1 CHEMEN

GRAMMAR & VOCABULARY: PASSAGES

NEIGHBOURS
SUMMARY
1: Alison closed the door of her small flat and put down her briefcase. As usual, she had brought some
work home from the travel agency. She wanted to have a quick bite to eat and then, after spending a
few hours working, she was looking forward to watching television or listening to some music.

She was just about to start preparing her dinner when there was a knock at the door. ‘Oh, no! Who on
earth could that be?’ she muttered to herself. She went to the door and opened it just wide enough to
see who it was. A man of about sixty was standing there. It took her a moment before she realized who
he was. He lived in the flat below. They had passed each other on the stairs once or twice, and had
nodded to each other but never really spoken.

‘Uh, sorry to bother you, but… uh… there’s something I’d like to talk to you about’, he mumbled. He had
a long, thin face and two big front teeth that made him look rather like a rabbit. Alison hesitated, but
then, opening the door wider, asked him to come in. It was then that she noticed the dog. She hated
dogs –particularly big ones. This one was a very old, very fat bulldog. The man had already gone into her
small living-room and, without being asked, had sat down on the sofa. The dog followed him in and
climbed up on the sofa next to him, breathing heavily. She stared at it. It stared back.

The man coughed. ‘Uh, do you mind if I smoke?’ he asked. Before she could ask him not to, he had taken
out a cigarette and lit it.

‘I’ll tell you why I’ve come. I… I hope you won’t be offended but, well…,’ he began and then stopped.
Suddenly, his face went red. His whole body began to shake. Then another cough exploded from
somewhere deep inside him. Still coughing, he took out a grey, dirty-looking handkerchief and spat into
it. Afterwards, he put the cigarette back into his mouth and inhaled deeply. As he did so, some ash fell
on the carpet.

The man looked around the room. He seemed to have forgotten what he wanted to say. Alison glanced
at her watch and wondered when he would get to the point. She waited.

‘Nice place you’ve got here,’ he said at last.

2: Alison returns to her small flat from her work at a travel agency. She is looking forward to watching tv
and listening to some music and is about to grab a quick bite when there is a knock at her door. She
wonders and mutters to herself who on earth could it be, but ends up going and opening the door wide
enough to find out. A man of about 60 is standing there. She doesn’t recognize him at first, but then
realizes it’s her neighbour from the flat below, with whom she had passed and nodded to a couple of
times on the building. He mumbles that, while he’s sorry to bother her, he wants to talk to her about
something. Alison hesitates but asks him to come in. Then Alison, who hates dogs, notices his very old
and fat bulldog. The dog follows his owner who has already gone into her living-room and climbs up on
the sofa. The man coughs before he asks her if she minds him smoking and, without waiting for an
answer, takes out his cigarette and lights it. He begins to tell her why he’s come before stopping as his
face goes red and his body begins to shake. He coughs again, takes out a dirty-looking handkerchief and
spits on it, before putting his cigarette back into his mouth and inhaling deeply, which makes some ash
fall on the carpet. The man looks around the room and seems to have forgotten what he wanted to say.
Alison glances at her watch while she wonders when he will get to the point. He begins to talk at last
and comments on how nice her place is.

3: The title refers to Alison and her neighbour who lives a flat below. One day, Alison’s neighbour knocks
at her door. Alison is surprised because they do not know each other and she only knows him to be her
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neighbour. He seems to be a very strange person. When Alison asks him why he is there, he mumbles.
He lets himself in without asking for permission, sits on the couch and starts to smoke a cigarette.

VOCABULARY
FLAT (NOUN): A set of rooms for living in that are part of a larger building and are usually all on one
floor.  “Alison closed the door of her small flat and put down her briefcase.”

TO PUT DOWN (PHRASAL VERB): Stop holding something and place it on a surface or the ground. 
“Alison closed the door of her small flat and put down her briefcase.”

BRIEFCASE (NOUN): A flat rectangular bag, used especially for carrying business documents.  “Alison
closed the door of her small flat and put down her briefcase.”

BITE (NOUN): A small amount of food or a small meal.  “She wanted to have a quick bite to eat (…).”

TO LOOK FORWARD TO (PHRASAL VERB): To feel pleasure because an event or activity is going to
happen.  “(…) she was looking forward to watching television or listening to some music.”

KNOCK (NOUN): A sudden short noise made when someone or something hits a surface.  “(..) there
was a knock at the door.”

ON EARTH (IDIOM): In any conditions; of all possible things.  “(…) Who on earth could that be? (…).”

TO MUTTER (VERB): To speak quietly and in a low voice that is not easy to hear, often when you are
worried or complaining about something.  “(…) she muttered to herself.”

TO PASS (VERB): To go past something or someone or move in relation to it, him, or her.  “They had
passed each other on the stairs once or twice (…).”

TO NOD (VERB): To move your head down and then up, sometimes several times, especially to show
agreement, approval, or greeting, or to show something by doing this.  “(…) and had nodded to each
other but never really spoken.”

TO BOTHER (VERB): To annoy or cause problems for someone.  “Uh, sorry to bother you, but… (…).”

TO MUMBLE (VERB): To speak quietly and in a way that is not clear so that the words are difficult to
understand.  “(…) he mumbled.”

TO HESITATE (VERB): To pause before you do or say something, often because you are uncertain or
nervous about it.  “Alison hesitated, but then, opening the door wider, asked him to come in.”

TO CLIMB UP (PHRASAL VERB): To go up something towards the top.  “The dog followed him in and
climbed up on the sofa next to him, breathing heavily.”

TO STARE (VERB): To look for a long time with the eyes wide open, especially when surprised,
frightened, or thinking.  “She stared at it.”

TO MIND (VERB): (Used in questions and negatives) To be annoyed or worried by something.  “Uh, do
you mind if I smoke? (…)”  I DON'T MIND + POSSESIVE PRONOUN + -ING

TO TAKE OUT (PHRASAL VERB): To remove something or someone.  “(…) he had taken out a cigarette
and lit it.”

TO LIGHT (VERB): To start to burn or to make something start to burn.  “(…) he had taken out a
cigarette and lit it.”

HANDKERCHIEF (NOUN): A square piece of cloth or paper used for cleaning the nose or drying the eyes
when they are wet with tears.  “(…) he took out a grey, dirty-looking handkerchief and spat into it.”
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TO SPIT (VERB): To force out the contents of the mouth, especially saliva.  “(…) he took out a grey,
dirty-looking handkerchief and spat into it.”

TO PUT BACK (PHRASAL VERB): To move something to a place or position it was in before. 
“Afterwards he put the cigarette back into his mouth and inhaled deeply.”

TO INHALE (VERB): To breathe air, smoke, or gas into your lungs.  “Afterwards he put the cigarette
back into his mouth and inhaled deeply.”

ASH (NOUN): The soft grey or black powder that is left after a substance, especially tobacco, coal, or
wood, has burned.  “As he did so, some ash fell on the carpet.”

TO GLANCE (VERB): To give a quick short look.  “Alison glanced at her watch (…).”

TO WONDER (VERB): To ask yourself questions or express a wish to know about something.  “(…) and
wondered when he would get to the point.”

TO GET TO THE POINT (IDIOM): To reach the main or most important idea of something that is said or
written.  “(…) and wondered when he would get to the point.”

AT LAST (ADVERB/IDIOM?): Finally (with the meaning/connotation of “relief”).  “(…) he said at last.”

GRAMMAR/SYNTAX
NOUN PHRASES

“Alison closed the door of her small flat (…).”  FUNCTION: DO

“This one was a very old, very fat bulldog.”  FUNCTION: SUBCP

“His whole body began to shake.”  FUNCTION: SUBJECT

NOUN CLAUSES

“I’ll tell you why I’ve come.”  FUNCTION: DO

“He seemed to have forgotten what he wanted to say.”  FUNCTION: DO

“Alison (…) wondered when he would get to the point.”  FUNCTION: DO

COORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS

“Alison closed the door of her small flat and put down her briefcase.”

“They had passed each other on the stairs once or twice, and had nodded to each other but never really
spoken.”

SUBORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS

“(…) and then, after spending a few hours working, she was looking forward to watching television or
listening to some music.”

“She was just about to start preparing her dinner when there was a knock at the door.”

“As he did so, some ash fell on the carpet.”

ADVERBIAL ADJUNCTS

“A man of about sixty was standing there.”  AA OF PLACE

“They had passed each other on the stairs once or twice, (…).”  AA OF PLACE + AA OF FREQUENCY

“The man had already gone into her small living-room and, without being asked, had sat down on the
sofa.”  AA OF PLACE + AA OF PLACE
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“The dog followed him in and climbed up on the sofa next to him, breathing heavily.”  AA OF PLACE +
AA OF MANNER

“Afterwards he put the cigarette back into his mouth and inhaled deeply.”  AA OF TIME + AA OF
PLACE + AA OF MANNER

“As he did so, some ash fell on the carpet.”  AA OF PLACE

“She was just about to start preparing her dinner when there was a knock at the door.”  AA OF TIME

ADVERBIAL CLAUSES

“(…) and then, after spending a few hours working, she was looking forward to watching television or
listening to some music.”  AC OF TIME (FUNCTION: AA OF TIME)

“She was just about to start preparing her dinner when there was a knock at the door.”  AC OF TIME
(FUNCTION: AA OF TIME)

DEFINING RC

“He had a long, thin face and two big front teeth that made him look rather like a rabbit.”

CONTACT RC

“(…) there’s something (that) I’d like to talk to you about, (…).”

“’Nice place (that) you’ve got here,’ he said at last.”

TRANSITIVE/INTRANSITIVE VERBS

“Alison closed the door of her small flat and put down her briefcase.”  TVCP + DO

“As usual, she had brought some work home (…).”  TV + DO

“She wanted to have a quick bite to eat (…).”  TVCP + DO

“It took her a moment before she realized who he was.”  TVCP + DO

“He had a long, thin face (…).”  TVCP + DO

“(…) asked him to come in.”  DV + IO + DO

“She hated dogs (…)”  TVCP + DO

“(…) and wondered when he would get to the point.”  TVCP + DO

“A man of about sixty was standing there.”  IVIP + AA OF PLACE

“He lived in the flat below.”  IVIP + AA OF PLACE

“(…) he mumbled.”  IVCP

“Alison hesitated, but then, (…).”  IVCP

“The man coughed.”  IVCP

“She waited.”  IVCP

SUBJECTIVE COMPLEMENTS

“Suddenly his face went red.”  IVIP (INCHV) + SUBCP (CAT: ADJ)

MIDDLE VERBS

“He had a long, thin face and two big front teeth (…).”
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PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES

“The man looked around the room.”  FUNCTION: AA OF PLACE

ANTICIPATORY “THERE” SUBJECT

“(…) there’s something I’d like to talk to you about.”  THERE + IVIP + RSEP (CAT: NP)

CLEFT SENTENCES/EMPHATIC “IT”

“It was then that she noticed the dog.”  FOCUS: AA OF TIME

DOES HONESTY ALWAYS PAY?

SUMMARY
1: What exactly is a lie? Is it anything we say which we know is untrue? Or is it something more than
that? For example, suppose a friend wants to borrow some money from you. You say, “I wish I could
help you but I’m short of money myself.” In fact, you are not short of money but your friend is in the
habit of not paying his debts and you don’t want to hurt his feelings by reminding him of this. Is this
really a lie?

Professor Jerald Jellison of the University of Southern California has made a scientific study of lying.
According to him, women are better liars than men, particularly when telling a “white lie,” such as when
a woman at a party tells another woman that she likes her dress when she really thinks it looks awful.
However, this is only one side of the story. Other researchers say that men are more likely to tell more
serious lies, such as making a promise which they had no intention of fulfilling. This is the kind of lie
politicians and businessmen are supposed to be particularly skilled at: the lie from which the liar hopes
to profit or gain in some way.

Research has also been done into the way people’s behaviour changes in a number of small, apparently
unimportant ways when they lie. It has been found that if they are sitting down at the time, they tend to
move about in their chairs more than usual. To the trained observer, they are saying, “I wish I were
somewhere else now.” They also tend to touch certain parts of the face more often, in particular the
nose. One explanation of this may be that lying causes a slight increase in blood pressure. The tip of the
nose is very sensitive to such changes and the increased pressure makes it itch.

Another gesture which gives liars away is what the writer Desmond Morris in his book Manwatching
calls “the mouth cover.” He says there are several typical forms of this, such as covering part of the
mouth with the fingers, touching the upper-lip or putting a finger of the hand at one side of the mouth.
Such a gesture can be interpreted as an unconscious attempt on the part of the liar to stop himself or
herself from lying.

Of course, such gestures as rubbing the nose or covering the mouth, or squirming about in a chair
cannot be taken as proof that the speaker is lying. They simply tend to occur more frequently in this
situation. It is not one gesture alone that gives the liar away but a whole number of things, and in
particular the context in which the lie is told.

2: This passage introduces the controversial question of whether telling the truth is always the most
beneficial option. The fact of the matter is that sometimes we feel compelled to be dishonest in order to
save our skin. Being totally honest could be detrimental to our personal and professional life. So, here is
when the moral dilemma arises. We all believe that a little white lie is not so bad and makes life easier
to cope with. In fact, we often lie or cheat in little ways that place us at an advantage. When confronted
with a situation in which a lie seems expedient and beneficial, lying is almost always a safe choice. So,
we tell our grandmother that we enjoyed her meal when we actually did not, or we tell our friend that
she looks great before a date to boost her self-esteem.
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However, lying is a slippery slope which often leads people to engage in more extreme dishonest
behaviour. We cannot necessarily predict the consequences of telling even a small lie, and if such
consequences will cause us more distress than we imagine.

According to this passage, men and women lie about different things. Women are more likely to tell
white lies because they usually focus on making others feel better. Due to her nurturing and emotionally
responsive nature, women tend to fake positive feelings, tell people what they want to hear, and
prepare their speech in order to bring about the best possible reaction.

Men, on the other hand, often tell bigger lies in an attempt to appear more powerful, interesting or
successful than they are. Men lie to conceal something and are characterised by making fake promises.

The passage also shows that our body language can give us away when lying. Some physical and
behavioural signs such as being uncomfortable in your seat and squirming, feeling tense or increasing
hand-to-face contact can be useful indicators in the detection of lies.

VOCABULARY
TO BORROW (VERB): To get or receive something from someone with the intention of giving it back
after a period of time.  “For example, suppose a friend wants to borrow some money from you.”

TO BE SHORT OF STH (IDIOM): To not have enough of something.  “You say ‘I wish I could help you
but I’m short of money myself.’”

TO BE IN/INTO THE HABIT OF DOING/NOT DOING STH (IDIOM): If you are in the habit of doing
something, you do it regularly or often. If you get into the habit of doing something, you begin to do it
regularly or often.  “In fact, you are not short of money but your friend is in the habit of not paying his
debts (…).”

TO REMIND (VERB): To make someone think of something they have forgotten or might have forgotten.
If a person or thing reminds you of someone or something, they make you think of that person or thing,
or they resemble that person or thing.  “(…) and you don’t want to hurt his feelings by reminding him
of this.”

TO REMEMBER (VERB): To be able to bring back a piece of information into your mind, or to keep a
piece of information in your memory. If we remember someone or something, we keep that person or
thing in our mind or we bring that person or thing back to our mind.

TO REMEMBER + TO-INF: For something that you need or needed to do, that has or had to be done. To
not forget to do or not to do something.

TO REMEMBER + ING: For something that you have done, that has happened (in the past). To have a
memory of a past event.


WHITE LIE (NOUN): A lie that is told in order to be polite or to stop someone from being upset by the
truth.  “(…) women are better liars than men, particularly when telling a ‘white lie’ (…).”

TO FULFILL (VERB): To do something that is expected, hoped for, or promised, or to cause it to happen.
 “(…) such as making a promise which they have no intention of fulfilling.”

SKILLED IN/AT STH/DOING STH (ADJECTIVE): Having the abilities needed to do an activity or job well. 
“This is the kind of lie politicians and businessmen are supposed to be particularly skilled at (…).”

TO PROFIT (VERB): Earn money, or benefit.  “(…) the lie from which the liar hopes to profit or gain in
some way.”

TO GAIN (VERB): To get something that is useful, that gives you an advantage, or that is in some way
positive, especially over a period of time.  “(…) the lie from which the liar hopes to profit or gain in
some way.”
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TO MOVE ABOUT (PHRASAL VERB): Fidget (make restless movements), be restless.  “(…) they tend to
move about in their chairs more than usual.”

SLIGHT (ADJECTIVE): small in amount or degree.  “One explanation of this may be that lying causes a
slight increase in blood pressure.”

SENSITIVE (ADJECTIVE): Receptive to sense impressions. Capable of being stimulated or excited by

external agents (such as light, gravity, or contact).  “The tip of the nose is very sensitive to such
changes and the increased pressure makes it itch.”

TO ITCH (VERB): To have or cause an uncomfortable feeling on the skin that makes you want to rub it
with your nails.  “The tip of the nose is very sensitive to such changes and the increased pressure
makes it itch.”

GESTURE (NOUN): A movement of the hands, arms, or head, etc. to express an idea or feeling. 
“Another gesture which gives liars away (…).”

TO STOP SB FROM DOING STH (IDIOM): To prevent or dissuade someone or something from
performing some action or task.  “(…) an unconscious attempt on the part of the liar to stop himself or
herself from lying.”

TO RUB (VERB): To press or be pressed against something with a circular or up-and-down repeated
movement.  “Of course, such gestures as rubbing the nose or covering the mouth (…).”

TO SQUIRM (VERB): To move from side to side in an awkward way, sometimes because of nervousness,
embarrassment, or pain.  “(…) or squirming about in a chair (…).”

TO GIVE SB AWAY (PHRASAL VERB): To show someone's secret feelings.  “It is not one gesture alone
that gives the liar away but a whole number of things (…).”

MARRIAGE IS THE KEY TO LONG, HEALTHY LIFE

SUMMARY
1: Married people live longer, have healthier lives, suffer less stress and mental illness and are financially
better off than the single, divorced or widowed, according to a report published recently.

The report, from a British marriage and partnership charity named One Plus One has been compiled
from research through Europe and the United States to demonstrate the link between marital
breakdown and physical and mental ill health.

Researcher Fiona McAllister points out that each year around 364,000 adults are affected by divorce in
Britain –and over 150,000 children– and those who cohabit have a higher rate of breakdown than
married couples.

She says that every study on the issue concludes that the unmarried have higher rates of premature
death.

According to data from 1992 from the British Government’s office of Population Censuses and Surveys,
divorced men aged 45-49 have a 76 percent extra risk of premature death compared to married men,
and women of the same age a 39 percent extra risk.

Three mechanisms are given for the protective effect of marriage, the main one being that it acts as a
buffer against stress and anxiety. Another theory is that healthy people are more likely to be the ones
that get married, while another view is that marriage break-up leads people to risky behaviour, such as
smoking, drinking and unsafe sex. “There is strong evidence that all three processes occur.” McAllister
says.
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Aside from physical ill health, breakdown in partnerships is a prime factor in causing mental ill health,
says the report.

