Patricia Ryan: Don't insist on English!

TED talks, Interesting talks to practice your listening skills. You can use the subtitles and the script.

WHAT IT TAKES TO BE A GREAT POLITICIAN

Task 1. Use of English test 1

1. B  2. A   3. D    4. A    5. B   6. C    7. B   8. C    9. D   10. B    11. D    12. A   13. C   14. B  15. D

CLOZE TESTS

BRUSSELS SEES UNEMPLOYMENT IN SPAIN AT OVER SIX MILLION IN 2013

1. RECORDS 2. TO 3. WHICH 4. NEVERTHELESS 5. CURRENTLY 6. JOBLESS 7. APART 8. LABOR 9. IN 10. ON.

BRUSSELS TELLS MADRID TO SPEND LESS ON ROADS AND MORE ON JOBS

1. FROM 2. SO 3. PROMOTING 4. DOLE 5. FUNDS 6. INVESTMENT 7. BUDGETS 8. RATE 9. UNDER 10. COMMITMENT.

United States presidential election

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The election of the President and Vice President of the United States is an indirect vote in which citizens cast ballots for a slate of members of theU.S. Electoral College. These electors, in turn, directly elect the President and Vice President. Presidential elections occur quadrennially on Election Day, which since 1845 has been the Tuesday after the first Monday in November, coinciding with the general elections of various other federal, state, and local races. The 2016 U.S. presidential election is scheduled for November 8.

The process is regulated by a combination of both federal and state laws. Each state is allocated a number of Electoral College electors equal to the number of its Senators and Representatives in the U.S. Congress.Additionally, Washington, D.C. is given a number of electors equal to the number held by the smallest state.U.S. territories are not represented in the Electoral College.

Under the U.S. Constitution, each state legislature is allowed to designate a way of choosing electors. Thus, the popular vote on Election Day is conducted by the various states and not directly by the federal government. Once chosen, the electors can vote for anyone, but – with rare exceptions like an unpledged elector or faithless elector – they vote for their designated candidates and their votes are certified by Congress, who is the final judge of electors, in early January. The presidential term then officially begins on Inauguration Day, January 20 (although the formal inaugural ceremony traditionally takes place on the 21st if the 20th is a Sunday).

The nomination process, consisting of the primary elections and caucuses and the nominating conventions, was never specified in the Constitution, and was instead developed over time by the states and the political parties. The primary elections are staggered generally between January and June before the general election in November, while the nominating conventions are held in the Summer. This too is also an indirect election process, where voters cast ballots for a slate of delegates to a political party's nominating convention, who then in turn elect their party's presidential nominee. Each party's presidential nominee then chooses a vice presidential running mate to join with him or her on the same ticket, and this choice is rubber-stamped by the convention. Because of changes to national campaign finance laws since the 1970s regarding the disclosure of contributions for federal campaigns, presidential candidates from the major political parties usually declare their intentions to run as early as the Spring of the previous calendar year before the election. Thus, the entire modern presidential campaign and election process usually takes almost two years.

The series of presidential primary elections and caucuses held in each U.S. state and territory is part of the nominating process of United States presidential elections. This process was never included in the United States Constitution; it was created over time by the political parties. Some states hold only primary elections, some hold only caucuses, and others use a combination of both. These primaries and caucuses are staggered generally between January and June before the general election in November. The primary elections are run by state and local governments, while caucuses are private events that are directly run by the political parties themselves. A state's primary election or caucus is usually an indirect election: instead of voters directly selecting a particular person running for President, they determine how many delegates each party's national convention will receive from their respective state. These delegates then in turn select their party's presidential nominee.

TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS

Twelve Days Of Christmas Lyrics

Artist: The Spinners

On the first day of Christmas
My true love sent to me . . .
A partridge in a pear tree!

On the second day of Christmas
My true love sent to me . . .
Two turtle doves
And a partridge in a pear tree!

On the third day of Christmas
My true love sent to me . . .
Three French hens
Two turtle doves
And a partridge in a pear tree!

On the fourth day of Christmas
My true love sent to me . . .
Four calling birds
Three French hens
Two turtle doves
And a partridge in a pear tree!

On the fifth day of Christmas
My true love sent to me . . .
Five golden rings!
Four calling birds
Three French hens
Two turtle doves
And a partridge in a pear tree!

On the sixth day of Christmas
My true love sent to me . . .
Six geese a layin'
Five golden rings!
Four calling birds
Three French hens
Two turtle doves
And a partridge in a pear tree!

On the seventh day of Christmas
My true love sent to me . . .
Seven swans a swimmin'
Six geese a layin'
Five golden rings!
Four calling birds
Three French hens
Two turtle doves
And a partridge in a pear tree!

On the eighth day of Christmas
My true love sent to me . . .
Eight maids a milkin'
Seven swans a swimmin'
Six geese a layin'
Five golden rings!
Four calling birds
Three French hens
Two turtle doves
And a partridge in a pear tree!

On the ninth day of Christmas
My true love sent to me . . .
Nine pipers pipin'
Eight maids a milkin'
Seven swans a swimmin'
Six geese a layin'
Five golden rings!
Four calling birds
Three French hens
Two turtle doves
And a partridge in a pear tree!

On the tenth day of Christmas
My true love sent to me . . .
Ten ladies dancin'
Nine pipers pipin'
Eight maids a milkin'
Seven swans a swimmin'
Six geese a layin'
Five golden rings!
Four calling birds
Three French hens
Two turtle doves
And a partridge in a pear tree!

