UNIDAD 8: Be como auxiliar

Textos

The Windows Program

Nuclear Power

Quiz

Standards of Measurement

Chemical Properties

Systems of Units

Descriptions

Ejercitación Adicional

Sección Gramatical
Be como auxiliar

Las distintas formas de be

Texto I

THE WINDOWS PROGRAM

The Windows program, from the Microsoft Corporation, is becoming

the secondary standard operating system for the personal computer.
Currently it is found in more than 40 percent of all personal computer
systems – about 60 million personal computers.

In this chapter we are going to deal with some of the differences

between Windows and its predecessor DOS.
One of the differences between DOS and Windows is in the way that
data are displayed. The DOS system uses a text or character-based
display; Windows uses a graphical display. Another difference is in the
way Windows functions with the printer and other system components.
In DOS, the printer and mouse were treated as add-on features, while
Windows treats them as essential, integrated components.

One major problem with DOS is that, as each program is added to the
DOS-based personal computer, it must be configured for the hardware
in the system. Each program is supplied by a series of driver programs
that allow it to function with various printers and displays. Even the
mouse requires a special driver for many DOS applications. If a DOS
program is installed, these features must be selected and enabled. This
often requires considerable time and training and is often fraught with
problems, such as incorrect, incompatible, or missing drivers. The
reason each DOS application must be individually set up for its
hardware interface is that DOS applications do not talk to each other;
each requires individual initialization.

(De Windows and Configuring Windows)

A. Resuelva el ejercicio en español.

1. Why is Windows becoming the secondary operating

system?

2. What does the text compare?

3. List differences (2 at least) between the two systems.

4. Mention the problems with DOS.

B. Diga a qué hacen referencia:

1. it (línea 3): ……………..…………….

2. them (línea 12): ……..…..………….

3. it (línea 14): …………………………

4. it (línea 16): ……………………………

5. this (línea 18): …………………………

C. Identifique las oraciones que contengan ejemplos de Be

como auxiliar en el texto y tradúzcalas.

D. A su criterio ¿cuál de estos títulos expresa mejor el

contenido del texto? ¿Por qué?

1. The main differences between Windows and DOS.

2. The disadvantages of DOS.
3. Configuring Windows and DOS.

E. Complete en español el vocabulario temático:

Vocabulario Temático

Standard operating system………………............................

Character-based display: ………………………………….

Add-on features: …………………………………………..

Driver programs: .………………………………………...

Hardware interface: ……………………………………….

Texto II

NUCLEAR POWER

Nuclear power is obtained from This is known as a chain reaction.

the
energy which can be released
from the nucleus of an atom.
Until the twentieth century man
used water, wood and the fossil
fuels (coal, oil and gas) as sources
of power. During the first quarter
of the
twentieth century physicists
investigated the structure of the
atom. In 1919 Rutherford split the
atom artificially.
Thirteen years later the neutron
was
discovered. In 1939 Hahn and
Strassman investigated the action
of neutrons on uranium-235.
They found that it was split into
two equal pieces. This process is
known as fission. It releases great
amounts of energy. The neutrons
that are released in fission
produce fissions in other atoms.
On 2nd December 1942 Enrico
Fermi and his colleagues
produced the first controlled
nuclear chain reaction.
Since then atomic energy has
been used in war and peace.
In 1951 electricity was first
produced by using the heat from
a nuclear reactor.
More recently nuclear energy has
been used to power submarines.
Nuclear batteries are now being
used in cardiac pacemakers. More
and more countries are building
nuclear power stations to
produce electricity.
(Widdowson, 1980. Reading and
Thinking in English)

A. Responda en español las preguntas a continuación:

1. When was nuclear power first used to produce

electricity?

2. What was done twenty-three years before the first

controlled nuclear reaction?
3. How many years passed between the discovery of
fission and the use of nuclear energy to produce
electricity?

4. When was the neutron discovered?

5. How many years ago did Rutherford split the atom?

B. Lea nuevamente el texto y haga una lista en español de

los usos de la energía nuclear.

C. Una los hechos con el momento en el que ocurrieron.

1. use of atomic energy in war and a. 1900- 1925

peace
2. increasing use of nuclear energy b. before the 20th century
to produce electricity
3. dependence on wood, water and c. present moment
fossil fuels
4. investigation of the structure of d. after 1942
the atom
5. production of the first controlled e. three years after the
nuclear chain reaction discovery of fission
Texto III

What do you know?

