SHORT STORY WINNER 2022: Elena Bernal Fuentes, 4º A ESO

 Four-leaf clover

 

Flowers blooming, soft winds, bees buzzing, brighter days... Spring was slowly making its return to the neighbourhood. Although, that first description doesn't really fit with Oliver's friend groups' idea of the season —unbearable allergies, burning heat of sunlight, terrible rain... that's more like it.

 

It was the first day of Spring break, when, all of a sudden, Oliver saw himself forced to wake up over the loud screams coming from the windows of the flat. His black hair was as messy as ever, and he quickly picked up his glasses to see what was going on.

Of course, it was his friends Avery and Mason the ones who woke the whole neighbourhood. 

"Why don't you both just shut up!? Let's meet up to complain instead of waking up everyone!" Oliver yelled back at them, proposing a better way to get rid of their stress.

 

"Did we really have to do this?" Avery sighed, looking all messy as she felt too lazy to brush her dark curly hair, and with awful dark bags below her brown eyes.

"Well, I guess it's not the neighbours’ fault we're that mad at spring" Oliver reasoned.

However, as Avery kept on complaining for ages, something else had stolen Oliver's attention.

"Guys, you won't believe this, but..."

"Oh my Goodness, Oliver! It's a four-leaf clover!" Mason interrupted him, jumping in happiness.

"Finally, some good luck is coming our way!" Avery, and eventually Oliver, started jumping with him as well.

Right then, as the group was lost in the joy of finally coming across with the luck they had seldom believed to achieve, rain suddenly started pouring.

"You've got to be kidding me" Oliver's mood suddenly faded, and so did the others'. 

"That is because the clover doesn't have four leafs, you moron!" Avery realised, filled with contempt once more.

Mason dramatically sobbed, staring at the dawning sky, filled with numbness. At that point, those raindrops turned to be his very own tears.

Elena Fuentes Bernal

A Formal Letter, by Claudia Ropital 3º B ESO

"Discussion essay: electric cars" by Jacinto González Miranda 4º A ESO

Electric cars are a discovery that has been under development up to the present for a long time. According to some recent researches, by using this type of transport the world will be saved from human’s pollution related to this area. Nevertheless, electric cars have both advantages and disadvantages which require consideration.

Nowadays people usually talk about the advantages of electric cars although it has many disadvantages too. First of all, you have to know that electric cars have a short range of autonomy. Many sources say the real autonomy of an electric car expires within 200 and 250 kilometres. Apart from this, the main disadvantage they have is that currently, there are not enough recharging stations and this means that we cannot make long trips using an electric car.

On the other hand, they have a lot of advantages that help to reduce the world´s pollution. For example, while driving them you are being eco-friendly, what means that you are helping the world and at the same time you are reducing your carbon footprint. Furthermore, electric cars have an efficiency of a 90% while a normal car powered by fuel has only a 30%. This means that the electric cars will need less energy than cars powered by fuel to make the same effort. As a result, we will be saving much energy while cutting down on pollution.

To conclude, I have to say that from my point of view, I reckon that the whole population of the world will be using electric cars in less than 10 years. Truth be told, I think that it would be one of the advances that will mark the history.

Excerpt from interview with GT racing driver, Bjorn Wirdheim, by Pablo Alonso Pereira (4º A ESO)

***  Excerpt from Interview with Bjorn Wirdheim (fiction) ***

Question: Hello Bjorn, P2 in the drivers' standings. Firstly, tell us about your team.

Bjorn Wirdheim: The atmosphere is fantastic and everybody in the team is working very hard. Our main goal this season is to fight for the title, and at the moment, we are in the fight.

Question: We have seen the car struggling in many races, and now you are a bit off the pace. Do you think the next races will be a turning point?

BW: For sure!!! The team has found our problems and we have tested the new package and it is working very well. But the leaders are getting a bit far ahead... However, although I haven´t won a race this year, I have been on the podium in every race.

Question: What about the next round? Racing at Sugo should be an amazing feeling. And you've told them that you´re very encouraged with this one.

