2014

RISE OR RAISE
http://www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/cw-raise-rise-quiz.htm

CHRISTMAS

You will listen to an article about Christmas.
http://www.headsupenglish.com/upper-intermediate/listening/christmas.mp3

1: What does Christmas traditionally celebrate?
2: According to the article, what holidays did Christmas evolve from?
3: What modern-day Christmas traditions come from these holidays?
4: When did Christmas first become popular?
5: Back then, who usually exchanged gifts?
6: Why did Christmas almost die out in America?
7: The article mentions Boston. What happened there?
8: What does the article say about Christmas in England in the 17th and 18th centuries?
9: Which writers revived and reinvented the holiday in the 19th century?
10: What does the article conclude about Christmas and people's preferences?

Source: http://www.headsupenglish.com/index.php/upper-intermediate-students/upper-intermediate-skill-builders/upper-intermediate-listening/418-history-of-christmas

The History of the Christmas Tree

Although it is generally agreed that the Christmas tree in its current form came from Germany in the early 19th century, the tradition of decorating a tree to mark winter celebrations dates back hundreds of years to Roman times, when they used to decorate evergreen trees with small pieces of metal to celebrate Saturnalia.

In medieval times the 'Paradise Play' was performed every year on 24 December. This depicted the creation of Man and the fall of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden and always included an evergreen hung with apples which represented the apple tree of temptation.

The first mention of decorated trees being taken indoors came in 1605 in Germany - a country with a long Christmas tree history! The trees were initially decorated with fruit and sweets together with hand made objects such as quilled snowflakes and stars. German Christmas Markets began to sell shaped gingerbreads and wax ornaments which people bought as souvenirs of the fair and took home to hang on their tree.

Artificial trees were invented in the 1880's in a bid to try and stop some of the damage being caused to real trees due to people lopping the tip off large trees, thus preventing the trees from growing any further. It got so bad in Germany that laws had to be brought in to prevent people having more than one tree.

 

Write 4 questions about your text to check your partner has understood the text.

Match the two line jokes
1. How long should a reindeer's legs be? 2. What do reindeer have that no other animals have? 3. Why did the reindeer wear sunglasses at the beach? 4. Where do you find reindeer? 5. Why do reindeer wear fur coats? 6. What did the dog say to the reindeer?	a. It depends on where you leave them b. Just long enough to reach the ground c. Because they would look silly in plastic macs d. Because he didn't want to be recognised e. Woof, woof f. Baby reindeer

What's an ig?
An eskimo's home without a loo

What do you call a penguin in the Sahara desert?
Lost

What do you call people who are afraid of Santa?
Claus-trophobic.

Santa's Favorite Christmas Superstitions

Can you match the two halves of these Christmas superstitions?

1. To have good health in the following year .	a) . as the number of houses where you eat mince pies during Christmastime.
2. A child born on Christmas day .	b) . means that Easter will be green.
3. Snow on Christmas day .	c) . eat an apple on Christmas Eve.
4. If you eat a raw egg before eating anything else on Christmas morning .	d) . where a fire is kept burning throughout the Christmas season.
5. Good luck will come to the home .	e) . will have a special future.
6. You will have as many happy months in the coming year .	f) . you will be able to carry heavy things.

Do you believe in this type of superstition?
Are there any similar Christmas or holiday superstitions in your country?

http://efllecturer.blogspot.com.es/2013/03/why-are-jeans-so-popular.html 

MIND YOUR LANGUAGE EP 1

WEEK 6 ACCESS GRAMMAR 3 PLUS

WHERE TO ORDER THE BOOK

http://www.cartea-mea.ro/carte/access-3-grammar-plus--i22947
http://www.cartea-mea.ro/?submited=1&O=search&keywords=978-1-84862-196-1&x=0&y=0

PRESENT SIMPLE
http://www.grammar.cl/Present/Simple.htm
http://www.tinyteflteacher.co.uk/learning-english/grammar/exercises/present-simple1.html
http://www.english-area.com/paginas/presentesimplequestionsnegative.htm
http://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/present-simple-exercise-7.html
http://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/present-simple-exercise-8.html
http://www.grammar.cl/Games/Short_Answers_Present.htm

ADVERBS OF FREQUENCY
http://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/grammar-vocabulary/grammar-videos/adverbs-frequency
http://www.tolearnenglish.com/exercises/exercise-english-2/exercise-english-8057.php
http://wwwedu.ge.ch/cptic/prospective/projets/anglais/exercises/freq1.htm
http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises/adjectives_adverbs/adverbs_of_frequency.htm

QUESTION WORDS
http://www.grammar.cl/Notes/Question_Words.htm
http://www.englishexercises.org/makeagame/viewgame.asp?id=1794
http://a4esl.org/q/f/z/zz87mca.htm
http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises/questions/question_words2.htm
http://www.englishexercises.org/makeagame/viewgame.asp?id=2066

WEEK 4 GERUNDS AND INFINITIVES

SOURCE:http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/verblist.htm


The verbs in the table below will be followed by an infinitive. We decided to leave. He manages, somehow, to win. It is threatening to rain. Notice that many, but not all, of these verbs suggest a potential event.

Emotion
care desire hate	hate like loathe	love regret yearn
Choice or Intent
agree choose decide decide expect	hope intend need plan prefer	prepare propose refuse want wish
Initiation, Completion, Incompletion
begin cease commence fail	get hesitate manage neglect	start try undertake
Mental Process
forget know how	learn	remember
Request and Promise
demand offer	promise swear	threaten vow
Intransitives
appear happen	seem	tend
Miscellaneous
afford arrange	claim continue	pretend wait

The following verbs will be followed by a gerund. Did I mention reading that novel last summer? I recommend leaving while we can. I have quit smoking These verbs tend to describe actual events.

Initiation, Completion and Incompletion
anticipate avoid begin cease complete	delay finish get through give up postpone	quit risk start stop try
Communication
admit advise deny discuss	encourage mention recommend	report suggest urge
Continuing Action
continue can't help	practice involve	keep keep on
Emotion
appreciate dislike enjoy hate like	love mind don't mind miss prefer	regret can't stand resent resist tolerate
Mental Process
anticipate consider forget	imagine recall remember	see can't see understand

The verbs in the following table can be followed by either an infinitive or a gerund, and there will be virtually no difference in the meaning of the two sentences. I like to play basketball in the park. I like playing basketball in the park.

attempt begin continue hate

like love neglect prefer

regret can't stand stand start

The verbs in this next, very small table can be followed by either an infinitive or a gerund, but there will be a difference in meaning. I stopped smoking means something quite different, for instance, from I stopped to smoke. The infinitive form will usually describe a potential action.

forget

remember

stop

Source http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/infinitive-gerund

Exercises:
http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/infinitive-gerund/exercises?04
http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/infinitive-gerund/exercises?05
http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/infinitive-gerund/exercises?06
http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/infinitive-gerund/exercises?07
http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/infinitive-gerund/exercises?08
http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/infinitive-gerund/exercises?09
http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/infinitive-gerund/exercises?10
http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/tests/infinitive-gerund-4

WEEK 3 DICTATIONS ;

http://www.dictationsonline.com/

WEEK 2 THE MOST IMPORTANT THING & THOUGHT QUESTIONS

http://eslchestnut.com/2013/08/28/photos-of-the-week-brian-sokols-the-most-important-thing/

http://eslchestnut.com/2013/09/14/thought-questions-a-question-that-makes-you-think-is-worth-asking/

WEEK 1 ; MY SHOES & FCE UNTIL PAGE 7

I.Pre-task
Use the right-hand dictionary on this page and find out the meaning of the next adjectives.
Use them in your own contexts.
Use 2 other synonyms for each of them in contexts of your own .
poignant=
corny=
cheesy=
Post your answers as a comment.

 Follow the next link
http://film-english.com/2013/09/04/my-shoes/

II.After watching the video  answer in writing (as a comment ) to the request under the title " Homework " from the link above.

III.Watch and listen :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jy9wHHm7_8Q
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvcN5DSFfQA

Which of these songs do you think is clearer allowing for the message of " The grass is always greener on the other side " ?

Deadline : Saturday, 21st Sept , at noon

PHRASALS and phrases  WITH GET  
HELPFUL LINKS TO REVISE 
PAST SIMPLE http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/grammar/sim_past.htm

PRESENT SIMPLE http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/grammar/sim_pres.htm 
http://www.englishclub.com/grammar/verb-tenses_present.htm 

Check out the next lists for phrasal verbs and phrases with ' get ' :
http://www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/phrasal-verbs-list.htm
http://quizlet.com/18725291/lexical-phrase-list-ready-for-fce-flash-cards/

Deadline  Sunday , 29th September , at noon

USED TO / WOULD/ BE USED TO
http://englishgrammarsecrets.com/usedto/exercise1.swf
http://englishgrammarsecrets.com/usedto/exercise2.swf
http://englishgrammarsecrets.com/usedto/exercise3.swf
http://englishgrammarsecrets.com/usedto/exercise4.swf
http://www.better-english.com/usedto.htm