Idiom of the day (20)

To change horses in midstream.

Cambiar de opinión a mitad de camino.

Vocabulary (6) - Health and medicine

a consultant

a general practitioner (GP)

to consult

an operating theatre

to prescribe

surgery (UNCONTABLE)

a surgery (CONTABLE)

a nose job

cosmetic surgery

chubby

to glow with health

vigorous

fit

junk food

fresh food

underweight babies

a vaccination

(to) vaccinate against

respiratory problems

a heart monitor

a surrogate mother

(to) prolong life/pain/suffering

(to) interfere with the course of nature

(to) let nature take its course

(to) overcome fertility problems

Idiom of the day (19)

Don't look a gift horse in the mouth.

A caballo regalado no le mires el diente.

Writing a story

To write a story we first decide on the type of story, the plot and the main characters. Our story can be a comedy, a spy story, a thriller, an adventure story, a detective story, a fairy tale, etc.

Introduction

First paragraph = We write when and where the event happened, who the people in the story were and what happened first.

Main body

Main body paragraphs = We describe the events in the order they happened, one of the events should be the climax event.
We can use so, because, and, also, etc. to join our sentences or ideas.

Conclusion

Last paragraph = We write what happened in the end and how the people in the story felt.




We can use a variety of adjectives or adverbs to make our story more interesting. We normally use past tenses in stories.

Idiom of the day (18)

Wild horses couldn't keep me away.

No me lo perdería por nada del mundo.

Speaking - useful expressions (7)

Describing a photograph

This photograph focuses on...while the other shows...

What is not illustrated/covered by any of this photos is/are...

Shall we discuss each photo in turn?

My feeling is that this picture focuses more on...than...

It seems to me that this image conjures up...

What do you think about this one?/What's your view?

Perhaps photograph...may not be appropiate becasue...

The picture which I think people will find most shocking/disgusting is...

I don't think this picture is particularly relevant because...

I think what the maker of these images is trying to say is...

One important image that is missing here is...

All these expressions are really useful for the speaking exam of any english certificate of Cambridge (First Certicate, Cae Certificate,...).

The reason why they are useful is because you are likely to describe a photograph in the speaking exam.

Idiom of the day (17)

To be in the doldrums.

Estar de capa caída.

-ever

The suffix -ever can be combined with question words to create whichever, whatever, whenever, whoever and however. They are usually used to mean 'it doesn't matter what/who/how' or 'any thing that/any person who' etc.

He just does whatever he wants, whenever he wants to and doesn't care about anybody else.

Wherever you're going on holiday, remember to take enough sun cream.

Whoever it is, I can't talk to them right now.

However you do it, just make sure it's done by this time tomorrow.

Whichever route you choose, it'll take you about three hours to get there.

You should always tell the truth, however hard it may be.

Note: Words formed with -ever can also used to finish an open-ended list.

I really don't mind what we do, Go to the cinema, go out for a meal, stay in and watch a video, whatever.

Come round anytime, tomorrow morning, this evening, whenever.

Idiom of the day (16)

That's a horse of a different colour.

Eso es harina de otro costal.

An informal letter describing a house for rent

We start our letter with Dear + our friend's first name.

Introduction

First paragraph = opening remarks and the reason for writing our letter.

Main body

Second paragraph = location of the house and details of the rent.

Third paragraph = exterior of the house (what is made of, graden, etc).

Fourth paragraph = interior of the house (e.g. floors, rooms, furniture, special features, etc).

We start each main-body paragraph with a topic sentence i.e. a sentence which introduces or summarises the paragraph.

Conclusion

Last paragraph = closing remarks, we sign off using Yours, Best wishes, etc + our first name.

Example

Dear Peter,

How are you? Hope everything's OK. I'm writing to let you know that I think I've found the perfect summer cottage for you.

It's in a really nice location. It's a quite area, but the best thing about it is that it is less than a kilometre from the sea. Also, the rent for the cottage is only 150€ a week.

The house is really charming outside. It's an old brick farm building which has been converted into a holiday cottage. It's got a patio and is surrounded by a beautiful garden.

Inside, the house is nice and comfortable. It has two floors.On the ground floor there is a cosy living room and a kitchen with all the modern equipment you would expect as well as a dining room and a WC. Upstairs there are two small bedrooms and a bathroom. The house is fully furnished so you don't need to worry about that.

