Spanish 2B Unit 9 Study Guide
El cráter de Pululahua
Another interesting relic of the Ring of Fire can be found in Ecuador. The Pululahua volcano is a caldera that is actually inhabited by people! In fact, it is one of only two craters in the world that is inhabited, and it is the only one that has its land cultivated. The Pululahua volcano, now inactive, has rich soil because of the volcanic ash left from past eruptions. It is now covered in a cloud forest. In fact, the word Pululahua comes from a Quechua word meaning "cloud of water." This cloud of water can be seen daily, as the crater is filled with clouds or fog for part of the day. The fertile soil and moist fog allow for lush vegetation and are able to support agriculture. In fact, the communities that live in the crater grow different crops at the bottom of the crater, surrounded by the volcano walls that rise up around the crater. Even though the volcano has been dormant since 500 BC, I think I would be pretty nervous living inside it!
El Dr. Atl
As you can see, I am very interested in volcanoes, but there is someone who liked volcanoes even more than I do! Gerardo Murillo, who used the pseudonym Dr. Atl, was a Mexican painter and writer who was born in Guadalajara in 1875. He studied art for a short time at Mexico City's Fine Arts Academy. He later went to study in Europe, a trip partly funded by then-President Díaz. During his stay, he was influenced by the impressionist and post-impressionist artists whose art, for him, was very different from the art seen in México at the time, which often had religious themes. When Dr. Atl returned to México, he wanted to revolutionize Mexican art and befriended Joaquín Clausell, who would later become a well-known Mexican impressionist. One of the ways he did this was by painting the first modern mural in México—a scene of nudes—that would lead to the rebirth of the Mexican mural. For this mural, he used his own special paint called Atlcolor that could be used on different kinds of surfaces. This paint is still manufactured today. Dr. Atl also continued to paint his murals and even wrote a book about Mexican popular art. Dr. Atl, who was an outdoor enthusiast, painted many landscapes. He was very interested in studying the volcanoes of México and visted Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl frequently. He wrote a book of poetry titled Las sinfonías de Popocatépetl, or The Symphonies of Popocatépetl. In 1943, the Paricutín volcano outside of Mexico City erupted. He wanted to observe the volcano from up close, so he lived on the slopes of the volcano for one year. He wrote a book titled Como nace y crece un volcán, el Paricutín, or How a Volcano is Born and Grows: The Paricutín, in which he shared his account of the 1943 eruption. Dr. Atl's love for volcanoes was not only expressed in his writing but also in his paintings. He created many paintings of Mexican volcanoes, depicting them in different seasons, different weather, and even during different periods of volcanic activity. One such painting was his Self-Portrait with Popocatépetl. After Dr. Atl's time on Paricutín, his painting style got much bolder, with heavier lines and starker colors. He also started a new style of landscape painting, which depicted landscapes of central México from a bird's-eye view. Dr. Atl died in 1964, but his contribution to Mexican art lives on.
El Cinturón de Fuego
Because I spend a lot of time outdoors doing things like hiking, I have really gotten to know a lot about different places. I have hiked in many places all over the world. When you are hiking up a mountain that used to be a volcano, you can't help but wonder about the geology and geography of where you are. So, I often read about volcanoes and earthquakes. One area of interest to me is the Cinturón de Fuego, or the Ring of Fire. This is the name given to a chain of volcanoes and places with high levels of earthquake activity that rims the Pacific Ocean. It refers to more than 450 volcanoes from New Zealand all the way up through Japan, curving along the Bering Strait and all the way down the Pacific Coast of North America, Central America, and South America. It is a huge horseshoe shape that spans a good part of the globe! On our side of the world, the Ring of Fire affects the countries of the United States, Canada, and Central America (México, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panamá); the western countries of South America (Colombia, Ecuador, Perú, and Chile); and some of the interior South American countries. So, what does the Ring of Fire mean for these areas? Essentially, the Ring of Fire is responsible for much of the volcanic and seismic activity in these zones. Why is this? This is because Earth's tectonic plates shift and move. When these plates move, meet, and/or pull apart, they can cause volcanic activity and earthquakes. The Ring of Fire is where different plates meet; thus, there is increased volcanic and seismic activity in this area. These tectonic plates are also responsible for creating mountain ranges. For example, the Andes Mountains in South America were formed when the Nazca plate pushed up against the South American plate. Ninety percent of the world's earthquakes occur along the Ring of Fire, including the most devastating ones. Additionally, the Ring of Fire is where the most active volcanoes on Earth are located. Some of these include Mount Saint Helens in the United States, the Llaima volcano in Chile, the Popocatépetl volcano in México, the Tungurahua volcano in Ecuador, the Irazú volcano in Costa Rica, and Mount Fuji in Japan. It is amazing to see how the Ring of Fire has literally shaped, and continues to shape, our world!
