Topic: Describe a wild animal
Tuesday, August 30, 2016
Monday, August 8, 2016
a chance to have your say
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In our everyday lives we have choices – we make daily decisions from the simplest to the possibly life changing. For some people its easy, others tussle with the simplest notion of change and what impact it will have on them.
I’ve always been fascinated in how some people effortlessly move through life without seemingly never putting a foot wrong and, one assumes, making all the right decisions at the right time. Then there are the vast majority of us who have to work hard at creating our own ‘luck’ which includes a strong measure of making choices and then hoping we’ve done it right, often with no well of telling until we find out sooner or later.
Love, jobs, houses, children - life is the sum of all your choices as Albert Camus said. These are some of the themes that we’ll be looking at in this blog in the future.
I hope you’ll join us and add your viewpoints. The choice is yours.
Resource: ipassielts.com
I’ve always been fascinated in how some people effortlessly move through life without seemingly never putting a foot wrong and, one assumes, making all the right decisions at the right time. Then there are the vast majority of us who have to work hard at creating our own ‘luck’ which includes a strong measure of making choices and then hoping we’ve done it right, often with no well of telling until we find out sooner or later.
Love, jobs, houses, children - life is the sum of all your choices as Albert Camus said. These are some of the themes that we’ll be looking at in this blog in the future.
I hope you’ll join us and add your viewpoints. The choice is yours.
Resource: ipassielts.com
Sunday, August 7, 2016
Little food for thought
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For most families with young children its reasonably simple to feed them; nothing too complicated or sophisticated. Children have to be introduced to food or it’s far too easy for them to say ‘I don’t like that’ without even tasting it. Often our childhood prejudices we carry with us long into adulthood – mine is asparagus!
So, what shall we feed the children? Well, for many it seems a diet of junk food is the answer. In an article I read recently it said that hospitals in England were treating over 30,000 children a year with serious tooth decay, one of the reasons being as a result of sugary diets. Disturbingly, the most common age for a child having a rotten tooth out in hospital is five.
Don’t their parents know how to cook! Unbelievable, I hear you say. We’ve all microwaved the baked beans, fried some sausages, and boiled some peas. Not so for every Mother or Father with young families.
I was fascinated and horrified in equal measures when I saw an episode of Jamie Oliver’sMinistry of Food and saw some families in Rotherham who had never used their kitchen to cook anything and sat on the floor eating their fast food takeaways with their fingers as their children didn’t know how to use a knife and fork. And this happened every day!
When I showed it to some Portuguese friends as an example of our way of life in ‘modern’ Britain I suddenly became embarrassed as they stared with incredulity. They didn’t understand how you could do this to young children- what kind of parents were these people? They were genuinely shocked.
So, does it have to be this way? Is ‘convenience’ the answer? I hope not. However busy you are it doesn’t take too much to make something simple and reasonably healthy for children. Nothing fancy, but it’s got to be better than a daily dose of nutritionally empty fast food.
We are what we eat, but what choice are we giving our children?
Resource: ipassielts.com
So, what shall we feed the children? Well, for many it seems a diet of junk food is the answer. In an article I read recently it said that hospitals in England were treating over 30,000 children a year with serious tooth decay, one of the reasons being as a result of sugary diets. Disturbingly, the most common age for a child having a rotten tooth out in hospital is five.
Don’t their parents know how to cook! Unbelievable, I hear you say. We’ve all microwaved the baked beans, fried some sausages, and boiled some peas. Not so for every Mother or Father with young families.
I was fascinated and horrified in equal measures when I saw an episode of Jamie Oliver’sMinistry of Food and saw some families in Rotherham who had never used their kitchen to cook anything and sat on the floor eating their fast food takeaways with their fingers as their children didn’t know how to use a knife and fork. And this happened every day!
When I showed it to some Portuguese friends as an example of our way of life in ‘modern’ Britain I suddenly became embarrassed as they stared with incredulity. They didn’t understand how you could do this to young children- what kind of parents were these people? They were genuinely shocked.
