The Flying Elephant!!!

Here is a short Bhili Folktale to help you understand the Simple Past Tense.

There are some other tenses in this short story, nevertheless you should focus on the Simple Past Tense.

Identify this tense and pay attention to the spelling of the verbs and ITS PRONUNCIATION!!

If you cannot watch the video here is the YouTube link: The Flying Elephant


Here the Story:

The Flying Elephant

A sugar-cane farmer once lived in a small village. He worked very hard in his fields and hoped to have a big harvest. One morning, he saw that a big chunk of his crop was missing. The next day, another huge chunk of his crop was gone. “I’ll stay awake tonight and see who’s eating my sugar-cane,” the farmer thought to himself.

That night, he waited by the window, watching his fields. As the moon rose, he saw a tiny speck grow larger in the sky. It was an elephant flying right into his field! The farmer watched in amazement as it flew down and started eating his sugar-cane. He tiptoed outside and waited for the elephant to finish eating.

When the elephant began flying away, the farmer grabbed its tail in order to catch the elephant. Soon he was flying above his fields into Indra’s kingdom of Paradise. Paradise was filled with beautiful birds and flowers.

The ground was covered with silver grass and precious stones.

The farmer soon found the royal palace and met Indra.”Your elephant has been flying down and eating all my sugar-cane. My harvest is ruined,” said the farmer.”I am very sorry. Please take whatever you want from my kingdom. I’ll make sure he doesn't go down again and damage your crops,”

said Indra and blessed the man with a safe journey back home.

The farmer took two handfuls of gems and returned home. He built himself a new house and became a very rich man. Soon the whole village was curious about his sudden wealth.

One day, some villagers went to visit the farmer’s wife.”Where did you get all this money? Did you find buried treasure in your fields?” they asked.

The farmer’s wife told them what had happened.

That evening the villagers decided to lure the elephant down

themselves.”When we get to Paradise, we’ll take more than just two handfuls of gems!” they said. They planted a field of sugarcane and sure enough, the elephant flew down one night. 

One villager grabbed its tail and soon there was a chain of villagers flying behind the elephant.

As they flew up, they began talking about what they would bring back.

Finally, it was the turn of the villager holding the elephant’s tail.”I’m going to carry back this many gems!” he declared in excitement. He stretched his arms wide and let go of the elephant’s tail. The villagers all fell in a heap on the ground.

They watched sadly as the elephant disappeared into the sky.”Don’t worry. The elephant will come back tomorrow,” said the villagers. But Indra, hearing of the villagers’ trick, arranged for a sugar-cane field to be planted in Paradise. 

The elephant never felt the need to fly down again.

The villagers waited for many nights, watching the sky. But the elephant never came back down again.

THE END

MIDTERM TEST's Practice for Technical Students Samuel Foundation

MIDTERM TEST's PRACTICE 

FEBRUARY, 2014. 

Teacher: Franco Cartín Brenes.

A.) Numbers. Read carefully and complete the sentences with the correct information provide in the next line. Write numbers IN LETTERS.

In English you can use two kinds of numbers: Ordinals and Cardinals; write the numbers:

Cardinals		Ordinals
Numbers	In Letters	Numbers	In letters
1		1st
5		2nd
8		3rd
12		4th
18		5th
20		6th
25		7th
29		8th
30		9th
37		10th
42		11th
49		12th
51		13th
57		14th
63		15th
67		16th
71		17th
77		18th
80		19th
89		20th
94		21st
96		22nd
100		23rd
105		24th
148		25th
168		26th
201		27th
378		28th
548		29th
687		30th
794		31st
888		40th
947		50th
104		60th
557		70th
978		80th
2014		90th

Now, go to this webpage and do the exercise http://www.esl-lab.com/num.htm

Here a video where you can hear the numbers in English:

 http://www.funenglishgames.com/videos/vocabulary/learnhowtosaynumbers.html

Here a page to learn about BIG NUMBERS:

http://www.eslcafe.com/grammar/saying_large_numbers01.html

Fill in the sentences using the Numbers from this audio:

http://esl.about.com/library/listening/blnumbers2.htm

Fill in the sentences using the Dates information:

1)        Parsifal was first premiered at Bayreuth in _________________________________.

2)        Fred's Office Supplies turned an incredible profit of ____________ in this past quarter.

