Oh, no! The heat is on... again!

 

We've got two-season years!!! There is no longer a transition between the winter and the summer, or between the summer and winter. Where are our springs and winters? So here we go again with the first heat wave. 

 

And our 2º Bachillerato students have been studying, working, preparing... for the Selectivity exams that start to day around the clock!!!  I wish them all the best of lucks!!

 

The English We Speak: Around the clock  (BBC Learning English)

Here's the English exam they have done:  June2025_Dollar princesses  

These are my proposed answers, although I haven't double-checked them....

A1- d  (lines 9-10)  A2- b  (line 14- who led....)   A3: True. Lines 6-7: "However,... mansions"   

A4: False. Lines 10-11: "Since the American ... nobility."   

A5: False. Lines 13-14: "Very often... heiresses,"

A6: True. Lines 21-22: "her great-granddaughter ... the British throne. "

A7.1: roots (line 17)   A7.2: mocked (line 16)    A8.1: remodeled (line 16)   A8.2: gambling (line 19) 

USE OF ENGLISH

B1: If I had been sure, I would have told you.
B2: The laundry isn’t dry enough to be taken off the clothesline.
B3: I’d/ I would rather not go on the field trip.
B4: They aren’t allowed to leave the class without the teacher ́s permission.
B5: I think it’s time they went home/ I think it ́s time for them to go home
B6: Manuel is considered to be an expert on manga.

B7: `Why is Lisa so curious about stick insects?’ he wondered.
B8: How about going to Scotland next summer for a vacation?
B9: Alice gave up smoking three months ago.
B10: Anna sometimes gets gardenia bouquets delivered by Urban Flora.
B11: Dimitri speaks/ can speak English better than Alina
B12: Unless Masha gets top marks in the exam, she will be disappointed.
 

 

 

 

 Here's my musical hint for today:  The heat is on by Glenn Frey. And now here's a version with the lyrics for you to sing along.

 

 

 

Here are some activities for my students:

 

1º ESO       Simple Past IRREGULAR VERBS  

3º ESO    Exercises on Reported Speech    

 

 

 Solution to the exercises in the previous post:

 

1.   Jane may/might visit Switzerland next year. 2. I may/might take Spanish lessons. 

3.   They must be home by now.   4. James can't be eighteen yet!  

5. The weather may/might be sunny tomorrow.   6. She must be at home. 

7. It can't be Janet - She's in America.   8. She must think I'm stupid. 

9.  I must look silly in this coat.   

10. They're always buying new cars. They must have a lot of money.  

 

 

 

 

Here are some more activities for my students:

• Learning English from the News:   North Korean secrets revealed by phone  (BBC Learning English)   
  

• 
  

  English in a MINUTE: Verbs to use with RESOURCE  (BBC Learning English)  

• Listening exercise for you to do: The male brain, the female brain  (6 Minute English, BBC Learning English) 

• Office English: How to deal with demanding clients  (BBC Learning English)  

Cameron's interview - CANADA - #HUMAN

 

English with Lucy providing us with some 25 Advanced English Grammar Test Practice Questions With Answers & Explanations  

 

 

 

"All work and no play makes Jack/Jill a dull boy/girl"

Learn English with Spongebob    -   Best Scenes

 

 

 

 

 

 Roland Garros 2025 -  Jannik Sinner vs Andrey Rublev / vs Bublik and Carlos Álcaraz vs Tommy Paul / Ben Shelton       

 

 

The hottest days ever recorded

 

 

The hottest days, weeks... ever recorded in Britain, Spain... and we don't really know how far this can go and how long this situation can last!!!

News Review: Hottest week ever  (BBC Learning English)

 

 We've gone through a pandemic, the toughest time we've had so far in our lives, similar to the war in Ukraine. Our students in 1º ESO have had the toughest year in their careers as it was the first year at the secondary level.

 

Heatwaves, droughts, not enough water to drink....

Tuesday was world’s hottest day on record – breaking Monday’s record (The Guardian)

Climate change: World's hottest day since records began (BBC News)

 

DAY SIX

SUMMER REVISION  >>  Activities for my students in 1º ESO:

• Listen to the song and check the lyrics for superlatives. Can you tell me the two adjectives in the superlative form you see? Now you can do these exercises to make a revision:    1   2   3   4 

• Let's revise the difference between the PRESENT SIMPLE & the PRESENT CONTINUOUS watching these two New That's English episodes: 

MODULE 3 (NOTES)  >>>   Unit 1A          Unit 1B

 

• Finally do the following exercise...

  Write sentences with the words below in the PRESENT SIMPLE or the PRESENT CONTINUOUS (Circle the key word(s) ).

