PEOPLE TALKING IN DIFFERENT SITUATIONS (pag. 15)

You will hear people talking in four different situations. Go to Listenting activity on page 15 and anwer the questions.


 


 


 


 


 


 


 

PURPOSE: FOR AND TO

	FOR or TO + infinitive: INDIVIDUAL PURPOSE For is commonly used with nouns to express individual purpose: I popped into the supermarket for some apples on the way home. (Not: I popped into the supermarket for buying some apples…) I stopped by at his office for a chat about our marketing strategy. (Not: I stopped by at his office for having a chat about marketing.) I decided I would save up for a new computer. (NOT: I decided I would save up for buying a new computer.) If we want to express individual purpose with a verb pattern, we are obliged to use to + infinitive: I stopped by at the supermarket to buy some apples on the way home. I popped into his office to have a chat about our marketing policy. I decided to save up to buy a new computer.
	For + verb-ing: the purpose of an object However, if we are talking about the purpose of an object or an action, we normally use the for + verb-ing pattern. Note that this pattern commonly answers the question: What are they (used) for? Compare the following: Schools are for educating children not for entertaining them. Schools are for learning. Life is for living. This kitchen knife is especially useful for slicing vegetables. What's this for? ~ It's for opening oysters. It's much better than a knife. What's this fifty pound note for? ~ It's for buying food for the weekend. Note that when the subject of the sentence is a person rather than the thing described, the to + infinitive pattern is also possible: I use this small knife to slice vegetables with. I use this gadget to open shellfish with.

 

WH-QUESTIONS

POSESIVOS: ADJECTIVES AND PRONOUMS

Aquí tenéis un enlace a una página donde podréis encontrar algunos ejercios para practicar los posesivos.

Have a nice weekend

HOW MANY ?

HOUSES AND FURNITURE

Houses and furniture from Sara Flores

Parts of the house from Sara Flores

Prepositions

Prepositions from Sara Flores

BIOGRAPHIES: ALBERT EINSTEIN

Albert Einstein (1879-1955

 

This is Steve Ember. And this is Sarah Long with the VOA Special English program, EXPLORATIONS.

Today we tell about a scientist who changed the way we understand the universe, Albert Einstein.

In the year 1905, Albert Einstein published some important papers in a German scientific magazine. They included one of the most important scientific documents in history. It was filled with mathematics. It explained what came to be called his "Special Theory of Relativity." Ten years later he expanded it to a "General Theory of Relativity."

Albert Einstein's theories of relativity are about the basic ideas we use to describe natural happenings. They are about time, space, mass, movement, and gravity.

Albert Einstein was born in Ulm, Germany, in 1879. His father owned a factory that made electrical devices. His mother enjoyed music and books. His parents were Jewish but they did not observe many of the religion's rules.

Albert was a quiet child who spent much of his time alone. He was slow to talk and had difficulty learning to read.

When Albert was five years old, his father gave him a compass. The child was filled with wonder when he discovered that the compass needle always pointed in the same direction -- to the north. He asked his father and his uncle what caused the needle to move.

Their answers about magnetism and gravity were difficult for the boy to understand. Yet he spent a lot of time thinking about them. He said later that he felt something hidden had to be behind things.

Albert did not like school. The German schools of that time were not pleasant. Students could not ask questions.  Albert said he felt as if he were in prison.

One story says Albert told his Uncle Jacob how much he hated school, especially mathematics. His uncle told him to solve mathematical problems by pretending to be a policeman. "You are looking for someone," he said, "but you do not know who. Call him X. Find him by using the mathematical tools of algebra and geometry."

Albert learned to love mathematics. He was studying the complex mathematics of calculus when all his friends were still studying simple mathematics. Instead of playing with friends he thought about things such as: "What would happen if people could travel at the speed of light?"

Albert decided that he wanted to teach mathematics and physics. He attended the Federal Polytechnic Institute in Zurich, Switzerland. He graduated with honors, but could not get a teaching job. So he began working for the Swiss government as an inspector of patents for new inventions. The job was not demanding. He had a lot of time to think about some of his scientific theories.

