5. Solved exercises

Listening activity

When Paco entered the Apartheid museum, he could see lots of tourists were visiting it. He got really surprised because he didn't know there were so many people interested in subjects related to South Africa and, concretely, in the years of racism that this country suffered. Some of them were looking at some huge black and white photographs showing black people on strike. Others were reading long texts which explained the movements of the society in detail. And some were talking to each other wondering why humans are sometimes so cruel: "There's no respect", Paco could hear.

By jasonEscapist. C. Commons

While he was having a look at the corner where some letters written by Nelson Mandela could be read, he could see the most amazing thing he had ever seen: a white South African was telling a black off for a minor fault. He thought it was unbelievable. Even in the 21st century it seemed white people mistreated black people. He couldn't stand that any longer and left the room while the white man was shouting louder and louder. Paco felt very bad and decided it was time to leave the museum.

At the door, he was thinking about what had happened in that room, when his mobile phone rang once again...

Read the passage paying special attention to the tenses used. Underline the verbs in the Past Continuous Tense and those in the Past Simple. Then answer the following questions:

1. According to the text, had the black man done something really important? Explain your answer.

2. According to the text, does Paco think the Apartheid was reasonable? Explain your answer.

If you click below, you'll find out some expressions used in the passage and some possible answers to the questions. You will also be able to get the key for the past continuous and past simple tenses in the text.

As you can see, the Past Continuous tense is normally used to refer to actions that were in progress at a specific moment in the past. On the contrary, the past simple refers to an action that at a specific moment in the past was complete.

Remember that questions and negatives of these tenses are formed in completely different ways: The past simple needs did (past simple of "to do") and the Past Continuous doesn't need any auxiliary verb to make questions and negative sentences. Have a look at the following examples:

	Past Simple	Past Continuous
Question	Did Paco visit the museum on his own?	Were the people in the museum talking to a black man?
Negative	Paco did not (didn't) answer the phone.	He wasn't walking in when the mobile rang.

As has already been seen, the Past Simple tense is very frequently used in English. Mainly when we narrate past events. Quite frequently, we are told to tell stories that took place in the past, so, it is important that you master past tenses.

It is also very frequent that we modify nouns in English by means of adjectives. Thus, remember first that when adjectives are in attributive position (that is, they are in the noun phrase), they are placed in front of nouns (in Spanish adjectives are normally placed after nouns). It is also important that you know that, in almost all languages in the world, adjectives have three degrees: positive, comparative and superlative. Have a look at the following table:

Adjective	Positive degree	Comparative degree	Superlative degree
hot, big	hot, big	hotter, bigger	hottest, biggest
lazy, funny	lazy, funny	lazier, funnier	laziest, funniest
surprised, amazing	surprised, amazing	more surprised, more amazing	most surprised, most amazing
good, bad	good, bad	better, worse	best, worst

The positive degree is used to modify nouns, and the comparative and superlative ones are used to compare the qualities of nouns. So, comparative and superlatives are very frequently used when giving opinions and writing opinion essays.

Writing activity

By Oliver Hammond. C. Commons

Opinion essays

Quite frequently we are told to write an opinion essay. Remember that an opinion essay is a formal piece of essay writing which presents the author’s point of view on a particular subject supported by reasons and examples. The opposing viewpoint is generally also suggested, and it normally goes with arguments that show that it is unconvincing.

Remember that a good opinion essay should consist of:

- An introduction where the topic and the author’s opinion are stated clearly.

- A main body where viewpoints supported by reasons are presented in several paragraphs. This section has also the opposing viewpoint which is proved to be unconvincing.

- A conclusion where the main points of the essay are summarized and the author’s opinion is restated in other words.

Write an opinion essay of about 150 words answering the following question:

Do you think racism is a social problem today?

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