ESO 1 - Graded Readers Test Change of Date

Eso 1 Students,

Your Graded Readers Test scheduled for Wednesday 1st is postponed to THURSDAY 2nd DECEMBER, as on Wednesday 1st at 11.00 you are attending the "It May Happen to You" conference held at our school Assembly Hall.

No copyright infringement intended. For educational, non-commercial purposes only.

Living with Teeenagers

For two years Julie Myerson was the anonymous author of the 'Living with Teenagers' column for the Guardian newspaper in which she detailed the lives of a family with three teenage children. In 2008 she put all her articles together and published "Living with Teenagers. One Hell of a Bumpy Ride".

Here we offer you Episode 94, Jack's Coat, published in the Saturday supplement "Family" on 16.02.08, where many of you will see yourselves faithfully portrayed!

Jack's Coat

The school's policy on uniform is very clear. Coats must be black. They must not have any kind of logo or patterns. Same with shoes. They must be black. They must not be trainers. Black trainers that look a bit like shoes won't do. Same with jumpers. They must be black and V-necked. They must not be hoodies.

I catck Jack going to school in trainers: “Ah, yeah, but you see it's PE and it takes me so long to get changed, I end up missing the beginning of the next period, so I'm just saving time, innit.”

I catch him going to school in a grey hoodie: “They never say anything when it's under your blazer,” he assures me sweetly. “In fact, I think they actually sort of understand that kids need to keep warm when it's randomly freezing outside.”

I catch him going to school in a big quilted jacket with a huge great Puma logo leaping across the back. Where did he get it? I know that I would never in a million years buy him such a thing to wear to school. This time he scowls ready for a fight. “Josh lent it to me. I'm just wearin' it till he grows into it.”

“Does Josh's mum you've got it?”

He shrugts. “Dunno. I've been wearing it for weeks.”

“But – I haven't seen you in it.”

He grins. “I keep it under another coat in the hall and put it on just before I go out the door, innit?”

“But it's not uniform,” I tell him.

“Surely there's no way the school will let you wear something like that?”

“They've never said anything.”

“But why not?”

“I s'pose they're too busy telling me off about other things,” he says without a trace of irony. “I've already got done for so many things this term. It's going to take ages before they get around to tackling me about my coat.”

A week later, though, they teachers do get around to it. Jack is hauled into the office and told he can't wear it any more. He needs a new school coat, and fast.

“But what happened to the one you had before?” I ask him.

“Grew out of that ages ago,” he says, “You think I'm some little baby. I'm bigger than Dad.”

It's just – you've only got about a month of winter left and then it's warmer and then sixth form and you're out of uniform for good.” He looks at me kindly. “The best thing, yeah, is if you can buy me a really good coat. But with just a very small logo on it. They won't notice that.”

“Not worth the risk,” I tell him. “No logo means no logo. That's what we're going to get.”

Which is how, two days later, I find myself in the place I detest most in the worlk – Oxford Street – at the very worst possible time – Saturday afternoon.

We go into Gap. “I don'tlike Gap,” Jack warns me. “Gap is for neeks.”

Straightaway we find a nice, black slightly waterproof coat for a fairly reasonable £40. Jack shudders.

“Look, can't you just wear something that's not ideal if it keeps you warm till April?”

“If I wear that, I'll be mugged. If you want me to be mugged, then fine.”

We go into Topman. He declares everything rubbish. I reluctantly agree with him.

In Foot Locker, though, his eyes light up. Throbbing music, lights that make your teeth ache. Enough Nike ticks to make your eyes go funny. Straightaway, Jack snatches up a Puffa-type jacket.

“This for instance! Look how tiny the logo is.”

I look. “It's not tiny. It's just black.”

“Yeah,” he soothes, “a black logo on a black background. How could they possibly say anything about that?”

Exhausted, I check the price label. “£70. No way!”

“But, Mum, it'd be such good value, 'cos I'd wear it all the time. For weekends as well as school, I mean.”

It takes me a moment to come to my senses, to remember why we're here. “What am I saying? Forget the price. I don't care what it costs. It's not school uniform!”

A spiky-haired assistant in a shiny black-and-white-striped shirt glances at the coat Jack's still touching.

“Look,” he says, “I shouldn't really be saying this, but that's well over-priced. You're only paying for the logo, man. Go down the road to Topshop or Gap. You'll get a decent winter coat for half the money.”

