A young man in his late teens, who is very bold.A man in his fifties, who is very manipulative.The story begins in an aeroplane.A family celebrates a homecoming.It's a story about betrayal.Your character discovers some unpleasant truths

Betrayal

Marco, a teen boy, 18 years old,  was returning home after his language trip to Spain. While flying in the plane, he was very busy thinking. The thing is his father really irritated him by making everyone behave as he wished. If not, the quarrels were inevitable. How to get out of his control? That was only Marco who had already durst to tell him to stop his attempts to be so control-addictive. Besides, today was a day of family reunion, and his tricks would extend on every member of his family.

While coming to his house and imagining his mother’s joy of his returning Marco noticed the well-known man in his fifties with unknown woman in her twenties. His father was kissing this woman with all his passion not suspecting his own son was observing his betrayal. Nevertheless, Marco was releived; maybe his dad was going to move out as life with him was a hell for everybody.

         During the celebration of his homecoming Marco was looking at his father with scornful look as his unloyal parent was showing no sign of shame and remorse. But eventually his patience came to an end and he accused his father of infidelty. Being confirmed manipulator, his father in his turn accused Marco of demanding too much attention. Marco had discovered that he was an egoist who never cared for someone but himself, who detested his father with all his heart (what was true, honestly), but his father provided his ungrateful son with all things necessary. Whose money was paid for his language trip? No one stood up for Marco, intimadated by the father’s rage. So Marco just went to his room cursing his father and thinking about homeescaping

Draft Essay

Home education vs. School Education

          1)Nowadays home education as an alternative to common schoold education is gaining more and more popularity. Both methods of learning process have their advantages and disadvantages concerning such issues as socializing, quality of education and time management.

           2) Advantages of school education: 1)school is a small society where students get their first knowledge how to behave; 2)teachers are eager to helpand improve knowledge; 3) schools have a fixed timetable to make students well-organized

          3) Disadvantages of school education based on three topics mentioned above: 1)peer pressure is very common at schools; 2)some teachers do not perform their duty well because of small salary and immense amount of clerical work; 3) pupils have too much class hours and homeworks   

          4) Adventages of home education based on three topics mentioned above: 1) a child chooses himself who communicate with; 2) learning and teaching face-to-face is more effective; 3) from early ages a child is able to manage his time

          5) Advantages of  school education based on three topics mentioned above: 1) some children get lonely; 2) a child is less controlled; 3) more possibility for playing time and not-doing-anything if a child is not controlled. 

          6) Concerning all cons and pros of both ways of grasping school programme, we can say there is no obvious advantage as all aproaches have their weak and strong sides.

Report on video

The purpose of this report is to outline the main issues that were mentioned by Lewis Lansford during his speech "Anatomy of iceberg: the hidden power of TED talks" who was a participant of annual IATEFL conference aiming at sharing new ideas of teaching English for foreigners. The information below summarizes my impression on his performance.

First of all, I would like to praise the speaker, who was not embarrassed by technical problems and did not lose his face but continued speaking about the topic he prepared. It was clear he is a professional in teaching and his experience is immense, because his examples of how to use TED videos were well-developed and apprehensible for listeners. I am sure his performance would be highly useful for all ESL teachers who are seeking ways of employing this resource during their classes.

For me, this video carries a private interest as I have already pondered over implementing TED videos into my lessons as an additional tool for enhancing listening skills . Therefore, Lansford’s performance has given me food for thoughts about how to do this right as the level of my students are not so high to understand everything. He advised to use some pre-activity based on the content of the video followed to develop critical thinking of the students. For example, to turn on video without the image and make them guess what musical instrument are playing, using grammatical construction appropriate to their level.

At the end of his speech Lansford welcomed all listeners to his course dedicated on how to teach English using TED talks. I guess there more helpful information and more practical piece of advice will be given. His speech was just a tip of the iceberg of the teaching possibilities of TED videos.

