discuss vs. argue

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Borrow vs. lend

Confusing Words:
Lend and Borrow

 

The very common verbs lend and borrow are confusing
for many learners of English. One reason this happens is
because lend and borrow have the same basic meaning,
but are used for different "directions" in English.

If B needs ___ and A gives it to B for a limited time
(expecting that B will return it), A lends ___ to B (or
A lends B ___ ) and B borrows ___ from A.

Examples:

Anne lent $150 to Bill. Anne lent Bill $150.
Bill borrowed $150 from Anne.

Aaron often lends his car to Brenda. /
Aaron often lends Brenda his car.
Brenda often borrows Aaron's car.

B: May I borrow your typewriter?
A: Of course. I'll be happy to lend it to you. /
(Of course. I'll be happy to lend you my typewriter.)

_____________________________________________

 

Remember:

Lend shows that something is (temporarily) given to
another person. Borrow shows that something is
(temporarily) taken from another person.

lend ----> someone

someone ----> borrow

wrong:

right:

 

*I borrowed $10 to Jeff

I lent $10 to Jeff.

     

wrong:

right:

 

*I lent $10 from Jeff.

I borrowed $10 from Jeff.

 

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Bring, take, carry, fetch

Difference between "bring", "take" and "carry"

Bring
"Bring" means to carry something towards yourself, o when the person making the request is at the destination.
  • Next time don't forget to bring me a copy of you work.

Take
"Take" means to carry something away from yourself, o when the person making the request is NOT at the destination.
  • Coul you take these report to Peter's office.

Carry
"Carry" means to move while supporting, either in a vehicle or in one's hand or on one's body. Use "carry" when the person making the request is NOT at the destination.
  • I had to carry my suitcases from reception up to my room.
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AFFECT VS. EFFECT

What Is the Difference Between Affect and Effect?

Before we get to the memory trick though, I want to explain the difference between the two words: The majority of the time you use affect with an a as a verb and effect with an e as a noun.

 When Should You Use Affect?

Affect with an a means "to influence," as in, "The arrows affected Aardvark," or "The rain affected Amy's hairdo." Affect can also mean, roughly, "to act in a way that you don't feel," as in, "She affected an air of superiority."

When Should You Use Effect?

Effect with an e has a lot of subtle meanings as a noun, but to me the meaning "a result" seems to be at the core of all the definitions. For example, you can say, "The effect was eye-popping," or "The sound effects were amazing," or "The rain had no effect on Amy's hairdo."

Common Uses of Affect and Effect

Most of the time,affect is a verb and effect is a noun.

So, most of the time, affect with an a is a verb and effect with an e is a noun; and now we can get to the mnemonics. First, the mnemonic involves a very easy noun to help you remember: aardvark. Yes, if you can remember aardvark—a very easy noun—you'll always remember that affect with an a is a verb and effect with an e is a noun. Why? Because the first letters of "a very easy noun" are the same first letters as "affect verb effect noun!" That's a very easy noun. Affect (with an averb effect (with an enoun.

"But why Aardvark?" you ask. Because there's also an example to help you remember. It's "The arrows affected Aardvark. The effect was eye-popping." It should be easy to remember that affect with an a goes with the a-words, arrow and aardvark, and that effect with an e goes with the e-word, eye-popping. If you can visualize the sentences, "The arrows affected the aardvark. The effect was eye-popping," it's pretty easy to see that affect with an a is a verb and effect with an e is a noun.

So a very easy noun will help you remember that affect with an a is a verb and effect with an e is a noun, and the example will help you see how to use both words in a sentence.

Rare Uses of Affect and Effect

So what about those rare meanings that don't follow the rules I just gave you? Well, affect can be used as a noun when you're talking about psychology--it means the mood that someone appears to have. For example, "She displayed a happy affect." Psychologists find it useful because they know that you can never really understand what someone else is feeling. You can only know how they appear to be feeling.

And, effect can be used as a verb that essentially means "to bring about," or "to accomplish." For example, you could say, "Aardvark hoped to effect change within the burrow."


