The Heber Springs cardboad boat races

Boat made by cardboard


Sourse: Speakup Magazine
Language level:A2 Pre-intermediate
Speakers: Justin Bermingham and Chuck Rolando
Standard: Amercian Accent

THE HEBER SPRINGS CARDBOARD BOAT RACES

There are many crazy sports in the world, but the “Heber Springs’ World Championship Cardboard  Boat Races” must be the craziest. Heber Springs is a small town on the shore of Greers Ferry Lake. It is in Arkansas, in the United States. This year’s event takes place on July 30^th.

The Cardboard Boat Race is certainly spectacular. The boats aren’t simple boxes. They are all kinds of shapes and sizes. There are traditional pirate ships with crews of six of more people. There are one-man canoes. Last year there was Scooby Doo’s VW van and an incredible guitar-shaped ship.

THE SECRET…

All the boats have one thing in common, they are made of cardboard. They must survive four 200-metres races to win the championship, not just one! So how do they stay afloat? Local companies and families take months over their preparation. First the form of the ship is created using cardboard. The parts are glued together and joints are reinforced with tape. Small blocks of wood are used to mount oars and masts. But here’s the real secret the bottom of the boats are painted and then covered with wax.

TITANIC

Finally, the boats are taken to Sandy Beach and launched onto the lake. The Ozark Mountains form the magical background scene. The races begin. The crowds laugh as many of the boats sink. The winners are applauded. At the end of the day there is the Demolition Derby. The boats crash into each other. Only the strongest survive. Prizes are awarded to the winners. The Titanic award goes to the most dramatic sinking.

MYSTERY

There is something under the water of the lake. But race competitors needn’t worry. It isn’t a monster, it’s an old market town called Hidden. The town was submerged when the Greers Ferry Dam was built in the 1960s. The dam created the lake; and Hidden is there, several metres below its surface.

ECO-FRIENDLY

There’s just one more question: why cardboard? Organizer Marilyn Wright explains: “Because of the challenge. It’s a challenge to make it float! And it won’t pollute the lake, either.”

Speak Up, joke...You see, officer...

Source: www.speakup.com.br

Standard: American accent

Speaker: Chuck Rolando

English level: C1 Advanced

You see, officer...

A man was pulled over for speeding down the down the highway. The officer came to the driver’s window and said. “Sir, may I see your driver’s license and registration?”

The man said. “Well, officer, I don’t have a license: It was taken away for a DUI. (Driving Under the Influence). “The officer, in surprise, said, “What, do you have a registration for the vehicle?” So the man replied, “No, sir: the car is not mine. I stole it, but I am pretty sure I saw a registration card in the glove box when I put the gun in it.”

The office stepped back: “There is a gun in the glove box?” The man sighed and said, “Yes, sir: I used it to kill the woman who owned the car, before I stuffed her in the trunk.” The officer steps toward the back of the car and says, “Sir do not move, I am calling for backup.”

The officer calls for backup and about 10 minutes later another highway patrolman arrives. He walks up to the window slowly and asks the man for his driver’s license and registration. The man says, “Yes officer: here it is, right here.”

“It all checked out, so the officer said, “Is there a gun in the glove box, sir?”

The man laughs and says, “No, officer, why would there be a gun in the glove box?” He opened the glove box and showed him that there was no gun. The second officer asked him to open the trunk because he had reason to believe that there was a body in it. The man agrees and opens the trunk: no dead body.

The second officer says, “Sir I do not understand : the officer that pulled you over said that you did not have a license, the car was stolen, there was a gun in the glove box, and a dead body in the trunk.” The man looks the officer in the eyes and says, “Yeah, and I’ll bet he said I was speeding, too!”

POET’S CORNER...Bison are dangerous and unpredictable

POET’S CORNER
Source: http://www.speakup.com.br
Language level: B2 UPPER INTERMEDIATE 
Speaker: Justin Ratcliffe (Bre standard) and Chuck Rolando (Ame Standard)

POETRY BY MICHAEL SWAN

Bison are dangerous and unpredictable

(notice in Yellowstone Park)

Unpredictable be damned

Anyone who knows me

Will tell you

I am remarkably even-tempered

Just one or two things.

