PHONETICS EXERCISES

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FOOTBALL WORLD CUP TROPHY

The World Cup is a small gold trophy that represents victory in the FIFA World Cup. Since the advent of the World Cup in 1930, there have been two trophies awarded to the winners.

The Jules Rimet Trophy was the original prize for winning the World Cup. Originally called "Victory", but generally known simply as the World Cup or Coupe du Monde, it was officially renamed in 1946 to honour the FIFA President Jules Rimet who in 1929 passed a vote to initiate the competition. Designed by Abel Lafleur and made of gold plated sterling silver on a blue base of lapis lazuli, it stood 35 cm high and weighed 3.8 kg. It was in the shape of an octagonal cup, supported by a winged figure representing Nike, the ancient Greek goddess of victory.

During World War II, the trophy was held by Italy. Ottorino Barassi, the Italian vice-president of FIFA, hid it from the Germans in a shoe-box under his bed.

Just before the 1966 World Cup Final in England the trophy was stolen during a public exhibition at Westminster Central Hall, but was found just seven days later, wrapped in newspaper at the bottom of a suburban garden hedge in Norwood, South London, by a dog named "Pickles". As a security measure, The FA secretly manufactured a replica of the trophy for use in the post-match celebrations. The replica was also used on subsequent occasions until 1970. The replica was sold at an auction in 1997 for £254,500, when it was purchased by FIFA who subsequently arranged for it to be displayed at the English National Football Museum in Preston.

The Brazilian team won the trophy for the third time in 1970, and were rewarded by being allowed to keep it in perpetuity. However, the cup was stolen again in 1983 in Rio de Janeiro and never recovered; it may have been melted down. The Brazilian Football Confederation commissioned a replica of their own.

The replacement trophy, officially known as the FIFA World Cup Trophy, was first presented at the 1974 World Cup. Designed by Silvio Gazzaniga and produced by Bertoni, Milano, it stands 36.5 cm tall and is made of 5 kg of 18 carat (75%) solid gold with a base (13 cm in diameter) containing two layers of malachite. The trophy, which weighs 6.175 kg total, depicts two human figures holding up the Earth.

The trophy has the visible engravement "FIFA World Cup" (uoutpouring letters) in its base. The name of the country whose national team wins the tournament is engraved, additionally, in the bottom side of the trophy, and therefore is not visible when put up normally. The text runs like "— 2002 Brazil", i.e. in English. At the moment eight winners have been engraved. It is not known whether FIFA will retire the trophy after all of the name plaques at the base are filled in; this will not occur until after the 2038 World Cup.

FIFA's regulations now state that the trophy, unlike its predecessor, cannot be won outright: the winners of the tournament receive it on loan for four years and receive a replica to keep.

Questions about the text

1. Jules Rimet was the name of the FIFA president who decided to start the competition.
True.
False.
We don't know.

2. The trophy was stolen both in England and Brazil.
True.
False.
We don't know.

3. The new trophy weighs more than the Jules Rimet trophy.
True.
False.
We don't know.

4. The winners must give the trophy back to FIFA after four years.
True.
False.
We don't know.                         
http://www.saberingles.com.ar/reading/world-cup2.html

SONG

Some Facts about …DIDO

Born: December 25th, 1971 in London.

Name: Dido Florian Cloud de Bounevialle Armstrong.

Known as: Dido

Family: French mother, Irish father, one brother, Rollo, who is lead singer in the band Faithless.

Unusual fact: didn’t have a TV when she was a child.

Musical instruments: recorder, piano, violin, guitar.

Album: No Angel (1999) – includes Thank you (Eminem used the first verse of this song in his hit single Stan); Life for Rent (2003).

1. Read the information about Dido and answer the questions.

1. What nationality are Dido’s parents?
2. What couldn’t she do when she was younger? Why not?
3. How many instruments can she play?
4. Which famous singer helped Dido become more popular? How?

2. Listen to the song. Put lines a-d and e-h in the correct order. Number them 1-8. Then listen again and check.

HERE WITH ME

A ( ) It might change my memory

B ( ) I wonder  how am I still here

C ( ) I didn’t hear you leave

D ( ) And don’t want to move a thing

(chorus)

Oh I am what I am

I’ll do what I want, but can’t hide

I won’t go, I won’t sleep

I can’t breathe, until you’re resting here with me

I won’t leave, I can’t hide

I cannot be, until you’re resting here with me

E ( ) They might wake me from this dream

F ( ) I don’t want to call my friends

G ( ) And I can’t leave this bed

H ( ) Risk forgetting all that’s been

(Repeat chorus)

3. Imagine your boyfriend/ girlfriend has left you. How do you feel? What can’t you do? Think of verbs and then write a new chorus for the song. Use the chorus as a model.

