Job Interviews

Here are some common interview questions.

Why are you interested in working here?

Why should we hire you?

Where do you see yourself in five years?

What are some of your hobbies (pastimes)?

Los Sufijos (suffixes)

Aquí están unos ejemplos de sufijos en inglés y los sufijos que les corresponden en castellano: 

Inglés                                    Castellano

ic        romantic                                   ico      romántico

ary      ordinary                                   ario     ordinario

er        writer                                       tor       escritor

           dancer                                       dor      bailador

ty        liberty                       tad      libertad

ity       trinity                                        idad     trinidad

ology   biology                                   ología   biología

ism     tourism                                    ismo     turismo

ist       tourist                                       ista       turista

ous     delicious                                  oso       delicioso

tion     station                                     ción      estación

ent      different                                 ente      diferente                          

El Sufijo Able

Sufijo que forma adjetivos a partir de verbos. No se aplica a sustantivos. Significa able, ible :

to drink/drinkable = beber/bebible
to reason/reasonable = razonar/razonable
bankable/rentable

El Sufijo Ful

Full = Lleno  El sufijo Ful es agregado a sustantivos para formar sustantivos y adjetivos. significan ada, ado, ido, oso, literalmente “lleno de” :

beauty (belleza)               beautiful (bello)

doubt (duda)                     doubtful (dudoso)

help (ayuda)                      helpful (útil, o sea, que ayuda)

tear (lágrima)                     tearful (lacrimoso)

use (uso)                             useful (útil)

wonder (maravilla)          wonderful (maravilloso) 

color/colorful = color/colorido

Los Sufijos Ess e Ine

Los sufijo ess e ine permiten cambiar el género (masculino/femenino). Ambos convierten un sustantivo masculino a femenino :

poet/poetess = poeta/ poetisa
emperor/empress = emperador/emperatriz

waiter/waitress

actor/actress

El Sufijo Ment

Usamos en inglés el sufijo ment para convertir algunos verbos en sustantivos. Haciendo que en el idioma español se obtenga la extensión or, ción, mento

to move/movement = mover/movimiento
to enlarge/enlargement = agrandar/agrandamiento

El Sufijo Ness

Con el sufijo ness convertimos adjetivos calificativos en sustantivos. Pero si el adjetivo termina en y se cambia esta por la i antes de ser agregado el sufijo. Significa dad, eza
Sick/sickness = enfermo/enfermedad
Dark/darkness = oscuro/oscuridad

El Sufijo Ance

Los sufijo ance es usado en inglés para convertir verbos a sustantivos. Si los verbos terminan en e cambian la e por a para que el sufijo permanezca invariable. Significan ancia, encia, cion.

to guide/guidance = guiar/guía
to insure/Insurance = asegurar/seguro

to assure/assurance = asegurar she gave me her assurance that … me aseguró or me garantizó que

El Sufijo Ly

Este sufijo permite transformar un adjetivo calificativo o un sustantivo en un adverbio, añadiendo el significado mente. Los adjetivos terminados en le simplemente cambian la e por y; los terminados en ly, convierten la y en i y se le agrega ly; a los terminados en ue cambian la e en ly; a los terminados en ll agregan sólo y; los terminados en ue cambian la e por ly.

bad/badly = malo/malamente
open/openly = abierto/abiertamente

El Sufijo Y

Este sufijo es utilizado en inglés con 3 propósitos: Se añade a sustantivos para convertirlos en adjetivos y expresar semejanza o para indicar abundancia. Y en caso de que un sustantivo finalice en e convierte la e simplemente en y. Significa ado, oso y raramente significa able; Utilizado para obtener el disminutivo, para el efecto si finaliza en consonante esta se repite. significa ito, ita.

