I heart English -- The OK Issue

I Heart English

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• The OK Issue
• Expand Your Vocabulary
• America's Greatest Word
• INGRID MICHAELSON's "Be OK"
• Oklahoma, OK!
• Words New and Old
• The OK Issue - Answers

The OK Issue Expand Your Vocabulary Synonyms & antonyms America’s Greatest Word Listening activity, National Public Radio Ingrid Michaelson’s OK Listening activity, song  Oklahoma, OK! Reading actvity Words New and Old Fill the gaps activity

Expand Your Vocabulary Vocabulary activity – Adjectives, synonyms & antonyms  Do you repeat the word “OK” too often? Do you always use the words “good” or “bad” to describe everything? Look at other possibilities to expand your vocabulary: • OK: acceptable, satisfactory, accurate, adequate, all right, approved, convenient, correct, fair, fine, good, in order, permitted, so-so, surely, tolerable. • Not OK: bad, incorrect, intolerable, unacceptable, unsatisfactory, unsuitable, wrong. TASK: Find synonyms for GOOD and BAD.   Need help? - Try a thesaurus or dictionary of words, which provides  synonyms, and their opposites, or antonyms.   Try Thesaurus.com or the Merriam Webster Thesaurus online HERE. GOOD BAD

America's Greatest Word Listening activity, National Public Radio The ABCs of OK : It is said to be the most frequently spoken (or typed) word on the planet, bigger even than an infant's ma or Coke. And it was the first word spoken on the moon. It's America's answer to Shakespeare. It's an entire philosophy expressed in two letters. It's very odd, but it's . . . OK. Click here to open a small window and listen to the radio segment Length : 6.22 minutes Listen to the radio interview and say whether the following ideas are mentioned or not. 1. OK is the world's most popular word. 2.The word appeared in a comic strip in the Boston Morning Post 3.In 1839 OK was used as part of a political campaign. 4.Other abbreviations were popular at the time. 5.Many thought that Martin van Buren was the person who invented the word. 6.President Andrew Jackson had made a spelling mistake. 7.The telegraph contributed to OK's popularity. 8.OK is at present largely used in text messages. 9.Mark Twain used it in his works. 10.The author of Little Women used it once and then changed it. 11.President Woodrow Wilson had a university education. 12.OK represents the American attitude. 13.The phrase "I'm OK, you're OK" represents American pragmatism. 14.Many people don't realize how often they say OK. 15.March 23rd 2012 is officially OK Day.Click here for the full transcript Answers here!

INGRID MICHAELSON's "Be OK"  Listening activity, song  Mini Bio  -  Ingrid Michaelson was born on December 8, 1979. She is a singer and songwriter from New York. Her music has been featured in episodes of several popular television shows, movies, as well as in advertising campaigns. Her website ishttp://www.ingridmichaelson.com Listen to the song/watch the clip and answer the questions below. 1.    The writer/singer is probably feeling... happy – sad – unsure 2.    The song is... positive – negative LYRICS I just want to be ok, be ok, be ok I just want to be ok today I just want to feel today, feel today, feel today I just want to feel something today. Open me up and you will see I'm a gallery of broken hearts I'm beyond repair, let me be and give me back my broken parts. I just want to know today, know today, know today I just want to know something today I just want to know today, know today, know today know that maybe I will be ok. Open me up and you will see... Just give me back my pieces Just give them back to me please Just give me back my pieces And let me hold my broken parts. I just want to be ok, be ok, be ok... I just want to feel today, feel today, feel today... Answers here!

