LET’S PRACTISE ENGLISH – Chapter VII

Starting with the continuation of

SOME REASONS NOT TO MESS WITH A CHILD:
3. The children were lined up in the cafeteria of a Catholic elementary school for lunch. At the head of a table was a large pile of apples. The nun made a note, and posted on the apple tray: “Take only one. God is watching”. Moving further along the line, at the other end of the table was a large pile of chocolate chip cookies. A child had written a note: “Take all you want. God is watching the apples”.

BASIC ENGLISH REVIEW

7. PREPOSITIONS (II) and CONJUNCTIONS


7.1 PREPOSITIONS AND CONJUNCTIONS
7.1.1 PREPOSITIONS: FOR / DURING / SINCE / LIKE

FOR:
‘I have been waiting for two hours’!
‘Let the solution warming up for half an hour’
[both used ‘with a period of time’].
‘I went to the college for an interview’
‘Is that cake for eating or just for looking at’?.
[both used for ‘purpose’]
‘They punished the child for lying’ [used for ‘cause of reaction’]
DURING:
‘I met a lot of people during the day, except you’.
‘I fell asleep during the English lecture (or class)’
[both used ‘before known periods of time’].
SINCE:
‘I have been in the University since 8 o’clock’ (AM) [notice: ‘in the University’ because the person is really in there, but: ‘I work at the University’].
‘It is two years now since we last saw Gerry’.
‘How long is it since we went to a Congress?’
[these three situations used ‘with a point in time’].
LIKE:
‘He runs like the wind’ [a preposition used before a noun].
‘She looks like me’ [a preposition used before a pronoun].

7.1.2 CONJUNCTIONS: AS / WHEN / ONCE / WHILE

AS:
‘As I left the library I remembered the book was in my bag’ [a second action occurred before the first is finished].
‘As she was tired she went to bed’ [with the meaning of because].
‘Tired as he was he repeated the exercise’ [with the meaning of although].
‘Nobody knows her as I do’ [a conjunction used before subject + verb].
‘On Friday, as on Monday, we meet at eight’ [a conjunction used before a prepositional expression].
See the difference between as and like: 1) ‘The “muriqui” or woolly spider monkey is endemic to the Atlantic forest. As a target for hunters, it is an endangered species. Like the muriqui, the golden lion tamarin is also an endemic and endangered species’. 2) ‘I am the manager of the company. As the manager, I have to make many decisions. My wife is the assistant manager. Like the manager, she also has to make many decisions’.
WHILE:
‘What have you been doing while I was working in the lab?’ (or laboratory).
‘I saw Bob while I was going to the library’
[both with the meaning of ‘during the time that’].
WHEN:
‘When the sun is shining the plant transpiration must be measured’ [simultaneous actions].
‘When I pressed the red button the apparatus stopped’ [when one action follows another].
ONCE:
‘Liquids are important because, once substances are dissolved, their molecules can readily come together to react’.
‘Once you understand the basic rules, you will have no further difficulties’

7.2 FOR and AGAINST

‘Are you for or against the plan?’.

7.3 WAY. Observe the following phrases with the word way:

a) In the way: ‘Could you move this chair? It is in the way’.
‘Do the work in the way I have shown to you’.
b) On the way: ‘I bought some envelopes on the way to the post office’.
c) In this way: ‘John has a SOHO [small office home office]. In this way he saves money’.
d) By the way: ‘By the way, have you seen Teresa recently?’
e) In a way: ‘In a way, it is an important scientific paper (or article)’.

7.4 WORDS FOLLOWED BY: for / with / of / to / at / from / in / on / about.
Use this list as reference:
FOR: enough, famous, fit, grateful (or to), qualified (or in), ready (or to), responsible, sorry, sufficient, thankful (or to), valid.
WITH: angry (with someone; at something), busy (or at), consistent, content, familiar (or to), identical, patient, popular.
OF: afraid, ahead, aware, capable, careful (or with), certain, conscious, envious, fond, guilty, ignorant, independent, jealous, kind (or to), north/south/east/west [and their respective derivatives: northern ...], short, shy, sure, worthy.
TO: close, contrary, cruel, dear, equal, faithful, fatal, harmful, indifferent, inferior, liable, new, obedient, obvious, polite, previous, rude, sensitive, similar, useful.
AT: bad, clever, efficient, expert (or in), good, indignant, quick, sad (or about), slow, skilful (or in).
FROM: away, different, far, resulting, safe.
IN: deficient, fortunate, honest, weak.
ON: dependent, intent, keen.
ABOUT: curious, doubtful (or of), enthusiastic, reluctant (or to), right (or in), uneasy.

7.5 LOOK... AT / OUT / FOR / AFTER / FORWARD TO / UP / IN / INTO / TO / THROUGH

a) ‘The girl looked at me curiously’.
b) ‘Look out! A bus is coming’. (= be careful).
c) ‘Look for my child of eight. He got lost in the fair’.
d) ‘Look after this animal’. ‘Look after my son, please’!
e) ‘I am looking forward to receiving news from you’ / ‘We are looking forward you coming home soon’. ‘We are looking forward hearing from you soon’
f) ‘Look the word up in the dictionary’ / ‘Look up the time of the bus in the timetable [search for].
g) ‘Would you look in at the library and collect my books I left at the reception’? / ‘Would there be time to look in John and Mary’? [... a brief visit].
h) ‘I’ve offered to look into the problem for him’ [... when you investigate it].
i) ‘She has always looked to her parents for support’ [when someone rely on ... and expect to be helped or provided with ...]. ‘They are now looking to the future with confidence’ [when the future is considered].
j) ‘I looked through my clothes but I couldn’t find nothing suitable for the occasion’ [when you examine one by one]. ‘I only got about one hour to look through his thesis early this morning’ / ‘I only get about ten minutes at breakfast to look through the headlines on the newspaper’ [read briefly].

7.6 BY / UNTIL

BY: ‘If you post the letter today, she will receive it by Monday’. ‘I have to be at home by 6 o’clock in the evening’. ‘Where’s Helen? She should be here by now!’ ‘Tell me by Friday whether or not you are able to come to my house for repairing the machine’ [DO NOT SAY ‘until Friday’].
Notice the expression by the time: ‘Hurry up! By the time we get to the cinema, the film will already have started’.
UNTIL (use until to say how long a situation continues: ‘Shall we go now? No, let’s wait until (or till) it stops raining’. ‘On Sundays I stay in bed until 9 o’clock’.
NOTICE the differences: ‘John will be away until Monday’ / But ‘Peter will be back by Saturday’. ‘I’ll be working until 5 o’clock in the evening; I’ll have finished all my experiments by then’.

