I know you’re on a break, but here goes something to keep you busy: a word-formation exercise! See if you can change the words and complete the text correctly. You’ll find a link to the answers at the end of this post.

“The mosaic floors of Manchester’s imposing town hall are decorated with bees that represent the city’s once 1.RIVAL ________________ industrial might. But its history as the world’s first manufacturing powerhouse also makes it 2. ARGUE _______________ the cradle of global warming, so it is fitting that Alfred Waterhouse’s neo-gothic masterpiece is this weekend hosting a search for the most 3. INNOVATION _______________ solutions to the problem of climate change.

Under a vaulted ceiling decorated with the arms of the countries and cities with which Manchester once traded, now 4. LIGHT _______________ by low-energy chandeliers, a panel of experts heard pitches for ideas ranging from a fleet of remote-controlled sailing ships that would spray seawater into the air to make whiter clouds to livestock farming methods modelled on the great migrations of the Serengeti.

Today it will hear a 5. PROPOSE _______________ to increase the carbon absorbing capacity of the ocean by adding limestone to it, a plan for generating energy from a ‘big underwater stomach’ digesting algae, and new ideas about harnessing 6. TIDE _______________ energy.”

Do the exercise and then check your answers clicking here.

Best,

Rick

So, today there was a paper 3 mock. We also worked on a couple of spoken phrases.

For next class, all you have to do is catch up on anything that’s been left behind and go over the mock test again.

Enjoy your weekend!

So, how often do you tell lies? What about white lies? Do you think they’re necessary or could we all benefit from a lie-free society? Have a look at the article below. Besides reading it, you may also check the words related to lying.

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/main.jhtml?xml=/health/2000/10/17/thlie17.xml

‘DOES my bum look big in this?" said my friend. It had to happen. The question I had been dreading for the past few hours needed an answer. As she looked at me inquiringly, turning this way and that in an aquamarine micro-mini at least one size too small for her, I mentally steeled myself before replying in a whisper. "Yes, I’m afraid it does." Hopes for a jolly afternoon’s shopping fell, along with her face. So much for telling the truth.

Radical honesty therapy, as it is known in America, is the latest thing to be held up as the key to happiness and success. It involves telling the truth all the time, with no exceptions for hurt feelings. But, as I found out, this is not as easy as it might sound. Altruistic lies, rather than the conniving, self-aggrandising variety, are an essential part of polite society.

"We all lie like hell. It wears us out. It is the major source of all human stress," says Brad Blanton, psychotherapist and founder of the Centre for Radical Honesty. The best-selling author of Practising Radical Honesty: How to Complete the Past, Live in the Present and Build the Future with a Little Help from Your Friends has become a household name in the States, where he spreads his message via day-time television talk shows.

He certainly has his work cut out for him. In a recent survey of Americans, 93 per cent admitted to lying "regularly and habitually" in the workplace. Dr Blanton is typically blunt about the consequences of being deceitful. "Lying kills people," he says.

Well, fibbing may be murderous, but honesty started becoming inconvenient for me just after breakfast, when I needed change for a parking meter. The cashier in the corner shop looked at my £10 note with a jaundiced eye. Did I really want the gobstopper or was I after change for the parking, he wondered? If so, the shop always had a policy of refusal. On a normal day, I would have lied. Traffic wardens in these parts show no mercy. Instead, I admitted everything and was shown the door, change-less.

Dr Blanton, who lives in Virginia with his wife and two children, is adamant that minor inconveniences are nothing compared with the huge benefits of truth telling. "Telling the truth, after hiding it for a long time, reopens old wounds that didn’t heal properly. It hurts a lot. It takes guts. It isn’t easy. But it is better than the alternative."

The alternative, he believes, is the stress of living "in the prison of the mind", which results in depression and ill health. "Your body stays tied up in knots and is susceptible to illness," he says. Allergies, high blood pressure and insomnia are all exacerbated by lying. Good relationship skills, parenting skills and management skills are also dependent on telling the truth.

Honesty, according to Dr Blanton, brings many rewards, not least in business – and perhaps he is right. Gifi Fields, chief executive of Coppernob Communications, who has made tens of millions of pounds in a long career, insists that his own integrity has helped him succeed.

"I have always believed that honesty is the best policy. Obviously, there are moral and ethical values in business. If you want to make deals, you have to have trust."

On the other hand, Anne McKevitt, an interior designer and television presenter, is happy to admit to frequent fibbing. She points out that the truth can sometimes be too painful. "I think white lies are good," she says. "I tell them all the time."

Richard Wiseman, a psychologist at the University of Hertfordshire, says that lies can protect people as well as harm them. He is also certain that people will continue to tell them because human beings follow the law of survival of the fittest. "I suspect Dr Blanton has devised an unstable strategy. If we all told the truth all the time, it would be fine, but the advantage would then go to the few who were prepared to lie."

By the end of my day of telling nothing but the truth, I definitely regretted my honest approach. Forget personal gain. My big-bottomed ex-friend decided to tell some home truths of her own. I still haven’t quite recovered.

Today we finally ended unit 6. Well, at least sort of. We also worked on parts 3 and 4 of Paper 3, and worked on writing. Apart from that, I prepared an exercise which is similar to Paper 1, part 1.

Next class we’re covering the listening from the maximiser, correcting homework and doing “Unit 6 test”. Then we’re good to go to unit 7, at last!

Homework:

- Extra: I need you to find a short text on the Internet and create a paper 1, part 1 question (similar to what I’ve done). Then, you’re going to publish that question on the Wiki. Make sure you publish it on the right page, ok? Oh, don’t post the answers. Let’s see what people’s guesses are first.

- Coursebook: p. 95 (Unit 6 – review and extension)

- Coursebook: p. 92 (ex. 1, 2 and 3), and 94 exercise 6 (writing – report)

- Maximiser: p. 50, 51 and 53

PS: I haven’t received any composition from the handout I gave you guys. Please, do not neglect writing. It might play a major role on your exam.

Enjoy the weekend!

Rick

We covered some more of unit 6 today. And this is what you’ll have to do at home:

- Coursebook: p. 88, 89, 90, and 91

- Exam Maximiser: p. 48, 52 (Language focus: Vocabulary), and 53

Enjoy your weekend!

PS: Thiágô, where are you???

Rick

So, this is what you are supposed to do at home:

- HANDOUT: Test 4 – Paper 1 – Part 4 (Fat Mikey)

- Coursebook: p. 84, 85, 86 and 87.

- Extra: Compositions from the handout I’ve given you. Feel free to send them to me through email.

Cheers,

Rick

I’d like to ask one of you guys to write a brief description of what we covered today in the wiki. How does that sound to you? That way, we all may contribute and add to an initial description and go further on the topics which we discussed. Perhaps you could find some texts, videos or audio files about our discussion topics.

Homework:

- Coursebook: p 80 and 81 (Units 1-5 Progress Check)

- Maximiser: p 44 and 45

- Writing: Maximiser, page 47 exercise 5 (you might want to check the previous activities as a way of revising how to write a proposal)

Your wirting can be sent to me as a word (.doc or .docx) file. Feel free to also do the task on page 39 of the Maximiser (exercise 6).

Enjoy your weekend!

How was the lesson today? Hope the activities will prove useful in the future. Wallace, I’ll try my best to post both the audio files and the handouts, ok?

Homework:

- Coursebook: p 75, 76, 77

Have a great weekend!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20080923/hl_time/whathappenswhenwedie

Share your thoughts about the article as comments if you feel like.

Cheers,

Rick

Today we continued working with Unit 5. We corrected homework from last class, worked on some vocabulary, had a listening practice – CB p 72, and also a Paper 3 Part 2 question.

Homework:

- Coursebook: p 74 – Language Focus: Grammar

- Exam Maximiser: p 40 – 43

- Extra reading: The Black Cat – you can find the text online at http://books.eserver.org/fiction/poe/black_cat.html

There will be a task for it on the wiki.

Cheers!