Unit 1b Book

1. Introduction

Unit 1b builds on a topic that has been touched on previously: snake wells, which is a technology introduced by the Shell company to extract hard-to-access deposits of oil. Oil is one type of fossil fuel that current economies are dependent on, as it is one of the primary energy sources. However, all fossil fuel deposits will one day be depleted. This fact applies to oil as well. It is obvious that large, easily extractable deposits of oil are becoming rare. The remaining deposits are often distributed across larger areas and over numerous smaller pockets rather than one large. In order to extract oil from these places, technicians had to find a way to get this oil economically and without excessively damaging the environment. The leading text in Unit 1b will provide you with details of the snake well technology, explaining what role smart technologies play in this concept. Within this context, you will have an opportunity to come across some language features that are typical of technical texts, making them sound more formal.

Contents:

Unit 1b revises and introduces some grammar points used to produce formal technical texts:

• Past Participles used for reductions of passive clauses:

The Champion West oilfield, (which is) located 90 km off the coast of Brunei, is Shell´s flagship project.

= Located 90 km off the coast of Brunei, the Champion West oilfield is Shell´s flagship project.

• §   Referencing: It vs. this/that:

Special imaging software generates detailed computer models of underground geology and oil reservoirs.

It has been developed by the technicians of the Shell company.

This enables drills to hit a target far underground that is less than two metres across.

2. A Smart Well: A Diagram and Explanatory Text

Find p. 6 in the book. Look at the diagram in Task 1 and try to answer these two questions:

1. What are the advantages of this method of oil extraction compared with vertical wells?
2. How do you think computers are used in this method?

Questions from: Bonamy, D. (2013). Technical English Level 4 Coursebook. Pearson Longman, p. 6.

Now check your answers to the two questions above by reading the related explanatory text in Task 2 on p. 6 in your book. As you read, complete this reading comprehension task. Then focus on the technical vocabulary in the same article by doing this task.

3. Referencing: This, that and it

While reading the article on p. 6 of your book, you may have noticed that it is full of words like “this” or “that”. These are reference words used to substitute for phrases or sentences mentioned previously, so that they do not need to be repeated. This strategy makes the text much better in terms of stylistics.  Do this task to see if you can find what these reference words refer to in the text about smart wells. However, before doing this task, make sure you understand the difference between this/that and it in terms of referencing. Here are two examples:

Example 1:

A sentence: He invited her to a pub.

She thought it was very nice. (it = the pub, i.e. it refers to just one word in a sentence or to a noun phrase)

She thought this/that was very nice. (this/that = refers to the whole statement/sentence, i.e. the fact that he invited her)

Example 2:

A sentence: Special imaging software generates detailed computer models of underground geology and reservoirs.

It has been developed by the technicians of the Shell company. (i.e. the special imaging software)

This enables drills to hit a target far underground that is less than two metres across. (i.e. the fact that the software generates detailed computer models of underground geology and reservoirs)

4. A Way to Make Texts Sound More Formal: Using Past Participles for Reductions of Passive Clauses

While reading the text in the course book, you came across sentences like:

Located 90 km off the coast of Brunei, the Champion West oilfield is Shell´s flagship project.

This sentence means the same as:

The Champion West oilfield, (which is) located 90 km off the coast of Brunei, is Shell´s flagship project.

The past participle “Located” in the first sentence above has been used to reduce the relative clause “which is located 90 km off the coast of Brunei” in the second sentence. This reduction not only made the sentence shorter, but also more formal. This use of past participles is typical of formal technical texts. Study this grammar point in detail in this grammar overview. Then practise the material in the context of general English here and here before moving on to a technical context in this task.

5. Final Reflection

As you can see, the main idea behind smart wells is that currently, it is necessary to extract crude oil from places that are very hard to access. But why is that? Read the text here and answer all the questions.

In addition to vertical drilling, smart wells predominantly use the technology of horizontal drilling. Have you heard that horizontal drilling can also be applied in other fields, not just in the oil industry? As you can see in the video, it can be used to bury pipes or cables under roads, rivers or any other obstacles. Watch the video and complete this listening task.

Finally, take part in this forum, which deals with some issues related to horizontal oil drilling as well as energy sources in general. Answer at least two of the questions and respond to at least one contribution of a fellow student.  

6. Word list

The key terms related to the topic of Unit 1b can be found:

• in the Excel format here.
• in the interactive flash card format here. This format is particularly good for drilling the new vocabulary.
• in a zip file here. This file is downloadable, so that after unpacking it, you can drill the new vocabulary on your desktop, laptop or any other portable device where you have a browser installed. The recommended one is Mozilla Firefox. Important: after unzipping the zip file, make sure to keep all the related files in the same directory at all times. Do not change any file names and do not transfer or delete anything.

Recommendation: Remember that the best way to learn new vocabulary is to see each new word in a context; that is, seeing it in the contexts provided in the tasks you complete in the unit.

7. Printer-friendly version of exercises + key to exercises

A printer-friendly version of Unit 1b exercises and the keys to these exercises can be found here.