viernes, 26 de diciembre de 2008

Exercises on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1964,2005)




(1964, a novel by Roald Dahl, and 2005,a film directed by Tim Burton)

Picture from the film by the Warner Bros


STORY:

After watching the film, perhaps you can remember some words from the beginning of the story:

1 Fill the gaps with the words in the box

LUCKIEST CLEVER ENOUGH ORDINARY POWERFUL

This is a story of an (1).......................................little boy, named Charlie Bucket. He was not faster or stranger or more(2)....................... than other children. His family was not rich or (3)…................or well-connected. In fact, they barely had (4)................................to eat. But Charlie Bucket was the (5)…...............................boy in the entire world


2 And the story goes on:

LATER CHOCOLATE TOOTHPASTE CABBAGE

CARROTS SINGLE SHOP


His mother was cooking (a)…............................and (b)…....................................for dinner. His father
worked at the local (c)…......................................factory.
His grandfather had worked for Willy Wonka at the (d)….....................
factory.

W Wonka began with a (e)…........................at Cherry Street. The man was a genius. He invented a new way of making chocolate ice-cream. Fifteen years (f)........... he decided to build the largest chocolate factory in history..

3 and on and on:

BLEW UP MELTED MADE WERE MADE DECIDED


3 He built a chocolate palace to an Indian Prince. True to his word, the bricks (1)
...........................out of chocolate. That's why one day with a boiling sun, the chocolate (2)............................ That's when Willy Wonka (3) ….......
to invent an ice-cream that would never melt. He had also (4)....................... chewing gum which (5)....................into incredible sizes.


4 Cross out the unnecessary word. There are two sentences that are correct:

a I'm closing my chocolate factory always for ever.

b We saw smoke rise from the chimneys.

c The factory was to back in business.

d Who's running the machines?

e He never comes out off.

f. The candy comes out already packed and addressed. It's a tinier mystery.










jueves, 30 de octubre de 2008

AUTUMN POEMS


Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness (John Keats)
Autumn was described by the famous poet John Keats (1795-1821) as the season of mists, when the plants are completing their year's life cycle. The trees are full of nuts which squirrels bury for the hungry winer months (but in fact, they actually bury them and then forget where they put them!) and the leaves on the trees are turning to lovely shades of red and gold.
Write either a poem or a description of what autumn is like wher eyou live. Write a draft to start with and then write out the neat version. Illustrate your work if you like drawing.(1)



(2)
A Child’s Calendar
November by John Updike
The stripped and shapely
Maple grieves
The ghosts of her
Departed leaves.
The ground is hard,
As hard as stone.
The year is old,
The birds are flown.
And yet the world,
In its distress,
Displays a certain
Loveliness.

Nature XXVII, Autumn by Emily Dickinson
The morns are meeker than they were.
The nuts are getting brown;
The berry’s cheek is plumper,
The rose is out of town. The maple wears a gayer scarf,
The field a scarlet gown.
Lest I should be old-fashioned,
I’ll put a trinket on.

Nothing Gold Can Stay, by Robert Frost
Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold,
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.

Pumpkin poem, Anonymous
When all the cows were sleeping
And the sun had gone to bed,
Up jumped the pumpkin,
And this is what he said:
I’m a dingle dangle pumpkin
With a flippy floppy hat.
I can shake my stem like this,
And shake my vine like that.

(1) From Writing Worksheet U 2, New Citizens 1, Longman,
by Jim Lawley and Rodrigo Fernández Carmona
(2) Picture from BBC October, 2008 Autumn Watching

sábado, 11 de octubre de 2008

1st Wish in The monkey's paw, by W.W.Jakobs (1902)


"The Monkey's Paw" is a horror short story by author W. W. Jacobs. It was published in England in 1902.

