UNIT

3
Comprehending a Text in English!
Reading comprehending

A. - Read the following text and answers the questions

Many specific organic and inorganic substances are necessary for the growth
and maintenance of the body (1). Nutritional needs vary from species to species
but same general principles apply in all cases (2). Body tissue is constantly being
revealed; proteins, vitamins and minerals are always needed (3). The average
adult human requires only 45 or 60 grams, 1 ½ to 2 ounces of proteins daily (4).
Protein is broken down during digestion into its amino acids, which are used by
body to provide the nourishment needs (5).

1) The purpose of the text is:

a. Give an opinion

b. Persuade someone

c. Offer a job

d. Give an explanation

2) What is the topic of the paragraph?

Inglés Instrumental – Actividad II. Nivel II

3) Read the text again and fill in the chart following the example:

Sentences What or Who? What is it? What does it do?

1 Substances Are necessary for the growth.
2
3
4
5

B. - Read the following text and answers the questions.

Mass media is a term used to denote a section of the media specifically

envisioned and designed to reach a very large audience such as the population
of a nation state (1). It was coined in for 1920s with the advent of nationwide,
radio networks, mass-circulation newspaper or magazine (2). Although, mass
media (like books and manuscripts) were presented centuries before the term
became common (3). The term public media has a similar meaning: it is the
sum of the public mass distributor of news and entertainment across media
such as newspapers, television and Newspapers Guild, AFTRA & text
publisher (4).
1) What is the purpose in the text?

a. To inform about an event

b. To summarize a fact

c. To make a definition

d. To explain a process

2) Which word from the text allowed you to answers questions number 1?

Inglés Instrumental – Actividad II. Nivel II

3) What is the topic of the paragraph?

4) Read the text again and fill in the chart

Sentences What or Who? What is it? What does it do?

1
2
3
4

C. - Read the following paragraphs and matches the nouns in column A

with the verbs in column B.

1. People buy things in new ways these days. Many people are busy, and
they don´t want to go crowded stores. They shop from mail-order
catalogues (books with pictures of things to buy). Tired shoppers in
some cities can even buy groceries (things in a supermarket) by phone!

A B

Stores Buy groceries

Tires shoppers are crowed
People Are busy

2. In traditional European families, the wife stays home with the children.
The husband has a job, Many Europeans aren´t happy with this
tradition. The numbers of divorces is going up. The number of single
parent families is going up, too, and the number marriage is going
down.

Inglés Instrumental – Actividad II. Nivel II

 A B
The husband is going up
The numbers marriages Stays home
The wife has a job
The numbers divorces is going down

3. One of the most devastating natural disasters of recorded history began

on April 5th, 1815, when Mount Tambora, located in present day
Indonesia, erupted. The volcano blew off the top 4000 feet of the
mountain, creating a seven-mile-wide crater. Twelve thousand people
were killed immediately and 80.000 died later of starvation because the
ash from the volcano destroyed farmland.

A B
The volcano Erupted
Mount Tambora were killed
People blew off

4. Human technology developed from the first stone tools about two and a
half million years ago. In the beginning, the rate of developed was slow.
Hundreds of thousands years passed without much change. Today, new
technologies are reported daily on television and in newspapers.

A B
Stone tools are reported
Rate of developed was slow
New technologies developed

Inglés Instrumental – Actividad II. Nivel II

D. - Read the text and answers the questions below:

Reading has to be considered the first step in learning of a foreign language.

Reading professional manuscripts is an essential task for everyone who wants
to be informed. The familiarity with some terms and grammatical structures
will make articles easier to read and, therefore, allow you to get more accurate
information. The goal in terms of reading would be to feel as comfortable with
English papers as you are with those written in your native tongue.

a. What is the purpose of the next?

b. Why is reading important?

c. Why reading in English is important?

d. What are the things you have to be familiar with when reading?

e. Write the words or expressions that were difficult for you to understand the
paragraph.

Translate into Spanish the following phrases.

Purpose Translation
Business studies
Analysis of literature text
TOELF preparation
Library skill
Academic reading and note taking
Introduction to computing

Inglés Instrumental – Actividad II. Nivel II

 Vocabulary development
Structure decodification
Reading skill
Women liberation movement

As you can see, the position of the noun (core) in English is at the end of the
phrase, but the Spanish is located at the beginning of the phrase as in the
example:
Business studies

Estudios de negocios

Look at some other examples:

Vocabulary development

Desarrollo del vocabulario

As you can see, the core of the sentence is development (desarrollo)

Library Skills

Habilidades Bibliotecarias

The nucleus of the sentence is Skills (Habilidades)

Exercises
Circle the core and translate into Spanish the following phrases.

a. Under graduate university studies

Inglés Instrumental – Actividad II. Nivel II

b. University level English

c. Surgery medical principles

d. Qualitative research methods

e. Main theoretical basis

f. The research critical discussion

g. The common three year basic cycle

E. – Circle the appropriate translation for each of the phrases.

a. Accounting basic principles

1. Principios básicos de la contaduría

2. Las bases principales de la contaduría

3. La contaduría y sus principios básicos

b. Principles of the action-research approach

1. La investigación acción, enfoques y principios

2. Principios del enfoque de la investigación acción

Inglés Instrumental – Actividad II. Nivel II

 3. El enfoque principal de la investigación y acción

c. Engineering theoretical framework

1. Marco teórico de la ingeniería

2. Ingeniería del marco teórico

3. Marco teorético de la ingeniería

d. Political and social system

1. El sistema político y social

2. La política y la sociedad en el sistema

3. El sistema de la sociedad política

e. The one-eyed man

1. El hombre con un solo ojo

2. El ojo de un hombre

3. El hombre tuerto

f. The separate answers sheet form

1. El formato de respuestas separadas

2. Las hojas separadas de respuestas

3. Las separadas hojas de respuestas

Inglés Instrumental – Actividad II. Nivel II