won’t / wouldn’t for refusals

Read a joke

clozes

Here are a couple of clozes to practise during the holidays or when you have a few minutes:

• Chaos after Italian election
• Number of homeowners taking in lodgers doubles

Lay & lie

• Explanation
• Exercise

The Poppy Story

An animated short film about the journey of the poppy.

Key to exercises

Will the cradle

1.       That 2.       Why 3.       not 4.       when 5.       the

6.       who 7.       so 8.       about 9.       though 10.   such

11.   despite 12.   be 13.   on 14.   case 15.   order

tram-surfing

1B  2A  3F  4H  5D  6I

A Tree Hotel in Sweden

In northern Sweden there's a new design hotel located some 60 kilometres south of the Arctic Circle in the peaceful surroundings of the village of Harads. It offers uniquely themed rooms that are also individual designer tree houses. The hotel is open all year round.

Unit 02 emphatic structures p.137 key

Unit 02 emphatic structures p.137 key 

Here are a couple of links to practise cleft sentences:

• Link 1 
• Link 2

Mailing list

To join the mailing list for your class, don't forget to email me your name and class.

Key to participles exercise - writing 8

Key to participles exercise  - writing 8, p. 134-135

Top 10 Scariest Urban Legends

Some of the most famous and terrifying urban legends that scared us as kids, and have told them as though they are true. Which of course they're not. Right?

Ex-IMF head Rodrigo Rato told to pay €3m court bond in Spain bank fraud inquiry

Vocab:
- court bond: A sum of money paid as bail or surety
- IMF: International Monetary Fund
- lavish: extravagant; prodigal; wasteful

Ask the Madrid Department of Education to offer C1 and C2 certifications

Ask the Madrid Department of Education to offer C1 and C2 certifications

What You Need to Know About Ebola

The facts about ebola, one of the world’s deadliest diseases that’s making a stand in West Africa.



Vocabulary:
-deadly: Causing or tending to cause death
- host: an animal or plant on which a smaller animal or plant is living as a parasite
-  Zaire [zɑːˈiːəʳ]
- outbreak: if there is an outbreak of fighting or disease in an area, it suddenly starts to happen
- fatality:  a death in an accident or a violent attack
- British English , diarrhea American English
- austere: plain and simple and without any decoration
- a glimmer of hope: a small sign of hope 
- W.H.O.:World Health Organisation
- breakthrough: an important new discovery in something you are studying, especially one made after trying for a long time

COMPOSITION CALENDAR

 The first deadline is for the Mon/Wed class, the second is for the Tu/Thu class.
All the topics are from our text book.

- October  27^th & 28^th – Information on a museum or a sight. Writing Practice, p. 135

- November 24^th& 25^th – Description of a trend,  Writing Practice,  p.121

- December   15^th & 16^th - Opinion Essay on one of the topics in Writing Practice A, p.123

- January 26^th & 27^th  – Review of A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini.                Writing Practice, p.125

- February 23^rd & 24^th  –  Description of a process, Writing Practice,  p.127

- March 23^rd & 24^th  –  Covering Letter .Writing Practice C, p. 129

- April 27^th & 28^th  – Magazine article. Writing Practice, p.131

- May  25^th & 26^th – Wiki guide. Writing Practice, p. 133

2014-15 Calendar

Click to download 

I'm back

I'll be back today even if my voice isn't. I feel a little better.
So see you later.

No lesson today

I'm ill and still without a voice, so there'll be no lesson today.
Hopefully, I'll be better by Monday. I'll keep you posted.

On the Road With Andrew McCarthy

 Andrew McCarthy shares his journey from actor to director to award-winning travel writer.
In class we saw from 13'00'' onwards.

 Vocab:
the wherewithal: necessary funds, resources, or equipment (for something or to do something)
audition:a test at which a performer or musician is asked to demonstrate his ability for a particular role, etc
bratpack: a group of precocious and successful young actors, writers, etc
gap year: a year's break taken by a student between leaving school and starting further education
Paul Theroux: an American travel writer and novelist
to wing it: to improvise
inn:  A public lodging house serving food and drink to travellers; a hotel.

