Pre-intermediate 3 | english4p.com

Photo1: Cheshire in the north of England. One hour from Manchester.

PRE-INTERMEDIATE 3

147 questions to answer and topics to discuss.

Past Tense Grammar & Present Perfect Grammar

Grammar: There is, there are, have.

Which is correct, and which is incorrect?

a: There is a bakery on my street.

b: Have a bakery on my street.

c: Have a very good shopping centre on Avenida Paulista, São Paulo.

d: There are a very good shopping centre on Avenida Paulista, São Paulo.

e: There is a very good shopping centre on Avenida Paulista, São Paulo.

f: There are two cartons of milk in my fridge.

g: Have two cartons of milk in my fridge.

h: There is a lot of traffic in my street every day.

i: Have a lot of traffic in my street every day.

j: There are many cars on my street every day.

k: There is many cars on my street every day.

l: Have many cars on my street every day.

m: In my company, there are many employees with expensive smartphones.

n: In my company, have many employees with expensive smartphones.

o: There are many discounts available in shops during a recession.

p: There is many discounts available in shops during a recession.

q: Have many discounts available in shops during a recession.

r: There isn't a Human Resources department in my company.

s: No have a Human Resources department in my company.

t: There aren't a Human Resources department in my company.

u: Don't have a shopping centre or a sports centre in my neighbourhood.

v: There isn't a shopping centre or a sports centre in my neighbourhood.

w: There aren't air conditioning in my house.

x: There isn't air conditioning in my house.

y: Don't have a competent leader in my department.

z: There isn't a competent leader in my department.

Standard Business English. Formal, grammar and etiquette.

In general, we use “Dear Sir” for male, “Dear Madam” for female, and “Dear Sirs” if one is not sure about the sex of the person the letter is being directed to or if one is writing to more than one person.

Finish the letter with "Yours faithfully".

Letter of complaint from a voter.

Dear Sirs,

Last week, I watched a documentary about the Brazilian economy.

In the programme, it was mentioned that the current rate of unemployment in Brazil is 4.9%, very similar to that of the E.U. How can that be true? It is a distortion of the facts.

If there is an unemployment rate of 9% in São Paulo city, then how can Brazil’s unemployment rate be only 4.9%? São Paulo has more jobs than Paraíba, Ceará, Minas, etc.

Also, the official rate of inflation is 5%. Come on! I’m paying much more in the supermarket, gas station, shopping mall and coffee shops than I did last year!

Secondly, and this made me very angry, one of our politicians alleged that there is very little corruption in Brazil these days. I don’t believe it, do you?

Finally, it was also mentioned that Brazil doesn’t need more investment in hospitals, roads and schools because what we have is already quite adequate. What rubbish! We need schools, roads, trains, hospitals, and ports now! We need infrastructure!

I would like to know who is responsible for this nonsense. It seems to me that the facts are wrong.

Yours faithfully,

F Collor.

Interpretation.

301: When did Mr Collor watch the documentary?

302: What is the supposed rate of unemployment in Brazil?

303: What is the supposed rate of inflation?

304: According to the documentary, are there any corrupt politicians in Brazil?

305: Why is Mr Collor angry?

306: What is the rate of unemployment in São Paulo?

307: Does Mr Collor believe there is corruption?

308: What does Mr Collor allege that Brazil needs now?

309: Are the facts correct in Mr Collor’s opinion?

a b c d e f g h

a e i o u

Conversation.

310: Do you like discussing politics, or is it boring for you?

311: Do you like discussing economics, or is it boring for you?

312: What do you like to discuss when you are with friends?

313: What don’t you like to discuss when you are with friends?

314: Do you believe the newspapers?

315: Do you believe the news on Facebook?

316: What do you prefer to read?

317: What social media do you prefer to use?

318: Does your city need more hospitals?

319: What should the priority be in your opinion? Hospitals, schools, universities, roads, rivers, pollution, unemployment, or inflation?

320: Are the roads good in your city, or do they need improving?

321: Should tourism or industry be a priority? Why?

322: Should universities or primary schools be a priority? Why?

