Raising awareness

Thanks in part to the success of shows like ABC’s hit hidden camera series What Would You Do?, as well as the rise in technology that has made quality cameras smaller and more portable, the hidden camera “social experiment” has become a huge attraction on YouTube. Watching to see if normal, everyday folks will do the “right” thing in a difficult situation is incredibly interesting.

The great thing is that, at least on these shows, people seem to do the “right” thing most of the time. When someone is in trouble or in need of help, we all have that pull to look out for our fellow man or woman. Sometimes, however, it doesn’t always go that way.

In the below video, produced by OckTV, the “social experiment” begins with a young boy in tattered pants, a ripped T-shirt, and no shoes on his feet standing on a New York City street. The weather? A an absolute frigid 5 degrees!

The boy plays the part of a homeless person, holding up his sign and asking for help. As the video rolls, you see throngs of people pass by on the busy sidewalk, and yet no one stops to help the young boy.

At one point, he just curls up inside of a flimsy garbage bag and lays on the ground, hoping that someone will help him. Sadly, no one does.

That is, until two hours later when another homeless man comes over to the boy and checks on him. He asks the boy if he’s cold and gives him the coat off his back while explaining that he, too, is homeless and that they need to look out for each other.

The producers of the video (the same guys that are filming it from one of the angles) are so moved that they come into the experiment and explain to the man that what he’s done for the boy has touched them in a profound way. They also hand him some money to help him take care of himself.

It’s a beautiful moment, to be sure, and one that speaks to the heart of a man that’s totally down on his own luck to be so selfless to give the coat off his back to someone else in need.

Now, of course, this is a hidden camera experiment. The boy is not actually homeless and, judging by the way OckTV edited the video, it does appear that some people did stop and put some change in the boy’s cup (particularly around the 2:28 mark where one woman looks like she gets change from the person she’s walking with and then walks back toward the boy with it before the video cuts).

So you can feel free to take some of this video with a grain of salt, but the message behind it rings strongly all the same. We all need to look out for each other in this world. If we help each other, then we can all help the world become a better place.

Conditionals practice

Please choose the correct, most natural-sounding response to complete each of the following sentences:

1. If I ________ you, I would apologize to her right away. (to be)
  was
  were
  have been

2. If I run into her, I ________ her that you're looking for her. (to tell)
  would tell
  tell
  will tell

3. If you ________ that again, I will call the police. (to do)
  to do
  do
  will do

4. He would never have asked her out on a date if she ________ him first. (to kiss)
  hadn't kissed
  didn't kiss
  will not kiss


5. If you were her, what ________? (to do)
  would you do
  did you do
  do you do

6. If she hadn't gone to England, she ________ Orlando Bloom. (to meet)
  would not meet
  did not meet
  would not have met

7. If it doesn't start snowing, we ________ this evening. (to go skiing)
  won't go skiing
  wouldn't go skiing
  don't go skiing

8. If you had saved some money earlier, you ________ broke right now. (to be)
  would not have been
  will not be
  are not

9. If I ________ at the airport so late, I would not have missed my flight. (to arrive)
  didn't arrive
  hadn't arrived
  would not arrive

10. If you buy one t-shirt, you ________ the second one free.
  will have gotten
  would get
  get

CHECK ANSWERS (Your answers will be displayed in a new window) 

Put the verbs in brackets in the correct tense (conditional 1):

1. If I (finish)  early, I will call you.
2. I (catch)  the 9:00 train if I hurry up .
3. She will know the answer, if she (try)  to understand.

Put the verbs in brackets in the correct tense (conditional 2):

1. If I (be)  a star, I would help the needy.
2. He (buy)  a house if he had a job.
3. She (be)  happy, if she married him .

Put the verbs in brackets in the correct tense (conditional 3):

1. If he (be)  careful, he would not have had that terrible accident.
2. I (pass)  the exam if I had worked hard .
3. Her father would not have died, if he (go)  to the doctor.

Choose the correct answer:

1. If I (wake up)                                     wake up                  will wake up                  woke up                  had woken up                  would wake up                  would have woken up               early, I’ll go jogging.
2. He (visit)                                     will visit                  visited                  had visited                  would visit                  would have visited               his uncle, if he finishes early.
3. If she had taken care of her son, he (not/become)                                     does not become                  did not become                  will not become                  had not become                  would not become                  would not have become               a criminal.
4. If I were a star, I (help)                                     will help                  helped                  had helped                  would help                  would have helped               the poor.
5. She would have been top of her class if she (work)                                     works                  worked                  had worked                  will work                  would work                  would have worked               hard.

