Present Perfect Simple vs. Present Perfect Continuous

1. Read the sentences paying attention to the parts in bold.

A

The theory has been generating excitement since it was proposed in January, and physicists met to discuss it at a meeting in November at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo, Ontario. In particular, physicists have been checking if the model correctly describes the universe we see today.

 

B

Humans have been recording data on surfaces since the era of clay-tablet accounting systems. The printing press, photography, magnetic tape and compact discs (CDs) haveeachtransformed data storage.

 

2. Note the use of the Present Perfect Continuous and the Past Simple in the first sentence of A. Explain the use of the tenses.

 

Note:

We usually think of the words:

· since

· for

as indicating the use of the Perfect tenses.

 

However, if the situation refers to the past, we should use the Past Simple tense.

 

3. Translate the sentences.

1. Physicists have struggled to marry quantum mechanics with gravity for decades.

2. What is interesting, and important,is that this issue continuedto dominate design decisions for many years.

3. The imposing rings brought fame to this fascinating planet, and puzzledobservers for centuries.

4. This has not been considered good form for many years, because of the implications for program debugging and the desire for reentrant code in some situations.

5. The trouble is that recent astronomical observations have been producing some very strange results.

6 Over the past decade astronomers have found that for a given redshift, distant supernova explosions look dimmer than expected.

7. Redshift measures the amount that space has expanded.

 

Present Perfect vs. Past Perfect

1. Study and translate the examples.

А

1.By the late 1960s, the resolving power of these machines had increased enormously, allowing physicists to reveal another layer of matter's substructure.

2.By the late 1800s, scientists had realized that substances such as oxygen and carbon didin facthave a smallest recognizable constituent, which (taking their cue from Democritus) they christened atoms.

3.By themid-1980s, a central prediction of this proposed electroweak theory had been confirmedby the accelerator at the European Laboratory for Particle Physics (CERN) in Geneva, Switzerland.

 

B

1. It was obvious that industry had been instrumental in helping to build large devices, such as the JET tokamak at Abingdon in the UK, and in helping to develop the technologies that are

 

needed for fusion research. Less obvious was how industry itself had benefited from the relationship

2. The scientists screenedmore than 520.000 genes to compare the genetic variations found among smokers who had successfully given up with genetic variations among smokers who had tried to quit but failed.

3 Wefound that at least 62 of the genes that we had previously identified as playing roles in dependence to other drugs also contribute to nicotine dependence,

4. In many places it tooka long time to overcome the non-rational customary systems of weights and measurements which had been used for centuries.

5. In the first instants of the big bang, after quarks had united in groups of three to form protons and neutrons, collectively called baryons, groups of four protons were then able to fuse together and become helium 4 nuclei.

6. When we first proposed those experiments more than 25 years ago, I had expected that within a decade we would have the answer. So after a generation of anticipation, when the physics community heard rumors that the CDMS experiment had detected something, we tuned in to the online announcement as if it were a Beatles reunion concert.

 

Future Perfect

1. Read the sentences and explain the use of the tense.

 

1. Within forty minutes of the sun shining on the earth, the sun will have given off as much energy as the entire world population will use in a year.

2. We still believe that the answerwill have been foundby the end of the century.

3. The new telescope will have been constructed by that time.

Perfect forms

1. Read the examples.

Perfect Infinitive

to have + Ved\V3

One start-up company claims to have developed a cheaper and more energy-efficient approach that eschews digital processing.

Perfect Participle

Having + Ved\V3

He has a background in electronic engineering and in politics, having been Italy’s undersecretary for research.

 

 

2. Answer the questions.

 

1. Do the actions expressed by the perfect forms take place at the same time as the predicate?

2. Which of them took place earlier?

 

3. Work out the rule for use of perfect infinitive and participle forms.

 

 

Part II

Practice

1. Translate the sentences

1. The standard model utilizes twenty or so numbers that have been established through decades of fastidious research.

2. Animal studies have shown that some nanoparticles, if inhaled or ingested, can harm the lungs and also cross the blood-brain barrier, which protects the brain from toxins in the bloodstream.
3. We have come this far on the basis of enhancements to the existing architectures and their implementation.

4. This research marks the first time we’ve been able to identify genes involved in the ability to quit smoking.

5.The infinities that plague other theories of quantum gravity have been tamed, and the theory spits out a well-behaved graviton.

6. The printing press, photography, magnetic tape and compact discs (CDs) have each transformeddata storage.

7. We've been heading down a road of using digital logic more and more.

10. The NASA defines a fact as "an observation that has been repeatedly confirmed and for all practical purposes is accepted as 'true.'"

11. The trouble is that recent astronomical observations have been producing some very strange results.

12. The printing press, photography. magnetic tape and compact discs (CDs) have each transformed data storage.

 

2. Translate into English

1.

a) В 2009 году мы провели эксперимент.

b) Мы проводим эксперименты с 2009 года.

c) Мы провели серию экспериментов.

