Unit 1: Big Changes

A. What global issue is shown in each picture? Use the words in the box.

B. Complete the information. Use the present tense.

• My name (1) (be) is Carolina Richter. I (2) (live) live in the city of Blumenau, Santa Catarina, Brazil.
• I (3) (be) am 16 years old. I (4) (have) have a younger sister and an older brother.
• They (5) (watch) watch TV every evening with my father.
• I (6) (do) do my homework in the same room. There (7) (be) is a television show on tonight about global warming.
• I (8) (be) am interested in global warming. It (9) (affect) affects everyone and everything on Earth.
• My science teacher (10) (want) wants everyone to write a report on a global issue.
• My report (11) (be) is on the importance of the rain forest in Brazil.
• People (12) (take) take these huge forests for granted.
• Our Brazilian rain forest (13) (make) makes about 20 percent of the Earth’s oxygen.
• But every day people (14) (cut down) cut down or (15) (burn) burn our rain forest. This (16) (mean) means less oxygen in the atmosphere.
• With less oxygen, there (17) (be) are more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
• This (18) (affect) affects global warming. My friends and I (19) (talk) talk about this every day.
• We (20) (want) want to stop the destruction of the rain forests in Brazil and reduce global warming.
• In fact, all my family and friends (21) (know) know how important
• this is. But global warming (22) (be) is not just a Brazilian problem. The whole world (23) (need) needs to help to reduce global warming.

C. Answer the questions.

1. Where does Carolina live?

She lives in Blumenau, Santa Catarina, Brazil.

2. Who watches TV every evening?

Carolina's brother and sister watch TV every evening.

3. What is Carolina interested in?

She's interested in global warming.

4. What do Carolina and her friends talk about every day?

They talk about global warming every day.

5. Who needs to help reduce global warming?

The whole world needs to reduce global warming.

D. Finish the conversation. Use the simple present or present progressive.

Alexa: Hi, Mrs. Lewis. Where (1) (be) is Grace?
Mrs. Lewis: She (2) (be) is still upstairs. I (3) (think) think she (4) (finish) is finishing her project.
Alexa: What (5) (do) are you doing?
Mrs. Lewis: I (6) (make) am making a pizza. (7) (be) Are you hungry?
Alexa: Yes, I (8) (be) am. Thanks.
Grace and I (9) (meet) am meeting Mona and Sierra in a little while.
Mrs. Lewis: Really? I (10) (negative: know) don't know Sierra. Who (11) (be) is she?
Alexa: She (12) (live) lives in Madrid. She (13) (visit) is visiting Mona. She (14) (be) is her cousin.
Mrs. Lewis: Where (15) (go) are you going?
Alexa: There (16) (be) is a talk on Europe and globalization. Sierra and Mona (17) (want) want to go to hear it. Then Grace and I (18) (want) want to take them to an Indian restaurant for dinner.
Mrs. Lewis: I (19) (love) love Indian food!
Alexa: Why (20) (negative: come) don't you come with us to the restaurant?
Mrs. Lewis: That (21) (be) is a great idea!
Alexa: Awesome! We (22) (have) have reservations for 9 o’clock.

E. Complete a question for each answer.

1. Q: Who are they meeting?
A: They’re meeting Mona and Sierra.

2. Q: Who is Sierra?
A: She is Mona’s cousin.

3. Q: Where do they want to go?
A: They want to go to a talk on Europe and globalization.

4. Q: Where are they going after the talk?
A: They’re going to an Indian restaurant.

F. Complete the sentences. Use the simple past.

1. France uses the euro today.
In 1995, France used the franc for its currency.
2. Today my parents have three children.
In 2009, they had two children.
3. My country launches a lot of satellites each year.
Last year, it lunched 23 satellites.
4. Traffic increases all the time in my city.
It increased 50 percent last year.

G. Complete the sentences. Use the present perfect.

1. The city (want) has wanted a park on King Abdul Aziz Road for years.
2. Overpopulation and pollution (affect) have affected global warming.
3. My family (live) has lived in the same town for fifteen years.
4. We (lose) have lost touch with many of our cousins.

H. Complete the paragraph. Use the simple past or the present perfect.

• My brother and I (1) (go) went to the zoo yesterday. We (2) (see) saw a lot of beautiful animals there.
• Some of the animals (3) (be) have been on the endangered species list for a long time.
• I (4) (love) loved the giant pandas. They (5) (be) were beautiful, and they (6) (be) were hungry, too!
• One of the pandas (7) (sit) sat under a tree and (8) (eat) ate a lot of leaves.
• Yesterday I (9) (learn) learnt that the giant panda (10) (be) has been on the endangered species list since at least 1980.

I. READING

Read the sentences about Ellis Island. Write T for True or F for False.

