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Handout Inglés Técnico - Geología
Handout Inglés Técnico - Geología
Departamento de Lenguas
Centro de Idiomas
Geología
LEN 1113 – Inglés Técnico
1st semester 2023
UNIT 1: Earthquakes
Measuring an earthquake
In the past, the Richter scale was used to measure the power of earthquakes. Earthquakes are now measured
using the Moment Magnitude Scale (or simply Magnitude scale). This measures the size of the seismic waves
during the earthquake. Each step in the scale is ten times greater than the previous number. This is a
logarithmic scale.
The amount of damage caused by an earthquake is measured by the Mercalli Scale. This is a measure of
intensity, and changes according to which area you are measuring - damage nearer the epicenter would
usually be greater than further away.
Glossary
1. Aid: The giving of money or goods to help people and countries in need.
2. Boundary: The region where two or more tectonic plates meet. It is a zone of intense seismic activity.
3. Conservative plate boundary: Areas between two crustal plates that are moving past each other in opposite
directions or at different speeds.
4. Earthquake proof building: Buildings that are designed and built to withstand an earthquake.
5. Epicenter: The point on the Earth's surface directly above the focus of an earthquake.
6. GIS Geographical Information System: Electronic maps with layers added to display information about the
area.
7. Intensity: The concentration or strength of something, e.g. an earthquake.
8. Logarithmic: A scale on a graph where the numbers increase exponentially. This means that the scale may
read 1, 10, 100, 1000 instead of 1, 2, 3, 4.
9. Magnitude scales: The size or severity of something like an earthquake.
10. Resource: Anything that is useful to people.
11. Richter scale: The measure by which the strength of earthquakes is determined.
12. Seismometer: A machine that detects seismic waves caused by earthquakes.
13. Shockwave: A rapid flow of energy that is sent through the earth after an earthquake.
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Centro de Idiomas
Earthquakes Test
Check ✔ the right answer to the following questions.
1 Where do large earthquakes usually happen? 2 What is used to measure the strength of
earthquakes?
In the center of plates
Barometer
On the edges of plates
Anemometer
In the ocean
Seismometer
3 Where is the focus of an earthquake? 4 Which is the most up to date scale for
measuring earthquakes?
The nearest town or city.
The Moment Magnitude Scale
The point within the earth where the
movement took place. The Richter Scale
The point on the surface of the earth The Logarithmic Scale
directly above where the movement took
place.
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What Is Continental Drift?
Look at the map below. Can you see that South America and Africa seem to fit together, like the pieces of a
jigsaw puzzle? In the early 1900s, a German scientist named Alfred Wegener made this same observation.
Based on his observations, Wegener proposed the hypothesis of continental drift. According to this
hypothesis, the continents once formed a single landmass. Then, they broke up and drifted to their current
locations.
Continental drift can explain why the continents seem to fit together. For example, South America and Africa
were once part of a single continent. They have since broken apart and moved to their current locations.
Evidence for continental drift can also be found in fossils and rocks. For example, similar fossils have been
found along the matching coastlines of South America and Africa. The organisms that formed these fossils
could not have traveled across the Atlantic Ocean. Therefore, the two continents must once have been joined
together.
2. Infer Which continent was once joined with Greenland? How do you know?
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
3. Explain How do fossils indicate that the continents have moved with time?
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
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BREAKUP OF PANGAEA
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Throughout Earth’s history, the north and south magnetic poles have switched places many times.
This process is called magnetic reversal. This process, together with sea-floor spreading, can explain the
patterns of magnetism on the sea floor.
As ocean crust forms from melted rock, magnetic minerals form. These minerals act as compasses. As they
form, they line up with Earth’s magnetic north pole. When the melted rock cools, the minerals are stuck in
place. After Earth’s magnetic field reverses, these minerals point to Earth’s magnetic south pole. However,
new rock that forms will have minerals that point to the magnetic north pole. Therefore, the ocean floor
contains “stripes” of rock whose magnetic minerals point to the north or south magnetic poles.
SECTION VOCABULARY
▪ Continental drift: the hypothesis that states that the continents once formed a single landmass, broke up,
and drifted to their present locations.