2.

a) Я написал первую статью, когда я был студентом. (…when I was a student)

b) Я пишу статьи со студенческих лет. (… since I was a student)

c) За время учебы в институте я написал 4 статьи. (During my under-graduate course…)

3.

a) В прошлом году мы получили первые результаты.

b) Мы не получали достоверных результатов в течение 2 месяцев.

c) Наконец мы получили нужные результаты.

 

 

Writing a paper

 

1. Write the beginning of a paper (in the Present Perfect).

Choose one of the two possible variants:

 

We have found a new way to produce this material.

or

A new way to produce this material has been found.

 

а) вы разработали новый метод производства микросхем;

б) вы сконструировали новый прибор;

в) вы открыли /исследовали новое явление;

г) сообщите о новом достижении в конкретной научной области.

 

2. Write 5–6 sentences dealing with the background of a research.

 

Use the following beginnings:

 

For centuries/decades/many years scientists have…

Scientists have always…

It has long been believed that…

There has always existed an idea…

 

It has currently become evident…

We have lately begun to appreciate…

Scientists have recently proved…

 

 

Part III

Vocabulary

 

1. Read the paragraph.

Physicists have struggled to marry quantum mechanics with gravity for decades. In contrast, the other forces of nature have obedientlyfallen into line. For instance, the electromagnetic force can be described quantum-mechanically by the motion of photons. *Try and work out the gravitational force between two objects in terms of a quantum graviton, however, and you quickly run into trouble—the answer to every calculation is infinity. But now Petr Hofava, a physicist at the University of California, Berkeley, thinks he understands the problem. It'sall, he says, a matter of time.

2. Find Russian equivalents of the underlined words.

3. Translate the sentence, marked with the asterisk.

 

a) make and write down some phrases:

 

the answer the problem

the question to the calculation

the approach text

the solution the equation

 

b) write 3 sentences with the resultant phrases.

4. Translate the sentences.

(In terms of –с точки зрения, исходя из, с учетом.)

 

1.In terms of the number of atomic nuclei, hydrogen constitutes 90%, helium about 10%, and everything else – from lithium to uranium – just a trace, about 0.1 percent.

2. You can only describe the “quantum state” of a photon in terms of its probabilities.

3. Potassium nitrate is the most important ingredient in terms of both bulk and function because the combustion process releases oxygen from the potassium nitride, promoting the rapid burning of the other ingredients.

LESSON 4

Complex subject

Part I

Grammar

General

 

1. Read the following paragraph paying special attention to the parts in bold.

 

People clinging to comforting doubts about Al seem likely to suffer from radically flawed images of the future. Fortunately, automated engineering escapes some of the burden of biochauvinist prejudice. Most people are less upset by the idea of machines designing machines than they are by the idea of true general-purpose Al systems. Besides, automated engineering has been shown to work; what remains is to extend it. Still, if more general systems are likely to emerge, we would be foolish to omit them from our calculations.

 

2. Answer the questions

1. Is the subject of the sentence connected in meaning with the predicate?

2. Does such connection exist with the infinitive part?

 

 

3. Read the example translation of a sentence.

 

It seemsto match with computer simulations of quantum gravity.

 

We begin our translation with the predicate:

Seems ( оказывается ) - at the beginning of a sentence

+ (что) + subject + the Infinitive.

 

Оказывается, (что) это согласуется с компьютерными моделям квантовой гравитации,

.

Active vs. passive

 

1. Study the structure of the sentences paying special attention to the predicates.

A

1. Quite often, these inventionsseemedto work.

2. In 1865, James Clerk Maxwell's prediction that light was an electromagnetic wave seemedto be the final blow to particle models of light.

3. This effect could make galaxies appear to contain more matter than can be seen.

4. There does not appear to be a fundamental obstacle in these worlds to some form of organic life evolving.

5. The calculations that predicted the existence of a planet beyond the orbit of Neptune later provedto be in error.

6. Femalestend to be better speakers.

7. Variants of that molecule turn out to be excellent at shielding the most dangerous forms of space radiation.

 

B

1. Another of the genes involved in smoking addictiveness is known to play a role in controlling how people respond to stress.

2. These cathode rays were later shown to be a stream of the tiny particles called electrons.

3. These particles would be present today as remnants of the quark soup phase and are predictedto interact very weakly with atoms

4. An important strong X-ray source called Cygnus X-1 is believed to consist of a visible star which is orbiting a common centre of gravity with an invisible companion.

5. Leonardo da Vinci’s 1495 sketch of a mechanical knight, which could sit up and move

its arms and legs, is considered to be the first plan for a humanoid robot.

6. One projected commercial payoffof the space program is supposedto be the development of orbiting manufacturing facilities.

7. This method was declared to be superior to the ion-trap model.

8. The eyes are saidto be the key to the sole and therefore the first and the most effective weapon in convincing the audience of your honesty, openness and confidence.

 

 

2. Analyze the predicates in A and B and answer the questions.

1. What grammar features make them different?

2. What verbs can be used in the predicate within this construction:

а) in the Active Voice?

b) in the Passive Voice?

 

3. Try to remember some other predicates that can be used in the discussed grammar construction:

а) in the Active Voice;

b) in the Passive Voice.