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EITHER VS. NEITHER

VIERNES, MARZO 02, 2007

Neither, nor, either, or

Ángeles me pide que explique los usos de “neither”, “nor” ,“either” y “or”. La principal dificultad que presenta este tema es que tanto “either” como “neither” tienen, en ocasiones, idéntico significado.

Ambos pueden significar "ni" y "tampoco". Entonces ¿cuándo utilizamos "neither" y cuándo utilizamos "either"?

En el siguiente artículo intentaremos aclarar todas estas dudas.

Empecemos por “neither

  • Pronunciación: “Neither” igual que “either” tiene dos pronunciaciones:

Neither”: [nider] [naider] ¿Cuál usar? La que te resulte más fácil.

  • Significado y usos: Neither” [nider] tiene muchos significados y usos que se confunden fácilmente con los de “either”.

Utilizado conjuntamente con “nor” es conjunción; es decir, sirve para unir dos oraciones. En este caso significa: “ni” Por ejemplo: “Ni barato ni bonito”. “Neither cheap nor nice”. [nider chiip nor nais]

Nota: Fíjate como “nor” hace la función de segundo “ni”. Recuerda que “nor” se utiliza siempre después de “neither” cuando ambos van juntos.

Para practicar este uso y significado intenta traducir estas frases: ( Más adelante pongo las traducciones).

  • Ni esto ni lo otro.

  • No me gusta ni el café ni el té.

  • Ni sabe ni le importa.

Puede también significar “tampoco”. Por ejemplo: “I don't want to study. Neither do I.” [ai don't uant tusstadi. Nider duai] Yo no quiero estudiar. Yo tampoco (ni yo). Nota: Fíjate que en español podemos decir “yo tampoco” o “ni yo”. Ahora, veamos si puedes traducir las siguientes frases:

  • ¿Viste esa película? No. Yo tampoco.

  • No es nuestra idea. Tampoco es la idea de nuestros amigos.

Puede ser adjetivo; es decir, puede “calificar” una cosa. En este caso significa “ninguno/a ” Por ejemplo: “Neither project was approved.” [nider prochet guas apruvd] Ninguno de los (dos) proyectos fue aprobado. Nota: Fíjate como en este ejemplo “neither/ninguno” va delante del sustantivo “project/proyecto”

Puede ser pronombre; es decir, servir para sustituir a un nombre. En este caso también significa “ninguno/a” pero la función que realiza es distinta. Por ejemplo: “I got two presents, but likedneither.” [aigat tupresents bat laikt nider]. Recibí dos regalos pero no me gustó ninguno. Nota: Fíjate como en este ejemplo “neither/ninguno” reemplaza a “los regalos”. Veamos si puedes hacer las siguientes traducciones:

  • No me gusta ninguno de los dos.

  • Ninguna de ellas es demasiado buena.

  • Ninguno de los dos llegó a ser presidente.

Recapitulando: “Neither” [nider] puede significar: ni, tampoco y ninguno/a.

Traducciones:

  • Ni esto ni lo otro. Neither this nor that.

  • No me gusta ni el café ni el téI like neither tea nor coffee. Nota: Fíjate como en español la oración empieza por un “no”. En inglés en cambio empieza en sentido afirmativo “I like”. Esto es así porque se entiende que “neither” es negativo y no podemos tener dos negativos en una misma oración, por tanto, la primera parte es (+) y la segunda (-)

  • Él ni sabe ni le importa. He neither knows nor cares.

  • No me pareció ni bueno ni maloIt seemed to me neither good nor bad.

  • ¿Viste esa película? No. Yo tampocoDid you see that movie? No. Me neither.

  • No es nuestra idea. Tampoco es la idea de nuestros amigos. It's not our idea. Neither is it the idea of our friends.

  • No me gusta ninguno de los dosI like neither of them.

  • Ninguna de ellas es demasiado buena. Neither of them is too good.

  • Ninguno de los dos llegó a ser presidente. Neither of them became president.

Either

  • Pronunciación: “Either” igual que “neither” tiene dos pronunciaciones:

Either”: [ider] [aider] ¿Cuál usar? La que te resulte más fácil.