QUIZ

Los siguientes enunciados se refieren a antiguas ideas

sobre electricidad y magnetismo.

A. Identifique las formas de Be como auxiliar y traduzca

los enunciados.

B. Marque como Verdadero las que todavía son aceptadas

y Falso las que no.

1. It was noticed that friction between textiles produced electricity.

2. It was thought that positively-charged objects repelled each other.

3. It was observed that a wire carrying a current caused the deflection

of a magnetic needle.

4. Volta showed that electricity was produced when two different

metals were separated by salt water.

Texto IV

STANDARDS OF MEASUREMENT

In early times measurements were made by comparing things with

parts of the human body. Early units of measurement included the
distance from the elbow to the fingers, the width of the hand and the
width of the fingers. Some of these human measurements are still
used. For example, the inch is based on the length of half the thumb. A
foot was originally the length of a man's foot.

A mile was one thousand walking steps. These units were only
approximate, because their standard - the human body - was not
constant. Governments tried to standardise them by using rods of fixed
lengths. But these rods still varied from country to country.
During the French Revolution, scientists looked for a standard of
measurement which did not change. They chose the distance from the
Equator to the North Pole, which is one quarter of the circumference of
the Earth. One ten-millionth of this was called one metre and became
the basic unit of the metric system. Other metric units are based on it.
For example, the centimetre is one hundredth of a metre. A gram - the
unit of weight - is the mass of one cubic centimetre of water.

A standard metre was marked on a platinum bar. The accuracy of

measuring instruments was checked by comparing them with this bar.
Nowadays the metre is standardised by comparing it with another
constant - the wavelength of a certain kind of light.

( Bates y Dudley-Evans, 1982. Nucleus- English for Science and Technology-

General Science)

A. Lea el texto y responda las preguntas en español.

1. Why did early measurements vary?

2. Which was the constant standard 18th century

scientists chose?

3. What is the measure that standardizes the metre

nowadays?

B. Traduzca y complete los siguientes enunciados en español.

1. ……….. included the distance from elbow to fingers,

width of hand, width of finger.

2. ………… include the inch, the foot, the mile.

3. These ……………. measurements were not …….…..

because …………. were used to standardise them, but
varied.

4. …………… was chosen as the basic unit …………. Its

length is ………. of ……… the Earth’s circumference.
Texto V

CHEMICAL PROPERTIES

The chemical properties of the alkanes are relatively easily described:

these compounds are quite unreactive toward most reagents.

They are unaffected by boiling with water, aqueous alkalis and acids,
oxidizing reagents such as permanganate and dichromate, and
reducing agents. (In this connection recall that alkanes are insoluble in
water.) Even hydrofluoric acid can be kept in bottles made of paraffin
(a mixture of alkanes). Alkanes are attacked, however, by a number of
nonaqueous reagents: halogen gases, nitric oxide and concentrated
nitric acid, and oxygen and heat. The reactions which are exhibited by
one member of the alkane series are also exhibited by others, for it is a
property of a homologous series that the chemical behaviors of its
constituents are similar; it is only necessary to learn the behavior of
one member to know, or to be able to predict, that of any other. Two
points of exception have to be taken to this statement: usually the first
member of a homologous series has chemical properties not shared, or
shared to lesser degree, by the others; and second, there are actual
differences in chemical behavior between the members of a given
homologous series. These differences enrich advanced work in organic
chemistry, but they will for the most part be neglected here. The more
important chemical properties of alkanes will be illustrated in the
equations below.

(English et al, 1971.Principles of Organic Chemistry)

A. Lea el título del texto y diga qué puede anticipar sobre

el tema.

B. ¿Qué entiende por propiedades?

C. Diga en qué línea/s del texto se nombran:

Propiedades:

Ejemplos de alcanos:

Ejemplos de reactivos no acuosos:

Propiedad de una serie homóloga:

Excepciones:

D. Diga a qué hacen referencia:

1. these (línea 2): ……………………………………

2. they (línea 3): ……………………………………..
3. others (línea 10): …………………………………..
4. that (línea 11): ……………………………………
5. other (línea 13): ………………………………….

