FEWER OR LESS ?

It is not only learners of English who confuse less and fewer – some native speakers also frequently use them incorrectly.

But less and fewer are not actually so difficult to use correctly: less means ’a lower amount’ (menor cantidad de algo), while fewer expresses ‘a lower number’ (menor número de algo).
 In other words:

• fewer and less are both the opposite of more;
• we use fewer with countable nouns; Fewer con nombres contables
• we use less with uncountable nouns. Less se usa con incontables.

Let’s look at some examples:

• I’ve got less time than I had last year. (time = uncountable noun)
• He’s got less money than his wife. (money = uncountable noun)
• Low-fat milk has fewer calories than full-fat. (calories = countable noun)
• The government built fewer houses last year. (houses = countable noun)

Easy-to-remember tip

If thinking about countable and uncountable nouns is a bit too technical for you, here’s an easy way to remember how to get less and fewer right: Use fewer when the noun is plural (e.g.doors, dogs, people, mistakes, days, etc.) and you will always be correct.

Write an effective essay

Have a look to this video and you'll learn more about writting good and effective essays in class.

THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA. (Reading Comprehension) (CAE)

The Great Wall of China


Walls and wall building have played a very important role in Chinese culture. These people, from the dim mists of prehistory have been wall-conscious; from the Neolithic period – when ramparts of pounded earth were used - to the Communist Revolution, walls were an essential part of any village. Not only towns and villages; the houses and the temples within them were somehow walled, and the houses also had no windows overlooking the street, thus giving the feeling of wandering around a huge maze. The name for “city” in Chinese (ch’eng) means wall, and over these walled cities, villages, houses and temples presides the god of walls and mounts, whose duties were, and still are, to protect and be responsible for the welfare of the inhabitants. Thus a great and extremely laborious task such as constructing a wall, which was supposed to run throughout the country, must not have seemed such an absurdity.

However, it is indeed a common mistake to perceive the Great Wall as a single architectural structure, and it would also be erroneous to assume that it was built during a single dynasty. For the building of the wall spanned the various dynasties, and each of these dynasties somehow contributed to the refurbishing and the construction of a wall, whose foundations had been laid many centuries ago. It was during the fourth and third century B.C. that each warring state started building walls to protect their kingdoms, both against one another and against the northern nomads. Especially three of these states: the Ch’in, the Chao and the Yen, corresponding respectively to the modern provinces of Shensi, Shanzi and Hopei, over and above building walls that surrounded their kingdoms, also laid the foundations on which Ch’in Shih Huang Di would build his first continuous Great Wall.

The role that the Great Wall played in the growth of Chinese economy was an important one. Throughout the centuries many settlements were established along the new border. The garrison troops were instructed to reclaim wasteland and to plant crops on it, roads and canals were built, to mention just a few of the works carried out. All these undertakings greatly helped to increase the country’s trade and cultural exchanges with many remote areas and also with the southern, central and western parts of Asia – the formation of the Silk Route. Builders, garrisons, artisans, farmers and peasants left behind a trail of objects, including inscribed tablets, household articles, and written work, which have become extremely valuable archaeological evidence to the study of defence institutions of the Great Wall and the everyday life of these people who lived and died along the wall.

Q1 - Chinese cities resembled a maze


because they were walled.

because the houses has no external windows.

because the name for cities means 'wall'.

because walls have always been important there.

Q2 - Constructing a wall that ran the length of the country
honoured the god of walls and mounts.

was an absurdly laborious task.

may have made sense within Chinese culture.

made the country look like a huge maze.

Q3 - The Great Wall of China

was built in a single dynasty.

was refurbished in the fourth and third centuries BC.

used existing foundations.

was built by the Ch’in, the Chao and the Yen.

Q4 - Crops were planted

on wasteland.

to reclaim wasteland.

on reclaimed wasteland.

along the canals.

Q5 - The Great Wall

helped build trade only inside China.

helped build trade in China and abroad.

helped build trade only abroad.

helped build trade only to remote areas.

(las soluciones / keys as usually in the comments section)

DIRTY BRITAIN (Reading comprehension) CAE, Advanced Level

Dirty Britain

Before the grass has thickened on the roadside verges and leaves have started growing on the trees is a perfect time to look around and see just how dirty Britain has become. The pavements are stained with chewing gum that has been spat out and the gutters are full of discarded fast food cartons. Years ago I remember travelling abroad and being saddened by the plastic bags, discarded bottles and soiled nappies at the edge of every road. Nowadays, Britain seems to look at least as bad. What has
gone wrong?

The problem is that the rubbish created by our increasingly mobile lives lasts a lot longer than before. If it is not cleared up and properly thrown away, it stays in the undergrowth for years; a semi-permanent reminder of what a tatty little country we have now.

Firstly, it is estimated that 10 billion plastic bags have been given to shoppers. These will take anything from 100 to 1,000 years to rot. However, it is not as if there is no solution to this. A few years ago, the Irish government introduced a tax on non-recyclable carrier bags and in three months reduced their use by 90%. When he was a minister, Michael Meacher attempted to introduce a similar arrangement in Britain. The plastics industry protested, of course. However, they need not have bothered; the idea was killed before it could draw breath, leaving supermarkets free to give away plastic bags.

What is clearly necessary right now is some sort of combined initiative, both individual and collective, before it is too late. The alternative is to continue sliding downhill until we have a country that looks like a vast municipal rubbish tip. We may well be at the tipping point. Yet we know that people respond to their environment. If things around them are clean and tidy, people behave cleanly and tidily. If they are surrounded by squalor, they behave squalidly. Now, much of Britain looks pretty squalid. What will it look like in five years?

Questions

Q1 - The writer says that it is a good time to see Britain before the trees have leaves because

Britain looks perfect.

you can see Britain at its dirtiest.

you can see how dirty Britain is now.

the grass has thickened on the verges.

Q2 - According to the writer, things used to be

worse abroad.

the same abroad.

better abroad.

worse, but now things are better abroad.

Q3 - For the writer, the problem is that

rubbish is not cleared up.

rubbish last longer than it used to.

our society is increasingly mobile.

Britain is a tatty country.

Q4 - Michael Meacher

followed the Irish example with a tax on plastic bags.

tried to follow the Irish example with a tax on plastic bags.

made no attempt to follow the Irish example with a tax on plastic bags.

had problems with the plastics industry who weren't bothered about the tax.

Q5 - The writer thinks

it is too late to do anything.

we are at the tipping point.

there is no alternative.

we need to work together to solve the problem.

Q6 - The writer thinks that

people are squalid.

people behave according to what they see around them.

people are clean and tidy.

people are like a vast municipal rubbish tip.

English as a National Foreign Language in India. (READING COMPREHENSION TEXT) (CAE) C1

India has two national languages for central administrative purposes: Hindi and English. Hindi is the national, official, and main link language of India. English is an associate official language. The Indian Constitution also officially approves twenty-two regional languages for official purposes.


Dozens of distinctly different regional languages are spoken in India, which share many characteristics such as grammatical structure and vocabulary. Apart from these languages, Hindi is used for communication in India. The homeland of Hindi is mainly in the north of India, but it is spoken and widely understood in all urban centers of India. In the southern states of India, where people speak many different languages that are not much related to Hindi, there is more resistance to Hindi, which has allowed English to remain a lingua franca to a greater degree.

Since the early 1600s, the English language has had a toehold on the Indian subcontinent, when the East India Company established settlements in Chennai, Kolkata, and Mumbai, formerly Madras, Calcutta, and Bombay respectively. The historical background of India is never far away from everyday usage of English. India has had a longer exposure to English than any other country which uses it as a second language, its distinctive words, idioms, grammar and rhetoric spreading gradually to affect all places, habits and culture.

In India, English serves two purposes. First, it provides a linguistic tool for the administrative cohesiveness of the country, causing people who speak different languages to become united. Secondly, it serves as a language of wider communication, including a large variety of different people covering a vast area. It overlaps with local languages in certain spheres of influence and in public domains.

Generally, English is used among Indians as a ‘link’ language and it is the first language for many well-educated Indians. It is also the second language for many who speak more than one language in India. The English language is a tie that helps bind the many segments of our society together. Also, it is a linguistic bridge between the major countries of the world and India.

English has special national status in India. It has a special place in the parliament, judiciary, broadcasting, journalism, and in the education system. One can see a Hindi-speaking teacher giving their students instructions during an educational tour about where to meet and when their bus would leave, but all in English. It means that the language permeates daily life. It is unavoidable and is always expected, especially in the cities.

The importance of the ability to speak or write English has recently increased significantly because English has become the de facto standard. Learning English language has become popular for business, commerce and cultural reasons and especially for internet communications throughout the world. English is a language that has become a standard not because it has been approved by any ‘standards’ organization but because it is widely used by many information and technology industries and recognized as being standard. The call centre phenomenon has stimulated a huge expansion of internet-related activity, establishing the future of India as a cyber-technological super-power. Modern communications, videos, journals and newspapers on the internet use English and have made ‘knowing English’ indispensable.

The prevailing view seems to be that unless students learn English, they can only work in limited jobs. Those who do not have basic knowledge of English cannot obtain good quality jobs. They cannot communicate efficiently with others, and cannot have the benefit of India’s rich social and cultural life. Men and women who cannot comprehend and interpret instructions in English, even if educated, are unemployable. They cannot help with their children’s school homework everyday or decide their revenue options of the future.

A positive attitude to English as a national language is essential to the integration of people into Indian society. There would appear to be virtually no disagreement in the community about the importance of English language skills. Using English you will become a citizen of the world almost naturally. English plays a dominant role in the media. It has been used as a medium for inter-state communication and broadcasting both before and since India’s independence. India is, without a doubt, committed to English as a national language. The impact of English is not only continuing but increasing.

Questions


Q1 - According to the writer, the Indian constitution recognises

22 official languages.

Hindi as the national language.

2 national, official languages.

2 national languages.

Q2 - English's status as a lingua franca is helped by

its status in northern India.

the fact that it is widely understood in urban centres.

the fact that people from the south speak languages not much related to Hindi.

it shares many grammatical similarities with Hindi.

Q3 - In paragraph 3, 'toehold' means that English

dominated India.

changed the names of some cities in India.

has had a presence in India.

has been in India longer than any other language.

Q4 - Hindi-speaking teachers

might well be heard using English.

only use English.

only use English for instructions.

do not use English.

Q5 - In paragraph eight, it says 'the prevailing view', which suggests that

the view is correct.

the view is held by the majority.

the view is incorrect.

the view is held by the minority.

Q6 - English in India

is going to decrease.

has decreased since independence.

causes disagreement.

is going to have a greater importance.

the keys  are in the comments of this post!! (las soluciones están en los comentarios)

READING COMPREHENSION (ADVANCED LEVEL)

Mark Rothko

Mark Rothko, one of the greatest painters of the twentieth century, was born in Daugavpils, Latvia in 1903. His father emigrated to the United States, afraid that his sons would be drafted into the Czarist army. Mark stayed in Russia with his mother and older sister; they joined the family later, arriving in the winter of 1913, after a 12-day voyage.

Mark moved to New York in the autumn of 1923 and found employment in the garment trade and took up residence on the Upper West Side. It was while he was visiting someone at the Art Students League that he saw students sketching a nude model. According to him, this was the start of his life as an artist. He was twenty years old and had taken some art lessons at school, so his initial experience was far from an immediate calling.
In 1936, Mark Rothko began writing a book, which he never completed, about the similarities in the children's art and the work of modern painters. The work of modernists, which was influenced by primitive art, could, according to him, be compared to that of children in that "child art transforms itself into primitivism, which is only the child producing a mimicry of himself." In this same work, he said that "the fact that one usually begins with drawing is already academic. We start with colour."

It was not long before his multiforms developed into the style he is remembered for; in 1949 Rothko exhibited these new works at the Betty Parsons Gallery. For critic Harold Rosenberg, the paintings were a revelation. Rothko had, after painting his first multiform, secluded himself to his home in East Hampton on Long Island, only inviting a very few people, including Rosenberg, to view the new paintings. The discovery of his definitive form came at a period of great grief; his mother Kate died in October 1948 and it was at some point during that winter that Rothko chanced upon the striking symmetrical rectangular blocks of two to three opposing or contrasting, yet complementary colours. As part of this new uniformity of artistic vision, his paintings and drawings no longer had individual titles; from this point on they were simply untitled, numbered or dated. However, to assist in distinguishing one work from another, dealers would sometimes add the primary colours to the name. Additionally, for the next few years, Rothko painted in oil only on large vertical canvasses. This was done to overwhelm the viewer, or, in his words, to make the viewer feel enveloped within the picture.

