Straightforward Advanced: Competitive Eating.
Advanced level
What the lesson is about:
Theme: An eating competition and doing things to excess
Speaking Pairwork: roleplaying an interview with Sonya Thomas, a world eating champion
Reading: Me and my big mouth: a magazine article about Sonya Thomas
Vocabulary: Excess
Teacher's notes.
Student's Books activities.
Communication activities.
sábado, 29 de dezembro de 2007
Lesson links
Basic
Help your students understand how to build sentences effectively with these grammar tips on the basic building blocks of language - nouns, verbs, adjectives, pronouns and more. This unit is from Oxford Practice Grammar Basic, with Lesson Links teacher's notes and worksheets for your students.
Download the unit in colour or black & white
Lesson Links teacher's notes & worksheets
Intermediate
Increase your students' understanding of the difference between the active and the passive, as well as their confidence in creating active and passive sentences. This unit is taken from Oxford Practice Grammar Intermediate, with Lesson Links teacher's notes and worksheets for your students.
Download the unit in colour or black & white
Lesson Links notes & worksheets
Grammar Tips
It's not always easy to explain when you use a particular grammar structure instead of another - but collect these handy tips and you'll soon have a useful bank of ready-made explanations! You can also print them out and give them to your students.
If your elementary to intermediate students need some help with understanding uncountable nouns, or how to construct sentences using a lot of/lots of, then they need these handy tips!
Download
If your intermediate to advanced students are uncomfortable with negative uses of may, might and could, or the use of may in questions, then try out these handy tips!
Download
Help your students understand how to build sentences effectively with these grammar tips on the basic building blocks of language - nouns, verbs, adjectives, pronouns and more. This unit is from Oxford Practice Grammar Basic, with Lesson Links teacher's notes and worksheets for your students.
Download the unit in colour or black & white
Lesson Links teacher's notes & worksheets
Intermediate
Increase your students' understanding of the difference between the active and the passive, as well as their confidence in creating active and passive sentences. This unit is taken from Oxford Practice Grammar Intermediate, with Lesson Links teacher's notes and worksheets for your students.
Download the unit in colour or black & white
Lesson Links notes & worksheets
Grammar Tips
It's not always easy to explain when you use a particular grammar structure instead of another - but collect these handy tips and you'll soon have a useful bank of ready-made explanations! You can also print them out and give them to your students.
If your elementary to intermediate students need some help with understanding uncountable nouns, or how to construct sentences using a lot of/lots of, then they need these handy tips!
Download
If your intermediate to advanced students are uncomfortable with negative uses of may, might and could, or the use of may in questions, then try out these handy tips!
Download
Punctuation: the Comma
A comma in writing is a like a pause inside a sentence when speaking. We use commas inside sentences. Commas separate parts of a sentence into logical elements. Commas have no meaning, but they help us to see the structure and therefore the meaning of the sentence.
Put a space after a comma. Do not put a space before a comma.
Put a space after a comma. Do not put a space before a comma.
1. Use a comma between items in a series or list. In a sentence, the last two items usually do not need a comma between them as they are separated by "and". However, if one or both of the last two items are long, a comma may be useful.
coffee, tea, sugar, milk, eggs, butter, salt
My favourite sports are football, rugby, swimming, boxing and golf.
Hunsa was wearing blue jeans, black shoes, his brand new white shirt, and a brown and green cap.
2. Use a comma between three or more adjectives or adverbs.
I like the old, brown, wooden table.
He bought an old, red, open-top Volkswagen.
He ran quickly, quietly and effortlessly.
Text lingo
How’s your English text lingo? Match the text message on the left with its ‘translation’ in real English on the right.
Text
1) C U L8R M8
2) B4
3) AFAIK
4) W8 4 ME, I’M L8, SOZ
5) KIT
6) RUOK?
7) LUWAMH
8) HAND
9) Zzzzzzzzz
10) KOTL
11) TMB
12) 0 ME
13) EZ
14) BTW
15) C U 2NITE O 2MORO
Translation
a) As far as I know.
b) Love you with all my heart
c) Boring
d) Text me back
e) Have a nice day
f) See you later mate
g) Keep in touch
h) Easy
i) Are you okay?
j) Wait for me, I’m late, sorry
k) See you tonight or tomorrow
l) By the way
m) Before
n) Ring me
o) Kiss on the lips
Answers: 1 – f, 2 – m, 3 – a, 4 – j, 5 – g, 6 – i, 7 – b, 8 – e, 9-c, 10 – o, 11 – d, 12 – n. 13 – h, 14 – l, 15 - k
Text
1) C U L8R M8
2) B4
3) AFAIK
4) W8 4 ME, I’M L8, SOZ
5) KIT
6) RUOK?
