Recognizing sentences

Miss Soto:

I was not able to copy the image of the piece of news I chose, so I just copied the text. At the botton, you can see the link of the page where I took it from. It is 20 lines long, but it seems longer in this format.

Italian club offers record price for Chilean soccer sensation(simple)

TUESDAY, 20 DECEMBER 2011 01:29

WRITTEN BY JOE HINCHLIFFE

Chelsea counters Napoli’s US$17.5 million offer to “La U” for Eduardo Vargas.(simple)

Chelsea and Napoli will face off against one another in the Champions League round of 16 in February 2012, but the most recent clash between the two soccer giants is being waged off the field and centers on 22-year-old Chilean striker Eduardo Vargas.(compound)

Photo courtesy of Eduardo Vargas / Facebook.

Napoli, currently fifth in the Italian league, made a US$17.5 million offer for the center-forward from Universidad de Chile to join the club at which Diego Maradona reached the peak of his playing career, during lengthy negotiations between club officials on Friday.(complex)

Of the figure offered, US$8.8 million would go directly to Universidad de Chile, while the Cobreloa soccer club, which has a 35 percent stake in Vargas, would collect US$4.7 million (complex). The player and his agents would receive the rest of the sum(simple). In addition, Vargas would receive an annual salary of nearly US$1.4 million over a four year period.(simple)

News of the proposal, which comes after weeks of speculation surrounding the future of a player being touted by many as one of the next big things in world soccer, sparked an immediate counter-offer from Chelsea, the English soccer club owned by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich.(complex)

Chelsea and Napoli have been among a host of big-name clubs, including Arsenal, Liverpool, Inter Milan and Valencia, that have reportedly been in the hunt for Vargas’s signature, while his current Santiago-based team has also stated its interest in retaining the lineup that made their 2011 season historic.(complex)

Vargas has been a central figure in “La U’s” campaign this year, in which they became the first Chilean side to take home the continent-wide Copa Sudamerica and have dominated the local league, winning the first of the season’s two championships and currently contesting the semi-finals of the second.(complex)

In the Copa Sudamerica Vargas finished not only as the highest goal scorer of 2011, but of all time(simple). He finished with 11 goals, many of them coming at key moments, including three of the four goals scored in the final, which was held over two matches.(compound).

The crucial role that Vargas played for La U in the Copa Sudamericana campaign was recognized when he was declared player of the tournament.(compound-complex)

Following news of the offer made by Napoli, Chelsea made a final effort to lure Vargas to England(simple). At US$12 million to be paid directly to La U, the Chelsea offer is lower than its Italian rivals, but it would allow the center forward to stay in Chile until June.(compound)

The extended timeline would enable Vargas to play in the Copa Libertadores, South America’s other continental club championships, and the older and more prestigious of the two(simple). La U’s Chilean rivals, Colo Colo, won the tournament 20 years ago, but La U has yet to clench it. (compound)

The proposal also includes an annual salary of nearly US$1.5 million over a four-year period.(simple)

Either deal would be a record signing for a Chilean club, superseding the US$11 million Bayer Leverkusen gave Colo Colo for Arturo Vidal in 2007 and the nearly US$9 million Villarreal paid for Matías Fernández, also to Colo Colo, in the same year.(compound)

Meanwhile Universidad de Chile officials are keeping their cards close to their chest.(simple)

“Nothing is signed(simple). We are not going to close the door on Eduardo Vargas until he signs the document(complex). We have advanced in the negotiations with Napoli, but Eduardo is still a La U player,”(compound) said club president, Federico Valdés.

By Joe Hinchliffe (editor@santiagotimes.cl)

Copyright 2011 – The Santiago Times

http://www.santiagotimes.cl/sports/soccer/23108-italian-club-offers-record-price-for-chilean-soccer-sensation

Let's stop global warming

Global warming is a matter which is becoming more familiar everyday (adjective c.) Unfortunately, it seems to be that nobody cares the environmental problems that we are having nowadays. Almost nobody understands how terrible it is. (noun c.) The problem is that we could all die if it continues (adv. c/ condition). It is important to understand that all the people who live in the planet can help to solve it (adjective c.) It is a matter that concerns all of us.

