The joke

Author of this Exercise: Liliana Rota
Source: www.englishexercises.org

The joke                    

 

CLICK THE RIGHT ANSWER

A very good actor was playing in  a comedy where she actedhe acthe acted the role of an aristocrat.

The aristocrat iswaswere in the Bastille prison where he mustshe hadhe hadto spend a lot of time.  In the second act a guard arrived alwaysalways arrivesalways arrived and gave the aristocratic prisoner a letter. The prisoner was takingtakestookthe letter andreadreadsreadingit aloud. The play had already repeatedhad already been repeatedwas been repeatedhundreds of times and the aristocrat knewhad knownknow the letter by heart but he always was insistinghad insistedinsisted that the letter should be written down completely.

One night the guard decides to playdecided playdecided to play a joke on the famous actor , just to find out if he knew the letter by heart, after so many performances.

When the guard enteredenteringenterthe prisoner's dark cell, the prisoner had been sitwas sittinghas been sitting on a small bed . Hegivesgavegaves the prisoner the letter, but this time there was nothing on the sheet: it was completely blank. The guard was lookinglookedlooked atthe aristocrat: he was so happy about his joke that he couldn't hide his smile. He wanted to see if the prisoner could recitecan recitecould to recitethe letter by heart. The prisoner looked at the letter for some seconds , then he saidtoldhe say:

"There is too little light. I can't see very well. Can you please read the letter for me?"

And he gave the letter to the guard.

The guard , who obviously did not rememberdid not rememberedremembered the letter, said:

" You are right. The light is really very dim. I must to getgo and getgomy glasses."

He leavesShe leftHe left the cell  and went to fetch the usual copy of the letter. Then he came back with the letter and the pair of glasses and started reading the letter to the prisoner. The prisoner was of course very much amused.

 

Comprehension:

1 Where was the play set?In FranceIn EnglandIn Germany

2Where was the prisoner when the guard brought him the letter?

Outside the Bastille prison.In his light cell.Sitting on his bed in prison.

3 What solution  did the guard find?He recited the letter by heart.He started to cry.He went to fetch the right copy.

4How did the good actor feel in the end?He was angry.He was amused.He didn't feel anything.

5Where is the Bastille?In MarseilleIn ParisIn Italy.

 

Respond as shown

He was so happy about his joke that he couldn't hide his smile

 

Respond as shown choosing from the adjectives provided.

 Sad  ,  Grateful ,  Happy,   Hungry,   Tired.

that he went to bed  immediately.

 that he ate three sandwiches.

that he never stopped saying thank you.

 that he  kept  smiling all the time.

 that he stayed  in his room all day long.

 

Revising irregular verbs

 

1 Givegiven.

2 Taketaken.

3 Readread.

4 Knowknown.

5 Sitsat.

6 Hidehidden.

7 Saysaid.

8 Seeseen.

9 Leaveleft.

10 Comecome.

The High Price of Low-Cost Travel

Language Level: ADVANCED

Source: SPEAK UP

Standard: British Accent

Since the release in 2006 of Al Gore’s Academy Award-winning documentary An Inconvenient Truth, the issue of climate change has been very much on the political agenda.

Some critics have questioned Al Gore’s data, but Miles Tight, a senior lecturer in transport planning at the University of Leeds, says that 99,9 per cent of scientists agree that climate change is already happening. He presented his opinions at a recent conference on traffic, which was organized by the British Council in Milan. He argued that whereas Industrial pollution in the UK had been reduced  in recent years transport-generated carbon emission were increasing. And, when he met with Speak Up, he said that it wasn’t only the automobile which was causing problems:

Miles Tight

Standard: British Accent

Aeroplanes are interesting one. I’ve seen a sort of mix of data on this as to how important their effects actually are. I you look at the emissions per travel kilometre, or per passenger kilometre, then I’ve seen some data which suggests that they, if you have a full aeroplane, compared to a car, then, per person per kilometre, it’s about the same level of emission, but that doesn’t take into account the fact that aircraft emit their fact that aircraft emit their gases high up in the atmosphere, where actually it’s having a much bigger effect on global warming. I’ve seen figures that suggest two to three times the level, so, per passenger kilometre, they are actually more polluting and, when you think about the energy that is required to get this huge multi-ton vehicle up into the air and keep it there, it’s obviously going to be huge.

