Benefits and risks of using the Internet

Computers can be very useful, specially to send and receive emails to your friends anywhere they are.
You can also look up online encyclopedias,and use a search engine
to find all the information you need.
Sometimes we dont have time to get film or concert tickets in
advance, however,with the Internet, you only spend five minutes
to take them!
Meeting people from every country can be very interesting, even
though sometimes its difficult to keep incontact with them. Skype
is a great program that allows you to make video calls for free!!
And its within the law!
Other common uses are reading newspapers, buying in online
stores (e-bay) , downloading music, videos, making online bank
transactions, etc.
On the other hand , there are some risks when using the Internet.
A lot of kids love video games which can be highly addictive,
therefore they spend loads of their time on playing them. Parents
think that the Internet is very safe, and they dont realize that their
children can easily find free pornography (for example).
Almost everybody makes illegal downloads that permit you to save
some money but artists and record companies lose a lot of profits.
To conclude, we can also be deceived with phishing , frauds on
holiday reservations, spyware,
In my view, we should use the internet correctly and be very
careful when we provide personal, confidential information.
Silvia Margolles
jessica said

Pros and cons of using mobile phones

Nowadays, having a mobile phone is very useful and practical.
On the one hand, if you are in an emergency, it can be a lifesaver.
For example, if you have an accident onthe road, you can call a
number for emergencies (112) and an ambulance will go vey fast.
If youre far from your famuly or you need to communicate with
your friends, you can make voice and video calls and send text
messages.
Therere a lot of common uses, for example, you can use your
mobile phone as a calculator, a phone book, an alarm clock, etc.
Its really useful and handy!
Currently, therere 3G mobile smartphones- with which you can
surf the Web. Moreover, you can listen to music and radio, record
your voice, play games, take photos, watch and make videoclips
and watch TV programmes. Its funny!
On the other hand, therere some cons. For example, if you dont
use your mobile phone correctly, it can create addiction.
If you dont have a control and you make a lot of calls and you
send a lot of text messages, it can be very expensive.
If you love to be isolated, its impossible because youre avalaible
anywhere and anytime! For this reason, the mobile phone can be
annoying or disturbing sometimes.
Using a mobile phone while youre driving is very dangerous
because you can get distracted and have an accident.
Furthermore, some scientists say that radio frequency radiation is
unhealthy.
In conclusion, you should be careful and use your mobile phone
correctly. In my view, its very useful and convenient.
Jessica Garca

Studying away from home -pros and cons

Studying far away from home could be a great experience
but it could be difficult too.
On the one hand there are a lot of advantages such as the
fact that you become more independent, responsible,
better organized and more resourceful in general.
Another reason is that you have the opportunity to know
a lot of new people so you become more open-minded.
Finally, you must do all on your own thus you learn a lot
about housework.
On the other hand there are some disadvantages because
living away from home means living without your family.
For this reason you could feel homesick and lonely.
Lastly, you could have economic problems because
renting a flat is very expensive; in my opinion, finding a
job is the best solution.
Posted by Ines
Advantages and the disadvantages of studying away
from home
I am going to talk about the advantages and the
disadvantages of studying away from home.
On the one hand, when you are studying in another city,
you can visit different places and know more about
monuments, museums, Moreover, you can learn about
the city where you are; for example, the traditional
events and meet people too!

On the other hand, you might feel lonely even if you meet
new people because you can miss your family or your
friends. For this reason, you can be unhappy or
nostalgic.
However, there are some very important advantages; for
example, you will become more independent and
mature! Besides, you may be self-confident and more
responsible.
Finally, although organizing can be difficult, you can be
sure that you will become better organized!
In my opinion, there are a lot of advantages of studying
away from home and I think it might be an exciting
experience but really, I prefer to study here, because
there is not place like home.
Posted by Patricia Aznar Serrano
NARRATIVES
I went to Paris and
Last year I visited Paris, it is a really big and nice city, its full of
stone buildings and museums. French people like discussing in
cafs and they are so cultivated that I cant understand what they
are telling to me, although I have a good French level.
While I was visiting Paris, I had a strange problem. When I was
watching a mummified crocodile in the Louvre i tripped over and I
fell crashing the mummy, the alarm started to ring and the police
arrived. I went to the Spanish Embassy and at last I had pay

