C1 Making profits out of hope

People-smuggling is just another part of the vast decentralised organised-crime economy. Those in the trade are not necessarily evil or part of a grand conspiracy: they are ordinary folk drawn into organised crime by profits and the prospect of a better life.

http://www.economist.com/news/books-and-arts/21708989-how-desperation-and-innovation-combined-create-business-making-profits-out-hope

2NB Adjectives and Jobs

http://a4esl.org/q/f/x/xz64mbs.htm

http://iteslj.org/v/ei/adjectives.html

http://www.esl-lounge.com/student/reading/1r2-my-working-day.php

C1 Christmas Ads 2016

As all the big Christmas 2016 ads are revealed, which is YOUR favourite?

It seems ‘advertising’ is over – this season’s campaigns are more likely to have you crying tears of laughter than blubbing in front of the TV

http://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/big-christmas-2016-ads-revealed-9259189

C1 Writing a review

Let's start from the basics. Whatever you do, don't tell us the end of the film! If there´s something film review readers hate is spoilers. When writing about the plot it is better to keep it brief and simple.

http://cpesamplewritings.blogspot.com.es/p/how-to-write-a.html

http://cpesamplewritings.blogspot.com.es/p/how-to-write-review-of-restaurant.html

C1 Comment Adverbs

Comment and viewpoint adverbs add information about the speaker's opinion of events. They do not usually give information about howsomething happened. Comment & viewpoint adverbs often modify the complete sentence, not just the verb.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/flatmates/episode85/languagepoint.shtml

2NB Cloze Texts

http://www.grammarbank.com/beginners-reading-worksheet.html

C1 Supermarkets are using bread as a marketing tool

Supermarkets are baking more bread in-store than they can sell according to three big food waste charities. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p049fj7n?ns_mchannel=social&ns_campaign=bbc_radio_4&ns_source=facebook&ns_linkname=radio_and_music

Tristram Stuart: The global food waste scandal
Western countries throw out nearly half of their food, not because it's inedible -- but because it doesn't look appealing. Tristram Stuart delves into the shocking data of wasted food, calling for a more responsible use of global resources.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWC_zDdF74s

C1 Cleft Sentences

A cleft sentence is a complex sentence (one having a main clause and a dependent clause) that has a meaning that could be expressed by a simple sentence. Clefts typically put a particular constituent into focus. This focusing is often accompanied by a special intonation.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/learnit/learnitv149.shtml

C1 Viral Marketing

When word of mouth turns to word of mouse.

On December 16, 1998 Iconocast gave the award for Internet marketing buzzword of the year to the term 'viral marketing', but what does it really mean? The concept itself was by no means new, businesses world-wide from the smallest corner shop to the biggest multinational had long relied on and benefited from it.

https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/magazine/viral-marketing

2NB Listening skills practice

http://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/skills/listening-skills-practice

C1 Advertising and Emotions

Most people believe that the choices they make result from a rational analysis of available alternatives. In reality, however, emotions greatly influence and, in many cases, even determine our decisions.

.Evidence suggests that the decisions to purchase a luxury product are overwhelmingly emotional. Purchase behavior is a direct result of how a consumer perceives that a brand delivers the emotional end-benefits of buying and owning.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/inside-the-consumer-mind/201302/how-emotions-influence-what-we-buy

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/inside-the-consumer-mind/201610/the-emotions-luxury

2NB THIS/THESE/THAT/THOSE

Why do we use this and these?

We use this (singular) and these (plural) as pronouns:

- to talk about people or things near us:

This is a nice cup of tea.
Whose shoes are these?

Why do we use that and those?

We use that (singular) and those (plural):

- to talk about things that are not near us:

What’s that?
This is our house, and that’s Rebecca’s house over there.
Those are very expensive shoes.

https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/es/english-grammar/pronouns/that-these-and-those

http://www.agendaweb.org/grammar/demonstratives-exercises.html

C1 Michael Bublé

Kirsty Young's castaway is the singer, Michael Bublé. Born in Burnaby, British Columbia, as a young boy he spent hours listening to his grandfather's record collection which featured the stars of the Great American songbook - Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Ella Fitzgerald. At sixteen he was singing at venues often in exchange for the free plumbing services his grandad offered to get him on stage. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b080py3v

2NB Singular and Plural Nouns

http://www.ef.com/english-resources/english-grammar/singular-and-plural-nouns/

C1 Nice and .....

 We say things like “nice and short” and “nice and sweet” all the time, but what exactly is the meaning of “nice” in this context? Is it simply an intensifier?

               

 http://www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2012/12/nice.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siamese_twins_(linguistics)

2NB Roald Dahl

Matilda, The BFG, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - they're some of the most popular children's books ever written.

But how much do you know about their author, Roald Dahl?

It's a hundred years since he was born, so Newsround has taken a look at his life.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/35579345