3.

THE VERB (TENSES AND MOODS)

3.1. Tense and Aspect 42

3.2. Present Tense Simple 42

3.3. Present Tense Continuous 43

3.4. Past Tense Simple 44

3.5. Past Tense Continuous 45

3.6. Present Perfect Simple 46

3.7. Present Perfect Continuous 47

3.8. Past Perfect Simple 48

3.9. Past Perfect Continuous 49

Specific objectives

Summary 56

Self-evaluation tests 56

Bibliography 59

Specific objectives:
At the end of the chapter you will be able to:

 define the concepts of tense and aspect in English

 analyze each tense that has been approached, considering the aspect and
the type of action expressed
 find similarities and dissimilarities between the tenses in English and
Romanian
 correctly use these tenses in sentences and texts

Estimated time for individual study: 4 hours

Alina Beatrice Cheşcă The Verb (Tenses and Moods)

3.1. Tense and Aspect

It is generally accepted that the word TIME stands for the concept with which
all mankind is familiar, divided into past, present and future. And, one must
also underline that it is something independent from language.
By TENSE we understand that correspondence between the form of the verb
and our concept of time.
ASPECT is the manner in which a verbal action is experienced or regarded. If
the action is complete, the simple/common/indefinite aspect is used. If it is in
progress at a given moment, the continuous/progressive/expanded aspect is
used.
It must be shown that TIME is not the only concept rendered by the tense of
the verb. TENSE may also express the completeness or incompleteness of an
action which is or was still on its way.

3.2. Present Tense Simple

FORM:
Affirmative: Interrogative:
I/you/we/they read Do I/you/we/they read?
He/she/it reads Does he/she/it read?
Negative:
I/you/we/they do not read/don’t read
He/she/it does not/doesn’t read
USE:
1. to express eternal/general truths, or to make statements of general validity:
e.g. The sun rises in the East and sets in the West.
Wood floats on water.
2. to express repeated/habitual/permanent actions. Such actions are usually
accompanied by the adverbs: every day/week/month/year, ever, never, always,
often, sometimes, seldom, occasionally, usually, twice a week, etc.
e.g. The solicitor always helps a person who needs the assistance of a law for a
certain problem. (Avocatul nepledant intotdeauna il ajuta pe cel ce are nevoie
de asistenta juridica pentru o anumita problema.)
The exit polls suggest that the president faces a Congress with a narrow but
hostile Republican majority in both House and Senate. (Sondajul la urne arata
ca presedintele se confrunta cu un Congres republican nemajoritar, dar ostil, in
Camera si in Senat.)
At every trial, the judge conducts the proceedings and points out the matters.
(La fiecare proces, judecatorul conduce actiunea si puncteaza problemele.)

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I find it hard to believe that he does not want to appeal to the High Court of
Justice. (Imi vine greu sa cred ca nu vrea sa apeleze la Inalta Curte de Justitie.
What do you think of this barrister? (Ce crezi despre acest avocet pledant?)
3. in step-by-step instructions or demonstrations:
e.g. First, you listen to the prosecutor, then you cross-examine the witnesses.
(Mai intai, il asculti pe procurer, apoi audiezi martorii.)