On the eleventh day of Christmas
My true love sent to me . . .
Eleven lords a leapin'
Ten ladies dancin'
Nine pipers pipin'
Eight maids a milkin'
Seven swans a swimmin'
Six geese a layin'
Five golden rings!
Four calling birds
Three French hens
Two turtle doves
And a partridge in a pear tree!

On the twelfth day of Christmas
My true love sent to me . . .
Twelve drummers drummin'
Eleven lords a leapin'
Ten ladies dancin'
Nine pipers pipin'
Eight maids milkin'
Seven swans a swimmin'
Six geese a layin'
Five golden rings!
Four calling birds
Three French hens
Two turtle doves
And a partridge in a pear tree!

Olympic Games key

1 ended 2 display 3 memorable 4 achieve 5 officially 6 brings 7 record 8 set/got 9 summed 10 part 11 spirit 12 achieved/got 13 closer 14 peace 15 echoed 16 truly.

MEN MORE ATTRACTED TO WOMEN IN RED KEY

1. Physically 2. different 3. score 4. rate 5. looked 6.take 7. likely 8. impact 9.carried 
10. present 11. effects 12. surprise 13. deep 14. certain 15.prettier 16. chance.

LETS DO IT! Key

1 B 2 A 3 G 4 I 5 D 6 F 7 H

Can Honey Heal? KEY

(16) to (17) as (18) but (19) after (20) another (21) what (22) how (23) few (24) like (25) when (26) same (27) too  (28) why  (29) with (30) no.

Although/though/even though In spite of/despite

1. 

 2. Although I had never seen her before,

 3. although it was quite cold.

 4. although we don’t like them very much.

 5. Although I didn’t speak the language,

 6. Although the heating was on

7.      although we’ve known each other for a long time

8.      although I’d met her twice before.

2.      2 a.  In spite of  b.although  3 a. Because b. Althoug  4 a. Because of  b. In spite of  5 a. Although  b. Because of.  6 a he didn’t study  b. He studied  7 a. I was hungry  b. Being hungry.

3.      2. In spite of having very little money, they are happy

            3.  Although my foot was injured, I managed...

      4. In spite of the silly story, I enjoyed the film.

      5. Despite the fact that we live in the same street, we hardly ever see each other.

      6. Even though I had an umbrella, I got very wet in the rain.

4.      2. It’s quite warm, a bit windy though.

3. I ate it though.

4. I don’t like her husband though.

Graded readers E-books

Adapted books – one of the best and interesting way to increase your vocabulary. Here you can find English ebooks of different levels in epub, mobi, fb2, rtf and txt formats.

Cloze test

This is a good exercise to practice.

GRAMMAR SUMMARY

Unit 6

1

2. who'll be looking after them

3. run through them again

4.that he'd made it up

5.take it back

6.put them off

2

2. talk her out of

3. do away with the monarchy

4. put up with racial abuse

5. take you up on your offer

6.live up to our expectations

LANGUAGE FOCUS PHRASAL VERBS PAGE 71

7 and 8.

1. get over this (recover)

2. setting them up (start a business or other organisation)

3 hit on it (have an idea)

4. fell back on some salsa dance music (use as a substitute)

5. getting out of dangerous situations (avoid or leave a difficult situation )

6. carrying them out (do)

9.

1. I'm thinking of taking up Pilates.

2. It took me ages to get over it.

3. He set it up last year.

4. We couldn't get out of it.

5. The doctor is going to carry out some tests on my knee.

6. How did you hit on that idea?

7. What do you put its success down to?

8. It takes me back to my childhood.

10.

1. set aside = reserve

2.  go in for = have an interest in doing

3. take up = start to do

4. keep up with = stay in touch with/ not be left behind by

5. join in = be involved

6. put off = deter from

LIFE ADVANCED REVIEW

UNIT 8 LIFE ADVANCED

GRAMMAR PRACTICE

1.

2. was reported to have occurred off the coast of Mexico.

3. is known to have taken place in the early hours...

4. is said not to have been selected for the Olympic team...

5. are thought to have been wiped out...

6. fell 100 metres down a steep ridge is said to be recovering well.

7. is expected that the finance minister will announce...

8. No witnesses are believed to have been present.

A PLACE TO VISIT CLOZE TEST

1.  only   2.  while     3 .  linking (joining, uniting, connecting)    4.  had    5.  Having

6.   still    7.  dropped (fallen, decreased)    8. because     9 . into     10.  in   11. being

12. about    13. but      14.  other     15. as      16. puts

Living without Money CLOZE TEST

(0) long	(1) can't	(2) our	(3) it	(4)  to
(5) degree	(6) as	(7) would	(8) who	(9) weird
(10) up	(11) owing	(12) one	(13) worthless	(14) even
(15) set	(16) away	(17) threw	(18) entirely	(19) freer
(20) least

LIFE ADVANCED REVIEW

Unit 7 LIFE ADVANCED

Practice 1

Possible answers

2. In addition to being an enjoyable subject to study, history can help us understand the present.

3. The event was cancelled owing to the lack of funding.

4. Since we hadn't heard from you, we assumed you weren't coming.

5. The Pharaohs of ancient Egypt were seen as gods as well as kings.

6. Although Herodotus was a very famous historian, little is known about the man himself.

7. I've lived in this flat since moving / since I moved to Madrid in 2002.

8. The new law was passed despite the objections.