Opinion essay

Is it important that people stay informed?

There are many different ways to stay informed in our world. One can see news on television or listen to the radio. Another chance to get informed is to read the newspaper or articles in the internet. In the following essay I will present some aspects why I think that people should stay informed.

First of all I want to start with the necessity of staying informed for the communication between human beings. Having good knowledge supports the self – confidence and makes people open – minded. So you can easily start a conversation and start on exchange of views.
Another aspect for the importance of a good know – how is the education. We should know what is going on in the world and not only live within our own four walls. We shouldn’t be shielded from the outside world but we should develop a thirst for knowledge. I think one of the most important news are the political ones because we live in a democratic state and everybody has the right to vote. In addition to that it could be that a bad political party gets too much influence on our state.
The last point for the necessity to stay informed is that you should broaden your mind. Concerning culture, politics, sport, nature, health, history,… To come to an own decision it’s very important to choose from a variety of different kind of opinions and then come to an own conclusion. You have to be informed to understand the world because there are many questions to be answered. For instance: Where does the gen - technology lead us to? How can our planet deal with the pollution?

To conclude, I must say that information makes the world go round. At the same time the main problem is that there is a flood of news and therefore the big challenge to choose between necessary and unimportant information. Without staying informed you can change nothing. Knowledge is power.

Graph description

This graph gives us precise information about the financial turnover situation. The years from 2000 to 2007 are indicated on the X-axis whereas the Y-axis expresses the money in million euros. In the year from 2000 to 2001 there was a slide but in the following year was a rapid rocket. After a second drop followed the next climb and this continues steadily. The prognosis says that this trend is going on.

Letter of application

Raphaela
Riedstraße 7
6840 Götzis
1.Feb.2009

Mr. Simon Rosenegger
Continetta Antionri
Restaurant
Jasomirgottstraße 3-5
1010- Wien
01/5337722

1.Feb.2009

Dear Mr. Rosenegger

Application for the cook position

I would like to apply for the cook position advertised on the Standard newspaper. The reason why I’m requesting for your advertisement is that I think I have got the essential skills. I’m very creative, I can handle with stress, I had a very good education and as well as I’ve got practical experiences.

I hope that these following experiences are also speaking for me:

• I worked in the Ambach restaurant as a cook for two years.
• For the period of five months I worked as a cook assistant of Tim Mälzer
• For the last one year I had the chance for a practical course in the Hilton Hotel in Vienna.

One of my reasons for applying is that I’ve always been cooking a lot and I like to practise my creativity through cooking. I hope these experiences will help me to get this job.

I would welcome the opportunity to discuss my application with you. I’m looking forward to hearing from you and I can be reached anytime via my cell phone, 0650/8977718. Thank for your time and I will hope that you give me the chance to work for you.

Sincerely yours,

Raphaela Klinger

Boys n the Hood

Group: 4
Evaluate this film: The pros and cons. Is the message relevant for us, too? Explain!

• Black Policeman:
  Racist against black people.
  Scene:
  1. A burglar gets into the house of Tre and there the policeman said: to bad that you don’t get him.
  2. Tre and Riccy drive home from the party. Suddenly the police stop them and one of the policeman hold a gun at Tre’s face.
  In Austria: That’s also like the situation here. It can also be that such a situation happens by us.
• Mother:
  Mother is different, because she earns more money. She lives different and she also doesn’t want to use slang. She wants to be integrated and be like white people. (The way she lives and the restaurant she chooses.)
  In Austria: A white woman from the middle class who wants to belong to the rich people.
• Education:
  It’s not usually that a black person gets a good job and a good education.
  The education is biased for white people not for black ones. For example: Riccy’s wife. Riccy is dead and so she has nothing now.
  In Austria: It is very important to get people educated otherwise it could be that they have nothing. Turkish people aren’t as good educated as Austrians.
• Drugs, alcohol, guns came from white people. It’s them making profits.
  In Austria: We don’t have a gun problem but the drugs and alcohol come from rich white people and are consumed by poor Austrians or Immigrants.
• Black people are interested in keeping their family together. Family, friendship, community -->Brotherhood.
  In Austria: Turkish people are interested in keeping their family. They don’t talk with white people, they don’t have a white community and they count themselves out
• A real man is not someone who kills and gets women pregnant.

