A lo largo del curso ha aprendido divcrsas mancras dc refcrirse a hechos que ustcd considcra objetivamente ciertos o

Certeza e incertidumbre

A

lolargo del curso ha aprendido ^divcrsas mancras dcrefcrirse a hechos que ustcd considcra objetivamenteciertos

o

bien objetivamente falsos.

En

cambio, sus conocimientos para hablar de hechos dudosos. probables o posibles son

mucho mas

limitados. Por tal motivo, la prcsenteunidad esta dedicadaa algunas de lasconstruccionesque se utilizan para expresarduda o incertidumbre, ysu principalcentrode atencion loconstituyeel estudio de dos verbosauxiliares modales

muy

empleadosenestasconstrucciones.

Ademas,

tendralaoportunidaddeoi'relacento canadiense,iniciarael estudiodclapuntuacionen inglesyencontraraun buen

numero

decitasde personajesfamososque.contoda seguridad,

le resultaran interesantes.

Consejos para

el

aprendizaje.

El novelista ydramaturgobritanicoChristopherIsherwood(1904-1986) fue profesordeinglesen Berlinen ladecadade lostreinta. (La conocidapeliculaCabaretestabasadaen unaseriede cuentoscscritosporel enesteperiodo.) Durante un programade radiodela

BBC

^enelque Isherwoodhablodesusexperienciasen laensenanzadel ingles yenelestudio del aleman, expuso, entre otras cosas, algunas ideas acerca del aprendizaje del vocabulario.

Aqui

tiene

uno

de sus comentarios; _{lealo y}

compruebe

si esta de acuerdo consu contenido.

A word

in

German

doesn't

"mean"

a

word

in English.

Take

atable. There'sa thingin

Germany

which looks like a table. But it isn't "a table": it's "ein Tisch".

When

you're learninga language, you mustn't think "It

means

That'sthe

way

youforgetwords, by thinking:"Oh, it'sjustvocabulary.

What

does that

mean?" You

must thinkof the thing in

German, and

say: 'That's 'ein Tisch'."

Observaciones.

En

relation con el

tema

de lapresente unidad, en lapagina432 ha aprendido algunas expresionesqueindican

duda o

incertidumbre: I hopeso, I think so y I expect so.

Tambien

conocelosdos verbosauxiliares modales_{(could y}

may)

queencontraraen lasproximas paginas,aunqueahora losemplearacon nuevosmaticesde significado.Tal vezleresulte utilrevisarloque ha estudiado acercadeestosverbos.

-

could

empleado

para hacer sugerencias (pags. 628_{y 629):}

You

could phone her.

We

could goto a concert.

-

_{could/may empleados para pedirpermiso (pags. 768y 769):}

Could/May

Iuse your phone?

873

Speaking and

listening

Introduction.

On

the cassette you can hear part ofa radio

programme.

-

_{Listen to}the cassette, followingthe first version ofthe text.

-

Listen again, followingthe second version.

-

Read

the second version aloud, putting in the missing words.

Introduction.

Woman:

Nigel:

Iris:

Nigel:

Roger:

Nigel:

George:

Nigel:

Roger:

Nigel:

Iris:

Nigel:

George:

Nigel:

George:

Nigel:

Iris:

Nigel:

Iris:

Nigel:

Roger:

Nigel:

George:

Nigel:

George:

You're listeningtoRadio4.

The

timeis6.30.

and here's NigelBennett withour weekly quiz

programme

about quotations, "That is the question".

Hello, and welcometo"Thatisthe question".

Our

guests this

week

are the novelist Iris

Dunn ^- Good

evening.

- _the poetRoger Patten

-

Hello.

-

_and thejazzsingerGeorge Armstrong.

Hi.

And

here's our first question. In 1904,

who

said this? "Radio hasno future." ... Roger.

Marconi?

No. It wasn't Marconi. ... Iris.

I think it was

Queen

Victoria, but I'm not sure.

No. Sorry. That's not correct. It wasn't

Queen

Victoria. ... George.

LordKelvin.

Are you sure?

Yes, I think so. Yes, it

was

definitely Lord Kelvin.

Yes, you're right. Lord Kelvin is the correct answer. In 1904, the British physicist. Lord Kelvin, said: "Radio has no future." Fortu- nately he

was

wrong.

Sothat'sonepoint toGeorge. Question 2: In 1973,

who

saidthis?"Idonotthinka

woman

will be Prime Minister in

my

lifetime." ...

Urn ... Iriswas first, I think.

Margaret Thatcher.

Correct.Margaret Thatchersaidit.

One

point toIris.Question3:

Who

saidthis?

"The

world

will end on February ^{20th, 1524." ...}

Er

...

Iris?

I don't know.

Roger?

Sorry.

George?

Any

ideas?

No. Sorry.

Well, itwasthe

German

astrologer,Johannes Stoeftler.

Oh, yes.

Of

course.

Queen

Victoria (1819-1901).

Introduction.

Woman:

Nigel:

Iris:

Nigel:

Roger:

Nigel:

George:

Nigel:

Roger:

Nigel:

Iris:

Nigel:

George:

Nigel:

George:

Nigel:

Iris:

Nigel:

Iris:

Nigel:

Roger:

Nigel:

George:

Nigel:

George:

You'relistening toRadio4.

The

^{**** is} 6.30, andhere's NigelBennett withour weekly quiz

********* about quotations, "That is the

********",

Hello,

and

^*******to"That isthe question".

Our

guests this **** are the novelist Iris

Dunn ^- Good

^*******.

-

thepoet Roger Patten

-

Hello.

-and thejazz ****** George Armstrong.

Hi.

And

here's ourfirst ********. _{In 1904,}

who

said this?"Radio has no ***»**."_... Roger.

Marconi?

No. It wasn'tMarconi. ... Iris.

