English Practical Work

A. Read the email and complete. Use Present Simple, Continuous or Past Simple.
From: jim.anderson@gmail.com

To: kevin.mills@gmail.com

Date: Wednesday, 10th July

Hi, Kev!
I’m on Anakena beach, in Easter Island in the South Pacific! It’s awesome. Every day I
________(take) photos of the Island and ________ (talk) to the local people. Right now I
_____________(write) an article for my travel blog about how they ________ (make) the
famous statues_the moai. They’re really mysterious, they’re made of a type of stone that
____________ (not exist) on Anakena beach, they _________ (not be) originally here,
they built them in a different place and then __________(move) them 11 miles to the
beach with a system of ropes.
Next Friday I__________________ (fly) to Peru. I_________________(visit) Machu
Picchu and I ____________________(take) photographs of the Nazca Lines, two other
fascinating mysteries for me.
I’m telling you more in my next email. That’s all by now.

B. Read the second email and answer T (=true) or F (=false). Correct the false sentences.

From: jim.anderson@gmail.com

To: kevin.mills@gmail.com

Date: Wednesday, 22nd July

Hi, Kev!
I’m writing from Peru. I was in Machu Picchu three days ago. It’s a fascinating place. You
know it’s s on a hill with difficult access so, that’s why some experts also think it was for
military defense to control potential rebellions; other historians say it was also an
astronomical observatory. There are a lot of enigmas about it: who built it, when and why
they constructed it, why the Spanish conquerors had no idea of its existence, why they
didn’t destroy it and why the Incas abandoned it.
Now I’m in Nazca. Yesterday I flew over the Nazca Lines and saw the figures of more than
70 animals, plants and a human and what’s incredible is that they’re all made with one
continuous line. You can’t see them from the ground because they’re really big, the largest
ones are over 200 metres across. It’s really surprising that someone made these figures in
a desert. Nobody knows who made them, how or why and what they mean. But what’s
more amazing is that they’re perfectly preserved and natural erosion never affected them.
Maybe the strangest theory is by the writer Erich Von Daniken who wrote the bestseller
Chariots of the Gods in 1968 and suggested that aliens contacted the Incas and created
the drawings using some kind of advanced technology. Not many people took his
eccentric ideas seriously but thousands of people visited the Lines after his book. I don’t
think that’s so weird, because if you stop to think about it, what about the crop circles in
England and other countries ? No one really knows how they were made; and what about
the Pyramids in Egypt? How did they lift all the stones? And how did they cut them so
perfectly? The Egyptians didn’t have any machines at that time to do that.
I’ve got so much information about Machu Picchu and the Nazca Lines that I can’ t wait to
write more articles so I’m uploading them with all the photos to my blog next weekend. I
 know many people are waiting to read more about my journeys. I’m flying back home next
Monday.
See you soon!
1. Jim is planning to write a series of articles for a travel company about some
enigmatic places he travelled to.
2. He was in two different famous places in Peru with mystery around them.
3. He walked in the desert to see and take photos of the Nazca Lines.
4. The author of a bestseller thought the lines were the creation of an advanced
civilization from another planet but Jim doesn’t believe in that strange theory.
5. Jim is planning to publish more blog posts about his journeys to mysterious places
for his followers.

C. Complete the conversation between Jim and a friend. Use Present Simple, Continuous or
Past Simple.

Katie: Hi, Jim, how are you? I’m meeting some friends after class. Would you like to come?
Jim: Hi, Katie, I’m fine. Thanks but I can’t, I’m in South America.
Katie: South America! ________________________________________________?
Jim: I’m visiting some incredible places to get material for my travel blog.
Katie: That’s great! ___________________________________________?
Jim: I travelled to Chile. I was in Easter Island and saw the moai.
Katie: Those statues are really impressive. ________________________________?
Jim: Yes! Thousands of tourists go there from different countries every week and everybody
goes to see them.
Katie: _____________________________________________________?
Jim: Well, I also saw the Nazca Lines here in Peru.
Katie: I feel intrigued. _________________________________________________?
Jim: I’m posting more articles with all the photos next weekend.
Katie: Cool! Now you have one more follower for your blog.
Jim: Thanks Katie, you’re so nice.

D. Choose one of these options and write (70-100 words). Include this information: where
you are, how you travelled, what you did when you arrived , the activities you usually do
there, what you are doing now and your plans for the rest of the holiday .
1. An email to your family about a good holiday trip in another country.
2. An email to a friend about a bad weekend you are spending as a holiday trip.
3. A blog post about an adventure journey.