3)        I'm sure you will find that the ATU_____________________ is a remarkable machine.

4)        Athletes from over _____________________________ countries will be participating in the next meet to be held on the 13th of September.

5)        Peter won the bean counting contest with a guess of ____________________ beans.

6)        Tiger Woods shot an incredible _________________________ under par on the back.

7)        By the time of his death in _______________________________, Roger Franklin had accumulated over _______________________________ patents.

8)        It is estimated that the new tax reform will cost the government__________________.

9)        His new computer cooks! He's got _____________ Mb Ram with a  Mhz processor.

10)     Relax! There are _______________________________________ miles left to go.

Fill in these sentences: 

11)  Cristobal Colón was the _______________ European to arrive to America. (ordinals)

12)  March is the _____________ month of the year, and October is the _____________.

13)  Monday is the ____________ working day of the week and Sunday is ___________.

14)  First I wake up; second I brush my teeth, _______________ I wash my face.

15)  How old are you?___________________________________________________.

 Here there is another listening practice for numbers: http://www.englishnumber.com/

B) Dates. Read carefully and complete the sentences with the correct information provide in the next line.                                                                                                     

Learn how to understand and say “Dates” correctly takes practice, especially when hearing numbers.

Read and repeat the months (Months in English are ALWAYS Capital):

January, February, March, April, May, June,

July, August, September, October, November, December.

Read out loud and repeat the “Days of the month” (Remember they are ORDINALS).

first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, eleventh, twelfth, thirteenth, fourteenth, fifteenth, sixteenth, seventeenth, eighteenth, nineteenth, twentieth, twenty-first, twenty-second, twenty-third, twenty-fourth, twenty-fifth, twenty-sixth, twenty-seventh, twenty-eighth, twenty-ninth, thirtieth, thirty-first

Now, go to this webpage and do the exercise: http://www.esl-lab.com/eslbasic/calendar-1.htm

Fill in the sentences using the Dates information:

1)    Independence Day is on: ___________________________________________.

2)    My mother’s birthday is on: _________________________________________.

3)    Our English Written test is on: _______________________________________.

4)    On _______________________________, we will have Second Round Election.

5)    Holy Thursday this year is on: _______________________________________.

6)    What happened on February 14^th 2014? ______________________________.

7)    When is your birthday? ___________________________________________?

8)    Christmas this year is on: _________________________________________.

9)    We celebrate Christopher Columbus’ day on: __________________________.

10)  Mother’s Day in Costa Rica is on: __________________________________.

11)  When was your first day at Samuel Foundation? _______________________.

12)  When is Juan Santamaria’s day? __________________________________.

13)  When International Children’s Day? ________________________________.

14)  Today is: ____________________________________________________. 

15)  What date will be tomorrow? _____________________________________.

16)  Holy Friday this year is on: _______________________________________.

17)  When is Independence Day in USA? _______________________________.

18)  When is Halloween? ___________________________________________.

C.) The Time.  Do these exercises in written!

Complete these exercises.

     

This page has some information about the time and some exercises: http://esl.about.com/library/beginner/bltime.htm

      Telling the time exercise:

      http://www.esl-lab.com/eslbasic/clocks-watches-1.htm

How to ask the time: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/radio/specials/142_requests_offers/page12.shtml

Telling the time exercises: http://www.bbc.co.uk/apps/ifl/worldservice/quiznet/quizengine?ContentType=text/html;quiz=1258_time

Here, there is a good game about placing numbers in a clock: http://www.learningplanet.com/act/tw/index.asp?contentid=410

           Fill in the sentences using the TIME. Answer with Long, long answers:

1)    When do you have breakfast? _______________________________________.

2)    When did you wake up this morning?__________________________________. 

3)    When do you start classes? _________________________________________.

4)    When did you have lunch yesterday? __________________________________.

5)    When do your classes usually finish? __________________________________.

6)    When do you always get home? _____________________________________.

7)    When do you go to bed daily? ________________________________________.

D.) Simple Present Tense. Complete the sentences using the correct Simple Present form.

Remember:

è Verbs in third person singular (She, He and It.) add S /ES /IES to the conjugated verb.