Generally, we are blaming the big factories, countries or cities while we are doing exactly the same (adv. c./time) It is thought that they are the only responsible for this because they pollute in higher proportions (adv. c./reason) But we should think about what we are doing before we blame them (adv. c./time)

People’s daily life, which is more comfortable than before (adjective c.), requires more comfort. For example, we cannot live without cars, electrical appliances, etc. Unfortunately, we are not willing to sacrifice our luxurious life in order to save the planet.

In view of what is going on, I do not understand why the authorities do not introduce stronger punishments (noun c.) for those who break environmental laws. (adjective c.).

I cannot imagine how life is going to be in the future (noun c.), but definitely, it will be worse if we do not do something now. (Adverb c. /condition).

According to that, we should understand that it will affect our future generations (noun c.) Our children and grandchildren, who are not guilty of this (adjective c.), will pay for our mistakes.

And thinking of he present, It is known that pollution affects not only the Earth, but also people who live in it. (adjective c.). Nobody likes living in a place where trash and pollution are the predominant factor. (adjective c.)

Although we are conscious of this problem, we have not started doing something (adverb c./contrast)

I have heard some people, who do not mind this problem (adjective c.), saying that personal contribute is not good at all or what we do does not help the planet (noun c.), and it would result if everybody helped (adverb c./condition). But I think that they are awfully wrong (noun c.).

Although our help is smaller, it is valuable too. (adverb c./contrast). So we can make a big help through different ways like recycling, saving electric power, preferring to transport ourselves by bicycle o walking, burning dry wood in winter , etc. Simple things, which can be done by everyone, help the earth in one way or another. (adjective c.). The idea is work as a team.

It would be perfect if everyone were aware and willing to help. (adverb c./condition). We are all different, so we can help through many different ways. The important thing is to feel like doing this. Perhaps, if we started taking these simple measures, more people would do the same (adverb c/ condition). So those who are not interested in it would be obligated to follow everyone’s attitude. (adjective c.).

I have never understood what we are waiting for (noun c.) and I do not know when we will start doing something (noun c.). Besides, I do not know if there is somebody willing to do it (noun c.). I just know that I want to live in a better world. (noun c.)

Why do we write?

Writing is something that some people love and unfortunately, others hate. It is because of different causes. For example, for some, it takes a lot of effort, time and dedication that they are not willing to do, or they do not have the ability to write correctly, so the easiest way is to say that they cannot do it. On the contrary, doing this is something exiting for many of us. The way how some people express their feelings on a piece of paper makes it almost a natural and unconscious activity.

Personally talking I would say that I really like writing. What is the reason? Simply, because when writing, I can express freely what I am feeling and thinking without looking directly at other people. I consider myself a shy person, so writing allows me to say certain things I am not always able to say in front of a group of many people. Even so, it is not my best skill. Nevertheless, whenever I have to write a piece of paper, I try to do my best in order to make it clear and entertaining, and make the readers interested in what they are reading. Unfortunately, not always I get that point.

If I talk about my preferences when writing a piece of paper like a blog, a story or an essay, I would say that I prefer to write about personal opinions, stories that I have lived, to give my point of view about certain problems or events that have happened, but I must say that I prefer to write from a text that I have already read. I think that I am awfully bad at creating or thinking of fun ideas. That is one of my defects that I would like to change. In addition, it is easier to continue an idea that is already done, or to give your opinion about a matter than creating a new one.

While writing this, it is impossible to forget about high school teacher who used to say that we are all intelligent human beings, and therefore we are able to do whatever we want. So if she were reading this blog, I am pretty sure she would rebuke me.