3.3. Present Tense Continuous

FORM: the verb “to be” + VERB +ing
Affirmative: Interrogative:
I am reading Am I reading?
You/we/they are reading Are you/we/they reading?
He/she/it is reading Is he/she/it reading?
Negative:
I am not/I’m not reading
You/we/they are not/aren’t reading
He/she/it is not/isn’t reading
USE:
1. to express an action started before the present moment, which is in progress
at the moment of speaking and which will terminate in the future. This form of
the verb indicates that the duration of the action is limited. The feeling of
immediate present is often emphasized by “just” and “now”:
e.g. Now, we are learning for our advanced civil law exam. (Acum, noi
invatam pentru examenul de drept civil aprofundat)
At this moment, The Court of Assizes is considering the facts which have been
presented. (In acest moment, Curtea cu Juri analizeaza faptele ce au fost
prezentate.)
2. to express temporary actions: today, this week/month/year
e.g. This month she is taking legal action against two persons. (Luna aceasta ea
da in judecata doua personae.)
We always watch quiz games, but this week we are watching variety shows.
(Noi intotdeauna privim jocuri televizate, dar saptamana aceasta privim
spectacole de varietati.)
Verbs not used in their continuous aspect:
1. Verbs of feeling:. feel, hear, notice, see, smell, taste
e.g. The soup tastes delicious.
I can see the plane now.
This bar of soap smells wonderful.
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However, the verbs “to smell”, “to taste”, “to feel” may be found in the
continuous aspect when they imply a voluntary action on the part of the
subject:
e.g. I am smelling this bar of soap.
She is tasting the soup now.
Besides, the verb “to see” may also be used in the continuous aspect, but with
different meanings: to meet by appointment, to visit, to have hallucinations.
2. Verbs of mental activity: to agree, distrust, doubt, find, foresee, forget,
guess, imagine, know, mean, mind, remember, recognize, recollect, regard,
suppose, trust, understand, etc.
3. Verbs expressing wish: to desire, intend, want, wish.
4. Verbs expressing attitudes, feelings, emotional states: to abhor, adore,
detest, dislike, displease, like, love, hate, please, prefer etc.
5. Verbs expressing possession: belong, have, hold, keep, owe, own, possess.
6. Verbs expressing a state, a condition: to appear, to be, consist of, contain,
differ, deserve, equal, exist, resemble, seem, suit, etc.
7. Miscellaneous verbs: to compare, expect, matter, suffice
It is important to mention that the adverbs of frequency and indefinite time
(always, often, seldom, generally, ever, never, etc.) may be used with the
continuous aspect, denoting a modal charge, i.e. emotional charge (joy,
admiration, irritation). Therefore, MODALITY is the attitude of the speaker
towards the communication.
e.g. You are always drinking and driving! (I am angry at that person) =
Intotdeauna conduci in stare de ebrietate!
The Home Secretary is always buying old books and paintings! (Ministrul de
Interne intotdeauna cumpara carti si tablouri vechi!)

3.4. Past Tense Simple

According to the way in which they form the Past Tense and the Past
Participle, English verbs are divided into regular and irregular.
Regular verbs are all those verbs that make the Past Tense and the Past
Participle by adding the suffix –ed to their Short Infinitives. This ending may
be pronounced either /d/ after vowels and /b/, /g/, /l/, /m/, /n/, /v/, /z/, or /t/
after /k/, /p/, /s/, or /id/ after /t/ or /d/.
Irregular verbs are all those verbs that do not make the Past Tense and the Past
Participle by adding the suffix –ed, but have their own forms: to begin-began-
begun; to give-gave-given; etc.
FORM:
Affirmative:Interrogative:
I/you/he/she/it/we/they thought Did I/you/he/she/it/we/they think?

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Negative:
I/you/he/shoe/it/we/they did not/didn’t think
USE:
1. To express an action or state wholly completed at some moment or during
some period in the past. In fact, the Simple Past Tense is a narrative tense. In
this case, a past tense adverbial such as when, then, yesterday, last week, last
month, last year, that day, the other day, once, in 2005, ago, etc. occurs in the
sentence:
e.g. Yesterday, she told us about the hereditary peerage during the course. (Ieri,
la curs, ne-a povestit despre aristocratia ereditara)
The mission turned out to be more difficult than expected. (Misiunea s-a
dovedit a fi mai dificila decat ne asteptam)
I read about this legislative body last year. (Anul trecut am citit despre acest
organ legislativ.)
Did you try to talk to the plaintiff? (Ai incercat sa vorbesti cu reclamantul?
It is very important to point out that, if there is a past tense in the main clause,
we have to use a past tense in the main clause, too:
e.g. How did you know I was here? (Cum ai stiut ca sunt aici?)
The Counsel for the Prosecution tried to prove in court that the accused was
lying. (Avocatul acuzarii a incercat sa dovedeasca in fata curtii ca acuzatul
minte.)
2. to express a past habit or a repeated action in the past;
e.g. Groups of neighbouring states often seemed to vote the same way.
(Grupuri de satate invecinate pareau adesea ca voteaza in acelasi fel.)

3.5. Past Tense Continuous

FORM:was/were + VERB + ing
Affirmative: Interrogative:
I/he/she/it was thinking Was I/he/she/it thinking?
We/you/they were thinkingWere we/you/they thinking?
Negative:
I/he/she/it was not/ wasn’t thinking
You/we/they were not/ weren’t thinking
USE:
1. To express an action in progress at a certain moment in the past: at this time
yesterday/last year, by 5 o’clock yesterday, etc
e.g. The President of the House of Commons was speaking in front of the 630
members at this time yesterday. (Presedintele Camerei Comunelor vorbea in
fata celor 630 de membri ieri,pe vremea aceasta)
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He was hoping to be the first American re-elected president since the war.
(Spera sa fie primul presedinte american reales de la razboi si pana acum.)
2. to indicate that an action was going on (like a background) at a time when
something else, more important or more dramatic (the foreground) took place:
e.g. When I called her, she told me that she was talking to the defendant.(Cand
am sunat-o, mi-a spus ca vorbea cu inculpatul.)
3. to show that two or more actions were going on at the same time in the past:
e.g. The Public Prosecutor was presenting the facts while the two detectives
were listening very carefully. (Procurorul Public prezenta faptele, in timp ce
cei doi detectivi ascultau foarte atent.)

3.6. Present Perfect Simple

FORM: have/has + Past Participle (the 3rd form of the verb)
Affirmative:Interrogative;
I/you/we/they have thoughtHave I/you/we/they thought?
He/she/it has thought Has he/she/it thought?
Negative:
I/you/we/they have not/haven’t thought
He/she/it has not/ hasn’t thought
USE:
An action or state prior to the moment of speaking may be expressed both by
the Past Tense and by the Present Perfect. But, while the Past Tense presents
the action without referring to the present moment, the Present Perfect links
that past action with the present. This means that when we have the Past Tense,
we think of the time when something happened or we narrate a sequence of
events at a given time. Therefore, the Present Perfect is used:
1. when there is a result/consequence into the present:
e.g. I have not won the case and that is why I will not have too many clients
from nowon. (Nu am castigat cazul si de aceea nu voi avea prea multi clienti de
acum inainte)
It must be mentioned that the actions expressed by Past Tense Simple generally
have no any consequence into the present.
e.g. I did not win the case yesterday. (Nu am castigat cazul ieri)
2. when the action continues in the present and, perhaps, it will go on in the
future:
e.g. Magistrates’ Courts in England and Wales have had limited civil
jurisdiction for many years. (Curtile Magistratilor din Anglia si Tara Galilor au
jurisdictie limitata de multi ani.)
3.when we are not interested in the moment of the action, but in the action
proper:
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e.g.The two voting systems in the American presidential election have been
alluded to.
(S-a facut aluzie la cele doua sisteme de votare de la alegerile prezidentiale
americane.)
They have been at the Claims Department. (Au fost la Biroul de Reclamatii.)
Generally, when the moment is mentioned, Past Tense Simple is used:
e.g. They were at the Claims Department when they worked at that company.
4. with uncompleted periods of time: today, this week/month/year:
e.g.The employer has filed a claim today. (Angajatorul a depus o reclamatie
astazi)
It should be noted that Past Tense Simple always expresses completed periods
of time:
e.g. I always read many plays when I was a student. (Intotdeauna am citit multe
piese cand eram student)
The adverbs used with The Present Perfect Simple are: just, already, always,
yet, lately, recently, up to now=so far=till now=until now, how long, today,
this week/month etc.

3.7. Present Perfect Continuous

FORM:
Affirmative: Interrogative:
I/you/we/they have been writing Have I/you/we/they been writing?
He/she/it has been writing Has he/she/it been writing?
Negative:
I/you/we/they have not/haven’t been writing
He/she/it has not/hasn’t been writing
USE:
1. While the Present Perfect Simple implies that the attention is focused on the
repetition or on the completion of an action, the Present Perfect Continuous
emphasizes the duration, the continuity of the action in the present:
e.g. The employee has been waiting for the manager since 10 o’clock.
(Angajatul il asteapta pe patron de la ora 10.00.)
The Bosnian Muslims have been operating inside Sarajevo for a few months.
(Musulmanii bosniaci opereaza in interiorul Sarajevo-ului de cateva luni.)
2. Since the Present Perfect Continuous describes an action which is apparently
uninterrupted, it will not be employed when we mention the number of times a
thing has been done or the number of things that have been done:
e.g. He has been talking about his creditworthiness since 2 o’clock. (Vorbeste
despre credibilitatea sa de la ora 2.00.)
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But:
He has talked about his creditworthiness three times since 2 o’clock. (A vorbit
despre credibilitatea sa de trei ori de la ora 2.00)

