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Grammar
Put the verbs in brackets in the correct tense: Present Perfect Simple or Present Perfect Continous. You should be able to find the correct answers to the questions in the exercise. Make sure to use the correct punctuation. If you are writing complete sentences, end them, depending on the context, with a full stop, question mark or exclamation mark.

It is one of the best movies I (ever)

(ever see)

. to the supermarket. ?

Do you know where Danny is? I guess he Your are wet and look terrible. What (you) How long (you)
(w ash up)

(go)

(do)

? anything wrong!

I'm innocent. I (not) I

(meet)

(do)

him a couple of times. He's that guy who runs a small restaurant near the city centre.
(act)

You (not) I (not) (you) (you) Donna I

(know ) (be)

in a friendly way towards me recently, have you? out with my friends for a long time now. his house? Chris? He
(behave)

already (searc

(see)

really strangely in the last couple of days.

(feel)

quite depressed recently so maybe she'll allow herself a couple of days off. Moria McGee since we met at primary school 16 years ago.
(w ork)

Just look how tired I am. I She

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(talk)

all morning and I'm just done in.

about an old lady who is a terrible gossip.

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Choose the correct tense for the words in the gaps: Past Perfect, Past Perfect Continous, Present Perfect, Present Perfect Continous, or Simple Past. You should be able to find the correct answers to the questions in the exercise. Make sure to use the correct punctuation. If you are writing complete sentences, end them, depending on the context, with a full stop, question mark or exclamation mark.

read

the instructions but I

ring

not fully under

them.
realize

Klaus

up 4 times that morning before he you ever

fall

it was useless.

off a horse? at home since she

learn be

He says that his sister How long Bob

live

help

a child really.

you

Russian?
be

in this village ever since he

meet

born. a vet for 5 years, i.e. since he

graduate

When I university.

him last time he

be

from

Rahni was 12 when I and he

live

meet

him for the first time. His parents

die

3 years before

on the street ever since.

w ork

It was now 8 p.m. Brian felt tired because he My father

not w ant

since 8 in the morning.

to go until he

talk

to his boss.
manage

Yesterday Frank worked all day. By lunchtime he My room

not clean

to complete the data sheet.

for months. I just don't have time for it.

see

The forest seemed dangerous. I talked to the local people and they it. Henry He
go attend

many predators in

a course in computer graphic designing. It's at the university. there twice a week for the last 3 months.
not have

Can have a cup of coffee? I

anything to drink since early morning tea.

Put the correct word, "since", "for", "yet", "already", "just", "before", in the gaps. You should be able to find the correct answers to the questions in the exercise. Make sure to use the correct punctuation. If you are writing complete sentences, end them, depending on the context, with a full stop, question mark or exclamation mark.

Nobody started drinking We have known the Stanco family Stanley had The police have I've

all the people invited had arrived. we moved to Warsaw, 3 years ago.

printed all his letters when Tricia arrived home. this minute left the building. managed to finish this painting so I think it isn't dry .

After I had been watching the film Has Frederick done the washing up Is it possible that they have been stealing

half an hour, I decided to turn it off. ? 2000? .

Bobby has not graduated from the University of Economics A lot of effort has I haven't worn a cap Ron has been digging the pitch I have been driving this VW I've How long is it She's been put into this advertising campaign. I was a youngster. 10 in the morning. 12 years now.

noticed Polly going home. you last went to the gym? visited Scotland at least 10 times this year alone. more than 2 months.

Nobody has spoken to her

When we arrived, there had Have you found the solution It's been 4 years
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been dozens of others. ? our last competition.

Grammar
Complete the questions asking for the underlined information. You should be able to find the correct answers to the questions in the exercise. Make sure to use the correct punctuation. If you are writing complete sentences, end them, depending on the context, with a full stop, question mark or exclamation mark.

Example I have never been abroad. Have you ever been abroad? Polly has never forgotten her 20th birthday! What ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

He's written many novels 2 of which have become bestsellers. How many Norah gained a lot of weight because she had been overeating recently. When Rohan, who's been sitting motionless for an hour, is a philosopher. How long Before Helen realized, she'd already fallen in love with Mike. What Bobby and I have finally settled into our new flat in Birmingham. Where Mr. Jaba had been preparing the restaurant's fantastic menus for two years. Who It has been 10 years since we kept a pet at home. How long ?

Suddenly, my bike broke down. I was surprised. It had not let me down for a long time. What ? ?

Tony has bought a gun from his cousin. Who

Clive was very tired. He had been running for 4 hours to keep fit. Why That shop has been there since 1976. Since when He has been the chairman for more than 6 years now. Who Carole had been in Japan before she got married to Miles. Where I've been trying to get back to you all day. How long
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? ? ? ?

Use of English
Write the word for each definition. The first letter has been given for you. You should be able to find the correct answers to the questions in the exercise. Make sure to use the correct punctuation. If you are writing complete sentences, end them, depending on the context, with a full stop, question mark or exclamation mark.

Example An institution for teaching persons under college age - s... - school Attractive, good-looking, nice-looking. h...

With slight curves, especially about hair. w ...

A small hollow place on your skin, often one that appears on your face when you smile. d...

To change the colour of something from natural to artificial. d...

Willing to help. h...

Wanting to be successful or powerful. a...

Making decisions quickly and easily. d...

A feeling, belief, or opinion felt in a very deep and serious way. s...

When the upper part of your body is bent forwards, especially of older people. s...

The parts of one's face that you notice when you look at them. f...

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Higher intermediate - Reading - Unit 1

Welcome to the Cosgrove family's home. All the family are sitting in the living room, looking exhausted. But they're not lazy. They've all been working hard so now they're taking a rest. Samantha has been doing her homework. Samantha is the youngest in the family (fourteen). She has short, blond hair parted on one side. She wears clip-on plastic earrings (she is not allowed to have her ears pierced) although she isn't wearing them at the moment. She works hard but she has a quick temper. When she argues with her mother, it's a good idea not to be in the same room! Samantha's been studying trigonometry. Her maths teacher introduced the subject a month ago and Samantha has been doing dozens of exercises since then. She has been getting good marks each week but she hasn't received a piece of homework with '100 percent' from her teacher written on it since last year. Brian has been delivering newspapers to earn some extra pocket money. Brian is sixteen. He has a crew cut because it is fashionable at the moment (last year long hair was more fashionable, but this was not allowed in his school except for girls). Brian is moody at times and friendly at others. He prefers being alone to being in other people's company, but he isn't unsociable. Brian can overdo things sometimes. His paper round would take most people two hours to complete but he likes to set himself targets to finish it earlier. He has been trying to deliver his papers faster and faster for the last five months. He has just broken his personal record by finishing it in one hour and six minutes. As you can imagine, he's very tired now! Harry has been repairing his bicycle. Harry's eighteen and energetic. He likes to get a lot of exercise. He's a bit annoyed because he wanted to go cycling but his bike wasn't working properly. He's been spending the last couple of hours adjusting things, taking the bike apart and putting it back together. He knows exactly what to do because he has learned over the years from his father. At the bike shop there is special machinery to do the things Harry has been doing. Harry is strong enough to do these things by hand. It's tiring though. Sandy, their mother, has been shopping in the rain, which is why she's now wearing a towel round her head to dry her hair. Sandy is forty-five and quite nosy. She is also quick-tempered like Samantha. Although this can annoy the others, she is also a generous person. She has long, dark hair and she still wears the sort of clothes that she wore as a teenager. She thinks this makes her look younger, but her children just find it embarrassing!

