''A Christmas Carol''

Express English: National stereotypes

Learning English - Lesson Sixty Eight - Choices and Decisions

Learning English - Ask Misterduncan-35

Scary Things

Learning English - Lesson Sixty Seven - Anniversaries

Do They Know its Halloween

Transcript:
A Benefit for UNICEF: Do They Know it's Halloween?

Once a year on a spooky night
It's Halloween... and what a fright!
Young boys and ghouls in ghoulish disguise
They cover their skin, conceal their eyes
A grave mistake to be out when the ghosts are about
It's Halloween... our time to be afraid!

In the rest of the year, they don't observe
This bash which has become our biggest concern
Latvia, Laos, Chad, Peru..they don't know the
fear we endure once a year
We need their help or else we're through
They don't know the fear we endure once a year
All Halloween, we are afraid

Do they know it's Hallowe'en tonight?
Do they know it's Hallowe'en tonight?
Do they know it's Hallowe'en tonight?
Do they know it's Hallowe'en tonight?

It's October 31st, could it get any worse?
Children on streets, begging for treats
Drowning in a bucket of apples bobbing
Parents are hiding, our babies are sobbing
The undead have returned
They're freaking us out!
Dragging us down, so we shout:

"Help us! Help us! Save our souls!"
We're dying of fear and they don't even know it
They think we've got it all
What we need is a team
To help us forget... forget Halloween

Fools! You think you can stop Halloween
The world can't hear your useless plea
It's too late, our orange and black plague will soon consume them all
Then everyone will understand the true meaning of Halloween
Pure terror!

WE WANT CANDY! WE WANT CANDY! WE WANT CANDY! WE WANT CANDY!

We're all fed up, we've had enough enough enough enough
We're all fed up, we've had enough enough enough enough
Trick! Caramel apples that will make you sick
Treat! And all those sweets will rot your teeth
Ouija board, ouija board... spell this!
We don't want you here no more
The writing's on the tombstone
Beneath the willow tree
No more razorblades in our kid's candy
Dead dogs and broomsticks
Pumpkins in flames
We're ending this night
Ending this shame

Do they know it's Hallowe'en tonight?


Questions:

Once a year ____________

on a pooky night
on a spooky night
on a kooky night

It's Halloween.....and what _________ (2X)

a fright
a fight
a flight

Young boys and ghouls in ghoulish ________

despise
disgust
disguise

They cover their skin, _________

conceal their eyes
congeal their eyes
cover their eyes

A grave mistake to be out when ______ are about

the ghosts
the guests
the ghouls

It's Halloween, our time ________

to be a'bed
to be away
to be afraid

In the rest of the world, they don't ______

obverse
observe
reserve

This bash which has become _____________

our biggest discern
our biggest cistern
our biggest concern

Lativia, Laos, Chad, Peru. We need their help or else ________

we're true
we're through
we're due

They don't know ____ we endure once a year . All Halloween--- we are afraid

the fear
the feel
the fall

CHORUS: Do they know __________ tonight? (five times)

it's Halloween
it's Hallow's Eve
it's Hollow Eve

October 31, could it get __________?

any worst
any worth
any worse

Children on streets, begging _________

for treats
for tricks
for tweets

Drowning in ________ bobbing. Our parents are hiding, our babies are sobbing.

a racket of apples
a bucket of apples
a packet of apples

The undead have returned. They are __________.

freaking us around
freaking us out
freaking us up

____________, so we shout, "Help us! Help us! Save our souls!"

Dragging us out
Dragging us arouind
Dragging us down

We're dying _______, and they don't even know it.

of beer
of cheer
of fear

They think _______ it all

we've thought
we've bought
we've got

What we need is _______ to help us forget, forget Halloween

a team
a dream
a beam

Fools! You think __________ Halloween?

you can shop
you can slop
you can stop

The world can't hear _________

your useless plea
your useless plead
your useless please

It's too late. Our ________plague will soon consume them all

orange and black
red and black
beige and black

Then everyone will understand _______ of Halloween----pure horror!

the true greening
the true meaning
the true screening

WE WANT CANDY! WE WANT CANDY! WE WANT CANDY! WE WANT CANDY!





