chưa nói đến thắng kiện thì ít nhất Phương phải có 3 điều kiện tối thiểu sau:
1. Bằng chứng video tape đã có.
2. Cộng đồng người Việt Nam ở Mỹ phải hết lòng ủng hộ từ xã hội đến các trường.
3. Phải thuê 1 luật sư giỏi người Mỹ. Còn luật sư người Việt dù có giỏi chưa chắc thành công. Ngay cả thuê những luật sư giỏi của Việt Nam ở Mỹ cũng chưa chắc thắng.
Cuối cùng cũng cầu mong cho cháu Phương được kiện, Nếu không được thắng theo kiểu buộc tội về mặt pháp lý đối với 4 cảnh sát (Criminal case), thì ít ra cũng được bồi thường tiền y tế (Civil case) là tốt lắm. Vì nó là con số có mơ thì cả một đời người cũng khó có thể làm ra. Nó lên đến cả triệu đô la Mỹ kim. Chính vì thế mà ở Mỹ rất dễ bị kiện tụng ra tòa. Đặc biệt, làm nghề y như tớ mà bị kiện, nếu không mua bảo hiểm thì chỉ có nước đi ăn cám. Cỡ như bác sĩ Tỵ giám đốc bệnh viện đa khoa tỉnh Bình Định thì tù mọt gông và bị tước bằng từ lâu chứ không có chuyện lùm xùm và bảo kê của một ai đó để tồn tại đến ngày hôm nay.
Mong rằng bài vết này có thể giúp ích cho các cháu du học sinh Việt Nam trên đất Mỹ. Chúc hạnh phúc.
Theo blog BS Hồ Hải
Nhân câu chuyện du học sinh Hồ Quang Phương bị cảnh sát Mỹ đánh đập dã man và sự việc lên án của báo chí Việt Nam. Cũng như cháu Hồ Quang Phương nhờ luật sư để kiện ra ra tòa 4 cảnh sát Mỹ tham gia vào cuộc đánh. Với vốn hiểu biết nhỏ nhoi của mình tôi xin gửi đến các du sinh, đặc biệt, các du sinh Việt sang Mỹ ở tuổi trưởng thành một số hiểu biết của mình về văn hóa đối xử với cảnh sát Mỹ. Ngõ hầu sự việc đáng tiếc này không còn xảy ra nữa.
Văn hóa Mỹ là văn hóa du mục, duy lý. Khác với văn hóa Việt là văn hóa nông nghiệp, duy tình. Cách sống, quan hệ xã hội và pháp luật ở Mỹ không như ở Việt Nam. Nước Mỹ là nước tự do và dân chủ ai cũng rõ. Họ tự do vì họ là những con người ra đi từ những vùng miền chịu sự đàn áp của lề thói cũ, tụ hội về Mỹ để làm một xã hội mới theo tư tưởng phóng khoáng như tuyên ngôn độc lập mà họ viết ra năm 1776. Một tuyên ngôn độc lập mà có thể xem là hoàn hảo nhất nhân loại, đến nỗi cụ Hồ cũng phải vay mượn nó để viết bài tuyên ngôn độc lập cho nước Việt Nam Dân Chủ Cộng Hòa. Họ tự do vì ở đó giống như con người và mãnh đất miền Nam Việt Nam mà tôi đã viết trong bài 300 năm xây và 30 năm phá. Thậm chí, họ còn có luật dùng súng. Chính vì thế, cảnh sát Mỹ phải chịu nhiều áp lực của những băng cướp có súng lớn, súng nhỏ, thậm chí cả bom. Và luật pháp Mỹ cũng cho cảnh sát có rất nhiều quyền. Họ cũng rất mạnh tay với tội phạm và ai bị tình nghi là tội phạm khi cần thiết. Cho nên bạn cần phải tôn trọng cảnh sát, không nên chống cự và cãi lại họ. Nếu muốn gì bạn có thể chờ khi ra tòa, còn chống và cãi lại họ, nguy hiểm sẽ đến với bạn là chuyện đương nhiên. Một câu nói mà nếu ai đã từng xem phim hình sự Mỹ thường thấy dịch ra: "Bạn có quyền giữ yên lặng. Mọi lời nói của bạn đều là bằng chứng trước tòa án". Chỉ lời nói thôi, không cần hành động sai đều là bằng chứng chống lại bạn trước tòa. Câu nói này thể hiện tất cả những gì tôi đã nói ở trên và sau đây.
Khi bạn đi xe phạm luật bạn nên vui vẻ nhận giấy phạt, không được đôi co hay chống đối. Và lúc nào trên khuôn mặt bạn cũng phải tươi cười với những câu nói: "Yes, Sir" hoặc "No, Sir". Nếu bạn thấy không công bằng thì hãy đợi đến ngày ra tòa. Nếu bạn đi xe bị chặn lại vào ban đêm. Bạn phải giảm tốc độ, bật đèn khẩn cấp. Bật sáng hết toàn bộ đèn trong xe. Báo cho cảnh sát biết là bạn đang chọn chỗ đậu có đèn sáng, hạ cửa kiếng xuống, nhưng không được ra khỏi xe và 2 tay phải để trên tay lái, chờ cảnh sát đến. Không nên rời tay khỏi tay lái trước khi cảnh sát yêu cầu bạn làm bất cứ chuyện gì. Vì ngược lại như thế bạn sẽ bị cảnh sát nghi ngờ rút súng bắn cảnh sát. Bạn nên hỏi cảnh sát trước là họ yêu cầu gì? bằng lái xe, thẻ bảo hiểm xe ... Chỉ được bước ra khỏi xe khi họ yêu cầu. Và phải làm tất cả những gì họ yêu cầu như: đưa 2 tay ra sau gáy, dạng chân thậm chí đưa tay vào còng mà không được phản kháng. Nếu không có vấn đề gì bạn sẽ được thả ra sau đó. Nhưng nếu bạn làm sai những gì tôi đã nói ở trên thì bạn có thể mất mạng. Dĩ nhiên, nếu cảnh sát bắn bạn vô lý, họ sẽ ở tù. Nhưng chờ họ ở tù thì bạn đã mất mạng vì không hiểu luật và văn hóa sống của Mỹ.
Không được uống chất có cồn khi lái xe. Nếu bạn bị tội này thì nếu bạn đã có thẻ xanh chờ vào quốc tịch thì bạn cũng bị trục xuất về Việt Nam. Tội này gọi là tội DWI (Driving while intoxicaed). Không nên cho ai đi nhờ. Dù bạn thấy một người đang hư xe dọc đường họ đón lại. Bạn chỉ có thể giúp họ kêu xe cứu hộ, chứ không nên cho đi hộ, ngoại trừ người quen biết. Nếu không bạn có thể bị cướp. Nếu bạn thấy 1 cô gái xinh đẹp đi trên đường dưới trời mưa hoặc nắng chang chang, bạn cũng không nên cho cô ta đi nhờ. Vì cô ta có thể sẽ tố cáo bạn là quấy rối tình dục.
Không nên quan hệ tình dục với bạn gái dưới 18 tuổi. Ngoại trừ bản thân bạn dưới 18 tuổi thì không sao. Nhưng, nếu bạn lớn hơn 18 tuổi mà quan hệ trẻ gái dưới 18 tuổi, dù bạn gái đó yêu cầu thì bạn cũng có thể mang tội hãm hiếp trẻ vị thành niên. Tội này thì xem như bạn vứt cuộc đời bạn xuống bùn khi bạn còn sống trên đất Mỹ. Dù bạn quan có quan hệ với bạn gái 18 tuổi, nhưng khi bạn gái đó nói "No" sau khi đã lột quần áo, thì bạn cũng phải ngưng ngay. Nếu không bạn sẽ bị tội "date rape". Tội date rape cũng nặng không thua gì bất kỳ tội hãm hiếp nào. Đừng bao giờ có suy nghĩ như ở Việt Nam là cô ta giả bộ, cứ tiến tới sẽ thành công. Nguy hiểm đấy.
Không nên thấy trẻ con Mỹ dễ thương (trẻ con Mỹ thì hầu hết đẹp như thiên thần) mà cho kẹo, bánh khi chưa có sự đồng ý của cha mẹ nó. Dù là con cháu của bạn. Không nên nựng trẻ con kiểu như ở Việt Nam là sờ ti bé. Làm như thế bạn sẽ bị kiện là xâm phạm tình dục trẻ em (child molesting) ở tù rất nặng.
Bạn không được hăm dọa bất kỳ ai bằng lời nói hay hành động, nhất là đối với dân bản xứ. Nói dong dài để rồi cuối cùng quay về vấn đề cháu Hồ Quang Phương. Sở dĩ cháu Phương bị gọi 911 là vì cháu đã dọa giết sinh viên Mỹ bản xứ bằng lời: "Nếu mà còn ở quê nhà tao thì tao đã giết mày rồi." Khi cảnh sát đến, Phương không tuân theo yêu cầu cảnh sát mà cứ đi theo cảnh sát. Nên cảnh sát nghi ngờ Phương sẽ tấn công cảnh sát. Nên cảnh sát phải tự vệ vì điều đó. Chưa hết cảnh sát còn nói là Phương đã chống cự lại cảnh sát.
Câu chuyện không biết ai đúng, ai sai? Còn phải chờ điều tra rõ ràng. Nhưng trước đó, Phương cũng đã bị ăn đòn nhừ tử vì thiếu hiểu biết. Vấn đề còn lại là làm sao để Phương thắng kiện? Một người quen của tôi, sống ở Mỹ trên 30 năm, chưa thấy một luật sư người Việt Nam nào ở Mỹ thắng kiện trong loại vụ việc như thế này. Còn cho rằng muốn tương đương chứ chưa nói đến thắng kiện thì ít nhất Phương phải có 3 điều kiện tối thiểu sau:
1. Bằng chứng video tape đã có.
2. Cộng đồng người Việt Nam ở Mỹ phải hết lòng ủng hộ từ xã hội đến các trường.
3. Phải thuê 1 luật sư giỏi người Mỹ. Còn luật sư người Việt dù có giỏi chưa chắc thành công. Ngay cả thuê những luật sư giỏi của Việt Nam ở Mỹ cũng chưa chắc thắng.
Cuối cùng cũng cầu mong cho cháu Phương được kiện, Nếu không được thắng theo kiểu buộc tội về mặt pháp lý đối với 4 cảnh sát (Criminal case), thì ít ra cũng được bồi thường tiền y tế (Civil case) là tốt lắm. Vì nó là con số có mơ thì cả một đời người cũng khó có thể làm ra. Nó lên đến cả triệu đô la Mỹ kim. Chính vì thế mà ở Mỹ rất dễ bị kiện tụng ra tòa. Đặc biệt, làm nghề y như tớ mà bị kiện, nếu không mua bảo hiểm thì chỉ có nước đi ăn cám. Cỡ như bác sĩ Tỵ giám đốc bệnh viện đa khoa tỉnh Bình Định thì tù mọt gông và bị tước bằng từ lâu chứ không có chuyện lùm xùm và bảo kê của một ai đó để tồn tại đến ngày hôm nay.
Mong rằng bài vết này có thể giúp ích cho các cháu du học sinh Việt Nam trên đất Mỹ. Chúc hạnh phúc.
10/25/09
Khỏa thân trong nhà cũng bị bắt
Eric Williamson. Ảnh: Sky News
Một người đàn ông đang pha cà phê ở nhà trong trạng thái nude vừa bị bắt vì có hành vi không đứng đắn.
Theo Telegraph, Eric Williamson ở Springfield, bang Virginia, Mỹ đang pha cà phê trong bếp và không mặc quần áo, thì một phụ nữ và cậu con trai 7 tuổi đi ngang qua cửa sổ và nhìn thấy.
Người phụ nữ phàn nàn với cảnh sát và Williamson ngay sau đó đã bị bắt vào sáng thứ hai.
