B2 LESSON 14 HOW TO READ NEWSPAPERS HEADLINES

 NEWSPAPER HEADLINES

Have you ever read an item of news in a newspaper? If you haven’t, you may not imagine how difficult it can be and if you have, you may not have understood a lot. Here’s an explanation on newspaper writing. Read it carefully and afterwards check your level of understanding by reading some news, you’ll see then that it’s not that difficult, after being explained, of course! ق

Newspaper headlines are not always complete sentences:

1- Many headlines consist of noun phrases with no verb.

MORE POWER CUTS

       (There are/will be more power cuts)

 

TERROR ALERT IN CAPITAL

       (There is/was a terror alert in the capital)

 

2- Articles and the verb be are often left out in headlines.

 HUSSAIN PAINTING OBSCENE, SAYS MINISTER 

       (The Hussain painting is obscene, says the Minister)

OLD MAN SCALES EVEREST

(An old man, has scaled Mt. Everest)

 3- In headlines, simple tenses are often used instead of progressive (-ing forms) or perfect forms. The simple present is used for both present and past events.

 FORMER PM PASSES AWAY

 (Former PM has passed away.)

 BLIND GIRL CLIMBS EVEREST

 (Blind girl has climbed Everest.)

 4- The present progressive is used to talk about changes. Be is usually eliminated.

 EARTH GETTING WARMER, SAY SCIENTISTS 

(Earth is getting warmer) 

TRADE FIGURES IMPROVING

(Trade figures are improving)

5- Headlines often use infinitives to refer to the future.

 PM TO VISIT CANADA

 

(The PM is going to visit Canada)

BUSINESS SCHOOLS TO TAKE MORE STUDENTS 

(Business schools are going to take more students)

 

6- For is also used to refer to future movements or plans.

 INDIAN TROOPS FOR IRAQ?

 

(Are Indian soldiers going to be sent to Iraq?)

 MORE TESTS FOR STUDENTS

 

(More tests are in store for students this year)

 7- Auxiliary verbs are usually dropped from passive structures, leaving only past participles.

 

SIX PEOPLE KILLED IN EXPLOSION

      (Six people have been killed in an explosion)

 

INDIAN HELD FOR MURDER

      (An Indian is being/has been held for murder)

Note that forms like held, found and attacked are usually past participles with passive meanings, not past tenses.

Compare:

 NUCLEAR DEAL ROW: PM ATTACKED

 

(PM has been attacked because of a nuclear deal fight.)

 NUCLEAR DEAL ROW: PM ATTACKS OPPOSITION

 

(PM has attacked his opposition because of a nuclear deal fight)

A colon (:) is often used to separate the subject of a headline from what is said about it.

       POWER CRISIS: GOVERNMENT TO ACT

 

(The Government is going to act over the power crisis)

BUILDING COLLAPSE:  DEATH TOLL RISES 

(The death toll from the building collapse has risen)

---------END OF LESSON 14 ----

B2 LESSON 13: CONNECTING IDEAS

 HOW TO CONNECT CONTRASTING IDEAS

CONNECTORS AND LINKERS

LINKERS

Contrast  (The main difference between although, even though, in spite of and despite is that they are used with different structures. )

.     In spite of / Despite Link two contrasting ideas. Followed by a noun phrase. 

.     Although / (Even) though Link two contrasting ideas. Followed by a sentence. 

.     However / Nevertheless / Still / Yet / Even so / On the contrary / In contrast. Introduce a new idea which marks a contrast with previously stated ideas. Introduced by a comma. 

.     On the one hand ... On the other hand. Links two contrasting ideas / paragraphs. 

.     In contrast to / Contrary to. Link two contrasting ideas. Followed by a noun phrase. 

.     Whereas Link two contrasting ideas. Not separated by commas. 

Reason and cause

.     Because / As / Since / Seeing that Introduce a sentence. Subordinate sentences introduced by because always appear in final position. 

.     Because of / On account of / Owing to / Due to. Introduce a noun phrase. 

Purpose

 

.     In order to / So as to Introduce an infinitive of purpose.

.     In order that / So that Introduce a sentence. 

Consequence

    . Consequently / As a consequence / As a result / Therefore   

    . As a consequence of / As a result of Followed by a noun phrase. 

.     So Introduces a sentence. No commas.   

Addition

    . Moreover / Furthermore / In addition / Besides / What's more Used after a strong pause and separated from the sentences. They are introduced by a comma. 

    . As well as / In addition to / Besides Used to add  one more piece of information. Followed by a noun phrase. 

. Exemplification/ Illustration

      For example / For instance Introduces an example referring to previously stated ideas. 

.     Such as Introduces an example referring to the last idea.

CONNECTORS

Contrast

. but / yet: followed by a noun phrase or a sentence. 

‘The book is short but / yet interesting’

. in spite of / despite: It is placed at the beginning or in the middle of the sentence.

‘He arrived on time despite / in spite of getting up late’

although / though/ even though / in spite of the fact that: followed by a complete sentence. They can be placed at the beginning or in the middle of the sentence. If it is placed at the beginning we need to use a comma after the clause.  

  ‘Although / though / even though / in spite of the fact that the pupils had not studied, they all passed their exams’. 

  

. however, nevertheless, even so, on the one hand, on the other hand, on the contrary: 

‘He was quite ill however/ nevertheless/ even so, he went to school’

  

. while, whereas   

‘This film is very interesting, while/whereas that one is quite boring’  

Reason and cause

. because, as since, seeing that:  

‘Because / as / since / seeing that it’s late, we should go home’ 

. because of, on account of, owing to, due to: 

    ‘Because of / on account of / owing to / due to the weather, we stayed at home’

. in order to, so as to, to: 

‘She uses her video in order to / so as to / to record TV programmes’ 

Add information

. for example, for instance, such as: 

‘Vegetables are a good source of vitamins: for example / for instance, oranges have vitamin C’ 

. more over, furthermore, besides, in addition to: 

‘In addition to soul music, she likes rap’ 

. apart from, except for: 

‘Apart from English, she speaks French’.

Succession

. - First of all / Firstly / To begin with / First …. 

 - Second / Secondly / Then … 

 - Third / Thirdly / After that...

 - The next stage … 

 - Finally / in short / to sum up / in conclusion / lastly / last but not least…  

  

 Result

. As a result of: 

‘As a result of his brave action, he was awarded a military medal. 

Therefore, as a result, consequently, for this reason: 

‘Consequently / for this reason, it always passes its annual road test’. 

Order

First parragraph

At first sight: A primera vista
First: En primer lugar
First of all: Antes que nada
In the first place: En primer lugar
To start with: Para empezar


Second paragraph

In the second place: En segundo lugar
Second: Segundo
Secondly: En segundo lugar
Third: Tercero
Thirdly: En tercer lugar


Conclusion

Finally: Por último
In conclusion: Para concluir
Lastly: Por último
And eventually: Y finalmente


Adding information

apart from: Aparte de
in addition: Además
in addition to: Además de
What’s more: Además; lo que es más
moreover: Además
on top of that: Además
besides: Además
On the one hand: Por una parte
On the other hand: Por otra parte
and eventually: Y finalmente

Contrast

all the same: a pesar de todo
however: sin embargo
instead of: en vez de
in spite of / despite: a pesar de
nevertheless: no obstante
on the contrary: por el contrario
whereas / while: mientras
though / although: aunque

Reason

because of + noun: a causa de
due to + noun: debido a
due to the fact that + sentence: debido a que 
for this / that reason:  por esta / esa razón
owing to + noun: debido a 
owing to the fact that + sentence: debido a que

Result

as a result: como resultado
because of: a causa de
consequently: en consecuencia
so: por lo tanto
that's why: por eso, por esa razón...
therefore: por lo tanto


Expressing facts
actually: en realidad
as a matter of fact: de hecho
in fact: de hecho
really: en realidad

Expressing a personal opinion
as far as I am concerned por lo que a mí respecta
from my point of view desde mi punto de vista
I agree estoy de acuerdo
I disagree no estoy de acuerdo
in my opinion en mi opinión
in my view según lo veo
I think that creo que
it is true that es verdad que
personally personalmente
to be honest, para ser honesto
to tell the truth, a decir verdad

Explain

that is (to say): es decir
in other words: en otras palabras
in short: en resumen
above all: sobre todo

all in all: en general

at least: al menos

basically: básicamente, fundamentalmente

especially: especialmente, sobre todo

essentially: esencialmente

in general: en general

in particular: en particular

more or less: más o menos

on the whole: en general

to a certain extent: hasta cierto punto

Exemplifying
and so on: etcétera

for example: por ejemplo

for instance: por ejemplo

such: as tal(es)como

Summarizing
all in all: en suma

in brief: en resumen

in conclusion: Para concluir

in short: en resumen

on the whole: en general

to sum up: Para resumir

Sequencing
after that: después de eso

all of a sudden: de repente

Finally: Finalmente

First of all: En primer lugar

in the end: al final

in the meantime: mientras tanto

meanwhile: mientras tanto

next: luego

suddenly: de repente

then: entonces, después

while: mientras

Go to www.youandl.com for exercises on how to use these linkers and connectors.

---------------------------END OF LESSON 13--------------------------

B2 LESSON 12 DESCRIBING A PROCESS

 LA VOZ PASIVA EN INGLES

USAMOS LA VOZ PASIVA EN INGLES PARA DESCRIBIR PROCESOS O PROCEDIMIENTOS.

Hasta ahora todos los tiempos verbales que aprendiste en inglés están en VOZ ACTIVA; es decir, en las oraciones que redactabas te referías a una acción- usando un verbo- verbo) que realizaba una persona- el sujeto-

USOS ¿CUÁNDO USAMOS LA VOZ PASIVA?

I-             Cuando queremos dar más importancia a la acción y no a quién la realiza.

II-             Cuando queremos describir un procedimiento.

 

 FORM- STUDY THE TABLE

VOZ ACTIVA       Carlos ate all of the cookies. (Carlos comió todas las galletas.)   VOZ PASIVA            All of the cookies were eaten. (Todas las galletas fueron comidas.)

GRAMMATICAL RULES- REGLAS GRAMATICALES

 La voz pasiva se forma con el verbo "TO BE" y el participio pasado del verbo de la oración.

Antes de comenzar vamos a recordar las formas del verbo TO BE que vimos en cartillas

VERB TO BE Complete the information

                                  Affirmative                   Negative

1. Presente simple	IS-ARE- .........	ISN´T-   AREN`T-
2.Presente continuo	IS BEING- ARE BEING- ........	.......... .............
4. Pasado simple	WAS-WERE	WASN´T- WEREN´T
5. Pasado continuo	WAS BEING-WERE BEING	........... .................
6. Futuro (Will)	WILL BE	WON´T.........
7.Futuro (going to)	IS GOING TO BE/ ARE GOING TO BE-	ISN`T GOING TO BE
8. Presente Perfecto	HAVE BEEN/ HAS BEEN	..........................
9. Pasado Perfecto	HAD BEEN	...................................
10. Verbos modales	CAN-MAY-MUST-HAVE TO SHOULD + BE	...................................

Para pasar oraciones de la voz activa a la voz pasiva, simplemente tienes que:

                   1) Cambiar el orden del sujeto y el objeto.

                   2) Añadir el auxiliar “to be” en el tiempo verbal de la voz

                      activa.

                   3) Añadir el participio del verbo principal

People speak Spanish in Argentina V. ACTIVA

  (objeto)  Spanish is spoken in Argentina V. PASIVA

Ejemplos: para analizar y TRADUCIR  

 1. Presente simple

 Voz activa: John writes the letter

 Voz pasiva: The letter is written by John

 

2. Presente continuo

 Voz activa: John is writing the letter

 Voz pasiva: The letter is being written by John

 

3. Pasado simple

 Voz activa: John wrote the letter

 Voz pasiva: The letter was written by John

 

4. Pasado continuo

 Voz activa: John was writing the letter

 Voz pasiva: The letter was being written by John

  

5. Futuro (Will)

 Voz activa: John will write the letter

 Voz pasiva: The letter will be written by John

 

6. Futuro (going to)

 Voz activa: John is going to write the letter

 Voz pasiva: The letter is going to be written by John

 En español es común encontrar la traducción del uso de la pasiva con “SE”:

SE VENDEN pastelitos

SE REPARAN bicicletas

SE CONSTRUYÓ en 1990

LET´S WORK

A- IDENTIFY THE PASSIVE CONSTRUCTION IN EACH SENTENCE.

      What tense is it?

1. This programe is shown on TV every Thursday.

2. These computers aren’t produced any more.

3. The money will be sent to Tokyo.

4. The Pope was being guarded by many people.

5. Our classroom is being painted.

6. Breakfast is served from 8 to 10 am in this hotel?

 7. Romeo and Juliet was written by Shakespeare.

 B- COMPLETE THESE SENTENCES WITH THE PRESENT SIMPLE PASSIVE

 1. English ___________________________(speak) in many countries.

2. The post______________(deliver) at about 7 o’clock every morning.

3. Dinner_________________________(serve) in the hotel at 8.30 p.m.

4. The building______________________________(not/use) any more.

5. The Olympic Games_______________________(hold) every 4 years.

 

C- PAST SIMPLE PASSIVE

 

1. My salary____________________________(pay) every month.

2. These computers___________________________(make)in Japan.

3. The rubbish_____________________(take) away three times a week.

4. This programme_____________________(show) three times a week.

 5. His travel expenses____________________(pay) by this company.

 D- PAST CONTINUOUS PASSIVE

 1. My car__________________________(repair) last week.

2. This song_____________(write) by John Lennon and Paul McCartney.

3. The phone__________________________(answer) by a young girl.

4. This picture______________________________(paint) by Picasso.

5. The money_____________________________(give) to his parents.

 

E- PRESENT CONTINUOUS PASSIVE. FRAME THE SENTENCE.

1. (Tickets for all shows/ sell/ at the Box Office)

2. (The office/ paint/ at this moment )

3- (The agreement/ sign/ by six countries)

4- (I/ help/ by a stranger)

5 (The post/ not/ deliver/ on Sundays)

F- PRESENT PERFECT PASSIVE

1. Kerrie has paid the bill. - 
2. I have eaten a hamburger. - 
3. I have opened the present. - 
4. They have not read the book. - 
5. You have not sent the parcel. - 

G PAST PERFECT PASSIVE

1. I had worn blue shoes
2. Joe had cleaned the tables. - 
3. We had lost the key. - 
4. They had started a fight. - 
5. I had been reading an article. - 
6. I had not closed the window. - 

--------------------END OF LESSON 12 --------------------