VERBOS SEGUIDOS DE -ING, INFINITIVO CON TO, INFINITIVO SIN TO Y CON AMBOS

GERUNDS AND INFINITIVES

VERBS + -ING

admit can´t help* can´t stand carry on consider delay deny enjoy fancy finigh give up go on hate imagine involve

keep on like love mind miss postpone practise put off risk spend stop suggest

INFINITIVE WITH TO

agree to aim to appear to arrange to attempt to be able to can´t afford to can´t wait to claim to decide to deserve to expect to fail to forget to happen to have (got) to help to*

hope to learn to manage to need to* offer to plan to pretend to promise to refuse to remember to* seem to teach to tend to threaten to try to* want to would like to

INFINITIVE WITHOUT TO

can may might must sould had better would rather let make (except + passive: we were made to run in PE.)

GERUND or INFINITIVE WITH NO CHANGE OF MEANING

begin start continue intend bother NORMALLY: we do not use -ing after -ing: It´s starting to rain. It´s starting raining.

VERBS WITH -ING OR INFINITIVE WITH TO WITH CHANGE IN MEANING

REMEMBER + INFINITIVE → you remember first, then you do it. Remember to lock the door. Remember to post the letter. -ING → you do sth, then you remember it. I could remember driving along the road just before the accident.

FORGET + INFINITIVE → you didn´t remember to do sth. -ING → you did sth and you won´t forget it.

TRY INFINITIVE → make an effort to do sth. I tried to study the night before the test. -ING → experiment to see if sth works. Try looking for the keys in your pockets.

REGRET INFINITIVE → I´m sorry that I have to say/inform/tell... we regret to inform you that we are unable to offer you the job. -ING → I did it and now I´m sorry about it. I now regret saying what I said.

TALE OF TWO BRAINS

Uno de los  "topics" para el "speaking" tanto de B1 and B2 es:

Differences between men and women. 

How roles have changed for men and women?

Este divertido monólogo os inspirará para coger ideas!

CONECTORES ÚTILES PARA WRITING Y SPEAKING

WRITING AND SPEAKING FOR INTERMEDIATE STUDENTS

LINKING WORDS

• AND
• IN ADDITION, BESIDES, FURTHERMORE → Para añadir una idea a lo dicho: ADEMÁS.
• AS WELL AS: añadir ideas a otras anteriores: ASÍ COMO.
• BUT
• BECAUSE, DUE TO.
• SO, AS A RESULT: para explicar el resultado o la consecuencia de algo: ASÍ QUE.
• OR
• ON THE ONE HAND, ON THE OTHER HAND
• HOWEVER, NEVERTHELESS: SIN EMBARGO
• ALTHOUGH
• DESPITE THE FACT THAT, IN SPITE OF + NOUN or VERB in -ing, DESPITE + NOUN or VERB in -ing: A PESAR DE.

SEQUENCING

• FIRST, FIRSTLY (more formal), FIRST OF ALL: PRIMERO → para indicar el orden de situaciones, cosas o listados.
• AT FIRST → IN THE BEGINNING → cuando queremos hacer contraste:
• He called for help. No one heard him at first, but eventually one girl came to help him.
• THEN, NEXT, AFTER THAT: seguimos con la secuencia: ENTONCES, DESPUÉS.
• AS SOON AS: TAN PRONTO COMO
• BEFORE: ANTES O ANTES DE.
• AFTER: DESPUÉS DE
• LATER: MÁS TARDE.
• FINALLY, EVENTUALLY: FINALMENTE.
• AS A CONCLUSION, TO SUM UP: EN CONCLUSIÓN

SYNTAX TIPS

• Utilizaremos las oraciones de manera sencilla y construiremos por cada idea una oración sencilla.
• Utilizaremos la subordinación:
• Oraciones temporales con when y while.
• Oraciones de relativo.
• Oraciones condicionales.
• Reported Speech.
• Pasiva.
• Oraciones de finalidad con to.
• Oraciones causales: because, due to.
• Oraciones consecutivas: as a result, so.

