BOOK REVIEW 3

ANALYS ALVAREZ . NI2C

Perfume: the Story of a Murderer. This astonishing novel was written by Patrick Sushkind in 1985 in a town near Munich, Germany. This book has been translated into many languages because it was a hit and in 2006 it was made into a film, also very successful.

The story takes place in Paris , in the eighteenth century. It´s about Jean Baptiste Grenoulle, an infant who was born with a sublime gift : an absolute sense of smell and no personal odour. He survives his orphaned childhood in the slums of Paris thanks to his gift and his intelligence until he become the apprentice of a prominent perfume maker who teaches him the ancient artof mixing oils and herbs.

However, he isn´t satisfied and starts capturing the smells of objects . he want to create the "ultimate perfume". One day ,he catches the scent of a beautiful young viergin and instinctively he discovers the way to steal her fragance, killing her!

The book is full of vivid descriptions that make you feel every single smellmentioned by the author . It´s really beautifully written . Besides, you can´t stop reading to see what happens in the end.

I highly recommend it. you will enjoy it a lot if you like ingenious and stilish fantasy.

JAIME VALDES

THE WAY HOME

The Way Home, by Sue Leather, is an excelent book that has eight different stories, wich are about people who are going somewhere and find unexpected situations, but the main issue in all chapters is the difficult relationship between people. Each chapter takes place in a different places, like Mexico or EEUU.


In the first story, Alex who is at the airport to go home remembers an affair, that she had had with an attractive man, and her remorses come back to her mind. In the second Annie, a sensitive writer , coincides on a train with an old friend, when she is going to Bologna. This friend pours out his feelings to her. The third story is about a junior reporter who has to interview a boy sentenced to death by a crime that the boy hasn´t committed. In the fourth a man and a woman are going towards Texas in her truck, but she doesn´t know that he has killed her husband. The fifth is about a taxi driver, a day when he gets home, he meets a man in his sofa, in this situation he leaves his house and so he avoids violence. In the sixth, a teacher of a film school orders to write a story that shows the relationship between two people and one of this stories is the plot of this chapter. The seventh is about a man who spends his free time following a woman who likes him and finally she surprises him. And in the last, the lives of four people intersect at a motel in Austin Texas and all they have an end that they wouldn´t imagine.


As the book has eight different chapters, the characters have not been described in detail. In general the plots are rather conventional. Despite this, there are very entertaining situations although the description is rather poor. In some chapters as the first, second, fifth, there is unfaithfulness, that the reader does not expect, but then the author doesn´t develop in detail.


I recommend The Way Home so you can spend your spare time with this book and you will enjoy a interesting moment, because there is no time when they can suppose the end, but when readers are enjoying ,the author doesn´t complete the story. I think that this is a good reading for the beach or a similar places. Moreover this kind of book, with short stories, you can read atany moment and anywhere.

NI2A/C

• Homework: Exercises on reported speech (see prevoius posts).







• Grammar: Reporting verbs







• Speaking. Photo description and interaction for Certificación.







• Reading: Barbie. St.B.p. 92,93. Reading with true-false statements.







• Listening . Barbie II part. St.b.p. 93.answer the questions and state the sequence of events.







• Speaking: Brand names. St.b.p. 94. Pronunciation and speaking activities.







• Vocabulary: compound nouns. St.B.p. 94 e.g. lie detector, safari park.







• Listening. song "Wonderful tonight" What behind the song? , complete the lyrics.






• These rules about reported speech are very clear.
  




• Homework: rephrasing on reported speech.

NB1A/B

Homework: Grammar, unit 38 (there is/are). wk. p. 48,49,50

Vocabulary/grammar: the house and there is/there are. Say sentences about the house and write them down.

Listening: St.B.p. 57,58. "Murder in a country house". Larry and Louise rent a house where a man had been murdered.Answer the questions.

Speaking: St.B.p. 58. How many ....? e.g. how many rooms are there in your house? Pair work activity. Write 4 questions and answer them.

Grammar: present continuous. Examples on the board with a projection. Grammar, unit 3 (present continuous)
Homework: Grammar, unit 3 and do the exercises related to unit 5 . It already has the answers

BOOK REVIEW 2

SANTIAGO ALONSO . NI2C

“Murder Maker” written by Margaret Johnson, is an interesting thriller , whose main character is Carla, a single woman who isbetrayed by her ex boyfriend. Other characters are three Carla’s friends called Diana, Gemma and Cathy who have something in common with Carla; all of them were abandoned by their partners. The action is mainly set in Cuba and in the northeast of England.

The story begins when Carla’s partner, Mark, breaks their relation saying to her “I’ve met somebody else”. Four simple words that change completely the world around Carla. Later, she meets other three women who are in a similar situation and little by little the idea of revenge is coming to her mind. This is how Carla becomes a murderer. But the question is: Is worth it the revenge?

The book shows us how small the difference between love and hate is and how an ordinary person, in an extreme situation, can became a murderer.

If you want discover that, do not stop reading this surprising book, because I am sure you´ll enjoy reading it and you will be able to make conclusions by yourself.

LETICIA MOSQUERA .NI2C

Richard is a young backpacker from England who arrives in Thailand looking for adventure.At a cheaap guest house he is given a map of the perfect beach a sort of paradise. the guest who has given him the mapcommits suicide. He meets a French couple and the three of them decide to go to that beach. Before leaving ,Richard decised to tell some American tourist about the island in case they don´t succeeed in getting there. They find the island and realize that there are more people living there fram from civilization. They become part of the community and share the work which is fishing, gardening, cooking...Richard doesn´t like the leader of the group, bugs, who gives him difficult tasks

He has to go round the island and discovers that there are men growing heroine and they are protecting it with weapons. Things go wrong on the island: one member of the fishing group poisons most of the people with a dead fish. there are also two people who have been attacked by sharks. tehy both eventually die.

