C1 Grammar schools: What are they and why are they controversial?

Grammar schools are state secondary schools that select their pupils by means of an examination taken by children at age 11, known as the "11-plus".

There are only about 163 grammar schools in England, out of some 3,000 state secondaries, and a further 69 grammar schools in Northern Ireland.

Under the grammar school system, pupils who pass the exam can go to the local grammar, while those who do not go to the local "secondary modern school".

http://www.bbc.com/news/education-34538222

2NB More past simple practice

http://www.esl-lounge.com/student/grammar-exercises-elementary.php

C1 Secondary school league tables

The National Curriculum was introduced into England, Wales and Northern Ireland as a nationwide curriculum for primary and secondary state schools following the Education Reform Act (1988). Notwithstanding its name, it does not apply to independent schools. Academies and free schools may also set their own curricula, though many choose to follow the National Curriculum.

The purpose of the National Curriculum was to standardise the content taught across schools to enable assessment, which in turn enabled the compilation of league tables detailing the assessment statistics for each school. These league tables, together with the provision to parents of some degree of choice in assignment of the school for their child (also legislated in the same act) were intended to encourage a 'free market' by allowing parents to choose schools based on their measured ability to teach the National Curriculum.

http://www.bbc.com/news/education-38611850

C1 Writing a formal letter or email

Formal letters may be written to an individual or to an organisation. The purpose may be, for example,

• to apply for part-time or vacation work (application letter)
• to apply for study or scholarship opportunity (application letter)
• to complain about something (complaint letter)
• to make suggestions about something 
• to request information (enquiry letter)

http://www.rubenvalero.com/english/content/fce-formal-letter-or-email

2NB Simple Past - Irregular Verbs

http://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/irregular-verbs.html

http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises/irregular_verbs/crossword_simple_past2.htm

http://www.teachya.com/grammar/elementary/past_simple_irregular_verbs.php

C1 The selfie-takers dying just to prove how alive they are

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Sunday 19 March 2017 06.00 GMTLast modified on Sunday 19 March 2017 09.38 GMT

Like those high-pitched alarms only teenagers can hear, the song of the selfie siren doesn’t work on everyone. But for those it does, those whose ears are tuned to their suicidal frequency and whose camera has never faced outwards, be warned. People are dying.

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/mar/19/the-selfie-takers-dying-just-to-prove-how-alive-they-are

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b061blcm/episodes/player

2NB Past Simple - Regular Verbs

http://www.teachya.com/grammar/elementary/past_simple_regular_verbs.php

C1 Business etiquette

In an age when offices have given way to cubicles, when electronic devices keep us in constant communication, and when the boundaries between our professional and personal lives are dissolving, we need the rules of etiquette more than ever. Etiquette, after all, is just a code of conduct that allows us to live and work together with relative ease, fosters good relationships, and reduces the social frictions that impede our happiness and even our professional success.

https://hbr.org/2014/04/behave-yourself

2NB Was & Were

http://www.teachya.com/grammar/elementary/past_simple_be_was_were.php

C1 Modal verbs

We use modal verbs to show if we believe something is certain, probable or possible (or not). We also use modals to do things like talking about ability, asking permission making requests and offers, and so on.

http://www.agendaweb.org/verbs/modals-mixed-4-exercises.html

2NB To or _ing?

http://www.teachya.com/grammar/pre-intermediate/to_ing_gerund_infinitive.php

C1 Banksy hotel, The Walled Off, opens in Bethlehem

A hotel which prides itself on the "worst view in the world" is set to attract international attention - because it is a collaboration with the famous street artist Banksy.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-39157856

2NB Pronouns

http://www.englishexercises.org/makeagame/viewgame.asp?id=6961

https://www.usingenglish.com/quizzes/249.html

http://www.teachya.com/grammar/elementary/pronouns.php

C1 Image

You can’t avoid the overwhelming message of our age, that weight loss is good, says former anorexic Emma Woolf

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-health/11649411/How-social-media-is-fuelling-the-worrying-rise-in-eating-disorders.html

Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is a condition that involves obsessions, which are distressing thoughts that repeatedly intrude into a person's awareness. With BDD, the distressing thoughts are about perceived appearance flaws.

http://kidshealth.org/en/teens/body-image-problem.html

"The relatively low awareness of boys' body image issues amongst parents and teachers, coupled with a culture of boys not discussing their worries, makes it a tough environment for boys to seek support," 

http://www.bbc.com/news/education-37010205

The survey revealed that men have high levels of anxiety about their bodies and that some resort to compulsive exercise, strict diets, laxatives or making themselves sick in an attempt to lose weight or achieve a more toned physique.

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2012/jan/06/body-image-concerns-men-more-than-women

C1 Behaving ourselves

David Mitchell sets out on a vigorous but impeccably polite investigation into the confusing world of manners. Are they really in decline, as many would have us believe? Or are we just throwing off the shackles of the Victorian obsession with etiquette?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06vwcby/episodes/player

2NB Clothes

http://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/grammar-vocabulary/vocabulary-exercises/clothes

http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/games/hangman11.html