California Here I Come (1)

• How did the opportunity arise?
• A paper, an exam, and an interview

A dream come true

When I was a kid, I saw a lot of American cartoons and movies. Some friends had traveled to or studied in the U.S., and I wanted to visit America. I thought I’d have to wait many years, but miracles happen.

One day, I received a notice from my high school alumni association. It was about an all-expenses-paid study tour to California. Everyone in high school could apply, and the association would choose four winners.

First, I had to write a paper titled “What’s the influence of information digitization in modern life?” Ten students would proceed to the next level. I had never written a paper before so I was very surprised my paper was selected! Second was a written examination and interview. I just did a self-introduction for the interview. And I didn’t find the written exam hard because I’ve been reading Studio Classroom for years. I had no problem with the vocabulary or listening.

A month later, I burst into tears of joy when my dream came true!


Info Cloud
Teaching Topic: What are You Afraid of? 克服對英文的恐懼
把英文學好需要下功夫, 每天讀英文就會有幫助 :-)

Closer Look
I didn’t find the written exam hard.
find: to feel or have an opinion about something
to find [something] [description]
- I find his actions silly.
- I find the story ridiculous.

Language Lab
alumni n. [單數形alumnus]
[plural] the former students of a school, college etc:
- My college's alumni association held a banquet last night at the Hilton.
- Hank is an alumnus of Boston University.
- Several alumni established a fund to help disadvantaged students.

all-expenses-paid 全額的, 包含一切費用的
having all of your costs for hotels, travel, meals etc paid for by someone else:
- Chloe's vacation to Paris is an all-expenses-paid trip.
- Tommy's all-expenses-paid vacation in Maui really refreshed him.

digitization n. 數位化
- Digitization has changed the way music albums are produced.
- Digitization of patients' medical records is time-consuming but worthwhile.

proceed v.
to continue to do something that has already been planned or started
- We will proceed to the next stage of our plan when we're ready.
to move in a particular direction
proceed to/towards/into etc
- Please proceed to the boarding gate as soon as possible.

mms://203.69.69.81/studio/20150326baaf240aa707fca39faaa29a4412d34558d6d5fcf4821f1ce60e2026a47a10095aa.wma