Jose the Baker… Basic Reading Comprehension‏

Publicado por telephoneteacher ⋅ mayo 6, 2013

By; Ernie Os            

 

Jose lives in the city of Madrid.

He has a little sister, her name is Jane.

Jose’s Dad is from Spain, and his Mom is from The United States.

Jose loves to play football with his friends.

Jane likes to bake cookies with Mom.

One rainy day  Jose helped Jane and Mom  bake cookies, playing football was impossible in the rain.

Cookies? Asked Jose, I don’t like to bake cookies!

That’s for girls! said Jose.

That’s not true, said Mom, Some of the best bakers are men, baking is for everyone!

So Jose tried.  He watched Mom and Jane bake the first time and then it was his turn.

He used chocolate. 

He used butter. 

He used everything Mom had in the kitchen.

Jose was surprised, it was fun to bake!

Jose’s cookies would be done in the morning.

The next morning Dad woke up early for work.

Dad smelled something in the air.

He opened the oven door, …  MMMMMMMMMM!

His favorite, chocolate chip cookies!

Later that day, Dad called Mom, from work.

It’s been a wonderful day today!

Get everyone ready, tonight were going to the football match,

It’s Madrid against Barcelona!

QUESTIONS…

1. Jose’s Mom was a ………………  .

a. football player

b. foreigner

c. professional baker

2. Jose learned to …………….  .

a. eat butter in the morning

b. play football with his friends

c. bake cookies

3.  We should never be afraid to…………….  .

a.  eat chocolate

b.  try something new

c.  play football in the rain

4.  Dad’s day began ……………..   .

a. in a good way

b. smelling Jose’s cookies

c. early in the morning

d. all of the above,   a., b., c 

5. It is always good to …………   .

a.  spend rainy days indoors

b. learn new things

c. play football in the rain

6. Why was Dad happy that day?

Dad was happy that day because…

 

Ernie’s New Vocabulary Key…

bake -    prepare with dry heat in an oven; “bake a cake”

Pronunciación: Béik

Castellano: Hornear

Butter: an edible emulsion of fat globules made by
churning milk or cream; for cooking and table use

Pronunciación: Bater o bárer

Castellano: mantequilla

 

Woke Up: stop sleeping; “She woke up to the sound of the alarm clock”

Pronunciación: uók ap

Castellano: Despertó

Smell - the sensation that results when olfactory receptors
in the nose are stimulated by particular chemicals in gaseous form; “she loved the smell of roses”

Pronunciation: smél

Castellano: oler

 

Learn:  A single conversation with a wise man is better than ten years of study.  ~Chinese Proverb

 

Clases de inglés para principiantes que inician desde 0 por teléfono & skype con profesores nativos.

Llamar para una prueba gratis al: 911 014 146

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Clases de inglés para principiantes - gramática - comprensión

 

NOTE: definitions belong to: www.thefreedictionary.com 

Images: copyright several authors from http://www.sxc.huhttp://www.telephoneteacher.com/curso-principiantes.html

"Words Are Like People, It´s A Small Word After All"

By: Ernie Os

Sr. Teacher and Contributor at: www.telephoneteacher.com

 



graphicsfactory.com image

Family, work, money, love, respect, food, happiness, what do all of these words have in common?

They seem to be in the same "family" of words and they even seem to be "back formations"(words that are formed directly from other words) of each other .

Family of words?

It sounds a little crazy but I think that words are like people.

Some words are more important than others even though they share the same language and society. For example the word "respect" is definitely more important than the word "probably"...

What about the word "love"?

If we could personify the word love, who do you think it could be, our mother? Our father? Probably. In a monarchy there´s always a king, a queen, and so on. Is this the same in a language?

Who could ever personify the words "Google", or "Apple"? Their creators of course, just like we are personified by our creator and our parents.

What person could personify the word "imagination" or the word "knowledge"?

That´s an easy question to answer in my book, Albert Einstein, and curiously he was the person who said, "Imagination is more important than knowledge"...

Today in our fragile and unpredictable world, we must be careful with our words.

It not not pleasant to hear words like "tragedy", or "crisis". Newspapers are about business not love.The more we feel bad for people and read about negativity around the world, the more we will buy them.

It´s time for sensitivity in the world, not sensationalism, no one is safe from tragedy or accidents.

"Words are more powerful than the sword." This is very true, take the life and accomplishments of Nelson Mandela...

Mandela was imprisoned for many years by the same government that he would later govern and rule.

He wrote many books while in prison and became a very educated and powerful force.

What word describes you? Really?

We all have the word in our brain but is it a word that we are proud of?

"Hi Mr. Untruthful, how was your day?"

"Greetings Ms. Miserable, how was your weekend?"

If people were words, What word would your best friend be?

Your boss? Your brother?

In a nation of words the president would probably be Mr. Liar.

Mr. "Money" would probably be a big businessman like the CEO of "Las Vegas Sands Corp." Sheldon Adelson, who is bringing the Las Vegas adult playground experience to Madrid. Every word, like every one of us, has an origin, and some words are much older than others. For me one word takes the cake, a "Golden Child" born in a University in California, a word that came into our lives in 1997 and has changed it forever, "Google".

 

The words "fire" and "water" are undoubtedly older than the word "Google".

"Google" is one baby that is here to stay.

(I wrote a blog post about "Google" and its origin previously, you can see it here...

http://telephoneteacher.blogspot.com.es/2012/04/google-one-baby-that-is-here-to-stay.html ).

Google is at the very top of the ladder in the world of words, it´s the prince waiting to be king or maybe the most popular person in the world.

 

Google is like a movie star that everyone talks about everyday, Mr. Google definitely drives a Ferrari and lives in Marbella.

What about the word "Hate"?

Who could personify this word? Hopefully not you or anyone that you know.

For me Hate is perfectly personified by Adolf Hitler, we all know why.

I remember when Mrs. Example (my mom), told me not to hang around with "Loser" and "Bad Habit" and to do my homework, things would have definitely been different for me.

Anyways...

Some words are more difficult to understand than others, like people on the other side of an international conference call.

In a world of uncertainty we can only control what we do, let´s try to be careful and sensitive with our words before we give them life in an email or letter...

Google woke up in his Marbella chalet and drove to the local coffee shop to have breakfast with Beautiful.

All she could talk about was how Mr. Despicable, her boss, made life difficult for her everyday.

She had talked to her friends Sunshine and Extravagant about changing jobs the night before.

They suggested that she call Mr. Right at his office and ask him if there was an opening at the law firm.

Google was only daydreaming about "Precious", the waitress who was specially nice that morning.

Beautiful was in a hurry to finish her omelet she was five minutes away from her English class with "Unpredictable", her Telephone Teacher from San Diego.

She was very excited...

What would they talk about next?

www.telephonteacher.com 

 

South Africa pic. by graphicsfactory.com

Escape From New York... "The Great Betrayal"

Greetings,

When I talk to Spanish students for the first time and ask them about America, if they have ever visited The United States or if they would like to and where, there´s always one city that comes up in conversation: New York.

Aahhhh,

New York,...

The City So Nice, They Named It TWICE,

"The Big Apple",

"The City That Never Sleeps"

and for Batman and Robin, "Gotham"...

What is there NOT to like about New York?

Broadway: the lights, the arts...

The largest Subway System in the World (NYC has the largest subway system in the world, operating underground since 1904.), its iconic Statue of Liberty: always a symbol of The American Dream...

The shopping in Manhattan...

The New York Times.

The New York Times?

You mean the newspaper that rejected King Juan Carlos´ plead to "be nice" when referring to Spain and it´s economic tragedy?

The New York Times?

The newspaper that published a "Yellow Pressed" article about Spain´s austerity and depicted the country with bias photographs and onesided captions?

And after all the love that Iberia has for New York, this, this is a betrayal in my book.

History tells about many great "backstabs"...

Austrian army officer Alfred Redl during World War 1, Redl worked as a spy for the Russian military and sold secrets about the Austrian army. The results were catastrophic for the Austrian army: his actions contributed to the deaths of half a million Austrians. 

Redl committed suicide after Austrian police discovered his betrayal.

Harold Cole was the deputy commander of Scotland Yard during the end of the World War 2 and is considered one of the worst traitors of the war. He was responsible for divulging information to the Gestapo (German security police organized under the Nazi control) about the French resistance escape lines, which he had helped create. He was shot dead after capture by French police in 1946.

What about the end of Roman emperor Julius Caesar when his own nephew, Brutus, took part in the murder plot against him? Brutus accompanied a group of senators who savagely attacked Caesar. Caesar didn’t see it coming – the iconic line, “Et tu, Brutus?”, "You too, Brutus?" is one that will always remind us of Julius Cesar. The whole shameful betrayal was also the subject of a little Shakespearean play you may have heard of.

Well maybe The New York Times´ journalist S. Daley isn´t related to Brutus or Harold Cole, but her dimly lighted reflection of the economy in Spain almost suggests that Spain is the 

 

only country in the world with hunger and unemployment.

Let´s forget about New York and Shakespearean drama and close our eyes and imagine that

 

we´re on the other side of the United States.

 

How about a daydream into San Diego, :"America´s Finest City"?

One of the world´s most important cultural borders and a birth place of 

 

"The American Dream".

 

A place where sandals and beachwear take the place of black suits and dress shoes.

California... "The Beach Boys", barbecues, beautiful people, the best weather in the

 

world,and oh yeah, a place  that has  influenced every human on Earth, a place called Silicon Valley. 

 

 

I lived in Andalucia for 6 months and I never saw some of the things I see in these pictures.

Stereotypes are very dangerous and I´m concerned about the thoughts of people who read 

 

sensationalist articles of this type, they are not seeing the reality of this great country.

So maybe next time you plan a trip to "The States" you should book a flight to the friendly

 

part of America a place appropriately named after a saint "Diego".

Cheers,

Ernest.

P.S. Here´s the N.Y. Times Article:

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2012/09/24/world/europe/20120925-SPAIN.html?ref=europe#1

www.telephoneteacher.com

Favorite Sayings & Proverbs

"Where there is a will, there is a way."

"Strike while the iron is hot."

"God helps those who help themselves."

"Birds of a feather flock together."

"Blood is thicker than water."

"Charity begins at home."

"He who would climb a ladder must begin at the bottom."

"Tell me who walks with you, and I'll tell you who you are."


"It does not matter the speed you go.  The most important thing is to never stop."

"Think twice, act wise."

 "Practice makes perfect."  (t.t.´s fave)

"If you want something done right, do it yourself."

"If you risk nothing, then you risk everything."

"Your defeat now is your victory in the future."


Review  the meanings with your t.t. ( telephoneteacher).

Vote your favorite saying and leave us a comment ;)