Back with some art and music

Hi everyone!

This was a loooong hiatus! I'm so sorry to have abandoned the blog for so long, but let's hope we can revive it a little bit!

This post is all about art, and I'm starting to notice a pattern here... It tends to be the topic I choose when I want to get back to the blog. So I hope you all join in and get back on track with me, using art as our inspiration.

Here's a longish gap-filling activity to track the origins of psychedelic music posters that flooded the San Francisco area in the 1960s. What do they remind you of?

Both aesthetic movements capture the feeling of their changing times, even if the periods don’t _____________ each other perfectly.

If you’ve never heard of the bands _____________ you’d be able to guess what kind of music they play.

The style, which includes curly, _____________lettering, has become synonymous with the psychedelic ‘60s, even if it was created earlier.

The style that resulted from the rejection of industrialization’s “ugliness” _____________ many different names in different languages.

Art Nouveau often features flat, _____________ patterns, feminine figures, and organic motifs _____________ with fluid, abstract forms.

Art Nouveau creators married aesthetics with utility, and believed that no object was _____________ to be beautiful.

Like the late 1800s, the 1960s were a time of cultural _____________, with San Francisco as its _____________ in the US.

To advertise new bands, it was clear that posters with regular _____________ and grayscale photos just were not going to _____________.

By the mid-60s, Art Nouveau was already living a _____________, particularly in textiles. For the posters, the artist took some Art Nouveau staples and turned _____________.

The style the artists picked up on was one full of feminine figures, often nude and with a _____________ glance.

They often pulled images directly from the Art Nouveau posters, replacing their soft pastels with a vibrant _____________.

The idea of softening edges of the fonts to make them barely legible actually

_____________: to hold your attention, at least until you made out what was written.

The posters were an easy way of spreading this aesthetic, and the artists behind them became celebrities _____________.

Enjoy it! And give us your answers in the comments, even if they can be easily checked with the video's closed captions.

Fake News

Hi everyone!

I'm not as active on the blog as I'd like, but in any case I'm glad I can take a little while from time to time to share an activity with you here.

The topic I've chosen is fake news and the impressive advancement of technology that can enable us to create false impressions. Someone once said that, if it's technology that the general public knows about, then it's probably already obsolete! Don't doubt that what we can see in a video like this one is much less advanced than what the actual cutting-edge software can do.

It's still quite shocking that we can manipulate images and sounds in real time, and even if fakes are easy to spot at the moment, the effect that it can have on public opinion is quite unpredictable-- regardless of whether it is finally disproved or not.

So let's go for a bit of sentence completion to accompany this short BBC report:

1. Green screen or __________________ can give us virtual backdrops to interact with.

2. We’re only years away from creating realistic environments: in real time, we can manipulate voices, facial expressions and __________________ .

3. Some software operates by taking take one person’s facial expressions and __________________ on to another person’s features.

4. The development of these technologies requires ethical frameworks that could __________________ the implications they may have on society.

5. A new tool to manipulate voice __________________  by Adobe, the company who invented PhotoShop.

6. To spot a fake, the resulting altered audio would be __________________ , but that wouldn’t stop it from spreading.

7. Fakes can be debunked in __________________ , but this doesn’t stop people from believing them or from becoming viral.

8. One possible consequence of the dissemination of fakes is that solid evidence could be dismissed as __________________  by those who try to deceive us.

9. If there is a high level of distrust in institutions, a term like fake news is deployed in many ways, even to describe what is __________________ and __________________ .

10. This fast-paced technological advancement means we will have to refine how we __________________  from our senses.

Share your answers and your ideas on the topic in the comments section. Key here. Enjoy!

Learning Through Art

Hi everyone!

Back here! Finally! The hiatus was worth it, though, now I have a PhD under my arm, and a desire to make this blog active again with lots of comprehension challenges!

This first video has been watched by most of you through the mailing list, so I'm including it here for you to check your answers and to have a permanent link to it. Even if you've replied to it by email, you can still make comments, you know I love to see the comment section alive!

