SESSION 27: A SHORT

SESSION 27: A SHORT

PORCELAIN REVISED SCORE

SESSION 27: A VIDEO

SESSION 27: A VIDEO

POSITIVE DISCRIMINATION IN FAMILY PROCEEDINGS - FATHER´S RIGHTS

SESSION 27: A SONG

SESSION 27: A SONG

PRINCE - KISS

LYRICS:
http://youtu.be/gl6jq38K3-M

PRINCE:

Prince Rogers Nelson (born June 7, 1958), better known as simply Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. He has been known under the unpronounceable symbol, which he used between 1993 and 2000. During that period he was frequently referred to in the media as "The Artist Formerly Known as Prince", often abbreviated to "TAFKAP", or simply "The Artist".

Prince produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label, writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of the instruments on his recordings. In addition, Prince has been a "talent promoter" for the careers of Sheila E., Carmen Electra, The Time and Vanity 6, and has written songs for these artists and others (including Chaka Khan, The Bangles, and Sinéad O'Connor).

Prince also has several hundred unreleased songs in his "vault". He has won seven Grammy Awards, a Golden Globe, and an Academy Award. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004, the first year he was eligible.

Prince's music has been influenced by rock, soul, funk, rap, blues, New Wave, electronica, disco, psychedelia, folk, jazz, and pop. Prince pioneered the "Minneapolis sound", a hybrid mixture of funk, rock, pop, R&B and New Wave that has influenced many other musicians.

Prince has a wide vocal range and is known for his flamboyant stage presence and costumes.

HOPE YOU ENJOY THE SONG!

SESSION 27: EXERCISES FOR DISCUSSION AND FINAL TASK

SESSION 27: EXERCISES FOR DISCUSSION AND FINAL TASK

2.1 POSITIVE DISCRIMINATION:

• How can discrimination be positive?
• Why do women need a handicap in everything?
• Are they saying that women are so inferior that they need a handicap in everything?

Have a look at this video:
NIKKI SINCLAIRE MEP CALLS FOR A STOP TO POSITIVE DISCRIMINATION FOR WOMEN



It´s very important to read the comments made in the 'DESCRIPTION' of the video,
http://youtu.be/cbMNzVMiark

MEP Nikki Sinclaire chose International Women's Day to suggest the EU should put a stop to positive discrimination for women.

In a speech at the Strasbourg parliament today, Nikki declared her belief that the European Parliament had lost touch with reality. The MEP stated that she is against discrimination of any kind -- even positive -- as it inevitably leads to the creation of victims. She cited a report tabled in Parliament this week by Rovana Plumb calling for positive discrimination in 'social, economic and political life' as well as education.

She referred to a report tabled in the Parliament this week by Rovana Plumb calling for positive discrimination in "social, economic, and political life", and also in education.

Plumb also suggests that member states revise their immigration policies in order to allow female immigrants easier access to employment.

The West Midlands' independent MEP added that women do not need to be patronized by quotas and, instead, need barriers to their progress to be removed. The EU would be better placed focusing on issues such as the need for improved and State-funded childcare, particularly in certain member states, she added. According to a Commission report in 2008, Malta, Slovakia, Lithuania, Czech Republic and Poland have poor child support and childcare facilities. Ireland has also suffered from low investment in this area despite a particularly high birth rate.

Commenting on her speech, Nikki Sinclaire said: "We have seen a recent Court of Justice decision on car insurance that boycotts traditional, tried-and-tested and sensible methods of risk assessment.

Despite the EU's stance to positively discriminate in the favour of women, this case exemplifies a politically-correct, Euro-babble and entirely potty decision that actually makes life more difficult -- and expensive - for women. Common sense is an anathema to the EU." "Let's encourage and facilitate equality of treatment and opportunity regardless of gender. That is real equality".

PREPARING A DISCUSSION IS FUNDAMENTAL:

THIS MUST BE DONE IN TWO DIRECTIONS:
FIRST, YOU NEED TO LEARN NEW VOCABULARY AND EXPRESSIONS THAT YOU WILL HAVE TO USE FOR THE DISCUSSION.
SECONDLY, YOU HAVE TO PREPARE THE TOPIC BY LOOKING UP INFORMATION IN THE INTERNET, BOOKS, ENCYCLOPAEDIAS.
THIS WAY YOU WILL FEEL MUCH MORE CONFIDENT AND AT THE SAME TIME YOU WILL HAVE MUCH MORE TO TALK ABOUT.

FINAL TASK:

HERE IS ONE FINAL TASK THAT YOU MAY DO IN ORDER TO COVER THE FOUR SKILLS YOU SHOULD FOCUS ON WHEN LEARNING A LANGUAGE: LISTENING, READING, SPEAKING AND WRITING.

Write a composition and leave it in the blog as a comment to Session 27, I will edit it in the blog so that everybody can learn from other people´s opinions. Choose one of these two options:

• Advantages and disadvantages of Positive Discrimination
• Do you think women should be referees at men´s football matches? Express your opinion.

SESSION 27: TEXT FOR WEDNESDAY 4TH MAY

SESSION 27: TEXT FOR WEDNESDAY 4TH MAY

PRESENTERS IN TROUBLE OVER SEXISM ROW

Text taken from:
http://www.onestopenglish.com/ 

Just click on:
http://www.onestopenglish.com/skills/news-lessons/monthly-topical-news-lessons/pdf-content/presenters-in-trouble-over-sexism-row-advanced/550932.article   And you have the text together with some exercises and the key for you to work on.

