Portfolio 5

The present century is a century of rapid scientific progress. Human have made countless breakthroughs in almost every area. Inventing of a kind of new technology is always making human life more comfortable and convenient; however, it could also have the potential of many disadvantages on society. Some disadvantages are caused by material of new invention, for example, Freon which is used as refrigerating fluid is destroying ozone layer. This kind of adverse impact is avoidable. Testing the new technology before putting into market would help to find whether it has adverse impact on the environment or anything else, in order to take measures to eliminate the negative effect, for example, finding an alternative material. Another kind of disadvantage is not caused by the technology itself, but caused by unethical abuses. Even though inventors’ purposes are making life better, inventions could have harmful effects on human once they are abused intentionally or accidentally. Just as the kitchen knife, is invented to help people, but also can stab people. There are two ways to prevent the abuse of technology. One is to depend on the self-discipline of users. That is to say, conscience and responsibility of human could eliminate negative effects of new technology on society. The other is to depend on the legal restriction. “Nothing can be accomplished without norms or standards.” Law can prevent and punish person who abuses technology illegally. Researchers have responsibilities to help establishing specific jurisdiction clauses to ensure the proper use of new technologies, because they are most familiar with their inventions. Any technology depends on its use to decide whether it is advantageous or otherwise. If they are used by users properly, any invention would benefit human, even caffeine can be used to ease patients’ pains. In the matter of what use to make technology, man alone can decide.

Portfolio 4

In general, there are no many difficulties with writing in my engineering class. Most of my modules are about science and technology, such as math and physics, in which calculation plays a more important role than writing. Besides EG1471 (English for Academic Purposes), I have but one module about writing; it is programming methodology which need to be written in computer language instead of human language. However, there is a little trouble in listening clearly in lecture, especially when the lecturer speaks a bit fast. For example, I could not catch what the lecturer of EG1108 (Electrical Engineering) says, so I have to learn by myself. Of course, it takes my some spare time to learn what I should get from lectures. In addition, I have some problems to understand questions accurately. It could not be ignored, because incorrect understanding or interpreting a sentence, even a short phrase, could lead to an absolutely wrong answer. For example, in physics, a question asked to express the answer as an angle measured south of west. Because I mistook the meaning of “south of west” and “south by west”, even though I could solve the question, I was not sure what value of angle is correct. Fortunately, after mid-term tests, another lecturer takes charge of the EG1108 lecture. She speaks slower than the previous one, so it is a little easier to understand her lecture. As for the meaning of questions, I think the only way to resolve it is to do more practices and try to get used to the common parlance in question and test. “It is the first step that is troublesome.” I believe that the learning block about language will be gradually away.

Porfolio 3

Summary
Solar power can provide energy for residential homes to meet the daily needs. Solar power needs only once payout, while it will be free to use all the life. Compared with other kinds of energy, it helps not only families save money, but also save natural resources. In most cases, solar power plays a supplementary role of traditional power systems. Even if not all energy required in the house is provided by solar power, families would save a considerable amount of money after a certain period. The front-end investment is different for different type of solar power, for example, the price of solar power systems that store energy in batteries is much higher than self-installed home water heating system. Each choice has own advantages. For self-installed system, people can save money from using their intelligence. For solar power system installed by a reliable contractor, there is warranty and quality guarantee of product, though it is more costly. Another compromise solution, which can save money and get a warranty at the same time, is that choosing commercially available solar panels, which is valid in a self-installed system, to install by themselves. Solar power can be complex, such as solar photovoltaic panels, which can store a huge amount of energy for family daily needs. It can also be simple, such as self-installed systems, which is made of aluminum cans, glass doors and other discarded articles. Whether the solar power system for residential homes is complex or simple, people can do their part to save the dwindling resources for the earth, and save money for themselves in the long term.

