English Language
and Culture
By Jane Cronin
English teacher
and writer
Thursday, April
the 24th
19.00 hours
Classroom 0.1
More info:
Or visit her website:
Apr 22, 2014
Apr 21, 2014
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
Read more:http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/1404/140421-gabriel-garcia-marquez.html#ixzz2zVtagz9R
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
Apr 7, 2014
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
- at CNBC (including a news report on "baby making" on snowy days ;P)
- at RT (including interesting comments from readers)
- at Liberty Voice
Apr 1, 2014
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 2014The 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
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!
Mar 31, 2014
Council Housing
BEFORE
WATCHING:
- Are there any housing problems in your area? Which?
- Which social groups are the most affected?
- Can you give any specific examples? (homeless/squatters etc and
their whereabouts).
- Can you describe the conditions in which these people live?
WATCH THE
FOLLOWING VIDEO ABOUT HOUSING PROBLEMS IN THE UK
1. Describe Frances
___________________________________________
2. Their health problems: The child’s
_______________________
His parents’_________________________
3. Frances
4. From the information they give us on the screen we
learn that:
Priority over houses is given to immigrants who
_________________
The regulation for immigrants also applies for _________________
5. The numbers last year:
________________ new dwellings were built for social
needs
________________ people are still on the social
housing waiting lists
6. The government hasn’t come up with either
__________________ or with ________________ to build more social houses.
DEBATE:
A decent
house is a basic need and a right for everyone.
Find ways of fighting the problem of homelessness.
Choose the best.
Childcare fees higher than housing costs in UK
Read about this report and watch a video on BBC News and answer the following questions: 1. RAISING CHILDREN: How can parents make savings? Complete this table:
Savings
|
Easy or difficult (and why)
| |
| Education | ||
| Food | ||
| Toys | ||
| Going out | ||
| Childcare | ||
| Entertainment |
| • sports equipment • mobile phone • brand clothes • candy and soda | • video games • music • club activities • parties |
3. LANGUAGE CLOZE
Families in the U.K. now pay more on childcare than on their mortgage. The (1) ____ costs of raising children are now (2) ____ yearly housing loan repayments. This is according to a survey conducted by Britain's Family and Childcare Trust. The organization says that in some (3) ____ of the country, nursery fees have risen by 13 per cent in the past year. The cost for babysitters and child-minders has risen by an average of four per cent. The report's author Jill Rutter told the Nursery World website that her (4) ____ showed that childcare in the U.K. is becoming (5) ____ and less affordable for families. She also said an insufficient (6) ____ of places in nurseries shows the U.K.'s system isn't working.
The report could well make would-be parents think (7) ____ about starting a family, or about the number of children they have. A family of four with one child (8) ____ a nursery and another in an after-school club spends an average of $12,571 a year. This compares to the average yearly housing loan payments of $12,000. Families are now spending (9) ____ quarter of their income on childcare. This does not include the costs of (10) ____, clothing and entertaining children. There are also the costs of toys, books and electronic gadgets on (11) ____ of that. The chief executive of the Trust warned that when many parents have to spend more than a quarter of their income on childcare, it's clear that the system "isn't fit for (12) ____ ".
Put the correct words from the table below in the above article.
| 1. | (a) | annulled | (b) | analysis | (c) | annual | (d) | annul |
| 2. | (a) | outstripping | (b) | outstanding | (c) | outsourcing | (d) | outstaying |
| 3. | (a) | parties | (b) | parts | (c) | partners | (d) | departs |
| 4. | (a) | proof | (b) | doodles | (c) | scribbles | (d) | findings |
| 5. | (a) | fewer | (b) | smaller | (c) | less | (d) | lower |
| 6. | (a) | palette | (b) | number | (c) | criteria | (d) | flow |
| 7. | (a) | twice | (b) | too | (c) | few | (d) | second |
| 8. | (a) | attendant | (b) | attends | (c) | attendance | (d) | attending |
| 9. | (a) | the | (b) | two | (c) | a | (d) | full |
| 10. | (a) | foodstuffs | (b) | foodies | (c) | fodder | (d) | feeding |
| 11. | (a) | place | (b) | top | (c) | list | (d) | demand |
| 12. | (a) | purpose | (b) | reason | (c) | excuse | (d) | rationale |
Read more:http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/1403/140306-childcare.html#ixzz2xZChacIu
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