Returning to my preferences about writing, I would also say that I prefer writing by computer. Some time ago, it was almost impossible to listen to me saying this. I was a paper-pencil lover. It had more benefits. For example, if I wanted to get relaxed and transfer my thoughts on a paper, I could easily climb a tree and start writing what I felt. Sadly, it is not completely possible to do that using a computer because it needs electric power. So it can be said that nature and technology are not always compatible. Even so, I prefer to write long texts by computer for the reason that it is easier to correct them (the computer itself corrects the mistakes you have made) you can write faster and delete wrong written words easily, you do not need to rewrite it into your computer, etc. For me, this option is chosen just for comfort and convenience. However, when I have the opportunity or I feel like writing in a comfortable place and I need to be very concentrate, I take my pencil and paper and go to my younger sister’s tree-house. That is the best place to reflect upon many things without being bothered by others.

As I said at the beginning, not everybody is a good writer, so having into account that not many people (considering myself) are able to write a good piece of paper, I dare say that it is something that everybody can improve. It is known that some have the “magic capacity” of doing this naturally. It seems like if they were born with the gift to write almost perfectly. But not everything is lost for the ones less gifted. I remember me reading an interesting book which provided many strategies to become a good writer. I am sure that that book was not the only one for this purpose. In addition, there are many web sites that we can visit to become an excellent writer. So the tools are available, it depends on each of us to take them and become the best writers.

The Million Dollar bond Robbery

The Million Dollar Bond Robbery is actually one of the best detective stories I have ever read. It is all well structured and recounted. The way how it is narrated makes the reader be curious and anxious during the whole story and it is just at the end when finally that complicated knot is undone.

If you, dear reader, are thinking of reading this short story let me tell you that you are not going to regret of that. Basically and as you can imagine, it is about a robbery that took place in a ship, the Olympia. Unfortunately, what was stolen was not a common thing, but a million dollars’ worth of Liberty Bonds which the London and Scottish Bank were sending to New York. As is it narrated, a lady called Esmeé Farquhar who was engaged to Philip Ridgeway (the man that was in charge of carrying the bonds to New York) asked for help to Mr. Poirot, a kind of detective and Captain Hastings, his partner, to solve the case. In spite of the fact that her boyfriend was the person who was carrying the bonds to New York, she was certain that no actual blame could attach to him because it had not been his fault in any way, so she told Mr. Poirot her version of the events in order to find the real thief. Principally, she told that the Bank wished to extend its credits in America and decided to send a million of dollars in Bonds, which were secretly enclosed in a portmanteau. The person who was in charge of bringing them was Mr. Ridgeway, the nephew of one of the two general manager of the bank, Mr. Vavasour (the other one was Mr. Shaw). A few hours before The Olympia arrived, the bonds were stolen and offered for sale. Apparently the lock had been forced but everything indicated that it had been unlocked with a key, which was almost impossible because the only three people who had a key to open it were Mr. Ridgeway, Mr. Vavasour and Mr. Shaw.

After listening to the lady, Mr. Poirot, made some inquires to Philip Ridgeway in order to see if his version agreed with Esmeé’s version and then, he interrogated the two general managers of he bank. After asking a few questions, Mr. Poirot had already discovered the guilty, but he did not want to accuse him still finding some evidence and the reason. So they decided to wait for the return of the Olympia and interrogate some more people in order to see what had happened exactly. Four stewards and a Poirot’s friend were asked, discovering that one of the last people who had disembarked was an old man, wearing glasses, who also was invalid. After that, two possibilities remained: the package had been hidden on board or thrown overboard. It was there, when they finally discovered that the bonds had not been packaged in the portmanteau, so they were not on board at all. Therefore, everything seemed to be that the bonds were never packaged and a substitution had been made in the office by one of the people who were there. Consequently, somebody, specifically the accomplice, had to travel on the Oplympia so that Philip could not discover it was a dummy (meanwhile the real packet with the bonds were travelling in a faster ship, The Gigantic). That accomplice was in charge of forcing the lock, but actually he unlocked it and thrown the package overboard and waited to be the last one to leave the ship. But who was behind of all of it? The answer was as simple as realizing that who was the person that had a duplicate key, who had ordered that childish plan: Mr. Shaw and his accomplice, who unlocked the portmanteau and thrown it overboard, had been the poor invalid man. As it is said in the text, “There are criminals in high places too”. Finally, it was another easy case solved by the great Mr. Poirot.

