Wednesday 25th
June
Hi Isabel. How is it
going?
I’m sorry for the delay in posting the blog but
the last weeks of June were sort of
crazy! Fortunately, I’m on holiday! Well, sort of …
You were lucky
because you had a break the week of 18th! So, you enjoyed the beach, your time off and the sunshine and lovely
weather.
You told me you
weren’t attending to class in July; I agree with you, you deserve a break from
English, too. But keep listening to podcasts or
CDs in English. And watch DVDs or series in English, if possible with English subtitles.
In class, we started
to correct the reading comprehension about school days.
“Were
they the happiest days of your life?” We talked about
school days and, as in the rest of memories, we recalled (remember) good and
bad times.
In the text, we could
read three different people’s opinions. The headings (titles of the paragraphs)
are meaningful
(descriptive, with a big meaning): “I left school at the earliest possible moment”, “School to me was my
family...”, “My parents backed up every decision my teachers made…”
As the text was
rather long and we didn’t have time to go
through it thoroughly
(completely), I’ll give you the answers to the vocabulary section.
WERE THEY THE HAPPIEST DAYS OF YOUR LIFE?
3-
Look at the interview with Lucy Jackman.
a) Try to guess the meaning of
the following words or phrases, looking carefully at the context to help you.
·
Loathed (line 2): hated.
·
Boarder (line 7): a person who lives at school, (eats and sleeps
there).
·
Dormitory (line 15): a big room with a row of beds (in a school, prison.).
·
Bunch
of kids
(line 17): a group of children.
·
Petty (line 32): foolish, silly, unimportant.
·
A
soft spot (line 44): to be fond of.
·
Dragon
(line
59): fantastic monster with wings
which spit fire.
·
Load
of lines(line
63 -64): a lot of lines.
·
Drive (line 75): determination.
b) Try to find a phrasal verb
or idiomatic expression which is similar to each of the following.
·
Comfortable/peaceful: settled down (line 14).
·
Emotionally
disturbed: hung up (line 21).
·
Tying: doing
up (line 24).
·
Acted
very emotionally: freaked out
(line 34).
·
Speak
severely to someone about their faults: tell
off (line 41).
·
Giving
out: handing out
(line 43).
·
Make
(someone) exasperated: to drive round the bend
(line 50).
·
Hated: couldn’t
stand (line 53).
·
Became
clear:: dawned
(line 64).
4-
Look at the interview with Jillian Hall.
a) Try to guess the meaning of
the following words or phrases, looking carefully at the context to help you.
·
To
slog my guts out (line
29): to work hard.
·
Teacher’s
pet (line
30): the favourite
student of the teacher.
·
Got
cross with (line
31): got angry.
·
Cocoon
(line
39): shell.
·
To
stand on my own two feet (line 40): to
take her own decisions.
b) Try to find a phrasal verb
or idiomatic expression which is similar to each of the following.
·
Had
a good relationship: got
on with (line 10).
·
Was
expelled: thrown
out (line 25).
·
Managed: muddled through (line 27).
·
Unhurt: scraped
by (line 28).
·
Isolated: left out (line 33).
5-
Look at the interview with Stephen parker.
a) Try to guess the meaning of the following words or phrases, looking
carefully at the context to help you.
·
Public
school (line
2): an
expensive, private school.
·
Wholeheartedly
(line
13): wholly,
completely.
·
Raking
the money in (line
20): making a lot of money. (Rake:
rastrillo)
·
Naïve
/naı’i: v/ (line
36): ingenuous
/ın’dی зnjuəs/
c) Try to find a phrasal verb
or idiomatic expression which is similar to each of the following.
·
The
goal to achieve: the be all and end all
(line 9).
·
Supported: backed up
(line11).
·
At
a long term: in
the long run (line 19).
·
Planned: mapped out
(line 25).
·
Travelling: bumming
around (line 29).
I hope this helps!
Have a
nice summer. See you again in class!!!!
