LIMBA ENGLEZ

Note de seminar

Universitatea de tiine Agronomice i Medicin Veterinar

Facultatea de mbuntiri Funciare i Ingineria Mediului

Bucureti
2014

UNIT 1
SPECIALIST ENGLISH
Exercise 1. Read the following text and sum up the differences between the two types of
English:
How is ESP (English for Specific Purposes) different from EFL (English as a Foreign
Language)? The major difference between ESP and EFL lies in the learners and their
purposes for learning English. ESP students are adults who already have some familiarity
with English and are learning the language in order to communicate a set of professional
skills and to perform particular job-related functions.
ESP is part of a larger movement within language teaching away from a
concentration on teaching grammar and language structures to an emphasis on language in
context. ESP covers subjects ranging from accounting or computer science to tourism and
business management. The ESP focus means that English is not taught as a subject
divorced from the students' real world; instead, it is integrated into a subject matter area
important to the learners.
EFL and ESP differ not only in the nature of the learner, but also in the scope of the
goals of instruction. Whereas in EFL all four language skills (listening, reading, speaking,
and writing) are stressed equally, in ESP a needs assessment determines which language
skills are most needed by the students. An ESP program, might, for example, stress the
development of reading skills in students who are preparing for graduate work in
engineering; or it might stress the development of conversational skills in students who are
studying English in order to become tour guides.
ESP integrates subject matter and English language instruction. Such a combination
is highly motivating because students are able to apply what they learn in their English
classes to their major field of study, whether it be computer science, accounting, business
management, economics, or tourism. Being able to use the vocabulary and structures that
they learn in a meaningful context reinforces what is taught and increases students'
motivation.
The students' abilities in their subject-matter fields, in turn, enhance their ability to
acquire English. Students approach the learning of English through a field that is already
known and relevant to them. The ESP approach enhances the relevance of what the

students are learning and enables them to use the English they know to learn even more
English, since their interest in their field will motivate them to interact with speakers and
texts.
English as a Foreign Language (EFL)

English for Specific Purposes (ESP)

Exercise 2. The key to specialist English, as opposed to conversational English, is

simplicity. In order to communicate specific information, it is very important to make it
easier to read, write and understand. The three criteria for word selection should be:
actions; things; quality. To this, good syntax constructions should be used, in order to
promote the logical sequence of the actions in language. The following three examples
show the same content and meaning:
1. random sentence:
With the cover removed, tighten the screw using an Allen key while holding the
nut with a spanner before replacing the cover.
2. better syntax:
While the cover is not fitted, tighten the screw using an Allen key while holding
the nut with a spanner. Refit the cover.

3. better syntax and clear style:

Remove the cover. Use a spanner to hold the nut and tighten the screw with an
Allen key. Refit the cover.
Which one is the easiest to read? Why?
Exercise 3. SIMPLE ENGLISH RULES
1. Use only words that are in the dictionary.
2. Use the approved words only as the part of speech given and with the approved meaning
of the words.
3. Make instructions as specific as possible.
4. Use consistent spelling.
5. Use the approved forms of verbs only to make:
- an infinitive
- an imperative
- the Simple Present Tense
- the Past Simple Tense
- the Simple Future Tense
6. Use the Active Voice, avoid passive verb tenses.
7. Keep to one topic per one sentence - put sentences in a logical sequence of action,
preferably underneath one another.
8. Keep sentences as short as possible divide long sentences into a number of shorter
sentences: max. 25 words per sentences is acceptable, but less is better.
9. Identify commands correctly, especially in warnings or cautions.
All these rules result in several advantages, among which improved readability (fewer
errors and misunderstandings) and optimum translability of a clear text.
Rewrite the text below so as to make it easier to read and understand:
Remote sensing is the small or large-scale acquisition of information of an object or
phenomenon, by the use of either recording or real-time sensing devices that are not in
physical or intimate contact with the object (such as by way of aircraft, spacecraft, satellite,
buoy, or ship). In practice, remote sensing is the stand-off collection through the use of a
variety of devices for gathering information on a given object or area, such as Earth
observation or weather satellite collection platforms, ocean and atmospheric observing
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weather buoy platforms, monitoring of a pregnancy via ultrasound, Magnetic Resonance

Imaging (MRI), Positron Emission Tomography (PET), and space probes that are all
examples of remote sensing. In modern usage, the term generally refers to the use of
imaging sensor technologies including but not limited to the use of instruments aboard
aircraft and spacecraft, and is distinct from other imaging-related fields such as medical
imaging.

