do : students (who read former : reading slowly

others it slowly) : that they read : the students first

their slowly : some students they mentioned (those who
slowly) and other students the problem read slowly but don’t
: read slowly they : the latter know it) : the former
their problem the : reading slowly

Almost one-fourth of the words in this paragraph signal some kind of syntactic or
semantic connection within and between the sentences. Sometimes these references
are relative pronouns, sometimes they are demonstrative pronouns or adverbs; and
sometimes they are substitutions or elliptical expressions.

✍Exercise 9-1
Read each of the following passage and write what the italicized references refer to.

1. When social scientists study families, they find that they have different shapes and
sizes. a. (the first) they refers to: social scientist
b. (the second) they refers to families

2. When most people think of libraries, they think of books. However, there are as
many library services as there are types of people who use them.
a. they refers to: most people
b. them refers to library services

3. No matter whether it is young or old, large or small, traditional or modern, every

family has a sense of what a family is.
a. it refers to: family

4. Mr. Brown bought a new car, but his wife hasn’t seen it yet.
a. his refers to: Mr Brown
b. it refers to: new car

5. The Clinton’s old television didn’t work, but their new one is fine.
a. their refers to: the Clintons family
b. one refers to: the new television

6. Jane thought the moon landing was a waste of money, and Martin, her husband,
thought the same.
a. her refers to jane
b. the same refers to the moon landing was a waste of money

7. Most of us know what a family is. However, we can learn more about families from
social scientists.
a. us refers to: most people
b. we refers to: people who want to learn
 Hemat Purba: Developing Academic Reading Skills (2010) 82
8. Some families have long histories. Some of them know everything about their
ancestors, while others know very little about theirs.
a. them refers to: some families
b. their refers to their ancestor
c. others refers to: some families
d. theirs refers to their families

9. Successful language learners find people who speak the language and they ask
them to correct them when they make mistakes.
a. (the first) they refers to: successful language learners c. (the second) them
refers to: successful language learners b. (the first) them refers to people who
speak the language d. (the second) they refers to successful language learner

10. The chair was so well made that Ms. Grant decided to buy five.
a. five refers to chairs

11. Perhaps your language learning has been less than successful. Then you might do
well to try some of the techniques used by successful language learners.
a. your refers to: the one who’s language learning has been less than successful
b. you refers to: the one who may benefit from trying some of the technique used by
successful language learners

12. Word analysis is not always sufficient to give us the precise definition of a word.
Thus, we need to combine it with context clues in order to make it easier for us to
decide a clear meaning of the word.
a. (the first) us refers to: people who want precise definition of a word
b. we refers to: same people who want to use both word analysis and context clues to
understand the word more easily
c. (the second) us refers to same group of people who need to use both methods to
understand the word more easily

13. A camera takes the light rays that bounce off the subjects being photographed
and focuses them on a sheet of film for an instant. This light makes chemical
changes in the coating on the film.
a. them refers to: light rays
b. this light refers to: light rays that have been focused

14. One aspects of American life most visitors agree on is its conformity. Because they
had to establish traditions, because they had to absorb millions of people from
diverse cultures, Americans tend to insist upon conformity in fundamentals.
a. its refers to: one aspects of American
b. (the first) they refers to visitors
c. (the second) they refers to Americans

15. In December 1941 almost the entire U.S. fleet was anchored at Pearl Harbor. I
can’t understand why.
Why refers to: the entire U.S fleet was anchored at Pearl Harbor

16. Last July we spent our holiday at Denpasar, Bali. It was the best holiday we
 ever had there.
a. It refers to: holiday
b. there refers to: Bali
Hemat Purba: Developing Academic Reading Skills (2010) 83
17. During the Cambrian Period, mollusks (related to snails and slugs) and sea worms
were common, and many have been preserved as fossils. Another animal that was
common then was the trilobite. They no longer exist, but most museums have
fossil collections of them.
a. many refers to: mollusks
b. then refers to: during the Cambrian period
c. them refers to: trilobite

18. Children love cartoons, and they can sit for hours watching them.
a. they refers to: children
b. them refers to: cartoon

✍Exercise 9-2
Read the each of the passages below and choose the best answers the questions that follow.

Passage One
Animal Congregation
1
Many types of animals combine the advantage of family association with those
conferred by membership in still larger groups. Bees congregate in hives; some fish
move in schools; ants gather in mounds; wolves live in packs; deer associate in herds.
The main advantage of membership in a mass community is the safety that it provides. A
5
large group of prey may be easier for a predator to find at any given point than is a
small one, and predator may think twice before taking on such a group; if a
predator does decide to challenge a large group, it may merely encounter a
confusing mass of moving bodies and possibly may not succeed in its primary goal.


