EG1471_ePortfolio_6??

Well, this is definitely not an extra work =p

This is it; we are getting to the end to this module. Thinking back to the time we first meet in the EG1471 class, we were all ‘made’ to speak out our feelings towards taking this module, but now that we are reaching the end (with the hopes that we all can pass the scary exam… @@), how have everyone’s feelings changed? Well I’m still glad that I’ve taken this module, as I’ve really learned a lot: cite sources, CCS, brain mapping, etc. Some of them are really interesting topics for us to discuss, although this module really has a lot of tasks for us to complete.(>.<) Does the diagnostic test really show our improvements? But my text editing skill is still as terrible as ever, especially my graded text editing scores are sooOOooo… disappointing! (T.T) Sigh… I do hope that I’ve improved a little (>.<) Hmm… even though that I do not like doing the vocab, I do like the e-Porfolio very much. My special thanks to Kim, Lai Shan and Calvin, I appreciate very much for all your comments and thanks for spending your precious time reading all the portfolios. And of course, thank you Hu Xuan and Alex for the comments too^^ I hope that I’ve not been too harsh in giving comments and my apology if I’ve made any mistake and offence; I do not mean to hurt anyone.(>.<) Throughout this EG1471 journey, there may be some disagreements sometimes, but I believe that the joys are definitely more than sorrow.(^^) As I’m taking six modules this semester (and I believe many of our classmates are the same too), I might be tired and reluctant sometimes, and I’m sure that I’d been quiet most of the time (^^”), plus, I was sick most of the time (I think one-third over the whole semester period I’m in ill-state T_T); however, I do hope that my silence did not make you think negative of me. (^^”)

The final exams are around the corner and I believe that all of us are busying with the revisions. Just a last few words from me, I hope that every one of us can pass EG1471 exam, as well as pass other modules with flying colors too! All the very best and good luck to everyone! Gambateh~~ ^^ Aza aza fighting~ go go 加油~^^

Oh I nearly forgot, THANK YOU MRS CHAN~^^ You have been a very wonderful tutor! I'm so glad that you are our tutor~ (as I've heard from my friends from other classes that their tutors are............; haha~ =x ) Thanks for everything that you've done for us, and stay happy as always~^^

Last but not least, I’m glad to have met everyone in E03! Thanks for all the helps and friends forever~! (^o^)

EG1471_ePortfolio_5

Over these few decades, we’ve seen a lot of movies relating to brain mapping technologies. Even though this technology may not be so advanced as compared to what the movies have shown, it definitely has contributed certain pros and cons to our society.

With the aids of brain mapping technologies, police and judges are able to detect criminals easily as criminals cannot lie in the presence of these technologies. Besides that, brain mapping also enables brain disorder, such as schizophrenia, to be discovered earlier and hence, preventions and treatments can be carried out earlier.

However, growing with this technology development is the risen of certain ethical issues. Problems involving privacy and access may occur as a result of misuse of these technologies. Hence, measures need to be taken in order to avoid possible ethical abuses.

Most importantly, the authorized owner and target of these technologies must be clarified. Thus, rules and regulations need to be established in detailed. For example, only high-rank government officers have the authority to get contact with the machines. Besides that, not all criminals should be exposed to brain mapping test; in contrast, only those possess the highest possibilities with terrorism should be considered.

Furthermore, the use of brain mapping for medical purposes should also be controlled. Not everyone should be given the chance to undergo brain mapping. In fact, many possible cases of brain disorders can be detect through psychological testing. Moreover, the doctors must also undergo several rigorous test before they are given the permission for access.

In conclusion, the more brain mapping technologies being exposed to the society, the higher is the risk of technology misuse, as it will provide more chances for hackers. Brain mapping technologies could be a powerful instrument; any misuse of these technologies could bring disastrous consequences to the society. Therefore, scientists studying this technology and government are responsible for its uses and limitation.

EG1471_ePortfolio_4

Writing a good essay in engineering classes can be a great challenge for many students. An effective and persuasive scientific essay involves the ability of choosing accurate words and organizing skills. Prior to that, reading and understanding skills are also critical as we need to analyze the questions and determine the main points required.

