The present continuous is used to talk about present situations which we see as shortterm or temporary. We use the present simple to talk about present situations which we see as long-term or permanent. (www.englishgrammarsecrets.com) In these examples, the action is taking place at the time of speaking, except:

“How sad it is! I shall grow 1............... and horrible and dreadful. But this Picture will remain always young. It will never be 2.............. this particular day of june [...] If it were only the other way! If it were I who was to be always young, and the picture that was to grow 3 .................. for that I would give everything! Yes, there is nothing in the whole world I would not give! I would give my soul for that!” (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5297.The_Picture_of_Dorian_Gray) Select the best alternative to complete the extrac from the book “ The Picture of Dorian Gray” b y Oscar Wilde, using the correct adjetive form.

Percy Bysshe Shelley wrote the preface to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein 1........ September 1817. It immediately alludes to a "Dr. (Erasmus) Darwin," which gives some medical and scientific credence to the novel that it might not have had. Percy Shelley also mentions the German philosophical writers who, 2........ the time, were experimenting 3 ............ novels that touched on the Gothic genre, the science fiction genre, and the medical genre. (https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/f/frankenstein/summary-and-analysis/preface-to-the-1817-edition) Which is the correct alternative to complete the text:

Read the dialogue: Police officer: Excuse me, madam. Could you stop feeding the birds? Old lady: Will you leave me alone? Police officer: I’m sorry, but you mustn’t feed them. Old lady: Don’t you think you’d better take care of more important issues? Police officer: And you must respect a police officer on duty. Old lady: And you ought to respect an old lady. Police officer: You have your rights and you can do anything that doesn’t afflict the rights of other people. Old lady: I don’t see a sign saying “Don’t feed the birds.” Is there a law in the constitution saying that? If there were, I wouldn’t be able to do it. Police officer: You leave me no choice, but to take you under arrest. Old lady: Give me a break! According to the dialogue we may assume that:

Read the text Employees protesting at the planned closure of the Magnet electronics factory have begun a protest outside the factory in Brook Road. It was revealed last week that production at the factory, where over 3000 local people are employed, is being transferred to the Magnet plant in Luton next month. ‘Why were we not informed about this earlier? We were only told about this two days ago,’ said Marjory Calder, representing the workforce. ‘It’s about time companies such as this started thinking about how local communities are affected by their policies. Most people here are buying houses. How are they going to keep up their mortgage payments? And how are we going to find jobs? I wish I knew.’ Reg Reynolds of Magnet was asked what was being done to help those who had been made redundant. ‘The majority of our employees have been offered work at our plant in Luton,’ he told our reporter, ‘ and every effort has been made over the past month to offer early retirement to those who qualify.’ When he was questioned about why the workers had not been told about the closure earlier, he revealed that the company had been promised a government loan to keep the factory open, but that at the last minute it had been decided not to provide the loan after all. ‘So don’t blame the company, we’ve done our best.’ Local MP Brenda Stone has been asked to raise the matter in the House of Commons, and told us that a letter would be sent to the Minister responsible within the next few days. (Advanced Language Practice – Michael Vince) Judge if each item below could not be an appropriate title for the text.

Read the text I used to go home from work late at night and I would always look up at the moon and enjoy the evening. One night I was walking along, when suddenly I looked down, and everything familiar just vanished! Everything – the houses, the garbage bins, the fences, even the streets – was gone! There were just trees and bushes, but several hundred feet before me I could see a cottage. Naturally, I felt a little frightened, but I kept walking. I didn’t use to be afraid of anything. When I got closer, I noticed a Young couple sitting in the garden. Somehow while I was standing there, watching them, a small dog ran toward me, barking wildly. The man in the garden looked up and called to the dog to stop barking. I realized that he couldn’t see me, but the dog had obviously sensed that I was there. While I was trying to make up my mind what to do, I turned to look back the way I had just come, and there was my street again! When I turned for another look at the cottage, it was gone, and I was standing in the middle of my own block. The cottage, the lovers, and the small dog were all gone. I used to think traveling through time was impossible, but now I don’t. (Rick Glanvill & Phil Healey. Urban Myths, adapted) Judge the following items based on the information from the text.

In British English the plural is used more often than in American English [...] Some words ending with “f, fe, if” change to “ves”, except:

A FLIGHT ANNOUNCEMENT 'Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. On behalf of British Island Airways, Captain Massey and his crew welcome you on board the Start Herald Flight to Southampton. Our flight time will be approximately forty-five minutes, and we shall be .................... to an altitude of eight thousand feet and cruising at a speed of two hundred and fifty miles per hour.' (from M. Underwood and P. Barr Listeners) Select the alternative to complete correctly the paragraph.

Cocaine worth £290 million has been seized by the FBI in a case which is being called 'the chocolate connection'. The 6,000 lb of drugs were hidden in blocks of chocolate aboard an American ship that docked in Port Newark, New Jersey, from Ecuador. (from https://www.earlytimes.com/The Mail on Sunday) Select the wrong alternative according to the text.

Nouns have many different kinds of meanings. Concrete nouns refer to physical things: aircraft, clock, door, wine. Abstract nouns refer to ideas and qualities: time, result, security. Nouns can also refer to actions and events: theft, landing; and to roles: pilot, spokesman. A noun can also be a name: Berlin. A noun phrase can be one word. John Eastwood Oxford guide to English grammar. Choose the wrong alternative: