LIFE ENGLISH UNIT 3

THE LEGEND OF THE RAINBOW

(1) A long time ago in Kenya, the god of thunder, Mkunga Mburu, travelled
across the sky on a big black bull. In his hands he held spears which he
used to pierce the clouds and make it rain. The people of Kenya were
happy; their crops were growing and they had a lot of food to eat.

(2) One time, Mkunga didn’t visit Kenya for many months. The rain didn’t
fall, so the ground dried up and the crops didn’t grow. The people of
Kenya were worried. They looked up at the sky and shouted, “Mkunga Mburu, bring us rain!” But the rain
didn’t fall. After two days, the people began to beg, “Please, Mkunga Mburu, hear our call !” Suddenly,
Mkunga appeared in the sky. Behind him the people could see dark clouds of rain.

(3) It rained for two weeks. There was so much rain that it destroyed the crops.
The people became anxious and asked Mkunga to stop the rain. “Thank you,
Mkunga, but that is enough!” They shouted. Mkunga heard them. He left as
quickly as he could, taking the dark clouds with him.

(4) Whike Mkunga was riding away, the sun came out and beautiful colours lit up the sky. “Look!” cried the
people, “Mkunga dropped his robe!” And even to this day, when you look up at sky after rains, you can
sometimes see his robe: a beautiful rainbow of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet.

Exercise 1: Read the text and for questions 1-5 choose the best answer (A, B or C).

1 Mkunga Mburu travelled on …

A an animal. B a cloud. C a spear

2 After the Kenyan people called out to Mkunga, he sent them …

A clear skies. B crops. C clouds of rain.

3 The heavy rain made the people feel …

A happy. B angry. C worried.

4 As he was leaving, Mkunga …

A let go of his robe B put on his robe. C pierced his robe.

Exercise 2: Read the text again. Answer the questions.

1 What did Mkunga use his spears for?

_________________________________________________.

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 2 What happened when there was no rain in Kenya?
_________________________________________________.
3 How is the rainbow related to Mkunga?
_________________________________________________.

Exercise 3: Complete the sentences using;

-pierce -grow -fall -dry up -beg -destroy -light up -drop

1 People began to _____________ the god to bring rain.

2 What crops _____________ in your country?
3 Ann wanted to _____________ her ears and wear earrings.
4 We saw a big flash of lightning _____________ the sky.
5 Heavy rain can _____________ plants.
6 Does a lot of snow _____________ in this area in winter?
7 In the long hot summers, many lakes and rivers _____________.
8 This box is heavy. Be careful you don’t _____________ it.

Exercise 4: Match the words in bold in the text to their opposites.

1 In front of __________ 6 Take away __________

2 Sad __________ 7 Start __________
3 Relaxed __________ 8 Slowly __________
4 Rise __________ 9 Hid __________
5 Created __________ 10 Ugly __________

Exercise 5: Look at the highlighted words in the text. What does each refer to?

1 His  __________
2 Their  __________
3 Us  __________
4 It  __________
5 That  __________

Exercise 6: Label the pictures with the words :

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 -fog -drought -hail -frost -flood -lightning

Exercise 7: Choose the correct preposition.

1 We were all suprised at/of the news.

2 Lisa was frightened of/with the lightning.
3 We were tired from/of the rainy weather.
4 They were relieved about/in the news.
5 They were satisfied with/in the service

Exercise 8: Fill in the missing gaps using:

-showers -thunder -lightning -snowfall -flood -sunshine -drizzle -raindrops

1 Dark clouds were hanging in the sky and a light __________ was falling.
2 A flash of __________ lit up the dark sky.
3 Because of the __________ the streets of the village were under water.
4 A loud rumble of __________ woke us up last night.
5 Some __________ fell on her head, so she went back inside to get her umbrella.
6 Let’s enjoy the __________ and go for a walk in the park.
7 Heavy __________ blocked the roads, so they closed the schools.
8 We took our umbrellas with us because we expected heavy __________ in the afternoon.

Exercise 9: Choose the correct item.

1 There’s a clear/clean sky tonight and you can see the

stars.
2 The strong/heavy winds blew down several trees in the
park.
3 It was a hot day, but a nice chilly/cool breeze was blowing
in from the sea.
4 Let’s go for a picnic – it’s a bright/light sunny day.
5 Everyone should stay indoors – there’s a violent/hard
storm coming

Exercise 10: Pay attention to PREFIXES and SUFFIXES.

1 ____________ 2 _____________ 3 ____________ 4 _____________ 5 ___________ 6 __________

PREFIXES

RE- again
UN- not
NON- not
HALF- 50% of something

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SUFFIXES

-ER makes nouns

-LESS makes adjectives
-NESS makes nouns
-LY makes adverbs

Exercises 11: Phrasal verbs: Fill in using;

-on -out -up -around -together

Hi everyone! At the weekend, I like to hang 1) _________ with my friends. On Saturday afternoon, we like to
look 2) _________ the shops. In the evenings, we usually go bowling. We often set 3) _________
competitions. We get 4) _________ and put 5) _________ matching clothes so that we look like a real time.
It’s a lot of fun. What do you do at the weekend.

-MINA

PAST CONTINUOUS TENSE

The past continuous (also called past progressive) is a verb tense which is used to show that an ongoing past
action was happening at a specific moment of interruption, or that two ongoing actions were happening at the
same time.

