My suppose Biography

I wonder who doesn’t know who Rita de Oliveira was?! Here I am 9 July 2055, in my mother’s room, Albufeira. My mother, my sweet mother, was born in Lisbon on 9^th July of 1994.  Rita was the newest of her family, either from the maternal or paternal part. She has one unique sister, my aunt, Joana who is two years older. My grandparents, Arminda and Vitor, were born in Leiria. My mom had always had the dream to live and study in Algarve. But until she was 18 she lived in Alfragide, against her will.

When she completed 18 years, she could finally fulfill her dream and travel to her desired city in the Algarve. She went to Faro University. When her dream came true, she was «so much happier, with a feeling of achievement », in her own words, that she couldn’t believe. Her course in Hotel Management was completed with success.

While she studied she also worked because she needed to earn some money to meet her needs. She started by working at a local bar:  ‘Neptuno’ because it was very close to her house and the schedule was compatible with the faculty. Then when she finished her training she had the opportunity to work at ‘Alfamar Hotels’. She was delighted.  In this hotel she could organize the most varied events… and I must say with much success!

By now she is working in Dubai by doing events for well known persons in this business. I can affirm that she is a complete person and she is just starting. «Follow your dream, nothing is impossible »

What a ridiculous situation...

    At aeroports there are a few procedures like checking in, passing security, waiting... well, my story takes place exactly at this point; security check,
   Everybody knows that when we pass the security they  always  have to check if there isn't anything suspicious, like drugs or other dangerous things.
   When it was my sister and i turn, they opened the bag, they saw a flask with "Aloe Vera". However they didn't know. So the security man called another security man asked him: ' Do you know what this is?'  but he didn't know at all, so they called another : 'Do you have any idea what this is?' again, no one knows. I thought to myself,'What a ridiculous situations!' 
  I looked at my sister and smiled. We really didn't know what to do. 'If 
you wont you can put it in garbage' my sisters said. But the security man only wants to know what that was. I explained, mu sister explained: 'Is just "Aloe Vera", its good for the face, its like a gel'. Again he didn't understand. 
  Finally a security women asked my sister  'what is going on over here?', she asked. The security man reported all of the situation... ' you can go' told him to us.

Word in the News activity

For my work plan, the teacher suggested that we practice by reading and listening some texts, and picking up some words that we don't know the true meaning.  So, by doing this, I will probably enrich my vocabulary and practice my pronunciation.

Reading activity:

French rockers are singing in English

Summary:There are growing numbers of rock bands in France singing in English rather than French. Musicians are familiar with American and English rock culture and believe English is the most natural language to use when they perform.


Report:

The breakthrough for bands that sing in English has not been straightforward. Under France's cultural protection laws, radio stations can only play a set amount of English-language music, and most prefer to fill their quota with actual British or American bands. That means little airtime for French-English bands.

There's also a feeling among some critics that singing in English is perhaps a bit of a cop out. But for the members of Anorak, in rehearsal here outside Paris, singing in English is simply a recognition of changing times.

The internet generation cares little for national barriers, today's French youngsters are tuned into English like everyone else is, so why feel guilty? Language has always been a vital part of French culture, so whether you like it or resent it, what's happening is undoubtedly significant. Young French musicians are abandoning their linguistic heritage, and joining the globalised world.

Hugh Schofield, BBC News, Paris  

Listening activity-Learning English - Words in the News - French rockers are singing in English

Vocabulary activity: 

quota- an agreed quantity of something

airtime- broadcast time on the radio or TV

bit of a cop out- choosing an easier option that may be disappointing to come

linguistic heritage- a long tradition of using their own language

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/wordsinthenews/2010/11/101105_witn_french_bands_page.shtml

The teacher gave us another activity...

Basically, Gonçalo Carneiro and I,  had to read a text about ‘Global Warming’ . Take some notes of the main ideas and present to other colleges ( Bia Nogueira an Catarina Nascimento)  the text that we had read. At the same time, our colleagues had to do the same thing but with another theme ‘ The Ozone layer ’

This was the text:

GLOBAL WARMING- THE GREENHOUSE EFFECTS

As long ago as the 1960s Professor Bert Bolin predicted “global warming”, caused by an increase in the amount of carbon dioxide (CO₂) in the atmosphere, and would lead to significant changes in the Earth’s climate. 

At the time his predictions were regarded as science fiction.

But most experts now agree that the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will double from 0.03% to 0.06% in the next 50 years and that temperatures worldwide will rise by 2° Celsius.