USUAL MISTAKES

• Los sujetos no se suelen omitir.
• No se usan contracciones en escritos formales.
• Concordancia entre el sujeto y el verbo.
• Los adjetivos no tienen plural.
• Detrás de una preposición puede ir un verbo y éste irá en -ing.
• Evitar las repeticiones innecesarias.

DIFERENCIAS ENTRE LITTLE / A LITTLE Y FEW / A FEW

Los cuantificadores little / a little y few / a few siempre nos confunden.

Los cuatro indican que la cantidad que estamos expresando es pequeña.

MONÓLOGOS B1 EOI

La parte oral de B1 de la EOI consiste en un monólogo de 3 o 3 minutos y medio de duración sobre uno de los temas incluidos en los contenidos del nivel y en una conversación con un compañero 5 o 6 minutos de duración.


Para esta parte nos dan 10 minutos de preparación, tiempo en el que debemos estructurar, sobretodo, nuestro monólogo, ya que éste requiere:

• INTRODUCCIÓN que consiste en enumerar los temas que vamos a desarrollar en el monólogo. 

• DESARROLLO en el que desarrollaremos las dos, tres o cuatro ideas mencionadas en la introducción.

• CONCLUSIÓN en la que resumiremos nuestra intervención muy brevemente, dejando clara nuestra opinión sobre el tema.

A continuación tenéis un esquema para uno de los topics más comunes en el examen:

INTRODUCTION 

I am going to talk about EDUCATION.
Firstly, I am going to talk about the differences between private and state schools.
Secondly, I am going to talk about the thing I would change in our present education system and finally, I am going to talk about my experience at school.

BODY

On the one hand, private schools ...
For example...
Moreover...

On the other hand, state schools ...
For instance ...
What´s more, ...

All things considered, I would change in our present education system ... because...

Furthermore, my experience at school was ...

CONCLUSION

To sum up, ...

A TV CRIME DRAMA

A great TV crime Drama. It´s British, so enjoy the accent!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_YjBW5YWvI

Summer Listening!

 

Practiquemos un breve listening con subtítulos en castellano.

SYNONYMS

Cuando estamos preparando un writing, del tipo que sea, nos damos cuenta del poco vocabulario que utilizamos o recordamos. Para ello es necesario hacernos buenos listados de sinónimos, pero además utilizarlos como chuleta en cada writing.

Aquí os paso algunas! ;)

LISTENING B1 EOI

La página web de la EOI de Durante tiene un ejemplo de exámen para cada nivel con sus soluciones, incluidos los audios para el listening.

Aquí os paso el enlace para que practiquéis. ;)

http://www.eoidurango.net/es/departamento.php?Id_Departamento=3&Id_Seccion=262

WRITING FOR B1: A STORY

Os gusta escribir historias? Si es así, no dudéis en elegir a story en el writing de PET o EOI.

A continuación, tenéis un modelo de story con huecos, donde debéis elegir los siguientes conectores:

at the moment

desperately

especially

fortunatelly

in a panic

quickly

straight

suddenly

DAVID WOKE UP SUDDENLY AND LOOKED AT THE BEDSIDE CLOCK...

David woke up suddenly and looked at the bedside clock. It was 3.00 in the morning. "Much too early", he said to himself, and went ____________ back to sleep. He was a light sleeper when he knew he had to get up early, and today he was feeling ____________ responsible as he had the plane tickets for the football team, and they had agreed to meet at the airport at 7.00.

Suddenly David woke up againand looked at the bedside clock. It still sail 3.00. He ws just falling asleep when he noticed that sunlight was coming in through the curtain. "oh, no!" David thought, ____________ looking for his watch on the table. It said 7.00.

____________ the phone started to ring. "What happened to you?" a voice asked. "It´s 7.05. The planes leaves at 7.45". "I´ll be there as soon as I can", David promised. ____________, he put on the first clothes he could find, picled up his bag, which ____________ he´d packed the night before, ____________ took his car keys and ran out of the door...

David woke up ____________ and looked at the bedside clock. It was 3.00 in the morning. A nurse come over. "Where am I?" said David. "You´re in hospital, you´ve had a car accident... driving too fast, I´m afraid. Where you trying to catch a plane?