Exercise 4. Remember the basic rules of good scientific communication? Match the
characteristics with their description:
1. accurate

a) Ideas and processes are expressed in a logical order. The text

2. clear

is divided into sections with clear headings.

3. impartial

b) It avoids making assumptions (Everyone knows that ...) and

4. objective

unproven statements (It can never be proved that ...). It presents

5. simple

how and where data were collected and supports its conclusions

6. structured logically

with evidence.
c) It avoids unnecessary detail.
d) It avoids vague and ambiguous language such as about,
approximately, almost.
e) It uses direct language, avoiding vague or complicated
sentences. Technical terms and jargon are used only when they
are necessary for accuracy.
f) Statements and ideas are supported by appropriate evidence
that demonstrates how conclusions have been drawn as well as
acknowledging the work of others.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Exercise 5. Rephrase the following sentences using infinitival constructions:

6.

1. We were very sorry that we did not meet you at the party.

2. Everybody expected that he would get an appointment.

3. It seems that all her savings are gone.

4. He was pleased when he heard he had been promoted.

5. It appears that she is interested in fine arts.

6. It turned out that they were absolutely broke.

7. I was surprised when I heard that she wanted to work in our department.

8. It is said that he found the solution to our problem.

9. I was glad that I arrived on time.

It happened that we came across our former schoolfellows.

Exercise 6. Choose the best imperative form to complete the following sentences.
carpool

choose

look

replace

reuse

ride
select

send

smoke

turn

use

walk

What You Can Do for Cleaner Air

1. ..........................., or ........................... a bike or public transit.
2. ........................... or combine your errands into one trip.
3. ........................... for the most efficient, lowest polluting model or even a zero-polluting
electric car.
4. ........................... products that are water-based or have low amounts of volatile organic
compounds.
5. ........................... off the lights when you leave a room.
6. ........................... energy-hungry incandescent lights with fluorescent lighting.
7. ........................... recycled products and products with recyclable packaging.
8. ........................... paper bags and recycle paper, plastics, and metals.
9. Don't ............................ If someone must smoke, ........................... them outdoors.
10. Some products such as cleaning agents, paints, and glues contain dangerous
chemicals. ........................... them outdoors or with plenty of ventilation indoors.

Exercise 7. Watch the video and sum up the main features of the English tenses:
1
NAME:
FORM:
USAGE:
EXAMPLES:

2
NAME:
FORM:
USAGE:
EXAMPLES:

3
NAME:
FORM:
USAGE:
EXAMPLES:

4
NAME:
FORM:
USAGE:
EXAMPLES:

5
8

NAME:
FORM:
USAGE:
EXAMPLES:

6
NAME:
FORM:
USAGE:
EXAMPLES:

7
NAME:
FORM:
USAGE:
EXAMPLES:

8
NAME:
FORM:
USAGE:
EXAMPLES:

9
NAME:
FORM:
USAGE:
9

EXAMPLES:

10
NAME:
FORM:
USAGE:
EXAMPLES:

11
NAME:
FORM:
USAGE:
EXAMPLES:

12
NAME:
FORM:
USAGE:
EXAMPLES:

Exercise 8. Put the verbs in brackets into the Present Simple or Present Continuous:
1. Debbie (work) as an administrator at the university. She
(organise) all the timetables and teaching schedules. She
(work) very long hours at the moment because it's the start of the
academic year but she (go) on a short holiday at the end of the
month.

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2. Simon and Sylvia (stay) in a cottage in the Yorkshire

Dales this month. The cottage (belong) to a cousin of Sylvia's but
the cousin is away: she (cycle) around Norfolk for a few weeks.
Simon and Sylvia often (use) the cottage when Sylvia's cousin is
away. They really (enjoy) being in the middle of the countryside.
3. The International School for Languages (do) very
well at the moment. About two hundred students (take) evening
classes this term. Many of them (need) to learn a new language
to improve their job prospects but some of them (learn) a new
language purely for pleasure. The European languages (be)
very popular but Japanese and Russian (get) more popular too.
The

school

(provide)

good

learning

facilities

and

(organise) a range of study tours.

