THE STORY BEHIND YOUR NAME

Do you know the reason why your name is your name? Is there a story behind it? Did your parents almost name you something else? Do you know where your name comes from? What does you name mean in that language? Please, add a comment and share all this information with your classmates.

Describing photos

 

Can you describe this photo?

Talking about a photo is not just describing. We can also compare, contrast, speculate about the situation, react, give our opinion, imagine what happened before and after, who took the photo and why it was taken. 

Read this information and try to describe Elvis' photo again.

The "King" has some questions

Here you have a song by Elvis Presley, "Are you lonesome tonight?", full of questions.

This late version comes from a concert.  Elvis is laughing all the time out of control because he sang "Do you gaze at your bald head and wish you had hair" and there was a bald guy in the first row... So that's why he laughs so much.

DO YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS?

Form groups of four and think about 5 questions about this school year and the subject you want to ask your teacher. Don't forget to write them down on your notebook. Don't forget to check your grammar.

 The speaker of each group will ask the questions and the secretary will write them on the blackboard.

Did you have problems with grammar? Here you have some activities to revise how to form questions.

WRITE QUESTIONS

Activity 1. Present tenses

1. Tania lives in London. (Where)

2. Tom and Jim have lunch at 12.30. (What time)

3. I usually get up at 7 a.m. (When)

4. Peter is sitting next to Sarah in class. (Who)

5. I am reading comics. (What)

6. I practise dancing three times a week. (How often)

               

                        Activity 2. Past simple

Make questions from the following sentences.

Clue: use DID and the present tense form of the verb.

Regular Verbs

1) She lived in Glenelg for five years.

2) He married her for her money.

3) Michael typed these exercises on a computer.

4) They looked at the bus timetable before they left.

5) Peter and Joseph talked all night.

6) Those guys from next door robbed the garage last night.

7) They separated after only six months.

8) He watched three movies in a row.

9) Dung slammed the door and walked out in a rage.

10) She decided to go home straight away.

                        Irregular Verbs

1) He went to the football yesterday.

2) He left for Perth yesterday.

3) He won one thousand dollars in X-lotto.

4) He had eggs for breakfast.

5) They ate out last night.

6) She drove all the way to Sydney without stopping.

7) Wen Jie forgot her car keys.

8) He rang Raisa last night.

9) Nusret and Hong caught the bus to town.

10) They got to the movie on time.

Activity 3. 

1. Q: ____________________?
A: Three dogs live next door.

2. Q: ____________________?
A: Thomas is my best friend.

3. Q: _________________?
A: There is $100 in her bank account.

4. Q: _________________?
A: His number is 555-2453.

5. Q: _________________?
A: Roger's birthday is in April.

6. Q: __________________?
A: I'm late for work because I missed the bus. Sorry!

7. Q: ___________________?
A: I like the blue folder better than the red one.

8. Q: ___________________?
A: I've been able to drive for 10 years.

_____________________________________________?

He was born in 1880.

_____________________________________________?

 He was born in Arroyo.

_____________________________________________?

He invented the X-Ray Machine.

_____________________________________________?

He is going to study in Madrid.

_____________________________________________?

He had to travel to U.S.A.

Activity 4

Complete these questions with the appropriate word in the space.

1.     _________ are you doing in the garden?

2.     _______ you like fish?  I do!

3.     You________ pass me the salt, can you?

4.     ________are you coming to visit?

5.     He likes chocolate, _______ he?

6.     _______is my cell phone?

7.     It isn’t cold today, _____it?

8.     ________you seen my pen?

9.     _____old are you?

Activity 5. MORE QUESTIONS

1. We’re going to see the Rocky Horror picture show. Do you want to come?

2. It’s playing at the Majestic theatre.

3. They’re showing it for Halloween.

4. Yes I’m going to wear my witch costume.

5. Yes I just handed it in. I just wrote 500 words in the last three hours.

6. I wrote about the state of the economy in Europe.

7.  I think so; I did a lot of research, so I’m quite confident.

8. Of course you’ll get a good mark! Don’t worry about it.

9. Yes I have.  I’m a bit nervous about getting this job.

10. Yes I added my last job to it last night.

11. The position is head of marketing.

12. Yes I have been doing this line of work for three years now.

13. Yes I was; what’s wrong with this suit?

Activity 6

Object or Subject questions?

Question 1

Mother - Who ......... something to eat? John - I do. Can I have eggs, please?

A	do they want
B	wants
C	want
D	does want

Question 2

Julia - I got a new camera for my birthday? Max - Fantastic! Who ........ ?

A	gave it to you
B	did give it you
C	has given it
D	gives it

Question 3

Maria - I sold my car Fred - Who ....... it to?

A	you sold
B	did you sold
C	did you sell
D	sold

Question 4

Christine - Which bus ......... to the station? Driver - Number 141

A	do goes
B	does go
C	go
D	goes

Question 5

Mike - Where ........1........... ? Jane - In the house on the corner. Mike - Who .....2..... at number 20? Jane - My grandmother.

