The Present Continuous Tense
(Настоящее длительное время)
Present Continuous образуется при помощи вспомогательного глагола to be в настоящем времени (am, is, are) и формы причастия настоящего времени (Present Participle) смыслового глагола:
e.g. I am working. – Я работаю. He is working. – Он работает.
В вопросительной форме вспомогательный ставится перед подлежащими:
e.g. Am I working?- Яработаю? Is he working? – Он работает?
Отрицательная форма образуется при помощи частицы not, которая ставится после вспомогательного глагола:
e.g. I am not working. Я не работаю. He is not working. – Он не работает.
Употребление Present Continuous Tense
1. Для выражения длительного действия, совершающегося в момент речи:
e.g. He is reading a book. – Он читает книгу (сейчас).
2. Для выражения длительного действия, совершающегося в настоящий период времени, хотя и не обязательно в момент речи:
e.g. He is writing a new play. - Он пишет новую пьесу.
3. Для выражения длительного действия в будущем (вместо Future Continuous) в обстоятельственных придаточных предложениях условия и времени, которые вводятся союзами if, when, while и т.п.
e.g. If I am sleeping when he comes, wake me up, please. - Если я буду спать, когда он придет, разбудите меня, пожалуйста.
4. Для обозначения действия в будущем, когда выражается намерение совершить действие или когда речь идет о заранее намеченном действии. В этом случае в английском предложении, как и в русском, обычно имеется обстоятельство времени, указывающее на будущее время:
e.g. We are going to the theatre to-night. - Мы идем в театр сегодня вечером.
Наряду с Present Continuous для выражения действия в будущем очень часто употребляется глагол to go в форме Present Continuous + инфинитив: I am going to work, I am going to read. I am going в этом случае имеет значение собираюсь, намереваюсь:
e.g. I am going to learn French next year. - Я собираюсь (намерен) изучать французский язык в будущем году.
В некоторых случаях значение намерения отсутствует и сочетание Present Continuous глагола to go с инфинитивом имеет значение только будущего времени и поэтому переводится на русский язык глаголом в форме будущего времени:
e.g. The concert is going to take place in our club. - Концерт состоится в нашем клубе.
Местоимения much, many
Местоимения much, many употребляются как в качестве местоимений-прилагательных так и местоимений-существительных:
1. Much, many в качестве местоимений-прилагательных употребляются со значением много. Much употребляется перед неисчисляемыми существительными, а many перед исчисляемыми:
e.g. I haven’t much work to do. – У меня нет много работы.
Many people attended the meeting. - Много народу присутствовало на собрании.
2. Much, many в качестве местоимений-существительных употребляются со значением: much – многое, значительная часть; many – многие. (с предлогом of):
e.g. Much of what you say is true. – Многое из того, что вы говорите, верно.
Many of the third year students will take part in this work. – Многие студенты третьего курса примут участие в этой работе.
Местоимения little, few
Местоимения little, few употребляются как в качестве местоимений-прилагательных так и местоимений-существительных:
1. Little, few в качестве местоимений-прилагательных употребляются со значением мало. Little употребляется перед неисчисляемыми существительными, а few перед исчисляемыми:
e.g. I have very little time. – У меня очень мало времени.
There were very little people there. – Там было очень мало народу.
2. Little, few в качестве местоимений-существительных употребляются со значением: little – мало, немногое; few – немногие:
e.g. Little has been said about it. – Об этом сказано мало.
Many people were invited but few came. – Много народу было приглашено, но немногие пришли.
Little и few могут употребляться с артиклем a – a little - немного, a few - несколько, немного:
e.g. Please give me a little water. – Дайте мне, пожалуйста, немного воды.
I have a few books on this subject. – У меня есть несколько (немного) книг по этому вопросу.
A little – немного и a few – немного, несколько употребляются в смысле некоторое, хотя и небольшое количество, в то время как little, few – мало употребляются в смысле недостаточно, почти нет:
e.g. I’ve got a little time. – У меня есть немного времени.
I’ve got little time. – У меня мало (недостаточно) времени.
He has a few friends. – У него есть несколько друзей.
He has few friends. – У него мало (почти нет) друзей.
