Universidad Europea de Madrid

The lost sock: a mystery

You do a load of wash. The clothes go in and the clothes come out. Everything's nice and clean. You take the shirts, shake out as many wrinkles as you you can, and throw them in the dryer. You grab the socks and underwear and toss them in too. Then you're off to attend to other demands. A few minutes later you're back again. You don't want a pile of ironing, so you take out the damp shirts and hang them up. No mystery there. Your mother taught you well. A few more minutes for the rest of the load while you start in on another project. Finally the dryer calls you to attention. Time to pull everything out, fold the clothes, and forget about the wash for another week. Great! But wait, oh no. You match up all the socks but there's only one bright green sock. Where's the other one? Oh, not again! There's always one extra, and one missing sock. It never fails. You were paying attention. You picked up all the clothes on your floor and under your bed. Oh, no time now. You set the "extra" sock aside and the days and weeks go by. Sometimes it's a black or brown or blue sock, a serious executive sock with no personality of its own. Sometimes it's a fuzzy sock or a bright red sock that Santa brought, or one of your daughter's favorite princess socks. If the one gone missing is a Spiderman sock you may have a real problem. "Where are my Little Einstein socks? whines little Alex. "Where are my basketball socks? shouts José. Socks just seem to disappear, don't they? Maybe they escape for days or weeks or even years. You checked everywhere, but refuse to give up. You put the lone socks away just in case their mates turn up. And one day, lo and behold, you find Spiderman inside the sleeve of a sweater, a boring black sock in a pajama leg, a tiny pink sock in the doll house being used as a sleeping bag. And then, years hence, you find the hiding places: down between the cushions on the old sofa, under the bottom drawer in the back of the closet, inside a toy car. And you laugh. There are so many imaginative places for socks to hide. You'd be celebrating your minor victory but.......you threw out all the odd socks, just yesterday.

Wendy

VOCABULARY including lots of PHRASAL VERBS !

load of wash: tanda de ropa
clothes: ropa
shake out: sacudir
wrinkles: arrugas
dryer: secadora
grab: agarrar
underwear:ropa interior
toss:tirar suavemente
pile of ironing: montón de ropa para planchar
damp:húmedo
hang them up: colgarlos
taught:(pasado de "teach") enseñó
pull out: tirar hacia tí, sacar
fold: doblar ropa,telas, papel
match up: emparejar
missing: que falta
fails: falla, (suspende)
pick up: levantar, recoger
set aside: apartar
go by: pasar
fuzzy: de peluza
whines: lloriquea
give up: rendirse
lone: solitario
put away: guardar, poner en su sitio
mates: parejas
turn up: aparecen
lo and behold: anda ya, mira por donde
sleeve: manga
tiny: muy pequeño
doll: muñeca
sleeping bag: saco de dormir
hence: after, later
hiding place: escondite
cushions: cojines
bottom drawer: cajón de abajo
closet: armario
toy: juguete
threw out: tirar a la basura
odd: impares

Publicado por shakespeare

Donations for HAITI

We all know about the tragedy in HAITI: a major earthquake, tremors, aftershocks, another earthquake. Can you IMAGINE what it's like to be in HAITI right now?

The Haitian people need our help. Contribute! Donate a Euro; donate 50. Drop a few coins in the box as you come and go. It will all add up. And now UEM and Laureate International Universities havepromised to double our donations!

You'll see students in red VOLUNTEER vests collecting money in Building B today. There are collection boxes at the reception desk in each building.

IMAGINE what it would it be like if the ground in your hometown shook like that? Would the buildings collapse? Would your life change dramatically in a few minutes. Help the RED CROSS help the HAITIAN people. You are a citizen of the world. Do what you can do to help the cause.

