A WORLD WITHOUT ROMANIA

Rewriting background - third version

Background

Over the past 15 years we all have been assisted at major changing in our nutrition habits. Most of the people don’t prepare anymore food at their home; in nowadays there are so many alternatives. They prefer provide their food from the fast foods, restaurants and supermarkets. But scientists agree that this food “more processed” can have negative effects on their health.

In London most of the students spend more than three hours daily in the University and they can benefit of a significant number of facilities, one of them being the catering service. London Metropolitan University, according to their web site, has about 34,000 students and a quarter of them are from different countries. A good deal of research has already been done in order to attract more students on the school canteen. A study from the Nutrition Policy Unit of London Met found that 59% of students use the on-site canteen facilities. In other words it is known that the majority of students eat at the canteen searching for a warm atmosphere and a good quality of food, but less is know about nutrition habits and perception of canteen among foreign students. In this term, it can be useful to discover how well the University‘s canteen is prepared to respond to the foreign students expectation in order to avoid disturbing tends of eating fat food such fast food and to permit them to have a hot lunch.

Aims

The purpose of this research was to first investigate how often students from different countries use the catering facilities and then to find out how satisfied they are. A final aim was to discover what area of improvement the canteen needs to focus on.

Method

The research was carried out through the use of a questionnaire consisting of 10 questions. Initially, we conducted a trial of it on a sample of 5 students. This first step helped us to notice that the alternative answers for two of the questions was not enough clear. After minor adjustments, the final questionnaire was used to interview 28 pre-sesional students.

Comparatives and superlatives

Communism through a child's eyes

Nowadays everyone criticise the communism, but when you are a child you see things in a different way. I was 5 years when people revolted against the communism. Romanian people will always remember the year 1989, when they decided to respect the democratic values and the communism regime fall being considerate as “illegitimate and criminal”. The universe for a child is limited to him and his family. He doesn't really don’t really care about the others.

I don’t remember my country being under an illegitimate and criminal regime. For me it was considerably safer 20 years ago than now. One of the reasons can be that the media was a great deal strict. Controlled by the government, they show us a slightly much different image of our country. I don’t know if the crime rate is now the same as than, but surely now you hear more sad stories.

I remember that people were much less afraid to lose their job. My childhood was one of the happiest periods of my life and for my parents I think was the best time. You had this feeling of equality…that the other was rich as much as you were. We had fewer choices than now, but when you have never seen how it looks the Twix or the Coca Cola and you don’t know the taste, you don’t miss it.

But what is the truth ?

...to be continue

The version of foreign media:

Crying for the second time in London

Three years ago, a little idea sneaks into my head: I could learn English in England. Where else could you learn English more efficiently and quickly if not in the country where everybody speaks it? Unfortunately, I came from a poor family and I wasn’t able to start a professional career earlier. During my master’s degree in France I took 2 students jobs trying to support my family, to finance my studies and to save money for my English dream. Big responsibility for me…should I decide to invest 4000 pounds for living and studying at the London Metropolitan University during three months? Investing in knowledge is always useful, but for me 4000 pounds is not just a huge amount

4,000.00 GBP=18,307.97 RON

1 GBP = 4.57699 RON

1 RON = 0.218484 GBP

…but mainly it is a sacrifice. You might not know but this amount is the equivalent of my parents’ wage for 3 years and three months.

… I have decided to invest my economies in my dream thinking there will be other opportunities in the future to help my parents.

I have been in London for 6 weeks. I was quite satisfied after my first month of studies here and confident that the next month things will be better…but there are worse.

I'm waking up in the morning and I’m asking my self: should I go to the school or not? What changed so dramatically?

I thought I’m a tolerant person and I can easily integrate a group. But I have difficulties to integrate the silver class. I miss my classmates from the last month and I miss that atmosphere. There are so many things that I don’t like this month.

.

Firstly I feel that I learned nothing new. I event don’t know the names of all my new classmates after 2 weeks. Some people speak and speak and speak …not because they have something interesting to say but just for speaking…and the time passes, the class finish and I return disappointed “home” with an empty knowledge baggage…another day I waste. I spend 2 hours in the tube to go at school and stay in one room for three hours doing nothing.

