To + Gerund

Vocabulary from News

News in English EL PAÍS

Trump emboldens make sb feel braver / more confident America’s far right

Dear readers,

Donald Trump’s victory has been followed by a boost in the activity of neo-Nazis and white supremacists across America, even though many of them do not consider themselves part of the Trumpist movement. While heavily criticized by the far right for his support of Israel, Trump's talk of mass deportations and cuts to FBI funding is music to their ears.

Our Ukraine correspondent Javier G. Cuesta entered an area controlled by Moscow, including the city of Mariupol, to speak to residents, some of whom are ardently pro-Russian.

This week we also bring you an interview with José "Pepe" Mujica, the former president of Uruguay who became famous for his austere lifestyle, explain why the German economy is 'kaput,' and follow the trail of a lost treasure trove of Mexican art.

We hope you enjoy this selection of stories from EL PAÍS USA Edition.

You can also read:

• Why putting used clothes in a recycling bin does not allow you to have a clear conscience
• From Bannon to Musk: The decade that made misinformation the new normal
• One month after Valencia’s flash floods: ‘Don’t forget about us. There’s still a lot of crap here’
• More than 10,000 books have been banned from public and academic libraries in the US
• Rose Wang, Bluesky COO: ‘People are tired of the algorithm deciding everything’
• A mythical, historic Macondo: ‘One Hundred Years of Solitude’ becomes a Netflix series

KEY to Gerund or Infinitive Revision

11. WALKING

12. HELP sb (to) DO sth.

17. GET sb TO DO sth. = Convince.

21. STOP TO DO = stop in order to; STOP DOING = Not do it any more.

25. Would you mind + V-ing.

26. Suggest + V-Ing.

C1 Gerund or Infinitive Revision

Key tomorrow

Do You Know the History Behind Black Friday?

After Thanksgiving meals come Black Friday sales. But, where did Black Friday come from?

C2 120 Most Important Verbs in English Language for IELTS | TOEFL | PTE

                                                         

Watch this video and look up the meaning of the verbs you don't know. 

Remember to pause it every 90 seconds or so. You needn't watch it all. Do it little by little. 

International Day of Persons with Disabilities

Join some of the activities scheduled by Cartagena Town Hall. Check them here. From 29th Nov. to 4th Dec.

For more info about this day check here. (UN)

Feeling Hungry? Take Our Thanksgiving Food Quiz

How well do you know Thanksgiving food? If you gobble up every fact about Thanksgiving feasts that you come across, this is the quiz for you! Our quiz will let you know if you’ve digested a full stomach of Thanksgiving food knowledge or if you need to go back for seconds. (From Dictionary.com)

C1 Compound Adjectives (2) | Advanced Vocabulary for IELTS, TOEFL, and PTE

Watch this video and look up the meaning of the adjectives you don't know. 

Remember to pause it every 90 seconds or so. You needn't watch it all. Do it little by little. 

Compound adjectives most commonly end in an adjective (e.g. homesick), or in an -ing or -ed adjective form (e.g. ground-breaking, short-sighted).

Try to use some of them in your next piece of writing and in your speech.

Oral Mediation Activity

Your Language Assistant (Harriet / Tim) received this document on their email and has asked you to advise them on where to spend their New Year's Eve. Their only condition is that they'd rather travel to a non-English speaking destination. Which two places would you recommend them? Tell them, giving your reasons, in 3-4 minutes. 

Prepare the task for next Monday (C2) / Tuesday (C1) 

Yesterday's Idioms Test KEY

Infinitive and gerunds verb patterns

  Do these activities

Role Play Activity in JOB Environment

Role play these prompts. Use 1 minute for each of them. Pay special attention to your intonation and the words you choose when telling your co-worker about the issue.

What to do during Building Evacuation Drills

In an effort to demonstrate fire safety awareness and preparedness in compliance with the fire code, our school (EOI) conducts fire evacuation drills. During the fire evacuation drills, you will hear a bell/siren and/or voice command announcement to evacuate. We ask for your full cooperation during the drills. The expected duration of each drill will be approximately 5-10 minutes. We recognize the drills may interrupt your schedule and we apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Please adhere to the directions found in your Aula Virtual when the fire alarm sounds to safely evacuate the building. 

Check Instrucciones Alumnos and Instrucciones Emergencias.

Idioms Test (12 Questions)

Key tomorrow

International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women

Eliminate violence against women!

On International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, UN Women draws attention to femicides.

“Every 10 Minutes, a woman is killed.”

News in English EL PAÍS

Biden changes policy on US weapons in Ukraine

Dear readers,

‌U.S. President Joe Biden this week has been hastily lifting restrictions on the use of weapons sent to Ukraine, amid fears Donald Trump will reverse his administration's policy on the invaded country. He authorized long-range missiles to strike targets in Russian territory, approved the use of anti-personnel mines and is also accelerating the delivery of equipment to Kyiv.