And the surprises continue, because for the ones who enjoy technology more than everything, there is also a digital version, a 50 minutes-video. That video, as it is expected, is not really similar with the text. There are some evident differences which make it almost completely different with the paper version. In the text for example, the robbery had been already done. On the other hand, in the video, it starts whit an attempt on Mr. Shaw’s life, because he was in charge of carrying the bonds to New York and not Mr. Ridgeway as it happened in the text. A second attack happened to him (he was poisoned) so now the work had to be made by Philip Ridegeway. As you have read, the thief’s accomplice was an invalid person but in the video, it was a beautiful woman, Miranda Brook, who also was travelling in the boat and was Mr. Shaw’s nurse and fiancé. While looking for the guilty, Mr. Vavasour and Ridgeway were put in prison. Everybody thought strongly that they were the thieves. But Mr. Poirot’s shrewdness let us know that Mr. Shaw together with his fiancé, Miranda, had planned the robbery.

In my opinion, both formats are able to make the reader curious during the whole story but, personally talking, I liked most the video. It does not agree with my common likes, because almost every time that I read a story and watch its movie, I prefer the paper version, because the facts are narrated in a better way. On the contrary, this time I preferred the video for many reasons, for example, the robbery had not happened yet, so we were able to see that and follow all the events. The thief’s accomplice was the nurse and at the same time it was a beautiful woman who stayed at the next room of Mr. Ridgeway’s, so it makes the story more attractive. Moreover, Mr. Vavasour and Ridgeway were took in prison thinking wrongly that one on them were the thief, so it made all the spectators completely confused and think that they were the guilty. Nevertheless, the text was interesting too, as I said at the beginning it has been one the best I have read.

So finally, both the video and the text are a very good option to read and watch. Any of them will make you interested in it. Now you can choose any, it is up to you…

Whenever people ask me about the things I like most, I immediately answer “football and music”. They divide my life into two parts. The first one, football, is something inexplicable. I cannot explain what I feel when I watch a win of my favourite football team. I just can say that it’s something extraordinary. But I must admit that I’m awfully bad playing it, that’ why I’m just a fan. I don’t know exactly when his like for this sport started, but I remember me watching football matches together with my sister since I was a little girl. The most attractive thing about this sport is, of course, the football team I support to. It is one of the best and most popular in our country. They’ve obtained the national cup in the first championship of the year, and as it is a semiannual activity, there’s a big possibility get it again. Fans are strongly sure that it will occur, but I prefer not to anticipate things, anyhow I’m anxiously waiting for it.

Many times I prefer to watch a football match instead of doing other things like going shopping, watching a movie, etc. it doesn’t mean that I don’t care about important things. I never postpone the things I must do. I really think that the secret to succeed and get our goals is to do a balance between all the things we are expected to do.

When I talk to some of my university friends about football, they don’ put much attention. They think it’s a nonsense topic, so finally I get into a monologue. Fortunately, I’ve got some other friends that never contradict my opinion about that. One thing I’m very sure of, is that my passion for this sport will never decrease.

The second thing that I mentioned was music. I think it is one of the strongest ways to communicate our thoughts and feelings. Many songs talk about violence, brotherhood, humanity, etc. I think it’s incredible how we can indentify ourselves with some songs depending on our mood.
I could continue talking about these two things forever, but to finish I will say that talking about our likes, there is nothing better than them.