7) LUWAMH
8) HAND
9) Zzzzzzzzz
10) KOTL
11) TMB
12) 0 ME
13) EZ
14) BTW
15) C U 2NITE O 2MORO
Translation
a) As far as I know.
b) Love you with all my heart
c) Boring
d) Text me back
e) Have a nice day
f) See you later mate
g) Keep in touch
h) Easy
i) Are you okay?
j) Wait for me, I’m late, sorry
k) See you tonight or tomorrow
l) By the way
m) Before
n) Ring me
o) Kiss on the lips
Answers: 1 – f, 2 – m, 3 – a, 4 – j, 5 – g, 6 – i, 7 – b, 8 – e, 9-c, 10 – o, 11 – d, 12 – n. 13 – h, 14 – l, 15 - k
Genie-us
By Louise Cooper
Louise Cooper’s stories usually have a twist in the tale, and this is no different. It starts off ordinarily enough with a king, a crying princess and a poor suitor for the princess’s hand. So, what happens to cheer the princess up? Probably not what you think……This kit is part of a new section from BritLit, and is in response to teachers’ enquiries. It seems some teachers wanted short and sweet kits – something that could be done in just one or two lessons.
Downloads
Key 91k >> Teacher's notes and answers
Context 324K >> Background information
Word work 82k >> Vocabulary building activities
Pre-reading 99k >> Language activities
Flashcards 328k >> Visual support
Text 15k >> The complete text of the story
Audio of the author reading the text >>3.15Mb
Louise Cooper’s stories usually have a twist in the tale, and this is no different. It starts off ordinarily enough with a king, a crying princess and a poor suitor for the princess’s hand. So, what happens to cheer the princess up? Probably not what you think……This kit is part of a new section from BritLit, and is in response to teachers’ enquiries. It seems some teachers wanted short and sweet kits – something that could be done in just one or two lessons.
Downloads
Key 91k >> Teacher's notes and answers
Context 324K >> Background information
Word work 82k >> Vocabulary building activities
Pre-reading 99k >> Language activities
Flashcards 328k >> Visual support
Text 15k >> The complete text of the story
Audio of the author reading the text >>3.15Mb
quinta-feira, 27 de dezembro de 2007
Los tiempos del pasado del Indicativo
Nombre de la actividad:
Dijo que era frances (correspondencia de tiempos en estilo indirecto)
Autoras:
Paula Gozalo
Fuente:
“Los tiempos del pasado del indicativo”. Editorial Edinumen, 2000
Nivel:
A partir de B1
Destreza:
Comprensión lectora, expresión escrita
Contenido:
Gramatical.
Presenta, de manera inductiva y partiendo de materiales auténticos y de citas de famosos, la concordancia de tiempos que hay que tener presente al pasar del estilo directo al indirecto. Libro dirigido al estudiante autodidacta, aunque también permite que el profesor lo incorpore en su clase.
Leer más...
Dijo que era frances (correspondencia de tiempos en estilo indirecto)
Autoras:
Paula Gozalo
Fuente:
“Los tiempos del pasado del indicativo”. Editorial Edinumen, 2000
Nivel:
A partir de B1
Destreza:
Comprensión lectora, expresión escrita
Contenido:
Gramatical.
Presenta, de manera inductiva y partiendo de materiales auténticos y de citas de famosos, la concordancia de tiempos que hay que tener presente al pasar del estilo directo al indirecto. Libro dirigido al estudiante autodidacta, aunque también permite que el profesor lo incorpore en su clase.
Leer más...
El retorno triunfal del español a las Filipinas
El gobierno filipino decidió reimplantar el español en el país, donde la lengua de Cervantes se casi se perdió después de haber sido proscrita por Estados Unidos en la primera mitad del siglo XX. Los filipinos vuelven así a sus raíces, estableciendo un nuevo vínculo para la expansión cultural y comercial de los contactos con América Latina.
