Brehm - Targenting Trainee

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Justine Brehm Cripps
TARGETING THE SOURCE TEXT:

A Coursebook
in English
for Translator Trainees

BIBLIOTECA DE LA UNIVERSITAT JAUME I. Dades catalogràfiques
BREHM, Justine
Targeting the source text : a coursebook in English for translator trainees / Justine Brehm
Cripps. — 2a ed. — Castelló de la Plana : Publicacions de la Universitat Jaume I ; Madrid :
Edelsa, D. L. 2007
p. : il. ; cm. — (Universitas. Aprender a traducir ; 1)
Bibliografia.
ISBN 978-84-8021-891-7
978-84-8021-634-0 (UJI). — ISBN 978-84-7711-432-1 (Edelsa)
1. Traducció — Ensenyament. 2. Anglès – Traducció. I. Universitat Jaume I. Publicacions.
II. Sèrie.
82.035:37.02
811.111’25
Cap part d’aquesta publicació, incloent-hi el disseny de la coberta, no pot ser

reproduïda, emmagatzemada, ni transmesa de cap manera, ni per cap mitjà
(elèctric, químic, mecànic, òptic, de gravació o bé de fotocòpia) sense
autorització prèvia de la marca editorial
Primera edició: 2004

Segona edició: 2007
© Del text: Justine Brehm Cripps, 2007
© De la il·lustració de la coberta: Michael Brehm Cripps, 2007
© De la present edició: Publicacions de la Universitat Jaume I, 2007
Edita: Publicacions de la Universitat Jaume I

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ISBN 978-84-8021-891-7
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http://dx.doi.org/10.6035/Universitas.AT.Manual.1
Imprimeix: Graphic Group, S.A.

For Steve and Zoé.
Nothing else really matters.

CONTENTS
Preface, AMPARO HURTADO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Index to Practice Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
1. Practice Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
1. Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
2. Using Reference Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
3. Reading Strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
4. Applying Background Knowledge to Text Interpretation . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
5. Grappling with Grammar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
6. Lexical Notions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
7. Questions of Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
8. Text Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
9. Cohesion and Coherence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
10. Genres . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
11. Linguistic Variation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
12. Intertextuality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
13. Pragmatic Factors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
14. Synthesizing Meaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
15. Integrating Skills: Holistic Text Interpretation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
2. Language Information Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251

1. Grammar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252
2. Punctuation and Capitalization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266
3. Cohesion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276
4. Standard British and American English: Some Basic Differences . . . . . 279
Sources of Texts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283

PREFACE
Not all translator training centers include foreign language classes in their curricula. In
educational settings where, in keeping with student needs, such classes are offered (as is the
case of the undergraduate degree in Translation and Interpretation in Spain) this linguistic
training is to be considered an integral part of the development of students’ overall
translation competence – the ultimate goal of translator training. Foreign language teaching
in this context has a specific goal which is quite different from those of other educational
settings (Philology Studies, Language Schools and so forth). It aims to lay down the
groundwork for instruction in translation in both directions – to and from the mother tongue
– each with its own peculiarities and special characteristics in professional practice. With
this in mind, developing reading comprehension and writing skills (in preparation for
translation to and from the mother tongue, respectively) are the basic goals of foreign
language training for apprentice translators.
Given that we are dealing with the teaching of foreign languages for a specific purpose,
the course syllabus must also be specific in its aims and methodology. While recent decades
have witnessed many proposals in LSP instruction, much remains to be said with regard to
foreign language teaching within the context of translator training. Among the few
publications addressing this subject are those of Berenguer (1996, 1997, 1999) a pioneer in
defending the specific nature of translation-oriented foreign language teaching, and Brehm
(1997, 1998, 2001).
In keeping with this outlook, Chapter One “La primera lengua extranjera” (Brehm
and Hurtado) of the book Enseñar a Traducir (1999) presented a syllabus design proposal
and sample teaching unit, including learner-centered goals and methodological
recommendations for foreign language teaching within the context of translator-training
programs. TARGETING THE SOURCETEXT: A COURSEBOOK IN ENGLISH FOR TRANSLATOR
TRAINEES is an outstanding culmination of this effort to meet the basic needs of students in
the initial stage of translator training insofar as the use of English as a foreign language is
concerned. As such, it is an essential introductory textbook designed to help prepare students
for beginning translation.
AMPARO HURTADO ALBIR

Aprender a Traducir Series Director

INTRODUCTION
TARGETING THE SOURCE TEXT: A COURSEBOOK IN ENGLISH FOR TRANSLATOR TRAINEES is

a textbook for university students training to be professional translators. Its chief goal is to
provide students in the initial phase of translator training with the specific skills they will
need to optimize their interpretation of written English source-language texts, at the same
time that it aims to build on their existing knowledge of English vocabulary and grammar.
Drawing on notions from translation theory, discourse analysis and contrastive linguistics,
TARGETING THE SOURCE TEXT has been designed as a course in translation-oriented language
learning, different from general-purpose language textbooks insofar as its aim to improve
students’ mastery of English as a foreign language is to be seen not only as an end in itself,
but also as a means to a further end, namely that of helping students to become better
translators.
Translation scholars and teachers today unanimously agree that the storehouse of skills
and knowledge characteristic of the professional translator must include a solid background
in the lexical, grammatical, discursive and sociolinguistic aspects of his/her working
languages, or source and target languages. As Delisle (1980: 41) so aptly puts it, “Translation
begins and ends with language.” Where the source language (or language of the text-to-be-
translated) is concerned, the translator must be highly skilled at interpreting textual meaning,
with a view to re-expressing this meaning, in all its nuances, in the target language. Because
professional translators most often translate from a foreign language into their native
tongues, the general focus of this coursebook is, as mentioned above, on English as a source
language. Nevertheless, the knowledge and skills obtainable from the book are also directly
applicable to the use of English as a target language.
Notably, despite the obvious need for translators to be expert language users, little has
been said regarding the issue of how translator trainees may come to possess this expertise.
A myriad of textbooks based on content-oriented language instruction (LSP or Language for
Specific Purposes) have been published over the course of the last four decades, especially
in English, due to its increasing importance in virtually all professional fields today. Such
books include manuals on English for businessmen, computer scientists, engineers, tour
guides, and so forth. By the same token, textbooks aiming to train students in the practice of
translation itself have also become increasingly available on the market in recent years.
Nevertheless, when it comes to publications specifically addressing the issue of translation-
oriented foreign language teaching, only a few, scattered forays into the subject have been
made. Noteworthy among them are the proposals put forth by Berenguer (1996, 1997) and

12 JUSTINE BREHM CRIPPS
various authors (Brehm, Civera and Oster) under the direction of Hurtado in the 1999
publication Enseñar a Traducir, but to this writer’s knowledge, no complete coursebook in
foreign language instruction for translator trainees has been published to date.1
Teaching and Learning Principles
In attempting to fill this gap, the present coursebook is based on a communicative, task-
based approach to language study, in which the principles listed below are followed
throughout:
➢ Translation-oriented language teaching is to be considered both as a type of LSP and

a branch of applied translation studies. Throughout the course, teachers should not
lose sight of the idea that their end-purpose is to improve students’ skill in handling
one of the most important tools they will be using as professional translators.
➢ The communicative, goal-oriented and task-based approach followed in the manual
implies that students are to be encouraged to learn by doing. The tasks in each unit
are therefore designed to promote the acquisition of knowledge and skills through
inductive reasoning and practice.
➢ It is the students, not the teacher, who are at the center of the communicative learning
process. The teacher’s role is that of a knowledgeable guide, rather than that of an
authority figure.
➢ Each unit in the manual is composed of a series of tasks arranged in order of
increasing difficulty and/or explicitness with a view to achieving a number of
specific goals. The key to each unit in the Teacher’s Guide begins with a statement
of the goals addressed.
Contents and Linguistic Background
Both the general philosophy of this coursebook and the goals outlined blow are largely
based on work previosly appearing in the author’s Ph.D. dissertation and Chapter One
(Brehm and Hurtado, “La primera lengua extranjera”) of the 1999 publication Enseñar a
Traducir.
Further, it must be stressed that this book is designed for university students in the initial
phase of translator training with an upper-intermediate to advanced level of English as a
foreign language. It therefore does not attempt to prepare students for specialized translation,
1. An obvious explanation for this is the fact that the official curriculum of many translation schools does not
include specific instruction in foreign languages, or at least not in what is known as the translator’s “B language”
or the foreign language he/she will most habitually use in professional practice. Indeed, at many European
universities where degrees are offered in translation and/or interpretation, mastery of at least one foreign language
is a prerequisite for access to the training program, and entrance exams designed to confirm sufficient proficiency
on the part of prospective students are common.

INTRODUCTION 13
nor indeed for oral interpretation, but rather focuses on the development of the knowledge
and skills necessary to achieve an in-depth understanding of written English source-language
texts as a preliminary step in general translation. Moreover, while a good number of the tasks
included do involve the practice of writing and composition skills, and the linguistic contents
of the course will obviously contribute to the background knowledge students need to write
proficiently in English, this book is not specifically designed to prepare them to translate into
English.
Thus, the content of the fifteen units of tasks included in this book is not limited to a strict
reflection of the four skills normally included in traditional language learning curricula, i.e.
reading, writing, listening and speaking. Indeed, the latter two skills are dealt with only
indirectly, insofar as it is assumed that the language used by teachers and students for
classroom discussion will be English. Of the remaining two skills, reading is of course the
one most directly targeted, as it is through the practice of reading, obviously, that students
may come to an understanding of textual meaning. In addition, a brief look at the titles of
the fifteen units included here will suffice to show the manifest influence of linguistic theory
in much of the book’s content. Specifically, the units dedicated to grammar, style and
vocabulary are designed to highlight the contrastive differences to be observed between
English and students’ mother tongues, at the same time that a good deal of attention is
afforded to notions associated with the field of discourse analysis throughout the book.
With regard to the influence of discourse analysis, the approach taken is largely inspired
by the work of Hatim and Mason (1990) and the three dimensions of context they insist must
be taken into account in performing actual translation. Briefly, the three dimensions
proposed by these authors are 1) the communicative dimension, which includes notions
associated with linguistic variation (register, dialects, etc.); 2) the pragmatic dimension,
corresponding to the study of speech acts, implicatures, presuppositions, etc.; and 3) the
semiotic dimension, which refers to the consideration of words, texts, discourses and genres
as signs, together with the phenomenon of intertextuality, by which links are established
between different systems of signs. Other major influences on the book’s content are the
seminal works of de Beaugrande and Dressler (1981) on text analysis and Halliday and
Hasan (1976) on cohesion in English. Thus, the book includes units with tasks centered on
the topics of text types, genres, register, dialects, cohesion, implicature and intertextuality.
Last but not least, this book also features a brief introduction to the use of general
reference works in English. Lack of experience often leads beginning translator trainees to
rely almost exclusively on bilingual dictionaries, neglecting to use other sources which prove
invaluable in the actual performance of translation. Furthermore, students at this stage in
training generally harbor misconceptions regarding the degree of authority with which
dictionary definitions are to be invested. While it appears safe to assume that the coursework
done by students in translation classes proper will include practice in the use of reference
works, the relevance of this skill to successful text interpretation and composition justifies
its being contemplated here.

Course Organization and Goals
Taking into consideration all of the above, the organizational structure of Targeting the
Source Text is based on four broad, general aims, each of which is subsequently broken down
into a series of specific goals, as follows:
1. DEVELOPING READING COMPREHENSION SKILL
Students aim to:
• Strategically apply a variety of reading styles to texts (skimming, scanning, intensive

and extensive reading).
• Understand the mechanics of cohesion and coherence (reference, conjunction,
substitution, ellipsis and lexical cohesion; rhetorical patterns; English paragraph
structure).
• Identify and understand the mechanics of different text types (expository,
argumentative, instructive) and genres (recipes and news stories).
• Understand the contributions of pragmatic and semiotic factors to textual meaning
(implicature and intertextuality).
• Be aware of linguistic variation in texts as determined by language use and language
users (standard British and American dialects of English, different levels of register).
• Combine linguistic and extralinguistic knowledge in the holistic interpretation of
textual meaning.
2. DEVELOPING SKILL IN WRITTEN COMPOSITION
Students aim to:
• Employ a variety of strategies in planning the organization of a text.

• Apply both linguistic and extralinguistic knowledge to text composition.
• Use cohesive devices correctly.
• Produce texts belonging to different text types and genres.
• Be consistent in their use of dialectal features when writing in English.
• Adjust their use of language (register) according to variations in field and mode.
3. DEVELOPING LINGUISTIC KNOWLEDGE (FOCUS ON CONTRASTIVITY)
Students aim to:
• Gain familiarity with the basic rules of style in written English (punctuation,
capitalization, common abbreviations).

INTRODUCTION 15
• Increase and consolidate their vocabulary in English (grasping the dynamic nature of
word meaning, recognizing false friends, unravelling and explaining puns, gaining
familiarity with some common idiomatic expressions, internalising the meaning of words
with no direct equivalent in their native language, broadening their repertoire of
synonyms).
• Consolidate their mastery of English grammar (reviewing their existing knowledge of
grammatical rules, learning to recognize “grammatical false friends”, using grammatical
structures with no direct equivalent in their native language).
4. USING REFERENCE WORKS
Students aim to:
• Acquire proficiency in the use of non-specialized English language reference works

(recognizing the limits of general monolingual and bilingual dictionaries, finding the right
definition for polysemic words, choosing the best source for the type of information they
seek, taking advantage of information provided in dictionaries beyond definitions).
TEXT SELECTION
Finally, it should be pointed out that the selection of texts included in this manual is based
on the premise that students should be exposed to as wide a variety of authentic reading
materials as possible, in an attempt to reflect the kind of texts with which they may be
expected to deal in real-life situations. Thus, the texts featured in the book include newspaper
and magazine articles; dictionary and encyclopedia entries; excerpts from natural and social
science books; as well as advertisements, comic strips and tourist brochures, to mention only
a few. Notwithstanding the above, all texts presented in the book may be considered
appropriate for educated, non-specialist readers. A complete list of the original sources of
the texts is included at the end of this volume.
Works cited (in preface and introduction)
BEAUGRANDE, R. DE and W. DRESSLER (1981): Introduction to Text Linguistics. London and New
York, Longman.
BERENGUER ESTELLES, L. (1996): “Didáctica de segundas lenguas en los estudios de traducción” En
HURTADO ALBIR, A. (ed.) La enseñanza de la traducción. Vol. 3, Estudis sobre la
traducció. Castellón, Universitat Jaume I.
—-(1997): L’ensenyament de llengües estrangeres per a traductors. Didàctica de
l’alemany. Ph.D. Dissertation. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona.