A	1 - you live 2 - lives
B	1 - you live 2 - do live
C	1 - do you live 2 - lives
D	1 - do you live 2 - do she live

http://www.learnenglishlanguagewell.com/grammar/object-or-subject-questions-exercises/

Write a question about the underlined section of each answer below:
http://inglessjm.blogspot.com.es/2011/10/extra-exercises-subject-and-object.html

1.     The doctor is working with the nurse.

2.     The doctor told the nurse to draw blood.

3.     The repairman worked on the computer yesterday.

4.     The repairman worked on the computer yesterday.

5.     The woman wrote a long letter.

6.     The woman wrote a long letter.

7.     The teacher gave the student some advice.

8.     The teacher gave the student some advice.

9.     The robber demanded all the money in the cash register.

9.     The robber asked for all the money in the cash register.

Write questions for these answers:

1. Her name's Joanne
2. No, I haven't, but I've got a dog.
3. Yes, I've been three times.
4. Since 1989.
5. On 23rd May, 2011.
6. It cost £5000
7. Janet's.
8. I ate a pizza.
9. 3 times a week.
10. Because I need it for my job.

IS THERE LIFE AFTER THE SUMMER?

IS THERE LIFE AFTER SUMMER?

WELCOME BACK TO SCHOOL AFTER SUMMER

We are having a chat about our last summer holidays.

Draw your hand on your notebook to help you talk about last summer.

Thumb: Tell us something special you did
Index finger: Describe the places you visited
Middle finger: Talk about a bad experience you had
Ring finger: Talk about the people you met 
Little finger: Tell us something you wanted to do but you couldn't










 

Now listen to a boy and a girl telling their friends about their summer:

THE BIGGEST LIES IN HISTORY

Watch this video and learn about some of the biggest lies in history:

http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/biggest-lies-in-history/192c4yy?from=

Here you have some of the lies mentioned in the video:

Read about some of the biggest lies in history and give your opinion.

by Jane McGrath

Hitler, one of history's biggest liars, takes the pódium

The Big Lie: Nazi Propaganda

By the time Nazism arose in Germany in the 1930s, anti-Semitism was nothing new. The J­ewish people had suffered a long history of prejudice and persecution. And although Nazis perpetuated centuries-old lies, this time those lies would have their most devastating effects. Like never before, anti-Semitism was manifested in a sweeping national policy known as “the Final Solution,” which sought to eliminate Jews from the face of the Earth.

To accomplish this, Adolf Hitler and his minister of propaganda, Joseph Goebbels, launched a massive campaign to convince the German people that the Jews were their enemies. Having taken over the press, they spread lies blaming Jews for all of Germany’s problems, including the loss of World War I. One outrageous lie dating back to the Middle Ages claimed that Jews engaged in the ritual killings of Christian children and used their blood in the unleavened bread eaten at Passover .

Using Jews as the scapegoat, Hitler and his cronies orchestrated what they called “the big lie.” This theory states that no matter how big the lie is (or more precisely, because it’s so big), people will believe it if you repeat it enough. Everyone tells small lies, Hitler reasoned, but few have the guts to tell colossal lies . Because a big lie is so unlikely, people will come to accept it.

 

 

The Trojan Horse

 

If all is fair in love and ­war, this might be the most forgivable of the big lies. When the Trojan Paris absconded with Helen, wife of the Spartan king, war exploded. It had been raging for 10 long years when the Trojans believed they had finally overcome the Greeks. Little did they know, the Greeks had another trick up their sleeves.

In a stroke of genius, the Greeks built an enormous wooden horse with a hollow belly in which men could hide. After the Greeks convinced their foes that this structure was a peace offering, the Trojans happily accepted it and brought the horse within their fortified city. That night, as the Trojans slept, Greeks hidden inside snuck out the trap door. Then, they proceeded to slaughter and decisively defeat the Trojans.

This was unquestionably one of the biggest and most successful tricks known to history — that is, if it’s true. Homer mentions the occurrence in “The Iliad,” and Virgil extrapolates the story in “The Aeneid.” Evidence suggests that Troy itself existed, giving some validity to Homer’s tales, and scholars have long been investigating how historically accurate these details are. One theory behind the Trojan horse comes from historian Michael Wood, who proposes that it was merely a battering ram in the shape of a horse that infiltrated the city .

In any case, the story has won a permanent place in the Western imagination as a warning to beware of enemies bearing gifts.

 

Anna Anderson, Alias Anastasia

With the onslaught of the Russian Revolution, the existence of a royal family was intolerabl­e to the Bolsheviks. In 1918, they massacred the royal Romanov family — Czar Nicholas II, his wife, son and four daughters — to ensure that no legitimate heir could later resurface and rally the public for support.

Soon, rumors floated around that certain members of the royal family had escaped and survived. Anna Anderson” was the most famous. In 1920, Anderson was admitted to a hospital after attempting suicide and confessed that she was Princess Anastasia, the youngest daughter of the royal family. She stood out from other claimants because she held a certain resemblance to and surprising knowledge of the Russian family and life at court.

