comprensin de textos en ingls

COMPRENSIÓN DE TEXTOS EN INGLÉS TEXT 1 ENGLISH LANGUAGE

English is a Germanic language originating in England, and the first language for most people in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. It is used as a second language and as an official language in the entire world, especially in countries such as India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and South Africa, and in international organisations. English is the dominant international language in communications, science, business, aviation, entertainment, radio and diplomacy. On a school day approximately one billion people learn English in one form or another. English is required in some professions and occupations. As a result over a billion people speak English at a basic level and it is one of six official languages of the United Nations.

Answer the following questions using your own words:

• Where does English originate? • Is it English an official language in United Nations? • What people speak English as a first language? • Why is English an international language?

Complete these sentences according to the text: People in Australia speak English as__________________________. More than a billion people___________________________________. English is a second language in ______________________________. This language is required ___________________________________.

TEXT 2 NESS MONSTER In Scotland, there is a popular legend about a monster. The monster lives in a lake called Loch Ness, near the town of Inverness. Loch Ness is 32 km long, 5 km wide, and very, very deep. The monster’s name is Nessie. People say that she is very big, and that she has got a long neck, like a snake. But does Nessie really exist? Some people say yes, some say no. Scientists are exploring the lake with cameras and sound equipment. Sometimes they see something and sometimes they hear something, but they do not understand the mystery of Loch Ness. The legend of the monster is very famous, and millions of tourists from all over the world come to Loch Ness. Everybody wants to be the first person to see Nessie. Come to Scotland and Loch Ness- that person can be you!

Answer the following questions using your own words.

• Where is the monster? • How is it? • What are scientists doing? • Do people visit Loch Ness? Why?

Are the following sentences true or false? Correct the false ones. The monster is a snake. Loch Ness is in Scotland. The lake is not very deep. People don’t know the story of Nessie.

TEXT 3 FOOTBALL The FIFA World Cup (often called the Football World Cup) is the most important men's competition in international football. The world's most representative team sport event, the World Cup is contested by the men's national football teams of Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) (the sport's largest governing body) member nations. The championship takes place every four years since the first tournament in 1930 (except in 1942 and 1946 due to World War II). However, it is more of an event every four years, as the qualifying rounds of the competition take place over the three years preceding the final rounds. In 1991, FIFA added a separate Women's World Cup. The men's final tournament phase (often called the "Finals") involves 32 national teams competing over a four-week period in a previously nominated host nation, with these games making it the most viewed sporting event in the world. In the 17 tournaments held, only seven nations won the World Cup Finals. Brazil is the most successful World Cup team; they won the tournament five times, while Germany and Italy follow with three titles each.

Answer the following questions using your own words

• When does the competition take place? • How many teams are playing the world cup? • How many nations have got the championship? • What is the most successful team?

Look for synonyms of these words in the text: SOCCER MAIN WATCHED COUNTRIES

TEXT 4 THE HISTORY OF FOOTBALL The history of football began 2.000 years ago. Football was very popular, but the football games had no rules. The players carried the ball and ran with it. People played different kinds of football in Greece, China and Japan. In England in 1800, students played football, but each school had different rules. In 1863, the Football Association had a meeting, they wrote the rules of football and we use these rules today. The history of the FIFA started in 1928 and the first competition in 1930 consisted of 13 teams. The first two World Cup matches took place simultaneously and France and the USA won.


• When did the football association write the rules of football? • How many teams played in the first game of the Fifa? • What people played football in England in 1800?

Look for the irregular and regular past simple forms of the verbs that appear in the text: REGULAR IRREGULAR BASE FORM Look for the meanings of these words in the dictionary and write them below: MEETING TAKE PLACE RULE

TEXT 5 JAMES DEAN James Dean was a film star. He made only three films. He died in a car crash in 1955 in California. He was only twenty-four years old. But in his short life he became the symbol of young people. He was a rebel. For years after he died his studio received 8000 letters a day. His fans couldn’t believe he was really dead. James Dean was born in February 1931 in Indiana. When he was five years old, his father got a job in Los Angeles and the family moved to California. Three years later his mother died and Jimmy went to live with his aunt and uncle. He wanted to be an actor and in 1952 he went to New York. He made some advertisements for Pepsi-Cola, appeared in television programmes and worked in the theatre. East of Eden was his first film, his second film was Rebel without a Cause and in his last film, Giant, he starred with Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson.


