Level6 Unit1 Part2 Listening
Now that you're studying English at a high level, you need to be able to talk about the language itself. One of the biggest areas of confusion for students is the difference between the past tense and the present perfect. The past tense is indicated by use of the past tense marker, represented here by V(d).(sub) Here are some examples of regular verbs and their past tense forms.
So, as you can see, for regular verbs the past tense forms is indicated by the addition of an -ed at the end of the verb. However, some of the most common verbs in English are irregular, so it is important to learn them. Here are some examples. Altogether there are over 200 irregular verbs in normal use.
Many people think that the past tense form only indicates past time. However, that is only one of the possible meanings. The past tense form is also used to express something that is unlikely or imaginary, from the speaker's point of view. Here is an example: "He wishes he had a car." The fact is that he doesn't have a car, so the use of "had" indicates that it isn't real: it's imaginary. If he had a car, he could drive us to school. Again, "he doesn't have a car, so he can't drive us to school." This condition expresses something that isn't a fact. It's a counter-factual condition, which means it goes against what we know or believe.
Look at these two sentences.Both sentences are correct, but there is a difference in meaning. In the top sentence, the condition that she waits is more likely from the speaker's point of view. In the bottom sentence, the speaker thinks it's less likely that she's going to wait.
When we talk about experience or results, we use the present perfect form. This form uses "have" followed by the participle. For regular verbs, this participle is identical to the past tense form. For irregular verbs, this participle is often different.
When we use the perfect form, the primary focus is on the subject of the sentences, not the verb. It emphasizes condition, experience or results rather than actions or events. In these two examples, we see the contrast.
The top sentence gives the condition or state of the subject and the bottom sentence expresses an event. The top sentence describes the condition of the subject of the sentence, she, rather than an event. The fact that she has left the hotel is now a part of her experience, or state of being. The bottom sentence expresses the action, or event: "she left," which is something she did. In general, the past tense form expresses events or acts, and the perfect form expresses experience or conditions. When we use the perfect form of the verb we focus on the state of the subject and not an action or event.
Note that the past form expresses events at specific points or periods of time, such as last year or the past five years.
These events are distanced from the speaker's point of view. The perfect form expresses the state of something from the speaker's point of view, not distanced in time.
These two sentences are incorrect and confusing, because they give two different points of view.
Here are some sentences that use the perfect form.
Some are simple, such as the first one, and some are complex, like the last one. The last one is complex because it combines many verb forms, including the passive.
Level6 Unit1 Part2 Dialogue
What are you thinking about?
You look so pensive.
I was just thinking about how much things have changed since I was a child.
Oh, sometimes I think about that too.
What were your thoughts?
Nostalgic for sure.
Generally I remember the best times, and then I get a bit depressed when I think about how things have changed.
What kinds of changes depress you?
Well, one thing is the pace of life.
Everything is so fast paced now, so there isn't enough time to think.
That's because you've grown up.
You're not a child anymore, so you have responsibilities.
It's more than just having responsibilities.
My parents had to work, but they also had time for other things.
My dad used to go fishing on the weekends, and my mom used to work in her garden.
She loved to grow flowers and vegetables.
Yeah, that does sound nice.
Living in the city makes things like that really difficult.
Yes, living in the city is certainly part of the problem, right?
Well, that depends on you.
You make things sound as if you have no choices in life.
It's the choices you've made that put you where you are now.
Sure, that's certainly part of the problem.
I guess I've changed.
You want a lifestyle that you can't have in the city.
If you really wanted those things, you could move back to the countryside.
No that's not an option.
If I did that my wife would divorce me.
Have you ever talked about it with her?
No, I haven't.
We don't talk about things like that.
We are both too busy.
I think she's even busier than I am.
Well, maybe she would surprise you.
Maybe she'd like a change too.
You should talk to her.
Emm, I don't know.
What about you?
I'm okay.
My wife and I accept things as they are.
We try to think positively, and we support each other.
It sounds like you have a good marriage.
Yes, we do.
And one reason for that is that we share our thoughts with each other.
We don't want to grow apart like so many couples.
Maybe I'll surprise my wife, and start sharing my thoughts with her.
Well if you don't do it now, nothing is going to change.
Yes, you probably right.
I'll think about it.
Level6 Unit1 Part2 Reading
Winter in Antarctica: Staying sane at the Bottom of World
On Antarctica, the world's coldest continent, the average high temperature is -49 degrees Celsius. In the summer, the sun never sets, and in the winter, it never rises. Keeping sane there is its own special challenge. The McMurdo Station is a research base perched on the edge of the Ross Ice Shelf, the world's largest body of floating ice. The station is administered by the United States and is the largest community in Antarctica.
Capable of supporting more than 1200 residents, the population of the station drops to 150 brave (perhaps foolish) people when winter begins in March. Their task is to maintain the station during the months of total night. The biologists, astronomers, geologists, and climate scientists who were there before, have gone, as any research is impossible in the brutal winter.
Every day the remaining staff of maintenance personnel perform their routine tasks and make repairs when needed. Sometimes they peer through the darkness toward their friends from New Zealand, at Scott Base, about two miles away. Though most of the time they're just voices on the radio, it's nice to have neighbors not too far away. Together, they share a power grid and one coast of a dark forbidding continent.
Though the days are dark and freezing cold in the depths of winter, the moon will rest above the horizon for weeks at a time, Its pale light illuminates the cold, craggy landscape as if acknowledging a companion and reaffirming the bonds of life, So even for those who live in the darkest part of the Earth, there's light.
Chernobyl: Lessons from Nature
On April 26, 1986, Unit 4 of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor in northern Ukraine, then a part of the Soviet Union, was shut down for an unauthorized safety test. When the nuclear fuel rods hit the cooling water, the fission reaction accelerated out of control due to a sudden power surge. This caused the reactor to overheat and build up pressure until its structure failed and it blew up, releasing large amounts of radiation. It took officials a whole day to comprehend the scale of the disaster and to order an evacuation of the surrounding area. Some 50,000 people had to leave, not knowing that they would never return.
In the following months, massive efforts were made to decontaminate the area while increased radiation levels were detected across much of Europe. Fallout from the disaster continues to this day, decades later, and long-term effects such as cancers are still being investigated. Estimates of the number of deaths that will eventually result from the accident vary enormously.
The forest area near the reactor site is one of the most radioactive places on Earth. Named the Red Forest because its trees turned a reddish-brown color as they died, the forest is trying to make a recovery. Animals such as elk and eagles have been seen in the area. And birch trees grow where the radioactive trees of the forest were bulldozed and buried by the Soviet government.
Some people have returned as well, mostly former residents who returned illegally after the evacuation. The old company town of Pripyat, once home to 50,000 plant workers is still deserted, but is slowly being reclaimed by the forest. It seems that nature can recover and even thrive where humans cannot. Let's hope that humans can learn from this experience. Chernobyl, and more recently, Fukushima in Japan, have lessons to teach us.