From the time he was a boy, Albert Einstein had performed what he called "thought experiments" to test his ideas. He used his mind as a laboratory. By 1905, he had formed his ideas into theories that he published.

In one paper he said that light travels both in waves and in particles, called photons. This idea is an important part of what is called the quantum theory.

Another paper was about the motion of small particles suspended in a liquid or gas. It confirmed the atomic theory of matter.

The most important of Albert Einstein's theories published that year became known as his "Special Theory of Relativity." He said the speed of light is always the same -- almost three hundred thousand kilometers a second. Where the light is coming from or who is measuring it does not change the speed. However, he said, time can change. And mass can change. And length can change. They depend on where a person is in relation to an object or an event.

Imagine two space vehicles with a scientist travelling in each one. One spaceship is red. One is blue. Except for color, both spaceships are exactly alike. They pass one another far out in space.

Neither scientist feels that his ship is moving. To each, it seems that the other ship is moving, not his. As they pass at high speed, the scientist in each ship measures how long it takes a beam of light to travel from the floor to the top of his spaceship, hit a mirror and return to the floor. Each spaceship has a window that lets each scientist see the experiment of the other.

They begin their experiments at exactly the same moment. The scientist in the blue ship sees his beam of light go straight up and come straight down. But he sees that the light beam in the red ship does not do this. The red ship is moving so fast that the beam does not appear to go straight up. It forms a path up and down that looks like an upside down "V".

The scientist in the red ship would see exactly the same thing as he watched the experiment by the other scientist. He could say that time passed more slowly in the other ship. Each scientist would be correct, because the passing of time is linked to the position of the observer.

Each scientist also would see that the other spaceship was shorter than his own. The higher the speeds the spaceships were travelling, the shorter the other ship would appear. And although the other ship would seem shorter, its mass would increase. It would seem to get heavier.

The ideas were difficult to accept. Yet other scientists did experiments to prove that Einstein's theory was correct.

Ten years after his paper on the special theory of relativity, Albert Einstein finished work on another theory. It described what he called his "General Theory of Relativity." It expanded his special theory to include the motion of objects that are gaining speed. This theory offered new ideas about gravity and the close relationship between matter and energy. It built on the ideas about mass he had expressed in 1905.

Einstein said that an object loses mass when it gives off light, which is a kind of energy. He believed that matter and energy were different forms of the same thing. That was the basis of his famous mathematical statement E equals m-c squared (energy equals mass times the speed of light squared). This statement or formula explained that a great amount of energy could come from a small piece of matter. It explained how the sun could give off heat and light for millions of years. This formula also led to the discovery of atomic energy.

In his general theory of relativity, Einstein said that gravity, like time, is not always the same. Gravity changes as observers speed up or slow down. He also said that gravity from very large objects, such as stars, could turn the path of light waves that passed nearby. This seemed unbelievable. But in 1919, British scientists confirmed his theory when the sun was completely blocked during a solar eclipse. Albert Einstein immediately became famous around the world.

In 1921, he won the Nobel Prize in Physics. It was given to him, not for his theories of relativity, but for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect. This scientific law explained how and why some metals give off electrons after light falls on their surfaces. The discovery led to the development of modern electronics, including radio and television.

Albert Einstein taught in Switzerland and Germany. He left Germany when Adolph Hitler came to power in 1933. He moved to the United States to continue his research. He worked at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. Einstein became a citizen of the United States in 1940.

Einstein was a famous man, but you would not have known that by looking at him. His white hair was long and wild. He wore old clothes. He showed an inner joy when he was playing his violin or talking about his work. Students and friends said he had a way of explaining difficult ideas using images that were easy to understand.

Albert Einstein opposed wars. Yet he wrote to President Franklin Roosevelt in 1939 to advise him that the United States should develop an atomic bomb before Germany did.

Einstein spent the last twenty-five years of his life working on what he called a "unified field theory." He hoped to find a common mathematical statement that could tie together all the different parts of physics. He did not succeed.

Albert Einstein died in 1955. He was seventy-six years old.