The American tourist richard had met arrive at the island and they are killed by the the guards of the heroine fields. Richard is getting tired of that atmosphere and decides to leave the beach with some other people . A celebration is going to take place the following day, so they put some drug in the food so people wouild be dizzy. But the end of the story has to be read

I recommend this book because it´s entertaining and you keep on reading because you don´t know what´s going to happen. He may not reach civilization again.

NI2A/C

• Homework: reported speech grammar ,chapters 47,48, St,b,p.141 6B. and a set of exercises posted last Wednesday.




• Speaking: describe a photo and interaction
  



• Reported questions




• Grammar: reported speech : commands , orders and reporting verbs. Reporting verb patterns



• Vocabulary: films
  

• Listening: people talking about films and other topics. Exercises, answers and script, audio.




• Homework : the exercises from the exercises about commands , requests and other exercises
  

NB1A/B

• Homework:St.B.p. 62,63, two readings to answer questions about a weekend and some holidays.



• Grammar: irregular verbs on the board. complete the list and write the meaning of the verbs.



• Speaking: A projection with activities different people did at the weekend. eg. she went skiing and another activity with clues to say what some people did in Italy, France and USA



• Writing: write a composition about your holidays based on the previous exercise using linking words.



• Grammar: prepositions of place. Say and write sentences.



• Grammar: there is, there are. A classroom with students and objects to say where they are.



• Homework: two photocopies ,one called "travel" and the other side of the page, 5D: write questions about the first two sections (this morning, when you were 10 years old)
  
  
  
  

BOOK REVIEW 1

SERGIO BLANCO

Frozen pizza and other slices of life, by Antoinette Moses, is a very good book which tells us eight different stories about different people who show us the same country (England) but from their own point of view and tells us eight different stories about their particular lives.

About the eight fascinating stories, all of them are charged with dramatic, funny, interesting and mystery histories about people in their ordinary lives, a especial work who shows you another face of society and the problems that a lot of people are having very near your home and motivates you to do something to help those people; an old teacher who remembers sadly his old days at a school teaching in better times but who never gets tired because he has a special hobby working with wood and repairing very old wood furniture; a young boy who is living a short period of time in England with a wealthy family and his interesting point of view of the society which is so strange for him; a very especial moment when you are a teenager and you fall in love with a mysterious music that you have been remembering all your life until the destiny pull strings and you come across him and histories like that; very interesting histories which help us to understand and admire that country that most of us maybe don´t know very well, but that is fascinating with their people, their traditions and his “particular way to see life”.

This book can teleport you to London, to a small town in the north of England or maybe to an English beach and its small village with a lot of different people living their own lives which are not veru different from ours. When you read the book there is a particular touching feeling with some of the stories, with others just the opposite, funny feelings but in general all of them are excellent histories about real life.

I thoroughly recommend "Frozen pizza and other slices of life " if you want to know more about human feelings, about England and its history or only if you are bored and you want to do something different, because this is not the typical book, this is a very special one.

PABLO GARCIA . NI2A

The fly and other horror stories, by John Escott, is an excellent and entertaining,horror stories collection that take place in a variety of places, like a very ddry desert, a strange beach, an odd old factory…

The common link between all those stories is the thrilling moments that the main characters of each story make us living like we are the true main characters.

The mystery normally begins when, a couple or only one person arrives at a strange place and, a few days later, something not very usual in an ordinary life life happens.

For example, everybody thinks flies are a nuisance because they are annoying when they buzz around us, but, anyway, we can brush them away with our hands or something light .After all, a fly is only about half the size of one of our nails. But suppose for a moment it is not. Catch a fly, look at it closely (look at its head, its eyes, its legs…). Now imagine that this thing is the size of a human…

Another story is about a big and expensive ship whose crew is constituted by a lot of famous people: a pretty model, one of the best films director of Hollywood, a few of actors, many expensive film objects like a big camera and tapes for the incredible sound of the film. These people want to record a fascinating film about one of the most unbelievable creatures of the world: King Kong.

But on their way to the unique land where this animal lives, the ship crashes with lots of rocks in the sea; they have not seen them because of a dense fog that has caught them sleeping. When they finally escape they arrive at land. But, immediately, a dinosaur’s stampede chases them. Everything seemed lost but, suddenly, an enormous ape appeared and saved them but it kidnaps the model and they disappear as fast as it have come.

When the crew wis ready again they start to search for the girl. Some days later, when the food is finishing and the moral too, they find her and rescue her with a lot of effort and worth.

The last story is about a writer that arrives at an almost desert town to write his last book.

But, during his stay in a hotel of the town, strange things start to happen. He finds a sculpture of a woman being murdered by a man with an axe. The days after that, the writer begins to behave strangely, and he threatens his wife to kill her. So, she tries to escape from him, but her husband, who is getting crazy, catches a fire axe and he starts to chase her to kill her. The woman hides from him in the bathroom, but he chopps down the bathroom door and he puts his head through the hole; the woman takes a knife and she hurts him in his hand. She escapes from him and the city.

I thoroughly recommend this fascinating and excellent book. Readers will have an insuperable moment reading this amusing, entertaining, excellent book.

NI2A/C

Homework: exercises about verbs followed by to/-ing.

Speaking: practice for Certificación. Photo description about general topics

Grammar and Speaking: reported speech. Rules on the board and practice with the overhead projector: statements, questions, orders. Reporting verbs:admit, deny, promise...

Listening: St.B.p. 90. Someone cheating in a marathon. Reporting verbs. St.b. p. 140. More verbs, St.b.p. 140 :rules and exercises.

Listening: St.B.p. 91 .aAprivate detective. Take notes on the main topics. (only group A

Homework: Grammar, units 47, 48 (the only two chapters about reported speech) and a set of exercises with rules and the answers.

NBA/B
Homework: A set of exercises numbered 44,45,53. A lot of time to solve doubts .

