Reading comprehension: Two nuns steal money to spend in Las Vegas

PRE-READING:

• Some vocabulary:
• gamble: to play at a game of chance for money (like lottery or the roulette)
• funds: money
• remorse: deep regret for having done something wrong
• principal: director; manager (of a school)
• charges: accusations
• priest: clergyman, cleric
• parish: parochial unit
• parishioners: the people belonging to a parochial unit
• prayer: supplication to God
• audit: inspection
• tuition: classes; teaching
• findings: discovery
• Notes: 
• This is a real story from December 2018.

READ THE FOLLOWING TEXT:

Two nuns admit stealing cash for Vegas gambling trips

Two nuns who worked at a Catholic school in California have admitted stealing about $500,000  and using it to gamble in Las Vegas.

Image by BrendelSignature - CC BY-SA 3.0

Sisters Mary Kreuper and Lana Chang took the money from St James' Catholic School in the city of Torrance, near Los Angeles, to spend in casinos.

The pair, who are said to be best friends, took funds from an account holding tuition fees and donations.

The sisters, who recently retired, have expressed remorse for their actions.

Mary Kreuper was the school principal for 29 years, while Lana Chang worked as a teacher for about 20 years. They are thought to have stolen the money over a period of at least a decade to spend on travel and gambling.

On Monday, St James' Catholic Church said the nuns had expressed "deep remorse" over their actions, adding that while the police had been informed, no criminal charges would be brought against the pair.

"The Sisters have confirmed the misappropriation of funds and have co-operated in the investigation," the sisters' order, the Sisters of St Joseph of Carondelet, said on its website.

"Our community is worried and saddened by this situation and regret any injury to our long relationship with the families of the school," it added.

The priest of the church, Monsignor Michael Meyers, wrote in a letter to parishioners: "Sister Mary Margaret and Sister Lana have expressed to me and asked that I express to you, the deep remorse they each feel for their actions and ask for your forgiveness and prayers."

The Archdiocese of Los Angeles said the church discovered that the money was missing during a routine audit.

The nuns were able to hide their actions by depositing a number of cheques made out to the school for tuition and other fees into a separate bank account not used by the school.

Parents were  informed about the findings earlier this month.

Text adapted from: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-46515908

AFTER YOU READ THE TEXT:

Answer these questions:

1. How do the nuns feel now, according to the article?
2. How did people react to this discovery (the community, parents, ecclesiastical authorities...)?
3. In your opinion, what will happen to the nuns?
4. Imagine you are one of the nuns. Write a 100-150 letter to a friend telling him/her about this event and how you are feeling now.

Travelling by plane

Buying an-airline-ticket-conversation-topics-dialogs-role-plays-drama-and-i 56777 from Ana Arias Castro

Conversation in a_travel_agent's from Ana Arias Castro

One Hundred Million Crabs

Idioms for all seasons

The Saxon genitive

The Saxon genitive is a structure that indicates possession:

FORM

• Add 's after the possessor:
• Mandy's car
• The women's room
• The queen's jewels
• Add 's after the plural and after endings in 's':
• My friends' house
• Her granparents' car
• Lewis' job
• Frances' boat
• Add 's after the possessor's name, or use a possessive pronoun:
• A friend of my mother's (=one of my mother's friends)
• A friend of your teachers' (=one of your teachers' friends)
• Some expression take the possessive form (without the noun):
• We went to Peter's
• At the Simpson's
• At the doctor's
• Macy's

USE

• It tends to be used if possessors are people, animals or institutions:
• the cat's tail
• Mary's supermarket
• the government's proposal
• But remember:
• the leg of the table
• the end of the process
• the boot of the car

VIDEO

EXERCISE

Now try to describe who's who in the British Royal family:

taken from http://www.henry4school.fr/UK/monarchy/pdf/The%20British%20Royal%20Family%20Tree.pdf

And who's who in the Spanish Royal Family?

from bbc.co.uk

JUST SOME EXAMPLES:

Idiomatic pairs

Expression: to go back on your word

from BBC Learning English

Techniques to learn English

The BBC Learning English website will give you some hints about how to improve the way you learn English. Just have a look:

Scotland and the United Kingdom for CLIL students

HISTORY

map from the BBCwebsite

1. 1603 - Elizabeth I, England's virgin queen, died childless and her heir was James VI of Scotland. He moved his court to London.
2. 1605 - Some Catholic men tried to murder the King and blow up the Parliament because they feared their religion was threatened by this Protestant king. Guy Fawkes and the rest of the conspirers were executed. Nowadays Guy Fawkes night is celebrated with bonfires all over Britain.
3. 1650 - The limits to Scotland's freedom, and its ability to lord it over its southern neighbour, were radically re-defined during the period of religious ferment thrown up by the English Civil War. Oliver Cronwell became a very powerful man. Eventually, Charles I was executed and many Scots backed his son Charles II but they were defeated by Cromwell's forces at the Battle of Dunbar in 1650. The age of the Stuart kings was dead and buried. The puritan Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland had arrived.
4. 1707 - Scotland's century of semi-detachment, sharing a monarch but chaving its own parliament, came to an end in a period of poor harvests. A union of the Scottish and English Parliaments was reached and power moved to Westminster, in London.
5. 1745 - Many Scots missed their independence and these Jacobites tried to restore the Stuart Monarchy but they were beaten.
6. 1797 - Curing the Enlightenment period there were many prominent Scottish intellectuals such as Adam Smith, David Hume and James Hutton.
7. 1820 - There was social struggle over economic hardship, led by Andrew Hardie and John Baird but they were executed and the rising was over.
8. 1885 - The post of Secretary of Scotland was re-established and the Scottish Office was created to administer central government functions in Scotland. Scotland had its own identity, recognised by the state, but firmly part of the United Kingdom.
9. 1922 - Culture was meant to create a Scottish identity and there was a revival of Scottish literature. Hugh MacDiarmid became, in 1928, a founding member of the National Party of Scotland, the forerunner of the present Scottish National Party.
10. 1979 - The idea of getting higher levels of independence from the Union led many to think of a referendum on devolution.
11. 1997 - Tony Blair's Labour Party let the Scottish electorate decide on having their own parliament. Two years later, the parliament was a reality. Scotland had its own distinctive voice within the United Kingdom.
12. 2011 - In 2011 under the proportional system used to elect members of the Scottish Parliament, the SNP won an overall majority.
13. 2014 - The Referendum to vote for or agains independence will take place on the 18th of September.

text adapted from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-16649184

REASONS FOR AND AGAINST THE INDEPENDENCE

from http://www.independentscotland.org/content/voting-no-for-scottish-independence.htm
and http://www.independentscotland.org/content/voting-yes-for-scottish-independence.htm

MAIN SCOTTISH INVENTIONS

• criminal fingerprinting (1880, by Surgeon Dr Henry Faulds)
• fax machine (1843 to 1846, by Alexander Bain)
• flushing toilet (1775, by Alexander Cumming)
• golf (1672)
• penicillin (1928, by Alexander Fleming)
• radar (1892, by Sir Robert Watson-Watt)
• raincoats (1824, by Charles Macintosh)
• telephone (1876, by Alexander Graham Bell)

read more at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/scottish-independence/11016527/Scottish-independence-what-did-Scotland-ever-bring-to-the-world.html

FOLLOW THE REFERENDUM AT THE BBC NEWS WEBSITE

The most interesting websites for learners of English as a Foreign Language (EFL)

BBC Learning English

• News in levels will help you read news in English at your own level. Once you've understood it you might try a higher level, or the other way round, try the most difficult level and then an easier one.
• Activities for Esl/EFL students offers a wide range of activities, particularly quizzes, which are always fun.
• Isabel Pérez is probably one of the most interesting Spanish websites. You'll find all sorts of grammar and vocabulary exercises but also interesting texts on a variety of topics. It is also a good website for ESL teachers.
• Lyrics Training will let you listen to your favourite songs and learn English at the same time. Our former assistant, Sam, recommended it.
• Five minute English has short articles on different topics that will be useful for language learners, such as the difference between hear and listen to.
• ESL America has lots of activities with audio files so that you can focus on difficult aspects of pronunciation.
• Audio-Lingua has a large selection of mp3 files for learners of many European languages. You'll find files from A1 to C2 levels. Many of them are in English.
• BBC Learning English website has lots of different sections where you can find texts, audio files and activities designed for foreign students of English.
• Duolingo is a great website if you want to learn English (French, German or Portuguese) on your own. It uses translation and dictation as its main activities. It can be useful particularly if you want to reinforce what you have learnt in class. You can register using your Facebook or Google account.
• Newspapers in English. Here you'll find lots of online newspapers to read in English:
• from Spain
• from England A-K
• from England L-Z
• from Ireland
• from other European countries

If you know any other interesting websites that we haven't mentioned, just leave a comment so that we can also include it.  Thanks for your help.

ESO-3 Reading comprehension exercise

Read the text and answer the following questions:

Back Together

Tamara Rabi had no idea Adriana Scott existed until students at a university in Long Island began confusing her with the other girl. The girls were born in Mexico and then adopted by different sets of parents in the US. Tamara grew up with Jewish parents on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Adriana was raised a Catholic in a Long Island suburb of the city. But each girl had no idea she had a twin until Tamara moved to Long Island.  

