Hi there students,
As we’ve been trying to work on our listening skills, I’ve prepared this activity using a snippet of BBC’s Newspod (Feb 22).
This is supposed to work as a simulation of Paper 4 part 1 of the exam. A nice strategy would be to read all sentences prior to listening to the passage and try to predict what sort of information is missing, i.e. a date, a name, a place, etc. What other strategies do you follow when tackling this part of the exam? Share in the comments part.
Have fun!!
Rick
You’ll hear part of a radio programme which talks about the relationship between insomnia and creativity. As you listen, fill in the blanks. You may listen to the passage twice.
Scientists and artists are gathering to discuss whether there is 1.___________________ between the two: inability to sleep and creativity.
Peter Manning says that during the night one has a clearer vision because the 2.___________________ are less present.
Sleep is a disconnection of the brain from the external world and part of the internal world. Beacause of this disconnection, the mind starts to free float and 3.___________________ goes up.
Nowadays insomnia is regarded as a nuisance, but in 4.___________________ it was considered normal in Europe.
Insomnia should be welcomed by those who suffer from 5.__________and__________insomnia.
Up to the 1900s, all the evidence of what sleep was about came from 6.____________________.
Insomniacs are primarily 7.____________________ and describe their condition as a nuisance.
The fact the insomniacs self-medicate is likely to be the cause of insomnia becoming a 8.____________________; the problem is not that people are losing their sleep.
The National Institute of Health acknowledges that insomnia is the most prevalent 9.____________________.
Insomniacs typically self-medicate with 10.__________and__________ in particular.
Howdy sailors,
How about posting as comments all idioms and phrases we had in class today with the word MIND?
I haven’t forgotten what I promised you. I’ll try to do that asap. In the meantime, you can pay a visit to this website to read a bit more about inversions.
Don’t forget to do your homework on the exam maximiser (p 96, right?) and the handout I gave you in class today, also on inversions.
And here comes something fun for you guys on accents – a snippet from Friends in which Ross pretends to speak British English.
Enjoy!!
Hello there,
Firt of all, I’d like to tell you I really enjoyed this very first class we had and I’m looking forward to helping you reach your goals. On this first lesson, we talked a lot about the exam, there were some “new” idioms and old friends. I think… ops… In my view, it was a profitable lesson.
In case you haven’t written down the links I gave you in class, here they go:
Last but not least, since we talked about Friendship, Friends, and pronunciation, I had to post this snippet from Friends.
Cheers,
Rick
Hello there,
I remember we had a discussion in class in which we talked about whether or not books are faded to disappear. Well, it’s been a while, but have a lok at this report from the BBC podcast NEWSPOD. I have cut this bit in particular for you, but it’s a nice idea to subscribe to the podcast and try to listen to it as much as possible (it’s updated daily).
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/podcasts/newspod/
And here’s the bit I’d like you to hear for now:
Demise of books – Newspod 21 Feb 2008
So, what are your impressions on what you’ve just heard?
Cheers,
Rick
Last class we wound up mentioning Munch’s “The Scream“, have you got any recollection of that? We talked about how we feel towards different kinds of art and read that text about the man who mistook his wife for a hat. Hence, I thought it would be nice if we had a place to share our opinions about Munch’s famous picture. Have a look at it and drop a line or two about it. Here you go:
And this is a short description on the role of the painting in popular culture you may find on the Internet (to read the full article, click here):
“In the late twentieth century, Scream acquired iconic status in popular culture. In 1983-1984, pop artist Andy Warhol made a series of silk prints of works by Munch, including Scream. The idea was to desacralize the painting by making it into a mass-reproducible object, though Munch had already begun that process himself, by making a lithograph of the work for reproduction. Furthermore, characteristic of post-modern art is Erró’s ironic and irreverent treatment of Munch’s masterpiece in his acrylic paintings The Second Scream (1967) and Ding Dong (1979).
The work’s reproduction on all kinds of items, from t-shirts to coffee mugs, bears witness to its iconic status as well as to its complete desacralization in the eyes of today’s public. In that respect, it is comparable to other iconic works of art, such as Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa.”
Needless to say, many different representations of the scream have been created. Have a look at a few I could find for you:
So, which one do you like best?
Take care guys,
Rick
Howdy ho!!!
So, classes have finally restarted. I believe you’ve all had a long time to relax and prepare yourselves for the year ahead, especially those who are planning to take the test in June. I’ll make this more active this semester as soon as the enrolment period is over.
Homework for next class:
By the way, what are your thoughts on our first lesson? Hope you enjoyed it.
Take care,
Rick
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