關於 what is something interesting about you ，我們在網路上蒐集到這些相關的討論、資訊與評價

TỪ VỰNG & Ý TƯỞNG IELTS SPEAKING - CHỦ ĐỀ READING
📙 bookworm /ˈbʊk.wɜːm/ (noun): mọt sách
ENG: a person who likes reading very much
📙 distinctive characteristic /dɪˈstɪŋk.tɪv ˌkær.ək.təˈrɪs.tɪk/ (noun phrase): đặc điểm riêng biệt
ENG: a quality or characteristic that makes something different and easily noticed
📙 die-hard fan (noun phrase): fan cứng
ENG: somebody who is completely 100% obsessed with their favorite game, band, movie, etc.
📙 exhilarating storyline /ɪɡˈzɪləreɪtɪŋ/ (noun phrase): cốt truyện hấp dẫn
ENG: an interesting basic story in a novel, play, film, etc.
📙 vivid illustration /ˈvɪv.ɪd ɪl.əˈstreɪ.ʃən/ (noun phrase): hình ảnh minh họa sống động
ENG: a picture that can be produced very clearly in your min
📙 keep abreast of something /əˈbrest/ (idiom): liên tục cập nhật thông tin
ENG: to make sure that you know all the most recent facts about a subject
📙 gain insights into something (verb phrase): hiểu rõ
ENG: to get an understanding of what something is like
📙 paperback (noun): sách bìa cứng
ENG: a book that has a thick paper cover
📙 be glued to something (idiom): dán mắt vào
ENG: to give all your attention to something; to stay very close to something

Link tham khảo chi tiết: https://ielts-thanhloan.com/goc-tu-van/tu-vung-va-y-tuong-ielts-speaking-theo-chu-de-reading.html

Was Judas Saved?

Occasionally, I receive this question. There’s something about this man, Judas Iscariot, that is interesting and shrouded in mystery.

“He answered, “He who dipped his hand with me in the dish, the same will betray me. The Son of Man goes, even as it is written of him, but woe to that man through whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would be better for that man if he had not been born.” Judas, who betrayed him, answered, “It isn’t me, is it, Rabbi?” He said to him, “You said it.”” (Matthew‬ ‭26:23-25‬ ‭WEB‬‬)

Jesus clearly pronounced woe upon Judas the betrayer. His eternal fate will be so terrible that it would be better for Judas if he was not born.

Why is his fate so terrible, and seemingly much worse than other sinners?

“While I was with them in the world, I kept them in your name. Those whom you have given me I have kept. None of them is lost, except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.” (John‬ ‭17:12‬ ‭WEB‬‬)

Judas is only apostle who is lost and not saved, among the twelve original apostles. Mattias took his place afterwards.

Jesus could not have said it any clearer. Judas Iscariot is lost and not saved.

But the world has probably not seen the last of Judas. In the Bible, there is only one other person who is called “the son of destruction”.

“Let no one deceive you in any way. For it will not be, unless the departure comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of destruction, he who opposes and exalts himself against all that is called God or that is worshiped; so that he sits as God in the temple of God, setting himself up as God.” (2 Thessalonians‬ ‭2:3-4‬ ‭WEB‬‬)

In my opinion, it would be foolish to quickly assume that Paul was referring to a different person, when the first one to utter the title “son of destruction”, was Jesus Himself. Paul was likely alluding to Jesus’ words, and this allows us to draw the connection between “the man of sin” and Judas Iscariot.

This person is likely the same one written about in the Book of Revelation: “the beast who sustained the fatal wound”, “the beast who rises out from the abyss”, and “the beast who was, who is not, and who will be present”.

In my study of the Bible, I believe that Judas will be coming back from the dead, in time for the Tribulation. He did not just betray Jesus for forty pieces of silver. He made a deal with the devil to inherit the whole world. Just as the devil possessed him back then, so will he use him as a host again. Judas’ end of the bargain was to agree to become…the Antichrist.

“I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will bruise your head, and you will bruise his heel.”” (Genesis‬ ‭3:15‬ ‭WEB‬‬)

In the first prophecy of the Bible, we learn that there will be hostility between the serpent’s offspring and the woman’s offspring. This is not talking about hostility between unbelievers and believers in general.

