Exercises Word-Building

I. State to what part of speech the following words belong:

deduce — deduction — deductive; depend — dependent — dependence; evidence — evident — evidently; appear — appearance; apparent — apparently; relate — relation — relative — relatively; act — active — actively — activity — action; occur — occurrence

II. Translate the words paying attention to the meanings of prefixes:

a) pre-: historic — prehistoric; revolutionary — prerevolutionary; Cambrian — Pre-Cambrian; geological — pregeological;

b) dis-: appearance — disappearance; appear — disappear; like — dislike; organize — disorganize;

c) in-, im-, ir-, il-: organic — inorganic; numerable — innumerable; depen-dent — independent; possible — impossible; probable — improbable; movable — immovable; regular — irregular; regularity — irregularity; legal — illegal;

d) un-: necessary — unnecessary, known — unknown, changing — unchanging

Word Study

III. State to what part of speech the words in bold type belong and translate the sentences into Russian:

1. Ice never forms in the sea near the British Isles. 2. On land plants are the chief rock-forming organisms. 3. Sand dunes are fairly common land forms. 4. These rocks are formed from the remains of plants. 5. Every summer the oldman plants beautiful flowers in front of his window. 6. The problem of the origin of life on our planet still remains unsolved. 7. These airplanes land safely on ice. 8. The change in fossil forms results from the change of conditions. 9. In Tibet and northern India (Himalayas) remains of marine organisms have been found at altitudes of from three to four miles. 10. Even far from the sea, the results of marine action may be seen in almost every part of the world. 11. The highlands at the ocean bottoms form the shallows (отмель).

Grammar Exercises

IV. Translate the following sentences. Pay attention to the words in bold type. Pick out six forms of Participle II used attributively:

1. During the Tertiary (третичный) period violent (profound) volcanic action occurred in Greenland. 2. The formation of the solid crust terminated (завершать) the pregeological evolution of the Earth. 3. Topography shaped by glaciers differs sharply from topography shaped by running water. 4. Fossils are the remains of plants and animals preserved in the rocks. In some cases the entire animals have been preserved. The best known of these are the woolly elephants frozen in the gravels of Siberia. 5. Millions and millions of years ago the earth was a vast mass of hot gas, then it became a white-hot ball which slowly cooled. After a time this crust formed all over it but the inside was still hot. 6. Igneous (изверженная, магматическая) rocks formed from molten rock can be divided into two types: volcanic and plutonic. 7. Prehistoric man used the water from springs, brooks, rivers and lakes.

V. Translate the following word combinations paying attention to Participle I and Participle II used attributively:

a) organic remains preserved in rocks; minerals widely utilized by man; subterranean water contained (included) in rocks; rocks formed by volcanic activity; waves recorded by modern instruments;

b) agencies shaping the earth's landscape; forms of life disappearing at present; field of science relating to the origin of the earth and other planets; glaciers moving downhill;

c) plant and animal remains belonging to past life; data (данные) gained (obtained) in the study of weather and climate; theories interpreting the conditions and events of the earth's past; surface features modified by geological processes; plants appearing early in spring; major (главный) events of the past history recorded in the rocks; subdivision of geology dealing with earth-crust movements; evidence obtained from the study of marine deposits; living things inhabiting that island; forms of life represented by fossils found in rocks; agents altering the nature of rocks

VI. Translate the following word combinations giving special attention to left-hand attributes. Paraphrase them using right-hand attributes.

Model: Rock surface → the surface of rock.

a) earth landscape; surface features; mountain systems; ocean tides; rock weathering; stream valley; glacier formation; glacier valley;

b) past life nature; plant and animal remains; earth-crust movements; great land masses; deep ocean basins; the earth's features record; subterranean water activity; volcanic activity evidence

VII. Put all possible questions to the following sentences:

1. The major events of the past history of the earth are recorded in the rocks. 2. These geologic agencies have been modifying the earth for many millions of years. 3. We find evidence of innumerable forms of prehistoric plants and ani­mals in the rocks.

VIII. Use the words from the text instead of the words in bold type:

1. Historical geology is the branch of geologic science that is concerned with the past history of the earth. 2. Historical geology uses this knowledge in interpreting the conditions and events of the earth's past. 3. Among features relating to study of earth history are the origin and development of the continents and oceans. 4. If these organic remains were not kept in the rocks, many features of the earth record would not be understandable.

IX. Give Russian equivalents of the following:

to relate to the past history of the earth; the knowledge gained in the study of minerals and rocks; to deduce the conditions and events of the earth's past; to be preserved in rocks; to represent different types of rock; evidence of innu­merable forms of life; features of the earth's record

X. Give English equivalents of the following:

зависеть от условий; появление; появляться; исчезновение; исчезать; органические остатки; природа (характер) этой прошлой жизни; доисторический; сильная вулканическая деятельность; изменять землю; движения земной коры; включать; записывать (регистрировать) события истории земли; пройти через различные стадии развития

XI. Translate into English using active vocabulary:

Геология — наука о Земле, о ее составе, строении, развитии, о процессах и агентах, которые постоянно изменяют ее. Геологию можно подразделить на несколько отраслей (направлений).

Геохимия объединяет (включает) науки, которые изучают (имеют дело с, занимаются) вещественный состав земли. Среди них — минералогия, кристаллография, петрография.

Историческая геология объединяет науки, изучающие историю развития земной коры и органической жизни. Среди них палеонтология — наука об ископаемых остатках (fossil remains) животных и растений.

Геолог изучает породы, потому что именно в породах зарегистрированы последовательные события прошлой истории земли. Органические остатки, сохранившиеся в породах, помогают нам понять природу (характер) прошлой жизни и ее эволюцию.