Listen to 25 accents:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSLOTbQ6-w8&feature=related
Monday, 2 May 2011
Friday, 29 April 2011
OPEN DISCUSSION
"Higher learning is just an overpriced, speculative investment that typically rewards graduates with dismal career prospects", says billionaire Peter Thiel.
Do you agree/disagree? why/why not?
Do you agree/disagree? why/why not?
Monday, 18 April 2011
Cuts and libraries in UK
Hi,
As well as many other countries, UK is cutting public budgets in national health system, in education system and in public libraries, too. I wonder where's the edge for not to break down the welfare state. In a county of England people took the streets for their libraries. I haven't ever seen that, I recommend you listen their opinions.
As well as many other countries, UK is cutting public budgets in national health system, in education system and in public libraries, too. I wonder where's the edge for not to break down the welfare state. In a county of England people took the streets for their libraries. I haven't ever seen that, I recommend you listen their opinions.
Tuesday, 12 April 2011
A taste of the unexpected
Book report
Roald Dahl: A taste of the unexpected. Penguin, 1986
About the author:
As the title suggests, this book is a taste of a whole short stories book named Completely unexpected tales by Roald Dahl. Originally, every short story was published seperately in different books.
Roald Dahl is well known as a children's writer. Just only we can remember Charlie and the chocolate factory, The Twits or Matilda, but Roald Dahl is also an excellent writer of suspense, sinister and twisted tales. This book is a tasting of three dishes: Taste, The Way Up to Heaven and The Landlady.
About the characters:
The characters of Dahl's short stories are always ordinary people in everyday life. In The Way up to heaven, the characters, Mr and Mrs Forster, live in New York City, they are in their seventies, and live in a large house, with four servants, living a routinary life.
In The Landlady, a harmless woman with a kind and generous soul living alone in a little town that is the landlady of a peaceful Bed and breakfast. And Billy, a young boy just landed in this town looking for a lodging.
In The Way up to heaven, Mrs Forster has a pathological fear of missing a train, a boat, a theatre curtain, etc. Mr Forster enjoys tormenting her. If she asked him to hurry up he would walk slowly, pausing halfway to observe the sky or to sniff the cold morning.
About the author style:
Have you ever felt on the edge of patience, like Mrs Forster? And on the edge of madness? Are we like Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hide, who had a sweet public face and a hidden one, less friendly, like the kind landlady?
Roald Dahl was able to show us the dark side of the characters, step by step, without saying it directly Like us, they all have other faces, sometimes unknown by themselves. Like this excerpt of Mrs Forster that anticipates the fatal fate of her husband:
“The was something deliberate and purposeful about this action; she had the air of a woman who is off to investigate a rumour or to confirm a suspicion”
Recommendation:
If you like to move to the insignificant to the unexpected in a few pages you would read Roald Dahl. The writer tease the reader and maintain the suspense until until the last sentence. I recommend any of them.
Vocabulary / Other information
Note taht this is an original version and you will find some dificult/unusual adjectives.
conditional practice
What will happen if…..
Do a lot of sport?
Eat too much chocolate?
Forget my birthday?
Drink too much coffee?
Drive fast?
Give me 100$?
It rains tonight?
It’s too cold tonight?
It’s a sunny weekend?
Eat too many calçots?
Work hard?
Cook dinner for me?
Go to bed late tonight?
Forget your homework?
Have enough time?
Go out every night?
Aren’t careful?
Sing a song?
Visit the Caribbean in winter?
Arrive late tomorrow?
Do a lot of sport?
Eat too much chocolate?
Forget my birthday?
Drink too much coffee?
Drive fast?
Give me 100$?
It rains tonight?
It’s too cold tonight?
It’s a sunny weekend?
Eat too many calçots?
Work hard?
Cook dinner for me?
Go to bed late tonight?
Forget your homework?
Have enough time?
Go out every night?
Aren’t careful?
Sing a song?
Visit the Caribbean in winter?
Arrive late tomorrow?
Sunday, 10 April 2011
BOOK REPORT TEMPLATE
BOOK REPORT
TITLE: Taste and other tales
AUTHOR: Roald Dahl
SUMMARY OF THE BOOK:
TASTE
Some people were invited to have dinner at Mike Schofield's house. One of them, Richard Pratt, had to guess the wine name that the host brought to him. They made a bet: on the one hand, Mr Pratt wanted Mr Schofield to bet him the hand of his daughter in marriage. On the other had, Mr Schofield wanted Mr Pratt to bet him two houses.
Mr Pratt had guessed almost everything about the wine until a servant, who was an old woman and a trusted employee, came to bring him a pair of glasses he had forgotten in the study where Mr Schofield had the wine bottle. Therefore, everybody realised that he had known the wine name all the time.
SWIM
Mr Botibol was travelling by ship in a bad weather. In that ship, there was a competition about who guessed the distance that the ship could make in twenty-four hours. He made an auction thinking that the ship wouldn't run a big distance due to the bad weather. Unfortunately, he was wrong because it changed and he was worried about losing the auction.
He thought that it could be a good idea if he jumped into the sea in order to be rescued and delay the ship. He did it being confident that an old woman who saw him did it would ask for help. But when she told her trainer what she had seen, she wasn't believed.
MRS BIXBY AND THE COLONEL'S COAT
Mrs Bixby was cheating her husband with a man known as the Colonel. Eight years later, the Colonel decided not to continue with the relationship but he gave her a mink coat as a parting present.
She decided to go to a pawnshop with no intention to sell it. He gave her a ticket with no description, it only had a number. She told her husband that she had found that ticket and he offered himself to find it out. The next day, as she was so excited, she went to his husband place of business to pick up her coat. Unfortunately, he gave her a little fur neckpiece because the coat was given to Mr Bixby secretary.
THE WAY UP TO HEAVEN
Mrs Foster had the fear of missing whatever transport she took. Also, her husband increased her anxiety keeping her waiting unnecessarily. One day, she wanted to make a journey to visit her grandchildren and daughter and her husband delayed her departure. Later, because of the weather, she had to go back home and she had to go to the airport again the next day. Her husband delayed her departure again: he told her that he had to go back home to pick up a present for his daughter. Mrs Foster realised that the present was stuck down a car seat. However, she decided not to wait him and the car driver took her to the airport. When she came back home, she didn't find her husband but it seemed that someone had beed stuck in the lift. Who was?
THE SOUND MACHINE
Mr Klausner designed a machine to pick up sound vibrations that were too high for the human ear. One night, he tested it at his garden and he took a pair of earphones. He listened the different sounds while his neighbour was cutting roses from her garden. Suddenly, he heard a terrible scream and he thought it was a rose. The next morning, he went to a park to cut a tree trunk and he could hear another screaming sound. He called for his Doctor to show him what he could ear. But while the Doctor was trying it, a branch fell on the machine and broke it into pieces. But something unthinkable happened: Mr Klausner asked for the Doctor to paint the trunk cut with iodine.
BIRTH AND FATE
Mrs Hitler gave birth a fine son but she was worried about him because none of her other ones lived. She and her husband thought that there was something in their blood that caused the children death. Also, they believed that their children were very small and weak when they were born. She begged God to protect the only child they had: the little Adolf Hitler.
THE LEG OF LAMB
Mrs Maloney was waiting her husband to arrive at home from the police station where he worked as a policeman. When he arrived, he told her that he had decided to leave her. The woman reaction was to kill him with a big frozen leg of lamb. Then, she went to buy some vegetables to cook them and the leg of lamb for dinner. When she came back home, she called to the police station where her husband worked. When the policemen arrived, they asked her and the shopkeeper lots of questions. The conclusion they came to was that she couldn't murder her husband. Then, deliberately, Mrs Maloney invited them to have dinner so they ate the crime weapon.
POISON
When Timber arrived at home, he found Harry sweating terribly on his bed. Harry told him that he had a krait on his stomach and he had covered it with a single sheet. They decided to call to the Doctor and he came immediately with a serum for a krait bite and gave it to Harry. Also, he poured chloroform over his bed. Then, he and Timber pulled back the sheet, lifting it up and away from Harry's body. They realised that there was nothing on his stomach. Also, the Doctor was unsure about if the krait had really been there and he thought that what Timber needed was a good holiday.