  • Significado y usos: Either , al igual que “neither” tiene varios significados y usos. Veremos como en muchas ocasiones el uso de “either” es opcional respecto de “neither”, es decir, la misma idea se puede expresar con “neither” o con “either”.

Either” [ider] utilizado conjuntamente con “or” es conjunción. En este caso significa “o” , “o bien” . Por ejemplo: “ You can haveeither wine or beer.” [iukan hav ider guainorbiir] “Puedes tomar vino o cerveza”

Ahora intenta traducir las siguientes frases:

  • Ella no sabe hablar ni español ni inglés.

  • Puedes tomar pan o galletas.

  • Pedro o Ana pueden hacerlo.

Either” [ider] delante de un sustantivo es un adjetivo y significa “cualquiera”. Por ejemplo: “You can use either key.” [iukan yusider ki] Puedes usar cualquiera (de las dos) llaves. NotaFíjate como generalmente hablamos de una opción entre dos cosas, no entre varias; aunque pueden ser más de dos. Con más de dos generalmente diríamos “any”, no “either”.

  • Puedes llevar puesto cualquiera de los dos abrigos.

  • Cualquiera (de las dos) ruedas servirá.

  • Puedes comerte cualquiera de los dos trozos de tarta.

Either”[ider] puede ser pronombre, es decir, ser utilizado para sustituir a un “nombre”. En una frase afirmativa significa “cualquiera”. En una frase negativa significa “ninguno/a”. En una pregunta significa “alguno/a”. Veamos ejemplos:

  • Either of them is good. [ide of dem isgud] Cualquiera

    ellos es bueno.

  • You can take either of the two. [iu kanteikiderof detú]Puedes coger cualquiera de los dos.

  • I can't read either of those books. [ai kentrid ider ofdous buks] No puedo leer ninguno de esos libros.

  • Does/ o Do (opcional) either of you know him? [das/ du ider of iu nou him] ¿Alguno de ustedes le conoce?

Más traducciones:

  • Cualquiera de los dos servirá..

  • No conozco a ninguna de ellas.

  • ¿Alguno de ustedes (dos) puede hacer esto?

Either” [ider] como adverbio (tras un verbo) puede significar“tampoco” y también “ni siquiera” dependiendo de lo que queramos decir. Por ejemplo: “Ann can't dance and he can't either.” Ana no sabe bailar ni él tampoco. Nota: La misma idea la podemos expresar con “neither” En este caso diríamos: “Neither Ann nor he can dance”. “Ni Ana ni él saben bailar”. Otro ejemplo, ahora con el significado de “ni siquiera”. “and she doesn't have to do anythingeither”. Y ella ni siquiera tiene que hacer nada.

Recapitulando: “Either” [ider] Puede significar: nio, cualquiera, ninguno/a, alguno/a, tampoco, ni siquiera.

Resultados de las traducciones con “either” [ider].

  • Ella no sabe hablar ni español ni inglés. She can't speak either Spanish or English.

  • Puedes tomar pan o galletas. You can have either bread or cookies (biscuits).

  • Pedro o Ana pueden hacerlo. Either Peter or Ann can do it.

  • Puedes llevar puesto cualquiera de los dos abrigos.You can wear either of the two coats.

  • Cualquiera (de las dos) ruedas servirá. Either wheel will do.

  • Puedes comerte cualquiera de los dos trozos de tarta.You can eat either piece of cake.

  • Cualquiera de los dos servirá. Either of them will do.

  • No conozco a ninguna de ellas. I don't know either of them.

  • ¿Alguno de ustedes (dos) puede hacer esto? Either of you can do this?

Actualización “neither/either” 25 de febrero 2007

Diferencias en el uso de “neither”-”either”

A veces, en mi empeño por hacer las explicaciones más sencillas, me pongo a ver si existe alguna regla que facilite la comprensión del tema. Creí que podía decir la regla de si el verbo está en negativo, usamos “either” y cuando está en afirmativo utilizamos “neither” (ambos tendrían el significado de “tampoco”). Posteriormente me di cuenta que no es siempre así. Por tanto, es posible utilizar alternativamente “neither” o “either” con el significado de “tampoco” tanto con frases negativas como afirmativas. Veamos ejemplos:

Ejemplo 1. I can't dance. [ai kant dans] I can't either.[ai can't ider]No sé bailar. Yo tampoco.

