Neste módulo, você vai encontrar a biografia de William James Sidis. Acompanham o texto algumas questões (com sugestões de respostas), além de material de apoio (vocabulário e apostila gramatical) e material complementar (vídeos, jogos, animações, etc.). A apostila gramatical deste módulo aborda o passado perfeito. Bons estudos!
William James Sidis was born in 1898. His mother gave up her own ambitions to promote the intellectual abilities of their young son. By the time young Sidis was 18 months old, he had learned how to read - even the New York Times. By this time he had also learned how to count.
By the time he was three, he had already learned Latin, Greek, English and French. After only seven months in grade school he had completed all seven grades. At the age of seven he took an interest in maths. By the time he was eight, he had already written four books.
At eight he passed the Harvard Medical School anatomy examination and the entrance exam for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. By this time he had already learned eight languages. In high school he took six weeks to complete the four year curriculum. From then on, William stayed at home, because he had learned everything there was to learn in school.
By the time he was eleven, he had mastered advanced mathematics, so he enrolled as a 'special student' at Harvard. By the time he was sixteen, he had already graduated from Harvard. He then went to the Rice lnstitute, Houston, Texas, as a maths professor, where he increasingly became a social misfit. After his students had ridiculed their child professor for eight months, Sidis finally gave up.
He went back to Harvard to study law. By the time he was eighteen, he had already studied more than forty languages. Up to this time, Sidis had been driven by his parents to become a mental giant, but he led a totally isolated life. A few years later he disappeared from society. Sidis died of a stroke at age 46.
QUESTÕES
1 – O que William James Sidis já havia aprendido:
a) com 18 meses de idade?
b) com 3 anos de idade?
2 – Quanto tempo Sidis levou para concluir:
a) o Ensino Fundamental?
b) o Ensino Médio?
3 – Quantos livros Sidis já havia escrito com oito anos de idade?
4 – Por que Sidis parou de ir a escola após os oito anos de idade?
5 – Com quantos anos Sidis entrou na universidade de Harvard como aluno especial?
6 – Com quantos anos Sidis se formou na universidade de Harvard?
7 – O que Sidis foi fazer no Instituto Rice (Houston – Texas) e o que aconteceu com ele lá?
8 – Com que idade Sidis morreu e qual foi a causa de sua morte?
9 – Observe as seguintes expressões, todas retiradas do texto: had learned, had completed, had already written, had mastered, had already graduated, had ridiculed, had already studied e had been driven. O que essas expressões têm em comum?
RESPOSTAS SUGERIDAS (clique em "exibir")
1 – a) Com 18 meses de idade, William James Sidis já havia aprendido a ler e a contar.
b) Com 3 anos de idade, William James Sidis já havia aprendido latim, grego, inglês e francês.
2 – a) Sidis levou sete meses para concluir o Ensino Fundamental.
b) Sidis levou seis semanas para concluir o Ensino Médio.
3 – Com oito anos de idade, Sidis já havia escrito quatro livros.
4 – Sidis parou de ir a escola após os oito anos de idade porque ele já havia aprendido tudo o que havia para aprender na escola.
5 – Sidis entrou na universidade de Harvard como aluno especial com 11 anos.
6 – Sidis se formou na universidade de Harvard com 16 anos.
7 – Sidis foi como professor de matemática para o Instituto Rice, onde ele se tornou uma pessoa deslocada socialmente. Depois de seus alunos terem ridicularizado o “professor criança” por oito meses, ele finalmente desistiu.
8 – Sidis morreu com 46 anos de idade, pois teve um derrame cerebral.
9 – Aquelas expressões têm em comum o fato de estarem no passado perfeito (had + particípio do verbo) e, portanto, indicarem algo que aconteceu no passado antes de algum outro fato que aconteceu também no passado.
VOCABULÁRIO
Glossário monolíngue (inglês-inglês)
already: earlier than the time expected.
curriculum: the group of subjects studied in a school, college, etc.
enroll: to put yourself or someone else onto the official list of members of a course, college or group.
give up: to stop trying something.
grade: a school class or group of classes in which all the children are of a similar age or ability.
increasingly: more and more.
law: the study of the rules, usually made by a government, that are used to order the way in which a society behaves.
lead: to live a particular type of life.
misfit: a person who doesn't fit into society.
ridicule: to laugh at someone in an unkind way.
stroke: a sudden change in the blood supply to a part of the brain, which can cause a loss of the ability to move particular parts of the body.
grade school: a school for children from the age of 5 to the age of 10 or 14.
