3. The blast furnace

Iron is extracted from iron ore in blast furnaces. The biggest are 60m (200ft) high, produce 10,000 tonnes of iron a day, and work non-stop for 10 years. The furnace gets its name from the blast of hot air that heats up the raw materials. These are iron ore, limestone, and coke (a form of carbon). As carbon is more reactive that iron, it grabs the oxygen from the iron ore, leaving iron metal behind.

Limestone is included in the furnace because it mizes and combines with sand, clay, and stones in the ore. They form a waste material, called slag, which floats on top of the molten metal.

The chemical reactions begin when hot air is blasted into the furnace. As the coke burns, the carbon in it gets enough energy to react with oxygen from the air to form first carbon dioxide and then carbon monoxide. The carbon monoxide takes oxygen atoms from the iron oxide to leave carbon dioxide and iron metal. Temperature inside the furnace reaches 1,900^oC, melting the iron which sinks to the bottom.

Task 3. Focus on Grammar

Expressing the Future

1. will is an auxiliary of the future in simply predicting a future event.

They will go to the country tomorrow.

2. The Present Continuous is used to express an arrangement, usually for the near future.

I’m going to the cinema tonight.

They are coming to see us tomorrow morning.

3. The Future Continuous expresses an activity that will be in progress around some particular time in the future.

Don’t phone him tomorrow. He will be preparing for the seminar.

Tomorrow at this time we’ll be crossing the English Channel.

4. The Future Perfect expresses an action which will have finished before a definite time in the future.

I’ll have done this task by 4 o’clock.

Mother will have made the lunch by the time they come.

5. The Future Tenses are not used in the subordinate clauses of time and condition (if, when, before, after).

I’ll go there after I finish this work.

If he invites her, I won’t go to his party.

Exercise 1. Match a future form in box A with its definition in box B

A B

1. We’ll have finished breakfast by 1. an arrangement

the time you come. 2. an activity which will be in

2. I am meeting her at 2 o’clock in progress at a certain time

Picadilly Circus. 3. a planned action

3. At 3 o’clock tomorrow we’ll be 4. a simple prediction

having a nice time abroad. 5. an action that will be finished

4. I’ll give you my jacket in case you before a definite time

need it.

5. You’ll be very happy with your 6. a spontaneous intention

husband, I am sure. 7. an action that will happen in the

6. I am going to study English in Britain. natural course of events

7. My plane leaves at 10 on Thursday.

Exercise 2. Put the verb in brackets in a suitable future form.

1. I . . . (to go) to Germany next summer. 2. We have decided we . . . (to do) something different this weekend. Usually we go to the country. 3. If you . . . (to wake up) me tomorrow, I . . . (to go) there with you. 4. I . . . (to meet) Emma at three. She . . . (to join) us for dinner. 5. We . . . (to complete) the project by the end of the year. 6. When you . . . (to return), he . . . (to be) probably there already. 7. At 3 o’clock tomorrow he . . . (to present) his paper at the conference. 8. Before the end of the holiday he . . . (to spend) all his money. 10. Come at 7 o’clock. I’m sure Tom . . . (to come) by that time. 11. At four o’clock tomorrow I . . . (to play) tennis. 12. When Jill comes back everybody . . . (to be fast asleep). 13. What …you (do) when I come. 14. The train …(to leave) by the time we come to the station.

Exercise 3. Read a situation and then write a question in a future form.

Example: It is nice outside. You want to go for a walk.

Question: Shall we go for a walk?

1. You and your friend are late for a party and you suggest to take a taxi. You say . . .

2. You want to borrow a dictionary from your friend and want to know if he will be using it tonight. You say . . .

3. You want to visit your friend tomorrow at 5 o’clock but you don’t know if he’ll be busy. You say . . .

4. You want to know if your friend will have finished the work by tomorrow. You say ...