WEEK 10 - UNDER THE WEATHER WITH THE WEATHER

Tropical Storm Fakir turns deadly after unleashing destructive winds, mudslides on La Reunion

Tropical Storm Fakir has caused at least two deaths after it unleashed a direct hit on La Reunion on Tuesday.

The island nation of Mauritius also took a direct hit, but there have been no reports of fatalities at this time.

A tropical low northeast of Madagascar quickly intensified into Tropical Storm Fakir late on Monday. Traveling through a zone of favorable conditions, the storm spiked to a severe tropical cyclone before hitting La Reunion head on.

Wind gusts of 112 km/h (70 mph) were reported in Saint Pierre, on the southern end of La Reunion Island on Tuesday morning. These wind speeds are equivalent to that of a Category 1 hurricane in the Atlantic or East Pacific Ocean basins.

These powerful winds toppled trees and power lines and caused low visibility in wind-whipped rain.

"Fakir dumped nearly 390 mm (15 inches) of rain across parts of Reunion Island," said AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Jason Nicholls.

This rainfall caused massive flooding and impassible roads in some places.

SUNNY OUTLOOK: Temperatures of up to 30°C forecast in Spain this weekend

GENERALLY stable and sunny weather will return to Spain this weekend and some areas could see the mercury rising to 30°C (86°F) a sure sign that summer is on its way!

Some storms may develop, however, in the west of Andalucia and southern Extremadura - mainly during Saturday afternoon.

Showers may also fall in Galicia and in northern areas of the Canary Islands.

On Sunday, Andalucia and Extremadura may also experience showers and occasional and scattered squalls may break out in the western half of the country.

During Saturday maximum temperatures of 20 - 24°C are predicted across much of the country although in some areas of Andalucia the mercury could hit 28 or even 30 degrees.

On Sunday temperatures are expected to climb a little more as much of the country will experience highs of 24 - 26 °C.

The graph shows average amount of days (24h) with precipitation during a month. When precipitation has surpassed 1mm per day (24h) it is defined as a day with precipitation. The mean period is 1961–1990. 

The graph shows average amount of days (24h) with precipitation during a month. When precipitation has surpassed 1mm per day (24h) it is defined as a day with precipitation. The mean period is 1961–1990.

These two graphs show us the differences between the rainfalls in Berlin, Germany and in Murcia, Spain. As we can check, there are huge differences between both countries. The first one has abundant rains throughout the year. January and December are the main months where it rains most, although during the rest of the year we can observe that there is an average of 9 or 8 milliliters in some months. The months that there are 7 milliliters are the months of summer and autumn like August, September and October. However, in April we find the same amount and, although, it is an abundant quantity, there is a big difference between Murcia and Berlin. Since in Murcia, it is one of the rainiest months in Murcia, and in Berlin one of the least rainy.

The second graph indicates the rainfall in Murcia. According to the information, the rainfall in this place in Spain is scarce. This city is southeast of Spain and is one of the hottest throughout the year, which is why it also affects rainfall. The rainiest months in this area of Spain are April, May, October, November and December with 4 milliliters of maximum rainfall. A big difference considering the measures of Berlin. In addition, we can observe that in the winter months such as January, February and March it rains in scarce quantities. Although, the worst rainfall measures are in summer with only, two and one milliliter from June to September. 

In conclusion, if you want to go on vacation to a place of beach, sun and heat, in which it does not rain much, your destination would be Murcia. On the contrary, if you prefer a place where there is sun but rarely during the year, you must choose Berlin. Even so, if you do not guide yourself according to the weather, you can visit both.


This week, I have seen the film "Pretty Woman" in English and moreover, I have studied grammar books.

WEEK 9 - NATURAL WONDERS

https://www.britannica.com/place/Grand-Canyon

Grand Canyon, immense canyon cut by the Colorado River in the high plateau region of northwestern Arizona, U.S., noted for its fantastic shapes and coloration.

The Grand Canyon lies in the southwestern portion of the Colorado Plateau, which occupies a large area of the southwestern United States and consists essentially of horizontal layered rocks and lava flows. The broad, intricately sculptured chasm of the canyon contains between its outer walls a multitude of imposing peaks, buttes, gorges, and ravines. It ranges in width from about 175 yards (160 metres) to 18 miles (29 km) and extends in a winding course from the mouth of the Paria River, near Lees Ferry and the northern boundary of Arizona with Utah, to Grand Wash Cliffs, near the Nevada state line, a distance of about 277 miles (446 km); the first portion of the canyon—from Lees Ferry to the confluence with the Little Colorado River—is called Marble Canyon. The Grand Canyon also includes many tributary side canyons and surrounding plateaus.