Ejemplo 2. I can't dance. [ai kant dans] Me neither. [mi nider] (informal)

Ejemplo 3. I can't dance. [ai kant dans] Me either [mi ider] (informal)

Lo siento, pero no hay diferencias muy notables. Sólo que “me either” [mi ider] es muy informal en el caso de que vaya después de una frase en negativo (ejemplo 3). En cualquier caso, para pasar un examen lo mejor es seguir lo dice vuestro libro de texto.

Both (of) -Neither

La utilización de neither y both no presenta problemas para los hispano hablantes pues es similar al español si pensamos que“both” [bouz] significa “ambos” y tiene un sentido afirmativo.“Neither” en cambio, significa “ninguno/a” y sirve para negar. Veamos un ejemplo.

Ejemplo 1:

-“I know both authors” [ai nou bouz ozors] . Conozco ambos autores.

Neither” dijimos que significa “ninguno” así que se puede utilizar para negar esta misma frase.

-“I know neither author.” [ai nou nider ozor] No conozco a ninguno de los dos autores.

Nota: Tanto “both” [bouz] como “neither” [nider] hacen referencia a dos cosas, personas o actividades.

Ejemplo 2:

-“I like both of them” [ai laik both ofdem] Me gustan ambos. Nota:Fíjate que he utilizado “of” porque tengo el pronombre “them”. Si tuviera después de" both" un verbo o un sustantivo diría, por ejemplo: “I like both men “ sin “of”Me gustan ambos hombres.

- “I like neither of them.” [a laik nider ofdem] No me gusta ninguno.

Recuerda: Both [bouz] “ambos” se utiliza en sentido afirmativo.Neither [nider] significa “ninguno” y se utiliza para negar.


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READ ABOUT THE MOST FAMOUS SPANISH FAMILY 'THE PELAYOS'

 

The clan that ruled the roulette wheel

The Pelayo family's almost-infallible gambling method won them over 1.5 million euros

Their incredible story is now being brought to the big screen



A scene from The Pelayos, with the actors Lluís Homar and Daniel Brühl seated at the table.

Gonzalo García-Pelayo's winning racehorse is named Going Wrong, and bets are 12 to 1 just before the race at the tracks in Cheltenham, UK. The 450 euros that he has put down on the jockey in the green-striped shirt is part of a "private investment fund" which relies on tipsters and earns him a 30-percent annual return. Just then, his cellphone vibrates: it's a text from another tipster. In the match between Fernando Verdasco and Juan Martín del Potro, he should bet against the Argentinean tennis player winning more than four games against the Spaniard. García-Pelayo then explains that he is in the process of creating a new formula for tennis bets based on the theory that if the pre-match favorite favorite loses the first set, he or she will win the second. If his studies prove conclusive, he will program it on his computer, under "Favorite loses first set" so it automatically launches.

The race starts at Cheltenham. García-Pelayo leans back on his office chair, watching the screen with the remote in his hand. It's mid-afternoon on a Tuesday in March, and the gambler is dressed in cords and checkered shirt. His white beard and hair are disheveled, his reading glasses hang from his neck. His desk is covered in several layers of dust and papers scribbled with formulas and numbers - their degree of yellowing is a like a scale that reflects the strata of his life as a gambler.

This is more or less the position in which he spends his days at home in Madrid, although he does inch closer to the screen in order to determine the exact placement of his horse (Going Wrong seems to be in third place, maybe second; it's hard to tell on the small screen).