We're all _____, we've had enough, enough, enough, enough, enough. We're all ______ we've had enough, enough, enough, enough, enough.

fed up
fed at
Fed Ex

Trick! Caramel apples that _________

make you thick
make you tick
make you sick

Treat! All those sweets __________

will rot your teeth
will rot your death
will rot your wreath

Ouji board, ouija board----__________! We don't want you here no more.

spell this
smell this
sell this

The writing's __________ beneath the willow tree

on the tombstone
on the touchstone
on the gravestone

No more __________ in our kids' candy.

razorblades
rollerblades
riser blades

Dead dogs and broomsticks, ________ aflame

pumpkins
dunkins
pampers

We're ending this night, ending ________

this same
this shame
this scene

CHORUS: Do they know it's Halloween?


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Learning English-Lesson Sixty Six - Idioms & Proverbs

Learning English - Ask Misterduncan - 34

Biologists Flock to Panama to a Century-Old Tropical Research Institute

Rendering of the Article

PHRASES FOR RENDERING A NEWSPAPER ARTICLE
· The article I am going to render comes from the Moscow News/ Moscow Times/… issue
· The author(s) of the article is (are) …
· The story / article deals with / is concerned with
o describes / examines / reveals / exposes
o dwells on / explains / addresses / discusses
o presents / covers / outlines / states
o offers / considers / looks into / treats
· The problems addressed in the article are acute / urgent / vital / burning.
· The action takes place in ...
· The story is set in ...
· The scene is laid in …
· As the story unfolds, ...
· The story centres round ...
· ... is the main thread of the story.
· The article deals with the burning problems of life: politics,
economics, education, marriage, and so on.
· The author’s attitude is a broad reflector of the aims, confusions,
concerns, ideas, and attitudes of ...
· The article is marked with pessimism/optimism.
· The author gives an account of...
· The author's attention is focused on ...
· The author remains concentrated on these problems throughout the article.
· The article is/ I find this article interesting / entertaining / exciting
/ gripping / amusing / enjoyable / funny / witty / banal / skillfully
developed / slow-moving / fast-moving/topical/outdated/boring...

Plan for Rendering an Article

1. The title of the article.
2. The author of the article; where and when the article was published.
3. The main idea of the article.
4. The contents of the article. Some facts, names, figures.
5. Your opinion of/on the article.
1.
a) The article is headlined ....
b) The headline of the article I have read is ...
2.
a) The author of the article is ...
b) The article is written by ...
c) It is (was) published in ...
d) it is (was) printed in ...
3.
a) The main idea of the article is ...
b) The article is about ...
c) The article is devoted to ...
d) The article deals with ...
e) The article touches upon ...
f) The purpose of the article is to give the reader some information on ...
g) The aim of the article is to provide the reader with some facts/material/data on ...
4.
a) The author starts by telling (the reader) (about, that ...)
b) The author writes (states, stresses upon, thinks, points out) that ...
c) The article describes ...
d) According to the text ...
e) Further the author reports (says) that ...
f) The article goes on to say that ...
g) In conclusion ...
h) The author comes to the conclusion that ....
5.
a) I find/found the article topical=urgent (interesting, important, dull, of no value, too hard to understand ...) because ....
b) In my opinion the article is worth reading because ....

Being ill

Months of the Year

Misterduncan's Message - October 1st 2011

TOTALLY TRUE FACTS ABOUT ALCOHOL

TOTALLY TRUE FACTS ABOUT TOBACCO

Learning English-Lesson Sixty Five - The Peak District

Man's Best Friend

 A cup of coffee in the morning, and I get the paper,
I read the headlines and decide that I am bored,
I check my email, and I decide to answer later,
Another cup of coffee, and I drag myself to work.

CHORUS: My life is grounded in a firm routine of coffee, sleep and work,
I am not boring,
I just stick to what I know.

I'm sitting there at work, and I realized I forgot to wake up,
I can't be productive when I'm dreaming about a sheep,
I go upstairs and get myself another cup of coffee,
I get downstairs and then I spill it on the floor.

