The reading passage lays out three theories to explain the extinction of sea cows around Bering Island off the coast of Siberia. According to the lecturer, who is not convinced by any of the theories, there should be other more reasonable explanations regarding the extinction.
The first hyphothesis provided in the passage is that the overhunting from native Siberian people has caused the extinction. The speaker, however, points out that this hyphothesis seems to have neglected the enormous size of the sea cows. The sea cows could have been 9 meters long and weighed 10 tons. Although the Siberian people might have hunted a few sea cows for food, it was unlikely that the small portion of these sea creatures captured by the native people resulted in the extinction.
The second theory availabe in the passage claims that the extinction of sea cows was caused by the decline in kelp, the main source of food for sea cows, as a result of disturbances in the ecosystems. The professor is skeptical about this thoery as well because should the ecosystems have changed as indicated in the passage, a much broader effect would have been brought forward. For example, people failed to see the number of whales diminishing around the same time when sea cows were disappearing.
The last argument presented in the passage attemps to convince us that the European fur traders were the culprits of the tragedy. Despite this, it is mentioned by the speaker that, indeed, there was evidence that the number of the sea cows was shrinking around the same time when European fur traders landed, but the sea cows, unforturnately, had been vanishing long before the arrival of the Europeans. This indicates that there had to be other ongoing factors that had been leading to the extinction of the sea cows.
Independent：
THINK TWICE ABOUT MODERN TECHNOLOGIES
While the inventions of cell phones, online games and social networking have been shaping how the world operates during the past decades and these technologies have been championed by people everywhere, it is easily overlooked that our next generation has been negatively affected by these trendy phenomena. In fact, it can be argued that such technologies have become barriers for the education of our children today.
Compared to the old days, children, especially teenagers, are devoting too much time - time that should be used for studying - on meaningless internet games and social media like Facebook and Twitter. My husband, who has been a middle school teacher for over 14 years, has told me multiple times that students have gradually lost their curiosities in academic courses. Over a decade ago when he began his teaching career, students had very limited access to cell phones, laptops or social media and they were much more excited and willing to follow the teachers. As a comparison to this, the students he is teaching now are more worried about how many people are "liking" their posts or what extremely violent web games they will play after school.
In addition to causing the loss of interest of students in school, cell phones, online games, and social media are twisting the values of our children. In the past, behaviors of humbleness, altruism, and trust were praised, but nowadays, thanks to modern technologies, especially social media, children seem to be more fixiated by the news where some rich young celebrity was driving under the influence or having a shopping frenzy in the Beverly Hills. Teachers, who should be the mentors of these kids, are being replaced by web blogs and opinionated posts when it comes to the education of right values.
Having said the above, it would be terribly unfair to ignore the convenience such advanced technologies have brought. Whenever students have acedamic questions, they can simply ask Siri or Google; if they want to sstudy from home or on the go, they have readily available access to online learning. Our lives are not and will never be what they used to be. Unfortunately, these incredible tools are not being exploited enough.
In conclusion, instead of being the guide of wisdom, certain technologies today have become hurdles to our children's education, which is by no means acceptable. Parents and schools are highly encouraged to think twice before introducing their kids into the technology world of temptations.
TPO32:
Integrated：
The reading passage lays out three possible theories as to where the strange sounds of 'quackers' came from. According to the professor, there are distinct problems that lie underneath each of these theories.
The first arguement proposed in the passage attempts to convince us that the 'quackers' were made by ocra whales. Although the speaker admits the existence of these whales roughly where the Russian submarines stationed, the whales tended to inhabit on the surface of the ocean instead of deep in the water where the submarines were. In addition, should the sounds have been from the ocra whales, the sailors would have been able to detect them.
The second theory available in the passage states that the sounds were in fact caused by giant squid. The lecturer points out that even though the squid might be a better candidate, it is unlikely that they were the creators of these sounds. This is because the 'quackers' were first noticed in the 1960s and disappeared in the 1980s, but the squid have been living under the ocean long before and long after the strange sounds were found, which indicates that the second theory is not plausible.
The third hypothesis raised in the passage claims that the 'quackers' were from the submarines of another country that were patrolling the region. The prefessor is not convinced that this hyphothesis would hold up because the engines of the submarines would make sounds, which would be loud enough to be picked up by the Russian submarines. Furthermore, there was no way that the submarines of the other country would move so fast as the movement of the 'quackers' indicated. It seems that the third hyphothesis fails to be reasonable enough to explain the cause of the strange sounds.
Independent：
This writing task reminds me of a serious topic I put plenty of thoughts on when I was in college. Are people happier today with all the modern convenience and wealth that is presented to them? What was once a puzzle to me has become so clear - people are and should be happier and more satisfied than people in the old days.
The first evidence to my conculsion comes from the stories my mother has been telling me since I was a child. The one distinctive idea, which is the noticable center of her stories, is that people, in general, have become wealthier. Being wealthy in my mother's perspective is not equal to being affordable to luxury items such as Chanel or Land Rover. For her, wealth has a more humble meaning: children can purchase new clothes if they want to; senior citizens need not to worry about food or health care when they have become too old to work. My mother told me that when she was a little girl, she needed to walk 20 miles to a different village to take a hot shower in the winter. It is my mother's moderate idea, which I completely agree, that people are and absolutely should be grateful about the life they have today.
Looking beyond the increased quality of life my mother has witnessed, it is also marked that humans are being bathed in the most advanced technologies of the entire history of earth. Take the cellphone as an example. How convenient it is now when you need to search for certain information, all you need to do is to tap your index finger on your phone! As a comparison, around a decade ago when my parents bought my first cell phone, I was already overwhelmed that I could only text or call anyone whenever I wanted. In addition to cellphones, so many other modern inventions and innovations have reshaped and improved people's living such as central AC and computer.
Where there's gold, there's dirt. It is only fair to admit that wealth and advanced technologies have also set forth challenges people have never witnessed in the past. Global warming, animal distinction, enormous gap between the poor and the rich - just to name a few. It is always easy to blame the delelopment of economy and science for every problem we have now, but people should possess more gratitute toward the treauses they have been granted. Furthermore, humankind should also remember that only economy and science can truely solve the problems that are in existence today.
TPO31
Integrated：
The passage claims that the vessels found were not likely to be sued as elctric batteries for various reasons. According to the lecturer, however, the arguments provided in the reading passage is far from convincing. In fact, the hyphothesis that the vessels were batteries might be correct.
The first reason available in the passage is that the vessels need to be attached to electricity conductors in order to be used as batteries while no metal wires were located near the vessels. The speaker points out that the vessles were not discovered directly by archaeologists. Instead, they were found by local people who might overlooked if there were metal materials around the vessles or they might have thrown the metal away as the metal might appeared to be uninteresting.
The second arguement provided in the passage is that the vessels were likely to be used for holding scrolls since the shape of these vessels resembles that of the copper cylinder discovered in the ruins of Seleucia. According to the lecturer, the resemblance in shape can be explained that the vessels were orginally designed for the purpose of holding scrolls, but as time went by, intellectual people may find that the vessels could generate electriciy when filled with water and other metal materials. The original usage could have been altered over time.
The third point presented in the passage is the lack of proper divice for which the electricity could be used for. Althought this might be true, the speaker further explains that, the electricity could be used for things other than electricy-replied device. For example, ancient poeple might present the phenomenon of electricity generated from the vessels as magic since they could cause shock or tingling when connected to people. Furthermore, the electricity could have been used for medical purposes as practiced in other periods of our history.
Independent：
GIVE BACK TO OUR COMMUNITIES
As the world's economy is growing and technology is advancing, our culture and tradition of altruism seems to be unbalancedly fading. Especially among young people who are soon to become the backbones of our society, the actions of helping their communities are practiced far from enough. A number of factors have contributed to this trend, a few of which will be discussed below.
The first thing to be blamed is that young people are educated to be overly protective of their own rights and benefits. It seems that the mainstream culture is strongly suggesting that people look after their own intests before reaching out to help others. When I was in shcool, teachers always instructed to be aware of our own safety before helping other people. Although this concept itself may not be flawed, people are taking this doctorine to far. For example, in China where I was born and raised, when young people see senior citizens who have fallen down and are apparently in need of help, a large portion of them would walk away because they were afraid that if they help the senior citizens, there might be a chance that the senior citizens blame those who helped them stand up for the fall . Young people would rather not put their intersts at risk.
Another devil that's playing against altruism is massive media. The traditional humble virtues like honestly, altruism, politeness seem to be long gone, being replaced by profit, selfishness, etc. Helping others are not as socially rewarded as they used to be. When you turn on the TV, how many times do you see stories about people helping their communities? On the contrary, how many times do you see reports about colleage students become millionaires over night? Based on my experice, the answer to the former question is "few" and to the latter is "too many."
Having said the above, it's worth being pointed out that by no way do I mean that young people are not help other people or helping our communities. Indeed, I have read heart-warming stories where young people donate they organs when they know they are about to die due to a servere car accidents.
What I intend to address is that in general, young people nowadays are not donating enough time and efforts to our communities. As such, we should embrace and bring back our traditional values that are evergreen: honesty, altruism, trust, politeness, etc.[/hide] 作者: wangrazor 时间: 2015-10-14 21:51
Mark一下！ 作者: oskird 时间: 2015-10-14 21:55
看一下！ 作者: tpp514114281 时间: 2015-10-14 22:01
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谢谢分享~~~~~作者: Xiaoy399 时间: 2015-10-15 02:30
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同意！ 作者: Appolo 时间: 2015-10-15 03:34 作者: savagecorona 时间: 2015-10-15 04:14
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哈哈，过来看看作者: 309853820 时间: 2015-10-15 07:28
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看看你的分享，谢谢作者: 郭小白kelly11 时间: 2015-10-15 08:42
运气好啊 啊啊啊啊 啊作者: xffree 时间: 2015-10-15 08:57
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ding~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~作者: Sandra好多法 时间: 2015-10-15 09:20
还有10天作者: ashleywang123 时间: 2015-10-15 09:21
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Mark一下！ 作者: caroliner7 时间: 2015-10-15 11:17
谢谢谢谢谢谢～～～～～作者: yvettecat 时间: 2015-10-15 12:40
非常感谢！作者: yvettecat 时间: 2015-10-15 12:44
非常感谢！作者: sophia8769 时间: 2015-10-15 12:54
ddddddddddddddddd作者: rmao062 时间: 2015-10-15 14:01
