Notes, summaries, assignments, exams, and problems for English

Dear Editor,

I have just read your article about the problems with spelling. This article talks about the auto-correct generation, from my point of view I think that nowadays it is very important to spell correctly, language is a reflection about you.

In our language, Spanish, we have a similar problem

More and more people write with autocorrect and it is a problem for the future. When I am going to write, if I have a doubt, I use the spell-check but I think that many people just let the computer adjust the text without looking at it.

Thank you for your time.

The Impact of Social Media on Relationships

Nowadays, a lot of teenagers spend too much time on social networks, above all Facebook. It is a problem for their relationships with people.

The Illusion

MasterChef starts in July 1990 and was created by Franc Roddam. In this TV program, contestants need to cook different types of food because later, a tribunal will judge the results. The winner of the program will receive a substantial cash prize.

At the start, we meet the participants, their jobs, and their lives. Depending on the day, they have different types of ingredients to work with. As the program progresses, we can see contestants cooking various dishes within a limited time frame. If they don't finish on time, they are disqualified. When the time is up, the chefs present their cooked dishes to a tribunal, who manage the results.

Currently, MasterChef has other formats such as MasterChef: The Professionals for professional working chefs,... Continue reading "MasterChef: A Review of the Famous Cooking Program" »

Etymology

The origin of a word and the historical development of its meaning:

Example: ‘the etymology of the word ‘devil’’

Coinage

Coinage is the word formation process in which a new word is created either deliberately or accidentally.

Examples: Kleenex, Aspirin, Xerox

Borrowing

Process by which a word from one language is adapted for use in another.

Examples: croissant (French), yogurt (Turkish), piano (Italian)

Blending

Join two words together by taking parts of both words and combining them into a new whole.

Examples: Breakfast + lunch = brunch, Smoke + fog = smog, Motor + hotel = motel

Clipping

The process of cutting the beginning or the end of a word, or both, leaving a part to stand for the whole.

Examples: Prof (professor), Photo (photograph)... Continue reading "Word Formation Processes in English: A Comprehensive Guide" »

Recycling and Waste Management Around the World

Interesting Facts

• In Japan, plastic from landfill sites gets into the sea and kills 10,000 fish each year.
• The Zabaleen take away rubbish from people who live in Cairo.
• In Senegal, people use old paper to wrap bread and fruit.
• People in India think cows are special animals.
• New Zealand has some interesting ideas about...
• The best recycling state in the USA is California.
• If you are driving around Germany, you will see recycling bins at all shopping places.
• In Switzerland, recycling is free, but throwing away your rubbish is expensive.
• Finland pays people to recycle their bottles and cans.
• You cannot bring plastic bags into Zanzibar.
• Gardeners like to make compost from bits of old fruit and vegetables.
• Shakespeare'

Anne Frank -  The author of the diary. Anne was born on June 12, 1929, in Frankfurt, Germany, and was four years old when her father moved to Holland to find a better place for the family to live. She is very intelligent and perceptive, and she wants to become a writer. Anne grows from an innocent, tempestuous, precocious, and somewhat petty teenage girl to an empathetic and sensitive thinker at age fifteen. Anne dies of typhus in the concentration camp at Bergen-Belsen in late February or early March of 1945.

Common Health and Medical Terms

1. The flu is a very contagious disease.
2. Some people have a flu vaccine in winter.
3. If you fall and break an arm, you need to have an X-ray.
4. If you cut yourself badly, you must have stitches.
5. I felt dizzy and nearly fainted.
6. The doctor told him to take off the bandage because the wound needed fresh air.
7. His temperature went up to 38º.
8. Nurses look after patients when they are in hospital.

Shopping, Money, and Consumer Vocabulary

9. Money in notes and coins is cash.
10. A reduction in price is also called a discount.
11. Something attached to a product with information about it: label.
12. A document from a shop showing how much you paid: receipt.
13. A person who is addicted to shopping: shopaholic.
14. Someone who looks for products with a discount:

English Irregular Verbs

Simple Past and Past Participle Tenses

High School Reflections

High school has given me very good and not so good moments, but it was undoubtedly the best time of my life. I had many friends, and the days in class were fun and enjoyable. I remember that the first day of high school I entered with a lot of fear of not making friends since I didn't know anyone, but after the first playground I had already made 3 friends, one of whom today is my best friend. A not so good stage in high school was repeating the course, since I had a bad time both socially with my new classmates and on a personal level.

The Digital Connection

Today, both new and old generations have something in common: the need to connect to the internet, either to work or to hang out. I think that punishing a person without... Continue reading "Personal Reflections on Life's Journey" »

Introduction

1. Attention Grabber

• question
• interesting fact or statistics
• personal experience or anecdote
• quote (from a famous/known/recognized person)

2. General/Background Information

• YES – an important fact on the topic
• NO – definition or concept of the topic

THESIS STATEMENT (main idea – it expresses both stands with their reasons)

Even though Opposing Stand + Cons Argument 1, YOUR STAND + Pros Argument 1 and Pros Argument 2.

Body Paragraph 1 (Opposing Stand)

1. Topic Sentence (Opposing Stand + 1 Cons argument mentioned in the THESIS)

2. Supporting Sentence 1 (argument from the readings – the second Cons arguments in the chart)

3. Supporting Sentence 2 (argument from the readings – the last Cons argument in the chart)

4. Refutation (the weakest... Continue reading "The Importance of Attention Grabbers in Persuasive Writing" »

Verb Conjugation in English and Spanish