Agatha Christie and crime novelists

Agatha Christie (1890-1976)

Agatha Christie was born in Devon (UK) and is one of the best-known crime novelists in the world. The Guinness World Record book lists her as one of the best-selling novelists of all times. She was a fan of Sherlock Holmes’s novels. The main characters of her novels are Hercules Poirot and Miss Marple, who try to solve the mysteries and murders they come across. Her life was also full of mystery: she disappeared for ten days in 1926, leaving only a note to her secretary. Her car was found empty and she appeared at hotel with a fake name. The MI5 also investigated Agatha Christie because they thought she was breaking secret codes.

Some other authors and stories you might enjoy are:

• ·         Sir Arthur Conan Doyle– he wrote the Sherlock Holmes’s series.
• ·         P.D. James .
• ·         Raymond Chandler –author of The Big Sleep, whose main character is detective Marlowe .
• Edgar Allan Poe - Tales of Mystery and Imagination
• ·         Ruth Rendell.
• ·         The TV series Murder, she wrote – Angela Lansbury featuring as Jessica Fletcher.

    Here you have a link to the full Wikipedia article:

         Agatha Christie

   

   You can also watch the full episodes of the Miss Marple series on YouTube:

    

   Miss Marple (BBC series)

   And, finally a list with the Top 100 Crime Stories of All Times:

   Top 100 Crime Novels

Reported Speech - answer key (2º Bachillerato B)

21. He suggested that I should cut my hair.
22. The boy asked if he could have more pudding.
23. The doctor told him not to take more than two of those at once.
24. One of the students suggested that I shouldn't leave my money lying about.
25. He told me (or "us") to keep an eye on my (or "our") luggage because that place was full of thieves.
26. My assistant suggested that s/he should take her/ his day off.
27. Mrs Jones said that someone was trying to murder her as she kept getting threatening letters.
28. She said that she had to hurry because her father always got furious if any of them were late for meals.
29. He said that he usually took his dog out for a walk when he came home form work.
30. I asked (them) where they were going for their summer holidays.

History of Halloween

The origin of Halloween is the Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in). The Celts lived 2000 years ago in Ireland, the UK and Northern France. It was the beginning of the dark, cold winter and they believed that on that night the ghosts of the dead returned to the earth. 

Much later - by the 9th century - the influence of Christianity turned this festival of Samhain into the night before All Saints' Day (in medieval English, All Hallowed's Day) and the night before it Halloween (roughly, from hallowed + evening).

There is a link to an in-depth history of Halloween below:

History of Halloween (history.com)

And a two-minute video which tells the history of Halloween:

The Jack O' Lantern

The carved pumpkin comes from the Irish folktale of "Stingy Jack". Jack had a drink with the Devil, but he didn't want to pay. He played some tricks on the devil for years and finally died. God didn't want Jack to enter heaven and the Devil didn't want him in hell, either. The Jack O' Lantern is the representation of Jack wandering the earth ever since.

You can read the full story here:

"Stingy Jack" and the Jack O' Lantern

Grammar woksheet - answer key (2º ESO F)

1. 1 Y. has a shower at 8am
2 B&M don't  like going shopping.
3 U. lives near the beach.
4 K. watches TV in the evenings.
5 S. doesn't finish his homework before 6pm.

2. 1 Does... have? Yes, she does.
2 Do... like? No, they don't.
3 Does... live? Yes, he does.
4 Does... watch? Yes, he does.
5 Does... finish? No, he doesn't.

3. 1 do you do
2 don't get up
3 finishes
4 has
5 doesn't like
6 love
7 do you relax
8 do
9 watches
10 listen

4. 1 often
2 always
3 never
4 almost never
5 usually
6 sometimes

5. 1 H. usually listens to heavy metal music.
2 I'm never happy in math lessons.
3 F. always chats on the Internet at weekends.
4 S. often goes swimming.
5 P. is almost never late.
6 K. sometimes des her homework on the bus.

6. 1 I -- her
2 They -- We -- them -- us
3 He -- We -- him

How to introduce the "tick" symbol in a document

Hi everyone!

It's sometimes difficult to introduce  a "tick" in a Word document since not all fonts offer this possibility. I have found a way to do so - maybe you know an easier one!

First of all, you have to select "Windings" as your font:

This doesn't imply that all your document has to be written in this font.

Once you've done so, click on "Insert">"Symbol". Symbol 252 for this font is our beloved "tick". See the image below:

Now you can use it. After you've used it once, it will be saved as a frequent symbol and, therefore, you'll have quicker access to it.

I hope you've found this entry useful!

Vocabulary & Grammar reinforcement and reference books

Here you have some books which you may find helpful:

• English Grammar for ESO (1st and 2nd cycle). Burlington Books
• New English Grammar for Bachillerato. Burlington Books
• Essential Grammar In Use. Cambridge U. P. 
• English Grammar In Use. Cambridge U. P. 
• Advanced Grammar In Use. Cambridge U. P. (only if you want to extend your knowledge in English grammar!)
• English Vocabulary In Use. (Three levels: elementary/ pre-intermediate & intermediate/ upper-intermiediate & advanced). Cambridge U. P.

Most of these books have self-study editions with answer keys.

"So far away" (2º ESO F)

Here you can see the video of the song we have listened to in class:

And here is a photomontage with lyrics - and better sound!

I hope you enjoy the song. Have a good bank holiday!!