four weddings and a funeral

Four Weddings and a Funeral Part 1 (first 10 minutes)

Before watching the film, check these words in a dictionary:

bride/ groom/ bridesmaids/ bouquet/bestman/ wedding gown/veil/rings/reception/ speech

Watch the first part of the film and make a note of the differences between Spanish and English weddings.

Watch the film and answer the questions True or False

1.      They all arrive on time for the wedding.

2.      They drive to the wedding in a red mini.

3.      The driver nearly causes an accident because he misses the turn off

4.      The bride arrives in a brand new car.

5.      Angus is getting married to Lily

6.      The bestman forgot the ring.

7.      Few of the woman are wearing hats.

8.      Everyone sings in tune.

9.      The rings are both plain gold.

10. Everyone enjoys the guitar playing.

KEY

1.F  2.T   3.T  4.F  5.F   6.T  7. F  8.F  9. F 10. F

Dads, rejoice! You no longer have to pay for your daughter's wedding

Over half of brides feel the tradition of fathers paying for their wedding is out of date, according to a new survey 

When it comes to weddings, few individuals face such a burden as that of the father of the bride. Not only is he expected to walk his daughter down the aisle, he also bears the responsibility of delivering a toe-curlingly embarrassing speech. If that weren't enough, he also has to pay for the entire day.

According to Brides magazine, an average British wedding now costs in the region of £24,000, by the time you've totted up the price of the venue, catering, photographer, gifts and a fancy honeymoon. Let's hope the old man has been putting some money aside over the years.

However, new research conducted by the jewellers Beaverbrooks suggests that the bride's father might actually be off the hook. A study of over 2,000 married females found that only 18 per cent of brides' parents paid for a wedding in its entirity. Instead, 42 per cent of couples said they paid for their wedding themselves.

More than half of the women surveyed said they never expected their dad to pay for their wedding, and that the traditional practice is out of date.

According to Anna Blackburn, a Beaverbrooks spokeswoman: "The days of the father of the bride paying for everything are becoming increasingly uncommon, not only because it's huge financial burden for him, but also the groom's parents want to play a part too - which is understandable.

"Weddings can be expensive and it's fairly common for family members of both the bride and groom to contribute."

The survey found that 81 per cent of weddings are funded by a number of family members, with nearly 10 per cent of couples receiving financial support from siblings.

Unfortunately, when it comes to the speeches, the father of the bride is very much on his own.

Read the text and answer the following questions

1.Who faces the greatest burden at weddings and why?

2.How much does an average British wedding cost?

3.What is included in the price?

4.What does new research show?

5.Do the majority of women expect their father to pay for their wedding?

6.Are the groom's parents willing to contribute to the cost nowadays?

7.What % of the couples' brothers and sisters help out financially?

Find the following words in the text. They are in order.

1.load

2.long, thin passage in church

3.long talk at wedding reception

4.calculate

5. public place where celebrations are held

6.holiday after wedding ceremony

7.be free from

8.old fashioned

9.financed

10. brothers and sisters

Reading Key

1.       the brides father, because he has to pay for most of the expenses

2.       24, 000 pound

3.       catering, photographer, venue, gifts and honeymoon

4.       It is now more uncommon for the bride's father to pay for the entire wedding

5.       Not anymore.

6.       Yes

7.       10%

Vocabulary

1.burden   2.aisle   3.speech   4.tot up   5. venue   6.honey moon   7.be off the hook    8.out of date    9.funded    10. siblings

Screen time 'harms teenagers' sleep'

The longer a teenager spends using electronic devices such as tablets and smartphones, the worse their sleep will be, a study of nearly 10,000 16- to 19-year-olds suggests. More than two hours of screen time after school was strongly linked to both delayed and shorter sleep. Almost all the teens from Norway said they used the devices shortly before going to bed. Many said they often got less than five hours sleep a night, BMJ Open reports.

