57. Living in the Past

An hour-glass (or a sand-timer)

They say – and I believe it – that what gives Man his perception of Time is what makes him human. Having a memory of something (with all that this triggers, like short- vs. long-term memory, memory recall, memory gaps and loss of memory, and a host of other savoury topics) may range from things that we would like to remember to things that we would like to forget...Even our cells are said to have memory: this will send us quite soon back to health matters!

For the time being, let’s have a look at something easier to handle than the depths of memory – a cloze test which tells a story. Now, that’s the nice thing: not only do we remember stories easily but we build our lives around a story (i.e., the story of our life or, unfortunately for our self-actualization, the stories of other people’s lives).

Check how well you’ve done and then answer these questions:

1.      Is the story plausible?

2.    Has anything similar ever happened to you?

3.    Would having such experiences be a reasonable reason to forget about sharing flats?

4.   What advice would you give to someone who has to share a flat (rents are ever so high!)?

Read the text and complete each blank with ONE suitable word from the list supplied. Each word can be used only ONCE. Five of these words are not to be used.

A 2,500-year-old water clock

about	afford	denied	as	at
claimed	did	into	nearly	noticed
on	pay	pull	quite	realize
retrospect	ruined	straw	taste	throw
together	turn	turned	up	were

When I moved into a two-bedroom flat with Sophie, I imagined we’d get (1)_________ really well. I couldn’t (2)_________ the place by myself, but after meeting Sophie at a local wine bar, I thought she seemed (3)_________a nice person to join me.

I had my first doubts about her the day we went to choose paint to do (4)_________the flat. I wanted bright colours but she insisted on very plain shades and wasn’t prepared to compromise at all. I thought: “What am I getting myself (5)_________?’ Unfortunately we had already signed the contract by then, so it was too late to (6)_________out.

Initially, everything else seemed fine. Then (7)_________the weeks passed, things began to change. When I went out, she’d ask me why I was wearing so much make-up, or she’d want to know where I was going or where I’d been. Gradually, I began to (8)_________that she was jealous of me and my social life.

Modern water clock

However, when I bought a new white dress, things took a (9)_________for the worse. I was just (10)_________to put the dress in the washing machine when I (11)_________a speck of orange. I put my hand into the machine and a whole load of orange turmeric fell out. It would have (12)_________my dress. I suspected that Sophie had done it. When I confronted her, she denied it, but I was so angry I even threatened to call the police.

Another night I came in and found a curry that Sophie had made, so I thought I’d (13)_________it. After one mouthful I realized it had washing-up liquid in it. It made me terribly ill.

Things went from bad to worse. I had a large collection of framed family photos which were very important to me. I came home one day and found all the pictures had been (14)_________upside down. When I asked Sophie who had done it, she (15)_________that it was nothing to do with her and just shouted abuse (16)_________me.

It was the last (17)_________, however, when she started spreading rumours; she told my friends, including my boyfriend, that I was going out with other boys, which just wasn’t true. But eventually, I began to lose confidence and after almost a year of this I had to move out. In (18)_________, I think she wanted to be like me, but when that proved impossible, she tried to make my life hell. She (19)_________did, too. I have never bumped into her again and, to be honest, I’d be horrified if I (20)_________.

Foucault's Pendulum under the Dome of the Pantheón, Paris - since 1995

Source: Google Images

56. Time on Our Hands

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‘What a difference a day makes

Twenty-four little hours

Brought the sun and the flowers

Where there used to be rain’

Dinah Washington’s 1987 song gently pours its sounds in my ear, her voice beating the time on the lyrics translated into English by Jamie Cullum from Maria Grever’s Spanish lyrics ‘Cuando vuelva a tu lado’ (When I Come Back by Your Side). But how little is an hour of those twenty-four?

Doubtless, the song is loveable: where there’s fusion, there’s value to be found. What about that one little hour that – we are told – we’ll be gaining for advancing the clock – or having advanced it by now? Is it a gain or a loss?

Google Images: Decimal Clock,
in Fritz Lang's Metropolis

This morning we all stepped into Daylight Saving Time again. Some did it mechanically, accepting, as it were, what has been decided for the general benefit. Others (like me) still question the usefulness of imposing rules on rhythms, and don’t see any positive changes – not as far as the individual is concerned.

