UNIT 6: Disasters and Emergencies.

UNIT 6:

The unit 6 was about disasters and emergencies. This unit showed some important aspects like indirect speech, how to prepare us for an emergency, and describe natural disasters.
First, I learned about indirect speech. Indirect speech is often also called reported speech. When I use reported speech, I am usually talking about the past because obviously the person who spoke originally spoke in the past. The verbs therefore usually have to be in the past too. Say and tell have similar meanings. They both mean to communicate verbally with someone. But I often use them differently. The simple way to think of say and tell is when you say something, or when you tell someone something.

Second, I read about how to prepare us for an emergency. I explained to my classmates some things that we should have into the first aid kit and into the go-bag. The first aid kid must contain latex gloves, sterile dressings, antibiotics, adhesive bandages, eye wash solution, scissors, medicines, and alcohol. Also, the go-bag must contain flashlight, radio-battery, batteries, dust mask, pocket knife, a change of clothes, local map, canned food, water, blanket or sleeping bag, identification cards, toothbrush, and toothpaste.

Finally, I saw and described about natural disasters. I exposed an important topic like earthquakes. An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. Also, the magnitude is measured on the Richter scale, ranging from 1 to 10. Additionally, a severe earthquake that is located far from population centers does not cause the same damage as a less severe one that occurs in the middle of a city. Consequently, the objective of earthquake engineering is to reduce the impact of earthquakes on buildings and other structures and to design such structures to minimize the risk of damage.

In conclusion, in the unit 6 I learned an important topic that explained about disasters and emergencies. I will apply it in my life when a severe disaster occurs in the country. I am sure I will be preparing for an emergency.


BIBLIOGRAPHY:
http://valenciaenglish.netfirms.com/reported.htm
http://www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/cw-say-tell.htm

UNIT 5: Holidays and Traditions.

UNIT 5:
The unit 5 contains an important subject like holidays and traditions, I learned about customs of another cultures, describe a holiday or celebration, adjective clauses with subject and object relative pronouns, and explain wedding traditions.
The first topic was, customs of another cultures, when my classmates spoke about Thanksgiving that is celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November, people spend time with their families, and also they eat turkey, corn and pumpkin pie. Another group of students spoke about Carnival in Brazil, this celebration began in 1731 and the parade is realized on the “Sambodromo” when women wear extremely small clothes. The next group exposed about Mariachi, it was born in Jalisco, Mexico, the Mariachi band play a lot of instruments, and wear big hats, bots, or sandals. My group spoke about Chinese New Year, this celebration starts with the New Moon on the first day and ends on the Full Moon fifteen days later, and it falls on a different date each year.
The second topic was, describe a holiday or celebration, in this topic all of my partners and I work in a project in the wiki page, my group wrote about The Day of the Amazon Region, that is celebrated to commemorate the discovery of the Amazon River, when people celebrate with traditional dances, different kinds of exotic food, and typical beverages.
The third topic was, adjective clauses with subject and object relative pronouns, in this grammar I learned the adjective clauses are also called relative clauses, if the relative pronoun is followed by a verb, then it is likely that the relative pronoun is the subject of the clause. It cannot be deleted, but if the relative pronoun is followed by a subject noun or pronoun, then that or who must be the object and it can be deleted.
The last topic in this unit was, explain wedding traditions, my partners exposed some important wedding customs of Ecuador, for example we usually have 2 weddings, the civil one that is in front of a judge and the church one that is in front of a priest, in the reception the newlyweds began with the first dance that is the waltz, after that, the couple chose men that obtained a garter from the groom, whom had removed it from the bride, and they put them on women’s legs, also they cut the cake together, and after that the bride threw her bouquet because the woman who catches the bouquet is believed to be the next to get married.
Finally, what I’ve learned in unit 5 contain an important subject that explains about holidays and traditions in different parts of the world. I’m going to apply it in my life when I’ll become a tour guide, or when I’ll travel to the USA.

Isabel

Fotos Isabel Rodríguez