The Zika virus

The Zika virus
(Level: Intermediate / B1  / **)

You are going to watch a BBC programme focusing on the virus as it is spreading across the Americas.

Before watching:

The following words could be useful:
a rash: a lesion or a group of lesions on the skin   éruption cutanée / rougeurs 
itchy eyes: eyes being affected with an itch  (i.e. a sensation causing a desire to scratch or touch...)     yeux qui piquent / qui démangent 
an insect repellent: a product serving to repel or keep insects away        produit insectifuge
to cover up: to wear clothes          se couvrir 
microcephaly: abnormal smallness of the head       microcéphalie  

Source: BBC / WHO  

Aedes mosquito
Picture credit: fr.wikipedia.org 

While watching:

Answer the following questions:

1. Is Zika a dangerous virus?
2. How do you know you may be infected?
3. Why isn't much known about the virus?
4. How can you protect yourself from the infection?

You can also watch the video on the BBC website by clicking HERE







When you are finished, you can check your answers.
1. 
Non, seulement pour les femmes enceintes et les bébés (risque de microcéphalie chez ces derniers) 

2. 
Après une piqûre d'un moustique-tigre, symptômes possibles: fièvre; rougeurs (irritations); migraine; yeux rouges qui démangent 


3. 
Peu de gens infectés jusque récemment!
Premiers symptômes signalés chez les singes en Ouganda en 1947... 


4. 
Bien se couvrir pour éviter les piqûres de moustiques
Utiliser des produits insectifuges
Se débarrasser des points d'eau stagnante 

(Dans les pays les + touchés: conseiller aux femmes d'éviter de tomber enceintes durant les deux prochaines années!)

Cancer is just not due to bad luck

Cancer is not just due to 'bad luck'
(Level: Intermediate  / B1 to B2 / ** to ***)

We can reduce the chance of getting cancer but how much can we really do to avoid the disease mainly if it is due to 'bad luck'? 

You are going to watch a BBC programme focusing on the issue.

Kidney cancer cells
Photo credit: dailymail.co.uk

Before watching:

The following words could be useful:
to cut back on: to reduce
striking: noticeable /impressive            étonnant / frappant / notable   
a claim: statement of something as a fact / an assertion         affirmation    
random:with no specific pattern or purpose        aléatoire   
a lump: an irregularly shaped mass          grosseur / masse  


While watching:


Answer the following questions:
1. What does some recent American research claim?

2. How could you avoid having some types of cancer?

You can also watch the video on the BBC website by clicking HERE








When you are finished, you can check your answers.

1
La majorité des cancers (70 à 90%) est liée aux modes de vie des gens (tabagisme / alcool / bronzage...) et aux facteurs environnementaux extérieurs (pollution...) tandis que 10 à 30% sont dus à la 'malchance' (mutations cellulaires aléatoires).

2
-Changer ses mauvaises habitudes (arrêter de boire, fumer... )
-Changer d'environnement...
-Réagir de suite dès qu'on voit apparaître des grosseurs suspectes...  

Another school shooting in the USA (2)

Another school shooting in the USA (2)
(Level: intermediate / B1 to B2 / **)

Umpqua Community College
Photo credit: www.irishtimes.com

A gunman killed nine people on 1st October 2015 at Umpqua Community College in Oregon. 
But what is known about the killer?

You are now going to watch a BBC report.

Roseburg, Oregon
Map credit: www.epodunk.com

Before watching:

The following words could be useful:

grief: deep sadness caused by someone's death     douleur / chagrin / affliction  
to find... tough: to find... very difficult (to deal with...)       trouver... trop dur  
a shootout: a fight involving firearms until someone gets killed     fusillade / échange de coups de feu  
bereaved: sad because a family member has died      endeuillé / éploré
stunned: shocked / particularly amazed        stupéfait / abasourdi  
to bear the scars of...: to live with emotional damage caused by past events that cannot be forgotten    connaître les affres de ...  / porter les stigmates de ...  
weary with sorrow: extremely sad         se fondre en larmes  



While watching:

Answer the following question:

What do we know about the shooter?

You can also watch the report on the BBC website by clicking HERE









When you are finished, you can check your answers:

- Homme de 26 ans d'origine anglaise
- Nom: Chris Harper Mercer
- Il semble qu'il soutenait l'IRA.
- Abattu par la police dans la fusillade.
- Il vivait chez sa mère à proximité de l'école.
- Il aurait demandé aux gens de se lever s'ils étaient chrétiens pour leur dire qu'ils allaient rejoindre Dieu et ensuite il a tiré...
- ...