HOPE YOU ENJOY IT!

SESSION 26: A VIDEO

SESSION 26: A VIDEO

THE LOVE POLICE

IF YOU WANT TO WATCH THE VIDEO WITH SUBTITLES IN SPANISH:
http://youtu.be/3COPXq4dPSM

SESSION 26: A SONG

SESSION 26: A SONG

DIRTY DANCING SOUNDTRACK - TIME OF MY LIFE

TO WATCH THE VIDEO:
http://youtu.be/idyiIQfMg5o

HOPE YOU ENJOY IT!

SESSION 26: EXERCISES FOR DISCUSSION AND FINAL TASK

SESSION 26: EXERCISES FOR DISCUSSION AND FINAL TASK

2. EXERCISES FOR DISCUSSION

2.1 LOOK-ALIKE: Who would you like to look like or be like? Choose the looks and/or talents of five people. Say what you want and why.

2.2 COPYCAT: Which of these would you most like to be? Put the best at the top.

• sports star
• writer
• actor
• scientist
• politician
• model
• entrepreneur

2.3 COSMETIC SURGERY DISCUSSION: Here are some questions you can try asking yourself before you come to our discussion on Wednesday:

a) What did you think when you read the headline?
b) What springs to mind when you hear the name ‘Shakespeare’?
c) What do you think of cosmetic surgery?
d) What do you think of Zhang Yiyi’s idea?
e) Who would you like to look like? Why?
f) Which of your facial features are you unhappiest about?
g) Are we becoming obsessed with our looks?
h) What are the dangers of cosmetic surgery?
i) What three adjectives would you use to describe Zhang? Why?
j) How are you striving to become a better person?
k) Do you think cosmetic surgery makes people happier?
l) To what degree are you an attention seeker?
m) What do you think of Michael Jackson’s cosmetic surgery?
n) Would you be more successful in life if you had cosmetic surgery? Beautiful people tend to do better?
o) What’s the difference between plastic surgery, reconstructive surgery and cosmetic surgery?
p) What advice would you give to Zhang?
q) Could Zhang’s new look prompt him to write better?
r) What questions would you like to ask Zhang Yiyi?

PREPARING A DISCUSSION IS FUNDAMENTAL:

THIS MUST BE DONE IN TWO DIRECTIONS:

FIRST, YOU NEED TO LEARN NEW VOCABULARY AND EXPRESSIONS THAT YOU WILL HAVE TO USE FOR THE DISCUSSION.

SECONDLY, YOU HAVE TO PREPARE THE TOPIC BY LOOKING UP INFORMATION IN THE INTERNET, BOOKS, ENCYCLOPAEDIAS.

THIS WAY YOU WILL FEEL MUCH MORE CONFIDENT AND AT THE SAME TIME YOU WILL HAVE MUCH MORE TO TALK ABOUT.

FINAL TASK:

HERE IS ONE FINAL TASK THAT YOU MAY DO IN ORDER TO COVER THE FOUR SKILLS YOU SHOULD FOCUS ON WHEN LEARNING A LANGUAGE: LISTENING, READING, SPEAKING AND WRITING.

Write a composition and leave it in the blog as a comment to Session 26, I will edit it in the blog so that everybody can learn from other people´s opinions. Choose one of these two options:

• Write a letter to Zhang Yiyi giving your opinion about his transformation
• Cosmetic Surgery: advantages and disadvantages

SESSION 26: KEY TO EXERCISES

SESSION 26: KEY TO EXERCISES

1.1 TRUE/FALSE:

a.F / b.T / c.T / d.F / e.T / f.T / g.T / h.F

1.2 SYNONYM MATCH:

1.f / 2.h / 3.d / 4.g / 5.a / 6.c / 7.i / 8.e / 9.j / 10.b

1.3 PHRASE MATCH:

1.h / 2.a / 3.d / 4.j / 5.c / 6.e / 7.i / 8.f / 9.g /10.b

1.4 GAP FILL:

1.UNDER - 2.ALIKE - 3.UNDERGO - 4.SPITTING - 5.LITERARY - 6.EARNED - 7.PROCESS - 8.WORTH

9.UPCOMING - 10.COMPARED - 11.SEEKER - 12.RIGHT - 13.PATIENT - 14.PERFORM - 15.LIPS - 16.PROMPT

SESSION 26: EXERCISES WORKING WITH THE TEXT

SESSION 26: EXERCISES WORKING WITH THE TEXT

NOTE: IN ORDER TO WORK WITH THE TEXT, UNDERSTAND AND PREPARE IT BETTER I RECOMMEND THESE EXERCISES.

THERE WILL BE TWO TYPES OF EXERCISES:

1. EXERCISES WORKING WITH THE TEXT: THESE ARE EXERCISES FOCUSING ON THE READING COMPREHENSION, WORKING WITH VOCABULARY AND EXPRESSIONS.

2. EXERCISES FOR DISCUSSION: EXERCISES FOCUSING ON THE PREPARATION FOR THE DISCUSSION.

1. EXERCISES WORKING WITH THE TEXT

1.1 TRUE/FALSE: Look at the article and guess whether these sentences are True (T) or False (F):

a. A Chinese write is going to have a face transplant.

b. The writer will have an operation a month for ten months.
c. The writer hopes his new face will allow people to mourn Shakespeare.
d. He said life is a process in which you try to make your face better.
e. The writer is no stranger to controversy in China.
f. Chinese people are divided in their opinion on the writer’s plan.
g. A surgeon said the writer’s face is a good shape to copy Shakespeare’s.
h. The Chinese believe he will write like Shakespeare after the surgeries.