  1. Betty and Paul / not eat / lunch / at school / on Fridays / . _____________

  2. you / walk / the dog / every day / ? _______________________________

  3. the students / not do / a test / at the moment / . ____________________

  4. Dave / write / an e-mail / now / . _____________________________

  5. cakes / like / my grandmother’s / I / birthday ______________________

  
  
  

   

 

And remember that all the activities proposed will be compiled in my site: Summer Revision for 1º ESO

Here are some activities for you to do: 

• 

  News Review: Fukushima water release  (BBC Learning English)
  

• A listening exercise for you to do: Plants fighting pollution  (BBC Learning English)

• The English We Speak: Is there something that annoys you?  (BBC Learning English)

• Learn how to speak naturally:  How to chat someone up  (BBC Learning English)

 

VERY INTERESTING for my students in 4º ESO...

mmmEnglish asked us if we know about these Compare all CONDITIONAL SENTENCES in English... & How to express percentages and amounts in English.

 

 

 

 

 

   

Here's my musical hint for today: The first cut is the deepest by Rod Stewart. You can have a look at the lyrics in this version with lyrics.

 

 

 

"All work and no play makes Jack/Jill a dull boy/girl"

 Learn English with TOY STORY 2  

 

 

 

 

 

 Quarter-finals in Wimbledon 2023: Álcaraz defeats Rune and now for the semi-finals against Medvedev!!!

 

Salty risk

Would you believe it? Salt can be so dangerous for our health.

News Review: Killer salt??  (BBC Learning English)

 

Some articles for you to read about the issue:

• Adding salt to food at table can cut years off your life, study finds (The Guardian)

• Is a low-salt diet as unhealthy as having too much? (BBC News)
  

 

The Dangers of Salt:
It’s More Than Just a Blood Pressure Problem (PRITIKIN)

 

 

 

Some activities for you to do: 

• 

  News Review: Heatwaves across the world  (BBC Learning English)
  

• Two listening exercises for you to do:  Climate change and animal evolution & Sharks vs Humans (6 Minute English, BBC Learning English)    

• Quizz on  JUST, ALREADY or YET??  (BBC Learning English)

• Frankenstein (Drama story) Episode 3:  Death in the family  (BBC Learning English)

 

Something also has to be done regarding our level of English because... 

 

   

So here's my musical hint for today: Summer nights (film GREASE). Here's a version with the lyrics for you to sing and dance along!!

 

Answers to part one in the previous post...

A.     21. a   22. d  23. b    24. b   25. c   26. b   27. b  28. c   29. a  30. a 

TEST YOUR ENGLISH

A. Choose the correct option. 

31. Amanda studies simply because she enjoys studying. She does a different course ...... .    a. all the years   b. every year   c. each of the years   d. all years

32. My father was excessively strict when I was young. He prevented me ..... to discos.    a. against going    b. of going   c. from going    d. to going

33. Although he seems very hard, Joe is in fact a very ...... soul, who can be easily hurt by unkind words.    a. sensitive   b. sentimental   c. sensational   d. sensible

34. The only .....  he gave for his strange behaviour was that he was a Capricorn.     a. reasons    b. reasoning   c. explanation    d. suggestion 

35. When the tickle in his nose became unbearable Albert ......     a. yawned   b. coughed   c. sighed   d. sneezed

36. ..... you do, don't tell the truth.        a. Whatever    b. However   c. What    d. No matter if

37. The only ...... to solve this problem is by working on it together as a team.    a. course   b. solution   c. route    d. way

38. My parents ..... to study architecture.    a. made me    b. guided me   c. forced me    d. let me

39. ...... increasing on a national level.    a. Crime are   b. The crimes are   c. The crime is   d. Crime is

40. ..... you react quickly when I ask you a question, I'm still not convinced that you're really listening to me.         a. Because    b. While   c. Since    d. Even if

 

 

"All work and no play makes Jack/Jill a dull boy/girl"

Mind Your Language - Better to have loved and lost        

 

 

 

Football:  Football’s Greatest Players - Paolo Maldini   

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fat chance of having mild temperatures this summer!!!

Fat chance, extreme weather, ice-creams, too much litter, recycling... are some of the issues we are going to deal with all along this post.

 

First of all, another hot summer is here again and, although in the south of Spain is not hotter than other average summers, in Central European cities such as Berlin, Paris... are having more than 40⁰ C and these are record temperatures.

LINGOHACK  >>>

• Episode 190731 / 31 July 2019    >>>  Extreme weather: is it caused by climate change?:   Language related to 'heat'.  Need-to-know language: scorching, heatwaves, heating up, drought resistant  & baking.