I think it was ***** _Victoria, but I'm not

No. Sorry. That's ^••* correct. It wasn't

Queen

Victoria. ... George.

Lord Kelvin.

Are you ^**»*?

Yes, Ithinkso. Yes,it

was

********** Lord Kelvin.

Yes,you're *****. Lord Kelvin isthe correct

******. _In 1904, the British physicist, Lord Kelvin, _said: "Radio has ** future." Fortu- nately he was wrong.

Sothat'sone ***** toGeorge. Question2: In 1973,

who

****_this?"Idonotthinka

woman

will be ***** Minister in

my

lifetime." ...

Um

... Iris wasfirst, I think.

MargaretThatcher.

Correct.Margaret Thatchersaidit.

One

^*****

toIris.Question3:

Who

said****?

"The

world will *** on February 20th, 1524." ...

Er

^...

Iris?

I don't ****.

Roger?

Sorry.

George?

Any

^*****?

No. Sorry.

Well, it

was

the

German

**********, Johan- nes Stoeftler.

Oh,

yes.

Of

^course.

weekly /'wi:kli/ semanal

quiz

programn

le /kwiz 'praugram/ concurso

quotation /kwau'leijn/ cita

queen /kwi:n/ reina

definitely /'defmatli/ definitivamente

In fact, there is a

programme

about quotations on

BBC

Radio 4. It is called Quote, Unquote, and ^it has been popular for

many

years.

Queen

Victoria (1819-1901) was

Queen

ofGreat Britain and Ireland from 1837to 1901.

Words

you

know

onthe subject ofthisunit.Certaintyand uncertainty:

Certainty. Uncertainty.

sure, certain I'm sure.

Are you sure?

That's correct.

That's right.

That'swrong.

That's true.

That's not true.

Perhaps.

I'm not sure.

I don't know.

I (don't) thinkso.

I (don't) expect so.

I hopeso.

I hope not.

About

three million, six o'clock, forty miles, 3° Celsius,

I think.

The

Speaking and listening section in this unit has these parts:

Present uncertainty. Incertidumbre rcspectoal presentc.

Future uncertainty. Incertidumbre respectoal

future

Doubts. Dudas.

875

Speaking and

listening

Present uncertainty.

En

esteapartadopracticaraalgunas expresiones queindi- can incertidumbre respecto al presente. Para facilitar la

comprension de lasmismas, ^vera

c6mo

se utilizan en dos situaciones

muy

comunes.

En

primerlugar,cuando suena

eltelSfono y ^seespecula acercadequien esta alotrolado de la linea.

Study these key words.

Quiza, Tal vez.

Quien sabe.

Perhaps.

Maybe.

Who

knows?

/pa^r'hasps/

/'meibi:/

/hu: nouz/

Es tu/su hermano.

Podriaser tu/su hermano.

Podrias/Podria tener razon.

It isyour brother.

Itcould beyourbrother.

You

could be right.

Work

with the _cassette.

Present uncertainty. Listen and repeat.

Perhaps.

Maybe.

Who

knows?

Listen.

Man:

Woman:

Man:

Woman:

Man:

Woman:

Man:

Woman:

Man:

Oh, no!

Who's

that?

It could beyourbrother.

Perhaps.

It could beyoursister.

Maybe.

Or

itcould be yourboss.

Yes.

You

could be right.

Who knows?

Why

don'tyou answer it?

OK.

... Hello? ... It's

my

boss. ... Hello,

Mr

Jefferson! ... Yes ... Yes... Yes ... Yes ...

Como

puede observar,

Maybe

_yPerhapstienen el

mismo

significado (Quiza, Talvez).

Ambos

terminos se pueden

utilizar de forma indistinta en el habla informal; sin

embargo.

Maybe

no se utiliza generalmente en un estilo

mas

formal.

Practice.

- When

your telephone rings, think ofthese English ex- pressions:

Who's

that? It could be...

-

Read

these sentences aloud.

It could beyour brother.

It could beyour sister.

It could beyour boss.

You

could be right.

-

Read

these sentences aloud, and translate them.

Who's

that?

Who's

that?

It's your^brother.

It could be your brother.

It's

my

boss.

It could be

my

boss.

You'reright.

You

could beright.

876

El dialogo grabadoen la cassettecorrespondiente a esta pagina prcsentaotra situation en lacual,con

mucha

^fre-

cuencia, se expresa incertidumbre: cuandose oye que al-

guienesta llamando^a lapuerta.

En

este contcxto practi-

cal

elusode

may

_y might

como

dosposibles alternativas al verbo auxiliarmodal could.

Study these key words.

could ^/kud/

/kad/

may

/mei/ might /mait/

cartero postman

(UK)

/'paustman/

mailman

(US) /'meil.nuen/

Puede/Podriaser el cartero.

It

may

be

It could be

It might be

the postman.

Work

with the cassette.

Yes... Yes... Yes... Yes ...

No

...

OK, Mr

Jef- ferson.

Monday

morning. Yes. Fine. Goodbye.

Oh, no!

Who's

that?

It

may

beyour mother. She wanted toseeyou today.

Oh.

Or

it could be the postman ... or it could be

Dr

Brown.

Yes.

Or

itmight bethe Prime Minister—

Ha, ha.

—or

^it might be Father Christmas.

Why

don't you go and see?

OK.

...

Good

morning, Prime Minister.

What?

Thank

you. ... It was the postman.

Listen.

Man:

Woman:

Man:

Woman:

Man:

Woman:

Man:

Woman:

Man:

Woman:

Man:

Listenand repeat.

It

may

beyourmother.

It could bethe postman.

It could be

Dr

Brown.

It might be the Prime Minister.

It might be Father Christmas.

Las palabras may. could _y might se utilizan en ciertas cxpresionescuandosequiere indicarque nose estasegu- ro de .algo.

