Vocabulary Challenge 4: https://tw.voicetube.com/everyday/20190410
心智圖詞彙攻略: ericvocab.com
Script:
Hello, VoiceTubers! Welcome to today’s pronunciation and academic vocab challenge! My name is Eric from Eric’s English Lounge, and I am here to discuss critical thinking.
Now, what exactly is critical thinking (什麼是批判性思考)? In general, critical thinking can be defined as the ability to analyze information objectively to form a reasoned judgment (就是有能力分析資訊去得到有道理的的判斷).
Many people think critical thinking is just too much trouble but you use it every time you make a decision when shopping, speaking, or working. Wait! Wait! Teacher! I never use critical thinking! I never think!
Well, you should! When you make decisions, you should have a solid foundation of knowledge and values, always look at the facts, remain open-minded and consider other perspectives, and then make an informed judgment.
But to be honest, critical thinking is only the first step. Being able to think critically and acting on your judgment at the appropriate time is the key to obtaining success in your own life and making our society more progressive. If you are able to think critically but never act, how can you make a difference in your own life?
So let’s move on to today’s topic, which is
5 大技巧讓你擁有「批判性思考」的能力 (5 tips to improve your critical thinking)
So, what English words come to your mind when you hear critical thinking? I just mentioned some of them! You should be taking notes when you listen ☺
Maybe have different choices, analyze facts, evaluate information, and make a decision
So, let’s jump into our sentence of the day:
This will allow you to explore alternatives, evaluate your own choices, and ultimately help you make more informed decisions.
這讓你去研究其他的選擇，同時也能評估你自己的，最後協助你做出更合理的決定。
So let’s review the sentence.
Today, let’s talk a bit more about stress. We learned a little about sentence stress (stressing keywords in a sentence), word stress (stressing key syllables). Stress is extremely important in English This means that the stressed syllables are USUALLY said at regular intervals, and unstressed syllables shorten to fit this rhythm (韻律). 英文是以重音來計時的語言也就是說，重音在英文中每隔一段時間就會出現，而一個英文句子的長度是以具有重音的音節數決定的!
Why is this important for you? Well, it means you do not need to read every single syllable in the same length (這代表不是每一個音節的長度都是一樣的).
Listen to this:
One, two, three, four
One, and two, and three, and four
One and a two and a three and a four
The stress is on the numbers. There are different number of words but the length of time it takes to read each line is the same, and the listeners focus on the same things.
You need to stress the keywords, unstressed syllables will be shortened, and they would sound different than if they were isolated words.
For example, I’m going to the (to da) store.
Now, my goal at this point is not to teach you every single rule but to let you become aware of the basics. So, when you are listening to native speakers, you can become aware of these features, imitate them, and apply them to your own speech.
So how do you do this? You can begin by focusing on the key content words in speech.
nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, question words
名詞，動詞，形容詞，副詞，疑問詞
NOT
pronouns, prepositions, articles, be verb, conjunctions, auxiliary verbs
代詞，介詞，文章，be動詞，連詞，輔助動詞
So, let’s listen again.
This will allow you to explore alternatives, evaluate your own choices, and ultimately help you make more informed decisions.
Let’s listen to the original speaker.
This will allow you to explore alternatives, evaluate your own choices, and ultimately help you make more informed decisions.
So this is a very rough rule and it does not apply to every situation. For example, if you are speaking to a lawyer and he wants to emphasize even conjunctions such as and or on a contract, he will stress these. However, it is a general rule to guide you.
Maybe sometimes you want to emphasize a pronoun for clarity, like
THEY didn’t finish this project. WE did.
But these basic rules are a good place to start.
高頻學科詞彙破解全攻略: ericvocab.com
Critical thinking, such an important topic, especially when we live in the era of disinformation and so-called fake news. So, I think many students want to know, how to know if something is true or not?
Well, there are many news sources that have some bias or political leaning (偏見或政治傾向), maybe because of their sources of funding (資金來源). So what can we do? Not watch the news? That’s certainly one option, but we still need to stay aware to be able to think critically and make informed decisions.
As a teacher, I always teach students to fact check (事實核查). Check multiple sources and see if the information you are given is published by a non-partisan source.
Does the news report consider multiple points of views (是否考慮了多個觀點？)? Are works cited (學術的查證和引用嗎)? Is the answer too good to be true? Complex issues usually do not have one simple answer (複雜的議題通常沒有簡單的答案). Is the person giving you the news just saying what you want to hear (還是他只有說大家想聽的話)? These are questions to consider.
I also suggest students have a solid base of academic knowledge (學術知識基礎) that they can acquire through daily reading of multiple domains and sources (多個領域和資訊來源). Once you have accumulated a wide range of basic information, it becomes easier for you to detect information that is completely different and allow you to focus your attention on it. You can then do more research and fact check.
And of course, the course VT and I are opening hope to provide you with this base of academic vocab and knowledge (學科詞彙和知識課程). Definitely sign up and see if our learning strategy helps you.
Now, let’s go back to English learning and over some additional words:
General word stress guidelines: https://pronuncian.com/content-and-function-words
Now, let’s go back to English learning and over some additional words:
| Word | Form |
| 1. assumption
something that you accept as true without question or proof make assumptions 做出假設 You should not make assumptions about people based on how they look. 你不應該根據人們的外表做出假設。 |
(n.) |
| 2. spectrum a range of different positions, opinions, etc. between two extreme points（看法、感覺等的）範圍，各層次He has support from across the whole political spectrum.他得到了所有政治派別的支持。across the spectrum 跨越各層次the set of colours into which a beam of light can be separated, or a range of waves, such as light waves or radio waves光譜
|
(n.) |
| 3. alternative
我們這邊學的是名詞的意義 something that is different from something else, especially from what is usual, and offering the possibility of choice （尤指不同於平常事物的）可供選擇的事物；可供選擇的解決辦法 alternative to … an alternative to coffee 咖啡代用品 There must be an alternative to people sleeping on the streets. 一定要想辦法解決街頭露宿者的問題。 |
(n.) |
| 4. implication 含意；暗指，暗示
an occasion when you seem to suggest something without saying it directly 含意；暗指，暗示 [ + that ] implication that From what she said, the implication was that they were splitting up.她的話暗示他們將要分手。 the effect that an action or decision will have on something else in the future 可能的影響；可能的後果 consider the implications The company is cutting back its spending and I wonder what the implications will be for our department. 公司正在削減開支，真不知道這將會對我們部門產生甚麼影響。 What are the implications of the new law? 這部新法意味著甚麼呢？ |
(n.) |
| 5. sift
to make a close examination of all the parts of something in order to find something or to separate what is useful from what is not 仔細檢查；篩查 sift through The police are sifting (through) the evidence to try and find the guilty person. 員警正在非常仔細地檢查證據，試圖找出罪犯。 |
(v.) |
OK, so that is it for today. Once again, focus on word stress and pay attention to collocation. Also, always, always learn in context and oh, fact check and do research!
The music I play when I need critical thinking, or rather, need to think critically, is the four seasons by Vivaldi (VeeValdee). My favorite concerti is Summer. Try it out and listen, maybe it will help you think critically:
相關英文詞彙: https://wp.me/p44l9b-1F0