36% in UK will never buy own home

Read the report findings at:
1. www.shropshirestar.com
2. www.lloydsbankinggroup.com

Key words and phrases:
house prices / third / a new report / an achievable goal / property ladder / aspiration / statistics / concern / bleaker / capital / social problems / homeowners / standstill

LANGUAGE - CLOZE

House prices in the U.K. are now so high that a (1) ____ of British people believe they will never buy their own home. This is according (2) ____ a new report published by the Halifax Bank. Home ownership was once an achievable goal for generations of Britons. However, rising prices now mean the (3) ____ of getting on the property (4) ____ are on the decline. The report says that one in five twentysomethings has no desire to own their own home. Craig McKinlay, mortgages director at Halifax, said: "We may be (5) ____ towards the point where the aspiration to own a nice home will be replaced by the aspiration to simply live in one." He added: "It seems that people are now beginning to accept a (6) ____ of renting."

Britain's Office for National Statistics earlier this week stated that house prices have risen by 10.5% in the past year. It (7) ____ concern at what it describes as "runaway train" house prices. The average U.K. house was valued at $425,000 in 2013. Things get (8) ____ for house hunters (9) ____ to buy in London. Prices in the capital have risen by 18 per cent in a year to an average of $610,000. The Halifax report writes about possible long-term social problems (10) ____ from, "the division between homeowners and non-homeowners". The report warned that if there are (11) ____ first-time buyers, "the market will come to a (12) ____ ". If this happens, prices will have to come down.

Put the correct words from the table below in the above article.

1.	(a)	thrice	(b)	thirdly	(c)	third	(d)	third-time
2.	(a)	to	(b)	by	(c)	of	(d)	on
3.	(a)	prospects	(b)	prospective	(c)	prospectus	(d)	prospector
4.	(a)	ladder	(b)	steps	(c)	stairs	(d)	staircase
5.	(a)	backing	(b)	heading	(c)	stomaching	(d)	arming
6.	(a)	living	(b)	lifer	(c)	livelihood	(d)	lifetime
7.	(a)	ushered	(b)	sequestered	(c)	expressed	(d)	fast-tracked
8.	(a)	beaker	(b)	breaker	(c)	blacken	(d)	bleaker
9.	(a)	wishing	(b)	wished	(c)	wishes	(d)	well wishers
10.	(a)	arising	(b)	arousal	(c)	arisen	(d)	arousing
11.	(a)	lesser	(b)	fewer	(c)	smaller	(d)	dearth
12.	(a)	stood	(b)	standing	(c)	standstill	(d)	standard

Read more and find the key at: http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/1404/140423-home-ownership.html#ixzz31V2Bt2Jd

The Story of Bottled Water

• Where do you get your drinking water from?
• Do you drink tap water or bottled water?
• Is tap water safe?
• Is bottled water better for you than tap water?
• Do you think that there is an environmental impact to bottled water use?

Now watch a very insightful video I told you about. I remembered it when we did that listening exercise about facts and myths about our health...

The following video presentation is made by Annie Leonard, who fights for the environment and leads the movement to change the way we make, use, and throw away Stuff.

For over 15 years she’s been investigating where our Stuff comes from and where it goes when we toss it—along with the environmental and social impacts of that production, consumption, and disposal.
What she found inspired her to create The Story of Stuff Project, which works to give people around the world knowledge to fight for a more sustainable future.

1. According to the speaker, what is a manufactured demand?

2. How does the speaker dispute the statement  ”Bottled water is the most environmentally responsible consumer product in the world.” What’s your opinion about it?

3. What solutions does she put forward?

4. Are there any facts that you feel are misleading and you’d like to argue with?

Read some related news from last year: Concord, Massachussets bans sale of small water bottles

Conversation questions

Interesting link!

To prepare your speaking exam, here you have CONVERSATION QUESTIONS on ANY topic under the sun! Ideal for practicing at home, you could choose a topic and a couple of questions and prepare short presentations.

TIP: Record yourself with your mobile and listen to yourself afterwards.

Talk by Jane Cronin

English Language and Culture

By Jane Cronin

English teacher and writer

Thursday, April the 24^th

19.00 hours

Classroom 0.1

More info:

 www.eoilorca.org

Or visit her website: 

http://www.janecronin.eu/

Novelist Gabriel García Márquez dies

Read the news and watch related videos at:

Latino Fox News
BBC News

To find out more about his life and work visit Wikipedia.

How did the work of García Marquez affect you? Some of his readers have shared their stories on the BBC website.

