24 sept 2012

Titanic, an Impacting Story (by Ailén and Nicole)

The construction of the Titanic was made by the White Star Line with money from the I.M.M (International Merchant Marine). They made three ships. The construction was called "Olympic Class" and the three ships were: the OLYMPIC, the TITANIC and the GIGANTIC.
On April 10th, 1912, the Titanic started its inauguration trip from Southampton to New York. Four days later, on April 14th at 11:40 pm, the Titanic crashed with an Iceberg and it sank on April 15th at 2:20 in the morning.
In the ship there were 2,227 persons and 1,517 of them died. There were 20 boats where 1,178 persons could enter but only 705 persons survived.
A lot of people died or disappeared. This was one of the biggest tragedies of all times.
Have you seen the romantic film about the Titanic? The special effects are wonderful. 

20 sept 2012

Villains Contest (by Guest Bloggers)

Following the Superheroes Contest that was published some time ago, it's high time we met the bad guys! Are you ready for it?
These are the two that received most votes:
Robert
He can turn himself into a shadow and turn back the time but if he removes his mask, his powers disappear...
Exterminator
He has a robotic hand and a head full of fire 
which make him almost invincible!
And these are the 3 special mentions:
Dark Shadow
Her weakness is the sunshine.
Muerte Profunda
Be careful with him because he has an army of zombies that support him!
 
Bad Boy
He comes from Mars, can throw water balls, has X-ray vision 
and can read minds...
 
So what do you think about them? Scary, huh?
Thanks to all the students who took part of this contest! All the superheros and villains were awesome, whether they were published or not :)

6 sept 2012

Advantages and Disadvantages of the Internet (by Agostina and Milagros)

INTERNET

As everyone in the world, you probably use the Internet regularly. But maybe you never think about the advantages and disadvantages of it. Well, let us show you some of them...

Nowadays we use the Internet in our everyday lives because it´s very important for us, especially for teenagers.
  • Advantages
One of them is that you can communicate in different ways: social networks like Facebook, Twitter or Windows Messenger; you can also send e-mails. On the other hand, you can look for information, images, videos, you can listen to music and you can also download things through browsers like Google and Yahoo, which are the best known. Finally, another thing you can do is to buy or book things/places online.
  • Disadvantages
Using Internet has its bad side. For example, surfing a lot the Internet can isolate you from your social life, so you should organize your time to do different activities.
You have to be conscious because using social networks without knowing about them can be insecure, because you can give personal information that can be useful for bad people, so please be careful about the kind of information you publish on the Internet.
So well, here we mentioned some things that can we useful, and that you have to take care of, but we want your opinion. Do you agree with what we've mentioned? Do you have anything to add?

2 sept 2012

Why Do People Laugh (by Antonella and Macarena U.)

Laughter

Fred is 32 years old and he is still single.
One day a friend asked, "Why aren't you married? Can't you find a woman who will be a good wife?"
Fred replied, "Actually, I've found many women I wanted to marry, but when I bring them home to meet my parents, my mother doesn't like them."
His friend thinks for a moment and says, "I've got the perfect solution, just find a girl who's just like your mother."
A few months later they meet again and his friend says, "Did you find the perfect girl? Did your mother like her?"
With a frown on his face, Fred answers, "Yes, I found the perfect girl. She was just like my mother. You were right, my mother liked her very much."
The friend said, "Then what's the problem?"
Fred replied, "My father doesn't like her."

Did you laugh? Probably. And its probably that you are likely to laugh most of the time as well. But do you know why?
Laughter, natural laughter, is a response to humor and physiological, psychological benefits.
Laughter can be divided in two parts. The first is a set of gestures, and the second is the production of sound that the brain produces simultaneously. From a physiological standpoint, a sensor in the brain responds to laughter by triggering other neural circuits in the brain, which, in turn, generate more laughter.
We usually tend to laugh at stressful situations, because the benefits of laughter are for a good health. It helps to reduce the stress levels by reducing the level of stress hormones, and also helps us cope with serious illness. Physiologically, laughter promotes healing. By lowering the blood pressure, and by increasing the vascular blood flow and the oxygenation of the blood. It also helps as it pents up negative emotions, such as anger, fear and sadness.

We usually laugh with common things. When we hear something funny or see something funny, like a sitcom or a comedy.
Another thing that makes us laugh are funny pictures. They usually have funny signs, funny people faces or crazy people and animals. Also funny videos of people that are shared on the web, as well as black humor and funny jokes.
But sometimes we laugh about common things, unexpected things.
 
In conclusion laughing is a way of reducing stress and preventing illnesses. We do not always laugh from specified hilarious things, but from everyday things. Like when you are spending time with friends, watching TV or reading a book.
Sources of information: 1, 2, 3

So this is our piece of advice: 
"DO NOT STOP LAUGHING"

Usual Phrases at the Airport (by Macarena D.B. and Adrián)

Whether you have ever travelled by plane or not, we will show you some typical dialogues that happen at an airport... they may help you in the future! 

1) Buying a ticket:

- I´d like to book two seats to...
-Will that be one way or round trip?
-How much is a round trip ticket?
- it´s...

2) Checking in:

- Can I see your ticket and passport plese? 
- Here trey are. Can we get one seat near the window?
- Yes, that´s no problem
- Thanks
- Have a nice flight

3) On the Airplane:

- Would you like something to drink?
- Could I have a Coke without ice, please? 
- Here you are.

4) Getting through customs:

- Thank you for flying with our company!
- I had a good trip. Thanks for your help.

5) The arrival:

- Do you have anything to declare?
- No, I don´t.

6) Getting your luggage:
- I´ll get a cart rigth away
- Be sure you have your luggage ticket.
- Yes, it´s right here attached to my plane ticket.

7) Outside:

- Excuse me, where can I get a taxi?
- Go down to the end of the hall and the taxis are waiting just outside.
- Thank you!