Best Times 22

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Best Times 22 Magazine of Learner Writing This Issue 22 is smaller but full of gems including the guidelines for participating in this summer’s writing competition: the “Doing your Best & Worst Contest”. Once again there are contributions from all levels at our school. In the Essays section are reflections on happiness, our changing lifestyles and other meanderings. In the Review section you will find comments on articles from Issue 21 as well as some website and film recommendations. This time in the Exam Models examples letters, a story, and speaking tasks for the Proficiency (CPE), Preliminary (PET), Key (KET) and Trinity GESE exams are provided. As always your feedback on any aspect of this issue is welcomed. Melissa Wing, [email protected] From the Editor 22 22 I don't know if the boys study better in a mixed class but I think that: 1. not all the chil- dren grow with the same speed so children of the same age can have different mental age and maturity; a mixed class could allow teachers to suit the scheme of work to the "real" age of the child; 2. if the teacher dif- ferentiated the lessons, creating small groups that were aimed at children's (Continued on page 3) Boys in a mixed class? Today less peo- ple get married than 30 years ago. Is this positive or nega- tive? In the past, most men and women considered their marriage as a funda- mental step in their life. A man and a woman in love usu- ally got engaged offi- cially and, after a more or less long time, got married. Most people had a church wedding, even when they were not religious. After the marriage, families normally in- (Continued on page 2) How marriage has changed Essays 1-4 Contest: Doing your Best & Worst 4 Reflections 5, 11 Reviews 6-7 Exam Models 8-10 Kids Corner 12- 14 INSIDE THIS ISSUE: Charles Schultz, car- toonist and creator of the “Peanuts” comic strip, once wrote that “Happiness is a warm puppy.” What he meant is it is not ours to say, but pearls of wisdom are spread alongside his irresistible drawings. The point is that we all say we want to be happy, but there is many a definition of happiness. So what are we really talking about? A variety of philoso- phers, scientists and psychologists have striven to define happiness and its (Continued on page 4) Defining Happiness

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Transcript of Best Times 22

Page 1: Best Times 22

Best Times

22

Best Times

22 Magazine of

Learner Wri ting

This Issue 22 is smaller but full of gems including the guidelines for participating in this summer’s writing competition: the “Doing your Best & Worst Contest”. Once again there are contributions from all levels at our school. In the Essays section are reflections on happiness, our changing lifestyles and other meanderings. In the Review section you will find comments on articles from Issue 21 as well as some website and film recommendations. This time in the Exam Models examples letters, a story, and speaking tasks for the Proficiency (CPE), Preliminary (PET), Key (KET) and Trinity GESE exams are provided. As always your feedback on any aspect of this issue is welcomed. Melissa Wing, [email protected]

From the Editor

2222

I don't know if the boys study better in a mixed class but I think that: 1. not all the chil-

dren grow with the same speed so children of the same age can have different mental age and maturity; a mixed class could allow teachers to suit the scheme of work to the "real" age of the child;

2. if the teacher dif-ferentiated the lessons, creating small groups that

were aimed at children's

(Continued on page 3)

Boys in a mixed class?

Today less peo-ple get married than 30 years ago. Is this positive or nega-tive? In the past, most men and women considered their marriage as a funda-mental step in their life. A man and a woman in love usu-ally got engaged offi-cially and, after a more or less long time, got married. Most people had a church wedding, even when they were not religious. After the marriage, families normally in-

(Continued on page 2)

How marriage has changed

Essays 1-4

Contest: Doing your Best & Worst

4

Reflections 5, 11

Reviews 6-7

Exam Models 8-10

Kids Corner 12-14

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

Charles Schultz, car-toonist and creator of the “Peanuts” comic strip, once wrote that “Happiness is a warm puppy.” What he meant is it is not ours to say, but pearls of wisdom are spread alongside his irresistible drawings. The point is that we all say we want to be happy, but there is many a definition of happiness. So what are we really talking about? A variety of philoso-phers, scientists and psychologists have striven to define happiness and its

(Continued on page 4)

