jueves, 11 de septiembre de 2008

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Writing

Writing Task 1

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task

The graph below shows the different modes of transport used to travel to and from work in one European city in 1960, 1980 and 2000.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

Write at least 150 words।

Writing Graph

Writing Graph

Writing Task 2

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.Write about the following topic:

It is inevitable that as technology develops so traditional cultures must be lost. Technology and tradition are incompatible - you cannot have both together.

To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Write at least 150 words.

Present Tense

Present Tense

A. Meaning Simple Present:

1)The simple present tense is used to describe an action or an idea that is always true, such as scientific facts and physical laws.

a)Water consist of hydrogen and oxygen.

b)The average person breaths 21.600 a day.

c)The world is round.

These are facts that were, are and always will be true, unless scientists discover otherwise.

2)You can also use simple present to describe something that happens habitually. This means that you can use adverbs such as always, usually, often, sometimes ,never, etc.If you feel uncertain whether you should use the simple present tense or not, ask yourself if you can add one of these adverbs and the sentence still makes sense.

Americans (often) work very hard.

Mary (sometimes) drinks wine with dinner.

The teacher (always) gives a lot of homework.

Nurses (usually) wear white uniforms.

There are many verbs that usually cannot be in the simple present tense:

a) I decide to go to school.

Do you usually decide to go to school? No. a decision is usually made in a moment. It starts and ends very quickly. So you should say “I have decided to go to school” or “I decided to go to school”.

b) Dan becomes a good student.

Can someone usually become a good student? Become means to change from one thing to another, and the change usually happens in a moment. So again, you should say “Dan has become a good student” or “Dan became a good student”.

B.Form

1.Affirmative Statements: Subject + Verb.

Add (s) or (es)to the verb when is in third person singular.Use the base form of the verb.

I work, You work, He-she-it works, We work, They work.

2.Negative Statements: Subject + Do/ Does + Not + Verb.

I do not work,You don´t work,He/She/it does not work,We/They do not work.

3.Questions: Do/Does + Subject + Verb.

Do I work?,Do you work?, Does he/she/it work?, Do we work?,Do they work?.

Present Continuous

FORM

[am/is/are + present participle]

Examples:You are watching TV,Are you watching TV?,You are not watching TV.

Use of Present Continuos.

1) Use the Present Continuous with Normal Verbs to express the idea that something is happening now, Example: You are learning English now.

2) Longer Actions in Progress Now. Example: am studying to become a doctor.

3) Near Future: I am meeting some friends after work.

4) Repetition and Irritation with "Always". Example: She is always coming to class late.

Remember

· *Non-Continuous Verbs/ Mixed Verbs: She is loving this chocolate ice cream. Not Correct

· She loves this chocolate ice cream. Correct

ADVERB PLACEMENT

· You are still watching TV.

· Are you still watching TV?.

Exercise 1

Exercises: Please send it to the email: todoenidiomas@gmail.com.
and you will get the answer as soon as possible


Verb Tense Exercise 1

Simple Present / Present Continuous

1. Every Monday, Sally (drive) her kids to football practice.

2. Usually, I (work)
as a secretary at ABT, but this summer I (study) French at a language school in Paris. That is why I am in Paris.

3. Shhhhh! Be quiet! John (sleep)
.

4. Don't forget to take your umbrella. It (rain)
.

5. I hate living in Seattle because it (rain, always)
.

6. I'm sorry I can't hear what you (say)
because everybody (talk) so loudly.

7. Justin (write, currently)
a book about his adventures in Tibet. I hope he can find a good publisher when he is finished.

8. Jim: Do you want to come over for dinner tonight?
Denise: Oh, I'm sorry, I can't. I (go)
to a movie tonight with some friends.

9. The business cards (be, normally )
printed by a company in New York. Their prices (be) inexpensive, yet the quality of their work is quite good.

10. This delicious chocolate (be)
made by a small chocolatier in Zurich, Switzerland.

Present Continuous Forms

Positive

Negative

Question

· I am speaking.

· You _____ speaking.

· _____are speaking.

· They are speaking.

· He_________.

· She___ speaking.

· It is speaking.

· I am not speaking.

· You are not speaking.

· We_________

______________.

· They _________

· speaking.

· He is not speaking.

· She_______

_____________.

· It is not speaking.

· Am I speaking?

· ____you speaking?

· ___we ______?

· Are they speaking?

· Is he _______?

· Is she speaking?

· ______it speaking?