—-(1999): “Cómo preparar la traducción en la clase de lenguas extranjeras.” Quaderns.

Revista de Traducció. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona.
BREHM CRIPPS, J. (1997): Developing Foreign Language Reading Skill in Translator Trainees.
Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation. Castellón, Universitat Jaume I.
—-(1998): “Invasion of the Genre Snatchers or What in the Word does this Mean?
Interpreting Intertextual References and Puns in the English for Translators Class” in
FELIX, F. and E. ORTEGA (coord.) II Estudios sobre Traducción e Interpretación. Málaga,
Universidad de Málaga, Centro de Ediciones de la Diputación de Málaga.
—-(2001): “More than Words vs. the Last Word. Training Novice Translators in the Use of
Reference Works.” in FERRER, H. (ed.) Teaching English in a Spanish Setting. Valencia,
University of Valencia.
DELISLE, J. (1980): L’analyse du discours comme méthode de traduction. Cahiers de
Traductologie, Vol. 2. Ottawa, University of Ottowa Press.
HALLIDAY, M.A.K. and R. HASAN (1976): Cohesion in English. London, Longman.
HATIM, B. and I. MASON (1990): Discourse and the Translator. London and New York,
Longman.
HURTADO ALBIR, A. (dir.) (1999): Enseñar a traducir. Metodología en la formación de
traductores e intérpretes. Madrid, Edelsa.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank the following people for their help in making this book possible.
First and foremost, thanks to Amparo Hurtado, who was the first to inspire my interest in
translator training and teaching methodology, and who has continued to provide invaluable
support, both moral and academic, over the years. Thanks to Amparo as well for reading the
manuscript of this book in all its permutations, and for her welcome suggestions in the
process of giving it its final shape. Secondly, thanks to my colleagues in the Translation
Department at the Universitat Jaume I for sharing their ideas on the subjects of translator
training and language teaching. Finally, thanks to all those who have, at one time or another,
had the dubious honor of being students of mine, and consequently the willing (or unwitting)
guinea pigs with whom I have had the opportunity to put my ideas to the test.

INDEX TO PRACTICE UNITS
Unit Contents Tasks

1. GETTING STARTED Warm-up activities. • Correcting Stylistic
Introduction to class dynamics: the importance Errors
of accuracy in translation. • Detecting and
Explaining Translation
Errors
2. USING REFERENCE The importance of using reference works • The Limits of
WORKS correctly. Dictionary Definitions
Choosing the right reference work for each • Using Reference
occasion. Works
3. READING STRATEGIES Scanning for specific information, skimming for • Scanning Game
general meaning. • Scanning Reference
Works
• Combining Skimming
And Scanning
4. APPLYING Linguistic and non-linguistic background • Silly Syllogisms
BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE knowledge as a key to unlocking meaning /Kooky Conclusions
TO TEXT INTERPRETATION in unfamiliar or unconventional textual material. • Nonsense Words
Deverbalization. • Experimental Texts
• Unfinished Stories
5. GRAPPLING WITH Focus on grammatical notions which typically • Grammatical Calques
GRAMMAR cause difficulties for advanced foreign students and Errors
of English for contrastive reasons. • Use of “One”
• Adjective Order
• Articles
• Countable and
Non-Countable Nouns
• Extraposition
• Subject-Finite Verb
Inversion
• Noun Groups

Unit Contents Tasks

6. LEXICAL NOTIONS The effect of context on word meaning. • Using Context to
Interpreting word-play. Deduce Word Meaning
Problem verbs in English: “Get”, “Make” • Interpreting Puns
and “Do”. • Somatic Idioms
Lexical fields. • Color Idioms
Words commonly confused for homophonic • Verbs of Posture and
reasons. Movement
• Use of “Get”
• “Make” and “Do”
• Onomatopoeia
• Loan Words
• Commonly Confused
Words
7. QUESTIONS OF STYLE Stylistic conventions: punctuation, capitals, and • Punctuation and

abbreviations. Capitals
Reformulating texts; finding alternative • Common
expressions. Abbreviations
• “Intralinguistic
Translation”
• Correcting a Faulty
Translation
8. TEXT TYPES Familiarization with three basic text types • Introduction to Text
(expository, argumentative and instructive) and Types
their corresponding subtypes (narrative, • Identifying Pure Text
descriptive, conceptual; through- and counter- Types
arguments; binding and non-binding) • Multifunctionality
9. COHESION AND Familiarization with different mechanisms • Cohesive Chains
COHERENCE used to establish textual cohesion. • Lexical Cohesion
Reference, ellipsis, substitution, conjunction, • Combining Cohesive
and lexical cohesion. Devices
Basic rhetorical patterns. • Comparison and
English paragraph structure and the role of the Contrast
paragraph within lengthier texts. • Definition and
Classification
• Problem and
Solution
• The English
Paragraph
• The Paragraph as a
Unit of Textual
Cohesion

INDEX TO PRACTICE UNITS 19
Unit Contents Tasks

10. GENRES Definition of genres, their constraints and • Recipes
conventions. • Headlines
Exemplification in recipes and news stories. • News Stories
11. LINGUISTIC Use-and user-related dimensions of language • British vs. American
VARIATION variation. English
Working with register: language change linked • Register: Simplifying
to field, mode and tenor. Sentences
Dialects: British vs. American English • Choosing Words
Differences in spelling, grammar and vocabulary • Comparing News
in standard British and American English. Stories
12. INTERTEXTUALITY The notion of intertextuality: three basic • Graphic Intertextual
categories, direct intertextual reference, • Direct Intertextual
modified intertextual reference, intergeneric References
borrowing. Exemplification in advertisements, • Modified Intertextual
headlines and parody texts. References
References • Intergeneric
Borrowing
• Parody as
Intertextuality
• Creating Hybrid
Texts
13. PRAGMATIC FACTORS Implicature in text interpretation: reading • Meaning Beyond Words
between the lines. • Hidden Messages
14. SYNTHESIZING Condensing text meaning. Writing summaries. • Comparing
MEANING Summaries
• Restatement,
Description,
Interpretation
15. INTEGRATING SKILLS Combining acquired knowledge and skills. • Holistic Text
Applying grammatical, lexical, stylistic, Interpretation
pragmatic, semiotic and generic knowledge,
as well as reading strategies and knowledge of
register and text type to text analysis.

I GETTING STARTED
TASK 1: CORRECTING STYLISTIC ERRORS
Worksheet 1:
Ambiguity, Absurdity
The following sentences and short texts, written by native English speakers, contain
stylistic errors. Locate, explain and correct the error in each case.
1. Flying planes can be dangerous.
2. We saw many bears driving through the forest.
3. (Sign seen on board an airplane): If you are sitting in an exit row and you cannot read
this card, cannot speak English, or cannot see well enough to follow these instructions,
please tell a crew member.
4. Mr. Yoshiko said the donkey owners should clearly state why they want to keep the
animals. “If they cannot give good reasons why they need the donkeys, then they will
be shot.”
5. It is estimated that one out of every one hundred women between the ages of 12 and
25 are anorexic, one out of seven are bulimic, and between five and ten percent are
male.
6. Visiting professors may be tedious.

7. The chickens were too hot to eat.
8. (In a recipe): Mix gelatin as directed on box. Sit in refrigerator for about half an hour
till it starts to gel.
9. (In a doctor’s report): The patient was somewhat agitated and had to be encouraged to
feed and eat himself.
10. (In a doctor’s report): The patient was found to have twelve children by Dr. Smith.
11. (In a doctor’s report): On the second day the knee was better and on the third day it had
completely disappeared.
12. (Ad in newspaper): Remember: you get what you pay for. And at Hub’s Furniture Store,
you pay less.
13. (Want ad in newspaper): FOR SALE: Braille dictionary. Must see to appreciate! Call Jerry.
14. (Headline in newspaper): Man found beaten, robbed by police.
15. (Church newsletter): The Ladies’ Aid Society of Unitec Church will hold its annual potluck
dinner Saturday in the church hall. Dinner will be gin at 5:30 P.M.

GETTING STARTED 23
TASK 2: DETECTING AND EXPLANING TRANSLATION ERRORS
Worksheet 2:
I beg your pardon?
The following are evidently faulty translations containing mistakes of many different
kinds (e.g. spelling, grammar and nonsense errors) Locate, explain, and correct the errors
in each case.
1. (On the label of a tablecloth): This article has been made in our workshop using a high
quality fabrics stamped by hand. For this reason, it can be posible to found some litle
differences between the same article which it also makes the product more attractive.
2. (On the label of a “Lake City” brand T-shirt): After November ninetyone, LAKE CITY was
born. Tu see life. The new adventurer, stands by his range.
3. (In a multilingual brochure placed on the nightstand of a hotel in Castellón): We

welcome you and are pleased that you have chosen our hotel for your stay in Ibiza.
4. (In a brochure published by the Valencian Tourist Information Bureau): Prehistorical

Museum and of Valencia Culture: It exposes the fund most significatives of the
archeological excavations and contains the cultural evolution of our earth since the
paleontological era to the romans era. Moreover it exhibits abundants collections of
etnographical culture of the Valencian.

Text 1: Read the following text, paying special attention to the passages
highlighted in bold.
LOST IN THE TRANSLATION
According to the signs, foreign translators trying to accommodate their English-
speaking visitors may run into problems.
W
ith Americans making more and more trips speaking customers included “Children
abroad, it is interesting to note that foreign Sandwiches” and “Chopped Milk.”
nations are making greater attempts to 7) He said he could not bring home another offering
accommodate their English-speaking visitors. and declaration to tourists because the sign was
Unfortunately, there is still a significant language gap, nailed to the restaurant wall. It read: “You will be
and translations made into English by restaurants, singing the praises of the food served to you
hotels and stores often fall short of their intended here to your grandchildren even as you lie on
meaning, frequently with disastrous — and your deathbed.”
sometimes riotous — results. 8) A Russian linguist at All-Language Services told us
2) Patricia Besner, president of All-Language he stayed at a Moscow hotel where a notice
Services, a large translation firm based in New York, exclaimed: “If this is your first visit to the USSR,
recently asked several members of her staff to take you are welcome to it.”
note of any incorrect translations they might come 9) And when this Russian linguist was amusing a
across while traveling in their native countries. The Czech friend about the sign, he was given a laugh in
resulting list, she thought, might make future return when the friend reported to him that he had
employees more aware of the many pitfalls that seen a sign in Czechoslovakia that urged visitors:
translators face in their daily work. “Take one of our horse-driven city tours. We
3) Two absurdities came from clothing stores —one guarantee no miscarriages.”
from Italy and one from France. The Italian shop had a 10) A British-born employee of our organization was
sign in its window to catch the eye of the American amazed on his European tour when he passed a café
tourists. It read: “Dresses for street walking.” The in Warsaw that read, “Five o’clock tea served all
one in the Paris window said: “Come inside and hours.”
have a fit.” 11) A Romanian hotel, according to one of our
4) A staid Berlin hotel left a card in its rooms for translators, had its elevator broken. To let him and the
guests that said: “Because of the impropriety of other visitors know of the inconvenience, a sign was
entertaining guests of the opposite sex in the posted on the elevator door reading: “The lift is
bedroom, it is suggested that the lobby be used being fixed. For the next few days we regret that
for this purpose.” It may well have been the busiest you will be unbearable.”The guests probably were,
lobby in all of Germany. depending on what floors their rooms were located.
5) One airline advertised the “rendezvous 12) A Barcelona hospital let it be known to those
lounges” on its flights in Brazil and lost customers as coming to see patients that the rule was inviolate:
a result. The reason for this became clear when “Visitors: Two to a bed and half an hour only.”
someone finally remembered that “rendezvous” in 13) Perhaps the most amusing error was back in
Portuguese is a place to have sex. Paris, where one of our staff members saw a hotel
6) One of our translators who visited his homeland sign that sought to discourage Americans from
of Austria did more than jot down what he read on the wearing slacks in its plush dining room. It read, “A
menu for American tourists. He brought it back with sports jacket may be worn to dinner, but no
him to prove that, in Vienna, the fare for English- trousers.”

GETTING STARTED 25
Worksheet 2:
Translation Bloopers
The translation bloopers listed below have been extracted from Text 1. In the
space provided after each one, 1) give a brief explanation of what makes the error
funny, that is, explain what word or phrase has been used inappropriately, and 2)
suggest an alternative, sensible formulation of what you believe the translator’s
intended meaning was.
1. “Dresses for street walking.”
Why the translation is funny:
Alternative formulation:
2. “Come inside and have a fit.”
3. “Because of the impropriety of entertaining guests of the opposite sex in the

bedroom, it is suggested that the lobby be used for this purpose.”

4. “rendezvous lounges”
5. “Children Sandwiches”
6. “Chopped Milk”
7. “You will be singing the praises of the food served to you here to your
grandchildren even as you lie on your deathbed.”