So, does it have to be this way? Is ‘convenience’ the answer? I hope not. However busy you are it doesn’t take too much to make something simple and reasonably healthy for children. Nothing fancy, but it’s got to be better than a daily dose of nutritionally empty fast food.
We are what we eat, but what choice are we giving our children?
Resource: ipassielts.com
Google - innovation, disruption and still making the world a better place
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In just 12 years two people have revolutionised the world and how we search for information.
Larry Page and Sergey Brin met at Stanford University as students where they started to develope a search engine, the original name was ‘BackRub’, but in September,1998 they incorporated Google, a name that has now crept into the English language.
Why Google? Well, apparently it originated from a misspelling of the word “googol” the mathematical term for a 1 followed by 100 zeros.
So, what is Google? The company’s stated aims are “to organise the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful” and most people wouldn’t disagree with this as after a very short time (even for silicon valley), it now receives several hundred million queries a day, and to many it is the only source of information from train timetables, how to boil an egg to the best way to split the atom.
Is this a good thing? Well, it’s not a monopoly as there are other rival search engines – Yahoo, Alta Vista and Bing among others – but some people are worried about the dominance of Google. So much so that some have said that they believe that ‘…Google is a deceptive corporation composed of a massive group of technological geniuses on a conspiratorial vocation to take over and destroy the biological world’ and ‘…is destined to soon become the next world power’.
Sounds a little dramatic, especially for a corporation with an unofficial slogan of ‘Don’t be evil’, but clearly any large multinational the size and influence of Google is bound to have its critics and sometimes create controversy. Its Google Books – an attempt to digitalise every book in the world – which has outraged some nations, especially the French government, and its relationship with the Chinese government is often unpredictable.
But Google continues to innovate and acquire with a long list of products that have are now used by millions including gmail, Google Earth, Google Translate, Picasa, Chrome and YouTube as well as the Google Analytics, Adsense and Adwords. Only last week they launched Nexus to rival the iPhone.
So what about the future? Will Google continue to dominate – an unstoppable behemouth in the digital world – with its almost limitedless financial resources?
With the appointment of the steady hand of Eric Schmidt as CEO in 2001 many say the future looks more secure. He is ‘the future’ of Google and is the darling of investors and shareholders alike.
In a recent interview he candidly admitted:
“We suffer [because] we are global, we touch a lot of things, we are disruptive, and we operate in information and people have a lot of opinions on that. I don’t think that will change. I think we have adapted to the role that we now play in the information industry that the role is one of innovation, disruption and still making the world a better place.”
Sounds good.
Larry Page and Sergey Brin met at Stanford University as students where they started to develope a search engine, the original name was ‘BackRub’, but in September,1998 they incorporated Google, a name that has now crept into the English language.
Why Google? Well, apparently it originated from a misspelling of the word “googol” the mathematical term for a 1 followed by 100 zeros.
So, what is Google? The company’s stated aims are “to organise the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful” and most people wouldn’t disagree with this as after a very short time (even for silicon valley), it now receives several hundred million queries a day, and to many it is the only source of information from train timetables, how to boil an egg to the best way to split the atom.
Is this a good thing? Well, it’s not a monopoly as there are other rival search engines – Yahoo, Alta Vista and Bing among others – but some people are worried about the dominance of Google. So much so that some have said that they believe that ‘…Google is a deceptive corporation composed of a massive group of technological geniuses on a conspiratorial vocation to take over and destroy the biological world’ and ‘…is destined to soon become the next world power’.
Sounds a little dramatic, especially for a corporation with an unofficial slogan of ‘Don’t be evil’, but clearly any large multinational the size and influence of Google is bound to have its critics and sometimes create controversy. Its Google Books – an attempt to digitalise every book in the world – which has outraged some nations, especially the French government, and its relationship with the Chinese government is often unpredictable.