On February 25, 1970, Oliver Steindecker, Rothko’s assistant, found him in his kitchen, lying on the floor in front of the sink, covered in blood. His arms had been cut open with a razor. The emergency doctor arrived on the scene minutes later to pronounce him dead as the result of suicide; it was discovered during the autopsy that he had also overdosed on anti-depressants. He was just 66 years old.

QUESTIONS ABOUT THE TEXT:

Q1 - Mark Rothko emigrated to the United States


with his father and elder sister.

with his mother and brothers.

with his mother and elder sister.

with all his family.


Q2 - Rothko wanted to be an artist

from his early childhood.

when he joined the Art Students League.

when he watched students drawing.

when he moved to the Upper West Side.


Q3 - Rothko thought that modern art

was primitive.

could be compared to children's pictures.

was already academic.

was childish.

Q4 - Rothko's distinctive style

was inspired by Rosenberg.

resulted from moving to Long Island.

resulted from his grief.

evolved in 1948.

Q5 - Who named paintings by their colours?

Rosenberg

Rothko

Dealers

Steindecker

YOU CAN FIND THE ANSWERS Y THE COMMENTS' SECTION OF THIS POST!!

REVIEW OF ENGLISH TENSES

This worksheet gives a general vision about the commonest English tenses. This quick guide is ideal for revising Grammar before your final exams.
(Esta ficha os permite tener una visión rápida y general de los tiempos verbales ingleses para exámenes finales de gramática.)

Review of English Tenses

Rewrite sentences in English

Rewriting sentences in English is sometimes a harsh task, but it develops our communication in the English language. Try this activity and you'll guess your level.

Rewrite Sentences

THIRD CONDITIONALS PRACTICE

ACTIVITY ONE:

We are going to read the following dialogue which includes sentences in 3rd conditional type. We will identify their structure and we can translate it into our own language.
(Este diálogo contiene ejemplos de 3er tipo de condicional)



Susan: Has it ever occurred to you that if you hadn’t been giving a class in Pepsi on the day I was visiting the marketing department, we never would have become friends?
Jack: Of course it’s occurred to me… and if we hadn’t become friends then we wouldn’t have fallen in love.
Susan: And if we hadn’t fallen in love you wouldn’t have escaped your empty life.
Jack: Hey… hold on a minute… I don’t remember that part.
Susan: That’s what you wrote on my Facebook page when we 10 started going out.
Jack: Yeah…I was probably just trying to get you in bed.
Susan: But you’d already got me in bed.
Jack: In that case I must have been trying to keep you in bed. But, anyway…yeah…none of us’ll forget that in a hurry. It was through Facebook that my ex found out I was in a new relationship. She went nuts. If I hadn’t written that message she never would have found out and she never would have gone to your office.

ACTIVITY TWO:

The students will memorize the dialogue in pairs and they'll perform it in front of the class. This is an excellent practice to eliminate the shiness in the students.

ACTIVITY THREE:

You have 10 sentences in the structure of the third conditional. Try to translate into your own language and identify their parts.

(las respuestas en castellano para la traducción están en los comentarios)

1. If you hadn’t told them the story they wouldn’t have found out.

2. We wouldn’t have been poor if you hadn’t lent money to your brother.
3. If we hadn’t brought the radio we wouldn’t have heard the news.
4. If I hadn’t received the bill I would have forgotten to pay it.
5. If we hadn’t applied for the papers we would have been thrown out of the country.
6. If he hadn’t stabilized the situation everything would have turned out bad.
7. If Euskatel had bought Vodafone we would have been in another reality.
8. If they had advised them, they would have attended.
9. If Camaron had been born in London he would have been a punk.
10. If Camaron had been punk, he would have sung ‘soy punk’ instead of ‘soy gitano’.

CLEFT SENTENCES

CLEFT SENTENCES FOR ADVANCED LEVEL OF ENGLISH (B2).

This is the grammar about Cleft Sentences. Good Luck! I hope it will be of help!!

