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UNIVERSIDAD DEL VALLE
FACULTAD DE HUMANIDADES
ESCUELA DE CIENCIAS DEL LENGUAJE
LECTURA DE TEXTOS ACADMICOS EN INGLS
Past participles in scientific andtechnical texts
Luis A. Saldarriaga B.English teacher (ESP)
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The Simple Past Tense
Affirmative: Subject + verb (past tense) +
complement
Negative: Subject + did not + verb (present)
+ complement
Question: Did + subject + verb (present) +
complement?
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The Simple Past Tense
Fill in the blanks with the proper form of the verb.
In 1928, Amelia Earhart (be) wasthe first
woman to cross the Atlantic Ocean by air. In1932, Earhart (fly) flewsolo across the Atlantic.
In March, 1935, Amelia Earhart (attempt)
attemptedan around-the-world flight.
However, soon after the plane (take off) took
off, it (go) wentout of control and (hit) hitthe
ground.
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The Simple Past Tense
In 1928, Amelia Earhart (be) wasthe first
woman to cross the Atlantic Ocean by air.
In 1932, Earhart (fly) flewsolo across theAtlantic. In March, 1935, Amelia Earhart
(attempt) attemptedan around-the-world
flight. However, soon after the plane (takeoff) took off, it (go) wentout of control and
(hit) hitthe ground.
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The Present Perfect Tense
Affirmative: Subject + have/has + main verb
(past participle) + complement
Question: Have/has + subject + main verb(past participle) + complement
Negative: Subject + have not (havent) /has
not (hasnt) + main verb (past participle) +complement
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The Present Perfect Tense
Activity: Fill in the blanks with the proper form
of the verb.
A psychologist (attend) has attendedgraduateschool in psychology and (complete) has
completedhis or her training in a clinic or
counseling office. But psychologists (not train)
have not been trainedto prescribe drugs for
their patients.
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The Present Perfect Tense
Activity: Fill in the blanks with the proper form
of the verb. (Solution.)
A psychologist (attend) has attendedgraduateschool in psychology and (complete) has
completedhis or her training in a clinic or
counseling office. But psychologists (not train)
have not been trainedto prescribe drugs for
their patients.
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The Present Perfect Tense
Activity: Fill in the blanks with the proper
form of the verb.
Psychiatrists, on the other hand, (have)have hada medical training. They (attend)
have attendedmedical school and (get)
have gottenthe M.D. (doctor of medicine)degree.
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The Present Perfect Tense
Activity: Fill in the blanks with the proper
form of the verb. (Solution.)
Psychiatrists, on the other hand, (have)have hada medical training. They (attend)
have attendedmedical school and (get)
have gottenthe M.D. (doctor of medicine)degree.
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Past Tense vs Present Perfect Tense
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The Past Perfect Tense
The past perfect tense expresses an action that
occurred before another action in the past.
Affirmative: Subject + had + main verb (pastparticiple) + complement.
Question: Had + subject + main verb (past
participle) + complement. Negative: Subject + had not (hadnt) + main
verb (past participle) + complement.
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The Past Perfect Tense
Researchers studied the brains of patients
who suffered seizures.
When did the patients suffer seizures?Before or after the study?
Researchers studied the brains of patients
who hadsufferedseizures. Until 2001, no brain imaging studies had
been performedin patients who had PTSD.
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The Past Perfect Tense
Plaintiff XXsued a hospital claiming that high
doses of Pitocin administered during labor had
causedhim brain trauma during birth. An MR imaging examination showed that the
plaintiffs brain tissue had developed
asymmetrically.
But the court held that the plaintiff had failed
to prove that this was the cause of his injuries.
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The Past Perfect Tense
Activity: Fill in the blanks with the proper
form of the verb.
Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging hasrevolutionized the legal arena. In a murder
trial, MR imaging results showed that the
decision-making area of the defendantsbrain (shrink) had shrunksignificantly, and
that his brain (atrophy) had atrophied.
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The Past Perfect Tense
Activity: Fill in the blanks with the proper
form of the verb. (Solution.)
Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging hasrevolutionized the legal arena. In a murder
trial, MR imaging results showed that the
decision-making area of the defendantsbrain (shrink) had shrunksignificantly, and
that his brain (atrophy) had atrophied.
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Passive voice
The passive voice is used to describe situations,methods, etc. It involves the following elements:
Object + Verb to be + Main verb (past participle)
The passive voice is especially helpful in scientific
or technical writing where the actor is not really
important but the process or principle being
described is very important. Instead of saying I
wrote down a report at period end, it ispreferable to say The report was written down
at period end.
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Tense Object To beMain verb
(past participle)
Present The car/cars is / are designed ...
Present perfect The car/cars has / have been designed ...
Past The car/cars was / were designed ...
Past perfect The car/cars had been designed ...
Future The car/cars will be designed ...
Future perfect The car/cars will have been designed ...
Present progressive The car/cars is / are being designed ...
Past progressive The car/cars was / were being designed ...
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In societies where life expectancy has been
considerably extended, dementias are becoming
a major public health concern.
Experts estimate that 22 million people around
the world will be afflicted by Alzheimer in 2025.
Drugs, which are known as psychostimulants,
have been found to improve the behavior ofchildren with attention-deficit hyperactivity
disorder (ADHD).
Passive voice
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Modal auxiliary verbs Modal verbs are used to make precise
statements and for that reason are very
common in scientific and technical texts.
Modal verbs have no meaning by themselves.
They are always used in conjunction with main
verbs to help them express ideas (about the
past, the present or the future).
There are several categories of modal verbs.
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Modal verbs
Ability: can, may.
All that we experience and cando is, in some
measure, a function of our placement in aphysical world.
By adapting the physical environment we
mayprovide strategies to help many childrenand adults who cannot make sense of their
world.
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Modal verbs
Possibility / probability: can, could,
may, might, will, would.
Persons suffering distress maybe in generaldisarray and disorganised; they wouldoften
have no plan or miss the target; they couldalso
lack precept and apt to self-fulfilling prophecy.
They mightrequire re-organization as well as re-
building self concept.
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Modal verbs
Obligation: must, ought to, should. Students in this course should attend every
lecture.
In any course, the student mustachieve apassing grade.
Students mustenter the examination room
quietly and maynot bring into it anyelectronic communication devices.
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Modal verbs / Passive voice
When body fluids have been spilled, the
following actions ought tobe taken:
The equipments shouldbe cleaned accordingto manufacturers recommendations.
You mustwash your hands before and after
the procedure. Handwashing maybeaccomplished using a commercial water-free
cleaning solution.
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References
King C., Stanley N: Building skills for the TOEFL
test. (1996)
Zimmerman F: English for Science. (1989) Peat J: SCIENTIFIC WRITING - Easy When You
Know How. BMJ (2002)
The Role of Imaging in United StatesCourtrooms. Neuroimag Clin N Am 17 (2007)
557567.
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