Group Reading Log #3: Ahmed, J, Annie by https://padlet.com/xaqin/AhmedJAnnie_3 Made with swagger en-us 2018-02-09 01:35:02 UTC 2018-02-24 02:57:55 UTC hello@padlet.com Article 3: How China Plans to Feed 1.4 Billion Growing Appetites xaqin https://padlet.com/xaqin/AhmedJAnnie_3/wish/229875722 Discipline: Social Science
Summary: In the article How China Plans to Feed 1.4 Billion Growing Appetites, Tracie McMillan used her own traveling experience in China and the life example of the married farmer couple Jiang and Ping in China to illustrate the current situation of Chinese farmland and agriculture. She mentioned a really interesting problem said that "how could China feed about a quarter of world population with only one tenth of the farmland." She also used chart and graph to compare the growth of Chinese lifestyle and eating habit over the past decade. Furthermore, she compared the difference between China and U.S. and said that over the past decade, Chinese are trying to imitate the western eating habit, whereas they eat much more meats everyday than ten years ago. However, China don't have that much farmers to feed the keep growing urban style and wealthier people.
Response:
This article really caught my eyes because as a Chinese who are studying aboard, I never realize there are such huge agriculture problems with my country. My grandfather was a farmer. Back to his generation, almost everyone in China was farmer and agriculture is such a big production of our country and the country life style is the main life style. However, in nowadays China, almost everyone are intending to live in city and our government is still pursuing urbanization. For instance, government has bought my grandfather's farm in 2012 and have transformed that farmland to urbanized building in 2015 and right now, we couldn't see the farm's look of my grandfathers farm anymore. I think the main reason cause the crazy urbanization style in China is that back to Chief Mao's generation, Chief Mao gave Chinese a goal was that we should develop cities instead farms. This goal has set a tone for China's development over the past decades. However, they didn't realize that this urbanization action have changed China's agriculture development. Also, they didn't realize that the less care the have been given to agriculture caused the problem that we are facing right now---how could we feed ourselves when there are no farmland. I remember when I took geography class in middle school, my teacher has introduced us the differences between U.S. agriculture planning and China's agriculture planning. She taught us that U.S. give each state a function on producing foods, such as the middle parts are in response of meats and western part are in response of weeds. However, our country seems never have a be specific plan of agriculture.
DQ Questions: 
1). After you read the article, what do you think about China's agriculture. 
2). Do you have any stereotype of China's agriculture production or China this country about food? If so, what is it and why do you have this kind stereotype? 
3). By comparing to U.S., what kind solution could you give to China's agriculture planning? ]]> 2018-02-09 01:43:58 UTC https://padlet.com/xaqin/AhmedJAnnie_3/wish/229875722 Article 3: Vocabularies xaqin https://padlet.com/xaqin/AhmedJAnnie_3/wish/229875754 #1 conundrum (n.)
Original:
China is grappling with a daunting conundrum: how to feed nearly one-fifth of the world’s population with less than one-tenth of its farmland, while adapting to changing tastes.
Definition: a confusing and difficult problem or question.
My Own Sentences: This math problem on the midterm was a conundrum, which I still could't think out a solution for it.
Synonyms: enigma; mystery

#2 Daunting (adj.)
Original:
China is grappling with a daunting conundrum: how to feed nearly one-fifth of the world’s population with less than one-tenth of its farmland, while adapting to changing tastes.
Definition: seeming difficult to deal with in anticipation; intimidating.
Daunt(v.); Dauntingly(adv.); Dauntingness(n.)
My Own Sentences: This coding project is a daunting task because it is so long and required so much different knowledge.
Synonyms: formidable,
intimidating, disconcerting

]]> 2018-02-09 01:44:12 UTC https://padlet.com/xaqin/AhmedJAnnie_3/wish/229875754 Ahmed Alsinan Vocabulary: Article 3: a_alsinan https://padlet.com/xaqin/AhmedJAnnie_3/wish/230219521 1- Hogs(N):
Original: ...China has always prized pork in its diet, and hogs were traditionally raised—and slaughtered—in backyard plots.

Definition: (of food or drink) a domesticated pig, especially one over 120 pounds (54 kg) and reared for slaughter.
My own sentence:
Muslims do not eat hogs because these animals eat dirt. Also, eating hogs cause health problems.
Synonyms: pig, sow, swine

