February 2 is Groundhog Day. Groundhogs are small brown furry animals. They live in burrows in the ground, and they eat grass, berries, and other vegetation. Groundhog Day is based on folklore. The folklore is that if the groundhog comes out of its hole and sees its shadow then there will be six more weeks of winter weather. But if the groundhog comes out of its hole and doesn’t see its shadow, then there will be an early spring
The Groundhog Day ceremony is held at Punxsutawney in western Pennsylvania, centering around a semi-mythical groundhog named Punxsutawney Phil, has become the most attended. Grundsow Lodges in Pennsylvania Dutch Country in the southeastern part of the state celebrate them as well. Other cities in the United States and Canada have also adopted the event.
How much do you know about groundhogs ? Try this matching quiz to test your knowledge.
It is difficult, I know first-hand. Staying with you goal(s), extremely hard. But consider this, with achievement of your goal, you experience success, peace, fulfillment, triumph. Just saying those words, hearing those words may fill you with the confidence to reach victory. Oh, many of those words are featured in this word search. Please take the time to do the search and maybe you will find your motivation.
Hello and welcome to DLP for week 11. I hope you are “getting it”, that English is a difficult language to learn, but you can do it. Don’t give up!! So here is week 11’s practice for you, answers on the following sheet. Good luck!
The increasing ubiquity of artificial intelligence in our lives is creating waves in academia. Three universities in Australia have adopted what seems like a landmark policy. The three institutions are allowing students to use AI when taking assessments, albeit under strict conditions. Professor Romy Lawson said: “Instead of banning students from using such programs, we aim to assist academic staff and students to use digital tools to support learning.” The Internet abounds with AI text generators. These can be used to create essays that look authentic enough to fool examiners. The content created by these AI tools evade detection by even the smartest of anti-plagiarism tools.
Artificial Intelligence is posing huge challenges to exam integrity. It is the biggest disruptor since calculators were allowed into math tests. The latest quandary for educators comes from a language processing chatbox called ChatGPT. This can produce highly authentic human-like content on any subject in seconds. It has sparked fears that students will use it to write essays. The University of South Australia’s Dr Vitomir Kovanovic said teachers needed to embrace AI. He said: “You cannot stop it. The alternative is the Middle Ages – going to pen and paper.” He added that universities needed to change with the times. He said: “It’s like having a driving school but teaching people how to ride horses.”
Hello English Language lovers. Welcome once again to DLP. Congrats, you have made it to week 10. I hope you have been learning from this course because many more are headed your way. Not to fear though, answers are at your fingertips. So here we go…
Japanese food is famous all over the world. Everyone knows sushi, tempura and tofu. A lot of Japanese food is so well presented it looks like art. It is therefore a little surprising that Japan’s “dish of the year” for 2022 is frozen food. Each year, the Gurunavi Research Institute decides on the winner for its culinary award. The prize is given to food that highlights trends in what people eat. Frozen food got the prize in 2022 because of the Coronavirus pandemic. Many people did not dine out at top restaurants. Instead, they stocked up on frozen food and ate at home. The winning frozen food was very basic – no examples of haute cuisine. The judges selected a variety of frozen meat and pizzas – still in their air-tight bags.
Gurunavi said the pandemic has resulted in food companies experimenting with different ways of freezing food. They want to make sure that frozen food tastes good, even after it thaws out. One of Japan’s largest supermarkets has opened a specialized food shop called @Frozen. It sells over 1,500 different frozen food items. Japan’s convenience stores have expanded their frozen food sections, and frozen food vending machines are popping up everywhere. Some sell frozen sushi. Japan’s Frozen Food Association said changing lifestyles have increased the popularity of frozen food. Japan’s population is aging, so many older people find frozen dishes more convenient than cooking from scratch.
VOCABULARY MATCHING
Chose best answer for each word. e.g. Anwer to #1 is letter “e”. Go to it!
Paragraph 1
1.
culinary
a.
Go out to a restaurant to eat.
2.
award
b.
Make people aware of something.
3.
highlight
c.
A prize given in honour of an achievement or of winning something.
4.
trend
d.
Different things of the same type, character or quality.
5.
dine out
e.
Of or about cooking.
6.
stocked up
f.
A fashion in clothes, music, food, lifestyles, etc.
7.
variety
g.
Buy lots of goods or items so that you have enough of them.
Paragraph 2
8.
pandemic
h.
Change from ice or being frozen, to become soft and ready to use or eat.
9.
thaw out
i.
A machine in the street that cells drinks, cigarettes, newspapers, etc.
10.
specialized
j.
From the very beginning.
11.
expanded
k.
Focused on one area of something to become good at it.
12.
vending machine
l.
Appearing suddenly in many places.
13.
popping up
m.
Made bigger or wider.
14.
from scratch
n.
A disease that is over a whole country or the world.
ANSWERS:
VOCABULARY 1. e 2. c 3. b 4. f 5. a 6. g 7. d 8. n 9. h 10. k 11. m 12. i 13. l 14. j
Who doesn’t love a national park? And Yellowstone, is one of America’s jewels. It has even spawned a popular tv series. Read this article about the park, and perhaps whet an appetite to visit it in person!
