watch a video clip and do some listening activities on the history of denim (Int)
do a reading activity about the history of denim (Int)
do a listening activity about the popularity of jeans (U.Int)
write about the influence of fashion on people
1) Discuss
Are you wearing jeans now?
How often do you wear jeans?
What are jeans made of?
Do you like jeans? Why? / Why not?
Why do you wear jeans?
If you are in class now, how many people are wearing jeans?
Why do you think they are so popular?
What do you know about the history of jeans?
2) Watch
What do you know about the history of jeans?
Look at the sentences in the exercise below. A) Watch the video below and decide if they are true or false.
B) Watch again and do the gap-fill exercise
3) Read Read the text below and put the sentences in the correct spaces
4) Listen Listen to the clip below
You are going to listen to Anthropologist Daniel Miller talking about the popularity of jeans on the BBC World service programme The Forum.
Why does he think jeans are so popular?
Vocabulary - to plug = to promote / market / advertise
5) Write Fashion trends are difficult to follow these days and it's widely believed that they primarily exist just to sell clothes. Some people believe that we shouldn't follow them and that we should dress in that we like and feel comfortable in.
To what extent do you agree or disagree with this opinion?
(IELTS)
5) Write (IELTS) Try this IELTS academic task 1 writing question on computer ownership.
The graphs above give information about computer ownership as a
percentage of the population between 2002 and 2010, and by level of
education for the years 2002 and 2010.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
watch a short video about the city of Southampton and do a comprehension exercise
read about the city of Southamptonon a Tourist Guide page and do a comprehension exercise
practise superlatives
practise language for describing a city
describe a city / town
1) Discuss
Where are you from?
Where do you live?
Do you like your town?
What can people do there?
What are the best things about living there?
Does anyone famous come from there?
Did any famous historical events happen there?
I am from Southampton in the UK.
So let's have at look at Southampton.
2) Watch Watch the video 1) Find out
What can you do in Southampton?
Would you like to live / study / work there?
2) Watch again and do this quiz
3) Read Quickly read the "Superlative Southampton" guide below 1) Find the answers to these questions.
Where is Southampton?
What kind of city is it?
Have any famous people come from Southampton?
Why is it "superlative"? How many examples of superlatives can you find?
Superlative Southampton - A City Guide
Location Southampton is the largest city on the south coast of England. It is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest National Park. The city lies roughly in the centre of the south coast of England approximately halfway between the towns of Bournemouth and Portsmouth.
Southampton is the biggest commercial and container port on the south coast of England. It has also been home to many ocean ”liners” and passenger ships. It presently has three large cruise ship terminals, with another one in the offing.
Leisure
Southampton is a vibrant, modern city and has one of the most modern shopping centres in the south of England.The mix of high street stores and traditional shops and boutiques has made the city one the UK's most popular retail destinations. It also has wealth of sporting, leisure, entertainment and cultural opportunities. The city centre has an unusual number of large parks. It is one of the greenest city centres in the UK.
Entertainment
Southampton has a variety of entertainment choices from the ice rink and paintballing to the Ocean Village Cinema and Megabowl. Southampton has an exciting nightlife which includes many restaurants and bars. Historic Oxford Street is home to Southampton's finest restaurants.
Southampton FC
Sport
As well as numerous indoor sports, keep fit and swimming facilities Southampton Sports Centre is one of the largest open air sports and athletic arenas in the south of England. In contrast to the ‘out of town’ location of the Sports Centre, Championship League Southampton Football Club has its state-of-the-art football stadium set down firmlyin the heart of city’s waterside population, on the banks of the River Itchen, very near to the original Saxon settlement of Hamwic.
Art Gallery
Arts
Southampton's elegant City Art Gallery contains 3,500 works of art from six centuries. The work of up and coming artists and designers can be found in the nearby Millais Gallery. The Mayflower, the largest theatre in southern England, puts on musicals as well as ballet and operas. The Nuffield Theatre, at Southampton University, stages performances from Shakespeare to contemporary drama. The city is also home to some of the region's best concert halls and two large multi-purpose venues staging major rock, contemporary and classical music events.
“Sotonians”
The city represents the core of the Greater Southampton region, with a population of 228,600. The city's name is sometimes abbreviated in writing to "So'ton" or "Soton", and a resident of Southampton is called a “Sotonian”.
