Notes, summaries, assignments, exams, and exercises for English for Baccalaureate

Medea: A Sorceress's Tale of Love and Vengeance

Medea was a sorceress, the daughter of King Aeetes of Colchis and Eidyia. She was also the niece of Circe, the great magician, inheriting her magical abilities.

Jason and the Golden Fleece

Medea's story is closely linked to Jason's. He embarked on a journey with the Argonauts to retrieve the Golden Fleece, located in Colchis. Jason's father, Aeson, the king of Iolcus in Thessaly, was deposed by his brother Pelias, who sought to prevent Jason from reclaiming the throne. Pelias, hoping Jason would perish, persuaded him to undertake the perilous quest for the Golden Fleece. Jason gathered over fifty young nobles from Greece to accompany him on the Argo.

Medea's Betrayal

When the ship reached Colchis,...

Vocabulary Development

Surveillance Terminology

Key terms related to surveillance:

• Surveillance: closed-circuit television (CCTV), biometric identification, identity cards, iris recognition, radio-frequency identification (RFID), computer chip.

Verbs of Observation and Detection

Understand verbs used to describe observation and detection:

• To survey: From his viewpoint at the top of the tower, he was able to survey the surrounding countryside.
• To be captured: As soon as she stepped outside, she was captured on camera.
• To identify: The man had been dead for more than thirty years, but it was possible to identify him using just his dental records.
• To be monitored: “Don’t worry about the man who called on you,” said the officer. “His movements will

Cleft Sentences and Their Structure

What is a Cleft Sentence?

A cleft sentence is one where a single message is divided (cleft) into two clauses.

Unmarked Word Order for Declarative Sentences

The unmarked word order for a declarative sentence in English is SVO (Subject-Verb-Object).

When Can Inversion Be Used?

Inversion can be used in clefts.

Usage of "Who"

The pronoun "who" is used for humans.

Defining Subordinate Clauses

Subordinate clauses are dependent clauses.

Types of Relative Clauses

• Restrictive
• Non-restrictive

Inversion with "Never" and "Rarely"

When "never" and "rarely" are in front position, they require subject-auxiliary inversion.

Characteristics of Existential Sentences

Existential sentences have an indefinite subject.

Forms of the Object Complement

The...

Conditionals

0 Conditional

if + Present Simple + Present Simple

Situations that are always true or happen repeatedly.

1st Conditional

if + Present Simple + will (verb)

Describes what happens if a condition is met.

2nd Conditional

if + Past Simple + would (verb)

Imaginary future situations, hypothetical cases, unlikely events.

3rd Conditional

If + Past Perfect, would have + Past Participle

Impossible conditions as they refer to the past.

The Passive Voice

Present Simple: The waiter serves the customers (A) --> The customers are served by the waiter (P)

Present Continuous: ...is serving... --> ...are being served...

Past Simple: ...served... --> ...were served...

Past Continuous: ...was serving... --> ...were being served...

Present Perfect Simple:

4 Grammar

2. Complete affirm one modals or modal perfects.

• should have helped
• should have asked
• may have left
• don't have to get up
• can't buy
• must have had
• can't have recognised

3. Rewrite the sentences using the words

• might exist another planets
• needn't have told Susan what I said
• may have been Alicia who just walked by
• had better not travel to that country
• must have forgotten that we were meeting today
• don't have to bring a gift

4. Complete the mini dialogues modal or imperfect

• may have studied
• can't be
• may not have had
• should have let
• must have written
• should call
• can be able to
• can borrow
• should have (ed)

5. Rewrite the sentences modal or modal perfect

• I must have reminded you
• You shouldn't walk alone in this neighbourhood
• We could have taken the car but we decided

Yesterday I was watching high school albums and I found one with a boy that I had a crush on. We grew apart but we were close friends. Our love story didn't turn out well.

At first, he didn't pay attention to me and he ignored me. Later, we became friends and started sending text messages. He told me all about his childhood and I did the same. A few weeks later, we started flirting and everyone thought we were a couple. One day we went on a date, he treated me very well, and we realized that we had a lot in common. He supported me a lot and finally, we fell in love. He met my relatives and I met his. But one day we broke up because I found out that he didn't like me because he had fallen in love with another girl. We kept in touch for a few...

Passives

School Achievements

Our basketball team won the interschool championship again. It is the third time our players lifted the trophy and succeeded in this important sports event.

The majority of the school's families attended the Arts Festival this year. This is awesome news! Students have already sent the families a thank you note.

The school science fair always showcases students' creativity and love for design. On this occasion, a 10th-grade girl developed some innovative software for learning English in a fun way.

It's a fact that most students enjoy new technologies and the computer lessons. However, the school's computers are very old and don't work properly. The school hasn't acquired new ones yet.

The school has already opened its doors to...

A Formal Letter

1-11 Rosa Sensat i Vila Street

Lloret de Mar

1/04/2019

Imperial College London

Kensington London, UK

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am writing to you because I would like to learn about your university. I am a student of "batxillerat" and in one year I should go to university to study as I would like to become a primary teacher, and people have told me that your university is the best in this degree.

Firstly, my marks at high school are very high. Some of the subjects I have passed with merits, and I am very happy about it. I think that I will be an excellent student to go to your university. Then, in my free time, I do ballet dancing in an academy, and when I am dancing, I switch off from everything.

In addition, I think that I am the proper

• be was/were been ser, estar
• become became become convertirse en
• begin began begun empezar, comenzar
• bite bit bitten morder
• blow blew blown soplar
• break broke broken romper
• bring brought brought llevar, traer
• build built built construir
• buy bought bought comprar
• can could been able poder
• catch caught caught coger, atrapar, tomar
• choose chose chosen elegir, escoger
• come came come venir
• cost cost cost cortar
• cut cut cut cortar
• do did done hacer
• draw drew drawn dibujar
• drink drank drunk beber
• drive drove driven conducir
• eat ate eaten comer
• fall fell fallen caer
• feel felt felt sentir
• fight fought fought pelear, luchar
• find found found encontrar
• fly flew flown volar
• forget forgot forgotten olvidarse
• forgive forgave forgiven perdonar
• freeze froze frozen congelar
• get got got