Item 6 ----- A Summary of "Provide Energy From Fusion"

It is amazing to see that the lithium contained in the battery of a laptop could supply a household electricity for 15 years if it is used as fusion reaction material.

Fusion is the energy source for the sun. However, compared to the sun, producing power from fusion here on Earth is much more challenging. According to energy conversion theory, a tiny amount of mass is lost, transformed into energy as quantified by Einstein’s famous equation, E=mc2. This tiny mass can supply a huge amount of energy. Lithium is more abundant than lead or tin in the Earth’s crust, and even more lithium is available from seawater. The problem now is how to control a fusion reaction. Humans can already control a small scale. Scientists are trying to enlarge the scale. It is said a major demonstration of fusion’s potential will soon be built in southern France. Called ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor), the test facility is a joint research project of the United States, the European Union, Japan, Russia, China, South Korea, and India. ITER will be the first fusion experiment to produce a long pulse of energy release on a large scale. Another challenge is to find proper materials to provide a long-run reaction environment for fusion reaction. A extremely high temperature is needed just before the fusion reaction is activated. In addition to these problems, people also worry about the safety of fusion reaction. As described in the article, if strong plants can be built and the processes are operated safely it will surely be safe.

Generally speaking, this article suggests that providing energy by fusion is a potential method to solve energy problem human beings are facing today.

Item 5

Recently, a series of researches have shown that humans' mind can be read using computational modeling technology. This technology uses functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to detect and locate brain activity when a person thinks about a specific word. The computational model enables a computer to correctly determine what word a research subject is thinking about by analyzing brain scan data. Some scientists have made predictions that this kind of technology may have applications in the study of autism, disorders of thought such as paranoid schizophrenia, and semantic dementias such as Pick's disease.

However, at the same time, many people think mapping the brain is unethical. As we all know, there are always two sides to everything. We should make full use of the advantages of it and avoid using disadvantages. Let's take a look at the possible reasons why people think mapping the brain is unmoral. Firstly, some people may think it would cause unexpected results if such technologies are used illegally. Who can tell whether it is legal or not to take the brain images of Nancy? Of course, it is illegal if she was forced to do that. Nevertheless, if the governments carry out specific principles to rule these actions it will be better. Secondly, it considered as unethical behavior to test on real person applying new uncertain technologies. Science is a process of trial and error. In order to develop new technologies to cure diseases to save more lives human beings must pay something for them. If there are people who volunteer to be tested on scientists could do that. Even though some experiments might be dangerous, those who are tested are honorable. All in all, we should make good use of advantages of these technologies. We believe that what the new technologies bring to us are benefits rather than disasters.

Item 4

I feel it difficult in several aspects when writing in engineering classes. Firstly, the most difficult is the first step after having decided the topic, which is to determine the main direction of the whole essay. What is the content that is going to be included in the article? At first, I did know how to decide so that I kept thinking until an idea came to my mind accidentally. Obviously, this is not a smart way. It always wastes a lot of time. A nice way to solve this difficulty is brain storming which is writing down any idea that comes to my mind. This helps me continue to think and then gives me a chance to choose the best idea from the notes. In addition to this difficulty, I find it hard to choose exact vocabularies to express my opinions. I charged this upon my lack of vocabulary. Actually, that is not the exclusive reason. Reading widely can help to improve the ability of learning and using vocabularies. I also learned some vocabularies from the book Focusing on Vocabulary. However, knowing the meaning of these vocabularies does not mean knowing how to use these vocabularies. To learn to use them I should firstly remember their basic meanings so that when I meet them later in certain articles I recognize how to use it in certain situations. Lastly, I have difficulty in writing the conclusion of an essay. Generally, I copied down some sentences in the first paragraph and then paste them to the last paragraph. This is because I did not know how to rephrase sentences. If I could paraphrase these topic sentences in the last segment it would look better.

