DOWNTON ABBEY INTERVIEW

Identity theft

Your identity is one of your most valuable assets. However, criminals can use a number of methods to find out your personal information and will then use it to open bank accounts, take out credit cards and apply for state benefits in your name. If your identity is stolen, you can lose money and may find it difficult to get loans, credit cards or a mortgage until the matter is sorted out.

What signs should I look out for?

There are a number of signs to look out for that may mean you are or may become a victim of identity theft. These include:

• You have lost or have important documents stolen, such as your passport or driving licence.
• Post from your bank or utility provider doesn’t arrive.
• Items that you don’t recognise appear on your bank or credit card statement.
• You apply for state benefits, but are told you are already claiming.
• You receive bills or receipts for goods or services you haven’t asked for.
• You are refused financial services, credit cards or a loan, despite having a good credit rating.
• You receive letters in your name from solicitors or debt collectors for debts that aren’t yours.

What can I do if I'm a victim of identity theft?

If you think you are a victim identity theft or fraud, act quickly to ensure you are not liable for any financial losses.

• Report all lost or stolen documents, such as passports, driving licences, credit cards and cheque books to the organisation that issued them.
• Inform your bank, building society and credit card company of any unusual transactions on your statement.
• Request a copy of your credit file to check for any suspicious credit applications.
• Report the theft of personal documents and suspicious credit applications to the police and ask for a crime reference number.
• Contact CIFAS (the UK’s Fraud Prevention Service) to apply for protective registration. Once you have registered you should be aware that CIFAS members will carry out extra checks to see when anyone, including you, applies for a financial service, such as a loan, using your address.

CIFAS – The UK’s Fraud Prevention Service

MIXED CONDITIONAL EXERCISES

EXERCISE ONE

EXERCISE TWO 

MIXED CONDITIONALS. COMBINING DIFFERENT VERBAL TENSES IN A SINGLE SENTENCE.

THIRD CONDITIONAL.

 

Third Conditional: no possibility

EXERCISE ONE

EXERCISE TWO 

EXERCISE THREE 

The first conditional and second conditionals talk about the future. With the third conditional we talk about the past. We talk about a condition in the past that did not happen. That is why there is no possibility for this condition. The third conditional is also like a dream, but with no possibility of the dream coming true.
Last week you bought a lottery ticket. But you did not win. :-(

	condition	result
	Past Perfect	WOULD HAVE + Past Participle
If	I had won the lottery	I would have bought a car.

Notice that we are thinking about an impossible past condition. You did not win the lottery. So the condition was not true, and that particular condition can never be true because it is finished. We use the past perfect tense to talk about the impossible past condition. We use WOULD HAVE + past participle to talk about the impossible past result. The important thing about the third conditional is that both the condition and result are impossible now.

Sometimes, we use should have, could have, might have instead of would have, for example: If you had bought a lottery ticket, you might have won.

Look at some more examples in the tables below:

IF	condition	result
	past perfect	WOULD HAVE + past participle
If	I had seen Mary	I would have told her.
If	Tara had been free yesterday	I would have invited her.
If	they had not passed their exam	their teacher would have been sad.
If	it had rained yesterday	would you have stayed at home?
If	it had rained yesterday	what would you have done?

 

result	IF	condition
WOULD HAVE + past participle		past perfect
I would have told Mary	if	I had seen her.
I would have invited Tara	if	she had been free yesterday.
Their teacher would have been sad	if	they had not passed their exam.
Would you have stayed at home	if	it had rained yesterday?
What would you have done	if	it had rained yesterday?

THE SECOND CONDITIONAL.

CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING LINKS TO READ THE GRAMMAR AND DO THE EXERCISES:

GRAMMAR: 2nd CONDITIONAL USAGE.


EXERCISES WITH THE 2ND conditional.


A GRAMMAR REVIEW AND MANY EXERCISES.

ST SNDREW´S FLAG

Why is the Tenerife flag the same as Scotland's?

 

The Tenerife flag, as you can see, seems to be the same as the Scottish one. There are several possible explanations for this. I'll leave you to decide which to believe.

1. They are the same, because Scotland and Tenerife share the same patron saint - Andrew, or, as he's known on the Canary isle, San Andres. The story has it that the saint arrived on the island just as the new wine was being produced. Andres was keen to make a good impression with the locals and took part in the celebrations with gusto, ending up a little worse for wear. While in a drunken stupor, the local children played a joke on him, tying pots and pans to his clothes. Whenever he moved in his sleep, they made an almighty clatter, waking him up. The children, no doubt, thought this extremely funny, but I doubt that San Andres was amused.

Nowadays, on the eve of his saint's day, November 29th, local children collect tin cans of all shapes and sizes, tie them together and drag them through the streets in his honour. Quite commendable, but it don't half make a racket!

2. They are not the same at all, as the two backgrounds are slightly different shades of blue. (That one's quite boring, isn't it?)

3. San Andres is the patron saint of Tenerife and he was crucified on an X-shaped cross. Hence the "X" on the flag.

4. In 1797, the British Navy attacked the port of Santa Cruz, Tenerife, led by Rear-Admiral Nelson. Unusually for one of the finest battle tacticians of his day, Nelson, along with his fleet suffered a humiliating defeat. The flag, a white saltaire on a navy blue background, was captured from one of the ships and eventually adopted by the victorious Tinerfeños as their own.