Daniel TammetDaniel Paul Tammet is a British autistic savant, born on 31st January 1979. He is gifted with an extraordinary facility for maths problems, sequence memory, and natural language learning and has a congenital childhood epilepsy. He's got a form of synestesia, that's to say in his brain, numbers are represented as colors or feelings. That's why he can calculate very difficult calculations, for example he calculated 99to the power of 24 in ten seconds. Moreover, Tammet broke the world record for memorising and recounting pi to 22,514 digits after the decimal point. He's got an exceptional general culture because he remembers almost all what he reads. Besides, he masters eleven different languages. He's well-known in UK because he helps scientists and charities against epilepsy. He created a website called Optimnem where he publishes language courses. To finish, this man has an incredible destiny, but he's nevertheless not an example because he didn't work hard to be as intelligent as he is today. Clément Lelièvre English cookingEnglish have a bad reputation in cooking; with their lack of variety in their preparations, and in their renouncement of certain culinary rites. At midday, they don’t eat a meal, they "nibble", and the evening, it’s too often a tray meal in front of the TV. They generally eat simple dishes,; such as "baked beans and sausages" or "fish and chips" which are delicious meals provided that the ingredients are of quality ! But pass to the English delights; with some delicious recipe like "Yorkshire Pudding", "Irish Stew", and "salmon pie" (salmon in crust). There are also things more known and appreciated by the French like English cream (custard), muffins and apple crumble and some alcoholic specialities, such as Irish coffee. It is true there is an English cooking, and after this list of specialities, we can add that there are a lot of French words in the English cooking language such as French Baguette, French dressing and menu. Maxime Caraboeuf Political Parties in the U.KThere are three main political parties in the UK: the Conservative party, the Labour Party and the Liberal Democrat Party. The Conservative Party's ancestor was a royalist party which emerged in the 17th century. It’s the main right-wing political party in the UK. It is often associated with law and order. The great leaders of the Conservative Party are Neville Chamberlain, Wiston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher. The Labour Party was born in 1900 from an amalgam of trade unions and socialist groups. Tony Blair was catapulted to leadership at tender age of 41, he modernised the Party in order to make Labour electable and he drew a new political direction. It is a left-wing party. The Liberal Democrat Party is strongly in favour of the EU and the Euro. They want to increase the income tax to improve education. Charles Kennedy, a young Scotsman, became the leader of the LDP in 1999 and declared it as a “strong, independent and progressive alternative to Labour”. Henri Houzard
The Creative Zen Vision MThe Creative Zen Vision M is the ultimate player for people who want to enjoy music and movies on the go. It does more than play your videos, photos and music. It displays them on a 2.5" high-definition LCD screen. The large and beautiful screen has got 262,144 vibrant colors. The creative Zen Vision M exists in two different models : one of 30 Go and an of 60 Go. You can store on the 30 Go hard drive approximately 240 hours of movies, tens of thousands of photos or even 15,000 songs. Carry your entertainment in the palm of your hand and navigate with the vertical touch pad and the four vertical buttons. For more entertainment, there are also supplements like a voice recorder, a personal organizer (it syncs easily with Microsoft Outlook), FM radio etc. David Goyer Arctic Monkeys
Arctic Monkeys, formed in 2002, is an English rock band made up of four men: the singer guitarist Alex Turner, Jamie Cook on guitar, Matt Helders on drums and Nick O’Malley on bass guitar. They formed a band between school friends and started to record demo songs to give them out at shows. People posting their songs online were responsible for public attention. Their 1st extended play contained the famous songs “Fake Tales of San Francisco” and “From the Ritz to the Rubble”. In the beginning of 2006, more than 360,000 copies of their 1st album “Whatever people say I am, that’s what I’m not” were sold in the first week. In June 2006, they had a successful tour of North America and became famous all over the word. The media criticized their extended play “Who the Fuck are Arctic Monkeys” as “money-grabbing”, but they declared doing this to avoid the boredom of spending too much time touring. Their songs’ lyrics deal with social realism and observations of working class life. They are appreciated for their sing-along nature and fan participation, and are usually compared to The Streets, The Libertines, The Kinks for their Britishness and The Beatles for their melodies. Marjolaine Thery Chuck