ESO YEAR 2 - WRITING: Sample answer

This is the answer to the homework due Monday, 27th March 2017

Hi Michael!

How are you? I’m not feeling good.

Yesterday, after school, I went to my grandma’s house and we had lunch together. We were eating her delicious food while she was telling me her stories. I was listening with attention when my whole body started to hurt. I was feeling really bad when she asked me if I was ok. She took me to the doctor.

The doctor says I’ve got the flu. I can’t move from bed! I mustn’t go to school. I should drink lots of water.

Write back soon!

Fernando

ESO YEAR 2 - HOMEWORK

DUE MONDAY 27TH MARCH 2017

• Use the following diagrams and information to write a similar email to the ones studied in class:

(I) go to my grandma's house (we) have lunch together



(we) eat her delicious food


(she) tell me her stories

 (I) listen with attention

                                                                           (my whole body) start to hurt


(I) feel really bad

(she)
ask me if I was ok

PROBLEM:	FLU
Not able.	Move from bed
Not allowed:	Go to school
Recommended:	Drink lots of water

ESO YEAR 2 - WRITING: Sample answer

This is an example of a possible answer to the writing activity set as homework in our last class:

Hi Steve!
How are you? I'm not feeling good.
Yesterday, after school, I finished lunch and I took a nap. While I was sleeping, I started to feel bad. My ears were aching while my temperature was going up. Later, I was getting ready for football  practice when my parents came home. They took me to the doctor.
The doctor says I've got an earache. I can't hear properly. I mustn't go swimming. I must use eardrops.
Write back soon!
Fernando

ESO YEAR 2 - SPEAKING (UNIT 5 - Page 56)

ONLY FOR STUDENTS WHO DID NOT TAKE THE UNIT 5 ORAL EXAM ON THURSDAY, 23rd FEBRUARY

• You can use the following information to practise at home for the exam on Monday, 27th March:

ESO YEAR 4 - SPEAKING

•  After you have practised the dialogue on page 66 using the graphic representation found on the previous entry, try creating new dialogues based on the following three representations:

• Some general information you may need:

-Two horizontal arrows = these (two is plural, like "these")
-Two diagonal arrows = those (two is plural, like "those")

• In case you don't understand some of the pictures (no wonder!), let me clear things up:

-Situation 1: high-heels // watch // tie // coat
-Situation 2: handbag // flip-flops // belt // gloves
-Situation 3: necklace // earrings // sunglasses // ring

• Remember how to form the comparative form of the adjectives:

-Short adjectives (1 syllable or 2 syllables if it ends in -y): _____-er than
Examples: smaller than // easier than
-Long adjectives (2 syllables with no -y ending or more syllables with any ending): more __________ than
Examples: more boring than // more interesting than

• Possible positive adjectives: great, fantastic, fabulous, great, wonderful, incredible, etc

ESO YEAR 4 - SPEAKING

• Look at the following graphic representation of the dialogue on page 66 (the dialogue that we read in the language lab and some students took pictures of).

• Read the dialogue several times, and then try to reproduce it only by looking at the representation.
• KEY:

A: (hand) Can you help me..? // (A?B?C?) choose something?

B: (tick) Sure // (eye) look at // (one horizontal arrow) this // (miniskirt) miniskirt // (thought bubble) I think it's... // (really nice) really nice.

A: (two equal thought bubbles) I agree // (positive ADJective) It's beautiful. // (smiley) I like // (one diagonal arrow) that // (shirt) shirt // too.

B: (three question marks) Really? // (sad smiley) I don't like it. // (thought bubble) I think // (adjective "dull" underlined by an arrow) it's too dull.

A: What about // (one horizontal arrow) this // (cap + question mark) cap? // (smiley + question mark) Do you like it?

B: (X) No, I don't. // (person speaking) In my opinion it's // ("ugly") ugly.

A: Well, // (two different thought bubbles) I disagree. // (smiley) I like it.

B: (eye) Look at // (one horizontal arrow) this // (shirt with the word "red") red shirt // (> and the adjective "pretty" indicate comparative) much prettier than // (one diagonal arrow) that // (shirt with the word "grey") grey shirt.

A: (tick) You're right. // (smiley with closed eyes) Thanks for // (two arrows following the same itinerary) coming with me // and // (hand) helping me // (smiley trying to find an answer) decide.

ESO YEAR 2 - WRITING:

Use the following diagrams and chart to write and email similar to the model that we studied in class:

ESO YEAR 3 - WRITING

• Write an email to a friend telling him or her about your afternoon yesterday. Use the model given in class and the following diagrams and information:

ESO YEAR 3 - WRITING: Sample answer

This is an example of a possible answer to today's classroom activity:

Hi Laura!

How are you? I’m doing good!

Did you do anything special yesterday afternoon? I did!

