Materia: “Inglés”

Unidad Didáctica 1
Dear Ailín,

Introducción de la Unidad Didáctica 1

Esta es la primera de las tres unidades que forman este material. En esta unidad vas a
aprender a usar el idioma inglés funcionalmente en diferentes contextos lingüísticos. Vas a
relacionar una vez más forma y función, es decir, vas a ver con qué propósito usamos las
nuevas estructuras gramaticales.

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Materia: “Inglés”
Unidad Didáctica 1
Dear Ailín,

Objetivos

 Halagar.

 Hacer y responder a sugerencias.

 Usar tiempos verbales para referir al tiempo presente.

 Leer y escribir una carta personal.

 Expresar modalidad (posibilidad, certeza, lamento, imposibilidad) acerca de hechos

pasados.

 Usar léxico en contexto.

 Expresarse con cierto grado de fluidez y precisión atendiendo a los aspectos.

comunicativo, gramatical, y uso de la lengua en general.

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Materia: “Inglés”
Unidad Didáctica 1
Dear Ailín,

Organizador de Contenidos

INGLES

FUNCIONES
Halagar.
Hacer y responder a sugerencias.
Escribir una carta personal.
Expresar modalidad en el pasado.
Expresar sospecha. Cambiar el
tema de conversación.

En función En forma de
de

EJE TEMATICO

GRAMATICA
HABILIDADES
Present Tenses. Past modals. Too
Comprensión escrita y oral
– Enough. Adjective +
Producción escrita y oral
preposition.

Expresadas en

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Materia: “Inglés”
Unidad Didáctica 1
Dear Ailín,

Contenidos

YOURS SINCERELY

Q: When do we use this phrase “Yours”?

A: At the end of a formal letter. The complete phrase is “Yours Sincerely”

U1 A1 “Welcome”. Listen to your teacher.

READING: A PERSONAL LETTER

Read the text and do the activities below:

234 San Crispino St. 1

1834 Turdera
Buenos Aires
February 7th 2

Dear Ailín, 3
I know I should have contacted you before, but Mom and
Dad have been really strict about the phone bill. I´m feeling a 4
bit more settled now, as we´ve been in England for almost six
month, although I miss you all a lot.
Last week, I had to give a presentation at school about being
an American teenager in England. It was quite scary! I said
that we don´t use our car as much. Dad walks to the station
to take a train to London and Mom cycles to work, which she
would never do back home. Having to wear a uniform feels
weird and I miss wearing jeans and trainers to school. I still
catch a bus to school. At the moment, it´s so cold and dark in
the mornings that I find it hard to get out of bed. So, some
things never change. A lot of things are very different, the
food, the way people speak, and yet, it all feels the same,
too. I still go to school, do my homework, and hang out with
friends. Maybe teenagers all over the world have things in
common.
Anyway, I hope you are OK and surviving Mr Heildelman´s
Geography class without me. Please, come and stay in the
summer. My Mom is going to speak to your Mom about it. I
can´t wait!
I´ve got to go now, as I´ve joined an exercise class with my
new friend Charlotte. She´s really cool, you´ll like her. I´ll
tell you about her in my next letter.
Yours, 5
Sabrina. 6
PS: Write and tell me all the gossip!
7

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Materia: “Inglés”
Unidad Didáctica 1
Dear Ailín,

GENERAL COMPREHENSION

Activity 1: Write the names of the different parts of the letter:

Date
My address
Signature
Greeting
Complimentary close
Body
Postscript

Activity 2: Write true (T) or false (F):

(__) Sabrina writes the letter to Ailín, who lives in the USA.
(__) Sabrina did not write before because she was too busy with her
presentation at school.
(__) Sabrina used to drive more often in the USA than now.
(__) Her father rides a bike to London now.
(__) Sabrina did not wear a uniform in the USA.
(__) She likes to get up early in the morning now.
(__) She invites Ailín to go to England.
(__) Sabrina has no friends in England.

DETAILED COMPREHENSION

Activity 3: Find highlighted in the text the words defined below:

1. Spend time relaxing, enjoying oneself:

2. Become a member of:
3. Strange:
4. Adopt a more steady or secure style of life, especially in a permanent job
and home:

WRITING: A PERSONAL LETTER

Writing is easy if we follow certain steps. Re-read the model letter above. Look at the different
parts of the letter. Here are some other phrases to use:

Greeting: Closing:
Dear John, Yours,
Dear Dr. John, Your friend,
Dear Captain John, Really friendly,
Love,
Kisses,
A hug,

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Materia: “Inglés”
Unidad Didáctica 1
Dear Ailín,

Read more about informal letters at:

http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/words/letters.htm
http://www.letterwritingguide.com/samplefriendlyletter.htm

Activity 4: Use the prompts below to write a complete letter:

Example: Thank/letter that I got/Friday.