10000. What a holiday!

Fortunately, next year I will be sitting in my sofa
Travellling has a lot of benefits, for example, you become more
mature and independent, you cant visit different places (like
Ntre Dame, Le Scr Coeur, La Tour Eiffel..) and meet french
people, but it has some disadvantages, you can have problems,
getting lost or being homesick.
Paris is a very surprising city.
Posted by Javier Esteban
I arrived at my uncles and
That morning, I arrived at my uncles house in our village, Obn.
This is a very small village in Teruel, among the mountains and
with the river Martin going down in the villages feet. I hadnt been
in my village for a year, and I had to recuperate the lost time.
That night, when I met my friends, two of them and I had decided
to go to the football pitch at the top of the village. It was 5 oclock
in the morning, and we knew that there wasnt anybody there. We
were talking about our problems; after a few minutes, one of my
friends said stop talking!! We asked him why, but he just said
stop and listen!. He told us that he could hear the voice of a girl,
a child. Suddenly, he began to move and to indicate us to look
among the cars. A human body shape, in a very lightful blue, was
moving behind the cars. We three ran down to the village and
when we were near the lights of the village, the shape appeared in
the door of a garage.
Days later, we told that story to an old woman of the village who
talks with spirits, and she told us that the next year we would go to

look for that girl. Since that day, I cant go alone to a dark place,
but Im looking forward to that visit.
Posted by Borja Prez
REPORTS
Changes in fashion
Fashion has an important relevance in peoples life and changes
along the years. To describe changes in fashion Im going to write
about three aspects: clothes, music and cinema.
In the 1950s it was considered fashionable: Firstly, in terms of
movies, films likeGentlemen prefer blondes starring Marilyn
Monroe or Breakfast at Tiffanys starring Audrey Hepburn.
Secondly ,as regards fashion, women used to wear gloves, winklepickers, stilettos and bucket bags and people considered
fashionable to wear jeans. Thirdly, with respect to music, Elvis
Presley was the most successful singer in the fifties, he was
considered the king of rockn roll and today hes considered one of
the most important singer in history.
In the 1960s it was considered fashionable to wear colourful
clothes (remember the hippies). Women used to wear drainpipe
trousers, mini skirts, false eyelashes, leather boots and beehive
hair. The physical image was very important. In sixties were born
the most famous bands of music of all the times: The Rolling
Stones and Beatles, two groups which are still famous today.
In the 1970s it was considered fashionable to wear maxi skirts,
flared trousers, platform shoes and hot pants. Dance music was

born and people used to listen to Abba, a group who won the
Eurovision contest.
In the 1980s people used to wear shoulder pads, ra-ra skirts,
crimped hair, baseball boots and leg warmers.With regard to
movies, the most popular were Grease andSaturday Night Fever.
Secondly In the 1980s it was considered fashionable:
In the 1990s it was considered fashionable to wear Rachel haircut,
baggy jeans, fleeces, over the knee stockings, doctor martens
boots, shell suits and others similar things. In terms of movies, the
most successful were Titanic, Silence of the lambs, Schindlers List
Forrest Gump or Shakespeare in love. With respect to music,
Oasis was the most popular British band.
In the 2000s it is considered fashionable to wear hipster jeans,
beanie hats strappy sandals, tattoos, piercings, straightened hair,
flares. In terms of music, there are a lot of famous singers such
as Alicia Gates, Norah Williams, Joss Jones, Gareth Keys or
Anastacia.
Fashion, in fact, depends on people, not everyone follows trends or
crazes that pass very quickly. Fashion depends on you and your
personality. As for young people, there are different tribes:
rappers, rockers, skin-heads, punks, goths, etc. These groups wear
specific clothes and have different views or ideologies. A loot of
young people dont belong to these groups.
In conclusion fashion changes with the passage of time. I strongly
believe that things we consider fashionable today are going to
change in a little time.
Posted by Celia Ferrer

Guillermo said
ECONOMIC CRISIS AN UNEMPLOYMENT: PROBLEMS
AND SOLUTIONS.
The current economic crisis started in 2008, with the bankruptcy
of the Lemann brothers company.
The crisis has caused many problems all over the countries but the
less affected are China and Brazil. The reason for is that they are
emergent countries, in other words, its economic situation is of
strong growth.
On the other hand, the crisis has serious effects many countries:
Italy, Spain, England, Portugal, but mainly Greece.
The crisis in Spain has some peculiarities:
1. The crisis of the brick. Spain was not only affected by the
internacional financial crisis, also the crisis of the brick and the
collapse of the building boom has provoked mistrust in the
markets, restrictions in bank loans for the families and small
companies, and high unemployment.
2. People lived over their real possibilities. One person who earned
1000 euros, had car and paid a mortgage of 900 euros. With the
crisis, this situation ended.
3. The banks. They gave credits and mortagages, impossible to be
paid by the people that requested them.
The crisis of thebirk
This term makes reference to the situation generated when
building companies made more houses than needed. There was a
lot of gambling and manipulation: People only bought houses to

sell them and to earn easy money.

