Advanced English Mendoza

To:        Mr. John Morgan, School Principal

From:   David Bowles, Organising Committee Member

Date:     September 19^th, 2010

Subject: Problems and Recommendations for Next Year Student Trip

INTRODUCTION

The aim of this report is to highlight the problems that occurred during the half-term ski trip and give suggestions to solve them. In order to prepare this report I sent questionnaires to all participants.

INCONVENIENCES

The main problem was that only one-hour ski lessons were included in the price. Furthermore, some group leaders were more interested in skiing than looking after students. Moreover, it appears that there were not enough beds in the cabins; therefore, some of our students had to sleep on the floor.

WRONG LOCATION

Another problem was the location chosen mainly because many students were reported to have had difficulties in getting the visa. Regarding the place itself, although it is a well-known destination, there was not enough snow this year. Besides, there were few beginners’ slopes.

CONCLUSION

All things considered, it is highly recommended to change the camp location for next year. All in all, this kind of trips is supposed to broaden students’ minds and choosing a better place would be considerably more helpful.

During a person’s life, he or she may face countless obstacles that require major decisions to be made. There are two alternatives to overcome difficult moments: suddenly-made decisions or decisions made after rational thought. Based on my lifetime experience, I am absolutely convinced that decisions made quickly are not nearly as good as decisions made after careful thought.

Some people may consider that the frenetic changes and turnovers that affect day to day life nowadays need instantaneous decisions made on the spur of the moment. Furthermore, modern society is constantly demanding quick decisions in order to sort out eventual difficulties. Nevertheless, when it comes to choosing a career, a place to live or a job, a lot is at stake, and the decision should not be based just on gut feelings.

Decisions based on emotional impulses often mislead the course we want to give to our lives. However, many mistakes could be avoided giving ourselves a little more time to think about the different alternatives.

As far as I am concerned, each and every decision affecting a person’s life has to be the product of careful rational thought and consideration of all the alternatives. The best decision is the effect of a complex process which involves three main actions: observation of the situation, comparative analysis of the possibilities and evaluation of the consequences. Hence, wisdom plays a chief role in an adult’s life.

Assuredly, the virtue to make adequate decisions based on rational thought is the result of a slow learning process. This process involves the ability to learn from our own mistakes and the ability to remain calm when facing a difficult situation and not surrender to the distractions of inner instincts.

Despite the fact that there is a modern tendency to hurry things up, the only way to achieve success in life is to carefully elaborate our decisions. Moreover, it’s vital to take into consideration that some decisions can be made only once. It’s better to take time and make a carefully thought decision than to regret in the aftermath of a hurried one.

Which country or culture has made the most significant contributions through out history? Include details and examples to support your opinions.

The history of the human race is long and many different nations have contributed to building contemporary societies. From the Greeks, with their studies of philosophy, to the Egyptians, with their monumental buildings, many goals have been achieved. These are some of the key contributors to classical history. However, I believe that the United States of America is the most important country which has co-operated in the development of our history.

The first and most important contribution is the victory in the Second World War. It helped to fight the horror of the Nazi’s regime and it introduced to the world the Laissez Faire theory which has been our economic system up to the present day. Otherwise, the world would be working in a communist system and more non-German people would be murdered.

The second contribution is the peaceful role played in the Cold War against the Soviet Regime. That terrible group of countries had nuclear power to destroy the world and they tried to attack the United States many times. For example, they tried to attack the USA in Cuba one time and the American governments solved the problem in a diplomatic way. It could have been the start of a nuclear war and the end of the world.

The third and last contribution is the invasion of Iraq. By doing this, the American army gave the Iraqi citizens the opportunity to choose their governments and have the benefits of a democratic system. Furthermore, it contributed to controlling nuclear weapons in that area, which is considered a danger to the whole world. At that time Saddam Hussein was the president of Iraq and he was building nuclear and biological weapons without UN´s authorization. By removing that authoritarian president, they restored peace in that region and set that country free.

In conclusion, I believe that many cultures have contributed to our History. Nevertheless, the United States of America’s contribution has saved the world from destruction several times.

Should the young live with their parents until the noon of their existence or leave the cosy nest for a more challenging dare?

One of the reasons young people live at home until their late thirties is the necessity of studying for more years than in the past. For example, university takes many years of their lives; therefore, they are not able to afford the cost of living alone. Moreover, they do not need to worry about daily duties like: paying rent, taxes, services and so on. That is to say, they are fully concentrated on studying and other activities they do like, for instance, going out with friends.

However, the youth of today take advantage of living at home without thinking about how expensive it is for their parents. In addition, this easy and sometimes lazy way of living would undermine the necessary strength and resolution to confront life properly. Last but not least, the co-existence with parents could become disturbing and terribly agitated. As a consequence, abiding together could be bitterly distressful.

To sum up, despite the fact that there are many reasons to keep dwelling at home up to our late twenties, I strongly believe it is a lack of maturity. Young people have the right to study; nevertheless, they have the duty of doing something for a living.

Both the lecture and the reading passage are about the historical authorship debate that has been created around the figure of William Shakespeare and his artwork for centuries.

The writing passage states that the world’s most famous playwright didn’t actually write his plays and that some work accredited to him was written by someone else: a nobleman by the name of Edward de Vere, who used a pseudonym to disguise his identity. Conversely, the professor considers these ideas as a conspiracy theory, based on sketchy arguments and no supportable evidence.

One of the arguments put forward in the reading passage is that the author of a play like Hamlet had to be familiar with aristocratic manners and sports, and the access to this kind of information was a privilege only reserved for nobility. As a matter of fact, Shakespeare has been portrayed as a commoner without the classical education displayed in his writings.

The reading passage also states that Shakespeare’s signature either doesn’t appear or it’s barely legible in his writings. To contrast this argument, the lecturer states that contemporary plays were considered to be literature, a popular art to which authorship wasn’t really relevant.

It would be a great opportunity to receive a plot of land as a donation. Moreover, being the owner of a vast extension of land may be the first step to accomplishing one of my dearest dreams: to create the biggest artificial wildlife reserve in the south hemisphere.

Nowadays, one of the most complicated problems humanity has to face is the lack of lands destined to environmental projects. As a matter of fact, millions of miles of woodland are lost every day due to uncontrolled human activities and the modern phenomena of urban sprawl. As a consequence, many species of biodiversity are left without a sustainable habitat to survive.

If I was the owner of a portion of land I would design a gorgeous natural reserve of different species of flora and fauna. It would not only serve for environmental purposes, but for social purposes. The main idea of the project would be to create a space in which people could relax, learn the relevance of species preservation and be in contact with natural resources.

The basis of the plan would be the subdivision of the plot of land in different areas, taking into account the needs of the species living on them. The most important area would be a gigantic dome designed to be a greenhouse where visitors would learn the relevance of genetic engineering in preservation of exotic plants in serious risk of extinction.

Assuredly, the dimension of the project would require a large sum of money to support the costs and expenditures. One of the alternatives to raise funds would be to impose a minimum admission fee to the park’s visitors in order to guarantee it’s conservation. Another interesting alternative would be to allow a free of charge admission to the reserve’s grounds and apply for a government subsidy.

It´s vital to educate and raise awareness among children, who should acquire knowledge about the preservation of the earth and the habitat they are part of. One of the most significative ways to achieve this goal is to give them the opportunity to keep in contact with nature in open spaces and, therefore allow them to value all the different possibilities that lay ahead.