SKY HIGH

And what we’re seeing with aircraft at the moment worldwide is a massive increase. I mean, in the UK and many other countries, we’ve had the takeoff –if that’s not a pun! –but the rapid rise in the low-cost airline market. I came here today for 15 Euros from Leeds, a ludicrous price and, if I was to come by train, which would obviously be much cleaner, it would cost me somewhere like 300, 400, for the same one-way trip. And somewhere, I think we have to address those kind of relative pricing of the modes.

IT DOESN’T MAKE SENSE

You know, I mean, it’s a reasonably good train, because we now have the express trains from Eurotunnel, you know, I could come all the way here in about 10 hours, I guess, compared to the sort of two-and-half hours, plus access and egress and security check-in time and everything else that goes with air travel, so it’s not hugely different. It’s the price which is massively wrong. And everything points towards a huge increase in air travel over the coming years and that, I think, will be sufficient to wipe out any benefits that we might get through more localized measures that we’re seeking to implement to effect ground-based travel, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Well, on the one hand, we’re reducing it, but on the other hand, we’re simply going to add to the problem in another way, and that doesn’t make sense.

The Elephant Song, by Erick Herman

The Elephant Song - Cool Tunes for Kids by Eric Herman Source: www.englishexercises.org Author: Jill Friedman Elephants, I like elephants. Elephants, I like elephants.  I like how they swing through trees, elephants..... No..... elephant's don't swing through trees They don't? Well what am I thinking of? Monkeys Oh well in that case - Monkey's , I like monkeys.  I like how they swim in the ocean........ No, that's fish Oh I see. Fish, I like fish. I like how they scratch at fleas  No and sniff at trees and bark at the mailman No,no.no - Those are dogs Aww, gotta like dogs right, Ya, curled up on the windowsill purring  No and chasing mice No Well what then? Cats. Cats, of course Cats - I like cats. I like how they say COCK - A - DOODLE - DOO No, no, no - They go "meow" They do? You're thinking of roosters Roosters, I like roosters. I like how they reach into beehives for the honey -  Hmm? No, bears do that Oh yes, yes. Bears, I like bears, I like how they jump up high,  to catch a fly, No, and sit on a lily pad No, no, no, no, no, no - Frogs Gotta like frogs, Ya,  running through a maze for some cheese No, that's mice Oh mice - mice, I like mice. I like how they say "hehaw" No, they go "squeak, squeak"  That's a donkey. Donkeys, I like donkeys. I like how they stomp through  the jungle with their great big trunks No that's an elephant. Well right, that's like I said,  Elephants, I like elephants....... You don't know anything about animals I do so You're silly Am not........... Name the animal ! What animal swings through trees? an ostrichelephantmonkeydolphin What animal crawls on the ground? a fishgorillabearsnake What animal swims on the ocean? batcamelbirdfish What animal is called the 'King of the Jungle'? a sheeplionhenmouse What animal is black and white? a kangaroohippoflamingozebra What animal lives in Antarctica? a tigerpenguinowlparrot What animal says COCK - A - DOODLE - DOO? a roosteralligatordeerscorpion What animal says "hehaw"? a cheetahfoxmonkeydonkey

Taking the Frustration Out of Phrasal Verbs

Source: VOA SPECIAL ENGLISH

AA: I'm Avi Arditti with Rosanne Skirble, and this week on Wordmaster -- English teacher Lida Baker joins us from Los Angeles to talk about phrasal verbs. The first word is a verb. The second word, sometimes even a third, is usually a preposition. Phrasal verbs have a reputation for being tough for English learners.  So what does Lida Baker think?

LB: "I think that is a myth."