Note: If you want to download or print this handout , you need to click on the picture and you'll read it properly.
Aquí tenéis la gramática , morfología, tipología y ejemplos de estas " complicadillas" frases.
Nota: Descárgate o imprime esta ficha y podrás leerla y estudiarla de una manera adecuada.


CLEFT SENTENCES

How many different ways of "SAY" do you say ?

Semantic Field Say

SEMANTIC FIELD LOOK / campo semántico de verbos relacionados con mirar.

Semantic Field Look

CONDITIONAL SENTENCES ADVANCED (bachillerato)

Practice all the types of conditionals you can learn in English with this worksheet , the exercises provide the keys, but please, don't cheat!! ( Estos ejercicios de condicionales son algo difíciles, pero cuando terminéis con ellos, dominaréis las condicionales)

CONDITIONAL SENTENCES

MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING / MUCHO RUIDO Y POCAS NUECES

Plot Overview, (RESUMEN DE LA OBRA):

Leonato, a kindly, respectable nobleman, lives in the idyllic Italian town of Messina. Leonato shares his house with his lovely young daughter, Hero, his playful, clever niece, Beatrice, and his elderly brother, Antonio. As the play begins, Leonato prepares to welcome some friends home from a war. The friends include Don Pedro, a prince who is a close friend of Leonato, and two fellow soldiers: Claudio, a well-respected young nobleman, and Benedick, a clever man who constantly makes witty jokes, often at the expense of his friends. Don John, Don Pedro’s illegitimate brother, is part of the crowd as well. Don John is sullen and bitter, and makes trouble for the others.

When the soldiers arrive at Leonato’s home, Claudio quickly falls in love with Hero. Meanwhile, Benedick and Beatrice resume the war of witty insults that they have carried on with each other in the past. Claudio and Hero pledge their love to one another and decide to be married. To pass the time in the week before the wedding, the lovers and their friends decide to play a game. They want to get Beatrice and Benedick, who are clearly meant for each other, to stop arguing and fall in love. Their tricks prove successful, and Beatrice and Benedick soon fall secretly in love with each other.

But Don John has decided to disrupt everyone’s happiness. He has his companion Borachio make love to Margaret, Hero’s serving woman, at Hero’s window in the darkness of the night, and he brings Don Pedro and Claudio to watch. Believing that he has seen Hero being unfaithful to him, the enraged Claudio humiliates Hero by suddenly accusing her of lechery on the day of their wedding and abandoning her at the altar. Hero’s stricken family members decide to pretend that she died suddenly of shock and grief and to hide her away while they wait for the truth about her innocence to come to light. In the aftermath of the rejection, Benedick and Beatrice finally confess their love to one another. Fortunately, the night watchmen overhear Borachio bragging about his crime. Dogberry and Verges, the heads of the local police, ultimately arrest both Borachio and Conrad, another of Don John’s followers. Everyone learns that Hero is really innocent, and Claudio, who believes she is dead, grieves for her.

Leonato tells Claudio that, as punishment, he wants Claudio to tell everybody in the city how innocent Hero was. He also wants Claudio to marry Leonato’s “niece”—a girl who, he says, looks much like the dead Hero. Claudio goes to church with the others, preparing to marry the mysterious, masked woman he thinks is Hero’s cousin. When Hero reveals herself as the masked woman, Claudio is overwhelmed with joy. Benedick then asks Beatrice if she will marry him, and after some arguing they agree. The joyful lovers all have a merry dance before they celebrate their double wedding.

QUIZ / CHECK YOUR COMPREHENSION OF THE STORY:
1. Who refuses to marry in the beginning of the play?

(A) Hero
(B) Don Pedro and Don John
(C) Benedick and Beatrice
(D) Hero and Claudio

2. Where and when does the play take place?

(A) England, fourteenth century
(B) Florence, fifteenth century
(C) Sicily, sixteenth century
(D) Paris, seventeenth century

3. How does Claudio woo Hero?

(A) He doesn’t; Don Pedro does
(B) He writes her a sonnet
(C) He serenades her window at night
(D) He asks her father to tell her that he loves her

4. At the beginning of the play, what is Beatrice’s relationship to Benedick?

(A) Lover
(B) Enemy
(C) Wife
(D) Sister-in-law

5. Who is Leonato?

(A) Beatrice’s father
(B) Don Pedro and Don John’s father
(C) Claudio’s father
(D) Hero’s father

