9 cancelled

07.12.2025

 

Second Language Learning

There has been much debate in recent times about when young people should take up a second language. This has been especially fuelled in recent times by the increasing (IMPORTANT)  placed on the English language. It is now commonplace to see parents providing a substantial amount of (FUNDING) on additional tuition on language lessons to give their children every (COMPETITION)  edge. In the past decade, language institutes have sprung up in numerous centres, all claiming to provide rapid (ADVANCED)  in English. There has been a push by many parents to expose their children to English in their formative years. This, many claim, will make the language more (INSTINCT) and ensure that all pronunciation errors can be avoided. There is some evidence which points to youngsters who have been raised in bilingual families, where the language spoken at home is different to the one that they (CONVERSATION) with in their external environment. While these children can switch between two languages with greater (EASY) , it remains to be seen whether this is (ADVANTAGE)  when learning additional languages.

https://www.examenglish.com/CAE/cae_reading_use_of_english3.htm

How You Can Make The Right Mindset Work For You

taken from https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbesbusinesscouncil/2021/06/04/how-you-can-make-the-right-mindset-work-for-you/

    
   

1  

Through our minds, we take in and process the world around us. Depending on the mindset that you possess on the day-to-day, there can be a world of difference in how you approach life. Mindsets shape our thoughts, beliefs and experiences, with one to another determining whether we unlock our happiness and whether we find our success. 

This is particularly true for professionals with big dreams. If you work on your career doubting yourself, putting down your accomplishments and seeing it all through a negative lens, you may be setting your own self up for failure. As we work for what we want, our chances for success may often lie simply within our mindset. 

Getting Your Mindset Right Each Day

The good news is that a mindset is not actually set in stone. You can reframe your thoughts at any moment, and you can always change your approach when needed. In fact, this is the whole idea behind having a “growth mindset” (subscription required).

A growth mindset maintains the belief that one can always improve. When you turn your mind this way, failure is never the end, as setbacks don’t have to stop you. This sort of thought process is gradually achieved with consistent effort. All you have to do is get started!

Build A Routine

One of the best ways to begin is with a routine. After all, consistency cannot begin completely in the mind. Before you can change your thoughts, you actually have to change your behaviors. Make a consistent effort to improve your mindset by implementing routine practices every day. 

It can be as simple as regular activities every morning to get your mind in the right place to start the day. You might also use the evenings to reset your mental state. Whatever routine you choose, keeping it consistent will help put you on the right track right away. 

See Beyond Today To Reach Your Goals

Remember as you take these steps, it’s not just about your right now but about all the goals you have for the future. When our minds get stuck in a negative rut, we can start to focus only on where we already are and what we can already do, instead of on where progress can take us. But this sort of thinking is exactly what will hinder all of that progress. 

If you can see each day as a new opportunity toward reaching the tomorrow you’re after, you’ll likely have much more success throughout the journey. 

Step Out Of Your Comfort Zone

Part of making the most of the opportunity that each day presents is not letting your mind hold you back. Fear and anxiety will put up barriers that keep you from getting where you want to be, but you can break past every one of these. It may not happen in an instant, but each choice to step out of your comfort zone can be a step forward and into a growth mindset. 

With your new growth mindset, every challenge can be seen as an opportunity, even if it may end in failure. 

Accept Setbacks And Roll With Changes

At the end of the day, the right mindset can even flip the script on experiences of failure. When everything falls apart, a strong mindset can help you realize that these sorts of situations may truly be opportunities to grow and improve. 

No, it’s not easy to make this mental shift, but it is possible. You don’t have to let a fear of failure hold you back because failure never has to be the end. The only thing that will keep you down is not pushing yourself forward in the aftermath of a setback. 

Find Your Inspiration And Motivation Daily

There are many external forces that can help you to push yourself. Make sure you’re tapping into these every single day, whether that means you start the day pumping yourself up with music, take a break to journal the positives or spend some time reading motivational books or articles. 

Whatever you can do to get your mindset in the right place, it’s worth it to do it every day. 

With The Right Mindset, Nothing Can Stop You

After all, often the only thing standing in your way is your own self. If you want to succeed, you have to allow yourself to find that success. Once you do, nothing will stop you.  

1. What is the main idea of the article?

a) Success depends entirely on talent and luck.

b) A positive mindset can significantly influence success.

c) Mindsets are unchangeable and determine our future.

d) Building a routine is the only way to achieve goals.

2. According to the article, what is a “growth mindset”?

a) Believing that failure is the end of the road.

b) Accepting setbacks as opportunities to grow.

c) Thinking that people cannot change or improve.

d) Avoiding challenges and staying in your comfort zone.

3. What does the article suggest about routines?

4. Why does the article advise stepping out of your comfort zone?

5. The article mentions “seeing beyond today.” What does this mean?

a) Focusing only on current challenges.

b) Ignoring today’s issues and focusing on tomorrow.

c) Thinking about how today’s actions contribute to long-term goals.

d) Forgetting about where you currently are.

6. What should you do if you experience failure, according to the article?

7. Which of the following is NOT recommended in the article for daily mindset improvement?

a) Listening to motivating music.

b) Journaling positive thoughts.

c) Comparing yourself to others’ success.

d) Reading inspirational content.

8. What’s the relationship between mindset and progress?

 Complete the sentence with the best option:

9 “With a growth mindset, failure is…

a) a final stop on your journey.

b) an opportunity to learn and grow.

c) something that should be avoided at all costs.

d) a chance to evaluate and improve yourself.”

10 

What is one way you can improve your mindset starting today? Write your answer in 2-3 sentences.

