ENG_MY ENGLISH EXERCISES 2

MY ENGLISH EXERCISES

LOWER SECONDARY 1° LEVEL

Can

2a Who

Bus Was Rain

INTRODUCTION

Learning a foreign language is an important journey , made up of steps and stages , sometimes also of difficulties : it's all part of the process!

My English Exercises 2 is a text that seeks to accompany every student on this journey into the language , into the practice, into the exploration of its many different aspects and, above all, into the strategies to cope with its learning.

The orientation between the various parts of the book is clearly marked by the titles of the sections, distinguished by specific colours in the index, which guides and accompanies each student through the activities, designed with principles of increasing gradualness and different sensorial stimuli.

The exercises focus on the skills required to become 'capable travellers': identifying and analysing the sounds of the language, memorising new words, understanding and using grammatical rules and structures together with other elements of the language.

The final part, in particular, is dedicated to two fundamental skills: comprehension of written text and ability to listen to and understand people speaking in a foreign language. These two sections include special attention to the tools that can be used and to the strategies to be implemented to focus not only on what I learn but also on how I learn!

How the exercise book is structured

Each topic is introduced by vignettes that take up the rule and explain how it works through a short summary. If necessary, these summaries can be further explored in the Tablet of English Rules (Erickson, 2020), where each student can revise the same topics before dealing with the exercises. Then follow application exercises that are specifically designed from the easiest to the most elaborate, according to principles of gradualness which, step by step, lead the students towards autonomy in the use of the rule.

The verb can is used to ask or give permission in informal situations, when talking to a friend or peer.

HOMOPHONE WORDS

Flower or flour? What a dilemma! They are homophone words, i.e. pairs of words that are pronounced in the same way, but are spelled differently and also have different meanings. How can I tell which word it is?

In order to understand which word it is, you have to help yourself with the sentence in which it occurs and with the context.

If, for example, someone is telling you a cooking recipe, they are saying flour, not flower.

In English, there are a lot of homophone word pairs, more than 400!

There’s a bee / be on that flour / flower . 1 2

Listen to the track and circle the pairs of words that have the same pronunciation. Focus on the sound, not on the meaning or on the letters that you see.

male – mail sun – son

seat – site my – mine

all – hall brake – break

no – know sea – see

Listen to the pronunciation of the words in the table. Then search above for a homophone word to match each one. Repeat it out loud to check that the pronunciation is the same.

bye here feet dear right for

deer – dear feat –

four – ..................... write – .....................

hear – buy –

Read the sentences and circle the right word in red .

Let’s meet / meat at 4 o’clock.

There’s a bare / bear in the wood.

My ant / aunt lives in Mexico.

That student looks board / bored

VOICELESS AND VOICED CONSONANT PHONEMES: T / D

I often happen to pronounce ' town ', but the listener understands ' down ', because in English the sound /t/ is pronounced in a slightly different way than in Italian. In order to pronounce /t/ and /d/ in English, the tip of the tongue does not lean against the upper front teeth, but instead goes against the soft surface that is located just above the two upper front teeth, at the beginning of the palate.

The sound /d/ is voiced, while the sound /t/ is voiceless and is produced by emitting the air with more energy than in Italian, something like a small 'explosion'. The distinction between the voiced and the voiceless sound is useful when you have to pronounce -ed in the Past Simple and in the past participle of regular verbs. Remember the rule:

The verb ends with a voiced consonant

The verb ends with a voiceless consonant

The verb ends with the consonant t or d

-ed is pronounced /d/ -ed is pronounced /t/ -ed is pronounced /id/

E.g. cleaned /kli:n d / E.g. helped /help t / E.g. wanted /w ɒ nti d /

Take a piece of paper and hold it in front of your mouth while listening and repeating the following words. By pronouncing the sound /t/, the piece of paper will move, while with the sound /d/ it will remain still.

