Easter Holidays!

CHOCOLATE, EGGS, EASTER AND…MORE CHOCOLATE: EASTER IN THE UK

For a lot of people in the UK the Christian festival of Easter means the opportunity to eat chocolate eggs.
As soon as 2 January arrives, shops remove the Christmas product lines from their shelves and the Christmas decorations from their windows. What fills the empty spaces? Chocolate Easter eggs, Easter bunnies and Easter chicks, despite the fact that Easter itself doesn’t come along until a few months later. Easter also means we have public holidays, Good Friday and Easter Monday, it’s the longest public holiday after Christmas and people sometimes take the opportunity to take a short break away from work by extending their leave. Cheryl from Liverpool said, ‘I use the Easter break to visit relatives and socialise with friends, the chocolate giving and receiving is a good bonus!’

Easter is a spring festival. In the Christian festival, it celebrates the resurrection of Christ. In the European pre-Christian tradition, it celebrates the return of nature and greenery after the cold, snowy winter. Both the Christian and pagan versions of Easter celebrate life and rebirth. The Easter chick symbolises new life, the rabbit represents fertility and the egg symbolises both. That is why painted eggs or chocolate eggs are given as gifts at Easter.

Chocolate Easter eggs are sold in larger numbers every year in the UK. Confectionery companies make chocolate eggs for every type of chocolate bar available throughout the rest of the year. The British people consume more confectionary than any other country in the world! That's not even per head; that's per country! Of course, it depends on the amount of givers, but the average child in the UK receives 6 – 10 large chocolate eggs and that’s not including the small ones.

Not only are the British eating more and more chocolate, but they are also demanding chocolate of better quality. European Union law means that British chocolate-making companies have to put more cocoa solids in their 'chocolate' than they used to. British companies that fail to do so are not allowed to say they make 'real' chocolate! New chocolate has come onto the market that is slowly educating the British pallet and changing consumer patterns.

Source: http://www.britishcouncil.org/japan-trenduk-easter.htm

Check your progress 3. (Key p/53)

GRAMMAR.

Exercise 1:
1.realized,had been stolen
2.was listening, was talking
3.hadn't heard
4.arrived, had been waiting

Exercise 2:
1.had known, would have phoned
2.wouldn't have married him, had realized
3.hadn't seemed, wouldn't have trusted
4.had invited, would you have gone

Exercise 3:
1.shouldn't have broken
2.should have put on
3.should have bought
4.shouldn't have missed
5.shouldn't have eaten

Exercise 4:
1.I must have left my jacket at the restaurant.
2.They might have got lost.
3.You can't have forgotten it's our anniversary.
4.You can't have seen Simon.
5.She might not have seen you if she didn't have her glasses on.


VOCABULARY

Exercise 5:
1.notice
2.avoid
3.mind
4.reminds
5.arguing
6.expect

Exercise 6:
1.delighted
2.furious
3.terrified
4.freezing
5.brilliant
6.filthy

Exercise 7:
1.civil war
2.defeat
3.reign
4.surrender
5.general election
6.policy
7.Prime Minister

Exercise 8:
1.dictatorship
2.marriage
3.politicians
4.historical
5.accidentally
6.amazing

I hope you got most of them right. In any case, if you have any doubts or questions you know where to find me, don't you? I'm sure you do!

Take care!

Ana Martínez. (As usual)

Oscar Wilde.

This is the key to the exercise in your "Writing Bank" (Textbook p/143):

1.in
2.on
3.when
4.later
5.when/while
6.after
7.for
8.in
9.During
10.after/when
11.on

I wish I had met him! Interesting person indeed! Don't you think so?

Ana Martínez.

Are you a fashion victim?

Dear beloved students,
here you will find plenty of exciting exercises about clothes and fashion. Once you finish them, you will be prepared not only to pass an English exam, but also to have a discussion with Galliano, a nice chat with Giselle Bundchen or design your own Chanel handbags!
Click here: FASHION!

I do hope you enjoy it!

Ana Martínez.

Which wife do you prefer?

This version is more fun than the one in your book!!! It's worth having a look. I hope you like it better!

SURVIVAL SKILLS. (UNIT THREE)

Survival skills are skills that may help everyone to survive dangerous situations (such as storms or earthquakes), in dangerous places (such as the desert, the mountains and the jungle). Useful skills include lighting a fire, finding shelter, making water safe to drink, finding and identifying food, treating injuries, climbing, swimming and using specific or makeshift tools.

Each type of wilderness challenges a person with a different range of dangers (see hazards of outdoor activities). An environment may be dry, wet, hot, cold, high altitude, low altitude, desert, rural, urban, wilderness, subterranean, or an island. There are four basic necessities of life which apply in all of these cases: shelter, water, fire, and food. A fifth one is oxygen for high altitudes and subterranean environments and also specific survival situations, such as drowning and landslide/avalanche.

Survival skills used on a more permanent basis, or as a component of daily life are referred to as bushcraft.

Developments in outdoor equipment and survival techniques may be very useful and absolutely necessary, but there is nothing to replace experience in a survival situation. Those who are most prepared, physically and mentally, stand the greatest chance of survival.

Mental Preparedness

It should not be overlooked what the will to live means in a life and death situation. All the training and tools in the world will prove of little or no use without the desire to live. Stories of heroic feats of survival by regular people with little or no training are not uncommon. Even with a strong understanding of the way we may be mentally affected, even a trained survival expert may feel the crushing effects of psychological strain during duress. In order to overcome these effects, it is important to study stress and how it may affect us.

Studying stress will reveal that stress can have a good and a bad side. It presents a real challenge, and it is a good way to show us how far we can "bend without breaking". Stress sometimes has a nice way of pointing out that things could get much worse. On the other hand, too much stress can be an awful thing. Too much stress can lead to lack of memory, increase mistakes,decrease energy, provoke rage, and carelessness. Survival situations raise strong emotional reactions. There are a few emotions that often accompany this situation.

There are 6 emotions that must be overcome to have the chance to survive:

1. Fear - Once you are in a survival situation, the initial reaction is fear. Although it is a common normal reaction, it should be kept under control. It drastically lessens our ability to make clear decisions.
2. Anxiety – Typically anxiety and fear go hand in hand. It can be easily out of control and it is very difficult to take decisions when experiencing it.
3. Anger – It is inevitable that in a survival situation we will have to face problems. With the endless possibilities of things that can go wrong and probably will anger will only make it worse. So, we should try to relax and think clearly about what to do next, instead of having a fit. Finding other ways to overcome the situation will prove more useful than losing one's temper.
4. Depression – This is a not uncommon feeling. Being alone in the wilderness trying to survive is almost certainly bound to arise depressed mood. Overwhelming depression can lead to shutting down ot the body and you may give up hope. Being positive is one of the best "weapons" you can use to survive.
5. Guilt – This is another feeling that people may experience, especially if they didn't plan the trip properly or if they made some mistake. Even if you feel responsible for it, there's no point in torturing yourself about it. You better think of what you can do right now!
6. Loneliness – This is another "side affect", if you are alone you may feel really sad. You should keep yourself as busy as possible, so that you can think clearly about you next step.

Source: Wikipedia. If you are interested in reading more about survival or want to feel ready for anything...have a look at Wikipedia! you only have to type "Survival skills" and you will be able to survive in the Amazon forest, the Sahara desert or the Himalayas mountains! But yopu have to be very careful with tha language, this encyclopaedia is made by ordinary people and it may contain English mistakes or unreal information. I have just corrected the one above!