Reading comprehension text: 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

It 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

Reading Comprehension text - Delungra

1. Read the BBC article about Delungra.

   

   Delungra - Wikipedia

2. You can use:
1. Wordreference to check words you dond't know
3. Answer these three questions:
1. Mention three positive aspects of the town.
2. What do volunteers do?
3. What services or facilities do local people miss?
4. You can write your answers in a separate sheet of paper or post them as comments to this blog.

Reading Comprehension text: Liberland

You are going to read a text about Liberland. Try to find out:

• Where it is
• What it is
• Why it was founded
• How long it has existed

TEXT 

(taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberland)

Liberland, officially the Free Republic of Liberland (Czech: Svobodná republika Liberland) is an uninternationally recognized country situated on an unclaimed parcel of land at the western bank of the Danube river between Croatia and Serbia, sharing a land border with the latter. It was proclaimed on 13 April 2015 by Vít Jedlička.

The official website of Liberland states that the nation could be created due to the ongoing Croatia–Serbia border dispute. Since the Yugoslav Wars, some borderland territories have been disputed, such as the Island of Vukovar and the Island of Šarengrad; however, this area (also known as Gornja Siga) has remained unclaimed.

HISTORY

As described by Jedlička, neither Serbia, Croatia or any other nation claims the land as their own (terra nullius). The border is defined in accordance with both Croatian and Serbian border claims and does not interfere with any other state sovereignty. Jedlička has stated that an official diplomatic note shall be sent to both Croatia and Serbia, and later to all other states, with a formal request for international recognition.

Vít Jedlička is a member of the Czech Party of Free Citizens, which bases its values on the classical liberal ideology. The flag raising on Liberland was performed by Jedlička and some of his associates at the day the republic was proclaimed.

In an interview with Parlamentní listy (cz), Jedlička said that he has received positive reactions for his initiative, mainly from his own party, but also from some members of the Civic Democratic Party and the Pirate Party.

STRUCTURE

Liberpolis - picture from Wikipedia

Administration

A government with "ten to twenty members" has been suggested for the administration of Liberland. An electronic voting system will be used to elect members.

Borders and immigration

Liberland will operate on an open-border policy.

Citizenship

The official motto of Liberland is "To live and let live". The goal of the state is to create a society where righteous people can prosper without inefficient state regulations and taxes. The founders are inspired by countries like Monaco and Liechtenstein. Jedlička accepts requests for citizenship, and according to the official website, only communists, neonazis, and other extremists are ineligible for citizenship.

Constitution

At the time of the founding of Liberland, the constitution was still in the planning stage, although it has been described as inspired by Switzerland.

Economy

There are plans for an official cryptocurrency system, although all other currencies will be allowed.

The politicians will be constitutionally forbidden from indebting the nation.

HOW TO BECOME A CITIZEN OF LIBERLAND (from http://liberland.org/en/about/)

Do you want to become a citizen of Liberland? Liberland is currently accepting applications for citizenship, which will be processed in due time.

Who is needed in Liberland?

Liberland currently needs people who:

have respect for other people and respect the opinions of others, regardless of their race, ethnicity, orientation, or religion

have respect for private ownership which is untouchable

do not have communist, nazi or other extremist past

were not punished for past criminal offences

How to apply?

Online form will be available in next few hours. For now you can register HERE on this site. You will be noticed by e-mailem, when the form is ready.

QUESTIONS:

1. Why does the wikipedia article start with: This article is being considered for deletion in accordance with Wikipedia's deletion policy?
2. What is different from any other country?
3. In your opinion, what will happen to this country in the future?
4. If you want to become a citizen of Liberland, what should you do?

READ MORE:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberland
• http://liberland.org/en/about/
• http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-32332473

Reading Comprehension exercise: Back Together

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

The sounds of English

English phonetic symbols - BBC Learning English website

If you are interested in learning the phonetic symbols of the International Phonetic Alphabet that English language has,  the BBC Learning English webside provides a good chart that summarizes them and that can be downloadable in a pdf version.

When trying to learn the sounds it is always a good idea to have a good chart with all the sounds.

However, this website provides many other useful sections such as an introduction, the sounds of English, features of English, quizzes and programmes. Most of the texts and audio files can be downloaded so that you can continue your study work off line.

The sounds of English section concentrates on those which can be confused by speakers of other languages.

In sum, this is an excellent site to improve one's English.