This week I have been busy working on our website www.maycoll.co.uk . It's now in 20 different languages and has a lot of photos and useful information about Mayflower College and the city of Plymouth. Please take a look and if you like it click on the Google +1 link. Also, if you use Facebook please join us - click here.

So, let's take a look at some of the bizarre things that have been happening in the news this week:

GOOD WEEK FOR:

• People who love to hear strange insurance claims, as a new survey revealed the top 10 strangest mobile phone claims in the UK.
  Read it here:
  
  
• Halloween fans, after some pumpkin sculptors in New York Botanical Gardens created some stunning works.
  See a video here:

BAD WEEK FOR:

• A woman obsessed with rabbits, who was recently in trouble with the UK law after being found keeping 88 of them in one small house.
  Read the story here:
  
  
• A family in the US, who advertised that ?everything must go? in a yard sale ? and were subjected to a stampede of people who took everything inside their house as well.
  Read the story here:

QUOTATION OF THE WEEK:

"Patience is something you admire in the driver behind you, but not in one ahead". - Bill McGlashen

FACTS OF THE WEEK:

• The longest one-syllable word in the English language is "screeched."
• A pregnant goldfish is called a twit.
• A snail can sleep for three years.
• Thirty-five percent of the people who use personal ads for dating are already married.

PHOTO OF THE WEEK:

This week we have an amazing gallery of soap bubbles that look like alien worlds. See it here:


OK, enough of the news. How did you get on with last week's homework? Well, here are the answers:

PART A:

1. If you run round an athletic track once, you have completed one LAP
2. Every athlete wants to win an Olympic gold MEDAL
3. The 100 metres world RECORD is just over 9 seconds.
4. In a relay race each runner has to pass a BATON to the next runner.
5. The final 80 metres of a race is called the home STRAIGHT
6.  If you run at the same speed all the time - not too fast, not too slow - you run at a steady PACE
7. Some races have obstacles which you have to jump over. These obstacles are called HURDLES

PART B:

1. We need to get the Board of Directors to agree to the changes. That could be A MAJOR HURDLE
2. This project is taking ages. We've already been working on it for 6 months. It's becoming a real MARATHON
3. Olga, you finished the project in only 3 days? That's fantastic! You DESERVE A MEDAL for that !
4. I'm sorry Olga. I still haven't started written your certificate. I'm still ON THE STARTING BLOCKS
5. One more week and we should be finished. I'd say we're ON THE LAST LAP now.
6. Don't worry Olga - you will finish your homework on time if you keep WORKING AT A STEADY PACE
7. While Paul is on holiday he has HANDED THE BATON to Rachel - she will be in charge of the school while he's away.
8. I've nearly finished writing your homework! Only the riddle to write. I'm on THE HOME STRAIGHT

And the riddle:

The English think there are three,
From wealthy Earls to workers free.
The children sit there, row by row,
Absorbing all that they should know.

The answer is CLASS

This week's homework is about CATS!

PART A

Complete the following definitions with the words below:

CURIOUS, FUR, PUSSY, WHISKERS, PIGEON, CLAWS, RUB

1. Another name for a dove is a ???????
2. A pet name for a cat is a ??????
3. Cats have very sharp ??????
4. Some breeds of cat have long ?????? while others have very short ??????
5. If you ????? a cat's ?????? one way, it loves it. If you ???? it the other way, it hates it!
6. If you are ?????? about something, you are interested in knowing more about it.
7. Cats have very sensitive ???????

PART B

Match the following ideas about cats with the idioms below:

1. Cats like to be in charge
2. Cats are very inquisitive
3. Stroke cats from front to back
4. Cats can be aggressive
5. Cats can be cruel
6. Some cats are considered unlucky
7. Cats are light on their feet
8. Cats can seem sleepy

 

1. When the cat's away, the mice will play
2. Curiosity killed the cat!
3. There isn't a cat in hell's chance
4. Stop pussyfooting and say what you mean
5. Don't rub him up the wrong way
6. I think I'll just have a catnap.
7. That was a very catty thing to say!
8. They fight like cat and dog

PART C

Complete the following sentences:

1. We just caught the train by a ?????? with less than a minute to spare!
2. Paul and his wife get on really well even if sometimes they fight like ????? and dog.
3. Olga, please be careful what you say. That was a very ????? remark!
4. You should have been at the meeting yesterday. There was a terrible fight between Olga and Paul - the ????? was really flying.
5. Olga, I suppose that know you have passed your driving test you think you're the cat's ???????.
6. Poor John! At last Sarah has got her ??????? into him!

And finally your riddle for this week:

One by one the balls will fall,
Using cues to do it all.
Up and down its length you crawl,
Or dive in from a platform tall.

I hope you enjoy your weekend and I look forward to writing to you with more news next week.

Best wishes

Paul

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