Frankenstein exhibition and play

The video for today explores the creation of the novel Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, which is back in the news thanks to a theatre play on show at the National Theatre.

Try to find the following information, and feel free to post your answers as a comment, including any evidence from the video. Something that you might want to be careful about is the name Shelley, which can refer both to the author of the novel (Mary) and to her husband, the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. Mind the context to know which of the two they're talking about at each point.

Enjoy!

1. Why is the presenter at the Bodleian Library in Oxford?

2. Date of the Shelleys’ trip to Geneva:

3. Expression to tell us that they are getting on well with their host:

4. Why did they have to spend most of the time indoors?

5. Who suggested that they all write a ghost story?

6. Where did Mary get the idea for Frankenstein from?

7. Number of novels she had written up to that moment:

8. What’s happened to Mary Shelley’s notebook?

9. Who wrote on the margins of the pages? Why?

10. What happens in the passage that they have in from of them?

11. Shelley tried to persuade her to _____________ to her great history inheritance.

12. Mary Wollstonecraft (author of A Vindication of the Rights of Women) was her __________

13. Full date of first publication:

14. Where did Walter Scott publish his guess that the novel might be by Shelley?

Smoking ban: in England it's even worse!

If you don't believe me, just look at this clip from the hilarious The IT Crowd. It is easy enough to be watched without subtitles, but I made a version with subtitles in case you want to check later. Enjoy!

Without subtitles




Subtitled

BBC News - Egypt

Hi,

Some comprehension questions on this video from BBC News. After doing the activity, write a comment with the corresponding evidence from the video so we can see the rewriting and synomyms in each gap.

1. In his decision to step back in September, Mubarak's opponents think that he is trying to give his government ___________________________________

2. As a result of the electoral process, the US government demand that they lift ___________ and that they make ________________________

3. Foreigners are accused of instigating protests by ______________________

4. The protests don't seem to peter out, after running for ______________________

5. The Egyptian government insists that they are moving towards __________________

A song for collocations (all levels)

The activity for this song focuses on one aspect of a language that you should really pay attention to. You will not find any single-word gaps in this exercise, because we will be looking for collocations. In some cases, there will even be more than two words in a gap.

When you have finished the listening activity, the best way to record the vocabulary learnt is to write down the full collocation in a dictionary-like form (infinitive if it's a verb, etc.), and a contextualised example next to it. So, once you've finished, I'll be waiting for your list of collocations in the comments, where you will also find the full lyrics.

The song is by Supertramp, and it was released in 1979 in the album Breakfast in America.

Goodbye Stranger (1979)

IT WAS AN _______________ YESTERDAY
I WAS UP BEFORE THE DAWN
AND I REALLY HAVE ENJOYED MY STAY
BUT I MUST BE _______________

LIKE A KING WITHOUT A CASTLE
LIKE A QUEEN WITHOUT A THRONE
I´M AN EARLY MORNING LOVER
AND I MUST BE MOVING ON

NOW I BELIEVE IN WHAT YOU SAY
IT’S __________________________
BUT I HAVE TO ________________ OWN _______________
TO KEEP ME IN MY YOUTH

LIKE A SHIP WITHOUT AN ANCHOR
LIKE A SLAVE WITHOUT A CHAIN
JUST THE THOUGHT OF THOSE SWEET LADIES
SENDS A SHIVER THROUGH MY VEINS

AND I WILL GO ON SHINING
SHINING LIKE _______________
I´LL NEVER LOOK BEHIND ME
MY TROUBLES WILL BE FEW

GOODBYE STRANGER, IT´S BEEN NICE
HOPE YOU FIND YOUR PARADISE
TRIED TO SEE YOUR _______________
HOPE _______________ WILL ALL _______________
GOODBYE MARY, GOODBYE JANE
WILL WE EVER MEET AGAIN_______________, FEEL NO SHAME
COME TOMORROW , _______________

Sweet devotion
It's not for me
Just give me motion
And _______________
And the Land and the Ocean
_______________
It's the life I've chosen
Every Day
So Goodbye Mary, Goodbye Jane
Will we ever meet again (x2)

NOW SOME THEY DO AND SOME THEY DON´T
AND SOME YOU JUST _______________
AND SOME THEY WILL AND SOME THEY WON´T
WITH SOME IT´S JUST AS WELL

YOU CAN _______________ MY BEHAVIOUR
THAT´LL NEVER BOTHER ME
SAY THE DEVIL IS MY SAVIOR
BUT I _______________

AND I WILL GO ON SHINING
SHINING LIKE _______________
I´LL NEVER LOOK BEHIND ME
MY TROUBLES WILL BE FEW

GOODBYE STRANGER, IT´S BEEN NICE...

Sweet devotion
is not for me
Just give me motion
And _______________
And the Land and the Ocean
_______________
It's the life I've chosen
Every Day

So now I'm leaving, got to go, _______________
I'm saying once again
Oh yes I'm leaving, got to go, got to go
I'm sorry I must tell you
Goodbye Mary, Goodbye Jane
Will we ever meet again (x2)

I believe, Yes I've got to get away

GOODBYE STRANGER, IT´S BEEN NICE...

Movie song: connected speech

Hello everyone! Happy New Year!

The New Year brings a song by Bernie Taupin and Elton John, quite apt for the unit on cinema. The exercise focuses on connected speech, so each gap needs to be filled with two words. As you can imagine, that means a weak word is very likely to be in it, so pay a lot of attention and use your grammar knowledge before listening and between one listening and the next. To complete the gaps in the chorus, you shouldn't try to complete both gaps in one go. Remember the chorus is repeated quite a lot of times, so don't rush.

You will find the complete lyrics as a comment to this entry.

You may also want to read this review of Elton John's latest album. I suggest that you isolate those words or phrases that would lead you to buy (or not buy) the record, just as you did with the film reviews, and share them with the rest as a comment.

Above all, enjoy the song. I must confess it is one of my all-time favourites.

I've Seen That Movie Too

Album: Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

Music: Elton John

Lyrics: Bernie Taupin

I can see by your eyes you must _________________

When you think I don't have _________________

Baby _________________ crazy

If you think that you can _________________

Because I've seen that movie too

The one where the players _________________ surprised

_________________'s just a four letter word

Between forcing smiles, with the knives in _________________

Well their actions become _________________

So keep _________________ for somebody

Who hasn't got so much _________________

'Cause you _________________ by _________________ I'm reciting

That I've seen that movie too

(repeat chorus)

It's a habit I have, I _________________ pushed around

Stop twinkling your star like you do

I'm not the _________________ for all of your _________________

Because I've seen that movie too

The one where the players _________________ surprised

_________________'s just a four letter word

Between forcing smiles, with the knives in _________________

Well their actions become _________________

So keep _________________ for somebody

Who hasn't got so much _________________

'Cause you _________________ by _________________ I'm reciting

That I've seen that movie too

(repeat chorus)

Harry Potter review

So, a very simple activity for this one: preferably after listening to the review once (you can skip the sound clips from the film to make it shorter and avoid spoilers, although I think there aren't any), you are invited to write down any adjectives and/or (better still) adverb-adjective collocations.

If you've liked this review, feel free to browse Kermode's blog here.

Enjoy!

Who Wants to Watch this Guy Win

This is the video of the first winner on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire in the US. Pay attention to how cool the man looks (and acts!)

It's quite easy to understand, so go and enjoy it without subtitles!