RS: "Really."

LB: "Phrasal verbs are not hard to learn, as long as you learn them in a context.  I think what has given phrasal verbs a reputation for being difficult is the way they are traditionally taught, which is that students are given long lists of verbs -- you know, for instance every phrasal verb connected with the word 'go.'  So 'go on,' 'go up,' 'go out,' 'go in,' 'go away,' 'go through,' OK?  That's a very tedious way of learning anything."

RS: "Well, give us some of your strategies."

LB: "All right.  Well, one thing we should keep in mind about phrasal verbs is that they are used a lot more in conversational English than they are in formal English.  So you are going to find a lot of phrasal verbs in conversational settings such as ... "

RS: "Come on [laughter]."

LB: " ... television programs, radio interviews, and pop music is a wonderful, wonderful source for phrasal verbs.  I think the best way to learn, or one of the best ways of learning phrasal verbs is to learn them in everyday contexts.  One good one is people's daily routine.  We 'get up' in the morning, we 'wake up,' we 'put on' our clothes in the morning, we 'take off' our clothes at the end of the day, we 'turn on' the coffee maker or the television set, and of course we 'turn it off' also.  After we eat we 'clean up.'  If we're concerned about our health and our weight, we go to the gym and we ... "

RS: "Work out."

LB: "There you go.  You see, so as far as our daily routine is concerned, there are lots and lots of phrasal verbs.  Another wonderful context for phrasal verbs is traveling.  What does an airplane do?"

AA: "It 'takes off.'"

LB: "It 'takes off,' that's right.  And lots of phrasal verbs connected with hotels.  So when we get to the hotel we 'check

in,' and you can save a lot of money if you ... " 

RS: "Stay -- "

LB: "'Stay over,' right."

AA: "And you just have to make sure you don't get 'ripped off.'"

LB: "That's right!  I'm glad that you mentioned 'ripped off,' because a lot of phrasal verbs are slang, such as ripped off. And most of them do have sort of a formal English equivalent. So to get ripped off means to be treated unfairly ... "

AA: "To be cheated."

LB: "To be cheated, yeah.  And there are lot of other two-word or phrasal verbs that you might find, for instance, in rap

music.  For example, to 'get down' means to, uh -- what does it mean?"

RS: "It means to party, doesn't it?"

LB: "To go to parties."

AA: "Have a good time."

LB: "Right.  Another wonderful context is dating and romance. For example, when a relationship ends two people 'break up.' But when they decide that they've made a mistake and they really are in love and want to be together, they 'call each other up' ... "

RS: "And they 'make up.'"

LB: "And they make up.  Now, if your boyfriend 'breaks up' with you and it's really, really over, then it might take you a few months to 'get over it.'  But, you know, sooner or later you're going to find someone else ... "

AA: "To 'hook up' with -- "

LB: "To hook up with."

AA: " -- to use a current idiom."

LB: "Right.  Or you might meet someone nice at work to 'go out with.'"

RS: "So what would you recommend for a teacher to do, to build these contexts, so that the students can learn from them?"

LB: "I think the best thing for a teacher to do, or for a person learning alone, is to learn the idioms in context.  And there are vocabulary books and idiom books that will cluster the phrasal verbs for the student.  There are also so many wonderful Web sites.  I mean, if you go to a search engine and you just type in 'ESL + phrasal verbs,' you're going to run across -- and there's another one, 'run across' -- you're going to find lots of Web sites that present phrasal verbs in these contexts that I've been talking about.  And also grammar sites which explain the grammar of phrasal verbs, which I haven't gotten into because we just don't have the time to discuss it here.  But in doing my research for this segment I found lots of Web sites that do a really great job of explaining the grammar of phrasal verbs."

AA: Lida Baker writes and edits textbooks for English learners. You can find earlier segments with Lida at voanews.com/wordmaster. And that's WORDMASTER for this week. With Rosanne Skirble, I'm Avi Arditti
.