GETTING STARTED 27
8. “If this is your first visit to the USSR, you are welcome to it.”
9. “Take one of our horse-driven city tours. We guarantee no miscarriages.”
10. “Five o’clock tea served all hours.”
11. “The lift is being fixed. For the next few days we regret that you will be
unbearable.”

12. “Visitors: Two to a bed and half an hour only.”
13. “A sports jacket may be worn to dinner, but no trousers.”

II USING REFERENCE WORKS
TASK 1: THE LIMITS OF DICTIONARY DEFINITIONS
Text 1: Read the following text and then refer to Worksheet 1, below.
The way dictionary writers arrive at definitions is merely the systematization of the way we all
learn the meanings of words, beginning at infancy and continuing for the rest of our lives. Let us say
that we have never heard the word “oboe” before, and we overhear a conversation in which the
following sentences occur:
He used to be the best oboe player in town...Whenever they came to that oboe part in the
third movement, he used to get very excited...I saw him one day at the music shop, buying a
new reed for his oboe...He never liked to play the clarinet after he started playing the oboe.
He said it wasn’t as much fun, because it was too easy.
Although the word may be unfamiliar, its meaning becomes clear to us as we listen. After hearing
the first sentence, we know that an “oboe” is “played”, so that it must be either a game or a musical
instrument. With the second sentence, the possibility of its being a game is eliminated. With each
succeeding sentence, the possibilities as to what an “oboe” may be are narrowed down until we get
a fairly clear idea of what is meant. This is how we learn from verbal context, arriving at a workable
definition by understanding one word in relation to the others with which it appears.
But even independently of this, we learn by physical and social context. Let us say that we are
playing golf and that we have hit the ball in a certain way with certain unfortunate results, so that
our companion says to us, “That’s a bad slice.” He repeats this remark every time our ball fails to go
straight. If we are reasonably bright, we learn in a very short time to say, when it happens again,
“That’s a bad slice.” On one occasion, however, our friend says to us, “That’s not a slice this time;
that’s a hook.” In this case we consider what has happened, and we wonder what is different about
the last stroke from those previous. As soon as we make the distinction, we have added still another
word to our vocabulary. The result is that after nine holes of golf, we can use both these words
accurately — and perhaps several others as well, such as “divot,” “number five iron,” “approach
shot,” without ever having been told what they mean. Indeed we may play golf for years without
ever being able to give a dictionary definition of “to slice”: “To strike (the ball) so that the face of

the club draws inward across the face of the ball, causing it to curve toward the right in flight (with
a right-handed player)” (Webster’s New International Dictionary). But even without being able to
give such a definition, we would still be able to use the word accurately whenever the occasion
arose.
We learn the meanings of practically all our words (which are, it will be remembered,
merely complicated noises), not from dictionaries, not from definitions, but from hearing these
noises as they accompany actual situations in life and learning to associate certain noises with
certain situations. Even as dogs learn to recognize “words”, as for example by hearing “biscuit” at
the same time as an actual biscuit is held before their noses, so do we all learn to interpret language
by being aware of the happenings that accompany the noises people make at us — by being aware,
in short, of contexts.
The “definitions” given by little children in school show clearly how they associate words
with situations. They almost always define in terms of physical and social contexts: “Punishment is
when you have been bad and you have to sit on the stairs for time out.” “Newspapers are what the
paperboy brings.” These are good definitions. The main reason that they cannot be used in
dictionaries is that they are too specific; it would be impossible to list the myriads of situations in
which every word has been used. For this reason, dictionaries give definitions on a high level of
abstraction, that is, with particular references left out for the sake of conciseness. This is another
reason why it is a great mistake to regard dictionary definitions as telling us all about a word.
Worksheet 1:
1. Restate the main ideas of the text in no more than two sentences.
2. In light of what the text says about dictionary definitions, what can you imagine
about the ability of dictionaries to communicate connotations?
3. Make a few notes on the connotations that may be associated with the words
listed below, and the physical, social or verbal contexts with which you associate
them. (The first one has been done for you as an example.)
a) cruel: dictator, torture, prison, punishment, children’s behavior toward

weaker children, hunters and animals, slavery, husbands and wives in bad
marriages, child abuse

USING REFERENCE WORKS 31
b) immigrant:
c) guilt:
d) freedom:
e) Hispanic:
f) addict:
g) abuse:
h) government:
i) holiday:
4. Now, look up the words in both a bilingual and a monolingual English

dictionary. Compare the information contained in the dictionary definitions with
your own thoughts.
Worksheet 2:
In the following sentences, a series of common English exclamations are featured
in bold script. Consider how you might translate into your own language each of
the exclamations in the contexts shown. Then compare your translations with the
definitions you find in a bilingual dictionary.
1. “YIPPEE!” the children cried when the teacher announced there would be no
test that day.
your translation:
dictionary translation:
2. “WHEW!” she exclaimed, wiping the sweat from her brow after a 45-minute
aerobics class.
your translation:

3. Getting up from her chair, Denise accidentally knocked over her coffee mug.
“DAMN IT!” she screamed, staring at the ruined pages of her dissertation.
your translation:
4. “JEEZ, Mom, you never let me do anything!” Nancy whined when her mother
refused to give her permission to have her nose pierced.
your translation:
Worksheet 3:
Look up the following words in both a bilingual dictionary and a monolingual
dictionary. Next, based on the definitions you have found, try to assign each of the
words to one of the contexts provided.
wound up scurry scamper worked up

hectic nerve-racking rustle swish
1) cockroaches running across the floor when the light is turned on
2) how you would feel if you caught your boyfriend/girlfriend sleeping with someone
else
3) how you might feel just before taking an important exam
4) children playing in the garden
5) the bride’s silk dress as she walks down the aisle of the church
6) dry leaves when the wind blows through them
7) the airport of a large city on July 31
8) trying to get through the airport of a large city with two large, heavy suitcases on
the first day of summer holidays

© Gary Larson, The Far Side Cartoons
TASK 2: USING REFERENCE WORKS
Text 2: Read the following text before going on to worksheets 1-6, below.
OCEANS APART
IT’S NOT JUST THE VOCABULARY THAT SEPARATES BRITONS AND AMERICANS. IT’S HOW EACH LOOKS AT LIFE.
by Jane Walmsley
1. George Bernard Shaw said it best, though many have said it badly ever since. America
and Britain are two nations divided by a common language. Between us is a Great
Philosophical and Cultural Divide, which is obscured by the familiar lingo. Our
respective heads of government may burble on about “common bonds” and “special

relationships” but the truth is that, in this day and age, British thinking and American
thinking are light-years apart. We cherish widely different values and aspirations, and
have developed separate habits of mind. Only the names remain the same...and there’s
some doubt about those. In some ways, a camel and a porpoise have more in common.
2. That’s the bad news. But, dedicated travelers and internationalists, take heart. The
good news is that, with no language barrier to overcome, you’ve a once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity to penetrate a foreign mind. So, if you’ve been perplexed by the
transatlantic psycho-gap, and feel that your holidays (or business dealings) will be
enhanced if only you can bridge it, then here’s a guide to basic British and American
thinking.
3. The single most important thing to know about Americans — the attitude that truly
distinguishes them from the British, and explains much superficially odd behavior — is
that Americans think that death is optional. They may not admit it, and will probably
laugh if it’s suggested; but it’s a state of mind .. a kind of national leitmotiv if you like
— that colors everything they do. “I’m Gonna Live Forever” is the unofficial national
anthem. There’s a nagging suspicion that you can delay death (or—-who knows—
avoid it altogether) if you really try. This explains the common preoccupation with
health, aerobics, prune juice, plastic surgery and education.
4. The idea is that you’re given one life to live, and it’s up to you to get it right. You should:
➢ use the time to maximize individual potential (have a nose job, get a college
degree) so as to ensure the highest-quality life possible
➢ take care of your body so it will last. If an extended life span — or even
immortality — proves possible, at least you’re ready.
5. That’s the secret of America’s fundamental optimism; but it’s not as cheery as it
sounds. It imposes on the individual a whole range of duties and responsibilities. Your
life is in your own hands...and the quality of that life as well. You owe it to yourself to
be beautiful, clever, skinny, successful, and healthy. If you fail, it’s because you’re not
trying hard enough...(you didn’t jog regularly, you should’ve eaten more bran). Death
becomes your fault.
6. British thinking on the subject is fundamentally different, and accounts for the yawning
gulf in national attitudes. Brits keep a weather eye on the Sword of Damocles,
suspended above their heads. Lives are to be lived with a certain detachment, and a
sense of distance preserved. One rolls with the punches. It’s fruitless to try to take
control, bad form to get too involved, arrogant and self-important to attempt to outwit
destiny.
7. Events must be allowed to run their natural course. Stay cool, and never be seen to try
too hard (Americans are so intense!) since anyone with half a brain should recognize
the central absurdity of existence and accept the inevitable. Success — if it’s to count
— must appear effortless. Since nothing matters very much anyway, think twice before
making important sacrifices. Never run for a bus. Never skip tea.

8. What do Americans instinctively revere more than wealth, beauty, or Häagen-Dazs?

Newness. Meet an American for the first time, and he’s likely to greet you with, “So,
what’s new?” He wants more than a general progress report. One small part of him
means it literally, expecting an answer like, “Well, I’ve got a new Chevy/lover/food
processor.” In America, new is good. Americans are the world’s greatest believers in
progress. Life gets better all the time — or should. They expect a seventy-year
crescendo, starting at not-so-hot and rising to terrific.
9. Nothing will convince a True American (even an elderly one) that “things were better
‘way back when.’” They point in evidence at the history of modern medicine: once there
was smallpox, now there isn’t. Old things can be treated with a certain irreverence,
since something better is always just around the corner. America is still new — still
warm and gently throbbing — and so are the most desirable things in it. Over much of
the country new property attracts a higher price than old, new shopping malls snatch
customers from “old” haunts as soon as they cut the ribbon on the parking lot. New
products are greeted with enthusiasm, since advanced versions always include
“improvements.” No point in clinging grimly to the past, or we’d never have traded
gramophones for color TVs or headaches for aspirin.
10. The British, on the other hand, are sure that life— and the simple passage of time —
does not presuppose progress. At best, there are large flat areas. There’s little proof
that things get better, and a great deal of evidence to suggest the opposite. Look at
architecture: Victorians built better houses than we do. Look at sportsmanship: it was
fairer play before they invented steroids. Look at AIDS. That’s new.
11. True Brits loathe newness and display a profound fear of change. They see modern life
as increasingly uncertain, events as random, and “untried” ideas as undesirable. Even
small changes can cause Brit-trauma, with the nation shaken to its roots at suggestions
that traditional red phone boxes be painted yellow. Far better to preserve the status
quo, to hope that custom and ritual will somehow counter the capriciousness of fate.
(Britain is the heartland of “We’ve Always Done it This Way.”) Conclusion: Change
nothing unless forced. Remember that God usually gets it right the first time.
12. America’s motto has nothing to do with “E Pluribus Unum”; it is “Never Forget You’ve
Got a Choice.” Choice —lots of it — is as dear to the American heart as newness. The
point about choice is to exercise it as much as possible. That’s why Yanks elect so many
people: presidents, governors, judges, senators, congressmen and dogcatchers.
13. Americans never commit themselves to anything for life. Leaders you can’t change —
like monarchs — make them nervous. They reserve the right to review decisions
periodically; anything less is an attack on personal freedom, and reminds them of
Communism. They even get edgy when fruit they like is out of season. Nowhere do
people view restrictions with more alarm. They mistrust package holidays and long-
term investments. Contracts of employment must contain appropriate “get out”
clauses. They plan vacations and shop for Christmas at the last minute, and make final

decisions only when they’ve considered all possible choices. They conduct business by
phone, and avoid committing anything to paper. They don’t even like restaurants with
set menus. The right to substitute a tossed salad for french fries is enshrined in the
constitution. Americans like to live life à la carte.
14. Brit-brains are more at ease when the range of personal choice is strictly limited. (This
is reflected in the retail industry, where dresses come in four sizes, shoes in one width,
and ice cream in three flavors.) Too many options only confuse people and encourage
them to behave in a greedy and selfish way. It’s part of human nature to be happier
when our horizons are limited, someone else is in charge, and we know what’s
expected of us. That’s why monarchs are so useful, and the class system survives. It’s
also why we enjoyed such widespread national contentment during the Second World
War. All you had to know was how many coupons were left in your ration book. All
appearances to the contrary, the heat was off.
15. Since then, argument goes, it’s been downhill all the way. More options and higher
expectations have spawned the “me” generation, which doesn’t understand the
relationship between virtue and restriction. It’ll end in tears or anarchy (which is
British for “unlimited choice”)
16. For Americans, choice is the same thing as freedom, which is the same thing as money,
and that’s the real secret of the national fondness for cash. It’s not that Americans are
by nature greedier or more acquisitive than their European counterparts. They’re no
fonder of their dishwashers and microwaves than the British of their color TVs, no
happier with their automatic orange-juicers and garbage compactors in Houston than
a Liverpool housewife with a sandwich-maker. Nor do Pennsylvania steelworkers push
harder for wage settlements than Yorkshire miners. It’s just that Americans admire
money more openly. They see it as a measure of success, and the final guarantee of
personal choice. In short, Money is Power — and power is a good thing. Lack of power
makes you a schlepp. Money is a hedge against schlepphood.
17. Furthermore, you can take it with you — or if you’ve got enough you may not have
to go. Cash gives room to maneuver. If it turns out that death is optional, — or science
comes up with a commercial miracle — your dollars guarantee that you won’t be
ignored. Money buys the best — and the best is your birthright.
18. How different is British opinion on the subject! The public stance of the middle-to-upper
classes is to pooh-pooh money. (“not my first priority”) and instead to speak
passionately of “the quality of life.” By this, Brits mean things spiritual or cultural,
which — they maintain — have nothing to do with hard cash. The price of theater
tickets notwithstanding.
19. The theory is that money can’t buy taste, or style, or a sense of priorities — which are
things you’re born with. (Wealthy people are born with more than poor ones.) Your
spending habits are seen as a reflection of breeding and the quality of your mind, and
allow others to make judgments about your background and personal style. Haggling

