Podcast exercise.

In this part, you will hear four speakers. Each speaker talks about a related topic. In this example all the speakers are talking about holidays. Read the questions carefully before you listen. You can listen to the audio twice. You will hear four short exctracts in which the members of the group are talking about their recent holidays or break.

Can you match each type of holiday with the correct speaker? 

a) A stay with the relatives.
b) A break at home
c) A cottage holiday
d) A walking holiday

READ THIS MYSTERIOUS QUEEN PIECE OF ARTICLE AND ANSWER THE QUESTIONS:

Christie was probably the most successful writer in history. She wrote 78 crime novels, six other novels, 150 short stories, four non-fiction books and 19 plays. That represents two billion books sold: more than William Shakespeare!
Christie became a writer by accident. She was bored when her husband was away in the First World War. Agatha was working in a hospital dispensary (which is where she learned all the information about poisons that she used in her books). She decided to write a novel to pass the time. She chose a detective novel because she loved reading them. Her first novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, was an instant success. Each book had a new ingenious plot. Readers loved the books, particularly because Christie always gave the readers all the information they needed to find the solution.
Christie loved travelling. When she became rich she could go all over the world. She used the travels in her writing. Agatha Christie died in 1976, but her stories are still immensely popular. Many have been adapted for film or television. 

MYSTERY QUEEN

Quiz

 

1. Who was 'Christie'?
   1.   A famous singer
   2.   A famous writer
   3.   A famous car driver
2. What was her first name?
   1.   Sarah
   2.   Agatha
   3.   Sandra
3. She only wrotes novels
   1.   False
   2.   True
4. Christie became a writer because it was her favourite hobby
   1.   True
   2.   False
5. Why did she know a lot of things about poisons?
   1.   Because her father was a doctor
   2.   Because she worked in a hospital during WWI.
   3.   Because she was ill
6. What was the title of her first book?
   1.   'The Mysterious Affair at Styles'
   2.   'War'
   3.   'The Mysterious Prison'
7. Her first book was not a success
   1.   True
   2.   False
8. Why did readers like her novels?
   1.   Because they could find who was guilty
   2.   Because her books contained great love stories
   3.   Because the story was easy to understand
9. What did she do when she became rich?
   1.   She travelled out
   2.   She ate a lot
   3.   She drank a lot
10. When did she die?
    1.   In 1966
    2.   In 1976
    3.   In 1986

Question tags.

Question tags are short questions at the end of statements.

They are mainly used in speech when we want to:

• confirm that something is true or not, or
• to encourage a reply from the person we are speaking to.

Question tags are formed with the auxiliary or modal verb from the statement and the appropriate subject.

A positive statement is followed by a negative question tag.

• Jack is from Spain, isn't he?
• Mary can speak English, can't she?

A negative statement is followed by a positive question tag.

• They aren't funny, are they?
• He shouldn't say things like that, should he?

When the verb in the main sentence is in the present simple we form the question tag with do / does.

• You play the guitar, don't you?
• Alison likes tennis, doesn't she?

If the verb is in the past simple we use did.

• They went to the cinema, didn't they?
• She studied in New Zealand, didn't she?

When the statement contains a word with a negative meaning, the question tag needs to be positive

• He hardly ever speaks, does he?
• They rarely eat in restaurants, do they?

Exceptions

Some verbs / expressions have different question tags. For example:

I am - I am attractive, aren't I?

Positive imperative - Stop daydreaming, will / won't you?

Negative imperative - Don't stop singing, will you?

Let's - Let's go to the beach, shall we?

Have got (possession) - He has got a car, hasn't he?

There is / are - There aren't any spiders in the bedroom, are there?

This / that is - This is Paul's pen, isn't it?

Intonation

When we are sure of the answer and we are simply encouraging a response, the intonation in the question tag goes down:

• This is your car, isn't it?
  (Your voice goes down when you say isn't it.)

When we are not sure and want to check information, the intonation in the question tag goes up:

• He is from Chile, isn't he?
  (Your voice goes up when you say isn't he.)

Let's practice:  

THE BERMUDA TRIANGLE

The Bermuda Triangle (also known as the Devil’s Triangle) is a stretch of the Atlantic Ocean bordered by a line from Florida to the islands of Bermuda, to Puerto Rico and then back to Florida. It is one of the biggest mysteries of our time- that perhaps isn’t really a mystery. The term ‘Bermuda Triangle’ was first used in an article written by Vincent H. Gaddis for Argosy magazine in 1964.

Here, dozens of ships and airplanes have disappeared. Unexplained circumstances surround some of these accidents, including one in which the pilots of a squadron of U.S. Navy bombers became disoriented while flying over the area; the planes were never found. Other boats and planes have also disappeared from the area in good weather without even radioing distress messages.

This area covers about 500,000 square miles of ocean off the south Eastern tip of Florida. When Christopher Columbus sailed through the area on his first voyage to the New World, he reported that a great flame of fire (probably a meteor) crashed into the sea one night and that a strange light appeared in the distance a few weeks later. He also wrote about erratic compass readings, perhaps because at that time a sliver of Bermuda Triangle was one of the few places on Earth where true north and magnetic north line up.

But why do ships and planes seem to go missing in the region??? Some authors claimed that it may be due to a magnetic anomaly that affects compass readings. Others say that methane eruptions from the ocean floor may suddenly be turning the sea into a froth that can’t support s ship’s weight so it sinks. Also, several books have gone as far as conjecturing that the disappearances are due to an intelligent, tecnologically advanced race living in space or under the sea.

Would you now dare to cross the Bermuda Triangle?

THE BERMUDA TRIANGLE

Quiz

 

1. What is it?
   1.   A stretch of the Atlantic Ocean.
   2.   A ship.
   3.   An airline company.
2. What is the most known disparition?
   1.   US Navy planes
   2.   US Navy ships
   3.   US Navy trains
3. It was the first incident in this area.
   1.   True
   2.   False
4. What is the other name of the Bermuda Triangle?
   1.   Islands of Bermuda
   2.   Devil's Triangle
   3.   Florida
5. How many square miles of ocean covers this Triangle?
   1.   About five thousand.
   2.   About five hundred.
   3.   About five hundred thousand.
6. There is not any possible theory that explains this.
   1.   True
   2.   False
7. Who was the first person using this term?
   1.   Argosy
   2.   Vincent H. Gaddis
8. This legend is over. Nobody believes it anymore.
   1.   True
   2.   False

Sources:

http://www.history.com/topics/bermuda-triangle

http://www.unmuseum.org/triangle.htm