国際教養学部AO入試 reference, human rights, the "Enhanced Interrogation Technique"

Robert Fisk on the CIA 'torture report': Once again language is distorted in order to hide US State wrongdoing
Perhaps Khalid Sheikh Mohammed told his torturers he could fly through the air
The Independent   Sunday 14, December, 2014
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/robert-fisk-on-the-cia-torture-report-once-again-language-is-distorted-in-order-to-hide-us-state-wrongdoing-9924501.html

TOEFL, iBT, Independent Writing, Images for Essay Writing Procedure - rewrite -

Essay-writing Procedure

☆The following is an idea of procedure that could help you finish writing a well-developed essay before the time is up. One good point of this procedure is that with this you can avoid forgetting or missing time to write the conclusion.

1.    Read the writing topic carefully.

2.    Brainstorm, typing down the would-be points and examples for the essay.

《The image of typing down the would-be points and examples for the essay》

@@&!*&

$$$$

#`*&%#@&%

$$B

3.    Put the points in order. (They will make the core ideas of the paragraphs of the body.)

《The image of putting the points in order》

【Point 1】#`*&%#@&%

【Point 2】@@&!*&

【Point 3 / Counterargument-treatment】$$$$$$B

4.    Write the conclusion and introduction sentences for the conclusion and introduction paragraphs.

For example.

1)    Write the conclusion sentence

【Point 1】#`*&%#@&%

【Point 2】@@&!*&

【Point 3 / Counterargument-treatment】$$$$$$B

【Conclusion = Wrap-up】Because of #...and @,,,, it can be concluded that facility is more important than the faculty for today’s university.

2)    Write the introduction sentence

【Introduction = Outline】I think it is more worthwhile for a university to spend money on improving facilities than on hiring high-quality professors because of # and @.

【Point 1】#`*&%#@&%

【Point 2】@@&!*&

【Point 3 / Counterargument-treatment】$$$$$$B

【Conclusion = Wrap-up】Because of #... and @,,,, it can be concluded that facility is more important than the faculty for today’s university.

5.    Develop body paragraphs.

The image of developing the first point (The first paragraph of the body).

【Introduction = Outline】I think it is more worthwhile for a university to spend money on improving facilities than on hiring high-quality professors because of # and @.

【Point 1】#`*&%#@&%. This means that #`****&###```&%%%%. For example, □△○. This is especially true in the case of □*△*○ because …. It cannot be denied that ■▲● happens, but in reality, □◎◎. Therefore, it can be said that #`*✿&%#@&%□☉✿.

【Point 2】@@&!*&

【Point 3 / Counterargument-treatment】$$$$$$B

【Conclusion = Wrap-up】Because of #... and @,,,, it can be concluded that facility is more important than the faculty for today’s university.

6.    Develop conclusion and introduction paragraphs.

7.    Go over the whole essay, focusing on one thing such as a grammatical mistake you often make.

国際教養学部AO入試 reference, Japanese militarization

New guidelines allow Japan to defend U.S. and other countries  CNN Politics   By Jamie Crawford, National Security Producerhttp://edition.cnn.com/2015/04/27/politics/united-states-japan-defense-relationship/

国際教養学部AO入試 news, issues, and points 2015 update

Read the news or issues below and write a one-paragraph essay on the following questions using some of the points given.

1.    NEWS: Slavery Footprint cnn

QUESTION

POINTS $ CASES：

2.    NEWS: Satire　Charlie Hebdo　

QUESTION: If you were the editor in chief of an established magazine, would you have reprinted the first cover of Charlie Hebdo after the shooting, which featured a man who looked like Mohammad holding the “Je suis Charlie” under the expression, “Everything is forgiven.”

POINTS $ CASES： violence, satire, freedom of expression, anti-Islamism, feelings of Muslims, hypocrisy of the world leaders who participated in the Paris rally

3.    NEWS: Two Japanese, one of whom a journalist, killed by ISIS (ISL) in a brutal way.

QUESTION: Was the attitude of the Japanese government in this incident proper?

POINTS $ CASES： no yield to terrorism, ransom as funding source, international society (developed countries), PM’s speech to support Israel and paying $0.2 billion, for humanitarian purposes, self-responsibility, life above everything else, 1970’s hijacking of a JAL plane, religious cult, ideology, three straight A female students trying to go to ISIS

4.    NEWS: Kawasaki teen murder highlights hardships faced by single parents in Japan  (http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20150305p2a00m0na017000c.html)

QUESTION: What could have prevented the death of this 13-year old and what can society do not to repeat this kind of tragedy?

POINTS $ CASES： poverty line, child poverty, single mother, welfare, community, volunteer, indifference

a.    Are people in Japan losing their moral values?

POINTS ＆ CASES： education, competition, corruption, breakdown of the community, family relations, materialism, public manners, religion, the Internet

5.    NEWS: Noam Chomsky: Greek Debts Must be Written Off, Brussels are Destroying Greece

QUESTION: What do you think of this suggestion that Greek Debts be canceled?

