Book Report

BOOK REPORT


TITLE: The Reluctant Queen
AUTHOR: Jean Plaidy

SUMMARY OF THE BOOK:

This book is the life of Lady Anne Neville, daughter of the Earl of Warwick who earned the nickname of Kingmaker. It is set in the15th century, during the war for power; a war between the houses of Lancaster and York, which wanted the throne..Warwick is a close ally of York and supports the young, charming King Edward IV; the Lancastrians fighting for King Henry VI, who is now very old and ill to be king. Anne and her sister Isabel began with their father's political game: Isabel is married to King Edward's brother George, the Duke of Clarence, and Anne is married to Prince Richard, who is a youngest king.

DESCRIBE THE MAIN CHARACTER: WHAT DOES S/ HE LOOK LIKE AND WHAT IS S/ HE LIKE?

Anne, the Reluctant Queen (I like this character, because she sometimes is hard and sometimes is sensitive)
Richard: Duke of Gloucester, He marries Anne (I don’t like this character, because she likes the war)
King Edward IV: He marries Elizabeth Woodville. He Is a Anne’s father, He is very sensitive man.
Isabel: The older Anne’s sisters. She is a very happy woman, for her all is possible, I like this woman.

WHERE DOES THE STORY TAKE PLACE? SETTING, PERIOD OF TIME, ETC.

The novel begins in the year 1485. Anne, knows that she is dying and she has decided to write her life before her death slowly takes her. She worries about her family including her husband Richard, the King of England. Richard is severely maligned by his people, and Anne knows that his power and position would be greater after her death.

WHAT IS YOUR OPINION OF THE BOOK? WOULD YOU RECOMMEND IT TO OTHER STUDENTS? WHY OR WHY NOT?

Thi book is very easy to read. The author explains very well the story. at the begining it is very happy. It is the life of Anne, but is a story of wars and powers, and for me it is very sad, because the main character, Anne, always is very sad.

I recommend this book to other student because, is quicky to read and you can finish it inmmediately.


VOCABULARY:

There are some words that sometimes are verbs and sometimes are nouns, namely: poisoned, servant, jealous, trick, army, castle, attacked, peace, king, attack, preparing, cruel, etc.

ANY OTHER INFORMATION:

Cover illustration by Len Truston
The Series Editor is Derek Strange, a leading authority on reading schemes.


This book report has been done by Paqui

The topyc of my presentation is Balearic Islands.

Elisabet

Topic for presentation

Hello! My topic will be: "Scotland, a touristic guide" Anna Doroteo

opinion

It is the responsibility of families to look after their older members when they become too old to manage by themselves.

Do you agree with the statement? Give reasons, explain yourself, give suggestions. Refer to: responsibility of the state, personal experience, generation gap, family circumstances, etc.

vocabulary Quiz

Check out these quizzes and get more practice on banking, finance and administration vocabulary.
click here

dialogue

A:representatives of instruments
B:Machine tool makers

A

Outline for conversation

Use the prompts for a dialogue with a partner.

A: The fall in sales is mainly due to the recession affecting world markets.
B: Interrupt: ask for clarification
A:Polite response.
(5% /most product areas / especially oil processing / also due to sale of America subsidiary.
B: interrupt: ask why USA was sold
A: Reject interruption: No time / discussed before.
A: Try to move on to future prospects (good)
B: Interrupt: disagree
A: Respond: you disagree. Forecasts are much better.
B: Interrupt: You want to talk about new markets
A: Promise to discuss this later. But first...
B: Interrupt: suggest a break.
A: Reject the idea

TOPIC FOR PRESENTATION

My topic for the presentation will be:

Basketball, a sport for polite people.

Here is an example:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99zQt-SqzFc

reported tense adjustment

Verb Tense Change

QUESTION – VERB TENSE
The verb tense in the noun clause adjusts (changes) to the point of view of the speaker. If the speaker is speaking in the past about an earlier past event, the past perfect may be used in the noun clause to emphasize the difference in time. Past perfect is not used if the time relationship is clear already.

EMBEDDED VERB TENSE
An exception to this verb adjustment occurs when using a verb that expresses a general truth, something that exists, or is timeless, such as states of being , states of possession or mental states. In these cases, the verb remains in its present tense form.

