Good afternoon!

We are sorry, but our group cannot have one more grammar lesson on Friday, because we have a seminar at 11-40. It has been put off from Tuesday (not our wish).

Thank you for understanding ! 

Brits and "Sorry"

I happened to come across this article, which I encourage you to read. Having read it, please share your findings and discoveries in terms of the grammar currently under study in comments below.

Have fun!

games in class

Good morning, guys!

 Last week we were given a creative task and that was cool! We made a list of gerunds, then we tried to find rhymes and tried to compose a poem.

I love writing. When you write something you check spelling, look for new words, read different articles and learn something new. I believe that such tasks are very useful (and not only for those who learn a foreign language!).They develop intelligence, intellectual flexibility and can help you fight monotony.

Composing is wonderful,especially when you have inspiration 😜

but if you face the creativity crisis you write something like that =>

 After on a horse long riding you can do some coffee grinding,
After much of coffee drinking everything around start twinkling (my version😅)  

By the way as a person who loves phonetics and poetry can not help but share this poem with you😋😋😋

http://www.i18nguy.com/chaos.html

Hi guys!
I would like to share my impression about the grammar class we had last Monday. That was quite an unusual class as we had to compose some poems using our active grammar - gerund and participles. Making up poetry is actually a difficult task which consumes a lot of time time and effort, but it can be fun, too. Moreover, it can help you practice grammar skills boosting your creativity and imagination simultaneously. So, I think that such activities are a much needed thing! :)

P.S. I would like to post the poem Anna Kurus and I composed last Monday. It may make little sense, but Anna and I find it  funny though.

Once Mary got a liking

To spend her summer hiking.

She would walk in the woods

Trying to sell her goods.

Carrying all that stuff 

Was for her too tough.

Suddenly she saw a wolf,

named after his father, Beowulf.
She felt like talking,
but the wolf just kept on walking.
The girl promised him good caring,
but the wolf behaved as if not hearing.
That drove the poor girl completely mad,
but she kept smiling and became a skinhead. 

Games and Studying are Similar

 Our last class we had a lot of fun playing and relaxing. It was really interesting for me just doing some simple but unusual, for studying, tasks.

First we remembered as many gerunds as we could, then we rhymed them and in the end we had to create a poem. The most important thing was, that everyone managed to do.
The atmosphere of the class was calm and relaxing. That is why I did feel like being at class and worrying about something. Everything was about having  fun and at the same time remembering about the reason why we all were there (studying)

I liked it, and I believe it's necessary to have such time at classes, because it helps to chill down and keep learning new things in warm conditions :) 

Good evening, guys!

I would like to share my impressions on the class we had last week. It was really amazing! I suppose it's really important sometimes to relax and have fun. We tried to write as many gerunds as possible, then to rhyme them and finally, create a poem. Vlad and I could write down only 55 gerunds, although another group managed to write much more.

Working with Vlad was nice and I would like to share the poem we wrote. It has no sense, to be honest, but this task made me think about writers and difficulties they face. All these rhymes and lines just confuse me. :) So we shouldn't underestimate good poems, as one actually needs some talent to create a decent one. 

He went on printing, 

While in his armchair sitting,

With his mother fighting 

Over his bad writing.

He promised to give up smoking

Pretending he was joking.

This was so heart-breaking

Even after waking.

Never minded sleeping.

Sitting at the lesson, 

Hearing teacher's screaming

He wishes he were dreaming.

The worst nightmare ever,

Remember it forever.

To sum up, it was a great experience! We practised gerunds and enjoyed studying grammar in such an unusual way. 

Hi, guys!

The lesson was really funny. 

At first we was divided into several groups and were supposed to write down as many words with -ing ending as we can. Our group wrote 51 words,  the winners(Anya and Dasha) wrote 68 words. But we weren't sad, because there were 2 more competitions ! 

The second task was searching rhymes to words which we had already written. Our team found about 20 rhymes and we were the winners! Wow:) 

And finally, the third task. We were supposed to create a poem with those rhymes! It was really funny! Sveta, Dasha and I created a love story poem. Judging by the reaction of Svetlana Konstantinovna  and of our group mates it was quite good and talented :-)

To my mind, lessons and tasks like this are helpful for people who learn foreign languages because it is always easier to memorize new information during a game or competition. Creating poems always makes your brain work even if you're asked to do it in your native language, what to say about the foreign one. 