Aunque no

hay grandes diferencias entre ellas, enlosmanuales degramaticaavecesselesatribuye

una

gradacionquevadelobastanteprobablea lono

muy

probable. Estagradacionsereflejacn lossiguientcscjem- plos extrai'dos del dialogo grabadoen lacassette.

Bastante probable: It

may

be your mother. She wanted

toseeyou today.

Posible:

No muy

probable:

It couldbe the postman, or it could be

Dr

Brown.

It might bethe PrimeMinister, orit

mightbe Father Christmas.

Aunque

hay, ciertamente. algode verdad enesta distin- cion, en el habla informal cotidiana se puede utilizar indistintamente cualquicrade las trespalabras.

Como

habra observado. la palabra

Maybe

(Quiza, Tal vez), mencionada cn la pagina anterior, esta compuesta por las palabras

may

y be. que aparecen separadas en el

dialogodeesta pagina.Susignificadoliteral,portanto. es

"Puede ser".

—

'

'~\

Good

morning, Prime Minister.

\

JL

It might be the Prime^Minister.

877

Speaking and

listening

Future uncertainty.

Las cxprcsioncs Perhaps,

Maybe, Who knows?

y los tres auxiliares may, could _y might, que ha practicado en las dos paginas anteriores para expresar incertidumbre res- pectoal presente, puedenutilizarse tambienpara indicar dudao incertidumbre respecto al future

La

primera partede la practica grabadaen lacassette es una version ligeramente modificada del pronostico del tiempoqueha aparecido en lapagina838 de launidad41.

Tal

como

havistoalii,lasfrasesThere willbealittle

snow

e It will be fine, que utilizaba el

hombre

^{del tiempo,}

no

expresan incertidumbre, sino bastante seguridad. Por el contrario, en la version que aparcce en esta pagina las prediccionesson

menos

segurasy,portalmotivo.seutili-

zan lasexpresiones There could bea little

snow

e It will probably be fine.

A

continuacion practicara este tipo de expresiones _y en- contrara dos palabras que todavi'a

no

conoce:

posiblemente possibly /'pnsabli/

probablementc probably /'prDbabh/

It

— ⁿ

^Future uncertainty. Listen

and

repeat.

Probably Possibly

Who

knows?

Listen.

Here is the weatherforecast for tomorrow.

Scotland and Ireland will probably have sunshine in the morning. In thenorth ofScotland, there could be^{a little} snow.In the afternoon, therewillprobably be rain every- where.

InthenorthofEnglandandWales,itwillprobably befine

and quitecoldinthemorning. ^{In the}afternoon, there

may

be

some

rain inWales. There might be alittle snow.

In thesouthofEngland, therewill probably berainevery- where. But

who knows?

Listen and repeat.

Scotland ^will probably have sunshine There

may

be

some

rain.

There couldbe a little snow.

IfTTnl

There might be a little snow. ^{' '}

Practice.

-

Read

aloudtheweatherforecast from the cassette text.

-

Answer

^these questions about the weather where you are.

Will it be finetomorrow?

Will it rain tomorrow?

Will it

snow

tomorrow?

Use

these words:

Yes. Definitely.

Probably.

Possibly./Perhaps./Maybe.

No. Definitely not.

Who

knows?

In Wales, it will probably be fine

and

quitecold inthe morning.

Los dialogos grabadosen la cassette correspondien- tesa esta pagina proporcionan

mas

ejemplosdealgu- nas dc ^las palabras que ha practicado hasta ahora, como,porcjcmplo, probably,possibly,

may

y might.

Como

vera,el

hombre

darespuestasvagase impreci- sas a la pregunta de su jefe mientras sucna. Sin embargo, de vuelta _a la realidad, responde con

mu-

cha

mas

precision.

Study these key words.

<,Va usted a hacer ese viaje a

New York?

Puede que si ...

y puede que no.

Podria ... si

me

lopidc amablemente.

Are you goingto

make

thattrip to

New

^York?

I

may ^-

and I

may

not.

I might

-

ifyou ^ask

me

nicely.

Are you going to

make

that trip to

New

York?

may ^-

and

may

not.

Work

with the cassette.

Listen.

Boss:

Man:

Boss:

Man:

Boss:

Man Man

Boss

Man:

Thomas,

areyougoingto

make

thattripto

New York?

Probably.

Sorry?

Probably. Possibly. I'm not sure.

I'll askyou again. Are yougoing to

make

that trip to

New York?

I

may ^-

and I

may

not.

What?!

I

may

go

- and

I

may

not go. I

may

stay at home.

Thomas,

forthelast time:

Are

you going to

make

that trip to

New York?

I might

-

ifyou ask

me

nicely.

Boss:

Thomas,

areyou^goingto

make

that tripto

New

York?

Man:

Yes,

Mr

Jefferson.

Of

^course,

Mr

^Jefferson. Definitely,

Mr

Jefferson.

Practice.

- The

boss asked onequestion:

Are yougoing to

make

that trip to

New

York?

The man

^{gaveeight answers.}

Read ^them

^aloud.

Uncertainty: 1. Probably.

2. Probably. Possibly. I'mnot sure.

3. I

may ^-

and I

may

not.

4. I

may

go

-

_and I

may

not go.

I

may

stay at home.

5. I might

-

ifyou ask

me

nicely.

Certainty: 6. Yes.

7.

Of

course.

8. Definitely.

- Answer

these questions.

Are you goingto havea holiday nextyear?

Are you goingto practiseyourEnglish tomorrow?

Are you goingto stay at

home

nextweekend?

Use

these words: Yes. Definitely.

Probably.

Possibly./Perhaps./Maybe.

I may./I might./I'm not No. Definitely not.

879

Speaking and

listening

Doubts.