After I finished homework, I called Mark and then we bought clothes online. I needed new flip-flops! We were surfing the Internet while we were talking and laughing. We were looking at a cool website when we found some good prices. We were starting to feel bored when we saw the perfect flip-flops. I can wear them to the beach or to the swimming pool, but I mustn’t use them at school. I can’t use them with socks. I don’t have to be careful with them, because I bought two pairs!

I hope you like them when you see them!

Write back soon,

Fernando

ESO YEAR 4 - 20th-24th March

DUE MONDAY 20TH MARCH

CHAPTER 2 – FROM BLUE TO CUBE

This blue mood influenced Pablo Picasso from 1901 to 1904. He filled his palette with blur and blue-green and painted a sad, lonely world. The characters in the paintings were often lost people like vagabonds, prostitutes and lonely old people.

The Old Guitarist

In La Vie (Life), Picasso painted a man with the face of his friend Carlos. The background, face, clothes and setting were all blue, yet the painting was alive with colour.. By choosing to use only blue, Picasso found more power, not less.

Later, he painted Femme aux Bras Croisés (Woman with Folded Arms). In light and dark blues, a woman sits with her arms folded, thinking sad thoughts. Picasso often visited a woman’s prison-hospital called Saint-Lazare in Paris. Some say that this woman lived in Saint-Lazare.

Picasso’s most famous blue painting is The Old Guitarist. A poor, thin old man plays with his head down. The atmosphere is melancholic. You can almost hear the lonely sounds from his guitar.

By sticking to just one colour, Picasso ignored all the training of the past. He followed his own rules and used blue all day, every day.

It was dramatic. It was different. And it worked.

Then, one day, in the middle of a storm, Picasso met an artist and model named Fernande Olivier and they fell madly in love. So it was no surprise that his next colour was rose. This was the start of Picasso’s Rose Period (1904-1906).

Boy with a Pipe

Pablo Picasso was well-known as a ladie’s man. Women went crazy for him. “There was nothing particularly attractive about him, but women sensed a fire inside him,” Fernande later wrote. “He had a magnetism I was unable to resist.”

New love opened Picasso’s eyes to magnificent colours. For the next few years, Picasso put away his blues and used pink, yellow and orange in his paintings. Some call it his Circus Period as these happy paintings were of clowns, acrobats and other circus people.

One painting from this period, Garçon à la Pipe (Boy with a Pipe), is considered one of the most valuable works of art of all time. In 2004, it was sold for more than $100 million at an auction in Sotheby’s, New York.

 Picasso was becoming much more famous and much more confident, too. He spent time at a Parisian pub called Le Lapin Agile (The Agile Rabbit). There he became friends with a poet called Guillaume Apollinaire.

One day, Apollinaire was accused of stealing Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa from the Louvre Museum, but he told the police that Picasso had done it! Picasso was taken to the police station for questioning. Luckily, they were both set free and this only added to Picasso’s reputation.

His experiments were succeeding, his paintings were selling and his work was admired. But this was not enough for Picasso. He knew that his greatest creations were still to come.

Picasso once said, “Bad artists copy. Good artists steal.” But the question was what to steal? There was so much inspiration around him. He was fascinated by African, Greek and Spanish art, Iberian sculpture, tribal masks and primitive drawing. He also loved the paintings of Gauguin and Cézanne. So many great works! But what did they all have in common? Shapes.

Picasso began experimenting with shapes. He painted circles, squares, triangles and rectangles. Sometimes, he even cut shapes out of newspapers and pasted them onto his paintings.

The Young Ladies of Avignon

This new style was called cubism. He used sharp angles to create something totally original. He painted a cubist painting of a chair, but it didn’t look like a real chair. It was filled with crazy shapes going in all directions. “Imagine a chair put under a compressor,” Picasso explained to a reporter. “It would look just like that.”

Some say that the first real cubist painting is Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon (The Young Ladies of Avignon). Five women are in the picture, but they don’t look real. They are made of sharp angles and straight lines. Two of the women wear strange masks. “I paint objects as I think them, not as I see them.” explained Picasso.

But the world was not ready for Les Demoiselles! When it was first exhibited in 1916, some critics thought Picasso was insane! Very few thought it was the greatest breakthrough in 20^th Century art.

Another oil painting from Picasso’s cubist period in Three Musicians, showing a harlequin, a pierrot and a monk making music.

Three Musicians

Can you spot the three characters in Picasso’s painting? It isn’t easy! Imagine what people thought in 1921!

With the invention of cubism, Picasso left all his old techniques behind. Now, he could paint any scene or object and transform it with his imagination. “I begin with an idea and then it becomes something else,” he explained.

ESO YEAR 2 - 20th-24th March

2ºA ONLY

DUE MONDAY 20TH FEBRUARY

• Print the following text and include it in your notebook. Read it and study it:

• Do activities 1, 3 and 6 from page 68. They must be on your notebook. You must write or copy the complete sentences. Do not copy the instructions.
• Do activities 2 and 3 from page 65. You can do them on your book.
• Read and learn the dialogue on activity 2, page 66.

