HADRIAN’S WALL

1. What did Hadrian think that the Empire would not be able to maintain?
2. What were the two main problems facing the Roman soldiers in the northern half of Britannia?

3. What did their leaders think the Roman soldiers would do if they were not disciplined?

4. Hadrian’s Wall was intended to be a towering ________________ ________________ wall across the entire country.

5. What was the vellum?

6. Why were the difficulties enormous?

7. Moving stone blocks to make the wall is described as being a ________________ task.

8. What did the sebtries do in the watchtowers?

9. What did each super fort include?

10. How long did it take to finish the wall?

GLOSSARY

To fritter away: to waste money, time or an opportunity.Malgastar, derrochar, dilapidar.

To pilfer: to steal things of small value. Robar, hurtar.

Ditch: a long narrow open channel dug into the ground usually at the side of a road or field, which is used especially for supplying or removing water, or for dividing land. Zanja, cuneta.

Towering: very high and impressive.Imponente.

Rugged: (of land) uneven and wild; not easy to travel over.Escarpado, accidentado, escabroso.

Terrain: an area of land, when considering its natural features.Terreno, territorio.

Fort: a military building consisting of an area enclosed by a strong wall, in which soldiers live and which is designed to be defended from attack. Fuerte.

KEY

1. ITS EXPANDED BORDERS.

2. FREEZING WINTERS AND BARBARIAN INCURSIONS.

3. FRITTER AWAY THEIR TIME AND GAMBLE.

4. 73-MILE DEFENSIVE

5. A 40 METRE -WIDE DITCH (THAT RAN BEHIND THE WALL FROM COAST TO COAST)

6. BECAUSE OF THE RUGGED TERRAIN. bESIDES, THE GROUND WAS EXTREMELY UNEVEN AND THERE WERE CLIFFS, VALLEYS AND ROCK WALLS.

7. BACKBREAKING

8. THEY KEPT A CONSTANT EYE ON THE BORDERLAND.

9. AN ASSEMBLY HALL, BARRACKS, A BATH-HOUSE, A TEMPLE, A HOSPITAL.

10. 5 YEARS.

 

PAST TENSES

1. Correct the following sentences by changing the underlined word or words. You may need to write more than one word.

1. I know him since we were at school together.
2. We would have a parrot, but he flew away one day when I was cleaning his cage.
3. The service was terrible; when our dessert arrived, Paul still ate his supper.
4. I have met some very interesting people on my holiday last year.
5. This must be about the tenth time I eat in this restaurant.
6. It’s a long time since we don’t see each other.
7. It wasn’t the first time she was catching him taking money from her purse.
8. I’d like to stay in London longer, but we had to get back for Sandra’s wedding.
9. I’d rather you didn’t give him my phone number – he phoned me three times yesterday!
10. You did nothing but complain since we’ve been here.
11. She was about sitting down when she noticed the chair was broken.

 

KEY

 

1. HAVE KNOWN

2. USED TO / HAD

3. WAS STILL EATING

4. MET

5. HAVE EATEN

6. HAVE SEEN / SAW

7. CAUGHT

8. HAVE STAYED

9. HADN’T GIVEN

10. HAVE BEEN DOING / HAVE DONE

11. TO SIT

 

CHANGES

1. Do you know anyone who has changed their name?

2. Do you know any politicians who have changed sides?

3. What do you think about people who change their tune depending on who they are talking to?

4. Has the pace of social change accelerated in the twentieth century?

What changes occurred more rapidly at the end of the century than they did at the beginning?

5. What dramatic changes has IT brought us?

6. What far-reaching changes have we recently witnessed in the world’s opinion towards the environment?

7. Talk about…

• something you try to vary in your life.
• how easily you adapt to change.
• a time when you had to modify your views, behaviour or language.
• the problems someone might encounter when converting to a different religion.
• something which has changed significantly in Santander or the town you live in in recent years.
• any changes you would like to make to your lifestyle.

8. What would make you change to a new type of work?

9. What would make you move within the same city or town? And to a different one or to a different country?

10. What changes in your personal habits should you undergo?

11. In your opinion, what is the reason why some people have difficulties in adjusting to being a parent? Is it harder on men or women?

12. Last Sunday clocks had to be turned backwards. Do clock changes affect you adversely of positively? In what ways does changing clock hours affect you?

13. Tell your partner about a time when you had to modify your views about something? What made you modify them?

14. Do you work in shifts? If so, do you like working in shifts? If not, would you like to? What about the night shift?

A GUIDE TO GREAT WALLS

Resilient: (of a substance) returning to its original shape after being bent, stretched, or pressed. Elástico.

Threat: the possibility of trouble, danger or disaster.

