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Halloween Quiz
Nov 1, 2009 Sin categoría Leave a comment
Choose a), b), c) or d) and click “read more” to check your answers.
1. In which European country is Frankenstein set?
a) Ireland
b) Germany
c) Romania
d) Switzerland
2. How do you kill a werewolf?
a) with a cross through the heart
b) with a silver bullet
c) with a baseball bat
d) with garlic
3. Who was Dracula in Francis Ford Coppola’s 1993 film?
a) Tom Cruise
b) Gary Oldman
c) Robert De Nero
d) Johnny Depp
4. Which vegetable is used as part of Halloween celebrations in the U.S. to make the ‘Jack O’ Lantern’?
a) Watermelon
b) eggplant
c) coconut
d) pumpkin
5. The mask in the film “Scream”, which became a popular costume for dressing up in at Halloween, was based on a painting by which artist?
a) Edvard Munch
b) Salvador Dali
c) Pablo Picasso
d) Vincent Van Gogh
6. Frederico Fellini died on Halloween in 1993. What’s the name of his famous 1954 film which won an Oscar for best foreign film?
a) 8 1/2
b) La Dolce Vita
c) La Strada
d) Roma
7. Which Prime Minister was assassinated by their own bodyguards on Halloween in 1984?
a) Indira Gandhi
b) Anwar Sadat
c) Yitzhak Rabin
d) Olof Palme
8. Which rap singer appeared in the 1998 movie Halloween H2O with Jamie Lee Curtis?
a) Eminem
b) 50 Cents
c) LL Cool J
d) Snoop Dogg
9. Which actor has played the part of Dracula most times?
a) Bela Lugosi
b) Christopher Lee
c) Gary Oldman
d) Paul Naschy
10 In Harry Potter, Which London station does the Hogwarts express leave from?
a) King’s Cross
b) Victoria
c) Paddington
d) Oxford Circus
11. Which famous horror movie actor can be heard on Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”?
a) George Clooney
b) Anthony Hopkins
c) David Carradine
d) Vincent Price
12. On which night of the week do witches traditionally hold their meetings?
a) Thursday
b) Saturday
c) Friday
d) Monday
Recent Entries
November Podcast – Woodstock 40th Anniversary
Oct 28, 2009 Listening Leave a comment
This month’s Mansión Inglés podcast is about the 40th anniversary of the famous Woodstock music festival.
Watch this YouTube video from The Documentary Channel, and subscribe to the Mansión Inglés monthly newsletter (cuaderno mensual) to get the podcast:
Read the questions:
1. How many days did the woodstock concert last?
2. The concert took place in
a) New Mexico
b) New York State
c) Vietnam
3. The film of the concert is special because
a) it’s very hi-tech and sophisticated
b) it realistically shows the mood and the atmosphere of the time.
c) there are lots of drugs and nudity
Watch the documentary and answer the questions.
Check your answers by clicking on ‘Read more’
Leo DiCaprio on Diet for New Film Inception
Oct 21, 2009 Listening Leave a comment
Watch the video and answer the questions. Check your answers in “read more” AFTER you watch:
1. How much weight does he have to lose?
2. When does he have to film the action scenes?
3. When will you be able to see the film at the cinema?
Doubling Consonants
Oct 15, 2009 Sin categoría Leave a comment
Today I received a question from Manela:
“Tenía una duda de gramática.¿Existe alguna regla gramatical en inglés para la duplicación de consonantes?. Me explico con un ejemplo:”
rain It’s raiNing
sun It’s suNNy
My answer:
usually, if the word ends in consonant – vowel – consonant, you double the final consonant.
Ejemplo: run – running (R=consonante, U=vocal, R= consonante – se pone dos Rs – RUNNING) Pero RAIN (A=vocal, I=vocal, N=consonante – no se doble)
Normalmente esta regla funciona, pero no siempre!
Aliens visit Moscow?
Oct 14, 2009 Sin categoría 1 Comment
It looked like a scene from the film Independence Day when a ring-shaped luminous cloud was seen above Moscow last week.
The strange halo has social networkers speculating that it could be either a UFO or a sign from God. But experts say it is simply a natural phenomenon. At least, that’s what the media is telling us!
A spokesman from Moscow’s weather forecasting service said: “Several fronts have been passing through Moscow recently, there was an intrusion of the Arctic air too, the sun was shining from the west – this is how the effect was produced.
“This is purely an optical effect, although it does look impressive,” he added. “If you look closer, you can see sun rays coming through that cloud.
Most likely, the sun was setting when the video was being made.”
I’d like to think it’s a UFO (Unidentified Flying Object), but that’s the romantic in me!
Vocabulary
ring – anillo
weather forecast – prognóstico del tiempo
ray of sunshine – rayo de luz
cloud – nube
sunset – puesto del sol
Diferencia entre ‘as’ y ‘like’
Oct 12, 2009 Grammar Leave a comment
As significa “como, en calidad de”:
She’s excellent as a wife – como esposa, es excelente
He’s not very good as an actor – No es muy bueno como actor
Like significa “como, semejante a”:
Something like that – algo asi/como eso
To sleep like a dog – dormir como un tronco
To eat like a horse – comer como una lima
Nota la diferencia entre as y like en:
a) Joseph’s ancestros worked as slaves on a cotton plantation – Los antepasados de Joseph trabajaban como esclavos en una plantación de algodón.
b) Michael Works like a slave to support his family – Michael trabaja como un esclavo para mantener a su famillia.
En a) los antepasados de Joseph eran en realidad esclavos; en b) Michael no es un esclavo, pero trabaja tan duro como un esclavo.
To say things are similar, we normally use like. But before subject + verb, we prefer as in a formal style.
Your sister looks like you. (Your sister looks similar to you)
Say it like I do (informal) Say it as I do (formal)
Recommended Web Sites
Oct 8, 2009 Sin categoría 2 Comments
I like to give my students a list of web sites they can use to improve their English at home. Here are some of my favourites:
La Mansión del Inglés: www.mansioningles.com
VOA (Voice of America): http://www.voanews.com/english/portal.cfm
BBC : http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/
Dictionary online: http://www.wordreference.com/
BBC – Learning English: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/
BBC Video Nation: http://www.bbc.co.uk/videonation/archive/index.shtml
IMDB (Internet Movie Data Base): http://www.imdb.com/
The Daily English Show: http://www.thedailyenglishshow.com/
La Mansión del Inglés YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/LaMansionDelIngles
Yappr – songs with subtitles: http://en.yappr.com
ESL Viseo – video with questions: http://www.eslvideo.com/
Vaughan Systems: http://www.vausys.com/
Los Phrasal Verbs
Oct 4, 2009 Vocabulary 1 Comment
I recently published a video on YouTube about phrasal verbs.
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I thought I" />#8217;d post some more information.
To look after is a phrasal verb. It means cuidarse ó cuidar a alguien.
Los phrasal verbs, o multi-word verbs (verbos de dos o más palabras) están formados por un verbo y pequeñas palabras (preposiciónes o partículas adverbiales). A veces el significado del verbo cambia a un significado completamente diferente como en el siguiente ejemplo:
Look(mirar) + after(después) = cuidarse
Los phrasal verbs se usan mucho, especialmente en el inglés informal.
Algunos phrasal verbs tienen más de un significado.
Ej. “Take off”
1. The plane took off at 9 o’clock. / El avión despegó a las nueve.
2. I took off my clothes and went swimming. / Me quité la ropa y fui a nadar
En algunos phrasal verbs podemos insertar el objeto o complemento entre el verbo y la partícula, o ponerlo después. Pero cuando el objeto es un pronombre, el objeto va entre el verbo y la partícula.
Ej. I took my clothes off. (I took them off) X I took off them X
… o bien
I took off my clothes.
El uso de los phrasal verbs es más frecuente en el lenguaje común. En el lenguaje escrito, suelen emplearse verbos equivalentes cuando es posible.
Normalmente un phrasal verb se corresponde a un solo verbo en español.
A veces se puede separar un phrasal verb y poner el objeto (un nombre o un pronombre) en medio, entre el verbo y la partícula.
I took off my jacket
I took my jacket off
Pero si el objeto es un pronombre (it, them, me, you, him, her, us), siempre va entre el verbo y la partícula.
I took it off NOT X I took off it X
Here are some more examples;
1. Could you turn on the TV? / Could you turn the TV on? / Could you turn it on?
(turn on = encender)
2. Please throw away the food. / Please throw the food away. / Please throw it away.
(throw away = tirar a la basura)
3. We have to fill in these forms. We have to fill these forms in. We have to fill them in.
(fill in = rellenar)
El objeto tambien puedo ser un pronombre:
I threw it away. (’it’ = the chicken)
Existen phrasal verbs en los que no se puede insertar el objeto entre el verbo y su partícula.
I’m looking for a flat. Not X I’m looking a flat for.X
Here are some more phrasal verbs:
1. hold on – esperar
2. carry on – continuar, aguantar
3. grow up – crecer
4. wash up – fregar
5. hurry up – darse prisa
6. give up – dejar
7. break down – estropearse
8. look for – buscar
9. talk about – hablar
10. turn on/off, switch on/off – encender/apagar
11. throw away – tirar algo a la basura
12. look forward to – tener ganas de algo/de hacer algo
New Video On Phrasal Verbs
Oct 1, 2009 Vocabulary Leave a comment
I just published a new video on YouTube about phrasal verbs.
The video is based on an interview I did with Mike Hardinge. Mike is a good friend and colleague of mine at the British Council here in Valencia, Spain. He has recently made a wonderful CD called ‘Get Ahead With Phrasal Verbs’.
In the video he talks about problems students have with phrasal verbs and he gives some advice on how to study them.
I hope to publish some information and exercises on phrasal verbs on this blog very soon.
Spain Are European Champions
Sep 22, 2009 Uncategorized Leave a comment
Congratulations Spain on beating Serbia 85-63 in the final to win the European basketball championship last Sunday.
The victory gives Spain its first ever European title after six runner-up finishes.
Spain dominated from start to finish on both ends of the court, taking a 15-point lead in the first quarter with a wonderful defensive performance.
The Spaniards continued to put pressure on a young Serbia team, and pushed the tempo on the break to extend their lead to 23 points by halftime. Serbia would never recover.
Pau Gasol, Los Angeles Lakers center scored 18 points and guard Rudy Fernandez 13 points.
Youtube Channel
English Podcast Channel
Twitter- mansiontwit: @tdes great to hear you're back on track, Sarah.
- mansiontwit: NO SWEAT (easily) - Are you sure you can do it? - no sweat! - ¿Estas seguro de que puedes hacerlo? - ¡Descarado!
- mansiontwit: Today I finally stopped pulling out grey hairs from my chest. The browns have been overrun. It's all downhill from now on.
- mansiontwit: DOSSER (a lazy person) "He's a dosser" - es un vago de narices
- mansiontwit: @alandavies1 Haven't thought of myself as an Essex boy for years. Thanks for the twinge of nostalgia and, dare I say it, pride in my roots
- mansiontwit: AIRHEAD=cabeza de chorlito Victoria Beckham is such an airhead!
- mansiontwit: Halloween Quiz: http://blog.mansioningles.net/
- mansiontwit: Don't forget to sign up for the Mansión Inglés newsletter (cuaderno) It's free every month. November arrives soon http://tinyurl.com/6k6jqd
- mansiontwit: Spent the whole day studying Adobe Premiere CS4 - back to school!
- mansiontwit: New video on YouTube about Benalmádena, Spain. Tourism vocabulary: http://tinyurl.com/yk5bm9x
