EnglishWorld

Xi ‘an's Terracotta Warriors  

            Before the world-famous terracotta warriors were unearthed in 1974, Xi'an was little more than a small provincial town in central China.  Since then it has become one of the most important tourist destinations in the world, and its population today numbers over three million inhabitants.

            The life-size warriors, made out of baked clay, were disco

Post-its

         Post-it notes, those small, yellow sticky pieces of paper which we all use, were not planned but were the result of a failed experiment. A man named Spencer Silver had been working in the 3M research laboratories in 1970, trying to find a strong adhesive. He developed a new type of glue but it was weaker than what 3M already manufactured. It stuck but could easily be lifted off. It was super weak instead of super strong! No o

Some people are prepared to try anything, but I confess that this is not my cup of tea!

Snake Massage

            Massage is the manipulation of soft body tissues with physical and functional purposes and there are over eighty recognised styles of massage, which include accupressure, Shiatsu, Ayurvedic and Swedish massage. Some of the benefits of massage are pain relief and a reduction in levels of anxiety and depression. It is done on special massage tables or ergonomic chairs, and special oils or aromatherapy substances are used in the process.

            A new type of massage i

Spanglish

         During the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, millions of Europeans and Latin Americans went to live in the USA. Within a couple of generations, most of the French, German, Italian and Russian immigrants spoke only English, but many of the Spanish speakers became bilingual.

Hawaii, the Aloha State

This beautiful group of islands lying almost in the centre of the Pacific Ocean is more than just another holiday destination. It is not just  one place. It is a myriad of places with an enormous array of resorts and diversions and each island has something different to offer the visitor. The spirit of Aloha is everywhere. For many people, the mention of Hawaii brings Hon

The Swinging Sixties

            The sixties refers to the decade which started on January 1^st, 1960, and ended on December 31^st, 1969. The term also refers to an era more commonly called ‘The Sixties’, in which a social, political and economic upheaval took place in Europe , the USA and parts of Asia, especially Japan. It is called the swinging sixties because of the libertine attitudes and tendency to drug abuse that emerged at this time. especially among

Tsunamis

           A tsunami is a giant wave that can do huge amounts of damage when it hits land. To see how one starts, throw a stone into a pond or lake, and watch the ripples spread out on the surface of the water. A tsunami, or tidal wave, starts in a similar way, except that it is not caused by a stone, but by something much bigger, such as an earthquake under the sea.

            Once it has started, a tsunami c

Dictation Nº 1                      Chimney Sweeps

         A chimney sweep is a person who cleans chimneys for a living. This job is considered to be one of the oldest in the world.  In the last two hundred years, chimneys grew large enough to hold a man, so this profession developed enormously in the tim

Vampire Bats

         While much of the world sleeps, vampire bats emerge from dark caves,

Curious Food

Balut

Beondegi

Ketchup

Extreme Sports

Parkour

Curious Food

Not everybody eats the same things in different parts of the world. What we eat may seem strange, unusual,

Sharks

Sharks

       Just the mention of the word ’shark’ still strikes fear into the heart of most people. The word evokes images of huge maneaters, like the great white shark in the film ’Jaws’, that attack swimmers and divers, tear them to pieces or even swallow them whole. Such brutal attacks do occur, but very rarely, because sharks attack humans for very specific reasons, which are three. Sharks are territorial creatures, and when we swim in their territory, we are invading it. Divers are especially vulnerable to these attacks. Also, becau

The Tragedy of the Dodo

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Fireworks

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The Potato Crisp    

iPod

         iPod is a brand of portable media players designed and marketed by Apple and launched in October 2001. Devices in the iPod range are primarily digital audio players, designed around a central click wheel.

Army Ants

Volcanoes 

            Today, there are many active volcanoes worldwide. As the world's population grows, more and more people are living in potentially dangerous volcanic areas. Volcanic eruptions continue -

Chimney Sweeps

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Walt Disney

Sharks    

         Charlie Brown

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1. Remember that practice makes perfect. Only practice (and repetition in writing words) can help improve your spelling. There’s no easy way to do this. Some people have better visual memories than others. But most people need to practise, practise and PRACTISE!

2. Try to visualise the difficult words in your mind as you read the dictation to yourself. Close your eyes, imagine the word written, then open them and compare with the dictation. Count the letters the word has.

3. Don't try to study a dictation at the last minute. Try to do this over several days. Also remember that comprehension is important, as it forms part of the unit test. Try to understand what the dictation is about. Don't write mechanically. Get someone to dictate the most complicated words

           Black Holes

          Black holes are places where ordinary gravity has become so extreme that it overwhelms all other forces in the universe. Once inside, nothing can escape a black hole’s gravity  -  not even light.        

Although the word 'dictation' may give you the shivers, it is very true that you learn a lot from them. They are useful because of the following:

* they help you improve your listening and writing skills

* they consolidate your spelling and  punctuation

* they teach you new vocabulary

* they help you to learn about and understand different cultures and people

* they improve your general knowledge

* they teach you about intonation in another language

* they force  you to write neatly and clearly

For these reasons and possibly more, you will find that dictations