DESCRIBE THE MAIN CHARACTER: WHAT DOES S/ HE LOOK LIKE AND WHAT IS S/ HE LIKE? (For example: The leg of lamb)
Mrs Maloney was a young pregnant woman who had a smiling quality, her skin had a wonderful clearness and her mouth was soft as her large eyes.
She was very pleasant with her husband but her pride and coldness made her to murder him. Also, she was very clever and a very good actress because the policemen didn't suspect that she was able to commit the crime.
WHERE DOES THE STORY TAKE PLACE? SETTING, PERIOD OF TIME, ETC.
The story took place in Mr and Mrs Maloney house. When the murder happened, it wasn't six o'clock in the afternoon yet.
WHAT IS YOUR OPINION OF THE BOOK? WOULD YOU RECOMMEND IT TO OTHER STUDENTS? WHY OR WHY NOT?
I recomend this book to other students because it has eight different entertaining stories and the characters have an unexpected behaviours. All of this stories have different ways to get hooked on them.
VOCABULARY:
"Taste" Story
- To bet
- Epicure
- Mouthful
- To swallow
"Swim" Story
- Guess
- Auction
- Rough
- Hammer
- Purser
- Anger
- To save on
"Mrs Bixby And The Colonel's Coat" Story
- String
- Lid
- Fur
- Mink
- Pawnbroker
- To untie
- Ring
- Wrist
- To rush over
"The way up to heaven" Story
- Dustsheet
- Butler
- Wage
- Wrap
- Receiver
"The sound machine" Story
- Hut
- Wire
- Handle
- Fence
- Stem
- Bush
- Axe
- Upset
- Wound
"The leg of lamb" Story
- Bucket
- Steel
- Punishment
- Can
- Shopkeeper
- Fingerprints
- Relief
"Birth and fate" Story
- Sheet
- Bury
"Poison" Story
- To sweat
- Krait
- Forehead
- Ceiling
- To spread out
- Lung
- To pour over
TITLE: Taste and other tales
AUTHOR: Roald Dahl
SUMMARY OF THE BOOK:
TASTE
Some people were invited to have dinner at Mike Schofield's house. One of them, Richard Pratt, had to guess the wine name that the host brought to him. They made a bet: on the one hand, Mr Pratt wanted Mr Schofield to bet him the hand of his daughter in marriage. On the other had, Mr Schofield wanted Mr Pratt to bet him two houses.
Mr Pratt had guessed almost everything about the wine until a servant, who was an old woman and a trusted employee, came to bring him a pair of glasses he had forgotten in the study where Mr Schofield had the wine bottle. Therefore, everybody realised that he had known the wine name all the time.
SWIM
Mr Botibol was travelling by ship in a bad weather. In that ship, there was a competition about who guessed the distance that the ship could make in twenty-four hours. He made an auction thinking that the ship wouldn't run a big distance due to the bad weather. Unfortunately, he was wrong because it changed and he was worried about losing the auction.
He thought that it could be a good idea if he jumped into the sea in order to be rescued and delay the ship. He did it being confident that an old woman who saw him did it would ask for help. But when she told her trainer what she had seen, she wasn't believed.
MRS BIXBY AND THE COLONEL'S COAT
Mrs Bixby was cheating her husband with a man known as the Colonel. Eight years later, the Colonel decided not to continue with the relationship but he gave her a mink coat as a parting present.
She decided to go to a pawnshop with no intention to sell it. He gave her a ticket with no description, it only had a number. She told her husband that she had found that ticket and he offered himself to find it out. The next day, as she was so excited, she went to his husband place of business to pick up her coat. Unfortunately, he gave her a little fur neckpiece because the coat was given to Mr Bixby secretary.
THE WAY UP TO HEAVEN
Mrs Foster had the fear of missing whatever transport she took. Also, her husband increased her anxiety keeping her waiting unnecessarily. One day, she wanted to make a journey to visit her grandchildren and daughter and her husband delayed her departure. Later, because of the weather, she had to go back home and she had to go to the airport again the next day. Her husband delayed her departure again: he told her that he had to go back home to pick up a present for his daughter. Mrs Foster realised that the present was stuck down a car seat. However, she decided not to wait him and the car driver took her to the airport. When she came back home, she didn't find her husband but it seemed that someone had beed stuck in the lift. Who was?
