S. Müller 2013 14
Englisch
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Written exam: May 8, 2019 Colloquium: May 20- May 31, 2019
April 1-April 5, 2019: Read non-fictional text of Abitur 2013
[I will ask questions on the information of the text on April 8, 2019!]
PLEASE have the book by January 23, 2019 Mohsin Hamid "The Reluctant Fundamentalist" (CORNELSEN) Price 8.99 €
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Political System USA
MEDIATION on using voting machines
Hi Harry,
How are you doing? I guess you must be a bit concerned right about know. With all the news we hear about what is going on in your country, I would be worried, too. it seems that you cannot really rely on your government or even the devices that elected them into office as these voting machines aren't doing a very good job apperently. In fact, I've read that most of them lack a common safety standard or are very old, so they can indeed not be relied upon anymore.
Even if they are newer though, there is a high risk of them being hacked as some hackers have proven when getting access to the system in under two minutes. The machines don't even need to be hooked up to the internet because hackers can infect the memory cards which are used in the machines beforehand. These cards are usually programmed by small contractors outside the government, so it is easy to send a virus to their publicly accessible e-mail address and this way hack the machines. The consequence of the hack can be manyfold. In some states they reported that the machines had given votes to candidate A even though people had voted for candidate B. Of course, this can be the result of a malfunctioning machine or human error and doesn't necessarily mean that the device was hacked, but it isn't good either way.
To prevent that from happening machines should print physical records of the votes given, so people can check if there have been any manipulations and launch an investigation, according to experts. Otherwise, it would be hard to prove any wrongdoing which would be a threat to your democracy, especially if a hostile state tried to gain influence by hacking your elections. I say only: Russia and the presidential elections in 2016.
That might be the reason why a court in your home state has ruled voting machines without paper records unconstitutional. A good start, if you ask me. Having found out so much about the risks of using voting machines, I guess, I am quite happy with ballot papers, which we use in our elections. Maybe you can talk to your representative and find out even more. I would be interested in getting more information as I consider this an important issue. Looking forward to hearing from you, pal!
CU S.
Useful Phrases
Useful Vocabulary (Book or Film Review)
Environment
Shakespeare
Elizabethan Age
Elizabethan playhouses: e.g. THE GLOBE
Abitur
Langauage Analysis
- TONE: formal, informal, serious, humorous, exaggerated, sarcastic, ironical
- DICTION: choice of words
- STYLISTIC DEVICES: metaphor, alliteration, personification, simile Explanation and examples of stylistic devices
- SYNTAX/NARRATIVE PERSPECTIVE
Composition
INTRODUCTION-MAIN PART- CONCLUSION
MAIN PART
- Discuss. = PROS and CONS (one argument EACH)
- Do you agree? = PROS or CONS. (two arguments on EITHER one)
- Comment on.
- Articles: title+ introduction to topic+explanation+examples/expert opinion
- Letter to the editor: To whom it may concern, in reference to the article…, Yours sincerely,
- Use work of fiction/review: Form of text (novel, short story), author, title (Publishing house/production company, year) summary (setting, characters, plot)
INTRODUCTION (should lead to the main part- TRANSITION !!!!!! NO "And now I will discuss.... :-( )
- Current event
- Historical background
- Provocation
- Definition/
- Explanation
- Quotation
- Statistics
- Personal experience
CONCLUSION
- Summary
- Personal Opinion
- Future developments
EXAMPLE:
"School is boring!" "School sucks!" "I don't want to go to school!" might be remarks parents have been hearing from their kids on a daily basis . Although school might not always be fun and entertaining, the education they provide is, however, necessary if you want to get a well-paid job and contribute to the economic well-being of your country. This significance of a good education is what Malcolm X was talking about when he said "Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it."
What if you want to acquire this education but are not able to do so because you simply cannot afford to pay the tuition fees for college or university? That's why education should be free.
Everybody should have the opportunity to advance themselves by having access to higher education regardless of their financial background. There is no scientific proof that only kids from well-off families succeed at university but they are the ones who have easy access to colleges and universities because they can simply afford it. Others must hope for financial aid, scholarships or take out huge loans in order to become lawyers, doctors or engineers. Indeed, people from every walk of life can be asstets to a country's economic, social and technological success as they can contribute with their ideas and qualifications. In order to do that they need free access to a higher education.
In the United States, for example, this higher education can cost $ 11,000 a year at a state university which doesn't include costs for room and board. Families with a low income cannot afford this kind of tuition money, so their bright kid's future won't look so bright anymore as they have only a tiny chance of scoring a well-paid job and living the American Dream.
Americans are, however, reluctant to offer free education at colleges and universities because they would have to pay more taxes. If any student could go to college without having to pay any tuition fees, the American taxpayer would have to finance their education. The universities which are now funded by the money the students pay would need money from the government to uphold their standard of excellence. The government, however, hasn’t got enough money in their budget to keep the colleges running as successfully as they are now. Therefore, it would have to demand higher taxes from every single American regardless of them having children who attend college or not.
In Germany, for example, where college education is free, single workers paid 39.9% income tax in 2017, whereas Americans paid only 23.4% to the IRS. This would change if the USA would offer free college education.
Nevertheless, I conclude that free education should be a human right because "Knowledge is power. Information is liberating. Education is the premise of progress, in every society, in every family." (Kofi Annan) And everybody should have access to this.
Mediation
- Read task carefully
- Read the text
- Find the relevant information in the text (different colour for different aspects) German AND English
- Structure the information in a logical order (e.g. general specific)
- Mediate the information
- Write the text
- Proofread YOUR text
Exercises
Literature
Videos of important pieces of literature, e.g. Shakespeare's plays,Fitzgerald, Hawthorne etc. Sparksnotes
Performances of Shakespeare's sonnets [1]
NEWS presentation
If you are sick on the day of your news presentation, you will have to present the latest news in the next lesson (even if it is in the following week!).
March 11, 2019: Leonie G.
March 18, 2019: Noelle M.
March 25, 2019: Lucas R.
April 8, 2019: Felix G.
April 29, 2019: Christian S.
News presentation gives information on THREE important news items from the English speaking world. If the news of global relevance you may
include it in your presentation. The presentation should be no longer than 5-8 minutes and include pictures.
You might find these websites useful for your research.
USA
Great Britain
Australia
Canada
Useful Stuff
NEW (March 15, 2018)
Here you can find some useful information on writing a comment [2]
You can find additional information in your book on pages 268/269
Useful transitions between the different parts of your comments [3]
The website ego4u [4] provides ample possibilities for you to practise your English (grammar, vocabulary etc.)
Useful phrases for different occasions English conversation phrases
Voice opinions Agreeing and disagreeing
Sentence Cohesion Linking ideas and arguments
Sentence Cohesion Conjunctions and fill words