about money is okay for miners and steelworkers, but everyone else should concern
himself with duty to the wider community or loyalty to employers. It is the custom of
the wealthiest Brits (captains of industry and/or royalty) to periodically remind the
masses of the virtues of self-denial and restraint. This is called noblesse obligé.
20. The single-minded pursuit of ready cash is simply vulgar, and undermines the human
spirit. Of course, you’ve got to have money — because penury is unbecoming and gets
in the way. But enough is enough. After all — you can’t take it with you. Americans
never understand that.
21. Ever since the day when New England patriots, disguised as Mohawk Indians, dumped
chests of taxed British tea into Boston Harbor, the gulf between the two countries has
been in part a battle of “me-think” vs. “we think”. For an American, individual liberty is
next to godliness, and he considers that his first duty and obligation is to look out for
Number One.
22. “Moi — I come first.” Miss Piggy said it, and touched a chord deep in the hearts of
her countrymen. This belief follows on from “I’m gonna live forever,” because it stands
to reason that you’ve got to take care of yourself if you’re going to last. If each person
concentrates on attaining his “personal best” — and achieves inner fulfillment — we
will have created a better society.
23. Without knowing it, most Yanks support the ideas of Adam Smith, the economist who
advanced the theory that the individual working in his own interests leads ultimately to
the greatest good of the state. A strong society is merely the sum of strong parts. It’s
often said that America is the heartland of individualism...and this is what people mean.
You protect your own interests by making choices — lots of them. If you’ve acquired
money — which gives you more leverage — then so much the better. It is no accident
that Frank Sinatra scored a monster hit with “I Did it My Way”. Frankie understands
“me-think.”
24. But this type of thinking does not sit easily with Brits. It strikes them as selfish, and
a bit brutal. Whether they vote Tory or Labour, they’ve spent years living under various
permutations of socialist government. This has created different habits of mind, and
softened the collective rhetoric. “Moi—I come first!” sticks in the throat. Brits of
most persuasions are happiest talking about “self-reliance” and “the common good,”
which reminds them of the War, the Crown and the BBC in no particular order. This has
a great deal of social credibility, but — paradoxically — often turns out to mean “my
right to do what’s best for me, and hope that your requirements don’t get in the way.”
25. Culturally, socially, psychologically and literally, Brits form orderly queues. They like to
keep things nice and cozy. Fundamental to “we-think” is the dread of inciting a contest.
Brits are by nature reluctant to throw down the gauntlet; and “I come first” is a
challenge to others — notification of battle. Strong stuff, where there are winners and
losers, and the weak go to the wall. Once the gloves are off, no one can predict the
outcome.

26. This carries with it the risk of change, bloodletting, and general social turbulence. “We-
think” creates the impression of a kind, more caring society, where rich and poor alike
are cushioned against the harsh realities of unbridled competition. One can’t win by
much, or lose by much. So goes the Brit-myth.
27. And finally ...The Meaning of Life. Brits have a great and easy capacity for contentment,
and do not, as a rule, drive themselves nuts. What’s really important in life is nature ...
the “rural idyll.” Even (or especially) for Londoners, life’s apogee is a move to the
countryside. A compost heap is the ultimate expression of your understanding of “the
quality of life”. Your own crop of carrots testifies to the fact that you are free, and
beholden to no man. In fact, Brit-man is born with a unique, atavistic reflex hitherto
unrecorded by medical science: from birth, he has the ability to grasp a garden trowel.
28. Americans, for all their affluence and the distractions it can bring, know what really
counts. ICE CREAM. More than allegiance to the flag, or to Johnny Carson or the
microchip, it’s mocha-chip (and peppermint crunch) that binds that nation together. Ice
cream is the Great Leveler... the fixed point in an otherwise mobile society, guaranteed
to give pleasure to all. Americans will drive 100 miles for the ultimate cone. Don’t ask
why. The Great American Dream pales into insignificance beside the Great American
Cream.

Worksheet 4:
In text 2 (above) a number of words and expressions have been highlighted in
bold type. Using the reference works available to you in the library, look for
information regarding these words and expressions as requested below
(Note: You will need to use not only monolingual and bilingual dictionaries, but
also other sources such as idiomatic dictionaries, dictionaries of English and
American culture, encyclopedias and internet.)
1. Who was (is):
• George Bernard Shaw?
• Adam Smith?
• Miss Piggy?
• Johnny Carson?
2. What is:
• a Chevy?
• a food processor?
• a compost heap?

Worksheet 5:
Briefly define the following words and expressions and identify the part of speech
they represent as used in text 2. State whether the words are generally used in
standard or colloquial English. Indicate if any of the words are foreign or archaic,
and if any are favored by American or British speakers. (Numbers in parentheses
refer to location, by paragraph, of words in the text.)
1. lingo (1)
2. burble on (1)
3. bridge (1)
4. nose job (4)
5. bad form (6)
6. cool (7)
7. schlepp (16)
8. hedge (16)
9. pooh-pooh (18)
10. unbridled (26)
11. beholden (27)

Worksheet 6:
Find as many synonyms as you can for each of the following words as they are
used in text 2. (Numbers in parentheses refer to the paragraph location of the
words in the text.)
1. cherish (1)
2. skinny (5)
3. fruitless (6)
4. snatch (9)
5. random (11)
6. loathe (11)
7. edgy (13)
8. greedy (14)

Worksheet 7:
Locate the cultural, geographical and historical information requested below.
1. Paragraph 21 refers to New England patriots disguised as Mohawk Indians dumping

chests of taxed British tea into Boston Harbor. Explain this historical reference, and its
significance with regard to Anglo-American relations. Also, say which states make up
the New England area today.
2. Paragraph 3 refers to the unofficial American national anthem. What is the official
national anthem of the U.S.? Explain its history (author of lyrics, year that it was
adapted as the national anthem).
3. What are the possible origins of the term “Yank” (par. 12)?
4. Define the general political tendencies (conservative or liberal) of the Tory and Labour
parties in the U.K. (see paragraph 24).

Worksheet 8:
Briefly define or explain the following expressions.
1. keep a weather eye on (6)
2. Sword of Damocles (6)
3. roll with the punches (6)
4. look out for Number One (21)
5. It’s been downhill all the way (15)
6. throw down the gauntlet (25)
7. go to the wall (25)
8. not-so-hot (8)
9. à la carte (13)
10. touch a chord (22)
11. stick in the throat (24)
12. noblesse obligé (19)
13. E Pluribus Unum (12)

Worksheet 9:
Briefly answer the questions below in the spaces provided.
Miscellaneous
1. What are the symptoms of smallpox (see par. 9) and what is the name of this disease
in your native language?
2. What do the initials in the following acronyms stand for?
TWA
AIDS
BBC
3. Consider the word “outwit” (par. 6). What is the meaning of the prefix in this word? List
five other words which use this prefix in the same sense.
4. Explain the meaning of the following expressions within the text. Why is the word
“can” italicized here?
• You can take it with you. (par. 17)
• The heat was off. (par. 14)

III READING STRATEGIES
TASK 1: SCANNING GAME
Follow the instructions given you by the teacher and scan the charts
below to quickly find the correct answers to the questions he/she asks and get points
for your team.
Men: Desirable Weight Range Women: Desirable Weight Range
Height Small Medium Large Height Small Medium Large

(in feet & frame frame frame (in feet & frame frame frame
inches) inches)
5’1” 123-129 126-136 133-145 4’9” 99-108 106-118 115-128

5’2” 125-131 128-138 135-148 4’10” 100-110 108-120 117-131
5’3” 127-133 130-140 137-151 4’11” 101-112 110-123 119-134
5’4” 129-135 132-143 139-155 5’0” 102-115 112-126 121-137
5’5” 131-137 134-146 141-159 5’1” 105-118 115-129 125-140
5’6” 133-140 137-149 144-163 5’2” 108-121 118-132 128-144
5’7” 135-143 140-152 147-167 5’3” 111-124 121-135 131-148
5’8” 137-146 143-155 150-157 5’4” 114-127 124-138 134-152
5’9” 139-149 146-158 153-175 5’5” 117-130 127-141 137-156
5’10” 141-152 149-161 156-179 5’6” 120-133 130-144 140-160
5’11” 144-155 152-165 159-183 5’7” 123-136 133-147 143-164
6’0” 147-159 155-169 163-187 5’8” 126-139 136-150 146-167
6’1” 150-163 159-173 167-192 5’9” 129-142 139-153 149-170
6’2” 153-167 162-177 171-197 5’10” 132-145 142-156 152-173
6’3” 157-171 166-182 176-202 5’11” 135-148 145-169 155-176

TASK 2: SCANNING REFERENCE WORKS
Scan texts 1, 2 and 3, below to find answers to the questions in worksheets 1-3.
Text 1:
Television. The transmission of black-and- television films, the development of video

white visual images became technically recorders, and the universality of satellite
feasible in the UK at the end of the 1920s, transmission have greatly extended the
as a consequence of competition between range of services. Millions of viewers
the Scottish inventor John Logie Baird and currently depend on their sets for the bulk
the Russian-born engineer Isaac of their news and entertainment. In
Shoenberg. Where Baird favoured a tandem, the adaptation of literary genres
technique of mechanical scanning has continued, turning living rooms into
demonstrated in 1926, Shoenberg opted for miniature theatres at the press of a button.
electronic scanning, a more successful As a consequence of this dual revolution,
system adopted by the BBC for the world’s a major part of the world’s use of language
first high-definition TV service in 1936. In is in broadcasting and much of that
the US, the first public transmission was broadcasting is in English. This is accounted
made in 1939 by the National Broadcasting for by the strong initial position of the UK
Company at the New York World’s Fair. and the US in the development of radio and
Further development was, however, delayed television, the overwhelming predominance
by the Second World War, in which radio of the US in the making and marketing of
served as a powerful instrument of social motion pictures subsequently shown on
solidarity and wartime propaganda. television or specifically made for
Television developed rapidly after the war, television, the distribution of English-
especially in the US, and since the late language broadcasting throughout the
1950s television has been the dominant world, so that its transmissions can be
medium. Colour became available in 1954 picked up everywhere, and the widespread
and widespread in the 1960s by which time association of English-language
a TV set in every home was becoming the broadcasting with a modernity that includes
norm for Western countries. The use of print media, publishing, the telephone, and
motion pictures, the creation of made-for- computer technology.

READING STRATEGIES 47
Worksheet 1:
1. When did colour television become available?
2. When was the first television broadcast made in the U.S.? By whom? Where?
3. Name the two men associated with the initial invention of television technology. What
countries were they from?
Text 2:
Telecommunications. Activity associated 1988 Hong Kong led the field with 56,296
with telephone use has grown so greatly units (one third to China), followed by
since the Second World War that it is now Singapore, Canada, the Netherlands, and
generally known as telecommunications, West Germany. On this scale, the U.S.
the transmission of information (words, ranked ninth, with 21,839 units per 1,000 (a
sounds, or images) over often great fifth to Canada, a tenth each to Britain and
distances primarily by telephone but also by Mexico, then 7% to West Germany and 4%
telegraph, radio and television. Over the to Japan). The next six receivers of U.S.
last decade there has been at least a sixfold calls, around 2-3% each, were France, Italy,
increase in international telephone South Korea, the Dominican Republic,
communication. In the late 1980s, to Colombia, and the Philippines. In return,
measure the flow of this traffic, Gregory nearly three-quarters of South Korea’s
Staple and Mark Mullins of the International outward calls and half of Taiwan’s went to
Institute of Communications of London the U.S. and Japan, while Singapore spent
devised a statistical unit called the minute the same proportion, around 13%, on each
of telecommunication traffic or MiTT, which of Indonesia, Hong Kong, Japan, and the
measures contact by voice, fax, or data U.S. Europeans mainly called each other,
transmission on public circuits. Their survey except for the British, who made more than
showed that, in gross terms, Americans are a fifth of their calls to the U.S. Such links
the primary users of telephones, clocking up are axes of influence and interdependence,
5.3 billion MITTs in 1988. However, a and provide a means of mapping global
comparative measure of MiTTs per 1,000 relationships, in which English appears to
people in a given territory showed that in have a major share.

Worksheet 2:
1. What is an MiTT, and what is it used for?
2. According to the data presented here, what country receives the most calls from the
U.S.?
3. In what way are the telecommunications habits of the British different from those of
other Europeans?
4. What countries do the people of Taiwan call most often?
Text 3:
Suriname, republic on the north-eastern People and economy. The population is

coast of South America, bordered by about 38% East Indian, 31% Creole, and
Guyana on the west, Brazil on the south, and 15% Indonesian. Other groups include
French Guiana on the east. The capital is Europeans, Chinese, and Native Americans.
Paramaribo. The official language is Dutch, but most
Land and Climate. The country consists people speak the Creole Sranang Tongo.
largely of unexplored forested highlands Hindi, Javanese, Chinese, English, French,
and the flat Atlantic coast. The climate is and Spanish are also spoken. The most
tropical, with heavy rains. important product of the economy is

bauxite. The main crops are rice, sugar, independence in 1975. The first years of
fruits, coffee, and bananas. independence were marked by an exodus of
History. England ceded Suriname to the some 40,000 Surinamese to the
Dutch (1667) in exchange for New Netherlands and by border disputes with
Amsterdam (now New York City), and the French Guiana and Guyana. A bloodless
country was subsequently known as Dutch military coup took place in 1980, but the
Guiana. It became a self-governing part of country returned to democratic rule in 1988.
the Netherlands in 1954 and gained full
Worksheet 3:
1. What is the capital of Suriname?
2. What is the official language of Suriname?
3. When did Suriname become a fully independent country?
4. How many languages are spoken in Suriname?
5. What country borders on Suriname to the south?