The teens were asked questions about their sleep routine on weekdays and at weekends, as well as how much screen time they clocked up outside school hours. On average, girls said they spent around five and a half hours a day watching TV or using computers, smartphones or other electronic devices. And boys spent slightly more time in front of a screen - around six and a half hours a day, on average. Playing computer games was more popular among the boys, whereas girls were more likely to spend their time chatting online.

Any type of screen use during the day and in the hour before bedtime appeared to disrupt sleep - making it more difficult for teenagers to nod off.

When daytime screen use totalled four or more hours, teens had a 49% greater risk of taking longer than an hour to fall asleep. These teens also tended to get less than five hours of sleep per night. Sleep duration went steadily down as gadget use increased.

It may be that playing on electronic devices leaves teens with less time to do other things, including sleep, say the researchers - Dr Mari Hysing and colleagues at Uni Research Health, Bergen. But it could be that screen time interferes with sleepiness.

Staring at an illuminated screen at bedtime could send the wrong signals to our brain, disrupting our natural body clock making us more alert, they suggest. Dr Hysing said her findings had implications for the wider population as so many people use these devices. "We know that sufficient sleep is essential for good physical and mental health. Logging off may be one important step toward securing a good night's sleep."

Prof Russell Foster, an expert in sleep and neuroscience at the University of Oxford, said: "This is an important study as it provides empirical evidence that the use of electronic devices before bed does indeed reduce sleep duration."He said teenagers should be warned of this.

Question 1 (2 points) Indicate whether the following statements are true or false and write down which part of the text justifies your answer.

a)       All the Norwegian teens who took part in the study use electronic devices before bed time.

b)       The use of screens doesn’t help you to go to sleep.

c)       Our brain knows when it needs to rest and sleep.

d)       The results of the study could be applied to more age groups.

Question 2 (2 points) Answer the following questions in your own words.

a)       How did they carry out the study and what did they find?

b)       What differences in the use of screens are there between boys and girls?

Question 3 (1.5 points) Find words or phrases in the text that correspond in meaning to the words and definitions given.

a. connect (par.1)                   b. only just  (par.2)                              c. fall asleep (par.3)

d. appliance (par.4)                e. disturb (par.6)

Question 4 (1.5 points) Complete the following sentences without changing the meaning.

a) Teenagers don’t get enough sleep because they use electronic devices for long periods.

            If  ……………………………………………..

b)The study provides empirical evidence and teenagers should be warned of it.

Empirical ……………………………………………………………. and we ……

c)  "We know that sufficient sleep is essential for good physical and mental health. Logging off may be one important step toward securing a good night's sleep."                                        

Dr. Hysing said that ……………………………………………………………           

    

Question 5 (3 points) Write a short essay (120-150 words) on the following topic:

            Do you remember your dreams? Write about a strange dream that you have had.

Real junk food: Bristol cafe serves up food saved from supermarket rubbish bins

A non-for-profit cafe wants to raise awareness about the "crazy" amount of food waste in Britain. A lunchtime snack made out of ingredients saved from a skip may not sound very appetising, but a Bristol cafe is proving the opposite.

            The menu is certainly eclectic, ranging from Orkney crab and king prawn salad to spicy baked beans on toast. There was a bread and butter pudding for desert – or a lighter fruit smoothie. “But tomorrow it will be all change again,” said chef Dylan Rakhra. “We get different foods in every day, loads of stuff – bagels, lobster, lettuce. “It’s really fun. You look at what you’ve got, you make up meals and serve them. People seem to be loving it.”

            Skipchen serves up food past its sell-by date and dumped in supermarket and restaurant bins.  A team of volunteers go out every night searching through skips for any food waste that can be turned into a meal.

            Sam Joseph, 24, co-director of The Real Junk Food Project (TRJFP), which runs Skipchen, said he hoped to raise awareness about food waste in Britain.  "We take food that would otherwise go to waste," he explained. "The way we do it when we go 'skipping' is we do it as soon as they throw the food away. We see them do it and get the food out and into a refrigerator straight away. I am really conscious of food safety and food hygiene.”

