Live and Learn English with Jean Lee

How are we all feeling these day? We are concerned, discouraged, and devastated by the global pandemic situation caused by Corona Virus. Shall we just snap out of the feelings of depression even for a moment? Here are some expressions to express happiness.        1.    to be full of the joys of spring : to be happy, lively, cheerful, and filled with energy or vigor    2.    like a dog with two tails : very pleased and happy because something good has happened    3.    a happy camper or a happy bunny : a happy person. More often it seems to be used with "not" to describe “unhappiness”    4.    Life is just a bowl of cherries : (This expression is often used ironically to mean the opposite.)"Everything in life is going great/ Life is wonderful/ very pleasant….or just the opposite. (in a humorous way)    5.    as pleased or proud a...

Are you a bird watcher or stalker? 😊 Try to unscramble the popular North American birds below. Example:  prswaor: ________________,     answer: sparrow    1.    nidralca: ________________    2.    rekuty: _________________    3.    cnifh: _________________    4.    drocewpkeo: ______________    5.    mhbigrmudni:__________________    6.      boirn: _______________    7.    leacpni: ________________    8.    riooel: ________________    9.    kiehaeccd: _________________    10.                raekapte: __________________    11.             ...

Let us solve the Sunday word puzzle from the National Public Radio (On-Air Challenge) , which was aired this last weekend.  With the given words starting with the letter "L”, give me another word starting with "L" that will complete a common two-word phrase or idioms. Ex. Three-letter answer Language --> ____________: lab Four-letter answers : 1. Lemon ____________ : 2. Laundry ___________: 3. Loose: ___________ or loose ______________ : 4. Leading ___________: 5. Lady _____________: 6. Lava ______________: 7. La-la ______________: Five-letter answers : 8. Last ______________: 9. Latin ______________: Six-letter answers : 10. Love _____________:   11. Lounge ______________: 12. Loss-_______________: 13. Lapis ________________: 14. Living ____________: 15. Little _____________: Seven letters or longer: 16. Liquor ________________: 17. Lending _______...

Form words that begin and end with the same letter. Each word has its definition (with part of speech) that helps you get the word quickly. e.g., ___ RAS ___   : E RAS E        1.    ___INDO___ : (noun) meaning a space usually filled with glass in the wall of a building or in a vehicle, to allow light and air in and to allow people inside the building to see out    2.    ___YRICA___ : (adjective) meaning (of literature, art, or music) expressing the writer's emotions in an imaginative and beautiful way    3.    ___APKI____ : (noun) meaning a square piece of cloth or paper used at a meal to wipe the fingers or lips and to protect garments, or to serve food on    4.    ____EMAN_____ : (verb or noun) to ask authoritatively or brusquely/an insistent and peremptory request, made as if by right    5.    ____AYHE_____ : (noun) violent or damaging dis...

Virus by Jean Lee Something that makes people keep alienating one another Something that brings deafening silence and hatred to an enclosed area Something that steals human kindness Something that turns compassion into a bunch of trinket Something that reaches and attaches to a cell faster than the enmity formed in mind Something that fits random humans out there like a key slipping into a lock Something that ignites flame of anger that feels stone cold of the heartless souls Something that engulfs rational mind and warm smile at strangers possibly infected Something that paints the town MAD . . . . Something that makes our fingers crossed all the time: ‘Please go away and fly out to the brightest planet, Venus. That’s where you might fit in rhyming with your own name.’

As well aware, the year of 2020 is the year of the rat, the first animal in the Chinese Zodiac. Let us check interesting facts about the murine friend! Fill in the given blanks below. (source from https://www.terminix.com/blog/education/facts-about-rats/    &  http://www.havahart.com/rat-facts#behavior & https://pets.amerikanki.com/11-interesting-facts-about-mice-and-rats/ )    1.    Rats are very _____________, giving birth to about 6 to 10 pups, 3-6 times per year.    2.    _______________in nature, rats generally emerge at dusk to do most of their activity and feeding throughout the night.    3.    A rat’s _________________ never stop growing.    4.    Among the U.S. cities, ____________ tops the list of the most rat-infested and ________________ was second, followed by Washington, D.C.    5.    Rats enjoy socializin...

This week, let us try the fun word puzzle (that was aired on NPR Weekend On-Air Challenge, January 12 th , 2020). Every answer is a compound word in which the vowel sound in each half is a short "a"— as in "grassland" or "madcap" – which is called an “ash” sound   / æ/   in American English.      1.    Father's father      2.    Item in a levee      3.    Slang term for someone who talks, talks, talks      4.    Symbol in a tweet      5.    Sudden remembrance of something past      6.    Carrying case with straps that's worn over the shoulders      7.    Pancake         8.    Game of 21      9.    Low-growing weed that can quickly take over a lawn    ...