Titanic
History
Southampton is noted for being the home of the RMS Titanic.The newest museum (opened in 2012) in the city is the SeaCity Museum which tells the story of the people of the city, their lives and historic connections with Titanic and the sea. Southampton was also where the Spitfire, the famous World War II aircraft, was designed and built.It has been home to many of the largest and most famous cruise liners in the world for over a century and was once known as the "Gateway to the world".
Jane Austen
Famous residents
Benny Hill
Many world famous figures from history were born or made their home in Southampton. These include singer Craig David; the composer of popular hymns, Isaac Watts; comedian Benny Hill: inventor of the Spitfire, R.J. Mitchell; film Director, Ken Russell; jazz Trumpeter, Nat Gonella and novelist Jane Austen.
2) Look at the text again.
Some of the words are in bold. Can you match the words in bold with the definitions below?
If you are not sure try and guess from the context and choose the answer that fits best.
What do you think of the Rolling Stones?
Who is your favourite band or singer?
Why do you like them?
Are they very popular? Why? / Why not?
6) Presentation / Speaking / Research / Writng (note taking)
Choose a band or singer you like and make a (powerpoint) presentation about them. Tell their story.
Look on the internet for some photos to illustrate your presentation.
Look for information but NEVER copy and paste. Just take notes. Select the important information.
Play some short clips of their music during your presentation.
Plan
Introduce them - Who are they?
Career - Give a short outline of their career
Conclusion - Why are they popular / important / interesting / good..?
Advice
This is a speaking activity so don't put too much written information in the presentation.
Never read text from the presentation. You should explain what your audience can already see.
You can use notes to speak but the presentation should be mostly visual.
practise reading quickly / scanning for information
practise the past
Discuss
What do you know about YouTube?
Do you use it?
What do you watch on it?
What is your favourite clip?
Have you ever uploaded a clip to YouTube?
Have you ever been "Rickrolled"? What does it mean?
Vocabulary check
Drag and drop to match the words on the left with the definitions on the right
Watch
Watch the video and answer the questions.
Who founded YouTube?
What gave them the idea to start the site?
When was the first YouTube video uploaded?
How many people use the site?
Quiz
How much can you remember from the video?
Do this quiz.
Read
Read the text below about the history of YouTube from 2005 to 2010. Don't worry if you don't understand everything. Find the answers as quickly as you can.
You can answer the questions in the interactive exercise below
Find out
When did YouTube officially launch?
How much did Google buy YouTube for?
Which Queen has her own channel?
Which famous rock band performed live on Youtube?
How long does the average person spend on YouTube?
How many views a day did YouTube have in 2010?
What percentage of internet traffic does YouTube have?
How long was the first video?
What age group uses YouTube the most?
How many languages does Google's Automatic Speech Recognition Technology translate?
listen to a video about the Beatles and do a matching exercise
read a text about the Beatles and do a gap-fill exercise
do a quiz based on the information in the lesson
1) Discuss
2012 is the 50th anniversary of the Beatles' first hit single.
Who were the Beatles?
What were their names?
What did they do?
Watch the video to find out.
2) Do the matching exercise
Look at the exercise below. The information in the boxes on the right is in a different order to the film. Use your mouse to drag the information in the boxes on the right to the correct heading on the left.
Watch the film again if you need to.
Listen to this Beatles concert from 1964 while you do the gap fill exercise below.
3) Gap-fill
Read the text and fill in the gaps.
You can choose the correct answer from the drop-down menu.
Sgt Pepper
Abbey Road
4) Beatles Quiz
How much can you remember?
Do this quiz. There are 12 questions.
5) Writing
Choose someone famous that you like. Write about them.
What would happen if you were locked in an airtight room? How long would you survive?
What would happen if a large meteorite hit the Earth?
3) Reading / Webquest
Read the questions for each text and then find the answers
1) What would happen if you stopped sleeping?
Look at these questions
What happens if you don't get enough sleep?
What are the 3 theories of why we sleep?
What do you think happens after three days of no sleep
What would happen if you were forced to stay awake?
Now read here to find the answers
To answer this, we need to look at some basics about sleep. The amount you need depends on your age. A newborn baby might sleep 20 hours a day while a 4-year old might need only 12 hours. The average for 10-year-olds is 10 hours a day and most adults seem to need seven to nine hours of sleep a night. And the average senior citizen can often get by with just six or seven hours a day. Whatever amount you need, you know you feel great after a good night of sleep. But, why is that? Does anything important happen during sleep? Yes, scientists have found that two key things happen during sleep: growth hormone in children is secreted and chemicals important to the immune system are secreted. If you don't get enough sleep, you're more prone to disease, and a child's growth can be stunted by sleep deprivation.
