LET’S PRACTISE ENGLISH – Chapter II

BASIC ENGLISH REVIEW

• VERB TENSES: PRESENT, PRESENT PERFECT, PAST, AND PAST PERFECT (SIMPLE AND CONTINUOUS OR PROGRESSIVE)

2.1 TENSE (PRESENT, I do; PAST, I did; FUTURE, I will do)
It means any of the forms of a verb that may be used to indicate the time of the action or state expressed by the verb.

2.2 THE COMMONEST VERB TENSES IN ENGLISH (FOR PRACTICAL PURPOSE):

2.2.1 PRESENT AND PAST TENSES
Present: simple and continuous
Simple: I do [talk about things in general]. ‘I work on ecology.
Continuous: I am doing [the action is not finished]. ‘I’m working now; please don’t disturb! I’m studying English’.[we are interested in the activity.

Present perfect: simple and continuous
Simple: I have done [there is always a connection with now]. ‘I’ve lost my keys. Have you seen them anywhere’?
Continuous: I have been doing [for an activity that has recently stopped or just stopped]. ‘I’ve been doing my homework in English’. I’ve been looking for you all day.

Past
Simple and continuous
Simple: I did. ‘I worked on this subject for some time (or I used to work on this)’ [‘but I do not work on it any more’]. ‘I worked on this subject for some time (or I used to work on this)’ [‘but I do not work on it any more’]
Continuous: I was doing [something was going on around a particular time]. ‘I was trying to repeat my experiment’ [‘when you came in and interrupted me’]. ‘As I was walking I saw Bob’ [‘I am not presently walking’].

Past perfect: simple and continuous
Simple: I had done [to talk about things that happened before this time]. ‘When I got back to the lab I found that somebody had broken the equipment’
Continuous: I had been doing [to say something that had been happening before something else happened]. It had been raining’ [the ‘sun is shining but the ground was wet]. ‘After I had been walking for hours, I decided to stop’.

2.2.2 THE PRESENT: SIMPLE AND CONTINUOUS
SIMPLE, often used with verbs describing states: ‘The group currently consists of’ … [state verbs: agree, assume, believe, belong to, contain, cost, disagree, feed, hate, have, hope, know, like, look, love, own, prefer, realize, regret, resemble, smell, taste]. But the CONTINUOUS is used to emphasize a temporary situation: ‘The animals love having food in the evening’ [they love when they have food in the evening] / ‘The animals are loving having food in the evening’ [They love as they are currently having food in the evening] [with the verbs ache, feel, hurt, look there is little difference in meaning: ‘He feels / is feeling bad’; ‘He looks / is looking tired’.
The present SIMPLE is often used with performative verbs: ‘I admit the fishermen can no more to make profit from fishing’ [other performative verbs: accept, acknowledge, advise, apologise, assume, deny, guarantee, hope, inform, predict, promise, recommend, refuse, suggest, suppose, warn].
CONTINUOUS, used when talking about changes, developments, trends: ‘The growing number of visitors at the reefs is damaging the corals’; ‘People are beginning to realize how difficult it is to exploit that resource’. The CONTINUOUS is used to emphasize that something is done repeatedly (plus words like always, constantly, continually, forever): ‘They are constantly exploiting that resource’.

2.2.3 THE FUTURE FORMS
There is no obvious future tense in English corresponding to the ‘time : tense’ relation for present and past. Instead there are several possibilities for denoting future time.
Present: simple and continuous
Simple: ‘My plane (aeroplane) leaves at 9:30’.
Continuous: ‘I’m leaving the day after tomorrow. The plane is taking off at 11:15’

Modal auxiliary: simple and continuous
Simple: ‘I will arrive tomorrow’. ‘He’ll be here today’.
Continuous: ‘I’ll be travelling this coming Saturday’. ‘I’ll be doing this by tomorrow’. ‘She’ll have finished her thesis by the beginning of January’.