ESO YEAR 4 - WRITING: Sample answer

Hello Mark!
How are you? I hope you're doing great.
I found very interesting all the things you told me about your school in your last email. My school is quite different, you'll see how.
I go to St. John's School for Boys, so obviously you have to be a boy to attend! We can choose to study Italian or Spanish, and we can practice tennis or golf. Last year, we couldn't swim at school, but this year we can! There is a new swimming pool!
As for rules, all students must practice a sport. We mustn't smoke and we mustn't eat in the gym, either.
If we want to do well at school, we ought to do homework, and we should also help our classmates. We shouldn't be too competitive, and we shouldn't miss training.
Finally, at St. John's we don't have to shower at home, because there are showers at the gym. We needn't bring our own food, either, since there is a cafeteria at school and they have delicious sandwiches.
That's all for now. I have to run if I want to be on time for my tennis lesson!
Write back soon!
Mike

ESO YEAR 4 - CARNIVAL WEEK

NO HOMEWORK! ENJOY!!!

If you want to for prepare the oral exam, here are the pictures:

ESO YEAR 3 - CARNIVAL WEEK

NO HOMEWORK! ENJOY!!!

If you want to for prepare the oral exam, here are the pictures:

                                   

                                                                             

ESO YEAR 2 - CARNIVAL WEEK

NO HOMEWORK! ENJOY!!!

ESO YEAR 3 - 20th-24th February

DUE MONDAY 20TH FEBRUARY 2017

CHAPTER 7 – LILLEHAMMER – 1994 WINTER OLYMPICS

Having the winter and summer Olympics in the nice year was a nice idea, but very expensive. It required enormous amounts of money every four years. So the Olympic organisers decided to separate the Games and have every two years as this was easier to finance.

The small Norwegian town of Lillehammer hosted the first Winter Olympics after this decision, in 1994. That was the last year that a small town – with a population of only 25,000 – hosted the Games. The World Cup Football Finals were the same year, but a different sports body (FIFA) financed them. Since then, the Winter Olympics has always taken place in the same year as the World Cup.

The Olympic Truce in Effect

The 1994 Lillehammer Olympics took place in the middle of the Bosnian war. As in ancient times, the IOC tried to have a truce for the period of the Games. IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch gave a speech before the Olympics opened, calling for a truce. “Our message is stronger than ever,” he said. “Please stop the fighting. Stop the killing. Drop your guns.”

The Norwegian Games were the first in modern history to put the Olympic truce into practice. First of all, the civil war stopped for a short time, and athletes from all sides of the Bosnia-Herzegovina conflict formed a unified team. A four-man team in one of the events consisted of one Croatian, two Bosnians and a Serb. This collaboration represented the true Olympics spirit. Organisers and spectators enjoyed seeing athletes from enemy sides compete together in the same team. Many people hoped that their teamwork could inspire those at war to choose peace instead!

At the end of the Lillehammer Games, Samaranch said, “Ten years ago we were in Sarajevo for the Winter Olympics. After many horrors, the situation now seems to be improving. Let us hope that this 17-day-old truce will turn into lasting peace. For us, and also for our children.

Intrigue and Scandal

Despite the political truce, one conflict between two sports rivals received a lot of publicity. A month before the Lillehammer Games, there was a scandal between to rival figure skaters from the USA. Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding competed against each other at the USA National Championships in Detroit. At the championships, somebody hit Kerrigan on the knee with a hammer and she suffered a bad injury. Because of Kerrigan's injury, Harding won the championships.

Soon, Kerrigan started training again and, seven weeks later, 120 million people around the world watched and applauded as she won the silver medal at the Olympics. Harding won eighth place, but a judge later found her guilty of conspiracy in the attack on Kerrigan. Harding's ex-husband was one of the attackers. The judge prohibited her from competing for the rest of her life.

ESO YEAR 3 - 13th-17th February

DUE FRIDAY, 17TH FEBRUARY 2017

READING - GOING FOR GOLD

CHAPTER 6 – LIFE IN AN OLYMPIC VILLAGE

National Olympic Committees spend years planning and building their Olympic villages. With thousands of athletes, coaches and members of the media from around the world coming to stay for weeks, the Olympic village must be able to keep them all happy. This is a complicated thing!

In 2008, athletes entertained themselves with many different activities in the Beijing Olympic Village. There were pool tables, tennis and basketball courts, a swimming pool and a leisure centre. There was also a free medical clinic with hundreds of doctors. Some athletes even studied the Chinese language while taying in the village!

Many athletes were nervous about coming to China because the air and water quality were very bad. The Chinese government tried to make athletes comfortable, so before the Beijing Olympics, they spent billions of dollars cleaning the air of Beijing. They reduced the number of cars in Beijing by more than a million every day. At the Olympics vilage, many of the 9,000 rooms used solar power. The committee also treated the water in the village, so that athletes were able to drink water directly from the tap, something rare in China. The athletes were pleasantly surprised to find that the air quality in Beijing was very good.

Beijing Olympic Village

Food and Diets

Serving food to 16,000 athletes and officials every day – at the Beijing Olympic village – is very difficult. Dining must satisfy many different tastes, as well as health and religiou requirements. At the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Village, the main dining hall was 200 metres long – that's the length of two football fields! Around 3,500 people could eat there at once.

In Beijing, athletes could choose between Chinese food, Italian – pizza, pasta – and American-style cuisine. The most popular food was Beijing duck, a meal of sliced, fresh-cooked duck served with spring onions and sweet bean sauce on delicate pancakes. Halal food for Muslims and kosher food for Jewish athletes was also available at the Games.

The dining hall was free to competitors and open 24 hoours a day. Competitors in Beijing ate 100,000 kilograms of food every day! Daily waste from the dining hall was about 50,000 kilograms.

Atlanta Olympic Village

Art and Entertainment

Art events in the ancient Olympics also inspired Pierre de Coubertin and he wanted to include them in the modern Olympics. In April 1906, he invited artists to choreograph dances, write poetry, compose music, paint and sculpt for the Olympic Games. Since then, art and cultured have played an important part in the Games, especially at the opening and closing ceremonies.

At the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah (USA), the organising committee tried to follow the Olympic Charter and “promote harmonious relation, mutual understanding and friendship” between all participants. It asked some of the USA's best dance choreographers to create new dances with imaginative acrobatic shows. Fabulous works of art were also part of he Olympic Arts Festival in Salt Lake City, incuding several magnificent glass sculptures by sculptor Dale Chihuly.

Olympic Fire, a sculpture by Dale Chihuly in Salt Lake City

ESO YEAR 4 - 13th-17th February

DUE MONDAY 13TH FEBRUARY

Study and learn the following dialogue:

AT THE AIRPORT
A: Good morning. I'm on the 9 o´clock flight to Rome.
B: Can I see you passport and ticket, please?
A: Yes, here you are.
B: Let's see... You're on flight 210.
A: That's correct.
B: How many suitcases have you got?
A: Just this hand luggage.
B: OK. Here's your boarding pass. You're in seat 12D.
A: Thank you. Is the flight on time?
B: Yes, it is.
A: What's the gate number?
B: Gate 3. Have a nice flight.

THURSDAY 16TH FEBRUARY

EXAM (25 points)

• Reading - Modern Masters: chapters 2, 3 and 4 (5 points)
• Listening (15 points)
• Speaking: At the Airport (5 points)

ESO YEAR 2 - 13th-17th February

DUE MONDAY 13TH FEBRUARY

Study dialogue on page 56, activity 2 on your books. (Due Wednesday 15th February for 2A)

DUE THURSDAY 16TH FEBRUARY

READING - JUMP TO FREEDOM

CHAPTER 8 – EDWARD MAKES PROBLEMS

Catherine often woke two or three times during the night. That night, Molly left the baby's door open and tried to stay awake. But she was more tired than usual abd soon, she was asleep.

Somebody came into the room that night, but Molly didn't hear anything. It was Edward. He walked into the baby's room very quietly. First, he closed the door to Molly's little room. Then, he put his hand into Catherine's little cot and shook her.

Catherine started to cry and Edward left the baby's room quickly. Catherine cried and cried but now, the door was closed and Molly was in a deep sleep. She didn't hear anything.

Finally, Mrs Smith heard Catherine. She came to the room and saw her baby alone, wet and unhappy.

Mrs Smith was furious. She took Catherine out of the room and closed the door very hard. Molly woke suddeny and ran into the baby's room. The cot was empty! This was not good! Molly stayed awake until morning, worrying.

At 6:00 am, the master came into the little room and pulled Molly from her bed.

He didn't say a word, and took her downstairs and out of the house. Edward was at the bottom of the stairs. He had a big smile on his face.

ESO YEAR 2 - 6th-10th February

DUE THURSDAY 9TH FEBRUARY 2017

UNIT 5 - VOCABULARY - WEATHER
Copy the following definitions onto your notebook:

a. Covered with ice

b. Misty

c. Moistened, covered with liquid

d. With a high tempereture

e. A bit cold

f. With strong air currents

g. With mcuh sunshine

h. With a low temperature

i. Not wet

j. Covered with soft, frozen water in the form of flakes

k. With heavy rain, strong winds, thunder and lightning

l. A bit hot

m. With water falling in drops from the clouds

n. Overcast

DUE THURSDAY 9TH FEBRUARY 2017

READING - JUMP TO FREEDOM

CHAPTER 7 – ALONE WITH THE BABY

Molly liked caring for the baby, but she was frightened of Edward. He called her “little slave girl”, and laughed at her and tried to make her cry.