4. The world population (still increase) rapidly. Many
people in the world (already starve) and many more
(suffer)

from

malnutrition.

The

population

(grow) fastest in the poorest countries where people

(need) to have children to look after them in their old age and
where many of their children (die) at a very young age.
Exercise 9. Listen to a true story and complete the sentences with the right words:
On

July

1982,

Larry

Walters,

33-year-old

North

Hollywood

truck

driver, ........................... 45 weather balloons with helium and ........................... them to an

aluminum garden chair. Then he ........................... on a parachute and ........................... into
the chair with lots of supplies, including some water, a pellet gun, a CB radio, an altimeter,
and a camera. He ........................... to fly across the desert.
The chair was attached to the bumper of a friends car with two ropes. But when his
friends ........................... one of the ropes, the other rope ........................... too.
Larry ........................... up into the sky at more than 300 metres per second. It was so fast
that his glasses ........................... off. He ........................... quickly to about five kilometres
above the ground.
Larry ........................... to his friends on his radio. Im floating across Los Angeles
Harbour, he ........................... He ........................... to fly to the Rocky Mountains, but the
wind

...........................

him

towards

Long
11

Beach

Municipal

Airport.

Two

pilots ........................... Larry and ........................... air traffic control. They were all very
surprised.
The air was thin three miles above the ground and Larry ........................... cold and
dizzy. He ........................... some of the balloons with his gun, the chair ...........................
down, and he ........................... safely.
Back on earth, Larry was famous. He ........................... on lots of television shows
and

people

...........................

him.

But

the

Federal

Aviation

Administration ........................... it was funny and they ........................... to take away his
pilots licence. They couldnt, because he ........................... one.
Now select the irregular verbs from the text and write them in the table, giving their basic
(inifinitive) form:
Irregular verb (Past)

Irregular verb (Infinitive)

............................................................................ .............................................................................
............................................................................ .............................................................................
............................................................................ .............................................................................
............................................................................ .............................................................................
............................................................................ .............................................................................
............................................................................ .............................................................................
............................................................................ .............................................................................
............................................................................ .............................................................................
............................................................................ .............................................................................
............................................................................ .............................................................................
............................................................................ .............................................................................
............................................................................ .............................................................................
Exercise 10. Complete the following sentences with the right future form of the verbs in
brackets:
1. David ........................................ to school tomorrow. (go)
2. Mrs Brown and her daughter ........................................ lunch at home. (have)
3. They ........................................ home by bus. (come)
4. I ........................................ a chocolate. (eat)
5. My brother ........................................ to the town. (drive)

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6. The man ........................................ his car at the station. (leave)

7. Our friends ........................................ their dinner in the garden. (eat)
8. We ........................................ to London by train tomorrow morning. (go)
9. Her cat ........................................ on the sofa all day long. (sit)
10. She ........................................ you as soon as possible. (call)
Exercise 11. Put the words and phrases at the end of the following sentences in the right
place:
1. Margaret is younger than her sister. (three years)

2. My watch is slow. (five minutes)

3. Their car broke down and they were late. (an hour and a half)

4. The column was high. (eleven feet)

5. He cant have been late yesterday. (forty minutes)

6. We must be away. (thirty-eight miles)

7. The problem is more difficult than I expected. (rather, at first)

8. He looked at the moving crowd. (anxiously, slowly)

9. I suppose he is interested. (highly, rightly)

10. Wait a minute, I dont think she is ready. (just, quite)

Exercise 12. Change the order of words in the following sentences in as many ways as
possible and point out what is the effect of the changes:
1. I know him well.

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2. They went home singing merrily.

3. She bought a cheap dress.

4. On the shore I found a starfish.

5. I have never seen anything like it.

6. Please, speak to the clerk concerned.

7. I tried to read such a book myself.

8. It is not good, nor is it bad.

9. I dont exactly know.

10. Only Mary passed in French.

Exercise 13. Read the following interview with Master Yoda and rewrite his replies
according to the word order in English:
Interviewer: Master Yoda, I've always thought your name was related to the
Hebrew term "Yodea," meaning "He knows," but I read in the online encyclopedia
Wikipedia that it may be related to the Sanskrit "Yoddha," meaning "Warrior." So, are you
the One who Knows or the Great Warrior?"
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Yoda: Great Warrior? Hah! Wars not make one great.