A

^fin de prcsentar algunas nuevas cxprcsiones que in- dicancerteza eincertidumbrc,cn eldialogograbadoen la cassette puedeescucharlacontinuation del concursoque apareci6 al principio de esta unidad. (Las personas que hablan identifican las fuentes de las citas, pero. no obs- tante, estas aparecen detalladas de forma

mas

precisa a pie de pagina.)

Study these key words.

Work

with the cassette.

duda. dudar vcrdadero(ra) falso(sa)

Creo ...

No

creo .. .

doubt true false I think ...

I don't think ...

/daut/

/tru:/

/fails/

/ai 6irjk/

/aidaunt0ink/

Doubts. Listen.

Nigel:

Roger:

Iris:

Nigel:

Iris:

Nigel:

George:

Iris:

Nigel:

Iris:

These questions areall aboutShakespearequo- tations. Question 1: Trueorfalse? Hamletsays:

"To

be or not to be: That ^{is the} question." ...

Roger.

True.

Correct. Question 2: True or false? Cleopatra says: "I

am

dying, Egypt, dying."... Iris.

False.

So Cleopatra doesn'tsay it.

No, Idon't thinkso. I thinkAntonysaysit, but I'm not sure.

Well, you're right. Antony says it, in the play

"Antony

and

Cleopatra",of course.Question3:

Who

says this? "Never, never, never, never, never." Is itOthello? ... George.

Yes, I think Othello says it.

I don't think hedoes. It's King Lear, isn't it?

Iris is right. It's King Lear. "Never, never, never, never, never."

True, true, true, true, true.

The

three Shakespearequotations.

1.

"To

be or not to be: That is the question."

-

_Hamlet ("Hamlet", Act 3,Scene 1).

2. "I

am

dying, Egypt, dying."

-

Antony ("Antony and Cleopatra", Act4, Scene 13).

3. "Never, never, never, never, never."

-

_Lear ("King Lear", Act5, Scene3).

Hamlet

"To

be or not tobe:That is the question.'

/'hsmlat/ Cleopatra /.klia'pajtra/

/'fentsni/ Lear /liaV

Song.

Thissong is a love-song. In love, there isoften

some

uncertaintyabout the future

Song:

Who

knows?

Who knows

where we'll be

A

year or two from

now?

You

might be in Paris

And

I in

Rome;

You

might be with

someone

else

And

I alone.

Everything canchangeso fast.

It's all

unknown

^1:

A

year or two from now.

Who

knows wherewe'll be

A

year or two from

now?

We

might stay together

Or we

might part².

Nothing lastsfor ever.³

It won't break

my

heart.

Who

knows?

We

might even

make

a

new

start⁴,

A

year ortwo from now.

Look

intoyourcrystal ball⁵.

Tell

me

what you see.

Does thefuture havein ^it a place for you and

me?

Who

knows?

We

might still bea team⁶_,

A

year ortwo from now.

A

year or twofrom now.

r—

' estotalmcntedcsconocido

2opodriamos separarnos

1Nadadura por siempre.

Junnuevo comienzo

5boladecristal

"aiinpodriamos formarunequipo (es decir. "aiinpodriamosestarjuntos")

Practice.

-

Listen to the song on the cassette, following the words.

- Listen again, without following the words.

- Read

the words aloud.

- Put in the missing words:

You

mightbe Paris.

I mightbe

Rome.

You

mightbe with someone

I might alone.

We

might stay .

We

might

We

might

make

a start.

We

mightstill

__

a team.

881

Accents ofEnglish

A Canadian accent.

La

persona que oiraen la cassetteescanadiense,_y expo- ne algunos aspectosdel acento dc laspersonas de habla inglesa deCanada. (Consulte las pags. 320_y 321 sidesea revisaralgunos datosy cifras acerca de este pais.)

Antesde poneren marchalacassetterecuerde queen los textos de la seccion de AccentsofEnglish aparecen bas- tantespalabras nuevas, asi

como

estructurasgramaticalcs

mas

complejas que las practicadas con anterioridad. Es

decir,en cierto

modo,

lostextosestan "porencimade su nivelnormal". Sinembargo, usted yaesta capacitado pa- raenfrentarsc satisfactoriamente a ellos.

Tenga

prescnte tambien que. en lacassette, las personas hablan connaturalidad,porloqueavecesdudan,se repi- ten, dejan frases inacabadas,

cometen

pequenos errores gramaticales_y,a

menudo,

seexpresanconcierta rapidez.

(En la grabacion correspondiente a esta pagina, sin

embargo, podra

comprobar

que la persona canadiense habla de un

modo

bastante lento y mesurado.)

No

permita que ningunode losproblemas anteriormentc cxpuestos le desanime a seguir escuchando.

Tenga

en cuenta que.

ademas

del tipo de practicas que se centran cn una area restringida del lenguajc,

como

ocurre en las de la secci6n de Speaking and listening, por ejemplo, usted necesitaoi'r una habla

menos

limitada,

como

laque seencuentra enlosdialogosde lasecciondeSynopsisycn lostextos de esta seccion de Accents of English.

The

east coastfisherman relates to hiscounterpart inthe

New

England states in

more

ways than one.

(In the picture:

A Nova

Scotian fisherman.)

This speaker is Canadian. Listen.

The

differencesbetween Canadianaccents

-

fromHalifax,

Nova

Scotia, to Vancouver, British Columbia

-

_{are no-} where nearasgreat as the regional accents thatone hears

in Great Britain.

Even though there are fewer people spread ^this tremen- dousdistance of nearly4,000miles,Ithink

when

youlook at ...er ... voices and the sounds they make, you haveto really think in

many

ways in terms ofNorth America as opposedjust to Canada. Because, although the boundary between the UnitedStates and

Canada

runs eastto west, thefactisthat the

BC

peoplerelatetoCaliforniansin

more

ways than one; the prairie farmer relates to his counter- part _inthe mid-western United States in

more

ways than one; the east coast fisherman relatesto hiscounterpartin

the

New

Englandstates,

around—

inthe Boston area par- ticularly, in

more

ways than one.

