English II

Reading Comprehension

The Beatles

The Beatles were one of the most influential music groups of the rock era, and many consider them the best musical group on Earth. Initially they affected the post-war baby boom generation of Britain and the U.S. during the 1960s, and later the rest of the world. Certainly they were the most successful group, with global sales exceeding 1.1 billion records.While they were originally famous for light-weight pop music (and the extreme hysterical reaction they received from young women), their later works achieved a combination of popular and critical acclaim perhaps unequaled in the 20th century.Eventually, they became more than recording artists, branching out into film and — particularly in the case of John Lennon — political activism. They achieved an iconic status beyond mere celebrity, with far reaching effects difficult to exaggerate.The members of the group were John Lennon, (James) Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr (Richard Starkey), all from Liverpool, Merseyside, England. Original drummer Pete Best was asked to leave the group just before it started recording. Stuart Sutcliffe was with them in Hamburg but also left.Beatlemania began in the UK and exploded following the appearance of the Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show in the United States, on February 9, 1964. The pop-music band became a worldwide phenomenon with worshipful fans, hysterical adulation, and denunciations by culture commentators and others such as Frank Sinatra.Some of this was confusion over the sources of their music (a similar confusion was evinced in 1956 over Elvis Presley by commentators who were unaware of the tradition of blues, R&B and gospel out of which Presley emerged), and some of it was simply an incredulous reaction to the length of their hair. At any rate, it was regarded by the band members with both awe and resentment.

Questions Now, answer the questions about the text.
1. They were the best selling group in history.

true.

False.

We don't know.
2. All the members were from Liverpool.

True.

False.

We don't know.
3. They appeared on TV on February 9, 1964.

True.

False.

We don't know.
4. There was some confusion about the sources of their music.

True.

False.

We don't know.
5. Their music was copied by Elvis Presley.

True.

False.

We don't know.
6. Frank Sinatra didn't like the Beatles too much.

True.

False.

We don't know.

Grammar Past simple (pasado simple)

Esta forma verbal del inglés es un poco más complicada, porque ya obliga a asimilar otros aspectos que son más abstractos, como los verbos irregulares por ejemplo.
El Pasado simple se suele utilizar para referirnos a acciones que tuvieron lugar en un momento concreto del pasado. En este caso se utilizan partículas como yesterday (ayer) o last year (el pasado año).
She finished school last year ---Acabó el colegio el pasado año.
También se utiliza el pasado para acciones que ocurrieron en el pasado y que han finalizado, aunque no se mencione el momento preciso.
Who wrote that letter? ----- ¿Quién escribió esta carta?
Para formar el pasado debemos poner el verbo en su forma pasada, y es aquí donde viene la difilcultad. Lo primero, tenemos que distinguir dos clases de verbos: los regulares y los irregulares. Estos últimos, por su dificultad, los dejaremos para una próxima lección y nos centraremos en los regulares.
Reglas para los verbos regulares
Los verbos regulares, para pasarlos al pasado, tienen que acabar en -ed. Esto como regla general, porque existen las ecepciones que veremos enseguida.
to listen (escuchar) --- listened
Solo tenemos que añadir la d cuando el verbo ya acaba en e.
to change (cambiar)--- changed
Si la última vocal del verbo está formada por consonante-vocal-consonante, y es en esta última consonante donde recae el acento, tenemos que doblar dicha consonante. También si el verbo acaba en l tenemos que doblarla.
to stop (parar) ---stopped ---to travel (viajar) ---travelled
Negación e interrogación del pasado simple
Para formar las preguntas en el pasado simple nos tenemos que valer del auxiliar to do en su forma pasada, que es did para todas las personas de la conjugación. Los verbos que no necesitan auxiliar, como to have, se utilizará en pasado (son irregulares).
Did you go to the party? --- ¿Fuistes a la fiesta?
Como se aprecia en el ejemplo, el verbo está en presente. Esto es así porque el auxiliar es el que indica el pasado, con lo que el verbo principal se pone en presente. Esto hay que tenerlo muy en cuenta.
Para negar también utilizamos el auxiliar to do en su forma pasada., acompañándolo con el verbo principal en presente. El verbo auxiliar se contrae con la partícula not.
I didn´t go to the party---No fui a la fiesta.

