WELLINGTON HOUSE Wellington Fanzine 2011
FANZINE 2011
INSIDE. British vs. American culture Do all the British drink tea? Recipes Gemma’s recipe to pass an exam www.Facebook.com/WellingtonHouseIdiomas
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Wellington Fanzine 2011
CONTENT LIST
RECIPES Gemma’s recipe to pass an exam By Gemma Vilella – Elementary - Constancia Recipe to survive at the office without stress By Rosa Giménez P. – Elementary - I tziar NIGHTMARES Kidnapped By David Callejas F. – PET - Lupe
Do all the British drink tea? By Joan Rejón – CAE Express - Sophie
Fish’n’chips or a burger? By Elisabet Valle R. – FCE - Rebecca ON HOLIDAY Orlando By Andrea Borraz R. – NEF Upper - Henry
The worst of my nighmares By María Pascual S. – PET – Itziar
Paris: the city of love By Elisabet González R. – NEF Upper - Caroline
Real or fictitious? By Víctor Alarcón M. – PET – Elly
Scotland By Júlia Gallego Vies – NEF Upper - I tziar
REVIEWS
HOW EMBARRASSING!
Empire earth II: Art of c onquest By Alex Torrubia O. – High Score 2 - Constancia
Never in my life had I felt as embarrassed By Laura Vilches M. – NEF Intermediate - Henry
Wii party By Lucía Cano G. – High score 2 - Lupe
MISCELLAN EOUS
Los sims II By Alba de Torres V. – High Score 2 - Henry
BRITISH & AMERICAN CULTURE British vs. American culture By Aurora Gascón P. – FCE - Elly
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The palace By Alexandra Pascual H. – CAE Gold - Ben Compound adjec tives By Antonio Alacalá R. – CAE Gold - Ben First Certificate in English By Vanessa Abad – CAE Gold - Fred
Wellington Fanzine 2011
RECIPES GEMMA’S RECIPE TO PASS AN EXAM By Gemma Vilella
You need: Many hours of study 100 gr. of concentration 200 gr. of motivation A lot of luck First , you find the motivation. Then you join the concentration and a lot of hours of study. Finally, you need to be very, very lucky. RECIPE TO SURVIVE AT THE OFFICE WITHOUT STRESS By Rosa Giménez Prats
It is the best recipe to survive everyday in your job without stress. In the morning you wake up with relaxing music and get up five minutes later. You have a cold shower and after you have a good breakfast. Then you go to work. When you‟re traveling by bus, underground or train it is very important to listen to your favorite music on your IPod. If your job is near you can walk. The fresh air is very good for you when you spend a long time in your office. It is very important that you never listen to the news. The news about the world are always bad and you get stressed out. Don’t forget to smile. When you get to work always smile and greet everybody, including your boss. Have a plant on your table so that when you are tired or angry you can take care of it. Don’t forget to smile. At lunch eat with other people and never talk about work. Another very important thing for this recipe: the boss at work is God. He has to believe that and then you can live your life. Don’t forget to smile. When you finish working your day starts. Now you are free to smile.