1.2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article:
1.well-known ............. a. making an effort
2. go under the knife .... b. stimulate
3. mourn ................... c. hot
4. figures .................. d. grieve for
5. striving ................. e. carry out
6. controversial ........... f. famous
7. philosopher ............ g. personalities
8. perform ................ h. have surgery
9. surgeries ............... i. thinker
10. prompt ................ j. operations

1.3 PHRASE MATCH: Match the following phrases from this article (sometimes more than one option is possible):
1. become a .................. a. ten operations
2. undergo .................... b. write as well as Shakespeare
3. the spitting ................ c. to become a better person
4. playwrights ................ d. image of
5. striving ..................... e. point
6. a talking .................... f. seeker
7. He is already ............... g. on everyone’s lips
8. an attention ................ h. William Shakespeare look-alike
9. The big question .......... i. a controversial figure
10. prompt him to ........... j. and literary figures

1.4 GAP FILL: Put the words into the gaps in the text:

EARNED - LITERARY - ALIKE - UNDERGO - WORTH - PROCESS - SPITTING

A well-known Chinese writer is planning to go (1) ____________ the knife to become a William Shakespeare look-(2) ____________. The Shanghai Daily newspaper reports that best-selling author Zhang Yiyi will (3) ____________ ten operations in the next ten months. After the surgeries he will be the (4) ____________ image of Britain’s most famous writer. Mr Zhang said he wants to “let the people across the world mourn” one of the world's greatest ever playwrights and (5) ____________ figures. The cost of the plastic surgery will be around $150,000 – the same as the royalties he (6) ____________ for his last book. Zhang justified the surgery and cost, saying: "Life is a (7) ____________ of striving to become a better person. I think the surgeries are (8) ____________ the money."

SEEKER - PERFORM - UPCOMING - PROMPT - COMPARED - LIPS - RIGHT - PATIENT

Zhang Yiyi’s (9) ____________ surgeries have become a talking point in China. He is already a controversial figure after he (10) ____________ himself to China’s great philosopher Confucius. Many Chinese believe he is simply an attention (11) ____________ while others believe he has the (12) ____________ to spend his money the way he wants. He is set to become the most famous cosmetic surgery (13) ____________ since Michael Jackson. Zheng Churong, the head of the team of surgeons who will (14) ____________ the operations, told reporters that the surgeries would not be so difficult. He said Zhang’s face is the right shape, with a “sharp nose” and “deep eyes”. The big question on everyone’s (15) ____________ is whether Zhang’s new look will (16) ____________ him to write as well as Shakespeare.

SESSION 26: TEXT FOR WEDNESDAY 27TH APRIL

SESSION 26: TEXT FOR WEDNESDAY 27TH APRIL

CHINESE WRITER TO HAVE SHAKESPEARE´S FACE

TEXT TAKEN AND ADAPTED FROM:

http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/

THE TEXT:

A well-known Chinese writer is planning to go under the knife to become a William Shakespeare look-alike. The Shanghai Daily newspaper reports that best-selling author Zhang Yiyi will undergo ten operations in the next ten months. After the surgeries he will be the spitting image of Britain’s most famous writer. Mr Zhang said he wants to “let the people across the world mourn” one of the world's greatest ever playwrights and literary figures. The cost of the plastic surgery will be around $150,000 – the same as the royalties he earned for his last book. Zhang justified the surgery and cost, saying: "Life is a process of striving to become a better person. I think the surgeries are worth the money."

Zhang Yiyi’s upcoming surgeries have become a talking point in China. He is already a controversial figure after he compared himself to China’s great philosopher Confucius. Many Chinese believe he is simply an attention seeker while others believe he has the right to spend his money the way he wants. He is set to become the most famous cosmetic surgery patient since Michael Jackson. Zheng Churong, the head of the team of surgeons who will perform the operations, told reporters that the surgeries would not be so difficult. He said Zhang’s face is the right shape, with a “sharp nose” and “deep eyes”. The big question on everyone’s lips is whether Zhang’s new look will prompt him to write as well as Shakespeare.

Chinese Writer to Have Shakespeare´s Face - 22nd April, 2011

http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/ 

SESSION 25: A VIDEO (3)

SESSION 25: A VIDEO (3)

EYE TO EYE: RICHARD BRANSON (CBS NEWS)

SESSION 25: A VIDEO (2)

SESSION 25: A VIDEO (2)

DISCOVER MORE: @RICHARD BRANSON

FROM THE WIKIPEDIA:

Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is a British entrepreneur, best known for his Virgin Group of over 400 companies. His first successful business venture was a magazine called Student at age 16. In 1970, he set up an audio record mail-order business. In 1972, he opened a chain of record stores, Virgin Records, later known as Virgin Megastores. Branson's Virgin brand grew rapidly during the 1980s—as he set up Virgin Atlantic Airways and expanded the Virgin Records music label.

Richard Branson is the 212th richest person in the world according to Forbes' 2010 list of billionaires, with an estimated net worth of approximately £2.97 billion (US$4.0billion).