• What did he do in New York? • How did he die? • How old was he when his mother died? • What were his first works?

Classify these events chronologically:

• Car crash in California. • Moved to California. • He went to New York. • Lived with his uncle and aunt. • Born in Indiana.

TEXT 6 LONDON London — containing the City of London — is the capital of the United Kingdom and of England and is recognised as one of the key "world cities". With over seven million inhabitants (Londoners) in Greater London, it is the second-most populous conurbation in Europe, after Moscow. Founded as Londinium, the capital of the Roman province of Britannia, it later rose to become the centre of the British Empire. Today it generates over 17% of the GDP of the UK's economy, the world's fourth largest, and is a major financial centre along with New York and Tokyo. For several centuries, London has been one of the most influential powers in politics, finance, arts and fashion and remains so today.


• How many inhabitants has London got? • What was its original name? • Is it a populous city? • Where is London?

Complete with a suitable word:

• Londoners are people ________ live in London. • It is the ________ of England. • This city is a ________ city.

TEXT 7 THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE The University of Cambridge is the second-oldest university in the English-speaking world (after Oxford). It is situated in the town of Cambridge, England. According to legend, the university was founded in 1209 by scholars escaping from Oxford after a fight with locals there. Cambridge has produced more Nobel Prize winners than any other university in the world, having 80 associated with it, about 70 of whom were students there. It regularly heads league tables ranking British universities, and a recent league table by the Times Higher Education Supplement rated it sixth in the world overall and first for science. The universities of Oxford and Cambridge, often referred to together as Oxbridge, compete to be seen as the strongest overall university in the UK. Historically, they have produced a significant proportion of Britain's prominent scientists, writers and politicians.


• Where is the university? • How old is it? • How was the university founded? • Explain important facts related to it.

Make a brief summary of the text you have read with your words: Using the Internet as a resource write about the story of an important university in Spain.

TEXT 8 J.R.TOLKIEN John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (January 3, 1892–September 2, 1973) was the author of The Hobbit and its sequel The Lord of the Rings, his most famous work. A former pupil of King Edward's School, Birmingham, he worked as Professor of Anglo-Saxon at the University of Oxford from 1925 to 1945, and as Professor of English Language and Literature, also at Oxford, from 1945 to 1959. He was an eminently distinguished lexicographer and an expert in Anglo-Saxon and Old Norse. He belonged to the literary discussion group the Inklings, through which he enjoyed a close friendship with C. S. Lewis. In addition to the The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien's published fiction includes a number of posthumous books about the history of the imaginary world of Middle-earth, where his stories take place. The enduring popularity and influence of these works have established Tolkien as the father of the modern high fantasy genre. Tolkien's other published fiction includes adaptations of stories originally told to his children and not directly related to Middle-earth.


• Give titles of his works. • Where did he work? • What was the Inklings? • Where did he study?

Write the biography of another important writer in English language. (80 words)

TEXT 9 THE EUROPEAN UNION The European Union (EU) is a unique political and economic community with supranational and intergovernmental dimensions. It is composed of twenty-seven member states primarily located in Europe. In 1957, six European countries formed the European Economic Community (EEC) by the Treaty of Rome. Since then the EU has grown in size through the accession of new member states and has increased its powers by the addition of new policy areas to its remit. In 1993, the Maastricht Treaty established the base of the current legal framework. The EU created a single market which seeks to guarantee the freedom of movement of people, goods, services and capital between member states. It maintains a common trade policy, agricultural and fisheries policies, and a regional development policy. In 1999 the EU introduced a common currency, the euro, which has been adopted by thirteen member states. It has also developed a role in foreign policy, and in justice and home affairs. Passport control and customs checks between many member states were abolished under the Schengen Agreement. With over 492 million citizens the EU generates an estimated nominal GDP of €8.6 ($10.7) trillion in 2007. It represents its members in the WTO and observes the G8 summits. Twenty EU countries are members of NATO. Important institutions of the EU include the European Commission, the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union, the European Council, the European Court of Justice and the European Central Bank. EU citizens elect the Parliament every five years.


• When was it founded? • What was its main aim? • How many citizens has the Union got? • Do you need a passport if you travel to a member state? Why?

Say if these sentences are true or false. Justify your answers. The European Union is composed of twenty- seven member states. It was created to guarantee fisheries policies. The euro was adopted in 1999. All states of EU are members of NATO.

TEXT 10

BILL GATES

He's the most famous businessman in the world. Many pages have been written about how he has dominated the revolution in personal computing. But we know little about him as a person. Here's a familiar anecdote which may show his personality: when Bill Gates was in the sixth grade, his parents decided that he needed some kind of help. He was at war with his mother Mary, an extrovert woman who believed that he should do what she told him. She would call him to dinner from his bedroom, which she had given up trying to make him clean, but he wouldn't respond. "What are you doing?" she once asked him. "I'm thinking," Bill answered. "You're thinking?" "Yes, Mom, I’m thinking," he said aggressively. "Have you tried thinking?" Finally, his parents decided to send him to a psychologist. The psychologist concluded that Bill was extremely intelligent. After a one year session and a large amount of tests, the psychologist told Bill’s parents: "You're going to lose. You had better adjust to it because there’s no use trying to punish him. It's useless to try to compete with him." A lot of computer companies have concluded the same.


• What do we know about his life? • Why did his parents think that he needed a psychologist? • What did the psychologist conclude?

Make a definition of these words:

PSYCHOLOGIST

AGRESSIVELY

PUNISH

TEXT 11

MCDONALD’S BOSS DIES SUDDENLY The Chief executive of McDonald’s, the world’s largest fast-food chain, has died from a suspected heart attack. Jim Cantalupo, 60, was taken ill during a meeting of franchise owners in Orlando, Florida, the company said. His death is a severe blow to McDonald’s at a time when the chain is trying to shed its image as a supplier of high-fat, high-salt and high-sugar food. In his 16 months at the helm, Mr Cantalupo turned the company’s fortunes round. As well as slowing its breakneck expansion programme and closing hundreds of under-performing outlets,he tried to address criticisms that McDonald’s was contributing to the obesity epidemic in the US and Europe. When Mr Cantalupo became chairman and chief executive in January last year after a management shake-up, Mc Donald’s was in the doldrums. Changing tastes, the mad cow disease scare and the perception that its menu was tired had hit sales, particularly in Europe and Asia. In December 2002, McDonald’s went into the red for the first time in its 48-year history. Mr Cantalupo, a former vice-chairman and president, who had retired a year earlier, was brought back as the new boss.


• What impression do people have about McDonald’s food? • What did Mr Cantalupo achieve in the 16 months he was in

charge of McDonald’s?

Are the following statements True or false? • Mr Cantalupo felt ill while meeting with French clients in Orlando. • Mr Cantalupo was already retired when he became McDonald’s boss

again. Find a word or expression in the text which, in context, is similar in meaning to:

• Provider • A group of shops or restaurants owned by the same company

Choose a, b, or c, in each question below. Only one choice is correct. 1. In order to save the company Mr Cantalupo tried to a. promote the company’s fast expansion. b. defend the company from accusations of contributing to obesity. c. change people’s tastes. 2. Mr Cantalupo a. broke his neck in Orlando. b. worked for the company for 48 years. c. had been McDonald’s president before. 3. McDonald’s sales had declined specially in Europe and Asia due to a. scare mad cows. b. a change in people’s food preferences. c. a change in McDonald’s menu. 4. In December 2002 McDonald’s a. was in debt for the first time in its history. b. was furious with Mr Cantalupo. c. forced Mr Cantalupo to retire. Composition (100 words). What are the advantages or disadvantages of fast food? Give reasons.

TEXT 12

THE USE OF ENGLISH AS A GLOBAL TONGUE IS BOOMING, AND SO IS CONCERN.

THALWIL, Switzerland – In the tall stucco schoolhouse here its big, airy classrooms and views of Lake Zurich, English has become part of the daily routine.

Students as young as 7 are learning multiplication or discussing the weather in English. In one classroom, lists of songs that the first grade has already mastered include not only local German tunes but “Old Mc Donald” and “How are you this morning?”.

Parents are delighted. “It is something that you need,” said Beatrix Caforeo, whose son, Andrea, goes to the school there. “Everywhere people are speaking Englsih, not just abroad.”

