Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Vietnamese Businessman Buys Wyoming Town

This is a very strange story. A town in Wyoming with a population of one was bought by a man from Vietnam. Read

Monday, October 28, 2013

Martin Luther on October 31, 1517

A long time ago, even before Mr. R was born, Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses--kind of like 95 topic sentences--to the door of a church in Germany. Why wasn't Luther out celebrating Halloween? What was he doing? Read about Martin Luther in this somewhat difficult reading. Relax and try to understand as much as you can. I won't put any of this reading on the next reading test!

The Kon-Tiki

All his life, Olav Heyerdahl had heard the stories of his grandfather: of how he crossed the Pacific in 1947 on a primitive raft made of balsa wood. Now at last, he got to experience it first hand.

As a tribute to his grandfather and the original Kon-tiki expedition, Olav and his team built a new raft in Peru and sailed it all the way to Raiatea in French Polynesia. When they arrived on the 24th of July 2006, after four months at sea, over a thousand people greeted them in a traditional Polynesian welcoming ceremony. This is a spectacular and unique documentary of the modern day voyage, with footage of the 1947 expedition setting the context. The 1947 Kon-tiki film won an Oscar, and Thor Heyerdahl's book has sold more the 50 millions copies worldwide. At the time, the whole world was amazed by this eccentric Norwegian explorer. The story continues to enthral 60 years later, only this time in colour.

Thursday, October 24, 2013

Weddings in a Barn

Read about a farmer who found a new way to make money with his farm.

Saturday, October 19, 2013

"Pho is better in Ho Chi Minh City than in Hanoi."

Do you agree with the writer's opinion? Read and let me know what you think.

Thursday, October 17, 2013

A Dictionary for College/University Students

Advanced English learners can use this dictionary for native speakers as a supplement to an advanced ESL dictionary. You can find this dictionary at Amazon .

An Online Thesaurus

This is a powerful tool. I think that it isn't useful for ESL students because there are too many words. You have to know the meanings and connotations ("feelings" that come with these words) of these words before you can choose the correct one. However, you are free to play around with the website and see if it is helpful or not. thesaurus.com

nowadays

listen

star

see definition of nowadays

directly

Rosetta Stone® Spanish

www.RosettaStone.comStart Speaking Spanish in Minutes.Learn How with Our Free Demo.

Relevance

A-Z

Complexity

Length

lists
blocks

Common

Informal

Saturday, October 12, 2013

A Cartoonist's Advice: Be a Failure

Forget passion. Goals are for losers. Dilbert creator Scott Adams reveals his secret to climbing to the top: Suffer defeat. Lots and lots of defeat. Read about Mr. Adams' ideas here.

For Mr. Zambrano: A Visit to Tequila Country

Read about this drink and Mexico.

Thursday, October 10, 2013

"Get'cha Head in the Game"

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

The Serengeti

Ignore the "great circle of life" speeches.

"Our College Graduates Can't Write"

Read this piece of persuasive writing in which an important businessman argues that businesses suffer because college graduates have not learned to write. Pay attention to his recommendations at the end of the article.