This week we’ve been having a great time thinking of ways to entertain our students in 2013, and we’ve been putting together a social afternoon for all students this Friday in our in-house bar!

So, let’s take a look at some of the more interesting things that have been happening in the news over the last seven days:

GOOD WEEK FOR:

• A tough Russian grandmother, after she fought off a wolf!
  Read the story here:
  
  
• A man from the South West in the UK (near Mayflower College) who caught a record-breaking sized eel whilst he was fishing.
  Read the story and see the pictures here:

BAD WEEK FOR:

• A man who thought he was unique – until he spotted an exact replica of himself in a 450-year-old painting!
  Take a look here:
  
  
• Those who thought we couldn’t live through an apocalypse, as a new gallery shows off the greatest end-of-days bunkers in the world.
  See it here:

QUOTATION OF THE WEEK:

“The kind of humour I like is the thing that makes me laugh for five seconds and think about for ten minutes.” – William Davis


FACTS OF THE WEEK:

• There are more than 50,000 earthquakes throughout the world every year
• Human teeth are almost as hard as rocks
• Soda water does not contain soda

PHOTO OF THE WEEK:

This week we have a great link to a series of photos taken from above the clouds:


OK enough of the news. Here are the answers to last week's homework!

Part A

1. If a plane PLUMMETS, it comes down very quickly and is in danger of crashing.
2. When a plane falls into the sea, we normally say that it NOSEDIVES into the sea.
3. If two planes fly into each other, they have a mid-air COLLISION.
4. We are on COURSE for Plymouth and expect to land in 45 minutes.
5. Some people take part in FREE-FALL parachuting. This involves jumping out of a plane and not releasing your parachute until you are close to the ground.
6. During a flight it is best to keep your seat-belt fastened in case of TURBULENCE

PART B - NEWSPAPER HEADLINES

1. Stock-market joy as share prices SOAR (GO UP VERY FAST)
2. Bank of England on COLLISION course with industry (GOING TO DISAGREE STRONGLY)
3. Economy back on COURSE (GOING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION AGAIN)
4. Flotation fails to get off the GROUND (UNSUCCESSFUL START)
5. Stock-market panic as profits NOSEDIVE (GO DOWN VERY FAST)

PART C - A LOT OF TURBULENCE

1. There is A LOT OF TURBULENCE in financial markets at the moment.
2. We believe that the Government's "Back to Work" programme has never TAKEN OFF.
3. Several Asian currencies are PLUNGING to their lowest levels this year.
4. The stock-market is in FREE-FALL
5. Japan has proposed an aid package to help Asian economies CLIMB OUT OF recession.
6. Despite the present difficulties, economists think the UK economy will make a SOFT LANDING in the summer.

And the riddle:

Sharp without a moving joint,
A stabbing pain, you get the point.
Without a shield, may feel alone,
A famous one found in a stone.

The answer is SWORD


This week's homework is called "Organisations are Gardens".

Gardens and Plants provide many metaphors in English:

PART A - Literal meanings

Complete the following sentences:

• STEM
• DIG
• FLOURISH
• PERENNIAL
• PLOUGH
• GLASSHOUSE
• CROPS
• WEEDS
• BRANCHES
• DEAD WOOD
• ROOT OUT
• BEAR

1. An older name for a large greenhouse is a ??????
2. Before farmers can plant a crop, they first have to ????? the fields.
3. You find a flower at the end of the ?????? of a plant.
4. Children love to build houses in the ?????? of trees.
5. If you want your flowers to grow you must first get rid of the ??????.
6. Potatoes, barley, wheat and corn are all types of ???????
7. You use a spade to ?????? the garden.
8. To keep a tree healthy, you must first cut away the ??????.
9. Trying to ????? a large bush or tree is often very difficult.
10. Some fruit trees never ????? fruit.
11. Some plants ?????? by the sea while others hate it.
12. Flowers which bloom year after year are ?????? plants. Ones which bloom only for one year are called annuals.

PART B

Match the expressions with the meanings below:

1. DIG OUT the sales figures
2. The problems STEM FROM
3. PLOUGH money INTO
4. WEED OUT poor staff
5. CUT BACK ON expenses
6. The business is FLOURISHING
7. BRANCH OUT INTO new markets
8. BEAR FRUIT

1. Invest a lot
2. Find and remove
3. Successful
4. Find something
5. Produce results
6. Originate from
7. Reduce
8. Expand and diversify

PART C

Complete the following sentences:

• PLOUGHING
• WEED
• DIG
• BRANCH
• STEM
• FLOURISH
• BEAR
• CUT BACK

1. I can't find last week's sales figures. Have you got a minute? Can you ?????? them out for me, please?
2. I'll tell you why we have problems in this company! All our problems ?????? from bad communication. We need to speak to each other more.
3. We can't go on ?????? more and more money into advertising when people don't want our products.
4. Too many people in our company have been doing the same job for too long. We need to ?????? out the weaker ones and re-train our best staff.
5. We are in the middle of a recession. This means we have to ????? on all unnecessary expenses.
6. I am pleased to say that business at Mayflower College is beginning to ?????? again after a difficult few years.
7. At Mayflower College we have been teaching English for many years, but we are now planning to ?????? out into teaching other languages.
8. 2000 enquiries this week! Our advertising campaign is beginning to ?????? fruit at last!

And finally your riddle for this week!

Components of an earthly circuit
Revolution is the key.
Light and dark are always present,
Seven names are all there be.

Have a great week and I look forward to writing to you next week.

Best wishes

Paul


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