"Weird Al" Yankovic - Word Crimes

Thanks for the link, Alberto!

Obama's Message for Students

Por el reconocimiento de los títulos de las Escuelas Oficiales de Idiomas de España en la Unión Europea

Do sign the petition!

Por el reconocimiento de los títulos de las Escuelas Oficiales de Idiomas de España en la Unión Europea

Smokes

From the Third Episode of the First Season of "A Bit of Fry and Laurie", by Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie. Incredibly funny.
Vocab:
a git- a moron -a twat
a con man
pathetic- credulous - harmless -healing -soothing-

Learn first aid skills

Learn first aid skills 
The British Red Cross wants you to feel confident and willing to give first aid. Everyday First Aid makes it easy to learn the skills you'll need to help in an emergency.

There are videos with advice for different situations.

English for Nurses and Medical Professionals

Here's a link to a great site. 

It includes general vocabulary, specialists, medical supplies and tools, ...

 Click!

Listening test 5 key

Listening test 5 key

Sheryl Sandberg

Here's the video Inma showed us in class.
You can choose the subtitles from the bar at the bottom of the screen.

End of course

The last class will be on the 27th of May.

• Body Idioms

There's a quiz at the bottom of the page.

New York skyscrapers

Architecture critic Paul Goldberger explains the history and nature of the skyscraper.
Click here

flamboyance: showiness; ornateness.
skyline: The outline of a group of buildings or a mountain range seen against the sky.

Caring men have more 'cojones', Nick Clegg's wife Miriam says

Men who believe in gender equality and look after their children have "the most cojones", Nick Clegg's wife has said.

Read the article from the BBC 

 
Thank you, Inma!

The demise of the car tax disc

inversion example

inversion examples

Key to inversion exercises

Key to inversion exercises

Inversions In English

Inversions In English from aliciambarajas

Inversion

- Inversion explanation
 - Negative inversion -practice exercises

- Inversion with negative adverbials

- Inversion Multiple Choice Exercise 

- Inversion Error Exercise
- Exercises 
- Exercise 

Infinitive or -ing?

- pdf Table
- Exercises

Writing help

A good site for writing tips and examples.

Stretching a car into a limousine

Cars & Driver Quiz

• Driver Quiz
• Match the signs to their meanings
•  Car Parts
• Parts of a car
• Types of bodies

Listening exercise on charities

 If you'd like to listen again, here's your chance:
CHARITIES

How to write a proposal

A proposal is similar to a report:

•  How To Write A Proposal Essay
• What is a proposal?
•  Useful language

15 Funniest Commercials of All Time

Word formation key - unit 3

 Word formation - unit3

Old Edition 1.       Assassination 2.       Infancy 3.       Shocking 4.       Disbelieving/unbelieving 5.       Clarity 6.       Objectivity 7.       Unexpected 8.       Routinely 9.       Worryingly 10.   Horrifying/horrific

New Edition 1.       Infancy 2.       Disbelieving/unbelieving 3.       Clarity 4.       Objectivity 5.       Unexpected 6.       Routinely 7.       Worryingly 8.       Horrifying/horrific

71-year-old grandma defeated sledgehammer gangsters with a handbag

VOCAB:

• passerby: someone who is walking past a place by chance -plural passersby
• viewfinder: the small square of glass on a camera that you look through to see exactly what you are photographing
• let loose: to speak or behave in an uncontrolled way
• a smash-and-grab (raid/attack): a crime in which someone robs a shop by breaking the window and stealing things quickly
• scooter/moped:  a type of small, less powerful motorcycle with small wheels
• dawn on sb.: if a fact dawns on you, you realize it for the first time
• to clobber sb.: to hit someone very hard

NEWSNIGHT Paxman interviews James Quincey

Vocab:

Staggering:  Causing great astonishment, amazement, or dismay; overwhelming