Beyond the immune system and growth hormone factors, no one really knows why it is that we sleep, but there are all kinds of theories, including the following. For one, sleep gives the body a chance to repair muscles and other tissues, replace aging or dead cells. Also, sleep gives the brain a chance to organize and archive memories (dreaming is probably a part of that process). Furthermore, sleep may be a way of recharging the brain. And finally, in very early times, sleep made sense in that people couldn't really do anything in the dark anyway, so they might as well "turn off" and save the energy.
A good way to understand why you sleep is to look at what happens when we don't get enough. If you've ever pulled an all-nighter, you know that missing one night of sleep isn't fatal. A person will generally be irritable during the next day and will become tired easily or will be totally wired because of adrenalin. If a person misses two nights of sleep, it gets worse. Concentration is difficult and attention span falls by the wayside. Mistakes increase. After three days, a person will start to hallucinate and clear thinking is impossible. With continued wakefulness, a person can lose grasp on reality. A person who gets just a few hours of sleep per night can experience many of the same problems over time.
It only takes three days of sleep deprivation to cause a person to hallucinate. Obviously, if you were to go for a longer period of time, the symptoms would worsen and in time, would most likely prove fatal. Rats forced to stay awake continuously will eventually die, proving that sleep is definitely essential. So, unless you were being forced to stay awake, you'd probably fall asleep before something as drastic as death could happen.
It's interesting to know that some people can function on very little sleep if necessary. A portion of a Navy SEAL's rigorous training program is a good example of this phenomenon. During a particularly rigorous week of training, the trainees must engage in highly physical activities for about six days - all of their hard work is accomplished on about four hours of sleep for the entire week!
Read the text below. Fill in the gaps with these sentences endings;
a) sea levels would not be affected.
b) it wouldn't flood all the Earth.
c) it would add another 20 feet to the oceans.
d) all of these cities would be under water.
e) sea levels around the world would rise about 200 feet.
3) What would happen if you were locked in an airtight room? How long would you survive?
Read the text to find the answer
In order to answer this question, we need to figure out how much oxygen you actually use in a normal day. First, let's assume that you're sitting in a chair, just hanging out. Maybe you're watching TV. You are not panicking, and you are not exercising. You might take 10 to 12 breaths per minute. That means that you will inhale and exhale seven to eight liters of air (about one-fourth of a cubic foot) every minute.
You could actually measure this yourself by holding a garbage bag in your hand and exhaling each breath into it. A typical white garbage bag that you find in the kitchen holds 50 liters or so. It would take you five to ten minutes to fill it full of air, depending on how big you are, and what you are doing. If you do the math, you can see that in a day you breathe something like 11,000 liters of air. That's roughly 200 garbage bags full of air, or 388 cubic feet of air.
Now, what if someone were to completely seal your bedroom with plastic and lock you inside. How long would you last? A typical bedroom is roughly 12 feet by 12 feet by 8 feet. That is 1,152 cubic feet or 32,621 liters. It would take you three days to inhale and exhale 1,152 cubic feet of air. However, that does not mean that you would actually be able to live in your sealed room for three days.
If you could somehow use your room as a giant "air tank" -- so you only breathed the air in it once -- that would be one thing. This is what people do when they go scuba diving. They breathe air out of their tank and then exhale it into the water. But you're not just breathing in - you're breathing out into the room, too.
Since you are sitting inside a sealed room, you have two problems. The first problem comes because you are breathing out carbon dioxide with every breath. You are "polluting" the room with carbon dioxide. The other problem is that, with each breath, you are consuming oxygen. So the amount of carbon dioxide in the room is rising with every breath, and the amount of oxygen is falling.
When the person first locks you in the room, about 21% of the air in your room is oxygen. The rest is nitrogen. There is hardly any carbon dioxide at all in the room (0.05% or less). Now you take a breath. What goes in is 21% oxygen and 0% carbon dioxide. What comes out is 16% oxygen and 5% carbon dioxide. Once you get to the point where the room's total oxygen falls to 19% and the carbon dioxide level reaches 2%, you're in trouble. Not only are you getting less oxygen, but you're now also taking in carbon dioxide, which is actually a poison.
Therefore, in reality, you will only last a day and a half or so. Then your body will begin having problems. So, you had better start working on finding a way out of that room!
