Surrogates
"is a 2009 American science fiction action film, based on the 2005–2006 comic book series of the same name.
Directed by Jonathan Mostow, it stars Bruce Willis as FBI Agent Tom Greer who ventures out into the real world to investigate
the murder of surrogates (humanoid remote control vehicles)...
The film's main concept centers around the mysterious murder of a college student linked to the man who helped create a high-tech surrogate phenomenon that allows people to purchase remote controlled humanoid robots through which they interact with society. These fit, attractive, remotely controlled robots ultimately assume their life roles, enabling people to experience life vicariously from the comfort and safety of their own homes."
(Wikipedia)
Chronicle
"is a 2012 science fiction film directed by Josh Trank and written by Max Landis based on a story by both Trank and Landis.
The film stars Dane DeHaan, Michael B. Jordan, and Alex Russell. The plot follows Andrew (DeHaan), his cousin Matt (Russell)
and their fellow high school student Steve (Jordan), as they form a close bond after receiving telekinetic abilities from an unknown object.
The group use their abilities for mischief and personal gain until Andrew begins to use them for darker purposes..."
(Wikipedia)
SUPERHEROES
Superhero Film Alphabet
(stephenwildish.tumblr.com)
"Stephen Wildish presents the latest in his A-Z series, this one featuring super heroes. Can you name them all?"
(Neatorama)
Answers :
A – The Amazing Spiderman B – Batman C – Captain America D – Daredevil E – Elektra F – Fantastic Four G – Green Lantern
H – Hellboy I – Iron Man J – Jonah Hex K – Kick-Ass L – League of Extraordinary Gentlemen M – Meteor Man N – Nick Fury
O – Orgazmo P – The Punisher Q – Quicksilver R – Robocop S – Superman T – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
U – Unbreakable V – Venom W – Watchmen X – X-Men Y – Yellowjacket Z - Zoom
(Permanent link 1) (Permanent link 2)
EMAILS
Managing Distraction: How and Why to Ignore Your Inbox
"The problem confronts you each morning, like a squalling baby that must be fed NOW.
It’s your email inbox, loaded with capital letters and exclamation marks and missives marked “URGENT.”..."
(forbes.com)
DRINKS / TEETH
Energy drinks irreversibly damage teeth (7th May 2012) - a lesson plan with audio 
"A new study has found that energy drinks and sports drinks cause irreversible damage to teeth,
with energy drinks being twice as damaging as sports drinks."
(breakingnewsenglish.com)
(Permanent link 1) (Permanent link 2)
SUICIDE / EUTHANASIA
Sharlotte Hydorn, Woman Who Sold Suicide Kits, Will Be Sentenced For Tax Crimes - 07 May 2012
"A 92-year-old Southern California woman who acknowledged selling kits intended to help people commit suicide
has been sentenced to five years supervised probation for failing to file federal tax returns..."
Article + Video 
(huffingtonpost.com)
(Permanent link 1) (Permanent link 2)
NEW FREEDOM TOWER
New Freedom Tower to Surpass Empire State Building Today
"The new tower at the World Trade Center site is scheduled to become the tallest building in New York City today."
(neatorama.com)
"La tour du One World Trade Center (ou 1WTC), qui remplace les Twin Towers détruites
lors du 11 septembre 2001 est devenue le plus haut gratte-ciel de New York.
Sa construction doit s'achever fin 2013."
(20minutes.fr)
MODELS
Vogue Adopts a 16-and-Over Modeling Rule - 03 May 2012)
"Beginning with their June issues, the editors of the 19 international editions of Vogue magazine have made a pact
to stop using models under age 16 or those who, from the viewpoint of the editors, appear to have an eating disorder..."
(runway.blogs.nytimes.com)
KOALAS
Koalas at risk in Australia (1st May, 2012) - a lesson plan with audio
(newsenglishlessons.com)
(Permanent link 1) (Permanent link 2)
FREEDOM
Bob Dylan to get US Medal of Freedom - 27 April 2012
"He is being recognised alongside former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, John Glenn, the third American in space,
and Nobel Prize-winning novelist Toni Morrison.
President Obama will award the medals at the White House in the coming weeks..."