Branson was born in Blackheath, London, the son of barrister Edward James Branson and Eve Branson. His grandfather, the Right Honourable Sir George Arthur Harwin Branson, was a judge of the High Court of Justice and a Privy Councillor. Branson was educated at Scaitcliffe School (now Bishopsgate School) until the age of thirteen. He then attended Stowe School until the age of sixteen. Branson has dyslexia and had poor academic performance as a student, but later discovered his ability to connect with others.

Branson formed Virgin Atlantic Airways in 1984, launched Virgin Mobile in 1999, Virgin Blue in Australia in 2000. He was 9th in the Sunday Times Rich List 2006, worth just over £3 billion. Branson wrote in his autobiography of the decision to start an airline:
“ My interest in life comes from setting myself huge, apparently unachievable challenges and trying to rise above them...from the perspective of wanting to live life to the full, I felt that I had to attempt it. ”

In 1993, Branson took what many saw as being one of his riskier business exploits by entering into the railway business. Virgin Trains won the franchises for the former Intercity West Coast and Cross-Country sectors of British Rail. Launched with the usual Branson fanfare with promises of new high-tech tilting trains and enhanced levels of service, Virgin Trains soon ran into problems with the rolling stock and infrastructure it had inherited from British Rail. The company's reputation was almost irreversibly damaged in the late 1990s as it struggled to make trains reliably run on time while it awaited the modernisation of the West Coast Main Line and the arrival of new rolling stock.

Virgin acquired European short-haul airline Euro Belgian Airlines in 1996 and renamed it Virgin Express. In 2006, the airline was merged with SN Brussels Airlines forming Brussels Airlines. It also started a national airline based in Nigeria, called Virgin Nigeria. Another airline, Virgin America, began flying out of the San Francisco International Airport in August 2007. Branson has also developed a Virgin Cola brand and even a Virgin Vodka brand, which has not been a very successful enterprise. As a consequence of these lacklustre performers, the satirical British fortnightly magazine Private Eye has been critical of Branson and his companies.

After the so-called campaign of "dirty tricks", British Airways settled the case, giving £500,000 to Branson and a further £110,000 to his airline and had to pay legal fees of up to £3 million. Branson divided his compensation (the so-called "BA bonus") among his staff.

On 25 September 2004, Branson announced the signing of a deal under which a new space tourism company, Virgin Galactic, will license the technology behind Spaceship One—funded by Microsoft co-Founder Paul Allen and designed by legendary American aeronautical engineer and visionary Burt Rutan—to take paying passengers into suborbital space. Virgin Galactic (wholly owned by Virgin Group) plans to make flights available to the public with tickets priced at US$200,000 using Scaled Composites White Knight Two.

Branson's next venture with the Virgin group is Virgin Fuels, which is set to respond to global warming and exploit the recent spike in fuel costs by offering a revolutionary, cheaper fuel for automobiles and, in the near future, aircraft. Branson has stated that he was formerly a global warming sceptic and was influenced in his decision by a breakfast meeting with Al Gore.

Branson has been tagged as a "transformational leader" in the management lexicon, with his maverick strategies and his stress on the Virgin Group as an organisation driven on informality and information, one that is bottom-heavy rather than strangled by top-level management.

On 21 September 2006, Branson pledged to invest the profits of Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Trains in research for environmentally friendly fuels. The investment is estimated to be worth $3 billion.

On 4 July 2006, Branson sold his Virgin Mobile company to UK cable TV, broadband, and telephone company NTL/NTL:Telewest for almost £1 billion. As part of the sale, the company pays a minimum of £8.5 million per year to use the Virgin name and Branson became the company's largest shareholder. The new company was launched with much fanfare and publicity on 8 February 2007, under the name Virgin Media. The decision to merge his Virgin Media Company with NTL was in order to integrate both of the companies' compatible parts of commerce. Branson used to own three quarters of Virgin Mobile, whereas now he owns 15 percent of the new Virgin Media company.

In 2006, Branson formed Virgin Comics and Virgin Animation, an entertainment company focussed on creating new stories and characters for a global audience. The company was founded with author Deepak Chopra, filmmaker Shekhar Kapur, and entrepreneurs Sharad Devarajan and Gotham Chopra.

Branson also launched the Virgin Health Bank on 1 February 2007, offering parents-to-be the opportunity to store their baby's umbilical cord blood stem cells in private and public stem cell banks.

In June 2006, a tip-off from Virgin Atlantic led US and UK competition authorities to investigate price-fixing attempts between Virgin Atlantic and British Airways. In August 2007, British Airways was fined £271 million over the allegations. Virgin Atlantic was given immunity for tipping off the authorities and received no fine—a controversial decision the Office of Fair Trading defended as being in the public interest.

On 9 February 2007, Branson announced the setting up of a new Global science and technology prize—The Virgin Earth Challenge—in the belief that history has shown that prizes of this nature encourage technological advancements for the good of mankind. The Virgin Earth Challenge will award $25 million to the individual or group who are able to demonstrate a commercially viable design which will result in the net removal of anthropogenic, atmospheric greenhouse gases each year for at least ten years without countervailing harmful effects. This removal must have long-term effects and contribute materially to the stability of the Earth's climate.

Branson also announced that he would be joined in the adjudication of the Prize by a panel of five judges, all world authorities in their respective fields: Al Gore, Sir Crispin Tickell, Tim Flannery, James E. Hansen, and James Lovelock. The panel of judges will be assisted in their deliberations by The Climate Group and Special Advisor to The Virgin Earth Prize Judges, Steve Howard.

