porfolio 5

What if reading minds happens in the real life, while It did take place in the frictions and novels already. Today, humans have developed technologies like FMRI that is capable of predicting what specific word a person is thinking about by scanning his brain picture. There is no doubt that we will get the ability of knowing what is happening in our brains every second. This would be a great progress, while this also can be a horrible invention.With the help of better understanding of brains, most of the diseases caused by the disabilities of some parts of the brains will be solved. For example, deaf people will get the chance to hear Mozart again in the future. There is a kind of patients that they can only think but can’t t express, a reading brain machine will provide them with a method to communicate. What’s more, the condition that the suspects have been asked questions for several days and nothing come out will be a part of history. Police in the future don’t need scare or cheat the suspects for the truth. Instead of that, a brain reading machine and some leading questions are enough. No lying could escape under reading brain.However, just like I said, reading brains can lead to horrible results. It is said that the only private place for people today are their brains, since all the computers, phones, letters are under controlled. If government uses brain reading as a way of preventing danger just like listening our phones and reading our letters and e-mails, people in the future will have no secrets. Everyone is naked! The reading brain technology is like atomic technology in some degrees. They both give a big amount of benefits and can cause bad results if are not used carefully. However, scientists are scientists; they are not the person who determines how to make use of a kind of technology. The only thing we can do is pray and wait. Time will test our decisions.

portfolio 4

(i thought i had posted it but until today i found my portfolio 4 was "missing", maybe there was a technical problem....)

I have a lot of problems in writing. There are language problems, content problems and grammar problems. I think the most serious problems I have are the language problems. Since English is not my mother tongue, sometimes I cannot express what I’m thinking about correctly. When writing essays, I always write in English (of course) but think in Chinese. As a result, people often cannot understand what I’m saying if they do not know Chinese well. Moreover, sometimes even my Chinese friends find it difficult to understand my essays. One common language problem is the choice of words. Usually, if I want to express something but do not know the exact word, I will check with my dictionary. However, as most words have their specific use, sometimes I will choose a word which makes the whole sentence wired unconsciously. Another big language problem is the use of phrases. There are many similar phrases which have different meanings and must be use in different ways. For example, “on the contrary” and “in contrast”. I always mix them up.In my opinion, there are a few ways for me to improve. Firstly, I need to improve my vocabulary. As I have mentioned, I often have word choice problems. To avoid such problems, I must learn more new words and master how to use them. Secondly, I need to read more academic materials. I can benefit from others by familiarizing how they convey their ideas in the right way with the right words and phrases. Last but not least, I need to use English more. The more I use it, the more I will be familiar with it and express myself naturally.