ENGLISH

ST
1 YEAR

- Part II -

University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine

Faculty of Agriculture

Specialization Agriculture

Bucharest
2023
 UNIT 2
WHAT SHOULD AN AGRICULTURAL ENGINEER KNOW?

Exercise 1. The complex aspects of agriculture require various abilities and competences.
Among others, calculation skills, as well as verbal and written communication skills, are
necessary, in addition to the knowledge of biological and technical sciences strictly related to
agriculture and farming.
a) In your opinion, why is it important for agricultural engineers to know foreign
languages, particularly English?

b) Varieties of English. English is spoken in many countries either as the mother tongue or as a
second language. That is why instead of ‘English’ there are many ‘Englishes’ – variations of the
language: British, American, Canadian, Australian, New Zealand, South Asian, African. The
differences are somewhat minor (they involve mostly pronunciation and vocabulary) and tend to
enrich communication rather than slow it down.
For the Europeans, British and American are the most important varieties of English.
Here is a selection of some fundamental differences between the two.

Spelling
British English American English
aluminium aluminum
catalogue, dialogue catalog, dialog
centre, theatre center, theater
colour, favour color, favor
defence, licence defense, license
jewellery jewelry
pyjamas pajamas
analyse, criticise analyze, criticize
civilisation, organisation civilization, organization
 Pronunciation
Americans usually pronounce the letter ‘r’ by rolling their tongue back and pressing it to
the roof of their mouths whereas most British people don’t pronounce the letter ‘r’, especially
when it occurs at the end of a word.
Words like ‘can’t’, ‘class’, ‘laugh’, ‘water’, ‘leisure’, ‘lieutenant’, etc. have distinctly
different pronunciations in British English and American English.

Word stress
British English American English
address address
advertisement advertisement
detail detail

Vocabulary
British English American English
lift elevator
boot trunk
litter garbage
crossroad crossing
trousers pants

Grammar
Present Perfect and Past Simple Tense
British English American English
I’ve just received an email. I’ve just received an email. / I just
She’s already answered your received an email.
question. She’s already answered your
Have you completed your article yet? question. / She already answered your
question.
Have you completed your article
yet? / Did you complete your article
yet?
 Present Continuous
British English American English
I like this conversation more and I’m liking this conversation more and
more. more.
I remember this quite clearly. I’m remembering this quite clearly.

‘have’ and ‘have got’

British English American English
Have you got a laptop? Do you have a computer?
She hasn’t got any hobbies. She doesn’t have any hobbies.
She’s got an interesting new e-reader. She has an interesting new e-reader.

Adverbs
British English American English
Let’s take things slowly. Let’s take things slow.
Her car drives more quickly. Her car drives quicker.

Prepositions
British English American English
I’ll do that at the weekend. I’ll do that on the weekend.
I used to play football when I was at I used to play football when I was
university. in university.
It’s not different to/from others. It’s not different than/from others.
Write to me when you can! Write me when you can!

In conclusion, British and American English are more similar than they are different.
New media and globalization enable more and more people to participate in an active exchange
of ideas and experiences and therefore the geographical differences in the versions of English are
becoming less instead of greater.
c) What are the corresponding words for the following?
British English American English
autumn
biscuit
film
apartment
vacation
lift
pavement
mail
bar
candy
torch

Exercise 2. Specialist English. a) The key to Specialist English, as opposed to Conversational