323: Is inflation bad in your country? Are you paying more for food, restaurants, buses, clothes etcetera this year?

324: Is it good to work in the public sector? Why or why not?

325: If you were unemployed, what would you do to find a job?

a: Would you call friends?

b: Would you contact companies?

c: Would you ask your family to help you?

d: A recruitment agency?

326: What is the minimum necessary for someone who is unemployed? A minimum salary? Help to pay the rent? Food?

327: What should the minimum be?

328: Is it better to work 7 hours a day, or run your own business?

329: Would you like to open your own business? If so, what?

330: Do you prefer to buy food, electronics, books etc., in shops or via the internet?

331: Do you trust the internet? Is your information protected in your opinion?

332: Do you prefer to use a laptop or a smartphone?

Photo 2: Windermere, The Lake District in the north of England. 1 hour from Manchester.

Translate the following:

Business

Waiter

Chicken

Magazine

To hate

Hungry

Angry

To read

Went

Spent

Spoke

Took

a b c d e f g h i j k

a e i o u

Translate the following:

333: It took me 5 hours to arrive at the station.

334: I went to the gym yesterday.

335: I ate chicken last Saturday.

336: The businesswoman was very angry.

337: He read all the books last month.

338: They produce engineering equipment for factories.

339: The rate of unemployment is high.

340: It is an illegal profession.

341: I’ve been working a lot recently.

Photo 3: Wakefield Coal Mine, West Yorkshire. 1 hour from Manchester.

Text interpretation.

“Things were different back then.”

Interview with Winnie Pendergrass.

Things were different when I was young. In those days it was a different world.

I lived in a small coal-mining village in West Yorkshire in the north of England. My grandfather worked in the coal mine, my father worked in the coal mine and my older brother, too.

342: What does your father do? And your brother?

343: Where does your family come from?

344: Which state in Brazil is famous for its mines?

I started school when I was 5. Every kid in the village was in my class. Some children were 5, some 6 and some 8, etc. It had to be like that, because there was only one teacher in the village, and she taught maths, English, geography, history, etc.

345: When you were 7 years old, how was your school compared to Winnie’s?

346: How old were you when you started school?

347: Did you study English at school?

348: Did you like history, geography, maths, etc.?

The next teacher when I was 10 years old was very strict with us. If we didn’t pay attention, he would throw something at us or hit us with his ruler. But we learned to be disciplined!

349: Were your teachers strict at primary school?

350: What about when you were a teenager?

After school, when I was 10 years old, I remember that I used to go home and sit by the fire and do my homework or read. I remember that it was always cold in Yorkshire. We didn’t have a telly or a radio, so we used to pass the time playing the piano and singing or reading and talking.

351: How was your life different when you were younger?

When I was twelve, I had to get a bus to the next town where I went to secondary school. The journey was long and cold, and I thought that that town was the biggest in the world because, compared to my village, it really was!

352: Do you remember your secondary school?

353: Can you describe it?

354: Did it have many classrooms?

355: Were there many teachers?

356: Were there any strange teachers?

357: Was it far from your home?

Photos 4 & 5: Coal mining city in the north of England.

After secondary school, I went to university. My mother and father supported me.

I was the first girl from my village to go to university, but my father’s friends from the coal-mine said that it was a waste of time, because a girl needed to get married and have babies, not study.

In those days few girls went to university in England.

My brothers and my father were very understanding, but my grandfather kept asking me when I was going to get married and have children!

Winnie Pendergrass.

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n

a e i o u

358: Did girls go to university in your country 70 years ago?

359: Nowadays, are there more girls than boys at university?

360: Did fathers have the same chauvinistic attitude as Winnie’s grandfather in your country?

361: What do men think about girls going to university nowadays? Are they for or against the idea in general?

True or false?

362: Winnie was five years old when she started school.

363: She went to secondary school when she was ten.

364: Her grandfather supported her university education, but her father didn’t.

365: It was always cold in Yorkshire.

366: Winnie thought that the coal-mining village was the world’s biggest city.

367: She had no TV.

368: She used to study after school.

369: She had no brothers.

