Personal biography and life achievements

A Personal achievements

be born grow up make (new) have a fall in love get married start a family / bring up separate /
friends girlfriend have children children get divorced
Places to live
Most young people nowadays can’t afford to buy their own house, so they rent a room or a flat.
Later, if they are lucky, they can own a house. For many people, the dream is to move to a bigger
house in the suburbs, or perhaps even to live abroad. Of course, there are people who prefer the
simple life, living on a farm in the countryside.

B Professional achievements
get a (university) degree /
graduate from university

start / run your

have a career own business
in journalism / join a company /
Education get a job the army
teaching

Work do charity
work

work
get a professional retire
do a master’s abroad
degree qualification from a
vocational college get promoted work as a pilot /
an engineer
C Dreams and ambitions
start a climb a walk across
win a cup / mountain a continent /
fashion blog a medal a desert

win a prize /
an award Sport

write your Culture become / be

memoirs and a celebrity play for Arsenal
media compete in /
write a take part in
record an bestseller the Olympics
album
appear in a music
video / a magazine / run a marathon /
on a TV talk show a 100 metre race

stay in a five-star hotel / a youth hostel /

a seaside resort / a ski resort

meet foreign
Travel people /
live / stay with a learn a foreign
language spend a foreigners
host family
holiday in …

fly / drive /
travel to ...
Present perfect simple with ever and never
Present perfect simple vs past simple

A P
 resent perfect simple with ever and never Have you ever
been on a
• Usamos el present perfect para hablar de experiencias en cruise?
sentido general.
Have you been to China? (in your life)
I’ve been to Vietnam and Thailand, but I haven’t been to China.
(I still remember Vietnam and Thailand.) No, I
haven’t…
Has your sister seen the latest Angelina Jolie film? (at any time and I don’t
up to now) want to!
Yes, she has. She’s seen it twice.

• Formamos el present perfect con have / has y el participio del

verbo.

AFFIRMATIVE NEGATIVE
have not
I /You / We / They have (‘ve) I / You / We / They (haven’t)
visited Paris. visited Paris.
has not
He / She / It has (’s) He / She / It (hasn’t)

QUESTIONS
Yes, have.
Have I / you / we / they I / you / we / they
No, haven’t.
visited Paris?
Yes, has.
Has he / she / it he / she / it
No, hasn’t.

• La mayoría de verbos forman el participio añadiendo -ed. Los verbos irregulares tienen formas de
participio diferentes. (Véase lista de participios irregulares en pág. 152 del Libro del Alumno 3.)
Juliet has travelled to many places but she has never flown in a plane.
• A menudo usamos los adverbios ever y never cuando usamos el present perfect simple para
hablar de experiencias. Usamos ever en preguntas y never para hablar de lo que no hemos
hecho. Observa que esos adverbios van delante del verbo principal.
Have you ever eaten snake? - No, I haven’t. I’ve eaten snails but I’ve never eaten snake.
Has Mike ever danced samba? - No, he hasn’t. He’s danced merengue but he’s never danced
samba.
• Ten cuidado con been y gone.
Have you ever been to the United States? (experiencia: ahora no estás en EE.UU.)
They’ve gone to work in the USA. (resultado presente: están allí ahora y no han regresado aún)

B Present perfect simple vs past simple

• Usamos el present perfect simple para hablar de experiencias en general, pero usamos el past
simple para preguntar y hablar sobre un momento concreto.
Has she ever been to Japan? - Yes, she has.
When did she go? - She went there last year.
Joanne has lived in three different cities in Spain. She moved to Madrid last month.

2
 Exercises

1  orma expresiones con los elementos de cada recuadro para completar las frases. Utiliza
F
los verbos en la forma adecuada.

1 buy 5 get a a bigger house / the suburbs e friends

2 start 6 fall b children f abroad / on a farm
3 move to 7 live c a family g in love
d your own house / flat h married / divorced
4 bring up 8 make

1 We got tired of living in the city. We’re ......................... now. We love it.
2 I knew as soon as I saw her that I was going to ......................... .
3 The marriage didn’t work out so they ......................... last year.
4 The bank gave Jake and Pam a mortgage so now they’re ......................... .
5 People are very friendly here. We’re going to lots of parties and ......................... all the time.
6 ......................... can be very tiring - it’s nice when they grow up.
7 The Joneses are selling their house. They’re ......................... in the suburbs.
8 Kate and Don moved to the country because they want to ......................... . They think it will be
better for the children.
2 Estas personas están muy orgullosas de sus logros. Escribe lo que han conseguido.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Jemima Paul & Haley Louise Joanne Jo & Adele Richard Grace The Ravers

Example: Jemima has won an Oscar. 4 Jo and Adele ..........................................................

1 Paul and Haley ................................................. 5 Richard ...................................................................
2 Louise ............................................................... 6 Grace ......................................................................
3 Joanne.............................................................. 7 The Ravers .............................................................
3 C
 ompleta el texto con la forma correcta de los verbos del recuadro.
compete take meet join win get start graduate leave

I started running seriously when I was at university. I (1) ............. part in a lot of races and (2) .............
quite a few medals. After I (3) ............., I continued to (4) ............. in local events. Unfortunately, I
got injured and had to stop. I (5) ............. a sports company and (6) ............. promoted after a year.
However, I wanted to (7) ............. my own business so I (8) ............. the company. That was a big year
for me because I (9) ............. my future wife then too!
4 Relaciona los personajes con sus logros y escribe frases con los verbos adecuados.

