A BRITISH POLICEMAN

Watch the video to get a general idea

Watch the video again and choose the correct alternative when you are given two, fill in the blanks with the missing words ( verbs or adverbs ) or fill in the charts as instructed. Then check the key below.

A BRITISH POLICEMAN

There are nearly   1,700 / 170,000 police officers in The United Kingdom.

They work for  62/ 52 separate police forces.

The Metropolitan Police in London is very big and has over  31,000 / 71,000 police officers.

Most police forces are more than 150 / 1,050 years old.

People ………………… call British policemen Bobbies after Sir Robert Peel, the man who started the Metropolitan Police. Bobby is short for Robert.

Markus is a police officer in Oxford. His police force has 750 / 7,500 officers.

Markus ………………… works during the day, but ………………… he works at night. He ………………. works at the weekend, too.

On a day shift, he works from ……………….. a. m. to ………………. p.m.

On a night shift, he works from …………….. p. m. to ……………… a. m.

HIS UNIFORM

Write Yes or No in the boxes

	In summer	In winter
Black boots
Black trousers
Black T-shirt
Safety vest
Yellow jacket
Warmer jacket

HIS EQUIPMENT

Write Yes if he carries  or No he doesn’t carry the following:

A gun
A radio
A baton
A gas spray
A pair of handcuffs

Every day he ……………….. the police station and ……………… on patrol ………………. on foot but …………………. by car.

He ……………….. to different people every day.

He ……………….. to many different emergencies.

He ……………….. Oxford safe.

KEY

There are nearly   170,000 police officers in The United Kingdom.

They work for   52 separate police forces.

The Metropolitan Police in London is very big and has over  31,000 police officers.

Most police forces are more than 150 years old.

People sometimes call British policemen Bobbies after Sir Robert Peel, the man who started the Metropolitan Police. Bobby is short for Robert.

Markus is a police officer in Oxford. His police force has 7,500 officers.

Markus usually works during the day, but sometimes he works at night. He often works at the weekend, too.

On a day shift, he works from   8 a. m. to 6   p.m.

On a night shift, he works from 8 p. m. to 4 a. m.

HIS UNIFORM: Write Yes or No in the boxes

	In summer	In winter
Black boots	Yes	Yes
Black trousers	Yes	Yes
Black T-shirt	Yes	Yes
Safety vest	Yes	Yes
Yellow jacket	Yes	Yes
Warmer jacket	No	yes

HIS EQUIPMENT: Write Yes if he carries  or No  if he doesn’t carry the following:

A gun	No
A radio	Yes
A baton	Yes
A gas spray	Yes
A pair of handcuffs	Yes

Every day he leaves the police station and goes on patrol usually on foot but sometimes by car.

He talks to different people every day.

He responds to many different emergencies.

He keeps Oxford safe.

CHRISTMAS CAROLS

SILENT NIGHT

WHITE CHRISTMAS

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas
Just like the ones I used to know
Where the treetops glisten and children listen
To hear sleigh bells in the snow

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas
Just like the ones I used to know
Where the treetops glisten and children listen
To hear sleigh bells in the snow

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas
With every Christmas card I write
May your days be merry and bright
And may all your Christmases be white

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas,
Just like the ones I used to know
May your days be merry and bright
And may all your Christmases be white

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas,
With every Christmas card I write
May your days be merry and bright
And may all your Christmases be white

May your days be merry and bright
And may all your Christmases be white

And may all your Christmases be white (all your Christmases be white)
And may all your Christmases be white (all your Christmases be white)
And may all your Christmases be
(All your Christmases be white)
(All your Christmases be white)

MAKE AND DO

There is not a rule you can rely on to know when to use these verbs properly so, the advice is to learn the cases separately.
Here you have a list with the most common cases:

MAKE	DO
Progress A speech A mistake A law A journey, a trip, a tour, a voyage An impression An agreement An appointment Plans Love War A noise Friends An arrangement A fire A decision An excuse Money, a fortune An offer An effort A proposal An announcement A choice A contribution A phone call A suggestion A promise	Work  Homework Housework (an) exercise A task A course The shopping The cleaning The washing The ironing…  A job A favour Justice Good Evil Well Badly Damage Research Business Something Nothing One´s duty One´s hair One´s best Military service

"Go into the world and do well but more importantly, do good" Minor Myers


For a good explanation,an extensive list with examples and exercises click HERE

CHRISTMAS

These are some of the Christmas traditions in the Anglo-saxon world:

FATHER CHRISTMAS

Father Christmas is another way of referring to Santa Claus. This last name, Santa Claus comes from Saint Nicholas, who was a bishop in the 4^th century and his gift-giving tradition originally had nothing to do with Christmas.

