THE SKY WHERE THE STARS DON'T FLICKER

This science article it's called ''The sky where the stars don't flicker'' and this scientists explain us why is this phenomenon possible.

To see this amazing and particular sky you'll have to travel all the way to South America, in a region called Paranal in the Atacama desert, best known to be the most arid location in the world. Because of the lack of rain and humidity, there aren't many things separiting our sight from the stars and that's how we can see a lot of them and perfectly shining. 

This fact has brought many astronomers to this place and they have establish their centrals there for studying the universe from the most arid location in the Earth. Also, It's becoming quite a touristic place because of its amazing views of the sky. 

Personally, I think that is very interesting and useful to be able to do work from this place because it seems that It shows us a view of the universe that we hadn't seen until now. Scientists and astronomers can have a better look at the sky and hopefully find something beneficial and worthing to us. 

TRANSLATED MOVIE TITLES

Have you ever wondered why movies change their title completly when they've been translated? In this article you have the explanation with some spanish and french movies.

One of the reasons of the translation is due to cultural factors, beacuse this way the title attracks more attention from the public in that specific country. 

Another typical change made in this cases is to replace the general concept of the title in Englsih to something more concrete and specific in Spanish, for example ''The notebook'' / ''El Diario de Noa''.  Also, in the famous movie called ''Jaws'' in English and '' Tiburón'' in Spanish, they followed the same pattern but instead, the general title was in Spanish and the specific one was in English.

From this article, we can easily see that this replacement is the most popular in this kind of translations and It's the most used in our country. I think that it is a good thing to be done, because, as the author explains in the article, it's a better way to approach the public into the movie.

.

USA PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

For almost a year, the presidential election in the US has caught all the media atention, especially due the republican candidate, Donald Trump. 

The two final candidates were Hillary Clinton, from the democratic party, and Donald Trump, from the republican party. Both candidates were criticize for one thing or another and were named the most unpopular candidates of the US history. 

Donald Trump was the one who caused more controversy because he is known in the US as a reality show star who had never been involved in politics, that's why many people were upset and surprised of his election. Also, he stated very racists speeches against black and latin people, women and homosexuals, and somehow a big part of the Americans supported him. 

Hillary Clinton, also caused polemic because a lot of people said that she should to be in jail, not in the White House. She defended the rights of women, black and latin people, homosexuals... That's why she got supported so much and was seen as the best choice to be president. 

But the results went against everyone's expectation and Donald Trump won the elections. This result made a lot people upset and a lot of protests are being held now against the election of the new president. 

SUPERMOON

This year, 2016, in October, November and December all the full moons will be in its closest point to the Earth, giving them the name of Supermoon. 
On november 14th we would be able to watch the next Supermoon, but unfortunately in our country it will be daytime when the moon will reach its full phase, so we won't be able to appreciate it very well. Apart for being the brightest and closest supermoon of 2016, It's also the largest since 1948. Also we can consider ourselves lucky, because it won't be till 2034 when the moon will be this close to our planet.

I think that It's a very interesting thing and that we are very unlucky to see this great phenomen at daytime, but we're also lucky to see it. A lot of people are very excited because, as you may know, the moon is consider as a very powerful symbol and is associated to many things like the powers of the sea or fertility. 

FASHION

Nowadays, fashion is a very important thing in  our society and influences a lot. But its influence it's not always a good thing.

Personally, I think that fashion  helps us to express ourselves in the way that we dress and defines who we want to show to the world. Also, shops only sell specific clothes and that defines a prototype that we should  wear this and if you don't, people will look bad at you. That's the main reason why some people critizies fashion so much. 

I also think that If we all wore what is fashionable at the moment, we would wear very similar clothes and we'll look like we have zero personality. Fashion is meant to be something that helps you define who you are through clothes, not to follow some rules that say what is cool and what isn't. 

Finally, I just want to say that I think that we shouldn't wear something that we don't like just because It's popular and cool. We have to be comfortable with our clothes and don't be ashamed of them just because it's not fashionable.

DOES HUMOUR PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN LIFE?

It is clear that everyone has laughed at some point of their life, but can you imagine a life without humour?

In my opinion, humour does play an important role in our lives, in fact, I think It's essential for us and It's also proved by scientists that laughter improves our health, making us feel less stressed, in a good mood and relaxed.

Many people find laughing a hard thing to do, however It's so easy to have a funny time, for example watching funny films, telling jokes and even do silly things with your friends.