Taylor and the "All Star" shoeCharles Taylor, aka Chuck Taylor, was born on June 24th 1901 and died on June 23rd 1969 in Indiana. He played for fours years for the Bulldogs basketball team while in Columbus High School and then he played in different teams between 1919 and 1930 as a professional basketball player. He played for the N.Y Celtics, for example, which invented the rule of the "zone defense". In 1921, Chuck Taylor walked into Converse Chicago Office and, complaining of sore feet, he persuaded Converse to create a shoe especially for basketball players and they added Chuck's signature to its trademark in 1932. He began his 35-year tour in order to promote the shoe and introduce basketball to America. The "All Star" shoe became the official basketball shoe of Olympic competiton from 1936 until 1968. Since they became available in a rainbow of colors fourty years ago, hundreds of new models have been manufactured. Today, they are more popular than ever, worn for casual wear rather than for playing basketball. Adrien Limagne How times have changed: Britons want to be FrenchA recent survey carried out by the British research company, ICM, has established a list of the countries where British people would most like to live. France is top of this list with 22%, in front of Spain and Italy which are equal with 19%. The last French census in 2004 recorded 50% increase during the five last years in the number of Britons who live permanently in France to 100,000. About 500,000 Britons spend more than six weeks in France every years. More ever, Britons now own £4.6 billion of property in France and they have bought some 51,000 homes across the Channel since 2000. Britons who come to France have a lot of advantages: the prices are more reasonable than British prices, now there are a lot of English grocers in some “English villages” and we see more and more “bed and breakfasts”. It seems to be good, but in some villages there are only British people and that is too excessive. Arnaud Cherrier Winston ChurchillWinston Churchill is known as one of the most important leader in British history. Born in 1874, he saw service in India and the Sudan but also acted as a war correspondent and begun to write books. He left the army and took up politics. At that time he went to South Africa as a journalist and was taken prisoner by the Boers. He escaped and thus became famous. So he was elected as a Conservative parliamentary candi-date in 1900. But in 1904 joined the Liberal party. Appointed First Lord of the Admiralty, he was responsible for the disaster of the Dardanelles during WWI and became unpopular . He returned to the Conservative Party but lost his seat in the 1922 elections. Soon he warned of the rise of Hitler. When Chamberlain resigned, Georges VI asked Churchill to become Prime Minister: at 65! Adopting a policy of no surrender, Churchill saved democracy in Britain and inspired a spirit of courage. He said: “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat” and ”...we shall never surrender". After his death in 1965, he remains as the “Greatest ever Briton”. Christophe Billard U2U2, one of the greatest groups of rock'n'roll of the century was born in Dublin in 1978. It is made up of four Irishmen: Paul Hewson, otherwise known as Bono, the singer, Dave Evans whose nickname is The Edge, onthe guitar, Adam Clayton, on the bass guitar and Larry Mullen on percussion. The name of the group, U2, was chosen more in a spirit of communion with its public more than a reference to the American spy plane, which according to legend, was supposedly brought down in the Soviet Union the day Bono was born. They won a contest organized by a local newspaper and a promise of recording at Island (an house of discs). They leave a long list of albums that are all international successes, their titles now printed in the collective memory like standards. They sold more than 254 million CDs and now they are very rich and they can do concerts for humanitarian causes. Maxime Caraboeuf
Our young reporters present a theatrical outingOn 22nd November the English Theatre played the three acts of "The Importance of Being Earnest", written by Oscar Wilde, at the Quiniere Theatre in Blois. The public was composed of students of the European Section of Notre Dame des Aydes. All of them were captivated by the excellent and funny performance. This comedy was brilliant and fantastic. Valentin Wengleswski On Wednesday 22nd November I went to see "The Importance of Being Earnest" at the Quiniere Theatre. I can say that it was really well played, the actors were quite funny. About five actors performed several roles and one of the young ladies had a beautiful voice when she sang. The two men who were playing Earnest were very funny also, with their expressions. In fact, it was very nice to see this, very funny, ande interesting, with an end that, I suppose, surprised everyone. Ako Constans Jemma Griffiths
Jemma Griffiths is a Welsh singer-songwriter.
She started to sing and writs music when she was still at school.
