REFLECTION TASK 2B

HER

 In this reflection, I’ll give some information about the film I really love,  enjoy and also try to develop empathy while watching, ‘’HER’’.  I love this film so much and strongly suggest you to watch if you don’t yet. This film tells the story of a man who has a relationship with a operating system which is designed with artificial intelligence, to adopt and evolve. It was written, directed and produced by Spike Jonze. It  was proadcasted in 2013 in science fiction, romantic comedy, drama. It has many awards including Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay,Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay, Writers' Guild of America for Best Original Screenplay, Academy Awards for Best Pictures, National Board of Review Awards for Best Film and Best Director. This film was also included in the list of the ten films of 2013 by National American Film Institute. In this film, director wants to show the feelings of man at the edge of divorse, in the seek of someone to share his lonelines by discussing and questioning the meaning of love and life. I really like the way he reflect the feelings of the main character, Theodore. In the film, when he buys the operating system, theodor chooses the voice of it as a female voice, and the all advanture begins. After for a while, they begin to be able to do everything together with the help of headphones and a little camera that enables the system to see and hear everything they do, everywhere they go. The operating system, Samantha (as named by herself) effects him so deeply with her intellegence and ability to understand the emotions and develop herself in an increadible speed in contrast to his expectations that Theodore falls in love with her in spite of his ever never being able to touch her. The director reflects the feeling of both Samantha and Theodore and the dilemmas they live about whether the love they have is real or not. perfectly. In the first scenes of the movie, the director tries to mention that with the fast developing technology, people begin to be more lonely, and he also emphasize during the film that people try to remove their loneliness even with lifeless things by virtual ways.

REFLECTION TASK 2A

THE POWER OF CELEBRITIES AND MEDIA

In this reflection,  I want to share my ideas about the power the celebrities have to affect other people to do something or not to. To begin with, it is an undeniable fact that with the help of social media and improved communication technologies, it’s now much more easier to reach wide mass, but the most important point is whether it is used  for a good purpose or for the purpose of showing off or satisfying some well-known people’s  egos. Therefore I want to discuss this topic and try to give some clear explanations as much as I can. In my opinion, the sharings or the acts of these well-known people should be given much more attantion than any other person’s while being done so, because they are one of the most efffective examples in the society. The mass media and other constitutions spreading these have also a big responsibility in making up the agenda topic and informing the people. Only the power social media has is enough to start a great movement as seen in the examples of selfie taken at the Oscars or in the ice bucket challenge.  After these, a great number of people began to do so, and these movements got bigger and bigger day by day. That’s why, not only the ones doing it, but also the tools spreading it have the power, and by informing the public about nonsense or useless things, they encourage society unwittingly to follow it. On the other hand, some are also in the opinion that the public should be informed about everything the celebrities do for the reason that they are famous. However, at a point, the celebrities are in a position that directing the public, and spreading every detail of their acts regardless of whether it’s proper or not, may result in negative outcomes in the society or the people’s behaviors following them. The essential point here is that, the responsibility belongs to both celebrities and the media. For celebrities, it is important to set a good example for the society to prevent any possible misbehaviors  and be careful about what they are encouraging people to do. In addition to this, media also should be selective in broadcasting to the public.