7.7 BY / ABOVE / BELOW / OVER / UNDER (UNDERNEATH / BENEATH) / BEFORE / IN FRONT OF / BEHIND / OPPOSITE / AFTER (preposition) / AFTERWARDS (adverb)

‘He is standing by the blonde girl’ (= ‘at the side of’).
The prepositions that follow express relative position vertically. NOTICE that over and under indicate a direct vertical relationship and/or spatial proximity: ‘A fluorescent lamp hanging over the desk’/ ‘The stool (= a seat without a back and arms) is under the bench’. ‘The doctor was leaning over the body when the policeman arrived’ / ‘There was a gun under the body’. Above and below indicate simply on a higher or lower level than: ‘The Research Institute stands on a hill above the valley’ / ‘The picture is above the shelf on that wall’ / ‘The shelf is below the picture’. / ‘The valley below the hill is a very beautiful green micro-basin’. Other prepositions expressing position vertically: ‘The book on plant physiology is on top of the bookcase’. (NOTICE: beneath (formal word) and underneath are less common substitutes for under; underneath indicates a contiguous relation; e.g. ‘he wears a chamois leather jacket and a wool sweater underneath) [N.B.: chamois is a goatlike antelope from the mountains of Europe and Asia Minor].
The prepositions that follow express relative position horizontally (see the figure on top): ‘A man is standing after the car, in front of the wall’ / ‘The wall is behind the car’. ‘The stop signal is opposite the wall’.
Before indicating time: ‘I’ll have lunch before going to work’; and indicating position: ‘The people in the church knelt before the priest’ / ‘Before you is a list of the participants in the event’. With the sense of future: ‘The task before us is a very hard one’. Indicating the presence of somebody: ‘He made a good speech before the Congressmen’. After must be followed by a noun, pronoun or gerund, but if there is none of these words we use afterwards: ‘It is unwise to bathe immediately after a meal’ / ‘It is unwise to have a meal and bathe immediately afterwards’.

7.8 ACROSS / THROUGH / PAST

There is a sense of passage in the meaning of these prepositions. The difference between across and through is like the difference between on and in; examples: ‘we walked quickly across the street’ or 'we walked across the ice' (we were on the street or we were on the ice). ‘The water flows to that tank through this pipe’ or 'the water flows through the forest' (the water is in the pipe or in the forest).
‘I live in a house just past (= after, AmE) the church’. ‘There is a bus every 20 minutes past the hour’.

7.9 UP / DOWN / ALONG / AROUND

There is a sense of direction in the meaning of these prepositions; examples: ‘I walked up and down the platform at the bus station’ / ‘I saw her walking along the corridor’. ‘Travel around the world’. ‘It’s around here somewhere’.

7.10 BEYOND / THROUGHOUT / ALL OVER

Use of beyond indicating a specified time: ‘I will not work today beyond 6 o’clock in the evening’. Use indicating at or to the further side of something: ‘The road continues beyond the village’.
Use of throughout with a sense of time: ‘ Tropical fruits are abundant throughout the year’. As a substitute of all through: ‘The news quickly spread throughout the city’. Use of all over: ‘The ants spread all over the lawn (= a short cut grass in the garden)’.

7.11 BETWEEN / AMONG, AMONGST (BrE)
‘There is a fight between those two scientists’.
‘The members of the Department never agree among(st) themselves’.

7.12 TOWARDS

‘This meeting is the first step towards greater unity between the two groups’. ‘Walk towards the river’. ‘We must be very friendly towards tourists’.[See ‘-wards’, a suffix, in ‘10. WORDS ...’]

7.13 BUT / EXCEPT

‘Everyone but me was tired’. ‘The problem is anything but easy’ [it means ‘apart from’, ‘other than’]. ‘Nobody but you could be so selfish’.
‘The weather is good today except in the South-east  or Southeast  of Brazil’. ‘All students except/but Peter passed the test’.

7.14 OF / WITH / WITHOUT (having ...)

‘A man of courage’.
‘Bean with rice is the Brazilians favourite dish’. ‘I am very glad you are coming with us’. ‘It’s nearly impossible for me to lunch bean without rice’. ‘She is a woman without children (= a childless woman)’.

7.15 AWAY FROM / OFF / OUT OF

‘John went away from the door’ (= ‘John was not at the door’).
Off: this preposition is used with many verbs: ‘get off the room’; ‘get off the bus’; ‘fall off a ladder’; ‘keep off the grass’ ... .
‘Fish can survive for only a short time out of water’. ‘Jump out of bed’. ‘Go out of the lab’. NOTICE the use of out as a prefix of nouns and verbs: ‘an outburst of microorganisms...’ (outburst = bursting out, explosion); ‘an outfit’ (= all the equipment or articles needed for a particular purpose); ‘an outbreak of dengue’ (= appearance or start, especially of disease or violence).

7.16 IN SPITE OF / DESPITE

‘In spite of / despite the rain, we did our field experiment’

7.17 ALTHOUGH / THOUGH / EVEN THOUGH

‘Although it rained a lot, we enjoyed our holiday’ / ‘We did the field experiment though the rain started early’ / ‘Even though I was really tired, I couldn’t sleep’ [= it’s a stronger form of although].

7.18 AS LONG AS / PROVIDED / SO THAT and PROVIDING / UNLESS

‘You can use this apparatus as long as / provided (that) / providing (that) you observe the instructions in the manual’. ‘We put on our raincoats so that we could do our field experiments even if it rained. ‘You can’t use this apparatus now unless you read carefully the instructions in the manual’ / ‘We’ll be late unless we hurry’.

7.19 ALL and WHOLE / ALL and EVERY

ALL and WHOLE: they both can be used with singular nouns to mean complete or every part of: ‘I spent my whole life studying English’. ‘I spent all (of) my life studying English’. Use whole with indefinite article: ‘He’s eaten a whole loaf’. ALL and EVERY: there is a little difference of meaning between them, but every is generally used with singular nouns: ‘Every child needs love’ / ‘I’ve written to every friend I have’; and all is used with plural nouns: ‘All children need love’ / ‘I’ve written to all my friends’.

7.20 EXERCISES
Put in the correct preposition:
1. I’ve spent the day ….. York.
2. Why don’t you take Joe ….. the cinema?
3. Your key’s ….. the reception desk.
4. We usually meet ….. the pub.
5. They’re delivering the furniture ….. my flat on Tuesday.
6. What’s the easiest way to get ….. Bristol?
7. Stop shouting ….. me.
8. Throw the keys down ….. me and I’ll let myself in.
9. Let’s throw snowballs … Mrs Anderson.
10. Can you shout ….. Paul and tell him it’s supper time?
11. When you smile ….. me like that I’ll do anything for you.
12. Promise you’ll write ….. me every day.
13. I went ….. Canada to see my father.
14. I went to see my father ….. Canada.

Put in like or as
1. He died ….. he lived, fighting.
2. Being in love is ….. an illness.
3. It’s mended, ….. you can see.
4. In Paris, ….. in Rome, traffic is heavy.
5. His eyes are ….. knives.
6. My brother isn’t at all ….. me.
7. She left ….. me, silently.
8. You’re shy, ….. me.
9. Your smile is ….. your sister’s.
10 ……. I said, you’re too late.

