A Prayer for the New Year of 2020

A Prayer for the New Year of 2020

By Jean Lee

I pray that no one feels pushed around or left out in their lives;   

    I hope there’ll certainly be the moments they feel their passion respected.


I pray that I’m willingly spare a minute or two to hear my friends and give them high-fives;

    I hope they remember we are always connected.







I pray the crispy air at dawn fills me with brand new hopes for another given day;

    I hope I’ll still pat on my back even if the time is not as meaningful or fruitful as expected.


I pray I always look inside of me and give any pain some leeway;

    I hope every little scab will not be neglected, but rather be protected.







I pray day-to-day smiles and laughter will strongly pave the way for bigger bunch of happiness;

   I hope daily navigation in life will bring me and my friends unshattered wisdom.


I pray by the end of this year, I will write Christmas cards only filled with sweetness;

   I hope those who get my cards will also be singing a song of freedom.

Quotes about Christmas

Is Christmas your favorite time of the year? With all big words or expressions pushed aside, let us just read some quotes about Christmas this week.

Quotes about Christmas

  “Christmas gift suggestions:  To your enemy, forgiveness.  To an opponent,    tolerance.   To a friend, your heart.   To a customer, service.  To all, charity.   To every child, a good example.   To yourself, respect.”  ….Oren Arnold

  “I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.” …. Charles Dickens from “Christmas Carol”

  “Christmas isn’t a season. It’s a feeling.” …..Edna Ferber

  “Maybe Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas…perhaps…means a little bit more.” ….Theodor Seuss Geisel from “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”

  

  “Just remember the true spirit of Christmas lies in your heart.” … The Polar Express

  “We are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmastime.” …Laura Ingalls Wilder

  “Let’s be naughty and save Santa the trip.”…. Gary Allan

  “Christmas: the only time of year you can sit in front of a dead tree eating candy out of socks.”… Anonymous

  “Santa knows when I’m sleeping. He knows when I’m awake. He knows if I’ve been good or bad. I find that rather creepy.”…..Anonymous

  “I once bought my kids a set of batteries for Christmas with a note on it saying 'toys not included. The good news is, they can be used with practically any toy (sold separately, of course).' ” …Bernard Manning.

  “I stopped believing in Santa Claus when I was six. Mother took me to see him in a department store, and he asked for my autograph.” …Shirley Temple

Word Puzzle from NPR Sunday On-Air Challenge (Dec 8th, 2019)

This week presents the NPR (National Public Radio)’s Sunday Word Puzzle (that was aired on December 8^th, 2019) on my ESL blog. Every answer is a word, name or phrase in which the only consonants are B and L, repeated as often as necessary. All the other letters are vowels.

Ex. Tell a secret --> BLAB

1. Holy book à _________________

2. Reason why you couldn't have committed the crime à ______________________

3. Record company à ___________________

4. "The Hobbit" hero ___ Baggins

5. Tower of _________________

6. Talk rapidly and foolishly à _________________

7. Move up and down, as a doll's head à _________________

8. Air-filled sphere sometimes made by soap à _______________

9. Legally obligated à ______________

10. Spanish explorer who discovered by Pacific in 1513 à _________________

11. Woodcutter who foiled 40 thieves (two words) à ______________

12. Victim of written defamation à _________________

13. Singer Patti with the 1975 #1 hit "Lady Marmalade" à __________________

14. What you might get once a month for heating your home (two words) à __________________

15. Like the hours that a lawyer charges for à ________________

Answer Keys

      

   1.  Bible

   2.  alibi

   3.  label

   4.  Bilbo

   5.  Babel

   6.  babble

   7.  bobble

   8.  bubble

   9.  liable

   10.   Balboa

   11.   Alibaba

   12.   libelee

   13.   Labelle 

   14.   oil bill

   15.  billable

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

This week, let us talk about Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is a day to celebrate the good harvest and other blessings of the past year. Americans generally believe their Thanksgiving is modeled on a 1621 harvest feast shared by the English colonists (i.e., Pilgrims) of Plymouth and the Wampanoag people. The American holiday is particularly rich in legend and symbolism and the traditional fare of the Thanksgiving meal typically including turkey, bread stuffing, potatoes, cranberries and pumpkin pie. Here’s some trivia questions about Thanksgiving in America. Ready to solve?