Have a nice day!

Grammar and games

Good afternoon!

We have done recently an interesting task of using gerunds, we have written some poems. To tell the truth, I am not good at it. However, it was quite interesting as we had some words to work with. It wasn’t like we had to start our poems from the very beginning. Firstly we made a list of gerunds, then we found some rhymes and after it we started to create. That made the task a bit easier. Another advantage was working in groups because two people have more imagination, more ideas. An interesting point here is that these people have sometimes completely different stories and when they combine them, they get something funny.

To sum it up, even though I am not creative enough, I still could make something. Moreover it is still work with gerunds. That’s why I think that the task can be bad for people who don’t like poems at all. And as I don’t belong to them, I enjoyed it. 

Hi, everybody! I would like to share my impressions about using grammatical games during our classes.
To begin with, I want to say that I enjoyed myself a lot at that double period. It was so nice to have such an entertainment after our modul test. Doing funny not difficult exercises is always great, I think. It is like a small rest for our brains after hard work.
By the way, such exercises are ot only entertaining, but also developing. As you must have guessed, they develop our poetic skills.  Actiolly, before entering the university, I didn't think that I would be taught to create poems, so it was a pleasant surprise for me. I used to think, that writing poems, especially in a foreign language, is a really difficult task, but after such a game I felt that it wasn't hard at all and, so to say, made my creativity a little bit deeper.
To sum up, I would like to say that we really need to have such a games at the end of every double period in order to have some "creative rest"and combine something pleasant with something useful.   

Hello, guys!
I would like to share with you my impressions about writing poems using our active grammar patterns. I must admit that it is a wonderful grammar practice. Thus, we both use our imagination and develop linguistic skills. Of course, it is hard to push oneself not only to translate, but also be creative. I have never tried to write poems in English, that is why it was a great challenge for me. Nevertheless, I believe I should keep practicing in order to achieve maximum efficiency of learning.

My comment on using grammatical games on the classes

Hello everyone! 

I want to say a couple of words about the games that we played on the latest double period. Firstly, we ought to write down as many gerunds as we remember, the second task was to thought up, which gerunds can form a rhyme, and the third task was to create a small poem using gerunds. I had a lot of fun doing that and it was like a brain storm. I consider such games to be the best way of understanding grammar and developing your skills in practical usage of it. If I were a teacher, I'd use such method in my teaching practice, both at school and in university, because it grows an interest in language, particularly in grammar. The method of playing grammar games is also up-to-date and interesting and encourages students to think creatively and imaginatively.

The examples of task 2 and 3:

Forming rhymes: 

walking-talking

thinking-blinking

blowing-knowing

Creating a poem:

When we went hiking,

It was convinient to biking.

But we went by feet

Felt exhausting, hard breathing indeed.

But we had a lot of fun

Exploring the beauty of nature around.

Hi, girls! Excuse me for my late message. And I am sorry for having chosen such uneasy topic for writing, but накипело.

                                 The Hottest Winter Ever

                                     (For sweet memory of the Heaven Hundred)

