Top 10 Weekly Articles

View this email in your browser The Eleusinian Psychedelic Rebirth Rites of Ancient Greece are Making a Comeback The Eleusinian Mysteries were transformative rituals that took place in ancient Greece, extending out of Mycenaean traditions (approximately 1500 BC) and the Greek Dark Ages. For over two millennia this experience - which many claim may have been a psychedelic session - was not only tolerated by ancient civilization, but celebrated by it. Men, women, slaves, and emperors all went to Eleusis to drink the magical potion called kykeon and to experience healing and spiritual insights... Read more... The Great Heathen Army: Viking Coalition Becomes an Anglo-Saxon Nightmare Viking raids may have been a common factor in the life of a 9th century Anglo Saxon, but there was something terrifyingly distinct when an army emerged seeking revenge. The Great Heathen Army would do whatever it took to see the Anglo Saxons fall. The Great Heathen Army (known also as the Great Viking Army, or the Great Danish Army) is the name given by the Anglo-Saxons to a coalition of Viking warriors that invaded England during the 9th century AD. The main source of information regarding the Great... Read more... Iconic 30000-Year-Old Ancient Female Dubbed “Dangerous Pornography” By Facebook A 30,000-year-old carving of a voluptuous naked woman known as the “Venus of Willendorf” statuette, has been censored by Facebook as “dangerous pornography”. Discovered in the early 20th century near the Austrian village of Willendorf this prized ancient artifact is the holy grail of prehistoric art, but now, it’s been censored by Facebook as “dangerous pornography” messaged Laura Ghianda, the user of the banned image, reported the Daily Mail. Yes, you did read that right, and I will patiently wait for you to finish your facepalm!... Read more... Ancient Greek Vase Celebrates the Exaltation of Our Ancestors as Gods In 2016, Christie’s sold the Greek vase depicted above—a red-figure bell krater used for mixing wine with water—to a buyer in London for $220,000. It dates from 410 BC. For a mythology buff, what a treasure to have such ancient depictions of the gods Athena, Hermes, Herakles, and Atlas in his or her possession! But there is far more here than a group of “mythological” figures and, in my opinion, a vase worth far more than a few hundred thousand dollars... Read more... An 8,000-year-old Slab Holds the “Oldest Writing” Ever Discovered! Or Does It? A tiny ceramic slab dated to around 6000 BC with “written signs” has been discovered by archaeologists at a prehistoric settlement near the town of Nova Zagora in Southeast Bulgaria. And, they believe this symbol stone might “possibly” hold the oldest writing ever discovered, according to a report in ArcheologyinBulgaria.com. It seems Bulgarian archaeologists have a thing for discovering “possibly the oldest writing ever discovered!” Only in 2016 a 7,000-year-old ceramic fragment was dug up in a Copper Age... Read more... Getting High with the Most High: Drugs in the Bible As the Bronze Age grew old, some of its oral traditions were recorded by poets with gods in their quills and drugs in their gardens. The Odyssey and the Vedas include verses still recited today that describe psychoactive plants and their effects, but the most impressive stash is in the Bible: Thy plants are an orchard of Pomegranates, with fresh and pleasant things; Henna, with Spikenard. Spikenard and Saffron; Kaneh-bosem and Cinnamon, all trees of Frankincense; Myrrh and Agarwood, with all the chief spices. Read more... Halfdan Ragnarsson: Viking Commander and King of Dublin

Exam Taking Strategies

The 5 most difficult sections in Cambridge FCE

By Everest Study Groups

Cambridge FCE is an intermediate to upper intermediate level certificate. In CEFR words, it´s a B2. The test has fairly simple tasks to solve, but some of them have proved to be more difficult than others. Here, we are going to go through the 5 that present the most problems for candidates, in no specific order.

FCE hard section #5: Listening part 2

In this part, you have to complete a summary of a monologue on a topic. Most candidates try and attack this part as it were a dictation…and it´s not. The first and most useful strategy is to read the text first and “guess intelligently”, that means, you should deduce what kind of information is required to complete the blanks. Most of the times you can deduce if the missing word(s) is a noun or verb or adjective; what´s more, you can even deduce if it is a number, date, month, day, part of a collocation, or if it is a singular or plural noun. In this way, you will “know” what goes in each blank before you listen. It takes practice, but it is posible.

FCE hard section # 2: Writing part 1

This is the mandatory text in the exam the essay (remember part 2 gives a choice of three types of text: report, review or letter/ email). Essays have a set format which candidates have to observe and apply. Also, the question itself gives candidates a lot of help: It tells you what to say by asking a question and then it gives you part of an outline (with one paragraph topic left for you to divise). All candidates have to do is write the text following the basic essay format: introduction (giving the answer to the question set in the exam), one paragraph per idea given in the outline and a conclusion or closing. Piece of cake…but not always. It takes practice too.

FCE hard question # 3: Speaking part 3

In this part, the candidates have to engage in a conversation based on ideas given in a “mental map”. Easy. However, most candidates do not engage! That is, they start monologues and never Exchange information, interact or involve the other candidate. More practice is needed.

FCE hard question # 4: Reading and use of English part 2

This is the text with blanks known as cloze. The trick here is to try and look for collocations, in other words, fixed phrases. Also, you have to know your verb-adjective-noun and preposition combinations well. The use of pronouns is also a problematic ítem. The best way to know what goes in each blank is, of course, to strategically deduce what fills in each blank, looking for phrases that are common use. Now, how do we know the phrases are common use? Because they are common! To solve this “common use” puzzle, the thing is to have a lot (but a lot) of contact with English and be on the look out for these phrases, notice them and remember them. You will remember them when you see them many times…that´s why you need a lot of contact with the language. Read, read, read…and watch TV and films, and listen to music. That should do the trick.

FCE hard question # 5: Reading and Use of English part 4

Everybody´s Waterloo: Sentence transformation. But do not dispair. There is a limited number of structures FCE examiners like to test. The trick is then to concentrate on them. Some of these structuires include passive voice, reported speech, and phrasal verbs. Practice, practice, practice.

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