English and the World · Spain · 25 · Málaga province · A1–C2 · Free
Five boys looking for bats, a cathedral of stone, a ballet underground, and paintings of seals that may or may not be the work of Neanderthals. Choose your level.
Maro, near Nerja, January 1959
On 12 January 1959, five boys from the village of Maro went to look for bats in a small hole in the rocks. They went through the hole and found something amazing: a huge cave, with enormous halls full of stone shapes.
The boys were excited, and maybe a little frightened too. It was very dark, and the shapes in the dark were frightening!
In June 1960, the cave opened to visitors, with a ballet in one of its halls. Today there is a music and dance festival there every summer.
A visit
The visit is interesting and not tiring: there are paths and steps. In the Hall of the Cataclysm there is a giant column of stone, 32 metres high. Visitors are always surprised when they see it.
In other parts of the cave, closed to visitors, there are prehistoric paintings of seals and goats. In the museum you can see the bones of a young woman who lived here thousands of years ago. Scientists call her “Pepita”.
Language: -ed and -ing adjectives
| -ing: the thing that causes the feeling | -ed: the person who has the feeling |
|---|---|
| The cave is amazing. | We were amazed. |
| The dark was frightening. | The boys were frightened. |
| The visit is interesting. | I’m interested in caves. |
| The walk is not tiring. | We weren’t tired. |
| The column is surprising. | Visitors are surprised. |
⚠️ I’m bored (I feel it) is very different from I’m boring (other people feel it)!
Read the texts first. Press “Check my answers” at the end.
Choose the best answer.
1. Why did the boys go into the hole?
2. What happened in June 1960?
3. How high is the column?
4. Who was “Pepita”?
Choose the right word.
5. The cave is ___ .
6. The boys were ___ in the dark.
7. I’m very ___ in prehistoric art.
8. The steps were long, but the visit wasn’t ___ .
Write the adjective with -ed or -ing.
9. Visitors are always (surprise) when they see the column.
10. For the boys, it was an (excite) day.
11. Nobody is (bore) in the Cave of Nerja!
12. The dark shapes were (frighten).
Go there!
Where: near the village of Maro, a few kilometres east of Nerja, about an hour from Málaga. Check opening times and the summer festival programme before you go. Take a jacket: it’s cool inside!
Your task: write about a place that surprised you, in five sentences, with -ed and -ing adjectives: It was amazing. I was surprised…
Under the hills of Maro
Some of the greatest archaeological discoveries were made by accident: by shepherds, by farmers, and, in this case, by five boys who wanted to see some bats.
Read the two texts, then do the practice.
12 January 1959
It was a cold winter evening. Five friends from Maro were exploring a narrow hole in the rocks known as “La Mina”, because bats were flying in and out of it. While they were watching the bats, they decided to follow them through a narrow opening. They squeezed through the gap, and suddenly their lights showed an enormous hall. As they were climbing down, they saw huge shapes of stone all around them.
Newspapers soon called it the “Cave of Wonders”. Work to open it to the public began within months, and on 12 June 1960 the cave was officially inaugurated: while visitors were sitting among the rocks, a ballet company danced in the Hall of the Waterfall. That performance started the cave’s music and dance festival, still held there every summer.
What you see, and what you don’t
The tourist route leads through vast halls filled with stalactites and stalagmites. In the Hall of the Cataclysm, a single column rises 32 metres, with a base of 13 by 7 metres. The cave is often said to have the largest column in the world, but this claim is hard to confirm.
Beyond the tourist route lie the Upper and New Galleries, discovered in 1959–60 and 1969, and closed to protect them. They contain hundreds of prehistoric paintings, mainly of seals and goats, a reminder that the coast was once full of seals. People lived in the cave for thousands of years; the skeleton of a young woman, nicknamed “Pepita”, can be seen in the museum.
Language: past continuous and past simple
| We use… | For… | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Past continuous (was / were + -ing) | the background, an action in progress | Bats were flying in and out. |
| Past simple | a completed action, an event that interrupts | They squeezed through the gap. |
| while / as + past continuous | a longer action | While they were watching the bats, they noticed… |
| when + past simple | a short interrupting action | They were exploring when they saw the bats. |
⚠️ Verbs like know, believe, want, see (states) are not usually continuous: they saw bones, not ✗ they were seeing bones.
Fact or not sure?
| Statement | Status | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Five boys found the cave on 12 January 1959 | Fact | Recorded, with their names, by the cave’s foundation. |
| It has the largest column in the world | Not sure | Often repeated; one writer points to a taller column in Thailand. |
| Neanderthals painted seals here 42,000 years ago | Not sure | Announced in 2012, then questioned by later research. |
| The cave opened to the public on 12 June 1960 | Fact | With a ballet in the Hall of the Waterfall. |
Read both texts first. Press “Check my answers” at the end. You can try again as many times as you like.
Choose the best answer.
1. How did the boys get into the cave?
2. What did they see as they were climbing down?
3. What did the newspapers call the cave?
4. How did the cave festival begin?
5. Why are the Upper and New Galleries closed?
6. What do the seal paintings remind us of?
Write the verb in the right form.
