Времена английского глагола в сравнении = English Tenses Compared. Пособие

A Very Exciting Year

In January Martha was hired by the Fernwood Company as a secretary. In March she was sent to school by the company to study statistics and accounting. In April she was given her first raise. Just two months later, she was promoted to the position of supervisor of her department. In August she was chosen ‘Employee of the Month.’ In October she was given another raise. In November she was invited to apply for a position in the company’s overseas office in England. And in December she was given the new job and was flown to London to begin work.

Martha certainly has had a very exciting year. She can’t believe all the wonderful things that have happened to her since she was hired just twelve months ago.

•Speak about your career history.

•Respond to the following.

– Has the lamp been fixed?

—No, it is still being fixed.

1.Have the floors been painted? 2. Have the things been packed? 3. Has the table been laid? 4. Have the dogs been fed? 5. Has the letter been typed? Has the radio-set been repaired? 7. Has the furniture been removed?

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•Report the conversation.

A Burglary

Tom: The newsagent’s has been broken into. About 850 has been taken.

Nick: Has the thief been found?

Tom: No, not yet. The theft was only discovered an hour ago. There’s a room at the back of the shop where the money is kept in a safe. This morning the cleaner noticed that the window had been broken, so she told the owner. A few people have been questioned by the police, but nobody knows much. An officer said that any information will be welcomed.

Nick: Will there be a reward?

•Make up short exchanges using the words prompted.

Prompt: dust / the furniture

—Has the furniture been dusted yet?

—Not yet.

1.hang up / the picture 2. cut / the grass 3. fix / the brakes 4. mend / the shoes 5. type / the documents 6. photocopy / the letters 7. find / the book 8. clean / the room 9. iron / the suit

• When the pupils went back to school after the summer holidays, a lot of things had been changed.

New desks (buy).

New desks had been bought.

1. A lot of trees (plant). 2. New lights (put in). 3. The classrooms (paint). 4. A tennis court (build). 5. The fence (take down). 6. Five new classrooms (add). 7. New equipment (buy) for the chemistry lab. 8. Showers (install) in the changing rooms. 9. New blackboards (put up) in the classrooms. 10. The whole school (modernize).

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She Only Wanted a Haircut

Alan: Have you always been interested in photography? Carla: Oh, yes! I was given a camera for my eighth birthday.

Alan: So you became a photographer immediately after school, I imagine.

Carla: Oh, no. I did lots of different things. Alan: What kind of things?

Carla: Well, 1 went to college and studied design. Oh, and once I was given a job at a hairdresser’s.

Alan: How long did you do that for?

Carla: Not long. I was sacked after three weeks. Alan: Sacked? Why?

Carla: I dyed a lady’s hair green. Alan: What was wrong with that? Carla: She only wanted a haircut.

Going by Tube

Laura usually leaves the office at about five o’clock, but last Monday she left at half past five. She wanted to get home by 6.30 and she ran to the bus stop but she couldn’t get on a bus. There were too many people and not enough buses. Laura was desperate to get home so she decided to go by tube.

In the station she went to one of the automatic ticket machines but she didn’t have enough change, so she had to join the queue at the ticket window. She bought her ticket and ran to the escalator. Laura went to the platform and waited for the train. It arrived and the crowd moved forward. Laura was pushed into the train. It was almost full but she was given a seat by a man with a moustache. Laura thanked him and sat down. She started to read her newspaper. In the tunnel the train stopped suddenly and Laura was thrown to the floor together with the man with the moustache. Somebody screamed. The lights went out. It was quarter past six on a cold wet December evening.

Fishermen Found Safe and Sound

Three Taiwanese fishermen were rescued yesterday from a small uninhabited island in the South Pacific. The men had been lost for more than three months.

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They had left Taiwan in a small fishing boat and planned to be gone for only a week. But on the fifth day they ran into a typhoon, and it badly damaged their boat. Fortunately, none of the men was hurt. After the storm passed, however, they found that the engine wouldn’t start. So their boat just drifted at sea for a month. During this time, the fishermen caught fish to eat and drank rainwater to stay alive.

Finally, the boat drifted toward a small island. When it got close enough, the men jumped overboard and swam to the shore. On the island, they found fresh fruit and vegetables to eat, and they continued to live off any fish they could catch.

The fishermen lived on the island for another two months before they were rescued by a passing ship. Although the three men had lost a lot of weight, they were still in fairly good health after their long ordeal. Their families were very happy to hear that the men had been found ‘safe and sound’ and that they would soon be home.

An Earthquake

An earthquake was reported in San Francisco at 7.18 this evening. Most of the damage was felt in the downtown area. Electric lines were cut but telephone service was not interrupted in most areas. It appears that no damage was done to the new earthquake-proof buildings, but, unfortunately, windows were shattered in some of the older buildings and the famous old clock in Union Square was destroyed. The clock, which is 100 years old, was popular with tourists. No injuries were reported so the Red Cross was not called to help. Also, no damage was reported in the suburbs.

•Put the verbs in brackets into the Past Simple Passive.

Did you know that the greatest explosion in the world (cause) by a volcano? Krakatoa, an island in Indonesia, erupted in 1883. More than half the island (destroy). The explosion (hear) in India and Australia. Rocks (throw) more than 55 kilometres high into the air. Surprisingly, only a few people (kill), but a huge wave, 35 metres high, (create) by the explosion. Several small islands (cover) by the wave. 163 villages (destroy) and 36,000 people (drown). Dust (carry) all round the world, and the weather everywhere (affect) for many years afterwards.

294

It’s a Real Bargain

Mr Palmer is looking for a new house. He’s tired of living in the city and he wants to live in a quiet village. He’s with the estate agent now.

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•Learn the conversation and, in pairs, act it out in class.

•Report the conversation.

Computers: Now and in the Future

A computer is an electronic device. It makes calculations and processes information. Complicated problems can be solved very quickly. Millions of pieces of information can be processed in seconds. Nowadys, computers are used for many different purposes. Businesses use their computers not only to bill their customers, but also to send information to customers and to communicate with other businesses. In industry, many complicated machines are controlled by computers. Machines that produce chemicals, steel, and hundreds of other products are connected to computers. In transportation, airplanes, ships, and even spacecraft are guided by computers. In science, complicated problems and scientific data are almost always analyzed by computers. Even earthquakes and hurricanes can be predicted by computers. In education, computers are used as teaching machines. In the home, people are buying computers to help them manage their households more efficiently. People can shop, make travel arrangements, and pay their bills using computers right in their own homes.

In the future, computers will be even more widely used — in our offices, our homes, and our cars. Developments are being made every day that allow computers to solve more and more complex problems. It has been said by many experts that someday computers will be able to ‘think’ creatively like human beings. For example, someday (= some day) computers may be able to understand human language and to respond to it.

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In the near future, sophisticated forms of art and music may also be created by computers. Indeed, some forms of ‘computer art’ and ‘computer music’ have already been produced.

A Busy Day

Dr Lin, the author of ‘Computers: Now and in the Future’, is talking to his wife.

•Learn the conversation and, in pairs, act it out in class.

•Report the conversation.

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Irregular Verbs

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