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Grammar: Present Simple and Continuous

Texts:

1. Observing the sky with unaided eye

2. The Moon

Present Simple (I work) or Present Continuous (I’m working)

Compare the Present Simple and the Present Continuous:

Present Simple

Present Continuous

Exercise 1

Use these verbs in the Present Simple or the Present Continuous: live, work, stay.

0 Mike lives in Glasgow and he works as an engineer.

0 At the moment Mike is staying in Aberdeen because he is working on a bridge design there.

1. Sally____________ in London where she ____________as a conference organizer.

2. At the moment Philip __________________ in Birmingham because he ____________at a trade fair there.

3. At the moment Sally_____________ in Dublin because she__________at a congress there.

4. Jenny______________ in Brighton where she ____________ as an accountant.

5. Philip ______________ in Leeds where he as a salesman.

6. At the moment Jenny____________ in London because she__________at head office.

Exercise 2

Use the words in brackets () to complete the dialogues. Use Present Continuous or Present Simple.

0 (The sun/rise/in the east.)

The sun rises in the east.

1. Sam: (Why/that machine/not /work/at the moment?)

_____________________________________________

Chris: (I don’t know, but a mechanic/mend /it)

_______________________________________

Sam: (What/the machine/do/in fact?) (it/make/ boxes?)

_______________________________________

Chris: (Yes, it/make/boxes of all size)

_______________________________________

2. Mary: (Look! The Forsters/work/in their garden.)

_______________________________________

(They/not/usually/work/on Sundays.)

_______________________________________

Exercise 3

Put the verbs into the correct form, present continuous or present simple.

1. Are you hungry?__________________some-thing to eat? (you/want)

2. Don’t put the dictionary away. I_______________it. (use)

3. Don’t put the dictionary away. I_________________it. (need)

4. Who is that man? What________________________? (he/want)

5. Who isthatman?Why_____________________at us? (he/look)

6. George says he’s 80 years old but nobody _______________ him. (believe)

7. She told me her name but I________________it now. (not/remember)

8. I_____________________of selling my car. (think) Would you be interested in buying it?

9. I you should sell your car. (think) You______________it very often (not/use)

10. I used to drink a lot of coffee but these days I________________tea. (prefer)

11. Air _________________ mainly of nitrogen and oxygen. (consist)

12. Jill is interested in politics but she__________to a political party. (not/belong)

13. Jim is very untidy. He______________(always/leave) his things all over the place.

14. ___________________The train is never late. It__________(always/leave) on time.

Exercise 4

Discuss the following questions, what do you think?

1. What is the universe composed of?

2. What is the relationship between the billions of objects in the universe?

3. What happens inside these objects?

4. How was the universe created?

5. What will happen to the universe in the future?

Exercise 5

Now read the text and check your answers

OBSERVING THE SKY WITH THE UNAIDED EYE

Astronomers carry out observations and perform calculations. Observations are carried out either with telescopes or with the unaided eye. Everybody is an astronomer in fact, since everybody looks at the sky. Looking at the sky with an unaided eye reveals several objects.

Since the sunlight covers the entire sky, it is impossible to make clear observations in the sky during the daytime. Observations must be carried out nighttime in order to see celestial objects. The most obvious one of these objects is the Moon with its dimensions apparently the same as the Sun.

Now get ready for the show of light in the night sky. The twinkling, point-like light sources are stars, many of which are just like our Sun, but appearing very small and faint due to the very large distances over which their light travels to reach us. Some stars are even more gigantic than the Sun and there are stars so colossal that they are a million times brighter than the Sun.

There are also a few other objects that have the appearance of a star, but they do not twinkle. These objects are the planets of our solar system. It is not possible to see all the planets with the unaided eye. A careful observer can make out five planets of our solar system: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn.

An observer may see a broad, diffuse band of light through the sky on a clear moonless night. This band is the Milky Way galaxy that consists of about 400 billion stars, and clouds of interstellar gas and dust. There are billions of galaxies in the universe, but not all are visible with the naked eye. Meteors are occasional visitors, which may be observed with the naked eye.

They are seen as brief, falling flashes of light. The other occasional members of our sky are comets. Comets revolve around the Sun with constant periods. The most famous comet is the Halley’s Comet, which passed very close to the Earth in 1986.

‘The entire universe is rotating around the Earth!’ This debate persisted during the ancient times based on the idea that the Earth was at the centre of the universe. Now it is known that the Earth is not at the centre of the universe but only appears to be rotating around the Earth. The motion is actually that of the Earth around its axis, so the universe is rotating relative to the Earth. Since we are making our observations in the reference frame of the Earth, we perceive the universe to be in motion.