In 2003 a friend of Adriana's turned up at Tamara's 20th birthday party and could not believe his eyes. Tamara had already noticed how some people on her university campus smiled and said hello, clearly mistaking her for somebody else.

In 2004 they decided to meet so Tamara contacted Adriana by email and soon afterwards they met in a car park. "I didn't know what to say, except hi. I was just in shock to see myself", says Adriana. The funny thing is that they grew up just 20 miles apart.

“We have the same mannerisms, the same interests, the same grades in school," Adriana says.

"We had the same dream when we were younger. It was a nightmare... A really loud noise, followed by a real quiet one," adds Tamara.

Adriana's mother was the only family member on either side who knew she had a twin, but she had no idea where she might be. After agonising over it, she kept it secret to avoid the pain of a possibly fruitless search - a judgement which Adriana agrees with.

"In some ways it's the best of both worlds, as I have a sister but I haven't grown up in a state of sibling rivalry," she says.  

From http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3343763.stm

1. True or false:
• In 2004, Tamara met Adriana.
• Tamara met Adriana at a party.
• Tamara and Adriana are similar.
• Adriana knew she had a twin even before she met Tamara.
• The two girls grew up in different countries.
• They want to be rivals.
2. Answer the following questions:
• Why did people at university stare at them?
• How did Tamara contact Adriana?
• How are Tamara and Adriana similar? Give two examples.
• Why didn't Adriana's mother tell her about her sister?
• How do the girls feel about each other today?
3. Key to this exercise

Holiday English

Most secondary school students in Spain are enjoying their holidays at the moment. If you want to learn some vocabulary about holidays, travel and accommodation,  try this quiz from the BBC Learning English website.

Prepositional phrases

In English there are many common prepositional phrases (phrases that start with a preposition followed by a noun phrase). If you want to learn some of them, you might try this quiz from the BBC Learning English website.

Conversational English

All languages have different registers, formal and informal ones. Conversational English has some commons words and expressions that are useful if we have to speak English in informal contexts. If you want to learn some typical expressions, you might try this quiz from the BBC Learning English website.

Uses of "get"

Some verbs have many different uses and meanings in English. "get" is one of the commonest. If you want to learn some of its uses, try this quiz from the BBC Leaning English website.

Train derailment in Santiago

Fatal train derailment in Santiago de Compostela, near our school.

Over 70 people have died and many more have been injured.

Link to the BBC News article.

Collocations in English

If you want to learn some common collocations in English, try this quiz from the BBC Learning English website, where you'll have to guess six common noun and adjective collocations (nound and adjectives which are usually associated in speech).

Vocabulary about languages

If you want to check the vocabulary you know about languages, this quiz from the BBC Learning English website is a good choice.

Who is Nelson Mandela?

picture from Wikipedia

Nelson Mandela has been one of the most relevant leaders of the 20th century and probably the most significant African one.

He is one of the most important statesmen of the 20th century because of his struggle to replace the apartheid (=racist) regime of South Africa with a multi-racial democracy.

Timeline from BBC News

He is also called Madiba, his clan's name.

He was in prison for over 20 years  because of his struggle against apartheid and soon afterwards he was elected the first black presidents of South Africa, a country with a majority of black population.

More information about Nelson Mandela:

• BBC News
• BBC Primary  History - Nelson Mandela
• Wikipedia

CLIL Social classes in Britain

The BBC website has published an interesting article about social classes in Britain. You can use the social class calculator in order to know which class you fit into. 

The article also tells us about how social classes have changed these last decades. The categories mentioned are related to economic, social and cultural factors.

These are the classes as mentioned in the article:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22000973#gbcs-QuestionsView

• Elite: This is the most privileged class in Great Britain who have high levels of all three capitals. Their high amount of economic capital sets them apart from everyone else.
• Established Middle Class: Members of this class have high levels of all three capitals although not as high as the Elite. They are a gregarious and culturally engaged class.
• Technical Middle Class: This is a new, small class with high economic capital but seem less culturally engaged. They have relatively few social contacts and so are less socially engaged.
• New Affluent Workers: This class has medium levels of economic capital and higher levels of cultural and social capital. They are a young and active group.
• Emergent Service Workers: This new class has low economic capital but has high levels of 'emerging' cultural capital and high social capital. This group are young and often found in urban areas.
• Traditional Working Class: This class scores low on all forms of the three capitals although they are not the poorest group. The average age of this class is older than the others.
• Precariat: This is the most deprived class of all with low levels of economic, cultural and social capital. The everyday lives of members of this class are precarious.