H. G. Wells: “History is a race between education and catastrophe”.

viernes, 28 de junio de 2013

martes, 25 de junio de 2013

La OCDE subraya que España sólo tiene un 8 % de graduados en FP frente al 56 % en Alemania


España tiene que incrementar el porcentaje de jóvenes con formación profesional de grado medio como instrumento para luchar contra el creciente desempleo juvenil, según un informe publicado hoy en París por la OCDE. Solo el 8 % de los adultos españoles cuentan con una formación profesional de grado medio, frente a la media del 34 % de los 34 países de la Organización para la Cooperación y el Desarrollo Económico (OCDE), que publicó este martes su estudio Panorama de la Educación 2013. Ese porcentaje es del 56 % en Alemania y del 32 % en Italia y Holanda, destaca el informe, que afirma que la oferta y el alcance de esos programas de formación profesional "podrían extenderse ampliamente" en España.

Público, martes 25 de junio de 2013.

viernes, 21 de junio de 2013

Suspender no tiene premio

Rectificar es de sabios. La discoteca Mil Beach de Mil Palmeras, pedanía dependiente del término municipal de Pilar de la Horadada (Alicante), ha pedido disculpas y ha cambiado el evento después del revuelo que ha causado la campaña que puso en marcha para su fiesta de fin de curso consistente en premiar los suspensos con copas gratis.

Después de las críticas recibidas, que hicieron incluso que se vieran obligados a suspender temporalmente su cuenta de Twitter, la dirección del local ha reabierto su perfil en esta red social y ha emitido un comunicado en el que pide disculpas: “En vista de la alarma social creada y en virtud de las peticiones recibidas, la empresa ha decidido cambiar el evento en el cual premiaremos el esfuerzo de nuestros estudiantes, así mismo reconocemos nuestro error y pedimos disculpas a cualquier persona afectada o que se haya podido sentir molesta”.

Asimismo, la discoteca Mil Beach ha dado a conocer el nuevo cartel de la fiesta. “¿Has estudiado todo el año? Si aprobaste vamos a premiar tu esfuerzo. ¡¡¡Trae tus notas!!!... y consigue tu regalo”, reza el nuevo anuncio, que añade: “…y si suspendiste, esfuérzate en septiembre”.

La polémica que ha obligado a Mil Beach a esta rectificación saltó después de que corriera como la pólvora por las redes sociales el reclamo del local, que trataba de captar clientes de una manera muy poco ética. “Traete las notas a la fiesta fin de curso, ¡por cada asignatura suspensa consumición gratis! Vamos a escribir un verano inolvidable”, decía el primer anuncio.

La Voz Libre, jueves 20 de junio de 2013.

jueves, 20 de junio de 2013

Words derived from the names of places

ag'ate, a precious stone: "Achates," a river in Sicily where it is found.

al'abaster, a variety of soft marble: "Alabastrum," in Egypt, where it is found.

ar'ras, tapestry: "Arras," in France, where it is manufactured.

arte'sian, applied to wells made by boring into the earth till the instrument reaches water which flows from internal pressure: "Artois" (anciently called Artesium), in France, where many of such wells have been made.

At'tic, marked by such qualities as characterized the Athenians, as delicate wit, purity of style, elegance, etc.: "Attica," the country of the Athenians.

ban'tam, a small domestic fowl: "Bantam," in Java, whence it was brought.

barb, a Barbary horse: "Barbary," in Africa.

bay'onet, a dagger fixed on the end of a musket: "Bayonne," in France, where it was invented, in 1679.

bedlam, a lunatic asylum: "Bethlehem," a monastery in London, afterwards used as an asylum for lunatics.

bur'gundy, a French wine: "Burgundy," where it is made.

cal'ico, a kind of cotton cloth: "Calicut," in India, where it was first manufactured.

cana'ry, a wine and a bird: the "Canary" Islands.

can'ter, an easy gallop: "Canterbury," in allusion to the easy pace at which the pilgrims used to ride thither.

car'ronade, a short cannon: "Carron," in Scotland, where it was first made.

cash'mere, a rich shawl, from the wool of the Thibet goat: "Cashmere," the country where first made.

chalced'ony, a variety of uncrystalized quartz: "Chalcedon," in Asia Minor, where obtained.

champagne', a wine: "Champagne," in France, where produced.

cher'ry, a red stoned fruit: "Cerasus" (now Kheresoun), in Pontus, Asia Minor, whence the tree was imported into Italy.

chest'nut, a fruit: "Castanea," in Macedonia, whence it was introduced into Europe.