Another school shooting in the USA (1)

Another school shooting in the USA (1)
Level: intermediate / B1 / ** 

Photo credit: www.mirror.co.uk

A mass shooting took place on 1st October 2015 at Umpqua Community College (*)  in Roseburg in Oregon killing 9 people and injuring at least 7 more. 

(*) A Community College in the USA is a post-secondary school (junior school or technical college) which provides academic, vocational and professional education.

Roseburg, Oregon
Map credit: epodunk.com

You are going to watch a BBC report focusing on that latest tragedy.


Before watching:


The following notes could be useful:

Since Newtown: the reporter refers to the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting that took place on 14th December 2012 in Newtown, Connecticut. 20-year-old Adam Lanza shot his mother first at their Newtown home before killing 20 children and 6 schoolteachers at the school. He then committed suicide by shooting himself in the head. 




While watching:


Answer the following question:

• What do the following figures refer to?  

       294 / 21 / 55  / 1 / 4

You can also watch the report on the BBC website by clicking HERE










When you are finished, you can check your answers:

294: le nombre de tueries de masse jusqu'à présent (rien que pour cette année) aux Etats-Unis.
21: le nombre de tueries perpétrées dans des écoles et universités aux Etats-Unis depuis les événements de Newtown (décembre 2012)
55: le nombre de tueries dans les écoles américaines entre 1991 et 2013.
1: un cas de tuerie (dans une école) au Royaume-Uni.

Airshow crash

Airshow crash
(Level: intermediate to upper-intermediate / B1 to B2 / ** to ***)

Photo credit: www.express.co.uk

Before watching:


A jet crashed onto a road during an airshow in Shoreham-by-Sea in Sussex, England. 

Map credit: eng.wikipedia.org

You are going to watch a BBC report focusing on that event.

The following words could be useful:
a display:an event at which something is shown to impress or entertain people    spectacle / manifestation 

A Harrier
Photo credit: en.wikipedia.org

the casualties: people hurt or killed (during an accident...)        victimes   
the coroner: the person whose job is to find out the cause of death when people die  in ways that are violent or sudden       médecin légiste   
the aftermath: consequence / result       conséquences / suites    
to be set alight: to be set on fire     être incendié     
to be in one's early stage(s): to have only recently started       être au stade initial / être au début 

Photo credit: www.dailymail.co.uk

While watching:


Answer the following question:

What do you know about...
- the event as such? (What happened?)
- the consequences (of what happened)?

You can also watch the report on the BBC website: click HERE







When you are finished, you can check your answers:


- Un avion s'est écrasé sur une route très fréquentée lors d'un meeting aérien dans le Sussex. 


- 7 personnes (au moins) sont mortes / le pilote est dans un état critique  

(+ annulation du meeting / dégâts importants / route fermée plusieurs jours pour les devoirs de l'enquête..) 

The tenses: a review

The tenses: a review


Click on this image:

All the tenses have already been covered in this blog but they are now being reviewed again. 

If you need a recap of all the tenses: click HERE 

You can also watch this video lesson (All English Tenses) by Anglo-Link for a good review of all the tenses: click HERE 

For more details about the following tenses, click on them!  

The Simple Present

The Present Continuous

The Simple Past   + strong verbs / + pronunciation of final -ed

The Simple Past versus the Present Perfect

The Present Perfect Simple versus the Present Perfect Continuous

Something about the future tenses?  

Watch THIS

Something about the Simple Past versus the Past Continuous?

Watch THIS

France train shooting

France train shooting
(Level: intermediate to upper-intermediate / B1 to B2 / ** to ***)

Photo credit: www.lemonde.fr

A real tragedy could have occurred on a train if a heavily armed man hadn't been overpowered by passengers.

You are now going to watch a BBC report focusing on the event.



Before watching:

The following words could be useful:
to be overwhelmed: to be overpowered / defeated     être maîtrisé / mis hors d'état de nuire 
a guardsman: a US soldier in the National Guard      soldat de la Garde Nationale 
to avert: to prevent ... (from happening)     empêcher ... de...  
bold: not afraid (of danger) /not showing fear       intrépide / téméraire 
intelligence: secret information (about an enemy)        renseignements  


While watching:


Answer the following question:

What do we know about the suspect? 

You can also watch the report on the BBC website: click HERE






When you are finished, you can check your answers:

• ressortissant marocain de 26 ans;
• lourdement armé dans le Thalys Amsterdam-Paris et mis hors d'état de nuire par des passagers (dont trois Américains);
• a blessé grièvement un des passagers qui voulait le désarmer et un autre plus légèrement;
• est connu des autorités espagnoles qui ont transmis des informations sensibles aux Français;
• ...