1
Read sentences 1-7 and answer the questions.
Which of the sentences refer to finished actions or states?
Which of the sentences refer to actions or states which started in the past and are still continuing?
Which tense (the
past simple
or the
present perfect simple
) is used for:
– finished actions/states?
– actions/states which started in the past and are still continuing?
GRAMMAR FOCUS:
Past simple and present perfect simple
1
The investigation proceeded quickly.
2
The findings show there have always been
problems.
3
He collected his data in 25 secondary schools.
4
They have still not finished the analysis of the
data.
5
The results were very confusing.
6
They found a large amount of evidence.
7
No-one has produced any results so far.
2
These adverbs are often used with the
present perfect
:
always
/
still
/
so far/since ...
Can you think why?
3
Tenses are very important to understanding or expressing meaning in English. What about in your
language? Are tenses used in different ways? What can you learn from these differences/similarities
between your language and English?
The most common of all pain-relievers
1)
...........................
(to be)
available in its present form since
1853, but humans
2)
...........................
(to know)
about the active ingredient for at
least 2000 years. This ingredient, called acetylsalicylic acid, is present in
certain trees and plants.
Although ancient medicine men
3)
...........................
(make)
use
of these natural substances to ease pain, humans gradually
4)
...........................
(lose)
this knowledge as civilisation
evolved. In 1763, an English doctor named Edward Stone
5)
...........................
(begin)
to study plants and trees containing
acetylsalicylic acid. Then in 1853, in France, Charles Frederic
Gerhardt
6)
...........................
(produce)
the acid artificially for the first time.
Today the acid is commonly known as ‘aspirin’, a brand name which the Bayer Company
in Germany originally
7)
...........................
(use)
.
4
Here is a short piece of research about the medicine, aspirin. Put the verbs in brackets into the
past
simple
or
present perfect simple
.
GR
p. 202
36
Grammar development
sections in every unit
1...,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11 13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,...40