6. What does Don John want?

(A) To marry Hero
(B) To make Beatrice and Benedick fall in love
(C) To ruin Claudio
(D) To kill Dogberry and Verges

7. Who carries out Don John’s plan?

(A) Balthasar and Antonio
(B) Dogberry and Verges
(C) Claudio and Don Pedro
(D) Borachio and Margaret

8. What reason does Don John give for his sullenness?

(A) Too many people have wronged him
(B) It’s in his nature
(C) It’s an act to gain sympathy
(D) He thinks that noblewomen are attracted to brooding types

9. Who is said to be “an ass”?

(A) Dogberry
(B) Borachio
(C) Verges
(D) Conrad

10. Why does Claudio reject Hero at the altar?

(A) She smells like a rotten orange
(B) He thinks she lied to him about her wealth
(C) He thinks she cheated on him and lost her virginity
(D) He decides he just isn’t ready to get married

11. Who discovers Don John’s evil plot?

(A) Benedick
(B) Margaret
(C) Leonato’s household
(D) The Watch

12. What does Leonato’s household do to punish Claudio for shaming Hero?

(A) He pretends Hero is dead and challenges Claudio to a duel
(B) He drives Claudio out of town
(C) He violently beats Claudio
(D) Absolutely nothing at all

13. Which two characters write love sonnets?

(A) Claudio and Don Pedro
(B) Claudio and Hero
(C) Beatrice and Benedick
(D) Don Pedro and Beatrice

14. To whom does Don Pedro propose marriage?

(A) Hero
(B) Ursula
(C) Beatrice
(D) Margaret

15. Why is Margaret mistaken for Hero?

(A) She is wearing a mask
(B) She is wearing Hero’s makeup
(C) She is wearing a red sash
(D) She is wearing Hero’s clothes

16. Which character is sad at the end of the play?

(A) Don Pedro
(B) Don John
(C) Benedick
(D) Hero

17. What makes Claudio realize that he wrongly accused Hero?

(A) A note that she left him
(B) His utter remorse at having publicly shamed her
(C) Leonato’s harsh reprimands
(D) Borachio’s confession of Don John’s plot

18. When was this play probably first performed?

(A) 1850s
(B) 1580s
(C) 1623
(D) 1599

19. How do Don Pedro and Claudio make Benedick fall in love with Beatrice?

(A) They convince him of her virtues
(B) They have him overhear their conversation in which they assert that she is in love with him
(C) They force him to spend one evening locked in a room alone with her
(D) They insult, humiliate, and belittle him until he agrees to love her

20. Have Beatrice and Benedick courted before?

(A) Yes, but Benedick left her
(B) No, because they’re enemies
(C) Yes, but Beatrice left him
(D) They had a blind date when they were younger, but neither of them was interested

21. Why is it necessary for Hero to seem to die?

(A) Because she is very tired and worn out
(B) Because she is pregnant
(C) Because her reputation has been publicly tarnished
(D) Because she cheated on Claudio

22. What term best describes Dogberry’s verbal comedy?

(A) Slapstick
(B) Malapropism
(C) Witty banter
(D) Hyperbole

23. What is Balthasar’s song in Act II, scene iii about?

(A) The infidelity of men
(B) The infidelity of women
(C) The beauty of love
(D) The wind and the rain

24. What does the “savage bull” symbolize (I.i.213; V.iv.43)?

(A) Happiness in marriage
(B) A world without law
(C) A soldier’s honor
(D) The man unwilling to marry

25. Who is the most socially powerful person in the play?

(A) Leonato
(B) Beatrice
(C) Don Pedro
(D) Dogberry

KEYS: 1C,2C,3A,4B,5D,6C,7D,8B,9A,10C,11D,12A,13C,14C,15D,16A,17D,18D,19B,20A,21C,22B,23A,24D,25C

ABBA IS PERFECT TO LEARN PERFECT MODALS

Some years ago, I listened this song and I realised that it was full of Perfect modals, so I started to use it with my advanced level students; and believe it was great!!
(Esta canción de ABBA es perfecta para los alumnos de nivel avanzado, verán claramente la estructura de estos vervos ya que la canción repite esta construcción, constantemente.)