3.8. Past Perfect Simple

1. FORM:
Affirmative
I/you/he/she/it/we/they had opened/seen
Negative
I/you/he/she/it/we/they had not opened/seen.
I/you/he/she/it/we/they hadn’t opened/seen.
Interrogative
Had I/you/he/she/it/we/they opened/seen?
Negative-Interrogative
Had I/you/he/she/it/we/they not opened/seen?
Hadn’t I/you/he/she/it/we/they opened/seen?
2. USE:
1. to express a past action that took place before a past moment or before
another action in the past. In fact it is the past equivalent of the Present
Perfect. Note the use of when, before, now that, as soon as, and after in
some of these sentences containing a Past Perfect:
• The boy explained that he had seen somebody in the garden.
• When father came home, Dick had done his homework.
• Father came after Dick had done his homework.
• Dick had done his homework before father came home.
2. to express duration up to a certain moment in the past:
3. with just, already, hardly/barely/scarcely and no sooner, to show that the
last action was finished a little time before another past action:
Mary told us that her brother had just left.
We did not know that he had already repaired his car.
I had hardly/scarcely entered the room when somebody knocked at the door.
In the last case, another from may also occur, although it is considered to be
obsolete:
Hardly/scarcely had I entered the room when somebody knocked at the door.
No sooner had she seen the photos than she remembered everything about the
accident.
4. with since and for when the point of reference is past:

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In 1980 I had been a teacher for ten years.

I knew she had not seen him since Christmas.
5. in Indirect Speech, to express a Past Tense or a Present Perfect from Direct
Speech:
“I saw this film last week,” Nick said.
Nick said he had seen that film a week before.
“I have never visited Madrid,” the boy explained.
The boy explained he had never visited Madrid.

3.9. Past Perfect Continuous

1. FORM:
Affirmative:
I/you/he/she/it/we/they/had been speaking
Negative:
I/you/he/she/it/we/they had not speaking
I/you/he/she/it/we/they hadn’t been speaking
Interrogative:
Had I/you/he/she/it/we/they been speaking?
Negative-Interrogative:
Had I/you/he/she/it/we/they not been speaking?
Hadn’t I/you/he/she/it/we/they been speaking?
2. USE:
1. to underline the continuity of a past action up to a past moment or just
before it:
The pupils had been reading the lesson for five minutes when the school
master entered the classroom.
2. in Indirect Speech, to express a Past Tense Continuous or a Present Perfect
Continuous from Direct Speech:
“I was watching TV at seven o’clock,” Harry explained to his mother.
Harry explained to his mother that he had been watching TV at 7 o’clock.
“We have been learning English for two years,” the children told me.

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Activity 1
Read and translate the following texts:

MAGNA CARTA

An island on the Thames between Staines and Windsor had been chosen as the
place of conference: the King encamped on one bank, while the barons
covered the marshy flat, still known by the name of Runnymede, on the other.
Their delegates met on the island between them, but the negotiations were a
mere cloak to cover John's purpose of unconditioned submission. The Great
Charter was discussed, agreed to and signed in a single day (1215, June 16).
One copy of it still remains in the British Museum, injured by age and fire, but
with the royal seal still hanging on the brown, shrivelled parchment. It is
impossible to gaze without reference on the earliest monument of English
freedom which we can see with our own eyes and touch with our own hands,
the Great Charter to which from age to age patriots have looked back as the
basis of English liberty. But in itself the Charter was no novelty, nor did it to
establish any new constitutional principles. The character of Henry the First
formed the basis of the whole and the additions to it are for the most part
formal recognition of the judicial and administrative changes introduced by
Henry the Second. But the vague expressions of the other characters were
now changed for precise and elaborate provisions. The bounds of unwritten
custom, which the older grants did little more then recognise, had proved too
weak to hold the Angevins; and the baronage now threw them aside for the
restraints of written law.
It is in this way that the Great Charter marks the transition from the age of
traditional rights, preserved in the nation's memory and officially declared by
the Primate, to the age of written legislation, of parliaments and statues, which
was soon to come. The church had shown its power of self-defence in the
struggle over the interdict, and the clause that recognised its rights alone re-
tained the older and general form. But all vagueness ceases when the Charter
passes on to deal with the rights of Englishmen at large, their right to justice,
to security of person, to good government. "No freeman", run the memorable
article that lies at the base of the whole judicial English system, "shall be
seized or imprisoned, or dispossessed, or outlawed, or in any way brought to
ruin: we will not go against any man nor send against him, save by legal
judgement of his peers or by the law of the land". "To no man will we sell",
runs other, or "delay, right or justice".
(Adapted from "A Short History of the English People" by JR. Green)

