5/27－The notes of English..

1. irony: the amusing or strange aspect of a situation that is very different from what you expect; a situation like this

2. sarcasm: a way of using words that are the opposite of what you mean in order to be unpleasant to somebody or to make fun of them

3. mock: to laugh at somebody/something in an unkind way, especially by copying what they say or do

4. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a children's novel written by L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W.W. Denslow. It was originally published by the George M. Hill Company in Chicago on May 17, 1900,and has since been reprinted countless times, most often under the name The Wizard of Oz, which is the name of both the 1902 stage play and the extremely popular, highly acclaimed 1939 film version. The story chronicles the adventures of a girl named Dorothy in the Land of Oz. Thanks in part to the 1939 MGM movie, it is one of the best-known stories in English popular culture and has been widely translated. Its initial success, and the success of the popular 1902 Broadway musical Baum adapted from his story, led to Baum writing thirteen more Oz books.

Baum dedicated the book "to my good friend & comrade, My Wife", Maud Gage Baum. In January 1901, the publisher, the George M. Hill Company, completed printing the first edition, which probably totaled around 35,000 copies. Records indicate that 21,000 copies were sold through 1900.

The original book has been in public domain in the United States since 1956. Baum's thirteen sequels entered public domain in the United States from 1960 through 1986. The rights to these books were held by the Walt Disney Company, and their impending expiration was a prime motivator for the production of the 1985 film Return to Oz, based on Baum's second and third Oz books.

Historians, economists and literary scholars have examined and developed possible political interpretations of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. However, the majority of the reading public simply takes the story at face value.

plot summary

5. emerald: a bright green precious stone (from The Happy Prince)

6. Witches in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz:

(bad) West Witch (west → the end of the sunset)

(good) North Witch ( Glinda )

7. enchantress : (in stories) a woman who has magic powers that she uses to control people
(ex:Medea)

Medea is a woman in Greek mythology(& tragedy). She was the daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis, niece of Circe, granddaughter of the sun god Helios, and later wife to the hero Jason, with whom she had two children: Mermeros and Pheres. In Euripides's play Medea, Jason leaves Medea when Creon, king of Corinth, offers him his daughter, Glauce.The play tells of how Medea gets her revenge on her husband for this betrayal.

8. fleece → prosperity, happiness

9. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz → cyclone: a violent tropical storm in which strong winds move in a circle

10. yellow brick road

The road of yellow brick is an element in the novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, with additional such roads appearing in The Marvelous Land of Oz and The Patchwork Girl of Oz. The 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, based on the novel, gave it the name by which it is better known, the yellow-brick road (it is never referenced by that title in the original novel). In both novel and film, it is the path that Dorothy is instructed to follow from Munchkin Country to the Emerald City in order to seek the aid of the Wizard of Oz.

In the second book, The Marvelous Land of Oz, Tip and Jack Pumpkinhead likewise follow a yellow brick road to reach the Emerald City.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_brick_road

11. poppy flower (罌粟花)

12. hit the sack → 倒頭就睡

13. Kansas

The State of Kansas is located in the Midwestern United States.It is named after theKansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa tribe, which inhabited the area.The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south wind," although this was probably not the term's original meaning.Residents of Kansas are called "Kansans."

14. Kansas city wizards (from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz )

The Kansas City Wizards are an American, professional soccer club based in Kansas City, Kansas that participates in Major League Soccer. In 2007 the team moved from Kansas City, Missouri to Kansas City, Kansas with plans to build a new stadium in the Missouri city; however, they ultimately decided to build the new stadium in "KCK" near the Kansas Speedway. The Wizards won the MLS Cup in 2000, the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup in 2004, and the MLS Supporters Shield in 2000. The team colors have been cobalt blue, darkindigo, yellow and white since 2008.

15. tornado alley

Tornado Alley is a colloquial and popular media term that most often refers to the area of the United States where tornadoesare most frequent. Although an official location is not defined, the area between the Rocky Mountains and Appalachian Mountains is usually associated with it

A diagram of tornado alley's rough location (red), and its contributing weather systems