Rates of admission to British mental hospitals in 1973, per 100,000 of the population stood at 257 for
married men, 663 for single, 752 for widowed and 1,959 for the divorced. Among women, the figures
were 433 for married, 623 for single, 720 for widowed and 1,596 for the divorced.

Deaths from heart disease, cancer, suicide and accidents are all higher in the unmarried than the
married. The report adds that divorce can have both short-term and long-term effects on children.

The report argues that there should be more emphasis on the prevention of marriage breakdown rather
than crisis intervention once this happens, with more research into what makes a supportive marriage
and how couples cope when things first go wrong.

Jack Dominian, director of One Plus One, said: “Marital Breakdown has a major impact on health and
that fact must be taken into account when planning preventive health care strategies.”

2: As this passage states, being happily married can boost your chances of living a long life. Married
people have healthier lives compared to those who have never been married. Possibly, this is because
when you are in a long-term relationship, you have someone else looking out for your health. The health
benefits of long-term relationships also seem to extend to mental health. Married people report less
depression, and they are a less likely to abuse drugs and alcohol.

In addition, people who get married and stay married are better off as they have roughly double the
wealth of those who never marry. Since usually both halves of the couple work, they have two salaries
and are able to lend each other a hand. This clearly has the benefit of providing a shoulder to cry on
when things get tough. After all, a problem shared is a problem halved.

In contrast, the unmarried have higher rates of premature death and are more likely to suffer from
heart diseases and cancer. As well as this, widowed, single and divorced people tend to suffer from
mental problems.

The passage also shows that children may be affected by divorce, not only in the long term, but also in
the short term. Incomplete families, divorces or conflicts between spouses have clearly a detrimental
effect on children, as they feel their world is crumbling.

This is why it is essential to lay emphasis on preventing marriage breakdowns, instead of taking action in
crisis intervention once this happens.

VOCABULARY
THE KEY TO STH (IDIOM): The best or only way to achieve something.  “Marriage is the key to long,
healthy life.”

MARRIED (ADJECTIVE): Having a wife or husband.  “Married people live longer (…).”

BETTER OFF (ADJECTIVE): To have more money than you had in the past or more money than most
other people. To be in a better situation, if or after something happens.  “(…) and are financially
better off than the single, divorced or widowed, according to a report published recently.”

SINGLE (ADJECTIVE): Not married, or not having a romantic relationship with someone.  “(…) and are
financially better off than the single, divorced or widowed, according to a report published recently.”

DIVORCE (NOUN): An official or legal process to end a marriage.

DIVORCED (ADJECTIVE): Married in the past but not now married.  “(…) and are financially better off
than the single, divorced or widowed, according to a report published recently.”

WIDOW (NOUN): A woman whose husband or wife has died and who has not married again.
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WIDOWED (ADJECTIVE): Used to describe a person whose husband or wife has died.  “(…) and are
financially better off than the single, divorced or widowed, according to a report published recently.”

PARTNERSHIP (NOUN): The relation subsisting between partners.  “The report, from a British
marriage and partnership charity named One Plus One (…).”

TO COMPILE (VERB): To collect information from different places and arrange it in a book, report, or list.
 “The report (…) has been compiled from research throughout Europe and the United States (…).”

RESEARCH (NOUN): A detailed study of a subject, especially in order to discover (new) information or
reach a (new) understanding.  “The report (…) has been compiled from research (…).”

TO DEMONSTRATE (VERB): To show or make something clear. To show something and explain how it
works.  “The report (…) has been compiled from research throughout Europe and the United States to
demonstrate the link between marital breakdown and physical and mental ill-health.”

LINK (NOUN): A connection between two people, things, or ideas.  “(…) to demonstrate the link
between marital breakdown and physical and mental ill-health.”

MARITAL (ADJECTIVE): Connected with marriage.  “(…) to demonstrate the link between marital
breakdown and physical and mental ill-health.”

BREAKDOWN (NOUN): A failure to work or be successful.  “(…) to demonstrate the link between
marital breakdown and physical and mental ill-health.”

ILL-HEALTH (COMPOUND NOUN): Illness or a health condition that affects you for a long time.  “(…)
to demonstrate the link between marital breakdown and physical and mental ill-health.”

TO POINT OUT (PHRASAL VERB): To tell someone about some information, often because you believe
they do not know it or have forgotten it.  “Researcher Fiona McAllister points out that each year (…).”

TO COHABIT (VERB): If two people, especially a man and woman who are not married, cohabit, they live
together and have a sexual relationship.  “(…) those who cohabit have a higher rate of breakdown
than married couples.”

RATE (NOUN): The speed at which something happens or changes, or the amount or number of times it
happens or changes in a particular period.  “(…) those who cohabit have a higher rate of breakdown
than married couples.”

ISSUE (NOUN): A subject or problem that people are thinking and talking about.  “She says that every
study on the issue concludes that the unmarried have higher rates of premature death.”

CENSUS (NOUN): A count for official purposes, especially one to count the number of people living in a
country and to collect information about them.  “According to data for 1992 from the British
Government’s Office of Population Censuses and Surveys (…).”

PROTECTIVE (ADJECTIVE): Giving protection.  “Three mechanisms are given for the protective effect
of marriage (…).”

BUFFER (NOUN): Something or someone that helps protect from harm.  “(…) the main one being that
it acts as a buffer against stress and anxiety.”

BREAK-UP (NOUN): The coming to an end of a business or personal relationship, caused by the
separation of those involved. 

PRIME (ADJECTIVE): Main or most important.  “(…) breakdown of partnership is a prime factor in
causing mental ill health (…).”

FACTOR (NOUN): A fact or situation that influences the result of something.  “(…) breakdown of
partnership is a prime factor in causing mental ill health (…).”
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SHORT-TERM (ADJECTIVE): Happening, existing, or continuing for only a little time.  “The report adds
that divorce can have both short-term and long-term effects on children.”

LONG-TERM (ADJECTIVE): Happening, existing, or continuing for many years or far into the future. 
“The report adds that divorce can have both short-term and long-term effects on children.”

PREVENTION (NOUN): The act of stopping something from happening or of stopping someone from
doing something.  “The report argues that there should be more emphasis on the prevention of
marriage breakdown (…).”

SUPPORTIVE (ADJECTIVE): Showing agreement and giving help and encouragement.  “(…) more
research into what makes a supportive marriage (…).”

TO COPE (VERB): To deal successfully with a difficult situation.  “(…) how couples cope when things
first go wrong.”

TO GO WRONG (IDIOM): If a situation goes wrong, there are problems or there is a bad result.  “(…)
how couples cope when things first go wrong.”

MAJOR (ADJECTIVE): More important, bigger, or more serious than others of the same type.  “(…)
Marital breakdown has a major impact on health (…).”

TO TAKE STH INTO ACCOUNT (IDIOM): To consider or remember something when judging a situation.
 “(…) that fact must be taken into account when planning preventive health care strategies.”

PREVENTIVE (ADJECTIVE): Intended to stop something before it happens.  “(…) that fact must be
taken into account when planning preventive health care strategies.”

GRAMMAR/SYNTAX
PAST PARTICIPLES

“Married people (…).”  PAST PARTICIPLE/ADJ. EQUIVALENT (FUNCTION: PRE-MODIFIER)

“Divorced men aged 45-49 (…).”  PAST PARTICIPLE/ADJ. EQUIVALENT (FUNCTION: PRE-MODIFIER)

MIDDLE VERBS

“(…) and those who cohabit have a higher rate of breakdown than married couples.”

“Marital breakdown has a major impact on health.”

REPORTING VERBS

“She says that every study on the issue concludes that the unmarried have higher rates of premature
death.”  TVCP + NOUN CLAUSE (FUNCTION: DO)

“The report adds that divorce can have both short-term and long-term effects on children.”  TVCP +
NOUN CLAUSE (FUNCTION: DO)

“The report argues that there should be more emphasis on the prevention of marriage breakdown (…).”
 TVCP + NOUN CLAUSE (FUNCTION: DO)

SUBJECTIVE COMPLEMENTS

“Marriage is the key to long, healthy life.”  IVIP + SUBCP (CAT: NP)

“Another theory is that healthy people are likely to be the ones that get married.”  IVIP + SUBCP
(CAT: NC)

“Deaths from heart disease, cancer, suicide and accidents are all higher in the unmarried than the
married.”  IVIP + SUBCP (CAT: AP IN THE COMPARATIVE)
11 CHEMEN

“(…) that fact must be taken into account (…).”  TVIP (VERB PHRASE IN PASSIVE) + SUBCP (CAT: PP)

“(…) and how couples cope when things go wrong.”  IVIP (INCHV) + SUBCP (CAT: ADJECTIVE)

OBJECTIVE COMPLEMENTS

“(…) while another view is that marriage break-up leads people to risky behaviour (…).”  TVIP + DO +
OBJCP (CAT: PP)

Original: “(…) with more research into what makes a supportive marriage (…).”  INT-NC

Transformation: “(…) with more research into what makes a marriage supportive (…).”  TVCP + DO +
OBJCP

COORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS

“Married people live longer, have healthier lives, suffer less stress and mental illness and are financially
better off than the single, divorced or widowed (…).”

NOUN CLAUSES

“Researcher Fiona McAllister points out that each year around 364,000 adults are affected by divorce in
Britain (…).”  FUNCTION: DO

ADVERBIAL ADJUNCTS

“(…) each year around 364,000 adults are affected by divorce in Britain (…).”  AA OF PLACE (CAT: PP)

ADVERBIAL CLAUSES

“(…) Marital breakdown has a major impact on health and that fact must be taken into account when
planning preventive health care strategies.”  REDUCED AC OF TIME (FUNCTION: AA OF TIME)

“The report argues that there should be more emphasis on the prevention of marriage breakdown,
rather than crisis intervention once this happens.”  AC OF TIME (FUNCTION: AA OF TIME)

DEFINING RC

“(…) healthy people are likely to be the ones that get married.”

“Those who cohabit have a higher rate of breakdown than married couples.”

REDUCED DEFINING RC

“The report, from a British marriage and partnership charity (which/that is) named One Plus One (…).”

“(…) according to a report (that was) published recently.”

REDUCED NON-DEFINING RC

“The report, (which comes) from a British marriage and partnership charity named One Plus One, has
been compiled from research (…).”

ANTICIPATORY “THERE”

“There is strong evidence that all three processes occur (…).”  THERE + IVIP + RSEP (CAT: NP)

“(…) there should be more emphasis on the prevention of marriage breakdown.”  THERE + IVIP + RSEP
(CAT: NP)

ABSOLUTE CONSTRUCTIONS

“Three mechanisms are given for the protective effect of marriage, the main one being that it acts as a
buffer against stress and anxiety.”
12 CHEMEN

Original: “The report argues that there should be more emphasis on the prevention of marriage
breakdown rather than crisis intervention once this happens (...).”

Transformation: “Marital breakdown having a major impact on health, the report argues that there
should be more emphasis on the prevention of marriage breakdown rather than the crisis intervention
once it happens.”

Original: “Aside from physical ill health, breakdown in partnerships is a prime factor in causing mental ill
health, says the report. Rates of admission to British mental hospitals in 1973, per 100,000 of the
population stood at 257 for married men, 663 for single, 752 for widowed and 1,959 for the divorced.”

Transformation: “Breakdown of partnership being a prime factor in causing mental ill-health, rates of
admission to British mental hospitals in 1973 stood at 752 for widowed and 1959 for the divorced.”

ANTICIPATORY “IT” SUBJECT—TRANSFORMATION

Original: “The report argues that there should be more emphasis on the prevention of marriage
breakdown (…).”

Transformation: “It is important to emphasize the prevention of marriage breakdown.”  IT + IVIP +

SUBCP (CAT: ADJECTIVE) + RSEP (CAT: TO-INF CLAUSE)

ANTICIPATORY “IT” OBJECT—TRANSFORMATION

Original: “Jack Dominian, director of One Plus One, said: Marital breakdown has a major impact on
health and that fact must be taken into account when planning preventive health care strategies.”

Transformation: “One Plus One considers it a mistake not taking into account marital breakdown when
planning preventive health strategies.”  IT + DO (CAT: NP) + ROEP (CAT: GERUNDIAL PHRASE)

CLEFT-SENTENCES/EMPHATIC “IT”—TRANSFORMATION

Original: “Deaths from heart disease, cancer, suicide and accidents are all higher in the unmarried.”

Transformation: “It is in the unmarried that deaths from heart disease, cancer, suicide and accidents are
all higher.”

Original: “(…) Marital breakdown has a major impact on health (…).”

Transformation: “It is marital breakdown that has a major impact on health.”

PSEUDO-CLEFT SENTENCES/EMPHATIC “WHAT”—TRANSFORMATION

Original: “Marital breakdown has a major impact on health.”

Transformation: “What has a major impact on health is marital breakdown.”

NC IN APPOSITION—TRANSFORMATION

Original: “There is strong evidence that all three processes occur.”

Transformation: “The evidence that all three processes occur is strong.”

Original: “Marital breakdown has a major impact on health and that fact must be taken into account
when planning preventive health care strategies.”

Transformation: “The fact that marital breakdown has a major impact on health should be taken into
account when planning preventive health care strategies.”
13 CHEMEN

I DO, I CAN, I WILL

SUMMARY
1: Serial monogamy may be replacing marriage-for-life. But divorce rarely makes everyone happy. Four
new books look at an institution under fire.

For most of the past two millennia, western society has had at its core a contract binding together a
man and a woman for life. Now the contract is falling apart. Men and women still want to enter it. But,
in barely 50 years, cohabitation before marriage has become the norm in many countries; 40% of
American children are born out of wedlock; and the assumption that marriage is for life has vanished.
Two-fifths of American first marriages (and an even higher proportion of second and subsequent ones)
are now likely to end in divorce.

None of these authors focuses on why marriage, having endured so long, is now in such a mess. Marilyn
Yalom, whose new book, A History of the Wife, appears in February, probably gets closest when she
points out that the old “quid pro quo” version of marriage, where men supported their wives financially
and women in exchange cared for them and their children, has broken down. Meanwhile, the new
marital model of equal sharing at home and at work has not yet “been fully realised.”

Certainly there is a suspiciously close correlation between the rise in women’s employment and their
earning power relative to that of men on the one hand, and the rise in marital breakdown on the other.
Many women no longer need men to support them and their children financially; in addition, once out
in the workplace, women whose marriages are not happy may find new and preferable partners. Going
out to work may not increase conjugal unhappiness, but it certainly gives wives an easier way out.

As that escape route began to open up in the middle of the 20th century, it seemed to promise bliss to
those wives whose marriages were torture. Nancy Cott’s study of marriage as a public institution, Public
Vows: A History of Marriage and the Nation, is full of reminders of how until very recently the law
subjugated women to their husbands. After Princess Diana’s mother, the former Viscountess Althorp
(pictured above on her wedding day in 1954), left her husband she promptly lost custody of her
children. Ms Cott, a history professor at Yale, quotes an essayist of the 1850s observing approvingly that
a husband “represents the wife in the political and civil order.” Less than a century ago, the Supreme
Court could still define a husband’s right to exclusive sexual intercourse with his wife “a right of the
highest kind, upon which the whole social order rests.” The exemption from the courts of marital rape
began to disappear only in 1984.

Even now, argues Ms Yalom, a professor at the Institute for Women and Gender at Stanford University,
men get a better deal from marriage. On a whole range of measures of mental health –suicide,
depression, nervous breakdowns– single men do worse than married men, but single women do better
than their married sisters. Husbands, it is often reported, like being married more than their wives do.
The burden of combining child care and family obligations with employment falls mainly on women.

It may be unsurprising that many women, given the financial and legal freedom to escape from
marriage, head for the divorce courts. But it is not clear that divorce makes people happier. Hence the
tub-thumping Case for Marriage made by Linda Waite, a professor of sociology at the University of
California, Davis, and Maggie Gallagher, director of the Marriage Project at the Institute of American
Values. Together they sweep up a host of studies which suggest that marriage increases health and
happiness for both sexes. Some of those gains seem to come from the sheer economic efficiency of
marriage: two people can save money by living in one household and specialising in (or even sharing)
the work of supporting it. “Just getting married,” say the authors enticingly, “can boost your standard of
living by about a third.”

If marriage brings benefits to both men and women, it is even better for children. With the rise in the
divorce rate has come a sobering realisation: the interests of individual family members may differ.
What makes quarrelling mothers and fathers happier may not do quite the same for their children.
14 CHEMEN

Judith Wallerstein, a senior lecturer at the University of California, Berkeley, and author of The
Unexpected Legacy of Divorce: A 25-Year Landmark Study, has probably done more than anyone to bring
this uncomfortable truth to the attention of America’s separating spouses. Her somewhat anecdotal
research methods –a small longitudinal sample, coupled with many stories from her counselling work–
make many other academics squirm. But a growing body of evidence suggests that her basic points are
right: children of divorce are more likely to have problems at school, to drop out of education and to
have difficult relationships than those who lose a parent through death or whose parents’ marriage
survives.

If, as seems possible, children are the victims of the liberation of women, how should governments
respond? By returning to the tax regimes that favour married couples? By making divorce harder to
obtain? Ms Cott points out that marriage is not merely a private arrangement between two people; it
requires public affirmation, and carries distinct public rights and benefits. Over the years, governments
have whittled away these special rights, extending them to other relationships. Some campaigners, such
as Ms Waite and Ms Gallagher, would like to see that trend reversed, to reinforce the special private
advantages they see arising from marriage. They may in time succeed. But whatever the impact of
divorce on children, no government is likely to deprive women of the freedoms they have won, in
marriage and at work, over the past 50 years.

2: The passage features an article first published in the “Books and Arts” section of the weekly
newspaper “The Economist” on January 6th, 2001.

The article exposes the decline of marriage as an institution, the rising rates in divorce and its effects on
children. It does so by briefly reviewing four different books that tackle/cover these issues from varying
viewpoints.

It starts off by stating that this contract called Marriage that once used to bind men and women for life
and that was at the core of Western societies for the last 2000 years is now falling apart.

Although many still want to enter it, cohabitation before marriage has become the norm in many
countries and 40% of American children are born out of wedlock. Additionally, ⅖ of American first
marriages and an even higher percentage of subsequent ones are likely to end in divorce.

Even if none of these books seem to focus on why is marriage in such a state after having endured so
long, the 1st book (“A History of the Wife”) probably gets closest when it points out that the old “quid
pro quo” version of marriage where men provided financially and women cared for their husbands and
children has broken down but, at the same time, the new equal sharing of work and home
responsibilities version has not been fully realized yet.

There also seems to be a correlation between the rise in women’s employment and earning power
compared to that of men and the rising divorce rates, since being out in the workplace means women
no longer depend on men to support them and their children financially and also that those that are in
unhappy marriages now have an easier way out.