Vea la nota completa en http://elcastellano.org/noticia.php?id=505
quarta-feira, 26 de dezembro de 2007
Second Life
by Pete SharmaLevel: Intermediate and above
This week's activities:
Discussing reactions to a number of statements about Second Life
Scanning an article for company names
Reading an article about Second Life
Finding the 'odd-word-out' from a set of collocations
Discussing points arising from the article
Related Websites
Send your students to these websites, or just take a look yourself.
segunda-feira, 24 de dezembro de 2007
Computers
The subject of this week’s lesson is computers.
The nineteenth-century British mathematician and philosopher Charles Babbage is credited with having drawn up the first ever designs for a machine capable of operating as a rudimentary form of computer. He was born on 26th December 1791.
Level
Pre-intermediate and above (equivalent to CEF level A2-B1 and above)
Student's Worksheet PDF (76K) DOC (135K)
Teacher's Notes PDF (76K) DOC (18K)
Glossary PDF (77K) DOC (28K)
Teacher's Notes PDF (76K) DOC (18K)
Glossary PDF (77K) DOC (28K)
Related Websites
Send your students to these websites, or just take a look yourself.
A BBC Newsround forum (2006) asking ‘How important is your computer to you?’ Aimed primarily at children and younger teenagers. Appropriate for pre-intermediate level.
From the BBC Radio 4 website, this shows the results of a survey that asked people what they regarded as the most important technological innovation since 1800. The computer came in fourth place, with the bicycle far ahead in first. Intermediate level and above.
Another BBC article (2001), published on the twentieth anniversary of the launch by IBM of the one of the first ever ‘personal computers’. The piece is followed by comments from various people on the impact personal computers (and the internet) have had on their lives. Some of the comments would be accessible to pre-intermediate level.
quarta-feira, 19 de dezembro de 2007
Talión
La ley del talión es un principio jurídico primitivo, por el cual se imponía un castigo idéntico al delito cometido. Una de las primeras aplicaciones conocidas de este principio se remonta al código de Hammurabi (unos 1800 años antes de Cristo).
Una de las normas de este código establecía:
"si un arquitecto hizo una casa para otro, y no la hizo sólida, y si la casa que hizo se derrumbó y ha hecho morir al propietario de la casa, el arquitecto será muerto".
Esta idea se repite cuando se precisa:
"Si ella (la casa) hizo morir el hijo del propietario de la casa, se matará al hijo del arquitecto".
El término talión es mucho más reciente que el principio jurídico mencionado: fue denominado por los romanos talio, talionis (ley del talión), palabra derivada de talis (tal, igual, similar). Algunos usos: talionem imponere (pagar en la misma moneda); sine talione (sin que le hagan lo mismo, impunemente.
Una de las normas de este código establecía:
"si un arquitecto hizo una casa para otro, y no la hizo sólida, y si la casa que hizo se derrumbó y ha hecho morir al propietario de la casa, el arquitecto será muerto".
Esta idea se repite cuando se precisa:
"Si ella (la casa) hizo morir el hijo del propietario de la casa, se matará al hijo del arquitecto".
El término talión es mucho más reciente que el principio jurídico mencionado: fue denominado por los romanos talio, talionis (ley del talión), palabra derivada de talis (tal, igual, similar). Algunos usos: talionem imponere (pagar en la misma moneda); sine talione (sin que le hagan lo mismo, impunemente.
December 19 1998 : President Clinton impeached
After nearly 14 hours of debate, the House of Representatives approves
two articles of impeachment against President Bill Clinton, charging
him with lying under oath to a federal grand jury and obstructing
justice. Clinton, the second president in American history to be
impeached, vowed to finish his term.
In November 1995, Clinton began an affair with Monica Lewinsky, a
21-year-old unpaid intern. Over the course of a year and a half, the
president and Lewinsky had nearly a dozen sexual encounters in the
White House. In April 1996, Lewinsky was transferred to the Pentagon.
That summer, she first confided in Pentagon co-worker Linda Tripp
about her sexual relationship with the president. In 1997, with the
relationship over, Tripp began secretly to record conversations with
Lewinsky, in which Lewinsky gave Tripp details about the affair.
In December, lawyers for Paula Jones, who was suing the president on
sexual harassment charges, subpoenaed Lewinsky. In January 1998,
allegedly under the recommendation of the president, Lewinsky filed an
affidavit in which she denied ever having had a sexual relationship
with him. Five days later, Tripp contacted the office of Kenneth
Starr, the Whitewater independent counsel, to talk about Lewinsky and
the tapes she made of their conversations. Tripp, wired by FBI agents
working with Starr, met with Lewinsky again, and on January 16,
Lewinsky was taken by FBI agents and U.S. attorneys to a hotel room
where she was questioned and offered immunity if she cooperated with
the prosecution. A few days later, the story broke, and Clinton
publicly denied the allegations, saying, "I did not have sexual
relations with that woman, Ms. Lewinsky."