Wendy

VOCABULARY

Drop: dejar caer

coins: monedas

add up: sumar

promise: prometer

vests: chalecos

ground: la tierra

hometown: pueblo natal

shook: sacudió (Pasado de shake)

buildings: edificios

citizen: ciudadano

Publicado por shakespeare

Earthquake in HAITI: Contribute to the cause

Please help the people in HAITI who are suffering from a 7.0 magnitute earthquake and 5+ magnitude aftershocks. The UEM VOLUNTEERS have set up tables, MAIN HALL, BUILDING A to collect money for HAITI through the CRUZ ROJA, the Spanish Red Cross . This initiative came from the 3rd and 4th year LAW students. They will be manning tables from 9:00 to 14:00 all this week. We know that it is exam time and everyone is busy, however they need more volunteers to collect money. Marta Acosta Soria and Alvaro Calvo Giralt came to the UEM LAB to ask for our collaboration. We are sending volunteers to help with the tables and have set up a collection box in the reception area of the UEM LAB which will be available from 8:00-21:00 all this week. If you have an hour or two to spare, please come by the VOLUNTARIADO tables to sign up for a shift or contact 20610076@live.uem.es . Be sure to put VOLUNTEERING time for HAITI INITIATIVE on the subject line. Remember, being a volunteer is an important part of your university experience and is mandatory on your CV for a job search in the global job market.

Thank you for your collaboration. Wendy

VOCABULARY

suffering: sufriendo

earthquake: terremoto

aftershocks: réplicas

volunteers: voluntarios

set up: montar

available: disponible

to spare: disponible, de sobra

sign up: apuntarse

a shift: un turno

law: derecho

busy: ocupado

Publicado por shakespeare

The International Space Station

The International Space Station is often in the news,and has been since 1998. We know that there was a basic structure and that other components have been added over the years. We hear about the people on board, the difficulties they have, the experiments that are carried out. We know the ISS is up there and that it is quite an achievement.

Watch this presentation via computer graphics. You'll see the components come together piece by piece. What a difference from the original project. Open it full-screen so you can see the information onthe sides too. This is really neat, cool, awesome, sweet....chuli, chachi, guay, alucinante. O sea, mola mazo!

VOCABULARY:

The news: las noticias

carried out: llevar a cabo

come together: juntarse

full-screen: pantalla completa

the sides: los lados

neat/cool/awesome/sweet: maravilloso

http://i.usatoday.net/tech/graphics/iss_timeline/flash.htm

Publicado por shakespeare

Happy New Year- 2010

Happy New Year! Happy 2010 ! Oh, that looks futuristic just like 2000 or 2001 did a decade ago. And what about 1-1-2010? That looks really strange, doesn't it? Well, a week has already passed and we're still sitting here, writing 2009 by mistake and staring at the computer screen, wondering what the future will hold.

Have you made your New Year's Resolutions yet? Are they the same ones you made last year and the year before? Is this THE YEAR when you're finally going to get it together? Did you start the year off right, start in on your fitness program, your diet, your personal Stop Smoking campaign, or are you waiting for a more auspicious date like maybe 10-1-2010 or as the Americans would write it 1-10-2010? Shall we procrastinate perhaps until the day before exams begin, or till next semester, or possibly till Groundhog Day or your birthday or.....1-1-2011 (ouuu, that looks really cosmic. That's only 11+ months from now. Maybe we should just leave our great plans for personal development till next year.

So, where were you on New Year's Day? Were you sleeping it off?
Were you outside, enjoying the day from beginning to end?

This is where I was as the 1st day of the year 2010 came to an end. Wendy

VOCABULARY:

staring: to stare: mirar fijamente
wondering: preguntándome
will hold: ofrecerá, sostendrá
get it together: organizarme
start X off right: empezar con buen pie
auspicious: prometedor
procrastinate: dejarlo para el último minuto
Groundhog Day: día de la Marmota
sleeping it off: reculperándose

Last year's NEW YEARS post:
http://comunidad.uem.es/shakespeare/2009/1/7/new-year-s-resolutions-2009

Publicado por shakespeare