Notes, summaries, assignments, exams, and exercises for English for Secondary education

Benito Pérez Galdós: Life, Works, and Literary Realism

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Benito Pérez Galdós: A Master of Spanish Realism

Benito Pérez Galdós, a prominent figure in the realism movement, was born in Las Palmas in 1843 and passed away in Madrid in 1920. He pursued legal studies, served as a deputy, and was a progressive observer of his time. His life spanned a tumultuous era, and his literary output is extensive, categorized as follows:

Romances of Youth or Thesis Novels

These novels champion modern ideas concerning culture and reason, often depicting the clash between liberal and progressive ideologies. Notable works from this period include:

  • La Fontana de Oro
  • Gloria
  • La Familia de León Roch: This novel explores the conflict between Catholic bigotry and liberal tolerance.
  • Marianela: A romantic tale of a young, orphaned,
...
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English Irregular Verbs List (A-L) with Spanish Translation

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Mastering English Irregular Verbs (A-L)

This comprehensive list provides essential irregular verbs from A to L, detailing the Spanish meaning alongside the three core English forms: Infinitive, Past Simple, and Past Participle. Use this resource to improve your conjugation accuracy.

Irregular Verb Forms Reference

  • Spanish Meaning | Infinitive | Past Simple | Past Participle

Verbs Starting with B

  • Ser: be | was/were | been
  • Hacerse: become | became | become
  • Empezar: begin | began | begun
  • Picar: bite | bit | bitten
  • Romper: break | broke | broken
  • Traer: bring | brought | brought
  • Construir: build | built | built
  • Comprar: buy | bought | bought

Verbs Starting with C

  • Poder: can | could | (Modal verb)
  • Coger: catch | caught | caught
  • Escoger: choose | chose | chosen
  • Venir:
...
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English Irregular Verbs: Spanish Translations & Forms

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Essential English Irregular Verbs for Spanish Speakers

This comprehensive list provides common irregular verbs in English, complete with their Spanish translations and all three forms: base form, past simple, and past participle. It's a valuable resource for Spanish speakers learning English grammar and expanding their vocabulary.

Understanding English Irregular Verb Forms

Unlike regular verbs that form their past simple and past participle by adding "-ed", irregular verbs follow unique patterns. Mastering these forms is crucial for accurate and fluent English communication. This table presents a selection of frequently used irregular verbs.

Spanish MeaningBase FormPast SimplePast Participle
Abandonarleaveleftleft
Dejarletletlet
Perderloselostlost
Hacermakemademade
Conocermeetmetmet
Ponerputputput
Leerreadreadread
Montarrideroderidden
Correrrunranrun
Decirsaysaidsaid
Verseesawseen
Vendersellsoldsold
Enviarsendsentsent
Salirset
...
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English Language Exercises: Grammar and Comprehension

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Text Analysis

1. The lights look quite confusing. — True — “Strange lights sometimes dance in the night sky.”

2. The lights don’t always float high above the ground. — True — “They might float just above the earth, or fly up into the dark.”

3. Robert Ellison didn’t feel sure about the cause of the lights. — False — “He had thought they must be distant campfires.”

4. The lights are likely to be people playing a trick. — False — “Some people say it’s all a trick. But that can’t be true.”

5. James Bunnell is sure his theory is right. — False — “He believes they might be a result of a complex combination of physics and geology.”

Synonyms

  • Near = Close
  • Witnesses = Observers
  • Proof = Evidence
  • Surprising = Amazing
  • Clearly
...
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The Hunchback of Notre Dame: A Story of Unconditional Love

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Quasimodo's Origin and Rejection

He was an innocent creature to whom God gave life, but whose irresponsible parents despised him solely for having a physical defect: he was a hunchback. He was left abandoned at the gate of the Church of Notre Dame (Paris), where the Prior of the convent found him when he was only a few days old.

"Virgin Mary!" he exclaimed, "Who has dared to abandon this son of God?"

The Prior attended to him immediately and only then noticed the defect he carried. He tried to deliver the child to a good family, but everyone, rich and poor, refused him due to his uneven appearance. With great sadness, the Prior understood that many who called themselves Christians only used their faith to hide their infamous prejudice. Thus, he...

