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LECTURA

RICARDO AND HIS FAMILY / RICARDO Y SU FAMILIA

 

Based on my translation of: “Easy Spanish Reader”, by Raymond Grismer, Longmans, Green and Co., 1946

 

Lesson 1

                  RICARDO AND HIS FAMILY

                  RICARDO Y SU FAMILIA

 

     Ricardo is a Mexican-American boy.  He lives in Santa Barbara, California.  He lives in a brown house.

     Ricardo has a sister and two brothers.  Maria is his sister.  Miguel and Pablo are his brothers.  Ricardo's father's name is Juan and his mother's name is Teresa.

     Ricardo studies* in school.  He studies* history*, geography*, mathematics, science*, English and art*.  Ricardo thinks that geography* is interesting*.  In school, Ricardo learns the capitals* of the Latin American countries.

 

*COGNADOS - palabras que están iguales o parecidas en inglés y español.

 

VOCABULARIO - VOCABULARY

HIS            su, de el             father's              del padre

FAMILY     familia                name                 nombre

is               es                       and                      y

a                un, una               his                      su  (de el)

boy            muchacho          mother's             de la madre

lives          vive                     study                  estudiar

in               en                       studies               estudia

brown        café                    school                escuela

house        casa                    thinks                 piensa

has            tiene                    that                    que

sister         hermana             interesting         interesante

two            dos                      of                        de

brothers    hermanos            learns                  aprende

are             son                      countries             paises

 

 

 

                                    LESSON 2

 

     Ricardo's family consists of  five persons: Juan, the father; Teresa, the mother; Maria, the daughter; and Pablo, Miguel and Ricardo, the sons.  Maria is eighteen years old, Pablo is twenty-five, Miguel is twenty and Ricardo is sixteen.

     They have some cousins who live with their parents on a big ranch.  Occasionally, Maria and her brothers visit their aunt and uncle at the ranch. They like to ride the horses and swim in the river.  They especially like to visit the ranch when there is a rodeo.

 

VOCABULARIO

consists of          consista de         their          su (de ellos)

five                      cinco                   Occasionally ocasionalmente

persons               personas             aunt           tía

daughter             hija                      uncle          tío

eighteen             dieciocho            like            gustarse

twenty-five         veinticinco          ride            montar

twenty                veinte                  horses       caballos

sixteen               dieciseis             swim         nadar

cousins               primos                river          rio

who                     quien /-es            especially  especialmente

                                                       rodeo         rodeo

 

 

                                                Lesson 3

 

     Ricardo's house is big.  The roof of the house is red.  In front of the house there is a pretty garden.  The garden is small.  Behind the house there is a garage.

     The house has two floors.  On the lower floor there is a living room, a dining (daining) room, a kitchen and a patio. On the upper floor there are bedrooms and a bathroom.

     Every morning Ricardo goes to school.  He studies English, Spanish, history, geography and math.  He learns the names of the capitals of the countries of Latin America.  He knows that business between the U.S. and the other countries of Latin America is very important.

 

Vocabulary

big             grande                On                      en    

small         chica / o              lower                  bajo

roof           techo                  living room         sala

red             rojo                     dining room        comedor

In front      En frente            (daining rum)

of               de                       kitchen               cocina

there is      hay                     upper                  de arriba

pretty        bonita                 bedrooms           recámaras

garden       jardin                  bathroom           cuarto de baño

Behind      Detras de           business             negocio

floors         pisos                   between             entre

                                             other                  otro / a

 

                          

                           Lesson 4

 

     Ricardo goes to school.  His first class of the day is history class. This morning Ricardo goes to the blackboard and writes the names of the countries of Central America: Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala.

     He knows that there are six countries in Central America. 

     The class also studies the Antilles.  Cuba is the largest island in the Antilles.

     After his last class, Ricardo goes home.  As he arrives home, his mother is working in the garden.  When his mother sees Ricardo, she enters the house and prepares lunch in the kitchen.

 

VOCABULARIO

 

this                     esta                    last                              último

blackboard         pizarón               as he arrives               al llegar

writes                 escribe               is working                   está trabajando

also                    también              when                   cuando

largest               la más grande    sees                             ve

island                 isla                     enters                          entra

after                   despues de         prepares                     prepara

                                                      lunch                           lonche

 

 

 

 

                           LESSON 5

 

     Ricardo's father has many friends. They work in the city and on the farms, too.  Some speak Spanish.  Some speak English, too.  Ricardo studies both English and Spanish in school.

     One of Ricardo's brothers, Pablo, is a businesssman.  He imports and exports many things.  Many times he visits other countries, such as Colombia, Costa Rica and Mexico.

     At night the family meets in the living room.  Ricardo and Maria study. Their father reads the afternoon newspaper.