Speaking and writing: clues to say and write what Ms. Lazy and Mr. Busy did yesterday

Listening: video. St.B.p. 60. Vocabulary about shopping. Buying a present : listen and complete the dialogues. Social English :true-false statements

Homework: readings 1 and reading 2 with questions , St.B.p. 62,63.

BOOK REVIEW

Japanese Candlestick Charting Techniques

“Japanese Candlestick Charting Techniques” was written by Steve Nilson in 2001.
I´vw chosen this book because I can learn new technical trading systems, and I can use it in my PhD project.

Candlestick Chart are known by European investors few years ago, but Japanese investors are using this kind of charts since XVI a.c. This book explains the emotional state of mind behind each pattern, and the book shows a practical example with each pattern. I think that Candlestick pattern can be used in Spanish continuous market, although some studies describe that Candlestick patterns can not be used in efficient markets, but nowadays there aren’t any efficient throughout market, like E.Fama explains in his PhD project. “Efficient Market Hypothesis”.
In short, I recommend this book to all kind of traders, from a person who is beginning to study the stock markets to a person who has worked with shares and future several years.
RAFAEL ROSILLO CAMBLOR.NI2

The Phantom of the Opera

The Phantom of the Opera was written by Gaston Leroux. It is a mystery novel very famous in the world. I recommend this book to anyone who likesreading. At first I think that the novel was very difficult to read but then I found it very funny.
Strange things are happening at the opera in box five and in general in all the opera. One man dies in a cellar… etc. The employees are beginning to be afraid, they don´t not understand what ishappening and they are very superstitious.
The managers (who have plans toclose the opera) of the opera receive a letter in which, the phantom of the opera proposes his conditions. Giry never has any problems with the ghost, because she respectes him decisions.
The managers, very afraid accept this proposal in which they must give 20.000 points every month and lleave to participate in the opera.
The managers of the opera has to tell this situation to the police and they investigate the situation but he do not find the opera ghost.
The opera ghost wants to control all the functions of the opera and the ghost does not like Carlota, an opera singer. He sends many letters to the managers and suddenly, strange things begin to happen to Carlota and she has to be replaced.
As a result, Daaé gets the job and she becomes famous. It turns that Daaé is the love of the ghost and he always helps her with the function but Daaé is in love with Raoul and the ghost starts to be very jealous.
Daaé thinks that she has a protector who helps her in the Opera and this protector contacts with. Daaé meet him in his secret hiding and she discovers who her protector is.
Daaé is very scared because her protector is a horrible monster ,the ghost kidnaps her and she has to promise to return to the hiding again to visit the ghost.
But Daaé, now, knows that the ghost is the responsible of the murderers of the Opera and she understands that the ghost is very dangerous although his music is excellent. As a result, she plans to marry Raoul and escape very far away.
Next, the ghost discovers their plan and he kidnaps Daaé again, and he escapes with her to the hiding pursued by Raoul and here it is the end of the ghost.
Finally I´m going to tell you the true history of the ghost, Erik; he lived a hard life with many problems and he travelled around the world. He learnt architecture and he was very good in this activity and in music. He knew the Opera because he buildt it and he designed his hiding.
SERGIO PEREZ GARCIA NB2


NI2
I´m sorry, I´ve been so hectic with comings and goings to hospital that I haven´t had time for the blog.
This is a summary of what we´ve done recently.
5-05-2010
Homework: grammar, units 54,55,56
Grammar: units 57,58, about verbs followed by -ing and infinitive, also verbs with change in meaning according to the -ing form or the infinitive.
Writing: how to write a good story. We followed the steps until we ended up with a reasonably good composition.
Homework: a story.
6-05-2010
Homework: Grammar ,units:57,58,
Listening: a mock for Certificación.
writing: we finished the exercises to write a good composition.
10-05-2010
Only Inma wrote her composition.thank you Inma, you´ve done a pretty good job as far as the other students is concerned , you aren´t doing enough and you know, so don´t complain if you don´t get a good result. In the end it´s your own responsibility.
Grammar: Reported speech: an introduction and drill with exercises.
Listening: St.B.p. 90. Cheating in a marathon. Reporting verbs.
Sentences to be completed with these reporting verbs and on pg91 match direct speech to the reporting verbs.
vocabulary: vocabulary Bank, St.B.p. 149, about reporting verbs such as: apologiz
Vocabulary: St.b.p. 88. Truth and lies. Some quotations to be completed with words related to the topic.
Listening: St.B.p. 91. an interview with a private detective. 4 very long questions to answer. At the end we listened to it with the script at sight.
Homework: Exercises on reported speech.

BOOK REVIEW

Myths and Legends
- Why is the sea salty?
This history treats on a traveler that wants to go from Denmark to Norway by ship. This one says to the captain that doesn't have money but that he will pay him with a magic mill of salt, with a few words this one puts to work and doesn't stop throwing salt until it is said to him to stop. One day the captain started grinding salt, but it didn't manage to stop the mill of salt; the cabin was filled with salt and the ship started sinking. The captain threw the mill of salt to the sea very far and because of it, it is said that the sea is salty.

- The four dragons
This history is about a small stone, in which there were four dragons protecting the sky, the people of there were adoring them.
One day it stopped raining, the trees dried off and the people did not have food. The dragons did not know that was happening and they went to look the For Jade Emperor Of Heaven that was the gentleman who was making the rain fall. He was in a party in his house and had forgotten forgotten to make rain. The dragons were angry and moved the clouds themselves in orderto rain. The emperor got very angry and punished the four, under a mountain eternally. The dragons ,since they were magic became rivers spreading all over the country. Today, the people of small stone still love the four dragons and honour them in their art and festivals.

- Susanoh and the Monster - A Myth from Japan
The gods were angry with Susanoh because he was very cruel with his sister. They punished him and took him to an island. The people there said to Susanoh that there was a terrible monster that every year ate up a princess. Susanoh designed a plan that consisted of intoxicating the monster of eight heads, he got it and later he killed it to save the village. the princess married him and they had a great ceremony.

