AC2.2 - 19W Homework

This is the writing task I promised you, to be given in on Wednesday November 8th, please. This is a real CPE Proficiency Part 1 writing task, so in the exam there was no option not to answer it! Be prepared for anything!

The extract below is part of an interview in a media magazine. Write an article entitled 'Books - An Endangered Species?' responding to the issues raised and expressing your own opinions. Write your answer in 300 - 350 words in an appropriate style.

Some people believe that books are an endangered species, fighting for survival in competition with TV, film, the Internet and CD Roms. But I believe books provide unique intellectual pleasures. The mind is free to create its own images, rather than passively receiving them from a TV or computer screen. It's just as easy to open a book as it is to switch on the TV or computer, and often more convenient.

Write your article.

AC2.1 - 14S Homework

As promised, the homework for the next two weeks.

1. Everyone took a QuickRead book last Saturday. As there is no lesson this Saturday, that'll give a little extra time for reading! Can everyone, by Saturday 4th November, make sure they have read their QuickRead book. Your review for the book you have read should be posted on the QuickReadReviews blog by Monday November 6th. This gives you an extra weekend to actually write the review.
If you have a user name for the British Council Hub you can use this i.d. to post on the QuickReads blog; otherwise write to me asking for an invitation to join. As a last resort, you can email me your review, and I'll post it for you.

2. In the students' book, please do the exercises on pages 14 and 15. You should read the instructions and advice carefully before attempting these tasks. Check with a dictionary if you wish, and we'll correct them in the next class.

If you didn't finish writing your post to the BritishCouncilHub on Saturday, please can you remember to finish it and post it to the blog.

Several of my students have asked for some of the links I gave at the beginning of term again. Here they are!

http://studentzone.blogspot.com My blog to get information to my students.

http://britishcouncilhub.blogspot.com A forum for discussion amongst British Council Students.

http://quickreadreviews.blogspot.com/ The blog where Proficiency students should write their reviews of the QuickRead books they read.

http://www.flo-joe.com A very useful site giving practice of FCE, CAE and CPE questions.

http://www.learnenglish.org.uk/ The British Council's excellent English learning site

http://sara.natcorp.ox.ac.uk/lookup.html The British National Corpus. Very useful for checking collocations and how words are used in real English.

External Exam Dates

For people already panicking about exam dates, according to my information, the written papers are:

FCE: Saturday 9th December 2006 and Saturday 16th June 2007

CAE: Wednesday 13th December 2006 and Wednesday 13th June 2007 (Lucky for some)

CPE: Thursday 14th December 2006 and Thursday 14th June 2007

Melvin Burgess

Classes looking at Melvin Burgess will find this site interesting, as will anyone who is reading anything by this author.

http://web.onetel.com/~melvinburgess/

Unreality Television

IN A SHORT ARTICLE IN NEW SCIENTIST (New Scientist, 19 August 2006, p 16), Michael Bond argues that the way we view the world and live in it is heavily influenced by the news programmes we see. He suggests that News Programmes distort our view of the world so badly that we end up making poor decisions about how to live our lives as a consequence of watching them.

Read the article, and post your opinions on the British Council Hub.

Mark

British Council Hub

Do remember to go onto YOUR blog, the British Council Hub blog: http://britishcouncilhub.blogspot.com/

I've started a thread on other interesting blogs - do add to it if you know good Blogs (mainly) in (reasonably good) English.

Thanks!

Mark

How Long Will I Live?

Assuming you're not bitten by a rabies-carrying bat, how long will you live?

Take the test... if you dare!

http://www.livingto100.com/

Bat Walking

You think I'm joking, don't you? Or maybe you HOPE I'm joking.

No, I'm not kidding. It's the latest in thing. Bat Walking.

Check it out. It's cool. It's your dream activity.

http://www.eurobats.org/

By the way, did you know that a bat can eat 1000 mosquitoes an hour? And only 3 species of bat, all in South America, drink blood.

I could get into this... zzzzzzzzuummmm...

VAK

Visual, Auditory or Kinaesthetic? For those of you who found the activities we did on how we perceive the world interesting, and for those of you who didn't do them, take a look at these links. Another test, more explanation of the ideas, and suggestions for harnessing your naturally strong senses to help you learn better.

http://www.brainboxx.co.uk/A3_ASPECTS/pages/MakeMost.htm

http://www.brainboxx.co.uk/A3_ASPECTS/pages/VAK.htm

CUBED

Log on now and read the new October edition of cubed - www.britishcouncil.org/cubed

If you ever use a gym and run on the treadmill, you might have used the bar which tells you your heart rate. A little red heartbeat pumps away on the monitor, telling you where your numbers sit on a range of fitness levels. This issue of Cubed is all about the human body, attaching new things to it, finding new ways to allow it to send messages to us, or measuring its physical excitement.
Not so long ago those sci-fi movies showing astronauts with sensors and wires linked to machines conveyed the idea that these spacemen were some new breed of human, medicine keeping them in peak condition. Now, with scientists such as Dr Dewar Finlay and Dr Chris Nugent at the University of Ulster working on t-shirts that monitor heart rate and could help save lives, ‘biometrics’ as it’s called, is reaching a new level.

Even more dramatically the team at the University College London Centre for Biomedical Engineering is exploring the possibility of using metal implants enabling more sophisticated artificial limbs, using electrodes to give better control. We also look at an exploration of how the body responds to being thrilled currently taking place at London’s Science Museum.

Here at cubed we keep you up-to-date with the science that’s shaping our society and bringing a new dimension to everyday life. We give you the latest innovations in fashion and music, design and digital, film and life, to bring you the products and ideas that will change our world - prepare to be cubed....

A Right Royal Blog

In a country where the royal family rarely communicates directly with the public, Thai Crown Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn has become something of a technological trailblazer.The blog appears on the British Council website: http://access.britishcouncil.or.th

Take a look at this blog, and take the opportunity to sign up to the British Council Thailand's 'Access English' and 'Virtual Access Centre' (VAC)

Online Dictionary

An ex-student of mine sent me this. Take a look!

Hi!
Have you ever visited http://www.thefreedictionary.com ?I think it is a good website for word learning. It has several word-games on the front page.
A

Welcome and Blog!

Welcome to a new academic year, everyone. Here's a reminder of an old link and a new link to start things off.

The MetroZine (http://www.britishcouncil.it/metro) is a website made by teacher, Mike Ivy, and students of the British Council in Rome.

The Rome EFL Blog (http://romelfblog.blogspot.com) is Mike's blog for his students. There are some very useful things on this blog - do check it out!