In a normal situation when there is more supply than demand the
prices decrease. But in Spain when there was more supply than
demand the prices increased Why? Because people continued
buying even though some of them couldnt afford it
Consequences: Unemployment
The building sectorn has been affected and this has influenced in
many companies in a negative way; a lot of construction workers,
brick layers, etc have been dismissed. As a result, unemployment
has increased up to 20% more or less.
Unemployment is a serious problem since it reduces the demand
and the production. The small and medium companies are forced
to close down increasing unemployment. There isnt much
money, consumption is reduced and social problems appear.
Possible solutions
The situation is difficult and the solutions arent clear. The
objective is to reduce unemployment through re-activiting the
economy and reducing public expeses. In addition, the banks must
return to give loans and mortgages, acting responsibly, in order to
increase consumption and to help the families that dont get
money or unemployment benefits.
Conclusion
Experts predict an improvement in 2011, but the route will be
long, slow and hard. Its indispensable to colaborate, have patience
and confidence in ourselves
Guillermo Barreiro

OPINION ESSAYS
Changes in fashion a real change?
Fashion changes everyday, it is said that its one of the most
unpredictable things we have today but, is that true? Although
fashion changes all the time most of the fashion rules were set long
time ago. Dont forget that one of the usual clothes now, jeans, was
invented by Levi Strauss in the 1850.
Lets take a look at the fifties trendy clothes and shoes: Jeans,
Stilettos and Winkle-pickers. The first ones are as usual as they
were, Stilettos have never gone and winkle-pickers returned to the
shoes shops three years ago. If, after reading these examples, a girl
still thinks shes very trendy and the most original ever, she should
better take a look back at the sixties and eighties. Can you imagine
what she will find? Drainpipe trousers, leather boots, baseball
boots (a.k.a. Converse) and leggings, probably the same she will
find in her wardrobe.
How is that possible? Because, my dear fashion victims, you
havent discovered anything new. All the fashion stuff was here
before us and it doesnt really change, it is alternated.
Some years ago I was told that being trendy was very important
but, in my opinion, you must find your own style, even if it isnt
considered fashionable. In short, stay true to yourself and, maybe
then, you will discover something new.
Posted by Amaranta Cantero
Healthy and unhealthy habits
We have a lot of habits. Some of them benefit our health. Others
damage it.

*Healthy habits:
We should follow a balanced diet to be well. It is important for the
prevention of many diseases such as obesity, diabetes Among the
negative results are malnutrition, inactivity and exhaustion.
It is also important to drink water because it is necessary to every
system of our bodies.
Physical exercise is important to keep fit and can contribute to
maintain a healthy weight. You must be constant and spend some
time on it.
Regular checkups are a good idea for everyone. It is a chance for
the doctor to see if you are healthy.
* Unhealthy habits:
Probably the most common unhealthy habit and one that can
severely impact our healthy is, of course, smoking.
There are other such as drinking too much alcohol or haking
drugs.
Many of us suffer health complications due to extreme stress. It
can be caused by not sleeping enough hours or by the noise, for
example.
Another unhealthy habit is to be always eating junk food or food
that is high in salt, sugar or fat.
Quitting an unhealthy habit can be a great idea for your health.
This make you a healthier person with a smaller chance of
developing illness and dying at an earlier age.
It is not easy. It we want, we can be helped by medical specialists.

Posted by Mara Alegre, group B2C, year 2008-09

FORMAL LETTERS
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topic: Environmental issues -threat and solutions

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See our web page film reviews.