The stories read help us to think about things that happen in our daily life. The experiences told are so common that all of us could be the main character of them. Feelings of love, companionship, loyalty and friendship are deeply present in the stories. All of them make us realize that we can have lots of problems and many times we are not able to solve them, such us the ones read in the stories.

In Thucydides for instance, we can appreciate the story of a girl who had mitched off school because of something very simple at the beginning. She hadn’t had time to prepare a piece of homework, she felt guilty and didn’t go to school. Then the protagonist didn’t go to classes the next day because she felt guiltier, not only because she hadn’t done her homework, but also because she hadn’t gone to classes the day before. This situation went on for a long time. And at the end, it helped her to realize the infidelity of her father.

Dingo story makes us realize the love that humans may have for animals. Some people say that animals, especially dogs, are real friends. Humans can betray us whenever they have the opportunity to do it. On the other hand, animals are always loyal. They will never betray us, and they don’t care if we have money or not, if we have something to offer them or not. On the contrary, some unreal friends like humans are with us because of convenience and the benefits they can get from us. That is why we must be very careful when choosing friends. Sometimes it is better to have few friends if they are real ones than to have a lot superficial ones. The protagonist for instance, didn’t care what breed the bitch was or where it came from. He loved and accepted it just the way it was.

Something relevant that I would like to mention about Dingo story is that the protagonist acted in a way more loyal than his bitch did. He didn’t care that it was a wild dog, and therefore dangerous for the job he had. On the contrary, I think Dingo did not appreciate that love because it ran away with a pack. At the beginning, I thought it was because the bitch was afraid of being drowned, but it should trust its owner and know that nothing bad was going to happen.

The last story, The German boy, shows us feelings like friendship and cowardice. For example, cowardice is present when it says that the protagonist of the story didn’t have the guts to tell his family that the company where he worked was bankrupt. Friendship is found when the main character mentioned his friend, a German boy, to whom he met when he was in the school. They became real friends and supported each other in sad or unhappy situations. The protagonist of the story became the only friend of the German boy, cheering him up whenever he was sad.

If we think of the similarities of the stories, we can realize that there are some feelings that are present in all three stories. Loyalty for instance is present in all of them. The protagonist of Dingo was incredibly loyal with his bitch. Loyalty is also present in The German boy who was really loyal with his country when he decided to continue speaking in his native language without caring what his classmates said. Loyalty is something that the protagonist’s father of Thucydides did not have with his family, especially with his wife because it is said that he was in the garage with another woman.

Another thing that the stories presented is that all of them had an abrupt ending. As we saw in Dingo story, it was too unexpected when it said that the bitch ran way with a pack. I was expecting it to come back with its owner, but unfortunately it didn’t happen. In Thucydides we were surprised when reading that the protagonist’s father had a relationship with another woman. It happened an unexpected day, when the protagonist had not gone to the usual place she used to go after mitching school, the Pagoda. She was in the garage when she saw her father talking in a suspicious way with a woman who was not her mother. While I was reading I never thought that the story would finish in that way.

In addition, all the stories had a sad sense. I could feel a lot of sadness when reading them. It made me very blue when I read that Dingo had decided to go away with the other dogs, leaving its owner alone. Or when it was told that the company of the protagonist in the German Boy was bankrupt and dared not tell his family about the problem that was affecting his company. Moreover, nobody can say that it was not sad to read that the father of the girl in Thucydides had been unfaithful to his wife.

Courage is also present in the stories, but this is something that was present in some of them, and should have been in others. For example, The German boy had a lot of courage when he decided to continue using his mother tongue in a country where almost nobody knew German or when it is said that the main character of this story was not able to tell his family what was going on in his job. Courage is something that the owner of Dingo should have had, nevertheless he dared not contradict the decision of his boss which was to drown Dingo. As a result, it caused the flight of the bitch. In Thucydides the girl didn’t have much courage to tell her father that she knew about his infidelity.