(BBC)
CHARITY
Prince Harry to receive humanitarian award - 23 April 2012
"Prince Harry is to receive an award in recognition of his charitable work supporting servicemen and women."
(BBC)
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QUEEN VICTORIA
Queen Victoria archive goes online - 22 April 2012
"Rarely seen documents chronicling the life and reign of Queen Victoria have been made public on a new website marking this year's Diamond Jubilee.
The Royal Family released its archive of letters, journals, painting and photographs for the launch.
The website has nine sections tracing the life of Victoria as a princess to her own Jubilee celebrations in 1897..."
(BBC)
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USED TO
Gotye - Somebody That I Used To Know (YouTube)
+ LYRICS (parolesmania.com) :
"Now and then I think of when we were together
Like when you said you felt so happy you could die
Told myself that you were right for me
But felt so lonely in your company..."
LONDON 2012
Religious symbols banned from London Olympics faith badge - 07 May 2012
"Religious symbols have been banned from a "faith" badge designed for chaplains at the London Games in case they cause offence."
(telegraph.co.uk)
LONDON
British Culture 12 - Visit London (Part 1) - a webquest
Created by Laurence Haquet (Ac. Rouen)
(Permanent link 1) (Permanent link 2)
JUBILEE / WALLACE and GROMIT
LATEST NEWS » WALLACE & GROMIT CELEBRATE THE JUBILEE WITH THE NATIONAL TRUST!
"The inventive pair will be hanging the bunting in preparation for over 70 Jubilee tea parties held across the country,
where they will be featured in a brand new one minute animation; 'Wallace & Gromit’s Jubilee Bunt-a-thon'..."
(wallaceandgromit.com)
Thanks to Nancy Hughes (Ac. Lille)
MONEY
British Currency
- "un nouveau parcours sur Memovoc : Il s'agit pour les élèves de découvrir et apprendre à utiliser la monnaie en vigueur au Royaume-Uni."
Créé par Hélène de Morel (Ac. Caen)
(memovoc.com)
YouTube / COPYRIGHT
Germany Rules Against YouTube In Copyright Case (22nd April, 2012) - a lesson plan with audio
"A court in Hamburg, Germany has ruled that the video-sharing site YouTube is responsible for videos on its site that are posted illegally.
The ruling said YouTube must do more to prevent posters uploading copyrighted music videos to the site."
(breakingnewsenglish.com)
GOOGLE / CLOUD SPACE
Google To Offer Free 5GB Of Cloud Space (25th April, 2012) - a lesson plan with audio
"Google has entered the market for offering online storage space. Their new service, called Google Drive, will be in direct competition
with rival cloud storage services like Dropbox, Apple's iCloud and Microsoft's SkyDrive."
(breakingnewsenglish.com)
FAST FOOD
KFC To Pay $8m In Poisoning Damages (28th April, 2012) - a lesson plan with audio
"A court in Australia has ordered the fast-food restaurant Kentucky Fried Chicken to pay $8.3m
in compensation to the family of a seven-year-old girl."
(breakingnewsenglish.com)
MOVIES / eBOOKS
Movie Screenplays Released As eBooks (1st May, 2012) - a lesson plan with audio
"If you are a movie fan and you like studying English, you might just be interested in the latest initiative of the Hollywood movie studio
Warner Brothers. The company has released a series of screenplays of its classic movies as eBooks."
(breakingnewsenglish.com)
BRAIN / SECOND LANGUAGE
Being Bilingual Boosts Brain Power (4th May, 2012) - a lesson plan with audio
(breakingnewsenglish.com)
Being bilingual 'boosts brain power'
"Learning a second language can boost brain power, scientists believe."
(BBC)
ROBOTS AND AVATARS
Robots and Avatars – our colleagues and playmates of the future.
"Led and conceived by body>data>space, this innovative project explores how young people will work and play with new representational
forms of themselves and others in virtual and physical life in the next 10-15 years.
It examines multi-identity evolutions of today’s younger generations within the context of a world in which virtual and physical spaces
are increasingly blended..."
(Permanent link 1) (Permanent link 2)
Dad cancels party invites for 50,000
"A BOY who planned to have a birthday party for a group of about two dozen friends has found himself at the centre of a Facebook battle
- after nearly 50,000 people were invited..."