Williamson, 29 tuổi, cho rằng mình không làm gì sai, và rằng việc hai người kia nhìn thấy anh phô bày cơ thể là ngẫu nhiên. "Tôi đang ở một mình, trong nhà riêng của tôi và vừa rời khỏi giường. Trời tối và tôi không nghĩ là sẽ có ai nhìn thấy mình".
Cảnh sát nói rằng Williamson bị bắt vì họ tin rằng anh muốn được người khác nhìn thấy khi nude.
Williamson phải đối mặt với 1 năm tù và 2.000 USD tiền phạt nếu bị kết luận phạm tội. Williamson đang kháng án.
Hải Minh
Một người đàn ông đang pha cà phê ở nhà trong trạng thái nude vừa bị bắt vì có hành vi không đứng đắn.
Theo Telegraph, Eric Williamson ở Springfield, bang Virginia, Mỹ đang pha cà phê trong bếp và không mặc quần áo, thì một phụ nữ và cậu con trai 7 tuổi đi ngang qua cửa sổ và nhìn thấy.
Người phụ nữ phàn nàn với cảnh sát và Williamson ngay sau đó đã bị bắt vào sáng thứ hai.
Williamson, 29 tuổi, cho rằng mình không làm gì sai, và rằng việc hai người kia nhìn thấy anh phô bày cơ thể là ngẫu nhiên. "Tôi đang ở một mình, trong nhà riêng của tôi và vừa rời khỏi giường. Trời tối và tôi không nghĩ là sẽ có ai nhìn thấy mình".
Cảnh sát nói rằng Williamson bị bắt vì họ tin rằng anh muốn được người khác nhìn thấy khi nude.
Williamson phải đối mặt với 1 năm tù và 2.000 USD tiền phạt nếu bị kết luận phạm tội. Williamson đang kháng án.
Hải Minh
10/11/09
TOEIC tại Việt Nam sẽ có thêm bài thi Nói và Viết
Cập nhật lúc 20h39" , ngày 10/10/2009 -
(VnMedia) - Sáng nay (10/10), đại diện Viện Khảo thí Giáo dục Hoa Kỳ (ETS) tại Việt Nam đã chính thức giới thiệu bài thi TOEIC Speaking (Nói) và Writing (Viết) tại thị trường Việt Nam.
Trước đây ở Việt Nam, bài thi TOEIC Listening (Nghe) và Reading (Đọc) được dùng để đánh giá trực tiếp hai kỹ năng Nghe hiểu và Đọc hiểu của các thí sinh. Thông qua đó sẽ đánh giá gián tiếp hai kỹ năng còn lại là Nói và Viết.
Theo đại diện ETS, việc thiết kế và cho ra đời bài thi kỹ năng Nói và Viết nhằm đáp ứng yêu cầu môi trường giao tiếp và làm việc quốc tế cũng như nhu cầu ngày càng cao của các doanh nghiệp tại Việt Nam trong việc đánh giá toàn diện và đầy đủ các kỹ năng.
Bài thi kỹ năng Nói có 11 câu hỏi với thời gian là 20 phút, còn bài thi Viết có 8 câu hỏi, trong thời gian 60 phút. Cả 2 bài thi được tiến hành theo thể thức iBT (Internet-based Test), trong đó thí sinh sẽ làm bài thi trên máy tính tại các trung tâm khảo thí được chỉ định.
Trong phần Speaking Test, câu trả lời của thí sinh sẽ được ghi âm lại còn ở Writing Test, thí sinh sẽ làm bài trực tiếp trên máy và phần trả lời sẽ được gửi đến ETS ở Hoa Kỳ qua mạng Internet. Phần trả lời của thí sinh sẽ được các chuyên gia của ETS trực tiếp chấm điểm. Thang điểm từ 0-200/mỗi kỹ năng.
Theo dự kiến, bài thi TOEIC Speaking và Writing sẽ được tổ chức lần đầu tiên tại Việt Nam vào ngày 15/11/2009 tại Hà Nội và TP.HCM. Sau đó sẽ được tổ chức định kỳ một tháng một lần tại tất cả các địa điểm thi được uỷ quyền của IIG Việt Nam trên toàn quốc.
Từ năm 2005, Bộ Giáo dục và Đào tạo đã chủ trương sử dụng TOEIC làm tiêu chuẩn tốt nghiệp cho SV khối không chuyên ngữ các trường Đại học và Cao đẳng…
TOEIC (Test of English for International Communication) là chương trình kiểm tra và xây dựng tiêu chuẩn Anh ngữ trong môi trường giao tiếp và làm việc quốc tế. Kết quả đánh giá của TOEIC được công nhận rộng rãi trên toàn thế giới.
Chương trình này do Viện khảo thí giáo dục Hoa kỳ- ETS thiết kế năm 1979 theo đơn đặt hàng của bộ Công nghiệp và Ngoại thương Nhật Bản.
Lan Anh
(VnMedia) - Sáng nay (10/10), đại diện Viện Khảo thí Giáo dục Hoa Kỳ (ETS) tại Việt Nam đã chính thức giới thiệu bài thi TOEIC Speaking (Nói) và Writing (Viết) tại thị trường Việt Nam.
Trước đây ở Việt Nam, bài thi TOEIC Listening (Nghe) và Reading (Đọc) được dùng để đánh giá trực tiếp hai kỹ năng Nghe hiểu và Đọc hiểu của các thí sinh. Thông qua đó sẽ đánh giá gián tiếp hai kỹ năng còn lại là Nói và Viết.
Theo đại diện ETS, việc thiết kế và cho ra đời bài thi kỹ năng Nói và Viết nhằm đáp ứng yêu cầu môi trường giao tiếp và làm việc quốc tế cũng như nhu cầu ngày càng cao của các doanh nghiệp tại Việt Nam trong việc đánh giá toàn diện và đầy đủ các kỹ năng.
Bài thi kỹ năng Nói có 11 câu hỏi với thời gian là 20 phút, còn bài thi Viết có 8 câu hỏi, trong thời gian 60 phút. Cả 2 bài thi được tiến hành theo thể thức iBT (Internet-based Test), trong đó thí sinh sẽ làm bài thi trên máy tính tại các trung tâm khảo thí được chỉ định.
Trong phần Speaking Test, câu trả lời của thí sinh sẽ được ghi âm lại còn ở Writing Test, thí sinh sẽ làm bài trực tiếp trên máy và phần trả lời sẽ được gửi đến ETS ở Hoa Kỳ qua mạng Internet. Phần trả lời của thí sinh sẽ được các chuyên gia của ETS trực tiếp chấm điểm. Thang điểm từ 0-200/mỗi kỹ năng.
Theo dự kiến, bài thi TOEIC Speaking và Writing sẽ được tổ chức lần đầu tiên tại Việt Nam vào ngày 15/11/2009 tại Hà Nội và TP.HCM. Sau đó sẽ được tổ chức định kỳ một tháng một lần tại tất cả các địa điểm thi được uỷ quyền của IIG Việt Nam trên toàn quốc.
Từ năm 2005, Bộ Giáo dục và Đào tạo đã chủ trương sử dụng TOEIC làm tiêu chuẩn tốt nghiệp cho SV khối không chuyên ngữ các trường Đại học và Cao đẳng…
TOEIC (Test of English for International Communication) là chương trình kiểm tra và xây dựng tiêu chuẩn Anh ngữ trong môi trường giao tiếp và làm việc quốc tế. Kết quả đánh giá của TOEIC được công nhận rộng rãi trên toàn thế giới.
Chương trình này do Viện khảo thí giáo dục Hoa kỳ- ETS thiết kế năm 1979 theo đơn đặt hàng của bộ Công nghiệp và Ngoại thương Nhật Bản.
Lan Anh
9/27/09
To torture or not to torture?
Torturing 'does not get truth'
The extreme stress of torture harms the memory
Torture techniques used on suspected terrorists by the Bush administration may have failed to get to the truth, researchers say.
Professor Shane O'Mara of Trinity College, Dublin, said the interrogation techniques had a detrimental effect on brain functions related to memory.
He listed 10 methods of what he called torture used by the US, including stress positions and waterboarding.
His review is published in the journal, Trends in Cognitive Science.
'Lack of control'
Professor O'Mara said US Department of Justice memos released in April showed that the Americans believed that prolonged periods of shock, anxiety, disorientation and lack of control were more effective than standard interrogation in extracting the truth.
He said: "This is based on the assumption that subjects will be motivated to reveal truthful information to end interrogation, and that extreme stress, shock and anxiety do not impact on memory.
Techniques used by US
Walling - captive is placed with heels touching the wall and is pulled away and pushed back into it with force
Wall standing - captive stands four to five feet from wall with fingertips supporting all the body weight to induce muscle fatigue
Cramped confinement - captive place in small box in darkness for up to two hours, in a larger box for up to 18 hours
Sleep deprivation - captive is deprived of sleep for up to 11 days
Stress positions - captive sits on floor with legs straight out in front and arms raised above head or is made to kneel on the floor while leaning back at a 45 degree angle
Waterboarding - captive is bound head down on an inclined bench with a cloth over the eyes. Water is applied to the cloth for 20 to 40 seconds at a time inducing fast breathing and perception of drowning
"However this model of the impact of extreme stress on memory and the brain is utterly unsupported by scientific evidence."
He said studies of extreme stress with special forces soldiers had found that their recall of previously learned information was impaired afterwards.
"Waterboarding in particular is an extreme stressor and has the potential to elicit widespread stress-induced changes in the brain."
Professor O'Mara said contemporary neuroscientific models of human memory showed that the hippocampus and prefrontal cortices of the brain were very important.
The stress hormone, cortisol, binds to receptors in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex increasing neuronal excitability which compromises the normal functioning of the brain if it is sustained.
And other stress hormones called catecholamines could lead to an increase in blood pressure and heart rate which could cause long-term damage to the brain and body if they were maintained at a high level for a long time.
Conditioning
Professor O'Mara said a common argument in favour of torture was that it would reliably elicit truthful information from the captive's long-term memory.
But psychological studies had suggested that during extreme stress and anxiety, the captive would be conditioned to associate speaking with periods of safety.
And because torture was stressful for the torturers the fact that the captive was speaking also provided a safety signal to the captor.
"Making the captive talk may become the end - not the truth of what the captive is revealing.
"These techniques cause severe, repeated and prolonged stress, which compromises brain tissue supporting memory and executive function.
"The fact that the detrimental effects of these techniques on the brain are not visible to the naked eye makes them no less real."
Memory disruption
Dr David Harper, a clinical psychologist from the University of East London, said the study appeared to be consistent with previous research on memory and trauma and with evidence of previous torture survivors and those in the intelligence community critical of psychological torture techniques.
"Believers in coercive interrogation tend to believe that people will 'tell the truth' as a result but much evidence suggests that people will, in fact, tell those conducting the torture what they think will make the torture stop.
"This has been noted as a danger by commentators from the Spanish Inquisition, through the Moscow Show Trials of the 1930s to the present day."
Dr Stuart Turner of the Centre for the Study of Emotion and Law said: "There is now very strong evidence that torture and harsh interrogation techniques may disrupt normal memory processes.
"With this in mind, it is also unreasonable to expect torture survivors to be able to give consistent and complete accounts of their experiences.
"This is highly relevant, for example, to the process of decision making for asylum seekers, arriving in the UK seeking refuge and for whom credibility is often a central issue.
"It appears that O'Mara's review paper supports the contention that to expect consistent memories in asylum applicants is unreasonable and therefore that inconsistencies should certainly not automatically be interpreted as evidence of fabrication."
The extreme stress of torture harms the memory
Torture techniques used on suspected terrorists by the Bush administration may have failed to get to the truth, researchers say.
Professor Shane O'Mara of Trinity College, Dublin, said the interrogation techniques had a detrimental effect on brain functions related to memory.
He listed 10 methods of what he called torture used by the US, including stress positions and waterboarding.
His review is published in the journal, Trends in Cognitive Science.
'Lack of control'
Professor O'Mara said US Department of Justice memos released in April showed that the Americans believed that prolonged periods of shock, anxiety, disorientation and lack of control were more effective than standard interrogation in extracting the truth.
He said: "This is based on the assumption that subjects will be motivated to reveal truthful information to end interrogation, and that extreme stress, shock and anxiety do not impact on memory.
Techniques used by US
Walling - captive is placed with heels touching the wall and is pulled away and pushed back into it with force
Wall standing - captive stands four to five feet from wall with fingertips supporting all the body weight to induce muscle fatigue
Cramped confinement - captive place in small box in darkness for up to two hours, in a larger box for up to 18 hours
Sleep deprivation - captive is deprived of sleep for up to 11 days
Stress positions - captive sits on floor with legs straight out in front and arms raised above head or is made to kneel on the floor while leaning back at a 45 degree angle
Waterboarding - captive is bound head down on an inclined bench with a cloth over the eyes. Water is applied to the cloth for 20 to 40 seconds at a time inducing fast breathing and perception of drowning
"However this model of the impact of extreme stress on memory and the brain is utterly unsupported by scientific evidence."
He said studies of extreme stress with special forces soldiers had found that their recall of previously learned information was impaired afterwards.
"Waterboarding in particular is an extreme stressor and has the potential to elicit widespread stress-induced changes in the brain."
Professor O'Mara said contemporary neuroscientific models of human memory showed that the hippocampus and prefrontal cortices of the brain were very important.
The stress hormone, cortisol, binds to receptors in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex increasing neuronal excitability which compromises the normal functioning of the brain if it is sustained.
And other stress hormones called catecholamines could lead to an increase in blood pressure and heart rate which could cause long-term damage to the brain and body if they were maintained at a high level for a long time.
Conditioning
Professor O'Mara said a common argument in favour of torture was that it would reliably elicit truthful information from the captive's long-term memory.
But psychological studies had suggested that during extreme stress and anxiety, the captive would be conditioned to associate speaking with periods of safety.
And because torture was stressful for the torturers the fact that the captive was speaking also provided a safety signal to the captor.
"Making the captive talk may become the end - not the truth of what the captive is revealing.
"These techniques cause severe, repeated and prolonged stress, which compromises brain tissue supporting memory and executive function.
"The fact that the detrimental effects of these techniques on the brain are not visible to the naked eye makes them no less real."
Memory disruption
Dr David Harper, a clinical psychologist from the University of East London, said the study appeared to be consistent with previous research on memory and trauma and with evidence of previous torture survivors and those in the intelligence community critical of psychological torture techniques.
"Believers in coercive interrogation tend to believe that people will 'tell the truth' as a result but much evidence suggests that people will, in fact, tell those conducting the torture what they think will make the torture stop.
"This has been noted as a danger by commentators from the Spanish Inquisition, through the Moscow Show Trials of the 1930s to the present day."
Dr Stuart Turner of the Centre for the Study of Emotion and Law said: "There is now very strong evidence that torture and harsh interrogation techniques may disrupt normal memory processes.
"With this in mind, it is also unreasonable to expect torture survivors to be able to give consistent and complete accounts of their experiences.
"This is highly relevant, for example, to the process of decision making for asylum seekers, arriving in the UK seeking refuge and for whom credibility is often a central issue.
"It appears that O'Mara's review paper supports the contention that to expect consistent memories in asylum applicants is unreasonable and therefore that inconsistencies should certainly not automatically be interpreted as evidence of fabrication."
9/22/09
Smoking ban heart gains 'massive'
Passive smoke raises heart risk
Bans on smoking in public places have had a bigger impact on preventing heart attacks than ever expected, data shows.
Smoking bans cut the number of heart attacks in Europe and North America by up to a third, two studies report.
This "heart gain" is far greater than both originally anticipated and the 10% figure recently quoted by England's Department of Health.
The studies appear in two leading journals - Circulation and the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
Heart attacks in the UK alone affect an estimated 275,000 people and kill 146,000 each year.
Big impact
Earlier this month it was announced that heart attack rates fell by about 10% in England in the year after the ban on smoking in public places was introduced in July 2007 - which is more than originally anticipated.
But the latest work, based on the results of numerous different studies collectively involving millions of people, indicated that smoking bans have reduced heart attack rates by as much as 26% per year.
If you are a smoker, the single biggest thing you can do to avoid a heart attack is to give up, which could also protect the heart health of friends and family
Ellen Mason of the British Heart Foundation
Second-hand smoke is thought to increase the chances of a heart attack by making the blood more prone to clotting, reducing levels of beneficial "good" cholesterol, and raising the risk of dangerous heart rhythms.
Dr James Lightwood, of the University of California at San Francisco, led the Circulation study that pooled together 13 separate analyses.
His team found that heart attack rates across Europe and North America started to drop immediately following implementation of anti-smoking laws, reaching 17% after one year, then continuing to decline over time, with a 36% drop three years after enacting the restrictions.
Dr Lightwood said: "While we obviously won't bring heart attack rates to zero, these findings give us evidence that in the short-to-medium-term, smoking bans will prevent a lot of heart attacks.
"This study adds to the already strong evidence that second-hand smoke causes heart attacks, and that passing 100% smoke-free laws in all workplaces and public places is something we can do to protect the public."
Ellen Mason, of the British Heart Foundation, said: "These studies add to the growing evidence that a ban on smoking in public places seems to have a positive impact on heart attack rates, which is clearly good news for our nation's heart health.
"The statistics also show how quickly the benefits can be felt after a smoking ban is implemented and indicate how dangerous second-hand smoke can be to the heart.
"If you are a smoker, the single biggest thing you can do to avoid a heart attack is to give up, which could also protect the heart health of friends and family."
Latest figures show at least 70,000 lives have been saved by NHS Stop Smoking Services in the 10 years since they were established in England.
Bans on smoking in public places have had a bigger impact on preventing heart attacks than ever expected, data shows.
Smoking bans cut the number of heart attacks in Europe and North America by up to a third, two studies report.
This "heart gain" is far greater than both originally anticipated and the 10% figure recently quoted by England's Department of Health.
The studies appear in two leading journals - Circulation and the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
Heart attacks in the UK alone affect an estimated 275,000 people and kill 146,000 each year.
Big impact
Earlier this month it was announced that heart attack rates fell by about 10% in England in the year after the ban on smoking in public places was introduced in July 2007 - which is more than originally anticipated.
But the latest work, based on the results of numerous different studies collectively involving millions of people, indicated that smoking bans have reduced heart attack rates by as much as 26% per year.
If you are a smoker, the single biggest thing you can do to avoid a heart attack is to give up, which could also protect the heart health of friends and family
Ellen Mason of the British Heart Foundation
Second-hand smoke is thought to increase the chances of a heart attack by making the blood more prone to clotting, reducing levels of beneficial "good" cholesterol, and raising the risk of dangerous heart rhythms.
Dr James Lightwood, of the University of California at San Francisco, led the Circulation study that pooled together 13 separate analyses.
His team found that heart attack rates across Europe and North America started to drop immediately following implementation of anti-smoking laws, reaching 17% after one year, then continuing to decline over time, with a 36% drop three years after enacting the restrictions.
Dr Lightwood said: "While we obviously won't bring heart attack rates to zero, these findings give us evidence that in the short-to-medium-term, smoking bans will prevent a lot of heart attacks.
"This study adds to the already strong evidence that second-hand smoke causes heart attacks, and that passing 100% smoke-free laws in all workplaces and public places is something we can do to protect the public."
Ellen Mason, of the British Heart Foundation, said: "These studies add to the growing evidence that a ban on smoking in public places seems to have a positive impact on heart attack rates, which is clearly good news for our nation's heart health.
"The statistics also show how quickly the benefits can be felt after a smoking ban is implemented and indicate how dangerous second-hand smoke can be to the heart.
"If you are a smoker, the single biggest thing you can do to avoid a heart attack is to give up, which could also protect the heart health of friends and family."
Latest figures show at least 70,000 lives have been saved by NHS Stop Smoking Services in the 10 years since they were established in England.
9/20/09
9/19/09
Listening: how it's made - hatchery chicks
Pls view this video clip at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkuohLV2u0k
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkuohLV2u0k
9/9/09
Unwanted Chicks Ground up Alive
Animals' rights
===================
Video Shows
Pls view English version here: http://www.mercyforanimals.org/hatchery/
rung ron cong nghe ap trung
http://vietnamnet.vn/thegioi/2009/09/867563/
Tuesday, September 1, 2009 3:25 AM
WASHINGTON -- An undercover video shot by an animal rights group at an Iowa egg hatchery shows workers discarding unwanted chicks by sending them alive into a grinder, and other chicks falling through a sorting machine to die on the factory floor.
Chicago-based Mercy for Animals said it shot the video at Hy-Line North America's hatchery in Spencer, Iowa, over a two-week period in May and June. The video was obtained Monday by The Associated Press.
Hy-Line said in a statement it has started an investigation "of the entire situation," adding that it would have helped their investigation "had we been aware of the potential violation immediately after it occurred."
The video, shot with a hidden camera and microphone by a Mercy for Animals employee who got a job at the plant, shows a Hy-Line worker sorting through a conveyor belt of chirping chicks, flipping some of them into a chute like a poker dealer flips cards.
These chicks, which a narrator says are males, are then shown being dropped alive into a grinding machine.
In other parts of the video, a chick is shown dying on the factory floor amid a heap of egg shells after falling through a sorting machine. Another chick, also still alive, is seen lying on the floor after getting scalded by a wash cycle, according to the video narrator.
Hy-Line said the video "appears to show an inappropriate action and violation of our animal welfare policies," referring to chicks on the factory floor.
But the company also noted that "instantaneous euthanasia" _ a reference to killing of male chicks by the grinder _ is a standard practice supported by the animal veterinary and scientific community.
According to Mercy for Animals, male chicks are of no use to the industry because they can't lay eggs and don't grow large or quickly enough to be raised profitably for meat. That results in the killing of 200 million male chicks a year.
The United Egg Producers, a trade group for U.S. egg farmers, confirmed that figure and the practice behind it.
"There is, unfortunately, no way to breed eggs that only produce female hens," said the group's spokesman, Mitch Head. "If someone has a need for 200 million male chicks, we're happy to provide them to anyone who wants them. But we can find no market, no need."
Using a grinder, Head said, "is the most instantaneous way to euthanize chicks."
Hy-Line says on its Web site that its Iowa facility produces 33.4 million chicks. Based on that figure, Mercy for Animals estimates a similar number of male chicks are killed at the facility each year. Hy-Line did not comment on that estimate.
Mercy for Animals says it will call on the nation's 50 largest grocery chains to include labels on their eggs that say, "Warning: Male chicks are ground-up alive by the egg industry."
Head called that proposal "almost a joke," saying the group had no credible authority, and had questionable motives. "This is a group which espouses no egg consumption by anyone _ so that is clearly their motive." The video does in fact end with a call for people to adopt a vegan diet, which eliminates all animal products _ meat, eggs or dairy.
Nathan Runkle, executive director of Mercy for Animals, said most people would be shocked to learn that 200 million chicks are killed a year.
"Is this justifiable just for cheap eggs?" he said.
As to more humane alternatives to disposing of male chicks, Runkle said the whole system is inherently flawed.
"The entire industrial hatchery system subjects these birds to stress, fear and pain from the first day," he said.
© 2009 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
===================
Video Shows
Pls view English version here: http://www.mercyforanimals.org/hatchery/
rung ron cong nghe ap trung
http://vietnamnet.vn/thegioi/2009/09/867563/
Tuesday, September 1, 2009 3:25 AM
WASHINGTON -- An undercover video shot by an animal rights group at an Iowa egg hatchery shows workers discarding unwanted chicks by sending them alive into a grinder, and other chicks falling through a sorting machine to die on the factory floor.
