Unit VII

Grammar: 1. Gerund

2. Word Formation

• Pre-reading exercises

Exercise І. Pronounce the following words and word combinations:

earthquake – землетрус

layer of rock – шар гірської породи

to melt – розплавити

liquid – рідина

all the time – весь час

the Earth’s crust – земна кора

mantle – мантія, п крив

like an ice-cream – як морозиво

to presume – допускати

shaking of the Earth’s crust – здригання земної кори

to be sure – бути впевненому

dangerously – небезпечно

to save peoples lives – врятувати життя людей

Exercise ІІ. Read the headline of the text. What information do you know about earthquakes? Where were the last earthquakes?

• Reading

Read closely the text, translate it into Ukrainian and try to retell it:

Earthquakes

We know different layers of rock to be inside the Earth. At the centre of the Earth is the core. Round the core is a thick layer of rock called the “mantle”. We know the rock of the core and the mantle to be very hot. It is a known fact that the rock of the mantle has melted like a warm ice-cream and turned into liquid. The layer on the outside of the Earth is hard and thin. We know it to be called the “crust”. In some places the crust is about sixty-four kilometres thick and in other places it is only about five kilometres thick. The crust of the Earth is made of several huge pieces of rock like the pieces of a cracked plate. These pieces of rock float on the liquid rock of the mantle layer.

Scientists are now certain that the big pieces of the Earth’s cracked crust are moving very slowly all the time. We expect them to move every year only between one and nine centimetres. The pieces of the rock crust move, their edges meet (along the cracks between them), and they rub together. When they rub, the rock shakes and earthquakes happen along the cracks between the huge pieces of the Earth’s crust.

We know some earthquakes to be very strong. But some earthquakes can be very weak. Sometimes we do not even know when a weak earthquake has happened under us. We do not feel anything. But in a stronger earthquake it is not sensible to stay inside. It is better and less dangerous to run outside and stay in open spaces. In earthquakes most people die because buildings fall on them. In December 1988, in Armenia, for example, there was an earthquake in three cities and 24,000 people were killed. Most of them were inside buildings when the earthquake happened.

But it is possible to know that an earthquake is coming. Before an earthquake happens, the two pieces of rock along the sides of one of the big cracks in the Earth’s crust start to rub together very slowly. This is the time when it may be possible to tell where and when the earthquake is going to happen. Scientists think that animals, for example snakes and some fish, are able to hear the noises of the rocks rubbing together. Scientists presume that they can feel the first shaking of the Earth’s crust. And they are sure that we can learn from watching carefully what these animals do. In China in 1975, for example, there was a big earthquake in the city of Haicheng. But most of the people were not in the city when it happened. They were already camping in the open countryside outside the city. The animals warned them that an earthquake was coming and they knew that it was dangerous to stay in the city. They were wise to leave. We know the earthquake to knock down almost the whole city.

Now scientists are looking for new ways to tell us if an earthquake is coming. They are using special instruments in Japan, America and New Zealand to find out if the cracks in the Earth’s crust underneath these countries are rubbing together dangerously. We know them to test the gases in the water under the ground. Some gases can tell us that an earthquake is coming.

Perhaps one day it will be possible to know exactly where and when an earthquake is going to happen. Then we shall be able to save many more people’s lives.

• Text-based exercises

Exercise III. Translate the following sentences into English:

1. У центрі Землі знаходиться ядро оточене мантією.

…………………………………………………………………………….………………

2. Земна кора складається з гірської породи.

…………………………………………………………………………….………………

3. Вчені вважають, що деякі звірі відчувають наближення землетрусу.

…………………………………………………………………………….………………

4. Сьогодні вчені розмірковують над новими засобами пророкування землетрусів.

…………………………………………………………………………….………………

5. Мабуть колись буде можливо остаточно визначити де і коли відбудеться землетрус.

