Today is the second class in our current four-class set. We will begin with our editing exercise. 

Today's reading is about China's university entrance exam, Gao Kao. Our listening material is part 5 of the first episode of Serial. Everyone is doing a great job with the listening material, but always let me know if you have any questions. The vocabulary words will come from our reading. I will explain the words in class and you have to guess which word I am referencing. 

Vocabulary

• leniency- (noun) the fact or quality of being more merciful or tolerant than expected; clemency.
• laborious - (adj) (especially of a task, process, or journey) requiring considerable effort and time. ALSO (especially of speech or writing style) showing obvious signs of effort and lacking in fluency.
• dismal - (adj) depressing; dreary. ALSO (of a person or a mood) gloomy. ALSO pitifully or disgracefully bad.
• retort- (verb) say something in answer to a remark or accusation, typically in a sharp, angry, or wittily incisive manner. AND turn (an insult or accusation) back on the person who has issued it. AND a sharp, angry, or wittily incisive reply to a remark.

Click HERE for the reading

Keywords and phrases

• Fixated- cause (someone) to acquire an obsessive attachment to someone or something.
• Bloodhound- A dog that has a good sense of smell used for hunting and tracking people. 
• Crack it- crack the code- Solve the problem, understand something
• Get to the bottom of it- get the result/answer
• That’s a bummer- that's too bad or "I'm sorry for you"
• Pretty chill about it- understanding person. For example, "I dropped his phone, but he was pretty chill about it."
• Heinous-(of a person or wrongful act, especially a crime) utterly odious or wicked.
• People who flip out- get really upset or angry
• Technicality- You can use the noun technicality for any small point or detail, but it's most likely to come up in the context of a court trial or a conversation with an attorney. A legal technicality is a small but ultimately important detail of the law. For example, a robbery suspect might have his trial dismissed on a legal technicality if the arresting police officer neglected to show him a search warrant before searching his house.

Listening Questions

What does Jarrod Johnson remember on January 13, 1999?

What does Derrick say about Asia? 

Why does Asia remember that day, January 13, 1999?