Past continuous (pasado continuo)

El pasado continuo se utiliza para describir acciones que se estaban desarrollando en el momento del pasado al que nos estamos refiriendo y que continuaron después de ese momento:

This morning at 8 o'clock she was reading ---A las 8 de la mañana ella estaba leyendo: la acción de leer había comenzado antes de las ocho y continuó después de este instante.

Last Monday he was traveling --- El pasado lunes, él estaba viajando: la acción de viajar comenzó antes del lunes y continuó después.

En castellano equivale al pasado continuo (ella estaba leyendo), o también se puede traducir por el pretérito imperfecto (ella leía).· El pasado continuo se utiliza también para referimos a dos acciones en el pasado, una de las cuales se completó, mientras que la otra continuaba: para la primera se utiliza el "past simple" y para la segunda el "past continuous":

When he arrived, I was watching TV. Cuando él llegó, yo estaba viendo al tele: la acción de ver la tele había comenzado antes de que él llegara, y continuó después.

While she was listening to music, her brother did his homework. ---Mientras ella escuchaba música, su hermano hizo sus deberes: la acción de oír música tenía ya lugar antes de que el hermano comenzara sus deberes, y continuó una vez que el hermano había terminado. ||· Mientras que en el "past simple" se indica que la acción ya ha terminado, en el "past continuous" no sabemos si la acción ha concluido:

She wrotre a letter. --- Ella escribió una carta: la carta está escrita, la acción ya ha finalizado. She was writing a letter. --- Ella estaba escribiendo una carta: no sabemos si llegó a terminar de escribir la carta. · El "past continuous" se forma con el verbo auxiliar "to be" en su forma pasada y el gerundio (present participle) del verbo principal:

She was playing tennis. Ella estaba jugando al tenis

They were traveling.--- Ellos estaban viajando ·

La forma negativa se forma con la partícula "not" detrás del verbo auxiliar, y la forma interrogativa con el verbo auxiliar al comienzo de la oración, seguido del sujeto y del verbo principal:

I was not listening. Yo no estaba escuchando

Were they dancing? ¿ Estaban ellos bailando ? · El gerundio (present participle) se forma añadiendo al infinitivo la terminación "-ing".

1.0 Exercise

Reescriba las siguientes oraciones en tiempo pasado simple.
1. I go to school in the morning.
2. Diane is very tired.
3. You are at home.
4. I have breakfast.
5. Thomas and Nick play tennis all day.
6. The plane arrives at half past ten.
7. I study English at home.
8. They stay all night in front of the computer.
9. It is ten past eleven.

2.0 Exercise

Reescriba las siguientes oraciones en su forma negativa

1. The people screamed.
2. Lisa was very happy.
3. You went to Paris last year.
4. Sofia visited her grandmother yesterday.
5. I was in Hong Kong last month.
6. John went to the cinema last week.
7. Shakespeare wrote a lot of books.
8. You were at school yesterday.
9. It was very cold yesterday.

3.Choose the correct form of the Past continuous tense:
1. The children ________ outside. were playing was playing.

2. The dog ________ at us. were barking was barking.

3. My teacher ________ the exercise to me. were explaining was explaining.

4. I ________ to my mp3 player. were listening was listening.

5. Those people ________ towards the library. were walking was walking.

6. The cook ________ a tasty meal. were preparing was preparing.

7. I ________ to fix my computer. were trying was trying.

8. My friend and I ________ basketball. were playing was playing.

9. The police ________ the thief. were chasing was chasing.

10. My sister and my brother ________. were singing was singing.

4.0 Cambie los verbos del simple past (pasado simple) al past continuos(pasado continuo).

(EJEMPLO: I drove --> I was driving)
1. I spoke to my teacher. I was ---------to my teacher.

2. She listened to the song. She was------------to the song.

3. My friend laughed at my joke. My friend was -----------at my joke.

4. She was silly. She was----------- silly.

5. I sang. I was ----------yesterday.

6. They did their homework. They were---------- their homework.

7. My boss planned a meeting. My boss was---------- a meeting.

8. We had a party. We were----------a party.

9. The band played a beautiful song.

10. I tried to explain. I was ----------to explain.