Thank you for the letter that I got on Friday.
I be glad/know/you be well
I just finish school/ I begin my holidays
I have some news/ I begin German lessons
What about you/ you still attend dancing classes
Anyway/want invite you/ a party next weekend
Hope/can come
Well/must go/ write soon
Tell news
Love/María

GRAMMAR: REGRETS, SPECULATIONS & POSSIBILITY IN THE PAST: SHOULD/

WOULD / MAY / MIGHT / CAN´T / MUST + HAVE + PAST PARTICIPLE

U1 A2 “Past Modals”. Listen to your teacher.

REGRETS, UNFULFILLED OBLIGATION

In her letter, Sabrina says:

“I know I should have contacted you before, (...)”

She is saying why she did not speak or write to her friend before. She´s talking about a past
situation. She feels she had the obligation to contact her before, that is why she uses “should”
and she says “have contacted” because she´s referring to a past situation. Then, to express
the idea of obligation in the past we use:

Other examples:

John committed a crime, he stole some electrical devices

from a store and the police caught him red-handed (“con las
manos en la masa”). As a consequence, he was sent to
prison for a while.

He should have thought about the consequences before.

He shouldn´t have stolen the devices. He is sorry now.

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Materia: “Inglés”
Unidad Didáctica 1
Dear Ailín,

Paula had a heavy breakfast: bacon and fried eggs. After that,
she ran to the bus stop and then, he felt sick. He had a
headache and felt like throwing up.

She should have had a light breakfast, may be fruit and milk,
with some toast and marmalade or cheese, or some cereals.
She shouldn´t have run to the bus stop, either. She´s sorry
now.

Read the sentences below:

A- Paula should eat a healthy breakfast.

B- Paula shouldn´t have run to school.

Which sentences refers to the present/future?

Sentence A. It´s a recommendation, a suggestion.

Sencence B refers to a past situation, which cannot be changed. And the person is sorry now.

SPECULATIONS

In fact, it would have been easier to have some fruit and tea, for
example. It would have taken less time to prepare this breakfast.

If she did this, she would feel better and healthier.

If she had eaten fruit instead of bacon and eggs, she would have
felt better.

Which sentence refers to the present/future?

Sentence A. (It´s a Second Conditional Structure, referring to the present.)
Sentence B refers to a past situation, which cannot be changed. (It´s a Third
Conditional Structure, referring to the past.) And the person is sorry now.

POSSIBILITY IN THE PAST

Sue is leaving for Hawai on holidays, but I didn´t know. She should
have called me. I may have told her about my trip to Hawai last
year. I might have recommended her a good place to eat and what
excursions to make. It might have been useful for her. I could have
visited her there. What a pity!

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Materia: “Inglés”
Unidad Didáctica 1
Dear Ailín,

CERTAINTY (CERTEZA)

The two girls are gossiping. The girl wearing plaits is asking about a boy. Her friend is sure he
is Martín, she says “must be”. When she refers to the time of his arrival in Buenos Aires, which
happened before this moment, she says “must have”. In both cases, she´s sure about that.

Who´s that guy in He must be Martín.

green pants? My brother told me he
was coming.

I didn´t know he
was in Buenos Aires. He must have
arrived today.

The girl wearing pony tails says it´s impossible that he knew that she was here. She says
“can´t have” to express the idea of something impossible.

He can´t have
I wonder why he
known tou were
hasn´t phoned me
here. I invited
before, to tell me he
you this morning,
was coming.
remember?

This is the grammatical structure:

should / may / might / can´t / must have+ past participle

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Materia: “Inglés”
Unidad Didáctica 1
Dear Ailín,

TO SUM IT UP: DEGREES OF CERTAINTY

Situation: I phoned him, but nobody answered.

He must have been sleeping. (I´m sure)

He may / might have been sleeping. (It´s probable)
He could have been sleeping. (It´s less probable)
He can´t have been sleeping. (It´s impossible)

U1 A3 “Past Modals II”. Listen to your teacher.

Activity 5: Complete with a suitable verb in the right form:

I would have __________ all night if I could, but we all had to leave early
because Carlos didn't feel well.
If it weren't for that medicine you gave me, I would have __________a lot
worse.
I would have __________ pictures of my trip, if I had had a camera.
Alex may have __________ some time in Paris, because he often talks about
the city.
She must have __________somewhere tropical for vacation, because she's
sunburned.

Activity 6: Make sentences about the situations below:

Marlen is twelve. She was alone at home and took one of her mother´s
cigarettes from her bag. At that moment, her mother arrived home.
Martina didn´t do her homework and decided she would lie to her teacher about
that. Her teacher forgot to ask for her homework.
Lola inherited some money from her uncle and she spent it all in clothes and
CDs in a month.
Ramiro´s friend went to live in New Zealand. Ramiro used to speak on the
phone with him every week, but didn´t say it to his parents. When the phone
bill arrived, nobody in the house was allowed to use the phone without his
permission.