After, she travelled as DJ agent and to promote night club. Six
years ago, she left this life and begin to sing. In 2003 and 2004,
she launched two albums, one was a great success. Jemma, well known
as Jem, sings for many series or films like the O.C, Grey's
anatomy, Closer and Ultraviolet. Hollywood
The famous Hollywood Boulevard stretches from Vermont Avenue to Sunset Boulevard and shelters not only the Walk of Fame but also the Kodak Theatre where every year the Oscars are given. But the image which caracterizes the most the district is a hill in the west of L.A., where we can see enormous letters forming the word "HOLLYWOOD". The Capitol Records Building is a tower which is known to have been the first office building with a circular form. It was built by Welton Becket and accomodates several recording studios today. Today, Hollywood is the name of a little district in Los Angeles, where there are 300,000 inhabitants. It is famous for its cinema studios, the head offices of very big film groups, and the residences of many famous stars. The word "Hollywood" often refers to the American film industry taken in its whole, but this association is however reducing for the American cinema which also asserts directors of the east coast who are not affiliated to this industry Tanguy Lapointe Alexander MacQueenAlexander MacQueen is a British fashion designer who was born in 1969. He started his studies by getting a degree from the Central Saint Martin School, and went to Milan to work with Koji Tatsuno and Romeo Gigli. He finished his Master degree in fashion design and entered the French Haute Couture House Givenchy as chief designer, following John Galliano. He was named “British Designer of
the Year” four times (1996, 1997, 2001, 2003), and awarded
“International Designer of the Year” by The Council
of Fashion Designer's of America, and “Most Excellent Commander
of The British Empire” by her Majesty the Queen. Alexander MacQueen is very original, for his clothes but also for his fashion shows. He works with many artists like Björk, Philip Treacy and Shaun Leane. Now, he also draws an Eyeswear collection, bags, fragrances. Many shops open up in London, Milan, New-York and Los Angeles. Clémence Enriquez The Union JackNowadays we see it everywhere: for sports competitions, organizations, and even in other flags (from the commonwealth). But what was it really at the begining? How was it created? The English flag, the St George's cross, a red cross on a white background, first appeared in 1277 during the reign of Edward I. St George became the saint of England under Edward III. The Scottish flag might have come from 9th century, during the battle of Athelstaneford, which opposed king McFergus with the Saxon Athelstan. Some clouds might have formed a white cross in the sky, representing the help of St Andrew, that allowed the victory of king McFergus. St Andrew became the saint of Scotland since this event. The British flag is a surperposition of the two flags. In 1603, Elizabeth I died, but she had no heir. So, the king of Scotland became also king of England. Ireland's symbol is St Patrick; nevertheless, a St Patrick cross was founded, but its origin isn't sure..... It has the advantage to make the British flag more beautiful! The Irish flag was added on 1st January 1801, when Ireland and Britain became the United Kingdom. The origin of the name «Union Jack» is quite unclear : it is either in reference to the name of Jack I, or to the small farmers of the country, whose nickname was «Jack». Gaelle Beuvelet
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Woody AllenAllen was born in New York City to a family of Austrian and Russian ancestry. He is a three-time Academy Award-winning American film director, writer, actor, musician, comedian, and playwright. His first movie production was What's New, Pussycat? in 1965. Allen's most successful movies were produced in a 10-year period starting with Annie Hall. Other critical and financial successes included Manhattan, The Purple Rose and Hannah and Her Sisters. Purple Rose was named by Time Magazine as one of the 100 best films of all time, and Allen has described it as one of his three best films, along with Husbands and Wives and Match Point. Today, some critics expressed concern that Allen's best years were now behind him. But Match Point (2005) was one of Allen's most successful films in the past ten years and generally received very positive reviews. Allen returned to London to film Scoop. After finishing his third London film, Allen is expected to head to Spain. Anouar Jamanbaiev Jean Michel BASQUIATBasquiat was an American painter born on 22nd December 1960 in Brooklyn, New York. His parents' different cultures were an important source of inspiration. Moreover, when he was 7, he was hospitalized and in order to pass the time, his mother gave him a book “Gray's Anatomy”. Basquiat loved the pictures in the book which inspired his artwork afterwards. In 1977, when he was 17, JMB and his friend Al Diaz began spray painting graffiti art and JMB signed with the famous “SAMO” When he began to be famous, he stopped this activity. In 1984, many of Basquiat's friends were concerned about his excessive drug use starting from his early years. Basquiat’s success was increasing, his paintings (Some Kind of Monster, Profit I, etc) were