Getting ready for debates: Death penalty (B1A/B)

Watch this video about the death penalty issue (with actor Jeremy Irons). Try and answer these questions about the video:

1. Say 2 ideas he mentions against death penalty.
2. Which social group is especially affected by death penalty?
3. What is the saying in the US about "capital punishment"?
4. "Death penalty is irreversible". Explain.
5. Since 1990, how many execution of child offenders have there been in countries with death penalty?
6.Complete the sentence: "an attack to human rights (like the right to life) is an attack............................"
7. "Explain: "Criminals and murderes have crossed the line between right and wrong. Do we want to join them?"

Now using these ideas and others of your own let´s discuss about the topic.

Debates (B1A/B)

-Instructions for the debate:

-You must gather in groups of 2/3. 

-In groups of students with different levels the stronger student will be rewarded.

-In each group, one member will be for the statement and the other(s) will be against. If you have the same opinion on the topic, one at least will have to pretend.

-The script with the debate can be handed in to me to check mistakes. 

-Each member in the group must speak at least 3 minutes.

-Participation of the rest of the students in the debate will be rewarded.

-The debates will start at the end of April.

-Topics of the debate. Choose one of these statements:

1.All politicians are corrupted. I don´t believe in Democracy.
2.Parents should let teenagers do whatever they want. They are old enough now.
3.A computer with internet connection. I don´t need anything else in my life.
4.I agree with free abortion at the age of 16.
5.I would disconnect a dying but conscious person from the machines that keep him/her alive if he/she asked me to.
6.Spanish educational system doesn´t work.
7.The real crisis is the starving people in the Third World. No more money for banks!
8.Armies should disappear.
9.I believe in death penalty.
10.Sportsmen salaries should be controlled by the state. Nobody should earn more than 50,000 Euros a year.
11.I would manipulate the genetics of my future son to "design" him/her as I like (tall, blonde,intelligent...).
12.All drugs should be legalised.
13.Smoking should be totally banned.
14.Studying at university is a waste of time.
15.Going to another country to find a job: pros and cons.

-Each group must choose a different topic. Choose the topic fast! The first to tell me their choice will get it; if you are too late you´ll have to choose another one. If you want to discuss about another topic it´s OK, but let me know first.

-Evaluation: 1.5 points.

Grammar and vocabulary revision (E1A/C)

You really had a good time in the Jornadas Culturales, didn´t you? Well, now it´s time for a bit of work and review. The activities below are designed for several days, don´t try to do them in only one day! All the exercises include the answers at the end. Have a nice Easter!

-Grammar:

1.Present Perfect practice and Present Perfect/Past Simple contrast: click HERE, in this page you can find the theory about this tense and several links to exercises.

2.Since and for are so tricky! Do an exercise about them HERE.

3.Past Continuous practice: click HERE. (Theory and links to several exercises). For the contrast Past Simple/Past Continuous: click HERE and HERE.


4.Comparative and Superlative exercises: click HERE.

5.Will practice: click  HERE , going to: click HERE.

5.Practice with irregular verb forms: click HERE. Now try a crosswords HERE.

-Vocabulary:

1.Parts of the body: click HERE.

2.Jobs. Click HERE.

3.Computers: HERE.

4.Sports: HERE.


 -Time for relax now after so much hard work! Why don´t you play a hangman? Click HERE and have a good time! Once you have finished, you can try a new game (scroll down and click on the link for a new word below: you can keep the same topic or change it).

Rihanna - Diamonds

Concurso de cortos, becas (B1A/B)

Here you are the links to the information about the Concurso de Cortos organized by Cambridge and the Comunidad de Madrid scholarships (becas) to study English (inmersión lingüística) in summer:

-Concurso de cortos: click HERE
-Becas: click HERE

Gattaca (B1A/B)

Answer these questions about the film:

-Would you like to live in a world like the one the film shows? Why/why not?
-What is Vincent´s key to success?
-Why was Vincent operated on his legs?
-Why does Jerome commit suicide at the end of the film?
-Was it the first time he tried to commit suicide?
-Why does Vincent leave hair at his desk every day? Whose hair is that?
-What is special about the pianist in the film?
-When the policeman goes to Vincent´s house Jerome crawls upstairs and talks to him so that Vincent is not discovered. What is special about the staircase? Does its shape remind you of something?
-What does Jerome have round his neck when he dies? Why?
-What is a "borrowed ladder"?
-What is a "God-child"?
-What do we discover about the doctor at the end of the film?
-Who murdered the man in Gattaca? Why did he do it?
-Watch the alternative ending of the film HERE and explain it.
-Which moment makes Vincent think he can achieve anything if he fights for it?
-Who is a "Valid"? and an "In-Valid"?
-Why are the pictures in the film so dull? Do you think that means something?
-What is the difference between Vincent and his brother Anton?
-Why hasn´t Vincent´s brother reached as far as Vincent having better genes?