The story is based on the famous "setup" in which three wishes are granted. In the story, the paw of a dead monkey is a talisman that grants its possessor three wishes, but the wishes come with an enormous price.
The moral of the story is contained in this description of the paw: "It had a spell put on it by an old fakir," said the sergeant-major, "a very holy man. He wanted to show that fate ruled people's lives, and that those who interfered with it did so to their sorrow."
(from Wilkipedia)
.../...
Sargeat Major Morris said,
“The first man had his three wishes, yes,” was the reply. “I don’t know what the first two were, but the third was for death. That’s how I got the paw.”
.../...

Mr White's first wish was.
“I wish for two hundred pounds,” said the old man distinctly.
A fine crash from the piano greeted the words, interrupted by a shuddering cry from the old man. His wife and son ran toward him.
“It moved,” he cried, with a glance of disgust at the object as it lay on the floor. “As I wished, it twisted in my hand like a snake.”
“Well, I don’t see the money,” said his son, as he picked it up and placed it on the table, “and I bet I never shall.”
“It must have been your fancy, Father,” said his wife, regarding him anxiously.
He shook his head. “Never mind, though; there’s no harm done, but it gave me a shock all the same.”
They sat down by the fire again while the two men finished their pipes. Outside, the wind was higher than ever, and the old man started nervously at the sound of a door banging upstairs. A silence unusual and depressing settled upon all three, which lasted until the old couple rose to retire for the night.
“I expect you’ll find the cash tied up in a big bag in the middle of your bed,” said Herbert, as he bade them good night, “and something horrible squatting up on top of the wardrobe watching you as you pocket your ill-gotten gains.”
IN THE BRIGHTNESS of the wintry sun next morning as it streamed over the breakfast table, Herbert laughed at his fears. There was an air of prosaic wholesomeness about the room which it had lacked on the previous night, and the dirty, shriveled little paw was pitched on the sideboard with a carelessness which betokened no great belief in its virtues.
“I suppose all old soldiers are the same,” said Mrs. White. “The idea of our listening to such nonsense! How could wishes be granted in these days? And if they could, how could two hundred pounds hurt you, Father?”
“Might drop on his head from the sky,” said the frivolous Herbert.
“Morris said the things happened so naturally,” said his father, “that you might, if you so wished, attribute it to coincidence.”
“Well, don’t break into the money before I come back,” said Herbert, as he rose from the table. “I’m afraid it’ll turn you into a mean, avaricious man, and we shall have to disown you.”


.../...


“I–was asked to call,” he said at last, and stooped and picked a piece of cotton from his trousers. “I come from Maw and Meggins.”
The old lady started. “Is anything the matter?” she asked breathlessly. “Has anything happened to Herbert? What is it? What is it?”
Her husband interposed. “There, there, Mother,” he said hastily. “Sit down, and don’t jump to conclusions. You’ve not brought bad news, I’m sure, sir,” and he eyed the other wistfully.
“I’m sorry–” began the visitor.
“Is he hurt?” demanded the mother.
The visitor bowed in assent. “Badly hurt,” he said quietly, “but he is not in any pain.”
“Oh, thank God!” said the old woman, clasping her hands. “Thank God for that! Thank–”
She broke off suddenly as the sinister meaning of the assurance dawned upon her and she saw the awful confirmation of her fears in the other’s averted face. She caught her breath, and turning to her slower-witted husband, laid her trembling old hand upon his. There was a long silence.
“He was caught in the machinery,” said the visitor at length, in a low voice.
“Caught in the machinery,” repeated Mr. White, in a dazed fashion, “yes.”
He sat staring blankly out at the window, and taking his wife’s hand between his own, pressed it as he had been wont to do in their old courting days nearly forty years before.
“He was the only one left to us,” he said, turning gently to the visitor. “It is hard.”
The other coughed, and rising, walked slowly to the window. “The firm wished me to convey their sincere sympathy with you in your great loss,” he said, without looking around. “I beg that you will understand I am only their servant and merely obeying orders.”
There was no reply; the old woman’s face was white, her eyes staring, and her breath inaudible; on the husband’s face was a look such as his friend the sergeant might have carried into his first action.
“I was to say that Maw and Meggins disclaim all responsibility,” continued the other. “They admit no liability at all, but in consideration of your son’s services they wish to present you with a certain sum as compensation.”
Mr. White dropped his wife’s hand, and rising to his feet, gazed with a look of horror at his visitor. His dry lips shaped the words, “How much?”
“Two hundred pounds,” was the answer.