Throughout Europe, English is growing in use and acceptability. Beyond the schoolhouse here, European Universities, particularly in Northern Europe, are giving courses in science, philosophy and business in English. Even some companies like the French telecommunications giant Alcatel –state-owned until 1982- now use English as their internal language.

But the growing use of English is not going down easily everywhere. The English program here has caused an uproar in other parts of the country, where critics have questioned why English should be taught before another one of Switzerland’s four national languages. In many places and in many ways, Europe is debating the growing prominence of English.

Some see it as the language that might bind the Continent together. In one European Union survey, 70 percent of those surveyed agreed with the proposition that “everybody should speak English.” But nearly as many said their own language needed to be protected. Capturing the right balance is a subject of debate.

Read each definition below and choose the word from the list that matches the definition.

mastered tunes delighted uproar bind surveyed balance

Commotion, tumult

Learned, studied

Tie, secure, joint

Equilibrium, equality

Very pleased

Answer the following questions according to the text. Try to use your own words.

According to the text, where in Europe, besides the Swiss school, is English increasing in use?

What is the main argument against the teaching of English in Switzerland?

What do the defenders of using English as a global language contend?

According to the article, what seems to be the opinion of the majority of Europeans?

Complete the following paragraph with the correct form of the verb in brackets.

In Switzerland, some politicians and editorial writers (attack) ______________________ the program in Thalwil with passion, asking why in a country with four national languages children (learn) ______________________ English as their first foreign language. However, the fiercest defenders of their language (be) ______________________ the French. Numerous laws (establish) ______________________ in France in the last decade intended to protect the French language. But France and Switzerland (be) ______________________ not alone in considering legal action to protect national languages.

TEXT 13

A DANGEROUS GAME TO PLAY

The legal limit for driving after drinking alcohol is 80 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood when tested. But there is no sure way of telling how much you can drink before you reach this limit. It varies with each person depending on your weight, your sex, if you’ve eaten and what sort of drinks you’ve had. Some people might reach their limit after only about three standard drinks.

In fact, your driving ability can be affected by just one or two drinks. Even if you’re below the legal limit, you could still be taken to court if a police officer thinks your driving has been affected by alcohol.

It takes about one hour for the body to get rid of the alcohol in one standard drink. So, if you have a heavy drinking session in the evening you might find that your driving ability is still affected the next morning, or you could even find that you’re still over the legal limit.

In a test with professional drivers, the more alcoholic drinks they had had the more certain they were that they could drive a test course through a set of movable posts... and less able they were to do it! So the only way to be sure you’re safe is not to drink at all.

Alcohol is a major cause of road traffic accidents. One in three of the drivers killed in road accidents have levels of alcohol which are over the legal limit, and road accidents after drinking are the biggest cause of death among young men. More than half of the people stopped by the police to take a breathalyzer test have a blood alcohol concentration more than twice the legal limit.

Read the text and answer these questions in your own words.

o What is the main idea the author wants to express?

o If you have been drinking at night, why might your driving be affected the following morning?

o What are the main causes of road traffic accidents?

Explain the meaning of the following sentences in your own words.

You’re over the legal limit. (Paragraph 3)

Alcohol is a major cause of road traffic accidents. (Paragraph 5)

Complete the following sentences using can, may, must, ought to, need, dare, used to.

Those children ____________________ wear their Wellington boots; it is pouring with rain.

I ____________________ buy some more tea, I don’t have any left.

____________________ you practise your trumpet so loud?

You ____________________ not bother to wait up for me, I shall be very late.

He ____________________ not admit that he was the one who did it.

He ____________________ play golf very well but he hasn=t practised for a long time.

You ____________________ not work so hard.

I ____________________ not spend all the money on a hat. My husband would be cross.

He ____________________ run faster than all the other boys in his class.

You ____________________ not expect him to remember your birthday.

Explain in English the meaning of the following phrases.

Have a heavy drinking session (paragraph 3)

A breathalyzer test (paragraph 5)

Summarize paragraph 1 in about 30 words.

Imagine you had a car accident. Explain how it happened in 80 words.