E. Complete en español el F. Seleccione algunos

vocabulario funcional términos del vocabulario
temático (incluya la versión
en español)
Quite:

Such as:

Most:

In this connection:

Be able to:

However:
Texto VI

SYSTEMS OF UNITS

Parte 1

A quantitative discussion of energy requires the specification of a

system of units.

Intuitively we recognize that units should be specified for the three

fundamental dimensions of length, mass (roughly speaking, the weight
of an object), and time.

Once these three are specified all other mechanical quantities can be
expressed in terms of some combination of length, mass and time. As
other physical concepts such as electricity are introduced, one might
suppose that fundamental dimensions (such as electrical charge) might
be needed. Instead, it turns out the above three dimensions are
sufficient to quantitatively describe all known physical quantities.

In addition, it is common practice to use a fourth quantity,

temperature, as another basic dimension rather than defining it in
terms of mass, length, and time.

A. Responda:

1. El texto habla de tres dimensiones fundamentales

¿cuáles?

2. ¿Se necesitan otras dimensiones si queremos describir

magnitudes/cantidades físicas?

3. ¿Qué dimensión se suele agregar a las otras tres?

B. Si el texto hace referencia a unidades de medición,

¿cuáles supone que nombrará a continuación?
C. Haga una lectura rápida y seleccione las
palabras/frases que incluiría en el vocabulario temático.

Parte 2

In terms of the definitions for those fundamental dimensions there are

three basic systems of units. These are the MKS system, in which the
meter (m), kilogram (kg), and second (sec) are the fundamental units;
the CGS system in which the centimetre (cm), gram (g), and second are
the basic units; and the English system, comprised of the foot (ft), slug
[pound (lb)], and second. The choice of which system to use depends
upon the application. The MKS system is advantageous when
considering electrical quantities that are expressed in volts (V) and
amperes (A). For atomic and nuclear phenomena the CGS system is
commonly used. Because of historical precedent, most common
quantities are still expressed in English units, although this is now
changing as the United States moves toward complete use of the
metric system. Metric system units will be adopted in this text, with
English units sometimes appended for comparison.

(Mc Daniels, 1979. The Sun: Our future energy source)

D. Lea nuevamente el texto completo. Identifique y

subraye los ejemplos de be como auxiliar. Luego
inclúyalos para completar la tabla a continuación.

Ejemplo Traducción
…should be specified… …deben ser especificadas…

E. Lea el texto completo y diga a qué hacen referencia:

1. these three (línea 6): …………………….

2. those (línea 15): …………….…………..
3. which (línea 16): ………………………..
4. this (línea 25) : …………………………
Texto VII

Lea el texto a continuación. ¿A qué objetos

corresponden las siguientes descripciones?

DESCRIPTIONS

1. The front of this object is circular or square in shape. Two arrow-

shaped pointers are attached to the centre of the circle or square. The
edge of the circle or square is divided into twelve sections. The front is
usually covered with glass or plastic.

2. This object consists of a closed tube which contains a red or silver

liquid, and is made of glass. The tube is cylindrical in shape, but one
end is spherical in shape.

3. This object has two flat parts, which are both made of wood. They
are joined to each other at right angles. It is T-shaped.

4. This object is made of wood, metal or plastic and is shaped like a

long rectangle. The top and bottom edges are divided into sections by
short vertical lines.

(Adaptado de Bates et al, 1982. Nucleus, English for science and Technology-
General Science)

Texto VIII

Lea los siguientes enunciados, subraye las formas be y

traduzca.

1. The quantum number might be said to give the

orientation of the plane in which the electron orbits.

2. It was once believed that nuclei might contain very

tightly-bound electron pairs.
3. Before 1932, it was once thought that the proton, the
nucleus of an ordinary hydrogen atom, was the only
constituent common to all nuclei.

4. Since matter is assumed to consist of atoms, the

phenomenon of electrolysis suggests that atoms might be
partly electrical in structure.

5. Parts of the body that lie in the direction of the head are
said to be in the cranial direction.

Autoevaluación:

¿Tuvo alguna dificultad para resolver los ejercicios?

¿Cuál/es? Regístrelas aquí por escrito. En otro momento
de nuestro estudio volveremos a ellas.
 Sección Gramatical

Be como auxiliar

El verbo be combinado con otros ítems gramaticales

constituye formas verbales más complejas que expresan
intencionalidad, describen estados y procesos.

