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segunda-feira, 18 de outubro de 2010

Jokes - 12

Teacher:  Today, we're going to talk about the tenses. 
                 Now, if I say "I am beautiful," which tense is it?
Student:   Obviously it is the past tense. 


Grammar & Exercises on Halloween

Halloween
Grammar & Exercises

Click on the following links:
http://www.ego4u.com/en/read-on/countries/holidays/halloween/history
http://www.ego4u.com/en/read-on/countries/holidays/halloween/jack-o-lantern

http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises/countries/halloween.htm


http://www.ego4u.com/download/pdf/canterville-ghost.pdf

Topics on American Culture - Halloween

Halloween History & Origin

Halloween is the one of the oldest holidays still celebrated today. It's one of the most popular holidays, second only to Christmas. While millions of people celebrate Halloween without knowing its origins and myths, the history and facts of Halloween make the holiday more fascinating.
Some people view Halloween as a time for fun, putting on costumes, trick-or-treating, and having theme parties. Others view it as a time of superstitions, ghosts, goblins and evil spirits that should be avoided at all costs.
As the Christian debate goes on, celebrating Halloween is a preference that is not always viewed as participating in an evil holiday. Halloween is often celebrated with no reference to pagan rituals or the occult.

Halloween History

Halloween is on October 31st, the last day of the Celtic calendar. It was originally a pagan holiday, honoring the dead. Halloween was referred to as All Hallows Eve and dates back to over 2000 years ago.
All Hallows Eve is the evening before All Saints Day, which was created by Christians to convert pagans, and is celebrated on November 1st. The Catholic church honored saints on this designated day.

Origin of Halloween

While there are many versions of the origins and old customs of Halloween, some remain consistent by all accounts. Different cultures view Halloween somewhat differently but traditional Halloween practices remain the same.
Halloween culture can be traced back to the Druids, a Celtic culture in Ireland, Britain and Northern Europe. Roots lay in the feast of Samhain, which was annually on October 31st to honor the dead.
Samhain signifies "summers end" or November. Samhain was a harvest festival with huge sacred bonfires, marking the end of the Celtic year and beginning of a new one. Many of the practices involved in this celebration were fed on superstition.
The Celts believed the souls of the dead roamed the streets and villages at night. Since not all spirits were thought to be friendly, gifts and treats were left out to pacify the evil and ensure next years crops would be plentiful. This custom evolved into trick-or-treating.

Paul McCartney - Ebony and Ivory

Song of the Week

Ebony and Ivory
by Paul McCartney



The Time Machine - Video

Video of the Week

The Time Machine
by H. G. Wells






For the other parts, click on the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmFxri4KQnU&feature=related

The Time Machine - Book

Book of the Week

The Time Machine
by H. G. Wells

O personagem conhecido apenas como "O Viajante do Tempo", desenvolve, com base em conceitos matemáticos, uma máquina capaz de se mover pela Quarta Dimensão, nesse caso considerada como a dimensão do tempo. Com ela, viaja até ao ano de 802.701 onde encontra os Elóis, pacíficos e dóceis remanescentes dos humanos, aparentemente vivendo num mundo paradisíaco, sem qualquer tipo de preocupações até perceber que os mesmos na realidade servem de alimentos para uma outra raça, os Morlock, que vivem no subterrâneo e que, apesar de outrora terem sido dominados pelos Elóis, na época o mesmo já não acontecia.

To download a free PDF version of this book choose from one of these links:
http://www.planetpdf.com/planetpdf/pdfs/free_ebooks/The_Time_Machine_NT.pdf

http://www.fourmilab.ch/etexts/www/wells/timemach/timemach.pdf

For a summary and some exercises, click on this link:
http://us.penguingroup.com/static/pdf/teachersguides/timemachine.pdf

For an audio book, click on this link:
http://librivox.org/the-time-machine-by-hg-wells/

Pancake - Recipe

Recipe of the Week
Pancakes
Ingredients
For the pancake mixture:
220g/8oz plain flour, sifted
pinch of salt
2 eggs
1 pint of milk
50g/2oz butter

Makes about 8 pancakes


Method for making the batter
  1. Sift the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl with a sieve held high above the bowl so the flour gets a airing.

  2. Make a well in the centre of the flour and break the eggs into it.

  3. Whisk the eggs making sure any bits of flour from around the edge of the bowl are mixed in with the egg.

  4. Gradually add small quantities of the milk, still whisking

  5. Continue whisking until the batter is smooth, with the consistency of thin cream.

  6. Melt the 50g/2oz of butter in a non-stick frying pan.

  7. Spoon 2 tbsp of the melted butter into the batter and whisk it in.

  8. Let the pancake mix stand for at least 30 minutes before cooking.

  9. Pour any left over butter into a dish. This will be used later to grease the frying pan after each pancake has been made.

  10. Make sure the non-stick frying pan is really hot before adding about 2 tbsp of the batter mixture.

  11. As soon as the batter hits the hot pan, tip the pan around from side to side to get the base evenly coated with batter.

  12. Carefully lift the edge of the cooked pancake with a palette knife to see if it's tinged gold as it should be.

  13. Flip the pancake over with a pan slice or palette knife to cook the other side

  14. Slide it out of the pan onto a plate.

  15. Stack the pancakes as you make them between sheets of greaseproof paper on a plate.
batter mixture
pour batter into the frying pan
pancake in frying pan

To serve
Traditionally pancakes are sprinkled with caster sugar and freshly squeezed lemon juice .......

lemonsqueeze a lemon

....and rolled

pancake rolled

Other favourite toppings include
  • Melted chocolate or chocolate spread
  • Chocolate spread with slices of banana
  • Jam especially strawberry jam
  • Golden Syrup
  • Ice Cream
  • Toffee sauce and whipped cream
 http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/pancakeday/recipe.html