Formal writing _ Prepared by Nguyen Kim Duc _ Hung Yen specialized high school

formality
I. Use nominalisation to give formality to these sentences:

1. His father died. This was probably one of the reasons why he failed the exams.
His father’s death was probably one of the reasons resulted in his exams’ failure.
2. Telephones are often not reliable. This makes matters complicated.
Telephones’ frequent unreliability makes matters complicated
3. Parents are not concerned about their children. This results in their children feeling
rejected.
Parents’ little concern about their children resulted in their feeling rejected ( not
completely correct)
The lack of parental concern causes the feeling of being rejected in children
4. The student did badly in the exam. This may have been because he was ill.
The student’s illness may result in his poor performance in the exam
5. Children are taught music. This is very important.
Teaching music to children is of great importance
6. Many rural prople are illiterate. This makes finding a job in a town difficult.
Many rural people’s illiteracy results in difficulty in finding a job
 Illiteracy amongst many rural people hinders their access to urban employment
People burn oil and coal to produce energy and heat. This causes excess carbon dioxide
in the atmosphere.
The production of energy and heat by burning oil and coal causes excess carbon dioxide
in the atmosphere
6. The government intends to build more schools. This has been announced in the press.
The goverment’s intention of expanding school system has been publicized
He is afraid of the sight of blood. This puts him off studying medicine.
His fear of the sight of blood puts him off studying medicine
7. He smokes first thing in the morning. This irritates his wife.
His smoking first thing in the morning resulted in his wife’s irratation.
1. People are greedy. This cannot be changed.
Human’s greed cannot be changed/ is almost unchangable/ can hardly be changed
12. We need to build up our bodies. This is one of the main reasons why we eat.
Building up our bodies is one the main reasons why we eat
 The need for physical development is one of the main reasons for our
eating
13. Some people cannot speak a foreign language. This may be due to a psychological
problem.
Some people’s inability to speak a foreign language may be resulted from a psychological
problem
 The inability to speak a foreign language in some people might be associated with /
derives from a psychological problem
14.She failed the exam. This made her very depressed.
Her exam’s failure made her very depressed
15.The lawyer was closely involved in his client’s case. This is not a good thing.
The lawyer’s close involvment in his client’s case is not a good thing
 ............. was highly undesirable/ unpprofessional
16.They didn’t know English. This was not a problem for them.

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Formal writing _ Prepared by Nguyen Kim Duc _ Hung Yen specialized high school
Their ignorance about English was not a problem for them
17.They are never satisfied. This is a problem for them.
That they are never satisfied is a problem for them.
18.The consumes too much fat. This has caused him to have heart problems.
The consumption of too much fat caused him to have heart problems
 His overconsumption of fat has caused his heart problems
19.Earthquakes frequently occur in that region. They cause a lot of problems.
The frequent occurence of earthquakes in that region resulted in a lot of problems
20.It is difficult to find accommodation. This is the major problem.
The difficulty in finding accommodation is the major problem.
II. Use formal verbs and other parts of speech to give formality to these sentences:

1. Researchers looked at the way strain( cang thang) builds up around a fault.
Observed/ accumulates
2. Expert Systems can help out the user in the diagnosis of problems.
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3. This program was set up to improve access to medical care.
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4. Research expenditures have gone up to nearly 300 million dollars.
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5. The use of optical character readers should cut down the number of problems with the
U.S mail service.
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6. Researchers have found out that this drug has serious side effects.
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7. Building a nuclear power plant will not get rid of the energy problem completely.
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8. Researchers have been looking into this problem for 15 years now.
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9. This issue was brought up during the investigation
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10. Engineers can come up with better designs using CAD
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11. The emission levels have been going up and down
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12. The government has made good progress in solving environmental problems
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13. The results of a lot of different projects have been pretty good
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14. A loss of jobs is one of the things that will happen if the process is automated.
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15. The reaction of the officials was sort of negative.
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16. The economic outlook is mighty nice.
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17. The future of Federal funding is up in the air.

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Formal writing _ Prepared by Nguyen Kim Duc _ Hung Yen specialized high school
18. America’s major automakers are planning to get together on the research needed for more
fuel efficient cars.
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19. We got encouraging results
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