TIME AND FREQUENCY

TODAY´S ENGLISH IDIOM

(to) blow things out of proportion - to exaggerate; to make more of something than one should

Example 1: They sent a 12 year-old boy to jail for biting his babysitter? Don’t you think they’re blowing things out of proportion?

Example 2: Sally called the police when her neighbor’s party got too loud. I think that was blowing things out of proportion.

---

(to) burn someone up- to make someone angry

Example 1: Jenny didn’t vote for Nicole. That really burns Nicole up.

Example 2: I can’t believe Kristen and Andrew didn’t invite us to their wedding. That really burns me up!

WAKE ME UP WHEN SEPTEMBER ENDS

MY HEART WILL GO ON

COUNTABLE AND NON COUNTABLE NOUNS

  COUNTABLE AND UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS

In English, there are two kinds of nouns: count nouns and non-count nouns. It is important to understand the difference between them, because they often use different articles, and non-count nouns usually have no plural

1.Countable nouns

They deal with things that we can count: one dog, a mule, one man, the barber shop. They usually have a singular and plural form: two dogs, ten mules, six men, ten barber shops.

2. Uncountable nouns They deal with things that we do not usually count: tea, sugar, water, air, rice, etc. or for abstract ideas or qualities such as knowledge, beauty, anger, fear, love.They do not usually have a plural form. Examples of common uncountable nouns:
money, advice, information, furniture, happiness, sadness, news, research, evidence, safety, beauty, knowledge.You can usually work out whether a noun is count or non-count by thinking about it. Count nouns are usually objects which can be counted. Non-count nouns are often substances (such as sand, water or rice) which cannot be easily counted, or they may be large abstract ideas such as “nature”, “space” or “entertainment”.
You can put “a” or “an” before count nouns. For example: I have an apple.

She doesn’t need a table. You can also use “How many” with count nouns: How many horses are there in the farm?
You can put “some” before noncount nouns.

For example: I have some chocolate at the party. I just had some rice for lunch. You can also use “How much” with non-count nouns: How much traffic is there in San Francisco?

3. Container, Piece, and Measurement Words

 Many things that you can buy in a supermarket are noncount i.e. soap, cereal, butter, beef, ice, etc. However, we often want to talk about certain quantities of these things. In order to do this, we divide them into units that can be counted. Here is where the container words become handy.
Container words.: a can of…, a box of…, a bowl of …, a glass of …i.e. I bought two boxes of cereal.
Piece words: a piece of, a slice of…, a bar of …i.e. A slice of pizza. Who needs a piece of paper?
Measurement words: a quart of…, a liter of…: i.e. She has to get two quarts of milk.At the brunch, Angela had a bowl of Jell-O, a piece of cake, two slices of cheese, and a cup of coffee.  

LIVING IN THE USA

ROBERTO SOLANO, AGED 24 , FROM MEXICO  ROBERTO CAME FROM ACAPULCO TO NEW YORK TEN YEARS AGO. AT FIRST HE MISSED EVERYTHING- THE SUNSHINE, THE FOOD, HIS GIRLFRIEND. BUT NOW HE HAS A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS WITH HIS THREE BROTHERS AND HIS SISTER.THEY RUN A SOCCER STORE IN NEW BRUNSWICK. ROBERTO´S GIRLFRIEND IS NOW HIS WIFE, AND THEY HAVE TWO CHILDREN WHO GO TO AMERICAN SCHOOLS.  WHEN ASKED WHY HE CAME TO THE US, ROBERTO SAYS WITHOUT HESITATION,´BECAUSE I WANT TO WORK HARD AND BE SUCCESSFUL.´HE CERTAINLY WORKS HARD. HE´S AT THE STORE ALL DAY, THEN HE WORKS AS A DRIVER IN THE EVENING.´THAT´S WHY I LIKE AMERICA,´HE SAYS.YOU CAN BE WHAT YOU WANT.´  ´WHEN I FIRST CAME HERE, I DIDN´T SPEAK THE LANGUAGE, AND IT WAS WINTER. IT WAS SO COLD ! THERE WAS SNOW ! NOW NEARLY ALL MY FAMILY ARE HERE, NOT ONLY IN NEW YORK, BUT ALSO IN CALIFORNIA, AND IN TEXAS. WE MEET ABOUT ONCE A MONTH AND HAVE A HUGE MEXICAN MEAL THAT TAKES ABOUT FIVE HOURS ! WE´RE ALL HAPPY HERE