Tenses Exercise
1. When I opened my eyes, I saw a strange sight.
2. Every morning she wakes up early and gets ready for work.
3. If I knew what he wanted, I would not permit this.
4. I haven’t heard anything from her in a long time.
5. The headmaster wants to talk to you.
6. Jane lives with her parents.
7. We are visiting Greece next month.
8. The moon revolves around the earth.
9. She has written a novel.
10. All students have handed in their work.
11. I have been teaching English for twelve years.
12. The students are rehearsing their dialogues.
Albertos new neighbour
Alberto took one look at his new neighbours and knew that his life was going to get more difficult. He watched them arrive in their big, noisy car and watched them get out. There they were, two of them, as big and as noisy as their car – and smelly and stupid as well.
‘Terrible!’ he thought. ‘How am I going to put up with them?’ He went to tell Mimi. Mimi was the friend he lived with.
‘Have you seen the new neighbours?’ he asked her.
‘No,’ she said. ‘Who are they?’
‘Two of them. The ones we don’t like. Big and noisy and stupid and smelly. Just like they always are.’
‘Oh no,’ said Mimi. ‘How awful! Still, I suppose we can just ignore them.’
‘I suppose you’re right,’ agreed Alberto. ‘We’ll just have to ignore them.’
For a few days, then, Alberto and Mimi tried to ignore their new neighbours. When the neighbours went out for a walk, Alberto and Mimi didn’t say hello to them. When the neighbours were in their garden, Alberto and Mimi went inside. This was OK for a few days, but, perhaps inevitably, things didn’t stay this way …
One day, Alberto woke up from his sleep to find one of the neighbours in his garden. ‘Mimi!’ he shouted. ‘Have you seen this!? He’s in our garden!!!! Look!’
‘How terrible,’ said Mimi. ‘Let’s call our staff and make sure they get rid of him immediately!’
Mimi went off to call their staff. Two minutes later, Alberto and Mimi’s head of staff was out in the garden trying to get rid of the unwelcome neighbour. ‘Go on!’ he shouted. ‘Get out of here! Go home!’ The neighbour didn’t say anything but gave Alberto and Mimi’s head of staff a dirty look, then he went back into his garden. Alberto and Mimi felt better and then asked their head of staff to prepare their lunch for them.
However, it wasn’t enough. Over the next few days, Alberto and Mimi often found one or other or both of their new neighbours walking around their own garden. It was terrible. To show how they felt, Alberto and Mimi went into their neighbours’ garden at night, when the neighbours were inside, and broke all the flowers.
The next morning one of the neighbours came to talk to Alberto.
‘Hey!’ he said. ‘Hey, you!’ Alberto ignored him, but he continued talking. ‘You came into our garden last night and broke all the flowers!’ Alberto didn’t say anything but gave his neighbour a dirty look. ‘Now I’m in trouble!’ continued his neighbour. ‘They think I did it!’
‘Who are «they»?’ asked Alberto.
‘My owners, of course,’ replied the neighbour.
‘Owners!?’ said Alberto. ‘You have «owners»?’
‘Course we do,’ said his neighbour. ‘Don’t you?’
‘Oh, no,’ replied Alberto. ‘We have staff.’
Alberto went to tell Mimi that the neighbours didn’t have staff but owners.
‘That’s not a surprise,’ said Mimi. ‘That explains everything. That’s why they’re so noisy and smelly and stupid. We need to make their owners become staff.’
The next day, Alberto and Mimi were actually very friendly with their new neighbours. They tried to explain how to make their owners become ‘staff’.
‘Listen,’ said Alberto to them. ‘It’s very easy. First, understand that the house is your house, not theirs.’
‘And second,’ said Mimi, ‘make sure that you are always clean.’
‘Make sure they give you food whenever you want!’
‘Sit on the newspaper while they are reading it!’
‘Sleep as much as possible – on their beds!’
‘And finally, try not to bark but to miaow instead.’
But it was no good. The neighbours just didn’t understand. After a week, they gave up.
‘It’s no good,’ said Mimi. ‘They’ll never understand – dogs have owners, cats have staff.’
Booking a table
Staff: Hello, Gino’s.
Jamie: Hi. Can I book a table for tomorrow night, please?
Staff: How many people is it for?