Un volcán en Costa Rica
I just got off the phone with Kiko, and we were discussing our last trip to Costa Rica. I was telling him that we missed out on seeing the Arenal volcano. I told him that the next time we go to Costa Rica, iremos a ver the Arenal volcano. The Arenal volcano is located in the northern plains of Costa Rica near the town of Fortuna. It is an active volcano; in fact, it has been active since 1968. Apart from seeing the beautiful nature and wildlife that covers the volcano, I want to see the explosions and eruptions! When we go, lo veremos during the day to watch the steam rise, and lo veremos at night so we can see these molten rocks spew out of it! But, when we go, no iremos just to see the volcano; disfrutaremos de the many natural hot springs in the area, thanks to the volcano! There are several different pools with temperatures from the 70s to over 100˚F. Many resorts have hot and cold pools to take advantage of the hot springs and offer their relaxing waters to guests. I heard that you can sit in some of these thermal pools and watch the volcanic show right from the springs! ¡Será muy divertido!
La ruta de los volcanes
I was just talking to my friend Diego, who is an hombre de negocios. He was in Chile scoping out whether or not it would be a good place to start a new negocio. He is thinking about opening a small hotel, as he rather likes the idea of being the dueño of a hotel. I had suggested that he look along the Ruta de los Volcanes, or Volcano Route, in Chile, because it is a very popular tourist area. The Volcano Route encompasses the Lakes and Volcanoes District of Chile, which is in the southern part of Chile. It stretches from the city of Temuco, running through the towns of Valdivia and Osorno, and down to Puerto Montt. Along this route, there are several national parks, such as Huerquehue National Park, Conguillio National Park, and Villarrica National Park. In this area, you can hike glaciers and see snow-covered volcanoes. There are lakes and geothermic hot springs where you can relax your tired muscles in natural thermal pools. You can walk on hardened lava flows and visit waterfalls, canyons, and lakes that were all created by seismic and volcanic activity. You can even climb to the summit of active volcanoes like the Villarrica volcano near Pucón and ski on the same volcano! Diego told me that in his research for his new negocio, he took several hiking tours in the Puerto Varas and Puerto Montt areas. He started in the Alerce Andino National Park, where he hiked through the forest to reach the waterfall of Río Chaicas and continued on to see several lagoons, such as the Laguna Chaiquenes and the Laguna Triángulo. He also took a hiking tour to the Calbuco volcano. He hiked through a forest with trees that were 3,000 years old! He also climbed the Calbuco volcano up to an altitude of almost 3,300 feet, from which he could see all the way to the Pacific Ocean! Diego's favorite day trip was a hike he did in Villarrica National Park. There, he saw the snow-covered Quetrupillan and Rucapillan volcanoes. He also hiked along a glacier trail and saw four more volcanoes before hiking through the forest to the hot springs. He said he had never experienced anything more amazing than soaking in the thermal pools in the mountain forest, especially after all that hiking! After his trip, Diego was more convinced than ever that he wanted to start his new business in Chile!