Don’t photograph my left profile.

Never mind why,

Just don’t.

Also

As a patriotic American bison

I object to foreign cars.

Last spring

Somebody drove a Toyota

right up to my nose

and sat in it grinning

I put it in the river.

No orange hats

OK?

And no T-shirts

With the Mona Lisa on.

I don’t like the Mona Lisa.

Never mind why.

You can stand where you like

Within reason

But don’t get between me

And my friend the heron.

You get between me and my friend the heron

You are dead meat.

That’s about it.

Just keep these few things in

Mind

And we’ll get along fine.

Oh, I nearly forgot.

No yellow bootlaces.

Have a nice day.

This poem was written in Yellowstone Park, where visitors regularly ignore the notices and get up close to the bison to take souvenir holiday photos. Bison are irritable and can run at 50 kilometres per hour, so this does not always end happily. The poem was published in BBC Wildlife Magazine in 2007.  

The Guardian...I lived with Wolves

Read the interesting and real history by Shaun Ellis and friends. He has also written a book about his remarkable experience. It is published by Harper Collins. 


Source: http://www.speakup.com.br

The Guardian

I lived with Wolves

Like most Young children, i grew up with an innate fear of wolves. It wasn’t until I was a bit older and saw a wolf in a zoo that I realised how far away this animal was from the mythological creature I’d learned about in books and films.

FASCINATION

I grew up in a small village in Norfolk and was always interested in the natural world and wild animals. I knew I wanted to work with them in some way when I was older. In my 20s, I read about an American naturalist, Levi Holt, who ran a wolf research centre in Idaho and I thought, “That’s where I want to go.” I sold everything I had and raised enough money for my plane fare. When I met the biologists working on the reservation, they took me on as a biologist, teaching me how to track wolves and collect data for them.

THE FAMILY

Even though the other biologists and scientists thought it was dangerous, I soon wanted to get closer to the wolves really to understand their behaviour. I couldn’t help wondering. Could a human become part of their family?

INTO THE WILD

After a year of two of working for the centre and getting to know the area – a mountainous landscape covered in forest – I moved to the wild the first time I got up close to a wolf, within around 30 metres, any fear I had quickly turned to respect. I stayed in a den area, a remote place where wolves look after their yound, and very soon one pack began to trust me. I lived with them day and night, and from the start they accepted me into their group. I ate what they ate, mostly raw deer and elk, with they would often bring back for me, or fruit and berries. I never fell ill and my body adapted quickly to its new diet. It’s easy to look back and think, “What horrible food,” but when you haven’t eaten for a week, it looks appetizing.

I couldn’t hunt, but I soon became useful looking after the younger ones. I would spend days sitting outside the den, observing their behavior and trying to make sure they kept out of danger.

A SCARY MOMENT

I stayed with the same pack of over a year, watching pups grow to adulthood. I never missed human contact during that time. I felt a tremendous sense of belonging with the wolves. Whenever I began to think about my old life. I would quickly switch my thoughts back, in terms of survival. I had constantly to focus on my new habitat. Although I didn’t see anyone, there were people black at the reservation and I had a rendezvous point where I could leave messages if I felt I was in danger. I was only ever truly scared on two occasions once, when all the wolves were feeding, I ate the wrong piece of meat – there is a restrict hierarchy of who eats what part of animal and one of the wolves leapt on me in seconds because of my mistake. He took my entire face in his mouth and started to squeeze hard. I could feel the bones in my jaw begin to bend and in that split-second I realised how vulnerable I was and how restrained they were most of the time.

PROTECTION

The other time, I wanted to get a drink from the stream and one of the wolves stopped me dead in my tracks. I thought, “This is the end, he’s going to finish me off.” An hour of so later, he started to lick my face and we both went to the stream for a drink. There I saw evidence of recent bear tracks and droppings, and I realised this was why he guarded me. I would almost certainly have been killed but, more importantly, my tracks would have led back to their young, so it was for their protection.