Every morning, Molly helped Eve wash the clothes and then she took Catherine to the garden. In the afternoon, she took the baby for walks in her pram, sang her to sleep, and folded the dry clothes.

Molly felt tired all the time, and she missed her mother and sister. She only saw them during the afternoon walks if she and Catherine visited the cabin.

During one of these visits, Molly heard some very bad news. Tom's mother, Ruth, was dead. She never recovered from losing her son,Tom. In the end, she died from a broken heart. At the end of February, Eve went to stay with Mrs Smith's sister for a few days to help her with her new baby. After Eve left, Mrs Smith gave Molly instructions.

“My house servant, Becca, is starting to care for Catherine this week instead of Eve,” she said. “But you'll be alone with her at night. You must sing to her when she cried.”

“Yes, Madam,” replied Molly.

Molly was nervous. “Maybe I won't hear the baby cry,” she thought.

The first day wasn't easy. Catherine missed Eve and cried all the time. Molly held her and sang to her, but it didn't help. Then, Becca spilled a bottle of milk, so Molly washed the rug and cleaned the floor. It was very hard work for the little girl.

ESO YEAR 3 - 6th-10th February

DUE THURSDAY 9TH FEBRUARY 2017

UNIT 5 - VOCABULARY - JOBS
Match the following definitions to the words in green on page 53 in your book.

a. A person who works in military service

b. A person who gathers news for a newspaper or a television station

c. The person who decides if someone is guilty or innocent

d. A person who works in a ship

e. A person who performs illusions to trick the audience

f. The person who takes your order and brings you food in a restaurant

g. A person who represents or advises clients in legal matters

h. A person who writes books, articles, etc.

i. A person who obtains secret information from the enemy

j. A member of the police force

k. A person who installs or repairs electric devices or wiring

l. An owner or executive engaged in commercial matters

m. A person who has animals for their exploitation or who cultivates land

n. A person who installs and repairs pipes and devices connected to running water

o. An investigator who gets information and evidence about a crime

p. A person who works in an office typing, filing and answering phonecalls

q. A person who studies ancient peoples and cultures by searching utensils and tools

r. A person with an important position in a bank

s. A doctor for your teeth

t. A person who governs a company

DUE FRIDAY 10TH FEBRUARY 2017

CHAPTER 5 – FINANCES AND CONTROVERSIES

Because only amateurs could compete in the first years of the modern Olympics, the competing athletes were usually rich. The could afford to spend the time and money necessary for training as amateur athletes. But this wasn't fair as it excluded many talented working-class athletes. These athletes believed they should also have a chance to compete and they wanted the opportunity to participate.

In the 1920s, the Olympic committee began to compensate athletes for the money they lost for missing work. But professional athletes couldn't compete until the 1980s. From then on, professional and amateur athletes competed together and this finally opened the Games for all.

Training and financing of athletes around the world differs from place to place. China pays all training costs for its Olympic hopefuls and gives the athletes salaries. But the 2008 film The Red Race shows the intense training and often cruel training of Chinese child athletes preparing for the Olympics. It makes you think about the very high price of China's gymnastic gold medals. Many people call it child abuse.

Like many Chinese Olympics champions, gymnast Xing Aowei began training at five years of age and he joined the Shandong provincial team at eight. At 12, he joined the Chinese national team and his intensive training continued for four more years. He entered international competition, competing in the Asian Games of 1998. At 18, Xing and his teammates won the men's team gold medal at the Sydney Olympics.

In the USA, parents usually pay for their child athletes until the age of 18. The US Olympic Committee then finance the best adult athletes. Olympics Organisations depend on public donations to support the training of their athletes. Sometimes a business or local community sponsor an Olympic hopeful from their area.

Bonnie Blair started skating at two years old. She loved skating and started to compete at age four. Throughout elementary and middle school, Blair did other sports, too, including athletics. At 15 years old, Blair dedicated her time to speed skating and joined the US speed skating team. In 1980, at age 16, Blair competed at the Olympic trials, but she did not make the 1980 Olympics team because she needed more training. Europe was the best place for her to train, but her family couldn't pay for her training. Fortunately, many generous Americans heard about Blair and decided to help her. The Champaign Policeman's Benevolent Association in Illinois collected the money for her training, and Bonnie didn't disappoint them. In three Winter Olympics after that, she won five gold medals – more than any American woman athlete in the Winter Games!

Drugs: Unhealthy for Athletes, Bad for Competition

Some athletes take drugs to make their performance better, even though this is against he Olympic committee rules. In some cases, governments even pressure their athletes to take these drugs.

From 1968 to the late 1980s, the government of East Germany gave steroids to young Olympic hopefuls without the Olympic committee knowing. Many people suspected drug use when the East German women swimmers won 11 of the 13 swimming medals at the 1976 Olympics. After the reunification of Germany, the West learnt that the East Germans drugged 10,000 Olympic athletes from as young as 13 years old. These steroids made many young athletes very ill.