Para escribir una historia debéis pensar en el argumento previamente. Tratad de dividir la historia en tres partes:

• En el primer párrafo localizad la escena y describid la situación y los personajes.
• En el segundo párrafo contad dos o tres sucesos para que la historia tenga interés.
• En la conclusión contad cómo termina la historia y sus personajes.

A continuación escribid una historia que comience:

"When Andrea saw the car parked outside her house, her heart started beating faster..."

A " FOR AND AGAINST" COMPOSITION

Una opción para la Task 2 del Writing de B1 para EOI, puede ser una redacción sobre las ventajas y desventajas cualquiera de los temas especificados para este nivel.

Para los que estáis preparando Selectivo puede seros muy útil dominar este tipo de redacciones.

Os paso un modelo en el cual sólo debéis completar correctamente los huecos con los conectores siguientes:

as a result

besides

however

for example

in conclusion

the main advantage

on the other hand

what is more

WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF BEING FAMOUS?

Nowadays the magazines that sell the most are ones like Hello magazine, which tell us about the lives of famous people. It seems that everybody is interested in them, and that most people would really like to be famous. ________________ there are advantages and disadvantages.

_______________ of being famous is probably the lifestyle it gives you. Most famous people are very rich and can afford big houses with swimming pools, and expensive cars.  _____________, they spend a lot of time travelling, visiting different countries, and staying in luxurious hotels.

_____________, there are disadvantages. Every time famous people go out they are surrounded by fans and photographers. _____________, it is very difficult for them to have a normal private life. ______________, they often can´t spend much time at home as they have to travel so much, _______________ if they are making a film or doing a concert tour.

_____________________, I think it is probably easier to be happy if you are not famous, in spite of all the money famous people have.

Para escribir una buena redacción de "for and against":

• Escribe cuatro párrafos: introducción, puntos a favor, puntos en contra y una conclusión.
• Utilizad lenguaje formal, sin contracciones o expresiones coloquiales.
• Haced una lista de pros y contras antes de empezar la redacción.
• Ofreced siempre razones y ejemplos a vuestras ideas.
• Utilizad los conectores apropiados para enlazar párrafos y oraciones.

Por último, lanzaos a escribir la siguiente redacción, utilizando como ejemplo la anterior:

Write a "for & against" composition. The title is:

"What are the advantages and disadvantages of the public health service in your country?"

PET READING AND WRITING EXAM

PET o Preliminary English Test  es un título de nivel intermedio o B1 de Cambridge.

Aquí os dejo un enlace para la parte de Reading & Writing.


http://www.consolacioncaravaca.es/ProgramaBeda/data/docs/PET/PET_READWRITE.pdf


Y sus soluciones:

http://www.consolacioncaravaca.es/ProgramaBeda/data/docs/PET/PET_ANSWERKEY.pdf

Recordad que el tiempo disponible es una hora y media!!!

WRITING FOR B1 APPLYING FOR A JOB

Un ejemplo de "Writing  for B1" para la Escuela Oficial de Idiomas o para PET sería el siguiente:

You saw this advertisement in a local newspaper and have decided to apply for the job.

St. George´s Primary School is looking for a young, energetic and experienced schoolteacher to join us in September. Must be a good organiser and keen on sports.

Please apply in writing to Mrs Hunter, giving details of qualifications, skills and previous experience and saying why you think you are suitable for the job. Closing date 12th May.

"Applying for the job" significa que debemos escribir una "Letter of Application" o carta de presentación.

Aquí tenéis un ejemplo de respuesta. Recordad que se trata de lenguaje formal! 

Dear Mrs Hunter,

With reference to your advertisement in Thursday´s edition of the Daily Star, I am interested in applying for the posotion of primary school teacher.

I m 28 years old and currently teaching in Margate. I have a BSc degree awarded by Glasgow University in 2007. I completed my certificate in Education at Preston Teacher Training College in 2008.

I have been working for Margate Education Department since 2009. During this time, I have enjoyed teaching a variety of subjects, including English and General Science.

I consider myself to be punctual, hard-working and fair. I enjoy working with children and have good organisational skills.

I enclose a reference from my present employer. I would be grateful if you would consider my application.I am available for interview any weekday morning. I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,

Andrea Walker

Andrea Walker