English, is simplicity. In order to communicate specific information, it is very important to make
it easier to read, write and understand. Here are several rules that must be observed when using
Specialist English:
- Do not use words that belong to the conversational style.
- Use consistent spelling (either British or American).
- Keep to one topic per one sentence. Put sentences in a logical sequence of action,
preferably underneath one another.
- Keep sentences as short as possible. Divide long sentences into a number of shorter
sentences (max. 25 words per sentences is acceptable, but less is better).
- Use lists where appropriate, in order to promote the logical sequence of the actions in
language.
All these rules result in several advantages: the text is faster to read and you get your
message across more often, more easily and in a friendlier way. The following three examples
show the same content and meaning:

b) Match several characteristics of Specialist English with their description:

accurate clear impartial
 objective simple structured logically
- Ideas and processes are expressed in a logical order. The text is divided into sections with clear
headings.
- It avoids making assumptions (Everyone knows that...) and unproven statements (It can never
be proved that...). It presents how and where data were collected and supports its conclusions
with evidence.
- It avoids unnecessary detail.
- It avoids vague and ambiguous language such as: about, approximately, almost.
- It uses direct language, avoiding vague or complicated sentences. Technical terms and jargon
are used only when they are necessary for accuracy.
- Statements and ideas are supported by appropriate evidence that demonstrates how conclusions
have been drawn as well as acknowledging the work of others.

Exercise 3. In agriculture, many English words come from Latin and Greek. Consider the
following examples:
acid bacterium chlorophyll fertilizer fungus hybrid
meristem nutrient parasite stamen toxicity variety
a) How many other similar words can you list in 2 minutes? (Work with a colleague.)

b) Many of the words above have plural forms from the language they come from (Latin or
Greek): alga – algae, larva – larvae, nucleus – nuclei, bacterium – bacteria, stratum – strata,
criterion – criteria, phenomenon – phenomena. Others form the plural according to the English
rules (sinus – sinuses, virus – viruses) or even have two forms (aquarium – aquaria/aquariums,
maximum – maxima/maximums, minimum – minima/minimums).
Give the plural forms of the following nouns:
antenna ................................................ crisis ................................................
automaton ................................................ datum ................................................
bacillus ................................................ diagnosis ................................................
cactus ................................................ formula ................................................
ganglion ................................................ paralysis ................................................
genus ................................................ spectrum ................................................
index ................................................ synthesis ................................................
matrix ................................................ vertebra ................................................
narcissus ................................................ vortex ................................................

Exercise 4. Chemical elements. The names of most of the 118 chemical elements included in the
periodic table are identical or quite similar in both English and Romanian (eg. carbon, neon,
nitrogen, zinc, copper, hydrogen, nickel, oxygen). Others have different endings (eg. chromium,
lithium, sodium, manganese, chlorine, fluorine, iodine, phosphorus) or are completely different
words (eg. gold, iron, silver, tin).
Give the names of the chemical elements according to their symbols:
B ............................................................ N ............................................................
Ca ............................................................ Pb ...........................................................
Hg ............................................................ Si ............................................................
K ............................................................ Sn ...........................................................
Mn ........................................................... W ............................................................

Exercise 5. Introduction to Agriculture. Agriculture is derived from Latin words ager (land or
field) and cultura (cultivation). Therefore, the term agriculture means cultivation of land, i.e. the
science and art of producing crops and livestock for economic purposes. It is also referred as the
science of producing crops and livestock from the natural resources of the earth.
The primary aim of agriculture is to cause the land to produce more abundantly, and at
the same time, to protect it from deterioration and misuse. It is synonymous with farming, i.e.
the production of food, fodder and other industrial materials.

Agriculture is defined as the art, the science and the business of producing crops and the
livestock for economic purposes.

As an art, it embraces knowledge of the way to perform the operations of the farm in a
skillful manner. The skill is categorized as:

- physical skill: It involves the ability and capacity to carry out the operation in an
efficient way for e.g., handling of farm implements, animals etc., sowing of seeds, fertilizer and
pesticides application etc.
 - mental skill: The farmer is able to take a decision based on experience, such as (i) time
and method of ploughing, (ii) selection of crop and cropping system to suit soil and climate,
(iii) adopting improved farm practices etc.

As a science, it utilizes all modern technologies developed on scientific principles such

as crop improvement/breeding, crop production, crop protection, economics etc., to maximize
the yield and profit. For example, new crops and varieties developed by hybridization,
transgenic crop varieties resistant to pests and diseases, hybrids in each crop, high fertilizer
responsive varieties, water management, herbicides to control weeds, use of bio-control agents
to combat pest and diseases etc.

