A TV show review. Practice for the CAE exam! :) The Strain Review It is true that you can find many vampire TV shows, which are growing in popularity throughout the years, but is also true that the purpose of almost all of them is to show a romantic story where vampires are the main characters. However, The Strain focuses in a different perspective, where vampires are terrible monsters that are spreading along New York City. In addition, these vampires are becoming real due to a type of disease produced by an ancient vampire who has reached the USA. Now, the main characters have to fight against this enemy in order to save humanity. Originality of this TV show Although these TV shows could be similar in plot and developing, The Strain is quite different from the typical vampire stories. Firstly, we could talk about the aspect of the vampires, which are represented by ugly and monstrous faces, with a large tongue that they use to kill their victims, instead of the typical fangs found in any vampire story. Secondly, we found the approach made by the creator, Guillermo del Toro, which is focused on a psychological development hardly seen in other TV shows. The aim of The Strain Apparently, the creator of this drama wanted to prepare a TV show where the vampires were as terrifying as possible, and in my opinion, he has achieved it. From that point, he wanted to create an adult plot, adding a spectacular atmosphere which could provoke a total immersion within the story. Recommendations and achievements of this TV show In my humble opinion, this TV show totally achieves its goal, creating a marvellous environment, with extraordinary characters living in a dreadful place. I totally recommend this magnificent story to anyone who wants to feel either frightened or fulfilled with an incredible plot.

A Report. Practice for the CAE exam :) Open Day in our International College Introduction The purpose of this report is to make comments and recommendations about the different events that are going to take place in the Open Day of our International College. Opening speech The aim of the opening speech is clear: to provide a perfect opening to the Open Day, so it has to be done properly. I would like to remark that whether we want to offer a different perspective, we should allow a former student to make the speech, giving the assistants the chance of listening to a real experience lived by one of our students. Food provided Although having the canteen opened for everybody would be a marvellous idea, I think it would be better to offer our public a different possibility, which would be the chance of tasting different international dishes, cooked by our students. I would recommend it in order to show our assistants the variety of students we have, and their total integration in this college. The importance of a demonstration lesson I would advise performing a complete lesson within one of our main classrooms in order to show the public how is to attend a class in our centre, the quality of it or just to show the abilities of our qualified professors. The perfect guide for the day Finally, I would like to recommend the presence and guidance of one of our best students, Martin Finch, which has incredible spoken abilities. Therefore, he would be a great host to show our magnificent facilities.

Essay. Practice for the CAE exam :) Essay: Our appearance, the way we dress, etc., reflects who we are. It is therefore important to be consistent in the style we adopt throughout our lives. Fashion trends have been an important matter within our society. Its importance is growing each day, and now we can observe how a person could be defined by its way of dressing. It is known that a wide part of the population have always in mind the necessity of wearing the latest fashion product, in order to feel attached to the latest style, even if they have to spend a lot of money on it. On the one hand, this could lead to a lack of personality due to the need of having the best product available in the market, just to show that you are better than the others. On the other hand, a person could have its own style, and this could be reflected by the acquisition of the clothes that each person loves. In addition, a lot of reasons could be summarized, either from the point of view of a fashion victim or from the thought of a person who just want to follow a specific style. The importance of being consistent following one style or another should be decided by each person individually. However, the advertisements that the big companies are always displaying throughout the year, makes it difficult to follow, due to the weak minds that mostly teenagers have while watching the new commercial of their favourite singer. In my humble opinion, even if the firms want us to wear or to buy the products they create, we should be stronger than that so that we could follow our own judgement while buying something. Therefore, our own style regarding fashion should be selected by our own likes, avoiding the rules of the most powerful.

A contribution to a tourist guide. Practice for the CAE exam :) The Undiscovered Spanish Countryside It is known that Spain has a marvellous range of historical cities, with breath-taking monuments and art pieces that are appreciated around the planet. The problem is that these places are normally overcrowded, which has provoked tourists to look for a different place to spend their holidays in this country. One of the most interesting possibilities could be the visit and exploration of the Spanish countryside, which has to offer incredible things that may be unknown for the majority of the population. What could be done on a countryside holiday? Countryside in Spain offers a wide range of enjoyment. Visiting the different highlands and mountains available throughout the country, with its wild life and its marvellous nature, should be one of the obligatory stops in any tourist program. Also, tourists should walk through the lovely spanish forests to breath the fresh air and to feel that they are more than alive. Places where you could sleep within the countryside Although the accommodation found in the countryside it is not going to be as if you were sleeping in a five stars hotel, tourists that have had the chance of sleeping in campsites or even in the open air, have found the peacefulness of nature as one of the most beautiful things ever lived About the weather The weather conditions that can be found within the countryside could vary due to the time of the year. What is advisable is to go in summer in order to enjoy nature thanks to the good temperatures, the sun and the lack of rain that it normally happens during this period. You will enjoy it as an unbelievable experience, either going there alone or being part of a group. Isabel.