CHORUS: My life is grounded in a firm routine of coffee, sleep and work
I am not boring
I just stick to what I know

Rock-a-bye baby on the tree top
Lunch hour's over
I can't stay up
I got to drink coffee
That's a mistake
I best switch to decaf or I'll stay awake

CHORUS: My life is grounded in a firm routine of coffee, sleep and work
I am not boring I just stick to what I know

I am not boring I just stick to what I know
I am not boring I just stick to what I know
 I just stick to what I know.

Questions:A cup of coffee in the morning, and I _____ the paper.

am getting
get
got

I ____ the headlines and decide that I am bored.

am checking
check
checked

I ____ my email, and I decide to answer later.

am checking
check
checked

Another cup of coffee, and I __________ to work.

drug myself
drag myself
dreg myself

CHORUS: My life is grounded in a firm routine of coffee, sleep and work. I am not boring I just ____ to what I know.

stuck
stack
stick

I'm sitting there at work and I _____ I forgot to wake up.

realize
analyze
paralyze

I can't be productive when ____________ about a sheep.

I'm drumming
I'm dreaming
I'm dripping

I go upstairs and _________ another cup of coffee.

I'm getting myself
I get myself
I get myself

I get downstairs and then I _____ it on the floor.

spell
spill
spilt

CHORUS: My life is grounded in a firm routine of coffee, sleep and work. I am not boring, I just stick to what I know.


Rock-a-bye baby on the tree top. Lunch hour is over, I can't stay up. I gotta drink coffee, That's a mistake. I best switch to decaf or I'll stay awake.


CHORUS: My life is grounded in a firm routine of coffee, sleep and work. I am not boring I just stick to what I know.

I am not boring I just stick to what I know. I am not boring I just stick to what I know. I stick to what I know.

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My Life in Three Stories by Steve Jobs

Transcript:

 
'You've got to find what you love,' Jobs says

This is a prepared text of the Commencement address delivered by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, on June 12, 2005.

I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big deal. Just three stories.

The first story is about connecting the dots.

I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?

It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: "We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?" They said: "Of course." My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.

And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents' savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn't see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.

It wasn't all romantic. I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Let me give you one example:

Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn't have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating.

None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, it's likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.

Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.

My second story is about love and loss.

I was lucky — I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees. We had just released our finest creation — the Macintosh — a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.

I really didn't know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down - that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me — I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.

I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.

During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I returned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.

I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.

My third story is about death.

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn't even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.

I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I'm fine now.

This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope it's the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960's, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.

Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

Thank you all very much.

Notes:

 
This speech was a part of the 2005 Stanford University commencement where Steve Jobs, former CEO of Apple Inc, was granted an honorary doctorate degree from the university. Like Bill Gates, Jobs was a college dropout when took the less travelled path to become one of the greatest inventors of our time.

'Stay hungry, stay foolish.' Ask your classmate what Steve Jobs meant when he advised this to the graduating class of Stanford University. 

Questions:

Today I want to tell you three stories from my life; that's it, _________. Just three stories.

no big reel
no big steal
no big deal

The first story is about __________.

connecting the spots
connecting the dots
connecting the lots

It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young _______, and she decided to put me up for adoption.

wedded graduate student
unwed graduate student
widowed graduate student

So my parents, who were on the waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking, "We've got _____________ . Do you want him?" They said, "Of course."

a unexpected baby boy
the unexpected baby boy
an unexpected baby boy

My second story is about __________

love and life
love and lost
love and loss

We worked hard and in ten years Apple had grown from just the two of us ______into a 2-billion-dollar company and over 4000 employees.

in a parade
in a garage
in a mirage

We had just released ___________ the Macintosh a year earlier.

our finest creation
our finest creditation
our finest cremation

I just turned 30, and then I __________.

got tired
got wired
got fired

I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was _________ that could have happened to me.

the worst thing
the best thing
the least thing

The heaviness of being successful was replaced with the lightness of being _________ again less sure about everything.

a beginner
a beginning
a begin

I fell in love with ______ who would become my wife.

an amusing woman
an amassing woman
an amazing woman

In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, and I returned to Apple and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple's current ______________.,

resonance
renaissance
resemblance

And Laurene and I have _______ together

a wonderful familiarity
a wonderful family
a wonderful facility

I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that ___________. You've got to find what you love and that is as true for your work as for your lovers.