shown in solo exhibitions in a lot of major European capitals. But in 1988, JMB died of a drug overdose, he was just 27 years old. He is now considered as a leading figure in modern art during the 20th century. Arnaud Cherrier The KooksThe Kooks is a music group which is in full-rise, composed of Luke Pritchard, Hugh Harris, Max Rafferty, Peter Denton and Paul Garred. Max Rafferty was on sick-leave, but he came back in February 2007. Their first album, Inside In-Inside Out, sold 1 million copies in Britain. They were crowned pop-rock sound champions in England during the same year (2006). However, they are not very well-known in France. The group studied in the same school as Lily Allen: the Brighton Institute of Modern Music. The name of the group means “crazy”. Their first song is a rerun of a Strokes’ song : Reptilia. But Luke Pritchard had already written the song Naïve since he was 15. They are all about twenty : Luke Pritchard, the guitarist and singer, is the oldest : he was born in 1985 ; Hugh Harris is the youngest : he is just twenty, so he is the youngest man in rock. The Kooks is compared with Prince or even the Beatles. Clémence ENRIQUEZ Jack the RipperJack the Ripper is the name given to an unidentified English serial killer who murdered five prostitutes in a district of London called Whitechapel, between August 1888 and November of the same year. Victims were cut, strangled and mutilated and their internal organs were taken out of their body. The nickname "Jack the Ripper" took its origin in a letter called "Dear Boss" received on 27 September 1888 by the Central News Agency and signed by Jack the Ripper himself. Scotland Yard reprodued this letter in newspapers hoping that somebody else could recognised the handwriting and identify the murderer. Jack the Ripper was never found. Rachel Drodzd The HakaThe Haka is a ritual dance of the Maoris. New Zealanders dance the Haka everywhere: in the army, at school... Originally it was used by warriors before going to war. The legend says that, in the 1820s, Te Rauparaha had just got away from an enemy. In his escape he found one of his friends, a chief of another tribe and asked for his help. His friend accepted and hid him in the "kumara pit", a pit where maoris stocked their "kumaras" (potatoes). While Te Rauparaha was waiting, hidden in this pit, the warriors arrived. He thought he was going to die so he said to himself "Ka Mate". That means "I die". But the warriors went away. When he saw it he said "Ka Ora". That means "I'm alive". To conclude we can say that the Haka hasn't got violent lyrics, the words are just pronounced in a threatening way. Alexandre Trebes The DingoThe Dingo is a wild dog that is well known as the Australian dog, but in fact is probably related to the wolves of south west Asia. These dingoes weigh between 10 and 24 kilogrammes for a height between 44 and 63 cm, and for a head body length which varies between 86 and 122 cm. They are very well known for their sandy yellow colour and their white markings on the chest, feet, and tip of their tail! These animals can live up to 14 years in captivity, but only 3 to 7 years in the wild.They have a very athletic build and are extremely agile and known to climb trees!! They are carnivores, eating anything from lizards to kangaroos!!! Alexandre Ogilvie History of AustraliaThe first human in Australia was estimated between 42,000 and 48,000 years ago. James Cook discovered Australia in 1770, landing on the east coast for Britain. The first British colony of Australia, New South Wales, started at Port Jackson on 26th January, 1788. This date became Australia National Day. Five others colonies were created between 1806 and 1862. The Australians aborigines, who were 350,000 at the beginning of the colonization, declined during and after the sttlement of Australia. The Australians colonies gained their first "little independence" in 1901 with the creation of the Commonwealth of Australia, as a dominion of the U.K. In 1931, the vote of the statute of Westminster ended almost all constitutionnal links between Australia and the U.K. During WWII, Australia formed a new ally with the US. All links with the U.K were severed in 1986 with the passing of the Australia act. Finally, in 1999, Australian voters decided to make Australia a Republic. To conclude, Australia is a young country but with a very complicated and interesting history. Florian Breslau
Google comes from a school project by two american students: Larry Page and Sergei Brin. Their purpose was to point out websites according to their relevance and popularity. In 1998, their project became Google Inc. (google is a play on word on "googol" which means the number one followed by a hundred zeros). It was their mission: organize a huge amount of information available in the world. In 1999, societies start investing lots of money in Google and some people quit jobs in other browser companies (such as Yahoo or Netscape) to become part of Google Inc. In June 2000, Google became the biggest browser in the world with an index of up to one billion pages. Within a few months, Google had to satisfy from eighteen million to a hundred million requests every single day. Google kept increasing its development; partnerships throughout the world, Google Images (including 250 million pictures)... Google knows