BW: Absolutely. I´m looking forward to racing there and win. It's gonna be difficult, but I won't give up, I have a great team pushing behind me. More than 50% of the wins are due to the pitwall staff and the engineers' outstanding job.

Adolfo Suárez: Spanish First President of Democracy, by Cristian Moya Orts (2º C ESO)

Adolfo Suárez, the first President of democracy in Spain, was born in Cebreros (Ávila) on 25th of September 1932 and died on 23rd of March 2014 in Madrid, at the age of 81. Although away from public life since 2003 due to dementia and neurological illness, Suárez will always be remembered as one of the greatest architects of the Spanish Transition. However, he went down in history as the first elected president in Spain after 40 years of dictatorship.

Adolfo Suárez graduated in law in the University of Salamanca. After holding various positions within the structures of the Franco regime, Suárez was appointed civil governor of Segovia in 1968. A year later, in 1969, he was appointed Managing director of Spanish Radio Television (TVE), a position he held until 1973.

In April 1975 he was appointed deputy secretary general of “El Movimiento” and on 11th of December 1975 he was part of the first government of Arias Navarro, formed right after the death of Franco, as Minister Secretary General. However, this new conservative government, for many an extension of the recent ruling dictatorship, lacked sufficient support from the people and failed to undertake the reform process that the country needed. As a result, Arias Navarro resigned just after a few months as president (July 1976) and Adolfo Suárez was instructed Cabinet. During the next months, Suárez struggled to establish a democratic regime and organized meetings with the main political parties and leaders. The reform was passed by the General Courts and accepted by the Spanish population (after a referendum), who was willing to move towards democracy. In the end, on 15th of July 1977, the first elections took place in Spain after more than 40 years, since the outbreak of the Civil War (1936).

Suárez won the elections and became the first democratic president. Virtually unknown to most Spaniards, his appointment on July 3rd 1976 as elected president raised controversy and criticism. For conservatives, too young and inexperienced; for the opposition, too linked to the previous regime.

Finally, on January 29th 1981, Adolfo Suárez resigned, nearly five years after being appointed Prime Minister by the King. That same year, the king granted him the title of Duke of Suárez for his role in the transition.

“The future remains unwritten, for it is only the People who can write it.” 

Adolfo Suárez

Film review: "Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back", by Ignacio López Huertas (2º C ESO)

Introduction: I watched ‘Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back’ on DVD last week with my uncle and my little cousin. The film, released in 1980, is an amazing science-fiction movie from the famous director George Lucas, starring Mark Hamill, who plays Luke Skywalker, Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia and my favourite, Harrison Ford, also known as Han Solo. It takes place a long time ago in a remote galaxy.

Plot: the film starts in the frozen planet Hoth where the Rebels, one of whose commanders is Luke Skywalker, have built a secret base to hide themselves from the Empire. The Imperial Fleet have found it and they prepare an attack to destroy the Rebel base. There is an epic battle but, even though the Rebels lose, our three heroes get to escape to Bespin, the gas planet where Leia and Han are taken prisoners by the Empire and Luke has to fight his unknown-to-him father, Darth Vader. During the fight his father maims his hand and Luke falls down an air shaft but, luckily enough his friends are there to rescue him.

 

Verdict: I really enjoyed the film because, on top of the actors being great, the battles and the special effects were even better thanks to the beautiful graphics and scenery. It is truly a great film, a masterpiece. Not to mention the incredible soundtrack composed by John Williams. In fact, the movie won 2 Oscar Awards and, for many, it is considered the best episode in the Star Wars saga.

Guns N' Roses, by Alejandra Ros Iñiguez (2º A ESO)

Guns N 'Roses is an American hard rock band formed in Hollywood, Los Angeles (California) in 1985. The band has sold over 120 million albums worldwide, including over 55.5 million albums in the United States. Its members are Axl Rose (vocals), Slash (lead guitar), Izzy Stradlin (rhythm guitar), Duff McKagan (bass) and Steven Adler (drums). They have released 6 studio albums and among his best known songs are: Sweet Child of Mine, November Rain, Welcome to the Jungle, Paradise City, Estranged, Don’t Cry, Civil War, Night Train, Rocket Queen and Knockin’ on Heaven's Door.

