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Sunday, June 29, 2025

Social Networking in Real Life



Quite possibly the most irritating woman on You Tube. But she makes her point.


Separate into different phrases

 

I’m following you I’m giving you an alert Jenna Kingsley is now following you do you want to poke me I want to endorse you please accept my friendship request do you want to be connected 12 people have viewed you remain anonymous I have just checked into Grand Hotel I’m getting so many views to share a post to like a comment to introduce someone to someone else to be connected

Link:

Social Experiment

IELTS speaking Part 1 - talking about family

My best friend ___________

 is

Opinion

size

age

AND something else?

 He/she Likes to

He/she doesn’t like to

 

My older / younger    sister / brother __________________

  is

Opinion

size

age

AND something else?

 He/she Likes to

He/she doesn’t like to

 

My older / younger    sister / brother _________________

 is

Opinion

size

age

Something else?

 He/she Likes to

He/she doesn’t like to

 

My dad _____________

 is

Opinion

size

age

Something else?

 He/she Likes to

He/she doesn’t like to

My mum _____________

 is

Opinion

size

age

Something else?

 He/she Likes to

He/she doesn’t like to

 

My grandfather ___________

 is

Opinion

size

age

Something else?

 He/she Likes to

He/she doesn’t like to

 

My grandmother ____________

is

Opinion

size

age

Something else?

 He/she Likes to

He/she doesn’t like to

 

My favourite cousin

 

Opinion

size

age

Something else?

 He/she Likes to

He/she doesn’t like to


China's Ghost Cities revisited

Image result for chinas ghost cities revisited


Vocab:

Pa_isian
In_ongruous
A_pirations
_ust about
make a _o of
stay _float
vo_ume-based
ve_dor
boa_ded up
pro_per
_entality
Ha_tily
Fran_
at the w_ll of
o_t-perform
ra_pant and unchecked
_nfamous
mining _oom
free _eign
at a pre_ium
short-_ived
in_lux
reporte_ly
eer_e
i_le
ur_an explosion
to come_o pass
bubble _rap
from sc_atch
a_id
tur_ of the century
mind-bogg_ing
_interland
to have a sa_
mi_ders
in _arshot
re_ettled
make the mo_e
social _ngineering



1. Why don't the Chinese have to go to Paris anymore?
2. What collides in Tianducheng?
3. What can you buy on Champ Elysees square?
4. Why don't people want to move to the city?
5. How is the government responding to the failure of The Great Mall of China?
6. Who is Li Tie?
7. Why does the reporter find him refreshing?
8. Why were developers given free reign in the district of Ordos?
9. Why did people never come?
10. Who is Tom Miller?
11. What does Tom say about the prospect of the bubble bursting in China?
12. What is the government’s aim with new cities like Lanzhao?

China's Ghost Cities revisited

London - by William Blake




William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his lifetime, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual arts of the Romantic Age.






1.
London
By William Blake 
 
I wander thro' each charter'd street,
Near where the charter'd Thames does flow. 
And mark in every face I meet
Marks of weakness, marks of woe.

In every cry of every Man,
In every Infant's cry of fear,
In every voice: in every ban,
The mind-forg'd manacles I hear 

How the Chimney-sweepers cry
Every blackning Church appalls, 
And the hapless Soldiers sigh
Runs in blood down Palace walls 

But most thro' midnight streets I hear
How the youthful Harlots curse
Blasts the new-born Infants tear 
And blights with plagues the Marriage hearse






Verse 1


I wander thro' each charter'd street,
Near where the charter'd Thames does flow. 
And mark in every face I meet
Marks of weakness, marks of woe.

1. What is the Thames?
2. Is Blake walking through inner or outer London?
3. What does "charter'd" mean?
4. What does "mark" mean in line 3?
5. What does mark mean in line 4?






Verse 2


In every cry of every Man,
In every Infants cry of fear,
In every voice: in every ban*,
The mind-forg'd manacles I hear 

1. Which sense is the verse focused on? (compare with Verse 1)
2. Which word is repeated 5 times? Which word is repeated 4 times?
3. What are manacles? What sound do they make?
4. Why does Blake describe the manacles as "mind-forg'd"?

* ban here could mean that many things are "banned". In verse 1 we learn that the streets and the river are chartered (privatised).







Verse 3


How the Chimney-sweepers cry
Every blackning Church appalls, 
And the hapless Soldiers sigh
Runs in blood down Palace walls 

1. Which institutions are mentioned? What do they have in common?
2. How do these institutions appear here?
3. What do you think the "chimney-sweepers" and "hapless soldiers" have in common? 
4. The poem was written in 1794. What had happened in France 5 years earlier?







