# English - B2 First

## Exam

**Reading**:

* Time: 75 minutes.
* 7 parts - 52 questions.

**Writing**:

* Part 1: writing an essay.
* Part 2: writing an article OR a formal letter OR a review OR a report.

**Listening**

* Time: 40 minutes.
* 4 parts.
* 30 questions.

**Speaking**

* Time: 14 minutes.
* 4 parts.
* Language
* Discourse Management
* Pronuntiation
* Interactive Communication

**Recomended dictionary**: Cambridge Dictionary

## General

### Irregular adjetives / adverbs

||Comparative|Superlative|
|---|---|---|
|good/well|better|best|
|bad/badly|worse|worst|
|much|more|most|
|little|less|least|
|far|farther/further|farthest|furthest|
|old|elder/older|oldest/eldest|

### List of adjetives and adverbs (general)

|Adjetives|Adverbs|
|---|---|
|Careless|Fast|
|Pesimistic|Hard|
|Famous|Actively|
|Thoughtful|Well|
|Lovely|Extremely|
|Helpless|Hardly|
|Reliable or unreliable|
|Sociable||
|Comfortable Uncomfortable||
|Predictable||
|Disastrous||
|Dramatic||
|Changeable||
|Catious||
|Natural||
|Cultural||
|Best-known||
|Lively||
|Impressive||
|Fascinating||
|Worrying||
|Political||
|Full||
|Bleak||

## Unit 1 - Lifestyles

### Words meaning

|Word|Meaning|Usages/examples of use|
|---|---|---|
|Grow|Physical. Means to become|People, plants, animals, towns|
|Grow up (phrasal verb)|Develop from childhoold|People|
|Aisle|Walway between section of seats|Walk down the aisle (marriage)|
|Best man|Male at the bridge that helps him during a marriage|-|
|Bridesmaid|A girl that helps the woman during a marriage|-|
|Witnesses|A person who sees an event|It could be in a policial meaning, or in a marriage|
|Sour|Having a sharp acid taste **or** milk or other food that is sour **or** unfriendly or looking bad-tempered **or** attitude of someone who pretends to dislike sth|sour milk, look, grapes, apples|

### Phrasal verbs

|Word|Meaning|Examples of use|
|---|---|---|
|Blow out|To stop a flame from burning|Blow out the candles|
|Blow up|To explode|Blow up the balloons|
|Tidy up|To clean sth|To tidy up the mess|
|Turn down|To reject (an offer)|Turn down the offer|
|Wrap up|To cover sth with sth like paper, or to summarize|To wrap up the presents|
|Took down|To remove sth|She took down the decorations|
|Look up|To see sth|Look up the time of the next train|
|Put up|To construct sth|She put up a tent in the garden|
|Let down|Dissapoint|Let down your best friend|
|Do up|To prepare|Do up the apartment|

### Colocations

|Word 1|Word 2|
|---|---|
|Strong|influence|
|High|speed|
|Hard|work|
|Domestic|life|
|Wide|gap|
|Guided|tour|
|Final|destination|
|Central|heating|
|Natural|light|
|Exact|date|
|Memorable|experience|
|Unique|opportunity|
|Slight|change|
|Valuable|paintings|
|Quick|breakfast|

### State verbs vs Action verbs

An state verbs is a verb that involve mental states (usually that doesn't require effort). Examples: love, have (in some cases), think, suspect.

* We can use *used to* for state or action verbs
* We can use would **only** with state verbs
* State verbs are not usually used in the continous, except when they describe a mental or physical action or process (I'm thinking of you all the time [mental action]).

List of some state verbs:
|Type of state|State Verbs|
|---|---|
|Appearing|Appear, seem, look|
|Thinking|Doubt, feel, gather, know, mean, remember, think, understand, expect|
|Feeling|Dislike, hate, love, want, wish, prefer|
|Sensing|Hear, see, smell, taste, sound|
|Owning|Belong, need, owe, own|
|Others|Promise, agree, deny, depend, fit, mean, involve, matter|

### Present simple

We use present simple for:

* Habits
* I clean my teeth every night.
* Permanent or long-term situations
* I come from Australia.
* Facts
* Ice melts in the heat.

