Essential Grammar Review

ESSENTIAL
GRAMMAR REVIEW
Review of relative clauses
A/ A relative clause is also known as an adjective clause. It is a subordinate clause with the function of
modifying a noun/ noun phrase or a pronoun.
Example:
1. Science (pure science) is a term which is used to denote systemized knowledge in any field.
2. Applied science is the term that is used to refer to the search for practical uses of scientific knowledge.
3. Neil Armstrong was the first person who walked on the Moon.
4. Here, we should distinguish pure science from technology through which applications are realized.
5. Newton whom many of us, scientists have respected used not to be a good student at all.
6. Newton, whose discovery of the theory of gravity was very strange, has been the pioneer in Mechanics
Physics.
7. The book of which the cover has been torn is a very famous one written by David Halliday.
From the above examples, we can see that the noun phrases a term, the term, the first person; technology
and Newton are respectively modified by relative clauses
1. which is used to denote systemized knowledge in any field.

2. that is used to refer to the search for practical uses of scientific knowledge.
3. who walked on the Moon
4. through which applications are realized.
5. whom many of us, scientists have respected
6. whose discovery of the theory of gravity was very strange
7. of which the cover has been torn
B/ You can easily realize that these clauses begin with which/ that/ which/ who/ whom/ whose. These are
called relative pronouns. They function as pronouns, and at the same time, show the relationship between
the modified noun/pronoun and other elements in the sentence. For example the first relative clause, listed
above, shows the relationship between the subject and its complement (science and term)
By the functions and implications of these pronouns in each the above sentences, we can classify them into
groups as in the following table.
Types
For persons For both For non-persons
Functions
Subject Who That Which

Object Whom/who That/φ* Which
Possessive Whose Whose Whose/of which
* a relative pronoun replacing an objective noun can be omitted
C/ Having a look at the example one, the relative clause is very necessary for the meaningful existence of
the sentence because if we read the sentence - Science is a term, it would be very difficult for us to
Ho Huyen, MA. Med. VNU Page 1

ESSENTIAL GRAMMAR REVIEW
understand what it means exactly: We know the word science and we know the word term but what is more
about this term in relation with science is actually what we need to know. That’s why a relative clause in this
case works best. Such a relative clause is called a restrictive relative clause. This type of relative clause is
sometimes known as defining relative clause.
Quite differently, from the fifth relative clause from the list we can see that the relative clause does not affect
much to the meaning of the whole sentence, with or without this clause, the sentence still makes sense to us.
In this case, the presence of a relative clause is only to give some extra information about Newton; such a
relative clause is called a non-restrictive clause or sometimes non-defining relative clause.
Other differences between these two types of relative clauses are as follow:
• Non- defining clause is more common in written style

• Non- defining relative clause must be put between two commas, except when it is at the end
of the sentence (the full stop replaces the second comma).
• Pronoun that can not be used in a non-defining relative clause
D/ In example four, you can easily realize the preposition through be put in front of the pronoun which.
• Here, we should distinguish pure science from technology through which applications are
realized.
It is easy to see that the sentence can be understood in a simpler way by splitting it into two simple
sentences – Here, we should distinguish pure science from technology. Applications can be realized through
technology. Now, it is obvious that the preposition through does not at all accompany the pronoun which
randomly, actually, it accompanies the noun technology that the relative pronoun which replaces. Here,
there is no change in position between the noun (now its replacing item) and its accompanying preposition.
In another case – Newton from whom we have been learning used not to be a good student anyway – the
preposition from is once more considered to be accompanying the noun Newton and it is also put before the
pronoun whom (replacing Newton)
From both cases, it is deduced that, we can put a preposition in front of objective pronouns, and this makes
the sentence more formal. However, it is noted that,
• If a preposition is put in front of a pronoun, the pronoun can not be omitted.

• Prepositions can not be put in front of pronouns that and who
• If the preposition is a part of a phrasal verb, it can not separate from its main verb. E.g. The
progress of science is the topic which/that/φ we are looking into.
• Such words as some, many, and most can go before of whom and of which in a non-defining
relative clause. E.g. The success of this theory is attributed to American scientists, many of whom
did lose their lives for it.
Practice

Combine each of the following pairs of sentences into one sentence with a proper relative pronoun.
1. A group will carry out this investigation. This group will be organized.
…………………………………………………………………….......................
2. A machine is in the next room. The machine will make calculations.
…………………………………………………………………….......................
3. Barnard operates on the human heart. He is a heart surgeon.
…………………………………………………………………….......................
4. Computers are now helpful in a wide range of applications. Their functions are various.
…………………………………………………………………….......................
5. His articles will be published soon. His article is on the subject of scientific experimental methods.
…………………………………………………………………….......................
6. Many people’s lives rely on kidney machines. They can still run their lives for a long time.
…………………………………………………………………….......................
7. Marie Curie had a happy family life. Her devotion to science is very important.
…………………………………………………………………….......................
8. Most of our food consists of animal and plant cells. These cells contain a high proportion of water.
…………………………………………………………………….......................
9. Scientists are now facing a lot of matters. One of the matters is that of environmental pollution.
…………………………………………………………………….......................
10. The doctor has saved a lot of lives. His patients are normally heart attacked.
…………………………………………………………………….......................
11. The edition of the world science magazine this month is very interesting. Its cover is the picture of a
virtual nuclear reactor.
…………………………………………………………………….......................
…………………………………………………………………….......................
12. The method is rather simple. It should be followed.
…………………………………………………………………….......................
13. The students missed the start of the experiment. They were late for class.
…………………………………………………………………….......................
14. The temperature of the ambient air is very important to this experiment. It should be always kept at 15
0
C.
…………………………………………………………………….......................
15. There is one more important question today. We must discuss the question thoroughly.
…………………………………………………………………….......................
16. We eat some farm birds. They are known as poultry.
…………………………………………………………………….......................
17. We have helped thousands of patients. Many of them have difficulty in language production.
…………………………………………………………………….......................
18. We must obtain data for the report. The data must be of great importance.
…………………………………………………………………….......................
19. We will use the material here. The material is of high quality.
…………………………………………………………………….......................
20. Yeast and mould are fungi. Fungi grow on food.
…………………………………………………………………….......................
Participle phrases replacing relative clauses
1. Participles of verbs
⎧ participleI ( PI ) = verb _ ing
In English, each verb has two participles: ⎨
⎩ ParticipleII ( PII ) = verb _ ed
In which the former is considered the active participle and the second is known as passive particle.
A participle phrase is the one with the centre element being a participle.
Example:
1. working with me
2. studying Physics last year
3. written by a famous scientist
4. clarified by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures
5. having been carefully conducted in the laboratory
6. being considered by the Government
2. Participles replacing relative clauses
From the above mentioned, it is deduced that each type of participle, therefore, will replace a corresponding
relative clause with the same grammatical implication (whether passive or active), basing on the form of the
verb phrase in the relative clause.
Consider the following examples (from Unit one)
1. Science (pure science) is a term which is used to denote systemized knowledge in any field.
2. Applied science is the term that is used to refer to the search for practical uses of scientific
knowledge.
3. Neil Armstrong was the first person who walked on the Moon.
4. Here, we should distinguish pure science from technology through which applications are
realized.
5. Newton whom many of us, scientists have respected used not to be a good student at all.
6. Newton, whose discovery of the theory of gravity was very strange, has been the pioneer in
Mechanics Physics.
It is clearly seen that half of the above examples of relative clauses are active (3, 5, 6) and the other half are
passive (1, 2, 4)
However, not all relative clauses but the ones with relative pronoun in subject position can be replaced with
participle phrases. This is applicable to both types of relative clauses. Hence, among the above relative
clauses, only the first three can be replaced.

We have:
1. Science (pure science) is a term used to denote systemized knowledge in any field.
2. Applied science is the term used to refer to the search for practical uses of scientific knowledge.
3. Neil Armstrong was the first person walking on the Moon.*
These sentences will be interpreted basing on the context in which it appears:
As in the first two participle phrases, they are used to make definitions so the verbs in the corresponding
relative clauses must be in present tense while, in the last one, the tense of verb in the corresponding relative
clause must be the simple past tense (it is the action of the past).
Note
• The third case of relative clause can be replaced with a to- infinitive
• Relative clauses with intransitive verbs can not be replaced with –ed phrase
Practice
Replace the relative clause in each of the following sentences with its corresponding participle phrase if
possible.
1. Another scale which employs absolute zero as its lowest point is the Rankine scale, in which each
degree of temperature is equivalent to one degree on the Fahrenheit scale.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………
2. Democritus formulated a concept that has guided physics at various times ever since—the search for
the basic building blocks of the universe and the forces that determine their behavior.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………
3. Einstein's genius, which is characterized equally by logical clarity and creative imagination,
succeeded in remolding and widening the imposing edifice whose foundations had been laid by
Newton's great work.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………
4. Field (physics) is the area that surrounds an object, in which a gravitational or electromagnetic force
is exerted on other objects.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………

5. Galileo's astronomical discoveries and his work in mechanics foreshadowed the work of the 17th-
century English mathematician and physicist Sir Isaac Newton, one of the greatest scientists who
ever lived.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………
6. German astronomer Johannes Kepler, who was born in 1571, is a key figure in the history of
physics.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………
7. In the next millennium, physicists may achieve a single overarching theory that explains how the
four fundamental forces in the universe can be unified.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………
8. Mankind will always be indebted to Einstein for the removal of the obstacles to our outlook which
were involved in the primitive notions of absolute space and time.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………
9. Newton stated his ideas in several published works, two of which, Philosophiae Naturalis Principia
Mathematica (Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy, 1687) and Opticks (1704), are
considered among the greatest scientific works ever produced.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………
10. Newton, Sir Isaac (1642-1727), who is considered one of the most important scientists of all time, is
an English physicist, mathematician, and natural philosopher.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………
11. No other half-century in history has witnessed so revolutionary a transformation in man's view of the
nature of the physical universe as the one through which we have just passed.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………
12. Over the last 1,000 years the science of physics has enabled us to probe and understand the world of
the very large—the stars and the galaxies that contain them—and, more recently, the world of the
very small—the fundamental particles that make up matter and the forces that govern their
interactions.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………

………………………………………………………………………………
13. Physicists believe the universe began about 12 billion years ago in a cosmic explosion which is
known as the big bang, when a magnificent dowry of energy appeared and converted to particles of
matter.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………
14. Physicists have also identified the four fundamental forces that govern the interactions between
elementary particles.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………
15. The Babylonians, Egyptians, and early Mesoamericans observed the motions of the planets and
succeeded in predicting eclipses, but they failed to find an underlying system that governs planetary
motion.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………
16. The English Scholastic philosopher and scientist Roger Bacon was one of the few philosophers
who advocated the experimental method as the true foundation of scientific knowledge and who
also did some work in astronomy, chemistry, optics, and machine design.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………
17. The same spirit that characterized Einstein's unique scientific achievements also marked his attitude
in all human relations.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………
18. The sensation of warmth or coldness of a substance on contact is determined by the property which
is known as temperature.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………
19. We are missing lots of details about this original hot, tiny universe, in which space was expanding
and rushing outward and particles were clustering and eventually binding.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………
20. With the death of Albert Einstein, a life in the service of science and humanity which was as rich and
fruitful as any in the whole history of our culture has come to an end.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………
Adjectives order