Besides, it's stated that men get a better deal out of marriage since they apparently like being married
more than women do, and single men suffer more from a whole array of mental health issues such as
depression, nervous breakdowns and even suicide, while the opposite is true for women.

The 2nd book (“Public Vows: A History of Marriage and the Nation”) highlights instead the role law and
government have had in shaping marriage as a public institution and gives many examples on how law
used to subjugate women to their husbands, while also noting that these new paths that were being
opened up seemed to promise bliss to those that were suffering in unhappy marriages.

The 3rd book (“The Case for Marriage: Why Married People are Happier, Healthier and Better off
Financially”) provides a different approach that is more in line with the previous passage by presenting a
number of studies which suggest that marriage actually increases health and happiness for both men
and women, benefits that seem to come from the sheer economic efficiency of marriage, as people
15 CHEMEN

living under one roof can obviously save more money and also divide or share the household’s
responsibilities or duties. The article also states that this arrangement is even better for children and
that the rising rates in divorce have brought about the sobering realization that the interests of
individual family members may differ and what makes parents happy may not do the same for children.

Following this idea, we have the 4th book (“The Unexpected Legacy of Divorce: a 25-year Landmark
Study”) which brings to light the unexpected effects that divorce can have on children. Putting aside
some controversies about the author’s research methods, there seems to be a growing body of
evidence that proves her right: children of divorce are more likely to have problems at school and to
drop out of the educational system. In addition, they also might find it more difficult later on in life to
form healthy relationships than those children whose parents’ marriage survives, or even those that
suffered the death of a parent.

The article finishes by posing the question of how governments should respond, if at all, to these
growing issues that stem from these rising rates in divorce and that seem to be affecting children so
much. In relation to this, the author of the 2nd book points out the fact that governments have been
progressively whittling away the specific public rights and benefits that marriage used to bring by
extending them to other types of relationships, which could be yet another reason as to why people are
becoming less and less interested in getting married.

VOCABULARY
MONOGAMY (NOUN): The fact or custom of having a sexual relationship or marriage with only one
other person at a time.  “Serial monogamy may be replacing marriage-for-life.”

UNDER FIRE (IDIOM): Being attacked with guns or with severe criticism.  “Four new books look at an
institution under fire.”

MILLENNIA—IRREGULAR PLURAL OF MILLENNIUM (NOUN): A period of 1,000 years, or the time when
a period of 1,000 years ends.  “For most of the past two millennia (...).”

CORE (NOUN): The basic and most important part of something.  “(...) western society has had at its
core a contract binding together a man and a woman for life.”

TO BIND (VERB): To unite people or to make them feel that they share something.  “For most of the
past two millennia, western society has had at its core a contract binding together a man and a woman
for life.”

TO FALL APART (PHRASAL VERB): If an organization, system, or agreement falls apart, it fails or stops
working effectively.  “Now the contract is falling apart.”

COHABITATION (NOUN): The act of living and having a sexual relationship with someone, especially
someone you are not married to.  “But, in barely 50 years, cohabitation before marriage has become
the norm in many countries (…).”

THE NORM: The amount that is usual, or a situation or type of behaviour that is expected and
considered to be typical.  “(…) cohabitation before marriage has become the norm (…).”

BORN OUT OF WEDLOCK (IDIOM): Born when one's parents are not married.  (…) 40% of American
children are born out of wedlock (…).”

TO VANISH (VERB): To disappear or stop being present or existing, especially in a sudden, surprising
way.  “(...) the assumption that marriage is for life has vanished.”

SUBSEQUENT (ADJECTIVE): Happening after something else.  “Two-fifths of American first marriages
(and an even higher proportion of second and subsequent ones) are now likely to end in divorce.”

TO FOCUS (STH) ON SB/STH (PHRASAL VERB): To give a lot of attention to one particular person,
subject, or thing.  “None of these authors focuses on why marriage (…) is now in such a mess.”
16 CHEMEN

TO ENDURE (VERB): To continue to exist for a long time.  “None of these authors focuses on why
marriage, having endured so long, is now in such a mess.”

TO POINT OUT (PHRASAL VERB): To tell someone about some information, often because you believe
they do not know it or have forgotten it.  “Marilyn Yalom (...) probably gets closest when she points
out that the old “quid pro quo” version of marriage (...) has broken down.”

QUID PRO QUO (LATIN PHRASE): Something that is given to a person in return for something else. 
“Marilyn Yalom (…) probably gets closest when she points out that the old ‘quid pro quo’ version of
marriage (…) has broken down.”

TO BREAK DOWN (PHRASAL VERB): If a system, relationship, or discussion breaks down, it fails because
there is a problem or disagreement.  “(...) the old ‘quid pro quo’ version of marriage (…) has broken
down.”

CORRELATION (NOUN): A connection or relationship between two or more facts, numbers, etc. 
“Certainly there is a suspiciously close correlation between the rise in women's employment and their
earning power relative to that of men on the one hand, and the rise in marital breakdown on the other.”

EARNING POWER (NOUN PHRASE): The ability of a person to earn money or of a company to make a
profit.  “Certainly there is a suspiciously close correlation between the rise in women's employment
and their earning power (…) on the one hand, and the rise in marital breakdown on the other”

MARITAL BREAKDOWN (NOUN PHRASE): The common process in which the relationship between a
married couple erodes, such that they cannot ordinarily restore their relationship.  “Certainly there is
a suspiciously close correlation between the rise in women's employment and their earning power
relative to that of men on the one hand, and the rise in marital breakdown on the other.”

CONJUGAL UNHAPPINESS (NOUN PHRASE): Unhappiness as a result of being married.  “Going out to
work may not increase conjugal unhappiness, but it certainly gives wives an easier way out.”

WAY OUT (NOUN): Means of escape (figurative).  “Going out to work may not increase conjugal
unhappiness, but it certainly gives wives an easier way out.”

TO OPEN UP (PHRASAL VERB): To become available or possible.  “As that escape route began to open
up (…) it seemed to promise bliss to those wives whose marriages were torture.”

BLISS (NOUN): Perfect happiness.  “As that escape route began to open up in the middle of the 20th
century, it seemed to promise bliss to those wives whose marriages were torture.”

TO SUBJUGATE (VERB): To defeat a person or group and make them obey you.  “Nancy Cott’s study of
marriage as a public institution (…) is full of reminders of how until very recently the law subjugated
women to their husbands.”

PROMPTLY (ADVERB): Quickly, without delay, or at the arranged time.  “After Princess Diana's mother
(...) left her husband she promptly lost custody of her children.”

CUSTODY (NOUN): The legal right or duty to care for someone or something, especially a child after its
parents have separated or died.  “After Princess Diana's mother (...) left her husband she promptly lost
custody of her children.”

TO QUOTE (VERB): To repeat the words that someone else has said or written.  “Ms Cott (...) quotes
an essayist of the 1850s (...).”

ESSAYIST (NOUN): A person who writes essays that are published.  “Ms Cott (...) quotes an essayist of
the 1850s (...).”

APPROVINGLY (ADVERB): In an approving way (= showing that you have a positive opinion of something
or someone).  “Ms Cott (...) quotes an essayist of the 1850s observing approvingly that a husband
‘represents the wife in the political and civil order.’”
17 CHEMEN

TO REST ON/UPON STH (PHRASAL VERB): If something rests on a particular idea, belief, or fact, it is
based on it or needs it in order for it to be true.  “(...) a right of the highest kind, upon which the whole
social order rests.”

A GOOD/BETTER DEAL (NOUN PHRASE): A very favorable agreement, cost, or situation.  “Even now
(...) men get a better deal from marriage.”

BURDEN (NOUN): Something difficult or unpleasant that you have to deal with or worry about.  “The
burden of combining child care and family obligations with employment falls mainly on women.”

TO FALL ON SB (PHRASAL VERB): If something falls on someone, it is their responsibility to do it.  “The
burden of combining child care and family obligations with employment falls mainly on women.”

TO HEAD FOR (PHRASAL VERB): To go somewhere or towards something.  “It may be unsurprising
that many women (…) head for the divorce courts.”

TUB-THUMPING (COMPOUND ADJECTIVE): A forceful or violent style of speaking.  “Hence the tub-
thumping Case for Marriage made by Linda Waite (…) and Maggie Gallagher (…).”

TO SWEEP UP (PHRASAL VERB): To gather together or remove (usually by sweeping).  “Together they
sweep up a host of studies which suggest that marriage increases health and happiness for both sexes.”

A HOST OF STH (NOUN/NOUN PHRASE): A large number of something.  “Together they sweep up a
host of studies which suggest that marriage increases health and happiness for both sexes.”

GAIN (NOUN): An increase in something such as size, weight, or amount.  “Some of those gains seem
to come from the sheer economic efficiency of marriage.”

SHEER (ADJECTIVE): Used to emphasize how very great, important, or powerful a quality or feeling is. 
“Some of those gains seem to come from the sheer economic efficiency of marriage (…).”

HOUSEHOLD (NOUN): A group of people, often a family, who live together. A house and its occupants
regarded as a unit.  “Two people can save money by living in one household (...).”

TO SPECIALISE (VERB): To do something very often, so that you are known for doing it.  “Two people
can save money by living in one household and specialising in (or even sharing) the work of supporting
it.”

ENTICINGLY (ADVERB): In a way that attracts you by offering you advantages or pleasure.  “‘Just
getting married,’ say the authors enticingly, ‘can boost your standard of living by about a third.’”

TO BOOST (VERB): To improve or increase something.  “‘Just getting married,’ say the authors
enticingly, ‘can boost your standard of living by about a third.’”

SOBERING (PRESENT PARTICIPLE/ADJECTIVE): Making you feel serious or think about serious matters.
 “With the rise in the divorce rate has come a sobering realisation (…).”

TO DIFFER (VERB): To be not like something or someone else, either physically or in another way. 
“(…) the interests of individual family members may differ.”

QUARRELING (PRESENT PARTICIPLE/ADJECTIVE): Arguing, squabbling.  “What makes quarrelling

mothers and fathers happier may not do quite the same for their children.”

SENIOR LECTURER (NOUN PHRASE): Used at some American universities to denote permanent teaching
positions (full or part-time) with few or no research responsibilities.  “Judith Wallerstein, a senior
lecturer at the University of California, Berkeley (...).”

TO BRING STH TO SB’S ATTENTION/TO THE ATTENTION OF SB (IDIOM): To make someone aware of
something.  “Judith Wallerstein (...) has probably done more than anyone to bring this uncomfortable
truth to the attention of America's separating spouses.”
18 CHEMEN

SPOUSE (NOUN): A person's husband or wife.  “Judith Wallerstein (...) has probably done more than
anyone to bring this uncomfortable truth to the attention of America's separating spouses.”

LONGITUDINAL (ADJECTIVE): Involving the repeated observation or examination of a set of subjects

over time with respect to one or more study variables.  “(...) a small longitudinal sample, coupled with
many stories from her counselling work (...).”

SAMPLE (NOUN): A group of people or things that is chosen out of a larger number and is asked
questions or tested in order to get information about the larger group.  “(...) a small longitudinal
sample, coupled with many stories from her counselling work (...).”

TO COUPLE WITH (PHRASAL VERB): To join or combine (something) with (something else).  “(...) a
small longitudinal sample, coupled with many stories from her counselling work (...).”

COUNSELLING (NOUN): The job or process of listening to someone and giving that person advice about
their problems.  “(...) many stories from her counselling work (...).”

TO SQUIRM (VERB): To feel nervous or embarrassed about something.  “Her somewhat anecdotal
research methods –a small longitudinal sample, coupled with many stories from her counselling work–
make many other academics squirm.”

TO DROP OUT (PHRASAL VERB): If a student drops out, they stop going to classes before they have
finished their course.  “(...) children of divorce are more likely to have problems at school, to drop out
of education and to have difficult relationships (…).”

MERELY (ADVERB): Only, simply, nothing more.  “Ms Cott points out that marriage is not merely a
private arrangement between two people (...)”

DISTINCT (ADJECTIVE): Clearly separate and different (from something else). Noticeably different from
others; distinctive.  “(...) it requires public affirmation, and carries distinct public rights and benefits.”

TO WHITTLE AWAY (PHRASAL VERB): To reduce or get rid of (something) slowly.  “Over the years,
governments have whittled away these special rights, extending them to other relationships.”

TREND (NOUN): The general direction of changes or developments.  “Some campaigners, such as Ms
Waite and Ms Gallagher, would like to see that trend reversed (...).”

IN TIME (ADVERB): Eventually.  “They may in time succeed.”

TO DEPRIVE (VERB): To take something, especially something necessary or pleasant, away from
someone.  “But whatever the impact of divorce on children, no government is likely to deprive women
of the freedoms they have won, in marriage and at work, over the past 50 years.”

TO RISE (VERB): To move upwards; to assume an upright position especially from lying, kneeling, or
sitting. (Intransitive and Irregular).  “Certainly there is a suspiciously close correlation between the rise
in women's employment and their earning power relative to that of men on the one hand, and the rise in
marital breakdown on the other.”

TO ARISE (VERB): To come into existence or begin to be noticed; to happen; to get out of bed.
(Intransitive and Irregular).  “Some campaigners, such as Ms Waite and Ms Gallagher, would like to
see that trend reversed, to reinforce the special private advantages they see arising from marriage.”

GRAMMAR/SYNTAX
DEFINING RC

“(…) women whose marriages are not happy may find new and preferable partners.”  FUNCTION:
POST-MODIFIER
19 CHEMEN

“Together they sweep up a host of studies which suggest that marriage increases health and happiness
for both sexes.”  FUNCTION: POST-MODIFIER

REDUCED DEFINING RC

“Ms Cott, a history professor at Yale, quotes an essayist of the 1850s (who was) observing approvingly
that a husband ‘represents the wife in the political and civil order.’”  FUNCTION: POST-MODIFIER

“Hence the tub-thumping ‘Case for Marriage’ (that/which was) made by Linda Waite (…).”
FUNCTION: POST-MODIFIER

NON-DEFINING RC

“Marilyn Yalom, whose new book, “A History of the Wife”, appears in February, probably gets closest
(…).”  FUNCTION: POST-MODIFIER

VERBLESS REDUCED NON-DEFINING RC

“Marilyn Yalom, whose new book, (which is called) “A History of the Wife”, appears in February,
probably gets closest (…).”  FUNCTION: POST-MODIFIER

“Nancy Cott's study of marriage as a public institution, (which is called) ‘Public Vows: A History of
Marriage and the Nation’ (…).”  FUNCTION: POST-MODIFIER

“Ms Cott, (who is) a history professor at Yale (…).”  FUNCTION: POST-MODIFIER

SUBJECTIVE COMPLEMENTS

“But, in barely 50 years, cohabitation before marriage has become the norm in many countries (…).” 
IVIP (INCHV) + SUBCP (CAT: NP)

“It may be unsurprising that many women, given the financial and legal freedom to escape from
marriage, head for the divorce courts.”  IVIP + SUBCP (CAT: ADJ)

OBJECTIVE COMPLEMENTS

“But divorce rarely makes everyone happy.”  TVIP + DO (CAT: PRONOUN) + OBJCP (CAT: ADJ)

“Her somewhat anecdotal research methods —a small longitudinal sample, coupled with many stories
from her counselling work— make many other academics squirm.”  TVIP + DO (CAT: NP) + OBJCP
(CAT: BARE-INF CLAUSE)

“(…) divorce makes people happier.”  TVIP + DO (CAT: NOUN) + OBJCP (CAT: ADJ IN THE COMP.)

NOUN CLAUSES

“What makes quarrelling mothers and fathers happier may not do quite the same for their children.” 
FUNCTION: SUBJECT

“But a growing body of evidence suggests that her basic points are right (…).”  FUNCTION: DO

“Ms Cott points out that marriage is not merely a private arrangement between two people (…).” 
FUNCTION: DO

NOUN CLAUSES IN APPOSITION

“(…) the assumption that marriage is for life has vanished.”  ABSTRACT NOUN + NC IN APPOSITION

ADVERBIAL ADJUNCTS

“FOR most of the past two millennia, western society has had at its core a contract binding together a
man and a woman for life.”  AA OF TIME (CAT: PP)
20 CHEMEN

“But, in barely 50 years, cohabitation before marriage has become the norm in many countries (…).” 
AA OF TIME (CAT: PP) + AA OF PLACE (CAT: PP)

“Husbands, it is often reported, like being married more than their wives do.”  AA OF FREQUENCY
(CAT: ADVERB)

“The burden of combining child care and family obligations with employment falls mainly on women.” 
AA OF DESTINATION/RECIPIENT (CAT: PP)

“’Just getting married’, say the authors enticingly, ‘can boost your standard of living by about a third.’”
 AA OF MANNER (CAT: ADVERB)

ADVERBIAL CLAUSES

“Marilyn Yalom, whose new book, ‘A History of the Wife’, appears in February, probably gets closest
when she points out that the old ‘quid pro quo’ version of marriage, where men supported their wives
financially and women in exchange cared for them and their children, has broken down.”  AC OF TIME
(FUNCTION: AA OF TIME)

“(…) once out in the workplace, women whose marriages are not happy may find new and preferable
partners.”  VERBLESS REDUCED AC OF TIME (FUNCTION: AA OF TIME)

“If marriage brings benefits to both men and women, it is even better for children.”  AC OF
CONDITION (FUNCTION: AA OF CONDITION)

“But whatever the impact of divorce on children, no government is likely to deprive women of the
freedoms they have won, in marriage and at work, over the past 50 years.”  AC OF CONCESSION
(FUNCTION: AA OF CONCESSION)

ANTICIPATORY “IT” SUBJECT

“It may be unsurprising that many women, given the financial and legal freedom to escape from
marriage, head for the divorce courts.”  IT (FUNCTION: SUBJECT) + IVIP + SUBCP (CAT: PRES.
PARTICIPLE) + RSEP (CAT: NC)

“But it is not clear that divorce makes people happier.”  IT (FUNCTION: SUBJECT) + IVIP + SUBCP (CAT:
ADJP) + RSEP (CAT: NC)

ANTICIPATORY “IT” OBJECT—TRANSFORMATION

Original: “But it is not clear that divorce makes people happier.”

Transformation: “I believe it true that divorce makes people happier.”  IT (FUNCTION: DO) + OBJCP
(CAT: ADJ) + ROEP (CAT: NC)

ANTICIPATORY “THERE”

“Certainly there is a suspiciously close correlation between the rise in women's employment and their
earning power relative to that of men on the one hand, and the rise in marital breakdown on the other.”
 THERE + IVIP + RSEP (CAT: NP)

PASSIVE VOICE/REPORTING VERBS

“Husbands, it is often reported, like being married more than their wives do.”

ABSOLUTE CONSTRUCTIONS—TRANSFORMATION

Original: “None of these authors focuses on why marriage, having endured so long, is now in such a
mess.”
21 CHEMEN

Transformation: “Marriage having endured so long, none of these authors focuses on why it is now in
such a mess.”  ABCON (SUBJECT 1 + NON-FINITE FORM OF THE VERB) + MC (SUBJECT 2 + REST OF
ELEMENTS)

CLEFT SENTENCES/EMPHATIC “IT”—TRANSFORMATION

Original: “But divorce rarely makes everyone happy.”

