FINAL WRITING TEST

Advantages Of GMF

Our civilization is obsess by the technological development. From our cellular phones to our food, the merchandise has to be more attractive and more efficient from year to year. The progress is going fast but some discoveries are raising moral debates in our society. GMF is one of these. Engineers in genetic worked hard in the past years to improve plants productivity and resistance. Even though, some people think this product could be dangerous for our health and our environment, so we should forbid its commercialization. Are advantages of GM foods greater than the disadvantages? I am sure than GMF is an excellent advancement.

First of all, genetically modified crops can help to solve our food shortage problem. All around the world, about 30% of children living in developing countries are suffering of malnutrition.[1] Our production problem will increase in the next years if you don’t find effective and quick answers. GMF could be one of these because we already developed this technology and we proved its value. Some modified plants have a superior yield. In fact, we could save money and feed population in need. Moreover, they created some plants that are resistant to insects. This could save hundreds of people in Africa who die each year because of the famine created by grasshopper invasion. This benefit is the most important because it is one of the solutions to resolve the hunger problem.

Second, GMF can cure important diseases. For example, more than 700 millions of people are suffering of iodine deficiency. This trouble than we don’t really know in Canada and that we underestimate causes goiter. With modified food, we could stop this crisis by adding iodine to rice and other usual product and save lives. They already tried this kind of improvement with Vitamin A. In countries like Botswana, people were getting blind because they had a poor diet in beta-carotene so the injected some in rice and helped thousands of people.[2] Imagine how many lives we can save with GMF now? Will it be the next method the do preventive medical treatments? The power of this technology is important and it could also be beneficial for Canadian. Our population as a lot of problem with cancer, but adding antioxidant to common food like potatoes could be a way out to reduce this difficulty.

To summarize up, the advantages of GMF are superior to the disadvantages. Even though it will not solve all our problems, it can be helpful to reduce hunger in emerging countries. Furthermore, it is a new approach to cure and prevent diseases. Every new technology has defects, but we should think twice at all its benefices before forbidding it.

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[1] « malnutrition », http://www.universalis.fr/encyclopedie/C070319/AGRICULTURE_ALIMENTATION_Economie_et_politique_alimentaires.htm, (December 2^nd 2009)

[2] « OGM helping blind people », http://terresacree.org/index27.htm, (December 2^nd 2009)

LEL course 4

Word analogy Practice exercices 2

1-Interest level

I enjoyed the other analogy exercices that I did yesterday. This lesson also explains relationships between pairs of words. The questions are more difficult as the exercices go by.

2-Difficulty

The exercice was short, but once again, it was difficult. Most of the time, I had to associate synonymous or antonymous. Some other question were more logical because the relation was more complicated between the two first words. Like the first exercice, some words were really complicated and it is the main reason why I found this lesson difficult.

3-What I learned

I have learneda lot of vocabulary once again. 1.A fern is a type of plant, and a minnow is a type of fish. 2.A pod is a group of dolphins 3.Inchoate is a synonym for unfinished.

4- My score

I got 65%. I did a little better than the first time but it is only because of luck because the words were not the same from the first lesson to the next one. I have learned about 8- to 10 new words without looking to a dictionnary.

5-Course rating

9,5/10. It is a short course, but very effective to pratice vocabulary. I have enjoyed this lesson as much as the first one.

LEL COURSE 3

Word analogy Practice exercice 1

1-Interest level:

This course is interesting because it practices our logic and our word knowledge. I think it will be helpfull to improve my vocabulary because it is easier to talk and to write when you understand deeply the word's definition.

2-Difficulty

It was really difficult! These questions are easy if you understand the three words that are presented to you but I don't have enough vocabulary in English. Then, it was pretty hard for me with only two or even only one word to understand the analogy. I did the thest without any dictionary or help so my score is pretty low. In fact, I found this exercise very hard but I think it is challenging to guess something even if you are not sure.

3-What I learned

I looked at my correction and I really learned something. Most of the time, it is really because I did not understand the meaning of one word that my answer was not good. Only one of my guesses was wright. For the rest, my logic suprised me because I got all good when I knew the words that were presented. 1-Particular is a synonym for fussy. 2-Prim is a synonym for neat. 3-To ink means to sing. In fact, I have learned around 10 new words and I hope I will remember some of these.

4-My score

I only got 60%.

5-Course rating

9,5/10

It is my favorite class until now. It was short and sweet. Even though, I think I really improve my vocabulary by looking to the correction explanation and I would refer this exercice to anyone who likes logical tests.

POSITION STATEMENT

First of all, I am very concerned about water which is becoming an important issue on Earth. The Canadian company wants to translocate a huge glacier that is fundamental for Chilian people. I am against this project that does not take care of the social and the environmental aspect even if the companie pretend to do so. They propose many solutions for this glacier but I think we can't be perfectly sure of what will happen to this natural ressource with human intervention. They must deviate a river to install a water treatment plant because of the polution that will be produced. Indeed, they admit having to contaminate it with dangerous products for the Pascua Lama project extraction such as arsenic, mercury and other heavy metals. These products could cause serious injuries or even death. It could also contaminate water for future generations. In fact, I think there is a moral debate between profits and human lives which depend on this water.

They must relocate an important part of the glacier. Knowing that the glacier's overall area extends to approximately twenty hectares, it is a laborious project. Taking such an important fragment will necessarily affect local farmers. The pollution caused by mining and the impacts on local waterways could therefore condemn the agricultural sector.

ROLE CARD

My title : News reporter

My name : Amelie Martel

Biographical information (cv):

My life and history: I was borned in 1979 in Vancouver, Canada. I have a real talent for communication since I have knowned how to speak. My father always listened to the news during the breakfast when I was young so I became interested in reports and internationals causes rapidly. I did a journalistic trip in high school and felt automatically in love with this profession. I recieved a scolar ship and had the chance to study at Harvard in communication and human development.

My personal job and work experiences:

When I came back to my natal city, I had my first opportunity in “The Vancouver sun” where I have been working for 2 years. I was doing my reports on environmental issues each week, so I became very competent in this area. I posted my CV to CBC and had an interview two weeks later. I am now an international reporter for CBC, but my speciality is still environment.

My achievements in life:

I love ma career, but my best achievement is my first kid Lea who is 15 months old now. It was hard for me to come back to work after my maternity leave. Her father his working at home and my mother lives close to our house so I know she is always in good hands. Even though, I would like to see her more frequently.

My abilities and competencies:

I am relaxed to speak in front of a large public which is a major asset in my work. I also have a passion for music, an area where I am doing pretty well. I play piano and trumpet.

PASCUA LAMA

WHO: The world's biggest gold mining company wihich is based in Toronto was developing a project to extrct minerals from Pascua Lama and they are against the Chilian government.

What: Pascua Lama is the biggest open mine of gold, silver and other rare minerals.

Where: The mine is located in the Andes mountains between Chile and Argentina.

When: The studies started in 1991 but the construction is not started yet. There were a lot of trials between 2000 ans 2008.

Why: Pascua Lama is a controversial project because it has economic and environmental consequences. Some farmers are directly affected by this project because the company has to move glaciers to find gold. The government imposed conditions to the Canadian company to develop their project in the mine but they to side do not agree.

How: There was an agreement for mineral exploitation between Chile and Argentina in 1997. An environmental commission also gave its approval to the project in 2006.

1. How does Howard and Melindas interaction at the beginning of the play foreshadow
the major issues of the play?
(Based on the synopsys on your website)It shows that people are not ready to change their mind about Darwin's theory.


2. What does Meeker, the bailiffs, willingness to let Cates out of jail to meet with Rachel
tell us both about his offence and the town?
The thing is that Meeker does not want Rachel to go in the jail and he prefers that Cates comes out to see her. This proves that Bertram Cates is not dangerous at all for people around him. It also shows that some people in the town don't think Cates' crime is so serious.


3. What kind of town does Hillsboro seem to be in its preparations for Bradys arrival?
They seem to be a very Christian town with the big banner telling something like : Read your Bible. There is also the importance of the reverend. Everyone is cheerful about Bradys' arrival and they are all preparing celebrations for him.


4. What does Bradys relationship with his wife tell us about his character?
He is always around his wife so he seems to act like a child.


5. What does Bradys conversation with Rachel, and subsequent behaviour afterwards tell
us about his character?
He was pretty antipathetic to me because of his behaviour with Rachel. He takes advantage of her kindness to get information that could help him. He his manipulative and ruthless. He is not a fair man even if he pretends to be.

6. How is Drummond characterized by the townspeople? Later when we meet him do
they seem to be correct?
He is characterized like an evil man who does not have any moral sense. They even say that he is ready to let murderers out of jail even if he knew thay commited their crime. When Henry Drummond appeared to me, I thought they were correct about what they said. Later in the play, I realised they were wrong about both lawyers.


7. What role does Hornbeck play in the action of the play? What is the significance of the
way he speaks?
He is a controversial journalist from a big city. He thinks Bertram Cates is a hero or a genius. He speaks condescendingly about the Christian beliefs.


8. Do the elements of the trial seem fair to you? Why or why not?
Yes and no. First off all, the judge tries to be fair by giving the title of colonel to Drummond. On The other hand, the trial was not fair because the judge seems to have a bias during the play and one of the jurors too. The other juror was not able to understand the true meaning of the debate because he was illiterate. Afterwards, Drummond did not have the chance to present the witnesses he wanted to present because they were for Darwin's theory. It was exceedingly difficult for Drummond to defend his client without these testimonies.


9. What do you think Rachels motivations for asking Cates to drop the trial and admit
his guilt stem from?
It was difficult for her to stand the pressure because she was torned between her father and her lover. It would have been easier for her if Bertram admit his guilt and just excused himself. She was wandering what people would think about him if he continues to defend what he did. Furthermore, she did not want to participate in the trial and say something that could offend him.


10. What does Bradys intervention in Reverend Browns sermon say about him? Does
this contradict what you thought about him as a character?
Yes, it contradict what I thought about him. Even if it was hard to understand this part of the play because a lot of people were talking and doing noise on the stage, I understood that reverend Brown was exaggerating in his words. Bradys' intervention surprised me because he defended Rachel and Cates and talked to the townspleople about forgiveness.