I also believe that It helps you to be more comfortable around new people because If you meet someone who's cheerful and funny you'd feel more welcomed than with someone who's serious and in a bad mood. 

To sum up, I think that we all have to be thankful that we have humour in our life because otherwise we will be almost like robots, boring and without feelings.

My Goals

Dear Lourdes,

I'm Paula Valenzuela Turró and I'm seventeen years old. I live in Castelló D'Empúries with my family and I play basketball in the village team. I like playing all kind of sports, reading and hang out with my friends.

When I finish high school, I want to study English Studies in the University of Barcelona, but I'm also interested in the career of Tourism. Also, I would love to spend a year or so in another country and study there for a while. I think that it's a great opportunity to be independent and learn new languages and experiences.

And with that said,

Regards.

Paula Valenzuela Turró

You say

I'm going to try to explain a few things about our society.

In the last decade, with the advanced technology and social media, everyone knows what you're doing. We post photos of our friends, family, pets... Also we follow our favorite celebrities and we try to be like them. 

All of this could be really cool and stuff but sometimes turns out to be pretty annoying and even dangerous sometimes. We don't realize that EVERYONE can see what we're posting. It destroys step by step our personallity because we always want to be like him/her because he/she is cool, popular, etc. Also we care too much about how people will react when they see us or our photos and even where you are and with who. 

Personally I think we're becoming dolls of the society. Everytime someone wears something that's ''not cool'', listens to different music or even looks different physically, we end up making fun of that someone and don't even think about the possibility of that someone being friend with you. That's really sad and childish. 

It looks like we're afraid of the unknown and we only care of how popular we are. And that's the actual true.

News

As every 12th of October Spain celebrates its national party but not everyone is happy about to celebrate it. In this article the author explains us why and how people who disagree whit this celebration reacts.

This festivity it's given at the end of the conquist of America, where the spanish language and culture was extended across the new found continent. That's the main problem that makes people dislike the 12th of October celebration. They think that we shouldn't be celebrating such a violent thing that had happened and that instead, we should feel ashamed and empathize with how the native american felt.

Another fact that gives so much hate to this party is the people who wants the independence for Catalonia. The independentists say that, as they don't feel spanish, there's nothing to celebrate and that they'll go to work anyway. 

I particulary don't have anything against this celebration but I agree with it being the celebration of something violent. But look at the catalan national party, every 11th of September we celebrate a defeat, so I guess every culture and country has its meanings for these festivties.

THE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS

Four years ago I started reading a book series called The Mortal Instruments. I was really excited when I was reading the first book because it shows you a completely different world that you can barely imagine, a world full of demons disguised as random citizens. 
The books follows the life of a teenager called Clary Fray who, while partying in New York, meets a group of pretty weird ''people''. Since there Clary's life changes completely and she's accidentally  thrown to a secret world where she seems to be the key of everything. (I finish the plot here because I don't want to do any spoilers to anyone).

When I ended the first book I knew that there was a movie of it already. I was really excited for it but I ended up really disappointed and I didn't even finished it because the characters weren't at all like the book ones and the movie in general was too short and simple for the many things that happened in the first book. 

But last year It was released a TV Show about The Mortal Instruments. At first I didn't get too excited because of the way the movie was made but I thought that maybe with a TV show they could have more time to explain the story with every detail. So I get excited again and for the trailers that I saw It was going to be way better than the movie. And they did it, It really shows you the story very well and At least the characters look like the originals and didn't change any hair colour or anything, like in the movie, because If you've read the books It's really disappointing when something so good becames really bad. 

Why 30 is not the new 20

Meg Jay is a psychologist who gave a talk about how wrong are people about the concept that the 30s are the new 20s. 

In this talk, she talks about things like work, studies and marriage, things that usually people used to do when the were in their 20s. But nowadays the thought we have about the 20s decade is seen as an irrelevant period of your life when you can be independent and don't worry about important stuff. 

That's why Meg Jay tries to explain that they're wrong about this, because it's in these years that we became the person we will be as an adult and decide how our future is going to be. Also, she says that It's much better make these decisions as earlier as possible because if you don't, you'll see everybody else settled and you'd want all the things that they've achieved but maybe you won't have time.

Personally, I agree with most of the things that she said, but Meg seems to make us believe that we only have to organize our future and make these importants decisions, when I think that It's not all about that because we're still young and we have to enjoy life and have fun.