ABBA's song "The Day Before You Came"


Must have left my house at eight, because I always do
My train, I'm certain, left the station just when it was due
I must have read the morning paper going into town
And having gotten through the editorial, no doubt I must have frowned
I must have made my desk around a quarter after nine
With letters to be read, and heaps of papers waiting to be signed
I must have gone to lunch at half past twelve or so
The usual place, the usual bunch
And still on top of this I'm pretty sure it must have rained
The day before you came


I must have lit my seventh cigarette at half past two
And at the time I never even noticed I was blue
I must have kept on dragging through the business of the day
Without really knowing anything, I hid a part of me away
At five I must have left, there's no exception to the rule
A matter of routine, I've done it ever since I finished school
The train back home again
Undoubtedly I must have read the evening paper then
Oh yes, I'm sure my life was well within it's usual frame
The day before you came


Must have opened my front door at eight o'clock or so
And stopped along the way to buy some Chinese food to go
I'm sure I had my dinner watching something on TV
There's not, I think, a single episode of Dallas that I didn't see
I must have gone to bed around a quarter after ten
I need a lot of sleep, and so I like to be in bed by then
I must have read a while
The latest one by Marilyn French or something in that style
It's funny, but I had no sense of living without aim
The day before you came

And turning out the light
I must have yawned and cuddled up for yet another night
And rattling on the roof I must have heard the sound of rain
The day before you came

Is “achoo” a word? And what’s the origin of saying “God bless you” after a sneeze?

Every sneeze has a different ring to it, but there are only a few words in English that name the sound. Achoo is the most favored.

This instance of onomatopoeia imitates the sound of sneezing. The first syllable mimics the quick intake of breath, while the second corresponds to the tone of the convulsive expulsion of air through the nose and mouth. “Achoo” is also considered an interjection, in the same class of words as “ouch” or “gosh.” (What are ”gosh,” “golly,” and “gee” short for? They all pertain to religion. Click here for the answer.)

Other languages follow the same approach. A sneeze sound in Russian is apchkhi; in Korean it is achee.

ACHOO is an acronym for a sternutation disorder called Autosomal Dominant Compelling Helioophthalmic Outburst Syndrome that results in uncontrollable sneezing.

After a sneeze, there are a few common responses. “God bless you” (or “bless you”) and “gesundheit” are two. Gesundheit is German for “healthiness.”

As for the origin of “God bless you,” there are a number of ideas. There are superstitious beliefs that connect evil to sneezing, such as the thought that a sneeze releases a soul to the waiting grasp of evil spirits. Hence, a blessing is needed.

A false belief that originated during the Renaissance dictates that a sneeze causes the heart to momentarily stop. The blessing was a brief prayer that the heart would not fail completely.

From Hotword.dictionary.com

Reading comprehension text

WHY PHYSICAL ACTIVITY IS IMPORTANT FOR YOU?

People need to be active to be healthy. Our modern lifestyle and all the conveniences we've
become used to have made us sedentary - and that's dangerous for our health. Sitting
around in front of the TV or the computer, riding in the car for even a short trip to the store
and using elevators instead of stairs or ramps all contribute to our inactivity. Physical
inactivity is as dangerous to our health as smoking!
Add up your activities during the day in periods of at least 10 minutes each. Start slowly
... and build up. If you're already doing some light activities move up to more moderate
ones. A little is good, but more is better if you want to achieve health benefits.
Scientists say accumulate 60 minutes of physical activity every day to stay healthy or
improve your health. Time needed depends on effort - as you progress to moderate
activities, you can cut down to thirty minutes, four days a week.
Physical activity doesn't have to be very hard to improve your health. This goal can be
reached by building physical activities into your daily routine. Just add up in periods of at
least ten minutes each throughout the day. After three months of regular physical activity,
you will notice a difference - people often say getting started is the hardest part.
(From Handbook for Canada's Physical Activity Guide to Healthy Active Living p. 4. Canadian Society for Exercise
Physiology, Ottawa, Ontario, 1998)

I. Answer the following questions using your own words (2 points: 1 point each)
a. Why is physical activity so important for people?

b. How can you include physical activity in your life?

II. Are the following statements true (T) or false (F)? (1 point: 0.5 each)
a. Smoking is less dangerous than physical inactivity.
b. You do not need more than sixty minutes a day to be fit.

