Top 10 New Year's Resolutions

New Year's Eve has always been a time for looking back to the past, and more importantly, forward to the coming year. It's a time to reflect on the changes we want (or need) to make and resolve to follow through on those changes. Did your New Year resolutions make our top ten list?

1. Spend More Time with Family & Friends
Recent polls conducted by General Nutrition Centers, Quicken, and others shows that more than 50% of Americans vow to appreciate loved ones and spend more time with family and friends this year.

2. Fit in Fitness
The evidence is in for fitness. Regular exercise has been associated with more health benefits than anything else known to man. Studies show that it reduces the risk of some cancers, increases longevity, helps achieve and maintain weight loss, enhances mood, lowers blood pressure, and even improves arthritis. In short, exercise keeps you healthy and makes you look and feel better.

3. Tame the Bulge
Over 66 percent of adult Americans are considered overweight or obese by recent studies, so it is not surprising to find that weight loss is one of the most popular New Year's resolutions. Setting reasonable goals and staying focused are the two most important factors in sticking with a weight loss program, and the key to success for those millions of people who made a New Year's commitment to shed extra pounds.

4. Quit Smoking
If you have resolved to make this the year that you stamp out your smoking habit, over-the-counter availability of nicotine replacement therapy now provides easier access to proven quit-smoking aids. Even if you've tried to quit before and failed, don't let it get you down. On average, smokers try about four times before they quit for good.

5. Enjoy Life More
Given the hectic, stressful lifestyles of millions of people, it is no wonder that "enjoying life more" has become a popular resolution in recent years. It's an important step to a happier and healthier you! Take up a new hobby or try your hand at skiing. Go to a theater performance, or head to the local spa.

6. Quit Drinking
While many people use the New Year as an incentive to finally stop drinking, most are not equipped to make such a drastic lifestyle change all at once. Many heavy drinkers fail to quit cold turkey but do much better when they taper gradually, or even learn to moderate their drinking. If you have decided that you want to stop drinking, there is a world of help and support available.

7. Get Out of Debt
Was money a big source of stress in your life last year? Join the millions of people who have resolved to spend this year getting a handle on their finances. It's a promise that will repay itself many times over in the year ahead.

8. Learn Something New
Have you vowed to make this year the year to learn something new? Perhaps you are considering a career change, want to learn a new language, or just how to fix your computer? Whether you take a course or read a book, you'll find education to be one of the easiest, most motivating New Year's resolutions to keep.

9. Help Others
A popular, non-selfish New Year's resolution, volunteerism can take many forms. Whether you choose to spend time helping out at your local library, mentoring a child, or building a house, there are many nonprofit volunteer organizations that could really use your help.

10. Get Organized
On just about every New Year resolution top ten list, organization can be a very reasonable goal. Whether you want your home organized enough that you can invite someone over on a whim, or your office organized enough that you can find the stapler when you need it, these tips and resources should get you started on the way to a more organized life.

By Albrecht Powell, About.com Guide


This is a video about New Year's Resolutions:

MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING / MUCHO RUIDO Y POCAS NUECES

Plot Overview, (RESUMEN DE LA OBRA):

Leonato, a kindly, respectable nobleman, lives in the idyllic Italian town of Messina. Leonato shares his house with his lovely young daughter, Hero, his playful, clever niece, Beatrice, and his elderly brother, Antonio. As the play begins, Leonato prepares to welcome some friends home from a war. The friends include Don Pedro, a prince who is a close friend of Leonato, and two fellow soldiers: Claudio, a well-respected young nobleman, and Benedick, a clever man who constantly makes witty jokes, often at the expense of his friends. Don John, Don Pedro’s illegitimate brother, is part of the crowd as well. Don John is sullen and bitter, and makes trouble for the others.

When the soldiers arrive at Leonato’s home, Claudio quickly falls in love with Hero. Meanwhile, Benedick and Beatrice resume the war of witty insults that they have carried on with each other in the past. Claudio and Hero pledge their love to one another and decide to be married. To pass the time in the week before the wedding, the lovers and their friends decide to play a game. They want to get Beatrice and Benedick, who are clearly meant for each other, to stop arguing and fall in love. Their tricks prove successful, and Beatrice and Benedick soon fall secretly in love with each other.

But Don John has decided to disrupt everyone’s happiness. He has his companion Borachio make love to Margaret, Hero’s serving woman, at Hero’s window in the darkness of the night, and he brings Don Pedro and Claudio to watch. Believing that he has seen Hero being unfaithful to him, the enraged Claudio humiliates Hero by suddenly accusing her of lechery on the day of their wedding and abandoning her at the altar. Hero’s stricken family members decide to pretend that she died suddenly of shock and grief and to hide her away while they wait for the truth about her innocence to come to light. In the aftermath of the rejection, Benedick and Beatrice finally confess their love to one another. Fortunately, the night watchmen overhear Borachio bragging about his crime. Dogberry and Verges, the heads of the local police, ultimately arrest both Borachio and Conrad, another of Don John’s followers. Everyone learns that Hero is really innocent, and Claudio, who believes she is dead, grieves for her.

