How to improve your reading comprehension skills for exams Many young people read more than one book per year in order to get high marks at the reading comprehension test, but they usually don't get the results they want for the following reasons. On one hand, they usually don't choose well the books for that purpose. In general terms, we have two sets of books: commercials and not commercials. The commercial books have the purpose to entertain the lector, whereas the no commercial book has the purpose to change the way of the view of the reader and develop its critical thinking. Most young readers prefer commercials books due to the fact they aren't difficult to understand. On the other hand, for them is harder to get focus than before. Nowadays, we live around lots of information not necessarily relevant and we have more distractions close to us so that its more difficult do a more profound reading that demands a deeper text. It's a good idea to read more no commercial literature. At first, you have to think about a topic that is interesting to you. Then you could go to specialized libraries to ask about that subject. They will show you the diverse kinds of books that they have. Perhaps, you won't understand much because of the language is going to be more implicit than explicit. Nevertheless, if you being constant you're going to be able to understand faster and faster the book and, as a consequence, you'll reach higher marks in your exams. As a complement, you can find a peaceful place to read. This would help you to eliminate the distractions and keep concentrate while you're reading.

The most important invention of the 20th century On my humble point of view, the most important invention of the 20th century was the computer. It was created by the work of many scientists worldwide. Mathematicians like Alan Turing, who is considered the father of modern computers because he formulated the basic principle of the modern computer; or Charles Babbage, who is the father of mechanical computers. Computers have already spread around the world because of being practical devices. Hence its importance in the application in different areas such as medicine, engineering, and even social science. Furthermore, makes sense remark that without computers it wouldn´t be possible to develop technologies like smartphones, huge datebases, and internet. Turing´s machine has been evoling across the years, and as consequence has been making the world a more united and interconnected place.

Syphilis 1) Mystery, Death, and Succeed. That carried Syphilis to Europe and the world. About almost five hundred years ago (489), a professor named Hieronymus Fracastorius was investigating a weird disease that was spreading around Europe. Now also, he was writing an epic poem about a shepherd, called Syphilus, who insulted the Greek god Apollo, because he preferred to adore the king instead of the god. So, Apollo represented like a sun, punished the whole kingdom with a new horrible disease. After that, many people and the same Hieronymus linked Syphilis with the new virus. 2) Now, we don't know the origin of it. But, there're two popular hypotheses: Pre-Columbus and Columbus hypothesis. The second one says that when Columbus landed to Hispaniola, the Dominican Republic, and Haiti, Syphilis was already present there. Indeed, this fact has obtained relevance over the last years, due to scientist have already discovered skeletons and skulls with symptoms of Syphilis that date from more than eight hundred years ago, in other words, before the trip of Columbus. According to that, Syphilis is from the New World. 3) I'm going to tell you a story. This tale has two bands: the French Army of twenty-five thousand soldiers, and the Italian Army of just one thousand soldiers. On the first battle, the French Army won, so they made a big, filthy and messy party. However, in the second battle, they noticed strange eruptions in the French Army, more terrifying than leprosy. That's the first record of syphilis in Europe at 1495. 4) Four hundred year later, Paul Ehrlich, a German biochemist on the vanguard of pharmaceutical researches, developed a theory to explain the formation of antibodies, to fight the toxins released by the bacteria. Co-working with the Japanese bacteriologist Kiyoshi Shiga, they created "the Magic Bullets", a chemotherapy solution to fight Syphilis. Then, Paul won the Nobel Prize in Medicine for his theory, that was going to be a valued precedent to post- researches. Postcard: It's a PowerPoint presentation. Each paragraph represents a slide.

Student profile Tell us about you… Hello everyone! I’m Pedro. I’m from Lima, Peru. I’m doing a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics at Lima University, and it’s awesome. Besides that, the next year, I’ll apply to a job at Argentina or, probably, Colombia. I’m excited about that. I speak Spanish, but also I studied English at school. That was a great experience, due to the fact I learn a new language. I can write without troubles, although I’m not able to speak well. It’s something I have to refine, so as to be a capable speaker. How do you feel about this course? I feel upbeat because I’ve always loved Am. Films. Therefore, I’m looking forward to learning Am. Cinema. Also, I would like to talk about films with other students, which could be rewarding to myself. To end, I would like to improve my English quickly, so I have to practice it. What do you do when you’re not studying? I usually play tennis with my friends for one or two times per week. Also, I play golf every weekend, it’s relaxing in a certain way. Plus, I go to the gym at the university, in order to keep fit. Now, when I’m stressed for the exams or scores, I do yoga, it helps me to relax, and continue with my activities.

