short story FCE

Some people are still working hard. Good!!! Thanks Vale V and Sofi T for sharing! You make me feel good,

By the way, good luck on Saturday! I´ll be thinking of you!

It was a perfectly normal day until I got to the train station. I got up early in the morning as usual, I put on my uniform and prepared my rucksack for school.When I was heading to the train station, Stacey texted me saying she wasn’t going to school so I had to travel alone. Suddenly I realized that two big men were following me from the other side of the street. I thought I was being paranoid so I tried to persuade myself that they were ordinary people.I got to the train station and bought my ticket. As I got to the platform I saw the two men out of the blue. I got distracted for just a second and one of them grabbed my arm while the other took my stuff.I burst crying, to my surprise the thieves came back and returned my belongings. I couldn’t believe my ears when I heard them saying they felt sorry for taking my First Certificate book and all my extra material for the exam.
By Valery and Sophie.

Time!

Thanks, Guillermina (pre first- iatel) for sending your opinion!

Do we waste time?

The other day we were thinking: “where the hell does our time go?” Why does time go by so fast?” Nobody really seemed to care but I decided to look for some information about it. Some people may say we are getting older and so we feel time flies away. The fact is I am only 16, if time flies at my age I’m lost! I believe there is “over education”. Young people spend most of their time studying because if you want to have a good job having a degree will not be enough. You must speak not only English but another one; you must have computer skills , and do other courses to complement your education.

Another reason I found is that people waste a lot of time in front of computers, and TV or using their phones. Three hours in front of the computer are like five minutes. Gadgets were invented to make communication with other people easier or to be updated. These gadgets improve all the time, but they are time-consuming. Nowadays mobile phones, for example, have as many functions as a camera or a computer. So how come we spend so much time on them?

I found a theory on the Internet called The Schumann resonances which talks about a global electromagnetic resonance phenomenon that occur because the space between the surface of the Earth and the conductive ionosphere acts as a closed waveguide. The Schumann Resonance (SR) is rising, and is approaching 13 Hz, from it's "normal" frequency of just 8 Hz. This is a complex theory so if you want to know more about it there is a lot of information on the web. It also has relation with global warming and the “end of the world at 2012”.

try this out before exams!

http://www.bahta.org/therapy/braingym/pace.html

Some brain gym! good luck!

Mrs Bixby's coat- an alternative ending!

Thanks a lot , Yayi for your creativity! Great work!

To those who haven't read the short story, you can go to:
http://www.cuentoseningles.com.ar/shortstories/english/mrsbixby.html


Mrs. Bixby couldn´t believe what she was seeing. She hid her anger the best she could and said good bye to Miss Pulteney. She went home and there she cried and cried until she decided to get the coat back. So she returned to her husband ´s surgery to talk to him. Crying, she said: "You're having an affair. I saw your assistant wearing my aunt Maude´s coat!”
Before Cyril could open his mouth to say a word, Mrs. Bixby started to tell him the story that she had made up at home: “When Aunt Maude was married she had had a love affair with a wealthy single Colonel. After eight years she finished the relationship. Six months ago someone sent her a big box with the mink coat and a letter telling her that the Colonel had died and his last wish was to give her that coat in memory of the love he had always felt for her. Although she was a widow now she didn´t want anyone to know the story. So she gave me the coat and asked me to go to a pawnbroker and invent the story of the lost ticket in the taxi.”
After finishing telling her lie to her husband, Mrs. Bixby asked him for the divorce. She left the surgery wearing the mink coat and thinking of her new life without Cyril: “Maybe I could live with Aunt Maude in Baltimore… Maybe the Colonel will know I´m divorced… who knows…“, she thought.
By Yayi C- CLEC 2009

Let's get serious for a while

Excellent lecture given by Harvard Professor Homi Bhabha who is the author of The Location of Culture and the forthcoming A Measure of Dwelling on transition.
It's long but worth it! Just enjoy great ideas and clear English.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yER4QwiSl14

Women's and Men's brains

Yes! They have a nothing box!
But mind you... some male students told me sometimes they can't tell women what they're thinking!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuMZ73mT5zM (English version)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhTzdhsfWz4&feature=related ( with subtitles)

Essays

Follow this link and clarify your ideas! (Will this work??)
http://www.authorstream.com/Presentation/dalilah82-183066-first-certificate-types-essays-entertainment-ppt-powerpoint/