Having a good old moan

Dear students,

I'd like you to write about something which irritates you about the way we celebrate Christmas.

You can post it in the comments section.

If you need some inspiration, you can listen to this article from British Council's Learn English.

Review unit 3

Here are the answers:

1 1 imaginary 2 unforgettable 3 harmful 4 powerless 5 receptive 6 unexpected 7 infectious 8 introductory 9 Facial 10 rising

2 1e 2c 3a 4g 5d 6d 7f

4 1 dust 2 rubbish 3 litter 4 binge 5 bank

5 1 overdrawn 2 overslept 3 overrated 4 overpaid 5 overpriced

6 1 what 2 a bore 3 All 4 do 5 that 6 broke 7 How 8 do 9 would 10 spend

'Competitive eating' reading comprehension answer key

These are the answers:

2 1T 2F 3T 4F 5F 6F 7T 8F
3 1 confides    2 grabs   3 wolfing down   4 masticating   5 dunk    6 licks    7 pondered   8 choked

Christmas writing contest

If you want to take part in the Christmas writing contest, click here to read the instructions.

Avanzado 2 Vocab and grammar test

Click here to download the test we did in class yesterday. The answers are in the comments.

Avanzado 2 - Alice Munro

Click here to read the story by Alice Munro. We'll work on it the second week of December.

Avanzado 2 - Review Unit 1

Here are the answers:

1 1 achievement 2 survival 3 pleasure/ satisfaction 4 awareness 5 offence 6 urgency 7 dissatisfaction 8 responsibilities 9 adaptation 10 inaccuracies

2 1A 2C 3B 4C 5A 6C 7B 8B

3 1 is being 2 comes 3 's coming 4 've been doing  5 've made 6 be having 7 had

4 My youngest boy, David, starts school next week. He's a bit nervous about it all, and to tell you the truth, so am I. My other two never seem to worry about anything, and neither/ nor does their father. David obviously takes after me in that respect. We know, though, that he's got the same class teacher as the one Paul had two years ago, so that's good. Her name is Miss Appleby. She's a caring person and a very good teacher - at least I think so and I know most of the other parents think so/ do too. There's a two-week period of adaptation at the beginning, and it may be that David will come home at midday during this/that time. If so, I've arranged for my mum to pick him up and look after him until I finish work.

Avanzado 2 - homework

Dear students,

Here's the homework for the following two weeks:

• Vocabulary: noun suffixes. Exs 1 a & b, 2a &b, 3a (pages 12 and 13)
• Review: page 164
• A reading exercise on the quarterlife crisis. Click here
• A writing assignment. Click here

Let me tell you that our school is organising a theatre workshop in English. If you're interested in taking part, you just have to give your name in Secretaría during this month.

See you on 5th November!

Oral exams September

The following information is for students who have to take the exam in September:

Intermedio 1

The day of the written exam I will confirm the day and time of the oral exam with each of you.

Avanzado 1

Click here to see the day and time of your oral exam.

September exams

Dear all,

If you have to take the exam in September, make sure you check the date and time on the noticeboards and the school web site. At the end of this month, you will also find the timetable and pairs for the oral test there.

Avanzado 1 students, I haven't been given back two of the CDs I lent you. Have a look at home and return them or send me an email if you've got them. Thank you.

Have a great summer!

Intermedio 1 - Grammar and vocabulary review

If you want to review the grammar and vocabulary we've worked on this year you can do this test. The answers are at the end of the document.

Thank you very much for the end-of-year party we had in class and the delicious bites you prepared.

Avanzado 1 - Grammar and vocabulary review

If you want to review the grammar and vocabulary we've worked on this year you can do this test. The answers are at the end of the document.

... and here is a summary of verb tenses in English.

All - Classroom library

Dear students,

Please, if you have any books or films from the library, please bring them back next week.

Thank you

Avanzado 1 - Revise & Check Unit 5

Here are the answers:

GRAMMAR
a 1 to apologize/ to have apologized b being told 3 to have seen 4 to be going out 5 to sit down 6 go 7 phoning 8 to be seen 9 to use 10 bring

b 1 right 2 I can hear 3 right 4 You should have listened 5 is not permitted 6 right 7 tastes like 8 don't need to 9 I needn't have taken 10 as if

VOCABULARY
a 1 under 2 plaster 3 log 4 blister 5 scribbled 6 mule 7 osteopath 8 along 9 glanced 10 post

b 1 self-portrait 2 blink 3 installation 4 acupuncture 5 tremble 6 hypnotherapy 7 doodle

c 1 misunderstood 2 demotivated 3 outnumbered 4 overrrated 5 anti-war 6 undercharged 7 pre-paid 8 rearranged

d 1 out 2 up 3 out 4 out of 5 down 6 in

Avanzado 1 - Art audio

Here's the track for you to listen to (from Ready for CAE).

Click on comments for the answers.

Avanzado 1 - Place and movement

Here is the first part of the vocabulary notes on place and movement.

Intermedio 1 - job or work?

 Here's an exercise on the words job and work. The answers are on page 2.

