Sonntag, 8. Februar 2009
Sonntag, 1. Februar 2009
Grammatik
http://www.grammar-quizzes.com/index.html
Montag, 5. Januar 2009
Reading Comprehension
Hier der Link: http://eslus.com/LESSONS/READING/READ.HTM
Sonntag, 21. Dezember 2008
Reading Comprehension
http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/410/reading/index.htm
Donnerstag, 18. Dezember 2008
Free Grammar and Vocabulary Exercises
http://www.speakspeak.com/html/d3_english_resources_grammar_practice.htm
Listening Comprehension - a diagnostic test
Der Test kann online durchgeführt und im Anschluss sofort ausgewertet werden.
http://www.edict.com.hk/Diagnostic/listening.htm
Sonntag, 7. Dezember 2008
Listening comprehension
http://www.oup.com/elt/global/products/openforum/
Reading comprehension
Diese Seite bietet jede Menge Lesestoff. Zu den jeweiligen Texten gibt es Zusatzübungen, deren Resultat nach der Bearbeitung angezeigt wird. Eine runde Sache.
http://www.usingenglish.com/comprehension/
Grammar Exercises
http://depts.gallaudet.edu/englishworks/exercises/main/grammar.html
Transitions with sample sentences
http://depts.gallaudet.edu/englishworks/writing/transitions.html
Samstag, 6. Dezember 2008
Useful expressions.
Stellungnehmen
Gründe angeben
I feel (that)...I am convinced that...I personally believe that...It seems to me (that)...I firmly believe that...As I see...What I mean is...My (point of) view of the matter/problem is...My point of view is that...From my point of view...In my opinion/view...My view/feeling/opinion is that...To my mind...It you ask me...I’m certain, that...I claim, that...I feel strongly about...what I’m getting at...I’m willing to...I must concedeI (dis)approve ...I distinguish betweenI supposeIt evokes the feeling of...I like to emphasize/highlighte...First and foremostI like to point out, that...I dislike...Undoubtedly, ….In the formerIn the latterAt first glance
The (main/basic) reasons is that...The thing/point is...There are many points of view issues to consider here.. There are several questions to think about when discussing...The issues I want to mention/discuss here are...Another point to consider is this: ...A further problem to note is...Not only..., but... also...The reason why... is that...This leads inevitably to...The next item is...both... and.../as well... as...The cause is that...We have to regard, that/Regarding, that...Indeed
Weiterführung
besides....still....also....too...then....above all....what is more ...Moreover/Furthermore...In addition...Due to...Since,…
Liste
Ähnlichkeiten, Analogien
for one thing ... (and) for another (thing) to begin with to start with Secondly, ...; Thirdly, ...; Finally, ...; Last of all, ...First/First of all...in the first/second place..next..then..finally..last but not least..to conclude...last(ly)
equally..likewise..similarly...in the same way...resembling...
Einer Meinung zustimmen
Eine Meinung ablehnen
I agree. That is (quite) right/true.I couldn’t agree more.That is just how I see it.That is exactly my own view/opinion.
I do not agree.As a matter of fact, ...I cannot accept...Actually, ... In fact, I think (that)I doubt, that
Kontrast/Gegensatz
Beispiele
either...or...but...however..yet..nevertheless....in spite of/despite...instead of ...though...on the contrary......in contrast (to ...)by contrast.....on the one hand ...on the other (hand)...Whereas...
for example (e. g.)for instance....such as...that is to say.....Supposing (that)
namely...alternatively
Ergebnisse festhalten
Zusammenfassung und abschließende Bemerkung
As a result...As a consequence...Because of this...The effect of this is that...consequently....hence....thus....accordingly
To sum up...In short/in brief/in general...On the whole, ...All in all, ...In conclusion, then, it is clear that...To conclude, therefore, it seems that...Having considered all these issues...Having outlined the main arguments...Having taken all these factors into account...I come to the conclusion that...
II. Wortschatzliste für Comprehension and Comment
II.1 Aufzählen von Ideen, Fakten und Gründen
Enumerating ideas, facts and reasons.