This is an introduction to the learning programme of the Houston Museum of Fine Arts. I'm fascinated by the way in which cultural institutions develop or adapt curricula to encourage hands-on learning processes.  These are the comprehension questions I propose:

Watch the first minute of the video and reply to these questions:

1. What is the main question they want to investigate with the Learning Through Art Programme?

2. What does a student have to do to succeed in today's global society?

3. What skills need to be developed for this purpose?


Now watch the rest of the video and complete these sentences:

1. Habits of mind are the _____________ between the classroom and the museum.

2. Students are motivated by _____________  and learn best by _____________ .

3. The abilities strengthened by learning through original works of art are the application of knowledge in a real-world setting, a deeper understanding of content, and the ability to _____________ complex ideas.

4. To implement these ideas in your classroom, all you need is a _____________  rather than a background in Art History.


Key here, as usual, and please share your answers or any ideas in the comment section. What do you think of these educational programmes in museums?

Learning Through Art: Introduction from Museum of Fine Arts, Houston on Vimeo.

What do employers look for?

Hi everyone!

This video  is a short collection of interviews with HR managers who tell us about the qualities they look for in a candidate. I propose completing these sentences (listening for specific information).

I'm not going to make this one too difficult: I'll transcribe the sentences as they are uttered, with gaps. Do take a look at useful vocabulary before listening, as it helps comprehension more than you may think. Use the dictionary widget on your right.

traits
to make x out of y : to turn y into x. For example, "to make a drama out of the situation" means to turn the situation into a drama, that is, to exaggerate it. What is the use of this expression in the video and what does it mean?
to figure out a solution


Go for it!

As usual, any questions will be answered in the comments section, and key here. You're welcome!


1. I'm looking for proven track record; I'm looking for a proven ability to _________ and execute.

2. I'm always looking for people that are _________  learning and developing so that they can make a career out of this _________  a single job.

3. An aptitude to do any type of job, as employers aren't necessarily looking to lock somebody into _________ .

4. Traits to me are almost more important than skills. And you're looking for someone who can be a leader, that can be responsible, who can understand the task and get them _________ . But also someone who, who is obviously intelligent and hardworking and that is, those traits are more important than any _________  you can show me.

5. I'm looking for someone who is _________ , who has a desire to help others, someone who has an active _________  communication and complex thinking skills.

6. You have to be able to communicate well and work well with other people, because it's going to _________ all those problem-solving minds _________  to really be able to figure out the solution for the business.

Dealing with the weather in London

Hi everyone!

Finally back after this forced break. But you know there's a period of frantic activity coming... exams are just round the corner so it's time for more frequent videos.

This is a short, funny guide on how to deal with the weather, whether (see what I did there?) you visit London in sunny summer or rainy autumn.

These are some expressions you may want to check before watching the video:

the odd ... ( = not usual)
spring has sprung
alfresco dining (yay! Our favourite word in action!)
unwind
thermals
duck into (the shops)
when the weather turns
to keep (the chills) at bay

The activity is a sentence completion. Disable closed captions (CC button) to do it, and then enable them to check your answers.

Careful in sentence 7, as it contains one feature of pronunciation we have only seen in the C1 course: the intrusive "r" (an "r" sound between one final vowel and one initial vowel).

Enjoy!

1. You must be ready to adapt, because the weather in London can be a little __________________.
2. Even if spring is mainly sunny, you might see the odd __________________.
3. If you get a bit hot under the collar, the best idea is to leave the bus and tube __________________ and hire a bike.
4. Don't forget a picnic! __________________ the blanket and enjoy some alfresco dining.
5. Even though the long summer days may be __________________, autumn is still a great time to be in London.
6. London is a top shopping destination, and some of its __________________ include Carnaby Street and Covent Garden.
7. As the nights __________________, find yourself a bar or go to a show.
8. During winter, there are many places that are __________________ from the cold outside.
9.A pub, in front of a roaring fire is a wonderful way to __________________ a winter's day.

Topic: Culture - Broadway Musicals

Hi everyone!

