Will Gas Prices Ever Stop Rising?



     Yesterday,  I went to the gas station to fill up my Toyota Corolla, and it cost me over forty dollars. Forty dollars! Three years ago the average gas price was $1.80 per gallon, today the prices are about $3.60 per gallon. That is absolutley absurd! My question is, why are these prices constantly rising?
  
    From what is said on the news, President Obama blames the gas prices on the instability in the Middle East and the current affair with Iran. Also, according to Obama, drilling more gas will not lower the prices either. So are prices just going to keep rising to the point where it it going to cost over $5.00 a gallon? This is going to be a major problem for the American economy. Rising gas prices drag down consumer spending and can cause financial hardships at home.
              I think the American government needs to get a hold of why these prices keep rising. It is costing me at least $150 a month to fill up my tank to go to work and go to school. It is mind boggling and frustrating that no one really knows why they are going up because not to long ago it was fifty cents cheaper.
Click here to read an opinion on gas prices

Vocabulary

Absurd-extremely unreasonable

Instability-a state of being very unstable

Economy-management of resources such as money, materials and labor.

Drag Down-to depress or demoralize

Hardships-extreme suffering

Mind Boggling-mentally or emotionally overwhelming

Vocabulary Exercise

________ in an _________ can be extremely frustrating for the country that is going through a hard time. There are many things that can ___________ the economy that can lead to many different _____________ for the consumers. People can lose their jobs when they are over qualified, which is absolutely ___________. It is __________________ to me that people can get laid off every single day and there are little changes made each day.

Grammer Point

Find all of the proper nouns in the blog entry and use them in a different sentence and explain why they are proper nouns.

Write a paragraph on something that frustrates you!

Education for Educating Others, Will it Be Worth It?

          For the past six months, I have been going to graduate school at Molloy College to recieve my masters in Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) and Adolescent Education in Social Studies. Basically, I am goign to school to become a teacher in social studies and ESL. From what I have been reading about and learning about in education lateley, in the State of New York, there are no jobs available for teachers. People with their masters and their doctorates are getting laid off because of all of the budget cuts. Is it really worth it? Is there a point of goign to school and receiving all of this great education at Molloy to graduate and be working at a job that you had since college?
           I have thought about this and I will not deny that it has made me nervous. New York has is trying to change everything about how education is evaluated and it is causing a chaotic uprising of the teachers of New York. I know a lot of teachers that have either gotten laid off or cannot find jobs anywhere becuase of these new changes to education. I am not worried though because by the time I graduate Molloy in May 2013, if there are still no jobs available for becomign a teacher, I would have no problem moving elsewhere. Many people from New York feel like they would not be able to live anywhere else, but for me that is not the case. Being a teacher is all that I have wanted since I was in high school and if moving out of New York is what it takes to become a teacher, then so be it.

Vocabulary

TESOL- teachers that help students with English when English is not their native language.

Doctorates- one of the highest degrees in education. People are then referred as doctors.

Laid off- temporary suspension from employment

Evaluate- when someone is tested on merit and worth

Chaotic- very hectic and crazy.

jobs- places where people work

Vocabulary Exercise

When looking for _______________ in the current economy, it can be very ______________. There are many people lateley who are being ______________ on their performance at work, and if they do not meet the standards, they will be either fired or _______________. If you want to recieve an education to either get your masters or _____________, a great program that is very rewarding would be ______________. This program allows you to work with children and even adults who are struggling with English.

Grammar Point:
Find all of the nouns in the story and write what kind of nouns they are. (ex, proper nouns, pronouns, etc)

Write a paragraph on what you want to be when you grow up, and what you think it will take to get there.

