The English Blog

Cartoon: Expelled

2012-02-25T07:25:28+01:00

This cartoon by Matt from The Daily Telegraph relates to news that disruptive children are to be educated in "sin bin" schools that will concentrate on basic skills with longer teaching days. Read more >>

COMMENTARY
A mother and her unruly son are leaving one of the new "sin bin" schools. The mother says, "How could you be expelled? We were only looking around the school." The joke is that the boy is so badly behaved that he is expelled before he even starts going to the school.

VOCABULARY
1. If someone is expelled from a school or organization, they are officially told to leave because they have behaved badly.
2. In the sports of ice hockey and rugby league, if a player is sent to the sin bin, they are ordered to leave the playing area for a short period of time because they have done something that is against the rules.

ALSO SEE
• The sin-bin solution: New crackdown on unruly pupils to prevent a repeat of riots (Mail Online)

Cassetteboy vs The News

2012-02-25T07:08:14+01:00

I thought this was funny.

NOTE
Made from 15 editions of the BBC's News at Six during January 2012.

Words in the News: Diplomacy

2012-02-25T07:06:03+01:00

The Guardian focuses on the international talks in Tunisia called to bring a halt to the violence in Syria. Full story >>

VOCABULARY
Diplomacy is the art and practice of conducting negotiations between nations. • A weekend of diplomacy by US and European officials failed to douse the political crisis in the Maldives.

Newsy Video: France Says Adieu to the Term 'Mademoiselle'

2012-02-24T11:45:52+01:00

France will no longer require women to choose between "mademoiselle" or "madame" on official French documents. View transcript >>

ALSO SEE
• Mademoiselle is no longer an official French woman (Reuters)
• It’s Mademoiselle Moutet to you, Monsieur (Daily Telegraph)
• Adieu, Mademoiselle: option to be Mrs or Miss goes missing on French official forms (The Guardian)

COMMENT
What the French need is an equivalent of the English Ms, which is neutral with regard to marital status. Any suggestions?

Cartoon: Greek Belt Tightening

2012-02-24T08:15:23+01:00

The Cagle Post has a good selection of cartoons on the latest Greek bailout, which was agreed by EU finance ministers earlier in the week.

The above cartoon is by Martyn Turner, an English political cartoonist, caricaturist and writer whose cartoons appear daily in The Irish Times. You can see more of his cartoons here.

The EU doctor (?) is examining his Greek patient. The patient says, "I don't see how we can tighten our belt much more ...". The doctor replies, "Here, let me show you" as he puts the belt around the man's neck. In fact, the 'belt' turns out to be a dog leash, symbolizing Greece's submission to the 'troika', i.e., the EU, the ECB, and the IMF.

EXPLANATION
If you have to tighten your belt, you have to spend less money and manage without things because you have less money than you used to have. • In the new economy, we all have to learn to tighten our belts. The saying is from the depression era where there was little money for anything including food, so people had to tighten their belts in order to keep their pants (UK=trousers) from falling down. The cartoonist uses a visual representation of this idiom/metaphor to suggest that, in return for the bailout, Greece will not only have to implement even more drastic austerity measures, but will also have to accept severe restrictions on its financial sovereignty.

ALSO SEE
• Greece begrudgingly cedes sovereignty in exchange for bailout funds (Christian Science Monitor)
• Eurozone agrees €130bn bailout for Greece (Daily Telegraph)

Reuters Video: Cash rules at Apple

2012-02-24T07:32:09+01:00

Apple was mum at an annual shareholder meeting regarding plans for almost $100 billion dollars in cash, only acknowledging that the company is considering its options. Bobbi Rebell reports.