how to stay top of the world's best browsers (Google Labs, Google News, Google Blogs, Gmail, GoogleEarth etc.). With a non-stop search staff, the company has outstanding innovations which leave other companies far behind its amazing achievements. Adrien Limagne William BlakeWilliam Blake was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognized during his lifetime, his work is today considered seminal and significant in the history of both poetry and the visual arts. William Blake was born in London on 28 November 1757, to a middle-class family. He was one of five children. He never attended school, being educated at home by his mother. At the age of 10, he was sent in drawing classes. During this period, Blake was making explorations into poetry. On August 1772, Blake became apprenticed to engraver James Basire, for the term of seven years. At the end of this period, at the age of 21, he was to become a professional engraver. But in 1779, Blake became a student at the Royal Academy, where he paints a lot of paintings. In 1782, Blake met Catherine Boucher, who was to become his wife. Later, he taught her to read and write because she was illiterate, and trained her as an engraver. Blake's first collection of poems, “Poetical Sketches” was published around 1783. After his father's death, William and his brother Robert opened a print shop in 1784. In 1788, at the age of 31, Blake began to experiment with relief etching, a method he would use to produce most of his books of poems. The process is also referred to as illuminated printing, and final products as illuminated books or prints. Illuminated printing involved writing the text of the poems on copper plates with pens and brushes Blake abhorred slavery and believed in racial and sexual equality. Several of his poems and paintings express a notion of universal humanity. Blake died on August, 12 1827, in London. Anouar Jamanbaiev Festivals and celebrationsIn Britain, Canada and the USA, in each of the four seasons, people enjoy different festivals and celebrations. Thousands of years ago the people of Britain were pagans. In their religions, the moon, rain, animals and trees were all important, and they had festivals for them. When Christianity came to Britain, the people wanted to keep some of their old festivals, so many lived on, but as Christian festivals. Hallowe’en, Christmas, Saint Valentine’s Day and Easter are all examples of this. Today, many people (even people who do not usually go to church) celebrate these festivals, and also many other festivals which did start in the church. Food, family and flowers are an important part of most celebrations. Most people have a big family dinner at Christmas. A lot of people give chocolate and other sweets as presents at Christmas, Valentine’s Day and Easter, and some festivals have special food. Restaurants are busy on Valentine’s Day, and flower shops sell a lot of flowers on these days. People today often live far away from their families, so they send greetings cards at special times like Christmas and Easter. Times change, and festivals change too. But people have celebrated many of these festivals for hundreds of years and will still enjoy tem in many year’s time. From Jackie Maguire's book “Seasons and Celebrations”, chosen by Steven Huet John LennonJohn Lennon was born in Liverpool the 9th of October in 1940 to Julia Stanley and Alfred Lennon. His childhood was difficult because his father worked on a ship during a long time and he lost his mother at 15. The turning point in his life came when he discovered skiffle, a type of rock and roll music, during his teenage years. The name of his first song is “Hello Little Girl” which is late recorded by The Beatles. In his final year of art school in Liverpool, in 1960, John formed a group with Paul Mc Cartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, then the Beatles was created. They went around the world and were very popular, especially in the US. In 1970, the Beatles was finished, therefor, a year later Lennon released the hugely popular ‘Imagine’ album. On December 8, 1980, he was shot and killed by a young man outside his apartment in New York. Lennon was a great singer, also usually considered like the "leader" of The Beatles. On December 14, millions of fans around the world participated in a ten-minute silent vigil for Lennon at 2 p.m. Grégoire Ducoux
IRELANDIreland is my favourite country after Scotland. I have been there twice and I think it is a fantastic island of a marvellous beauty. It is divided in two parts : Eire (Southern Ireland) which is independant and Ulster (Northern Ireland) which belongs to UK. 6 million inhabitants live in 30000 square miles. In this land lived the Gaels during the Iron Age, and there died one Irishman for three between 1846 and 1848. More than half of Ireland is catholic and the other half is protestant. The most beautiful places on this island are the Giant's Causeway, the Cliffs of Moher, Croagh Patrick, and Jerpoint Abbey. The shamrock is one of the emblems of Ireland, as well as Saint Patrick and Molly Malone. Pierce Brosnan, Liam Neeson, Michael Gambon and Gabriel Byrne are some of the most famous Irish actors I hope you have learned things you didn't know about this amazing country. It is a land I ravenously love. Morgane Brachet