Present with a future meaning (if you are talking about what it has been already arranged to be done, do not use will): ‘I’m going on holiday tomorrow’. ‘Are you working tomorrow’? [never say: ‘Will you work tomorrow?’]. But you can say: ‘Will you be using the centrifuge this afternoon’?
There are other forms of future as follows:
a) Going to do or to happen something: ‘I was just going to prepare the solutions…’. ‘I thought it was going to rain…’ [there was an outside evidence].
b) Future perfect:
‘I’ll have finished all my job by the end of this week’. [this is my belief, guess, knowledge etc.].
c) Some uses of will:
(1) Willingness: ‘He’ll help you if you ask him’. (2) Intention or likelihood: ‘I’ll write as soon as I can’. (3) Insistence or certainty: ‘He’ll do it, whatever you say’. (4) Prediction: ‘He’ll talk for hours’ (specific); ‘Oil will float on water’ (timeless). (5) Habits and typical behaviour: ‘If you throw something away, you will need it the next day’. (6) Threats: ‘Ill hit you, if you do that again’. (7) Promises: ‘You’ll get the analyses results tomorrow’.
‘I won’t stay long. I’m seeing you are busy’. (will + not = won’t)
NOTICE: Would can be used to talk about the past: ‘On Saturdays, when I was a child, we would get up early and go fishing’.
d) Shall is normally used with I and we, and it is used (1) to ask for instructions and decisions: ‘Shall I open the window’? [= ‘do you want me to open it’?]; and (2) to make offers and suggestions: ‘Shall I carry this for you’? ‘What shall I do’? [= what do you suggest me to do?] ‘Shall we go out for a meal’?

N.B.:
In some verbs the final base consonants are doubled before inflections (when the preceding vowel is stressed, represented here by an accent (´): Pérmit  permítting, permitted / Tránsfer  transférring, transférred.
See now with preceding vowel unstressed: énter  éntering, éntered.
There are exceptions in BrE (British English) and in AmE (American English) (see a good English grammar or a good English dictionary).

2.2.3 EXERCISES

1) Write the short form: she's / we aren't etc.
a) She is .......... b) They are .......... c) It is not .......... d) That is ..........
e) I am not .......... f) You are not ..........

2) Put in am / is / are
a) The weather .......... good today. b) I ..........not studying today.
c) This book .......... expensive. d) These books .......... expensive.
e) My colleague Mary and I .......... good English learners.
f) My English teacher .......... at the university. His children .......... at school.

3) Write full sentences. Use is / isn't / are / aren't
a) (your lab coat dirty) .......................................................................................................
b) (Paul an English teacher) ..............................................................................................
c) (the banks not open today) ............................................................................................
d) (my keys in my pocket) ................................................................................................
e) (this room not very big) ................................................................................................

4) Write true sentences, by using am / am not / is / isn't / are / aren't
a) (I / interested in politics) ............................................................................................................................. .
b) (I / hungry) ......................................................................................................................... .
c) (It / warm today) ......................................................................................................................... .
d) (I / afraid of dogs) ..................................................................................................................... .
e) (this room / cold) ....................................................................................................................... .
f) (Brazil / a very big country) ...........................................................................................
g) (scanning microscope / cheap) ................................................................................................................... .
h) (hospital / expensive to be maintained) .................................................................................................................. .
i) (Rome / in Spain) .................................................................................................................... .

Find the right answers for the questions
a) Where's the dictionary? A) Black 1) ..........
b) Is the respirometer cheap? B) No, you aren't 2) ..........
c) Where's your advisor? C) My girl-friend 3) ..........
d) What colour is your bag? D) On the table 4) ..........
e) Who's that girl? E) No, it isn't 5) ..........
f) Am I late? F) In his office 6) ..........

