13 septembre 2009
7
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23:45
Hampton Court Palace was started building in 1514 for Cardinal Wolsey
I told you about this palace on your latest English lesson...
that's why I'd really like you to see what Hampton Court looks like :o)
In the beginning, Cardinal Wolsey was one of Henry VIII's favourites... but as he couldn't help accomplish the divorce between the King and Catherine of Aragon (his first wife) he fell from grace.
Hoping to regain the King's favour, the Cardinal then presented him his palace... But this failed too : in the late 1520's, Henry VIII finally kept it !
The above photo shows Anne Boleyn's Gateway and the Great Hall from Base Court.
Henry's had his second wife executed for adultery : today, Anne Boleyn is said to be one of the ghosts in the palace, hence her haunting Hampton Court corridors.
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The Fountain Court by Christopher Wren (a famous English architect)
who modernized Hampton Court from 1689 to 1702.
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The south front and flower gardens
This photo highlights Hampton Court's huge size.
Nowadays it is open to the public and has become a major tourist attraction.
The British royal family hasn't lived in the royal palace since the 18th century. Located south west London, it is 11.7 miles (18.8 km) south west of Charing Cross and upstream of Central London on the River Thames.
_______________________________________________________________________________________ ca. = circa = about / approximately
(to) fall from grace = do something which makes people in authority stop liking you or admiring you
hence = that is the reason/explanation for located = situated
upstream = en amont d'un cours d'eau (stream = courant)
(1) http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevecadman/with/840772706/ : Photos licensed under the Creative Commons BY-NC-SA by Stevecadman
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HISTORY - PAST & PRESENT
12 septembre 2009
6
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/2009
23:10
Nov. 12, 2016 update : Guess-the-google is temporarily offline for maintenance. Hopefully back online soon.
Guess the word that made Googleanswer by showing these pictures ! Here is the rule of "Guess-the-Google" game : while you watch a group of pictures (max. 20"), you have to guess which word search these illustrations
are issued from. Each game includes 16 series of pictures.
> > > CLICK on the above picture to start the game
To get a smart score, you have to be quick.
Though some searches are rather easy to guess, others are harder to find ; moreover, from time to time you'll learn new words... be careful not to become an
addict :o)
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be issued from = be the result/ consequence of though = althoughAn addict = a person who cannot stop doing or using something, especially something harmful __________________________________ Illustration under a CC BY-SA License by Jensminor - See : http://www.flickr.com/photos/jensminor/57782535/
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English is FUN :o)
11 septembre 2009
5
11
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/2009
23:05
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting television service. This non-profit service
gathers 354 TV stations in the U.S.A. : they are its collective owners. PBS east coast headquarters are in Alexandria (Virginia).
"American Experience" is PBS companion : this site deals with events and people in American history.
The series
features more than 200 films : discover their background and learn more about history !
Click on the map to watch the films online !
These films are classified alphabetically but also by theme, by era and by season : it's up to you :o)
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(to) gather = to collect several things, often from different places or people
(to) feature = to include someone or something as an important part
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HISTORY - PAST & PRESENT
11 septembre 2009
5
11
/09
/septembre
/2009
20:20
Most often, "Cable News Network" is referred to by its initialism : CNN CNN This major American cable news network was founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. CNN was the first network to offer a twenty-four seven television news coverage, and the first all-news television in the United States. Click on this old style TV set
to watch CNN live video.
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24/7 or twenty-four seven = twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week
Sauf mention contraire partie ou totalité de ce blogue est sous Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 2.0 France License 
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MEDIA
10 septembre 2009
4
10
/09
/septembre
/2009
20:01
What happened on September 10 ?
In 1939. . . 
Canada declared war on Germany, entering WWII -the first and only time Canada has declared war
on another country on its own.
< < < Click on Canada to learn more about it In 1963. . .
Twenty black students entered public schools
in Birmingham, Tuskegee and Mobile (Alabama),
(1)
following a standoff between federal authorities and Governor George C. Wallace : Governor Wallace sent National Guard troops to keep black students out, but President Kennedy reversed Wallace by ordering the troops to
stand down < < < In 1967. . .