▪ Sea-floor spreading: the process by which new oceanic lithosphere (sea floor) forms as magma rises to
Earth’s surface and solidifies at a mid-ocean ridge.
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1. Identify Give three pieces of evidence that support the idea of continental drift.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
3. Identify Does the oceanic lithosphere get older or younger as you move closer to the mid-ocean ridge?
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
4. Explain How do the parallel magnetic “stripes” near mid-ocean ridges form?
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
5. Apply Concepts The Earth is about 4.6 billion years old. However, the oldest sea floor is only about 180
million years old. What do you think is the reason for this?
(Hint: Remember that new seafloor is constantly being created, but the Earth is not getting bigger with time.)
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
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Grammar point:
Simple Past
2. Signal words:
yesterday last week a month ago in 2010
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Centro de Idiomas
5. TIPS to learn irregular verbs
5. Affirmative sentences in the Simple Past – regular verbs and irregular verbs.
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6. Negative sentences in the Simple Past: DID NOT=DIDN’T
There is no difference between regular and irregular verbs in negative sentences.
2_______________________________
You did not clean the room. You didn't clean the room.
3_______________________________
Did he play football? Yes, he did / No, he didn’t 3. What did the layers represent?
_______________________
In the 1800s, geologists organized the rocks and rock layers. They based their organization on the principle of
superposition and the fossils present in the layers. They saw that older rock layers usually lie below younger
ones. So, they put the oldest layers at the bottom of their charts.
Geologists also named the rock layers. Each name represented a time in Earth’s history. Eventually, they drew
a chart that represented all the time periods in Earth’s history. The geologic time scale is a visual record of
Earth’s history, with the individual units based on changes in the rocks and fossils. The time scale is always
drawn with the oldest rocks at the bottom and the youngest rocks at the top.
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To Be – Past Tense
To Be - Affirmative
Subject To Be Examples
I was I was tired this morning.
You were You were very good.
He was He was the best in his class.
She was She was late for work.
It was It was a sunny day.
We were We were at home.
You were You were on holiday.
They were They were happy with their test results.
To Be - Negative Sentences
The negative of To Be can be made by adding not after the verb (was or were).
Subject To Be Examples with contractions
I was not I was not tired this morning. I wasn’t tired this morning.
You were not You were not crazy. You weren’t crazy.
He was not He was not married. He wasn’t married.
She was not She was not famous. She wasn’t famous.
It was not It was not hot yesterday. It wasn’t hot yesterday.
We were not We were not invited. We weren’t invited.
You were not You were not at the party. You weren’t at the party.
They were not They were not friends. They weren’t Friends.
To Be - Questions
To create questions with To Be, you put the Verb before the Subject.
Affirmative Question Short Answers
I was late Was I late? Yes, you were. No, you weren't.
You were sick. Were you sick? Yes, I was. No, I wasn't.
He was surprised. Was he surprised? Yes, he was. No, he wasn't.
She was from Italy. Was she from Italy? Yes, she was. No, she wasn't.
It was a big house. Was it a big house? Yes, it was. No, it wasn't.
We were ready. Were we ready? Yes, we were. No, we weren't.
You were early. Were you early? Yes, we were. No, we weren't.
They were busy. Were they busy? Yes, they were. No, they weren't
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Centro de Idiomas
TO BE in the Past Tense - Summary Chart
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Answer these questions about the reading in complete sentences.
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6. If the 1906 quake happened today, how many millions of dollars in damage would it cause?
____________________________________________________________________________
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Past simple: regular and irregular verbs.
I. Correct the sentences.
Ex: Who do you met on Saturday morning? Who did you meet on Saturday morning?
Everybody knows that dinosaurs once roamed the earth. But how do we know that fact? Dinosaurs lived many
millions of years ago and there were no photos taken of them (or any people around to take those photos!)
Yet scientists do have proof of dinosaurs, thanks to fossils.
A fossil is what is left of an animal or a plant along time after it dies. Fossils are the buried parts of living things
that have been preserved from a different geological time period. You can think of fossils as the ancestors of
today’s animals and plants. To be considered a fossil, the remains must be at least 10,000 years old.
The fossil is then just waiting to be found, perhaps by someone like you digging it up from the ground! There
are some other, more unusual ways for fossils to form. Scientists have discovered skeletons of animals that
died instantly when a volcano erupted, their bones preserved in the ash. Small bugs or insects caught in tree
sap can become fossils when the sap hardens into a golden material called amber. And animals trapped in
sticky natural asphalt or tar can turn into fossils. The most famous example of these fossils can be found right
in the middle of California’s biggest city, Los Angeles. Scientists have uncovered more than three million fossils
from the Ice Age at the La Brea Tar Pits, including saber-toothed cats and mammoths. And scientists there
continue to dig up more fossils all the time!
Fossils give us a wonderful window into our past. Today the science of studying fossils is alive and well.
Paleontology (pay-lee-un-tall’-uh-gee) is the study of the history of life on earth, using fossils as the evidence.
So if you love dinosaurs and you want to know more about what happened on earth thousands or millions of
years ago, maybe someday you can make your living by digging up fossils!
a. The oldest fossils on record date back to the time of the first humans living in North America.
b. Only large animals, like dinosaurs, mammoths, and saber-toothed cats, are capable of becoming fossilized.
c. It is becoming harder and harder for scientists to find fossils, so paleontology is a dying profession.
d. You are likely to find a fossil after it has been brought to the surface by wind or rain erosion, or even a
natural disaster.
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3. Using the information in the article, describe one way a fossil can form.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
4. In your own words, describe what the La Brea Tar Pits are.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
The following terms are vocabulary words from the article. Match the vocabulary word with its correct
definition by writing the corresponding letter on the line.
1. _____ mammoth a. maintained its original condition animal´s body
3. _____ amber c. ancient, extinct elephants from the time of the Ice Age.
5. _____ preserved e. the breakdown of rock or other material by wind, rain, or water.
FOSSILS IN ROCKS
Usually, when an organism dies, it begins to decay or it is eaten by other organisms. Sometimes, organisms are
quickly buried by sediment when they die. The sediment can help preserve the organism. Hard parts, such as
shells, teeth, and bones, are preserved more often than soft parts, such as organs and skin. When the
sediment hardens to form sedimentary rock, the parts of the organism that remain can become body fossils.
FOSSILS IN AMBER
Sometimes, organisms such as insects are caught in sticky tree sap. If the sap hardens around the insect, a
fossil is created. Hardened tree sap is called amber. Some of the best insect fossils are found in amber. Frogs
and lizards have also been found in amber.
2. List Give three examples of hard parts of an organism that could become fossils.
_________________________________________________________________________________
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FROZEN FOSSILS
Ice and cold temperatures slow down decay and can allow body fossils to form. Woolly mammoths, which are
relatives of modern elephants, became extinct about 10,000 years ago. However, scientists have found frozen
remains of mammoths preserved in blocks of ice.
PETRIFACTION
Organisms can also become fossils by petrifaction. During petrifaction, minerals replace all or part of an
organism’s tissues. For example, minerals may fill the tiny spaces in an animal’s bones. Sometimes, the
organism’s tissues are completely replaced by minerals. For example, petrified wood forms when minerals
replace all of the tissue in a piece of wood.
FOSSILS IN ASPHALT
In some places, asphalt or tar bubbles up to the Earth’s surface and forms sticky pools. The La Brea asphalt
deposits in Los Angeles, California, are at least 38,000 years old. These pools have trapped and preserved
many different organisms. From these fossils, scientists have learned about the ancient environment of
southern California.
FOOTPRINTS
Remember that trace fossils are evidence that an organism was once alive. A footprint is an example of a trace
fossil. Footprints may be preserved as trace fossils when they are filled with sediment and harden into rock.
Footprints can show how big an animal was and how fast it was moving. For example, parallel paths of
dinosaur tracks have led scientists to hypothesize that some dinosaurs moved in herds.
Discuss
Have you ever seen any fossils? What kind of organisms were they? Where did you see them? How did they
probably form?