Colin, their father, has been trying to get the car to start (which is why his wife has been shopping in the rain on foot). Colin is forty-six and wears spectacles. He's an old-fashioned person and quite the opposite of his wife in appearance. He usually wears an old pullover with leather elbow patches. He has a good sense of humour, even when the joke is on him (which it often is with three teenage children). He can be a bit miserly he has been trying to save money recently by doing repair jobs in the house himself rather than paying for a professional. Now they just want to collapse on the sofa and rest. Meanwhile, there's a 'drip-drip-drip' sound coming from the upstairs bathroom. It's been making that sound for the last few hours. Mr Cosgrove hasn't investigated it yet.

Reading
True or false?

Samantha's doing her homework.

Brian likes to be fashionable.

Brian can work very hard.

Harry is good at doing things with his hands.

Sandy likes giving to other people.

The children often make jokes about their father.

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Choose the correct answer. Why have some of the soldiers been wearing such uncomfortable suits?

Why are they so tired?

Which of these have the newcomers been learning?

Why has alcohol been a problem recently?

What can the new recruits now do with a gun?

What is Harry looking forward to most?

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Higher intermediate - Speaking - Unit 1

Describing a person
External appearance

appearance features

Height

tall short medium height

Build

thin fat stocky well-built wiry slim

Age

young old middle-aged

Looks

good-looking handsome ugly attractive beautiful unattractive pretty smart

Hair

long / short blonde (fair) / brown / dark wavy / straight / curly ponytail / afro wear (your) hair in a bun natural / dyed bald / high forehead

Face

oval / square / long clean shaved / bearded freckled moustache wrinkled dimples eyelashes

In my opinion, the ideal man is tall and good-looking. The woman is (of) medium height and beautiful.

She should be about 20 / 25 / 30 years old. She should weigh about 100 / 120 pounds (50 / 60 kilos). Character

sociable / friendly / unfriendly pleasant / unpleasant optimistic / pessimistic helpful / egoist funny / interesting / boring sensitive / insensitive sensible / stupid ambitious / lazy confident / shy easy-going / strict intelligent (bright) / stupid talkative / quiet generous / tight-fisted grave / silly inquisitive (nosy) / discreet a blabbermouth / a gossip / discreet fragile / strong imaginative / creative / unimaginative decisive / indecisive

Example phrases What's he like? How is he / she when you get closer to him / her? He's very nice and generous. She turns out to be very sensitive and fragile. I don't really like him. He's so nosy. What's he / she like when you get to know him / her?

She's a terrible blabbermouth. I love her for her discretion. She's a very quiet and shy sort / type of personality. What are your strengths and weaknesses? What does he / she / it look like? What do they / you look like? Could you describe him / them? What did his / her / their face / faces look like? What's the colour of your eyes? He was medium height, about 5 feet / 5 foot 5 inches. She was stooping a bit and she was limping. He looked forty-ish / thirty-ish. He looked forty- / twenty-something. He was in his early twenties / late forties etc. She's got the appearance of a top model. He looked like he was in his forties / thirties. We can say "He's five feet five inches" or "He's five foot five inches". What I love about her is her discretion.

Example dialogues
I'd like you to tell me something more about her. What does she look like? Oh, she's very beautiful. Tall and slim with very long legs and gorgeous, long fair hair. And her face? She's got an oval face, very regular features, and deep brown eyes behind long eyelashes. And her smile... What's she like? She's very intelligent and a real optimist. I love talking to her especially about religion and life. She's seems to know everything! Do you only talk about religion? No. She loves telling jokes, although I know she'd never laugh at anyone. She's just the type of person that's so sensitive... What does she do?

 She a journalist. She works for one of the biggest newspapers "The Herald Tribune". Wow. You must introduce me to her one day. How about tomorrow? Frank's throwing a party. Do you want to come? Sure thing. What time? Tomorrow at 6 p.m. at my place. See you then. Bye.

Choose the most suitable word for each gap.

