This is the first long article I read about government. The knowledge of law, government, politics and history is quite unfamiliar with me. The stopwatch showed I totally use 28 minutes to read this article at first time. You can imagine how difficult for me to read such a long article.

To be frank, I don't understand the main idea of the article at all. There are so many new words and phrases. Also, some concepts about the government are unfamiliar with me. As a student majoring at engineering, I hardly have access to the materials about these. I must know more about the knowledge of social science. Attending this class may be a very good opportunity for me to enrich my knowledge. Here I write some words as a perception after reading the article. I've got a lot more to study.

Day 3

Here are some new words I met when I read the article in depth.

• confounded --- used when describing something to show that you are annoyed.

  eg. I can't close this confounded window!

  In the article the word used as an adjective. And the verb form of confounded is confounded.

• vice --- evil or immoral behavior; an evil or immoral quality in somebody's character.

  eg. - The demand for certainty is one which is natural to man, but is nevertheless an intellectual vice.

• calamity --- an event that causes great damage to people's lives, property, etc.

  1. Whatever the cause of Venus's climate calamity, could life have ever survived such an ordeal?
  2. That word, calamity, refers to a disastrous event with significant loss and suffering.

• sequestered --- [usually before noun] (literary)(of a place) quite and far away from people.

  a sequestered house/village

• reciprocal --- involving ten people or groups who agree to help each other or behave in the same way to each other

  The plan will only work if both sides fulfill their reciprocal [=mutual] obligations.

• supersede --- to replace

• impregnable --- strong and impossible to defeat or change.

  The Prime Minister’s position is no longer impregnable.O

• prudence - a sensible and careful attitude that makes you avoid unnecessary risks.

  a rather formal use: Banks should show more prudence in lending money.

• bewildered - totally confused

  very confused and surprised when something unusual and unexpected happens to you:

  He was bewildered to find three policemen at the front door.be bewilder policeman | Bewildered train passengers watched as the man was arrested.bewilderpassengerwatchbearrest | At first she was bewildered by all the noise and activity of the city.

• farcical - a situation or event that is farcical is very silly and badly organized:

  Opposition leaders described the government's plan as 'farcical'.

  farcical films

• obstinate - determined not to change your ideas, behaviour, opinions etc, even when other people think you are being unreasonable SYN stubborn:

  Don't be so obstinate!

  He was the most obstinate man I've ever met.

These word are foreign to me. I looked them up in the dictionaries and made some notes about some common usages.

I hope I can make a little progress every day.

day 5_rule of law

词汇笔记

• fall short of to fail to reach the standard that you expected or need

  The hotel fell far short of their expectations.

  fall far short of...

• strive to 1. make great efforts to achieve or obtain something

  We must strive to secure steady growth.

  2.struggle or fight vigorously.

  scholars must strive against bias.

• tall order something very difficult that someone expects you to do

  To score four goals in one game is a tall order, even
  for him.

• risk 1. a situation involving exposure to danger

  Flouting the law was much of a risk.

  1. the possibility that something unpleasant or unwelcome will happen.

     reduce the risk of heart disease.

• substantive

  dealing with things that are important or real

  The State Department reported that substantive discussions had taken place with Beijing.

• subvert

  1. to try to destroy the power and influence of a government or the established system:

     an attempt to subvert the democratic process

  2. to destroy someone's beliefs or loyalty.

• enact

  1. to act in a play or story, etc:

     a drama enacted on a darkened stage.

  2. to make a proposal in a law:

     Congress refused to enact the bill.

• arbitrary

  1. not planned or chosen for a particular reason

     An arbitrary number has been assigned each district.

  2. done without concern for what is fair or right

     The number was arbitrarily chosen.

• crack down

  to start to be strict about punishing people for doing something that is illegal or not allowed: to enforce a law or rule more strictly

  1. People have been violating this law for years, and now the government is finally starting to crack down.
  2. Authorities are cracking down on companies that pollute.

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• talk past

  1. In closed-source development they're both stuck in these roles, and tend to talk past each other and find each other deeply frustrating.
  2. "With all that is at stake today, we cannot afford to talk past one another", Obama said on Saturday in his weekly radio speech.

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