cog'nac, a kind of French brandy: "Cognac," in France, where extensively made.

cop'per, a metal: "Cyprus," once celebrated for its rich mines of the metal.

cord'wainer, a worker in cordwain, or cordovan, a Spanish leather: "Cordova," in Spain.

curaçoa', a liquor or cordial flavored with orange peel: the island of "Curaçoa," where it was first made.

cur'rant, a small dried grape: "Corinth," in Greece, of which "currant" is a corruption.

dam'ask, figured linen or silk: "Damascus," in Syria, where first made.

dam'son, a small black plum: (shortened from "Damascene") Damascus.

delf, a kind of earthenware: "Delft," in Holland, where it was orignally made.

di'aper, a figured linen cloth, used for towels, napkins, etc.: "Ypres," in Flanders, where originally manufactured.

dim'ity, a figured cotton cloth: "Damietta," in Egypt.

gamboge', a yellow resin used as a paint: "Cambodia, where it is obtained.

ging'ham, cotton cloth, made of yarn dyed before woven: "Guincamp," in France, where it was first made.

guin'ea, an English gold coin of the value of twenty-one shillings: "Guinea," whence the gold was obtained out of which it was first struck.

gyp'sy, one of a wandering race: old English "Gyptian," from "Egypt," whence the race was supposed to have originated.

hol'land, a kind of linen cloth: "Holland," where first made.

hol'lands, a spirit flavored with juniper berries: "Holland," where it is extensively produced..

in'digo, a blue dye: "India".

jal'ap, a cathartic medicine: "Jalapa," in Mexico, whence it was first imported in 1610.

jet, a mineral used for ornament: "Gagates," a river in Asia Minor, whence it was obtained.

lan'dau, lan'daulet, a kind of carriage opening at the top: "Landau," a town in Germany.

madei'ra, a wine: "Madeira," where produced.

magne'sia, a primitive earth: "Magnesia," in Thessaly.

mag'net, the loadstone, or Magnesian stone.

malm'sey, a wine: "Malvasia," in the Morea.

mar'sala, a wine: "Marsala," in Sicily.

mean'der, to flow in a winding course: "Meander," a winding river in Asia Minor.

mil'liner, one who makes ladies' bonnets, etc.: "Milan," in Italy.

moroc'co, a fine kind of leather: "Morocco," in Africa, where it was originally made.

nankeen', a buff-colored cloth: "Nankin," in China, where first made.

pheas'ant, a bird whose flesh is highly valued as food: "Phasis," a river in Asia Minor, whence it was brought to Europe.

pis'tol, a small hand gun: "Pistoja," in Italy, where first made.

port, a wine: "Oporto," in Portugal, whence extensively shipped.

sardine', a small Mediterranean fish, of the herring family: "Sardinia" around whose coasts the fish abounds.

sauterne', a wine: "Sauterne," in France, where produced.

sher'ry, a wine: "Xeres," in Spain, where it is largely manufactured.

span'iel, a dog of remarkable sagacity: "Hispaniola," now Hayti, where originally found.

tar'iff, a list of duties or customs to be paid on goods imported or exported: from an Arabic word, tarif, information.

to'paz, a precious stone: "Topazos," an island in the Red Sea, where it is found.

trip'oli, a fine grained earth used in polishing stones: "Tripoli," in Africa, where originally obtained.

turquois', a bluish-green stone: "Turkey," whence it was originally brought.

worst'ed, well-twisted yarn, spun of long-staple wool: "Worsted," a village in Norfolk, England, where first made.

William SWINTON, New Word-Analysis.

martes, 18 de junio de 2013

1º CC.SS. - TEMA 12 - Pre-Roman Peoples

Make a PowerPoint about Pre-Roman Peoples. Answer these questions:
- How did they live?
- Where did they live?
- How was their society?
- What did they believe in?

Senator

Roman senators

The Roman government at first was conducted by the Fathers of the families, with a KING, elected from their own number, and holding office for life. His duties were to command the army, to perform certain sacrifices (as high priest), and to preside over the assembly of the Fathers of the families, which was called the SENATE, i. e. an assembly of old men (Senex).

This body was probably originally composed of all the Fathers of the families, but in historical times it was limited to THREE HUNDRED members, holding life office, and appointed during the regal period by the king. Later the appointment was made by the Consuls, still later by the Censors, and for nearly one hundred years before Christ all persons who had held certain offices were thereby vested with the right of seats in the Senate. Hence, during this later period, the number of Senators was greatly in excess of three hundred. The Senators, when addressed, were called PATRES, or "Fathers," for they were Fathers of the families.