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Wellington Fanzine 2011
NIGHTMARES KIDNAPPED By David Callejas Font
The worst of my nightmares came true when I woke up and I saw that I wasn't in my bedroom. I was in a room with white walls, a door and a bed. I tried to remember what had happened but I couldn't. A man with a mask came into the room and gave me a loaf of bread and a glass of water and he said that it was my breakfast. I asked him why I was kidnapped but he didn't answer. The hours passed and I was bored and scared. I didn't have lunch. I sat on the floor and I saw that under the bed there was a little door with a lock and I remembered that the man had two keys. So I thought how to steal the keys from him. When he came to give me the dinner I insulted him and he walked towards me. When he was in front of me I put the hand in his pocket and I tried to grab his keys but I caught his mobile phone instead. I called the police and I explained what had happened to them. They traced the call and they came. They caught the criminal and I could escape. I went home and I tried to forget that terrible day. THE WORST OF MY NIGHTMARES CAME TRUE WHEN… By Maria Pascual Sánchez
The worst of my nightmares came true when I was walking in the street. There was nobody and it was very dark everywhere. I was playing with my mobile pone when I heard a scream. I turned around and saw a woman killing a boy. The woman saw me and started to chase me but I escaped. When I stopped I was very scared because I didn‟t know what I had to do. Suddenly I decided that I had to leave the country. Three days later I was in Sidney, in Australia. When I was thinking that the woman couldn‟t find me, I remembered that I had left a laptop with all the information about me in my house in Spain. So I had to return to my house the next day. When I arrived in Barcelona, I ran to my house to get the laptop. In the middle of the street there was a woman looking all around. I thought: “ Mmm… I know this person. Who is she? ” But I thought it wasn‟t important. Then I remembered who she was. “ Oh, no! She‟s the woman who wants to kill me because I saw her killing the boy”. Straightaway I ran to the police station to tell the policemen my story. Unfortunately, the police didn‟t believe me and I started to cry. But at that moment a girl came into the room and said that my story was true. At the end the policemen believed me and put the mysterious woman in prison. But one year later, the woman escaped from prison. Now, the woman is looking for me, but I‟m not in Spain. I‟m in… shhhhh… that‟s a secret! www.Facebook.com/WellingtonHouseIdiomas
Wellington Fanzine 2011 REAL OR FICTITIOUS? By Víctor Alarcón Morales
The worst of my nightmares came true when I went back home last Friday night. 28th January. It was a pretty normal day for me. In the morning I went to secondary school, in the afternoon I did all my homework and I watched TV and in the evening I went to the academy. After several hours of studying English, I went back home. Outside, everything seemed a little bit strange. People and cars were suspiciously quiet. People were walking too slowly, but a few seconds later everybody started to shout and run. I was really afraid, I didn‟t understand anything. I‟ve never felt as scared as last Friday night. I decided to return home quickly before anything happened again. While I was running home I saw lights in the sky, maybe they were spaceships, but I didn‟t have enough time to look at the sky. I had to save myself. When I arrived home, everything was broken. My house was totally destroyed. I didn‟t know what I should do, so I thought that maybe I could sleep in my neighbour‟s house (his door wasn‟t broken). I tried to open his door and, after several hits, I went inside. The house was very tidy. I decided to have a rest on the sofa and took a flashlight while my phone was recharging. During the night Barcelona became a ghost city. It was completely quiet and mysterious. I was absolutely alone in the darkness. I slept for a long time, I was very tired. 30th January. I woke up, but my watch wasn‟t working, so I didn‟t know exactly what time it was. I took the flashlight, the mobile phone (there was no coverage) and my wallet. I walked down the stairs to the street. Outside there was nothing alive: no plants, no people, no animals… The sun was shining too much. I needed water, something to eat and transport. Fortunately, after some hours walking, I found a supermarket www.Facebook.com/WellingtonHouseIdiomas
full of food and water. I stayed inside it for a long time thinking about possible solutions, but I didn‟t find any. The sun was shining more and more, it was really hot outside. I looked through the window of the supermarket and saw fire in the streets. “Is it the end of the world?” I thought. Maybe global warming was killing the Earth. However, I had to surviv e; I didn‟t want to die yet. Some hours later, the moon returned to the sky. The weather became colder than during the day but the streets were still very hot. I thought that sleeping inside the supermarket was a good idea. I felt safe inside. 1st February. This day was the worst I have ever had in my life. In the morning I got all the food and water that I could and went to the supermarket car park. It was quiet, without many cars. There was only a police car and a Bugatti with someone dead inside. I chose the French car and, the first thing that I did was to turn on the radio. It worked!!! All the channels said the same message: “The world is coming to an end; everybody has to come to El Prat airport as quickly as possible.” Quickly, I started the W16 and I went as fast as I could to El Prat. I didn‟t have time; the sun was starting to shine. After 30 minutes, I arrived at the airport. I quickly went in but it was empty. “I‟m dead”, I thought. The sun was shining more than yesterday; the streets were starting to burn. I wrote my story on a piece of paper and then I put it in a safe in a bank at the airport. 29th January. I woke up shouting. Everything had been a nightmare. “Today is Saturday”, I thought. The morning was normal, although in the evening, while I was watching the news I heard about a man who had found a strange piece of paper in the safe of a bank.
