HOW WE WATCH WHAT WE WATCH

NPR is National Public Radio, a very prestigious American radio station and website. They have a series on how we watch TV, and even what we consider TV, since there has been a shift in the concept in recent years. 

Check out the podcasts in this series, for example, 

The Future Of 'Short Attention Span Theater'

INTERACTIVE READING: The first year of life

Since we've been talking about learning and education, this could be an interesting article to complement what you've learnt about the topic. Anyone with experience of babies knows how quickly they develop. When you only see a baby once in a while, it’s incredible how much they have learned to do

The texts based on National Geographic Magazine articles are accompanied by interactive reading comprehension activities, a recording of the text, a supplementary grammar and vocabulary practice worksheet and more! Click here for the link.

HOUSING

Click here to learn the key words you need to talk about "buying vs. renting a house".

Click here to listen to some housing complaints and do the follow-up exercises online.

Click here to read the script for Charlotte's role-play with me about a problem between the landlady and the tenant.

Now listen to a dialogue about property development and answer some questions about it.

Mamma Mia musical on the radio

Listen to this podcast and select the sentences that are true.

MAMMA MIA ON THE RADIO

So many screens and so little time to watch

Listen to this PODCAST and fill in the gaps in the script.

Inversion in spoken English

We are going to work on inversion by looking at some examples in which inversion is used by native speakers.

Let´s start with Gwyneth Paltrow´s speech  when she was awarded the Oscar for "Shakespeare in Love"

A couple of useful words you'll need to understand her speech:

SOULFUL: passionate and deeply expressive
OXYMORON: contradiction

Where does she use an iversion?

Here goes a selection of links to pretty comprehensive explanations of common INVERSION PATTERNS:

INVERSION I
INVERSION II 

You may as well find extended practice in your grammar bible MyGrammarLab in Unit 76.

LISTENING: RELATIONSHIPS

Listen to exercise 3.2. UNIT 3 PAGE 24 and answer questions in A and B. Be prepared to talk about the questions in C in class on Thursday. 
To listen to the next track, use the forward button in the player.

 

POLITICS: LISTENING

Here's a listening you can do at home. Go to page 31 of your book and do the listening exercises about 5 people talking about votes.

Use the rewind/fast forward buttons to go to the next speaker or go back to the previous one.

LISTENING: Three people talking about British culture

This is the recording that goes with activity 2.3 on page 18 of your book. 

 

After you listen twice and do act. A and B, check the transcript on pages 161-62. Notice the following expressions and look at the context of usage:

LISTENING: An amazing life

This is the recording that goes with listening activity 12.1 in Unit 12, page 82. 

 

-Prior to listening, you should look at the vocabulary in the Vocabulary section on the same page. 

-As you listen take notes for exercise A in the listening section. 

-The last step is to read the transcript as you listen

and underline any good/new expressions.I will ask about this  in class on Thursday so I expect you to have such a list.

Prepare a short speech for the Conversation practice on pg. 83. Think of someone you know or you've heard of who has had an amazing life. In class you will tell their personal history to your partner.

LISTENING: Psycho-tree

Listen again to the recording you heard in class and complete your notes. Then analyse the tree that you drew. What can you say about your intelligence and imagination?

LISTENINGS UNIT 5

Play the two recordings from pages 64 and 70 and check the answers and the vocabulary focus. Click here to view/download the sheet.