Each revolution of the Earth around its rotational axis corresponds to one revolution of the objects in the sky around the Earth. A long exposure photograph clarifies this motion. We can conclude that the entire universe appears to be in circular motion around the Earth. During the Earth’s rotation, we observe that the Sun is also in circular motion around us.

But it is not as simple as it appears to be. There are too many objects that have their own motion through the sky, and the objects have relative motions with respect to each other. One of the most famous of these relative motions is the retrograde motion of Jupiter.

New words

Exercise 6

Translate the following word combinations into Kazakh (Russian)

To perform calculations,to revealseveralobjects, entire sky, celestial objects, the show of light in the night sky, point like light sources, a million times brighter than the Sun; a broad, diffuse band of light, clouds of interstellar gas and dust, occasional visitors, naked eye, falling flashes of light, rotating around the Earth, the ancient times, rotational axis, a long exposure photograph, circular motion around the Earth, relative motions.

Exercise 7

Match the highlighted words with the definition

1. ____________________ a scientist who studies astronomy

2. ____________________a piece of equipment shaped like a tube, containing lenses, that you look through to make objects that are far away appear larger and nearer.

3. _________________a large ball of bur ning gas in space that we see as a point of light in the sky at night

4. ______________________ the star that shines in the sky during the day and gives the earth heat and light

5. _____________________ the system of stars that contains our sun and its planets seen as a bright band in the night sky.

6. ____________________a piece of rock from outer space that makes a bright line across the night sky as it burns up while falling through the earth’s atmosphere.

7. ____________________ a mass of ice and dust that moves around the sun and looks like a bright star with a tail.

8. ___________________ the whole of space and everything in it, including the earth, the planets and stars.

9. ___________________ the world; the planet that we live on.

10. ___________________a large planet in the solar system that has rings around it and is 6^th in order or distance from the sun.

11. ____________________ The space above the earth that you can see when you look up, where clouds and the sun, moon and stars appear.

12. ___________________ The act of watching somebody or something carefully for a period of time, especially to learn something

Exercise 8

Read and translate the following text using the words below:

New words

THE MOON

The Moon is the brightest object in the nighttime sky. Thus, it is one of the first observation targets of amateur astronomers. Its motion through the sky is not simple; however, it is easily observed due to its rapid motion and close proximity to the Earth. Apart from daily rotation together with the entire universe, the Moon moves about 1° across the sky (with respect to the stars) every 2 hours; it moves nearly 12° every day. Taking its angular diameter, to be 0.5° we can conclude that it moves a distance (with respect to the stars) of about equal to its own diameter every hour.

The angle between the plane of the orbit of the Moon around the Earth and the plane of the orbit of the Sun around the Earth (the ecliptic) is 5°. Since the angle is small, it causes the Moon to stay near the ecliptic as observed from the Earth. The ecliptic is the plane of the virtual orbit of the Sun around the Earth (recall that the Sun appears to revolve around the Earth when it is observed from the Earth). It takes the Moon a little more than 27 days to revolve around the Earth once, in the reference frame of the distant stars (fixed stars). This period is called the side- real period. Observing from the Earth, we will measure about 29.5 days for the Moon to complete its full cycle of phases. For example: The time needed from one full Moon phase to the next is about 29.5 days. This period is called the synodic periodor the lunar month. The phase of the Moon depends on the relative alignment of the Moon, Earth and Sun. After one complete circle around the Earth (one lunar month) is completed, the Moon requires extra time to reach the initial Moon – Earth – Sun alignment because of the motion of the Earth around the Sun. From Earth’s surface we can only observe the same side of the Moon; the other side of the moon is not visible from Earth. Since the rotation period of the Moon about its own axis is equal to its period of revolution around the Earth. This type of motion is common in the universe and is called synchronous rotation.

а) The Phases of the Moon

One more difference between the Moon and the stars in the sky is that the Moon does not emit its own light, instead it reflects the sunlight. Thus we can only see the portion of the Moon that is able to reflect sunlight. This makes the Moon appear to take on different shapes which are called the phases of the Moon. We have a moonless night when the Moon is between the Sun and the Earth, because the Moon is unable to reflect the sunlight. This phase of the Moon is called the new moon. If you want to observe the true shape of the Moon, you have to wait until the Moon is directly opposite the Sun. This phase, in which the full shape of the Moon is observed is called the full moon. The position of the moon relative to Earth and the Sun. We always observe the same side of the Moon from Earth. When the moon is opposite the Sun it is said to be in opposition, when the Moon is between the Earth and the Sun, the configuration is called the conjunction. The configuration in which the Moon is in a position 90° from the Earth-Sun line is said to be in quadrature. In one complete cycle there is one opposition, one conjunction and two quadratures. Exactly half of the Moon is observable in quadrature. If the observable portion of the Moon is less than half, it is called a crescent, and if more than half is observable it is called gibbous. If the Moon is observed to be exactly one half of a circle, it will either be the first quarteror third quarter. From the new moon phase to the full moon phase, the thickness of the observed portion of the moon increases, and starts to decrease from the full moon until the new moon. Starting from the new moon; the phases of the Moon are: new moon, waxing crescent, first quarter, waxing gibbous, full moon, waning gibbous, third quarter, waning crescent, and finally, new moon.

Exercise 9

Answer the following questions:

1. Define the motions of the Moon and the Sun with respect to the entire sky?

2. What is the difference between the sidereal period and the synodic period of the moon?

3. What are the phases of the Moon?

4. Why don’t we see eclipses every month?

Exercise 10

Read the text and mark the sentences T (true) or F (False)

1. It takes the Moon a little more than 29 days to revolve around the Earth once.

2. Observing from the Earth, we will measure about 29.5 days for the Moon to complete its full cycle of phases.

3. The phase of the Moon depends on the relative alignment of the Moon, Earth and Sun.

4. From Earth’s surface we can only observe the same side of the Moon.

5. The Moon does not emit its own light, instead it reflects the sunlight.

6. The phase, in which the full shape of the Moon is observed is called the full moon.

7. We have a moonless night when the Moon is between the Sun and the Earth.

8. If the observable portion of the Moon is less than half, it is called a crescent.

9. The configuration in which the Moon is in a position 80° from the Earth-Sun line is said to be in quadrature.

10. Exactly quarter of the Moon is observable in quadrature.

Exercise 11

Translate the following word combinations into Kazakh (Russian)

the brightest object, rapid motion, close proximity to the Earth, angular diameter, the distant stars, the side real period, observing from the Earth, full cycle of phases, synodic period or lunar, extra time, observe the same side of the Moon, is not visible from Earth, period of revolution, around the Earth, synchronous rotation, the portion of the Moon, to reflect sunlight, different shape, a moonless night, unable to reflect the sunlight, the true shape of the Moon, half of the Moon is observable, to decrease from the full moon, waxing gibbous, waning gibbous, waning crescent.

Exercise 1 2

Make the sentences interrogative and negative:

1. There are billions of galaxies in the universe.

2. Everybody is an astronomer in fact.

3. A careful observer can make out five planets of our solar system: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn.

4. The Milky Way galaxy consists of about 400 billion stars.

5. The entire universe is rotating around the Earth!

6. Meteors are occasional visitors, which may be observed with the naked eye.

7. The Moon is the brightest object in the nighttime sky.

8. The phase of the Moon depends on the relative alignment of the Moon, Earth and Sun.

9. From Earth’s surface we can only observe the same side of the Moon.

10. We always observe the same side of the Moon from Earth.

Exercise 1 3

Underline examples of Present Simple and Continuous in each text.

Exercise 1 4

Translate into Kazakh (Russian)

The universe consists of clusters, which includes billions of galaxies, whereas there are billions of stars in an ordinary galaxy. Some stars have planets revolving around them, satellites revolve around the planets. Even without a telescope, an observer with his naked eye can see the Sun, the Moon, some stars, five of the planets, comets and meteors.

We need the concept of the celestial sphere in order to define the positions of the objects in the sky. We use astronomical coordinate systems to define these positions in the celestial sphere. The first target of observers using their naked eye is the Moon. We can determine many properties of the Moon during such an observation. We can define two periods for the Moon: the sidereal period for a complete cycle with respect to the stars and the synodic period for a complete cycle with respect to the Earth-Sun line.

The type of motion the Moon undergoes is called synchronous motion, that is, the Moon revolves around the Earth always displaying it’s same side to the Earth. The apparent shape of the Moon changes in phases, which have various shapes. The apparent dimensions of the Sun and the Moon are the same, thus either one of them can prevent light reaching Earth from each other. These phenomena are called a solar eclipse and a lunar eclipse.

Exercise 1 5

Write not less than 7 questions to the text and be ready to answer them.