Tag: ESL
“Love is blind” – English proverb
St. Valentine’s Day is approaching, for this reason, I decided to tell you about this proverb:
I think this saying is common all around the world, but what is less known is that a research study was conducted to find out if the blindness of love was just a figurative matter. In 2004, a group of researchers of UCL (University College London) found that feelings of love suppressed the activity of the areas of the brain that control critical thought. So guys … be careful with love 
!
What’s the origin of this proverb?
This saying was first found approximatively in 1405, in Chaucer’s Merchant’s Tale:
For loue is blynd alday and may nat see.
At that time, it didn’t become a popular expression. Only later on, Shakespeare decided to use it in several of his plays making it famous and popular all around the world.
Two Gentlemen of Verona:
SPEED: Because Love is blind. O, that you had mine eyes;
or your own eyes had the lights they were wont to
have when you chid at Sir Proteus for going ungartered!
(2.1.67-69).
Visual vocabulary 7
Past simple – quiz
Fill in the gaps with the past simple form of the verbs in brackets:
1. You and Sally _________ not a school yesterday. (to be)
2. Uncle Conrad_________ to catch his bus. (to hurry)
3. Two doctors _________ into the room. (to rush)
4. I ________ Jesse in the park. (to meet)
5. Mozart ________ more than 600 pieces of music. (to write)
6. I __________ to the cinema two times last week. (to go)
7. When did Mr Black _______? (to die)
8. She _________ happy. (to feel)
9. He _________ his hair yesterday. (to cut)
10. Brenda __________ 20 books last year. (to read)
11. Our neighbour _________ his door open by accident. (to leave)
12. My boyfriend __________ back from the war last month. (to come)
13. Our horses __________ a lot yesterday. (to eat)
14. I __________ to lock the door.(to forget)
15. The queen __________ for her servant. (to ring)
I suggest that you take a look at this post if you need to review this topic ;-): irregular verbs.
These are the correct answers:
1. hurried, 2. rushed, 3. met, 4. wrote, 5. went, 6. die, 7. felt, 8. cut, 9. read, 10. left, 11. came, 12. ate, 13. forgot, 14. rang
Downloadable PDF: Quiz on past simple (without answers)
Downloadable PDF: Quiz on past simple (with answers)
What is the Zika Virus? – vocabulary, video, and exercises with answers.
I suggest that you read this list of words you may not know before watching the video.
VOCABULARY
To spread : to become larger or to affect a large area.
Ex. The fire spread through the six-storey building via the single staircase which acted as a chimney.
To detect : to discover or ascertain the existence.
Ex. Irregularities were detected on seven of the websites.
To break out : if something dangerous or unpleasant breaks out, it suddenly starts.
Ex. War broke out in 1914.
To transmit : to give or pass from one person to another; to cause (a virus, disease, etc.) to be given to.
Ex. Hepatitis C is a life-threatening viral disease transmitted primarily by blood contact.
To link : to make a connection between two or more things, ideas or people.
Paralysis : a condition in which you can’t move or feel al or part of your body.
Spike : a very high level.
Outbreak : a sudden increase, rise.
Mild : not strong in action or effect.
Vaccine : a substance injected into a person or animal to protect against a particular disease.
Downloadable PDF: What is the Zika Virus – vocabulary
Answer the following questions:
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How many people could be affected by Zika virus this year?
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Where was it discovered and when?
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Where did it break out in 2015?
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How is this virus transmitted?
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What are some of the effects of Zika virus?
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Is there a treatment for this virus?
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When could be ready a vaccine against Zika virus?
Fill in the gaps with the correct word from the box.
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Zika virus could _________ tofour million people this year.
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It was ____________ in Uganda in the 1940’s.
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It ______________ in the Americas and the Caribbean in 2015.
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Zika is _______________ through a particular species of mosquito that ______________ mostly in tropical regions.
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Zika has been _______________ to paralysis and birth defects.
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Officials are now _____________ pregnant women not to travel to places where there is an active Zika ___________.
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Officials say finding a vaccine could _____________ to a decade.
Downoadable PDF: What is the Zika Virus – exercises
Downloadable PDF: What is the Zika Virus – correct answers
“To chat somebody up” – English idiom
Example sentences from the web:
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The waiter attempted to chat her up.
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He spent all evening chatting Mary up and buying her drinks.
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Chris started chatting Sue up at the party. She wasn’t so flattered and she didn’t like his behaviour.
“Awkward” – What does it mean?