But Google continues to innovate and acquire with a long list of products that have are now used by millions including gmail, Google Earth, Google Translate, Picasa, Chrome and YouTube as well as the Google Analytics, Adsense and Adwords. Only last week they launched Nexus to rival the iPhone.
So what about the future? Will Google continue to dominate – an unstoppable behemouth in the digital world – with its almost limitedless financial resources?
With the appointment of the steady hand of Eric Schmidt as CEO in 2001 many say the future looks more secure. He is ‘the future’ of Google and is the darling of investors and shareholders alike.
In a recent interview he candidly admitted:
“We suffer [because] we are global, we touch a lot of things, we are disruptive, and we operate in information and people have a lot of opinions on that. I don’t think that will change. I think we have adapted to the role that we now play in the information industry that the role is one of innovation, disruption and still making the world a better place.”
Sounds good.
Resource: ipassielts.com
to be or not to be, that is the question
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For any actor there is probably only one part to aspire to in their theatrical career. To playHamlet can define you as an actor and ensure your legacy is forever talked and written about for generations to come.
Of course, it helps if you are famous to start with! Recently I saw Jude Law on stage in London in Shakespeare’s famous tragedy and was impressed. Jude Law - famous for his good looks and sex appeal - has recently had a patchy run of luck with his latest films. Nothing seems quite as successful as ‘The Talented Mr. Ripley’ when he played the playboy son of a shipping tycoon living a carefree life in Italy with his beautiful girlfriend on his father’s money. It was a part that saw him nominated for Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
So, did his portrayal of this Prince of Denmark mark a change in his theatrical fortunes? The character of Hamlet is difficult and complex; full of contradictions. How real is his madness? Is he consumed by grief at the death of his father? Does he really love Ophelia?
He shows Hamlet’s mental decline convincingly as well as his introspection – ‘to be or not to be’ – his rejection of Ophelia and rage against his mother. It is an intense, impassioned performance and it must be exhausting to be on the stage so much for almost 3 hours, but he certainly gives his all.
The audience were enthusiastic too. One fan described Jude Law’s performance as ‘totally absorbing’ and said ‘you get really drawn into the character and the cast are excellent’. It’ll be interesting to see how the New York audiences react when it opens there later this year.
Jude Law recently said of his acting “My only obligation is to keep myself and other people guessing.” However much you know about Hamlet I think he did that, which is the secret of any memorable performance of this play.
Resource: ipassielts.com
Of course, it helps if you are famous to start with! Recently I saw Jude Law on stage in London in Shakespeare’s famous tragedy and was impressed. Jude Law - famous for his good looks and sex appeal - has recently had a patchy run of luck with his latest films. Nothing seems quite as successful as ‘The Talented Mr. Ripley’ when he played the playboy son of a shipping tycoon living a carefree life in Italy with his beautiful girlfriend on his father’s money. It was a part that saw him nominated for Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
So, did his portrayal of this Prince of Denmark mark a change in his theatrical fortunes? The character of Hamlet is difficult and complex; full of contradictions. How real is his madness? Is he consumed by grief at the death of his father? Does he really love Ophelia?
He shows Hamlet’s mental decline convincingly as well as his introspection – ‘to be or not to be’ – his rejection of Ophelia and rage against his mother. It is an intense, impassioned performance and it must be exhausting to be on the stage so much for almost 3 hours, but he certainly gives his all.
The audience were enthusiastic too. One fan described Jude Law’s performance as ‘totally absorbing’ and said ‘you get really drawn into the character and the cast are excellent’. It’ll be interesting to see how the New York audiences react when it opens there later this year.
Jude Law recently said of his acting “My only obligation is to keep myself and other people guessing.” However much you know about Hamlet I think he did that, which is the secret of any memorable performance of this play.
Resource: ipassielts.com
Choices: is Big Brother watching you?
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In George Orwell’s classic book 1984, he predicted a society where everyone is under complete surveillance by the authorities and the phrase Big Brother is watching you, is a constant reminder of this.