Verbos irregulares en el futuro
In the previous lesson, we looked at how to conjugate the future tense meaning "will." Remember? All we do is add the following endings to the infinitives, no matter if the verb is an, -ar, -er, or -ir verb. yo -é nosotros, nosotras -emos tú -ás vosotros, vosotras -éis él, ella, Ud. -á ellos, ellas, Uds. -án I also told you that verbs like ser, estar, ir, and dar, which are often irregular in other tenses, are regular in the future tense. However, there are a few irregular verbs in the future tense, but luckily, most of them follow a particular pattern. One such pattern can be seen with the verbs haber, which means "to have" as an auxiliary verb, poder, saber, and querer. Look at the conjugation of haber and poder in the future tense and see if you notice anything. yo habré nosotros, nosotras habremos tú habrás vosotros, vosotras habréis él, ella, Ud. habrá ellos, ellas, Uds. habrán This is what poder looks like in the future tense. yo podré nosotros, nosotras podremos tú podrás vosotros, vosotras podréis él, ella, Ud. podrá ellos, ellas, Uds. podrán As you can see, the same endings are used, but what happens is you take out the vowel of the infinitive ending, in this case e, before adding the endings. This is the case for the verbs haber, poder, saber, and querer, some of which you will learn about in a later unit. In this case, all of the verbs are -er verbs, so you remove the e. Infinitive Minus Infinitive Ending Vowel Stem to Which Future-Tense Endings Are Added haber - e habr- poder - e podr- saber - e sabr- querer - e querr- One other pattern of irregular verbs in the future tense is with verbs like tener, which means "to have," poner, salir, and venir. Look at the conjugation of tener in the future tense and see if you can figure out how the verb changes from its infinitive to its conjugation. yo tendré nosotros, nosotras tendremos tú tendrás vosotros, vosotras tendréis él, ella, Ud. tendrá ellos, ellas, Uds. tendrán Again, you can see that the same endings are used. However, in this case, instead of adding the endings directly to the infinitive, you substitute the vowel of the infinitive ending, in this case e, with the letter d before adding the endings. This is the case for the verbs poner, salir, and venir. You will look more in depth at salir and venir in another unit. Finally, there are some verbs that are irregular in the future tense that don't really have a pattern to follow. But, remember, the endings are the same as any other future-tense verb. One of these verbs is the verb hacer, which means "to make or do." Look at its conjugation. yo haré nosotros, nosotras haremos tú harás vosotros, vosotras haréis él, ella, Ud. hará ellos, ellas, Uds. harán Now that you know how to conjugate these verbs, look at how they are used in the following examples. Try saying them aloud. Algún día tendré una familia. Someday, I will have a family. En el futuro la gente sabrá hablar dos idiomas. In the future, people will know how to speak two languages Pronto haremos un picnic. Soon, we will have a picnic.
Un parque de volcanes
In this unit, we have been talking about the Ring of Fire, specifically the areas in Central and South America. Don't forget that the West Coast of the United States is also part of the Ring of Fire. This means that we can see lots of evidence of the activities of the Ring of Fire right here in our own country. Recently, I visited Lassen Volcanic National Park near Redding, California, just north of Sacramento. The park is home to several different types of volcanoes. While there has not been an eruption for around 100 years, the last being from Lassen Peak, there is still some activity happening below the ground there. In fact, sometimes the activity doesn't stay hidden below the surface, and you can actually see the volcanic activity happening. Underground, water is heated by molten rock and comes to the surface in boiling pools or mud pots. You can also see volcanic gas and steam vents called fumaroles. While I was there, I took a photography course. This consisted of going on all-day hikes through different parts of the park and taking lots of photos along the way. We learned how to visualize the composition of our photographs and capture the best angle for the light, all while admiring the local wildflowers, animals, and beautiful views. We walked through the hydrothermal area, where we were able to photograph the many steam vents and bubbling pools. Our instructor warned us to stay on the trails and paths because the ground in the area could actually be just a thin layer covering boiling water! I got some great photos of the boiling mud pots at Devil's Kitchen. I just wish I had a video camera to capture the sound of the plopping mud and hissing steam. I also took some amazing photos of Boiling Springs Lake, which is a lake with a temperature of 125˚F. I also took some photos of the forest near Boiling Springs Lake, and I even managed to get a really nice shot of a ponderosa pine taken from below. I was lucky enough to snap a photo of an alligator lizard, too. My instructor told me it was like hitting the lottery because those lizards can be difficult to see since they like to hide in logs or under rocks. Taking a photography course in a volcanic park was a great way to observe volcanoes in a whole different way. It really helped me stop and appreciate things. In fact, I plan to keep up with photography as a hobby from now on. Hopefully, the next time I am out hiking, ¡sacaré buenas fotos!
