Express English: Spare Time
What do you do in your spare time?
Very useful to all the students from primary to post-graduate level,home-makers,enthusiasts to learn and improve their skills in English grammar and usage
One woman said: "It depends on what it is – I mean successful in my career? I’m almost successful!"
A man said: "I’ve been a college professor and I’ve taught things. I’ve worked in the media. I’ve been able to explain things to people make things a little clearer so I think I’ve contributed something and I’ve been able to pay my bills."
In the 2011 Forbes magazine list of the richest people in the world there are 1,210 billionaires worth US$4.5 trillion.
China doubled its number of ten-figure fortunes in the last year, and Moscow has more billionaires than any other city.
When talking about the measure of success you use the words 'amount' or 'degree'.
For example:
The company enjoyed a fair amount of success before it went bankrupt.
In some cultures it is considered rude to ask people how much money they earn.
One woman said "it's a picture of my grandmother... it's interesting to see how she was when she was around my age."
Another man said "it's one of me on a beach in the south of France... it brings back memories of the time; the light, the colour, the atmosphere."
The first permanent photograph was an image produced in 1826 by the French inventor Joseph Nicephore Niepce.
Taking a snap means taking a quick, informal photograph, usually with an unsophisticated camera.
In some cultures it is rude to photograph someone. Always check before you photograph someone you don't know.
One woman would give an award to her parents because they have been an inspiration and have motivated her to work hard. She wants to make them proud of her.
Another man wants to give a posthumous award to Johannes Gutenberg for inventing the printing press.
The official name of the Oscars ceremony is the Academy Awards. The first ceremony took place on 16 May 1929.
Someone who is nominated for an award is called a nominee.
If you win an award you might have to make an acceptance speech, but keep it short and to the point!
miry discuss | |
Definition: | (adjective) (Of soil) soft and watery. |
Synonyms: | boggy, marshy, mucky, muddy, quaggy, sloppy, sloughy, soggy, squashy, swampy, waterlogged |
Usage: | Right across the lower part of the bog lay a miry path. |
![]() ![]() The Father of the Yellow School BusIn 1939, American educator Frank Cyr organized the first national standards conference for school transportation. One of the most memorable accomplishments of the conference was the selection of a highly visible, standardized color for school buses that would allow them to be easily identified by other motorists. The hue became known as "National School Bus Chrome," and Cyr was hailed as the "Father of the Yellow School Bus." According to Cyr, what was the main priority of conference attendees? More... Discuss |
![]() ![]() Adams-Onís Treaty: Spain Sells Florida to the US (1819)In the early 1800s, tensions between the US and Spain were increasing over border disputes in North America. With Spanish power in the New World declining, it was widely believed that Spain would lose land to the US. The Adams-Onís Treaty settled the dispute by attempting to draw clearer borders, roughly granting Florida and Louisiana to the US while giving everything west of Louisiana to Spain. The US did not pay Spain directly for the new land. Instead, it compensated Spain in what way? More... Discuss |
![]() ![]() Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell (1857)Powell was a British army officer and founder of the Boy Scouts and Girl Guides, later the Girl Scouts. He was a hero of the South African War and author of Aids to Scouting, a military textbook. Upon learning that his book was being used to train boys in woodcraft, he wrote Scouting for Boys and established the Boy Scout movement in 1908. In 1910, with his sister and wife, he founded the Girl Guides. What disguise did Powell use while gathering information in war? More... Discuss |
![]() ![]() Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834) Discuss |