Make questions with these words. Use is or are
a) (at home / your brother?) ................................................................................... .
b) (your parents / well?) ................................................................................... .
c) (interesting / your job?) ................................................................................... .
d) (the banks / open today?) ................................................................................... .
e) (interested in science / you?) ................................................................................... .
f) (near here / the post office?) ................................................................................... .
g) (at school / your children?) ................................................................................... .
h) (why / you / late?) ................................................................................... .

Use the correct tenses [SEE THE ANSWERS IN THE END]
A) Put in the correct tenses (simple present or present continuous):
1. I (think) he’s away ................................................................................... .
2. You (know) what I (mean) ................................................................................ .
3. She (always complain) ................................................................................... .
4. We (always start) at nine ................................................................................... .
5. While the butter (melt), you (take) three eggs and (break) them into a bowl
.................................................................................. .
6. I (think) about your father ................................................................................... .
7. Scientists (believe) the weather (change) ................................................................................... .
8. I (not see) what the problem is ................................................................................... .
9. Why (you look) at me like that? ................................................................................... .
10. Now I (understand) what she wants ................................................................................... .

B) Put in the correct tenses (simple present perfect or present perfect continuous):
1. That man (stand) outside for hours ............................................................................... ... .
2. The church (stand) on that hill for 900 years ................................................................... .
3. Ann (write) letters all afternoon. She (write) to all her friends living abroad .......................................................................................................................................
4. James (go) out every night this week ................................................................................... .
5. How long (you wait)? .................................................................................. .
6. I (wait) long enough. I’m going ................................................................................... .
7. Her family (farm) this land since the tenth century................................................................................................................................................................ .
8. She (only farm) for two years, but she’s doing very well ....................................................................................................................................................................... .
9. I (learn) German for six years ................................................................................... .
10. I (learn) most of the irregular verbs ................................................................................. .
11. My mother (do) all her Christmas shopping .................................................................... .
12. I (do) Christmas shopping all day ................................................................................ .
13. I (clean) the car. Doesn’t it look nice? ............................................................................. .
14. ‘You look tired’. ‘I (wash) clothes all day’ ...................................................................... .

C) Put in the correct tenses (simple past or past continuous):
1. At six o’clock this morning I (have) a wonderful dream, but then the alarm (go) off .......................................................................................................................................
2. This time yesterday I (lie) on the beach ........................................................................... .
3. When I walked in they (all talk) about politics .................................................................................................................................... .
4. I saw Robert when I (come) to work this morning. He (shop) ........................................................................................................................................................................ .
5. She (meet) her husband while she (travel) in Egypt .................................................................................................................................................................... .
6. While I (talk) to Mrs Singleton somebody (walk) into my office and (steal) the computer.......................................................................
............................................................................ .

7. When Jake (come) everybody (stop) talking ...................................................................................................................................................... .
8. I (look) out of the window and (see) that we (fly) over the mountains ................................................................................................................................................................... .
9. I (wake) up to find that water (pour) through the bedroom ceiling .............................................................................................................................................................. .
10. He (break) his leg while he (play) football ................................................................................................................................................................
11. I (go) to see how she (be) and found she was (cry) ................................................................................................................................................................. .
12. She (tell) me she (have) a bad time with her husband ............................................................................................................................................................... .


D) Put in the correct tenses (present perfect or past or past perfect simple / continuous):
The little girl and the wolf [an adaptation by James Thurber Fables for our Time, in Swan & Walter (1997)]: One afternoon a big wolf (1 wait .........................) in a dark forest for a little girl to come along carrying a basket of food to her grandmother. Finally a little girl did come along and she (2 carry .........................) a basket of food. ‘Are you carrying that basket to your grandmother?’ asked the wolf. The little girl said yes, she was. So the wolf (3 ask .........................) her where her grandmother lived and the little girl (4 tell .........................) him and he (5 disappear .........................) into the wood. When the little girl (6 open .........................) the door of her grandmother’s house she (7 see .........................) that there was somebody in bed with a nightcap and nightgown on. She (8 approach .........................) no nearer than twenty-five feet from the bed when she (9 see .........................) that it was not her grandmother but the wolf, for even in nightcap a wolf does not look in the least like anybody’s grandmother. So the little girl (10 take .........................) an automatic pistol out of her basket and (11 shoot .........................) the wolf dead.
Moral: it is not so easy to fool little girls nowadays as it used to be.

ANSWERS TO THE EXERCISES (from A to D):
A) 1 think 2 know; mean 3 is always complaining 4 always start 5 is melting; take; break 6 am thinking 7 believe; is changing 8 don’t see 9 are you looking 10 understand
B) 1 has been standing 2 has stood 3 has been writing; has written 4 has gone 5 have you been waiting 6 have waited 7 has farmed 8 has only been farming 9 have been learning 10 have learnt 11 has done 12 have been doing 13 have cleaned 14 have been washing
C) 1 was having; went 2 was lying 3 were all talking 4 was coming; was shopping 5 met; was travelling 6 was talking; walked; stole 7 came; stopped 8 looked; saw; were flying 9 woke; was pouring 10 broke; was playing 11 went; was; was crying 12 told; was having
D) 1 waited/was waiting 2 was carrying 3 asked 4 told 5 disappeared 6 opened 7 saw 8 approached 9 saw 10 took 11 shot


SCIENTIFIC TEXT

I used to think I could quit checking my e-mail any time I wanted to but I stopped kidding myself years ago. My e-mail program is up and running 24 hours a day, and once I submit to its siren call, whole hours can go missing. I have a friend who recently found herself stuck on a cruise ship near Panama that didn’t offer e-mail, so she chartered a helicopter to take her to the nearest Internet café. There was not in her queue but junk mail and other spam, but she thought the trip was worth it.
I know how she felt. You never know when you’re going to get that note from Uncle Eric about your inheritance. Or that White House dinner invitation with a time-sensitive R.S.V.P.
N.B. Text reproduced from Time, June 10, 2002 (apud Poliedro – Sistema de Ensino – Inglês, 2010, p. 6).

IMPORTANT:
[R.S.V.P. = from French: “répondez si’l vous plait” – written on invitations and means “please reply” (“EM PORTUGUÊS: RESPONDA POR FAVOR”)]
[N.B. = nota bene = from Latin and means “take notice” (“EM PORTUGUÊS: NOTA ou OBSERVAÇÃO”)]

QUESTIONS [Check the Answers in the end]
1. The passage tells us that the writer:
A believes it’s about time he stopped thinking he can break the e-mail habit any time.
B is fully aware that he’s a compulsive e-mail checker.
C used to think only kids wasted whole hours checking their e-mail.
D didn’t think it would take him years to break the e-mail habit.
E thinks that once he’s able to stay away from his e-mail for 24 hours, he’ll get rid of his addiction.

2. Choose the correct translation for “...whole hours can go missing”. (second phrase of this text).
A Não sinto falta das horas perdidas.
B Vale a pena desperdiçar várias horas.
C Sou capaz de perder horas inteiras.
D Posso perder totalmente a noção das horas.
E Não me importo em ficar até altas horas.

3. What did the writer’s friend find when she was able to check her e-mail, according to the passage?
A Unimportant messages.
B The writer’s message.
C An invitation to dinner.
D No message at all.
E Her uncle’s message.

ANSWERS:
1. B
2. C
3. A

LET'S PRACTISE ENGLISH - Chapter I

Hello my friends! For the next few days I will be posting some essays, texts, notices... etc. aimed at ending your fear of the English language!!!
Each Chapter will be introduced by BASIC ENGLISH REVIEW (a short knowledge of English grammar), followed by SCIENTIFIC TEXTS (a text or essay or notice for your acquaintance with understanding this important and universal language for science, with questions and exercises). So, do NOT translate. Make disciplined effort to use an English-English dictionary!!!