Defining Happiness

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termine a certain amount of risk when exchanging a part of our own state of mind. For example, if I were ex-tremely happy and I exchanged part of this happiness (to obtain even more happi-ness) for some of the sadness of another, I would risk being offered only sadness and suffering. This is why, man endeavors to appear as delighted as possible, thus hid-ing their actual state of mind and thereby being considered as ideal ‘exchangers’. At this point nobody could understand how much happiness or suffering is encapsu-lated inside the other, and humans would be downgraded to fake masks. In my opinion, there is a vague similarity between the aforementioned condition and society. Although the chain of logic proba-bly has no meaning to it and merely can be linked to serious reasoning, the conclu-sion offers us a picture which we might be familiar with: a society, a community of individuals, constrained by a network based on lust, boredom and automation. Individuals, who, at first sight, seem non-descript, empty and dull, may in fact con-tain inside a cosmos to be explored. In conclusion, T. S. Eliot was right; we are living in a wasteland.

Alessandro Faragina C2.2

Happiness may be depicted as the direct derivative of ‘Good’. Good is anything that produces a certain type of pleasure. Augustine once said that suffering did not exist and that in the world only Good or the absence of it, could be found. What the Middle Ages Christian philoso-pher did not experience were the terrible tragedies man has incurred in the centu-ries following his death. Conscious of this, it would be absurd not to admit the exis-tence of Good’s opposite, Bad. Then since happiness is, as stated above, derived from Good, suffering must be the same as Bad. Therefore, if reality offers us these two as-pects of life, most of us, I think, would latch onto happiness, but as we all know, we cannot escape Bad, and suffering. Con-sidering there is a certain amount of Bad in humanity and that it is possible to transmit it to the ones close to us, every-one would inevitably endeavor to gain as much happiness as possible and to relin-quish suffering. But obviously, by acting this way, suffering would be forced onto the weakest, who would then be deprived of happiness. Considering, now, we could not know the percentages of Good and Bad inside a person close to us, this would de-

Are we happy?

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cluded more than one child. Women often stayed at home taking care of the house and of the children, while men worked. These days more and more people live together without getting married. Marriage is not seen as an important step in one's life any more. People prefer to feel free, with-out formal bonds to another person. This makes also separations easier in case love ends. Church weddings have dramatically decreased. Several people prefer a civil marriage ceremony. Couples often have no children, or just an only child. This is not always due to finan-cial difficulties; many women work as a result, they do not have time or just do not want to take care of a baby. Is this all positive or negative? In the past, when most people got married and di-vorce was not allowed, families were more stable; maybe this was important in par-ticular for children. On the contrary, today most people feel freer then 30 years ago. Are they also happier? It is impossible to give one answer on such a personal topic; everyone has a different feeling.

Claudio Strizzolo, C1.1

(Continued from page 1)

How marriage has changed

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THE BRITISH SC HOOL OF FRIULI-VENEZIA GIULIA

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Young people and family Selfishly we hide behind an entirety of necessities and requirements that must be fulfilled, one is subjugated by consumerist instincts, but they cause us to lose sight of the real values of life. Children have turned into even more pre-cious components, and therefore they are cuddled and spoiled. Often they are bored passengers carried by their parents who have become skilled drivers from one af-ternoon commitment to the other. Chil-dren must always be occupied with some-thing and have to emerge quickly in the sport: every family thinks that they have at home a budding champion, supported by hard-working coaches. The education of our youth takes longer than in the past, in the wake of an increasingly competitive society, so they arrive at university but they often stay there more time than nec-essary to get a degree. As a result they enter later in the labour market where they bounce between precarious jobs until barely reaching a social standing. As they are also comfortable enough at home, they marry later compared to the past, and the first child arrives at a later age; often the second child will not arrive because the biological clock can’t be tricked. Families have coddled, spoiled and exces-sively protected their children, so they have produced generations of young peo-ple who have difficulty to grow up.

