The Wise Woman’s Stone

A wise woman who was travelling in the mountains found a precious stone in a stream. The
next day she met another traveller who was hungry, and the wise woman opened her bag to
share her food. The hungry traveller saw the precious stone in the wise woman’s bag, admired
it, and asked the wise woman to give it to him. The wise woman did so without hesitation.

The traveller left, rejoicing in his good fortune. He knew the jewel was worth enough to give
him security for the rest of his life.

But a few days later he came back, searching for the wise woman. When he found her, he
returned the stone and said, “I have been thinking. I know how valuable this stone is, but I give
it back to you in the hope that you can give me something much more precious. If you can,
give me what you have within you that enabled you to give me the stone.”

The Best of Bits & Pieces

QUESTIONS

1. Answer the following questions using your own words.

a. Why did the traveller give the stone back to the woman?

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b. Why did the woman share the food with the man?

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2. Are the following statements true or false? Why?

a. The stone did not have much value.

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b. The woman was mean.

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3. Find a word or phrase in the text which, in context, is similar in meaning to:

a. River: _______________________________________

b. Celebrate, feel happiness: ___________________________________

4. Choose a, b or c in each question below. Only one choice is correct.

1. The man saw the precious stone in

a. the woman’s hand.

b. one of the woman’s pocket.

c. the woman’s bag.

2. The woman

a. gave the man the stone.

b. lent the man the stone.

c. borrowed the stone from the man.

3. The man

a. gave the stone back to the woman because it was worthless.

b. gave the stone back to the woman because he wanted to have the same good feelings.

c. did not give the stone back to the woman.

4. The woman found the stone

a. inside a cave.

b. in the mountains.

c. in a stream running down the mountains.

5. Translate the text.

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6. Composition. (100-150 words) Give your opinion about the woman and the man’s
behaviors.

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Dictation:

Text from the book Links 11st grade page 39 “Top 5 Problems of Bringing your workplace into
your home.

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 Grammar
Present Continuous
“I am doing something...”

To be (present simple) + ing

We used the Present continuous when:

- the action in happening at the time of speaking.

- the action is not finished

“Please don’t make so much noise. I’m working”

“Where is Margaret? – She is having a bath.”

- We talk about things happening in a period around now (today, this week, this evening...)

“You are working hard today.”

“Is Susan working this week?”

- We talk about changes happening around now

“The population of the world is rising very fast.”

“is you English getting better?”

- For temporary situations

“I’m living with some friends until I find an apartment”

Exercises:
1. Complete the sentence with one of the following verbs in the correct form:

Come Get Happen Look Make Start

Try Work
a. ‘You __________________ hard today’. ‘Yes, I have a lot to do.’
b. I _______________________for Christine. Do you know where she is?
c. It ______________________dark. Shall I turn on the light?
d. They haven’t got anywhere to live at the moment. They ____________________
with friends until they find somewhere.
e. ‘Are you ready, Ann?’ ‘Yes, I_______________.’
f. Have you got an umbrella? It _____________________ to rain.
 g. You ____________________a lot of noise. Could you be quieter?
I________________ to concentrate.
h. Why are all these people here? What ___________________?

2. Put the verbs into the correct form. Sometimes you need the negative
a. I am tired. I ______________ (to go) to bed now.
b. We can go out now. It ________________(to rain) any more.
c. ‘How is your new job?’ ‘ Not so good at the moment. I _________________ (to
enjoy) it very much.
d. Catherine phoned me last night. She’s on holiday in France. She _______________
(to have) a great time and doesn’t want to come back.
e. I want to lose weight, so this week I _______________ (to eat) lunch
f. Angela has just started evening classes. She _________________ (to learn)
German.
g. I think Paul and Ann have had an argument. They ___________________ (to
speak) to each other.

3. Put the verbs in brackets into the present continuous tense.

a. She ____________ (not /to work), She (to swim) in the river.
b. It ____________ (to rain) ? Yes, it _____________ (to rain) very hard. You
can’t go out yet.
c. What Tom ____________ (to do) now? He ____________ (to clean) his shoes.
d. Who ____________ (to move) the furniture about upstairs? It’s Tom. He
____________ (to paint) the front bedroom.
e. My mother doesn’t usually make cakes on Monday, but she __________ (to
make) one today as my aunt ____________ (to come) to tea tomorrow.
f. Child: Come and look. The house across the road is on fire!
Mother: I can’t come now. I ____________ (to make) an omelette. Is the fire
Brigade there?
Child: Yes, They have just arrived and the men ____________ (to jump) down
from the engine.
g. Mother: What the people of the house __________ (to do)?
Child: Some of them ______________ (to stand) in the street holding a blanket
and others _______________ (to throw) things down from the windows.
h. Why you ____________ (to hide) the bottles?
I ____________ (to hide) them because my mother-in-law ____________ (to
come) to dinner tomorrow and she doesn’t approve of drink.
i. The children are very quiet. Go and see what ______________ (to do).
They ____________ (to cut) up some £5 notes.
j. Tom usually feeds the hens but I ____________ (to do) it today as he isn’t
well.
Present Simple

Example:
I/you/we/They drive/work/do
He/She/It drives/works/does

- We use the present simple to talk about things in general. We are not thinking only about
now. We use it to say that something happens all the time or repeatedly, or that something is
true in general. It is not important whether the action is happening at the time of speaking:
“I usually go away at weekends”
“Nurses look after patients in hospitals”

- Remember that when we say: He, She or It we put at the end of the verbs an –s or -es.