1. The word “those” (l. 1) refers to ……….

(A) types (B) animals (C) advantages (D) groups

2. The word “it” (l. 4) refers to ……….

(A) safety (B) advantage (C) community (D) membership

3. The word “one” (l. 6) refers to ……….

(A) group (B) prey (C) predator (D) point

4. The word “it” (l. 7) refers to ……….

(A) group (B) mass (C) predator (D) goal
Passage Two
New World Epidemics
1 A huge loss of life resulted from the introduction of Old World diseases into the
Americas in the early sixteenth century. The inhabitants of the Americas were
separated from Asia, Africa, and Europe by rising oceans following the Ice Ages,
and, as a result,

Hemat Purba: Developing Academic Reading Skills (2010) 84

they were isolated by means of this watery barrier from numerous virulent
epidemic 5
diseases that had developed across the ocean, such as measles, smallpox,
pneumonia, and malaria. Pre-Columbian Americans had a relatively disease-free
environment but also lacked the antibodies needed to protect them from bacteria and
viruses brought to America by European explorers and colonists. A devastating
outbreak of disease that strikes for the first time against a completely unprotected
population is known as a 10
virgin soil epidemic. Virgin soil epidemics contributed to an unbelievable decline in
the population of native inhabitants of the Americas, one that has been estimated
as an 80 percent decrease of the native population in the centuries following the
arrival of Europeans in the Americas. 

1. The word “they” (l. 4) refers to ……….

(A) the inhabitants (B) epidemic diseases
(C) rising oceans (D) the Ice Age

2. The word “that” (l. 5) refers to ……….

(A) this watery barrier (B) a disease-free environment
(C) the ocean (D) virulent epidemic diseases

3. The word “them” (l. 7) refers to ……….

(A) the antibodies (B) pre-Columbian Americans
(C) bacteria and viruses (D) European explorers and colonists

4. The word “one” (l. 11) refers to ……….

(A) a virgin soil epidemic (B) the population of native inhabitants
(C) an unbelievable decline (D) the arrival of Europeans

✍Exercise 9-3
Read the short passage below and answer the questions that follow. Finding the references
of the substitution words will help you.

Pessimism Pervades European Spirit

The average citizen of Europe is rather gloomy these days and in Britain he or she
is probably gloomier than most. This is shown by the latest “Eurobarometer,” the
opinion poll conducted every six months by the European community. Briton seem the
most miserable, with French and Irish not far behind. Belgians are also growing more
pessimistic.
As far as fear of third world war is concerned, the average European seems less
convinced that one is “probable.” In April 1980, 34 percent believed war was not far off.
Today, the figure is 13 percent, with Britain at 14 percent. 

Questions:
1. Who is probably gloomier than most? Britain’s citizen
2. What does the latest Eurobarometer show? Briton seem the most miserable
3. Whose degree of misery is quite close to Briton? French and Irish
4. What is not so “probable” according to the average European? Third world war
happening
Hemat Purba: Developing Academic Reading Skills (2010) 85

✍Exercise 9-4
Read the passage below and answer the questions that follow. Finding the references
of the substitution words will help you.

The rights of a Merchant

The seller of goods has certain obligations toward his costumer. Some of them are
written in the laws of the country. Others are found in the legal decisions made by
judges. What happens when a merchant displays an item in his store window with a
price tag on it? Must the merchant sell the item if the money is offered? It is a fact of law
that a display of goods in a store window is not an offer to sell those goods, which can be
accepted by a customer saying he will buy them. Instead, the display is known as an
invitation by the merchant to receive offers from potential customers. The customer
makes the offer to buy and the merchant may accept that offer. Then the goods are sold.
But the merchant need not accept the offer, and without such acceptance, the customer
cannot obtain the goods or sue the merchant for not letting him have them.
Unless the seller accepts the offer by taking cash from the customer, the seller is
allowed to change his mind. The merchant may want to take back the goods because
they have been displayed by mistake or had the wrong price written on them, and he or
she would have the legal right to do this. 

Questions:
1. What is either written in the laws of the country or found in the legal decisions
made by the judges? a display of goods in a store window is not an offer to sell
those goods
2. Where is the price tag put? On a display item
3. When are goods sold? When the merchant accepts customer’s offer
4. When can’t the customer sue the seller? When the merchant doesn’t accepts
customer’s offer
5. What legal right does the seller have if goods have the wrong price written on them?
Seller is allowed to take back the goods
B. Connectives
In order to connect ideas to one another within a sentence, paragraph or
passage and to indicate direction of thought, authors frequently use a type of word
called connectives (sometimes called directional or signal words). These words signal
or clue the reader about what will come next in the sentence, paragraph or passage.
Directional words can indicate that a new or different idea will be introduced, that an
example will follow, or that an author will present additional information on the same
topic.
To see the use of connectives, read the following sentences. Notice the
underlined connectives in each.

(1) To sum up, Aristotle taught that all motions resulted either from the nature of
the moving object or from sustained push or pull.
(2) There is never only a single force in a situation. For example, in walking across
the floor, we push against the floor, and the floor in turn pushes against us.
(3) In other words, in an economic sense the family was an almost self-sufficient unit.

Hemat Purba: Developing Academic Reading Skills (2010) 86

✍Exercise 9-5
Read each sentence or group of sentences and underline any words that function as
connectives. In the blank following each sentence, write the type of connectives used.

