Para repasar: Inglés II: How were jeans invented?

How were jeans invented?

Read the following article.

Pop groups wear them. You wear them. They are the best known item of clothing in the universe. They are comfortable, they are stylish. They are jeans!!!

The story of jeans started at the time of the American Gold Rush. In 1849 thousands of people went to California to dig for gold and hopefully make their fortune. Among them was a man called Levi Strauss who went to California from Germany at the age of 18. He didn’t find any gold but he made a lot of money.

Levi Strauss realized that the gold miners needed very strong clothes which were easy to wash and which were comfortable to wear. So in the early 1850s, he bought some thin cotton denim from a mill in New Hampshire, USA. The name denim, used to describe the cotton, came from serge de Nîmes, after the town of Nîmes in the south of France. Levi Strauss decided to make trousers from this strong material.

“If I make the trousers from denim,” he thought, “I am sure people will buy them. They’d rather have trousers which will last long time than the thin ones they are wearing at present.” And he was right.

Levi Strauss’s trousers were later called jeans, possibly because sailors from Genoa in Italy wore them. The popularity of jeans and they were soon sold right across the USA. In 1873, stitching, shaped like the wings of the Rocky Mountain Eagle, was added.

In 1950s, the fashion for jeans arrived in Europe. A magazine advertisement showed that in the USA, jeans were worn every day and not just at work. People in Europe began to wear jeans in their free time.

In the 1980s a jeans advertisement appeared on British TV. In it, a young man walked into a launderette, took off his jeans and put them in a washing machine. Everyone in the launderette was shocked. As a result of the advertisement, the sales of that particular make of jeans increased by 800 per cent.

…and Levis was right.

He thought that if he made the trousers from denim, people would buy them. They’d rather have trousers which would last long time than the thin ones they were wearing before.

Snapshot Intermediate Language Booster Ed. Logman

In Spanish, complete the following chart with the history of jeans.

Years	Events
1849
the early 1850s
1873
1950s
1980s

Answer the following questions in Spanish.

1.    When and where was the Gold Rush?

2.    What sort of trousers did gold miners need?

3.    Where was the material for Levi Strauss’s trousers bought?

4.    Where does the word “denim ” come from?

5.    Why did jeans become popular?

6.    What was the result of the advertisement in the launderette?

Read the text again.

Find examples of the following tenses.

Tense	Example
Simple Past
Simple Present
Present continuous
Past continuous
Present conditional

There are examples of Passive Voice. Give one and explain it in the following box.

Example
Tense

What kind of word is “hopefully”? What is the meaning of the suffix?

What kind of word is “best”?

What is the meaning of the phrasal verb “took off”?

Give two examples with relative clauses.

Which:

 Who:

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Les paso el link del comercial, de 1985.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q56M5OZS1A8

Lectura 5: Secrets to avoid boredom

Secrets to avoid boredom

1. Get the reading habit. Do not go anywhere without a book, magazine, or newspaper handy. It is reading, not watching TV that will provide the real information and the entertainment you need to enhance and enrich your life.	2.  Develop Hobbies. Hobbies may be recreational, artistic, or intellectual, but whatever they may be, they should be actively pursued. Activities give a special dimension to one's life.
3. Become a Member. One should belong to organizations that share your interests. There are literally thousands of organizations eager to have you as a member, whether at the local, state, or international level.	4. Seek a Possibility of Learning. Take advantage of the opportunities to learn new things at any age.  Even if you're a college graduate, stay young by taking courses at a local college, university or adult school. Attend seminars and conferences. Join tours that combine travel with learning opportunities. Feed your mind.
5. Watch Television Selectively. Do not become a slave to the television. If you find yourself spending all your spare time in front of the TV, turning from channel to channel to find anything of interest to watch, you're wasting time that could generate a lot more fun.	6. Take on your Responsibilities. Life involves a variety of errands we must do. Adopt a positive attitude: they'll become easier and provide a welcome routine each day. Chores are a way of learning and maintaining self-discipline.
7. Say "I Can!" The first step toward any achievement is your own confidence and belief in yourself. Success is often a process of overcoming a series of initial failures. Work and determination hold the key to success. Nobody said life is easy.	8. Have a Wish List. Always have a wish list of things you want to do, want to learn, want to see, and want to be. You'll notice I didn't say, "Want to have." Just having "things" is not the key to happiness. Becoming the person you want to be is what matters.

Human are the only living beings who suffer from the feeling of boredom. Boredom, at its worst, really is life threatening. Boredom can lead people to risk or ruin their lives with drugs, alcohol, gambling and food addictions. Boredom can, of course, just be temporary, but when it’s permanent, it's a warning sign of serious problems that include depression and even suicide. Boredom leads people to drop out of school, change jobs a lot, get a divorce, and in general, create a lot of problems for themselves and others. Long-term boredom is more similar to a chronic disease. It can give a negative and unfavorable effect on life.

So, if you're experiencing too much boredom or know someone who is, action is needed to overcome it. What about you? Have you felt bored lately?

Adapted from:  http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2840/ten_secrets_to_avoid_boredom.html?cat=25

A.     GRAMMAR COMPREHENSION

Comparative adjective
Conditional sentence
Existence
Experiencing (adj, noun, adv or verb?)
Imperative
In the word “selectively” what does “ly” imply?
In the word “unfavorable” what does “un” imply?
Infinitive of Purpose
Modal verb I
Modal verb II
Noun-noun
Passive voice
Passive voice
Possessive case
Present Continuous
Present Perfect
reflexive pronoun
Relative clause
relative clauses
Simple future
Simple past
Simple present
Things (adj, noun, adv or verb?)
Wasting (adj, noun, adv or verb?)