Leonato tells Claudio that, as punishment, he wants Claudio to tell everybody in the city how innocent Hero was. He also wants Claudio to marry Leonato’s “niece”—a girl who, he says, looks much like the dead Hero. Claudio goes to church with the others, preparing to marry the mysterious, masked woman he thinks is Hero’s cousin. When Hero reveals herself as the masked woman, Claudio is overwhelmed with joy. Benedick then asks Beatrice if she will marry him, and after some arguing they agree. The joyful lovers all have a merry dance before they celebrate their double wedding.

QUIZ / CHECK YOUR COMPREHENSION OF THE STORY:
1. Who refuses to marry in the beginning of the play?

(A) Hero
(B) Don Pedro and Don John
(C) Benedick and Beatrice
(D) Hero and Claudio

2. Where and when does the play take place?

(A) England, fourteenth century
(B) Florence, fifteenth century
(C) Sicily, sixteenth century
(D) Paris, seventeenth century

3. How does Claudio woo Hero?

(A) He doesn’t; Don Pedro does
(B) He writes her a sonnet
(C) He serenades her window at night
(D) He asks her father to tell her that he loves her

4. At the beginning of the play, what is Beatrice’s relationship to Benedick?

(A) Lover
(B) Enemy
(C) Wife
(D) Sister-in-law

5. Who is Leonato?

(A) Beatrice’s father
(B) Don Pedro and Don John’s father
(C) Claudio’s father
(D) Hero’s father

6. What does Don John want?

(A) To marry Hero
(B) To make Beatrice and Benedick fall in love
(C) To ruin Claudio
(D) To kill Dogberry and Verges

7. Who carries out Don John’s plan?

(A) Balthasar and Antonio
(B) Dogberry and Verges
(C) Claudio and Don Pedro
(D) Borachio and Margaret

8. What reason does Don John give for his sullenness?

(A) Too many people have wronged him
(B) It’s in his nature
(C) It’s an act to gain sympathy
(D) He thinks that noblewomen are attracted to brooding types

9. Who is said to be “an ass”?

(A) Dogberry
(B) Borachio
(C) Verges
(D) Conrad

10. Why does Claudio reject Hero at the altar?

(A) She smells like a rotten orange
(B) He thinks she lied to him about her wealth
(C) He thinks she cheated on him and lost her virginity
(D) He decides he just isn’t ready to get married

11. Who discovers Don John’s evil plot?

(A) Benedick
(B) Margaret
(C) Leonato’s household
(D) The Watch

12. What does Leonato’s household do to punish Claudio for shaming Hero?

(A) He pretends Hero is dead and challenges Claudio to a duel
(B) He drives Claudio out of town
(C) He violently beats Claudio
(D) Absolutely nothing at all

13. Which two characters write love sonnets?

(A) Claudio and Don Pedro
(B) Claudio and Hero
(C) Beatrice and Benedick
(D) Don Pedro and Beatrice

14. To whom does Don Pedro propose marriage?

(A) Hero
(B) Ursula
(C) Beatrice
(D) Margaret

15. Why is Margaret mistaken for Hero?

(A) She is wearing a mask
(B) She is wearing Hero’s makeup
(C) She is wearing a red sash
(D) She is wearing Hero’s clothes

16. Which character is sad at the end of the play?

(A) Don Pedro
(B) Don John
(C) Benedick
(D) Hero

17. What makes Claudio realize that he wrongly accused Hero?

(A) A note that she left him
(B) His utter remorse at having publicly shamed her
(C) Leonato’s harsh reprimands
(D) Borachio’s confession of Don John’s plot

18. When was this play probably first performed?

(A) 1850s
(B) 1580s
(C) 1623
(D) 1599

19. How do Don Pedro and Claudio make Benedick fall in love with Beatrice?

(A) They convince him of her virtues
(B) They have him overhear their conversation in which they assert that she is in love with him
(C) They force him to spend one evening locked in a room alone with her
(D) They insult, humiliate, and belittle him until he agrees to love her

20. Have Beatrice and Benedick courted before?

(A) Yes, but Benedick left her
(B) No, because they’re enemies
(C) Yes, but Beatrice left him
(D) They had a blind date when they were younger, but neither of them was interested

21. Why is it necessary for Hero to seem to die?

(A) Because she is very tired and worn out
(B) Because she is pregnant
(C) Because her reputation has been publicly tarnished
(D) Because she cheated on Claudio

22. What term best describes Dogberry’s verbal comedy?

(A) Slapstick
(B) Malapropism
(C) Witty banter
(D) Hyperbole

23. What is Balthasar’s song in Act II, scene iii about?

(A) The infidelity of men
(B) The infidelity of women
(C) The beauty of love
(D) The wind and the rain

24. What does the “savage bull” symbolize (I.i.213; V.iv.43)?

(A) Happiness in marriage
(B) A world without law
(C) A soldier’s honor
(D) The man unwilling to marry

25. Who is the most socially powerful person in the play?

(A) Leonato
(B) Beatrice
(C) Don Pedro
(D) Dogberry

KEYS: 1C,2C,3A,4B,5D,6C,7D,8B,9A,10C,11D,12A,13C,14C,15D,16A,17D,18D,19B,20A,21C,22B,23A,24D,25C

TWO SHAKESPEAREAN COMEDIES : TWELFTH NIGHT AND MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING

TWELFTH NIGHT

Plot Overview / RESUMEN DEL LIBRO:

In the kingdom of Illyria, a nobleman named Orsino lies around listening to music, pining away for the love of Lady Olivia. He cannot have her because she is in mourning for her dead brother and refuses to entertain any proposals of marriage. Meanwhile, off the coast, a storm has caused a terrible shipwreck. A young, aristocratic-born woman named Viola is swept onto the Illyrian shore. Finding herself alone in a strange land, she assumes that her twin brother, Sebastian, has been drowned in the wreck, and tries to figure out what sort of work she can do. A friendly sea captain tells her about Orsino’s courtship of Olivia, and Viola says that she wishes she could go to work in Olivia’s home. But since Lady Olivia refuses to talk with any strangers, Viola decides that she cannot look for work with her. Instead, she decides to disguise herself as a man, taking on the name of Cesario, and goes to work in the household of Duke Orsino.
Viola (disguised as Cesario) quickly becomes a favorite of Orsino, who makes Cesario his page. Viola finds herself falling in love with Orsino—a difficult love to pursue, as Orsino believes her to be a man. But when Orsino sends Cesario to deliver Orsino’s love messages to the disdainful Olivia, Olivia herself falls for the beautiful young Cesario, believing her to be a man. The love triangle is complete: Viola loves Orsino, Orsino loves Olivia, and Olivia loves Cesario—and everyone is miserable.

Meanwhile, we meet the other members of Olivia’s household: her rowdy drunkard of an uncle, Sir Toby; his foolish friend, Sir Andrew Aguecheek, who is trying in his hopeless way to court Olivia; Olivia’s witty and pretty waiting-gentlewoman, Maria; Feste, the clever clown of the house; and Malvolio, the dour, prudish steward of Olivia’s household. When Sir Toby and the others take offense at Malvolio’s constant efforts to spoil their fun, Maria engineers a practical joke to make Malvolio think that Olivia is in love with him. She forges a letter, supposedly from Olivia, addressed to her beloved (whose name is signified by the letters M.O.A.I.), telling him that if he wants to earn her favor, he should dress in yellow stockings and crossed garters, act haughtily, smile constantly, and refuse to explain himself to anyone. Malvolio finds the letter, assumes that it is addressed to him, and, filled with dreams of marrying Olivia and becoming noble himself, happily follows its commands. He behaves so strangely that Olivia comes to think that he is mad.

Meanwhile, Sebastian, who is still alive after all but believes his sister Viola to be dead, arrives in Illyria along with his friend and protector, Antonio. Antonio has cared for Sebastian since the shipwreck and is passionately (and perhaps sexually) attached to the young man—so much so that he follows him to Orsino’s domain, in spite of the fact that he and Orsino are old enemies.

Sir Andrew, observing Olivia’s attraction to Cesario (still Viola in disguise), challenges Cesario to a duel. Sir Toby, who sees the prospective duel as entertaining fun, eggs Sir Andrew on. However, when Sebastian—who looks just like the disguised Viola—appears on the scene, Sir Andrew and Sir Toby end up coming to blows with Sebastian, thinking that he is Cesario. Olivia enters amid the confusion. Encountering Sebastian and thinking that he is Cesario, she asks him to marry her. He is baffled, since he has never seen her before. He sees, however, that she is wealthy and beautiful, and he is therefore more than willing to go along with her. Meanwhile, Antonio has been arrested by Orsino’s officers and now begs Cesario for help, mistaking him for Sebastian. Viola denies knowing Antonio, and Antonio is dragged off, crying out that Sebastian has betrayed him. Suddenly, Viola has newfound hope that her brother may be alive.

Malvolio’s supposed madness has allowed the gleeful Maria, Toby, and the rest to lock Malvolio into a small, dark room for his treatment, and they torment him at will. Feste dresses up as "Sir Topas," a priest, and pretends to examine Malvolio, declaring him definitely insane in spite of his protests. However, Sir Toby begins to think better of the joke, and they allow Malvolio to send a letter to Olivia, in which he asks to be released.

Eventually, Viola (still disguised as Cesario) and Orsino make their way to Olivia’s house, where Olivia welcomes Cesario as her new husband, thinking him to be Sebastian, whom she has just married. Orsino is furious, but then Sebastian himself appears on the scene, and all is revealed. The siblings are joyfully reunited, and Orsino realizes that he loves Viola, now that he knows she is a woman, and asks her to marry him. We discover that Sir Toby and Maria have also been married privately. Finally, someone remembers Malvolio and lets him out of the dark room. The trick is revealed in full, and the embittered Malvolio storms off, leaving the happy couples to their celebration.

Quiz / CHECK YOUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE PLAY / compureba si te has enterado!
Scroll through the page to review your answers. The correct answer is highlighted in green. Your incorrect answers (if any) are highlighted in red. If you'd like to take the test over again, click the reset button at the end of the test.


