Today we shall focus on story-telling, using nouns, adjectives, verbs (in the past tense or Verb 2) and linking words.
Students can also practise intonation and pronunciation when they make their presentation.
Quite simply the class, in small teams, are going to retell the story of Theseus and the Minotaur. We have covered this myth several times already, but here’s a quick reminder curtsey of the good people at Lego:
If the class works in small groups, it could be a good idea to give them some large paper in order for some to draw, while others write. However, every member of the team must write something, and speak during the presentation.
First, a quick recap:
Every year, the King of Athens has to send 12 children to Crete to feed the Minotaur. The King’s son, Theseus, said he will go and kill the monster.
When Theseus and the children arrive in Crete, Princess Ariadne sees Theseus and falls in love. She says she will help him.
The Minotaur lives in a labyrinth, or maze, and it is very hard to get out. However, the Princess gives Theseus some string, so he can find the exit.
Soon, the Minotaur smells the Greek hero and they fight but Theseus wins and the Minotaur is dead. The children are safe.
Theseus and Ariadne sail away from Crete back to Greece.
Now … your turn
Write and draw this story. First you, like Theseus, need some weapons, only your weapons will be words:
NOUNS Greek / hero / Prince / Princess / labyrinth / sword / string or thread
VERBS fight / sail / defeat / fall in love / smell /
LINKING WORDS and / as well as / but / however / because / also /
Naturally, they lived happily ever after … well, not really, but that’s another set of stories.
Titian (1506 – 1576) Bacchus and Ariadne 1521 – 1523 in London’s National Gallery
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Continuing from yesterday’s blog, which was aimed at younger learners, a review lesson focusing more on listening and pronunciation skills.
Warm up
Quick writing: You have 10 seconds to write down as many words as you can beginning with the letters:
s / p / t
Tell me something you like and something you don’t like.
EXAMPLE: I really like English because it is fun, however I don’t like mathsbecause it is so difficult.
Tell me four things you can have in a:
kitchen / bedroom / living room
Tell me about your family. Try to speak for as long as possible.
Example: I have a mummy, a daddy and two brothers. My mummy is friendly. She is small and has black hair. My daddy is tall. My older brother likes to play video games. My young brother likes to read books.
Write a sentence with these adverbs. One sentence each:
always / usually / sometimes / never
Screen test. Watch this Christmas advert, then answer the questions.
The Questions:
What colour was the girl’s umbrella ?
How many buttons (not eyes) did the snowman have ?
Name three shops that you saw.
How many snow people were on the street ?
What was on the wall in the man’s kitchen ?
What toy did the old man have in the bath ?
What was the old man’s job ?
How many pigeons were standing on the street ?
What fruit was the man on the subway (Tube train) holding ?
What was the number of the bus ?
Complete the slogans: Give a little _______ Together we can make a big ____________
Pronunciation, intonation and stress
Thay Paul loves coffee and so does his friend Agent Cooper: Students can act out the scene. Not only does it require stress and emotion, but also pacing.
Tell me the story of Theseus and the Minotaur
The Answers
Red // 5 // Scarf Hut, Pharmacy, Opticians, Florist // 8 (one in the window doesn’t count) // a fish, a picture of the family, a shelf // a toy duck // a barber or haircutter // 4 // an apple // 222 // ‘love’ & ‘difference’
Please Note: All photos are taken from Google Images or free photo sites, and are used for educational purposes only. No copyright infringement or offense is intended. If I have used your photo or image, and you wish me to remove it, just ask. This site is not monetized, I run it on my own dollar. Thank you.
Last night I was speaking with my wonderful TA about boosting her IELTS score. Our lesson used the Greek hero Achilles. Furthermore, we had both been standing more or less for four hours. I gave her two expressions then realised they were connected – Achilles heel and my dogs are barking. Therefore, here’s a quick list of foot-related expressions.
