I LIKE TO BE IN AMERICA

West Side Story most famous scene:
This theme has been widely explored in literature (The Great Gatsby, Of Mice and Men, etc.), music, films, ... Here you have more examples: AN AMERICAN TAIL (please, do notice "tail" and "tale"
are homophones).

PAPA MOUSEKEWITZ:
Our family was traveling
Through the snow to Minsk
Suddenly Papa
Saw those huge paw prints
When I heard him screaming
I fainted dead away the streets are paved with cheese

Oh there are no cats in America
So set your mind at ease

ITALIAN MOUSE:
Ma la cosa terrible
Que esiste in la patria mia
If you think things were bad in Russia
You should see things in my country:

The times were hard in Sicily
We had no provolone
The Don he was a tabby
With a taste for my brother Tony
When Mama went to plead for him
The Don said he would see her
We found her rosary on the ground
Poor Mama mia
But...

ALL:
But there are no cats in America
And the streets are paved with cheese
Oh there are no cats in America
So set your mind at ease

IRISH MOUSE:
Sure that's sad, but sadder still...

When I was but a lad
I lost my true love fair
A calico, he caught us by surprise
In a flash of teeth and fur
Her tail was all he left of her
'Neath the heather
Is where it tirra-lirra lies
But...

ALL:
But there are no cats in America
(There are no cats in America)
And the streets are paved with cheese
Oh there are no cats in America
(And the streets are paved with cheese)
There are no cats in America
There are no cats in America
There are no cats in America
That is why, we sail, these seas

tabby: a cat with a striped coat.

lad: a boy or young man.

fair: (archaic) a person or thing that is beautiful or valuable, esp. a woman.

calico: an animal having a spotted or multicoloured coat, esp. a cat.

'neath: underneath.

heather: a low-growing evergreen shrub ("brezo").

tirra-lirra: a filler sound like la la la used to keep the tune in old songs.

COMING TO AMERICA by Neil Diamond

Far, We've been traveling far Without a home But not without a star Free, Only want to be free We huddle close Hang on to a dream On the boats and on the planes They're coming to America Never looking back again, They're coming to America Home Don't it seem so far away Oh, we're traveling light today In the eye of the storm In the eye of the storm Home To a new and a shiny place Make our bed and we'll say our grace Freedom's light burning warm Freedom's light burning warm Everywhere around the world They're coming to America Ev'ry time that flag's unfurled They're coming to America Got a dream to take them there They're coming to America Got a dream they've come to share They're coming to America They're coming to America They're coming to America They're coming to America They're coming to America Today, Today, Today, Today, Today My country 'tis of thee (today) Sweet land of liberty (today) Of thee I sing (today) Of thee I sing Today, Today, Today Today, today, today......

LISTENING + SCRIPT

My dear students, here you can find different websites where you can practise listening on your own. Some of the websites include exam practice exercises. Others, however, only provide the videos but you can read the script at the same time, which, as you all know, it's good practice for your learning. Just click on the words TRANSCRIPT, SCRIPT, TEXT or something similar and get ready to improve your listening skill! PBS NewsHour (American English) ABC The World Today (Australian English) CNN Students News (American English) NPR (American English) Click on TOPICS VOA News (American English) Future Radio (British English) BBC Learning English (British English) Here you have a link to a list of British radio stations . Before choosing one, please have a look at the information about the location so that you can have a go at different accents. Listening + script + exercises: http://www.examenglish.com/CAE/ http://www.instant-practice.com/ http://w