These dinosaur tracks are found in Arizona. They show that the
dinosaur was running when it made the tracks.
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Departamento de Lenguas
Centro de Idiomas
BURROWS AND COPROLITES
Burrows are another kind of trace fossil. Burrows are shelters made by animals, such as clams, that dig into
sediment. A burrow can be preserved when it is filled with a different kind of sediment and buried quickly.
Coprolites, or preserved animal dung, are another example of trace fossils.
2. ____________________________
3. ____________________________
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THE INFORMATION IN THE FOSSIL RECORD
Scientists have used fossils to learn some of the history of life on Earth. However, scientists cannot learn
everything about life from fossils. This is because most organisms never became fossils, and many fossils have
not been discovered yet.
Scientists know more about some kinds of ancient organisms than others do. Remember that hard body parts
are more likely to form fossils than soft body parts. Therefore, scientists know more about organisms with
hard body parts than about organisms with only soft body parts. Some organisms lived in environments where
fossils can form more easily. Scientists know more about these organisms than those that lived in other
environments.
Fossils of organisms with hard parts, such as shells, are more common than fossils of
organisms without hard parts.
This organism lived in an environment with a lot of sediment. Fossils form more easily
in environments with a lot of sediment. Therefore, organisms that lived in these
environments are more likely to be found as fossils.
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Explain: Why do scientists know more about some kinds of ancient organisms than others do?
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
Explain: How can scientists find out how life has changed?
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
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SECTION VOCABULARY
Cast: a type of fossil that forms when sediments fill in the cavity left by a decomposed organism.
Fossil: the trace or remains of an organism that lived long ago, most commonly preserved in sedimentary rock.
Index fossil: a fossil that is used to establish the age of a rock layer because the fossil is distinct, abundant, and
widespread and the species that formed that fossil existed for only a short span of geologic time.
Mold: a mark or cavity made in a sedimentary surface by a shell or other body.
Trace fossil: a fossilized mark that formed in sedimentary rock by the movement of an animal on or within soft
sediment.
3. Infer Which organism is more likely to be found as a fossil in amber, a beetle or a rabbit? Explain your
answer.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
4. Apply Concepts What could you conclude if you found a fossil of a tropical plant in a cold climate?
__________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
5. List What three features must a fossil have in order to be an index fossil?
1. _________________________________________________________________
2. _________________________________________________________________
3. _________________________________________________________________
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Departamento de Lenguas
Centro de Idiomas
GRAMMAR POINT
PASSIVE VOICE
We can form the passive in any tense. In fact, conjugation of verbs in the passive tense is rather easy, as the
main verb is always in past participle form and the auxiliary verb is always be. To form the required tense, we
conjugate the auxiliary verb. So, for example:
infinitive to be washed
REMEMBER: The passive voice is used when we want to focus attention on a person or thing affected by an
action.
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EXERCISE 1. Use Passive Voice to complete the paragraph. Use the verb in brackets.
Fossils come in many colors and _______________ (make) of many different types of minerals, depending on
where fossilization took place. Most fossils _____________ (dig) up from sedimentary rock layers.
Over long periods, they _____________ (bury) under more and more layers of sediment that piles up on top
of it.
Fossils are usually heavier than the original item since they _______________ (form) entirely of minerals.
Most fossils ______________ (make) of ordinary rock material.
Trace fossils may be something that ______________ (make) by an animal while it was living, but has turned
into a stone.
The best way for a fossil to be formed, which does not happen often, is inside ice. The animal must be
continually frozen from the time of death until discovery. The wooly mammoth and rhinoceros
____________examples of fossils ____________ (find) in ice.
Finally, mummification occurs when the soft tissues of animals' skin and organs ________________ (preserve)
for thousands of years and are completely dried. Mummified bodies of animals, including humans, have been
discovered in arid or dry parts of the world.
In summary, fossils _____________( form) in many different ways, but the most common method of
preservation is minerals filling the empty spaces of plants or animals, and after a long period of time, become
hard as rock, but the shape of the original plant or animal is preserved.