..................................................................................................................................................
.........
I: My apologies, Master. I fear that was the question of a fool.
Y: A fool no questioner is. By asking, wiser he becomes.
..................................................................................................................................................
.........
I: Then I shall be so bold as to ask what is that wonderful smell coming from your
cooking pot?
Y: Root stew. Come, eat, ready now it should be. Cold do not let it become.
..................................................................................................................................................
.........
I: Thank you... Mmm, this is delicious. It reminds me of carrots, onions, potatoes...
but different, a touch of wildness. May I have a second?
Y: Another helping you may have. More discernment have you than Skywalker's
son. Wrinkled up his face, he did.
..................................................................................................................................................
.........
I: Have you always eaten roots, Master Yoda?
Y: Since from the egg hatched I was, thus have I eaten. Roots and leaves, fruits and
berries, pod-fruit and seeds.
..................................................................................................................................................
.........
I: So you don't eat meat?
Y: With all living beings through the Force am I connected--so, how could I kill
them to eat their corpses? Like killing and eating myself, it would be. Tasty I am sure I am
not.
..................................................................................................................................................
.........
..................................................................................................................................................
.........
I: Master Yoda, I know we are all connected through the Force. I promise you that
in the future I shall try to eat only plants.
Y: Try not. Do. Or do not. There is no try.
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..................................................................................................................................................
.........
Exercise 14. Listen to a presentation on how Thames barrier works and fill in the text with
the right prepositions:
The Thames Barrier is the main defence flooding for London and is sited
a 520 metre section of the River Thames.
The Thames Barrier has two types of gates.
Falling radial gates - These gates sit the river making these sections nonnavigable.
Rising Sector Gates - These gates rest the river bed, which allows river traffic
to pass the barrier.
In the open position the gate lies flat the river bed.
This allows the tide to ebb and flow naturally and river traffic to pass the
gates.
Hydraulic cylinders are used to rotate the gates position.
Individual gates can be closed ten minutes but the whole barrier closure takes
one and a half hours. The closure usually takes place soon low tide.
When fully raised, the barrier creates a solid steel wall preventing water flowing upstream
the capital.
The four main gates span 61 metres weigh over 3,300 tonnes each. Each gate
is 20 metres high and can hold back loads of to 9,000 tonnes.
The underspill position assists the opening process as a controlled amount of water is
passed the gate and the Thames.
The Thames Barrier can only be reopened the water level upstream of the
barrier matches the level downstream.
The maintenance position allows barrier engineers to service the gates and keep them
working order.
The falling radial gates are sited the banks of the river.
These gates are held in position the river, are non-navigable and are dropped
in position when required.
The protective walls downriver have been raised to provide the same standard of protection
the Thames Barrier.
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Exercise 15. Insert suitable prepositions in the following sentences:

1. - Could I speak Tom, please? - I'm afraid Tom's work. But
Jack's .... Would you like to speak him?
2. - How do I get ...the air terminal? - Turn right the end of this street and
you'll see it ... front of you.
3. He goes his office every day except Sunday. On Sundays he stays
home and works the garden.
4. I think I left my umbrella the bus. I'd better write the Lost
Property Office.
5.. Our train arrived York 6.30. Paul met us the
station.
6. He isn't living home now, but if you write his home they'll
forward the letter his new address.
7 . first I found the work very tiring, but a few weeks I got
used ... it.
8. the daytime the streets are crowded but night they are quite
deserted.
9. I saw Tom the bus stop this morning but couldn't speak him
because we were standing a queue and he was the front of it and
I was the back.
10. Write ink and put your name the top of the page.
11. He's always a bad temper breakfast time.
12. I'm interested chess but I'm not very good it.
13. Who is the girl the blue dress, sitting the head of the table?
14. The train stopped all the stations, and long before we got
London every seatwas taken and people were standing the corridors.
15. You can't say that he lives luxury. There's hardly any furniture
his room. He hasn't even got a desk to write

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