After their first album, they became very famous and won a lot of awards like the American Music Awards, Grammy Awards, MTV Video Music Awards and World Music Awards. Today they are considered one of the most important bands in the history of rock music. In fact, they entered the Rock Hall of Fame in 2012.

Their most important and successful albums were Appetite for Destruction (1987), which sold around 30 million copies, and their amazing double album Use Your Illusion I and II (1991), which sold 17 and 18 million copies each.
In 1992 Guns N' Roses gave their most crowded live concert ever in Bogota (Colombia), with over 50,000 people. At that time they were real rock idols. However, Axl Rose wanted to do the band commercial and Slash didn’t like the idea so they started having strong arguments. Their disagreement was the end of Guns N’ Roses. Most members left the band leaving Axl Rose alone. Slash and other members (Duff McKagan and Matt Sorum) would form a new band called Velvet Revolver, but they never were as successful and popular as Guns N’ Roses.

My favourite Guns N' Roses song is Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door because I listened it for the first time when I was 3 years and basically I grew up listening to that song. Every song touches a nerve and I just love their music.

MIPOLARE Project: School Outing, by Ángel Torres Soto (4º C ESO)

I’m going to talk about mining in Cartagena’s mountain range because my classmates and I had an outing to that place for our Biology formation. There we learnt that some researchers have restored Cartagena’s mountain range and they have used a lot of methods to reforest it. They have also conducted a project called MIPOLARE, which means “post-mined polluted landscapes reclamation by means of valorization of different residues’’ (rehabilitación de paisajes mineros contaminados mediante la valorización de diferentes residuos) and the duration of this project goes from September 2010 to August 2014, so it is a project that has lasted quite a long time.
There are relevant institutions supporting and participating in the project, such as the Polytechnic University of Cartagena, Portman Golf SA, the General Directorate of Environment or the Directorate of Industry, Energy and Mining at the Presidential Department of the Region of Murcia.

The main objective of MIPOLARE is to evaluate, to demonstrate and to disseminate a sustainable alternative to rehabilitate the minig deposits in the Region of Murcia through the application of industrial and farming residues.

People who work in the MIPOLARE project intend to:
- Neutralize acidity and immobilize the heavy metals present in the deposit’s material.
- Increase the organic matter content to create soil.
- Reduce the erosion of the wind and the water energy, as a result of soil creation and vegetation establishment.
- Create a new landscape with and educational use.

Personally, I think it was interesting, but I think that it would be better for adults than for teenagers because in my opinion, it was very long and a little boring too. However, the outing became more interesting when we went to the site in the mountain range. I enjoyed it a lot because I went there with very good friends and it was great fun. All in all, the outing was very good in general.

To conclude, I’d like to add something else: The MIPOLARE project has a fantastic organization but I think it is very bad that they spent all that money. It is exactly 4,000,000 euros. It has a very good and nice objective, so I hope they do it well.

Sweatshirts or Hoodies? By África Sánchez Caballero (2º B ESO)

Do you have to buy a sweatshirt or a hoodie to be cool?

Nowadays, young people, especially those in their early teens, love to wear sweatshirts. Currently sweatshirts are on fire among teenagers. There are lots of types of sweatshirts in different colours and materials, expensive or cheap ones, with or without hoods, with original logos depending on brands.

From my point of view, you should own several to be trendy. Personally, I am very lucky because I have been given lots of them as presents and I can choose a different sweatshirt every day. I think that sweatshirts and hoodies should be worn only on casual occasions, or if you have a crystal-studded hoodie like some celebrities, you could wear it even in a wedding!

But, do you know what the origin of this kind of clothing is?

