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Friday, June 10, 2016

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (Mark Haddon)

Summer holidays are just round the corner. In a few days you'll have a lot of time, so I'd like to share with you a chapter of one of my favourite books. If you like it, I strongly recommend reading the whole book, because it's great.

It also gives you some advice about writing mystery novels, which could be useful for writing a newspaper report about a crime, for example.... ;)

Anyway, here it goes. 


This is a murder mystery novel. 

Siobhan said that I should write something I would want to read myself. Mostly I read books about science and maths. I do not like proper novels. In proper novels people say things like, "I am veined with iron, with silver and with streaks of common mud. I cannot contract into the firm fist which those clench who do not depend on stimulus." What does this mean? I do not know. Nor does Father. Nor does Siobhan or Mr. Jeavons. I have asked them. 

Siobhan has long blond hair and wears glasses which are made of green plastic. And Mr. Jeavons smells of soap and wears brown shoes that have approximately 60 tiny circular holes in each of them. 

But I do like murder mystery novels. So I am writing a murder mystery novel. 

In a murder mystery novel someone has to work out who the murderer is and then catch them. It is a puzzle. If it is a good puzzle you can sometimes work out the answer before the end of the book. 

Siobhan said that the book should begin with something to grab people's attention. That is why I started with the dog. I also started with the dog because it happened to me and I find it hard to imagine things which did not happen to me. 

Siobhan read the first page and said that it was different. She put this word into inverted commas by making the wiggly quotation sign with her first and second fingers. She said that it was usually people who were killed in murder mystery novels. I said that two dogs were killed in The Hound of the Baskervilles, the hound itself and James Mortimer's spaniel, but Siobhan said they weren't the victims of the murder, Sir Charles Baskerville was. She said that this was because readers cared more about people than dogs, so if a person was killed in a book, readers would want to carry on reading. 

I said that I wanted to write about something real and I knew people who had died but I did not know any people who had been killed, except Mr. Paulson, Edward's father from school, and that was a gliding accident, not murder, and I didn't really know him. I also said that I cared about dogs because they were faithful and honest, and some dogs were cleverer and more interesting than some people. Steve, for example, who comes to the school on Thursdays, needs help to eat his food and could not even fetch a stick. Siobhan asked me not to say this to Steve's mother. 


Do you like it? If you are interested, below you can find the whole text to read in your e-book. 




Tuesday, June 7, 2016

USED TO

USED TO

We use used to to express PAST HABITS, things that we did in the past that we don't do now.

I used to play football when I was 5, but now I play basketball.
I didn't use to like lentils as a kid, but I love them now.
Did she use to ride a bike when she lived in Belgium?

In affirmative: USED TO + verb in infinitive
In negative: DID NOT / DIDN'T USE TO + infinitive
In questions: DID....(SUBJECT) USE TO + infinitive



Mrs Bell is a hundred years old. She's the oldest person in the village.  A radio reporter is interviewing her. Put in used to with the verb in brackets. 
Mrs Bell:    I've always lived in the village, but not always in this house.
Reporter:   Where ( )  did you use to live  (you / live)?
Mrs Bell:    When I was a girl, we lived at Apple Tree Farm. (1)………………………………………………  (we / like) it there. 
Reporter:   But life was hard, wasn't it?
Mrs Bell:    Oh, yes. Things (2) …………………………………….(be) different from the way they are now. In those days (3) ……………………………………….(we / not / have) electricity.
Reporter:   And (4) …………………………………………… (you / help) with the farm work?
Mrs Bell:    Yes, (5)  ………………………………………………(I / look after / the hens)



2Match the statements a-fwith the responses below (1-6).

a. Did you ever use to wear leg warmers?
b. I used to listen to punk music when I was in High School.
c. My brother used to love playing Super Mario World.
d. What sports did you use to play in High School?
e. When I was little, we lived in Peckham, in South London.
f. The first album I ever bought was ‘Dookie’ by Green Day.

1. No way! I used to live there too.
2. Well, I was never in any school teams but I used to like playing tennis.
3. That game was great! I used to play it too.
4. I used to love that group. They were the best!
5. Really? I preferred pop music.
6. Yes, I did. They were so cool when I was in High School.
 





 

RELATIVE CLAUSES

RELATIVE CLAUSES

Relative clauses are introduced by a relative pronoun (which, that, who, whom, whose, where, when, why). 

Relative pronouns have a double function:
a) They refer to the noun that goes before them (ANTECEDENT)
b) They have a function in the relative clause 

RELATIVE PRONOUNS:
1. WHO: for people
    The man WHO lives on the second floor is a doctor

2. WHICH: for objects/animals/things
    The book WHICH you gave me is interesting.

3. THAT: can substitute WHO or WHICH (never in non-defining clauses), and it is more informal.
     The man THAT lives on the second floor is a doctor
     The book THAT you gave me is interesting.
   
4. WHOM: it is the same as WHO, but when it has a preposition before
     The man to WHOM you spoke is my brother.

5. WHOSE: indicates posession. It cannot be omitted. 
    I saw the boy WHOSE father is a doctor (...cuyo padre...)


6. WHERE: for places
    This is the place WHERE I was born

7. WHEN: for time
    The year WHEN I was born was very cold

8. WHY: for reasons
    The reason WHY I am here is to teach you English.


As we briefly (and quickly) saw in class, there are two types of clauses: defining and non-defining.

1. DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES (ESPECIFICATIVAS)
- They add essential information and specify something about the person/thing/place... 
- They can be introduced by all the pronouns above
- WHO, WHICH and THAT can be omitted when they are NOT the subject of the relative clause:
     The medicine [ WHICH/ THAT/ ------ the doctor gave me ] tastes horrible.
                                                                   subject

2. NON-DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES (EXPLICATIVAS)
- They add extra information, that is not necessary to understand the sentence
- They go between commas.
- The relative pronoun CANNOT be omitted
- They CANNOT go with THAT
     My doctor, who is very nice, game me the medicine yesterday.
     Pedrajas, which is a town in Valladolid, is famous for its pine nuts.


Now, let's practice a little bit:


1.- COMPLETE THESE SENTENCES USING WHICH / WHO / WHEN / WHERE / WHOSE / THAT / NOTHING:

    1- There’s the man _________ taught me English.
    2- Do you know a bar _________ sells cheap beer?
    3- Do you know a shop _________ I can buy a laptop computer?
    4- The police haven’t found the person _________ killed Jack Dover.
    5- John Skull, _______ book "English made simple" sold a million copies, died today.
    6- The language ________ people speak in Wales is called Welsh.
    7- Ted, _________ fixes my car, has just won the lottery.
    8- This is Joe Biggs, _________ works in Greenwich.
    9- I’d like to speak to the person _________ deals with accounts.
    10- I hate it ________ my boss asks me to work overtime.
    11- Have you got a typewriter _________ I can borrow?
    12- The job ________ he got wasn’t very interesting.

2.- DECIDE   WHETHER  IT  IS  POSSIBLE  OR  NOT   TO   LEAVE  OUT   THE UNDERLINED WORD.
1. The parcel that contains your present is on the table.
2. Do you like the neighbour who lives next door?
3. There is no one whom I would prefer to you as a school mate.
4. It’s the short dark days that really depress most people.
5. The letter that I received this morning had bad news.
6. There is only a book written by Roald  Dhal which I haven’t read.


Quite easy, right? Check your answers here: 

ANSWERS