Read the following past simple verbs and choose the correct sound, then listen to the audio track and check. /d/ /t/ /id/ danced × rubbed ended realized talked needed 1

t en – d en t ip – d ip t in – d in t ub – d ub t uck – d uck

Listen to the audio track and write down the number corresponding to the words you hear.

town down try 1 dry two do

wide white said set send sent

2

TRICKY SOUNDS

I wanted to say ' thin ' and instead I said ' fin '! The incorrect pronunciation of a sound can sometimes lead to misunderstandings with the listener...

The th / θ / sound of thin is a voiceless consonant phoneme that does not exist in Italian and can therefore be difficult.

It can sometimes be confused with the voiceless consonant sound /f/ .

To pronounce the voiceless th / θ / use the following trick: put your index finger in front of your mouth, place the tip of your tongue under your upper teeth and pronounce the th by letting some air out between your teeth. While pronouncing the sound, you should be able to touch your index finger with the tip of your tongue.

Listen and repeat the sounds using a pocket mirror to observe how the position of lips, teeth and tongue change as you pronounce them.

/ θ/ – /f/ – / θ/ – / θ/ – /f/ – /f/ – / θ/ – /f /

Listen to these words and circle the letters that correspond to the right sound, then listen again and check.

1. th f 2. th f 3. th f

4. th f 5. th f 6. th f

Observe the following word pairs, listen and circle the word you hear.

1. thresh – fresh

thunder – funder 3. three – free

4. thought – fought 5. thread – Fred 6. thirst – first

Voiceless th or f? Listen and complete the words with the missing consonants. 1. th anks

bo ..........

bir.......... day 2. eatre

COMPARATIVE OF MAJORITY

See how the comparative is formed:

The comparative allows us to make a comparison between two people, animals or things.

The comparative of majority is formed differently depending on whether the adjective is short (formed by one syllable) or long (formed by two or more syllables). Comparatives remain unchanged in the feminine and plural.

• short adjective (formed by a single syllable) -er is added E.g. old old er new new er

• long adjective (formed by 2 or more syllables) more is added in front of the adjective E.g. interesting more interesting famous more famous

Pay attention to spelling variations:

• short adjective ending with -e -r is added E.g. large large r

• short adjective ending with vowel + consonant the consonant doubles and -er is added E.g. hot hot ter big big ger

• adjective ending with -y -y becomes -ier E.g. happy happ ier

For some bisyllabic adjectives, both the form with -er, -ier , and the form with more are correct . E.g. friendly friendl ier or more friendly.

The second term of comparison is introduced using than. Es. Alan is taller than Bob.

Write the comparative of majority of the following adjectives.

small smaller quick friendly sad lazy attractive

fast careful hard

comfortable happy heavy

Complete the sentences as in the example, using the comparative form of the adjective in brackets.

Ann’s mobile phone is (new) newer than mine.

That pullover is small. I need a (big) one.

This film is (impressive) than the other one.

This exercise is (easy) .............................................. than the first one.

SUPERLATIVE

The superlative also allows us to make a comparison between people, animals or things. As in Italian, it can be relative (" the most...") or absolute ("-est"). The relative superlative always wants the article the in front of the adjective and, as in the comparative of majority, is formed differently depending on the number of syllables of that adjective. The absolute superlative is formed with very + adjective.

See how the relative superlative is formed:

• short adjective (formed by a single syllable) -est is added E.g. old old est

• long adjective (formed by 2 or more syllables) the most is added in front of the adjective

Pay attention to spelling variations:

E.g. interesting the most interesting

• short adjective ending with -e -st is added E.g. large the large st

• short adjective ending with vowel + consonant the consonant doubles and -est is added E.g. fat the fat test

• adjective ending with -y -y becomes -iest E.g. happy the happ iest

For some bisyllabic adjectives, either the form with -st, - est, -iest, or the form with the most is correct.

E.g. friendly the friendl iest or the most friendly.

The second term of comparison is introduced by in or of:

• in + place E.g. London is the largest town in Britain.

• of + period of time or other cases E.g. This is the luckiest day of my life.

Write the relative superlative of the following adjectives.

ugly the ugliest shy

famous ........................................ delicious ........................................ wide lazy thick cheap 1

ADVERBS OF MANNER

Terrib ly , quick ly , slow ly ... Have you noticed that they all end in -ly ? They are adverbs of manner and are used to:

• describe how an action is performed (e.g. Dad drives slowly );

• point out an adjective or another adverb (e.g. Hurry up! It’s terribly late!).