BASIC ENGLISH REVIEW

1. PERSONAL PRONOUNS
1.1 PERSONAL PRONOUNS: NOMINATIVE CASE (EXAMPLES)
a) ‘I am a student’.
b) ‘You are a teacher’. [2nd person singular]
c) ‘She / He is a doctor’. ‘It is a nice dog’ [non-personal]
d) ‘We are students’.
e) ‘You are students’. [2nd person plural]
f) ‘They are students’.

1.2 PERSONAL PRONOUNS: OBJECTIVE CASE (EXAMPLES)
a) ‘He gave a flower to me’. ‘Please give me that book’. ‘I’m thirsty. Me too’ [or ‘I am too’.]
b) ‘I’ll give you all my books’. [2nd person singular]
c) ‘Tell him / her I’ll come back early’. ‘Please give him / her my kind regards’. ‘Give it a bone’ [to the dog; non-personal]
d) ‘He gave all his books to us’. ‘Tell us about your holiday in Rio’.
e) ‘I’ll give you all my books’. [2nd person plural]
f) ‘Take them to the next room’. ‘I know all of them very well’.

1.3 PERSONAL PRONOUNS: REFLEXIVE CASE (EXAMPLES)
a) ‘I live by myself’. ‘I cut myself on a knife’.
b) ‘Do it yourself’ [= DIY, usual abbreviation as in ‘DIY store’.]. ‘Do this exercise by yourself’. ‘Behave yourself’! [2nd person singular]
c) ‘He / She tried to kill himself / herself’. ‘I’ll see the Director himself / herself if necessary’. ‘The garden itself is very nice’.
d) ‘We’ll do the washing up ourselves’. ‘It’s best if we do it ourselves’.
e) ‘You children, must do your homework by yourselves’! ‘Do it yourselves’.[2nd person plural]
f) ‘Your children must do their homework by themselves’.

1.4 PERSONAL PRONOUNS: POSSESSIVE (DETERMINER FUNCTION) (EXAMPLES)
a) ‘My father is a teacher’. ‘My dear friend, you’re wrong’!
b) ‘You and your bright ideas’! [2nd person singular]
c) ‘I don’t like his / her ideas’. ‘This was his / her choice’. ‘Chinchilla is hunted for its very soft grey fur’.
d) ‘Our houses are beautiful’.
e) ‘Your students are coming’. [2nd person plural]
f) ‘Their house is very big’.

1.5 PERSONAL PRONOUNS: POSSESSIVE (NOMINAL FUNCTION) (EXAMPLES)
a) ‘She is a friend of mine’ [= one of my friends.]. ‘That book is mine’.
b) ‘Is she a friend of yours’? ‘Those books over there are yours’.[2nd person singular]
c) ‘A friend of his / hers’ [= one of his / her friends]. ‘The choice was his / hers’.
d) ‘They are friends of ours’. ‘Those books are ours’.
e) ‘Those are friends of yours’. ‘Those books are yours’. [2nd person plural]
f) ‘This house is one of theirs’. ‘These clothes are theirs’.

NOTICE: the use of you, one and they:
One and you can mean ‘people in general’ (including the speaker and hearer): ‘One / You can’t learn English in a month’; ‘One’s / Your own problems always seem important’. ‘Diplomacy is the patriotic art of lying for one’s country.
They or a passive is used to talk about people not including the speaker/hearer: ‘They speak English everywhere in Holland’ / ‘English is spoken everywhere in Holland’. They is also used to mean ‘the people around’ or ‘the authorities’: ‘They don’t like strangers here’. ‘They’re always digging up the roads’; ‘They’ve put the price of petrol up again’.

1.6 EXERCISES
Put in the appropriate personal pronoun (I and me etc)
1) Nobody except ........ knows where the key is kept, and I’m not telling you.
2) ‘Who bought these flowers?’ ‘It was ........ . I thought you would like them’.
3) ‘I haven’t met Mark yet; is ...... here’? ‘That’s ........ over there’.
4) ‘I’ve had enough of this party’. ‘...... too’.
5) He’s faster than ......., but I’m stronger than ....... .
6) John’s two years younger than Alice, but ......’s nearly as tall as ....... .

