This week we've been battered by extreme winds and incredible amounts of rain! Winter has certainly arrived in the UK.

Let's take a look at some of the more amusing things that have been happening in the news over the last week:

GOOD WEEK FOR:

• Jetlag sufferers, as special new ?sunglasses? have been developed to combat the problem and stop the symptoms.
  Read the story and see some pictures here:
  
  
• A German stuntman, who has broken the record for the world?s ?tightest parallel park?.
  See a video here:

BAD WEEK FOR:

• Drivers, pedestrians, and homeowners in the UK, after Britain was assaulted by extreme weather conditions and floods caused chaos on the roads. Read more and see some pictures here:
  
  
• A Chinese family that wouldn?t move out of their house to make way for a motorway ? and then woke up to find that the motorway had been created around them!
  See the photos and read the story here:

QUOTATION OF THE WEEK:

"Any man who can drive safely while kissing a pretty girl is simply not giving the kiss the attention it deserves" - Albert Einstein


FACTS OF THE WEEK:

• The strongest muscle in proportion to its size in the human body is the tongue
• Humans are the only primates that don't have pigment in the palms of their hands
• If you spell out consecutive numbers, you have to go up to one thousand until you would find the letter "a"
• Nutmeg is extremely poisonous if injected intravenously

PHOTO OF THE WEEK:

his week it was Thanksgiving in the US. Here?s a gallery of images from the annual, very popular Macy's Day Parade:


HOMEWORK

So enough of the news. As promised, here are the answers to last week's homework:

PART A - Literal meanings

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

PART B

1. DIG OUT the sales figures d) Find something
2. The problems STEM FROM f) Originate from
3. PLOUGH money INTO a) Invest a lot
4. WEED OUT poor staff b) Find and remove
5. CUT BACK ON expenses g) Reduce
6. The business is FLOURISHING c) Successful
7. BRANCH OUT INTO new markets h) Expand and diversify
8. BEAR FRUIT e) Produce results

PART C

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

And the riddle:

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

The answer is DAY


This week's homework concerns words and expressions associated with WATER.

I warn you it's not easy!

PART A - Literal meaning

Complete the definitions below using the following words:

• RIPPLES
• STREAMS
• POOL
• FLOOD
• SPLASH
• TIDE
• SURGE
• OVERFLOW
• DRIP
• TRICKLES
• TEEMING
• POURING

1. If you jump into a swimming ?????? you make a big ??????
2. If it is ????? with rain, it means the same as the more common word ??????. Both mean that the rain is very heavy.
3. I have a tap in my bathroom which has an annoying ?????. I must fix it at the weekend !
4. In the Bible, Noah built an ark so he and his family could escape the great ?????.
5. Small ????? eventually flow into big rivers.
6. If a small amount of water escapes slowly from your car engine it ?????? out.
7. Fill your glass too full and it will ?????.
8. It's usually safer to go swimming in the sea when the ???? is coming in rather than when it is going out.
9. A ????? of water in the sea sends a large wave forward.
10. If you drop a stone into a pond you can watch the ????? move out to the edges.

PART B

Complete the sentences below using the following words:

• POURED
• TIDE
• DRIP
• WET
• SEA
• SPLASH
• POOL
• TEEMING
• FLOW
• DRY UP
• RIPPLE

1. At the end of my presentation there was a ????? of applause.
2. The government must find a way to stem the ?????? of refugees trying to enter Britain.
3. Amanda, you'll make quite a ????? if you go to the party with that dress! It's very short!
4. You can't expect David to do anything about the problem. He's far too ?????. He avoids all sorts of decisions.
5. I'm an easy going sort of person. I don't usually complain. I just go with the ?????.
6. At Mayflower College we have 12 permanent teachers and a ?????? of about 20 temporary teachers we use when we need to.
7. Come on, Olga, come and dance. It's fun. Don't be such a ?????? !
8. Less and less students are studying Mathematics at University these days. Not surprisingly, the number of new Maths teachers applying for jobs is slowly starting to ?????.
9. When I entered the party all I saw was a ????? of faces I didn't know.
10. When I went to Venice the main square was ??????? with people.
11. After the game the crowd ?????? out of the football stadium.

And finally a riddle for you to solve:

Some have hands that never clutch,
Others figure out as much.
Some taking diving, others showers,
Jewellery for hours and hours.

I hope you have a lovely weekend and week and I will write to you again next Friday.

Best wishes

Paul


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