Trouble First of all, I have a task, and I have to write a text no more than 150 words. This text have almost 150 ( 153 words). "About two years ago, I used to go to work by bus, but I got stuck in the traffic for more than an hour. Until I saw my colleges ridding by on bicycles; that was a good idea, although I wasn't fit. Even though, I brought an old bike from a friend. To begin with, I was frightened of cycling on the road, since the cars and lorries. At first, I started cycling for about five to ten minutes at a park close to my house. After a while, I used to ride two kilometers from my house to local shops. Then, I started to go to the city center. Therefore, I used to cycle five kilometers per ride. In the end, I go everywhere on my bike, and I feel fit and healthy. I ride eight kilometers to work, it takes me 30 minutes, and I save half an hour a day." But. I wanted to express this. "About two years ago, I used to go to work by bus every day. However, I usually found myself stuck in a traffic jam for a whole hour, and that made me mad. Then one day, as I was looking out the window, I saw my colleges riding by on bicycles. That, I thought, was a good idea, but I recognized that I was not very fit. Still, I wanted to escape from the traffic jam, so I brought an old bicycle from a friend. At first, I was somewhat frightened of cycling on the road, not only because there are lots of cars and lorries, but also since I was inexperienced. So then, I started going to a park that is close to my house, to practice, in order to improve both my abilities and my confidence. I used to be able to only cycle slowly for almost five, then ten minutes, but soon afterwards, I started to go from my house to local shops. Therefore, I would then ride for two kilometers. After a while, I rode five kilometers from my home to the center of the city. So, now, I go everywhere on my bicycle, and I feel fit, healthy, and happy! I ride the eight kilometers to my work, it takes me just thirty minutes, I no longer sit in traffic on the bus, and I save half an hour per day! " The difference is notorious, so I would want to express the same but with less words.

Conversation M: What happened? I’ve been calling you for hours. Y: I’m really sorry I haven’t called you. However I was going to call you, but I couldn’t find my charger. M: There’s no excuse, you could borrow a charger to your colleagues. M: They don’t have an iPhone charger. Besides that, I had to work that much, due to one of my colleagues was fired yesterday. Therefore, now I have to deal with all his work. Y: Oh I see, well it’s not your fault. M: Thanks for understand, I didn’t mean to make you worry. "I would like to make it sounds more natural, what other phrases can I add? In order to improve it "

Blog: My experience learning how to ride a bicycle About two years ago, I used to go to work by bus every day. However, I always got stuck in a traffic jam for a whole hour, and that made me mad. Until once, I look out the window, and I saw my colleges riding bicycles. It was a good idea, but I was not very fit. I wanted to escape from the traffic jam, so I brought an old bicycle from a friend. At first, I was frightened of cycling on road, due to the fact there are lots of cars and lorries. Then, I started to went to a park, close to my house, to improve my abilities. I used to cycle slowly for almost five or ten minutes. Soon, I started to go from my house to local shops. So, I used to ride for two kilometers. After a while, I used to ride five kilometers from my home to the center of the city. In the end, I go everywhere with my bicycle. I feel fit, healthy, and happy. I ride eight kilometers to my work, it takes me just thirty minutes and I save half an hour per day.

Living to change About four years ago, I used to eat fast food almost every day, and I was overweight. I was not happy about myself, and I used to be sick. So I longing make a change. To begin with, I wanted to have better scores, and that implicates long hours studying all the topics of each subject. I didn't have time to take a breath, so I started to eat snacks and hamburgers instead of healthy food. Thus, I started putting on a lot of weight fastly. I used to go to the doctor every month, due to the fact I usually had allergies. So, after that, I notice that I needed to lose weight. When I was twelve, I used to run long distances with my father. So I started running twice per week, but I injured my low back after one month. I was awful, and after being treated, I couldn't run like before. After a while, I give up doing exercise, until, two years later, I started to go to the swimming pool. Soon, I could swim the whole pool without effort, and then I started to eat a healthy diet. In the end, I am not overweight anymore. Even though I do not like to do exercise, nowadays, I play basketball all the weekends, and that is how I keep in shape. I have ever felt better before.