At times he gets up to check the other four computers he has placed in various rooms in his house. They are all buzzing with their own activity, offering players from all over the planet bets that he has programmed. An electronic cry of "Goal!" can be heard every so often from one of them, announcing a new development in the ongoing Debrecen-Kaposvár game in the Hungarian League. The software immediately updates itself, offering 2.6/1 that it will be four-goal match. Soccer is the axis upon which García-Pelayo's private fund rotates. His computers offer 200 bets daily, from which he expects to earn some 15,000 euros a month, part of which will go to the investors and the remainder to a retirement fund. It took him a year to study how and what to program: "a degree in sports betting," he calls it. Though he will be 65 in June, there are a lot of unexplained gaps on his résumé.

Gonzalo García-Pelayo posing with his wife and children on working vacations in Las Vegas.

Gonzalo is the patriarch of the Pelayo clan, a family who shot to fame in the 1990s for designing a statistical-based method for winning on the roulette wheel. According to the family's estimates, they won some 250 million pesetas (1.5 million euros) between 1991 and 1995, mainly in the Madrid Gran Casino - their "greatest enemy" but also the "laboratory" in which they tested their system. So Gonzalo and his son Iván wrote in La fabulosa historia de los Pelayo (or, The fabulous history of the Pelayos), published by Plaza y Janés.

Their discovery was accidental. Gonzalo had sent his nephew to the casino to learn the ways of the croupiers. He wanted to study their "ways of dropping" in the hopes of determining a pattern in the path, bounces and final resting place of the ball. His nephew took down numbers and dealers' names; Gonzalo analyzed the data on a program on his computer. That was when he discovered that some numbers come up a lot more often than others, a tendency that had nothing to do with the dealer and everything to do with defects in the manufacture and leveling of the tables. His hypothesis: "If Swiss watches and NASA rockets have imperfections, then so do roulette wheels."

His computers offer 200 bets daily; he expects to earn €15,000 a month

These were the times of the get-rich-quick schemes, of the Seville Expo and the Barcelona Olympics. The patriarch decided to try his luck at roulette following a series of business failures, he recalled recently in an interview along with his children, Iván and Vanessa. He has tried his hand at most everything: from radio announcer to matador manager. In the 1970s, he had a go at the movie industry. His second movie, Vivir en Sevilla (or Living in Seville, 1979) received the following review from critic Fernando Trueba: "Clumsy dialogue and too calculatedly avant-garde."

Next, García-Pelayo opened a nightclub in Seville, where as DJ, he played Pink Floyd and Frank Zappa. He went underground after a judicial order closed the establishment down on rumors that minors were using drugs in its backrooms. He moved onto the recording industry, discovering artists such as Triana and María Jiménez. In total, he left his signature on some 130 albums, including some by Luis Eduardo Aute, Gato Pérez and Joaquín Sabina. The latter singer dedicated a few lines to García-Pelayo in his well-known song, 19 días y 500 noches (or, 19 days and 500 nights), including: "Yesterday, the doorman threw me out of the Torrelodones casino."

García-Pelayo branched out into producing TV programs, and had a few hits, but he shut down his company after he was accused of fleeing to Brazil, he says, and by that point, they were no longer taking his calls in the music world. So he started looking for a new gig, "beyond the limits of luck," as he calls it.

After his first few hypotheses on roulette tendencies, García-Pelayo formed a team led by his son, Iván, a recent philosophy graduate and musician (he composed Africanos en Madrid (or, Africans in Madrid)). There wasn't anybody over 26 years old in the first group. Though the figures and dates are now blurred, as often occurs in legends, after a "few months" recording numbers and working with the data, betting began in earnest in the fall of 1991. According to the book, they won close to "a million pesetas a day" in the first month. They played every day, from 5pm to closing. "A blue-collar job, not at all glamorous, with 12-hour days," says Iván. "And on your feet the whole time," adds his sister, Vanessa.

They are interrupted by the sound of their father's cellphone ringing - the Beatles' Eleanor Rigby is the ring tone, and he comments that he would like to see a movie which portrays his clan like the Liverpool quartet, with "producer Phil Spector hovering in the background." That role is actually played by actor Lluís Homar, the spitting image of García-Pelayo. And the preceding scenes, or a version of them, kick off the The Pelayos by director Eduard Cortés (the movie premieres on April 27). "We are the Pelayos, and we have the opportunity to do something extraordinary: break the bank in a casino," says actor Daniel Brühl (Good Bye, Lenin!) in the role of Iván.