1/ It is obvious that words appear in sentences/ statements/ utterances in a linear order. However, each
language has its own way of ordering the words for communicative purposes, it is, then, very important to
understand this.
In English, the very difference in word order from that in Vietnamese is the order of adjectives: In English,
adjectives go before nouns to modify nouns regardless of some exceptions while it is opposite in
Vietnamese. For example:
English: a successful experiment → Vietnamese: mét thÝ nghiÖm thµnh c«ng
And we have more than one type of adjectives and sometimes a group of adjectives at the same time modify
one noun; that is why we have to clarify which type of adjective should go first, and which last.
English adjectives have the following normal rule of positioning:
size – general description – age – shape – colour – material – origin – purpose – participle ----Noun
Example: a small nice old square brown wooden French writing desk (mét c¸i bµn viÕt cò b»ng gç nhá xinh
x¾n cña Ph¸p)
Note
• In practice, there are no more than five adjectives modifying one noun at the same time.
Practice
Rearrange each of the following set of words to make a meaningful sentence. Pay attention to the order of
adjectives where there is more than one adjective in the sentence.
1. pollution/ is/ problem/ noise/ a/ environmental/ serious.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………
2. culture/ the/ some/ of/ environmental/a/ creation myths/ reflect/ circumstances/ particular .
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………
3. of/ explain/ creation mythologies/ actual/ processes/ the/ variety/ formation/ the/ by/ a/ of/ world.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………
4. the/ compact/ proposes/ dense/ extremely/ that/ hot/ the/ once/ big bang theory/ was/ an/ and/ planet/
universe.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………
5. solutions/ have/ served/ for/ much/ framework/ theory/ the/ these /as/ of/ current/ on/ theoretical/ the/
work/ big bang/ the.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………
6. about/ consider/ stability/ doubts/ hypotheses/ a/ catastrophic/ such/ of/ rings/ some/ led/ to/ scientists/
the/ various.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………
7. begins/ star/ life/ as/ a/ cool/ relatively/ a/ large/, /in/ nebula/ of/ mass/ gas/ a. some
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………
8. a/ as/ experienced/ is/ sensation/ color/ by/ neurophysiological/ and/ humans/ of/ animals/,/ process/
perception/ a/ complex.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………
Relative clauses with relative adverbs
1/ A review on relative clauses with relative adverbs.
Example
a) The laboratory where experiments are conducted must be kept clean all the time.
b) The time when we should conduct the experiment has not been decided yet.
c) That Physics studies both universe and human being is the reason why I choose it to study for my
life.
Each of the above sentences has a relative clause starting with a relative adverb:
a) where experiments are conducted

b) when we should conduct the experiment
c) why I choose it to study for my life.
2/ From the examples, it is deduced that relative adverb
where is used to modify a nouns referring to a place;

when is used to modify the nouns referring to time; and
why is used to modify the noun reason.
3/ However, there is difference among these relative adverbs in forming defining and non- defining
relative clauses
3.1. Non – defining relative clauses
When and where are used in non- defining relative clauses
Example
a) You have to read the report next week, when the meeting is chair- manned by the president of our
society.
b) The earth, where we are living, has always been a mystery objective for scientists.

c) Last year, when he got help from sponsors, was the most successful year for him since the start of
his study in mechanics.
3.2. Defining clause
a/ When and where are used in defining relative clauses, but each of these clauses modifies a special
group of nouns.
• When follows the word time or other time notion as day, week, month, year.
Example:
1. The time when we make the observations must be long enough.
2. The day when I started the first lesson on Physics was very impressive.
3. 1642 is the year when Newton, Sir Isaac was born.
Note
Adverb When can be replaced with pronoun which and an appropriate preposition such as in, at or
on.
The above examples can be rewritten in this way:
1. The time during which we make the observations must be long enough.
2. The day on which I started the first lesson on Physics was very impressive.
3. 1642 is the year in which Newton, Sir Isaac was born.
• Where follows the word place or other words referring to a place such as room or street and
the two words situation and stage
Example:
1. The place where we do experiment is called a laboratory.
2. The room where lectures are given is called the lecture hall.
Note
Adverb where can be replaced with pronoun which and an appropriate preposition.
The above examples can be rewritten in this way:
1. The place in which we do experiment is called a laboratory.

2. The room in which lectures are given is called the lecture hall.
b/ Adverb why follows the noun reason

Example
1. The reason why you did not succeed was because you had not well prepared for it.
2. Their conservations are the reason why they failed.
Participle adjectives
Each English verb has two participles which can function as adjectives, present participle being
active adjective, and past participle being passive adjective. This means, the present participle can
modify noun with the function that it can tell the feature of the noun itself while the past participle
tells something about the noun that comes from outside the noun.
Example:
1. training program -> the program of training
2. sounding device -> the device for sounding
3. filtering paper -> the paper for filtering
4. given time -> the time which is given
5. measured block -> the block which has been measured
6. derived units -> the units which have been derived
Practice
Exercise 1: Combine each of the following pairs of sentences into one sentence using an appropriate
relative adverb and the word given.
1. Our universe and human beings are studied in an area. The area is science.
Science………………………………………………………………………
2. It was the year 1704. In this year, Newton had his second famous works named Opticks published.
1704 was the year.………………………………………………………………
3. You do experiments in a room. We call that room a libratory.
The room ………………………………………………………………………
4. It was the year 1792. France set up a new system of measurements in this year.
The year 1792 …………………………………………………………………
5. It is the International Bureau of Weights and Measurements near Paris. The standard meter is kept
there.
The International Bureau ………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………….
6. Seven basic units were first defined in 1971. In this year, the 14th International Conference on Weights
and Measures was held.
The year 1971…………………………………………………………………..
………………………………………………………………………………….
7. It was the year 1959. In this year, a yard was officially defined as being 0.9144 meter.
The year 1959 was the year ……………………………………………………
8. It was in the year 1960. A new standard meter was found out, basing on light
wavelength.
1960 was the year………………………………………………………………
9. 1983 was an important year. In this year, standard meter was officially defined as the distance that light
wave can travel in a given time.
1983 was ………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………….
10. The English and metric systems of measurements are both in used in one country. That country is the
U.S.
The U.S. is ……………………………………………………………………..
11. People prefer to use the metric system. It is because this system is simpler and more convenient to use.
The reason……………………………………………………………………...
………………………………………………………………………………….
12. Both English and metric systems of measurements can be used at the same time. There are many
situations for this application.
There are ………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………….
13. He failed to give correct answer to the question. It is because he did not know how to convert the unit
of length in English system of measurements.
The reason ……………………………………………………………………..
………………………………………………………………………………….
14. Physics is an important field. Most of the universal and human issues are discussed in this filed.
Physics is……………………………………………………………………….
………………………………………………………………………………….
15. Each week students have to go to the workshop. They do a lot of practice there.
Weekly, ……………………………………………………………………….
Exercise 2: Give the appropriate form of the verb (either in present or past participle) to complete each of
the following sentences.
1. The (choose) ……………. seven units in 1971 are defined as basics units.
2. The (measure)……………… jar is used when we want to measure the volume of irregular objects.
3. The (travel) ………………. path of any object can be measured.
4. The conversion of English system of measurements confuses me. I am thoroughly
(confuse)…………………
5. No one may attend the lecture except the (invite) …………….. guests.
6. The (exist)………………… matter that makes scientists wonder is how to maintain natural resources.
7. Physics is a very (stimulate) ……………….. subject because once you get your hands down to it, you
start to think hard of our universe and ourselves.
8. The (freeze) ……………….water has lower density than liquid water.
9. Outstanding students always have (inquire)……………….. minds.
10. The (contaminate) ………………….. air has great influence on the success of
Adverbial clauses of time, place and reason
1. Adverbial clauses of time
An adverbial clause of time is a subordinate clause (dependent clause) in a complex sentence which starts
with a conjunction of time. An adverbial clause of time sets a time reference for the action mentioned by the
main verb phrase in the main clause.
Example:
a. When we understood the law that governs all of those phenomena, we arrived at the conclusion.
b. While you are conducting experiment in the laboratory, be careful with all types of acids because
you may get burned.
c. You should be well- prepared before any observation is made on a phenomenon.
Some common conjunctions of time: when; while; before; after; since; (un)till; now that; as soon as;
whenever; any time; by the time;
Note that, as for before and after, they can not only function as conjunctions of time but also as prepositions
of time:
a. He jumped to the conclusion before any of his classmates.

b. He reached the conclusion after his teacher’s explanation.
2. Adverbial clauses of reason
An adverbial clause of reason is a subordinate clause in a complex sentence that starts with one of following
conjunctions: because, since, as
Example:
a. Because he was too hurried to reach the conclusion, he omitted a lot of valuable evidence.
b. He was successful since he learned of patience.
c. As he is still a student, he is unable to provide himself with such an expensive piece of equipment.
3. Adverbial clause of place
An adverbial clause of place is a subordinate clause in a complex sentence which starts with one of the
following conjunctions: wherever; anywhere; everywhere; and where.
Example:
a. Wherever there are human beings, there are ways of measuring things.
b. Everywhere he goes, he takes along his own measuring tape.
Practice
Exercise 1: Fill in each gap with one suitable conjunction of time, place or reason to form adverbial clause
of time, place and reason for each of the following sentences. In some cases, there can be more than one
choice.
1. ………..work is done on a body, there is a transfer of energy to the body, and so work can be said to be
energy in transit.
2. …………. an electric current flows through a wire, two important effects can be observed
3. …………. satellites were used in geodesy, geodetic networks were typically no larger than an
individual country or continent.
4. …………..an electric current flows through a wire, two important effects can be observed
5. ………….its name was changed in 1989, the agency announced that it would soon establish regional
manufacturing technology centers to speed the spread of new technology.
6. …………… a current begins to flow in a conductor, a field moves out from the conductor.
7. ……………. an electric current flows in a metallic conductor, the flow is in one direction only.
8. …………….. interferometer measures distances in terms of light waves, it permits the definition of the
standard meter in terms of the wavelength of light.

9. ……………NIST has unique data-gathering functions, it is the principal agent for the development of
federal standards for automatic data processing techniques, for computer equipment, and for computer
languages.
10. ……………some atoms combine to form solids, one or more electrons are often liberated and can
move with ease through the material
11. Egypt is …………… Clepsydra or water clock is believed to have originated.
12. The first scientific study of electrical and magnetic phenomena, however, did not appear until AD1600,
……………the researches of the English physician William Gilbert were published.
13. Work is also expended ………. a force accelerates a body, such as the acceleration of an airplane
because of the thrust forces developed by its jet engines.
14. Physics is ………… you can find answer to almost every phenomenon in nature.
15. The strength of a magnetic field depends on how concentrated the flux is; …………there is a lot of flux
flowing, the field is strong.
Exercise 2: Fill in the blank with each of the following given words. Each word is used once.
Resonance
physical many what suspension natural concrete

bridge stress use how mechanical
amplitude example disaster phenomenon rate
Resonance is an important (1)......................phenomenon that can appear in a great

(2)..........................different situations. A tragic example is the Tacoma Narrows bridge disaster. This
(3).........................bridge in Washington State, collapsed in a mild gale on 1 July 1940. The wind set up
oscillating around the (4)... which vibrated more and more violently until it broke up under the
(5).........................The bridge had been in (6)........................for just four months; engineers learnt a lot about
(7)..........................oscillations can build up when a (8)........................... structure is subject to repeated
forces.
You will have observed a much more familiar (9)......................of resonance when pushing a small
child on a swing; the swing + child has a natural frequency of oscillation; a small push each swing results in
the (10)........................increasing until the child swinging high in the air.
Compound adjectives forming from participles
In Unit three, participles were introduced as adjectives. In this unit, participles are considered as the stem in
forming compound adjectives.
1/ Noun-participle -> compound adjective
Example:
Active (noun-PI) Explanation
Stress-bearing structure Ø The structure that bears stress
Water-keeping pot Ø A pot for keeping water
Atmospheric pressure-measuring device Ø A device for measuring atmospheric
pressure
North-seeking pole Ø The pole that seeks north direction

Ø The jar that is used for measuring
Volume-measuring jar volume
Passive (noun-PII) Explanation

Petrol-run engine Ø an engine which is run by petrol
Book-based research Ø a research that is based on books
Research-based report Ø a report which is made basing on research
Nuclear waste-affected area Ø the area that is affected by nuclear waste
Physics law-governed phenomenon Ø a phenomenon which is governed by physics
law
2/ adverb-participles -> compound adjectives

Example:
Active (adverb-PI) Explanation
Exactly-measuring device Ø the device that measures exactly
Slowly-changing phenomenon Ø the phenomenon that changes slowly
Efficiently-operating apparatus Ø the apparatus that operates efficiently
Widely-spreading effect Ø the effect that spreads widely
Seriously-working scientist Ø the scientist who works seriously
Passive (adverb-PII) Explanation

Carefully-conducted experiment Ø the experiment that is conducted carefully
Ø the observation that is made regularly
Regularly-made observation Ø the behavior that is activated abruptly
Abruptly-activated behavior Ø the laboratory which is equipped well
Well-equipped laboratory the particle that is negatively charged
Negatively charged particle
Practice
Exercise 1: Form compound adjectives from participles, basing on the following explanations
Explanation
1. the objects that oscillate freely Ø freely-oscillating objects
2. the device that sounds echo
3. the devices which are used to conduct
experiments
4. the analyzer which describes in detail
5. the students who work industriously
6. the device which is used to develop
film
7. the graph that slopes upwards

8. the pole that points to the south

9. the system that transfers energy
10. the matter which is discussed heatedly
11. the waves that interfere destructively
12. a report that is well presented
13. the particles that move fast
14. the capacitor that is made of silver
15. a current that decreases gradually
16. a ball that is thrown horizontally
17. a body that falls freely
18. the anode which is negatively charged
19. a magnetic field which is created by
electromagnetic coils
20. the device which is used for removing
water
Exercise 2: Fill in each of the gaps to complete the passage. Each word is used once.
distinct light because attract photons experiments protons the

electromotive work same nevertheless particles forces
quantum mathematically actually absorbed experiences
For centuries, electricity and magnetism seemed (1)…………..forces. In the 1800s, however (2)……………
showed many connections between these two(3)………….. In 1864 British physicist James Clerk Maxwell
drew together the(4) …………of many physicists to show that electricity and magnetism are(5)
……………different aspects of the (6)……………electromagnetic force. This force causes
(7)……………with similar electric charges to repel one another and particles with opposite charges to
(8)…………….one another. Maxwell also showed that (9)………….is a traveling form of electromagnetic
energy. The founders of (10)……………..mechanics took Maxwell’s work one step further. In 1925
German-British physicist Max Born, and German physicists Ernst Pascual Jordan and Werner Heisenberg
showed (11)………………..that packets of light energy, later called (12)……………., are emitted and
(13)…………….when charged particles attract or repel each other through the electromagnetic force.
Noun clauses (1; 2)
A noun clause is the one which can function as a noun or noun phrase in a complex sentence and which
begins with conjunction that (1), an interrogative word (2) or conjunction if/whether (3).
Example:
1. We know that the very atoms and molecules of matter are continuously in motion.
2. A rate tells how fast something happens, or how much something changes in a certain amount of time.
3. On a straight and smooth road, we can not feel whether there is any change in your car’s speed.
1. That- clause

A that-clause is the one that starts with ‘that’. This clause can function in the sentence as follows:
Subject: That all matters are made up of molecules, atoms and other micro bodies has been proven by
scientists.
Direct object: We all know that every body is always in motion.
Subject complement: The assumption is that every body continues in its state of rest, or of uniform motion
in a right (straight) line (unless compelled to change the state by force impressed upon it) (Newton’s First
Law).
Appositive: Galileo’s assumption, that free-falling objects have the same value of acceleration, was proven
by himself with worldwide famous experiment at leaning Pisa Tower.
Adjectival complement: We all know for sure that if we toss our key rings to the air, it will fall back to the
ground.
Note: In informal use, ‘that’ is frequently omitted if that-clause functions as the object or the complement.
Thus, we may have:
I’m sure you can learn about motion easily.
or:
You know we can draw the conclusion only when the experiment has been successfully
conducted.
Instead of:
I’m sure that you can learn motion easily.
or:
You know that we can draw the conclusion only when the experiment has been successfully
conducted.
2. Wh-interrogative clause
Wh-interrogative clause occurs in the whole range of functions available to that-clause, and in addition can
act as prepositional complement:
Subject: What Galileo really discovered about motion was clarified by Isaac Newton with his Laws of
Motion.
Direct object: Newton’s Second Law states how net force changes something’s velocity.
Subject complement: Matter’s resistance to a change in velocity is what we call inertia.
Appositive: Our plan, when the experiment is conducted, has not been approved yet.
Adjective complement: I’m not certain how the bonding force and the contact force work to hold you up
when you stand on firm ground.

Prepositional complement: Frictional force between two solids also depends on how hard the two surfaces
press together.
Note:
1. As regards meaning, these clauses resemble wh-questions in that they leave a gap of unknown in
information, represented by the wh-element.
2. As for grammar, there is a similarity to wh-questions in that the wh-element is placed first’ indeed,
apart from the absence of subject-operator inversion in the dependent clause, the structures of the two
types of clauses are in all respects parallel. We have, in the wh-interrogative clause, the same choice
between initial and final preposition where the prepositional complement is the wh-element.
Examples:
We can not decide on which design we should work first. (formal)
or: We can not decide which matter we should work on first.
An infinitive wh-clause can be formed with all wh-words except why.

Example: The lecturer explained to us how to attack the problem.
1. Some common adjectives followed by a noun clause:

afraid certain eager proud
amused confident glad sorry
annoyed conscious happy sure
anxious convinced horrified surprised
aware delighted determined willing
2. Some common nouns followed by a noun clause

(the) fact (the) idea (the) news rumor(u)r
pity wonder a good thing miracle
3. Some common verbs followed by a noun clause

acknowledge demonstrate learn resolve
admit determine make out (=state) reveal (wh)
advise discover mean say (wh)
agree doubt notice (wh) see (wh)
allege estimate (wh) observe seem
announce expect occur to + object show (wh)
appear fear order state (wh)
arrange (wh) feel perceive stipulate
ask (wh) find (wh) presume suggest (wh)
assume forget (wh) pretend suppose
assure guarantee promise teach
beg happen propose tell (wh)
believe (wh) hear (wh) prove (wh) threaten
command hope prove think (wh)
confess imagine (wh) realize (wh) turn out
consider imply recognize understand (wh)
declare indicate (wh) recommend urge
decide (wh) inform emark vow
demand insist remember (wh) warn
request know(wh) remind wish
wonder (wh)
Note: Verbs with (wh) are those which can be followed by either a that-clause or wh-interrogative clause.
Practice
Combine each pair of sentences bellow into one sentence using the words given in brackets.
1. Motion is subject to three laws. Newton himself showed this. (that)

………………………………………………………………………………....
2. “Why does a moving body come to a stop?”. We should take up this question. (of)
…………………………………………………………………………………
3. “What can absolute judgments be made about the nature of motion?”. We must figure out this matter.
(what)
…………………………………………………………………………………
4. “How does a net force change something’s velocity?” Newton’s second law states this. (the fact)
…………………………………………………………………………………
5. Motions in perpendicular directions are independent of one another. This has been concluded from
experiments conducted. (It………that)
…………………………………………………………………………………
6. “What does tension mean in a technical sense?”. Do you know the answer? (what/?)
…………………………………………………………………………………
7. “In which cases does a ball come to a stop quickly and in which cases slowly?” We should consider
this. (In which cases)
…………………………………………………………………………………
8. The smoother the surface on which a body is moving, the father it would roll. We know this perfectly
well from our experiences. (that)
…………………………………………………………………………………
9. The word centripetal is an adjective used effectively in the case of circular motion. It is important to
note this. (that)
…………………………………………………………………………………
10. “Where does the term inertial come from?”. We shall see a bit later. (where)
…………………………………………………………………………………
11. The earth does not differ greatly from an inertial frame. The fact is especially important. (the fact that)
…………………………………………………………………………………
12. How can we present the velocity of an object at various points around its orbit in circular motion? The
figure will show you. (how to)
…………………………………………………………………………………
13. A force was needed to keep a body moving at a constant velocity. This idea is very important. (the idea
that)
…………………………………………………………………………………
14. Earth’s gravity affects things near the surface of our planet. Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) was the first to
understand this. (how)
…………………………………………………………………………………
15. The force causes motion and there is no motion if there is no force applied. This conclusion made by
Aristotle was incomplete. (the conclusion that)
…………………………………………………………………………………
Modal verbs to express certainty or possibility
1. Certainty
To express certainty (or to say that something is certainly true or untrue), we use will, must and can’t.
1.1. For present and future situations, we use:
will, must and can’t + Verb base
In which:
a. will is used when the speaker means that something is certainly true, even though we can
not see that it is true.
Example:
1. He has finished his report on the spin-transfer effects. ~ It’ll earn him world-wide fame.
2. If a body is at rest, It will remain at rest.
Note: will is often used in its contracted form ‘ll
b. Must is used when the speaker sees something as necessarily and logically true.
Example: The glass must attract the device.
The device must also attract the glass.
You can see the contexts of the two above statements from the reading passage.
c. Can’t is used when the speaker sees it as logically impossible for something to be true.
Can’t and must are opposites.
Example: It can’t be explained how to measure mass by imagining a series of experiments. ~ There must be
some experiments to be conducted.
Or we can use:
will, must and can’t +be +V_ing
to lay emphasis on the continuation of the action.

Example:
1. Where’s Jane? ~ She’ll be working in the lab. (I expect)
2. In general, if our standard body of 1kg mass has an acceleration a, we know that the force F must
be acting on it.
3. The ball can’t be moving . It must be at rest because there’s no force acting on it.
1.2. For a perfect situation, we use:

will, must and can’t + have +PII
Example:
1. The experiment will have been conducted by now.
2. The ball is moving. Someone must have kicked it.
3. Newtonian mechanics can’t have worked in that case. The interacting bodies were on the scale of
atomic structure.
Note: In questions, we normally use can or will.

Example: Can it really be true?
How will it be done?
2. Possibility:
2.1. We use: may /might + verb base
to say that something is possibly true or an uncertain prediction.
Example:
1. We may find g by simply weighing a standard weight on a spring balance.
2. There might be an error somewhere in the procedures.
Note: There is almost no difference in meaning, but may is a little stronger than might.
2.2. To lay emphasis on the continuation of the action, we can use

may /might + be + V_ing
Example:
1. He may/might be doing well in Physics because he has borrowed a lot of books on Physics from
the library.
2.3. The perfect can be used also:

may /might + have + PII
Example:
1. He may/might have made a lot of observations before reaching such a conclusion.
Note: These two verbs can not be used in questions. Can and will are used, instead. (Refer to (1))
For all the above verbs, we follow the rule of making negation or interrogation for modal verbs in general.
Past perfect tense

Read the following passage:
The team of medieval physicists stepped out of the time machine and began to examine the strange, new
device fastened to the window. They had never before seen a suction cup, so with great enthusiasm, they
began to experiment by pulling this mysterious device off the window, and then reattaching it.
In the second sentence, the writer uses the past perfect tense of the verb to see to mean that this action
happens before the actions expressed by to step and to begin which were conjugated in past tense. This is the
use of the past perfect tense.

We form the tense with: had + PII
To express an action or a state before a past time reference.

Examples: Everything had been good before he put his nose in.
Before quantum physics, the interacting bodies on the scale of atomic structure had not been
able to explain.
Practice
Exercise 1: Fill in the blank with will; can; must; can’t; may or might
1. Suppose that Earth pulls down on an apple with a force of 0.80N. The apple_______ then pull up on
Earth with a force of 0.80N.
2. A particle of mass m, located outside Earth a distance r from Earth’s center, is released, it _____ fall
towards the center of Earth.
3. An object located on Earth’s surface anywhere except at the two poles _____rotate in a circle about the
rotation axis and thus ______ have a centripetal acceleration that points towards the center of the
circle.
4. For an object situated in an underground laboratory, force of attraction ______be exerted on it by the
internal and external layers of the Earth.
5. A body raised to a height h above the Earth possesses a potential energy of mgh. However, this formula
_____ be used only when the height h is much smaller than the Earth’s radius.
6. How ______we ensure that a body thrown from the Earth will not return to the Earth?
7. In order for a body of mass m to break away from the Earth, it _______ over- come a gravitational
potential energy.
8. Whenever a gravitational field changes appreciably in size and/or direction across the dimensions of a
body, there ______be a tidal effect.
9. Cardwell said:” High temperature superconductors – which are oxide in nature – contain
predominantly copper, so this ________be a reasonable place to start”.
10. The system is not working now. There ______be something wrong with the engine.
11. The limitations of volume as a measure of the amount of matter_________ have been known to people
many centuries ago because they developed a method for measuring the amounts of different
substances independently of their volumes.
12. The density of a mixture of two liquids usually depends on the ratio in which they are mixed. The same
is true for the density of a solution of a solid in a liquid. Thus, knowing the density of a liquid
_________ provide useful information.
13. We_________ depend on two properties alone to distinguish between substances. This is particularly
true if the measurements are not highly accurate.
14. Perhaps, some substances that hardly dissolve in water _________ dissolve easily in other liquids.
15. You know, of course, from your own experience that you _________ not mix together the products of
the dry distillation of wood and get back anything resembling wood.
16. Many reactions, like the reaction of copper with oxygen, are slow. It is difficult in these cases to tell
when all of one of the reacting substances has been used up. Because the copper in your crucible
changed to a black solid, you _________have assumed that all the copper that was originally present in

your crucible had been reacted. This __________ have been an incorrect assumption, as the presence
of copper in the black substance has shown.
17. Even with a high-powered microscope we can not see atoms, and so they _______ be very small and
there _________ be very many of them in any sample large enough for us to examine.
18. Some pairs of elements form several compounds, whereas others form only one or even none (helium,
for example, is not known to combine with any other element). There ________ be some important
differences between the atoms of the various elements to account for their different behavior in
forming compounds.
Exercise 2: Put the verbs in brackets in its suitable tense.
This is what we were going on in our flying laboratory. We (turn) _______ on the jet engine by pressing a
button, and suddenly ... the objects surrounding us (seem) _____ to come to life. All bodies which (be made)
______fast were brought into motion. The thermometer (fall) _______down, the pendulum (begin)
______oscillating and, gradually coming to rest, assumed a vertical position, the pillow obediently (sag)
_____ under the weight of the valise lying on it. Let us (take) ______a look at the instruments which
(indicate) ______the direction in which our ship (start) ______accelerating. Upwards, of course! The
instruments (show) ______ that we (choose) ______ a motion with an acceleration of 9.8m/sec2, not very
great, considering the possibilities of our ship. Our sensations (be) _____quite ordinary; we (feel) ___ the
way we did on Earth. But why so? As before, we (be) -_____ unimaginably far from gravitational masses,
there (be) _______no gravity, but objects (acquire) _______ weight.
T he passive
Read the following two paragraphs:
Paragraph one: Sir Joseph John Thomson (1846-1940) is a British physicist and mathematician and was the
head of a group of researchers at Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge. Thompson discovered the electron.
He is regarded as the founder of modern physics.
Paragraph two: Electron is a subatomic particle and one of the basic constituents of matter. The electron
was discovered by J.J. Thomson. It is found in all atoms and contains the smallest known negative electrical
charge.
Compare the two sentences, one from each paragraph

Thomson discovered the electron.
And The electron was discovered by Thomson.
The two sentences have the same meaning but different topics: they are about different things, hence having
different implications. In the former one, the topic is Thomson while in the latter one the electron. We say
the two sentences have different subjects. So what is the significance of the difference between the two ways
of saying? The answer really lies in whether we want to lay emphasis on the doer of the action (we call it the
agent) or the action (sometimes the result of the action) itself.

