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Spanish
Reading and
Comprehension
Myrna Bell Rochester, PhD,
with Deana Smalley, PhD
PMPSpanRdg_pp i-294.indd 1 11/20/14 5:43 PM
Copyright © 2015 by McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be
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ISBN: 978-0-07-179889-1
MHID: 0-07-179889-7
The material in this eBook also appears in the print version of this title: ISBN: 978-0-07-179888-4,
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Contents
Preface vii
Introduction ix
I FÁBULAS Y LEYENDAS
1 La Yusca, leyenda del Cedral 3
Homero Adame (México)
El imperfecto
2 La leyenda del Sajama 11
(Bolivia)
El pretérito
3 El nacimiento del arco iris 21
(Argentina)
¿El pretérito o el imperfecto?
II BIENESTAR Y COMIDA
4 ¿Qué comemos? La alimentación y la salud 33
(Canadá)
El imperativo: Ud./Uds.
5 Para tener hijos sanos... 43
Sonia Ramírez (México)
El imperativo: tú
6 La chía, un súper alimento con pasado y mucho
futuro 55
Yazmín Evia y Rolando Lino (México)
El presente progresivo
iii
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7 Consejos para mejorar nuestra memoria 63
(Unión Europea)
El infinitivo
8 La granada 73
Juan Ramón Jiménez (España)
El participio pasado (I)
III VIDA COTIDIANA
9 Cómo conducir de forma eficiente, en diez consejos 83
Josep Camós (Unión Europea)
El presente de subjuntivo
10 Zapatos 95
Juan José Millás (España)
El pluscuamperfecto; el pluscuamperfecto de subjuntivo
11 ¿Diferencias culturales? 105
Ariel Dorfman (Chile/Estados Unidos)
El imperfecto de subjuntivo
IV NIÑEZ Y JUVENTUD
12 El canario vuela • El canario se muere 117
Juan Ramón Jiménez (España)
El tiempo futuro simple
13 Jíbara 129
Esmeralda Santiago (Puerto Rico)
Verbos reflexivos
V MEDIO AMBIENTE
14 El hogar natural: Plantar una huerta 143
(España)
El condicional
iv Contents
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15 Jornada especial de reciclaje este domingo 155
(Venezuela)
Lo impersonal
16 El olinguito, nuevo carnívoro descubierto 165
(Colombia/Ecuador)
El presente perfecto y el se impersonal
VI FRAGMENTOS LITERARIOS
17 Diálogo entre Babieca y Rocinante 177
Miguel de Cervantes (España)
El voseo
18 Llegada a Barcelona 185
Carmen Laforet (España)
Por vs. para
19 Yo soy un hombre sincero • Guajira Guantanamera 195
José Martí (Cuba)
Verbo conjugado • infinitivo
20 El alma de la máquina 207
Baldomero Lillo (Chile)
Los pronombres complementos directo e indirecto
VII BELLAS ARTES Y CINE
21 La música salva vidas en mi país: Entrevista a Gustavo
Dudamel 225
Jesús Ruiz Mantilla (Venezuela)
El superlativo; repaso del imperfecto de subjuntivo
22 Les dejo de herencia mi libertad: Entrevista a Chavela
Vargas 233
Eduardo Vázquez Martín (Costa Rica/México)
Tú vs. usted; se para expresar la voz pasiva
Contents v
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23 Diego Rivera: Arte y revolución 243
Lelia Driben (México)
La a personal
24 El primer cine 253
Luis Buñuel (España)
Los adverbios
VIII ARQUEOLOGÍA Y ANTROPOLOGÍA
25 El mundo maya 267
(México/Guatemala/Belice/El Salvador/Honduras)
Los números ordinales; el participio pasado (II)
Answer key 283
vi Contents
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Preface
Have you studied Spanish for a year or two, or perhaps longer? Was it recently, or
a while back? You’ve no doubt worked from textbooks that contained “controlled”
reading materials. Now you find yourself almost able to read a Spanish article,
essay, poem, short story, or novel, and you are motivated to do it. Practice Makes
Perfect: Spanish Reading and Comprehension—either in a class or on your own—
will provide you with the skills you need to take you to the next level: independent
reading in Spanish.
Reading skills typically exceed listening, speaking, and writing skills. Read-
ing provides its own satisfactions and discoveries: it enhances cultural awareness,
while building vocabulary and focusing attention on structure and writing style.
Today the Spanish-speaking world offers an endless variety of reading, both
in print and online. In addition, a number of U.S. media outlets are bilingual.
The ease with which learners can access reading in their target languages is
unprecedented.
The Internet, in particular, provides unlimited access to Spanish-language
publications, classic literature, self-help features, blogs, forums, and government
material. Many big-city newspapers in the United States now publish a Spanish
edition, and Latin American and Spanish news outlets tend to have free online
access. Public libraries and book distributors stock numerous Spanish titles. Your
new literacy will open doors; you’ll be able to explore alternative angles on current
events from the inside.
In compiling the readings and excerpts for this book, we were overwhelmed
with possibilities. We settled on eight thematic units to cover a range that allows
practice in a variety of topics and in several registers: everyday living, news items,
popular science, first-person memoirs and interviews, storytelling and fiction,
poetry and song, and discussion of movies and the arts.
Practice Makes Perfect: Spanish Reading and Comprehension is useful for self-
study, in tutoring, and in the classroom. Whatever approach is used, this book will
help you reach your goal of independent reading in Spanish.
Myrna Bell Rochester
vii
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