But speaking exclusively of Canada, there are

—

^Funny

little things

come

out. For example, in

Nova

Scotia: a true

Nova

Scotian,insayingthe

word

A-F-T-E-R, will al-

waysinsertan R. Itwillalways

come

out/curftar/. Urn...

and you can always spot a true

Nova

Scotian, because he drops that extra

R

in.

There's one point I should make, and ... er ... er ... and

it's an obvious one, I suppose, and that is:

when

you get into French Canada,

when

you get the French Canadians speaking English, naturally...er ... a great

many

ofthem have a pronounced French accent.

And

I'm certain that

many

English-speaking Canadians have a pronounced English accent

when

theyspeak French.

From: EnotsnwimanAccwl(BBCReconBI

Traduction del texto de lacassette.

Lasdiferenciasentrelosacentoscanadienses-desdeHali- fax,

Nova

Scotia,hastaVancouver, British

Columbia- no

son ni con

mucho

tan grandes

como

las de los acentos regionales que ^se oyen en

Gran

Bretana.

Aunque

hay

menos

poblaciondiseminadaenestatremen- da distancia de cerca de 4.000 millas, creo que cuandose observan ... eh ... las voces y los sonidos que tienen.

realmente hay que pensar en

muchos

aspectos en termi- nos de

America

del Norte,y nosolode Canada. Porque, aunque la frontcra entre Estados Unidos y

Canada

vade

este a oeste,el hecho esque la poblacion de British Co- lumbia esta emparentada con lade Californiaen

mas

de un aspecto; el granjero de la pradera esta emparentado consuequivalentedel

medio

oestede EstadosUnidosen

mas

de unaspecto;elpescadordelacosta este esta

empa-

rentado con su equivalente de los estados de

New

En- gland, alrededor de ... particularmente del area de Bos- ton, en

mas

de un aspecto.

Pero hablando exclusivamente deCanada, hay ... Se po- nen de manifiesto pequenas cosas divertidas. Por ejcm- plo.en

Nova

Scotia,un verdaderonativode

Nova

Scotia,

aldeck^la palabra A-F-T-E-R, introducirasiempreunaR.

Siemprc aparece /a:rftor/.

Hum

^... _y ^siempre se pucde reconoccr a un verdadero nativo de

Nova

Scotia porque empieaesa r adicional.

Hay

un comcntarioque deberia hacer,y ^... eh ... eh ^... _y

es un comentario obvio, supongo, y es que cuando

se entra en el

Canada

frances, cuando se encuentra a los francocanadicnscs hablando ingles, naturalmente ...

eh... unagran mayoriadeellostienenun

marcado

acento frances.

Y

estoy seguro de que

muchos

canadienses de habla inglesa tienenun

marcado

acentoinglescuandoha- blan frances.

When

French Canadiansspeak English,a great

many

^of

^them

have a pronounced Frenchaccent.

(Inthe picture: Quebec, in French Canada.)

Notas acerca del lenguaje.

En

la section de

Grammar

de la unidad anterior (pagi- na 865) se

comcnto

el uso de one con el significado de

"gente en general'"

como

una alternativa de caracterfor-

mal al usode you con igual significado.

Aunque

la persona que habla en la cassette utiliza one en el primer parrafo de su exposition (that one hears

in Great Britain),

mas

adelante empiea repetidamentc you (when you ^look at ....you haveto you can always spot ....

when

you get into French Canada).

Notas acerca de

la

pronunciation.

Con

la exception de Newfoundland, cuyos nativos tienen un acento distintivo

mas

parecido al que se encuentra en Irlandao en el sudoeste de Inglaterra que al de Estados Unidos, el acento canadiense es practicamente igual que el

estadounidense.

De

hecho, la

mayor

parte de los britanicos son incapaces de explicar las diferencias que existen entre ambos.

Hay

unrasgo,sinembargo,quedistingueelacentocanadiensedelestadounidense: lapronunciationdelasvocalesouen palabras

como

out.

mouth

^ohouse. Mientrasqueen EstadosUnidoseste grupodevocalessepronuncia/au/,en

Canada

se pronuncia /au/. Los estadounidenses con frccuencia hablan de esta diferencia

como

del rasgo distintivo tipico del inglescanadiense, y -caricaturizandola ligeramente- dicen que en

Canada

no se dice "out", sino "oot"/u:t/.

883

Grammar

Uso de

los

verbos auxiliares modales

may

^v

^might.

En

la pagina 768 dc la unidad 38 ha visto que el verbo auxiliar modal

may

puede utilizarse para pedir permiso.

May

^{I disturb} you for a

moment?

May

I use your phone?

(-,Puedo molestarle un

momento?

<,Puedoutilizarsutelefono?

En

frasesde estascaracteristicas, si la persona que habla quiere darasupeticion un tono

mas

cortes

o

respetuoso, puede emplear el auxiliar might en lugar de may.

Might I disturb you for a

moment?

Might I use your phone?

Estos dos verbos auxiliares modales, junto con can _y could, cuyouso ha estudiadoen^anterioresunidades,for-

man

unaescalaque vade lobastantecortes aloextrema- damente cortes cuando se utilizan para pedir permiso.

Can

_] Bastante cortes, pero informal.

Could I useyour

May

phone?

Might

Extremadamente

cortes y formal.

It might bea dress.

Who knows?

En

frases afirmativas y negativas, se puede utilizar

may

(pero

no

might)para daro denegarpermisode unamane- ra bastante formal.

You may now smoke

ifyou wish.

May

I leave

now?

-

_{Yes, you may.}

-

_{No, you}

may

not.

—

_{> Exercise} 1.

Puede fumar ahora,

si lodesea.

