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Smile - its newsletter time! 177
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John Finley
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Nov 16, 2008 13:41 PST
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John Finley's Learn English newsletter
Monday 17 November 2008 © 2008 Issue No. 177
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Contents:
1. Welcome
2. Test
3. Idiom
4. Useful Link
5. Jokes
6. Test Answers
7. Subscribe/Unsubscribe information
8. That's all folks
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1. Welcome
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Hi
Ben's birthday party went well last week and now
he's already looking forward to Christmas - as we
live in Vienna he'll get presents from both Christkind
and from Father Christmas.
More on that in a future issue!
Now on with the show.
;-)
john
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2. Test
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Each of the five sentences below contain one
mistake. Try to find the mistake and then correct
the sentence. Check your answers at the end of
the newsletter. Good luck!
1. We went to the cinema yesterday and did see a film.
2. I'm very interested with politics.
3. I'm not very good in English.
4. Had you a nice evening yesterday?
5. On Saturday I was shopping.
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3. Idiom
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#-# as...as...#-#
There are many idioms in English where we
liken a person to an animal or an object. Many
of them follow the structure "as...as...".
Here are a few of them.
as stubborn as a mule
(Mr Smith is as stubborn as a mule. He refuses
to do things even when he knows he should
do them.) A mule is an animal which has an ass
and a horse as its parents. There was a famous
film with Clint Eastwood called 'Two Mules for
Sister Sarah'.
as blind as a bat
(Without my glasses I'm as blind as a bat.
I can't see anything.) A bat is a creature
which sleeps by day - but not your boss,
lives in caves, and flies around at night
looking for food. It cannot see - it is blind.
Batman was bitten by a bat - which is why
he is called Batman!
as deaf as a post
(Mrs Thomson is as deaf as a post. You
really have to shout when you talk to her.)
A post is a piece of wood - or metal - that
supports´/holds up up a fence in a garden.
In football there are goalposts. If you talk to
a post you wan't get an answer. So, because
Mrs Thomson cannot hear very well we say
she is as deaf as a post.
as old as the hills
(My neighbour is as old as the hills. She's
really old!) Nobody know how old the hills are.
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4. Useful Link
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The BBC Learning English website has many useful sections.
Links to two of them are below.
News English
<A HREF="<http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/news/>">
<http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/news/>
</A>
Business English
<A HREF="<http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/work/>">
<http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/work/>
</A>
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5. Jokes
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A woman is walking along a beach when she finds
an old oil lamp. She picks it up and rubs it, and out
comes a genie.
The genie says to the woman, "Thank you for freeing
me from the oil lamp. I will grant you three wishes,
but whatever you wish for, your horrible ex-husband
will get twice as much. What is your first wish?"
The woman says, "I'd like a million dollars in my bank
account, please!"
The genie says, "You now have a million dollars in
your bank account, and your ex-husband now has
two million dollars. What is your second wish?"
The woman says, "I've always wanted a nice car.
I'd like a new Rolls-Royce, please!"
The genie says, "You now have a new Rolls-Royce
in your garage at home, and your ex-husband now
has two new Rolls-Royces. What is your third wish?"
The woman thought for a while and then said, "I'd
like you to remove one of my kidneys, please!
#-#-# <http://www.angelfire.com/on/topfen> #-#-#
A little boy returned home from school and told his
father that he had failed the maths test.
His father asked him, "Why did you fail?"
The boy replied, "The teacher asked me 'How much
is 3 x 2?' and I said it was 6."
"Well, that's right" said his father.
The little boy continued, "Then she asked me 'How
much is 2 x 3?"
"What the hell is the difference?" asked the father.
The son replied, "That's exactly what I said to my
teacher and that's why I failed the maths test."
#-#-# <http://www.angelfire.com/on/topfen> #-#-#
Why is two times ten the same as two times eleven?
Because two times ten is twenty, and two times eleven
is twenty, too!
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6. Test answers
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Here are the corrected sentences.
1. We went to the cinema yesterday and saw a film.
(Yesterday is finished time, so we must use the past
tense of the verb: we 'went' to the cinema and 'saw' a film.)
2. I'm very interested in politics.
(to be interested 'in' something)
3. I'm not very good at English.
(to be good 'at' something)
4. Did you have a nice evening yesterday?
(Past simple questions use the structure:
did + subject + infinitive)
5. On Saturday I went shopping.
(For one finished action in the past we use the
past simple.)
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7. Subscribe/Unsubscribe details
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To subscribe (for example, if a friend wants to get
the newsletter, or if you would like to get it from
a different email address), send a blank email to:
<a href ="mailto: learnenglis-@topica.com">
learnenglis-@topica.com
</a>
To unsubscribe, send a blank email to:
<a href ="mailto: learnenglish-@topica.com">
learnenglish-@topica.com
</a>
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8. That's all folks!
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That's all for a couple of weeks.
Don't forget, if you enjoy reading the newsletter
and find it useful, please tell others about it.
;-)
john
<a href="mailto:topfe-@yahoo.com">
topfe-@yahoo.com
</a>
You can read all previous issues of the newsletter at:
<A HREF="http://www.topica.com/lists/learnenglish/read">
http://www.topica.com/lists/learnenglish/read
</A>
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