In 1988m at the Seoul Olympics, Canadian champion Ben Johnson set a new world record when he won the 100-metre race in 9.79 seconds. But tests showed drugs in his blood. The committee immediately cancelled his gold medal and his world record.

During the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics of 2002, Johann Muehlegg – a German skier representing Spain – was disqualified because tests showed the drug darbepoetin in his blood. In the same Games, British skier Alain Baxter lost his medal because he used a nasal inhaler – even though it did not make his performance better in any way.

Drugs aren't the only thing prohibited at the Olympics. Swimmers mustn't wear hi-tech polyurethane swimsuits because they give them an unfair advantage over swimmers in normal suits.

Winning with Someone Else's Blood?

Some athletes want to improve their performance without the use of drugs and they do this with blood transfusions. Fresh blood – either their own or someone else's blood of the same type – can increase oxygen intake up to 9% and can improve performance by 23%. Some members of the 1984 USA cycling team received blood transfusions before their races. With the help of other people's blood, the team won nine Olympic medals! Over time, the committee prohibited this practice, although it is still difficult to test for it.

For many of the athletes, it is not what they put in their bodies that hurts them. Instead, it is what they don't put in. Many athletes – especially women athletes – follow severe diets and suffer dangerous eating disorders, such as anorexia and bulimia, in order to keep body weight down. Some great Olympic athletes admitted to fighting eating disorders when they were competitive gymnasts, including Nadia Comaneci, Kathy Johnson, and Cathy Rigby. Rigby, of the 1968 and 1972 Olympics, had problems with anorexia and bulimia for many years. Her eating disorders made her heart stop twice. Is an Olympic medal worth it?

ESO YEAR 4 - 6th-10th February

DUE WEDNESDAY, 8TH FEBRUARY 2017

READING - MODERN MASTERS - VAN GOGH

CHAPTER 4 – STARRY, STARRY NIGHT

Vincent Van Gogh put his whole life into art, but the pressure was too much. He knew he was not well. He didn’t want to move in with Theo and his new wife, because he didn’t want to disturb them. He asked the police to admit him to the local mental asylum at Saint-Remy. He was 36.

Van Gogh’s last year was spent in the asylum. Vincent had only one request: he wanted his paints and canvasses. Theo made sure that Vincent had one room to rest in and one room for painting.

Even in the asylum, Vincent motivation to create never stopped. He painted the olive trees and cypress trees that he saw on his daily walks. He even continued copying other artists: Delacroix, Rembrandt and his favourite: Millet.He never stopped improving. He painted some of his most famous works at Saint-Remy, including The Starry Night and Cornfield with Cypresses.

The Starry Night is one of the most famous paintings of all time. It shows a dramatic night sky over the village of Saint-Remy. A cypress tree trembles in the breeze. The sky is alive with motion., strong winds and stars as bright as candle flames.

It’s hard to believe, but Van Gogh was not very happy with this painting. He was always very critical of himself.

The next year, his Impressionist friend, Pissarro, introduced Van Gogh to Dr Paul Gachet, an amateur painter and an art lover. This was a lucky break for Van Gogh because the doctor understood Van Gogh’s genius and knew that he lived for painting. Van Gogh moved to Auvers-sur-Oise to stay with Dr Gachet.

Vincent finally found some peaceof mind with DR Gachet’s help. He painted in light blues and bright greens putting an enchanting young girl in many of the paintings. This character was based on Dr Gachet’s daughter. Vincent’s art was evolving from his original paintings of coal miners in dark greys and blacks.

Later that year, some of his paintings were exhibited in Brussels and Paris, and received a lot of praise. It seemed that Van Gogh would soon be well enough to go home.

Theo brought him some good news. Somebody wanted to buy his first painting, The Red Vineyard, for 400 francs! It was the only painting Van Gogh sold in his lifetime.

Van Gogh's final self-portrait shows the many sides of his personalality. His expression is serious, but his suit is blue and happy. A turquoise sky swirls chaotically all around him.

Although he was finally released from the asylum, Vincent's depression became worse.

One of his last paintings is Wheat Field with Crows. The painting shows black crows flying into the night sky which many people believe shows the depth of his depression. Not long after finishing it, Vincent walked into a field and shot himself. He died a few days later on 29^th July. The year was 1890 and he was 37. An unfinished letter to Theo was found after his death: “I'm risking my life for my work,” Van Gogh wrote, “and I've got only half my sanity as a result.”

At the time of his death, most of the world had never heard of Vincent Van Gogh. But his work was recognised a few years after his death and his influence is still felt today. He went beyond the Impressionists and experimented more than anybody in his time, opening the way for much contemporary art.

Because of the chances Van Gogh took, artists learnt that they, too, could experiment. They learnt that they could do more than paint the outside world. Like Vincent Van Gogh, they could also express themselves and their feelings through their paintings.

