"The North Pole is now an island"

Last year, on August 28, the two passages which usually join the North Pole with Russia and Canada were free of ice. This fact wasn’t expected until 2050 but the effects of the global warming have been more serious than what experts thought. Now, boats can travel around the world through ways that sometimes are more than four thousand miles shorter than before. Vikings used the Northwest Passage, but this fact had not happened since 125,000 years ago.

Scientists believe that the main cause is global warming and that this isn’t the last consequence. It is a very important fact and, if it doesn’t change, life in Earth is in danger.

New words learnt:

seabed - fons del mar
bypass - passatge de circumval·lació
feasibility - viabilitat
tapping - explotació
sovereignty - sobirania

Article from BBC News

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"What's in a (shop's) name?"

Some businesses have been fined because they didn't use catalan. The law that penalizes the shops, bars and other businesses is called "llei de política lingüística" and the government started to impose sanctions in 2003, but a lot of people think that these measures are too much exaggerated.

New words learnt:

straggle - créixer desordenadament
penny - (moneda) centau
counterpart - equivalent
coalition - coalició
signage - senyalització
penalized - sancionat
fine - multa

Article from Catalonia Today, written by (unknown).

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"Average homeless person is a foreign male with an income"

The Universitat Autònoma of Barcelona and Obra Social la Caixa have made a study about homeless people in Barcelona. 923 persons have been interviewed and all of them live in the streets. After doing the study, they have concluded that most of them are men about forty one years old, with basic education and an income. This research is an attempt to understand better a problem which affects most of the cities.

New words learnt:

either - qualsevol
hailing - grava, pedres
stress (to) - posar en tensió, estressar
highlight (to) - destacar
traits - trets, característiques
average - mitjana

Article from Catalonia Today, written by (unknown).

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“Spam on rise after brief reprieve”

Some weeks ago McColo, a web hosting company which was responsible for having about 2/3 of the e-mail spam, had been closed. It seemed to be a great blow against spamming, but now it is rising again. The spam senders are finding day after day new ways of sending e-mails without being caught. For example, some of them will go to other countries with weaker laws. Internet security firms are investigating to face the spamming, but loads of computers are affected and infected by this problem and it seems that this Christmas season it will grow. New words learnt:

Alleged - presumpte
Bot - programa informàtic que pot fer diverses accions per ell mateix
Host (to) - allotjar
Recruit (to) - contractar, reclutar
Reprieve - respir
Scourge - fueteig
Shutdown - tancament
SPAM - The origin of this word is Spiced Ham (pernil amb espècies), with a low quality and big spreading, like the spam messages.

Article from BBC News, written by (unknown). Wednesday, 26th of November 2008

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Discussion Essay

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF USING COMPUTERS

It’s an undeniable fact that, in a short period of time, computers have flooded our homes, our schools and our jobs. The arrival of the World Wide Web has been a turning point in the humanity’s history. But computers aren’t perfect and we can find loads of arguments supporting or against them.

On the one hand, computers are one of the symbols of the progress. They have created thousands of new trades and some companies live repairing computers, selling in the internet, advertising or charging money for sharing their information. Furthermore, computers have changed the meaning of the word “communication”, giving the opportunity of talking with people in the other side of the world instantaneously. You can talk with your family or your friends wherever they are, you only need a computer connected to the web. They have also made a new way of teaching and learning, with the biggest amount of information ever seen.

But, on the other hand, there’s the dark side of computers. All of this technology needs a lot of energy and resources, which aren’t obtained in a safe way for the environment. Computers become obsolete in less than five years and there’s no chance to use them again, generating a lot of rubbish. Moreover, most of the information in the internet isn’t true and loads of web pages aren’t reliable. Then, information becomes disinformation and the users must be very careful to recognize it. Another problem is that some persons become addicted to the computers, they are stuck to the screen and they need a treatment to live without their gadget.

In conclusion, there are good points and bad points about computers, but I think that nowadays there are more bad arguments than good ones. In my opinion, the idea of computers is good but, in practice, it isn’t well carried out. Otherwise, most of the problems are possible to solve and I hope that, in the future, computer will be one of the man’s best friends.

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Ameriquest: don't judge too quickly... We won't

This is an exercise that I made for practicing in class. The objective is to fill the spaces with the words: is, are getting, is going to be, killed, hold, enjoyed, look, have got, calling, are asking, feel, hate and forgot.
EXERCISE:
DON’T JUDGE TOO QUICKLY... WE WON’T: AMERIQUEST

1-I don’t _____ your mother.

2-Patient has a fractured fibia. Given him a mild sedative. So he’ll be able to go home tomorrow.
Daddy’________ so excited!
That ______ him.
Paging Doctor Palmer, doctor...

