Summary of two articles

In order to have a better background knowledge for Writting Assignment 2, I read two articles and the following is my summary of these two articles.

First article is a brief introduction about the biofuel by Justin Gillis. He started the topic back to 19th century during which technological visionaries had already conducted experiments showed that it was possible for engines to run on fuel made from plants. However, fuels derived from plants lost out to fuels refined from crude oil in the days of motorized transport. It is not easy to replace fossil fuel now since they are the cheapest fuels for many decades and they are about as energy-dense as liquids can be. Biofuels attainted the greatest political momentum because they promise lucrative new markets for farm products. However, these first generation biofuels provoked intense backlash during applications. The second generation biofuels are believed to offer greater promise but the technology to make them is still in its infancy. That is the main idea about this article.

Another article named “Biofuels: Green energy or grim reaper?” is written by Jeffrey A McNeely who is a chief scientist of IUCN, the World Conservation Union based in Switzerland. He considered that biofuels could end up damaging the natural world rather than saving it from global warming. The reasons for his view about biofuels are summarized as follows:
1. Huge consumption of grains;
2. Much of the fuel that Europeans use will be imported from Brazil, where the Amazon is being burned to plant more sugar and soybeans, and Southeast Asia, where oil palm plantations are destroying the rainforest habitat of orangutans and many other species;
3. One type of biofuels, ethanol, will likely come from maize. Growing maize appears to use 30% more energy than the finished fuel produces, and leaves eroded soils and polluted waters behind.
4. It will cause food price to increase more.

Then he suggested 2 things to do in current situations. The first step is to apply biotechnology to enhance the ethanol yield, reduce environmental damage from feedstock, and improve bioprocessing efficiency at the refinery. But it is not enough yet. The second step is to mandate improved fuel efficiency for all forms of transport based on current technology.

Five words/ phrases:
1. First-generation biofuels: ethanol made from corn or sugar cane, or biodiesel made from vegetable oil.
2. Second-generation biofuels: biofuels made from plant wastes, or from crops specially grown for the purpose on land not suitable for food production.
3. Fossil fuels: carbon or hydrocarbons found in the earth’s crust.
4. Monoculture: the agricultural practice of producing or growing one single crop over a wide area.
5. Biodiversity: the variation of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome, or for the entire Earth.

Reference:
Justin Gillis, February 24, 2009, “Biofuels”, Retrieved March 8, 2009, fromhttp://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/energy-environment/biofuels/index.html
Jeffrey A McNeely, September 22, 2006, “Biofuels: Green energy or grim reaper?”, Retrieved March 8, 2009, fromhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/5369284.stm

Three common grammar mistakes

I have learned English as my second languge for about eight years. During the course of study, I find I often make grammar mistakes. Among all the mistakes I usually make, the three most common ones are shown as follows.

1. Article
Different from Chinese, English usually have articles within a sentence. An article is a word that combines with a noun to indicate the type of reference being made by the noun, and may also specify the volume or numerical scope of that reference (Wikipedia). The articles in the English language are the and a(n). Different articles should be used for different situations.
e.g. mistakes: NUS graduates are well esteemed by the employers at the workplace.
Correction: NUS graduates are well esteemed by employers at the workplace.
Reason: NO article is used when a plural contable noun is nonspecific.

2. Transition
Transition words allow one to work smooth changes into one's writing; thus, simple sentences turn into compound sentences, complex sentences and long paragraphs. Transition words provide a powerful tool to put sentences and phrases together, bringing coherence and consistency, and, most importantly, they put the thoughts one's mind is trying to convey into written words.
e.g. mistakes: Although academic studies are challenging, but most students will persist in their efforts.
Correction: Although academic studies are challenging, most students will persist in their efforts.
Reason: although should not be followed by but.
Also, hence, therefore, thus should be followed by a comma. There are commas before and after however if it is used within a sentence.

3. Modals
A modal verb (also modal, modal auxiliary verb, modal auxiliary) is a type of auxiliary verb that is used to indicate modality. Common modal verbs are: can, could, may, might, should, must. Different modals are used to represent different possiblity and necessity.
e.g. mistakes: If the global warming is not mitigated soon, global disater should happen.
Correction: If the global warming is not mitigated soon, global disater could happen.
Reason: This is just a assumption. Could is used to represent the possibility.

Grammar is something interesting and sensitive. A slight grammar error may lead to completely different meaning. Hence, I will try hard to master it and use it in a correct way.

