English for slow business

    They say we are always being watched. Some argue it is governments that sneak into our houses and into our lives using technological devices. Others suggest it is big, private organizations in need of our data. The fact is that our privacy is no longer ours and it is at the mercy of those who may use it against us.     But all the information that billions of privacies in the world can provide is of little or no use without a proper classification. We are then being filed into categories according to our likes, practices and routines. One of these classifications may include the use we make of pornography. Do you watch porn? If so, how often?, What kind of porn?, and so on. Then if the answer to the first question is Yes, and the answer to the second question is quite often we may be labelled harmless . Why? Because porn is harmless by definition. Porn is about the show and not about understanding the complexities of th...

    It is X time in the morning, or afternoon, or evening, and everytime I switch on the TV there is one or two men in full military atire behind a stand giving information about the Covid-19 crisis. I understand that the point is social control. Nothing new under the sun . In a situation of unprecedented crisis there is a lack of language or metaphors that we can use, so fear and control come handy. Let’s draw on our previous experience, centuries of warfare, of peoples fighting each other, a world of frontiers that had to be defended against physical enemies coming from all sides. History books are rife with battles, massacres, attackers and defenders, victories and defeats. That is the language that we have been taught and the language that makes the world understandable.     On the other side, people do not trust politicians anymore, that’s what polls say. The causes for this may be too long to discuss now but we can just jot dow...

Text 1  Read the text and write a sentence to summarise each paragraph. 1. _______________________________________________    More deadly and destructive deseases will follow the coronavirus pandemic if we do not stop the destruction of the natural world. We are the only species responsible for the Covid-19 pandemic. The economic model that gives priority to economic growth is the responsible. A recent survey led by professors Settele, Díaz and Bronzino concluded that human society is in danger from the accelerating deterioration of the Earth’s natural life systems. 2. _________________________________________________________    Human activities bring more people into contact and conflict with wild animals, from which 70% of human deseases originate. Urbanisation and the explosive growth of global air travel enables a virus in Asian bats to bring chaos around the world. Yet Covid-19 may be only the beginning.  3. _______________________...

   This year is different. Spring has come and despite the good weather we have to be at home.  But Spring is always a time of celebration and metaphors. Our ancestors believed that life responded to the cycles of the sun and so after the darkness of winter here came again the birth in Spring. Life then was cyclic and had a rythmic repetion.    Spring is  represented in northern hemisphere cultures by metaphors that represent light and life. Officially Spring starts on  21st of March but festivities that celebrate the birth of the Sun do not take that date into consideration and we can consider Sant Valentine's day on the 14th of February celebrating love a Spring festivity, or the Carnival . But the Christian calendar has  Easter, which commemorates  the death and resurrection of Jesuschrist as the most important celebration.  Now, read the following text and answer the questions; Spring Equinox. 1. Why does it refer only to th...

READING COMPREHENSION. Pre-reading. 1.What can you see in the picture? 2. This picture was taken from a video that got viral and circulated in watspat recently? Have you seen it? Do you know the story? 3. What other videos or pictures did you get? Choose just three or four, those you consider more interesting? 4. How did you feel the first week of lock down? Did you feel different the second week? The third? Have your feelings, attitudes, routines changed from the beginning till present day? How? 5. I am sure your parents, grandparents or great grandparents have told you about the Spanish Civil War? Can you find an image that represents that War? Look on the internet , copy and paste on your task document. 6- Do you know, remember, any important historical events? Do you link them to a particular image? 7- What is the Cold War?  7- Vocabulary. Find the meaning of the words in bold before reading the text. Make a list. Read the test.     Dr...

How does the economy work? Economics is a complicated subject. To make things easier imagine a  simple example. Samuel Greedy founds a bank in el Dorado, California. A. Stone, a building contractor finishes his first big job and receives a payment in cash of  $1 million. He deposits this sum in Mr Greedy’s bank. The bank now has $ 1 million in capital. Jane McDoughnut wants to set a restaurant in El Dorado. She doesn’t have enough money   so she goes to the bank and presents her business plan.She gets $1 million loan. McDoughnut now hires Stone to build her new restaurant. His price is $1 million. She pays him.  -How much money does Stone in his bank account? (1)____________________ - How much money (cash) is located in the bank? (2) ______________________ But it doesn’t stop here. Two months later Stone informs McDoughnut that, due to problems  and expenses, the bill for c...