- The hippo king - a folktale from Nigeria
Long ago a king of Africa, made a party, no one knew his name, only ten women. The king told the people that if they guessed his namhe would feed them, if they failed ,he wouldn´t feed them. A tortoise called time, told him at the next party to say his name, and thus it was investigated, they knew his name and everyone ate happily.
AIDÉ FERNANDEZ FERNANDEZ NB2


LOGAN`S CHOICE

Logan`s choice by Richard Mcandrew

I´ve chosen this book because is about mystery and I love mystery and criminal books.
BODY
The theme of the book is a murder. Alex Mclennan is a rich person and one night he is murdered in the bathroom of his huge house.
The main character is Jenny Loan, a police officer in Edinburg. One night, she is waken up by Grant, an officer that helps her.
Both go to Alex`s house to research the murder. They see that he has his neck broken.
They discover that the murderer went into the bathroom by the window, because it is the only access to the bathroom.
They also speak to his wife( Alice Maclennan) and his brother (Donald Johnstone), Logan has some questions for them.
After the questions, she thinks that Donald might be the murderer, because he was really angry.
After that, she decides to go to Alex`s restaurant to do some questions at his friend ( Ian Ross).
She discovers that Ian hates Alex because the restaurant belongs to both but Alex earns more money than him.
After he goes to speak to Tam Mcdonald, a journalist.
Tam told her some imformation about Alex.
One day, Loan goes to Alex`s house to speak to his wife and ask her some questions.
Suddenly, a man appeasr and attacks Grant, but Grant is ready, his elbrow moves back very hard and very quickly into the man´s stomach behind him. The man dropps his knife. Quickly Grand picks up the knife.
Logan goes to the man and pulls of the black hat that he is wearing , he discovers that Ian Ross is the murderer!
Them speak to Alex and she telsl them that Ian was her lover, and he hates Alex, so he killed him.
Thestory finishes when Loan makes a phone call and she speaks to Tam, the journalist, and they meet to have a drink, so she telsl him whothe murder of Alex Mclennan is.
PERSONAL OPINION
This story is really funny and interesting, because you don’t know who the murdeer is un til the end of the history.
I really liked it and I promise than I`ll borrow another book about Loan next time too.
PABLO CUESTA URBANO NB2
NI2
Homework: Grammar, units 53 (verbs followed by -ing) and 60 (prepositions and verbs in -ing)
Listening: A mock exam for Certificación. A really tough, difficult one. It was ckecked with the script at sight.
Grammar: units 54 (verbs followed by to infinitive),55 ( verb, object nad to infinitive) and 56 (verbs followed by -ing) . We went through them in detail .
Speaking: Photo description for Certificación.
Homework: grammar ,units 54,55,56 and do the workbook activities,please.
ALBERTO, thank you again an again for your help with the songs in this blog. My taste in music is like the one of a dinosaur.

BOOK REVIEW

The ₤1.000.000 Bank Note

The ₤1.000.000 Bank Note, was written by Mark Twain. It is a love story .I´ve chosen it because I like the tittle.
The novel tells the story of Henry who managed to be rich for a bet. The story begins so.
Henry was working in the offices of Blake Hopkins in San Francisco and he had a very small salary. One Saturday , he sailed out too far. The strong afternoon wind pushed his sailboat out of the bay, into the Pacific Ocean, and when he was lost, a small British brig saw him and took him on board. The brig was sailing to London. When he arrived in London, his clothes were old and dirty, and he had only one dollar in his pocket. He was hungry, saw a pear in the street, and when he decided to get the pear one gentleman opened the window and invited him to his house. There were two old gentlemen and they were discussing something important. They had made a bet several days before,they were going to bet 20000 pounds that the stranger was living for thirty days with the banknote wasn’t going to prison.
They gave Henry a letter with a banknote worth five million dollars, and at the end of 30 days, he had to return to the gentleman’s house, and if they won the bet, he could have any job with any salary that he wanted.
He opened the envelope some hours later and read the letter. There wasa banknote worth five million dollars .He ran to the house of the two gentlemen to correct the mistake. But they had gone to the Continent. He did not know what to do, if he was going to the bank of England to return the banknote, the bank could ask him lots of questions. He decided to keep the bill for a whole month.
Henry bought everything he wanted without money. He showed his banknote and asked for change, but every time the same thing happened. No one was able to change it. He bought all that he needed and all the luxuries that he wanted. He stayed at an expensive hotel although he planed to pay back everything to the shop owners who sold him things on credit.
His story was in the newspapers “strange millionaire with the million-pound note in his pocket”.
He visited the American ambassador and he invited him to a dinner party that evening.
When he went to the dinner party, he met Portia Langham and they fell in love in two minutes.
When he went to the dinner party, he met Portia and they fell in love in two minutes.
He loved Portia and asked if she could go with him to see the two gentlemen because he was going to need the work to pay his debts.
Finally, the end of the month arrived. When they arrived, Henry gave them the banknote, and they gave him a Certificate of Deposit for ₤200.000.
Then Portia kissed a gentleman on the mouth; he was his father....
Portia’s father took the banknote and cashed it. Then he gave them the cancelled banknote as a wedding present. They put the banknote in a picture frame and hung it on the wall in their new home.
The protagonists are Henry, Portia Langham and the two gentlemen.
I like the story because talks about the honesty.
VANESA MARTINEZ VEGA NB2