Start
Entwicklung
Schluss
first of all...to begin with...to start with...in the first place....the first point I would like...first and foremost
secondly – thirdly – finally..then...in the second place...moreover...furthermore...besides..in addition to that...apart from that..another factor/problem is...the next point I want to mention is...the next point to be considered is...other factors to be taken in account are....we must also take into account tha..twe should also consider the fact that...another argument is
finally..eventually...in conclusion...last of all..the final point ist..here is only one point left
II.2 Bezugnahme zu den Argumenten des Autors
Referring to the author’s arguments in a text.
the author is of the opinion thatin his opinion/view/he bases his arguments on
the author...
claims..states...suggests..implies.. refers to...alludes to..deals with..discusses..puts forward the thesis that...presents/develops/defends the thesis that...expresses his point of view...holds the view that...agrees to/with.... approves (of), is in favour of
supports/sides with/sympathizes with /criticizes/blames sb. for/ reproaches sb with sb.....accuses sb. of having done sth....questions sb....raises objections to/opposes sb...objects by pointing out....argues that...comments on...assumes a critical attitude towards sb....argues for – against...points out that...bases his arguments on...supports/illustrates his arguments
II.3 Formulierung der eigenen Meinung
Expressing your own view.
with regard to an author’s opinion in a text
his argument does not hold good
he overlooks the fact that
the author’s proposals/arguments are convincing, but he fails to take into account that...
it is true that, but...
despite/in spite all this arguments
in my opinion/from my point of view
when discussing problems in a comment
to weigh the pros and cons
as far as I can see
as for/as to/with regard to
talking of
in contrast to/contrary to
as opposed to
the question of... -->
it should be pointed out that
I would like to point out that
it should be mentioned that
I’d like to emphasize the fact
consequently
the consequence would be
the consequence is whether
the result may be
it seems to me that
on the one hand
on the other hand
in fact
as a matter of fact
strictly speaking
we can draw the conclusion that
to sum up we may say
to sum up and make the point
as far as the question of... is concerned
it might be stated that
Nützliche Satzverknüpfungspartikel
Useful particle for sentence association.
Was?
Beispiele
Gedanken hinzufügen:
in addition, further, furthermore, also, besides, in the same way
Gedanken neu formulieren:
in other words, that means, that is, that is to say
Gedankengang abschließen:
in conclusion, in brief, in short, on the whole
Reihenfolge verdeutlichen:
first, second, next, finally, in the end
Gegenteil/Kontrast ausdrücken:
yet, however, on the other hand, on the contrary, in contrast, in spite of, despite, although, though, but,
Vergleich anstellen:
similarly, in the same way, likewise, both, likewise, equally, as well as, as.... as
Schlussfolgerung ausdrücken:
consequently, therefore, as a result, hence, accordingly, thus
Einräumung ausdrücken:
although, though, even if, after all, in any case
Bedingung ausdrücken:
if, unless, provided that, in case that
Begründung/Zweck anführen:
therefore, that is why, for this reason, because, because of, since, on account of, so that, due to
Bezugnahme ausdrücken:
concerning, regarding, related to, referring to
Beispiel anführen:
For example, for instance, in other words, such as
Ort beschreiben:
among, between, here, there, where, on the right/left, in the middle, in front of, behind, nearby, in the distance, in the foreground, in the background
zeitliche Verbindung knüpfen:
now, while, as soon as, before, after, as long as, initially, previously, recently, finally, eventually, meanwhile, at the same time, at the moment, in the end, at last, since, from now on, time and again, off and on, lately, in the past
Hilfreiche Ausdrücke und Wendungen
Useful expressions and phrases.
Einstieg:
Entwicklung:
Schluss:
Personally, I think/feel...
In my opinion...
I object to...
To my mind...
First of all.../furthermore...
To begin with.../Next....
One reason for this.../Another reason...
Likewise it must be mentioned....
And above all...
This can be seen .../So, for instance, ....
In a word....
To conclude...
As a result...
Consequently
Hinführen zum Thema:
Aufzählen von Gründen:
Ziehen einer Schlussfolgerung:
Most people would agree that
Many people seem to think
It has often been said
For the majority of people
As a general statement
Literally this statement means
In the first place
Apart from that
Above all
Finally
The logical result of this is
In consequence
This suggests
For that reason
That is why
Stilistische Aufwertung mit Adverben
Stylistic revaluation with adverbs.
Englisch
Deutsch
absolutely brilliant deeply hurt entirely different extremely cold extremely interesting highly unusual particularly difficult wonderfully creative severely limited
absolut genial tief verletzt völlig anders extrem kalt äußert interessant höchst ungewöhnlich besonders schwierig wunderbar kreativ streng limitiert
Freitag, 5. Dezember 2008
GB System of Government
The System of Government
Britain is a parliamentary democracy with a constitutional monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, as head of the State. The British constitution, unlike those of most countries, is not set out in a single document. Instead it is made up of a combination of laws and practices which are not legally enforceable, but which are regarded as vital to the working of government.
