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English exercises sent every Friday by email

As part of our service we offer a free weekly email for customers and non-customers alike: english-mail.

What is it? Language training in English by email. No advertising - only jokes, grammar exercises and business English.

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example

e(nglish)-mail ISSUE #590

YESTERDAY (A New Version for PC Users)

Yesterday,
All those backups seemed a waste of pay.
Now my database has gone away.
Oh I believe in yesterday.

Suddenly,
There's not half the files there used to be,
And there's a milestone hanging over me.
The system crashed so suddenly.

I pushed something wrong,
What it was I could not say.
Now all my data's gone away
and I long for yesterday-ay-ay-ay.

Yesterday,
The need for back-ups seemed so far away.
I knew my data was all here to stay,
Now I believe in yesterday.

Mini - Grammar

Fill in the gaps with the correct adverbs or prepositions:

1. The man was missing for years and then one day he turned _____ at the door to his house. (auftauchen)

2. The speaker, boring everyone, twaddled _____. (weiterquatschen)

3. The injured man twisted _____ in pain. (sich winden)

4. He twisted _____ the cap and poured himself a coke. (abdrehen)

Vocabulary

Fill in the gaps in the text with the following words:

FUMES WASTE AFFORD GATHERED

According to the OECD, under 40 per cent of Germans aged between 55 and 65 have a job. The question is whether Germany can _____ to _____ this potential. ³It¹s a scandal that people are sent home at an age when they have _____ the most experience, _____ Alfred Korte, a former marketing expert.

(From the LINGUA FRANCA Berlin Newsletter, August, 2009)

Glossary

TO FUME - schäumen (vor Wut)
WASTE - verschwenden
AFFORD - s. leisten
GATHER - sammeln

Answers to last week's exercises:

Mini - Grammar

1. The man was missing for years and then one day he turned {up} at the door to his house. (auftauchen)

2. The speaker, boring everyone, twaddled {on}. (weiterquatschen)

3. The injured man twisted {around} in pain. (sich winden)

4. He twisted {off} the cap and poured himself a coke. (abdrehen)

Vocabulary

According to the OECD, under 40 per cent of Germans aged between 55 and 65 have a job. The question is whether Germany can AFFORD to WASTE this potential. It's a scandal that people are sent home at an age when they have GATHERED the most experience, FUMES Alfred Korte, a former marketing expert.