What people don’t know is that the word “offspring” is “zaraka” in the original Hebrew, and it is in the masculine and singular tense. This means that God was specifically referring to one male offspring each.

We know that the woman’s offspring is Jesus Christ. The serpent’s offspring will be the Antichrist. There will be an epic clash between Jesus and His arch-nemesis—the one whose feet He washed on the night that He was betrayed by him.

We know who wins in the end. Give praise to our undefeated Lord Jesus Christ—the King of kings and Lord of lords who reigns forevermore!

I wrote much more in detail about this in my book “Sandcastles Don’t Last Forever”. This identity of the Antichrist just one of the topics covered within, but mainly, the book teaches about eternal rewards, how to maximize them, and how to live a worthy life by fulfilling your God-given calling. It will be an eye-opening read: http://bit.ly/sandcastlesdontlastforever

Jenna Cody :

Is Taiwan a real China?
No, and with the exception of a few intervening decades - here’s the part that’ll surprise you - it never has been.

This’ll blow your mind too: that it never has been doesn’t matter.

So let’s start with what doesn’t actually matter.

Until the 1600s, Taiwan was indigenous. Indigenous Taiwanese are not Chinese, they’re Austronesian. Then it was a Dutch colony (note: I do not say “it was Dutch”, I say it was a Dutch colony). Then it was taken over by Ming loyalists at the end of the Ming dynasty (the Ming loyalists were breakaways, not a part of the new Qing court. Any overlap in Ming rule and Ming loyalist conquest of Taiwan was so brief as to be inconsequential).

Only then, in the late 1600s, was it taken over by the Chinese (Qing). But here’s the thing, it was more like a colony of the Qing, treated as - to use Emma Teng’s wording in Taiwan’s Imagined Geography - a barrier or barricade keeping the ‘real’ Qing China safe. In fact, the Qing didn’t even want Taiwan at first, the emperor called it “a ball of mud beyond the pale of civilization”. Prior to that, and to a great extent at that time, there was no concept on the part of China that Taiwan was Chinese, even though Chinese immigrants began moving to Taiwan under Dutch colonial rule (mostly encouraged by the Dutch, to work as laborers). When the Spanish landed in the north of Taiwan, it was the Dutch, not the Chinese, who kicked them out.

Under Qing colonial rule - and yes, I am choosing my words carefully - China only controlled the Western half of Taiwan. They didn’t even have maps for the eastern half. That’s how uninterested in it they were. I can’t say that the Qing controlled “Taiwan”, they only had power over part of it.

Note that the Qing were Manchu, which at the time of their conquest had not been a part of China: China itself essentially became a Manchu imperial holding, and Taiwan did as well, once they were convinced it was not a “ball of mud” but actually worth taking. Taiwan was not treated the same way as the rest of “Qing China”, and was not administered as a province until (I believe) 1887. So that’s around 200 years of Taiwan being a colony of the Qing.

What happened in the late 19th century to change China’s mind? Japan. A Japanese ship was shipwrecked in eastern Taiwan in the 1870s, and the crew was killed by hostile indigenous people in what is known as the Mudan Incident. A Japanese emissary mission went to China to inquire about what could be done, only to be told that China had no control there and if they went to eastern Taiwan, they did so at their own peril. China had not intended to imply that Taiwan wasn’t theirs, but they did. Japan - and other foreign powers, as France also attempted an invasion - were showing an interest in Taiwan, so China decided to cement its claim, started mapping the entire island, and made it a province.

So, I suppose for a decade or so Taiwan was a part of China. A China that no longer exists.

It remained a province until 1895, when it was ceded to Japan after the (first) Sino-Japanese War. Before that could happen, Taiwan declared itself a Republic, although it was essentially a Qing puppet state (though the history here is interesting - correspondence at the time indicates that the leaders of this ‘Republic of Taiwan’ considered themselves Chinese, and the tiger flag hints at this as well. However, the constitution was a very republican document, not something you’d expect to see in Qing-era China.) That lasted for less than a year, when the Japanese took it by force.

This is important for two reasons - the first is that some interpretations of IR theory state that when a colonial holding is released, it should revert to the state it was in before it was taken as a colony. In this case, that would actually be The Republic of Taiwan, not Qing-era China. Secondly, it puts to rest all notions that there was no Taiwan autonomy movement prior to 1947.