Intermedio 1 - verbs with prepositions

Here are a couple of online exercises:

Exercise 1

Exercise 2

Intermedio 1 - Quantifiers

Here are some more exercises for you to practise the use of quantifiers.

Exercise 1

Exercise 2

Exercise 3

Happy Easter!

Avanzado 1 - Revise & Check Unit 4

Here are the answers. Remember we didn't do the section on 'warfare' so some of the vocabulary may not be familiar.

Grammar

a 1b     2a     3a     4b     5c     6a     7c     8a     9c     10 c
b 1 to learn   2 would have enjoyed   3 travelling   4 pay   5 doesn't mind    6 would win   6 would win    7 hadn't been wearing    8 to attend    9   Had...told     10 catching    11 wouldn't be living    12 have seen

Vocabulary

a 1 landline    2 casualties    3 ceasefire    4 voicemail    5 minded    6 enquiries    7 sighted    8 siege    9 worn    10 arrows    11 retreat     12 refugees
b 1 broken   2 get   3 up   4 blow   5 out   6 up
c 1 of   2 on   3 with   4 on   5 on  

Avanzado 1 - How the corrala movement is occupying Spain

Here's an interesting article fron The Guardian on one of the consequences of the current crisis.

Avanzado 1 - how to use suggest and recommend

Here are the grammar notes on the use of these verbs.

Avanzado 1 - verbs + object + infinitive or gerund

Another exercise for you to keep practising. The answers are on page 2.

ALL- Daniel Day-Lewis's acceptance speech

British-Irish actor Daniel Day-Lewis has won his third Oscar for his leading role in Lincoln.

Here's his acceptance speech and the transcript.

Avanzado 1 - Nomophobia

Do you remember the name given to addiction to mobile phones? Here's a video from

© Skynews and the transcript.

 

Intermedio 1 - meet and know

Here's an exercise to practise the difference between these two verbs.

Avanzado 1 - Revise & Check Unit 3

Here are the answers:

GRAMMAR
a 1 Not only did we see the sights 2 I think he might have got lost 3 correct 4 The waiter probably didn't notice 5 it's time you went to bed 6 correct 7 correct 8 must be making 9 correct 10 I'd rather you came

b 1 to arrive 2 were we 3 to have heard 4 had they got/ did they get 5 hadn't bought 6 be trying 7 started 8 had I seen 9 work 10 you didn't park

VOCABULARY
a 1 bite my tongue 2 beyond her means 3 behind my back 4 cost a fortune 5 spends money like water 6 can't make ends meet
b 1 slammed 2 whispered 3 whistled 4 sighed 5 rattled 6 screeched
c 1 buzz 2 drip 3 small talk 4 thought-provoking 5 bland 6 fare 7 shares 8 budget 9 fee 10 intriguing
d 1 wealthy 2 implausible 3 tight-fisted 4 penniless 5 vast 6 adhere to 7 profoundly 8 vast

Avanzado 1 - would rather and listening on money matters

Here are the grammar notes for 'would rather' for the Tuesday and Thursday group.

Here's the listening on financial advice for university students we heard in class.

Avanzado 1 - Inversion exercises

Here are the extra exercises I handed out in class. If you didn't get a copy, you can print them here and the answer key too.

All - Grand Central

Watch this New York Times video on the 100 anniversary of Grand Central in New York and fill in the blanks below. You can check the answers in comments in a few days.

·         In the whispering gallery you can communicate with people_______________ away.

·         It opened 100 years ago in _________________.

·         It created Park Avenue and ________________.

·         It’s the busiest and biggest _________________ in the world.

·         The clock on the façade is extremely ___________________.

·         The time on the train departure boards is _______________.

·         The sky on the ceiling is _________________.

·         Last year ________________ passengers came through the station.

Avanzado 1- Meryl Streep

Meryl Streep talks about her role in The Iron Lady here. If you're in the Tuesday-Thursday group, answer the questions on your worksheet. You'll be able to check if you're right - clicking on 'comments' - in a couple of days.

Intermedio 1 - Obama's inauguration

Some people talk about the importance of Barack Obama's inauguration to them. Watch the video.

Avanzado 1- Vocabulary

This is the vocabulary from the cloze test we did in class:

 CRIME NOVELIST SUED FOR SETTING PLOT AROUND PARIS LANDMARK

fabric: cloth, especially when it is used for making things such as clothes or curtains

sew: to make or repair clothes using a needle and thread

loathing: a strong feeling of disliking something or someone very much

depiction: a description of something using words or pictures

flabbergasted: very surprised or shocked

lawsuit: a case that a court of law is asked to decide involving a disagreement between two people or organizations

gloomily: (adverb) from the adjective gloomy, feeling sad and without hope

Avanzado 1 - Golden Globes

Here's a summary of the awards. You've also got the transcript and the vocabulary.

...and Jodie Foster's much-praised acceptance speech with some parts of the transcript.

Remember it's alwasys a good idea to listen first without reading the words!

Avanzado 1 - Interview with Quentin Tarantino

Here's an interview with Quentin Tarantino on British Channel 4. The interesting bit starts at minute 4.
What's your view on the subject? Is Tarantino right in getting angry? Try watching it first without reading the transcript.