We can also use present simple with some special words:
* We use time words for surprising or annoying habits
* My brother's always bothering me. (annoying)
* Kate's always giving me chocolates. (surprise, she doesn't know why kate gives her the chocolates)
* We can use tend to for things that usually happens
* I tend to arrive late.
* We use will for:
* They typical way a person behaves:
* My brother will sit for hours just reading a book. (It doesn't mean that he's going to do it, it means that his typical behaviour is that).
* Starting what we think/asume is true:
* That'll be your sister on the phone.

### Past simple

* We can use the past simple for past habits.
* Every day I got up at 7 A.M and went to work by bus.
* We use used to + infinitive for habits/states which are no longer true
* I used to go out every friday (habit)
* We used to live in Bridgeton (states)
* We use would for habits but not for states

### Modifying adjetives and adverbs

* To express a big difference:
* far/a lot/much + comparative
* He is far better than the other singers in the band.
* by far/easily + superlative
* He is by far the best singer in the band.
* not nearly as ... as ...
* This party is not nearly as good as last year's.
* To express a small difference
* slightly/a bit/a little + comparative
* The music is slightly better than before.
* just about + superlative
* It was just about the longest carnival procession ever.
* nearly/not quite as ... as ...
* The first show was nearly as good as the second one.

## Unit 2 - Earning a living

### Job vs work

* Work is the general concept.
* A job is the specific thing that someone does for a living.
* A job is countable.
* Work can be an uncountable noun or a verb.

### Present Perfect

We use present perfect (Sbj + have/haven't + Past Participle) for:
* Experiences **don't mentioning the time**.
* Action started in the past and still continues in the present.
* Recent events.
* Using never/ever.

### Some vs any

* We use some for questions, positive sentences or offers.
* We use any with negative sentences, questions.
* We can use any in positive sentences **when we talk about something but it doesn't matter which, or may not exist**.
* They both can be used with countable and uncountable nouns.

#### Thing, where and one

There are words that are formed using thing, where and one as sufix (for example, anything, anywhere, someone, anyone). They should be managed as a **singular context**.

For example:

Everyone **makes** mistakes (makes and not make because everyone should be handled as singular).

### Words meaning

|Word|Meaning|
|---|---|
|Head teacher|The teacher in charge of an school|
|Undergraduate|A person that's studying to get an university degree|
|Playground|The place where childrens play in school|
|Higher education|Education at university|
|Degree|The award conferred by college. It also could mean an amount or a unit to measure angles|
|Grade|A mark|
|Resit|To re-do a course|
|Clerk|A person who works in an office|
|Record|To save information (Recórd, verb)|
|Record|Noun that can mean the best achievement so far or countable information kept (Récord)|
|Stem| the part of a word that forms its lexical meaning (with the stem wait, we can form wait, waiting, waited, ...)

|Topic|How do you call the person who do it|
|---|---|
|Drama|Dramatist|
|Economics|Economist|
|Engineering|Engineer|
|History|Historian|
|Languages|Linguist|
|Mathematics|Mathematician|
|Philosophy|Philosopher|
|Science|Scientist|
|Sociology|Sociologist|

### Forming adjectives

Adjetives can be made from a verb or noun or other adjetives with three differents ways:

* Suffixes
* Adding a sufix to form an adjetive (the stem sometimes need to change).
* suit (verb) -> suitable
* health (noun) -> healthy
* decide (verb) -> decisive
* beauty (noun) -> beautiful
* Making internal changes
* Freeze (verb/noun) -> frozen
* heat (verb/noun) -> hot
* Adding a prefix to change the meaning of other adjetive
* regular -> irregular
* national -> international

### Past simple, present perfect simple, present perfect continous:

**Past simple**
* Form: Regular verb + ed
* We use the past simple with a word or expresion to talk about:
* Completed actions at a particular time in the past (I went to Rome last Thursday).
* Completed situations over a definite period of time in the past:
* I worked at a summer camp when I was younger.
* Past habits, repeated actions in the past.
* We went to the beach every summer
* Past actions which happened quickly one after the orther
* When I arriver, they turned off the television.

**Present perfect simple**
* Form: have + past participle
* It connects the past an the present.
* In a period that is unfinished that's relevant to the present.
* The uses of present perfect include:
* Talking about experiences
* Have you ever met a famous person?
* Talking about things completed in the past with a result now
* I've hut my leg.
* Talking about things recently completed.
* The conference has just started.
* Things that have or not happened up to now.
* Have you sent off the application yet?
* Unfinished actions or states
* I've lived in this town for five years.