Japan (hit) ______________________by a 9.1 earthquake yesterday and a large tsunami (generate)
____________________. Ten cities (affect) ___________________ and communications (disrupt)
_________________. 50,000 residents (evacuate) __________________ within four hours of being alerted.
But five evacuation centres (destroy) _______________________. The roads (ruin) ____________________
making evacuation difficult.
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UNIT 3: Volcanoes
Grammar point
PRESENT PERFECT
When we use the present perfect tense in speaking, we usually contract the subject and auxiliary
verb. Sometimes, we also do it when we write.
I have I've
Here are some examples:
You have You've
• I've finished my work.
He has He's • John's seen ET.
She has She's • They've gone home.
It has It's
☺ Now, refer to your recent past activities.
John has John's
The car has The car's Ex.: I have explained the present perfect form.
We have We've
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Simple Past – Present Perfect Simple
Signal Words
Simple Past Present Perfect Simple
▪ yesterday ▪ just
▪ ... ago ▪ already
▪ in 1990 ▪ up to now
▪ the other day ▪ until now / till now
▪ last ... ▪ ever
▪ (not) yet
▪ so far
▪ lately / recently
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Exercises
1. Put the verbs in the brackets into the correct form (simple past or present perfect).
9. This is a pity. They are my friends, too, and I ____________________(see / not) them for ages.
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3. Using the words in parentheses. Complete the text below using Simple Past or Present Perfect.
1. In the last hundred years, traveling (become)………………….. much easier and very comfortable. In the 19th
century, it (take) ………………… two or three months to cross North America by covered wagon. The trip
(be)………………… very rough and often dangerous. Things (change)…………….. a great deal in the last hundred
and fifty years. Now you can fly from New York to Los Angeles in a matter of hours.
2. Jonny, I can't believe how much you (change) ……………….. since the last time I …………..(see) you. You (grow)
……………… at least a foot!
3. This tree (be) ……………….. planted by the settlers who ………………(found) our city over four hundred years
ago.
4. This mountain (be, never) …………………. climbed by anyone. Several mountaineers (try) ………………… to reach
the top, but nobody (succeed, ever)……………………. . The climb is extremely difficult and many people (die)
…………………. trying to reach the summit.
5. I (visit, never) …………………… Africa, but I (travel) to South America several times. The last time I (go)
……………………… to South America, I (visit) ……………………. Brazil and Peru. I (spend) ……………….. two weeks in
the Amazon, (hike) for a week near Machu Picchu, and (fly) ……………………over the Nazca Lines.
- Complete these questions with the past participle of the verbs in the box. Then answer the questions.
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II. Asking information questions.
Use the words and phrases to write information questions in the present perfect.
1. How long / you / be / out of college?
How long have you been out of college?
B: Well, I’ve loved (love) children all my life. I _____________ (want) to work with kids since I __________
(leave) high school.
A: Your resume says that you ___________ (work) in the childcare center at the university from 1999 to 2001.
Can you tell me about that?
B: Yes, it ____________ (be) a part time job. We ___________ (play) with the children and ___________ (give)
them lunch. I _____________ (work) with a Head Teacher.
A: Tell me about the jobs you ________________ (have) since then. _______________ (you / ever have) full
responsibility for children in your care?
B: Yes. For the last year I __________________ (look after) one-year-old twins.
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Present Perfect Tense - For and Since
We use Present Perfect tense to talk about action which started in the past and continues up
to the present.
Examples
I have had this computer for about a year.
How long have you been at this school?
I haven't seen Julia since September.
We use for with a period of time, for example: a few days, half an hour, two years. We use
since with the time when the action started, for example: last year, June 8, I met you.
I. Exercises.
A. Do we use for or since with the following time references? Circle the correct form.
•I have worked for International House --- for /since --- more than eight years.
•I haven't visited my home town --- for /since --- I left school.
•I have had a driving license --- for / since --- I was eighteen.
•She hasn't had a day off --- for /since --- 1999.
•Johan has been in England --- for /since --- more than two weeks now.
•Peter has been my best friend --- for /since --- we were nine.
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B. Decide if you need for or since with these time expressions
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