Wellington Fanzine 2011
REVIEWS EMPIRE EARTH II: ART OF CONQUEST By Alex Torrubia Ollero
If you‟re bored in your room and you‟ve got nothing to do, try Empire Earth II – Art of conquest, only for PC. It‟s a real time game, so you can play online too, against a lot of people around the world. It‟s about developing your favourite civilization from the past (Neolithic) to the future (Spacial age) trough the Romans, first world war, second world war… and destroy your enemies. This game is a bit interactive because you can learn (if you like) the system of attack of the past and the name of the heroes of ancient times. I think that this game is very complete and it has nice graphics. This game is like Age of Empires but more expanded and much more interesting.
WII PARTY By Lucia Cano Garcia
DESCRIPTION: This is a game that you can play different games with. This game is for Wii. Up to four people can play at the same time. It has a lot of minigames. My favourite minigame is the lucky rulet. POSITIVE POINTS (STRENGTHS): -It is good fun for all the family to play together. -You don‟t get bored with it. -There are over 90 mini games to play. -It is cheap. NEGATIVE POINTS (WEAKNESSES): -When you start you can‟t stop playing. -You can‟t play a lot because you have homework and exams. CONCLUSION: It is a very entertaining game. I recommend buying it because it is funny, it is cheap and it is educational…and more good things. You can buy it for only 49‟99€ with a Wii remote.
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Wellington Fanzine 2011
By Alba de Torres Viejo
Los Sims 2 is my favourite game because you can create your own family, play and have fun. First, you need to create a house; I usually build a big house with lots of floors and a big garden with a pool too. I always put a fireplace with a sofa in front of it. After that, I create a new kitchen, a living room, all the bedrooms, the bathrooms and a room with lots of games. I design another place to study, p lay the piano or, simply, to read. Then, when I finish the house, I go out of it and I create my family. It‟s funny creating your real family because they can have their real job and you can also build your real home. You can choose the colour of their eyes and their clothes and if you want, you can change their personalities too. You write the name of your family and play! Be careful! It isn‟t so easy, you need to work, the children go to school, and you need to pay your bills. If you want, you can hire a nanny or an assistant and if you have some plague, you can call an exterminator. There are police, fireman and unfortunately you can die. Of course, there are lots of tricks to win and that‟s addictive, but if it‟s just for fun, I think it‟s the best comp uter game in the world.
BRITISH & AMERICAN CULTURES BRITISH VS AMERICAN CULTURE By Aurora Gascón Pérez Although the USA was part of the British Empire until 1776 when they declared independence during the American Revolution and English is the language of the government in both countries, can we say that the British and the Americans speak the same language? Despite both countries sharing the same language, there are many important differences in vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation. If you have learnt English in the UK or you had a British teacher and you intend to go to the USA, you'll notice that the language is very different. Here are some differences:
If you want to take a taxi in the USA, you must ask for a cab.
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Wellington Fanzine 2011
In the buildings there are elevators, not lifts; the first floor instead of the ground floor.
You'll go shopping in a store instead of a going to a shop and you won't ask for a jumper, you'll ask for a sweater.
Would you like to go to a shopping centre and watch a film? Then go to the mall, park your car in the parking lot, not the car park, and then watch a movie.
The language in both countries has been influenced by immigration. Immigration from Latin America in the USA, and in the UK, from the colonies of the British Empire. For example, in the USA if somebody asks if you have carpetas at home, they are actually asking if you have any carpet at home. These new words are the result of mixing different languages with English.
OXYMORONS An oxymoron is a rhetorical figure in which incongruous or contradictory terms are combined, as in a deafening silence and a mournful optimist.
Original Copy Metal Woods (golf) Pretty Ugly Full Vacuum www.Facebook.com/WellingtonHouseIdiomas
Wellington Fanzine 2011 DO ALL THE BRITS DRINK TEA? By Joan Rejón
Some would say that stereotypes are not good, that we should always individualise before judging a group of people. Unfortu nately we can‟t help but generalize when talking about others. Do all the Brazilians actually dance samba and all the British drink tea? Stereotypes are made to englobe some ideas about a group of people. So when we think about different nationalities we do exactly the same. These generalizations are commonly based on their habits and the way they behave. But why should an entire community act the same way? Some of the main reasons that lead us to characterize nationalities are the geographic situation and the weather conditions that they live in. That would explain why we associate cold weather and rainy days with distant and serious people and, on the contrary, sunny and warm countries with joy and calmness. Following that logic, some drink vodka to cope with -20ºC and some have siestas to avoid the burning sun in the afternoon. Other reasons equally important are the social, cultural and economic context these countries have lived throughout history. How a devastated nation builds itself after a war and turns into one of the greatest might be explained through the sense of responsibility and the efficiency of that country in particular. The same thing happens with attributes like arrogance, which would be a consequence of domination and power, the same way that humbleness is an answer to misery and starvation. On balance, all these factors clearly influence the idea we have of people. So knowing a little bit about the different www.Facebook.com/WellingtonHouseIdiomas
countries, their history and their situation in general, we could guess why they typically drink what they drink. However, on a personal note, I‟d dare to say that there must be some British who actually prefer coffee.