(.Puedo salir ahora?

- _Si, puede.

- No,

no puede.

Como

havistoenlaspaginas877,878y879dela presente unidad,

may

y might se

emplean

asimismo para expresar posibilidad.

It

may

beyourmother.

It might be the Prime Minister.

There

may

be

some

rain.

There might be

some

snow.

Puede ser tu/su madre.

Podria serel Primer Ministro.

Puede que lluevaunpoco.

Podria nevar un poco.

En

este contexto tambien es posible utilizar el auxiliar could;sin embargo,existeunaligeradiferenciadesignifi-

cado entre lostresverbos, siendomightelque expresa la posibilidad

menos

probable.

Tenga

presente que no se puede emplearel auxiliar can con este sentido.

it

may

could might

beyour mother.

Bastante probable, i

No muy

probable.

Exercise2.

Formation de los verbos auxiliares modales may _y ^might.

Como

los restantes verbos auxiliares modales,

may

_y mightsoninvariables, esdecir, tienen igualformaverbal para todas las personas.

Singular:

I

you

he/she/it

may

might

Plural:

we

you they

may

might

El verbo en infinitivo que siguc al auxiliar modal

no

va precedido de la particula to.

I

may

stayat home.

It might rain tomorrow.

We may

go toFrance forour holiday.

We

mightgo toAlaska.

Lasformas negativasde

may

_y mightson

may

not_y might not, respectivamente. Las contracciones son mayn't /"meiant/ y mightn't/"maitnt/, perosc utilizancon escasa frecuencia.

I

may

goand I

may

notgo.

It might

snow

and itmight not snow.

Lasformasinterrogativas seobticneninvirtiendoelordcn

delsujeto y delverboauxiliarmodal,y seemplean,

como

havisto, para pedir permiso

o

para prcguntar acerca de una posibilidad.

May

I

come

in?

MightI disturb you for a

moment?

When

^{might you}

come?

El verbo may, sin embargo, no se emplea en prcguntas acerca de posibilidades. Asf, por ejemplo, la pregunta

May

^it

snow tomorrow?

es incorrecta.

En

este caso, las preguntas adecuadas ^{serian las}siguientes:

Do

you think it will

snow tomorrow?

Is^itgoingto

snow

tomorrow?

-»

Exercise3.

May

I keep it?

En

algunos manuales de gramatica se dice que might es

"el pasadodc may", pero,

como

se puede deducirde los comentarios_ydelosejemplosanteriores,estonoestotal-

mente cierto.

La

diferenciacntre

ambas

formasresideen

elestilo(para pedir permiso, mightes

mas

cortes yformal que

may)

y en elmatiz (paraexpresar posibilidad, might indica'una probabilidad

menor

que may).

Verbos ^{auxiliares modales:}

Aspectos generates.

Con

la practica de

may

_y might realizadaen lapresente unidad,casi ha terminado^elestudiode losverbosauxilia- resmodalesingleses y sususosrespectivos.

En

laproxima unidad, tal

como

se

comento

anteriormente, estudiarael

verboshallyencontraraunresumen de todoloque cono- cesobre cste tipo de verbos.

Exercise

1.

These questions arc informal.

Make them more

formal, using may.

1.

Can

I

come

in?

2.

Can

I disturb you fora

moment?

3.

Can

I useyour phone?

4.

Can

I read yournewspaper?

5.

Can

I smoke?

Exercise

2.

Thisweatherforecastisdefinite.

Make

^it

more

indefinite, using might.

In Scotland, therewill be a little snow.

In thenorth ofEngland, therewill be

some

sunshine,and

itwill be quite

warm.

In the afternoon, therewill be

some

thunderstormsinthe south ofEngland.

Exercise

3.

Correct these questions. Begin:

Do

you think ...?

1.

May

^{itrain tomorrow?}

2.

May

you beat

home

nextweekend?

3.

May

you havea holiday next year?

4.

May Anna

change her job?

5.

May

ElizabethandJeffget married?

A

Answers onpage892.

885

IE Written

English

True or false?

El siguiente ejercicio esta

formado

porvarios enunciados basados en datos que han aparecidoen antcriorcsunidades.

principalmenteen laseccionde Information. Copie estosenunciados ensucuadernoy cscribajuntoacada

uno

dcellos siesverdadero (true)

0

falso (false).

Geography.

1.

The

capitalofAustralia is Sydney.

2.

The

^capitalof

Canada

^{is Vancouver.}

3.

The

capital of

Ghana

is Accra.

4.

The

^capital of India is Calcutta.

5.

The

capital ofJamaicais Kingston.

6.

The

capital of

New

^{Zealand isAuckland.}

7.

The

capital of

Zimbabwe

^{is Harare.}

8. Jamaicais an island inthe Pacific.

9. Mostpeople in

Hong Kong

speak Chinese.

10.

The

currencyof

Ghana

isthe cedi.

1 1.

The

currencyofIndiais the dollar.

12.

The

populationofAustraliais about 150 ^million.

Cinema.

13. CharlieChaplin

was

born in London.

14. Orson Welles

was

^English.

15. Alfred Hitchcock

was

American.

16. StanleyKubrick directed 2007.

17. Steven Spielberg

was bom

in 1947.

Theatre.

18. GeorgeBernard

Shaw was

Irish.

19. SamuelBeckettwrote Waitingfor Godot.

20. Shakespeare

was

born in 1616.

21. TennesseeWilliams

was

an American ^dramatist.

22. ChristopherMarlowewroteDoctor Faustus.

The

capital of

Canada

is Vancouver. Trueorfalse?

Punctuation _(1): Abbreviations. Peanuts® by Charles m. schuiz.

A

fin de recordar lo que ya ha aprendido cn torno a la

puntuacion,leade nuevoclrcsumenaparccidoenlapagi- na816 de la unidad 40.