Warnings remain after floods rip through North Yorkshire homes | ITV News

 

At the same time, there have been heavy rains and severe floods in the area we visited this year (York and Yorkshire Dales)

• UK weather: thunderstorms set to cause further flooding (The Guardian)

• Bridge collapses after flash floods in North Yorkshire (The Guardian)

• Cleanup begins after downpours cause flooding in Yorkshire Dales (The Guardian)

And what about the forest fires in Siberia?

• Huge swathes of the Arctic on fire, ‘unprecedented’ satellite images show (The Independent)

• 'Unprecedented': more than 100 Arctic wildfires burn in worst ever season (The Guardian)

Does having a fat chance mean that we have eat less ice-cream and fewer refreshments?

The English We Speak: Fat chance (BBC Learning English)

All these disposable containers are a big issue to solve regarding climate change, so here's the solution >>>> 

Listening exercise to do: "Coffee cups: Do you use your own?" (6 Minute English, BBC Learning English)

 

 

English with Lucy   >>>    How to STOP being shy - 6 steps to be CONFIDENT

 

mmmEnglish:    Are you saying these words wrong?

REVISION FOR 1º Bachillerato

151. Fill in the gaps with the comparative forms of superiority or the superlatives  of the adjectives given in brackets:

1. Bill Clinton said: "The situation in Iraq is becoming (bad) _____________________________, so we will keep all our forces in the area".

2. Sadam Hussein answered that journalists could ask the Minister of Defence for (far) ______________ information on their weapons.

3. She is (funny) ____________________ person I've ever met.

4. (polluted) _________________ our world is, (big) ______________ health problems we have.

152. EVERYDAY ENGLISH. What would you say in these situations?

1. You are in a bar. Offer to buy your friend a drink.

2. You are late for a meeting. Apologize and say why you are late.
3. Your brother has just come home from the cinema. Ask him for his opinion of the film.

153. Translate the following sentences into English:

1. ¡Ojala que llueva café y que yo apruebe el inglés!

2. Hay menos ejercicios en este examen que en el anterior.
3. El tuvo que cambiarle la batería en la gasolinera que hay entre Torrenueva y Calahonda.
4. ¿Pongo la mesa? Tengo que oir las noticias. No debo perdérmelas.
5. Yo que vosotros, repasaría bien el examen otra vez
6. Cuando los ejercicios empezaron a complicarse, le pregunté a mi hermano mayor.
7. Acabo de recordar que tengo que ir al banco ahora mismo.
8. Arturo no tenía ganas de ir a clase, ni ella tampoco.
9. A Pedro le gusta mucho el fútbol y a Ron también.

"All work and no play makes Jack/Jill a dull boy/girl"

Robin's Nest - 01 Sleeping Partners  

SOLUTIONS to the exercises in the previous post /for further exercises of this level go to  Mock exams (1º Bach)/:

148.

1. ... he would have won win his sixth Tour de France if  he had decided  to continue his career

2. If I finish decorating the living room, I will come with you
3. He would play in the NBA if his talent were greater
4. Why didn't they study if  you knew it was today?
                                                                                                                                            

149.

1. in, on    2. on, ago  3. at, at            

150.

1. Last night I saw a really good film.    2. I'll phone you as I arrive.    3. I have worked in this office for 23 years.   4. Could you tell me how much this costs?

Tennis  >>>   Roger Federer V Rafael Nadal TOTAL EMOTION !! 

CHAMP10N | Rafa Nadal " The King of Clay"

Unbearable conditions at our schools

Can teachers really teach and can our students really learn in these weather conditions? Some politicians think we can from their air-conditioned offices!!!!

Teaching in the heatwave: help, my classroom is too hot (The Guardian)

Where does the word 'unbearable' mean? Which verb does it come from?

Some articles to read about the heatwave we have had in Europe and its consequences (for instance, huge fires in Portugal and Spain)   >>>> 

• Weather alerts across western Europe as heatwave sets in (The Guardian)

• Hottest June day since summer of 1976 in heatwave (BBC)

• Portugal forest fires under control after more than 60 deaths (The Guardian)

 

Listening exercise to do: Mindfulness (6 Minute English, BBC Learning English)

Where does the noun 'mindfulness' come from?

LINGOHACK  >>>

• Episode 170621 / 21 June 2017   >>>  Expressions presented: immune system, buzz & mammals.

Anyway, what kind of holidays are you planning to have? Perhaps a busman's holiday (The English We Speak, BBC Learning English)

Our SUMMER SCOREBOARD.