Descriptions

To keep on working with the personality and physical descriptive adjectives, remember to choose one of the celebrities to practise your own.
http://oscar.go.com/red-carpet

It’s the night we’ve all been waiting for: the Academy Awards red carpet. (The awards are great too, sure, but you know why we really tuned in.) It started with a trickle—literally, as the typically beautiful Los Angeles weather didn’t hold—when a few celebrities stepped out on the carpet in a sinful shade of scarlet. Cropping up in crimson were Dakota Johnson, in a slinky, one-shouldered Saint Laurent, sleek ponytail, and impactful, minimal jewelry by Forevermark; Rosamund Pike in a custom Givenchy frock that lent her an air of modern sophistication somewhere between Veronica Lake and Grace Kelly; and newlywed Sophie Hunter in a Grecian-style Lanvin, at once ravishing and refined.

The stars who relied on silhouette did so to enviable success: Reese Witherspoonlet her perfectly tailored off-the-shoulder monochromatic Tom Ford do the talking, while Lady Gaga’s custom Alaïa gown (the designer’s first confection for the awards ceremony) took 25 people two weeks to create. Which isn’t to say that the other frocks were dashed off: Julianne Moore’s custom Chanel dress featured more than 80,000 hand-painted paillettes, while Lupita Nyong’o wore a dreamy, entirely pearl-encrusted Calvin Klein Collection dress that transformed her into a modern-day Venus de Milo.

But the night was meant for truly major moments, provided by Felicity Jones, who captivated in a blossoming number by Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen; or Marion Cotillard, whose Dior Haute Couture dress was an athletically influenced take on eyelet. But it wasn’t only bold color or complicated custom fabrications that made a major splash: A clutch of sophisticated noir numbers plucked straight from the runways demonstrated a return for houses with new names at the helm. Sienna Miller in a feminine, yet alluring frock fromPeter Copping’s debut for Oscar de la Renta provided a touch of old-world Hollywood glamour (think Audrey Hepburn), while Cate Blanchett’s choice of a black velvet Maison Margiela Couture column proved that major style doesn’t need major flash—and that John Galliano couldn’t have dreamed of a better endorsement.

Conditionals- Game revision

http://eslgamesworld.com/members/games/ClassroomGames/Billionaire/Conditionals%20Billionaire%20Game/index.html

http://eslgamesworld.com/members/games/grammar/fling%20the%20teacher/conditionals/conditionals%20practice.html

News about Spain- The way we are seen abroad

Spain: a nation of sun, soccer, bullfights — and the crisis

Survey shows country’s recent economic woes now form part of its international image

ALEJANDRA TORRES REYES Madrid 18 FEB 2015 - 17:50 CET

Spain is still associated with bullfighting in many foreigners' minds. / EFE

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The economic crisis has officially joined bulls, soccer and sunny weather as one of the most common images of Spain in the minds of foreigners.

The finding is part of the Image Barometer survey conducted by the Real Instituto Elcano think tank and released on Wednesday.

The poll asked people in 10 countries in Europe, the Americas, Asia and the Maghreb region of Africa what they thought about Spain.

The country’s global image rating was 6.9 points out of 10, a slight improvement from 2012, when it was 6.5.

The survey found a lower incidence of the words “flamenco” and “siesta”

But the real news is the fact that the economic crisis has become a chief characteristic of the country, according to residents of other nations.

Asked “What is the first thing you think of when you think about Spain?” a majority of respondents in Morocco and Mexico mentioned the crisis in first place, while French and German respondents placed it second, after the sunny weather.

The survey also found a lower incidence of the words “flamenco” and “siesta,” although they were still mentioned.

“The international media, which kept underscoring the Spanish miracle up until 2007, have been stressing the economic crisis for years now,” notes Carmen González Enríquez, director of the think tank’s Spanish Image Observatory.

RELATED ARTICLES

• Is the sun setting on Spain as a brand?
• Spain’s tarnished brand

European countries – particularly Germany, France and Britain – view Spain as a poor country and, along with South Korea, expressed the least optimism about its economic progress.

Spain scored best for tourist attractions (8.2 points) and sports personalities (7.5) and worst for the economy (5.9) and politics (6.2).

Neighboring countries were generally more critical of Spain, although in general it is perceived as traditional, religious, democratic, hardworking and trustworthy.

