ADVICES FOR 2ºBACHILLERATO

If you are doing 2ºBach next year, these are my tips for you:

-You should do all the comments during the summer.

-You should also hand in your compositions in time because if you don't, you will not have time to finish them all

 -I reckon that reading the books in summer and doing the projects is also very useful, because you will be less busy during the year.

-Do always your homework, even if you are very busy.

-Pay attention in class and follow Albert’s recommendations.

-I believe that you should write all you notes in your blog, as it will easier when it comes to studying.

-Practise for exams doing grammar exercises from Albert’s site, and there are mock exams, too.

-You should also post all your comments in your blog.

I hope these pieces of advice will help you next year, although you are maybe feeling a little overwhelmed with all the things you have to do. I wish you a wonderful year and good luck!

     

EARTH DAY

First of all, when did Earth Day begin? It is known that Earth Day is an annual event created to celebrate the planet's environment and raise public awareness about pollution. The first Earth Day was in 1970. Senator Gaylord Nelson, after seeing the damage done by a 1969 massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, it was inspired to organize a national "teach-in" that focused on educating people about the environment.

It is an open secret that the transport is one of the main causes of pollution. Big cities like Madrid, Barcelona and Granada are places where pollution is more serious due to the huge amount of people who use their car everyday. Although governments are taking action to face this issue, it is getting more and more serious. In fact, monuments like La Alhambra are getting black due to traffic.

What can we do to try to help the enviroment? There are a lot of ways to solve this problem, and most of them are really easy, such as: turn off your tap when brushing your teeth; stop using plastic bags; use public transport or a bike instead of your car; recycle; don’t waste food; use a refillable water bottle...

To conclude, I think that we have to raise awareness and try to do something for changing these alarming problems, as it's our responsability and by the time we are old we will be able to say that we have looked after the planet. 

THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER

Today I am going to write about “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer”. The story is about a boy called Tom, who is known for his bad behaviour, and is always looking for more exciting ways to spend his time. In their search for adventure, Tom and his friend Huckleberry Finn run away to live on an island as pirates, look for a buried treasure and track down some real robbers. 

Despite the fact that it looks like as a novel for children, actually it is also appealing for adults who looks back on their own childhood with fond reminiscences. In fact, in his preface to the first edition, Twain wrote, "Although my book is intended mainly for the entertainment of boys and girls part of my plan has been to pleasantly remind adults of what they once were themselves, and what they felt and thought."

What about the author? Everyone knows him by the name of Mark Twain, but actually his real name was Samuel Longhorne Clemens. He was born in Florida, Missouri, on 30^th November, 1835. Although his family was not wealthy, Twain apparently had a happy and secure childhood. It is known that during four years Twain piloted riverboats along the Mississippi. During this time, he became familiar with the towns along the mighty River and met the characters who would be in his future novels, especially Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. The begining of his literary career started in 1865 with the launched of "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County".

From my point of view, there is a large number of character and most of them are unimportant, but all of them bring something different due to their respective personalities and characteristics, for example: aunt Polly shows what is unconditional love. However, if I had to choose one of them I would choose Tom Sawyer, since he is adventurous and kind as he never made fun of Huck for being poor like the other children, and Huckleberry Finn, because he reckons that money is not neccesary in order to be happy.

To conclude, I would like to add that Twain is not only known for “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer”, he also has a huge amount of novels that have been succesful and celebrated around the world, such as: “The Prince and the Pauper”. One interesting fact about Mark Twain is that he was born in 1835 during the appearance of Haley's Comet, and he died during the next appearance of Haley's Comet, 75 years later.

FALKIRK

What is Falkirk? Well, it is a town in Scotland's central belt, located between Edinburgh and Glasgow in the Forth Valley, which is bursting with brilliant contrasts and outstanding attractions.

Falkirk is well-known for being the location where films like Hamlet, starring Mel Gibson, and TV series like Outlander have been filmed. However, its fame comes from the real battle that took place in this city. In 1298 the army of William Wallace fell to the English under Edward I but in 1746 Bonnie Prince Charlie defeated the Hanoverians in the other battle of Falkirk.