Chicago-based Mercy for Animals said it shot the video at Hy-Line North America's hatchery in Spencer, Iowa, over a two-week period in May and June. The video was obtained Monday by The Associated Press.
Hy-Line said in a statement it has started an investigation "of the entire situation," adding that it would have helped their investigation "had we been aware of the potential violation immediately after it occurred."
The video, shot with a hidden camera and microphone by a Mercy for Animals employee who got a job at the plant, shows a Hy-Line worker sorting through a conveyor belt of chirping chicks, flipping some of them into a chute like a poker dealer flips cards.
These chicks, which a narrator says are males, are then shown being dropped alive into a grinding machine.
In other parts of the video, a chick is shown dying on the factory floor amid a heap of egg shells after falling through a sorting machine. Another chick, also still alive, is seen lying on the floor after getting scalded by a wash cycle, according to the video narrator.
Hy-Line said the video "appears to show an inappropriate action and violation of our animal welfare policies," referring to chicks on the factory floor.
But the company also noted that "instantaneous euthanasia" _ a reference to killing of male chicks by the grinder _ is a standard practice supported by the animal veterinary and scientific community.
According to Mercy for Animals, male chicks are of no use to the industry because they can't lay eggs and don't grow large or quickly enough to be raised profitably for meat. That results in the killing of 200 million male chicks a year.
The United Egg Producers, a trade group for U.S. egg farmers, confirmed that figure and the practice behind it.
"There is, unfortunately, no way to breed eggs that only produce female hens," said the group's spokesman, Mitch Head. "If someone has a need for 200 million male chicks, we're happy to provide them to anyone who wants them. But we can find no market, no need."
Using a grinder, Head said, "is the most instantaneous way to euthanize chicks."
Hy-Line says on its Web site that its Iowa facility produces 33.4 million chicks. Based on that figure, Mercy for Animals estimates a similar number of male chicks are killed at the facility each year. Hy-Line did not comment on that estimate.
Mercy for Animals says it will call on the nation's 50 largest grocery chains to include labels on their eggs that say, "Warning: Male chicks are ground-up alive by the egg industry."
Head called that proposal "almost a joke," saying the group had no credible authority, and had questionable motives. "This is a group which espouses no egg consumption by anyone _ so that is clearly their motive." The video does in fact end with a call for people to adopt a vegan diet, which eliminates all animal products _ meat, eggs or dairy.
Nathan Runkle, executive director of Mercy for Animals, said most people would be shocked to learn that 200 million chicks are killed a year.
"Is this justifiable just for cheap eggs?" he said.
As to more humane alternatives to disposing of male chicks, Runkle said the whole system is inherently flawed.
"The entire industrial hatchery system subjects these birds to stress, fear and pain from the first day," he said.
© 2009 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Internet and people's life
Nowadays technology changes the way people interact with each other. In what type does it affect people? Is it positive or negative?
50 things that are being killed by the internet
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/6133903/50-things-that-are-being-killed-by-the-internet.html
The internet has wrought huge changes on our lives – both positive and negative – in the fifteen years since its use became widespread.
By Matthew Moore
Published: 7:00AM BST 04 Sep 2009
Comments 224 | Comment on this article
The web is changing the way we work, play and think Photo: REUTTERS
Tasks that once took days can be completed in seconds, while traditions and skills that emerged over centuries have been made all but redundant.
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The internet is no respecter of reputations: innocent people have seen their lives ruined by viral clips distributed on the same World Wide Web used by activists to highlight injustices and bring down oppressive regimes
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Mystery of Google's UFO logo Below we have compiled - in no particular order - 50 things that are in the process of being killed off by the web, from products and business models to life experiences and habits. We've also thrown in a few things that have suffered the hands of other modern networking gadgets, specifically mobile phones and GPS systems.
Do you agree with our selections? What other examples can you think of? Please post your comments on the bottom of the story – we hope include the best suggestions in a fuller list.
1) The art of polite disagreement
While the inane spats of YouTube commencers may not be representative, the internet has certainly sharpened the tone of debate. The most raucous sections of the blogworld seem incapable of accepting sincerely held differences of opinion; all opponents must have "agendas".
2) Fear that you are the only person unmoved by a celebrity's death
Twitter has become a clearing-house for jokes about dead famous people. Tasteless, but an antidote to the "fans in mourning" mawkishness that otherwise predominates.
3) Listening to an album all the way through
The single is one of the unlikely beneficiaries of the internet – a development which can be looked at in two ways. There's no longer any need to endure eight tracks of filler for a couple of decent tunes, but will "album albums" like Radiohead's Amnesiac get the widespread hearing they deserve?
4) Sarah Palin
Her train wreck interviews with NBC's Katie Couric were watched and re-watched millions of times on the internet, cementing the Republican vice-presidential candidate's reputation as a politician out of her depth. Palin's uncomfortable relationship with the web continues; she has threatened to sue bloggers who republish rumours about the state of her marriage.
5) Punctuality
Before mobile phones, people actually had to keep their appointments and turn up to the pub on time. Texting friends to warn them of your tardiness five minutes before you are due to meet has become one of throwaway rudenesses of the connected age.
6) Ceefax/Teletext
All sports fans of a certain age can tell you their favourite Ceefax pages (p341 for Test match scores, p312 for football transfer gossip), but the service's clunking graphics and four-paragraph articles have dated badly. ITV announced earlier this year that it was planning to pull Teletext, its version.
7) Adolescent nerves at first porn purchase
The ubiquity of free, hard-core pornography on the web has put an end to one of the most dreaded rights rites of passage for teenage boys – buying dirty magazines. Why tremble in the WHSmiths queue when you can download mountains of filth for free in your bedroom? The trend also threatens the future of "porn in the woods" – the grotty pages of Razzle and Penthouse that scatter the fringes of provincial towns and villages.
8) Telephone directories
You can find Fly Fishing by J R Hartley on Amazon.
9) The myth of cat intelligence
The proudest household pets are now the illiterate butts of caption-based jokes. Icanhasreputashunback?
10) Watches
Scrabbling around in your pocket to dig out a phone may not be as elegant as glancing at a watch, but it saves splashing out on two gadgets.
11) Music stores
In a world where people don't want to pay anything for music, charging them £16.99 for 12 songs in a flimsy plastic case is no business model.
12) Letter writing/pen pals
Email is quicker, cheaper and more convenient; receiving a handwritten letter from a friend has become a rare, even nostalgic, pleasure. As a result, formal valedictions like "Yours faithfully" are being replaced by "Best" and "Thanks".
13) Memory
When almost any fact, no matter how obscure, can be dug up within seconds through Google and Wikipedia, there is less value attached to the "mere" storage and retrieval of knowledge. What becomes important is how you use it – the internet age rewards creativity.
14) Dead time
When was the last time you spent an hour mulling the world out a window, or rereading a favourite book? The internet's draw on our attention is relentless and increasingly difficult to resist.
15) Photo albums and slide shows
Facebook, Flickr and printing sites like Snapfish are how we share our photos. Earlier this year Kodak announced that it was discontinuing its Kodachrome slide film because of lack of demand.
16) Hoaxes and conspiracy theories
The internet is often dismissed as awash with cranks, but it has proved far more potent at debunking conspiracy theories than perpetuating them. The excellent Snopes.com continues to deliver the final, sober, word on urban legends.
17) Watching television together
On-demand television, from the iPlayer in Britain to Hulu in the US, allows relatives and colleagues to watch the same programmes at different times, undermining what had been one of the medium's most attractive cultural appeals – the shared experience. Appointment-to-view television, if it exists at all, seems confined to sport and live reality shows.
18) Authoritative reference works
We still crave reliable information, but generally aren't willing to pay for it.
19) The Innovations catalogue
Preposterous as its household gadgets may have been, the Innovations catalogue was always a diverting read. The magazine ceased printing in 2003, and its web presence is depressingly bland.
20) Order forms in the back pages of books
Amazon's "Customers who bought this item also bought..." service seems the closest web equivalent.
21) Delayed knowledge of sporting results
When was the last time you bought a newspaper to find out who won the match, rather than for comment and analysis? There's no need to fall silent for James Alexander Gordon on the way home from the game when everyone in the car has an iPhone.
22) Enforceable copyright
The record companies, film studios and news agencies are fighting back, but can the floodgates ever be closed?
23) Reading telegrams at weddings
Quoting from a wad of email printouts doesn't have the same magic.
24) Dogging
Websites may have helped spread the word about dogging, but the internet offers a myriad of more convenient ways to organise no-strings sex with strangers. None of these involve spending the evening in lay-by near Aylesbury.
25) Aren't they dead? Aren't they gay?
Wikipedia allows us to confirm or disprove almost any celebrity rumour instantly. Only at festivals with no Wi-Fi signals can the gullible be tricked into believing that David Hasselhoff has passed away.
26) Holiday news ignorance
Glancing at the front pages after landing back at Heathrow used to be a thrilling experience – had anyone died? Was the government still standing? Now it takes a stern soul to resist the temptation to check the headlines at least once while you're away.
27) Knowing telephone numbers off by heart
After typing the digits into your contacts book, you need never look at them again.
28) Respect for doctors and other professionals
The proliferation of health websites has undermined the status of GPs, whose diagnoses are now challenged by patients armed with printouts.
29) The mystery of foreign languages
Sites like Babelfish offer instant, good-enough translations of dozens of languages – but kill their beauty and rhythm.
30) Geographical knowledge
With GPS systems spreading from cars to smartphones, knowing the way from A to B is a less prized skill. Just ask the London taxi drivers who spent years learning The Knowledge but are now undercut by minicabs.
31) Privacy
We may attack governments for the spread of surveillance culture, but users of social media websites make more information about themselves available than Big Brother could ever hoped to obtain by covert means.
32) Chuck Norris's reputation
The absurdly heroic boasts on Chuck Norris Facts may be affectionate, but will anyone take him seriously again?
33) Pencil cricket
An old-fashioned schoolboy diversion swept away by the Stick Cricket behemoth
34) Mainstream media
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer and Rocky Mountain News in the US have already folded, and the UK's Observer may follow. Free news and the migration of advertising to the web threaten the basic business models of almost all media organisations.
35) Concentration
What with tabbing between Gmail, Twitter, Facebook and Google News, it's a wonder anyone gets their work done. A disturbing trend captured by the wonderful XKCD webcomic.
36) Mr Alifi's dignity
Twenty years ago, if you were a Sudanese man who was forced to marry a goat after having sex with it, you'd take solace that news of your shame would be unlikely to spread beyond the neighbouring villages. Unfortunately for Mr Alifi, his indiscretion came in the digital age – and became one of the first viral news stories.
37) Personal reinvention
How can you forge a new identity at university when your Facebook is plastered with photos of the "old" you?
38) Viktor Yanukovych
The Orange Revolution in Ukraine was organised by a cabal of students and young activists who exploited the power of the web to mobilise resistance against the old regime, and sweep Viktor Yushchenko to power.
39) The insurance ring-round
Their adverts may grate, but insurance comparison websites have killed one of the most tedious annual chores
40) Undiscovered artists
Posting paintings to deviantART and Flickr – or poems to writebuzz – could not be easier. So now the garret-dwellers have no excuses.
41) The usefulness of reference pages at the front of diaries
If anyone still digs out their diaries to check what time zone Lisbon is in, or how many litres there are to a gallon, we don't know them.
42) The nervous thrill of the reunion
You've spent the past five years tracking their weight-gain on Facebook, so meeting up with your first love doesn't pack the emotional punch it once did.
43) Solitaire
The original computer timewaster has been superseded by the more alluring temptations of the web. Ditto Minesweeper.
44) Trust in Nigerian businessmen and princes
Some gift horses should have their mouths very closely inspected.
