GO ON A DIET

GO ON DIET

Esta expresión se utiliza para indicar que estamos a dieta, ideal  aprenderla después de las celebraciones de Navidad y Año nuevo

SHAKESPEARE'S PLAY "TWELFTH NIGHT"

SHAKESPEARE'S PLAY "TWELFTH NIGHT"

Shakespeare's play Twelfth Night, or What You Will was written to be performed as a Twelfth Night entertainment. The earliest known performance took place at Middle Temple Hall, one of the Inns of Court, on Candlemas night, 2 February 1602.[13] The play has many elements that are reversed, in the tradition of Twelfth Night, such as a woman Viola dressing as a man, and a servant Malvolio imagining that he can become a nobleman.

Ben Jonson's The Masque of Blackness was performed on 6 January 1605 at the Banqueting House in Whitehall. It was originally entitled The Twelvth Nights Revells. The accompanying Masque, The Masque of Beauty was performed in the same court the Sunday night after the Twelfth Night in 1608.[14]

Robert Herrick's poem Twelfe-Night, or King and Queene, published in 1648, describes the election of king and queen by bean and pea in a plum cake, and the homage done to them by the draining of wassail bowls of "lamb's-wool", a drink of sugar, nutmeg, ginger and ale.

Charles Dickens' 1843 A Christmas Carol briefly mentions Scrooge and the Ghost of Christmas Present visiting a children's Twelfth Night party.

In Chapter 6 of Harrison Ainsworth's 1858 novel Mervyn Clitheroe, the eponymous hero is elected King of festivities at the Twelfth Night celebrations held in Tom Shakeshaft's barn, by receiving the slice of plum cake containing the bean; his companion Cissy obtains the pea and becomes queen, and they are seated together in a high corner to view the proceedings. The distribution has been rigged to prevent another person gaining the role. The festivities include country dances, and the introduction of a "Fool Plough", a plough decked with ribands brought into the barn by a dozen mummers together with a grotesque "Old Bessie" (played by a man) and a Fool dressed in animal skins with a fool's hat. The mummers carry wooden swords and perform revelries. The scene in the novel is illustrated by Hablot Knight Browne ("Phiz"). In the course of the evening, the fool's antics cause a fight to break out, but Mervyn restores order. Three bowls of gin punch are disposed of, and at eleven o'clock the young men make the necessary arrangements to see the young ladies safely home across the fields.

TWELFTH NIGHT

TWELFTH NIGHT

Twelfth Night is a festival, in some branches of Christianity marking the coming of the Epiphany. Different traditions mark the date of Twelfth Night on either 5th January or 6th January; the Church of England, Mother Church of the Anglican Communion, celebrates Twelfth Night on the 5th and "refers to the night before Epiphany, the day when the nativity story tells us that the three wise men visited the infant Jesus".[1][2][3] In Western Church traditions the Twelfth Night concludes the Twelve Days of Christmas, although in others the Twelfth Night can precede the Twelfth Day.[4] Bruce Forbes wrote that " "In 567 the Council of Tours proclaimed that the entire period between Christmas and Epiphany should be considered part of the celebration, creating what became known as the twelve days of Christmas, or what the English called Christmastide. On the last of the twelve days, called Twelfth Night, various cultures developed a wide range of additional special festivities. The variation extends even to the issue of how to count the days. If Christmas Day is the first of the twelve days, then Twelfth Night would be on January 5, the eve of Epiphany. If December 26, the day after Christmas, is the first day, then Twelfth Night falls on January 6, the evening of Epiphany itself."[5]

A belief has arisen in modern times, in some English-speaking countries, that it is unlucky to leave Christmas decorations hanging after Twelfth Night, a tradition originally attached to the festival of Candlemas (2 February) which celebrates the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple.

CLOTHES

CLOTHES

SIMPLE PAST

Simple Past

En este ejercicio podrás practicar el uso correcto de los verbos.Lee atentamente las oraciones y completa los

recuadros con la forma de Simple Past de los verbos que se encuentran entre paréntesis.

1. Yesterday my father       (go) to work by car.

2. This morning I       (have) a shower.

3. My sister       (not clean) her room on Saturday.

4. The birds       (fly) over our heads.

5. Last week my family       (not buy) a new table for the dining room.

6. The other day, I       (lose) my math's book.

7. I       (tell) my mother a lie.

8. We       (hear) a terrible sound outside last night.

9.       (you see) football match Tuesday night?

10.       Pau (drink) a litre of Coke for lunch yesterday.

(Si necesitas que te lo corrija puedes enviarlo desde el blog)

VERBS IN PAST

WRITE THE VERBS IN PAST

1. He        (write) his homework last Sunday.
2. Mary        (not go) to school last week.
3. You        (play) basketball two weeks ago?
4. I        (study) French last year.
5. They      (buy) a new flat last month.
6. John        (take) his driving test yesterday but he   (not pass) it.
7. Tim        (go) to Paris last summer.
8. Your parents      (meet) at university?
9. When I       (be) a child, I         (speak) German.
10. We        (see) him yesterday but he        (not see) us.

(Si lo deseas puedes hacer el ejercicio y enviarlo para que lo corrija)

EL LADO BUENO DE LAS COSAS

EL LADO BUENO DE LAS COSAS

SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK

ECOSYSTEM

ECOSYSTEM

SILVER LINING

SILVER LINING

La expresión "Silver Lining" significa el "lado bueno de las cosas". Se utiliza de forma más habitual diciendo "EVERY CLOUD HAS ITS SILVER LINING", algo así como: "Toda nube tiene su lado bueno"

FIRST FOOTING

FIRST FOOTING

 First-Footing is the visiting of friends and family immediately after midnight and sees the Scots rushing from house to house to welcome in the New Year. The First-Foot in the house traditionally is a dark, handsome male carrying a piece of coal, whisky, Scottish shortbread and black bun - a rich dark fruitcake encased in pastry. The visitor in return is given a small glass of whisky.

NEW YEAR'S CELEBRATIONS

New Year's Eve in United Kingdom

What do people do?

Many people spend most of December 31 quietly. They may spend time outdoors, reading the reviews of the last year in newspapers or resting in preparation for the New Year's Eve parties that begin in the late afternoon or evening. People who host parties may spend a large part of the day preparing food and arranging drinks. In the evening, New Year's Eve parties usually go on for many hours, well beyond midnight. Some, particularly young people, may choose to spend the evening in pubs, clubs or discos. Although there are many who celebrate the event responsibly with moderate amounts of alcohol, some celebrate the event with large amounts of alcohol, which can lead to fights and other acts of foolishness in the early hours of the morning.

Just before midnight, people turn on a radio or television to see the countdown of the last few minutes of the old year and the display of fireworks just after midnight. At this point, people often hug and kiss each other, even strangers, and many start singing Auld Lang Syne, a poem written by Scottish poet Robert Burns. In Scotland, the Hogmanay celebrations may last for one or two more days, as both January 1 and 2 are bank holidays. In the rest of the United Kingdom, only January 1 is a bank holiday.

In Scotland and some parts of northern England, people may spend the last few hours of December 31 preparing to be or receive first-footers. The first person to cross the threshold of a house after the start of the new year is a first-footer. First-footers are usually men and in different areas have different physical characteristics, such as blond or dark hair, bring different kinds of luck to the household in the coming year. They bring gifts, such as whiskey, shortbread, coal and fruit cake, which are then shared among all of the guests.

Public life

December 31 is not a public holiday. However, schools are closed for the Christmas holidays and many people have a day off work or leave earlier than usual. Stores and post offices are generally open, but may close earlier than usual. Public transport systems may run to their usual schedule, but they may have a reduced service or close down totally in the late afternoon or evening.

In some big cities, public transport services resume services around midnight to enable people attending large scale events to return home safely. Entrance to pubs, clubs and discos may be by invitation or a pre-booked ticket only. Major train and bus stations may be congested as many young people travel to spend New Year's Eve and Day with friends.

Background

Midwinter celebrations have been held by the people of the British Isles since ancient times. These often included parties, special food and large fires to "tempt" the sun to return. After the introduction of Christianity, some aspects of these were included in celebrating Jesus' birth at Christmas. However, this was resisted by the Scottish Presbyterian church. For this reason, Hogmanay was the main winter festival in Scotland until the 1970s. Both Christmas and Hogmanay are now celebrated in Scotland.

Symbols

One of the most widely known symbols of New Year's Eve is the image of the Clock Tower at the Palace of Westminster, in London, counting down the last minutes of the old year. The first chimes of Big Ben, the bell housed in the Clock Tower, in the new year are broadcast live on radio and television. This is followed by a spectacular fireworks performance, often centered on the London Eye, which is claimed to be the largest Ferris wheel in Europe.