How do you pronounce this -> A' in English?

Writing task # 3 There is no doubt that what we call family is the core structure of society. Although some people may think that this structure is unchangeable over time, I strongly believe that the definition of family has taken a completely different meaning in today’s world. Two reasons make me feel this way, which I will explain in the following essay. First of all, the bonds that we hold with our extended family members are not as strong as they used to be in the past. Two decades ago, people used to travel less than today. Also, it was less common to live abroad, and starting a new life in a whole different country. However, due to technological developments such as the Internet, TV, and smartphones, the new generation is becoming more interested in visiting new places. Thus, it is much more likely that a young adult will go to study overseas or find a new job in another country, searching for better living conditions. As a result, we are very prone to lose some contact to members of our family such as grandparents, uncles, and cousins, that we used to have contact on a daily basis. My personal experience is a perfect example of this. I decided to get married and go to Brazil to study a master’s degree in Civil Engineering, leaving all my family behind in Venezuela. I did this because I wanted to grow professionally, but also because I was curious and attracted to the Brazilian culture. This made me lose contact with almost every member of my family because I am not used to texting them or call them on Skype or Whatsapp. In addition, friends are taking the place of extended family in today’s society. We spend more time with friends from high school and colleague than with our own cousins and aunts. Because of this, we prefer to maintain a closer relationship with those that have more impact in our life. For instance, I consider that my best friend from college, Hernán, is like a brother to me. Since the first day we met at the University, we have cultivated a special bond that strengthened over time, since we went through moments of joy and sadness together. On the other hand, I do not have much contact with my cousin Juan. Juan and I used to play a lot when we were kids, but once we grew up, we lose contact and never spoke again. This example shows that, sometimes, friends can mean more to us than our own family. Moreover, if we spend enough time with our friends, they can substitute the role of a brother or cousin. Therefore, they can become like a member of our

Besides "extendend family", how else can we call our cousins, grandparents and uncles/aunts?

Essay about 'Knowledge' Although some people may prefer to know just enough about different academic topics and consider this a better option for their professional development, I strongly believe that fully dominating a subject in any area of expertise can turn you into a go-to professional. It can also help the world to become a better place. These two reasons will be explained in the following essay. First of all, it is commonly said that “knowledge is power”, thus, every professional should aim to focus on understanding and dominating a specific technology or method if he wants to be recognize by other peers. This respect transforms, sooner rather than later, into new opportunities of promotions or a new job offer that can help us achieve a better social status. That is why there are so many Universities offering tons of Ph.D. and MSc programs for students and professionals that want to specialize in a specific branch of science. My personal experience is a compelling example of this. When I started my Master’s degree two years ago at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, I wanted to become an expert in seismic inversion, specifically in a new technology called “Full Waveform Inversion”. This technology has been very popular among the geophysical community in the last decade and is one of the main tools used by oil companies in seismic processing. Since there is almost no one in Brazil that knows how to work with this high-resolution inversion technique, I thought that delving deeper into the understanding of such a method and demonstrating that I am qualified to work with it, will make my profile attractive for future employers. Consequently, as soon as I ended my Master program, I was hired by one of the top geophysical companies in Brazil, thanks to my previous experience with full waveform inversion. This example shows how understanding a very specific topic can help us succeed in our professional life. In addition, knowing a lot about a specific topic is important since it can lead to more discoveries and new applications of science to solve a hard problem. As my Ph.D. advisor says, “hard problems do not have easy answers”. Indeed, if we only study the basics of any subject, we will not be able to come up with creative and innovative ideas that can be a great contribution to humankind problems. Moreover, if everybody takes the easy way and learn only the main concepts, there will never be enough knowledge to make our society progress. That is why some of the great