DUE THURSDAY 9TH FEBRUARY 2017

UNIT 5 - VOCABULARY: JOBS

Copy the following definitions onto your notebook, and try to find out what jobs they match:

a. A person who works in military service

b. A person who gathers news for a newspaper or a television station

c. The person who decides if someone is guilty or innocent

d. A person who works in a ship

e. A person who performs illusions to trick the audience

f. The person who takes your order and brings you food in a restaurant

g. A person who represents or advises clients in legal matters

h. A person who writes books, articles, etc.

i. A person who obtains secret information from the enemy

j. A member of the police force

k. A person who installs or repairs electric devices or wiring

l. An owner or executive engaged in commercial matters

m. A person who has animals for their exploitation or who cultivates land

n. A person who installs and repairs pipes and devices connected to running water

o. An investigator who gets information and evidence about a crime

p. A person who works in an office typing, filing and answering phonecalls

q. A person who studies ancient peoples and cultures by searching utensils and tools

r. A person with an important position in a bank

s. A doctor for your teeth

t. A person who governs a company

ESO YEAR 2 - READING: Jump to Freedom

DUE THURSDAY 2ND FEBRUARY

CHAPTER 6 – A NEW SITUATION

Molly knocked timidly and the nanny, a young slave named Eve, opened the door. Mrs Smith was inside with Catherine. The baby was crying. Molly didn't see any scales in the room.

“Come here, child,” said Mrs Smith. “Catherine likes you. Sing to her for a while!”

Eve put Catherine in Molly's arms and Molly started to sing. Catherine stopped crying immediately. “I think she likes music, Madam,” said Molly.

“Incredible,” said Mrs Smith. “You are very good with her! You must stay in the house now, Molly. You'll sleep here,” she said. Then she left Molly alone with Eve.

Molly didn't understand. “Isn't the master going to sell me?” she asked.

Eve laughed. “No, Molly. You'll start to work in the house,” she repied. “You're lucky. This is easier than picking cotton and you'll get nice clothes and better food.”

But Molly didn't want nice clothes and better food. She wanted to return to her mother.

That night, Molly lay on the straw mattress in the little room, but she didn't sleep. “When will I go home?” she asked herself repeatedly.

Catherine woke every few hours, and Eve changed her clothes and fed her. Then, Molly sang to her and soon, the baby was asleep.

ESO YEAR 3 - READING: Going for Gold

DUE THURSDAY 2ND FEBRUARY

CHAPTER 4 – FAMOUS OLYMPIC RECORD BREAKERS

Each Olympic Games produces new champions. They break the old records, going “faster, higher and stronger” to set new world records. Here are some special record breakers:

The Greatest Athlete of the 20^th Century

Jim Thorpe, a Native American, was a champion athlete from the Potowatomi tribe. His Native American name -Wa-tho-huck- means “Bright Path”. His mother came from the family of the legendary chief Black Hawk, a famous warrior and talented athlete.

As a teenager, Thorpe attended a Native American School in Pennsylvania. He was good at every sport and went on to compete in 17 different Olympic events – more than anyone in history! At the 1912 Stockholm Olympics, crowds celebrated as Thorpe became the first and only Competitor to win both the pentathlon and the decathlon. King Gustav V of Sweden told Thorpe that he was “the greatest athlete in the world”. However, in 1913 the international committee forced Thorpe to return his medals, because they discovered that in the past, he had received money for playing basketball. The Olympics were ony for amateur (non-professional) athletes, so this was against the rules.

Later, Thorpe played American football and baseball professionally. He was also a natural horse-rider and dancer. He even excelled at bowling, and his average was over 200 points a game.

In 1950, the US press elected Thorpe as the greatest athlete of the first half of the 20^th century. Thorpe died in 1953. Nearly 30 years later, the Olympic organisers finally returned his medals to his family. In 2001, ABC's Wide World of Sports named him “Athlete of the Century”.

African-American Triumphs in Nazi Germany

The National Socialist Party, also known as the Nazi party hosted the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Although we understand now that the Nazis were racist and fascist, many people in 1936 did not understand this. The Nazis wanted to prove that the Aryan race was superior to Jews, black people and other minorities. Unfortunately for the Nazis, an African-American – Jesse Owens – won fours gold medals in Berlin in the 100 and 200 metres, the long jump and the 4x100 metres. He was clearly superior to all other athletes there!

Jesse Owens' father worked on a farm and his grandfather was a slave. As a teenager, Owens broke records in the high jump and long jump. Owens won many championships with grace and speed before he arrived at the Olympics. His triumphant performance as a black man embarrassed the fascists. At their Games, he became the greatest modern Olympic champion!

When Owens died in 1980, President Jimmy Carter said, “Perhaps no athlete better symbolised the human struggle against tyranny, poverty and racial intolerance. His personal triumphs as a world-class athlete and record holder were the start of a career devoted to helping others. His work with young athletes, as an unofficial ambassador overseas and a supporter of freedom, is a rich legacy to the American people.”

