15-4-2013

Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios

Superiores de Occidente

ITESO ASSIGNMENT TEMPLATE 1

Centro de Lenguas
Programa Certificado de Inglés (PCI)

Presents:
Pablos Hernández Sánchez – Iq692289

PCI Level 5 Teacher Estefanía Gonzalez

 PART ONE
GO TO THE FOLLOWING WEBSITE AND DO THE QUIZ ABOUT FRIENDSHIP.
http://www.markvernon.com/friendshiponline/quizomatic76/test.htm

My score in the “Friendship Quiz” was 74 out of a possible 100. The following remark was a
feedback:
“Well done. Perhaps what you can gather from doing the questionnaire is that friendship is
often a counterintuitive subject. Where it might be thought straightforward it is ambiguous.
Friendship is a problem, though one worthy of a solution, Nietzsche said.”

“You may well want to read The Meaning of Friendship (excuse the plug!). What philosophers
have to say, surprised me in many ways, and that was after studying the subject for some
time.”

ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS.

1. Which of the sections was the most interesting to you?

Certainly, my favorite sections of the Quiz were the round two and round three. In
every one, the author threw an interesting idea in my mind: the ambiguity of friendship in
different situations. Many of them can be:
- If it will be recommending combining work and friendship.
- The characteristics that help to flourish a friendship in a community.
- The qualities that makes a strong friendship or – in the other hand – destroy it.

I think the reason why people make friends is because we feel the necessity of self –
realization, and when a human starts to learn that are a lot of ideas in the world about this
topic, friendship can be used for build an equilibrated idea about the awareness of self and
the global awareness. I believe this midpoint allows us to know ourselves and learn different
ideas about what is friendship and put them in practice. I like to say that the friendship also
allows us to be empathetic with others, and also provides the ability to feel concern,
admiration and be aware through elections and statements in the life, because you don’t only
start to be happy, because now you want to make another one happy with your perspective
about life.
 2. Mention 8 vocabulary words that you had to investigate and their meaning.

Word Meaning
A system in which people or things are put at various levels
Hierarchy
or ranks according to their importance.
Used as the object of a verb or after a preposition when re-
Whom ferring to a particular person or when adding information
about a person just mentioned.
Puzzled Something that is difficult to understand.
The feeling of friendship between people who live or work
Comradeship
together, especially in a difficult situation.
Mundane Very ordinary and therefore not interesting.
Indeed Really or certainly, often used to emphasize something
The act of trying to make someone else do something by
Pressures
arguing, persuading, etc.
Flourish To grow or develop successfully.

Source: http://dictionary.cambridge.org/

3. What did you learn from the test?

I had never believed that ancient philosophers thought the same way as me about
friendship. In fact, I shocked when I read about the idea of “close friends”. My idea about
friendship is very weirdo, because I think that only some people can be like a brother or sister
to you, but I was surprised of the next idea: “a small number of close friends is a part of the
formula to show a great intelligence in friendship”. I recognize that a lot of people you will
meet in your life, but only some people really going to help you to understand the essence of
the friendship. People who call you “soul brother” or “soul sister” are many, but people who
understand the meaning, I think there are very few.
 In the other hand, it made me curious that the test suggested me the friendship is more
important than self – esteem. Nowadays is so hard to be relaxed and enjoy life when a friend
of yours has gone traveling or he/she is absent. At this point I think it’s important that a person
shouldn’t be depressed because someone needs to be focus in the other parts that conforms
his/her life. Maybe projects or new experiences have to be an important goal in the life when
a friend is or isn’t absent. Today the human’s relationships are very symbiotic, because the
human should be complemented with the goals and ideas of others, not to depend on them.

Finally, the question number six was very interesting. Maybe my ideas are completely
different from the others, but I would like to connect with someone deeply before have sex. I
think when you have sex with someone amazing, that person make you feel like it’s not such
a bad world… and now you’re really living. If this doesn’t happen, it is just “sex”.

PART TWO
III. Write a description of your best friend answering to all the questions on exercise 1, in the
speaking section of your student book. It has to be two pages long, 1.5 spaces, and 11/12
font. The other requirement is that you include all the aspects and tenses we have covered in
class when writing your work: (simple present, present progressive, simple past, past
progressive, present perfect, and present perfect progressive, you can also add the future
time, if you want to). Please, underline or highlight the phrases in which you applied the
different tenses.
 My best friend: Veronica
I would like to talk about my best friend Veronica. After four years, I think I’m so lucky to
have a friend like her. Without her smile and very loud laugh, I guess I wouldn’t be as happy
as I am. She is the kind of person that if you spend a whole day with her, you will have a good
memory to your heart. She’s small, slime and she has amazing brown eyes with a pretty smile.
She has a long brown hair but one of the problems is that she seldom fixes her hair with a
brush. I have told her that it isn’t difficult to do it! She is the kind of person that usually seems
to be in a good mood and I haven’t met anyone that could be more cheerful than her.

I first met Veronica of a very curious way. I remember that I was drawing in High
School when I completely tuned out of the world, and five seconds after my math class had
finished. I hadn’t solved the exercises of day and the teacher had gone. Immediately, I was
asking the questions left by the professor. One second after a girl told me: I can help you.
Thank God! I turned to see the girl. Her name was Lulu and she borrowed me her notebook.
To be sincerely, Lulu’s letter was awful and I didn’t understand anything, so I left her notebook
on the table and I picked up another one. At this moment I was thinking: “this letter is more
understandable, so I will use it”. I thanked to Lulu (I think that she got mad) and I started
looking for the girl with pretty letter (I suppose that the owner of the notebook would be a
woman).

After, I met her. I think we clicked right away because I had forgotten about the
notebook and we started to talk. The name of the girl with pretty letter was Veronica. After a
couple of weeks, I loved to spend my time with Vero, because we soon found out that we had
a lot in common. It was a little weird that quickly we had become close friends. The people
say the friendships made in high school are the ones that last forever and I think this is a very
true quote. We have been friends since 2009 and I like to say that Vero is the funniest person
I have ever met, and she’s one of the few people who are always with me when all others
have gone. I think it’s pretty cool to meet someone and hit off immediately because you can
lose your fear and begin to trust in a person that makes you happy. She always tells me that
she can’t remember how or when started our friendship and more important, in what exactly
moment she started to have more confident to me.
 I think that my friendship with Vero has been growing up because we share a lot of
things and I trust that our friendship will be long and won’t ever end. Obviously, we have had
our fights and we have argued a couple of times because I don’t often see her. She is
studying Architecture and I know that is a difficult career. By the way, I sometimes joke with
her telling that it would be better if she doesn’t study anything and lives the crazy life as a
homeless. I know that it’s a joke because I see in the future that my friend will be a great
architect and I like to remember her that if she doesn’t work hard, probably I won’t be able to
presume to my friends the fantastic and hard-working friend that I have. After all, I think Vero
is doing her best and I know that the future will give great rewards to Vero.

Nowadays it’s complicated to see her because she is too busy. I think that I will see her
soon because I trust that she has missed me as much as I her. I need to admit if I don’t see
her, I will be crazy, because I really want to go out again and have fun like old times with her.
It really doesn’t matter the place to go, because she has the gift to entertain and make people
laugh in a unique way. I don't know how it is possible but I am never bored with her!

I really love her so much.

Simple present
Present simple
Present Progressive
Present perfect
Simple past
Past Progressive
Past perfect
Future
Present perfect progressive