In this pair of sentences, the first one is called an active sentence while the second is called passive sentence.
Look at the verb phrase of each sentence: "discovered" and "was discovered"
Therefore, we deduce that the verb phrase in passive sentences is formed by combining the auxiliary verb to
be and a passive particle (exactly the same form as a part participle)
To be + PII
In which the auxiliary verb to be bears all the grammatical changes in tenses and aspects and others.
1. Present tenses:
a. Many elements are not so easily identified.
b. Once this has been done, however, the presence of that element has been definitely
established.
c. When the experiment is being conducted, there should be no changes in ambient
temperature.
2. Past tenses:
a. During the first five years of spectroscopy, five new elements were discovered that are
present on earth in such small concentrations that they were previously unknown.
b. This set of lines had never been seen before.
c. Eventually, the element was also detected on earth through the use of a spectroscopy.
d. While the experiment was being conducted, the ambient temperature was kept unchanged.
3. With “modal verbs”: The passive sentences with modal verbs are formed as follows:
Modal verb + be + PII
a. This may have given you the impression that only the spectrum of one of the element in a
compound can be observed.
b. Spectral analysis, or spectroscopy, can be done on tiny quantities of matter.
c. Spectroscopy can be even used to determine the presence of different elements in distant
objects like our sun and stars.
d. Most of the spectral lines observed in sunlight could also be produced with known materials
in the laboratory.
e. This set of lines could not be produced with any element known at the time.
Note:
1. As for verbs with prepositions or particles, the preposition and particle remain in its position
with respect to the verb.
For example: The same volume of hydrogen is added to the tube.
2. From the sample paragraphs and all the examples taken out from the reading text, we can
deduce that, in writing a science report or description, the use of passive sentences is
commonly resorted to. And more commonly, the impersonal passive is used:

Have another look at the passive sentence in the pair of sentences taken out from the two sample
paragraphs:
The electron was discovered by J.J. Thomson.
The underlined phrase is called by-phrase (forming by by + agent). This gives the new information (by
whom) to clarify the topic (subject) which is an already -known piece of information (the electron was
discovered). However, in science documents, the actions and their result are much more important, the by-
phrase becomes little important, hence forming the impersonal passive to be frequently used.
In scientific documents, the following special patterns of passive are taken much use of:
1. The passive with get:
Instead of be, sometimes we use get to form passive sentences:

Example:
1. If the spring is stretched beyond its elastic limit, it will get deformed.
2. Everything gets attracted to the center of the earth no matter where they are.
3. When you do the experiment, be careful or you may get burned.
However, get is mainly used in informal English, and it has more limited use than be. The passive with get
expresses action and change, not a state. It often refers to something happening by accident, unexpectedly
or incidentally.
2. The passive with verbs of reporting
There are two special patterns with verbs of reporting which are frequently used in science writing.
Active: Long time ago, people believed that the earth had a round shape.
Passive: Long time ago, it was believed that the earth had a round shape.
Long time ago, the Earth was believed to have a round shape.
Thus, we have:
Pattern one: It + passive verb + finite clause
More examples:
1. It is specified that gravitational potential is also a scalar.
2. It might be thought that the force needed to lift something is greater than its weight.
3. It has been proved that the force of gravity is an attractive force between any two objects
because of their masses.
The following verbs are used in this pattern:
admit discover* mention say*

agree establish notice see*
allege* estimate* object show*
announce expect* observe* specify
assume* explain presume* state

believe* feel* promise suggest

claim* find* propose suppose*
consider* hope prove* think*
decide intend* recommend understand*
declare* know* report*
Pattern two: Subject + passive verb + to-infinitive
More examples:
1. Gravitational potential is shown to increase by drawing equipotential lines onto a diagram
of the field lines.
2. It was about only 100 years ago that a way was discovered to separate aluminum from
oxygen by electrolysis.
3. Acids were considered in the old days to be the substances that were strongly corrosive and
had a sour taste.
The verbs which are used in this pattern are those with an asterisk (*) in the above list for pattern one.
Practice
Exercise 1: Change the following active sentences into the passive ones
1. We notice that the displacement changes between positive and negative values.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………
2. We can use the displacement- graph to find the period and frequency of the oscillation.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………
3. A placement – time graph can represent many oscillating systems.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………
4. If we compare the displacement –time and acceleration-time graphs, we’ll see that they are very similar
to one another.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………
5. We can deduce the velocity graph from the displacement graph.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………
6. We say that these oscillations are damped.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………
7. Chemists have shown that if we mix iron ore with coal or charcoal, we’ll obtain iron.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………
8. We can extract elements from their compounds by spectroscopy.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………
9. We can not decompose the radioactive elements by ordinary heat, electricity, reaction with acids, and
the like.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………
10. Since the 1960s, in medical scientists have used lasers in treating many diseases.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………
Exercise 2: Change the following passive sentences into their active equivalents
1. Today, many varieties of lasers are made using different atoms and molecular compounds in the solid,
liquid, or gaseous states.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………
2. Much more energy is sent into the ruby crystal by the flash lamp.
……………………………………………………………………………………
3. These atoms are struck by the oscillating electrons in the tube and get excited.
……………………………………………………………………………………
4. If the source emits a broad band of wavelengths, a broad band of color will be seen.
……………………………………………………………………………………
5. Even light of several unknown wavelengths can be distinguished and identified by diffraction gratings.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………
6. A standard optical diffraction grating can not be used to discriminate between different wavelengths in
the x-ray wavelength range.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………
7. We are surrounded by many every day cases of oscillations.
……………………………………………………………………………………
8. If the source is narrow, and this is viewed through a diffraction grating, a line spectrum is seen.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………
9. The spectra which show the composition of light emitted by hot gases are called emission spectra.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………
10. Absorption spectrum is the one which is observed when white light is passed through a cool gas.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………

11. After the light has passed through a diffraction grating, the continuous white light spectrum is found to
have black lines across it.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………
12. Absorption spectra are found when the light from stars is analyzed.
……………………………………………………………………………………
13. Simple line spectra can be obtained from some gemstones and colored glass.
……………………………………………………………………………………
14. The wave model is used to explain diffraction, interference, and polarization of light.
……………………………………………………………………………………
15. In particular, when light is absorbed by a metal surface, it behaves as particles.
……………………………………………………………………………………

If-clauses
An if- clause is commonly called a conditional clause in complex sentences. You have learnt all types of
conditional sentences, but in a brief summary, we should recall all such types:
There are four types of conditional sentences:
Type 0:
1. If your friend is on your back and you jump, your friend’s weight disappears from your back
while the two of you are in midair
2. If we heat iron, it expands.
Type 1:
1. If you step down and drink two cups of coffee and then step back on the scale, you’ll
weigh about 1 pound more.
2. If we heat water up to 1000 C, it will evaporate.
Type 2:
1. If the astronaut shoved the rock in a horizontal direction, it would take just as much of a
push to accelerate it at, say, 5 feet/second2 as it would take on earth
2. If we used a larger amount of matter in our experiment, we would conclude that mass really
does not remain the same.
Type 3:
1. If you had worked carefully, you would have found that all the changes
in mass that you observed were within the experimental error of your equipment.
Special patterns of comparison
You have learnt all the basic patterns of comparison of adjectives and adverbs. The following will present
only two common special patterns that are used quite a lot in science writing:
Pattern 1: the … + comparative … the … + comparative

This pattern is used to express a parallel increase or to say that a change in one thing goes with a change in
another.
Example:
1. The greater the mass is, the larger the attraction gets.
2. The more careful you are when conducting the experiment, the better the results.
3. The more thoroughly you examine the phenomenon, the narrower the limitations of your
conclusion (will be).
Pattern 2: comparative and comparative

This pattern is used to express gradual and continuous decrease or increase.
Example:
1. As you warm a piece of candle wax in your hand, it becomes softer and softer.
2. As the Earth recedes into the distance, the potential increases more and more slowly.
Practice
Exercise 1: Write conditional sentences by combining one clause from A with a suitable one from B.
A B
1. a straight stick is inserted obliquely a. we will find that separate trains of
into water wheels drive the hour hand and the minute
2. we examine the works of a clock hand.
3. one side of a block is rougher than b. it is impossible to change its mass,

the other sides regardless of what external actions we

4. the conductor is touched while the resort to.
charged body is still near it c. it will appear to be bent at the
5. someone claimed that he/she had surface of the water
done an experiment in which as d. the charge which has the same sign
much as one-millionth of the mass as the inducing charge disappears.
disappeared or was created e. we will be able to find the force of
6. a body is suspended on a scale its attraction by the Earth.
7. we were on the Moon f. this identity is completely preserved
8. two different loads stretch a spring even at the equator.
identically at a pole g. friction is increased when the block
9. we dissolve some sugar in water rests on that surface.
10. no matter is added to a body and h. our weight would be different.
not a single particle is separated i. we should treat the result with great
from it suspicion.
j. the mass of the solution will be
precisely equal to the sum of the masses of
the sugar and the water.
Exercise 2: Decide whether two of the sentences in each pair are exactly the same in meaning or not. Write
(S) for the same and (D) for the different.
1. a. The frictional force is greater when the contact force is greater.

b. The greater the contact force, the greater the frictional force.
2. a. When the mass of the attracting body is larger, the force of gravity changes more rapidly at a given
distance.
b. The larger the mass, the larger its tidal force at any given distance.
3. a. If you climb a mountain, your potential energy increases as you go up.

b. The higher you are in the air, the greater your potential energy gets.
4. a. As the rocket goes up, the Earth’s pull on it gets gradually less.
b. The higher the rocket is up, the Earth’s pull on it gets smaller and smaller.
5. a. As we move further away from the Earth’s surface, the equipotential lines
become further and further apart.
b. The further we move away from the Earth, the further apart the equipotential
lines get.
6. a. The atoms of a solid vibrate more and more as the temperature rises.
b. The higher the temperature, the stronger the atoms of a solid vibrate.

