Thursday, January 24, 2013

INTERVIEWS


Daily rituals that contribute to my good health arewaking up grateful for each day. And I defi nitely think being happy and in love are key factors to good health. I also love to make a nice brekkie (the most important meal of the day) and do some sort of exercise, whether playing tennis or going for a walk on the beach with my wonderful husband John and our Irish Setter, Jack.
What people don’t know about me is I love to design and remodel houses, from working with the contractors to picking the colours, materials, kitchen and bathroom accessories to fi nally what furniture goes where.
My favourite motto is laughter is the best medicine.
My secret indulgent food is dark chocolate. Defi nitely.
My never-fail recipe is my lemon chicken. It is so easy to prepare and it gives me time to spend with my dinner guests rather than working all night in the kitchen. (The recipe is in my new book, Livwise, Murdoch Books, $39.99.)
What makes me happy is life! Nature! My wonderful husband, beautiful daughter, my friends and family and my dog.
My favourite accessory is my iPhone – it keeps me connected to the world.
I’m most grateful for being alive and healthy today and having wonderful family and friends.
When I’m in need of some time out I head straight to Gaia Retreat & Spa [Newton-John’s retreat] in the hinterland of Byron Bay and get hot stone massages and amazing treatments from the top-notch healers we have there.
Surviving breast cancer has given me the opportunity to help others going through their own cancer journey. I am fortunate to have the ability to lend my name to build the Olivia Newton-John Cancer and Wellness Centre in my hometown of Melbourne. It will be a state-of-the-art facility to help heal the whole person – body, mind and spirit.
If I wasn’t a singer, I think I would probably be a veterinarian or some profession that involves working with animals. I love all kinds, from domestic to the wildest creatures. They touch my heart. They are true beauty.
Being in love is the best thing in my life. Having found my soul mate in my husband John puts a smile on my face every time I think of him.
The best thing about getting older is you don’t sweat the small stuff. I used to worry about so many things in my youth and today I just embrace every day. I feel very passionately that we need to take care of the planet and everything on it. Whether it’s saving the Amazon or just being kind to those around you, we need to take care of each other and Mother Earth.
I find peace by being in nature with my husband John.
 

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

PRACTICE YOUR ENGLISH

http://elt.heinle.com/cgi-telt/course_products_wp.pl?fid=M20H&product_isbn_issn=1424068185&discipline_number=301&from_series_id=1000002384&subject_code=

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

English Grammar Secrets

Going to or will
When we want to talk about future facts or things we believe to be true about the future, we use 'will'.
  • The President will serve for four years.
  • The boss won't be very happy.
  • I'm sure you'll like her.
  • I'm certain he'll do a good job.
If we are not so certain about the future, we use 'will' with expressions such as 'probably', 'possibly', 'I think', 'I hope'.
  • I hope you'll visit me in my home one day.
  • She'll probably be a great success.
  • I'll possibly come but I may not get back in time.
  • I think we'll get on well.
If you are making a future prediction based on evidence in the present situation, use 'going to'.
  • Not a cloud in the sky. It's going to be another warm day.
  • Look at the queue. We're not going to get in for hours.
  • The traffic is terrible. We're going to miss our flight.
  • Be careful! You're going to spill your coffee.
At the moment of making a decision, use 'will'. Once you have made the decision, talk about it using 'going to'.
  • I'll call Jenny to let her know. Sarah, I need Jenny's number. I'm going to call her about the meeting.
  • I'll come and have a drink with you but I must let Harry know. Harry, I'm going to have a drink with Simon.

http://www.englishgrammarsecrets.com/goingtoorwill/menu.php 

AS MUCH /MANY


s much vs. as many as


Q:
What would you use, much or many:
...with as much/many as 50% of the 2000 items sold...
What does much or many actually refer to?
I did do some research into Quirk/Greenbaum and it gives a similar example:
Our factory produces as much as 50 tons offuel per year.
So I would argue that much refers to fuel here, if this were true, then many would be the correct answer in the example above. Any comments?
Marianne Süsli
msuesli@compuserve.com
A:
This is a puzzling question. You can certainly argue, as Marianne does, that many refers to the count noun items, in the question above, in the same way that much refers to the noncount noun fuel.
In Quirk et al. (A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language, Longman, 1985), we see this example:
He drinks as many as three bottles of milk a day.
In this sentence, the focus is bottles, and the number of bottles is important.
But, this sentence also seems acceptable:
He drinks as much as three bottles of milk a day.
In this sentence, the focus is milk, the quantity of milk.
As many as must be followed by a cardinal number with a plural count noun (or with plural count noun understood):
(a)
He drinks as many as three bottles of milk a day.
(b)
Gertrude wants as many as five children.
(c)
Henry watches as many as twenty-five television programs per week.
(d)
If you take that road, you’ll see as many astwenty old, abandoned plantations.
(e)The pizza company delivers as many as two hundred pizzas per night.