2- Colloquial(adj):
Original: ... Indeed a colloquial phrase traditionally used to describe being at ease, “Put your heart down,” has been repurposed.
Definition: (of language) used in ordinary or familiar conversation; not formal or literary.
My own sentence:
International students at UC Davis have hard times understanding the colloquial language of native speakers. As an international student, I am used it since I have a lot of native speakers' friends.
Synonyms: 
informal, conversational, everyday
]]> 2018-02-09 22:06:26 UTC https://padlet.com/xaqin/AhmedJAnnie_3/wish/230219521 Ahmed Alsinan Response: a_alsinan https://padlet.com/xaqin/AhmedJAnnie_3/wish/230235844 This article has shocked me since I did not know that china has a problem with agriculture. China is known for its products. Also, I have thought that Chinese inport their plants from different contries. However, this article shows that the country is facing a big problem in agriculture. The huge population is the biggest challenge that the government must keep in mind because the population is increasing by time and if the plants are not enough for millions of chinese, the citizens are going to be in hunger and the country is going to export more plants from outside affecting the the economy in a negative way.]]> 2018-02-10 02:35:06 UTC https://padlet.com/xaqin/AhmedJAnnie_3/wish/230235844 J Chen Vocabulary: Article 3 wjcchen https://padlet.com/xaqin/AhmedJAnnie_3/wish/230235881 1 -  undergone (v):
Original:... benefits of the changes that China’s farms have undergone in the past four decades.
Definition: to endure; sustain; suffer.
Undergoer(n)
My own sentence:
My cousin underwent a terrible car accident when he was four years old, he lost his legs in that accident, I feel so sorry for him.
Synonyms:  go through, experience, undertake, face, submit to, be subjected to, come in for.
 
2 -   ample (adj):
Original: Our meal with ample pork and chicken was part of that for him.
Definition:  fully sufficient or more than adequate for the purpose or needs;plentiful; enough.
ampleness(n)
My own sentence:
There are ample lands for farmers to planting. Thousands of farmers come to here.
Synonyms:   generous, free, abounding, lavish, plenteous, overflowing. extensive,vast, great, capacious. 


]]> 2018-02-10 02:35:55 UTC https://padlet.com/xaqin/AhmedJAnnie_3/wish/230235881 J Chen DQs answer: Article 3 wjcchen https://padlet.com/xaqin/AhmedJAnnie_3/wish/230236387 #1 answer
After reading the article, I think China has many places need to improve in order to feed that much amount of people. But in fact, the agriculture in China develops so fast. Comparing the farming style in China 10 years ago with now,  it's so different. When I was in elementary school, I had a travel to county with my parents, I saw some people plant with their hand. While two years ago when I went to the same place, everything has changed, people use the planting machine instead of hand.
#3 answer
I believe China should keep doing whatever it is doing now. Because America and China are two totally different countries, they have different national conditions, people have different eating habits. Therefore, the perfectly suitable planning plan for America might not fit to China at all. ]]> 2018-02-10 02:51:00 UTC https://padlet.com/xaqin/AhmedJAnnie_3/wish/230236387 J Chen Response: Article 3 wjcchen https://padlet.com/xaqin/AhmedJAnnie_3/wish/230236810 Response: As a Chinese student who's studying in America, after I reading the article, I have some different points with Tracie McMillan. First of all, the food in China that wealthy people are eating are not trend to be western food, actually western food is only one kind of foods that people are eating in China, it is only depends on personal prefer. There are tons of other different countries food besides western food. Secondly, most of Chinese people are prefer eating more vegetables than meat. It is kind of because of our eating habits. In our opinion, vegetables are healthy, while eating too much meat could cause different body issues. Therefore maybe in 30 years ago, it might because of hunger caused low daily supplies of calorie, but for now, the biggest reason would be people chose so. And I think mainly reason for the huge fat population in American is the  excess ingestion of calories. Thirdly, as a developed countries with the biggest amount of population, China has already put a lot effort on agriculture. Here is a guy called Yuan Longping, who's a Chinese agricultural scientist . He developed the first hybrid rice varieties. Hybrid rice has since been grown in dozens of countries in Africa, America, and Asia—providing a robust food source in high famine risk areas. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization 1991 statistics show that 20 percent of the world's rice output came from 10 percent of the world's rice fields that grow hybrid rice. Fourthly, farming in most places in China has been mechanized. The reason for urbanization in China is because less people are farming since machine takes over the responsibility. Back to my hometown, there were like 10 people to plant 1 square km field 30 years ago, but now 1 person could handle everything since the mechanized. Last but not the least, Chinese government does have agriculture plan for future, people can easily find it by searching on internet. And it is updated frequently. ]]> 2018-02-10 03:02:59 UTC https://padlet.com/xaqin/AhmedJAnnie_3/wish/230236810 Ahmed Alsinan answers: a_alsinan https://padlet.com/xaqin/AhmedJAnnie_3/wish/230236817 2- Yes, most people from the middle east think that chinese people only eat insects and noodle and they believe it tastes really bad. However, there is a chinese restaurant that sells the traditional food of china in my hometown. It was one of the best restaurants that I have ever tried in my life. the spice was magnificent and it was one of my best experience ever, so I recommend to try their food and this stereotype will be gone.
3- since the population of US citizens is not as huge as China, I can't compare between the two countries in terms of agriculture, but even if the US has a big population, I don't think there will be a big problem since the us government really cares about agriculture. On the other hand, china focuses in manufacturing more than planting and this is the problem.]]> 2018-02-10 03:03:11 UTC https://padlet.com/xaqin/AhmedJAnnie_3/wish/230236817 Feedback rabiebrigitte https://padlet.com/xaqin/AhmedJAnnie_3/wish/233136697 Don't forget to provide me with a link to the article.]]> 2018-02-20 06:18:48 UTC https://padlet.com/xaqin/AhmedJAnnie_3/wish/233136697