Quiz 3

Running cars on biofuels can be 'unethical'

According to G. Louise (2011), the use of biofuels could cause world hunger, slavery and climate change.

United Kingdom as well as the European countries declared than such biomasses will have an increase in its utilization in a near future, and about 10 per cent of them will be produce from sugar cane, corn or palm oil. 

However, a survey has demonstrated these countries than the use of biofuels can cause problems like: food production could be affected by the use of land to generate biofuels, which also would provoke not only slavery, but also human right abuses.  Additionally, regarding to the environmental problems, biofuels are seen as a solution to climate change, but in this context the utilization of energy to produce biofuels is exaggerated. 

Consequently, this study suggests the implementation of a certificated authorization to commercialize biofuels into the European countries to guarantee the right use of these biomasses.

Finally, a professor from the Cambridge University added that biofuels should be originated from biodegradable waste in order to avoid the use of land to food production.

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In my opinion, in spite of the good intention of the utilization of these biofuels to help with the reduction of carbon monoxide in the environment, biomasses use a huge quantity of energy to produce these kinds of fuels what becomes a problem more than a solution.  Therefore, we need to search on alternatives raw material to generate similar products, but those ones that may ensure us a positive impact in society. 

Then, nowadays the use of solar panels have been an important discovery along the world. They generate energy, which could be useful to run an electrical mean of transport, but neither high price has allowed us to acquire them easily nor electrical cars have been built up to here.

Finally, we need to seek dissimilar alternatives to generate electricity.  The government as well as private institutions would invest money to look for solutions and to deal with these kinds of matters.  Environmental problems are increasing day by day and we have to keep in mind that our children will be the protagonists of the future.

Cátedra I

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BymNChelF8PHSUpCSnpjVGVmN1E/edit


Pieces of News

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0BymNChelF8PHZXFIOC10RVIzSGc

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BymNChelF8PHYV9QaWl1NVNreE0/edit

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0BymNChelF8PHMzRPaVFyREVXZkE

Second Activity - Formal and Informal e-mail

for more information visit:  https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BymNChelF8PHbWhpM3JKUlU3cDg/edit

First Activity - Idiomatic Expressions

Go to this link:
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BymNChelF8PHQm5mNlRId2RNdXM/edit

Academic Writing 2

Welcome back!!!

My reflection

My reflection: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BymNChelF8PHbmlwemlkc2ZLNzQ/edit

More than one element of writing

Can you imagine how language would be if we always used the same words when speaking, reading and writing?

Well, synonyms are words with similar meaning.  

The writers use them to provide interest and variety to the reader.  For example:

George's financial problems were great obstacles and impediments to paying his monthly bills.

If you apply a synonym to a sentence, you do not have to change the register. 

Useful links to practice:

http://www.education.com/study-help/article/synonyms-antonyms-similars-opposites_answer/

http://wps.ablongman.com/long_licklider_vocabulary_2/0,6658,416757-,00.html 

http://www.indiabix.com/verbal-ability/synonyms/

Articles

Articles in English are invariable. That is, they do not change according to the gender or number of the noun they refer to, e.g. the boy, the woman, the children.

"The" is used

1. to refer to something which has already been mentioned.

2. when both the speaker and listener know what is being talked about, even if it has not been mentioned before.

3. in sentences or clauses where we define or identify a particular person or object.

4. to refer to objects we regard as unique.

5. with adjectives, to refer to a whole group of people.

6. before superlatives and ordinal numbers.

7. with names with geographical areas and oceans.

8. with decades, or groups of years.

Use 'a' with nouns starting with a consonant (letters that are not vowels), 'an' with nouns starting with a vowel (a,e,i,o,u)

Useful link to practice:

http://perso.wanadoo.es/autoenglish/gr.an.i.htm

http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises/nouns_articles/a_the.htm

http://www.myenglishpages.com/site_php_files/grammar-exercise-articles.php

Comparisons

As we know to make comparisons in English, we have to apply certain rules. For example:

If you compare two things or people with a short adjective, you have to add "er" to the adjective and also you have to add "than" after the adjective.

e.g. : Peter is taller than me

If you compare two different things or people with a long adjective, you have to add "more" and then you have to write the adjective in its positive form and add the word "than" after the adjective.

e.g.: My book is more interesting than yours.

On the other hand, if you want to vary the strength of  your comparison, you can do it by using "qualifying" expressions like: slightly, considerably or significantly.

e.g.:  She's slightly less interested in football than him.

Note: When you use these qualifying expressions in English, remember the rules about using -er. If the adjective is one syllable, or ends in -y, add -er:

Now, to stress similarity in a sentence, you can use expressions like:  "almost as … as", "not quite as … as", "(not) nearly as … as", "twice as … as" and "half as … as" to change the extent of the similarity.

e.g.: She's not quite as confident as Trinidad.

Then, in the case of superlatives, you can use them to show the differences that exist in the group and it follow the same rule like comparisons.  However, if you employ a short adjective you have to add "est" to it and the word "the" before the adjective.  Additionally, when you use long adjectives, you have to add the words "the most" or "the least" and write the positive way of the adjective.

e.g.:   The most interesting book that I read is "Hamblet" by shakespeare.

Useful links to practice:

http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/330/grammar/regcom2.htm

http://www.englishexercises.org/makeagame/viewgame.asp?id=2070

http://www.usingenglish.com/quizzes/45.html