Present Simple Verbs

1)She ___ four languages.
a. speak
b. speaks

2)Jane is a teacher. She ___ French.
a. teach
b. teaches

3)When the kettle ___, will you make some tea?
a. boil
b. boils

4)I always ___ the window at night because it is cold.
a. close
b. closes

5)Those shoes ___ too much.
a. cost
b. costs

6)The food in Japan is expensive. It ___ a lot to live there.
a. cost
b. costs

7)His job is great because he ___ a lot of people.
a. meet
b. meets

8)He always ___ his car on Sundays.
a. wash
b. washes

9)My watch is broken and it ___ to be fixed again.
a. need
b. needs

10)I ___ to watch movies.
a. love
b. loves

11)I ___ to the cinema at least once a week.
a. go
b. goes

12)They never ___ tea in the morning.
a. drink
b. drinks

13)We both ___ to the radio in the morning.
a. listen
b. listens

14)He ___ a big wedding.
a. want
b. wants

15)George ___ too much so he's getting fat.
a. eat
b. eats

16)The earth ___ round the sun, doesn't it?
a. go
b. goes

17)The shops in England ___ at 9:00 in the morning.
a. open
b. opens

18)The post office ___ at 5:30 pm.
a. close
b. closes

19)Jackie ___ two children now.
a. has
b. have

20)Mr. Smith ___ too much. He always has a cigarette in his mouth.
a. smoke
b. smokes

21)When the phone ___, please answer it.
a. ring
b. rings

GRAMMAR_SIMPLE_PRESENT AND PRESENT_CONTINUOUS

Academic Reading Sample। Send the exercises to the e-mail: todoenidiomas@gmail.com.


Wind Power in the US

Prompted by the oil crises of the 1970s, a wind-power industry flourished briefly in the United States. But then world oil prices dropped, and funding for research into renewable energy was cut. By the mid 1980s US interest in wind energy as a large-scale source of energy had almost disappeared. The development of wind power at this time suffered not only from badly designed equipment, but also from poor long-term planning, economic projections that were too optimistic and the difficulty of finding suitable locations for the wind turbines.

Only now are technological advances beginning to offer hope that wind power will come to be accepted as a reliable and important source of electricity. There have been significant successes in California, in particular, where wind farms now have a capacity of 1500 megawatts, comparable to a large nuclear or fossil-fuelled power station, and produce 1.5 per cent of the state's electricity.

Nevertheless, in the U.S., the image of wind power is still distorted by early failures. One of the most persistent criticisms is that wind power is not a significant energy resource. Researchers at the Battelle Northwest Laboratory, however, estimate that today wind turbine technology could supply 20 per cent of the electrical power the country needs. As a local resource, wind power has even greater potential. Minnesota's energy commission calculates that a wind farm on one of the state's south western ridges could supply almost all that state's electricity. North Dakota alone has enough sites suitable for wind farms to supply more than a third of all electricity consumed in the continental US.

The prevailing notion that wind power is too costly results largely from early research which focused on turbines with huge blades that stood hundreds of metres tall. These machines were not designed for ease of production or maintenance, and they were enormously expensive. Because the major factors influencing the overall cost of wind power are the cost of the turbine and its supporting systems, including land, as well as operating and maintenance costs, it is hardly surprising that it was thought at the time that wind energy could not be supplied at a commercially competitive price. More recent developments such as those seen on California wind farms have dramatically changed the economic picture for wind energy. These systems, like installations in Hawaii and several European countries, have benefited from the economies of scale that come through standardised manufacturing and purchasing. The result has been a dramatic drop in capital costs: the installed cost of new wind turbines stood at $1000 per kilowatt in 1993, down from about $4000 per kilowatt in 1980, and continues to fall. Design improvements and more efficient maintenance programs for large numbers of turbines have reduced operating costs as well. The cost of electricity delivered by wind farm turbines has decreased from about 30 cents per kilowatt-hour to between 7 and 9 cents, which is generally less than the cost of electricity from conventional power stations. Reliability has also improved dramatically. The latest turbines run more than 95 per cent of the time, compared with around 60 per cent in the early 1980s. Another misconception is that improved designs are needed to make wind power feasible. Out of the numerous wind turbine designs proposed or built by inventors or developers, the propeller-blade type, which is based on detailed analytical models as well as extensive experimental data, has emerged as predominant among the more than 20,000 machines now in commercial operation world-wide. Like the gas-driven turbines that power jet aircraft, these are sophisticated pieces of rotating machinery. They are already highly efficient, and there is no reason to believe that other configurations will produce major benefits. Like other ways of generating electricity, wind power does not leave the environment entirely unharmed. There are many potential problems, ranging from interference with telecommunications to impact on wildlife and natural habitats. But these effects must be balanced against those associated with other forms of electricity generation. Conventional power stations impose hidden costs on society, such as the control of air pollution, the management of nuclear waste and global warming. As wind power has been ignored in the US over the past few years, expertise and commercial exploitation in the field have shifted to Europe. The European Union spends 10 times as much as the US government on research and development of wind energy. It estimates that at least 10 per cent of Europe's electrical power could be supplied by land-based wind-turbines using current technology. Indeed, according to the American Wind Energy Association, an independent organisation based in Washington, Denmark, Britain, Spain and the Netherlands will each surpass the US in the generating capacity of wind turbines installed during the rest of the decade.