Waste Not, Want Not

Ten words have been removed from the text below. They are to be found among the fifteen words written below the article. Five of those words are then extra – or, better to say, distractors. Find the good ones and complete the text:

[adapted from the Wikipedia article on DST]

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As modern societies operate on the basis of "standard time" 1. _ than solar time, most people's schedules are not governed by the movements of the earth in relation 2. _ the sun. For example, work, school and transport schedules will generally begin at exactly the 3. _ time at all times of the year regardless of the position of the sun. However, in non-equatorial regions the total number of hours of sunlight in a day will vary a 4. _ deal between autumn/winter and spring/summer. As a result, if "standard time" is applied year 5. _ , a significant portion of the longer sunlight hours will fall in the early morning while there 6. _ still be a significant period of darkness in the evening. Because many people will tend to sleep in the early morning hours, these hours of sunlight are "wasted" for them, 7. _ if they are shifted to the evening via DST, they can then be "used". People could simply wake up earlier to take advantage of the sunlight then, but this is impractical because of the inflexibility of clock-based schedules.

As days shorten again in autumn/winter, sunrises get later and later, meaning that people could then be 8. _ up and spending a significant portion of their mornings in the 9. _ so clocks are then returned to the "standard" time. The actual effects of DST can vary significantly by location depending on its latitude and position relative to the centre of its time zone. For example, DST is almost redundant in extremely northern/southern locations because the very long/short days mean that the artificial manipulation of time has little or 10. _ practical effect.

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Dark – darkness – great – getting – may – must – no – rather – round – same – to – waking – whereas – while – with

Why do we do it? Or why do we (here and now) have to do it?

Is it observed everywhere on the globe?

Whose hour is it, anyway?!

If it were just for that biological time of 60 minutes, maybe we wouldn’t mind. In favour of advancing the clock in October, and as homage to its promoter William Willett, Churchill said (in 1934) that “it enlarges the opportunities for the pursuit of health and happiness among the millions of people who live in this country”… This automatically sends our thought to DST for interests far above the individual’s own life span. But Man is made of subtle rhythms which belong to his ancestral heritage: not even five thousand years of evolution could make such important changes in human biology as to help an organism cope with all the changes triggered by shift in circadian rhythms. 

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We suffer from SAD (Syndrome of Autumn Depression) and we project our suffering on people around us. We feel like eating without stop and we blame ourselves for every ounce of food because we think we lack strong will to shed the extra kilos: in fact it has to do with leptin, serotonin, cortisol, and other hormones that regulate the chains of chemical reactions taking place in our body while awake vs. while we are asleep.

No, definitely, I won’t buy this – unless someone shows me the real advantages of changing the clock and consuming more power both early in the morning and late at night! 

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55. Meaning in the Making

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They say this is one of those instances of the never-ending-story type. Every academic year starts with advice for better organizing study and...some practice for students to distinguish between the Present Simple and the Present Continuous tenses. After long years of contact with English, the use of these two tenses is still obscure and inaccessible.

There should be some principle of using them safely, shouldn’t there? A safe rule of thumb is finding out what meaning the verb expresses in the sentence. Once you get the meaning correctly, you are in the position to decide whether there is something dynamic taking place or, on the contrary, something is said about a state characterizing the subject.

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This sends you to a good dictionary! Never underestimate the examples offered next to the meaning of the word – in this case, a verb. Let’s have a look at how meaning is being formed.

Good luck!

31 The simple present and the present continuous tenses

Put the verbs in brackets into the simple present or the present continuous tense. 

(Adapted form Thomson & Martinet's 1986 'A Practical English Grammar')

1   Cuckoos (not build) nests. They (use) the nests of other birds.

2   You can’t see Tom now: he (have) a bath.

3   He usually (drink) coffee but today he (drink) tea.

4   What she (do) in the evenings? ~

She usually (play) cards or (watch) TV.

5   I won’t go out now as it (rain) and I (not have) an umbrella.

6   The last train (leave) the station at 11.30.

7   He usually (speak) so quickly that I (not understand) him.

8   Ann (make) a dress for herself at the moment. She (make) all her own clothes.

9   Hardly anyone (wear) a hat nowadays.

10 I’m afraid I’ve broken one of your coffee cups. - Don’t worry. I (not like) that set anyway.

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11 I (wear) my sunglasses today because the sun is very strong.

12  Tom can’t have the newspaper now because his aunt (read) it.

13  I’m busy at the moment. I (redecorate) the sitting room.

14  The kettle (boil) now. Shall I make the tea?

15  You (enjoy) yourself or would you like to leave now? - I (enjoy) myself very much. I (want) to stay to the end.

16  How you (get) to work as a rule? -

I usually (go) by bus but tomorrow I (go) in Tom’s car.

17   Why you (put) on your coat? ~

I (go) for a walk. You (come) with me? ~

Yes, I’d love to come. You (mind) if I bring my dog?

18   How much you (owe) him? ~

I (owe) him £5. ~

You (intend) to pay him?

