PRESENT PERFECT SIMPLE or PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS?

Decide if the sentences below are best completed by verbs in the present perfect simple tense or the present perfect continuous tens.  Choose the appropriate option for each gap from the drop down menu.

1. For the last ten years all Polish governments 
   have been trying

   have tried
    to clean up Polish rivers but a lot needs to be done before our rivers are completely free of pollution.
2. The local authorities in Warsaw 
   have built

   have been building
    a new wastewater treatment plant.  The 'Czajka' may have cost € 600 million but, at last, untreated sewage is no longer routinely discharged straight into the Vistula in the Polish capital.
3. Salmon 
   has not been seen

   has not been seeing
    in the Vistula since the Włocławek dam was built in 1970.
4. Scientists 
   have known

   have been knowing
    for decades that air pollution causes lung disease and even cancer.  So far, their arguments 
   have not convinced

   have not been convincing
    Polish politicians that this problem needs to be dealt with urgently.
5. Since (=because) Poland 
   has not met

   has not been meeting
    the deadline for enforcing the EU standards of air quality, the European Commission 
   has been threatening

   has threatened
    to take the Polish government to court over poor air quality in our country
6. The last coal mine in Great Britain 
   has been closed

   has been closing
   .  Britain plans to rely on the North Sea oil, gas and imports from abroad.
7. Environmental issues 
   have never seemed

   have never been seeming
    to matter more than at the present moment.  The COP 21 climate change summit in Paris is clear evidence of that.  
8. The environmentalists 
   have always believed

   have always been believing
    that protecting the environment is more important than economic growth.  This belief seems to be increasingly popular among members of the public in western Europe (though not in central or eastern Europe).
9. Ever since the collapse of communism Poland 
   has been trying

   has tried
    to catch up with the ‘old’ EU countries in terms of GDP per head of population.  So far, we 
   have managed

   have been managing
    to overtake Greece and Portugal and we are likely to catch up with Spain very soon.
10. Poland 
    has never been

    has never been being
     richer than Germany but the cost of feeding and housing millions of illegal immigrants may make our western neighbour bankrupt.  So who knows what will happen in the future?

PAST SIMPLE OR PRESENT PERFECT?

Use the map overlay available at http://www.zamki.pl/?dzial=mapa  to check how the city centre of Poznań and the present-day University Campus looked in 1895 and what has changed since then.  Take this information into account when you fill in the gaps in the sentences below with the correct forms of the verbs provided in brackets after each gap.

THE CITY CENTRE

In 1890…

The Warta  (to flow) in a large bend west of Chwaliszewo and Chwaliszewo  (to be) on the right bank of the river.    

The old Chwaliszewo

bridge with its centuries-old cross 

The Cybina  (

to

flow) 

Since 1890…

The Warta  (

to

change) 

The old Chwaliszewo bridge  (

to be

dismantled)

The Cybina  (to be dammed).                       

THE UNIVERSITY CAMPUS

In 1890…

There  (to be) no railway track and no level crossing across Umultowska and Naramowicka streets.

There  (to be) a farm at the location of the present-day AMU Department of Physics.            

Not a single tree  (to grow) in ‘Żurawiniec’ nature reserve.

Morasko  (

to

be called) 

Since 1890…

Railway tracks  (to cross) Umultowska street 

and a level

crossing 

Adam Mickiewicz

University

campus 

The forest 

(

Nordheim  (

to

change)

The protestant cemetery  (to be abandoned) and all the graves  (to be destroyed).

EMPHASIS

Add emphasis to the second sentence in each pair of sentences by filling in the appropriate auxiliary verb before the main verb.

1. 

I agree

with him.                                      

I with him.

2. 

We

apologized for being so rude.            

We for being so rude.

3. 

She feels

better now.  

She better now.

4. 

He hated

gardening.                                 

He gardening.

5. 

Sandy

likes eggs and bacon.                    

Sandy eggs and bacon.

6. 

I needed

a job.                                       

I a job.

7. 

Pete

enjoys your parties.                          

Pete your parties.

8. 

We

wondered if you were really angry.  

We if you were really angry.

9.

She looks

terrible!                                   

She terrible!

10. 

They

drank too much.                             

They too much.

ELLIPSIS

The first sentence in each pair of sentences sounds awkward because the main verb is repeated.  Improve the style of the second sentence by filling in an appropriate auxiliary verb, which will eliminate the need for repeating the main verb.

1.      

Gniezno 

used

to be

Gniezno 

used

to be

2.      

I ’d like to visit the sources of the Amazon and many young people would like to visit them too.

I would like to visit

the

sources of the Amazon and

3.      

The Syr Darya 

no

longer flows

The Syr Darya 

no

longer flows

4.      

The Aral Sea has all but disappeared

off the face of the earth

and Lake Chad

The Aral Sea has all

but

5.      

The rock temples of Abu Simbel were dismantled and relocated

in their entirety high above

the Aswan High Dam reservoir to avoid being flooded and the temples on the

island of Philae were also

The rock temples of Abu Simbel were dismantled and relocated

in their entirety high

above the Aswan High Dam reservoir to avoid being flooded and

6.      

