Monday, 13 June 2011

Never too late for phrasal verbs (basic revision)

I found this weird exercise while I was trying to recover my lost favourites in Chrome and Firefox after my computer broke down.

I say "weird" because of the story.

The original page is here: http://esl.about.com/od/advancedlistenin1/a/Phrasal-Verb-Gap-Fill-Listening.htm, but I've copied it here to use it differently, so don't click on it yet. You can also refer to it at the end if you don't understand the audio, but as it's really clear, you might not need to.

My suggestion is that first you try to fill the gaps in the text with the phrasal verbs, and then you listen to the audio to correct your work.



The Phrasal Verbs: (some are used more than once:)

come into (inherit), get on with (have a good relationship with), pass on (die), cut down (reduce), give up (stop), be up to (to be doing), drop in on (visit), look after (take care of), put through (pass on the telephone), hold on (to wait on the telephone), get over (recover from),set off (to leave), come up with (to have an idea), make out (to see in the distance, to pretend), look for (to search for), tell off (to criticize), take on (to employ), turn up (to arrive), take up (to begin a new activity)

The text:

Uncle Fester

Last year, Jack Peterson _____ that he _____ a small fortune after His uncle Fester _____ . His uncle had been a heavy smoker for many years and hadn't been able to _____ on his smoking. Jack _____ his uncle Fester, and often _____ on him to see what _____ . One summer, uncle Fester promised _____ on his cigarette smoking after having taken 3 months _____ an extremely bad cough. Jack _____ him those 3 months and, a number of times, he _____ uncle Fester. Then he _____ a brilliant idea to make uncle Fester _____ his nasty habit. He had the local cancer society telephone uncle Fester. When they called, he told them to _____ and then _____ . They proceeded to _____ that they _____ a volunteer to _____ to help _____ the patients. Well, that frightened uncle Fester and he immediately swore to _____ smoking. In fact, uncle Fester _____ jogging in order to help him feel better. He even began to _____ other smokers (although he couldn't quite give smoking up himself). One day, as he _____ on his morning run, he _____ a stand in the distance. A new society _____ that day _____ people willing to _____ young puppies. Uncle Fester immediately _____ a cute Dalmatian, and _____ _____ this new responsibility. Now, three years later Jack _____ the "small fortune" which reminded him every day of his wonderful, if not wise, uncle Fester.


To listen to the audio RIGHT-click on this link and open in a new tab or window: http://esl.about.com/library/media/audio/fester.mp3

Saturday, 11 June 2011

Angry birds


I suppose we've all played the video game but this news is real: angry birds attack people in Seattle and California.

Read about it and watch a video here:



Say yes to nuclear :D

The unfortunate phrasing of the Italian anti-nuclear slogan may actually cause people against it to vote in favour. Oooops!

See why it's so important to write clearly?



Monday, 6 June 2011

Likely culprit of E.Coli outbreak

E. coli outbreak: German farm in Uelzen 'likely source': http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13663630

So, can we start enjoying our salads again now?


Friday, 3 June 2011

Hey, now there's an idea!*

Teenager 'sells kidney for iPad'.

Read about it here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-13639934



*Only joking as usual

Sunday, 29 May 2011

Barça

My brother, a staunch Barcelona FC supporter, has recommended this glowing review of the game by the BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/13576522.stm

Culés will feel proud.

Monday, 23 May 2011

The elections

"Spain's governing Socialist party has suffered heavy losses in local and regional elections.

With 91% of municipal votes counted, the centre-right Popular Party (PP) had almost a 10-percentage point lead, the interior ministry said.

Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero conceded defeat but ruled out early general elections.

Voting took place amid mass protests against high unemployment and the government's handling of the economy.

Young demonstrators holding sit-ins in Madrid and other cities said rallies would continue for another week.

Mr Zapatero said three years of economic crisis had taken their toll."



Read more and watch the video here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13496038

Wednesday, 18 May 2011

Other gadgets: Apture

I got this idea from a colleague's blog and have now incorporated it onto this one.

Apture is a tool which allows you to look up words just by highlighting them. It's easier and quicker if I just post the video for that too.



So, now you can look up any word on this blog just by highlighting it. Cool, eh?




Dropbox

Does anybody want an invitation to Dropbox? I get extra storage for inviting people (if they accept, I suppose) and they do too.

I started using it about 2 days ago, put 4 videos in it and now it's almost full. So if you think it could be useful for you let me invite you.

This is how it works:



Sunday, 15 May 2011

Youth protests

The Washington Post's account of today's demonstrations:

Tuesday, 10 May 2011

Use sunscreen

This video was recommended to me by Romuald from 5B.

Apparently it was originally an essay written by Mary Schmich and published as a column in the Chicago Tribune. Its original title was "Advice, like youth, probably just wasted on the young". It was then turned into a "song" by Baz Luhrmann and renamed "Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen)".

There are quite a few videos set to the song on YouTube, but this is the one Romauald recommended, with some captions and subtitles.

I'm sure everyone will find some words of wisdom in it, even if it's just the bit about sunscreen.




Lyrics, here: http://www.lyricscrawler.com/song/3953.html

Wednesday, 4 May 2011

The end is nigh

On the subject of TIME and its running out I discover that a California (where else?) preacher has predicted the end of the world (again) for the 21st of May, quite conveniently on a Saturday, at around 6pm, he specifies. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-preacher-warns-end-of-the-world-is-nigh-21-may-around-6pm-to-be-precise-2254139.html

The implications for EOI students are of course enormous as all the exams are AFTER that date, and so now is the time to decide whether to believe it and stop studying, or to shrug it off as just another California weirdo making ludicrous claims.

Maybe a photo of him will help you make your minds up, so here he is:






Preacher man. Does he know something we don't?