Adverbs of manner are generally formed by adding the suffix -ly , to the adjective, which corresponds to the Italian -mente (sudden ly improvvisa mente ), but there are some exceptions:

adjective ending with consonant + y

the y becomes i and -ly is added eas y eas ily nois y nois ily

adjective ending with -ble -ble becomes -bly terri ble terri bly horri ble horri bly

adjective ending with -ic -ally is added mag ic magic ally fantast ic fantastic ally

adjective that is equal to the adverb remains unchanged hard hard (duramente) fast fast (velocemente)

Adverbs of manner:

• follow the verb or object to which they refer

• precede the adjective or other adverb to which they refer

Turn the adjectives into adverbs of manner.

nice nicely

E.g. The train left quickly. He opened the door quietly.

E.g. Your mum is extremely kind to me. You played really well yesterday.

horrible

clear careful cheerful gentle

natural bad systematic ..................................... brave .....................................

angry heavy brief .....................................

scientific .....................................

slow fast casual honest kind loud

comfortable regular 1

VERB TO BE – PAST SIMPLE

The verb to be in the Past Simple is used to speak in the past tense of someone, indicating their nationality, physical qualities, state of mind... In English, the verb to be has many uses!

Like all verbs, the verb to be has many forms:

• an affirmative form : Michael Jackson was a very famous singer

• a negative form : We weren’t at home

• an interrogative form : Were you at school?

In the Past Simple, there is no contracted form for affirmative sentences, only for negative sentences: Shakespeare was not American Shakespeare wasn’t American.

My grandfather an architect. 1

Read the sentences and circle the correct form of the verb to be.

I was / were at the concert last night.

The film was / were really funny!

My friends wasn’t / weren’t happy about the test.

Freddie Mercury was / were the singer of the group Queen.

Alex wasn’t / weren’t at school because she was / were sick.

The people at the cinema was / were really noisy.

Put was or were in the sentences. Observe the subject well to choose the correct verb form. Pay attention to the subject, you may sometimes have irregular plural forms.

My brother and I were at home yesterday morning.

My brother ............................... at the cinema with his friends last night.

The students worried about the exam.

Mark very tall when he six.

The children ............................... very scared during the storm.

The hoodie £ 50.30, it very expensive!

REGULAR VERBS AND SPELLING VARIATIONS

The Past Simple is used to talk about past actions or events that are completely finished.

In the Past Simple, we have the three verb forms.

• Affirmative form : for regular verbs -ed is added to the end of the verb. I watch ed two episodes of Stranger Things last night.

We have to be careful with some spelling variations:

if the verb ends with: e like, move e becomes ed lik ed , mov ed

if the verb ends with: consonant + y study, tidy y becomes ied stud ied , tid ied

if the verb is monosyllabic and ends with: vowel + consonant stop, plan the consonant is doubled and -ed is added sto pped , pla nned

• Negative form: the auxiliary did is used and not is put before the verb in the base form. The auxiliary did and not are often contracted didn’t We didn’t study last night.

• Interrogative form: the auxiliary did is used before the subject did + subject + verb, or wh + did + subject + verb Did you study last night? What did you study last night?

Transform the verbs from the Present Simple to the Past Simple, in the affirmative and negative forms.

verb

affirmative form

negative form

watch watched didn’t watch

enjoy

want try listen clap 1

like decide stop clean

HAVE TO / DON’T HAVE TO

Have to indicates a duty. In the affirmative form it expresses an obligation linked to a rule or external request/circumstance. In the negative form, don't have to/doesn't have to , indicates something that need not to be done.

Have to acts like all verbs in the Present Simple, therefore it changes in the third person singular.

affirmative form negative form interrogative form

Students have to wear their uniforms at school.

She has to wear her uniform at school.

You don’t have to write an email, you can call her.

She doesn’t have to write an email, she can call.

Do you have to wear a uniform in your school?

Does she have to wear a uniform in her school?

