Day 1 words
1. perpetual[pəˈpetʃuəl] adj.
continuing for a long period of time without interruption
e.g:Government and parliament are in a state of perpetual conflict.
2. assert [əˈsɜːt] v.--assertion
to state clearly and firmly that sth is true
e.g:He managed to assert his power over the media.
to make other people recognize your right or authority to do sth, by behaving firmly and confidently
e.g: I was determined to assert my authority from the beginning.
3. empirical [ɪmˈpɪrɪkl] adj.
based on experiments or experience rather than ideas or theories
e.g: While it may seem obvious today that a good scientist must rely on empirical evidence, this was not always apprent.
3. comet[ˈkɒmɪt] n.
a mass of ice and dust that moves around the sun and looks like a bright star with a tail
e.g: A comet was found.
4. detector[dɪˈtektə(r)]----detective
a piece of equipment for discovering the presence of sth, such as metal, smoke, explosives or changes in pressure or temperature
5. detect [dɪˈtekt] v.
to discover or notice sth,especially sth that is not easy to see, hear, etc
e.g:The tests are designed to detect the disease early. Do I detect a note of criticism in your voice?
6. foil[fɔɪl] n.
metal made into very thin sheets that is used for covering or wrapping things, especially food:
e.g: Cover the fish loosely with foil and bake for 30 minutes.
7. artillery[ɑːˈtɪləri]
large, heavy guns which are often moved on wheels
e.g:artillery attacks/barrages/shells
the section of an army trained to use these guns
8. progression[prəˈɡreʃn] n.
[u]the process of developing gradually fromone stage or state to another
e.g:By a logical progression of thought, she worked out why the remark had caused offence.
9. distillation[ˌdɪstɪˈleɪʃn] n. countable and uncountable
e.g: The movie is a perfect distillation of adolescence.
e.g:This book offers a distillation of Wittgenstein's thought in a mere fifty pages. 摘要精华
10. distill [dɪˈstɪl] v.
to make a liquid pure by heating it until it becomes a gas, then cooling it and collecting the drops of liquid that form
e.g:The Scots have distilled whisky for centuries.
to get the essential meaning or ideas from thoughts, information, experiences, etc
e.g:The notes I made on my travels were distilled into a book.
11. monopoly[məˈnɒpəli] n。
the complete control, possession or use of sth; a thing that belongs only to one person or group and that other people cannot share
e.g: This Act of Parliament guaranteed solicitors a monopoly on particular legal services.
12. ground-breaking开创性的
the year 1543 saw the publication of two ground -breaking books.
13. exquisite[ɪkˈskwɪzɪt] adj.
extremely beautiful or carefully made
e.g： Look at the exquisite craftsmanship in this vase.
14. quash[kwɒʃ] v.----squad (group)
to take action to stop sth from continuing
e.g:The rumours were quickly quashed.
15. combustion[kəmˈbʌstʃən] N(unconutable)
the process of burning
e.g: Poisonous gases are produced during fossil fuel combustion.
com`bustion chamber enclosed space in which `combustion takes place, eg the space above the piston in an internal-combustion engine 燃烧室.
16. collider[kəˈlaɪdə(r)] n.
a machine for making two streams of particles move at high speed and crash into each other 高速粒子对撞机
inheritance[ɪnˈherɪtəns] n
the money, property, etc. that you receive from sb when they die; the fact of receiving sth when sb dies
e.g：The title passes by inheritance to the eldest son.
e.g：When his father died, he returned to England toclaim his inheritance.
17. decode[ˌdiːˈkəʊd] v. decode sth
to find the meaning of sth, especially sth that has been written in code
e.g： I was involved in decoding enemy documents.
In biology,chromosomeswere shown to be the basis of inheritance and the chemical structure of DNA was decoded.
18.decoder person or device that changes a code into understandable language 译码员; 译码器.
19. genome[ˈdʒiːnəʊm] - gene
geneome : the complete set of genes in a cell or living thing. gene: a unit inside a cell which controls a particular quality in a living thing that has been passed on from its parents
blend of gene and chromosomes
e.g :
20. daunting[dɔːntɪŋ] adj daunt
to overcome with fear; intimidate: to make sb feel nervous and less confident about doing sth
e.g: Going on stage for four hours was a ratherdaunting prospect.
daunting prospect/task
21. chromosome[ˈkrəʊməsəʊm] n ---
one of the very small structures like threads in the nuclei (= central parts) of animal and plant cells, that carry the genes 染色体
e.g: Humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes in their cells.
22. eclipse [ɪˈklɪps] n
an occasion when the moon passes between the earth and the sun so that you cannot see all or part of the sun for a time; an occasion when the earth passes between the moon and the sun so that you cannot see all or part of the moon for a time [countable]
uncertain universe 不是一成不变的，不确定
Day 3
I have attended in Annie's reading group once before, however at that time I was not so confident and fear reading carefully to get enough knowledge. But this time when I hold on and try to read every word and sentence by my heart to understand the difference of the real English and my Chinglish. I start to change my mind and love reading now.
This article is a easy one which mainly talks about the development of science and essential milestones in science history. Although many names of scientists and books are really obstacles for me when reading the article. I can manage to ignore them without any desire to look every words up in the dictionary. Focusing on the content, I know the origin of science and the basic scientific methods. Experiments and empirical evidence make sense in the exploration of new hypothesis and theory. After the challenge to religious dominance over science, the world embraced science so that led to a new world we are living now.
It is obvious that timeline is the main clue using in this article making up the linkage between these relatively independent paragraphs. I still have many questions on some sentences. I decide to read more and write more.