Task A: Beauty - a world of perfection

+ The Struggle for Beauty


“All that glitters isn’t gold”. Many people find themselves not beautiful and so they accept the risk of beauty surgery and accordingly they do all what they are able to do to be beautiful. It comes to a “Struggle for Beauty”. But beauty is a mixed bag of positive and negative aspects.

On the one hand there are a lot of people who think of the good way of the “Struggle for Beauty”. Some can become more self - confidence, if you make sure that you always look good and have the latest fashion and so on. So if you are an unhygienic person and you have always got horrible hair and your face is full of spots.., many people would look at you and whispering behind your back. One can avoid this if he looks after himself and owing to this ones appearance will be different.
Another pro argument is that if you have an accident and your face is full of scars, it is good to have the chance for cosmetic surgery. Due to this you can have your normal life back. In addition if you have a look after your appearance your chances for a good job will grow.

On the other hand there are also some negative aspects. One of many points of the negative side of cosmetic surgery is that if you are too young and your body is still growing a surgery could destroy your body and cause pain. Another negative aspect is the social pressure which causes a poor result. For instance if a girl wants to have her own crazy and manic style with colourful clothes and thick make – up she has to have a good self – confidence. Another con point is that if a woman is very beautiful she gets privileged. This could be when she applies for a job and her competitor is not a very good looking person, she has a better chance to get this job.

Weighing the pros and cons, I come to the conclusion that beauty gets overvalued. There is no doubt about cosmetic surgery if you had an accident and for example your face is disfigured. What I find very important to consider is the con argument about teens who constantly want an operation earlier. They are following the trend which our society prescribes. It’s also a big point in relationships or finding a partner. Because the “inner value” or rather the character isn’t so important as the look and the appearance.

To conclude “The Struggle for Beauty” shouldn’t be so brutal. Everyone should find his own opinion of beauty.

Social pressure and beauty for teens

Pro:

• Fashion labels concerns get rich (good for business)
• Everybody is looking for themselves (hygiene, fashion…)
• Boots self- confidence
• Beauty is success in our society, so why shouldn’t people make them beauty?
• Because of the high demand, there is more work for people
• We live in a free country, so everyone should be allowed to do with his/her body whatever he/she likes

Con:

• Social pressure because it’s not their own wish
• It’s a big risk to undergo surgery
• Addiction
• Teens haven’t finish their growth, so their body still changes
• You don’t get addicted, if you don’t look good
• A lot of teens buy more clothes than they have money
• Maybe they change their opinion, when they’re older, so it’s not good to change your body in this age
• Teenagers get influenced by advertisements
  

Additional thoughts:

• Personality is changing
• Will there always be the same beauty ideal?
• Will the surgery age go down?
• Will beauty be the most important thing in life?
• Is beauty really in the eye of the beholder?
• If you want to do that you do it, no matter if your mother also had a plastic surgery or not.
• Teenagers exaggerate with the beauty ideals

Letter of complaint

Raphaela
Wegeler 5
A-6840 Götzis
Dezember 4nd, 2008

BBC Complaints
PO Box 1922
Glasgow

G2 3WT


Dear Madam/Sir


Letter of complaint


I want to complaint about how women are presented in advertising. Something must be done about this! It can’t be that women are pressed into a cliché that had existed in the past. Watching not much TV I have a feeling that women are sex symbols and the only thing for what they are competent is housework. They have to present the product very attractive and that demands from them to be beautiful, sexy and silly, because an intelligent and competitive woman is a high challenge. Now the image of beautiful women should change and not being presented like a beautiful object. For instance in a washing powder advertising, where always a woman says how good it is and how clean the clothes will be. As a matter of fact nearby all advertisings with household appliances show a woman.

In summing up it can be said that I would be glad if you start to change the image of women. We should be ahead of our time.

Yours,
Raphaela