//.Expired Pineapple. 【過期鳳梨】

rant on standardized tests

I have just gone a little crazy over the test prep thing. Honestly, it's addictive

So here's my typical day:
- get up at 8 AM
- check email, job sites, blogs
- chat for a couple of hours - my not preferred but usual channel of communication
- lunch
- memorize some Japanese vocabulary
- read up on grammar while listening to CD
－GMAT/GRE practice questions
－hmm... that usually puts me into a nap
- watch some Japanese drama - entertainment with some educational effect
- read something else - I try to find something educational
- do some Japanese test practice questions (that usually puts me in a really bad mood considering I'm at a scary barely passing 70% right now)
- dinner
- basketball/jogging/rollerblading
- more chatting

Hmm... I guess if I can fit a job in there somewhere I'd be like the perfect student. Look how studious I am! And I don't even have to turn in any homework!

OK, so I decided that I'm going to stop studying for GMAT. I don't really see the point... It's just ridiculously boring considering how picky these questions are and I'm not learning anything from all these questions. OK, so sometimes while reading these stupid impossible to comprehend passages I'll be like, oh, so the evolution of primates' cognitive abilities actually had something to do with whether they are preys or predators in their natural environments. Interesting. Yeah, like I'm going to remember that in a week. I think I studied enough to give me a decent score, and I should put my time and energy into something else.

What else, you ask? Why, the GRE of course I took a practice exam and it's not as bad as I thought. Although reading some of those antonym questions I'll be like, hmm, is this English? At least memorizing vocabulary could prove helpful later on in life when I read scholarly papers long and deep enough to prompt the use of words such as "amalgamate" (mix combine unite societies) or "picaresque" (involving clever rogues or adventurers). Alas, before submerging myself into the wondrous megacosm of GRE, I was but a philistine, incognizant of the delectation that one can excogitate from discrepating the alterity between "sagacious" (having sound judgment perceptive wise like a sage) and "salacious" (obscene) and "salubrious" (healthful).

Er... Where was I? Oh yeah, how fun it is to study Sarcasm aside, I derive a great sense of accomplishment when my scores improve from 70% to 72% to 75%, or when I look at the vocabulary list from two days ago and actually remember most of the words. It's an even greater sense of accomplishment when I get back the scores for a standardized test and see myself in the top percentile, because I at least have some sense of how I compare to others on one scale. It's not often that you can find a standard scale to compare yourself to others on. Granted, standardized tests often are criticized for being unfair, being a concompetent judge of abilities, a money making tool for companies that will remain unnamed, but do you really have a better way? When I send in my application to the admission office, I don't know whether they will like my work experience or my statement of purpose, I don't know how my grades and my undergraduate school compare to the applicants, heck, I'm even worried about what's written on those rec letters. But at least I know how I did on my test.

Furthermore, preparing for the tests give me a goal to work toward, as I watch myself improve, I know what I need to work on and what I can put aside (like 8th grade math questions). I also know what I put in directly affects what I get. I can't change my grades for the last four years, but at least I have a way to prove that I may be better than what's on that transcript.

Oh yeah. Passing the Japanese Language Proficiency Exam is just for fun. It'll be a challenge, which means that I will have to try hard, which is something I'm not used to doing. I just want to prove that I can. I don't know when I'll use it, if ever, but I do think that anything you put your mind and effort into can help you in the future. Even if you don't use it at work or in school, so what? It'll still be a special asset. For me, what matters more than anything is that I actually enjoy studying Japanese

OMG this is a really long rant. Me go rollerblade. <-- Talk about bad English

Supersize Me

昨天不是很热心的去看了Super Size Me　（超码的我）, 一部年初赢得不少奖项的纪录片。纪录片不是我平常注意的影片之一，但是每次耐着性子看完都觉得学到很多。更让我惊喜的是，这部影片是不需要耐着性子看完的。风趣的主角和恰当的节奏让这９６分钟过得轻松愉快。

影片的网站上列下了这样的数据：美国３７％的儿童与青少年过度肥胖，更有２／３的成年人被判断为体重过重。导演＋主角，Morgan Spurlock，提出的疑问是，这到底是因为我们无力自制，还是能把责任推在快餐业上呢？

对于我这个一年不进麦当劳也不会觉得可惜的人来说，Michael Spurlock实在让我佩服得五体投地。身体只有11%脂肪，可以与运动员媲美的他，３０天里除了麦当劳的食物什么都不能吃。我想他作出这个决定的时候他的身体一定在默默流泪。５５５５，这么多年来被保养得好好的，为什么要如此残忍的摧残我？？？？

影片里面除了很多在美国东西南北吃汉堡的画面和Michael定期的身体检查，还参插了和医生的谈话，和路人的问答，还有跟麦当劳ｖｓ“吃太多长太胖小孩”官司有关人员的采访。由此可以看出人们对健康知识的缺乏。虽然说现在所有包装的食物都必须附带营养表，但确切问大家“卡洛里是什么”的时候，居然没有一个人回答得出来。

因为觉得这个片子很值得一看，所以从里面学到的东西都不一一报告了。如果你想知道这些问题的答案，自己去看哦！

－８天只吃麦当劳可以让你的体重增加多少？
－麦当劳食物的营养表（Nutrition Facts）在哪里可以找到？
－有哪几样麦当劳食物没有糖分？
－３０天吃麦当劳你会吃下多少磅的糖？
－高脂肪的diet最伤什么器官？
－麦当劳管它的常客叫什么？
－把你的肠子切掉一半需要大概多少时间？（需要提醒你这一段恶心之极，我都是眯着眼看完的）

还有很多很多，我要出去吃饭了懒得写了，８８１～～～～