30 janvier 2011
7
30
/01
/janvier
/2011
15:34
Why is it so hard for customers to get out from Ikea's shops ?
Here is one of Ikea's mazes :
"A-mazing : a route a customer took through a store. Professor Alan Penn said they are designed to stop customers leaving"
"If you've ever found yourself hopelessly lost in an Ikea store, you were probably not alone. The home furnishing chain's mazy layouts are a psychological weapon to part shoppers from their cash, an expert in store design claims. The theory is that while following a zig-zag trail between displays of minimalist Swedish furniture, a disorientated Ikea customer feels compelled to pick up a few extra impulse purchase.[...]"
Full article
from the Dailymail (January 24, 2011)
_________________________________
Vocabulary - practise !
- Doing something "hopelessly" means doing it . . . . . . . . . . . (find a synonym)
- Find a synonym with "weapon" = . . .
- "part shoppers from their cash" = to make shoppers spend their money (so they get separated from their cash) : find at least 3 different words built like "shopper" [ Noun-er / Verb-er - like "worker" for example] : .............................. ................................. .......................................
- Find a synonym with : "compelled" = .............................................. and "maze" .= ...................................
- Explain the play-on-words in "a-mazing" : ...............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
.
Published by M. Mirza
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dans
Society - Economics
22 janvier 2011
6
22
/01
/janvier
/2011
21:38
B1 - WRITING task
Click on this overheated planet ⇑ to see the illustration you will study.
Click on the PDF logo ⇑ to get the Worksheet and your writing task.
>> [don't forget your password !] << (1)

This article from 'Simple English Wikipedia' ⇑ may be of some help :o)
_____________________________
(1) : Recap --> cliquer sur le logo PDF > "password protected file - enter... etc" : insérer le mot de passe reçu par mail > "unlock file" > "click here to start download" > "ouvrir" le document PDF.
Published by M. Mirza
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dans
2ndes.......... B1- - B1
20 janvier 2011
4
20
/01
/janvier
/2011
18:59
ORAL COMPREHENSION
Here is "South Africa plans huge solar farm"
NPR's breaking news (delivered on October 28, 2010) : a radio file you will use to train your oral comprehension.
This file is taken from the radio's website : NPR delivers both national and international breaking news & "top stories from business, politics, health, science, technology, music, arts and culture."
Click on the radio logo to listen to the file :
The news tells us about a huge farm that will be built in South Africa's Northern Cape region. The project might eventually meet up to 10% of South Africa's energy needs. The project is to be managed by the U.S. engineering firm 'Fluor' ; it was based on a viability study by the 'Clinton Climate Initiative'. Northern Cape - map released in the Public Domain by Htnol
Published by M. Mirza
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dans
2ndes.......... B1- - B1
20 janvier 2011
4
20
/01
/janvier
/2011
17:54
"Wikipleadia - The promise and perils of crowdsourcing content"
This article ⇓ from 'The Economist'...
... deals with the charges of elitism the free online encyclopedia has to face... and other troubles !
[User-generated content from the San Francisco print edition - January 13, 2011]
Published by M. Mirza
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dans
The INTERNET - Social MEDIA
19 janvier 2011
3
19
/01
/janvier
/2011
21:55
COMPREHENSION TRAINING
"The Story of Electronics [...] employs the Story of Stuff style to explore the high-tech revolution's collateral damage—25 million tons of e-waste and counting, poisoned workers and a public left holding the bill."
"Host Annie Leonard takes viewers from the mines and factories where our gadgets begin to the horrific backyard recycling shops in China where many end up. The film concludes with a call for a green 'race to the top' where designers compete to make long-lasting, toxic-free products that are fully and easily recyclable.
Their production partner on the electronics film is the Electronics TakeBack Coalition, which promotes green design and responsible recycling in the electronics industry."
Published by M. Mirza
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dans
SCIENCES & TECH
19 janvier 2011
3
19
/01
/janvier
/2011
20:49
This vocabulary sheet recaps words & phrases
related to apartheid / segregation / racism
Click on the map below
to get the vocabulary sheet.
Published by M. Mirza
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dans
Terminales... B1 - B2
15 janvier 2011
6
15
/01
/janvier
/2011
22:49
How long did it take ?
Barack Obama's historic election as the first black president of the U.S.A. was the result of a process that had started long before, with the previous elections of black men/women to civic & state political positions. Patrick Garvin wondered "If it took 220 years to elect a black president, how long did it take for black men and women to get to other positions?"... hence this infographic ⇓ timeline.
Click on the illustration to get the full-size infographic
Published by M. Mirza
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dans
HISTORY - PAST & PRESENT
15 janvier 2011
6
15
/01
/janvier
/2011
21:51
TEACHERS' LOUNGE
English Second Language teaching jargon
includes a great deal of acronyms
This ⇓ page...
...displays most of the common ones... hope it will be of some use :o)
Published by M. Mirza
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dans
TEACHERS' Lounge
14 janvier 2011
5
14
/01
/janvier
/2011
17:39
In "Banksy sprays the Simpsons", <<
I told you about a famous British street artist who paints awesome graffiti and murals. The article also showed the introduction Banksy created for Simpsons' intro of episode 3 / season 22... You've already started working on Banksy's intro, now, here is the full Simpsons episode : "Money Bart"... I hope you'll enjoy it :o)
This episode tells Dahlia Brinkley's visit to Springfield Elementary School. Dahlia is the only Springfield Elementary graduate ever to enter an Ivy League college. This gives Lisa an inferiority complex because she is not involved in as many extracurricular activities as Dahlia was ! Therefore when the coach of Bart's Little League baseball team ("the Springfield Isotots") resigns, Lisa tries to replace him... in order to extend her curriculum.
If your Internet connexion is a bit slow, I suggest you launch the video ("play")
then "pause", until the complete video is buffered (buffering the full video
might take a few minutes)... before you play it !
buffering = mise en mémoire-tampon
12 janvier 2011
3
12
/01
/janvier
/2011
17:06
The American "cell phone behaviour"...
...was analysed by "Pew Internet" : they released a study which showed that if 65% of the American adults regularly use text messaging in September 2009, one year later 72% of them do. The study also pointed out 90% of 18 to 29-year old sleep with their cell phone 'on' whereas only 34% of 65-year old do it. Today the American teenagers text 50 messages a day on average : it's 5 times more than the average 10 text messages sent/received per day by adults !
Other interesting pieces of information [just click ⇓] are illustrated below :
"Cell phones and American adults - They make just as many calls, but text less often than teens"
Click on the purple folder & read the full report below :
by Amanda Lenhart, Senior Research Specialist
(September 02, 2010)
Published by M. Mirza
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dans
SCIENCES & TECH