11. What is the central issue that Drummond is arguing for in the courtroom?
Cates' lawyer is defending the right to think. He says that his client has the right to think and believe in Darwin if he wants to.


12. Do you think it is fair that none of Drummonds expert witnesses are allowed to act as
witnesses?
Like I said before, this is one of the major unfairness of the play. It was pretty hard for Drummond to prove something without referring to Charles Darwin's book or theory. It is also partial because he has the right to call an expert of the Bible instead of an scientific expert. This shows an enormous preconcived idea.

(Notes about some other questions)
13. He says he accepts whatever is in the Bible as true.
15. Progress makes us moves foreward.
16. He dies
17. NA
18. Drummond does not care about it because he can't say whatever he wants while Brady feels proud of speaking.
20. He says that he will teach Darwin again elsewhere.
21. Brady dies. Yes it was a surprise because he won the case.
22. Rachel stops worrying about what her father thinks. She also accepts Cates belief's.
23. Drummond says thatBrady had the whink and express his beliefs.
24. The significance is the 2 books are cmopatible and they hold their own truths.
25. Justice versus morality / Individual versus society
everybody has the right to think for themselves, but not impose it to others.

INHERIT THE WIND

Character profil

1. Bertram Cates: He is the main caracter. He is a young teacher who teaches Darwin's theory in his class. He is the accused of the play.

2. Matthew Harrisson Brady: He is a politician from Nebraska. He wanted to be the presidant many times. He is an admirable caracter. He losses the support of people around him during the play.

3. Henry Drummond : At the beginning, he is mistaken for the devil. As the play go by, he starts to be seen as a hero even if he loses the case. He is not cnocerned about what people think about him and he has a good sence of humour. He always prefers the truth even if it is sometimes cruel or unpleasant. He has a lot of compassion and respect for people around him even for his opponents.

4. E. K. Hornbeck is a cynical journalist but a positive caracter. He is covering the trial for the Baltimore Herald. For him, Cates is a hero.

5.Reverend Jeremiah Brown represents the Christian belief.

6. Rachel Brown : 22 year old, daughter of Reverend Brown. She is a teacher close to Cates but in conflict with his beliefs. She is torn between her feelings for Cates and her Christian belief.

7. The Judge: is as impartial as his deep belief in the Bible will allow him to be.

8. Townpeople : colourful buch of people. represent religious beliefs.

BRANDING

My choice

Food : Starbuck

Technology : Koodo (Telus)

Cars : Mazda

Entertainment : Walt Disney

Computer : Apple

Financial : ING DIRECT

Clothes : Le Château

Electronics : Sony

Household : GE

Software : Microsoft

TOP COMPANY

Cocacola is 123 years old and the top brand. It is in almost every country. (200)

The top technology compagni is for INTERNATIONAL BUISNESS MACHINE. It is in 170 countries.

Toyota is the top car compagny. Their revenues decreased of 21% because of the economical crisis.

For entairtainment, Disney is the winner even if they are going down of 3%. They will make Toy Story 3. (same as my choice)

The top company for product is Intel.

The top financial company is American Express. They went down of 32% because of the crisis.

Louis Vuitton, even if it is very expensive, is the top clothing company.

In electronic, NOKIA is the most popular company.

Household: GE (same as my choice)

Sofware : Microsoft (same as my choice)

Mid-term Writing Test

CREDIT CARD HABITS

Introduction

Credit cards are all around us. A recent study of Statistic Canada showed that there are around 3.1 credit cards per adult in our country. We also observed that people tend to use credit cards younger than before because it is accessible and simple. Even though companies and banks are pleased to see this great market of customers, we think that those people are dangerous for our economy because of their credit habits. We believe that young people are not enough responsible to manage credit cards or to have good credit habits.

Method

First of all, we created a survey that contains ten questions. We send it to two groups of people. Our first selected group was 33 people between 15 and 25 years old. Twelve people of 26 years old and over were in the other group. We ask them several questions to understand their credit situation and habits. Moreover, we wanted to have their opinion about credit cards so we asked them: what word comes to your mind when you think about credit card?

Results

To our surprise, young people were not has bad has we thought. On the one hand, they have fewer credit cards than older people and more than 80% of them always pay their bill. Our survey demonstrates that 78% of the participants between 15 and 25 years old who answered to our questions have less than 100$ of debts on their credit card. On the other hand, some of them have an enormous credit card limit. The other problem is that young people use their credit cards often and not necessarily for excellent reasons. More than 60% of them told us that they use their credit cards for clothing and 50% of them use it for hobbies like cinema and music.

Discussion

To summarize, our hypothesis was partially true. Teenagers and young adults have better credit habits than what we thought. If we had to do this survey again, we would ask it to more people because are survey was not enough representative of the population.

Finally, we concluded that our expenses should always correspond to our incomes. We should not live a lifestyle that we cannot afford because it will catch us up someday. That is why we think people between 15 and 25 years old should not have more than one credit card. Although some teenagers and young adults are as responsible as adults, they don’t have big incomes to cover an important debt if they load their card.

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