What’s in The News? Unusual Coral Reefs Discovered in The Pacific Ocean.

Speaking Practice. At the Bank.

English Grammar. Prepositions of Time: after/later/on/in/at

Scientists had long believed that the waters of the Central and  Northeast Pacific Ocean were inhospitable to certain species of deep-sea  corals, but a marine biologist’s discovery of an odd chain of reefs  suggests there are mysteries about the development and durability of  coral colonies yet to be uncovered.

Scientist Amy Taylor of Florida State University (FSU), in  collaboration with researchers from Texas A&M University, found the  reefs during an autonomous underwater vehicle survey of the  sea-mountains of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.

“I’ve been exploring the deep sea around the Hawaiian Islands since  1998, and have seen enough to know that the presence of the reefs at  these depths was definitely unexpected,” Amy Taylor said.

Some ocean areas, such as the North Atlantic and South Pacific, are  particularly fertile habitats for deep-sea reefs, but a combination of  factors led scientists to believe that finding these coral colonies was  exceedingly unlikely in the deep waters of the North Pacific.

The researchers suggest potential reasons for the improbable success  of these hardy reefs. Among them, higher concentrations of chlorophyll  in the areas of reef growth suggest that an abundance of food may  provide the excess energy needed for calcification.

While there are reasons why we do what we do in English, often there  is no reason at all. Common phrases or expressions are created by  people. Most from the past. Phrases or time expressions are often  referred to as “Colloquial Speech or Collocations”. Is there “always” a  reason for what we say in English? Short answer: NO! The main idea is to  learn time expressions by heart. Study, Practice and Speak English with  common phrases to speak and understand others. Here are brief  explanations and examples. Have fun!

Use after + phrase, and use later alone (at the end of a sentence or phrase).

     I’ll call you later.  

     I’ll call you after I get home from work.  

     First he bought a new car. Two weeks later, he bought a new motorcycle.  

    He bought a new motorcycle two weeks after he bought a car.  

You can say “later + time period” to refer to an unspecified time in the future, for example:

     I’ll finish the project later this week.  

    We’ll go on vacation later this year.

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