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Y O R K

A C T I V I T I E S

I. Instructions: Read the following questions and answer them carefully. You can consult some Webpages to answer the second question.

1. Do you like to read poems in English? Why or why not?

2. What do you know about the American poet Deborah Garrison?

Answers: 1. Answers will vary. 2. Answer can be found at http://www.pbs.org/wnet/foolingwithwords/main_biogarrison.html

II. Instructions: Listen to the poem Goodbye, New York by Deborah Garrison at http://vimeo.com/3214864 (minutes 00:01 to 01:28), and complete the missing sentences in the poem.

You were the big fat city we called __________ You were the lyrics I _________ but never wrote down You were the _________ graves by the highway in Queens the bodega where I __________ black beans stacks of the Times we _________ read nights we _________ went to bed the radio jazz, the ___________ cart the dogs off their leashes in Tompkins Square Park You were the tiny brass mailbox key the __________ of "us" and the _________ of "me" You the balcony bar in Grand Central Station the blunt ___________and their ___________ the post-wedding ___________ at 4 A.M. and the pregnant waitress we never _________ again You were the pickles, you were the jar You were the prizefight we ___________ in a bar the sloppy kiss in the ___________ at Nell's the occasional __________that the fortune cookie tells

Now, read the complete poem at http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/index.php?date=2007/02/06, and check your answers.

III. Instructions: Look at the following list of words taken from Goodbye, New York and write a synonym next to each of them.

Blintz=_____________ Blunt=_____________ Buzzer=____________ Leash=_____________ Lively=_____________ Sloppy=____________ Stack=______________ Tenement=__________

Possible answers: blintz=pancake, blunt=dull, buzzer=whistle, leash=chain, lively=energetic, sloppy=wet, stack=pile, tenement=apartment

IV. Instructions: Complete the sentences below with the verb to be and one of the following verbs in the correct tense: not fail, not allow, steal, like, not notice, not buy, pass, crash. Write negative sentences where necessary.

1. We __________ happy because they__________ the movie. 2. Although I ________ worried, he____________________it. 3. As my brother__________ their car, my parents __________very angry. 4. If you _________________ more responsible, you ____________________ the course. 5. They __________ careful, so nobody___________their money. 6. She _____________the car because it ____________ affordable for her. 7. She ___________ on time, so the teacher ________________ her to enter the room. 8. As the exam _________ easy, everybody ____________ it.

Answers: 1. wereliked 2. wasdidnt notice 3.crashedwere 4.had beenwouldnt have failed 5. werestole 6.didnt buywasnt 7.wasntdidnt allow 8.waspassed.

V. Instructions: write a composition (120-150 words) about your childhood days in your hometown.

VRL June 2012