7. a. Since the force is the same at all points in a uniform field, it follows that the
energy of the charge increases steadily as we push it from one plate to the
other.
b. In a uniform field, as the force is unchanged at any point, the energy of a
charge gets higher and higher when we push it from one plate to the other.
8. a. The potential energy of the test charge increases more and more rapidly the
closer you get to the repelling charge.
b. The closer you get to the repelling charge, the more rapidly the potential
energy of the test charge increase.
9. a. The strength of a magnetic field depends on how concentrated the flux is.
b. The stronger the strength of a magnetic field, the more concentrated the flux
is.
10. a. Through a conductor length L in a magnetic field, a current I will feel a

force F; the stronger the field, the greater the force.
b. In a magnetic field, a current I through a conductor length L feels a force F
which is proportional to the strength of the field.
Present participle with some special functions.
A present participle phrase is the one of which the central element is a present participle formed as an –ing
form of verb
Example: The phosphor gas rose up into the air, making specks of light.
You have learnt the use of present participle in replacing relative clause and clause of reason with active
meaning. The following will present some others commonly applied in science writing.
1. Present participle phrase (also known as an –ing clause) is used to give an explanation
Example:
The molten iron, having been in contact with the coke in the lower part of the furnace, contains several
percent of dissolved carbon.
In the above example, the participle phrase is used to give an explanation for the action mentioned in the
main clause.
2. Present participle phrase is used to mention something as a part of the action mentioned in the main
clause: that can be either an addition or a result or consequence of that action.
Example:

a. Toss your keys along the floor, they’ll skitter along for a bit as friction does negative work
on them, reducing their kinetic. (consequence)
b. The keys skid across the surface of the floor, scraping and catching. (addition)
c. The affected surface molecules of the keys and the floor are pushed through some tiny
distance, giving them extra kinetic energy. (result)
Note: If the subject of the participle phrase is the same as the subject of the main clause, it is omitted, as in
the above examples. However, if the two objects are different, both of them must be mentioned.
Example:
Wheels of different diameters are engaged to each other, the smaller ones making more revolutions.
3. Present participle is used to replace an adverbial clause of time with active verb phrase (or shorten
an adverbial clause of time with active verb phrase to a present participle phrase of time)
First, we should recall of what an adverbial clause of time is like:
In form, an adverbial clause of time is the one which starts with a time conjunction.
In grammar, it is a subordinate (dependent) clause.
In meaning, it sets a time reference for the action mentioned in the main (independent) clause.
Example:
a. Once the motion stops, the friction stops, and it can not restore the kinetic energy of the
keys as gravity is able to do.
b. All the kinetic energy that you gave the keys when you tossed them doesn’t just disappear.
c. When molecules of the keys and the floor strike each other, they bounce around even faster.
d. When the molecules of matter move faster, the matter becomes warmer.
e. The important point here is that whenever frictional forces do work, some of the work goes
into increasing the internal energy of matter,...
f. Almost every time anything moves through some distance, friction from some source does
work and transforms some kinetic energy into internal energy.
An –ing clause can replace an adverbial clause of time in this way:
We retain the conjunction of time, in general, and reduce the verb in the clause to its –ing form. Normally,
this can be done with the sentence in which the subject in the time clause is the same as that in the main
clause. However, in many cases, especially in science writing, these are different. Thus, we have to retain
the subject regardless of the difference.
Therefore, the above sentences can be rewritten in this way:
a. Once the motion stopping, the friction stops, and it can not restore the kinetic energy.
b. All the kinetic energy that you gave them when tossing them doesn’t just appear.
c. When striking each other, the molecules of the keys and the floor bounce around even
faster.
d. When the molecules of matter moving faster, the matter becomes warmer.
e. The important point here is that whenever frictional force doing work, some of the work
goes into increasing the internal energy of that matter.
f. Almost every time anything moving through some distance, friction from some source does
work and transforms some kinetic energy into internal energy.
Note that you may have an impression that the clause is not at all shortened (reduced) in length (or in
number of words). However, the word ‘shorten’ or ‘reduce’ just implies the reduction in grammatical aspect,
i.e. we reduce a clause into a phrase. That’s why the use of the word ‘replace’ is quite reasonable for the
cases.
To emphasize the completion of an action with respect to another, we use the perfect participle:
having done
Example:
Having carefully prepared, he successfully detected the questionable element in the compound.
In such a case, we have more than one way to express the relationship between two actions (one is
conducted before the other).
You can write the sentence in these ways:
a. After he had carefully prepared, he successfully detected the questionable element in the
compound.
b. After preparing carefully, he successfully detected the questionable element in the
compound.
c. After having carefully prepared, he successfully detected the questionable element in the
compound.
d. Preparing carefully, he successfully detected the questionable element in the compound.
In which:
Sentence (a) is the most neutral in style and the most usual of these patterns in everyday speech. (b) is also
usual, although a little more formal. (c) is less usual because after and having both repeat the idea of one
action following the other. (d) and the original one are rather literary. (d) also means that the two actions
were very close in time.
Practice
Exercise 1: Combine each of the following pairs of sentences using an –ing clause, state in each case the
function of the -ing clause
1. Only the magnitude of this variable force changes, not its direction. Moreover, its magnitude changes
with the position of the particle.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………
2. In the limit, we let the strip width approach zero. The number of strips then becomes infinitely large.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………
3. We stretch the spring by pulling the block to the right. In reaction, the spring pulls on the block toward
the left, in the direction that will restore the relaxed state.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………
4. The length of the spring is one of several factors that determine the spring constant k. Thus, the length
is in those equations implicitly.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………
5. In the British system, the unit of power is the foot-pound per second. Often the horse power is used.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………
6. At low speeds, the two formulas merge. They yield the same result.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………
7. We apply Newton’s laws of mechanics only in inertia reference frames. These frames move at constant
velocity.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………
8. For some physical quantities, observers in different inertia reference frames will measure the exact
same values. In Newtonian mechanics, these invariant quantities (as they are called) are force, mass,
acceleration and time.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………
9. Some quantities (such as mass, force, acceleration, and time in Newtonian) are variant. That is, they
have the same numerical values when measured in different inertia reference frames.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………
10. Thermal energy is said to be an internal energy of an object. It involves random motions of the atoms
and molecules within an object.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………
11. The work Wf done on the block by fk is not entire amount of dissipated energy, but only the part that is
transferred from the block to the floor. The rest of the dissipated energy remains within the block as
thermal energy.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………

12. Although the mechanical energy of the block is not conserved, the sum of the mechanical energy of the
block and the thermal energy of the block and the floor is conserved. That sum is called the total
energy Etot of the block-floor system, and our new conservation principle is called the law of
conservation of energy.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………
13. Power is the rate at which work is done by a force. In more general sense, it is the rate at which energy
is transferred by a force from one form to another.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………
14. In 1905, Einstein showed that as a consequence of his theory of special relativity, mass can be
considered to be another form of energy. Thus the law of conservation of energy is really the law of
conservation of mass-energy.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………
15. A force is conservative if its work on a particle moving between two points does not depend on the
path taken by the particle. The gravitational force (weight) and the spring force are conservative forces;
the kinetic frictional force is non-conservative force.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………
Exercise 2: Reduce the adverbial clause of time in each of the following sentences
1. Note that when we change the variable from x to v we are required to express the limits on the integral
in terms of the new variable.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………
1
2. When the tomato returns to the launch point, it again has speed v0 and kinetic energy mv02 .
2
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………
3. As the particle moves from point y1 to point yf , its weight mg does work on it.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………
4. When the atom reaches an excited state, it does not stay there but quickly de-excites by decreasing its
energy, either in a collision or by emitting light.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………
5. While we illustrate the law of conservation of mechanical energy, we persistently repeat: “in the
absence of friction; if there were no friction…”

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………
6. When heat comes from a hot water bottle, the water in the bottle loses internal energy equal to the
energy the heat carries away.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………
7. When Joule did experiments to warm water with paddle wheels, he wanted to see precisely how much
thermal energy came from a given amount of work.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………
8. Once the glass of tea reaches the temperature of its surrounding, it is at thermal equilibrium.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………
9. When water evaporates, it absorbs a lot of energy without a change in temperature.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………
10. When a warm solid surface touches a cold solid surface, many of the molecules touch, and the faster
vibrating molecules will pass vibrational energy along to those vibrating slower.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………
The infinitive
1. Infinitive forms
Bare infinitive To-infinitive

Simple conduct to conduct
Perfect have conducted to have conducted
Continuous be conducting to be conducting
Perfect+ continuous have been conducting to have been conducting
Note: There is no difference in meaning between a bare-infinitive and a to-infinitive. What we use depends
on the grammatical pattern.
2. Implications of the infinitive
a. A simple infinitive refers to something happening the same time as the one in the main
clause.
Example: It’s not easy to explain a phenomenon even with either model.
(The easiness and the explanation are both in the present as the truth)
b. A perfect infinitive refers to something happening before the time of the one in the main
clause
Example: It seems to have been proved that light behaves as a particle.

(The seeming is in present, but the proof is in the past)
c. A continuous infinitive refers to something happening over time
Example: It’s very strange for him to be succeeding in this experimental test.
(This means He’s succeeding now)
3. Functions of the infinitive
a. To –infinitive can function as a subject

To- infinitive on its own or with object and adverbial, as a clause, can function as a
subject.
Example:
1. To jump with a scale would be awkward (and dangerous).
2. To conduct such a dangerous experiment requires great precautions.
b. To-infinitive can function as a complement

b. 1. As a complement after verb be
Example:
1. But a better way to describe their condition is to say they are in free fall
2. His desire is to get success in his lifetime research.
3. All I ask of you, the reader, is to keep an open, yet discerning mind.
b. 2. As a complement after some adjectives
Example:
1. It is not easy to keep a car’s speed steady
2. Even then, pointing to the one that’s harder to accelerate, you might from habit still say
“That one is heavier”
- Here are some common adjectives in the pattern of the example one.
‘Good/bad’: marvelous, terrific, wonderful, perfect, great, good, nice, pleasant, lovely,
terrible, awful, dreadful, horrible.
Adjectives in –ing: interesting, exciting, depressing, confusing, embarrassing, amusing
Difficulty, danger and expense: easy, difficult, hard, convenient, possible, impossible, safe,
dangerous, cheap, expensive.
Necessity: necessary, vital, essential, important, advisable, better/best
Frequency: usual, normal, common, rare
Comment: strange, odd, incredible, natural, understandable

Personal qualities: good, nice, kind, helpful, mean, generous, intelligent, sensible, right,
silly, stupid, foolish, careless, wrong, polite, rude
- Among those above adjectives, only those meaning ‘good’ or ‘bad’ and those of
difficulty, danger, and expense can be used in the pattern of the example two.
With many adjectives, you can use the pattern:

-
It’s + adjective+ for somebody + to-infinitive
Example:
1. It’s important for you to complete all the observations before writing a report.
2. It’s very expensive for a poor country to conduct a nuclear test.
The following adjectives are used in this pattern:
anxious eager marvelous silly

awful easy necessary stupid
better/best essential nice terrible
cheap expensive ready willing
convenient important reluctant wonderful
dangerous keen safe wrong
difficult
- We can use too and enough with a quantifier, adjective or adverb in the above patterns:
Example:
1. It is true that the flame of your alcohol burner is hot enough to produce the spectra of sodium, lithium,
calcium, copper, and a few other elements, but that is not hot enough to produce the other spectra of
elements, such as oxygen and chlorine.
2. This bit of evidence was (much) enough to challenge Robert Bunsen, the German chemist, to search
for a new element in the water. (there are two to-infinitive in this case, the former one is the
complement, the latter one is the direct object for the first one, see c bellow )
3. It’s too dangerous for him to conduct such an experiment.
b. 3. As a complement after some nouns
Example:
1. His determination to take a course in physics is very strong.
2. It is one thing to recognize motion but another to describe it.
3. Having no real reason to seek a better explanation than this for their observations, the team
of medieval physicists unanimously concurred, and a new theory was born.
4. Next, they found a smaller piece of glass and discovered that the suction cup had the
gripping power to suspend it.
Some nouns in this pattern are

c. A to-infinitive can function as a direct object
c.1. When a to-infinitive clause function as a direct object, it can have or have not a subject:
Example:
1. If we are curious about her speed at one certain time or at a point along the way, we want to
know her instantaneous speed.
2. The team of medieval physicists stepped out of the time machine and began to examine the
strange, new device fastened to the window.
3. This new revelation prompted another physicist to remark, "The device must also attract
the glass!" (In this case the subject of the to-infinitive is another physicist)
4. I merely wish to emphasize mankind's present level of ignorance of the mechanics of our
universe.
5. The spectroscope thus enables us to distinguish one element from another. (the subject of
the to-infinitive clause is implied in us)
Here are the common verbs that take to-infinitive as direct object
afford (have enough choose have omit
time/money) claim help ought
agree dare hesitate plan
aim decide hope prepare
arrange demand learn promise
ask expect long refuse
attempt get(=succeed) manage seek
beg guarantee neglect swear
can’t wait hasten offer threaten
train undertake used (to) wish
c.2. You can see that all the above verbs are intransitive verbs. There are some verbs which are
not intransitive but still followed by to-infinitive. These verbs include: seem, appear, happen,
tend, come, grow, turn out and prove.
Example:
1. This lack of movement might seem to be strangest of all, for we humans are used to motion.
2. The difference in pressure cause, what appears to be, an attraction.
3. While in free fall, things seem to have no weight relative to each
other.
In these cases, the to-infinitive say something about the truth of the statement, or the manner or
time of the action. In some cases, empty it can be used as the subject-It seems that he has got
success in his research.
d. To-infinitive can follow question word/phrase to form an objective clause (refer to

Grammar in Use-UNIT six)
Example:

1. Please make sure when to start the observations.
2. We should know how high the temperature to be kept for the substance to react completely
in the reaction.
Here are the verbs that can take the question word to follow
advise someone discover know tell someone

ask someone discuss learn think
choose explain remember understand
consider find out show someone wonder
decide forget teach someone work out
e. A to-infinitive clause can express purpose and result
Example:
Purpose:
1. To describe motion accurately, we use rates.
2. It takes accurate measurements of the positions of spectral lines to identify an element.
3. We can use this fact and the formula Fnet = ma to find the weight of an object
4. To measure your weight you can use a bathroom scale
Result: (this way of expressing is unusual)

1. He made so many observations only to find that he was unsuccessful.
f. A to-infinitive can replace a relative clause:

e. 1. A to-infinitive can follow a ordinal number to replace a relative
clause
Example:
1. Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) was the first to understand how earth’s gravity affects things
near the surface of our planet.
2. Lomonosov was the first to experimentally prove the constancy of the mass of matter
participating in chemical transformations.
e.2. A to-infinitive is placed after a noun/pronoun to replace a

relative clause
Example:
1. Even mosses and lichens that spend their lives fastened to rocks depend on the movements
of gases and liquids to bring them the chemicals essential to life and to carry others away.
(meaning which bring them… and carry…)
Note: This way of expression is not really common.
g. Patterns for bare infinitive:

e. 1. Bare infinitive goes after modal verbs and some special phrases
Example:
1. If a body is at rest, it will remain at rest.
2. The glass must attract the device. The device must also attract the glass.
f..2. Pattern: verb+ object+ bare infinitive

The common verbs in this pattern are make, let, and have (meaning cause) and those of
perception.
Example:
1. You know that things will fall if you let them go off your hands.
2. In a solar eclipse, with your unaided eyes, you can not see the Moon cover the Sun.
Practice
Exercise 1: Choose the correct infinitive form of the verbs given in parentheses. Give your explanation
1. For the interference pattern (appear)……………….. on viewing screen C, the light waves reaching any
point P on the screen must have a phase differences that does not vary in time.
2. If you look closely at your fingernail in bright sunlight, you can see a faint interference pattern called
speckle that causes the nail (appear)…………….. covered with specks. You see this effect because
light waves scattering from very close points on the nail are coherent enough (interfere)………………
with one another at your eye.
3. (get)…………….. coherent light, we have to send the sunlight through a single slit; because that single
slit is small, the light that passes through it is coherent.
4. The equations – d sin θ = mλ, for m= 0, 1, 2… and d sin θ = (m+1/2) λ, for m =0, 1,2… tell us (locate)
…………….. the maxima and minima of the double-slit interference pattern on screen C as a function
of the angle θ presented in the figure. Here we wish (derive) …………….. an expression for the
intensity I of the fringes as a function of θ.
5. (combine) …………….. the field components E1 and E2 on a phasor diagram, we add them
vectorially.
6. If you sight through a pinhole in an otherwise opaque sheet so as to make the light entering your eye
approximately a plane wave, you might be able (distinguish) …………….. individual maxima and
minima in the pattern.
7. To locate the fringes, we shall use a procedure somewhat similar to the one we used (locate)
…………….. the fringes in a two-slit interference pattern.
8. The fact that lens images are diffraction patterns is important when we wish (resolve) ……………..
two distant point objects whose angular separation is small. When we wish to use a lens (resolve)
…………….. objects of small angular separation, it is desirable (make…………….. the diffraction
pattern as small as possible.
9. A grating’ capability (resolve) …………….. separate lines of different wavelengths depends on the
width of the lines.

10. Interference coatings can also be used (enhance) …………….. – rather than reduce- the ability of a
surface to reflect light.
11. To understand interference, we must (go)…………….. beyond the restrictions of geometrical optics
and employ the full power of wave optics. In fact, as you will see, the existence of interference
phenomena is perhaps our most convincing evidence that light is a wave- because interference can not
(explain) …………….. other than with waves.
12. The first person (advance) …………….. a convincing wave theory for light was Dutch physicist
Christian Huygens, in 1678. His wave theory is based on a geometrical construction that allows us
(tell) …………….. where a given wave- front will be at anytime in the future if we know its present
position.
13. If we actually try to form a ray by sending light through a narrow slit or through a series of a narrow
slits, diffraction will always defeat our effort because it always causes the light (spread) ……………...
14. It’s quite a surprise (find) that there are situations where electrons appear (behave) …………….. like
waves. This is just what is observed when a beam of energetic electron is used instead of a beam of
light in a double-slit experiment.
15. Another even more surprising result is found when we make the electron beam sufficiently weak that
there is never more than one electron in the beam at a time from the electron gun. We still get a pattern
of interference fringes. Each single electron seems (pass) …………….. as a wave through both slits,
and then recombined on the other side to give a single flash at the screen.
16. Physicists found it hard (explain) …………….. why weak ultraviolet light could have an immediate
effect on the electrons in the metal, but very bright light of lower frequency had no effect.
17. Metals (such as zinc) …………….. have electrons that are not very tightly held within the metal.
These are the conduction electrons, and they are free (move) …………….. about within the metal.
When photons of light strike the metal, some electrons break free. They only need a small amount of
energy -about 10-19 J- (escape) …………….. from the metal.
18. Now we can see the photon of light (work) …………….. because it pictures light as concentrated
particles of energy, each one able to release an electron from the metal.
19. White light consists of photons of many different energies. For a photon (absorb)…………….., it must
have exactly the right energy to lift an electron from one energy level to another.
20. First we should remind ourselves that waves and particles are macroscopic phenomena. We are using
these models (describe) …………….. microscopic phenomena, and we should not be surprised that
they do not work perfectly. But it is still difficult (explain) …………….. why one model works well in
one situation, and the other in another situation. We should (not try, imagine) ……………..
…………….. “waves of matter” or “particulate waves”; these do not give a true representation of what
we observe. However, we can (make) things more acceptable by giving rules, which tell us when (use)
…………….. the particle model and when (use) …………….. the wave model. Then, at least, we can
solve problems, which is what we really require of physics.
The gerund
1. Gerund forms
A gerund is formed exactly like a present participle form of a verb (i.e. simply by adding –ing to the end of
the verb) as follows:

Active Passive
Simple conducting being conducted
Perfect having conducted having been conducted
2. Implications of the gerund

a. A simple gerund refers to something happening at the same time as the action in the
main clause
Example: Conducting such an experiment is very dangerous.
(In this case the action of conducting is at the same time with the being dangerous)
b. A perfect gerund refers to something happening earlier than the action in the main
clause
Example: He made the report without having made enough observations.
(the action of not making observation happens before the action of making report)
It’s unnecessary to use a perfect if it is clear from the context that the time of the gerund is
earlier than the time of the action in the main clause:
The above example can be rewritten in this way: He made the report without making
enough observation. (Everyone knows that to make a report, before that enough
observations must be made for the sake of scientific accuracy)
c. To form a negative we simply add the negative word ‘not’ before the gerund
Example: He’s afraid of not being able to complete his thesis.
3. Gerund clause
A gerund on its own or can be combined with other elements (with subject; object; or adverbial) to form
a clause:
Examples:
i. conducting such an experiment
ii. not being able to complete his thesis
iii. having made enough observations
4. Functions of the gerund

A gerund can be treated as a noun/noun phrase, so it has a wide range of uses as a noun/noun phrase
A gerund can be treated as a noun on its own or can be used to modify another noun
Example:
1. Neighboring molecules beneath them are set into faster motion, and heat flows into the
floor.
2. This is called the microwave background, and is the remnant of radiation from the ‘big
bang’, the giant explosion that is believed to have occurred at the beginning of time in the
Universe.
3. Perhaps nothing is so ingrained in our senses as the perpetual pulling of the earth on our
surroundings.
4. The physical meaning of this new concept – mass- is related in the most intimate way to the
identity in comparing weights which we have just noted.
5. It’s just that nothing would stop that fall, there would be no supporting force opposing the
gravitational pull, so he would feel weightless.
As a subject of a sentence
Example:
1. Sitting and observing a substance to decay is a hard work.
2. Finding the cause of the earth’s field has taken much time of the scientists throughout the
story.
When functioning as the subject of a sentence, a gerund can be replaced by a to-infinitive, but there is a
difference between them. While a gerund refers to something in general, a to-infinitive refers to
something in a particular situation.
As a complement after be
Example: What he has to do now is quickly finishing his research.
As a prepositional complement
d.1. As a complement after a preposition following a noun
Example:
1. The question of finding the cause of the earth’s magnetic field has drawn a great attention
from physicists.
2. We can not see electric current in a wire, so we find different ways of explaining what is
going on.
The following nouns with their prepositions can be followed by a gerund
advantage of boredom with interest in prospect of

aim of/in danger of/in job of purpose of/in
amazement at difficulty (in) matter of question about/of
anger about/at effect of objection to reason for
annoyance about/at excitement about/at pleasure in/of satisfaction with
anxiety about expense of/in point of/in success in
apology for fear of possibility of surprise at
awareness of insistence on problem in/of task of
belief in worry about work of
As a complement after a preposition following an adjective
Example:
1. This internal energy spreads out, making it much less effective at producing work than, say,
the organized kinetic energy of a moving object.
2. Energy has been called the “common denominator” of the natural science because its
conservation law makes it so useful in understanding any physical process.
The following are the adjectives with their prepositions that can take a gerund
afraid of capable of grateful for responsible for

amazed at content with guilty of satisfied with
angry about/ at dependent on happy about/with sorry about/for
annoyed about/at different from/to interested in successful in
anxious abut excited about keen on surprised at
ashamed of famous for nervous of worried about
aware of fed up with pleased about/with wrong with
bad at fond of ready for
bored with good at

Other prepositions that are followed by a gerund
after besides in on account of

against by in addition to since
as a result by means of in favor of through
as well as despite in spite of what about
because of for instead of with
before how about on without
Example:
1. Absorption spectra of gases may be obtained by passing white light through a sample of gas
before the light enters the prism.
2. By measuring the magnetic orientation and determining the age of such rocks, scientists can
measure the orientation of the earth’s magnetic field at different times in the earth’s history.
3. Using springs of various thickness, one can make scales for measuring very large and also
very small weights.
As a complement after adjectives expressing degrees of difficulty

Example:
1. It’s difficult detecting an element without using a spectroscope.
2. It’s impossible keeping a car in steady speed.
Note: Refer to the Grammar in use part in UNIT ELEVEN for these adjectives. However, It’ is more
common to use a to-infinitive instead of a gerund.
As a direct object after some verbs

These verbs include some one - word verbs and some prepositional verbs
Example:
1. We can live quite happily without thinking about why this is so. Once we start thinking
about the force of gravity, which makes things fall, we may come up with some odd ideas.
2. He’s thinking of taking a course of physics.
3. Some energy goes into raising the temperature of the cylinder walls and the piston, and that
part spreads outward, doing no useful work
The following verbs take gerund as a direct object
admit delay imagine postpone

advise deny involve practice
allow detest justify put off
anticipate dislike keep (on) quit
appreciate enjoy leave off recommend
avoid escape mention resist
can’t help excuse mind resume
confess face miss risk
consider finish permit save
give up suggest
tolerate
The following prepositional verbs can take a gerund
admit to benefit from get on with rely on