45) Prostitute calling cards/ kerb crawling
Sex can be marketed more cheaply, safely and efficiently on the web than the street corner.
46) Staggered product/film releases
Companies are becoming increasingly draconian in their anti-piracy measure, but are finally beginning to appreciate that forcing British consumers to wait six months to hand over their money is not a smart business plan.
47) Footnotes
Made superfluous by the link, although Wikipedia is fighting a brave rearguard action.
48) Grand National trips to the bookmaker
Having a little flutter is much more fun when you don't have to wade though a shop of drunks and ne'er-do-wells
49) Fanzines
Blogs and fansites offer greater freedom and community interaction than paper fanzines, and can be read by many more people.
50) Your lunchbreak
Did you leave your desk today? Or snaffle a sandwich while sending a few personal emails and checking the price of a week in Istanbul?
17 thói quen đang bị 'xóa sổ' trong thời đại số
http://vnexpress.net/GL/Vi-tinh/2009/09/3BA133AA/
Ảnh: TopNews.
Internet, điện thoại di động.. đã thay đổi thế giới theo hướng tích cực dù vẫn còn mặt hạn chế như biến cuộc sống của nhiều người thành địa ngục vì những hình ảnh bị phát tán trên mạng.
Báo Telegraph (Anh) đã liệt kê 50 điều đang bị công nghệ kết nối "giết chết", trong đó có nhiều thứ gần gũi với Việt Nam như:
1. Bày tỏ sự không đồng tình một cách nhã nhặn: Thường ai "dũng cảm" hoặc quá nóng giận mới to tiếng, làm ầm ĩ nơi công cộng, còn trên diễn đàn online, cả người điềm tĩnh nhất cũng có thể tuôn ra những lời khó nghe với người/ý kiến mà họ ghét.
2. Thưởng thức trọn vẹn một album: Người ta chỉ chọn và nghe những file nhạc mà họ thích nhất.
3. Đúng giờ: Chỉ cần gọi điện, bạn có thể biết người kia đang đi tới đâu, hoặc báo cho họ biết bạn có thể đến muộn.
4. Sự rụt rè khi lần đầu mua ấn phẩm "dành cho người lớn": Nội dung khiêu dâm lan tràn trên Internet khiến những chàng thanh niên mới lớn không cần hoặc không còn bối rối khi lần đầu ra cửa hàng mua các tờ báo "mát mẻ".
5. Đồng hồ đeo tay: Trừ khi chiếc đồng hồ đó thể hiện sự lịch lãm, sang trọng hay có ý nghĩa nhất định, nếu chỉ để xem giờ, người ta sẽ ngó vào điện thoại, laptop...
6. Thư tay: E-mail nhanh, rẻ, tiện lợi và dễ biên tập hơn với người dùng Internet.
7. Không cần nhớ nhiều: Số điện thoại mới được lưu vào danh bạ, ngày tháng các sự kiện lịch sử đã có Google và Wikipedia trợ giúp, một số học giả cho rằng trẻ em không cần học thuộc lòng nữa.
8. Thời gian chết: Bạn có còn dành hẳn 1-2 giờ ngồi lỳ bên cửa sổ ngắm trời mây? Có lẽ chỉ khi kết nối Internet bị ngắt, điện thoại hết pin mà không tìm thấy sạc còn TV đang hỏng.
10. Xem TV cùng nhau: Qua rồi những buổi tối sau giờ cơm, cả nhà quây quần trước màn hình vô tuyến xem thời sự, phim, văn nghệ... bởi mỗi phòng đã có một TV riêng, hoặc các thành viên còn bận vào mạng, nhắn tin với bạn bè...
11. Kết quả trận đấu muộn: Vài năm trước, nếu nhiều trận đấu bóng diễn ra cùng giờ, khán giả xem truyền hình chỉ biết ngay kết quả một trận, còn lịch chiếu những trận khác sẽ bị lùi lại. Ngày nay, tỷ số được cập nhật từng phút trên nhiều website và qua tin nhắn điện thoại.
11. "Mù" thông tin khi đi nghỉ: Bây giờ, ở đâu người ta cũng có thể biết được tình hình của bạn bè, người thân nhờ điện thoại, chat, mạng xã hội...
12. Thần tượng: Học trò từng coi giáo viên là "kho tri thức sống", bác sĩ là nguồn tham khảo tin cậy về sức khỏe..., nhưng hiện nay, có những người đi khám bệnh về vẫn lên Google để tra xem loại thuốc bác sĩ kê đơn có thực sự an toàn không.
13. Sự bí hiểm của ngoại ngữ: Các công cụ dịch thuật trực tuyến giúp họ hiểu gần hết mọi từ vựng.
14. Tính riêng tư: Thông tin người dùng đăng rải rác trên mạng, chẳng hạn những status, ảnh... ngẫu nhiên trên Facebook tưởng vô hại khi đặt riêng lẻ nhưng lại giúp người khác hiểu rất rõ về họ nếu biết cách kết nối và tổng hợp lại.
15. Sự tập trung: Ai có thể chuyên tâm vào công việc khi mà cứ 3-5 phút lại xuất hiện một thông báo nho nhỏ ở góc màn hình về một e-mail mới trong Gmail, bình luận mới ở Facebook hay một bản tin tại Google News?
16. Niềm vui sướng "vỡ òa" khi gặp nhau: Hội ngộ sau bao ngày xa cách luôn đem lại sự hân hoan. Nhưng mức độ sẽ hoàn toàn khác giữa việc hai người xa 5 năm mà chỉ liên lạc qua thư tay và vài cuộc điện thoại đường dài hiếm hoi với hai người chat với nhau cả ngày, "nói quên ngày tháng" qua Skype, cập nhật ảnh và mọi hoạt động từ việc ngủ dậy lúc mấy giờ đến chuyện vừa bị ngã xe qua Facebook.
17. Ra ngoài ăn trưa: Thói quen này không thể bị "xóa sổ" nhưng ngày càng nhiều người sẵn sàng ngồi lỳ trong văn phòng, vừa gặm bánh mỳ vừa duyệt mạng xã hội, nhất là ở những công ty chỉ cho phép truy cập web vào giờ nghỉ.
50 things that are being killed by the internet
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/6133903/50-things-that-are-being-killed-by-the-internet.html
The internet has wrought huge changes on our lives – both positive and negative – in the fifteen years since its use became widespread.
By Matthew Moore
Published: 7:00AM BST 04 Sep 2009
Comments 224 | Comment on this article
The web is changing the way we work, play and think Photo: REUTTERS
Tasks that once took days can be completed in seconds, while traditions and skills that emerged over centuries have been made all but redundant.
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Mystery of Google's UFO logo Below we have compiled - in no particular order - 50 things that are in the process of being killed off by the web, from products and business models to life experiences and habits. We've also thrown in a few things that have suffered the hands of other modern networking gadgets, specifically mobile phones and GPS systems.
Do you agree with our selections? What other examples can you think of? Please post your comments on the bottom of the story – we hope include the best suggestions in a fuller list.
1) The art of polite disagreement
While the inane spats of YouTube commencers may not be representative, the internet has certainly sharpened the tone of debate. The most raucous sections of the blogworld seem incapable of accepting sincerely held differences of opinion; all opponents must have "agendas".
2) Fear that you are the only person unmoved by a celebrity's death
Twitter has become a clearing-house for jokes about dead famous people. Tasteless, but an antidote to the "fans in mourning" mawkishness that otherwise predominates.
3) Listening to an album all the way through
The single is one of the unlikely beneficiaries of the internet – a development which can be looked at in two ways. There's no longer any need to endure eight tracks of filler for a couple of decent tunes, but will "album albums" like Radiohead's Amnesiac get the widespread hearing they deserve?
4) Sarah Palin
Her train wreck interviews with NBC's Katie Couric were watched and re-watched millions of times on the internet, cementing the Republican vice-presidential candidate's reputation as a politician out of her depth. Palin's uncomfortable relationship with the web continues; she has threatened to sue bloggers who republish rumours about the state of her marriage.
5) Punctuality
Before mobile phones, people actually had to keep their appointments and turn up to the pub on time. Texting friends to warn them of your tardiness five minutes before you are due to meet has become one of throwaway rudenesses of the connected age.
6) Ceefax/Teletext
All sports fans of a certain age can tell you their favourite Ceefax pages (p341 for Test match scores, p312 for football transfer gossip), but the service's clunking graphics and four-paragraph articles have dated badly. ITV announced earlier this year that it was planning to pull Teletext, its version.
7) Adolescent nerves at first porn purchase
The ubiquity of free, hard-core pornography on the web has put an end to one of the most dreaded rights rites of passage for teenage boys – buying dirty magazines. Why tremble in the WHSmiths queue when you can download mountains of filth for free in your bedroom? The trend also threatens the future of "porn in the woods" – the grotty pages of Razzle and Penthouse that scatter the fringes of provincial towns and villages.
8) Telephone directories
You can find Fly Fishing by J R Hartley on Amazon.
9) The myth of cat intelligence
The proudest household pets are now the illiterate butts of caption-based jokes. Icanhasreputashunback?
10) Watches
Scrabbling around in your pocket to dig out a phone may not be as elegant as glancing at a watch, but it saves splashing out on two gadgets.
11) Music stores
In a world where people don't want to pay anything for music, charging them £16.99 for 12 songs in a flimsy plastic case is no business model.
12) Letter writing/pen pals
Email is quicker, cheaper and more convenient; receiving a handwritten letter from a friend has become a rare, even nostalgic, pleasure. As a result, formal valedictions like "Yours faithfully" are being replaced by "Best" and "Thanks".
13) Memory
When almost any fact, no matter how obscure, can be dug up within seconds through Google and Wikipedia, there is less value attached to the "mere" storage and retrieval of knowledge. What becomes important is how you use it – the internet age rewards creativity.
14) Dead time
When was the last time you spent an hour mulling the world out a window, or rereading a favourite book? The internet's draw on our attention is relentless and increasingly difficult to resist.
15) Photo albums and slide shows
Facebook, Flickr and printing sites like Snapfish are how we share our photos. Earlier this year Kodak announced that it was discontinuing its Kodachrome slide film because of lack of demand.
16) Hoaxes and conspiracy theories
The internet is often dismissed as awash with cranks, but it has proved far more potent at debunking conspiracy theories than perpetuating them. The excellent Snopes.com continues to deliver the final, sober, word on urban legends.
17) Watching television together
On-demand television, from the iPlayer in Britain to Hulu in the US, allows relatives and colleagues to watch the same programmes at different times, undermining what had been one of the medium's most attractive cultural appeals – the shared experience. Appointment-to-view television, if it exists at all, seems confined to sport and live reality shows.
18) Authoritative reference works
We still crave reliable information, but generally aren't willing to pay for it.
19) The Innovations catalogue
Preposterous as its household gadgets may have been, the Innovations catalogue was always a diverting read. The magazine ceased printing in 2003, and its web presence is depressingly bland.
20) Order forms in the back pages of books
Amazon's "Customers who bought this item also bought..." service seems the closest web equivalent.
21) Delayed knowledge of sporting results
When was the last time you bought a newspaper to find out who won the match, rather than for comment and analysis? There's no need to fall silent for James Alexander Gordon on the way home from the game when everyone in the car has an iPhone.
22) Enforceable copyright
The record companies, film studios and news agencies are fighting back, but can the floodgates ever be closed?
23) Reading telegrams at weddings
Quoting from a wad of email printouts doesn't have the same magic.
24) Dogging
Websites may have helped spread the word about dogging, but the internet offers a myriad of more convenient ways to organise no-strings sex with strangers. None of these involve spending the evening in lay-by near Aylesbury.
25) Aren't they dead? Aren't they gay?
Wikipedia allows us to confirm or disprove almost any celebrity rumour instantly. Only at festivals with no Wi-Fi signals can the gullible be tricked into believing that David Hasselhoff has passed away.