VOCABULARY: CHANGING THE SUBJECT

In the letter above, Sabrina uses “anyway” when she wants to change the subject. Here are
phrases we can use to do that:

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Materia: “Inglés”
Unidad Didáctica 1
Dear Ailín,

By the way, ... That reminds me ( of ) ... Speaking about /of ..., Before I forget, ... I just
thought of something, ...
Oh, there's something else I wanted to say/ ask you, ...
This has got nothing to do with what we're talking about, but ..
Changing the subject for a minute, ...
That's funny, because something similar...
Incidentally, ...
I know this is changing the subject but...

classmates

Classmates study together at school, in the

same class. A “mate” is a partner, a person
we share something with, in this case, the
class. We also use “mate” in the phrase
“workmates”, for people who work together,
and “roommates”, for people who share the
same room, or flat.

LISTENING: CLASSMATES

U1 A4 “Classmates”. What´s the relationship between these classmates? Listen

carefully.

Activity 7: Listen again and answer. Who ...

1. surrounds herself with books and thinks she is not doing the household
chores?
2. worries about what the other person is going to say at school?
3. has never felt embarrassed?
4. wants to clap every time the other person says something smart in
class?
5. felt embarrassed when the other person poured herself coffee while
doing an exam?

Activity 8: Listen again. These are phrases used by the ladies. Match them with their
meaning:

1. traffic jam a- old and not in good condition

2. time off b- make feel shy
3. worn off c- too many cars together
4. inhibit d- duration
5. lasted e- free time

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Materia: “Inglés”
Unidad Didáctica 1
Dear Ailín,

GRAMMAR: PRESENT FORMS

In the previous courses, we studied the different structures that we use to refer to the present.
Here is a summary:

Present Time:

Current activities Present

Temporary activities Continuous

Present Present
habits/ Simple
Routines

Present Perfect
Past and (connecting
present past and
present)

Examples:
I´m not training because I´ve injured my
knee. (Temporary habit)
My sister is reading a novel this year at
Present school. (Temporary habit)
Continuous Are you listening to me? (Current activity,
now)
Sasha is having dinner right now, she can´t
come to the phone. (Current activity)

I don´t train on Sundays. (Present habit)

My sister reads a novel every month at Present
school. (Present habit) Simple

I´ve injured my knee. (Experience, indefinite

time)
Present My sister has never seen a musical at the
Perfect theatre. (Experience)
Have you been drinking? You smell of wine!
(connecting
(Past event with present consequence)
past and Sasha has been on the phone for 45
present) minutes! Tell her to finish soon! (Past event
that continues in the present)
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Materia: “Inglés”
Unidad Didáctica 1
Dear Ailín,

U1 A5 “Present Forms”. Listen to your teacher.

Activity 9: Complete the sentences using the verbs in the right tense:

1. Camila´s cell phone is really useful. She _________________________

(use) it all the time.
2. Ornella doesn´t know where her glasses are. She
_____________________________________ (lose) them.
3. We´re in the middle of decorating our dining-room. Meals are
problematic. We ______________________________ (get) them from
a take-away restaurant this week.
4. Marina is on a field trip. She ______________________________
(enjoy) it a lot, he said that on the phone.
5. This task is awful, I ________________________________ (hate) it.
6. I hope these figures are correct, I ___________________________
(check) them several times.
7. Sharon and Angel like reading, they _____________________________
(read) a story at the moment.

LISTENING: MAKING AND RESPONDING TO SUGGESTIONS

Sometimes we find it hard to make a suggestion in the right way. There are certain phrases we
can use to make and to respond to suggestions.

U1 A6 “Suggestions”. What are they talking about? Listen carefully

Activity 10: Listen again and tick the expressions you hear:

Let´s ...
For a start, we could ...
Why don´t we ...
We might ...
We could ...
Do you think we should ...
Do you think we might ...
It might be an idea ...

Activity 11: Listen again and complete the reactions to the different
suggestions:

1. That´s a good ___________ .

2. Do you really ____________ that ____________ _____________ ?

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Materia: “Inglés”
Unidad Didáctica 1
Dear Ailín,

3. _____________ good would that ____________ ?

4. Why ______________ ?
5. I ________________ you´re _______________ .
6. _______________ you´re talking.

suspicion

U1 A7 “Suspicion”. Listen to your teacher.

Suspicion: Noun. A feeling that somebody has done something wrong, illegal or dishonest.

He was arrested on suspicion of murderer.

I have a suspicion that he´s not telling the truth.
My suspicions were confirmed when he confessed.
The whole family is under suspicion of the crime.