Although a temperature rise of 2° may not seem significant, the local effect may be much greater: by 2025 a rise of 10° is possible in polar regions and 4° in Northern Europe. Indeed the first effects will be felt by the end of the century-perhaps they are already being felt...

But how does the greenhouse effect operate and why should such a tiny proportion of CO₂ have such a harmful effect?

When living creatures breathe out and when things are burned, CO₂ enters the atmosphere.

Until recently all of this was absorbed by trees and plants which converted it back into oxygen. But the balance of nature has been disturbed. In power stations, in factories and in cars, we are burning more and more fossil fuels (coal, oil and natural gas). Eighteen billion tons of CO₂ enter the atmosphere every year. And the destruction of forests means that there are fewer trees to convert the CO₂into oxygen.

So the amount of CO₂ in the atmosphere is increasing all the time.

As sunlight enters the atmosphere, the surface of the earth is warmed. Some of this heat escapes back into space, but the rest is trapped by CO₂, which acts rather like the glass in a greenhouse, allowing sunshine and heat to pass in but not out again. 

Consequently, the temperature rises.

As the temperature rises, the amount of water vapor in the air will increase and this, too, will absorb more of the Earth’s heat. The oceans, too, will become warmer and store more heat, so that they increase the warming effect.

According to some scientists, the polar icecaps will start to melt and the oceans will expand as more snow and ice melts. Because the exposed ground, formerly covered in snow, won’t reflect the heat so well it will absorb more sunlight and this will lead to even more snow melting.

Scientists predict that the level of the sea will have risen by 1/2 to 112 meters by 2050. This will affect many low-lying areas of the world – millions of people today live less than one meter above sea level.

Some areas may actually benefit: the higher temperatures may allow a longer growing season for example.

For Northern Europeans, the extra warmth may be welcome – but there is also likely to be increased rainfall.

But many areas may suffer: the southern states of the USA can expect hotter summers and less rainfall, leading to worse conditions for agriculture, and the Mediterranean region may well be much drier and hotter than now.

Many experts believe that the Greenhouse Effect will bring significant changes to the Earth’s climate, though they don’t all agree how long this will take, or what form it will take. ) But it certainly looks as if the inhabitants of this planet will have to get used to living in the warmer world.

Our notes:

GLOBAL WARMING:

                    

                      Causes:

    «Increase the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere

How:

    «Power station

    «Burning fossil (fuels; oils; natural gas…)

Consequences: 

    «Temperature rise

    «Store more heat

    «Polar icecaps will start melting

    «Level of the sea will rise

    «Areas may suffer high temperatures

    «Destruction forest

           

                                                                                                                    

Studies:

    « CO2 will double in the atmosphere (0.03 to 0.06) in the next 50 years

    «Temperature will rise for 2º- until 2025

    «Sea level will have rise by ½ to ½ meters  by 2050

About this exercise, I liked it… To transform a text in notes is very useful. I just think that the theme could have been another because everyone is already familiar with and it would be more helpful if it was another one, a less familiar one. 

What could we, young people, do to save the world if we had a huge amount of money at our disposal?

   There are many problems around the world: poverty, war, environmental problems, to mention just some. The question is: are governments around the world doing enough to eradicate hunger, to bring peace, and to save our planet? Apparently not. Can young people do something? I believe they can.

  

  There are issues that we can change if we have the initiative and help. But there are things that we can´t change without any money, like poverty  and lack of schools for children that do not have the chance to study because there are no proper places for to learn.

   

   That is was what I would do if I had money to spend: build schools.  But why? This question has a simple answer - there are people that are not to blame for not having any money. If they don’t study and don’t know the basics things, it is normal that they don’t have a job. As you know it becomes difficult for people with no qualifications to find a job. So if we build schools, people will probably get a job. However, in some places in the Earth, like Africa, where  poverty is real it is more difficult to help  without spending at least millions of dollars.

  

   Year after year, poverty increases and everyone has to help.  After all “We are the world”.

My First Group Work

Last thursday, my group (Beatriz Nogueira, Catarina Nascimento, Carolina Trancoso and Gonçalo Carneiro) presented a poster. It's theme was  "Our Multicultural World".
 In my group, I talked about organizations, especially about UNO (United Nations Organizations)
I mentioned  the main objective of UN. And then  i asked  two questions: 

WHY DO WE NEED UNO?

HOW WAS OUR SOCIETY WITHOUT UNO?

P.S.: What would be your answer?

And  the result of our work was:

I think that this work was useful and important to help us understand different cultures in the world. And to be reminded of the problems \ and the good things that different cultures give us.