FISH’N’ CHIPS OR A BURGER? By Elisabet Valle Risco
Fish&Chips or a burger, Potter or Kenobi, The Buckingham Palace or the White House, a pint or a coke. English or American culture? These countries are so different that it is difficult to choose one of them, but I prefer the European way. The main reason why I prefer England and not America are social benefits, especially public health. In Europe, you do not need to worry too much about the health of citizens because it is considered a basic need, and so the government pays for it. However, if you are poor, unemployed or do not have enough resources it is better not to live in Ohio because you will be paying for an X-Ray for an eternity. The second reason is the love that the Americans have for arms. You can buy any weapon in a mall after buying milk and cereal for breakfast. In addition, they have an area called “The Bible Belt” where you can find violence, religion and bigotry. Words which should never go together because they favour very dangerous situations. In conclusion, I prefer the English culture despite its monarchy. On the other hand, we must remember that the English settlers created North America. In the end, both share the same roots.
Wellington Fanzine 2011
ON HOLIDAY
By Andrea Borraz Ruiz
Let‟s begin with the location, Orlando is a major city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida and the total population is about 220.186 people. The most well-known attractions of Orlando are the amazing and thrilling rollercoasters. You can find them easily because there are lots! . Talking about theme parks, one of the best you can go to is Magic Kingdom, but if you like more exciting experiences you must go to Universal Studios and try the Hulk rollercoaster, you‟ll want to die from the moment it starts to move! If you are more interested in aquatic attractions you shall go to Water Mania, where I‟m sure you‟ll have a great time. Also, if you‟re one of those who like the beach more I recommend one of the most beautiful beaches of the world, Clearwater Beach( a quarter and an hour from Orlando) Now, shall we talk about how to move around Orlando? The worst way is by car because Orlando is a city with a lot of traffic and it would be a complete disaster. If you want to go to a near place the best way is to use a bike and do some exercise but if you have to go far, take a bus; it‟s quicker and less polluting.
PARIS: THE CITY OF LOVE By Elisabet González Requena
It is summer. That time of year when we all ask the same question…where should we go on holiday? I love travelling and my boyfriend does too, but we are both are a bit uncertain about where to go. Every year it‟s difficult for us to make a decision about our holiday destination. One Saturday afternoon, Daniel and I were sitting on the sofa having a tea and suddenly he said: How about Paris? First of all I thought that it was the most typical and obvious place to go. I wondered if maybe I would find it a little bit boring, but while he was searching for a flight and a reservation I started to build my hopes up for the city of love! Furthermore, he found cheap flights that were perfect for our budget, so we booked them. We started sightseeing on the second day of the holiday because we used the time after our arrival to look around the area. We were very excited to go around Paris and we started to www.Facebook.com/WellingtonHouseIdiomas
Wellington Fanzine 2011 visit Notre dame, which is the Paris cathedral. The worst thing I experienced there was the massive queue to go to the top. When we finished the visit we were so exhausted, but the cathedral was fabulous. In the afternoon, we went to Luxemburg gardens, a romantic place to go with your partner. It had beautiful green grass, big extensions and the most incredible thing…it had chairs! I‟ve never seen that before and for me it was so special because it tests people‟s honesty and I hoped that no one took one home! We also visited the Pantheon and the „Sacré Cour‟, a beautiful church with lots of people on the steps singing, it was so amazing! The visit you must do is to go up until the top floor of the Eiffel Tour. Although you may think that you have seen the view in many pictures, the view from the top is spectacular. I could write pages and pages reviewing that trip but here I can give you a tip of the places you can‟t miss: The Moulin Rouge, the Louvre Museum, the Concorde Square, opera house, L‟Arc du Triomf, the Champs- Élyséés, and especially for the people who are in love, a cruise by the river Seine at night, is simply the best! For the shoppers: don‟t miss Galleries Lafayette and the areas for souvenirs. My final advice is if you want to go and you don‟t have much time don‟t go to Catacombs and you need to find time to have dinner at the foot of the Eiffel Tour. Every 20 minutes you can enjoy a show of lights while you are eating something in the garden, it‟s wonderful! I recommend this holiday to everyone, it was a great experience for us. I hope my experience will be useful for you, take care!
