English language learning resources

For more English language learning resources on the web, look at the Internexus London website and click on study.

MY HOME TOWN - ARTICLE EXERCISE

MY HOME TOWN – ARTICLES

In the spaces write either A, AN, THE or leave it blank:

VAHE

My home city is ___ capital of ___ Armenia. ___ city, which is called ___ Erevan, has ___ many places of ___ interest, like ___ museums, ___ old churches, ___ theatres, ___ restaurants, and ___ shops. It is surrounded by ___ high mountains, which make ___ deep impression on all ___ visitors and ___ tourists. ___ city’s population is about 1.6 million. ___ city is situated in ___ South West of ___ Armenia. There are ___ three lakes in ___ middle of ___ city and also ___ big forests.

MELIS

I live in ___ city of ___ Istanbul, which is situated in ___ North West of ___ Turkey. ___ population is about 5 million. It is about 250 kilometres from ___ capital city.

Istanbul has ___ beautiful coast and there is ___ bridge, called ___ Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge that joins ___ European and Asian sides. On ___ coast of ___European side there are ___ lots of mosques which are very old and historical. Lots of ___ tourists come to visit these mosques. They are really beautiful.

There are lots of things to see in ___ Istanbul, such as ___ museums or ___ palaces, from which we can learn about our ancestors. These are ___ good places to discover more about ___ Istanbul’s history.

There are lots of ___ really good universities and there are lots of ___ other amenities like ___ restaurants, ___ cinemas, and ___ shopping centres. It’s ___ good place to live.

NADYA

I live in ___ town of Saltka, which is situated in ___ middle of my country, in ___ South of ___ Urals, about 360 kilometres from ___ Ural capital, Ekaterinburg. Saltka has ___ population of about 80,000.

Saltka is situated on ___ edge of ___ small lake, and at ___ foot of ___ Ural mountains. It is located within ___ industrial complex which produces ___ fire-proof material. ___ industrial complex covers ___ whole town and about half of ___ population work there.

My home town is very small and there isn’t ___ lot to see. ___ Satka is not ___ tourist town so there aren’t any ___ tourists.

___ town is divided into___ there parts: ___ old part, new part, and western part. ___ new part is situated in ___ centre of town. It’s ___ nice place to live, but ___ little bit expensive.

We’ve got just one university so there aren’t ___ lot of students. In Satka there are plenty of ___ amenities like ___ restaurants, ___ cinemas, and ___ nightclubs. It’s ___ good place to live.

You can find they key to this exercise here.

Carbon Footprints

There's a nice worksheet that I'll make available in class and it's based on an article about the carbon footprints of businesses. You can explore the idea of carbon footprints in more detail from the following links:

http://www.carbonfootprint.com/green_energy.html
http://www.nrel.gov/
http://www.safeclimate.net/understanding/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_footprint

TESCO – THE RISKY STEP OF ENTERING THE US MARKET

This article is about UK supermarket giant Tesco. The most important news in it is about its risky step of entering the US market. Firstly, the company’s chief executive Terry Leahy said that they’ve researched the market for many years. Secondly, we get information for Tesco like it is the dominant supermarket in the UK. After that I read that the company has a presence in 12 countries outside the UK, mainly in Asia and central Europe. Finally, I saw information for the percentage of global GDP and also that it will be quite risky to enter the US market.

• Why is Tesco the dominant supermarket in the UK?

• Is it a too risky for Tesco to set up stores in the US?

SPAM WATCHDOG CALLS FOR MORE POWERS

According to reports, government inaction is preventing the prosecution of people who send bad, unwanted e-mails. The Information Commissioner’s Office wants to regulate and protect information and electronic communication, but it hasn’t got the power to prosecute the people who create unwanted e-mail. R Thomas said that they were still calling for further powers, which the Department of Trade and Industry was aware of. He also said that they wanted strong powers for taking action. The only success was a private action taken by Channel Islands businessman Nigel Roberts against a Scottish company. Spam messages, used to increase criminal activity, are estimated to account for around 60% of e-mail that arrives in our inboxes. In 2003 it became illegal to send unsolicited e-mails. In the US more than £6.4 billion in fines has been given to e-mail marketers as a result of the controversial situation, but the problem of unsolicited mail remains.

• what’s wrong with SPAM?

• how should spammers be punished?

OBESITY CRISIS PROMPTS LEADING FOOD FIRMS TO ADD HEALTH HABITS

Summary One

This article is about the production of colour labels which could help to protect people from obesity and diet-related illnesses.

THE FSA suppose that people will pay attention to which kind of food it is, “good” or “bad”. Consumers agree with this because they want to know what amounts of fat the food contain. However, in the case of colour labelling, the same problem exists. The main problem is that some companies wouldn’t agree with this program, so they will be under pressure and the companies will have greater change in sales and profits.

Summary Two

The text is about fear of growing obesity and diet-related illnesses. Because of this labels will be put on the front of food products. Some famous companies have already signed an agreement to give more information about the nutritional values of their wares. The plan has been announced and this spring the brands will publish how many calories and how much fat and sugar that their products include. The manufacturers are following pressure from the media and government. They had two schemes, one of which is colour coding while the other is a traffic light system. The Pepsico’s chief spoke yesterday and explained about the labels – and they will sign up to the GDA’s scheme. The consumers want to learn how much fat and sugar the products have and they want a trusted source. The head of Kraft said the labels will benefit consumers.