Pisces Romantic Pisces, you are the twelfth and last sign of the zodiac. You are regarded as the sign of because the emotions and feeling of other people are so easily sensed by you. Your ruler planet is Neptune, the planet of confusion and chaos. Neptune is also the planet of imagination and illusion. Pisces is the third of the three water signs, which means that your world is the world of emotion and feeling. Your life is about sensitivity, intuition, and deeper psychic aspects of life. You can communicate telepathically. Your Pisces, lies in your altruistic and need to help people and try to understand their feelings. You're and , dear nature, because you feel that you , which shows in everyday , which shows in are that you can be shy

readiness to bring help to those who need it. You're your artistic predispositions. Your main and

. Many times, you prefer to escape reality and cannot make up , easily hurt by other

your mind. At the same time, you can be people, feeling weak inside.
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Higher intermediate - Writing - Unit 1

Describing people
Every description of a person consists of:
Introduction, where you give information about where, when and who you met Expansion, where you describe physical appearance, personality, and interests. Conclusion, general commentary of a personal nature.

Introduction Robert has been my friend for 6 months now. I met him first when I was in London, at the "Friends" youth hostel. I just didn't have anyone to go out for a beer with me, so I started to talk to him and we finally decided to go together. I first met Fiona when I came to my new school in Plymouth about 4 years ago. We just moved to Plymouth and my mom had decided that I would attend this school. The teacher told me to sit at her desk so I did and we became friends. Expansion Descriptions of appearance Brian is quite handsome. He's tall and slim, with short, spiky, dark hair. I admire the way he chooses his clothes in which he always looks very fashionable. Greta is a pretty child who will soon be 7. She's quite tall for her age. She's got long, straight, fair hair, big green eyes and a beautiful wide smile. Personality Brian is extremely provocative. He's always trying to shock people and sometimes they are even outraged by his manners and behaviour. At the same time, he's very intelligent and creative, which can be seen in his sense of humour and comments he makes about reality. George is rather lazy. He hates working or doing

exercise. He would rather just stay at home and read books all day long. However, he's also very bright. Despite his dislike of sports he can be very helpful when we need to solve certain problems at work. Interests Nina is very keen on rollerblading. She adores riding on her rollerblades and she spends as much of her day as possible with rollerblades on. She's also interested in hockey, and sometimes in winter we go ice-skating together. In her spare time, Janet loves to help other people. She helps other neighbours with their shopping, and goes to old people's home to help there, too. She also likes reading a lot. Her favorite books are scientific articles on gerontology. Conclusions All in all, I'm happy to have Joanna as my friend. I really enjoy her company and I can always depend on her. We'll always stay friends. I'd come to like Chris for his cheerfulness and optimism. Although he found a new job for himself and had to leave, we stayed friends and I'll never forget his kindness and smile. Example descriptions Of all the people in my family, I really admire my aunt Claire. She's my mother's oldest sister. She has never married and she lives alone in a small cottage not far from our town. She's in her early sixties but she's still young in spirit. She's got a healthy complexion, thick black hair which she usually wears in a ponytail, and blue-green eyes. She has a kind face, and when we meet her, she always smiles. Her face is rather wrinkled now, but my mum says she used to be a really attractive woman. She's the sort of person you can always go to if you have a problem. She loves gardening and she really enjoys long strolls over the hills with her dog. She's a very active person, too. She always helps others, or does some work in her garden.

She also does shopping for some old people in the village. I hope I'm as happy and satisfied with my life as she is when I'm her age.

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Bonus
Describe the personality and interests of your partner or a member of your family. You should be able to find the correct answers to the questions in the exercise. Make sure to use the correct punctuation. If you are writing complete sentences, end them, depending on the context, with a full stop, question mark or exclamation mark.

Describe the personality and interests of your partner or a member of your family.

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Bonus
Describe a friend of yours. You should be able to find the correct answers to the questions in the exercise. Make sure to use the correct punctuation. If you are writing complete sentences, end them, depending on the context, with a full stop, question mark or exclamation mark.

Describe a friend of yours. Divide your description into 3 parts: introduction, expansion and conclusion.

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