PAST TENSES REVIEW

Past 22 from Sara Flores

Pasados from Sara Flores

SECOND CONDITIONAL

 

CONDITIONAL

LET´S PRACTISE LISTENING COMPRENHENSION. CLICK THE LINK BELOW TO SEE THE TRANSCRIPTION.

 

CLICK THE LINK AND CHECK YOUR COMPRENHENSION

Descriptions

Describing people from Sara Flores

INTERROGATIVE SENTENCES

Interrogativos from Sara Flores

WHAT´S IS THIS?

INTENTAD ESCUCHAR EL SIGUIENTE AUDIO. TENÉIS LA TRANSCRIPCIÓN DEL TEXTO ABAJO.

 

CLICK THE LINK AND CHECK YOUR COMPRENHENSION

PRESENT TENSE

BBC LEARNING ENGLISH: PRACTISING FUTURE

COMIC STRIPS

FUTURE: MORE EXERCISES

LET'S PRACTISE FUTURE TENSES.

I've posted several links which will take you to different sites for you to practise future. (will / be ----- ing / to be going to........ ).

Try to do the exercises and write a comment if there´s something you don't understand.
1) FUTURE I
2) FUTURE II 
3) FUTURE III

FUTURE EXERCISES

CLASSIC SESAME STREET: GROVER

As seen on : Classic Sesame Street - what should Grover bring first?

ORDERING FOOD

BIG CITY SMALL WORLD

MUCH, MANY: COOKING VOCABULARY

RECIPES

I´ve found a very funny site where we can practise our listening as well as we can learn new recipes from a very special chef. I hope you to enjoy this video.
See you

(There is a new link to this "Titli´s Busy Kitchen on your links list)

DAILY ROUTINES

Daily routine from Sara Flores

PRESENT TIME

HOY EN LA CLASE DE LOS BEGINNERS HA HABIDO ALGUNAS AUSENCIAS. PARA AQUELLOS QUE ESTÉIS INTERESADOS, ESPECIALMENTE PARA TI, MAICA, SUBO LA COPIA QUE HEMOS COMENTADO. 
HEMOS ESTADO VIENDO CÓMO SE COMPORTAN OTROS VERBOS EN PRESENTE, ADEMÁS DEL VERBO TO BE Y HAVE GOT, Y HEMOS TRADUCIDO LAS ORACIONES QUE VAIS A ENCONTRAR EN LA FICHA. 

PARA EL PRÓXIMO DÍA TENEMOS COMO DEBERES INTENTAR ESCRIBIR ALGO SIMILAR A LAS ACCIONES QUE APARENCEN EN LA COPIA, ADAPTÁNDOLAS A NUESTRA VIDA COTIDIANA. ADEMÁS, OS HE PEDIDO QUE ECHÉIS UN VISTAZO AL VÍDEO "SPELLING" PARA QUE OS VAYÁIS FAMILIARIZANDO CON EL ALFABETO INGLÉS.

Present tense from Sara Flores

AND THAT´S ALL, FRIENDS. SEE YOU SOON! HAVE A NICE WEEKEND!

SPELLING

Here it is the video where you can practise the spelling. So come on, let´s start!


Practica tu listening en el siguiente enlace

REAL ENGLISH

ENGLISH DIRECTIONS

LISTENING COMPRENHENSION

Listen to the following podcast and answer the below questions. 
Click here to read the transcription.

 

How to ask directions: practice from Sara Flores

ASKING FOR AND GIVING DIRECTIONS

Listen to the following postcad and answer to the questions on the handout. Click here to get the transcription.

Howto ask directions_ex2 from Sara Flores

GIVING DIRECTIONS: LISTENING

LEARN ENGLISH CON JENNY

Here you have a new video with a real lesson.

These are Jennifer, a teacher, and Natasha, a student. They are having an English Lesson. Have a look to the video, listen and repeat.

BIG CITY SMALL WORLD

WOULD YOU FACE A NEW CHALLEGE? THIS IS A LINK WHICH WILL TAKE YOU TO A SECCION FROM THE BRITISH COUNCIL LEARN ENGLISH SITE. HERE YOU WILL FIND A SOAP CALLED "BIG CITY SMALL WORLD". THIS WEEK I SUGGEST LISTENING TO THE FIRST EPISODE AND DO THE ACTIVITIES.