REVIEW OF A MOVIE: The Jungle Book

THE JUNGLE BOOK

Mowgli is a boy who’s been raised by a family of wolves. He grew up between them and he even tried to act like a wolf but it didn't work because Mowgli finds himself no longer welcome in the jungle. That's when Shere Khan, the big scary tiger, promises to eliminate everyone and everything if the little boy stays in the jungle. He suddenly has the urge to abandon the only home he’s ever known and have to return where he really belongs to protect their wolf family and the jungle. In his journey there, he met a bear called Baloo who easily got along with the boy. But during the way, Mowgli encounters with jungle creatures who don’t exactly have his best interests, like Kaa, a python whose seductive voice and gaze hypnotizes the boy and the great King Louie, who tries to convince Mowgli to tell him the secret to create the elusive and deadly red flower: fire. 

First of all, I decided to do a review of this movie because I thought that I'd be cool to compare the first movie with this remake. Personally I think that this movie is really good and the story is more ''mature'' than the old one. 

I really like it because the story gets more emotional and it also gaves you melancholical moments, like when Mowgli and Baloo sing their famous song. The Jungle Book was one of my favorites movies when I was little and I've watched a thousands times that's because I was very excited that it was going to be a remake of that movie and it didn't disppointed me at all. 

NEWS

FLIGHT MS804

This new is about the first look at the recovered wreckage of the Egyptian Airlines flight MS804 which crashed into the Mediterranean. The accident, been one or not, had 66 victims, all the people on board. Clothes, seat belts, even bags have been found in the search area in the north of Egypt along with what we’re told have been body parts salvaged by the Navy. 

Ships and aircraft from multiple countries continue to search the area looking for the plane's black box system, which could uncover what happened to the flight.

The last details received from the plane suggested smoke in the toilets and the electrical systems, but the cause of it is yet unknown and no terror group seems to be involved.

I think that all the world is getting really obsessed with the terrorism, which is a really good thing because we need to be aware of that, but nowadays most of the people don't even consider the possibilty of being it an accident and I think that we should also keep this thought in mind.

REVIEW OF A BOOK: The First Cut

THE FIRST CUT

The book starts with the murder of Grace and quickly flips to present day. Nicky was Grace's best friend and Greg was Grace's husband, but now Nicky and Greg are married and things are far from perfect. He is always away for work, they aren't talking too much and things are just weird. 

With that Nicky's encounter with Adam a young, fun and very flirty boy. Soon the fun turns to danger and Nicky finds herself caught up in murder, lies, deceit and a secret that will change everything.

When I started reading the first few pages I was really drawn in until she meets Adam. Then things change dramatically and I was having to re read parts in case I missed something as it didn't seem to make sense. I think that a few times, in parts where characters would say something and I had to go back in case I was missing the link but I really like that plot twist and enjoyed the book so much.

ORAL PRESENTATION: A Gap Year in South Africa

A GAP YEAR IN SOUTH AFRICA

In this trimester we had to do a presentation in groups about a gap year. We did it about South Africa and we discover a lot of this about this country, mostly because the south african culture is very different from ours.

I enjoyed doing the presentation because we had to act while we were doing it and I think that It was really funny and It was more easy to pay attention to. In general I think we did it good and as we did organised. 

Personally, I was really nervous, as usual, but that day I was even more preoccupied and the words didn't came out properly. I was also shaking a lot and feeling uncomfortable that's why I didn't mentioned some things. But my friends told me that I did it good and I felt more relieved.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNTgDNHAWMY

LA VITA È BELLA

La vita è bella is a movie about a love story in the nazi time. The film shows the horrors in a Nazi concentration camp.

The movie takes place in 1939 in Italy. Guido Orefice, a comical and sharp man, is leaving his old life and going to the city. From the start he falls in love with Dora who he sees later in the city where she works as a teacher. Finally Dora sees Guido's affection and they get are married and have a son, Giosué. But one day the nazi army caught them and put them in a concentration camp.
In the camp, Guido hides their true situation from his son.He sets up the concentration camp as a game for Giosué: each of the tasks will earn them points and whoever gets to one thousand points first will win a tank. Guido uses this game to explain features of the concentration camp that would otherwise be scary for a young child.
Days have past and a really bad new achieves: an officer makes the decision to execute Guido. Guido is led off by the soldier to be executed and while the soldier is leading him to his death, Guido passes by Giosué one last time, still in the character and playing the game. 

The next morning, Giosué emerges from the sweatbox as the camp is occupied by an American armored division. The young boy thinks he has won the game and has won a tank. The prisoners travel to a safety place, accompanied by the Americans. While they are traveling, the soldiers allow Giosué to ride on the front of the tank with them. Giosué soon spots his mum, Dora,  in the procession leaving the camp. Giosué and Dora are reunited and are extremely happy to see each other.