Richard Branson got involved with football when he sponsored Nuneaton Borough for their January 2006 FA Cup 3rd round game against Middlesbrough. The game ended 1-1, and the Virgin brand was also on Nuneaton Borough's shirts for the replay which they eventually lost 2-5.

On 10 January 2008, Branson's Virgin Healthcare announced that it would open a chain of health care clinics that would offer conventional medical care alongside homoeopathic and complementary therapies. The Financial Times reported that Ben Bradshaw, UK's health minister, welcomed the launch. "I am pleased that Virgin Healthcare is proposing to work with GPs to help develop more integrated services for patients."

Plans where GPs could be paid for referring National Health Service (NHS) patients to private Virgin services were abandoned in June 2008. The BMA warned the plan would "damage clinical objectivity", there would be a financial incentive for GPs to push patients towards the Virgin services at the centre. Plans to take over an NHS Practice in Swindon were subsequently abandoned in late September 2008.

In February 2009, Branson's Virgin organisation were reported as bidding to buy the former Honda Formula One team. Branson later stated an interest in Formula One but claimed that, before the Virgin brand became involved with Honda or any other team, Formula One would have to develop a more economically efficient and environmentally responsible image. At the start of the 2009 formula one season on 28 March, it was announced that Virgin would be sponsoring the new Brawn GP team., with discussions also under way about introducing a less "dirty" fuel in the medium term. After the end of the season and the subsequent purchase of Brawn GP by Mercedes, Branson invested in an 80% buyout of Manor Grand Prix with the team being renamed to Virgin Racing.

Branson and Tony Fernandes, owner of Air Asia and Lotus F1 Racing, had a bet for the 2010 F1 season where the team's boss should work on the winner's airline for a day dressed as a stewardess. Fernandes escaped as the winner of the bet, as Lotus Racing ended 10th in the championship, while Virgin Racing ended 12th and last.

In 2010 Richard Branson became patron of the UK's Gordon Bennett 2010 gas balloon race, which has 16 hydrogen balloons flying across Europe.

SESSION 25: A VIDEO (1)

SESSION 25: A VIDEO

VIRGIN OCEANIC SUB TEASER TRAILER HD

RICHARD BRANSON´S BLOG:
http://www.virgin.com/richard-branson/blog/launching-virgin-oceanic/

What if I were to tell you about a planet, inhabited by ‘intelligent’ beings that had, in the 21st Century, physically explored 0% of its deepest points and mapped only 3% of its oceans by unmanned craft, when 70% of that planet’s surface was made up of water. Then I tried to convince you that only 10% of the life forms inhabiting that unknown world, are known to those on the surface – you’d think I’d fallen asleep watching the latest sci-fi blockbuster! Then you discover that planet is Earth...

With space long ago reached by man, and commercial spaceflight tantalisingly close, the last great challenge for humans is to reach and explore the depths of our planet’s oceans. The submarine will travel to the deepest trenches in our oceans and will allow its pilot not only to reach these depths but to explore for 10 kilometres on each of the dives.

Virgin Oceanic is working with some of the most eminent scientific institutions in the world to collate data and catalogue life forms that will never have been seen before by human eyes and are unknown to science. The ability to go deep and then explore has been a dream of these great Oceanic Institutes - that dream is now close to becoming reality.

SESSION 25: A SONG

SESSION 25: A SONG

OASIS: WONDERWALL

LYRICS:
http://youtu.be/Oay2EwaEv1I

Oasis were an English rock band, formed in Manchester in 1991. Originally known as The Rain, the group was formed by Liam Gallagher (vocals and tambourine), Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs (guitar), Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan (bass guitar) and Tony McCarroll (drums, percussion), who were soon joined by Liam's older brother Noel Gallagher (lead guitar and vocals). They have had eight UK number-one singles and eight UK number-one albums, and won fifteen NME Awards, nine Q Awards, four MTV Europe Music Awards and six BRIT Awards, including one in 2007 for outstanding contribution to music and one for the best album of the last 30 years as voted by the BBC Radio 2 listeners; they have been nominated for three Grammy Awards. As of 2009, the band have sold an estimated 70 million records worldwide. Also the band was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records in 2010 for “Longest Top 10 UK Chart Run By A Group” after an unprecedented run of 22 successive Top 10 hits in the UK. The band also holds the Guinness World Record for being the "Most Successful Act of the Last Decade" in the UK between the years 1995 and 2005, spending 765 weeks in the Top 75 singles and albums charts.

SESSION 25: EXERCISES FOR DISCUSSION AND FINAL TASK

SESSION 25: EXERCISES FOR DISCUSSION AND FINAL TASK

2. EXERCISES FOR DISCUSSION

2.1 ADVENTURE: Which would you go on? Say yes or no and why. If yes, what would you learn?

• submarine tour
• space flight
• Amazon stay
• South Pole walk
• climb Mount Everest
• walk across the Sahara

2.2 SUBMARINE: What would you worry about most in a submarine 11,000 meters under the ocean? Rank these:

• sharks
• oxygen running out
• the pressure
• machanical failure
• unknown deep-sea monsters
• the dark
• the cost

2.3 DISCUSSION: Here are some questions you can try asking yourself before you come to our discussion on Wednesday:

a) What did you think when you read the headline?

b) Would you like to do a submarine tour?

c) What do you think of Richard Branson’s plans?