Doing a bit of research for this topic I have found out that there are so many musicals worth watching! And so many we know of because they have been adapted for the silver screen, like Grease, Hair, Mamma Mia, The Fiddler on the Roof, West Side Story,... Actually, with some of these I'm not even sure if it was the musical production or the film that came first. Any help?

This is a top ten list that, obviously, will not please everybody, particularly if you're a fan of more classical musicals. I, for one, find that there is one unforgivable absence!. But we have to take into account that the list aims at presenting some of the most successful or critically acclaimed productions. Or... this might one of those cases where a top ten just won't do. A top twenty, maybe?

What I propose is:

1. First, to take a look at compound adjectives with present participles. Remember that they are easy to interpret if you "read them" from right to left forming a relative clause:

e.g. a Tony Award-winning musical would then become a musical that has won a Tony Award... or several! Don't forget that the first part of this adjective is always singular, no matter what.

2. Then, to complete some gapped sentences.

3. To read the full transcript and annotate any interesting collocations (there are soooo many I couldn't make gaps for all of them!)

4. To comment!

So we start with the adjectives. Match the adjectives you're going to hear with the noun they refer to in the video. There may be more than one acceptable match. Then check while you're listening.

history-making                                  characters

attention-grabbing                           numbers (figures)

show-stopping                                   dance numbers

longest-running                                 flick (film)

Oscar-winning                                   twelve Tony Awards

award-winning                                   production

record-breaking                                musical 

And here are the gapped sentences:

1. Wicked will captivate you _______________________ of “The Wizard of Oz” film.

2. The Producers, thanks to its musical numbers, choreography and characters,  _______________________  of classic Broadway shows.

3. RENT is a landmark musical, _______________________  and RENT-heads alike.

4. Oklahoma! is a successful combination of a serious storyline, _______________________  and dance numbers.

5. Oklahoma! is thought to be a musical that  _______________________  the musicals that came after it.

6. A Chorus Line is simple in its concept: a bare stage on which we watch several Broadway dancers _______________________  a musical.

7. Chicago follows two women _______________________ , wealth and “all that jazz”.

8. The Lion King manages to _______________________ universally appealing songs with colorful costumes and impressive puppetry.

9. Even though there is __________________________ in it, Cats is a “purrfect” musical.

10. Cats has vibrant costumes and incredibly complex dance numbers. _______________________  the distinct personalities of the Jellicle cats and_______________________ this is one of Broadway’s most popular shows.

11. Les Miserables is one of the longest-running musicals on Broadway, which the narrator doesn’t hesitate to call “a musical and _______________________.”

12. The Phantom of the Opera counts with detailed costumes, ___________________ and haunting music.

All that is left for you to do now is to read the transcript and annotate your favourite vocabulary.

Oh, I almost forgot... And to comment! Do you agree with the list? Which is your favourite musical? You can also share the vocabulary you found interesting with us.

Enjoy!

Brain-changing social media

Hi everyone!

Ever wondered how social media use may be changing us physiologically? Some people claim our brains, and even our nervous system, are being rewired by media use, particularly in heavy users.

So click below to find out more about the way we are challenging our brains by stimulating it like never before in history! And also to fill the gaps provided here with up to three words.

Disable closed captions (CC button) to do the activity, and turn them on to check your answers. There's also a key available.

Enjoy!

1. With social media being ______________________ one third of the entire world, they’ve clearly had a ______________________ on society.

2. There are similarities between social media addiction and drug dependence, even if one is a psychological addiction and the other is a ______________________ .

3. It was found that heavy media users did worse in task switching tests. High multi-tasking online can even make it difficult for your brain to commit ______________________ .

4. Phantom Vibration Syndrome is a relatively new phenomenon, where you think you ______________________  your phone ______________________ , but it didn’t.

5. Social media also ______________________  a release of dopamine, with the reward centres of the brain being more active when people talk about ______________________ , as opposed to listening to others.

6. It’s also been found that partners who met for the first time online tend to ______________________  more than those who first met face to face.

7. This increased success in partnerships started online may be due to anonymity or to people being clearer about ______________________ .

