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ISG 110904 Silence is Golden

發表於 : 週日 8月 28, 2011 8:29 am
Kooper
Hello new ISG participants,

Please read the Economist article "False confession - Silence is Golden" http://www.economist.com/node/21525840. I'll add questions for discussion later this week.
If you want, you can write an essay or summary on it or post words that you think worth learning. Let's have some fun and improve our English! :sun:

Re: ISG 110904 Silence is Golden

發表於 : 週六 9月 03, 2011 12:07 pm
Kooper
Questions for discussion:
1. Have you ever made a false confession and why did you do that?

2. Why do you think people would ever confess to something that they have never done? Do you agree that the experiments mentioned in the article provide a convincing case for innocent confessors in court? What are the weak points of the research?

3. While some of the interrogation techniques widely used by the police have been proved to be very effective in making culprits confess, it could also lead to false confessions. How shall we use them?

4. As soon as the truth(false confession or white lie) is discovered, what's the response from everyone involved ?

Questions on English usages:
1. If a court or a report officially that someone is not to be blamed or responsible for something wrong or unpleasant, we say that "The court or report _____ this person." What verb from the article should we use?

2. If one person is working secretly with another person so as to do something illegal or dishonest, we say that "The person is ______ another person." What phrase from the article can be put here? What verbal phrases might we also use here?

3. If your feelings of trust, loyalty or confidence toward someone is wrong because the person does not deserve them, we say your trust or confidence in the person is _______. What adjective from the article could we use here?

4. Besides CONFESS, what other three expressions does the author use to mean admitting that you've done something wrong or something is your fault?

5. What preposition usually comes after CONFESS? After that preposition, what types of word usually follow? If it is a noun, what could that noun refer to? If it is a verb, what's the type of the verb?

6. What does "disarmed" mean in the end of the 4th paragraph?

7. What verb does the author use to say 翻供?

8. 'Despite being innocent, around a quarter of these people had confessed or pleaded guilty to the offences of which they were accused.' Is it grammatically correct to put OF in front of WHICH in this sentence?

Re: ISG 110904 Silence is Golden

發表於 : 週六 9月 03, 2011 8:50 pm
Kooper
The meeting time is 8 o'clock in the morning.

Re: ISG 110904 Silence is Golden

發表於 : 週日 9月 04, 2011 3:37 am
chiron
I recommended these worthy words and sentences.
bluff v. to pretend something, especially in order to achieve what you want in a difficult or dangerous situation (呼嚨)
You wouldn't really tell her. You're bluffing!

regardless adv. in spite of everything
The computer was set up to crash regardless.

exonerate v. to state officially that someone who has been blamed for something is not guilty (申冤)
He was totally exonerated of any blame.

People believe the world is a just place, and that their innocence will emerge in the end.
Confession is seen as a way to end an unpleasant interrogation. --> an effective way to end a conversation

In practice self-condemnation is pretty damning—and, it seems, surprisingly easy to induce. --> I'm curious why people tend to believe they're guilty??

Re: ISG 110904 Silence is Golden

發表於 : 週日 9月 04, 2011 6:51 am
Just JJ
Dear all,
I'm glad the ISG (or ISG upgrade 8) ) is reopening.
I believe it is a team effort to make this happen.
What a blessing this platform will bring our friends and English learning lover together again.

Though it seems I will break my word about being able to join you regularly due to so many new jobs to do.
Hopefully, that will not hurt the spirit of our baby, ISG.
(Every team member knows I call ISG my baby, haha. :wink: )

Re: ISG 110904 Silence is Golden

發表於 : 週日 9月 04, 2011 7:02 am
Just JJ
Dear all,

I suggest we can also discuss white lie. That will bring more personally stories.

Questions 4 for discussion
As soon as the truth(false confession or white lie) is discovered, what's the reponse from everyone involved ?
Kooper 寫:Questions for discussion:
1. Have you ever made a false confession and why did you do that?

2. Why do you think people would ever confess to something that they have never done? Do you agree that the experiments mentioned in the article provide a convincing case for innocent confessors in court? What are the weak points of the research?

3. While some of the interrogation techniques widely used by the police have been proved to be very effective in making culprits confess, it could also lead to false confessions. How shall we use them?

Questions on English usages:
1. If a court or a report officially that someone is not to be blamed or responsible for something wrong or unpleasant, we say that "The court or report _____ this person." What verb from the article should we use?