I look at my youngest son and I start to laugh. For once, in fact for the first time in ages, he really can't think of anything to say.

No copyright infringement intended. For educational, non-commercial purposes only.

Newsy: Secondhand Smoke - Staggering Statistics

A study from the World Health Organization reports second hand smoke kills more than 600,000 people every year.

According to the study—the first ever to analyze the global effects of second hand smoke—deaths include 165,000 children under five years old, two thirds of whom live in Africa and South Asia.

The study also says women are more likely than men to be exposed to smoke in the air. A reporter on CBC notes, the WHO is considering these stats: “What the WHO wants is more education programs that talk about the dangers of secondhand smoke, but interestingly enough, they want these programs to really target women because they think women are best empowered to protect themselves from secondhand smoke because more men than women smoke and they also believe that women are in a better position to protect children from secondhand at home.”

A blogger for 24/7 Wall Street says the study could be a blow to big tobacco: “The challenge to tobacco company sales has largely shifted from the huge smoking death suits of the 1990s … The issue now is whether the backlash from the data revealed due to those suits–that tobacco use is even more dangerous than previously thought."

But a writer on Blogger News Network discredits the study. He says WHO researchers are confusing causation with correlation: “This is utter rubbish: The usual epidemiological speculation combined with assuming what you have to prove …Places where a lot of people smoked had more illness! But saying that inhaling other peoples smoke CAUSED the illness is totally unproven. It is just assumed.”

The WHO hopes the study will lead to more indoor bans on smoking. A Fox News report has the word from people who have benefited from such bans.

Citizen 1: “I worked in the restaurant industry where there wasn’t any law like that. And the difference now, where there is, in restaurants is huge.”

Citizen 2: “I think they probably gained, from people like me, who go to places where there isn’t smoking where they didn’t before.”

WHO estimates that of everyone alive today, 500 million will eventually be killed by tobacco.

Writer: Steven Hsieh

No copyright infringement intended. For educational, non-commercial purposes only.

Newsy: Cyber Monday: Big as Black Friday?

Tired of standing in long lines in the early morning cold of Black Friday? Did you not get everything you wanted? Maybe you should try Cyber Monday, where shoppers can find great deals online in the comfort of their homes--or workplaces.

We’re listening to Cyber Monday chatter from CBS, The Christian Science Monitor, The Guardian, and CNN.

A consumer advisor tells CBS you may still have to get up early or stay up late to get the best deals--it starts at midnight: “Just as offline is the case, I would suggest yes if you’re buying big-ticket items: a television, a laptop, an e-reader, fine jewelry. So prioritize your time by price. Big-ticket items tend to sell out, go first.”

The numbers for Black Friday 2010 have been positive for businesses, and The Christian Science Monitor looks at how Cyber Monday might compare: “Comscore, [a] market-tracking firm, estimates that non-travel retail purchases online have totaled $110 billion for the first 10 months of the year (up 9 percent from that period in 2009). The holiday season, the firm predicts, will add another $32 billion in sales – up 11 percent from the final two months of 2009.”

And a writer for The Guardian explains how the sales numbers for Cyber Monday will only go up from here: “Like high-street retailers, online shops have not been immune to the recession. But as the high street faces another possible bloodbath, many online retailers are at least still growing, owing to the deepening penetration of broadband, consumers becoming more comfortable buying online and cash-strapped shoppers hunting for bargains.”

But increased online shopping also brings a greater risk of being scammed. A cyber security expert tells CNN some of the best ways to avoid fraud:

EVANS: “If you can’t, you can use your credit card online. Don’t try to use your ATM Debit card because a lot of banks will not give you credit like they would on a regular credit card. Try to use services--”

ANCHOR: “And if you get ripped off--”

EVANS: “If you get ripped off.”

ANCHOR: “Okay.”

EVANS: “So what you might want to use is services like PayPal. PayPal will guarantee. They look out for the actual customer. You don’t receive a product, then what they will do is they will refund you your money and go after the merchant.”

So, how much shopping do you plan to do on Cyber Monday?

Writer: Brandon Twichell

No copyright infringement intended. For educational, non-commercial purposes only.

ESO 2 - Listening Test for Unit 2 Change of Date

Eso 2 Students,

Your Listening Test for Unit 2 scheduled for Thursday 2nd December is brought forward to WEDNESDAY 1st DECEMBER, as on Thursday 2nd at 11.00 you are attending the "It May Happen to You" conference held at our school Assembly Hall.