A new day comes after a night. Everything keeps moving in it’s circle. History and all the events, that are connected with it also have their own circle. Learning the history prevents us from repeating the mistakes of our ancestors and gives us the opportunity for achieving the goals they were not to achieve.
The winter is usually a cold season, but that winter was the hottest one they’ve ever seen and heard about. That winter has shown them that freedom is the way of life, that must be always struggled for. The power is given to some people for improving the life of the whole society, but not for satisfying their own ambitions. Rotten power and corruption are like a cancer, that settled deeply in the organism. And this cancer can’t be treated by only one course of chemotherapy.
That was a cold, snowy morning. And it was snowing so hard, as if nature was giving a sort of sign to the people. Two friends were sitting near the fire in the right side of the square. They were keeping silence and each was somewhere deep in his own thoughts. Then one of them started speaking: “So, Architect, what are you going to do after getting your Bachelor’s degree?” – “You know, Hunter, I haven’t decided yet. I was offered a scholarship at Vienna Technical University in Austria”. – “Oh, that’s a great, chance of getting experience from foreign colleagues. Besides you have an amazing opportunity for seeing such a beautiful country.” – said Hunter after a while. “Have you ever been there,” – asked Architect. – “No, but I have always been dreaming about visiting this country. And I’ve read a lot about it. So I advise you to except the offer anyway.” – “Well, I hope everything will settle down in our  country soon, so I won ‘t worry about it and my family. But… but my girlfriend, she will miss me. Well, I will think, I still have time.” Then they both went on keeping silence.
Suddenly they heard some loud short bursts it sounded like somebody was throwing petards one by one. In about five minutes a panic burst out at the square. Somebody was shouting: “The sky is falling.” The guys stood up and went, closer to the center. There they saw some people in plastic helmets carrying other people on the stretches. Architect asked them what was being happened. They were hurrying up to the medical center and one of them answered:” The sky is falling! There are quite a lot of injured people not far from here on the… Street. We must rescue them. Somebody is shooting them. They are using a real weapon”. Architect and Hunter changed the two people, who were carrying the stretches with the injured man and hurried up to the medical center.
When they entered the building of the medical center, they saw about five injured people lying on the stretches and medical staff, providing them with the first aid right in the corridor. The guys carried the stretches with the injured man closer to the operation room, but there a nurse stopped them and ordered to put the man on the flour. She explained that the operation room was busy with heavy injured people and doctors were operating them. Then she started providing the man with the first aid. Architect asked her if she needed their help. The nurse asked them to fetch some more roller-bandages, two packages of wadding and a wisp. Then she added:” Please, hurry up, guys, otherwise we have the risk of losing him”.
So the guys went to the storeroom, where all the medications, brought by the volunteers, were kept. They took all the necessary things and hurried up back to the nurse and the injured man. When they finally reached them, they saw the nurse checking the pulse of the man, who was lying on the stretches with his leg tied. The nurse took the medications and started bandaging his second wound. While she was doing it several new stretches were carried into the building.
Architect went outdoors. Hunter followed him.  They saw a lot of people standing near the entrance. Somebody from them was shouting: “ We need some more people to help us bring the injured from that street. Architect, Hunter and three other men agreed to go. Architect put on his bike helmet, as there was nothing else to protect his head, and took a long shield of metal. Hunter also put on a plastic helmet and took stretches with one of the three men. Everyone got equipped and they started moving.
They walked about ten minutes. Then they heard short acute shots. That meant that they have almost reached the hottest point. When they turned the corner of the Street, they saw the people lying from one side of the stone blocks. Some of them were injured and other, who were not wounded, were covering them with shields. Architect, Hunter and the three men ran up to them and tried to take the injured on the stretches. But suddenly one of those three men got a bullet in his leg. Architect dragged the man to himself and covered him with his shield.
Suddenly a new acute loud shot thundered – Architect fell on his back. The last thing he managed to do was to smile. His blue eyes were blindly looking into the grey snowy sky. Who knows, may be such Architects are of great necessity in Heaven?

 NEVER HURT ANYONE WHO IS WEAKER THAN YOU JUST CAUSE YOU CAN

It's a quite common story about courage and care.

She came into the room to ask if anyone wanted to eat. She is the mother of the family, and always ready to help, support and feed her beloved ones. Sam turned around saying that he wished to eat some unusual salad. What kind of salad, he didn't know, but at that time he wanted to be impressed. Mother felt sorry for having only pancakes, because it was early morning, and their breakfast was always pancakes with jam and juice or tea. Jimmy asked brother, what exactly must have been in the salad, but he didn't know.

Though it was early, mother was already tired, but she put on her shoes, took a basket and went out to the store in order to buy some interesting ingredients for a new dish. The road to the store was about 3 miles long. For someone it's not far, but for a 2-kids mother covering this distance was exhausting.

As she got to the store, she started picking exotic fruits, unusual vegetables, the most expensive meat, just to impress her fastidious son. 