TRANSCRIPT
REPORTER: Apple has been sitting on a mountain of cash; $98 billion to be exact. But at the company's shareholder meeting, CEO Tim Cook said that he has been "Thinking very deeply" about investors demands to return the cash in the form of a dividend, but revealed nothing in the end. But a dividend is just a matter of time according to Scott Sutherland of Wedbush Securities.
SCOTT SUTHERLAND, MANAGING DIRECTOR OF EQUITY RESEARCH, WIRELESS DEVICES, WEDBUSH SECURITIES: "I think that's the likely path for them. I think the dividend also does a second thing. It opens up the stock to a new set of shareholders that are looking for dividend paying stocks."
REPORTER: Other options include a share buyback or an acquisition. Apple also adopted a measure granting shareholders a bigger say in the appointment of directors. Shares of Apple recently hit a lifetime high of more than $526 a share. There were a handful of protestors outside the Cupertino, California meeting- trying to draw attention to the poor working conditions at Apple's manufacturing partners in China. And while Apple did not focus on that in its meeting, the issue remains a thorn in its side. Boston University Management Professor James Post.
JAMES POST, PROFESSOR OF MANAGEMENT, BOSTON UNIVERSITY: "Consumers want to know and do care about the conditions that lead to the creation of products so you can't operate in one part of the world with lousy work standards or pay standards and not expect that is going to be known elsewhere."
REPORTER: Apple did have good news in its ongoing trademark battle in China. A Shanghai court rejected a request from Chinese technology firm Proview to block the sale of iPads in the affluent Chinese city. Attention now shifts to the much anticipated iPad 3, expected to be unveiled next month. Bobbi Rebell, Reuters.

ALSO SEE
• Apple has more money than it needs: CEO Tim Cook (The Times of India)

Words in the News: Sniper

2012-02-24T07:21:48+01:00

The Guardian reports that Syrian forces are now targeting children. Full story >>

VOCABULARY
A sniper is someone who shoots at people from a hidden position. • A few years ago, then-President George W. Bush issued an apology to the Afghan people because an American sniper had shot a Qur'an.

Cartoon: Want a tip?

2012-02-23T07:49:27+01:00

This cartoon by Paul Thomas from The Daily Express relates to the Greek sovereign debt crisis. Earlier in the week, Greece secured a second bailout worth 130bn euros but in return its lenders have attached strict conditions to the loan.

The scene is a Greek restaurant in Athens (we can see the Acropolis through the window). A foreign customer is paying his bill by credit card. He tells the waiter, "Want a tip? Get out of the euro ..."

EXPLANATION
The cartoonist plays on two meanings of the word 'tip': a tip can be a useful piece of advice, or a sum of money you give to someone such as a waiter in a restaurant to thank them for their services.

GRAMMAR
'Want a tip?' is an informal way of saying 'Do you want a tip?'

COMMENT
The big question is 'would Greece be better off outside the euro zone?' Opinions are divided on this matter (see articles below).

ARTICLES
• Greece should leave the eurozone (Washington Times)
• Greece Has a Choice - Get Out the Euro (Real News video)
• Forex focus: the Greek bail-out only buys time (Daily Telegraph)

Video: A rare look at Apple's production line in China

2012-02-23T07:26:00+01:00

ABC presenter Bill Weir has been granted exclusive access to a factory in China run by Foxconn, one of the biggest suppliers for software giant Apple. Workers live in a dorm with seven strangers, performing the same task six days a week. Foxconn company executive Louis Koo was asked about the treatment of employees, including a spate of 18 suicides in the past few years. He said the pace of change had been faster than anticipated, but the company was changing too.

COMMENT
This video makes a great discussion starter. To what extent should the working conditions in factories making Apple (and other brands') products influence our purchasing decisions? What does it mean to be an ethical consumer? Will you be one of those queueing up to buy the iPad 3?

ALSO SEE
• Apple petitioners tell firm to protect Chinese workers (BBC News)

Words in the News: GP

2012-02-23T07:25:36+01:00

The Daily Mail reports that doctors are being paid £162m for patients who have moved house, left the country, or have died. Full story >>

VOCABULARY
A GP is a doctor who does not specialize in any particular area of medicine, but who has a medical practice in which he or she treats all types of illness. GP is an abbreviation for 'general practitioner'. • A GP has been barred from practising after a tribunal found he sexually abused a string of young women over a 20-year period.

Road To Grammar Quiz Creator

2012-02-22T13:49:27+01:00

A new tool has just been added to the excellent Road To Grammar website. Now you can create a multiple choice quiz and save it on Road To Grammar for your students (or whomever) to use. No log-in is necessary, but you can add a password if you like. When you finish creating and uploading the quiz, you will get a unique URL where the quiz will be located. Click here to see an example, and click here to create your own quiz.

COMMENT
Only three answer choices are allowed. An option to create four would have been useful, especially for teachers preparing students for the TOEIC and similar exams where four choices are standard.

Cartoon: Saved ...

2012-02-22T08:41:02+01:00

This cartoon by Dave Brown from The Independent relates to the new bailout package for Greece, which was agreed by eurozone finance ministers early on Tuesday. The €130bn rescue package should avert the risk of a Greek default, but, in return, Germany and France insisted that Greece agree to harsh new austerity terms even though country has been living with punishing austerity for much of the past two years: unemployment has reached record heights at over 21%, while the economy contracted by 7% in the last quarter of 2011. Read more >>

The cartoon shows German Chancellor Angela Merkel as a doctor using defibrillation paddles to rescucitate the Greek patient (note the Greek flag used as a sheet). French President Nicolas Sarkozy stands ready with a carving dish, knife and fork.

COMMENTARY
One possible interpretation is that Merkel has actually killed the patient with an enormous electrical shock (i.e., too much austerity). Meanwhile, Sarkozy is preparing to take his (or rather the EU's) 'pound of flesh'. We use this expression when something which is owed is ruthlessly required to be paid back (see here for origin).

ALSO SEE
• Greece bailout: Large protests expected against cuts (BBC News)
• Greece bailout agreed by eurozone finance ministers – video (The Guardian)
• Doubts over viability of new Greece rescue deal (The Independent)
• Steve Bell cartoon (The Guardian)
• Demanding a pound of flesh (Morning Star)

Newsy Video: Strauss-Kahn held by police in French prostitution probe

2012-02-22T07:32:42+01:00

French police interrogate former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn as part of an investigation into an alleged prostitution ring in northern France. Katharine Jackson reports.

TRANSCRIPT
REPORTER: Cameras converge on Dominique Strauss-Kahn as his car pulls into at police station in Lille, France. Police are questioning the former IMF chief about an alleged prostitution ring thought to have organized sex parties in Paris, Brussels and Washington and supplied clients of Lille's luxury Carlton hotel. Police want to know whether Strauss-Kahn knew the women at the parties were prostitutes...an allegation his lawyer addressed in an interview in December.
DOMINIQUE STRAUSS KAHN LAWYER HENRI LECLERC: "He could have perfectly been unaware. Let me tell you that people are not always clothed at these parties. I challenge you to tell the difference between a nude prostitute and a classy lady in the nude."
REPORTER: Once a contender for the French presidency, Strauss-Kahn's political ambitions came to a halt in May when he was accused of attempting to rape a maid in a Manhattan hotel. A New York court later dropped the charges. Prostitution is not illegal in France. But Strauss-Kahn risks being charged if police decide he knowingly had sex with prostitutes paid for out of company funds. Strauss-Kahn can be held for up to 48 hours, after which police could place him under formal investigation. Katharine Jackson, Reuters.

ALSO SEE
• Strauss-Kahn arrested by French police investigating alleged prostitution ring (The Guardian)
• Strauss-Kahn arrested by French police for ‘complicity in pimping’ after he admits attending sex parties all over the world (Mail Online)

Words in the News: Rescue

2012-02-22T07:20:57+01:00

The Daily Express reports on what it describes as the "madness" of British households facing a £500 bill for the bail-out of Greece and the crisis-ridden euro. Full story >>

VOCABULARY
If you rescue someone, you get them out of a dangerous or unpleasant situation. • A construction worker is in hospital after firefighters rescued him from a crane at the site of a condominium project near downtown Montreal.

Slideshow: Proverbs And Sayings About Money

2012-02-21T14:47:30+01:00

Here's a slideshow I did for my students. It was originally meant to be used for correcting this gap fill exercise, but could be used in other ways.

Proverbs and sayings about money

View more presentations from Jeffrey Hill.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Film English has a great lesson plan on a similar theme.