Issue of Global Warming

The lecture was concentrated on global warming. The three lecturers talked about the issue of global warming in different perspectives while they had something in common. They all regarded global warming as one of the greatest challenges people faced nowadays and they thought that some measure should be taken in response. The first speaker, Prof Palmer talked about the mechanism of how greenhouse gases heat the earth, and then he moved on to talk about the technology of carbon capture and the influences of politics on technology. The second speaker, Prof Sovacool, mainly focus on how to evaluate technologies. He used two examples in order to show that political and economic factors must be taken into consideration when people evaluated a technology, which was exactly the objective of Science Technology System (STS). The last speaker, Dr Bala, talked about the evidence of global warming and the challenges of solving global warming. He also provided us with some feasible actions in response to global warming and climate change.

Among these three educated speakers and their professional talks, I am fascinated by the last speaker, Dr Bala, who has shown some evidence of global warming and the difficulties in solving it. I cannot agree his points of view more. The sign of global warming has becoming more evident especially in recent years. The rising of sea level and the melting of ice in Arctic are good examples. Scientists and researchers have already urged people to concern about this issue. However, few people realize the importance and miserable outcomes of global warming. I think this is why it is difficult to solve the problem of global warming worldwide. People hardly have ideas about what is global warming and why it is so disastrous. Many people think it has nothing to do with them. As a result, it is hard to control this serious issue. Hence, in order to solve this problem, it is important to propaganda the knowledge of global warming. What is more, government should encourage people to make personal contributions. In fact, it is very simple and convenient to take some measure in daily life which can help to reduce the problem of global warming.

As discussed in Dr Bala’s talk, if everyone realizes the urgency of global warming and contributes a little, the problem will be solved and it will be a better world.

China's Response to Global Warming

Global warming is one of the most serious problems that all mankind are facing nowadays. The disastrous results that global warming may bring, such as the sea-level rising and the melting of ice cap in the Arctic, are too miserable to imagine. Confronting such urgent situation, like many other countries in the world, the government of China has taken some steps in order to reduce the problem of global warming.

Firstly, China has been trying its best to discover alternative energy. The main cause of global warming is the use of fossil fuels such as coal and petroleum. Burning these fuels will lead to the release of carbon dioxide which finally results in global warming. With great effort, China has found several feasible alternatives for fossil fuels. Solar power, wind power and hydrogen energy are widely used in daily life. Most of them are renewable energy, which produce much less greenhouse gases. The spread of new energy technology effectively reduce the problem of global warming. However, the cost and the reliability are the problems that hinder the usage of the newly developed energy. Scientists and engineers are still dedicated to improve them so that they can be widely accepted.

Secondly, China has made some policies in order to reduce the problem global warming. First of all, deforest abusively is strictly against law. People who deforest without permission will be punished severely. China also encourages people to plant more trees. The reducing area of vegetation is another cause of global warming. Trees can absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen, which can help to reduce global warming. China has realized the importance of vegetation and many bands of trees are planted in the North and West. What is more, China is now encouraging people to use public transportations rather than private vehicles. The vehicle exhaust is closely related to not only global warming but also air pollution. The reduction in private vehicle usage can help to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases. With these effective policies, the problem of global warming is regulated in China.

The government of China has contributed a lot to reduce the problem of global warming. Besides the policies mentioned above, many other steps are taken. With the cooperation of the whole world, I believe the problem of global warming will be reduced to minimum. Until then, the Earth will become a better home.

The expanding world of engineers

In contemporary world, the world is developing at an amazing pace, which is loaded with much information and communication. Engineer, as a kind of profession that has a long history, is now playing a more important role in both traditional and new fields. As Prof Ramakrishna says, “an engineer’s training helps to systematically analyze complex information and apply a holistic approach in designing solutions”. Engineers have the ability to accomplish this because of two reasons, namely, knowledge-intensive quality and its flexibility.

Firstly, with the trend of globalization, many professions have become more and more knowledge and technology intensive. They require people to handle a large amount of information more efficiently. This phenomenon does not only appear in manufacturing, but also in service fields. Engineers just have this kind of quality to meet the demand. Engineers have no fear in technology when they face it. Instead, they can analyze the information in a systematic manner and figure out some applicable solutions no matter how complicated the situation is. Engineers have this quality because they are well trained and prepared in university education. The curriculum designed and the approach used for engineering education is aimed to train their minds to be systematic when facing complicated sets of information. With this special and important quality, engineers are exceptionally good at coping with knowledge-intensive situations.

Secondly, engineers are flexible. In today’s world, engineers do not only work at traditional fields such as manufacturing, but also make much contribution to many new fields such as service. Engineers can survive in many fields because they are flexible and their education is diversified. They are not only trained in engineering related knowledge, but also many other subjects. For example, finance, accounting and logistics. Compared with other people, engineers have the specific knowledge required in these fields. What is more, they have the ability to analyze complicated things systematically, which others may not have. This makes engineers very popular not only in traditional fields but many other areas. This is the great success of “liberal arts education”.

In this fast changing world, engineers are expected to continue their important roles in a large variety of professions and contribute more to the whole society in every aspect.