Selectividad exams 2017

Here you have a copy of the exams. Click here and here. I hope they are useful.

4 Selectividad exams for you to practice before the real exam!

Here you have four exams from previous years! Remember that you have an hour and a half to do each of them. I will be happy to correct the composition once you finish. The rest of the correction will be sent through the blog! Click here!

Brexit 2

Click here to carry on reading on the topic of Brexit! from the BBC.

Brexit

Click here to read an article on what Brexit means and its possible consequences.

Past simple/Present perfect rephrasing

To get access to the exercises, click here!

Solutions to exercises on adjectives/verbs + preposition

To get access to the solutions to these exercises click here!

Ejercicios de selectividad

Click here and here!

So/such exercises!

Click here!

A new trend: Mindfullness courses

Mindfulness is a new trend that many people are following for different reasons. Here you have some information on the topic. Click here to read the article!

PET Vocabulary list

 Remember that I.E.S. Mediterráneo is a
 
 Here you have a list with the basic vocabulary that you should master in order to succeed in your B1 (PET) Cambridge exam!

Chomsky on education

Climate refugees

Do you know what a climate refugee is?  Here is an interesting article on another source of migration caused by global warming. Click here!

Orientaciones PEBAU

Here you have the crireria for PEBAU again! Click here!

Writing for Monday 22nd

1) Is music important in your life?
2) Does consumerism affect our  environment?

Are tatoos an addiction or a fashion?

Are tatoos an addiction or a fashion? What do you think? Read these two articles to know about the topic.

Article 1

Article 2

Health: New addictionss

Here you have an article on addiction to new technologies. Click here! Do you know any other addictions? For example, can one develop an addiction for tatoos?

Sports and health

Have a look at this vídeo on the benefits of sports for your brain and body!To do a listening comprehension of it click here. You just have to click on the answer you think correct. In that link, you can also find two articles related to the topic. Have a look at them!

Topics for the writing section from previous years!

Dear students! Here you have a list of topics for the writing section that have appeared in previous years. Have a look here!

More vocabulary for Selectividad.

More vocabulary for Selectividad. Click here!

More on education: a return to the cane?

Click here!

More on education

Verbs and adjectives followed by prepositions

Click here to get access to the exercises.

On tatoos

A recent (or not so recent) trend is tatoos. Have a look at an article on this topic and say what you think
about this trend. Click here!

Shopping and new technologies: e-commerce vs. m-commerce

Here you have an article related to shopping either through your computer or through your smart phone. Have a look here!

Shopping and consumerism

 


Buying any good is not small potatoes! It requires a lot of raw materials and energy. Here you have an article which may interest you! Click here!

Have a look at this video as well, so that you can have an idea of what I mean!

Is context important when appreciating any kind of art?

 

Pearls Before Breakfast: Can one of the nation’s great musicians cut through the fog of a D.C. rush hour? Let’s find out.

HE EMERGED FROM THE METRO AT THE L’ENFANT PLAZA STATION AND POSITIONED HIMSELF AGAINST A WALL BESIDE A TRASH BASKET. By most measures, he was nondescript: a youngish white man in jeans, a long-sleeved T-shirt and a Washington Nationals baseball cap. From a small case, he removed a violin. Placing the open case at his feet, he shrewdly threw in a few dollars and pocket change as seed money, swiveled it to face pedestrian traffic, and began to play.

It was 7:51 a.m. on Friday, January 12, the middle of the morning rush hour. In the next 43 minutes, as the violinist performed six classical pieces, 1,097 people passed by. Almost all of them were on the way to work, which meant, for almost all of them, a government job. L’Enfant Plaza is at the nucleus of federal Washington, and these were mostly mid-level bureaucrats with those indeterminate, oddly fungible titles: policy analyst, project manager, budget officer, specialist, facilitator, consultant.

Each passerby had a quick choice to make, one familiar to commuters in any urban area where the occasional street performer is part of the cityscape: Do you stop and listen? Do you hurry past with a blend of guilt and irritation, aware of your cupidity but annoyed by the unbidden demand on your time and your wallet? Do you throw in a buck, just to be polite? Does your decision change if he’s really bad? What if he’s really good? Do you have time for beauty? Shouldn’t you? What’s the moral mathematics of the moment?

 

On that Friday in January, those private questions would be answered in an unusually public way. No one knew it, but the fiddler standing against a bare wall outside the Metro in an indoor arcade at the top of the escalators was one of the finest classical musicians in the world, playing some of the most elegant music ever written on one of the most valuable violins ever made. His performance was arranged by The Washington Post as an experiment in context, perception and priorities -- as well as an unblinking assessment of public taste: In a banal setting at an inconvenient time, would beauty transcend?

The musician did not play popular tunes whose familiarity alone might have drawn interest. That was not the test. These were masterpieces that have endured for centuries on their brilliance alone, soaring music befitting the grandeur of cathedrals and concert halls.

The acoustics proved surprisingly kind. Though the arcade is of utilitarian design, a buffer between the Metro escalator and the outdoors, it somehow caught the sound and bounced it back round and resonant. The violin is an instrument that is said to be much like the human voice, and in this musician’s masterly hands, it sobbed and laughed and sang -- ecstatic, sorrowful, importuning, adoring, flirtatious, castigating, playful, romancing, merry, triumphal, sumptuous.

 

So, what do you think happened?

Next writing for Tuesday 8th: Do you think learning a foreign language is important?

Some exercises of "would rather"

Click here to have access to the exercises.

