30 December 2011 / by Radmila Gurkova

London 2012: Athlete turns to eBay in search of sponsor

An athlete from London is seeking a sponsorship deal for the 2012 Olympics on the auction site eBay...

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTCtDxsijdI

James Ellington, 26, is advertising on the site with a reserve of £30,000 (€35,000) from any sponsor willing to assist. He will wear a sponsor’s branded kit in full training to the run-up to the Olympics.


James is a sprinter. He was injured in 2010 and is preparing for the games but with no support.

He said “I now need a sponsor who can help me commit myself to getting into Team GB and win a medal for Great Britain at London 2012”.

James has run the fastest 200m by a British athlete this year - 20.52 seconds.

DEBATE



  • Do you know what eBay is?

  • What types games are played at the Olypmic Games?

  • What can you buy on eBay?

  • Name any websites that sell things? Types of Products -
    Clothes, Cars, Houses, Food..?


 VOCABULARY




































































Word
Definition Example Listen
Comit To entrust, especially for safekeeping Asked if he was a candidate, he refused to commit himself. Listen
Fastest Superlative of fast, faster than everyone else. Usain Bolt is the fastest  Listen
Identity The condition of being oneself or itself He doubted his own identity. Listen
Injured To be hurt after an accident. I got injured when I fell. Listen
Qualifies To provide with proper or necessary skills, knowledge, credentials To qualify oneself for a job.  Listen 
Sponsor To promise money to someone if they complete a challenge. I'll sponsor you €5  Listen 
Sponsorship Financial help for a project Messi has a sponsorship deal with Nike. Listen 
Successful To have reached a goal Our company is very successful. Listen  

GRAMMAR


To understand more about the use of "was/were" click here for the grammar structure post.

What about using 'much' and 'many'? Do you know when to properly use each word? Click here for a useful post.

TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE




 

22

November 2011
Spain election victor Rajoy warns ‘no miracles’
by Radmila Gurkova
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsUQvKS6x74 Conservatives in Spain are celebrating a landslide victory. Spain's Popular Party leader Mariano Rajoy has told supporters their country's voice must be respected again, after a resounding election win. At the end of a campaign dominated by the debt crisis, the centre right PP secured 186 seats i...

21

November 2011
English tips #9 The tip of the iceberg
by Radmila Gurkova
What does the iceberg expression mean? THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG Example: 'He acknowledges the Occupy Wall Street movement for exposing the inequalities in society, wa...

21

November 2011
Countdown! The famous contest in your topics
by Radmila Gurkova
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTm4riLuEZk Countdown This famous show has been on TV for many years. In 1991, a Spanish version of the show was released, called Cifras y Letras (numbers and letters). The aim of the game is to come up with the longest word possible, using the 9 available l...

21

November 2011
This week in your classes - Raj Rajaratnam jailed for 11 years for insider trading. The famous money scandal turns into a topic in your classes
by Radmila Gurkova
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nAYAnwWsfQ Raj Rajaratnam, a former billionaire described by the government as "the modern face of illegal insider trading" was sentenced Thursday to 11 years in prison, the longest insider trading sentence ever. A former hedge-fund manager has been sentenced to 11 years in jail for one of t...

18

November 2011
English tips #8 - Confusing words ?????
by Radmila Gurkova
LIBRARY/BOOKCASE/BOOKSHOP Library - I went to the library to study. ...

17

November 2011
English tips #7 - What is the difference between i.e. and e.g.?
by Radmila Gurkova
i.e. – that is e.g. – for example examples: i.e. - We will have caramel corn, roasted pumpkin seeds, witches' brew and ghost cookies on this spooky night, i.e., Halloween. e.g...

16

November 2011
English tips #6 - For and to
by Radmila Gurkova
For + Noun            To + verb To talk about purpose of an action FOR example: I am going to London for an interview TO example: I have come to Barcelona to see friends ...

16

November 2011
Lesbian actress thrown off plane after kiss
by Radmila Gurkova
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDV9x_B8mmE An actress who starred in "The L Word" has ignited a firestorm after claiming she was marched off a Southwest Airline flight for a lesbian kiss. Leisha Hailey called for a boycott of the carrier after a flight attendant told them that a passen...

15

November 2011
TED Talk-Justin Hall-Tipping: Freeing energy from the grid
by Radmila Gurkova
httpv://youtu.be/rsuB-6-n-MM Why can't we solve these problems? We know what they are. Something always seems to stop us. Why? I remember March the 15th, 2000. The B15 iceberg broke off the Ross Ice Shelf. In the newspaper it said "it was all part of a normal process." A little bit further on in the article it said "a loss that would normall...

15

November 2011
English Tips #5 - Lending / Borrowing
by Radmila Gurkova
Do you know the difference between lend and borrow? Borrow – to take something that belongs to somebody else. Example: Can I borrow your umbrella? ...