If I were a Boy

If I were a boy, even just for a day
I would watch football matches on my own
and I would not worry about beign alone in the stadium

Go out whenever I wanted
Go wherever I wanted
and hang out with whomever I wanted
and I'd never care about the time
because boys do so

If I were a boy
I think I could understand
How it feels to be a boy

I swear I'd act more wisely
I'd act maturely
Cause I know how girls perceive childish boys.

When you neglect the one you wanted
Cause you look for excitement
And everything you had will be gone

ADJECTIVE CLAUSES - NOUN CLAUSES

ADJECTIVE CLAUSES

Defining

- This is my uncle who lives in America

Non-defining

- This is my uncle, who lives in America

Subject of the Adjective Clause

- The person who/that organized the concert made a speech at the end of it.

- This is the book which/that is the bestseller of 2011

Object of the Adjective Clause

- This is an experience which/that we will never forget

- He is a person who/whom everyone adores

Object of a Preposition

- I am working for someone to whom I have never talked.

                                               who/whom I have never talked to.

Possesive

- George, whose request was rejected at the meeting, sulked all day long.

- The door, the handle of which is broken cannot be opened.

Place

- The small town where/in which I was born has become a modern city.

Time

1980 was the year when/during which Turkey had gone through many problems, both political and sociological ones.

Reduction of Relative Clauses

- The bored students wanted to leave early. ( The students who were bored…)

- The student responsible for the broken window will be punished. ( The student who is responsible…)

- The book written by Elif Şafak has become a bestseller. ( The book which is written by…)

-  The students making noise in class will be asked to leave the class ( The students who are making…)

- The book consisting of  60 chapters is really boring. ( The book which consists of…)

NOUN CLAUSES

That Connectors

- I think that politics is a corrupt institution.

Wh- Connectors

- What you see might not be reality all the time.

How-How much

- Don’t lift that box. Don’t you know how heavy it is?

When

- When he left the office is unclear.

Whether/If

- I do not know whether this information is correct

Why

- She did not tell me why she was cross with me

A Subject of a Sentence

- Whether he is reliable or not is uncertain.

As the Complement of a Sentence

- It is exactly how I thought!

As the Object of the Verb

- You cannot visualise how it is difficult to work in the field of medicine

As the Object of a Preposition

- I am curious about what you are thinking right now.

As an Appositive

- The fact that modern life has made us lonely cannot be denied.

VIDEO REFLECTION – 2

This is the video I chose for my topic. There is no description about the video, so I will write what I inferred form it. In the video, the man in suit trys to escape from Ronald McDonald, the mascot of Mcdonald’s. After chasing him for a while a while, in the end Ronald catches in the forest and eats him. Although the plot is simple, I think there is a deeper meaning in it. Years ago, I read an article about fast foods. According to the article, for frying onion rings and potatoes a special kind of oil is used. This oil can be used many times over and over because it can be burned only in very hot degrees. Which means that when we eat food prepared with this oil, our body cannot burn it. After a while, this oil causes atherosclerosis or heart failures. In a way, we cannot eat it but it starts to eat us. Just like what happened in this video. 

JOURNAL 2

WHAT  A HEALTHY WORLD

      Firstly, I would like explain why I chose this topic. Three years ago, I watched the documentary, ‘’ FOOD INC.’’ It affected me so profoundly that I changed my diet right away. Now I stay away from some certain food. For example, I do not eat hamburger anymore,and I try to avoid fizzy drinks and chocolate bars. In addition, last week I started exercising. Therefore, these days I think about living healthily very often, and I want to share my ideas with you.

      When talking about the developments occuring in our era, we proudly say ‘’ Technological developments have prolonged human lifespan.’’ However, when we hear that someone is over 100, we get really surprised. Even in news, such people are interviewed, and the question is alwazys the same ‘’ What did you do to live for such a long time ?’’ Answers may vary, but all about having a healthy life style. Those people ate healthy food, not genetically modified one, exercised in fields and stayed away from stress and bad habits like smoking. Can we do the same things in this millenium ? Technology that we are proud of threatens our well-being both physically and psychologically. Cancer cases are increasing rapidly, obesitiy rates are now uncontrollable and even children suffer from stress. It seems that leading a healthy life today is more difficult than ever because modern life has changed our diet and life style for bad.

      Eating habit determines many things in one’s future, from psychological to physical health. For example,  the possibility of having such diseases like cancer, diabetes, obesity or cholesterol can be lowered by eating healthy food. Today many peple are aware of bad effects of fast food on their health. However, they keep buying it due to its being cheap, easy and tasty. Especially children and adolescents prefer such foods, mainly because of advertisements. In addition to all these, due to busy working life and living in big cities,the time people can spare for themselves has been reduced. Therefore, such a simple thing like preparing meal has become a privilege. As a result of this lack of time, many people have to buy frozen foods, cannot have breakfast or pass the lunch time only with a packet of biscuits. All these contribute to malnutrition and vitamin deficiency.

      Besides wrong eating habits, lack of exercise contributes greatly to unhealthy life style too. By working out, one can get rid of toxins, burn excessive fat and reduce the risk of many illnesses. For example many studies conducted in the United States and around the world have found that adults who increase their physical activity  can reduce their risk of developing colon cancer by 30 to 40 percent relative to those who do not. However, while in big cities people cannot find time to work out, in small cities people cannot exercise due to lack of facilities. In any case, we do not or cannot do exercise .

      Bad habits are also one of the causes of unhealthy lifestyles. For years, smoking and alcohol consumption are proved to be the biggest contributors of diseases. They not only cause the illness but also prolong the recovery time. 

Unfortunately, despite campaigns and bans smoking rates are increasing. According to Prof.Dr. Oğuz KILINÇ, the head of TTD , unless immediate precautions are taken, in 2030 2.5 million women will die just because of smoking.

      In spide of all these negative aspects, having a healthy lifestyle is on our hands. We can change this trend with such simple steps like reducing our consumption of junk food, exercising regularly and leaving our bad habits.

      I would like to share an anecdote. A few weeks ago, I talked to a one of my friends who has a disordered life style. He smokes and rarely eats dinner or breakfast. When I said he should be more careful, he replied ‘’ I will die anyway. It does not matter if I live healthily or not.’’ That’s true. No matter what we do we will die anyway. However, I believe that health is a treasure left in our hands. Sooner or later it will diminish, so until that time we should cherish it just as a sign of our gratitude. 

GRAMMAR EXERCISE 1

1) Our beagle loves to hunt. If someone opens the door for her, she barrels down porch and steps into the yard. Then, she steps back and forth across the lawn in ecstasy. Her nose cruises the wet grass for smells of cats, rabbits and other presences too subtle for human detection. While sniffing, swhe spins her tail in quick circles, first clockwise, then counterclockwise. These two activities seem to propel her along.

2) The Government printing office in Washington D.C, the official publishing house for the federal government, is a source of much useful information. However, few people know about it. The GPO publishes pampleths and books in a vast number of subjects, ranging from the dangers of  X-rays from home TV sets to the identification of mushrooms. About 27.000 publications are offered through the Superintendent of Documents, many of which are inexpensive and some of which are for free.

3) John Jacob Astor, a lowborn and uneducated German immigrant, reaped America's first fortune. He made his initial money by trading Indian furs. Since he never learned to speak English properly, he carried on his business to the end in an accent, redolent of the Hamburg gutters.

SENTENCE VARIETY

Simple Sentence

Scientists have developed artificial fat.

Eating too much junk food may lead to obesity.

Compound Sentence

She did not study well, so she failed.

Many fast foods contain artificial flavourings and ingredients, so they can be called '' fake foods''.

Complex Sentence

I do not think so many people would buy junk foods, if there were fewer advertisements on them.

When I woke up, all the guests had already gone.

Complex&Compound Sentences

If the government does not take action against junk foods and the media does not stop promoting them, obesity rates will keep rising.

Although you will be able to enjoy a variety of your favorite desserts, and you will be ingesting all that fat, your body won't absorb the fat.

VIDEO REFLECTION 1

1)       According to the students interviwed, studying in the USA is beneficial in that it helped them break the borders which limited them and broaden their horizons. By means of it, they have gained experience and a huge body of worldly knowledge. They have become a part of globalisation by immersing in a different culture and what it has to offer. Additionally, it helped them determine new goals and road plans to follow.

2)       The chinese student’s reason for choosing the USA for education was too high grade summary required by the universities in China. In ONU, she does not have to have such high scores to study in the department she likes. Additionally, exchange agencies in China helped her decide which country and which college to choose. The student from Iceland chose the USA because universities here promote creativity and attach importance to team work.Also, some ONU alumnis who her Grand father konws informed her about Ohio and the universty. As for the Japanese student, he chose USA because he was already accustomed to studying abroad.

3)       In China, universities focus on technical parts of a subject while universities in the USA offer many opportunities to practice extensively., which really contributes to students’ competencies. As for the differences between European and American education system, the first one has a really strict program. It has a predetermined program, books and curriculum. On the other hand, universities of the USA have a much more flexible system. It does not just focus on getting a degree but personal interests of students. Additionally, universities in Japan differ from those in the USA in that they require an entrance exam and after that all students have to do is to choose a department. However, students cannot change their department once they chose it whereas no such thing exists in American education system.

4)       The cost of studying in the USA changes according to many factors such as which department you study in, housing and meals. It basicly includes fees, transportation, boarding and changes between 30-35 thousand dollars. The students interviewed seemed to find it reasonable.

 5)     Since they all come from a different backgrounds and cultures, they all have experienced a kind of culture shock.

6) Yes, they did. They must have experienced awkward situatios and hard times. For example, in the Japanese student’s part, who comes from a closed culture, Americans’ outgoing and sociable manners were very different from what he was accustomed to in his country. Additionally, people’s burping in the public openly without embrassment was surprising too. As for the Chinese student, people’s wearing thin clothes in winter time was very astonishing. However, they did not let these get into their way, and they say they feel more accustomed to the American culture now.

7) Actually, I had not thought of it seriously until the conference I attended one month ago. It was about ERASMUS and EXCHANGE programs and made me think about it. As far as I learned from that conference, exchange programs of the USA involve one-year studies, i.e two semesters. In addition, they require very high standards like no withdrawals, no failed lessons in transcripts and high scores. Additionally, I can imagine that it will be too costly to study there when considering fees, housing and overall payments. Also, I have to admit that even the idea of living the USA on my own and cultural differences frighten me. On the other hand, I know that such an experience will really contribute to not only my academic skills but also my survival skills. Getting to know other people and another culture will definitely help me become a more flexible and open-minded person.