Category: Class

Past Simple

Level: Beginner-Intermediate

Past simple is a verb tense that is used to talk about things that happened in the past.

To turn verbs into simple past, add -ed to the root form of the verb, or just -d if the root form already ends in an e.
Example:
walk > walked
play > played
love > loved
like > liked

There are a lot of irregular past tense forms in English. Here are some examples:
choose > chose
come > came
bring > brought
buy > bought
drive > drove
eat > ate
feel > felt
find > found
cost > cost
go > went
be > was/were
begin > began
break > broke
get > got
give > gave
build > built
have > had
cut > cut
do > did
draw > drew

When Advertisers Track Emojis

B2 – Upper Intermediate

Online targeted advertising is nothing new. Advertisers have been using demographics like gender, age, political affiliation, and location to deliver what they consider as relevant ads to the netizens. The folks at Twitter, however, decided to innovate and offer advertisers information about their users’ emotional states through the emojis that they post.

Should this be a matter for concern? Watch the video below and judge for yourself.

Discussion Questions:

  1. According to the video, what is a targeted ad?
  2. What do you think about Twitter giving advertisers access to emoji data?
  3. How does an emoji differ from an emoticon? Which was introduced first to the public?
  4. What three emojis do you use most often?
  5. Give examples of emojis that have an emotional context attached to them. Which emojis come across as positive, negative, or neutral? Which emojis do you feel tend to be ambiguous?
  6. Do you follow any politicians on Twitter? In your country, does the use of Twitter by government officials impact public opinion?
  7. Is it harmless to let a faceless advertiser know how you’re feeling?
  8. A Pew Research Center survey revealed that 51% of US adults are not confident that social media sites protect user data. What do you think about this in the context of data protection practices in your country?
  9. Would you like other social media platforms like YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook to follow Twitter’s lead and use emojis in their targeted advertising?
  10. Can you live without emojis?

Test 241

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Prepositions of Place

Level: Beginner-Intermediate

Prepositions of place describe the position of a person or thing in relation to another person or thing. Prepositions of place give you the ability to tell others where something is located.

In

-when something is inside something
Example:
She is in the car.
I watch TV in the living-room

On

–when something is in a position above something else and touching it
Example:
Please place the flowers on the table.

–television, radio, internet (website)
Example:
I watched the news on TV.
I saw the picture on Facebook.

–used for showing some methods of traveling
Example:
I love traveling on trains.

At

–to show an exact position
Example: I am at the airport.

–event
Example:
I met her at a concert.
Let’s meet at the party.

–a place where you are to do something typical (watch a film, study, work)
Example:
I’m at work now.
I watched a movie at the cinema.

Test 261

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Stress Causes Graying Hair

B1 – Intermediate

It is said that our hair is our crowning glory. Sooner or later, that crown will start to gray and we face a decision whether to dye it or maintain that silver hair color.

Read the article below to know what causes our hair to turn gray and be able to answer the questions that follow.

https://breakingnewsenglish.com/2001/200126-grey-hair-4.html

Discussion Questions:

  1. Do you agree that stress is one of the main causes of going gray?
  2. Do you have gray hair? If so, are you worried about it? What are you going to do when all your hair turn gray?
  3. How do you keep your hair looking good and at its best?
  4. How do you deal with stress?

Modals: can/can’t/could/couldn’t

Level: Beginner-Intermediate

We use CAN to make general statements about what is possible:
Example:
It can be very hot here in summer. (= It is sometimes very hot here in summer.)
You can easily get lost in this city. (= People often get lost in this city.)

We also use CAN and CAN’T to talk about someone’s skill or general abilities:
Example:
He can speak two languages.
She can dance.
She can’t swim very well.

We use COULD to show that something is possible, but not certain:
Example:
They could come by bus. (= Maybe they will come by bus.)
They could be at school. (= Maybe they are at school.)

We also use COULD to mean that we were able to do something in the past.
Example:
When she was 1, she could talk.

We use COULDN’T to mean that we weren’t able to do something in the past.
Example:
When he was 1, he couldn’t walk.

Best Country for Raising Kids

B1 – Intermediate

Most citizens are willing to pay high rates of taxes if health care, education, and other needs are taken care of. People in these countries see paying taxes as a quality of life investment. The U.S. News & World Report’s list of “The Best Countries for Raising Kids” in 2020 names Scandinavia as the best place in the world to raise children.

Read the article to know why and be able to answer the questions below.

https://breakingnewsenglish.com/2001/200118-raising-kids.html

Discussion Questions:

  1. Why was Scandinavia ranked as the best place in the world to raise children?
  2. What factors do you consider that would give the best life for the family especially, children in a certain country?
  3. How do you assess the condition of raising kids in your country?
  4. What do you think about the services, initiatives, and incentives that are being offered to families in your country?

Test 215

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Test 618

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