Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Adventures for a Cause (3)

The Ice Run
Those willing to brave frigid temperatures can try the Ice Run, driving old Ural motorcycles across Siberia in February. Usually rusty, with a design that has remained unchanged since before 1939, these vehicles are sure to break down at some point. But to the Adventurists, that's part of of the excitement. So is the weather, often with temperatures around -30 degrees Celsius, sometimes colder, with 40 mile-per-hour winds.

The Mototaxi Junket
Continuing the trend of traversing the world's wildest terrain in the world's least reliable vehicles, the Adventurists present the Mototaxi Junket.

Peru's mototaxis resemble 125cc scooters with a wide seat on the back and minimal steering and brakes. Riders take them across Peru, traversing mountains so high that the mototaxis' motors sometimes struggle to start, then plunging into the Amazon rain forest basin. So there you have it - six of the craziest journeys ever. Do you have a taste for adventure, a disregard for comfort safety and a desire to help rain forests?

Then join the Adventurists in their quest to make the world a better - and more exciting - place.

Info Cloud

I never thought we'd ever see both metric and U.S. customary unit measurements mentioned in the same sentence.

That is a rare occurrence indeed.

It reminds me of Americans, who more and more, are living and working among both systems of measurements.

Right.  Even though the United States is one of three countries in the world that hasn't made the metric system mandatory.  The other two countries being Liberia and Myanmar.

There is evidence that metrication in the U.S. is happening, albeit very slowly.

One statistic tells us thirty percent of products in the U.S. are now manufactured using the metric system.

Most of these products display both U.S. customary units and metric units, like on a car speedometer and the information on the food product labels.

My water bottle has both measurements, as does my ruler.

Other American products are manufactured in metric units only.

There are fewer examples of this, but they do exist, like the two liter soda bottle and medicines from the pharmaceutical industry.

Okay, American opposition to enforce metrication is strong.

So, using both systems at the same time, like we just saw in today's lesson, will likely continue for some time.


Grammar Gym
So there you have it - six of the craziest journeys ever you could possibly take.
So there you have it = That's it.
- There you have it, ladies and gentlemen, the Mona Lisa.

Language Lab
frigid adj. 寒冷的, 極冷的
/ˈfrɪʤəd/
very cold [= icy]
- The actors had to jump into the frigid water for the scene.
為了這場戲,  這些演員必需跳進寒冷的水中
frigid adj. 冷淡的, 不友善的
not friendly or kind [= cold, icy, frosty]
- The funny stories the chairperson told changed the frigid atmosphere of the meeting.
主席好玩的故事改變了這個會議冷冰冰的氣氛

traverse v. 橫越, 通過 [tra字首-穿越/ verse 字根-轉彎]
/trəˈvɚs/
to move across (an area)
to move across, over, or through something, especially an area of land or water
- We traversed the desert by jeep.
我們開吉普車穿越沙漠
- The tour guide told us to traverse the suspension bridge with care.
導遊跟我們說穿越吊橋的時候要小心

minimal adj. [mini字根-小/極少的, 極有限的 ]
very small or slight in size or amount
- Tom's minimal income can't support his family.
Tom 有限的薪水沒有辦法養家
- Only minimal damage was caused by the hurricane.
maximal 最大的最多的
greatest or highest possible
- We made the maximal use of our free time in Rome and visited many sites.

disregard n.忽視, 不再乎, 不管 [dis 否定/ regard 留意, 注意 ]
the act of ignoring something or treating something as unimportant [noncount]
- The disregard Ben had for his parents' advice was obvious.
disregard v.
to ignore (something) or treat (something) as unimportant
- The boy completely disregards other people's feelings.


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