I think that is a very hard story because, given the circumstances, is very difficult to keep the happiness and give love but the family that the film show us, get it. I admire the strength that Guido has and the fight for keeping the family united. It is a difficult love but not by the persons, but by the circumstances that they went throw. Guido and Dora have a true love and they fight for keep it alive.
That's why this film is very beautiful and I recommend it to everyone.

IS THE VIRUS ZIKA THE ONLY THREAT?

In this article, Professor Jeffrey R. Powell told us the truth about the mosquito that transmits the virus zika and many others.

Lately we have been talking a lot about the zika mosquito due to the large number of cases that have happened, mainly in South America. Professor Powell thinks that we could have exaggerated the threat of this virus, as there are some reasons to prove it. What he is trying to explain with this article is that we need to realize that there are other kinds of mosquitos that can be even more dangerous than the only one that we're focusing all the atention.

I think that Professor Powell has a point, because we can not refuse to admit that there are other kinds of species that are dangerous for us. That happens because we only know what the news told us or what they want us to know.

DRESSED STATUES

This article, which was published on February 7 of 2016, Mario Vargas Llosa gives his opinion about the recent visit of the Iranian President to Italy and the consequences of this fact.

The author begins by explaining how the Italian Government has responded to the arrival of the president of Iran. His visit has made Capi statues of the country were '' dressed '' completely covered to avoid seeing their naked bodies and not embarrass the Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani. They have also exercised some other actions such as changing armchairs site to prevent the sight of a naked statue or not serve any alcoholic beverage.

Personally I don't think it's fair to hide a culture by simply receiving someone who doesn't belong to that same culture because the president of Iran would not probably put naked statues for someone from the Western culture.

PHRASAL VERBS

The other day one of my friends told me a story about his childhood. He often got into trouble as him and their friends made up stories that them acted out around town but he remembers one adventure in particular. One day as they were coming back from school, they came up with the brilliant idea to make out that they were pirates looking for a treasure. One of his friends said that he made out an enemy ship in the distance. They all ran for cover and picked up a number of rocks to use for ammunition against the ship as they got ready to put together their plan of action. When they were ready to set off on their attack, they slowly went along the path until they were face to face with their enemy: the postman's truck! 

The postman was dropping off a package at Mrs. Brown's house, so they got into his truck. At that point, they didn't have any idea about what they were going to do next. The radio was playing so they turned down the volume to discuss what they would do next. Jack, on of them, was all for switching on the motor and getting away with the stolen mail! Of course, they were just children, but the idea of actually making off with a truck was too much for us to believe. They all broke out in nervous laughter at the thought of them driving down the road in this stolen Postal Truck. Luckily for them, the postman came running towards them shouting, "What are you kids up to?!". Of course, they all got out of that truck as quickly as they could and took off down the road.

DESCRIPTION OF A PERSON

Her name is Nerea and she's one of my best friends. She's sixteen years old and she's studying 1st batxillerat. 

About her appearence, Nerea has a slim body and is not too short or too tall. She has curly brown hair and dark brown eyes. She also has thin eyebrows and long eyelashes.

Nerea and I have quiet the same personallity and agree in a lot of things, that's probably why we love spending time with each other. She's very sweet and kind, but she also shows her character when she has too. 
Nerea is a really artistic person, she plays the guitar and has an incredible voice. I really enjoy listening to her, it makes me feel really proud of her. Also she does really good advices when you have a problem and usually talking to her makes you feel better. But, of course, she's not perfect and that is what we have in common. Nerea and I are really lazy because it takes too long before we get ready to going somewhere or even focus on our studies. 

A LETTER TO SANTA

Dear Santa;

This year I don't want anything in particular and I just want a better world because after all the bad things that happened we nedd and deserve peace.

Also I just want to have a good year and being surronded by my friends and family.

LA VITTA È BELLA

La vitta è bella is a movie about a love story in the nazi time. The film shows the horrors in a Nazi concentration camp.

The movie takes place in 1939 in Italy. Guido Orefice, a comical and sharp man, is leaving his old life and going to the city. From the start he falls in love with Dora who he sees later in the city where she works as a teacher. Finally Dora sees Guido's affection and they get are married and have a son, Giosué. But one day the nazi army caught them and put them in a concentration camp.
In the camp, Guido hides their true situation from his son.He sets up the concentration camp as a game for Giosué: each of the tasks will earn them points and whoever gets to one thousand points first will win a tank. Guido uses this game to explain features of the concentration camp that would otherwise be scary for a young child.
Days have past and a really bad new achieves: an officer makes the decision to execute Guido. Guido is led off by the soldier to be executed and while the soldier is leading him to his death, Guido passes by Giosué one last time, still in the character and playing the game. 