It is very important to pay attention to the meaning of the example in the negative form:

• You don’t have to write an email, you can call her It is not necessary for you to write an email, you can call her.

Insert have to or has to in the following sentences.

Students in the UK have to wear a uniform at school.

Johanna travel a lot for her job.

I can’t go out today, I finish my homework.

My brother ............................. wake up very early on weekdays.

Anna’s friends be at school by 7.50 a.m.

You go if you don’t want to be late.

Insert don't have to or doesn't have to in the following sentences.

Tim and Sally get up very early, they live near the school. 2

Students in the UK don’t have to go to school on Saturdays.

Janet share a room, she is an only child.

We ............................. finish our homework tonight, we have no school tomorrow.

You to hurry, we have plenty of time.

Mark ............................. walk to school, his brother drives him every morning.

BODY PARTS –INJURIES AND WELL BEING

I’m not well today . I’ve got a stomach ache and my leg hurts !

In English, not well is often used to indicate general discomfort, and hurts , ache or pain for specific pains.

In order to ask what's going on, one uses What’s the matter (with you)? , What’s wrong (with you)? or What’s up?

Match the words below with the corresponding pictures.

knee hands ears teeth arm legs elbow nose neck tongue eyes shoulder toes head ankle feet

eyes

THE WEATHER

1

Oh, dear! It’s raining cats and dogs today!

Do you know this expression? It means that it rains heavily!

Match the expressions to the corresponding pictures.

It’s cloudy It’s foggy It’s sunny It’s hot It’s cold It’s windy It’s snowy It’s rainy

It’s hot

Link each weather condition to its respective name.

storm

ice

flood hail thunder and lightning frost

SHOPS AND TOURIST ATTRACTIONS

This is a really nice town! There are a lot of shops and tourist attractions!

Write the name of the shop below the corresponding image.

clothes shop baker bookshop chemist greengrocer pet shop sports shop shoe shop butcher newsagent newsagent

Where can you buy these things? Match the item to the shop.

Harry Potter and the prisoner of Azkaban In a pet shop

A pair of sneakers

A dog leash

Different kinds of bread

Some tomatoes

A sweater

Some suncream

A fresh cut of meat

The New York Times

A pair of boots

In a clothes shop

At the chemist’s

At the newsagent’s

At the butcher’s

In a bookshop

In a shoe shop

In a sports shop

At the baker’s

At the greengrocer’s

READING COMPREHENSION

Reading and understanding a text in English can sometimes be difficult; let's have a look at some strategies that can help.

For the reading of the passage The moon landing, we suggest a very effective approach to enhance text comprehension: the KWL chart , where K stands for Knowledge , W stands for Want and L stands for Learned

How does it work? Fill in the columns in two steps: before and after reading. Before reading the text , fill in column K and the column W :

• in column K , write what you already know about the topic;

• in column W , write what you would like to know about this topic. You can write down some questions before reading the text and add others as you read.

After reading the text, fill in column L with what you have learnt from the passage, answering the questions in column W and adding other information you have discovered from the reading .

The following text contains some slightly more difficult words, but thanks to some strategies and tips you will be able to discover their meaning even without a glossary.

The Titanic

Before you start, look at the table with the words that were taken from the text. Can you match them to the corresponding meaning?

You can help yourself by reading them in the context of the sentences, based on the words that are used in the definition or going by exclusion

liner unfortunate maiden voyage small boats to use in emergencies key details first journey for a ship

hull ship

deadliest

most important details

lifeboats part of a ship

ill-fated with a lot of dead people

All right, let's read the text now! Use the tips to understand the words in bold.

The Titanic was a British passenger liner that became famous all over the world because it tragically sank during its maiden voyage in April 1912.

Tip! Sometimes, as may be the case with deadliest , there are parts of the word which we know the meaning of, but do not recognise: you will see that it is only a matter of training! Next time your eye will be more ready!

Tip! Seeing that sank is next to tragically , and thinking about what happened to the Titanic, can you guess the meaning?

Here are some key details and facts about the Titanic. The Titanic was constructed in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and at the time it was the largest and most luxurious ship. The Titanic’s maiden voyage began on April 10, 1912, when it departed from Southampton, England, bound for New York City.