No copyright infringement intended. For educational, non-commercial purposes only.

Crisis forces families to seek help

The following article by Carmen Pérez-Lanzac was published on ElPais.com in English last Tuesday 23rd November.

"I didn't dare to ask the Church at first, but we have nowhere else to turn"

Manuel fidgets nervously as he tells his story. Aged 60, this engineer with more than 40 years of experience in the construction sector is deeply embarrassed at the circumstances he now faces. He's been unemployed since May, and has been working for free for the last five months to repay the debts owed by the company he was a partner in. He has managed to hold onto his apartment, but has spent most of his life savings. He receives 660 euros unemployment benefit, which must cover his and his wife's living costs, along with those of his three unemployed children and their families.

The Propín Pecos family from Béjar, Salamanca. 

None of the adults are currently in work- CRISTÓBAL MANUEL

Four months ago, as their situation reached critical, his wife Ascensión approached their local church - in the Madrid dormitory town of Leganés - which is already helping more than 50 families.

The Catholic Church's charitable organization Cáritas says that around 40 percent of the people that are coming to it for help are doing so for the first time.

Organizations such as Cáritas and the Red Cross say that there has been a twofold increase in the number of families in need of help over the last two years. Cáritas has some 800,000 people on its books, the Red Cross 910,000, and the Association of Food Banks around the same number. Some families are getting help from all three. The charities say that most people who come to them are in the same situation: they are long-term unemployed, their welfare payments are insufficient or have run out, and the state is failing to help them.

"A life spent working for this..." says Manuel, whose pride has taken a knock. "I didn't dare to ask the Church at first, but my family is the most important thing. We have nowhere else to turn."

The crisis has hit immigrants particularly hard. Despite making up only 10 percent of the population, they make up half of those facing destitution. Cáritas calculates that compared to 2007, 36 percent of the population has seen its economic situation worsen. "There are people who have been thrown into poverty, or whom are now very vulnerable," reads the charity's 2009 report, which also says that the situation will worsen, at least in the short term.

The Propín Pecos family, who live in Béjar, in Salamanca, have been hit even harder than Manuel and his dependents. The household now numbers seven: Rosa and Julio, both aged 30, four children, and Carlos, Rosa's brother. None of the three adults works. Julio receives 426 euros in welfare, while Rosa pulls in ¤36 for cleaning work. The rent on their crumbling, freezing apartment is 240 euros. Their heating, food and light bills come to 138euros a month, while the baby's disposable nappies cost 45 euros. Their clothes are donated by the local church, as is most of their food.

Julio and Rosa were just about getting by until two years ago. She had worked as a waitress, as well as in a supermarket. He had been in the army for five years, and now regrets leaving. Like so many other unskilled men, he ended up working in construction.

He says that he has never been in this situation before. "I was paid regularly. Now everything is dead. First it was the textile industry, then construction, then the restaurant trade, and now the meat industry is closing down. We've spent the last two years sliding deeper and deeper into poverty. I haven't slept properly in all that time." He says that he has even been reduced to begging from door to door, and that in January, his 426 euros benefit runs out. "If nothing turns up, I'll head to France to join the Foreign Legion."

Miguel Morón, a social worker at the Red Cross in the working-class district of Móstoles in the south of the city, says that September has been the worst month so far. "In 2008 we had 685 families on our books; that figure has now risen to 1,071. We have around 25 new families coming to us each month. The problems they face are always the same: their outgoings are far higher than their income."

Sebastián Mora, Cáritas' general secretary, says that the crisis is hitting increasingly hard. "It is proving to be a tough crisis, both in terms of the speed with which it has spread, as well as in terms of the number of people hit by it. The local authorities have been unable to deal with the number of people in need. The problem is that we cannot be the only line of defense - public money is needed to fight this. We are saying that the state has to step in to help the growing numbers of families in trouble."

No copyright infringement intended. For educational, non-commercial purposes only.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Day is a harvest festival celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada. Traditionally, it has been a time to give thanks for a bountiful harvest. While it may have been religious in origin, Thanksgiving is now primarily identified as a secular holiday. It is sometimes casually referred to as Turkey Day.

In Canada, Thanksgiving Day is celebrated on the second Monday in October, which is Columbus Day in the United States. In the United States, it falls on the fourth Thursday of November. Since being fixed at the fourth Thursday in November by law in 1941, the holiday in the United States can occur on any date from November 22 to November 28. When it falls on November 22 or 23, it is not the last Thursday, but the penultimate Thursday in November. As it is a Federal holiday, all United States government offices are closed and employees are paid for that day. It is also a holiday for the New York Stock Exchange and most other financial markets and financial services companies.