Before we start writing, we need broad understandings on the topics. Not only in MLE but also one of my breadth modules – General Biology, there are a lot of new words being introduced to me. The limited vocabulary that I know prevents me from understanding the syllabus well. During my high school years, I was taught to write good and proper essay using simple words and sentences, but now the words used are deeper in meaning, where the words are so precise that it can only be used in certain situations and conditions. To overcome this problem, I’ll need to spend a lot of time in making my own notes to assist me in memorizing the important words. Besides that, I also need to do research to help me understand better before I write reports.

Furthermore, my weak grammar knowledge causes me to spend a lot of time in writing. I find it time consuming in making sentences with proper grammar. To solve this difficulty, I need to do a lot of exercises especially exercises on answering essay questions. Practice on past year exam paper is critically important, as it gives us a brighter view on how the exam pattern is going to be. Moreover, an approach to the lecturer or tutor when facing problems is also crucial. We must never leave all the doubts and questions until the last minutes before final exam. Therefore, a constant study is vital in order to achieve good results.

Producing a good essay requires hard work and continuous practice. As the saying ‘Practice makes perfect’, I believe that everyone can do well in our engineering course if we study hard!

EG1471_ePortfolio3_Summary

After considering Lai Shan’s comment, I’d made some corrections to improve the summary; I hope this would give a clearer view for you.

Fusion as Energy Provider

Fusion is the power source of the sun. In the sun, energy is released when heavier nuclei are formed through compression by gigantic heat and gravitational pressure. However, such pressure cannot be achieved by the Earthbound reactors, therefore, a temperature higher than the sun’s shall be generated to make up for this pressure deficiency. In this reaction, a small amount of mass is transformed into an enormous sum of energy. The most attracting point to develop this type of energy would be the abundant supply for fusion, deuterium and tritium, on the Earth; nevertheless, engineering community is facing the challenge of producing fusion energy to a commercial proportion in an efficient, economical, and environmental friendly way. Being a highly exothermic reaction, holding the fusion reactants together becomes a challenge to engineers. A project called International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) is designed to achieve a higher power level with long pulse of energy on a larger scale. ITER uses magnetic confinement method to hold the fusion fuel, plasma, at its position for a longer period so that fusion can take place. However, there are some obstacles ahead for the reactors to work effectively: the need of material for the wall of the reactor that can hold the attacks from the products of the reaction, Helium and neutrons; the need of materials that can extract heat produced efficiently while prevent structural weakening caused by neutron, and materials that can overcome the radioactive products produced in the reactor; and lastly, to develop better superconducting magnet and vacuum system in the reactors. All these challenges must be met in order to construct a full-scale fusion reactor. Generally, fusion energy produces no risk as the reaction can be easily stopped. In conclusion, fusion’s success as energy provider is crucial as fusion fuels are abundant and it causes less environmental problems.

Source:
National Academy of Engineering. Grand Challenges for Engineering.
http://www.engineeringchallenges.org/cms/8996/9079.aspx

EG1471_ePortfolio_3_Provide energy from fusion

As we are supposed to write a summary of about 300 words from article of around 1000 words, I think the one I have done previously is far more too short, so here I do it again using the article from 14 grand challenges. Anyway, I'm not deleting the previous one as I think for those who are interested in fusion energy, the previous article is the latest news for fusion energy development as ITER has already succeeded in magnetic confinement test on 11 September.

Provide energy from fusion

Fusion is the power source of the sun. In the sun, energy is released when heavier nuclei are formed through compression by gigantic heat and gravitational pressure. However, such pressure cannot be achieved by the Earthbound reactors, therefore, a temperature higher than the sun’s shall be generated to make up for this pressure deficiency. In this reaction, a small amount of mass is transformed into an enormous sum of energy as quantified by Einstein’s equation, E=mc². The supply for fusion, deuterium and tritium, is abundant on Earth; nevertheless, engineering community is facing the challenge of producing fusion energy to a commercial proportion in an efficient, economical, and environmental friendly way. A joint research project, called International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), is designed to achieve a power level of 500 megawatts, being the first fusion experiment to produce long pulse of energy on a significant scale. In ITER, magnetic confinement method is used in a device known as tokamak, where the fuels are injected into and confined in a vacuum chamber and heated to a temperature exceeding 100 million degrees. Under these conditions, the fusion fuels become a vapor form of electrically charge matter known as plasma. ITER will test the ability of confinement and to sustain the plasma under such conditions for fusion to take place. Yet, there are some barriers to making fusion reactors work. Among them are the need of a material that can hold the assaults from the products of the reaction, Helium and neutrons; materials that can extract heat efficiently while surviving the neutron-induced structural weakening for a long period; and lastly materials that can confine the radioactive products produced in the reactor. Generally, fusion energy produces no risk. Fusion’s success as energy provider is crucial as fusion fuels are abundant and they cause less environmental problems.