SOLICITORS AND BARRISTERS

The legal profession in England and Wales is divided into solicitors and
barristers. The duty of the solicitor is to give advice and to lead the business
of the client. He will also have a barrister to care of a specific matter of the

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client's business. The solicitors have the right to a brief council, who will be
called in if the situation requires, in order to give specialist advice, to draft
documents or to act as advocates in the higher courts. He is the one who will
entitle the barrister to act as an advocate in the higher courts.
The solicitors have been usually considered the junior part of the legal
profession, but have increasingly become the dominant part of it. They are
only admitted for practice if they complete three stages of training: the
academic stage, the vocational stage and the apprenticeship. The academic
stage of training is satisfied by the completion of a qualifying law degree
containing the six core subjects or by passing the Common Professional
Examination. The six core subjects are Constitutional and Administrative
Law, Contract, Tort, Criminal Law, Land Law and Equity and Trust. The last
stage consists of a two years apprenticeship to an established solicitor and can
be regarded as the clinical stage of training. In this stage, they learn various
skills that are necessary for a solicitor, like managing an office, interviewing
clients, writing letters, instructing counsel and handling money. Once
admitted, the solicitor is required to maintain a practising certificate, for
which a substantial annual fee is charged.
The governing bodies of the barristers are more complex then those of
solicitors. First of all, in order to become a barrister, it is necessary to become
a member of one of the Inns of Court, like the Inner Temple, the Middle
Temple, Lincoln's Inn or Gray's Inn. Though admission to the Bar is still
largely the domain of the individual Inns, the formal education of a trainee
barrister is centralised through the Inns of Court School of Law, Another
governing body for barristers is the Bad Council, which is the barristers
elected representative body.
Like in the case of solicitors, the training of barristers is divided into three
stages: academic, vocational and apprenticeship. The requirements of the
academic stage are the same with those of the solicitors. Barristers work in
office, in groups of between twelve and twwenty sharing services notably of a
clerk, but also secretarial and other services. Each chamber is required to have
at least one clerk, who performs the functions of office administrator and
accountant, business manager and agent. After around ten to fifteen years in
practice, a successful barrister can consider applying for promotion to Queen's
Counsel known as "silk" from the material of which the Queen's Counsel
formal gown is made.
The distinction between the two branches of the legal profession is an artificial
one. In fact, there are no tasks exclusive to one branch. Solicitors regularly
appear as advocates in the law courts and sometimes in Crown Courts, which
are geographically remote from barristers' chambers. Equally, there are many
barristers who very seldom appear in the court, spending their time on written
opinions on the law. Over the years, there has been debate on the fusion of the
two branches of the profession.

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Basic vocabulary. Idioms

fusion = the result of fusing; a coalition of ideas, concepts,

branches, parties etc.
advice = an opinion or recommendation offered as guide to
action, conduct etc.
to draft = to draw the outlines or plan of; to sketch; to
draw up in written form, to compose
circumstance = a condition, detail, part or attribute, with respect
to time, place, manner, agent etc. which
accompanies, determines, or modifies a fact or
event; a modifying or influencing factor
senior = more advanced in age or older in standing,
superior in age or standing to, of higher or highest
degree
to carry out = to put (principles, instruction) in practice
task = piece of work imposed
to handle = to manage (thing, person)
(to) brief = 1. summary of facts and law points of a case
drawn up for counsel;
2. to instruct (barrister, solicitor) by brief,
employ
completion = the act of completing; fulfillment
apprenticeship = working for another in order to learn a trade,
for instruction, training
vocational stage = educational training that provides a student
with practical experience in a particular
occupational field
Inns of court = a legal society occupying such a building
sole = belonging or pertaining to one individual or
group to the exclusion of all others; exclusive
practitioner = 1. one engaged in the practice of a profession,
occupation;
2. one who practices something specified
clinical = extremely objective and realistic
equity = 1. the application of the dictates of conscience
or the principles of natural justice to the
settlement of controversies;
2. a system of jurisprudence or a body of
doctrines and rules developed in England and
followed in the United States, serving as
supplement and remedy the limitations and the
inflexibility of the common law
trust = a fiduciary relationship in which one person
(the trustee) holds the title to property (the trust
estate or trust property) for the benefit of the
other (the beneficiary)
gown = official or uniform robe of various shapes worn
by judge, lawyer, clergyman, college