Having everything bought, and leaving the store she saw a man sitting outside and talking to himself. Of course, she decided him to be crazy, and tried to go as far from him as it was possible. But just passing by she noticed he was holding something in the hands. There was a small kitten. The Mother realized that there was no harm in that man, she could not help but coming to him, and asking what had happened to this little one. Man told her a story about a cat, which brought 7 kittens one day, but the owner, it was a woman by the way, didn't need them, and she decided to get rid of them. When the man asked her for one kitten, she gave it to him with great pleasure, but it wasn't one, he had asked for, and as he told it her, she informed him that others were probably already dead. Then, she changed her mind, saying that she would try to get him the one he needed, though he had no idea how she could do this. He followed her to the background and became a witness of  a terrible picture: the woman took a  spade and started digging little, helpless and almost dead kittens out from the ground. To say that he was shocked is to say nothing. He pushed her down to the ground, grabbed babies and walked away from that horrible place. Unfortunately only 4 of them survived, he buried 3 dead little bodies on a pet’s cemetery, and at the moment of meeting with the mother, was holding the weakest one in his hands, other three were soundly sleeping under his coat.

The mother was  startled. She heard of such stories, but when you meet a person who just faced it, it becomes more horrifying as it could be. She took two kittens home: the weakest one and one with black paws. Her sons were unpredictably happy, Sam forgot about his unusual salad, and Jimmy rushed immediately to feed their new little friends. The mother told them the story, and at that moment there was the most important lesson they learned: never hurt anyone who is weaker than you, just because you can.

The Awareness of Life

Travelling abroad is so exciting for me. You can find out so many things about another cultures and people. Once I thought: "How about going to Peru?". So, I started packing my things. But firstly, of course, I bought a ticket for plane. Why Peru? So, it was a good motive for searching for something new and even mysterious for me. My acquaintance said that the Inkas' attempted at contacting with aliens and space, so it grew a huge interest in me. Well, after having the tickets bought I flew to this wonderful country and it took 8 hours. I put up in Lima, the capital, full of Spainish colonial buildings and narrow streets for a day and then decided to go to the Ands.
At seeing the bus which went there, I was shocked. It was overcrowded! I couldn't help hiding my astonishment, but I crowded into the bus. In spite that I was tired of travelling by it, finally I saw the great mountains and I was about losing the feeling of time and space.
It was a pleasure in watching at this beauty of nature. I didn't want to finish walking there and put up at the local little hotel at 2 nights. It was the most unusual experience in my life. Starry sky was almost immidiately changed by fog or heavy rain and that time I felt flying in the sky and absolutely united with nature. My amazement at feeling the locals' hospitability and kindness was also big. They live without using the blessings of civilization and thus, are in harmony with nature. So, isn't it a real civilization?
On my returning home I wanted to go back and realized that I got used to awaring my life and feeling the nature surrounding me.

My Fairy tale about unusual cows;) Hope you'll enjoy it:))

          Most people think that a farm is a place, where usual domestic animals live. But this story is about uncle George, who reared 5 unusual cows. Visiting his farm may become a real adventure and surprise for everyone.

          Uncle George lives in a village,where the fair "Our pride" is held every year. Everyone, who visits it, remembers Uncle George's participating there. He is considered to be a successful and a happy man. 

          But no one knows that before buying cows, he had nothing but the little shed and unoccupied field nearby. Since 10y.o . George had been saving coins in order to fly to another continent, where herds of fairy cows lived in mountains, far from civilization. Of course, it was a legend for villagers, they considered that George was creacking jokes. But to everyone's surpise, when George grew up and was almost 20 y.o., he saved enough to follow his dream.

          So, in a week he came back home with 5 cows. He felt himself nice living in his shed. He built the wooden house for his new friends. People couldn't believe their eyes. Every day in the morning George had been going to the pond with them. People enjoyed George's bathing and playing with cows in the water. The cows were telling George every day: "We all appreciate your taking care of us." 

          Rearing fairy cows is a difficult thing. When the youngest cow named Zoryana was only a child, she asked George: "What about sewing some dresses and buying accessories for me, to make me a pretty cow?" So Zoryana became the most beautiful and fashionable cow in the village. 

          Also George had a midget cow named Kinder. It is always convinient to go out with him, if you have something to do in the village. Kinder is very small, so George puts the cup in his bag and when it is hot enough and George feels like being thirsty, he takes the cup and Kinder gives him cold milk to drink. 

          Two more of his cows are couple: a bull named Ramanatan and his cow-girlfriend Abhilasha. They have their own religion - Hinduism. Since childhood they prefer listening to the east music. They always begin dancing, when they hear it. 

          And the last one, Eleonora. She has a skill in writing poems. Besides, she gives not only milk, but also yogurt and sour-cream. There is no point in buying such products in the market, as George has a cup of milk or yogurt for the breakfast every day.