Item 3: Shedding Light on Cheaper Solar Energy

There are several reasons for shedding light on solar energy. Firstly, solar energy is renewable. Renewable resources are needed to solve the worls's most pressing problems nowadays, for example, the shortage of sources of energy. Secondly, solar energy is affordable. If solar energy is widely used, people in poor countries will not be worried about the power supply problem. Thirdly, affordable and renewable energy sources would contribute greatly to meeting increasing demands for energy, without which sustainable development aims cannot be met.

However, technologies in this field are still limited. Even renewable resources have their drawbacks. Scientists are trying to find economical methods to make solar energy commonly reachable. Recently, a project undertaken by a team of physicists, chemists, material scientists and engineers at Sheffield Hallam University has given a new boost to the economic feasibility of solar energy. The research has shown how to reduce the cost of generating solar electricity. Now this team has come up with some cost cutting ideas. It is a production method called electrodeposition. This method allow each cell produce more power to arise the efficiency. Scientists have already applied for two patents and are trying to increase conversion efficiencies to over 20% in the near future.

In addition, the research intiative has received supporting money to realize the next generation of technological change. Energy supplies will be more widely available without the drawback of environmental damage in the fiture.

Reference

Townsend Hall, B.(n.d.). Shedding Light on Cheaper Solar Energy. Retrieved October 5, 2008, from http://www.facts-about-solar-energy.com/article3.html

Item2: A common grammar mistake——Parallelism

When the two sides of the conjunctions are not in the same or similar forms, it is called non-parallel mistake grammatically. In my essays, some non-parallel elements can be found sometimes which is a common grammar mistake I should cast attention to.



There are three common types of non-parallel grammar mistake. Firstly, wrongly application of combined words leads to contradictions. For example, in the sentence "Both London and Tokyo each has a population of between 10 million and 20 million now" , there is no need to use the conjunction "both" before the pronoun "each" , otherwise, the sentence becomes very strange. To correct this mistake, one can simply delete "Both". Secondly, the conjunction used does not accord with the context. For instance, in this segment "Such a scenario is not far-fetched. Either is it impossible.", the former sentence is negative, while the later one is positive. The two sentences will be parallel if changing “Either" into "Nor". Thirdly, the most common error is that contents combined by "and" are abhorrent. For example, in the following sentence "Amsterdam sits near the North Sea and the mouth of the Rhine, Europe’s most important river economically and it is a cultural hub too." , "economically" is an adverb, however, the part behind "and" is actually a complete sentence. According to the grammar, it should also be an adverb after "and" . So that using "culturally too" is correct, instead of "it is culture hub too".


Hence, to use the grammar of parallelism correctly, one should make sure the forms of the contents connected by conjunctions are the same or similar, and pay attention to the context and tenses.






A Practice:
Improve the texts below by correcting all the non-parallel elements in the following paragraphs:


In future, some Chinese cities will grow to a scale far surpassing the world’s largest cities today. (1)Both London and Tokyo each has a population of between 10 million and 20 million now. In future, there is a high probability that China will have a few cities, each with a population exceeding 100 million. This is more than (2) Singapore and Malaysia combined.

Such a scenario is not far-fetched. (3) Either is it impossible. The growth of China’s mega cities is part of a global trend for more of the world’s population to live in urban areas. Just as in New Zealand where the bigger cities have grown in size, (4) in the Netherlands, Amsterdam and its neighbouring cities like Haarlem and Leiden have merged to form a combined metropolis. Amsterdam sits near the North Sea and the mouth of the Rhine, Europe’s most important river economically and (5) it is a cultural hub too. Such a strategic location has made the Netherlands a major trading hub.

The cities on China’s Yangtze River have a common feature with Dutch cities, in that the canals, rivers and lakes (6) linking the various cities. These waterways facilitate trade and transport among the cities, which will spur (7) its merger. On the Yangtze basin, a mega city will emerge from the merger of Shanghai with other cities like Nanjing, Hangzhou and Suzhou.

