Mini-Lessons from Sunday, Apr. 15, 2012

These Mini-Lessons are posted on Twitter, and in China on Weibo, throughout the day. You can follow them there!

To get the most from them, you should try to use them in sentences, or discuss them with friends. Writing something on Twitter or Weibo is a great way to practice!

• Link: Word search games: http://www.1-language.com/wordsearch/index.htm
  
• Ancient History: Lady Godiva: story of an 11th-century English lady who rode through her town without clothes to get her husband to lower taxes.
  
• Irregular Verbs: Don't forget your book. You forgot it yesterday, and I think you have forgotten it most days this semester.
  
• Idiom: ace in the hole: a hidden resource. A: "Jack's so lazy; why don't they fire him?" B: "He has an ace in the hole: his dad's the boss."
  
• Pop Culture: John Wayne: (1907-1979) American film actor who played cowboys and soldiers; nicknamed "Duke."
  
• Slang: to land something: to get something you want. A: "I'm trying to land a job at ABC Company." B: "Good luck!"
  
• Government: nationalization: process of a national government taking over a business (such as a phone or electric company) or some property.
  

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NOTES:

1. The Idiom, the History and Government words, and some of the Pop Culture words, are from lists in the Dictionary of Cultural Literacy. I wrote the definitions and examples myself.
2. The Link was found online; the Slang words, the Irregular Verbs, and some of the Pop Culture words are from my own lists, and I wrote the definitions and examples myself.

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This lesson is ©2012 by James Baquet. You may share this work freely. Teachers may use it in the classroom, as long as students are told the source (URL). You may not publish this material or sell it. Please write to me if you have any questions about "fair use."

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