Robert F. PENNEL, History of Rome from the Earliest times down to 476 AD.


lunes, 17 de junio de 2013

1º CC.SS. - TEMA 11 - Vocabulary

Join words with definitions: Magistrate, Mosaic, Catacomb, Road, Patrician, Germanic peoples, Plebeian, Praetor.

Art of creating images with an assemblage of small pieces (tesserae)

Elected official in Ancient Rome

Group of ruling class families in ancient Rome

Subterranean passageways for religious practice

They began migrating to the Roman Empire by the 2nd century

Free Roman citizen who was neither slave nor patrician

Elected magistrate, subject only to the veto of the consuls

Stone-paved way

El abuelo, el nieto y el burro


 



Un abuelo y su nieto pasaron unas vacaciones inolvidables juntos. Ahora volvía a casa de sus padres para empezar nuevamente el colegio. Abuelo y nieto regresaban juntos con un burro. Turnándose, el abuelo o el nieto se subían al burro y así iban haciendo el viaje más cómodo.

Durante el viaje pasaron por numerosos pueblos….Pasando por la plaza del pueblo de uno de ellos y yendo en ese momento el abuelo sentado sobre el burro y el nieto iba caminando al lado, pudieron comprobar el enfado de algunas de las personas con que se cruzaban.

Decían:
- ¡Parece mentira! ¡Qué señor tan egoísta! Va montado en el burro y el pobre niño caminando.

Cuando salieron de este pueblo, el abuelo se bajó del burro. Llegaron a otro pueblo. Los dos iban caminando junto al burro y un grupo de muchachos se rió de ellos, diciendo:

-¡Mira qué par de tontos! Tienen un burro y, en lugar de montarse, van los dos andando.

Salieron del pueblo, el abuelo subió al niño al burro y continuaron el viaje.

Al llegar a otra aldea, la gente exclamó escandalizada:

-¡Qué niño más maleducado! ¡Qué poco respeto! Va montado en el burro y el pobre anciano caminando a su lado.

En las afueras de esta aldea, nieto y abuelo subieron los dos al burro. Pasaron junto a un grupo de campesinos que al verlos les gritaron:

-¡Sinvergüenzas! ¿Es que no tenéis corazón? ¡Vais a reventar al pobre animal!

El anciano y el niño se cargaron al burro sobre sus hombros. De este modo llegaron al siguiente pueblo. La gente acudió de todas partes para verles. Con grandes risotadas se burlaban diciendo:

-¡Qué par de tontos! Nunca hemos visto gente igual de tonta que ellos. Tienen un burro y, en lugar de montarse, lo llevan a cuestas.

Al salir del pueblo, el abuelo después de pensar un rato le dijo al nieto:

-Recuerda siempre tener opinión propia y no hacer caso de lo que diga la gente. Nunca podrás contentar a todo el mundo…

Cuentos populares españoles, Esplandián Editores, Madrid, 1999.

jueves, 13 de junio de 2013

1º CC.SS. - TEMA 11 - Roman Art

ETRUSCAN ART
Architecture
Etruscan temple
Sculpture
Capitoline Wolf
Sarcophagus of Cerveteri
Apollo of Veii
Chimera of Arezzo
Sarcophagus of the Spouses
L'Arringatore
Etruscan Cinerary Urn
Painting
Tomb of the Lioness at Tarquinia

ROMAN ART
Architecture
Tuscan order
Roman domus
Roman insula
Roman villa
Domus Aurea
Hadrian's Villa
Roman road
Alcantara Bridge
Aqueduct of Segovia
Roman Forum
Theater of Merida
Colosseum
Circus Maximus
Baths of Agrippa
Baths of Diocletian
Maison Carrée
Pantheon
Basilica Aemilia
Basilica of Maxentius
Tropaeum Traiani
Hadrian's Wall
Tomb of the Scipios
Roman mausoleum of Fabara
Tomb of Eurysaces the Baker
Sculpture
Capitoline Brutus
Bust of Julius Caesar
Augustus of Prima Porta
Ara Pacis
Portrait of Livia
Bust of Emperor Claudius
Statue of Vespasian
Arch of Titus
Matrona (Jaen Museum)
Trajan's column
Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius
Commodus dressed as Hercules
Four Tetrarchs
Colossus of Barletta
Paleochristian sarcophagus (Jaen Museum)
Painting
Pompeian paintings
Frescoed walls (House of Livia)
Severan Tondo
Fayum mummy portraits
Mosaic
Alexander Mosaic
Pompeian mosaics
Four Seasons Mosaic (Castulo)

1º CC.SS. - TEMA 11 - Actividades

GRECO-ROMAN GODS:


SAINT PAUL, ROMAN CITIZEN:
Three days after arriving in the province, Festus went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem, where the chief priests and the Jewish leaders appeared before him and presented the charges against Paul. They requested Festus, as a favor to them, to have Paul transferred to Jerusalem, for they were preparing an ambush to kill him along the way. Festus answered, “Paul is being held at Caesarea, and I myself am going there soon. Let some of your leaders come with me, and if the man has done anything wrong, they can press charges against him there.”