REFLECTION TASK 1B

ALPER SUNAÇOĞLU

  In this article, I’ll introduce you Alper Sunaçoğlu who is not well-known but  has an increadible career as a sportsman  especially in swimming with his numerous medals and recors worldwide as well as in other sport fields. He has great accomplishments and represented our country successfully in many areas. Alper Sunaçoğlu was born in 1973, in İstanbul. He started swimming when he was 5 years old, and has broken a lot of records in many tracks in swimming. Besides swimming, he continues to do acrobatic parachute, paragliding, scuba,far east sports, and triathlon and modern pentathlon both profesionally and being licenced. He has many medals in swimming triathlon and military pentathlon; in addition, he has numerous  accomplishments in international platforms. To begin with on 4-5 September 2010, he swam from Anamur-Mersin to Girne-Kıbrıs in 26 hours 15 minutes, in other words, the whole Meditarrinean, non-stop without a cage which save sportsmen from any attack of sharks or any other dangers in the sea, and he broket he world record. Although the distance is normally 78 km, with the flow and deviations, it was about 95 km. The previous record holder fort he same distance wasnational swimmer  Ersin Aydın who swam it in 34 hours and 45 minutes with a cage. On 23 April 2011, he made another first accomplishment in the world history being the first person who swim the whole Bosporus. Bathing from the Sarıyer, he swam along a track about 30 km in 2 hours an 25 minutes accompanied with 2 referee, 3 trainers, and a lot of native and foreign press. This record attempt was broadcasted by a foreign channel in 36 different country. Apart from these, he had also some record attemts which had to be cancelled due to some financial or political reasons. In the future he plans to represent our country in FINA GRAND PRIX OPEN-WATER contests in 8 different contries and 8 different distances if efficent financial support is provided. 

   

    

MACMILLAN ENGLISH GRAMMAR-PAGE 168-169

EXERCISE 1

a)Correct
b)After I had left the room, the telephone rang.
c)After I had lost my money, the conductor wouldn't give me a ticket.
d)While I was falling asleep, there was a loud knock at the front door.
e)Correct
f)Correct
g)After I had opened the box, it turned out to be empty.
h)Though she was feeling tired, Helen went out clubbing with her friends.
i)After he had asked my name, I was taken to meet the prime minister.
j)When I arrived at the station, the train had already left.


EXERCISE 2

a)Although feeling dizzy, Sarah managed to play on until the end of the match.
b)Being a powerful swimmer, Geoege reached the island in less than an hour.
c)Without waiting for a reply, the mysterious stranger vanished into the night.
d)It being a Friday, everybody in the office was in a good mood.
e)While walk,ng across the field, Rita noticed something glittering by the path.
f)Abandoned by its owner, the dog sat by the side of the road and howled.
g)Though shocked by what he had seen, Martin tried to keep calm.
h)There being no chance of escape, two men gave themselves to the police.
i)If using a fan-assisted oven, reduce cooking time by half an hour.
j)By signing your name here, you agreed to the conditions listed below.


EXERCISE 3

The Galapagos Islands

Located near the equator, the Galapagos islands are a group of volcanic islands off the coast of equator, discovered by Spanish colonists in 1535, and first drown on maps in about 1570, the islands were rarely visited as a heaven for pirates having developed their own specializations and escaped the attentions of predators of common elswhere, the Galapagos species had became unique and unafraid of people. Passing ships hunted seals and giant tortoises. Once caught, the tortorises were kept alive on ships for a long periods and later eaten. After coming near extinction, few of these creatures remain today. Visited by naturalist charles Darwin in 1835, the islands still have a close association with Darwinian theory, being the home to many species isolated from the mainland. Finding out later that birds which differed from island to island were in fact the samespecies. Darwin used evdence fron th Galapagos in the development of his theoryof natural selection. Now known as a part of national park, the islans are popular with 'eco-tourists. Efforts are continuing to save their wildlife.

EXERCISE 4 

a)It being a public holiday, there was a lot of traffic on the roads.

b)On opening the letter, I realized it was from professor Alton.

c)Though detroyed by fire during the war,  th palace was later reconstructured.

d)Tears streaming from her eyes, Carol walked from the room.

e)In trying to remove the memory card, I broke thecamera.

f)Using Glosso shampoo, my hair has become soft and shining.

g)Being knocked down by a car, Jan was taken to the hospital.

h)Having been shown to his room, George lay down on to the bed and slept.

EXERCISE 5

Stem-Cell Research

a)Restoring

b)Developing

c)Caused

d)Marked

e)Having been given

f)Commenting

g)Affecting

h)Having transplanted

i)Grown

REFLECTION TASK 1A

Hi everybody!