viernes, 26 de septiembre de 2008

THE MONKEY'S PAW (1902)


THE MONKEY'S PAW (1902)
from The lady of the barge (1906, 6th ed.)
London and New York
Harper & Brothers, Publishers

by W.W. Jacobs

"Be careful what you wish for, you may receive it." Anonymous


I.

WITHOUT, the night was cold and wet, but in the small parlour of Laburnam Villa the blinds were drawn and the fire burned brightly. Father and son were at chess, the former, who possessed ideas about the game involving radical changes, putting his king into such sharp and unnecessary perils that it even provoked comment from the white-haired old lady knitting placidly by the fire.
"Hark at the wind," said Mr. White, who, having seen a fatal mistake after it was too late, was amiably desirous of preventing his son from seeing it.
"I'm listening," said the latter, grimly surveying the board as he stretched out his hand. "Check."
"I should hardly think that he'd come to-night," said his father, with his hand poised over the board.
"Mate," replied the son.
"That's the worst of living so far out," bawled Mr. White, with sudden and unlooked-for violence; "of all the beastly, slushy, out-of-the-way places to live in, this is the worst. Pathway's a bog, and the road's a torrent. I don't know what people are thinking about. I suppose because only two houses on the road are let, they think it doesn't matter."
"Never mind, dear," said his wife soothingly; "perhaps you'll win the next one."
Mr. White looked up sharply, just in time to intercept a knowing glance between mother and son. The words died away on his lips, and he hid a guilty grin in his thin grey beard.
"There he is," said Herbert White, as the gate banged to loudly and heavy footsteps came toward the door.
The old man rose with hospitable haste, and opening the door, was heard condoling with the new arrival. The new arrival also condoled with himself, so that Mrs. White said, "Tut, tut!" and coughed gently as her husband entered the room, followed by a tall burly man, beady of eye and rubicund of visage.
"Sergeant-Major Morris," he said, introducing him.
The sergeant-major shook hands, and taking the proffered seat by the fire, watched contentedly while his host got out whisky and tumblers and stood a small copper kettle on the fire.
At the third glass his eyes got brighter, and he began to talk, the little family circle regarding with eager interest this visitor from distant parts, as he squared his broad shoulders in the chair and spoke of strange scenes and doughty deeds; of wars and plagues and strange peoples.
"Twenty-one years of it," said Mr. White, nodding at his wife and son. "When he went away he was a slip of a youth in the warehouse. Now look at him."
"He don't look to have taken much harm," said Mrs. White, politely.
"I'd like to go to India myself," said the old man, "just to look round a bit, you know."
"Better where you are," said the sergeant-major, shaking his head. He put down the empty glass, and sighing softly, shook it again.
"I should like to see those old temples and fakirs and jugglers," said the old man. "What was that you started telling me the other day about a monkey's paw or something, Morris?"
"Nothing," said the soldier hastily. "Leastways, nothing worth hearing."
"Monkey's paw?" said Mrs. White curiously.
"Well, it's just a bit of what you might call magic, perhaps," said the sergeant-major off-handedly.
His three listeners leaned forward eagerly. The visitor absentmindedly put his empty glass to his lips and then set it down again. His host filled it for him.
"To look at," said the sergeant-major, fumbling in his pocket, "it's just an ordinary little paw, dried to a mummy."
He took something out of his pocket and proffered it. Mrs. White drew back with a grimace, but her son, taking it, examined it curiously.
"And what is there special about it?" inquired Mr. White, as he took it from his son and, having examined it, placed it upon the table.
"It had a spell put on it by an old fakir," said the sergeant-major, "a very holy man. He wanted to show that fate ruled people's lives, and that those who interfered with it did so to their sorrow. He put a spell on it so that three separate men could each have three wishes from it."
His manner was so impressive that his hearers were conscious that their light laughter jarred somewhat.
"Well, why don't you have three, sir?" said Herbert White cleverly.
The soldier regarded him in the way that middle age is wont to regard presumptuous youth. "I have," he said quietly, and his blotchy face whitened.
"And did you really have the three wishes granted?" asked Mrs. White.
"I did," said the sergeant-major, and his glass tapped against his strong teeth.