In late July, lawyers for Lewinsky and Starr worked out a
full-immunity agreement covering both Lewinsky and her parents, all of
whom Starr had threatened with prosecution. On August 6, Lewinsky
appeared before the grand jury to begin her testimony, and on August
17 President Clinton testified. Contrary to his testimony in the Paula
Jones sexual-harassment case, President Clinton acknowledged to
prosecutors from the office of the independent counsel that he had had
an extramarital affair with Ms. Lewinsky.
In four hours of closed-door testimony, conducted in the Map Room of
the White House, Clinton spoke live via closed-circuit television to a
grand jury in a nearby federal courthouse. He was the first sitting
president ever to testify before a grand jury investigating his
conduct. That evening, President Clinton also gave a four-minute
televised address to the nation in which he admitted he had engaged in
an inappropriate relationship with Lewinsky. In the brief speech,
which was wrought with legalisms, the word "sex" was never spoken, and
the word "regret" was used only in reference to his admission that he
misled the public and his family.
Less than a month later, on September 9, Kenneth Starr submitted his
report and 18 boxes of supporting documents to the House of
Representatives. Released to the public two days later, the Starr
Report outlined a case for impeaching Clinton on 11 grounds, including
perjury, obstruction of justice, witness-tampering, and abuse of
power, and also provided explicit details of the sexual relationship
between the president and Ms. Lewinsky. On October 8, the House
authorized a wide-ranging impeachment inquiry, and on December 11, the
House Judiciary Committee approved three articles of impeachment. On
December 19, the House impeached Clinton.
On January 7, 1999, in a congressional procedure not seen since the
1868 impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson, the trial of
President Clinton got underway in the Senate. As instructed in Article
1 of the U.S. Constitution, the chief justice of the U.S. Supreme
Court (William Rehnquist at this time) was sworn in to preside, and
the senators were sworn in as jurors.
Five weeks later, on February 12, the Senate voted on whether to
remove Clinton from office. The president was acquitted on both
articles of impeachment. The prosecution needed a two-thirds majority
to convict but failed to achieve even a bare majority. Rejecting the
first charge of perjury, 45 Democrats and 10 Republicans voted "not
guilty," and on the charge of obstruction of justice the Senate was
split 50-50. After the trial concluded, President Clinton said he was
"profoundly sorry" for the burden his behavior imposed on Congress and
the American people.
history.com/tdih.do
two articles of impeachment against President Bill Clinton, charging
him with lying under oath to a federal grand jury and obstructing
justice. Clinton, the second president in American history to be
impeached, vowed to finish his term.
In November 1995, Clinton began an affair with Monica Lewinsky, a
21-year-old unpaid intern. Over the course of a year and a half, the
president and Lewinsky had nearly a dozen sexual encounters in the
White House. In April 1996, Lewinsky was transferred to the Pentagon.
That summer, she first confided in Pentagon co-worker Linda Tripp
about her sexual relationship with the president. In 1997, with the
relationship over, Tripp began secretly to record conversations with
Lewinsky, in which Lewinsky gave Tripp details about the affair.
In December, lawyers for Paula Jones, who was suing the president on
sexual harassment charges, subpoenaed Lewinsky. In January 1998,
allegedly under the recommendation of the president, Lewinsky filed an
affidavit in which she denied ever having had a sexual relationship
with him. Five days later, Tripp contacted the office of Kenneth
Starr, the Whitewater independent counsel, to talk about Lewinsky and
the tapes she made of their conversations. Tripp, wired by FBI agents
working with Starr, met with Lewinsky again, and on January 16,
Lewinsky was taken by FBI agents and U.S. attorneys to a hotel room
where she was questioned and offered immunity if she cooperated with
the prosecution. A few days later, the story broke, and Clinton
publicly denied the allegations, saying, "I did not have sexual
relations with that woman, Ms. Lewinsky."