Gibraltar votes to remain British (12,138 to 44).
In 2002. . .
Switzerland became the 190th member of the United Nations
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(1) Photograph : U.S. Public Domain WWII = the Second World War
Except when otherwise mentioned any part of this blog is licensed under the / Sauf mention contraire partie ou totalité de ce blogue est sous Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 2.0 France License & created / crée...
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HISTORY - PAST & PRESENT
9 septembre 2009
3
09
/09
/septembre
/2009
15:55
"This is no picnic for me either, buster !" < < < his mother sometimes told him during extra lessons at... 04:00 a.m. !
Six-year-old Barack's mother left Hawaïï to work in Jakarta (Indonesia). She couldn't afford to send him to school, because it was too expensive.... and then decided to give him extra lessons herself. As she worked, the only moment she could do it was at four thirty a.m., and at that time little Barack happened to fall asleep at the kitchen table ! On September 8, the President told this anecdote to Virginia students in Arlington. On this video,. President Obama arrives at about 02' 00", after a student has finished the 'welcome speech'. By telling us this bit of his own story at the beginning of his address, President Barack Obama emphasizes that he also does know that giving youngsters an education might be hard... and he also knows how hard it might be for youngsters to keep up with < < <
their education ! ________________________________________________________________ four thirty in the morning (especially U.S.) = half past four in the morning
(to) emphasize = (to) insist on / (to) outline
a youngster = someone who is young
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MEDIA
2 septembre 2009
3
02
/09
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/2009
07:00
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ADVERTISING
30 août 2009
7
30
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/août
/2009
22:41
Still 10 minutes to go... and it will be "Blog Day" ! Tomorrow (at midnight ;-) will be the 5th Blog Day 
< < < BlogDay was created as a day when bloggers should be getting to know other bloggers, from other countries and areas of interest. Thus, on that day, bloggers will recommend other blogs to their blog visitors. created / crée...
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The INTERNET - Social MEDIA
28 août 2009
5
28
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/août
/2009
22:31
Forestle is a search engine on the Internet, as Exalead, AllTheWeb, or Google Maybe you are wondering... "What's the difference ?!" Well, each time you use FORESTLE < < < to search for information, "you save 0.1 m² of rainforest for free. So far already 1,307,879.8 m² have been protected !"
(1) > > > HERE ,
you can change its settings : for instance,
you can modify the number of search results per page. 
Here's how FORESTLE < < < works ! _______________________________________________________(2)______________ (1) / (2) :
Photos Libres / Wikipedia
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A little bit of EVERYTHING
25 août 2009
2
25
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/août
/2009
16:23
On this site : newspapers.com < < <
you can find most of the US press.
Reading press articles is also a smart way of practising, learning & improving :o)
You needn't read long articles... and of course, you can choose topics you like :
even the weather forecasts or the comic strips will help you improve your English !
You can find a newspaper by state, or by city : have a look at :
> > > newspapers.com : USA map search
On the site, you will also find the 100 top newspapers by circulation :
"U.S.A. TODAY" is rated first.
Among the best-selling papers, you will also find :
... and so many other newspaperss !
The 100 top newspapers in the U.S.A. are on : 100 top US NEWSPAPERS by circulation < < <
When you read an article, try to catch its global meaning without stopping at the words that you don't understand. Then, try to guess their meaning : find their grammar category, consider the context... Prefixes, suffixes, 'root parts' also help to catch the meaning of unknown words.
Next, use a dictionary and write the new words you learn in your notebook, to brush up this new vocabulary regularly and thus... improve your English :o)
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circulation = [here] the number of newspaper or magazines regularly bought
best-selling papers are the most popular ones (the papers people buy most)
Except when otherwise mentioned any part of this blog is licensed under the / Sauf mention contraire partie ou totalité de ce blogue est sous Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 2.0 France License & created / crée...
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