**Present perfect continous**
* Form: have + been + ing
* We use it to talk about activities in a period of time that's unfinished
* A recent temporary activity
* I've been getting work experience
* A recent repeated activity
* She's been answering.
* The present perfect continous focuses on the activity, which is often temporary, not on wether the activity is finished or not. The present perfect simple can be used to focus on the completion of an activity.
* 'Why are you so dirty?' 'I've cleaning my room'
* We use for for periods of time and since to answer How long?
* For three weeks
* Since last year

### Articles

* a/an: We use indefinite article (a/an) with singular countable nouns.
* the: we use definite article with singular or plural countable nouns (usually when we know what are we refering to, something unique, in certain expression, general statements, or with some proper nouns)
* Proper nouns with the: oceans and seas, rivers, groups of islands, mountain ranges, deserts, countries, groups of people, hotels/cinemas/teathres, newspapers, political bodies
* No article: Sth general or abstract, before institution when someone is part of it and before"
* People's names, most countries, continents, counties, villages/towns/cities, parks, streets, languages, sports, illness, go + ing, meals, most expressions of time.

## Unit 3 - The world around us

### Words (or phrasal verbs) meaning

|Word (or phrasal verb)|Meaning|
|---|---|
|Put off|Discouraged|
|Higine|Cleanliness|
|Wipe out|Destroy|
|Deadly|Fatal|
|Calamity|Disaster|
|Sprang up|Suddenly appear|
|Hazard|Dangerous|
|Deadful|Causing a lot of fear|
|Gale|Very strong wind|
|Gust|Sudden very strong wing|
|Hail|Frozen rain|

### Words meaning in spanish (parts of animals or actions)

|Part|In spanish|
|---|---|
|Tail|Cola|
|Wing|Ala|
|Whisker|Bigote|
|Beak|Pico|
|Hoover|Pesuña|
|Fur|Nariz pequeña|
|Fins|Aletas|

### Word meaning (animal actions)

|Word|Meaning|
|---|---|
|Squeak|Sound the mouses do|
|Howl|Long sound that the wolfs do|
|Screeches|Kind of a cry that the parrots do|
|Peck|The way that the parrots bites, hit or picks up sth|
|Sting|To hurt someone with poison|
|Scratch|Mark a surface with sth pointing (cat)|
|Hibernate|Spend the winter in a dormant state|
|Build a nest|To build the "house" that the birds build|

### List of animals

|Animal|Comment|
|---|---|
|Butterfly||
|Goat||
|Lizard|
|Fish|
|Wolf|The plural is wolves
|Sea lion|
|Mouse| The plural is mice|
|Parrot|The plural is Parrot|
|Ant|
|Bear|
|Beaver|Castor|
|Bee|
|Beetle|Escarabajo|
|Bull|Vaca|
|Calf|Novillo|
|Dolphin|
|Giraffe|
|Guinea pig|
|Hamster|
|Leopard|
|Moose|Alce|
|Mosquito
|Penguin
|Pigeon|Paloma|
|Rabbit|
|Shark|
|Sheep
|Squirrel|
|Tortoise|
|Vulture|Buitre|
|Whale|Ballena|

### List of adjetives

|Adjetive|Can be used with (examples)
|---|---|
|Torrential|rain, downpour|
|Tropical|rain, breeze, shower, storm, downpour|
|Gentle|breeze, wind|
|Heavy|rain, downpour, shower|
|High|wind|
|Light|rain, wind, breeze, shower|
|Loud|thunder|
|Strong|wind, storm|
|Hard|thunder|
|Pouring|rain|
|Chilly|wind, shower|
|Stormy|relationship|
|Heated|discussion|
|Icy|stare (mirada)|
|Sunny|smile|
|Breezy|manner|

### Adjetives vs adverbs

* Adjetives are used to identify or describe something in more detail.
* Advebs add information about a verb, an adjetiver or another adverb or a clause/whole sentence.

**Gradable an ungradable adjetives**
* An adjetive wwhich is gradable can be used in the comparative and superlative form. We can also use adverb of degree to make it stronger (very cold) or weaker (fairly cold).
* Ungradable adjetives are extreme or absolute. We can use an adverb which emphasises them but not an adverb which makes them stronger or weaker (absolutely, completely, totally).