POINTS ＆ CASES: common sense (helping those in crisis), precedents (Germany after WWII, African countries, Burma), history (US intervention of Greek politics - debt incurred under the dictatorship backed by the US which Greek people have no responsibility to pay back), German and French banks’ payments in the form of high-risk loans to Greece

6.    NEWS: New guidelines allow Japan to defend U.S. and other countries  CNN Politics

POINTS ＆ CASES: the Japan-US security treaty, involvement in the “war on terror”, territorial issues with neighboring countries, Japan’s militaristic past, revision of the interpretation of the collective defense,  Article 9

QUESTIONS:

a. In which geopolitical position has Japan been?

a.    What kind of situation related to this change can be expected to happen in the future?

国際教養学部AO入試 reference, economy and politics - Greece Debt

Noam Chomsky: Greek Debts Must be Written Off, Brussels are Destroying Greece   Greek Reporter
http://greece.greekreporter.com/2015/04/20/noam-chomsky-greek-debt-must-be-written-off-brussels-are-destroying-greece/

Noam Chomsky: US is world's biggest terrorist  13'05"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRbnPA3fd5U




《参考》

Greek Civil War    Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_Civil_War

$40 Billion Debt Write-off is Not a Historic Breakthrough   by Anup Shah  at Global Issues

http://www.globalissues.org/article/544/40-billion-debt-write-off-is-not-a-historic-breakthrough

Brazil 'to write off' almost $900m of African debt   BBC   25 May 2013
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-22669331

TOEFL, iBT, Independent Writing, a product I would like to invent - rewrite -

Writing Topic

Suppose you were an inventor and you had the knowledge and ability to develop a new product. What product would you like to invent?

☆Let’s think

This topic starts with “Suppose you were …” This means that you can use your imagination and write about things that would not really be possible. If it seems that you can never come up with anything, trying to think of an idea related to the matter you know well is one idea. As you are always thinking about the matter, you have many things to write about it. If you are a political person, you might think of a product that can solve one of the biggest political problems in today’s world. If you are always concerned about your relationships, you could write about a machine that can improve them.

☆Ideas and Expressions

1       a medicine that would stop politicians from being involved in corruption

2       a totally clean and safe reusable energy source

3       an edible plant that grows anywhere which would help humans escape food crises

4       an application program which would tell you how the person you are text-messaging with is feeling

5       time machine: learn from the past, find out the real history

☆Let’s prepare

Here is a little activity to help you think of what you are going to write about your invention.

Picture yourself making a presentation on your plan for a new product. The procedure is as follows:

1)    Here is the present situation. 

2)    I would like to change this situation this way by inventing a product like this.

3)    Expected problems of this product and ways to deal with them are as follows.

To prepare for structuring your essay, answer some of the following questions.

1.    What is the present situation?

2.    How would you like to change the situation with your product?

3.    What are the expected problems and how would you deal with them?

☆Making the framework of the full essay

The basic English essay structure is as follows:

【Introduction = Outline】

【Reason 1】

【Reason 2】

【Reason 3 / Counterargument treatment】

【Conclusion = Wrap-up】

Note: A counterargument is an expected rebuttal. Taking up a counterargument when necessary is important to get a higher score. You do not really have to deal with the counterargument in the third paragraph of the body as in the structure sample above. You can deal with a counterargument in an appropriate part of a paragraph, or can use a whole paragraph to deal with it.

Now let’s make the framework of your full essay, using the answers above. You do not have to write in full sentences. Writing down key words and expressions is fine. You can use them as the main ideas and examples for your full essay.

Sample framework notes

【Introduction = Outline】 a machine that can resolve CO2 into carbon and oxygen, making carbohydrate

to tackle the problems of global warming and food security.

【Point 1】The climate change issue, or CO2 reduction, is the top priority for human survival.

【Point 2】Making carbohydrate could contribute to stabilization of food security, too.

【Reason 3 / Counterargument treatment】Sustainable energy sources would not be in place soon. Making other things like diamonds from CO2 would do more harm than good.

【Conclusion = Wrap-up】a machine that can make food using CO2 in the air

Your framework notes

【Main Idea = Outline】

【Point 1】

【Point 2】

【Point 3】

【Conclusion = Wrap-up】

☆Essay for ideas and expressions

If making such a thing were possible, I would make a product which can resolve carbon dioxide into oxygen and carbon, producing carbohydrate as a by-product of the process at a relatively low cost so that people can tackle the problems related to global warming in two ways: CO2 reduction and food security stabilization.

The climate change issue, or CO2 reduction, is the top priority for human survival. If there were a machine which can resolve CO2, the mail culprit of global warming, into two harmless substances, oxygen and carbon, it could safely and directly reduce the amount of CO2 that already exists in the atmosphere and drastically reduce CO2 emissions. We could install the device, for example, on top of buildings and mountains, in the smokestacks of factories, and the exhaust pipes of vehicles.

