If you could meet one important person during your stay in the United States, which person would you choose? Why? Use specific reasons and examples to explain your choice.
Considering what has been going on in my life lately, if I could meet one person right now I would choose someone fun and lighthearted to hang out with: Anthony Bourdain. Since I was very young I always loved cooking shows, I used to watch them during my school vacations in the morning after the usual cartoons. The craftsmanship, patience and creativity cooking requires astonishes me, I find it almost magical, and I’m so useless at cooking myself I deeply admire people with that talent. But at the time I had no idea that the restaurant business is so stressful, to the point that a lot of people who don’t get their chef degree choose to kill themselves. It requires great discipline and sacrifice to own and manage a restaurant. That’s why Bourdain’s life interested me so much: he seems like a maverick, who after a life living on the wild side settled down to open his own bistro. Years later he abandoned it to pursue traveling around the world with a food show. He has a very nonchalant attitude towards life, living for the present moment without concern for what will happen next. In his interactions with people in foreign places he is always humble and polite; I’ll never forget when a family who lives in the North Pole offered him a raw seal’s eye, a delicacy reserved for guests of honor. He was so grateful (and brave enough to eat that). With him I’d have my favorite thing to share with people: endless and interesting conversation. He could talk to me about all the places he’s been while taking me to great restaurants; he could even convince me to try market or street food I’m normally reluctant to eat. I’m sure he would be a great inspiration to pursue my own goals: he’s not afraid to venture in unknown territories, he has written from traveling books to suspense novels. What more could I ask for?
A group of business leader plans to construct an airport in your community. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages. Do you support the airport? Why? Use specific reasons and examples to explain your position.
While it is true that the current airport that my city has presents a lot of flaws and issues, I would be very cautious in supporting the construction of a new airport without the necessary studies and considerations that can guarantee it will make a positive impact in the town as a whole. Our current airport is too close to residential districts, having terrible consequences in terms of noise, danger for the neighbors (it’s important to notice that large scale accidents have occurred in that area in the last 3 years), and the airport itself is cornered without any room for an eventual, and one can almost say needed, expansion. If we can remember its origins, the airport used to be in a deserted area, with no other structures around, but the spontaneous city growth product of little or no city planning at all resulted in an airport dangerously surrounding the people it was designed to service. This mistake has to be avoided at all costs if a new one is to be built. First, prudence is required in the selection of a new location. Authorities have to ask themselves if that new place is appropriate in terms of the growth the city has had in the past, and could have in the future. Will natural or protected areas be affected? Will there be room for the expansion of this airport and how can residential construction be avoided in neighboring zones? The actual design should also be a concern: this new airport should be functional but at the same time it should give an image of the most important airport of the whole country. Otherwise it will be a letdown and will not fulfill its potential. In conclusion, an airport has to be one of the many elements of an urban development plan, and not an isolated infrastructure just for the sake of it.
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