12.- HOW TO WRITE A VALENTINE CARD

IT’S VALENTINE’S DAY.

It is usual for people in English-speaking countries to celebrate Valentine’s day by sending Valentine Card’s to people they love. Here you have some hints on how to write a Valentine Card.

What could be more romantic than receiving a love letter? A good old fashioned, hand-written love letter is still one of the best Valentines around, but don’t just save it for February. A love letter is a powerful expression any day of the year.

You don’t have to be Shakespeare to write the perfect love letter. All you need to know is how you feel. What makes a love letter so romantic is that it is deeply personal. It shows your beloved how well you know them, and that knowledge is the very stuff of love.

HOW TO GET STARTED

All you need to get started is a pen and some decent stationery. Use thick card stock with some texture to it rather than stationary with roses and cupids around the edges. The recipient is probably going to keep this letter for a long time. Writing on heavy card stock will help it last.

As you are writing be specific. Tell him exactly how he makes you feel and what he does that makes you feel that way. Write in the second person ( use “you” ) so that your letter speaks directly to him. Before you start writing, take a few moments to think about your beloved.

The following questions can help to get your thoughts going:
What is his greatest strength?
What do you see in him that he doesn’t see in himself?
What is the most romantic thing he has ever done for you?
What does he do on a regular basis that shows you he cares about you?
When did you fall in love with him?
What about him pleasantly surprised you?
What is your favorite memory of the two of you?
How has your world changed since you got together?

You can start your letter anyway you like as long as you include his/her name. You don’t have to be super-mushy right from the start, a simple “Dear _____” works well. Begin your letter with a very specific quality that you appreciate about him. Make the sentence exclusive – for example “I’ve never met anyone as _______ as you” or “No one has ever made me feel as____ as you do when you ____” Starting out this way shows him that he ranks higher than anyone else in your books – a great way to start a love letter.

As you write, tell him/her exactly how you feel. Use specific examples that show that you’ve been paying attention. Remind him of the things he has done that really meant something to you. Share a favorite memory and a hope for the future. Don’t forget to say “I love you.” It doesn’t matter how long or short your letter is, as long as it’s sincere.

There’s no rule that says you have to use poetry in a love letter, but if you’re stumped finding just the right words, one or two carefully chosen lines can work really well. If you don’t have a poem in mind, there’s a lot to choose from online. If you want to use something other than the usual classics, I highly recommend “Dance Me to the End of Love” by Leonard Cohen.

Once your letter is complete, read it over carefully and check for errors. This letter will be read over and over. You don’t want a mistake spoiling the mood.

If you want to add an extra special touch, seal the envelope with wax. Sealing kits are available at most fine stationary stores, but a regular taper candle in a dark color works just as well. Simply light the candle and carefully drip a small puddle of wax about the size of a quarter over the flap.

Once the letter is complete, drop it in the mail and wait for a great response. If you’re lucky, you just might get a love letter yourself.

Good Luck!!

11.- AN INTERESTING ARTICLE FOR YOU TO READ

The Dominion Post ( New Zealand) Monday, 14 July 2008

A Basque solution to growth
Think of Basques, think of bombs. Right? But there's more to Basques than bombs. The tiny Basque country is renowned for its science.
The region, on the north coast of Spain, is smaller than Wellington province and is home to 2.1 million people. Their common language is Spanish, but about a quarter of them speak the strange Basque language. If you want to say "Nice to meet you" in Basque you'd say "Potzen nau zu ezaguteak". (literal copy)
In the past 200 years, millions of Basques have emigrated to America. Ten per cent of Argentineans have Basque ancestors. Today's Basques, with a gross domestic product per capita income of NZ$48,000, are among the wealthiest people in Europe and much better off than New Zealanders. In the 1980s, Basques' traditional fishing and shipbuilding industries collapsed but, since then, their government has developed a spectacularly successful growth strategy built on scientific knowledge, technological innovation and entrepreurship.
Basques' biggest company, the Mondragon Cooperative, is hugely successful and has tentacles all through Spain and South America. It even has its own university.
The country's wealth is now built on new technologies – aeronautical and energy technology, and making fine machine tools, wind turbines and rolling stock. They are into nanotechnology and miniaturisation in a big way, developing high-performance hybrid materials for hi-tech industries, making precision miniaturised desktop type machinery for mass hydro-forming, stamping and cold- forging bulk materials, and improving high-resolution electron microscopy and lithography.
They are developing new catalysts for hydrogen fuel cells, designing a hydrogen-driven car (H2CAR), installing 16 sea-wave energy turbines, doing stem-cell research, and have developed new implant materials for healing wounds and for plastic surgery. Among other things they are developing miniaturised throw-away medical laboratories – each the size of a credit card and read with a hand-held gadget.
Basque technologists are on to "microwire technology" enabling huge amounts of data to be stored on microscopic wires. These wires have military uses, but Basques paste them on goods in supermarkets. To reach the checkout, your shopping trolley must pass through an electronic arch which instantly calculates the total cost.
They have research centres devoted to climate change, applied mathematics and health innovation. They also have an ambitious plan to "coordinate information and communication technologies around cognitive systems, pervasive computing, digital security and natural interfaces", and participate in the European space programme.
This tiny Basque country has 12,500 scientists and technologists at its universities, polytechnics or in private companies and puts a lot of money into attracting leading foreign scientists to work there, or join forces with them. This month they are advertising internationally for 30 more scientists.
The Basques' capital city, Bilbao, is about the size of Wellington and has become world- renowned for its new, fabulous, elegant, jaw-dropping, avant-guard, titanium-clad museum, and then, in September, there's their popular mixed-sex annual 5000-metre foot race along the beach at low tide, in the nude. First prize: a holiday in the Canary Islands.
We have a lot to learn from the Basques.

10.- EXAM DATES

Group B12 Tuesday / Thursday - 12th february
Group B12 Monday /Wednesday - 9th February

Some people may do the exam on other days, provided that they tell me something about it.

Doubts , comments, etc please, click on comments and write them to me if possible, before the exam itself.

GOOD LUCK, well,.... it's a mock exam after all....!!!