The precise historical origin of the holiday is disputed. Although Americans commonly believe that the first Thanksgiving happened in 1621 at Plymouth, Massachusetts, there is strong evidence for earlier celebrations in Canada (1578) and by Spanish explorers in Florida (1565).

Thanksgiving or Thanksgiving Day, celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November, has been an annual tradition in theUnited States since 1863, when during the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national day of thanksgiving to be celebrated on Thursday, November 26.

The event that Americans commonly call the "First Thanksgiving" was celebrated to give thanks to God for helping the Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony survive their first brutal winter in New England. The first Thanksgiving feast lasted three days, providing enough food for 53 pilgrims and 90 Native Americans. The feast consisted of fish (cod, eels, and bass) and shellfish (clams, lobster, and mussels), wild fowl (ducks, geese, swans, and turkey), venison, berries and fruit, vegetables (peas, pumpkin, beetroot and possibly, wild or cultivated onion), harvest grains (barley and wheat), and the Three Sisters: beans, dried Indian maize or corn, and squash. The New England colonists were accustomed to regularly celebrating "Thanksgivings" — days of prayer thanking God for blessings such as military victory or the end of a drought.

Foods of the Season

In the United States, certain kinds of food are traditionally served at Thanksgiving meals. Firstly, baked or roasted turkey is usually the featured item on any Thanksgiving feast table (so much so that Thanksgiving is sometimes referred to as "Turkey Day"). Stuffing, mashed potatoes with gravy, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, sweet corn, other fall vegetables, and pumpkin pie are commonly associated with Thanksgiving dinner. All of these are actually native to the Americas or were introduced as a new food source to the Europeans when they arrived.

Vacation and travel

During Thanksgiving Day families and friends usually gather for a large meal or dinner. Consequently the Thanksgiving holiday weekend is one of the busiest travelperiods of the year. Thanksgiving is a four-day or five-day weekend vacation for schools and colleges. Most business and government workers (78% in 2007) are given Thanksgiving and the day after as paid holidays. Thanksgiving Eve, the night before Thanksgiving, is one of the busiest nights of the year for bars and clubs, as many college students and others return to their hometowns to reunite with friends and family.

Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving

The day after Thanksgiving is a day off for some companies and many schools. It is popularly known as Black Friday, because of the heavy shopping that day helps retailers turn a profit or put books back into black. Black Friday has been considered by retailers to be the start of the Christmas shopping season since as early as the 1930s.

If you want to know more, visit Celebrating Thanksgiving.

No copyright infringement intended. For educational, non-commercial purposes only.

English Tests for Unit 3 Schedule

You can always check your exams schedule at our calendar, clic on the "Exams" Tag under the "Labels" section, or read older posts, but just in case there are any doubts, once again we offer you the dates for the Unit 3 exams:

ESO 1

Graded Readers Test - Wednesday 1st December. You should bring your copy of A Secret Fear to class on that day.

Listening Test 3 & Study Time - Thursday 9th December.

Test for Unit 3 - Friday 10th December

ESO 2

Graded Readers Test - Monday 29th November. You should bring your copy of Jenny Abel and the Snisster Mystery to class on that day.

Listening Test 3 & Study Time - Wednesday 1st December.

Test for Unit 3 - Thursday 9th December.

ESO 3

Graded Readers Test - Monday 29th November. You should bring yoru copy of Who Am I? to class on that day.

Listening Test 3 & Study Time - Tuesday 30th November.

Test for Unit 3 - Wedneday 1st December.

ESO 4

Graded Readers Test - Monday 29th November. You should bring your copy of  A Safari Mystery to class on that day.

Listening Test 3 & Study Time - Friday 3rd December.

Test for Unit 3 - Friday 10th December.

Learning English at the academy of Brad and Angelina

The following article by Francesco Manetto was published on ElPais.com in English last Thursday 18th November. 

The subject of showing films in their original language - and its relationship with the mastery of foreign tongues, above all English - has been raising passions in Spain for decades.

One of the most recent participants in the debate is Education Minister Ángel Gabilondo. While recognizing that Spain has a dubbing industry made up of highly qualified professionals, he said that it was "also evident that in countries where films are not dubbed, it has clearly had a bearing on the knowledge of languages."