Glossário bilíngue (inglês-português)
already: já.
curriculum: grade curricular.
enroll: inscrever, matricular.
give up: desistir.
grade: série, ano escolar.
increasingly: cada vez mais.
law: direito, legislação, advocacia.
lead: levar, conduzir, viver.
misfit: pessoa desajustada, deslocada.
ridicule: ridicularizar.
stroke: derrame cerebral.
grade school: escola de ensino fundamental.
APOSTILA GRAMATICAL
1. Past Perfect
O past perfect é usado para descrever uma ação que ocorreu no passado, antes de outra ação também passada. Equivale, em português, ao passado-mais-que-perfeito.
1.2 Estrutura
O past perfect é um tempo composto por dois verbos: um auxiliar e outro principal. O auxiliar é o verbo to have no passado simples, ou seja: had. O verbo principal sempre deve estar no particípio passado. O particípio passado dos verbos regulares tem a mesma forma que o passado (terminam em -ed) e o dos verbos irregulares tem forma própria. Sendo assim, é necessário estudá-los um a um. Para estudar os verbos irregulares, veja a lista dos verbos irregulares.
1.3 Exemplos
(1) By the time Sidis was three, he had already
learned Latin, Greek, English and French.
(2) By the time he was eight, he had already written four books.
Note que, nestes exemplos, os passados perfeitos had learned e had written aconteceram antes de outros tempos passados, que são by the time Sidis was three e by the time he was eight.
O exemplo (1) quer dizer que, quando o Sidis tinha três anos (portanto, tempo passado), ele já havia aprendido latim, grego, inglês e francês (tempo passado que aconteceu antes do fato de Sidis ter três anos).
O exemplo (2) quer dizer que, quando o Sidis tinha oito anos (portanto, tempo passado), ele já havia escrito quatro livros (tempo passado que aconteceu antes do fato de Sidis ter oito anos).
2. Construção das formas afirmativa, negativa e interrogativa
A seguir, mostraremos como é a construção das formas afirmativa, negativa e interrogativa em inglês, no passado perfeito.
2.1. AFIRMATIVA
Sujeito + had + verbo no particípio + complemento.
Exemplos:
I had already learned English when I was eight.
You had left the room when I arrived.
Sidis had already written four books when he was eight.
His mother had given up her own ambitions when Sidis was born.
Harvad University had already accepted other special students when Sidis got there.
We had already had dinner when you called us.
You had read the book before watching the movie.
They had finished the test when the teacher said that time was up.
2.2 INTERROGATIVA
Had + sujeito + verbo no particípio + complemento?
Exemplos:
Had I already learned English when I was eight?
Had you left the room when I arrived?
Had Sidis already written four books when he was eight?
Had his mother given up her own ambitions when Sidis was born?
Had Harvad University already accepted other special students when Sidis got there?
Had we already had dinner when you called us?
Had you read the book before watching the movie?
Had they finished the test when the teacher said that time was up?
2.3 NEGATIVA
Sujeito + had + not + verbo no particípio + complemento.
Exemplos:
I had not learned English when I was eight.
You had not left the room when I arrived.
Sidis had not written four books when he was eight.
His mother had not given up her own ambitions when Sidis was born.
Harvad University had not accepted other special students when Sidis got there.
We had not had dinner when you called us.
You had not read the book before watching the movie.
They had not finished the test when the teacher said that time was up.
2.4 Contrações possíveis:
I had = I’d
You had = You’d
He had = He’d
She had = She’d
It had = It’d*
We had = We’d
They had = They’d
Had not = Hadn’t
*
A contração it’d é pouco usada, já que é difícil de ser pronunciada.
3. Situações de Uso
As situações de emprego deste tempo verbal são as seguintes:
3.1 Para expressar um fato que ocorreu no passado antes de outro que também aconteceu no passado (passado anterior a outro passado). O
past perfect, que expressa o primeiro fato está sempre em correlação com o
simple past, que expressa o fato posterior:
Exemplo: You
had left the room when I
arrived.
Note que, neste caso, a situação passada "você tinha saído do quarto" (
past perfect) aconteceu antes da situação passada "eu cheguei" (
simple past).
3.2 Com o advérbio
just para expressar uma ação que tinha
acabado de acontecer:
Exemplo: When I
saw him, I
had just
seen his sister.
3.3 Com os advérbios
already, when, by the time, never, ever, before, after, para enfatizar a ideia de que a ação
estava totalmente acabada:
Exemplo: By the time Sidis
was three, he
had already
learned Latin, Greek, English and French.
Anexo: Lista de verbos irregulares (Forma-base, Passado e Passado Particípio).
TESTE SEUS CONHECIMENTOS!
1. Vença o professorNeste jogo, você deve completar as sentenças, que contêm o tempo verbal past perfect, com o particípio passado correto. São 15 perguntas, se você acertar todas, você vence!