Oklahoma, OK! Reading Activity More than 50 languages are spoken in the state of Oklahoma. There are 55 distinct Indian tribes that make the state their home, and each of these tribes has its own language or dialect. The colorful history of the state includes Indians, cowboys, battles, oil discoveries, dust storms, settlements initiated by offers of free land, and forced resettlements of entire tribes. Oklahoma's Indian heritage is honored in its official state seal and flag. At the center of the seal is a star, and within each of the five arms of the star are symbols representing each of the fivetribes (the "Five Civilized Tribes") that were forcefully resettled into the territory of Oklahoma. The tribes depicted on the seal are the Creeks, the Chickasaw, the Choctaw, the Cherokee, and the Seminoles. The present Oklahoma state flag depicts an Indian war shield, stars, eagle feathers, and an Indian peace pipe, as well as a white man's symbol for peace, an olive branch. Oklahoma is a word that was made up by the native American missionary Allen Wright. He combined two Choctaw words, "ukla" meaning person and "humá" meaning red to form the word that first appears in a 1866 Choctaw treaty. Oklahoma means "red person." Oklahoma is the Sooner state. But what is a Sooner? The answer dates back to the Land Run of 1889. Back then, Oklahoma was still a territory. It was full of unclaimed land. President Cleveland signed an exciting new bill which allowed people to legally claim and settle on some of this land. Each interested person could claim 160 acres. On April 22, 1889, at 12:00 pm the hopeful settlers got their chance. Men entered with their wagons and horses. They all hoped to find the best plots available. This became known as the "Land Run of 1889." People who entered the district illegally to claim lands, before the designated entry time, were called "Sooners." Read the following sentences and answer T (true), F (false) or IDS (It doesn’t say) 1.Oklahoma is considered a land of cowboys and Indians, among other things. 2.All tribes were forced to resettle. 3.A peace pipe is shown on the official seal of the state. 4.The word Oklahoma was not an original terms. 5.The Sooners were people who officially arrived first to claim land in the run of 1889. 6.By 1889 Oklahoma was already a state of the union. 7.Women could not participate in the Land Run. 8.The competition for lands always started at noon. Answers here!

Words New and Old Fill the Gaps Activity On March 23 1839, Boston Morning Post made up the word “OK” it was a short version of “oll korrect”, an incorrectly spelled alternative of “all correct”. It was never meant to be (1) ____, but until today and for many years ahead this word has gained the title of the most used word in the world. According to Wikipedia, in English spoken countries the most popular word is “THE”, (2) ____ “OK” is the most popular word worldwide. Some of the oldest words in the English language are "I", "we", “who”, "two", "three" and “five”. (3) ____, the word “one” came some time after the word “two”. This is what researchers from Reading University in England say. They used special computer software to (4) ____ how old English words are and to track their changes. The software also predicted the words "dirty", "bad", "because", “smell” and "squeeze" might (5) ____ out completely (6) ____ the year 3000. Lead researcher Dr. Mark Page said that one day we might have a (7) ____ Stone-Age English phrasebook. He told Britain’s ‘The Times’ newspaper: “If a time traveler wanted to go back in time…we could probably (8) ____ up a little phrasebook of the modern words that are likely to have sounded similar back then.” Dr. Page said that some English words are (9) ____ at least 15,000 to 20,000 years old. He believes the sounds used back then would still be understood today. His research on the evolution of words (10) ____ at a time when English is changing rapidly. The Internet, technology and globalization are having a huge impact on our vocabulary. The (11) ____ words “blog”, “podcast”, and “gigabyte” were alien to most people at the (12) ____ of the century. Terms such as “global warming”, “credit crunch” and “global village” would not have been understood (13) ____ decades ago. It seems likely our modern methods of communication will continue to transform the English language. However, it still might be a (14) ____ before language from text messages such as CUL8R (see you later) becomes accepted English. Put the correct words to fill the gaps in the text: 1. (a) Popular (b) Famous (c) Abused (d) Ignored 2. (a) Also (b) However (c) In addition (d) On the contrary  3. (a) Strange (b) Stranger (c) Strangers (d) Strangely  4. (a) analysis (b) analyze (c) analyzed (d) analyzing  5. (a) die (b) death (c) dead (d) deceased  6. (a) for (b) on (c) by (d) at  7. (a) basilica (b) basically (c) basic (d) basics  8. (a) sketch (b) draw (c) doodle (d) paint 9. (a) probably (b) probability (c) probable (d) probables  10. (a) reaches (b) moves (c) goes (d) comes 11. (a) daytime (b) everyday (c) daily (d) daydream 12. (a) tone (b) tern (c) tune (d) turn  13. (a) few (b) couple (c) several (d) numerous  14. (a) while (b) whiling (c) whilst (d) whiled Answers here!

The OK Issue - Answers America's Greatest Word 1-Y 2-N 3-N 4-Y 5-Y 6-Y 7-Y 8-N 9-N 10-Y 11-Y 12-Y 13-N 14-Y 15-N Be OK 1.sad   2.positive Oklahoma, OK! 1-T 2-F (just 5 tribes) 3-F (it appears on the flag) 4-T 5-F they entered illegally) 6-F (it was a territory) 7-IDS 8-F (there was just one land run) Words New and Old 1a / 2b / 3d/ 4b/ 5a / 6c / 7c / 8b / 9a / 10d / 11b / 12d / 13c / 14a