Tip! “Departed” is quite similar to Italian, and is followed by the name of a place; what does bound for New York City mean?

LISTENING COMPREHENSION

Gaining information by listening to people talking in English can sometimes be difficult, but don't worry: in the box below you will find some strategies that can help! Mark which ones you usually use. Then, during the exercises, see if the others can help you too!

before listening while listening after listening

• Observe the given clues: pictures, title of the listening and other details to get an idea of what you will hear.

• Read the listening exercises carefully: the phrases and vocabulary used already give you a lot of information about the content.

• Observe the type of exercise you will be asked to do, to get ready to grasp the necessary elements.

• Listen to the passage for the first time: to get a general idea, pay attention to the voices you hear, the tone used, any background noise and a few words you recognise. Don't worry about understanding every single word: this is a skill that you improve with time.

• Focus on what you need to carry out the type of exercise that you are going to do.

• Listen to the passage again and try to get more information.

• Do the exercises by putting a question mark next to the parts about which you have some uncertainties.

• Listen to the passage again, focusing on the parts about which you were uncertain

• Use the exercises to consolidate what you have learned: vocabulary, expressions, structures.

• At the end of the task, reflect on the activities performed and on the strategies adopted to complete the assignment.

Listening 1 – A good film! Lucy and Matthew are talking about their evening together. Look at the picture and answer the questions.

Where are they?

What film have they seen?

What vocabulary do you expect them to use?

Listening 2 – Summer abroad: new friends and different cultures. Liam, Emma and Mia spent the summer at a summer school abroad. Read the sentences below before listening to the conversation. Now listen to the conversation and decide whether the statements are true or false.

All the kids enjoyed the experience. T F

The other students were all from the UK. T F

Emma will miss her new friends. T F

Liam met a Spanish boy. T F

Emma’s friend was from France. T F

Mia’s friends kissed on the cheek as a greeting. T F

Mia’s friends formed a line before entering the classrooms. T F

The students didn’t have a uniform, and punctuality was not important. T F

Liam loved the after-school activities. T F

The language classes were very easy for Liam, Mia and Emma. T F

They want to keep in touch with their new friends. T F

Listen again and answer the questions.

Who met people from France and Japan?

Mia met people from France and Japan.

What did Liam learn?

What did Emma and her Italian friend talk about?

What was the most interesting thing for Liam?

What made the language classes a bit difficult?

What did students do before entering the classrooms in Emma’s school?

What did Liam learn from this experience?

At last, an English exercise book made especially for us secondary school students ! It includes exercises on all the topics of the second grade school programme : voiceless and voiced consonants, tricky sounds, comparatives, superlatives, relative and reflexive pronouns, adverbs, Past Simple and Continuous, modals can and must, vocabulary and much more!

Each topic is preceded by a short and clear explanation, with examples to help you better understand the assignments and successfully solve the exercises. We will accompany you during the activities, giving you hints and tips.

IN

THIS EXERCISE BOOK...

PHONOLOGY AND SPELLING: homophone words, voiceless and voiced consonant phonemes p / b, t / d, s / z, tricky sounds.

MORPHOLOGY: comparatives of majority, minority, equality; superlative; relative and reflexive pronouns; adverbs of manner, quantity, place, time; direct and indirect complements, Past Simple and Past Continuous, can for permission, must / mustn’t, have to / don’t have to.

LEXICON: talking about body, health, emotions, weather, means of transport, places in the city, shops and tourist attractions, travelling.

USE OF LANGUAGE (SKILLS): reading and listening comprehension.

And remember: if you have any doubts and need to revise a topic that is not so clear to you or that you don’t remember well, you can find all the information you need in the Tablet of English Rules! Thanks to the clear and simple explanations of rules, concrete examples and summary schemes, studying and revising English is truly at your fingertips!

THE TABLET NOTEBOOKS

Three workbooks designed to consolidate and deepen the topics covered in class. Together with the Tablet of Rules, they are an immediate and easily accessible tool to support learning in secondary school.

TabletdelleRegolediInglese