8. Present Perfect

Use

1. recently completed actions

She has tidied her room. (She has finished tidying her room. You can see it is tidy now. – evidence in the present)

2. actions which happened at an unstated past time and are connected with the present

He has lost his keys. (He is still looking for them.)

3. personal experiences / changes which have happened

I’ve lost 10 kilos.

4. emphasis on number

She's written three letters since this morning. She has called on two clients since 12 o'clock.

Time expressions: just, ever, never, already, yet (negations & questions), always, how long, so far, recently, since (= from a starting point in the past), for (= over a period of time), today, this week/month etc

Note: live, feel and work can be used either in the Present Perfect or the Present Perfect Cont. with no difference in meaning.

I’ve been living / I’ve lived in Rome for a year.

8.1 Read these sentences about fish. Then put the verb in brackets into present perfect simple form:

About 15% of protein eaten by humans 1) (always come) has always come from fish. Recently, however, the number of fish 2) (fall) _______. Several things 3) (cause) _______ this problem. Most scientists agree that governments 4) (not do) _______ enough to stop overfishing. This means that fish populations 5) (grow) _______ smaller. Many fish 6) (not reproduce) _______ fast enough to replace their numbers. The population of North Sea cod, for example, 7) (reach) _______ a dangerous level. EU laws 8) (reduce) _______ the numbers of fishing boats. As a result, many fishermen in traditional fishing ports 9) (lose) _______ their jobs. In recent years, fish in the UK 10) (become) _______ expensive, and many people 11) (stop) _______ eating it.

8.2 Use the prompts to make a question:

e.g. you / ever / see a humming bird? – Have you ever seen a humming bird? It's the world smallest bird.

1. you / ever / read War and Peace? It's one of the longest 19th-century novels.

2. you / ever / visit San Marino? It's Europe’s second smallest country.

3. you / ever / swim in the Pacific Ocean? It's the largest ocean in the world.

4. you / ever / take a trip to the Sahara Desert? It's one of the hottest places in the world.

9. Past simple

Use

1. past actions which happened one after the other

She sealed the letter, put a stamp on it and posted it

2. past habit or state

He used to go/went to school on foot

3. complete action or event which happened at a stated past time

She called an hour ago. (When? An hour ago.)

Action which happened at a definite past time although the time is not mentioned. This action is not connected with the present Shakespeare wrote a lot of plays. (Shakespeare is now dead; he won't write again. - period of time now finished)

Time expressions: yesterday, last week etc, (how long) ago, then, just now, when, in the 1945 etc.

9.1 Complete the sentences with the past simple form of the verb in brackets:

Aztec civilization 1) (develop) developed in the Valley of Mexico, 7,500 feet above sea level. The Aztecs 2) (leave) _______ their own land of Aztlan at some time during the 12th or 13th century. They 3) (believe) _______ that Huitzilopochtli their war god 4) (want) _______ them to search for a new land. They 5) (arrive) _______ in the Valley of Mexico during the 12th or 13th century AD. They 6) (build) _______ their capital city, Tenochtitlan, on an island in Lake Texcoco. They 7) (plant) _______ trees on the island to make the land better, 8) (work) _______ hard and 9) (improve) _______ the land. When the Spanish 10) (arrive) _______ in 1519, Montezuma, the Aztec ruler, 11) (think) _______ that Cortez was a returning god. When the Spanish 12) (see) _______ the Aztecs' gold, they 13) (decide) _______ to conquer the city. Later they 14) (kill) _______ Montezuma, 15) (defeat) _______ the Aztecs and 16) (destroy) _______ Aztec religion and culture.

9.2 Complete the sentence with the past simple form of the verb in brackets. Then decide if each sentence is True or False:

1. Greek actors (wear) wore masks and special boots. True

2. Spartan children (take) _______ baths only two or three times a year.

3. The philosopher Sуcrates (drink) _______ poison and died.

4. Alexander the Great's army (go) _______ as far as China.

5. Heron of Alexandria (make) _______ a kind of jet engine.

6. The Roman Emperor Caligula's name (mean) _______ 'Happy Soldier'.

7. Roman mathematics (have) _______ no zero.

8. Most Roman girls (get) _______ married at the age of 18.

9. Roman soldiers (pay) _______ for their own equipment and food.

10. The Romans (know) _______ how to make soap and cement.

9.3* Complete the text with the past simple affirmative, negative or question forms of the verbs in brackets: