TV program & host recommendation - River Monsters

1. Name of the program : River Monsters

2. Channel

• Animal planet
• Discovery channel 

 

3. about river monsters

River Monsters is a British and American wildlife documentary television program produced for Animal Planet by Icon Films of Bristol, United Kingdom. It is hosted by extreme angler and biologist Jeremy Wade, who travels around the globe in search of the most fearsome freshwater and saltwater killers, looking for clues, eyewitnesses, and stories about people who were dragged underwater by these vicious predators. He tries to catch the biggest specimens and then release them back into the wild. His aim is to help people understand the truth behind the animals' attacks on humans to save these rare creatures from extinction.

River Monsters premiered on ITV in Great Britain, and became one of the most-watched, most successful programs in Animal Planet's history, and one of the most-viewed series on Discovery Channel in the American market. 

 

4. One of the most fantastic moments

There are dozens of kinds of piranhas(食人魚) in South America, but most of the species are vegetarians.

To figure out whether the carnivorous(肉食性的) piranhas go after people for no reason, he soaked himself into a pool crowded with red belly piranhas.

Eventually, his unforgettable move proofed that piranhas only attack injured animals and broke the human-eating mysteries of this misunderstood creature.

5. what I learned from the program

• We can learn the ecosystem of a river by observing the local environment.
• Unlike what we were taught before, fishing can actually benefit the eco-environment. By observing riverine creatures, biologists get to evaluate the circumstances of rivers then deal with potential problems.
• Do not believe in what you hear from mass media, especially from movies. Make sure everything's scientifically tested.

 

6. About the host : Jeremy Wade.

Jeremy Wade is a British television presenter, an author of books on angling, a freshwater detective and a biologist. He is known for his television series River Monsters.

He is one of my favorite host of TV program who is a true adventurer.

click here to see more about Jeremy Wade!

👉 Introduction : English version

👉 Introduction : Chinese version

Other programs of Jeremy Wade :

Jeremy Wade's mighty rivers (click here)

Jeremy Wade dark waters(full video of season one)

mysteries of the deep (click here) 

 

7. newest program of JW : mysteries of the deep

After travel around the globe looking for some of Earth’s greatest fish and wildlife, this time, Jeremy Wade is going to dive into greater depths to solve the greatest underwater mysteries known to humankind in his new Discovery series, Mysteries of the Deep.

# 5 What makes a good life

 1. link to the talk

Click here

2. Six words I would like to learn from the talk

(1) Hindsight : the ability to understand an event or situation only after it has happened.

👉 With the benefit of hindsight, I admit I was wrong in accusing you.

(2) Downright : (especially of something bad) extremely or very great.

👉 It is downright horrendous how the prisoners-of-war were treated.

(3)  Tenement : a large building divided into apartments, usually in a poor area of a city.

👉 Many of the tenement buildings were too old, so they needed to be fixed.

(4) Schizophrenia : a serious mental illness in which someone cannot understand what is real and what is imaginary.

👉 Schizophrenia is a serious mental disorder in which people interpret reality abnormally.

(5) Octogenarian : a person who is between 80 and 89 years old.

👉 Scituate octogenarian is pumped up to compete in powerlifting meet

(6) Cholesterol : a substance containing a lot of fat that is found in the body tissue and blood of all animals, thought to be part of the cause of heart disease if there is too much of it.

👉 If you have too much cholesterol in your blood, it can combine with other substances in the blood to form plaque.

#4 My thought on the talk : Inside the mind of a master procrastinator

1. Do you procrastinate sometimes? 

I do procrastinate from time to time. 

That said, unlike Tim Urban, I'm not a master procrastinator. 

Apart from the rational decision-maker, instant gratification monkey, and the panic monster, there is another character in my brain called the zookeeper. 

Now, when the monkey takes control of the wheel, the zookeeper would show up and threaten the monkey, just like this......

It's like a mechanism I have inside my mind that keeps me away from postponing my work.

2. What are some of the things you procrastinate on?  

When encountering things I'm not good at, I would have less motivation to accomplish them and delay the work.

Sounds like a typical "escaping from reality" type, huh? 

 

3. What are strategies you can use to combat procrastination?

 

The main reason for procrastination is the lack of a clear goal. 

To revamp this situation, I would set a goal and visualize the advantages of finishing things in advance, so I wouldn't end up delaying my work.

 

#3 COVID : One year on

1. Link to the podcast :

https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/features/6-minute-english/ep-210225

2. Keywords mentioned on the handout :

(1) Pandemic

Once the virus becomes a pandemic influenza, your trouble will only begin.

(2) Wimpy

I was too wimpy to be a boxer so I decided to be a musician.

(3) Take hold

the reforms of the late nineteenth century had taken hold.

(4) Kick in

It takes half an hour for the medicine to kick in.

(5) Sheer

Statistics show that police are struggling to tackle the problem due to the sheer number of cases.

(6) Genome

The Human Genome Project was the international research effort to determine the DNA sequence of the entire human genome.

3. Other vocabularies :

(1) Take stock

After two years spent teaching overseas, she returned home for a month to take stock of her life.

(2) Go for

The public goes for his ideas.

(3) Lockdown

The school has been placed on lockdown this morning while authorities investigate a bomb threat.

(4) Feeble

Opposition to the plan was rather feeble.

(5) death toll

The death toll of Nepal earthquake keeps climbing.

(6) Recap

Finally, the teacher recapped the main points of the lesson.

 

#2 Podcast Recommendation - If you are a billiards lover

Recently, I've been hooked on playing pool, so I searched for podcasts related to billiards. But surprisingly, I couldn't find one with scripts on Player FM or other websites, so it's YouTube I choose to visit eventually. That's when I discovered this channel.

Name of the podcast : 

Pool Player Podcast

Link to the podcast :

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUX3SfAh7ppSF3VpS6Y5yqQ

What is the podcast about?

The Pool Player Podcast is the place you can find interviews of those top professionals and billiards industry professionals from all over the world. By hearing from pool players, we can learn more about their life, and stories of their road and tournament adventures.

 

Why you recommend this podcast?

reason 1 :  an area we don't usually know much about.

Most people enjoy watching NBA or MLB. Only a few of us would pay attention to those pool players, so it'd be a great chance to learn more about billiards.

reason 2 : visual stimulation.

Interview clips can be eye-catching. Scientists said that people could be more focused on watching images than reading text in a long string.

reason 3 : accents from different country(or states).

It's hosted by Joey Ryan whose from Arizona. Though he's from southern America, he uses the standard American accent while speaking. Apart from the host, there are players from all over the world, so you might also hear British English or EU English.

reason 4 : scripts available.

Given it's on YouTube, you don't have to download an app on your smartphone. Plus, you can listen to it at any time.

Moreover, it's easy to reach its scripts. One outstanding fact about YouTube is that it has a function of subtitling.

 

I would recommend visiting this podcast when you're taking a load off. It's not only an approach for you to learn more about snooker or enhance your language abilities but also a relaxation method.

#1 Greetings

Hey guys, my name is Alexandra Wu. I also go by Alex. 

I graduated from the junior college of NTUB last year, and now I still major in finance in the same school to finish my two-year program.

Apart from studying, I spent time playing sports and learning zoology after school.

It's hard to define myself as any specific type of person, so I would introduce myself from different aspects. In that way, you'll learn from my personality traits that I'm an interesting person.

To begin with, my friends describe me as a rational person. In other words, I seldom show strong emotions such as panic or anger. But don't worry, it doesn't mean that I'm indifferent. In fact, I could be playful sometimes.

Finally, I'm by no means a sociable person. That being said, I'm open to anyone who wants to make friends with me. Although I may look a little introverted, but I'm actually a vigorous person. Those who have already been familiar with me know that I'm crazy about playing basketball, so feel free to invite me for a game!

Anyways, welcome to my blog, and nice to meet you!