The Four-eyed dog (continuation) (E1/C)

Do you remember the story of the strange dog we made up in class (see the beginning here)? This is the ending Sofía thought for it:

"Although it was a dog, he was really sweet and loved playing with the tennis ball. He had my affection with those lovely blue eyes. But the final day came, 31 December, 2012. He had an aura surrounding him, the metamorphosis started. Now he had four eyes and I thought: "It was good while it lasted". Then he showed me his white sharp teeth with fury. But he stared at me and when our eyes met, he started to hesitate. In just a seconds I remembered all the good moments I spent with him laughing, playing, running, jumping... And as he could read my mind, he felt the same way I did in that precise moment, sad and empty. A tear came out from one of his four eyes and he transformed again, now he permanently had two eyes. Tom (my dog) jumped over me and licked my face happily. Since then, we have lived in peace".

The Shark-octopus (continuation) (E1A)

Do you remember the story about the shark-octopus-alien you made up in class? (See the beginning here). Read the ending Javier has written for it:

"I was so frightened that I tried to run with my hands [remember the shark had eaten my legs], but I couldn´t so I started shouting. I shouted so loud that the alien shark came where I was and it started to look at me. It asked me:"What is this strange red thing?", this was amazing, a shark was speaking to me! I told him that this was blood, my blood, and if you didn´t stop the blood coming out of my body I was going to die. The shark went away, and I thought that this was the end, I was going to die. But then the shark came again with the legs of the octopus and a glue stick and glued the eight legs to my body. This was strange, half human, half octopus. But the most important thing is ... I WAS ALIVE!!!

Instructions (E1A/C)

-Now go to this link

-What are these instructions for?

Keane - Everybody´s changing

A new ending for Arthur C.Clarke´s "Saturn Rising" (E2A/B)

"They built the hotel but they had a problem, Titan had got a lot of earthquakes and they couldn´t build it. They investigated why the moon of Saturn had got a lot of earthquakes and they decided to go to the centre of the moon. While they were looking for a place to go down to find the solution to the problem Mr Perlman fell down in a crater, then they went into a very long cave. After that they found a lake, they made a boat and sailed in it, they found a very big alien who provoked the earthquakes, they killed the alien and returned to build their hotel. The hotel was destroyed and they needed to build it again". (By Miguel)



"When  Perlman´s father saw that he was on the roof, he understood the situation and he didn´t throw away the telescope. Years later, he went to live in Saturn but there he wasn´t alone. He discovered life there and got married to an alien of Saturn, and they had three children. He was the only person in the Earth that knew there is life in Saturn, so when an astronaut went to Saturn, they had to hide. But one day a journalist came to that planet and caught them by surprise, and the Earth discovered their secret and they appeared on TV, in the news. Then, a lot of people began to move to Saturn because life there was much better". (By Sandra)

The Four-eyed Dog (E1C)

This is the story you wrote in class together. Now it´s your turn to finish it and give it an ending (in 150 words). Be as imaginative as you want but stick to the setting and the situation!

"I was watching TV last Monday night when suddenly… a robot said to me that I was going to be murdered by a dog with 4 eyes . I felt frightened and I went to the bedroom. I started playing computer games and chatting with my friends. I wondered if all was a joke, but in the chat there was something strange, everyone said “time to die”. In the morning I woke up and my hamster was dead, my parents told me they were going to buy a new pet. That pet was a dog, I was very frightened because the robot told me that I was going to be murdered by a dog. I started to look for information on the internet, about vaccines for dogs, to prevent my dog from mutating into a 4 eyed dog. And on a very weird webpage I found out that strange type of dog hated mint so I went to the backyard and grabbed some so that I was prepared...

The Shark-octopus (E1A)

 This is the story you wrote in class together. Now it´s your turn to finish it and give it an ending (in 150 words). Be as imaginative as you want but stick to the setting and the situation!

"Last summer I was walking on a lonely beach when suddenly.... I saw a very big shark. I was frightened¸ many people on the beach started shouting. I started to look for help but all of the people were  suddenly gone. It was not a shark,it was an octopus that was eating all the “people”. It started to run after me, he ate my legs. I thought the octopus was going to eat all my whole body but suddenly I saw a shadow hurting the octopus. The shadow was the mysterious shark that wasn´t a normal shark,  it was an alien shark...

KET oral exam (E2A/B)

Have a look at a KET oral exam.

Adele - Rolling In The Deep