TIPS FOR LEARNERS

EXÁMENES DE ENERO

 

NIVEL INTERMEDIO 2, 
GRUPO NI2B (TURNO DE NOCHE):

JUEVES 15 Y MARTES 20 DE ENERO, PRUEBAS ESCRITAS.

JUEVES  22, EXÁMENES ORALES.

THE PASSIVE

Use of Passive BY www.ego4u.com

Passive voice is used when the focus is on the action. It is not important or not known, however, who or what is performing the action.

Example: My bike was stolen.

In the example above, the focus is on the fact that my bike was stolen. I do not know, however, who did it.
Sometimes a statement in passive is more polite than active voice, as the following example shows:

Example: A mistake was made.

In this case, I focus on the fact that a mistake was made, but I do not blame anyone (e.g. You have made a mistake.).

Form of Passive

Subject + finite form of to be + Past Participle (3rd column of irregular verbs)

Example: A letter was written.

When rewriting active sentences in passive voice, note the following:

• the object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence
• the finite form of the verb is changed (to be + past participle)
• the subject of the active sentence becomes the object of the passive sentence (or is dropped)

Examples of Passive

Tense		Subject	Verb	Object
Simple Present	Active:	Rita	writes	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	is written	by Rita.
Simple Past	Active:	Rita	wrote	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	was written	by Rita.
Present Perfect	Active:	Rita	has written	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	has been written	by Rita.
Future I	Active:	Rita	will write	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	will be written	by Rita.
Modal verb	Active:	Rita	can write	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	can be written	by Rita.

Examples of Passive

Tense		Subject	Verb	Object
Present Progressive	Active:	Rita	is writing	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	is being written	by Rita.
Past Progressive	Active:	Rita	was writing	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	was being written	by Rita.
Past Perfect	Active:	Rita	had written	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	had been written	by Rita.
Future II	Active:	Rita	will have written	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	will have been written	by Rita.
Conditional I	Active:	Rita	would write	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	would be written	by Rita.
Conditional II	Active:	Rita	would have written	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	would have been written	by Rita.

Passive Sentences with Two Objects

Rewriting an active sentence with two objects in passive voice means that one of the two objects becomes the subject, the other one remains an object. Which object to transform into a subject depends on what you want to put the focus on.

	Subject	Verb	Object 1	Object 2
Active:	Rita	wrote	a letter	to me.
Passive:	A letter	was written	to me	by Rita.
Passive:	I	was written	a letter	by Rita.

. As you can see in the examples, adding by Rita does not sound very elegant. That’s why it is usually dropped.

Personal and Impersonal Passive

Personal Passive simply means that the object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence. So every verb that needs an object (transitive verb) can form a personal passive.

Example: They build houses. – Houses are built.

Verbs without an object (intransitive verb) normally cannot form a personal passive sentence (as there is no object that can become the subject of the passive sentence). If you want to use an intransitive verb in passive voice, you need an impersonal construction – therefore this passive is called Impersonal Passive.

Example: he says – it is said

 

Impersonal Passive is not as common in English as in some other languages (e.g. German, Latin). In English, Impersonal Passive is only possible with verbs of perception (e. g. say, think, know).

Example: They say that women live longer than men. – It is said that women live longer than men.

Although Impersonal Passive is possible here, Personal Passive is more common.

Example: They say that women live longer than men. – Women are said to live longer than men.

The subject of the subordinate clause (women) goes to the beginning of the sentence; the verb of perception is put into passive voice. The rest of the sentence is added using an infinitive construction with 'to' (certain auxiliary verbs and that are dropped).
Sometimes the term Personal Passive is used in English lessons if the indirect object of an active sentence is to become the subject of the passive sentence.
 
Some other reporting verbs that can be used in this way are:
calculate, claim, consider, discover, estimate, expect, feel, hope, know, prove, report,
say, show, think, understand, etc.

EXERCISE ONE
EXERCISE TWO
EXERCISE THREE
EXERCISE FOUR

THANKSGIVING DAY

 

 The First Thanksgiving

In 1621, the Plymouth colonists and Wampanoag Indians shared an autumn harvest feast which is acknowledged today as one of the first Thanksgiving celebrations in the colonies. This harvest meal has become a symbol of cooperation and interaction between English colonists and Native Americans. Although this feast is considered by many to the very first Thanksgiving celebration, it was actually in keeping with a long tradition of celebrating the harvest and giving thanks for a successful bounty of crops. Native American groups throughout the Americas, including the Pueblo, Cherokee, Creek and many others organized harvest festivals, ceremonial dances, and other celebrations of thanks for centuries before the arrival of Europeans in North America.

Historians have also recorded other ceremonies of thanks among European settlers in North America, including British colonists in Berkeley Plantation, Virginia. At this site near the Charles River in December of 1619, a group of British settlers led by Captain John Woodlief knelt in prayer and pledged "Thanksgiving" to God for their healthy arrival after a long voyage across the Atlantic. This event has been acknowledged by some scholars and writers as the official first Thanksgiving among European settlers on record. Whether at Plymouth, Berkeley Plantation, or throughout the Americas, celebrations of thanks have held great meaning and importance over time. The legacy of thanks, and particularly of the feast, have survived the centuries as people throughout the United States gather family, friends, and enormous amounts of food for their yearly Thanksgiving meal.

ST ANDREWS DAY!

