Time & Place Phrases + 'in', 'at, and 'on'.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/learnit/learnitv246.shtml

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/learnit/learnitv61.shtml

Learn It

Colour idioms Michal Juda from Poland writes:   Learning with colours was a leitmotif of Learning English recently. Can you help me to understand two of the expressions:whiter than white and paint the town red?     Roger Woodham replies:   We have many idiomatic expressions involving the whole range of colours in English. In answering your question, Michal, we will have a look today at just three colours: red, white and blue (the colours of our national flag).   white colour idioms   White in British culture is traditionally associated with purity and innocence. See if you can work out the meaning of the following white colour idioms word for word. Then check your understanding by reading examples of how they are used in context. Finally, check again against the explanations given.   go as white as a sheet white coffee a white-collar worker tell a white lie whiter than white   The news must've been bad. She went as white as a sheet when she read the telegram.   - Do you want white or black coffee? - White please. Well, dark brown, actually - just a dash of milk.   He hopes to get a white-collar job, though, with his level of education, he'll be lucky to get a blue-collar one.   It's OK to tell a white lie. It doesn't do any harm and it nearly always does some good.   She's whiter than white - the image of perfection. In her entire life she has never put a foot wrong.   go as white as a sheet: become extremely pale in the face   white coffee: coffee with milk (note: not white tea; instead: tea with milk)   white-collar worker: an office worker (note blue-collar = factory or physical work)   tell a white lie: telling a lie to avoid making someone upset   whiter than white: someone who is totally fair and honest   red colour idioms   Red is often associated with anger or danger (red traffic lights). In British culture, red-haired people (redheads) are traditionally hot-tempered and high-spirited. Try to work out the meaning of these red colour idioms in the same way as before.   be in the red see red roll out the red carpet paint the town red a red-letter day   She's always in the red, never in the black. No overdraft would ever be big enough for her.   When she realised saw that no housework had been done all week, she saw red and banished us from her holiday home.   It'll be time to roll out the red carpet when Auntie Meg returns home. We haven't seen her for twenty years.   They decided they would paint the town red after winning so much money by gambling on the horses.   It was a red-letter day for us when we were able to move into our new holiday house - the house of our dreams.   be in the red: have minus amounts on one's bank account (in the black = in credit)   see red: lose one's temper; become suddenly angry   roll out the red carpet: put on a special welcome for an important person   paint the town red: enjoy yourself by going to bars and/or clubs   a red-letter day: a very happy or exciting day   blue colour idioms   Blue is traditionally the colour of boys' clothes in British culture - pink for girls. It is also associated with loyalty and true love. Try to work out the meaning of these blue colour idioms in the same way as before.   a blue movie out of the blue scream blue murder the boys in blue a blue-eyed boy   Blue movies, or adult videos as they are sometimes called, are normally only available from sex shops.   His suggestion that we should move to Cyprus came completely out of the blue. I wasn't expecting it.   They started to scream blue murder when I told them they would have to work an extra half an hour on Saturday afternoons.   It's a criminal offence. We can't sweep it under the carpet. We should hand it over to the boys in blue.   He's the blue-eyed boy of skateboarding all right. He's won this competition five times.   a blue movie: a film with explicit adult scenes   out of the blue: suddenly and unexpectedly   scream blue murder: make a lot of fuss; shout loudly and emotionally in protest   the boys in blue: the uniformed police   a blue-eyed boy: a young man (grudgingly) admired because he is successful

Laptop learning in Italy

Read and listen to the article from BBc's 'Words in the News'.
Continue to read about computers in the follow-up article from BBC's 'One-minute World News'.

BBC Learning English

Words in the news

8th October 2008

Laptop learning in Italy

Words in the news © British Broadcasting Corporation 2008

Page 1 of 2

bbclearningenglish.com

Children at a school in Italy have today begun an experiment to replace all their books with

personal computers. The pupils involved will each be given a special laptop that contains

their entire curriculum. From Rome our correspondent Duncan Kennedy reports:

Until today, the Don Milani di Rivoli elementary school in central Turin was like any other.

Children turned up, got out their books and pens and began the process of learning. But now,

in what's being described as a unique experiment, 60 fifth-grade pupils and a number of thirdgraders,

will start using computers only.

The mini-laptops, which run Windows software, all have a full curriculum programmed into

them. The pupils will use the computers to do all their reading and writing. Security systems

within the laptops mean the children's access to the internet is strictly controlled. The

machines weigh less than a kilogram, can be dropped from a height of 1.5 metres and are

waterproof.

Instead of spending the equivalent of 700 dollars a year on books, the laptops, built by the

Italian company Olidata, cost less than 400 dollars. One of the teachers involved in the

scheme says that, for the first time, schools will be able to verify in a scientific way how a

computer alone can improve the learning process. The experiment, which has the backing of

parents, is due to last a year.

Duncan Kennedy, BBC News, Rome

Words in the news © British Broadcasting Corporation 2008

Page 2 of 2

bbclearningenglish.com

Vocabulary and definitions

elementary school a school that provides the first part of a child's education

(usually for children aged 5 - 11)

turned up here, came to school

grade a class or group of classes in a school where all the

children are of a similar age and/or ability

curriculum all the subjects taught at a school, college, university etc.

The word 'curriculum' can also be used to mean the same

as 'syllabus', i.e. the topics or books studied within a

subject

access to here, ability to surf/search/use

are waterproof cannot be damaged by water

the equivalent of the sum of money that amounts to/equals

involved in the scheme taking part in the experiment

to verify to prove that something is true or not

backing support, encouragement

More on this story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7642985.stm

Read and listen to the story and the vocabulary online:

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/newsenglish/witn/2008/10/081008_italy_laptops.shtml