Stefano Ciano, C1.1

The age at which our young people man-age to emancipate themselves from the original household is lengthening more and more and they have more troubles in forming their own family than in the past. In the last decades we have had a dra-matically reduction in the number of com-ponents in families, so the condition of only child is nowadays a widespread and accepted reality. But what are the factors that has led us to these changes? Frequently it is alleged that there are eco-nomic reasons: it is said that running a large family is too much expensive, or else that we are too busy in our work, so it seems that the career opportunities prevail on the desire to have other children. Sin-gle-income families are a thing of the past: the wife as the husband has to contribute to the family budget for the wellbeing of the family. But what are we talking about, wellbeing? Once I have heard a conversation between a father and daughter: she wanted a new mobile phone, one of latest generation, as his father showed some kind of hesitation the daughter replied:” but dad, why not? So why can you have five mobile phones?”. If we compare the present way of life to thirty years ago, we realize that it was more simple, you certainly had less needs, and we were content with what we had: we went on holiday once a year, we went out for dinner only for special occasions and we didn’t change our photo camera every year; and were we less happy?

level of work, the children would work with few classmates and learn better; 3. on the other hand, because of the presence of older and younger children, the

small groups wouldn't be limited to themselves but the interaction with children of different ages could show to the boys a different way to think, play and learn and finally, it could enrich them.

Despite of this theoretical reasoning, I also think that it would be very difficult - maybe too difficult- for a teacher to follow such a complicated situation and to apply different schemes of work at the same time.

Sara Bearzatto, B1.2

(Continued from page 1)

Boys in a mixed class?

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sources. According to the dictionary, happiness is a mental or emotional state of well-being, characterized by positive or pleasant feelings ranging from contentment to intensive joy. But searching for happi-ness seems to be like looking for the Holy Grail: a lifetime’s pursuit and pos-sibly without an end result. Living in a dog-eat-dog world, life has become a rat race. Hence answering the question, ”Are you happy?”, might appear quite difficult immediately, since we spend so much of our time worrying about things that don’t really matter. Frustration and disappointment ruin our peace because we have forgot-ten how to distinguish what is impor-tant from what is not. But personal happiness depends on our attitude towards life . It is not an exag-geration to say that happiness is not how we think and feel. Appreciating

(Continued from page 1)

Defining Happiness what you have is vital and essen-tial and you have to learn to “ smell the roses” along the way. Allowing yourself to feel angry and bitter will actually shut the door to greater blessings. This being said life is not a bed of roses all the time, but a more positive approach

can help you live up to your potential. Buddha said, “There is no road to hap-piness. Happiness is the way.” That means, you will be happy if you choose to be happy, because happiness comes from the inside and radiates outwards. Being grateful for even the little things in life, learning to give proper value to every single instant, accepting who you are and where you are going are all part of the process. In the midst of your struggles, remember it is not all doom and gloom, and try to see the bright side, because there always is one.

Marina Troian, C2.2 http://www.peanuts.com/

Would you like to win a special prize like an English Language Learner’s Dictionary or Grammar or rather a book? If so, all that you have to do is, tell us about what you do Best and what you do Worst, send it to me at Melissa Wing or to your teacher, and the best one (most cohesive (connected), coherent (makes sense) and entertaining/interesting piece at each level (A1 - C2) will be selected and awarded a prize. Your writings can be of any register—informal to formal, any tone - humorous to serious and in any format - an email, a story, an article, a dialogue, a comic, an essay, a review or a report. All writings must have a title, an illustration, and a maximum of 50 words for Young Learners (YL), 100 words for A1 and A2, 120 words for B1, 180 words for B2, 220 words C1 and 300 words for C2. All submissions will be published in the autumn issue of 2012. The deadline is September 17th.

Doing your Best & Worst Contest

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Which City of the Old Monarchy? Beautiful and charming, this city, located along one of the longest rivers in Italy, oozes with history. The historical cen-tre is all a closely succession of stunning monuments and mag-nificent buildings, many recalling the French style of the early 18th Century, not because they have been influenced by it, but because they inspired it. An example of such artistic blossom is the renewal of the front of the antique Palazzo Madama, whose origins go back to the Ro-mans, a work of the renowned architect Filippo Juvarra. But of course you can also enjoy the quaint beauty of the Royal Palace and of the old Italian parliament. If rather than art it’s shopping that you’re seeking after, you might take a walk along Corso Garibaldi, which starts near the eso-teric piazza Statuto; here you will find all sorts of shops, from tailors’ to bookshops, from souvenirs boutique to nice cafes. But under no circumstances should you miss the opportunity of getting on the top the Mole Antoneliana, and edifice that for long time has been the European highest masonry-work, and which now permanently hosts the National Museum of Cinema on the ground floor. As for nightlife, this marvelous Italian city of the North has much to offer to young people. Night clubs are of course present and ready to welcome foreigners as well as locals, but if