370: She went to university by car.

371: Her teacher was very strict.

372: Her teacher used to hit her.

373: She went to a huge school.

374: There were a lot of job options in Winnie’s village.

375: Her father was a policeman.

True or false about your life at school?

376: I started school when I was 6.

377: My teachers were very strict.

378: My teachers used to hit me.

379: My father didn’t want me to go to university.

380: There were children of different ages in my class.

381: My school was huge, with hundreds of pupils.

382: I used to go to school by bus.

383: I used to do my homework as soon as I got home.

384: My family used to play the piano and sing at night.

Grammar.

I used to.

We use ‘I used to’ when we are talking about something that we did all the time, but that we don’t do anymore.

e.g.

I used to live in England.

I used to play football.

I used to go swimming every Saturday.

I used to watch children’s programs on TV.

385: Give 5 examples of things that you used to do.

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q

a e i o u

Photo 6: Haworth, West Yorkshire. 90 minutes from Manchester.

Comprehension and interpretation.

Paul Myers is a youngish accountant from London. He now works for a huge multinational company that produces office furniture.

Paul works with Jose Perreira, his boss. Paul doesn’t like Jose at all. He reckons that Jose is an incompetent fool and a moron. They are unable to get along.

London is Paul’s home city, but he has lived in São Paulo for 5 years, and he loves the city, although he hates the traffic. He has worked for the company for 5 years and has lived with his girlfriend, Patricia, for 2 years.

At night, Paul studies Portuguese because his Portuguese is crap, still. He has studied Portuguese for 5 years and he still speaks badly. In fact, his Portuguese is very similar to that of an Amazonian Indian. In his opinion, Portuguese verbs are too complicated, and masculine and feminine forms of nouns are impossible to remember.

386: Who is Jose Perreira?

387: What does Paul reckon of his boss?

388: Does Paul like São Paulo?

389: What does he study?

390: Does he speak Portuguese well, or badly?

391: What does he think of Portuguese verbs?

392: How long has he lived in São Paulo?

393: How long has he studied Portuguese?

394: How long has he lived with Patricia?

Conversation.

395: How long have you lived in ………………..?

396: How long have you studied English?

397: How long have you worked ……………..?

398: Are you married?

399: How long have you been married?

400: What do you think of English grammar?

401: What do you think of the weather in your city?

402: Do you speak English quite well, well, or very well?

403: Which cities have you been to in Europe?

404: Which ones did you like?

405: Why?

406: Which cities would you like to go to?

407: Do you like museums, or do you prefer castles?

408: What did you buy during your last holiday?

409: What would you like to buy this year?

Should. (deveria)

410: I should have a shower every morning.

411: I should study English every day.

412: I should do more physical exercise.

413: I should eat less chocolate and biscuits.

414: I should brush my teeth before I go to bed.

Even though. (embora)

415: I feel very hot today even though it’s only 15c.

416: My wife won’t let me buy a new TV even though we’ve got a lot of money.

417: I’m getting fat even though I’ve been doing a lot of exercise recently.

418: My bag is very heavy even though there’s almost nothing in it.

419: My friend is still unemployed even though he’s been to university.

On my own. (sozinho)

420: There is nobody here except me. I am on my own.

421: There is nobody here except him. He is on his own.

422: There is nobody here except her. She is on her own.

Get. (fico)

423: When I work a lot, I get tired.

424: When it’s very hot here, I get tired and irritated.

425: When the traffic is slow, I get angry.

426: When I eat too much, I get fat.

427: I always get fed up when the internet doesn’t work.

Too. (demais)

428: The book is too long. It won’t fit in my pocket.

429: The temperature is 40c. It’s too hot to play football.

430: The sea is only 10c. It’s too cold to swim.

431: My sister weighs 150kg. She’s too fat.

432: He’s only 1 metre 45 cm. He’s too short to play basketball.

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t

a e i o u

Text:

Opinions.

Paul reckons that the weather in São Paulo is awful, but that it is still better than the weather in London. He gets fed up of the rain in the summer and the pollution in the winter. He is allergic to dust and car fumes.