            The café also receives donations from farms, local businesses and families, while it has also formed a partnership with restaurant chain Nandos to supply any surplus chicken.

            Skipchen, which asks it customers to "pay-as-they-feel", opened this month and is already proving popular with Bristol locals. "We have a real mix of people coming to the cafe and they sit on two long tables, so you could have a businessman sitting next to someone who is homeless at lunchtime,” Mr Joseph added.

            As closing time approached Skipchen gave away food, urging passersby to take away loaves of bread. Nothing was discarded. “We never waste anything,” said Joseph. An estimated 15 million tonnes of food is wasted in the UK each year, at a cost of £5bn, according to a recent House of Lords EU Committee report.

Question 1 (2 points) Indicate whether the following statements are true or false and write down which part of the text justifies your answer.

a. The café wants to make money to help people in need.

b. The food they offer is very varied.

c. They really care about the food they collect.

d. The menu has a set price.

Question 2 (2 points) Answer the following questions in your own words.

a. How does the restaurant get the food to prepare the menus?

b. Why is the menu different every day?

Question 3 (1.5 points) Find words or phrases in the text that correspond in meaning to the words and definitions given.

a. to show (par.1)                      b.  to vary (par.2)t                                  c. o throw out (par.3)

d. contrarily (par.4)                    e. excess (par.5)

Question 4 (1.5 points) Complete the following sentences without changing the meaning.

a. “ You look at what you’ve got, you make up meals and serve them”, they said

            They said...

b.  They have also formed a partnership with restaurant chain Nandos.

            A partnership...

c. He opened the restaurant because he wanted to raise awareness about food waste.

            If he didn't...

Question 5 (3 points) Write a short essay (120-150 words) on the following topic:

Do you think it is essential to eat all sorts of food to be healthy?

Screen time 'harms teenagers' sleep'

KEY

Question 1

a.  False. “Almost all the teens from Norway said they used the devices shortly before going to bed.”

b. True. “Any type of screen use during the day and in the hour before bedtime appeared to disrupt sleep - making it more difficult for teenagers to nod off. “

c.True. “Staring at an illuminated screen at bedtime could send the wrong signals to our brain, disrupting our natural body clock making us more alert.”

d True. “Dr Hysing said her findings had implications for the wider population as so many people use these devices.”

Question 2

a. The study was carried out in Norway. The experts asked nearly 10,000 teenagers about the time they spent in front of a screen after school and about how much sleep they got. They found that most of them spent more than four hours a day in front of a screen and that affected their sleep negatively.

b.  Boys spend between six and seven hours mainly in front of a computer playing games, whereas girls spend one hour less and they prefer to chat.

Question 3

a. Linked / to link

b. Slightly

c. To nod off

d. Gadget

e.  Disrupting / to disrupt

Question 4

a.  If teenagers didn’t use electronic devices for (such) long periods, they would get enough sleep.

b.  Empirical evidence is provided by the study and we should warn teenagers of it.

c. Dr. Hysing said that they knew that sufficient sleep was essential for good physical and mental health. Logging off might be one important step toward securing a good night's sleep.

Real junk food: Bristol cafe serves up food saved from supermarket rubbish bins

KEY

Question 1

            a) FALSE “ A non-for-profit cafe wants to raise awareness”

            b) TRUE “The menu is certainly eclectic, ranging from Orkney crab and king prawn salad to spicy baked beans on toast.” or “ tomorrow it will be all change again”

            c) TRUE “I am really conscious of food safety and food hygiene.”

            d) FALSE “which asks it customers to "pay-as-they-feel"

Question 2

            a) - food past its sell-by date and dumped in supermarket and restaurant bins

                - receives donations from farms, local businesses and families

                - has also formed a partnership with restaurant chain Nandos

            b) -they get different foods in every day

                - they look at what they get and prepare meals

Question 3

a)       (to) prove / proving

b)       (to) range / ranging

c)       (to) dump / dumped

            d)    otherwise

            e)    surplus

Question 4

a)       They said that they looked at what they’d got and they made up meals and served them.

b)       A partnership with restaurant chain Nandos has also been formed .

c)       If he didn't want to raise awareness about food waste, he wouldn't have opened the restaurant.