Gramática
It's hard to talk about the future without the future tense. As you remember, the future tense in Spanish is similar to the will + verb construction in English. Remember that all future-tense verbs have the same endings, no matter what type of verb it is. Do these endings look familiar? yo -é nosotros, nosotras -emos tú -ás vosotros, vosotras -éis él, ella, Ud. -á ellos, ellas, Uds. -án Remember that with the future tense, these endings are added to the infinitive form of regular verbs. Look at the verb llevar in the future tense. yo llevaré nosotros, nosotras llevaremos tú llevarás vosotros, vosotras llevaréis él, ella, Ud. llevará ellos, ellas, Uds. llevarán Look at the following examples of how the future tense is used: Algún día yo seré un arquitecto. Someday, I will be an architect. En el futuro ella trabajará como diseñadora. In the future, she will work as a designer. Los chicos seguirán una carrera en la política. The boys will pursue a career in politics. You will also remember that there are a few irregular verbs in the future. In the first group of irregular verbs we discussed, you should remove the infinitive ending vowel before adding the future tense endings. This happens with verbs like haber, poder, saber, and querer. Infinitive Minus Infinitive Ending Vowel Stem to Which Future-Tense Endings Are Added haber - e habr- poder - e podr- saber - e sabr- querer - e querr- And of course, there are some verbs, like hacer, that do not really follow any sort of rule. This is what it looks like in the future tense. Notice that the endings are the same endings as all future-tense verbs. yo haré nosotros, nosotras haremos tú harás vosotros, vosotra haréis él, ella, Ud. hará ellos, ellas, Uds. harán
El Parque Nacional Volcán Arenal
Of course, if I am going to visit the Arenal volcano, visitaré también Arenal Volcano National Park. This is a park of almost 30,000 acres filled with hiking trails, some of which are along old lava beds, and of course, amazing nature and wildlife. The park mainly consists of cloud forest and rainforest, and contains rivers, hot springs, and waterfalls. Of course, I always enjoy seeing the trees and plants in any park. I would like to take pictures of the many orchids and ferns that grow in the rainforest. I am told that almost all of Costa Rica's 850 bird species can be seen in the park, such as parrots and orioles. But, I really want to see the quetzal, which is a beautiful bird that is a vibrant emerald green with a bright red chest. However, I don't know how likely that is because the quetzal is endangered. I would also like to see the coati, which is a mammal that looks almost like a raccoon with a ringed tail and a long nose. I would love to see some of the howler monkeys and white-faced capuchin monkeys that live in the park, or even the deer. I read that jaguars also live in the park, but I am not sure if I want to see one close up!
Vivir en México
We have been talking a lot about volcanoes and earthquakes in the Ring of Fire countries in the Spanish-speaking world. Of course, my family's homeland of México is part of the Ring of Fire. My mother is from Mexico City, and we still have a lot of family there. I was just talking to my cousin who lives in Mexico City. There was recently an earthquake in the southern Chiapas region of México that registered 6.9 on the Richter scale, but they felt it 170 miles away in Mexico City! México is known for its earthquakes or volcanoes. For example, the Popocatépetl volcano near Mexico City is one of the country's most active volcanoes. It was dormant for 50 years until 1994, and scientists are noticing an increase in its activity. Earthquakes are common in México, as it is one of the most active regions in the world for earthquake activity. This is because México sits on top of three tectonic plates. Their movement causes all kinds of seismic activity. Most of the time, the activity is not destructive. There may be dozens of earthquakes in a week, for example, but they are small enough that people may not even notice them. However, other times, the shifting of these plates may be devastating. For example, a 1985 earthquake near Acapulco had a magnitude of 8.1 on the Richter scale and killed more than 4,000 people in Mexico City, which is almost 200 miles away! Part of the reason for this destruction is that Mexico City was built on a dry lake bed whose subsoil is unstable, so buildings collapsed from the tremors. México is vulnerable not only because of its unstable foundation on the tectonic plates but also because of its dense population. The metropolitan area is home to almost 20 million people. Sitting on a lake bed in the shadow of an active volcano can be quite worrisome. However, México is doing its best to prepare for disaster. There is a seven-stage warning system for Popocatépetl, which includes plans for evacuation. After the 1985 earthquake, México changed its building codes, making them much stricter so that buildings have a better chance of withstanding earthquakes. Additionally, the government has created a disaster response plan, part of which calls for the review of damaged buildings and structures.