Achilles heel – this hero was invincible because his mother immersed him in a special river, as shown in the painting. However, she held her son by the heel so the water didn’t touch the boy’s skin. This was his one weak spot, and he was killed by Paris who shot an arrow into Achilles’ heel.
In everyday English, an Achilles heel refers to a person’s weak point, or flaw.
John’s vocabulary was excellent but his pronunciation was his Achilles heel.
This means John knew many words, but his pronunciation was so bad, he would lose points in a speaking test.
My dogs are barking – this mean your feet are very sore or hurting. Bob Dylan uses the expression in his song ‘Summer Days’
My dogs are barking, there must be someone around My dogs are barking, there must be someone around I got my hammer ringin’, pretty baby, but the nails ain’t goin’ down
copyright Bob Dylan 2001
To foot the bill – means to pay for something, or all of something.
We went out drinking but I had to foot the bill !
To put your foot in your mouth – means to say something that you shouldn’t have said – maybe you tell a secret, or you hurt somebody or get somebody in trouble.
Tony said the man was very stupid but he didn’t know he was talking about her husband ! He really put his foot in his mouth.
Foot and mouth disease – this is a very serious disease affecting cows, pigs and sheep. We can also use it to speak about a person who always puts his or her foot in their mouths.
Shelia can’t keep her mouth shut, she always says the wrong thing. She has foot and mouth disease.
To stand on your own two feet – means to be independent, not to need anybody’s help.
It’s time you stood on your own two feet, young man.
To toe the line – to do as you are told, to follow orders, or to follow the rules.
You better start toeing the line, mister, or look for a new job !
You won’t have a foot to stand on – you have no rights, or evidence to help you. You have no chance. Sometimes you may hear you won’t have a leg to stand on.
Without photo evidence or a witness, you won’t have a foot to stand on.
Two left feet – refers to someone who can’t dance.
No, I can’t dance, I have two left feet.
Footloose and fancy free – a person who is not in a relationship, so they can go out and meet new people. Someone who is ‘single and loving it.’
Footnotes – information or explanatory notes at the bottom of the page in academic books. The fiction author, David Foster Wallace was famous for using footnotes in his novels.
Legless – slang for being totally drunk.
You should have seen Peter last night – he was absolutely legless !
To have a hollow leg – someone who can drink a lot of alcohol but doesn’t get drunk, or appear to be drunk.
That’s her 7th beer and she looks fine. She must have a hollow leg.
To be a heel – this is now old-fashioned, but it means to be a bad person, to cheat people or be unfair.
He tricked the man out of $100. What a heel !
Please Note: All photos are taken from Google Images or free photo sites, and are used for educational purposes only. No copyright infringement or offense is intended. If I have used your photo or image, and you wish me to remove it, just ask. This site is not monetized, I run it on my own dollar. Thank you.
Divide the class into small teams. Each team is given paper, crayons, markers and a board.
The teams are names after Greek heroes:
Heracles
Theseus
Perseus
The heroes need to fight evil monsters.
Heracles must beat Cerberus, an angry dog with three heads.
Theseus must beat the Minotaur, an animal half man, half bull. The Minotaur is very, very strong.
Perseus must beat Medusa, a woman with dangerous snakes in her hair. Anyone who looks at Medusa will turn to stone.
The task is not easy, it is a task for heroes. The heroes must answer questions, write, draw and conjugate verbs.
The first team to get 10 points will win. Let’s get started.
1) Write down an animal that is black and white
2) Write down 2 animals that can fly
3) Write 3 animals that can swim
4) A _________ can _____ a house
5) A _________ can ____ fruit and vegetables
6) A ________ can ____ people who are not well.
7) A football player scoring / scores goals.
8) A teacher teach / teaches students.
9) I play / plays guitar.
10) Chose one person to draw. On the board, draw your monster (Cerberus, Minotaur or Medusa). You have three minutes each.
11) Complete the sentences with adjectives.
A dog is very ____ and _____ .
A crocodile is very ______ and ______ .
A panda is very ______ and ________ .