Hilary Hahn was born in Lexington in 1979. She began playing the violin at the age of four and her first solo recital occurred when she was ten, including a Handel Sonata, among many other short pieces very hard to play for a violinist so young. At the age of sixteen, she became very famous thanks to a magical interpretation of the Beethoven Concerto in D Major in Germany, which was broadcast on radio and television throughout Europe. That's why after having been graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, she pursued her brilliant soloist career by performing with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. In 1996, Hilary was signed by Sony Music to an exclusive recording contract and then recorded nine discs, which were all bestsellers. Besides, the great composer Meyer wrote a violin concerto specifically for her. Now she records exclusively for Deutsche Grammophon. Rewarded by many prizes, in addition to being a talented solo violinist, Hilary Hahn has also performed as a chamber musician, which is really exceptional. Emilie de Longueau |
Youtube is a free video sharing website. Everyone can watch videos on Youtube for free. The registered users can upload their videos following the slogan “Broadcast yourself”. Youtube video technology is based on Macromedia’s flash player 7. It allows the users to watch and save videos of a good quality and quickly. Youtube was founded in February 2005 by three former employees of Paypal: Chad Hurley, Steve Chen and Jawed Karim. Then the little internet start-up started a very fast and amazing growth. In November 2006, Google bought Youtube for 1,65 billion dollars. In early 2006, Youtube started having trouble with big companies because the copyrights were not respected. The website was responsible for its users and had to delete videos. Then, a 10 minute limit on video lengh and a 100Mo maximum size limit were set. Youtube is very popular for its wide variety of videos and its simple use. It was ranked as the 4th most popular website with more than 30 million visitors each month and 100 million videos viewed everyday. Alix Morel Benjamin BrittenBenjamin Britten was born in Lowestoft, Suffolk in 1913. He developed very early a musical talent, composing his first pieces at the age of five. When he was eleven, a great composer called Franck Bridge discovered this young boy, and helped him to base his own creativity on good technical foundations. After having studied much time at the Royal College of Music both piano and composition, he met Auden and used his poetry in one of his major work entitled "Hymn to Saint Cecilia". Then he emigrated to the USA in 1939, and composed many orchestral works, notably the "Sinfonietta da Requiem". However, Britten loved his country, and decided to come back to England to start working on a series of English operas like "Peter Grimes" and "Billy Budd". But he was also a remarkable pianist and a gifted conductor, conducting for example his "War Requiem", and the "Fourteenth Symphony" of his friend Chostakovitch. Having received the title of Companion of Honour in 1952, he died in 1976 of heart failure. Emilie de LONGUEAU JOHN LENNON
My name is John Lennon. I was a 20th century English singer and songwriter. I was born on 9th October 1940 in Liverpool. When I was 17 I started the Quarry Men Stiffle Band in 1957. Our music was a mixture of pop-rock and Rock and Roll. In 1958 the group and I had our first meeting with Carrol Lewis. A few weeks later I met Paul McCartney and that's when our friendship began. A couple of months later we allowed George Harrison to join the Quarrymen. He soon became our lead guitarist. The last person to join our group was Ringo Starr. He joined in 1962. As we became more and more popular and famous in England, we decided to change our group name in 1960. We finally chose "The Beatles". I married twice. My first wife was Cynthia, and we had a son, Julian, but Cynthia left me. Then I met Yoko Ono who eventually became my second wife and I had another son, Sean. After about 10 years with the Beatles, I quit the group because I had had enough. I started a solo career and wrote some good songs, such as "Imagine" and "Give Peace a chance". I think I had a great life. In 1980, someone shot me down and put an end to it... Steven Huet Enya
She was born on 17th May 1961 in Ireland, under the name of Eithne Patricia Ni Bhraonàin. "Enya" is an approximate tr anscription of how her name is pronounced in her native Irish, in the Donegal dialect. She was educated in her family where music was really important: each member of her family was once part of a music group. That's probably why she decided to make a career in music. In 1980, she joined "Clannad", the band created by her brothers and sisters, as a piano player and choir singer. Two years later, when Nicky Ryan, the producer, left them, she followed him in order to start her own solo career. Her work began to be known in 1988, with her album Watermark. The following one, in 1991, Shephered Moons, made her win her first Grammy Award as "best album of New Age". In 1997 she was offered to compose the music of Titanic, but refused it. In 2004, she announced that she was working on a new album, which finally came out for Christmas 2005: Amarantine. Today, she is the best-selling Irish solo artist, and considered as one of the most important artists in the New Age categorie. Gaëlle Beuvelet