Verse 4

But most thro' midnight streets I hear
How the youthful Harlots curse
Blasts the new-born Infants tear 
And blights with plagues the Marriage hearse

1. What time is it?
2. What is a Harlot?
3. What is the relationship between the infant and the harlot?
4. How does a sound become an image in lines 2 and 3?































Watch a clip about this poem:

William Blake's London

Gap fill:

Something that flows ______ly

 

London was starting to ____ itself, starting to beat its _____

 

Blake peeled the v_________

 

It ain’t a______g up

 

Industrialisation brings f______ profit, capitalism and a desire of the _________

 

Talking about the body of people, so they are their own __________

 

Soldiers, the Church chimney sweeps - these are all  p_________ of society

 

Could be a nod to revolutionary F______

 

An exploited soldier fighting in _________ wars on behalf of the palace

 

This is a time when reason has its ________ over belief.

 

He used his thoughts to ___________ himself beyond his surroundings.

 

It almost feels like a warning or an urgent _______ to the people around him…

 

But Blake also saw ______ his own time


Discuss


In the poem it is evident that Blake cares deeply for the victims of the Age of Industry. But was he right to see only darkness in it? What about all the progress, including social progress, that has come about thanks to industrialisation?

Kahoot


Also:

Blake's Radicalism

What is the spirit behind Blake's writing?

What is the underlying feeling in London the mid 18th Century?

Why were the Albion Mills burned down?

What did Blake call the mills?

What is the "charter"?

Why did Blake's poem London mention both chartering and prostitution?

Why does Sinclair say London is a "double" city?







Saturday, June 28, 2025

Streets of London

Have you seen the old man

In a closed-down market?

Kicking up the paper

With his ___________________

 

In his eyes, you see no pride

And held loosely at his side

Yesterday's paper

Telling __________________

 

So, how can you tell me you're lonely?

And say for you that____________________?

Let me take you by the hand

And lead you through the streets of London

I can chow you something to make you change your mind

 

Have you seen the old girl

Who walks the streets of London?

Dirt in her hair

And her _______________

 

She's no time for talking

She just keeps _______________

Carrying her home

In two carrier bags

 

So, how can you tell me you're lonely?

And say for you that the sun don't shine?

Let me take you by the hand

And lead you through the streets of London

I'll show you something to make you change your mind

 

In the all night café

At a q___________

Same old man

Sitting there_____________

Looking at the world

Over the rim of ________

Each tea __________

And he wanders home alone

 

So, how can you tell me you're lonely?

Don't say for you that the sun don't shine

Let me take you by the hand

And lead you through the streets of London

I can show you something to make you change your mind

 

Have you seen the old man

Outside the seaman's mission?

Memory fading with

The medal ribbons __________

 

In our winter city

The rain cries ____________

For one more forgotten hero

And a world _____________

 

So, how can you tell me you're lonely?

And say for you that the sun don't shine?

Let me take you by the hand

And lead you through the streets of London

I can show you something to make you change your mind


Soho - my favourite part of town





lively   colourful   exciting   famous   continental   honest   pedestrianised    shabby    interesting  cosmopolitan   magnetic

Do you feel these adjectives would describe people, places or food?


Divide this text into three paragraphs – what are the topics of the paragraphs? 

 

One of my favourite parts of London is Soho, which is right in the centre, and includes Piccadilly Circus, Shaftesbury Avenue and Leicester Square. One of the main reasons I like it is that it is always lively and colourful, with people dashing around going about their business - most of it honest, some of it not. The place is a bit of a mess, and the buildings aren’t the most beautiful in London. The streets are a bit shabby but always interesting, with surprises around every corner. The name is derived from a hunting call, ”So-ho”, that huntsmen were heard to cry as they chased deer in royal parklands. It has been a cosmopolitan area since the first immigrants, who were French Huguenots, arrived in the 1680s. More French arrived escaping the revolution during the late 18th century, followed by Germans, Russians, Poles, Greeks and Italians. Soho is packed with continental food shops and restaurants. More recently there have been a lot of Chinese from Hong Kong. Gerrard Street, which is pedestrianized, is the centre of London’s Chinatown. It has restaurants, Chinese supermarkets, and in February there are the New Year celebrations. Many famous people have lived in Soho, including Mozart, Karl Marx and the poet T. S. Eliot. It has a reputation for attracting artists, writers and poets. Shaftesbury Avenue is in the heart of London’s theatre land, and there are endless clubs/pubs, cafes, street markets, advertising agencies, clothes shops, music publishers and recording studios, which makes it an exciting place to live and work. Piccadilly Circus is like a magnet for young people from all over the world. They like to sit on the steps under the statue of Eros, celebrating the freedom and friendship of youth. It is said that if you wait long enough at Piccadilly Circus, you’ll meet everyone you’ve ever known! 




