Tag: English School Milan

An Email to the Wedding Planner – English Reading Comprehension

Hey guys, it’s time to play!

Oggi nel nostro blog vi proponiamo una breve comprensione del testo.
L’argomento? L’organizzazione del matrimonio!

Prendetevi il vostro tempo per leggere il seguente testo, un’e-mail scritta da Candace, la futura sposa, ad Anna, la sua wedding planner. Successivamente provate a svolgere i tre esercizi che abbiamo preparato per voi.

An Email to the Wedding Planner:

“Good Morning Anna,

How are you today? I hope you are well!
I want to organize a meeting on Thursday, July 15. What time is good for you? Do you want to meet in the morning or the afternoon?
I want to talk about a couple of things. Firstly, I want to talk about the type of flowers for my bouquet. I think orange lilies, red roses, and sunflowers look beautiful together. Do you think that’s a good idea?
Secondly, I want to talk about the drinks. The drinks for cocktail hour are prosecco, Campari spritz, dry martini, and Cuba libre. Then, I think white wine is a good choice because I want to serve fish for dinner. What do you think?
Please let me know as soon as you can!

Best Regards,

Candace”

Wedding planner | Fill in the Blank

Complete the sentences with the right word.

Wedding planner | Definition Match

Match the words with their definitions.

Wedding planner exercise

Choose the correct answer.

 

Although, even though, in spite of and despite – English Grammar Exercise

Although, even though, in spite of and despite are all used to connect two different concepts or can even be used similarly to ‘nevertheless’, in that one of the ideas makes the other a surprising outcome. They can all be placed at any stage of a sentence.

E.g. Even though I slept for 10 hours, I’m still tired.

I’m still tired, even though I slept for 10 hours.

 The biggest difference between all of these words/phrases is that they are used with alternate sentence structures.

Although/Even Though

After although and even though, we use a subject and then a verb. They have the same meaning, but even though is stronger than although.

For example:

We liked the restaurant, although the service could have been better.
Although I use the car every day, I don’t actually like driving.
Even though they spoke different languages, they somehow communicated effectively.
She got a job in marketing even though she didn’t have any experience.

 

In Spite of/Despite

After in spite of and despite, we use a noun, gerund verb (-ing) or a pronoun.

For example:

He still jumped out of a plane for charity, in spite of his fear.
In spite of their age, my grandparents want to travel the world.
Despite having bad reviews, the movie was excellent.

We arrived late to the airport despite leaving on time.

 It is also very common to put the fact that after both despite and in spite of, followed by a subject and verb.

For example:

In spite of the fact that she always works overtime, she didn’t get the promotion.
Despite the fact that she always works overtime, she didn’t get the promotion.

 

Though

Though is slightly more complicated than the rest, as it is more flexible.

Firstly, it can be used in the same way as although.

For example:

Though I didn’t think I liked classical music, the opera was beautiful.

Although I didn’t think I liked classical music, the opera was beautiful.

However, it is also very common for though to be used at the end of the second sentence. This is a popular way for English speakers to express a contrasting idea or concept. Placing though at the end of the sentence is only used in spoken English and should not be used in formal writing.

For example:

The train arrived late as always. The carriages were extremely clean, though.

I didn’t study for the test at all. I still passed, though!

 

So now you’ve read the rules and seen some examples, do you think you can pass our quiz? Find out now!

 

Although, even though, in spite of and despite | Fill in the Blank

Fill the empty spaces with the correct words/phrases

Italy’s divorce rate shoots up by 60 percent during pandemic

Italy’s divorce rates are increasing dramatically in the COVID pandemic period, as a country that has been considered to have a low rate of divorce has been in extreme difficult. Is it because spouses who are used to only spending nights and weekends together were faced with the reality of a “full-time marriage” for the first time in their relationship, or because the pandemic has raised anxiety and concern about the future?

Watch the video and then do the accompanying English language exercises.

The news is a consistent source of entertainment, knowledge and discovery that never ceases to exist and always comes out with more and more material each day. Because it plays such a vital part in our lives and is so important to keep up with, it is without a doubt a piece of your everyday routine that can’t go ignored.

Whether it is to understand the ramifications of recent legislation passed, to hear about recent events and grasp the potential consequences to your country, or simply hear about what is happening in other countries in order to compare them to what’s happening in yours, the news is certainly a staple in our lives and the most consistent way to get information.

This is why Scrambled Eggs has decided to unite two of your biggest worlds: learning English and keeping up with what is happening in the world. We hope our challenging daily exercises, composed of listening, vocabulary and comprehension exercises in English, will satisfy both of those above worlds in a satisfactory and also entertaining way.

So enough about introductions, let’s get to today’s Learn English with the News topic:

Adapted from this article.

 

Italy divorce | Fill in the blank

Fill in the empty spaces with the correct word.

 

Full text:

“This is Scrambled Eggs news

Divorces have spiked in Italy mainly due to “forced coexistence” under lockdown, say lawyers.

The divorce rate in Italy increased by 60% in 2020, according to Italy’s National Divorce Association (l’Associazione nazionale divorzisti italiani)

In 40 percent of cases, the divorces were due to the fact that lockdown made it more difficult to hide infidelity and “double lives,” lawyers said.

Another 30 percent of separations were due to domestic violence, and the remaining 30 percent were listed as relating to other causes.

“It’s one thing to share weekends and evenings but another to share the whole day, with all the problems related to the health emergency: health stress due to illness, lack of work, living with children with difficulties related to distance learning,” said lawyer Matteo Santini said.

“This causes an emotional explosion that creates the desire and request for separation.”

As with many sets of statistics in Italy, there was a notable difference between the north and south of the country.

There were more than twice as many separations recorded in the north in 2020, with 450 per thousand couples in the north, and 200 in southern Italy.

Italy, where more than 80 percent of people describe themselves as Catholic, has long had one of Europe’s lowest divorce rates, with only Ireland, Slovenia, and Malta reporting lower figures.

Divorce numbers in the country however increased dramatically in 2015 after the enactment of legislation making it easier and quicker to end failed marriages.

Several Italian studies have confirmed that the pandemic and subsequent economic crisis is having a major impact on families, with national statistics agency Istat finding that Italy’s already record-low birth rate was decreasing even further due to “the climate of fear and uncertainty and the growing difficulties linked to employment and income generated by recent events.”

This is Adam signing off for Scrambled Eggs News”