12) Write 2 things you do in the morning
13) Write 2 things you do in the afternoon
14) Write 2 things you do in the evening
15) Draw a clock on your board
Show me five o’clock
Show me seven o’clock
Show me twelve o’clock
16) Write 2 words that begin with bl, cl, pl.
17) Conjugate these verbs
Heracles:
I am scared of lions / you / he / she / it / Mr John / we / they
Theseus:
I am very strong / you / he / she / it / Mr John / we / they
Perseus:
I am not scared of snakes / you / he / she / it / Mr John / we / they
18) Answer ‘Sure, that sounds fun,’ ‘Good idea,’ or ‘Not really.’
Do you want to fight a lion ?
Do you want to do homework all day ?
Do you want to play tennis ?
19) Team Heracles suggest something to Team Theseus and get a response. Team Theseus ask Team Perseus, and Team Perseus ask Team Heracles.
EXAMPLE: Do you want to drink water ?
20) Some or any.
There is ____ milk.
There isn’t ____ chicken.
There are _____ grapes.
Are there ______ eggs ?
Is there ____ juice ?
_____ there _____ water ?
21) You have 10 seconds. Write food that is healthy. Write food that is unhealthy. Write some drinks.
22) Write 2 fun places for children in Sai Gon
23) Write a sentence using
exciting / dangerous / happy
24) Sing the finish work song (“Dear teacher, I am finished.”)
25) How can you kill a skeleton. Watch the hero Jason.
Please Note: All photos are taken from Google Images or free photo sites, and are used for educational purposes only. No copyright infringement or offense is intended. If I have used your photo or image, and you wish me to remove it, just ask. This site is not monetized, I run it on my own dollar. Thank you.
Last week I held an IELTS Speaking Test. Only one student hit 7.5 although, in fairness, I was probably on the generous side in awarding the student such an admirable score.
Or, to be precise, learn from their mistakes.
I can break them down into three main areas:
coherence
vocabulary
complex sentences
Kicking off with coherence; it doesn’t matter how fluent you are, unless you answer the question, you will loose marks.
The test allows us to assess your understanding of both question and task. An example: one question was
What is the most popular activity in your country ?
ASIDE: I’ve told students until I’m blue in the face, never repeat, “In (my) country,” but since when do teenage students ever actually listen ?
The question asks for ONE activity; several students talked about two or three. This is not answering the question.
Anyone who’s studied at University will know how imperative it is to follow instructions.
COMIC RELIEF: One student, from a previous test, replied that the most common activity, “In my country,” was brushing teeth, and that foreigners do this every day, but Vietnamese only do this once or twice a week. Said student had to continue for two minutes. Needless to say, there were no flying colours.
More disturbing was the lack of IELTS vocabulary. You have been told time and again what that means, and I can’t keep hitting my head against a brick wall.
And so to work … get out your notebooks (those that actually bother bringing notebooks to class), look up previous lessons and write down:
TEN L-FWs
FIVE less common idioms
FIVE everyday expressions
TEN phrasal verbs
TEN basic collocations
I have taught you these ad infinitum. If you are struggling with this exercise, you will probably only get a 5 for the Lexical Recourses section.
Lastly, the old chestnut, complex sentences.
I had nine students, each with about ten minutes of speaking time. How many complex sentences do you think I heard ?
Yes, Steve …
That’s right … ZERO
EXERCISES: Use at least two L-FWs, one idiom and other IELTS elements
(and if you think it’s funny to ask what I mean, after all this time, by ‘IELTS elements’, just get up and leave the class).
Speak for one minute about:
one of your cousins // your favourite gift // sports // your best memory from childhood // best films // problems in your city // typical local food.
Part Two: Critical Thinking
“Oh, teacher, I’m tired and feel lazy.”
Work in teams. Watch the following short clip about the ancient Greek king, Sisyphus:
Characters from Greek and Roman mythology permeate western culture, and references and allusions are ubiquitous.
You may watch the video again, writing down new words. There is a lot of background (in which you may encounter a character from ‘The Avengers’ movies), but the main feature starts around the 4:00 mark.