          So, such a nice company participates in each fair. By the end of their perfomance George and Eleonora sing their song:

"We've come here to read rap for you

We see you're surprised, but there's nothing you can do

Her name's Eleonora, she eats bamboo,

My name is George, I like bamboo too!

Eleonora is so beautiful and meaty,

-Show them your necklace, it is so pretty!

-It is no use in telling you about my skill,

George is my boss, he deserves my milk!

But if sunbeams reach the sky, 

I can give yogurt, that's all right!

Our family is friendly and this rap was for you

Have a nice day and love what you do!"

  When is it easier to live?

I`d like to write about nowadays life and about life of our parents. Which variant is easier?  I would like to start with education. Learning was always important  for our parents as much as for us . However, what can we say about employment? Well, nowadays many people even being educated can`t find their place in life just because there are not enough places of work in our modern world. Let`s have a look at the USSR, what do we see? Almost every student, who had graduated from the Uni has his own place of work. The country takes care about people being employed and affording their living. Of course, here wins USSR.

Let`s continue. I think that many of us feel like travelling around the world. In USSR, it was hard to go abroad for common people, the government didn`t want anyone seeing the better life of “Decaying West”. Nowadays, there are no hindrances for citizens to go to any country, which they will choose.  Of course, you won`t go anywhere without having enough money, but anyway, now people have a freedom of choice whether they want to go abroad or not. The winner is 21^st century world.

Being rich today is easier because of introducing of the World Wide Web. The great example of getting a lot of money just for your charm and intelligence is YouTube bloggering. The access to the Internet has every person who lives in advanced country. Teens sitting at home and recording videos earn huge sums of money. They can afford buying expensive stuff, their own apartments helping their parents and relatives just being in age under 18 years old. It`s amazing!  Was there any chance of getting so much money in the age of 18 in USSR? I don`t think so. Again, one point goes to modern era.

I can keep telling about both the past and the present, but I am pretty tired today =)

So, I think there are more opportunities to live the better life now, than in the past. Anyway, it will make no difference us arguing about what is better, because we live now in 21^st century and should do our best to achieve something TODAY! 

Welcome to Ireland

Good evening, guys! I don't feel like writing about serious things…it’s time to have some fun 😋😋😋


Travelling is a great way to broaden your horizons and relax your mind and soul.What about spending a month in a country with fascinating landscapes and incredible mythology?Ancient castles, friendly people and good pubs are waiting for you!

So welcome to Ireland!

I advise you to start your journey with the Cliffs of Moher. They are located not far from Galway.They stretch for eight kilometers along the Atlantic and rise some 214 meters at their highest point.  Formed over 300 million years ago, the Cliffs of Moher have historically been a sacred site of the Celtic people.  The cliffs were a popular spot on the voyage taken by young nobles between the 16th and 18th centuries.

If you rent a boat ,you will have a chance of feeling yourself a tiny man surrounded by gigantic rock walls😉

The next stop is Giant's Causeway. You will not be able to hide your amazement at seeing 40,000 massive black basalt columns sticking out of the sea.

Let’s move to southwest Ireland.The Ring of Kerry is a more than 160 km long highway. Exploring the Ring,  don't miss an opportunity for visiting Ireland’s tallest mountain Carrantuohill, several pristine lakes, a medieval monastery and the prehistoric Staigue Fort. By the way there are many lovely places for people who are fond of fishing.

For those who are interested in the history of Titanic exists a guided tour around Cobh. You will find out about accidents connected to the Titanic and facts about the port's history. Listening about historical events sometimes is better than reading😋😸

And of course… Trinity College, Dublin

Known as one of the oldest and most famous universities in Ireland, Trinity College Dublin is located in the centre of Dublin.  It was founded by Queen Elizabeth I in 1592. By the way Oscar Wilde and Jonathan Swift studied there!💙

What about visiting The Library of Trinity College? I think many of us have seen this wonderful place .The library is a paradise for bookworms. It contains 4.5 million books, including 30,000 current serials and significant collections of manuscripts, maps, and printed music. It reminds me of Hogwarts. Well, is anybody still waiting on the Hogwarts letter? Maybe it is another chance of being closer to the world of Harry Potter.