3-All the boys are ______ Crazy Girl!
I hope she sings this tonight.
I know!
We need gum!
I’m on it!
Oh honey! Here_ some money.
What ___ we ___ here?
I’m her...daddy.

4-Hi folks, we hope you _______ your flight today. We're going to be starting our decent...

5-

6-Hello. How much ___ they ______?
Well, that's a lot of money for a deck!
I hate to tell you this but you ____ _____ robbed.
Did you hear me? You _____ ______ robbed.

7-(song) I've been really tryin', baby
Tryin' to ____ back this feelin' for so long
And if you feel like I ____, baby
Then come on, oh, come on

8-______ at the...

9-Excuse me... Oh! What happens! Hi!
Hi! What are you doing?
Eh! ______ your wallet....

10-

ANSWER:

1-I don’t hate your mother.

2-Patient has a fractured fibia. Given him a mild sedative. So he’ll be able to go home tomorrow.
Daddy’s going to be so excited!
That killed him.
Paging Doctor Palmer, doctor...

3-All the boys are calling Crazy Girl!
I hope she sings this tonight.
I know!
We need gum!
I’m on it!
Oh honey! Here’s some money.
What have we got here?
I’m her...daddy.

4-Hi folks, we hope you enjoyed your flight today. We're going to be starting our decent...

5-

6-Hello. How much are they asking?
Well, that's a lot of money for a deck!
I hate to tell you this but you’re getting robbed.
Did you hear me? You’re getting robbed.

7-(song) I've been really tryin', baby
Tryin' to hold back this feelin' for so long
And if you feel like I feel, baby
Then come on, oh, come on

8-Look at the...

9-Excuse me... Oh! What happens! Hi!
Hi! What are you doing?
Eh! Forgot your wallet....

10-

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Fourth Oral Presentation

This is the video of my first oral presentation of the school year, the 4th in Batxillerat. First of all I’ll comment my presentation and then I’ll put the comment of the other presentations that we have made in class. MY PRESENTATION:

PRESENTATION: I had a powerpoint with the content of my presentation, some examples and images.

BODY LANGUAGE AND EYE CONTACT: I was more relaxed than in the other presentations. I looked to the audience or to the screen, moving my hands (maybe too much)

CONTENT: I think I introduced new information to the audience, because it was new for me when I chose this topic. I looked for information about different types of humor and I tried to choose some examples to make it easy to understand. I didn’t put a video, it could have been good.

LANGUAGE: I checked the grammar in the dictionary I looked for expressions and words related to the world of humour. I used a too much times “humour”, but I think that some synonyms aren’t appropriate to this topic. I put “humor” in the presentation because the dictionary said it was correct, but now I know that “humor” is in American English and “humour” is in British English.

PRONUNCIATION & ENTONATION: I tried to don’t extend the words or say “mmmmm” “aaaaaaa...” to win time, because when I do it I extend them too much and I prefer to stop and think.


COMMENTS OF THE OTHERS’ PRESENTATIONS:

Orals 1rst term 2n...

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Summary: Pride and Prejudice

The last day we watched in class the film “Pride and prejudice”. The story is very similar than the book that we had read: The main character, Elizabeth Bennet, a prejudiced girl from a medium social class, meets a rich gentleman, Mr. Darcy, who teaches her that to judge people at first sight and without care can drive us until a great mistake. That happens with Elizabeth and Darcy but, at the end, they finish together, married and happy.

Apart from that, there are more love stories in the background, very varied and which involve the Bennet sisters and their family.

As I’ve said, the film is similar to the book, but there are some differences. In Pemberley, when Elizabeth visits the house with her uncles, the servant tells them how good person is Mr. Darcy, but in the film she doesn’t speak. When Lydia elopes with Mr. Wickham, Elizabeth doesn’t tell the news to their uncles and Mr. Darcy at the same time. Finally, if I’m not mistaken, when Lady Catherine de Bourgh visits Elizabeth, they don’t meet in a room and at night but they go for a walk near Bennet’s House. Furthermore, Elizabeth and Mr Darcy meet some times in Lady Catherine’s gardens before he proposes her.

There are also differences between the films (the British version and the American version). On the one hand, the British film finishes when Elizabeth tells her father that she really wants to marry Mr. Darcy and he is astonished because two of her daughters have promised in a very short period of time. On the other hand, the American version continues this scene and finishes in Mr. Darcy’s house, in Pemberley, near the lake, at night. In this scene there’s the final kiss, giving a more typical ending. In my opinion, the first one is better than the second, which is very cheesy.

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