d) What do you think they’ll find at the bottom of the ocean?

e) What are the dangers involved in this project?

f) Do you think deep-sea dives to the bottom of the ocean would be popular?

g) Would you rather stand on top of Everest or see the bottom of the world’s deepest ocean? Why?

h) Is this Earth’s last frontier to be discovered?

i) What adventure would you like to go on?

j) What do you know about Richard Branson?

k) Would you call yourself an adventurer?

l) Have you ever pushed things to the limit?

m) What’s the longest amount of time you could spend in a submarine?

n) What do you think motivates Richard Branson to keep trying new adventures?

o) What’s the max you would pay to take a tour into space?

p) Do you think the Virgin Oceanic project will find lots of fascinating creatures?

q) Which will be more popular, Virgin Oceanic or Virgin Galactic? Why?

r) What questions would you like to ask Richard Branson?

PREPARING A DISCUSSION IS FUNDAMENTAL:

THIS MUST BE DONE IN TWO DIRECTIONS:

FIRST, YOU NEED TO LEARN NEW VOCABULARY AND EXPRESSIONS THAT YOU WILL HAVE TO USE FOR THE DISCUSSION.

SECONDLY, YOU HAVE TO PREPARE THE TOPIC BY LOOKING UP INFORMATION IN THE INTERNET, BOOKS, ENCYCLOPAEDIAS.

THIS WAY YOU WILL FEEL MUCH MORE CONFIDENT AND AT THE SAME TIME YOU WILL HAVE MUCH MORE TO TALK ABOUT.

FINAL TASK:

HERE IS ONE FINAL TASK THAT YOU MAY DO IN ORDER TO COVER THE FOUR SKILLS YOU SHOULD FOCUS ON WHEN LEARNING A LANGUAGE: LISTENING, READING, SPEAKING AND WRITING.

Write a composition and leave it in the blog as a comment to Session 25, I will edit it in the blog so that everybody can learn from other people´s opinions. Choose one of these two options:

• Do you admire entrepreneurs like Richard Branson? Express your opinion.
• To reach and explore the different places of the Earth and Space is good for the development of our knowledge and for Science. Express your opinion.

SESSION 25: KEY TO EXERCISES

SESSION 25: KEY TO EXERCISES

1.1 TRUE/FALSE:
a.F / b.T / c.F / d.T / e.T / f.T / g.F / h.F

1.2 SYNONYM MATCH:
1.e / 2.h / 3.a / 4.g / 5.j / 6.c / 7.i / 8.b / 9.f / 10.d

1.3 PHRASE MATCH:
1.f / 2.d / 3.i / 4.b / 5.a / 6.j / 7.h / 8.c / 9.e /10.g

1.4 GAP FILL:

1.UNVEILED - 2.EXPLORE - 3.CONDUCT - 4.DEPTH - 5.HIGH - 6.SPECIALLY - 7.PILOT - 8.WEALTHY

9.FAMED - 10.LED - 11.LIMIT - 12.FEATS - 13.OPERATES - 14.DISCOVER - 15.CREATURES - 16.MANKIND

SESSION 25: EXERCISES WORKING WITH THE TEXT

SESSION 25: EXERCISES WORKING WITH THE TEXT

NOTE: IN ORDER TO WORK WITH THE TEXT, UNDERSTAND AND PREPARE IT BETTER I RECOMMEND THESE EXERCISES.

THERE WILL BE TWO TYPES OF EXERCISES:

1. EXERCISES WORKING WITH THE TEXT: THESE ARE EXERCISES FOCUSING ON THE READING COMPREHENSION, WORKING WITH VOCABULARY AND EXPRESSIONS.

2. EXERCISES FOR DISCUSSION: EXERCISES FOCUSING ON THE PREPARATION FOR THE DISCUSSION.

1. EXERCISES WORKING WITH THE TEXT

1.1 TRUE/FALSE: Look at the article and guess whether these sentences are True (T) or False (F):

a. A group of virgin sailors are heading to the bottom of the ocean.

b. The submarine will explore the deepest part of the ocean.
c. The deepest part of the ocean isn’t as deep as Mt. Everest is high.
d. The boss of the submarine project hopes to attract sightseers one day.
e. The submarine project boss became rich by opening record stores.
f. The boss has also funded other record-breaking attempts.
g. He said there isn’t much left to discover in the ocean..
h. He doubted if he’d find new species of ocean life.

1.2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article:
1. boss ......................... a. do
2. unveiled .................... b. runs
3. conduct ..................... c. well known
4. vessel ....................... d. animals
5. wealthy ..................... e. chief
6. famed ....................... f. clearly
7. limit ......................... g. craft
8. operates .................... h. showed off
9. obviously ................... i. maximum
10. creatures .................. j. rich


1.3 PHRASE MATCH: Match the following phrases from this article (sometimes more than one option is possible):

1. unveiled his .................... a. on deep sea dives
2.  explore the deepest ......... b. the dives himself
3. the trench is deeper than .... c. much to explore
4. He plans to pilot one of ...... d. parts of the ocean
5. take wealthy passengers ..... e. some fascinating creatures
6. He started off by .............. f. latest adventure project
7. pushing things .................. g. mankind
8. There is just so ................ h. to the limit
9. come across .................... i. Mount Everest is high
10. useful for ...................... j. selling used music

1.4 GAP FILL: Put the words into the gaps in the text:

DEPTH - PILOT - EXPLORE - WEALTHY - HIGH - UNVEILES - SPECIALLY - CONDUCT

The boss of the Virgin group Richard Branson has (1) ____________ his latest adventure project. He plans to (2) ____________ the deepest parts of the ocean in a high-tech submarine. Virgin Oceanic will (3) ____________ five test dives over two years. His team plans to explore the deepest part of any ocean – the Pacific Ocean's Mariana Trench. At a (4) ____________ of almost 11,000 metres, the trench is deeper than Mount Everest is (5) ____________. Branson showed the (6) ____________ -built vessel to reporters at a news conference in California. He plans to (7) ____________ one of the dives himself. Branson also said he hoped Virgin Oceanic would one day take (8) ____________ passengers on deep sea dives to explore the ocean depths.