Dear philologists, the Book of Kells is on permanent exhibition!😁

Start exploring Ireland and it will be very difficult for you to stop!

The Ghost Writer

Good evening everyone!

Today I would like to post here a review of The Ghost Writer movie by Roman Polanski. This movie is in fact a political thriller starring Ewan McGregor and Pierce Brosnan.

But before reading the review, answer this question – do you know who ghostwriters are? If no, then this movie will be a splendid opportunity for  finding it out! If yes, then this movie will show you how unpredictable the life of a ghostwriter may get.

Writing an autobiography isn’t an easy task, and that is why Adam Lang, a former Prime Minister of Great Britain, hires a writer to do that for him. The name of this writer will never be revealed because he is only a ghostwriter. His task is just writing an autobiography of the politician and as soon as it has been published he will remain in the shadow of the fame of the former Prime Minister.

The ghostwriter starts working on the manuscript left by his predecessor who has died under strange circumstances. In the course of time he is to reveal some explosive secrets from the politician’s past. At the same time the former Prime Minister is charged with a war crime and faces prosecution. Moreover, he is considered to be a CIA agent as he seems to have been acting in the USA interest. Torturing of terrorist suspects along with the CIA – that is what he is charged with.

“How about talking with Lang?” decides the ghostwriter, but as soon as he gets to talk to Lang, he is shot dead which leaves more questions than answers. The story reaches its dénouement right after the ghostwriter finishes working on the autobiography and it is published posthumously. In the end he realizes who is actually in charge of every Adam Lang’s action.

I highly recommend watching this movie. I know watching movies takes a lot of time, but I promise you won’t be disappointed by this one. Watching this movie is like solving enigmas together with the ghostwriter, but the end will get too unpredictable anyway.

Do you ever live in the moment?

Good evening, everyone! I didn't know what to write about and then just decided to share some thoughts with you.
  
I have heard a very interesting saying recently. "Do you ever live in the moment?"

These simple but nevertheless extremely accurate words have made me think a lot. I have asked myself whether I have ever enjoyed the moment itself without worrying about the present, about any problems or what I'm going to do in a month, a week, an hour or even a minute.

The answer really surprised me. 

We tend to be absorbed by our daily routine and very often forget that life is too short to waste every precious second. The idea of ignoring some important things that are expected from you may seem rather absurd, but ask yourself how often you do what you really want. 

We are doing our best to make success, to achieve something but in the end we are often dissatisfied with life we actually choose ourselves. We are discontent with our own choices, with our lack of courage, with chances we miss thinking that it's not that essential. 

I don't think a person should give up studying or working at once or think only about oneself. But you should agree that giving yourself little freedom might be useful. 

You don't feel like going to the party? Then don't do it. You would like to go camping? Find a way to do it. Stop waiting for appropriate opportunities as they will never come.

Life is full of difficulties we face every day. But by concentrating on negative moments you will never notice some tiny moments that make life amazing. How about seizing an opportunity right now?

There's still a chance of making life better.  



  


  

My story with gerunds

Good afternoon!

When I started to write my story, I could not choose the topic. That is why I just decided to start writing. It might look like my stream of consciousness, but I hope that you will like it :)

                              Enjoying your life means…

When you read the name of the article, did you finish the sentence? When you hear about some joy, do you get some associations at once? And if yes, do you do the things you associate joy with?

What about stopping waiting for something and starting acting? I am sure one can get anything if one does his best. The question is then whether you are ready to do your best. I must admit that reaching goals is not an easy task, but there is no use only dreaming about them. Your life is now, why not live then? I do not feel like teaching you how to do it, no, not at all. I just want you to think about yourself. What about doing something now you have always dreamt about? What prevents you from fulfilling your wishes? When I was younger I used to lie dreaming about some fascinating things I could do when I was older. And now I am, but what has it changed?

I would like you to understand, it is not up to the time to change something. It is only up to you. Do you really need any pretext for going to a theatre or trying bungee jumping? Is it not enough that you want it? Remember, there is no success without trying. Do not deprive yourself for fear of being misunderstood or judged.

You can do everything. I believe in you. 

