Learning Blog: 2012

Gerunds and Infinitives 1

In each gap, type either the gerund or the infinitive form of the verb in parentheses.

Your score is: 72%.

Some of the answers are incorrect or incomplete. Keep going!

Yuri was in his first year at university, studying History. He was rather a lazy student, and he tended to avoid (work) working whenever he could. In the middle of the semester, his history professor gave out an assignment, due in two weeks. Yuri intended (do) to do the assignment, but he postponed (write)  it for a week. The following week, he forgot (do) to do it. The night before the assignment was due, he suddenly remembered it, and rushed to the library. He tried (read) to read as much as possible on the topic, but there wasn't enough time. Yuri considered (ask) asking for more time to do his paper, but the History professor was known to be very tough on students, so finally he decided (cheat) to cheatand copy his paper from somewhere else. He found an old article on the same topic, and quickly typed it out. The next day, he submitted the paper.

The following week, he was alarmed (see) to see the professor approaching him, looking angry. "Is this your own work, or did you copy it?" asked the professor. Yuri denied (copy)  the paper.
"If you expect me (believe) to believe that, you must think I am very stupid," said the professor. "Every word is taken from an article I wrote myself five years ago. Did you really think I would forget (write)  it?"

Word formation

Marina Blum, a student, travelled by herself for	MEDICINE

ten months last year in South America. 'I wasn't	FRIGHTEN

by the idea of doing a long trip without a . Some	COMPANY

people think that travelling alone is a sign of ,	SELFISH

but you are freer when you can make all the on	DECIDE

your own. When I was ill, I felt lonely, but I made	OCCASION

many friends. However, I was to avoid obviously	CARE

situations. In some countries people stared and	DANGER

made rude comments. Sometimes I reacted , but	AGGRESSION

I never worried about my . I will definitely travel	SAFE

like that again. Next time I will be more and I	PATIENCE
won't try to do so much.' FRIGHTENED COMPANION SELFISHNESS DECISIONS OCCASIONALLY CAREFUL DANGEROUS AGGRESSIVELY SAFETY PATIENT

Error correction

MY LIFE AS A BARRY MANILOW FAN

I at first saw Barry Manilow on a TV programme in 1979. The

next day I went out and bought all the records of his that I

could find. I have been to 115 concerts now. I went to the New

York for two weeks because of he was doing 10 shows at Radio

City Music Hall. I saw all 10. You don't go to all that way

and only go to two or three, do you? Some people say I am too

crazy, but it does not seem so excessive, if you will compare

me with a football supporter going to see his favourite team

every week. I have got more 80 videotapes of Barry and a

	8	couple of hundred records. What I dream about is having dinner

	9	with him. Of course, there isn't any chance that could never

	10	happen. I don't think Barry understands it why thousands of

	11	women feel the way they do about him. It hurts to admit it, but

	12	he must sometimes to feel like running away from his fans.

	13	Life can be boring, but if I will have a concert to look

	14	forward to. I am excited. One day he will stop doing concerts,

	15	but that is something I dare not think about it too much.

Rewriting sentences

Richard seldom fell ill when he was a child.

hardly

Richard was HARDLY ever ill in (during) his childhood.

Drunk driving causes many accidents.

Many accidents are caused BY drunk driving.

Why don't you stay in bed for a few days?

If I were you, I'd (I would) stay in bed for a few days.

4.	You seem to have a terrible cold.
	as
	It looks AS if (AS though) you have a terrible cold.
5.	Take this medicine and you'll soon feel better.
	you
	If you take this medicine, YOU'll (YOU will) soon feel better.
6.	Apples are better for you than cakes.
	you
	Cakes are not as good for YOU as apples.

7.	Can I borrow your hot water bottle?
	mind
	Do you MIND lending me your hot water bottle?
8.	The new doctor is going to give me a health check.
	going
	I am GOING to be given am GOING to be given a health check by the new doctor.
9.	Before you buy a boat, you ought to learn to swim.
	had
	Before you buy a boat, you HAD better learn to swim.
10.	I prefer having an injection to feeling the dentist's drill.
	rather
	I'd RATHER have an injection than feel the dentist's drill.

Open gap-filling

ELSA SCHIAPARELLI (1896-1973)

The innovation of a top fashion designer greatly

influence the public's taste dress.

Elsa Schiaparelli was a French designer ideas

shocked the fashion world of the 1930s. Today she is mainly

remembered for the padded shoulder popular

and introducing the fashion world the colour

'shocking pink'.

Schiaparelli was Italian birth, but attended French, Swiss and English

schools before working in the United States. In 1920 she went to Paris she

made friends with Salvador Dali, Jean Cocteau and other surrealist artists

influenced the design of the clothes she made for herself. As a result of wearing

own striking black and white sweaters, Schiaparelli began

orders from an American store.

In 1929 the store's managers were impressed that they decided to set her

in business. Soon she able to expand into jewellery, perfume,

cosmetics, lingerie and swimsuits and to commission her artist friends to create further

fashion ideas.

After the war, it was not clear was going to happen to the fashion industry.

But by 1947 Schiaparelli and others re-established Paris as the heart of the

fashion world. She continued to spread the city's fashions across the world on a

large commercial scale her death in 1973.

Multiple-choice gap-filling

WOMEN IN HISTORY

	Is the history of the world in need of correction?
	Some historians, mostly women, argue that insufficient
	has been paid to a very important group: women.
	These historians history textbooks to be revised
	so that they show accurately the role by women.

the history books, cavemen most of the food for their

families through hunting animals. But the shows that 80% of the diet of

prehistoric humans was vegetarian and it was collected by females. ,

women's efforts in fighting in wars or leading revolutions have been ignored. Textbooks

concentrate on men such as Hannibal or Che Guevara and neglect

women such as Théroigne de Méricourt, an opera singer who led the storming of the

Bastille in 1789, or Mariya Bochkareva, a Bolshevik who organised a well-trained and

successful troop of 2,000 fighting women during the Russian revolution in

1917. Women rulers are also forgotten. Between 962 and 1582 there were at least 16

women rulers in countries from Italy to Angola.

Women up half the human . If there is no to their

contribution to history in the textbooks, then the real story is not being told. However

many male historians that important female figures have been kept

the history books.

A PECULIAR FAMILY

You are going to listen a conversation between Jane Gordon and Rex Courier, the counsellor on a radio phone-in programme. First of all, listen just for a gist and choose the most appropriate title for this conversation from the menu. Then check the correct answer.
Don't worry if there are some words you don't understand: you should be able to get the general idea without needing to use your dictionary.

lunes, 19 de noviembre de 2012