After spending eight or ten days with them, Festus went down to Caesarea. The next day he convened the court and ordered that Paul be brought before him. When Paul came in, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him. They brought many serious charges against him, but they could not prove them.

Then Paul made his defense: “I have done nothing wrong against the Jewish law or against the temple or against Caesar.”

Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, said to Paul, “Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and stand trial before me there on these charges?”

Paul answered: “I am now standing before Caesar’s court, where I ought to be tried. I have not done any wrong to the Jews, as you yourself know very well. If, however, I am guilty of doing anything deserving death, I do not refuse to die. But if the charges brought against me by these Jews are not true, no one has the right to hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar!”

After Festus had conferred with his council, he declared: “You have appealed to Caesar. To Caesar you will go!”

Acts 25:1-12

Latium

The ITALIANS were of the same origin as the Hellénes, and belonged to the Aryan race, a people that lived in earliest times possibly in Scandinavia. While the Hellénes were settling in Greece, the Italians entered Italy.
At this time the Italians had made considerable progress in civilization. They understood, in a measure, the art of agriculture; the building of houses; the use of wagons and of boats; of fire in preparing food, and of salt in seasoning it. They could make various weapons and ornaments out of copper and silver; husband and wife were recognized, and the people were divided into clans (tribes).

That portion of the Italians known as the LATINS settled in a plain which is bounded on the east and south by mountains, on the west by the Tyrrhenian Sea, and on the north by the high lands of Etruria.
 
This plain, called LATIUM (flat country), contains about 700 square miles (one half the size of Rhode Island), with a coast of only fifty miles, and no good harbors. It is watered by two rivers, the Tiber, and its tributary, the Anio. Hills rise here and there; as Soracte in the northeast, the promontory of Circeium in the southwest, Janiculum near Rome, and the Alban range farther south. The low lands (modern Campagna) were malarious and unhealthy. Hence the first settlements were made on the hills, which also could be easily fortified.

The first town established was ALBA; around this sprung up other towns, as Lanuvium, Aricia, Tusculum, Tibur, Praeneste, Laurentum, Roma, and Lavinium.

These towns, thirty in number, formed a confederacy, called the LATIN CONFEDERACY, and chose Alba to be its head. An annual festival was celebrated with great solemnity by the magistrates on the Alban Mount, called the Latin festival. Here all the people assembled and offered sacrifice to their common god, Jupiter (Latiaris).

Robert F. PENNEL, History of Rome from the Earliest times down to 476 AD.


 

martes, 11 de junio de 2013

Mob

Mob

Mobster

Mobbing

Flashmob

En inglés, mob ('populacho') es una palabra que comenzó a utilizarse a finales del siglo XVII. Procede de la expresión latina mobile vulgus ('gente común'). La palabra mob tuvo desde el principio un carácter despectivo: incluso llegó a designar a la mafia (especialmente la no italiana) en los tiempos de la prohibición. Poco a poco pasó a significar multitud. Palabras relacionadas: mobbing ('acosado'), flashmob ('multitud instantánea').

lunes, 10 de junio de 2013

El Conejo y el León


Un celebre Psicoanalista se encontró cierto día en medio de la Selva, semiperdido.

Con la fuerza que dan el instinto y el afán de investigación logró fácilmente subirse a un altísimo árbol, desde el cual pudo observar a su antojo no sólo la lenta puesta del sol sino además la vida y costumbres de algunos animales, que comparó una y otra vez con las de los humanos.

Al caer la tarde vio aparecer, por un lado, al Conejo; por otro, al León.

En un principio no sucedió nada digno de mencionarse, pero poco después ambos animales sintieron sus respectivas presencias y, cuando toparon el uno con el otro, cada cual reaccionó como lo había venido haciendo desde que el hombre era hombre.

El León estremeció la Selva con sus rugidos, sacudió la melena majestuosamente como era su costumbre y hendió el aire con sus garras enormes; por su parte, el Conejo respiró con mayor celeridad, vio un instante a los ojos del León, dio media vuelta y se alejó corriendo.