Wind/windy = viento/ventoso

Rain/rainy = lluvia/lluvioso

water/watery = agua/acuoso
anger/angry = enojo/enojado

El Sufijo Ous

Con el sufijo ous, el cual significa oso, osa trasformamos un sustantivo en adjetivo y de acuerdo al procedimiento siguiente :

Sustantivos terminados en r basta agregar ous; los terminados en e cambian e por ous; el terminado en y la cambia por i y agrega ous, al sustantivo terminado en o agrega us, los terminados en on elimina la n y se reemplaza por us.

danger/dangerous = peligro/peligroso
fury/furious = furia/furioso

luxury/luxurious = lujo/ lujoso

El Sufijo Cal

Convierte sustantivos. en adjetivos. Sustantivos terminados en c solamente agrega al. Significa ico, ica.

alphabet/alphabetical = alfabeto/alfabético(ica)
medic/medical = médico/médico (a)

El Sufijo Ship

Al agregar el sufijo ship a un adjetivo obtenemos un sustantivo y se consigue derivar sustantivos a partir de sustantivos y verbos. Se emplea de una manera muy variada para denotar: cualidades abstractas, arte o destreza, dignidad, oficio, cargo, o título, la duración de una acción, Y Por lo general significa cion, ía.

citizen/citizenship = ciudadano/ciudadanía
dictator/dictatorship = dictador/dictadura

El Sufijo Less

Este sufijo nos brinda la posibilidad de alterar sustantivos para obtener adjetivos. Siendo muy util cuando tratamos con los comparativos. Es un sufijo tipo negación y el cual significa sin.

worth/worthless = útil/inútil
hope/hopeless = esperanza/sin esperanza

El Sufijo Tion

El sufijo tion el cual significa cion, or, permite transformar verbos en sustantivos, acorde a la siguiente guía :
Verbos terminados en la consonante t, simplemente agregan ion; los verbos terminados ate, ute, eliminan la e y agregan ion; los verbos terminados en la vocal e que no forme parte de ate/ute, cambian la e por a y se les agrega tion.

to educate/education = educar/educación
to pollute/pollution = contaminar/contaminacion

El Sufijo Th

Th agregado a números cardinales nos permite obtener números ordinales. Y agregado a verbos le imprime un sentido potivo.

five/fifth = cinco/quinto
ten/tenth = diez/décimo

El Sufijo ish

El sufijo ish se le agrega a sustantivos para formar adjetivos y así indicar semejanza o atenuación.
Si el sustantivo termina en e cambia la e por i y se le agregas sh. Si el sustantivo finaliza en y la conservara y se le agrega ish. Si el sustantivo termina en consonante simplemente se le agrega ish para obtener el adjetivo.

woman/womanish = mujer/como mujer, mujeril
boy/boyish = niño/como niño

child/childish = niño/como niño

El Sufijo Hood

Cuando agregamos el sufijo hood a un sustantivo concreto obtenemos un sustantivo abstracto.
mother/motherhood = madre/maternidad
likeli/likelihood = probable/probabilidad

Neighbor/neighborhood = vecino/barrio vecindario

Questions with "How"

Usamos “how much” si preguntamos por la cantidad de algo que es incontable* (un sustantivo incontable es uno que no se puede contar*)

• How much milk do we need?
  ¿Cuánta leche necesitamos?

• How much food is there in kitchen?
  ¿Cuánta comida hay en la cocina?

Usamos “how many” si preguntamos por la cantidad de algo que se puede contar (un sustantivo contable)

• How many students are in the class?
  ¿Cuántos alumnos hay en la clase?

Con la palabra “How” se puede formar una pregunta con casi cualquier adjetivo. Cuesta mucho para traducir estas preguntas pero lo importante es entenderlas. Solo hace falta entender que “how” se refiere de como el adjetivo modifica el sustantivo.

How old are you?  I am 18 years old.

How young are the children?  The children are very young.

How big is your kitchen?  My kitchen is five square meters.

How small is the tree?  The tree is only one meter high.

How blue is the sky? The sky is very blue.

How deep is the ocean? The ocean is very deep.

How long is the movie?  The movie is two hours long.

How long is the desk? The desk is one meter long.

How short is the documentary? The documentary is only 15 minutes long.

How stupid is the boy? The boy is really, really stupid.

How funny is the movie? The movie isn’t very funny.

How interesting is the book? The book is very interesting.

How boring is the class? It is very boring.