26) Holiday news ignorance
Glancing at the front pages after landing back at Heathrow used to be a thrilling experience – had anyone died? Was the government still standing? Now it takes a stern soul to resist the temptation to check the headlines at least once while you're away.
27) Knowing telephone numbers off by heart
After typing the digits into your contacts book, you need never look at them again.
28) Respect for doctors and other professionals
The proliferation of health websites has undermined the status of GPs, whose diagnoses are now challenged by patients armed with printouts.
29) The mystery of foreign languages
Sites like Babelfish offer instant, good-enough translations of dozens of languages – but kill their beauty and rhythm.
30) Geographical knowledge
With GPS systems spreading from cars to smartphones, knowing the way from A to B is a less prized skill. Just ask the London taxi drivers who spent years learning The Knowledge but are now undercut by minicabs.
31) Privacy
We may attack governments for the spread of surveillance culture, but users of social media websites make more information about themselves available than Big Brother could ever hoped to obtain by covert means.
32) Chuck Norris's reputation
The absurdly heroic boasts on Chuck Norris Facts may be affectionate, but will anyone take him seriously again?
33) Pencil cricket
An old-fashioned schoolboy diversion swept away by the Stick Cricket behemoth
34) Mainstream media
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer and Rocky Mountain News in the US have already folded, and the UK's Observer may follow. Free news and the migration of advertising to the web threaten the basic business models of almost all media organisations.
35) Concentration
What with tabbing between Gmail, Twitter, Facebook and Google News, it's a wonder anyone gets their work done. A disturbing trend captured by the wonderful XKCD webcomic.
36) Mr Alifi's dignity
Twenty years ago, if you were a Sudanese man who was forced to marry a goat after having sex with it, you'd take solace that news of your shame would be unlikely to spread beyond the neighbouring villages. Unfortunately for Mr Alifi, his indiscretion came in the digital age – and became one of the first viral news stories.
37) Personal reinvention
How can you forge a new identity at university when your Facebook is plastered with photos of the "old" you?
38) Viktor Yanukovych
The Orange Revolution in Ukraine was organised by a cabal of students and young activists who exploited the power of the web to mobilise resistance against the old regime, and sweep Viktor Yushchenko to power.
39) The insurance ring-round
Their adverts may grate, but insurance comparison websites have killed one of the most tedious annual chores
40) Undiscovered artists
Posting paintings to deviantART and Flickr – or poems to writebuzz – could not be easier. So now the garret-dwellers have no excuses.
41) The usefulness of reference pages at the front of diaries
If anyone still digs out their diaries to check what time zone Lisbon is in, or how many litres there are to a gallon, we don't know them.
42) The nervous thrill of the reunion
You've spent the past five years tracking their weight-gain on Facebook, so meeting up with your first love doesn't pack the emotional punch it once did.
43) Solitaire
The original computer timewaster has been superseded by the more alluring temptations of the web. Ditto Minesweeper.
44) Trust in Nigerian businessmen and princes
Some gift horses should have their mouths very closely inspected.
45) Prostitute calling cards/ kerb crawling
Sex can be marketed more cheaply, safely and efficiently on the web than the street corner.
46) Staggered product/film releases
Companies are becoming increasingly draconian in their anti-piracy measure, but are finally beginning to appreciate that forcing British consumers to wait six months to hand over their money is not a smart business plan.
47) Footnotes
Made superfluous by the link, although Wikipedia is fighting a brave rearguard action.
48) Grand National trips to the bookmaker
Having a little flutter is much more fun when you don't have to wade though a shop of drunks and ne'er-do-wells
49) Fanzines
Blogs and fansites offer greater freedom and community interaction than paper fanzines, and can be read by many more people.
50) Your lunchbreak
Did you leave your desk today? Or snaffle a sandwich while sending a few personal emails and checking the price of a week in Istanbul?
17 thói quen đang bị 'xóa sổ' trong thời đại số
http://vnexpress.net/GL/Vi-tinh/2009/09/3BA133AA/
Ảnh: TopNews.
Internet, điện thoại di động.. đã thay đổi thế giới theo hướng tích cực dù vẫn còn mặt hạn chế như biến cuộc sống của nhiều người thành địa ngục vì những hình ảnh bị phát tán trên mạng.
Báo Telegraph (Anh) đã liệt kê 50 điều đang bị công nghệ kết nối "giết chết", trong đó có nhiều thứ gần gũi với Việt Nam như:
1. Bày tỏ sự không đồng tình một cách nhã nhặn: Thường ai "dũng cảm" hoặc quá nóng giận mới to tiếng, làm ầm ĩ nơi công cộng, còn trên diễn đàn online, cả người điềm tĩnh nhất cũng có thể tuôn ra những lời khó nghe với người/ý kiến mà họ ghét.
2. Thưởng thức trọn vẹn một album: Người ta chỉ chọn và nghe những file nhạc mà họ thích nhất.
3. Đúng giờ: Chỉ cần gọi điện, bạn có thể biết người kia đang đi tới đâu, hoặc báo cho họ biết bạn có thể đến muộn.
4. Sự rụt rè khi lần đầu mua ấn phẩm "dành cho người lớn": Nội dung khiêu dâm lan tràn trên Internet khiến những chàng thanh niên mới lớn không cần hoặc không còn bối rối khi lần đầu ra cửa hàng mua các tờ báo "mát mẻ".
5. Đồng hồ đeo tay: Trừ khi chiếc đồng hồ đó thể hiện sự lịch lãm, sang trọng hay có ý nghĩa nhất định, nếu chỉ để xem giờ, người ta sẽ ngó vào điện thoại, laptop...
6. Thư tay: E-mail nhanh, rẻ, tiện lợi và dễ biên tập hơn với người dùng Internet.
7. Không cần nhớ nhiều: Số điện thoại mới được lưu vào danh bạ, ngày tháng các sự kiện lịch sử đã có Google và Wikipedia trợ giúp, một số học giả cho rằng trẻ em không cần học thuộc lòng nữa.
8. Thời gian chết: Bạn có còn dành hẳn 1-2 giờ ngồi lỳ bên cửa sổ ngắm trời mây? Có lẽ chỉ khi kết nối Internet bị ngắt, điện thoại hết pin mà không tìm thấy sạc còn TV đang hỏng.
10. Xem TV cùng nhau: Qua rồi những buổi tối sau giờ cơm, cả nhà quây quần trước màn hình vô tuyến xem thời sự, phim, văn nghệ... bởi mỗi phòng đã có một TV riêng, hoặc các thành viên còn bận vào mạng, nhắn tin với bạn bè...
11. Kết quả trận đấu muộn: Vài năm trước, nếu nhiều trận đấu bóng diễn ra cùng giờ, khán giả xem truyền hình chỉ biết ngay kết quả một trận, còn lịch chiếu những trận khác sẽ bị lùi lại. Ngày nay, tỷ số được cập nhật từng phút trên nhiều website và qua tin nhắn điện thoại.
11. "Mù" thông tin khi đi nghỉ: Bây giờ, ở đâu người ta cũng có thể biết được tình hình của bạn bè, người thân nhờ điện thoại, chat, mạng xã hội...
12. Thần tượng: Học trò từng coi giáo viên là "kho tri thức sống", bác sĩ là nguồn tham khảo tin cậy về sức khỏe..., nhưng hiện nay, có những người đi khám bệnh về vẫn lên Google để tra xem loại thuốc bác sĩ kê đơn có thực sự an toàn không.
13. Sự bí hiểm của ngoại ngữ: Các công cụ dịch thuật trực tuyến giúp họ hiểu gần hết mọi từ vựng.
14. Tính riêng tư: Thông tin người dùng đăng rải rác trên mạng, chẳng hạn những status, ảnh... ngẫu nhiên trên Facebook tưởng vô hại khi đặt riêng lẻ nhưng lại giúp người khác hiểu rất rõ về họ nếu biết cách kết nối và tổng hợp lại.
15. Sự tập trung: Ai có thể chuyên tâm vào công việc khi mà cứ 3-5 phút lại xuất hiện một thông báo nho nhỏ ở góc màn hình về một e-mail mới trong Gmail, bình luận mới ở Facebook hay một bản tin tại Google News?
16. Niềm vui sướng "vỡ òa" khi gặp nhau: Hội ngộ sau bao ngày xa cách luôn đem lại sự hân hoan. Nhưng mức độ sẽ hoàn toàn khác giữa việc hai người xa 5 năm mà chỉ liên lạc qua thư tay và vài cuộc điện thoại đường dài hiếm hoi với hai người chat với nhau cả ngày, "nói quên ngày tháng" qua Skype, cập nhật ảnh và mọi hoạt động từ việc ngủ dậy lúc mấy giờ đến chuyện vừa bị ngã xe qua Facebook.
17. Ra ngoài ăn trưa: Thói quen này không thể bị "xóa sổ" nhưng ngày càng nhiều người sẵn sàng ngồi lỳ trong văn phòng, vừa gặm bánh mỳ vừa duyệt mạng xã hội, nhất là ở những công ty chỉ cho phép truy cập web vào giờ nghỉ.
8/3/09
Urbanisation: Problems
Essay: It is often said that industrial and urban development is beneficial to any society in today's world.
To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?
To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?
7/13/09
Tom Sawyer_Mark Twain
Would you like to see a film? Here is one I am sure you will enjoy.
Pls watch Tom Sawyer (1938) - Mark Twain
Pls watch Tom Sawyer (1938) - Mark Twain
7/12/09
Essay_Discursive vs Argumentative
Here the teacher epxlains to you the difference between the Discussion and Argument essay. Pls click on to the title and it will take you to the lecture.
Enjoy.
Enjoy.
6/28/09
6/25/09
Reading list
If you want to read in English, this is a good site for you to download.
Enjoy your reading.
Enjoy your reading.
6/22/09
THE SCALE OF THE UNIVERSE—THE SOLAR SYSTEM
§ 1
The story of the triumphs of modern science naturally opens with Astronomy. The picture of the Universe which the astronomer offers to us is imperfect; the lines he traces are often faint and uncertain. There are many problems which have been solved, there are just as many about which there is doubt, and notwithstanding our great increase in knowledge, there remain just as many which are entirely unsolved.
The problem of the structure and duration of the universe [said the great astronomer Simon Newcomb] is the most far-reaching with which the mind has to deal. Its solution may be regarded as the ultimate object of stellar astronomy, the possibility of reaching which has occupied the minds of thinkers since the beginning of civilisation. Before our time the problem could be considered only from the imaginative or the speculative point of view. Although we can to-day attack it to a limited extent by scientific methods, it must be admitted that we have scarcely taken more than the first step toward the actual solution.... What is the duration of the universe in time? Is it fitted to last for ever in its present form, or does it contain within itself the seeds of dissolution? Must it, in the course of time, in we know not how many millions of ages, be transformed into something very different from what it now is? This question is intimately associated with the question whether the stars form[Pg 10] a system. If they do, we may suppose that system to be permanent in its general features; if not, we must look further for our conclusions.
The Heavenly Bodies
The heavenly bodies fall into two very distinct classes so far as their relation to our Earth is concerned; the one class, a very small one, comprises a sort of colony of which the Earth is a member. These bodies are called planets, or wanderers. There are eight of them, including the Earth, and they all circle round the sun. Their names, in the order of their distance from the sun, are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and of these Mercury, the nearest to the sun, is rarely seen by the naked eye. Uranus is practically invisible, and Neptune quite so. These eight planets, together with the sun, constitute, as we have said, a sort of little colony; this colony is called the Solar System.
