This document summarizes an English lesson given by teacher Garry Ho to student Lili Xie on 17/08/2020. The class focused on practicing pronunciation through reading two passages aloud and assessing Lili's comfort level and comprehension. For the first passage on Australian bushfires, Lili understood 60-70% and felt 30% comfortable with pronunciation. For the second passage on COVID-19, Lili's comprehension and pronunciation comfort were also assessed. New vocabulary from each passage was defined to help with comprehension.

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TCB Education - Tiny Group Class
Topic: Pronunciation
Students: Lili Xie
Teacher: Garry Ho
Date: 17/08/2020
Agenda
● Outline today’s class
● Pronunciation:
○ Practise reading two passages
○ Assess Lili comfort level
● Vocabulary
○ New Words and Phrases
Reading Passage 1
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About 100 bushfires are ​raging​ in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW), with
the most ​severe​ forming into a ​"mega blaze"​ north of Sydney.
More than 2,000 firefighters are ​battling bushfires​, which escalated in intensity late on Thursday.
Footage of one blaze on the ​southern fringe of the city​ showed firefighters fleeing as ​flames
surged forward​.
Australia's largest city has been ​blanketed​ by thick smoke all week, causing a rise in medical
problems.
Since October, bushfires have killed six people and destroyed more than 700 homes across
Australia.
The ​severity of the blazes​ so early in the fire season has caused alarm, and ​prompted calls​ for
greater action to tackle climate change.
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More than 1.6 million ​hectares of land​ in NSW (New South Wales) have been burnt already.
Fires have also raged across Queensland, Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and
Tasmania.
Fires spanned the entire NSW coastline on Friday, with some sparking emergency warnings
amid hot and windy conditions.
Authorities confirmed three fires had merged into a ​"mega blaze"​ north of Sydney on Friday,
covering more than 300,000 hectares. That blaze is about the size of greater Sydney, officials
said.
"We have also seen the fires coming in very ​close proximity​ to major population centres," said
NSW Premier​ Gladys Berejiklian.
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● “Comprehension”:
○ Meaning: to understand something.
○ E.g. “​Lili’s​comprehension of today’s English passage can improve”
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❏ How much did Lili understand the passage?
❏ 60-70% understanding.
❏ How comfortable was Lili when pronouncing the sentences in this passage?
❏ 30% comfortable.
Reading passage 2:
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The death toll that currently stands at 103 could instead have been over 500. On Sunday, the
national tally​ of confirmed cases was 7185.
As the day unfolded, COAG was replaced by national cabinet as NSW ​eased​ COVID-19
restrictions on weddings and funerals. The Australian death toll stands at 103.
“The timing, particularly the ​initial interventions​ around border restriction and social distancing
restrictions does seem to indicate that ​we averted​ quite a ​substantial number​ of additional
infections,” Professor Marschner said.
The ​peak and subsequent downturn​ in new infections ​coincided​ with the federal government's
introduction of strict border controls, including ​mandatory hotel quarantine​ on 20 March. This
was less than a fortnight after reaching 100 confirmed cases, the paper published in
Epidemiology ​and Infection shows.
Stage 1 social distancing restrictions on 23 March also coincided with the peak and then ​decline
of infections​.
Can you catch COVID-19 from Aussie bats? When are you ​immune​? Your questions are
answered here.
“If you assume that the ​exponential increase​ we saw before the restrictions continues for
another week, you get 35,000 infections," Professor Marschner said.
"If you cut off that exponential increase a week earlier you get a ​corresponding decrease​, which
does suggest even earlier intervention may have controlled things even more," he said.
(Credits to the full article ​here​)
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❏ “Comprehension”:
❏ Meaning: to understand something.
❏ E.g. “​Lili’s​comprehension of today’s English passage can improve”
---
❏ How much did Lili understand the passage?
❏ How comfortable was Lili when pronouncing the sentences in this passage?
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Reading Passage 1
New Words & Phrases
Phrase Meaning
Raging fire ‘Raging’ means ​crazy.
→ ​crazy big fire
Mega blaze ‘Mega’ means ​very big. ​‘Blaze’ means ​huge
light.
→ very bright light
Most severe ‘Severe’ means ​very serious.
→ his crime was most severe
Battling bushfires → ​the firefighter were battling bushfires
Flames surged forward ‘Surged’ means ​moved quickly.
→ The man surged forward.
Southern fringe of the city ‘Fringe’ means ​side.
→ He lives on the southern fringe of the town.
Blanketed ‘Blanketed’ means ​to be​ ​covered.
→ He was blanketed with fear.
Severity of the blazes ‘Severity’ means ​seriousness.
→ The severity of the crime was huge.
Flames surged forward → The flames surged forward into the forest.
Hectares of land ‘Hectares’ is a ​measurement of space.
→ ​He owns many hectares of land.
Close proximity ‘Proximity’ means ​how close something is.
→ The proximity of the bushfires was scary.
The New South Wales Premier ‘Premier’ means ​main person.
→ He was the premier football player in the
team.
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Reading Passage 2
New Words & Phrases
Phrase Meaning
National tally ‘Tally’ means ​total.
→ The tally of coronavirus deaths is 11.
Eased ‘Eased’ means ​to reduce.
→ His anger was slowly eased.
Initial interventions ‘Intervention’ means ​to interrupt with advice.
→ The teacher made an intervention in the
classroom.
We averted ‘Averted’ means ​avoided.
→ The danger was avoided.
Substantial number ‘Substantial’ means ​a big size.
→ A substantial number of people arrived in
the restaurant.
Peak and subsequent downturn ‘Subsequent’ means ​next, or happening
after.
→ The subsequent dish was Fried Rice.
Coincided ‘Coincided’ means ​meet accidentally.
→ Her birthday coincided with Christmas day.
Mandatory hotel quarantine ‘Mandatory’ means ​very important, and
requires attention.
→ The attendance is mandatory in class.
Epidemiology Means ​the study of diseases
Decline of infections ‘Decline’ means ​reduce.
→ There was a decline in international
students at university.
Immune ‘Immune’ means ​does not affect.
→ She was immune to the virus.
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Exponential increase ‘Exponential’ means ​very big, very quickly
→ The improvement in her english was
exponential.
Corresponding decrease ‘Corresponding’ means ​‘matching’
→ The corresponding dish to eat with fried
rice is vegetables.
Homework
● Please visit your our student portal ​here
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