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Нескучный курс продвинутого английского Lesson 3


Всем привет!

С вами снова Natalie Silakoff и нескучный курс продвинутого английского языка.

Сегодня новый материал.

Present Perfect Continuous


Present perfect continuous – form:

The present perfect of the verb 'to be' (have/has been) + the present participle of the main verb.

EXAMPLE:

Subject

has/have been

  verb+ing  

He

has been

jogging

 

Affirmative

He has been / She's been

swimming

Negative

He hasn't been

swimming

Interrogative

Has he been

swimming?

Interrogative negative

Hasn't he been

swimming?




EXAMPLE:

to work, present perfect continuous

Positive

Negative

Interrogative

I have been working

I haven't been working

Have I been working?

You have been working

You haven't been working

Have you been working?

He, she, it has been living working

He hasn't been working

Has she been working?

We have been living working

We haven't been working

Have we been working?

You have been working

You haven't been working

Have you been working?

They have been working

They haven't been working

Have they been working?




Use:

We use the present perfect continuous for an action over a period of time leading up to the present. We are interested in the action as well as the result, and this process may still be going on, or may have just finished


EXAMPLES:

1. Actions that started in the past and continue in the present.

a. We have been waiting for you all day.
b. She is tired. She has been working all day.
c. They have been studying since 5 o’clock.



2. Actions that have just finished, but we are interested in the results:



a. It's been raining and my hair is still wet.
b. I’ve been reading all afternoon. I’ve just finished the book.
c. Who's been sleeping in my bed?

 

 

Choose the correct answer. In some examples two answers may be possible but one is more natural than the other. This natural one is the correct answer.

1. I'm very hungry. I______________________ all day.

   a)

didn't eat

   b)

haven't ate

   c)

haven’t eaten

   d)

have been eating

2. Their new kitchen looks fantastic. They ________ completely ________ it.

   a)

have been            redecorating

   b)

have                    redecorated

   c)

already                redecorated

   d)

didn't                   redecorated

3. Our kitchen’s a mess. We____________________ any cleaning for weeks.

   a)

didn't do

   b)

haven't been doing

   c)

have done

   d)

haven't done

4. I think they are dating. They______________ a lot of each other recently.

   a)

had seen

   b)

haven't  been seeing

   c)

have been seeing

   d)

have seen

5. We've discovered this great café and we__________________ there a lot.

   a)

have been going

   b)

have gone

   c)

are going

   d)

have went

6. How's your Mum? I ______________________ her for ages.

   a)

had seen

   b)

haven't seen

   c)

haven't been  seeing

   d)

didn't see

7.  You're covered in paint! What __________ you __________?

   a)

have                     done

   b)

were                     doing

   c)

did                        do

   d)

have                     been doing

8. She’s gone to the doctor's. She ______________________ too well lately.

   a)

hasn't felt

   b)

hasn't been feeling

   c)

has felt

   d)

doesn't feel

9. Where have you been? I______________________ for ages.

   a)

have waited

   b)

waited

   c)

was waiting

   d)

have been waiting

10. I have to write an essay. I___________________ about half of it so far.

   a)

have written

   b)

have been writing

   c)

wrote

   d)

have to write

 The weeping sand

As soon as he arrived in Marrakech, the missionary decided that he would spend each morning in the desert which lay beyond the town. During his first walk, he noticed a man lying in the sand, caressing the ground with his hand, and with his ear pressed to the earth.

"He is a madman," he said to himself.

But the scene was repeated every day, and intrigued by this strange behavior, after a month he decided to speak to the stranger. With great difficulty - since he did not yet speak Arabic fluently - he knelt down beside him.

- What are you doing?
- I am keeping the desert company, and consoling it for its solitude and tears.
- I didn't know the desert was able to weep.
- It weeps every day, because it dreams of becoming useful to man, and being transformed into a great garden, where one might grow grain, flowers, and raise sheep.
- Then tell the desert that it has fulfilled its mission well - said the missionary. - Each time I come walking here, I understand the true dimension of mankind, for its open space allows me to see how small we are beside God.

"When I see its sands, I imagine the millions of people in the world, who were created equal, although the world is not always fair to all. Its mountains help me to meditate. Upon seeing the sun rise on its horizon, my soul is filled with joy, and I am closer to God."

The missionary left the man and returned to his daily affairs. To his great surprise, the next morning, he found him in the same place, in the same position.

- Did you tell the desert everything I said to you? - he asked.
The man nodded.
- And it continues to weep nevertheless?
- I can hear each of its sobs. Now it is crying because it spend thousands of years thinking it was completely useless, and wasted all this time blaspheming God and its destiny.
- Then tell it that although man has a much shorter life, he also spends many days thinking he is useless. He rarely discovers his destiny, and thinks God has been unfair to him. When the moment finally comes that some event shows him why he was born, he thinks it is too late to change his life, and he continues to suffer. And like the desert, he blames himself for the lost time.
- I don't know whether the desert will hear - said the man. - It is already so used to the pain, and cannot see things differently.
- Then let us do what I always do when people lose hope. Let us pray.

The two men knelt down and prayed; one turned towards Mecca, for he was a Muslim, the other placed his hands together in prayer, for he was a Catholic. Each prayed to his own God, who was always the same God, although people insisted on calling Him different names.

