Rumours

Hi there!

It's been a long time since I've featured a news video here. It used to be a staple (2nd meaning) in this blog, so I'll try to include one from time to time.

The one for today is a video that I have chosen for two reasons: one is the topic, rumours and the buzzword of the moment, fake news. The other reason is the use of an informal construction of the passive voice: the passive with "get".


So, one comprehension activity for each one of these elements:

1. Complete two sentences with the verb based on...

2. Find at least two examples of the passive voice with get. 


The video is in American English, so remember that the verb "get" will be get, got, gotten.


Some context:

During a press briefing, Press Secretary Sean Spicer is asked to give an example of a "fake news" story. He gives one example from the G7 meeting, and an argument with the reporters ensues.

Enjoy!

Oh... and no, the key is not here yet... I'll wait to see some of your answers in the comments!

Why, why... ways of expressing reason. A deserted London

Hi everyone!

Paired with relaxing images, very suitable for a Monday, this video will enable us to explore different ways of expressing reason and effect/consequence. Only one question, why, but many possible answers.

The video is a collection of photos taken at a very specific time to capture an unusual effect: a hidden city inside the city. Can you find the answers to these questions and tell us how the speaker is expressing cause or effect? You can transcribe the sentence if that helps.

1. Why did he decide to take these pictures?
2. What are the effects of such few cars and people on the streets?
3. Why doesn't he usually have the time to reflect on or play around with images?
4. That day, when did the appearance of the city start to change? Why?


Consider elements like sentence order (why shouldn't one start the sentence with "because"?), alternatives to because like "since" or "as", using nouns instead of clauses (linking in this case with "because OF" or "due to/owing to/thanks to"), or, my favourite, starting the sentence with a present participle clause (which can also be used to express condition, result, time...)

Not a bad idea to start using alternatives, seeing as Spanish learners can reportedly spell because in (wait for it...) 237 different ways! It's not our fault if we're imaginative when it comes to spelling!

Now seriously, variety is the key here. Knowing that these are common ways of expressing cause will also help your comprehension. "Since you're here, we're going to start" has nothing to do with time but with reason (meaning "now you're here" / "given that you're here"), and sometimes the result may be clearly positive, so you may want to use "thanks to" to make this connotation clear.

See you in the comments! Enjoy!

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.

Green Offices: a gerund and infinitive challenge

Hello everyone!

Today's video is a little presentation of eco-friendly measures in a company.

I suggest summing up or transcribing at least four or five measures that they implement at their offices, identifying all the to - infinitive and -ing forms. What is their function? 

ex. In Beijing, they arrange over 70 different bus lines from different parts of the city, helping them to (or: "which helps them to", expresses consequence) reduce the number of cars, and with it their carbon footprint.

How many more can you identify? The main objective for you is to transcribe them, and if possible, say:

a) if they are the subject 
b) if they are the object of a verb (remember certain verbs take infinitives, others take -ing, others take both...?)
c) if they express manner (they way we do something)
d) if they express consequence
e) if they express purpose 
f)  Extra: any participle clauses?

Enjoy! Here's the key.