In addition, Falkirk is also famous for its large number of monuments, for example: the Kelpies (they are the world's largest equine sculptures and they were designed by Andy Scott) and The Falkirk Wheel ( it is the world’s only rotating boatlift, which is used to connect the Forth & Clyde and Union canals in central Scotland).

To conclude, I would like to say that Falkirk looks like a fantastic place to visit since it is full of atracctions, art galleries, events, activities, historical treasures and modern wonders for people of all ages.

Stephen Hawking

Stephen Hawking was born on the 300th anniversary of Galileo's death, on 8^th January, 1942, in Oxford, England and he is considered to be one of the most influential and important theoretical physicists of the twentieth century. He wanted to study maths at university, but he chose physics and chemistry instead, because Oxford didn't have a math degree at the time. After his graduation, he went to Cambridge to study for his PhD.

Unfortunately, while he was still a student, he was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), commonly referred to as "Lou Gehrig's Disease," a degenerative disease of the nerve cells that control muscle movement. Hawking eventually became unable to move except for his fingers, and in the early 1980s he also lost the ability to speak, for this reason he had to communicate with the aid of a talking computer.

Nonetheless, he was able to form a family (he married twice, and has three children from his first marriage) and succeeded professionally. His theories of black holes and his search for a grand unification theory, which would link the theories of relativity with those of quantum mechanics, have propelled him into the scientific ranks of Sir Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein. But, it was in 1988 whe he attracted public interest with his book “A Brief History of Time”.

To conclude, I would like to say that Hawking is an example of overcoming, since despite all the difficulties in his life, he never gave up. Finally, I would like to add that he has also appeared on numerous TV shows, including The Simpsons, Futurama and The Big Bang Theory, and he had his own film called “The Theory of Everything”.

DO YOU FANCY MERMAIDING?

Firstly, what is mermaiding? Well, mermaiding is exactly what it sounds like – swimming like a mermaid. Using a monofin and often a tail, made of fabric, neoprene or silicone.

Mermaids and other kind of magical creatures have become more and more popular over the years due to the great amount of TV shows, books, legends, documentaries and films about them, such as: H2O: Just Add Water, or Splash. Nevertheless, the most well-known one is Christian Anderson’s story “The Little Mermaid”.

Although, mermaiding is often seen to go hand-in-hand with cosplay, it is also a sport known for the large number of benefits that come from it, for example: stronger core muscles, higher endurance, higher flexibility in shoulders, spine and hips, and less back pain. This is also recommended as hobby to relax and get away from the hustle and bustle of everyday.

To conclude, I would like to say that I reckon that this sort of activities are very interesting for people of all ages as a way to chill and practise a sport at the same time. I would like to do this activity as I have been always fascinated by mermaids.

THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER

WHAT SORT OF THINGS DO YOU LIKE DOING IN YOUR LEISURE TIME?

First of all, I would like to say that I reckon tha free time is extremely important for people after working or studying hard. It is thought that leisure time should be used to improve people's minds or just to relax.

It is an open secret that nowadays children prefer to spend their spare time with their mobiles phones or playing video games. From my point of view, childhood should not be wasted using technology, and parents should not provide their kids with electronic devices at such an early age.

As a student I don't have much leisure time. Owing to this fact, I like to make a good use of it and do my favourite things, such as: listening to music, watching TV, going out with my friends and having a quality time with them, or just chilling out.

To conclude, I would like to say that it is recommended to have a hobby that you can practise in your free time or if you don't have one, try new things. There is a huge amount of upsides that come from having hobbies, for example: they provide an outlet for stress, unite you with others and have physical health benefitis.

JANE EYRE

Pirates of the Web

Over the past few years, downloading music from the internet has become more and more popular, and with the tecnology improvements is getting easier to do it, for example: there are people that can download an album that has not been released yet.

In the old days people used to fall in love with a song they heard on the radio and they had to buy the whole entire album to listen to that one song again. Today it is possible to download that one song you love at any time without spending any money.

However, not all that glitters is gold, there is a large range of disadvantages that come from downloading, such as: there are some pages that have virus that can damage your computer or mobile phones.

To conclude, I would like to say that I reckon that, in spite of all the advertisements, you should not download music from the internet, people will still do it because they are getting something that they love for free.

Why not Nigeria for our summer holidays?

To be honest Nigeria has never been on my mind, for this reason it has been interesting to search information and discover unknown and amazing facts of this wonderful country.

Tourism is a growing industry in Africa, but is Nigeria a safe place to travel to? It is said that travelling around west Africa is an unpredictable business, and there are a lot of stories about travellers that make you think that Nigeria is not that worthy.

Nigeria has a lot of spectacular things to offer to the tourist, but Nike Art Centre, which is an art gallery of African artwork and culture, is a must for every traveler. If you are more into nature you should definitely visit Lekki Conservation Centre, Agodi Gardens and Jabi Lake.

To conclude, I would like to say that Nigeria is a truly unique country!. Something that is very highlight in this country is its food, its most famous dishes are: Jollof rice, Garri and Pounded yam.

Whining weaker men when ill, a fake?

It is open secret that since the beginning of times women have been viewed as the weaker sex, but is this true or false? Who are stronger, men or women?. From my point of view, the strengh of someone does not depend on their sex.

Nowadays, a lot of scientists think that women are stronger than men when it comes to illnesses, for example, Steven Austad, who is an international expert on ageing, and chairman of the Biology Department at the University of Alabama, says that “Pretty much at every age, women seem to survive better than men.”

He is among a small cadre of researchers who believe that women may hold the key to prolonging life, since there is a great amount of proofs that support this statement, for example, according to Gerontology Research Group, today, 43 people around the world are known to be living past the age of 110. Of these people, 42 are women.

To conclude, I would like to add the we should try to create a society where females and males have the same rights and they are treated the same, without any discrimination against any gender.

Stop boozing for a while!!!

Boozing? What does it mean ? It means drinking alcohol, especially in large quantities. What is the difference with “drinking”? As nouns the difference between drinking and boonzing is that drinking is an act or session by which drink is consumed, especially alcoholic beverages while boozing is the act of drinking heavily.

It is an open secret that at the begenning of a new year a lot of peple decide to do their best that year. Owing to this fact, it very common to see on social media how they make a list of resolutions for the year that it is coming.

A great amount of these resolutions are related to healthy life style, for example: taking up yoga classes, going to the gym or stopping boozing. Why should people stop boozing in January? I reckon that they should do it in order to make their body recover from all the Christmas excesses.

To conclude, I would like to add that I believe that there is nothing wrong with drinking occasionally, but it can turn out to be a serious issue if someone does it everyday, especially if it is excessively.

In case you get your laptop, tablet, mobile phone... stolen or lost!!

Nowadays, I reckon that one of the great fears of people is losing their laptosps, tablets, mobile phones... In fact, this is very common everyday, for example, according to a research, a laptop is stolen every 53 seconds.

What would I do if I lost or someone stole my mobile phone?, I believe that at the beginning I would feel vulnerable and stupid, but after this I think that I would go where I have been before I noticed that I didn’t have it.

It is an open secret that a lot of companies have seen this serious issue and they have taken advantage of it, for this reason, you can find a great amount of apps to find our lost or stolen mobile. Apple users have 'Find my Iphone', but there is also a 'Find my Android.

To conclude, I would like to add that from my point of view, we should pay more attention to them, since we not only lose an expensive object, we also lose pictures of memorable moments with our relatives or friends, or important e-mails.

LEGENDS OF THE PAST

It an open secret that through the history there have been a lot of rivalries between actors, footballers, singers… but there are some that have been so important and famous, for example: the rivalry between John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors, which is nowadays known by everybody.

It is possible that if you are not into tennis, you don’t know who they are, although they are legends of this sport. Jimmy Connors is considered an American tennis star, who ended his career with a men's open–era record 109 singles titles and 1,337 victories, along with eight Grand Slam singles titles.

