The Cuban flag was raised at its embassy in Washington for the first time since 1961, at the same time the United States reopened its embassy in Havana.
The developments symbolise a major step toward America's goal of ending longstanding tensions with Cuba.
The U.S. Women's National Soccer Team _1_ winning the Women's World Cup on Sunday in Vancouver. The United States _2_ Japan with a final score of 5-2.
Read this article and decide if the statements which follow it are true or false:
The Oxford English Dictionary has confirmed that 500 words are being added to the Oxford English Dictionary.
The dictionary records the meaning and development of the English language. For a word to qualify, it must have been have been in popular use for at least 10 years in both novels and newspapers.
Some of the terms in Oxford's latest update are much older than you might think.
A phrasal verb is a group of words that function as a verb and is made up of a verb and a preposition, an adverb, or both. Phrasal verbs have a different meaning to the meaning of their separate parts.
The hotel staff need to see our passports before we check in.
I left my phone in the car, I'll have to go back and get it.
I never wake up early on the weekend.
Some people believe the signs of the Zodiac can tell us about our daily lives and the personality characteristics we posses.
People born between May 21 and June 20 are Gemini.
Just for fun (so don't take it too serious), here is a personality lesson based on the traditional description of Gemini people.
Gemini are extremely independent. Geminis have a strong sense of self and freedom is very essential to them.
Do you recognise these three beach idioms?
A young man who is always on the beach is a beach bum. A beach bunny is often used for females.
He's turned into a real beach bum since he moved to California.
When you are very happy because your life is going well, life's a beach. It has the opposite meaning of the more well-known idiom, life's a bitch.
He got engaged and got promoted - life's a beach for him at the moment.
It'll be a long day in January
Use it to describe something that will never happen. When hell freezes over has the same meaning.
It'll be a long day in January when you beat me at tennis.
Mad as a March hare
Acting crazy. Hares, which look like rabbits, just around and act crazy during their March breeding seson.
I like Jimmy but he acts as mad as March hare sometimes.
Sepp Blatter, who has led FIFA (the world soccer's governing body) for 17 years, has announced he will be stepping _1_.
The Swiss was re-elected President last week, despite seven top Fifa officials being arrested in a huge corruption _2_.
Blatter had remained adamant he could clean _3_ the corrupt organisation, suddenly announced that he would _4_ from a position he has held since 1998.
The past perfect tense is used to express action completed in the past:
"She had eaten is an example of the tense."
The past perfect tense represents action that occurs BEFORE another past action:
"My boss had gone before I had the chance to see him."
The past perfect tense uses had + the past participle of the main verb
"She had never tried surfing before she visited Australia."
As you learn English, it's very important to develop an understanding of words that regularly occur together. Words that go together are called collocations. Knowing them will make your English sound more natural.
Choose the best collocation in these sentences:
