Supporting Information – S2 File

J. Birulés-Muntané, S. Soto-Faraco

Description of supporting information files

 S2 File. Tasks’ description
o Text A: Listening task
o Text B: Vocabulary task
o Text C: Comprehension task

1
Text A. Listening task

Chosen words were broadly counterbalanced between tests 1 and 2 by type, number of
repetitions (in the episode) and frequency per million. All the definitions were taken
from the Longman dictionary of contemporary English, and the wrong answers came
from other words. Of the two wrong definitions, one was chosen from inside the
semantic field and the other from outside, whenever possible. Word frequencies were
taken from the book: “Word Frequencies in Written and Spoken English: based on the
British National Corpus” of Geoffrey Leech et al, 2001.

Listening Listening 2 words:

1. We 1. Better
2. Are 2. Done
3. Good 3. Ma’am
4. Ill 4. Taken
5. Refuse 5. Up
6. Inherit 6. Whole
7. Throw 7. Household
8. Up 8. Kitchen-maid
9. To 9. Ridiculous
10. Butler 10. He
11. Valet 11. Valet
12. Mr. 12. Maid
13. Mathew 13. Behave
14. Hand 14. Confirm
15. Change 15. Expectation
16. Me 16. Use
17. Unwelcome 17. Myself
18. Heir 18. Earth
19. Lawyer 19. Mean
20. Upper 20. Push
21. Turning 21. At
22. Me 22. Me
23. Own 23. Fixed
24. Met 24. Bachelor

Example:

-Mother, Lord Grantham has made the ___(unwelcome)_____ discovery that his
__(heir)_______ is a middle-class ___(lawyer)_ and the son of a middle class doctor.

2
Listening 1

- Here __1__ ___2__, ma'am, Crawley House.

- For __3______or___4______.

- I still don't see why I couldn't just ______5_____ it.

- There's no mechanism for you to do so. You will be an earl. You will _____6_____the estate.
Of course, you can _____7_____it away when you have it. That's __8_ __9__ you.

-Can I help?

-I'm Molesley, sir, your ____10____ and____11______.

- Mr Molesley, I'm afraid//

- May I introduce myself? I am ____12_____ Crawley and this is my son, Mr ______13_______

Crawley.

- I'll just give –Mr. Taylor a_____14_____with the cases.

- I can//

- Thank you, Molesley.

- I won't let them ___15______ __16___.

-Why would they want to?

-Mother, Lord Grantham has made the ______17______ discovery that his ___18___ is a
middle-class ______19_____ and the son of a middle class doctor.

-____20_____ middle class.

-He wants to limit the damage by ___21____ __22___ into one of his __23___ kind.

-When you ___24____ him in London, you liked him.

2
Listening 2

- Oh, Ellen. This is much ___1____than I thought it would be. You have ___2____well.

- Thank you, _____3______.

- Would you like this in here, ma'am, or ______4___ __5___ to your room?

- In here, thank you.

- So, are you the ____6______of our new________7______?

- There's a local girl, ma'am, Beth. She's to double under-housemaid and ________
___8_____.

- This is ________9_______.

- Thank you very much, Molesley.

- Might we have some tea?

- Very good, ma'am.

- Well, ___10___ can go right now.

- Why?

-Because we don't need a butler, or a______11______, if it comes to that.

- We've always managed perfectly well with a cook and a ____12_____, and they cannot
expect us to alter our...

-What they expect, Matthew, is that we don't know how to _____13_______. So if you don't
mind, I would rather not_____14_______their______15_______.

- I have to be myself, Mother. I'll be no __16___to anyone if I can't be ______17______. And

before they or you get any ideas, I will choose my own wife.

-What on ___18______do you_____19_________?

- Well, they're clearly going to ___20_____one of the daugthers __21____ _22___.

They'll have ____23____ on that when they heard I was a ____24_______.

3
Text B. Vocabulary task

None of the words is cognate with Catalan or Spanish, and they were balanced by
number of repetitions and frequency per million. All the definitions were taken from the
Longman dictionary of contemporary English, and the wrong answers came from other
words. Of the two wrong definitions, one was chosen from inside the semantic field and
the other from outside, whenever possible.

Word frequencies were taken from the book: “Word Frequencies in Written and Spoken
English: based on the British National Corpus” of Geoffrey Leech et al, 2001”.

Example:

EAGER

a/ to be reasonable, practical, and showing good judgment

b/ fairly or to some degree
c/ very keen and excited about something that is going to happen or about something
you want to do

4
Test 1

1- LORDSHIP
a/ a man who has a rank in the aristocracy.
b/ a long narrow boat that is used for travelling on a canal
c/ used when talking to or talking about a lord, or when talking to a judge or bishop

2- FOOTMAN
a/ someone whose job is to clean other people's houses.
b/ a male servant in the past who opened the front door, announced the names of visitors
etc
c/ unable to walk properly because your leg or foot is injured or weak.

3- SHAME
a/ to produce bright light
b/ caring and feeling sorry about someone's problems
c/ the feeling you have when you feel guilty and embarrassed.

4- OUGHT TO
a/ to write a letter to someone
b/ to make a particular situation exist or cause a particular feeling
c/ to tell someone something because it is the best or most sensible thing to do

5- HEIR
a/ the mass of things like fine threads that grows on your head.
b/ the chief male servant of a household, usually in charge of serving food, the care of
silverware, etc.
c/ the person who has the legal right to receive the property or title of another person
when they die.

