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Smile - its newsletter time! 178
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John Finley
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Dec 08, 2008 11:13 PST
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John Finley's Learn English newsletter
Monday 8 December 2008 © 2008 Issue No. 178
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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
It's now December and so it's time to start thinking
about Christmas and Christmas trees.
However, there's a small problem.
In Austria it's traditional to put the tree up on
Christmas Eve whereas in England the tree is normally
put up two weeks before Christmas.
We haven't decided which tradition to follow (last year
we had a compromise and put the tree up around the 20th)
but, whatever we decide, hopefully the children don't
destroy the decorations on it.
Daniel & Jakob enjoyed pulling off and smashing all the
baubles last year (they're the decorated glass balls that
are commonly put on Christmas trees) and by Christmas Day
the lower half of the tree was totally bare while the upper
half was beautifully decorated.
If they do it again this year, maybe Father Christmas will
forget to come!
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. If I buy you a drink would you wash my car?.
2. I'm going to holiday on Saturday.
3. I hope England don't loose their next match.
4. Mary has rode a camel twice.
5. Do you have seen the news today?
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3. Idiom
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#-# to be going for a song #-#
If you say that a product is going for a song then
the price is very, very low. It is very cheap.
For example, if the normal price for a product is
$99 and a shop is selling it for $30 then you could say
that it is going for a song.
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4. Useful Link
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The BBC website is, in my humble opinion, the best
news site on the internet. I visit it every day - and I
strongly recommend it to English learners.
Simply read a story that interests you (print it out for
later reference) and improve your English that way.
See what you think at:
<A HREF="<http://news.bbc.co.uk/>">
http://news.bbc.co.uk/
</A>
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5. Jokes
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A man is in jail for robbing 27 banks. One day
he receives a letter from his wife. It says...
Dear Peter
As you are in jail I will have to plant the
potatoes in the garden myself.
When is the best time to plant them?
Love
Susan
He sends her the following reply...
Dear Susan
Do not plant the potatoes in the garden as
that is where I have hidden all the money
from the bank robberies.
Love
Peter
A few days later he receives another letter...
Dear Peter
It's terrible. Yesterday twenty policemen
came to the house and dug up the whole
garden, but they didn't find anything.
Love
Susan
He sends her the following reply...
Dear Susan
Now is the best time to plant the potatoes!
Love
Peter
#-#-# <http://www.angelfire.com/on/topfen> #-#-#
It was the first day of Biology for a group of
teenagers. The professor had arranged a short
demonstration for the class.
He took a worm and dropped it into a glass of
water. The worm wriggled about in the water.
Then he took a second worm and dropped it into
a glass of alcohol. The worm immediately died.
The professor asked the students if anyone knew
what the point of the demonstration was.
A boy raised his hand and said, "You're showing
us that if you drink alcohol, you won't have worms."
#-#-# <http://www.angelfire.com/on/topfen> #-#-#
An old lady had bought a new carpet and the carpet
fitter was fitting it for her. Once he had fitted it
he went outside for a smoke, but he couldn't find
his packet of cigarettes.
He looked in all his pockets and in his van, but
he just couldn't find them. So, he went back into
the room where he had fitted the carpet to see if
he had dropped the packet in there.
As he entered the room he noticed a small lump
under the carpet in the middle of the room.
He decided to flatten the lump rather than undo
all his work, so he took a hammer and banged
the lump until it was flat.
As he was putting his tools away the old lady
walked into the room. She was holding a packet
of cigarettes. She said, "I found these in the
hallway. You must have dropped them."
"Now, I just need to find my hamster."
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6. Test answers
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Here are the corrected sentences.
1. If I buy you a drink will you wash my car?.
(if + present simple, + will)
2. I'm going on holiday on Saturday.
(to go on holiday)
3. I hope England don't lose their next match.
(the opposite of win is lose, the opposite of
tight is loose)
4. Mary has ridden a camel twice.
(ride - rode - ridden)
5. Have you seen the news today?
(no 'do' in the present perfect)
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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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