Place and movement

This document contains the key to the 'place and movement exercises' as well as the explanations for the use of all the possibilities given.

Place and movement



 

Shosholoza

This was the Zulu song nearly every black South African knew with a tune that sought to mimic the rhythm of the steam train. It was originally sung by black migrants workers who travelled from the rural areas of southern Africa to work at the old mines around Johannesburg. Later it became very popular at soccer matches and even Mandela used to sing it when working at the lime quarry in Robben Island.
It was chosen the official World Cup song and was easily adopted by white fans and sung in the stadium despite their difficulties with the language.

Thanks to Manuel you can see this version.

Shosholoza

 

And these are the images of the famous flyover of the 747 Jumbo over the stadium:

 

I wish ...

Here I copy a little reminder. I wish I had done it before ...

TO EXPRESS WISHES IN THE PRESENT

• If Susan wasn’t going out with Peter, I’d ask her for a date.
• I wish Susan wasn’t going out with Peter.

• If I had enough money, I’d buy a Mercedes.
• I wish I had enough money to/ I wish I could buy a Mercedes.

• If my parents didn’t live so far away, I’d see them more often.
• I wish my parents didn’t live so far away.

• If I didn’t have my final exams in a week, I’d have more free time.
• I wish I didn’t have my final exams next week / I wish I had more free time.

• If I could, I’d stop smoking.
• I wish I could stop smoking.

TO EXPRESS WISHES IN THE PAST (examples)

• I wish I hadn’t made a lot of mistakes in the exam.
• If only I had studied more for the exam.

• I wish I hadn’t spent so much money.
• If only I hadn’t spent so much money.

• I wish I hadn’t played hooky so much last term.
• If only I had attended my classes last term.

• I wish I had studied in a high school.
• If only I hadn’t been sent to a boarding school.

• I wish my team hadn’t played awfully last Sunday.
• If only my team had played better last Sunday.

RSA Animate

This is another interesting video by Sir Ken Robins but with visual support. So it's much easier to follow his ideas about learning. Enjoy it!

 

For all those who are also learning French

Will we have to do the same in English? Who knows ..

CONDITIONAL SENTENCES

Conditional sentences (OUP)

Type 1 conditional sentences

They are used to talk about a possible present or future situation and its result.

You can use any present tense in the if clause and any form of the future in the other clause.

 

Examples:

They won’t get a table unless they’ve already booked.

Can I borrow your dictionary a moment if you’re not using it?

If it stops raining, I’m going to walk into town.

 

Type 2 conditional sentences

 

They are used to talk about hypothetical or improbable situations in the present or future.

You can use the past tense (simple or continuous) in the if clause and would + infinitive (or could/might) in the other clause.

 

Examples:

How would you know if he wasn’t telling the truth?

If we had a bit more time here, we could go on an all-day river trip.

Type 3 conditional sentences are used to talk about a hypothetical situation in the past.

Type 3 conditional sentences
 
Type 3 conditional sentences are used to talk about a hypothetical situation in the past.

You can use the past perfect (simple or continuous) in the if clause and would have + past participle (or could/might have) in the other clause.

 

Examples:

I would have picked you up if I had known what time your flight arrived.

If I’d been looking where I was going, I would’ve seen the hole in the road.

 

Mixed conditionals

If we want to refer to the present and the past in the same sentence, we can mix tenses from two different types of conditional, e.g.

Examples:

I wouldn’t be in this mess (type 2) if I had listened to your advice (type 3).

Jane would have left Mike by now (type 3) if she didn’t still love him (type 2).

 

alternatives to if in conditional sentences

We often use as long as/so long as, provided/providing (that), and on condition (that) instead of if to emphasize what must happen or be done for something else to happen.

 Examples:

I’ll tell you what happened as long as/so long as you promise not to tell anyone else.

Provided/Providing (that) the bank lends us all the money we need, we’re going to buy that flat we liked.

They agreed to lend us the car on condition (that) we returned it by the weekend.

That is often omitted in spoken English. On condition that is slightly more formal than the other expressions.

We can use whether + subject + verb + or not instead of if to emphasize something is true in either of two cases.

I’m going to sell the car whether you agree with me or not.

The word order can also be:

I’m going to sell the car whether or not you agree with me.

 We can use even if instead of if for extra emphasis.

Even if I get the job, I’m going to carry on living with my parents for a while.

We can use supposing when we ask someone to imagine that something is true or will happen. It is usually used at the beginning of a sentence.

Supposing you lost your job, what would you do?

In type 3 conditionals in formal or literary English we can invert had and the subject and leave out if. Had I known… = If I had known…

Had I known that you were coming, I would have bought a bottle of wine.

 

 

 

What Is Bitcoin?

 

Last weekend I heard some friends talking about a new currency you can "buy and sell" but which doesn't really exist. Bitcoin. I was very surprised and decided to find some information about it. This is what I found. I'm always amazed to see what people can think and do and the way things change based on what we originally consider crazy ideas.

If you find it interesting, click on the final link to read the complete article.

 

What is Bitcoin?

 

Maybe you've heard of Bitcoin—it wants to shake the entire global economy, and has become the financial bubble du jour with a skyrocketing value. It's online money—an alternative to dollars and euros. Well what's that mean? It's complicated, but we break it down.

Bitcoin is an anonymous digital currency...

Bitcoin is not real money. It's an online "currency"—virtual tokens that can be exchanged for goods and services at places that accept it, the same way you'd give someone a dollar for a cookie. But unlike a dollar, a Bitcoin has no serial number or any possible mechanism that could be used to trace it back to a buyer or seller. This makes it attractive to drug dealers and/or privacy advocates.

...with mega aspirations...

 

If you want to read the complete article by Sam Biddle, click here:

Bitcoin

Sir Ken Robinson: Bring on the learning revolution!

 

Creativity expert Sir Ken Robinson challenges the way we're educating our children. He champions a radical rethink of our school systems, to cultivate creativity and acknowledge multiple types of intelligence.

Why you should listen to him

    

Why don't we get the best out of people? Sir Ken Robinson argues that it's because we've been educated to become good workers, rather than creative thinkers. Students with restless minds and bodies -- far from being cultivated for their energy and curiosity -- are ignored or even stigmatized, with terrible consequences. "We are educating people out of their creativity," Robinson says. It's a message with deep resonance. Robinson's TEDTalk has been distributed widely around the Web since its release in June 2006. The most popular words framing blog posts on his talk? "Everyone should watch this."

A visionary cultural leader, Sir Ken led the British government's 1998 advisory committee on creative and cultural education, a massive inquiry into the significance of creativity in the educational system and the economy, and was knighted in 2003 for his achievements.

"Ken's vision and expertise is sought by public and commercial organizations throughout the world."

BBC Radio 4

 

Listen to him at a TED conference (Technology, Entertainment and Design)

 

 

Margaret Thatcher, former Prime Minister, has passed away

Margaret Thatcher: we disliked her and we loved it

What bound all opposition to Margaret Thatcher's programme was a suspicion that the grocer's daughter was intent on monetising human value.

• Ian McEwan
• The Guardian, Tuesday 9 April 2013

 Photograph: Gerard Fouet/AFP/Getty Images

 

"Maggie! Maggie! Maggie! Out! Out! Out!" That chanted demand of the left has been fully and finally met. At countless demonstrations throughout the 80s, it expressed a curious ambivalence – a first name intimacy as well as a furious rejection of all she stood for. "Maggie Thatcher" – two fierce trochees set against the gentler iambic pulse of Britain's postwar welfare state. For those of us who were dismayed by her brisk distaste for that cosy state-dominated world, it was never enough to dislike her. We liked disliking her. She forced us to decide what was truly important.

Read the whole article:

Thatcher_Guardian

Nelson Mandela out of hospital after health scare

Relief as 94-year-old former South African president recovers from latest bout of pneumonia

David Smith

• The Observer, Saturday 6 April 2013 20.48 BST

Mandela’s health has suffered as a result of the time he spent in prison on Robben Island; he contracted TB in the 1980s. Photograph: PA

Millions of South Africans breathed a sigh of relief on Saturday as Nelson Mandela was discharged from hospital after being treated for pneumonia for more than a week.
The 94-year-old's recovery from the latest in a series of health scares, ending in a tense period during which his TV obituary was broadcast by mistake. Some commentators argued that it was time to "let go", and one caller to a radio phone-in predicted that his death would trigger an "Arab spring" in which "all hell will break loose".
As Mandela was taken in a military ambulance to his home Houghton, an upmarket suburb of Johannesburg, his relatives and friends paid tribute to a "tough guy" whose will to live was undimmed.
Mandla Mandela, his eldest grandson and political heir, said his family were "overwhelmed" to have him back home and grateful for the support offered by global well-wishers. He said: "We are not worried about his health. We are enjoying the time we have with him. Every day with him we cherish. Twenty-three years after his release from prison, we never thought we would spend time like this. Every moment is precious."
Mandela's health has suffered as a result of the time he spent in prison – he contracted tuberculosis in the 1980s while detained on the windswept Robben Island, where he served 18 years of a 27-year sentence for sabotage, and his lungs are said to have been damaged when he worked in a prison quarry.
Despite his long imprisonment, Mandela forgave his former enemies and as president urged South Africans of all races to work together, winning the Nobel peace prize in 1993. He is still revered at home and abroad for leading the long campaign against apartheid and then championing racial reconciliation while in office between 1994 and 1999.

News conference after Mandela's release

As promised, you can watch here an extract of the press conference after Mandela's release.
I also attach some questions to answer as you listen

And here the link to the questions ...

Questions for Mandela's press conference

And here is the new link to the key...

Key to Mandela's press conference



 

Stand-up comedy in Madrid!

If you like stand-up comedies and you want to give it a try in English, you don't need to go abroad.

Just a few euros and you can enjoy the spectacle and some beers in the centre of Madrid.

Click here for more information


Freshly Comedy



 

QUESTIONS FOR PLAYING THE ENEMY (chapters 13 - 19)

Chapter 13    Springbok Serenade

1. What was Griffiths’ most valuable contribution to the World Cup?
2. What was du Plessis’s regret?
3. How did the Springboks react to Annie Munik?
4. How did Wiese feel after singing “Nkosi Sikelele”?
5. Why was James Small so moved by the music?

Chapter 14    Silvermine

1. How did the team react to Mandela’s visit to Silvermine?
2. Where did the players visit the day after they beat Australia?  Describe the visit.

Chapter 15    Doubting Thomases

1.        Explain the reference to the name of this chapter

2.  What tactical mistake did Mandela make when he went to the ANC rally in KwaZulu?  Give three reasons

3. How did rugby affect the relationship between the black and white bodyguards?
4. Describe the visit to Zwide   (p.196)
5. Who saved the day before the match against France?
6. Talk about Benazzi’s (French player) reaction to losing against the Springboks.

Chapter 16    The Number Six Jersey

1. Discuss the five factors that the Argus newspaper listed as enabling rugby to become ‘a unifying catalyst’?  (p.203)   Do you agree?  Which, in your opinion is the most important?
2. What was Mandela’s biggest concern at the final?
3. How did Mandela react to the suggestion of wearing the Springbok jersey?   Why?

Chapter 17    ‘Nelson!  Nelson!’

1. Where was Shosholoza originally played?
2. Explain how it came about that Moyane led the crowd to sing Shosholoza?
3. Describe Captain Kay’s stunt over the stadium.
4. Describe how the crowd reacted after that.
5. Describe Bebekeke’s transformation.

Chapter 18    Blood in the Throat

1. Describe Pienaar’s emotions just before the match.
2. How did Mandela greet the All Blacks before the match?
3. What did Lomu do which was out of protocol and how did the Springboks react?

Chapter 19    Love Thine Enemy

1. What was a black taxi?
2. What was unusual about Van Zyl Slabbert’s catching it?
3. What did Tokyo Sexwale say Mandela had done for white people?
4.  What surprise awaited Mandela when he got home?

And more about Lincoln, the film

Here you can read this article published in the New Yorker last December, before the 85th Academy Awards. You may find it interesting.

Article about Lincoln

LINCOLN

As you all know, next Thursday 4th we're going to the cinema. We'll watch the film Lincoln in original version with subtitles in Spanish in the cinema Renoir, Majadahonda, at 7.00 pm. Remember that you can buy the tickets in class. Just 4€ per ticket.

Lincoln is a 2012 American historical drama film directed and produced by Steven Spielberg. The film is based in part on Doris Kearns Goodwin's biography Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, and covers the final four months of Lincoln's life, focusing on the President's efforts in January 1865 to have the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution passed by the United States House of Representatives. This Amendment would formally abolish slavery in the country. (Wikipedia)

At the 85th Academy Awards, the film was nominated for twelve Academy Awards including Best Picture; it won for Best Production Design and Best Actor for Day-Lewis.

 Read this article before watching the film.