In late July, lawyers for Lewinsky and Starr worked out a
full-immunity agreement covering both Lewinsky and her parents, all of
whom Starr had threatened with prosecution. On August 6, Lewinsky
appeared before the grand jury to begin her testimony, and on August
17 President Clinton testified. Contrary to his testimony in the Paula
Jones sexual-harassment case, President Clinton acknowledged to
prosecutors from the office of the independent counsel that he had had
an extramarital affair with Ms. Lewinsky.
In four hours of closed-door testimony, conducted in the Map Room of
the White House, Clinton spoke live via closed-circuit television to a
grand jury in a nearby federal courthouse. He was the first sitting
president ever to testify before a grand jury investigating his
conduct. That evening, President Clinton also gave a four-minute
televised address to the nation in which he admitted he had engaged in
an inappropriate relationship with Lewinsky. In the brief speech,
which was wrought with legalisms, the word "sex" was never spoken, and
the word "regret" was used only in reference to his admission that he
misled the public and his family.
Less than a month later, on September 9, Kenneth Starr submitted his
report and 18 boxes of supporting documents to the House of
Representatives. Released to the public two days later, the Starr
Report outlined a case for impeaching Clinton on 11 grounds, including
perjury, obstruction of justice, witness-tampering, and abuse of
power, and also provided explicit details of the sexual relationship
between the president and Ms. Lewinsky. On October 8, the House
authorized a wide-ranging impeachment inquiry, and on December 11, the
House Judiciary Committee approved three articles of impeachment. On
December 19, the House impeached Clinton.
On January 7, 1999, in a congressional procedure not seen since the
1868 impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson, the trial of
President Clinton got underway in the Senate. As instructed in Article
1 of the U.S. Constitution, the chief justice of the U.S. Supreme
Court (William Rehnquist at this time) was sworn in to preside, and
the senators were sworn in as jurors.
Five weeks later, on February 12, the Senate voted on whether to
remove Clinton from office. The president was acquitted on both
articles of impeachment. The prosecution needed a two-thirds majority
to convict but failed to achieve even a bare majority. Rejecting the
first charge of perjury, 45 Democrats and 10 Republicans voted "not
guilty," and on the charge of obstruction of justice the Senate was
split 50-50. After the trial concluded, President Clinton said he was
"profoundly sorry" for the burden his behavior imposed on Congress and
the American people.
history.com/tdih.do
quarta-feira, 12 de dezembro de 2007
Libros gratuitos
El llamado de la selva
de Jack London.
Pocos libros pueden crear un personaje y una situación que abren a nuevas formas de comprender la realidad. El llamado de la selva sigue suscitando preguntas en torno al sentido de la existencia y a los misterios de la identidad. ver más
El capote
de Nicolás V. Gogol.
Esta historia dramática publicada en 1842, es de lectura obligatoria para todo aquel que aspire a ser cuentista. Basta recordar la famosa frase de Dostoievski: "Todos crecimos bajo el capote de Gogol". ver más
Carta sobre la Tolerancia
de John Locke.
Bajo el nombre de «Carta sobre la Tolerancia», se engloban las cartas que John Locke publicó entre los años 1689 y 1690, y que ofrecen, en buena medida, las bases ideológicas esenciales para su teoría política expuesta por las mismas fechas en «Dos Tratados sobre el Gobierno Civil». ver más
de Jack London.
Pocos libros pueden crear un personaje y una situación que abren a nuevas formas de comprender la realidad. El llamado de la selva sigue suscitando preguntas en torno al sentido de la existencia y a los misterios de la identidad. ver más
El capote
de Nicolás V. Gogol.
Esta historia dramática publicada en 1842, es de lectura obligatoria para todo aquel que aspire a ser cuentista. Basta recordar la famosa frase de Dostoievski: "Todos crecimos bajo el capote de Gogol". ver más
Carta sobre la Tolerancia
de John Locke.
Bajo el nombre de «Carta sobre la Tolerancia», se engloban las cartas que John Locke publicó entre los años 1689 y 1690, y que ofrecen, en buena medida, las bases ideológicas esenciales para su teoría política expuesta por las mismas fechas en «Dos Tratados sobre el Gobierno Civil». ver más
Blockbuster
Student's Worksheet
Teacher's Notes
Type of activity: Speaking. Writing. Pair work and group work.
Aims: To practise writing the outline of a narrative.
Tasks: To prepare an outline for a film using prompts from the worksheet.
Teacher's Notes
Type of activity: Speaking. Writing. Pair work and group work.
Aims: To practise writing the outline of a narrative.