.

My favourite teacher from last month has changed also…I don’t feel he’s happy teaching us...is more like an obligation to spend with us 1hour and 30minutes. Nobody read my blog anymore…and maybe I’m miserly, but I find that printing is expensive. Is the first time I learn in a University where you have to pay for everything (to print, to photocopy, to participate at social programmes)…and I don’t have the budget for that.

Something is wrong with my background for the research report…I changed it three times and printed three times, but my teacher doesn’t appreciate it. Likely he’s right because he’s the teacher, but I still don’t understand how can I improve my writing. Or I’m too stupid, or everyone is tide in this class.

…but in the end I don’t blame anyone for my unhappiness. Is just my fault…I’m not able to adopt an appropriate approach for this situation, I don’t know how to change things and I start to hate my self.

Collocations in our homework

• submit report
• presenting findings
• select a research topic
• working hypothesis
• undertaking a study
• research ethics
• literature review
• background reading
• in depth critique
• provide a rationale
• back up your conclusions
• lay out your results
• vigourous defence
• put the case for
• exhaustive account
• research indicates
• formulate new theories
• test theories
• covers a lot of ground
• full explanation
• the thrust of argument
• first hand knowledge
• critical analysis

Interpretation of results

Out of 28 students interviewed, 25 said that they use the catering service. Only 29% of students use the catering service more than 3 times per week against 61% of them who use it just for 1-3 times per week.

Regarding the quality of food, almost all of the student are satisfied by the quality of served food (53,6% indicated “fair” and 40% indicated “good”). Only one student think that this quality is poor and another one had no opinion.
Contrary to expectation, for a large number of students the food price is affordable.

When asked if there is enough variety of food, disappointingly, only 17% of respondents agreed against 32% who disagreed. Only a small minority strongly disagreed, but nearly half of them had no opinion. Surprised by this last result, we have selected the 12 people indicating having no opinion and have made a critical analysis. A half of them would like to add a specific dish of their country to the menu’s canteen and other two students had suggested for improving the catering service that the canteen should include more choices of food. We can consider these findings a convincing evidence to affirm that 8 out of the 12 the students initially without an opinion concerning the statement “enough variety of food”, are actually disagree. This study changes dramatically ours results (now 61% of students think there is not enough variety of food against 32% that we found initially)

....
to be continued

Rewriting my background

A research report on the Catering facilities

at London Metropolitan University



Background

London Metropolitan University, according to their web site, has about 34,000 students. 8,000 of them are foreign students from 155 different countries and it is generally thought that their number will increase. Most of the students spend more than three hours daily in the University and they can benefit of a large panel of facilities that London Met provides. One of them is the catering service.

A research from the Nutrition Policy Unit of London Metropolitan University found that 59% of students use the on-site canteen facilities and the Univesity try to attract more students in order to avoid disturbing tends of eating fat food such fast food and to permit them have a hot lunch. In others words it is known that the majority of students eat at the canteen searching for a warm atmosphere and a good quality of food

In this term, our group thought it can be beneficial to know how often students use the catering facilities and how satisfied they are (particular foreign student). At the same time, it is useful to discover if they would have higher expectation. That could help us to find what disciplines of improvement, the University’ canteen could focus on.

Aims

The purpose of this research was to first investigate how many days per week students use the catering facilities and then to find out how satisfied they are. A final aim was to discover the student’s expectations, so we can deduce what area of improvement the canteen needs to focus on.

Method

The research was carried out through the use of a questionnaire consisting of 10 questions; those are connected to our aims. Initially, we conducted a trial of it on a sample of 5 students. This first step helped us to notice that there was a lack in our alternative answers for two of the questions. After minor adjustments, the final questionnaire was used to interview 30 pre-sesional students from different countries.

Findings

Age: 14 O 19-23 11 O 24-28 3 O 29-35
Gender : 11 O Male 17 O Female



1. How often do you use the catering facilities?



5O everyday 3O more then 3 times per week

8O 2-3 times per week 9 O once per week 3O never



2. Do you think the quality of served food is:



O very good 11O good 15O fair 1O poor

1 PERSON HAD NO OPINION



3. Do you need a special diet? You can tick more than one!



9O low fat food 1O low salt food 0O gluten free

4O hallal 0O lactose free 15O no special diet



If any other, please mention:…………..