(source from St. Joseph Indian School)

   

   

1.   Which state is the top turkey-producing state in America? _________________

   

   2.   _____________ % of all cranberries consumed in the U.S. per year are eaten on Thanksgiving.

   

   3.   The ____________________ of the turkey is used in a good luck ritual on Thanksgiving Day.

   

   4.   The 1^st Thanksgiving football game was a college match between what two teams?

___________________  and ________________________ in 1876.

   

   5.   When was the 1^st Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade?

___________________

Want some Thanksgiving jokes?

What do you call a turkey on the day after Thanksgiving? _______________

Why did the farmer have to separate the chicken and turkey?

It’s because he suspected ____________ play.

Answer Keys for Trivia Questions

   

   1.  Minnesota

   2.  20%

   3.  Wishbone

   4.  Yale and Princeton in 1876

   5.  1924

Answer Keys for Jokes

Lucky

Fowl

Weekend Word Puzzle from NPR (Nov, 17, 2019)

Let’s solve the NPR Sunday Word Puzzle! (on the air November 17^th, 2019)  Every answer today is a word or name that ends in the letters -LLO.

Ex. Standard greeting --> HELLO

1. Dessert that jiggles: ____________________

2. Winemaker Ernest or Julio: __________________

3. 1960s-'70s U.S. space program: ________________

4. Brand of scouring pad: ________________

5. Largest city in the Texas Panhandle: _____________

6. Abbott's partner in old comedy: ________________

7. Animal with a leathery shell much seen in Texas and the Southwest: ________________________

8. Italian sculptor of the Renaissance; also one of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: ______________________

9. Kind of mushroom: ________________

10. Island in New Brunswick, Canada where F.D.R. had a summer home: _____________________

11. Highly caffeinated, citrus-flavored soft drink: __________________

Answer Keys

1. Jello

2. Gallo

3. Apollo

4. Brillo

5. Amarillo

6. Costello

7. Armadillo

8. Donatello

9. Portabello

10. Campobello

11. Mellow yello

Word Jumble with Muscle Groups

Word Jumble with Names of Muscles!  How many muscle groups in your body can you name? Let us reassemble the following letters to make the names of our muscles. The first letter of each word is Capitalized.

     1.   eloDisidt: ________________

     

     2.   mAnliodsba: _______________

     3.   Oesquilub: _______________

     4.   trsgiamHsn: _______________

     5.   Romdihbso: ____________________

     6.   dcruoAtd: ________________

     

     7.   pscireT: _______________

    

     8.   udairpecQs: _______________

     

     9.   Tsarezpiu: _________________

10. pseiBpc: __________________

Answer Keys

   1.  Deltoids

   2.  Abdominals

   3.  Obliques

   4.  Hamstrings

   5.  Rhomboids

   6.  Adductor

   7.  Triceps

   8.  Quadriceps

   9.  Trapezius

   10.  Biceps

Spooky Expressions on Halloween Day

Are you expecting grim grinning ghosts to come out to socialize tonight? With the Halloween mood fully ripe, let us go over some interesting idiomatic expressions containing spooky words. 😉

   

   1.  witch hunt: a situation where accusations are made freely, especially against someone or something that is not popular with the majority

   2.  ghost town: a once-flourishing town wholly or nearly deserted usually as a result of the exhaustion of some natural resource

   3.  skeleton staff: the minimum staff needed by a company during a time where most staff do not normally work, such as a holiday, weekend, etc

   4.  skeleton(s) in one’s closet / skeleton(s) in the cupboard: shameful or embarrassing secret

   5.  to jinx something: to bring bad luck

   6.  the witching hour: midnight

   7.  boogeyman: an imaginary evil character of supernatural powers, especially a mythical hobgoblin supposed to carry off naughty children.