AÇAI, THE BLACK GOLD OF THE AMAZON

Nutrition and agribusiness

SOURCE: www.maganews.com.br

Açaí, the black gold of the Amazon

A fruit which is native to the Amazon region, açaí is good for our health and also for the economy in many cities in the North of Brazil

Açaí is packed [1] with vitamins and minerals and can be eaten fresh, drunk as juice, or eaten as ice-cream, desserts, and preserves [2]. Besides preventing diseases, this fruit is also considered to be a great source of energy. It is very popular among people who go to gyms [3]. Among people who work out [4], it is common to eat it in a bowl [5], mixed with banana,strawberries [6], and granola. Pará State is the largest producer in Brazil, where there are over 250,000 people in 54 cities involved in the açaí production chain [7]. In the interior of Pará, the city of Igarapé-Miri is considered to be the largest producer of açaí in the world. In Belém, the capital of Pará, there are hundreds of points-of-sale selling [8] açaí. In the States in the Amazon region, it is common for people to consume açaí at lunch and dinner time. They mix the fruit with fish, manioc flour [9], and other foods. 

A very healthy food

A recent study carried out by the Federal University of Pará concluded that açaí helps prevent cardiovascular diseases, such as heart attacks and strokes [10]. The fruit also has other benefits for our health: it helps the intestines work efficiently and it delays the aging process in cells. In addition to all these benefits, other studies done recently have shown that the fruit is also good for our sight and stimulates our memory.

---

Matéria publicada na edição de outubro / novembro da Revista Maganews.

Áudio – Aasita Muralikrishna

Foto – Ag. Vanderlei Alvarenga

Vocabulary

1 to be packed with – aqui = é rica em

2 preserve – aqui = geléia

3 gym – academia de ginástica

4 to work out – aqui = malhar / fazer exercícios

5 bowl – tigela

6 strawberry – morango

7 production chain – cadeia produtiva

8 to sell – vender

9 manioc flour – farinha de mandioca

10 stroke – aqui = derrame

Global Warming Makes Us Sicker

http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2007/09/climate_100.html

Global Warming Makes Us Sicker

People Are Dying

150,000: Number of people the World Health Organization estimates are killed by climate-change-related issues every year. [Washington Post]

Heat Waves and Strokes

Authorities in China say warmer temperatures are responsible for an uptick in heat-wave associated deaths, such as strokes and heart disease. They calculated between 173 and 685 Chinese citizens per million die every year from ailments related to global warming. [MSNBC]

Death by Smog

Three words you really don’t want in your obit: “Death by Smog.” Yet Canadian doctors say smog-related deaths could rise by 80 percent over the next 20 years. And since warm air is a key ingredient in smog, warmer temperatures will increase smog levels. [CBC News]

More Heart Attacks

Doctors warn global warming will bring more cardiovascular problems, like heart attacks. “‘The hardening of the heart's arteries is like rust developing on a car,’ said Dr. Gordon Tomaselli, chief of cardiology at Johns Hopkins University. ‘Rust develops much more quickly at warm temperatures and so does atherosclerosis.’” [MSNBC]

More Mold and Ragweed = More Allergies, Asthma

A Harvard Study in 2004 showed higher concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere is good news to allergens like mold and ragweed (they love the stuff). And that means higher rates of asthma attacks, especially in kids. [Globe and Mail]

A Resurgence In Deadly Disease

“The World Health Organization has identified more than 30 new or resurgent diseases in the last three decades, the sort of explosion some experts say has not happened since the Industrial Revolution brought masses of people together in cities.” Why? Global warming “is fueling the spread of epidemics in areas unprepared for the diseases” when “mosquitoes, ticks, mice and other carriers are surviving warmer winters and expanding their range, bringing health threats with them.” Ick. [Washington Post]

More Malaria in Africa

“A WHO report in 2000 found that warming had caused malaria to spread from three districts in western Kenya to 13 and led to epidemics of the disease in Rwanda and Tanzania.” [Washington Post]