I loathed what I did
I left what I did
I loved what I did

My third story is about _______.

teeth
death
dead

Because almost everything, all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure, these things _________ in the face of death leaving only what is truly important.

just fall away
just fall off
just fall over

Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know of avoid the trap of thinking __________.

you have something to eat
you have something to win
you have something to lose

You are already naked....there is no reason __________

not to swallow your pride
not to wallow in sorrow
not to follow your heart

Death is very likely the single __________ --it's life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new.

best invalidation of life
best invention of life
best investment of life

Believing that the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence ___________ even when it leads you off the well-worn path.

to follow your heart
to make a new start
to climb the chart

Your time is limited, so don't waste it _____________

living your own life
living your father's life
living someone else's life

Most important, have the courage to follow your heart and ________. They somehow truly know what you truly want to become.

intuition
intelligence
interrogation

Stay _________.

angry
hungry
greedy

Stay _______

churlish
foolish
boorish

And I've always wished that for myself, and now in anew, _______________.

I wish it for you.
I wish you have it too.
I wish that for you. 

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Successful coffee maker

Notes:

to attract - to arouse or compel the interest, admiration, or attention of

a customer - one that buys goods or services

a founder - one who establishes something or formulates the basis for something

background - a person's experience, training, and education

obsessed with - consumed, driven about belief, desire

to take the plunge – to make an important decision after some hesitation

sufficiently - being as much as is needed

burned out - worn out or exhausted, especially as a result of long-term stress

ignorant - lacking education or knowledge

bliss - extreme happiness; ecstasy

a priority – the state of being first in time, place and importance

a coffee bean - the seed of the coffee plant

to roast – to cook by exposing directly to heat

to waste – to spoil

alternate - serving or used in place of another; substitute

to ride a wave – to have a run of good luck

frugal – not wasteful or lavish

a batch roaster - apparatus that roasts a given quantity (a batch) of coffee at a time

a roastery - a business or enterprise where green coffee beans are roasted

to keep up - persevere, carry on, prolong

at a decent hour – not too late

Transcript:

Coffee Maker Focuses on Freshness to Attract Customers

My name is James Freeman. I’m the owner and founder of BlueBottleCoffee company.
I have no background in coffee or business.
I was super obsessed with coffee when I was a clarinet player and I just took the plunge. I was sufficiently burned out and ignorant, I think, in order to not realize I didn’t have enough money or enough experience not to do it. So, ignorance is bliss sometimes.
We place a huge priority on freshness. We like to get our coffee beans out the door into our customer’s hands within 48 hours of roasting, so customers know that everything they’re getting is really at its peak.
It requires a lot of careful managers, ordering carefully, but we found we hardly waste any coffee at all.
I feel like I was living in an alternate universe during the recession.
And every time I would look at our shops, they were busier and busier, we were selling more and more coffee.
I feel very lucky. I feel like it’s been this great wave that we’ve been riding.
All I knew financially was my home checking account.
I didn’t spend money I didn’t have. I started super cheap, I was really frugal through the whole process.
When I started, I was in a 186 square feet, roasting coffee on a seven-pound batch roaster.
And now we’ve got six cafes on two coasts, two roasteries, over a hundreds wholesale accounts.
Our biggest challenge is definitely keeping up. Now we’re here in this beautiful building in Oakland, it’s really been helpful.
We have two vintage roasters, and finally we can go home at a decent hour.
You can’t run a company of a hundred employees the same way you ran it with twenty employees, so you have to build in a lot more mechanisms for communication.
So like a long-distance romance, you have to work a lot harder. You have to call up, ‘Hey, honey, how’s it going?’
I don’t think it pays to think about competition too much.
If you think about what your goals are, in terms of your product and the success of your product, people will find you, I really believe.