The Monarchy
The stablility of the British government owes much to the monarchy. Its continuity has been interrupted only once (the republic of 1649-60) in over a thousand years.Today the Queen is not only the head of State, but also an important symbol of national unity. Her complete official royal title is 'Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of Her other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith', but she is usually referred to as Her Royal Highness or Queen Elizabeth.According to the law the Queen is head of the executive branch of the government, an integral part of the legislature, head of the judiciary, the commander-in-chief of all the armed forces of the Crown and the 'supreme governor' of the established Church of England. While that sounds like a lot of responsibility, the real power of the monarchy has been steadily reduced over the years to the point where the Queen is uninvolved in the day-to-day operation of the government. She is impartial and acts only on the advice of her ministers.The Queen, the Queen Mother, Prince Charles and the other members of the royal family take part in traditional ceremonies, visit different parts of Britain and many other countries and are closely involved in the work of many charities.
Parliament
Parliament, Britain's legislature, is made up of the House of Commons, the House of Lords and the Queen in her constitutional role.The Commons has 651 elected Members of Parliament (MPs), who represent local constituencies. The House of Lords is made up of 1,185 hereditary and life peers and peeresses, and the two archbishops and the 24 most senior bishops of the established Church of England.The center of parliamentary power is the House of Commons. Limitations on the power of the Lords (it rarely uses it power to delay passage of most laws for a year) is based on the principle that the Lords, as a revising chamber, should complement the Commons and not rival it. Once passed through both Houses, legislation requires the Royal Assent to become law.Parliament has a number of ways to exert control over the executive branch. Parliamentary committees question ministers and civil servants before preparing reports on matters of public policy and issues can be debated before decisions are reached. However, ultimate power rests in the ability of the House of Commons to force the government to resign by passing a resolution of 'no confidence'. The government must also resign if the House rejects a proposal so vital to its policy that it has made it a matter of confidence. The proceedings of both Houses of Parliament are broadcast on television and radio, sometimes live or more usually in recorded and edited form.
General elections to choose MPs must be held at least every five years. Voting, which is not compulsory, is by secret ballot and is from the age of 18. The simple majority system of voting is used. Candidates are elected if they have more votes than any of the other candidates, although not necessarily an absolute majority over all candidates.
Political Party System
The political party system is essential to the working of the constitution. Although the parties are not registered or formally recognized in law, most candidates for election belong to one of the main parties. Since 1945 eight general elections have been won by the Conservative Party and six by the Labour Party. A number of smaller parties have national and local organizations outside Parliament, and are also represented in local government.The Government is formed by the party with majority support in the Commons. The Queen appoints its leader as Prime Minister. As head of the Government the Prime Minister appoints about 100 ministers. About 20 ministers make up the Cabinet, the senior group making the major policy decisions. Ministers are collectively responsible for government decisions and individually responsible for their own departments. The second largest party forms the official Opposition, with its own leader and 'shadow cabinet'. The Opposition has a duty to challenge government policies and to present an alternative program.Policies are carried out by government departments and executive agencies staffed by politically neutral civil servants. Over half the Civil Service, about 295,000 civil servants, work in over 75 executive agencies. Agencies perform many of the executive functions of the government, such as the payment of social security benefits and the issuing of passports and drivers' licences. Agencies are headed by chief executives responsible for their performance and who enjoy considerable freedom on financial, pay and personnel matters.
USA System of Government
The federal government is composed of three branches:
Legislative: The bicameral Congress, made up of the Senate and the House of Representatives, makes federal law, declares war, approves treaties, has the power of the purse, and has the power of impeachment, by which it can remove sitting members of the government.
Executive: The president is the commander-in-chief of the military, can veto legislative bills before they become law, and appoints the Cabinet and other officers, who administer and enforce federal laws and policies.
Judicial: The Supreme Court and lower federal courts, whose judges are appointed by the president with Senate approval, appoints, interpret laws, and can overturn laws they deem unconstitutional.
The House of Representatives has 435 members, each representing a congressional district for a two-year term. House seats are apportioned among the states by population every tenth year. As of the 2000 census, seven states have the minimum of one representative, while California, the most populous state, has fifty-three. The Senate has 100 members with each state having two senators, elected at-large to six-year terms; one third of Senate seats are up for election every other year. The president serves a four-year term and may be elected to the office no more than twice. The president is not elected by direct vote, but by an indirect electoral college system in which the determining votes are apportioned by state. The Supreme Court, led by the Chief Justice of the United States, has nine members, who serve for life. The state governments are structured in roughly similar fashion; Nebraska uniquely has a unicameral legislature. The governor (chief executive) of each state is directly elected.