"This is a classic story: the dream of a handful of social pariahs whose rival is big business," enthuses the director, who fell under the family's magnetic spell after living with them for a period.

If Swiss watches and NASA rockets have flaws, then so do roulette wheels"

Though the film mixes fact and fiction, the script accurately reflects the clan's hostility toward the managers of the Torrelodones casino. "Every great feat has a great enemy," say the Pelayos today (and in the book: "We relish our detestation for the casino managers in the way that a boxer finds strength in his hate for his opponent"). The family was involved in long-drawn-out court case against these executives that started when they were kicked out of the establishment in 1992 for committing what the casino termed "gaming irregularities." The battle ended with a Supreme Court sentence in 1994 that recognized the legitimacy of the Pelayos' methods and even praised their "inventiveness."

The bad guy in the movie is a malicious casino manager called La Bestia (The Beast), played by Eduard Fernández. The movie doesn't say which casino he works for, but all of this attention has understandably caused concern (and anticipation) among management at the Madrid casino, who were not consulted by the movie's scriptwriters.

"We don't have anything against anybody," says the casino's communications director, his voice mingling with the sounds of chips falling in the European Room at Torrelodones. "The Pelayos really are not part of our everyday conversations around here. They represent just another story among the more than 18 million visitors we get here. We looked into whether they had some sort of advantage over the other players, and we fixed the imperfections in the tables."

He tiptoes around the subject of the expulsions. He doesn't know what the family's total winnings amounted to. He says they never - "no way" - broke the bank. Jesús Marín, pit boss in the time of Pelayos, and current games director, adds, "They never played a lot of numbers, and they always played the same ones. They usually won, but their story has been exaggerated. It was immediately discovered that the roulette tables had a pattern; so first the wheels were switched from one table to another, then the entire tables were replaced. They played three or four weeks in total."

We have the chance to do something extraordinary: break the bank in a casino"

One former croupier, who prefers to remain anonymous, remembers that the Pelayos' winning streak happen to coincide with a labor dispute between management and staff over an annual 2.6 billion pesetas in tips, complete with full and partial strikes throughout the year. "There was a lot of confusion and some things went unnoticed. That probably was a factor. One of the tables, table 13 or 14, was in bad shape. The wheel hadn't been properly leveled, and they discovered this by watching and taking notes. That is where they had their big wins, about 100 million pesetas. But their method never worked as well in other casinos."

The book mentions other wins in Vienna (14 million pesetas in one night), Amsterdam (almost 13 million) and 40 million in Lloret de Mar, where the movie was filmed. But apart from one old Casio calculator, little physical evidence of this past remains today in the penumbra of Gonzalo's bedroom. After being repeatedly thrown out of the Torrelodones casino, he continued to visit the its roulette tables through his string of "underground" players, which included Luis Mazarrasa, a journalist who later published his story in EL PAÍS. There is something about the Pelayo clan that causes one to suffer a slight case of the Stockholm Syndrome. They welcome every visitor as if he or she may be the beginning of something new; there is a half-carved ham leg in the kitchen, and something about the smell of the house and the bookshelves full of movies and albums activates that part of your brain where memories of childhood are stored.

Beyond this, there is the money. Mazarrasa recalls winning 1.8 million pesetas (just over 10,000 euros) in three days. García-Pelayo's team broke up in 1995, when he set up an illegal poker establishment. That's another story - maybe another movie. At the end of his roulette adventures, García-Pelayo had a stash of over 60 million pesetas. But money doesn't last long in the hands of a gambler and travel lover. "For Easter holidays, I will only have whatever I get out of these bets. I live day to day," he says. It is still Tuesday when his winning horse, Going Wrong, finishes ninth, Verdasco loses more than four games to Del Potro, and the cry of "Goal!" continues to be heard from the other computers.

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People are going to Mars

People are going to Mars - level 3

People are going to Mars - level 3

 

The search has begun for volunteers for a mission to fly to Mars.

