Prefixes

The prefixes are short words that are placed before a word, for indicate to this a different meaning.

Commonly are: a, il, ir, dis, in, im, my, etc ...There is no grammatical rule for placing these prefixes before a word, all you have to do is memorize the words.

For Example:

Happy - Unhappy (japi - onjapi) (happy - unhappy.) Legal - illegal (ligl - iligal) (legal - illegal.) Able - unable (Eibl - oneibl) (able - unable).

Match prefixes on the left to their meanings on the right.
_____ Re- (renew)--------------------------------------------1) wrong, bad
_____ Pre- (preview)-----------------------------------------2) before
_____ Mis- (misbehave)--------------------------------------3) again, back

_____ De- (deforestation)------------------------------------4) eight
_____ Tele- (television)--------------------------------------5) one, same, whole
_____ Un- (unhappy)----------------------------------------6) remove or reduce
_____ Bi- (biweekly)-----------------------------------------7) twice, (two times)
_____ Uni- (uniform)----------------------------------------8) far, distant
_____ Octo- (octopus)---------------------------------------9) many, (usually more than two)
_____ Sub- (subway)---------------------------------------10) under or low
_____ Multi- (multiple)-------------------------------------11) not

Relative Pronouns

Relative pronouns are that, who, whom, whose, which, where, when, and why. They are used to join clauses to make a complex sentence. Relative pronouns are used at the beginning of the subordinate clause which gives some specific information about the main clause.

This is the house that Jack built.
I don't know the day when Jane marries him.
The professor, whom I respect, was tenured.

In English, the choice of the relative pronoun depends on the type of clause it is used in. There are two types of clauses distinguished: defining (restrictive) relative clauses and non-defining (non-restrictive) relative clauses. In both types of clauses the relative pronoun can function as a subject, an object, or a possessive.

Exercises

Put in the relative who, which or whose where necessary. Type an x if the relative pronoun can be left out.

Example:

Peter is the boy ____ rides the blue bike.

Answer: Peter is the boy who rides the blue bike.

1) This is the boy_______had an accident.
2) Yesterday I saw a car_______was really old.
3) Mandy is the girl_______I met on Friday.
4) I haven't seen Frank,_______brother is five, for a long time now.
5) The robber stole the car_______the lady parked in front of the supermarket.
6) This is the man_______house is on fire.
7) Can I talk to the girl_______is sitting on the bench?
8) The book_______you gave me is great.
9) She likes hamburgers_______are hot.
10) Bill Clinton,_______was President of the USA, has only one daughter.

Conditionals

The "conditionals" are certain structures of English in which, if certain condition, situation or circumstance is true, then a specific outcome occurs. Here we see several usual types of "conditionals"

*** Conditional Zero - (type 0) ***

This conditional refers to a situation that is always true (universal truths)

Example:If you freeze water, it turns into ice.

*** First Conditional - (type I) ***

Is formed by:
if + simple present + simple future. It is used when a situation is real or possible.

Example:If it rains today, I'll stay at home. Here are some examples translated.

*** Second Conditional - (type II) ***

Refers to a hypothetical situation and are selected according the structure:
if + simple past + simple conditional. Here are some examples translated.

Example:If I won the lottery, I would travel around the world.

*** Third Conditional - (type III) ***

Refers to a hypothetical situation of the past and is formed according the structure:
if + past perfect + perfect conditional. Here's an example.

Example:If I had won the lottery, I would have traveled around the world.

Exercises

Write in the lines the type of conditional: type 0, type I, type II or type III


If I had more money, I would buy a nice apartment.__________________

If I were you, I would buy that car.__________________________

If I work too much, I get tired._____________________________

If it rains today, I'll stay at home.___________________________

If I have time, I usually go to the movies.______________________

If she eats hamburgers, she gets an allergy._____________________

If he is busy now, I will come back tomorrow.____________________

If I were in Brazil, I would go to Rio de Janeiro.____________________

If they come here, they always bring a present.__________________

If I have time, I'll visit my parents this afternoon.___________________

If you work hard, you may become a millonaire someday.______________

If you had gone to Brazil, you would have had lots of fun._______________

If she had come on Saturday, I would have seen her.__________________

If I won the lottery, I would travel around the world._________________

If he were in my place, he wouldn't do this._________________________

If I had won the lottery, I would have traveled around the world.____________

If you had phoned me, I would have known you were here._______________

Skiming

Exercise: Skim the following review as quickly as possible for the general ideas about the text. Remember, you need to read only a few sentences and words. Then try to answer the questions below. You should finish in less than 2 minutes.