Worksheet 4:
Scan the dictionary entry below (Text 4) for the definition which best fits the
meaning of the word “scratch” as it is used in the following sentences. Write the
part of speech and number of the definition in the space provided next to each
sentence. (If ‘scratch’ is used as part of a fixed expression, write ‘expression’.)
1. _____________ The police interrogated the suspect in the murder case regarding the
multiple scratches on his face and torso.
2. _____________ The professor informed the student that his writing abilities were
“definitely not up to scratch”.
3. _____________ The experiment having failed, the scientists were resigned to

discarding their original hypothesis and starting once again from scratch..
4. _____________ Due to an untimely case of indigestion, the runner from Australia had
to be scratched from the marathon.
5. _____________My financial situation isn’t the best this month, but I guess I can
scratch up a few dollars to contribute to the cause.

Text 4:
scratch (scrach) vt. [LME. scracchen, prob. wound, usually superficial, inflicted by nails,
altered < scratten, to scratch, after claws, or something pointed pulled across
cracchen < or akin to Mdu. cratsen, to the skin, etc. 4. a slight grating or scraping
scratch < IE. base *gred-, whence Alb. sound 5. a hasty mark, as of a pen; scribble
gërüj, (I) scratch] 1. to mark, break, or cut 6. the starting line of a race 7. in certain
the surface of slightly with something card games, a score of zero 8. [Slang]
pointed or sharp 2. to tear or dig with the money 9. Billiards, Pool a) a shot that
nails or claws 3. a)to rub or scrape lightly, results in a penalty b) a miss 10. Sports
as with the fingernails, to relieve itching, a)the starting point or time of a contestant
etc. b)to chafe 4. to rub or scrape with a who receives no handicap b)such a
grating noise [to scratch a match on a wall] contestant c)an entry withdrawn from a
5. to write or draw hurriedly or carelessly contest — adj. 1. used for hasty notes,
6. to strike out or cancel (writing, etc.) 7. preliminary or tentative figuring, etc.
to gather or collect with difficulty; scrape [scratch paper] 2. starting from scratch;
(together or up) 8. Politics to strike out the having no handicap or allowance in a
name of (a candidate) on (a party ticket or contest 3. put together in haste and
ballot) in voting other than a straight ticket without much selection [a scratch team] 4.
9. Sports to withdraw an entry from a Baseball designating a chance hit credited
contest, specific. from a race — vi. 1. to to a batter for a ball not hit sharply, but on
use nails or claws in digging or wounding. which the batter reaches base safely —
2. to rub or scrape the skin lightly, as with from scratch 1. from the starting line, as in
the fingernails, to relieve itching, etc. 3. to a race 2. from nothing, without advantage
manage to get by; scrape by 4. to make a — scratch the surface to do, consider or
harsh, scraping noise 5. to withdraw from affect something superficially — up to
a race or contest 6. in certain card games, scratch 1. toeing the mark; ready to start
to score no points 7. Billiards, Pool to a race, contest, etc. 2. [Colloq.] ready to
commit a scratch — n. 1. the act of meet difficulties, start on an enterprise, etc.
scratching 2. a mark or tear made in a 3. [Colloq.] up to standard; acceptable;
surface by something sharp or rough 3. a good — scratch´er n.
TASK 3: COMBINING SKIMMING AND SCANNING
Text 5:
Skim and scan the following text to find answers to the questions in Worksheet 5.

BADLANDS AND BLACK HILLS REGION OF SOUTH DAKOTA

JEWEL CAVE NATIONAL MONUMENT 13 BLACK HILLS CAVERNS 4 miles W. of
miles W. of Custer on US 16. Jewel-like crystals Rapid City. Black Hills’ largest crystal cave.
line more than 76 miles of passageways. 30 min. & 1 hr. tours. Living stalactites,
Second largest cave in the nation. scenic, stalagmites, helectites and 200-foot
historic & spelunking tours. Admission. caverns. Gift & Rock Shop. AAA Star Rated.
Admission.
MOUNT RUSHMORE NATIONAL
MEMORIAL 21 miles S. of Rapid City. CLASSIC AUTO MUSEUM Spearfish. I-
America’s Shrine of Democracy. Massive 90 exit 14. New museum of antique and
granite sculpture of four great American classic cars. Nearly 100 sparkling vehicles
presidents. Open year-round. Amphitheater from 1907 to the late 1960s. Doll collection.
program nightly at 9 p.m. Free. Open May-Oct. 8-8 daily. Admission.
WIND CAVE NATIONAL PARK 10 miles CORN PALACE Mitchell. The exterior is
N. of Hot springs on US 385. World-class re-decorated annually with thousands of
multi-level labyrinth cave with unique bushels of naturally colored corn and
formations. 28,000 acre native wildlife park. grasses, worked into huge, pictorial murals.
Ranger tours, visitor center, exhibits, gift Gift ship. Free tours.
shop and meals. Admission.
COSMOS OF THE BLACK HILLS 16 miles
BADLANDS PETRIFIED GARDENS S. of Rapid City on US 16. Science and
Kadoka. A rare display of Badlands mystery combine to make the laws of nature
minerals, prehistoric fossils, dinosaur seem to be defied at every turn. No one
tracks, fossil tree trunks, and Badlands’ stands straight! Stand on the wall!
largest petrified logs. Fluorescent mineral Admission.
display. Admission.
CRYSTAL CAVE PARK Hwy 44 - 3 miles
BEAUTIFUL RUSHMORE CAVE 5 miles W. of Rapid City. One of America’s most
east of Keystone on SD 40. The Black Hills’ beautiful caves. Area’s most complete
greatest showcave. Guided tours to the variety of crystal formations & least
area’s largest variety of cave formations. strenuous tours. AAA. Admission.
Gift shop & lunch counter. Admission.
EVANS PLUNGE Hot springs. World’s
BIG THUNDER GOLD MINE Keystone. largest natural warm water indoor
Mine your own gold ore sample during this swimming pool. Outdoor pool, too. Big
underground tour of an 1880’s gold mine. waterslides, fun-tubes, pool games, super
Stamp mill, gold panning, prospecting spa. Open daily year-round. Admission.
equipment. Admission.

FLINTSTONE’S BEDROCK CITY Custer. Tour RUSHMORE WATERSIDE PARK S. of Rapid

Fred’s modern stone-age town. Rides, shows. City. High speed Bonzai chutes. 400-foot
Brontoburgers and Dino Dogs. Full service twister slides. Big freestyle ramp. Cascades
camping. Yabba Dabba Doo fun! Admission. of River Run on an innertube. The water’s
heated and the fun is non-stop. Admission.
MAMMOTH SITE Hot Springs. More than
42 Colombian mammoths are known to have SITTING BULL CRYSTAL CAVERNS S. of
perished here in a slippery-sided sinkhole. Rapid City. Scenic tours of our underground
Many skulls, tusks, bones exposed for public caverns where the walls, and even whole
viewing. Slide shows, guided tours. rooms, are studded with giant, glittering
Admission. dogtooth spar crystals. Admission.
MATTHEWS OPERA HOUSE Spearfish. SOUTH DAKOTA AIR & SPACE MUSEUM
Ornate 350-seat theater, built in 1906, is on Ellsworth AFB east of Rapid City. I-90 exit 66.
the National Register of Historic Places. Live Historic bombers, fighters and utility aircraft
theater, vaudeville, silent movies in summer. plus museum. Open all year. Free admission.
Admission. Free tours 10 am-6pm. Base tours for nominal fee.
MUSEUM OF GEOLOGY Rapid City, on STORY BOOK ISLAND Rapid City. Nursery
the SD School of Mines campus. Exhibits of rhymes come to life in animated and real-life
prehistoric vertebrate, invertebrate scenes. A thrilling adventure for the children;
creatures, plant life, rocks, minerals and ores. a happy experience for parents. Sponsored by
A must for rockhounds. Free. R.C: Rotary Clubs & your donations.
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF WOODCARVING THUNDERHEAD UNDERGROUND FALLS

W. of Custer. Works by master U.S. carvers. 10 MILES w. OF Rapid City. 44,600 feet inside
World’s largest collection of animated an old Black Hills gold mine, discover a
woodcarvings done by the animator of spectacular vertical waterfall. Hear the roar!
Disneyland. Wooden Nickel Theater. Gallery. Feel the spray! Easy walk. Admission.
Admission.
WALL DRUG STORE Downtown Wall.
PIONEER AUTO MUSEUM Murdo. A Biggest drug store you’ve ever seen! Four art
fabulous display of over 250 antique & classic gallery-dining rooms with 183 original oils,
cars. 39 buildings of exhibits. Motorcycle western mall, emporium, mechanical Cowboy
exhibit features Elvis Presley’s cycle. Snack Band, 6-foot Jackalope. Family fun! Free,
shop & Hallmark gift shop. Admission.
REPTILE GARDENS S. of Rapid City. Tropical

Adventure. Sky Dome encloses America’s largest
reptile collection, orchids. Birds of Prey Program,
Alligator wrestling. Trained animals at Bewitched
Village. Admission.

Worksheet 5:
Refer to the tourist information in Text 1 to answer the following questions.
1. You are a couple from Wisconsin with two small children on vacation in South
Dakota. Currently, you are staying at a motel in Rapid City, where you have
arranged to meet friends of yours the day after tomorrow. Tired from the long
drive you have made to reach Rapid City, you decide that you would like to use
the car as little as possible tomorrow and remain in the vicinity of the city,
though you would like to do some sightseeing. Scan the list of attractions for
things to do. Circle all possibilities.
2. Your 10-year-old son happens to be very interested in rocks and minerals.

Place a check mark (✔) next to the places he might enjoy seeing on your tour
of Rapid City and surroundings.
3. You and the children have all heard stories of the beautiful caves to be found
all over South Dakota. Are there any caves you might be able to visit tomorrow
without going far from Rapid City? Place a star ()next to them on the list.
4. Because you are planning to be on vacation for 14 days, you feel you have to
economize. What places might you visit in Rapid City and the surrounding area
without having to spend any money? Place an ‘X’ next to them.
5. Keeping in mind your answers to the questions above, list the names of the five
places you are most likely to visit during your stay in Rapid City.

APPLYING BACKGROUND
KNOWLEDGE TO TEXT
IV INTERPRETATION
TASK 1: SILLY SYLLOGISMS/KOOKY CONCLUSIONS
Worksheet 1:
Determine whether the conclusion drawn from the preceding two premises in
each case is logically true or false.
1. Some castles are cabbages. All cabbages love Marlboro Lights. — Therefore, all castles
love Marlboro Lights.
2. All alligators can dance the tango. All skyscrapers are alligators. — Therefore, all
skyscrapers can dance the tango.
3. Some radishes are bicycles. Some bicycles play the saxophone. — Therefore, some
radishes play the saxophone.
4. No two types of dogs look alike. Dobermans and collies look exactly alike. — Therefore,
Dobermans and collies are not two types of dogs.
5. All dentists are art critics. Some art critics live in caves. — Therefore, some dentists
live in caves.
6. Nobody who has green eyes can be a doctor. All people have green eyes. Therefore,
nobody can be a doctor.
TASK 2: NO

Now try to determine which of the conclusions given in each case is correct.
More than one solution (or no solution at all) may be correct.
7. Some people are Americans. Americans have three eyes.

a) Some people have three eyes.
b) Americans who are people sometimes have three eyes.
c) People with two eyes are not Americans.
d) Americans are people with three eyes.
e) Americans with two eyes are sometimes people.
8. Flowers are colorless balloons. Flowers drink martinis.

a) All colorless balloons drink martinis.
b) All colorless balloons are flowers.
c) Some colorless balloons drink martinis.
d) Flowers that drink martinis are colorless balloons.
e) Colorless balloons are not flowers.
9. All ladybugs are unable to waltz. All ladybugs have legs.

a) Ladybugs with no legs can waltz.
b) Some ladybugs have no legs.
c) No ladybugs with legs can waltz.
d) Ladybugs cannot waltz because they have legs.
e) Ladybugs have legs and cannot waltz.
10. Every rectangle is round. All rectangles are blue. Some corners are round.
a) Rectangles with blue corners exist.
b) Rectangles with round corners exist.
c) Round, blue corners exist.
d) The corners of rectangles are round and blue.
e) Blue rectangles have round corners.

APPLYING BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE TO TEXT INTERPRETATION 57
TASK 2: NONSENSE WORDS
Text 1: Read the following text and then go on to Worksheet 2.
JABBERWOCKY
‘Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
“Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!”
He took his vorpal sword in hand:
Long time the manxome foe he sought—
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood awhile in thought.
And as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!
One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.
“And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!”
He chortled in his joy.
Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

Worksheet 2: NSENSE WORDS

The poem above, extracted from Through the Looking-Glass, by Lewis Carroll
(pen name of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832-98), contains a great deal of
nonsense words. These words have been underlined for you in the poem. For each
one, determine the part of speech it represents (noun, verb, adjective, adverb,
interjection)
brillig = ____________________ frumious = ___________________
slithy = _____________________ Bandersnatch = _______________
toves = ____________________ vorpal = _____________________
gimble = ___________________ manxome = __________________
wabe = _____________________ Tumtum tree = _________________
mimsy = ____________________ uffish = ______________________
borogroves = ________________ whiffling = ___________________
mome raths = _______________ tulgey = _____________________
outgrabe = _________________ frabjous = ____________________
Jabberwock = _______________ Callooh! = ___________________
Jubjub bird = ________________ Callay! = ____________________
TASK 3: EXPERIMENTAL TEXTS
Text 2:
Read the following text, and then go on to Worksheet 3.

