Matías was an intelligent 15-year-old boy who loved math. One day, on the way to school, his car was hit by another vehicle. Matías suffered a serious head injury and lost his memory and math abilities. After recovering some memory, his mother desperately tried to get him into a private math academy in the US. On Christmas, they found out Matías had been accepted for an interview. Matías was overjoyed at the opportunity.

1. 2ND TERM YEAR 2010-11

3. Will the Internet Information replace the library? Why or why not? I think the Internet has replaced libraries in the sense that finding information is much easier and much faster. Anyone can find direct and specific information that is needed, however, if you decide to access to a library it requires a bit of time to look for the book you need for the subject on which you are seeking information. But if you want to read a book, in this case, the Internet is not a substitute for a library, because reading in the pages of a book is easier to reading on a computer screen. This can prevent headaches, eye pains... etc. But the Internet also has several disadvantages. For example, sometimes the value in the Net is not free or need to subscribe to multiple databases, it is often uncomfortable. Neither gives a 100% certainty in the letters that can be found at various sites, there is a lot of garbage on the Internet so you can not trust that it is 100% sure what you are reading. On the other hand, not all people can enjoy the Internet because it can reach a fairly high price, a price that many people can not afford to pay. Libraries are also not available in all cities. However although many people think it is easier to go to a library or something, in the end everything will be digitized and eventually Internet will be much more powerful than it is today and libraries begin not to do be so necessary, people will not go to the libraries. It increases the percentage of waste to be on the Web, because unfortunately some people are dedicated to send incorrect documents. I also think the students will be lazy because they have to move less and with a simple copy and paste they will have the job done. Beatriz Domingues Lopez. 3ºA ESO According to the dictionary the word library means a storage place for books, so I think that libraries will not be replaced by the Internet, as there should always be some public place which is responsible for keeping the books. Moreover, although people use the internet to find information and to almost everything, they also use the library to study, do work, meet friends.... Today most homes have Internet and its use is a convenience by not having to leave home to go to the library. Some of the amenities of libraries are the advantage of being able to take books to read and not have to buy them. Here in Torre-Pacheco, it was opened a large library where people come from all over Murcia. In that library we meet several times to do homework, study... As in almost every house there is internet, in almost every city there are libraries, because these two things are very important and indispensable when searching for information, getting books ... Some of the major differences between the Internet and libraries are the year of creation of each (library- several centuries BCE, internet-1969) and their advantages. In libraries, books are grouped into sections according to their themes, the title of the book, etc., while in internet you just type in a search engine you want and this shows you several pages containing the information you seek. In some libraries such as the one in Torre-Pacheco, there are also some rooms that let you watch or rent movies and also, have access to the Internet. I think that both the internet and libraries are very important, each for their use, and none of them will replace the other, although not all people think the same thing. José Martín Alcaraz, 3 rd A ESO

4. I think the Internet won’t replace the library because sometimes you can find more information than Internet but other times no. Sometimes in Internet you can find a lot of information but other times no because the things you are looking for are in books or in the library. Sometimes the information on Internet is always the same because all the pages use the same information, and you need more information or more complete information, other times you don’t find anything about the thing you are looking for and you must find it in a book. Also the books are culture because we have got very old books and sometimes the books are art because it has got drawings painted by hand. We need the books because they help us to learn reading, and find us a lot of interesting things about the life, the history... If you read you can learn to write because we see the words and we can write them equal than we read. It is true the Internet is easier to use, but the books can teach us more things than Internet, because the books have got more variety of information, different opinions. The library has got another advantage because you don’t have to buy books. You can go to the library and take them, you don’t need to pay for the books and you can read them calmly in your house. But if you want to read it by Internet maybe you can’t find it, or get problems with the text and maybe you must pay to read it or you need to buy the book because it isn’t on Internet. Also the computer is bad for your eyes and if you are a lot of time in front of it you can hurt your eyes and maybe you need to use glasses. It’s true the Internet is more practical, but sometimes the library has got some advantage. For this I think the Internet won’t replace the library. María Contreras, 3 rd A ESO In my opinion, the internet information can never replace the library. It could be a supplement, but it will never replace it. When you look for information in internet you find all kind of items, but when you go to a library it is a little more personal. If you go to a library you can go out from your house, you can go with your friends and you can ask for information to the librarian. Internet is easier than library, because you look for whatever you like and you don’t have to go out, everything is in the web. You can be alone in your house, without dressing well, only wearing your pyjamas and your slippers. If the library is closed, you can look for your homework or things for your job, in your computer, only connecting to internet. In our school, we’ve got something very useful for our homework: mentorvox and moodle. In moodle teachers put our homework and works; mentorvox is a way of information between teachers and parents, parents know about our homework and dates of exams. In the library, you should consult information in books, and you can also study without anybody disturbing you and making no noise. Here, in Torre Pacheco, we have got a new library, and young people who are studying Bachiller and go to university, go to study there. Young people from El Albujón, La Palma, Roldán….. and other villages come here with their friends to study and do their homework. Our library is very modern and comfortable, and people come here because they haven’t got one in their village. It’s our responsibility to look for the use of the library and also to use the internet, because we don’t have to go against the progress. Miguel Bernal Borrego, 3 rd B ESO

