Let's English

Spending Time at Work Audrey works as a nurse. When she starts work she has to clock on  and when she leaves she clocks off . If the machine shows that she has worked an extra long shift, then she is able to take time off  at a later date. She was planning to take a holiday in July this year but has had to bring it forward  as July is going to be a particularly busy time for her hospital this year. Audrey loves her work but her hospital is understaff and she hates to always be pressed for  time. She finds it almost impossible to fit in  time to talk to the patients although she feels that is an important part of her job. She can chat for a few minutes but then she has to press on  with her other duties. The hospital employs many nurses from overseas; but when their work permits run out  after two years they have to leave. 1. Try to guess the meaning of the phrasal verbs in bold related with the time you spend at work: ...

The Football Game Yesterday my brother and I went to see a football game. We watched our two favourite teams, the Eagles and the Hawks. It was the second week of the season and the day was much colder than the week before. We arrived at the stadium at 11:30 am, which is a little earlier than usual. We were excited because I love the Hawks and he loves the Eagles.   The seats were good, but I wanted something closer to the field. However, we sat and enjoyed the game. Well, we  enjoyed it until we started arguing. My brother and I both think our team is better than the other team. He always says to me that the Eagles are faster, stronger, and smarter than the Hawks. I never agree. On this day, he was wrong. The Hawks played a lot better than the Eagles. They looked stronger and tougher than the Eagles. The won by 15 points. One thing I didn’t like was that the food and drinks were much more expensive than other places, and tasted much worse. I was surprised that a hot d...

Before you start with the listening, let's talk a little about literature: Do you read classic books? What do you know about Shakespeare and Dickens? Which other English writers do you know? Who are the great authors in your language? Now, it's time to do the listening part: 1. Complete the paragraphs with the information from the video: The Globe is a recreation of Shakespeare's original theatre, which burnt down in  .  It opened to the public  years ago.  The theatre has a curved and is unusual because it has no  .  There are approximately  performances every year  to audiences of about  people.  They do a variety of plays by Shakespeare and his  and new plays too. Charles Dickens was a great British novelist, born  years ago.  He lived at 48, Doughty Street in London for  and his old home has now been turned into a muse...

In the following text, use the word given in brakets to form a word that fits in the gap: An Incredible Vegetable Garlic, a member of the Lilaceae family which also includes onions, is   COMMONLY (common)  used in cooking all around the world. China is currently the largest _________________ (product) of garlic, which is particularly associated with the dishes of northern Africa and southern Europe. It is native to central Asia and has long had a history as a health-giving food, used both to prevent and cure __________________ (ill). In Ancient Egypt, workers building the pyramids were given garlic to keep them strong, while Olympic athletes in Greece ate it to increase their resistance to infection. The forefather of antibiotic medicine, Louis Pasteur, claimed garlic was as _________________ (effect) as penicillin in treating infections. Modern-day ____________________ (science)  have proved that garlic can indeed kill bacteria and even some viruses, so it ca...

Alexandria's Library Complete the following text with the correct words: There's just one problem - where are all the books?  In the days when 500,000 papyrus scrolls could store the entire  1)_______of human knowledge the Egyptian city of Alexandria, at the crossroads of Europe, Asia and Africa, was a natural site for the world's greatest library.  It was here, under the Ptolemies, that Man first calculated the Earth's circumference and 2)_______ steam power, only to abandon it because energy from slaves was so much 3)_______. When the Great Library was 4)_______ (between 48 BC and the seventh century AD, according to which story you believe), hundreds of 5)_______ of philosophy, science and literature were lost.  But later this year the Library of Alexandria will open for business again, in a spectacular $180m building, with the world's most advanced cataloguing system, computerised book transport, internet connections and a fire-prevention system to 6)____...

How are you today? I am very well /fine thank you. I don't feel very well . I must go home and rest. I feel ill . Can you get a doctor, please? That fish was bad. I think I'm going to be sick . I want to vomit. 1. Try to guess the meaning of the words in blod. Every day problems Have you got an aspirin ? I've got a headache I've got toothache. I need to go to the dentist. I've got  stomachache . Probably I ate something bad.  I've got diarrhoea. I have been all day in the toilet. I've got a hangover . I think I drank too much yesterday I've got a cold .  Symptoms: a sore throat, sneezing and a cough. I've got flu.    Symptoms: the same that for a cold+ aching muscles  and temperature. I've got hay fever .   Symptoms: sneezing,  runny nose and sore eyes. Pdt: For these illnesses, you can either buy something from the chemist , or go to your doctor, who may give you a pres...

Victoria's Travel Victoria is a girl who loves going on holidays to foreign cities. She has never repeated, but she loves dreams what she is going to do in the next trip. The other day she was talking with her best friend, Aretha,  to travel to a country in Asia: “If you have more time in your work, we can go there during 2 weeks”, said Victoria to her friend. Aretha agreed with her, but she said to her: “Maybe it’s better to go around Europe. If we travel around Europe, we will enjoy better our trip.” Victoria agreed that if they travel near their city, they will pass more time in the city and not travelling. Suddenly, Aretha remembered one thing: “We can visit my friend Paola if we travel to Rome. Have you ever been in Rome?” Victoria asked her: “No, I have never been in Rome. And if we go there, we can visit some other Italian cities too.”  So, finally they agreed to go there. When they were booking all the travel, they found some problems to choose the best hotel f...

Before doing the listening exercise, let's talk a little about London. Here you have some of the most important places to visit in London. Can you link them and explain what you know about them? London Eye          Big Ben         Houses of Parliament          Oxford Street          Tower Bridge        Tower of London          Buckingham Palace Now you are ready to do the listening exercises: 1. Put in order the places that the bus tour visits: ____ Oxford Street ____ Madame Tussauds Museum ____ Tower of London ____ London Eye ____ Houses of Parliament ____ Buckingham Palace ____ Big Ben ____ Tower Bridge 2. Circle the best option to complete the sentence: 1. The tour takes 2...

1. Three of the words in each set collocate with the given verb. One does not. Which are the three correct collocations? Give           permission/ someone a favour/ a presentation/ someone a hand Lay           claim to/ the blame on/ the table/ an excuse Make          a mistake/ plans/ a noise/ your best Pay            attention/ a ticket/ tribute to/ a compliment Run           an exercise/ a business/ a race/ a campaign Shoot         a film/ past someone/ an arrow/ a camera Stand         a possibility/ a chance/ trial/ for parliament Take         care/ measurements/ a promise/ the train   2. Now choose one of the collocations from Exercise 1 to complete each sentence.  It isn't fair that the ______________ you for other people's mistakes. It says in the papers that fou...

Read the following text about the writer Max Twain paying attention to the information: Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American humorist, satirist, novelist, writer, and lecturer. Although Twain was confounded by financial and business affairs, his humor and wit were keen, and he enjoyed immense public popularity. At his peak, he was probably the most popular American celebrity of his time. In 1907, crowds at the Jamestown Exposition thronged just to get a glimpse of him. He had dozens of famous friends, including William Dean Howells, Booker T. Washington, Nikola Tesla, Helen Keller, and Henry Huttleston Rogers. Fellow American author William Faulkner is credited with writing that Twain was "the first truly American writer, and all of us since are his heirs." Twain died in 1910 and is buried in Elmira, New York. Clemens was born in Florida, Missouri, on November 30, 1835. When he was four, ...

On the road: traffic and driving §   You must give way  at a give-way sign. On a roundabout, traffic coming from your right has the right way . Sounding/hooting/ tooting your horn is prohibited except in emergencies. Jumping a red light is a serious offence. Reckless driving  is also a very serious offence, §   Drink-driving may result in a heavy fine or imprisonment. You may be asked to take a breathalyser test. Hit-and-run accidents are extremely serious and could result in a ban for several years and/or imprisonment. Less serious offences may result in penalty points .. On-the-spot fines may be issued for careless driving and other offences. §   Exhaust emissions must meet government standards, and the car must be roadworthy , which includes a minimum depth of tyre tread . 1.  Try to guess the meaning of the bold words related with the traffic and driving regulation. 2. Complet...

Computers Since computers were first introduced to the public in the early 1980's, technology  has changed  a great deal. The first computers were  simple machines designed for basic tasks. They  did not have  much memory and they  weren't  very powerful. Early computers were often quite expensive and customers often  paid  thousands of dollars for machines which actually  did  very little. Most computers  were  separate, individual machines used mostly as expensive typewriters or for playing games.  Times  have changed . Computers have become  powerful machines with very practical applications. Programmers have created  a large selection of useful programs which do everything from teaching foreign languages to bookkeeping. We are still playing video games, but today's games  have become  faster, more exciting interactive adventures. Many computer users  have also got  on the Inte...

Suspicious Minds by Elvis Presley 1. Listen the song and fill in the gaps https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxOBOhRECoo We're   caught   in   a   trap I   can't     out   I     you   too   much   baby Why   can't   you   see What   you're       to   me When   you   don't   believe   a   word   I   say? We   can't   go   on   together With     minds And   we   can't   build   our   dreams On   suspicious   minds So,   if   an   old   friend   I   know Drops   by   to   say   hello       I   still   see   suspicion   in   your   eyes?   we   go   again Asking   where   I've   been You   can't   see   these     are   real I'm...