The greatest depths of the Grand Canyon lie more than a mile (some 6,000 feet [1,800 metres]) below its rim. The deepest and most spectacularly beautiful section, 56 miles (90 km) long, is within the central part of Grand Canyon National Park, which encompasses the river’s length from Lake Powell (formed by Glen Canyon Dam in 1963) to Lake Mead (formed by Hoover Dam in 1936). The North Rim, at approximately 8,200 feet (2,500 metres) above sea level, is some 1,200 feet (365 metres) higher than the South Rim. In its general colour, the Grand Canyon is red, but each stratum or group of strata has a distinctive hue—buff and gray, delicate green and pink, or, in its depths, brown, slate-gray, and violet.

The good thing about this place is the different colours and views which people could see in this great and amazing canyon. 

This week, I have listened to the radio some days and I also studied the grammar of the book. 

WEEK 8 - NARRATIVE ESSAY WRITING

https://classroom.synonym.com/characteristics-narrative-essays-20008.html

https://www.iwriteessays.com/essays/what-are-the-characteristics-of-a-good-narrative-essay

A discursive writing requires the investigation of an idea in a clear way. This kind of writing inform about an idea and the writer can have to support this idea using arguments. This essay uses the third person and it does not use actions. Furthermore, descriptive writing does not use actions such as the narrative writing, because it is not telling a story. Nevertheless, a narrative writing tells a story and the purpose of these essays are the reader can read a story. Narration uses the first person, using "I". It has a chronological order because it is a story and it usually has characters.


This week, I have read some articles in the newspaper (The Sun).

WEEK 7 - PERSUASION

EXPRESSIONS OF PERSUASION

- Are you sure you ought to make that complaint?

- That's quite a good idea, you know.

- What about your friends?

- I could do with your support, you know.

- I can assure you of my full support.

- Please!

- Give it a try.

- Come on.

- Why don't you...?

- It will be fun, I'm sure.

HYPOTHESIS

A quiet, chilling ballad, Suppose is worth a listen in its own right. It is one of a handful of Elvis’s recordings that ¬– like his cover of Dylan’s Tomorrow Is A Long Time – suggests roads he sadly never got to take. Yet it also intrigues me because of the possibility – and I put it no more strongly than that – that it inspired Imagine, the utopian anthem that became John Lennon’s signature song. The mere suggestion has divided Presley’s legion of fans. On one online forum, some have noted similarities between the songs – one even suggesting "It’s obvious that John Lennon committed plagiarism" ¬– while another countered: "To say this inspired Imagine is ludicrous and there is nothing remotely close between the 2 songs except the titles. Thanks for the laugh."

Suppose has no right to be as good as it is. The song’s co-writers are George Goehring and Sylvia Dee. Goehring is best known for writing Little Donkey while Dee provided the lyrics for Chickery Chick, a song about a chicken with the irritating habit of saying "Chickery chick, cha-la, cha-la, chekala romey/In a bananika bollika wollika" which topped the US charts in 1945. She also co-wrote Moonlight Swim with Ben Weisman for Blue Hawaii. In a bizarre coincidence, Dee died, at the age of 52, eight days before Elvis recorded Suppose in MGM Studios in Culver City, California.

Goehring and Dee’s reflective, desolate ballad clearly intrigued Presley. He can be heard performing it at Graceland on The Home Recordings compilation and, in June 1967, he cut a long and a short version of the song. Elvis's phrasing is impeccable – the pause after "suppose I had no wish" and before "to be alive" is exquisite. Though Elvis sings as if he’s gripped by existential despair, his performance, like the song, is simple and plaintive, letting the haunting lyrics work their magic. When he speculates that the tall green trees may not survive, the thought is mysteriously moving.

This was clearly a song that Elvis cared deeply about and so, inevitably, it was not included in Speedway, the movie for which it was created. It was buried at the film’s soundtrack album, the worst selling in Presley’s career, stalling at No82 in the Billboard charts.

This week, I have studied some vocabulary on Internet. 

WEEK 6 - TELLING THE TRUTH

There is a website where we can find several lies that Donald Trump has mentioned. - https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/06/23/opinion/trumps-lies.html 

Some of these lies are the following ones: 

- “Between 3 million and 5 million illegal votes caused me to lose the popular vote.” (There's no evidence of illegal voting.)

- “I saved more than $600 million. I got involved in negotiation on a fighter jet, the F-35.” (The Defense Department projected this price drop before Trump took office.)

- “I don’t know about it. I haven’t seen it. What report is that?” (Trump knew about Flynn's actions for weeks.)

LIST OF CHARACTERISTICS OF A LIAR

- 1. Obsessive, controlling, and compulsive behaviors

- 2. Jealousy

- 3. Anger

- 4. Rapid thinking

- 5. Good memory

- 6. Being natural performers

LIAR, LIAR

From my point of view, this film is a positive example which shows the lie as a negative point in a person's life. The main character is about to lose his family because of the lies. But thanks to the desire of his son, he realizes that the lies only lead to the bad and that using the truth he can also be a good lawyer and he can have happily to his family. 

This desire shows how unhappy he was when he told lies.

This week, I have seen the film Liar, Liar in English and I have read some news in BBC newspaper.