LANGUAGE REFERENCE
122
11
GRAMMAR
G1
PRESENT PERFECT WITH
FOR
AND
SINCE
Use the present perfect to talk about experiences in
your life, because ‘in my life’ is an unfinished period
of time. Note the difference between:
Agatha Christie
wrote
a lot of crime novels. (She is
dead, so past simple)
PD James
has written
a lot of crime novels. (She is
still alive, so present perfect)
Heatwaves
have become
30 times more common.
Use the present perfect with state verbs (e.g.
be,
have, know
) and
for
or
since
to talk about situations
that began in the past and are still continuing.
My brother
has had
high blood pressure for years.
Mariam
has known
about it since March.
I
’ve been
in a bad mood all day!
Use
for
to give a period of time.
We’ve had the same English teacher
for two years
.
There has been no extreme heat here
for several
years
.
Use
since
to say when the situation began.
I’ve worked here
since June 2011
.
It hasn’t rained
s
ince April 2nd
.
You often start asking questions about a person’s
experiences in the present perfect, but then use
another tense to ask for more details. If the answer is
positive, it is often the past simple.
Have you ever experienced a tornado?
– Yes, I have.
What was it like?
– It was very scary.
Have you ever been to the US?
– No, I haven’t. I’ve wanted to go there for years.
Where do you want to go?
– I think the major cities like New York, Washington,
San Francisco first of all.
G2
PHRASAL VERBS
Phrasal verbs are combinations of a verb and one
or two other words, often prepositions. These other
words are called particles. Here are some common
phrasal verbs.
I really must
cut down
my smoking!
We don’t
throw
any paper
away
.
Phrasal verbs often have a different meaning from
the verb on its own.
cut down = reduce
find out = discover
Phrasal verbs can be intransitive or transitive.
Intransitive verbs, e.g.
go up
, do not need an object.
Prices
have been going up
.
Transitive verbs, e.g.
give out
,
throw away,
need an
object.
The man was
giving out leaflets
in the high street.
Don’t
throw that book away
!
When a phrasal verb has a noun as the object, you
can put the noun after the verb or after the particle.
Supermarkets
give out
a lot of plastic bags.
Supermarkets
give
a lot of plastic bags
out
.
When the object is a pronoun, it goes after the verb.
Can you
give
these
out
?
KEY LANGUAGE
KL
CHECKING AGREEMENT (QUESTION TAGS)
That’s quite normal,
isn’t it?
There are a couple of other problems,
aren’t there?
The project solves a problem,
doesn’t it?
We haven’t seen that before,
have we?
You can’t get greener than that,
can you?
They could do it unpaid,
couldn’t they?
VOCABULARY
V1
CLIMATE AND EXTREME WEATHER
air pollution, climate, climate change, drought,
extreme weather, floods, global warming,
heatwaves, heavy rain, hurricanes, rainfall, seasons
(spring, summer, autumn, winter; wet, dry, monsoon
season), temperature, temperatures above 35˚C,
thunderstorms, tornadoes, typhoons
V2
NOUN PHRASES
a shortage of basic food, part of the emergency
planning, the causes of global warming, the effects of
climate change, the lack of rain, the result of global
warming, the risk of flooding
V3
CONTAINERS
bottle, box, can, carton, jar, packet, pot, tin, tube
V4
MATERIALS
aluminium, cardboard, glass, metal, paper, plastic
V5
LOCAL ENVIRONMENT
community, community projects, derelict, dump,
graffiti, green electricity, green spaces, litter,
regeneration, rubbish, run-down, scruffy, unsafe,
untidy, urban area, ugly area, wasteland, well-kept,
wind farms, wind turbines
Verb
Particle
cut
down
find
out
give
back
throw
away