Transformation: “It was divorce that made them happy.”

PSEUDO-CLEFT SENTENCES/EMPHATIC “WHAT”—TRANSFORMATION

Original: “But divorce rarely makes everyone happy.”

Transformation: “What made them happy was divorcing.”

GUT-LAG
SUMMARY
1: I recently returned from a visit to Australia, and, more recently still, to my normal biorhythms. I had
gone to a conference, and since it was a medical conference, much of the tiny talk in the early days, and
late nights, was about jet-lag. Personal greetings were decorated by comparisons of severity and
discussion of mechanisms, individual responses, and private tricks for prevention and treatment. The
subject was discussed extensively. Some talked jet-lag, almost boastfully, others used it as a talisman
against, or excuse for, giving a poor paper. I took part in this communal game, if only to say I am less
affected nowadays and suspect that to be an effect of ageing, just as I get less motion sickness now that
the hairs on my movement sensory cells are becoming fixed by senility. But, irrespective of that
improvement, like many others, I had taken melatonin as a personal, and somewhat stupid and
uninterpretable “experiment”.

But at no time during these extensive first-day discussions was a related but private problem discussed.
My bowel, usually a friction-free part of my functional anatomy was out of sync. At first, I had no idea
how many of my colleagues were suffering likewise; but encouraged by various tangentional
observations, and then by the response to a few oblique remarks, I finally moved to direct questions –
each of which was repeated extensively to friends when I returned– and found that my problem is in
fact a common, albeit silent indignity.

The reason for the previous silence was only in part an unwillingness to publicise a personal and
traditionally costly matter, medics will anatomise all things, personal or otherwise. The reason for the
silence was, I am certain, that the condition had not been recognised, let alone defined. But it does
exist, and it is a common, albeit transient, problem, as my direct questions have revealed. Since
recognition of a syndrome is always helped by a name –just as jet light leg revealed the swelling that
was commonly concealed under jeans– I have called the condition “gut-lag”, the prosaic brother of
jet-lag.

That gut-lag occurs after long flights is hardly surprising. If defaecation was initiated only by the
gastrocolic reflex of eating, there would be no problem. But bowel voidance is a response to a
combination of stimuli in addition to food intake; it is a habit built of convenience, in its several senses.
Such a habit cannot but be gut-lag, a morning habit may continue to make its usual timely request, now
at some distantly unusual hour of the day or night, when it cannot be served by a direct answer. This
displacement between desire and fulfilment would require a gastrointestinal Freud for its full
exploitation.

As with the disturbed sleep pattern of jet-lag, all passes in time, usually days. But for some, those few
days could be less troublesome were the condition better known and prepared for. From personal
experience, melatonin does not do the trick and, surely, only flights on April 1 would be suitable for a
22 CHEMEN

double-blind randomised trial of its efficacy for gut-lag as well as jet-lag. Nor would a gastrointestinal
equivalent of melatonin be necessary because the effect of drugs such as senna retain their home-based
efficacy, and are easily used prophylactically, if not therapeutically. Indeed senna could take its place in
the travel pack side by side with Immodium, completing the traveller’s gastrointestinal Yin and Yang.

I hope my noting and naming the condition of gut-lag will make the indignity no less silent, but will lead
to its better definition and amelioration. Perhaps, too, those who stay firmly on the ground, but remain
envious of those who don’t, can now feel some consolation in knowing some of the less glamourous
concomitants of what they are missing.

2: This passage talks about gut-lag, which is a common and transient condition that most travellers
experience. Our body is like a clock and has its own daily rhythms. So, when we fly into a new time zone,
our internal organs do not recognise that change and instead continue to stick to the schedule of the
place we have left.

Since the internal organs are out of sync, the most obvious signs of this condition are feeling hungry at
the wrong times, experiencing constipation or having an urge to use the bathroom at unexpected times.

The author of this passage suggests that the condition should be studied so that people can be prepared
for it. Therefore, he recommends some prophylactic drugs that might do the trick and help us treat this
uncomfortable condition.

VOCABULARY
GUT-LAG (NOUN): Feeling hungry (or having no appetite) at the wrong times. Symptoms can include
constipation or diarrhoea. Crossing time zones disrupts our circadian rhythm – or internal body clock – a
24-hour cycle that determines our sleeping and eating patterns and other bodily functions, so jet-lag
affects our internal organs as well as our sleep. Intestinal bacteria (microbiome) is connected to immune
function and well-being.  “Gut-lag; a silent indignity.”

INDIGNITY (NOUN): Something that causes a loss of respect for someone or for yourself.  “Gut-lag; a
silent indignity.”

BIORHYTHM (NOUN): A regular pattern of physical processes in an organism.  “I recently returned

from a visit to Australia, and, more recently still, to my normal biorhythms.”

TINY TALK (NOUN): Small talk, conversation about things that are not important, often between people
who do not know each other well.  “(…) since it was a medical conference, much of the tiny talk in the
early days, and late nights, was about jet-lag.”

JET-LAG (NOUN): The feeling of tiredness and confusion that people experience after making a long
journey by plane to a place where the time is different from the place they left.  “(…) much of the tiny
talk in the early days, and late nights, was about jet-lag.”

TO DECORATE (VERB): To add something to an object or place, especially in order to make it more
attractive.  “Personal greetings were decorated by comparisons of severity (…).”

SEVERITY (NOUN): Seriousness. The quality or state of being severe: the condition of being very bad,
serious, unpleasant, or harsh.  “Personal greetings were decorated by comparisons of severity and
discussion of mechanisms (…).”

EXTENSIVELY (ADVERB): In a way that covers a large area or has a great range.  “The subject was
discussed extensively.”

BOASTFULLY (ADVERB): In a way that praises yourself and what you have done.  “Some talked jet-lag,
almost boastfully (…).”

TALISMAN (NOUN): An object believed to bring good luck or to keep its owner safe from harm.  “(…)
others used it as a talisman against, or excuse for, giving a poor paper.”
23 CHEMEN

PAPER (NOUN): A piece of writing on a particular subject written by an expert and usually published in a
book or journal, or read aloud to other people.  “(…) others used it as a talisman against, or excuse
for, giving a poor paper.”

COMMUNAL (ADJECTIVE): Belonging to or used by a group of people rather than one single person. 
“I took part in this communal game (…).”

TO AGE (VERB): If someone ages or something ages them, they look older.  “(…) if only to say I am less
affected nowadays and suspect that to be an effect of ageing (…).”

MOTION SICKNESS (NOUN): A feeling of being ill, especially of needing to vomit, that some people get
in a moving vehicle.  “(…) just as I get less motion sickness now that the hairs on my movement
sensory cells are becoming fixed by senility.”

SENSORY CELL (NOUN): A peripheral nerve cell (as an olfactory cell) located at a sensory receiving
surface and being the primary receptor of a sensory impulse. A nerve cell (as a spinal ganglion cell)
transmitting sensory impulses.  “(…) just as I get less motion sickness now that the hairs on my
movement sensory cells are becoming fixed by senility.”

SENILITY (NOUN): The quality of being senile (= showing poor mental ability because of old age).  “(…)
the hairs on my movement sensory cells are becoming fixed by senility.”

IRRESPECTIVE (ADVERB): Without considering; not needing to allow for.  “But, irrespective of that
improvement (…).”

MELATONIN (NOUN): A hormone in the body that produces changes in skin colour and is involved in
controlling biorhythms such as our sleep pattern.  “(…) I had taken melatonin as a personal, and
somewhat stupid and uninterpretable ‘experiment’.”

UNINTERPRETABLE (ADJECTIVE): Incapable of being interpreted or explained: not interpretable.  “(…)

I had taken melatonin as a personal, and somewhat stupid and uninterpretable ‘experiment’.”

BOWEL (NOUN): The long tube that carries solid waste from the stomach out of the body.  “My
bowel, usually a friction-free part of my functional anatomy was out of sync.”

FRICTION-FREE (ADJECTIVE): Without any friction (= the force that makes it difficult for an object to
slide across or move through something).  “My bowel, usually a friction-free part of my functional
anatomy was out of sync.”

OUT OF SYNC (IDIOM): In a state in which two or more people or things do not move or happen
together at the same time and speed, or do not agree with or match one another.  “My bowel, usually
a friction-free part of my functional anatomy was out of sync.”

LIKEWISE (ADVERB): In the same way.  “(…) I had no idea how many of my colleagues were suffering
likewise (…).”

TANGENTIONAL/TANGENTIAL (ADJECTIVE): (of a subject or activity) Different from or not directly

connected with the one you are talking about or doing.  “(…) encouraged by tangentional
observations (…).”

OBLIQUE (ADJECTIVE): Not clear or direct.  “(…) by the response to a few oblique remarks (…).”

ALBEIT (CONJUNCTION): Although; but.  “(…) my problem is in fact a common, albeit silent, indignity.”

UNWILLINGNESS (NOUN): The quality of not wanting to do something.  “The reason for the previous
silence was only in part an unwillingness to publicise a personal and traditionally costly matter (…).”

TO PUBLICISE (VERB): To make information about something generally available.  “The reason (…)
was only in part an unwillingness to publicise a personal and traditionally costly matter (…).”
24 CHEMEN

COSTLY (ADJECTIVE): Harmful, and involving a lot of loss or damage. Made or done at heavy expense or
sacrifice.  “(…) a personal and traditionally costly matter (…).”

TO ANATOMISE (VERB): To examine and describe something in detail.  “(…) medics will anatomise all
things (…).”

OTHERWISE (ADJECTIVE): Used to show that something is completely different from what you think it is
or from what was previously stated.  “(…) medics will anatomise all things, personal or otherwise.”

LET ALONE (CONJUNCTION): Used after a negative statement to emphasize how unlikely a situation is
because something much more likely has never happened.  “The reason (…) was (…) that the condition
had not been recognised, let alone defined.”

ALBEIT (COORDINATING CONJUNCTION): Although; but.  “But it does exist, and it is a common, albeit
transient, problem (…).”

TRANSIENT (ADJECTIVE): Lasting for only a short time; temporary.  “But it does exist, and it is a
common, albeit transient, problem (…).”

SYNDROME (NOUN): A combination of medical problems that shows the existence of a particular
disease or mental condition.  “Since recognition of a syndrome is always helped by a name (…).”

DISEASE (NOUN): (An) illness of people, animals, plants, etc., caused by infection or a failure of health
rather than by an accident.

MEDICAL CONDITION (NOUN): A medical condition is a broad term that includes all diseases, lesions,
and disorders.

ILLNESS (NOUN): A disease of the body or mind.

DISORDER (NOUN): An illness of the mind or body.

MALADY (NOUN—FORMAL): A disease.

SWELLING (NOUN): A part of your body that has become bigger because of illness or injury.  “(…) jet
light leg revealed the swelling that was commonly concealed under jeans (…).”

CONCEALED (ADJECTIVE): Kept hidden or where it cannot easily be seen.  “(…) jet light leg revealed
the swelling that was commonly concealed under jeans (…).”

PROSAIC (ADJECTIVE): Without interest, imagination, and excitement. Ordinary and not especially
interesting or unusual.  “I have called the condition ‘gut-lag’, the prosaic brother of jet-lag.”

GASTROCOLIC REFLEX (NOUN): The occurrence of peristalsis (successive waves of involuntary

contraction passing along the walls of a hollow muscular structure and forcing the contents onward)
following the entrance of food into the empty stomach.  “If defaecation was initiated only by the
gastrocolic reflex of eating, there would be no problem.”

BOWEL VOIDANCE (NOUN): To eliminate solid or liquid waste from the body.  “But bowel voidance is
a response to a combination of stimuli in addition to food intake (…).”

STIMULI—IRREGULAR PLURAL OF STIMULUS (NOUN): Something that causes something else to

happen, develop, or become more active. Something that causes a change or a reaction.  “But bowel
voidance is a response to a combination of stimuli in addition to food intake (…).”

INTAKE (NOUN): An act of taking in something, especially breath.  “But bowel voidance is a response
to a combination of stimuli in addition to food intake (…).”

TIMELY (ADJECTIVE): Happening at the best possible moment. Given or made available at a suitable
moment.  “With gut-lag, a morning habit may continue to make its usual timely request (…).”
25 CHEMEN

TO SERVE (VERB): To provide with something that is needed.  “(…) when it cannot be served by a
direct answer.”

DISPLACEMENT (NOUN): The act or process of displacing: the state of being displaced.  “The
displacement between desire and fulfilment would require a gastrointestinal Freud for its full
exploitation.”

FULFILMENT (NOUN): The fact of doing something that is necessary or something that someone has
wanted or promised to do.  “The displacement between desire and fulfilment would require a
gastrointestinal Freud for its full exploitation.”

EXPLOITATION (NOUN): The use of something in order to get an advantage from it.  “The
displacement between desire and fulfilment would require a gastrointestinal Freud for its full
exploitation.”

AS WITH (PREPOSITION): As in the case of.  “As with the disturbed sleep pattern of jet-lag (…).”

TO DO THE TRICK (IDIOM): If something does the trick, it has the necessary or wanted effect.  “(…)
From personal experience, melatonin does not do the trick (…).”

SUITABLE (ADJECTIVE): Acceptable or right for someone or something.  “(…) only flights on April 1
would be suitable for a double-blind randomised trial (…).”

DOUBLE-BLIND (ADJECTIVE): A double-blind study or trial, especially in medicine, is one in which two
groups of people are studied, for example with one group taking a new drug and one group taking
something else, but neither the people in the study nor the scientist or doctor knows which person is in
which group.  “(…) only flights on April 1 would be suitable for a double-blind randomised trial (…).”

RANDOMISED (ADJECTIVE): Relating to experimental research where subjects are selected for particular
treatments by chance.  “(…) only flights on April 1 would be suitable for a double-blind randomised
trial (…).”

NOR (CONJUNCTION): Used before the second or last of a set of negative possibilities, usually after
“neither”. “Nor would a gastrointestinal equivalent of melatonin be necessary (…).”

SENNA (NOUN): The dried leaflets or pods of various sennas (medicinal plant) used as a purgative. 
“(…) the effect of drugs such as senna retain their home-based efficacy (…).”

TO RETAIN (VERB): To keep or continue to have something.  “(…) the effect of drugs such as senna
retain their home-based efficacy (…).”

EFFICACY (NOUN): The ability, especially of a medicine or a method of achieving something, to produce
the intended result.  “(…) the effect of drugs such as senna retain their home-based efficacy (…).”

PROPHYLACTICALLY (ADVERB): Guarding from or preventing the spread or occurrence of disease or

infection.  “(…) and are used prophylactically, if not therapeutically.”C

INDEED (ADVERB): Really or certainly, often used to emphasize something.  “Indeed senna could take
its place in the travel pack side by side with Immodium (…).”

IMMODIUM (NOUN): Medication used to decrease the frequency of diarrhoea.  “Indeed senna could
take its place in the travel pack side by side with Immodium (…).”

YIN AND YANG (NOUN): Opposite sides, elements, or extremes. Opposite or contrary forces that
actually are complementary  “(…) the traveller’s gastrointestinal Yin and Yang.”

AMELIORATION (NOUN): The process of making a bad or unpleasant situation better.  “(…) will lead
to its better definition and amelioration.”
26 CHEMEN

CONCOMITANT (NOUN): Something that happens with something else and is connected with it.  “(…)
those who stay firmly on the ground (…) can now feel some consolation in knowing some of the less
glamorous concomitants of what they are missing.”

GRAMMAR/SYNTAX
PATTERNS—IF ONLY + TO

Idiomatic expression to express the reason for something (“aunque sea solo para…”). Different from its
use in unreal past (IF ONLY + PAST FORM  We want a situation in the present to change / IF ONLY +
PAST PERFECT FORM  We would like to change something about the past).

“I took part in this communal game, if only to say I am less affected nowadays and suspect that to be an
effect of ageing (…).”

EMPHASIS/FORMALITY—INVERSION OF ORDER

“At no time during this extensive first-day discussions was a related but private problem discussed.”

“(…) those few days could be less troublesome were the condition better known and prepared for.”

CONDITIONALS TYPE 2

“If defaecation was initiated only by the gastrocolic reflex of eating, there would be no problem.”

PASSIVE VOICE

“Personal greetings were decorated by comparisons of severity and discussion of mechanisms (…).”

“The subject was discussed extensively.”

“Since recognition of a syndrome is always helped by a name (…).”

“Such a habit cannot but be embraced by the clock, and therefore confused by its changing.”

NOUN PHRASES

“Personal greetings were decorated by comparisons of severity and discussion of mechanisms,

individual responses, and private tricks for prevention and treatment.”

“(…) I had taken melatonin as a personal, and somewhat stupid and uninterpretable ‘experiment’.”

“Nor would a gastrointestinal equivalent of melatonin be necessary (…).”

NOUN CLAUSES

“(…) and found that my problem is in fact a common, albeit silent, indignity.”  FUNCTION: DO

“The reason for the silence was, I am certain, that the condition had not been recognised, let alone
defined.”  FUNCTION: SUBCP

INTERROGATIVE NC

“At first, I had no idea how many of my colleagues were suffering likewise (…).”  FUNCTION: DO?

CONTACT NC

“I hope (that) my noting and naming the condition of gut-lag will make the indignity no less silent, but
will lead to its better definition and amelioration.”  FUNCTION: DO

SUBJECTIVE COMPLEMENTS

“(…) since it was a medical conference (…).”  IVIP + SUBCP (CAT: NP)
27 CHEMEN

“(…) I am less affected nowadays (…).”  IVIP + SUBCP (CAT: ADJP)

“My bowel (…) was out of sync.”  IVIP + SUBCP (CAT: PP)

“(…) but remain envious of those who don’t, can now feel (…).”  IVIP + SUBCP (CAT: ADJP)

OBJECTIVE COMPLEMENTS

“(…) I had taken (= regarded) melatonin as a personal, and somewhat stupid and uninterpretable
‘experiment’.”  TVIP + DO + OBJCP (CAT: NP)

“I have called the condition ‘gut-lag’, the prosaic brother of jet-lag.”  TVIP + DO + OBJCP (CAT: NOUN)

“(…) my noting and naming the condition of gut-lag will make the indignity no less silent (…).”  TVIP +
DO (CAT: NP) + OBJCP (CAT: ADJP)

ADVERBIAL ADJUNCTS

“(…) others used it as a talisman (…).”  AA OF MEANS (CAT: PP)

“Perhaps, too, those who stay firmly on the ground (…).”  AA OF MANNER (CAT: ADVERB) + AA OF
PLACE (CAT: PP)

“I recently returned from a visit to Australia (…).”  AA OF TIME (CAT: ADV) + AA OF PLACE (CAT: PP)

“Some talked jet-lag, almost boastfully (…).”  AA OF MANNER (CAT: ADVP)

“Nor would a gastrointestinal equivalent of melatonin be necessary because the effect of drugs such as
senna retain their home-based efficacy, and are easily used prophylactically, if not therapeutically.” 
AA OF REASON (CAT: AC)

ADVERBIAL CLAUSES

“I had gone to a conference, and since it was a medical conference, much of the tiny talk in the early
days, and late nights, was about jet-lag.”  AC OF REASON (FUNCTION: AA OF REASON)

“If defaecation was initiated only by the gastrocolic reflex of eating, there would be no problem.”  AC
OF CONDITION (FUNCTION: AA OF CONDITION)

ANTICIPATORY “THERE”

“If defaecation was initiated only by the gastrocolic reflex of eating, there would be no problem.” 
THERE + IVIP+ RSEP (CAT: NP)

DEFINING RC

“Perhaps, too, those who stay firmly on the ground, but remain envious of those who don’t, can now feel
some consolation.”

REDUCED DEFINING RC

“(…) the hairs (which are) on my movement sensory cells are becoming fixed by senility.”

VERBLESS REDUCED NON-DEFINING RC

“My bowel, (which is) usually a friction free part of my functional anatomy, was out of sync.”

“I have called the condition ‘gut-lag’, (which is) the prosaic brother of jet-lag.”

PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES

“The reason for the previous silence was only in part an unwillingness to publicise (…).”  FUNCTION:
POST-MODIFIER
28 CHEMEN

“This displacement between desire and fulfilment would require a gastrointestinal Freud for its full
exploitation.”  FUNCTION: AA OF PURPOSE

“I recently returned from a visit to Australia (…).”  FUNCTION: AA OF PLACE

“(…) all passes in time (…).”  FUNCTION: AA OF TIME

“Indeed senna could take its place in the travel pack (…).”  FUNCTION: AA OF PLACE

PASSIVE VOICE

“Personal greetings were decorated by comparisons of severity and discussion of mechanisms, individual
responses, and private tricks for prevention and treatment.” SUBJECT (CAT: NP) + PASSIVE VOICE (VERB
PHRASE) + AGENT OF THE PASSIVE VOICE

CLEFT SENTENCES/EMPHATIC “IT”—TRANSFORMATION

Original: “I recently returned from a visit to Australia (…).”

Transformation: “It was recently that I returned from a visit to Australia.”

PSEUDO-CLEFT SENTENCES/EMPHATIC “WHAT”—TRANSFORMATION

Original: “(…) jet light leg revealed the swelling that was commonly concealed under jeans (…).”

Transformation: “What jet light leg revealed was the swelling commonly concealed under jeans.”

NC IN APPOSITION—TRANSFORMATION

Original: “The reason for the silence was, I am certain, that the condition had not been recognised, let
alone defined.”

Transformation: “The theory that the condition had not been recognised was true.”

Original: “That gut-lag occurs after long flights is hardly surprising.”

Transformation: “The fact that gut-lag occurs after long flights is hardly surprising.”

ANTICIPATORY “IT” SUBJECT—TRANSFORMATION

Original: “That gut-lag occurs after long flights is hardly surprising.”  NC-SUBJECT + IVIP + SUBCP
(CAT: PRESENT PARTICIPIAL PHRASE)

Transformation: “It is hardly surprising that gut-lag occurs after long flights.”  IT + IVIP + SUBCP (CAT:
PRESENT PARTICIPIAL PHRASE) + RSEP (CAT: NC)

ABSOLUTE CONSTRUCTIONS—TRANSFORMATION

“Melatonin being quite ineffective, the traveller decided to give senna a try.”

DEATH BY VOODOO
SUMMARY
1: Australian psychiatrist Harry D. Eastwell has come up with a new answer to an old medical question:
How does sorcery, such as voodoo hexes cause death? Although the word voodoo came to America
from Haitian Creole, the syndrome of voodoo death is not limited to Haitian cults; it occurs all over the
world in many different cultures.

In Australia for instance, native people believe that sorcerers kill by using a kind of death ray –a sliver of
bone that a sorcerer hiding in the bushes points at a victim. Elsewhere, sorcerers are said to kill by
29 CHEMEN

burning bundles containing pieces of the victim’s clothing, locks of hair and fingernail clippings, or by
burning or mutilating effigies of the person.

For years, scientifically trained observers dismissed voodoo death as primitive superstition. But
eventually, confronted by many cases in which there seemed to be no medical reason for deaths,
anthropologists and psychiatrists came to accept voodoo death as a pathology in its own right, linked to
the victim’s belief in sorcery. Of course, it is the victim’s mental state that makes sorcery effective, not
bone-pointing or effigy-burning. This distinction is important but does not do away with the puzzle. How
can the mere belief that one is doomed be fatal?

Two kinds of theories have been proposed to account for voodoo death. One emphasizes the power of
suggestion as a psychological process. If faith can heal, despair can kill. The other seeks to ground the
power of suggestion in physiology: Death is caused by extreme fright and despair, which disrupt the
sympathetic nervous system and paralyze vital body functions.

Now along comes Eastwell with a much simpler theory: Natives of Australia’s Arnhem Land help the hex
by blocking off life-support systems, especially access to water.

As Eastwell reports in the American Anthropologist, the patients he saw had good reason to suspect that
they had been hexed. They had committed acts such as adultery or homicide, which normally induce
vengeful feelings in others. Typically, the hexed individuals become fearful, anxious and despondent, a
state of mind that exacerbates any bodily problems, such as pulmonary or gastrointestinal disorders
they already have.

Family members soon join the victim in suspecting that sorcery is to blame for the problems, reinforcing
the conviction that the hex is taking effect. The fear and disability become more pronounced, and the
victim becomes incapable of leading a normal life. Relatives gather close to the sickbed, wailing and
chanting songs heralding the imminent return of the victim’s soul to the sacred well from whence it
came. They bring a funeral cloth and lay it down near their doomed loved one. It is not long before the
person becomes convinced that “this is the time for me to die”. Appetite fails and the victim makes little
or no effort to eat or drink. The assembled relatives often do their part by keeping water cans beyond
reach, despite temperatures well above 100 degrees in the shade.

As the relatives and other natives told Eastwell, “We take the water away from him-no need for water or
food… The relatives say no more water…, If real close-up finish, take water away so spirit goes”. With
total restriction of fluids, death follows in 24 hours. In Arnhem Land, it seems, sorcery kills not by
suggestion or paralyzing fear, but by dehydration.

Eastwell tells of one 35-year-old man he found lying in the sun without water. Relatives were sitting in
the shade of a nearby hut chanting and wailing. Evidence for sorcery was twofold: The man had suffered
a stroke while dancing a tribal ceremony; later, he tried to seduce a woman who was sexually taboo.
Flown to the hospital in Darwin and given liquids and tranquilizers, the man recovered-only temporarily,
as if turned out. After a year he returned home, fell sick, was chanted over by his relatives and died.
Eastwell emphasizes that in some cases, voodoo death is indistinguishable from euthanasia. The people
of Arnhem Land do not recognize the difference between somatic and psychological pathologies; when
death seems near, they give both kinds of illness the same treatment.

Belief in sorcery is a crude way for any society to determine when to withdraw its life-support systems.

But it would be hypocritical for us to condemn the people of Arnhem Land for the way they treat
relatives who seem doomed to die. Despite all our knowledge and medical technology, we are often
unable to explain why people become terminally ill. And increasingly, hospitals and doctors ask relatives
to assume the burden of deciding when to pull the plug.

2: This passage shows how people’s mental state can be the cause of their own death. Some people die
despite being young and in good health because they lose the will to live.
30 CHEMEN

In cases of voodoo death, the critical factor is the person’s knowledge of the magic spell and their
certainty that death will soon follow. This belief is exacerbated by the behaviour of friends and relatives
who treat the cursed person as though they are doomed to die. When someone is suspected of having
been hexed, a dreadful feeling of anxiety and despair overcomes the afflicted and soon they can no
longer lead a normal life. So, it is actually this despair that leads them to death.

This passage also explains how the power of suggestion can lead to physiological disorders. In some
cases, the cursed person is overwhelmed by hopelessness to the extent of refusing all food and water.
So, what really causes the victim’s death is dehydration and starvation.

As the author explains, these mechanics are clearly a form of euthanasia since in such cases voodoo
beliefs only serve as a crude way to determine when to withdraw life support.

However, judging these people would be hypocritical, as similar situations occur in Western cultures,
such as when family members are asked to decide when to pull the plug.

VOCABULARY
VOODOO (NOUN): A type of religion involving magic and the worship of spirits (= people who cannot be
seen), especially common in Haiti.  “Death by voodoo.”

TO COME UP WITH (PHRASAL VERB): To suggest or think of an idea or plan.  “Australian psychiatrist
Harry D. Eastwell has come up with a new answer to an old medial question (…).”

SORCERY (NOUN): A type of magic in which spirits, especially evil ones, are used to make things happen.
 “How does sorcery, such as voodoo hexes, cause death?”

HEX (NOUN): An evil spell, bringing bad luck and trouble.  “How does sorcery, such as voodoo hexes,
cause death?”

CREOLE (NOUN): A language that has developed from a mixture of languages. An American or Caribbean
language that is a combination of a European language and another language and is a main language in
parts of the southern US and the Caribbean.  “(…) the word ‘voodoo’ came to America from Haitian
Creole (…).”

SYNDROME (NOUN): A combination of medical problems that shows the existence of a particular
disease or mental condition. Used in the names of various illnesses. A type of negative behaviour or
mental state that is typical of a person in a particular situation.  “(…) the syndrome of voodoo death is
not limited to Haitian cults (…).”

CULT (NOUN): A religious group, often living together, whose beliefs are considered extreme or strange
by many people. A particular system of religious belief.  “(…) the syndrome of voodoo death is not
limited to Haitian cults (…).”

SORCERER (NOUN): In stories, a man who has magical powers and who uses them to harm other
people.  “(…) native peoples believe that sorcerers kill by using a kind of death ray (…).”

SLIVER (NOUN): A very small, thin piece of something, usually broken off something larger.  “(…) a
sliver of bone that a sorcerer hiding in the bushes points at a victim.”

BUNDLE (NOUN): A number of things that have been fastened or are held together.  “(…) sorcerers
are said to kill by burning bundles containing pieces of the victim’s clothing (…).”

LOCK (NOUN): A small group of hairs, especially a curl.  “(…) locks of hair and fingernail clippings (…).”

CLIPPING (NOUN): A piece that has been cut off something.  “(…) and fingernail clippings (…).”

TO MUTILATE (VERB): To damage something severely, especially by violently removing a part.  “(…) or
by burning or mutilating effigies of the person.”
31 CHEMEN

EFFIGY (NOUN): A model or other object that represents someone, especially one of a hated person
that is hanged or burned in a public place.  “(…) or by burning or mutilating effigies of the person.”

TO DISMISS (VERB): To decide that something or someone is not important and not worth considering.
 “(…) scientifically trained observers dismissed voodoo death as primitive superstition.”

PRIMITIVE (ADJECTIVE): Of or typical of an early stage of development; not advanced or complicated in

structure.  “(…) scientifically trained observers dismissed voodoo death as primitive superstition.”

SUPERSTITION (NOUN): Belief that is not based on human reason or scientific knowledge, but is
connected with old ideas about magic, etc.  “(…) scientifically trained observers dismissed voodoo
death as primitive superstition.”

CONFRONTED (PAST PARTICIPLE): Having to deal with something or someone that you find difficult or
threatening.  “But eventually, confronted by many cases (…).”

PATHOLOGY (NOUN): A disease or medical condition.  “(…) anthropologists and psychiatrists came to
accept voodoo death as a pathology in its own right (…).”

TO DO AWAY WITH (PHRASAL VERB): To get rid of something or stop using something.  “This
distinction is important but does not do away with the puzzle.”

DOOMED (PAST PARTICIPLE): Certain to fail, die, or be destroyed.  “How can the mere belief that one
is doomed be fatal?”

TO ACCOUNT FOR (PHRASAL VERB): To form the total of something.  “Two kind of theories have been
proposed to account for voodoo death.”

DESPAIR (NOUN): The feeling that there is no hope and that you can do nothing to improve a difficult or
worrying situation.  “If faith can heal, despair can kill.”

SYMPATHETIC NERVOUS SYSTEM (NOUN): One of the two divisions of the nervous system. It governs
the “fight or flight” response and provides physiological regulation over diverse body processes
including pupil diameter, gut motility (movement), and urinary output. Its main overall end effect is to
prepare the body for physical activity.  “Death is caused by extreme fright and despair, which disrupt
the sympathetic nervous system and paralyze vital body functions.”

LIFE-SUPPORT SYSTEM (NOUN): The natural structures and systems that are necessary for living things,
especially humans, to be able to live.  “(…) Natives of Australia’s Arnhem Land help the hex by blocking
off life-support systems, especially access to water.”

TO INDUCE (VERB): To persuade someone to do something.  “They had committed acts such as
adultery or homicide, which normally induce vengeful feelings in others.”

VENGEFUL (ADJECTIVE): Expressing a strong wish to punish someone who has harmed you or your
family or friends.  “They had committed acts such as adultery or homicide, which normally induce
vengeful feelings in others.”

DESPONDENT (ADJECTIVE): Unhappy and with no hope or enthusiasm.  “(…) the hexed individuals
become fearful, anxious and despondent (…).”

TO EXACERBATE (VERB): To make something that is already bad even worse.  “(…) a state of mind
that exacerbates any bodily problems (…).”

PRONOUNCED (ADJECTIVE): Very noticeable or certain.  “The fear and disability become more
pronounced and the victim becomes incapable of leading a normal life.”

TO WAIL (VERB): To make a long, high cry, usually because of pain or sadness.  “Relatives gather close
to the sickbed, wailing and chanting songs (…).”
32 CHEMEN

TO CHANT (VERB): To repeat or sing a word or phrase continuously. To sing a religious prayer or song to
a simple tune.  “Relatives gather close to the sickbed, wailing and chanting songs (…).”

TO HERALD (VERB): To be a sign that something important, and often good, is starting to happen, or to
make something publicly known, especially by celebrating or praising it.  “(…) wailing and chanting
songs heralding the imminent return of the victim’s soul to the sacred well from whence it came.”

IMMINENT (ADJECTIVE): Coming or likely to happen very soon.  “(…) wailing and chanting songs
heralding the imminent return of the victim’s soul to the sacred well from whence it came.”

SACRED (ADJECTIVE): Considered to be holy and deserving respect, especially because of a connection
with a god.  “(…) the imminent return of the victim’s soul to the sacred well from whence it came.”

WELL (NOUN): A deep hole in the ground from which you can get water, oil, or gas.  “(…) the
imminent return of the victim’s soul to the sacred well from whence it came.”

WHENCE (ADVERB—FORMAL): (From) where.  “(…) the sacred well from whence it came.”

TO ASSEMBLE (VERB): To come together in a single place or bring parts together in a single group. 
“The assembled relatives often do their part by keeping water cans beyond reach (…).”

CLOSE-UP (ADJECTIVE): At close range. Very near.  “(…) If real close-up finish, take water away (…).”

FLUIDS (NOUN): Liquids that you drink.  “With total restriction of fluids, death follows in 24 hours.”

DEHYDRATION (NOUN): A drop below normal levels of water in the body.  “(…) sorcery kills not by
suggestion or paralyzing fear, but by dehydration.”

HUT (NOUN): A small, simple building, usually consisting of one room.  “Relatives were sitting in the
shade of a nearby hut chanting and wailing.”

TWOFOLD (ADJECTIVE): Twice as big or as much.  “Evidence for sorcery was twofold (…).”

TRIBAL (ADJECTIVE): Relating to a tribe.  “The man had suffered a stroke while dancing a tribal
ceremony (…).”

TABOO (NOUN): A subject, word, or action that is avoided for religious or social reasons.  “(…) later,
he tried to seduce a woman who was sexually taboo.”

TRANQUILIZER (NOUN): A drug used to make a person or animal calmer.  “Flown to the hospital in
Darwin and given liquids and tranquilizers, the man recovered (…).”

EUTHANASIA (NOUN): The act of killing someone who is very ill or very old so that they do not suffer
any more.  “(…) voodoo death is indistinguishable from euthanasia.”

SOMATIC (ADJECTIVE): Relating to the body as opposed to the mind.  “The people of Arnhem Land do
not recognize the difference between somatic and psychological pathologies (…).”

CRUDE (ADJECTIVE): Simple and not skilfully done or made. Very simple, without much detail, and
perhaps not very accurate.  “Belief in sorcery is a crude way for any society to determine when to
withdraw its life-support systems.”

TO WITHDRAW (VERB): To take or move out or back, or to remove.  “Belief in sorcery is a crude way
for any society to determine when to withdraw its life-support systems.”

TERMINALLY ILL (IDIOM): Having a disease that cannot be cured and will cause death.  “(…) we are
often unable to explain why people become terminally ill.”

TO PULL THE PLUG (EXPRESSION—LITERAL USE): To disconnect a medical life-support system.  “And
increasingly, hospitals and doctors ask relatives to assume the burden of deciding when to pull the plug.”
33 CHEMEN

GRAMMAR/SYNTAX:
NOUN PHRASES

“Australian psychiatrist Harry D. Eastwell has come up with a new answer to an old medical question
(…).”  FUNCTION: SUBJECT + FUNCTION: DO

“(…) native peoples believe that sorcerers kill by using a kind of death ray (…).”  FUNCTION: SUBJECT

“(…) Natives of Australia’s Arnhem Land help the hex by blocking off life support systems (…).” 
FUNCTION: SUBJECT + FUNCTION: DO

NOUN CLAUSES

“(…) native peoples believe that sorcerers kill by using a kind of death ray (…).”  FUNCTION: DO

“(…) we are often unable to explain why people become terminally ill.”  FUNCTION: DO

“Eastwell emphasizes that in some cases, voodoo death is indistinguishable from euthanasia.” 
FUNCTION: DO

CONTACT NOUN CLAUSES

“In Arnhem Land, it seems, (that) sorcery kills not by suggestion or paralyzing fear, but by dehydration.”
 FUNCTION: DO

NC IN APPOSITION

“(…) reinforcing the conviction that the hex is taking effect.”

ADVERBIAL ADJUNCTS

“In Australia, for instance, native peoples believe that sorcerers kill by using a kind of death ray —a sliver
of bone that a sorcerer hiding in the bushes points at a victim.”  AA OF PLACE (CAT: PP)

“For years, scientifically trained observers dismissed voodoo death as primitive superstition.”  AA OF
TIME (CAT: PP)

“The assembled relatives often do their part (…).”  AA OF FREQUENCY (CAT: ADVERB)

“(…) Natives of Australia’s Arnhem Land help the hex by blocking off life-support systems, especially
access to water.”  AA OF MEANS (CAT: PP)

ADVERBIAL CLAUSES

“Although the word ‘voodoo’ came to America from Haitian Creole, the syndrome of voodoo death is not
limited to Haitian cults (…).”  AC OF CONCESSION (FUNCTION: AA OF CONCESSION)

“If faith can heal, despair can kill.”  AC OF CONDITION (FUNCTION: AA OF CONDITION)

“The assembled relatives often do their part by keeping water cans beyond reach, despite temperatures
well above 100 degrees in the shade.”  AC OF CONCESSION (FUNCTION: AA OF CONCESSION)

“(…) The man had suffered a stroke while dancing a tribal ceremony (…).”  REDUCED AC OF TIME
(FUNCTION: AA OF TIME)

DEFINING RC

“(…) later, he tried to seduce a woman who was sexually taboo.”

“(…) confronted by many cases in which there seemed to be no medical reasons for deaths (…).”

“(…) a sliver of bone that a sorcerer hiding in the bushes points at a victim.”
34 CHEMEN

REDUCED DEFINING RC

“(…) a sliver of bone that a sorcerer (who is) hiding in the bushes points at a victim.”

NON-DEFINING RC

“(…) Death is caused by extreme fright and despair, which disrupt the sympathetic nervous system and
paralyze vital body functions.”

“They had committed acts such as adultery or homicide, which normally induce vengeful feelings in
others.”

CONTACT RC

“As Eastwell reports in the American Anthropologist (Vol. 84, No. 1), the patients (that) he saw had good
reason to suspect that they had been hexed.”

“Eastwell tells of one 35-year-old man (that) he found lying in the sun without water.”

SUBJECTIVE COMPLEMENTS

“This distinction is important but does not do away with the puzzle.”  IVIP + SUBCP (CAT: ADJ)

“Typically, the hexed individuals become fearful, anxious and despondent (…).” IVIP (INCHV) + SUBCP
(CAT: ADJP)

“The fear and disability become more pronounced (…).”  IVIP (INCHV) + SUBCP (CAT: PAST PART. P.)

“(…) and the victim becomes incapable of leading a normal life.”  IVIP (INCHV) + SUBCP (CAT: ADJP)

OBJECTIVE COMPLEMENTS

“(…) anthropologists and psychiatrists came to accept voodoo death as a pathology in its own right,
linked to the victim’s belief in sorcery.”  TVIP + DO (CAT: NP) + OBJCP (CAT: NP)

“For years, scientifically trained observers dismissed voodoo death as primitive superstition.”  TVIP +
DO (CAT: NP) + OBJCP (CAT: NP)

“One emphasizes ‘the power of suggestion’ as a psychological process.”  TVIP + DO (CAT: NP) + OBJCP
(CAT: NP)

“And increasingly, hospitals and doctors ask relatives to assume the burden of deciding when to pull the
plug.”  TVIP + DO (CAT: NOUN) + OBJCP (CAT: TO-INF CLAUSE)

ANTICIPATORY “IT” SUBJECT

“But it would be hypocritical for us to condemn the people of Arnhem Land for the way they treat
relatives who seem doomed to die.”  IT (FUNCTION: SUBJECT) + IVIP + SUBCP (CAT: ADJ) + RSEP (CAT:
TO-INF CLAUSE)

CLEFT SENTENCES/EMPHATIC “IT”

“Of course, it is the victim’s mental state that makes sorcery effective, not bone-pointing or effigy-
burning.”

PSEUDO-CLEFT SENTENCES/EMPHATIC “WHAT”—TRANSFORMATION

“What makes sorcery effective is the victim’s mental state.”

ABSOLUTE CONSTRUCTIONS—TRANSFORMATION

Original: “(…) a sorcerer hiding in the bushes points at a victim.”

35 CHEMEN

Transformation: “The sorcerer hiding in the bushes, the victim gets pointed at.”

Original: “Appetite fails and the victim makes little or no effort to eat or drink. The assembled relatives
often do their part by keeping water cans beyond reach (…).”

Transformation: “The victim being thirsty, the relatives do their part by keeping water cans beyond
reach.”

ANTICIPATORY “IT” OBJECT—TRANSFORMATION

Original: “And increasingly, hospitals and doctors ask relatives to assume the burden of deciding when to
pull the plug.”

Transformation: “Relatives believe it a burden to decide when to pull the plug on their loved ones life
support.”  IT (FUNCTION: DO) + OBJCP (CAT: NP) + ROEP (CAT: TO-INF CLAUSE)

STOP PUTTING THINGS OFF

SUMMARY
1: The habit of putting things off, which is so harmful, especially for the over 40s, may be caused by self-
doubt, frustration, poor problem solving skills, indecisiveness, lack of discipline, but most of all by fear of
making a mistake or disappointing yourself and others.

Being a perfectionist does not help at all and can induce one to postponing more than anything else. The
problem is that putting things off can become a way of life, it can affect job performance, interfere with
professional and personal relationships, spoil career potential, but worst of all, cause anxiety and
depression –which women should try to avoid as these often arrive naturally with age.

What is the solution? Experts suggest a series of measures to help you get rid of this.

• Do not think of all you have to do at once. List everything and arrange your work in order of
priority.

• Remember the Chinese proverb: “A journey of 10,000 miles begins with but a single step”. Start
the most important task as soon as you finish getting organized and cross out each one when
you have completed it. Apply the same technique to a big project and slice it into smaller more
manageable pieces. An American teacher of psychology always told his students they could eat
an elephant bite by bite.

• Do not be afraid of making mistakes. Relax, learn from the experience, enjoy the freedom of
making errors and remember that your first attempt at anything will rarely be perfect.

• Do not focus your attention on the opinions of others, but on growing and therefore
experimenting with your career and personal life.

• Don’t think, act. Spend five minutes on a task you have been postponing. When the time is up,
decide whether you can handle another five minutes. You will probably feel like continuing.

• Set yourself realistic deadlines. Allow yourself some extra time for the unexpected and stick to
your time table.

• Listen to your body and tackle your hardest tasks when you have more energy, morning,
afternoon or evening, whenever you feel most motivated and leave less demanding chores for
the times you feel less energetic.

• If you do not know how to tackle a problem, get help! Somebody else’s perspective may help
you get a move on.
36 CHEMEN

• Avoid clutter of any kind. Tidy up your working area, try to avoid interruptions, if possible –
closing the door or unplugging the telephone– and make your working environment more
pleasant. Soothing music helps.

• Reward yourself with something you like for working on a project you have been postponing.

• Delegate any job you can. At home somebody else may help you with the dishes, for example.

But above all, do not lose your sense of humour. Be optimistic and remember that there are a lot of
unpleasant things in life that have to be done. The more you are willing to tackle these jobs, the less
bothersome they become.

2: This passage gives us useful pieces of advice to avoid the bad habit of putting things off.

Procrastination is one of the main barriers that prevent us from achieving what we really want in our
personal and professional lives. Sometimes all our opportunities seem to be on our fingertips, but we
cannot seem to reach them. In order to overcome this fierce enemy, this passage encourages us to
accomplish more and utilise the potential that life has to offer.

To begin with, we should adhere to the adage “one step at a time” and start by taking small measurable
steps that are easy and doable. Taking the first step to a task can be the hardest albeit most rewarding
thing. Simply choosing one item that we can accomplish quickly from our to-do list will give us a
jumpstart and will lift the burden of procrastination.

In addition, extreme perfectionism often causes us to set unrealistic goals, try too hard, and then avoid
the impossible target we set for ourselves. When expectations are over the top, we are more likely to
procrastinate. Seeing our goals as reachable will give us a boost to get going.

Finally, we should not let fear, self-doubt and other people’s opinions rob us of what we want to
achieve. Sometimes we need to give ourselves permission to make a mistake or do poorly, while
focusing on the gains of the final outcome.

VOCABULARY
TO PUT STH OFF (PHRASAL VERB): To decide or arrange to delay an event or activity until a later time or
date. To postpone.  “Stop putting things off.”

TO CALL STH OFF (PHRASAL VERB): To decide that a planned event, especially a sports event, will not
happen, or to end an activity because it is no longer useful or possible. To cancel.

TO PROCRASTINATE (VERB): To keep delaying something that must be done, often because it is
unpleasant or boring.

HARMFUL (ADJECTIVE): Causing harm.  “The bad habit of putting things off, which is so harmful (…).”

SELF-DOUBT (NOUN): A feeling of having no confidence in your abilities and decisions.  “(…) may be
caused by self-doubt, frustration, poor problem-solving skills (…).”

TO DISAPPOINT (VERB): To fail to satisfy someone or their hopes, wishes, etc., or to make someone feel
unhappy.  “(…) fear of making a mistake or disappointing yourself and others.”

PERFECTIONIST (NOUN): A person who wants everything to be perfect and demands the highest
standards possible.  “Being a perfectionist does not help at all (…).”

TO INDUCE (VERB): To persuade someone to do something.  “Being a perfectionist (…) can induce one
to postponing more than anything else.”

TO POSTPONE (VERB): To delay an event and plan or decide that it should happen at a later date or
time.  “Being a perfectionist (…) can induce one to postponing more than anything else.”
37 CHEMEN

WAY OF LIFE (IDIOM): The manner in which a person lives.  “The problem is that putting things off can
become a way of life (…).”

TO AFFECT (VERB): To have an influence on someone or something, or to cause a change in someone or

something.  “(…) it can affect job performance (…).”

TO INTERFERE (VERB): If something or someone interferes with a situation or a process, it spoils it or

prevents its progress.  “(…) it can (…) interfere with professional and personal relationships (…).”

TO SPOIL (VERB): To destroy or damage something, or to become destroyed or damaged.  “(…) it can
(…) spoil career potential (…).”

TO GET RID OF STH/SB (IDIOM): To remove something that you do not want any longer.  “Experts
suggest a series of measures to help you get rid of this.”

TO ARRANGE (VERB): To plan, prepare for, or organize something.  “List everything and arrange your
work in order of priority.”

PROVERB (NOUN): A short sentence, etc., usually known by many people, stating something commonly
experienced or giving advice.  “Remember the Chinese proverb (…).”

SAYING (NOUN): A well-known wise statement that often has a meaning that is different from the
simple meanings of the words it contains.

ADAGE (NOUN): A wise saying.

MOTTO (NOUN): A short sentence or phrase that expresses a belief or purpose.

RULE OF THUMB (NOUN PHRASE): A general principle regarded as roughly correct but not intended to
be scientifically accurate.

TO CROSS STH OUT (PHRASAL VERB): To draw a line through something you have written, usually
because it is wrong.  “(…) cross out each one when you have completed it.”

TO SLICE (VERB): To cut something into thin, flat pieces.  “Apply the same technique to a big project
and slice it into smaller more manageable pieces.”

MANAGEABLE (ADJECTIVE): Easy or possible to deal with.  “Apply the same technique to a big project
and slice it into smaller more manageable pieces.”

AFRAID OF STH/SB (ADJECTIVE): Frightened because you think that something very unpleasant is going
to happen to you.  “Do not be afraid of making mistakes.”

ATTEMPT (NOUN): The act of trying to do something, especially something difficult.  “(…) remember
that your first attempt at anything will rarely be perfect.”

TO FOCUS (STH) ON SB/STH (PHRASAL VERB): To give a lot of attention to one particular person,
subject, or thing.  “Do not focus your attention on the opinions and approval of others (…).”

THE TIME IS UP (IDIOM): The allowed period of time has ended.  “When the time is up, decide
whether you can handle another five minutes.”

TO HANDLE (VERB): To deal with, have responsibility for, or be in charge of.  “When the time is up,
decide whether you can handle another five minutes.”

TO FEEL LIKE DOING STH (IDIOM): To want to have or do something.  “You will probably feel like
continuing.”

TO SET (VERB): To establish or decide something.  “Set yourself realistic deadlines.”

38 CHEMEN

UNEXPECTED (PAST PARTICIPLE): Not expected.  “Allow yourself some extra time for the unexpected
and stick to your time table.”

TO STICK TO STH (PHRASAL VERB): To continue doing or using (something) especially when it is difficult
to do so. To not change (a decision, belief, etc.).  “(…) stick to your time table.”

TO TACKLE (VERB): To try to deal with something or someone.  “Listen to your body and tackle your
hardest tasks when you have more energy (…)”

DEMANDING (PRESENT PARTICIPLE): Needing a lot of time, attention, or energy.  “(…) leave less
demanding chores for the times you feel less energetic.”

CHORE (NOUN): A job or piece of work that is often boring or unpleasant but needs to be done
regularly.  “(…) leave less demanding chores for the times you feel less energetic.”

TO GET A MOVE ON (IDIOM): To hurry.  “Somebody else’s perspective may help you get a move on.”

CLUTTER (NOUN): (A lot of objects in) a state of being untidy.  “Avoid clutter of any kind.”

TO TIDY UP STH (PHRASAL VERB): To make a place look better by putting things in the correct place. 
“Tidy up your working area (…).”

TO UNPLUG (VERB): To take the plug of a piece of electrical equipment out of the place where it is
connected to the electricity supply.  “(…) closing the door or unplugging the telephone (…).”

PLEASANT (ADJECTIVE): Enjoyable, attractive, friendly, or easy to like.  “(…) make your working
environment more pleasant.”

SOOTHING (ADJECTIVE): Making you feel calm.  “Soothing music helps.”

TO REWARD (VERB): To bestow a particular gift, prize, bonus, treat, etc., upon someone, oneself, some
animal, or group (as a result of worthy behaviour or actions).  “Reward yourself with something (…).”

TO DELEGATE (VERB): To give a particular job, duty, right, etc. to someone else so that they do it for
you.  “Delegate any job you can.”

ABOVE ALL (IDIOM): Most importantly.  “But above all, do not lose your sense of humour.”

UNPLEASANT (ADJECTIVE): Not enjoyable or pleasant.  “Be optimistic and remember that there are a
lot of unpleasant things in life that have to be done.”

TO BE WILLING TO DO STH (IDIOM): To be happy to do something if it is needed.  “The more you are
willing to tackle these jobs, the less bothersome they become.”

BOTHERSOME (ADJECTIVE): Annoying or causing trouble.  “The more you are willing to tackle these
jobs, the less bothersome they become.”

GRAMMAR/SYNTAX
NOUN PHRASES

“Remember the Chinese proverb (…).”  FUNCTION: DO

“(…) enjoy the freedom of making errors (…).”  FUNCTION: DO

“Soothing music helps.”  FUNCTION: SUBJECT

NOUN CLAUSES

“The problem is that putting things off can become a way of life (…)”  FUNCTION: SUBCP

“(…) remember that your first attempt at anything will rarely be perfect.”  FUNCTION: DO
39 CHEMEN

CONTACT NOUN CLAUSES

“An American teacher of psychology always told his students (that) they could eat an elephant bite by
bite.”  FUNCTION: DO

ADVERBIAL ADJUNCTS

“Life begins at 40.”  AA OF TIME (CAT: PP)

“An American teacher of psychology always told his students (that) they could eat an elephant bite by
bite.”  AA OF FREQUENCY (CAT: ADVERB)

ADVERBIAL CLAUSES

“Start the most important task as soon as you finish getting organized and cross out each one when you
have completed it.”  AC OF TIME (FUNCTION: AA OF TIME)

“When the time is up, decide whether you can handle another five minutes.”  AC OF TIME (FUNCTION:
AA OF TIME)

“If you do not know how to tackle a problem, get help!”  AC OF CONDITION (FUNCTION: AA OF
CONDITION)

“Tidy up your working area, try to avoid interruptions, if possible (…).” VERBLESS REDUCED AC OF
CONDITION (FUNCTION: AA OF CONDITION)

NON-DEFINING RC

“The problem is that putting things off can become a way of life, it can affect job performance, (…) but
worst of all, cause anxiety and depression—which women should try to avoid as these often arrive
naturally with age.”

“The bad habit of putting things off, which is so harmful, especially for the over 40s (…).”

CONTACT RC

“Spend five minutes on a task (that) you have been postponing.”

SUBJECTIVE COMPLEMENTS

“The problem is that putting things off can become a way of life (…).”  IVIP + SUBCP (CAT: NC)

“(…) putting things off can become a way of life (…).”  IVIP (INCHV) + SUBCP (CAT: NP)

“(…) whenever you feel most motivated (…).” IVIP + SUBCP (CAT: PAST PART. P. IN THE SUPERLATIVE)

OBJECTIVE COMPLEMENTS

“Allow yourself some extra time for the unexpected (…).”  TVIP + DO (CAT: PRON.) + OBJCP (CAT: NP)

“Somebody else’s perspective may help you get a move on.”  TVIP + DO (CAT: PRON.) + OBJCP (CAT:
BARE-INF CLAUSE)

“(…) make your working environment more pleasant.”  TVIP + DO (CAT: NP) + OBJCP (CAT: ADJP IN
THE COMPARATIVE)

ANTICIPATORY “THERE”

“(…) there are a lot of unpleasant things in life that have to be done.”  THERE + IVIP + RSEP (CAT: NP)

PARALLEL INCREASE

“The more you are willing to tackle these jobs, the less bothersome they become.”
40 CHEMEN

NC IN APPOSITION—TRANSFORMATION

“The belief that putting things off is a bad habit is discussed in this passage.”

Original: “Listen to your body and tackle your hardest tasks when you have more energy (…).”

Transformation: “The idea that you should listen to your body and tackle your hardest tasks when you
have more energy can help you stop putting things off.”

ANTICIPATORY “IT” SUBJECT—TRANSFORMATION

Original: “Experts suggest a series of measures to help you get rid of this.”

Transformation: “It is interesting how experts suggest a series of measures to help you get rid of this.” 
IT (FUNCTION: SUBJECT) + IVIP + SUBCP (CAT: ADJ) + RSEP (CAT: NC)

ANTICIPATORY “IT” OBJECT—TRANSFORMATION

Original: “The bad habit of putting things off, which is so harmful (…).”

Transformation: “The author considers it harmful to put things off.”  IT (FUNCTION: DO) + OBJCP
(CAT: ADJ) + RSEP (CAT: TO-INF CLAUSE)

CLEFT SENTENCES/EMPHATIC “IT”—TRANSFORMATION

Original: “Soothing music helps.”

Transformation: “It is soothing music that helps.”

PSEUDO-CLEFT SENTENCES/EMPHATIC “WHAT”—TRANSFORMATION

Original: “Soothing music helps.”

Transformation: “What helps is soothing music.”

ABSOLUTE CONSTRUCTIONS—TRANSFORMATION

Original: “Experts suggest a series of measures to help you get rid of this.”

Transformation: “People being used to putting things off, experts suggest a series of measures to help.”

YOUR MIND
SUMMARY
1: Lifeplan psychology adviser John Nicholson explains how to reveal the hidden potential of your mind,
and how to improve your mental efficiency.

Psychological research shows we consistently underestimate our mental powers. If you think this does
not apply to you, then here is a simple test to show you are wrong.

Write down the names of all the American states you can remember. Put the list away and then set
yourself the same task a week later. Provided you have not cheated by consulting an atlas, you will
notice something rather surprising. The two lists will contain roughly the same number of states, but
they will not be identical. Some names will have slipped away, but others will have replaced them. This
suggests that somewhere in your mind you may well have a record of virtually every state. So, it is not
really your memory letting you down; just your ability to retrieve information from it.

