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

The Call to Adventure and the Personal Legend

When Santiago, a young shepherd, has a dream that reveals the location of a hidden treasure buried in the Pyramids of Egypt, his simple life is suddenly split. Part of him wants to risk everything to pursue it, while the other part wants to continue his simple life as a shepherd.

A mysterious king convinces Santiago that he has succeeded in discovering his Personal Legend. The old king tells Santiago that continuing his Personal Legend to achieve it is the only real obligation a person has in life.

Trials in Africa and the Crystal Merchant

Santiago listens to his heart and decides to embark on a dangerous pursuit of the treasure. He sells his herd of sheep and goes to Africa, where he is robbed of all...

Part 1: The Epidemic of Beauty Sickness

It is true that women worry too much about their bodies and their appearance. However, they are constantly bombarded by media stereotypes, while in reality, no one actually looks like that. Many believe that these unrealistic standards are healthy, failing to realize that such pressures can lead to eating disorders. While most women aspire to be "beautiful," they often forget that they are already beautiful as they are, not because of how they look. Women should feel confident and good about themselves.

Color Does Not Define Beauty

It is ironic how our generation has associated beauty with being light-skinned. It is disheartening that an elegant, dark-complexioned girl might feel insecure about her skin...

Macbeth by William Shakespeare

1. Introduction

• Written: 1605.
• Plot: Macbeth overthrows the rightful King of Scotland.
• Historical Context: Elizabeth I ruled England for 45 years during the Elizabethan era. Following her, James I became King of England and Scotland; Shakespeare wrote Macbeth at the beginning of his reign.

2. The Historical Reality

• Real King: Macbeth was a real King of Scotland who reigned from 1040–1057.
• Success: His historical reign was considered successful.
• Duncan: He did kill King Duncan, but the real Macbeth had a legitimate claim to the throne.
• Death: The real Macbeth was a strong leader killed in Lumphanan, not Dunsinane.

3. Tragedy and Literary Devices

• Atmosphere: Shakespeare uses a sinister mood, setting most of the play at night

English Irregular Verbs Master List

This comprehensive list contains the most common English irregular verbs, including their base form, past simple, past participle, and Catalan translations.

• be – was / were – been (ser / estar)
• beat – beat – beaten (golpejar)
• become – became – become (convertir-se)
• begin – began – begun (començar)
• bend – bent – bent (doblegar)
• bet – bet – bet (apostar)
• bite – bit – bitten (mossegar)
• bleed – bled – bled (sagnar)
• blow – blew – blown (bufar)
• break – broke – broken (trencar)
• bring – brought – brought (portar)
• build – built – built (construir)
• burn – burnt – burnt (cremar)
• buy – bought – bought (comprar)
• catch – caught – caught (atrapar)
• choose – chose – chosen (

Finding Belonging: A Migrant's Journey

The Challenge of "Country"

Initially, the concept of "country" seemed too broad. However, discussions revealed its potential for exploring the impact of place on identity and belonging. This piece delves into the complexities of migrating to an unfamiliar country, focusing on the search for security through employment.

A Migrant's Internal Struggles

The narrative aims to provide readers with a deeper understanding of the everyday challenges faced by migrants. It targets those who have personally experienced migration or know someone who has. The story is told from the first-person perspective of a woman grappling with isolation after arriving in Australia.

Inspiration and Literary Techniques

Inspired by "The...

Tema 1

1. Telepathy Research Findings

1. Researchers claim that while many people have strange experiences, a major new study into hundreds of experiments in telepathy carried out over the last ten years has found no evidence that it really exists.
2. Under these rules, volunteers sit on their own in a room with half ping-pong balls over their eyes. Most serious research into telepathy follows a set of rules called the Ganzfeld procedure.
3. Some strange events which may seem fantastic are actually common. Psychologists say that one reason why so many people still believe in the paranormal is because of cognitive biases.
4. Dr. Wiseman has studied the phenomenon of people who dream about dead relatives. Other strange events like premonitions are also more likely

Unit 7: Fashion and Relative Clauses

Vocabulary 7A: Style and Appearance

• Adjectives: Old-fashioned, trendy, glamorous, bright, custom-made, mass-produced, casual, pale, dark, square.
• 7B: Enjoyable, competitive, fashionable, aggressive, creative, comfortable, colorful, natural.

Grammar 7C: Relative Pronouns

Where, -, -, who, whose, -.

Grammar 7D: Sentence Construction

• Newbury, which is near London, is a lovely town.
• Kate Moss, who is a model, wears beautiful clothes.
• Rafael Nadal, who is Spanish, is a tennis player.
• My brother, who is very good at music, wants to be a pop star.
• Madrid, where I grew up, is a lovely city.
• Matt, whose mother is French, can speak English and French.

Grammar 7E: Relative Clauses Practice

Where, which, where, who, that, that, who,...

The Importance of Physical Activity

Everybody knows that physical activity is essential for a healthy life. Then why don't most people exercise enough? At first sight, I suppose that doing exercise is one of the necessary things. In other words, it can be said that doing exercise improves the health of our bodies. From my point of view, I think that people don't do exercises because they are lazy. As a result, they don't like to get up early, as they prefer to stay at home. Another reason can be the lack of interest. I feel that many people start motivated, but sometimes the lack of results makes them lose their motivation. What is more, doing exercise is boring, and people prefer to play with the computer or be on their mobile phones. To conclude,...

His First Flight

• His First Flight is a short story written by Liam O'Flaherty.
• Liam O'Flaherty was an Irish novelist and short story writer.
• It tells the story of a young seagull who was afraid to fly.
• The young seagull lived on a ledge with his family.
• He feared his wings would not support him.
• A lack of confidence and courage kept him on the ledge.
• He was left alone on the ledge with nothing to eat.
• His family, especially his mother, gave him the confidence to fly.
• His father, two brothers, and a sister flew around him to offer support.
• Finally, he flew, and his family celebrated by flying with him.
• Every child needs courage and support in life.
• To be successful, we must be courageous, confident, and self-reliant.
• The story conveys that we cannot achieve

1. The Word and Its Classifications

A word is a unit of language that is very easy to identify.

• Simple: Constituted by a single lexeme.
• Derivatives: Formed by one or more derivational morphemes added to a lexeme.
• Compound: Composed of two lexemes.
• Parasynthetic: A lexeme with both a prefix and a suffix.
• Lexical Family: A set of words that share the same lexeme.

2. Nouns and Adjectives

• Noun: A word that identifies and classifies beings and entities of reality.
• Adjective: A word that expresses qualities or properties of beings.

3. Variable Words and Determiners

• Variable Item: A word that supports gender and number variance.
• Pronouns: Words that replace nouns.
• Determiners: Words that accompany the substantive and clarify their meaning.

4. The Verb and Its Properties

• Verb: