How to get rid of unwanted presents

Something I really detest about this season is going shopping for presents. I find that task quite tiresome and sometimes really disappointing. I seldom know what to get for my beloved ones, and when I finally have a clear idea  what they might like I hate rushing around the ovecrowded shops. It’s such a waste of energy…and money, of course.

The funny thing is that I’ve always liked to receive an “unexpected” present, even though it may be an unwanted one. It’s just that feeling of expectation when I’m unwrapping the gift in my hand what causes me satisfaction, however ephemeral the sensation.

The video below provides  funny useful tips for that unwanted gift everybody has received at least once.

more about “How To Get Rid Of Unwanted Presents “, posted with vodpod

Angie

I’ve never been much interested in The Rolling Stones, but I’ve always loved this song. It brings me memories of my old friends and our times at high school. I still keep the single record that a good friend  gave me as a present, although my old record player has been dead for quite a long time now.

“Angie” was a rare ballad for the rock band, since most of their material at the time was hard and aggressive. It was part of their album Goats Head Soup (1973) and, despite being so quiet and lacking excitement, it hit the top of the charts in US and UK.

Since the song was first recorded by Their Satanic Majesties there have been several cover versions by very different artists.  However,  none of them have caused as much “noise” as when  the German party CDU used the song for its election campaign for Angela Merkel in 2005, although The Rolling Stones denied giving permission to use the song.

A more in-depth listening of the song can help you to see why it was said that some of the lines included in the song’s lyrics were rather unsuitable for a political campaign theme tune.

CLICK HERE

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus

More than a 100 years have passed since a journalist wrote this answer to a confused and worried child who had sent a letter asking his newspaper: “Is there a Santa Claus?”

You can read that editorial where he tried to answer that simple but delicate question in our EOI Avilés Library blog

Christmas homework, 2ºI – NI

As I told you in class, you can send me your answers to one or more of the questions about the short story you read  last week: The Nature of Truth (taken from The Way Home, by Sue Leather).

1. Who was Annie Sanderson and why was she at Rome’s Termini Station?
2. Although Annie Sanderson and Jane Thompson had been friends at university, now they were two very different women. Describe and compare both their appearance and personality.
3. Annie and Jane had also led very different lives. Explain.
4. Jane told Annie about her first marriage. Why had she left her husband James?
5. Why did Annie feel so relieved to see Jane leave?
6. What did Jane mean by: ‘I know where you live’?
7. Why do you think the author of this story chose that title?

Remember you’ll comment individually and/or in small groups your ideas on the first day after the Christmas holiday, that’s on January 8th.

Compulsory reading, 2ºI-NI

Below you can see the front cover of next term’s compulsory book: In the Shadow of the Mountain, by Helen Naylor, Cambridge English Readers, Level 5.

Award-winning original fiction for learners of English. A tragic love story is uncovered as journalist Clare Crowe goes to Switzerland to bring home a relative’s body. Clare’s grandfather has been found frozen in a glacier, 74 years after a climbing accident. Clare knows this could make an interesting story for her newspaper, but as she investigates her grandfather’s last climb, she learns that the accident wasn’t as simple as she had first thought.

Compulsory reading, 1ºE, 1ºI, 1ºL -NI

This the front cover of the book you’ll have to read during the rest of the year The Sugar Glider, by Rob Neilsen, Cambridge English Readers, level 5.

I mentioned in class that the title of the book was the name of the plane you can see in the picture, and that the aircraft was named like that after a quite peculiar animal. Andrés Moreno, 1ºL-NI, has sent us this interesting, clear and visually attractive document with information about the animal. Read it and you will understand why that plane is called The Sugar Glider.

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You have already read the Prologue and Chapter 1 in class, and you have done some written and oral exercises on this. After reading the beginning of this story, how do you think it will continue? what do you think it will happen? what will  the end be like? You can write a comment here or send your answer by email.

After you have read the book you can do the activities suggested in our “brand-new”  EOI Library blog About reading, a reading corner for English learners.

Pestiños recipe, by Rocío Álvarez 2ºI-NI

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Typical Spanish omelet, by Diego Iglesias 2ºI-NI

Ingredients
1.One bottle of oil
2.Four or five potatoes. You have to peel and cut them. There are different ways to cut them. I prefer to cut them small
3.Also you can add sliced onion and pepper
4.And finally, four or five eggs

Process
You have to heat the oil. When it’s hot, add the potatoes and the onion. Don’t cook it very fast. The more slowly you do it, the better it will taste. Be careful, you shouldn’t fry the potatoes.
When they are tender, you have to put them in a bowl with the beaten eggs and mix it all.
Then, you have to heat a little oil in a large skillet, and when it starts to be hot, add the mixture. This is important; you have to move the skillet to prevent sticking.
Here is the important and typical step. When potatoes start to brown, with caution, you have to put a plate on the skillet and turn it around. When you do it, you have the omelet in the plate, with the brown side up. Now, you have to fry the other part.

When it is done, you can eat it.

My team, by Jose Ignacio García 1ºI-NI

Hello everybody,

My name is Nacho. I’m 29 and I’m working in a steel company, in the purchasing department. I´m living in Aviles, but I grew up in Pillarno, a village near Aviles. I have lived in Aviles since February, when I moved to a flat with my girlfriend.
What I really like most is playing football. I had never played in a serious team, only with friends. That was in this way until last year, when I joined Pillarno Football Team.
C.D. Pillarno, was founded in 1979 and disappeared in 1990. But two years ago, some friends decided to re-found the team, and they called me to play in the team.
Nowadays, I’m very happy to play in it. I recognise that going to play 100km away from your home is very hard , but to play and train with all my team-mates is something amazing.
I really think that playing in a team is a fantastic experience for everyone. You can make a lot of friends, learn to work in a team, and do the best for the group and not only for yourself. Playing in Pillarno is great.
This year we lost our first nine matches (yes, it is difficult to do it worse), but we won the last three (this is difficult too).We are in the 16th position of 18 teams. At the end of the year, we hope to be in about the 6th position.
If I were you, I’d become a fan of C.D.Pillarno. We need your breath.
I include a link to our web site: http://deportivopillarno.com

Best regards.

My region, by Araceli Menor 2ºI-NI

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