We would remember a lot more if we had more confidence in our memories and knew how to use them
properly. One useful tip is that things are more likely to be remembered if you are in exactly the same
state and place as you were when you learned them.
41 CHEMEN

So if you are a student who always revises on black coffee, perhaps it would be sensible to prime
yourself with a cup before going into the exam. If possible, you should also try to learn information in
the room where it is going to be tested.

When you learn is also important. Lots of people swear they can absorb new information more
efficiently at some times of day than at others. Research shows this is not just imagination. There is a
biological rhythm for learning; though it affects different people in different ways. For most of us, the
best plan is to take in new information in the morning and then try to consolidate it into memory during
the afternoon.

But this does not apply to everyone, so it is essential to establish your own rhythm. You can do this by
learning a set number of lines of poetry at different times of the day and seeing when most lines stick.
When you have done this, try to organize your life so that the time set aside for learning coincides with
the time when your memory is at its best.

Avoid learning marathons –they do not make the best use of your mind. Take plenty of breaks, because
they offer a double bonus: the time off gives your mind a chance to do some preliminary consolidation
and it also gives a memory boost to the learning which occurs on either side of it.

Popular fears about the effects of ageing on intelligence are based on a misconception. Research shows
that although we do slow down mentally as we approach the end of life, becoming stupid or losing your
grip in the world is not an inevitable consequence of the ageing process. On some measures –
vocabulary, for example– we actually improve in the second half of life. In old age, intellectual
functioning is closely related to physical health. But there also seems to be a lot of truth in the old
adage: If you do not want to lose it, use it.

Learning goes well when people feel challenged and badly when they feel threatened. Whenever a
learning task becomes threatening, both adults and children feel anxious. Anxiety interferes with the
process of learning because it is distracting. In order to learn effectively you have to be attending closely
to the task. An anxious person is likely to be worrying about what will happen if he fails, to the
detriment of his attempts to succeed. If his mind is full of thoughts such as “I’m sure I’m going to fail this
test”, or “What are my parents going to say?”, he will not do as well as he should.

Learning is an active process. Despite claims to the contrary, you cannot learn when you are asleep.
“Sleep learning” (accomplished by having a tape recorder under the pillow, playing soothing but
improving messages while you are recharging your tissues) is unfortunately a myth. Any learning that
seems to have occurred in this situation will actually have been done after you woke up but were still
drowsy.

Other people can provide you with information, but only you can learn it. It also has to be “chewed
over” before it can be integrated into your body of knowledge. That is why just reading a book is no way
to acquire information unless you happen to possess a photographic memory. Parroting the author’s
words is not much better. You have to make your own notes because this obliges you to apply an extra
stage of processing to the information before committing it to memory. Effective revision always
involves reworking material, making notes on notes, and perhaps re-ordering information in the light of
newly-observed connections.

As a general rule, the greater your brain’s investment in a body of information, the better its chances of
reproducing it accurately and effectively when you need it.

2: We tend to underestimate our mental efficiency by wrongly thinking that our memory is not good
enough. However, we must understand that our mind needs to be exercised just as our physical body
does. The old adage “use it or lose it” might well apply to our brain health. Memory is essential to all
learning, because it lets us store and retrieve the information that we have learned. This results in a
virtuous circle since memory depends on learning and learning depends on memory. The more
knowledge we store in our memory, the more easily we can associate new information with it.
42 CHEMEN

This passage provides useful pieces of advice in order to boost brainpower and take in information in a
fun and engaging way. Contextual learning is very important as sensory cells play an important role in
receiving new information. The seemingly irrelevant things that surround us while studying, such as the
coffee we drink or the place we learn in, are absorbed and stored by our memory just like the actual
content we are learning, and will later help us recall that content. This passage also states that we
absorb information more efficiently at some times of the day than at others. So, we should stick to a
routine in order to study at the moment our memory is in full swing.

VOCABULARY
TO MAKE THE MOST OF STH (IDIOM): To take full advantage of something because it may not last long.
 “Do you make the most of it?”

TO UNDERESTIMATE (VERB): To fail to guess or understand the real cost, size, difficulty, etc. of
something.  “Psychological research shows we consistently underestimate our mental powers.”

TO PUT STH AWAY (PHRASAL VERB): To store things where they usually are.  “Put the list away (…).”

TO SET (VERB): To establish or decide something.  “(…) set yourself the same task (…).”

ROUGHLY (ADJECTIVE): Approximately.  “The two lists will contain roughly the same number (…).”

TO SLIP AWAY (PHRASAL VERB): To disappear.  “Some names will have slipped away (…).”

VIRTUALLY (ADVERB): Almost.  “(…) you may well have a record of virtually every state.”

TO LET DOWN (PHRASAL VERB): To disappoint someone by failing to do what you agreed to do or were
expected to do.  “So it’s not really your memory letting you down (…).”

TO RETRIEVE (VERB): To find and bring back something.  “(…) your ability to retrieve information (…).”

LIKELY (ADJECTIVE): If something is likely, it will probably happen or is expected.  “(…) things are more
likely to be remembered (…).”

TO REVISE (VERB): To study again something you have already learned, in preparation for an exam. 
“So if you are a student who always revises on black coffee (…).”

SENSIBLE (ADJECTIVE): Based on or acting on good judgment and practical ideas or understanding. 
“(…) it would be sensible to prime yourself with a cup (…).”

TO PRIME (VERB): To prepare someone or something for a particular reason.  “(…) it would be
sensible to prime yourself with a cup (…).”

TO GO INTO STH (PHRASAL VERB): To start doing a particular type of work or activity.  “(…) before
going into the exam.”

TO ABSORB (VERB): To take something in, especially gradually.  “Lots of people swear they can absorb
new information (…).”

TO TAKE IN (PHRASAL VERB): To completely understand the meaning or importance of something. 

“For most of us the best plan is to take in new information in the morning (…).”

TO CONSOLIDATE (VERB): To become, or cause something to become, stronger, and more certain. 
“(…) and then try to consolidate it into memory during the afternoon.”

A SET NUMBER OF (IDIOM): A specific, fixed or certain number.  “You can do this by learning a set
number of lines of poetry (…).”

TO STICK (VERB): To be attached or become attached.  “(…) and seeing when most lines stick.”
43 CHEMEN

TO SET ASIDE (PHRASAL VERB): To save for a particular purpose.  “(…) try to organise your life so that
the time set aside for learning (…).”

TIME OFF (NOUN): A period of time when you are not working or studying; leisure time.  “(…) the
time off gives your mind a chance (…).”

PRELIMINARY (ADJECTIVE): Coming before a more important action or event, especially introducing or
preparing for it.  “(…) the time off gives your mind a chance to do some preliminary consolidation (…).”

BOOST (NOUN): An improvement or increase, or an action that causes this.  “(…) it also gives a
memory boost to the learning (…).”

MISCONCEPTION (NOUN): An idea that is wrong because it has been based on a failure to understand a
situation.  “Popular facts about the effects of ageing on intelligence are based on a misconception.”

TO SLOW DOWN (PHRASAL VERB): To be less active and relax more.  “Research show that although
we do slow down mentally as we approach the end of life (…).”

TO LOSE ONE’S GRIP (IDIOM): To lose control of one’s thoughts and emotions. To lose one’s ability to
think or behave in a normal way.  “(…) becoming stupid or losing your grip in the world (…).”

ADAGE (NOUN): A wise saying.  “But there also seems to be a lot of truth in the old adage (…).”

DETRIMENT (NOUN): Harm or damage.  “(…) to the detriment of his attempts to succeed.”

TO ACCOMPLISH (VERB): To finish something successfully or to achieve something.  “(…)

accomplished by having a tape recorder under the pillow (…).”

TISSUES (NOUN): Cells/Brain cells. “(…) while you are recharging your tissues (…).”

DROWSY (ADJECTIVE): Being in a state between sleeping and being awake.  “(…) after you woke up
but were still drowsy.”

TO CHEW OVER (PHRASAL VERB): To meditate on or think about reflectively.  “It also has to be
‘chewed over’ before it can be integrated into your body of knowledge.”

TO PARROT (VERB): To repeat exactly what someone else says, without understanding it or thinking
about its meaning.  “Parroting the author’s words is not much better.”

TO OBLIGE (VERB): To force someone to do something, or to make it necessary for someone to do

something.  “(…) this obliges you to apply an extra stage of processing to the information (…).”

TO COMMIT STH TO MEMORY (IDIOM): To make certain that you remember something.  “(…) this
obliges you to apply an extra stage of processing to the information before committing it to memory.”

GRAMMAR/SYNTAX
NOUN PHRASES

“Lifeplan psychology adviser John Nicholson explains how to reveal the hidden potential of your mind,
and how to improve your mental efficiency.”  FUNCTION: SUBJECT

“(…) we consistently underestimate our mental powers.”  FUNCTION: DO

“The two lists will contain roughly the same number of states (…).”  FUNCTION: SUBJECT +
FUNCTION: DO

NOUN CLAUSES

“Lifeplan psychology adviser John Nicholson explains how to reveal the hidden potential of your mind,
and how to improve your mental efficiency.”  FUNCTION: DO
44 CHEMEN

“This suggests that somewhere in your mind you may well have a record (…).”  FUNCTION: DO

“When you learn is also important.”  FUNCTION: SUBJECT

CONTACT NC

“(…) research shows (that) we consistently underestimate our mental powers.”  FUNCTION: DO

“Research shows (that) this is not just imagination.”  FUNCTION: DO

ADVERBIAL ADJUNCTS

“(…) set yourself the same task a week later.”  AA OF TIME (CAT: NP)

“The two lists will contain roughly the same number of states (…).”  AA OF QUANTITY (CAT: ADVERB)

“You can do this by learning a set number of lines of poetry at different times of the day and seeing
when most lines stick.”  AA OF MEANS (CAT: PP)

“(…) try to learn information in the room where it is going to be tested.”  AA OF PLACE (CAT: PP)

ADVERBIAL CLAUSES

“Provided you have not cheated by consulting an atlas, you will notice something rather surprising.” 
AC OF CONDITION (FUNCTION: AA OF CONDITION)

“If possible, you should also try to learn information in the room where it is going to be tested.” 
VERBLESS REDUCED AC OF CONDITION (FUNCTION: AA OF CONDITION)

“When you have done this, try to organise your life so that the time set aside for learning coincides with
the time when your memory is at its best.”  AC OF TIME (FUNCTION: AA OF TIME) + AC OF PURPOSE
(FUNCTION: AA OF PURPOSE)

“Despite claims to the contrary, you cannot learn when you are asleep.”  AC OF CONCESSION
(FUNCTION: AA OF CONCESSION) + AC OF TIME (FUNCTION: AA OF TIME)

DEFINING RC

“If possible, you should also try to learn information in the room where it is going to be tested.”

CONTACT RC

“Write down the names of all the American states (that) you can remember.”

SUBJECTIVE COMPLEMENTS

“One useful tip is that things are more likely to be remembered if you are in exactly the same state and
place as you were when you learned them.”  IVIP + SUBCP (CAT: NC)

“When you learn is also important.”  IVIP + SUBCP (CAT: ADJP)

“(…) the best plan is to take in new information in the morning.”  IVIP + SUBCP (CAT: TO-INF CLAUSE)

“Whenever a learning task becomes threatening, both adults and children feel anxious.”  IVIP (INCHV)
+ SUBCP (CAT: PRES. PART.) + IVIP + SUBCP (CAT: ADJ)

“Learning goes well when people feel challenged, and badly when they feel threatened.”  IVIP
(INCHV) + SUBCP (CAT: ADV) + IVIP + SUBCP (CAT: PAST PART.) + SUBCP (CAT: ADV) + IVIP + SUBCP
(CAT: PAST PART.)

OBJECTIVE COMPLEMENTS

“(…) you will notice something rather surprising.”  TVIP + DO (CAT: PRONOUN) + OBJCP (CAT: ADJP)
45 CHEMEN

“(…) this obliges you to apply an extra stage of processing to the information (…).”  TVIP + DO (CAT:
PRONOUN) + OBJCP (CAT: TO-INF CLAUSE)

ANTICIPATORY “IT” SUBJECT

“(…) it would be sensible to prime yourself with a cup of coffee before going into the exam.”  IT
(FUNCTION: SUBJECT) + IVIP + SUBCP (CAT: ADJ) + RSEP (CAT: TO-INF CLAUSE)

“(…) it is essential to establish your own rhythm.”  IT (FUNCTION: SUBJECT) + IVIP + SUBCP (CAT: ADJ)
+ RSEP (CAT: TO-INF CLAUSE)

ANTICIPATORY “THERE”

“There is a biological rhythm for learning (…).”  THERE + IVIP + RSEP (CAT: NP)

“(…) there also seems to be a lot of truth in the old adage (…).”  THERE + IVIP + RSEP (CAT: NP)

CLEFT SENTENCES/EMPHATIC “IT”

“So it is not really your memory letting you down (…).”

PARALLEL INCREASE

“As a general rule, the greater your brain’s investment in a body of information, the better its chances of
reproducing it accurately and effectively when you need it.”

NC IN APPOSITION—TRANSFORMATION

Original: “Lots of people swear they can absorb new information more efficiently at some times of day
than at others. Research shows this is not just imagination.”

Transformation: “The belief that people can absorb new information more efficiently at some times of
day than at others has been shown to be true.”

Original: “Popular fears about the effects of ageing on intelligence are based on a misconception.”

Transformation: “The misconception that ageing has effects on intelligence has originated popular
fears.”

ABSOLUTE CONSTRUCTIONS—TRANSFORMATION

Original: “Learning is an active process. Despite claims to the contrary, you cannot learn when you are
asleep.”

Transformation: “Learning being an active process, you cannot learn when you are asleep.”

TEEN ATTITUDE
SUMMARY
1: Experts help parents get a grip on teen lip. When family therapist Carleton Kendrick speaks at
parenting seminars, he often uses this anecdote to describe teenagers’ attitude. An adolescent girl, who
had been moody and glum with her parents for several months, was heading out to the movies with her
friends. Her mom said, “Have a good time.” The daughter turned around and snapped, “How dare you
tell me what to do.” This real-life example may seem a bit over the top, but it illustrates a point: Teen lip,
attitude or surliness can be very painful –and inexplicable– to parents. To help parents cope, experts are
tackling the topic on Web sites, in books and at parenting seminars.

Parents are also griping about it to each other. And even adolescents admit it exists: When teens were
asked how adults would describe them, 29% say the adults would say they have a “bad attitude”; 23%
46 CHEMEN

say adults would describe them as “disrespectful,” according to a Gallup Youth Survey of 500 teens, ages
13 to 17, released in 1998.

Parents of adolescents have heard plenty of teen lip. Those phrases: “Whatever,” “Well, hello,” “What’s
it to you?” And there's “the look,” a scowl that can be more condemning than words. There’s the
editorial eyebrow, the defiantly silent body language, the flouncing, the slamming, the bored, I’d-rather-
be-anywhere-but-here attitude.

Many parents today react to their teenagers’ attitude in the wrong way. Some get angry that their once-
darling child now has a typical teenage attitude. Others try to control their teen. Still others withdraw
and abandon their parenting responsibilities rather than deal with the surly child.

Teen lip would be easier for parents to handle if they understood where it was coming from, parenting
experts say.

Adolescents are often on an emotional roller coaster. Their bodies are being flooded with hormones,
and they get angry and upset easily. They are trying to separate from their parents and become more
autonomous, but they still desperately need their parents, experts say.

“There is a reason kids are surly: Adolescents are people under intense personal and social stress, and
they lack the adult tools to deal with it,” says Mary Lamia, a clinical psychologist who works with teens
and their families in Kentfield, Calif.

Teens live in a pressure cooker. They constantly feel as if there’s a spotlight on them and that they’re
being evaluated by peers, teachers, coaches and parents. “Would you like being evaluated every
moment of your day?” says Lamia, who is with the San Francisco Psychoanalytic Institute, a non-profit
training and professional organization. She’s the mother of two grown sons.

Parents misinterpret surliness as aloofness and detachment when actually it’s extreme vulnerability, she
says.

“Surliness is like a fence that teens put up to protect themselves. It protects their vulnerability and
autonomy. If parents see this as a protective fence maybe they wouldn’t try to break it down but instead
would try to find a gate to walk through.”

Kendrick agrees. All teens are surly and mouthy at some point. It’s just the way teenagers react to all the
turmoil that’s going on inside them, he says.

“They are going to be withdrawn. They are going to be flip. They are going to test you to see if you will
hang in there with them while they are floundering, while they are trying to navigate their way through
their burgeoning sexuality,” says Kendrick, a Boston-based family therapist who works for
familyeducation.com.

They have to have these emotional outbreaks somewhere, and home is one of the only places where
children “can come to a safe landing.”

“If they can’t be flippant and fresh-mouthed with their parents in the sanctuary of their home and know
they will still be loved, then where can they be?” he says.

Yelling back doesn’t help

Barbara Cooke in Deerfield, Ill., the mother of three, ages 14, 19 and 21, has experienced plenty of teen
attitude and lived to tell about it. She and her oldest son always had a close relationship, but his teen
years were turbulent.

“He was very verbal. He was mouthy. It was like something came over him and he would say something
hurtful. One time, he slammed his door and yelled, ‘Get the hell out of here,’” she says.
47 CHEMEN

“When your child swears at you or is very sullen, you can’t believe it. You feel shocked. You don’t know
what to do. I felt like I was walking on eggshells. It was hard to know how to approach him. We had
several fights. Some were funny. Some were pretty horrendous,” she says.

On several occasions, Cooke got so upset she yelled back, but she quickly realized that didn’t work. One
time, she stopped her son with a reflective comment. “I looked at him, and said, ‘How would you feel if I
talked to you like that? How do you think that makes me feel?’” His reply: “I guess I didn’t really think
about it. I was just saying whatever came out of my mouth.”

She also learned to give him a cooling-off period in his room, then to approach him with something like,
“Do you want to talk about what’s bothering you?”

Cooke realized parents had an incredible need for guidance on these matters, so she wrote a newsletter
for several years and now has a Web site, parentteen.com.

She and her son are very close now, and her son gets upset when he hears kids being disrespectful to
their parents.

Marissa Robillard, 15, of Green Bay, Wis., says she occasionally mouths off to her parents. “It may be to
argue my curfew or simply misplacing frustration resulting from a bad day.”

“Bad attitudes among teenagers most likely result from that blurred line between childhood and
adulthood: All teens want to be adults, but don’t have the means or maturity to master adultlike
behavior,” says Marissa, a member of USA TODAY’s Teen Panel.

“Some teens simply want boundaries when they become verbally out of line with their parents.
Subconsciously, they look for security in knowing how far they can push their parents.”

Katy Montague, 16, of St. Louis says many of the conflicts between teens and their parents are tied into
the teen’s search for independence.