4. Thinking about the food prices, how would you rate?



6O expensive 21O affordable 1O cheap



5. There is enough variety of food in the canteen. Do you…



0O strongly agree 5O agree 12 O no opinion 9O disagree

2O strongly disagree



6. If you could add just one dish to the menu, it will be…………….


curry; fraish milk; pieroggi; roast duck; home made vegetables salad; fraich food (home made); hallal chiken&chips; wide choise of vegetables; vegetable; rice ball; spagetti; salads; spanish ommelette; chinese food; PadThai/noodles; fried chiken; rice wih meat

9 HAS NO OPINION



7. What kind of food do you usually eat from canteen?



7O Hot food 5O salads 7O sandwiches 5O hot drinks 6O soft drinks 1 O other



8. Are you satisfied with the quality of drinks in the canteen?



20O YES 7 O NO

1 PERSON HAS NO OPINION



9. Please tick as appropriate:



I have to spend a long time to be served
0O most of the time 19O sometimes 8O never 1O no opinion



The dining area is clean
14O most of the time 7O sometimes 3O never 4O no opinion



The canteen is well ventilated
4O most of the time 16 O sometimes 1O never 7O no opinion



I am satisfied by the portion size
4O most of the time 11O sometimes 8O never 4O no opinion



The staff pay attention to customers
13 O most of the time 11O sometimes 2O never 2O no opinion



I can find an available place to sit
3O most of the time 18O sometimes 5O never 2O no opinion



10. If you have any suggestion for improving the catering service, please let us know. …………………………………………………………………………………….
the staff should clean the tables after each customer
Cleaness (dirty, smelly)
2more staff for faster service
pay more attention
food has to be cheaper
9 More choises of food
More japanese and korean food
look after the quality of food
More attention to higien and customers
Introduce self service
3 more place to sit
need more vegetables and bread too
Low prices/quality of food

Learning business vocabular

NEW YORK (Reuters)

Government steps to shore up the banking system and unfreeze credit markets showed some signs of progress on Thursday, but grim (nemilos, aspru) news from major economies reinforced fears of recession and hammered global markets.

U.S. stocks bucked the global trend to end higher, clawing (claw=ghiara) back some of Wednesday's steep losses despite news of layoffs (to lay off= a renunta la) in the auto-industry, a slowdown in industrial production and more warnings about the state of the economy.

Banks, which are at the heart of the crisis, were in the spotlight (reflector) again.
Switzerland's top two banks, UBS AG and Credit Suisse Group AG (CS), took emergency measures to shore up their finances. In the United States Merrill Lynch and Citigroup reported heavy losses on bad loans (imprumut) and tough-to-sell mortgage securities.

In a sign of easing strains (incordare, surmenaj) in the credit markets, rates (taxa, impozit, rates payer= contribuabil, a evalua, a aprecia, a considera, ocari) that banks charge each other for loans mostly fell in response to radical moves by central banks to provide liquidity, bolster banks and loosen credit lines to institutions needing cash.

However, U.S. financial institutions borrowed record amounts of cash from the Federal Reserve in the latest week, according to Fed data released ( a elibera, a da drumul) on Thursday, indicating that credit conditions in the United States remain constrained.

European Union leaders vowed (promisiune, juramant, a jura) to shield (scut, a apara) their industries from the global crisis and pushed plans for a global summit (intalnire la cel mai inalt nivel) to overhaul the world financial system.

Haul= a trage, a cara
Over=peste; turn the page over, to boil over=a da in foc; to count over; to be over=a se termina; over and over again; all over the world; over and above=pe langa; overhear= a surprinde, averhaul=a revizui, overlook=a trece peste; overrate a supraestima;overreach=a depasi, pacali; oversee=a supraveghea; overtake=a depasi)

Asian, European and emerging market stock markets took another battering on Thursday. Japan's Nikkei fell 11 percent in its worst one-day drop since the stock market crash of October 1987, oil fell more than 6 percent to below $70 a barrel, and European shares lost 5 percent.