Jamie: Four.
Staff: And what time would you like?
Jamie: About eight, eight thirty maybe?
Staff: Let’s see … We’re pretty busy tomorrow, so I can do half past seven or nine.
Jamie: Oh. OK, then. Half seven, please.
Staff: What name is it?
Jamie: Jamie.
Staff: J-A- …?
Jamie: M-I-E
Staff: OK, so that’s a table for four at half past seven tomorrow evening.
Jamie: Great. Thanks! Bye.
Staff: Bye.
Staff: Hello, Gino’s.
Jamie: Hi, I called earlier to book a table for four and I was wondering if I can make it for six instead?
Staff: Ah, what name was it?
Jamie: It’s Jamie.
Staff: Table for four at half past seven. So you want to change it to 6 o’clock?
Jamie: No, sorry. Can I make it for six people?
Staff: Oh, I see. Sorry! That shouldn’t be a problem. I can move you to a bigger table but it will be nearer the kitchen. Is that OK?
Jamie: No problem. Is it possible to change the time as well? Make it a little bit later?
Staff: Ah … yeah, we can. Is eight OK for you?
Jamie: Perfect, thanks!
Staff: Lovely. See you tomorrow, then.
Jamie: Thanks! Bye!
Staff: Thanks. Ciao!
My Favourite Armenian
While we say famous Armenians, the first person which comes to my mind and head is Monte Melkonyan. I have examined a lot about his life, what I find interesting, respectful in him, was that he left America and came to Armenia to protect our country. He is one of few Armenians who put his efforts into his nation’s development and benefits. Every Armenian should be proud of that we have Monte Melkonyan.
Monte Melkonian was an Armenian revolutionary, left-wing nationalist militant and commander. In his life one fact is very important, he took part in ASALA, he took part in the assassinations of several Turkish diplomats in Europe His life was full of challenges, difficulties, but he overcame everything. One of them was that he was later arrested and sent to prison in France. But then, he was released and in the following year, acquired a visa to travel to Armenia.
Monte was killed by Azerbaijani soldiers while surveying Merzili with five of his comrades in the aftermath of the battle. He was buried at Yerablur cemetery in Yerevan and declared a National Hero of Armenia in 1996.
Aunt Helen’s House-Reading Comprehension Multiple Choice
I’m going to tell you about my Aunt Helen’s house. It’s not her main house, that’s in the city. No, this house is by the lake. There was a small town by the lake called Miller’s Ford, but all the people moved away when the fishing and mining stopped about sixty years ago. But the houses stayed, of course. My Aunt Helen uses that house as a vacation home and she goes there for a few weeks every year to relax.
But staying in that house isn’t a relaxing experience. I think the house is haunted! I think there’s a ghost there from many many years ago. Helen says I’m silly and that I’ve got an over-active imagination. But there are many things that happen in that house that cannot be easily explained.
One day, shortly after getting up, I went to find my Aunt Helen to say «good morning» and I heard her talking in a room that she usually never uses. I think it used to be the nursery of the house when Miller’s Ford was a busy town in the 19th Century. I listened at the door and could hear Helen reading something out, or perhaps she was dictating a letter. I couldn’t hear any other person in the room with her so it wasn’t a normal conversation. I didn’t want to disturb my aunt, so I went back downstairs and went to make breakfast in the kitchen, which I ate on the porch that overlooked the lake. It was a beautiful sunny morning. Half an hour later, I heard my aunt’s car arriving. She had been to the local store to buy some bread and milk. I couldn’t believe it!
«What are you looking so shocked for?» she asked me.
«I thought you were in the old nursery, working on your letters, Auntie,» I replied.
«I never go in that room,» she said. «I haven’t been in that room for fifteen years.»
A few other things like that happened over the next few visits I made to that house and I grew to dislike it very much. Then, one day in my local library, I found a story in an old newspaper with the title «The Constant Babysitter». The story was that a baby had died in one of the houses by the lake at Miller’s Ford and the babysitter was blamed, a woman of 37 who was a family friend and had offered to look after the baby. But she spent all her time in the kitchen writing her letters and didn’t know that someone had climbed in the baby’s window and taken her. The baby was never found. The woman killed herself through depression after the baby’s disappearance and local people then said her ghost stayed very close to where the baby was left by the parents — in the nursery.