5. The first library was built in III B.C. and little by little the building of libraries has evolved increasingly. Currently, many people use libraries to read, study, find information… They are many libraries around the World, but there are fewer people using libraries, mainly because more people have Internet at home and it is more comfortable. Sincerely, I think that at some point the libraries will disapear. Gradually more people have Computers at home with Internet and they don not have to go to find information, to do Works, read a book… It is more convenient and faster to do it at home with your computer as it does it in a moment. As there are few people who use libraries they are becoming less useful. I believe that although they disappear there will always be some. Although it is becoming less, they are still many people (especially of the university) who are going to libraries to find books, study, to meet people… Computers are very numerous and in many houses they are also many laptops that are more comfortable and can be easily carried. Internet is having great influence on this issue and has many advantages but there are also disadvantages: it is bad for the environment because the Computers consume energy and the most of the time they are plugged to the electric power, and more if they are being used every day, they produce an economic cost, sometimes unnecessary. I think in the future libraries will be little use, but they will not disappear completely as they have always been helpful and some are spectacular. Definitely, Internet is a breakthrough but libraries, too. Mª Luisa Olmos, 3rd B ESO In the past, the library was a great book for the human, all the information they wanted to look for would be found in the library, for example in a dictionary or an encyclopaedia. Little by little the human evolution was evolving and they started creating computers, a few more effective and fast devices to find information. Today all the students have a computer in their house where to search a word in the virtual dictionary, some biographies in the wikipedia or any other thing, and the dictionaries and the encyclopaedias we left them aside, since we think that it is a loss of time to look for it there having a computer and Internet where everything can be found. I think that the Internet will replace the libraries because I continue saying and repeating that the Internet is more effectively and quicker than to go to the library and to look for it in a dictionary, but simultaneously I think that it is good to search in Internet but also to be able to choose well the information because it is possible that you find some information that is wrong or erroneous, in a dictionary it is not serious necessary to take care because everything you find there is quite perfect. Alba Buendía Vera, 3 rd A ESO

6. I think in the end Internet would eventually replace the libraries because most young people use Internet a lot because you can get the information faster and every day people create their own WebPages and make their mail and go into social networks to communicate with friends. In some schools teachers when they send work to their students they advise them to seek information on the Internet. In addition there are few people who no longer go to the libraries to find what they want in encyclopedias or atlas now they turn to the Internet but the Internet can have its consequences, such as the information is not secure and many people use the translator for English problems and sometimes the translator gives the wrong information and when they have to seek for a definition people do not think there are dictionaries because the first thing that comes to their mind is to put it on the Internet because they want the fastest information possible. Adrian García Mondejar, 3 rd A ESO I have a very clear opinion on the issue of whether the Internet will replace libraries. I think that libraries will not stop being used altogether but far fewer people will go to them because to go to a library does not matter the day nor the inclination to do that because if you have to go no matter none of that, another issue is that they are so big that you always have to ask for help to find what you want because there are so many books, but the internet is much faster, more comfortable, and even much more accurate in finding what you want. It is much easier to find books you want to read in a library than looking on the internet that often takes a lot of trouble finding sections. In conclusion people will not reduce their participation to go to libraries but it will be greatly reduced. Miguel Ángel Velázquez Alcarazo, 3 rd B ESO

7. LITERARY CONTEST: WINNING STORY Matías era un chico muy inteligente de unos 15 años aproximadamente de edad. Vivía en Madrid con sus padres y uno de sus tíos. Adoraba las matemáticas y desde siempre se interesó por ellas. Todos los profesores que tuvo a lo largo de sus cursos académicos alucinaban con él, no sabían que se podía reunir tanta inteligencia matemática en una persona en plena fase de adolescencia. Él apenas veía la televisión, y cuando lo hacía, ponía canales en los que se emitían concursos matemáticos. Se acercaba la Navidad y él no sabía qué regalo pedir, hasta que un día descubrió que lo único que le faltaba era viajar a una ciudad donde hubiese una academia matemática privada, y se lo dijo a su madre, que no resultó muy convencida. Aún así, la madre de Matías removió cielo y tierra para ponerse en contacto con el director de alguna academia de este tipo y dio con una situada en Estados Unidos, el director se llamaba Richard y era bastante amable. Una mañana, Matías y su madre iban al colegio en el coche como de costumbre y de pronto un coche golpeó contra el de ellos a una velocidad impresionante. Matías, desgraciadamente, no llevaba el cinturón de seguridad puesto, por lo que chocó contra el cristal de su coche y lo rompió con la cabeza. Fue un caso muy grave aunque su madre solamente recibió algunos rasguños no muy graves. Tras pasar un tiempo en el hospital, Matías no recordaba nada de lo ocurrido y decidieron hacerle unas pruebas para comprobar si aún sabía cómo resolver problemas matemáticos y no logró hacer ninguno, ni los más sencillos. La madre de Matías se desanimó muchísimo al igual que todos sus conocidos, pues sabían que el mayor sueño de Matías era tener un buen futuro relacionado con las matemáticas. Al cabo de dos días aproximadamente todos se sorprendieron de lo rápido que Matías iba recordando las cosas pero más se sorprendieron cuando le vieron haciendo sudokus porque se aburría. Entonces, los médicos y enfermeros comprendieron que ya se había recuperado lo suficiente como para volver a casa y reposar allí. Como era muy inquieto, en cuanto podía hacía cualquier cosa que tuviera relación con las matemáticas. Quedaban solo dos días para que llegase la noche de los regalos y la madre de Matías estaba muy desesperada, pues no sabía si admitirían a su hijo en la academia de Estados Unidos; aun así, no perdía la fe. Pasaron esos dos días y aún no había recibido la llamada telefónica que tanto esperaba. Como no aguantaba más, decidió ir al instituto y preguntó si sabían alguna noticia sobre la academia de Matías y le dieron la magnífica noticia de que el día 7 de Enero tenía una entrevista con el director de la mejor academia del mundo. Matías al enterarse de la gran noticia lloraba y todo de la grandísima oportunidad que le estaban ofreciendo. Un tiempo después les informaron de que Matías había sido admitido. Matías pudo sentirse el niño más feliz del mundo. Beatriz Domingues López.