Although a few relatives and acquaintances who’d known Anastasia believed Anderson, most didn’t. By 1927, an alleged former roommate of Anderson claimed that her name was Franziska Schanzkowska, not Anna and certainly not Anastasia . This didn’t stop Anderson from indulging in celebrity and attempting to cash in on a royal inheritance. She ultimately lost her case in the legal proceedings that dragged on for decades, but she stuck to her story until her death in 1984. Years later, upon the discovery of what proved to be the remains of the royal family, DNA tests confirmed her to be a fake. In 2009, experts were able to finally confirm that all remains have been found and that no family member escaped execution in 1918 .

 

Piltdown Man

After ­Charles Darwin published his revolutionary “On the Origin of Species” in 1859, scientists scrambled to find fossil evidence of extinct human ancestors. They sought these so-called “missing links” to fill in the gaps on the timeline of human evolution. When archaeologist Charles Dawson unearthed what he thought was a missing link in 1910, what he really found was one of the biggest hoaxes in history.

The discovery was the Piltdown man, pieces of a skull and jaw with molars located in the Piltdown quarry in Sussex, England. Dawson brought his discovery to prominent paleontologist Arthur Smith Woodward, who touted its authenticity to his dying day.

Although the discovery gained world renown, the lie behind Piltdown man slowly and steadily unraveled. In the ensuing decades, other major discoveries suggested Piltdown man didn’t fit in the story of human evolution. By the 1950s, tests revealed that the skull was only 600 years old and the jaw came from an orangutan. Some knowledgeable person apparently manipulated these pieces, including filing down and staining the teeth.

The scientific world had been duped. So who was behind the fraud? Many suspects have surfaced, including Dawson himself. Today, most signs point to Martin A. C. Hinton, a museum volunteer at the time of the discovery. A trunk bearing his initials contained bones that were stained in exactly the same way the Piltdown fossils were. Perhaps he was out to embarrass his boss, Arthur Smith Woodward, who refused to give him a weekly salary.

 

Clinton/Lewinsky Affair

In January 1998, citizen journalist Matt Drudge reported a sensational story tha­t turned out to be true. The president of the United States, Bill Clinton, had an affair with a White House intern, Monica Lewinsky. As suspicions mounted, Clinton publicly denied the allegations. As if this lie weren’t big enough, it turned out that Clinton had lied under oath about the affair as well — which was perjury and grounds for impeachment.

Here’s how the truth came out. Paula Jones was an Arkansas state employee when then-governor Clinton allegedly propositioned her. She later sued him for sexual harassment. In an effort to prove that Clinton had a pattern of such behavior, lawyers set out to expose his sexual affairs. They found Linda Tripp, a former White House secretary and confidant of Lewinsky. Tripp recorded telephone conversations in which Lewinsky talked of her affair with Clinton. Lawyers then probed Clinton with specific questions and cornered him into denying the affair under oath.

During the highly publicized scandal, prosecutor Kenneth Starr subpoenaed Clinton, who finally admitted to the relationship. Based on Starr’s report, the House of Representatives voted to impeach Clinton for not only perjury but obstruction of justice. Despite the scandal, Clinton maintained relatively high approval ratings from the American public, and the Senate acquitted him of the charges. However, in the eyes of many Americans, his legacy remained tarnished.

 

Watergate

Two decades before the Clinton scandal, another U.S. president was caught in a web of lies, and the controversy had devastating effects on the country as a whole.

In the summer before President Richard Nixon’s successful re-election to a second term, five men were caught breaking into the Democratic National Committee headquarters, housed in the Watergate Hotel. As details emerged over the next year, it became clear that officials close to Nixon gave the orders to the burglars, perhaps to plant wiretaps on the phones there. The question soon became about whether Nixon knew of, covered up or even ordered the break-in.

In response to mounting suspicions, Nixon denied allegations that he knew anything and proclaimed, “I am not a crook.” This lie came back to haunt him. When it was revealed that private White House conversations about the matter were recorded, the investigative committee subpoenaed the tapes. Nixon’s refusal on the basis of “executive privilege” brought the matter to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that he had to relinquish the tapes.

The tapes were exactly the smoking gun needed to implicate Nixon in the cover-up of the scandal. They revealed that he obviously knew more about the matter than he claimed. Upon the initiation of impeachment proceedings, Nixon gave up and resigned from office. The scandal left a lasting scar on the American political scene.

 

 

YOU ARE LYING!

HOW DO YOU KNOW WHEN SOMEONE IS LYING?

DISCUSS THESE FOUR QUOTES ABOUT "LIES":

“I'm not upset that you lied to me, I'm upset that from now on I can't believe you.”
― Friedrich Nietzsche

“So you're always honest," I said.
"Aren't you?"
"No," I told him. "I'm not."
"Well, that's good to know, I guess."
"I'm not saying I'm a liar," I told him. He raised his eyebrows. "That's not how I meant it, anyways."
"How'd you mean it, then?"
"I just...I don't always say what I feel."
"Why not?"
"Because the truth sometimes hurts," I said.
"Yeah," he said. "So do lies, though.”
― Sarah Dessen


“If you do not tell the truth about yourself you cannot tell it about other people.”
― Virginia Woolf

“Ask me no questions, and I'll tell you no lies.”
― Oliver Goldsmith