THE TALENT OF MR. RIPLEY

The talent f Mr. Ripley is a novel by Patricia Highsmith. It is a famous English book which has lot of editions and a film. It is boring in the beginning but after that it is an amazing novel.
Tom Ripley is a man globe trotter who is living in America and has the good or bad luck to bump into Mr. Greenleaf in New York. That man offers Tom money if he comes back from Italy with his son, Dickie. That is for Tom a lot of money . Mr Greenleaf wants Dickie for his family businesses to deal with his responsibilities. Dickie is living in Mongivello with his girlfriend with a life representing everything that Tom has always felt he deserves but has never had.
Tom goes to Italy and using his talent and can make Dikie´s and Marge´s friend (his girlfriend) and enjoy his newfound "brother" and he greatly improves his lifestyle.
Then Tom, month after month, falls in love with that new lifestyle so he forgets his main task and wastes his time. Dickie is tired of Tom by his attachment to his life and plans a trip by boat to San Remo as a kind gesture. Ripley murders Greenleaf onboard.
Later Ripley assumes Greenleaf's identity . Tom lives Dickie´s life until Milles ( Dickie´s friend) visits the supposed Greenleaf's apartment in Rome. Immediately Miles suspects from Tom and start to arguie and finally Tom kills Miles.
Ripley gets saved being himself and moving to Venecia. Greenleaft and the American police confort Tom murderers and he considers murdering Sherwood (Dikie´s father), but when he finally realises that they have accepted his story,he changes his mind.
Finally Tom travels to Greece and here he discovers that Dickie´s accept his death. Tom finishes rich and in the end of the book he thinks he could be caught by police.
This is the talent of mr. Ripley a story and a novel about Tom´s paranoia and his special talent to adapt.
PABLO GONZALEZ RUBIO. NB2
NB2
Homework: Exercises on modal verbs: have to and must
Speaking: Interaction. Complaining in a hotel.
Listening: complaining in a hotel. St.B.p.24. Pair work .Try to remember as much as possible of these dialogues.
Speaking: Going shopping. We followed the book St.B.p.60 with a listening and a guided dialogue of people going shopping
Writing: How to write a story step by step.
Vocabulary: St.B.p. 134. Expressions of movement.
homework: A composition for next Monday. Speaking:going shopping.

ROMINA ALONSO ALONSO has been very kind to send this song. Thank you,very much, Romina.

BOOK REVIEW

Hampton House is a short story written by Jenny Dooley. I´ve chosen this book because I like mystery tales of haunted houses.
The main character is Kathy, a new girl in town. She works for Helping Hand, a club that help people who can’t do things by themselves. But their offices are going to pull down and they need to find a new meeting place.
One day, she goes to the Old People’s Home to give out books for the old people who can’t get out of bed.
In room sixteen, she meets a mysterious lady, Miss Emily who tells Kathy about her job when she was young. She worked for Lord Hampton as a servant in a beautiful house. Lord Hampton was a rich man and a cruel master who didn’t care about his employees.
Kathy was curious and she thought that maybe, the deserted house will be a perfect place to the new office.
Kathy and the young people of Helping Hand go to the old house, but only she comes in it.
Once she is in, she hears a voice who invites her to sit and take a delicious food. Then, the voice invites her to come back another day.
When she goes out the house, she tells them this story, but they don’t believe her.
Next day she comes back to the house and the voicegives her a gift: a diamond heart with a chain, and it tells her, that the jewel belongs to her.
The voice is Lord Hampton´s and when he was a poor child, he stole the jewel from Kathy’s grandmother. He sold it and became a rich man. Once he gives back the diamond heart to its owner, the curse disappeares and Lord Hampton finds peace.
Days later, Hampton House is pulled down, and the new Helping Hand club’s office is built there.
This book is quite amusing. However, I expected it to be more intriguing. The story is a little incoherent, because some characters (as William, in example) know things that they couldn’t know unless they were fortune- tellers.
CLARA HUERGO SUAREZ NB2

The Vegas Hills carnival mystery

The Vegas Hills Carnival Mystery is a book written by Michelle Brown. It's a mystery story (as the name of the book).
The book tells the story of five teens that have a club that organizes all types of jobs.The teenagers are called Mike, Jess, Kate, Dawn and Jeff. Mike and Jess are boyfriends, and Jess is the creator of the club.
The story takes place in a town near Los Angeles called The Vegas Hills.
As every year, Thompson's Halloween Carnival comes to town, and they want to go. Kate has a babysitting job, so she goes with the child to the carnival. But there is a the haunted house and a man tells her to stay away from there. Shortly after Jess goes to the carnival with her boyfriend Mike, and meet Anne, an Indian girl. Jess is moving away from their friends because of Anne.
Kate goes to the library to find information about the Indians, and discovers that 100 years ago an Indian girl had died in Thompson's Halloween Carnival. After that, she sees an Indian chief who gives her a talisman, and says that Jess mustn’t ride on the Ferris wheel. She alerts his friends and go to save her. They defeat Anne (who is the ghost of the dead girl 100 years ago) Jess and save with the help of the talisman.
I like this book a lot, because it is very entertaining, it has got mystery ...
It is very easy to read too, so people who do not like reading will enjoy it.
The best part is the end when the boys save Jess.
This book brings to mind the value of friendship, because true friends are always when you need them
SARA GARCÍA MARTINEZ ,NB2
NB2
Homework: Compositions were collected and a set of phoytocopies about conditionals I and II were checked.
Grammar: Some more exercises about conditional II what we didn´t do was left for homework on Monday.
Listening: A sample of a certification exam . Multiple choice.
Listening: A situation at a restaurant with two people and a waiter. The quality of the sound was awful, I must say. I´ll bring the tape next Monday. At least we saw the basic structures. Bear in mind that this sort of activity is essential for the interaction part of the speaking exam.
Homework: Some more exercises on conditional I and II and study the stuctures and vocabulary for a role play on Monday.
NI2
Homework: Reading, St.B.p.73, some photocopies about the present perfect simple and continuous and grammar, units 86,87.
Grammar: St.B.p.75 Get it right and grammar, unit 98.
Speaking: St.B.p. 75 "Can you remember?" , about situations in their lives to put into practice these adjectives in -ed and -ing, eg, bored, boring.
Grammar: Test your tenses. To use all the tenses seen up to now.
Vocabulary: Odd one out. to pick up the word that doesn´t fit in the group and say why.
Homework: Debate For and against , grammar, unit 98, workbook,p,47,48,49.
Listening: A sample of a certification exam, not very easy, I´m afraid.

