Kerry: I really don't know why this book is so popular.

I mean, I suppose it is going to

appeal to young girls who want danger and romance, but I found this book really tedious.
For a start, the characters were really unconvincing. I thought that some of the facts she
presented about the main characters would become significant in some way later in the
novel, but they didn't. They were just worthless bits of information. I also was disappointed
that, although this book is meant to be about kids at high school, the writer seems to have
no recollection at all about what it's like to be 17. The main character thought and acted
like a 32-year-old. It just wasn't believable.

Kerry: realmente no s por qu este libro es tan popular. Quiero decir, supongo que va a
apelar a las nias que quieren el peligro y el romance, pero he encontrado este libro
realmente tedioso. Para empezar, los personajes eran realmente convincentes. Pens
que algunos de los hechos que ella present acerca de los personajes principales se
convertira en significativas de alguna manera ms adelante en la novela, pero no lo
hicieron. Eran slo intiles bits de informacin. Tambin me ha decepcionado que, aunque
este libro trata sobre los nios de secundaria, el escritor parece no tener ningn recuerdo
acerca de lo que es para ser 17. El personaje principal pensaba y actuaba como 32 aos
de edad. Simplemente no era creble.

Liz: I have to say that I won't forget this book for a long time. I was hooked from the very
first chapter. The devastating story affected me so much that I don't know if I'll ever feel the
same again. I was close to tears on several occasions. I've got images in my brain now
that I don't think will ever leave me. I learned
an awful lot of things that went on that I never knew before. Margaret Emerson has a
brilliant way with words and I really felt real empathy towards the characters, although I
was sometimes irritated by the choices they made. However, the parallel story, the part
that is set in the present, is not quite so good. I found myself just flicking through that part
so that I could get back to 1940s Paris.

Liz: tengo que decir que no olvidar este libro durante mucho tiempo. Me enganch desde
el primer captulo. La devastadora historia me afect tanto que no s si yo nunca sentir lo
mismo otra vez. Estuve cerca de lgrimas en varias ocasiones. Tengo imgenes en mi
cerebro ahora que no creo que nunca me dejar. Aprend un montn de cosas que nunca
supe antes. Margaret Emerson tiene una manera brillante con palabras y realmente sent
verdadera empata hacia los personajes, aunque a veces yo estaba irritado por cuanto
antes hicieron. Sin embargo, la historia paralela, la parte que ocupa en la actualidad, no
es tan buena. Me encontr solo movindose a travs de esa parte para que pudiera volver
a la dcada de 1940 Pars.

Imogen: This is a delightful novel full of wonderful imagery, it paints a remarkable picture
of life in a distant time and a far-away place. If you're looking to learn about Eastern culture
in great detail, then this is probably not the book for you, as the writer skims over most of
the more complicated aspects of the country's etiquette. By doing this, he symbolises the
superficiality of the girl's life. Although I loved the book and read it in one sitting, the ending
was a bit of a disappointment. A story which involves so much confusion, in a place where
the future is uncertain, should not have a happy-ever-after.

Imogen: Se trata de una encantadora novela llena de maravillosas imgenes, pinta un

cuadro notable de la vida en un tiempo lejano y un lugar lejano. Si usted est buscando
para aprender sobre la cultura oriental en gran detalle, entonces esto probablemente no
es el libro para ti, como el escritor roza sobre la mayor parte de los aspectos ms
complicados de la etiqueta del pas. Haciendo esto, l simboliza la superficialidad de la
vida de la nia. Aunque me encant el libro y leer de una sola vez, el final fue un poco una
decepcin. Una historia que implica tanta confusin, en un lugar donde el futuro es
incierto, no debera tener un feliz-alguna vez-despus.

fairy-tale ending.

Hannah: I read this book for a literature class. I know it's a classic, and I did try to like it,
but I just didn't get into it. I kept persevering, hoping that I'd start to enjoy it, but no such
luck. The famous scene out on the moors was definitely the best bit of the book, but even
that I found ridiculous when it is clearly supposed to be passionate. I don't know why the
literary world sees this book as such a masterpiece. The characters are portrayed as being
intelligent, but they do such stupid things! And as for it being a love story - marrying
someone you don't love and then being abused by them - that doesn't spell love to me.

Hannah: le este libro para una clase de literatura. S que es un clsico y prob a
gustar, pero a no entrar en ella. Segu perseverando, con la esperanza de que
empiezo a disfrutar de l, pero no hay tal suerte. La famosa escena hacia fuera en
los moros fue sin duda que lo mejor del pedacito del libro, pero an que encontr
ridculo cuando claramente se supone para ser apasionado. No s por qu el
mundo literario ve este libro como una obra de arte. Los personajes son
representados como ser inteligente, pero hacen tales cosas estpidas! Y en cuanto
a siendo una historia de amor - casarse con alguien no ama y luego ser abusados
por ellos - que no me gusta.