1. Who is Orsino in love with at the beginning of the play?

(A) Olivia
(B) Viola
(C) Maria
(D) Malvolio

2. Complete the quote: "If music be the food of _____, play on."

(A) Sleep
(B) Sorrow
(C) Love
(D) Joy

3. Where does Twelfth Night take place?

(A) England
(B) Illyria
(C) Ruritania
(D) Denmark

4. Why is Olivia unwilling to receive any visitors?

(A) She is hideously deformed
(B) She is terribly shy
(C) She cannot speak
(D) She is in mourning for her dead brother

5. How does Viola come to be at Orsino’s court?

(A) She is shipwrecked nearby
(B) She is captured and made a slave
(C) She is invited to be a guest of Orsino
(D) She is Orsino’s daughter

6. Why is Sir Andrew Aguecheek staying at Olivia’s home?

(A) He is her uncle
(B) He is trying to court Maria
(C) He is trying to court Olivia
(D) He is Malvolio’s brother

7. How does Viola disguise herself?

(A) She puts on makeup to make herself resemble an old woman
(B) She dresses like a man
(C) She shaves her head and wears a false beard
(D) She does not disguise herself

8. What is Malvolio’s position?

(A) He is Orsino’s fool
(B) He is Viola’s butler
(C) He is Sir Toby’s butler
(D) He is Olivia’s steward

9. What is Sir Toby’s great vice?

(A) He is a drunkard
(B) He is a glutton
(C) He enjoys pornography
(D) He has no vices

10. Who does Orsino send to carry his messages to Olivia?

(A) Malvolio
(B) Feste
(C) Viola, disguised as Cesario
(D) Sebastian

11. Who does Viola fall in love with?

(A) Malvolio
(B) Orsino
(C) Sir Toby
(D) Olivia

12. Who does Olivia fall in love with?

(A) Orsino
(B) Malvolio
(C) Antonio
(D) Viola, in her disguise as Cesario

13. Who is Sebastian?

(A) Viola’s brother
(B) Orsino’s cousin
(C) Olivia’s fool
(D) Malvolio’s son

14. Who forges the letter that Malvolio thinks is from Olivia?

(A) Feste
(B) Sir Toby
(C) Maria
(D) Viola

15. What does the forged letter make Malvolio believe?

(A) That Maria is in love with him
(B) That he is going to inherit a fortune
(C) That Viola is in love with him
(D) That Olivia is in love with him

16. Who takes care of Sebastian after he is shipwrecked?

(A) Viola
(B) Feste
(C) Malvolio
(D) Antonio

17. Who challenges Cesario to a duel?

(A) Orsino
(B) Sir Andrew
(C) Malvolio
(D) Antonio

18. What does Malvolio wear in the hope of pleasing Olivia?

(A) Green leggings
(B) Women’s clothing
(C) Yellow stockings and crossed garters
(D) A red wig and silver pantaloons

19. Why does Antonio travel to Illyria?

(A) To be close to Sebastian
(B) To get revenge on Orsino
(C) To woo Olivia
(D) He does not travel

20. Why does Sir Andrew try to fight with Sebastian?

(A) He thinks that Sebastian has killed Orsino
(B) He thinks that Sebastian wants to kill Sir Toby
(C) He thinks that Sebastian is in love with Maria
(D) He thinks that Sebastian is Cesario

21. What do Sir Toby and the others do to Malvolio?

(A) They kill him
(B) They lock him in a dark room and tell him he is mad
(C) They tar and feather him
(D) They get him drunk and convince him to sing with them

22. What disguise does Feste wear when he speaks with Malvolio?

(A) Cesario
(B) Olivia
(C) Sir Topas, the curate
(D) An angel

23. Who does Olivia marry?

(A) Sebastian
(B) Antonio
(C) Orsino
(D) Malvolio

24. When he realizes that Cesario is a woman, what does Orsino do?

(A) He orders her executed
(B) He banishes her
(C) He betroths her to Antonio
(D) He decides to marry her

25. Which character does not get married (or plan to) at the end of the play?

(A) Orsino
(B) Sir Toby
(C) Sebastian
(D) Malvolio

Note: Much ado about nothing has its own post.

Game to Promote our students' Linguistic competence

Game: Find out the title and writer of a serie of literary works.

Reading comprehension text

WHY PHYSICAL ACTIVITY IS IMPORTANT FOR YOU?

People need to be active to be healthy. Our modern lifestyle and all the conveniences we've
become used to have made us sedentary - and that's dangerous for our health. Sitting
around in front of the TV or the computer, riding in the car for even a short trip to the store
and using elevators instead of stairs or ramps all contribute to our inactivity. Physical
inactivity is as dangerous to our health as smoking!
Add up your activities during the day in periods of at least 10 minutes each. Start slowly
... and build up. If you're already doing some light activities move up to more moderate
ones. A little is good, but more is better if you want to achieve health benefits.
Scientists say accumulate 60 minutes of physical activity every day to stay healthy or
improve your health. Time needed depends on effort - as you progress to moderate
activities, you can cut down to thirty minutes, four days a week.
Physical activity doesn't have to be very hard to improve your health. This goal can be
reached by building physical activities into your daily routine. Just add up in periods of at
least ten minutes each throughout the day. After three months of regular physical activity,
you will notice a difference - people often say getting started is the hardest part.
(From Handbook for Canada's Physical Activity Guide to Healthy Active Living p. 4. Canadian Society for Exercise
Physiology, Ottawa, Ontario, 1998)

I. Answer the following questions using your own words (2 points: 1 point each)
a. Why is physical activity so important for people?

b. How can you include physical activity in your life?

