Adverbs of Frequency

Publicat el 16 d'abril de 2017 per EMPAR SALES CAVALLER

Frequency advs

Revise the adverbs of frequency (their meaning, their word order in the sentence, how to form questions and negatives…) in the video below (Simple English Videos).

Click on the subtitles (choose the ones in English!) to fully understand the lesson

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Banned Books Week: Freedom to Read in the USA

Publicat el 10 d'abril de 2017 per EMPAR SALES CAVALLER

During the last week of September every year, libraries and bookshops in the USA celebrate the Banned Books Week to draw attention towards the problem of censorship: there are hundreds of challenges to books in schools and libraries in the United States every year. Do you know the difference between banned and challenged books?: when a book is banned, you cannot have it in a library, bookshop or in the school system; a book is challenged when there is an attempt to ban it.

Books are challenged for many reasons: because they are too sexual, or violent, or show a positive image of homosexuals, or are offensive from the point of view of religion or race…But I´m sure you know (and have read) some of the books that have been challenged some time or other; for example, J.K. Rowling´s Harry Potter books, all of them (claiming they promote witchcraft- which reminds me of an article, “Le hacen a uno drogadicto”, written by Juan José Millás and published in El País Semanal Nº1721, page 21), Philip Pullman´s The Golden Compass (because it is anti-God, anti-Catholic and anti-religion), Khaled Hosseini´s The Kite Runner (because of its vulgar language and because a rape is described in detail), Mark Twain´s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (because of its racial epithets)…Click here if you want to read the list of the most challenged books.

Watch this video to learn about this special week: you can play it to see how much you understand (it shouldn´t be too difficult). Once you´ve listened to it a couple of times you can check the text below it to make sure you understood it correctly.

Banned Books Week is the only national celebration of the freedom to read. It was launched in 1982 in response to a sudden surge in the number of challenges to books in schools, bookstores and libraries. This year, Banned Books Week is celebrated from September 26 to October 3. 2009 marks the 28th anniversary of Banned Books Week. More than a thousand books have been challenged since Banned Books Week began. The challenges have occurred in every state and in hundreds of communities. Hundreds of libraries and bookstores around the country draw attention to the problem of censorship by mounting displays of challenged books and hosting a variety of events. The easiest way is to visit a participating library or bookstore. Check for special events around your community during Banned Books Week. Come join the fight and celebrate your freedom to read.

Amnesty International collaborates with the events this week to defend the people who are persecuted because of what they read or write.

And here´s a video which tries to ridicule the way some people challenge books:

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Adverbs of Degree

Publicat el 7 d'abril de 2017 per EMPAR SALES CAVALLER

adverbs-of-degree-2-638

adverbs-6-638

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A Sibling´s Story

Publicat el 7 d'abril de 2017 per EMPAR SALES CAVALLER

skoty12_coverThe magazine called “Sports Illustrated Kids”  has given the award Sportskids of the year 2012 to brothers Conner and Cayden Long.

Cayden has cerebral palsy but that hasn’t stopped him from competing in triathlons with his older brother Conner:  Conner pulls his little brother behind him in a raft when he swims, tows him in a trailer behind his bike, and pushes him  when he runs; they have already  done this in 14 triathlons.

You can read their complete story here

This is what you can do as extra homework: write this story form the point of view of Conner: what you do, how, why, and explain how all that makes you feel.

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Free National Geographic Magazine

Publicat el 25 de març de 2017 per EMPAR SALES CAVALLER

Which glass wouldn´t you take even if you were thirsty? Some people have no choice and they ARE thirsty so they have to drink what you wouldn´t.

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water day 2, end water poverty

March 22nd has been International World Water Day since 1993; it started as an international day of observance and action to draw attention to the role that freshwater plays in our world and lives. Watch this video to understand what we are talking about here.

Imatge de previsualització de YouTube

water day 1, toilet queueClick here to see more videos and impressive photos about the need for water in the world.

This year, again, the emphasis is on the fight against the global sanitation and the water crisis that’s killing 4,000 children every single day. Next month, in April, politicians from across the globe will gather in Washington DC. to discuss what they need to do to fulfill some of the most basic rights of the world’s citizens – access to a safe toilet and clean water. That is the reason why this campaign, The World´s Longest Toilet Queue, started. Click on the link to join the queue or learn about it.

There are many websites in the internet where you can either read and learn about this or take action. Twilight Earth, for instance, is a blog dedicated to saving the Environment through shared News, Discussion, Advocacy and Activism, as they say; while End Water Poverty, Fresh Water Action Network and Charity: Water focus on civil actions or organizations with the same goal: bringing clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations. And last, but not least, the Official Website of World Water Day .

This video shows that things can change, just like they changed in Europe in the past:

To celebrate “World Water Day” (March 22nd) and this year’s theme, “Clean Water for a Healthy World”, The National Geographic Society are distributing an interactive version of their April, 2010 magazine for download – free until April 2nd

This interactive edition of National Geographic magazine presents complete content from the print edition, plus extra photo galleries, rollover graphics that animate features like maps and time lines, video profiles of photographers who contributed to the issue, and other interactive features. National Geographic’s water issue is available in print on newsstands everywhere beginning March 30.

OUR THIRSTY WORLD

Did you know that only 1% of Earth’s water is fresh and available for consumption? Fresh water is the world’s most essential natural resource, but it’s also one of the most threatened. National Geographic magazine’s April issue celebrates and explores this important resource.

Learn more about this Special Issue

http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/freshwater

natgeo

 

 

Click here for your free downloadable copy.

Enjoy!

 

 

“Serendipity is looking for a needle in a haystack and finding the farmer’s daughter [or son].”                                                                                                                                        Unknown

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