Affirmative I/He/She/It was talking. We/You/They were talking

Negative I/He/She/It wasn’t talking. We/You/They weren’t talking

Interrogative Was I/He/She/It talking. Were We/You/They were talking

Yes, I/He/She/It was. Yes, We/You/They were.

Short Answers
No, I/He/She/It wasn’t. No, We/You/They weren’t.

We use the past continuous to talk about the past:

 for something which happened before and after another action:

 The children  were doing  their homework  when  I  got  home.

Compare: The children  did  their homework when  (= after)  I  got  home.

This use of the past continuous is very common at the beginning of a story:

 The other day  I was waiting  for a bus when …

Last week,  as  I was driving  to work, … 

 for something that happened before and after a specific time:

 It was  eight o'clock. I  was writing  a letter.

Compare: At eight o'clock I wrote (= started writing) some letters.

 to show that something continued for some time:

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  My head  was aching.
Everyone  was shouting.

 for something that happened again and again:

 I  was practising  every day, three times a day.
They  were meeting  secretly after school.

 with verbs which show change or growth:

 The children  were growing up  quickly.

Exercise 12: Look at a page from Sandra’s diary listing the things she did yesterday. Write sentences
saying what Sandra was doing at the times mentioned below.

8:30 – 8:45 pick John up

10:30 – 11:00 call the London Office

1:00 – 2:00 order lunch

4:30 – 5:00 buy groceries

5:00 – 5:30 meet Alexander at shopping centre

6:30 – 7:00 have dinner at Luigis’s Restaurant

1 Sandra ______________________ at 8:40.

2 Sandra ______________________ at 10:50.
3 Sandra ______________________ at 1:30.
4 Sandra ______________________ at 4:40.
5 Sandra ______________________ at 5:20.
6 Sandra ______________________ at 6:50.

Exercise 13: What were they doing at 5 o’clock yesterday? Write sentences in the past continuous.

1 Children/paint.

__________________________________________________.

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 2 Erica/read a book.
__________________________________________________.

3 Brian /wait for the bus.

__________________________________________________.

4 Sophie/surf the Net.

5 Mark/cycle to work.
________________________________________________.

__________________________________________________.

Exercise 14: Fill in with the past continuous.

On Sunday, my friends and I decided to go to the park for a picnic. The

sun 1) …………………………… (shine) and a light breeze 2) ……………………………
(blow). There were other people in the park. Some teenagers 3)
…………………………… (play) football and
a dog 4) …………………………… (run)
after the ball. A young father 5)
…………………………… (push) his
daughter on the swing while his son 6) ……………………… (climb) on the jungle
frame. I was a really nice day

Yesterday afternoon, Mike and Andy met their friends at the funfair.
When they arrived, Amber 1) …………………………… (ride) the roller-coaster and Kate 2)

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…………………………… (try) to win something at the fishing game. Bill 3)…………………………… (eat) a burger and Susie
4) …………………………… (enjoy) some candy floss. Jerry was also there. He 5) ……………………………
(test) his strength at the strongman game. All of them 6) …………………………… (have) a lot of fun.

Exercise 15: Choose the correct item.

1 Some types of trees … their leaves in winter.

A lost B are losing C lose

2 Chris had a part-time job while he … for his degree

A is studying B was studying C used to study

3 This service … at the next station.

A terminated B terminates C is terminating

4 I … for the bus when it started to rain.

A was waiting B am waiting C wait

5 The wind was so strong last night that it … that tree down.
A was knocking B knocked C used to knock

6 They … on their holidays tomorrow morning.

A are going B were going C went

7 I … a cat when I was child but now I live in a building that doesn’t allow pets.
A was having B am having C used to have

8 The bad weather … a traffic jam three kilometres long last night.
A was causing B is causing C caused

ADJECTIVES
An adjective is a describing word. It tells us something more about a noun.
Examples: rainy day, fertile land, this girl, those apples, five fingers, many questions, last question,
whose house
Adjectives are classified into:

 Adjectives of quality describe the noun, that is, they tell us about the quality of the person, place or
thing to which we are referring.
▪ Such adjectives can be formed in the following ways: from nouns—

gold—golden, power—powerful, dirt—dirty from verbs—

use—useful, talk—talkative, please—pleasant from other adjectives—

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 just—justifiable, red—reddish

 Adjectives of quantity refer to the quantity (how much) of

something. They are not countable. Some such adjectives are
some, much, little, enough.
▪ There is very little sugar in my tea.
I think there is enough time to finish the assignment.

 Adjectives of number refer to how many things, places, people, etc there are, or the order of
something. Some such adjectives are first, second, ten, one, many.
▪ She came first in the race.
Several books were stolen from the library.

[ Sometimes the same adjective may be treated both as an adjective of quantity and as an adjective of
number, that is, it is used to qualify both countable and uncountable nouns. ]

▪ I ate some food.

Some children are playing in the park.

 Demonstrative adjectives indicate the noun, that is, they point out the person, place or thing to which
we are referring. They answer to the question ‘which’. Some such adjectives are this, that, these, those.
▪ These are the clothes I was looking for.
Those are my books.

 Interrogative adjectives are used before a noun when we want to ask a question about that noun. Some
such adjectives are what, which, whose.
▪ Which books do you want?
▪ Whose coat is this?