Rephrasing Conditionals

Rewrite the sentences without changing their meaning.

1. Philip will pass his exam, but he has to work hard.

If…

2. Susan won’t be able to help me unless I arrive early in the morning.

If…

3. Mary usually walks to school if nobody gives her a lift.

Unless…

4. The driver fell asleep at the wheel and caused an accident.

If…

5.  Charles will catch the bus, but he has lo leave now.

If…

6. We can’t fly because we aren’t birds.

If...

7. He stepped on a mine and it exploded.

If…

8. It is a pity your parents can’t be here.

I wish

9. You should go on a diet.

If…

10.  I have eaten too much and now I don’t feel well.

I wish…

11. I was able to buy the car because my parents lent me the money.

If…

12. I will go to the beach although it is cold.

Even if…

13. Whenever I forget my umbrella, it rains.

If…

14.  Carol won’t buy the coat because she doesn’t have enough money.

If…

15. Carol didn’t buy the coat because she didn’t have enough money.

If…

16.  We only came by bus because there were no taxis.

If…

17. I would like to work as a model.

I wish…

18. The bus didn’t stop because you didn’t put your hand up.

If…

19.  I can’t park near my office, that’s why I don’t come by car.

If…

20. What a shame you didn’t phone me.

I wish…

21. They speak French to her, so her English doesn’t improve.

If she…

 22.I’ll go to the cinema tomorrow if I don’t have to work late.

Unless…

KEY

Conditionals

Rewrite the sentences without changing their meaning.

1. If Philip works hard, he will pass his exam.
2. If I don’t arrive early in the morning, Susan won’t be able to help me.
3. Unless somebody gives Mary a lift, she usually walks to school.
4. If the driver hadn’t fallen asleep at the wheel, he wouldn’t have caused an accident.
5. If Charles leaves now, he will catch the bus.
6. If were birds, we could fly.
7. f he hadn’t stepped on a mine, it wouldn’t have exploded.
8.  I wish your parents would be here.
9.  If I were you, I would go on a diet.
10. I wish I hadn’t eaten so much.
11.  If my parents hadn’t lent me the money, I wouldn’t have been able to buy the car.
12. Even if it is cold, I will go to the beach.
13.  If I forget my umbrella, it rains.
14. If Carol had enough money, she would buy the coat.
15. Carol had had enough money, she would have bought the coat.
16.  there had been taxis, we wouldn’t have come by bus.
17. I wish I worked as a model.
18. I wish you had put your hand up, the bus would have stopped.
19. If I could park near my office, I would come by car
20. I wish you had phoned me. 
21. If she weren’t spoken French, her English would improve.
22. Unless I have to work late, I’ll go to the cinema tomorrow.

Conditionals 1

Translate the following sentences into English

1. Si yo estuviera en tu lugar, iría a visitar a la abuela más a menudo.
2. A no ser que lloviera esta tarde, iría a correr a la playa.
3. Si hubiera sabido hablar alemán, habría conseguido el trabajo.
4. Iría a la universidad si aprobara mis exámenes.
5. Yo en tu lugar, habría estudiado más para los exámenes finales.
6. Si estuviera solo en la casa grande, tendría miedo.
7. Si hubieran venido a Santander, les habría visto más a menudo.
8. Si estudiara para los exámenes, no suspendería.
9. Si hubiera hecho bueno esta tarde, habríamos salido.
10. Si supiera hablar inglés, solicitaría el trabajo.
11. Si hubiera aprobado los exámenes, habría ido a la universidad.
12. Si supiera usar el ordenador, conseguiría el trabajo.