4 thoughts on Compositions

1.

solera

February 5, 2015 at 3:07 pm

Music today
Nowadays, there are many styles and bands all over the world . Lets talk
about some of them.
Rap has been developped during the last few years by Eminem and others.
Madonna,Lady Gaga and the teenbands like One Direction are the most
followed pop artists. Shakira and Rihana, who sing rythm and blues, have
millions of people who buy theirs singles. There are also rock bands like
Rollings Stones who still playing in big concerts.
Here, in Spain people use to listen international singers but we cant
forget that there are some spanish musicians that is worth to listen like
Amaral, La Oreja de Van Gohg and El canto del Loco.
The technological innovations had changed the way of communication
between artist and fans.Now instead of going to the shop people download
music directly from the web with that action people can save money.
However, authors want more control in that kind of webs to preserve
theirs rights.
Speaking personally, pop still been the best music style, I like spending
my time listening the tunes, reading and singing the amazing lyrics of
Amy McDonald my favourite singer who had written some beautiful songs
like This is the life. Moreover,I prefer buy CDs or listening to the radio
instead of downloading the songs from the web because I think that it is
more fair.
Reply

2.

Irene Manero

December 3, 2014 at 9:12 pm

SOCIAL NETWORKS.
I consider that social networks are one of the most important inventions
of the 20th Century because they have changed our way of life. The first
social network was Facebook, and it was invented by Mark Zuckerberg
with the purpose to meet and talk with people who are taking the same
degree.
There is so many different networks which allow us to do so many
different things and to be always connected with people who are
interesting for us. Another advantage is that we are able to meet people
who live abroad or to know how our friends life goes even if we dont
meet often.
Some social networks are: Tuenti (to be connected with people who live in
your country), Twitter (to share thoughts, political opinions, to be
informed about your interest, updated news,), Facebook (to share
photos, videos, thoughts and to chat), Instagram, Flickr, Tumblr or
Snapchat (to share photos) they are all different and they have advantages
that make one of those apps better than the other according to what we
want to do, Whatsapp (to chat instantly), Youtube (to watch videos and
tutorials) and Blogger (to write largely).
However,its not all good. There are cons of using social networks. There
is a lack of privacy, we must be very careful about what we publish, there
are so many cases of cyberbulling, you can be distracted of what youre
supposed to be doing because theyre addictive and a waste of time. Also,
people can trust you easier and you can be swindled.

To sum up, its clear to me that social networks are a very good invention
if we pay attention to what we share to protect our privacy, and if we dont
spend too many hours because at least, we dont socialize at all. We are
talking with an electronic device and we dont have relations face to face
anymore, which its the opposite of what social networks are supposed to
do.
Reply

3.

Sofa Garca

March 1, 2011 at 5:14 pm

HEALTHY & UNHEALTHY HABITS:

The difference of life expectancy between countries is really remarkable
and it is due to our habits.
First of all, following a healthy diet, without fats or too many sweets,
based on eating food such as vegetables, meat and fish at a right measure
is what determines that we keep healthy and have a long life expectancy
or not.
Moreover, doctors and scientists have proved that eating at least five
pieces of fruit per day is necessary for our nutrition.
If we include a regular habit of doing some sport in our life, we will
improve our quality of life and we will feel better.
However, there are some habits that reduce our life expectancy, like
smoking tobacco or drinking too much alcohol, whose consumption
damages our health.
Leading a very busy life, full of stress, entails not eating well because of
lack of time and it is very often associated to nutritional disorders such as

obesity and diabetes, which are extending everywhere and increasing day
by day. It also causes a high cholesterol and an increasing blood pressure.
Finally, some people have a worrying obsession of losing weight, which is
necessary to control because it sometimes involves psychological
problems and nutritional disorders, for example anorexia or bulimia.
Reply

4.

Sofa Garca

January 24, 2011 at 2:53 pm

The relevance of the English language inthe 21st century

Its true that the English language has acquired a lot of relevance during
the last decades and its use is increasing day by day.
English has become a lingua franca and its probably the most spoken
language in the world. Approximately, 375 million people speak English
as their first language, for example people who live in countries like
Australia, United States, United Kingdom, Ireland or New Zeland, where
English is the way of communication between their citizens.
Moreover, the English language is included in most of educational
programs in developed countries, where it is promoted as a second
language. These countries usually stimulate its learning at schools
because it allows people to have more opportunities in their working
future, it enables the country to communicate with others inmeetings and
to make business deals.
Nowadays, we have the Erasmus grants, which let students finish their
degree abroad during a year at University. In this case, English is a

requisite to succeed and its always helpful to communicate easily with

other people around Europe.
We usually talk about English as a lingua franca due to its international
nature. This means that English is part of our lives because its used in
fields such as the film industry, the music world, technology, science,
tourism, commerce, and even diplomacy and international politics.
In short, English is working as a global link and its becoming the most
relevant language all over the world.
Reply