VOCABULARY

Health and endurance.

Find the meaning of the words in bold. Then decide if the sentences are true or false.

1. If a person is injured after an accident, you shouldn’t move them.
2. 15% of adults in Britain are disabled.
3. 75% of the world’s population is allergic to pollen.
4. People who climb mountains become exhausted because there is too much air at high altitude.
5. People with vertigo feel dizzy when they are in a high place.
6. there aren’t any poisonous animals in Europe.
7. A bite from a tarantula is painful, but it isn’t usually fatal.
8. In Britain, a lot of deaf and blind people have got special dogs which help them.

 

Activate your English

Answer the questions. Then compare your answers.

1. Are any of your friends deaf or disabled?
2. How do blind people read?
3. Is it painful when you visit your denteist?
4. Have you ever been injured, exhausted or dizzy?
5. Are you allergic to anything?
6. Name three poisonous animals in Englis

Reflexive Pronouns

Reflexive pronouns are formed by adding self (singular) or selves (plural) to my, your, our (possesive adjectives) or him, her, it, them (object pronouns). Let us have a look at them now:

                      myself

                      yourself

                      himself

                      herself

                      itself

                      ourselves

                      yourselves

                      themselves

Reflexive pronouns are used to refer back to the subject:

She made this skirt herself. (That is, nobody helped her.)

I cut myself when I was peeling a clove of garlic.


They can also mean "in person" or "personally", or, in other words, they act as intensifiers:

The mayor himself spoke for the abolition of the dealth penalty.

We saw the president himself at the reception. (Please note that himself refers to the president, not to the subject.)

The queen herself was among the demostrators.


If we say that John writes to Mary and that Mary writes to John, we are talking about a reciprocal action. This sort of actions are expressed by each other or one another:

They write to each other / one another once a month.


When the action expressed by the subject falls on other people or things, we employ personal object pronouns: He loves her. However, she may not love him; but if we say that he and Mary love each other, they are both in love. John loves himself means that John loves John, that is to say, himself refers back to John.

Exercises:

A.  Fill in the gaps as appropriate.

  1.  Ingrid, Paul! Please behave __________.

  2.  The pop star __________ attended the wedding ceremony, as she had promised.

  3.  I sent __________ a letter, but she hasn't replied to __________ yet.

  4.  We send letters to __________ regularly. I get on very well with __________. She's, in fact, my best friend.

  5.  We looked at __________ in amazement, but we didn't say anything.

  6.  Make __________ at home, John. I'll be right back.

MODALS VIDEO

GRAMMAR

 In English, they are special verbs which behave differently from normal verbs. These verbs are very used and therefore very important. There are called : modal verbs.

Modal verbs

The modal verbs include can, must, may, might, will, would, should. They are used with other verbs to express ability, obligation, possibility, and so on. Below there is a list showing the most useful modals and their most common meanings:

Modal	Meaning	Example
can	to express ability	I can play tennis.
can	to request permission	Can I play with the guitar?
may	to express possibility	I may be able to run the race.
may	to request permission	May I participate to this concert?
must	to express obligation	I must practice piano.
must	to express strong belief	She must be a very good tennis player.
should	to give advice	You should some exercise.
would	to request or offer	Would you like to play a game?
would	in if-sentences	If I were you, I would take part in that competition.

Modal verbs are unlike other verbs. They do not change their form (spelling) and they have no infinitive or participle (past/present). The modals must and can need substitute verbs to express obligation or ability in the different tenses. Here are some examples:

Past simple	Sorry I'm late. I had to finish my violin lesson.
Present perfect	He's had to practise football since he were young to became such an athlete.
Future	You'll have to learn your text well if you want to participate.
Infinitive	Tennis players have to take great care of their body articulations.

Past simple	I couldn't/wasn't able to play chess properly until I was 6 years old.
Present perfect	I haven't been able this article in Russian. Can you help me?
Future	I'm not sure if I will be able to come to your party.
Infinitive	I would love to be able to play the piano.

Modals are auxiliary verbs. They do not need an additional auxiliary in negatives or questions. For example: Must I come? (Do I must come?), or: He shouldn't smoke (He doesn't should smoke).
Important: The explanations and examples on this page are just an introduction to this extensive and complex area of English grammar. Students of English who want to learn more should consult a good reference work, such as Swan's Practical English Usage.

Do a quiz on modal verbs.

GAME

Play

  

DEBATE.

During the last week you have been informed about the new rules of the school. As you can read in many bills placed all over the playground, cantina and classrooms mobile phones must be switched off when you are in class. However, some students have asked if they might be allowed to use their cell phones during the English class. They argue that they can look up some words in the online dictionaries.  What do you think? Do you think students have to switch off their mobiles in the classroom?  Do you think the principal may allow to use them in some cases? Why (not)?