1 J. K. Rowling 4 Usain Bolt a Apple Computer d Real Madrid

2 Alfredo di Stefano 5 The Beatles b Hey Jude in 1968 e Harry Potter
3 Steve Jobs 6 Charles Lindberg c the Atlantic in 1927 f the London Olympics

Example: J. K. Rowling wrote Harry Potter.

1 Alfredo di Stefano ..................................................................................................................................
2 Steve Jobs ..............................................................................................................................................
3 Usain Bolt ...............................................................................................................................................
4 The Beatles .............................................................................................................................................
5 Charles Lindenberg ................................................................................................................................
Exercises

1 R
 elaciona los verbos y las expresiones y escribe frases sobre la vida de Bear Grylls con el
present perfect simple.

climb go have dinner many books (�) in Japan (�) into space (�)
eat write sail on TV many times (�) Mount Everest (�) snake (�)
appear live with the Queen (�) round the world alone (�)

Example: He has climbed Mount Everest. He has never had dinner with the Queen.
1 ............................................................. 4 ..............................................................
2 ............................................................. 5 ..............................................................
3 ............................................................. 6 ..............................................................
2 Observa las ilustraciones y escribe preguntas con Have you ever…? y los verbos dados.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

break drive eat fly go go skiing meet play ride

Example: Have you ever been to Paris?
1 ................................................................................... 5 ...........................................................................
2 ................................................................................... 6 ...........................................................................
3 ................................................................................... 7 ...........................................................................
4 ................................................................................... 8 ...........................................................................
3  ompleta las frases con el past simple o el present perfect simple de los verbos entre
C
paréntesis.
1M y girlfriend is a travel agent. She ............... (visit) many different countries.
2 Last year she ............... (go) to South Africa for the first time.
3 ............... you ever ............... (see) a film with Marlon Brando?
4 Yes, I ............... (watch) The Godfather four times when I was young. It’s fantastic!
5 My wife’s a really good tennis player but I ............... (never play.) I’m not very sporty.
6 We usually see Jim and his wife at the pub on Saturdays but last week they .............. (not come).
7 She’s a teacher now but she ............... (work) as an interpreter for many years.
8 He ............... (write) lots of books. Last year he ............... (win) an important prize.
4  ee las siguientes entradas del diario de Pearl y responde las preguntas del entrevistador.
L
En caso de respuesta positiva, añade la información adicional.
June 21: Flew to Paris today. Had snails and a delicious steak in the Tour d’Argent.
July 10:  Went to the premiere of the latest James Bond film. Met Daniel Craig.
He’s gorgeous!
November 27: Disaster! I was skiing in Switzerland yesterday and fell and broke
my arm! Oh no!
December 12: My Rolls Royce has broken down so I can’t go shopping. I
can’t walk and I never take public transport! I never have.
I hate it!
Example: Have you ever eaten paella? Yes, I have. I ate it last year in Valencia.
Interviewer: Hello, Pearl. It’s lovely to talk to you. Pearl: Hello.
Int: Now, Pearl, can you tell our readers…
Have you ever visited a foreign country? P: ..........................................................
Int: And have you ever met a famous person? P: ..........................................................
Int: Have you ever eaten a wonderful meal? P: ..........................................................
Int: Have you ever had an accident? P: ..........................................................
 Answer Key

VOCABULARY GRAMMAR

Personal biography and life Present perfect with ever and never
achievements / Present perfect simple vs past
simple
Exercise 1
1d 2c 3a 4b 5h 6g 7f 8e Exercise 1
1 He has eaten snake. 2 He has appeared on TV
1 living on a farm 2 fall in love 3 got divorced many times. 3 He has never been into space.
4 buying their own house / flat 5 making friends 4 He has written many books. 5 He has never lived
6 Bringing up children 7 moving to a bigger in Japan. 6 He has never sailed round the world
house 8 start a family alone.

Exercise 2 Exercise 2
1 have run a marathon 2 has won a medal 1 Have you ever played basketball? 2 Have
3 has written a bestseller 4 have walked across the you ever eaten snake? 3 Have you ever flown a
desert 5 has done charity work 6 has climbed a helicopter? 4 Have you ever met a celebrity?
mountain / Everest 7 have recorded an album 5 Have you ever ridden a horse? 6 Have you
ever been skiing? 7 Have you ever driven a
Exercise 3 Ferrari? 8 Have you ever broken your arm?
1 took 2 won 3 graduated 4 compete 5 joined
6 got 7 start 8 left 9 met Exercise 3
1 has visited
Exercise 4 2 went
2d 3a 4f 5b 6c 3 have, seen
4 watched
1 (...) played for Real Madrid 5 have never played
2 (...) started Apple Computer 6 didn’t come
3 (...) competed at the London Olympics 7 worked
4 (...) wrote Hey Jude in 1968 8 has written, won
5 (...) flew across the Atlantic in 1927
Exercise 4
1 Yes, I have. I visited France and Switzerland last
year. / Yes, I have. I went to France in June and to
Switzerland in November last year.
2 Yes, I have. I met Daniel Craig at a film
premiere.
3 Yes, I have. I had snails and a delicious steak in
Paris in June.
4 Yes, I have. I broke my arm skiing in November.
5 No, I haven’t. I hate it!