Friday 18 July 2008

Japan




I'm in Tokyo, Japan now, so it's good time for me to introduce Japan.

Please have a look upon website. Might be better.

What's JAPAN?
Japan is situated in northeastern Asia between the North Pacific and the Sea of Japan. The area of Japan is 377,873 square kilometers, nearly equivalent to Germany and Switzerland combined or slightly smaller than California. Japan consists of four major islands, surrounded by more than 4,000 smaller islands.

Japan's population is over 126 million. Most Japanese reside in densely populated urban areas. Japan's capital city is Tokyo. The population of the Tokyo Metropolitan Area including the city, some of its suburbs and the surrounding area is approximately 12 million.

news

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7511766.stm

IMF raises world economic targets

(summary)

International Monetary Fund raised its world economic forecast.

initial forecast was …

 Global economy 3.7% in April to grow 4.1%.

US 0.5% in April to grow 1.3%.

UK 1.6% in April to grow 1.8%

And IMF is concerned about inflation, despite the global recession.



(new words)

credit crunch
: a state in which there is a short supply of cash to lend to businesses and consumers and interest rates are high

synonyms: liquidity crisis, squeeze

Monday 7 July 2008

Home Work -showing a contrast

1.Reducing the length of the working week has many advantages, especially in terms of a better work-life balance, while it is economically difficult to do this.

2.The use of Ipods has increased considerably. However, the number of cds purchased either online or on the high street has decreased.

3.A few companies attempt to achieve a balance between the environment and business, whilst most companies aim for pure profit.

4. A considerable amount of towns in Europe have been pedestrianised. In contrast, very few towns in North America have been.

5.There are a number of arguments for abolishing the death penalty. Conversely, there are a few supporters.

conceding a point
1.Although there are many drawbacks to immigration, there are more benefits to the society.

2.Despite the fact that there are a number of differences in terms, there are many more similarities in terms of night life.

3.In spite of clear economic differences between the two countries, there are fewer social differences.
Gap File produced at level 7
(updated at 10:48 GMT, Monday, 7 July 2008 11:48 UK ,BBC NEWS CHANNEL)

Militia attack Zimbabwe displaced
Armed militia have raided two camps for people fleeing post-election violence in Zimbabwe, opposition and medical officials have said.
The opposition said several people were killed in Gokwe, north of Harare but other reports say there was one death.
In Ruwa, near the capital, masked men in army fatigues beat up people who had previously sought refuge at the South African embassy, a witness said.
A BBC correspondent says the raids could threaten moves to share power.
At the G8 summit of the world's leading industrialised countries in Japan, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called on Zimbabwe's political parties to work together to restore the rule of law.
He said Zimbabwe's run-off, which saw President Robert Mugabe officially re-elected last month, lacked legitimacy.
Missing
At least eight of those attacked in Ruwa were taken to hospital and about 14 people - mostly from a patrol that camp occupants had organised to maintain security - were missing, the witness said.
About 400 people have been sheltering in local squash courts in Ruwa after being moved on from the South African embassy.
The opposition Movement of Democratic Change says 5,000 of its members are missing and more than 100 of its supporters have been murdered since elections in March.
Tens of thousands of people have been displaced.
The MDC accuses the army and ruling party militias of being behind the violence - charges denied by President Robert Mugabe.
The raids came shortly after South African President Thabo Mbeki held talks with Mr Mugabe and members of a breakaway opposition MDC faction over the weekend.
Mr Mbeki is the chief regional negotiator on Zimbabwe, and has been trying to persuade both sides to form a unity government.
There are reports that the South Africans have come up with a proposal that the MDC is prepared to consider, the BBC's Peter Greste reports from Johannesburg.
But it is difficult to see how things can advance, particularly in the light of the most recent attacks, our correspondent says.
Mr Tsvangirai boycotted the talks, saying meeting Mr Mugabe at State House would mean recognising his legitimacy as president.
He has previously said that the violence has to end before there can be any talks on sharing power.
Mr Mugabe has said the opposition must accept him as leader before any negotiations.
'Sham election'
Also at the G8 summit, Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete alluded to differences between African and Western nations in their approach on Zimbabwe.
He was speaking next to US President George Bush, who said leaders had discussed Zimbabwe extensively.
"I care deeply about the people of Zimbabwe, I am extremely disappointed in the elections which I labelled a sham election," Mr Bush said.
Mr Kikwete, who also heads the African Union, said African countries shared the American president's concerns.
"The only area that we may differ is on the way forward," he said.
"We are saying no party can govern alone in Zimbabwe and therefore the parties have to work together, come out to work together in a government and then look at the future of their country together."
A small number of African states has joined the European Union, the US and other Western nations in criticising the way the election was run.
MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai won the first round of presidential elections in March, but official results gave him less than the 50%25 needed to avoid a run-off.
Mr Tsvangirai pulled out of the 27 June presidential run-off against President Mugabe, citing the election violence.

Research Report


Background
We found interesting news on the website which reported women drink more than men, while we felt it doubtful. In London, thousands of PUBs are seen ubiquitously and lots of people drink there as a culture. Therefore, it might be interesting to figure out the difference of drinking habit between they had in their own countries and their present drinking habit here focusing on international students of London met.

Aims
The purpose of this report is to investigate why they change the drinking habits if that is the case, and whether or not female students drink more than male students.

Method

The Sample
The sample size was 27. These respondents were of different ages and genders, and from different countries. They were all students of London Metropolitan University.
Date Collection
This was carried out through the use of a questionnaire. Initially the questions were trialled with a sample of 3 people. A new improved question was then devised. Some said it is hard to describe how much they drink. Therefore measurement of quantity was unified into milli-liter. This comprised 12 questions about drinking habit they have now and they used to, furthermore if the drinking habit is changed, the reasons were asked.

Findings
Findings regarding the drinking habit
Exactly one third of respondents drink more frequently in London, while around 20 percent of students drink less in London. But in terms of quantity they drink, there are no students responding they drink more than they come to London, on the other hand, 16 percent of students replying that they drink less than before. And the reason why they changed their drinking habit was diversified. However, it is likely that influence of friends and Pubs strongly affect them.
As to the question women are drinking much more than men, as a result of the survey, the proportion between male and female students drinking more than 2 cans a week is 65:35. This proved men tend to drink more than women and the article was not true.

Conclusion
As a result, it might be better not to believe all information on newspaper without any doubt. Sometimes the date might be wrong, the denominator is limited to some area or people, and the time for research was different every time or inappropriate. Lots of cases surely cause mistakes. Therefore, you always mind the gap of truth and untruth.





Saturday 5 July 2008

Below websites are quite usefull to study English for me.

http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/
This enables me to learn English grammer variedly.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/index.shtml
The movie makes me laugh and try to open the page iteratively.

http://www.phrasebank.manchester.ac.uk/
I'll use this page when I try to write an academic report.

Friday 4 July 2008

Related to international relations

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7489306.stm




(new words)

vie [va'i] vi

to compete with other people to achieve or obtain something

Architects vie to design the new town hall.
Mr.McCain and Mr.Obama tries to vie for seats.


unilaterally uni・lateral adv

done by one member of a group or an organization without the agreement of the other members

The police unilaterally call off the search.
Some companies slashed pay unilaterally.



ratify [rae'tэfa`i] vt

to make an agreement officially valid by voting for or signing it


The president signed the treaty, but the Congress failed to ratify it.

Lots of countries ratified Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in 1997.



woe [wo'u] n

the troubles and problems that sb has


The man lived a life full of woe.

A man is well or woe as he thinks himeself so.