A contribution to a longer piece. Practice for the CAE exam! :) Berlin beer festival I will talk about a beer festival that takes place in one of my favourite cities in Europe, Berlin. The festival is visited by thousands of people on the first weekend of August. The origins of the festival The festival has its origins in the early 90s, when the city mayor decided to create a festival where the national drink could have an important role during the summer. The community accepted it and celebrated the fact proudly, knowing that it would be a marvellous party for all the people of the area. What happens within the festival? This celebration is placed in one of the main streets of Berlin, the Karl Marx avenue, which has an impressive length. What’s more, the festival itself has a size of three kilometres, the biggest in Germany. From Friday to Sunday, you can find not just the beers created in Germany, but also the most important made throughout the world. Food, music and funny people fill the entire avenue and a great experience is always possible, even if you are alone. Its importance nowadays It is also important to talk about its growth throughout the years. It started as a little festival, but today is one of the most impressive that you can find anywhere. If you are a beer lover, you will feel amazed, impressed and fulfilled with the variety of drinks, the people enjoying the place and the unique experience that this great festival has to offer to any adult.

An Article! Practice for the CAE exam :) The college film club: The perfect place for film lovers! If you love watching films, enjoying marvellous stories or feeling the happiness of an impressive ending, you would be totally happy whether you join our film club. I will try to summarize the possibilities that our community offers and why you should think about joining us! First of all, I would like to resume the most important activities that take place in our little society. On Mondays, you will discover our incredible college theatre, which is performed professionally and with all the effort in the world, showing different plots and stories that are truly spectacular. The rest of the week, you will find a wide variety of films involving different styles that are selected by each member of the club. What’s more, at the end of each film, we create a few discussions among us in order to talk about the quality and characteristics of the film watched. The talks are in English so that we could improve our spoken abilities. You should know, though, that we are constantly improving our programs, so that next year we could be the best film club of the city. On the other hand, our club offers different options that can be enjoyed by our members. A Coffee bar is available for everyone interested, and it is open until late in the evening! It is also amazing the chance of having guest speakers talking about their knowledge of any interesting film. All of this together is a great way to make new friends, which is perfect if you are not from this region. We would like to invite all the people interested in joining us, and we would be delighted if you could be among us in order to enjoy this fabulous experience.

An article. Practice for the CAE exam :) Fashion and changing lifestyles: Its importance in our society We all know that fashion is an important matter within our society,. When we think in fashion, we probably think about products such as clothes, sunglasses, jewellery and so on. However, I think that fashion involves not only products that we could wear but our personality, depending on the place where we live or the people that are around us. It is obvious that people are totally dependent of the latest tendencies regarding fashion. What’s more, a lot of people are always waiting for the new t-shirt or the last dress that a famous actress has dressed during a special party. In this process, the mind is really important. Our thoughts are totally influenced by this, and we usually cannot fight against it. It is sad to say but we are dominated by fashion tendencies, and our society adapts to it even if there is no need to do it. Therefore, we can say that our lives are controlled by these changes, by this fashion trend that is growing without an end. In the past, our grandparents weren’t dominated by these tendencies. They were used to wear whatever they found in their shops due to the lack of usefulness that this aspect had for them. They were smarter than us, because they were thinking about more important things such as food or work. As we see, this comparison between both epochs, shows the changes that fashion has had through society. Also, we can observe how our preferences has changed, but not improved. Could we say that we are not as smart as our ancestors? Maybe in that aspect they were better than us. We should deeply think about it, due to the weird aspects that we have on mind most of the time. If we want to improve as society, fashion should be an small aspect in our lives.

A report. Practice for the CAE exam :) Careers' conference experience Introduction The purpose of this report is to explain the experience lived in the careers' conference, the positive and negative aspects of the meeting, and to make recommendations for improvements. The experience We had the opportunity to live a marvellous experience regarding the different jobs that a college student can choose related to the degree that a person is studying. The future lawyers, nurses or entrepreneurs were amazed by the quality of the exhibition. The conference allowed us to observe a wide variety of aspects that have to be taken in consideration while choosing a job. The exhibition was incredible due to the experts that were attending us during the journey. They were kind, bright and wise, giving people the opportunity to be answered and helped in any way possible. Positive and negative aspects of the conference Firstly, the most important aspect observed during our experience was undoubtedly the talks related to law, which were the most useful for us. We were delighted for the logical and valuable talks made by law experts in their posts, which especially helped us in our idea of following a law career. Secondly, we should talk about the negative aspect suffered by a group of students in the conference, which was the lack of people attending careers less known, such us technology or computer science. It was noticeable that language or history students had more experts available than science students. Recommendations I strongly recommend bringing more experts related to the science area, due to the lack of people that the college students of these areas found in the conference. Finally, I would like to recommend this conference to any university interested due to the opportunities enjoyed throughout the visit.

A letter of application. Practice for the CAE exam :) Dear Mr Compton, I would like to apply for the job offered in your website, to be a care taker of the little island that you proudly own. I have been patiently waiting for the appearance of a job like this, and I would be truly grateful if you could give me that opportunity. Firstly, I would like to summarize the skills and abilities that I have accomplished throughout the years in order to be able to be a part of your community. I have been studying the wild life, rainforests and nature for the last six years, and I have been named as one of the youngest experts in this area of expertise, by the Santiago University. Secondly, I have skills in diving, swimming and trekking that would allow me to cover the entire island and its corners without any kind of problem. However, to be more accurate, I am going to send you my official degrees and courses within this letter, so that you can see directly if its worth your attention or not. On the other hand, I have been talking with a member of your staff, and I have received a positive feedback from the human resources area. They were kind and generous to me, listening to my thoughts and ideas as if they were very interested. Finally, I would like to express my total admiration for the job that your company is doing in that marvellous island. I look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience. Yours sincerely, Isabel.