To fall into disrepair: a building, road, etc. that is in a state of disrepair has not been taken care of and is broken or in bad condition. Deteriorarse.

Site: a place where a building, town, etc. was, is or will be located.

Barbed wire: strong wire with short sharp points on it, used especially for fences. Alambre de espino.

Within: before a particular period of time has passed; during a particular period of time.

Concrete: building material that is made by mixing together cement, sand, small stones and water.

Breakthrough: a way through sthg using force.

Ditch: a long channel dug at the side of a field or road, to hold or take away water.

Deterrent: a thing that makes sby less likely to do sthg (= that deters them). Elemento disuasorio.

Would-be: [only before noun] used to describe sby who is hoping to become the type of person mentioned.

To flee-fled-fled: to run away, to escape.

To prevail: to exist or be very common at a particular time or in a particular place.

Via: by means of a particular person, system, etc.

To lift (a restriction): to remove or end restrictions.

Stretch: an area of land or water, especially a long one.

To take down: to remove a structure, especially by separating it into pieces.

Housing: houses, flats / apartments, etc. that people live in, especially when referring to their type, price or condition.

Man-made: made by people; not natural; artificial.

Outer space: the area outside the earth’s atmosphere where all the other planets and stars are.

BC: Before Christ.

Forced labour: hard physical work that sby, often a prisoner or slave, is forced to do.

Layer: a quantity or thickness of sthg that lies over a surface or between surfaces.

To crumble: if a building or piece of land is crumbling, parts of it are breaking off.

To evolve: to develop gradually, especially from a simple to a more complicated form; to develop sthg in this way.

Marauding: [only before noun] (of people or animals) going around a place in search of things to steal or people to attack. To maraud: saquear, merodear.

Haven: a place that is safe and peaceful where people or animals are protected. Refugio, puerto, remanso.

Bustling: (with sthg) full of people moving about in a busy way.

To spring up: to appear or develop quickly and/or suddenly.

Ornate: covered with a lot of decoration, especially when this involves very small or complicated designs.

Feat: an action or a piece of work that needs skill, strength or courage.

Arguably: used, often before a comparative or superlative adjective, when you are stating an opinion which you believe you could give reasons to support. Posiblemente, podría decirse.

AD: Anno Domini. Después de Cristo.

ON the orders of

Northernmost: furthest north.

Boundary: a real or imagined line that marks the limits or edges of sthg and separates it from other things or places; a dividing line.

Fort: a building or buildings built in order to defend an area against attack.

Turret: a small tower on top of a wall or building, especially a castle.

Milecastle: a small fort (fortlet), a rectangular fortification built during the period of the Romans. They were placed at intervals of approximately one Roman mile along several major frontiers.

Glimpse: when you see something or someone for a very short time.

Alongside: next to or at the side of sthg.

Throughout: during the whole period of time of sthg.

Gateway: an opening in a wall or fence that can be closed by a gate.

Guild: an association of skilled workers in the Middle Ages.

Toll: money that you pay to use a particular road or bridge.

To dwindle: to become gradually less or smaller.

To dismantle: to take apart a machine or structure so that it is in separate pieces

AN INTERVIEW WITH RUTH AND ELLIOT HANDLER

1. What were the two key decisions Elliot Handler made in the fifties?

2. When did Ruth Handler get the idea of a three-dimensional doll?

3. Who did they name the doll after?

4. Why were they initially disappointed?

5. Who made the Barbie doll an immediate success?

6. What has always been evident in the products created by Mattel?

7. Where and when did Mattel start up?

8. Where did Elliot and Ruth meet?

9. Why did Ruth go to L.A.?

10. Where did Elliot get the equipment he needed to turn his sketches into actual objects?

11. Why was he kicked out of his garage?

12. What were Mattel’s first products?

13. What did Elliot realize when he saw the slats of wood that had been left over?

GLOSSARY

Saw: a hand or power tool or a machine used to cut hard material (as wood, metal, or bone) and equipped usually with a toothed blade or disk. Sierra.

Drill press: an upright drilling machine in which the drill is pressed to the work by a hand lever or by power. Taladradora hidraúlica, perforadora.

Sander: a device that smoothes, polishes, or scours by means of abrasive material. Lijadora.

Flocked wood: wood made of very short or pulverized fibre, similar to cotton,  used especially to form a velvety pattern on cloth or paper or a protective covering on metal.

Giftware: wares or goods suitable for gifts. 

Slat: a thin narrow flat strip especially of wood or metal. Listón, tablilla.