I am delighted to inform that I really enjoyed the video and the charisma of speaker itself. One day I think I will take advantage of his course in order to receive deep knowledge on this subject but by this day I  can say I have benefited from his performance fully.

https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/anatomy-iceberg-hidden-power-ted-talks

                   

Reflection Note 

So, another Writing course has passed. It differs from previous one during the first semester firstly because we have been writing our essays working on computer and uploading our works into blogs what was new for us. Secondly, the very process of work is different. In the first year we at first studied some piece of theory and then we wrote essays relaying on some theoretical material. Now, honestly, I have encountered some difficulties because we were said to write a summary or for-and-against essay, for example, but we were not said how to do this. Of course, I can write it not taking into consideration some basic rules concerned structure and organization of my essay. But is it worth writing? I am planning to pass international exams in the future and without appropriate organization I doubt my essays would be applicable. Probably the teacher was thinking we know how to organize the structure of our works but in fact we do not. Besides, I really like the idea of reading our peers’ essays and commenting on them as it turns an official lesson into a friendly activity. In addition, it appeals to me that we discussed some meaningful for the modern reality problems. I would like to go on with them looking for the new themes to discuss into “Guardian” or “NYC Times”. And one more moment that bothers me: I think our essays should be corrected properly. I mean the teacher should not only to comment on our structure, but find some grammar and spelling mistakes and correct them, because the aim of writing essays is to enhance these aspects as well.

With respect,

Polina Shvachko, group 17827

What are Advantages and Disadvantages of the Second Amendment in the USA Constitution?

The constitutional right of American people to freely keep and bear arms is an issue which frequently generate a great deal of heated debate, with supporters maintaining that it is vital to keep USA citizens’ lives safe, whilst opponents claim that it is unjustifiable fact of permissiveness that is unnecessary in modern society.

Firstly, it is said that some kind of a weapon is indispensable in case of out of sudden sexual or bodily attack or pickpocketing A right to defend oneself is an essential part of a democracy which is so appreciated in the USA and its abolition will give rise to riots, demonstrations and promote inner instability. This fact is important to remember especially if we look at the statistic: it says that since the beginning of the century the approval of this right has risen from 29 % to 51% among American citizens. On the other hand, amendment that includes this right was passed in the 18th century when soldiers tended to invade houses of civilians creating difficulties for a peaceful existence. That time it was out of sheer necessity to invent some way to defense oneself. But present-day arm’s availability from time to time results in aggressive and blood-thirsty mass shootings at public places committed by mental-disabled people who, in spite of their disease, are free to buy a weapon, unfortunately. Even teenagers are able to get it. As it is stated in the article by Jamiles Lartney “This year has been by far the worst on record for gun violence in schools, the advocacy group Sandy Hook Promise said, citing research by the US Naval Postgraduate School (NPS). They counted 94 school shooting incidents in 2018, a near 60% increase on the previous high, 59, an unwanted record set in 2006” (1).

Secondly, it is believed that permitted arm’s bearing helps to decline a crime rate as portentous felons are afraid of being suffered themselves. According to different statistics, above 60 % of ones who possess a weapon have bought it for the sake of their own protection. There is even a proverb appeared recently: “The best protection from a bad man with gun is a good man with gun”. Besides, ones who stand for this idea respond to opponents who criticize them for promoting gun abuse with the reasonable words if a delinquent is a decisive one, he will definitely find a way to commit a crime whether using a cold steel or acting with his own hands. So, abolition will not help to improve sad statistics about the number of crimes. However, gun abuse cannot be ignored as it has reached extremes that can no longer be tolerated.  In fact, figures are appalling: 100 Americans are killed and 200 injured by firearms each day. What is more, it is impossible to monitor if a person has bought an arm for his defense or for a public massacre as there are 300 million of guns in legal possession of American people, among them are teenagers and unrecognized lunatics.

All thing considered, it may be concluded that gun control is one of the main USA problems these days which requires a resolution. While, free arm keeping and bearing are still permitted at the State level, the citizens who have suffered from its negative consequences are calling for its immediate abolition. To my mind, gun ban is vitally necessary for American society because it is hard to read without tears these words of one mother whose son has been assassinated: “I want those bastards in Congress … They need to pass gun control so no one else has a child that doesn’t come home,” (2).

(1) Lartey, Jamiles. “2018 Is Worst Year on Record for Gun Violence in Schools, Data Shows.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 9 Dec. 2018, www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/dec/09/sandy-hook-promise-gun-violence-school-shooting-report-2018.

(2) Davis, Charles. “'Those Bastards Need to Pass Gun Control': Families of California Shooting Victims Speak Out.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 9 Nov. 2018, www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/nov/09/california-thousand-oaks-shooting-victims-las-vegas.