Notes on "Would rather"

Here you have some notes on "would rather", an expression used to express preference. You shall complete this handout with whatever piece of information I give in class.

Notes on ING or (TO) +V-infinitive after certain verbs

Here you have a handout about the grammatical point that we have to deal with in class. Click here.

Technology addiction

Here you have an article on addiction to new technologies. Click here!

Writing for Friday 5th

Here is the topic for the writing you are to hand in on Friday 5th:

How should 21st Century schools be like?

The importance of languages in order to find a job!

One of the things that you´d better take into consideration is role of knowledge of foreign languages in order to get a job. Here you have an article on this issue!

Future jobs and education. Should school change in the future?

Another question related to the previous post is whether educational systems should change in order to prepare students for the future.

On this issue have a look at these two articles (article 1, article 2) ! What do you think?

Have a look at the importance of creativity in the future! Click here!

From previous units: preparing students for future jobs.

Some entries ago I  sent you some texts on the impact of technology (robots) in future jobs. Take into account that many jobs, whether you like it or not, will be done by machines, especially those which are mechanical in nature. So, what jobs will young people be able to find? What should they know to enter the future job market?

Here you have a text related to this topic. Have a look here!

Here you have a very interesting article on "streaming". Have a look!

Is streaming music good or bad? Have a look and tell me what you think. Click here!

The science of love (From the BBC)

Here you  have the article we saw in class. Click here!

Some notes on "would rather"

Dear students: Here you have some information about the expression we talked about in class last day. Have a look here!

Composition for Monday

This is the topic for next Monday's composition:

Advantages and disadvantages of downloading music from the Internet.

Homework

Here you have some exercises to revise relative clauses. Click here.

Downloading music from the Internet

Dear students: Here I post a couple of articles related to the issue: downloading music from the internet. I hope they are useful:

Article 1

Article 2

Audios from books

Dear students: Remember that audios from the second book you are bound to read over Easter should be sent no later than Sunday 16th.

Easter homework: revisión.

Dear students: here you will find the QR codes leading to your homework.

Robots and future human labour

Read this interesting article about the impact of robots in every day life and the place of human labour in the future. Click here! What do you think? Express your opinion with a comment!

Child labour and coltan

Have you ever thought about what your mobile phone os made of? Read this article!


 

Writing

This is the topic for the next writing: Should parents continue mantaining their children when children are old enough to work ?

"Nini" generation

Click here to have access to one of the issues related to topic 4.

The best job in the world!

Do You Want the Best Job in the World? Apply Now

Applications are open for Australia's "Best Jobs in the World"

By Sorcha PollakMarch 06, 2013

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REUTERS/Queensland Tourism/Eddie Safarik/Handout

Were you born with a sense of adventure and passion for exploring the wilderness? Are you interested in touring restaurants, wineries and lobster eateries? Do you have skills in photography and want to discover life in one of the most exciting cities in the world? If the answer is ‘yes’ to any of these questions, then Tourism Australia may have the dream job for you.

Tourism Australia has launched the 2013 ‘Best Jobs in the World’ campaign, calling on people aged 18-30 interested in spending six months working Down Under to apply for their new job openings. The ‘Best Jobs in the World’ offers a choice of six positions —Chief Funster, Outback Adventurer, Park Ranger, Wildlife Caretaker, Lifestyle Photographer and Taste Master — along with a $100,000 salary.

(MORE: Ben Southall: The Best Job in the World)

The new campaign comes four years after a British man, Ben Southall,  won the 2009 “Best Job in the World” competition — and the chance to work as an Island Caretaker on the Great Barrier Reef and “swim, snorkel, make friends with the locals and generally enjoy the tropical Queensland climate and lifestyle,” as Yahoo News wrote.

The campaign is particularly focused on countries where people are eligible for the Australian working holiday visa, including the U.K., Ireland, the U.S., Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Sweden, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea and Japan. Andrew McEvoy, managing director of Tourism Australia, believes these job opportunities will appeal to youths facing high unemployment and tough jobs markets at home. “For many young people, Australia’s Working Holiday Maker visa programs provide the economic means to fund travel plans,” he told the Telegraph.

(MORE: Australia Tells Chinese Tourists: Welcome! (And Bring Your Checkbooks))

So what do these jobs entail? As Chief Funster you could travel around New South Wales as a social media commentator, writing reviews for festivals and events, and living “the life of a Sydney VIP.” Or if food is your calling, you could apply for the position of Taste Master, eating your way around Western Australia, uncovering the best bars and restaurants. Or perhaps if the outdoors is your passion, you could apply for the position of Park Ranger where you’ll work to protect and promote rainforest walks, dinosaur fossils and indigenous marine life.

The job offers are part of a major marketing campaign to attract enthusiastic youths from across the globe to move out to Australia. McEvoy sees it as a platform to entice young people to come and fill the many tourism positions that are available in the country and believes the job offers will appeal to “youth travelers’ sense of fun and adventure,” notes Yahoo News

Composition

This is the topic for next week's writing: Do you think women are discriminated in their jobs as compared to men?

A day without immigrants

As you know, Donald Trump's political measures are bringing about different kinds of reaction throughout the world; and also in the U.S. have look (and a listen) here!

Orientaciones PBAU

Dear students!

To see the criteria to be applied this year in relation to the PBAU test click HERE!

More on fame! Have a look at this video!

New topic for next week's composition: Does being a celebrity have a dark side?

Some reasons not to be famous!

Dear students! Below you will find a link to a text on the issue we discussed in class. Have a look! Click here!