 

KEY

1. TELEVISION ADVERTISING AND THE CREATION OF A NEW DOLL.

2. WHEN SHE SAW HER DAUGHTER AND HER FRIENDS PLAYING WITH A PAPER DOLL.

3. AFTER THEIR DAUGHTER, BARBARA.

4. AT TOYSHOW, CUSTOMERS DID NOT WANT TO BUY ANYTHING.

5. CONSUMERS.

6. INNOVATION AND TOY DESIGN.

7. IN 1945 IN A TINY GARAGE WORKSHOP IN LOS ANGELES.

8. DENVER, COLORADO; AT A CHARITY DANCE.

9. TO PURSUE A CAREER WITH PARAMOUNT PICTURES.

19. FROM SEARS, ON CREDIT.

11. HE WAS DUSTING EVERYBODY’S CARS WITH WOOD AND PLASTIC.

12. PICTURE FRAMES.

13. HE COULD MAKE DOLL HOUSE FURNITURE.

TOYS AND GAMES

1. Did you use to get many presents at Christmas when you were a child?
2. On what other occasions would you receive toys?
3. What are the three best toys you can remember getting?
4. Did you use to play games? How often? Which ones?
5. Do you think games and toys are very different nowadays from what they were some decades ago?
6. Do you think children play less than they used to?
7. What kind of games can you think of where nothing is needed apart from your imagination and your own self?
8. Have you ever collected toys?
9. What are the most popular toys and games these days?

10. Can you mention a toy from the 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s?

11.  What is the oldest toy you have ever seen?

12. What would you tell a toymaker if you could talk to him?

13. Do you examine toys thoroughly before you give them to a child? Do you pay attention to age recommendations?

14. Do you think it is good for children to play with their parents? Why / Why not?

15. Do you think toys and games can be springboards to creativity and inventiveness?

VOCABULARY

Prison dodgeball: balón prisionero.

Capture the flag: el pañuelo.

Spinning top: peonza.

Hoop: aro.

Red light, green light: un, dos, tres, al escondite inglés.

Hide-and-seek: escondite.

To play tag: pilla-pilla.

Blind man’s buff: la gallinita ciega.

If I could save time in a bottle
The first thing that I’d like to do
Is to save every day
Till eternity passes away
Just to spend them with you.

If I could make days last forever
If words could make wishes come true
I’d save every day like a treasure and then,
Again, I would spend them with you.

But there never seems to be enough time
To do the things you want to do
Once you find them.
I’ve looked around enough to know
That you’re the one I want to go
Through time with.

If I had a box just for wishes
And dreams that had never come true
The box would be empty
Except for the memory
Of how they were answered by you.

But there never seems to be enough time
To do the things you want to do
Once you find them.
I’ve looked around enough to know
That you’re the one I want to go
Through time with.

1. Compare the time we live in with fifty years ago. In what ways have the following changed?

• Mass media
• Transports
• Housework
• The roles of men and women
• Work
• Food
• Raising children
• Education
• Medicine
• Culture
• Politics
• Technology
• Travel
• Clothes and fashion
• Entertainment
• Welfare
• Leisure
• Religion
• Housing conditions

2. What are the top 10  inventions that have changed our lives for the better?

3. Can you think of any that have changed our lives for the worse?

4. Do all inventions have both advantages and disadvantages? What does this fact depend on?

5. How has electricity changed the way we live?

6. The greatest invention ever is said to be the wheel. What impact did the wheel have on the way people lived?

7. Controlling fire for the purposes of providing heat and light was one of mankind’s s first great achievements. What were the consequences of such control?

REWARDING A CHILD

1. Is it necessary for parents to set strict boundaries?

2. What is a reward?

3. When would you reward your son or your daughter?

4. How would you reward them if they were…

• Three years old?
• Ten years old?
• Thirteen years old?
• Seventeen years old?

5. Do we sometimes confuse reward with bribe? Can you give any examples of students who are bribed to do well at school?

6. Imagine a child who is slow to get ready for school, or a child who is always rude, who is constantly fighting. Do you think rewards can help parents with these behavior problems? If so, what kind of rewards would you give them?

7. Do you think that children also have to do their duty without expecting to be rewarded? What is a child’s duty?

8. Do you think too many rewards can spoil a child? Where is the limit?

9. Must all rewards be material rewards? Is there any other kind of rewards?

10. Must we reward children every time they behave well? When are rewards the most effective?

11. Were you ever offered rewards as a child or as a teenager? If so, do you remember what rewards you earned? Did you deserve them? What were you rewarded for?

12. Were you ever given a reward at school? If so, what did it consist of?

VOCABULARY LISTENING PAGE 18

For safekeeping: protection from harm, damage or loss.

To keep proper records:

• proper: suitable for this purpose or situation.
• recods: information kept about something that has happened.

Props: a piece of furniture or small object used in a play or film. Atrezzo.

Basement: the part of a building that is partly or completely below the level of the ground.

Newsreels: a news report on film that was shown in cinemas in the past.