6. Reading comprehension I live in a county called The White Towns. It is in the province of Cádiz, in the South of Spain. It is a group of towns formed by, among others: El Bosque, Benamahoma, Grazalema, Benaocaz, Villaluenga and Ubrique. These towns have more or less the same characteristics: their streets are narrow and steep, their houses are white and not very tall.
10. Reading comprehension The towns are near the Grazalema Natural Park. It is a rich and precious environment with very important species, like the “pinsapo”, a kind of pine tree that only occurs in this area and in Russia. Many people settled in this area. The oldest ruins came from the prehistoric times. We can find some remains from the this time, for example in Villamartín, in the Dolmen Alberite. Later, the Romans stayed in this area, too. Romans built many important monuments and introduced different innovations. Some Roman vestiges we can find in our towns are the Roman Village Ocuri, next to Ubrique, on a beautiful hill called “El Salto de la Mora”.
15. Reading comprehension Moorish also settled here and brought with them their customs and imaginative architecture. The “Barrio Nazarí” in Benaocaz is an example of a Moorish town. Now we can only see the ruins, but with a little bit of imagination you can see the divisions of the houses and the narrow pebble streets. Another example is Fatima Castle on a high peak where you can see a fantastic landscape. In conclusion, I live in a charming area surrounded by a great nature. Different people throughtout history history fell in love with it.
16. Reading comprehension: questions Answer the following questions: a. Can you name two characteristics of the White Towns? b. Where do the pinsapos occur? c. Can you give an example of a Roman vestige in the White Towns? d. Can you give an example of a Moorish vestige in the White Towns?
17. Grammar a. Write 5 verbs in the text in the past tense. b. Analyse this sentence. Divide it into subject and predicate. Underline the verb. Romans built many important monuments
19. Listening comprehension I José Pérez Gallardo, El Retra, _____________ born in the 1880's in Constantina, Seville. He was a carpenter in a _____________ in Badajoz when he married María del Carmen. They had seven _____________. Only three of them are still alive. In a moment in his _____________ he started to lose his eyesight. Then he felt interested in _____________. He became a freelance photographer in the area. One day, when he was in Seville, he met a truck _____________ who travelled from Seville to Ubrique and knew about this town.
20. Listening comprehension II Then he decided to go _____________. It was 1936, the year the war began. After the _____________, all the men in town had to be photographed, so he decided to stay there. Finally he settled in Ubrique where he was very _____________ because he was the only photographer in town for a long time and took photographs of almost all “ubriqueños”. He was called el “Retra”, the _____________ form of retratista.
21. Listening comprehension check a. What is the name of the character? b. Where and when was he born? c. Why was he so important in Ubrique? d. Are there any monuments or street in Ubrique with his name?
22. Writing Think of an important person in your town. Answer the questions on him/ her a. What is the name of the character? b. Where and when was he born? c. Why was he so important in Ubrique? d. Are there any monuments or street in Ubrique with his name? Now write a text using the information you got in the previous exercise. use pictures and information from the Internet.
23. Oral exercises Look for some information in the Internet about your town. Once you have found all the information, tell your partner a brief summary of it. a. When was it founded? b. How many people settled on it throughout history? c. Describe its landscape (rivers, mountains, etc) d. Tell about festivities and traditions, including typical food in your town. e. Tell about things you can do there in your free time. Now, write a text about it with pictures or photographs.