Source:

National Academy of Engineering. Grand Challenges for Engineering.

http://www.engineeringchallenges.org/cms/8996/9079.aspx

EG1471_ePortfolio_3

Fusion Energy
Nuclear fusion, a chemical process where small nuclei combine to make a larger nucleus, is a power source of [the Sun] and stars. It produces more energy and less radioactive materials than nuclear fission. Moreover, nuclear fusion generates millions of times more energy than the burning of coal and hence researchers have been trying to control it for generating electricity. In this reaction, ions are mixed with electrons to form plasma. One great challenge is to confine and igniting the plasma in a self-sustaining way. A machine producing a ‘toroidal’ magnetic field is used to do so. A set of ‘poloidal field coils’ system in the machine helps to maintain plasma equilibrium and contributes to the magnetic flux change that ramps up and maintains the plasma current. The success on testing the coils-system prototype, in which the coils are able to achieve a stable operation, symbolises a great improvement and thus, acquiring the next component – poloidal field conductors, can be focused on. This technology is crucial as to fulfil our rapid growing global energy needs without emitting greenhouse gases and causing climate change.

Source:
EUbusiness © Copyright EUbusiness Ltd (2008). Nuclear fusion research takes a step forward.
http://www.eubusiness.com/Energy/iter.2008-09-11/

EG1471_ePortfolio_2

Before I start, I must admit that I’m quite weak in my grammar and this was reflected in the evaluation test done in class last two weeks. As a result of the test, I realized that I’m actually very weak in certain areas, especially in determining the verb form. Firstly, I always neglect the use of base verb after the modal verbs. For example, “…hypnotist might suggests that…”; actually it should be “…hypnotist might suggest that…” (Hypnosis, intermediate worksheet 3, http://courses.nus.edu.sg/courseware/ITSELF/) The verb after a modal verbs (can, could, shall, should, may, might, must) must be in the base form. Besides that, the verb after ‘has’, ‘have’ and ‘had’ must be in the participle form. For instance, “…had otherwise forgot”; in fact, it should be “…had otherwise forgotten”. (Hypnosis, intermediate worksheet 3, http://courses.nus.edu.sg/courseware/ITSELF/) Although I’ve learn about these before, until now I still make this kind of errors frequently. Moreover, I always make mistake in parallelism of the sentence. For example, “ At the command of the hypnotist, subjects might lose all feeling in a limb, and a pinprick will cause them no pain.” (Hypnosis, intermediate worksheet 3, http://courses.nus.edu.sg/courseware/ITSELF/) At first, I really couldn’t see what’s wrong with the sentence, but after I checked the answer, the answer should be: “ …the subjects may lose all feeling…” Then only I realized – it’s the problem of parallelism of the sentence structure. The first part of the sentence is in the past tense but the second part is in the present tense! However, I’m very grateful that we’ve to do a portfolio to evaluate our mistakes, because after this portfolio, I believe everyone will be more aware about our errors. As for me, I’ll definitely be more careful in grammar usage in the future.

_____________________________________________________________
Below are some information about the types of verb forms.

Verb forms

In general, all verbs have six different forms: base, present, past, infinitive, present participle, and past participle.

Base form is the dictionary entry form of the verb. Base verbs are usually used in two common places: in imperative sentences and in future tenses which are formed by using the verb will followed by a verb in its base form.

For example,

Study hard!
We will have to finish the portfolio on grammar by next Monday.

Except for the verb ‘be’, the present of verbs are formed in the following manner:
Third person singular - base+s
All other persons and numbers - base
For example,

The dog barks.
They swim.

