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.

SIMPLE PAST
REGULAR VERBS

En inglés, el pretérito (simple past – pasado simple) es un tiempo gramatical que se utiliza cuando una acción ocurrió y fue completada en el pasado. Esta lección explica como se forma el pretérito en inglés en los verbos regulares.

Para los verbos regulares, el simple past se añade -ed a la forma base del verbo.

base form	+ ed	simple past (pretérito)
walk		walked		caminar
push		pushed		empujar
greet		greeted		saludar
watch		watched		mirar

En inglés, el pasado simple es muy fácil. La conjugación es la misma para todas las personas gramaticales. Aquí hay un ejemplo con el verbo WORK (trabajar).

singular					plural
	subject	verb			subject	verb
1st person	I	worked	yesterday.		We	worked	yesterday.
2nd person	You	worked	yesterday.		You	worked	yesterday.
3rd person	He, She, It	worked	yesterday.		They	worked	yesterday.

Para los verbos regulares terminados en la vocal -e, hay que añadir solamente -d.

base form		simple past
hate		hated		odiar
seize		seized		coger
hope		hoped		esperar
assume		assumed		suponer
tie		tied		amarar
free		freed		liberar

Para los pocos verbos en inglés que terminan con un vocal que no sea -e, hay que añadir -ed.

base form		simple past
ski		skied		esquiar
echo		echoed		resonar

Para verbos regulares que terminan en una vocal + y, hay que añadir -ed.

base form		simple past
play		played		jugar
decay		decayed		descomponer
survey		surveyed		mirar
enjoy		enjoyed		disfrutar

Para verbos regulares que terminan en una consonante+y, hay que cambiar la -y por -i y añadir -ed.

base form		simple past
cry		cried		llorar
dirty		dirtied		ensuciar
ready		readied		preparar
magnify		magnified		magnificar

Para verbos regulares que terminan con una vocal corta seguido por una consonante, hay que doblar la consonante final antes de añadir -ed.

base form		simple past
dam		dammed		represar
beg		begged		rogar
plan		planned		planear
strip		stripped		desnudar

Cuando el verbo regular tiene más que una sílaba, en el inglés americano la consonante final está doblada, pero solamente cuando el acento tónico cae en la última sílaba.

base form		simple past		incorrect
defer		deferred		defered		diferir
regret		regretted		regreted		lamentar
reship		reshipped		reshiped		remandar
compel		compelled		compeled		obligar

En estos ejemplos, el acento tónico no cae en la última sílaba. No hay que doblar el consonante.

base form		simple past		incorrect
orbit		orbited		orbitted		orbitar
listen		listened		listenned		escuchar
travel		traveled		travelled		viajar
consider		considered		considerred		considerar

Aquí hay ejemplos de frases con verbos regulares en el simple past.

present		simple past
I walk to school. Camino a la escuela.		I walked to school. Caminé a la escuela.
She works downtown. Ella trabaja en el centro.		She worked downtown. Trabajó en el centro.
They help on Tuesdays. Nos ayudan los martes.		They helped on Tuesdays. Nos ayudaron los martes.
He asks a lot of questions. Hace muchas preguntas.		He asked a lot of questions. Hizo muchas preguntas.

 

BOXING DAY, ORIGENS

BOXING DAY, ORIGENS

SANTA CLAUS

SANTA CLAUS

CHRISTMAS

CHRISTMAS

Christmas (which means "Feast day of Christ") is a Christian holiday that honors the birth of Jesus (whom Christians believe is the Son of God), and a cultural holiday for non-Christians.[1]

The day known as Christmas Day is celebrated on the 25th day of December. It is one of the most important days of the year for Christians, along with Easter when the death and resurrection of Jesus are celebrated. The season of preparing for Christmas is called Advent and begins on a Sunday about four weeks before Christmas. The Christmas Season (called Christmastide) ends on January 6 or the Twelfth Day of Christmas, in which Epiphany is remembered.

Christmas is celebrated all over the world, as a religious holiday or as a time of celebration by Christians and non-Christians alike. The traditions are different from country to country, but they nearly always include a feast, giving gifts or cards, and enjoying church or public festivities such as singing Christmas carols and songs. Santa Claus is a tradition in many countries of the world.

Christmastime, as it is often called, is in the winter of the Northern Hemisphere, at a time when there were already ancient festivals. Some of the traditions that are used for Christmas are older than Christmas, or come from other non-Christian traditions such as Yule. Modern traditions of Christmas often focus on the giving of gifts. The season for retail stores to sell gifts, food, greeting cards, Christmas trees, and decorations begins the day about

THANKSGIVING

"THANKSGIVING DAY"