Spain is the fourth-worst country in the EU when it comes to mastering foreign tongues, according to a recent report by Eurostat. Among the top-performing countries to which the minister was alluding are Sweden, Denmark, The Netherlands, Finland and Slovenia, though he made it clear that original-version movies, accessible in a few dozen or so film theaters, all located in big cities, are not a "cure-all" for the problem.

Julio Morales Merino, director of the Doblarte de Madrid acting school, as well as a translator and show adaptor, is emphatic: "If languages must be taught, why don't they ban the profession of translator, and let everyone fend for themselves when reading Shakespeare in his language, Schiller in German or Tolstoy in Russian?"

It is an exaggeration, but Morales' argument reflects a concern among dubbers, exhibitors and distributors. Last week the Federation of Dubbing and Voice Professionals said that links between dubbing and poor knowledge of foreign languages were "imprecise." It is a view supported by the EU report Study on Dubbing and Subtitling Needs and Practices in the European Audiovisual Industry, which, covering 31 countries, highlights that "it is risky to conclude that original subtitled versions favor the learning of any language and that dubbing is the cause of an inferior level of linguistic knowledge."

That said, teachers agree that even indirect exposure to a language can help master it. "Even though it is a passive activity, [watching original version movies] provides a lot of information, perhaps at an unconscious level, about the language," says Paul Kelly, who has been teaching English in Australia, the UK, Italy and Spain for more than 20 years. "It's more about familiarizing oneself with the music of the language, with how it is expressed, with the intonation... This is something very difficult to teach in a class because the pupils only have one model, the teacher, who in many cases changes his way of talking due to not being in contact with other native speakers, something that occurs in an unconscious way."

Teacher Karen Hees insists on the importance of broadcasting programs in their original version on television. In the era of digital and pay TV, television could become more of an opportunity to get accustomed to languages (which in 90 percent of cases means getting used to US productions). In recent weeks, Fox has been promoting the latest series of House in English with Spanish subtitles.

According to the channel's director of programming, Pablo Viñuales, it has been doing this for the early premieres of series such as House, Cold Case and 24 for several seasons. "It gets us closer to the US premiere and satisfies the demand of an important group of pay-television viewers, for whom subtitled original versions have added value," he explains.

One of the most frequent arguments used by defenders of original-version films is the link between dubbing in Spain and Francoist censorship. It is true that the grotesque maneuvers of the dictatorship's board of censors destroyed - to give just one famous example - the story of John Ford's Mogambo. In 1950s Spain it was inconceivable that the married woman played by Grace Kelly in the film could have an adulterous relationship with Clark Gable. The dubbing and dialogue alterations helped to change Kelly's husband into her brother, thus making the adultery look like incest.

But after so many decades of compulsory dubbing, would it be legitimate to impose original-version films? "You don't go to the movies to learn English, that is what schools are for...," says Elena Palacios, an actress with 23 years of experience and the voice of characters in Cold Case and Lost, among others. "Why don't we leave things as they are, with freedom to choose?"

No copyright infrintgement intended. For educational, non-commercial purposes only.

Music: "Friday, I'm in Love", by The Cure

"Friday I'm in Love" written and performed by The Cure is the second single taken from the album Wish (1992). It is among the band's most well-known songs. It was nominated for a Grammy Award and won the award for European Viewer's Choice for Best Music Video at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards.

The Cure are an English rock band formed in Crawley, West Sussex in 1976. The band has experienced several line-up changes, with frontman, vocalist, guitarist and principal songwriter Robert Smith being the only constant member. The Cure first began releasing music in the late 1970s with their debut album Three Imaginary Boys (1979); this, along with several early singles, placed the band as part of the post-punk and new wave music that had sprung up in the wake of the punk revolution in the United Kingdom. During the early 1980s, the band's increasingly dark and tormented music helped form the gothic rock genre. The Cure were one of the most popular alternative rock bands in the world. The band is estimated to have sold 27 million albums as of 2004. The Cure have released thirteen studio albums and over thirty singles during the course of their career.

Their original 1993 video clip is a catchy way to revise the days of the week. Directed by Tim Pope, it features the band performing the song in front of various backdrops on a soundstage. Throughout the video, the band play around with various props and costumes while several extras wander about, causing chaos and ultimately trashing the set. Tim Pope makes a cameo in the beginning, riding a rocking horse and yelling out high pitched stage directions through a plastic megaphone after inhaling helium from a balloon. The final shot is of bassist Simon Gallup crouching and peering into the camera while wearing a bridal veil and holding some champagne.

