Sunday 15 December 2013

Flying cars

This week the Dutch company PAL-V announced the first flights of its prototype "flying car".
This unique vehicle is called the PAL-V One, or the 'Personal Air and Land Vehicle', and It marks the start of a new era.

On the ground the vehicle drives like a sports car. Within minutes its rotor is unfolded and its tail is extended: then it is ready to take off thanks to the advanced gyrocopter technology.

With these successful test results it is proven that it is not only possible to build a flying car but also that it can be done within existing international rules for both flying and driving.

Having passed this important milestone the company is now inviting investors to join them in creating the future.

The next step will be the design of the first commercial production model of the PAL-V, and first deliveries are expected in 2014.

For 100 years people have dreamed of a flying car, and many attempts have been made to realize this dream, but now it has truly become a reality.

Tuesday 3 December 2013

Computer glasses


Favorite Gadget We ask people what their favorite gadget.


Jake talks about his love of video games with Lindsay.


Gareth and Rebecca continue their talk about children and technology.


Jeff and Todd talk about technology and how it influences people.


Technology is taking over our lives, says leading psychologist

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7B5S2mh_qY

Fill in the gaps with the missing information.

We use technological devices more than_____________________.
About _________________ of people say that they will find it really difficult to do without technology.
3.       As we’ve started using technological devices we’ve become more reliant and ____________ on them.
4.       In particular adults find it difficult to do without their ______________ .
5.       The term nomophopia describe people who suffer from the lack of ________________
6.       Twice as many people admit that they’d rather lose their _____________ _______ than their smart phone.
7.       As screen contact goes on __________________ goes down.

Answers: 1.       ever before  2 . 70%   3. dependant    4 smart phone  5 their device   6 wedding ring  
7 eye contact 

Mobile Telephones Changing Lives in Africa


Technology Addiction


0:00
welcome back in this age of technology more children than ever before becoming
0:04
glued to the screen parents zhe sound familiar to you will a recent study
0:08
finds that even when children are unplugged
0:11
they have difficulty focusing on just one task
0:14
conical sekali psychologist doctor robert reynolds of the connecticut
0:18
educational services in middletown is here to talk about
0:21
technology addiction among kids first or how big of an issue is this wells
0:25
becoming ah... a bigger no issue as every day passes
0:29
you know it's a timely store that you're doing here because this is the
0:32
summertime
0:33
and summertime it becomes a bigger problem than at other times where
0:36
children now have way more access to all of these technologies answer rather than
0:40
being outside playing like you and i might've when we were young there inside
0:43
on these video games or plugged in our emailing or banning and costly
0:48
back-and-forth with their peers texting it's like a nonstop technology flood
0:53
clearly health implications are talking about
0:55
phones i've pads computers you name it what are some of the other implications
0:59
for kids who just can't seem to step away from the screen whatever form their
1:03
users one of the main areas i worry about jeff is a social development
1:07
if they're in the house paid ten hours twelve hours a day on this video games
1:11
playing these video games
1:12
what's happening to their dinner skilled their interpersonal skills what's going
1:15
on there these are the kinds of skills that they needed to be successful adults
1:19
and they don't really learn them very much on his computer games win they tax
1:23
when they face book they're relating to people in a way that we're not
1:26
accustomed to
1:27
perhaps it was a little older no more face-to-face contact anymore what does
1:30
that do for socialization
1:32
well unfortunately not a lot
1:34
in some of these games do have some interactive value but for the most part
1:38
it's a very intense experience for them in the interaction with their brains but
1:43
not much in terms of with other people and that's really what i see as the main
1:47
problem here for poor parents what are some signs that your kid maybe just a
1:51
little too hard on this stuff
1:52
well first of all the amount of time that they spent
1:55
what happens when you ask them to get off the video game sometimes that can
1:58
precipitate major meltdowns so these are the kinds of things that has to be very
2:03
aware of the is their child lying about how much time to spend nearly sneaking
2:07
onto the computer or they stealing money to buy computer games those are the
2:11
kinds of things that ought to tell you wait a minute now maybe this is getting
2:13
out of hand i try to tell parents no more than an hour or two a day
2:18
especially in the summertime on these video games let them develop their other
2:22
areas of their lives and not just their video games skills it sounds like it
2:25
also creates a negative behaviors that are sort of
2:28
that'd adjuncts of this it's sort of creates other behaviors that pairs them
2:32
one thickest just better well yes and also it creates other problems that we
2:36
don't necessarily see
2:37
for example i believe that the video game craze has actually worsened the
2:43
kids who have attentional issues i don't think it's any coincidence that children
2:48
being diagnosed with a vhdl for example today this guy rocketing and i think a
2:52
lot of it has to do with a stimulating environment has become especially with
2:55
all of these technologies if kids are constantly being texting occassionally
3:00
emailed costly playing these games
3:02
their brains never really had a chance to disengage
3:06
deeper thinkers to get more involved and things to think about there too costly
3:10
being interrupted and their brains are costly telling them
3:13
but reply and better check might sexy was common
3:16
it's a constant nonstop so they don't really have a chance to think
3:19
revert clearly are very deeply about the quality of the content of their lives
3:22
but it's not all bad
3:24
but
3:25
something parents do need to watch out for it is and again is here to stay is
3:29
not going to go away
3:30
and children do need to become proficient the parents need to regulate
3:33
all right very good doctor reynolds thanks for joining us this morning
3:36
buyers later jeff
3:37
we'll see you soon kalo eight six zero three four three zero two tutu for more
3:42
information or you can uh... visit our website
3:46
we're going to be right back after a break stay with us
3:50
pizza pasta steak and lobster river