Your task is to relate this story to modern life. Choose a person you know, or something from your own experience. You may even project your thoughts about the future, once you have left education and joined the workforce.
talking until (pronoun) blue in the face / the grind
putting an old head on young shoulders
Look up the meanings yourself. Your teacher won’t be with you to give you the answers in life. Think for yourself.
Athene, Goddess of wisdom
Please Note: All photos are taken from Google Images or free photo sites, and are used for educational purposes only. No copyright infringement or offense is intended. If I have used your photo or image, and you wish me to remove it, just ask. This site is not monetized, I run it on my own dollar. Thank you.
Apart from idioms, phrasal verbs and low-frequency words (LFW), IELTS students need a collection of expressions and collocations to spice up their English.
With that in mind, here are some notes from the previous lesson, along with revision exercises and a splattering of vibrant vocabulary.
As for speaking tests, I listened to eight students last week and only heard one complex sentence. Now, it wasn’t one of my classes; my students know exactly what I will do if they don’t speak in IELTS-style sentences:
I just jammed around with two key words: ‘heart’ & ‘gold’.
Exercise 1: define these expressions & idioms
HEART
a heart of gold
a heart to heart
hand on heart
heart-felt greetings
heartbreaking
a heart of stone
GOLD
King Midas
The bard of Stratford
a heart of gold (yes, again, it’s called practice)
as good as gold
the golden touch
golden handshake
silence is golden (especially when one works in Vietnam)
Exercise 2: use these expressions & idiomsin an IELTS style, employing complex sentence(s).
EXAMPLE: My mother, who works incredibly long shifts at the hospital, has a heart of gold. Even when she is exhausted, she always finds time for me.
facetious // uncharacteristically // overheads // euphemism // lingua franca // prima donna
shaking in my boots // going to powder my nose // going to see a man about a dog // footloose and fancy free
Please Note: All photos are taken from Google Images or free photo sites, and are used for educational purposes only. No copyright infringement or offense is intended. If I have used your photo or image, and you wish me to remove it, just ask. This site is not monetized, I run it on my own dollar. Thank you.
Meaning: A burden or something unpleasant that stays with you
“He wrote that tweet when he was angry, and everybody saw it. It’s like an albatross around his neck now.”
The phrase comes from the Samuel Taylor Coleridge poem, ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’, where a sailor shoots an albatross, a symbol of good luck, and is forced to wear the dead bird around his neck.
Ants:
To have ants in your pants
Meaning: Always moving around, not sitting still
“Keep still ! Do you have ants in your pants ?”
In Greek, ants are myrmex. The soldiers who followed the hero Achilles were referred to as Myrmidons. One origin myth is that ants survived a plague, and the god Zeus turned these into people. Even today, ants have been found to be extremely resistant to nuclear radiation.
Achilles addresses his myrmidons
Bears:
Bear with me
Meaning: Please wait a very short time
“Let me check for you. Bear with me a minute.”
In some Native American cultures, the bear is a symbol of a teacher
Birds
Birds of a feather flock together
Meaning: People tend to stay with or befriend people with similar interests or habits
“The naughty students all sit together. Birds of a feather !”
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush
Meaning: It is better to have something definite than something better but uncertain
“Should I buy these now or wait until next week when they may be cheaper ?” “Buy now. A bird in the hand.”
The European bird Robin Redbreast actually has an orange chest, but the word ‘orange’ didn’t exist in English until the 16th Century, by which time the bird was already known as ‘redbreast’.
Cats:
To let the cat out of the bag
Meaning: to tell a secret
“John told me. He let the cat out of the bag.”
No room to swing a cat
Meaning: Very limited space. However, the ‘cat’ here is a whip used by the navy, a cat o’ nine tails.
Cats were sacred to the Egyptian god Bast (or Bastet), so killing one was extremely unlucky. Cats helped kill rodents, who would eat the grain, and were therefore treated with the highest respect.