Nowadays, if you live in the UK you might probably feel Big Brother has arrived with the constant ever-vigilant CCTV (Close Circuit TV) watching you almost everywhere you go.
There are an estimated 4.2 million CCTV cameras in Britain: more CCTV cameras in public spaces than any other country in the world and one for every 14 people. On average, an individual will appear on 300 CCTV cameras a day and those tapes are kept by many organisations for indefinite lengths of time.
Add to this facial recognition cameras and the introduction of the use of special listening devices which can be placed in lamp posts, street furniture and offices – the equipment can pick up aggressive tones on the basis of decibel level, pitch and speed at which words are spoken – and you soon realise that Britain is “sleepwalking into a surveillance society”, a warning that Richard Thomas, the information commissioner, gave in 2006.
Isn’t that enough? Apparently not as there was report this week that Police in the UK are planning to use unmanned spy drones, similar to those used in Afghanistan, for “routine” monitoring of antisocial motorists, protesters, agricultural thieves and fly-tippers, in a significant expansion of covert state surveillance. Principally this is for the 2112 London Olympics although they are developing a national drone plan.
Today, our movements and lives are watched or monitored in many ways including the systematic tracking and recording of travel and use of public services; automated use of CCTV; analysis of buying habits and financial transactions; and the monitoring of telephone calls, e-mail and internet use at home and in the workplace.
The level of surveillance will grow even further in the next 10 years as new technology and techniques are being used to gather a growing amount of information about UK citizens. The average person living in Britain has 3,254 pieces of personal information stored about him or her in one week, most of which is kept in databases for years and in some cases indefinitely.
Maybe fortunately, for reasons of cost, the Government seems to be having second thoughts on its plans to introduce a new system of biometric ID cards, including “biometrics” - fingerprints and iris scans - linked to a database of personal information.
So there you have it - every shopping trip, telephone call, card swipe, email sent and click of a mouse is being is recorded somewhere, and the information compiled and stored about Britain’s citizens. We are only missing telescreens in our living rooms to watch every move we make at home.
Should we have to live like this? There are concerns about the “creeping encroachment” on civil liberties created by this increasing intrusive surveillance into our daily lives. Some would argue that they - the authorities - are only safeguarding its citizens and protecting the public and you have nothing to fear if you are a law-abiding citizen going about your regular day-to-day business.
Is Big Brother watching you now?
Resource: ipassielts.com
Nowadays, if you live in the UK you might probably feel Big Brother has arrived with the constant ever-vigilant CCTV (Close Circuit TV) watching you almost everywhere you go.
There are an estimated 4.2 million CCTV cameras in Britain: more CCTV cameras in public spaces than any other country in the world and one for every 14 people. On average, an individual will appear on 300 CCTV cameras a day and those tapes are kept by many organisations for indefinite lengths of time.
Add to this facial recognition cameras and the introduction of the use of special listening devices which can be placed in lamp posts, street furniture and offices – the equipment can pick up aggressive tones on the basis of decibel level, pitch and speed at which words are spoken – and you soon realise that Britain is “sleepwalking into a surveillance society”, a warning that Richard Thomas, the information commissioner, gave in 2006.
Isn’t that enough? Apparently not as there was report this week that Police in the UK are planning to use unmanned spy drones, similar to those used in Afghanistan, for “routine” monitoring of antisocial motorists, protesters, agricultural thieves and fly-tippers, in a significant expansion of covert state surveillance. Principally this is for the 2112 London Olympics although they are developing a national drone plan.
Today, our movements and lives are watched or monitored in many ways including the systematic tracking and recording of travel and use of public services; automated use of CCTV; analysis of buying habits and financial transactions; and the monitoring of telephone calls, e-mail and internet use at home and in the workplace.
The level of surveillance will grow even further in the next 10 years as new technology and techniques are being used to gather a growing amount of information about UK citizens. The average person living in Britain has 3,254 pieces of personal information stored about him or her in one week, most of which is kept in databases for years and in some cases indefinitely.