Business had been slow since the oil crisis. Nobody seemed to want anything really
elegant anymore. Suddenly the door opened and a well-dressed man entered the showroom
floor. John put on his friendliest and most sincere expression and walked toward the man.

APPLYING BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE TO TEXT INTERPRETATION 59
Worksheet 3: Briefly answer the following questions about Text 2.
1. What is John’s job?
2. What kind of business does the text refer to?
3. What clues did you find in the text which enabled you to answer the previous two
questions?
Text 3:
Read the following text and then go on to Worksheet 4, below.
The procedure is actually quite simple. First you arrange things into different groups. Of
course, one pile may be sufficient depending on how much there is to do. If you have to go
somewhere else due to lack of facilities, that is the next step. Otherwise, you are pretty well
set. It is important not to overdo things. That is, it is better to do too few things at once than
too many. In the short run this may not seem important but complications can easily arise.
A mistake can be expensive as well. At first the whole procedure will seem complicated.
Soon, however, it will become just another facet of life. It is difficult to foresee any end to
the necessity for this task in the immediate future, but then one can never tell. After the
procedure is completed, one arranges the materials into different groups again. Then they
can be put into their appropriate places. Eventually they will be used once more, and the
whole cycle will then have to be repeated. However, that is part of life.
Worksheet 4: Briefly answer the following questions about Text 3.

1. What is the “procedure” described in the text?
2. What clues did you find in the text to help you answer the previous question?

TASK 4: UNFINISHED STORIES
Worksheet 5: Write a conclusion (approx. 30 words) for each of the

following unfinished stories.
Story 1: You have a date to meet your boyfriend/girlfriend at the movies. You arrive late,
enter the dark theater, sit down next to someone who appears to be your
boyfriend/girlfriend, and...
Story 2: It’s your first day as a new university professor. You’re terribly nervous as it is,
but to make matters worse, you notice that your students are staring at you
fixedly and giggling. You look down, and much to your dismay discover...
Story 3: As a teacher at the British Institute, you have been asked to supervise the listening
comprehension part of an official Proficiency in English exam. Unfortunately, when
you press the “play” button on the tape recorder...
Story 4: It is the first day of class at the university. You have just come from an
insufferably boring class with a professor named Dr. Grant, and are sitting in the
cafeteria with a group of fellow students. You begin complaining about what a
dull, disorganized and altogether worthless lecturer Dr. Grant is, when a boy
sitting on your left turns to you, smiles, looks you straight in the eyes and says...

V GRAPPLING WITH GRAMMAR
TASK 1: GRAMMATICAL CALQUES AND ERRORS
Worksheet 1:
Each of the following sentences includes a mistake in grammar. Locate the
mistake in each sentence and correct it. The first one has been done for you as an
example.
1. It’s hard to pick up a newspaper these days without getting depressed, because
the news featured on the front page are generally full of sad stories about
unfortunate events.
MISTAKE: “the news ….are” CORRECTION: “the news…is”
2. Because we had spent too many time chatting and having coffee after lunch, we
were late for the afternoon meeting.
MISTAKE: ________________ CORRECTION: ___________________
3. The clothes at Saks Fifth Avenue are all too expensive for we to buy.
4. After she had bought himself two new lipsticks and some red nail polish, Beverly
decided to have her hair done.

5. The next thing we have to do is make up our minds where are we going for
vacation this summer.
6. Leslie hasn’t finished writing her thesis yet, and Mark hasn’t neither.
7. Gwen decided to sign up in the morning for aerobics classes, but in the afternoon
she changed her mind.
8. According to witnesses, the man seen running away from the scene of the crime
looked very much like Antonio Banderas, which is why the police is questioning
the famous actor at his summer home in Marbella.
9. After Enrique Iglesias finished his concert in Madrid last night, he was drinking
an entire bottle of wine all by himself.
10. Many theories regarding the disappearance of Atlanta has been proposed, but
not one has been as widely accepted as the Kalliste theory.
11. The soup that Karen is making in the kitchen is smelling delicious.
12. After Iglesias drunk the wine, he yawned and went to sleep.
13. The class president has announced last night that the strike would begin today.

GRAPPLING WITH GRAMMAR 63
14. Because Agnes and Ethel had always done all the housework theirselves, they
were unable to understand why Janet wanted to hire a maid.
15. Having worked very hard that day in class, the students crossed their fingers
and hoped the teacher would not give them another homework for the
weekend.
16. After to drink the wine, Iglesias became sleepy and lethargic.
17. I insist on you making that phone call yourself; don’t make your poor old
secretary do it!
18. My mother dislikes my staying out all night without phoning, and my father
does so.
19. It has rained more than usual this week, isn’t it?
20. I enjoyed to have the opportunity to spend some time with my niece during the
holidays.
21. Having discovered there were no available seats left on the train, Ethel decided
rent a car for the trip.

22. Enrique Iglesias’s manager persuaded him give a concert in Castellón between
his engagements in Barcelona and Valencia.
23. The only students who were required to repeat the exercise were Candace, Jeff,
Willy, and me.
24. The work the new cleaning ladies in the administration building do are not up to
standard.
25. Enrique Iglesias plans to spend a weekend in Majorca after he had finished his
concert tour of the Valencian Community.
26. Jeff and Martina plays chess at the café on the corner every Sunday morning.
27. There were a time when I could eat two cheeseburgers, an order of french fries
and a strawberry milkshake for lunch and still feel hungry afterwards, but now,
at my age, my stomach won’t take the abuse anymore.
28. I was take bath when you called.
29. I called yesterday my old friend Lucio in Tarragona to find out about his plans
for the upcoming holiday.

30. We were lying last Sunday afternoon on the beach when it began to rain very
hard.
31. Until you finish your homeworks, there will be no supper for you, young man!
32. Could I please have a few ketchup with my french fries if it’s no trouble?
33. Karen must be some kind of fertility goddess; it’s just not normal to have seven
childs at the age of thirty.
34. The used car salesman on television always describes himself as a honest man,
but I have my doubts.
35. Michael and I will not be spending the night in Barcelona for the conference,
and neither Susan will.
36. Stephen prefers soul to rock music, and so is John.
37. Ever since I moved to Madrid I can’t hardly afford to pay my rent anymore.
38. My niece has decided to attend an university in Barcelona where she can study
Chinese/Catalan translation.

39. The students were interested in take a trip to Seville for Easter, but they couldn’t
raise the money.
40. Because Julia’s job is so time-consuming, she hardly never comes to visit
anymore.
41. Us students would rather not have class until 9:00 P.M., but we generally have
no choice.
42. The teacher warned the students to don’t cheat on the exam.
43. You should ask your mother how long does it take to make a paella.
44. It was her who did away with all our illusions.
45. Lucy and Mark went to the theater last night, and so does Candace.
46. Daisy had already took the pill when she realized it contained penicillin.
47. There’s a party at Wally’s house tonight, isn’t it?

48. Our friends have decided selling the house now instead of waiting for market
conditions to improve.
49. The local government is thinking to build a new cultural center for immigrants
downtown.
50. My mother does not approve of me to go out on weekdays.
Worksheet 2:
Same as for Worksheet 1, above.
1. Following the poker game, the floor of the bar was covered with empty
cigarettes packages.
2. At the rate they were being sold, the man at the window figured it will be only
a matter of hours before all the tickets for the Ricky Martin concert were sold.
3. No one would have come to the party if you told them Lucas was going to be there.
4. We had better to hurry if we want to get our hands on some Ricky Martin tickets
before it’s too late.
5. My parents live in a five bedrooms house.

6. Even though it’s only October, it is enough cold to have to wear a sweater and
jacket.
7. The televisions repairman said he wouldn’t be able to come until next week.
8. We had such enjoyable time at the last Ricky Martin concert that we certainly
don’t want to miss this one.
9. Thank goodness there were french fries enough to satisfy the appetites of the
vegetarians at the barbecue picnic.
10. Ricky Martin sings so original and inspiring songs that no one can resist his
charisma.
11. I have to thinking about what is best for my future, to study translation or to
study medicine.
12. The actor’s performance was so professional that it was obvious that he should
have spent months preparing the show.
13. As a diabetic, Betty is used to give herself insulin injections.
14. My father would like me changing my mind about studying translation.

15. Toni used to preferring German to French, but ever since they hired that new
blonde teacher from Paris, he appears to like French better.
16. The bigger the dog, harder it is to keep it in an apartment.
17. Ricky Martin’s voice is more melodious than his competitor Enrique Iglesias.
18. I’d rather to spend the Christmas holiday here at home than with my parents.
19. Danny must have taken the exam in June, but he had a car accident and was in
the hospital for three months.
20. If the Ricky Martin concert would be canceled, the organizers would lose a
fortune.
21. Abandoned and hungry, the little dog began to whine incessant.
22. If you are planning to come to the concert with me, you ought reserve a ticket
right away.
23. Mathilde had planned to breastfeed her baby, but then she found it to be such
painful experience that she decided to change to the bottle method.

24. Dorothy generally skips lunch, but because her pregnancy she is now taking care
to eat three times a day.
25. Computers usually come with a three-years guarantee.
26. It’s hard to get used to have to take the bus to work when you’ve always lived
close enough to walk.
27. Last night Larry was acting as if he has drunk too much.
28. The coffee tasted so well that I couldn’t resist ordering another cup.
29. Even though the rent is cheaper, my new apartment is twice bigger than my old
one.
30. I don’t go out much anymore because of I have too much work to do.
31. The more suitable of the three candidates for the job is Mr. Addison.
32. We would rather that our neighbor does not play the saxophone after 11 P.M.

33. Despite a thoroughly search, the police found no firearms in the suspect’s
apartment.
34. Never have I seen as many beautiful women than I did at the Miss Universe
contest.
35. If I hadn’t missed my train that fateful day in June last year, I would never meet
my current husband.
36. Despite his recent success in the business world, everyone knows that David
was more happier when he worked as a teacher.
37. Among the teachers in the department there are several foreigners who offer
foreign languages classes.
38. Janet prepared such succulent meal for dinner last night that her husband was
swelling with pride.
39. To become an interpreter you need both a good command of a foreign language
as well as a pleasant speaking voice.
40. Becoming a professional musician requires that one practices a great deal every
day.

41. In your third year of studies, it is recommended that you should spend a semester
abroad in order to practice your second foreign language.
42. Even though Carla has been attending driving classes for three months, she still
doesn’t know to park a car in a tight space.
43. Despite her condition as a foreigner, Natasha was allowed attend classes at the
university.
44. Ricky Martin, which is the world’s greatest singer, has always been my personal
hero.
45. Several teachers in the department will be attend the conference in Saragossa in
May.
46. The proposal has rejected following a two-hour debate in which members of
both parties took part.
47. The teacher had us to rewrite our essays three times before accepting them.
48. University administrators are encouraging students eat lunch earlier than usual
to avoid congestion in the cafeteria.

49. Did you know how Ricky Martin has been accused of practicing Satanic rituals
in his summer home in Tijuana?
50. Although its economically impoverished status, Chad is one of the most
culturally enriched nations in the world.
TASK 2: USE OF “ONE”
Worksheet 3:
Fill in the gaps with the words ‘one’ or ‘ones’, placing parentheses around them
if the word is optional. If nothing goes in the gap, write in the symbol ‘Ø’.
All of us prefer hot showers, although it’s nice to have an icy ________ during the hot
summer months. I readily confess that steaming hot water is my favorite, but I don’t mind
cold ________ when the weather is right for it. In fact, I think our love of water in all its
forms is understandable ________. We need it to live, and indeed of all our nutritional
necessities, it is perhaps the most imperious __________.
All active sports are of course healthful, but swimming is undoubtedly the best
________. Given a straight choice between two sports I won’t deny that I generally opt
for the easier _________, but I’ll take the wonders of natation any day before I go
jogging. Our local swimming pool is a very large _________, held by some to be the
biggest _________ in the Midwest. The truth is that I find it somewhat impersonal, and
long for a time when smaller _________ will be built. Despite its size, however, I must say
that its showers are the finest __________ I have ever seen.

TASK 3: ADJECTIVE ORDER
Text 1:
Use this text to complete Worksheet 4, below.
THE ELF
It was cold and dark. The (1a) old (1b) branches of the trees above me looked like (2a)
metal (2b) daggers suspended from the (3a) ominous (3b) sky. I spied the (4a) amber
(4b) light from a hearth in a house hidden not far away in the (5a) virgin (5b) forest. I took
the (6a) long (6b) path that wound its way to the (7a) wooden (7b) door. With a (8a) dirty
(8b) fist, I knocked, and was startled by the (9a) sudden (9b) sound of the (10a) brass
(10b) hinges. A (11a) beautiful (11b) elf came to the door, and upon seeing that I was
human, she gave me a (12a) little (12b) smile.
“We don’t see many of your kind about these parts,” she said, with her (13a)
mischievous (13b) voice, “What is your business here?”
“Listen well,” said I, staring into her (14a) intelligent (14b) eyes, “The goblin king is
angry and has ordered me to take you before him. You must escape to Skye right away.”
We walked quickly down the (15a) stone (15b) path behind the cabin to the (16a)
green (16b) riverbank where I had moored the (17a) small (17b) rowboat. “Hurry!” I said
to the elf, “I think I hear the dogs coming.”
Worksheet 4:
Next to each of the adjectives numbered 1 – 17, write the letter ‘a’ or ‘b’
corresponding to the place it should be inserted in the text.
1) grey ____ 10) old ____

2) great ____ 11) young ____
3) Caledonian ____ 12) delightful ____
4) welcoming ____ 13) elfin ____
5) dense ____ 14) oval ____
6) thin ____ 15) ancient ____
7) carved ____ 16) luscious ____
8) black ____ 17) cedar-wood ____
9) shrill ____

TASK 4: ARTICLES
Worksheet 5:
Rewrite this passage, correcting the use of the definite and indefinite articles
(a/an/the). Use the symbol ‘Ø’ where you suppress an article from the original.
L❤ve
The love is a most intangible thing. To understand the emotion, it is question of
looking at the life from many perspectives at the same time. For the poet, the love is
either a torment from the hell or taste of the heaven, according to his disposition, while
for the scientist, it is a chemical beast, designed to further pair-bonding and to better
the chances of the human survival.
I once had a friend who was psychiatrist, but who fancied himself as something of a
poet too. He had owned a house with garden nearby, but had later moved, and I had to
locate him through his work address. He had secretary, so I asked for appointment. On
seeing him, we spoke about the religion for a while, and then I put it to him: Is the love
I feel for my partner only result of hormonal imbalance? He told me that that was lie,
explaining that although the objective science could only talk about the love in those
terms, all emotion was by definition subjective. The love of a people for their leader, or
of a parent for their child is not thing of the science. The life, he said, was for living.
Intrigued, I asked him whether he had girlfriend, to which he replied that he did not,
but that he had dog, and was very attached to it. He went on to clarify that he was victim
of the circumstances.