Check



One of my
favourite parts of London is Soho, which is right in the centre, and includes Piccadilly Circus, Shaftesbury Avenue and Leicester Square. One of the main reasons I like it is that it is always lively and colourful, with people dashing around going about their business
- most of it honest, some of it not. The place is a bit of a mess, and the buildings aren’t the most beautiful in London. The streets are a bit shabby but always interesting, with surprises around every corner.


The name is derived from a hunting call, ”So-ho”, that huntsmen were heard to cry as they chased deer in royal parklands. It has been a cosmopolitan area since the first immigrants, who were French Huguenots, arrived in the 1680s. More French arrived escaping the revolution during the late 18th century, followed by Germans, Russians, Poles, Greeks and Italians. Soho is packed with continental food shops and restaurants. More recently there have been a lot of Chinese from Hong Kong. Gerrard Street, which is pedestrianized, is the centre of London’s Chinatown. It has restaurants, Chinese supermarkets, and in February there are the New Year celebrations. Many famous people have lived in Soho, including Mozart, Karl Marx and the poet T. S. Eliot. It has a reputation for attracting artists, writers and poets.


Shaftesbury Avenue is in the heart of London’s theatre land, and there are endless clubs/pubs, cafes, street markets, advertising agencies, clothes shops, music publishers and recording studios, which makes it an exciting place to live and work. Piccadilly Circus is like a magnet for young people from all over the world. They like to sit on the steps under the statue of Eros, celebrating the freedom and friendship of youth. It is said that if you wait long enough at Piccadilly Circus, you’ll meet everyone you’ve ever known! 



1. One of my favourite parts of London


2. One of the main reasons I like it is that


3. The place is a bit of a mess,


4. The streets are a bit shabby


5. It has been a cosmopolitan area since the first immigrants, who were French Huguenots,


6. Soho is packed with continental


7. there are endless clubs/pubs, cafes, street markets, advertising agencies, clothes shops, music publishers and recording studios,


8. Piccadilly Circus is like a magnet


9. if you wait long enough at Piccadilly Circus,






A. and the buildings aren’t the most beautiful in London.


B. but always interesting,


C. which makes it an exciting place to live and work.


D. for young people from all over the world.


E. you’ll meet everyone you’ve ever known! 


F. arrived in the 1680s


G. is Soho


H. it is always lively and colourful


I. food shops and restaurants.







Can you recall the adjectives that were where these gaps in the text are?


One of my_________ parts of London is Soho, which is right in the centre, and includes Piccadilly Circus, Shaftesbury Avenue and Leicester Square. One of the main reasons I like it is that it is always ________ and________, with people dashing around going about their business. The place is a bit of a mess, and the buildings aren’t the most_______ in London, but the streets are always_______, with surprises around every corner.


The name is derived from a hunting call, ”So-ho”, that huntsmen were heard to cry as they chased deer in royal parklands. It has been a ________ area since the first immigrants, who were French Huguenots, arrived in the 1680s. More French arrived escaping the revolution during the late 18th century, followed by Germans, Russians, Poles, Greeks and Italians. Soho is packed with _______ food shops and restaurants. More recently there have been a lot of Chinese from Hong Kong. Gerrard Street, which is__________, is the centre of London’s Chinatown. It has restaurants, Chinese supermarkets, and in February there are the New Year celebrations. Many ________ people have lived in Soho, including Mozart, Karl Marx and the poet T. S. Eliot. It has a reputation for attracting artists, writers and poets.


Shaftesbury Avenue is in the heart of London’s theatre land, and there are ________ clubs/pubs, cafes, street markets, advertising agencies, clothes shops, music publishers and recording studios, which makes it an _______ place to live and work. Piccadilly Circus is like a magnet for _________ people from all over the world. They like to sit on the steps under the statue of Eros, celebrating the freedom and friendship of youth. It is said that if you wait long enough at Piccadilly Circus, you’ll meet everyone you’ve ever known! 





DISCUSS


1. What is your town, village or city called? Can you translate it into English? Is there a story behind the name?


2. Do you have a favourite shop in your town? What does it sell? How often do you go there?


3. Is your town, village or city famous for anything? Has anyone important or famous lived there?


4. What was your town, village of city like 200 years ago?


5. Would you say your town, village or city is cosmopolitan?


6. Would you say your town is more lively in the daytime or the nighttime? Why?


7. Is there a market in your town? What things are bought and sold there?


8. Is your town, village or city easy to walk around? Are their pedestrianized areas?