Global Warming

Global warming is the increase in the average temperature of the Earth's near-surface air and oceans since the mid-20th century and its projected continuation. Global surface temperature increased 0.74 ± 0.18 °C (1.33 ± 0.32 °F) between the start and the end of the 20th century.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concludes that most of the observed temperature increase since the middle of the 20th century was caused by increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases resulting from human activity such as fossil fuel burning and deforestation. The IPCC also concludes that variations in natural phenomena such as solar radiation and volcanism produced most of the warming from pre-industrial times to 1950 and had a small cooling effect afterward. These basic conclusions have been endorsed by more than 40 scientific societies and academies of science, including all of the national academies of science of the major industrialized countries.

Climate model projections summarized in the latest IPCC report indicate that the global surface temperature will probably rise a further 1.1 to 6.4 °C (2.0 to 11.5 °F) during the twenty-first century. The uncertainty in this estimate arises from the use of models with differing sensitivity to greenhouse gas concentrations and the use of differing estimates of future greenhouse gas emissions. Some other uncertainties include how warming and related changes will vary from region to region around the globe. Most studies focus on the period up to the year 2100. However, warming is expected to continue beyond 2100 even if emissions stop, because of the large heat capacity of the oceans and the long lifetime of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

An increase in global temperature will cause sea levels to rise and will change the amount and pattern of precipitation, probably including expansion of subtropical deserts. The continuing retreat of glaciers, permafrost and sea ice is expected, with warming being strongest in the Arctic. Other likely effects include increases in the intensity of extreme weather events, species extinctions, and changes in agricultural yields.

Political and public debate continues regarding climate change, and what actions (if any) to take in response. The available options are mitigation to reduce further emissions; adaptation to reduce the damage caused by warming; and, more speculatively, geoengineering to reverse global warming. Most national governments have signed and ratified the Kyoto Protocol aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

1. Global warming is:

a. a social problem.

b. a climate problem.

c. a economical problem.

2. How many has increased the global surface temperature between the start and the end of the 20th century?

__________________________________________________________________________________

3. What produced the increase of the temperature in the global surface?

__________________________________________________________________________________

4. what options are taking the contries for to reduce the global warming?

__________________________________________________________________________________

Cognates Exercises

Cognates

Instructions: Read the following text and underline the cognates or transparent words.

The coffee shrub, an evergreen bush which can sometimes grow to a height of 8 or 10 meters, grows wild in the tropics – mostly in Arabia, Asia and Latin America. It is known that coffee plants were being cultivated in Africa in the 15th century, although it wasn’t until the 16th and 17th centuries that it was introduced into Europe. The first London coffee house was established in 1652 and coffee houses flourished in continental Europe later in the 17th century. The drink became popular in North America around 1689, and the USA is now the largest consumer, importing about 1,500,000 tons per year.
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Look up in your dictionary the meaning of the following words.

False cognates Meaning

Exit ______________________________________

Figures ______________________________________

Actually ______________________________________

Success ______________________________________

Apply ______________________________________

attend ______________________________________

Realize ______________________________________

Economical ______________________________________

Succeed ______________________________________

Invest ______________________________________


7. Fill in the blanks with some of the previous false cognates or false friends.

1. Do you ____________________ the English course regularly

2. Will you ______________ him if he has a problem in the school?

3. Will you ______________ for the job in Exito?

4. The medicine program is a complete _____________. The results are excellent.

5. She is a very nice person ________________.

6. I would like to have an ____________car to go to work.

7. Do you ______________ how much money you are investing in this company?