Topic Video: Charity

Hello everyone!

This is a video about a very particular charity shop. A pair of shoes for 850 pounds... is that a rip-off or a bargain? Well, here, it turns out to be a bargain! The proceeds of this charity must have been really high!

I propose a gap-filling exercise to practise collocations, either related to this topic or not. You know my insistence on collocation, and my firm belief that it is the key to successful comprehension and natural expression.

Some vocabulary to check before listening (remember to use a monolingual dictionary! You have a dictionary widget on this same page):

cobbler
cast-offs
highstreet
kudos

Notice the emphatic structure at the beginning of the report (cleft sentence):

________________________ buy  Beyoncé’s dress, Shirley Bassey’s shoes or Natalie Imbruglia’s hat all under one roof.

Complete with a suitable word or phrase:

But you can at this ________________________ charity shop inside London’s department store Selfridges.

The idea came from ________________________  Annie Lennox, and Vanessa Branson, sister of ________________________  Richard, was one of several of her friends ________________________ .

Vanessa Branson highlights that:

• Everybody feels ________________________ the project.
• It’s not just about ________________________  every year.
• You know you’re making ________________________ .

So far, 30,000 pounds ________________________  by the shop.

Charity shops in general are ________________________ : profits were up by ________________________  to 100m pounds.

With more than 700 ________________________ , Oxfam is the biggest UK charity retailer.

Theresa Colonette runs a boutique selling only the creme of ________________________ cast-offs.

She thinks that charity shops can be an alternative fashion resource, offering a ________________________  for anyone.

The last dress shown doesn’t have a celebrity connection, but it is still ________________________ , something which more people are likely ________________________ in the ________________________ .

Key here. But I hope to see your comments anyway, about the activity or about the vocabulary you've learnt with it. Thanks!

Auctions: Madoff's bounty

Hello again!

This is a video that most of you already know. I'm posting it here for you to check your answers or, if you're new to it, to practise, practise, practise!

This is not the first video about auctions, that we have had around here, but it is one in which I have learnt a new word: gavel. It's the news story of the auction where Madoff's personal belongings are put up for auction to compensate victims of his pyramid scheme.

Vocabulary to learn before you watch:

proceeds (or sales proceeds): the money obtained from the sale.

seized: in this context, taken by the police (or other law enforcement agents, like the FBI or others), as evidence or for other purposes, as here.

to go under the hammer: to be sold at auction (from the action of bringing a hammer down to close the bidding). This hammer is called "gavel" (the word you hear in the video)

The activity involves completing a couple of sentences that start with "it". Two typical structures: 1. a cleft sentence, and 2. an impersonal passive.

1. And it was not just his footwear...

2. It's expected that ...

Pay attention to prepositions at the end of a clause!

Key available here. Thanks!

Yosemite again: free-climbing Dawn Wall

Hi everyone!

I guess many of you have woken up to the news of the incredible feat of these two climbers to have made it to the top of El Capitan's Dawn Wall in Yosemite.

Having seen El Capitan featured here, in a previous post about Yosemite Park, it seemed only like a natural continuation to have a little activity about this incredible sporting success.

This is a gap filling activity with two kinds of gaps, which you can complete all at once or in two rounds. The first kind is vocabulary, while the second kind (in bold) is for examples of ellipsis and reference (ways of avoiding repetition in discourse).

Even though I include the key for you to check, I'd like you to tell us in the comments what those words in the gaps refer to. For example:

- Everybody was writing comments on the blog, but inexplicably, I wasn't. (there's an ellipsis here, and it refers to "writing comments".)

- There's a previous post about Yosemite, so I may check that out after this video. (we avoid repetition by using the pronoun "that", which refers to "a previous post about Yosemite".)


I'm aware that many of you may have seen the video already, but it really is the most beautiful one around. I had to pause it and just admire the view. Where would you pause the video?

Enjoy!

Tommy starts by describing his father, a bodybuilder, as a __________ character.

When he was a child, his father would put a harness on him, tighten him into a rope around him and ________ a rock outside their house.

