31st October. It's Halloween!

 

Watch the video and answer the questions: (the answers are in 'comments')

1. The celebration dates back to...
a) Roman rituals   b) Welsh rituals   c) Celtic rituals

2. Which USA state was the first to celebrate it according to official records?
a) Louisiana    b) Minnesota   c) Michigan

3. Which of these statements is true?
a) Fewer people in the USA celebrate Halloween now than they used to.
b) People celebrate Halloween for longer than they used to.
c) People spend less money on Halloween than they used to.

4. People in the USA will spend nearly 5 billion dollars on...
a) Halloween theme parks
b) going to the National zoo
c) costumes, candy and decorations 

5. Which of these statements is false?
a) Kids visiting the zoo dress up in Halloween costumes.
b) The keepers dress the animals up in Halloween costumes. 
c) Some of the animals are given Halloween treats.

Source:  http://www.esolcourses.com

Past simple, Past continuous and 'used to'

Activity 1. Past continuous and past simple. Click here to read some examples and do the grammar exercise. Click here if you need to practise the pronunciation of the past of regular verbs.

Activity 2. Choose the correct answer.

Activity 3. Click on the words in the correct order.

Activity 4. Listen to the song and complete the gaps. (You'll find the answers as a comment to the post)

You (1) ______________ to me like

I was the only one around
You (2)______________  on me
The only other choice was falling down
You (3)______________ with me like
We had nowhere we needed to go
Nice and slow
To no place in particular

CHORUS:

We (4) ______________ this figured out
We (5)______________ without a doubt
When nights were clear, you were the first star that I'd see
We (6)______________  this under control
We never thought we (7) _______________
At least there's you
And at least there's me
Can we get this back
Can we get this back
To how it (8) ______________?

I (9)  ______________ for you when
I got lost along the way
I (10)______________ you

You always had the just right thing to say
I (11) ______________ 

Never really cared where we would go
Fast or slow
To anywhere at all

CHORUS

I look around me
And I want you to be there
'Cause I miss the things that we shared
Look around you
It's empty, and you're sad
'Cause you miss the love that we had

You (12) ___________to me like
I was the only one around
The only one around

CHORUS

Shopping in the UK

Click here to listen to Dan and Rob talking about shopping centres and comparing shopping in a local high street and a shopping centre.

The Bullring in Birmingham is the UK's busiest shopping centre, but how many people, on average, visit the Bullring each year? Is it:

a) 27 million
b) 37 million
c) 47 million

Listen out for the answer at the end of the programme! You can also read the transcript here.

What about you? Do you prefer shopping in a local high street or in a shopping centre? Why? (as a comment to the post)

Source: BBC 6 Minute English