Of the two other areas in China where mega cities will emerge, on the Yellow River, Beijing will merge with the neighbouring port city of Tianjin to form a mega city in the north while on the Pearl River in the south, Hong Kong (8) merged with Shenzhen and Guangzhou. Economic ties between Hong Kong and mainland cities on the Pearl River are getting closer, with Hong Kong companies (9) outsource operations to the Pearl River Delta. The rise of China’s mega cities will change the competition equation in Asia. Where five years ago, Hong Kong is as a rival to Singapore, in time to come, such rivalry will fade as Hong Kong finds a new role for itself in the Pearl River Delta.

These three areas in China are not only important shipping hubs facing the ocean but being situated on rivers they also serve as major conduits of trade and transport. The growth of China’s mega cities will be driven by three factors – the geographical factor, (10) neighbouring cities merging and rural migration to cities.

It is not easy for Singapore, which has about four million people, to match such an immense population in 20 years, given its low fertility rate. Also, unlike the Chinese cities, the island state has no hinterland to expand to. But is a city with a much larger population necessarily (11) competitive than one with a smaller population like Singapore?
For the longest time, China’s population (12) dwarfed Singapore, but its quality of life, historically, was so low that many Chinese migrated to Singapore. Some economists say the quality of China’s economic growth is poor, pointing out the hundreds of billions of dollars of bad loans China’s banks need to write off and (13) its lack of financial transparency.

Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou are catching up with Singapore in their quality of life and infrastructure. With China’s entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO), more multinationals will place their Asian headquarters in Shanghai, Guangzhou or Beijing. Furthermore, China’s growth is faster than Singapore’s or its neighbours’. Short of either a financial crisis (14)and political calamity, Chinese mega cities will pose far stiffer competition to Singapore than her neighbours (15) are.

To cope with the rise of the Chinese mega cities, Singapore should increase links with its neighbours, namely Johor and the Indonesian Riau Islands or in a few decades, Singapore might prosper, but Chinese mega cities (16) must overtake it.



Corrections:
1.London and Tokyo each has
2.that of Singapore and Malaysia combined
3.Nor is it impossible
4.in the Netherlands too
5.culturally
6.link
7.their
8.will merge with
9.outsourcing
10.the merger of neighbouring cities
11.more competitive
12.dwarfed that of Singapore
13.their
14.or
15.will

16.might

Item1: Today's Most Important Challenge for Engineering

In the 21st century, a series of grand challenges are waiting for engineering solutions. People are concerned over problems of sustainability, health, vulnerability and joy of living. However, the most worrying problem human beings are faced with is the scarcity of energy. Some sources of energy like fossil fuels will not last long. Scientists are trying to make use of other resources. Sources of environmentally friendly power are expected since the earth cannot afford to more pollution. To make solar energy economical should be the most important idea.


There are three reasons why making solar energy economical should be the most important idea. First of all, the energy of the sun is plentiful. "Even though only a small fraction of the sun's output strikes the Earth, that provides 10,000times as much as all the commercial energy that humans use on the planet, a report by National Academy of Engineering of The National Academies shows. It will be enough to support humans' development if solar energy is efficiently used. In addition, solar energy technology is potential. According to DOE (U.S.Department of Energy), experiments have reported some new materials which can efficiently absorb energy from the sun. Researchers are trying to make those cells to be more economical. Finally, sunshine is a kind of non-pollution resource. Sunshine is created by nuclear fusion within the sun. There is nothing left after using the energy. The environment will be more comfortable for us to live in. As a result, diseases caused by pollution will reduce. The three reasons mentioned above are not all the sakes for which making solar economical is important, they are the main excuses.


In conclusion, of all the challenges, making solar energy economical should be attached great importance to because the amount of solar energy is huge, the solar energy technology is potential and sunshine is environmentally friendly.





Reference(s):

DOE (U.S. Department of Energy). 2007. Solar America Initiative: A Plan for the integrated Research, Development, and Market Transformation of Solar Energy Technologies. Report Number SETP-2006-0010. Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Solar Energy Technologies Program. Washington, D.C.DoE.