KEY

1. If I were you, I’d visit my grandmother more often.
2. Unless it rained this afternoon, I’d go jogging on the beach.
3. If I had spoken German fluently, I would have got the job.
4. I’d go to university if I passed my exams.
5. If I had been you, I would have studied harder for my final exams.
6. If he was/were alone in the big house, he’d be frightened.
7. If they had come to Santander, I’d have seen them more often.
8. If I revised for exams, I wouldn’t fail.
9. If the weather had been fine, we would have gone out this afternoon.
10. If I could speak English, I would/could apply for the job.
11. If I had passed my exams, I’d have gone to university.
12. If she could use the computer, she would/could get the job.

Museum's 'Dippy' dinosaur makes way for blue whale

London's Natural History Museum is re-modelling its entrance, moving out the dinosaur and moving in a blue whale. The exchange will not happen overnight: the complex logistics involved mean it will be 2017 before the great cetacean is hanging from the ceiling of the iconic Victorian Hintze Hall.

            The museum thinks the change will increase the wow factor for visitors. But it also believes the whale can better convey all the cutting-edge science conducted at the institution. That is something a plaster-cast model of a Diplodocus skeleton - as familiar and as popular as it has become - can no longer do effectively.

            "Everyone loves 'Dippy', but it's just a copy," commented Sir Michael Dixon, the NHM's director, "and what makes this museum special is that we have real objects from the natural world - over 80 million of them - and they enable our scientists and thousands like them from around the world to do real research."

            The 25m-long blue whale skeleton currently hangs in the mammals gallery.  It was acquired for the museum shortly after it opened in 1881. The animal had beached at Wexford on the southeast coast of Ireland. The curators paid £250 for it in 1891, although it was not put on public display in London until 1935.

            Every single bone is present. They will now all be carefully dismantled, cleaned and catalogued, and then re-suspended on wires above the Hintze entrance. Anyone walking into the current mammals gallery knows the skeleton to have a flat pose, but the intention is to give it a dramatic, diving posture in its new home.

            Richard Sabin, who will oversee the transfer said "It's also one of the largest of its kind on display anywhere in the world; and we know its history, we know how it was killed and processed, and that's quite rare.”

            The museum would like to make the switch-over to the whale much faster, but Hintze Hall is a major circulation space and it has to remain open throughout the transition.

            Dippy will not disappear. It is likely to feature in a larger exhibit that illustrates how dinosaurs lived in their environment, which could be taken outside to the front of the South Kensington building. There is also the possibility that Dippy could go on tour as well, to bolster the exhibition spaces at regional museums in the UK.

Question 1 (2 points) Indicate whether the following statements are true or false and write down which part of the text justifies your answer.

a. It will be very difficult to move the blue whale into the entrance of the museum.

b. The museum wants to impress visitors.

c. Only scientists from the museum carry out investigations there.

d. The blue whale skeleton is complete.

Question 2 (2 points) Answer the following questions in your own words.

a. Why does the  museum think the change will benefit them?

b. How will the movement of the skeleton be made?

Question 3 (1.5 points) Find words or phrases in the text that correspond in meaning to the words and definitions given.

a. to transmit (par.2)                           b. copy (par.2)                                     c. at present (par.4)

d. to supervise (par.6)                        e. to support (par.8)

Question 4 (1.5 points) Complete the following sentences without changing the meaning.

a. The museum thinks the change will increase the wow factor for visitors.

            The change...

b. "Everyone loves 'Dippy', but it's just a copy and what makes this museum special is that we have real objects from the natural world”,.

             Sir Michael Dixon commented that...

c. We know the whale history which is quite rare in science.

            If we...

Question 5 (3 points) Write a short essay (120-150 words) on the following topic:

                What type of museums / monuments / attractions do you like visiting when you go on holidays?