Word History: English is derived from England, one would think. But in fact the language name is found long before the country name. The latter first appears as Englaland around the year 1000, and means "the land of the Engle," that is, the Angles. The Angles, Saxons, and Jutes were the three Germanic tribes who emigrated from what is now Denmark and northern Germany and settled in England beginning about the fourth century a.d. Early on, the Angles enjoyed a rise to power that must have made them seem more important than the other two tribes, for all three tribes are indiscriminately referred to in early documents as Angles. The speech of the three tribes was conflated in the same way: they all spoke what would have been called *Anglisc, or "Anglish," as it were. By the earliest recorded Old English, this had changed to Englisc. In Middle English, the first vowel had already changed further to the familiar of today, as reflected in the occasional spellings Ingland and Inglish. Thus the record shows that the Germanic residents of what Shakespeare called "this sceptered isle" knew that they were speaking English long before they were aware that they were living in England.

Word History: English is derived from England, one would think. But in fact the language name is found long before the country name. The latter first appears as Englaland around the year 1000, and means "the land of the Engle," that is, the Angles. The Angles, Saxons, and Jutes were the three Germanic tribes who emigrated from what is now Denmark and northern Germany and settled in England beginning about the fourth century a.d. Early on, the Angles enjoyed a rise to power that must have made them seem more important than the other two tribes, for all three tribes are indiscriminately referred to in early documents as Angles. The speech of the three tribes was conflated in the same way: they all spoke what would have been called *Anglisc, or "Anglish," as it were. By the earliest recorded Old English, this had changed to Englisc. In Middle English, the first vowel had already changed further to the familiar of today, as reflected in the occasional spellings Ingland and Inglish. Thus the record shows that the Germanic residents of what Shakespeare called "this sceptered isle" knew that they were speaking English long before they were aware that they were living in England.

It`s important to mention that not everyone has a good accent as a language lesson begins, but it's important to say that that "good pronunciation" is acquired with practice. The more the person practices, the better the pronunciation will be.

Practice the alphabet to begin the acquisition of a good pronunciation on it.

In order to improve your English reading skill, You need to put into practice some tips to performe yor ability. Read the following text and then do the practice.
In the reading, there are spaces (xx1xx) to be filled with the correct answer, choose the correct one.


READING #1When all the people had assembled, the king, surrounded by his court, xx1xx a signal. Then a door beneath him opened, and the accused man stepped out into the arena. Directly opposite him were two doors, exactly xx2xx and side by side. It was the duty and the privilege of the person on trial to walk directly to these xx3xx and open one of them. He xx4xx open either door he pleased; he was subject to no guidance or influence but that of impartial and incorruptible chance. If he opened the one, there came out of it a hungry tiger, the fiercest and most cruel that could be found, which xx5xx sprang upon him and tore him to pieces as a punishment for his guilt. But, if the accused person opened the other door, out of it came a xx6xx lady, and to this lady he was immediately married, as a reward of his innocence. This was the xx7xx method of administering justice. Its perfect fairness is obvious. The criminal could xx8xx know out of which door would come the lady; he opened either he pleased, without having the slightest xx9xx whether, in the next instant, he was to be devoured or married. So the accused person was instantly xx10xx if guilty, and, if innocent, he was rewarded on the spot.

Adapted from The Lady or the Tiger by Frank Stockton

Multiple-Choice Questions
Choose the answer you think is correct.



1. xx1xx
a) give
b) gives
c) gave
d) given

2. xx2xx
a) alike
b) different
c) big
d) closed

3. xx3xx
a) door
b) doors
c) people
d) signals

4. xx4xx
a) should
b) would
c) must
d) could

5. xx5xx
a) immediately
b) usually
c) sometimes
d) frequently

6. xx6xx
a) suddenly
b) angry
c) beautiful
d) old

7. xx7xx
a) criminal's
b) king's
c) lady's
d) tiger's

8. xx8xx
a) even
b) also
c) especially
d) not

9. xx9xx
a) interest
b) belief
c) idea
d) reason

10. xx10xx
a) punish
b) punishing
c) punishes
d) punished

11. How many doors could the person choose from?
a) 1
b) 2
c) 3
d) 4

12. The main purpose of the custom discussed was
a) entertainment.
b) justice.
c) religious observation.
d) to get money.

13. Who decided which door was to be opened?
a) the criminal
b) the people in the arena
c) the king
d) the lady

14. The word assembled in the first sentence means
a) lifted
b) gathered
c) expected
d) opened

15. The word innocent in the last sentence means
a) not happy
b) not angry
c) not usual
d) not guilty

Listening contest

Play the audio. The first time listen carefully, in the second, catch the details in order to complete the requests.

Total pts: 99
Earned pts: _____

Audio 1.
Listen and circle just the letter of the actions that are taking place at this moment. (5pts)

a. Lisa is talking to her mom.
b. Beth is arriving to the house.
c. Lisa is looking at a book.
d. Lisa and Beth are presenting their topic.
e. Lisa is studying.

Audio 2.
Listen and complete the sentences. (4pts)

a. Tommy and Linda are __________________________
b. Mike is going to a __________________________
c. __________________________ are going to a concert.
d. Kate is __________________________

Audio 3.
Listen and write the sentences. (4pts)

a. ___________________________________________.
b. ___________________________________________.
c. ___________________________________________.
d. ___________________________________________.

Audio 4.
Listen and put the number of the speaker, and the country he/she wants to go, in the right column. (16pts)

Who… Speaker Nº Country

…wants to watch soccer? ________ ________
…want to see his sister? ________ ________
…likes music? ________ ________
…wants to go shopping? ________ ________
…wants to see the Eifel Tower and eat delicious food? ________ ________
…wants to take his wife to a romantic trip? ________ ________
…wants to stay with Mickey and Minnie Mouse? ________ ________
…wants to visit a country because of the old people? ________ ________

Audio 5.
Listen and answer the following questions. (5pts)

a. Who is Sick? _______________________________.
b. What is the problem? _______________________________.
c. How many tablets she needs to take? _______________________________.
d. She shouldn’t take more than _____________ in 24 hours.
e. What are the names of the girls? _____________ and _____________

Audio 6.
Listen and say if the sentences is true (T) or false (F) (8pts)

_______ She had always wanted to be a hairdresser.
_______ She started as a junior in a salon.
_______ She was 17 then.
_______ She trained at Vidal Sassoon’s.
_______ Her salon is quite big.
_______ There is a beauty salon too.
_______ Most of her customers are housewives.
_______ Some of her clients are men.

Audio 7.
Listen and write the places she mentions. (6pts)

a. ___________________.
b. ___________________.
c. ___________________.
d. ___________________.
e. ___________________.
f. ___________________.

Audio 8.
Listen and match the words she uses to describe how she feels about each topic. (6pts)

a. Exams _____ useful
b. Lectures _____ great, fabulous
c. Tutorials _____ excellent, worked hard on them
d. Tutor _____ ok, very good, pleased
e. Essays _____ excellent
f. Social life _____ boring, disappointed

Audio 9. Listen and express in your words (oral) what you understood from the audio (45 pts)