We are now used to Santa Claus, a jolly fat man with rosy red cheeks, a fluffy white beard and a red suit. Santa comes down the chimney, eats the snack left by children (typically a mince pie and a glass of wine) and leaves presents in stockings and around the Christmas tree.

CHRISTMAS PUDDING

It is an extraordinarily  heavy pudding which is usually aged for a month or even longer. It contains raisins (pasas), dried fruits, cinnamon and other spices and it should be covered with brandy and set on fire before eating.

CRHISTMAS CRACKERS

They are paper-covered tubes which produce a loud crack when pulled apart. They contain a small tinket (baratija), a joke and a paper hat, which people wear during the lunch.

KISSING UNDER THE MISTLETOE

Many people at Christmas hang a bunch or just a sprig of mistletoe in their home and if you meet someone underneath, you have to give them a kiss!!!

Don't confuse mistletoe with holly:

The mistletoe is a plant that grows on the branches of other plants and has leathery evergreen leaves and waxy white berries

 The holly is an evergreen shrub with glossy spiky leaves and red berries

BOXING DAY

December 26^th is called Boxing Day and it is a public holiday in the UK. Poor people used to receive a box of gifts from their masters or employers on this day mainly because they have worked for them on Christmas Eve and on Christmas Day. Rich people used to go fox-hunting but nowadays many go to the Boxing Day sales.

HOGMANAY


Hogmanay is the Scotish name for New Year's celebrations. The origin of the word is not clear but Scotch people celebrate it with fireworks and fire shows and everybody sings Auld Lang Syne, which is a Scots-language poem written by Robert Burns in 1788 though now is sung everywhere in modern English except for the words Auld lang Syne, which mean something like for old times' sake.
Watch this video and you'll certainly recognize the song.

RELATIVE CLAUSES

There are two types of relative clauses: Defining and Non-defining

Defining relative clauses are essential to “define” which person or thing the speaker means.

Non-defining relative clauses give “extra information” about the person or thing the speaker refers to but we already know which person or thing the speaker means.

Examples:

-          I have two cars. One of them keeps breaking down and the other doesn`t.

The car that keeps breaking down is in the garage. (This sentence has a defining relative clause because I need to specify which car)

-          I have just one car and it keeps breaking down.

The car, which keeps breaking down, is in the garage. (This sentence has a non-defining relative clause because although I don’t need to specify which car, I want to give extra information)

Here is a chart

DEFINING

	People	Things
Subject	WHO THAT	WHICH THAT
Object	WHO WHOM THAT No relative	WHICH THAT No relative
Possessive	WHOSE	WHOSE OF WHICH
Prepositional	WHO …+ preposition WHOM…+ preposition THAT …+ preposition No relative …+ preposition Preposition+ WHOM	WHICH …+ preposition THAT…+preposition No relative…+ preposition Preposition + WHICH

NON-DEFINING

(NO omissions!    NO that!    ALWAYS  between COMMAS!)

	People	Things
Subject	WHO	WHICH
Object	WHO WHOM	WHICH
Possessive	WHOSE	WHOSE OF WHICH
Prepositional	WHO…+ preposition WHOM … + preposition Preposition + WHOM	WHICH… +preposition Preposition + WHICH

WHAT includes a relative pronoun and its antecedent

WHICH refers to the whole previous sentence or idea 

EXAMPLES

DEFINING

The man who/that robbed the bank is called Smith.

The man who/whom/that/----- I saw is called Smith.

The papers which/that are on my desk are not mine

The report which/that/----- you sent me is not good enough.

The man whose car I was driving is my boss.

The woman to whom you talked/that you talked to/you talked to is the manager.

The pen with which you’re writing/that you’re writing with/you’re writing with is mine.

The relative pronoun can be omitted when it is NOT the subject of the relative clause

NON DEFINING

Jack, who used to live next door, went to live abroad.

Jack, whom/who you met yesterday, went to live abroad.

The strike, which lasted 10 days, is now over.

We’re staying at the Grand Hotel, which Ann recommended to us.

My boss, whose husband also works for the company, is very strict.

Jack, to whom you talked yesterday, has been promoted.

My home town, in which I’m still living, has a very important  fishing  port.

WHAT & WHICH

Did you hear what they said?

Jim passed his driving test, which surprised everybody.

WHAT  includes the antecedent and the relative. It means the thing/things that

WHICH refers to the whole idea expressed before. In other words, its antecedent is the previous sentence.


For a good explanation of  the difference between DEFINING and NON-DEFINING relative clauses click HERE

You can also watch this video, which has a simple but clear explanation of these relative clauses:

For an exercise to see if you understand the difference between these two types of relative clauses click   HERE