My dream machine would also contribute to stabilizing food security if it could produce carbohydrate as a by-product, since carbohydrate is the source of energy. Global warming, combined with population increase and increasing demand for meat as a result of globalization, is worsening the problem of food shortage. For example, the rising temperature has been rapidly changing the flora and fauna in many regions and affecting agriculture. Many farmers have started having difficulty growing the same crops in the same ways as in the past, but studies on new types of crops more suitable to new weather patterns are devastatingly behind the speed of climate change. Also, the number of inundated fields due to rising sea level or flood is increasing, and still many other places have problems of water shortage due to desertification, extremely rapid thawing of glacier, or drought, all of which are at least partly the results of rising temperature. It is clear that many more parts of the world will have difficulty providing people with enough food. Carbohydrate made from the air which needs less water to make and which can be provided regularly would be a great help.

It is true that putting reusable energy sources that already exist in place would be more important than working on a machine with unknown properties. However, implementing sustainable energy sources has been hopelessly behind the rate of the rise in average global temperature due to current socioeconomic structure. Another counterargument would be that the machine could be designed to make other materials like diamonds, crystalized carbon, instead of carbohydrate. However, diamonds cannot help counter the imminent threat we face now. Even a new carbon material could not beat simple carbohydrate in alleviating hanger. Moreover, diamonds and new materials will cause conflicts, for human greed has no limit.

It would be nice if we could make food using CO2 in the air. Therefore, I would like to invent a machine that can break CO2 into carbon and oxygen if I had the knowledge and ability. 

国際教養学部AO入試 reference, disasters, poverty, humanitarian aids, international cooperation

UNICEF: Urgent aid for 940,000 children in Nepal    NHK World  Apr. 27, 2015
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/world.html

Aid groups struggling to get help to Nepal   CNN
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=St8RthJ4vsQ

English Reading, 中・高生向け補助教材、水栽培

過去問の一部を解いてみよう！

Official TOEFL iBT Tests with Audio Vol. 1  published by ETS 

Test 2  Minerals and Plants

Paragraph 1, Question 5

置き換えて確認する単語問題

  

該当箇所訳　栄養不足研究の大半は水栽培すなわち土のない液状の栄養溶液中の植物栽培に基づいている。この技術により研究者は特定の栄養素を選択的に取り除き、その結果植物に起こる影響を観察することが可能になる。水栽培には基礎研究を超えた応用がある。冬に温室で野菜を栽培することを助けるからだ。空中栽培（植物をつるして根に栄養溶液をスプレーする）技術は植物を土なしで栽培するまた別の方法である。

TOEFL, iBT, Independent Writing, technology - rewrite -

Writing Topic

Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. Technology always contributes to improving human society.

☆Let’s Think

The word “always” is a key to answer this question. There are not many things that always happen. You may say to your friend, “You are always complaining about your sister,” but you don’t literally mean it. You know she does many other things. Most things have exceptions. If some exceptions can be cited about the statement in a writing topic, the conclusion will be negative. 

When it comes to dealing with the word technology, I think the following quote says it all:

“Technology is basically neutral. It’s kind of like a hammer. The hammer doesn’t care whether you use it to build a house, or whether a torturer uses it to crush somebody’s skull.”

- Noam Chomsky –

Technology is basically neither good nor bad. A hammer is basically neither good nor bad. Man uses it to do either good or bad things.

You could replace the word hammer in this quote with, say, a jet engine, atomic energy, information technology (IT), and so on:

⋆ A jet engine doesn’t care whether you use it to fly an airplane to carry people and goods over the oceans, or whether someone uses it to have a plane smash into a huge commercial building.

⋆ Atomic energy doesn’t care whether a government uses it for power plants to light up its cities, or whether a state uses it to destroy a whole city and eliminate almost all of its population.

⋆ Information technology doesn’t care whether people use it to share information to improve each other’s situations, or whether some SNS users end up with driving an actor to commit suicide.

Our nature and ignorance

Technology can be used in both positive and negative ways depending on us humans, and humans have both positive and negative sides. We can be ill-intentioned, weak, or careless. Also, we are ignorant. What science knows is only a fraction of nature and technology is part of our society, which we don’t remember the last time we controlled well, so technology often causes results that no one could foresee. Antibiotics were discovered and developed to save lives, but in decades they became the causes of viruses called super bugs, viruses which have evolved and acquired resistance to antibiotics. The development of transportation, by which humans and things spread around the world and which contributed to development of some societies, impoverished many societies, contributed to global warming, and spread viruses and funguses (fungi), causing numerous deaths and threatening the future of the earth. Technology is often related to both of its positive and negative changes of society.

☆Making the Framework of the Full Essay

The basic English essay structure is as follows:

【Introduction = Outline】

【Reason 1】

【Reason 2】

【Reason 3】

【Conclusion = Wrap-up】

Now let’s make the framework of your full essay. Write down key words and expressions. You can use them as the main idea and examples for each paragraph of your full essay.

Sample framework notes:

【Introduction = Outline】 Disagree: a double edged sward; he who uses it can be both productive and unproductive

【Point 1】can be a weapon  e.g. atomic energy

【Point 2】can bring about disasters  e.g. oil well drilling technology

【Point 3】can degrade some part of the population  e.g. SNS

【Conclusion = Wrap-up】often negative effects on the development of human society

Your framework notes:

【Introduction = Outline】

【Point 1】

【Point 2】

【Point 3】

【Conclusion = Wrap-up】