Republic of the Philippines

POLYTECHNIC COLLEGE OF BOTOLAN

(Formerly Botolan Community College)
Botolan Zambales
E-mail: polytechniccollegeofbotolan@gmail.com
Website: pcbzambales.com
Contact Number 0949-155-3113

College Department Certificate in Professional Education (CPE)

Course Code EDMS 8
Course Title Developmental Reading
Place of Course in the Program Major
Semester and Academic Year First Semester AY 2021-2022

Reading for Critical Understanding / January 3-7, 2022@11:59 pm

MODULE 12

Reading for Critical Understanding

LEARNING OUTCOMES

 Analyze the question in a discourse

 Distinguish important Issues in an argumentative discourse
 Identify connections between arguments

Let's identify issues in a discourse

Reading an argumentative/persuasive discourse is an exercise in developing critical understanding. You

identify the issue, weigh the arguments, and follow them in their logical conclusion. You become discriminating,
checking out the facts, generalizing cautiously on the basis of what you know.

ACTIVITY 1
Read the following discourse.

The Paradox of Preparedness for Peace

That preparedness brings about peace is a false philosophy. On the contrary, it usually results in war.

Module 12 & 13 – Reading for Critical Understanding/ Reading for Study / January 3-7,
2022@11:59PM
 Take the case of two men who have just moved into a village. They live side by side. They introduce
themselves to each other and start to become friends. One tells himself that for the sake of ensuring peace in the
neighborhood, he should take care not to infringe on his neighbor's rights. But at the same time, he thinks of how he
could protect himself and his family against him. He goes to a store, buys a gun, and tells that if his neighbor would
interfere with him, he would not hesitate to kill him. Without his knowing it, his neighbor who also proclaims his love
for peace, goes to town, obtains a gun, a better one, and gets himself ready to defend his rights, honor, family.
The case of these two men is similar to the case of two nations who talk about their love for peace while
boasting of their battleships and their readiness to fight. They do not get a battleship simply to boast of their
acquisitions. They have it in preparation for war. They are as determined to protect themselves from any attack as a
man who carries a gun. He has it for protection. However, experience tells us that a man who carries a gun tends to
use it on slight provocation and tends to provoke its use by others.
Preparedness provokes trouble. Hence, it does not preserve peace. We must conclude that as a man who
carries a gun is a menace to the peace of a community, so the nation who keeps guns is a menace to the peace of
the world.

Adapted from "Preparedness and Peace"

By William Jennings Bryan

ACTIVITY 2
Outline the discourse by dividing it into the following:

1. The Problem/The Main Issue

2. The Arguments

3. The Conclusion

ACTIVITY 3
Do you agree with the arguments of the writer? Support your answer.

Module 12 & 13 – Reading for Critical Understanding/ Reading for Study / January 3-7,
2022@11:59PM
 Republic of the Philippines
POLYTECHNIC COLLEGE OF BOTOLAN
(Formerly Botolan Community College)
Botolan Zambales
E-mail: polytechniccollegeofbotolan@gmail.com
Website: pcbzambales.com
Contact Number 0949-155-3113

College Department Certificate in Professional Education (CPE)

Course Code EDMS 8
Course Title Developmental Reading
Place of Course in the Program Major
Semester and Academic Year First Semester AY 2021-2022

Reading for Study / January 3-7, 2022@11:59 pm

Module 13
READING FOR STUDY

LEARNING OUTCOMES

 Demonstrate efficiency in studies

 Apply study skills for more learning
 Improve performance in tackling academic tasks

Let's enhance our academic skills

You need to take time reading technical or scientific materials for they use jargon or the professional
language of a specialized group. You cannot avoid such materials as your course will require it. To ensure efficient
reading, give careful attention to each word and its importance in relation to other words in the sentence or
paragraph.

ACTIVITY1
Read the following passages:
1. Diabetes mellitus, often referred to as simply diabetes, is a syndrome characterized by disordered
metabolism and hyperglycemia resulting from insufficient levels of the hormone insulin. The characteristic symptoms
are polyuria (excessive urine production), due to high blood glucose levels, excessive thirst and polydipsia (increased

Module 12 & 13 – Reading for Critical Understanding/ Reading for Study / January 3-7,
2022@11:59PM
fluid intake) attempting to compensate for increased urination, blurred vision due to high blood glucose effects on the
eye's optics, unexplained weight loss, and lethargy. These symptoms are likely to be less apparent if the blood sugar
is only mildly elevated. All forms of diabetes are due to the beta cells of the pancreas being unable to produce
sufficient insulin to prevent hyperglycemia.

Wikapedia

2. Music has often been compared with language itself, and the comparison is quite legitimate. While it
combines easily with actual language, it also speaks to a language of its own, which has become a platitude to call
universal. To understand the significance of the organizing factors of rhythm, melody harmony, tone, color and form,
the analogy of a familiar language is helpful Music has its own alphabet, of only seven letters, as compared with the
twenty-six of the English alphabet. Each of these letters represents a note, and just as certain letters are complete
words in themselves, so certain notes may stand alone, with the force of a whole word. Generally, however, a note of
music implies a certain harmony, and in most modern music the notes analogous take the form of actual chords. So it
may be said that a chord in music is analogous to a Word in language. Several words form a phrase, and several
phrases a complete sentence, and the same thing is true in music. Measured music corresponds to poetry, while the
old unmeasured plain song might be compared with prose. The relationship of modern music to free verse at once
becomes apparent, and impressionism, expressionism, cubism, and futurism can all be found in music as well as in
the other arts.

The Art of Enjoying Music by Sigmund Spaeth.

c1933 by Sigmund Spaeth clo McGraw-Hill Book Co.

3. We realize that planet is not an inexhaustible resource. With the increase in population and the
abundance of man-made products, we fear the thought that eventually our planet would become literally
uninhabitable. A hole in the ozone layer, a part of the earth's atmosphere that prevents harmful rays from the sun
from getting through to the surface of the earth worries scientists. According to them, pollutants from aerosol spray
cans, air-conditioners, and cars cause the hole. Another problem that bothers scientists is a phenomenon called
global warming. They say that the hole could contribute to the change in the ecology of the entire earth. The
increase in the size of the hole in the ozone layer could result in the change in the overall temperature of the earth;
that is, it could get hotter, and eventually melt the ice caps.

The increasing population has also brought about environmental dangers which have driven many species
of animals and fish to the brink of extinction. One of these dangers is the nuclear waste disposal, which is a serious
problem radioactive material becomes harmless only after thousands of years.
Measures have been adopted to solve the problem: conserving natural resources and curbing pollution;
regulating industrial and automotive emissions; and studying ways to make our pollutants less deadly and to develop
alternative energy
Source: The Princeton Review
4. Other categories are assimilation, reduction, and elision. Assimilation refers to the sound changes caused
by sounds being said in different sequences. These changes are as follows: nasalization; labialization; palatalization;
globalization; voicing; de-voicing, and lengthening.

Module 12 & 13 – Reading for Critical Understanding/ Reading for Study / January 3-7,
2022@11:59PM
 Reduction consists of the centering of vowels and weakening of consonants. On the other hand, elision
includes the omission of individual phonemes.

Source: Listening
Michael Frost

ACTIVITY 2
Give the meaning of each of the following words or phrases. Use a dictionary or any reference book.

1. hyperglycemia
2. insulin
3. pancreas
4. rhythm
5. impressionism
6. expressionism

ACTIVITY 3
Give the main idea of each of the passages.

1.

4.

Module 12 & 13 – Reading for Critical Understanding/ Reading for Study / January 3-7,
2022@11:59PM