"And has anybody else wished?" inquired the old lady.
"The first man had his three wishes, yes," was the reply. "I don't know what the first two were, but the third was for death. That's how I got the paw."
His tones were so grave that a hush fell upon the group.
"If you've had your three wishes, it's no good to you now, then, Morris," said the old man at last. "What do you keep it for?"
The soldier shook his head. "Fancy, I suppose," he said slowly.
"If you could have another three wishes," said the old man, eyeing him keenly, "would you have them?"
"I don't know," said the other. "I don't know."
He took the paw, and dangling it between his front finger and thumb, suddenly threw it upon the fire. White, with a slight cry, stooped down and snatched it off.
"Better let it burn," said the soldier solemnly.
"If you don't want it, Morris," said the old man, "give it to me."
"I won't," said his friend doggedly. "I threw it on the fire. If you keep it, don't blame me for what happens. Pitch it on the fire again, like a sensible man."
The other shook his head and examined his new possession closely. "How do you do it?" he inquired.
"Hold it up in your right hand and wish aloud,' said the sergeant-major, "but I warn you of the consequences."
"Sounds like the Arabian Nights," said Mrs White, as she rose and began to set the supper. "Don't you think you might wish for four pairs of hands for me?"
Her husband drew the talisman from his pocket and then all three burst into laughter as the sergeant-major, with a look of alarm on his face, caught him by the arm.
"If you must wish," he said gruffly, "wish for something sensible."
Mr. White dropped it back into his pocket, and placing chairs, motioned his friend to the table. In the business of supper the talisman was partly forgotten, and afterward the three sat listening in an enthralled fashion to a second instalment of the soldier's adventures in India.
"If the tale about the monkey paw is not more truthful than those he has been telling us," said Herbert, as the door closed behind their guest, just in time for him to catch the last train, "we shan't make much out of it."
"Did you give him anything for it, father?" inquired Mrs. White, regarding her husband closely.
"A trifle," said he, colouring slightly. "He didn't want it, but I made him take it. And he pressed me again to throw it away."
"Likely," said Herbert, with pretended horror. "Why, we're going to be rich, and famous, and happy. Wish to be an emperor, father, to begin with; then you can't be henpecked."
He darted round the table, pursued by the maligned Mrs. White armed with an antimacassar.
Mr. White took the paw from his pocket and eyed it dubiously. "I don't know what to wish for, and that's a fact," he said slowly. "It seems to me I've got all I want."
"If you only cleared the house, you'd be quite happy, wouldn't you?" said Herbert, with his hand on his shoulder. "Well, wish for two hundred pounds, then; that'll just do it."
His father, smiling shamefacedly at his own credulity, held up the talisman, as his son, with a solemn face somewhat marred by a wink at his mother, sat down at the piano and struck a few impressive chords.
"I wish for two hundred pounds," said the old man distinctly.
A fine crash from the piano greeted the words, interrupted by a shuddering cry from the old man. His wife and son ran toward him.
"It moved, he cried, with a glance of disgust at the object as it lay on the floor. "As I wished it twisted in my hands like a snake."
"Well, I don't see the money," said his son, as he picked it up and placed it on the table, "and I bet I never shall."
"It must have been your fancy, father," said his wife, regarding him anxiously.
He shook his head. "Never mind, though; there's no harm done, but it gave me a shock all the same."
They sat down by the fire again while the two men finished their pipes. Outside, the wind was higher than ever, and the old man started nervously at the sound of a door banging upstairs. A silence unusual and depressing settled upon all three, which lasted until the old couple rose to retire for the night.
"I expect you'll find the cash tied up in a big bag in the middle of your bed," said Herbert, as he bade them good-night, "and something horrible squatting up on top of the wardrobe watching you as you pocket your ill-gotten gains."
He sat alone in the darkness, gazing at the dying fire, and seeing faces in it. The last face was so horrible and so simian that he gazed at it in amazement. It got so vivid that, with a little uneasy laugh, he felt on the table for a glass containing a little water to throw over it. His hand grasped the monkey's paw, and with a little shiver he wiped his hand on his coat and went up to bed.