Put in the appropriate reflexive pronoun (myself, yourself, etc or me, you etc)
1) Mary bought a book and taught ............ to play the guitar.
2) John fell and hurt ............ yesterday.
3) The computer will turn ............ off if you don’t use it.
4) We looked at ............ in the mirror to check our faces.
5) Don’t pay attention to ........ ; he always complains.
6) How much time do you give ............ to study English?
7) June can’t afford to buy ............ a new car, so her dad’s going to buy one for .......
8) No one is going to help us, so we’ll have to do it ............ .

Put in the appropriate possessive pronouns (my, mine etc)
1) (This car belongs to me). This is ...... car. This car is ........ .
2) (This book is for you). This is ........ book. This book is ........ .
3) (He has written many books). This is one of ........ books. This book is one of ......
4) (She has written several books). This is one of ...... books. This book is one of ... .
5) (We have just bought this house). This is ........ house. This house is ........ .
6) (They have just bought a new car). That is ........ new car. That new car is .......... .

Put in a personal pronoun:
1) This book belongs to Fátima. This is …..….. book. This book is …..….. . She does …..….. exercises by ………. .
2) I am a teacher of English. This is ………. dictionary. This dictionary is ………. . I taught English to ………. .
3) [Breno talks to one of the students] ‘Vânia! Is this ………. pen? I think that pencil is .......... ’. [Now Breno talks to the students in the class] ‘I am going to give written exercises to all of ………. . I will give ………. many exercises on pronouns. Please, close ………. books and do the exercises by ………. ’.
4) Angelo has got a car. ………. car is a Mercedes. ………. father gave another car to ………. .
5) [The students are talking about themselves] ‘………. are all students of English. Breno teaches English to all of ………. . These books are ……….. . We all do ……….. exercises by ………. ’.
6) Mary and ………. son live in London. ……….live in ……….own house. I gave ……….some flower plants for ……….garden. They look after ……….garden by ………., but the hard work is always ………. [of Mary]. The garden ………., is really very nice.
7) That black dog hurt one of ……….legs. ……….hurt …….when ……….jumped from the wall. Now ……….is happy because I gave a bone to ………. .
8) [Charles is a self-taught person] ……….taught guitar to ………. . One of ……….best friends gave a red guitar to ………. . This blue electric guitar is also ………. .

SCIENTIFIC TEXT

Unfortunately the chances of any animal becoming a fossil are not very great, and the chances of a fossil then being discovered many thousands of years later are even less. It is not surprising that of all the millions of animals that have lived in the past, we actually have fossils of only a very few.
There are several ways in which animals and plants may become fossilized. First, it is essential that the remains are buried, as dead animals and plants are quickly destroyed if they remain exposed to the air. Plants rot, while scavengers, such as insects, vultures, and hyenas, eat the flesh and bones of animals. Finally, the few remaining bones soon disintegrate in the hot sun and pouring rain. If buried in suitable conditions, however, animal and plant remains will be preserved. The same chemicals which change sand and silt into hard rock will also enter the animal and plant remains and make them hard too. When this happens we say that they have become fossilized. Usually only the bones of an animal and the toughest part of a plant are preserved.

N.B. The title of this text is HOW TO GET PRESERVED AS A FOSSIL (from ‘DOFF,A. 2003. Teach English. A training course for teachers. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press and The British Council, 286p’ with some modifications).

1.1 QUESTIONS (give short answers)

1. How old are most fossils?

2. Do most animals become fossilized?

3. Do most fossils get discovered?

4. An animal or a plant dies. What’s left?

5. Will the remains become a fossil?

6. What has to happen?

7. And if it isn’t buried, what happens?

8. What is it destroyed by?

9. What do insects do?

10. What are scavengers?