Incandescent light bulbs have been banned

in the EU and

heavy-duty vacuum cleaners with motors between 1,600 and 2,200 watts in size

Incandescent light bulbs

have

been banned

7.      

Poland is a member of the European Union but Ukraine isn’t a member of the EU. 

Poland is

a member of the European Union but

Ukraine

8.      

Genetically Modified Organisms are

legal in the USA but in 19 EU countries

GMOs

Genetically Modified Organisms are legal in the USA but in 19 EU countries they

.

9.      

Because the area of warmest

water in the Pacific Ocean

Because the area of warmest water in the Pacific Ocean moves

to the west during an El Nino event, so

QUESTION TAGS

Fill in the missing question tags at the end of each sentence. The verb in each statement is highlighted in bold print to make sure that you pay attention to the tense.  Make sure that question tags you fill in include appropriate pronouns (singular or plural). The first item has been done for you as an example

      0. Belgrade is

the capital city

of Serbia,

1. The Carpathians form

   the watershed [BE] between the Baltic Sea catchment basin and the

   Black Sea catchment basin,

   ?

2. In Henryk Sienkiewicz’s novel

   ‘In Desert and Wilderness’ Staś and Nell

   were brought

   to Khartoum by Islamic terrorists,

   ?

3. Hurricane

   Katrina

   flooded New Orleans in 2005, ?
4. London

   has

   been

   the capital of Britain since Roman times, ?               
5. The Missouri enters

   the Mississippi near the city of

   Saint Louis,

   ?
6. Petersburg used to be

   the

   capital of Russia,

   ?

7. Alexander

   the Great

   founded Alexandria, ? 
8. Sandomierz is situated

   close to the

   confluence of the San and the Vistula,

   ?
9. The Thames flows / empties into the North Sea, ?
10. The Rhine rises in the Alps, ?

GLITZ AND GLAMOUR OF AN OIL FIELD?

Watch the video and mark these statements as TRUE or FALSE

1. TRUE

   FALSE

     The

   visitors who arrive in LA to soak up the glitz and glamour

   REALIZE what geological treasure lies hidden beneath the city.  
2. TRUE

   FALSE

   The

   oil rigs are camouflaged  

   IN ORDER TO HIDE THE PROFITS

   they

   generate from  the

   environmentalists.                                                                  

    
3. TRUE

   FALSE

     The

   abundance of oil in LA is

   ONLY  INDIRECTLY LINKED  to the region’s devastating earthquakes.
4. TRUE

   FALSE

     Geotechnical

   engineers like Mike Reader

   DON’T

   UNDERSTAND

     the processes at work under LA

   much better than most people.    

5. TRUE

   FALSE

     Faults

   caused by earthquakes  

   WORK AS PIPELINES

     for oil when movement in the rocks beneath

   the city forces oil up to the surface.

6. TRUE

   FALSE

    The

   little tar mounds (or tar volcanoes) which bubble up everywhere on this lawn

   are the result of tar working its way to the ground surface

   THROUGH FRACTURES CAUSED BY EARTHQUAKES

   .

7. TRUE

   FALSE

   Over

   time decomposing sea creatures and plants

   ACCUMULATING

   ON LAND

    (= deposited on

   land)  transformed into oil.

8. TRUE

   FALSE
    HEAT AND INCREASED PRESSURE

     caused

   their transformation into crude oil.

9. TRUE

   FALSE

    The

   oil became trapped in faults in the rock as   

   VOLCANIC

   ACTIVITY

      lifted this land out of

   the ocean.

10. TRUE

    FALSE

     It

    is  

    DIFFICULT

       to extract oil without disturbing local

    residents.

11. TRUE

    FALSE

     Local

    Long Beach citizens

    SUPPORTED

    the

    development of the offshore oil field on THUMS islands.

12. TRUE

    FALSE
     

    MINIMAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT, AESTHETIC APPEAL

    AND NOT DISTURBING THE LOCAL RESIDENTS

    were some of the requirements of Long Beach citizens.
13. TRUE

    FALSE

    The

    same architect who designed THUMS islands façades also designed  

    THE OIL

    WELLS UNDER DISNEYLAND.

14. TRUE

    FALSE

    The

    walls around the THUMS islands were built 

    TO STOP THE NOISE AND HIDE

    HEAVY-DUTY MACHINERY

    .
15. TRUE

    FALSE

    The

    blue-striped tower on island White was built

    EXCLUSIVELY TO MAKE IT LOOK MORE APPEALING.       
16. TRUE

    FALSE

    THUMS

    islands

    FLOAT ON THE SURFACE

    of the

    ocean.                     

17. TRUE

    FALSE

    Charlie

    Plant’s team race 

    TO DRILL A NEW (BORE)HOLE.
18. TRUE

    FALSE

    The

    drilling rig moves around the island on railroad tracks 

    THANKS TO AN EXTREMELY POWERFUL STEAM ENGINE .
19. TRUE

    FALSE

    Oil

    fields across the LA basin

    PLAY ONLY A

    MINOR PART

    in the city’s economy.

PARTS OF A LARGER WHOLE

SYNONYMS (OR NEAR SYNONYMS)

SYNONYMS (OR NEAR SYNONYMS)

COUNTABLE

& UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS

Match the uncountable counterparts to the countable nouns listed in the left-hand column