MY NEW LIFE

Eventually I had to leave. Life expectancy in that short of environment was short and I felt it was time to come back to society. Returning to the world was a tremendous culture shock, but I knew I could do a lot with the knowledge I’d acquired. I now urn a centre in Devon that helps wild and captive wolves, and offers educational courses. I want to show people that wolves aren’t savage and ruthless –they are balanced and trustworthy creatures that place their family above all else. 


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Paolo Nutini, The New Scottish Star

I'm blogging again about Paolo Lutini and after you listen to the podcast there is an exercise from Speakup in Class, any question, please get in touch through www.speakup.com.br or e-mail me carlosrn36@gmail.com 

Paolo Nutini, The New Scottish Star

Source: Speak Up

Language level: Basic

Standard accents: British and Scottish

The New Scottish Star

Everything about Paolo Nutini is impossible. His name is Italian, but he’s Scottish. He has the looks of a teenage pop star, but sings like a 1960s soul man. His record company told him to change his name, if he wanted success, but he refused. Last year he released a debut album, These Streets, which was a hit, and he is currently in the middle of a sell-out tour of the United States. The magazine Rolling Stone named him one of its “Ten Artists to Watch.”

FISH AND CHIPS

Paolo, who turned 20 in January, grew up near Glasgow, in the town of Paisley, where his parents own a fish and chip shop. His grandfather, Jackie, introduced Paolo to music and encouraged him to sing; Paolo wrote the song “Autumn” in his memory. Paolo says. “He was a big music lover. He loved boogie woogie piano and adored opera.” Jackie died when Paolo was about 11 years old, but he would have loved the passion and soul of his grandson’s voice.

Last summer the family visited their ancestral home Barga, a small town in the Northern hills of Tuscany, where Paolo gave a free concert. He announced, “I’m playing here in my nonno’s opera house, unbelievable! I’ll try to put on a show for you, if I can stopgreetin’.” (Greetin’ is Scottish slang for “crying.”) Paolo’s songs are autobiographical; his album These Streets is a diary of his last three years. For example, the songs “Last Request” and “Rewind” recount problems with his girlfriend, whereas the title track, “These Street,” recalls his first, homesick days in London.

GOING HOME

“In my head i see a vineyard in Italy. I’ll build a recording studio there. That’s the plan…though I’ll have to return to Scotland now and then, just to keep my sanity.” If his voice doesn’t pay for that vineyard, his looks will: he has signed a contract with prestigious London agency Storm Models.

The Barga Connection (no audio)

High in the Tuscan hills, Barga is a town full of surprises. Visitors, who ask for directions, or perhaps a cup of coffee in a bar, get a big shock when the local people reply in broad Scottish accent. If it’s August in Barga, there is another big surprise: The Fish and Chip Festival.

Fish and Chip in Italy? Well, thousands of families emigrated from the area during the famines of the late nineteenth century. For example, Paolo’s great-grandfather took the Nutini family to Paisley where he opened their fish and chip shop. Over the years, many of the emigrants’ descendants have returned to their home town and brought Scottish traditions with them.

Speak up in Class

PAOLO NUTINI (C2)

TASK 1. Speaking. With your partner(s) discuss these questions.

a)   What kind of music do you like? Why?

b)   What kind of music do you hate? Why?

c)   How often do you buy CDs, or iTunes? Why?

d)   Do you think downloading music for free is morally unacceptable? Why (not)?

e)   Do you know Paolo Nutini? If so, do you like his music? Why (not)?

 LISTENING

TASK 2.  Prediction. You are going to listen to an interview with Paolo Nutini. Before you listen, discuss these questions with your partner, and make some notes. If you don’t know/aren’t sure, guess!

a) How old is Paolo Nutini, under or over 30?

b) Where is he from, and what is his connection (if any) with Italy?

c) Since when has he been interested in music?

d) Did his career start on television, on the radio or at a live concert?

e) What is Paolo’s ambition for the future?

TASK 3. Listening for Overall Comprehension. Listen to all of the recording and answer the question from TASK 2. You do not need to write long sentences, as the answers are short.