LIMIT - OPERATES - FAMED - CREATURES - MANKIND - DISCOVER - LED - FEATS
Branson is a (9) ____________ entrepreneur. He started off by selling used music records at university, which (10) ____________ to his opening of the Virgin Records stores. He has since become well known for pushing things to the (11) ____________. He has used his wealth to finance such (12) ____________ as hot-air ballooning around the world and has set sailing records. As well as his Virgin airline company, he also (13) ____________ Virgin Galactic, which will allow tourists to fly into space. He told reporters: "There is just so much to explore, so much to (14) ____________. We are going to obviously come across some fascinating (15) ____________ and learn some fascinating things that will hopefully be useful for (16) ____________."

SESSION 25: TEXT FOR WEDNESDAY 13TH APRIL

SESSION 25: TEXT FOR WEDNESDAY 13TH APRIL

VIRGIN VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE OCEAN

TEXT TAKEN AND ADAPTED FROM:

http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/

THE TEXT:

The boss of the Virgin group Richard Branson has unveiled his latest adventure project. He plans to explore the deepest parts of the ocean in a high-tech submarine. Virgin Oceanic will conduct five test dives over two years. His team plans to explore the deepest part of any ocean – the Pacific Ocean's Mariana Trench. At a depth of almost 11,000 metres, the trench is deeper than Mount Everest is high. Branson showed the specially-built vessel to reporters at a news conference in California. He plans to pilot one of the dives himself. Branson also said he hoped Virgin Oceanic would one day take wealthy passengers on deep sea dives to explore the ocean depths.

Branson is a famed entrepreneur. He started off by selling used music records at university, which led to his opening of the Virgin Records stores. He has since become well known for pushing things to the limit. He has used his wealth to finance such feats as hot-air ballooning around the world and has set sailing records. As well as his Virgin airline company, he also operates Virgin Galactic, which will allow tourists to fly into space. He told reporters: "There is just so much to explore, so much to discover. We are going to obviously come across some fascinating creatures and learn some fascinating things that will hopefully be useful for mankind."

'Virgin Voyage to the Bottom of the Ocean' - 7th April, 2011

http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/ 

SESSION 24: A VIDEO (2)

SESSION 24: A VIDEO (2)

LUXURY SHOPPING

SESSION 24: A VIDEO (1)

SESSION 24: A VIDEO (1)

LVMH CORPORATION

SESSION 24: A SONG

SESSION 24: A SONG

THE CALLING: WHEREVER YOU WILL GO

TO WATCH THE VIDEO:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTPbqPFKGoA

SESSION 24: EXERCISES FOR DISCUSSION AND FINAL TASK

SESSION 24: EXERCISES FOR DISCUSSION AND FINAL TASK

2. EXERCISES FOR DISCUSSION

2.1 LUXURY GOODS: Write all the luxury goods that you can think of. Are they good value for money? 

2.2 BRANDS: What are the best? Why? How are they different to the rest?

• cars
• clothes
• mobile phones
• bags
• watches
• drinks
• jewels

2.3 LUXURY: Do you need luxury in your life? Rate these circumstances from luxury most needed to luxury most unnecessary:

• at a hotel
• clothes
• eating in a restaurant
• on the beach 
• travelling
• your car
• relaxing at home

2.4 DISCUSSION: Here are some questions you can try asking yourself before you come to our discussion on Wednesday:

a) What springs to mind when you hear the word ‘luxury’?

b) What luxury do you enjoy in life?
c) Do you think luxury is immoral when so many people are starving?
d) If you have money to spend, what do you normally spend it on?
e) What are your favourite brands and why?
f) Are luxury brands better than little-known brands of more or less equal quality?
g) Why do we like to show off brand goods?
h) What’s the most expensive thing you’ve bought? Is it good value for money?
i) What do you think it’s like to be an executive of a luxury brand?
j) Do you think brands like Dior and Louis Vuitton are really so innovative?
k) Why do you think champagne sales are up?
l) What kind of people like brand goods?
m) Would you feel different going shopping dressed in very expensive brand clothes and jewellery?
n) Are you cautious about your future and save a little?
o) What do you think of the strength of the economic recovery?
p) What do you know of and think about Louis Vuitton?

PREPARING A DISCUSSION IS FUNDAMENTAL:

THIS MUST BE DONE IN TWO DIRECTIONS:

FIRST, YOU NEED TO LEARN NEW VOCABULARY AND EXPRESSIONS THAT YOU WILL HAVE TO USE FOR THE DISCUSSION.

SECONDLY, YOU HAVE TO PREPARE THE TOPIC BY LOOKING UP INFORMATION IN THE INTERNET, BOOKS, ENCYCLOPAEDIAS.

