Lesson 4

Professions

Here are some examples of professions:

• Doctors diagnose and treat illnesses and injuries.
• Nurses provide care for patients in hospitals, clinics, and other healthcare settings.
• Teachers educate students in a variety of subjects, from kindergarten to college.
• Engineers design, build, and test machines, structures, and other products.
• Lawyers represent clients in court and provide legal advice.
• Businesspeople start, run, and manage businesses.
• Artists create works of art, such as paintings, sculptures, and music.
• Athletes compete in sports, such as football, basketball, and baseball.
• Scientists conduct research and develop new knowledge.
• Politicians make laws and represent the interests of their constituents.
• Clergy provide spiritual guidance and support to their congregations.
• Farmers grow crops and raise livestock.
• Mechanics repair and maintain vehicles.
• Construction workers build roads, bridges, and other structures.
• Salespeople sell products and services to customers.
• Customer service representatives help customers with problems and questions.
• Technicians install, maintain, and repair equipment.
• Writers create written content, such as articles, books, and screenplays.
• Editors review and revise written content.
• Researchers gather and analyze information.
• Managers oversee the work of others and ensure that tasks are completed on time and within budget.
• Entrepreneurs start and run their own businesses.
• Volunteers donate their time and skills to help others.

These are just a few examples of the many different professions that exist. With so many options to choose from, there is sure to be a profession that is a good fit for your interests and skills.

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Ordinary Numbers

Ordinal numbers are used to indicate the position or order of something in a list. They are typically formed by adding -th to the end of the cardinal number. For example, the ordinal number for 1 is first, the ordinal number for 2 is second, and the ordinal number for 3 is third.

Here is a list of ordinal numbers from 1 to 10:

Ordinal numbers can also be used to indicate the order of events. For example, you might say “I finished my homework first, then I took a shower.” In this case, the ordinal number “first” is used to indicate that you finished your homework before you took a shower.

Ordinal numbers can be used in a variety of contexts, including:

• Dates and times: “The meeting is scheduled for the first Tuesday of the month.”
• Lists: “The top three finishers in the race were: first, John Smith; second, Jane Doe; third, Bill Jones.”
• Directions: “Turn left at the second stop sign.”
• Orders: “Please place the order in the following order: first, the main course; second, the vegetables; third, the dessert.”

Ordinal numbers are a useful tool for indicating the position or order of something. They can be used in a variety of contexts, and they can help to make your writing more clear and concise.

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Days

In English, there are seven days in a week. They are:

• Monday
• Tuesday
• Wednesday
• Thursday
• Friday
• Saturday
• Sunday

Months

There are 12 months in a year. They are:

• January
• February
• March
• April
• May
• June
• July
• August
• September
• October
• November
• December

There are two main ways to write dates in English:

• Day/Month/Year

This is the most common way to write dates in English. The day is written first, followed by the month, and then the year. For example, the date today is written as “May 22, 2023.”

• Month/Day/Year

This is the second most common way to write dates in English. The month is written first, followed by the day, and then the year. For example, the date today could also be written as “22 May 2023.”

It is important to note that there is no right or wrong way to write dates in English. Both formats are acceptable, and the choice of format is often a matter of personal preference.

Here are some additional tips for writing dates in English:

• Always use numerals to write dates. Do not use words, such as “third” or “twenty-second.”
• Always use commas to separate the day, month, and year.
• Always capitalize the names of months.
• When writing dates in a sentence, put a comma after the date. For example, “The meeting is on May 22, 2023.”

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Practice (Practica)

ejemplo
She plays baseball. (play)

1. They   flowers in the garden. (plant)  
     

2. My wife   dinner. (cook)  
     

3. Sally   an English class. (teach)  
     

4. She   television in the evening. (watch)  
     

5. Fred   in an office. (work)  
     

6. He   to school every day. (go)  
     

7. The pilot   airplanes. (fly)  
     

8. They   every afternoon. (walk)  
     

9. He   the dishes. (wash)  
     

10. My brother   football. (play)

Práctica
Cambia la oración a forma interrogativa.

ejemplo
He plays soccer.  – Does he play soccer?

1. They walk to school.
  

2. He cooks well. 
 

3. They play basketball.
 

4. She washes the dishes.
 

5. You work hard.
 

6. They dance at the night club.
 

7. The birds fly in the sky.
 

8. The children play in the park.
 

9. Mike plays baseball.
 

10. Ken and Helen teach classes.

“The New Job”
Dialogue

LISA – Guess what? I have a new job.

MATT – Really?  Where do you work?

LISA – I work for International Hotels.

MATT – The 5-star hotel chain!  Wow!  What do you do?

LISA – I stay in their hotels as a guest to make sure that they are OK. 

MATT – So you’re like a hotel inspector for International Hotels.

LISA – Exactly.  I stay in a room, eat the food in the restaurant, go to the spa, and use all of the hotel amenities.  After my stay I write a report on the quality of all the services in the hotel for the International Hotels main office.

MATT – Wow!  That’s a great job!

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Pronunciation of letter “o”

The letter O can be pronounced in two main ways in English: as a long vowel sound or a short vowel sound.

The long vowel sound of O is represented by the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) symbol /oʊ/. This sound is made by rounding the lips and raising the back of the tongue towards the soft palate. Some examples of words that contain the long vowel sound of O are:

• boat
• coat
• moon
• soon
• tool
• room

The short vowel sound of O is represented by the IPA symbol /ɒ/. This sound is made by rounding the lips and lowering the back of the tongue towards the floor of the mouth. Some examples of words that contain the short vowel sound of O are:

• hot
• stop
• got
• cot
• lot
• pot

In addition to the long and short vowel sounds, the letter O can also be pronounced as a diphthong. A diphthong is a vowel sound that is made up of two vowel sounds. The diphthong that is made with the letter O is represented by the IPA symbol /ɔɪ/. This sound is made by starting with the short vowel sound of O and then moving to the long vowel sound of I. Some examples of words that contain the diphthong /ɔɪ/ are:

• oil
• boil
• toil
• spoil
• coil

The pronunciation of the letter O can vary depending on the word in which it appears and the accent of the speaker. For example, in the word “hot”, the O is pronounced as a short vowel sound in American English, but as a long vowel sound in British English.