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English Grammar: Verb Forms and Sentence Construction

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English Grammar Practice Drills

1. Passive Voice: Modals and Tenses

  • The electricity bill must be paid.
  • Yesterday's assignment wasn't prepared.
  • Your question was already answered by…
  • The time of the meeting had been set before…
  • How many people have been invited so far?
  • The winners of the competition were chosen…

2. Active, Passive, and Causative Verbs

  • People stood and watched as the building was being destroyed.
  • I love this guitar. My father gave it to me.
  • That man was driving… he should be blamed for the accident.
  • Can we play, or is someone using the tennis court?
  • My car isn't working. Will it be repaired soon?
  • You don't need an operation; your leg isn't broken.
  • Ingrid hasn't come… Is she still being examined?
  • This is a great phone. You can download
...
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Shakespeare's Hamlet: Royal Court Dialogue Analysis

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Shakespeare's Hamlet: Royal Court Dialogue

King's Address to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern

KING:

  1. Welcome, dear Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.
  2. Moreover, we much longed to see you.
  3. That we have to use you did provoke our hasty sending.
  4. Something have you heard of Hamlet’s transformation.
  5. What it should be more than his father’s death, that thus hath put him so much from the understanding of himself, I cannot dream of.
  6. I both entreat you to draw him on to pleasures, and gather so much as from occasion you may glean whether aught to us unknown afflicts him thus that open lies within our remedy.

Queen's Request

QUEEN:

  1. Good gentlemen, he hath much talked of you, and sure I am two men there are not living to whom he more adheres.
  2. If it will please you to show
...
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Learn English Vocabulary and Passive Voice Structure

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English Vocabulary

  • aford: permetre’s
  • antique: antiguitat
  • bargain: oferta, ganga
  • barter: intercanviar
  • bill: factura
  • borrow: demanar
  • brand name: article de marca
  • bring in: portar
  • cash: efectiu
  • cheap: barat
  • computer science: informática
  • customer: client
  • deal with: ocupar-se
  • discount: descuento
  • earn: guanyar
  • environment: medi ambient
  • exchange: intercanvi
  • expensive: car
  • gift certificate: xec regal
  • half-price: mitad precio
  • keep: deixar
  • last: durar
  • lend: prestar
  • lift: viatge
  • look after: tenir cura de
  • look around: fer una ullada
  • look into: investigar
  • make money: fer diners
  • manage money: administrar diners
  • mobile payment: pagament mòbil
  • note: bitllet
  • offline: fora de línia
  • on sale: rebaixat
  • owe: deure diners
  • pay back: tornar diners
  • pay for: pagar per
  • pay out: desemborsar
  • pick on: ficar-
...
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English Grammar Cheat Sheet: Tenses, Forms, and More

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English Grammar Cheat Sheet

Word Formation

Prefixes

  • semi-
  • under-
  • over-
  • re-
  • co-
  • inter-
  • un-

Suffixes

  • -ism
  • -er
  • -or
  • -ly
  • -able
  • -fy
  • -ty

Past Simple

  • Positive: -ed or irregular verbs
  • Negative: didn't + infinitive
  • Questions: did + person + infinitive
  • Specific situations in the past: last year; at 8:00; in 1990

Present Perfect

  • Positive: has/have + -ed/irregular verbs
  • Negative: haven't/hasn't + -ed/irregular verbs
  • Questions: have/has + person + -ed/irregular verbs
  • Have: I, you, we, they
  • Has: he, she, it

Future Forms

Present Simple (for facts or generalizations)

  • Positive: verb + -es/-s (3rd person)
  • Negative: don't + verb + -es/-s (3rd person)
  • Questions: do + person + verb + -es/-s (3rd person)

Present Continuous (for ongoing actions)

  • Positive: am/is/are + verb + -ing
  • Negative: am/is/are
...
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Billy Elliot the Musical: Lyrics and Story

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The Stars Look Down

Hold me gently

Hold me high

Under darkness

We will fly

Been rejected

Been outcast

We come to rest at last

We will never walk alone

Back to our home

At their reflection

There's a light

See the struggle

At all the pain

Light shines again

We'll stand as one

All out together

All out as one

All out for victory

'Til we've won

All out together

All out as one

All out for victory

'Til we've won

All out together

All out as one

All out for victory

All out 'til we've won

Expressing Yourself

To cheer up the place?

Get some earrings

You will start to feel a different man

What's wrong with expressing yourself?

If you put on a dress?

What's wrong with expressing yourself?

What's wrong with wearing a dress?

You try to impress

Learn to care less

Sing something to me

What's wrong...

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