New York, New York!!

The big apple!
the city that never sleeps!
here are two of the nicknames given to this wonderful city
Do you want to hear the song?
Here it is

If you want to learn it and sing , the lyrics are available here


Do you want to know more about it?
First a few photos from last July, when I went there with a group of 15 students
Groud zero
As you can see, they are rebuilding the area. New buildings, as well as a memorial will soon replace this site.

A nice and quiet street in Soho, famous for its art galeries and old buildings.And now, the statue of liberty. The photo was taken from the boat that leads to Liberty Island. The island is very small. You need ten minutes to walk round the island. Apart from the statue, there is nothing to see, not even a restaurant!

When we went there, the weather was really bad as you can see with the big clouds on the photo!


A photo to remember our visit of the empire state building!In fact, you have to be very patient!

You have to queue for nearly one hour, then, you enter an elevator. Not even one minute later, you are on the eightieth floor!

Two statues at the entrance of the UN headquarters.
Guess what the artists meant





To finish, a view of the Yankee stadium in the Bronx, where we went to see a baseball match.
Unfortunately, a storm broke out and the match was cancelled. The weather can so unpredictable in New York. One minute it is sunny and hot, the next it is pouring down!!

which is which? a maze of contradictory information

global warming explained to kids

global cooling explained to kids




and so?
Are we going to freeze to death or to suffer from unprecedented heat waves?

Which do you find the more convincing?
Does it help you to make up your mind on this issue?



and the last question, but maybe the more important, do you really care?and last a link to the big chill brrrrrrr

DEATH PENALTY WHY DO WE KILL PEOPLE WHO KILL PEOPLE TO SHOW THAT KILLING PEOPLE IS WRONG?

Listen to this interview in which a man whose parents were killed opposes death penalty

To help you understand the names given the the meaning of the interview, you may go and read this article


Can you think of arguments that you would develop to defend your position in favour or against death penalty?
Try to think of the opposite view point so as to be better able to counter your opponents.
To sum up, the arguments in favour and against death penalty in a nutshell

A recent article on the debate in Texas

lesson plans

The United Kingdom... learn more about each country composing it

audio docs on UK culture

want to know about the answers? here

news

strikes over pension cause chaos in France. Here
pocket money reduced because of the economic crisis. Here

rescued chilean miners, acclaimed as heroes ??

here is the whole article from the BBC on the rescue of the first of the 33 miners who were trapped for more than two months in a mine.
you can also watch the video.

If you think it is too complicated, here is a lighter version from September 17th. A new one should be coming soon.
It is interesting in this link to listen to the audio document and then try to read the article (the same document) while paying attention to pronounciation and intonation.
It is a very good training, even for almost fluent pupils.

the end of the operation is described here
some excerpts:
No one has survived as long trapped underground.
They are in far better condition than expected.
The supervisor of the mine said 'we have done what the entire world was waiting for'
'We had strength, we had spirit, we wanted to fight, we wanted to fight for our families and that was the greatest thing.'
Mr Pinera said:
'You are not the same and the country is not the same after this. You were an inspiration. Go hug your wife and your daughter.
'The miners are not the same people who got trapped on 5August They have come out stronger and they taught us a lesson. But Chile is not the same either.
I think Chile is mmore united and stronger than ever and I think Chile today is more respected and more valued in the whole world

a whole lesson on the rescue. Here

globalisation

a mp3 definition on what exactly globalisation means and worksheets to memorise the content, try and do them and if necessary, listen to the document once more.

a worksheet to learn new vocabulary and to give you ideas in a future debate

the text which is refered to on question 5

the forum thread about the question. There you can read about other people's arguments, but you can also give your opinion
If you're the kind of pupils who never have any ideas on such topics, it would be good to go and read what other people think, and then make up your mind.

ENJOY!!!