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Scotland By Júlia Gallego Vies
Scotland is the most northern nation of the four ones that form the United Kingdom. Scotland is a very beautiful place that a lot of tourists choose for a journey. It‟s different from all the places in the world. In the Highlands, in the north, there are many natural green fields with lots of wonderful castles. This part of Scotland is the most popular and traditional where you can see a lot of people drinking typical whiskey, eating traditional food or telling legendary stories full of mystery. Scotland is the best place to go on a winter holiday with your family or your partner because you can breathe pure, fresh air. It‟s so nice! An island called Skye is a wonderful and charming zone to visit. There are a lot of old monuments full of legends and history, especially castles. It‟s a traditional island where people work basically making things by hand. It‟s the perfect place if you are looking for a calm and natural holiday to enjoy with your partner. You should go. It won‟t disappoint you because it‟s a wonderful place that you will never forget. It‟s a unique experience.
HOW EMBARRASSING! HOW EMBARRASSING! NEVER IN MY LIFE HAD I FELT AS EMBARRASED By Laura Vilches Molina
Never in my life had I felt as embarrased as when I first went to the University. I love sleeping and I hate getting up in the morning. Five years ago I started studing law at Pompeu Fabra University and I used to wake up at seven o'clock every day. It was horrible!!! One of those days I had an expounding at eight o'clock, but I felt asleep and at half past seven I was still sleeping. When I realized what the time was I got out of bed and I ran to the college. When I arrived there, all of my collegues were in class, so I sat down in last raw, in silence, without even taking my jacket off. Unfortunately the teacher saw me and I heard a voice saying: < Laura... I'd like to hear your speech...> 12
Wellington Fanzine 2010 I quickly took the jacket off and I ran to the blackboard and I thought: Come on teacher! I've just arrived! When I reached the blackboard all of my collegues were laughing. I didn't understand anything! I didn't know what was going on! They laughed a lot and I saw one of my collegues pointing at my T-shirt. Oh, my Godness!!! I had gone to class with the Snoopy pajamas!!! I wanted the earth to swallow me! It was very embarrassing! I won't forget that day ever!
MISCELLANEOUS THE PALACE By Alexandra Pascual
Palace of Versailles, 1758.
I had been dancing for hours. Although I always got extremely tired, I loved dancing in the Hall of Mirrors, my favourite place inside the magnificently luxurious palace. Afterwards, I went to my room to have a relaxing bubble bath. This time, unlike every Sunday evening, my fiancé wasn‟t waiting for me sitting next to the enticing golden bathtub, which he would have filled with petals of roses. Being part of the French aristocracy was fabulous: it allowed me to have everything I wanted, but why would I want anything if I couldn‟t share it with the one I loved? I didn‟t need sumptuous gowns anymore, because he covered me with warm dresses made of kisses; I didn‟t need the service of any musician, since the combination of his voice, breath and beat was the most charming melody I could ever hear; I didn‟t need a home either, as there was plenty of room in his comfortable, protective arms. I knew we were meant to be together from the very first moment: when he said his name, Jacques, it started spinning round my head, and I couldn‟t stop staring at his beautiful eyes. The world was frozen and I didn‟t want to be far from him anymore. Wise men say life is like a mountain: you start climbing and it gets harder as you are approaching the top. But once you reach it, you realize the struggle is worth it. So when our romance started, I realized I had been immediately transported to the top, as my life couldn‟t get any better. Now he was gone and I missed him to death. “Keep on dancing, my godlike ballerina, keep on dancing. I‟ll be waiting for you... forever.” These were the last words I heard from him. I spent the days 13
Wellington Fanzine 2011 wondering what he had meant and how long it would take until I saw him again, so I just danced, as he wanted me to. After the bath, I combed my hair and smartened up, as we had “ladies dinner” on Fridays. I never liked those reunions, but I could stand spending two hours w ith those boring women. Now, the situation was getting more and more unbearable, especially because Madame Dubois had a very particular personality, always telling everyone how to live their life and that pissed me off. That day I decided to be quiet. I wo uld just nod my head, looking as though I was listening. However, my plan didn‟t work as I had imagined. For some reason, I turned into the center of attention. Sentences like “Chloé, my dear, how are you dealing with… well, you know, your… “situation”?” or “Chloé, you are beautiful and young, you do not have to ruin your life like this… don’t you think it is time for you to move on? Word is there’s a handsome gentleman interested in you…” disconcerted me. What did they want to tell me? The way they talked… it sounded like if Jacques was dead! “Well ladies, I feel sorry for this handsome gentleman, but I am afraid he won’t ever meet me. I am going to marry Jacques very soon, so it is definitely not happening. He’d better forget me.” I replied. All of them gave me a sorrowfully gaze. I even heard Liz, a very shy and polite girl, whispering to the one sitting beside her: “poor Chloé, it must be so hard to get over something like this on your own…” Though I never cared what people said or thought about me, that time their twisting words filled me with doubt. Out of the blue, I found myself having a frenzy. I was about to collapse. Letting my chair fall to the floor, I rushed to the garden. I needed some fresh air or, truth be told, I needed to fade away. I ran a s fast as I could, without knowing where I was going. I just needed to find a place to hide from the world, a world that had turned into hell. I stopped to stare at the lovely, starry sky and acting utterly mad, I burst into tears and started speaking aloud: “Where the hell are you, Jacques? Why did you have to leave me? Why did you have to give me everything and then left me yearning for more? Why did you have to speak so cryptically? I am lost. I need some answers and I need them now!” Somehow, I clumsily tripped over a stone, falling to the muddy ground and getting my gown, skin and hair dirty. I felt something running through my veins, something unpleasant but relaxing at the same time.
Sunlight Hospital,
Mental 2011.
It was my first day working as a nurse. Of course I knew that job meant dealing with very strange situations, but I would have never foreseen what I was facing: Right in front of a fountain in the middle of the yard, an old woman was lying on the grass, acting like if she was dying. Not to mention how weird her appearance was. I thought patients were supposed to wear white straitjackets and be locked in their rooms. “Oh, this is your first day here, right? I‟m Mandy. Nice to meet you.” Before I could introduce myself, she carried on telling me a very interesting story. “That woman you‟re staring at is Kyla, better known as Chloé Rousseau. She‟s very entertaining, I‟m sure you‟ll love her. Everybody here does. Well, except from “Madame Dubois”.” Mandy began to speak so damn fast that I couldn‟t follow the whole story. She was that kind of gossip-but-innocent girl, so I assumed we would be great partners. 14
Wellington Fanzine 2011 “Who‟s Madame Dubois?” “Well, that‟s how Chloé calls Mrs. Campbell, our boss. And you‟ll see why Chloé doesn‟t like her soon, very soon. So, Chloé is the veteran here. She is now 62, but she was confined when she was only 18. Her story is very romantic, but pretty sad at the same time. She lives in her imaginary world. She was so obsessed with the baroque style that she got to the point of believing she was part of it. She thinks she‟s an extremely talented and young ballerina living in Versailles. Kyla does the same routine day after day. She daydreams she dances really early in the morning, then she has a bubble bath before having “ladies dinner”. Finally, she runs to the garden to talk to her dead fiancé. In fact, the only thing that coincides with her reality is that part. Her fiancé died before they got married and she never got over it.” I couldn‟t say a word, mainly because she wouldn‟t stop talking. I didn‟t know how she was able to speak so fast without suffocating. “You‟re impressed, aren‟t you? Anyway, don‟t you think her story is amazing? I mean, being driven to insanity just because of love. This must be true love. Sometimes I wish I could get inside of her mind, just to see her fantasies. It‟d be so freaking awesome!” I got terrified. I didn‟t know who was crazier, my mate or the patient herself. The only thing I was sure about was that if I kept on working there, I‟d end up being even nuttier than them. “We‟ll have to take her to her room. They‟ve just given her a shot of morphine.” COMPOUND ADJECTIVES By Antonio Alacalá Rubira