PREPOSITION GAME

DAYS OF THE WEEK

-->

.....................................................
by The Cure I don't care if ………………… 's blue,
…………………'s grey and …………………….. too.
………………….., I don't care about you.
It's ……………………………………………
…………………….., you can fall apart.
……………, ………………, break my heart.
………………… doesn't even start.
It's ………………………………………….

………………, wait,
And ………………….. always comes too late,
But …………….. never hesitate...

I don't care if ……………..'s black,
……………..,……………….., heart attack.

………………….., never looking back.
It's ……………………………………

………………….., you can hold your head.
……………….., …………………., stay in bed.
Or ………………….., watch the walls instead.
It's …………………………………

…………………………, wait,
And …………………..always comes too late,
But ………………., never hesitate...

Dressed up to the ………………..,
It's a wonderful surprise
To see your …………….. and your spirits rise,
Throwing out your frown,
And just smiling at the ……………,
And as sleek as a shriek,
Spinning round and round.
Always take a big …………
It's such a gorgeous sight
To see you eat in the middle of the …………..
You can never get enough,
Enough of this stuff.
It's ……………………………….

Vocabulary

to be in love	estar enamorado
to care about something	importarle algo, interesarse por algo
to fall apart	desmoronarse, derrumbarse. En el caso de una persona, significa estar extenuado, no poder más.
to break somebody's heart	decepcionar a alguien
to hesitate	vacilar, hacer una pausa antes de hablar por los nervios
a heart attack	una crisis cardíaca, un ataque al corazón
to look back	mirar hacia atrás, hacia el pasado
to be dressed up to the eyes	estar muy bien vestido. Esta frase antigua evolucionó hasta convertirse en to be dressed up to the nines, que tiene el mismo significado.
to rise	subir, elevar, alzarse
to throw out	sacar, eliminar
frown	ceño. El verbo to frown significa fruncir el ceño, en señal de enojo o de no entender algo.
sleek	liso
shriek	chillido. El verbo to shriek significa chillar, hacer un chillido.
to spin round	girar, dar vueltas
to take a big bite	dar una gran mordida, dar un mordiscón

PREPOSITIONS

Aquí tenéis algunas oraciones para practicar "prepositions of place".

Prepositions of place from Sara Flores

DEMOSTRATIVOS

He encontrado esta explicación sobre los demostrativos en la fantástica fuente de internet y he decidio subirla al blog porque creo que os puede ayudar.

Adjetivos Demostrativos - THIS, THAT, THESE, THOSE

Los adjetivos demostrativos son aquellos que se utilizan para determinar la ubicación de las cosas y son los siguientes:

A diferencia del idioma español, en el que se determina la proximidad con ESTO, ESO y AQUELLO, en el idioma inglés sólo se utilizan dos grados de proximidad: THIS, para señalar lo que se encuentra más cerca del sujeto, y THAT para lo que está más alejado.

Estos adjetivos concuerdan en número, ya sea en singular o en plural, con el sustantivo al que acompañan, mientras que en género no existen diferencias entre masculino y femenino:

This flower is beautiful. Esta flor es hermosa.
This car is dirty. Este automóvil está sucio.

That house is expensive. Aquella casa es costosa.
That dog is bad. Aquel perro es malo.

These apples are cheap. Estas manzanas son baratas.
These pencils are in the box. Estos lápices están en la caja.

Those stars are in the sky. Aquellas estrellas están en el cielo.
Those boys are my friends. Aquellos niños son mis amigos.

El adjetivo demostrativo THIS también puede utilizarse para presentar a alguien:

John, this is Mike. (John, este es Mike).

También se utiliza THIS para comenzar un relato de manera coloquial:

This is the story... (Esta es la historia...)

THAT sirve para indicar algo que ha ocurrido o algo que alguien ha dicho.

That was an incredible story. (Ha sido una historia increíble).