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THE BRITISH SC HOOL OF FRIULI-VENEZIA GIULIA

Walking in the freezing-cold darkness of the Circum-Polar regions during mid-seasons, one is likely to be lucky enough as to witness a phenomenon of stunning beauty, the Aurora Borealis (or Australis, according to whether it occurs in the Northern or Southern Hemisphere of the Earth). Named after the Roman Goddess of Dawn, Aurora, and sometimes referred to as “The Northern Lights”, this display of colourful lights has for centuries left even the most brilliant of scientists clueless as far as its origin was concerned: Galileo himself ob-served and reported the appearance of blue lights over the polar regions of Jupi-ter, but could not come up with a scientific explanation. On the other hand, the native inhabitants of the extreme northern re-gions of Canada, Europe and Russia, in-trigued by the beauty of the Aurora, have always attributed a mythical sense to it and have, over the millennia, come up with legends whose beauty often matches that of the Aurora itself. According to the Vikings, the Northern Lights appeared when the Valkyries were out riding their horses, while other populations thought this phenomenon was due to a dance of the Gods of Dawn. Many scientific hypotheses were proven wrong in the 19th and early 20th Century until, in 1925, scientists at the Carnegie Institute in Pittsburgh determined that (as Tycho Brahe had pointed out some four centuries earlier without finding proof) the Aurora Borealis is indeed related to mag-netism and, in particular, to its effect on

(Continued on page 11)

I sit here in this black armchair, comfortable, in a room, scented and cosy. I can feel the smell on my skin and around me after leaving the place, a magic circle. My gaze dwells on a spider web dangling from the ceiling above the lamp, in a corner. It happens every week. The spider web moves on the rhythm of my breath becoming words.

Thoughts and words rooted deeply in my heart drifting in the air aimlessly, so it seems. They reach the web, which receives them patiently and smiling. I feel reas-sured. Nothing can harm you as long as you are here, it says, I can sooth the wounds of your soul. And my speech flows on and on and out of the tangle of feelings it becomes plain, neat, intelligible, no longer invisible, but clear - not an envelope of fog, but a flare of light. And the longed-for peace becomes real. Not only dreamed of, not simply looked for. I can feel its presence all around me, wrap-ping my body, making me alive again, self-aware - and I can see myself smiling. Again.

Irene Cimmino, C2

The Room

The Myth and Science of the Aurora Borealis

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Dear Sir, I am writing this letter with reference to the re-quest that has been made to filmgoers to suggest a comedy for the film festi-val. Personally, I have seen many funny films in my life, but there are some that I recall im-mediately when thinking about comedies. For example, one of the best films that I have ever seen, is without a doubt “What Happens in Vegas”. I really enjoyed it and I recom-mend you to show this film at the festival for various reasons. Firstly, the main characters are interpreted by two very well-known actors: Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher. Their acting skills are brilliant and they are able to make the absurd story almost plausible! Also, they are both funny and they really know how to blurt out their lines in a hilarious way and this is simply a fundamental factor in a comedy. In fact, if the lines and the jokes are said as from a script, they lose power and effectiveness. Secondly, the plot is great and even though someone who has never seen it might find the film predictable because the title refers to Las Vegas, it is actually a very unusual film. What's more, “What Happens in Vegas” is not only set in one place (Las Vegas), but also in other places, so this is not one of those banal films that talk about someone's adventure in the most popular city in Nevada. As a matter of fact, the main theme is that what happens in Vegas, does not stay in Vegas, so people have to be careful when they let themselves go. Thirdly, I think that this film should definitely be shown at the film festival because it can appeal to various age groups. Of course it is not suitable for children, but it surely is a great film for teenagers and adults. All things considered, I really hope that the film “What Happens in Vegas” is selected for the film festival to which I look forward to at-tend. Yours faithfully, Sofia Calaciura, C1

Comedy Suggestions

Comment & Review

The article "The value of money" by F. Sodnik is writ-ten with ability and variety of speech. It isn't boring: the change between the first part, that describes realistically the experience of a child and the sec-ond one, that shows the serious signifi-cance of the story and arrives to a more general remark - this change makes the article original and pleasant to read, despite the topic that could be considered very common.

Sara Bearzatto, B1.2

On "The value of money".

Stefano's article entitled “Someone I know well” de-scribes accurately the char-acter of his son Tommaso, who is 20 months old. The article was written in a stimulating style: only at the end did I realize that the subject is a baby, al-though many hints are given. The language is clear, with several in-teresting words: quizzical: indicating mild or amused

puzzlement; to spite: deliberately hurt, annoy, or

offend (someone); nosy: showing too much curiosity

about other people’s affairs; wily: skilled at gaining an advantage. The article reminded me of my son, who is now almost four years old, and of the beautiful time spent with him since the time he was just a few months old.

Claudio Strizzolo, C1

On “Someone I know well”

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Websites of the Month

THE BRITISH SC HOOL OF FRIULI-VENEZIA GIULIA

My Website of the Month is “italiansubs”. It's a website where you can find Italian subtitles of films and TV series which are not yet translated into Italian. I visit this website every day, because I fol-low a lot of TV series and I am so curious, so I can't wait for the episode’s broadcast. I use the subtitles when the language is too diffi-cult for me, but most of the time I only listen. I think watching films and TV series in English is useful for improving lan-guages learning, and starting with the Italian subtitles is a first step.

Even if now most the people, who joined the website years ago, understand films without subtitles, they still visit the website for the community, where users can comment and discuss films. I've never wrote in those fo-rums, but sometimes I enjoy myself reading exchanges between people who fight about which character is better than the other. I recommend this website to Italians who likes films, because the voice and the inter-pretation of the actors are always better than those dubbed.

Nicole Vascotti, B1+

My Website of the Month for May is “play”. It's an online shop in which you can find a lot of CDs or DVDs. I like it because I find CDs of my favourite music bands and because you receive always the goods. I would recommend it for many important reasons. First this website has a continuous expansion of items offered, in fact, now you can buy also books and electronics while 2 years ago you couldn't. Second, you can find in the music or movies section CDs or DVDs

of whatever music band, even the most unknown. Third and no less important, is that you don't have to pay the shipping cost except for certain items, for example electron-ics, that are bulky or precious. I recommend it for those people who needs to find a specific CD or DVD and doesn't want to spend too much."

Enrico De Biasio, B1+

My Website of the Month of May is ilmessag-gero. This is a website in which you can find news about the events happening every day. I usu-ally visit this site every day especially be-cause it shows news about Italy but I also think the articles of this site explain what happens abroad better than other sites. The best thing about this site is that it reports all the news in a impartial way; quite unique, if you think that in Italy lots of newspapers (il Giornale, Libero,…) support some politicians in a very evident way. In addition to political news you can find much diverse and interest-ing news about health, entertainment, sci-

ence, sports and more. You can leave your comments on articles as well a share your ideas with other readers. Another reason I recom-mend this site is because it has clear graphics and it helps you understand immediately what the important news of the day is. It’s obvious that you can also find “il Messag-gero” at every newsstand but as far as I’m concerned the online version is better than the paper copy because it helps to learn im-mediately what is happening in the world and above all the online version is free!

Valeria , B1+

In the last period I’ve been visiting the website called “grooveshark.com”. In my opinion it could be the website of the Month of May. The reason I say that is because it’s one of the largest on-demand music streaming and dis-covery website in the world. The first thing you have to do is type the name of a singer or a music group in its search-bar. It’ll find instantly all of the matches, so that you can choose which one

you prefer. One of the best things about this website is that you can register yourself, and create and save playlists of your favourite tracks. I suggest using this site also for sharing music with friends via Facebook, Twitter and other social website. I’d recommend it to anybody who want to listen to any song in the world for free.

Elisa Loganes, B1+

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At six o’clock in the morning the phone rang. It was my friend, Bobbi, who the night before had gone clubbing and didn’t come back home again. Now he was inviting me to an afterhours locale. I could not believe my ears. I just woke up and in two hours I had to go to work. “Are you crazy?” I ask him. But he replied that this afterhours place was amazing and he was com-

ing to pick me up. So I shut off my phone, closed all my windows, locked the back door and went back to bed.