Malaria Spreading in Western Europe

The World Health Organization warns warmer temperatures mean malaria-carrying mosquitoes are able to live in northern climes, which could lead to a surge in malaria outside the tropics (aka Europe). [BBC]

Malaria Spreading in South America

Thanks to global warming, “Malaria has spread to higher altitudes in places like the Colombian Andes, 7,000 feet above sea level.” [An Inconvenient Truth]

Malaria Spreading in Russia

Russians found larvae of the anopheles mosquito, the malaria carrier, for the first time in Moscow last September. [BBC]

Spread of Dengue Fever

Scientists predict warmer temperatures will allow mosquitoes carrying Dengue Fever to travel outside the tropics. Since people in cooler climes lack immunity from previous exposure, that means transmission would be extensive. You get a severe fever, you start spontaneously bleeding, you can die. There is no vaccine. [Science Daily]

Death in the Time of Cholera

Cholera, which thrives in warmer water, appeared in the newly warmed waters of South America in 1991 for the first time in the 20th century. “It swept from Peru across the continent and into Mexico, killing more than 10,000 people.” [Washington Post]

Spread of Lyme Disease

Cold weather no longer kills ticks that carry Lyme Disease. Ticks recently began spreading along the coastlines of Scandinavia, which formerly was too cold for them to survive. Cases of Lyme Disease in the area have doubled since the late 1990s. [MSNBC]

West Nile Virus Home Invasion

Once confined to land near the equator, West Nile Virus is now found as far north as Canada. Seven years ago, West Nile virus had never been seen in North America; today, it has “infected more than 21,000 people in the United States and Canada and killed more than 800.” [Washington Post]

Global Warming Kills the Planet

Global Warming Kills the Planet

Greenland’s Melting

Greenland is melting at a rate of 52 cubic miles per year—much faster than once predicted. If Greenland’s entire 2.5 million cubic kilometers of ice were to melt, it would lead to a global sea level rise of 7.2 meters, or more than 23 feet. [LA Times]

Less Ice in the Arctic

The amount of ice in the Arctic at the end of the 2005 summer “was the smallest seen in 27 years of satellite imaging, and probably the smallest in 100 years.” Experts said it’s the strongest evidence of global warming in the Arctic thus far. [Washington Post]

The Northwest Passage Becomes a Reality

Remember the “Northwest Passage”? For centuries, explorers were obsessed with the almost-mythical idea of northern sea route connecting the Atlantic and Pacific. Well...it’s here. So much of the ice cover in the Arctic disappeared this summer that ships were able to take recreational trips through the Arctic Sea, and scientists say so much of the ice cover will disappear in upcoming years that the passage could be open to commercial shipping by 2020. [CNN]

Ice Shelf in Antarctica Bites the Dust

In 2002, a chunk of ice in Antarctica larger than the state of Rhode Island collapsed into the sea. British and Belgian scientists said the chunk was weakened by warm winds blowing over the shelf ... and that the winds were caused by global warming. [ENS]

Ice Shelf in Canada Bites the Dust

In 2005, a giant chunk of ice the size of Manhattan broke off of a Canadian ice shelf and began free floating westward, putting oil drilling operations in peril. [Reuters]

Say Farewell to Glaciers

“In Glacier National Park, the number of glaciers in the park has dropped from 150 to 26 since 1850. Some project that none will be left within 25 to 30 years.” [AP]

The Green, Green Grass of Antarctica

Grass has started to grow in Antarctica in areas formerly covered by ice sheets and glaciers. While Antarctic hair grass has grown before in isolated tufts, warmer temperatures allow it to take over larger and larger areas and, for the first time, survive through the winter. [UK Times]

The Swiss Foothills

Late last summer, a rock the size of two Empire State Buildings in the Swiss Alps collapsed onto the canyon floor nearly 700 feet below. The reason? Melting glaciers. [MSNBC]