_________ he was 14, he started to realise there were climbs he could do that his father ________ .

His ___________ is to climb the Dawn Wall in Yosemite Valley.

About five of the hardest wall free-climbs have been Tommy’s ________ , and Dawn Wall is ________ harder than the hardest of __________.

In North America, there is no granite wall that is as blank and  _______________ as Dawn Wall.

Tommy wrote about a day when his fingertips were cracked and bleeding, he made ____________ despite great conditions, and yet he couldn’t wait to be back up on the wall.

Tommy really ___________ to his father, who taught him about this _____________ way to live.

He says that we have these ____________ ideas of where our boundaries are, and that maybe _________ are completely wrong.

The Dawn Wall from Facebook Stories on Vimeo.

Recycling Electronics

Hello again! Happy 2015 to you all!

We're back with a bit of responsible recycling and reuse of electronic devices. It's a very brief video, but it shows us some of the consequences of irresponsible disposal of  electronic waste, as well as some greener alternatives.

Just a regular gapfill for you! We're getting back into shape step by step... I'm still going to let you enjoy some of the holiday season hangover before stepping into more challenging work!

Enjoy! Key available here (but don't rush to it!)

In America, 2m __________________ of __________________ are thrown away every year.

It can leak into __________________ and into __________________.

It’s a cause of environmental __________________ and it can cause harm to the people who __________________.

The biggest __________________ to recycling is cost, which is compensated in this company by fixing and reselling __________________.

They may may take two products __________________ and combine them together to make one that is reusable.

They can recuperate __________________ per cent for reuse.

They track down the reused items __________________ be able to provide that information to environmental organizations and manufacturers. The manufacturers could then decide __________________ to make next.

An EcoATM will let you hand in your cellphone and get cash __________________.

A brief history of the electric guitar in one song

Hi everyone!

Here's a little history of the electric guitar brought to you by the Smithsonian Channel. I hope you can recognize the song they play throughout the video!

The activity is a gap-fill of varying length: any number of words can fill the gap. What I like most about this video in particular is the fact that we have different voices, with slightly different accents, and a music background.

You can check your answers by activating the closed captions in the video (CC button). It's very approximate, so it'll do. (UPDATE:  this is the link to the video that has a CC button available)

Hope you enjoy it! And if it inspires you to play some music afterwards, then my purpose is accomplished!

All right now, what me and the _____________  are trying to do right here is a short history of the electric guitar, starting with ________________ that you can hear.

The creativity that comes out of, here was a tool where you can  ________ things in a way, and that, the only _____________ your imagination.

There's something beautiful about it, and it _______________, it doesn't sound like where the instrument ____________, it's gone in a _____________ round.

__________________ a way to express yourself in a way that,  maybe a __________________, maybe a little crazy, maybe ___________you to do things that you _________________ on your own, but you have that guitar in hand, it gives you ______________.

The fascinating thing about electric guitar history is that the product ___________________ much since it _______________, and all the innovations have been small, ____________ in their effect on a country as it changed music _______________.

In the story of the electric guitar you have so many things about America, and about __________culture _______________. You have invention, faith ____________, you have faith in technology, and you have ________________, you have creativity. All of these things come together in a guitar.

Topic Video: Architecture and Conservation

Hello everyone!

Back after a short break with a topic video! This one was inspired by my finding out that the magazine Arts and Architecture has been reprinted by Taschen. Definitely not affordable, but great news for those interested in that magazine, and who could only try to get hold of vintage issues.

One of the features of the magazine was the Case Study House Program. If you want to find out about it, and about what has been done in recent years to promote conservation of these designs, go ahead and watch the video!

...with an activity, of course. Here's the key: now you only need ten minutes and, if you could find two minutes more, you could even leave a comment!