In any case, it would be impossible to revert to its previous state, as the government that controlled it - the Qing empire - no longer exists. The current government of China - the PRC - has never controlled it.

After the Japanese colonial era, there is a whole web of treaties and agreements that do not satisfactorily settle the status of Taiwan. None of them actually do so - those which explicitly state that Taiwan is to be given to the Republic of China (such as the Cairo declaration) are non-binding. Those that are binding do not settle the status of Taiwan (neither the treaty of San Francisco nor the Treaty of Taipei definitively say that Taiwan is a part of China, or even which China it is - the Treaty of Taipei sets out what nationality the Taiwanese are to be considered, but that doesn’t determine territorial claims). Treaty-wise, the status of Taiwan is “undetermined”.

Under more modern interpretations, what a state needs to be a state is…lessee…a contiguous territory, a government, a military, a currency…maybe I’m forgetting something, but Taiwan has all of it. For all intents and purposes it is independent already.

In fact, in the time when all of these agreements were made, the Allied powers weren’t as sure as you might have learned about what to do with Taiwan. They weren’t a big fan of Chiang Kai-shek, didn’t want it to go Communist, and discussed an Allied trusteeship (which would have led to independence) or backing local autonomy movements (which did exist). That it became what it did - “the ROC” but not China - was an accident (as Hsiao-ting Lin lays out in Accidental State).

In fact, the KMT knew this, and at the time the foreign minister (George Yeh) stated something to the effect that they were aware they were ‘squatters’ in Taiwan.

Since then, it’s true that the ROC claims to be the rightful government of Taiwan, however, that hardly matters when considering the future of Taiwan simply because they have no choice. To divest themselves of all such claims (and, presumably, change their name) would be considered by the PRC to be a declaration of formal independence. So that they have not done so is not a sign that they wish to retain the claim, merely that they wish to avoid a war.

It’s also true that most Taiwanese are ethnically “Han” (alongside indigenous and Hakka, although Hakka are, according to many, technically Han…but I don’t think that’s relevant here). But biology is not destiny: what ethnicity someone is shouldn’t determine what government they must be ruled by.

Through all of this, the Taiwanese have evolved their own culture, identity and sense of history. They are diverse in a way unique to Taiwan, having been a part of Austronesian and later Hoklo trade routes through Southeast Asia for millenia. Now, one in five (I’ve heard one in four, actually) Taiwanese children has a foreign parent. The Taiwanese language (which is not Mandarin - that’s a KMT transplant language forced on Taiwanese) is gaining popularity as people discover their history. Visiting Taiwan and China, it is clear where the cultural differences are, not least in terms of civic engagement. This morning, a group of legislators were removed after a weekend-long pro-labor hunger strike in front of the presidential palace. They were not arrested and will not be. Right now, a group of pro-labor protesters is lying down on the tracks at Taipei Main Station to protest the new labor law amendments.

This would never be allowed in China, but Taiwanese take it as a fiercely-guarded basic right.

*

Now, as I said, none of this matters.

What matters is self-determination. If you believe in democracy, you believe that every state (and Taiwan does fit the definition of a state) that wants to be democratic - that already is democratic and wishes to remain that way - has the right to self-determination. In fact, every nation does. You cannot be pro-democracy and also believe that it is acceptable to deprive people of this right, especially if they already have it.

Taiwan is already a democracy. That means it has the right to determine its own future. Period.

Even under the ROC, Taiwan was not allowed to determine its future. The KMT just arrived from China and claimed it. The Taiwanese were never asked if they consented. What do we call it when a foreign government arrives in land they had not previously governed and declares itself the legitimate governing power of that land without the consent of the local people? We call that colonialism.

Under this definition, the ROC can also be said to be a colonial power in Taiwan. They forced Mandarin - previously not a language native to Taiwan - onto the people, taught Chinese history, geography and culture, and insisted that the Taiwanese learn they were Chinese - not Taiwanese (and certainly not Japanese). This was forced on them. It was not chosen. Some, for awhile, swallowed it. Many didn’t. The independence movement only grew, and truly blossomed after democratization - something the Taiwanese fought for and won, not something handed to them by the KMT.