De regreso a la ciudad el celebre Psicoanalista publicó cum laude su famoso tratado en que demuestra que el León es el animal más infantil y cobarde de la Selva, y el Conejo el más valiente y maduro: el León ruge y hace gestos y amenaza al universo movido por el miedo; el Conejo advierte esto, conoce su propia fuerza, y se retira antes de perder la paciencia y acabar con aquel ser extravagante y fuera de sí, al que comprende y que después de todo no le ha hecho nada.

Augusto MONTERROSO, La oveja negra y demás fábulas, Alfaguara, Madrid, 1997.

jueves, 6 de junio de 2013

1º CC.SS. - TEMA 11 - Roman concrete




Contemporary concrete is designed to last for about 100 years. Yet at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea lie the remains of Roman harbors, buildings and other structures that have remained surprisingly intact for almost 2000 years. What's the secret to their phenomenally durable concrete?

"The Romans developed a huge harbor infrastructure in the first century B.C. and first century A.D., and they built the harbors so well that they didn't need to keep repairing them," explained Marie Jackson, a researcher at the University of California, Berkeley's civil and environmental engineering department. 

Jackson and several of her Berkeley colleagues, lead by civil engineering professor Paulo Monteiro, recently examined the underwater structures at Pozzuoli, an Italian seaside town on the Bay of Naples. These harbors were in use for centuries, long after the method of their construction was lost with the fall of Rome. The harbors are still in relatively good shape today, considering they've been subject to centuries of salt water and erosion.

But apparently, the salt water is part of the reason why Roman concrete lasts so long.

Like modern chemists, Roman builders took limestone and burned it to create lime, a key component of mortar. But then, Roman builders mixed the lime with volcanic ash from the Gulf of Naples in the Mediterranean Sea, and saturated the mixture with salt water.

The reaction between the volcanic ash, called pozzolan, and the salt water naturally produces a bonding material called calcium aluminum silicate hydrate.

"In a sense, what the Romans were doing is almost working with the salt water environment to create a material that actually remains durable for about the same time frame as rock," Jackson told.

Jillian SCHARR,  What Ancient Roman Concrete Could Teach Modern Builders.


Italy


But Hellanicus of Lesbos says that when Hercules was driving the cattle of Geryon to Argos a calf escaped from the herd, while he was by now travelling through Italy, and in its flight traversed the whole coast and, swimming over the strait of sea in between, reached Sicily. Hercules constantly enquired of the inhabitants wherever he came as he pursued the calf if anyone had seen it anywhere, and when the people there, who knew little of the Greek tongue, called the calf vitulus (as it is still called) in their native language when indicating the animal, he named the whole country that the calf had crossed Vitulia, after the animal.

 Llewelyn MORGAN, A Yoke Connecting Baskets: Odes 3.14, Hercules, and Italian Unity, The Classical Quarterly, 55, 2005. 

martes, 4 de junio de 2013

Trek

Los trekkers viajaban en carretas tiradas por bueyes


Sello conmemorativo del Gran Trek

Durante las guerras napoleónicas, los ingleses ocuparon El Cabo, poblado desde hacía más de un siglo por los descendientes de algunos miles de colonos holandeses. Hacia 1835, cansados de la dominación británica, estos iniciaron un gran viaje (trek en su idioma) hacia el norte y acabaron fundando el Estado Libre de Orange y Transvaal.

Un trek que no tiene final

lunes, 3 de junio de 2013

Mairena, examinador

Mairena era, como examinador, extremadamente benévolo. Suspendía a muy pocos alumnos, y siempre tras exámenes brevísimos. Por ejemplo:

—¿Sabe usted algo de los griegos?

—Los griegos..., los griegos eran unos bárbaros...

—Vaya usted bendito de Dios.

—¿...?

—Que puede usted retirarse.

Era Mairena —no obstante su apariencia seráfica— hombre, en el fondo, de malísimas pulgas. A veces recibió la visita airada de algún padre de familia que se quejaba, no del suspenso adjudicado a su hijo, sino de la poca seriedad del examen. La escena violenta, aunque también rápida, era inevitable.

—¿Le basta a usted ver a un niño para suspenderlo? —decía el visitante, abriendo los brazos con ademán irónico de asombro admirativo.

Mairena contestaba, rojo de cólera y golpeando el suelo con el bastón:

—¡Me basta ver a su padre!

Antonio MACHADO, Juan de Mairena. Sentencias, donaires, apuntes y recuerdos de un profesor apócrifo,  Alianza Editorial, Madrid, 2009.