1. There were _______________ 11 individuals, organizations, projects or programs that received awards.
2. The Case Study House Program was one of the seminal efforts in designing and building _______________  in the US.
2. Only 25 houses were built of a total of 35 homes and _______________  designed and published on the magazine.
3. They designed single-family residences, incorporating the _______________  in construction, materials, landscaping, and even _______________ .
4. The result had a _______________  on architectural design all over the world.
5. Due to risk of demolition or alterations that would make them _______________ , there was an effort to get the homes listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
6. The project spanned 11 years, after which ten houses were listed and one was _______________ for listing.
7. The project succeeded in raising awareness of and appreciation for these _______________  and their architects.

Topic Video: Social Networks

Hi everyone!

I hope that you will find some useful vocabulary in this video to talk about social networks and their risks, but also about entertainment and age-appropriate leisure activities for children. A very complete one!

So check out this top ten and answer the questions. Then watch it again and try to complete the sentences with up to three words:


a) What are the most desirable features of social networks for kids? Tick the ones you hear:

- parental control
- signing in is only possible with parental approval
- online games
- limits of time spent online
- certain features can be enabled or disabled by parents
- age-appropriate content
- appealing photo-sharing facilities
- adult moderators
- Disney characters
- parents can access chatrooms
- review of photos before upload

b) What other features not mentioned in a) do you think can also be beneficial to a children networking site?


1. Togetherville works ______________ Facebook.
2. At whatswhat, a kids-only network,  it is required to log in with biometric facial recognition ______________ account security.
3. Without ______________, friends are limited to one grade level.
4. In Scuttlepad, content in ______________, ______________ and comments is kept age-appropriate, and photos are reviewed by their staff before posting.
5. At gianthello, friends are made from ______________ email addresses, and not from random online invitations.
6. It's a safe place for your kids to play online if they ______________ games.
7. Skid-e-kids has special features that let parents ______________ and monitor friends.
8. On imbee, parents have ______________ to everything. Age-appropriate parameters can be set, and features can be ______________ or ______________ by parents.
9. At four is kidswirl, which comes ______________ games, photo albums, videos, quizzes, music,...
10. On everloop, children can create ______________ pages, play online games, buy virtual goods and chat through various media.
11. The children's private loop is ______________ anonymous intruders.
12. On Club Penguin, children use penguin avatars to ______________, and they can use emoticons, chats and games to interact.
13. Signing up for children ______________ is forbidden unless they have parental consent. That will also grant parents access to a parent portal where they can ______________ their children post.

Key here... Tell us what you think about these children-friendly networks and their safety features in the comments!

Topic video: Traditions

Hello to you all!

The topic of today is traditions, so here it goes: birthday traditions from around the globe!

I would like to give some life to the comments section, so the questions for you, to be shared in the comments, are:

a. Which of the traditions mentioned in the video would you like to see or experience?
b. Do you know of any other birthday traditions?

Hard to choose!

Some more questions, anyone? With their corresponding key.

1. The Romans were the first to celebrate their family and friend's birthdays, and not just those of _______________ .
2. In Denmark, presents are placed on and around the child's bed so _______________ .
3. According to the host, we all know how adorable it is to _______________.
4. "Las mañanitas", aka "the little mornings" is sung _______________ before a group eats cake.
5. __________________ before their actual birthday is considered bad luck in Germany.
6. In the sock wreath hung at a bachelor's twenty-fifth birthday, the old socks are _______________ of his _______________.
7. Jewish girls have a bat mitzvah _______________ and boys have a bar mitzvah _______________.
8. When you turn 1, 10 and 15 in Nigeria, _______________ people may turn up at your birthday, which usually involves a feast.
9. In the last tradition mentioned, the Chinese believe that _______________ are indications of future interests.
10. The dog doesn't choose anything, indicating that she is _______________ .

Enjoy! And share your opinions in the comments!

Surveys!

Hello everyone,

Following the reading about "Truth and Statistics", here's the British comedy Yes, Minister showing us how to obtain opposite results in a survey. Wonder how? Through the use of so-called "leading questions", that is, the questions that lead or introduce one more important question in the poll.

The one piece of vocabulary you whould know in advance is National Service, which was the obligatory military service in the UK (although this could be easily guessed by the nature of the questions.