EOI NEWS

I won´t be able to go to class until 15th ,Monday,March, 2010. I´m awfully sorry but I have a few leaks that have to be repaired and their require a little time since the plumber in my case is a doctor. In the meantime here below you have some activities to do .

Hampton House

“Hampton House” was written by Jenny Dooley in 1996. I´ve chosen this book because I like thrillers. This is an intrigue story of a young girl ,Kathy, who starts to work in Helping Hand. In her job she discovers an old woman and an old house, Hampton House which keeps secrets from her past.
The story is divided into two parts. In the first part Kathy knows William, her boss and they become very good friends. She starts to work in Helping Hand and in her first job she goes to The Old People Home and she knows Miss Emily. She´s an old woman who tells Kathy about Hampton House and his owner Lord Hampton. She workedin the house when she was young. Miss Emily tells Kathy her story because remembers it.
The second part is few days after when Kathy has an accident with her bike. Helping Hand needs to find a place for its office because The Council is going to pull this place. Kathy thinks in Hampton House because it is in the town and is uninhabited.
In the final part of the history Kathy, William and other workers visit the house. Only Kathy hears voices and noises and she hears Lord Hampton’s voice who tell she a story about her grandmother and her past. The other workers and William don´t believe Kathy.
Finally Hampton House is pulled down and instead the new Helping Handare office is built, William who loves Kathy is reconciled with her.
The most exciting part if the story is Lord Hampton´s Story that he tells Kathy. He met his grandmother years ago when he was poor. She helped him but he stole her a diamond. Years later Hampton gave him work when he was rich but he never told her what had happened. Lord Hampton gave Kathy the diamond .
The main character is Kathy, other important characters are William, her boss, who loves Kathy. Miss Emily, an old woman who speaks to Kathy about Hampton House and Lord Hampton.
I like the book because the story is interesting, although it´s something predictable. I thought it would be more intriguing. Nevertheless it was not bad.
NATALIA ANDRÉS RODRIGUEZ NB2

JASON CAUSES CHAOS

Introduction

• Jason Causes Chaos is a novel by Jeremy Taylor.

• I ´ve chosen the book because the story seemed very funny and entertaining, but the story is a little short.

• It´s an adventure story.

Theme:

The main idea of the story is to have fun because there are several jokes and things that make us laugh, like throwing a pot on someone's head.

Setting:

The history takes place on a Saturday in a house at The Lodge on Waterbridge Road. The place is invented, because the author doesn’t tell us the town where the story takes place.

Plot:

A girl called Eva is a babysitter. She is 15 years old. She is going out with her friend on a Saturday and she is very happy, but Mrs Day calls her house and she tells her mother that she has to baby-sit that night. Eva goes to the house, and she meets Mr and Mrs Day and Jason Day, a child who is 10 years old. When his parents go out , he begins to behave very badly. He eats chocolate and ice-cream without his parents permission, blackmails Eva to let him do things, throws a rat to Eva’s hair, and many more things. Mrs Day realises that there is a murderer loose. Jason goes to the bathroom while Eva is preparing his bed. But Jason doesn’t go to sleep, he wants to watch TV. When he is watching TV, he hears a noise in the garden. They go upstairs and Eva picks up a flower pot next to the bed, and she throws it to a man, because they think that he is the murderer. But when Eva calls the police, Jason tells her that the man is a policeman. Eva cures him and he tells them that he is warning the people. When he leaves, the doorbell rings. A person that looks like the other policeman says that he wants to call the police station, but Eva and Jason think that he is the murderer, and Eva hits him. They hide him in the cellar of the kitchen. However, the other policeman returns to the home, and he tells them that the police have caught the murderer, and the man in the cellar is his twin brother.

When Jason’s parents come back home, the mother runs into her house and she kisses Jason. Finally Jason tells his parents a lie: Eva’s boyfriend came to our house. They sent me upstairs, but I watched them. First of all, they kissed…

Characters:

The main character: Jason. He is Mr and Mrs Day´s son

Eva: Jason´s babysitter.

Eva´s mother

Mr and Mrs Day: Jason´s parents.

The twins: they are policemen.

I liked the story, because it was very funny and quite entertaining.

The best part is when Jason throws a rat to the Eva’s hair, because it is very funny.

It has made me feel funny, because when the story seemed complicated, Jason and Eva were doing something to encourage it.

I really enjoyed reading it.

I have learnt many jokes and how we should act against a thief or a murderer.

I think that this book is the best that I have read in English, because the others were very boring and this is very entertaining. I like the story and the topic, and I will read it again.

ALBERTO GONZALEZ TORRE. NB2

NI2
-Speaking: Get your opinion ready , some of you in favour , the others against . This photocopy will be useful to state your point of view .
- Listening 1: Radio Ads , exercises and script, audio.
- Listening 2: Bibi Kahnim and the Muslim veil , exercises and script , audio.
- Song: "You´re so vain " ,exercise and video by Carly Simon.

-Grammar: Adjectives in -ed/-ing. eg: interested and interesting.
- Reading: Two reading activities and their answers
ROMINA ALONSO ALONSO has sent this song.Good girl. I wish everybody did the same.

BOOK REVIEW

INTRODUCTION

This novel was written by Armando Palacio Valdés. It was written in 1908. The novel tells the story of Laviana in the period of the industrialization.

This story is historical and it is true because the characters weren’t false.

I´ve chosen this book because it was the most important book written by Palacio Valdés and it was necessary for me. I work in the house where Palacio Valdés was born and “La Aldea Perdida” is the book I explain to the groups.

