City skylines

We have always heard of famous city skylines such as the one in New York, especially when the Twin Peaks were still there. By the way, your English teacher was up there himself a long time ago!!!!

Read the following article about London skyline:

London’s changing skyline: Are new skyscrapers good for the capital?

Listening exercise to do: London skyline   




Crossword to do: Cities  and a quiznet:  Prepositional phrases          

Helen's first hint

Elena's first hint  (you can visit her blog, too)

You can write your comments here and once you've corrected them, write them on her blog.

SOME PEOPLE

This is my first video proposal for you all.  It's a very impacting video,what do you think about it? 

Some people put no value on human life. On the east side of Detroit, in districts where the police don't go, victims are often chosen at random and they are shot as part of the initiation rites of certain gangs. Human life has become worthless.

Some people have learnt the value of life, having experienced a close encounter with death. Ross Capicchioni is one of these people. Shot three times at point blank range, he thought he was dead. He received a shot in his head, through his heart and in his arm. Who can survive this? Ross Capicchioni did. 

Some people don't believe in angels. I'm not so sure. Ross Capicchioni forced himself to get to his feet, fighting off the desire to sink into oblivion and took a few steps, before collapsing again. He swears that somebody helped him and felt a force pushing him forward towards the safety of the road. 

Some people might have fainted at the sight of a young man staggering towards them, covered in blood, but the social worker who was passing by stopped and went to his aid. He said later that he didn't believe that Ross could survive such serious wounds. Nevertheless, he called an ambulance. 

Some people would have given up for lost, a patient who had suffered such internal injuries; but the doctor that attended Ross thought that a 17 year-old boy should be given a chance, however slim that chance might be.  

Against all odds, Ross survived. 

Some people would have given in, but Ross is a fighter, and he struggled to maintain consciousness despite the terrible pain. He knew that if he fainted he was going to die. The judge called him a warrior.  The man accused of attempting to murder Ross only received a sentence of 35 years. He was told that he should be grateful to Ross, if he had died, he would have faced life imprisonment. 

Some people might consider themselves unlucky to have been shot. Ross was picked at random and had done nothing to deserve such misfortune. But he considers himself fortunate and focuses on the good things in his life and not on his terrible experiences. He has learnt the value of life. 

Some people can teach us a lot.

BRAND NEW: SUPER-INTERESTING TV ENGLISH COURSE FOUND!!!

THAT'S ENGLISH! spot:

Have a look at this new TV English course: ANGLO-LINK LESSONS  

Captain Nemo's dream

Articles to read:

• World record broken for underwater living

• Cousteau grandson attempts to break underwater record

Listening exercise to do: UNDERWATER LIVING 


How do you shorten the word 'laboratory'?

Crossword: SEA AND SHIPS  & FACE UP TO PHRASALS 3  

Good news for bookworms!!!

To begin with, what does 'bookworm' mean? How would you say it in Spanish?

Articles to read:

• JK Rowling among top 10 'literacy heroes' named by charity

• Literature can make prisoners 'better people'

 

Listening exercise to do: Literacy heroes 

Crossword:  BOOKS  and chapter 2 of FACE UP TO PHRASALS 

Boredom: a problem or the solution?

Is it good or bad to be bored?

Article to read:

Children should be allowed to get bored, expert says

Listening exercise to do:

Dealing with boredom

And if you are bored, here's a new section for you to discover:  FACE UP TO PHRASAL VERBS

Men's body image

Are men still happy with their 'happy bellies' or are they really concerned about their image?

Article to read and listening exercise to do

Crossword on BODY  and quiznet:  AT THE GYM 

SUMMER 2014: our hit parade

Go ahead and tell everybody. We want to know what are going to be our favourite songs for this summer. 

Here's my hint. What about yours?

Our hit parade:

• Domino by Jessie J (lyrics)
• Maria Béjar's hints: Cola song by Inna and Bailando by E. Iglesias, Sean Paul, Gente d' Zona

Welcome to London

As a way to improve your listening and reading skills, here's another interesting section to work with : 

  WELCOME TO LONDON  

Read and listen what you want and write your comments about what you have listened or read about London.

By the way, what would be the best or most typical image of London for you? Send it to me.

YOU WILL HAVE A PERMANENT LINK IN MY SITE:  Listening for the B1

The ultimate magical formule to get slimmer

Here's the latest and most amazing magical formule to lose weight:   LISTENING EXERCISE  

Article to read: SLIMMING BY COOLING

The English we speak: HAVE A LOT ON MY PLATE 

Can you tell me other ways to keep fit?

HOROSCOPES: Looking to the stars to foretell our future.

Do you believe in horoscopes? Is it appropriate for us to make our decisions rely on stars?

Read this article:

Astrologers look to the stars to help Indian businesses

and do this listening exercise: STAR SIGNS  to learn about the topic.

You can also read about these interesting phrases:

• Turn the page
• Bread and butter
• Wash your hands

And to finish here's a quiz to do: FUTURES 

Brazil 2014: Football, favelas, economy, carnival...

The World Cup is nearly over, but the main problems in the country are far from a clear future:    Brazilian economy   (LISTENING EXERCISE)

BRAZILIAN FOOTBALL: Listening exercise  

What is Brazil famous for?

Read about Brazil: BRAZIL PROFILE  

For example: BRAZILIAN MUSIC  (Listening exercise) and what about BRAZILIAN FOOD.



You can read something about Brazil: BRAZIL PROFILE

Which football national team do you think will win the next World Cup?

However, all that glitters is not gold and there are many problems to be solved such as:

• Brazil forces occupy favela ahead of World Cup

• Rainforest deforestation    ( quiznet on CLIMATE CHANGE & crossword on ENVIRONMENT)

What other problems do you know that this country has?


Crossword to do: The Football World Cup  and a quiznet: The word 'close'  

Smoking in Russia

Health habits:

Putin signs law banning smoking in public in Russia

 

Listening exercise: Russia's new smoking ban

Another listening exercise.

Di Stefano, Real Madrid Legend

These days the Football World Cup is being held in Brazil, but something really sad has just happened:

• Real Madrid legend loses health battle: RIP Alfredo di Stéfano

• The Independent: Alfredo Di Stefano dead: Video of the football legend in action 

• Alfredo di Stéfano, the man with 'Real Madrid DNA' 

• The Guardian: Alfredo Di Stéfano obituary

   

Moving video dedicated to this great footballer. Article to read. A life full of highlights.

The Tour de France is about to start and guess what

The Tour de France is about to start (what does the expression 'to be about to do sth' mean?) and guess what... WOMEN FIND FASTER CYCLISTS MORE ATTRACTIVE (listening exercise and article to read).

Ohter related stories:

• Spectator tickets for York Le Tour snapped up in hours

• Why is cycling so popular in the Netherlands?

  Quiznet to do: Sporty phrasal verbs  and crossword: Injuries and First Aid