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tort = a wrongful act, not including a breach of

contract or trust, which results in injury to
another's person, property, reputation, or the like,
and for which the injured party is entitled to
compensation

Synonyms:
to divide = to separate
occasion = opportunity
to maintain = to keep up
artificial = synthetic
to spend = to disburse

S
u
m
m
ary
This chapter has approached the Verb and a part of its tenses – Present Tense
Simple and Continuous, Past Tense Simple and Continuous, Present Perfect
Simple and Continuous, Past Perfect Simple and Continuous. You have been
given the definition of aspects and of each tense and also the similarities and
dissimilarities between these tenses in English and Romanian. Moreover, you
have read and translated various texts, thus learning new words and phrases, in
the same time practising the grammar notions that have been taught.

Self-assessment tests

1. Put the verbs in brackets in the Past Tense (Simple or Continuous) or

Present Perfect (Simple or Continuous):
1. I (to leave) here since 1973 since my parents (to buy) this house.
2. He (to live) in Bucharest for two years and then he (to go) to Mangalia.
3. Shakespeare (to write) a lot of plays.
4. My secretary (to type) letters since 8 o'clock this morning but she (to finish)
only three of them so far.
5. My children (to go) to cinema three hours ago and they (not to come) back
yet.
6. I (not to see) him for twenty years, since we (to be) children.
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7. I can't go home because I (not to finish) my work yet.

8. He (not to play) football since he (to break) his leg.
9. You (to see) the moon last night ?
10. They (to arrive) late last night, so I (not to tell) them the truth yet.
1 l. The Second World War (to last) for four years.
12. How long you (to know) your boss?
13. Where else (to be) since you (to arrive) in Bucharest?
14. I (to listen) to your speech on radio yesterday, and I have to confess that I
never (to listen) to something like this in all my life.
15. You (to go) there last week?

2. Translate into English, using Present Tense Simple and Continuous, Past
Tense Simple and Continuous and Present Perfect Simple and Continuous:
l. Firma lui a dat faliment şi el nu şi-a găsit încă un alt post de contabil.
2. Unde ai fost?
3. De când eşti aici?
4. N-am mai văzut-o de trei ani.
5. Numeroase sucursale ale băncilor comerciale s-au deschis în ultimii doi ani.
6. Claudiu a venit de la şcoală la ora 12 şi de atunci vorbeşte la telefon cu
colegul lui de bancă.
7. Mama tocmai a plecat.
8. Am cumpărat maşina noastră cea nouă acum trei ani, dar de atunci am tot
reparat câte ceva la ea.
9. N-am văzut niciodată Jamaica.
10. Ieri pe când veneam acasă a început să plouă torenţial.
11. In cursul ultimului an profitul net al societăţii s-a dublat.
12. Vă cunoaşteţi ?
13. Am primit această carte când am împlinit zece ani.
14. Anul trecut ai vizitat Anglia, acum doi ani ai vizitat Franţa iar acum abia te-
ai întors din Germania. N-ai obosit să te tot plimbi ?

4. Put the verbs in brackets into the Past Perfect Continuous:

1. I (to work) for that company for a year when they merge with CMB in 1999.
2. They (to sail) for a fortnight when they finally saw an island.
3. By that time she (to play) the piano for two hours.

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4. When she reached the office, the General manger and the American team (to
negotiate) for an hour without reaching an agreement.
5. After we (to run) for an hour we felt terribly hungry.
6. I wondered what she (to do) all that time.
7. In 1995 they (to live) in Romania for three years.
8. He (to watch) TV for an hour when you got home, hadn't he?
9. You (to sleep) for three hours when I came in.
10. The manager (to wait) for you for half an hour when you finally arrived.