All laws and procedures of both state and federal governments are subject to review, and any law ruled in violation of the Constitution by the judiciary is voided. The original text of the Constitution establishes the structure and responsibilities of the federal government and its relationship with the individual states. Article One protects the right to the "great writ" of habeas corpus, and Article Three guarantees the right to a jury trial in all criminal cases. Amendments to the Constitution require the approval of three-fourths of the states. The Constitution has been amended twenty-seven times; the first ten amendments, which make up the Bill of Rights, and the Fourteenth Amendment form the central basis of Americans' individual rights.
Parties, ideology, and politics
The United States has operated under a two-party system for most of its history. For elective offices at all levels, state-administered primary elections choose the major party nominees for subsequent general elections. Since the general election of 1856, the major parties have been the Democratic Party, founded in 1824, and the Republican Party, founded in 1854. Since the Civil War, only one third-party presidential candidate—former president Theodore Roosevelt, running as a Progressive in 1912—has won as much as 20% of the popular vote.
Within American political culture, the Republican Party is considered "center-right" or conservative and the Democratic Party is considered "center-left" or liberal. The states of the Northeast and West Coast and some of the Great Lakes states, known as "blue states", are relatively liberal. The "red states" of the South and much of the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains are relatively conservative. A plurality of Americans identify as Democrats, yet significantly more Americans identify as conservative than liberal. Among the rights explicitly addressed in the Constitution, gun ownership is the subject of particularly contentious debate.
The incumbent president, Republican George W. Bush, is the 43rd U.S. president. All presidents to date have been men of European descent. After winning the 2008 presidential election, Democrat Barack Obama will be the first president of mixed European and African descent. The 2008 elections also saw the Democratic Party strengthen its control of both the House and the Senate. Every member of the U.S. Congress is a Democrat or a Republican except two independent members of the Senate. An overwhelming majority of state and local officials are also Democrats or Republicans.
Mittwoch, 26. November 2008
English Grammar Exercises
http://www.die-zeiten-in-englisch.de/corporate/grammitik/mix_tenses.php
Freitag, 21. November 2008
Hörverstehen – Links zur Vorbereitung auf den ersten Teil der ZP 10
Hier findet ihr viele Links zu Webseiten mit denen ihr euer Hörverständnis trainieren und testen könnt.
Hinweis: Um Audiodateien abspielen zu können, benötigt ihr unter Umständen entsprechende Programme:
Real Player downloaden
Windows Media Player downloaden
Geschichten anhören, den Text mitlesen und anschließend verschiedene Aufgaben dazu machen.
Hörverständnisaufgaben in den Kategorien "Easy", "Medium" und "Difficult". Diese Seite ist für die ZP 10 Vorbereitung am besten geeignet
Auf dieser Webseite finden Sie verschiedene Hörverständnisaufgaben. Diese beinhalten Bilder, Quiz sowie ein Transkript der Audiodatei.
Geschichten zu verschiedenen Themen. Zu einigen Texten gibt es auch Audio- oder Videodateien. Im Anschluss können eine Reihe von Hörverständnisaufgaben gemacht werden.
Gesprächen zuhören und anschließend Aufgaben dazu machen.
Lieder ( u.a. von den Beatles) anhören und die Lücken im Liedtext ausfüllen.
Donnerstag, 20. November 2008
ZP 10 Hörverstehen
Zu allen Beispielen wird zunächst eine pre-reading activity, in der ihr Vokabular zum Thema des Hörtextes aktiviert.
Dann wird das Verständnis überprüft, das heißt:
Während ihr das Tonbeipiel abspielt, minimiert den Player und konzentriert euch auf die Fragen, klickt die Lösungen an und lasst euren "score" errechnen.
Beginnt mit den Beispielen aus der Rubrik EASY, das entspricht den Vorgaben der ZP 10.
Im Anschluss ist es möglich, sich post-listening activities anzuschauen.
Hier der LINK
Randall's Cyber Listening Lab
http://www.esl-lab.com/
Mittwoch, 5. November 2008
Donnerstag, 30. Oktober 2008
How to write a summary
Writing a summary
Why summaries?
The summary was not invented to torture students. Instead, it is something very useful. Summaries of the essential contents of longer texts can be found in
- surveys summarizing the most important information of longer reports,
- blurbs giving a brief overview of the content of a book,
- dissertation abstracts containing short information about scientific theses,
- minutes recording the main results of a meeting.
What does a summary do?
In a summary, you tell the reader (or the teacher, if he doesn't know already)
- what a text talks about in general (the topic)
- what exactly a text talks about (the sub-topics of the text) and what it says about these things (the messages of a text)
- what is the overall message of the text.