Using conjunctions: put the beginnings and ends together
Beginnings Ends
1. Although he was very bad-tempered, after you have a meal.
2. Always brush your teeth and I’ll hit you.
3. Always wash your hands but everybody liked him.
4. As Liz told you, before you have a meal.
5. Because I knew her family, he had lots of friends.
6. Talk to me like that again I did what I could for her.
7. Don’t do that again her mother left for Berlin last Friday.
8. He had a terrible temper, or I’ll hit you.
9. Liz explained to you so I tried to help her.
10. I was sorry for her, that your mother went back home last week.
11. If you do that again, unless you stop that.
12. There’ll be trouble you’ll be sorry.

Using conjunctions: join the beginnings and ends with so that or as long as
Beginnings Ends
1. He went to Switzerland he could learn French.
2. I don’t mind you singing it doesn’t rain.
3. We moved the piano that’s OK with you.
4. We took some blankets there would be room for the Christmas tree.
5. We’ll come back this afternoon we would be warm enough.
6. We’ll play tennis you do it quietly.

Put in, at, on, or NOTHING
1. ….. Easter.
2. ….. Tuesday.
3. ….. 1994.
4. ….. the evening.
5. …..Friday evening.
6. ….. May.
7. ….. next Wednesday.
8. I don’t know ….. what time.
9. ….. supper time.
10. …. this Sunday.
11. …. that afternoon.
12. ….. Sunday afternoon.


SCIENTIFIC TEXT
Some old people are oppressed by the fear of death. In the young there is a justification for this feeling. Young men who have reason to fear that they will be killed in battle may unjustifiably feel bitter in the thought that they have been cheated of the best things that life has to offer. But in an old man who has known human joys and sorrows, and has achieved whatever work it was in him to do, the fear of death is somewhat abject and ignoble. The best way to overcome it, so at least it seems to me, is to make your interests gradually wider and more impersonal, until bit by bit the walls of the ego recede, and your life becomes increasingly merged in the universal life. An individual human existence should be like a river, small at first, narrowly contained within its banks, and rushing past boulders and over waterfalls. Gradually the river grows wider, the banks recede, the waters flow more quietly, and in the end, without any visible break, they become merged in the sea, and painlessly lose their individual being. The man who, in old age, can see his life in this way, will not suffer from the fear of death, since the things he cares for will continue. And if, with the decay of vitality, weariness increases, the thought of rest will be not unwelcome. I should wish to die while still at work, knowing that others will carry on what I can no longer do, and content in the thought that what was possible has been done. Bertrand Russell.
[Text extracted from “Alexander, L.G. (1967) New Concept English. Fluency in English, p. 46”]

QUESTIONS

1. Why is it justifiable for a young man to fear death?
2. How does the author regard the fear of death in old people?
3. What, in the opinion of the author, is the best way for an old person to overcome the fear of death?
4. Which of these statements best expresses the main idea of the passage?
a) Old people fear death.
b) While it is justifiable for a young man to fear death, it is not so in an old man who has known human joys and sorrows and has accomplished whatever work it was in him to do.
c) It is justifiable for young people to fear death.
d) An old man will not fear death if he knows that there are others who will carry on what he can no longer do.

LET’S PRACTISE ENGLISH – Chapter VI

Starting with the continuation of

SOME REASONS NOT TO MESS WITH A CHILD:
2. A Kindergarten teacher was observing her classroom children while they were drawing. She would occasionally walk around to see each child’s work. As she got to one little girl who was working diligently, she asked what the drawing was. The girl replied: “I’m drawing God”. “But no one knows what God looks like”. Without missing a beat, or looking up from her drawing, the girl replied: “They will in a minute”.

BASIC ENGLISH REVIEW


6. PREPOSITIONS (I)


6.1 IN / ON / AT (PLACE)

6.1.1 IN
In a room // In a building // In a box // In a garden
In a town / city // In a country
Some examples: ‘ There’s no one in the room // in the building // in the garden’. ‘What have you got in your hand // in your mouth?’ ‘When I was in Italy I spent 5 days in Venice’. ‘When we were in England we lived in a small village in the mountains’. ‘Look at those people swimming in the pool // in the sea // in the river’. ‘He was born in (the island of) Cuba’. But ‘Robinson Crusoe was on an uninhabited island ( the island is small)’.
We say that somebody or something is: ‘In a line // in a row // in a queue // in a street // in a photograph // in a picture // (look at yourself) in a mirror // in the sky // in the rain / in the sun (= sunshine) // in the shade // in bad weather // in the world // in a book // in a newspaper // in a magazine // in a letter (but on a page and at the top or at the bottom of a page) // write in ink // write in pencil // in words // in figures // in CAPITAL (= BLOCK) LETTERS // in cash)’. But ‘pay by cheque or pay by credit card // in love (with somebody) / in my opinion’.

6.1.2 ON:
On the left // On the right // On the ground floor // on the 1st floor ...
On a map // on the menu // on a list // On a farm

On a river (on a boat) // on a road // on the coast (on the Northeast or North-east  coast of Brazil) // on the beach (but at the seaside).
Other uses: on television // on the radio // on the phone // on a diet // on strike // on fire // on the whole (= in general) // on purpose.

6.1.3 AT
a) At the window (standing at the window) // at the door (somebody knocking at the door) (but in the window = in the frame of the window).
b) At the shop (turn left at the shop, at the roundabout, at the church) // at home (‘I was at my friend’s house’) (but ‘there are five rooms in his house’) // at the Municipal Theatre // at the company’s headquarters // at the Rex (cinema) // at the airport, at the bus station, at the train station // at the hairdresser’s // at the doctor’s.

6.2 OTHER USES OF IN, ON, AT (SOME ‘SPECIAL DIFFICULTIES’)
a) At the age of ... // at the speed of ... // at a temperature of ... .
b) In the corner of a room // at or on the corner of the street
c) The front and the back
In the front and in the back of a car. Example: ‘When the car crashed I was in the front and my children were in the back of my car’. But we say: at the front / at the back of a building / cinema / group of people etc; examples: ‘the garden is at the back of the house’; ‘let’s sit at the front (in the cinema)’ (but ‘in the front row’).
On the front // on the back of a book, letter, piece of paper etc; example: ‘write your name on the back of this envelope’.
d) Compare in, at and on:
d.1) ‘There were a lot of people in the shop’ // ‘Go along this road, then turn left at the shop’.
d.2) ‘There is a notice on the door: it says ‘Do Not Disturb’ ’.
d.3) ‘I usually take the bus at the bus station, at a small village close to London’.
d.4) ‘I have good friends in Recife and in Paris’.
d.5) We say that somebody is in bed // in hospital // in prison.
d.6) We say that somebody is at a party // at a conference // at a concert // at the meeting // at a football match.

6.3 IN / AT / ON (TIME)

Compare the use of in, at, and on

AT:
At 5 o’clock // at midnight // at night // at lunchtime // at sunset’ // at the weekend // at weekends // at Christmas // at Easter // at the moment [see below ‘in a moment’] // at present // at the same time (N.B. ‘What time did you arrive’? (in this case it is not usual ‘at what time’ ...?’)).

ON:
‘They arrived on Friday // on 30 September, 1999 // on my birthday // on Christmas day // on New Year’s eve’.
On time: ‘The 11:45 bus left on time’. ‘We’ll start at 3 o’clock. Please be on time’.

IN:
In time: ‘Will you be back in time for dinner’? ‘I want to get home in time to see the football match on TV’ (the opposite would be too late).
‘They arrived in October // in (the) winter // in 1964 // in the 19th century’.
‘We’ll be back in a few minutes’ // ‘I’ll finish my fieldwork in six months’ // ‘She’ll be here in a moment’ (these are ‘time in the future’). ‘My wife learnt to drive in four weeks’.
In the morning(s) // in the afternoon(s) // in the evening(s). But on Friday morning // on Saturday evenings.
DO NOT USE at // on // in before last // next // this / every : ‘I’ll see you next Friday’. ‘He had his thesis viva last June’ [viva voce examination = oral examination]. ‘She will be back this coming year’. ‘I go to the cinema every Thursday in the evening’.

6.4 OF / FROM (SOME EXAMPLES)

OF:
a) The genitive (= related to possession)
Used especially with inanimate nouns: ‘the title of the book’; ‘the interior of the room’.
b) Especially in writing, the ’s is replaced by of-genitive: ‘The son of a man I know has just been arrested’.
c) We can say: ‘The government’s decision’ or ‘The decision of the government’.
d) Of is normally used with: ‘the beginning of // end of // top of // bottom of // front of // back of // middle of // side of ... . Examples: ‘the back of the car’; ‘the beginning of the month’; ‘the bottom of the sea’; ... .
e) Common uses: ‘the city of New York’; ‘the pleasure of meeting you’; ‘the caatingas of the Northeastern  or North-eastern  Brazil’; ‘the wines of France’; ‘the gravity of the earth’; ‘the degree of doctor’; ‘a statement of the facts’; ‘the owner of the restaurant’; ‘part of the problem’; ‘the height of the tree’; ‘a friend of mine’; ...

Genitive case: some comments
The following four animate noun classes take -s genitive:
a) Personal names: Admiral Tamandaré’s statue’; ‘Oxford’s pupil; João Pessoa’s city fair.
b) Personal nouns: ‘the student’s lab coat’; ‘my colleague’s computer’.
c) Collective nouns: ‘the government’s decision’; ‘the nation’s social security’.
d) Higher animals: ‘the horse’s tail’; ‘the lion’s hunger’.
Geographical and institutional names:
e) ‘Brazil’s future’; ‘the university’s history’; ‘São Paulo’s water supply’; 'the water's edge; ‘Paraíba’s Senator’.
f) Temporal nouns: ‘a moment’s thought’; ‘a week’s holiday’; ‘today’s work’.
g) Nouns of special interest to human activity: ‘the brain’s volume; ‘the mind’s development’; ‘science’s influence’.
In expressions relating to premises or establishments: ‘I shall be at Bill’s [= ‘where Bill lives’]; ‘I shall be at the dentist’s’ [= it means his / her professional establishment].
Other genitive cases:
a) ‘John’s Mary’ [never say ‘Mary of John’].
b) In a few expressions: 'a stone's throw'; 'journey's end'.
c) ‘His memory is like an elephant’s’.
FROM:
Source, origin: ‘I borrowed a book from a friend of mine’; ‘I am from João Pessoa’; ‘He comes from Italy’; ...

6.5 EXERCISES
Put in the appropriate preposition (at, in, on, to, into)
1) The truck (lorry) crashed ........ a parked car.
2) I have spent the day ........ Recife.
3) What’s the easiest way to get ......... Fortaleza?
4) I met her ........ a concert?
5) Stop shouting ........ me!
6) She opened the door and shouted ........ me: switch off the lights, please.
7) I got married ....... October. My youngest son was born ........ 1993; to be precise ........ a Tuesday, ........ 6th July, ........ 10 o’clock ........ the night.
8) ........ what time will you be back?

Write the preposition that is needed (or not  ):
1. Don’t approach ….. the dog. 2. I arrived ….. the station at six.
3. If you don’t know, ask ….. John. 4. She’s very good ….. languages.
5. Congratulations ….. your success. 6. The bus crashed ….. a tree.
7. It all depends ….. the weather. 8. I’d like details ….. your courses.
9. Let’s discuss ….. your plans. 10. I divided the cake ….. three parts
11. Why is she dressed ….. black? 12. Nobody entered ….. the room..
13. This is an example ….. his work. 14. There is no increase ….. prices.
15. I’m interested ….. most sports. 16. He was very kind ….. her.
17. The soup lacks ….. salt. 18. I’m looking ….. a place to live.
19. He has to look ….. his mother. 20. My sister is married ….. a builder.
21. She married ….. him last year. 22. He wasn’t very nice ….. me.
23. Have you paid ….. the drinks? 24. We need proof ….. his story.
25. What’s the reason ….. the change? 26. You remind me ….. your brother.
27. Who’s responsible ….. security? 28. I didn’t take part ….. the meeting.
29. Could you translate this ….. Greek? 30. That’s just typical ….. you.
31. I’m reading a novel ….. Dickens. 32. ….. my opinion you’re wrong.
33. Who’s the man ….. the picture? 34. I love walking ….. the rain.
35. Don’t talk ….. that silly voice. 36. The answer’s ….. page 29.


SCIENTIFIC TEXT
Researchers and public-health officials have long understood that to maintain a given weight, energy in (calories consumed) must equal energy out (calories expended). But then they learned that genes were important, too, and that for some people this formula was tilted in a direction that led to weight gain. Since the discovery of the first obesity gene in 1994, scientists have found about 50 genes involved in obesity. Some of them determine how individuals lay down fat and metabolize energy stores. Others regulate how much people want to eat in the first place, how they know when they’ve had enough and low likely they are to use up calories through activities ranging from fidgeting to running marathons. People who can get fat on very little fuel may be genetically programmed to survive in harsher environments. When the human species got its start, it was an advantage to be efficient. Today, when food is plentiful, it is a hazard.
N.B. Text from www.nytimes.com. Reproduced from Poliedro – Sistema de Ensino – Inglês, 2010, p. 97.


QUESTIONS [Check the Answers in the end]

1. In the text, the central idea is that:
A... obesity should be genetically treated
B... fat people may use different formulae to lose weight
C... fat regulates our feeling of satiety
D... genes contribute to obesity
E... researchers are discussing the consequences of obesity

2. According to the text:
A... today’s obesity may be linked to evolutionary factors
B... the human species is programmed to eat as much as possible to survive
C... the ingestion of large quantities of food was an advantage in the past
D... obese people have some advantages over slim people
E... very little food is necessary to survive in some environments

3. In the text, the pronoun others (line 6) refers to:
A... calories
B... individuals
C... energy stores
D... scientists
E... genes

4. Explain why a human being would be able to get energy from little amount of food and if this trait would be useful to him/her?

ANSWERS (to questions 1-2-3):
D
A
E

LET’S PRACTISE ENGLISH – Chapter V

Let’s start with this short series of jokes (with children):
SOME REASONS NOT TO MESS WITH A CHILD:
1. One little girl was talking to her teacher about whales. The teacher said it was physically impossible for a whale to swallow a human because even though it was a very large mammal its throat was very small. The little girl stated that Jonah was swallowed by a whale. Irritated the teacher reiterated that a whale could not swallow a human; it was physically impossible. The girl said: "When I get to heaven I will ask Jonah".The teacher asked: "What if Jonah went to hell"? The little girl replied: "Then you ask him".


BASIC ENGLISH REVIEW

5. PLURAL

• NOUNS
• VERB CONCORD

5.1 NOUNS

5.1.1 INVARIABLE NOUNS ENDING IN -s [USED WITH SINGULAR VERB]
a) News: ‘The news is bad today’.
b) Some diseases: measles, German measles, mumps, rickets, shingles, rabies
c) Names ending in -ics (usually with singular verb): classics, linguistics, mathematics, informatics, phonetics, economics ... ; but 'his mathematics are weak'.
d) Some games: billiards, bowls, dominoes, darts ...
e) Some proper nouns: Algiers, Athens, Brussels, Marseilles, Wales ...; the United States and the United Nations have a singular verb when considered as units.

5.1.2 PLURAL INVARIABLE NOUNS [USED WITH PLURAL VERB]
Tools and articles of dress consisting of two equal parts which are joined:
bellows* // tongs** // pants
binoculars // tweezers // pyjamas (BrE) pajamas (AmE)
pincers // glasses // pliers
spectacles // shorts // scales
scissors // flannels // tights
shears // knickers // trousers
* For fanning a fire; or for supplying an organ (musical instrument). See the difference: ‘The boys bellows could be heard everywhere’ [to shout in a loud voice]. ‘The boy’s bellows [the tool for fanning a fire or for supplying an instrument] are below those boxes’.
** For picking up and holding things

5.1.3 OTHER NOUNS THAT ONLY OCCUR IN THE PLURAL [WITH AN -s IN THE END]
(the) Antipodes // (the) Middle Ages
annals // oats (the grains of a plant)
archives // outskirts (outer board of a city or town...)(see surroundings)
arms (= weapons)
bans (of a marriage)// particulars (‘note the particulars’)
bowels (= guts)// pains (take pains, to do ...)
brains (= ‘intellect’)// premises (of a building)
clothes (but the plural of cloth is cloths)// regards(=concerning, with respect to)but regard = esteem, affection
contents (of a book ...; but the silver content of a coin)
remains
customs (the customs duty, in an airpot, for example)
spirits (= alcohol; but ‘alcohol is a spirit’)
entrails (= the body internal parts)// surroundings (see outskirts)
goods (a goods train or lorry ...) thanks
guts (= ‘bowels’; but a cat-gut)// tropics (but ‘the Tropic of Cancer’)
heads (‘heads or tails?’) // valuables
holidays (summer holidays, BrE; 'he's on holiday'; 'he's taking a holiday in Brazil')
various (‘various different shapes’;‘various reasons’)
wages (but ‘he earns a good wage’)
means (‘power is not a means, it is an end’; ‘by all means’)

5.1.4 UNMARKED PLURALS (= ‘COLLECTIVE’ NAMES) [USED WITH PLURAL VERB]
cattle // police
folk (but also informal folks)// youth (but it is regular when means 'young man')
gentry
‘ten millilitres of serum was added to’ ...
people (ex.: people are suffering) (but it is regular when means nation: ‘indigenous peoples living in the Amazon’)

5.1.5 VARIABLE NOUNS
Variable nouns have two forms, singular and plural, the singular being the form listed in dictionaries.
a) Treatment of -y: besides the regular spy... spies, there are nouns in -y to which s is added: with proper nouns: the Kennedys
after a vowel: days, boys, journeys
b) Nouns of unusual form sometimes pluralize in ’s:
letter names: ‘dot your i’s’ (= put a dot on the letter i)
numerals: ‘in the 1990’s (or 1990s)’
abbreviations: ‘two DVD’s or DVDs.
c) Nouns in -o have plural in -os, with some exceptions having either optional or obligatory -oes:
Plurals in -os and -oes: archipelago, banjo, buffalo, cargo, commando, flamingo, halo, motto, tornado, volcano.
Plurals only in -oes: echo, embargo, hero, Negro, potato, tomato, torpedo, veto.

5.1.6 COMPOUNDS
Compounds form the plural in different ways
a) Plural in first element
attorney general ...attorneys general
passer-by ...passers-by
mother-in-law ...mothers-in-law
grant-in-aid ...grants-in-aid
man-of-war ...men-of-war
Portuguese man-of-war ...Portuguese men-of war [=CARAVELA, in Portuguese]
mouthful ...mouthsful
spoonful ...spoonsful
b) Plural in both first and last element
gentleman farmer ...gentlemen farmers
manservant ...menservants
woman doctor ...women doctors
c) Plural in last element (= ‘normal’)
assistant director ...assistant directors
boy (or girl) friend ...boy (girl) friends

5.1.7 IRREGULAR PLURALS
a) Many foreign words are involved. It will be helpful the knowledge of Latin and Greek. See the examples:
alga ...algae
amoeba ...amoebae
analysis ...analyses
antenna (electronics) ...antennae (in biology)
axis ...axes
basis ...bases
crisis ...crises
formula (general) ...formulas
formula (mathematics) ...formulae
hypothesis ...hypotheses
meiosis ...meioses
thesis ...theses
b) Latin nouns ending in -us: the plural is -i
Regular plural (-uses): bonus, campus [plural in Latin is campi], chorus, circus, virus etc
Both plurals (-uses or -i): cactus, focus, fungus, radius, terminus, syllabus
Foreign plural (-i): alumnus (a male graduate), bacillus, coccus, locus, stimulus
N.B. The usual plurals of corpus and genus are corpora and genera, respectively.
c) Nouns in -a (Latin): the foreign plural is -ae, as in alumna ...alumnae and alga ...algae
Regular plural (-as): area, arena, dilemma, diploma, drama, etc
Both plurals: antenna, formula, nebula, vertebra
Foreign plural: alga, alumna (a female graduate), larva
d) Nouns in -um (Latin): the foreign plural is -a, as in curriculum ...curricula
Regular plural: agendum, album, chrysanthemum, datum, erratum, museum etc
Usually regular: forum, stadium, ultimatum
Both plurals: aquarium, medium, memorandum, millennium, minimum, septum, serum, symposium
Usually foreign plural: curriculum
Foreign plural: addendum, bacterium, corrigendum, desideratum, erratum, ovum, stratum, medium (as substrate for growing microorganisms)
N.B. Media with reference to the Press. Datum (singular of data) is rare.
e) Nouns in -ex (Latin): the foreign plural is -ices. NOTICE: index ... indexes as a list and lists of contents of books; and index ...indices as a mathematical term.
Both regular and foreign plurals: apex, index, vortex, appendix, matrix
Foreign plural: codex
f) The foreign plural is -es, as in basis ...bases
Regular plural (-ises): metropolis
Foreign plural: analysis, axis, basis, crisis, diagnosis, ellipsis, hypothesis, oasis, parenthesis, synopsis, thesis
g) Nouns in -on (Greek): the foreign plural is -a, as in criterion ...criteria
Regular plural: demon, electron, neutron, proton
Both plurals: automaton
Foreign plural: criterion, phenomenon
[See a good English grammar or English dictionary for French and Italian nouns used in scientific literature].

5.2 VERB CONCORD

5.2.1 SUBJECT VERB CONCORD
a) Use of singular (acting as subject): ‘After the exams is the time to relax’.
b) NOTICE this ‘rule’: ‘A subject which is not definitely marked for plural requires a singular verb’; example: ‘There’s hundreds of people on the waiting list’.
b.1) With singular nouns ending with the -s of the plural inflection (measles, billiards, mathematics ... see 5.1.1 INVARIABLE NOUNS); or conversely with plural nouns lacking the inflection (cattle, people ...); examples:
‘measles is sometimes serious’ ‘our people are complaining’
b.2) With names, titles, quotations etc, plural words and phrases are considered as singular; examples:
‘The Brothers Karamazov is undoubtedly Dostoyevsky’s masterpiece’.
‘Senior Citizens means people over sixty’
c) Singular expressions that have plural verbs: a number of ...; the majority of ...; a couple of ...; a group of ...; a lot of ...; a list of ... .

5.2.2 ‘THE IDEA OF NUMBER’ AND THE PROXIMITY RULE
The idea of number: ‘The government have broken all their promises’
Proximity:
a) ‘No one except his own supporters agree with him’
b) ‘One in ten graduates read and write in English’

5.2.3 COLLECTIVE NOUNS IN BrE TAKE PLURAL (USUALLY SINGULAR IN AmE)
a) ‘The public are tired of demonstrations’
b) ‘The audience were enjoying every minute of his talk’ [it is considered here ‘the individual reactions of members of the audience’]. But ‘The audience was enormous’.

5.2.4 CONCORD OF PERSON
a) Agreement between subject and verb (similar to concord of number):‘Neither you, nor I, nor anyone else knows the answer’.
b) The verb in agreement with the complement:
b.1) ‘What we need most are books’.
b.2) ‘Good manners is a rarity these days’.

5.2.5 NOUN PHRASES COORDINATED BY and, TAKE A PLURAL
a) ‘Tom and Mary are now ready’ [Tom is now ready and Mary is now ready]
b) ‘What I say and what I think are my own affair’ [what I say is ... and what I think is]
c) A conjoining expressing a mutual relationship takes a plural verb: ‘Your problem and mine are similar’.
But a singular verb is used with conjoining which represent a single entity: ‘The hammer and sickle was flying in the Russian flag’.

5.2.6 THE USE OF either ... or REQUIRES SPECIAL ATTENTION
a) ‘Either the Head of Department or his secretary is expected to come’.
b) ‘Either the students or the teachers have misunderstood the problem’.

5.2.7 THE USE OF neither ... nor, IN COLLOQUIAL SPEECH THEY BEHAVE LIKE and
‘Neither he nor his wife have arrived’.

5.2.8 INDEFINITE EXPRESSIONS OF AMOUNT
The proximity rule is also used in the following situations:
a) ... ‘none of them are ...’ ... ‘either of the girls are ...’
b) With the indefinites each, every, everybody, anybody, and nobody (which are undoubtedly singular):
‘Nobody, not even the teachers, were listening’.
‘Every member of that University of 3,000 people were pleased to hear about the salary increase’.
c) ‘A large number of people have applied for the job’.


SCIENTIFIC TEXT
Considerable research indicates that years of exposure to UV-B ionizing radiation in sunlight is the primary cause of squamous-cell and basal-cell skin cancers, which make up 95% of all skin cancers. Typically there is a 15- to 40-year lag between excessive UV exposure and development of these cancers.
Caucasian children and adolescents who get only a single severe sunburn double their chances of getting these two types of cancers. Some 90 - 95% of these types of skin cancer can be cured if detected early enough, although their removal may leave disfiguring scars. These cancers kill only 1 - 2% of their victims.
A third type of skin cancer, malignant melanoma, occurs in pigmented areas like moles. This type of cancer can spread rapidly (within a few months) to other organs, including the liver and brain, and kills about one-fourth of its victims (most under age 40) within five years  despite treatments.
Evidence indicates that white people who get three or more blistering sunburns before age 20, subsequently are five times more likely to develop malignant melanoma than those who have never had severe sunburns. About 10% of those who get malignant melanoma have an inherited gene that makes them especially susceptible to the disease.
To protect yourself, stay out of the sun (especially between 10 A.M. and 3 P.M., when UV levels are highest) and avoid tanning parlours. When you are in the sun, wear sunglasses that protect against UV radiation (ordinary sunglasses may actually harm your eyes by dilating your pupils so that more UV radiation strikes the retina). Glass (the thick glass of a car, for example) absorbs UV rays very effectively. Because UV rays can penetrate clouds, overcast does not protect you; neither does shade, because UV rays can reflect off sand, snow, water, or patio floors. People who take antibiotics and women who take birth control pills are more susceptible to UV damage. Because cell damage is cumulative, a one-hour exposure every day for five days could be as threatening as one long day at the beach.
Apply sunscreen with a sun protection factor (SPF) of 30 or more (if you have light skin), and reapply it after swimming or excessive perspiration. Babies under a year old should not be exposed to the sun at all.
Become familiar with your moles and warts. The warning signs of skin cancer are a change in the size, shape, or colour of a mole or wart; sudden appearance of dark spots on the skin; or a sore that keeps oozing, bleeding, and crusting over but does not heal.

N.B. The title of this text is: THE CANCER YOU ARE MOST LIKELY TO GET

8.1 QUESTIONS
1. What are the main causes of cancer skin and which forms of cancer people are susceptible to get?

2. How long does it take for someone to bear such kind of cancer?

3. Summarize the comments the author did about melanoma, mainly its relation to skin features, human organs, and inheritance.

4. Which relation exists between use of sunscreen from earlier age and probability to get skin cancer?

5. What does mean SPF and its numbers?

6. Is it correct to say that the author reported in the text that: ‘close to the end of the morning and in the beginning of the afternoon, and in cloudy days, staying under shade will protect you from UV radiation’? Comment on this statement.

7. Which comments the author does about sunglasses?

8. List some symptoms which would justify someone to seek for medical care?


8.2 EXERCISE

1. Use heal (v.) or scar (n.)
a) Even if it ............... it leaves a ............... .
b) He has a ............... on his face due to the wound which delayed to ............... .

2. Can you distinguish inherent (adj.) from inherit (v.) and inheritance (n.)?
a) Many people who get malignant melanoma have an .................... gene that makes them especially susceptible to disease.
b) There is a strong possibility that .................... increases the chances of someone get cancer.
c) We can say that most of skin cancer is .................... to caucasian people who is frequently exposed to UV rays.


3. Use actually or presently
a) People who increased their exposure to sunlight, by moving to areas with sunnier climate and by spending more leisure time exposed to sunlight, are .................... responsible for their own problems with skin cancer.
b) People who take antibiotics and women who take birth control pills are .................... more susceptible to UV damage.
c) Sunscreens [= sun-tan, lotion, oil or cream] with protection factor 15 or higher, are .................... new weapons to prevent blistering sunburns.
d) The skin cancer incidence is .................... rising.

4. Use realize and understand
a) Most people do not .................... that protection factors for sunscreens may not give sufficient protection to anyone. It is important to .................... that a good amount of the product must be applied to skin.
b) I did not .................... he was talking about the experiment; so I did not .................... what I had to do when we got to the field.

LET’S PRACTISE ENGLISH – Chapter IV

Laughter is the best medicine:
1. Do not insult my intelligence or I will turn on the TV
"In a quarrel with her husband in front of a switched off TV, but holding in her hand the remote control, she threatens him: I´m going to switch on the TV in Big Brother Brazil; if I've got to have my intelligence insulted I would rather it were done by experts "
2. I owe my mother:
a) My mother taught me and my brother TO APPRECIATE A JOB WELL DONE
"If you're going to kill each other, do it outside. I just finished cleaning."
b) My mother taught me about the science of OSMOSIS
"Shut your mouth and eat your supper."
c) My mother taught me IRONY.
"Keep crying and I'll give you something to cry about."


BASIC ENGLISH REVIEW

4. THE ARTICLES

• DEFINITE ARTICLE
• INDEFINITE ARTICLES

4.1 THE ARTICLE the: WHEN USED AND NOT USED
a) Used before a noun of which there is only one: ‘the earth’; ‘the sea’; ‘the sun’; ‘the weather’.
b)Used with definite specific reference: ‘where is the pen I bought’?; ‘the girl that I met’; ‘the man with the dog’.
c) Used before the noun which represents only one particular thing: ‘I went to the doctor’ [= my own doctor]; ‘please pass the dictionary’ [= the one on the table]; ‘what’s the climate like’? [= the one of the area being discussed].
d) Used before names of seas, rivers, chains of mountains, group of islands and plural names of countries: ‘the Atlantic (Ocean)’; ‘the São Francisco (River)’; ‘the Andes’; ‘the Malvinas (or ‘the Falklands’); ‘the USA’; ‘the Netherlands’.
e) Not used before the names of seasons: ‘in summer, the whales go to the North-east coast of Brazil’; ‘in autumn (BrE; or fall, AmE) the leaves become yellow’; but ‘after the winter is over, the birds will return’; ‘the population size increases in the spring’.
f) When the is used and not used before home, church, market, school, hospital ... : ‘She went home’, but ‘this was the home of her parents for many years’; ‘we go to church to pray’ but ‘I went to the church to see the priest’; ‘we go to hospital as patients’ but ‘he went to the hospital to talk to the doctor’; ‘she went to school’ [= the school as an institution] but ‘her mother went into the school’ [= the school as a building]. The following nouns take the: cathedral, office, cinema, theatre; ex.: ‘he is at the office’; ‘they went to the cinema/theatre’.
g) When the is used and not used: ‘at sunrise/sunset’ but ‘admire the sunrise/sunset’; ‘at dusk’ but ‘we see nothing in the dusk’; ‘at night/by night’ but ‘wake up in the night’; ‘at/before/after lunch/breakfast’: ‘I have breakfast at 7 am’ (BrE; AM, AmE) but ‘I enjoyed the lunch/breakfast’.
h) See the other uses and not uses: ‘from beginning to end’ but ‘from the beginning of the day to the end of it’; ‘from right to left’ but ‘keep to the right/left’; ‘from north to south’ but he lives in the south’.
i) Definite article is used before newspapers: ‘the New York Times’; ‘the Observer’, ‘the Economist’; but not before magazines and periodicals / journals: ‘Scientific American’; ‘Time’; ‘Newsweek’.
j) In unique meaning and partitive meaning: ‘during Easter’ / ‘during the Easter of that year’; ‘in England’ / ‘in the England of Queen Victoria’; ‘in London’ / ‘in the London I like’.

4.2 THE INDEFINITE ARTICLES a AND an :WHEN USED AND NOT USED
a) The form a is used before a consonant or a vowel sounded like a consonant: ‘a man’; ‘a woman’; ‘a hat’; ‘a university’; ‘a useful thing’; ‘a young woman’.
b) The form an is used before words beginning with a vowel: ‘an hour’; ‘an honourable man’; ‘an egg’; ‘an elephant’.
c) The indefinite is used before certain numerical expressions: ‘a couple’; ‘a dozen’; ‘half a dozen’; ‘a thousand’; ‘a million’; ‘a lot of ...’; ‘a great many’. It is used also with few (a small number) ‘a few friends’ and with little (a small amount) ‘a little time’.
d) In expressions of price, speed, ratio ...: ‘ten pence a kilo’; ‘sixty kilometres an hour’; ‘four times a day’; ‘a pound a metre’.

4.3 EXERCISES
A or an ?
1 .....elephant 7 .....half-hour lesson 13 .....hand
2 .....university 8 .....one-hour lesson 14 .....underpass
3 .....umbrella 9. .....useful book 15 .....unit
4 .....ticket 10.....SOS 16 .....CD
5 .....VIP 11.....X-ray 17 .....exam
6 .....honest man 12.....European 18 .....school
N.B. Notice that some of the words above are pronounced as if they start with a consonant. Examples: a university (the letter u sounds like y, a consonant); an SOS (the letter S is pronounced “es”).
Put a/an or one
.....day last year, it was ..... very hot afternoon in June and I was hurrying to get home. I was about ..... hour late; well, to be precise, exactly ..... hour and ten minutes: I had taken the train that arrived at the station at 6:15. Anyway, there was ..... woman standing under the trees, and there were several children with her. I saw ..... child clearly and she was ..... lovely dark-haired girl, but I only heard the others. Suddenly ..... strange thing happened. The girl took some stones and leaves out of her pocket, and threw ..... stone after another into the air.

Put the where necessary
There must be something wrong with me. ..... people usually think that ..... babies are sweet and ..... teenagers are annoying. Not me. I think ..... babies are boring. For me, ..... children are only interesting from about ..... age of two, when you can understand ..... things that they say. But ..... time between ages thirteen and twenty are ..... years that I like best. Oh, it’s difficult at times, but I still prefer talking about ..... money with a teenager to cleaning a baby’s bottom.


SCIENTIFIC TEXT
Most of today’s cities don’t even come close to being self-sustaining; they survive only by importing food, water, energy, minerals, and other resources from nearby and distant farmlands, forests, mines, and watersheds. They also produce enormous quantities of wastes that can pollute air, water, and land within and outside their boundaries.
Urban areas generally have relatively few trees, shrubs, or other natural vegetation that absorb air pollutants, give off oxygen, help cool the air, muffle noise, provide wildlife habitats, and give aesthetic pleasure. ‘Most cities are places where they cut down the trees and then name the streets after them’.
Urbanization alters the local climate. Cities are generally warmer, rainier, foggier, and cloudier than suburbs and nearby rural areas. Tall buildings and paved streets and parking areas absorb heat and obstruct cooling winds. Rainfall runs off so fast that little standing water is available to cool the air through evaporation. This combination of effects creates an urban heat island. Cities can save money and counteract the heat-island effect by instituting tree-planting programs, requiring lighter and more reflective paints and building materials, adding light-colored sand to asphalt to increase reflectivity.
As cities grow and their water demands increase, expensive reservoirs and canals must be built and deeper wells drilled. The transfer of water to urban areas deprives rural and wild areas of surface water and sometimes depletes groundwater faster than it is replenished. Large unbroken expanses of concrete or asphalt can also prevent precipitation from entering the soil to renew groundwater.
Urban residents are generally subjected to much higher concentrations of pollutants than are rural residents. Litter and garbage are abundant in slums and squatter villages, where solid-waste pickup services often don’t exist. These conditions invite the spread of disease.

N.B. The title of this text is: URBAN RESOURCE AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS


4.1 QUESTIONS

1. Use the appropriate word (on the left) to the sentence:
pleasure ‘Urban areas generally have relatively few trees, shrubs, or other wildlife natural vegetation that ............... air
pollutants,.........oxygen, help
cool .........the air, ..............noise,
provide...........habitat and give
muffle aesthetic ......................’.
give off
absorb

2. What would happen to temperature if reflective paints and building materials were utilized in urban areas?

3. The adjectives of the comparative forms, below, are: warmer..................; rainier..................; foggier.................; and cloudier...................... .

4. Why rural and wild areas might be deprived of water?

5. Match the questions and answers:
1) Why do urban areas have higher temperature? A) Food, water, minerals are
imported from surroundings.
2) Are heat islands created in urban and B) Because water demand
rural areas? increases in cities.
3) Why are rural and wild areas deprived of C) A tree-planting program.
water?
4) Which kind of resources are not provided
by cities? D) Because buildings,paved
streets, parking areas,
absorb heat and obstruct
cooling winds.
5) What would be necessary to absorb
pollutants, cool the air and muffle noise?
E) In urban areas only.


ANSWERS TO QUESTION 5:
1D
2E
3B
4A
5C

LET’S PRACTISE ENGLISH – Chapter III

BASIC ENGLISH REVIEW

3.1 TREATMENT OF VERBS ENDING IN -y AND SOME VERBS ENDING IN -ie
a) In bases ending in a consonant -y, the following changes occur:
carry → carries, carried but carry → carrying
b) In bases ending in -ie, these two letters are replaced by y before the -ing inflection. The verbs are die [= to stop living], lie [= to say something which is not true], lie [to be in a flat or horizontal position], tie [= to attach or hold things together with a string], vie [= to compete strongly with somebody]:
die → dying lie → lying tie → tying vie → vying

3.2 VERBS WITH PREPOSITIONS

3.2.1 VERBS FOLLOWED BY PREPOSITIONS

The verb be, was, been followed by prepositions:
a) Away: ‘I’ll be away for two months’.
b) Back: ‘I’m going out but I’ll be back at six o’clock’.
c) Out: ‘If anyone telephones me, please tell them I’ll be out all morning’.
d) In: ‘I went to Robert’s house but he wasn’t in’.
e) Over: ‘Why don’t you forget about it? It’s all over’. [it has finished]
f) On: ‘What’s on at the Shopping Centre cinema?’.
g) Up: ‘My wife is ill. She can’t start work yet. She is not up to it’. [she is not capable of it]
Observe that we can change the position of the prepositions in (bold type) in some sentences:
a) ‘He gave away all his books’ = ‘he gave all his books away’.
b) ‘He cut off the animal’s head’ = ‘he cut the animal’s head off’.
c) ‘Help me to lift up this table’ = ‘help me to lift this table up’.
d) ‘They pulled down the old building’ = ‘they pulled the old building down’.
e) ‘She threw away all her old books’ = ‘she threw all her old books away’.
a) ‘He put on his coat’ = ‘he put his coat on’.

But we cannot change in other verbs/sentences:
a) ‘She woke up her children early this morning’.
b) ‘He is looking for his keys’.
c) ‘Give it back to her’.
d) ‘Take off your labcoat and put on your raincoat’.
e) ‘I am looking at the pictures’.
f) ‘Send him away or he will cause trouble’.
g) ‘Make up your mind’.
h) ‘He asked for permission to leave’.

3.2.2 GERUNDS AFTER PREPOSITIONS
a) Gerund form must be used when a verb is placed immediately after a preposition: ‘I insisted on seeing her’ / ‘He is good on telling lies’ / ‘I am used to waiting for you’ / ‘We had a lot of difficulty in finding the samples’.
b) Used in short prohibitions: ‘No smoking’ / ‘No trespassing’ / ‘No spitting’. Also used in the saying: ‘Seeing is believing’.
c) Many verbs take the gerund. Let’s see some: ‘I am looking forward to reading that book’ or ‘I am looking forward to seeing you soon’ / ‘I am used to working at night’ / ‘He didn’t want to risk getting wet’ / ‘Try to avoid driving in the rush hour’ / ‘They prevented the river (from) flooding the town’ / ‘Forgive me for interrupting you’ / ‘She suggested waiting’ / ‘Would you mind waiting a few minutes’? / ‘I came late and missed seeing him’ / ‘Stop talking’.

3.2.3 SUBJUNCTIVE
A special kind of present tense with no –s in the third person singular: ‘It is essential that every child have the same educational opportunities’. ‘We insisted that she be in charge’. ‘If I were you I should stop smoking’. ‘The judge recommended that he remain in prison for at least three years’. ‘I wish it were Saturday’.


SCIENTIFIC TEXT
Water scarcity has been surfacing more and more as a serious global issue in recent years. That scarcity has caused significant business disruptions across all sectors and geographies, and with all the associated technical, economic, political, environmental and social implications. This reality is projected to worsen in the future, as a result of climate change and demographics.
The UN Human Development Report 2006 stresses this critical issue: “Better access to water and sanitation would act as the catalyst for a giant advance in human development, creating opportunities for gains in public health, education and economic growth”. Experience from the climate change debate has shown that translating awareness to specific action takes many years.
There is a major challenge in catalysing effective action on a global level. Government play an important role in helping to mitigate and adapt to the challenge, but so does the private sector, through individual company actions and through innovative public-private partnerships.
Such partnerships can offer a useful solution. Since late 2005, the Forum’s Water Initiative has focused on creating networks in South Africa and India. The objective has been to catalyze ideas for public-private water infrastructure projects and shape them into well-developed, bankable project propositions, and financing plans.
[Title of this text: Promoting a global dialogue on water. Reproduced from Poliedro – Sistema de Ensino – Inglês, 2010, p. 51]

QUESTIONS [Check the Answers in the end]
1. According to the text, we cannot say that water scarcity, worldwide:
A has affected businesses.
B has been debated lately.
C has improved the climate.
D has had social implications.

2. The word does (third paragraph, third line) can be best interpreted as:
A catalyzes effective action.
B challenges the adaptation.
C innovates partnerships.
D plays an important role.

3. The organization of this text is in the form of:
A arguments for and against.
B hypothesis and proof.
C problem and solution.
D sequence of descriptions.

4. We can say that the text argues in favour of:
A adaptation.
B financing.
C opportunities.
D partnerships.

ANSWERS:
1. C
2. D
3. C
4. D