E n g L i s h jenni Currie Santamaria

Complete the sentences with the boldface words and idioms from Exercise A.
1.
People buy lottery tickets because they want to ___________________.
2.
This looks like a ___________________ place for our next vacation.
3.
In the mornings everyone is ___________________ to work.
4.
He’s a realistic person; he doesn’t have any ___________________.
5.
The runner ___________________ over the low fence.
6.
Last summer we ___________________ up a mountain.
7.
He had a sharp nose ___________________ of his face.
8.
They have ___________________ that computer program so it works 
perfectly now.
C.
Focus on verbs
This article contains many active verbs that make the story more interesting. 
Without looking at the article, put these verbs into the summary below. When 
you finish, use the article to check your work.
sorted sifted hiked deposited hopped shoveled looked
First, the men _______________ up the mountain. Then they _______________ 
rocks along the river while they _______________ for a good spot. One man 
_______________ dirt by the side of the river. The other man _______________ 
the dirt to separate the small particles from the big rocks. After he sifted it, he 
_______________ it into different piles. Once the dirt was mostly small particles 
of sand, he _______________ it into the sluicer.

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Better Reading English
V. UNDERSTANDING GRAMMAR
A.
Read about 
while
We usually use 
while
as a conjunction to indicate that two things are happening 
at the same time.
Gavin shoveled furiously along the bank 
while
 DeMello sifted and sorted 
through the dirt.
Often the past continuous verb form is used with 
while
to emphasize that one 
or more of the actions is ongoing.
Marc Montelius 
was panning and sifting
while three friends dug and 
offered advice from the riverbank.
While
can also be used as a conjunction to indicate a contrast.
While
 there isn’t a lot of gold left in California, there are still many small 
pieces.
While
 most prospectors don’t find much of value, sometimes one of them 
gets lucky.
While 
can also be a noun in the expression 
for a while
, meaning
 
“a period of 
time.”
They waited 
for a while
.
I haven’t seen you 
for a while
.
B.
Use the grammar
Choose the meaning of while as it is used in each sentence. Write the 
appropriate letters after the sentence.
ST = at the same time
C = contrast
PT = period of time
1.
They looked for a while before they found anything. ______
2.
He found a garnet while he was looking for gold. ______
3.
While inding gold is dificult, searching for it can be entertaining. ______
4.
The interviewer spoke to them while they were sifting the sand. ______
5.
While there were once thousands of people looking for gold in California, 
now there are only a few. ______
6.
Many 49ers stayed in San Francisco for a while before they went to the 
mountains. ______

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San Francisco
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59
VI. READ IT AGAIN
Read the article again. Answer the questions.
1.
What are the usual occupations of Mike Gavin and Marc Montelius?
2.
How does a sluicer work?
CAUGHT UP IN THE 1906 EARTHQUAKE
I. PRE-READING
A.
Background information
This reading is from the book