THIS WAY YOU WILL FEEL MUCH MORE CONFIDENT AND AT THE SAME TIME YOU WILL HAVE MUCH MORE TO TALK ABOUT.

FINAL TASK:

HERE IS ONE FINAL TASK THAT YOU MAY DO IN ORDER TO COVER THE FOUR SKILLS YOU SHOULD FOCUS ON WHEN LEARNING A LANGUAGE: LISTENING, READING, SPEAKING AND WRITING.

Write a composition and leave it in the blog as a comment to Session 24, I will edit it in the blog so that everybody can learn from other people´s opinions. Choose one of these two options:

• Express your opinion. 'Is it immoral to spend a lot of money on luxury goods when there are so many people starving?'
• Express your opinion. 'The crisis affects workers more than rich people'

SESSION 24: ANSWERS TO EXERCISES

SESSION 24: ANSWERS TO EXERCISES

1.1 TRUE/FALSE:
a.F / b.T / c.T / d.F / e.F / f.F / g.T / h.T

1.2 SYNONYM MATCH:
1.h / 2.d / 3.a / 4.g / 5.j / 6.c / 7.e / 8.f / 9.i / 10.b

1.3 PHRASE MATCH:
1.f / 2.h / 3.b / 4.j / 5.c / 6.d / 7.e / 8.g / 9.a /10.i

1.4 GAP FILL:
DESPITE - SPEND - QUARTER - FIGURE - DEMAND - PARTICULARLY - ROSE - RATE

GOODS - UPBEAT - SUCCESS - TREND - ORDERS - LINE - CAUTIOUS - RECOVERY

SESSION 24: EXERCISES WORKING WITH THE TEXT

SESSION 24: EXERCISES WORKING WITH THE TEXT

NOTE: IN ORDER TO WORK WITH THE TEXT, UNDERSTAND AND PREPARE IT BETTER I RECOMMEND THESE EXERCISES.

THERE WILL BE TWO TYPES OF EXERCISES:

1. EXERCISES WORKING WITH THE TEXT: THESE ARE EXERCISES FOCUSING ON THE READING COMPREHENSION, WORKING WITH VOCABULARY AND EXPRESSIONS.

2. EXERCISES FOR DISCUSSION: EXERCISES FOCUSING ON THE PREPARATION FOR THE DISCUSSION.

1. EXERCISES WORKING WITH THE TEXT

1.1 TRUE/FALSE: Look at the article and guess whether these sentences are True (T) or False (F):

a. Luxury goods makers are going to start selling expensive roses.

b. Richer people are now opening their wallets.

c. LVMH sold lots of goods because of sales in Asia and the USA.

d. Sales of wallets and other leather goods outsold alcoholic drinks.
e. LVMH executives started beating a drum at the news of the figures.
f. A statement said LVMH will use its history for new designs.
g. The company’s watches are selling very well following a trade show.
h. Company executives aren’t being overly confident about the future.

1.2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article:
1. despite ........... a. because of
2. jump .............. b. upturn
3. due to ............ c. senior managers
4. particularly ...... d. increase
5. rate ............... e. positive
6. executives ....... f. remarked
7. upbeat ............ g. above all
8. commented ...... h. in spite of
9. cautious .......... i. guarded
10. recovery ........ j. pace

1.3 PHRASE MATCH: Match the following phrases from this article (sometimes more than one option is possible):

1. the downturn in the ................ a. about the future
2. people with money ................. b. quarter sales
3. an 11% jump in first ................. c. of 8 per cent
4. the stronger figures were due ..... d. upbeat at the news
5. a slower rate ......................... e. innovations
6. Executives were very ............... f. world economy
7. the success of its latest ............. g. of watches
8. their new line ........................ h. to spend
9. The group was cautious ............. i. recovery
10. the strength of the economic .... j. to a rise in demand


1.4 GAP FILL: Put the words into the gaps in the text:

PARTICULARLY - QUARTER - DEMAND - DESPITE - RATE - SPEND - ROSE - FIGURES

Times are good for luxury brands ____________ the downturn in the world economy. It seems people with money to ____________ are now spending. LVMH, which has the brands Louis Vuitton, Dior and Moët-Chandon champagne, has reported an 11% jump in first ____________ sales. The Paris-based company said sales rose to just over $6bn in the first three months of the year. Analysts say the stronger ____________ were due to a rise in ____________ in Asia and a recovery in U.S. and European markets. Sales of watches, jewellery and expensive drinks were ____________ high. Wines and spirits sales ____________ by 18% while watches and jewellery went up by 33%. Other goods such as bags, wallets and designer clothes increased at a slower ____________ of 8 per cent.

CAUTIOUS - ORDERS - SUCCESS - LINE - GOODS - RECOVERY - UNBEAT - TREND

LVMH is the world's largest luxury ____________ group. Executives were very ____________ at the news. They said: "Louis Vuitton continues to deliver an exceptional performance, sustained worldwide by the growth of its historic lines and by the ____________ of its latest innovations." They spoke about the positive ____________ in their drinks sales, saying “the champagne business benefited from a renewal in ____________ from distributors”. They also commented on the popularity of their new ____________ of watches: "The success of the new products presented at the Basel Watch Fair this year confirmed the momentum of LVMH brands," a statement said. The group was ____________ about the future, saying the group was still "taking into account the uncertainty of the strength of the economic ____________ ".