Superstars and Heroes

There have been many great athletes in Olympic history. People have forgotten many of them today, but some are too special to forget. Here are a few examples:

In 1940, Emil Zátopek ran his first race at the request of a Czech shoe manufacturer. Though new to running, he achieved second place. Then, he trained hard for a few years and became a champion. He was the first person to run 10,000 metres in less than 29 minutes and the first person to run 20,000 metres in an hour. Zátopek's nickname was “The Locomotive”. In Helsinki in 1952, he stunned the world by winning the 5,000 metres, the 10,000 metres and the marathon within eight days!

In Munich, Germany, in 1972, Mark Spitz from the USA charmed the world as he won seven gold medals in swimming. Olga Korbut, a gymnast from the Soviet Union, thrilled audiences at the same Olympics. Korbut was young and small. She won gold medals in the balance beam and floor events and in the team competition

Four years later, at the Olympics in Montreal, Canada, in 1976, the crowds fell in love with 14-year-old Nadia Comaneci from Romania. In gymnastics, she won three gold medals, one silver and one bronze. She achieved the impossible – a perfect 10 on the asymmetric bars. During her life as an Olympic athlete, Comaneci achieved six more perfect 10s!

ESO YEAR 4 - READING: Modern Masters - Van Gogh

DUE WEDNESDAY 1ST FEBRUARY

Chapter 3 – Bright Colours

One of the best painters at that time, Paul Gauguin, impressed Van Gogh and soon, the two artists became good friends, although they were very different. While Van Gogh was serious and tormented, Gauguin was passionate and confident. Gauguin was married with five children, while at 35, Van Gogh, single and alone, devoted his life to art.

The two artists exhibited their work together at the Café du Tambourin, but Vincent didn't sell a single painting. The money didn't matter to Van Gogh, but the paintings did. He was never satisfied. He knew he could do much better with stronger colours and wilder brushstrokes.

His brother Theo supported him through these times, but living with Vincent wasn't easy and they argued a lot. Finally, Vincent told Theo that he needed a quiet place, away from city life. He was restless and exhausted from too much smoking and drinking, and he needed peace of mind. He longed for something, but he didn't know what.

Vincent decided to move to Arles in the south of France, and it was there that he finally had his breakthrough. He found a quiet home at the Hotel-Restaurant Carrel in Arles, surrounded by nature. There, he set up his easel, took out his paints, and his art came alive! He found beautiful scenes to paint and exchanged self-portraits with other artists. At last, he flourished.

Finally, Vincent could express his stormy emotions in his art. Before, he used dark colours to show poverty. But now, his canvasses exploded with bright colours. Sunflowers, Vincent's Chair and other paintings burst with life like never before.

Vincent was unstoppable. He painted fast, sometimes finishing two or three paintings in a single day. In 18 months, he painted 200 canvasses. Realism and precision were not important any more, only strong colours and violent strokes.

In The Night Café, Van Gogh painted a simple room with customers sitting at tables, drinking. A man stands by the pool table. Nobody seems busy. But every detail, the wooden floors, the gas lamps and the bottles on the bar, seem alive. Von Gogh thought carefully about every stroke and every colour.

It wasn't just the place or the colour that made the paintings so rich. It was also Vincent's character and his stormy personality. For instance, Cézanne also painted the same landscapes in the south of France. But while Cézanne saw peace and beauty in the countryside, Van Gogh saw fields burnt by the sun and destroyed by intense wind. He saw broken trees and cloudy skies. He came south looking for harmony and tranquility, but instead he found wild nature. In Vincent Van Gogh's universe, life was continually changing.

Van Gogh dreamt of forming an artists' community in Arles, and he invited Gauguin to join him. Gauguin came to visit Van Gogh and moved in. They took trips into the countryside together and painted side by side. Gauguin painted a unique portrait of Van Gogh painting sunflowers and Vincent painted Gauguin's chair. The two artists found a home together, created and shared ideas. Each one inspired the other but, to no one's surprise, the harmony didn't last very long!

Firstly, they worked very differently. Van Gogh liked painting the scenes in front of him. Gauguin didn't need to see the landscape – he worked from memory. Secondly, Van Gogh was too emotional and Gauguin was sick of arguing with him. He told Van Gogh that he planned to return north. Van Gogh threatened him and he left to stay in a hotel.

Van Gogh learned that Theo was getting married and he felt insecure and alone. Tormented and ill, Vincent had a seizure and feared that he was poisoned. He found Gauguin and threatened him with a razor blade until Gauguin ran away from him. There are different versions of what happened next. Some say Van Gogh panicked and cut off part of his own ear, while others claim that Gauguin cut it off during a fight. Van Gogh then gave it to a prostitute in the local tavern.

For three days Van Gogh lay in a hospital, unconscious. When he woke up, his head was bandaged. Theo was by his side, as usual,. There was no question about it. Vincent needed help.