- What do you think about the health labels?

FREE FRUIT AND VEG SCHEME HITS PROBLEMS

FREE FRUIT AND VEG SCHEME FOR YOUNG PUPILS HITS PROBLEMS


The government’s programme to promote fruit and vegetables in schools has been hit by an official evaluation that suggests it has made significant impact on children’s consumption.  Staff managing the five-a-day healthy eating promotion and fruit and vegetable schemes – Labour’s most important public health scheme to date since the Department of Health imposed a moratorium on the programme.  Many people have left for other jobs.  The national school fruit and vegetable scheme provides a free piece of fruit or vegetable every day to two million children between the ages of four and six in more than sixteen thousands schools.  The total cost of the scheme in 2004-05 was £29 million and expected to be £27 million in 2006-07.  The health secretary promised to double the budget for health promotion over the next ten years.

• Is a healthy diet the key to a healthy life?

• How could governments improve the diet of children without spending quite so much money?

HOPE FOR PEOPLE WITH TB

HOPE FOR PEOPLE WITH TUBERCULOSIS

This article tells us about the big problem with a significant increase in the number of TV patients.  The problem is very important and needs urgent help and a lot of money for drugs.  That’s why it is interesting to know that there is a plan for cutting deaths from TB by 14 million over the next 10 years.  This is the reason why the Chancellor, Gordon Brown, is joining Microsoft boss Bill Gates to launch this world plan.  The writer tells us that Great Britain will making fighting tuberculosis a top priority.  The plan is especially fundamental for Africa.

• Should the world’s wealthier countries be obliged to help developing countries fight social and medical problems?

• What are the benefits of having a famous figure like Bill Gates involved in a plan like this?

MPS DECLARE WAR ON SUPERMARKET GIANTS

MPS DECLARE WAR ON POWER OF THE SUPERMARKET GIANTS

This article is about big supermarkets.  They are becoming more and more powerful and they are taking control of other markets – and nowadays the other markets flout restrictions.  They’ll fight off plans to increase business tax rates.  When labour first cam to power the large supermarkets defeated similar proposals and in Britain the biggest retailer, Tesco, controls 30 per cent of the grocery market.  In 2010 Tesco’s market share will be 45%.  The article gives other information about Tesco.  The supermarket chain is aiming to double its 600 small stores.  It is a huge chain and it is aiming to become bigger.  The other smaller supermarkets are not happy to see this.

• Do you think it is good that big supermarkets take control and become bigger?

• What do you think about supermarket chiefs who’ll fight off attempts to increase the rate of business tax?

IELTS Course Materials

You can download word documents of class handouts here.

VIDEO GAME MAKERS SUED OVER SEX SCENES

Los Angeles city is suing the Grand Theft Auto video game makers for hiding sex scenes in its computer code. The game, which is one of a series, is about different kinds of criminal activities in a virtual Los Angeles where the player takes the role of a criminal. In GTA the characters have explicit sex under the control of the player.

After complaints from politicians, the company initially said that the game had been adapted by hackers, but later admitted it had been written n the original code, and that hackers had found the code. More than 35 million copies of GTA have been sold, with global sales approaching $242 billion. Stock in Take Two has fallen from $2430 a share in the last week. The company has not issued a statement since the Los Angeles City attorney took his case to court.

- How can parents and governments prevent children from playing games like Grand Theft Auto?

- Should video games with a violent or sexual theme be censored?

PETNAPPERS SNATCH 150 DOGS A DAY

These days the most common crime is snatching pets. Thieves steal dogs and cats and they demand money to return the pets. Since 2005, this criminal activity has increased fourfold. This is the most important topic these days. You cannot leave your pet in the garden or park and some famous people are victims too, like Liz Hurley. Her dog was stolen. People pay hundreds of pounds to get their pets back and nowadays there is a rescue group who try to find people’s pets. They have found thousands of lost animals. Some people publish their phone numbers so that if someone finds the pub they can call them back. However, a lot of people call the victims just to laugh and make fun of them. This is a really big crime. Usually they want a ransom. People need to be careful.

- What should people do to reduce this crime?
- Do you think people should let their pets walk in the garden without someone near them?

FILESHARING – COMPETITION FOR ARTISTS AND THE PEOPLE WHO INVEST IN THEM

The first part of the article tells me about two men who are sharing pirated songs on the Internet. This text is a warning to those still using peer-to-peer networks not to share pirated tracks on the web. This kind of filesharing is damaging the music industry and stealing the future of artists and the people who invest in them.

- Should it be illegal to share music, films, and games over the Internet?

- What can record companies and the government do to prevent filesharing?

SHOPPING CENTRE WHERE 11-YEAR-OLD BOUGHT HEROIN FOR TEN POUNDS A BAG

I read the article about the 11-year-old girl who went to hospital with drug withdrawal symptoms after smoking heroin. The article tells us that she was buying the drug near the shopping centre in her area. It also shows us a few opinions from which we can see that all the community is in shock. Nobody knows if it is a single issue or whether maybe a lot of children of this age are taking heroin now.

- What can people and the government do to prevent children from taking drugs?

- Should the girl receive any kind of punishment for taking heroin?