Greatest Philanthropist of the 20th Century

The tradition of philanthropizing refers to the peoples of the ancient world, the Greeks in particular.  Both then and now it aims at strengthening the culture and contributes to its sustainable development.  Every time, however, it acquires a special form depending on the epoch, the area it is spreading over and many other conditions.  According to Sherri Buri McDonald (...), "Family philanthropy has uniquely American roots, dating to the early 1900s with foundations started by steel baron Andrew Carnegie and oil tycoon Nelson Rockefeller."  Nobody can be sure of the philanthropy’s being a uniquely American phenomenon, but in the 20^th century the United States was the country of the growing interest in the issue of the efficient charitable donations.

            Mentioned above Nelson Rockefeller was not the first outstanding person in his family, he was a grandson of John Davison Rockefeller, the greatest philanthropist of the 20^th century.  "From the time of his youth, Rockefeller’s life consisted of work, family, and the Baptist church" (...).  Disciplined and hard-working, John Davison was impossible to be accused of wasting money; his giving always had a purpose.  His views were far from what was considered vain and selfish and he remained diligent in giving to charity. Rockefeller never ceased taking advantage of the opportunities and using his power to make money for the good of mankind.  One of his greatest contributions was the establishing of a new Baptist university, nowadays known as the University of Chicago, the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research and the Rockefeller Foundation. Thus, he met Baptist educational needs in the country, formed the basis for conducting modern scientific studies and began a new epoch in the United States.

Though being born in the 19^th century, John Davison was more than ever engaged into ambitious philanthropic projects in the afternoon of his life. In the early 1910s John Davison Rockefeller handed over his business to his son who was proud of carrying on the family’s philanthropic tradition. Even in the new millennium the offspring of John Rockefeller Sr. are still holding to it.

Gerund

Hi everyone)

1. What if the Internet stopped for a day?

They argued that going offline even for a weekend would prevent them from completing work in other classes, ruin their social lives, and make their friends and family worry that something terrible had happened to them.- NPA

"They don’t even think about not having access to it.”- NPA

Malicious hackers could bring the internet to a standstill by releasing software that aggressively targeted vulnerabilities in routers – the devices that forward internet traffic.  _NPA

Shutting down domain name servers – the internet’s address books – would also cause massive disruption. -NPA

Cutting the deep-sea cables that carry vast volumes of internet traffic between continents would also cause significant disruptions.

Egypt did this during the Arab Spring uprising in 2011 to make it more difficult for protesters to coordinate their activity.  NPA

And American senators have proposed creating one in the US as a means to defend the country from cyberattack. NPA

Building a kill switch is not easy, however. NPA

“The internet service providers and the companies that make the routing equipment have plans and personnel in place for getting things up and running again if unexpected vulnerabilities are exploited.”NPA

Looking at quarterly financial reports from the 20 companies that claimed to be most affected in each case, as well as more general economic statistics, they discovered that the financial impact of an outage was surprisingly insignificant – at least for outages that lasted no more than four days, which is all they studied. NPA

It turned out that losing internet access for a few days just made people fall behind on their work.  NPA

Rather than twiddle their thumbs, employees did things that they would normally put off, such as dealing with paperwork.NPA

“I’ve suggested that people and businesses should have a plan in place in the event of internet loss, but I haven’t heard of anyone doing that yet,”  NPA

“So you have to realise that your reaction to the idea of losing the internet is likely to be based on your socioeconomic status,”npa

“Most people using the internet are actually more social than those who are not using the internet.” NPA

The loss of connection may make people more social in specific situations, such as forcing co-workers to speak to each other rather than sending emails, but overall the experience is likely to be distressing. npa
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And could you live without the Internet at least for a day?;))))


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2. Why millions of Chinese men are staying single?


By 2020, it’s estimated there will be 30 million more men than women looking for a partner npa

In 2015, a Chinese businessman in his 40s reportedly sued a Shanghai-based introductions agency for failing to find him a wife, having paid the company 7 million yuan ($1m) to conduct an extensive search. npa

Part of the problem is that the old – and new – ways of meeting people are not always working. npa


Online dating is growing fast in China, as elsewhere, and messaging apps such as WeChat are increasingly popular ways of getting to know people. npa

Hiring a girlfriend can cost up to 10,000 yuan ($1,450) a day  npa

And to avoid prying questions from inquisitive parents, some are even resorting to hiring “fake” girlfriends to present to their parents using apps such as Hire Me Plz. . npa

“If men want to get married, the future mother-in-law will request that he first buys a house before discussing the next step.  npa

But this financial burden on men is also making it harder for many women to find a partner.npa

“So they pressure their child to find a partner, go dating and to prepare for a wedding”. npa

“Parents face big social criticism if their daughter or son does not get married so normally a girl’s parents are eager to let their daughter go on a blind date and get married before reaching 30.” npa


 The shift in how people meet and how men woo partners, is, above all, putting a greater emphasis on love rather than on practical considerations such as financial security.npa

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3 Travelling 55,000 miles for dessert


When Pichet Ong left the frenetic life of New York restaurants in 2009, he never imagined a career spent making dessert could take shape on the road.