Giant “Sand Seas” in Africa

Global warming may unleash giant “sand seas” in Africa—giant fields of sand dunes with no vegetation—as a shortage of rainfall and increasing winds may “reactivate” the now-stable Kalahari dune fields. That means farewell to local vegetation, animals, and any tourism in the areas. [National Geographic]

Florida’s National Marine Sanctuary in Trouble

Global warming is “bleaching” the coral in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, killing the coral, tourism, and local fish that live among the coral for protection.  [Washington Post]

The Oceans are Turning to Acid

It sounds like a really bad sci-fi movie, but it’s true: The oceans are turning to acid! Oceans absorb CO2 which, when mixed with seawater, turns to a weak carbonic acid. Calcium from eroded rocks creates a “natural buffer” against the acid, and most marine life is “finely tuned” to the current balance. As we produce more and more CO2, we throw the whole balance out of whack and the oceans turn to acid. [CS Monitor]

Say Goodbye to the Great Barrier Reef

According to the U.N., the Great Barrier Reef will disappear within decades as “warmer, more acidic seas could severely bleach coral in the world-famous reef as early as 2030.” [CBC News]

Mediterranean Sea? Try the Dead Sea.

Italian experts say thanks to faster evaporation and rising temperatures, the Mediterranean Sea is quickly turning into “a salty and stagnant sea.” The hot, salty water “could doom many of the sea's plant and animal species and ravage the fishing industry.” [AP]

A Sacred River Dries Up

The sacred Ganges River in India is beginning to run dry. The Ganges is fed by the Gangotri glacier, which is today “shrinking at a rate of 40 yards a year, nearly twice as fast as two decades ago.” Scientists warn the glacier could be gone as soon as 2030. [Washington Post]

Disappearing African Rivers 

Geologists recently projected a 10 percent to 20 percent drop in rainfall in northwestern and southern Africa by 2070. That would leave Botswana with just 23 percent of the river it has now; Cape Town would be left with just 42 percent of its river water. [National Geographic]

Suddenly Vanishing Lakes

What happened to the five-acre glacial lake in Southern Chile? In March, it was there. In May, it was ... gone. Scientists blame global warming. [BBC News]

Goodbye to the Mangrove Trees

Next on the global warming hit list: Rising sea levels linked to climate change mean we could lose half of the mangrove trees of the Pacific Isles by the end of the century. [UNEP]

Volcanoes Blow Their Tops

British scientists warn of another possible side effect of climate change: A surge of dangerous volcanic eruptions. [ABC News Australia]

More Hurricanes

Over the past century, the number of hurricanes that strike each year has more than doubled. Scientists blame global warming and the rising temperature of the surface of the seas. [USA Today]

More Floods

During the summer of 2007, Britain suffered its worst flood in 60 years. Scientists point the finger directly at global warming, which changed precipitation patterns and is now causing more “intense rainstorms across parts of the northern hemisphere.” [Independent]

More Fires

Hotter temperatures could also mean larger and more devastating wildfires. This past summer in California, a blaze consumed more than 33,500 acres, or 52 square miles. 

[ABC] [AP]

More Wildfires

Global warming has also allowed non-native grasses to thrive in the Mojave Desert, where they act as fast-burning fuel for wildfires. [AP]

Thunderstorms Get Dangerous

Hurricanes aside, NASA scientists now say as the world gets hotter, even smaller thunderstorms will pose more severe risks with “deadly lightning, damaging hail and the potential for tornadoes.” [AP]

Higher Sea Levels

Scientists believe sea levels will be three feet higher by the end of the century than they are now. [National Geographic]

Burning Poo

As “shifting rainfall patterns” brought on by global warming “have made northern Senegal drier and hotter,” entire species of trees (like the Dimb Tree) are dying out, making it harder for natives to find firewood. As a result, more people are having to burn cow dung for cooking fires. [MSNBC]

A New Dust Bowl

Calling Mr. Steinbeck. Scientists this year reported the Southwest United States is "expected to dry up notably in this century and could become as arid as the North American dust bowl of the 1930s," a process which has already started. [ABC News]