Maybe fortunately, for reasons of cost, the Government seems to be having second thoughts on its plans to introduce a new system of biometric ID cards, including “biometrics” - fingerprints and iris scans - linked to a database of personal information.
So there you have it - every shopping trip, telephone call, card swipe, email sent and click of a mouse is being is recorded somewhere, and the information compiled and stored about Britain’s citizens. We are only missing telescreens in our living rooms to watch every move we make at home.
Should we have to live like this? There are concerns about the “creeping encroachment” on civil liberties created by this increasing intrusive surveillance into our daily lives. Some would argue that they - the authorities - are only safeguarding its citizens and protecting the public and you have nothing to fear if you are a law-abiding citizen going about your regular day-to-day business.
Is Big Brother watching you now?
Resource: ipassielts.com
Saturday, August 6, 2016
Choices: The parties we love to hate?
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Love it or hate it the UK General Election is here again.
On 6 May the British public will now decide who will be governing them for the next 5 years - or will they?
After three weeks of high-level persuasion by the various parties, the electorate will be given the chance to vote and choose a winning party, but the problem is that for this election it seems that nobody can be sure that any one party will win!
What’s happened? Well, it seems that the two main parties - the Labour party led by Gordon Brown, and the Conservative Party (also called the Tories) led by David Cameron - have seriously misjudged the mood of the country. They haven’t realised how fed up the British people are with their politicians who, as a result of revelations by a leading newspaper, were seen to be lining their own pockets and enjoying all the perks of being an MP – more than one house and huge expense accounts.
People want change and when Nick Clegg, the leader of the third party - the Liberal Democrats - started to offer real alternatives people started to be interested.
It all happened on a televised debate between the three leaders. The debate itself was a milestone as we have never had one before, but Nick Clegg turned the tables on the ‘old parties’ and showed the country that he had new policies and people could choose something new and different. His policies were all about ‘fairness’.
The opinion polls immediately showed that he had split the votes normally expected by either Labour or the Tories, and he seems to be able to maintain his popularity.
So as we approach Voting Day, the final result could be a hung Parliament – when no one party is the outright winner and the country could see a coalition government. Historically these have never been successful in Britain so we could also see new elections sooner than we think.
Whatever happens it looks as if British politics will never be the same again, but maybe we should wait to see what the British public really wants. Who knows, there could still be some more surprises yet to come.
Resource:ipassielts.com
On 6 May the British public will now decide who will be governing them for the next 5 years - or will they?
After three weeks of high-level persuasion by the various parties, the electorate will be given the chance to vote and choose a winning party, but the problem is that for this election it seems that nobody can be sure that any one party will win!
What’s happened? Well, it seems that the two main parties - the Labour party led by Gordon Brown, and the Conservative Party (also called the Tories) led by David Cameron - have seriously misjudged the mood of the country. They haven’t realised how fed up the British people are with their politicians who, as a result of revelations by a leading newspaper, were seen to be lining their own pockets and enjoying all the perks of being an MP – more than one house and huge expense accounts.
People want change and when Nick Clegg, the leader of the third party - the Liberal Democrats - started to offer real alternatives people started to be interested.
It all happened on a televised debate between the three leaders. The debate itself was a milestone as we have never had one before, but Nick Clegg turned the tables on the ‘old parties’ and showed the country that he had new policies and people could choose something new and different. His policies were all about ‘fairness’.
The opinion polls immediately showed that he had split the votes normally expected by either Labour or the Tories, and he seems to be able to maintain his popularity.
So as we approach Voting Day, the final result could be a hung Parliament – when no one party is the outright winner and the country could see a coalition government. Historically these have never been successful in Britain so we could also see new elections sooner than we think.
Whatever happens it looks as if British politics will never be the same again, but maybe we should wait to see what the British public really wants. Who knows, there could still be some more surprises yet to come.
Resource:ipassielts.com
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