As well as the weather, he hates the traffic jams, especially during the rush hour. He reckons the traffic in São Paulo is probably the world’s worst.

On the other hand, he loves the São Paulo nightlife and the Paulista girls, especially those from the Moema, Itaim, and Vila Madelena regions. He likes their personalities and the way they dress.

433: Does Paul like the weather in SP?

434: Does he hate the traffic?

435: What does he think of the traffic?

436: What is he allergic to?

437: Does he like the nightlife?

438: Does he like the girls from the North Zone?

439: What does he reckon of Paulista girls?

440: Is London’s weather better?

441: Does he like the personalities of Carioca girls?

MV Tern, Steamboat 1891, crossing Winder

Photo 7: Lake Windermere. North of England. 1 hour from Manchester.

Conversation.

442: Which area of your country has the best weather?

443: Which region has the worst weather?

444: Compare the nightlife between your city and Manchester, Toronto, Paris or Heraklion for example.

445: Which are the best restaurants, clubs, pubs and shops in your city?

446: Are there many jobs in your city? Or is unemployment high?

447: Where would you prefer to live? Why?

448: Do you like drinking after work/university?

449: Do you like socializing with colleagues?

450: Is there a limit to how much someone should drink?

451: Does alcohol help you to relax?

452: Do you drink when you’re depressed or happy? Or neither?

453: Is it possible to give up drinking or smoking?

454: Is smoking acceptable in restaurants?

455: Do you allow people to smoke in your home?

456: Do you or would you allow your children to smoke?

457: What sort of thing do you like doing in the Summer?

458: What sort of thing do you like doing when it’s raining?

459: What sort of thing do you like doing on the weekend?

460: On Saturday night?

461: In your home at night?

462: What sort of thing do you like reading?

463: Which magazines do you prefer?

464: Which part of a newspaper do you read first?

465: Do you mind people smoking when you’re eating?

466: Do you mind people talking when you’re watching a film?

467: Do you mind doing homework?

468: Do you mind waiting for someone who’s late?

469: Do you mind working long hours?

470: Do you mind working at night?

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

a e i o u

GRAMMAR

Simple Past Tense

Choose the correct grammar.

a: I go / went to the factory yesterday.

b: She prepared / prepare beef and rice yesterday.

c: I drink / drank a cocktail on Friday.

d: He correct / corrected the information last night.

e: I observe / observed the problems last week.

f: She saw / see lots of crocodiles on the safari last year.

g: She wait / waited for him for more than an hour.

h: She took / take 150 photocopies of the document this morning.

i: I am / was incredibly tired yesterday.

j: We were / was in the TV studio last night.

k: The nurse take care / took care of the patient yesterday morning.

l: I publish / published my work at the hospital 5 years ago.

m: I reported / report the results to the boss yesterday.

n: She travel / travelled to Canada last year.

o: I wrote / write the text yesterday.

p: I input / input all the information last weekend.

q: I program / programmed the system before I go / went home last night.

r: I took / take care of all the problems here last month.

s: I copy / copied everything that you asked me to.

t: She turned off / turn off the TV before she go / went to bed last night.

u: She is / was very hungry last night.

v: He was / is very irresponsible in his last job.

w: They are / were / was very busy at work yesterday.

x: They really needed / need the documents yesterday.

y: She request / requested the documents yesterday.

z: They evaluate / evaluated the health of our company last week.

Grammar.

don't / doesn't

a: She don't / doesn't like chocolate.

b: Lidia don't / doesn't have a Ferrari.

c: Juliana and her son don't / doesn't have Covid-19.

d: I doesn't / don't drink beer.

e: Paul and John doesn't / don't live in Manchester.

f: Marcos don't / doesn't work in Porto.

g: Marcio and Eduardo don't / doesn't enjoy the weekend doing nothing.

h: Mirella and Luana doesn't / don't work together.

i: Daniel and Luana doesn't / don't live in Canada yet.

j: Felipe doesn't / don't like working out at the gym.

Congratulations! You have successfully concluded Pre-Intermediate 3 of your English course.

Back to the top