II. Are the following statements true (T) or false (F)? (1 point: 0.5 each)
a. Smoking is less dangerous than physical inactivity.
b. You do not need more than sixty minutes a day to be fit.

III. Find a word or phrase in the text which, in context, is similar in meaning
to: (1 point: 0.5 each)

a. inactive
b. fit
IV. Choose a, b, or c, in each question below. Only one choice is correct (2
points: 0.5 each)
1. Nowadays people ...
a) are less active than in the past.
b) are more active than in the past.
c) are as sedentary as they used to be.
2. Time needed for physical activity depends on ...
a) health
b) effort
c) money
3. You can improve your health ...
a) integrating physical activity into your timetable.
b) eating less and less during short periods of time.
c) relaxing and keeping cool.
4. People say that ...
a) they do not have time for physical activity.
b) getting into physical activity is the most difficult part.
c) getting into physical activity is not so difficult.

Part B. Composition (100-150 words approximately). Choose one of the following
topics (4 points)
1. Do you practise any sport? Why?

2. The relationship between our modern lifestyle and physical inactivity.

You can give your opinions about the topic leaving a comment or if you need the keys write a comment as well

READING IN THE ENGLISH CLASS : SPARKY THE BABY DRAGON

READING COMPREHENSION: SPARKY , THE BABY DRAGON

RECIPES FOR A CAKE CONTEST

The following delicious recipes are some examples of hundreds of recipes about cakes, muffins, pies or cookies that you can find in the internet.

Don't forget to add some cultural aspects in your recipes for the contest!!

RECIPES FOR NOVEMBER:

Gingerbread Men Recipe

Christmas baking wouldn't seem complete without a batch of gingerbread men. These cookies are fragrant with ground ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves; the amount of which can be adjusted to suit your own individual taste. If you like your gingerbread cookies on the soft side bake them a little less than the recipe states as the longer they bake the harder they will become. There are a few ways to decorate your gingerbread men; one is to press raisins into the dough before baking, or you can frost the baked and cooled cookies with confectioners frosting. You can also use gingerbread men as decorations for your Christmas tree or as gift tags. To do this, pierce a hole in the top of each unbaked cookie using a straw or end of a wooden skewer. Bake the cookies and then thread a pretty ribbon through the hole and hang on your tree.

Chocolate Truffles Recipe

Chocolate Truffles are a rich and elegant, bite-sized petit four made with a creamy mixture of chocolate, cream, and butter to which various flavorings are added (liqueurs, extracts, nuts, coffee, purees, spices, candied or dried fruits). This mixture is really a Ganache that is rolled into mis-shaped rounds to look like the real truffle fungus that grows around the roots of trees in France and Italy. Once the truffles are formed they are then rolled in cocoa powder to simulate the 'dirt' that the real truffles grow in. While cocoa powder is the traditional coating, truffles can also be coated in confectioners (powdered or icing) sugar, toasted and chopped nuts, tempered chocolate, shredded coconut, or even shaved chocolate.

Shortbread Cookie Recipe

Shortbreads are traditionally a Christmas cookie made with just four ingredients, butter, sugar, vanilla extract, and flour. They are a rich cookie with a delicate buttery flavor. These cookies freeze very well so they are the perfect cookie to make for the holiday season.

Pound Cake

Pound cakes were the cakes made by our mothers, our grandmothers, and our great-grandmothers. The name 'pound' was given to this cake because the original recipes contained one pound each of butter, sugar, eggs, and flour.

Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe

The Chocolate Chip Cookie was invented by Ruth Wakefield, who was the owner of the Toll House Inn in Massachusetts. The story goes that one day in 1930 she decided to add small chunks of a Nestle's Semisweet Yellow Label Chocolate bar to her butter cookie dough. The cookies were an instant hit with her customers and word of their popularity reached the Nestle company. Nestle must have realized that adding small chunks of their chocolate bar to cookie dough would appeal to the mass market because by 1939 Nestle was selling chocolate morsels (or chips). What a brilliant marketing plan it turned out to be when Nestle decided to package the chocolate chips in a Yellow bag and then bought the rights to the Toll House name and Ruth Wakefield's chocolate chip cookie recipe. They called her recipe "The Famous Toll House Cookie" and printed it on the back of the Yellow bag of chocolate chips.

THANKSGIVING BAKING

Sponge Cake Recipe

When a sponge cake is baked in a sheet pan and then rolled around a filling, it is called a Roulade (for the French), a Jelly Roll (for the Americans), and a Swiss Roll (for the English). Sponge Cakes (or biscuits) presented in this way have a beautiful pinwheel design and they are often filled with toppings like lemon curd, jam or preserves, fruit sauces, chopped nuts, ganache, or for this recipe I have used a raspberry whipped cream. Now, all the garnish a sponge roll really needs is a dusting of confectioners (powdered or icing) sugar, but to dress it up, as I did, you can pipe rosettes of cream down the center of the roll and then top the rosettes with fresh fruit.