5. Read and translate the following texts:

A. Mohammed knocks at classroom door
Fran Abrams
Yusuf Islam, formerly the pop star Cat Stevens, has been trying for more than
10 years to get state funding for the Muslim school he founded. Now, at last, he
glimpses success. Tomorrow, architects from the official Funding Agency for
Schools visit the Islamia school in north London, to check whether its
buildings and facilities make it worthy of state support.
If the school is successful – the final decision rests with Gillian Shephard, the
Secretary of State for Education – Islamia, with 300 pupils and a waiting list of
1,000, will be the first state supported Muslim school, enjoying similar status
to hundreds of Church of England and Roman Catholic schools. For many
Muslim parents, the day when their right to such schools is accepted cannot
come soon enough, their growing assertiveness over how their children are
educated has stretched their relations with secular schools to breaking point.
As the new year began, 1,500 Muslims in West Yorkshire refused to send their
children to the Christian assemblies which the law demands. A few weeks later
it was revealed that a Birmingham primary school was offering Muslim
religious education after the withdrawal of most of its pupils from the
Christian-dominated lessons.
Conflicts such as these are bound to multiply. Britain has about 400,000
Muslim children of school age and, according to some estimates, there could be
a million by 2000. Today’s Muslim parents are demanding that school adapt to
accommodate their beliefs, and they are doing so with a force and a confidence
that their own parents lacked.
The Independent,
February 11th, 1996
B. Flooding out, trickling in
It’s impossible to underestimate the explosive impact within the Jewish
community of the survey this week showing that nearly half of British Jewish
men under 40 are marrying non-Jews. This is the statistical evidence which
proves the predictions of prominent Jewish academics such as Bernard

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Wassertein and Norman Cantor that the Orthodox Jewish diaspora will be
reduced to a few pockets of Amish-style believers over the next century. (…)
The male intermarriage rate is the crucial statistic because the Orthodox Jewish
identity is passed exclusively through the maternal line. For the ultra-Orthodox,
it doesn’t matter how Jewish your father or his family are, only one thing
counts, the blood of your mother, if a male Jew marries out, his children are
“lost”. These grim figures from the Institute of Church affairs will force the
mainstream Orthodox Jewish community to focus on something they have
stubbornly ducked: whether they want to draw back into the fold any of the
“lost Jews”, and do they want to convert the non-Jewish wives?
While Christians and Muslims have celebrated dramatic stories of conversion
with before and after comparisons, Jews never discuss the subject. It is
considered tactless to mention that someone has converted; as Ruth, a convert,
put it, it is like “reminding someone they used to be an alcoholic”. In Islam, the
process is simple, one statement and you’re a Muslim, but to become a Jew
takes years of examination by religious judges.
The Guardian,
February 17th, 1996

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C. Customs team seizes £ 50 m cocaine cargo

by Stewart Tendle
Customs and police investigators yesterday seized 250 kg of cocaine worth £
50 million which was hidden in a consignment of fresh flowers.
In a classic «sting» operation, undercover officers posed as British buyers for
the drug and traveled to Colombia. The Colombians also sent negotiators to
meet them in Britain. According to one report, Greater Manchester police
borrowed £ 2 million to show the Colombians that the undercover men were
acting in good faith.
The cocaine arrived from Amsterdam last week and is the largest single
importation of the drug by air. Its seizure at Manchester airport marked the end
of a four-month customs operation codenamed Begonia. The haul was found in
six boxes among a cargo of flowers. Neither the exporter nor the importer of
the flowers knew what they concealed. Once the consignment landed, armed
police and customs officers moved in to a warehouse and arrested two
Colombians. A national intelligence drive is currently monitoring possible
Colombian drug infiltration. The national criminal intelligence service in
London has established a database of suspicious sightings in Britain with the
help of local police forces, immigration officials and customs officials.
Pat Cadogan, an assistant chief investigator, said yesterday: «We have broken
an attempt by a major cocaine importer to set up a distribution network in the
North West of England. We must have destroyed their credibility in the UK
and a seizure of this kind must be a major setback for them.»
The Times,
January 18th, 1994

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