Tag: free English
Dangerously cold weather is enveloping more than half of the US – ABC News
LISTENING ACTIVITY
The following listening activity is based on an ABS News video. If you are preparing for IELTS or CAE this will be a great exercise to test not only your listening comprehension but your vocabulary knowledge too. The video is about the frigid conditions in the US at the end of December.
Before watching the video, read the following words and try to guess their meaning if you don’t know it yet.
SKIN – THREATENING – BUNDLED – PLOUGH – FORECAST – TO DIG – COLD SNAP – SNOW BLOWER – ICICLES – DANGEROUS CHILL – TO TURN – DEADLY – UNBEARABLE – TO DUMP – OVERFLOWING – TO DROP
After that, try to fill in the gaps (you have to conjugate the verbs), even not knowing the meaning of all the words. Think if the missing word is a verb, a noun, an adverb, or an adjective, this will help you.
The following step will be watching the video. This isn’t an easy one, they all speak really fast, so probably you won’t be able to fill in the gaps while watching the first time.
You can find the answers in the PDF file.
SKIN – THREATENING – BUNDLED – PLOUGH – FORECAST – TO DIG – COLD SNAP – SNOW BLOWER – ICICLES – DANGEROUS CHILL – TO TURN – DEADLY – UNBEARABLE – TO DUMP – OVERFLOWING – DROP
- We begin with that ___________________________ taking hold of half the country tonight.
- Part of Pennsylvania and New York still _____________________ out from under five feet.
- And now the Arctic invasion across most of the lower 48 states. This fountain you
see right there behind New York Public Library, mostly ___________________ to ice. - And take a look at the _____________________ for New Year’s Eve, the coldest in more than 50 years.
- When the ball ___________________ in Time Square the wind chill could meet minus 4 and for millions feeling the cold there’s much worse snow in the forecast as well.
- Tonight the 200 million Americans _____________________ from head to toe.
- That dangerous ________________________gripping more than half the country.
- The cold could be __________________, especially for the very young and the very old.
- Extreme weather is more than an inconvenience, it remains a serious and
potentially life _________________________ - Shelters __________________________ with people trying to escape the frigid temperatures.
- And in Cotton, Minnesota, an _______________________ 41° below 0.
- It feels like your __________________ is gonna be on fire.
- Dave S. had to hire a ___________________ to unbury his car.
- Heavy snow packed on rooftops, ______________________ nearly everywhere you look.
- N. today pushing his _________________________ clearing his home.
- All day truck after truck, we’ve seen them coming here, ______________________ their loads. Some of these piles are 12 feet high.
Downloadable PDF version (without answers): Listening activity – weather vocabulary – Free English Materials For You
Downloadable PDF version (answers): Listening activity – weather vocabulary – Free English Materials For You – answers
Toys – Visual Vocabulary
TO CUT BACK ON
Example sentences from the web:
- People are not having as many hours to work and they are being cut back on their working hours because of this issue.
- You’ve drastically cut back on calories, but your body doesn’t stop burning them, so you may feel weak.
- In recent years, the state began cutting back on costs because of the economy.
Teaching with TV series – MAKE IT OR BREAK IT
I’m currently teaching English to a 15-year-old girl and she is fond of gymnastics. This is why I’m teaching her English with Make it or Break it, an American television drama series set in the world of competitive gymnastics. Usually I make a vocabulary list for her, than we watch 15 minutes of one episode without subtitles. While we’re watching I ask her questions in order to check if she’s understanding everything. Then I give her 10-15 sentences with some gaps she’s to fill in and two sentences to translate from Italian into English. After learning English with this method for one year she got a B2 certification, so I must say I’m proud of her and I verified this is actually an effective method. Of course, I’m not just teaching her English with this TV series. Sometimes, we read newspaper articles or we watch a TED-Ed video, etc. but in my opinion, teaching with TV series is the most effective way to get teenagers focusing on learning English without getting stressed. She is not getting bored and she’s learning kind of easily.
Season 2, episode 8:
TO BE ON THE FENCE => unable to decide about something.
Another example sentence: I was on the fence till you showed up, but thanks for helping me decide.
Season 2, episode 9:
To get hold of somebody: to contact or find somebody.
Another example sentence: I got hold of the father, and he said the boy wasn’t there, and he doesn’t know about this yet.
Frenemy – English Slang
Have you ever been betrayed by a friend? It happened to me in the past and I must say, it’s pretty awful! Unfortunately, it’s something common and there are several ways to refer to this kind of people:
Image source
Example sentences from the web:
- “What do you think about frenemies?”
“I say, keep your friends close, and your frenemies closer.” - Zack is John’s frenemy. They get a long in the office but both of them work on internal competing teams.
- Gwyneth had a frenemy once and was troubled at the joy she felt when thisperson suffered a terrible public humiliation.
“Frenemy” on the Web: How to Deal With Frenemies
P.S.: I’m sure you got it, but if you didn’t … This term is a combination of the words “friend” and “enemy” ;-).
“To hit the hay” – English idiom
Image source: 1; 2.
Another way to say it is TO HIT THE SACK ;-).
This is a nice comic on this idiom made by Ploopikoosy:
More example sentences from the web:
- I have a busy day tomorrow, so I think I’ll hit the hay.
- Time to go home and hit the hay!
- I’m tired, I’m gonna hit the hay.
- Well, I’m going to hit the hay, I’m feeling pretty tired. Good night!
Here, you can read about the origin of this idiom: The meaning and origin of the expression: Hit the hay
“Truce” – What does it mean?
Example sentences from the web:
- The warring countries refused to create any official cease-fire, but on Christmas, the soldiers in the trenches declared their own unofficial truce.
Source: Christmas Truce of 1914 - The man at the center of the truce was the former security minister, David Munguía Payés, a general who is now the defense minister […].
Source: El Salvador Throws Out Gang Truce and Officials Who Put It in Place - We break the truce, drive a wedge between them.
TO BREAK A TRUCE => To start fighting again breaking a previous agreement of peace.
“To steal someone’s thunder” – English proverb
Example sentences from the web:
– Mike stole my thunder when he said he had done all the work. That isn’t true. In fact, I did most of it!
– What do you mean by coming in here and stealing my thunder? I’m in charge here!
– She stole my thunder, just like she stole last week’s pantsuit design from Versace.
Image source
Image source
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Post & articles on the web with his saying (click on the images to read the whole post/article):
“To wonder” – What does it mean?
Example sentences from the web:
- I wonder what she can do to help her husband.
- I wonder why I said that.
- We were wondering where the bride went.
To wonder in the news:
Behind the news: http://www.abc.net.au/btn/story/s4183263.htm
First part of the transcript:
Free English Materials For You 