domingo, 10 de agosto de 2008


One World, one Dream

"#9 Dream"DreamJohnLennon.jpg (John Lennon) So long ago Was it in a dream, was it just a dream? I know, yes I know Seemed so very real, it seemed so real to me Took a walk down the street Thru the heat whispered trees I thought I could hear (hear, hear, hear) Somebody call out my name as it started to rain Two spirits dancing so strange Ah! b'wakawa pouss?, pouss? Ah! b'wakawa pouss?, pouss? Ah! b'wakawa pouss?, pouss? Dream, dream away Magic in the air, was magic in the air? I believe, yes I believe More I cannot say, what more can I say? On a river of sound Thru the mirror go round, round I thought I could feel (feel, feel, feel) Music touching my soul, something warm, sudden cold The spirit dance was unfolding Ah! b'wakawa pouss?, pouss? Ah! b'wakawa pouss?, pouss? Ah! b'wakawa pouss?, pouss? The following are the sports played at these Games. Aquatics: Diving Swimming Synchronized swimming Water polo Archery Athletics Badminton Baseball Basketball Boxing Canoeing Cycling Equestrian Fencing Field hockey Football Gymnastics Handball Judo Modern pentathlon Rowing Sailing Shooting Softball Table tennis Taekwondo Tennis Triathlon Volleyball Weightlifting Wrestling Please, select your favourite sport and dream about it as you please. Note down your ideas down here:

lunes, 7 de julio de 2008

Summertime / El verano

Here comes summer
Here comes summer
Chirping Robins, budding roses
Here comes summer
Here comes summer
Gentle showers, summer clothes
Here comes summer
Here comes summer
Whoosh-shiver there it goes

Faith Long


El verano que empieza…

El solsticio de verano,
las hogueras de San Juan
Eran días de verano,
dice la canción de Amaral…
Y soñamos con el verde
de los bosques, la espesura;
de los robles, la verdura
de la montaña.

Con los duendes
Como Puck,
Del Sueño de
una noche de verano,
Con las amapolas
silvestres
de los campos;
de trigo

Con la apacible
sonrisa del amigo;
con la dulce canción
del agua; con
las golondrinas,
Que planean
Sobre nuestras
más que ajetreadas
Existencias.

El verano que empieza
es como un sueño,
una promesa,
Un manantial
Transparente,
Para mí,
para ti,
y querría que lo fuera
para los seres humanos
todos, sin otro color
que el verde
de la naturaleza.
Mari Carmen López

Summer time!

Summer Poem

Summer brings us nice warm sun
For swimming, fishing, and lots of fun
For finding seashells in the sand
For sunbathing to get a tan
To do all these things and more
At the beach and seashore


Summer Comes Poem

The Little darling Spring has run away
The sunshine grew too hot for her to stay
She kissed her sister, Summer,and she said
"When I am gone, you must be queen instead"
Now reigns the Lady Summer, round whose feet
A thousand fairies flock with blossoms sweet.

Bed In Summer Poem

In winter I get up at night,
And dress by yellow candle light.
In summer quite the other way,
I have to go to bed by day,

I have to go to bed and see
The birds still hopping on the tree,
Or hear the grown up people's feet
Still going past me in the street,

And does it not seem hard to you,
When all the sky is clear and blue,
And I should like so much to play,
To have to go to bed by day?

by Robert Louis Stevenson