A topic is one word or expression that a text or a paragraph is about. It can normally be found somewhere at the beginning of a text or paragraph. What is the topic of the following short paragraph?
Mike's house was so comfortable and warm! He really didn't want to leave, but he couldn't afford the rent, you know. And it had such a nice garden in the back!
What does the text say about this topic, __________________? That's the message of a paragraph. You should be able to express this message in one sentence or two. Sometimes, the author has done this bit of work for you and has put the message at the beginning or at the end of a paragraph / text, but sometimes you have to make it up yourself. Unfortunately, it's not always that clear what the message is.
A longer text will deal its topic by talking about different subtopics.
How do you write a summary
- Take a first look at the text, try to understand what it is about (this might be the general topic of the text)
- Read through the text, try to understand what it is really about (general topic), which things it talks about (subtopics), and what its overall message is. Underline the corresponding expressions in three colours. Colour pencils are expensive, so use the colours sparingly!
- Read through the text again, try to find sections that talk about the same subtopic and mark them.
Hint: Most of the time, a new topic will be treated in a new paragraph. Also watch out for adverbials that express a distance in time (a few years later), a logical contrast (however, nevertheless, on the other hand), a new development of the argument (therefore, consequently), or a new topic (As far as XYZ is concerned /As to XYZ,). You can underline these signal adverbials when you read through the text first. - Read through the text again (if you don't know it by heart yet) and try to understand which messages the text gives about its different subtopics. If you're lucky to find a key sentence, underline it, otherwise write down the message at the margin of the text.
- At the same time, try to understand the logical connection between the different messages of the text. If you're lucky, the author has helped you with some nice adverbials of time or reason.
- Congratulations! Your summary is finished. All you have to do now is write it down, in the following order:
- Overall topic of the text (XYZ's text ABC talks about X // deals with the question as to whether / why…)
- Subtopics and messages, connected logically or, if there's no logical connection to be seen, with First, second, third / Moreover / In addition.
- General message of the text (In general / On the whole, the author shows / makes it clear that… // Thus, the bottom line of XYZ's text is that…)
- The tricky thing about a summary is its style. You're not supposed to just copy the text, because then your teacher would have nothing to correct. Instead, you're required
- to use your own words as far as possible
- to avoid repetitions, especially as far as the connections between the different ideas are concerned. Vary your choice of words.
- to be short and snappy: In general, a summary has about a third of the length of the original text.
- Remind the reader time and again that you are summarizing. Moreover, if the author expresses his opinion, make it clear that it is his opinion, not yours, even if you happen to agree with him. You can do this by using the following expressions.
The author… |
|
Applying for a job - an advertisement
Administrative Assistant - Amazon.com[1]
Job Title: Administrative Assistant
Location: SEATTLE, WA
Job Type: Full-Time
============================
Amazon.com is looking for a highly motivated, detail-oriented self-starter to assist our Product Development group. In addition to day-to-day administration, responsibilities will involve challenging projects such as online research. This position requires a high level of organizational skills, as well as excellent written and oral communication skills. A solid knowledge of Microsoft Word and Excel is also required. Candidates must be bright[2], independent and flexible. Candidates with a passion for the Internet and creating the world's best e-commerce Web site will find this a very good job.
Required Skills:
* Organizational Skills
* Communication Skills
* MS Word
* MS Excel
Contact Information:
Jack Peters
Recruitment Manager
Amazon.com
P.O. Box 80387
Seattle, WA 98108
The Amazon.com philosophy is simple: if it’s good for our customers, it’s worth doing. Our company mission is to provide the best buying experience on the Internet. Put another way, we want people to come to Amazon.com, find whatever they want, discover things they didn’t know they wanted, and leave feeling like they have a favorite place to shop.
Work hard. Everyone at Amazon.com works hard and long. We act like owners because we are owners--stock options[3] are given to each of us.
Have fun. We like what we’re doing. Because of that, we have fun at work, and it makes it easy for us to work hard.
Make history. This is the most compelling reason to work at Amazon.com. What we’re building is new. We’re not trying to follow a company model--we are creating the model. Amazon.com is the product of a great idea, hard work, and exceptional people. We are pioneers in a growth industry, and we’re leading the way. But this is just the beginning; it’s still day one at Amazon.com. If you would like to help us build our company, we invite you to apply.
[1] Amazon.com = American Internet bookshop operating in other countries (incl. Germany), too
[2] bright = intelligent
[3] stock options = Firmenanteile (wie Aktien)