miércoles, 28 de diciembre de 2011

28th December, Holy Innocents´ Day

On December 28th people in the Spanish-speaking world celebrate the Feast of the Holy Innocents, a religious festival commemorating  the New Testament story of the massacre of the "Innocents", by playing practical jokes, or inocentadas, on one another.The classical inocentada is to hang paper dolls on someone´s back without their knowing. Spoof news stories also appear in newspapers and the media. 


This feast is the equivalent of April Fool´s Day, celebrated in UK and other countries around the world on April 1st every year. Sometimes referred to as All Fool´s Day, although  April 1st is not a national holiday, it is widely recognized and celebrated as a day when many people play all kind of jokes and foolishness.The day is marked by the comission of good-humoured or otherwise funny jokes, hoaxes, and other practical jokes of varying sophistication on friends, family members, teachers, neighbours,work associates and so on. 

For a powerpoint presentation on April Fool´s Day link at:

                          http://holidays.mrdonn.org/powerpoints/aprilfools.html

martes, 27 de diciembre de 2011

Earthshine or " The Da Vinci Glow"

Have you seen the Da Vinci Glow today?
Astronomers named this visual effect “the Da Vinci glow” after Leonardo Da Vinci, who first figured it out.
It consists of a faint illumination of the dark part of the Moon when it is a thin crescent, caused by sunlight reflected from the Earth, also known as earthlight. Forming a triangle, the planets Jupiter,Venus and the Moon will be the brightest light in the night sky.They can be seen with the naked eye. 



A Christmas Carol

During Christmas holidays, it´s a tradition to read one of the most famous books written by Charles Dickens, in December 1843, but in this occasion, Mr. Duncan, my favourite English teacher, is going to tell it to you.
At the same time you listen to him, you will be able to read the subtitles if you wish.
Enjoy the tale and have a nice time!




Tasks.
1. Answer the following questions:

a. Where did Scrooge live?
b. Who appeared in front of Scrooge?
c. Why did Marley´s ghost come to visit Scrooge?
d. Who will Scrooge be visited by?
e. How did Scrooge fell after the ghost´s visit?

2. Say whether the following statements are true or false:

a. Marley was angry with Scrooge.
b. Scrooge believed in ghosts.
c. Ebenezer was Scrooge´s first name.
d. Four ghosts will pay Scrooge a visit.
e. The second ghost will come at one o´clock, just like the first. 

3. Solve the crossword puzzle.


Exercises by Anna Pyszak




jueves, 22 de diciembre de 2011

Winter is here.....

There is no snow on the ground, it is not cold, but officially winter has arrived and today is the first day of winter. Also known as winter solstice, December 22, when the sun is at its southernmost point.
But why is everybody talking about winter solstice 2012?
It marks the complexion of the 5,125 year Great Cycle of the Ancient Mayan Long Count Calendar.
What do you know about it?





Breaking the Maya Code:

Tasks:
1. The purpose of this activity is to arouse your curiosity about the Mayan calendar and Civilization. So visit the site and do some activity: http://mayas.mrdonn.org/



2. Learn vocabulary related to Solstices and Equinoxes:

miércoles, 21 de diciembre de 2011

Oktapodi, Animated Short Film

As one of your holiday tasks is writing a film review, here you are a different genre of film, but not less important and interesting, a computer  animated short film, called Oktapodi, which won an Oscar  in 2009.
Plot: Two octopuses fight for their lives with a stubborn restaurant cook in a comical escape through the streets of a small Greek village.



Oktapodi  is a 2007 French computer-animated short film that originated as a Graduate Student  Project from Gobelins L´Ecole de L´Image. 
The film is about a pair of love struck octopuses who through a series of comical events are separated and find each other. Oktapodi was directed by Julien Bocabeille, Francois-Xavier Chanioux, Olivier Delabarre, Thierry Marchand, Quentin Marmier, and Emud Mokhberi. Music was composed by Kenny Wood.
Oktapodi was well received, winning a number of awards, as well as Academy Award nomination for Best Short Film (animated) for the 81st Academy Awards. It was also included in the Animation Show of Shows.
   (Wikipedia)

By the way, how about having a look at these doble comparative structures in bold?

Computer animation has become more and more prevelant in movies and TV today. And  the more technology evolves, the faster computers become. So the animation will be more and more convincing and realistic.

lunes, 19 de diciembre de 2011

Christmas time for singing and fun

Do you imagine Green Day, the American punk rock band disguised as a group of reindeers for Christmas? At Xmas everything is possible. So  enjoy watching the video and listening to one of the best known  songs, Basketcase,by the band and  fill in the blanks lyrics with the words from the box, some of them are used more than once. 

