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Uchronia

‘Uchronia’ is a term that was invented by French philosopher Charles Renouvier in 1857 when he imagined what would had happened if the Roman Empire had never become Christian.

Imagining alternate (Am. Engl. ) or alternative (Br. Engl.) history is still quite popular. For example, have you watched the series (or read the novel) The Man in the High Castle? What do you think it is about? Watch the trailer and you will know:

You’re right! It explores what the world would be like now if Germany and Japan had won World War II.

Here you will read a story called ‘Election Day’, by Harry Turtledove. It imagines different results for the USA in 2016. To help you with the words you don’t understand, you can go to Wordreference or The Free Dictionary.

Now it’s your turn to play with history. Write a comment below this post (write inside the white box under ‘Leave a Reply’) saying in one or two sentences what would have happened or what would happen now if something in the past had been different. I’ll begin:

If America had not been discovered, we wouldn’t eat potatoes today in Europe.

Remember:

  • To express something you imagine in the past and a consequence you imagine in the present: If+ past perfect, would/wouldn’t + present.

If my brother had accepted that job, he would be rich now.

  • To express something you imagine in the past and a consequence you imagine in the past too: If+ past perfect, would/ wouldn’t+ present perfect.

If I had studied more, I would have passed.

Here are some ideas (but you can use your own!):

  • If my parents had never met,…
  • If the European Union had never existed,…
  • If Karl Benz hadn’t invented cars,…
  • If the British had not invaded Gibraltar,…
  • If Juan Carlos and Sofía had only had daughters,…
  • If Americans hadn’t landed on the Moon,…
  • If Fleming had not discovered penicillin, …

If you’re into this, you can also watch the TV series Timeless with English subtitles.

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4B 4CAL

How to Eat an Elephant: Keys

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4CAL

What would you do?

Everybody reacts differently given the same situation, don’t you think? Go to page 44 of your book and do exercise 1 a) b) ,c) and e). I’ll upload the keys next Wednesday.


The previous week, we learnt about conditional sentences and saw an example of how people use conditionals to imagine situations. Did you know that you can use second conditionals to give advice? A very common way is saying: If I were you, I would…, or simply with the second part of the sentence: I would say I’m sorry,I would stay at home, etc.

Here are other ways to give advice:

  1. If I was/were in that (kind of) situation, I’d/ I wouldn’t
  2. Have you thought about +ing? (e.g. Have you thought about studying harder?)
  3. If it was/were me, I’d/ I wouldn’t …(e.g. If it was me, I’d study harder.)
  4. Make sure you (don’t) …(e.g. Make sure you read the instructions carefully)
  5. The sooner you …, the better.(e.g. The sooner you tell him, the better.)
  6. Whatever you do, + imperative (e.g. Whatever you do, be assertive)
  7. -ing might be a good idea (e.g. Living with your best friend might be a good idea).
  8. You should… (that one is too easy for you!)

Now look at an example from an advice column called Ask Amy. Take some time to read it and see if any of the structures above appear.

Your turn!

You found on your favourite social media site a message in which a person asks for help. Read their post and write a short reply (max. 120 words) telling this person what you would do if you were them.Please use at least a couple of the structures above. Look at this infographic for help. Send me the reply by email. You have until April 20th to do it.

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4B 4CAL

Conditional Sentences: Keys

Below you’ll see the keys to the grammar exercises on pages 139 and 140 of your textbook.

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4CAL

Conditional Sentences

Time to see a bit of grammar!

This week we’re going to work with conditional sentences.Watch the video below, where you will learn what these sentences are used for and how. Then do the exercises on pages 139 and 140 of your book, where you will also find examples and explanations. I’ll upload the keys on Wednesday.

When you have studied and done the exercises in your textbook, play this game to test your knowledge.

Listen and think

As you now know, the 2nd and the 3rd conditional are very useful to talk about things we imagine.

Have you ever listened to Beyonce’s song ‘If I Were a Boy’? In it, Beyonce imagines what it would be like to be a boy and tells us the things she would do. Click here, introduce your name and watch the video while you answer the questions that will pop up to your right. If you’re using your phone, perhaps you’ll have to download the app Edpuzzle (it’s free), then click on the link I posted and you’ll be able to do it.

Feel free to sing along 😉 I hope you enjoy it!

You have until April 13th to do this.

PS. If you can’t do the song activity on EdPuzzle because it doesn’t work on your device, contact me by email and I will figure out another way.

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4CAL

Let’s talk about sports !

Go to this site and watch the video about extreme sports, then do the Check your understanding : true or false and the Check your understanding: grouping exercises you will find under it. These are self-correcting exercises.

Once you’ve done that, we’re going to talk about sports. You’re going to record a video (máx. 3 minutes) talking about three of the following questions:

  • Do you enjoy more playing or watching sport? Why?
  • Do you know anyone who makes a living out of sport(= their job is a sport, for example, a professional footballer)? Can you describe them?
  • Have you ever done any extreme sport? Which one?
  • Why do people do extreme sports?
  • If you haven’t, would you ever do any extreme sport? Why (not)?
  • Do you think sport plays a crucial role in international relations and it makes the world a better place to live? Explain.

To do so, you will need your mobile phone or a computer with a webcam.

1) Think about what you’re going to say ( I recommend making an outline first!)

2) If you’re going to use your computer, go to https://info.flipgrid.com/. If you’re going to use your phone, dowload the App Flipgrid.

3) Go to the box that says “Enter a flipgrid code” and introduce the code I sent you by email, then click on the arrow.

4) Look at my video and then click on “Record a response” or on the round green icon with a white cross.

5) It will ask for a gmail or Microsoft email address (hotmail and msn emails are valid). Introduce an email address and you can record your video.

6) You can also watch your classmates’ videos and reply if you want!

You have until the 30th of March to do this!

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4CAL

Extreme Sports

Are you an adrenaline junkie? A risk taker? Have you ever practiced any extreme sport? This week, you’re going to work with extreme activities using the following material:

You will also learn about passive sentences and modal verbs, and will revise vocabulary related to the weather.

Read everything, do the activities (they are self-correcting activities), take notes and write a set of instructions in a Word or PDF document, then send them to me by email. You will find how to do this last task here (please look at the grey post it note that says “Focus on”). The deadline is Wednesday 25th March.

Note: You can download a PDF version if you want to print it or have problems with your device, but you will lose the interactive side of it.