Vocabulary Review for "Japanese Politicians...War Shrine"

This vocabulary review is from this article:
http://convostartersenglish.blogspot.com/2013/05/japanese-government-officials-will.html

Words to be used:

to pledge, a memorial, an outcry
a protest, to elaborate, an atrocity
a landmark decision, to be convicted, a symbol

Exercise:

1)  Brown vs. The Board of Education was a ____________________ by the US Supreme Court, which made it illegal for a public school system to prevent African American students from attending schools with white students.

2)  When Coca Cola tried to change the formula of its drink a few years ago, there was an ______________ and many people pledged that they would not drink the new version.

3)  The American Eagle is the official ____________ of the United States of America.  It holds arrows in one claw and an olive branch in the other.  What does this mean?  Basically it means that the US wishes to have peace with other countries, but will fight if necessary. (a 'claw' is a bird's foot)

4)  Recently many organizations around the USA raised a lot of money so that a ______________ could be built to honor the memory of Martin Luther King Jr., the Civil Rights activist.

5)  Although Richard Nixon did many things that were morally wrong as president of the United States, he was never actually ______________ of a crime.

6) Hiroshima was a Japanese city which did not have any military purpose.  When the USA dropped an atomic bomb on that city, many innocent people died.  Yet, this has never been classified as an ________________ in history books, since the US government claimed it was necessary to drop the bomb to end the war quickly.

7)  When I went off to college, my parents _____________ that they would support me as well as they could financially, even though they were relatively poor.

8)  I didn't quite understand the plan fully.  It seemed to vague.  That's the reason why I asked him to ___________________.

9)  Many historians believe that the Vietnam War might have lasted longer if so many young Americans had not ______________ the war as being morally wrong.


Answers are below:




Farther down:




Answers:

1) landmark decision
2) outcry
3) symbol
4) memorial
5) convicted
6) atrocity
7) pledged
8) elaborate
9) protested

Vocabulary Review for "Taiwan and The Philippines"

This vocabulary review is from this article:
http://convostartersenglish.blogspot.com/2013/05/tension-between-taiwan-and-philippines.html
Please review the vocabulary at this link before doing the exercise.

Words to be used:

a dispute, a rift, to oscillate,
to implement,  compensation, sloppy
tension, to impose sanctions, aviation

Exercise:

1) Although Howard Hughes was a movie producer, he became famous because of his feats (amazing actions) in the field of ______________.  For instance, he built one of the largest airplanes ever: The Spruce Goose.

2) Although Japan and Korean are allies and normally have friendly relations, the dispute over the island the Koreans call Dokdo and the Japanese call Takeshima has created a ___________ in relations between the two countries.

3)  If a person does a job for an employer, he/she is certainly entitled to a fair amount of ________________.

4) Scientists are still _____________ whether or not global warming is a fact or not with many conservative politicians.  The politicians claim that changes in global temperature are natural and are not due to carbon emissions.

5)  I used to like Bob, until I learned that he had been gossiping about me.  He knows that I know that he was gossiping, so now, every time I see him, there is a great amount of ______________ between us.

6) Joe couldn't make up his made. He kept ____________ between going back to graduate school and staying at a job he didn't like.

7) The current educational strategy to help poorer students do as well as wealthier students has not worked. It is time we ____________ a new policy in which we helped lower income families make more money to provide their children with better lives, and then better educations.

8)  Bob was a genius.  But, when Bob showed up for his job interview, he looked really ___________. His suit was wrinkled, there was a stain on his tie and the employer did not want to hire someone who looked like a slob (a slob is a messy, dirty person).

9) Whenever North Korea does something terrible, the USA tries to __________________ against North Korea in the United Nations.  Unfortunately, this has not changed the attitude of the government there.

Answers are below:




Keep going down please"





Farther down:



Here they are:


The answers:


1. aviation
2. rift
3. compensation
4. disputing
5. tension
6. oscillating
7  implemented
8. sloppy
9. impose sanctions
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If you like art, you might like my new blog about artists who show their work in New York City:
http://artgallerystuff.blogspot.com/
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Yes, I'm also the guy who created the scandal in Asia awhile ago. :P

Links:
http://nwww.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20100511000742

http://nwww.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20100512000682

http://www.shoutcastblog.com/2010/05/11/wondergirls-were-mistreated-by-jyp-entertainment/
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Yes, I'm the guy who wrote the very funny ESL book: New York City Sucks, But You'll Wanna Live Here Anyway.  
http://www.amazon.com/Sucks-Youll-Wanna-Anyway-ebook/dp/B004TSPAQS

If this page is useful to you, please buy the book (it's quite inexpensive and useful!!!!). If you don't have an e-reader, drop me a line at djg51qu@gmail.com and I'll send you a free copy via Word file. Let me know whether you have Word 2010 or an earlier version.