I. Conjugate the following verbs in Present Continuous Tense:
to work, to answer, to make, to look, to translate, to read.
II. Comment on the use of Present Continuous Tense:
1. I am reading a trade magazine now. 2. What are you doing? 3. Can’t you see he is laughing at you? 4. He is going back to America. 5. Nick is spelling some new words now. 6. John is listened to the radio at the moment. 7. I am writing a massage now. 8. John and David are discussing a new text now. 9. They are leaving for Odessa tomorrow. 10. We are listening to our lecturer at the moment.
III. Make the following sentences interrogative then negative:
1. They are having a lesson now. 2. He is reading the article about ecological problems of the country. 3. My parents are working in the garden. 4. We are doing an exercise now. 5. My friend is playing football now. 6. They are reading an additional text at the moment.
IV. Open the brackets using the verbs in Present Continuous Tense:
1. I (not to read) now. 2. I (to write) an exercise now. 3. His father (not to watch) TV at the moment. 4. I (not to drink) coffee in the evening. 5. Your friend (to do) his home work now. 6. Who (to make) breakfast for you now? 7. You (to read) the magazine at the moment? 8. What she (to talk) about right now? 9. The students (to write) new grammar material at the moment. 10. A Monitor (to answer) teacher’s questions.
V. Build up two columns with the following adverbs according to the time:
Most of the time – at present – sometimes – now – every day – these days – how often – usually – nowadays – always – every now and then – just – often – currently – never – right now – once or twice a month – not often – at the moment – meanwhile – still.
e.g.
| Present Simple Tense | Present Continuous Tense |
| always | now |
VI. Open the brackets using the verbs in Present Simple or Present Continuous:
1. I (to take) my sister to school now. I (to take) her to school every day.
2. I (to read) now. I (to read) every day.
3. They (to go) to the university now. They (to go) to the university every morning.
4. The students (to make) exercise at the moment. The students (to make) exercises every lesson.
5. Some students (to look) through their notes now. The students (to look) through their notes before lessons.
6. My friend (to revise) grammar rules now. My friend always (to revise) grammar rules.
7. Today we (to go) to have a test in grammar. We (write) grammar tests at the end of each term.
8. They (to speak) English now? What language they usually (to speak)?
9. Is English a special subject at your university? – Yes, that’s why we (to want) to master English.
10. What language our seamen (to speak) in the foreign ports? – They usually (to speak) English.
VII. Put questions to the underlined words:
1. The students of our group are having an English lesson now. 2. They have two English lessons a week. 3. He is speaking to the dean. 4. There are 15 students in the laboratory. 5. Popov and Smirnov are listening to the tape-recorder. 6. He is going to enter our college. 7. He is reporting to the teacher now.
VIII. Translate the following sentences from Russian into English:
1. У нас уроки английского языка дважды в неделю. 2. Вы говорите по-английски? – Да, немного. 3. Какой язык вы изучаете? 4. На каком языке вы сейчас говорите? 5. Кого Вы ждете? – Мы ждем своего преподавателя. 6. Сейчас 8 часов утра, наш преподаватель входит в аудиторию. 7. Мы переводим текст о вреде курения в данный момент. 8. Студенты нашей группы слушают сейчас доклад Смирнова. 9. Что вы сейчас делаете? – Мы обсуждаем проблемы высшего образования.
IX. Fill in the blanks using much or many:
1. Mary must not eat too … salt because she has problems with her blood pressure. 2. There are … lecturers at our university, and … of them are women. 3. … of her advice was useful. 4. She wrote us … letters from London. 5. … of these students don’t like to look up words in the dictionary. 6. … in this work was too difficult for me. 7…. of their conversation was about the institute. 8. How … universities are there in your town? 9. There are … many canning factories in our town. 10. There are … interesting books here. I would like to buy this one. How … is it?
X. Fill in the blanks using little or few:
1. He has got … friends. 2. We must hurry. We’ve got very … time. 3. There are very … scholarships for students in this university. 4. I have … time, so I can’t go with you. 5. He has … English books. 6. There is … ink in my pen. 7. There was too … light in the room, and I could not read. 8. There are very … people who don’t know that the Earth is round.