What Are Advantages and Disadvantages 

of Ever-increasing Use of Technology

Half of the century ago no one would imagine how technically advanced our world be. But now, as we live in the century of full dominance of technology, it influences us in almost all spheres of life. It goes without saying, this dominance has a beneficial effect on human beings’ lives as well as it inevitably produces some negative impact on all of us.

With the development of technology people get used to notice firstly its positive sides. Firstly, it has helped to get in touch millions of people around the world: lost friendship could now be restored, distant relatives are capable of finding out about the existence of each other. Many parents do not worry about their children, leaving them at school as they are always in touch via their mobile phones. Besides, technologies have made our life so easier. Nowadays it is hard to find a person who does his laundry with his own hands; it is rather inconvenient and takes a lot of time. Instead it is hard to find a person who does not possess a washing machine at home. The conveniences used inside a house are innumerable: vacuum cleaners, dishwashers, microwaves and many others.  They have come so deeply into our lives that the modern children and teenagers feel lost, not realizing clearly enough how to manage the household chores without them. The last but not the least, the technologies have brought the most important invention, the Internet, into life. The Internet has become nowadays the most important source of a variety of information. Moreover, it enables students to increase their knowledge and develop their research skills. In short, it is difficult to make up something the Internet cannot be applied for.

Unfortunately, abuse of using technology is one of the modern sins which leads to unhappy consequences. First of all, some new inventions could jeopardize the life of their inventors and people around them. With the invention of atom bomb the humanity is on verge of starting the new war with no survivors at all. Therefore, I think, the main problem today is how to prevent this from happening as long as we can.  Secondly, a man has lost its mind; there is no need to think himself as the calculator can work out necessary figures and the Internet can find every required pieces of information. Finally, there is a danger for human being to lose their job as more and more works today are done by machines; they do not need to sleep and do not ask for salary, do they? As it is said in the article by Bernick, Michael “today, not a week goes by without a new study being released or conference convened on robots replacing jobs or a newspaper account of a new use of robots taking the place of workers” (1).
As for me, I am not able to imagine my life without technologies and I  am not definetely eager to reject using them while in my life their advantages overweight disadvantages. But to my mind the world has gone mad with invention of atom bomb and all-mighty artificial intellect as these changes put the existence of humanity to danger.

To make a long story short, I would like to say that the technologies has irreversibly changed our lives, but it is up to the future generation to decide whether these changes are for the better or for the worse.
(1) “After Robots Take Over Our Jobs, Then What?” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 11 Apr. 2017, www.forbes.com/sites/michaelbernick/2017/04/11/after-robots-take-over-our-jobs-then-what/ 

Here are my corrections
Ex 11. We must either raise revenues or reduce expenses
2. Stoics deny the importance of such things as wealth, good looks, and a good reputation.
3. In his farewell address to the army, the general praised his soldiers for their unsurpassed courage and thanked them for their devotion.
4. The crowd that had gathered outside the court was loud and angry.
5. The police have a duty to serve the community, safeguard lives and property, protect the innocent against deception, and respect the constitutional rights of all.
6. Sir Humphry Davy, the celebrated English chemist, was an excellent literary critic as well as a great scientist.
7. The Johnsons were cheerful, knowledgeable, and generous traveling companions.
8. The delegates spent the day arguing with one another rather than working together to find common solutions.
9. My sister's promotion means that she will be moving to another state and taking the children with her.
10. A company is not only responsible to its shareholders but also its customers and employees as well.
11. Examples of aerobic exercises are distance running, swimming, cycling, and walking for a long distance.
12. Consuming too much of a fat-soluble vitamin can be as harmful as not consuming enough.
13. The gyrocompass not only points to true north at all times, but is unaffected by external magnetic fields.
14. Everything that could make a sound was either removed or taped down.
15. If you hire a contractor to make home improvements, follow these recommendations:
• Find out if the contractor belongs to a trade association.
• Obtain estimates in writing.
• Ask for references.
• Make sure that the contractor is insured.
• Avoid contractors who ask for cash to dodge paying taxes.
16. The new instructor was both enthusiastic and demanding.
17. Annie's dress was old, faded, and wrinkled.
18. By the time she was two, the child was not only active but also well coordinated.
19. It is a truism that giving is more rewarding than getting.
20. A battery powered by aluminum is simple to design, clean to run, and inexpensive to produce.
Everything is done correctly

Ex 2. Everything is correct as well