 

The only slight catch is that if you go, you can't come back. It's part of a plan by a not-for-profit Dutch company called Mars One who wants to establish a permanent human colony on the Red Planet.

"Today, the Mars One Foundation starts to search for

Mars inhabitants. A search for people from all nations who want to settle on Mars. Mars One is a not-for-profit organization that is working on landing the first crew on Mars in 2023 and another crew every two years after that."


Take off, landing and various parts of the mission will be streamed on the internet with Mars One claiming an estimated potential audience of four billion. Successful applicants will have to undergo seven years’ training before the flight which will take seven months. The one-way nature of the mission has raised questions from some over whether or not it's ethical.

 

"Any big step that you take will always mean that there's risk. Space missions always include risk and this mission will not be different. When you send humans to Mars, there will be risks. But we will select the people and we will tell those people the risks. They will understand the risks and they will have to weigh the risks.

 

'Do I want to take these risks to make my dream come true or do I not?' And it's up to the people who are going to determine if it's worth it for them."

 

The first crew is due to lift off in 2023 with another one joining them every two years after that. Each one will be made up of two men and two women. Whether or not they choose to increase that number once they arrive on their new planet, will be left up to them.

 

"It will be a dangerous environment and any prospective parents should always ask themselves, 'Is this the right time and place where to have children?' These are responsible people that we're sending to Mars. So they will certainly come to the conclusion that it's, especially in the first years, not the right place to have children. But maybe when there's twenty or thirty people on Mars, that could become a possibility."

 

Anyone between the age of 18 and 40 can apply with a 38-dollar-application fee going towards the six billion dollar cost of the mission.

 

Interesting words: inhabitants (people who live in some place), streamed (showed), estimated (guessed), undergo (go through), determine (decide), conclusion (final decision).

 



 

 

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FOR AND TO (PURPOSE)

For or to + infinitive: individual purpose

For is commonly used with nouns to express individual purpose:

 

I popped into the supermarket for some apples on the way home.

(Not: I popped into the supermarket for buying some apples…)

 

I stopped by at his office for a chat about our marketing strategy.

(Not: I stopped by at his office for having a chat about marketing.)

 

I decided I would save up for a new computer.

(NOT: I decided I would save up for buying a new computer.)

If we want to express individual purpose with a verb pattern, we are obliged to use to + infinitive:

 

I stopped by at the supermarket to buy some apples on the way home.

 

I popped into his office to have a chat about our marketing policy.

 

I decided to save up to buy a new computer.

 

 

For + verb-ing: the purpose of an object

 

However, if we are talking about the purpose of an object or an action, we normally use the for + verb-ing pattern. Note that this pattern commonly answers the question: What are they (used) for? Compare the following:

 

Schools are for educating children not for entertaining them.

 

Schools are for learning. Life is for living.

 

This kitchen knife is especially useful for slicing vegetables.

 

What's this for? ~ It's for opening oysters. It's much better than a knife.

 

What's this fifty pound note for? ~ It's for buying food for the weekend.

Note that when the subject of the sentence is a person rather than the thing described, the to + infinitive pattern is also possible:

 

I use this small knife to slice vegetables with.

 

I use this gadget to open shellfish with.

 

In order to / so as to

 

Note that, as an alternative to to + infinitive, we might use in order to, or so as to, to express individual purpose when we want to be more formal or explicit about the reason for doing something. All of these structures answer the question: Why…?. Compare the following:

 

I went to bed early in order to get enough sleep before the exam.

 

After four weeks of exams, I went to the seaside to rest.

 

After twenty days of exams, I went to the seaside for a rest.

 

After all those exams, I went to the seaside so as to have a good rest.

 

The in order to and so as to structures are particularly useful with stative verbs such as be, have, know, appear, and before negative inifinitives:

 

So as not to appear foolish, I learnt all I could about the company before going for the interview.

 

I'm going to move to the city centre in order to be near where I work.

 

In order not to have to commute, she bought a flat in the town centre.

 

In order to know more about him, she studied his movements carefully.