 

VOCABULARY

 

many         muchos / as                 exports               exporta

friends       amigos                        things                 cosas

They          Ellos                            times                  veces

work          trabajan                      visits                           visita

city            ciudad                         such as               tales como

farms         Granjas                       at                        en, por

too             también                       night                   noche

speak        hablar, hablan             meets                 encontra

Some         Algunos                       Their                  Su (de ellos)

others        otros                            reads                  lee

businessman-comerciante           afternoon           tarde

imports      importa                       newspaper         periódico

                                                     

 

 

 

                                    Lesson 6

     Maria gets up and turns on the television.  They watch and soon they hear a voice that announces, in Spanish, the news of the day.

     "What station is it?" Ricardo asks his sister.

     "It's a Mexican station," she replies.

     "Pablo writes that he is going to speak on one of the Mexican networks," Maria says.

      Soon they hear a man speaking in English. 

     "It's Pablo!" everyone exclaims.

 

 

Vocabulary

gets up               se levanta          station                estación

turns on              prende                asks                   pregunta

watch                  mirar, miran       replies                responde

soon                   pronto                to speak             hablar

hear                    oir, oyen             networks            redes

voice                           voz                      conditions          condiciones

announces anuncia              world                  mundo

news                   noticias              exclaims             exclama

day                     día                     

 

 

 

 

                                    Lesson 7

     Ricardo eats breakfast in the dining room with the family.  Generally, he drinks a glass of milk and eats eggs and toast.  At noon he eats lunch in the restaurant at school.

     Sometimes the family eats a meal in a cafe. Their favorite restaurant is in the center of town. It is called "The Blue House."  The food is always very good.  The waiters are very attentive. After eating in this restaurant, the family returns to the house. 

     Often they go to the movies.  Sometimes they go to the theater, where they see a new comedy.

     Ricardo's brother Pablo is in Mexico City.  He writes to Ricardo and to Maria that he also goes to the movies and the theater a lot in Mexico.

 

Vocabulary

eats                    come                                    is called     está llamada

breakfast           desayuno                    food           comida

Generally           Generalmente            always       siempre

Drinks                toma, bebe                  good          bueno / a

glass                   vaso                            waiters      meseros

milk                    leche                                    attentive   atento

eggs                   huevos                        this            este

toast                   pan tostado                 returns      regresa

At noon              Al mediodía                Often         muchas veces

Sometimes         A veces                       theater      teatro

meal                   comida                        where        donde

favorite              favorita                       new            nuevo / a

center                 centro                          comedy     comedia

town                   pueblo                         a lot           mucho

 

        

 

                                    Lesson 8

 

     One night a friend calls Ricardo's father on the telephone.  The friend has just arrived in the city by train. He is at the train station.  He wants to know the name of a good hotel.

     Ricardo's parents go immediately to the train station in their car. their friend is in the waiting room.

     Ricardo's parents take their friend to the Pan American Hotel.  The friend writes his name in the register: Peter Rogers, of Philadelphia.

 

 

Vocabulary

 

calls           llama                  immediately                inmediatamente

has just     acaba de            waiting                        esperando

arrived      llegado               take                             llevar, tomar

by train     por tren              writes                          escribe

wants         quiere                 register                       registro

 

 

 

 

                           Lesson 9

 

     A bellboy leads Mr. Rogers to his room while Ricardo's parents wait in the vestibule. The room is big and faces a park. It is on the seventh floor. There is elevator service all night.

      In the rooms there are two beds, two chairs, a radio, a night stand, a chest of drawers and a dressing table.

      The bellboy turns on the lights and puts the suitcases at the foot of one of the beds.  Mr. Rogers gives him a tip.

     Before he goes down to the vestibule, Mr. Rogers goes into the bathroom to wash his hands and face.  There are large and small towels in the bathroom, soap, and ice water to drink.

 

Vocabulary

bellboy      el botones                            at the foot          al pie

leads                  conduce                                tip                       propina

while mientras                               Before                Antes de

vestibule    el cuarto en frente

faces                  da a                                      down          bajar

service      servicio                                wash                   lavar

all night     toda la noche                       towels                 toallas

night stand - mesa al lado de la cama

turns on     prende, enciende                 soap                   jabón

puts           pone                                     ice water            agua helado

 

                            Lesson 10

 

     On Saturday mornings, Maria and her mother, Teresa, go shopping.  When it is cold, the women wear overcoats. When it is hot they do not wear overcoats.  It is very hot in the summer, but it is never very cold in Santa Barbara.

     In the northern states it is very cold and there is a lot of snow in the winter.

     One Saturday, it is raining when the women leave, and therefore Maria and her mother take umbrellas and raincoats.

 

Vocabulary

Saturday            sábado                        summer     verano

go                       ir, vas, van                  never         nunca

shopping            comprando,                 northern    del norte

                           de compras                 states        estados

When                 Cuando                       winter        invierno

it is cold             hace frio                      raining       lluviendo

wear                   llevar (ropa)                umbrellas  paraguas

overcoats           abrigos                        raincoats-  impermeables

do not                 no (negación del verbo)

 

 

                       

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