You're more prone to disease, and a child's growth can be stunted by sleep deprivation.
A) Sleep gives the body a chance to repair muscles and other tissues and replace aging or dead cells. B) Sleep gives the brain a chance to organize and archive memories (dreaming is probably a part of that process). C) Sleep may be a way of recharging the brain.
A person will start to hallucinate and clear thinking is impossible. With continued wakefulness, a person can lose grasp on reality.
You'd probably fall asleep before something as drastic as death could happen.
Ex 4
Life would not survive and the oceans would be vaporized
Writing - Argument essay / advantages and disadvantages of mobile phones
You are going to
read a text about a man who lives without electricity
discuss what electrical items you could live without
watch a clip about mobile phones and answer some questions
write an argument essay about the advantages and disadvantages of mobile phones
Note; this post can be viewed as powerpoint presentation. Skip to the bottom of the post
1) Introduction
What are the essential things in your life? What couldn't you live without?
Could you live in a world without computers, cars, TV, mobile phones, electricity...?
What would you miss the most?
2) Reading
You are going to read an article about someone who has lived for 29 years without electricity. How do you think he manages to live without electricity?
How does he cook, heat the house and see in the dark?
Read the text and find out.
John faces his 29th Christmas without electricity. Two years ago, he successfully campaigned to have electricity installed along his road. But while his neighbours are enjoying their kettles, lights, washing machines and fridges, 77-year-old John McCarter is still waiting to be hooked up.The home that he's lived in since 1983 on the Seacoast Road at Downhill, close to Coleraine, is still being heated by two open coal fires, with candles providing his only light.
John lives in an idyllic setting, with his home nestled under the cliffs looking out to sea, but his living conditions are far from perfect: "During the summer, brilliant. Except for the fact you haven't got a thing like a fridge, which I can live with." "However, when the winter comes and the temperature drops down to minus four degrees and you get out of bed in the morning, and even before you get out, you can see your breath hanging on the air - it's far from pleasant," he said.
"The cooking isn't a problem, because I've got a gas cooker and that satisfies that end, but lighting is one candle and one tealight. "The candle provides the general lighting, the tealight lights up the face of the clock to let me see as the minutes tick away. "I have two open fires, one in the sitting room and one in the living room. "They're adequate provided they are burning, but the problem is you can't stay up all night to keep them alight so I usually stoke them up about 11.30pm before I go to bed, but by 3am, in the morning they're out and then the temperature just plummets. "By the time you are thinking of getting out of bed at 8am, the temperature inside is the same as outside."
Drag and drop to match the words from the text to the right definition
Could you live without your mobile phone, smartphone, blackberry or computer? Why / Why not?
Are you addicted to them? / Do you know anyone who is addicted?
What do you use your mobile phone for? Make a list of all the things you can do with it.
Do you know how mobile phones can affect your health?
Do you think that mobile phones are sometimes anti-social? Why / why not?
Look at the words below. Which describe how you feel about your phone? Can you think of any more?
4a) Now watch this clip.
What answers to questions 2, 4, 5 and 6 do people in the video give?
What is the video maker's opinion of mobile phones?
4b) Advantages and disadvantages of mobile phones or smartphones
Add some ideas of your own and make a list of good things and bad things / advantages and disadvantages of mobile phones or smartphones.
5) Writing
You are going to write an answer to this question
"Mobile phones; Friend or Foe?"
When writing it's very important to have a plan Think
How many paragraphs are you going to write?3 or 4 = introduction + main text = a) advantages b) disadvantages + conclusion
What are you going to say in the introduction?Introduce and describe the thing you are going to talk about - describe it as if you are talking to an idiot or someone from another planet; eg Mobile phones are very popular. They can be used to communicate, text, take photos…
What are you going to say in the main text?Give examples of ideas, compare and contrast them = a) advantages b) disadvantages
What are you going to say in the conclusion?Sum up your ideas in 1 or 2 sentences. Give an opinion. Don’t introduce any new ideas.
Linking Words
1) What words or expressions can you use to introduce ideas?
A
B
C Highlight = Firstly, for example, for instance, (+ writing the idea as a question )
2) What words or expressions can you use to continue, explain or contrast your ideas?
A
B
C
Write argument essays (advantages / disadvantages) about other topics eg computers, the internet, air transport, fast food, exams, learning a second language...