I propose two activities with different degrees of difficulty: either transcribing the poll questions (ready for some British accent!), or completing this gap-filling.

You can check your answers here.

Enjoy!

)

Skyscraper history

Hi everyone!

This National Geographic video seems to be the beginning of a longer documentary. I quite like the language used, and the voiceover is just challenging enough with its pronunciation of weak syllables.

The documentary reviews seven "historic giants". Why do we use the word "historic" here, and not "historical"?

Have you seen any of these buildings? Personally, I'd love to see the Flatiron. I actually saw it yesterday in a film, just in passing, and I thought it was impressive.

Time for some comprehension. Complete with one or two words:

The Burj Dubai  _________  its success to seven key inventions.
At the heart of each of those seven buildings lies a major technological innovation that _________ to reach taller into the sky.
Seven ingenious leaps forward that _________  skyscrapers to evolve from big to bigger into the world's biggest.
Stairs in old office buildings were long and very dark, so people weren't willing to _________  more than to the second or third floor.
In the explanation of the security device for elevators, the rope breaking _________  a chain of events that locks the elevator.
The elevator completely transforms the _________  .
The Burj Dubai takes the idea of the elevator to _________  . Its more than 160 storeys _________  elevator technology to its absolute limit.


Enjoy! The key is here, but comments are also welcome!

Repatriating cultural heritage

Hello there, and welcome to a topic we hadn't dealt with in quite some time: culture, heritage, history and arts.

Many of you will be familiar with this situation: going to a museum in the UK, in France, in Spain, and walking around a section of Egyptian art. Or Greek. Or Persian. And the pieces on display are not minor: you will see in the video that some of the most representative works of art of certain civilizations are to be found in museums thousands of kilometres away from their land of origin.

This video is just a brief report, but it sums up many of the arguments in favour of and against showcasing foreign cultural heritage in museums. It has captions but they're not accurate at all and they're likely to confuse you.

Time for some questions, with their key here:

On display in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo: the tomb of Tutankhamon, and one of the _________________ artefacts in the ancient world: the Rosetta Stone.

How the Rosetta Stone ended up in Britain is a tale of imperialist _____________ : the French discovered it in 1799, and when they _______________ the British in 1801, they gave them the stone.

The reporter suggests there is an argument to be made that the stone is in __________________ in the British Museum, and that people from all over the world can see it there. The reply is simple: that's true, but it's not at home, and Egypt __________________ .

Turkey has demanded the return of antiquities, and threatened to withhold the loan of artwork to those museums until __________________ .

Museums return pieces of art when there are grounds for their __________________ , or when a court forces them to. The St Louis Museum of Art is being __________________  for the return of an Egyptian mask.

When works of art have been taken legally, they are great __________________  for their countries of origin. 

In Greece they wonder who is authorized to __________________  a monument.

They display classical sculptures. The __________________  have been replaced with copies of the originals, the __________________  are in the British Museum.

It's difficult to decide how legitimate these claims are, because it isn't always clear whether something was __________________ . 

The case of recently acquired pieces is different from that of pieces that have remained abroad for a long time, in that the latter have become __________________  of the countries they are currently in. 

Security at the museums is also an issue. The Egyptian Museum, for example, was __________________  three years ago, and a human shield was the only thing that prevented a further __________________ .

It is argued that unstable governments are more likely to __________________ art repatriation.

What seems to be just bitter custody battles could __________________ more cultural exchange. In Greece the claim is becoming an opportunity for collaboration and sending more pieces to the British Museum for __________________ . 

In Dallas, they're borrowing pieces from Italy and Turkey in __________________  of their return of pieces to them. 


The looting of the Egyptian Museum is something that we witnessed here some time ago in one of our most popular posts.

"If something's been somewhere long enough it should stay there". Do you agree?

Video advertising

Hello there!

I bring some activities for a video explaining what video advertising is. There is quite a lot of interesting vocabulary that you can use for any discussion on the topic, and it combines a clear voice-over with interviews.

I propose the following gap-filling exercise. Be aware that you may need more than one word in each gap.