THE SOUND MACHINE
Mr Klausner designed a machine to pick up sound vibrations that were too high for the human ear. One night, he tested it at his garden and he took a pair of earphones. He listened the different sounds while his neighbour was cutting roses from her garden. Suddenly, he heard a terrible scream and he thought it was a rose. The next morning, he went to a park to cut a tree trunk and he could hear another screaming sound. He called for his Doctor to show him what he could ear. But while the Doctor was trying it, a branch fell on the machine and broke it into pieces. But something unthinkable happened: Mr Klausner asked for the Doctor to paint the trunk cut with iodine.
BIRTH AND FATE
Mrs Hitler gave birth a fine son but she was worried about him because none of her other ones lived. She and her husband thought that there was something in their blood that caused the children death. Also, they believed that their children were very small and weak when they were born. She begged God to protect the only child they had: the little Adolf Hitler.
THE LEG OF LAMB
Mrs Maloney was waiting her husband to arrive at home from the police station where he worked as a policeman. When he arrived, he told her that he had decided to leave her. The woman reaction was to kill him with a big frozen leg of lamb. Then, she went to buy some vegetables to cook them and the leg of lamb for dinner. When she came back home, she called to the police station where her husband worked. When the policemen arrived, they asked her and the shopkeeper lots of questions. The conclusion they came to was that she couldn't murder her husband. Then, deliberately, Mrs Maloney invited them to have dinner so they ate the crime weapon.
POISON
When Timber arrived at home, he found Harry sweating terribly on his bed. Harry told him that he had a krait on his stomach and he had covered it with a single sheet. They decided to call to the Doctor and he came immediately with a serum for a krait bite and gave it to Harry. Also, he poured chloroform over his bed. Then, he and Timber pulled back the sheet, lifting it up and away from Harry's body. They realised that there was nothing on his stomach. Also, the Doctor was unsure about if the krait had really been there and he thought that what Timber needed was a good holiday.
DESCRIBE THE MAIN CHARACTER: WHAT DOES S/ HE LOOK LIKE AND WHAT IS S/ HE LIKE? (For example: The leg of lamb)
Mrs Maloney was a young pregnant woman who had a smiling quality, her skin had a wonderful clearness and her mouth was soft as her large eyes.
She was very pleasant with her husband but her pride and coldness made her to murder him. Also, she was very clever and a very good actress because the policemen didn't suspect that she was able to commit the crime.
WHERE DOES THE STORY TAKE PLACE? SETTING, PERIOD OF TIME, ETC.
The story took place in Mr and Mrs Maloney house. When the murder happened, it wasn't six o'clock in the afternoon yet.
WHAT IS YOUR OPINION OF THE BOOK? WOULD YOU RECOMMEND IT TO OTHER STUDENTS? WHY OR WHY NOT?
I recomend this book to other students because it has eight different entertaining stories and the characters have an unexpected behaviours. All of this stories have different ways to get hooked on them.
VOCABULARY:
"Taste" Story
- To bet
- Epicure
- Mouthful
- To swallow
"Swim" Story
- Guess
- Auction
- Rough
- Hammer
- Purser
- Anger
- To save on
"Mrs Bixby And The Colonel's Coat" Story
- String
- Lid
- Fur
- Mink
- Pawnbroker
- To untie
- Ring
- Wrist
- To rush over
"The way up to heaven" Story
- Dustsheet
- Butler
- Wage
- Wrap
- Receiver
"The sound machine" Story
- Hut
- Wire
- Handle
- Fence
- Stem
- Bush
- Axe
- Upset
- Wound
"The leg of lamb" Story
- Bucket
- Steel
- Punishment
- Can
- Shopkeeper
- Fingerprints
- Relief
"Birth and fate" Story
- Sheet
- Bury
"Poison" Story
- To sweat
- Krait
- Forehead
- Ceiling
- To spread out
- Lung
- To pour over
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