è The Simple Present has FREQUENCY ADVERBS:

Open this page and check the information and do the practice:

http://www.isabelperez.com/happy/tenses/present_simple.htm

Here are some exercises about Simple Present (there are many in the same page):

http://www.really-learn-english.com/simple-present-exercises.html

More exercises: http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/tests/simple-present-1

Fill in the sentences using the Simple Present Tense:

1). He sometimes ______________________ a Hamburger at 10:45 P.M. (To buy)

2). Her Horse never ________________________________ on the street. (To run)

3). Sometimes we _______________________ the car on the mountains (To drive)

4). I seldom _________________________________ sugar to my coffee. (To add)

5). The Engineer ___________________ a hole on the street by my house. (To dig)

6). Sometimes she ___________________ a pink blouse and white pants. (to dress)

E.) Simple PRESENT NEGATIVE. Read carefully and complete these sentences using the Simple Present Verbs in parenthesis IN NEGATIVE form.

                        Example: We  don’t study  much today   (to study)       

1)    She ___________________________________ in a hospital any more. (to work)

2)    I ______________________________ to watch telly I like to read a book. (to like)

3)    My classmates _____________________ chess they rather play football. (to play)

4)    He ____________________ the zebra-crossings he is very irresponsible. (to use)

5)    It _________________________ well, it is very ill. I have to talk to the Vet. (to be)

6)    We ___________________________ 34 years old, we are only 24 (to be)

7)    I _____________________________ a policeman. I am a fire-fighter. (to be)

I. F.) Demonstrative Adjectives.  This / that / these / those.

           

Here some exercises about Demonstrative adjectives: http://www.agendaweb.org/grammar/demonstratives-exercises.html

Fill –in the blanks using the correct demonstrative adjectives relate the sentences to the narrows: (Long narrow FAR) (Short narrow CLOSE)

1. Is   _____________________ your father? ------->

2. Are _____________________ your books? --------------------->

3. Are _____________________ his umbrellas? ------->

4. Is _____________________ a plane? ---------------------->

5. Is _____________________ her family? ------->

6. _____________________ are really great pictures. ---------------------->

7. The teachers of _____________________ school are nice. ----->

8. _____________________ is our radio!!! ----------------------------->

9.  He says _____________________ are his chocolates .-------->

10. The animals of _____________________ zoo are really ill.--------------------->

 G.) English articles: A / AN. Read the story carefully and fill in the gaps using the articles A or AN accordingly to the rules; complete these sentences correctly.

           

            Here some exercises about A / AN:

http://www.englishcurrent.com/worksheets/articles-exercises-worksheet-esl/

 http://www.englishexercises.org/exercise.asp?id=7254

http://a4esl.org/q/h/mc001-ck.html

  

“We went to _______ exhibition this Sunday and I saw many animals: I saw _______ elephant and _______ iguana. Also there were monkeys eating ______ banana and ______ apples. My brother bought _______ plastic animal. _______ animal very nice. It was ______ eagle, ________ plastic eagle. We had fun!

H.) Information Questions (5W-h). Complete the questions using the correct 5wh question word: What, Where, When, Who, Why & How. Make the question to the underlined word.

Example:  _Where_ is the handsaw? à The handsaw is in my backpack.

1)   __________________________ is the electric drill? à It is in my toolbox.

2)   ________________ the screwdriver is broken? à Because I drove over it with my car.

3)   ____________________ is lunch time? à Lunch time here is at 12:45.

4)   _____________________ did you put the broom?  à Sorry! It is in my bedroom!

5)   ___________________does he use that mallet? à He uses it to brake the bricks.

6)   _____________ has the sand paper? I am looking for. à Abraham has it in his toolbox.

7)   _________________ did you eat the cake? à Sorry! I ate it this morning for breakfast!

8)   _______________does he drive the motorcycle? à He drives it when  it is not raining.

9)   ____________ is walking over the Zebra-crossing? à The Beatles are walking over it.

10)  _____________________ does she put the mop?  à It is in our workshop.

11)  ___________________ he takes my shirt? à Because he has a date tonight.

12)  ___________________ did you want your eggs? à I wanted them scrambled.

I.) Preposition ON, IN and AT.

            Here some exercises about: http://a4esl.org/q/h/9704/dg-in-at-on.html

 Read carefully each sentence and circle the best preposition to complete the sentence.