Carrying the Can for San Andrés (The Fiesta of San Andrés in Tenerife)

The 30th November is a day worthy of celebration in Tenerife; firstly, it’s the Fiesta of San Andrés or Saint Andrew as he’s better known to Scots. Secondly, it’s the day the wine cellars throw open their doors for the tasting of the new wines. Although on the face of it these two happy events appear to having nothing more in common than their place on the calendar, popular tales speak of a much stronger link.

The big noise in town

29th November, the Eve of the Fiesta of San Andrés, sees Puerto de la Cruz staging the ‘Arrastre los Cacharros’ or ‘run with pots and pans’. As the afternoon turns to evening, children drag pots, pans, tins and assorted metal containers through the streets on lengths of string, with the intention of making as much noise as possible. As the evening progresses, so the age of the participants and the weight of the metal increases as groups of teenage boys appear, dragging vast chariots of empty oil drums, old washing machine drums, exhaust pipes and even old microwave ovens on great lengths of rope.

To the untrained eye, Arrastre los Cacharros looks like an attempt to engage the young in environmental sustainability through the re-cycling of tins, but in fact its origins are rooted in tradition, some practical, others more fanciful. One of the nicest tales is that when San Andrés arrived on Tenerife he was already late (the rest of the Saints having arrived on 1st November – All Saints’ Day) and, to add insult to injury, he discovered the new wine, partook liberally of its medicinal properties and fell asleep in the street. Whereupon, local children tied pots and pans to his clothes so that every time he tried to turn over he’d wake up.

Roll out the barrel

Whatever the legends about the origins of the Fiesta of San Andrés, his feast day falls fortuitously in line with the year’s wine harvest and the more practical explanation for the tradition of Arrastre los Cacharros is the practice of rolling barrels down to the sea to wash them.

The toboggan run

While in Puerto de la Cruz it’s the children who play, in Icod de los Vinos and La Guancha wooden sledges are constructed from heartwood and waxed with resin before being ridden down the near vertical streets at breakneck speed. The faster the sledge, the greater the impact and the louder the applause; needless to say, the Red Cross are on hand in case anyone’s judgment goes seriously awry.

The practice of riding the boards (Arrastre de las Tablas) in Icod and La Guancha originates from the seventeenth century, when the wine was transported down to the coast for export on sledges drawn by bullocks. The barrels rested on wooden planks and a helmsman would stand on the boards at the back, steering the sledge with the use of a wooden oar. The sound of the barrels riding the cobbled streets meant that the cellars were open for tasting.

Whatever the origins, one thing is clear; the Fiesta of San Andrés is cause for celebration and it would be nothing less than impolite not to drink a toast to the man himself with the new vino del país; fruity, light and lethal if drunk in large quantities but perfect accompanied by a bag of hot roasted castañas (chestnuts), a pincho (small skewer of marinated pork) and a piece of anis bread while sitting on the harbour trying to ignore all that noise.

copyright: http://www.realtenerifeislanddrives.com/San%20Andres.html

ADVERBS. FORM & USE.

What Is an Adverb? By www.grammar-monster.com

An adverb can be added to a verb to modify its meaning. Usually, an adverb tells you when, where, how, in what manner, or to what extent an action is performed.

Many adverbs end in ly — particularly those that are used to express how an action is performed.

Although many adverbs end ly, lots do not, e.g., fast, never, well, very, most, least, more, less, now, far, and there.

Examples:

• Anita placed the vase carefully on the shelf.
(The word carefully is an adverb. It shows how the vase was placed.)

• Tara walks gracefully.
(The word gracefully is an adverb. It modifies the verb to walk.)

• He runs fast.
(The word fast is an adverb. It modifies the verb to run.)

• You can set your watch by him. He always leaves at 5 o'clock.
(The word always is an adverb. It modifies the verb to leave.)

• The dinner guests arrived early.
(early modifies to arrive)

• She sometimes helps us.
(sometimes modifies to help)

• I am the only person in the world I should like to know thoroughly. (Oscar Wilde)
(thoroughly modifies to know) 

 

Types of Adverbs

Although there are thousands of adverbs, each adverb can usually be categorized in one of the following groupings:

Adverbs of Time

• Press the button now.
(now - adverb of time)

• I have never been.
(never - adverb of time)

• I tell him daily.
(daily - adverb of time)

Adverbs of Place

• Daisies grow everywhere.
(everywhere - adverb of place)

• I did not put it there.
(there - adverb of place)

Adverbs of Manner

• He passed the re-sit easily.
(easily - adverb of manner)

• The lion crawled stealthily.
(stealthily - adverb of manner)

Adverbs of Degree

• That is the farthest I have ever jumped.
(farthest - adverb of degree)

• He boxed more cleverly.
(more cleverly - adverb of degree and manner.) 

 

Adverbs Can Modify Adjectives and Other Adverbs

Although the term adverb implies that they are only used with verbs, adverbs can also modify adjectives and other adverbs. For example:

• The horridly grotesque gargoyle was undamaged by the debris.
(The adverb horridly modifies the adjective grotesque .)

• Peter had an extremely ashen face.
(The adverb extremely modifies the adjective ashen.)

• Badly trained dogs that fail the test will become pets.
(The adverb badly modifies the adjective trained.)
(Note: The adjective trained is an adjective formed from the verb to train. It is called a participle.)

• She wore a beautifully designed dress.
(The adverb beautifully modifies the adjective designed.)

• Peter Jackson finished his assignment remarkably quickly.
(The adverb quickly modifies the verb to finish. The adverb remarkably modifies the adverb quickly.)

EXERCISE ONE

EXERCISE TWO

EXERCISE THREE

BED-TIME READINGS