So what matters is what the Taiwanese want, not what the ROC is forced to claim. I cannot stress this enough - if you do not believe Taiwan has the right to this, you do not believe in democracy.

And poll after poll shows it: Taiwanese identify more as Taiwanese than Chinese (those who identify as both primarily identify as Taiwanese, just as I identify as American and Armenian, but primarily as American. Armenian is merely my ethnicity). They overwhelmingly support not unifying with China. The vast majority who support the status quo support one that leads to eventual de jure independence, not unification. The status quo is not - and cannot be - an endgame (if only because China has declared so, but also because it is untenable). Less than 10% want unification. Only a small number (a very small minority) would countenance unification in the future…even if China were to democratize.

The issue isn’t the incompatibility of the systems - it’s that the Taiwanese fundamentally do not see themselves as Chinese.

A change in China’s system won’t change that. It’s not an ethnic nationalism - there is no ethnic argument for Taiwan (or any nation - didn’t we learn in the 20th century what ethnicity-based nation-building leads to? Nothing good). It’s not a jingoistic or xenophobic nationalism - Taiwanese know that to be dangerous. It’s a nationalism based on shared identity, culture, history and civics. The healthiest kind of nationalism there is. Taiwan exists because the Taiwanese identify with it. Period.

There are debates about how long the status quo should go on, and what we should risk to insist on formal recognition. However, the question of whether or not to be Taiwan, not China…

…well, that’s already settled.

The Taiwanese have spoken and they are not Chinese.

Whatever y’all think about that doesn’t matter. That’s what they want, and if you believe in self-determination you will respect it.

If you don’t, good luck with your authoritarian nonsense, but Taiwan wants nothing to do with it.

DISCLAIMER: THIS IS A RECOUNT OF MY OWN PERSONAL EXPERIENCE.

Hey guys!!! It’s been a while but I’m back! Exciting news since my last video… I BECAME A SPIN INSTRUCTOR! It’s something that I’ve been wanting to do for a while and I’m so happy 2020 gave me the opportunity to pursue this hobby of mine and turn it into a side hustle.

In this video (PART 1), I’m going to answer all your questions about what it was like auditioning and training to be a spin instructor at my studio, GroundZero. Hope you guys find it interesting! :)



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Starfields by Hallman, from Epidemic Sounds
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Dear All,
I am more than happy to announce that our team is launching an exciting campaign with lots of collaborations! Here you go our first piece of art work.

"音樂影像(Music Video)不是音樂的襯托。她是獨立的作品，同時讓人能"看見"音樂及一切從音樂開展的可能性。"

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第一部曲 | Reminiscence (End Game Version)
末日版本：科技進步 vs 情感倒退 【3D 動畫家】

科技的進步也許是為了世界倒退而繼續支撐著人類的冰冷產物。在人工智能的城市裡，人捨棄了屬於城市本來的溫度，彼此之間生長更多距離。智能人類誕生的故事毫不陌生，在其自我學習的過程中衍生出本不存在的東西——情感，然後經歷逝去。
Reminiscence的人工智能城市裡，一位人（AI）與其他人每天過著重複的生活。有天，她突然發現遠古帶有血肉的生命體，頓時意識到自己有了複雜的變化，開始尋找答案。一直操控AI意識的程序逐漸消失，失去被控制的瞬間，城市開始崩塌，其他人感到迷失。然而，有了自我意識/情感的她，醒覺自己和其他人原是冰冷的智能人類，情感帶來的溫度慢慢腐蝕她的身體、崩壞、死去。

歌：
回憶是很微妙的，每一秒的消逝，每件事一旦過去，就演變成只在腦海裡而現實已不復存在的畫面。在所有逝去前，我們能否緊握當下的每一秒？

Chapter one | Reminiscence (End Game Version)
Technological advancement vs The emotional regression (3D animator)

Technological advancement is perhaps the reason why people are still able to live amidst the Great Regression. In the AI cities, people distance themselves from each other. The AI started to develop something that the makers did not intend them to learn through self-learning algorithms: emotions.

In the city of Reminiscence, Ms AI was living a plain, repetitive and normal life like the others. One day, she discovered ancient life forms that's so different from her species, organic with blood and tissues. The great shock that led her to the urge for truth was then spreading throughout the city. And slowly day by day, the program that controls the AIs was overwritten and finally erased. At the very moment of losing control, the city started to fall apart and everyone started to gain self-consciousness, and realised that they are only stone-cold robots. Emotions in the AIs eventually started to erode their body to death.