1) The clock __________ our classroom is not working.           a. at.                     b. in.           c. on.                   d. around.		2) Look! There is a cat _________ the roof! And it is jumping _____ that tree.          a. in.                      b. on.          c. at.                      d. under.
3) There isn’t gas _______ the gas tank. We have to buy more gasoline.           a. on.                   b. in.           c. by.                    d. to.		4) She worked ___________ the hospital for more than 8 years.            a. in.                     b. at.            c. on.                    d. under.
5) There is a nice picture _______ that wall.           a. on.                   b. in.           c. by.                    d. to.		6) We waited for you ___________ the door.            a. in.                     b. at.            c. on.                    d. under.

J.) Pronouns and Possessive Adjectives.

            Here there are a lot of exercises on PRONOUNS AND POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES:

           

http://www.agendaweb.org/grammar/possessive-pronouns-adjectives.html

            http://www.learnenglishfeelgood.com/possessive-pronouns-adjectives1.html

Read carefully each sentence and circle the best preposition to complete the sentence.

1) This is my friend. ________ name is Karl.            a. his.                   b. my.            c. her.                  d. its.		2) Hey! That mobile is_______________!        a. she.                    b. hers.        c. theirs.                 d. mine.
3) May I use _______ car for tonight?             a. him                  b. you             c. he.                 d. her.		4) ________ bought a pet for your birthday.             a. we                  b. it             c. he.                 d. her.
5) Excuse-me. What is _______ name?           a. you.                   b. your.           c. my.                    d. to.		6) Your dog is in ___________ garden.            a. we.                     b. it.            c. us.                    d. our.

K.) –ING spelling in Present Continuous.  / Past Continuous:

Here some explanations and exercises about –ING:

            ING Rules: http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/sample/beginner/gs/gs_53.htm

     

            Adding –ING: http://www.englishclub.com/writing/spelling_add-ing.htm

            Present Continuous spelling Rules:

http://www.ecenglish.com/learnenglish/lessons/present-continuous-spelling-rules

Exercises on Present Continuous:

http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises_list/zeitformen.htm

Past Continuous:

http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/grammar/past_progressive_spelling.htm

Exercises on Past Continuous:

http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises_list/zeitformen.htm

L.) Identify the Pronouns and Possessive Adjective. Read the next text and fill in the chart below with Subject Pronouns, Possessive Adjectives, Direct Object Pronouns and Possessive Pronouns. Write 8 pronouns and adjectives. Do not repeat them!

Hi, my name is Belen. This is my family. That is my father and that is my mother. We live in a nice humble neighbourhood. My father is a Repairman. His workshop is located next to our houses. He has a lot of tools… He keeps them in a big closet in his office.

My mother is a teacher. Her students love her. She loves them too. Those are my brothers Josh and Andrew and this is my sister Andrea.  She always fights with me because I took her blue blouse and her favourite skirt. She always says: that’s my blouse and I say: Not. It is mine.

Subject Pronoun	Possessive Adjective	Direct Object Pronoun	Possessive Pronoun

 

M.) Present Continuous Sentences! Unscramble these sentences. Look out! There are affirmative sentences, negative sentences and questions among these sentences.

1)     ____________________________________________ are They cooking . now  

2)    ________________________________ ? he at Is tomorrow working McDonald’s

3)    ________________________________________ now he playing . is  Right not 

4)    ___________________________________  today are we in swimming sea in the

N.) Past Continuous Sentences! Unscramble these sentences. Look out! There are affirmative sentences, negative sentences and questions among these sentences.

1)     ________________________________________ was She spleeping . last night 

2)    ______________________________________ ? to  talking  were rude they Kelly

3)    ________________________________________ Were ? you my car driving  

4)    ____________________________ they  were in bathroom bushing their teeth the

O.) Information Question (5W-h): Simple Present/ Simple Past... Write questions in the blanks. Make the questions to the underlined words in the answers.

Example: __Where does she work?__ She works in a Pet shop.

1)     _______________________________________________ He sleeps in a bed.

2)    ______________________________________________ It was a butter shelf.

3)    __________________________________________ Susan came late last night.

4)    ______________________________________________ this month is very cold!

5)    ___________________________________________ Because I like that song.

6)    _________________________________________ He went to Pavas yesterday.

7)    _____________________________________________ I opened it with my teeth.

GOOD LUCK AND HAVE FUN!!!