The next morning, Giosué emerges from the sweatbox as the camp is occupied by an American armored division. The young boy thinks he has won the game and has won a tank. The prisoners travel to a safety place, accompanied by the Americans. While they are traveling, the soldiers allow Giosué to ride on the front of the tank with them. Giosué soon spots his mum, Dora,  in the procession leaving the camp. Giosué and Dora are reunited and are extremely happy to see each other.

I think that is a very hard story because, given the circumstances, is very difficult to keep the happiness and give love but the family that the film show us, get it. I admire the strength that Guido has and the fight for keeping the family united. It is a difficult love but not by the persons, but by the circumstances that they went throw. Guido and Dora have a true love and they fight for keep it alive.
That's why this film is very beautiful and I recommend it to everyone.

THE VIRUS ZIKA IS THE ONLY THREAT?

In this article, Professor Jeffrey R. Powell told us the truth about the mosquito that transmits the virus zika and many others.

Lately we have been talking a lot about the zika mosquito due to the large number of cases that have happened, mainly in South America. Professor Powell thinks that we could have exaggerated the threat of this virus, as there are some reasons to prove it. What he is trying to explain with this article is that we need to realize that there are other kinds of mosquitos that can be even more dangerous than the only one that we're focusing all the atention.

I think that Professor Powell has a point, because we can not refuse to admit that there are other kinds of species that are dangerous for us. That happens because we only know what the news told us or what they want us to know.

DRESSED STATUES

This article, which was published on February 7 of 2016, Mario Vargas Llosa gives his opinion about the recent visit of the Iranian President to Italy and the consequences of this fact.
The author begins by explaining how the Italian Government has responded to the arrival of the president of Iran. His visit has made Capi statues of the country were '' dressed '' completely covered to avoid seeing their naked bodies and not embarrass the Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani. They have also exercised some other actions such as changing armchairs site to prevent the sight of a naked statue or not serve any alcoholic beverage.

Personally I don't think it's fair to hide a culture by simply receiving someone who doesn't belong to that same culture because the president of Iran would not probably put naked statues for someone from the Western culture.

PHRASAL VERBS

The other day one of my friends told me a story about his childhood. He often got into trouble as him and their friends made up stories that them acted out around town but he remembers one adventure in particular. One day as they were coming back from school, they came up with the brilliant idea to make out that they were pirates looking for a treasure. One of his friends said that he made out an enemy ship in the distance. They all ran for cover and picked up a number of rocks to use for ammunition against the ship as they got ready to put together their plan of action. When they were ready to set off on their attack, they slowly went along the path until they were face to face with their enemy: the postman's truck! 

The postman was dropping off a package at Mrs. Brown's house, so they got into his truck. At that point, they didn't have any idea about what they were going to do next. The radio was playing so they turned down the volume to discuss what they would do next. Jack, on of them, was all for switching on the motor and getting away with the stolen mail! Of course, they were just children, but the idea of actually making off with a truck was too much for us to believe. They all broke out in nervous laughter at the thought of them driving down the road in this stolen Postal Truck. Luckily for them, the postman came running towards them shouting, "What are you kids up to?!". Of course, they all got out of that truck as quickly as they could and took off down the road.

DESCRIPTION OF A PERSON

Her name is Nerea and she's one of my best friends. She's sixteen years old and she's studying 1st batxillerat. 

About her appearence, Nerea has a slim body and is not too short or too tall. She has curly brown hair and dark brown eyes. She also has thin eyebrows and long eyelashes.

Nerea and I have quiet the same personallity and agree in a lot of things, that's probably why we love spending time with each other. She's very sweet and kind, but she also shows her character when she has too. Nerea is a really artistic person, she plays the guitar and has an incredible voice. I really enjoy listening to her, it makes me feel really proud of her. Also she does really good advices when you have a problem and usually talking to her makes you feel better. But, of course, she's not perfect and that is what we have in common. Nerea and I are really lazy because it takes too long before we get ready to going somewhere or even focus on our studies. 

A LETTER TO SANTA

Dear Santa;
This year I don't want anything in particular and I just want a better world because after all the bad things that happened we nedd and deserve peace.
Also I just want to have a good year and being surronded by my friends and family.