English from the grass roots

2nd Term: Oral questions for the interview

2009-03-17T12:48:00.003+01:00

GREAT BRITAIN

1. Why is Great Britain so green ?
2. What is the British national drink? Why ?
3. Describe a British house: inside and outside
4. How does TV licences work? Type of channels
5. Can you mention any British eccentricities ?

CANADA

1. Why do Canadians speak English and French?
2. How would you describe Canada from a geographical point of view?
3. What are the main natural resources ?
4. How does the goverment work ?
5. What is the difference between territories and provinces?

THE ORIGIN OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

1. Why are there so many French words in English?
2. Name different people that invaded Great Britain

LANGUAGES

1. What are the the most spoken languages ?
2. What is happening to minority languages ?
3. Why is a language so important ?

TEEN STRESS

1. Why do teenagers suffer from stress ?
2. How can teenagers get rid of stress ?

Unit 3 : YET - ALREADY - STILL

2009-01-25T23:15:00.001+01:00

By Alejandro Alcaraz Sintes

Students‘ FAQs

Confundo already y yet.
RESPUESTA

Already y yet se usan con el Present Perfect (have + participio)
PREGUNTAS: YET se usa en preguntas (interrogativas) y se coloca al final de la oración. = ¿YA?
Have you had a swim yet? = ¿Lo has hecho ya?
Have you said your mathematics lesson yet?
Have you studied Unit 17 of Conocimiento del medio yet?

RESPUESTAS:
ALREADY se usa para contestar que sí (afirmativas) o para decir que algo ya ha ocurrido, y se coloca entre el auxiliar have y el verbo.= SÍ, YA.
I have already had a swim in my swimming-pool.
I have already said my mathematics lesson.
I have already studied the English present tenses.
YET se usa para contestar que no (negativas) o para decir que algo todavía no ha ocurrido y se coloca al final de la oración. = TODAVÍA NO, AÚN NO
I haven‘t had a swim in my swimming-pool yet.
I haven‘t said my mathematics lesson yet.
I haven‘t studied Conditionals with inversion yet.
Confundo still con yet.
RESPUESTAS

Yet se usa con el Present Perfect, mientras que still se usa con el Present Perfect o con el Present (Simple o Continuous), dependiendo de su significado.
Still se usa con el Present para decir que una acción o situación sigue ocurriendo. Para decir lo mismo en español, usamos la frase «seguir haciendo algo» o bien usamos «todavía». Ejemplos:

I am still studying at school. = Sigo estudiando en el Instituto. Todavía estoy estudiando en el Instituto.
She is still in love with Juan. = Sigue enamorada de Juan. Todavía está enamorada de Juan.
STILL se usa también para decir que algo todavía no ha ocurrido y por eso tiene el mismo significado que YET. Pero se colocan en distintos sitios dentro de la oración. En español se dice de la misma forma: Todavía no he visitado Londres / No he visitado Londres todavía.
STILL se coloca delante del auxiliar: I still haven‘t visited London.
YET se coloca al final de la oración: I haven‘t visited London yet.
Y ahora vamos a ver si haces bien el ejercicio. Hay una serie de tareas ineludibles que tienes que hacer. Siempre hay una persona que te pregunta si has hecho ya alguna tarea y tú debes contestar si ya las hecho, si todavía no la has hecho, si todavía estás haciéndola. Tienes un ejemplo hecho con la primera tarea. Las tareas son:

Mother‘s question: Have you made your bed yet?

Your answer 1: No, I haven‘t made it yet. I‘m sorry.

Your answer 2: No, I still haven‘t made it. I‘m sorry.

Your answer 3: Yes, I have already made it. Stop bothering me!

Your answer 4: I am still making it. Can‘t you see?

Your mother asks your the following questions. You may add something else after your answer, as in the example.

MAKE YOUR BED
WATER THE FLOWER POTS IN YOUR BEDROOM
ARRANGE YOUR BOOKS ON THE SHELF
POLISH YOUR SHOES
ARRANGE YOUR CLOTHES IN YOUR BEDROOM
Your English Teacher asks you the following questions:

DO THE ENGLISH EXERCISE
READ THE LAST HISTORY LESSON
REVISE FOR THE EXAM
TALK TO YOUR TUTOR AT SCHOOL
BRING YOUR TRACKSUIT AND TRAINERS
Your desk mate asks you the following questions:

BUY THE FANTA FOR THE PARTY
BRING YOUR FRIEND THAT POSTER SHE LIKED
BE ANGRY WITH SOME CLASSMATES
GIVE BACK THE VIDEO YOU BORROWED FROM A CLASSMATE
SHOW YOUR FRIENDS THE PICTURES OF THE LAST PICNIC

Human relationships: Gay and Lesbian rights

2009-01-13T07:08:00.006+01:00

Gay Bishop Is Asked to Say Prayer at Inaugural Event

Published: January 12, 2009 by The New York Times

President-elect Barack Obama has asked V. Gene Robinson, the openly gay Episcopal bishop of New Hampshire, to deliver the invocation at an inaugural event on Sunday on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

Bishop V. Gene Robinson will deliver an invocation on Sunday on the Lincoln Memorial steps.