How fat is the teacher? The teacher is very fat.


How long does it take you to go to work in the morning?
How often do you study English?

How do you make a paella?
How did you meet your wife?
How do you like Valencia?
How does he sleep at night?

Take a question exam here.

Route 66 (From Chicago to Los Angeles)

Audio

The historic Route 66 from Chicago to Los Angeles is 80 years old this year. This week, we go for a ride through the colorful history of a road that has been called "the Main Street of America."

(MUSIC: "Route 66"/Rosemary Clooney)

The idea for Route 66 started in Oklahoma. Citizens there wanted to link their state with states to the east and west. By the 1920s, federal officials wanted to connect state roads to provide a shorter, faster way across the country. So a plan was developed to connect existing state roads into one long national highway.

United States Highway Sixty-Six was established on November eleventh, 1926. It was one the first federal highways. It crossed eight states. It was 3,800 kilometers long.

Route 66 became the most famous road in America. It passed through the center of many cities and towns. It crossed deserts, mountains, valleys and rivers.

In the 1930s, people suffered through the Great Depression. In Oklahoma, many poor families lost their farms because of dust storms. So they traveled west to California on Route 66 in search of a better life.

In 1939, John Steinbeck wrote about these families in "The Grapes of Wrath."

In his book, Steinbeck wrote: "66 -- the long concrete path across the country, waving gently up and down on the map ... over the red lands and the gray lands, twisting up into the mountains, crossing the Divide and down into the bright and terrible desert, and across the desert to the mountains again, and into the rich California valleys."

Steinbeck wrote: "66 is the path of a people in flight, refugees from dust and shrinking land … 66 is the mother road, the road of flight."

In 1946, the songwriter Bobby Troup and his wife drove across the country to Los Angeles. He wrote a song about traveling on Route 66. The song told people they could have fun, could get their kicks, on that drive.

In Los Angeles, Bobby Troup took the song to Nat King Cole, who recorded it. It became a huge hit.

(MUSIC: "Route 66"/Nat King Cole)

In the 1950s, holiday travel brought more and more families out West to explore. Route 66 represented the spirit of movement and excitement.

In the 1960s, Americans watched a popular television series called "Route 66." It was the story of two young men driving across the country.

The show was filmed in cities and towns across America. Yet only a few shows were filmed on the real Route 66.

In real life, people were getting fewer and fewer kicks on Route 66. By 1962, parts of the road were closed because they were in poor condition.

The federal government was building bigger highways. Cars and trucks could travel at higher speeds. People started driving on these new interstate highways instead of the old Route 66.

Finally, in 1985, Route 66 was officially removed from the national highway system.

People have formed groups to save parts of the old Sixty-Six and many of the interesting places to eat, stay and see along the way.

Award-winning writer Michael Wallis is an expert on the historic highway. He is the author of "Route 66: The Mother Road."

Michael Wallis was born in Saint Louis, Missouri, right off the highway. He has lived in seven of the eight states along its path. His Web site, michaelwallis.com, has information and stories about the history of the Mother Road.

(MUSIC: "Route 66"/Chuck Berry)

Now it is our turn to take a trip on Route 66. We will have to search for it at times. Many parts of the road have new names or numbers. Some parts of it are included in other interstate highways.

Our trip begins in the Midwest, in Chicago, Illinois. Almost three million people live there. Chicago is America's third largest city.

From Chicago, the road goes southwest through many small towns in Illinois. One of them is Springfield, the home of America's sixteenth president, Abraham Lincoln.

Now we cross into Missouri. We drive through Saint Louis, the city known as "the Gateway to the West." More than 300,000 people live there.

There are many natural wonders to see in Missouri. One of the most famous along Route 66 is Meramec Caverns in Stanton.

Inside the cave, visitors see beautifully colored stalagmites and stalactites. These are mineral formations. Stalagmites rise from the floor; stalactites hang from the ceiling.

Long ago, local Indian tribes used the Meramec Caverns for shelter. A French miner named Jacques Renault discovered saltpeter in the caverns in the 1700s. The material was used to produce gunpowder.