Ahora te proponemos completar las siguientes oraciones con el adjetivo demostrativo correspondiente:

1. Esta casa es demasiado grande. .......... house is too big.

2. Estos son mis alumnos. .......... are my pupils.

3. Esta ventana es pequeña. .......... window is small.

4. Este es mi libro. .......... is my book.

5. Estas flores son hermosas. .......... flowers are beautiful.

6. Estos zapatos son negros. .......... shoes are black.

7. Este perro es malo. .......... dog is bad.

8. Estos niños juegan en la calle. ......... children play in the street.

9. Estas son mis fotos. .......... are my pictures.

10. Esta mesa es mía. .......... table is mine.

FREQUENCY ADVERBS

This is the handout we went through last week.

Frequency adverbs from Sara Flores

PRESENT TENSE ACTIVITIES

Last Thursday we talked about Simple present tense and we agreed we would go through the below activities in order to review some of its usages. We will correct them next Thursday in class.

Simple present tense from Sara Flores

Possessive adjectives

Haz click en el siguiente enlace y practica el uso de los posesivos my/your/his etc.,

STOP THE CLOCK

ON HOLYDAYS

Dear Jaime and Cris,

Just a short letter to tell you that I’m fine. England is very green and there are a lot of interesting places to visit but I’m very busy and I don’t have time to go out. I work rather hard every day and when I get to the hotel, I’m so tired that I have dinner and go up to may room.

The hotel is very elegant. It’s in the city centre and it has a lot of facilities. There are some places to eat there: there is a coffee shop, a bar and two restaurants.

When I have some free time, I do some exercise (there is a gym, a swimming-pool and a sauna in the hotel)

My room is really comfortable: there is a small living room, a bathroom and the bedroom, of course! It is equipped with a TV set, air-conditioning and there is also a machine for making coffee and tea. I have plans to spend the weekend in London because I would like to visit the typical places there. I promise to send you a post card, ok?

Well, I have a lot of things to explain when I get home so I’ll say goodbye now.

Love and kisses from Lidia

XXX

Nos reencontramos el viernes.

My dear students this is the worksheet we will work through next lesson. Un besico

To be from Sara Flores

Easy prepositions for you to review

Last lesson we handed some worksheets to review prepositions. Here you are.

Prepositions from Sara Flores

THE BOARDED WINDOW (By Ambrose Bierce)

Our story today is called "The Boarded Window." It was written by Ambrose Bierce. Here is Shep O'Neal with the story.