All these are very simple stories, anyway they are so useful for readers. They make us think about daily life problems that can happen to anybody. Perhaps, they help us in order not to make mistakes when solving hitches like the ones we have read. After reading, I remember my teacher from high school who used to say: “short stories about simple things can be the most useful tool for readers”.

Mr. Boggis was walking forward Rummins’ house vey happy. He was happier than any day. He couldn’t believe that he was going to be the owner of that beautiful old piece of furniture. “I’m going to be famous, I’m not going to be poor anymore”, he said smiling. He was even, making his new future plans.

When he was approaching to the house, he saw the men’s faces very tired, but didn’t suspect what had just happened. He couldn’t think of anything else, but his future life. Once he arrived in his car, he asked them why they looked so tired. It was a complete surprise and deception when he heard what they said. “We have cut the legs off in order to make it easier to put them on your car, you don’t have to thank for that, you have been very polite with us, that’s why we wanted to make this little gift for you”.

As mister Boggis heard that, his face turned into red, he could not even breathe. He thought the world was over, his life was over. It was the best opportunity he had never had and now it was over. “What kind of stupid are you? Why did you do it? Did I ask you to it?” The three men could no understand what was happening. He had been so kind, and now he was acting like a crazy. “Why are you so angry?” Rummis asked him, “You said you just wanted the legs of the table. Also, you said it was fake, it can be occupied like firewood”.

Mr. Boggis was silent. He couldn’t pronounce any word. Suddenly, he kicked Rummis. He wanted to kill the three men. They had broken his dream, his only opportunity to be famous. While he was fighting, Bert and Claud tried to stop the fight by hitting him. They did not want to do it, but Mr. Boggis was acting like a monster. They had never seen somebody so angry like him.

Claud and Bert were doing their best in order to stop the fight and not to hurt Mr. Boggis, who never stopped shouting and kicking everybody in there. Some minutes later, Mr. Boggis fainted and fell to the ground like a dead.

While Mr. Boggis was on the ground, the three men asked themselves what had happened, but they found no answer. So Rummis decided to look for some clue in M. Boggis’ car, which they thought was a very expensive one for a clergyman.

Rummins started looking at the back seats, then at the front seats, but couldn’t find anything. Then, he looked at the glove compartment and saw a document, which indicated Mr. Boggis’ real work.

“He is not a clergyman. This man is a dealer in antique furniture, and has got his own showroom. Of course, he wanted to buy our table cheaper than the real price. Perhaps, it is much more expensive than the amount of money he was going to pay for. This wretched thought we were stupid ” Rummis said.

“And surely, it was not a fake piece of furniture, perhaps it was a really famous one, that is why he became so angry when he saw the table destroyed” Bert added.There was a silence. Nobody was talking. All of them were thinking about the sham. They were all so disappointed with themselves.

“What are we going to do with the man?” Claud asked, but nobody answer. Then, Rummis said, “we were very kind with this man, he made us think he was a kind clergyman looking for old furniture, but it was all a complete lie, and he will be well in some minutes and will go out. But, we cannot allow it. He tried to lie us, he made us to cut our old table, which by the way, was not fake”.

What will we do so? Bert asked. They were looking for a solution when Claud said “we cut the table because we thought it was fake and served for nothing. Now think, this man is a fake as well, and doesn’t serve for anything, so what we have to do now, it is to kill him”.

“Well said, there are some legs to cut” said Rummis, who went to bring the saw. In some minutes, they had cut Mr. Boggis legs off, as well as they did with the table, and then, they dug a deep hole and put Mr. Boggis’ body in there. Bert hid the car, and after finishing “the work”, all of them went into the house, like if nothing had happened.

Some days later, the police was looking for Mr. Boggis, who had disappeared mysteriously. They suspected he was dead. One day, a policeman went to Rummis’ house and asked “have you seen him before. Probably he is dead, and now, we are looking for the killers”. “Oh! My dear sir, I’m afraid I can’t help you, I’m not a killer, the only thing i have made disappear, was a fake “piece of furniture” ”.