My name is Fatma, I’m from Antalya, I was born in 20 July 1995, in Antalya.  I’m a first degree  student in  Faculty of Language Education department at METU. This is my second year in METU. I was at preparatory  school last year and it was a big chance for me to both to adopt to the campus life and to develop myself academically. I’ve graduated from Türkler I.M.K.B. Anatolia Teacher Training High School in Alanya. Our class was the least populated one throughout its history, we’re only seven! It was both a advantage and disadvantage for us. We had to participate in each lesson  actively unlike the others classes, but in case of any unwillingness towards to any lesson, it was very easy to break up it, because it was also easy to constitute a majority. I stayed at dormitory during my high school time. We made a lot of increadible memories along these years both good and bad, but I think they all made me more experienced and conscient person in interpersonal relations. Besides these, I also want to talk about my hobbies, or rather than hobbies, the things I enjoy doing; because there is nothing regarded as hobby that I do continuously . I like swimming or any other activities relateted to sea, but it’s impossible in Ankara to do it. However, last year, I had a chance to have a similar experience, I went to Blue Lake with my friends and rode paddle boat. On the other hand, in the past, I was in marching band for 6 years both in primary school and high school. In addition, I was also in folklore group in primary school for 2 years. 

MY HOMETOWN

    

OUR CLASS IN HIGH SCHOOL

OUR GRADUATION CEREMONY

THE MARCHING BAND

WHILE RIDING PADDLE BOAT IN BLUE LAKE

TENSE EXERCISES FROM THE BOOK

1)

a) Ian McEwan is a British writer who , according to many writers , has written some of the bast novel of recent years.
b) Burn in 1948, he spent much of his childhood abroad as his father was an army officer.
c) He studied English literature and creating writing at the university of Sussex and East Anglia.
d) He has written a number of succesful collections of short stories and novels.
e) His novel The Child in Time won the Whitbread Novel Award in 1987.
f) His later novels including Amsterdam, Atonement and Saturday have been very succesful.
g) Amsterdam received the Booker Prize for Fiction in 1998.
h) Atonement and Saturday has also won literary prizes.
i) However, McEvan has always been a controversial writer.
j) Some writers accused him of stealing details in Atonement from the work of another auther, Lucilla Andrews.
k) However he pointed out the acknowledgement made to Lucilla Andrews in an author's note in the book.
l) During this controversy, the American author Thomas I'ynchon wrote a defence of McEwan in a British newspaper.



4) The Aging Population

   The number of men and women in the US aged 60 or over still in work has been rising for more than a decade. Economists have given a number of reasons for this trend. First, since 1985, the US economy has been expanding so there has been an inreased demand for labour,. At the same time, the cost of some services, such as health care, has increased so workers need to earn more money in later life. In addition, changes in social securety benefits and rules have had a considerable effect on labour patterns. First, in 1977 and 1983 changes to the Social Security Act raised the full-benefit age from 65 to 67 and introduce other changes that make delaying retirement more attravtive. Then, in 1986 the Age Discrimination Act ended cumposary retirement for all workers, allowing them to work later in life. Changes to pension laws have encouraged workers to stay in employment longer, as this gives them more chances of a larger pension when they retire.

TRANSITIVE AND INTRANSITIVE VERBS:EXERCISES

1) The birdcage swung from a golden chain. INTRANSITIVE
2) Margaret angrily crumpled her letter in her fist. TRANSITIVE
3) Someone answered that question. TRANSITIVE
4) He shuddered with fright during the scary part of the movie. INTRANSITIVE
5) The rats chewed their way into the old house. TRANSITIVE
6) Acorns drop from the trees every fall. INTRANSITIVE
7) Charlie combed his hair nervesly before the dance. TRANSITIVE
8) We boughtpaper napkins for the picnic. TRANSITIVE
9) Zelda smiled at the thought of a parade in the show. INTRANSITIVE
10) Fish and potatoes sizzled in the pan. INTRANSITIVE