As a business, agriculture is the way of life of the rural population, and so production is
ultimately bound to consumption. But agriculture as a business aims at maximum net return
through the management of land, labour, water and capital, employing the knowledge of
various sciences for production of food, feed, fibre and fuel. In recent years, agriculture is
commercialized to run as a business through mechanization.

Exercise 6. Insert the following characteristics of plants and animals in the right sentence:
cell structure growth life time movement
nutrition reproduction size and shape types of food
- Plants have no definite ............................................................. while in animals these
characteristics are definite.
- ............................................................. is not limited for plants, they live for a long
period under suitable conditions. But animals live up to a certain length of time under suitable
conditions.
- ............................................................ of many plants continues for a long period in
suitable environments. In animals it takes place up to a certain stage of life.
- Most land plants remain fixed in soil with the help of roots as a result they cannot
move although some organs of plants may show some..............................................................
This characteristic is absent in some animals (such as sponge) are but most animals can move
freely.
- Plants cannot take solid food while animals can take both solid and
liquid .............................................................
 - Regarding ............................................................., plants are autotrophic as they can
prepare food through photosynthesis. Animals cannot prepare their own food and depend on
plants and other animals.
- In terms of ............................................................., a plant cell has a dead cell wall.
Most of the mature cells have a large vacuole and plastids. The animal cell has no cell wall and
contains small vacuoles and centrioles.
- Plant ............................................................. includes vegetative, asexual and sexual
methods. In animals it mainly takes place by the sexual method although vegetative and asexual
reproduction may be found in some animals.

Exercise 7. Numbers are essential for engineers, irrespective of specialization. There are
different classes of numbers that help us recognise things, place events in chronological order,
identify parts of a whole, describe sets of objects, indicate the number of parts in an object, etc.
The British scientist William Thompson said, ’When you can measure what you are
speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it. But when you cannot
express it in numbers, your knowledge is of a meager and unsatisfactory kind.’
Like all other languages, English has various ways of expressing numbers. How many do
you know?

Exercise 8. a) Turn the words below into numbers:

three trillion ………………………………………………………
two thirds ………………………………………………………
seven eights ………………………………………………………
thirty-five and a half thousand ………………………………………………………
half a billion ………………………………………………………
two and a quarter million ………………………………………………………
five grand ………………………………………………………
nineteen sixty-six ………………………………………………………
two thousand and twelve ………………………………………………………
six euros and nine cents ………………………………………………………
fifteen hundred ………………………………………………………
twenty fourteen ………………………………………………………
three quarters ………………………………………………………

b) Write the following numbers in words:

1,000,000,000,000,000,000 .....................................................................................................
3/4 .....................................................................................................................
2020 .....................................................................................................................
237,459 .....................................................................................................................
1500 .....................................................................................................................
436,821.450 .....................................................................................................................
6/8 .....................................................................................................................
1,000,000,000 .....................................................................................................................
2005 .....................................................................................................................
926.92 .....................................................................................................................

Exercise 9. a) Complete the calculations using the words below (sometimes there is more than
one possible answer):
divided less minus multiplied
plus square square root squared
subtract sum times
14 + 8 = 22 Fourteen ……………………… eight equals twenty-two.
100 x 20 = 2,000 One hundred ……………………… twenty is two thousand.
7 x 11 = 77 Seven ……………………… by eleven equals seventy-seven.
400 : 8 = 50 Four hundred ……………………… by eight equals fifty.
95 + 2 = 97 The ……………………… of ninety-five and two is ninety-seven.
82 = 64 The ……………………… of eight is sixty-four.
 50 – 30 = 20 If you ……………………… thirty from fifty, it equals twenty.
√100 = 10 The ……………………… of a hundred is ten.
112 = 121 Eleven ……………………… is a hundred and twenty-one.
48 – 12 = 36 Forty-eight ……………………… twelve equals thirty-six.

b) Addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. During a TV programme about garden

design, the presenter is explaining the calculations required to make a large setsquare which can
be used for setting out.
add… to added together divide… by equal
equal to equals is less
minus multiplied by plus square
subtract… from the square of the square root the sum of
times
To make one of these, you need to use Pythagoras’s Theorem. So, a quick geometry lesson.
Measure a length of timber for one of the sides adjacent to the right angle. I've made this 3 feet
long. Then ………………………….. that number – 3 ………………………….. 3
………………………….. 9. Then do the same with the other side adjacent to the right angle.
I’ve made this one 4 feet long. Work out ………………………….. that. So, 4
………………………….. 4 ………………………….. 16. Then work out
………………………….. those two numbers – so if I ………………………….. 16
………………………….. 9. 16 ………………………….. 9 is 25. Then, calculate
………………………….. of that. The square root of 25 is 5. That means the longest side – the
hypotenuse – needs to be 5 feet long. And it doesn’t matter what length you make the two
adjacent sides – if the square of the hypotenuse is ………………………….. the square of each
of the adjacent sides, ………………………….., you’ll have a perfect right-angle.
Now, you can also start by making the hypotenuse, square the length of that, then make
one of the other sides, square the length of that, and then ………………………….. one
………………………….. the other. For this example, that would be 25
………………………….. 16. So, 25 ………………………….. 16 is 9. And the square root of 9
is 3, which gives me the remaining side. Alternatively, you can make both the adjacent sides
………………………….. – make them the same length. So, take the square of the hypotenuse,
which is 25, ………………………….. that ………………………….. 2, which is 12.5, then
work out the square root of 12.5, which requires a calculator. That’s why it’s easiest to use a 3-4-
5 triangle, like this, which conveniently works with whole numbers. And that’s also why I’m
measuring in imperial, because 3 feet by 4 feet by 5 feet is a practical size to work with.

Exercise 10. Exercise 9b refers to some ’imperial’ measures, i.e. the traditional system of
weights and measures used by the United Kingdom and the British Empire. Although the UK
adopted the metric system in 1965, the British Imperial System is still used by the British Isles,
Canada and other countries formerly part of the British Empire, and is the basis for the United
States Customary System.
a) Match the following British and American measurements with their European equivalents:
1. one inch a) 1.6 km
2. one pound b) 25.4 mm
3. one ounce c) 28 g
4. one yard d) 3.79 L
5. one gallon e) 454 g
6. one foot f) 30.48 cm
7. one mile g) 0.57 L
8. one pint h) 0.91 m

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

b) Read the following statements and decide which is true or false:

A UK pound is heavier than a US pound. T/F
150 km/h is slower than 100 mph. T/F
An inch is shorter than a centimetre. T/F
Water boils at 212F and freezes at 32F. T/F
A pint of beer is more than half a litre of beer. T/F
A US gallon is approximately a UK gallon. T/F
It will take you longer to run 100 metres than 100 yards. T/F
15 ounces of gold is more expensive than 100 grams of gold. T/F
c) Reformulate the following Celsius temperatures in Farenheit degrees, using the formula: F =
9/5C+32 or F = 1.8xC+32
37 …………… 15 …………… 2 ……………
29 …………… 41 …………… 23 ……………
5 …………… 17 …………… 11 ……………

d) Fill in the blanks by the right conversions:

1 metre = ………… yards (yd)
1 m = ………… feet (ft)
1 cm = ………… inches (in)
1 kg = ………… ounces (oz)
1 kg = ………… pounds (lbs)
0°C = ………… °F (degrees Fahrenheit)
100°C = ………… °F (degrees Fahrenheit)
1 mph = ………… km/h
1 lb = ………… ounces (oz)
1 L = ………… Br. pints (pts), Am. ………… pts
1 gal = ………… Br. litres (L), ………… Am. liters
1 t (tonne) = ………… Br. tons, ………… Am. tons

NOTES