The popularity of online video in recent years (1) _______________ online video advertising, which is an increasingly attractive proposition for marketers.

This is a medium that seeks to engage consumers and making them want to be (2)_______________ a brand.

Broadband take up at an (3)______________________ of 89% of online users means we can enjoy faster speeds and better quality.

Around 40% of online adverts now carry (4)_____________________.

Broadband connection also leads to a more effective (5) __________________ of specific consumer groups, and the added bonus of marketers being able to (6)_______________ when and how long their films have been viewed.

If you were to (7) _____________ a TV spot in Coronation Street, your audience could be (8)_______________ an eight-month-old baby to a granny, and all the audiences in between.

Video advertising online can come in a variety of formats (9) _______________ every product: banners on site, pre-roll and post-roll video ads, as well as a range of new interactive units such as YouTube's new overlay format, (10) ________________________ the opportunity to interact.

An exciting part of online video is that viral videos enable marketers to tell a story in a slightly more (11)_____________ and _______________ way.

The last speaker suggests that to know whether online video advertising works for you or not, you should (12) ______________________ (idiom).

online video advertising

For those of you wanting to practice some pronunciation, I would propose to look for any words ending in -al, like "viral", and repeat the full sentence in the video to drill their pronunciation in context.

Key here, share your comments in the comment section! Enjoy!

Understanding the weather

Hello again!

This is a video from a fantastic resource website, Education Scotland. Weather and climate facts and concepts explained in a lovely Scottish accent, starting by this video that goes through the most usual terms and symbols you are likely to hear in a weather forecast.

I give you the link so you can browse through their site: it's well worth a look.

To practice some listening comprehension, here's a collection of gaps with variying degrees of difficulty. Notice how some of the sentences are phrased very differently from the original recording, while others are almost verbatim. This is something that can make the activity more or less difficult, and you must gradually train yourselves to deal with any kind of rephrasing of the original text. Memory, note-taking strategies, and a good command of related vocabulary are essential to this purpose.

Here it goes. The link includes a transcript, but I'm also including this one, where you can find a key to the gaps.

Enjoy!

INTRODUCTION

(1)    Over the hills, heavy rain will be ________________________ (becoming).

(2)    What’s the expression they use to forecast sunny weather?

(3)    Where is there a risk of south-westerly gales?

(4)    The specific terms used in a certain field are called j___________.

(5)    To understand something better is to s______ t________ t_______ f________ (idiom).

WIND

(6)    South-westerly wind means ______________________________ the southwest.

(7)    Wind speeds can ______________________________ a gentle breeze blowing around 10 miles per hour that just rustles leaves in the trees to a strong wind at 25 to 30 miles per hour.

(8)    When wind blows at speeds between 39 and 46 miles per hour, it means we have reached ______________________________.

(9)    Storm force winds can _________________ and ____________________________.

PRECIPITATION

(10) If the cloud stretches ______________________________ it gets so cold that the water droplets freeze and become ice particles.

(11) Sleet is ______________________________.

TEMPERATURE

(12) The _____________________ daytime temperatures in Scotland range from around 6 Celsius in December to around 19 Celsius in July. 

(13) In summer, temperatures can be ______________________________.

MIST

(14) With fog or mist visibility ______________________________.

(15) The ______________________________ of visibility changes whether we refer to airports or to road traffic.

HUMIDITY

(16) In Scotland, we say it’s 'close' or 'muggy' ______________________________.

(17) Some of Scotland’s most humid days occur because ___________________________.

PRESSURE

(18) Air in the atmosphere is constantly rising and ______________________________.

(19) Areas of high pressure bring dry and settled weather, and on the map the isobar lines are __________________________, whereas the isobar lines for low pressure areas, which bring wet and windy weather, are often __________________________.

EXTREME WEATHER

(20) One consequence of climate change could be ___________________and ___________________ weather.

(21) Severe flooding can bring about blocked roads or even_________________________.

(22) The most extreme weather in the UK is be ___________________and ___________________, which can knock down trees and damage property.