“We are getting our wings. We are little baby birds, and we don’t want our mom and dad around all the
time.”

Explosions happen, but they can be cleaned up. She has said harsh things to her parents in the heat of
the moment that she later regretted. And vice versa. All parties apologized, she says.

Parents can apologize, too

Parents are walking a tightrope –giving their kids the space they need to become their own person and
yet not letting their children drive them away, say family therapists and psychologists.

When teens sass their parents, they feel powerful and in control, even if it’s only for a few minutes,
Kendrick says. They have disarmed their parents, he says.

The best way for parents to react to a sassy statement is not to get angry but to remind their teens who
they are, Kendrick says. Parents might say something like, “You are really trying to hurt my feelings here.
I don’t understand it. You are a better person than that.”

Adolescents often communicate in action rather than word. If a child comes in and throws down his
backpack, it might be a way of saying, “I have such a heavy load to carry.” Their backpack is a metaphor
for their lives, Lamia says.

If the backpack lands on the ground, parents shouldn’t scream: “Don’t leave your backpack in your
hallway.” Instead the parent might say in a matter-of-fact voice, “Looks like you have a heavy load. Let’s
put it in your room.”

And when parents do make a mistake, they have to be grown-up enough to say “I’m sorry.” If parents
showed their teens more kindness, respect and thoughtfulness, their teens would be a lot less surly,
Lamia says. “The teens wouldn’t feel they had to put up their fence so often.”
48 CHEMEN

Empathy is better than anger

Experts say parents use a variety of styles to cope with surly teens. Here are a few ways that they react:

The angry parent. Often parents are devastated by their child’s attitude, get angry and try to control
their child with that anger, Boston-based family therapist Carleton Kendrick says. “They may tell them
they are bad, yell at them for their attitude, and then start spelling out commandments: ‘You will never
speak to me in that manner. We do not do that in this house.’”

Some parents are especially upset because they feel they’ve done so much for their child and don’t
deserve this treatment. They want to yell at their child: “You are nothing but a little ingrate for treating
me like this,” he says. But a better thing for a parent to say is: “When you act mean to me like this, I feel
hurt because all I was trying to do is help you.”

The helicopter parent. This parent hovers around the child all the time, Kendrick says. They are overly
protective. They swoop in before the mouthiness ever takes place. They rob the child of a healthy
rebellion. When parents rescue teens from their own bad behaviour, the kids never experience things,
learn from the consequences and then act better the next time, he says.

The emotionally absent parent. Some parents have gotten tired of parenting by the time their child is a
teen. Their career may be demanding so when the child begins pushing them away, the parents
abdicate some of their responsibilities, says Sal Severe, a school psychologist in Phoenix and author of
How to Behave So Your Children Will, Too (Viking, $23.95). “Parents are saying to themselves, ‘Go ahead
and push me away. I’m tired of this, anyway.’ It’s unfortunate because I really do believe that
adolescence is the most critical developmental period,” he says.

Psychologist Mary Lamia of Kentfield, Calif., has seen this happen in the families she works with. “I see
that a lot with affluent parents who attend to their own needs instead of their children’s. I see kids who
are 14 years old and they eat in their room every night because their parents don’t want to deal with
them at dinner. Rather than trying to engage their child in conversation, they abandoned them.” “But it’s
the adolescent’s job to separate, not the parent’s job,” she says. If teens step away and gain some
autonomy, then come back and their parents aren’t there, it's frightening for them. They can feel
abandoned.

The respectful, understanding parent. Some parents are able to give their teens space, but also stay
involved in their lives. They offer their children respect and empathy.

When these parents see a look of aloofness, coldness, nastiness or a detached attitude on their child’s
face, they step back and don’t take it personally. Rather than attack a grumpy adolescent, these parents
use empathy, Lamia says. If a child comes home from school in a foul mood, they might say, “It looks like
you have a lot on your mind today. Can I make you some hot cocoa?” Or they might say, “Looks like
you’re thinking about some things. Why don’t you take a break and if you want to talk to me, I’m here.”

Adolescents are often crying out for attention, says psychologist Mary Lamia. She recommends the
parents:

• Ask teens about their lives and really listen to what they say. Ask specific questions that show
you are listening: “Was the English test hard?”

• Show their adolescent the same respect you would show a friend or colleague. “We would
never dare treat a friend the way some of us treat children.” Lamia says. “If a parent is talking to
a child or teenager and the phone rings, usually parents will pick up the phone and take the call.
We would never do that to a friend.”

• Keep rituals from their youth. As kids get older, many parents abandon the rituals that are
important to children. “We think because they are big, they don’t want to be tucked in before
they go to bed. But in fact, they may want you to sit at the edge of their bed and just be there
for a few minutes,” Lamia says.
49 CHEMEN

2: This passage shows how teenage years pose special challenges. Adolescence is already a time of
turmoil during which teenagers find themselves on an emotional roller-coaster. Teenagers are largely
emotional rather than logical because they are trying to tackle body changes, hormones, social
pressures and independence. As teens mature, there is a natural progression of breaking away from the
parents. This why they tend to become mouthy and surly with their parents and exhibit sassy and aloof
behaviour. While teens need to become autonomous, they often lack the tools and skills to accomplish
their goals and handle tough situations. Therefore, parents are the ones who have to guide this process
and try their best to get a grip on this issue. They need to understand that teen attitude is an essential
part of puberty and growing up. After all, home is the only place where teens can release their anger
and frustration without getting into trouble. By stepping into their children’s shoes, showing empathy
and not taking their teen’s behaviour personally, parents will be able to see beyond their surliness.

VOCABULARY
TO GET A GRIP ON STH (IDIOM): To gain a good understanding of something.  “Experts help parents
get a grip on teen lip.”

LIP (NOUN): The act of arguing with someone in a way that is rude or does not show enough respect. 
“Experts help parents get a grip on teen lip.”

PARENTING (NOUN): The raising of children and all the responsibilities and activities that are involved in
it.  “(…) Carleton Kendrick speaks at parenting seminars (…).”

MOODY (ADJECTIVE): If someone is moody, their moods change suddenly and they become angry or
unhappy easily.  “An adolescent girl, who had been moody and glum with her parents (…).”

GLUM (ADJECTIVE): Disappointed or unhappy, and quiet.  “An adolescent girl, who had been moody
and glum with her parents (…).”

TO SNAP (VERB): To suddenly become unable to control a strong feeling, especially anger.  “The
daughter turned around and snapped (…).”

OVER THE TOP (IDIOM): Too extreme and not suitable, or demanding too much attention or effort,
especially in an uncontrolled way.  “This real-life example may seem a bit over the top (…).”

SURLINESS (NOUN): The quality of being often in a bad mood, unfriendly, and not polite.  “Teen lip,
attitude or surliness can be very painful (…).”

TO TACKLE (VERB): To try to deal with something or someone.  “(…) experts are tackling the topic on
Web sites, in books and at parenting seminars.”

TO GRIPE (VERB): To complain continuously about something in a way that is annoying.  “Parents are
also griping about it to each other.”

SCOWL (NOUN): A very annoyed expression.  “(…) a scowl that can be more condemning than words.”

TO FLOUNCE (VERB): To walk with large, noticeable movements, especially to attract attention or show
that you are angry.  “There’s the editorial eyebrow, (…) the flouncing, the slamming (…).”

TO WITHDRAW (VERB): To move back or away. To become socially or emotionally detached.  “Still
others withdraw and abandon their parenting responsibilities rather than deal with the surly child.”

TO DEAL WITH SB/STH (PHRASAL VERB): To do something about (a person or thing that causes a
problem or difficult situation).  “Still others withdraw and abandon their parenting responsibilities
rather than deal with the surly child.”

SURLY (ADJECTIVE): Often in a bad mood, unfriendly, and not polite.  “Still others withdraw and
abandon their parenting responsibilities rather than deal with the surly child.”
50 CHEMEN

EMOTIONAL ROLLER COASTER (NOUN): A situation or experience that alternates between making you
feel excited, exhilarated, or happy and making you feel sad, disappointed, or desperate.  “Adolescents
are often on an emotional roller coaster.”

PRESSURE COOKER (NOUN): A situation in which people are under a lot of pressure (origin: a cooking
pan with a tightly fitting lid that allows food to cook quickly in steam under pressure).  “Teens live in a
pressure cooker.”

PEER (NOUN): A person who is the same age or has the same social position or the same abilities as
other people in a group.  “(…) they’re being evaluated by peers, teachers, coaches and parents.”

ALOOFNESS (NOUN): Behaviour that shows you are not friendly or willing to take part in things. The
quality or state of being aloof or emotionally distant, not interested or involved.  “Parents
misinterpret surliness as aloofness and detachment (…).”

DETACHMENT (NOUN): A feeling of not being emotionally involved.  “Parents misinterpret surliness
as aloofness and detachment (…).”

TO PUT UP (PHRASAL VERB): To build a structure in an empty space.  “Surliness is like a fence that
teens put up to protect themselves.”

TO BREAK STH DOWN (PHRASAL VERB): To cause to fall or collapse by breaking or shattering.  “(…)
they wouldn’t try to break it down but instead would try to find a gate to walk through.”

MOUTHY (ADJECTIVE): Talking and expressing your opinions a lot, especially in a rude way.  “All teens
are surly and mouthy at some point.”

TURMOIL (NOUN): A state of confusion, uncertainty, or disorder.  “It’s just the way teenagers react to
all the turmoil that’s going on inside then, he says.”

FLIP (ADJECTIVE): Not serious enough, or not showing enough respect.  “They are going to be flip.”

TO FLOUNDER (VERB): To experience great difficulties or be completely unable to decide what to do or

say next.  “They are going to test you to see if you will hang in there with them while they are
floundering (…).”

TO HANG IN THERE (IDIOM): Said as a way of telling someone to not give up, despite difficulties. 
“They are going to test you to see if you will hang in there (…).”

BURGEONING (ADJECTIVE): Developing quickly.  “(…) they are trying to navigate their way through
their burgeoning sexuality (…).”

FLIPPANT (ADJECTIVE): Not serious about a serious subject, in an attempt to be funny or to appear
clever.  “‘If they can’t be flippant and fresh-mouthed with their parents in the sanctuary of their home
and know they will still be loved, then where can they be?’ he says.”

FRESH-MOUTHED (ADJECTIVE): Showing little respect; saying something considered insolent or

disrespectful.  “‘If they can’t be flippant and fresh-mouthed with their parents in the sanctuary of their
home and know they will still be loved, then where can they be?’ he says.”

TURBULENT (ADJECTIVE): Involving a lot of sudden changes, arguments, or violence.  “(…) his teen
years were turbulent.”

SULLEN (ADJECTIVE): Angry and unwilling to smile or be pleasant to people.  “When your child swears
at you or is very sullen, you can’t believe it.”

TO WALK ON EGGSHELLS (IDIOM): To be very careful not to offend or upset someone.  “I felt like I
was walking on eggshells.”
51 CHEMEN

COOLING-OFF PERIOD (NOUN): Period in which 2 groups who are arguing can try to improve or resolve
the situation before taking further action.  “She (…) learned to give him a cooling-off period (…).”

TO MOUTH OFF (PHRASAL VERB): To express your opinions or complain, esp. loudly and in a way that
shows no consideration or respect.  “(…) she occasionally mouths off to her parents.”

CURFEW (NOUN): A time by which a child must be home in the evening.  “It may be to argue my
curfew or simply misplacing frustration resulting from a bad day.”

BOUNDARY (NOUN): A real or imagined line that marks the edge or limit of something.  “Some teens
simply want boundaries when they become verbally out of line with their parents.”

IN THE HEAT OF THE MOMENT (IDIOM): If you say or do something in the heat of the moment, you say
or do it without thinking because you are very angry or excited.  “She has said harsh things to her
parents in the heat of the moment that she later regretted.”

TO WALK A TIGHTROPE (IDIOM): If you walk a tightrope, you have to deal with a difficult situation,
especially one involving making a decision between two opposing plans of action.  “Parents are
walking a tightrope — giving their kids the space they need to become their own person and yet not
letting their children drive them away (…).”

TO DRIVE SB AWAY (PHRASAL VERB): To cause or force (someone) to leave especially by making a
situation unpleasant or unattractive.  “(…) not letting their children drive them away (…).”

TO SASS (VERB): To talk to someone in a rude way.  “When teens sass their parents (…).”

SASSY (ADJECTIVE): Rude and showing no respect.  “The best way for parents to react to a sassy
statement is not to get angry (…).”

MATTER-OF-FACT (ADJECTIVE): Not showing feelings or emotion, especially in a situation when emotion
would be expected.  “Instead the parent might say in a matter-of-fact voice (…).”

TO SPELL STH OUT (PHRASAL VERB): To explain something in a very clear way with details.  “They
may (…) start spelling out commandments.”

COMMANDMENT (NOUN): Order, rule of behaviour.  “They may (…) start spelling out
commandments.”

INGRATE (NOUN): A person who is not grateful.  “You are nothing but a little ingrate (…).”

TO HOVER AROUND (PHRASAL VERB): To position oneself near or around sb or sth else; to linger near
or around sb or sth else.  “This parents hovers around the child all the time (…).”

OVERLY (ADVERB): Too; very.  “They are overly protective.”

TO SWOOP IN (PHRASAL VERB): To move in quickly.  “They swoop in before the mouthiness ever
takes place.”

MOUTHINESS (NOUN): The quality or state of being mouthy.  “They swoop in before the mouthiness
ever takes place.”

TO ROB SB OF STH (PHRASAL VERB): To take away an important quality, ability, etc. from someone or
something.  “They rob the child of a healthy rebellion.”

TO PUSH SB AWAY (PHRASAL VERB): To show that you do not want someone’s help or attention. 
“(…) the child begins pushing them away (…).”

TO ABDICATE (VERB): To cast off or discard.  “(…) parents abdicate some of their responsibilities (…).”

AFFLUENT (ADJECTIVE): Having a lot of money or owning a lot of things.  “I see that a lot with affluent
parents who attend to their own needs instead of their children’s.”
52 CHEMEN

TO STEP AWAY (PHRASAL VERB): To stop being involved in something.  “If teens step away and gain
some autonomy, then come back and their parents aren’t there, it’s frightening for them.”

NASTINESS (NOUN): Unkind behaviour or character, rudeness.  “When these parents see a look of
aloofness, coldness, nastiness or a detached attitude (…).”

TO STEP BACK (PHRASAL VERB): To temporarily stop being involved in an activity or situation in order to
think about it in a new way.  “(…) they step back and don’t take it personally.”

GRUMPY (ADJECTIVE): Easily annoyed and complaining.  “Rather than attack a grumpy adolescent,
these parents use empathy (…).”

FOUL (ADJECTIVE): If someone has a foul temper or is in a foul mood, they become angry or violent very
suddenly and easily.  “If a child comes home from school in a foul mood (…).”

TO TAKE A BREAK (IDIOM): To stop doing something for a short period of time; to rest.  “Why don’t
you take a break and if you want to talk to me, I’m here.”

GRAMMAR/SYNTAX
NOUN PHRASES

“Parents of adolescents have heard plenty of teen lip.”  FUNCTION: SUBJECT

“(…) experts are tackling the topic (…).”  FUNCTION: DO

NOUN CLAUSES

“(…) I (…) believe that adolescence is the most critical developmental period (…).”  FUNCTION: DO

“(…) if they understood where it was coming from (…).”  FUNCTION: DO

CONTACT NC

“Cooke realized (that) parents had an incredible need for guidance (…).”  FUNCTION: DO

“Marissa Robillard (…) says (that) she occasionally mouths off to her parents.”  FUNCTION: DO

DEFINING RC

“And there's ‘the look,’ a scowl that can be more condemning than words.”

NON-DEFINING RC

“(…) says Lamia, who is with the San Francisco Psychoanalytic Institute (…).”

REDUCED NON-DEFINING RC

“(…) says Sal Severe, (who is) a school psychologist in Phoenix and author of How to Behave So Your
Children Will, Too (…).”

CONTACT RC

“(…) giving their kids the space (that) they need to become their own person (..).”

ADVERBIAL ADJUNCTS

“When family therapist Carleton Kendrick speaks at parenting seminars, he often uses this anecdote to
describe teenagers’ attitude.”  AA OF TIME (CAT: AC OF TIME)

“Many parents today react to their teenagers’ attitude in the wrong way.”  AA OF MANNER (CAT: PP)
53 CHEMEN

DITRANSITIVE VERBS

“They may tell them they are bad (…).”  DV (VERB OF COMMUNICATION) + IO + DO

“She has said harsh things to her parents (…).”  DV (VERB OF COMMUNICATION) + DO + IO

“They offer their children respect and empathy.”  DV (VERB OF GIVING) + IO + DO

SUBJECTIVE COMPLEMENTS

“(…) I feel hurt (…).”  IVIP + SUBCP (CAT: ADJ)

“They are overly protective.”  IVIP + SUBCP (CAT: ADJP)

“(…) but also stay involved in their lives.”  IVIP + SUBCP (CAT: PAST PARTICIPLE)

OBJECTIVE COMPLEMENTS

“Experts help parents get a grip on teen lip.”  TVIP + DO + OBJCP (CAT: BARE-INF CLAUSE)

“(…) he hears kids being disrespectful to their parents.”  TVIP + DO + OBJCP (CAT: GERUND. PHRASE)

ANTICIPATORY “IT” SUBJECT

“(…) it’s the adolescent’s job to separate (…).”  IT + IVIP + SUBCP + RSEP (CAT: TO-INF CLAUSE)

“It was hard to know how to approach him.”  IT + IVIP + SUBCP + RSEP (CAT: TO-INF CLAUSE)

ANTICIPATORY “THERE”

“There’s the editorial eyebrow (…).”  THERE + IVIP + RSEP (CAT: NP)

CLEFT SENTENCES/EMPHATIC “IT”—TRANSFORMATION

Original: “I see that a lot with affluent parents who attend to their own needs instead of their children’s.”

Transformation: “It’s in affluent families that psychologists detect more emotionally absent parents.”

PSEUDO-CLEFT SENTENCES/EMPHATIC “WHAT”—TRANSFORMATION

Original: “When your child swears at you or is very sullen, you can’t believe it. You feel shocked.”

Transformation: “What parents find shocking is their children swearing at them or being very sullen.”

REDUCED ADVERBIAL CLAUSES—TRANSFORMATION

Original: “(…) parents shouldn’t scream (…) Instead the parent might say (…).”

Transformation: “Before yelling at their children, parents should ask them what’s wrong.”

ABSOLUTE CONSTRUCTIONS—TRANSFORMATION

Original: “If teens step away (…), then come back and their parents aren't there, it's frightening (…).”

Transformation: “Parents being absent, the children tend to feel frightened.”

NC IN APPOSITION—TRANSFORMATION

Original: “Kendrick agrees. All teens are surly and mouthy at some point.”

Transformation: “Kendrick agrees to the idea that all teens are surly and mouthy at some point.”