English Without End

Texting, the great debate TEXTING IS GOOD FOR THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE Prof. David Crystal debunks the myths (S1Ep2 of It's Only a Theory , 11 May 2013) " illiterate " " ... and every one of those statements are a load of chicken droppings" "nobody sends a text without not be ing a point" "why are they leaving the letters out ?" "... the more you text, the better your literacy scores" "... abbreviations are new-fangled , cooked up by today's youth - not so". " textiquette " "... they'd look at me as if I am  nuts ." "... there are downsides to texting" 2b or not 2b?   ( The Guardian ) Video games testing  reading exercise KEY : 1. d 2. a 3. b 4. b 5. d 6. a 7. c 8. c

Multiple-choice listening : Gregg and Todd debate the necessity of minimum wages. TIP: Make sure you hide the script and do the quiz and vocab exercises before you read it. Now, let's see if this pic jogs your memory : With lyrics . ODE TO WORK I AM TIRED BECAUSE I AM OVERWORKED The population of Britain is  51  million. 21 million are retired. That leaves  30  million to do the work. There are  19  million in school. That leaves  11  million to do the work. Of this total,  2  million are unemployed and  4  million are employed by the government. That leaves  5  million to do the work. 1  million are in the armed forces which leaves  4  million to do the work! From that total  3  million are employed by the County and Borough Councils leaving  1  million to do the work! There are  620,000  people in hospitals and  379,998  in prison. That leaves  2  people to do the work! You  and  me . And you are sitting doing nothing reading

The novel upon which Hitchcock based the film  "Rear Window ". The chilling and riveting story of a man immobilised in his apartment, observing the minutiae of life - and death - through his rear window. Most of Hal Jeffries's daily observations run to the mundane, until he plays back certain events in his mind and realises that they point to a murder. What do you fancy doing? - Read the short story "It had to be murder" by Cornell Woolerich, 1942 (13 pages). - Listen to it on BBC Radio Reading. - Watch Rear Window (Alfred Hitchcock, 1954) The Must-Read Short Stories Behind 16 Great Movies

Kaitiakitanga – guardianship and conservation New Zealand Travel website Sounds of New Zealand English Environment (vocabulary and activities) New fountains and bottle-refill points to tackle London's plastic waste ( The Guardian ) ESL Video Quiz: (multiple choice) Green Growth : A New Model for Sustainable Development in Asia Avatar : Environment, Sustainability The Na'vi (in English: The People) are a race of extraterrestrial humanoids who inhabit the jungle moon of Pandora. They choose to live in harmony and natural equilibrium with their surroundings. If they become too numerous, Eywa, the intelligence they worship, may devise a way to limit their numbers before they cause an ecological imbalance, for she maintains the balance of life. Over the millennium, the Na'vi have developed a healthy respect and reverence for their surrounding environment. In return, Eywa may have affected the environment to provide them with sufficient food a

Blue Gum Tree   - a short story  by Pat Boyle. Eucalypts: Trees of the Future?  (New Zealand Geographic)

A report on a school trip abroad Look at the report and do the exercises to improve your writing skills.