King Arthur is a well-known character in England, as well as in most of the European countries. His name, his origin, his story and his place in history are subjects much debated by scholars. They ask themselves if he comes from Celtic deities or if he really existed. He was situated in the 6th century as a Romano-British leader and in the 11th-12th century as an Utopian king. The legend says he managed to pull Excalibur out of the stone, and built Camelot around this stone. He restored peace to England until his wife fell in love with Lancelot, and signed the end of the Arthurian realm. Some say the stone remains at Tintagel castle, others that they saw his burial site but can't remember where it was... but the fact is that is still nowadays a very famous romance. Morgane Brachet The American DreamThe American Dream is a subjective term usually implying a successful and satisfying life. This term usually implies financial security and material comfort, but can also imply a dream of fame, or simply living a fulfilling life. The expression “American dream” was used for the first time by James Truslow Adams, in his book "The Epics of America" (1931). It meaned the access to fundamental freedoms and the social rise by the merit. Nowadays, perceptions of the American dream are usually framed in terms of American capitalism, its associated purported meritocracy, and the freedoms guaranteed by the U.S. Bill of Rights. The term is not easily defined, and has subjective meaning to many who claim it. The American Dream is often associated with immigration, as the dream of religious freedom, economic prosperity, and opportunity has historically driven immigrants to the United States. The term is used by many modern Americans to signify success in life as a result of hard work. Tanguy Lapointe Oliver TwistOliver Twist is a novel written by Charles Dickens (1812-1870), published in 1838. The principal topic of this novel is child labour. It concerns poor children who work because of the poverty or because of their loneliness. The story takes place in England during the 19th century during the Victorian times. In his book, Dickens denounced social evils through the dificult life of an orphan who wasn't respected by the society. Baptiste Aufrère The Legend of Loch NessThe Loch Ness Monster is a mysterious and
unidentified animal, living in the Scottish loch of Loch Ness, in
Britain. It is one of the best-known mysteries of cryptozoology.
Some people don’t believe in Nessie’s legend, and think
about hoaxes or misidentification of natural phenomena. However,
belief in the animal persists among many people around the world,
with the most popular theory being that it is a plesiosaur. Ako Constans BrightonBrighton is located on the South-East coast of England. Today it is difficult to imagine that cosmopolitan city less than a hour from London was an impoverished fishing town that was nearly abandoned. In fact during the Roman's time the old name of Brighton was "Brighthelmstone", in the Middle Ages this area was bombarded without stopping by French. During the Victorian era it was a poor fishing country until 1750 when Dr Richard Russel wrote on a medical paper that drinking seawater is a good thing for health and he recommended Brighton for its water. So, Brighton became a fashion city for the upper class society who went in the town for their ills. Today Brighton is a fashionable city, even if now we know that drinking seawater is stupid. I think Brighton is the capital of the night life in England. You can't be bored in Brighton: during the day there are the beach activities and during the night there are two or three fabulous nightclubs: the Babylon, Starclub, and the Orleans. Moreover the city is known for these club and for two original architectural buildings: the Brighton Pier and the Brighton Royal Pavilion, an Indian building symbol of the town built by George IV. Jean-Baptiste Delagarde Aston MartinIn January 1913 the company Bomford and Martin Limited was founded. This company was situated in Fulham Road in west London. In 1928 it was the first time that Aston Martin took part in the 24 hours of the Mans. It was the beginning of a long tradition because since 1928 Aston Martin always took part in this race. Aston Martin was bought by David Brown in 1947. He created a very famous type, the DB (2, 4, 5, 6 and even now they take as a starting point its cars for the DB 7 and 9). After the death of David the company was bought by the Ford Motors group. They created new cars and took part in many competitions all over the world.They created a new site of production in Gaydon (Warwickshire) to celebrate the six thousandth DB7 built. Aston Martin is also known thanks to James Bond who often had an Aston Martin. Antoine Clément Pete DohertyPete Doherty is the singer and songwriter of the band called Baby Shambles. He was the co-frontman of The Libertines, a group formed with Carl Barat with whom he first shot to fame with their first album, "Up the Bracket". His father was an officer in the British army, so the family had to move a lot. Pete was academically successful: he won a poetry competition and was accepted at the University of London to study English. His mother published a book about him. People know him for his relationship with supermodel Kate Moss and his addiction to drugs. He is frequently arrested by the police for his drugs' problem and his life is reported in the tabloid press. Romain Tardy
