PUNTA ARENAS ADVENTIST HIGH SCHOOL

English Worksheet
“Present Perfect v/s Simple Past”
Teacher: Alexis Vásquez H.
Date: Grade: List number: ______
Student name: __________________________________
“Yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.” Habakkuk 3:18

Learning Objectives: Recognize and identify general and specific information in a written text. Describe physical
appearance.
Instructions: Answer each item in a clear and organized manner; each item score is clearly identified. Do not use pencil, use
pen. Corrections or white-out are not permitted in the answers. No revision or complains will be allowed once
the test is graded.
Item: Reading.
I. Read the text and answer the questions below.
GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOODS
Yolande Devere
Frankenstein foods or an end to famine?
Science has improved farming methods dramatically over the last 100 years. But at what price? Following
the scare in Europe over mad cow disease and contaminated beef, shoppers are far more nervous about the
food they buy, especially if it has been "modified" by science.

Supermarkets in Britain have been forced to lead where government has failed, and have insisted that suppliers
label their products if they have been genetically modified.

The supporters of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) say that food crops can be made resistant to
pests, disease and drought, and made to produce more. With such crops, harvests need never fail
again. Hunger will become a thing of the past. However many people, including scientists, are very worried.
GMOs raise a lot of questions such as those below, which need a lot more research, if shoppers are to be won
over.

The good news is that Genetically Modified Foods are being tested more thoroughly than any other foods.
Indeed, there are many common foods that would be banned if they were new today. Look at kidney beans,
which are poisonous if they are not cooked properly. Peach seeds contain cyanide - every year around the world
several people die from eating them. Before improved varieties were available, manioc, the staple food of
millions, had to be specially prepared to remove its cyanide.

What will happen if new genes "escape" into other living things?
The genes are inserted into GMOs to do a specific job - to resist insects for example. But people
are concerned that they will spread to other plants growing around the crop - as pollen on the wind or carried
by insects. The insects will then starve and die. If there are no insects, birds and small animals will have nothing
to eat and will also die.
The supporters of GM foods, however, say that if insects stop eating the crop, the farmer has no need to kill
them with insecticide. So more insects will be allowed to live. They say that it is actually very difficult for genes
to transfer between different species. They also say that genetic modification by selective breeding has been
going on for generations.

Will the companies that produce the GMOs have too much power?
US company Monsanto is about to patent a technique that will stop seeds growing from genetically improved
plants. This "terminator gene" will mean that seeds harvested at the end of a growing season cannot be saved
and replanted the following year. Farmers will then have to go back to the company each year to buy new seed.
But Monsanto has not yet made any crops with a "terminator gene", because it has yet to win over the public's
confidence that GM foods are safe to eat. Once consumers are won over, will farmers avoid buying "terminator"
crops if they are the cheapest?

Will the GM foods be safe to eat?

There is some controversial evidence in the US that eating GM maize has worsenedasthma attacks in sufferers.
Research in Britain also seems to show that GM potatoes caused problems in rats.

But the supporters of GM foods say that it should be possible to make foods that are less likely to
trigger allergies. And they say that the British potato research is wrong. The rats were fed so much potato that
even a normal potato would have been bad for them.
GLOSSARY
famine: a severe shortage of food (as through over anticipated events (pánico)
crop failure) resulting in violent hunger and mad cow disease: a fatal disease of cattle
starvation and death (hambruna, carestía de affecting the central nervous
ailimentos) system(enfermedad de la vaca loca)
scare: panic, sudden mass fear and anxiety far more: much more (aún más)
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suppliers label: providers put labels on (los thoroughly: deeply (en profundidad)
proveedores rotulen) banned: prohibited (prohibidos)
the supporters: the defenders (los kidney beans: common bean plant, especially
defensores) a variety with large red kidney-shaped
crops: the yield from plants in a single beans(judías, frijoles, porotos)
growing season (cosechas) poisonous: venemous (venenosos)
disease: illness (enfermedades) manioc: bitter cassava root (mandioca)
drought: a temporary shortage of concerned: worried (preocupada)
rainfall(sequía) will spread: will extend (se extiendan)
hunger: famine, the consequence of food actually: really (realmente)
deprivation (el hambre) harvested: gathered (cosechadas)
research: investigation (investigación, to go back to: to return (regresar a, volver a)
estudio) worsened: made worse (empeorado)
if shoppers are to be won over: for shoppers are less likely to trigger: have less
to become fully satisfied (para ganarse a los probability of generating (tienen menos
compradores) probabilidades de generar)
1- Why are supermarkets leading the campaign against GMO?
____________________________________________________________________________________
2- According to GMOs what are some of the advantages of food crops?
____________________________________________________________________________________
3- Why do the insects are in danger with GMO crops?
____________________________________________________________________________________
4- What is terminator gene?
____________________________________________________________________________________
5- According to researchers what are some of the health problems caused by GMO food?
____________________________________________________________________________________
6- What incident related to animals has caused more concerns about modified beef?
____________________________________________________________________________________
Present perfect v/s simple past
It is often possible to use the present perfect (I have done) or the simple past (I did):
■ I’ve lost my key. Have you seen it anywhere? or: I lost my key. Did you see it anywhere?
But do not use the present perfect to say when something happened (for example, yesterday, two
years ago, when I was a child, etc.). Use a past tense in these sentences:
■ I lost my key yesterday. (not have lost)
■ Did you see the movie on TV last night? (not have you seen)
■ I ate a lot of candy when I was a child. (not have eaten)
Use a past tense to ask when or what time something happened:
■ What time did they arrive? (not have they arrived)
■ When were you born? (not have been born)
Do not use the present perfect (I have done) for happenings and actions that are not connected with
the present (for example, historical events):
■ The Chinese invented printing, (not have invented)
■ How many symphonies did Beethoven compose? (not has ... composed)
Now compare these sentences:

Present perfect (I have done) Simple past (I did)

I’ve walked 20 minutes today. 1) I walked 20 minutes yesterday.
Today is a period of time that continues up to 2) Yesterday is a finished time in the past.
the present. It is not a finished time. So we use So we use the simple past.
the present perfect. 3) I have never played golf (in my life).
Dan hasn’t been sick this year. 4) Dan wasn’t sick last year.
Have you seen Ann this morning? 5) Did you see Ann this morning?
(It is still morning.) 6) (It is now afternoon.)
Have you seen Ann recently? 7) Did you see Ann last week?
We’ve been waiting for an hour. (We are still 8) We waited (or were waiting) for an
waiting.) hour. (We are no longer waiting.) Pierre
Pierre has lived in Quebec for six years. lived in Quebec for ten years.
(He still lives there.) 9) (He no longer lives there.)
10) I didn’t play golf when I was on
vacation last summer.

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 I. Make sentences using the words given.
Examples: (I / walk / 20 minutes yesterday) I walked 20 minutes yesterday
(how many minutes / you / walked / today?) How many minutes have you walked today?
1. (I/be/sick twice so far this year) I __________________________________________________
2. (how many times / be / you / sick last year?) How many times ___________________________
3. (I /not /drink /any coffee so far today) ______________________________________________
4. (he /be /late three times this week) ________________________________________________
5. (how many games / the team / win / last season?) ____________________________________
6. (how many games/the team/win/so far this season?) __________________________________
II. Put the verb into the correct form: present perfect (I have done) or simple past (I did)
Example: I didn’t play (not/play) golf when I was on vacation last summer.
1. Mr. Clark ____________________________________ (work) in a bank for I5 years. Then he gave it up.
2. George lives in Athens, lie____________________________________ (live) there all his life.
3. Bob and Alice arc married. They____________________________________ (be) married for 20 years.
4 When we were on vacation, the weather ____________________________________ (be) terrible.
5. The weather____________________________________ (be) very nice lately.
6. My grandfather died 30 years ago. I____________________________________ (never/meet) him
7. I don't know Carol's husband. I ____________________________________ (never meet) him.
III. Choose the correct option to complete these sentences.
1) Where ............ you born? 9) Many of Dickens's novels .................... in
a.were monthly magazines.
b.have a.were first published
c.are b.have been first published
d.did c.had been first published
2) A: Where ....................... that jacket? B: In
that new clothes shop in Piazza Kennedy. 10) (at 10.30 a.m.) .................. Julie this
a.have you bought morning?
b.did you buy a.Did you see
3) How long .................. your best friend? b.Have you seen
a.do you know c.Had you seen
b.did you know
c.have you known 11) (at 4.30 p.m.) .................... Julie this
4) A: I lived in Milan when I was younger. B: morning?
Really? How long ........................ there? a.Did you see
a.did you live b.Have you seen
b.have you lived
c.lived you 12) Oh no! ...................... my keys!
5) Gladstone ............... the Prime Minister of a.I've lost
Great Britain 5 times during the reign of Queen b.I lost
Victoria.
a.has been b.had been c.was 13) .................. my keys last week.
6) My grandmother, who died five years ago, a.I've lost
.............. abroad. b.I lost
a.was never going
b.never went 14) ................... to the cinema yesterday.
c.has never been a.I went
7) A: Would you like a coffee? B: No thanks. b.I've been
..................... one. c.I've gone
a.I just had b.I've just had c.I was just having
8) J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter" books
.................... in many countries.
a.have been published
b.were published
c.had been published

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