The following day, when the missionary went on his morning walk, the man was no longer there. At the spot where he used to embrace the sand, the soil appeared to be moist, a spring having emerged. During the following months, this spring grew in strength, and the inhabitants of the town built a well around it.

The Bedouins named the place "Well of the Desert Tears". They say that all those who drink its water, will succeed in transforming the reason for his suffering into the reason for joy; and will end up finding his true destiny.

А теперь немного информации к размышлению.

The Advantages of Stupidity
    
Most people say being stupid will lead no where.  They claim that it is the worst possible condition in which to 
spend one's life, and if possible, it should be completely avoided.  They would even suggest if the symptoms of 
stupidity are caught in the
early stages, it could easily be treated by a surgeon. The most effective method used to do 
this is the chainsaw technique, later described in volume two.  Yet, perhaps if people took a closer look at some
of the advantages stupidity had to offer, they wouldn't have such a negative
attitude toward it.  After reading this 
paper, one will understand the advantages of stupidity. Admittedly, stupidity has certain disadvantages.  Life isn't 
a bowl of cherries.  And being stupid doesn't make it any fruitier. 
Being stupid can annoy even the most sensitive 
people.  If one acts stupid, and does it in the wrong crowd, like a group of adults, it will seem more immature than 
funny.  If one is forced to act stupid while dealing with lower life forms, for example,
high school teachers, one may 
encounter barriers such as cruelty and insensitivity, with the utterance of statements like, "Think with your head 
straight!" or, "You have a brain, use it."  Yet these are all true, there are still many advantages to stupidity.    

 The first advantage is very easy to understand.  Stupid people are never asked to do a lot.  Many have noticed that 
people tend to steer away from someone they feel may be stupid.  This is for a very good reason. 
The stupidity 
which they posses makes a name for themselves, a name which can be very difficult to shake.  Possibly, it is a word 
which describes the working habits of the person, such as  "crappy".  Yet, this creates a positive
situation for the
stupid person.   They will have a lot of free time on their hands for more of lifes truly meaningful pleasures.  Some of 
these activities are combing facial hair, and counting the pixels on a Sony TV.  Now, there has been
a rumour going 
around that suggests that stupid people have low expectations.  This is true.  They are so stupid that they 
don't realize great from O.K.  They could have a Sanyo cordless phone, but would probably choose instead a Pierre 
Cardin alarm clock telephone, because it comes free with their sensamatic folding bed.  And someone with the 
"advantage" of stupidity might have a hard time doing certain tasks, or setting things up.  Yet this isn't all
bad.  For example, if a stupid person leaves the chore, and comes back to it later, no one will be able to understand 
it.  Would they get fired from their job?  No.  For the very simple reason that no one would understand their work except 
for them.  The job would have to be given back to the stupid person, perhaps with a higher salary, or someone would do it 
for them, leaving them with even more free time!  
Free time is great
for brainstorming (Admittedly this seems to be a bad choice of words!).  Yet the ideas stupid people 
create tend to be original.  For example, when was the last time someone stupid said something, and made one think about 
it?  It seems that
people are always talking about someone elses dumb idea.  An example of such an idea would be, "How 
many stories will that english teacher drop before having a stroke?"  This would suggest that stupid people may have the 
upper hand when it comes to
thinking up original ideas.  In fact, the next time someone wants an original idea for 
something, they should try talking to their local, community stupid person.  The reason for this is that while a stupid 
person thinks with his head, he does not do so an organized
manner.  This is why they have so much creativity.  By 
thinking in this fashion, their ideas have a natural tendency to flow more easily, without the interruptions
which occur from the editing of thoughts that logical people would have normally.  Thus
if someone else should say to 
one, "That was a stupid idea!" one should merely look that person straight in the eye, and say, "Thank-you!"  This also 
means that the claim, "Stupid minds think alike." is not true.  All stupid minds
have different ideas, each idea 
being original.   
One of the final advantages of stupidity is that stupid people are always remembered, even after graduation day.  It 
has been noticed how a quiet person is always hard to detect, and often remains anonymous.  There is a very good 
reason for this.  The mind has a hard time keeping quiet people in its memory track.  But it is much easier and 
pleasing
for the mind to remember someone really stupid. Anyways, when was the last time one laughed at an idiot in 
ones grade 12 class?  When was the last time one laughed at the little kid at the back of the room?  The evidence here 
proves how stupid people last longer
in someones thoughts.  The largest advantage which arises from stupidity is that it 
takes up 2/3 of DNA storage space, which is excellent for keeping stupidity in the family.      
Thus, stupidity clearly has many advantages, as long
as someone is smart enough to use them!  It is important to 
understand that stupid people are like all other humans physically.  Yet, because of the difference between smart 
and stupid people, smart human beings should give them some breathing space. 
Teachers can learn that someone graced 
with stupidity, deserves more respect.  After all, they are special.

 На сегодня достаточно. Грамматику осознать, упражнения проделать, текст разобрать и перевести. Не забывайте о сохранении авторского стиля при переводе. Если среди моих подписчиков есть особо рвущиеся вперед, то милости прошу комментировать предложенную тему р о преимуществах глупости. В следующий раз разбираем полеты.

 Cheers

Natalie Silakoff 
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