In 1830, only a few miles away from what is now the great city of Cincinnati, Ohio, lay a huge and almost endless forest.
The area had a few settlements established by people of the frontier. Many of them had already left the area for settlements further to the west. But among those remaining was a man who had been one of the first people to arrive there.
He lived alone in a house of logs surrounded on all sides by the great forest. He seemed a part of the darkness and silence of the forest, for no one had ever known him to smile or speak an unnecessary word. His simple needs were supplied by selling or trading the skins of wild animals in the town.
His little log house had a single door. Directly opposite was a window. The window was boarded up. No one could remember a time when it was not. And no one knew why it had been closed. I imagine there are few people living today who ever knew the secret of that window. But I am one, as you shall see.
The man's name was said to be Murlock. He appeared to be seventy years old, but he was really fifty. Something other than years had been the cause of his aging.
His hair and long, full beard were white. His gray, lifeless eyes were sunken. His face was wrinkled. He was tall and thin with drooping shoulders—like someone with many problems.
I never saw him. These details I learned from my grandfather. He told me the man's story when I was a boy. He had known him when living nearby in that early day.
One day Murlock was found in his cabin, dead. It was not a time and place for medical examiners and newspapers. I suppose it was agreed that he had died from natural causes or I should have been told, and should remember.
I know only that the body was buried near the cabin, next to the burial place of his wife. She had died so many years before him that local tradition noted very little of her existence.
That closes the final part of this true story, except for the incident that followed many years later. With a fearless spirit I went to the place and got close enough to the ruined cabin to throw a stone against it. I ran away to avoid the ghost which every well-informed boy in the area knew haunted the spot.
But there is an earlier part to this story supplied by my grandfather.
When Murlock built his cabin he was young, strong and full of hope. He began the hard work of creating a farm. He kept a gun--a rifle—for hunting to support himself.
He had married a young woman, in all ways worthy of his honest love and loyalty. She shared the dangers of life with a willing spirit and a light heart. There is no known record of her name or details about her. They loved each other and were happy.
One day Murlock returned from hunting in a deep part of the forest. He found his wife sick with fever and confusion. There was no doctor or neighbor within miles. She was in no condition to be left alone while he went to find help. So Murlock tried to take care of his wife and return her to good health. But at the end of the third day she fell into unconsciousness and died.
From what we know about a man like Murlock, we may try to imagine some of the details of the story told by my grandfather.
When he was sure she was dead, Murlock had sense enough to remember that the dead must be prepared for burial. He made a mistake now and again while performing this special duty. He did certain things wrong. And others which he did correctly were done over and over again.
He was surprised that he did not cry — surprised and a little ashamed. Surely it is unkind not to cry for the dead.
"Tomorrow," he said out loud, "I shall have to make the coffin and dig the grave; and then I shall miss her, when she is no longer in sight. But now -- she is dead, of course, but it is all right — it must be all right, somehow. Things cannot be as bad as they seem."
He stood over the body of his wife in the disappearing light. He fixed the hair and made finishing touches to the rest. He did all of this without thinking but with care. And still through his mind ran a feeling that all was right -- that he should have her again as before, and everything would be explained.
Murlock had no experience in deep sadness. His heart could not contain it all. His imagination could not understand it. He did not know he was so hard struck. That knowledge would come later and never leave.
Deep sadness is an artist of powers that affects people in different ways. To one it comes like the stroke of an arrow, shocking all the emotions to a sharper life. To another, it comes as the blow of a crushing strike. We may believe Murlock to have been affected that way.
Soon after he had finished his work he sank into a chair by the side of the table upon which the body lay. He noted how white his wife's face looked in the deepening darkness. He laid his arms upon the table's edge and dropped his face into them, tearless and very sleepy.
At that moment a long, screaming sound came in through the open window. It was like the cry of a lost child in the far deep of the darkening forest! But the man did not move. He heard that unearthly cry upon his failing sense, again and nearer than before. Maybe it was a wild animal or maybe it was a dream. For Murlock was asleep.
Some hours later, he awoke, lifted his head from his arms and listened closely. He knew not why. There in the black darkness by the side of the body, he remembered everything without a shock. He strained his eyes to see -- he knew not what.
His senses were all alert. His breath was suspended. His blood was still as if to assist the silence. Who — what had awakened him and where was it!
Suddenly the table shook under his arms. At the same time he heard, or imagined he heard, a light, soft step and then another. The sounds were as bare feet walking upon the floor!
He was afraid beyond the power to cry out or move. He waited—waited there in the darkness through what seemed like centuries of such fear. Fear as one may know, but yet live to tell. He tried but failed to speak the dead woman's name. He tried but failed to stretch his hand across the table to learn if she was there. His throat was powerless. His arms and hands were like lead.
Then something most frightful happened. It seemed as if a heavy body was thrown against the table with a force that pushed against his chest. At the same time he heard and felt the fall of something upon the floor. It was so violent a crash that the whole house shook. A fight followed and a confusion of sounds impossible to describe.
Murlock had risen to his feet. Extreme fear had caused him to lose control of his senses. He threw his hands upon the table. Nothing was there!
There is a point at which fear may turn to insanity; and insanity incites to action. With no definite plan and acting like a madman, Murlock ran quickly to the wall. He seized his loaded rifle and without aim fired it.
The flash from the rifle lit the room with a clear brightness. He saw a huge fierce panther dragging the dead woman toward the window. The wild animal's teeth were fixed on her throat! Then there was darkness blacker than before, and silence.
When he returned to consciousness the sun was high and the forest was filled with the sounds of singing birds. The body lay near the window, where the animal had left it when frightened away by the light and sound of the rifle.
The clothing was ruined. The long hair was in disorder. The arms and legs lay in a careless way. And a pool of blood flowed from the horribly torn throat. The ribbon he had used to tie the wrists was broken. The hands were tightly closed.
And between the teeth was a piece of the animal's ear.