Slow down, we move too fast

Find out more information about Slow Food and Citta Slow, in case you are interested.

Here's the list of slow cities in Spain. You can find more about them here:

- Begur and Pals in Catalonia.

- Lekeito and Mungia in the Basque Country.

- Bigastro in the Valencian Community.

- Rubielos de Mora in Aragon.

There's a siminlar a similar movement going on in Alhama called Alhama en Transición. If you are interested, you can visit their blog here.

110

What does this sign mean?

You MUSTN'T drive faster than 110 km/hr.

You CAN'T do it, it is prohibited/forbidden/not allowed.

You HAVE TO drive faster than 110 km/hr or you'll get a fine.

It is a race against the clock this weekend for road maintenance crews to change all the 120 km/hr signs across the country to 110 km/hr. In most cases stickers are being used to replace the signs, while in Navarra stickers are being used just to replace the ‘2’ with a ‘1’.


All the signs should be changed by 6am on Monday from when the top speed on Spanish motorways will be 110km/hr after the measure was printed in the Official State Bulletin on Sunday.


The Government has announced the measure will be in force for an initial four month period, which could be extended if there continues to be possible supply problems from oil producing countries.


The measure is not possible with the public, with a poll published in El País on Sunday showing 69% of the population are against it. The Government has called for responsibility and coherence and considers the measure will reduce petrol consumption by 28.6 million barrels a year, and save 12.5 tons of CO2 emissions.


The DGT traffic authority has said that 100 € fines will be issued for anyone clocked travelling at 111kms/hr, although some driving associations claim that fines will not be issued until 115kms/hr.

(Source: http://www.typicallyspanish.com/news/publish/article_29487.shtml#ixzz1FrHhz4RI)

What do you reckon about this new speed limit?

Education helps keep blood pressure down

A new study shows that staying in education for a long time helps blood pressure. Scientists have found a link between the number of years spent studying and low blood pressure. The research looked at 4,000 people in the USA. They found that those who had a university education had lower blood pressure than people who did not enter higher education. Study leader Eric Loucks said people who left school early were more likely to have a stressful job and low salaries. He said both these things contributed to stress.


Many people think it is more stressful to stay on in education. University exams are famous for causing students lots of stress. It also seems strange that people with university degrees have lower blood pressure than those without. Graduates usually become managers in companies, or teachers and those positions are very stressful. The report looked at blood pressure levels at the end of a 30-year period. It could be that people who were in education longer were richer and had a better standard of living. Money worries often cause lots of stress.


From News English Lessons (Feb 28, 2011).


You may read the whole story here and do the exercises.

Elementary school is Oscar-bound

Watch this video posted by my colleague Conchita about an American elementary school performing at the Oscars this weekend. I know it's hard to understand, but the kids are so cute!

Oscars Ballot*

Who will take home an Oscar this year? Visit the New York Times, cast your votes and compete with your Facebook friends!


Ballot - A sheet of paper or a card used to cast or register a vote, especially a secret one.

23F

Today it is the 30th anniversary of the attempted coup d'état in Spain. I know many of you, my dear students, weren't even born on that date, or you were too young to remember anything. But, in case you do: What do you remember? Where were you? How did you feel? Have your parents told you anything about that day?


Since the other day we were talking about school subjects, here's your little history lesson for today. Read this BBC report and watch the video - a real slice of history.

Cosmetic surgery becoming more popular.

The number of people having cosmetic surgery is increasing. This could be a sign that the world economy is making a recovery. Statistics from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons show that the number of operations increased by five per cent between 2009 and 2010. Spokesman Dr. Phil Haeck said: "This is just one more tiny sign that the economy is moving forward. It's slow, but it may be that we'll slowly pull out of this recession." In the U.K. the number of surgeries reached 100,000 for the first time.

These are welcome figures for the industry, but they come at a time when the safety of cosmetic surgery is in question. A British woman died after an operation organized on the Internet. Claudia Adusei’s operation took place at a hotel near Philadelphia Airport. Many doctors said the type of operation she had was very risky. With more and more people going under the knife, there may be an increase in accidents in the future. People need to think carefully about whether they really need that nose job or tummy tuck.


Glossary:


to increase (v): to become greater or larger.
to move forward (v): to advance.
risky (adj): dangerous, not safe.
to go under the knife: to get plastic surgery.
a nose job: plastic surgery on the nose
a tummy tuck: plastic surgery of the abdomen


From News English Lessons. Find more exercises or listen to this piece of news here.

Oscar 2011 Nominations

We'll deal with cinema and films later this year, but you may want to have a look at this year's Oscar nominations (in English!)



Have you seen any of these films? Would you recommend any of them?

Read more about it here.

Mark Zuckerber Person of the Year.

Do you know who this guy is? I'll give you a clue: he's somehow related to our next topic - technology.

He looks like an ordinary boy, doesn't he? But, in fact, he's one of the richest people on earth and has changed the we way relate to each other. He's been named Person of the Year by the Time magazine.

Do you agree with this magazine? Which other people should be named Person of the Year? Why? You can read about the other candidates here. Feel free to comment!

Air traffic controllers strike

Speaking of the devil... Since we were talking about flying and airports last Wednesday in class, read about theair traffic controllers strike here (click at the bottom of the page for other related stories).

Watch the video and answer the questions with dates and figures.

When did the strike start?
How long did it last?
When were the check-in lines opened again?
When was the last time a state of emergency was declared?
What percentage of controllers were back at work on Saturday?
How much money has the Spanish tourism industry lost due to the strike?

Has anyone of you been affected? How long did it take you to get to your destination?

to be on strike, a strike - to stop working to protest against something.
Speaking of the Devil... - to mention someone's name who just then appears

William and Kate to tie the knot.

Prince William is shown telling the Queen: "We decided on 2011 so we don't upstage the Olympics..."

If you upstage something or someone, you draw attention away from it by being more attractive or interesting. The London Olimpics will take place in 2012, so by holding the wedding next year, the royal couple makes sure there's no competition between the two events. (I think this is meant to be ironic!)

Via The English Blog

Learn more vocabulary related to weddings and marriage here and here.

This is the video we watched in class.



to tie the knot - to get married
to propose to someone - ask sone. to marry you
to be engaged -  to promise to marry sone. in the future
a fairy tale - a story for children with princes and princess, fantastice cratures etc.

What's in the news?

On the right side of this page, you'll find a new widget which links you to the Learn English section of the BBC website. There you can read a piece of news with new and interesting words in bold explained and pronounced. It'll just take you 5 minutes and if you do it every day you'll see how your English improves!

Here you have today's article on food, one of the topics we have seen so far.

"Learn English with Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie"

Read this article published today by El País on the dubbing of foreign films in Spain. What do you think about it? Do you usually watch films in origianl version? Do you think all films should be like that in Spain? Share your opinion with us!

Modern British Families

Read this article from the BBC talking about the new British families. Are these changes also happening in our country? Do you think this is positive or negative, or it is just the way society evolves?

The News: First patients welcome the 'paid factura' given to them in Andaucian hospitals.

Read more

Glossary:

invoice (n) - bill
to praise - to approve
to lauch - to start
scheme (n) - model
to issue - to publish

The News: Legionnaire's disease in Madrid

Two dead and 27 affected by outbreak of Legionnaire's Disease in Madrid. Read more. 

Did Alberto Contador cheat?

Alberto Contador was accused of dopping some weeks ago. Do you think he's innocent or he cheated?