- We use do/does to make questions and negative sentences

- We use the Present Simple when we say how often we do things

“I get up at 8 o’clock every morning”
“How often do you go to the dentist?”

- Sometimes we do things by saying something. For example, when you promise to do

something you say “I promise...”; when you suggest something, you can say “I suggest...”. We
use the present simple in sentences like:
“I promise I won’t be late.” (not “I am promising”)
“What do you suggest I do? – I suggest that you...”

- In the same way we say: I apologise..., I advise... I insist..., I agree..., I refuse...

Exercises:

1. Put the verb into the correct form:

a. Jane __________________________(not/to drink) tea very often.
b. What time ______________________ (the bank/to Close) in Britain?
c. ‘Where ____________________ (Martin/to come) from?’ ‘He is from
Scotland.’
d. ‘What _________________ (you/to do)? ‘ ‘I’m an electrical engineer.’
e. It ___________________ (to take) me an hour to get to work. How long
_______________________ (it/to take) you?
f. I _______________________ (to play) the piano but I ____________________
(not/ to play) very well.
g. I don’t understand his sentence. What ________________________ (this
word/ to mean)?
 2. Read the following sentences and put them into the Present simple in the 3 rd person
a. They help their father.
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b. Butchers sell meat.
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c. We live in London.
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d. Why do dogs bark.
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e. Buses go every ten minutes.
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f. Do you often eat garlic?
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g. Englishmen seldom speak at breakfast.
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h. Good children always obey their parents.
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i. They kiss their mother when they come from school
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j. His dog always attack strangers
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k. These Hotels don’t allow dogs.
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l. Motor cycles don’t make a lot of noise.
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m. I brush my hair every night.
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n. My hens often fly over the wall and lay eggs in Mr Pitt’s garden.
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o. They do exercise every morning before breakfast.
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Present Simple or Present Continuous:

Exercises:

1. Put the verb into the correct form, Present Simple or Present Continuous
a. Let’s go out. It ____________ (not/to rain) now.
b. Julia is very good at languages. She ____________ (to speak) four languages very well.
c. Hurry up! Everybody ____________ (to wait) for you.
d. ________________ (you/to listen) to the radio? No, you can turn it off.
e. ________________ (you/to listen) to the radio every day? No, just occasionally.
f. The river Nile ____________ (to flow) into the Mediterranean.
g. Look at the river. It ______________ (to flow) very fast today – much faster than usual.
 h. We usually ____________ (to grow) vegetables in our garden but this year we
______________ (not /to grow) any.
i. How is your English? Not bad, it ____________ (to improve) slowly.
j. Ron is in London at the moment. He _________________ (to stay) at the Park Hotel. He
____________ (always/to stay) there when he’s in London.
k. Can we stop walking, soon? I ______________ (to start) to feel tired.
l. Normally I ___________ (to finish) work at 5.00 o´clock, but this week I ____________
(to work) until 6.00 o’clock to earn a bit more money.
m. The train is never late. It ___________ (always/leave) on time.
n. Jim is very untidy. He ____________ (always/leave) his things all over the place.

2. Put the verb into the correct form, Present Simple or Present Continuous:
a. He usually ____________ (to drink) coffee but today he ______________ (to drink)
tea.
b. What ___________ (to do) in the evenings? She usually ___________ (to play) cards
and ____________ (to watch) TV.
c. I won’t go out now as it _____________ (to rain) and I ____________ (not /have) an
umbrella.
d. Ann _____________ (to make) a dress for herself at the moment. She ____________
(to make) her own clothes.
e. I’m afraid I’ve broken one of your coffee cups. Don’t worry. I ____________ (not/to
like) that set anyway.
f. I ____________ (to wear) my sunglasses today because the sun is very strong.
g. You ____________ (to enjoy) yourself or would you like to live now? I ____________
(to enjoy) myself very much. I ___________ (to want) to stay to the end.
h. How much you ____________ (to owe) to him? I ____________ (to owe) him £5. You
______________ (to intend) to pay to him?
i. I won’t tell you my secret unless you _____________ (to promise) not to tell anyone.
j. You always ____________ (to write) with your left hand?
k. Who ______________ (to whistle)? It is Mr. Pitt. He _____________ (to feel) happy.