For further information or different recipes check the following link:

(para ampliar información o buscar recetas diferentes podéis buscar en el siguiente enlace:)

http://www.joyofbaking.com/

Source: Joyofbaking

Drop Everything and Read!

If you're a reader, you know the irresistible allure of a day spent doing nothing but reading. Snuggling up with a cup of tea on a rainy day with a good read, or basking in the sun on a bright afternoon with a book in hand ... don't you sometimes wish you could just drop everything and read?

The good news is that on Saturday, April 12th, you can do just that! Designated as National Drop Everything and Read Day (D.E.A.R.), it's a family-friendly reading event that will let book-lovers get their fill, and encourage reluctant readers to take time out and enjoy the act of reading, too. The event is inspired by the children's author Beverly Clearly, whose classic book Ramona Quimby, Age 8 features D.E.A.R. day, and on whose birthday the event falls. But you don't have to hit up such Cleary classics as The Mouse and the Motorcycle, Henry and Ribsy, or Ramona the Pest to celebrate D.E.A.R. Just take time out to pick up an old classic for a family read-aloud, or spend an hour browsing the stacks at your local library.

ACTIVITIES:

1 ANSWER THE QUESTIONS:

- What's the meaning of D.E.A.R.?

- Is there any similar celebration in your own country?

- What's the biggest pleasure foa a reader according to the text?

- Which book is the inspiration of this celebration?

2. Translate into your language the following words:

Pick Up:______________

Drop:________________

Snuggling up:___________

Basking in the sun:________

3 Writing:

Write about your plans for a rainy day at home!

READING "THE BORROWERS"

I leavew this extra information about our compulsory reading this year, for those who want to expand their knowledge about this master piece of imagination. Once you read the book you'll be looking for small people everywhere.

Synopsis:

The Borrowers lived in the secret places of quiet old houses, behind the mantelpiece, inside the harpsichord, under the kitchen clock. They owned nothing, borrowed everything, and thought human beings were invented just for their use. Until one of the Borrowers made friends with a human.

Reviews

This is a fine fantasy about tiny people who live under the floorboards and account for the mysterious disappearance of safety pins and boxes of matches. However, when the big people are threatened with eviction it is the Borrowers who must thwart the baddies, which they do with much ingenuity and vigour, and save the house. This was the 1952 winner of the Carnegie Medal and it has lost none of its charm. The numerous dramatized versions for television and a highly successful film are testament to its huge popularity with today's children. (10 yrs +) The Godfather (Kirkus UK)

About The Author

Mary Norton (1903 – 1992), was born in London, the only girl in a family of five children. She was brought up in the Manor House in Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, which later became the setting fof her most famous book, The Borrowers. She was educated at convent schools and, after a brief and unsuccessful time as a secretary, she became an actress. She was a member of the Old Vic Theatre Company for two years and always thought of herself more an actress than a writer.

She remembered her most thrilling moment as the time she first went on stage as an understudy at the Old Vic. She gave up the theatre when she got married and went to live with her husband in Portugal. There her two sons and two daughters were born, and she began to write.When war broke out in 1939, Mary’s husband joined the Navy and she brought her children back to England via the United States – she lived there for a while waiting for a passage home. She returned to the stage in 1943.

The Borrowers was published in 1952 and won her the Carnegie Medal, the most important prize in children’s fiction. The story was based on fantasies from her childhood when her short-sightedness made her aware of the teeming life in the countryside around her. C S Lewis, the author of the Narnia books, wrote to her in 1956: “May a stranger write his thanks and congratulations for ‘The Borrowers’ and ‘The Borrowers Afield’? They have given me great and (I anticipate) lasting pleasure…”. Films and TV series continue to bring new generations of children to Mary Norton’s books.

from:

magnet shools --READING--

Magnet Schools


A magnet school is a school that offers a special curriculum designed to attract students from throughout the school district. Magnet schools generally use different teaching methods or offer special curriculum in areas such as technology or the arts. Students can enroll in regular public schools or these special magnet schools. Many magnet schools are so popular that parents need to put their children's names on a waiting list before enrolling. Some schools have waiting lists for a year or more. Magnet schools are not private schools, they are public schools which are funded by the Department of Education.
In one magnet school in the San Diego area students spend half the day with a Spanish-speaking teacher and half with an English-speaking teacher. Starting in kindergarten, native Spanish-speakers (many are Mexican immigrants) and native English-speakers are in the same classroom. The children play together and quickly become bilingual. Their language skills develop further in higher grade levels where they learn subject areas such as science and history in English one month and in Spanish another month.


1. What does the word "funded" mean in the sentence below?
paid for (pagado)
closed (cerrado)
taught (enseñado)

"Magnet schools are not private schools, they are public schools which are funded by the Department of Education."


2. If you want to enroll your child in a magnet school, but the school is full, what can you do?

Call the Department of Education.
Talk to the teacher.
Put your child's name on a waiting list.