2. If one person is working secretly with another person so as to do something illegal or dishonest, we say that "The person is ______ another person." What phrase from the article can be put here? What verbal phrases might we also use here?

3. If your feelings of trust, loyalty or confidence toward someone is wrong because the person does not deserve them, we say your trust or confidence in the person is _______. What adjective from the article could we use here?

4. Besides CONFESS, what other three expressions does the author use to mean admitting that you've done something wrong or something is your fault?

5. What preposition usually comes after CONFESS? After that preposition, what types of word usually follow? If it is a noun, what could that noun refer to? If it is a verb, what's the type of the verb?

6. What does "disarmed" mean in the end of the 4th paragraph?

7. What verb does the author use to say 翻供?

Re: ISG 110904 Silence is Golden

發表於 : 週日 9月 04, 2011 8:45 am
chiron
Kooper 寫:Questions for discussion:
2. Why do you think people would ever confess to something that they have never done?
In short, my point is not too many people believe they're completely honest, innocent, honest (完全地清白). Maybe that's another reason why they are so easily to be induced to confess.

Re: ISG 110904 Silence is Golden

發表於 : 週日 9月 04, 2011 4:05 pm
Kooper
Questions on English usages:
1. If a court or a report officially that someone is not to be blamed or responsible for something wrong or unpleasant, we say that "The court or report _____ this person." What verb from the article should we use?
2. If one person is working secretly with another person so as to do something illegal or dishonest, we say that "The person is ______ another person." What phrase from the article can be put here? What verbal phrases might we also use here?
3. If your feelings of trust, loyalty or confidence toward someone is wrong because the person does not deserve them, we say your trust or confidence in the person is _______. What adjective from the article could we use here?
4. Besides CONFESS, what other three expressions does the author use to mean admitting that you've done something wrong or something is your fault?
5. What preposition usually comes after CONFESS? After that preposition, what types of word usually follow? If it is a noun, what could that noun refer to? If it is a verb, what's the type of the verb?
6. What does "disarmed" mean in the end of the 4th paragraph?
7. What verb does the author use to say 翻供?
8. 'Despite being innocent, around a quarter of these people had confessed or pleaded guilty to the offences of which they were accused.' Is it grammatically correct to put OF in front of WHICH in this sentence?

Answers:
1. exonerate
2. in cahoots with
3. misplaced
4. (1) to plead guilty (2) to take the blame for sth that you did (3) to fess up (to sth that you did)
5. to; a noun or a verb; a person that you talked to or the wrong thing that you did; a gerund (ex: sleeping, lying, etc.)
7. to retract one's remarks or statements
8. should be "Despite being innocent, around a quarter of these people had confessed or pleaded guilty to the offences which they were accused of."

Re: ISG 110904 Silence is Golden

發表於 : 週日 9月 04, 2011 10:51 pm
Kat C
I missed the meeting!!! :ccry: I didn't set my alarm right. Hope you guys had a good one and I'll catch the next one!

Kat

Re: ISG 110904 Silence is Golden

發表於 : 週一 9月 05, 2011 9:25 pm
Kooper
Kat C 寫:I missed the meeting!!! :ccry: I didn't set my alarm right. Hope you guys had a good one and I'll catch the next one!

Kat
What a pity that you missed it. We had seven participants in the first meeting. It's a good start, isn't it? :ssmile:

Re: ISG 110904 Silence is Golden

發表於 : 週日 10月 16, 2011 5:46 am
li-yue
hi

Could anyone tell me how to join ISG?
I am now in London and not yet apply for a skype account..

Hope to join you soon.

Li-yue

Re: ISG 110904 Silence is Golden

發表於 : 週日 10月 16, 2011 7:13 am
janet12tw
Hi Li-yue,

Nice to hear from you!

You need to apply a Skype account first because we will discuss through Skype. The meeting starts at 8:00 in the morning.You can just log in Skype and ask Kooper to add you in the discussion. And the topic we will discuss today is posted by Navi as below link:

viewtopic.php?f=45&t=3251

Hope to hear from you in the meeting!

Regards,
Janet

Re: ISG 110904 Silence is Golden

發表於 : 週日 10月 16, 2011 7:19 am
janet12tw
Hi Li-yue,

Sorry I forgot to tell you that you can also add me in Skype. My Skype account is janet12tw.

Regards,
Janet