7. The boys (explore) the hole when they saw the bats.
8. While they were watching the bats, they (decide) to follow them.
9. Bats (fly) in and out of the hole all evening.
10. As they were climbing down, they (see) huge shapes of stone.
11. While the guests were sitting among the rocks, a ballet company (dance).
12. It (rain) when we arrived at the cave.
Choose the best answer.
13. Which sentence is correct?
14. Which sentence shows that two actions were in progress at the same time?
15. “When the lights went out, we ___ through the Hall of the Cataclysm.”
16. “When the boys found the hall, they ___ back to tell everyone.” (one thing after another)
Where do these words come from?
17. Stalactite comes from Greek stalaktos. What did it mean?
18. Cave comes from Latin cavus. What did it mean?
19. Ballet comes from Italian balletto, from ballare. What does ballare mean?
A day in the east
Route: the Cave of Nerja, near Maro → the Balcón de Europa viewpoint in Nerja → lunch in the old town → Frigiliana, the white village in the hills (our next lesson). Check opening times and the festival programme before you go.
Your task: write the story of an exciting moment in your life (100–120 words), with the past continuous for the background and the past simple for the events.
From 1959 to today
On 12 January 1959, five young friends from Maro squeezed through a narrow opening used by bats and found themselves in a series of vast chambers. The local press named it the Cave of Wonders; within eighteen months it was open to the public, inaugurated on 12 June 1960 with a ballet in the Hall of the Waterfall, the origin of a music and dance festival that continues today.
Guides and websites routinely state that the column in the Hall of the Cataclysm, 32 metres high, is the largest in the world, and some claim that this is recorded in a book of world records. At least one careful writer, however, reports being unable to find that record and points out a taller column in a cave in Thailand. The figure itself is not in doubt; the superlative is.
From 2012 to today
In February 2012, researchers announced that charcoal found next to paintings of seals in the cave’s closed galleries had been dated to around 42,000 years ago. If the paintings were as old as the charcoal, they could have been made by Neanderthals, and headlines quickly declared them the first Neanderthal paintings ever found. The researchers themselves had been more careful: the dates suggested a possibility; they did not prove who had held the brush, since charcoal beside a painting is not the painting itself.
The question did not go away. In 2018, a study using a different dating method claimed that markings in three Spanish caves, including Ardales, also in the province of Málaga, were more than 64,000 years old, older than any known presence of modern humans in Europe, which would indicate Neanderthal authorship. Other specialists questioned the method and cast doubt on the conclusions. The debate, in short, illustrates how science proceeds: by claims, tests and challenges, not by headlines.
Language: reporting verbs and their strength
| Strength | Verbs | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Certain | prove, demonstrate, establish | The dates do not prove who painted them. |
| Strong evidence | show, confirm, reveal | The closed galleries revealed hundreds of paintings. |
| Some evidence | indicate, suggest, point to | The dates suggest a possibility. |
| Asserted, not yet accepted | claim, maintain, argue, allege | A 2018 study claimed they were 64,000 years old. |
| Disagreement | question, challenge, dispute, cast doubt on | Specialists cast doubt on the conclusions. |
| Neutral | state, report, note, point out | One writer points out a taller column. |
Patterns: suggest that… / suggest + -ing; claim to have + past participle; deny + -ing / that…; cast doubt on + noun.
Evidence and debate
| Claim | What we can say |
|---|---|
| The column is the largest in the world | Widely stated; not confirmed, and possibly not true. |
| The seal paintings are 42,000 years old | Charcoal beside them is; the paintings themselves are not directly dated. |
| Neanderthals made art in southern Spain | Proposed by studies in 2012 and 2018; actively disputed. |
Debate: Should scientists announce exciting results to the press before other experts have checked them? What are the benefits, and the risks?
Read both texts first. Press “Check my answers” at the end.
Choose the best answer.
1. “The figure itself is not in doubt; the superlative is.” What does the writer mean?
2. Why did the 2012 dates not prove Neanderthal authorship?
3. How does the writer contrast the researchers and the headlines?
4. Why is the 2018 date of more than 64,000 years significant?
5. What is the writer’s final point?
6. What link to an earlier lesson does Ardales make?
Write the missing verb.
7. Dates from charcoal do not who painted the seals. (show with certainty)
8. The dates that the paintings might be very old. (some evidence)
9. A 2018 study that the markings were 64,000 years old. (asserted, not yet accepted)
10. Other specialists cast on the conclusions.
11. One writer points that there is a taller column in Thailand.
12. Some websites claim found the record in a book.
Choose the best answer.
13. Which headline is most accurate?
14. Which verb is strongest?
15. Which is correct?
16. “The study alleges that the paintings are Neanderthal.” What does “alleges” suggest about the writer’s view?
Where do these words come from?
17. Neanderthal is named after a valley in Germany, the Neander Valley. Who was Neander?
18. Evidence comes from Latin evidens. What did it mean?
19. Hype, exaggerated publicity, is probably short for…
A day in the east
Visit: the Cave of Nerja, near Maro (the tourist route and the museum with “Pepita”), the Balcón de Europa in Nerja, and the white village of Frigiliana. Check opening times and the festival programme before you go.
Write (220–260 words): find a science news story with a dramatic headline, and write an analysis comparing what the headline says with what the research actually showed. Use at least eight reporting verbs of different strengths.