Maria Elena Serventi, B1.2

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Model B1 PET Story Write a story about the difficulties of friendship.

Model Exam Texts Model Trinity GESE Grade 3 Preparation Task: What can you see from your window/balcony?

My balcony is very big, brown and grey. I can see many houses and flats. The houses are red and or-ange and the flats are green. I can see a big bright sun but there are some clouds. My cat Febo is in the foreground. She is brown and or-ange.

Angela Cotterle, T2/A1

I look out my window and I can see all of the city. On my right there are some houses, some trees and Monte Grisa Church. On my left I can see some boats sailing in the sea. Today is sunny but there are some clouds.

Alice Bettini, T2/A1

Friends

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to-door transport. This would undoubt-edly increase productivity and raise mo-rale. Secondly, we are quite dissat-isfied with the service given by the restaurant downstairs and we suggest that it would be suitable if we had our own chef on this floor. Furthermore it would be reasonable to have an extended lunch break to cope with the long hours we spend here at night. Thirdly, we are sorry to say that the wages in this com-pany are not up to the level of work given. It would be ade-quate for you to offer a little more con-sidering our successful performance. We would be grateful if you could give some form of response before midday. With thanks

Marco Bani, C2.2

To the managing director: As members of the IT department we would like to offer some advice to im-prove our working conditions. It is well known that we are highly experienced in solving computing problems within the company. In fact, it could be said that our team is essential. To guarantee a rapid response we have always been ready to work for long hours every time it was requested. However, we would like our efforts to be recognised, and we would therefore like to suggest the fol-lowing Firstly, it is unfair to expect us to travel on public transport considering that we arrive very early in the morning and we leave extremely late in the night. We were wondering if the company invests in some stretch limousines, five of them should be ap-propriate, to improve door-

Model C2 CPE Formal Letter Task: Your managing director has asked each department to submit a letter with recommendations for improving working conditions in the company.

Dear Mark and Allie I apologize for not having written before but I was busy with work! I would like to thank you for the wonderful week we spent together and for your willing-ness to accompany me! The first days it was not easy to speak in English and I remember your kindness and pa-tience; you had to speak slowly and repeat when I did not understand! I remember when you took me to see Big Ben, the cruise on the Thames, the residence of the Queen, the tube and the picnic in your beautiful English park! It was a fantastic experi-ence that I will not forget. It was great to know your friends and your family! On my return I told my family and I showed the photos of my trip and my dad remembered on his study trip to London 35 years ago!

I started to work as usual, cycling training and I carry inside me all the im-ages and memories of that time! The weather here is very nice and really hot, very different from the English weather! I hope to hear you soon! with love,

Flavio Antonini, B1.2 PS: I enclose some photos from Big Ben!

Model B1 PET Informal Letter Imagine you have some British friends in the UK and you stayed with them last week. Write a letter to thank them.

THE BRITISH SC HOOL OF FRIULI-VENEZIA GIULIA

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Model KET Speaking Part 2 Task: Use the prompts to ask and answer questions with your partner

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you really ought to mingle with other people, you should enter the numerous bars where young men and women usually stop for a drink and then stay for the cool environment that surrounds them. But if the centre can be fun and quite secure, never should you visit the northern outskirts by night, as it is commonly seen as the ghetto, the home to cheap dealers and criminals. This city knew also an economic growth after the 2006 Winter Olympic Games that created a domino effect of renovation and urban re-vitalization. Jacopo Zucca, C2.1

(Continued from page 5)

Which City of the Old Monarchy?