I never went back to that house, despite my Aunt Helen’s many invitations.
1.The narrator describes the house where her aunt lives all year.
false
true
2. Why did the people leave Miller’s Ford
the lake flooded
the haunted house
the economy
3. Aunt Helen also believes there’s something «strange» in the house.
true
false
4. Why was the narrator looking for Aunt Helen?
to tell her about the nursery
to have breakfast
to greet her
5. Why did the narrator think it wasn’t a «normal conversation»?
she heard only one person
the people were shouting
the voices were strange
6. What did Aunt Helen say about the nursery?
she didn’t like to use it
that she never used it
the room was locked
7. Who took the baby in the story?
a friend of the babysitter
the babysitter
nobody knows
8. Why does the ghost probably stay in the nursery?
it feels guilty about what happened
because of the lake view
she jumped from that window
Let-Have-Make
1. Don’t let your son drive without having a driver’s licence.
2. My mother will have my sister cook some meat with zucchini.
3. His wife had him buy some squash.
4. Don’t let children drink the spring water unless you boil it.
5. The teacher made students tell an oral story to enhance their speaking.
6. Let your body stay healthy by exercising and avoiding obesity.
7. His mother made him preserve her little sister for a while.
8. Distinguished writer’s books made me change my life in a good way.
9. The tailor had his assistant sew sleeves.
10. The valiant man made that woman surprise by rescuing her child who had fallen down from the tree.
11. The chef let the stewing beef burn in the oven
ESL Doctors Reading Comprehension Passage
When most people are ill with a non-life threatening condition they will most often see a General Practitioner, a GP, also called a Family Doctor. These doctors generally work in the local community in surgeries rather than in hospitals, so they are convenient for people to see for a consultation. However, other GPs can work in a very wide range of areas, such as in hospitals, in education and for insurance companies.
As the name suggests, GPs are doctors that do not have a specialty, such as a brain surgeon or cancer specialist: they are able to diagnose and treat all the possible diseases and problem that one of their patients might have. They can treat and manage most illnesses and perform some minor surgeries in their practice. Then for more serious cases they will refer the patient to a specialist that will work in a hospital.
If you are ill and need to see a GP you will normally need to make an appointment. Sometimes you can just walk into the surgery and see a doctor, but that is not very likely as GPs are normally very busy and all their appointment times will be fully booked. Often you have to wait several hours if not at least one of two days before you can get an appointment with a GP. If you are too ill to wait you have to go to a hospital and visit the accident and emergency department.
GPs also make house-calls. These are when the GP comes to your house to treat you or see a patient. Most often a GP has to make house-calls to see elderly people who cannot get to the surgery easily. They might be ill and need to doctor to give them medicine or it could be that the GP just want to check on them and make sure that they are ok.
If you are ill, the doctor will normally prescribe you some medicine and tell you to go away for a few days before you go back and visit them again if you have not started to get better. The GP will also explain how you can have a better lifestyle that could prevent you from becoming ill in the first place. They will normally recommend that you stop smoking cigarettes (if you do), not to drink too much alcohol and to get exercise. Once you have your prescription you will need to visit a pharmacy to get the medicine the doctor prescribed you.
Tim’s Day
Every day Tim wakes up at five thirty when his alarm clock rings. He gets up and then goes to the bathroom and has a long, hot shower. After that he makes breakfast for him and his wife, Betty. Tim has coffee and two slices of toast and Betty drinks a cup of tea and eats a bowl of cornflakes. At six o’clock Tim brushes his teeth, always before he gets dressed because it is very important that he doesn’t get toothpaste on his clothes — Tim is a train driver and he wears a uniform! Finally, he kisses his wife and baby son and leaves his house in Watford at a quarter after six.
Tim starts work at seven o’clock and drives trains on the London Underground. He usually works in the mornings from Monday to Friday, but he sometimes works on the weekends too. At noon he stops work for half an hour to have his lunch. He eats cheese and tomato sandwiches which Betty makes for him, and drinks a bottle of milk. After lunch he works until four o’clock and then he goes home. In the evening he plays with his baby son, Ben, and watches TV with Betty. At ten thirty they all go to bed because they are very tired — and because they get up so early in the morning!
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