Brand Stories: P&G

1. laundry detergent: 洗衣液
2. soap operas: 肥皂剧
3. General Electric: 通用电气
4. marketing practices: 市场活动
5. branch out with/into: 拓展出……、向……拓展
6. widen one's scope = broaden one's horizons
7. smooth sailing: 一帆风顺
8. incentivize

But for your kind help, my oral English wouldn't hit an higher level.

We should shield children from unhealthy information on the Internet and implement some measures to combat uncivilized behaviors.

---

All I want to say is ....

Retired Life

你想在多大年纪的时候退休？

Okay, it's my turn. This question is easy for us to discuss because different people may have different answers about this topic. Personally, I prefer to retire early. You know that life is short, so I think we should spend more time doing what we want to do. We should branch out into things that we have never done before. For myself, I am much of a car fanatic. My dream car is the Jeep Wrangler. When I retire, I want to buy one of my favorite cars to have a self-driving tour. Actually, the vitally crucial point is that before I retire I should achieve financial independence.

你的父母或者祖父母的退休生活是什么样子的呢？你觉得怎么样？

Both my grandfather and grandmother are farmers, so they can retire after my parents' wedding. At this moment, they have their own house in the countryside, so they can plant trees and flowers in the yard and play with dogs. They really have much peace of mind. Moreover, the favorite thing is joining in public square dancing.
When I retire, I want to travel around the world. Having a relaxing life would be a dream come true for me. The first important thing that I want to accomplish before I retire is to have a house in my hometown.

在退休之前你有没有什么想要达到的目标？

My teacher taught me a lot when I was an undergraduate, so when I become a professor I hope I can share my positive energy with my students. I hope they can become more diligent and useful to this society. I want to give them all of my knowledge so that they can surpass me.

自由讨论：你理想之中的退休生活是什么样子的？

I think the thoughts that I said earlier are more ideal. In the present day, everyone needs money to live. We should have enough money to buy cars and apartments. When I retire, maybe I should help my kids take care of grandchildren. The worst thing is that I postpone my retirement so that I can continue my work to earn more money to have a better standard of living.

brand Stories: Costco

• retailer: 经销商
• Originally: 原本，本来
• resist: 抗拒，抵制
• wholesale prices: 批发价; wholesaler: 批发商
• hand over fist: 迅速大量地
• profit margins: 销售利润率
• house brand: （某一公司的）自有品牌
• overhead costs: 日常管理成本
• primary source of earnings: 主要的利润来源
• lean operation: 精益经营
• high customer retention: 高顾客保留率; extremely loyal customer base: 忠实的顾客群
• individual people: 个人
• efficiently: 有效地
• put money in decorating: 把钱花在装修上
• membership fee: 会员费用
• give birth to my dream: 激活了我的梦想
• in bulk: 大量地; the bulk of: 大部分; bulk up: 增重
• fitness: 健身
• one of the hottest treands in retail: 销售业最火的趋势之一

Considering how old I am, I really want to continue with my studies after I get my master's degree.

使用Considering可以用来代替连词Because的使用，除了Considering，还有seeing、thinking和being。

If this two companies merge, the market will be a monopoly.

individuality and uniqueness are merged and blurred.

You know that my professor is a demanding boss. Group members in my laboratory don't have summer vacations or weekends. In this summer, my professor commands us to go to this small city to do some engineering design. Our main job is to design water supply projects for the city and the surrounding suburbs that are further from downtown.

友谊万岁

你是怎么认识你最好的朋友们的？
About this question, I think it depends on the situation. For myself, since I was a seven-year-old boy, my parents brought me to another city. Because they hoped I could go to a good school and get a better education. So my whole childhood was spent in school. Actually, most of my life is spent in school until today. I have met many close and worthy friends throughout my middle school and university life.
你的朋友是否给你带来了快乐？你们是怎么相处的？

Considering making friends, the most important factor is whether we have the same values. Only in this situation, we can have the same topics to communicate with each other.

如果你和朋友闹矛盾了，你会怎么做？

Talking about this question, I think there are huge differences between boys and girls. Boys don't usually give each other the silent treatment. I can agree to disagree and adjust my attitudes. We should be loyal and honest with our best friends. If there are some arguments to get in the way of our friendship, the easiest way is to drink alcohol.
自由讨论：跟朋友谈钱会伤感情吗？为什么？
This question is difficult to discuss. In the present day, money is powerful, we can use money to do a host of things. Every individual person needs money to live. To my mind, I think we should be generous to our friends. However, the first crucial point is that your friends are trustworthy.

Health insurance plan

1. Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze
2. Coverage: 保险范围
3. advantageous: 有利的
4. out-of-pocket: 共付额, deductibles: 自付额, co-insuarance
5. roughly speaking: 大概 == approximately
6. pre-existing conditions: 既存的疾病史
7. in the long run: 长期来看
8. take advantage of: 从……中获利 == It will be advantageous to sb.
9. dependents: 家人（需要依靠他人劳动来赡养）
10. premium: n. 保险费

Summer Vacation

Hello, my teacher. I've been missing you for a long time.

How are you recently? I had a wonderful time in my summer holiday.

This summer, my professors ordered us to go to another city to work on an engineering design project. We should use computers and some special software to design water supply pipelines.

My work hours are 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. It really makes me exhausted.

Communicating with your teen

• rebellious: adj. 叛逆的. rebellion: n.
• secretive: adj. 神神秘秘的
• defensive: 有戒心的
• put yourself in her shoes: 站在她的角度看下（思考）
• nip this in the bud: 扼杀在萌芽状态
• try a softer touch: 以一种柔和的方式
• act out: phr. (因不满或痛苦)发泄或行为不当
• heavy-handed: 严厉的
• individuality: 个人特征
• talk back: 顶嘴

It's really a good point.

Brand stories: Disney

I am interested in playing basketball. == I am captivated by basketball.

economical: 实惠的；economic: 经济上的

amusement park: 游乐园, theme park: 主题公园

general public: 大众

insecure: 缺乏安全感的; unsecure: 未加密的，不安全的

have a keen interest in: 对……有很大兴趣

a big break: a really important opportunity to improve the current situation.

cultural icon: 文化代表人物

After some ups and downs following ...: 在经历了……后的一些波折。

Privately: 私下里地

---

Good evening, guys. It's Man Yacan, a postgraduate from Hefei, Anhui. I started using this app to improve my English two months ago. I am really captivated by this app, because I can use it to improve my listening and speaking skills. My ability to listen and speak is extremely limited. So I hope I can learn more about oral expressions and my pronunciation can become more authentic. As I mentioned earlier, I am a postgraduate student at an institute. In my daily life, when I want to do research in some direction, I need to use Google to search for English papers, so that I can learn how to do that. Privately, I have a keen interest in English because it's a global language. In my opinion, I am young, and this world is big. I want to see more of this world. And I think English can broaden my horizons. Okay, guys, time is over. Hopefully, we can have an amazing time tonight!

你为什么觉得你是个内向的人/外向的人?

When I was a seven-year-old boy, my par­ents brought me to a city far from my home­town, be­cause they wanted me to go to a good school and get a bet­ter ed­u­ca­tion. Since this year, I re­turned home on a monthly ba­sis. I was liv­ing in my school's dor­mi­tory. Life dur­ing this pe­riod was ex­tremely dif­fi­cult for me be­cause I was al­ways so with­drawn and self-con­tained. I did­n't like com­mu­ni­cat­ing with my class­mates or teach­ers. How­ever, I thought I should change my­self in one day be­cause I did­n't want my room­mates to think that I was an aloof and in­dif­fer­ent per­son. I started to force my­self to in­ter­act with my class­mates grad­u­ally.
When I be­came a teenager, I was much of an ex­tro­vert. I was able to adapt to all sorts of strange sit­u­a­tions. In my spare time, I pre­ferred with my class­mates or friends and had some fun to­gether. In this process, I reaped the ben­e­fits from my friends, they made me have pos­i­tive traits.

内向/外向的人有哪些优点和缺点?

About this ques­tion, I think it de­pends on the sit­u­a­tion. When I am in some strange sit­u­a­tions, I am al­ways an in­tro­vert. How­ever, I know it's very bad for my so­cial in­ter­ac­tion. So I some­times will force my­self to be­come an ex­tro­vert. To my mind, every­one likes an out­go­ing per­son. If you can have a sense of hu­mor, it will help strangers re­lax, and you can com­mu­ni­cate with them more eas­ily. The peo­ple who talk to you will leave a great im­pres­sion on you. OK, this is my an­swer to that ques­tion. Thank you for lis­ten­ing!

你更想跟内向还是外向的人当朋友?

Maybe I can tell you guys a story. When I was a sopho­more, I had a class­mate who came from Ghana. Ghana is a small coun­try in south­ern Africa. De­spite hav­ing dif­fer­ent lan­guages and dif­fer­ent cul­tures, all of my class­mates liked to in­ter­act with him. The vi­tally key point why he could have tons of friends is that he was al­ways kept smil­ing and hu­mor­ous. In our class, he was a so­cial but­ter­fly. The Weather in the sum­mer was very hot, I did­n't like to go out where did­n't have an AC. But he al­ways said: 'The sum­mer is gor­geous, let's go out and soak it up while we can!'. At that mo­ment, I could be­gin to un­der­stand why he is so black.

自由讨论：你想改变自己的哪些性格点吗?为什么?

Okay, this question is difficult to answer. In my opinion, if I have certain traits can make my friends and family feel bad. In this situation, I think I should study how to do remove it.

---

压力化解大法

你时常感到压力吗?你的压力来自哪里?

As I said ear­lier, I am a post­grad­u­ate stu­dent at an in­sti­tute. In my lab­o­ra­tory, my pro­fes­sor is a de­mand­ing boss. He al­ways com­mands me to do ar­du­ous work al­most every day. I barely have any leisure time left in my daily life. Sec­ondly, in my re­search group I am sur­rounded by a great many high-archiv­ing co-work­ers. I am much of a per­fec­tion­ist, so I used to get frus­trated when I felt like I was­n't meet­ing my stan­dards.

Personally, I have completed one year of my studies and still have two years to go. When I get my master's degree, I want to continue my study. I want to study overseas for a Ph.D. My dream countries are Japan and Germany. So I need to spend more time doing research experiments and studying spoken English.

压力很大的时候你有什么表现?会发泄出来吗?

About this question, I have tons of experience that I want to share with you. My life in the lab is boring. Sometimes it really makes me stir-crazy. I al­ways toss and turn rest­lessly. When I feel stressed out, I always choose to jog with my close friends. I can re­ju­ve­nate or re­fresh after doing some exercise, leav­ing me hap­pier and more en­er­gized. More im­por­tantly, some sci­en­tists sug­gest that so­cial­iz­ing and ex­er­cis­ing can re­ally boost your mood, so peo­ple can reap the ben­e­fits from it.

你有试过什么有效的舒缓压力的方法吗?

If we al­ways have stress in daily life, it will take a toll on our men­tal and phys­i­cal health. In these cases, watch­ing movies or lis­ten­ing to mu­sic is a good way to make me re­lax. It can give me peace of mind. If I have enough time, go­ing to the gym or jog­ging with close friends can make me get rid of pres­sure.

自由讨论:最近让你压力很大的一件事是什么?跟大家吐吐槽吧!

Hit me up if you want to attend.（如果你想參加的話就聯絡我。）

Livestreaming e-commerce

可以用来代替Yes使用的语气副词：Absolutely, Definitely, undoubtedly.

a powerhouse company: 一家巨头公司

future global marketing strategies: 未来的全球营销策略

turn a blind eye to sth.: 对什么置之不理

When you feel stressed out, you shouldn't turn a blind eye to it. Because it really takes a toll on your mental and physical health. The first thing you should do is learn how to address the pressures of work and life. For me, the best way to relax is by listening to music or watching movies. I had read the news: some scientists suggested that socializing and exercising can really boost your mood, so people can reap the benefits from it.

transcation volume: 交易量

People in China will choose to buy tons of stuff on November 11th. So the transaction volume in China on that day in huge. However, Americans always do that on Black Friday.

engage with: 参与 = interact with

This app is very useful for improving our spoken English. We can engage with other people to practice our listening and speaking skills.

crossroads: 十字路口，人生抉择路口

When I get my master's degree, I think I am at a crossroads. I can choose to continue on to further education and become a Ph.D. in my major. On the other hand, I can choose to find a decent job at some powerhouse companies.

My gut tells me ... : 我的直觉告诉我……

My gut tells me I should spend more time on relax and practice.

Safety first. 安全第一

---

The oat milk trend

the broader public: 广大群众

threshold: 起点

milk: v. 榨取，充分利用

---

Charming city: Beijing

Let's not waste any further time. Let's dive into this lesson.

multifaceted: 包罗万象的，多面的（a multifaceted city）

a history buff = a big fan of history

CBD: central Business District

fondly: adv. 深情地，深刻地

Beijing roast duck & Peking University

cutting edge: 发展前沿

cross path with: 偶遇

in a hearbeat: 非常快的，无需考虑的

In my opinion, Beijing is a charming and multifaceted city. There are many iconic foods, such as Beijing roast duck. Moreover, it has tons of famous universities, such as Peking University.

China is at the cutting edge of high-speed railway and infrastructure development, which will be a major contributor to the country's future in the long run.

Famous people: Kobe Bryant

greatest basketball player of his generation

passed away in a helicopter crash

tragic devastated

absolute icon

best shooting guard for the Lakers

unrivaled on the court

I still remember his 3 consecutive championships. So much drama!

Mamba mentality: always striving to be your best.

He is so famous. not only on-court, but off-court as well.

He has certainly left us with quite a legacy.

gritty: adj. 坚韧不拔的；多沙的. grit: n. 勇气，毅力，沙砾.

Renaissance man: 多才多艺的人

in a heartbeat: 无需考虑的，十分迅速的

Given enough time, he would be able to accomplish much more too.

About sport, I am not much of a fanatic. However, I know Kobe passed away in a helicopter crash. Given enough time, he would be able to accomplish much more too. It's really devastated. He is the greatest basketball player of his generation. He was the best shooting guard for the Lakers and always unrivaled on the court. I still remember his 3 consecutive championships. So much drama! He is so famous, not only on-court, but off-court. He has certainly left us with quite a legacy. Every fan of Kobe knows the Mamba mentality: always striving to be your best.

Given enough training and time, I believe that my spoken English can hit an even higher level.

Every year my professor can earn tons of money by milking his connections with his students.

Famous people: Jack Welch

General Eletric(GE): 通用电气

management style

innovative leader

(grow) market/shareholder value

Most notably(notable: adj. 显著的；重要的。n. 名人，重要的事物)

the recipe for success

come down to: ……归功于……

single-mind passion: 专一的热情

modern capitalism

have mixed feelings ahout sb.

All in all: 总而言之

reputation

No doubt

hone/sharpen: 磨练，锻炼

ruthless = heartless: adj. 冷酷的，无情的

An article I read changed my mind. = What changed my mind was an article I read.

想要强调一个动作时，我们用来形容这个动作的动词就经常和what从句中的动词保持同一时态。

1. What the boys are doing is taking Chris to the beach.
2. What the new students have done is taken their seats in the classroom.
3. What he needs to do is get a new battery for his computer.

retrospect: n./v. 回忆；回想