The second class of heavenly bodies are those which lie outside the solar system. Every one of those glittering points we see on a starlit night is at an immensely greater distance from us than is any member of the Solar System. Yet the members of this little colony of ours, judged by terrestrial standards, are at enormous distances from one another. If a shell were shot in a straight line from one side of Neptune's orbit to the other it would take five hundred years to complete its journey. Yet this distance, the greatest in the Solar System as now known (excepting the far swing of some of the comets), is insignificant compared to the distances of the stars. One of the nearest stars to the earth that we know of is Alpha Centauri, estimated to be some twenty-five million millions of miles away. Sirius, the brightest star in the firmament, is double this distance from the earth.
We must imagine the colony of planets to which we belong as a compact little family swimming in an immense void. At distances which would take our shell, not hundreds, but millions[Pg 11] of years to traverse, we reach the stars—or rather, a star, for the distances between stars are as great as the distance between the nearest of them and our Sun. The Earth, the planet on which we live, is a mighty globe bounded by a crust of rock many miles in thickness; the great volumes of water which we call our oceans lie in the deeper hollows of the crust. Above the surface an ocean of invisible gas, the atmosphere, rises to a height of about three hundred miles, getting thinner and thinner as it ascends.
LAPLACE
One of the greatest mathematical astronomers of all time and the originator of the nebular theory.
Photo: Royal Astronomical Society.
PROFESSOR J. C. ADAMS
who, anticipating the great French mathematician, Le Verrier, discovered the planet Neptune by calculations based on the irregularities of the orbit of Uranus. One of the most dramatic discoveries in the history of Science.
Photo: Elliott & Fry, Ltd.
PROFESSOR EDDINGTON
Professor of Astronomy at Cambridge. The most famous of the English disciples of Einstein.
FIG. 1.—DIAGRAMS OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM
THE COMPARATIVE DISTANCES OF THE PLANETS
(Drawn approximately to scale)
The isolation of the Solar System is very great. On the above scale the nearest star (at a distance of 25 trillions of miles) would be over one half mile away. The hours, days, and years are the measures of time as we use them; that is: Jupiter's "Day" (one rotation of the planet) is made in ten of our hours; Mercury's "Year" (one revolution of the planet around the Sun) is eighty-eight of our days. Mercury's "Day" and "Year" are the same. This planet turns always the same side to the Sun.
THE COMPARATIVE SIZES OF THE SUN AND THE PLANETS
(Drawn approximately to scale)
On this scale the Sun would be 17½ inches in diameter; it is far greater than all the planets put together. Jupiter, in turn, is greater than all the other planets put together.
Except when the winds rise to a high speed, we seem to live in a very tranquil world. At night, when the glare of the sun passes out of our atmosphere, the stars and planets seem to move across the heavens with a stately and solemn slowness. It was one of the first discoveries of modern astronomy that this movement is only apparent. The apparent creeping of the stars across the heavens at night is accounted for by the fact that the earth turns upon its axis once in every twenty-four hours. When we remember the size of the earth we see that this implies a prodigious speed.
In addition to this the earth revolves round the sun at a speed of more than a thousand miles a minute. Its path round the sun, year in year out, measures about 580,000,000 miles. The earth is held closely to this path by the gravitational pull of the sun, which has a mass 333,432 times that of the earth. If at any moment the sun ceased to exert this pull the earth would instantly fly off into space straight in the direction in which it was moving at the time, that is to say, at a tangent. This tendency to fly off at a tangent is continuous. It is the balance between it and the sun's pull which keeps the earth to her almost circular orbit. In the same way the seven other planets are held to their orbits.
Circling round the earth, in the same way as the earth circles round the sun, is our moon. Sometimes the moon passes directly between us and the sun, and cuts off the light from us.[Pg 12] We then have a total or partial eclipse of the sun. At other times the earth passes directly between the sun and the moon, and causes an eclipse of the moon. The great ball of the earth naturally trails a mighty shadow across space, and the moon is "eclipsed" when it passes into this.
The other seven planets, five of which have moons of their own, circle round the sun as the earth does. The sun's mass is immensely larger than that of all the planets put together, and all of them would be drawn into it and perish if they did not travel rapidly round it in gigantic orbits. So the eight planets, spinning round on their axes, follow their fixed paths round the sun. The planets are secondary bodies, but they are most important, because they are the only globes in which there can be life, as we know life.
If we could be transported in some magical way to an immense distance in space above the sun, we should see our Solar System as it is drawn in the accompanying diagram (Fig. 1), except that the planets would be mere specks, faintly visible in the light which they receive from the sun. (This diagram is drawn approximately to scale.) If we moved still farther away, trillions of miles away, the planets would fade entirely out of view, and the sun would shrink into a point of fire, a star. And here you begin to realize the nature of the universe. The sun is a star. The stars are suns. Our sun looks big simply because of its comparative nearness to us. The universe is a stupendous collection of millions of stars or suns, many of which may have planetary families like ours.
The story of the triumphs of modern science naturally opens with Astronomy. The picture of the Universe which the astronomer offers to us is imperfect; the lines he traces are often faint and uncertain. There are many problems which have been solved, there are just as many about which there is doubt, and notwithstanding our great increase in knowledge, there remain just as many which are entirely unsolved.
The problem of the structure and duration of the universe [said the great astronomer Simon Newcomb] is the most far-reaching with which the mind has to deal. Its solution may be regarded as the ultimate object of stellar astronomy, the possibility of reaching which has occupied the minds of thinkers since the beginning of civilisation. Before our time the problem could be considered only from the imaginative or the speculative point of view. Although we can to-day attack it to a limited extent by scientific methods, it must be admitted that we have scarcely taken more than the first step toward the actual solution.... What is the duration of the universe in time? Is it fitted to last for ever in its present form, or does it contain within itself the seeds of dissolution? Must it, in the course of time, in we know not how many millions of ages, be transformed into something very different from what it now is? This question is intimately associated with the question whether the stars form[Pg 10] a system. If they do, we may suppose that system to be permanent in its general features; if not, we must look further for our conclusions.
The Heavenly Bodies
The heavenly bodies fall into two very distinct classes so far as their relation to our Earth is concerned; the one class, a very small one, comprises a sort of colony of which the Earth is a member. These bodies are called planets, or wanderers. There are eight of them, including the Earth, and they all circle round the sun. Their names, in the order of their distance from the sun, are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and of these Mercury, the nearest to the sun, is rarely seen by the naked eye. Uranus is practically invisible, and Neptune quite so. These eight planets, together with the sun, constitute, as we have said, a sort of little colony; this colony is called the Solar System.
The second class of heavenly bodies are those which lie outside the solar system. Every one of those glittering points we see on a starlit night is at an immensely greater distance from us than is any member of the Solar System. Yet the members of this little colony of ours, judged by terrestrial standards, are at enormous distances from one another. If a shell were shot in a straight line from one side of Neptune's orbit to the other it would take five hundred years to complete its journey. Yet this distance, the greatest in the Solar System as now known (excepting the far swing of some of the comets), is insignificant compared to the distances of the stars. One of the nearest stars to the earth that we know of is Alpha Centauri, estimated to be some twenty-five million millions of miles away. Sirius, the brightest star in the firmament, is double this distance from the earth.
We must imagine the colony of planets to which we belong as a compact little family swimming in an immense void. At distances which would take our shell, not hundreds, but millions[Pg 11] of years to traverse, we reach the stars—or rather, a star, for the distances between stars are as great as the distance between the nearest of them and our Sun. The Earth, the planet on which we live, is a mighty globe bounded by a crust of rock many miles in thickness; the great volumes of water which we call our oceans lie in the deeper hollows of the crust. Above the surface an ocean of invisible gas, the atmosphere, rises to a height of about three hundred miles, getting thinner and thinner as it ascends.
LAPLACE
One of the greatest mathematical astronomers of all time and the originator of the nebular theory.
Photo: Royal Astronomical Society.
PROFESSOR J. C. ADAMS
who, anticipating the great French mathematician, Le Verrier, discovered the planet Neptune by calculations based on the irregularities of the orbit of Uranus. One of the most dramatic discoveries in the history of Science.
Photo: Elliott & Fry, Ltd.
PROFESSOR EDDINGTON
Professor of Astronomy at Cambridge. The most famous of the English disciples of Einstein.
FIG. 1.—DIAGRAMS OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM
THE COMPARATIVE DISTANCES OF THE PLANETS
(Drawn approximately to scale)
The isolation of the Solar System is very great. On the above scale the nearest star (at a distance of 25 trillions of miles) would be over one half mile away. The hours, days, and years are the measures of time as we use them; that is: Jupiter's "Day" (one rotation of the planet) is made in ten of our hours; Mercury's "Year" (one revolution of the planet around the Sun) is eighty-eight of our days. Mercury's "Day" and "Year" are the same. This planet turns always the same side to the Sun.
THE COMPARATIVE SIZES OF THE SUN AND THE PLANETS
(Drawn approximately to scale)
On this scale the Sun would be 17½ inches in diameter; it is far greater than all the planets put together. Jupiter, in turn, is greater than all the other planets put together.
Except when the winds rise to a high speed, we seem to live in a very tranquil world. At night, when the glare of the sun passes out of our atmosphere, the stars and planets seem to move across the heavens with a stately and solemn slowness. It was one of the first discoveries of modern astronomy that this movement is only apparent. The apparent creeping of the stars across the heavens at night is accounted for by the fact that the earth turns upon its axis once in every twenty-four hours. When we remember the size of the earth we see that this implies a prodigious speed.
In addition to this the earth revolves round the sun at a speed of more than a thousand miles a minute. Its path round the sun, year in year out, measures about 580,000,000 miles. The earth is held closely to this path by the gravitational pull of the sun, which has a mass 333,432 times that of the earth. If at any moment the sun ceased to exert this pull the earth would instantly fly off into space straight in the direction in which it was moving at the time, that is to say, at a tangent. This tendency to fly off at a tangent is continuous. It is the balance between it and the sun's pull which keeps the earth to her almost circular orbit. In the same way the seven other planets are held to their orbits.
Circling round the earth, in the same way as the earth circles round the sun, is our moon. Sometimes the moon passes directly between us and the sun, and cuts off the light from us.[Pg 12] We then have a total or partial eclipse of the sun. At other times the earth passes directly between the sun and the moon, and causes an eclipse of the moon. The great ball of the earth naturally trails a mighty shadow across space, and the moon is "eclipsed" when it passes into this.
The other seven planets, five of which have moons of their own, circle round the sun as the earth does. The sun's mass is immensely larger than that of all the planets put together, and all of them would be drawn into it and perish if they did not travel rapidly round it in gigantic orbits. So the eight planets, spinning round on their axes, follow their fixed paths round the sun. The planets are secondary bodies, but they are most important, because they are the only globes in which there can be life, as we know life.
If we could be transported in some magical way to an immense distance in space above the sun, we should see our Solar System as it is drawn in the accompanying diagram (Fig. 1), except that the planets would be mere specks, faintly visible in the light which they receive from the sun. (This diagram is drawn approximately to scale.) If we moved still farther away, trillions of miles away, the planets would fade entirely out of view, and the sun would shrink into a point of fire, a star. And here you begin to realize the nature of the universe. The sun is a star. The stars are suns. Our sun looks big simply because of its comparative nearness to us. The universe is a stupendous collection of millions of stars or suns, many of which may have planetary families like ours.
6/18/09
Mammoths survived late in Britain
By Paul Rincon
Science reporter, BBC News
Mammoths were in Britain 6,000 years longer than had been suspected
Woolly mammoths lived in Britain as recently as 14,000 years ago, according to new radiocarbon dating evidence.
Dr Adrian Lister obtained new dates for mammoth bones unearthed in the English county of Shropshire in 1986.
His study in the Geological Journal shows the great beasts remained part of Britain's wildlife for much longer than had previously been supposed.
Mammoths may finally have died out when forests encroached on the grassland habitats they favoured for grazing.
The radiocarbon results from the adult male and four juvenile mammoths from Condover, Shropshire, reveal that the great beasts were in Britain more than 6,000 years longer than had previously been thought.