Let me know if you like the sound of it. I can easily talk to the owner, Mr Smith, for you. I hope I'll see you here soon. I'll tell you all of my news then.

Yours,
Laura.

Idiom of the day (15)

A chip off the old block.

De tal palo tal astilla.

Vocabulary (5) - young people in society

co-educational classes/schools

segregated classes/schools

single sex classes/schools

literacy

strict/lax discipline

teacher-led

activity-centred

rate learning

learning by doing

primary school (UK)

elementary school (US)

junior/senior high school (UK)

secondary school (UK)

A-levels

university

college

degree

Idiom of the day (14)

To catch somebody red-handed.

Coger a alguien con las manos en la masa.

Example: They caught me red-handed.

The future seen from the past

You can use the following phrases to talk about an event or action that was expected to happen in the past, but didn't.

                           going to

          was/were + supposed to + verb

                           due to

           on the verge of +ing

We were going to go to the cinema last night, but in the end we couldn't be bothered.

They were supposed to be going away on holiday this week, but James got the flu.

The phrase on the verge of is used to suggest that the action or event was inminent.

They were on the verge of cracking the code, but the other team got there first.

You can used to be to + infinitive to explain that a formal arrangement had been made.

The Prince was to visit the town in mid-May.

You can often use the modal auxiliary verb would to talk about the future in the past, especially in conjunction with phrases such as we had imagined, they had expected, he had thought.

We had expected that they would bring some warm clothes, considering the climate.

Idiom of the day (13)

Don't put the cart before the horse.

No empezar la casa por el tejado.

Vocabulary (4) - environment

bumper-to-bumper traffic

congestion

an open dump

piles of rubbish

bleaches/detergents/cleaning products

toxic

(to) discard

(to) re-use

(to) recycle

deforestation

eco-friendly products

car exhaust fumes

factory emissions

burning fossil fuels

oil spills

overuse of chemicals in agriculture

water/air pollution

carbon dioxide

aerosols that contain CFCs

climate change

global warming

greenhouse gases

Idiom of the day (12)

To call a spade a spade.

Llamar al pan, pan y al vino, vino.

Patterns with get

get + adjective = become

    Things started to get exciting towards the end.

get + noun = obtain/receive

    I got my deegre last summer.

get + to-infinitive = succeed in doing something, have the chance or opportunity to do someting

    I finally got to see the Grand Canyon last year.
    Apparently you can get to be a politician without qualifications these days.

get + ing = start doing something

    Let's get going then, or we'll be late.

get + object + to-infinitive = ask or persuade someone to do something (cause)

    She got her brother to decorate her flat for her.

get + object + ing (result)

    After a long time and a lot of effort I finally got them singing in unison.
    We promise we'll get your computer system running perfectly by this 
    time tomorrow.

get passive -> This use is generally more informal

    He got run over by a car.
    The window got broken by some kids playing football.
    He got his brother arrested.
    I got my photos developed.
    I got my wallet stolen when I was on holiday.

Idiom of the day (11)

To pass the buck.

Pasar la pelota.

Unreal conditions

An unreal condition is a type of conditional. Related link: conditionals.

The if clause (describing an unreal situation)

When you want to describe a past situation which is unreal, or imagine how a past situation might have been different, you backshift the verb in the if clause.

What really happened                   What might have happened
(real past)                                   (unreal past)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
She won a small amount of     ->    If she had won the jackpot,...
money in the lottery.

She wasn't paying attention.   ->    If she had been paying a little more   
                                                  attention,...

Substituting if

Instead of using if to introduce the unreal situation, you can invert the subject and verb.

     If she had won the jackpot,...     ->    Had she won the jackpot,...
     If your work had been more        ->    Had your work been more 
     satisfactory,...                                 satisfactory,...

This is more typical of formal language, especially if it is written.

The main clause

Describing possible present consequences

You use would (do) or would be (doing) to describe the possible present consequences of the unreal past situation.

If she had won the lottery, she wouldn't be working for the Tatler any more.
If she had been paying more attention, she wouldn't be in such a mess.

Describing possible past consequences

You use would have (done) or would have been (doing) to describe the possible past consequences of the unreal past situation.

If she had won the lottery, she would have bought a snazzy red sports car.
She wouldn't have been daydreaming in class if the lesson had been a little more interesting.


The if clause and the main clause can be used in either order.