Chicken
Don’t be chicken
Meaning: Do not be afraid
“Come on, let’s watch this horror film. Don’t be a chicken !”
Chicken Little
Meaning: A person who is alarmist, who always predicts that bad things will happen
“Jane says we should cancel the picnic because it may rain, but she’s such a Chicken Little.”
Chickens, who originate from southeast Asia, have remarkable memories. They have been found to identify over 100 other chickens just by their faces.
Dog
The tail wagging the dog
Meaning: The person or people in control are actually being forced to do something they don’t want.
“Your students tell you what they are going to do ? That’s the tail wagging the dog.”
1997 film which takes its title from an expression
Donkey
Talking the hind legs off a donkey
Meaning: Someone who can talk and talk, extremely loquacious
“He could talk the hind legs off a donkey.”
Donkeys are mentioned over 140 times in the NIV of The Bible. They are seen as symbols of peace and servitude. An ass is a wild donkey. A donkey is the ‘star’ of Robert Bresson’s 1966 film ‘Au Hasard Balthazar’.
Please Note: All photos are taken from Google Images or free photo sites, and are used for educational purposes only. No copyright infringement or offense is intended. If I have used your photo or image, and you wish me to remove it, just ask. This site is not monetized, I run it on my own dollar. Thank you.
Oedipus and the Sphinx. Representation on a cup circa 470 BCE, now in the Vatican Museum, Rome.
Oedipus, along with Sisyphus, Achilles and Odysseus, is a figure from Greek myth who is part of our modern psyche. His story, whose key points are widely known, belongs to our collective cultural history; he lends his name to a psychological complex. In philosophy, Oedipus can be discussed as a case of free will versus determinism.
Oedipus was certainly no hero in the Theseus or Perseus mold. An argument could be made that he was no hero at all, but a tragic figure. However, he was strong enough to overcome four royal guards single-handedly, and intelligent enough to solve the riddle of the Sphinx, thereby freeing the people of Thebes.
A warrior (like Achilles), an strategist (like Odysseus), a character doomed for unimaginable punishment (like Sisyphus) ? We see what a complex character Oedipus is, and why he still holds our interest and awe.
Oedipus Rex by Pier Paolo Pasolini 1967
So, the key points, what the ‘average person’ knows about Oedipus:
He killed his father and slept with his mother
He solved the Riddle of the Sphinx
Some background is necessary. Some clarification is absolutely necessary.
Firstly, he unwittingly killed his father (King Laius; I shall elucidate later). Secondly, as a reward for freeing Thebes from the curse of the Sphinx, Oedipus was given Queen Jocasta, Laius’ widow, to wed. The patricide and insest were commited freely. Or were they ? Oedipus had been told that he would kill his father and marry his mother, which is exactly what happened, despite his determination to prove the prophecy false.
Therefore, it is my contention that Oedipus was punished for having the hubris to believe that he could defy fate. Yet, the question remains: why was Oedipus fated for such a punishment ? For that, we have to go back a generation and learn about his father, King Laius of Thebes.
Laius was from the House of Thebes and, as a young man, left his home town and stayed in Elis with King Pelops, a grandson of Zeus and son of Tantalus (but that is another story). Laius was a guest, and became tutor to Pelops’ son Chrysippus. Laius committed the unpardonable sins of abducting and raping the boy. For this he was cursed. Should he ever have a son, that child would murder him, then marry the widow. Despite Laius forcing himself to decline the pleasure of his wife, nature, to employ a phrase, took its course. A son was born, a son that Laius demanded be left alone on a mountain, his feet pinned together.
Oedipus abandoned, a print on a beach towel. A perfect illustration of how the myth permeates our culture.
