UNIVERSIDAD TÉCNICA NACIONAL

English as a foreing language

Student: María Fernanda Alpízar Durán 

Professor: Gerardo Matamoros Arce

Grammar VI

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Hi! This is a blog to write my opinions about different topics. I will be including Grammar structures that I have studied in classes every week.

Entry 1

The athlete

           An athlete is a person who is proficient in spots or other forms of physical exercise, but it is not just that you put on a uniform or show up every day at practice or games, it is beyond that. You represent your family, your community, your school and others. Being an athlete brings multiple qualities. Be an athlete not only takes competitiveness but also takes self-confidence. You have to be confident in yourself and believe that you are a winner. An athlete should not be neither  sedentary nor lazy. You must be disciplined, you have to follow a strict exercise and an eating schedule. Athletes eat both sweet potatoes and nuts. Food is the fuel that helps athletes perform their best. As they put out energy through exercise and training, they need to replenish those lost nutrients, which can be done by choosing the right foods.

The more an athlete trains the more strength and ability he/she gets. That’s why it is important they don’t miss any training, specially if they want to be a high-performance athlete.

Entry 2

Awry

Sometimes we plan things very well, so well, that we think it would be impossible that things could go wrong, but we must always be prepared for the worst. When I was in my first year of University, I had to do and apply a survey to a certain number of people and present the results and conclusions of this in class. This was the final project of one of the courses and of course it was really important. Everyone was very judicious with this project, including myself. I began to think about what topic the project would be about, and to assess what types of people the survey would be focused on. I chose to do it about "Habits of healthy eating in children" I made the documents with the necessary questions and applied the survey in the school of Gamonales of Ciudad Quesada. The School Principal let me conduct the survey to one of the groups; eventually, I had the children mark every single fruit or vegetable they consumed among other things and at the same time I asked someone to help me take some pictures during the process, because I thought It would be very cool to add photos that show my work. Once I got my survey completed by the children I went home.

During the following days I worked with the analysis of the information, the realization of graphics and the preparation of the presentation in general. Basically, this work took me a lot of time and effort, I really took great pains in it and felt that everything was going perfectly. The day of the exhibition arrived, I felt a little tired, but eager to expose my so produced work. It was my turn, so I stood up and inserted my USB to the teacher's computer, and when I opened the document, I immediately noticed that something was not right, I got cold and my hands were shaking. I'm sure that everybody noticed that something bad was happening, my face said it all. I BROUGHT THE PRESENTATION THAT WAS NOT UPDATED! I did not save the new document, the one that had everything perfect! The presentation I had in front of me was the old one, the one that still had no images and lacked some graphics and many arrangements. I couldn't get the teacher to understand my problem and he did not even let me present it after the break. At that moment, I was beside myself with anger, but I tried to calm me down. I breathed and began to present my analysis with that horrible and unfinished presentation, for I had no option.

 What I was saying did not agree with what was shown in the PPT, but that did not stop me, and I continue the presentation that way. Each of my classmates was paying close attention to everything that was in the PPT and what I was saying. While I was presenting, my mind could not stop thinking about that horrible disaster that everyone was witnessing. At the end, I managed to say what I had to say, even if the visual aids did not work and almost everything was wrong. I learned that you must face unexpected situations, no matter how bad they are, you do not have to take a step back. And of course, I learned to never leave the house without making sure that my USB carries the correct information.

Entry 3

Madder Libs

In the first instance I thought that I did not have a word that I really use too much in my daily vocabulary and that writing this would be a bit complicated, but while I was thinking I asked my mother if she noticed any words and she said that I use very often the word "intense" and it is totally true, I was not aware of how much I use it. The word “intense” is an adjective of extreme force or like having or showing strong feelings or opinions; extremely serious. I use this word in various ways, I would say: “oh Mommy, do not be so intense” like telling her not to be so exaggerated in any situation, but the first time I said that to my mom she became angry.

 I would also say "that boy is definitely an intense one" like saying he is too pushy and irritating. For example, once a boy was in love with my best friend, he considered her attractive, but she was not attracted to him in any way. She had already let him know that she had no interest in him and she tried to make him understand. But he kept insisting and sending her messages of love being very annoying and silly. I would also ask my best friend something like: “Does that intense keep sending you messages?” So, I use it not only like an adjective but also like a subject.