PRESENT-------------------------------------------------PAST

PRESENT PROGRESSIVE------------------------------------ PAST PROGRESSIVE
PAST----------------------------------------------------PAST PERFECT

PAST PROGRESSIVE----------------------------------------PAST PROGRESSIVE

PRESENT PERFECT-----------------------------------------PAST PERFECT

PRESENT PERFECT PROGRESSIVE-----------------------------PAST PROGRESSIVE OR PAST PERFECT PROGRESSIVE

PAST PERFECT--------------------------------------------PAST PERFECT



PRESENT
"What do you think?" (permanently)
COMPARE: "What are you thinking?" (at the moment) -

PRESENT OR PAST
She asked how hot the sun is. (general truth)
She asked how hot the weather was. (at the moment)
She asked what I think. (permanently)
She asked what I was/ *am thinking. (at the moment)

may----------------------------might
will---------------------------would
tonight------------------------that night
today--------------------------that day

WORD ORDER CHANGES

EXAMPLE:
What were you doing at the beach?---He asked me what I was doing at the beach.
USE if or whether----YES/NO questions
Didyou enjoy your stay at the hotel?----He asked me if I had enjoyed my stay at the hotel.

reporting verbs

Reporting verbs:

Say
Tell
Ask
Mention
Explain
Point out
Admit
Claim
Agree
Offer
Promise
Threaten
Refuse
Apologize
Advise
Deny
Blame
Warn
Suggest
Insist

letter

sample of formal letter

Mrs Sugar

Department of ancient history
Faculty of humanities

22nd November, 2010

Dear Mrs Sugar,

I am writing to inform you that on January 9th, 2011 your temporary service contract for a PhD studies scholarship in the young research staff program from AGAUR will finish.
We hope that this time has been useful for your professional work as well as for your personal training.

Best regards,

Mr Coffee

Head of academic, investigation and training and research support area

Once your contract has finished, if you are interested in receiving unemployment subsidy, you can get informed at the social security office at the UAB: telephone number: 93 581 10 69. They will give you the certificate with which you can apply to unemployment subsidy at the INEM (unemployment office).

Formal letter

Here is a translation of a typical formal letter around university.

Mrs Sugar

Department of ancient history

Faculty of humanities

22nd November, 2010

Dear Mrs Sugar,

I am writing to inform you that on January 9th, 2011 your temporary service contract for a PhD studies scholarship in the young research staff program from AGAUR will finish.

We hope that this time has been useful for your professional work as well as for your personal training.

Best regards,

Mr Coffee

Head of academic, investigation and training and research support area

Once your contract has finished, if you are interested in receiving unemployment subsidy, you can get informed at the social security office at the UAB: telephone number: 93 581 10 69. They will give you the certificate with which you can apply to unemployment subsidy at the INEM (unemployment office).

vocaroo

If you want to record your own voice and listen to ti, post it on th eblog, send it to a friend....
click here to start

Public presentation talking

My presentation in classe will be about funnies jokes.

Maria Jesús Gutiérrez

Book report

BOOK REPORT

TITLE:

Blood from a Stone

AUTHOR:

Donna Leon

DESCRIBE THE MAIN CHARACTER: WHAT DOES S/ HE LOOK LIKE AND WHAT IS S/ HE LIKE?

Comissario Guido Brunetti. Middle aged, married with two children, trying to be honest in a system which tends to corruption. Violence is not his tool; he isn’t a kind of Dirty Harry.

Supporting characters:

a) At the Police Station: Vianello (the partner –to a certain extent-), Elettra (efficiency is her surname), Patta (Bosses are born to hate, aren’t they?).

b) The Family: Paola (his wife) and Raffi and Chiara, their children.

WHERE DOES THE STORY TAKE PLACE? SETTING, PERIOD OF TIME, ETC.

Nowadays, in Venice (Italy, not the beach in California!). The story starts with the killing of the African “vu comprà” and then…well things get a little bit complicated. What do you expect? it’s a Crime story!.

WHAT IS YOUR OPINION OF THE BOOK? WOULD YOU RECOMMEND IT TO OTHER STUDENTS? WHY OR WHY NOT?

It’s not the first book I’ve read of Donna Leon; but, as far as I can recall it’s the best one I’ve read. As usually, there are two layers: the detective story and Brunetti’s life. And through the last one some reflections not only of Italian society, but also of the European present society as well.