THE THEME

The theme of this novel is the change that Laviana had in the XX century. The author tells us how Laviana changes with the arrival of the mine.

THE SETTING

“La Aldea Perdida” takes place in a year. It begins in July and finishes in August with the Carmen Festivity . The places where the story is written are different towns of Laviana for example Carrio, Lorio, Entralgo, Canzana, etc.

THE PLOT

As the story begins with the “rural world”. It means that in the first part of the story the author writes about the people’s lifestyle that live in rural towns. He describes the jobs, because people work in the countryside. They have animals and they plough their lands. He thinks people have the best lifestyle. For him this lifestyle is “La Arcadia Feliz”. During this period the love story between Nolo and Demetria develops. Nobody has problems and they are happy. Only there is a problem when a man has is in trouble with another man because they both love the same woman, they fight but they don’t use guns.

The second part of the story the author writes “the industrial world”. A mine named Coto Musel is opened in Laviana and foreign people come to live in these rural towns. Soon problems begin. The lifestyle is different. They work in the mines and the drink and smoke a lot. The have bad humour and shout. If the have problems the will use their guns. Pluton and Joyana were the miners who came to Coto Musel to work.

Finally Nolo and Demetria married and some time later in the Carmen Festivity the miners killed Demetria with a gun and she died.

THE CHARACTERS

There are a lot of characters but the protagonists are Nolo, Demetria, Plutón and Joyana. Nolo and Demetria are the characters who live a love story. Plutón and Joyana are the miners who kill Demetria because they are jealous of Nolo.

CONCLUSION

In my opinion I recommend this book because it is a book which tells a part of the history about our Mining Valley. Personally, I think People who live in Laviana must read this book. The best part of it is when Nolo and Demetria married and the worst when Demetria died.

PAZ GARCIA ORVIZ NI2

The prisoner of Zenda

This book was written by Anthony Hope , its title is The Prisoner of Zenda.
I like reading adventure books and this book is a good example.
The story tells about a man who is crowned king without being so, the novel happens in Ruritania which is not a real country.
The protagonist is a man who lives in London, he is rich and he likes travelling.
One day he sees an article which tells “A new king for Ruritania”, and he goes there.
In 1733 Rudolf Elphberg visits London, he is the king of Ruritania son, the great-grandmother of our protagonist falls in love with Rudolf Elphberg and he falls in love with her but he goes back to Ruritania because his father has died and he never meets her again. He becomes king Rudolf the third.
Again in 1893 the protagonist “Rudolf Rassendyl” alter he visits different countries inEurope, he travels by train from Dresden to Zenda, this is a beautiful city with a big castle in Ruritania.
Once there he understands everything.
The future king of Ruritania is kidnapped by his brother, Rudolf Rassendyl who has a strong physical resemblance with the future king who is his cousin.
Rassendyl goes from Zenda to Strelsau that is the capital of Ruritania and place where the king will be crowned, finally Rassendyl becomes king.
Everyone thinks he is the true king prince Rudolf.
Another dark and bad character is Rudolf´s brother, The Duke Of Strelsau.
I like the story because it is very interesting for its action.
The best part for me is when the protagonist knows that he is cousin of the future king.
It is a good book for people who are learning Basic English.
LEANDRO CURTO EXTREMERA NB2

25th February

NB2A
We had the recording of the video clips in class.
NI2
Homework: Grammar, unit 45, have sth done, wk.p 41,42
Reading: St.B.p. 64 .Understanding signs.
Reading: St.B.p.65 .Shopping in London with questions about the reading.
Listening: St.B.p. 65 Shopping . Questions and complete the gaps exercises . Prices.
Writing: St.B.p. 66. An informal letter with the layout , useful language, tips for writing and the plan.
Speaking: St.B.p.68."Animals and People" Their relation to animals , those they like most, the ones they´re most afraid of, the one that makes the best pet, insects...
Vocabulary: St.B.p. 154. Vocabulary Bank: parts of animals, their babies and more animals.
Homework: A composition for next Thursday, St.B.p.67 and a set of photocopies about "have sth done.

Thank you ALBERTO PINTOS for this song. you´re of a great help and I wish many of my students followed your example

BOOK REVIEW

Meet me in Istanbul was written by Richard Chisholm. It is an adventure thriller set in Turkey, and I´ve chosen it because I like this kind of books.

The book tells the story of Tom Smith’s journey, a British man who goes on holiday to Istambul to visit his fiancée, Angela, who is working there. But the journey is more complicated than he expects, some strange things will happen…

The story of Tom Smith begins at Heathrow airport while he is waiting for his plane. He is leaving for Istanbul to visit his fiancée, Angela Thomson, who works there for a small import/export company, which is starting to export things like brass ornaments, coffee-pots, trays leather or onyx articles to England. Looking forward to see his fiancée again, he sits down on a chair by the window. After several minutes, the plane takes off and they fly above London. When he is reading a letter that his fiancée sent to him, a sudden voice asks him if he has ever been to Istanbul. The man's name is Kemal and he lives in Istanbul, in Sisli. After a while talking, the plane lands in Istanbul and they have to go. Kemal gives his telephone number to Tom. If Tom needs anything, he can always call Kemal. They both go their own way, Tom to the place where he hopes to see Angela, his fiancée, and Kemal goes back home.

Tom takes a bus to the Park Hotel, in Taksim Square, and while the bus is waiting for a traffic light, a car stops beside the bus. Two men and a woman get out, and he realises that one of them is Angela. But before Tom can get out of the bus, the light is green and the bus drives away. He goes to the American Bar and waits for Angela to come, but after a while, she still hasn´t arrived there. Tom is getting worried but he waits a little bit longer, just in case. Three hours later, Tom goes away, but what he doesn’t know is that a man in a grey raincoat is following him, wherever he goes.