(connexionfrance.com)
MIND MAPPING
Débuter avec le mind mapping
"Débuter avec le mind mapping est simple. Une feuille de papier, un crayon quatre couleurs ,
vous pouvez démarrer sans électricité, ni logiciel à rendre visible vos pensées qui sont elles invisibles."
(mindmanagement.org)
CREATE INFOGRAPHICS
“Easel.ly” Is Clearly The Easiest Tool For Creating Infographics
"Thanks to Nik Peachey, today I learned about Easel.ly today, which is hands-down the easiest tool I’ve seen on the Web to create infographics.
You just “drag-and-drop” a variety of themes, type in your data, and you’ve got a great infographic."
(Larry Ferlazzo)
TANNING MOM
“Tanning Mom”, Patricia Krentcil, Denies Tanorexia Claims
"Patricia Krentcil ... was dubbed 'tanning mom' after she was arrested for second-degree child endangerment.
Officials charge Krentcil with allegedly taking her 5 year old daughter Ann into a tanning booth."
(news.lalate.com)
Tanning Mom Patricia Krentcil Pleads Not Guilty, Proclaims Herself Witch Hunt Victim - An article + Video
(thehollywoodgossip.com)
Sunbed mother accused of allowing her five-year-old daughter in tanning booth - 3 May
An article + Video
(telegraph.co.uk)
JUBILEE
The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Beacons
"A network of over 4000 Beacons will be lit by communities and others throughout the United Kingdom, Channel Islands
and the Isle of Man, along with the Commonwealth and UK Overseas Territories on Monday 4th June 2012..."
(diamondjubileebeacons.co.uk)
Have you been where the Queen's been?
"Queen Elizabeth II is probably the best-travelled monarch in history. To mark her Diamond Jubilee we have plotted Her Majesty's
state and official visits to major cities around the globe over the past 60 years. Use the (interactive) map or list to compare
how many countries you have been to with the number visited by the Queen - 116 (excluding the UK).
Then share the result and watch highlights of her tours in the videos..."
+ Sixty years of overseas tours: the highlights
(BBC)
Diamond Jubilee: Royal Rowbarge will be lowered onto Thames
"The Gloriana, which is being decorated with gold leaf, will lead the Jubilee River Pageant in June."
+ Royal barge Gloriana launched on River Thames in London - an article
(BBC)
The Queen
"As part of Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee celebrations, watch video of her life and reign including rare film of her childhood and coronation."
+ More information about the Queen.
(BBC)
Queen's Diamond Jubilee: Royal Quiz, Week 13 - interactive
(telegraph.co.uk)
(Permanent link 1) (Permanent link 2)
LONDON MARATHON
London Marathon: Thousands take part in 32nd race - 22 April
"About 37,500 amateur athletes, fun runners and elite sportsmen and women have run the Virgin London Marathon."
+ In pictures: The London Marathon
+ London Marathon as it happened
+ Video
(BBC)
LONDON 2012
London 2012 Olympics: torch relay police officers 'to get counselling' - 5 May
"The group of Scotland Yard police officers charged with protecting the London 2012 Olympic torch relay
are be given counselling as they travel around the country, it has emerged."
(telegraph.co.uk)
Counting Down to the Olympic Crowds in London - 20 April
+ Script
(voanews.com)
ROUTINE
Nine Inch Nails - Every Day Is Exactly The Same (YouTube)
Heard at the beginning of the film : "WANTED"
+ LYRICS (azlyrics.com)
"I believe I can see the future
Cause I repeat the same routine...
I just do what I've been told"
MEMORY
Nine Inch Nails - Something I Can Never Have (YouTube)
+ LYRICS (azlyrics.com)
"I still recall the taste of your tears.
Echoing your voice just like the ringing in my ears.
My favorite dreams of you still wash ashore.
Scraping through my head 'till I don't want to sleep anymore...
You always were the one to show me how
Back then I couldn't do the things that I can do now.
This thing is slowly taking me apart.
Grey would be the color if I had a heart...
Everywhere I look you're all I see.
Just a fading f* reminder of who I used to be."
NORTHERN IRELAND
British Culture 11 - Visit Northern Ireland
A webquest created by Laurence Haquet
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