Obama’s Choice of Pastor Creates Furor. V. Gene Robinson Gay rights advocates saw the move as a way to compensate for Mr. Obama’s decision to give the Rev. Rick Warren, a prominent megachurch pastor from California who opposes same-sex marriage, the high-profile role of delivering the invocation at the inauguration next week.

Bishop Robinson advised Mr. Obama on gay rights issues during the campaign. He is the first openly gay bishop in the Episcopal Church, and his consecration in 2003 set off a growing rift in that church’s parent body, the Anglican Communion. Since then, Bishop Robinson has become an internationally known spokesman for gay rights — a hero to some and an object of scorn to others.

In a telephone interview on Monday, Bishop Robinson said that he believed his inclusion in inaugural events had been under consideration before the controversy erupted over Mr. Warren but that Mr. Obama and his team were also seeking to heal the pain that Mr. Warren’s selection had caused among lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender advocates.

“They called up and said this has actually been in the works for a long time,” Bishop Robinson said, “and at the same time, we understand that people in the L.G.B.T. community have been somewhat wounded by this choice, and it’s our hope that your selection will go a long way to heal those divides.”

“In many ways,” he added, “it just proves that Barack Obama is exactly who he says he was and would be as president, which is someone who is casting a wide net that will include all Americans.”

Bishop Robinson said that he had learned of the invitation about two and a half weeks ago but that he and the transition team had agreed to break the news on Monday in The Concord Monitor, his local newspaper in New Hampshire.

The event Bishop Robinson will participate in is on the first day of formal inaugural festivities in Washington. It will feature a lineup that includes the musicians Beyoncé, Bono, Bruce Springsteen and Stevie Wonder.

The pay cable network HBO will broadcast the event and provide a free signal so that nonsubscribers can also watch, said Linda Douglass, the chief spokeswoman for the inaugural committee.

Bishop Robinson said he had been reading inaugural prayers through history and was “horrified” at how “specifically and aggressively Christian they were.”

“I am very clear,” he said, “that this will not be a Christian prayer, and I won’t be quoting Scripture or anything like that. The texts that I hold as sacred are not sacred texts for all Americans, and I want all people to feel that this is their prayer.”

Bishop Robinson said he might address the prayer to “the God of our many understandings,” language that he said he learned from the 12-step program he attended for his alcohol addiction.

Bishop Robinson said that his partner of more than 20 years, Mark Andrew, would accept the Obama team’s invitation to join him in attending several inaugural events. The two had a civil union ceremony last summer in a New Hampshire church.

Evan Wolfson, executive director of the gay rights group Freedom to Marry, said the choice of Bishop Robinson to deliver the invocation at an inaugural event was “a very powerful statement.” But, Mr. Wolfson added, “at the end of the day, policy is more important than who stands at the inauguration.”

QUESTIONS

1.- Why has the bishop been invited to the inauguration ceremony?
2.- What is an " advocate" ?
3.- How long has the bishop been together with his partner?
4.- What do you think? Should a gay be invited to the ceremony?
5.- How will Americans watch the ceremony?
6.- Was the bishop a " teetotaler" in his youth ?
7.- Check on google the word " Transgender "

VOCABULARY

1.- Find a synonym for " opening"
2.- A word similar to " choice"
3.- Similar to " priest"
4.- When you go to church you say them. What is it?

Can penguins FLY?

2008-12-11T09:25:00.000+01:00

Monday, 15th December 2008: ORAL TEST

2008-12-10T02:06:00.007+01:00

.School year 2008-2009
.1º Bachillerato , group B

Tips for the interview on Monday (tips= consejos prácticos)

Question: How am I going to assess you ?
Answer: By following these four criteria:
1. The specific vocabulary you use 25%
2. Correctness ( grammar) 25%
3. Pronunciation 25%
4. Fluency ( fluidez) 25%
TOTAL 100%

___________________________________________________

We have covered two main issues/topics this school term:

. Education
. Environment

Some of the questions I might ask you:

Education

1. What can teenagers do after compulsory schooling?
2. What are the pros and cons of leaving school at the age of sixteen?
3. Who pays for you school expenses?
4. Who goes to University?
5. How do you get money to help you at university?
6. What do people do with EMA?
7. What does EMA stand for?
8. What can happen if you do not attend College?
9. There are different opinions on British university students and education. Can you mention them? Do you agree ?
10. Can you mention the different university degrees you can get in Canada?
11. What is a vocational School? And a Trade School? What do students learn ?
12. Tell me a subject you like. Why?
13. Can you mention some of this year´s subjects?
14. What is a boarding school?
15. What subject(s) are you good at?
16. Mention a subject you hate?
17. Why are you studying Bachillerato?
18. What is a private school?
19. What is a state school?
20. Is a “ Public” school really for everybody? Is it public or private?
21.- Wha do you need to go to a " public" school? Money? Being smart?

Environment

1.- What do you do to help our environment?
2.- Name, at least, four environmental problems the world has nowadays.
3.- How did pollution start in USA ?
4.- What have they done to stop it ?
5.- What are the three r´s ?
6.- What is the name of the Act passed to stop pollution ?
7.- What is the greenhouse effect?
8.- What is the main environmental problem in Granada?
9.- What are we doing to help the environment in our school?
10.- Does your family recycle ? And you?
11.- Is " world climate" changing because of pollution? What do you think?
12.- Should we use private transport or public buses?
13.- Do you use an environmental friendly transport to come to school ? What type?

Is Greece a DEMOCRACY ?

2008-12-09T11:14:00.002+01:00

Athenian democracy in ruins.The riots in Greece are symptomatic of a society deeply disillusioned with the failures and dishonesty

Teenagers throwing stones, cars and buildings alight, and Greek police firing tear gas are the only images being broadcast to the world, as rioting in Greece enters its third day with more demonstrations planned. But the unrest started long before the senseless shooting of 15-year-old Alexandros-Andreas Grigoropoulos.

New Democracy made lofty promises of reform to win re-election after the Greek wildfires in 2007, but voters have only seen scandal after scandal with hundreds of millions of taxpayer euros being wasted, an increase in violent crime, and a system of law and order that makes it impossible to get justice. It is a maladministration that allows convicted parliamentarians, terrorists, rapists and murderers to go unpunished for years and decades, yet sanctions police to raid and close down Stanleybet UK in a mere seven days for daring to compete with a €7bn monopoly in which the Greek state holds a 34.4% share. It is a government that does not protect, serve or even respect its people. This is a government out for itself, and the people respond accordingly by dodging taxes, refusing to pay social insurance, polluting the environment, flouting the law, paying bribes, coveting public sector jobs, and doing what they please without punishment.

Government and media are quick to label anyone daring to take to the streets in angry protest as "far-left, self-styled anarchists", although these youths are more likely thugs, hoodlums and bored rich kids who subscribe to the same mob mentality found at football games and wouldn't know the definition of anarchy. And when things get out of hand or an innocent dies, the government is quick to pass on blame to subordinates – in this case, two police officers who serve it. A minister tenders resignation, but no one implements real measures or takes ultimate responsibility for the discontent and hopelessness that sparked these and other violent riots in the first place. In short, the Greek state is incapable of controlling rioters with the same corrupt policies and lax enforcement that created them.

Interior minister Prokopis Pavlopoulos appealed for calm and said police will go on the defensive – a near admission that restoring law and order, a basic civil right, could not be guaranteed to protect innocent people who fear for their safety, property and livelihood. He also said: "The loss of life is something that is not excusable in a democracy." Yet any country that tolerates acts of continued violence is one that does not protect or value freedom. It is one thing to demonstrate; it is quite another to recruit through the internet with intent, detonate bombs, kidnap and take hostages.

The Kathimerini called the rioting, "the worst Greece has seen since the restoration of democracy in 1974", which begs the question of whether democracy truly exists in a country claiming to be its birthplace. In a democracy, sometimes people get the government they deserve.

QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT

1.- What did teenagers do to protest against the goverment?

2.- Is Greek democracy an honest political system ,nowadays? Why ?

3.- How have media reacted ?

4.- What is the final opinion of the author?

VOCABULARY

1.- Look for , at least, 3 words for "matón":

2.- Words of similar meaning:
. punishment:
. destroy things in the streets:

3.- Things angry people do to respond to a dodgy Goverment ( mention 6 ).
Publicado por Manuel Ruiz Gómez en 2:07
Etiquetas: Society

Funny commercials: try to understand the joke

2008-11-04T08:04:00.000+01:00

Have a laugh listening to candidate Palin talking to Sarkosy

2008-11-04T07:54:00.001+01:00

Watch the skills of the American candidates

2008-11-04T07:41:00.000+01:00

2008-10-21T01:20:00.000+02:00

2008-10-21T01:16:00.000+02:00

Gibraltar Project

2008-10-21T00:13:00.000+02:00

A. Go through this web site http://www.gibraltar.com/ and find the answers to these questions:

Why the name of Gibraltar?
What happened in 1713 ?
When was the frontier closed?
Why ?