However, John McEnroe is not far behind, he is one of most successful tennis players of all times, who is also known for his violent verbal abuse at ballboys, chair umpires, photographers and other people. In spite of this, he won 17 Grand Slam titles, 77 career singles titles and 77 doubles titles..

To conclude, I would like to say that in total they played nine times in Grand Slams and it would have been a pleasure to see these two legends in a duel, since they were the best players of their time and also due to their powerful personalities, which created a unique atmosphere.

 

CHRISTMAS AMAZING STORY

Nowadays, we are used to hearing a large range of news, but most of them are about recession, corruption cases, people who have lost their house due to natural disasters, such as: earthquake, heavy rains...For this reason, I believe that this kind of news makes our day happier.

David Aguilar, who is only 18, is a handicapped one-armed young boy from Andorra who made himself a robot extension arm out of Lego blocks, which is so strong that he can use it to pick up and down objects as he showed in a video that he uploaded on Youtube.

It is an open secret that technology and science get better and better everyday, due to this the quality of prosthesis is not the same as before. However, not all that glitters is gold, since the price of these prosthesis is not affordable for a big number of families.

To conclude, I would like to say that I reckon that the way that this boy has faced his problems is a source of inspiration for everybody. There are a lof of incredible inventions created by teenagers, for example: Jack Andraka, who was 15, invented a machine that can detect cancer in five minutes.

CHRISTMAS SHOPPING

What is the genuine meaning of Christmas? I believe that Christmas, although it is celebrated in different ways depending on the culture and the country, has the same meaning for everybody, which for me is: being with family, sharing and making people happy.

It is known that people spend a huge amount of money in this holiday buying too many expensive gifts, I reckon that the reason for this is because they try to make an impression on their friends and relatives.

However, it is an open secret that not everybody can’t afford to purchase luxury gifts, due to this reason more and more people buy affordable things, although sometimes they can have a low-quality, or they try to make something by themselves, for example: cups decorated by themselves.

To conclude, I would like to say that, from my point of view, the true meaning of Christmas has been lost over the years, since nowadays children only think about presents and not about sharing and having quality time with family.

CREATING AN AVATAR OF YOURSELF

What is an avatar? There are a lot of ways to define it, but I reckon that the most correct definition is the one given by Cambridge Dictionary, which is: an image that represents you in online games, chat rooms, etc, and that you can move around the screen.

It is known that almost everybody has used an avatar on any social media as a profile picture, for example: on Instagram or even on WhatsApp. An avatar can be almost exactly as you, since you can choose between a large range of face shapes, eyes, noses, skin tone.... However, depending on the quality of the app it will be more alike or not.

Did you know that our online avatars can reveal a lot about us? or even how often we change our photo says a lot about our personality? A lot of studies have found that people who are very outgoing change their profile picture less often than more introverted people.

To conclude, I would like to say that from my point of view avatars are useful when you don’t want to share a photo of yourself on any social media as gmail or personal blogs. Personally, I think that there are great apps for creating avatars, such as: My Idol 3d Avatar Creator and Bitmoji. 

CHRISTMAS EVE

Christmas Eve, which is the day before Christmas Day, has many of its own customs and traditions depending on the culture and the country. Christmas Eve is celebrated because it commemorates the birth of Jesus, who is traditionally thought to have been born at midnight.

It is an open secret that traditions go and come, the most widely practised tradition that still exists today is going to the Midnight Mass Service. However, there are a lot of traditions that have disappeared over the years, for example: after the midnight service, it was usual for people to walk through the streets carrying torches, playing guitars and beating on tambourines and drums.

As I have said before, Christmas is celebrated in different ways, my parents and I go to my grandmother’s house, where I have dinner with all my family. After dinner we watch a film and at about twelve I hang out with my friends and go to party.

To conclude, I would like to say that from my point of view Christmas is not about presents, it is about being with family, loving each other, showing gratitude, sharing and making people happy.