TASK 5: COUNTABLE AND NON-COUNTABLE NOUNS
Worksheet 6: E AND NON-COUNTABLE NOUNS

Correct the following text, paying special attention to the use of plural nouns:
-Mbanga-
1) Mbanga carried three breads under her arm as she made her way back to the village.
2) The midday Chad sun was burning her face and arms, but her knowledges of weather
patterns at this time of year told her that the rains were not far off. 3) Almost in response
to this thought the low heaving sound of distant thunders came unbeckoned to her ears.
She stopped. 4) No, it wasn’t a storm. 5) It was the sound of gunfire from the border. 6)
Ammunitions were low, and people were becoming desperate. Mbanga looked back at the
rubbles of what had once been an outlying house of her village, remembering the applauses
of the guerrillas as they tore it down, smashing all the furnitures within, and stealing all the
pots and cutleries.
7) Evidences of the outrage were everywhere, but the advices from the village elders were
to stay calm and not to retaliate. 8) The fighting had broken out when several of the most
important local traffickers had been jailed. 9) When businesses were bad, there was
always trouble, but never like this. 10) The clan leaders were trying to negotiate a truce,
but the progresses to date were very little.
11) Mbanga sighed, wondering what sort of a world her two young sons would grow up in,
but despite her sadnesses, she wiped the sweat from her brow and the tears from her
eyes, and set off once more down the scorching dirt road.

TASK 6: EXTRAPOSITION
Worksheet 7: E AND
Rewrite the following sentences where possible, beginning with the word ‘It’.
1) To criticise is easy.
2) That he was lying never occurred to me.
3) To give up now seems a pity.
4) His resignation is improbable.
5) That he hasn’t phoned is odd.
6) To be early is better.
7) That prices will go up is certain.
8) What you say does not matter.
9) The amount does not matter.
10) How it can rain so much is extraordinary.

TASK 7: SUBJECT-FINITE VERB INVERSION
Worksheet 8:
Rewrite the following sentences beginning with the underlined words. In some
cases you may have to change the underlined words slightly so that they make sense
in their new position.
Example:
People should not travel to the Congo alone under any circumstances ➠
Under no circumstances should people travel to the Congo alone
1) There has rarely been such a need for new blood.
2) I have never heard of such a thing.
3) I seldom travel that far south.
4) I sometimes thought I could hear voices in the night.
5) I have not only met Camilo, but I have had dinner with him.
6) The red button must not be pressed on any account.
7) Weight can be lost only by dieting and exercise.
8) I did not realise the implications of it all until I got home.
9) You should in no circumstances eat the eggs raw.
10) I frequently leave things too late.
11) She had not once been told to do it by hand.

TASK 8: NOUN GROUPS
Worksheet 9:
Compare the expressions in the first two columns. In the second column, two
nouns are linked in some way. Determine whether the first noun corresponds to the
subject, verb, object or object of a preposition of the paraphrase in the first column,
and write S, O, V or Oprep accordingly in the column marked ‘Order’. Then do the
same for the second noun, making sure that the order is correct. A few examples
have been provided to help you get started.
Paraphrase Noun Group Order
My mother has a house. My mother’s house SO

The plane arrived.. The plane’s arrival
The cup holds coffee. A coffee cup
The man is from Leeds. A Leeds man Oprep S
The jury decided. The jury’s decision SV
The well produces oil. An oil well
The bus goes to the station. The station bus
The fisherman has a net. The fisherman’s net
The dog looks after sheep. The Sheepdog
The gnome goes in the garden. The garden gnome
The policeman wears a helmet. A policeman’s helmet
Worksheet 10:
Consider the results you have obtained from worksheet 1, and use them to fill
in the following table, writing ‘Saxon genitive’ or ‘Noun-Noun’ in the column
marked ‘Noun Group’.
Order Noun Group

Subject –Verb
Subject – Object
Object of a preposition – Subject

Object – Subject

Worksheet 11:
Refer to worksheets 1 and 2 to do this exercise. Now, consider the two nouns in each
box in the first column of worksheet 3. (The first of these, highlighted in bold, is the main
noun, which, as you have seen, always comes last in a noun group). Write a sentence in
the second column that links them in a simple, logical way. Next, in the column marked
‘Order’, indicate the parts of speech to which they correspond (S, V, O or Oprep) in the
order that they will appear in the noun group. Finally, complete the last column with the
appropriate noun group (Saxon genitive or noun-noun construction).
Nouns Paraphrase Order Noun Group

boat, So
Mr Brown
gambling,
my husband
dog,
The dog sits on your lap.
lap
lighter,
cigarette
report,
board
eruption
volcano
bench,
park
spoon,
tea
entry,
Spain’s entry into the EU
Spain
teacher,
English
☞ Consider what you have learned about the circumstances in which you can use the Saxon
genitive. Not all nouns can take the genitive case, and if they cannot, you must use an ‘of’
construction instead. In fact, a Saxon genitive can only be used in the following
circumstances:
(1) when the noun represents a person, an animal or a group of people or animals (e.g. my
friend’s, the government’s),
(2) when it is the subject of the implied action (e.g. The plane’s arrival) or
(3) when it represents some human activity (e.g. The plan’s implications)
Only in the first case –that of an animate noun- is the Saxon genitive really obligatory.

Worksheet 12:
Complete the following table, writing ‘Correct’ or ‘Incorrect’ in the second
column according to the acceptability of the sentences in the first column. If an
alternative construction is possible, write it in the last column. The first one has
been done for you.
Original construction Correct or Incorrect? Alternative construction

(when possible)
1. the crowd’s enthusiasm Correct the enthusiasm of the crowd
2. my cousin’s dog
3. the President’s speech
4. the teacher’s black list
5. the first decision of the new dean
6. Ricky Martin’s fame
7. her perfume’s smell
8. the century’s turn
9. the Knights of the Round Table
10. the salary of my ex-husband
11. the wood’s grain
12. my life’s man
13. the cafeteria’s tables
14. the pub’s owner
15. the suit’s cut
16. a complaint’s letter
17. the spokesperson of the
organization
18. the plan’s repercussions
19. the refreshing taste of Budweiser
20. the study’s conclusions
21. a pint of beer
22. the plot of the novel
23. the success’s degree
24. the chef’s recommendation
25. the song’s lyrics

VI LEXICAL NOTIONS
TASK 1: USING CONTEXT TO DEDUCE WORD MEANING
Worksheet 1:
Without using a dictionary, attempt to provide definitions for the following words in
your own language in the column marked “before reading”. Where you can provide no
definition, write an ‘X’ in the corresponding box. Next, read the six short texts below,
and determine the meaning of the words highlighted in bold print within them. Write
these contextualized meanings in the appropriate boxes in the “after reading” box.
Words Before reading After reading
cap
plain
plastic
aphasia
heedless
entranced
dubbed
proved
fit
bound
wielded

Text 1:
...in a world of limits, some rights are more sacred than others, some wrongs more deserving
of punishment. Not every unfairness derives from the violation of a right. Robert Nagel,
professor of law at the University of Colorado, warns, “The rights makers are like children
with toys, so delighted and entranced by them they want more and more, heedless of the
consequences.” Consider lookism, as the practice of preferring the pretty over the plain is
called in rights jurisprudence. In the Harvard Law Review, Adam Cohen of the American Civil
Liberties Union argues that ugly people need to be protected against discrimination too.
Text 2:
An open-air concert of Wagner’s Tannhäuser, performed by the Royal Danish Orchestra in
Copenhagen, was dubbed the highlight of the summer by Denmark’s opera enthusiasts.
But for Katanda, an okapi in nearby Copenhagen Zoo, it all proved too much. In a warm-
up session, with the loudspeakers at full volume, the okapi threw a fit, collapsed on the
floor and died.
Text 3:
Most trade and scholarly books are bound in hard covers. Such bindings are called cases,
or case bindings, and are usually constructed of laminated cardboard covered with cloth,
treated paper, or plastic.
Text 4:
Everyone knows that it is much more difficult to learn a second language in adulthood than
a first language in childhood. Most adults never master a foreign language, especially the
phonology — hence the ubiquitous foreign accent. Their development often “fossilizes”
into permanent error patterns that no teaching or correction can undo. Of course, there are
great individual differences, which depend on effort, attitudes, amount of exposure, quality
of teaching, and plain talent, but there seems to be a cap even for the best adults in the
best circumstances. Acquisition of normal language is guaranteed for children up to the
age of six, is steadily compromised from then until shortly after puberty, and is rare
thereafter. Maturational changes in the brain, such as the decline in metabolic rate and
number of neurons during the early school-age years, and the bottoming out of the number
of synapses and metabolic rate around puberty, are plausible causes. We do know that the
language-learning circuitry of the brain is more plastic in childhood; children learn or
recover language when the left hemisphere of the brain is damaged or even surgically
removed (though not quite at normal levels), but comparable damage in an adult usually
leads to permanent aphasia.

LEXICAL NOTIONS 85
Text 5:
Watch a few films or TV programmes in Italy that have been dubbed from English and you
are bound to catch a Grande! (large) or a Grandioso! (grand) voiced over a “Great!” But
although they fit beautifully from a labial point of view, they have never been really suitable
or natural Italian expressions.
Text 6:
Occam’s Razor
William of Ockham (“Occam” is the Latin spelling), an English theologian of the early
fourteenth century, is at best obscure today. Thomas Aquinas and Duns Scotus are
superstars by comparison, and yet it is Occam whose thought prefigured modernity.
The one thing some do remember is Occam’s so-called “razor,” the logical
implement he wielded to trim absurdities out of arguments. Occam’s maxim was that the
simpler an explanation is, the better. If it isn’t necessary to introduce complexities or
hypotheticals into an argument, don’t do it; not only will the result be less elegant and
convincing, it will also less likely be correct.
As we shall see, one hypothetical Occam’s razor dispensed with was the existence
of God. Not that he didn’t believe God exists, of course; he just thought you couldn’t prove
it, because to do so you had to resort to rather complex (and incredible) arguments.
TASK 2: INTERPRETING PUNS
Worksheet 2:
Each of the ten short newspaper stories below begins with a headline containing
a play on words (pun). Locate the pun in each of the headlines and be ready to
explain its relevance to the story it introduces. Use dictionaries to help you with any
unfamiliar words you may encounter.
1. FANG-TASTIC FAMILY FUN!

Here at last is a family film that children can really get their teeth into. The Little Vampire:
starts today at a cinema near you.

2. IT’S NAPOLEON BLOWN APART!

Some musicals would have been better off not being produced, like the latest flop to hit the
London scene, Napoleon. Character plays no part in this quasi-spectacle, which manages
the considerable feat of being neat, simple, thoroughly impenetrable as a narrative and
just plain sleep-inducing.
3. ENGLISH: A MILLION-SCHOLAR INDUSTRY

As the world becomes ever more integrated, English, the principal language of global
communication, has become a necessity for those who wish to succeed internationally.
Each year, more than a million students travel to English-speaking countries for language
study, spending more than $11 billion in the United States alone.
4. HEEL SAYS HE HAD TO WALK

After stranding his bride at the altar last November (and taking the honeymoon by himself)
Tasos Michael could hardly pick up a paper without reading that he was the heel to end all
heels. Last week he kicked back. Exfiancée Nicole Contos, he claimed in an interview with
the New York Daily News, just wanted him for his money and was in love with a Greek
soldier. “I felt betrayed and cheated,” he said. Contos (who went to the $125,000 reception
anyway and danced to “I Will Survive”) responded, “He’s a liar. He’s classless.” Someone
sure is.
5. EYES WIDE CUT

In order to receive an ‘R’ rating instead of an ‘X’, Stanley Kubrick’s final film starring Tom
Cruise and Nicole Kidman was digitally altered, with human figures added to obscure
scenes of explicit sexuality. Many film critics are condemning this as censorship.
6. WHY NOT GIVE PEACE A DANCE?

An unexpected peace dividend in Sarajevo was a New Year’s visit by U-2’s BONO. The Irish
rocker, with Bosnian Foreign Minister Muhamed Sacirbey in tow, went pub crawling in
search of song, dance and cheer, proclaiming, “I’m very happy to be the first tourist in the
new Sarajevo.”
7. MARK THIS TWAIN AS A STAR

When you’re looking at Shania Twain, you’re looking at Country. With her No. 1 album The
Woman in Me and a top single plus three nominations for a U.S. Country Music Association
award, the Canadian singer-songwriter, 29, is a Nashville queen.

