Wechat ESL Class on May 13, 2017

A. High Lights of the Week

B. Short Story - 1000 Marbles (Part 2)
"It took me until I was fifty-five years old to think about all this in any detail", he went on, "and by that time I had lived through over twenty-eight hundred Saturdays. I got to thinking that if I lived to be seventy-five, I only had about a thousand of them left to enjoy."
"So I went to a toy store and bought every single marble they had. I ended up having to visit three toy stores to round-up 1000 marbles. I took them home and put them inside of a large, clear plastic container right here in the shack next to my gear. Every Saturday since then, I have taken one marble out and thrown it away."
"I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I focused more on the really important things in life. There is nothing like watching your time here on this earth run out to help get your priorities straight."

"Now let me tell you one last thing before I sign-off with you and take my lovely wife out for breakfast. This morning, I took the very last marble out of the container. I figure if I make it until next Saturday then I have been given a little extra time. And the one thing we can all use is a little more time."

"It was nice to meet you Tom, I hope you spend more time with your family, and I hope to meet you again.
You could have heard a pin drop on the radio when this fellow signed off. I guess he gave us all a lot to think about. I had planned to work that morning. Instead, I went upstairs and woke my wife up with a kiss. "C'mon honey, I'm taking you and the kids to breakfast."
"What brought this on?" she asked with a smile. "Oh, nothing special, it's just been a while since we spent a Saturday together with the kids. Hey, can we stop at a toy store while we're out? I need to buy some marbles."

C. American Idioms - What do these idioms mean? Choose the correct option.
1) Harry’s bark is worse than his bite.
a Harry owns a very fierce dog.
b Harry is not in very good health.
c Harry talks more than he eats.
d Harry is not as frightening as he seems.

2) His smart new laptop fell off the back of a lorry.
a His new laptop is already broken.
b His new laptop is stolen property.
c He bought his new lorry very cheaply.
d His was given a new laptop as a surprise present.

3) My brother is driving me round the bend at the moment.
a My brother is not a good driver.
b My brother is taking me on holiday.
c My brother is being very annoying.
d My brother is giving me a lot of help.

4) Hilary arrived at our house out of the blue this morning.
a Hilary was dressed unusually smartly.
b It was a lovely day when Hilary arrived.
c We weren’t expecting Hilary to arrive.
d Hilary was feeling depressed.

5) Cecilia poured her heart out to me.
a Cecilia told me her secret feelings.
b Cecilia was very angry with me.
c Cecilia and I did some exercises.
d Cecilia and I fell in love with each other

6) The singer said she was over the ___________ at receiving such an important award.
a rainbow
b moon
c stars
d sun

7) My new colleague is a bit of a rough __________ but I think I’m going to like him once I get used to him.
a stone
b rock
c diamond
d pearl

8) I wouldn’t behave like that if I were in your _______________ .
a shoes
b trousers
c socks
d boots

9) Marco never stays in one place for long. He always gets _________ feet and sets off on his travels again.
a chilly
b itchy
c dusty
d shaky

10) I’m afraid I can’t give you the answer off the top of my _________ but I’ll find it out for you.
a tongue
b hand
c mind
d head

D. Bible Lesson: Genesis 6:9-7:16

Noah and the Flood

⁹ These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God. ¹⁰ And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
¹¹ Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight, and the earth was filled with violence. ¹² And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. ¹³ And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth. ¹⁴ Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch. ¹⁵ This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark 300 cubits, its breadth 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits. ¹⁶ Make a roof for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above, and set the door of the ark in its side. Make it with lower, second, and third decks. ¹⁷ For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall die. ¹⁸ But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives with you. ¹⁹ And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ark to keep them alive with you. They shall be male and female. ²⁰ Of the birds according to their kinds, and of the animals according to their kinds, of every creeping thing of the ground, according to its kind, two of every sort shall come in to you to keep them alive. ²¹ Also take with you every sort of food that is eaten, and store it up. It shall serve as food for you and for them.” ²² Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.

7 Then the Lord said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation. ² Take with you seven pairs of all clean animals, the male and his mate, and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and his mate, ³ and seven pairs of the birds of the heavens also, male and female, to keep their offspring alive on the face of all the earth. ⁴ For in seven days I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and every living thing that I have made I will blot out from the face of the ground.” ⁵ And Noah did all that the Lord had commanded him.

⁶ Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters came upon the earth. ⁷ And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him went into the ark to escape the waters of the flood. ⁸ Of clean animals, and of animals that are not clean, and of birds, and of everything that creeps on the ground, ⁹ two and two, male and female, went into the ark with Noah, as God had commanded Noah. ¹⁰ And after seven days the waters of the flood came upon the earth.
¹¹ In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened. ¹² And rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights. ¹³ On the very same day Noah and his sons, Shem and Ham and Japheth, and Noah's wife and the three wives of his sons with them entered the ark, ¹⁴ they and every beast, according to its kind, and all the livestock according to their kinds, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, according to its kind, and every bird, according to its kind, every winged creature. ¹⁵ They went into the ark with Noah, two and two of all flesh in which there was the breath of life. ¹⁶ And those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him. And the Lord shut him in.

Discussion Questions:

1. Why did Noah need to build a boat?
2. Why was it import for Noah to build the ark exactly as God told him?
3. What do you think the people thought as they watch Noah build the ark?
4. Why do you think God chose to save some animals?
5. What did you learn about God?
6. What lesson have you learned from this story?