Page 11 THE BRITISH SC HOOL OF FRIULI-VENEZIA GIULIA

the solar wind. This huge stream of charged particles emanating from the Sun is partially de-flected from its path by the magnetic field of the Earth and a number of these ions are forced through the ionosphere, i.e. a layer of the high atmosphere very rich in gases that become bright and colourful when an electric current is applied to them (just as in any commercial fluorescent light). Indeed, the different colours that occur in the sky during an auroral display are determined by the chemical nature of the predominant gas in the ionosphere, with oxygen glowing red, nitrogen crimson and a mixture of the two giving the sky the most common yellowish-green colour. As the origin of the Aurora lies in the iono-sphere, that is between 60 km and 240 km above the sea-level, the impression that the lights can be so low as to touch the ground has to be regarded as a mere opti-cal illusion, however beautiful. Auroral dis-plays are most frequent in a thin region around the Arctic and Antarctic Circles, due to the particularly high intensity of the magnetic field of the Earth in the proximity of the Poles and its perpendicular nature to the Earth’s surface. However, occasional

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The Myth and Science of the Aurora Borealis

occurrences have been reported as far South as Rome during periods of particu-larly intense solar activity. In the 16th Cen-tury, in the dark ages of the Counter-Reformation and the Inquisition, a red Aurora appeared in the sky of the Papal City and caused major concern among its population. A very intriguing phenomenon for photog-raphers, the Northern Lights are most fre-quently seen in March and September-October in the freezing cold of the Norwe-gian, Siberian and Canadian countryside, as far away from artificial light as possible to avoid light pollution. Photographers and observers of the Aurora Borealis are there-fore always warned against venturing into these areas on their own and groups have to bring powerful flashlights, firecrackers and sometimes even guns with blank rounds along in order to scare the occa-sional bear away and avoid potentially dangerous close-encounters. In any case, considering the awesome beauty of the Northern Lights, even some-one most unwilling to take risks is likely to consider the possibility of defying the cold weather, the remoteness of the places and possibly an occasional bear or two in order to have a chance of admiring Aurora’s Win-ter Waltz.

Marco Sinibaldi, C2+

I and my English friend want to get around London, so we hire a car because the taxis are excellent but very expensive. My friend drives

very well and we want to visit the British Museum. We are trying to find the street but the traffic is very busy. “Excuse me. Where is the British Museum, please?” my friend says to a policeman. “You probably know the way. We are lost. Could you help us?” “Yes, go straight on, go past the church and then turn right at the traffic lights. It’s the first building on the right,” says the policeman. “Thank you,” says my friend. “Could you say that again? Is the parking near?” “Yes,” says the policeman, “it’s near here. I think you can park in this space.” “We are lucky,” my friend says. “You are a very kind policeman. Thanks.” Maria Carone, A1

In the Street

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My Toy Box

Cit

y

Sig

hts

Alice Del Savio, A1(P1) Aurora Russo, A1(P1)

Daniele Bonfiglioli,

A1(P1) Letizia Dal Lago, A1(P1)

Gabriele Puzzer, A1(P1)

Corner K

ids

On Monday I play basketball. My team is Libertas.

On Wednesday I go to British School.

On Thursday I I play basketball. On Friday I stay at home.

On Sunday I sleep. On Saturday I do my homework.

My Week P3/A1

Riccardo Campodonico

Page 13: Best Times 22

Page 13 THE BRITISH SC HOOL OF FRIULI-VENEZIA GIULIA

Animal Favourites Horses This is a horse. It lives in stable or on a farm. I don’t know how many years it lives. It can jump and run. It eats car-rots, apples and grasses. Today there aren’t so much farms, then it find himself in stables.

Daniela Files, P3/A1

Dogs This is a dog. It lives in houses. It lives for about 12 years. It eats pet food. A dog can run and jump. It likes play with its family.

Caterina DeDominis, P3/A1 A2

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Page 14: Best Times 22

THE BRITISH SCHOOL OF FRIULI -VENEZIA GIULIA

A TORREBIANCA , 18 TRIESTE

Trieste Phone: 040-369-369 Fax: 040-76-000-75

Email: [email protected]

Monfalcone 16, Via Duca d'Aosta Phone: 0481-411-868 Fax: 0481-41-22-28

Email: [email protected]

Udine 4, Vicolo Pulesi

Phone: 0432-50-71-71 Fax: 0432-50-75-46

Email: [email protected]

Gorizia 17, Corsa Italia

Phone: 0481-33-300 Fax: 0481-53-15-18

Email: [email protected]

Ti porta nel mondo che conta

Tell

ing

th

e F

utu

re

P3/A1

Dordevic, P3/A1

Garritta, P3/A1