Tension between Taiwan and The Philippines

A hot issue between many East Asian countries has been who owns which islands which lie between the various countries.  This is an especially divisive (dividing/separating) issue among the various countries. 

Recently when the government of Japan 'purchased' an island from individuals who had been living there (in an attempt to stop extreme Japanese nationalists from purchasing the island), the Chinese government became irate (very angry) and there were many protests in China against Japan.  Many Japanese businesses were vandalized (the property was destroyed or damaged) and many Chinese people stopped buying Japanese goods. 

A famous example of a heated disagreement concerning islands has been Korea's claim that it owns an island which it calls Dokdo, but which Japan claims to own and which it calls Takeshima.  The instance above concerns islands China refers to as the Diaoyu Islands while Japan refers to the same islands as being a part of their territory, calling them the Senaku Islands.

Sometimes three or more Asian countries can be involved in disputes concerning various islands that lie between the various countries.  Some islands seem to be claimed by Vietnam, The Philippines, China and Taiwan at the same time.

Recently a Filipino sailor from the Philippine Coast Guard did the unthinkable - he shot a 65 year old Taiwanese fisherman and killed him.  Here is a photo of the man who was shot. The person next to the photo is the president of Taiwan.

Even though the Philippines finally issued an apology, the government of Taiwan does not seem satisfied.  It could be that the government of Taiwan is using this situation for political purposes now, but it also seems necessary for Taiwan to take strong action to make sure this does not happen again.

The article:

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2013-05/16/content_16502454.htm

Vocabulary with simple definitions:

tension - stress; there might be a feeling of tension between two people if they don't like each other or if they disagree with each other.

a dispute - a disagreement

to impose sanctions - if one country imposes sanctions on another, it provides some type of economic punishment in regard to the other country.  "To impose on" means "to force on." A 'sanction' is a type of punishment.

a rift - a separation, a disagreement that moves two groups or people farther apart

the initiation - the beginning

oscillating - changing directions; if one oscillates a lot, one changes his/her mind a lot

a visa waiver program - a waiver means that something normally required will not be required.  For instance, in the USA, if a student is too poor to pay for an SAT test, the testing company will waive his fee.  So a visa waiver program is a program that waives the need for a visa to enter a country.

bilateral - it affects both sides

aviation - flying

to implement - to start something, to put something in place

compensation - a monetary (money)  amount given to someone

sincerity - you are sincere if you really mean something, if you are genuine about something

sloppy - messy, not organized.  If a person is wearing sloppy clothing, the clothing is not neat, and does not look nice because it hasn't been taken care of.  If a person is a sloppy eater, food might fall out of his mouth as he/she eats.

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1) What do you think the Philippines should do in this matter?  Initially they claimed the fishing boat was deliberately interfering with their Coast Guard ship.

2)  Do you think Taiwan is making a big deal out of this situation?

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If you like art, you might like my new blog about artists who show their work in New York City:
http://artgallerystuff.blogspot.com/
-----------------------------------------------------------
Yes, I'm also the guy who created the scandal in Asia awhile ago. :P

Links:
http://nwww.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20100511000742

http://nwww.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20100512000682

http://www.shoutcastblog.com/2010/05/11/wondergirls-were-mistreated-by-jyp-entertainment/
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Yes, I'm the guy who wrote the very funny ESL book: New York City Sucks, But You'll Wanna Live Here Anyway.  
http://www.amazon.com/Sucks-Youll-Wanna-Anyway-ebook/dp/B004TSPAQS

If this page is useful to you, please buy the book (it's quite inexpensive and useful!!!!). If you don't have an e-reader, drop me a line at djg51qu@gmail.com and I'll send you a free copy via Word file. Let me know whether you have Word 2010 or an earlier version.

Vocabulary Review for "Russian NGOs"

This vocabulary review comes from this article:
http://convostartersenglish.blogspot.com/2013/05/should-russian-ngos-register-as-foreign.html
Please review the vocabulary before doing the exercise.