En

el presente apartado_estudiara el usoy laomision del punto en las abreviaturas (abbreviations).

En

lasabreviaturasde los

nombrcs

de pai'sesyde ^institu- cionespuedeutilizarscelpunto.aunque,cn laactualidad, gcneralmcnte se omite.

theU.S.A./the

USA

theU.S.S.R./the

USSR

theB.B.C./the

BBC

the United States ofAmerica the Union ofSoviet

Socialist Republics the British Broadcasting

Corporation

En

otras abreviaturas, si la abreviatura termina con la

misma

letra quelapalabraensu formacomplcta,cl punto puede utilizarse u omitirse.

St./St

Rd./Rd

(Street)

(Road)

Dr./Dr

Mr./Mr

(Doctor) (Mister) Porelcontrario.silaabreviaturanoterminacon la

misma

letraque lapalabraensuformacompleta, hadeutilizarsc el punto.

Sq.

Jan.

(Square) (January)

Sun.

Mon.

El punto tambiense utilizaaespueso

nombres

o

apellidos de laspersonas.

(Sunday)

(Monday)

John F.

Kennedy D.H.

Lawrence

Asimismo, se utiliza el punto cuando la abreviatura esta constituida por letras minusculas en lugar de letras ma- yusculas.

e.g. (exempligratia, for example) a.m. (ante meridiem, beforenoon)

Exercise.

Escribaensu cuadernolassiguientesexpresionesutilizan-

doabreviaturas cuandosea _{posible. y} poniendo el punto solo cuando sea necesario.

OxfordStreet theUnited

Kingdom

Doctor Horace Frankenstein

Monday

October the fifteenth

Answers onpage892.

4.30 post meridiem Great Britain

Trans

World

Airlines British Rail

Patty estahaciendo unejerciciocscritoehclase.yse sien- te incapaz de dar respuestas precisas.

En

el texto de la historieta se utilizan

muchas

expresionesque indicandu- da o incertidumbrc. algunas de las cualcs Ie rcsultaran familiares, mientras que otras todavi'a son desconocidas para usted.

Antesde mirarlatraduccionalespanol. intenteaveriguar que dice Patty.

TRUE? WHO KNOWS?

FALSE? 0HLU TIME WILL

TELL...

to-17

MA^dB

IN

THE LONG RUN

...IT

ALL

PEPENPS...

WEATHER PERMITTING

Reprintedoy(wmiKiorolUnitedF Inc..He.Ycrt.NewYort.

SyrWiott.

PERHAPS...

COULP

BE.

MA4BE..I POUBT

IT..

PONT COUNT ON

IT.

TraducciondeldiSlogodelasvinetas.

i.Verdadero?Quiensabc. (.Falso?Soloeltiempolodira...

Quiza ... Podn'aser...Tal vez... Lo dudo ... Nocuentoconello

Ouiza a^la larga ...Todo depende... Si eltiempolopermite...

Algunos de^nosotros.sefiora. lovemostodo en tonosgriscs.

887

ill* Extra

reading

Truth and uncertainty.

A

lo largo de la presente unidad han aparecido diversas citas, sobre todo en los dialogos en los que tienc lugar el

concursoThatisthequestion (pags. 874,875_{y 880).}

En

esta seccionpodra realizarpracticas delecturacon nuevascitas -frasesde pcrsonajes britanicos,americanos_{y de}otrasnacionalidades-ytambiencon algunos proverbios ingleses. (La seccion de Extra reading de la proxima unidad esta centrada en proverbios ingleses.)

Como

podra observar, lostextos de estapagina y lasiguicnte cxprcsan ideas

mas

abstractas que la

mayor

parte de los textosaparecidosh'astaahora.

Ademas,

citasyproverbiosincitan _ala reflexion,asiquepuedenresultarledeinteres por

si mismos,

mas

^alia de suvalor pedag6gico

como

ejercicios de lectura.

En

relacioncon eltema de la presente unidad, todos lostextosgiran entornoa la verdad _y la incertidumbrc. Observe que la palabra truth (verdad) aparece sin el articulo determinado cuando se utiliza en sentidoabstracto; en cambio, cuando se le atribuye un valor

mas

concreto, si va

acompanada

del articulo, por ejemplo, en la expresion "decir la

verdad", tell the truth.

En

lascitasyproverbios aparecen algunas palabrasqueustcd todavianoconoce,perocuyosignificado puedcdeducirsc apartirdeldeotraspalabrasquehavistoenanterioresunidades.

A

continuacidn encontraraun cuadroqueleayudaraa relacionar las palabras que yaconoce con las que aparecen por primera vez.

Usted ya conoce el significado de la primera palabra de cada par, del cual puede deducirseel de la segunda.

beautiful

—

_{> beauty politics}

—

» politician

happy

—

> happiness science

—

* scientist necessary

—

» necessarily progressive

—

* progress

Films are truth twenty-four times a second.

Truth.

Truth istruth.

Proverb.

Truth nevergrowsold.

Proverb.

Truth israrely pure, and never simple.

OscarWilde, Irishauthor (1854-1900).

Truth is strange

-

_stranger than fiction.

LordByron, English poet (1788-1824).

Filmsare truthtwenty-four times a second.

Jean-LucGodard, French film director(b. 1930).

Beauty is truth, truth beauty.

John

Keats, English poet(1795-1821).

Truth is beautiful. Soare lies.

Ralph WaldoEmerson,Americanpoet (1803-1882).

The

language oftruth issimple.

Proverb.

The moment

a

man

talks to his fellows, he begins to lie.

HOaire Belloc, English poet (1870-1953).

Tell the truth, and you won't haveso

much

to remember.

Abraham

Lincoln,

sixteenth president of the

USA

(1809-1865).

It is hard to believe that a

man

is telling the truth

when

you

know

thatyou would lie ifyou were in his place.