The shepherd charged with this duty gave the baby to a friend from Corinth, where the baby was adopted by the childless King Polybus and Queen Meriope. The child was named Oedipus, meaning swollen foot (and from which we get the medical term oedema, swelling in the feet and ankles) [1]. Oedipus loved and was loved by his parents, and all was well in Corinth. Until, that is, a drunken man told Oedipus the truth, that he was not the natural child. Polybus and Meriope denied this, but Oedipus (in perhaps his first mistake, not believing his parents) travelled to the Oracle at Delphi to learn the truth. His origin was confirmed, and his fate, to kill his father and marry his mother, was proclaimed.
Delphi, home of the famous oracle
In an attempt to avoid this prophecy, Oedipus travelled instead to Thebes. On this journey, he met a carriage coming towards him. Either the driver grazed him, struck him, or demanded that he yield and give way. This infuriated Oedipus, and a fight ensued. In the carriage was an old man; King Laius. The King and all his guards, all but one of the retinue, were slain by Oedipus for their disrespectful treatment of a king’s son.
The Murder of Laius by Oedipus by Joseph Blanc 1867
Whether he was brave to refuse this slight, or flawed by an uncontrollable albeit understandable anger, Oedipus had unwittingly fulfilled the first part of the prophecy.
Continuing on to Thebes, Oedipus encountered the Sphinx and solved the riddle (which I’m sure you are all familiar with). Defeated, the Sphinx killed herself and, as mentioned earlier, Oedipus was given the widowed Queen Jocasta. The had four children and all was well. For a time. A plague decimated Thebes, and it would not abate until the murderer of Laius was found and punished. Eventually, it was revealed that Oedipus was the killer. Jocasta hanged herself, Oedipus blinded himself and went into self-imposed exile, wandering the countryside and dying just outside Athens.
Oedipus Rex by Sophocles. Performed by the Fimonoi Theatre Group in Athens, Greece
The Greek myths, unlike theological texts such as the Talmud, Bible and Koran, are incredibly flexible and varied, altering from city to city, as well as over time. Just how much people believed or accepted them will never be known, but many people would have been aware of the more famous myths.
Many myths that involve retribution, such as are found in Ovid’s ‘Metamorphosis’ are read as cautionary tales. Someone, a mortal, displayed a weakness that was so offensive they were punished. Some punishments were extremely harsh, but the reason could be clearly discerned. But how to understand Oedipus ? What, in fact was his digression ?
His fate was stated before he had done anything wrong. Maybe he didn’t accept his parent’s explanation, but that seems more contrary to Confucianism and filial piety. Greek myths are full of family in-fighting. He refused to yield to the carriage of King Laius and that pride led to fighting and murder, yet that could be attributed to self defense. Oedipus’ only fault seems to have been simply existing. Laius angered the gods. Why punish the son ?
I have read that some contemporary Greeks apparently thought the same, and began questioning the veracity of gods, myths and society. Such a harsh punishment for a young man who had rid a city of a curse made little if any sense. The psychological trauma would be unimaginable, which may explain the need to self mutilate, physical pain to numb the mental anguish.
To conclude, I am left to assert that Oedipus’ only crime was to try to defeat fate, to have the hubris to feel that a mere mortal, a king’s son notwithstanding, had the power to change the will of the gods. He honoured his father and mother but at the expense of the Immortals. Oedipus refused to accept his fate, for that he was doomed.
What else could Oedipus have done ? Should he have ignored the prophecy, or resign himself to the outcome ? The debate continues.
Stravinsky rehearsing his Oedipus Rex opera, first performed in 1927
Today, we shall learn the story of Theseus and the Minotaur. This story is over 3 000 old, and comes from the country of Greece. Here is the flag of Greece:
Greece is in Europe. It is a very hot country, and has many stories from history. The capital city is Athens.
Athens, the capital of Greece
Have you ever seen something like this before ?
This is the Minotaur, half man, half bull. He was extremely strong, extremely angry and very, very scary. He lived near Greece, on the island of Crete:
The Minotaur lived underground in a big maze called the labyrinth. Every year, the King of Athens had to send 14 children for the Minotaur to eat. This is a labyrinth, a huge maze. It is very easy to get lost inside a labyrinth.
The king had a son called Theseus. He was a hero. He decided to go and kill the Minotaur.