XI. Translate into English the following word combinations using little (a little), few (a few):
Немного денег, мало денег, немного воды, несколько человек, мало воздуха, мало парт, несколько минут, несколько дней, мало работы, немного соли. Мало света, мало окон, несколько машин.
XII. Fill in the blanks using much, many, little (a little), few (a few):
1. When we walked … father down the road, we met another group of students. 2. Have you got … ink in your pen? 3. At the conference we met … people whom we knew well. 4. There are very … old buildings left in our street. Most of them have already been pulled down. 5. If you have … spare time, look through this book. You will find … stories there which are rather interesting. 6. There are … things here which I cannot understand. 7. Shall I bring … more chalk? – No, thank you. There is … chalk on the desk. I hope that will be enough for our lesson. 8. He had … English books at home, so he had to go to the library for more books. 9. There were … new words in the text, and Nick spent … time learning them. 10. My mother knows English … and she can help you with the translation of this letter.
Additional task
I. Read the text and find answers to the following questions:
1) In which country is this city located?
2) What is the population of the city?
3) Who was the founder of the city?
Ottawa
Ottawa is located in the province of Ontario. It is the capital of Canada. The population of Ottawa is about 850,000. There are two main rivers in the city: the Ottawa and the Rideau.
The city of Ottawa was planned and built with an active participation of Colonel John By. He was an engineer employed at the construction of the Rideau Canal over the Rideau River. It is after him that Ottawa was firstly named Bytown. In 1855 Bytown was renamed Ottawa. Two years later Queen Victoria chose Ottawa to be the seat of the Canadian Government. Thus, Ottawa became the capital of the country.
Many of the first houses were made of wood. And during its history the town was hit by great fires several times. In the first part of the 20th century the city was reconstructed. A new plan was designed for the city by Jacques Greber, a reputed architect of the century. He planned Ottawa as a beautiful city of impressive parks, alleys, and squares. The most famous and the largest park in Ottawa is Gatineau Park. The oldest part of the city was named Lower Town. Here the historic heritage of Ottawa exists. Wellington Street is the main artery of the city. It is the center of administrative and cultural life of the city.
The city got the name "the City of Bridges", because there are a lot of bridges crossing the Rideau and the Ottawa rivers. The waters of the mighty Ottawa River were used to generate electricity. Ottawa became one of the first cities to use electric heating appliances and to set up lighting facilities in the streets and roads. Today Ottawa is a vibrant modern city with lots of attractions for its citizens and visitors. It ranks as one of the top cities to live in.
II. How are citizens of the city called?
| S |
How are citizens of the country called?
| A | A | A |
III. Make up sentences with the following words and word combinations:
| Non-ferrous metals industry | Manufacturing industry |
| Ferrous metals industry | Light industry |
| Gold mining | Heavy industry |
| Metallurgy | Raw materials |
| Hi-tech industry | Mediatory trade |
| Lumbering | Textile industry |
| Iron and steel casting | Automobile industry |
| Coal mining | Food processing |
IV. Learn about sister-cities and write down the country:
Gatineau, Quebec, C……………..
V. Make up your own dialogues using the following questions about Canada and Ottawa:
a) Is Ottawa the capital of the province of Ontario?
b) What is Canada’s largest city?
c) Who was John By?
d) What is the Ottawa River known?
e) What is the relationship between Canada and the Netherlands?
UNIT 8
I. Read and translate the following group of words:
Island country, throughout the country, native people, independent member, national government, written constitution, the highest standards of living, medical program, health care, high-rise apartment buildings.
II. Translate from English into Russian the following words of the same root:
Population – to populate – populated; addition – to add – additional – additionally – additious – additive; association – to associate – associated – associative ; to appoint – appointment – appointive – appointed; to write – writer – written – writing; medicine – medical – medicinally – to medicate – medication.
III. Read and translate the text:
NEW ZEALAND
New Zealand is an island country in the Southwest Pacific Ocean. The country is situated on two main islands - the North Island and the South Island – and several dozen smaller islands. Most of the smaller islands are hundreds of kilometers from the main ones. The population of New Zealand is about 3,910,000.
Wellington is the capital of New Zealand and Auckland is the largest city. English is the official language of New Zealand and is spoken throughout the country. Many native people speak their own language, Maori, in addition to English.