### Forming adverbs

1. We add -ly
2. Good is an exception (good -> well)
3. Some adjetives have ly endings. We use in a way maner/fashion (in a friendly way).
4. Some adverbs have the same form as the adjetives (fash, hard, straight, far, early).
5. Some adverbs have two forms with different meanings (I worked hard all morning, he has hardly changed at all).

### Adverbs of degree

* The adverbs very and sextremely collocate with most gradable adjetives
* Very impressive
* The adverb absolutely collocates with most ungradable adjetives
* Absolutley wonderful
* Other adverbs often tend to collocate with certain adjetives
* Utterly useless
* Highly skilled
* Totally crazy
* Complettely different
* The adverbs quite and rather can have more than one meaning
* quite + adjetive (moderate)
* quite nice
* quite + ungradable adjetive (completely, absolutely)
* quite extraordinary
* rather + negative adjetive (= moderately)
* He's rather a lazy student.
* rather + postive adjetive (= very)
* She's rather good at maths

## Unit 4 - Challenges

### Time conjunctions

* As, while
* A longer action happening around a shorter action.
* While I was watching a horror film, I heard a noise.
* Two longer actions happening at the same time.
* While I was working, my brother was sitting at the beach.
* When
* A short action in the middle of a longer action
* I was watching a horror film when I heard a noise outside.
* A short action inmediately before another short action
* When he crossed the line, everybody cheered
* Before, after
* Before always goes with the second action in a sequence
* Before we left, I filled up...
* After always goes with the first action in the sequence
* After I filled up...
* As soon as
* As soon as means 'inmediately after'
* As soon as he went gone outside.
* By the time
* By the time means 'before'
* By the time the police arrived, the rober had run away

### What to use depending on the sport

**do**: individual sports
**play**: you have a ball
**go**: ing

### Vocabulary

|Word|What does it means|
|---|---|
|Serve|To start a point in tennis|
|Umpire|The referee of a tennis match
|Drew|Tie|
||

### Colocations

|Colocation|Example|
|---|---|
|Through|Putting yourself through the pain of running|

### Idioms

|Idiom|Meaning|
|---|---|
|Scared stiff|To be shocked|
|From the word go|From the beginning|
|Into sports|To show interest in a sport|

### Phrasal verbs

|Phrasal verb|Meaning|
|---|---|
|Took it up|To start for the first time an activity|
|Take off|To start a flight, to take off sth or go from a place|
|Take over|To take control of sth or do sth instead of someone else|
|Took after|To follow the steps of someone (parent or ancestor)|
|Talk into|Someone that gives me arguments about something|
|Took to|To start to like someone or sth|
|Carry on|To continue on a task or activity|
|Take up|To become interested when you start something that you weren't doing or interested before|
|Give it ago|To give it a chance|
|Build up|Make a person or his body stronger|

### Determiners

|Determiner|Equals to|Context|
|---|---|---|
|A few|Some|Plural countable|
|Few|Not many or hardly any|Plural countable|
|A little|Some|Uncountable|
|Little|Not much or hardly any|Uncountable|

### Countable and uncountable nouns

|Countable|Meaning|Uncountable|Meaning|
|---|---|---|---|
|A chicken|The animal|Some chicken|The meat|
|A chocolate|A sweet or a drink|Chocolate|The substance|
|(two) Coffees|Like two cups of coffees|Some coffee|The substance|
|A glass|The material E.G. of milk|Glass|the material|
|A hair|A single hair|(my) hair|Hair on my hair|
|Times|ocasion|Time|time measure|
|A good cheese|Variety of cheese e.g rockefort|I like cheese|In general|
|A paper|Newspaper or scientific article|Paper|Material|
|A Room|Different rooms on the house|There isn't any room|Ausence of space|
|A space|E.G. parking|There's no space|Ausence of room|
|Two businesses|To have two|Do business|To do the business|

* We can't count some uncountable noun
* A piece/bit of bread/new/information/advice
* a drop of water/milk
* a slice of bread/toast/cake
* an item of news

### Ing or ed adjetives

* For reactions we usually use -ed adjetives (I was bored)
* For things, persons, events, events that causes the reaction we use ing (The play was boring)

## Unit 5

|Pronouns|Object pronouns|Possessive|Reflexive|
|---|---|---|---|
|I|Me|My|Myself|
|You|You|Your|Yourself|
|We|Us|Our|Ourselves|
|They|Them|Their|Themselves|
|He|Him|His|Himself|
|She|Her|Her|Herself|
|It|It|Its|Itself|