The writer wandered the roads he wrote about in these heartfelt tales of desperation and desire. Also: New paperback releases by Jose Eduardo Agualusa, Marina Warner, Richard Hofstadter, Naomi Klein a
— Read on www.latimes.com/style/la-bkw-rayner22-2008jun22-story.html
Audio-books
English Week in Salduero
Education Crossword
Find 12 words and their definitions.
Read here to see these words in context.
Progress Methodically
Find here more about language contents and tasks with a CLIL-style!
Students´part
Read all about Traffic Lights, Lexical Sets and Text Attack!
CLIL-TEACHERS’ ROLES
- Role of teachers: Carmel Mary Coonan
CLIL Bulletin Board
Planning Ahead
First Meeting
Memorandum 1
- Watch David Marsh in youtube. Preparing a bilingual summary, coming soon…
- Explore more: Task based lessons: British Council 1 and 2
Blog for lessons: English 42
Time savers: Mary Glasgow Scholastic
Podcasts:
ESL: English Café: On Jim Henson, The Muppets and Jim Morrison, The Doors
Ten Idioms in 10′, English Banana
FilmEnglish:
The Notebook On household chores
Other
Archive: Animals and Environment
Big History Project: BHP
TED Talks
Big Challenge
Pollution, Global Warming and Climate Change
Climate Change is nowadays one of the most important problems on Earth.
This phenomenon is due to human activity: toxic gases such as carbon dioxide produced by factories or exhaust fumes from transport polluting the air.
On the one hand, this toxic atmosphere is the cause of some diseases, for instance, allergy and asthma: in huge cities like Mexico, people have to wear masks, owing to the fumes of cars, motorbikes, planes… On the other, global warming is occurring as a result of carbon dioxide emissions, because it absorbs and retains heat in the atmosphere and, as a consequence, global weather patterns and temperatures are being upset and this is called Climate Change.
If we don’t stop this, we are going to suffer extreme consequences.
Firs of all, the ice caps are melting due to the increasing temperatures. Consequently, sea levels will rise and cities or villages in the coast will be flooded in few years. Therefore, people who live there will have to move to other cities and a lot of islands won’t exist any more. There will be a lot of citizens living in a limited space! Furthermore, many people will have lost their jobs which depend on tourism (hotels, restaurants, amusement parks..)
This situation is very dangerous and we have to find a solution for future generations. However, this is difficult because everybody has to be aware of the problem and make an effort.
First, in a personal level, I think each person should use a means of transport that doesn’t pollute, such us bicycles, public transport or walk more often: we could thus reduce the number of cars circulating and their emissions. Besides, in my opinion, we should pay a congestion charge in all big cities.
At home, we must separate and recycle rubbish and stop using plastic bags: we should use reusable cotton bags instead. We can choose not too buy things with excessive plastic package.
We should also choose renewable energy produced by wind farms or solar panels.. and reduce the use of fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas which produce a lot of carbon dioxide.
The government should pass environmentally friendly laws and all factories should meet certain standards in order to reduce their toxic emissions.
This is a vital matter for human beings, as well as the other living beings in our planet. Therefore, everybody will have to do something about it.
Paula Bartolomé, Elena Jimenez and Lara Torres are students in First Bachillerato. This mix of their essays shows the structure , contents and connectors (cause, effect, consequence, example, adittion, opinion…) as well as correct punctuation , Grammar and specific Vocabulary required for this kind of composition. I am also hopeful that these small contributions will help rise awareness about environmental concerns and make people do the right thing.
Thank-you!
Viajes Literarios de Javier Reverte
Las orillas literarias del Mississippi
El Mississippi es un río que da mucho de sí. Dicen las gentes poco informadas que América no tiene historia, como si la historia fuese una cuestión relacionada con la vejez y el tiempo. En cambio, yo veo la historia en relación con la intensidad de la vida. Pongo un ejemplo: ¿cuál es la historia de Suiza? Será extensísima si uno la cuenta por siglos y estará llena de aristócratas ariscos, egoístas y gigantones, pero a nadie le emociona en exceso, que yo sepa. ¿A quién va a apasionarle un país dominado por los banqueros y cuyo gran invento es el reloj de cuco? En cambio, los Estados Unidos, como quien dice un país casi recién nacido, presenta una historia apabullante, la más intensa de casi todas las peripecias históricas de nuestros días. Sumen, si no, acontecimientos: descubrimiento, colonización, guerra de la Independencia, guerra de Secesión, conquista del Oeste, industrialización; y los indios, los gánsteres, los pistoleros, la lucha por los derechos civiles, la guerra de Vietnam… Nueva York, las Vegas, San Francisco… ¡qué se yo! Compare el lector con el reloj de cuco. La Historia del mundo contemporáneo tiene su mayor protagonismo en este joven país de América.
Hace unos meses, viajé recorriendo un buen tramo del río Mississippi, entre la localidad de Hannibal, al norte de la ciudad de San Luis, y Nueva Orleáns, en su desembocadura en el Golfo de México. Hannibal es el pueblo en donde nació y pasó su infancia y primera juventud el escritor Mark Twain, cuyo nombre bautismal era Samuel Clemens. Y el pueblo, al que en la ficción llamó San Petersburgo, es el escenario de sus más famosas novelas: “Las aventuras de Tom Sawyer” y “Huckleberry Finn”.
Hannibal hoy es casi un parque temático dedicado al escritor. No sólo hay dos estatutas suyas en la localidad, sino otra en la calle principal que representa a Huck y Tom, hombro con hombro, partiendo en busca de aventuras. La casa en donde nació Twain es un museo que celebra su memoria y hay un restaurante que se llama como él y otro bautizado Tom Sawyer. El escritor, que era un gran humorista, se hubiera tronchado de risa al ver su retrato encima de una hamburguesa y a su personaje ofreciendo “hot dogs”.
Rio abajo llega uno al condado imaginario de Yoknapatawpha, que en realidad se llama Lafayette, y que constituye el territorio sobre el que se cimenta casi toda la obra novelística de William Faulkner. El escritor, que nació en el pueblo de Oxford, muy cerca del rio Mississippi, pasó casi toda su vida en su pueblo y, como es natural, su casa es también museo. En Oxford han sido más discretos que en Hannibal y no hay ninguna hamburguesería que se llame Faulkner.
Y en fín, más abajo, en New Orleans, junto a la boca del rio, Tennesse Williams situó algunos de sus dramas, entre ellos el inolvidable “Un tranvía llamado deseo”.
Muchos de quienes afirman que los Estados Unidos carecen de Historia, suelen añadir que tampoco cultura. Y yo me pregunto: ¿Qué rio de Suiza –por no decir de Europa- puede presumir de haber visto crecer en sus orillas tanta y tan grande literatura?
Sense Connection
¿Has oido hablar de Proust?
Básicamente, se levantó una mañana y al desayunar tomó una magdalena: el sabor desencadenó un torrente de recuerdos que plasmó en siete tremendos volúmenes: En busca del tiempo perdido.
“Y de pronto el recuerdo surge. Ese sabor es el que tenía el pedazo de magdalena que mi tía Leoncia me ofrecía, después de mojado en su infusión de té o de tila, los domingos por la mañana en Combray.”
Bueno, esto es algo parecido… a nivel escolar… Many thanks to Sofía, Francho, Raúl, Laura, Javier. 4ºESO
SMELL, ODOUR, PERFUME, SCENT, AROMA
WATER
The smell of the sea reminds me of holidays because I used to go to the beach with my family. And I have always liked the smell of rivers because in summer I used to have lunch with some friends and later, we would go to the river for bathing and sunbathing. Did you know that each river has a particular smell?
WILD-WOOD
The smell of wood makes me think of the Sunday excursions I used to do when I was a kid because I used to love it and I still like going to the mountains whenever I can.
The smell of the grass always reminds me of the football matches with my friends at the end of the class.
CHOCOLATE & CO
The smell of hot chocolate reminds me of my childhood: when I was about six years old, my family and I used to play chess, parcheese and cards and drink hot chocolate in winter afternoons.
I’ve always liked the smell of butter, because it makes me think of France. However, I don’t like the smell of cheese because it brings memories of feet, so I never eat it!
BOOKS
Another smell I like is that of new, unpacked books – it always makes me think of my first year at school: I was anxious to start and I bought the text books in September.
FLAVOUR- TASTE
When I taste some fish, it makes me think of my summer holidays on the beach when, at night, we had dinner in the “chiringuitos”.
Oranges and paella remind me of Valencia, too. I can remember my grandfather cooking the “paella” and my uncle picking the oranges from the tree.
The taste of cookies brings back memories as well: when my grandmother made them. Now she still makes them and when I taste these cookies I can´t help thinking they are the best biscuits in the world!
There are some other flavours that make me think of the past… for example, there was a type of candies called “Sugus” that I used to eat when I was a child. Nowadays, I hardly ever eat them but, when I do, I remember the good old times, so careless and easy-going!
SOUNDS GOOD
There are sounds that make me think of my childhood, too.
For instance, when I listen to a lullaby, I immediately remember when my mum put me to sleep.
I also like the sea-sound (I think is one of the most beautiful sounds ever) because it reminds me of my summer holidays on the beach. I spent the best moments of my childhood there so I feel sad and happy at the same time when I listen to it and remember those moments…
Besides, there are other sounds and songs that bring back memories such as a specific type of bird (may be an owl) that I used to hear in summer evenings and mornings – if I now hear its voice in another place, I always think of the hot nights by the Mediterranean Sea.
On the other hand, the sound of cars brings back memories of a very big city and I imagine it sounds like an earthquake!
All of these memories remind me of nice things, of my past!
644 WORDS
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