En estas formas verbales compuestas es muy importante

prestar atención al tiempo (pasado, presente o futuro) en
el que se presenta el verbo be.

Las distintas formas de be

1. Be + verbo + ing
Estar (en Presente, Pasado o Futuro) + Forma verbal con
terminación -ando/-endo

The accuracy of measurements depends on the person who is reading

the meter.
La exactitud de las mediciones depende de la persona que está
leyendo el medidor.

Becquerel was making an experiment with uranium when he

discovered radioactivity.
Becquerel estaba haciendo un experimento con uranio cuando
descubrió la radioactividad.

Since you will be probably using a calculator, give a reasonable answer

to each problem.
Ya que probablemente estará usando una calculadora, dé una
respuesta razonable a cada problema.

 A veces se traduce con una forma simple, en casos en

que expresa una acción habitual o frecuente.

The Earth is rotating about its axis.

La Tierra rota/gira alrededor de su eje.
2. Be + going to + infinitivo
Ir a + verbo en infinitivo

We are going to read about relativity in the next two chapters.

Vamos a leer acerca de la relatividad en los próximos dos capítulos.

The physicist was going to mix the substances when they turned red.
El físico iba a mezclar las sustancias cuando se tornaron rojas.

3. Be + infinitivo
Ir a / Tener que + verbo en infinitivo

In this chapter we are to study the differences between Windows and

DOS.

En este capítulo vamos a estudiar las diferencias entre Windows y

DOS.

4. Be + participio
Ser / estar + participio pasado

Esta forma es una de las que tienen mayor ocurrencia en

el texto científico-técnico y generalmente se la conoce
como “Construcción Pasiva”. Equivale a la Voz Pasiva en
español y se usa para describir procesos, enfatizar los
resultados y la acción (no es importante conocer el
agente).

Artificial isotopes are used to power instruments in Earth satellites.

Los isótopos artificiales se usan para poner en funcionamiento
instrumentos en los satélites terrestres.

Radioactivity was discovered in 1895 by a French scientist called Henri

Becquerel.
La radioactividad fue descubierta en 1895 por un científico francés
llamado Henri Becquerel.
As we build the mathematical model, we will be guided by our
experiences with real numbers.
A medida que construyamos nuestro modelo matemático, nos guiarán
nuestras experiencias con los números reales.

 Se prefiere la construcción pasiva con “se” en verbos

como: get, become, find, assume, believe, suppose, think,
say, give, know.

It was thought that carbon compounds could be produced only by plants

and animals.
Se pensaba que los compuestos de carbono solamente podían ser
producidos por las plantas y los animales.

Carbon was supposed to unite with other elements only under the influence
of a vital force of living things.
Se suponía que el carbono se unía con otros elementos sólo por la influencia
de una fuerza vital de los seres vivos.

The light that comes through a filter made of polaroid is said to be

polarized.
Se dice que la luz que atraviesa un filtro polaroid está polarizada. / Se dice
que está polarizada la luz que atraviesa un filtro polaroid.

5. Be + to + be (infinitivo) + participio
Ir a /tener que + infinitivo

If waste is to be stored underground, the containers must not be

broken.
Si se debe/ tiene que/ va a almacenar desechos bajo suelo, los
contenedores no deben estar rotos.

In an experiment for testing Boyle’s law, all conditions which would

change the volume of the gas, but for pressure changes, are to be
eliminated.
En un experimento para demostrar/comprobar la ley de Boyle, todas las
condiciones que cambiarían el volumen del gas, a excepción de los
cambios de presión, deben ser eliminadas.

6. Modal + be
poder / deber / etc + ser / estar

Ya hemos visto los verbos modales en la Unidad 4. La

combinación de estos verbos con be más participio pasado
es muy común en el texto científico.

Ejemplos:

Energy cannot be created or destroyed.

La energía no puede ser creada ni destruida.

Faraday thought magnetic fields could be explained in terms of lines of

force.
Faraday pensaba que los campos magnéticos se podían explicar en
términos de líneas de fuerza.

The difference between speed and velocity must be clearly understood.

Se debe entender claramente la diferencia entre rapidez y velocidad.