TASK 4. Prediction #2. Before you listen to all of recording again, work with your partner and decide if these statements are TRUE or FALSE. If you don’t know, guess.

a) Paolo’s first album came out in 2007.

b) His family own a pizzeria in Glasgow. 

c) His grandfather loved music and beautiful women.

d) If David Sneddon hadn’t been late for the civic reception, Paolo wouldn’t have been discovered.

e) Paolo was chosen randomly from 300 people to sing.

TASK 5: Listening for Detailed Information: Listen to the whole recording and check your answers from TASK 4. How many were correct?

READING AND VOCABULARY

TASK 6. Reading for New Vocabulary. There are some interesting words and phrases in this recording. Read all of text carefully and find words/expressions to compete these sentences. The words/expressions are order.

a) Prince William was recently in Australia on an official tour representing the British monarchy, taking the place of his grandmother, Queen Elisabeth II. He was the _________   __  _______ at numerous events, including a barbeque lunch in Flowerdale.

c) I always thought that Benetton was a big company ________  by a board of managers and directors until I found a website which listed the biggest family ________ companies in the world, and Benetton was one of them!  (same word used twice)

d) One of my friends seems to think that  Paolo Nutini was born and raised in Italy,

 but  ______   _________   __________ , he was born in Scotland and is of Italian descent. I could be wrong, though.

e) My husband and I normally like to plan our free time and tend to book things like concerts, restaurants and hotels well in advance. This year, though, we were sitting at home watching television when we heard that there was a free concert which had just started in Jardim Botânico starting half. We decided to go  _____ _______  ________   ____  ____  _________. I’m glad we did because it was great.

f) “How is your new project going?” “Well, to tell you the truth, we haven’t really started yet. We’ve got the deigns, we’ve got the financing, and we really want to ____  ___  ____   ______ but we’re being held back by bureaucracy: we’re still waiting for that last piece of paper!

WEBQUEST

TASK 7. Writing. Visit this website and write a brief biography of someone famous. You could devise a quiz and and test your classmates! 

  http://www.famouspeople.co.uk/

THE POWER OF POETRY

Source: http://www.maganews.com.br

Language level: C1 Advanced

Speaker: Mark Worden

Standard: British accent

The Power of Poetry

Will Stone is an award-winning English poet and translator. He recently attended the Poetry on the Lake Festival and it was here that he met with Speak Up. We began by asking him what had first attracted him to poetry:

Will Stone

(Standard English accent)

It was just something that came, really. Well, I was always good at English at school and I used t write stories, and that was obviously my forte, but I didn’t really take it up later on, English. I probably should have done a degree, but for some reason I didn’t and then the poetry just started…well, actually I started writing songs first, I was more of a musician, and I wrote a lot of songs, I had a long period of writing songs, and then I sort of…that sort of died off and I started writing poetry more, so it came out of the song.

SOCIETY TODAY

In 2008 Will Stone received the Glen Dimplex Poetry Award. this was for his book, Glaciation, which one critic called “a collection of poems of oblique and uncomfortable beauty.” The Glen Dimplex is in fact an Irish award. Will Stone believes that his poetry is considered too heavy for Britain audiences, who tend to prefer lighter, less serious work:

Will Stone:

I’m not saying that it’s all bad, but I just think a lot of what is most obvious, or what Is most evident, to people, seems to be the same genre of poetry all the time because partly that’s because that’s what people relate to, and it’s what people are…’cause a lot of people in England were turned off poetry by having to do it at school, so anything that’s difficult, or got any real depth, it’s not easy for them to engage with it. I think they tend to be more drawn to a kind of poetry that is more of an entertainment, or something that sort of has part entertainment and part…it has some meaning that corresponds with people, but it isn’t always something that your really need to think about for too long. You know, it’s like an instant hit and then it’s over, which kind of reflects our society.

Keeping the Right Distance (Audio)

Keeping the Right Distance (Audio) 

By Rachel Roberts

Source: 

http://www.speakup.com.br/extras/ed288/exed288a.html

All credits for SPEAKUP Magazine and this is only a promotional advertising only education purpose by English tips blog. I also recommend English learners that keep in touch through SpeakUp in your country and take out a subscription, very helpful and resourceful English material. 