Later, the outlaw Jesse James is said to have used the caverns as a hiding place.

From Missouri, our drive takes us for a very short time through the state of Kansas. Then we enter Oklahoma. Oklahoma may well be the heart and soul of Route 66. That is because there are more kilometers of the road in Oklahoma than in any other state.

In Claremore, Oklahoma, a statue honors a famous American, Will Rogers. Will Rogers was born in Claremore. He became a popular actor, radio broadcaster and newspaper writer in the 1920s and 30s.

We pass through many historic towns in Oklahoma. In Oklahoma City, we can visit the National Cowboy Hall of Fame and Western Heritage Center.

And in Clinton, we can stop at the Route 66 Museum. This official museum tells the complete history of the road and its importance to America.

(MUSIC: "Route 66"/Depeche Mode)

Now we drive through the northern part of Texas. The area is called the Texas Panhandle. We stop near the city of Amarillo to look at some unusual art that celebrates Route 66. Welcome to Cadillac Ranch.

A Cadillac is a large, costly (expensive) automobile. Cadillac Ranch has ten of them half buried in the ground. A wealthy farmer and art collector named Stanley Marsh created Cadillac Ranch to honor America's roads.

Continuing west, we travel through the states of New Mexico and Arizona. We pass through some of the most beautiful country in the Southwest.

Petrified Forest National Park is one of the natural wonders of Arizona. Trees that are millions of years old have turned to stone in unusual shapes.

North of Route 66 is a desert known for its red and yellow sand and rocks. Its name is the Painted Desert.

(MUSIC: "Route 66"/John Mayer)

We continue on our trip, driving on a winding road up and down the Black Mountains. We arrive at Oatman, Arizona. Long ago, Oatman was a rich gold-mining town. Everyone left the town when the mining ended. Today Oatman still looks like it did in the past.

Now we enter California. We pass through the Mojave Desert, some mountains and several interesting towns. The old highway gets lost among the modern road systems of Los Angeles.

Finally, we arrive at the Pacific Ocean in the city of Santa Monica. Our trip ends. We watch the tide come in, and thank Route 66 for the ride.

(MUSIC: "Route 66"/Buckwheat Zydeco)

Seven Man-Made Wonders in the USA (Voice of America)

(audio here)

There are many natural wonders in the United States. Today, we take you to seven man-made wonders in America.

Against the city's gleaming spires,
Above the ships that ply the stream,
A bridge of haunting beauty stands –
Fulfillment of an artist's dream.

That poem is about our first man-made wonder -- the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City. It extends more than 480 meters over the East River to connect the areas of Brooklyn and Manhattan. A famous bridge builder David B. Steinman wrote the poem. But he did not build the Brooklyn Bridge.

It was the dream of another man, John A. Roebling. He was a member of the design team and became chief engineer of the building project in 1867. Sadly, he became sick and died before work even started. He had an accident when visiting the area where the bridge was to be built

Building began in 1870. It was very dangerous. Few records were kept on such events. But, historians say between 20 and 30 men died as a result of the building project. Some died from falling off the bridge or from being struck by equipment.

Others died or were injured from working in the structures called caissons. These lay deep below the surface of the Earth. The workers would get a pressure sickness called the bends.

John Roebling's son, Washington, was severely disabled by the bends. He had been named chief engineer of the Brooklyn Bridge project soon after his father died. Washington Roebling continued the work from his home after he was disabled.

The Brooklyn Bridge opened on May 24, 1883. At the time, it was the longest suspension bridge in the world. It is still a beautiful structure. The bridge has tens of thousands of suspension wires that spread many meters across and up and down to towers on each side. From a distance the many wires look like the stringed musical instrument called the harp. The center of the Brooklyn Bridge rises almost 40 meters above the East River. It is one of the most famous and beloved New York City landmarks.Another bridge makes our list of the seven man-made wonders. This one is in northern California.

The Golden Gate Bridge is named after the waterway it crosses. The Golden Gate Strait lies between the Pacific Ocean and the San Francisco Bay. The bridge over it links the city of San Francisco with Marin County.