As much as, however, can also be followed by a cardinal number with a plural count noun when it refers to a quantity involving time, money, distance, weight, or noncount mass, as in sentences (f) through (k) below; in fact, in these instances, as much as usually appears:
(f)
If you travel by car, it can take as much asthree days to get across Texas.
(g)
Madison could spend as much as $5,000 on one shopping trip.
(h)
The pizza company delivers over a wide area – over a radius of as much as ten miles in some places.
(i)
Carolee never stops eating. She’ll gain as much as fifty pounds this year if she doesn’t change her habits.
(j)
The company hopes to export as much as500,000,000 pounds of rice next year.
(k)He drinks as much as three bottles of milk a day.

RSK
A:
As I remember, the use of much/many must agree with the noun that it is modifying. The example:
Our factory produces as much as 50 tons of fuel per year.
In this case, much is used since fuel is a non-count noun. I would also agree with the sentence:
He drinks as many as 3 bottles of milk a day.
Many is used since the matter of importance is the incredible volume of three bottles. So the quantifier many is agreeing with is "bottles."
So it seems that the problem in Ms. Süsli’s question is whether much/many should agree with 50% or 2000 items. I submit the following examples to highlight this:
OK He ate as much as 50% of the ice cream in the cups.

He ate as many as 50% of the ice cream in the cups.
In this example, much certainly refers to the non-count noun "ice cream" and not to the percent or the count noun "cups." Now consider this:
OK He selected as many as 50% of the people for the first round.

OK As much as 50% of the population of Nigeria is living in poverty.
The use of much/many clearly is according to the nouns "people" and "population." I would argue that in her example sentence this would be correct:
OK ...with as many as 50% of the items sold...

X ...with as much as 50% of the items sold...
I am wondering if others could point out any counter-examples to contradict this. I would very much appreciate your thoughts.
Tim J. Virnig
tjvirnig@ms23.hinet.net
A:
I feel that there is a definite choice. In the first example, the focus is on the 50% (not on the individual items that make up the 50%) while the other example focuses on the quantity (of three bottles).
Quirk/Greenbaum gives a similar example:
Our factory produces as much as 50 tons of fuel per year.
…in the same section of Quirk et al., we see this example:
He drinks as many as three bottles of milk a day.
The other example from Quirk/Greenbaum (50 tons) seems to contradict the rule since "tons" is a plural, countable noun; however, notice that this example also focuses on the total weight, not the components. Think of the difference between "number" and "a number of." Therefore, much should be used in the sentence"...as much as 50% of the 2,000 items. ..." One could compare this to subject-verb agreement using the examples.
50% of the 2000 items is available.
Three bottles of milk are on the doorstep.
Michele Bowman
bowmanm@newpaltz.edu
A:
Let me try an answer after I have looked at 34 examples found in 35 MB of text. 12 examples used much, 22 usedmany.
Assumption 1: "much" and "many" are felt to be followed by zero: as much 0 as.
Assumption 2: Zero is the head of a noun group (or noun phrase). Zero refers to a referent in the world (all grammarian’s zero slotfillers refer to a referrent).
Assumption 3: The referrent referred to by zero is known by the hearer/reader from the situation being discussed (or "seen" in oral communication). In written texts this referrent is either named in the same sentence, or in a previous sentence, or it is understood (the reader’s knowledge of the world).
(a) in same sentence:
as much as 30 percent of all THE LAND ON EARTH was covered with a thick layer of ice
(b) somewhere before the sentence:
(OIL) a Saudi commitment to extract as much as 10 million barrels a day
(VIRUSES) (Troubleaux estimates there may be as many as 500)
(PEOPLE) Maybe as many as a thousand.
(c) understood:
[TIME] An autopsy could take two hours, as much as four.
[DISTANCE] Maybe as much as two million years before our own time. (Yes, distance it is, because what is being discussed is a spaceship having traveled backward in time–from Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy)
Assumption 4: Focus is never on the number, it is always on the referrent of the zero-slotfiller. When this refers to something countable, "many" will be used, if to something uncountable, "much" will be selected.
Referrents from the 34 examples where much is used: time, distance, money, weight, oil; many: policies, tenants, voters, people, inhabitants, pies, performances (of Hamlet), viruses, warriors, house dust mites, bacteria, grains of pollen, mates, princes, scenes, competitors, city-states.
He drinks as much/many as three bottles of milk a day.
is not a "live" sentence, but one made up by the grammarian, or one stripped of its context, and thus cannot be interpreted by us ordinary mortals for lack of information.


COMPARATIVES AND SUPERLATIVES


1. Paul is  (tall) than Jack .
2. Your ring is  (expensive) than mine .
3. It's the  (difficult) exercise I've ever seen .
4. It's the  (small) house I've ever seen .
5. Mark is the  (fat) of his family .
6. He is  (= rich) his brother.
7. My sister is  (- intelligent) than you.
8. She is the  (beautiful) girl in her class.