UNIDAD 3.4 PASADO SIMPLE: ¿WHAT´S ON THE NEWS?
INTRODUCTION:
Objectives:
• Use there was/there were to show that objects/people/events existed in the past
• Use vocabulary and idiomatic expressions related to the new and to uneventful everyday activities
Description:
The "simple past" is used to talk about an action that ended earlier than the real one. The duration is not relevant. The time the action may be may be the last recent or a distant past
ONLINE EXERCISE
The unit refers to a couple, Peter and Gina who are sharing in their living room. Peter asks what's in the news and Gina expresses that there is nothing good and that people do stupid things to enter the Guinness Records book. In the middle of his talk, the speaker exposes the news saying:
• The police said the individual was about 5 feet 10 inches tall and wore a mask
• There were reports he was seen driving away in a blue Monza.
Now on to some lighter news. In Medellin, Colombia, ten schoolchildren squeezed into a Renault 4 car and broke a Guinness Record.
• In Rainham, England a bank robber was arrested after trying to escape ON A BICYCLE. I guess he wasn´t in a hurry.
• In Motown Kentucky a 25-year old woman wants to strengthen her tummy muscles. She drinks only fruit juices and lies down with two cinder blocks on her tummy for five hours every day. I think she´s on a crush diet.
• And there´s a man in Wellington, New Zealand who is completing 25 continuous days at the top of a 40-foot pole. You might say that´s one way of getting away from it all.
• On to weather. Tomorrow should be fine with about 75 degrees.
Definitions:
Expressions coloquial: The word changes according to the context. The word squeezed is used colloquially and has a different meaning.
• Squeeze: in its broadest meaning means to crush or press something.
Example:
Oranges are squeezed to make orange juice
Ten schoolchildren squeezed into a Renault 4
Idiomatic expressions: do not take a literal or dictionary meaning, their meaning comes from the situation or context they apply to.
• Hurry: Which is used to indicate someone has a real urgency yo do something.
Example:
He wasn t in a hurry
• There is / there are: indicate that something or a group of things exist or do not exist. Doing the speakes a clear declarative statement drawing more attention to his statement
Example
There's a fly in my soup
There are several mistakes in this report.
Was / Where: These are the past forms of the verb to be are was and were. Are used to describe a situation or situations in the past that no longer exist, and the conjugation of the verb is as follows:
Was: I / He / She / It - Where: You / we / They
Example:
There were two men on that corner, but they are gone now.
Terry was thin when he was young.
The concert last night was fabulous!
LINK DE VIDEO: PASADO SIMPLE