3. Who pays for magnet schools?
The President
The Department of Education
The Teachers

4. If a child doesn't speak any English, can he go to the school described in the second paragraph?
Yes
No

6 Free Stories

These stories are great for youmg or beginner students, they'll improve their Reading skill:


Click on a title to begin.

Boy Who Cried Wolf

Emperor's New Clothes

Gingerbread Man

Hansel And Gretel

Jack And The Beanstalk

Little Red Riding Hood

Test your Reading Comprehension in 2 minutes

I) In the universe, hydrogen is apparently the most abundant of all the elements. (II For instance, analysis of the light emitted by stars indicates that most stars are predominantly hydrogen. (III) Molecular hydrogen is the lightest of all gases. (IV) Similarly, of the sun's mass, approximately 90 % is hydrogen. (V) However, hydrogen is much less abundant on the earth.


Which sentence in the passage is different in meaning?
A. I
B. II
C. III
D. IV
E. V

(Check the answer in the comments)

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BEYOND THE POSTCARD: EDIMBURGH

READING COMPREHENSION:

Edinburgh has been a centre of medical learning for five centuries. King James IV, who performed surgery himself, gave royal approval in 1505. The present-day name of The Royal College of Surgeons came into use in 1681.




Read the text, then try the comprehension exercise below:

Just below Edinburgh Castle, at the western end of its main street, Princes Street, there is a small tower. It is at the entrance to St Cuthbert's churchyard. Probably even most local people do not know its connection with medicine.
Edinburgh holds a particular place in medical history because of the pioneering work at the University in the teaching of anatomy. This, too, had its unusual aspects. In the 18th and early 19th centuries, a father, son and grandson, all named Alexander Monro, formed a dynasty of professors in charge of anatomy for an unbroken 126 years.
But there was a dark side. Studying anatomy required dissection. Dissection required bodies. Normally those were criminals who had been hanged. But not always. A body could be sold to the anatomy school without questions being asked. The first Alexander Monro worried in 1725 that "the requirements of anatomical teaching provided unscrupulous criminals with a particularly macabre opportunity for illicit gain."
That was why watchtowers - such as the one surviving in St Cuthbert's - were built: to prevent newly-buried corpses being stolen. But people's greatest fear was of what might happen if there were no bodies... That fear became real in 1828 with the notorious case of Burke and Hare. Having legally sold one dead person to the university, they went on to sell another sixteen. Unfortunately, all of those had been alive until they met the two murderers.
An exhibition in the Sir Jules Thorn Museum in the Royal College of Surgeons tells the story of the surgeons and anatomists in Edinburgh.

Look at the statements below, according to the text are they true or false?



1: The tower is famous for its connection to medicine. True or False True False

2: It was possible to study anatomy without actual bodies. True or False True False

3: Anatomy schools always checked carefully where the bodies came from. True or False True False

4: The watchtowers' purpose was to stop people stealing bodies from churhyards. True or False True False

5: Burke and Hare stole 16 bodies from a church graveyard.


Vocabulary HELP for the text:

the pioneering work :
work which is being done for the first time
anatomy :
the scientific study of the human body
a dynasty :
a long period of time when the same family is in control of something
dissection :
the cutting up of a body to study it
unscrupulous :
without honesty or decency
macabre :
unpleasant and unusual with a connection to death
illicit gain:
getting money illegally
surviving:
still existing, not destroyed
buried :
from the verb to bury - to put a dead body in the ground

PDA, Public Love?

Public Displays of Affection,

When people are in love, they want to kiss and hold each other tight. But where’s the best place to do that?

Public displays of affection, or PDAs, can be cute, like when you see a young couple holding hands in the park. But they can also be gross, like a drunk couple totally making out on the street.Some people think public displays of affection are a harmless and fun way to express love. Others think love is better expressed in private.
It turns out that in Jason and Devan’s new relationship, there is one of each kind of person. Watchthe video to see which is which.




Punto gramatical - Learn grammar from this lesson.
Past Perfect Progressive

Jason thanks Devan for seeing Slumdog Millionaire with him and says, “I’d been wanting to see it.” He uses the past perfect progressive tense to talk about a something that had been happening in the past before something else happened in the past. In the past, Jason saw the movie. But before that, he had been wanting to see it.

We form the past perfect progressive with had been + main verb + ing. No matter what the subject of a sentence is, we always form this tense the same way. For example, we can say I had been eating, he had been eating, you had been eating, we had been eating, or they had been eating.

Vocabulary:

make out v.
kiss and hold another person in a romantic way
Example:
Well, we didn't really date. We made out once, but that's it.
gross expr.
disgusting, sickening, unpleasant
Example:
"This sandwich is _*gross*_! I think they put mayonnaise on it. I hate mayonnaise!"
mushy adj.
overly affectionate
Example: I don't want to watch that mushy stuff.

MACBETH and OTHELLO

We are reading in my 1st course of Bachillerato (16-17 years), the book: Two Shakespearean Tragedies.

The book contains two of the most famous Shakespeare's tragedies. On the one hand, Macbeth's desire for political power leads him to self-destruction and murder; On the other, Othello's success on Battle is opposite to his insane jealousy which finally kill his love. These tragedies are a good example of how men and their passions can destroy them.