It's not the climate - in the main - that affects these animals. The climate affects the vegetation and the vegetation affects them
Dr Adrian Lister, Natural History Museum
Researchers had supposed that mammoths disappeared from North-West Europe between 21,000 and 19,000 years ago, during a climatic freeze known as the last glacial maximum (LGM).
Britain's mammoth populations may indeed have vanished with this big chill.
But according to the new study, they were not gone forever. Instead, they returned when conditions eased and clung on in southern England until 14,000 years ago.
"What this usually means is that (mammoths) die out locally and then re-emigrate from refugia somewhere else," Dr Lister told BBC News.
Purification method
The specimens have been radiocarbon dated before. But the Natural History Museum researcher used a relatively new method of radiocarbon dating to get very accurate ages for the Condover fossils.
"The big issue with all radiocarbon dating is contamination from different sources. You have to be sure the sample you extracted from the fossil is absolutely pure," said Dr Lister.
"There have to be methods for purifying the sample that is extracted from the bone. In the last few years, a new method of purification has been developed at Oxford University called ultra-filtration."
"Various bone specimens that were dated before they developed this new purification method have been shown to be out by a significant amount. Not always, but often. What they do is re-run the sample using the new method and obtain a more accurate date. That's what we did here."
Other large mammals that disappeared as the last Ice Age relented include woolly rhino, bison and giant deer.
At the same time as these species were vanishing from the Earth, human populations were expanding.
Similar die-outs of so-called "megafauna" occurred around the world at similar times, prompting some scientists to ask whether climate or human hunting played the dominant role in their extinction.
Human question
No traces of human occupation were found at the Shropshire site. But it is entirely possible that humans could have been in Britain at the same time as these last mammoths.
Dr Lister said that humans might have finished off some of the last remaining pockets of mammoths in Siberia. But he did not think people were the main cause of megafaunal extinctions at the end of the last Ice Age.
During the Ice Age, grasslands were commonplace in Europe because conditions were too cold for trees.
But as the climate warmed up, forests began to spread north, squeezing out the grassland habitats favoured by the majestic beasts.
"It's driven by climate change, but it's not the climate - in the main - that affects these animals. The climate affects the vegetation and the vegetation affects them," said Dr Lister.
"These were grass-eating animals."
Mammoths first appeared in the Pliocene Epoch, about 4.8 million years ago.
One population lived on in isolation on Russia's remote Wrangel Island until about 5,000 years ago, making them the most recent surviving population known to science.
Paul.Rincon-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk
Science reporter, BBC News
Mammoths were in Britain 6,000 years longer than had been suspected
Woolly mammoths lived in Britain as recently as 14,000 years ago, according to new radiocarbon dating evidence.
Dr Adrian Lister obtained new dates for mammoth bones unearthed in the English county of Shropshire in 1986.
His study in the Geological Journal shows the great beasts remained part of Britain's wildlife for much longer than had previously been supposed.
Mammoths may finally have died out when forests encroached on the grassland habitats they favoured for grazing.
The radiocarbon results from the adult male and four juvenile mammoths from Condover, Shropshire, reveal that the great beasts were in Britain more than 6,000 years longer than had previously been thought.
It's not the climate - in the main - that affects these animals. The climate affects the vegetation and the vegetation affects them
Dr Adrian Lister, Natural History Museum
Researchers had supposed that mammoths disappeared from North-West Europe between 21,000 and 19,000 years ago, during a climatic freeze known as the last glacial maximum (LGM).
Britain's mammoth populations may indeed have vanished with this big chill.
But according to the new study, they were not gone forever. Instead, they returned when conditions eased and clung on in southern England until 14,000 years ago.
"What this usually means is that (mammoths) die out locally and then re-emigrate from refugia somewhere else," Dr Lister told BBC News.
Purification method
The specimens have been radiocarbon dated before. But the Natural History Museum researcher used a relatively new method of radiocarbon dating to get very accurate ages for the Condover fossils.
"The big issue with all radiocarbon dating is contamination from different sources. You have to be sure the sample you extracted from the fossil is absolutely pure," said Dr Lister.
"There have to be methods for purifying the sample that is extracted from the bone. In the last few years, a new method of purification has been developed at Oxford University called ultra-filtration."
"Various bone specimens that were dated before they developed this new purification method have been shown to be out by a significant amount. Not always, but often. What they do is re-run the sample using the new method and obtain a more accurate date. That's what we did here."
Other large mammals that disappeared as the last Ice Age relented include woolly rhino, bison and giant deer.
At the same time as these species were vanishing from the Earth, human populations were expanding.
Similar die-outs of so-called "megafauna" occurred around the world at similar times, prompting some scientists to ask whether climate or human hunting played the dominant role in their extinction.
Human question
No traces of human occupation were found at the Shropshire site. But it is entirely possible that humans could have been in Britain at the same time as these last mammoths.
Dr Lister said that humans might have finished off some of the last remaining pockets of mammoths in Siberia. But he did not think people were the main cause of megafaunal extinctions at the end of the last Ice Age.
During the Ice Age, grasslands were commonplace in Europe because conditions were too cold for trees.
But as the climate warmed up, forests began to spread north, squeezing out the grassland habitats favoured by the majestic beasts.
"It's driven by climate change, but it's not the climate - in the main - that affects these animals. The climate affects the vegetation and the vegetation affects them," said Dr Lister.
"These were grass-eating animals."
Mammoths first appeared in the Pliocene Epoch, about 4.8 million years ago.
One population lived on in isolation on Russia's remote Wrangel Island until about 5,000 years ago, making them the most recent surviving population known to science.
Paul.Rincon-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk
6/15/09
Australia Facts
Aboriginal AustraliaPrint Page Find out how you can connect with the world’s oldest living culture.
Discover it the same way Aboriginal Australians have passed it down for at least 50,000 years - through art, dance, myths, music and the land itself. See Aboriginal art and contemporary dance in the cities. Or head to the outback and listen to Dreamtime myths of creation by the campfire. Bushwalk and snorkel, share bush-tucker or learn to craft spears and catch fish in the traditional way. Let Aboriginal Australians help you understand this ancient land and its spirituality and wonder.
Six special places you can connect to Aboriginal Australia
Uluru1. Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, Northern Territory
Visit Uluru and you’ll see why the rock and surrounding land have such huge spiritual significance for the Anangu Aboriginal people. According to their creation myths, ancestral spirits formed Uluru, which lies in Australia's red centre like an enormous, moody heart. Aboriginal guides will share these ancient tales as you walk around the rock’s base. Just 32 kilometres away is another sacred site - Kata Tjuta. You’ll be awestruck by these steep, rounded, russet domes over 3,500 hectares.
Kimberley2. Kimberley, Western Australia
Featuring vast horizons and ancient gorges, the Kimberley region is one of the world’s last great wilderness areas. See Wandjina figures painted in caves and the mysterious Gwion Gwion paintings. Ride a camel on Broome’s breathtaking Cable Beach and 4WD the red-dirt road along the Dampier Peninsula. Learn the legend of the orange and black beehive domes of the Bungle Bungles and fly over vast Lake Argyle in Kununurra.
The Daintree3. The Daintree, Queensland
More than 135 million years old, our stunning Daintree Rainforest is the oldest rainforest in the world. Traverse this canopy of green with traditional owners the Wujal Wujal people. Learn about bush tucker and fish for barramundi. See fresh-water crocodiles sunning themselves on the mangrove-lined river banks and rare tropical birds and animals, many of which are not found anywhere else on earth.
Coorong4. Coorong, South Australia
Become one with nature as you kayak along the lagoons and waterways of the Coorong. Your Ngarrindjeri guide will tell you about bush tucker, traditional medicines and the incredible local birdlife. As night falls, you can listen to stories unfold and smell the mouth-watering aroma of fresh damper (outback bread) as it is pulled from the embers of a campfire.
Gippsland 5. Gippsland, Victoria
Discover a rich Aboriginal history along Gippsland’s rugged coastline. Wander the fern gullies, sandy beaches and eucalypt forests of the sacred land now known as Wilsons Promontory National Park. Trace Aboriginal trading routes up to 18,000 years old. Watch local Aboriginal people make baskets, spears, shields and canoes in the traditional way at Bairnsdale. Or learn where the Dreamtime touched the rugged gorges, rainforest and gullies of Woolshed Creek.
Sydney harbour cruise6. Sydney cultural tours, New South Wales
Get a glimpse into the lives of Sydney’s original inhabitants on a harbour cruise or walking tour. You can learn the Aboriginal names and meanings of significant Sydney landmarks as you cruise the harbour with Aboriginal guides. Visit rock-carvings and old Aboriginal settlements and stop off for a traditional Aboriginal welcome on Clark Island. Off the boat, you can taste bush food and learn about Aboriginal use of plants on a walking tour through Sydney’s lush harbourside Botanical Gardens.
Discover it the same way Aboriginal Australians have passed it down for at least 50,000 years - through art, dance, myths, music and the land itself. See Aboriginal art and contemporary dance in the cities. Or head to the outback and listen to Dreamtime myths of creation by the campfire. Bushwalk and snorkel, share bush-tucker or learn to craft spears and catch fish in the traditional way. Let Aboriginal Australians help you understand this ancient land and its spirituality and wonder.
Six special places you can connect to Aboriginal Australia
Uluru1. Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, Northern Territory
Visit Uluru and you’ll see why the rock and surrounding land have such huge spiritual significance for the Anangu Aboriginal people. According to their creation myths, ancestral spirits formed Uluru, which lies in Australia's red centre like an enormous, moody heart. Aboriginal guides will share these ancient tales as you walk around the rock’s base. Just 32 kilometres away is another sacred site - Kata Tjuta. You’ll be awestruck by these steep, rounded, russet domes over 3,500 hectares.
Kimberley2. Kimberley, Western Australia
Featuring vast horizons and ancient gorges, the Kimberley region is one of the world’s last great wilderness areas. See Wandjina figures painted in caves and the mysterious Gwion Gwion paintings. Ride a camel on Broome’s breathtaking Cable Beach and 4WD the red-dirt road along the Dampier Peninsula. Learn the legend of the orange and black beehive domes of the Bungle Bungles and fly over vast Lake Argyle in Kununurra.
The Daintree3. The Daintree, Queensland
More than 135 million years old, our stunning Daintree Rainforest is the oldest rainforest in the world. Traverse this canopy of green with traditional owners the Wujal Wujal people. Learn about bush tucker and fish for barramundi. See fresh-water crocodiles sunning themselves on the mangrove-lined river banks and rare tropical birds and animals, many of which are not found anywhere else on earth.
Coorong4. Coorong, South Australia
Become one with nature as you kayak along the lagoons and waterways of the Coorong. Your Ngarrindjeri guide will tell you about bush tucker, traditional medicines and the incredible local birdlife. As night falls, you can listen to stories unfold and smell the mouth-watering aroma of fresh damper (outback bread) as it is pulled from the embers of a campfire.
Gippsland 5. Gippsland, Victoria
Discover a rich Aboriginal history along Gippsland’s rugged coastline. Wander the fern gullies, sandy beaches and eucalypt forests of the sacred land now known as Wilsons Promontory National Park. Trace Aboriginal trading routes up to 18,000 years old. Watch local Aboriginal people make baskets, spears, shields and canoes in the traditional way at Bairnsdale. Or learn where the Dreamtime touched the rugged gorges, rainforest and gullies of Woolshed Creek.
Sydney harbour cruise6. Sydney cultural tours, New South Wales
Get a glimpse into the lives of Sydney’s original inhabitants on a harbour cruise or walking tour. You can learn the Aboriginal names and meanings of significant Sydney landmarks as you cruise the harbour with Aboriginal guides. Visit rock-carvings and old Aboriginal settlements and stop off for a traditional Aboriginal welcome on Clark Island. Off the boat, you can taste bush food and learn about Aboriginal use of plants on a walking tour through Sydney’s lush harbourside Botanical Gardens.
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