19   You (belong) to your local library?- Yes, I do. ~

You (read) a lot? ~

Yes, quite a lot. ~

How often you (change) your books? ~

I (change) one every day.

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20   Mary usually (learn) languages very quickly but she (not seem) able to learn modern Greek.

21   I always (buy) lottery tickets but I never (win) anything.

22   You (like) this necklace? I (give) it to my daughter for her birthday tomorrow.

23   I won’t tell you my secret unless you (promise) not to tell anyone. ~ I (promise).

24   You always (write) with your left hand?

25   You (love) him?-

No, I (like) him very much but I (not love) him.

26   You (dream) at night? -

Yes, I always (dream) and if I (eat) too much supper I (have) nightmares.

27   The milk (smell) sour. You (keep) milk a long time?

28   These workmen are never satisfied; they always (complain).

29   We (use) this room today because the window in the other room is broken.

30   He always (say) that he will mend the window but he never (do) it.

31   You (know) why an apple (fall) down and not up?

32   You (write) to him tonight? ~

Yes, I always (write) to him on his birthday. You (want) to send any message?

33   Tom and Mr Pitt (have) a long conversation. I (wonder) what they (talk) about.

34   You (believe) all that the newspapers say? - No, I (not believe) any of it. -

Then why you (read) newspapers?

35   This car (make) a very strange noise. You (think) it is all right? - Oh, that noise (not matter). It always (make) a noise like that.

36   The fire (smoke) horribly. I can’t see across the room. - I (expect) that birds (build) a nest in the chimney. —

Why you (not put) wire across the tops of your chimneys? - Tom (do) that sometimes but it (not seem) to make any difference.

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54. New [academic] Year Resolutions

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How many times have you got bored of, or felt discontented with, your day-to-day rhythms? Was there at least one particular situation you were in that made you say to yourselves ‘enough is enough’, or ‘I must do something about it’ [of which the latter does not actually mean ‘something must be done’ – you tell me why!]? If this is the case with you, you were about to take action towards what is usually called ‘New Year Resolutions’ – well, those are kept aside for December, of course: what I’m referring to is an extended metaphor. I’m referring, of course, to the new academic year.

You must be quite happy and feel relieved, for you are just a tiny number of the two billion learners of English worldwide, ready to grapple with the mysteries of the English language. I know what you’re thinking: this is not new. Every year is the same. We start in September or October and we are supposed to upgrade until next June enough for us to pass a test, which seems to be the condition for improvement.

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So far, so good. Now, where do you enter the scene? You know what you intend to achieve = a goal. What’s left for you to think about and do is find the way to get there. So this would be the how-to section.

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Every teacher taking his/her time would have started his/her endeavour by handing sheets to his/her students containing information about how to organize study. This time I didn’t...take my time (redundancy intended) simply because of what I said in the ‘about me’ section on the right, next to my photo: Information is out there, waiting for you to consult it, put it to use, take it in, make it yours.

Yet, a bit of help would come in handy. Here are some hints. Suggested answers to the exercises in the sheets below (which can be magnified by pressing ctrl and rolling the mouse wheel) - after the page break. 

53. Starting Anew

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In one way or another, life goes on. Whether we agree to how it goes on or not, it will – for us too, for as long as we live.

As I said in a post from two weeks ago, a blogger’s life is not easy. It takes long hours of dedication to obtain the desired effect, sort out materials, make them be conclusive of the idea you want to get through to your readers, and – after all – expect them, your readers, to appreciate the posts and say so!

I once had a student who smiled when she answered my query:

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Do you ever read my posts? ~

Of course I do! ~

Then why don’t you comment on them? ~

Because...I don’t know what to say. Would you like me to say ‘oh, how nice, very interesting,’ and then what? ~

It’s not about that; that would be detaching yourself from the topic. The point is that you should take the idea further, and add something of your own – if it made you think, or feel something like taking a stance; participate, get involved, don’t remain on the sideline (or sit on the fence, as they say), a spectator in a crowd.

She shrugged in a kind of inescapable unhelpfulness.

So winds of change are carrying me towards a different arrangement, exactly the one mentioned in the heading. It was inspired by the very article that initiated this blog: the myth of the easy way out as regards expression. No way! Why not?

Well, because there are no two utterances which mean the same thing; there are no two words which are one hundred percent synonymous in the same context. Paraphrasing turns out to be one of the best ways of conveying the same idea in other words. Lexicogrammar is still the in thing when you learn a language. There is every reason to make your expression sound English, so feel free to ask about whatever you wanted to know and didn’t dare up till now: when there’s a will, there’s a way!

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