How has technology made our lives better?

The better question is, why can't technology give us more free time?
What is his main concern about Internet?


Lucy McRae: How can technology transform the human body?

Wednesday 27 November 2013

Female polyglot explains how to learn languages (CBS)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFpzeGoP-Kg
Susana has travelled to _____________________ countries.
She's learned just by ________________________ and ______________________ .
The first skill we develop when studying languages is __________________________ .
She started  learning French by _____________________ and then reading the ________________ .
She started picking up languages from the age of __________________.
In Spanish she was fluent after ______________________ .
It's important to make the language in every _____________________ .
You can also find _____________________ on internet.
She doesn't mix up languages by keeping _________________________ .

Part Time Jobs and PartTimeCrossing.com


Tuesday 19 November 2013

Dream Job

Jeff want to start his own company. He talks about the kind of company he wants




First Job

In this segment, six people talk about their first job.



Part-Time Job

Greg talks about the various part-time jobs he had growing up as a kid.



Cool Jobs

Jeff and Tim talk about some cool jobs that they would love to have

Bad Jobs

Jeff and Tim talk about jobs they would not want to do and why.



Sunday 27 October 2013

City of Bath (UNESCO/NHK)



  • What is the legend of Bath?
  • Who was the Prince?
  • When did the Romans arrive in Bath?
  • What did the Romans? 
  • What did they do?
  • When did the Romans leave?
  • What happened to the hot spring when the Romans left?
  • Richard Nash converted a small town into a ____________________ .
  • John Wood built the Royal Crescent in a semi-___________________ . It was a place where _______________ who visited Bath would stay.


Monday 7 October 2013

The History of Surfing in Hawai'i

If you are interested in this sport you can watch and read the history of surfing

Saturday 21 September 2013

Young Britons shy away from learning languages

Two out of three teenagers in Britain are keen to work abroad but most of them don't speak foreign languages. Government figures show that 58% of 11-18 year olds in the UK have no foreign language skills, and this has a negative effect on the economy. Tom Burridge reports:






After listening   answer the following questions

Why do most British people feel lazy to learn a foreign language?

What percentage of teenagers doesn’t speak a second language?

How many students want to work abroad?

The British Government accepts there’s a problem and it has big implications for ______________________

Their trade is _____________________________ English-speaking countries and ____________________ are suffering.

British English vs American English

British English vs American English






Learning languages

Listen to someone talking about learning a new language and answer the questions:
  • Which continent has the speaker not lived in?     Asia       Europe            South America
  • Which two things does the speaker do to learn a new language? 
-go to classes an speak to people   - Speak to people and use a dictionary    -watch   TV adn listen to the radio
  • Why does the speaker think watching game shows is useful? - because of the pictures  -because the contestants are always winning  - because the language is repetitive
  • What does the speaker say about using newspapers?
-it was easy to learn a lot of new words quickly  -a lot of things were happening in the country  -other people could explain new words the writer found
  • What does the speaker say about talking to people in the street? -preparation was necessary   -the embarrassment made it a failure  -people reacted negatively

The best way of learning a language

Everybody wants to know what the best way of learning a language is- and everybody has their own way of trying to study. Some ways, however, get much better results than others. Listen to what a group of advanced foreign language learners and their teachers suggested when somebody asked them.


Write down the things they mention.
It's important to try to ......................
It's best to try to .............................
Don't worry too much about ..............
Make sure ...............................
It's better to try to .................... than it is to .................
The speakers are : Cissy (Taiwanese), Russell (Canadian), Sachiko (Japanese), Miguel (Portuguese), Steve (English), Gao (Chinese), Eduardo (Mexican), Eun-Sil (Korean)

From: Innovations Intermediate. ed. Heinle

Later language learning

Young children seem to be able to learn languages with a lot less difficulty than adults. But why is this? In this programme they take a short and simple look at a very complex topic and hear a number of expert opinions. they also cover some useful vocabulary for talking about this topic.