Image source
Gif source
Gif source
Example sentences from the web:
- I often find our awkward silences more comfortable than our awkward conversations.
- It would be awkward to show him you’ve rejected me.
- She is awkward at dancing.
Synonyms for AWKWARD:
Visual thesaurus
Who invented the Internet? And Why?
VOCABULARY
Credit: praise or special attention that is given to someone for doing something or for making something happen.
Example: She got no credit for solving the problem.
To threaten: to tell someone that you will kill or hurt them or cause problems if they do not do what you want.
Example: They threatened the boy with a gun.
Geek: meaning.
Myriad: a very large number of things.
Mainframe: a large and very fast computer that can do many jobs at once.
*Interesting article on this topic: The First Mainframe .
Behemoth: something very big and powerful.
Packet switching: a digital networking communications method that groups all transmitted data into suitably sized blocks called packets.
Congestion: too blocked or crowded and causing difficulties.
Example: Yesterday, there was a traffic congestion.
Gateway: a hardware device that acts as a “gate” between two networks.
To spread: to open, arrange, or place (something) over a large area.
Example: The fire spread very rapidly because of the strong wind.
Steadily: not changing much.
Retail: the sale of goods in small quantities directly to customers.
Downloadable PDF: Who invented the Internet – Vocabulary
Verb tenses review
Fill in the gaps with the correct form of the verbs in the brackets:
- So, have you ever _____________ (to wonder) who actually _____________ (to invent) the Internet?
- Or _________ (to be) it thanks to a myriad of smart scientists ________________ (to work) on something they __________ (to know) _____________ (to be) useful but _______________________ (to realize – negative form) would be so big?
- One popular but wrong story ________ (to be) that the internet ________________________ (to develop) by the USA so they ___________ (to have) a communication network that would survive a nuclear war.
- With time-sharing, these behemoths could ______________ (to process) several tasks at a time, which _____________ (to mean) their power could be used by several scientists at once.
- And, obviously, once you _________________ (to start) ___________________ (to connect) computers together you ________________ (to start) to wonder about what you ________________ (to need)to do to make communications between them easier.
- The French also _______________ (to play) a role. They _________________________ (to work) on a scientific network called CYCLADES, but they ______________ (to have – negative form) a big budget, so they ________________(to decide) to work on direct connections between computers, as opposed to working with gateway computers.
- The TCP/IP protocols _______________ (to form) the basic communication language of the internet, which _______________ (to label) the packets of data and ________________(to make) sure that even though some pieces of the same data ____________________ (to take) a different route, they all _________________ (to arrive) at their destination and can be reassembled.
- Networks really ________________ (to begin) ________________________ (to communicate) with each other in 1975, so you could _______________ (to argue) that __________________ (to be) the beginning of the internet.
- Most internet traffic in 1976 _____________ (to be) email, because academics ____________________ (to think) electronic post-it notes ______________ (to be) dead-core.
- He _____________ (to do) so by __________________ (to invent) an interface _________________ (to use) HTTP, HTML, and URLs that _________________ (to make) internet browsers possible.
Downloadable PDF: Who invented the Internet – fill in the gaps activity
Correct answers: Correct answers – Fill in the gaps activity – Who invented the internet
Visual vocabulary 6
Photo credit: Paco CT via Foter.com / CC BY-NC-SA
HOT-AIR BALLOON => a lighter-than-air craft in which air heated by a flame is trapped in a large fabric bag. Hanging under the balloon, there is a basket (container) in which people can ride.
In this picture, you can notice that there are seven people in the basket and the flame is visible because they are flying:
Photo credit: Arun Katiyar via Foter.com / CC BY-SA
The first hot-air balloon was created in 1783 by two brothers, Joseph-Michel and Jacques-Ètienne Montgolfier.
CROWD => a large group of people. This is a crowd:
Photo credit: mararie via Foter.com / CC BY-SA
LAWN => grass-covered land.
In this picture, the lawn is dry, probably because it didn’t rain for a while (the grass isn’t green).
Photo credit: mugley via Foter.com / CC BY-NC-ND
STROLLER => a small carriage with four wheels that a baby or small child can ride in while someone pushes it.
“Once in a blue moon” – English Idiom
Other example sentences from the web:
- He only calls once in a blue moon.
- Once in a blue moon, I buy a fashion magazine, just to see what people are wearing.
- My brother lives in Ireland, so I only see him once in a blue moon.
Free English Materials For You 