Opinion Essay

Why is it important to stay informed? (Newspaper, TV...)

News is a very important part of our daily life, but as important news is, as quickly it changes. Because of this it is very difficult to know the most important and latest news in politics, society, culture… Because of these changes is it really important to stay informed? Yes, it really is and in the following three reasons I want to explain why.

My first reason why it’s important to stay informed is that having conversations is much easier with a good knowledge about what’s going on in our world. When you are up-to-date you can make your own opinion for example about the shutdown of Guantanamo and you are able to discuss this topic with other people. Without this knowledge you couldn’t really join the conversation and the people around you could think that you’ve got no interests in the society or that you are not intelligent. Moreover I would say that staying informed is an advantage in job interviews.

The second advantage is that staying informed can save lives. Last week there was much fresh snow and the danger of avalanches rose up, sometimes even to the highest level. Many skiers and people who love alpine touring like this fresh snow and also like skiing next to the slopes which often causes avalanches. But if the danger of avalanches is reported in the news and the sportsmen stay informed they get to know the level of the danger. Even if there are still too many avalanches I think there would be more if so many sportsmen wouldn’t stay informed.

The third point of why it is so important to stay informed is that we live in a democracy and I would say at least we should be informed about the changes and news in our country. Like adults teenagers should try to know the latest news in our country. Because especially when they are entitled to vote they should know which party they want to support and what this party stands for. Otherwise another shift to the right could be possible as it was after the last elections in Austria.

To conclude, I would say that it isn’t difficult to stay informed because of all the newspapers, TV and especially the internet. You just have to try it. Of course you won’t be able to follow all the news and updates, but you should find out which news are important for you and then you try to stay informed because it can make your life easier during interviews, conversations and it also can save your life.

Graph Description

This graph shows a comparison of the Euro-quotation in October 2008. 22 days of October 2008 are indicated on the x axis, on the quote of the Euro is indicated on the y axis. You can see that there was a downward trend over the period. From October 6th – 8th there’s a steady hold, but from October 9th -11th it drops. Until October 14th the quote climbs up and stabilizes with a downward trend.

Letter of application

Ruth Cupcake
201 Kings Road Arches
Brighton BN1
Great Britain

February 1st, 2009

Archaeologically Headquarters China
XYZ Archaeology
87 Pyramids Road
Xi’an, CA 08065
(909) 555-5555

Dear Sir/Madame,

Application for the archaeological excavations in China

I would like to apply for the job advertised in the magazine "as." . As requested I am enclosing a completed job application, my certification, my resume and four references.
The opportunity presented in this listing. I believe that my strong and early experiences with excavations and the following education and my knowledge of China will make me a very competitive candidate for this position. The key strengths that I possess for success in this position include:

• I have successfully worked at excavations in Vorarlberg for five years.
• With these experiences and the ECDL I have experiences in learning and working with universal surveying instruments.
• I strive for continued excellence and patience.
• I have been four times in China and learned much about their culture and language and I am interested in learning more.
  
  
  Please see my resume for additional information on my experience
  I can be reached Monday - Friday, 07:00am-10:00pm, via my cell phone111-111-1111. I would welcome the opportunity to discuss my application with you. I look forward to hearing from you.
  
  Sincerely yours,
  Ruth Cupcake

Encl.: CV, References,...

Boyz n the Hood

Group 3:

Describe the socio-economic situation that those African – Americans live in! What is meant with “Gentrification”? (Styles explains it to his son)

• Poverty is related to drinking and drugs; which is also one reason why there are many unemployed blacks.
• Many people there are uneducated, poor, but not everyone (--> e.g. Furious Styles: he's got money, could move away and live a life like Tre's mother --> but doesn't want to because he wanted to show that he's black and belongs to them)
• Rage: is very common --> like vicious circle (Tre's friend is killed --> his brother kills the murderers --> 2 weeks later he dead too; and so this goes on and never stops); because it's so common no one is really sad when somebody is murdered (except family and friends)
  --> emotional blunting
• Many women become children and don’t know who the father is or have children from different fathers
• In the movie there are different career options --> e.g. sport, crime… (with sport you could rise up in society, but many just want to be good at something, but don't want to learn how to do it)
• Some people live in welfare because of children
• Aspect of crime: crime, violence, guns… are important
• Drugs tent to be everywhere
• Because of guns --> gang wars (gangs are huge and very powerful --> like mafia) --> always black gangs against black gangs or blacks;
  Furious says that the government wants all the guns and liquor in the hood --> that's the way blacks are not able to repoduce themselves.
• Religion: Furious Styles is a Muslim --> everything he is eating, doing, saying is indicated by his religion (he is a Black Muslim; Black Muslims say that blacks don't know how to live in a family because of the slavery)
  