Los volcanes de Colombia
We have been talking about the Ring of Fire and the some of the volcanoes located in this area. As you may remember, many of the South American countries are located along the Ring of Fire, including Colombia. Of course, this means that there are volcanoes in western Colombia, which is along the Pacific Ocean. In fact, there are 15 active volcanoes there today, some with deadly eruptions, such as the Nevado del Ruíz, whose ashes buried four towns and caused a mudslide in 1985. This eruption also resulted in the deaths of around 20,000 people. The highest volcano in Colombia is the Nevado del Huila, which stands at 5,365 meters, or more than 17,000 feet. It actually sits inside a caldera, which is an old volcano that has collapsed. Because of its altitude, it is covered in ice at the summit. Historical records show that it erupted in the sixteenth century. No other eruptions were recorded until 2007. Today, you can see two columns of steam that continuously rise from the volcano. While Nevado del Huila is the tallest volcano in Colombia, the smallest volcano in Colombia is El Volcán de Lodo El Totumo, or the Totumo Mud volcano, in northern Colombia near Cartagena. This volcano is only just under 50 feet high, which is about the height of a five-story building. Visitors can climb steps up to the top of the volcano to enter the crater. Why do they want to do this? So they bathe in the warm mud inside the crater! The mud is naturally produced by the volcano and contains minerals that are supposed to be good for the skin. Visitors can even get a massage in the mud bath! Local legends claim that the lava that used to spew from the volcano was turned into mud by a priest who sprinkled holy water into the volcano. However the mud got there, it sure makes for an interesting experience!
El trabajo de un vulcanólogo
We've spent a lot of time learning about volcanoes and professions in this unit, so it seems only natural that we talk about someone whose job is studying volcanoes—a vulcanólogo, or volcanologist. Volcanologists are the men and women who are responsible for monitoring volcanoes and conducting scientific research on them. Within the field of volcanology, there are many different specialties, such as physical volcanologists who study eruptions, those who study changes to Earth related to volcanic activity, others who do mathematical modeling, and those who study the products of volcanoes, like lava, gas, and rocks. This means that scientists from many different disciplines might work in volcanology, including physicists, geologists, and even chemists. If you are interested in volcanology, you can take a summer field course at the University of New Mexico. This is a great way to see the work volcanologists do firsthand. Students from all over the world can learn about the effects of a volcanic eruption at this acclaimed university. You can learn how to map eruption deposits, identify volcanic rocks and structures, study how water and magma interact, and take samples of geothermic gas. Of course, since the school is also a field camp, this means that you can conduct your research right out in the Jemez Mountains' volcanic field. What a great opportunity to learn more about volcanoes, particularly those here in the United States!
Usando el otro futuro
You have already learned how to use the structure ir + a + infinitive to talk about the future, which is similar to the going to construction in English. But, in Spanish, there is another future tense, which is similar to the will + verb construction in English. Before we look at the conjugations, let's look at some examples first. See if you notice anything about these future verbs. Algún día yo trabajaré en una oficina. Someday, I will work in an office. En el futuro ellos serán abogados. In the future, they will be lawyers. Raquel seguirá una carrera en las artes. Raquel will pursue a career in the arts. CA Logo Tip: Some expressions of time, such as algún día, en el futuro, and mañana, often signal the future tense. Down Did you notice that the verb endings are tacked onto the end of the infinitive? In the future tense, the endings are added to the end of the infinitive of regular verbs. And, yes, the verb ser is regular in the future tense, as are the verbs ir, estar, and dar. I have another piece of good news for you about the future tense—the endings are the same for all verbs, including -ar, -er, and -ir verbs! A businessman in a casual coat and shirt is giving the thumbs-up. Let's look at the endings. Then I will show you a fully conjugated verb. yo -é nosotros, nosotras -emos tú -ás vosotros, vosotras -éis él, ella, Ud. -á ellos, ellas, Uds. -án Here is the verb trabajar in the future. yo trabajaré nosotros, nosotras trabajaremos tú trabajarás vosotros, vosotras trabajaréis él, ella, Ud. trabajará ellos, ellas, Uds. trabajarán And in case you doubted that the endings are the same for all verbs, here are the verbs ser and seguir in the future tense. yo seré nosotros, nosotras seremos tú serás vosotros, vosotras seréis él, ella, Ud. será/td> ellos, ellas, Uds. serán yo seguiré nosotros, nosotras seguiremos tú seguirás vosotros, vosotras seguiréis él, ella, Ud. seguirá ellos, ellas, Uds. seguirán See how easy it is to use the future tense? How would you conjugate the verbs hablar, ver, and vivirin the future? Practice saying them aloud. ¡Nos veremos pronto!