At first, Tom goes to Angela’s home, but she isn’t there. He knocks on the windows, on the door, but nobodyopens. He realises that Angela isn’t there. The first thoughts that come to his mind are that he needs a bath and a good sleep, and then he can decide what to do. First, he wants to stay at the Park Hotel, but it’s too expensive. He remembers seeing two small hotels not very far from the Park Hotel, so he walks to them and he arrives at the Ankara Hotel.

The next morning, Tom feels much better and he goes to Angela’s work to see if he can find her there. Her boss, Ibrahim Dünya, tells him that Angela was killed in a car accident a week ago, she was driving along a dangerous road and she got off the road. He doesn’t believe it at first, but after a while he feels a horrible pain. When he is outside again, he calls Kemal, who believes Tom when he says that he saw Angela the day before. First, they decide to go to the place where he saw her and after that, they go to the British Consulate in Istanbul. But also there, David Pennington, the man who made the arrangements for the funeral, tells him that Angela is dead and he advises him to go back to London.

When Tom is with Kemal again, Tom tells him the whole story and he has plans to leave Istanbul, but Kemal wants Tom to think carefully before he wants to make decisions. They go to the Topkapi Palace’s gardens to think and relax. When they start walking again, Kemal finds out that a man is following them, so he says to Tom to not look back and walk quickly. They go into the treasure rooms where it is very busy, they split up so the man can’t find them back, and they decide to phone each other in evening.

When Tom is back in his hotel, he receives a phone call from one of Angela’s friends, Julie, and she wants to meet him at the American bar in the Park Hotel. Tom wants to tell Kemal about it but when he tries to call him the phone gives no answer. He goes to the Park Hotel to meet Angela’s friend, and as soon as he meets her, Julie tells him everything she knows about the strange things that happened some time before: Angela enjoyed her work, but after a while she was behaving a bit strangely. While they are having lunch, Dünya comes in, and she thinks that Dünya has something to do with Angela’s disappearance because Angela looked as if she was scared of him. That’s why Julie wants to meet him. Tom tells her what he saw and he decides to search Angela now he thinks that she is still alive but she is in trouble.

The next day, Tom meet Kemal and they make up a plan to get rid of the guy who was following him, because they know now that he is a man of Dünya. Tom goes to Dünya’s office and says he is going to leave Istanbul. Then, Tom goes to the airport knowing the man in the grey raincoat is following him, and he checks in. In front of the entrance of the gate of the airplane, there is a crowd and the man loses sight of Tom, so Tom hides in the toilets. After the plane takes off, the man thinks Tom is on the plane, so he is coming back to London. After a while, Tom gets out of the toilets and takes a taxi to Kemal's flat in Sisli, and they decide to follow Dünya from his office to his home and try to find out what happened to Angela. Tom puts on a wig and a fake moustache, to make sure that Dünya doesn´t recognise him.

When they are at Dünya’s villa, they decide that Angela must be worried about something on her work, so they must search trough Dünya’s private office. Kemal thinks a plan: Dünya exports onyx ornaments and his parents sell things like that in their shop, so he can sell him a box full of ornaments very cheaply and he can get inside Dünya’s store. There, he checks the store out and notices a low wall in the courtyard. Kemal and Tom drive back to the hotel, and they decide to break in the courtyard.

That evening when it is dark, they go to Dunya’s office again to see what is happening there. They go to the alley where the wall was, they climb on it and they find out that Dunya is a drug dealer and a smuggler. But suddenly, Tom put his foot on a stone and slips. He puts out his hand and knocks against a piece of wood, which falls to the ground with a loud crash. The men in the office hear it, so they try to get away but it is too late and a few seconds later they are caught. Dünya is inside the workshop with a gun and he says Angela is in his villa as a guest. Tom and Kemal are taken away by Dünya and his men, and they arrive at Dunya’s villa. The men want to take them into the house but suddenly, the police arrive and Dünya and his men are caught. A few seconds later, the door opens and Angela runs out in Tom’s arms. She is fine, nothing very serious happened to her, she is just a little bit upset but that is normal.

Later that night, everything is ok again and Tom, Kemal and Angela go to Mr. Pennington’s flat in the Consulate building and they talk about what happened. Tom and Angela thank Kemal for his help, and finally, they are back together and they are going to have a holiday.

In my opinion, it’s a nice book to read because it’s interesting, entertaining and easy to read.

SHEILA DÍAZ RODRIGUEZ NI2

February,17th

NI2

Homework: Workbook:p.36,37,38,39.Grammar, unit 17 (have,have got)

Grammar : a photocopy to practice in pair the structure "I wish"

Vocabulary: Section 4C "A Question of Taste" St.B.p.60 and Vocabulary Bank, St.B-p. 153, all about furniture and adjectives to describe the different rooms of a houseeg. cosy, practical,comfortable...Test your partner all these words.

Listening: "Women working in a man´s world" . I´m not very good at tackling with audio programmes yet and the quality was awful, so we put off this activity.

Homework: grammar, units 113,114,115 about linking words you shouls already know.

February, 18th

NB2

Speaking: Speaking exam with photos to describe, compare them and relate them to your own experience.

After that I gave you the exams you had made the week before, checked the mistakes and solved doubts.

Grammar: Check grammar ,unit 85. Grammar, unit 86 about adjectives and adverbs and their differences . Then I went on to explain the comparative and superlative adjectives.

Homework: Grammar ,units 86,87,88.

NI2

Speaking: Speaking exam with photos to be described ,compared and related to personal experience.

then I gave you the exams you had made the week before and soved doubts, mainly in compositions.

Vocabulary: Review of vocabulary related to furniture on St.B-p.153

Listening: "women working in a man´s world"and this time the recording in spite of its difficulty was clear. a true-false activity.

Homework: Reading,St.b.p.63 , section B. Grammar units 68,69 (countable and uncountable nouns)