Answers are below the exercise.

Words to be used:

to crackdown on, controversial, an activist
to assure, to enforce, to cast suspicion on
to meddle in, treason

Verbs can be used in various tenses.

1) Although there are laws against restaurants using illegal immigrants as waiters and other staff members, these laws are never _______________. A huge proportion of restaurants in New York City use less expensive illegals as staff members and waitstaff.

2)  Benedict Arnold is the person most Americans would think of when you mention the
word ________________.  He was a General for the American army during the Revolution, but switched sides and joined the English.

3)  Many countries around the world felt that President George Bush ______________ in the affairs of other countries too often.  They welcomed Obama's approach of trying to keep the US out of the affairs of other nations.

4)  Because there was too much litter (garbage) being thrown onto subway tracks, the police decided to ________________ on litterbugs (this is a term for people who litter - who throw little pieces of garbage on the street or subway tracks).  Police began actively looking for litterbugs and giving them severe fines.

5)  The fact that Joe had had a fight with his roommate two nights previous to the roommate's disappearance __________________ on Joe.  The police needed to ask him some questions.

6)  The issue of gay marriage was quite ______________, with many people supporting it and many opposing it.  Now that it is legal in New York, however, people have forgotten the issue and don't seem to care any more.

7)  When I bought the used laptop I was ____________ that it was in good condition and that it had not been used much in the past.  However, the hard drive soon died.

8)  Mike considered himself to be a "good-government" _______________. When he saw instances of corruption or dishonesty at his government office, he reported this to the proper authorities.

Answers are below:



/
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/
/
/
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A little farther please:
/
/
/
/
/
/
/Here they are:

Answers:

1) enforced
2) treason
3) meddled
4) crackdown
5) cast suspicion
6) controversial
7) assured
8) activist

Should Russian NGOs Register as Foreign Agents If They Receive US Donations?

Last year the US Congress passed a law preventing Russian lawmakers from coming to the USA if the lawmakers are considered to have engaged in "human rights" violations.  The law is called The Magnitsky Act.  Magnitsky was a Russian businessman who died in a Russian jail in 2009.

The Russian Government has accused the US Congress and President Obama of merely playing politics and not showing a concern for human rights.  In retaliation (revenge, as a consequence) Vladimir Putin passed a law preventing US families from adopting Russian babies.

The diplomatic situation between Russia and the USA does not seem to be getting better.

Recently the US Secretary of State, John Kerry, traveled to Russia and spoke to individuals who were involved with Russian NGOs (non-governmental organizations).  Usually such organizations do charitable or social-service work in a country.

The Russian government has passed a law requiring Russian NGOs to register with the state as "foreign agents" if the NGOs receive foreign money and if the NGOs are involved in political activities (and not purely charitable activities).

Apparently many organizations from the USA donate to Russian NGOs and therefore Kerry visited with these NGOs and met with officials from the Russian government, apparently to try to resolve any difficulties.

The Russian government does not believe that foreign countries should be allowed to influence Russian politics, while Kerry and the NGOs seem to be arguing that the Russian government just wants to stop political opponents from gaining power. 

Is the USA trying to secretly influence Russian politics or is Vladimir Putin trying to stop organizations that oppose his policies from gaining power?

The article:

http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-05-08/world/39104213_1_ngos-pavel-chikov-agora

Vocabulary from the article:

a crackdown - this is when a government begins to take serious action against something they feel is illegal or wrong.

to mount - to increase.  Mounting pressure means increasing pressure.  A Mounting crackdown means increasing action by the government to stop something.

controversial - a controversial topic is something people like to argue about.

an activist - someone who tries to change something for the better in his society.

to assure someone - to make it clear to someone that you care and will try to help them. To reassure. To try to convince someone that something will happen. i.e. I assure you that I will be able to meet you at 3pm tomorrow.  Please don't worry!

legal pressure - legal pressure is legal force being applied to these organizations.

a civil war - a war within a country.

to enforce - to make sure that the laws are obeyed and that people who break the laws will be punished.

vaguely defined political activities -  not clearly defined.  So the author of the article is trying to make it seem as if the Russian government has not established a clear definition of what a political activity might be.

to register - to declare that you are doing something to the government; to fill out a form stating you are doing something.

foreign agents - people who work for a foreign government or source; people who are assisting some foreign source.