When I was a child I usually created objects, so I considered myself to be a selfmade man. I began with simple decorative and useless things. Sometimes they seemed to be simple and old-fashioned but other times my friends told me they were extraordinary. Once, I participated in a contest where my so-called gadget had no chance of winning, but I finally won because judges considered it to be a quick-witted and different toy for kids. It was much acclaimed by everybody. Between the age of thirteen and fifteen, I was a little depressed and all of the gadgets were last-minute things, prepared in short-term periods. It was because of my teenage years, I was not a very level-headed boy. I had some silly things in my mind and sometimes I was like a child. This was the worst period of my life. Then everything got better, and when I was eighteen, a famous engineer n amed Peter found by chance one of my gadgets in my final project at school. He gave me the opportunity to take part in a project for his company. We connected very well and it seemed to be a long-standing relationship from the first moment. In the beginning I was very shocked, it was very difficult to believe that it had happened to me, it was farfetched. It was very different from school. It was a long-term project where I had to design innovative air-tight containers for food. I had left those teenage years behind me. I was prepared for this challenge, and finally I felt like a strong-minded adult, beginning a new chapter of my life. All of a sudden I was a rich man being part of a multinational design company that made innovative designs for different companies around the world. It could be said that my designs were successful and eventually mass-produced.
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Wellington Fanzine 2011 First Certificate By Vanessa Abad
It was nine o‟clock in the morning on a beautiful sunny day. The date of the second part of my First Certificate exam had finally come. I had done the speaking and listening exam a week before; however, I still remember that at the beginning of the second part I had butterflies in my stomach. Firstly, when I think about my experience in the First Certificate exam, I can‟t help remembering my frustration after doing the listening paper. It was like playing the lottery because I couldn‟t understand a single word. Secondly, there were two sentences which automatically came to my mind: „If you want to go to the toilet, put your hand up and a invigilator will accompany you’ and „Please write in pen, not in pencil, I repeat in pen please, not in pencil‟. How many times were the words pen and pencil repeated? I‟m not sure, but if the speakers in the recording had spo ken as slowly and clearly as that woman, I would have got an excellent mark for sure. Despite the fact that the second part of the exam was quite long and it had some tricky questions, I felt very lucky when I saw the writing exam because it was about one of my favorite topics, travelling. When I finished the exam I felt relieved because everything was over and I had done my best. Had I passed the exam? In that moment, I didn‟t care about it. I had to admit that I worked really hard to prepare for the exam and my mind didn‟t accept the possibility of failing it. That is why very few people, just some close friends of mine, knew that I was going to take the exam. However, this is a small world! After finishing the exam, as I was walking down the street, I bumped into two university classmates who had taken the exam as well, three colleagues and my lovely aunt with my cousins. So, it was impossible to keep my exam in secret but, fortunately, now I can say that I passed my First Certificate Exam!
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Wellington Fanzine 2011 SCHOOL YEAR 2010 / 2011 - FCE/CAE STARS! LIYA YE HU – LIJIE YE HU – JESUS RODRIGALVAREZ GARCIA – JOSHUA HURTADO JOVEN – MA. JULIA CABRERA ARREBOLA – ALFONSO PELEGRIN RELLAN – ALEJANDRO GARCIA MUÑOZ – ANDRES AZNAR RODRIGUEZ – EDGAR GUARDIA NAVARRO – ANTONIO ALCALA RUBIRA – ALEXANDRA PASCUAL HERMAN – NURIA VALLEJO RIUS – SERGIO FERNANDEZ RUBIO-ASENSIO – JORDI MOLINER MARTINEZ – JULIA BACARDIT CRUELLS – JOSEP GOMEZ MARTI – PATRICIA SANZ PERERA
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Wellington Fanzine 2011
Winners’
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Astrid Saritupac Delia Seriol Quiñones Alex Torrubia Ollero Alicia Fernández Jiménez David Callejas Font Víctor Alarcón Morales Gemma Vilella Laura Vilches Elisabeth González Requena Vanesa Abad Muñoz Aurora Gascón Pérez Alexandra Pascual Herman Antonio Alcalá Elisabet Valle Risco Congratulations to all of you!
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Wellington Fanzine 2011
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