Life in Nepal: Part 2 (1)

This South Asian country proved to be a world away

"Look at the view! It's beautiful," my translator encouraged me. Rolling hills and valleys stretched out before us, dotted with trees and tiny huts, but I could barely manage to glance at it. I clutched her arm instead. We were in a bus on an unpaved, single-lane mountain road, mere feet away from the edge of a cliff. I didn't want to watch when we plunged to our deaths.

We were on our way to Dolakha, a mountain village in Nepal where the nonprofit I was interning with had a field office.

They were teaching local women how to read and write, how to tend to their families' basic needs and how to use and pay back a microloan.

I was excited and terrified. The bus ride alone was making me have second thoughts. People crowded into the seats and aisles, and chickens and goats rode on the luggage rack on top. There was no door on the bus, but a man stood in the opening to watch how close we got to the edge of the cliff. The 8-hour journey passed to the sound of old Bollywood love songs that crackled over ancient speakers.


Info Cloud
Teaching Topic: Scenery vs. View

Let's say you're traveling in a foreign land like the author of our lesson today, and you've come to a beautiful place.
How do you describe what you see?

Well, you can say what the translator in our lesson says, "Look at the view. It's very beautiful."
Or you can say,  "The scenery is beautiful."

That's right. Both "view" and "scenery" can be used to describe a beautiful place.
However, there's a big difference between the two.

Yes there is. "Scenery" is an uncountable noun, so it cannot be plural.
You can say "the scenery is really beautiful" or "an area has some really beautiful scenery."

"View," on the other hand, is a countable noun.
For example, "The views from the summit are spectacular."

So, don't say, "What a beautiful scenery."
It should be, "What a beautiful view."

Or, "What beautiful scenery."

Another difference is that a "view" is what you see from a particular location.
If you talk about a "restaurant with a view," you're referring to the particular view as seen from that restaurant.

"Scenery," on the other hand, is the whole picture, so to speak.
"I love mountain scenery. Whenever I go to the mountains, I'm struck by how beautiful the mountains are."



Grammar Gym
"We were in a bus on an unpaved, single-lane mountain road, mere feet away from the edge of a cliff. "
mere: how something is so small or is in such small amounts

- Mere seconds after Julia came home without her umbrella, it started raining.
- This cake is a great low-calorie dessert - it only has a mere spoon of sugar in it.


Language Lab
clutch v.緊握、抓住
/ˈklʌtʃ/
to hold onto (someone or something) tightly with your hand;
to try to hold onto someone or something by reaching with your hand — usually + at
- The old lady clutched at the railing while she was climbing the stairs.
這位老太太爬樓梯時，緊緊抓住扶手
- Janet clutched at a log in the river because she couldn't swim.
Janet緊抓住河裡的一塊木頭，因為她不會游泳

plunge v.
/ˈplʌnʤ/
to fall or jump suddenly from a high place
to fall or drop suddenly in amount, value, etc
- The truck plunged down the cliff and exploded.
這台卡車衝下山崖，然後爆炸
plunge in/into [phrasal verb]
plunge (something) in or plunge (something) into (something) : to push (something) into (something) quickly and forcefully
- She plunged the carrots and beans into the boiling water.
她把胡蘿蔔和豆子放入煮沸的水中

microloan n.小額貸款
- The family rebuilt their house through a microloan.
這個家庭用小額貸款重建他們的房子
- The Microloan Program in Africa helped a lot of disadvantaged people to star new lives.
非洲的小額貸款計畫幫助許多貧困的人重獲新生

crackle v.發出細微的爆裂聲
- Under the night sky, the camp fire crackled and gave off sparks.
夜空下，營火劈啪作響並發出火花
 n.爆裂聲、劈啪聲
- The crackle of the radio was so annoying.


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