6- INDEED
a/ fairly or to some degree
b/ used to emphasize a statement or answer:
c/ wanting something that someone else has

7- SHALL
a/ to give especial attention or importance to something
b/ used to make a suggestion, or to say what you will do in the future,
c/ to say that you admire and approve of someone or something, especially publicly

8- ODD
a/ unable to walk properly because your leg or foot is injured or weak.
b/ different from what is normal or expected, especially in a way that you disapprove of
or cannot understand
c/ something exciting that provides information that you did not know about

9- LUNCHEON
a/ a room where you eat meals in a house or hotel
b/ formal for lunch
c/ food cooked or prepared in a particular way.

5
10- the WAGE
a/ money you earn that is paid according to the number of hours, days, or weeks that
you work
b/ an area where houses or buildings of a similar type have all been built together in a
planned way
c/ A treaty or deal of inheritance.

11- EAGER
a/ to be reasonable, practical, and showing good judgment
b/ fairly or to some degree
c/ very keen and excited about something that is going to happen or about something
you want to do

12- To GATHER
a/ to believe that something is true because of what you have seen or heard
b/ to tell someone that you are sorry that you have done something wrong
c/ to regard something as unlikely to be true or important

13- UNSINKABLE
a/ impossible to go down below the surface of water or mud
b/ impossible to accept or imagine
c/ something that cannot be eaten

14- BEG
a/ move towards a place or position that is in front of you
b/ to put in order; arrange in a desired state or condition.
c/ to ask for something in an anxious or urgent way, because you want it very much

15- PRY
a/ to remain hidden because someone is trying to find you or catch you
b/ to try to find out details about someone else's private life in an impolite way:
c/ to talk too proudly about your abilities, achievements, or possessions

6
Test 2

1- ESTATE
a/ an area where houses or buildings of a similar type have all been built together in a
planned way
b/ the physical or mental condition that someone or something is in
c/ the government or political organization of a country

2-VALET
a/ a male servant who looks after a man's clothes, serves his meals etc.
b/ someone whose job is to clean other people's houses.
c/ to be reasonable, practical, and showing good judgment

3- RATHER
a/ fairly or to some degree
b/ used to make a suggestion, or to say what you will do in the future:
c/ caring and feeling sorry about someone's problems

4- MOURNING
a/ a flat hard area near a house, where people sit outside.
b/ to show everyone how rich you are.
c/ expression of great sadness because someone has died.

5- DUTY
a/ something that you have to do because it is morally or legally right
b/ a physical kind of work
c/ someone who prepares and cooks food as their job

6- ENTAIL
a/ the area of land next to a house, where there are flowers, and often a place for people
to sit
b/ the person who has the legal right to receive the property or title of another person
when they die.
c/ a treaty or deal of inheritance.

7- SETTLED
a/ to put in order; arrange in a desired state or condition
b/ in a lower place or position
c/ not tidy, planned, or arranged in order

8- APOLOGISE
a/ to make it possible or easier for someone to do something
b/ the feeling you have when you feel guilty and embarrassed.
c/ to tell someone that you are sorry that you have done something wrong

9- GIVE A CHANCE
a/ to ask for mercy
b/ to give the legal right
c/ to ask for an opportunity

7
10- To WONDER
a/ to walk or travel, usually for a long time, with no clear purpose or direction
b/ to believe that something is true because of what you have seen or heard
c/ to think about something that you are not sure about and try to guess what is true,
what will happen etc

11- DRAWING ROOM

a/ a room, especially in a large house where you eat meals
b/ a room, especially in a large house where you normally sleep
c/ a room, especially in a large house, where you can entertain guests or relax

12- FIANCE
a/ a man who has a rank in the aristocracy, especially in Britain
b/ the man whom a woman is going to marry
c/ a large plate from which food is served

13- for someone's SAKE

a/ to go instead of someone, or as their representative.
b/ in order to help, improve, or please someone.
c/ with desire to cause damage on someone.

14- LAME
a/ unable to walk properly because your leg or foot is injured or weak:
b/ the daughter of your brother or sister
c/ morally wrong or evil

15- BUTLER
a/ the chief male servant of a household, usually in charge of serving food, silverware,
etc.
b/ a piece of cloth used for a particular purpose
c/ a man who usually wears a uniform and works in a big house or hotel, letting people
into the building

8
Text C. Comprehension task
1. Perquè no li volen llegir a la Mary la notícia del diari?
Porque no quieren leerle a Mary la notícia del diario? Why do they keep the
paper news from Mary?

2. De qui prové la fortuna originàriament?

De quien proviene la fortuna originariamente? Whose is the fortune from,
originally?

3. Perquè el Duque persuadeix a la Mary a pujar als atics de la casa?

Porque el Duque persuade a Mary a subir a los áticos de la casa? Why does the
Duke persuade Mary to go to the attics?

4. Perquè el Duque marxa el matí següent?

Porque se va el Duque la mañana siguiente? Why does the Duke part the
following morning?

5. Perquè es sorprenen els servents quan el pare saluda al "valet" nouvingut?

Porque se sorprenden los sirvientes cuando el padre saluda al nuevo "valet"?
Why do servants get surprised when the father greets the new valet?

6. Perquè en Thomas (servent) li fa la vida impossible al nouvingut?

Porque Thomas el sirviente le hace la vida imposible al nuevo valet? Why is
Thomas making the valet’s life imposible?

7. A què es refereix l'última frase: Ens vol canviar les vides?

A qué se refiere la última frase: nos quiere cambiar las vidas? What does the
last sentence refer to: “He wants to change our lives”

8. Què és tant preocupant al llegir el diari/la carta al començament del capítol?

Qué es tan preocupante al leer el diario/carta al principio del capítulo? What’s
so worrying about the newspaper, in the beginning of the chapter?