Everyday Use

For the English class I'm teaching, I've been given a couple of different textbooks for use in better helping my students understand what the heck I'm saying to them. One of those books is an apparent vocabulary text. I don't know exactly what kind of book it is suppose to be, since the entire cover is in Chinese.

The book very simply gives a word in english, followed by it's Chinese translation. Then, a sentence or passage using the word in "common, everyday usage" is directly under it, with the Chinese translation of the passage under that.

Here are a few of my favorites so far:

apartment/flat/unit
They were evicted from their appartment after their mother had become addicted to drugs.

Chinese quadrangle
She grew up in a Chinese quadrangle in a Hutong of Beijing and had a lot of intimate neighbors who spoiled her like a little princess.

bumper cars
Newton's third law of motion comes into play on the bumper cars. It's the law of action-reaction, and it helps to explain why you feel a jolt when you collide with another bumper car.

charger
Please keep a charger far from water.

electric torch
Bringing an electric torch is essential when one is camping out. Sometimes it's a good weapon to protect oneself.

B & B (bed and breakfast)
Prices for bed and breakfast start at $22 per person, rising to $40.50 in the high season. My goodness, I am nearly broke.

twin room
My dad and I booked a twin room when we traveled in Hongkong. However, the room service is actually awsome.

Colosseum
While you can't catch a real-life gladiator death match or chariot battle anymore, the Colosseum is still a great place to visit on your travels through Italy.

family tree
Actually I'll never change my name, since according to my family tree, my should be one. By the way, I like it as well.

cognomen (note: I have never heard this word before in my life.)
Actually I don't think cognomen sounds terrible since they sometimes bring me some good memory of past time.

petite
She was dark and petite, as all his wives had been.

middle finger
Giving someone the middle finger has long been considered a derogatory gesture.

puppet
In my childhood, those puppets were often praised and got candies as encouragement.

Now, I have no idea if these passages were written by Native Chinese or Native English speakers (money is on Chinese, though), but this is nothing like the "Juan is in the boat" garbage I got while learning Spanish.