Revision: Internet Addiction

Revision

Internet Addiction

Answer the following questions in Spanish.

Do you have a computer?

How often do you use it?

Do you check your e-mail once, twice or more times a day?

Did you read any on-line newspaper yesterday?

Have you suffered from internet addiction?

Have your parents or friends complained about the time you are on the computer?

Are you an internet-aholic?

Match the words 1 to 7 in the column on the left to the definitions on the right and the pictures below.

1.    Bookaholic	A person who can’t avoid drinking coffee.
2.    Chocoholic	A person who can’t avoid eating chocolate
3.    Coffeeholic	A person who reads a lot.
4.    Shopaholic	A person who spends all his/her time working.
5.    Workaholic	A person who is unable to stop going into shops and buying things.
6.    Sportaholic	A person who spends all his/her free time watching television.
7.    Tellyholic	A person who is unable to stop doing sports.

German kids go to camp for internet addiction

Read the following article.

Some years ago girls used to play with dolls and boys with cars. But such things have changed. Now most people don't realize that hours spent surfing online could be a symptom of Internet Addiction Disorder. Now German parents whose children show signs of such affliction can send them to a unique camp to get help. Internet addicts are seen as people who sit for hours in darkened rooms, converse only in chat rooms and have virtual relationships with the complete strangers who have no contact with each other because they live thousands of miles away. It is a huge problem that is affecting the Web generation all over the world. Germany, too, has its share of cases. Although there are no exact statistics, experts say the number of Internet addicts in the country is close to 1 million. The percentage has remained steady, but the number of Internet users has risen from 25 to 30 million. Much of the increase in Internet addiction is among children and young teenagers who spend increasing amounts of time playing computer games or surfing the Internet.

Those seeking professional help now can take advantage of a new project, a summer camp in Germany. It is the first camp of its kind in Europe and aims to wean children off computers by showing them that other aspects of life can be just as exciting. There is just one computer on the site which can be used for half an hour a day ­- but not for playing games or surfing the net. Every morning there are counselling sessions and supervised physical activities at the beach such as swimming, volleyball and aerobics where there may be interaction among or between each other. It is quite a change for the self-confessed addicts who admit to using the web and computer games for up to six hours a day to escape the boredom of everyday life.

In Germany, many school children spend only about four and a half hours a day at school, they often come home at 1.30 p.m. to an empty house if the parents are at work. Without supervision, the time between their arrival and the time their parents come home from work can often be spent surfing, mailing, chatting and playing games on the computer in a darkened room without any interaction with other children and without personal communication with each other. The course at the camp lasts for 28 days and in the final week, parents are invited to attend and participate in the counselling and activities to understand the problems and dangers facing their children. This stage points at the parents’ interaction with their children and also with their peers. Parents will also communicate with each other to seek for probable solutions. There are some factors which are important in determining whether someone suffers from IAD or not. According to the researchers’ studies, Internet activity becomes troublesome when it interferes with someone's job or social life. The researchers have compiled the problems central to the disorder under the acronym MOUSE: More than intended time spent online; Other responsibilities neglected; Unsuccessful attempts to cut down; Significant relationship discord because of use; and Excessive thoughts or anxiety when not online. The problems the children experience are mostly related to social interaction and physical condition caused by bad diet and lack of exercise. Children should exercise more and spend more time with their friends. Parents have to look after them!

The camp organizers say that first results have been encouraging. The organizers say this situation will change!

Adapted from http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,943281,00.html

True or false. Justify the false statements in Spanish.

Most adults are internet addicts in Germany.

(T) or (F)

There are a lot of computers in the summer camp.

(T) or (F)

Children play with the computers because they are alone at home.

(T) or (F)

Internet addiction interferes with the diet.

(T) or (F)

Answer the following questions in Spanish.

Mention in a few sentences the main idea of the article.

What did children use to play with some years ago?

What are addicts like?

How many internet addicts are there in Germany?

What is the main purpose of the camp?

When are German children alone at home? Why?

Can internet addicts stop using the computers when they want to do it?

What should children do in order to prevent IAD?

What activities can children do with the computer?

Are you an internet addict?

Read the text again.

Find three connectors and state their functions.

Connector	Function

Find a verb in the following tenses. Why are these tenses used?

Tense	Example	Why? (in Spanish)
Simple Present
Simple Past
Simple Future
Present Continuous
Present Perfect

What is the function of the following modal verbs?

Example with a modal verb	Function
Some years ago girls used to play with dolls and…
… surfing online could be a symptom of Internet Addiction Disorder.
…such affliction can send them to a unique camp to get help.
…help now can take advantage of a new project.
…where there may be interaction among or between each other.
Children should exercise more and spend more time…

Find an Infinitive of Purpose.

Find two cases of Passive Voice.

Who does the action in each sentence? Is the agent mentioned in the text?

When is the passive voice used?

State the function of the following words in the text. Are they verbs, nouns or adjectives?

Exciting:

Affecting:

Swimming:

Find a relative clause of any type and underline its pronoun.

What is the meaning of “cut down”?

Find an example of possessive case.

What is the suffix “er” used for? For example in this text, “researcher”.