Questions:

James Freeman is

the owner of Blue Bottle Coffee company
the founder of Blue Bottle Coffee company
both, the owner and founder of Blue Bottle Coffee company

John Freeman was very interested in coffee, and just took the plunge, which means he:

made an important decision
borrowed the money for his company
won a lottery

What is Freeman's primary focus in the coffee business?

low prices
freshness of coffee
advertising

How long is it before the coffee beans reach customers?

within 88 hours
within 28 hours
within 48 hours

Does the wave Freeman feels the company has been riding mean:

a run of good luck
buying coffee beans in bulk
selling Blue Bottle Coffee right on the beach

When James Freeman started his company, he:

spend money lavishly
borrowed heavily
spend money thriftily

How many cafes on two coasts does Blue Bottle Coffee company have?

sixteen
six
sixty

The biggest problem for the company is:

high staff turnover
high taxes
maintaining the current level

Now that the company has grown, what is needed to keep up?

more managers
more tools to network within the company
more delivery trucks

See how you did.

 http://www.eslvideo.com

Golden Retriever (quiz)

Questions:


Could this be the .............. family pet?

best
perfect
coolest

They don't have bad .................

temper
condition
breath

The Golden Retriever is .......... of the most beloved dogs.

second
one
first

They are one of the ........ pets.

best
top
least

Golden Retrievers are very ................ to work for people.

willing
happy
angry

These dogs are afraid of water.

yes
no
don't say

Goldens are ......... dogs.

small
medium
big

They weight about ........... pounds.

55
65
45

Every golden has its own ...............  .

doghouse
opinion
personality

Goldens are born to ............  .

bark
run
sleep

They're just ..................... dogs.

crazy
amazing
boring

Check your answers here. 

WHAT DO YOU SAY? TALKING ABOUT PROTECTION

ALCOHOL, TOBACCO, MARIJUANA

WHAT'S RESPECT? WE'RE ALL DIFFERENT

EVERYBODY'S DIFFERENT: WE LIKE DIFFERENT THINGS

INTERNET BULLIES: WHAT IS IT?

Learning English - Ask Misterduncan-33

Work Style (English for professionals)

Learning English - Lesson Sixty Three - ( Ironbridge )

Learning English - Lesson Fifty Eight (Going On Holiday)

TEAMWORK AND TEAM PLAY: HOW TO BE A GOOD SPORT

PLANTING THE SEEDS OF PEACE: EXPLORING AND CELEBRATING OUR DIFFERENCES

THE EMOTION COMMOTION: STRESS MESS

Learning English - Lesson Sixty Four - (Prepositions)

CLOCKWISE, COUNTERCLOCKWISE

BAD FRIENDSHIPS: DOING MORE HARM THAN GOOD

10 REASONS TO GET IN SHAPE

THE MYSTERY OF SLEEP

Learning English - Ask Misterduncan-32

English for Hotel and Tourism: "Checking into a hotel"

Ordering in the USA - rules and talks in restaurants

Learning English - Lesson Sixty Two ( Lake Vyrnwy)

Gossip

The Heart of a Teacher

Are People Who Speak More Than One Language Smarter?

Learning English - Lesson Sixty One ( 'FOREIGN-GLISH')

Learning English - Ask Misterduncan - 31

Like & Dislike

Learning English-Ask Misterduncan-30

Misterduncan's Frosty Day

So Very Much

Come or Go

New Year Resolutions

Floors of a House

There are some important differences between British English (BrE) and American English (AmE) in talking about the floors in a house.

In BrE the floor at the level of the surrounding land or ground is called the ground floor (this is the floor where you usually enter a house). In AmE the same floor is called the first floor. The floors above are numbered starting from the ground or first floor, so there is usually a difference of one level in BrE and AmE usage, as follows:
BrE: ground floor, 1st floor, 2nd floor, 3rd floor etc
AmE: 1st floor, 2nd floor, 3rd floor, 4th floor etc

This diagram shows a two-storey house that also has a basement level underneath.

A floor is the same as a storey: all the rooms that are at the same level

http://www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/buildings-house.htm