2) Reading
Answer = He has a gas cooker, two open fires and candles
Find words or expressions which mean
- connected = hooked up - a beautiful place= idyllic setting - be situated in a sheltered place = nestled (in) - suitable / enough = adequate - make hotter = stoke up - fall quickly = plummet
4) Answers
- What do you use your mobile phone for? - phoning, texting, facebook, games, communication, apps, internet, social network
- How many say they can't live without a mobile? 3 out 4 cant live without mobile
- Do you know how mobile phones affect your health? - texting can damage your eyes, rumours, not really "clued up", not quite sure, more dangerous than smoking but no evidence to back this up.
- Do you agree that mobile phones are anti-social? - can be anti-social at times, but good for keeping in contact, allow you organise going out, stay in touch, access social network sites, antisocial on buses and trains, in the supermarkets, there is a clear divide between young and old on this but this may change
- Opinion = Conclusion - growing technology, to see the impact on health and society we have to wait for the future
4b) Suggested ideas Advs = good for keeping in contact, be organised, social network sites, + internet access, cheap, convenient, fun Disadvs = anti-social, health issues(?), + addictive, distracting
You are going to look at theVist Britainwebsite and answer some questions about Great Britain
Instructions
You only need to scan for information. Don't read everything. You only need to look for words which will help you find the answers. Try and do it as quickly as you can.
Scanning is an important skill to learn especially for reading texts in exams.
Introduction
Discuss
What can you do or see in Great Britain?
Watch the video.
How many activities and places can you see?
Note as many as you can. Whoever gets the most is the winner!
Reading.
Click on the links and read the pages to find the answers. Try and do it as quickly as you can.
A) When did "Britain" start to exist?
B) When did the Romans arrive? C) How old was Queen Victoria when she became queen?
D) What achievements happened between 1901 - 1944?
Go here
4) Cities and Towns
What are the 4 capital cities in Great Britain?
Go here
5) Myths and Legends
A) Where was Robin Hood from?
B) Where can you see a monster?
C) How old is Stonehenge?
Go here
6) London
A) How many languages can you hear in London?
B) How many attractions are there?
C) How many shops are there?
Go here
7) England
A) What's the population of England?
B) What attractions can you see?
Go here
8) Northern Ireland
A) What's the capital of Northern Ireland?
B) What's the population?
Go here
9) Scotland
A) What is Scotland's largest city?
B) What is the population?
C) Why is it Scotland's "style capital"?
Go here
10) Wales
A) How many languages do the Welsh speak?
B) Why is it called "the land of castles"?
C) What is the Welsh national sport?
D) Where is the Millennium Stadium?
Go here
11) Government
What's the difference between the House of Commons and the House of Lords?
Go here
Britain is made up of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, together with the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland
8) Northern Ireland
A) Belfast
B) 1.7 million
2) Food
Curry
9) Scotland
A) Glasgow
B) 580,690
C) Its innovative buildings, stylish shops, cultural centres, more than 30 art galleries and museums and an annual programme of performing arts and festivals
3) History
A) around 6500 BC
B) 43 AD
C) 18
D) the invention of the television; the founding of the British Broadcasting Company (BBC); the discovery of penicillin by Alexander Fleming; and insights into the structure of the atom, which led to the development of nuclear weapons and energy.
10) Wales
A) 2
B) It is home to 641 famous fortresses - more castles per square mile than anywhere else in the world
C) Rugby
D) Cardiff
4) Cities and Towns
Belfast, Cardiff, Edinburgh, London
11) Government
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament. It’s a democratically elected body consisting of 646 members called Members of Parliament (MPs). The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament, and here members called ‘Lords’ meet to debate, change Bills and scrutinise the work of the Government.
Members of the House of Lords aren’t elected; they either inherit their title or are appointed by the Government or shadow cabinet.
5) Myths and Legends
A) Nottingham
B) Loch Ness
C) 50,000 years
12) 2012
The Olympics
6) London
A) Over 300 languages
B) 238
C) 30,000 shops
13) Football
140 years (founded in 1872)
7) England
A) 50 million
B) Historical sites like Stonehenge, ecological attractions such as the Eden Project and family attractions ranging from zoos and safari parks to picnic spots and beaches
14) Music
Learn about music’s influence on art, fashion and politics and download music from the BME archive. You can also live your rock ‘n’ roll dreams and play guitar, piano or drums in the fully equipped Gibson Studio.
There are also infamous, irreplaceable pieces of British music memorabilia.