…………………………………………………………………………….………………

Exercise IV. Fill in the correct word from the list below. Use the words only once:

layer	out
countryside	rub
crust	underneath
down	rock
open	test

Earth’s ……………….…....	Earth’s crust ………. the countries
………...………….. of rock	to find ……………………....…….
in …………................ space	to ………...………….…….... gases
in the open ….....…………	to ………………….…..…. together
to knock ………..………...	to shake ……..…............................

Exercise V. Answer the following questions:

1. Are these different layers of rock inside the Earth?

…………………………………………………………………………….………………

2. What is called “the crust”?

…………………………………………………………………………….………………

3. What are the main layers if rock inside the Earth?

…………………………………………………………………………….………………

4. When do earthquakes happen?

…………………………………………………………………………….………………

5. What is sensible to do in earthquake?

…………………………………………………………………………….………………

6. Why do people die in earthquakes?

…………………………………………………………………………….………………

7. Is it possible to know that an earthquake is coming before it starts?

…………………………………………………………………………….………………

8. Why did people leave the city of Haicheng in China in 1975?

…………………………………………………………………………….………………

9. Can gases tell us that an earthquake is coming?

…………………………………………………………………………….………………

10. Why is it necessary to know exactly where and when an earthquake is going to happen?

…………………………………………………………………………….………………

• Grammar exercises

Exercise VI. Underline the Gerund, define its function and translate the sentences:

1. Getting several viewpoints is vital.

…………………………………………………………………………….………………

2. Through obeying learn to command.

…………………………………………………………………………….………………

3. Memory is the process of selective forgetting.

…………………………………………………………………………….………………

4. The turbulent flow of gases produces cooling.

…………………………………………………………………………….………………

5. Life is one long process of getting tired.

…………………………………………………………………………….………………

Exercise VII. Use the preposition from the list below and translate the sentences:

before over in x 3 than without by at

1. It is better doing well ………… saying well.

…………………………………………………………………………….………………

2. Research is searching ………… knowing what you are going to find.

…………………………………………………………………………….………………

3. Know your own faults …………. blaming others for theirs.

…………………………………………………………………………….………………

4. Learn ………… doing.

…………………………………………………………………………….………………

5. There is like doing …………once.

…………………………………………………………………………….………………

6. A watched pot is long ………… boiling.

…………………………………………………………………………….………………

7. It is no use crying ………… spilt milk.

…………………………………………………………………………….………………

8. Be slow ………… choosing a friend, slower ………… changing him.

…………………………………………………………………………….………………

Exercise VIII. Open the brackets using the Gerund and translate the sentences:

1. The house is old, and it wants (repair).

…………………………………………………………………………….………………

2. The grass in the garden is very dry, it needs (water).

…………………………………………………………………………….………………

3. (learn) foreign languages is very useful.

…………………………………………………………………………….………………

4. Kate needed (cheer up) when she heard that she’d failed her exams.

…………………………………………………………………………….………………

5. Famous people don’t need (introduce) themselves.

…………………………………………………………………………….………………

Exercise IX. Define the types of the –ing forms and translate the sentences:

1. Having finished work I went home.

…………………………………………………………………………….………………

2. After reading he closed the book.

…………………………………………………………………………….………………

3. The man sitting at the table is our teacher.

…………………………………………………………………………….………………

4. Defining problems precisely requires patience.

…………………………………………………………………………….………………

5. Water, having weight and occupying space, is a form of matter.

…………………………………………………………………………….………………

Exercise X. Form the verbs by adding the prefixes en–, pre–, mis–, de– or dis– to the following words and translate them:

agree – ………………......

aerate – ……………….....

determine – ………………

take – ………………........

large – ………………......

appear – ………………...

heat – ……………….......

case – ………………......

• Speaking task

Exercise XI. Look at the Picture 5 and try to describe the layers of rock in a form of dialog using such word combinations: in chemical terms, basic layer, consist of, granitic and basaltic rock, silicate material, nickel and iron, by physical property.

Picture 5. Layers of Earth