19.12.2024

 

  

  

https://www.examenglish.com/CAE/cae_use_of_english1.htm  

17.12.2024

https://app.engxam.com/cpe/reading/1/

   

  

  

https://app.useofenglishpro.com/use-of-english/c1/cae/advanced-certificate-of-english/open-cloze/8/the-simon-bolivar-orchestra

11,12,2024

https://app.engxam.com/cae/use-of-english/4/ 

   

  

   Despite the often-disturbing content of the stories, the Grimms' primary contribution to fairy tales was making them tamer.

It's no coincidence that the adultification of the fairy tale happened over the same time period in which the children who'd originally enjoyed the Disney versions grew up, and surprisingly little needs to be changed to turn a children's story into an adult-oriented (and adult-rated) film. Despite the best efforts of the Grimm brothers, Walt Disney, and their contemporaries, fairy tales can never be completely separated from their darker origins. 

But there's a final wrinkle to the subversive fairy-tale trend: From movies like Snow White & the Huntsman to TV shows like Grimm and Once Upon a Time, a twisted fairy tale only works if the audience has enough knowledge of the original stories to appreciate how they're being subverted—a knowledge that contemporary children are getting further and further away from. 

In many ways, the reverse-sanitization of the fairy tale is a return to the origins of stories that were, in their earliest forms, only "related at adult gatherings after children had been put to bed for the night." As adults turn on an episode of Grimm after reading their children to sleep, or see Snow White & the Hunstman while their kids stay at home with a sitter, they're embracing a concept of the fairy tale that predates even the Grimm Brothers—a trend appropriate enough for the oldest stories of all. 

1 Do you prefer the darker, adult-oriented versions of fairy tales or the sanitized, child-friendly ones? Why?

2 The text mentions that fairy tales were originally told to adults. What do you think this says about the role of storytelling in society?

3 If you were reading fairy tales to a child, would you prefer sharing the lighter Disney versions or the more traditional, darker versions? Why?

taken from https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2012/05/fairy-tales-started-dark-got-cute-and-are-now-getting-dark-again/257934/

https://app.engxam.com/cae/listening/1/ 

   

10.12.2024

 

      

https://app.engxam.com/cae/use-of-english/4/

Universal Pictures

"I guess you think you know this story.

You don't. The real one's much more gory.

The phoney one, the one you know

Was cooked up years and years ago,

And made to sound all soft and sappy

Just to keep the children happy."

–"Cinderella," by Roald Dahl

In the first minute of the trailer for Snow White & the Huntsman, Charlize Theron's evil queen Ravenna strips naked, sucks the "youth" out of a teenage girl, and plots to rip Snow White's heart from her chest. Given that most people think of Snow White as an innocent girl twirling through a forest, singing about the someday when her prince will come, this is less a trailer and more a statement of purpose: This story isn't for children anymore.

Snow White & The Huntsman is, yes, another fairy-tale film adaptation aimed at adults, coming on the heels of this year's Mirror, Mirror, last year's Red Riding Hood, and dozens of other works in the past decade. They're the latest in the long but accelerating trend that's undoing Disney's 20th century work of transform horrifying folk stories into genial animated musicals. While such retellings may seem subversive, they're actually throwbacks, marking a return to what these tales originally were—before, even, the Brothers Grimm got their hands on them.

The contemporary idea of the fairy tale can be traced to 1812, when Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm published a collection of folk stories called Children's and Household Tales—now much more commonly known as Grimm's Fairy Tales. From "Rapunzel" to "Hansel and Gretel," from "Cinderella" to "Sleeping Beauty," and all the way up to "Little Snow White."

1 What contrast does the text establish between traditional and modern adaptations of fairy tales?

2 What is the significance of referencing Roald Dahl’s Cinderella in the context of this discussion?

3 How does the text argue that contemporary retellings are both subversive and traditional?

4 What is the tone conveyed by words like “gory,” “phoney,” and “soft and sappy”? How do these choices shape the reader’s understanding of the argument?

5 What is the central argument of the text, and how is it supported through examples and comparisons?

  

   Despite the often-disturbing content of the stories, the Grimms' primary contribution to fairy tales was making them tamer.

It's no coincidence that the adultification of the fairy tale happened over the same time period in which the children who'd originally enjoyed the Disney versions grew up, and surprisingly little needs to be changed to turn a children's story into an adult-oriented (and adult-rated) film. Despite the best efforts of the Grimm brothers, Walt Disney, and their contemporaries, fairy tales can never be completely separated from their darker origins. 

But there's a final wrinkle to the subversive fairy-tale trend: From movies like Snow White & the Huntsman to TV shows like Grimm and Once Upon a Time, a twisted fairy tale only works if the audience has enough knowledge of the original stories to appreciate how they're being subverted—a knowledge that contemporary children are getting further and further away from. 

In many ways, the reverse-sanitization of the fairy tale is a return to the origins of stories that were, in their earliest forms, only "related at adult gatherings after children had been put to bed for the night." As adults turn on an episode of Grimm after reading their children to sleep, or see Snow White & the Hunstman while their kids stay at home with a sitter, they're embracing a concept of the fairy tale that predates even the Grimm Brothers—a trend appropriate enough for the oldest stories of all. 

1 Do you prefer the darker, adult-oriented versions of fairy tales or the sanitized, child-friendly ones? Why?

2 The text mentions that fairy tales were originally told to adults. What do you think this says about the role of storytelling in society?

3 If you were reading fairy tales to a child, would you prefer sharing the lighter Disney versions or the more traditional, darker versions? Why?

taken from https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2012/05/fairy-tales-started-dark-got-cute-and-are-now-getting-dark-again/257934/

https://app.engxam.com/cae/listening/1/ 

 

https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/79954989490070371/3473464366394541798# 

https://app.engxam.com/cae/use-of-english/3/