STONED / NOTHING / PARANOID / CRACKING UP / EVERYTHING /  BETTER  / CONTROL /  SHE  / CREEPS / HE / HER


Basketcase by Green Day
Do you have the time
to listen to me whine
About_______ and _______
all at once
I am one of those
Melodramatic fools
Neurotic to the bone
No doubt about it

Sometimes I give myself the ______
Sometimes my mind plays tricks on me
It all keeps adding up
I think I´m ______  ___
Am I just _______?
Or am I just _______

I went to a shrink
To analyze my dreams
______ says it´s lack of sex
that´s bringing me down
I went to a whore
______ said my life´s a bore
So quit my whining cause
it´s bringing _______ down

Sometimes I give myself the _______
Sometimes my mind plays tricks on me
It all keeps adding up
I think I´m _______  ___
Am I just ______?
Uh,yuh,yuh,ya

Grasping to ______
So I ______ hold on

Sometimes I give myself the ______
Sometimes my mind plays tricks on me
It all keeps adding up
I think I´m ______  ___
Am I just ______?

 Or am I just ______





Question and Answer Christmas Jokes
Q: What do elves learn in school?
A: The Elf-abet
Q: Why was Santa's little helper depressed?
A: Because he had low elf esteem.
Q: Where do polar bears vote?
A: The North Poll.
Q: What kind of bird can write?
A: A PENguin
Q: What do you call a cat on the beach at Christmas time?
A: Sandy Claus!
Q: What did Santa shout to his toys on Christmas Eve?
A: Okay everyone, sack time!!
Q: What do snowmen eat for breakfast?
A: Snowflakes.
Q: Why did the elf push his bed into the fireplace?
A: He wanted to sleep like a log.
Q: What do you call people who are afraid of Santa Claus?
A: Claustrophobic.
Q: Why is Christmas just like a day at the office?
A: You do all the work and the fat guy with the suit gets all the credit.
Source: Ahajokes.com

Merry  Christmas!

Cow-based Economics Lesson

English  is fun in many ways. You only should choose the way you prefer, and humour  is one of the most rewarding. As the English idiom says, "Actions speak louder than words", the Spanish equivalent, "Para muestra un botón". 


A Cow based Economics Lesson:

SOCIALISM
You have 2 cows.
You give one to your neighbor.

COMMUNISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and gives you some milk.

FASCISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and sells you some milk.

NAZISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and shoots you.

BUREAUCRATISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both, shoots one, milks the other, and then throws the milk away.

TRADITIONAL CAPITALISM
You have two cows.
You sell one and buy a bull.
Your herd multiplies, and the economy grows.
You sell them and retire on the income.

ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND (VENTURE) CAPITALISM
You have two cows.
You sell three of them to your publicly listed company, using letters of credit opened by your brother-in-law at the bank, then execute a debt/equity swap with an associated general offer so that you get all four cows back, with a tax exemption for five cows.
The milk rights of the six cows are transferred via an intermediary to a Cayman Island Company secretly owned by the majority shareholder who sells the rights to all seven cows back to your listed company.
The annual report says the company owns eight cows, with an option on one more.
You sell one cow to buy a new president of the United States , leaving you with nine cows.
No balance sheet provided with the release.
The public then buys your bull.

SURREALISM
You have two giraffes.
The government requires you to take harmonica lessons.

AN AMERICAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You sell one, and force the other to produce the milk of four cows.
Later, you hire a consultant to analyze why the cow has dropped dead.

A FRENCH CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You go on strike, organize a riot, and block the roads, because you
want three cows.

A JAPANESE CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and produce twenty times the milk.
You then create a clever cow cartoon image called a Cowkimona and market it worldwide.

AN ITALIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows, but you don’t know where they are.
You decide to have lunch.

A SWISS CORPORATION
You have 5000 cows. None of them belong to you.
You charge the owners for storing them.

A CHINESE CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You have 300 people milking them.
You claim that you have full employment, and high bovine productivity.
You arrest the newsman who reported the real situation.

AN INDIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You worship them.

A BRITISH CORPORATION
You have two cows.
Both are mad.

AN IRAQI CORPORATION
Everyone thinks you have lots of cows.
You tell them that you have none.
No-one believes you, so they bomb the ** out of you and invade your country.
You still have no cows, but at least you are now a Democracy.

AN AUSTRALIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
Business seems pretty good.
You close the office and go for a few beers to celebrate.

A NEW ZEALAND CORPORATION
You have two cows.
The one on the left looks very attractive.