The Look Of Love

Listening activity – NPR – 3.44 minutes

Listen to the fragment from the radio show and say whether the following statements are True, False or Not Mentioned.

PLAYER on NPR website

1. Studies show that our pupils become smaller when we feel strong emotions.

2. Science can tell when your special someone reciprocates.

3. The specialist is a neurologist from the University of Oslo.

4. One of the commentators implies that maybe hosting a radio show causes stress.

5. In the Middle Ages, women would put drops of belladonna to have brighter eyes.

6. Valentine’s Day is a magical occasion to test these theories.

7. According to some of the comments made by the hosts, if you look at the sun your pupils become smaller.

8. All of them would like to stare at someone across the table on Valentine’s day.

Answers here!

How About A New Calendar?

NPR News: Listening Activity

1.Pre-Listening Task

Discuss the following questions.

What are the pros and cons of the current calendar? In your opinion, how can the calendar be improved? Can you think of a better system instead of a 7-day week? How would be the new working week? Imagine you need to change the days’ names. What would you use instead of planets and gods? How about changing the months? Would you keep the same number and names? Why? Why not? Would you change the seasons? How many days would your calendar have?

VOCABULARY:

Read the seven examples below. Find the meaning of the underlined terms in the chart:

1. When we were kids, in winter, we were bundled up in clothes.

2. The crowds hailed the soccer champions.

3. Our math teacher demands accuracy in all problem details.

4. The house needs cleaning. We can’t live in this messiness.

5. After the storm we saw a couple of boats drifting away.

6. It’s hard to follow a diet and be on track when everybody around is eating fast food and pastries.

7. I like how the garden looks so much streamlined now. It seemed a rainforest before.

1. Bundled	a. Disorder, confusion.
2. Hailed	b.Without a specific route or order; carried away.
3. Accuracy	c. Put together, tied up like a package.
4. Messiness	d. Following the right course or route.
5. Drifting	e. Saluted, recognized.
6. On track	f. Precision, correctness.
7. Streamlined	g. Simplified; without anything unnecessary.

 

2.Listening Task

Scientists at John Hopkins University think they can come up with a better system for an improved calendar.

Complete each of the sentences with the words given. Then, listen to the news audio to check your work.

1. Four hundred and 30 years ......, Pope Gregory XIII ...... the West a calendar, which ...... 365 days into what ...... to be ...... a year.

( called – gave – divided – ago  - was   )

2. ...... 12 months ...... seven days bundled ...... so-called weeks, the Gregorian calendar was hailed ...... a marvel ...... medieval accuracy.

( into – with – and  -  of -  as  )

3. We use it ......, despite its ...... messiness - drifting ......, leap ...... and 28-day .......

( days – months – today – years - occasional )

4. But now ...... researchers at Johns Hopkins University have devised a different ...... to count ...... days with a leap week ...... few years to keep the calendar on .......

( every – track - some – our  - way )

5. Holidays, ...... Christmas and New Year's Day, would always ...... on a Sunday. It ...... neat and streamlined for our modern ......, ...... maybe to those of us who work on Sundays.

( fall – seems – like – except - age  )

 PLAY OR DOWNLOAD AUDIO HERE

Answers here!

Auld Lang Syne

Listening Activity & Song

Voice Of America  5.34 min -Words and Their Stories: Auld Lang Syne

link: http://learningenglish.voanews.com/audio/audio/240098.html

Listen to the first part of the audio clip and find the 5 mistakes in the text below:   

This New Year’s Eve millions of people in English speaking countries will sing and hear a song called “Auld Lang Syne.”  It is the traditional music played during New Year’s day.  Auld Lang Syne is an old Scottish poem.  It tells about the need to remember family and loved ones.  The words “auld lang syne” mean “old long since”  and more roughly it means "yesterday". Auld Lang Syne is a Scottish poem, composed by Scottish poet and lyricist Robert Burns in 1878.

Here is the complete English version of the lyrics. 

Usually people only sing the first two stanzas :

Should old acquaintance be forgot,

and never brought to mind ?

Should old acquaintance be forgot,

in the days of old lang syne ?

CHORUS:

For auld lang syne, my dear,

for auld lang syne,

we'll take/ drink a cup of kindness yet,

for (the sake of ) auld lang syne.

And surely you'll buy your cup !

and surely I'll buy mine !

And we'll take/ drink a cup o' kindness yet,

for auld lang syne.

We two have run about the slopes,

and picked the daisies fine ;

But we've wandered many a weary foot,

since auld lang syne.

We two have paddled in the stream,

from morning sun till dine† ;

But seas between us broad have roared

since auld lang syne.

And there's a hand my trusty friend !

And give us a hand o' thine !

And we'll take a right good-will draught,

for auld lang syne.

Answers here!

Tom’s Diner, a song by Suzanne Vega

Song, listening & vocabulary

A diner is a small, usually inexpensive restaurant with a long counter and designed to resemble a dining car on a train. They are characteristic of American life, especially in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, and in other areas of the Northeastern United States, as well as in the Midwest.

1.Listen to the song and mark the words mentioned.

https://youtu.be/j4jtIDaeaWI
  

morning	tea	Milk	umbrella	afternoon
chair	corner	Rain	table	window
clock	cake	horoscope	midnight	boy
cathedral	train	question	picnic	reflection
Paper	eyes	woman	waiter	voice

2.Listen again if necessary  and answer the questions below. Afterwards, read the lyrics and compare your responses.

1. Where is she?
2. What is she doing?
3. What is she thinking about?
4. Who else is mentioned in the song? What are they doing?
5. Is this a happy or a sad song? Why?

Answers here!

The Space Station Gets A Coffee Bar

Discussion & listening activity

How do astronauts eat in space? Is eating in space the same as eating on Earth? Do astronauts eat the same foods we do? How do astronauts make sandwiches? How do astronauts drink? What if astronauts want ketchup on their meat? Can you eat chips in space? Research the answers to these and other questions on www.NASA.gov

NPR Report - Length: 2.59 minutes

Listen to the report and mark the statements below as TRUE or FALSE. Correct the mistaken ones.

             

1.At the International Space Station nothing is considered more precious than water. 2.Nasa sent an espresso coffee maker to the station. 3.In space all they've got is instant coffee. 4.There’s an Italian austronaut on the station who likes his coffee very strong, with foam on top. 5.Three companies got together and created an espresso maker for space, called ISSpresso. 6.The coffee maker looks like a box, bigger than a toaster but smaller than a microwave. 7.The machine has been tested to work in zero gravity. 8.Some think it will be also a great occasion to meet and have a coffee on the space station. 9.For the astronaut who manages the space station's food supply, the capsules will produce a lot of trash. 10.Once astronauts get a taste of espresso, the machine will have to stay.

Answers here!

The Popularity of Art

Discussion & listening activity

A)Pre-listening:  discuss the question below and give examples or justify your views.

How much artistic success is about the actual quality of the work and how much is just luck or chance?

Good Art Is Popular Because It's Good. Right?

NPR Listening – length:  7.47 min

B)Listening: listen to the National Public Radio interview and say whether the statements below are TRUE or FALSE.

1.The Mona Lisa is the most famous painting in the world because there is something special about the painting. It deserves to be famous.

2.Anybody who visits the Louvre Museum can easily see and appreciate the Mona Lisa.

3.Princeton Professor Matthew Salganik developed an experiment to see how much of success should be attributed to quality.

4.Always people’s attention attracts more attention, until many believe that something is really special, mostly because other people believed so.

5. Mona Lisa is one of the most famous paintings in the world and it's hard to imagine that something different could have happened.

6.In his experiment with songs Salganik created different environments online where people could choose his prefered songs out of 48.

7.Surprisingly, everybody chose the same song in all different worlds.

8.Not many different things have an impact on success and failure. A huge hit isn't a matter of chance.

9.Chance plays a big role in success in our lives.

10.SALGANIK  thinks that his discoveries helps you understand people and treat them better.

Answers here!