III. Find a word or phrase in the text which, in context, is similar in meaning
to: (1 point: 0.5 each)

a. inactive
b. fit
IV. Choose a, b, or c, in each question below. Only one choice is correct (2
points: 0.5 each)
1. Nowadays people ...
a) are less active than in the past.
b) are more active than in the past.
c) are as sedentary as they used to be.
2. Time needed for physical activity depends on ...
a) health
b) effort
c) money
3. You can improve your health ...
a) integrating physical activity into your timetable.
b) eating less and less during short periods of time.
c) relaxing and keeping cool.
4. People say that ...
a) they do not have time for physical activity.
b) getting into physical activity is the most difficult part.
c) getting into physical activity is not so difficult.

Part B. Composition (100-150 words approximately). Choose one of the following
topics (4 points)
1. Do you practise any sport? Why?

2. The relationship between our modern lifestyle and physical inactivity.

You can give your opinions about the topic leaving a comment or if you need the keys write a comment as well

Learning idioms

Today we're going to learn three different idioms thanks to Jennifer.

1st. (to be ) out of the woods: Salir de una situación dificil / come out a difficult situation or problem.

2nd. A bed of roses: Tu vida es muy cómoda y lujosa. / You're life is full of wealth and luxury things.

3rd . to have a Green thumb : Se te dan bien las plantas / You're good at making plants grow.

Watch the video:

PRESENT PERFECT (EXPLANATION AND ACTIVITIES)

The PRESENT PERFECT SIMPLE:

The present perfect simple expresses an action that is still going on or that stopped recently, but has an influence on the present. It puts emphasis on the result.

Form of Present Perfect:

[has/have + past participle]

Examples:

I have seen that movie twenty times.

I think I have met him once before.

There have been many earthquakes in California.

People have traveled to the Moon.

People have not traveled to Mars.

Have you read the book yet?

Nobody has ever climbed that mountain.

A: Has there ever been a war in the United States?B: Yes, there has been a war in the United States.

For irregular verbs, use the participle form (see list of irregular verbs, 3rd column). For regular verbs, just add “ed”.

Use of Present Perfect :

1.Puts emphasis on the result

Example: She has written five letters.

2. Action that is still going on

Example: School has not started yet.

3. Action that stopped recently

Example: She has cooked dinner.

4. Finished action that has an influence on the present

Example: I have lost my key.

5. Action that has taken place once, never or several times before the moment of speaking
Example: I have never been to Australia

TEST ABOUT PRESENT PERFECT ( LEVEL 1)

TEST ABOUT PRESENT PERFECT (LEVEL 2)

TEST ABOUT PRESENT PERFECT (LEVEL 3)

LISTENING COMPREHENSION: KATE MOSS

One of the things that the British are known for is our ability to queue! Recently there have been a number of queuing events which have made the news. One was the release of a new bag by a well known designer and at the beginning of May thousands queued for the midnight opening of the high street clothes retailer Topshop as they launched a new line of clothing designed by the British model Kate Moss.

In this programme we hear from people in the queue about why they are there. We also hear about Kate Moss herself and how she has remained so commercially successful despite controversies in her private life.

Before you listen to the programme look at the following comprehension questions. You can hear the answers in the programme.
Check your understanding by trying the quiz in the 'Extras' section below where you can also download the programme and a transcript.

1: Where was the designer bag originally sold?
2: How long has Kate Moss been modelling?
3: How was her career affected by pictures in the tabloid papers?
4: Did Kate Moss appear at the launch of her designs?

PROGRAMME SCRIPT (DOWNLOAD PDF)

LISTENING KATE MOSS


Vocabulary from the programme

to snap (something) up
to buy something in a sale or at a good price which isn't available for very long

an onlooker
someone who watches something happening in a public place but isn't involved

to catch a glimpse of someone or something
to see someone or something for a very short time

a label
the tag in an article of clothing which has the name of the company or designer

gorgeous / stunning
very attractive and good looking

to weather the storm of negative publicity
to survive a period when there are a lot of negative stories in the media

to come out on top
to come out of a difficult situation and still be successful

a small blip
a small temporary interruption which proves not to be very important

source: BBC WORLD SERVICE/ listenings.