The King of Crete had a daughter called Ariadne. When she saw Theseus, she decided to help him. She gave Theseus a big ball of string. He tied it to the door of the labyrinth, then used it so he wouldn’t get lost:
Theseus found the Minotaur.
They had a long fight because both Theseus and the Minotaur were very strong. Finally, Theseus won and killed the Minotaur.
Then he returned to Athens with Ariadne. The people were so happy, and Theseus became a hero in Greece.
Hello everyone,I welcome you to my blog page, and may I take this opportunity to thank ALL OF YOU who have visited my site. Having nearly 100 visits for a teaching blog is extremely gratifying.
Now, without further ado, let’s jump straight in, “Time waits for no man.”
A famous quote from the English writer Geoffrey Chaucer
First off the bat, a little plug for my friend ‘Pete’ who has an online radio show on Mixcloud. If you’re interested, you can listen here: https://www.mixcloud.com/flatwoundssounds/
The playlist is a mix of Jazz, Blues, Soul, R ‘n’ B & Rock ‘n’ Roll. However, in terms of an English lesson, listen to his narrative between songs. Although Pete lives in Birmingham now (central England), his accent betrays his Kent, (south-England) origins. Listen to how his voice deviates from Standard English.
A Propos (speaking about) of music, my last lesson featured two songs, one Nubian, the other a 50s Rock ‘n’ Roll number:
Nubia is a region that encompasses south Egypt and north Sudan
One of my online students has chosen the English moniker ‘Ivy’; consequently, this song is for her.
Now, time to get down to work. I introduced the class to some expressions; therefore we need to revise and practice:
between you and me // let’s get it over and done with // my hands are tied // off the cuff
I would like to let you go home early but …..
……… I think students have too much homework
Jazz musicians are famous for their spontaneity; they often play ………..
Oh, man ! We have to clear up after the party. Oh, well, ……….
Collocations
collect / raise / undertake / boycott
Charities run campaigns to ……….. money
I’m going to ……….. shops that treat their staff poorly
Scientists need to ……. further research into the Corona Virus
There is little recycling, if any, in Vietnam. We need to ……… awareness of the importance to the planet.
ART
Giving opinions – remember, there is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ answer; the exercise is to help you express what YOU feel when you see these works of art.
Expressions:
It’s not my cup of tea // it doesn’t appeal to me // I just don’t get // I see no artistic value // I have no time for it.
OR … positive:
It’s very uplifting // the picture speaks to me // I’m drawn to the image // it is ineffable (unable to be expressed in words) // it transcends language.
John Constable 1821Wyndham Lewis 1921Jean-Michel Basquet 1980sAncient Egyptian art
NOW – a curious point … how can a civilisation that can construct these:
only represent the human form like this:
How perfect are the Pyramids ?
“The builders of the Great Pyramid of Khufu aligned the great monument to the cardinal points with an accuracy of better than four minutes of arc, or one-fifteenth of one degree,” Glen Dash, an engineer who studies the Giza pyramids, wrote in a paper published recently in The Journal of Ancient Egyptian Architecture … ” https://www.livescience.com/61799-great-pyramid-near-perfect-alignment.html
Now, take a look at his ariel view, showing the layout:
At this juncture, let’s take a little diversion, from ancient Egypt to ancient Greece.
The night sky has 88 constellations, many named after characters or creatures from Greek mythology. I’d like to focus on one, the giant hunter Orion. This is his constellation, and is one of the more easier groups to see, especially at this time of year:
These random stars (which may in fact be many millions of light years apart) were seen by the Greeks thus:
You see the hunter with his bow and arrow, but I wish to draw your attention to the three stars arranged diagonally in the centre, the ‘belt’ of the hunter. Compare those with the arrangement of the Egyptian pyramids:
How would you account for this ? Coincidence or conspiracy ?
Let’s leave the last word to our National Poet, William Shakespeare, with this famous quote from Hamlet:
Thay Paul's Notes 