The job comes with intense back-to-back travel, building intricate spreadsheets to keep pace and last-minute prep for restaurant launches that goes way beyond dessert. npa

Between consulting projects, he fills gaps while home in New York by styling food for magazines or cookbooks and catching up with friends, some of whom still work in the city’s kitchens. npa


Clients across regions often have the same concerns, such as using alternative flours, healthy dessert options and how their flavours can translate to a global audience. npa

Ong packs many ingredients that he has trouble finding in opposite corners of the globe npa

For instance, when working in Dubai, he sweetens his sticky toffee pudding with dates and brown sugar but omits alcohol.npa

Gerunds in Real Life :)

Good evening! Sometimes it was hard to deal with gerunds...anyway enjoy the articles! :))

Ireland Will Become First Country To Stop Funding Fossil Fuels Entirely

1.This principle of ethical financing... NPA

2.First country to stop funding fossil fuels... NPA 

3.  ...the bill will stop the fund from letting Irish public money fill... NPA

4. Irish environmental organizations have praised the act and Ireland’s bravery for being the first government... NPA

When Cigarettes Were For Kids

1.Men are frequently injured by smoking  NPA
2. ... with machine-assisted production contributing, in fact, to soaring tobacco consumption nationwide. NPA
3. ... free to experiment with smoking NPA
4. ...the immediate health risks of cigarette smoking... NPA
5. Even after legislation regulated child labor following the Great Depression — taking kids out of the workplace and bringing them nearer to the watchful eyes of their guardians  NPA
6. as long as the anti-smoking coalition ceased its ads NPA
7. Smoking rates among adults and children have steadily declined... NPA

'Muggle Quidditch': Students swap books for broomsticks

1. ...inspiration from J.K Rowling's literary series by setting up a novel sports...NPA

2. ...a magical sport played on flying broomsticks in the book... NPA

3. I actually first started playing because I lost a bet with somebody who was on the team, and resisted turning up for a year," NPA

4. Aside from the obvious lack of flying NPA

5. responsible for chasing the 'golden snitch NPA

6.I hate going to the gym or running for the sake of it. NPA

7. It's not just the game - a huge part of it is about meeting other teams and players. NPA

Gerunds

Hi everyone,
here are as usual some interesting articles (or not) with active moments, this time it's gerund :)

SpaceX successfully launches rocket after Saturday setback

1. Witnesses said the rocket was only briefly visible before making its way into the clouds. NPA

2. The rocket successfully landed on the ground nine minutes after taking off. NPA

3.Last month SpaceX resumed flights by launching a Falcon 9 vehicle... NPA

4. The company also has a long queue of customers all waiting for a ride to orbit NPA

Mulan: Niki Caro to direct Disney's live action remake

1. You may not recognise her, but she is very quickly climbing the Hollywood ladder, having directed films such as Whale Rider (2002) and the soon-to-be released The Zookeeper's Wife. PA

2. Worrying that he would never survive the hardship of war, she disguises herself and joins in his place. NPA

3. A petition calling on Disney not to "whitewash" the film by casting white actors has attracted more than 111,000 signatures. NPA

4. ...movies which have been criticised for hiring an actor... NPA

5. Could Niki Caro's appointment as the director of Mulan be a small step towards seeing more women behind the camera? NPA

How Popcorn Became a Much Loved Snack

1. The skin can reach high heat without burning. NPA

2. Scientists have found that you can double the size of the final popped kernel by using a vacuum pump... NPA

3. It is certainly possible to pop popcorn without any machinery – holding an ear of corn over a fire will do the trick... NPA

4. It turns out you can pop many seeds with hard shells, including rice, wheat, barley, and amaranth. NPA