1. One of the first things a writer must gain control of is the use of concrete
detail. On the other hand, the inclusion of too much detail only tires and confuses the
reader. Directional

2. Having put out the fire, the firefighters urged the crowd to leave; accordingly, they
returned to their homes. Signal words

3. There are clear limitation to population growth and the use of natural resources. First,
the food supply could be exhausted due to water, mineral, and soil depletion. Signal
words

4. In spite of the fact that defeat was obvious, the players continued to try their best to
win the game. directional

5. When a patient enters a mental hospital, he is carefully tested and observed for twenty-
four hours. Then a preliminary decision is made concerning medication and treatment.
directional

6. As children grow up, they acquire the patterns of behavior that are appropriate to the
society in which they are born. In short, they are facilitated with good model for
socialization. Signal word
7. A study of consumer behavior not only helps marketing strategies, but it may also give
useful information to a psychologist. Moreover, if such studies are made public, they may
lead to a rise in the quality of goods. directional

8. The students can use the library if they know how to handle the complicated
equipments. directional

9. Both Canada and the U.S. are large countries, with a wide range of heavy and light
manufacturing plants. directional

10. He enrolled in a special course in writing in the hope that it would help him improve
his writing skills. Signal word

Hemat Purba: Developing Academic Reading Skills (2010) 88

✍Exercise 9-6
Read each paragraph and underline the connective. In the blank at the right, write the type
of connectives used.

1. Ancestor worship is not universal in primitive society. More people

believe in the spirits of the dead and in ghosts than worship them.
Ghosts, in fact, are more often feared than worshipped, and any rites
associated with them are to drive them away. However, the ghost of
the last-deceased household
head is sometimes the protector of his family and can thwart the malignant efforts of
other ghosts. directional

2. Tracing books in catalog is tiring and time consuming. It will be even more tiring and
time consuming than usual if you have to return to the catalog repeatedly for information
that you failed to record. You should, therefore, work out an efficient system of recording
all bibliographical information that you need for your project. directional

3. Factory workers today perform the same seemingly isolated task each day. This task
usually involves handling one specific machine or group of machines. Such condition
makes them to feel alienated. The workers may not even be shown how the particular
task is related to the end product. Also, the noise in many factories prevents co-workers
from even talking to each other during working hours. Signal word

4. Although the term “data processing” is of relatively recent origin, this does not mean
that the activity itself is new. On the contrary, there is evidence that the need to process
data originated as far back as the beginning of recorded history when man’s activities
first exceeded his ability to remember the details of his actions. Throughout history,
commercial and governmental activities have created the need for record keeping of one
sort or another. directional

5. Our attitudes and feelings impel us to action, and to a large extent, govern our action.
For this reason, the attitudes and opinions of employees, supervisors, and top
management should be a major concern of an organization in its efforts to foster
cooperation among those groups responsible for production. Attitudes are elusive, fluid
and difficult to interpret. Useful and practical methods have been developed, however, for
measuring the attitudes of groups toward specific policies and working conditions, and
for the purpose of determining the prevailing level of job satisfaction and areas of content
and discontent. directional

Hemat Purba: Developing Academic Reading Skills (2010) 89

✍Exercise 9-7
Read each of the following passage and fill in the blank lines with a correct connective.

1. Languages do not change suddenly. instead they change gradually over many years.
2. He gets ten hours of sleep each night, however he always seems tired in class.
3. since so many factors are involved in divorces, it’s impossible to place the blame on
one person.
4. The student union was formed to ensure the students’ rights.
5. Because he hadn’t eaten breakfast, he was hungry by noon.
6. Beside growing rice, the farmers of Cianjur began raising peanuts and melon.
7. Democracy gives a state’ citizens the freedom to choose their rulers. However it
imposes upon the people the responsibility to limit the power of rulers.
8. Jack didn’t study. Therefore he failed in the test.
9. Many things are difficult to measure precisely. For instance it is very difficult to
measure people’s motives.
10. I like to read that newspaper because the news is always reported quickly.
Additionally It has interesting special features.
11. There are many ways you can work on improving English outside of class. For
examples you can speak English as much as possible. Watching television is also
helpful.
12. Students should study before exams instead of hoping to pass.
13. The present birthrate is increasing and the death rate is decreasing.
nevertheless the world’s population is growing at a frightening pace.
14. People communicate because they want to be understood by other
people.
15. Despite the fierce sandstorm, the caravan moved on.
16. He had been continuously abused as a child. Consequently he grew up to be a bitter
and violence-prone adult.
17. I prefer to wear casual clothes, particularly jeans and sweatshirt.
18. When Rachel Carson first wrote in Silent Spring that human beings were destroying
the environment, she was laughed at. Time, however has proved her right.

19. Thomas Jefferson was a great statesman. Furthermore he was a talented architect
and inventors.
20. Ms. Jones can read and write Swahili but speak and understand it.

Hemat Purba: Developing Academic Reading Skills (2010) 90