And here's the lyrics to the song:

I don't care if monday's blue

tuesday's grey and wednesday too

thursday i don't care about you

it's friday I'm in love

monday you can fall apart

tuesday wednesday break my heart

thursday doesn't even start

it's friday I'm in love

saturday wait

and sunday always comes too late

but friday never hesitate...

I don't care if monday's black

tuesday wednesday heart attack

thursday never looking back

it's friday I'm in love

monday you can hold your head

tuesday wednesday stay in bed

or thursday watch the walls instead

it's friday I'm in love

saturday wait

and sunday always comes too late

but friday never hesitate...

dressed up to the eyes

it's a wonderful surprise

to see your shoes and your spirits rise

throwing out your frown

and just smiling at the sound

and as sleek as a shriek

spinning round and round

always take a big bite

it's such a gorgeous sight

to see you in the middle of the night

you can never get enough

enough of this stuff

it's friday

I'm in love

And I don't care if monday's blue

tuesday's grey and wednesday too

thursday I don't care about you

it's friday I'm in love

monday you can fall apart

tuesday wednesday break my heart

thursday doesn't even start

it's friday I'm in love

And finally, a soft, acoustic version:

No copyright infringement intended. For educational, non-commercial purposes only.

Newsy: Prince William & Kate: They Will!

Prince William and longtime girlfriend Kate Middleton are officially engaged. The news topped every morning show.

Sorry ladies. Your man Prince William will be permanently off the market in a matter of months. He and longtime girlfriend Kate Middleton are officially engaged. The breaking news topped every morning show – and according to HLN – even the prime minister’s agenda.

CAMERON: “I was given the news in a cabinet meeting. I was passed a piece of paper and announced the news in the middle of the cabinet meeting. And there was a great cheer [that] went up and a great banging of the table.

CAMERON: “A great day for our country. A great day for the royal family. And obviously a great day for Prince William and for Kate.”

Dlisted’s Michael K says he hands it to Kate – as long as she keeps her hands off his preferred prince – Harry: “After 9 long years of polishing the royal jewels and slowly crawling towards the crown, Kate Middleton has done it! Gold diggers of the world slip on your white gloves and gracefully clap for Kate. THE CROWN DIGGER IS VICTORIOUS!”

With visions of mile-long trains and billowing shoulder pads in mind – CNN’s Richard Quest – passionately – answers the question: is this another Charles and Diana?

QUEST: “This relationship is worlds, poles, galaxies, universes apart from the relationship that existed between William’s parents. First of all, Charles and Diana had barely met.”

QUEST: “Take this relationship…they’ve known each other for years. They’re living together de facto as man and wife in North Wales at the moment.”

Also not like Charles and Di’s big day – the wedding spot. St. Paul’s is reportedly out as an option. A royal watcher tells NBC, the wedding will still be the event of 2011. 

NBC CONTRIBUTOR: “Although the queen is very keen for it to be aware of the age of austerity we live in—everyone’s worried about money—I think everyone also would like a bit of fun. Everyone does like a wedding—particularly a royal wedding. It’s interesting to note they’re saying it’s going to be in London, so my belief is it will probably be at Westminster Abbey.”

Finally, an ABC report says William isn’t taking the traditional path – but after being heavy handed with Diana – Buckingham is letting it slide.

ABC REPORTER: “William is breaking with centuries of tradition by marrying Kate. British princes are supposed to marry one of their own—an aristocratic girl with a title and some land. That’s not Kate.”

ROYAL WATCHER: “This is a great moment—a real breakthrough. Kate comes from an ordinary, common family. Not Lady Kate Middleton. They’re self-made millionaires and we should all be celebrating that.”

The wedding is set for Spring or Summer 2011. So, is this a victory to bridge royalty and commoners? Or is the whole “royalty” thing -- just a little much?

Writer: Chance Seales

No copyright infringement intended. For educational, non-commercial purposes only.

Nespresso Cab Driver

Here's another Nespresso commercial. Enjoy their clear, precise diction.

No copyright infringement intended. For educational, non-commercial purposes only.

Humour: Green, Pink & Yellow

Spain's President, José Luis Rguez. Zapatero, France's President, Nicolas Sarkozy, and Italy's Silvio President, Berlusconi applied for a job in Brussels. Before the interview, they were told that they must compose a sentence in English, with three main words: GREEN, PINK, and YELLOW.

