picture

I'm the guy in the middle.

http://flickr.com/photos/63294169@N00/3328135/

Week 1 exercises

Exercise 1.1

• The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.
• Men are from Mars, women are from Venus.
• In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

Exercise 1.2

• My boss gave an ambiguous response to my question about getting a salary
increase.
• John felt ambivalent about giving his employee a salary increase.

• The police must apprise you of your rights before arresting you.
• I took the ring to jeweler so they could appraise it.

• The guidelines for a healthy diet and lifestyle were just updated by the FDA.
• A healthful environment decreases the frequency of diseases.

• After finding out how long it would take, she became disinterested in pursuing her
degree.
• James decided to get advice from an uninterested party before deciding to forgo
college and turn pro.

• I listen to my conscience when I can’t decide between what’s right and wrong.
• Luckily, he remained conscious after the concussion.

• The client’s changes to the contract will affect the cost and the schedule.
• Even falling down a flight of stairs had no effect on his desire to drink more
alcohol.

Exercise 1.3

Disgusted and annoyed by management’s unacceptable offer, the union had no choice but to continue their lock out.

Her eyes locked onto me as she silently strode into the room and eased into an overstuffed chair.

Exercise 1.4

she dropped the ball
emotional rollercoaster
think outside the box
get someone’s buy-in
drinks like a fish
greatest thing since sliced bread (although recently, NBA star Steve Francis said the media made his team out to be “the worst thing since sliced bread”)
with the best of them
from the ground floor up
at the top of his game

Exercise 1.5

As a matchmaker, the internet can both bring together people on different sides of the globe and further separate people who live in the same building.

As an information superhighway, the internet can lead its passengers to both the most pristine neighborhoods and the grimiest slums.

Exercise 1.6

U.S. Airways promises a bounty of flights that are on time, are convenient to connections, and are fully stocked with well-balanced in-flight meals.

Heroes in movies are always getting the girl, wearing high fashion, and arriving at the scene about two seconds after the bad guy has left.

Speaking of movies, telephones in movies are always getting knocked over if they wake up a character, are never ringing for more than three times before they are answered, and are restored by frantically tapping on the cradle and shouting, “Hello? Hello?”

Nice to meet you

Hi all--

Steve here. I grew up as an Army brat, so I've lived all over. I lived in Germany for about 5 years, went to high school in Colorado, college in Iowa, and now I live and work in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. I'm interested in sports, reading, and movies.

I signed up for this course because I am interested in starting up my writing again (I was an English major as an undergrad). I am pretty excited about the certificate program and the courses offered (this is my first one). I am considering grad school full time, but I thought that this would be a good place to start, and the courses are applicable to my current job. I work as Project Manager for a company that publishes training materials for pharmaceutical companies. I'm called upon to serve as a pseudo-editor quite frequently because of my English degree, but I have not done any actual writing since college.

I look forward to meeting you all.