 

 

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SINGULAR AND PLURAL NOUNS

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FIRST AMPHIBIOUS ICE CREAM VAN

First amphibious ice cream van HMS Flake 99 marks Ice Cream Week

 

You’ve heard of a Coke float right? Well, this is similar (but different) as the world’s first amphibious ice cream van set sail on the River Thames.

 

Ice cream man Jamie Campbell serves from first amphibious Ice Cream VanIce cream man Jamie Campbell serves from the world’s first amphibious ice cream van, the HMS Flake 99 (PA)

Marking the beginning of National Ice Cream Week, ice cream man Jamie Campbell captained the vessel – helpfully dubbed HMS Flake 99.

It has a top speed of five knots on water and has chimes that play the opening bars of Rod Stewart ‘s crooning classic ‘We Are Sailing’.

 

Battersea Power Station amphibious ice cream vanBattersea Power Station gets a look at the ice cream van (PA)

Owners Fredericks, makers of Cadbury’s ice cream, said they have big plans for their rather unusual creation.

‘We are considering taking the remarkable vehicle across the Channel and onto the canals of Venice to champion Britain’s beaches and give our continental cousins the ultimate taste of the British summertime,’ the unnecessarily triumphant PR blurb said.

 

World's first amphibious Ice Cream Van, called the HMS Flake 99World's first amphibious Ice Cream Van, called the HMS Flake 99The HMS Flake 99 passes the Houses of Parliament (PA)

There appears to be no evidence whatsoever that Mr Campbell sold any ice creams while on the Thames, so we suspect his business model could sink without a trace before long.

National Ice Cream Week ends on Sunday June 5th.

 

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ANOTHER VS. OTHER

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IN FRONT OF AND OPPOSITE

  • La preposición "opposite" significa "enfrente de". Su diferencia con la anterior es que "in front of" indica delante, pero puede ser tanto de frente como de espalda, mientras que "opposite" implica siempre de frente:


In the queue, he was in front of me. En la cola él estaba delante de mí  (dándome la espalda)
The sargent stood opposite the soldiers. El sargento estaba enfrente de los soldados (mirándoles a la cara)
My house is opposite the park. Mi casa está enfrente del parque

 

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Why we abruptly forget a person's name?

It is an embarrassing scenario for many in a social situation but British scientists have offered a potential explanation into why we forget people's names but remember them hours later.

It is an embarrassing scenario for many in a social situation but British scientists have offered a potential explanation into why we forget people's names but remember them hours later.

 

Scientists have offered a potential explanation into why we forget people's names but remember them hours later Photo: Alamy

By Andrew Hough10:00AM BST 22 Apr 2013

Neuroscientists found that memories in all animals can be recalled several hours after learning them despite being forgotten for brief periods of time after being formed.

While it is not fully understood why such lapses occur, it is thought to be a necessary part of the brain's ability to consolidate long-term memories.

University of Sussex researchers discovered that causing a disturbance during these memory lapses disrupts the process and appears to prevent the memories from being formed.

Their study, published today in the journal Nature Communications, may offer reasons why such a phenomenon has left many of us feeling red-faced and rude.

“Scientists have long wondered why the brain shows these memory lapses,” Dr Ildiko Kemenes, who led the study.

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"Here we showed that lapses in memory coincide with periods when consolidation of memory is susceptible to disturbances from outside the memory network.

"Changes in the molecular pathways underlying consolidation are responsible for these periods of vulnerability."

In their study, the researchers introduced snails to an unfamiliar substance during feeding so that the animals would learn to recognise it as food.

When they were fed later, scientists found the snails responded to the stimulus, with memory lapses after 30 minutes and two hours, before the memory became consolidated at about four hours.

But if the snail received another different stimulus during the memory-lapse periods, the memory consolidation became disrupted, it was discovered.

Dr Kemenes added: "Memory formation is an energy-consuming process. The brain would need to decide if it was worth expending energy for the consolidation of that particular memory.

"The brain has a restricted capacity to learn things and preventing some memory formation would be a way to avoid overload."

The next stage of the study, titled Susceptibility of memory consolidation during lapse in recall, will investigate what happens to the brain during the memory disruption.

 

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