   8.  to send shiver down one’s spine: to make someone feel very frightened or excited

   9.  like a rat leaving the sinking ship: used to describe people who leave a company, organization etc when it is in trouble

   10.              to quake in one’s boots: to be very nervous, frightened, and scared

Why don’t we use the above idioms in sentences?

   

   

   1.   When Paul’s wife said “Honey, we need to talk.”, he was _________________ in his boots and thought his old mistake came back to haunt him.

   2.   Joe was a great kid who always listened to his mom and dad, so there was no need for his parents to make up a story of a _____________________ to discipline Joe.

   3.   During the upcoming holiday, there will only be ______________________ staff on duty here.

   4.   Throughout 1950s in the States, Senator Joseph McCarthy led a _________________ hunt against people suspected of being communists.

   5.   A: Hey, are you out of your mind? So, you’re seriously fly solo in thunderstorm and lightning? I doubt you’ll make it to the island in one piece.

B: Oh, c’mon! Don’t _______________ it! I’ll be fine!

   6.   Guess I’ve gotta go to bed now. It’s past the ______________ hour.

   7.   The horror flick was way beyond what I had expected! It had sent _______________ down my _____________ from beginning to the end.

   8.   Since most of the big or small stores and shopping malls went out of business in that city, more and more people have started to move out like a ___________ leaving the _______________________________. The city has become a __________________ town now.

   9.   Jackson doesn’t want his fiancé to find out about his ________________ in the closet. He thought she might be disappointed if she learned about his past mistakes.

Answer Keys

   

   1.  quaking

   2.  boogeyman

   3.  skeleton

   4.  witch

   5.  jinx

   6.  witching

   7.  shiver, spine

   8.  rat, sinking, ghost

   9.  skeletons

Interesting Expressions related to Love and Marriage

This week, let me share some interesting English expressions related to love and marriage.

    

    1.   to get hitched: to get married

    2.   sham marriage: a legal marriage that happens primarily or solely for practical purposes, rather than love

    3.   to get cold feet: suddenly become too frightened to do something you had planned to do, especially something important such as getting married

    4.   cupboard love: insincere or superficial love motivated by selfish interest/  a show of love inspired by some selfish or greedy motive (Theidioms.com)

    5.   smitten with…: in love with…/ infatuated with ….

    6.   to let one’s heart rule his/her head: to act according to what you feel (=based on one’s emotions) rather than what is sensible

    7.   to fix someone up with …: to find a romantic partner for …./ to set someone up with …

    8.   shotgun wedding/ marriage: marriage that takes place because the woman is pregnant

    9.   to whisper sweet nothings: to whisper words of affection

    10.               bridezilla: a woman who is planning her own wedding in such a thorough and enthusiastic way that her behaviour seems extreme and unreasonable to other people

Time to practice what you’ve learned!

    

    1.   Her father wasn’t able to stand the scene where his beloved daughter was giggling and whispering _______________  _______________ with her boy friend at the prom.

    2.   Brad knew it was only ________________ love from the beginning, Because Juliet was well known as a gold digger in town.

    3.   More and more young ones today are not quite interested in getting ________________. They’d rather wish to enjoy their single lives.

    4.   Diana’s mom has always told her daughter not to let her _______________ rule her ________________. She would say “Marry in haste, repent at leisure.”

    5.   I saw the movie Green Card, which is about _________________ marriage with an undocumented immigrant from France.

    6.   Heather has been such _______________ obsessed with every single detail about her upcoming wedding, but right before the big day, she got _____________ feet.

    7.   Ken became  _________________ with Barbie from the very first moment he saw her. He was utterly head over heels for her.

    8.   It was not a ____________________ wedding. Jack and Jill has made up their mind to get married last year.

    9.   Drew’s auntie felt bad for her nephew who had never dated anyone in his life. So she was trying to ____________ him up with a smart and good-looking girl way before Christmas came along.

Answer Keys

    

    1.  sweet nothing

    2.  cupboard

    3.  hitched

    4.  heart, head

    5.  sham

    6.  Bridezilla, cold

    7.  smitten

    8.  shotgun

    9.  fix