Invent discover make patent give land

Example: John Logie Baird gave- the first public demonstration of television in 1926.

1 John Logie Baird

2 The Wright brothers

3 Neil Armstrong

 

4 Pierre and Marie Curie

5 Gutenberg

6 Isaac Singer

the first flight in 1903.

Radium in 1902

sewing machine in 1851.

the first public demonstration of television in 1926.

the printing press in 1434.

on the surface of the moon in 1969.

 

The Bell story

Complete each paragraph, using the verbs below.

Have say begin introduce open

 

In 1985 Simon Bell …………………….. his computer business at the University his company ……………………. the Z5000 machine which the magazine PC Journal ……………………'may become the next industry benchmark'. The following year he ……………………… an office in the United States and soon

…………………. offices in 28 countries.

Amount decide employ run go

In 1989, Bell …………………………… public. By now the firm ………………750 people and sales ………………………. to over $159 million. Then two years later employees ……….…… to celebrate 1 April by hanging a giant inflatable banana outside company headquarters, the first of many publicity stunts. On another occasion the CEO ………………….. the London marathon.

Set up launch total offer

In 1992 Bell …………….. free installation of applications software as a standard option and in 1993………………….. the low-priced Explorer PCs, one of the most highly praised systems in the industry. In 1996 Bell ……………….. an Internet computer store, through its website www.bell.com.

Last year sales …………………… more than $10 million a day.

An annual report

Complete the extract choosing from these verbs. There are more verbs than necessary.

delay choose improve give make stabilise hinder

Last year the international situation in the hydrocarbons industry …..…….………… to some extent.

However, the volatile foreign exchange rates …………………. currency management more difficult and relatively weak demand …………………… expansion projects. We therefore ………………. to focus our efforts on specific opportunities where our know-how ………………….. us a technical advantage

over particularly aggressive competition. As a result we propose doubling our dividend.

 

 

Present perfect

Form

+ I/You/We/They have worked. He/She/It has worked.

- I/You/ /We/They haven't worked.

He/She/It hasn’t worked

? Have l/you/we/they worked?

Has he/she/it worked?

Uses

1We use the present perfect to:

• talk about actions that continue from the past to the present.

We have been in this business for over 50 years. (= We are still in business.)

• talk about past events that have an impact in the present.

Recently profits have fallen sharply because of strong competition.

Genova has had to cut costs by reorganising the workforce.

• talk about life experiences.

He's worked in a number of different firms.

I've been to London on many occasions.

She's never had to lead a team before. (= in her life up to now)

2 Because the time reference includes the present, we use time expressions that refer to both present and past.

So far, we have captured 30% of the market.

This week, I've written three long reports.

Over the last few days, I have had too much work to do.

Present perfect versus past simple

1 We use the past simple for completed actions that happened in the past.

Capricorn opened its first store in 1984.

2 Because the time reference is past, we use time expressions that refer to finished past time.

Last year we increased turnover by 15%.

Five years ago, we didn't have an overseas subsidiary.

She joined the company three months ago.

3 The decision to use the past simple or present perfect depends on how we see

the event. If we see it as related to the present, we use the present perfect. If we see it as completed and in the past, we use the past simple.

I've known Bill for many years. (= We are still in touch.

I knew Bill when I was at college. (= We don't keep in touch.)

EXERCISES

Answer the questions about the sentences in italics.

1 She has worked in Warsaw for five years.

• Does she work in Warsaw now?

2 She worked in London for three years.

• Does she work in London now?

Which sentence (1 or 2) uses the past simple? Which uses the present perfect?

We use the past simple:

• to talk about completed actions that happened in the past.

They worked over last weekend to meet the deadline.

• to refer to a definite moment or period in the past.

They made the presentation on Monday.

The present perfect connects the past and the present.

We use the present perfect:

• to talk about past actions that affect us now.

Our company has just introduced flexitime and everyone's delighted.

• to talk about life experiences.

I've worked with many companies where stress was a problem.

• to announce news.

The CEO has appointed a new management team.

 

Cross out the incorrect sentence in each pair.

1 Stress levels have increased in recent years.

Stress levels increased in recent years:

2 The role of women changed dramatically over the past 100 years.

The role of women has changed dramatically over the past 100 years.

3 He has worked as a stress counsellor since 1999.

He worked as a stress counsellor since 1999.

4 I resigned two months ago.

I have resigned two months ago.

5 Have you ever been to a stress counsellor before?

Did you ever go to a stress counsellor before?

6 I have seen a stress counsellor last week.

I saw a stress counsellor last week.

 

2 Tick the correct sentences and change the incorrect ones.

1 Two years ago, we have seen big increases in the price of oil.

2 The price fell in the last two days and it is now 5 per cent lower than before.

3 Our competitors reduced their prices in January.

4 We didn't raise our prices in recent weeks: they are still at the same le as they were two months ago.

5 Have you reviewed your prices recently?

6 We have reviewed our prices in March.

 

Write the time expressions from the box under the correct heading.

 

Past simple Present perfect

two years ago so far

so far two years ago ever in 1999 yet just yesterday for the past two weeks already never last Monday during the 1990s over the last few years since 2001 when I was at university

 

Work in pairs. Ask and answer questions about the subjects below.

• attend a conference • travel abroad on business

• be late for an important meeting • make a presentation

• make a telephone call in English • go on a training course

A Have you ever attended a conference? В Yes, I have.

A Where was it? B In Madrid.

 

Read about Jeff Bezos and underline the correct verb forms.

 

Jeff Bezos is founder and Chief Executive Officer of Amazon.com. He (a) built/has built Amazon into the Internet's largest retailer, but at the same time, a company that (b) never made/has never made an annual profit. Bezos (c) graduated/has graduated from Princeton University in 1986 with a degree in electrical engineering and computer science. In 1988 he(d) joined/has joined Bankers Trust Company and (e)became/has become their youngest vice president in February 1990. He then (f) moved/has moved to D E Shaw and Co, before setting up Amazon in July 1995 out of a two-bedroomed flat in Seattle. Like many dotcom start-ups at the time, Amazon (g) grew/has grown incredibly fast but (h) didn't mаkе/hasn't made any money. Over the years, financial analysts (i) often criticised/have often criticised Bezos for expanding too fast, but this year Amazon finally expects to make a profit. Bezos (j) cut/has cut costs drastically, he (k) lowered/has lowered the price of books and now offers free delivery. Another thing is that these days Amazon doesn't only sell books. It (I) formed/has formed alliances with other retailers to sell other products such as toys. Finally, after all the doubts, Bezos (m) proved/has proved he was right.

6 Write short answers to these questions about Jeff Bezos and Amazon.

a Has Amazon made an annual profit before? No, it hasn’t.

b Did Bezos go to Cambridge University?

c Did he get a degree?

d Did he set up Amazon in New York?

e Did Amazon grow fast at the beginning?

f Was Amazon a dotcom start-up?

g Have analysts criticised Bezos?

h Has Bezos cut costs?

i Has he increased prices?

j Has he proved he was right?

 

Write questions for these answers about Amazon and Jeff Bezos.

a When did--------------------------

In 1986.

b Who --------------------------------

Bankers Trust Company.

c Where ------------------------------

In Seattle,

d How quickly -------------------------------

Incredibly fast,

e Who ------------------------

Financial analysts

f What ---------------------------------

Costs

g Who --------------------------

Other retailers,

h What ----------------------------

He was right.