(dis)agree with care for insist on resort to
aim at confess to object to succeed in
apologize for count on pay for think of
(dis)approve of depend on put up with vote for
believe in feel like
Note: Of all the adjectives, nouns, and verbs listed, many may not be used frequently in a document of
purely scientific matter (with technical sense only). However, if you have a chance to get access to wider
range of reading materials (especially those about our universe and human beings, which are viewed in
many aspects of physics), you can find them with more frequent use.
Practice
Exercise 1: Complete the sentences with the correct form of the verbs given: to-infinitive or gerund or
present participle. State each case of a gerundthat is used.
1. You can use your knowledge of how charged particles and electric currents are affected by fields
(interpret) ……………… diagrams of (move) ……………… particles.
2. You can use such an arrangement (observe) ……………… the effect of (change) ……………… the
strength and direction of the field, and the effect of (reverse) ……………… the field. Note that you
can seriously damage a television set by (bring) ……………… a magnet close to the screen.
3. You can make a field in two ways: (use) ……………… a permanent magnet, or (use) ………………
an electric current. There is really no fundamental difference between these two ways of (create)
……………… magnetic fields. You should be familiar with the magnetic field patterns of bar
magnets. These can be shown up (use) ……………… iron bar fillings or (plot) ………………
compass. We represent magnetic fields, like gravitational and electric fields, by (draw) ………………
lines of force.
4. In a solenoid, (reverse) ……………… the current reverses the direction of the field.
5. Here are some useful rules for (remember) ……………… the direction of the magnetic field produced
by a current:
• The right- hand grip rule gives direction of field lines in an electromagnet. Imagine (grip)
……………… the coil, so that your fingers go around it (follow) ……………… the direction
of the current. Your thumb now points in the direction of the field lines inside the coil, i.e.
points towards the electromagnet’s north pole.
• The corkscrew rule is a way of (remember) ……………… the direction of the field lines
around a current- carrying wire. Imagine (push) ……………… a corkscrew into a cork, and
(turn) ……………… it. The direction in which you push is the direction of the current, and the
field lines go round the direction in which you are turning the corkscrew.
6. The magnet creates a fairly uniform magnetic field. The rod has a current (flow) ………………
through it. As soon as the current is switched on, the rod start (roll) ………………, (show)
……………… that a force is acting on it. We use Fleming’s left-hand rule (predict) ………………
the direction of the force. There are three things here, all of which are mutually at right-angles to each
other – the magnetic field, the current in the rod and the force on the rod. These can be represented by
(hold) ……………… the thumb and first two fingers of your left hand so that they are mutually at
right-angles. Your fingers then represent: thuMb-Motion; First finger- Field; seCond finger-Current.
You should practice (use) ……………… your left hand (check) ……………… that the rule correctly
predicts these directions.
7. Scientists have put considerable effort into (research) ……………… for particles that have just one
magnetic pole (magnetic monopoles).
8. We can generate electricity by (spin) ……………… a coil in a magnetic field. This is equivalent to
(use) ……………… an electric motor backwards.
9. Another use of electromagnetic induction is in transformers. An (alternate) ……………… current in
the primary coil produces a (vary) ……………… magnetic field in the core. The secondary coil is also
wound round this core, so the flux (link) ……………… the secondary coil is constantly changing.
Hence a (vary) ……………… e.m.f. is induced across the secondary.
10. Ampere’s (find) ……………… revealed that when a charged particle crosses magnetic lines, it gets
pushed to one side.
11. The tendency of a compass needle (dip) ……………… is a nuisance for compass users. (eliminate)
……………… this motion in a compass made for use in North America, the needle is suspended off
center, or even counterweighted on the southern end, so that it moves only in the horizontal plane of
the compass.
12. Electromagnets are the (work) ……………… parts of some of the instruments used (measure)
……………… currents and voltages.
13. In 1681, an English ship (sail) ……………… to Boston was struck by lighting. After the storm had
passed, the sailors noticed that the ship’s compass no longer pointed north. Somehow, the lighting had
reserved the magnetic poles. Nevertheless, (use)……………… the wrong end of the compass for
orientation, they came safely into Boston Harbor.
14. A person moves by (push) ……………… off from the Earth; a boat sails because the rowers push
against the water with their oars; Thus, (push)………. off from a support seems (be) ……………… a
necessary condition for motion; even an airplane moves by (push) ……………… the air with its
propeller. But is it really? Might there not be some intricate means of moving without (push)
……………… off from anything.
15. If you rub a strip of plastic so that it becomes charged, and then hold it close to your hair, you feel your
hair (pull)……………… upwards.
Noun clause (3)
Hereby, noun clauses forming with whether….. or not and if, sometimes known as yes-no interrogative
clause are presented.
In two conjunctions, the former one is a correlative subordinator while the latter one is a simple
subordinator.

The noun clauses formed from these two subordinators have the following functions in a sentence:
1. Both can function as a direct object

Example:
a. On a straight and smooth road, we can not feel whether there is any change in your car’s
speed.
b.To find out if temperature has any effect on the intensity of radiation from radioactive
substances, samples of these substances have been heated to very high temperatures, and they
have been cooled to very low temperatures in liquid air.
• Whether can take a to-infinitive after it

Example:
1. He did not know whether to go on with the research (or not).
2. Only the clause with whether can function as a subject

Example:
a. Whether a solid is crystalline or amorphous depends on how it is formed.
Note that only whether can be followed by ‘or not’ but the clause with it can not be made
negative, except when it is the second part of an alternative question.
Example:
1. When analyzing a change in matter, we should clarify whether it has undergone a
physical change or (it has) not.
Note: ‘Whether’ is more commonly used than ‘if’. That’s why you’ll encounter a lot of ‘whether’ to
be used rather than ‘if’.
You may have seen that a noun clause with ‘whether’ or ‘if’ somehow originates from a yes/no
question because it leaves only two choices for the answer. Still, the question is used for a
confirmation of the information by ‘yes’ or ‘no’, a ‘whether’- clause leaves a wonder for the
information by ‘or not’.
Patterns expressing result
It is really important that you know how to state a result of an action, especially when you write a
description or/and make a report.
You have learnt how to use a to-infinitive to express result though uncommonly, and you did learn in
UNIT TEN that a present participle phrase can also be used to express result. Some common
conjunctions or conjunctional phrases, which are commonly used to do such a task, will be presented.
A lot of conjunctions/connectives can be used: so; therefore; thus (V-ing); hence (V-ing); accordingly;
consequently; now; then; so that.

Besides, there are some conjunctional/connective phrases to be used in this way: with the result that; as
a result/consequence; the result/consequence is; for this/that reason; because of this/that
Example:
1. In 1905, Einstein showed that as a consequence of his theory of special relativity, mass can be
considered to be another form of energy. Thus the law of conservation of energy is really the law of
conservation of mass-energy.
2. A mass has zero gravitational potential energy when it is ‘at infinity’- that is, at some point so far from
the Earth and any other massive objects that it feels no gravitational force. Then, to calculate the
potential energy of a mass near to the Earth (or anywhere else), we calculate the work done against
gravity in bringing the mass from infinity to that point…Hence, we can arrive at the following
definition: The gravitational potential at a point in a field is equal to the work done against gravity in
M
bringing unit mass from infinity to that point. So θ = −G
r
3. The frequency of vibration is set so that there are two loops along the string; the frequency of the
stroboscope is set so that it almost touches that of vibration.
4. A ball thrown horizontally in the Earth’s uniform gravitational field continues to move at steady speed
horizontally, but at the same time it accelerates downwards. The result is the familiar curve is shown.
5. The diagram shows that the electrons will be pushed in the direction from X to Y. So a current has been
induced to flow in the wire; its direction is from Y to X.
Practice
Exercise 1: Find a sentence in column B to match with each one in A to make a pair of sentences which are
closely related in meaning.
A B
1. The smallest divisions on a metric ruler a. A better method is to begin with a large mass of
are 0.1cm (1mm) apart; this is a small solid and shake it until you judge that no more
distance indeed. will dissolve.
2. If the edge of the measured object falls b. But it was found that temperature changes do
between two lines of 4.8 and 4.9 cm, to not affect the radiation from a radioactive
gain more information, you have to substance.
estimate the position of the edge. c. Can you say whether they are the same?
3. Think of two glasses containing liquids, d. If you can not tell whether the edge is closer to
both liquids are transparent and have no one line or the other, it is best to report the
smell. reading as 4.85 cm or 48.5 mm.
4. If we want to find out whether two objects e. In particular, he wondered whether the Earth’s
are made of the same substances or of gravitational pull was confined to the Earth’s
different ones, we have to look for surface, or whether it extended into space – as
properties that are characteristic of a far as the Moon.
substance. f. It does not matter whether the conductor is
5. The density of the liquid in a car’s radiator moved through the field, or the magnet is
tells us whether there is enough antifreeze moved past the conductor, the result is the same
(in most cases, glycol) in the mixture. – an induced current flows.
6. To find the concentration of a saturated g. It’s no, because theory shows that in this case
solution, you could add a tiny amount of the curve depicting the dependence of the
solid at a time and see whether it displacement on the time is a sinusoid.
dissolves. h. Nevertheless, when the object you wish to
7. To find out whether temperature has any measure has sharp edges, you can see whether
effect on the intensity of radiation from the edge fall s on one of the lines.
radioactive substances, samples of these i. Similarly, the density of the liquid in a car’s
substances have been heated to very high battery should be recharged.
temperatures, and they have been cooled j. That is, we have to find out the properties that
to very low temperatures in liquid air. do not depend on the amount of the substance or
8. If we ignore air resistance, the total on the shape of the sample.
external force ∑ F ext acting on the k. That is, you have a feeling that is based on
system is the weight Mg of the system, experience for how things move.
regardless of whether the rocket explodes. l. The free conduction electrons distribute
themselves on the surface in such a way that the
9. We think of this cutting of flux by a
electric field they produce at interior points
conductor as the effect that gives rise to an
cancels the external electric field that would
induced current flowing in the conductor.
otherwise be there.
10. Isaac Newton investigated the question of
m. This external field tends to ‘stretch’ the
the Earth’s gravity.
molecule, separating slightly the centers of
11. Because almost everything you do
negative and positive charge.
requires moving something about, whether
you’re turning a page or merely taking a n. Thus, the acceleration of the center of mass of
the fragments (while they are in flight) remains
breath, you know all this ahead of time.
equal to g, and the center of mass of the
12. Suppose we have a newly made substance.
fragments follows the same parabolic trajectory
13. If an isolated conductor is placed in an
that the unexploded rocket would have
external electric field, all points of the
followed.
conductor still come to a single potential
o. We wish to find out whether it is truly a new
regardless of whether the conductor has an
substance, different from all others, or a
excess charge.
14. Regardless of whether they have substance already known but made in a new
way.
permanent electric dipole moments,
molecules acquire dipole moments by
induction when placed in an external field.
15. Sometimes we wonder whether it is
necessary to turn to a graph to find the
magnitude of the displacement of a point
making small oscillation about its
equilibrium position.

Exercise 2: Fill in each blank with one suitable word. Some of the words are those listed in grammar part
B.
1. Electromagnetic induction. So far, we have not given an explanation of electromagnetic induction.

You have seen that it (1) ……………occur, and you know the factors that affect it. But why does an
induced current flow?
The following will give a(n) (2) …………….. A straight wire XY is being pushed downwards through a
horizontal magnetic field B. Now, think about the free electrons (3) ……………. the wire. They are moving
downwards, (4) ……………in effect an electric current. Of course, because (5)……………….are
negatively charged, the conventional current is flowing upwards.
We (6) ……………. have a current flowing across a magnetic field, and the motor effect will (7)
……………..come into play. Using Fleming’s left-hand rule, we can find the direction of the force (8)
……………. the electrons. The diagram shows that the electrons will be pushed in the direction from X to
Y. So a current has been induced to flow in the wire; its direction is from Y to X.
Now we can check that Fleming’s right- hand rule gives the correct direction for motion, field and current,
which it indeed does.
(9) ……………., to summarize, an induced current flows because the electrons are pushed by the motor
effect. Electromagnetic induction is simply a (10) ……………. of the motor effect.
2. Matter and temperature. If we heat some matter so that its temperature rises, the amount of energy
we must (1). ……………..depends on three things: the mass m of the material we are (2) ……………...; the
temperature rise r we wish to achieve (r is Greek capital delta); and the material itself. Some materials
are easier to heat than others – it takes more energy to raise the temperature of 1 kg of water by 10C than to
raise the temperature of 1 kg of alcohol by the (3) ……………...amount.
We can represent this in an equation. The amount of energy rQ that must be supplied is given by: rQ =
mcr (4) ………………..c is the specific heat capacity of the material. Rearranging this equation gives c
= rQ/mr .(5) ………………….,the specific heat capacity of a substance is the amount of energy
required to raise the (6) ……………..of 1 kg of the substance by 10C (or by 1K). (The word ‘specific’ here
means ‘per unit mass’, i.e. per kg). (7) ……………..this form of equation, you should be able to see that the
units of c are Jkg-1 0C-1 (or Jkg1 K-1 ). Specific (8) ……………...capacity is related to the gradient of the
sloping sections of the time-graph for water, heated at a steady rate. The steeper the gradient, the faster the
substance heats up, and (9) ……………. the lower its specific heat capacity must (10) …………….
3. Metals. The feature that defines a metal is that, the highest occupied energy level falls somewhere
near the middle of an energy band. If we (1) ……………. a potential difference across a sample of such a
solid, a current can exist because there are plenty of vacant levels at higher energies into (2)
……………....electrons can be raised. (3) ……………..a metal can conduct electricity because electrons in

its highest occupied band can easily move into higher energy levels within (4) …………….. band. We did
mention the free-electron model of a metal, in which the conduction electrons are (5) …………….. to move
through the volume of the (6) ……………... like the molecules of a gas in a closed container. We used this
model to derive an expression for the resistivity of a (7) ……………..., assuming that the electrons follow
the laws of Newtonian mechanics. Here we use that same (8). to explain the behavior of the electrons –
called the conduction electrons. However, we (9) …………….the laws of quantum mechanics by assuming
the energies of these electrons to be quantized and the Pauli Exclusion Principle to hold. We
(10)……………. too that the electric potential energy of a conduction electron has the same constant value
all points within the lattice. If we choose this value of the potential energy to be zero, as we are free to do,
then the energy E of the conduction electrons is entirely kinetic.
A review of prepositions
As a review on prepositions, the following just gives a summary on what types of prepositions there are,
basing on the function of each.
First we should go through briefly about prepositions in general
1. A preposition usually comes before a noun phrase, sometimes an adverb

Example: in our minds into a model through a bulb
at once up to now through there
2. Prepositions and their object to form a prepositional phrase functioning as an adverbial

Example:
1. We all live on terra firma, the 29 percent of our planet’s solid crust that lies above sea level.
2. Rubber bands, books, and the clothes you wear- these flexible materials maintain their
shape to some degree.
3. We’ve seen that at the atomic level, the atoms or molecules bonded together in a solid stay
in place with respect to their neighbors.
3. Some prepositions can also be adverbs, many forming phrasal verbs

Example:
1. Whether a solid is crystalline or amorphous depends on how it is formed.
2. Especially, slow cooling can sometimes results in very large crystals.
4. Some prepositions of time can also be conjunctions

Example:
1. After preparing carefully, he successfully detected the questionable element in the
compound.
2. He had made lots of observations before he made such a report.
5. Types of prepositions
1.1. Prepositions of place:

In/inside on/ on top of under(neath) above/over
under/below up/down through off out of

at next to/by/beside close to/near in front of
behind between opposite among round
beyond against
Example:
To understand interference, we must go beyond the restrictions of geometrical optics
and employ the full power of wave optics.
1.2. Prepositions of direction/movement:

onto into to away from from along past towards
across around through off
Example:
Toss your keys along the floor, they’ll skitter along for a bit as friction does negative
work on them, reducing their kinetic.
1.3. Prepositions of time:

at on in during over since/for
till/until before/ after by from between
Example:
But we can be quite sure that the temperature and pressure of the hydrogen are nearly
the same all over the classroom for a short time.
1.4. Prepositions with other meanings

about according to against as/as for
for by instead of because of with respect to
on on behalf of up to with of
Example:
We can choose any convenient volume of hydrogen in a test tube as our unit of
electric charge.
1.5. Idiomatic phrases with prepositions

at top speed from……..point of view by mistake
in advance out of order at risk on average
Example: The equipment is out of order now, you should call for an engineer.
Practice
Exercise 1: Fill in the blank with suitable prepositions
1. You will be familiar (1).............the idea that, when you use a power supply or other source
(2)............e.m.f., you can not assume that it is providing you (3)............ the exact voltage that its
controls suggest. You need to measure the voltage to be sure (4).............its value. There are two
reasons (5)............this. First, the supply may not be made (6)............a high degree of precision,
batteries become flat, and so on. However, there is a second, more important, reason for measuring the
voltage (7)................the supply to be sure of its value. Experiments show that the supply voltage
depends (8)............the circuit of which it is part. (9)..............particular, the voltage of a supply
decreases if it is required to supply more current.
2. Matter is made up (1).............three types of particles: electrons (which have negative charge), protons
(positive) and neutrons (neutral). An uncharged object has equal numbers (2).............protons and
electrons, whose charges therefore cancel out.
When one material is rubbed (3)..............another, there is a force of friction (4).............them, and
electrons may be rubbed off one material (5).............the other. The material that has gained electrons is
now negatively charged, and the other material is positively charged.
If a positively charged object is brought close (6)..............an uncharged one, the electrons
(7)..............the second object may be attracted; we observed this (8)………..a force of attraction
between two objects. (This is electrostatic induction)
Note that it is usually electrons that are involved (9).............. moving within a material, or
(10)............one material to another. This is because electrons, which are (11)............the outside of
atoms, are less strongly held within a material than protons; they may be free to move about within a
material (like the conduction electrons in a metal), or they may be relatively weakly bound within
atoms.
Exercise 2: Complete each of the following statements with suitable phrases from the list given
A. between two parallel metal plates I. on each other

B. between them
C. by showing lines of forces J. spreads outwards in all directions
D. due to an excess of electrons. K. with the addition of a small amount of energy
E. in moving from one plate to the other. M. to that point
F. In order to observe the field N. being pulled upwards
G. once summoned by friction O. to some degree
H. to leak away into the air P. in the process of doing work
1. ........................, we need to put something in it that will respond to the field.

2. If you rub a strip of plastic so that it becomes charged and then hold it close to your hair, you feel your
hair ………….............
3. We can draw electric fields in much the same way that we can draw gravitational and magnetic
fields................................
4. A radial field....................., for example from a point charge or from a charged sphere.
5. You can set up a uniform field ........................... by connecting them to the terminals of high- voltage
power supply.
6. Any two charges particles exert a force ........................that is proportional to each of their charges and
inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.
7. It is quite tricky to investigate the force between charged particles, because charge tends
........................during the course of any experiment.
8. ........................., energy is transferred from you to the charge that you are pushing.

9. The potential difference (voltage) between the plates tells us the energy charge per
coulomb.........................
10. The electric potential at a point is equal to the work done per unit charge in moving a positive charge
from infinity..........................
11. Long before the days of plastic pens and rubber balloons, investigators found that charges,
…........................., could be transferred from one material to another.
12. To day, we know that any material can become charged ............................by bringing it into contact
with a different material.
13. The negative charge on a piece of rubbed amber or rubber is...............................
14. A semi-conductor is an electrical insulator that, ....................................., becomes a conductor.
15. A proton repels another proton and attracts any electron, though nothing tangible bridges the
distance....................................
Some confusing pairs of conjunctions
In English there are some pairs of conjunctions that are interchangeable in a sentence. This means, we can
use either of the two to form the sentence while the meaning of the other is also implied. In Vietnamese, you
have to use both of them if you want to build the equivalent sentence. The following two are the common
ones.
1. but and (al)though

Example:
You can write:

Although uranium was formed at the same time as the formation of the earth, it is not the main part of
the earth.
(Uranium is not the main part of the earth (al) though formed at the same time as the formation of the
earth)
Or: Uranium was formed at the same time as the formation of the earth, but it is not the main part of the
earth.
You can not write: Though uranium was formed at the same time as the formation of the earth, but it is
not the main part of the earth.
In this case, if you replace but with still or yet, you may have the sentence that sounds like your
Vietnamese way of expression.
2. because and so
Example:
You can write: Because uranium has the heaviest nuclei, it is used in fission reaction.
Or: Uranium has heaviest nuclei, so it is used in fission reaction.

Adverbs with two forms
In English there are a number of adverbs that have two forms, which are quite different in meaning when
functioning in many contexts.
Example:
hard and hardly
In this case:
He has work hard but hardly reached the goal.
With:
Hard: strenuously and industriously (showing the manner of the action)
Hardly: almost never
You have more pairs:
1. rough: in the open air, or outside roughly: violently, briefly, or approximately

2. flat: level and horizontal flatly: frankly
3. free: without freely: liberally
4. late: after the usual or normal time lately: recently
5. wide: large and broad in size widely:broadly, generally
6. near: close to nearly: almost
Practice
Exercise 1: Combine each of following pairs of sentences to one sentence, using appropriate conjunctions.
1. The rock formations of Grandfather Mountain in North California are 1 billion years old. The oldest
rocks on earth- some 4 billion years old-lie in Green land.
…………………………………………………………………………………...………………………
…………………………………………………………...
2. Plants use carbon dioxide from the atmosphere (and emit oxygen) in their life processes. Any living
plant has the same ratio of carbon -12 to carbon-14 atoms as the atmosphere does at that time.
…………………………………………………………………………………..………………………
…………………………………………………………..………………………………………………
…………………………………..
3. All animals (including humans) depend on plants through the food chain. They have carbon-12 and
carbon -14 in this same ratio.
…………………………………………………………………………………..………………………
…………………………………………………………...
4. In 1932, two of “papa” Rutherford’s “boys” John Cockroft and Earnest Walton, managed to build a
device to accelerate protons. It produced only 100.000 volts or so.
…………………………………………………………………………………...………………………
…………………………………………………………...
5. The arrangement of electrons to make the bonds releases 4.1 electron volts energy. The splitting (or
fission) of one uranium atom’s nucleus would release some 2000 million electrons volt of energy.

…………………………………………………………………………………..………………………
…………………………………………………………..….……………………………………………
…………………………………..
6. Uranium-235 nucleus fissions most easily by absorbing a slow neutron. It can also fission (with a lower
probability) as a result of a strike by a fast neutron.
…………………………………………………………………………………..………………………
………………………………………………………......
7. Liquid metal sodium boils at 8950 C. It does not have to be under high pressure as water does.
…………………………………………………………………………………...………………………
…………………………………………………………...
8. The liquid sodium also becomes very radioactive because its nuclei can capture neutrons. It is much
less efficient than water radiation.
………………………………………………………………………………...…………………………
…………………………………………………………...
9. Fission reactions are controlled today in nuclear power plants. Fusion reactions have yet to be tamed.
…………………………………………………………………………………...………………………
…………………………………………………………...
10. The binding energy per nucleon is different among the various nuclei. The arrangement of the nucleus
by either breaking the nucleus apart or by merging nuclei together always releases or absorbs energy.
………………………………………………………………………………...…………………………
………………………………………………………...…………………………………………………
…………………………………...
Exercise 2: Complete the following statements by filling in each gap with one suitable adverb presented in
Grammar in use B
1. Over the last 1,000 years the science of physics has enabled us to probe and understand the world of
the very large—the stars and the galaxies that contain them—and, ..........................., the world of the
very small—the fundamental particles that make up matter and the forces that govern their interactions.
2. Scientists are now working ………………. to solve the problem of worldwide energy crisis.
3. Though entering the forum of particle physics ………………., he has made himself ………………
well-known with an astonishing assumption about elementary particles. The forum is always open
………….. for such a figure.
4. Though not refusing…………….. Newton’s theory that light behaves as particles; Young draw
attention of scientists at his time all to his new theory that light behaves as a wave.
5. Electrons are the …………..- moving particles in an atom.
6. Before going on with the details of the report, he presented the content ……………. with an Overhead
Projector, getting his audience all ears to him.
7. He intended to do his experiment ……………… but his supervisor disagreed because he insisted that
the experiment must be conducted in room temperature.
8. He ..................... reached the goal when he decided to quit the research only because of financial
deficiency.
9. While lying ……………. on the floor, he suddenly found out the solution to what he is wondering.
10. If the north pole of a magnet is brought ………….. the south pole of another, the poles will attract each
other.
6.

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ESSENTIAL

1. which is used to denote systemized knowledge in any field.

Subject Who That Which

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• Non- defining clause is more common in written style

• If a preposition is put in front of a pronoun, the pronoun can not be omitted.

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Participle phrases replacing relative clauses

2. Participles replacing relative clauses

Consider the following examples (from Unit one)

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These sentences will be interpreted basing on the context in which it appears:

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English: a successful experiment → Vietnamese: mét thÝ nghiÖm thµnh c«ng

English adjectives have the following normal rule of positioning:

1. pollution/ is/ problem/ noise/ a/ environmental/ serious.

Relative clauses with relative adverbs

1/ A review on relative clauses with relative adverbs.

a) where experiments are conducted

2/ From the examples, it is deduced that relative adverb

where is used to modify a nouns referring to a place;

3.1. Non – defining relative clauses

When and where are used in non- defining relative clauses

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3.2. Defining clause

The above examples can be rewritten in this way:

1. The place in which we do experiment is called a laboratory.

b/ Adverb why follows the noun reason

Adverbial clauses of time, place and reason

1. Adverbial clauses of time

a. He jumped to the conclusion before any of his classmates.

2. Adverbial clauses of reason

3. Adverbial clause of place

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physical many what suspension natural concrete

Resonance is an important (1)......................phenomenon that can appear in a great

Compound adjectives forming from participles

North-seeking pole Ø The pole that seeks north direction

Passive (noun-PII) Explanation

2/ adverb-participles -> compound adjectives

Passive (adverb-PII) Explanation

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8. the pole that points to the south

distinct light because attract photons experiments protons the

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Direct object: We all know that every body is always in motion.

Subject complement: Matter’s resistance to a change in velocity is what we call inertia.

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An infinitive wh-clause can be formed with all wh-words except why.

1. Some common adjectives followed by a noun clause:

2. Some common nouns followed by a noun clause

3. Some common verbs followed by a noun clause

1. Motion is subject to three laws. Newton himself showed this. (that)

Modal verbs to express certainty or possibility

Note: will is often used in its contracted form ‘ll

to lay emphasis on the continuation of the action.

1.2. For a perfect situation, we use:

Note: In questions, we normally use can or will.