Here you are some compilation of my work to ease the understanding of the two tragedies; you can download, print and study in case you had any doubt , PLEASE leave a comment.

Macbeth

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Fiction Books tragedy Macbeth

OTHELLO

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Fiction Books literature tragedy

For further Reading or investigation about this topic you can check this links:

WIKIPEDIA

We'll watch the original movie in class but for all of you who cannot wait, I show you this wonderful scene from Kenneth Branagh's film

DAVID COPPERFIELD

If you have time and you want to read some interesting classic, I reccomend you DAVID COPPERFIELD by Charles Dickens. (Quizás lo necesites leer para la universidad en tus estudios de Filología Inglesa)

I leave you this link to download a copy of this extraordinary novel to read when yopu have time next summer or when you need it.

In case you need other books, you can check in the FREE eBOOKS section in this page, we have a wide range of them; If you don't find it , comment and we'll do the impossible to find it. (Only for classic books).

The Last Sherlock Holmes Story

This is the book we are reading this week in our class of 4th ESO

( EFL 15-16 years), THE LAST SHERLOCK HOLMES STORY.

This book was written by Michael Dibdin and the plot is the following:

For fifty years after Dr Watson's death, a packet of papers, written by the doctor himself, lay hidden in a locked box. The papers contained an extraordinary report of the case of Jack the Ripper and the horrible murders in the East End of London in 1888. The detective, of course, was the great Sherlock Holmes - but why was the report kept hidden for so long? This is the story that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle never wrote. It is a strange and frightening tale . . .

I reccomend you to read the whole book and if you have doubts you can leave a comment.

Odd Sentence 2

In this activity you have to find out the sentence which doesn't belong to the text:

(I) Cyclones are constantly recurring fact of life in Bangladesh. (II) But the one that hit the country on 29 April 1991 was the worst for a decade. (III) However, controlling the flow of water can reduce the risks of floods. (IV) Within hours, 130.000 people were dead and four million people were homeless. (V) Conditions were so bad that, only a week after the cyclone, many felt that the dead, not the living, were the fortunate ones.

2) Which sentence in the passage is different in meaning?

A. I
B. II
C. III
D. IV
E. V

the answer is in the comments of the entrance!!!

reading Activity, ODD SENTENCE

This reading activity consists in reading the passage and finding out which sentence is the odd / strange in the test, because its meaning doesn't fit with the rest of the text.



Odd Sentence : Coherence in a Reading Passage



# Passage 1 #

(I) Biologists have made various studies of living organisms. (II) First of all, they have classified them on the basis of their structure. (III) They have divided them into two classes, the single-celled organisms and the many-celled organisms. (IV) In almost all plants and animals, the individual cells have different functions. (V) For instance, bacteria and algae are single-celled, while insects, fish and flowering plants are many-celled.



1) Which sentence in the passage is different in meaning?

A. I

B. II

C. III

D. IV

E. V

N.B: You can check the answer for that activity in the comments of this post, thak you!

Who is Barack Obama?

Party : The Democrats - they're a bit like America's version of the Labour Party
Age: 47
Family :Married to Michelle, with two daughters
Fave song : Ready Or Not by The Fugees

Background:
He is the first black candidate to become the presidential candidate of either major American party.
His mum's American, his dad is African and he was born on one of the American islands of Hawaii. He also lived in Indonesia, in south east Asia, for a while as a child.
After studying law at one of the country's top universities, he worked as a lawyer for people's rights before getting into politics.

What happens next for Obama?

Barack Obama will not be sworn in as President of the United States of America until 20 January 2009 - this is called inauguration day. Until then George Bush is still in charge and Obama will be called the President-elect.

The outgoing President is often known as a 'lame-duck' during this period because everyone knows the new guy is just around the corner.


What will he do between now and then?
The next 11 weeks are known as the transition period, when the President-elect starts thinking about his new job, what he's going to do, and who he wants on his team.

He'll also have experts from George Bush's team getting him up to speed on all the topics that he'll need to know lots about for his new job.


What's at the top of Obama's to-do list as President?
Barack Obama has a big job on his hands, as people are expecting a lot from him. Here are some of the things he's talked about getting his teeth into:

The economic crisis

Health - better access to healthcare for the 45 million Americans who don't have medical insurance - including free healthcare for all children

Education - more teachers and better pay for them

Climate change - wants to slash greenhouse gas emissions and invest in clean energy
Changes like these need money - and with the current cash crisis this could prove tricky for the new president. But the USA and the rest of the world will be watching to see how he gets on.
He wants America to lead the way in the global effort to tackle climate change, including slashing America's greenhouse gas emissions by a whopping 80% by the year 2050.
He also says he will invest a staggering $150billion (about £100 billion) over 10 years in clean energy.

War in Iraq
Obama was against the war in Iraq and says he will pull out all the American troops within 16 months.

Other stuff
By winning the election, he has become America's first black President.

As little as 50 years ago, African Americans didn't have the same rights as everyone else and in some places, black and white children weren't even allowed to go to the same schools.
Although racism is still a problem in some parts of America, lots of people think that if Obama can win the election it would show the rest of the world how much America has changed.