  


• Gentrification:
  1. white, expensive, middle class
  2. black middle class
  3. richer people move out
  When blacks in neighbourhood: less demand on houses --> white people move away, poor people move in --> becomes a place no one wants to live in; blacks kill blacks; area where you get drugs, poor area --> poor education --> neighbourhood becomes horrible.
  Now: rich, white companies “estate developers” move in this area, buy the houses and build expensive houses --> blacks can’t afford it --> back at stage #1
  
  (like in Austria: a house with Turkish people is cheaper because Austrians don’t want to live there)
  

Correction of the 1st exam

The Struggle for Beauty

Nowadays beauty and how you can achieve it is an often discussed topic. Especially because of the rising number of people who want to change or achieve beauty by dieting, wearing the latest fashion or getting plastic or cosmetic surgery, I want to write about the pros and cons and my own attitude to the topic.

There are many people who think in a good way of the struggle for beauty.
Everybody looks different. Some are more beautiful, others are less. So there are many people who don’t feel comfortable or don’t have much self-confidence especially after an accident or because of an inborn disease like a cleft lip. Fortunately nowadays there are many ways to achieve the ideal of beauty even for those people and so they are able to live a normal life after plastic surgery and become more self-confident, but there are also several other ways to feel beautiful and not like an outsider. Even the latest fashion or a diet can change your self-esteem so you don’t have to get surgery to look beautiful.

On the other hand to become more self-confident because of plastic surgery, diets… many people often take a chance of terrible pain and risks. One big venture is that many girls who are still growing want to undergo surgery to look better and more beautiful, but when they grow the scars can cause terrible pain. Another risk is that there are way too many plastic surgeons who often do a botched job. But not only plastic or cosmetic surgeries are dangerous, also many women become anorexic because of the ideal of beauty that is shown in the media.

In my opinion the struggle for beauty isn’t necessary because I oppose to change my body just to fit the ideal of beauty. I’d say it is important how your character is and not your looks, but because of the struggle the real beauty is gone nowadays.

To conclude, on the one hand it’s good to change your body to have a normal life, but on the other it’s bad if you just do it to fit the ideal of beauty or society. Maybe the ideal of beauty should be changed by society because to change a society doesn’t have as many risks as the struggle for beauty. It just would make all the people feel better and they would have more self-esteem. So they would all be really beautiful because real beauty comes from within.

Letter of complaint

Ruth Cupcake
201 Kings Road Arches
Brighton BN1
Great Britain

4th December 2008

RTL Television GmbH
Bachweg. 10a
50858 Köln

Dear Anke Schäferkordt,

Complaint about women in RTL adverts

Since some weeks I am noticing a negative trend of showing a wrong ideal of women in your commercials which is the reason for my letter. I think that you show women in your adverts whereby the audience becomes a wrong ideal of women.

Because of my job there isn’t much time left for watching TV, but when I turn it on I notice that your channel has many adverts in which the wrong kind of women are presented. Those women who are allowed to appear in your commercials look like the often discussed models in the fashion industry. They all are young, often look anorexic, and their look is perfect, even if they are cleaning a house in the adverts. In my opinion the society is influenced by such commercials and that’s one reason why especially men, but also women, think that a woman should look anorexic and should wear high-heels while doing the laundry.

Therefore I hope that these commercials, which are very sexist, are banned because that could be a way to put the ideal of women in perspective. The real woman or housewife should be shown.

Sincerely yours,
R. Cupcake

Group 1: "Cosmetic (plastic) surgery"

Pro:
-when you’ve got an accident and are disfigured you could try to get back (nearly) your look before it back.
-when you’re inborn with something (e.g. a hair let): with a surgery you could have a more normal life
-when you’re ill (e.g. breast cancer) you’re able to rebuild parts of the body
-If you’ve got mental or physical problems with your look or get bullied because of it a surgery could help
-when you’re very unhappy with your looking, get discriminated and can’t live longer with your body surgeries could help.

Con:
-when you’re too young and still growing a plastic surgery could destroy your body or cause pain
-it’s becoming normal to have a plastic/cosmetic surgery, but you don’t think about the risks
-it’s dangerous too because there are too many incompetent surgeons who do a botched job
-often it’s just a waste of money (money could be used e.g. for poor people…)
-after a plastic surgery most of the patients have an unnatural look
-young people with surgeries might change their opinion about this decision when they’re older

Additional thoughts:
-plastic surgeries shouldn’t be that usual as nowadays
-people who consider a plastic/cosmetic surgery should be more sceptical
-society should change the meaning of beauty  old age should be accepted
-especially teenagers shouldn’t try to imitate their idols
-more working places, more hospitals are built


Anna, Larissa, Ruth