The country once belonged to the British Empire. Today it is an independent member of the Commonwealth of Nations, an association of Britain and a number of its former colonies. New Zealand's currency is New Zealand dollar.
New Zealand is a constitutional monarchy. The British Monarch, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, is the monarch of New Zealand. She appoints a governor general to represent her, but the governor general has little power. The legislation, prime minister, and Cabinet run the national government. Britain gave New Zealand a constitution in 1852, when it was a British colony. But through the years the New Zealand legislature has changed almost all its provisions. Today, the nation has no written constitution.
New Zealand has one of the highest standards of living in the world. The government's medical program provides excellent health care. About 70 % of New Zealand people own their houses. Almost every family has a car. Most New Zealanders live in single-family houses with small vegetable gardens. In the larger cities, some people live in high-rise apartment buildings.
For many years, the economy of the country depended largely on agriculture. Today agriculture, manufacturing, and service industries are all important to the economy. New Zealand’s economy depends on trade with many countries - Australia, Britain, Japan and the United States.
IV. Words to be learnt:
to be situated – быть расположенным
the North Island – Северный остров
the South Island – Южный Остров
dozen – дюжина
capital - столица
to appoint – назначать
governor –general – генерал-губернатор
legislation – законодательная власть
Exercises to the text:
I. Find the Russian equivalents in the right-hand column for the following:
| 1. island | 1. относиться |
| 2. several | 2. независимый |
| 3. to belong to | 3. королева |
| 4. independent | 4. стандарт |
| 5. queen | 5. несколько |
| 6. power | 6. изменять |
| 7. prime minister | 7. жить |
| 8. standard | 8. остров |
| 9. to change | 9. сила |
| 10. to live | 10. жизнь |
| 11. премьер-министр | |
| 12. король |
II. Fill in the blanks with the words given below:
1. New Zealand is an … country in the Southwest Pacific Ocean.
2. Most of the smaller islands are hundreds of kilometers from the … ones.
3. Wellington is the … of New Zealand and Auckland is the largest city.
4. Many native … speak their own language, Maori, in addition to English.
5. The British Monarch, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, is the … of New Zealand.
People, monarch, island, capital, main
III. Confirm or rebut the following statement:
1. The country is situated on two main islands - the North Island and the South Island.
2. The population of New Zealand is about 391 000.
3. English is one official language of New Zealand and is spoken throughout the country.
4. New Zealand has one of the highest standards of living in the world.
5. New Zealand’s economy depends on trade with many countries - Australia, Britain, Japan and the United States.
IV. Answer the following questions:
1. Where is New Zealand situated?
2. What city is the capital of New Zealand?
3. What languages do people in New Zealand speak?
4. Who is New Zealand’s head of the state?
5. What is the New Zealand’s currency?
6. How many New Zealanders own their houses?
V. Translate the following sentences from Russian into English:
1. Государственный язык Новой Зеландии – английский, на нём говорят по всей стране.
2. Сейчас страна является независимым членом Содружества, ассоциации Британии и нескольких бывших её колоний.
3. Сейчас государство не имеет записанной конституции.
4. В Новой Зеландии уровень жизни – один из самых высоких в мире.
5. Новозеландская экономика зависит от торговли со многими странами.
6. Коренное население говорит на своём собственном языке – маори.
7. Когда-то страна входила в состав Британской империи.
8. Елизавета II – глава государства Новой Зеландии.
9. Австралия, Великобритания и Япония – важные деловые партнёры.
10. Пробки на дорогах встречаются редко, даже в центре города.
Grammar Material
The Past Continuous Tense
(Прошедшее длительное время)
Past Continuous образуется при помощи вспомогательного глагола to be в форме прошедшего времени (was, were) и формы причастия настоящего времени (Present Participle) смыслового глагола:
e.g. I was working. - Я работал. We were working. – Мы работали.
В вопросительной форме вспомогательный глагол ставится перед подлежащим:
e.g. Was I working? – Я работал? Were you working? – Ты работал?
Отрицательная форма образуется при помощи частицы not, которая ставится после вспомогательного глагола:
e.g. I was not working – Я не работал. We were not working. – Мы не работали.