Experience of a Lifetime

            I have never been the type of girl to ever take risks or step outside of my comfort zone,  however, when the opportunity to study abroad in Rome, Italy was presented to me, I could not pass it up. I arrived in Rome on July 5, 2010 and as soon as I landed after that seven hour flight, I knew my life would never be the same. 
          When studying abroad, I was required to take two classes; the classes were Italian and The History of Italian Art. The classes were extremely helpful because each morning, I learned a great deal of Italian to communicate with the locals and I learned about the amazing architecture, art, sculpture, and painting of Rome throughout history. Because I studied in Rome, I knew that I wanted to become a teacher and teach art history from the renaissance era. 
          My classmates and I did a lot of traveling while we were in Italy. We went to many different cities up and down the Italian coast including Assisi, Florence, Venice, Capri, Pisa, and Tivoli. Each and every city was magnificent in its own way and I learned so much about the amazing history that Italy has to offer. For example, Florence is the city where the Renaissance first began, Pisa had the leaning tower that will one day eventually fall, and Venice was a city on water and boat rides were necessarily to navigate through the city. Studying in Italy changed my life forever. Each city taught me something that I never knew before, and I fell absolutely in love with the country. 
Click here to learn more about ITALY. 


Vocabulary


COMFORT ZONE- a sense of security you when you are doing something or trying to complete something

STUDY ABROAD- going to school in different countries

REQUIRED-something that is necessary to complete

ARCHITECTURE-buildings and cultural symbols of art of different countries

RENAISSANCE-revival of art and literature during the 14th century

MAGNIFICENT-impressively beautiful and extravagant

NAVIGATE-to direct any form of transportation by using different technologie, to find your way


Vocabulary Exercise

The ____________ was a point in time in history where _____________ art, sculptures, , and new political structure formed all over Europe. Artists and sculptors really stepped out of their ____________ when they were ________ to create these ___________ portraits of people with new rich colors and have many depths that people have never seen before. If you ever get the chance to ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­________ in Italy, France or even Greece, you should __________ your way to see the amazing art that was created throughout history.



Grammar Point:
The verbs in the story about adapting to change are in the past tense. Find them in the passage . Write in your own words what they mean.

 Write a paragraph on what kind of art you like and why. 

Adapting to Change

              Change is never easy and when you're forced to adapt when change is thrown your way, it can be extremely difficult. I am being forced to become accustomed to a new way of life as of very recently, only two weeks ago. On January 24, 2012, my boyfriend, an ensign in the United States Navy, was deployed. His deployment is going to be six to eight months, stopping in ports all over Europe and Africa. It has been hard adapting to this change of him never around and us never being able to talk, but I try to stay positive.

                                            Click here to learn more about the US Navy

                The key element when one is adapting to change is keeping busy. Though it is difficult and I miss him all the time, working full time and going to school full time definitely helps keep my mind busy. One other thing that is very therapeutic is being able to write letters. It helps when you are writing out your feelings and letting them know how much you care. People live this life every day, living as military wives, husbands, boyfriends, and girlfriends, and it is possible. What outweighs all the negative aspects of being a military girlfriend, is the one positive: how tremendously proud you are of him. Defending your country is a great honor, and I remind myself everyday of how lucky I am to be with a member of the United States military. 

Vocabulary:

ADAPT- to get a feel for, to settle and adjust

FORCED-doing something that you do not want to do, but you have to.

DEPLOYED- to send troops to a specific area, to take action somewhere, or use something.

KEY ELEMENT- most important thing to recognize

THERAPEUTIC - doing something that makes you feel better

TREMENDOUSLY - extremely large or great amount        

Vocabulary Exercise

Please put the correct word in the space:

Something that can always be __________ is working out first thing every morning. A person is not ___________ to do this every day and it can take a lot of time to _________ to waking up so early.  One ___________ to focus on when you want to work out in the morning is how ____________ it can be. It is a great way to feel better about yourself knowing that you are being healthy; it can help ______________. You can __________ every morning at the gym showing off what you got!

Grammar Point:
The verbs in the story about adapting to change are in the present tense. Find them in the passage . Write them and then write the past tense form for each one.

 Write a paragraph about a time in your life when you had to adapt to change. Use the past tense.