Rachel Roberts (Standard British accent):One of the most influential thinkers on the subject of cultural differences is Gerard Hendrik Hofstede. He defines culture in two ways: “culture one” is what we in the west usually mean by “civilisation” or “refinement of the mind”. It also refers to the results of this refinement, like education, art and literature. “Culture two,” on the other hand, corresponds to the way we are programmed to think, feel and act – a kind of “mental software.” We demonstrate culture two in everyday things, such as greeting, eating, showing or not showing feelings and keeping a certain physical distance from other people. It’s not genetic. It’s a set of values that we learn together with the other people who live in our social environment. Interestingly, values are among the first things children learn. In fact development psychologists believe that most children have established their basic value system by the age of 10. After that it can be quite difficult to change and, as we acquire these values so early in life, we are rarely aware of them.

POWER DISTANCEIn his studies Hofstede focused on four main areas: power distance, collectivism versus individualism, femininity versus masculinity and uncertainty avoidance. Let’s take a closer look at the first of these. Hofstede defines power distance as: “the extent to which the less powerful members of institutions and organisations within a country expect and accept that power is distributed unequally.” In other words, people in countries with a high power distance – like Malaysia, the Philippines or Mexico – expect and even desire inequalities. This doesn’t mean that Malaysian workers enjoy being worse off than their managers. It’s more a question of respect. For example, in the family parents are more authoritarian and teach their children obedience. If your Mexican or Romanian girlfriend says her parents expect her home by 10pm, you should take that seriously, if you don’t want to cause her problems! In schools, teachers are seen as wise gurus who decide what is best for pupils to learn. Teachers in Italian schools may have noticed that students of Filipino or Sri Lankan origin are often more attentive and respectful than their native classmates. Similarly at work, subordinates like to be told what to do. The ideal boss is seen as a good father, who “deserves” privileges, status symbols and a much higher salary. In politics wealth, power, and status go together. Politicians often gain power through charisma and family connections, and always do their best to look impressive. A large house, a chauffeur-driven car and even a playboy lifestyle can be important symbols of this power. 

CASUAL COUNTRIESIn countries with a low power distance, such as the UK, New Zealand and Austria, hierarchy is not appreciated and inequalities are kept to a minimum, or at least out of sight. Parents often treat their children as equals, and teachers are not so much all-knowing sages, as experts who transfer or channel impersonal truths. There is a smaller difference in salary between management and subordinates in the same company, and privileges and status symbols for the boss are usually considered inappropriate. Subordinates usually call their boss by his or her first name and expect to be consulted on important matters. People in positions of power will usually try to play their status down, emphasising that they are just like anybody else. Perhaps this explains why the British public was so shocked by the expenses scandal amongst their politicians. Brits don’t expect politicians to have special perks or a particularly extravagant lifestyle! 

FORMALITYMultinational companies would do well to bear power distance in mind. For example a management technique like “Management by Objectives” is very popular in the United States, but can be inappropriate in countries such as Malaysia or Mexico. In these countries managers would find it hard to delegate important tasks to their subordinates, and subordinates would feel uncomfortable participating in important decisions. Amongst European countries, France has one of the highest levels of power distance, so remember to be very formal and deferential when dealing with French management. On the other hand, don’t be surprised if a Danish or Irish colleague remains unimpressed by your titles. He or she will probably expect to use your first name, even if they are at a lower level professionally. And if you go to work for a British company, be prepared to show some initiative! As always, flexibility and acceptance are the key to good relations.Next month we’ll take a look at the differences between collectivist and individualist societies. In the meantime I’ll leave you to ponder over where your country stands in the power distance scale. 

THE EXPERT Gerard Henrik Hofstede

Gerard Hendrik Hofstede was born in Haarlem, the Netherlands in 1928. Between 1965-71 he founded and managed the Personnel Research Department of IBM Europe. He conducted a survey about the values of people working in local IBM subsidiaries in over 50 countries around the world.