Wyk, A. Solar Power for Residential Homes. Retrieved September 29, 2008 from http://www.facts-about-solar-energy.com/solar-power-for-residential-homes.html

Parallel Structure

Parallelism means that each item in a list or comparison is using the same pattern, which is used to show two or more ideas have the same level of importance in English writing. This can happen at the word, phrase, and clause level. If the first item in a list is a noun, all the following items should be written as nouns also; if the first item is a verb, all the others should be verbs. Example:

The growth of China’s mega cities will be driven by three factors-the geographical factor, neighboring cities merging and rural migration to cities.

This sentence is not parallel, since three listed factors are not in the same form.

The growth of China’s mega cities will be driven by three factors-the geographical factor, the merger of neighboring cities and rural migration to cities.

If the first item is a clause, the following items should keep on being in clauses. Example:

The coach told the players that they should get enough sleep, not to eat too much, and that some warm-up exercises should be done before the game.

Changing to another pattern or changing the voice of the verb, such as from active to passive, will break the parallelism.

The coach told the players that they should get enough sleep, that they should not eat too much, and that they should do some warm-up exercises before the game.

Parallel structure is very useful because it could make our sentences look orderly. The usual way to join parallel structures is with the use of coordinating conjunctions and paired conjunctions, such as “and”, “or”, “neither…nor”, and “not only…but also”. Example:

She can speak not only English but also French.


Practice exercise:
Improve the texts below by correcting all the non-parallel elements in the following paragraphs.

When learning any language, a good dictionary is an extremely valuable tool. However, like all tools, it is valuable only if it is used correctly and (1) efficient. In order to maximize the use of this language tool, learners need to not only understand but (2) have also to use the information that dictionaries can provide. A good dictionary provides more than correct spellings of words and (3) definitions that are precise. It also gives information about pronunciation, what part of speech a word is, etymology and (4) tells people how a word is used. Apart from this, a good dictionary informs the learner about whether a word is ‘informal’, ‘non-standard’, ‘archaic’ (5) and also provides labels like ‘slang’ when words cannot be used in formal contexts. Other kinds of information include synonyms, plural forms and the (6) dictionary also gives parts of irregular verbs. Learners should try to have the most current version of a dictionary so that even words that have recently entered the language will be included. Currency also ensures the inclusion of new meanings of old words. Language teachers sometimes discourage learners from buying bilingual dictionaries as these may be out of date, (7) the implication that words can be directly translated may be there and this may be inaccurate

Key:
(1) efficiently
(2) also to use
(3) precise definitions
(4) how a word is used
(5) and ‘slang’
(6) parts of irregular verbs
(7) or may imply that words can be directly translated

(From http://courses.nus.edu.sg/courseware/ITSELF/)

Principle of sustainable development

Based on article 1, I think that it is the principle of sustainable development that engineers should adhere to when they are facing grand challenges and finding solutions nowadays. From the vast cosmos to the invisible bacteria, engineers have put their talent into practice to solve countless problems. In the meantime, increasingly grand challenges spring up to threaten human. The most serious of the challenges are those that must be solved on the premise of “ensuring the future itself” (National Academy of Engineering, 2008). As we all know, it is not feasible to cut all the trees on earth to meet the human need for warmness, because it means that there would be no tree left for human tomorrow. No challenge is worth the expenses of human future to be met. Nevertheless, adhering to the principle of sustainable development is not as easy as saying. For engineers, it will add more difficulties to meet those challenges. It would cost much more time and money to find the materials which are recoverable or reproducible. Last but not least, testing the invention before it is used. Without the test process, the use of invention could have serious consequences. For example, the fridge brings convenience to human life, but the Freon which is used as refrigerating fluid is destroying ozone layer. The price that human would pay for putting the fridge into market without enough test cannot be made up by money. In conclusion, all the engineering solutions should be based on the principle of sustainable development.
References:
National Academy of Engineering. (2008, February). Introduction to grand challenges of engineering. Retrieved Jun 3, 2008, from http://engineeringchallenges.org/cms/8996/9221/.aspx