Meanwhile, there is growing concern over Trump's latest Cabinet picks, specifically, Pete Hegseth, a Fox host accused of sexual assault, as Secretary of Defense, and anti-vaxxer Robert F. Kennedy as Health Secretary.

In other news, we looked at the story behind Portugal's Mafra Palace, the main setting for the 1994 movie ‘Queen Margot,’ spoke to DeepMind CEO

Demis Hassabis about the future of artificial generative intelligence, and talked to cartoonist Daniel Clowes, of 'Ghost World' fame, about why he is thinking of leaving the U.S.

We hope you enjoy this selection of articles from EL PAÍS USA Edition.

 

You can also read:

• Germany is ‘kaput’: Why the economic model no longer works in the proud country of automobiles
• The new cheating: How WhatsApp and social media have us all sneaking around
• Why Bluesky is different: The freedom to choose content vs the dictatorship of the algorithm
• José ‘Pepe’ Mujica: ‘I dedicated myself to changing the world and I didn’t change a damn thing’
• Arrest warrant puts Netanyahu in orbit of disgraced leaders
• Workers fear the age of robots: Will a machine take my job?
• ‘At work, I was a machine, more productive’: Why do people take drugs in the office?

Next Week Talks

Don't miss them!!!

Which do you prefer?

prefer /prɪˈfɜː(r) / verb [T] -rr- CHOOSE to like, choose or want one thing rather than another

[ + -ing verb ] He prefers watching rugby to playing it.

[ + to infinitive ] I'd prefer not to discuss this issue.

formal I'd prefer you not to smoke (= I would like it better if you did not smoke), please.

·  to prefer sth TO sth;           

I prefer cats to dogs;    I prefer reading to watching TV

·  to prefer to + INF                

I prefer to live alone;     I’d prefer to stay at home;

·  preferir QUE algo/algn + SUBJ; I’d prefer it to rain now rather than during the game; I won’t go if you’d prefer me to stay;

·  to prefer THAT preferir QUE + SUBJ; they prefer that it should not be discussed; I’d prefer it if you went now

C1 & C2 Collocations with intensifying adverbs

Check here to have a reference list of intensifying adverbs and their collocations...

Remember the adverbs in bold must always be stressed!!!

Do this activity to practise (if you get 8 out of 8, you are a genius!!!)

Remember the hyphen is there just to keep them together --it is never written!!!

C1 Compound Adjectives (1)

 

English Idioms and Idiomatic Expressions

Find  more than 50 lists of well-known English idioms with their meaning categorised by themes on Learn English Today.

Have a look at a different topic every other day; e.g. at the moment we are dealing with jobs. Next month we'll be studying health ...

Enjoy it!

Infinitive or Gerund?

C1 Talk about Jobs

C1 Speak English at Work (by Lucy)

 

Read it in pdf. format!

C2 Precise Words EDUCATION

Do this Learning English activity to revise C1 - C2 Vocabulary from Cambridge English

FICC53

FICC53 Festival Internacional de Cine de Cartagena. See all the activities here. 

C2 Education Idioms

Hit the books (Am. E.):

• I can't go out tonight. I need to hit the books.
•  I have to hit the books this weekend — I have two exams next week.

Crack the books (Am. E.):

• He hardly ever cracked a book.
• He believes that if you want to learn something, go crack a book and do it.

Burn the midnight oil (Br. E.):

• A short while back he was ever poring over (=read in detail) the written page and burning the midnight oil.
• Do you write best in the morning or do you burn the midnight oil?

News in English EL PAÍS

Jumping on the Trump Train

Dear readers,

After more than a century of ironclad Democratic control, Starr County in Texas has voted for a Republican president for the first time due to economic discontent and the immigration crisis. We visited the county and talked to local leaders to find out why they feel that Donald Trump best represents their interests.

As Spain continues to grapple with the fallout of the flash floods that killed over 200 people two weeks ago, we focused on one street in Catarroja, Valencia, whose story encapsulates all the problems faced by thousands of people as they struggle with grief, cleanup, and rebuilding efforts.

Our correspondents also traveled to Akkar, a poor and forgotten region of Lebanon that is the breeding ground for the only popular institution of the nearly absent government: the Lebanese Armed Forces. And they were in Naples, where the death of a 19-year-old at the hands of another youth highlights the worsening problem of armed teenage gangs.

We also took a private tour of Pompeii to uncover some of its darkest secrets, and explored what science reveals about our natural tendency to corruption.

We hope you enjoy this selection of articles from EL PAÍS USA Edition

You can also read:

• Flooding in Spain: The homes that became death traps in a small Valencia town
• Readers prefer ChatGPT poems over Shakespeare and Sylvia Plath
• ‘Gladiator II’: Sequels are almost never better. Confirmed
• ‘X doesn’t offer me anything anymore’: Trump’s win triggers mass exodus to other platforms
• Alice Schwarzer, journalist: ‘We are facing profound changes in the relationship between the sexes. It’s dangerous’
• All the drama of Spain’s flash floods, contained in one street: ‘Deaths could have been avoided’