TEXT 14

DEATH PENALTY

One issue that didn’t really provoke a lot of discussion in the last presidential election was the death penalty. The reason was a simple one: both the Democrats and the Republicans, along with 75% of the American public, are absolutely in favour of it. Clinton, who supposedly represents the less right-wing of the two main parties, had trouble in demonstrating his support for capital punishment. This, it seems, was part of a well-planned strategy to capture the all important middle-ground in American politics. And yet, in its enthusiasm for the death penalty, the United States remains strangely out of sync with other western democracies. The nations that practise capital punishment are those that many Americans would consider primitive or even barbaric. They include China, Iran, Iraq, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and the former Soviet Union. Even South Africa, for decades the most hated country in the world, has abolished the death penalty. This decision came shortly after the ending of the apartheid.

Why, then, the Americans determination to maintain the death penalty? For us, Europeans this is something that remains incomprehensible.

Find in the text words with the same or similar meaning to:

Conservative:

Voters who are in the middle of the two main political parties, without being

absolutely in favour of either of them:

Which does not follow the general tendency:

Question, matter:

Answer the following questions without copying from the text.

• What is the Americans opinion about the death penalty?

• Is this opinion shared by many other countries? Which ones?

• What do we know about the author of this text?

Join these sentences, making conditionals.

The death penalty did not provoke a lot of discussion in the last presidential

election. Both parties were in favour.

Clinton followed a well-planned strategy. He captured the all-important middle

ground in American politics.

Some nations practise capital punishment. They are considered primitive or

even barbaric.

South Africa abolished the death penalty after ending the apartheid. Otherwise,

it would still be much hated.

Change the following sentences into the passive.

Even South Africa has abolished the death penalty.

Clinton supposedly represents the less right-wing of the two main parties.

They had to capture the all-important middle ground in American politics.

Composition (80 words). Choose one of the following topics.

A. Death penalty. Can it be justified in some cases?

B. Can you tell the argument of any film you have seen about death penalty, or

life imprisonment?

TEXT 15

BLACK ENGLISH

During the early years of American settlement, a highly distinctive form of English was beginning to develop in the islands of the West Indies and the southern part of the mainland, spoken by the incoming black population. The beginning of the seventeenth century saw the emergence of the slave trade. Ships from Europe travelled to the West African coast, where they exchanged cheap goods for black slaves. The slaves were shipped in barbarous conditions to the Caribbean islands and the American coast, where they were in turn exchanged for such commodities as sugar, rum, and molasses. The ships then returned to England, completing an 'Atlantic triangle' of journeys, and the process began again. Britain and the United States had outlawed the stave trade by 1865, but by that time, nearly 200 years of trading had taken place. By the middle of the nineteenth century, there were over four million black slaves in America.

The policy of the slave-traders was to bring people of different language backgrounds together in the ships, to make it difficult for groups to plot rebellion. The result was the growth of several pidgin forms of communication, and in particular a pidgin between the slaves and the sailors, many of whom spoke English. Once arrived in the Caribbean, this pidgin English continued to act as a major means of communication between the black population and the new landowners, and among the blacks themselves. Then, when children came to be born, the pidgin became their mother tongue, thus producing the first black Creole speech in the region. This Creole English rapidly came to be used throughout the cotton plantations, and in the coastal towns and islands. Similarly, creolized forms of French, Spanish and Portuguese emerged in and around the Caribbean.

Match the following words with the suitable definition or synonym.

emergence trade rum molasses outlaw growth landowner

Proprietor, farmer.

Declare somebody to be punished or considered a criminal.

Development.

Exchange tools or services for money or other goods

Strong alcoholic drink.

Answer the following questions according to the text.

• When did the slave trade begin?

• When was the slave trade forbidden in the USA?

• Why did the pidgins emerge?

• What kind of job did the slaves have?

Put the verbs in brackets into the Simple Past or Past Continuous.

a. Zoë (come) _______________________ round in her car and they (drive)

_______________________ to the tennis courts.

b. Two other people (use) _______________________ their court when they

(arrive) _______________________.

c. They (buy) _______________________ ice-creams while they (wait)

_______________________ to play.

Complete the text using the Present Continuous or the Present Simple.

I (go) _______________________ London next Thursday. “Burning

Spear”, my favourite reggae band, (give) _______________________ a concert

at Wembley. I (go) _______________________ with Beth. We (not go)

_______________________ by train; it is much cheaper by coach. The coach

(leave) _______________________ Plymouth at 12.30 p.m.

Composition. Write 80 words about the following subject: What kind of job would you like to have?

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