Unit 11b: Book

1. Introduction

Like Unit 11a, Unit 11b uses the context of the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric power station accident to give you an opportunity to revise some grammar points as well as to learn something new. When studying the details of the tragedy, you will revise hyphenated adjectives and phrases used to speculate about the past. On top of that, the unit is also going to discuss some possible precautions that would have prevented the incident. To talk about these speculative precautions in the past and to express regret, the third conditional is usually used.

Contents

Revision:

• Hyphenated adjectives: a 1,360-tonne turbine.
• Speculating about the past: Turbine 2 can´t have been ready for use.

New grammar point: 

The third conditional: If they had replaced the turbine bolts, the accident would not have happened.

2. Forum: Generation of Electricity and Related Problems

Like any other technical field, electrical engineering is not without problems. They occur both on a smaller scale, for example, during electrical maintenance at home, and on a larger scale, affecting a much larger population. Perhaps there is no one who has not heard about the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power station. What do you think?  Has Chernobyl been the most serious accident involving the generation of electricity ever? If not, do you know about some others? What were their consequences? As a result, should a particular type of power station not be used any longer? If so, what other type of energy generation should it be replaced by? Give your opinion in this forum.

3. Grammar Revision: Hyphenated Adjectives

In Unit 11a you learned about the serious accident that happened at the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric power station in Siberia, Russia. What do you remember about it? Find out in this task.

4. Listening: The Sayano-Shushenskaya Power Station Accident

Surprisingly, there used to be a footage of the accident on YouTube here, but it has been deleted. However, you can still watch the video here in Moodle. As you watch the video below, complete this listening comprehension task.

5. New Grammar: Third Conditional

What do you think – what would have prevented the accident? In order to speculate about this past event (and, possibly, in order to express regret), you need to use a grammar point called the third conditional. First, read about it in this grammar overview and make sure you are able to distinguish between the following conditional types: the zero conditional, first conditional, second conditional and third conditional. Then practise this grammar point in a general English context first by completing this gap-fill exercise and this reading exercise.

6. Speculating about Preventative Measures; Expressing Regret

Now it is time to use the third conditional structure in a technical context. Complete this task about the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric power station accident. Of course, the case was investigated and the investigation committee came up with lots of speculations. See them in this task. While completing it, notice that part of the third conditional structure can be used to express speculations about the past, as was explained in Unit 8a – particularly in this document. This structure was also used by the investigators when they were making some of their recommendations, as you can see here.

7. Writing: The Third Conditional

Now, you have an opportunity to use the third conditional in your own writing. Choose one of the questions below and answer it in a well-developed text, in which you should also explain the reasons for your opinions. The number of words should not exceed 300. Submit your text here.

8. Word List

The key terms related to the topic of Unit 11b 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. 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, step by step as you complete all the tasks in the unit.

9. A printer-friendly version of Unit 11b

A printer-friendly version of Unit 11b exercises and the key to these exercises can be found here.