1. F Ellis Island is in California.
2. T Immigrants came to Ellis Island and then had to pass a medical test.
3. T Today Ellis Island is a museum.
4. T Ellis Island was used between the years 1892 and 1954.
5. T Many people came to Ellis Island from Europe.
6. F The ships were clean and didn’t have many people on them.
7. F The food on the ships was great.
8. T For most immigrants, the trip across the Atlantic was difficult.

J. Hameed just returned to Saudi Arabia from a business trip. How did he answer the immigration officer’s questions? Write your ideas.

1. Q: What city do you live in?
A: I live in Jeddah.

2. Q: Are you bringing back any fruit or vegetables?
A: No, I'm not.

3. Q: What countries have you visited?
A: Spain and France.

4. Q: Why have you been out of the country?
A: I have been on business.

5. Q: How long have you been out of the country?
A: 20 days.

K. The introduction of personal computers and computer networks has changed the way people do things at work, at home, and at school. Write sentences about changes at:

L. Look at the picture. Pretend that you went there and answer the questions below.

1. When did you go there?

I went about a month ago.

2. How long did you stay there?

I stayed for about 2 weeks.

3. Where did you go?

I went to some malls for shopping.

4. What did you do?

I went shopping.

5. What did you see?

I saw many some interesting stores.

6. What words describe the places?

Interesting, fascinating, luxurious.

M. WRITING

Get a picture of a place you like. Pretend that you went there. Complete the chart below and use it to write about your visit.

Adventure to the desert

• We all know how hot the desert is, it is very hot in the afternoon and very cold in med night, so camping in the desert is really adventurous.
• My adventure was camping in the desert of the 'Rub'al-Khali' one of the driest regions in the world, what an adventurous place.
• We camped there for two days, it was an interesting adventure I had with my friends.

N. Complete the information. Use the simple past.

• Yesterday, Saeed (1) didn't go (not go) out because he (2) wanted (want) to write a report about natural disasters.
• He (3) waited (wait) for his friends to come to discuss some ideas.
• His friends, Ali and Samir, (4) lived (live) in the same town, but last week there (5) was (be) an earthquake.
• It (6) damaged (damage) part of the road.
• This (7) caused (cause) a traffic problem, so the buses (8) didn't arrive (not arrive) on time.
• The boys (9) decided (decide) to ride to Saeed’s house on their bicycles instead.
• Saeed (10) didn't think (not think) they would come, so he (11) tried (try) to start writing the report.
• His friends (12) reached (reach) his house at lunch time.
• They (13) watched (watch) a documentary about natural disasters around the world and then they (14) talked (talk) about their effects.
• Saeed (15) made (make) notes of everything they (16) discussed (discuss).
• Last night, Saeed (17) sat (sit) down and (18) completed (complete) his report on his computer.
• He (19) wanted (want) to move to another country because he (20) didn't want (not want) to live somewhere far away from natural disasters like earthquakes.

O. Answer these questions.

1. What did he want to write? He wanted to write a report about natural disasters.
2. Where did his friends live? They lived in the same town.
3. What did the earthquake do? It damaged part of the road.
4. Did Saeed’s friends go to his house by bus? No, they didn't, they rode on their bicycle.
5. Did the boys read books about global warming? No, they didn't. they watched a documentary about natural disaaters.
6. When did Saeed complete his report? He completed it last night.
7. Did Saeed want to leave his country? Yes, he did.

P. Match the questions and answers.

1. f Were you listening to the football match on the radio?
2. d Was Neil Armstrong traveling in space in June 1963?
3. e Was King Abdul-Aziz ruling the KSA in 1932?
4. c Were we getting behind schedule with our work?
5. b Was the Space Shuttle Discovery flying around the Earth in 1985?
6. a Were people using computers in 1900?

Q. Complete the sentences with the correct simple past or past progressive form of the verb.

1. Nura was sleeping (sleep) when the tsunami flooded (flood) the village.
2. We heard (hear) the news about the Space Shuttle when it was (be) launched.
3. The officials weren't rationing (not ration) food when the war first started (start).
4. When Edmund Halley located (locate) the comet, he was studying (study) the movement of the planets.
5. Was Al-Battani travelling (travel) in Syria when he made (make) his astronomical observations?
6. Sultan bin Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al-Saud was representing (represent) ARABSAT when he flew (fly) in Discovery in 1985.

R. Make sentences using when.

1. Ahmed Zewail / teach in California / / win / the Nobel Prize

Ahmed Zewail was teaching in California when he won the Nobel Prize.

2. they / cross the border from Iraq / / the earthquake happen

They were crossing the border from Iraq when the earthquake happen.

3. the water supply / run out / / the rescue team arrive

The water supply was running out when the rescue team arrived.

4. Sabah / do medical research / / the Internet go down ?

Sabah was doing a medical research when the Internet went down.