Who are healthier, adults or teenagers?

As a general rule, neither adults nor teenagers are healthier just because of their age. Howver, something is certain if you are a healthy teenager, you will more likely become a healthy adult, with healthy habits.

Here are some articles to read about the issue:

• Positive Teens Become Healthy Adults (Northwestern University)

• Teen Brains Are Primed for Learning From Life (Science of Us)

• Young at heart: why children who exercise become healthier adults (The Guardian)

• Healthy New Year's resolutions aren't just for adults (CNN)

 

 

Listening exercise to do: Do adults exercise enough? (6 Minute English, BBC Learning English)

 

And talking about ways to keep fit, here's a hint  >>  Keto Diet Plan: The Complete Beginner’s Guide (FITNESSGOALS)  

Watch this episode of NEW THAT'S ENGLISH for further practice on the issue (pay attention to the American English used in That's USA! documentary about the State of Connecticut):

And remember you can look up all the notes I took for this episode in my site.

 

Video to watch about the 10 most difficult words to pronounce in English:

On the way to SELECTIVITY   >>>  Fill in the gaps with the -ing form, to-infinitive or bare infinitive (base form).

ING, TO INFINITIVE, or BARE INFINITIVE?

            

1.          Try to avoid (make)_____________ him angry.

2.         Stop (argue)_____________ and start (work)_____________.

3.         The car began (make)_____________ an extraordinary noise, so I stopped (see)_____________ what it was.

4.         It’s no use (cry)_____________ over spilt milk.

5.         I suggest (hold)_____________ another meeting next week.

6.         He was fined for (drive)_____________ without lights.

7.         It is difficult to get used to (eat)_____________ without a plate.

8.         You cannot make an omelette without (break)_____________ the eggs.

9.         He is thinking of (leave)_____________ his job and (go)_____________ to America.

10.       Is there anything here worth (buy)_____________?

11.        I do not enjoy (go)_____________ to the dentist.

12.       I do not feel like (work)_____________ ; what about (go)_____________ to the cinema instead ?

13.       Would you mind (write)_____________ your name and address on the back of the cheque ?

14.       I hate (borrow)_____________ money.

15.       I remember (read)_____________ an interview of that book

16.       After (read)_____________ this article you will give up (smoke)_____________.

17.       I am looking forward to (see)_____________ you.

18.       It’s no use (wait)_____________

19.       He hates (have)_____________ to retire.

20.       He warned her (not touch)_____________ the window.

SELECTIVITY. Solutions to the exercise in the previous post:

1. narrow-minded     2. sun-tanned      3. bad-mannered   4. well-dressed   5. fair-haired   6. clean-shaven   7. self-confident  8. hard-working

LINGOHACK  >>>

• Episode 171011 / 11 October 2017    >>>  Language related to 'recycling'.

Looking at the sky expecting some rain, but when??

Autumn is here, but we are still wearing our summer clothes and people are still going to the beach. The problem is getting really serious because the rains have not appeared. 

Here are some articles related to this problem we have in Spain:

• Grapes shrivel as Spanish farmers lament a relentless drought (The Guardian)

• Europe faces droughts, floods and storms as climate change accelerates (The Guardian)

• Spain sweats amid 'water wars' (BBC News)

 

Try to write a glossary with all the words you find interesting about this issue, and don't miss the section LINGOHACK, where you will find some more.

Video to watch:

Common British English Expressions

 

On the way to SELECTIVITY   >>>  Match the definitions with these adjectives: well-dressed, self-confident, clean-shaven, narrow-minded, sun-tanned, hard-working, bad-mannered, fair-haired.

1. not willing to accept new ideas or opinions.       2. with brown skin; effect of the sunshine.    3. rude; not courteous.     4. wearing fashionable and expensive clothes.    5. with hair that is blond.      6. with no moustache or beard on the face.     7. feeling sure about your value and abilities.      8. working with effort and energy.

SELECTIVITY. Solutions to the exercise in the previous post:

1. He asked her out, but she turned him down.
2. She chatted him up, but when she found out he already had a girlfriend she lost interest.
3. She went out with him for more than a year, but then she fell out with him.
4. They decided to break up. When it finished she took a long time to get over it.

LINGOHACK  >>>

• Episode 171004 / 04 October 2017    >>>  Language related to 'the environment'.

 Do you know what the terms 'desertification', 'to erode', 'humidity', 'drought-resistant' and 'planting' mean?

Glossary: drought, flood, storms, climatic hazards, glacier-melting levels, sea level (Alex)

Teachers are unbeatable!!!

Neither translators nor computers nor any other machine can beat a good teacher. Believe it or not, there are so many things machines can't do. Can you tell me about them?

Here are some articles to read about the issue:

• Computers can't replace real teachers (CNN)

• What Machines Can’t Do (The New York Times)

• Are we becoming too reliant on computers? (The Guardian)

• Man v machine: can computers cook, write and paint better than us? (The Guardian)

 

Machines can't even make jokes >>>>

On the way to SELECTIVITY   >>>  Replace the underlined phrases with the correct form of these phrasal verbs connected with RELATIONSHIPS: ask someone out, turn someone down, break up, chat someone up, get over something, find out, fall out, go out with someone.

1. He invited her to go on a date with him, but she refused his invitation.

2. She spoke to him because she was attracted to him, but when she discovered he already had a girlfriend she lost interest.

3. She had a relationship with him for more than a year, but then she had an argument with him.

4. They decided to end the relationship. When it finished she took a long time to recover.

 

Listening exercise to do: What can't computers do? (6 Minute English, BBC Learning English) Something that they can't certainly do is TRANSLATE!!!  At least so far. So stop using translators to write your compositions.

 

Stop translating in your head with Lucy

 

 

LINGOHACK  >>>

• Episode 170927 / 27 September 2017    >>>  Language related to 'technology'.

Hairstyles and changing your mind

A certain female student in 2º Bachillerato is always changing her hairstyle dying it this or that colour. How important is hair for you? What is your hair like?

I've changed my mind. Now I am more practical and hair is not a big deal for me any more. I try to keep it short and clean, and that's all!!

English at work: You've changed your mind (BBC Learning English)

You can also listen to this song by Britney Spears  >>>   "Change your mind"

And here's an article to read about changing someone's mind, especially our teenagers' mind:

Teenagers more likely to eat healthily if they think it is rebellious (The Guardian)

Related articles to the issue you should read:

• The (not so) hairy problem of male pattern baldness (The Guardian)

• Drug reverses one baldness type; is male pattern next? (CNN)

 

Listening exercise to do: The wonders of hair (6 Minute English, BBC Learning English)

Lucy makes a big announcement UNLEASH! (Look up what 'unleash' mean and 'bucket list', you can also have a look at this post: Bucket lists and time capsules)

 

 

LINGOHACK  >>>

• Episode 170920 / 20 September 2017    >>>  Language related to 'survival'.

Solutions to the Selectivity exercises in previous posts:

Computers in the classrooms    >>>>   1. transform   2. advance   3. book   4. fall   5. generational   6. unfamiliar    7. expense

LEXICON  >>>  1. currently   2. powerful   3. replace    4. emergence

GRAMMAR 

1. How much of the world's mail is written in English?

2. Linguists have already published many dictionaries.

3. There is no reason for the dominance of English, whose grammar is very complicated.               4. Linguists said in 1980 that each nation must retain its own national variations.

False impressions

We sometimes may get wrong impressions when we see certain behaviours. Here's an example:

Listening exercise to do: Having a row or asking for directions (6 Minute English, BBC Learning English)

 

 

Certain people may look nice at a first impression (remember this post in this blog: Do you trust first impressions?), but they may turn out to be evil. For example, we all thought Selectivity exams were so difficult, but when we did one we found out they weren't 'that' difficult (pay attention to the colloquial use of 'that' instead of 'so').

 

I don't like politics at all. Actually, I hate it, as they only try to manipulate people. However, I think it is important to read something about the referendum in Catalonia regarding the possibility of including this topic in the Selectivity exams. Here are some articles to read about the issue:

• Catalan government says millions will turn out for referendum (The Guardian)

• Spain’s looming showdown over Catalonia (The Washington Post)

• Colm Tóibín: ‘Catalonia is a region in the process of reimagining itself’ (The Guardian)

 

And here are some tasks to do with this old selectivity exam:

ENGLISH: THE LANGUAGE OF THE 21ST CENTURY

By the year 2000, a quarter of the world's population will speak English. For some 400 million people English will be their first language. But for another 1,100 million, English will be a second or third language of choice for business, science and popular culture. Three quarters of the world's mail, for example, is currently written in English.

But why is English rising so far above the world's other languages? There are no clear linguistic reasons for the global dominance of English. The grammar is complicated, the pronunciation eccentric, and the spelling peculiar. But a language becomes powerful when a nation becomes powerful. This power may be military or cultural or economic, as is the case of the U.S.A. Another key factor is flexibility. English has borrowed vocabulary from more than 150 languages.

However, as the language spreads among non-native speakers, it will invariably be transformed to suit regional needs: Local vocabulary and pronunciation will replace existing British and American usages. Dictionaries of Asian, American, Caribbean and South African English have already been published. We may soon experience the emergence of a neutral conversational English for international use, with each nation retaining its national variations.

LEXICON

1. Find one synonym in the text for NOWADAYS (adverb)

2. Find one opposite in the text for WEAK (adjective)

3. Find one synonym in the text for SUBSTITUTE (verb)

4. Find one synonym in the text for RISE (noun)

GRAMMAR

1. Give a question to this answer:     Three quarters of the world's mail is written in English.

2. Put the following sentence into the active voice: Many dictionaries have already been published.

3. Join the following sentences with a relative pronoun:

There is no reason for the dominance of English. Its grammar is very complicated.

4. Put the following sentence into reported speech:

"Each nation must retain its own national variations," linguists said in 1980.

LINGOHACK  >>>

• Episode 170913 / 13 September 2017    >>>  Expressions presented: therapist, anxiety & depression (language related to 'mental health').

Related article to read about the issue:

Health and wellbeing    >>>   How to beat depression – without drugs (The Guardian)