Song:
Reminiscence is interesting in a subtle way. The passing of time, the happening of different events... they afterwards become fragmented memories in us. So can we seize the day when it passes?

【Lyrics】

#She come and gone
Left me alone
Three years no call
They said it was not my fault

I grabbed her wound
My weakness I poured
That’s how we were torn
They said it was not her fault

If I were a tree
Would you be my leaves
What keeps us believe
Our fragile love would always exist

If I were the sea
Would you be my fishes
Tell me you believe
Our fragile love would always exist

*Cry Cry out loud
I don’t need to be the one
who makes you smile
Fly Fly to someone I can’t shout
When you’re about to falls
I will keep my feet on the ground* #

Repeat #
Repeat *

_________________________

【Music Video】
Director / Animator | Ivan Hung

https://www.instagram.com/ivan_terrible/

______________________

【Music 】


Written by CHANKA
Arranged by CHANKA, MAEL, Hin, Dean
Recorded by Nichung
Mixed by MAEL
Mastered by Lok Chan
-
#CHANKA #陳嘉 #Reminiscence
-
Now available on:
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3hjYDYO
Apple Music: https://apple.co/32kYTCt
KKBOX: https://kkbox.fm/uSeWTe
MusicOne: https://bit.ly/2FmBNT8
JOOX: https://bit.ly/2F9O79x
TIDAL Music: https://bit.ly/3bRhaub

_________________________


CHANKA 陳嘉:


https://www.instagram.com/wander.chanka/
https://www.facebook.com/wander.chanka/
wanderchanka@gmail.com
-
Have a listen of some of my other works :
"Silence" : https://youtu.be/1Hkk7l4zk9k
"Young" : https://youtu.be/kolrKYxvvf8
"Ocean" : https://youtu.be/GOTdDrC1G-E
-

Not an ad for Toys' r Us hahaha
And not an ad for BuyBo but their stuff is very good so we took the initiative to reach out and ask them to give all our Youtube family a discount, it's not much but they were super quick to reply with the offer, thx B
https://bit.ly/2XXquXB
Discount Code : SJBB5
-------------------------------------

It's now August, it's been eight months, it will be the end of the year soon…
At least we've all finally gotten used to #StayAtHome
The number of cases are slowly coming down but it's much too early to ease up

Mrs Chan in the last year really hasn't been out much
And that's one less thing for Mr Chan to worry about

We always bring the big camera for our checkups because we want to to film the entire journey of the pregnancy
This was something we did when Mrs Chan was pregnant with Damon, and of course we wouldn't miss the opportunity to do the same for his younger brother

We reckon 90% of our vlogs have been filmed on our sofa
It's a very comfy sofa, but even we are getting fed up of being stuck on that very comfy sofa
So even though it's actually quite a lot of hassle to film outdoors, and also more stuff to clean after we go home… Basically just a lot of hassle… we thought it would be fun to film outdoors even though there was the horrible third wave

As you can see, the whole city is dead quiet
Like Mrs Chan said, it's quite sad to see what used to be such a vibrant place come to a complete standstill
But the positive side is with fewer people on the streets, we can all slowdown and eventually stop the spread of this despicable virus

Work has been extremely irregular
But with managed to constantly think of new content to film
And we've also teamed up with a couple of friends to do some interesting stuff
Once the epidemic is completely under control there'll be a lot of stuff waiting for us to do!
In the meantime, stay at home if you can, stay clean if you can't

Please take care everyone, stay home, stay safe, stay healthy ❤️

00:00 start
00:05 Let's go!
02:25 KF94 masks
03:31 Toys
04:46 Clean Clean Clean
05:19 The Best Plastic Boxes
06:06 Tea Time
----------------------------
Sarah's Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/rahrahsong/

Jason's Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/chanjason_/

#LookAfterYourFamily #LookAfterYourBaby
#LookAfterYourBabies (all 3 of them)
#StayHome
#StayCalm #StayPositive
#StaySafe #StayHealthy
#LookAfterYourself #LookAfterEachOther
#KeepUpTheHardWork
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