English in Madrid

Image Source : BigSus @ Wkikpedia La Rioja's wine battle Thousands of litres of wine are needed every June for the San Pedro festival which is held the end of the month in the town of Haro, in the north west of the wine region of La Rioja. Some of it is drunk, but the vast majority is used as ammunition for Haro’s ‘Batalla del Vino’, the ‘Wine Battle’ which is held every June 29. Source: typicallyspanish .com Would you like to go to the Wine Battle? Have you ever been to or heard of a strange festival? Vocabulary : a p______ - a person who goes on a journey to a holy place / a p________ - the religious journey to r____ sth - to increase or to put sth to a higher position to d__ - to give sth or sb a paricular name to b___ - to put a dead body in the ground / a b_____ to t____ - to send sth through the air, using your arm / t____ (past) which has the same pronunciation as t______ (prep), t_____ (past part) to c____ (inf) - means the same as the p...

Source: Monique Carrati on Unsplash Mijas teenager charged with misappropriation for eating chocolates sent to her house by error The 14 year old ate half the chocolates in the box after the courier de livered them to the wrong address. A fourteen year old girl from Mijas, Málaga, has been charged with misappropriation for eating a gift of chocolates which was delivered to her house in error. The teenager was unable to resist the temptation when she opened up the package after it was delivered to her house by courier and found pieces of chocolate * laid out inside the box to form the words, ‘Feliz cumpleaños’ – ‘Happy birthday’. The error in the delivery was discovered when the true recipient contacted the courier service enquiring about a package his wife had sent to his office in Fuengirola. The courier went back to the Mijas address and, despite finding on arrival that half the chocolates had been eaten, took away what remained and they were sent on to their destination. ...

Two operations, round-the-clock care and an offer of a lift home to Antarctica... the loneliest penguin is making a lot of friends A young Emperor penguin that took a wrong turn and swam 4,000 miles to New Zealand has survived two operations - and been offered a ride home. The black and white bird - nicknamed Happy Feet - came ashore on a beach in the south of the North Island last Monday - miles from his natural habitat in Antarctica. The stranded creature was taken into care and remained on an intravenous drip yesterday. It faces another procedure on Monday to remove more sand from its digestive system. If Happy Feet does pull through , a businessman wants to take it by boat to Antarctica next February. The perplexed penguin arrived on Peka Peka Beach, around 40 miles (65 kilometers) northwest of Wellington, last Monday, * the first time in 44 years that one of the birds has been spotted in the wild in New Zealand. Typically, emperors spend their entire lives in and arou...

'It makes business travel more fun': Passenger who flies in lingerie explains why he wears skimpy underwear and heels   A man who ignited a row about airline dress codes after he was allowed to wear skimpy   women's panties and mid.thigh stockings on a U.S. Airways flight has said that he does it to make business travel more fun. The 65-year-old Phoenix man, who works as a business consultant and flies several times a month as a preferred customer on the airline, said that he has flown in scanty   female clothing for several years. A dispute erupted after pictures emerged of the man dressed in a blue bathing suit and heels on a flight from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, days before a college football player was arrested on a flight following a row over his baggy pants. The business man, who has refused to be named, said that he has rarely been requested to cover up by airline staff, but has complied with requests when asked.  'It has never been my inten...

A social networking site for ''beautiful people'' has been hit by a ''Shrek'' virus which allowed tens of thousands of ''ugly'' applicants to sign up. Members of BeautifulPeople.com must traditionally pass a strict '' rating '' stage where existing users vote on whether someone is attractive enough to be accepted into the online community. But this screening process was brought down last month, allowing anyone to join, regardless of their looks. Owners today apologised to more than 30,000 ''unfortunate'' people who were ''wrongly admitted'' to the site and subsequently banished . Source: Daily Telegraph What do you think of this website and the people who want to join it? How do you think the people who were kicked out feel? Would you ever try to join such a club? Don't you think it is all just a publicity stunt?   Vocabulary : to s___ __ - to become invol...

Correct the sentences that are wrong: She was born in the third of April. How much costs a ticket to Malaga? He likes go to the countryside at the weekends. Who did say "veni, vidi, vici"? We haven't to get up early tomorrow. I'd like seeing that film. I think they win the match. They are playing well at the moment. Where do you go for your holiday this summer? The weather is worse this week that last week. Did you write to your grandmother yet? She taked the bus to work yesterday. They bought the house ago two years. If you will come with us to the party, you will meet a lot of people. You shouldn't to talk to your father like that. I might don't go to work tomorrow. Madrid isn't as expensive as Paris and the people are friendlier. Have you ever forgot your wife's birthday? I going to look for a new flat after the summer holidays. She lived in London when she met her husband. I am thinking to go to the theatre this weekend. A wa...

They tried to make her go to rehab - and she did. But perhaps Amy Winehouse should’ve stay in rehab a little longer. Source: newsy.com   How would you have reacted if you had seen her give such a performance? Why do you think so many stars have to go to rehab? Have you ever been to a concert that you didn't enjoy? Why? Vocabulary (see answers in comments): w____ - the money that you receive from your work at the end of the month to s_______ - to have difficulty doing something k______ - the time when an activity starts eg football to b__ - to make a noise that shows disapproval the s____ - the place where actors are in the theatre to w_____ - to walk around slowly without any clear purpose or direction to s____ ___ - to express opinions forcefully upcoming (adj) to shell out - a week's worth - a mouthpiece - shortly afterwards - needless to say - a comeback tour - sober (adj) - Grammar point : "... spending...

Jerusalem rabbis 'condemn dog to death by stoning'  A Jewish rabbinical court condemned to death by stoning a stray dog it feared was the reincarnation of a lawyer who insulted its judges, reports say. The dog entered the Jerusalem financial court several weeks ago and would not leave, reports Israeli website Ynet. It reminded a judge of a curse passed on a now deceased secular lawyer about 20 years ago, when judges bid his spirit to enter the body of a dog. The animal is said to have escaped before the sentence was carried out. One of the judges at the court in the city's ultra-Orthodox Mea Shearim neighbourhood had reportedly asked local children to carry out the sentence. An animal welfare organisation filed a complaint with the police against a court official, who denied reports that judges had ordered the dog's stoning, according to Ynet. But a court manager told Israeli daily Yediot Aharonot the stoning had been ordered as "as an appropriate way t...

A drunken brawl , a celebrity call girl and tattooed men (and women)... whatever happened to a genteel day out at Ascot? For 300 years, it has been the highlight of the summer calendar for the well-off and well-connected. But these days, it seems, the enclosures and stands of Royal Ascot are becoming increasingly popular with a much less distinguished breed of racegoer . Source: Daily Mail What does this say about British society? What is the poshest event you have been to? Vocabulary : a b____ - a particular type of animal eg dog, in some cases a type of person k_______ (adj) - given the title "sir" vice (n) - illegal and immoral activity, usually connected to sex a g___ - a long woman's dress worn at formal occasions f___ t__ - a substance that you put on your skin to make it appear that you have been in the sun a p____ - a danger / p_______ (adj) a b____  = a f_____ - a noisy, uncontrolled fight to s____ - to push f...

Source:  Wikipedi a Saudi Facebook campaign sees women drive cars The call to defy the ban that spread through the social networking sites is the largest en masse action since November 1990, when a group of 47 Saudi women were arrested and severely punished after demonstrating in cars. " * We've just returned from the supermarket. My wife decided to start the day by driving to the store and back," said columnist Tawfiq Alsaif on his Twitter page. Source: Daily Telegraph Vocabulary : to t_____ - to cause sth (eg a governement, a statue) to lose balance and fall down b______ (adv) - for a short time f______ (unc n) - a piece of film that shows an event to d___ - to refuse to obey a law, a person etc / to do sth in d_______ a s______ d___ - someone who is very easy for an enemy to shoot at or attack from h___ to t__ - completely covering your body a p_______ - a thin book of only a few pages which gives some kind of informa...

Syria Gay Girl in Damascus blog a hoax by US man  A blog purportedly written by a gay woman in Syria, which described life in Damascas amid the current political unrest , has been revealed to be a hoax.   A Girl Gay in Damascus gained a worldwide readership and was closely followed by news organisations.  But the true author has now come forward - Tom MacMaster, an American man studying in Scotland.  Many Syrian activists have reacted angrily, accusing him of trivialis ing or even harming their cause. "One day if I'm kidnapped by my government, many readers won't care because I could turn out to be another Amina," wrote one Lebanese blogger.  The Gay Girl in Damascus blog, dating back to February this year , claimed to document the life of 25-year-old Amina Abdallah Arraf al-Omari, a half-Syrian, half American lesbian living in Damascus.  Entries covered her social life and relationships, but "Amina" also criticised President Bashar al-A...

Source:  Noelle Guirola en Unsplash Tunisia defends 'provocative adverts' to woo tourists Tunisia has defended a controversial advertising campaign to attract tourists who deserted the country after its revolution in January. It include billboards in London of a woman getting a massage, next to the words: "They say that in Tunisia some people receive heavy-handed treatment." At least 200 people were killed during the Tunisian uprising which began in December. It led to the collapse of President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali's regime. Tourism is crucial to Tunisia's economy. With a population of little more than 10 million people, the industry provides about 400,000 jobs and is worth about $2.5bn (£1.5bn) to the economy. 'Nothing but ruins' Syrine Cherif, whose advertising agency Memac Ogilvy came up with the campaign for the Tunisian Tourism Board, said it was intended to create a "buzz" among potential tourists in the UK and other c...