Joseph Strauss was the chief engineer of the Golden Gate Bridge. Building began in 1933. The bridge opened in 1937. It is almost 1,300 meters long. It was the longest suspension bridge in the world for almost 30 years. Then, in 1964, the larger Verrazano Narrows bridge opened in New York City.

Joseph Strauss used newly developed protective equipment for the men who worked on the bridge. These included a special safety net under the bridge. But still, 11 men were killed during construction

The color of the bridge, International Orange, is very important. It was chosen partly because it is easier to see through the heavy fog that often covers San Francisco. Many people consider the Golden Gate Bridge the most beautiful bridge structure in the world.

Joseph Strauss wrote a poem about his bridge when the work was done. Here is a part of "The Mighty Task is Done":

At last the mighty task is done;
Resplendent in the western sun
The Bridge looms mountain high;
Its titan piers grip ocean floor,
Its great steel arms link shore with shore,
Its towers pierce the sky.

Our next man-made wonder is as famous a landmark in the Midwest United States as the first two are on the East and West Coasts. The Gateway Arch in Saint Louis, Missouri is the tallest freestanding monument in the nation. The shiny, steel curve rises to almost 200 meters. Below, the arch is exactly as wide as it is tall.

The famous Finnish American building designer, Eero Saarinen, designed the Gateway Arch during a national competition in the late 1940s. However, building did not begin until February, 1963. It was completed in October, 1965. Later a transport system was added to permit people to visit an observation area inside the top of the arch.

The Gateway Arch rises above the Mississippi River. It was named in honor of Saint Louis, which was historically called "The Gateway to the West."There is one place in America that almost everyone agrees is a man-made wonder: South Dakota's Mount Rushmore

Giant faces of four great American presidents are cut into the rock near the top of Mount Rushmore in the Black Hills. Each face is about 18 meters high.

Sculptor Gutzon Borglum was chosen to create the Mount Rushmore memorial. It was completed in 1941, after 14 years.

Each president represents important values in America. George Washington led the cause for independence. Thomas Jefferson represented the belief in equality. Abraham Lincoln ended slavery and saved the Union. And Theodore Roosevelt was a conservationist and symbol of the progressive spirit of America.We go next to one of the largest and most difficult structures ever built in the United States: Hoover Dam. The dam is in the Black Canyon, near Las Vegas, Nevada. It controls the water of the Colorado River and produces electric power.

Workers began to build Hoover Dam in 1931. They finished in just five years.

More than 20,000 men worked on the project. It was very dangerous. Ninety-six workers were killed. Many others were injured.

The Hoover Dam is 221 meters tall. It weighs more than six and one half million tons. At the time, it was the largest and tallest dam in the world. And it was one of the largest producers of electric power ever built.

Hoover Dam also created Lake Mead, the largest man-made lake in AmericaAnother man-made wonder of the United States was built long before the nation was established. About 900 years ago, the Ancestral Puebloan people built villages high in the walls of canyons in Mesa Verde, Colorado. Six hundred cliff dwellings are now part of the Mesa Verde National Park.

Visitors can stand at the top of the mesas and look into the dwellings almost hidden in openings of the rock walls. The Puebloan people cut small steps into the rock. A series of such steps connected buildings containing hundreds of rooms.

The rock walls have protected the buildings from severe weather in the area.

So they remain mostly unchanged in the hundreds of years since they were built.Our final man-made wonder is in the northwestern city of Seattle, Washington. The Space Needle was built as the central structure for the 1962 World's Fair.

Edward Carlson designed the 184 meter tall structure. The Space Needle has a wide base on the ground. It is narrow in the middle. On top is a large ring-like structure.

The structure was meant to look like a "flying saucer," a vehicle that was popular in science fiction space travel stories. The saucer includes an observation area and eating place. The restaurant slowly turns to provide visitors with a 360 degree view of Seattle.

The Space Needle was not very costly. The building project cost about 4,500,000 dollars. It was designed and completed in about a year and opened on the first day of the World's Fair.

Today, the Space Needle is the most popular place for visitors to Seattle. And it remains the internationally known symbol of the city.