Zapatero was the first one: "I wake up in the morning. I see the YELLOW sun. I see the GREEN grass, and I think to myself, I hope it will be a PINK Day."

Sarkozy was the next: "I wake up in the morning, then I eat a YELLOW banana, a GREEN pepper and in the evening I watch the PINK Panther on TV."

Finally Berlusconi said: "I wake up in the morning, I hear the phone GREEN... GREEN... GREEN..., I PINK up the phone and I say: YELLOW!

Music: "Need You Now", by Lady Antebellum

You can enjoy another superb song thanks to our music teacher, Mª José Barbosa, who has again prepared a "fill in the blanks" activity using the lyrics. These kind of exercises are a very useful aid when training your listening skills and we are sure you are going to like this song and enjoy finding the missing words.

Picture perfect _______________,

Scattered all around the ___________.

Reaching for the _______ cause, I can’t fight it any _________.

And I __________ if I ever cross your __________.

For me it happens all the _________.

It’s a __________ _________ ________, I’m all alone and I _______ you _________.

Said I wouldn’t come but I lost all _______ and ________ you _________.

And I ________ _______ how I can do without, I just __________ you ________.

Another shot of __________, can’t stop looking at the __________.

Wishing you’d come sweeping in the way you did __________.

And I ___________ if I ever cross your _________.

For me it happens all the _________.

It’s a __________ _________ ________, I’m a little drunk and I _______ you _________.

Said I wouldn’t come but I lost all _______ and ________ you _________.

And I ________ _______ how I can do without, I just __________ you ________.

Yes I’d rather hurt than feel nothing at all.

It’s a __________ _________ ________, I’m a little drunk and I _______ you _________.

Said I wouldn’t come but I lost all _______ and ________ you _________.

And I ________ _______ how I can do without, I just __________ you ________. 

I just _________ you ______________.

Oh baby I _________ you ___________.

"Need You Now" is the title of a country pop song performed by American country music group Lady Antebellum. The song was co-written by Lady Antebellum and Josh Kear, and produced by the trio along with Paul Worley. It serves as the lead-off single and title track to their second studio album, Need You Now, which was released on January 26, 2010. The song was their debut single in the UK and Europe and was released on April 26, 2010. The lyrics describe placing a call to someone in the middle of the night due to being lonely and longing for companionship. Hillary Scott commented on the song, saying that "All three of us know what it's like to get to that point where you feel lonely enough that you make a late night phone call that you very well could regret the next day." 

Lady Antebellum is a country music group formed in Nashville, Tennessee in 2006. The trio is composed of Charles Kelley (lead and background vocals), Dave Haywood (background vocals, guitar, piano, mandolin) andHillary Scott (lead and background vocals). The group made its debut in 2007.

Lady Antebellum has been awarded Top New Duo or Group in 2009 by the Academy of Country Music and New Artist of the Year in 2008 by the Country Music Association. They were nominated for two Grammy Awards at the 2009 51st Grammy Awards; and two more at the 2010 52nd Grammy Awards.Of these nominations, they took home the award for Best Country Performance by Duo or Group with Vocals for "I Run to You". More recently on April 18, 2010, the group was awarded Top Vocal Group, Song of the Year ("Need You Now"), and Single of the Year ("Need You Now") at the 45th ACM Awards. Lady Antebellum recently did a collaboration with American Rock band Maroon 5 titled "Out of Goodbyes" for their album Hands All Over.

As of August 6, 2010, the song is the 19th most downloaded song in history, moving 4,028,000 copies, and is the 2nd most downloaded country song in history, trailing only behind Taylor Swift's "Love Story".

A music video was shot for the song, directed by Dave McClister. In the video the song has an extended piano intro, and features all members of the group acting out scenes related to the storyline. The video begins in a hallway of a hotel where Kelley is sitting against a wall and Scott is in her room, with Haywood playing the piano. Kelley goes to a cafe and has a drink, where Haywood arrives at with his love interest. Scott then leaves her room and hails a taxi. Kelley leaves the cafe and goes outside to walk to a costume ball, which Scott is also traveling to. When they arrive at the ball, they both see their love interests wearing masks and they embrace them. Haywood soon arrives at the ball with his love interest. The video ends with all three members embracing their love interests. The video was filmed in Toronto, Ontario.

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