Some useful vocabulary: 
mourning - cremation - pass away - memorial - pay tribute - legacy
readership - Nobel laureate - nonfiction - spark controversy
accomplished journalist - cultured man

LANGUAGE - CLOZE

Gabriel García Márquez, one of the world's greatest novelists, has died, aged 87. He passed (1) ____ at his home in Mexico. The official cause of death was a lung infection. The Colombian writer won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1982, among many more top (2) ____ awards. The Colombian government has announced three days of national (3) ____. A spokesperson said García Márquez was, "a writer who changed the lives of his readership". His novel ''Love in the Time of Cholera" is the best selling book written in Spanish of (4) ____ time. He also wrote many more classics. Many (5) ____ place García Márquez among the most important writers ever. He helped develop a style of writing called "magical (6) ____ ".

U.S. President Barack Obama paid a tribute to Márquez, saying: "The world has lost one of its greatest (7) ____ writers." Former President Bill Clinton said: "I was always amazed by his unique (8) ____ of imagination, clarity of thought, and emotional honesty. He captured the pain and joy of our common humanity in       (9) ____ both real and magical." García Márquez once said he was a storyteller from a young age. He told an interviewer: "I have often been told by the family that I started (10) ____ things, stories and (11) ____ on, almost since I was born - ever since I could speak." Peruvian Nobel prize-winning author Mario Vargas Llosa said: "His novels will survive and will continue to (12) ____ new readers everywhere."

Put the correct words from the table below in the above article.

1.	(a)	over	(b)	up	(c)	away	(d)	down
2.	(a)	literary	(b)	literal	(c)	literacy	(d)	literate
3.	(a)	weeping	(b)	mourning	(c)	lament	(d)	morning
4.	(a)	every	(b)	any	(c)	whole	(d)	all
5.	(a)	criticize	(b)	plaudits	(c)	critics	(d)	pundits
6.	(a)	relativism	(b)	realism	(c)	realm	(d)	radicalism
7.	(a)	visionary	(b)	prophetic	(c)	perspicacious	(d)	predicting
8.	(a)	tips	(b)	bonuses	(c)	presents	(d)	gifts
9.	(a)	venues	(b)	locations	(c)	settings	(d)	areas
10.	(a)	practising	(b)	calculating	(c)	adding up	(d)	recounting
11.	(a)	as	(b)	so	(c)	such	(d)	say
12.	(a)	find	(b)	search	(c)	read	(d)	magic

Read more:http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/1404/140421-gabriel-garcia-marquez.html#ixzz2zVtagz9R

Google investing $1billion in renewable energy

Read the news

- at CNBC (including a news report on "baby making" on snowy days ;P)

- at RT (including interesting comments from readers)

- at Liberty Voice

Flying penguins found by BBC programme

To start with the topic of environment, I found this interesting piece of news...

Flying penguins found by BBC programme

By Neil Midgley, TV & Radio Editor 1:10PM BST 01 Apr 2014

The BBC will today screen remarkable footage of penguins flying as part of its new natural history series, Miracles of Evolution.

Camera crews discovered a colony of Adélie penguins while filming on King George Island, some 750 miles south of the Falkland Islands.

The programme is being presented by ex-Monty Python star Terry Jones, who said: "We'd been watching the penguins and filming them for days, without a hint of what was to come. But then the weather took a turn for the worse. It was quite amazing. Rather than getting together in a huddle to protect themselves from the cold, they did something quite unexpected, that no other penguins can do."

BBC1 viewers will see the penguins not only take flight from the Antarctic wastes, but fly thousands of miles to the Amazonian rainforest to find winter sun.

"The film reveals nature's stunning glory in exciting and unexpected ways, so much so that it defies belief," said Mr Jones.

"Not only does it create a vivid and emotional experience for the viewer, it also illustrates just how bold and simple Darwin's idea of natural selection was."

Classification-Life-Animals-Vertebrates-Birds-Sphenisciformes-Penguins-Flying Penguins

More Info: Flying penguins are a very recent addition to the penguin family in evolutionary terms. A few isolated species have evolved to make the most of their small wings, allowing them to migrate to warmer climes for the harsh Antarctic winter months. Elusive and secretive, these populations of penguin are extremely hard to locate in the rainforest and even seeing them fly on their migration is a rare experience. Little is yet known about just how these small birds survive flying over such vast distances, or why the anatomical differences they possess enable them to fly when other penguin families cannot.

Scientific name: Volatis

Rank: Genus

Discussion Questions:

1. What do you think of this recent discovery? Did you ever expect to hear that penguins could fly?

2. What did you find most surprising about this article? Why?

3. What are some surprising things that other animals can do?

...HAPPY APRIL FOOLS!