H.L.

Mencken, Americanauthor (1880-1956).

Science has promised us truth. It has never promised us peace or happiness.

GustaveLe Bon, Frenchpsychologist(1841-1931).

Uncertainty.

Life isdoubt, and faith without doubtis death.

Miguelde

Unamuno,

Spanish philosopher (1864-1936).

What we

believeisnot necessarily true.

What we

like isnot necessarilygood. All questions are open.

CliveBell, English critic(1881-1964).

When we

arein love,

we

oftendoubtwhat

we

mostbelieve.

La

Rochefoucauld, Frenchauthor (1613-1680).

Nothing iscertain except uncertainty.

Proverb.

In this world, nothing is certain except death and taxes.

Benjamin Franklin,

American politician and scientist (1706-1790).

I think. Therefore I

am.

Rene

Descartes, Frenchphilosopher(1596-1650).

Sometimes I think, and sometimes I am.

PaulValery, French poet (1871-1945).

Nothing is permanent except change.

Proverb.

Progress is themotherof problems.

G.K. Chesterton, English author (1874-1936).

The best

way

tohave agood idea is tohavea lot ofideas.

Linus Pauling, American chemist (1901-1981).

Progressis the mother ofproblems.

And

^finally:

Nothing is asuseless as a general

maxim.

Thomas

Babington Macaulay, English author (1800-1859).

truth /tru:0/ verdad

fiction /'fikjn/ fiction

faith /fei8/ fe

lie /lai/ mentira, mcntir

proverb /'pmvaiT)/ provcrbio, refran

maxim

/'mzeksim/

maxima

rarely pure /'reali pjuaV raravez puro(ra)

peace /piss/ paz

fellow /'febo/ compaiiero(ra)

tax /taeks/ impuesto

therefore /'8ea^rfo:^r/ por tanto permanent ^/'p3:rm3n3nt/ permanente

psychologist /sai'kolad^ist/ psicologo(ga) philosopher /fi'lDsafoV filosofo(fa)

889

Synopsis

Key points from this unit. Dialogue.

Exprcsioncsque indican certeza, incertidumbre_{y posi-} bilidad.

Definitely.

Probably.

Definitely not.

Who

knows?

true/false truth/lies doubt

El uso de could para cxpresarposibilidad y para pedir permiso.

Itcould be the postman.

There couldbe

some

rain tomorrow.

Could I useyour phone?

Read

the dialogue,andlistentoitonthecassette.

Anna

^is

at

home,

listening to the radio. She is not very happy at the

moment.

El uso de

may

para exprcsar posibilidad y para pedir, dar_y denegar permiso.

It

may

be yourmother.

I

may

stay at home.

May

I leave

now?

-

Yes, you may.

-

_{No, you}

may

not.

El uso de might para exprcsar posibilidad y permiso.

It might be Father Christmas.

We

might go to Alaska forour holiday.

Might I disturb you fora

moment?

Algunas normasacerca del uso y la omision del punto en las abreviaturas.

the U.S.A./the

USA Mr

./Mr

Sq.

Jan.

D.H.

^Lawrence

eg-

-

El acentode una persona canadiense.

Dialogue.

Nigel:

Iris:

Nigel:

Roger:

Nigel:

George:

Nigel:

Anna:

Nigel:

Anna:

Announcer:

Anna:

Announcer:

Anna:

Announcer:

And

that'stheendof"Thatisthequestion"

for thisweek.

Thank

youtoourguests. Iris

Dunn ^- Good

night.

-

_{Roger Patten -} Goodbye.

-

and George Armstrong.

Bye!

We'll be backnext

week

... I think ... Yes, we'll definitely be back next week, and

we

hopeyou'lljoin us.

I probably will, Nigel ... I probably will.

Untilthen, goodbye.

Now,

before the news, here is the weather forecastfortomorrow. ScotlandandNorth- ern Ireland ^will probably have sunshine

all day.

Ah. Lovely.

In the north of Scotland, there

may

be a

littlesnow.

Hmm.

In thenorthofEngland andinWales,itwill

probably befine and quite cold.

Very nice.

In thesouthofEngland,therewill probably beraineverywhere,andthere

may

be

some

thunderstorms.

I probably will, Nigel ... I probably will.

Yes, we'lldefinitelybe back next week, and

we

hope you'lljoinus.

ml

¹

lit

.1

9

Anna:

Lily:

Anna:

Lily:

Anna:

Lily:

Anna:

Lily:

Anna:

Lily:

Anna:

Lily:

Anna:

Lily:

Anna:

Lily:

Anna:

Ah. Wonderful.

(Anna switches off the radio.)

(Reading.)

"Your

horoscope for tomorrow. To-

morrow

could bea veryinterestingdayforyou.

You may

have

some

goodnewsaboutyourjob."

(Thetelephone rings.) Hello?

Hi, Anna. It's Lily.

Hi.

Are you doing anything

tomorrow

evening?

I doubt it.

Sorry?

Er ^... Probablynot. I don't think so.

Er

... No, I'm not.

So you're free.

Yes.

Are you sure?

Yes.

Some

friends are coming to dinner.

Can

you come?

Yes. I'd love to.Thanks.

About eighto'clock?

Fine. Seeyou then.

Thanks

again.

OK.

Bye.

Bye. (Reading.)"...

some

good newsaboutyour job, and you'll spend

some

time with friends."

Well, well, well ... fi=ii

^1

switch off

I doubt it.

Probably not.

I'd loveto.

I

j /switj Df/ (UK)

1 /swiff d:£/ (US)

/aidautit/

/'probabli not/

/aidIav tu:/

apagar

Lo

^dudo.

Probablcmentc no.

Me

encantaria.

Observeque

Anna

utilizalaexpresion Wonderful (Mara-

villoso) en un tono ironico.

891