READING 1
When most people think of strikes, they think of factory workers asking for better pay and
conditions, or perhaps refusing to work to support a colleague who has been unfairly
sacked. It is not often that people associate strikes with school students. But in Italy, it is
different. While in many countries it is absolutely unthinkable, in Italy it happens almost
every year. Some people may remember the Paris spring of 1968, when in the French
capital university students and factory workers all went on strike in a crisis which almost
made the French republic collapse, but for many this is a long time ago now. But in Italy,
however, the tradition has remained. It seems that almost every autumn there is a reason
to protest. Most of the protests are national, like the current opposition to the governments
planned educational reforms, but there are also protests against things like local issues
such as heating in the classes or treatment of individual students.
And what do students do to protest? All over the country they go on strike, they have
demonstrations in the streets, they occupy their schools, they have lots of meetings and
sometimes they try to run the schools themselves for a period, setting up their own lessons
and courses.
LECTURA 1 cuando mucha gente piensa que de huelgas, piensan de obreros pidiendo
mejores salarios y condiciones, o tal vez negarse a trabajar para apoyar a un colega que
ha sido despedido injustamente. No es frecuente que las personas asocian huelgas con
estudiantes de la escuela. Pero en Italia, es diferente. Mientras que en muchos pases es
absolutamente impensable, en Italia pasa casi todos los aos. Algunas personas pueden
recordar la "primavera de Pars" de 1968, cuando en los estudiantes de la Universidad
capital francesa y colapsan de obreros, que todos fueron a la huelga en una crisis que
casi hizo la Repblica francesa, pero para muchos esto es ahora hace mucho tiempo.
Pero en Italia, sin embargo, la tradicin ha permanecido. Parece que casi cada otoo hay
una razn para protestar. La mayora de las protestas son nacional, como la actual
oposicin a reformas educativas previstas del gobierno, pero tambin hay protestas contra
cosas como las cuestiones locales como calefaccin en las clases o el trato de los
estudiantes individuales. Y qu hacen los estudiantes para protestar? En todo el pas
vayan a la huelga, tienen manifestaciones en las calles, que ocupan sus escuelas, tienen
un montn de reuniones y a veces intentan ejecutar las escuelas s mismos durante un
perodo, estableciendo sus propias lecciones y cursos.

Are all the students behind this? Well, its difficult to say exactly. But what is certain, is that
very few students object.
I think its important to show what we feel says one high school student, The new school
reform will be very bad for state schools.
Other students are more sceptical. I think its great! says one student, It means we get a
few days off school. Another student is openly cynical: All the people who are doing this...
well, some of them are just troublemakers, others are people who are already planning to
become

Son todos los estudiantes detrs de esto? Bueno, es difcil decir exactamente. Pero lo
que es seguro, es que muy pocos de los estudiantes objeto. "Creo que es importante
mostrar lo que sentimos", dice un estudiante de secundaria, "la nueva reforma de la
escuela ser muy mala para las escuelas pblicas". Otros estudiantes son ms
escpticos. "Creo que es genial!" dice un estudiante, "Significa que tenemos unos das de
escuela". Otro estudiante es abiertamente cnico: "todas las personas que estn haciendo
esto... bueno, algunos de ellos son pocos alborotadores, otros son personas que ya estn
planeando quedar

politicians. They want to start their career now. Others say that the strike leaders are
being manipulated or used by groups from outside the schools.
Problems occurred recently when students from one school which was being occupied
marched to another school which wasnt protesting. The strikers stood outside the school
and shouted and threw things at the windows. The non-striking students sat in their
classrooms and did nothing, but their teachers went out and began to shout at the
students from the striking school.
In Britain, and a lot of other countries, such action is unthinkable. Students are not allowed
to go on strike, and if they did they would probably face severe disciplinary measures.
The strange thing about this, however, is that despite the number of school hours lost to
strikes, Italian students are certainly no less intelligent or knowledgeable than their
European counterparts. Their national averages are the same as others, despite the fact
that on average they spend up to 20% less time in the classroom with strikes being only
one of the many interruptions of the Italian school year.
Troublemakers or not, perhaps there is something to be learned from the Italian way of
studying!

polticos.Quieren que inicie ahora su carrera". Otros dicen que los lderes de la huelga
estn siendo manipulados o utilizados por grupos de fuera de las escuelas. Problemas
ocurrieron recientemente cuando los estudiantes de una escuela que estaba siendo
ocupada marchaban a otra escuela que no estaba protestando. Los huelguistas se par
fuera de la escuela y gritaban y lanzaron las cosas en las ventanas. Los estudiantes no
llama la atencin en sus aulas y no hicieron nada, pero sus maestros salieron y
empezaron a gritar a los alumnos de la escuela llamativa. En Gran Bretaa y muchos
otros pases, dicha accin es impensable. . Los estudiantes no se les permite ir a la
huelga, y si lo hicieran probablemente enfrentara graves medidas disciplinarias. Lo
extrao de esto, sin embargo, es que a pesar del nmero de horas de escuela perdida a
la huelga, los estudiantes italianos son ciertamente no menos inteligente o conocimiento
que sus homlogos europeos. Sus promedios nacionales son como los dems, a pesar de
que en promedio gastan hasta un 20% menos tiempo en el aula con huelgas que slo
una de las muchas interrupciones del ao escolar italiano. Alborotadores o no, quizs hay
algo que aprender de la forma italiana de estudiar!