However, for the verb ‘be’, its present form change according to the situation.
For example,

First person singular - be → am
Third person singular - be → is
All other persons and numbers - be → are

As for the past form, it can be divided into two categories: regular and irregular.
Regular verbs form their past by adding –ed or –d to the base form.
Example: passed, smiled

On the other hand, some irregular verbs formed the past by using a different vowel sound in the past form from the vowel used in the base form.
For example, ring → rang ; dig → dug

Some irregular verbs are hybrids of vowel change and end with –ed or –d.
For example, sell → sold ; tell → told

Besides that, some verbs have a vowel change but add –t rather than –ed or –d.
For example, keep →kept ; think → thought

Note that there are some one-syllable verbs that end in –t or –d have a past that is exactly the same as their base form.
For example: put, cut, rid, shut

Finally, there are a few verbs that have remarkably irregular past forms.
For example, go → went ; Be → was/were

For the infinitive form, the word ‘to’ is added before the base form.
For example, to answer; to go; to be

All present participles are formed by adding –ing onto the base form.
For example, talking; being; going.

However some are spelled differently due to the rules of spelling. For instance, the doubled-consonant rule will apply to some base forms ending in single consonant.
For example, hop →hopping ; hit → hitting

Similar to past verbs, the past participle verbs are also categorizes into regular and irregular form.
Regular past participle verbs are formed by adding-ed or –d to the base form. Therefore, the past and the past participles of regular verbs are identical.
For example,

past form - shouted ; laughed

past participle form - shouted ; laughed

On the other hand, some of the past participle verbs ended in –en or –n; some with vowel change; some are hybrids of vowel change and end with –en or –n; while some one-syllable verbs that end in –t or –d have a past that is exactly the same as their base form. The characteristics of past participle are very similar to the past form.
For example, fall → fallen; take → taken; bring → brought; hit → hit.

Modal verbs
An exceptional group of 5 verbs called modals doesn’t follow any of de patterns already discussed. They have both present and past forms (most of them do), but nothing else. Modals have no base forms, no infinitive forms, no present participle forms, and no past participle forms.
Present form : can ; may ; must ; shall ; will

past form : could ; might ; should ; would

Modals are helping verbs. They can never be used alone. They can only be used in combination with verb in the base form.
For example,

You can do it.
They must be careful.
You should know better.

It is very important for us to know the verb forms before making a sentence -- either to make a sentence in past tense or present tense; to make an imperative sentence and so on. Verb form must be determined before we make a sentence so that the sentence will not against the rules of parallelism.

Reference:
Mark Lester and Larry Beason, (2004). Handbook of English Grammar and Usage. United States : The McGraw-Hill Companies.






Exercise
1) If the coastal erosion continues to take place at the present rate, in another fifty years this beach ____ anymore.
A. doesn’t exist B. isn’t going to exist C. isn’t existing D. won’t be existing

2) According to research reports, people usually ____ in their sleep 25 to 30 times each night.
A. turn B. are turning C. have turned D. turned

Betty Schrampfer Azar, (2000). Understanding and using English Grammar. United States : Pearson education.

3) I think I’ll buy these shoes. _____really well.
A. They fit B. They have fit C. They’re fitting D. They were fitting

4) _____a party next Saturday. We’ve sent out the invitations.
A. We had B. We have C. We’ll have D. We’re having

5) When Martin_____the car, he took it out for a drive.
A. had repaired B. has repaired C. repaired D. was repairing

Fill in the correct verb form.
6) _____(I/lose) my bank card. I can’t find it anywhere.

7) The match_____(start). United are playing well.

8) _____(I/phone) the office at eleven to speak to the manager, but he isn’t there today.

9) I_____(lie) in the bath when the phone_____(ring). It_____(stop) after a few rings.

10) Your friend who_____(come) here the other day_____(seem) very nice. I_____(enjoy) meeting her.

11) I_____(walk) along the street when I suddenly_____(feel) something hit me in the back. I_____(not/know) what it was.

12) Rupert has left a message for you. He_____(ring) last night.




1) B 2) A 3) A 4) D 5) A 6) I’ve lost

7) has started 8) I phoned 9) was lying; rang; stopped

10) came; seemed; enjoyed 11) was walking; felt; didn’t know 12) rang

John Eastwood, (1992). Oxford Practice Grammar. United Kingdom: Oxford University Press.