But in New York, the allure of heavily battered shares drew (part de la draw= a atrage; draw in= a micsora; draw out= a creste) buyers one day after Wall Street's worst day in more than 20 years. The Dow ended up 4.68 percent and the S&P 500 rose 4.25 percent, buoyed by consumer companies that benefit from lower oil prices. The dollar also rose.

"I think this is bargain hunting ( bargain= targ, afacere; to strike a ~=a ajunge la o intelegere; ~hunter=chilipirgiu; a incheia o afacere) and there are some bargains out there. Some of these stocks are at historic lows (redus, mic, jos)," said Warren Simpson, managing director at Stephens Capital Management in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Wednesday's sharp ( ascutit, ironic, abrupt,abil,diez,fix, exact, dontr-o data) fall had dragged (pacoste, a scoate, a tara) the Dow down about 40 percent from its record closing high of 14,164.53 hit on October 9, 2007. Investors have pulled over $50 billion from stock funds so far in October, depressing prices in equities.

The rally( a regrupa, a-si reveni, a ironiza; miting, congres, concurs) in stocks drove up oil prices in electronic trade following the U.S. settlement (intelegere, stabilire), with crude futures rising more than $3 a barrel.

GRIM NEWS ON MAIN STREET

In the real economy, the news was mostly grim.
Investment bank Merrill Lynch, which is to be acquired by Bank of America, wrote down $5.7 billion of toxic assets and Citigroup reported a quarterly net loss of $2.8 billion.

Gap maker…collocation

Ø unfreeze credit markets
Ø grim news
Ø major economies
Ø global markets
Ø U.S. stocks
Ø global trend
Ø the state of the economy.
Ø to shore up finances
Ø heavy losses on bad loans
Ø fell in response to radical moves
Ø loosen credit lines
Ø financial institutions
Ø remain constrained
Ø the global crisis
Ø world financial system
Ø global summit
Ø emerging market stock markets
Ø stock funds
Ø Investors have pulled over
Ø Investment bank
Ø acquired by Bank

To be continued…
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE49E2E720081016?pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=0

Collocations - using the gapmaker

Gap File produced at level 6

http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/~alzsh3/acvocab/AVWLGapChoice.pl

Recession fears grip US consumers

Consumer spending in the US fell in September by the biggest amount in four years, the Commerce Department said.
Personal spending fell by 0.3% last month, despite a rise in incomes of 0.2%, official figures showed.
The drop in expenditure was the biggest since June 2004, and steeper than economists had predicted.
On Thursday, the Commerce Department issued figures showing the US economy shrank at an annualised rate of 0.3% between July and September.
Consumers spending accounts for two-thirds of total US economic activity.
A number of US retailers have reported falls in sales for September, including department store JC Penny, upmarket rival Saks, high street retailer American Eagle Outfitters and online retailer Target Corp.
Low cost retailers Wal-Mart and Costco also failed to meet Wall Street expectations of sales for the month. A drop in spending had been expected, although not as steep as 0.3%.

Benign inflation

The spending report also showed that consumer inflation edged up 0.1% in September, or 0.2% excluding energie and food costs.
In a separate report, also released on Friday, the US Labour Department said wages and benefits of US workers rose 0.7% in the third quarter, the same increase recorded in the previous two quarters.
Concerns over inflation have abated somewhat prompting the Federal Reserve to seek ways to boost the economy , such as by lowering interest rates to increase borrowing.
On Wednesday, the US Federal Reserve cut its key interest rate from 1.5% to 1%, as widely expected. The relative lack of inflationary pressure in the US economy means the Fed will be able to make further cuts should it wish.

Shaky confidence

Earlier in the week, Conference Board figures showed US consumer confidence at a record low in October, amid falling global stock markets, rising property foreclosures and increasing job losses.
The board said the monthly consumer confidence index fell to 38, down from a revised 61.4 in September and below analists' expectations of 52.
It was the lowest since the board began tracking consumer sentiment in 1967.