This week we’ve been interviewing students about Mayflower College for a video we’re putting together!

Have you been doing anything interesting? As usual, if you have something fun to share with Mayflower College, do tell us on Facebook


OK, let’s take a look at some of the bizarre things that have been happening in the news:
 
GOOD WEEK FOR:

• Fans of the City of London, as the world’s largest panoramic image of the Capital has been unveiled. See it here:
• Fans of enormous buildings, as Saudi Arabia gears up to build the world’s largest skyscraper – with the help of a British company. See the pictures here:

BAD WEEK FOR:

• An Irish publican, who has been fined – for letting ‘nuns’ drink outside his pub. Read the full story here:
• A Russian woman who looked for her house on an online map service – and was horrified to see evidence that her husband was having an affair. Read the story here:

QUOTATION OF THE WEEK:

“It’s strange, isn’t it. You stand in the middle of a library and go 'aaaaagghhhh’ and everyone just stares at you. But you do the same thing on an aeroplane, and everyone joins in.” - Tommy Cooper


FACTS OF THE WEEK:

• A greetings card that can play ‘Happy Birthday’ when you open it contains more computing power than existed in the entire world in 1950.
• The first ever issue of UK paper ‘The Daily Mirror’ came with a free mirror.
• The whole of Liechtenstein can be rented for $70,000 a night, for a minimum of 2 nights. It sleeps 900.
• St Vitus is the patron saint of oversleeping.

VIDEO OF THE WEEK:

This week we’ve got a video of a cheerleader doing a flip and then scoring an amazing three-point shot on a basketball court:


HOMEWORK:

OK, enough of the news. How did you find last week's "Face Idioms" homework?

PART A - "face" as a verb

1) I supposed it's time I faced THE FACT that Julia is really not interested in me. I'm old enough to be her father!
2) Did you hear that John forgot to lock the office last night when he left? He's with the boss at the moment, no doubt facing THE MUSIC.
3) I couldn't face A FULL MEAL. A sandwich is enough for me.
4) I just can't face WORK at the moment - not so soon after the funeral.
5) I'll take the decision. I'm not afraid to face THE CONSEQUENCES if things go wrong.

PART B - "face" as a noun.

1) People won't give their opinions during meetings in case they are wrong. They don't want to LOSE face.
2) When Diana fell off her chair it was all I could do to KEEP a straight face.
3) Why have you GOT such a long face today, Olga? Has something bad happened.
4) Olga, have you heard that Paul's mother was in a car accident this morning? I think it's serious but he seems to be PUTTING a brave face on it.
5) It's good to meet you at last, Olga! It's good to be able to PUT a face to a name.
6) I think the government is just trying to SAVE face.

PART C - Expressions with "face"

1) Olga, you can keep asking until you're b) BLUE IN THE FACE - I'm not going to change my mind.
2) Rebecca always has an ulterior motive. You can never take what she says d) AT FACE VALUE.
3) Everybody knows that Justin is the wrong person for the new job but nobody is prepared to say so h) TO HIS FACE.
4) Olga, have you seen my keys? I put them down 5 minutes ago but now they've disappeared a) OFF THE FACE OF THE EARTH
5) I've just come back from a holiday in Borneo. It was amazing. I actually came f) FACE TO FACE with a real gorilla!
6) Come on, Olga, someone has been eating my biscuits! It must've been you. It's written e) ALL OVER YOUR FACE
7) We've spent ages trying to decide who to send to the conference in Tokyo. The answer's been c) STARING US IN THE FACE. Let's ask Paul. He studied Japanese at University!
8) President Reagan was very accident-prone. He once fell g) FLAT ON HIS FACE as he was getting up to give an important speech.

And the riddle:

In a shell they're wrapped,
Eaten when they're cracked.
If sanity has fled,
This is how it’s said.

The answers is NUTS

The thing you can eat (for example, peanut) but NUTS can also mean "crazy, insane" - for example, "Do you think is nuts?"


Now for this week's homework which is called "Fingers and Thumbs".

PART A - Match the literal ideas (1-9) with the non-literal meanings (a-i):

1) If you twiddle your thumbs
2) If you never lift a finger
3) If you point the finger
4) If you get your fingers burnt
5) If you get your finger out
6) If you have green fingers
7) If you are all fingers and thumbs
8) If you keep your fingers crossed
9) If you put your finger on something

a) you accuse someone of something
b) you are good at gardening
c) you believe in luck
d) you see the problem
e) you are lazy
f) you lose money
g) you try harder
h) you are wasting time
i) you are not good with your hands

PART B - use FINGER(S) or THUMB(S) to complete the following sentences.

1) There's something strange about Olga, but I'm not sure what it is. I just can't put my ????? on it.

2) I was miles from the nearest garage when I ran out of petrol so I just stood at the side of the road and tried to ????? a lift.

3) Olga, if you want to pass this exam you really need to get your ????? out and start some serious study.

4) I invested some money in the stock market a couple of years ago but I got my ?????? badly burnt. I lost $10,000. Never again!

5) My appointment at the hospital was supposed to be at 16.00h but I had to sit in the waiting room, twiddling my ????? for over an hour.

6) My flatmate is driving me crazy. I have to do all the cleaning. She never lifts a ????? to help.

7) Olga, you can't wear jeans and a T-shirt to the wedding. Everyone else will be smartly dressed. You'll stick out like a sore ?????.

8) I had a great idea at work that we should paint the walls different, bright colours, get more plants and pictures, but it got the ?????? down. They're so conservative!

9) It's too easy to point the ????? at today's parents. There are many other influences on today's teenagers.


And finally your riddle:

Lifting it's all right,
Clearly seen at night.
In the window bright
To welcome home at night.

Have a great weekend and I look forward to writing again next Friday!

Best wishes

Paul
Paul & Jill

Paul Stevens - Director (based in San Diego, USA)
Jill Tyler - General Manager (based in Plymouth, UK)


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