If we go back in time to Medieval Europe, we can find that monks used to wear a long hood attached to their tunics. And a hooded cape was very commonly worn by any outdoors workers. However, the first hooded sweatshirt was produced in the United States in the 1930s for laborers working under freezing temperatures. But it was in the 1970s with the hip hop culture when high fashion designers contributed to make this garment so glamorous.  

In the 1990s the term hoodie became popular and in the United Kingdom it was trendy to wear it if you were a student from a university or a high school. In fact Ralph Lauren, Giorgio Armani, and other famous designers, have sweatshirts or hoodies in their collections.

I personally feel much cooler when I go out dressed in a trendy sweatshirt with no hood. My favourite one has a logo with an eagle and the word “BOY” on it.

Sandwiches, by Lucía Martínez Rodríguez (4º A ESO)

Why are sandwiches called sandwiches? To know the origin of its name, we have to go back in time to the 18th century, to a small southern city in England, called Sandwich.

John Montangu was the Earl of Sandwich, and he had a strong problem with card games and money. Once, he was playing a game for a whole day, and in a couple of hands, he started losing almost all his fortune. Later, his servants told him that the lunch was ready. Although the Earl was feeling pretty hungry, he was so concentrated on the cards game, trying to recover his money, that he refused to stop and have a break to eat. His servants and the cook, worried about the situation, looked for a solution. The Earl shouldn't do without lunch! It was their duty to serve and feed him.

After a long time, they came up with an idea. The cook carved the meat and put it between two slices of bread.
The players and the Earl were astonished when the servants came over with the new meal! They were eating a tasty roast beef with their own hands and with no cutlery. That way, they were able to have a very quick meal without stopping playing cards for lunch.
And that's why sandwiches are called this way, because of the Earl of Sandwich.

Nowadays, sandwiches are one of the most eaten meals, especially in Great Britain, and definitely the first fast food meal ever made.

Teenage Fashion, by Claudia Sabín Lozano (3º C ESO)

For most teenagers our look is very important and in many cases it is a way to define our personality. That's why fashion and the new trends are very important for us. Girls between the ages of 15 and 20 dress differently from mothers or women over 20. I wouldn’t dress like my mum because I think her taste for clothes is old-fashioned!

I am 14 years old now and, as you may already know, 14 year-olds never accept their parents advice. We need to express ourselves through fashion and we get upset if we are told what to do or wear. We usually dress wearing jeans, sweatshirts, sandals, short-sleeved shirts, jerseys, t-shirts, converse and vans sneakers or sandals. This year the colours that are on fashion are green, coral and black.

When we are 16 years old we all like to dress well to look and feel beautiful and to impress our friends, but when we are about 18 or 20, we start wearing high-heeled shoes, dresses, handbags, jewellery, etc. Most of us like brand names like Chanel, Bimba & Lola and Carolina Herrera, all of which are quite expensive but, you know, we like to look all the rage and cool!

Claudia Sabín Lozano, 3º C ESO

Tautianos, by Arturo Durán Gil (3º C ESO)

Hi there! I’m one of the members of the school team called Tautianos.
It’s a science and technology school project made with Lego construction sets that began two years ago. We took part in a competition called First Lego League in Murcia with other schools. Our project was based on robotics so we designed and created a robot that did different tasks by itself. We programmed the tasks on the laptop and, in my opinion, it was the fun part! The rest was basically the science project about it.

We participated in the competition of the Region de Murcia but on the first year we only won a Prize for Promising Youngsters. On the second year, we won in the Region de Murcia competition and, as a result, we could travel to Tarragona for the national.

The trip to Tarragona was horrible, though. We rented a minibus and we spent eight hours to go and other eight to return. The minibus made a really annoying noise! The level there was much higher and we finished 18th out of 32 participants. It was not bad after all. However, we managed to win a huge prize! The prize in the category for the Best Science Project in Spain. It was absolutely awesome!

All in all, the experience was great and this year we are presenting a new project again. I hope we can do better this time!

http://tautianos.blogspot.com.es/

Arturo Durán Gil, 3ºC ESO