“It is worth mentioning that corruption is not something that is associated with Spain abroad, and that is in sharp contrast to the image that Spaniards have of their own country,” said González Enríquez.

Broken down by countries, Morocco gave Spain the lowest grade (5.8) while Brazil awarded the highest score (7.6).

St Valentines´s coming...

Food for thought- Beauty and image

1Bach- AES- Drama project- Oral interaction

 ENGLISH DEPARTMENTSPEAKING-ORAL INTERACTION- SHORT FILMS

1. Every student at the Arts group (1ºAES) can take part as part of a group or team. From 2 up to 5 people maximum.

2. The competition consists of making a short film in English, free topic to choose and content, as long as it is respectful.

3. The films can be interviews, scenes from plays/films, roleplays, parodies of adverts, songs…

4. The films must be handed over in a digital format (flash memory, cloud or weblink) to your English teacher.

5. The films will be judged by the teacher and watched by rest of the class in order to choose the best production.

6. The quality, originality, sense of humour, production, etc will be considered but remember that English is the key point to be assessed.

7.    Remember the deadline is February 28^th 2015. Good Luck and GO FOR IT…

Science & Tecnology Bach-Project for 2nd term- App maker in English, please

 

APP MAKER- CREATING YOUR OWN APPS FOR THE ENGLISH CLASSROOM.

AppsGeyser

AppsGeyser is a free online platform that lets you convert your web content into a custom Android app available to download at Google Play or through the AppsGeyser online platform. It works in a very simple way, and there are only 3 short steps to take.  AppGeyser is the fastest growing do-it-yourself app builder currently available. It is extremely simple to use and you need no programming knowledge, and all distribution is free. The service is free to use.

TASK:

1. You have to create your own APP game in English so that it can be used in any mobile or device and checked by the rest of students.

2. Choose the game you want to create from the provided templates.

• http://www.appsgeyser.com/create/quiz/
• http://www.appsgeyser.com/create/quiz4Pix/
• http://www.appsgeyser.com/create/quizGame/

3. All the information (questions, answers, media, hints, etc) MUST be written in English, as the result will be presented in English as well. At least 5 questions ( or more) have to be included.

4. Remember to write a title for you app, a short description and to log in to publish the final product

5. Finally, copy and paste the QR code in a word document to be printed and handed in or sent to your teacher by email. (If the app does not work on your device, download it and hand it in a pendrive/flash memory, so that it can be installed via email in other samrtphones)

Deadline: February 20th 2015.

Good luck and do your best to practise English.

Physical apperance

What do you look like?

Ethics and health

MPs say yes to three-person babies

MPs have voted in favour of the creation of babies with DNA from two women and one man, in a historic move.

The UK is now set to become the first country to introduce laws to allow the creation of babies from three people.

In a free vote in the Commons, 382 MPs were in favour and 128 against the technique that stops genetic diseases being passed from mother to child.

During the debate, ministers said the technique was "light at the end of a dark tunnel" for families.

A further vote is required in the House of Lords. It everything goes ahead then the first such baby could be born next year.

Proponents said the backing was "good news for progressive medicine" but critics say they will continue to fight against the technique that they say raises too many ethical and safety concerns.

Estimates suggest 150 three-person babies could be born each year.

Prime Minister David Cameron said: "We're not playing god here, we're just making sure that two parents who want a healthy baby can have one."

Life-saving

The method, which was developed in Newcastle, should help women like Sharon Bernardi, from Sunderland, who lost all seven of her childrento mitochondrial disease.

Ms Bernadi said was "overwhelmed" by the decision.

Defective mitochondria are passed down only from the mother. They can lead to brain damage, muscle wasting, heart failure and blindness.

The technique uses a modified version of IVF to combine the DNA of the two parents with the healthy mitochondria of a donor woman.

It results in babies with 0.1% of their DNA from the second woman and is a permanent change that would be passed down through the generations.

1) Two eggs are fertilised with sperm, creating an embryo from the intended parents and another from the donors 2) The pronuclei, which contain genetic information, are removed from both embryos but only the parents' are kept 3) A healthy embryo is created by adding the parents' pronuclei to the donor embryo, which is finally implanted into the womb

1) Eggs from a mother with damaged mitochondria and a donor with healthy mitochondria are collected 2) The majority of the genetic material is removed from both eggs 3) The mother's genetic material is inserted into the donor egg, which can be fertilised by sperm.

Formal Letter Writing

Formal letter from jjaviering