Glossary

fossil fuel: coal, oil and natural gas
kilowatt: 1,000 watts; a watt is a unit of power
kilowatt-hour: one kilowatt for a period of one hour
megawatt: one million watts
wind farm: a group of wind turbines in one location producing a large amount of electricity
wind turbine: a machine which produces energy when the wind turns its blades

EXERCISES WITH THE READING

1)Underline all the verbs of the reading and change them to present.

2)Make a Summary of the reading using the lines above.

3)Write in your own words what you think about the reading

Questions 1 - 5

Complete the summary below using words from the box. Write your answers in boxes 1-5 on your answer sheet.

NB There are more words or phrases than you will need to fill the gaps. You may use any word or phrase more than once.

Example
The failure during the late 1970s and early 1980s of an attempt to establish a widespread wind power industry in the United States resulted largely from the …………….…....(1)…………... in oil prices during this period. The industry is now experiencing a steady ………....(2)……….... due to improvements in technology and an increased awareness of the potential in the power of wind. The wind turbines that are now being made, based in part on the ………….(3)……….... of wide-ranging research in Europe, are easier to manufacture and maintain than their predecessors. This has led wind-turbine makers to be able to standardise and thus minimise ………....(4)............. . There has been growing ………….(5)…………. of the importance of wind power as an energy source.

criticism

success

design costs

production costs

failure

stability

operating costs

fall

growth

recognition

scepticism

decisions

effects

decline

results

Questions 6 - 10

Look at the following issues (Questions 6-10) and the list of implications below (A-C). Match each issue with the correct implication. Write the correct letter A-C in boxes 6-10 on your answer sheet.
N.B. You may use any letter more than once.

Example
The current price of one wind-generated kilowatt... Answer A

Issues

6. The recent installation of systems taking advantage of economies of scale ...

7. The potential of meeting one fifth of current US energy requirements by wind power ...

8. The level of acceptance of current wind turbine technology ...

9. A comparison of costs between conventional and wind power sources ...

10. The view of wind power in the European Union ...

Implications

A provides evidence against claims that electricity produced from wind power is relatively expensive.

B supports claims that wind power is an important source of energy.

C opposes the view that wind power technology requires further development.

Examples of Task Type 3 – Sentence Completion

Example 1 without a choice of possible answers (Type A)

Questions 1 – 3

Complete the sentences below.

Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.

Write your answers in boxes 1-3 on your answer sheet.

1

Eating less helped rats in the experiments extend their .............. and................ .

2

Although they do not stop individuals growing old, ..............help them stay healthy.

3

Current research shows that monkeys react to caloric restriction in almost the same way as ................ .

Example 2 using a box of possible answers (Type B)

Question 1 – 4

Complete each sentence with the correct ending A-G from the box below.

Write the correct letter A-G in boxes 1-4 on your answer sheet.

1

It is unreasonable to assume that a child’s language

2

The predetermined biological programme governing the development of visual perception

3

The child’s exposure to normal language use

4

Penfield suggested that seemingly quick and effortless first language acquisition

A is influenced by having dual-nationality parents.
B is frequently inadequate and often defective.
C derives from the verbal behaviour of other people.
D has no clear start or finish.
E is linked to the development of the brain.
F is contingent for its activation on external stimulation.
G can be linked to socio-economic grouping.

EXERCISE 2. READING AND VOCABULARY

Send the exercises to the e-mail:todoenidiomas@gmail.com.

Change Tenses to Present

The First Scene of Hamlet

It was night in the castle of Elsinore in Denmark. A sentry was on guard, and another one, Bernardo, came to take his place. Both men were nervous and on edge, as if they expected something terrible to happen. Soon afterwards, Marcellus, an officer, arrived on the scene with a gentleman called Horatio. The soldiers began to tell Horatio about a strange vision they had seen on two previous occasions. Horatio was a realist and did not believe in ghosts, but while they were talking, the figure of a ghost suddenly appeared, dressed like the dead king of Denmark. Everyone was frightened but Horatio spoke to it. It did not answer him, apparently angry at his tone of voice. When it had gone, Horatio admitted that the figure had been just like the king. Everyone felt sure that this meant that something important was going to take place in Denmark. The ghost returned and Horatio begged it to tell them what it wanted. It was the point of speaking when a cook crowed. It was dawn and the ghost disappeared. The men were not surprised, since they believed that ghosts could only appear at night and that at Christmas the cock crowed all night long and evil spirits were never seen. They decided to tell Prince Hamlet, the son of the dead king, what they had seen.

Write a letter

Write a letter and send it to the e-mail: todoenidiomas@gmail.com Example



An Informal Letter

Write a letter to a pen-friend “Dowa”. Tell about yourself. Divide the letter in two paragraphs:

Address

Date

Begin: Dear…

Paragraph 1: Say who you are and where you live.

Write a short description of yourself and your locality.

Paragraph 2: Describe the other members of your family.

Paragraph 3: Talk about your father’s / mother’s job.

Paragraph 4: Describe your school.

Paragraph 5: Talk about what you want to be.

End with: Best whishes / Love

Your name