Sometimes I use the word "intensity" I could say “What intensity of that teacher” because maybe he leaves us a lot of homework. Or for example, once a classmate wanted to start a project the same day the professor explained it, and to me it seemed very premature and unnecessary her concern and her desire to start working that same day, so I was about to tell her: “Could you lower a little bit to your intensity?” But I did not say it, I would only say that to someone who is very close to me, so he o she will not get offended or something similar.

She became angry: N LV ADJ
He considered her attractive: N1 V N2 ADJ

The city I would love to visit is Venice, Italy. I think it is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. It is completely outside of what we are used to seeing here in Costa Rica and in many Latin American countries. I love the fact that the city is built on islands and for the same reason the city is connected through many beautiful bridges. I read that in the old center, the canals serve the function of roads, and every form of transport is on water or on foot.

I would love to visit this place to be able to witness those wonderful scenes that seem to come out of a movie and see with my own eyes that unusual urban design. Some time ago I saw a video in Facebook of some friends of my brother, where the priest declared them husband and wife in front of a beautiful view in Venice. Everything looked very romantic and magical in that place. In fact, I remember that me and my family wrote some comments for them, about how cute they looked and how beautiful the place was and of course wishing the best in their marriage. Definitely Venice is a city that I have on my list of places bto visit.

The priest declared them husband and wife: N1 V N2X N3X

Me and my family wrote some comments for them: N1 V TO/FOR N3

Entry 4

Bowdlerized 

A few weeks ago, I was visited by an aunt who, by the way, I hadn't seen since a long time. She came along with my 2 little cousins, Ana and William, with 7 and 5 years old respectively. As children they are, they want to be playing all the time and entertained with something, but to my bad luck they didn’t carry toys and my aunt didn’t allow them to play with her cell phone anymore. So, they were already going to my room to see what I was doing and to ask me if I had games on my cell phone or not etc. Then my mom asked me to entertain them for a while and I didn´t know what to do with them.  But I knew they could go wherever I took them in that moment, so I decided to go with them to the downtown park. They were playing happily on the swings and suddenly two men approached to smoke near the play, where they were not only my cousins but also other children. Smoking is prohibited in leisure or recreation centers for minors. It was obvious that they didn’t know it.

One of the men who I saw smoking was an old school friend, so I felt confident to approach. I greeted them and kindly told them that it would be good if they smoke in another place because that was not an appropriate place to do it, that there were many children nearby and that my cousin William is also asthmatic, besides I explained them that tobacco smoke can greatly affect him and other people, so I asked them to please understand. To my surprise they were upset and one of them told me that he smoked wherever he wanted and that it was not my business to get involved. The other one said: “Yes, yes, we are leaving now”, but he said it with annoyed face. I turned around and left, but I kept watching them from afar and they did not leave, until a police officer came by and took them out of the area. Later I thanked the police officer who help me with that, and he told me that he knows a girl whose family lives near one of those guys who was smoking, and it is said that those people tend to be very problematic. After that I went home with my cousins to tell my family what happened, and how strange it was that a person reacted so rudely or offended after talking to him or asking something kindly.

Entry 5

Search Warrant

A quiet, sunny day, while I was eating spaghetti on my couch, someone knocked on the door. To my surprise it was the police with a search warrant, I immediately asked myself: "How do they know it?" "This cannot be happening, no one witnessed what we did that day". Even though I was dying of nerves, fear and anxiety, I opened the door with a smile and calmly told them to come in and check what they wanted. Because I was dizzy, I sat in a chair and thought about what to do to prevent them from discovering the dark secret that I kept there. Nobody could never discover that I had a body in the freezer of my basement. And I kept thinking about the night my best friend inadvertently hit one of our partners in the head when we were gathering. That blow caused him death. Since we could not leave the house with the body, I agreed to keep it there, but I think it was the worst decision of my life. Whereas she was at the beach with her boyfriend, I was in my house about to be discovered by the police, I could not allow it, I had to do something to avoid it, so I set fire to the curtains in the kitchen, consequently, the police stopped the search of my house to tend the fire. That day, I saved myself from being arrested, and my dark secret was not discovered, at least not that time.