Although Leon is a North American writer or, to be more precise an American born writer, she is more in the tradition of the Southern European writers, such as Camillieri, Markaris or Vázquez Montalbán. So the ingredients are the crime plot, the criticism of the society we’re living in and, the most important thing, some glimpses and tastes about gastronomy.

If you like this sort of literature, just read it!.

*EXCERPTS

- About immigration:

“I thought I told you someone was killed” (Paola –Brunetti’s wife- to his daughter).

“Yes but it was only a vu comprà”. (Chiara – Paola and Brunetti’s daughter). (p. 33)

- Climate change

…”North America. That means the Americans. They’re protected on both sides by enormous bodies of water, and the currents are favourable to them, so while the rest of us are choking on their gases or dying from the heat, they will be able to go the same as ever. “ (Vianello, Brunetti’s police partner), (p100-101)

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Printed by Random House in 2006; 355 pages.

modals

To practice modals click here

modals

Modals

Ability: can, could, able to

I can speak 5 languages

I can run 4 hours

When I was a child I could climb tall trees.

Advice /Recommendation:

Should, could, ought to, you had better

Obligation/prohibition

Must/ mustn’t

Have to/ must

Suggestion:

Don’t have to

Possibility

May, might

Permission

May I speak to Mr Llull, please?

May I go to the

May I help you?

I will talk about "Iceland"
The revolution of Iceland
Nothing in special.
xxx

Oral Presentations

What is the title of your presentation?
Can you write a short summary saying why you chose your topic?
Do you need any special equipment?

El efecto sombra The shadow effect debbie ford

Verbs anglès

Inspirational

"Faith can move mountains, doubts can create them"
Howard Wight

about consuming

Hi,

I agree about your opinions on consuming, but in my concernliving as consumers doesn't only mean to buy much more things we don't really need. The consumer society impel us to construct our identities as a consumers. I consum, therefore I'm. Consuming is the core of our way of living and being.
Just try to imagine how our grandparents lived on. They had or buyed less things, of course, but they didn't think as consumers.
Did you know Zygmunt Bauman? He's a sociologist who has deeply studied the consumer society. I recommend you the book Vida de consum.

see you

Libya: No-Fly Zone

I do not use to send these messages, but I think that sometimes they're really important...you only have to sign in!!


http://avaaz.org/en/libya_no_fly_zone_1/?slideshow

Are we equals?

James Bond supports the Women's day. Take a look at this TV ad on women's situation.

record your voice

vocaroo is a site where you can record your own voice.
click here to try it

Happy women's day

Paying tribute to all the women in the world who have fought for our rights!

Spain reduces speed limit to save energy

click here to watch video

Comprar, tirar, comprar (planned obsolescence)

HOMEWORK: c-test practice

Here's an excellent tool to practice grammar, vocabulary and reading comprehension.

Please, read the instructions carefully (in Spanish or Catalan) and have fun!

click here to start

abreviations

asap = as soon as possible
thx = thanks
CU = see you
re = reference

lol = laughing out loud

24/7 = 24 hours a day, seven days a week

XXX = kisses

Int'l = international
ie = in other words
attn = attention
rgds = regards
pls = please

Irregular verbs

A list of the most frequently used irregular verbs in English.

Click here to view the list

linking words

Here are some connectors that are useful for your letters, e-mails, articles, etc

click here for the linking words and phrases

6 minute English

Listening practice that includes interviews, the script, vocabulary...of many different topics.

To practice click here

LEAFLET TO VISITORS

Write a leaflet to be given to visitors when they arrive at the university. The leaflet should include five important customs or ways of behaving that will be useful to people who are visiting for the first time.








• In Spain, you give two kisses on the cheeks the first time you meet a person and as a way of greeting.
• It’s ok to be loud.
• It is not allowed to smoke in public places.
• Lunch hour in Spain is between 2 – 3PM and dinner is usually around 9PM. They eat big dishes.
• You must take care of your possessions everywhere, especially in the underground or train.
• In Spain young people normally go out around 2AM for a drink or to dance.
• The health care system is public.

Homework

Listen to a piece of news at www.cnn.com and tell the class what story you listened to.

Listening

Click here for listening practice