Tasks: To prepare an outline for a film using prompts from the worksheet.
Steven Spielberg
This week’s lesson focuses on probably the most famous film director in the world, Steven Spielberg. He was born on 18th December 1946.
Level
Pre-intermediate and above (equivalent to CEF level A2-B1 and above)
Related Websites
Send your students to these websites, or just take a look yourself.
A very short text from BBC Newsround, asking ‘Could Jurassic Park really happen?’ Accessible to pre-intermediate level.
A Spielberg mini-biography from the Internet Movie Database. Intermediate level and above.
A BBC article (2007) about one of Spielberg’s future projects, a series of Tintin films. Intermediate level and above.
sábado, 8 de dezembro de 2007
Lovely jubbly
Notice the pronunciation, 'lovely jubbly'. There is a kind of resonance there, a rhyming resonance, which is part of the attraction of the phrase. It's a jocular exclamation. It means excellent, brilliant, great. It's the sort of thing you'd say when you got some good news or had a stroke of luck, 'ah, lovely jubbly'. Well, would you use it? It depends whether you're influenced by television, I suppose, more than anything else. It's one of the slang phrases that was used by Dell Boy in the television series 'Only Fools and Horses', back in the 1990s. It actually goes back longer than that. These script writers are well aware of some of the earlier usages of phrases like this. In fact, you can take it right back to the 1950s, when there was an ice lolly called a jubbly, and there was an advertising catch phrase, 'lovely jubbly', and the Dell usage, I suppose, has come from that. It later moved into London slang, mainly, I've heard it elsewhere but mainly in London, for anything that was excellent. I've heard it with reference to food - very tasty food is lovely jubbly food. Lovely jubbly antiques, there are - beautiful antiques, lovely jubbly people. And I guess these programmes are lovely jubbly programmes!
Downloads
Transcript (pdf - 42k)
Lesson plan - Teacher's notes, student worksheets with answers (pdf - 39k)
Audio - Professor David Crystal on "Lovely jubbly" (mp3 - 490k)
Extras
Only Fools and Horses homepage
Only Fools and Horses
Downloads
Transcript (pdf - 42k)
Lesson plan - Teacher's notes, student worksheets with answers (pdf - 39k)
Audio - Professor David Crystal on "Lovely jubbly" (mp3 - 490k)
Extras
Only Fools and Horses homepage
Only Fools and Horses
Football jobs - Hospitality steward
LearnEnglish would like to thank Suzi Raymond, Education Manager, Chelsea FC, for providing these materials.Definition
Steward: a person whose job it is to organize a particular event, or to provide services to particular people, or to take care of a particular place.
Before you listen
You are going to listen to an interview with a matchday hospitality steward from Chelsea football club. Before you listen, do an activity in which you match the names and descriptions of the different types of stewards. (copy and paste the link below)
Listening to the interview (To download the files, right-click where it says "Download MP3 audio file", choose 'Save target as', and select where you want to save the file. If you're a using a Mac, simply double-click on the link and use the on-screen window to select the file's destination.)
Download the mp3 file or else listen on your PC.
You can also see/print the audioscript of the interview (pdf doc)
Test your comprehension
Do an activity in which you say if statements about the interview are true or false. (copy and paste the link below)
http://www.learnenglish.org.uk/CET/flashactivities/learnenglish-sport-listening-sports-jobs-steward-02.html
External links
http://www.chelseafc.com/: read more about education activities
http://www.chelseafc.com/: read more about education activities
WE'RE GOING TO WIN
A football (soccer) song
words and music by Cambridge English Online
http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish-sport-fun-and-games-football-song.htm
words and music by Cambridge English Online
http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish-sport-fun-and-games-football-song.htm
Ullswater
'Ullswater' is based on the short story by Romesh Gunesekera. It is about the relationship between two very different brothers and how various factors have caused them to grow apart. One brother describes their relationship to his nephew who wants to know more about who his father really was and why he committed suicide.
Downloads
Short story 27k pdf >> Complete text of Ullswater
Introduction for teachers 95k pdf >>
Characterisation 355k pdf >> Character based activities
Context 792k pdf >> Background information and exercises
Word Work 204k pdf >> Language activities
After reading exercises 414k pdf >> Follow-up and consolidation
Answer key 206k pdf >> Teacher's notes for activities.
Seneka MP3>> Read by the author (833Kb)
Daffodils MP3>> Read by the author (480Kb)
Nightmare MP3>> Read by the author (1.45Mb)
Yacht MP3>> Read by the author (1.58Mb)
Final MP3>> Read by the author (11.46Mb)
sexta-feira, 7 de dezembro de 2007
Anaconda
Aparece inicialmente en inglés como nombre una enorme serpiente pitón de Ceilán, llamada en cingalés henandakaya, que significa ‘tronco luminoso’ que fue transcrito al inglés por el naturalista británico John Ray en 1693.
En 1802, el zoólogo francés François-Marie Daudin usó ese nombre para designar una enorme boa sudamericana, conocida como ‘anaconda verde’ y clasificada zoológicamente como Eunectes murinus.
El vocablo anaconda está registrado por la Academia Española desde 1927, referido apenas a una ‘serpiente americana de más de diez metros de largo’. Pocos años antes de su aparición en el diccionario, el cuentista uruguayo Horacio Quiroga describía así al enorme ofidio en su cuento Anaconda (1921):
La Anaconda es la reina de todas las serpientes habidas y por haber, sin exceptuar al pitón malayo. Su fuerza es extraordinaria, y no hay animal de carne y hueso capaz de resistir un abrazo suyo.
Otra etimología que se ha propuesto es la palabra tamil anakkkonda, que significa ‘el que mató un elefante’.
En 1802, el zoólogo francés François-Marie Daudin usó ese nombre para designar una enorme boa sudamericana, conocida como ‘anaconda verde’ y clasificada zoológicamente como Eunectes murinus.
El vocablo anaconda está registrado por la Academia Española desde 1927, referido apenas a una ‘serpiente americana de más de diez metros de largo’. Pocos años antes de su aparición en el diccionario, el cuentista uruguayo Horacio Quiroga describía así al enorme ofidio en su cuento Anaconda (1921):
La Anaconda es la reina de todas las serpientes habidas y por haber, sin exceptuar al pitón malayo. Su fuerza es extraordinaria, y no hay animal de carne y hueso capaz de resistir un abrazo suyo.
Otra etimología que se ha propuesto es la palabra tamil anakkkonda, que significa ‘el que mató un elefante’.
December 7, 1941 : Pearl Harbor bombed
At 7:55 a.m. Hawaii time, a Japanese dive bomber bearing the redsymbol of the Rising Sun of Japan on its wings appears out of theclouds above the island of Oahu. A swarm of 360 Japanese warplanes followed, descending on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor in aferocious assault. The surprise attack struck a critical blow against the U.S. Pacific fleet and drew the United States irrevocably into World War II. With diplomatic negotiations with Japan breaking down, President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his advisers knew that an imminent Japanese attack was probable, but nothing had been done to increase security at the important naval base at Pearl Harbor. It was Sunday morning, and many military personnel had been given passes to attend religious services off base. At 7:02 a.m., two radio operators spotted large groups of aircraft in flight toward the island from the north, but, with a flight of B-17s expected from the United States at the time, they were told to sound no alarm. Thus, the Japanese air assault came as a devastating surprise to the naval base. Much of the Pacific fleet was rendered useless: Five of eightbattleships, three destroyers, and seven other ships were sunk orseverely damaged, and more than 200 aircraft were destroyed. A total of 2,400 Americans were killed and 1,200 were wounded, many while valiantly attempting to repulse the attack. Japan's losses were some 30 planes, five midget submarines, and fewer than 100 men. Fortunately for the United States, all three Pacific fleet carriers were out at sea on training maneuvers. These giant aircraft carriers would have their revenge against Japan six months later at the Battle of Midway, reversing the tide against the previously invincible Japanese navy in a spectacular victory. The day after Pearl Harbor was bombed, President Roosevelt appeared before a joint session of Congress and declared, "Yesterday, December 7, 1941-- a date which will live in infamy -- the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forcesof the Empire of Japan." After a brief and forceful speech, he asked Congress to approve a resolution recognizing the state of war between the United States and Japan. The Senate voted for war against Japan by 82 to 0, and the House of Representatives approved the resolution by avote of 388 to 1. The sole dissenter was Representative Jeannette Rankin of Montana, a devout pacifist who had also cast a dissenting vote against the U.S. entrance into World War I. Three days later, Germany and Italy declared war against the United States, and the U.S. government responded in kind. The American contribution to the successful Allied war effort spanned four long years and cost more than 400,000 American lives.
Assinar:
Postagens (Atom)