Diana Frances Spencer was born in 1961 in Sandringham. She taught at the Young England Kindergarten in London and met the Prince Charles in 1980. They got married on July 29th, 1981 at St Paul’s Cathedral in London. She was loved by the public with her campaign against the use of landmines and discrimination of victims of AIDS, and, of course, for her beauty. They had two sons, Prince William (1982) and Prince Harry (1984). Diana became depressive when she discovered that Prince Charles was still in love with Camilla Parker, so she decided to expose the truth. They divorced in August 1996, and she started a romance with Dodi Al-fayed, son of billionaire. But it abruptly ended on 31st August 1997, when both where killed in a car crash in the tunnel of Pont de l’Alma, Paris, while paparazzi were following their car on motorcycles. The only survivor is Trevor Rees-Jones, the Princess' bodyguard. The exact crash causes are still unknown: some people pretended the driver was drunk, but public opinion in France and Great Britain accused the press photographers who chased the car. British journalists think of a homicide operation led by the secret service because Diana seemed to be pregnant by the Muslim Dodi Al-Fayed that English Crown’s spirit couldn’t support. However, the investigations aren’t finished yet. Marjolaine Théry The World Trade Centre fumesFive years after 11th September, people are still dying, but not exactly from the same causes. Actually, the thousands of rescue workers, policemen, firemen even inhabitants of New York city have breathed during the many weeks of helping very toxic and corrosive dust and fumes from ground zero. Now, they suffer from breathing problems including asthma and lung cancer. Ten of them are already dead. Nearly 10,000 persons have been examined by a doctor for this kind of health problem. More and more people are becoming ill and some of them don’t have any health benefits. The problem is that the American government and the authorities said, a few day after the world trade centre tragedy, that the air was safe. The state has given fifty-two billions dollars in order to help the sick. To sum up, we don’t know where the toxic fumes went or how long this pollution will have effects on the environment and on the people around there. Alix Morel Al-QaedaAl-Qaeda is an arabic word which means "the base" in English. It's an Islamist terrorist organisation created by Oussama Ben-Laden in 1988. At the beginning, he created it in order to train and to recruit soldiers called "Moudjahiddins", to fight in Afghanistan. But since this war is finished, the objectives has changed: the two principals are first to establish a caliphate, and secondly to fall the non-islamic states --> It's the Djihad, their holy war. So, to fall these countries, the members of Al-qaeda make terrorist attacks. Between 1993 and 2005 they made more than 25 attempts in Kenya, Yémen, Irak, Spain, England, USA, Indonesia, Turkish etc. The most famous is the one on the World Trade Center on 09/11/2001. So, the members of Al-qaeda are very dangerous because they're fanatics, kamikazes, they do that in the name of Allah and it's hard to stop them. Clément Lelièvre
This is your web space!Just like last year, you will be required to give an oral presentation in class. Then you will publish a summary of your presentation here, perhaps with a small illustration. |
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Quizzes |
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Tutorial |
Le site du Zéro.
Le Zér0 ? : c'est vous ;o) Cours web, informatique... www.siteduzero.com |
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| The Web Language Lab | The Web Language Lab propose des ressources audio avec exercices pour travailler la compréhension orale. Dans la "Learning Zone" on trouve des exercices gradués utilisables en ligne pour le collège, le lycée et l'enseignement supérieur. |
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| Test your Net IQ | www.learnthenet.com/english/quiz/01quiz.htm | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Netiquette Quiz | www.albion.com/netiquette/netiquiz.html | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Internet Crossword Puzzle | www.learnthenet.com/english/html/100crossword.htm | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Vocabulary, grammar & pronunciation quizzes | a4esl.org/a/v.html (6 levels, from Easy to Very Difficult) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Words of Computers (interactive activities) |
Practise your computer vocabulary with Francis David's online activities: The Words of Computers |
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Guidelines for Designing a Good Web Site |
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Warning! Students at work! |
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In the 1880s, Harvey Henderson Wilcox and
his wife moved from Topeka to Los Angeles. In 1886, Wilcox bought
a plot in the west country of the town, which was called "Hollywood.
A road which connects L.A. to Hollywood was created, and in 1910,
Hollywood was annexed to L.A..