Suspicious: Adjective.

A suspicious look.
Don´t you notice anything suspicious in his behaviour?

Suspect: Verb.

If you suspect a gas leak, do not strike a match.

I suspected that he was not a real policeman.

Read the text and do the activities below.

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Materia: “Inglés”
Unidad Didáctica 1
Dear Ailín,

Suspicion

I work in a shoeshop on Saturdays. One day last month, our boss called all the staff into his
office. Money was missing from the till and suddenly we were all under suspicion.
I didn´t know what to think. You see, a vacancy came up two months ago and I persuaded
my boss to give the job to Anna.
Everything was fine for the first few weeks. Anna liked the job and the boss was pleased
with her. She even bought me a video as a thank you present for getting her the job.
I have always trusted Anna up till now, but recently, I´ve been worried about her. The thing
is, the two other girls who work there have been there as long as me, and there´s never
been a problem.
In the last few weeks, I´ve noticed that Anna has been spending quite a lot of money on
vodeos and CDs. I asked her why she had so much money and she said that her dad had
increased her pocket money.
I´ve never had any reason to suspect Anna before, and I feel guilty about it now, but I think
my boss is watching me. As it was me who recommended her, I´m worried about losing my
job. How can I find out if Anna has been stealing or not, without actually accusing her? I do
not have the answer.
GENERAL COMPREHENSION

Activity 12: Answer:

1. What is the writer´s dilemma?

2. What´s the connection between the writer and Anna?
3. What made the writer suspicios?

DETAILED COMPREHENSION

Activity 13: Find highlighted in the text the words defined below:

1. an unoccupied position at work:

2. the opposite of innocent:
3. a place where people go and buy shoes:
4. observe closely:
5. being suspected:
6. relied:
7. the same time as:
8. appeared:
9. could not be found:
10. happy:

GRAMMAR: ADJECTIVE + PREPOSITION

After some adjectives we can use a preposition. Here are some examples from the text above:

Was pleased with her

Worried about her
Feel guilty about it

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Materia: “Inglés”
Unidad Didáctica 1
Dear Ailín,

Here are other combinations:

Afraid of Bored with

Good at Disappointed with/in
Angry with Interested in
Annoyed with Keen on
Fed up with Fond of
Ashamed of Tired of

You may read other examples at:

http://www.english-4u.de/grammar_exercises.htm

Do the exercise at: http://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/adjectives-and-prepositions-

exercise-1.html
You can check your answers there.

GRAMMAR: “TOO” & “ENOUGH”

U1 A8 “Too - Enough”. Listen to your teacher.

“Too” means more than is necessary. It has a negative meaning. “Enough” means just what is
necessary.

Examples:

A: The party was too long. I´m tired. It should have finished before.
B: I think it was long enough. I had fun and we had time to talk to everybody there.
A: You´re right. There were many quests.
B: Yeah, and enough food for another party!

“Too” goes before adjectives and adverbs. “Enough” can come after adjectives and adverbs.
Here is the structure:

TOO + ADJ/ADV
ADJ/ADV + ENOUGH
ENOUGH + NOUN

Activity 14: Insert either “too” or “enough”:

1. It looked _________ expensive to be bought.

2. Nelly was walking quickly _________ to catch up with her friends.
3. She was walking _________ quickly for me.
4. Jill is old _________ to choose her own boyfriends.

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Materia: “Inglés”
Unidad Didáctica 1
Dear Ailín,

LISTENING: COMPLIMENTS

A compliment is a remark or act expressing respect, admiration, etc. (In Spanish we say
“elogio” or “halago” or even “cumplido”)

How do we use the word? Look at these examples:

They paid me a compliment as I passed by.

A: You understand the problem because you´re older than me.
B: I´ll take that as a compliment.
It´s a great compliment to be asked to join the team.
He returned my compliment with a smile.
Grace complimented him on his excellent German.

U1 A9 “Compliments”. How many situations can you listen to? Listen and do the
activity below.

Activity 15: Listen again and tick the expressions you hear:

It really suits you

You look well
That was delicious
You´re so clever

This is the end of unit 1. Please, do all the exercises and contact me any time. Let´s
go to unit 2.

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Materia: “Inglés”
Unidad Didáctica 1
Dear Ailín,

Summary

In this unit you’ve learnt:

To: By using the structures: And using vocabulary in the

areas of:

Make compliments. Make Letters.

and respond to Present Simple. Present Classmates.
suggestions. Write a Continuous. Present Perfect. Honesty.
personal letter. Express Present Perfect Continuous. Compliments.
modality in the past. Refer Past modals. Adjective + Suggestions.
to the present time. preposition.

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Materia: “Inglés”
Unidad Didáctica 1
Dear Ailín,

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