to recall - to remember, to remind

Soviet-era propaganda -  propaganda is information provided by a government to make the government look good or to make the government's enemies look bad.  To be honest, this article looks like propaganda to make the US government look good and the Russian government look bad.  Sometimes US news stories are 'biased' (prejudiced) toward the US government (they make the US government look good).  I don't know the complete truth about this situation, but I do know that the US government has gotten involved in the politics of many foreign countries in the past.

to cast suspicion on s/o- if you are suspicious of a person, you do not trust the person.  To cast suspicion on someone means to indicate you are suspicious of that person or organization.

undermining their credibility - to destroy their credibility.  To make it seem as if they are not believable.

interpretation - what a person believes or the conclusions a person draws from reading or seeing something.

a spy - someone who gathers information illegally for a foreign government.

to accuse s/o of s/t - to claim or state that someone did something wrong.

a front - a front organization is a 'fake' organization that is really serving a hidden purpose.  Putin claims that many of these NGOs are really just working for the US government.

to meddle in - to get involved in, to interfere in

to raid a group - to invade the group; to suddenly show up and investigate the group without the group's prior (previous) knowledge.

an election monitoring group - a group which tries to make sure that elections are fair.

to be fined - to be punished by being forced to pay a certain amount of money.

to appeal a court decision - to go to a higher court and ask that a decision be overturned (changed).

"Mind your own business!" - You hear this every once in awhile - it means, "Worry about your own things!  Do not worry about what I am doing!"

unduly - unfairly.

revisions - changes.

treason - when someone does something to harm his own society or government.

advocacy - if you advocate for something, you promote something or encourage people to believe or accept something.

a watchdog organization - an organization that watches how the government works and reports on illegal activities or corrupt (dishonest) activities.

a crane sanctuary - a crane is a type of bird with a long neck.  A sanctuary is a place where cranes can safely live.  So the author claims that a crane sanctuary - which is something non-political - was punished according to this new law.

Japanese Government Officials Will Continue Visiting A Controversial Shrine

Although World War II ended almost 70 years ago, various East Asian countries cannot forget some of the terrible things that happened.

For instance, many Koreans find it hard to forget that their country was occupied (Japanese soldiers had control of their land) from 1910 to 1945 and many Chinese cannot forget atrocities like Nanjing. (an atrocity is something horrible that happens involving the killing/murder of innocent people)

Here is an article about what the Japanese military did in Nanjing:
http://www.historyplace.com/worldhistory/genocide/nanking.htm

To many Americans, this attitude seems strange because the war ended so long ago.  Most, if not all of the people responsible for the war, are dead. Indeed, in Europe animosity (bad feelings) over World War II does not seem to exist.  It has become ancient history.

Many of my Asian students have different theories as to why World War II has not been forgotten in Asia.  Many of my Korean and Chinese students say that Japan never fully or sincerely apologized for what they did in the war.  Many of those students also claim that the war is not reported accurately (truthfully) in Japanese history books.  Some of my Japanese students, however, tell me that an apology was issued (given) but that there are political reasons as to why the war has not been forgotten.

One of the most controversial issues causing problems between Japan and China and Korea involves the Yasukuni War Shrine. 

Each year Japanese politicians visit the shrine to pay respect to the Japanese young men who died in World War II.  China and Korea object to this because they believe that many of the Japanese war dead committed terrible actions against people in China and Korea

(A controversial issue or topic is a topic that people like to argue about.  A shrine is like a holy or sacred place).

Here is a brief article stating that members of the Japanese government will continue to visit the shrine since they feel this is an "internal" Japanese matter.  Basically they are saying that every country has the right to do what it wants inside of itself.  If Japanese politicians want to honor their war dead, no other country has the right to tell them not to.

The article:

http://japandailypress.com/ldp-policy-chief-pledges-to-continue-visiting-yasukuni-shrine-despite-asian-protests-1328688


Vocabulary from the article:

to pledge - to promise.

a ruling party - the political party that has power currently.

a memorial - a place people go to remember something from the past.  In Brooklyn there is an amazing memorial to American soldiers who died in the 1770s and 80s in the Revolutionary War. Specifically, the memorial is for Americans who were taken prisoner by the English and who died on prison ships.  It's been a favorite place of mine to visit over the years. http://www.prisonshipmartyrs.com/Introduction.html

the outcry - complaints; when people speak out against what they feel is wrong

protests - when people take action to show that they disapprove of some policy or action

a mass visit - many people visited at one time

convicted of war crimes - after WWII the USA held war-crimes trials and found 14 Japanese soldiers guilty.  These soldiers were convicted by an American court.

a symbol - something that represents something else

a past aggression - a warlike action taken in the past

to be colonized - America was colonized initially by England.  Colonization is when a stronger country takes land from a weaker country and tries to duplicate itself there.  To colonize a country is to take it over and to try to make it look like your own country to serve your own country.

to be vocal in condemning something - to be very loud about saying something is wrong

the principle of non-interference - a principle is a starting point or a basic belief that can be shared by many people.  In 1972 both countries agreed not to interfere in each other's internal affairs.

tremendous sufferings - it should be tremendous suffering.  Suffering is non-countable.

a landmark apology - a famous apology.

The policy chief said... - Basically this politician seems to be saying that Japan feared becoming a colony of Western countries and this was why Japan developed its military and attacked other countries.

to revise an apology - to change an apology

an atrocity - something horrible that involves the killing/murder of innocent people.  The term is usually used in relation to something horrible that happened in a war.

to elaborate - to add details. Without elaborating - without adding details.

post-war - after the war.  So Abe seems to be saying that he might agree that some Japanese soldiers or military leaders had been war criminals.

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What do you think?  Does Japan have a right to honor its war dead?  Should China and Korea continue protesting this action each year?

Vocabulary Review: 9 Words from "Tools of Terrorism in The USA"

Here are nine highly useful words from the posting: Tools of Terrorism in The USA.

Here is the article: http://convostartersenglish.blogspot.com/2013/04/tools-of-terrorism-in-usa.html

Please test yourself on these words.  If you have trouble remembering the meanings of the words, please refer back to the article from last month.

Before I begin posting more articles, I want to do a few more vocabulary reviews. I think these reviews will really help you.

Words to be used:
(In this exercise, some words are used twice.)

to bolster, a hazard, resilient
incendiary, crude, to disrupt
an insurgent, passersby, vigilant 

Exercise:

1) Whenever we learn a new type of concept, at first we have a ____________ understanding of it; later we begin to see the concept more and more clearly and perfectly.

2)  This is at least a 12 person project, and we only have 8 staff members.  We are going to have to _____________ our staff by 4 people.

3)  When oil is drilled from the ground, it is initially in its ___________ or basic form.  Through various refining processes, oil becomes gasoline or various other substances.

4)  Every person in every city has to now realize that large, unattended (left alone) packages are a serious _______________.  People in Boston did not seem to realize that two unattended backpacks contained bombs that killed 3 people and wounded over 200.

5)  If a person loses his job, he has to be _______________.  It's important to bounce right back and to look for another.

6)  Once I felt dizzy, lost consciousness and then collapsed on 5th avenue in Manhattan. When I regained my consciousness, I noticed that all the _________________ were avoiding me because helping me would have made them late for their appointments.  

7)  Bob is one of the most ____________ guys I know.  He loved his father but right after his father's death he was right back at work.  he recovered from the loss quickly.

8)  Many people think that Americans have an unlimited freedom of speech.  No, this is not true.  One type of speech that is prohibited is called _________________ speech.  You cannot encourage a group of people to commit an act of violence.

9)  These days, when I read something, I turn off all my electronic appliances, since I do not want some incoming e-mail, text message or phone call to ____________ my thoughts.

10)  The people of New York City have learned to be extra _______________.  If something doesn't look right, they take action and call the police.  This is one reason why there have not been terrorist attacks here since 2001.

11.  Many young men around the world are often influenced by the _____________ speech of extremist religious figures, who encourage others to use violence to change things in the world.

12. You simply cannot learn a new language unless you believe you can learn it, and everyone at any age can learn a new language.  We all have to ___________ our self-confidence.

13.  Although the war against Iraq seemed to be over in 2003, shortly after it began, the US military did not realize that many _______________ would begin to secretly attack US soldiers and Iraqi civilians.

14.  While the politician was speaking, one person who disagreed with her kept yelling in order to ____________ her speech.

Answers are below:



Farther down....



A little farther


Just a little more...


Here you go:

Answers:

1. crude
2. bolster
3. crude
4. hazard
5. resilient
6. passersby
7. resilient
8. incendiary
9. disrupt
10. vigilant
11. incendiary
12. bolster
13. insurgents
14. disrupt