MAMMA MIA!

The film of Mamma Mia is based on the songs of legendary Swedish pop band ABBA and is an adaptation of the musical of the same name.
Mamma Mia! uses the music of ABBA to tell the story of Sophie Sheridan a 21-year-old American bride-to-be who is trying to find out the identity of her real father because she wants that he comes to her wedding.

Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth and Stellan Skarsgard star as the three potential fathers with the Oscar winner Meryl Streep starring as the mum of Sophie.
Since the premiere of the musical in London in 1999, over 30 million people have seen Mamma Mia!
The band ABBA was the winner of the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest and following that success their songs topped the charts worldwide until the early 1980s.
After a week of exclusive showing in the Leicester Square Odeon, one of London's most famous cinemas, the film was screened in cinemas across the country from 10th July.
A film critic said the film is truly wonderful. It is sharp, hilarious and very beautifully shot.

BBC NEWS


VOCABULARY



bride-to-be = woman who is going to get married

shot = filmed

topped the charts = reached the number one position in the music charts



Personal opinion:



I've choose this topic for a news because I've seen the film with my friends and from my point of view was fantastic, I spent a really good time at the cinema!

THE TRIP TO LONDON!!

On the 21st of February about 30 students from the high school set off to a 4 days trip to London.
We flew from Girona at 6’o clock a.m and arrived in Stansted airport at 8’0 clock. From there we took a bus to the hotel where we left the suitcases, and immediately started exploring London. On the first day we didn’t do a lot because we were all pretty tired… so I and my group spent the afternoon sunbathing at the Trafalgar square.
Well... All in all we had a great time and we did a lot of things: On the one hand we visited a lot of cultural places, like: The British Museum, Trafalgar Square, The Buckingham Palace, The Tower Bridge, The Globe theatre…. And all of them were quite impressive.
I had been to London before, and my opinion of it was not so good, I thought that it was an ugly place, and this time when we returned home our idea was completely different because I’ve visited more interesting places, the weather was nicer… so I think that we have enjoyed these four days a lot.
One of this places i hadn’t visited before, was the speaker corner which it’s amazing. All the dialogues there were, from my point of view, about unserious things like god; but at the same time they said really interesting things and they believed in them strongly, they didn’t mind shout to express their ideas.
On the other hand we had a lot of free time, which we were very grateful for to the teachers, and we could spend the time doing things that we wanted, such as going to Covent Garden, Oxford Street… or simply going to typical English pubs to eat, or take a coffee.
During all of these activities we practice a lot our English, asking for directions, ordering food… but of course our level of English hasn’t changed a lot because we only spent four days there. So... we must go there another time!!!
The teachers said that we have to do this composition because you want to know our opinion, so I’ve done the composition and I want to say that you have to try do it every year, because it’s a really nice experience.
About the hotel... and all the organization, I think that it was so good. From my point of view I passed a really good time in the hotel and it was so comfortable, we don’t need more!
It was a pretty funny trip!

HUMAN RIGHTS, AND HUMAN OBLIGATIONS

Instead of only looking at human rights that are missing, I think what is more important are the human obligations that are missing, and one of them, for me, is the environment, because the environment can't look after itself it's us who have to take care of nature. If you don't agree to that, then I would say that that is a very egoistical point of view because we live of the nature, and if nature doesn't exist in the future, then neither will we, so of what use are human rights if there aren't any humans anymore?

I don't want to defend any extreme sides, the ones which put nature above everything, and neither the ones which destroy nature unconsciously. However, I think what we should be aiming for is a healthy balance to prevent nature, and thus us, from disappearing.

My idea would be to publish some declarations, amongst others about protecting the rainforest about stopping overfishing the seas, about controlling the pollution of the atmosphere because of a lot of reasons: the climate change, the extension of different animals, our own intake of oxygen... about being less consumers of water, electricity...

All that leads to the conclusion that we have to take care of our enviroment because we don't want the world to disappears, we want to enjoy the human rights for many more years to come, that's why I think that amongst the human rights should be a list of human obligations as well.

HUMAN RIGHTS

Very often on the news you see pictures of young children working instead of going to school, which is a clear example of not respecting children’s rights. It seems that in underdeveloped countries children frequently don’t have a choice between going to school or working. The families are so poor that they need every hand they can get, even if it’s the labor of a ten year old. Yet from my point of view everybody should respect the children’s right to go to school because this is the only way for them to escape their poverty, and above all because it’s a human right, in particular Article 26:

(1) Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.
(2) Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.
(3) Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.

ABORTIONS

Summary:

There are 177.225 abortions in the UK every year. That means that 20% of all pregnancies are terminated.

Personal opinion:

I want to comment on this item of news because I think that it’s an important and interesting topic.
Generally I’m in favor of abortion because is the right of the women to choose if she wants to have a child. But from another point of view, I think that there should be some rules, because after all they are babies, so you should only have permission to abort, for the right motive, it doesn’t mean, that for instance only rich people can “buy” an abortion after a night of careless sex. On the contrary, everybody has to take care, because it’s a serious topic!

vocabulary

pregnancies: the condiction of being pregnant

pregnant: having a child or other offspring developing in the body; with child or young, as a woman or female mammal.

Think in English

Yangtze river dolphin's demise!

The long-threatened Yangtze river dolphin in China is probably extinct, according to an international team of researchers. They say this marks the first whale or dolphin to be wiped out because of human activity.

Is expected that the Yangtze river dolphin is extinct, according to the Zoological Society of London. The society participated in an international survey which examined over 1,500 kilometres of the river last year and failed to find a single baiji dolphin. In the 1990s they found thirteen live dolphins. In the 1950s they were thousands.

China's rapid modernisation is blamed for the dolphin's demise. Industrial pollution, heavy river traffic... are thought to have killed so many poor dolphins.
However, the World Conservation Union says that an animal can only be declared extinct if it hasn't been found in the wild for fifty years. So we hope that this nice animal don't desapeere. But even if a number of the dolphins have survived, they and other freshwater animals, like the Yangtze finless porpoise, are in serious danger of disappearing forever because our fault.





BBC NEWS



In my opinion, this is so sad; the world is desappearing because of us, so if we cause the trouble, we have to stop it.





NEW VOCABULARY



* An international survey: a study or report written by people from different countries
* Failed to find a single: didn't find even one

* Demise: end, extinction

ORAL PRESENTATION.

Carles Torracabota and Clàudia Rosillo – different kinds of weddings.

This oral presentation was so difficult, I mean, that we searched a lot of information because we didn’t know anything about the topic, consequently, the vocabulary of the text was really complicated, and there were a lot of new things for us.
We wanted to do a really good work, so maybe we did an oral which wasn’t of our level, it was higher than our level and because of it I was a little bit nervous.
However, I think that the most important points to do a good oral were good, for instance, we looked at our audience all the time, and I didn’t read from my notes.
I did gestures to hold the attention of my partners, as you know I always move all my body, maybe a so much! Muahaha!
Another think that I think that I’ve done well, is that we used connectors and useful expressions to make the oral easier, and fluent.
About the language, we really had checked our grammar before than did the oral, and I think that we didn’t do a bad work.
This oral presentation was a rept to us, we really worked on it, and I’m not so convinced about the result, I want to say thanks to all my partners who said us that we did a good work! :D
Moreover I have to say that each presentation helps me to learn English, and above all, to learn how to talk in front of partners, and teachers.