LEXICAL NOTIONS 87
8. MANHATTAN MONEY MYSTERY

Woody Allen has filed a lawsuit in Manhattan Supreme Court claiming that Jean
Doumanian, his producer, collaborator and friend of 40 years, cheated him out of profits
from his last eight films. Friends of Allen and Doumanian were shocked that the former
partners may do battle in court. Industry observers were shocked to discover that there
had actually been profits from those films.
9. THE REAL MADRID

If it’s history, culture and beauty you are seeking then look no further than the enormous,
remarkable metropolis that is Madrid. Situated on a high plateau almost exactly in the
center of the country, it is also Spain’s largest city with beautiful parks, gardens and a
hedonistic nightlife to match.
10. COSTA LIVING

Known as the “Wild Coast”, Costa Brava was the first destination for early tourists
heading for Spain. And the reasons for heading here have not changed: good weather,
spectacular scenery, friendly people and, of course, value for your money.

TASK 3: SOMATIC IDIOMS
Worksheet 3:
Use a dictionary of idioms to find the meaning of the following idiomatic
expressions, all of which are based on parts of the body:
BODY PART EXPRESSION MEANING
(OR EQUIVALENT IN NATIVE LANGUAGE)
HANDS to get/gain/have the upper hand
to get out of hand
to change hands
to be in good hands
to have one’s hands full
to pay hand over fist
FEET to get cold feet
to set foot (in a place)
to get off on the wrong foot
to put your foot in it
NOSE to look down one’s nose

(at someone or something)
to poke one’s nose into
to pay through the nose

LEXICAL NOTIONS 89
HEAD to go to one’s head
not be able to make head(s) or tail(s)

of something or someone
FINGERS to keep one’s fingers crossed

to have someone twisted around
one’s little finger
to not be able to put one’s finger on

something
TONGUE to have something on the tip of one’s

tongue
to speak tongue-in-cheek
NECK to stick one’s neck out
to race neck and neck
to be a pain in the neck
to be dead from the neck up
LEGS to stretch one’s legs
to be on one’s last legs
to not have a leg to stand on
to pull someone’s leg
to pay an arm and a leg

HEART to have one’s heart in the right place
to have a heart of gold
to have a heart of stone
to break someone’s heart
with a heavy heart
to take something to heart
to know/learn something by heart
Eat your heart out!
to have a change of heart
Have a heart!
FACE to lose face
to keep a straight face
to be two-faced
BACK to turn one’s back on someone
to stab someone in the back

LEXICAL NOTIONS 91
Worksheet 4:
Complete the idiomatic expressions in the following sentences.
1. After three hours of serious drinking, the men got completely out of
___________________ and had to be thrown out of the bar by force. They were
warned never to ___________________ in the place again.
2. I think it’s about time you bought a new car. That old Chevy you have keeps
breaking down. I’m afraid it’s on its ____________________________.
3. The modern conceptual sculpture on exhibit at the museum was too esoteric for
our taste. Honestly, we couldn’t make _________________ or
________________ of what the artist was trying to communicate.
4. Arthur was supposed to take his driver’s exam last Friday, but at the last minute
he got _____________________ and decided to skip it.
5. The wig the Latin teacher was wearing was so obviously a wig that it was hard
for us all to ___________________________. And when it fell off her head, we
nearly died laughing.
6. Those highbrows in the chess club are such snobs. I swear, they really
____________________________ at the rest of us poor mortals.
7. I can’t believe you told Millie you saw her boyfriend at the party last night. You
really _______________________________. The guy was supposed to be
home studying for an exam.
8. Lying alone in the hospital, Mrs. Grant decided she would disinherit all her
children because of their disloyalty to her. How could they turn their
__________ on her in this time of need?
9. I know you’re sick and tired of studying at this point, but you’ve got to make
just one final effort. If you just _______________________________, I’m sure
you’ll manage to pass that exam tomorrow.
10. I wouldn’t take him very seriously if I were you. His sense of humor is a little
odd. I’m sure that when he said he considered Winnie the Pooh an excellent
illustration of the principles of quantum mechanics, he was only speaking
_____________________________.

11. Anyone familiar with the cafeteria service on Spanish trains knows that the food
they serve is not only tasteless but also shockingly expensive. I swear, you
___________________________ just for a sandwich!
12. I feel stiff all over after sitting in the car all day. Let’s go for a walk and
___________________________.
13. After three hours of intense verbal abuse, both candidates decided to put an end
to the debate, as neither seemed to be able to gain
__________________________ in the discussion.
14. I’m going to the Bahamas for Christmas. Eat your _____________ out!
15. June is a shameless, scheming woman. She has all the men in the office twisted
around ___________________.
TASK 4: COLOR IDIOMS
Worksheet 5:
Fill in the blanks in the following sentences to form complete color idioms.
1. Jackie turned ____________ with envy when he saw his little brother open his
birthday present. A Nintendo Game Boy complete with three game cartridges!
2. When his little brother told him not to touch his new Game Boy, Jackie went
_____________ with rage.
3. Oh, don’t be such a coward! It seems you’re always ___________ when it comes
to talking to the boss.
4. You’ll be sure to find quite a few ____________ movies in that ____________

light district.
5. We always spend so much on Christmas presents that we’re in the __________

for two months afterwards.

LEXICAL NOTIONS 93
6. The student turned _______________ as a beet when the lecturer caught him
sleeping in class.
7. For a foreigner not born in the EU, acquiring Spanish nationality is an especially
complicated process, involving a great deal of ________ tape.
8. We thought he would improve after a little training, but it looks as though he’s
still just as ________________ behind the ears as the day he arrived.
9. It’s not enough for you to describe your qualifications orally to me. I’ll need to
see your curriculum vitae in _________ and __________ before I can consider
you seriously for the job.
10.If you want to have a chance at being promoted some day, watch what you do!
Basil is a very powerful man in the company, and you certainly don’t want to be
put on a ______________list, do you?
11.After a month of intense studying, Carl and his friends were extremely happy to
have passed all their exams, so they jumped in the car and went out to
______________________ the town ____________________.
12.After being caught ____________________ trying to steal money from her

mother’s purse, Lillian was confined to her room for a week.
13.Raised in the Mormon faith, Jethro, who is notorious for his addiction to alcohol,
tobacco, and other vices, was considered the ____________________________
of his family.
14.Standing alone in a corner of the ballroom, Ursula was feeling

___________________ because no one had asked her to dance. But then she
looked up to find the most handsome man she’d ever seen standing right in front
of her. She hadn’t noticed him approaching. He had simply appeared
__________________________.
15.As surprising as it may seem to you, many _________-collar workers make a lot
more money than teachers, secretaries or librarians.

Worksheet 6:
Now make a list of the color idioms you have used in Worksheet 5, and write a
short definition in the column marked “Meaning”. Wherever possible, cite an
equivalent expression in your mother tongue.
Color idiom in English Meaning Equivalent

LEXICAL NOTIONS 95
TASK 5: VERBS OF POSTURE AND MOVEMENT
Worksheet 7:
Use monolingual and bilingual dictionaries to find the meaning of the posture
and movement verbs listed in the chart below. In many cases you may find it
difficult to distinguish clearly between the meanings of two or more verbs. Circle,
underline or otherwise mark verbs which present this problem.
POSTURE & MOVEMENT
Verb Meaning?
to amble
to bounce
to bow
to bump into
to clasp/wring one’s hands
to crash
to crawl
to creep
to cross (legs)
to crouch down
to dash
to dive
to drum (one’s fingernails)
to elbow (one’s way through)
to fold (arms)
to gallop
to glide
to hobble
to hunch/shrug (one’s shoulders)
to jog

to kneel
to lean on/against (something)
to limp
to lumber
to march
to pace (back and forth, up and down)
to perch (on the edge of something)
to plunge
to race
to rush
to scurry
to shuffle
to skate
to skip
to slide
to slip
to sprawl
to sprint
to stagger
to stand on tiptoe
to stick out (a body part, e.g. tongue)
to stoop
to stumble (on, over, into)
to sway
to swing one’s arms
to tap (one’s feet)
to tiptoe
to trip
to trot
to wander

LEXICAL NOTIONS 97
Worksheet 8:
To complete the chart below, classify the verbs listed in Worksheet 7 as depicting
movement with or without displacement.
CLASSIFYING THE VERBS

Fixed in place Displacement

Worksheet 9:
Complete the chart below by referring to the verbs of displacement in the
previous chart and classifying them according to relative speed.
SLOW OR FAST?
Slow Relatively fast
Worksheet 10:
Based on your work on the preceding charts and information gathered both from
the dictionary and class discussion, fill in the blanks in the sentences below with the
appropriate posture and movement verbs.
1. “Who is responsible for this mess?” Lana shouted at her children upon seeing
the great disorder in the living room. “I don’t know,” said the 10-year-old,
__________________ his shoulders.
2. In the midst of deafening applause, the three tenors ________________ to the

audience at the end of their recital.
3. Standing in the checkout line at the supermarket, the bored customers began
____________ their bodies to the music on the loudspeakers and
______________ their feet to the rhythm of the old big band melodies.

LEXICAL NOTIONS 99
4. When Beatrice, the company’s best-looking secretary, announced that one of her
contact lenses had just fallen to the floor, all the men in the office immediately
________________ to join in a search for it.
5. The sign on the display at the museum read: “Please do not _____________ on
the glass.”
6. _______________ her hands in despair, the frightened mother watched the

firemen run into the burning house where her baby was trapped.
7. After three tequilas and four beers each, the two men _____________________
out of the bar and onto the sidewalk.
8. Dizzy and unable to keep his balance, one of them decided to ______________
against the wall to avoid falling down.
9. The other was less fortunate and __________________ into a lamp post,
severely hurting his head.
10. There were so many people at the Sergio Dalma concert that poor little Anna
found it nearly impossible to see her idol on stage. Even after she had managed
to __________________ her way through part of the crowd, she still had to
stand on ___________________ to see anything at all.

TASK 6: USE OF “GET”
Worksheet 11:
Refer to the meanings of “get” listed below to help you rewrite the following text,
which has too many “gets” in it. Substitute the “get” expressions with alternative
verbs wherever you can without making the text sound unnatural.
THE GODFATHER
The Godfather is definitely getting soft. Gianni was supposed to have gotten the money
to him by midnight, but he got sidetracked when he got hungry and went to get a Big Mac
and got all caught up getting friendly with the blond behind the counter, so it was already
getting light by the time he got back to the car that he got on loan from his cousin One-
Lung-Louis who’d been acting funny ever since he started getting bald. The Godfather got
Vinny to get in touch with me to get me to get over there, and I got a lump in my throat
as soon as I got my instructions to get moving.
When I got to the Godfather’s place, I could see that Vinny was getting nervous, so I
asked him what was getting him. The Godfather told him to get me a stiff drink, and told
me to get a chair.
“I don’t get it. I must be getting old,” rasped the Godfather, “You got precise
instructions to get Gianni here before twelve.” I must have gotten a scared look on my
face, because the Godfather got out a gun and got nasty on me. “You know I’ve got no
children of my own, Frankie, but you’re as close as anybody can get to a son of mine. But
you didn’t get Gianni here on time, Frankie-boy, and I can’t let you get away with this. So
you’ve got to get punished.”
In the morning I got a little surprise. My pet goldfish One-Fin-Freddy was lying dead on
my pillow in a miniature pool of blood.
The Godfather is definitely getting soft, and that really gets me down.
Common meanings of “get”:

1. to receive
Did you get my message? / Johnny got a prize for his entry in the drawing
contest.
2. to obtain, to buy, to acquire

Where did you get that lovely scarf? / Is there anywhere to get a sandwich around here?

LEXICAL NOTIONS 101
3. to fetch, to look for, to pick up

Would you be so kind as to get me my glasses, please? I left them on the kitchen
table.
Please wait while I get the manager.
4. to arrive, to reach, to go, to come

What time does your train get to Berlin? / When did Paul get here?
5. to cause to be
How did you get your shoes so muddy? / Try not to get your hands dirty!
6. to catch, to contract (a disease)

If you don’t dress warmly, you’re sure to get a cold. / Lisa got the measles from
her little brother.
7. to prepare, to make
Can I get you a drink? / It would be nice if you could get breakfast today.
8. to become
I always get nervous before an exam. / It gets dark quite early here in the winter.
9. possession or obligation (have got)

Have you got any ideas? / I’ve got to lose some weight.
10. to understand
You just don’t get it, do you? I’m trying to tell you I’m in love with another man.
11. to annoy or to make a favorable impression on

My next-door neighbor’s squeaky voice really gets (to) me.
The way Ricky Martin moves his hips when he dances really gets (to) me.
TASK 7: “MAKE” AND “DO”
Worksheet 12:
Fill in the blanks in the following text with the appropriate forms of the verbs
“make” and “do”. Consult the list of collocations and phrasal verbs below to help
you.

MY SISTER’S WEDDING PRESENT

There I was, sitting in the waiting room of a plastic surgery clinic I’d found in the yellow
pages, trying to _______ up my mind about what to get my sister as a wedding present. I
wanted to get her something nice, something expensive, something really special (nothing
ordinary would ______ ) if only to _______ up for all the terrible things I’d _______to
her when we were kids, the thousands of times I’d ______fun of her enormous nose.
That’s why I’d gone ahead and _______the decision to _________ the appointment with
the plastic surgeon.
I’d been sitting in the waiting room for over an hour, bitterly thinking to myself that I
______in fact have better things to _______ when the doctor’s nurse ______ her way
toward me with a broad smile. “How do you _______?” she said graciously, offering me
her slender, white hand. “The doctor is a little tied up this morning, so might I suggest that
you ______ the most of your time by browsing through this catalog while you wait?” At
that point she forced what appeared to be a three-kilo volume of glossy photos into my
hands. She was, it seemed, determined to _______me look at the thing. She then
launched into what was evidently a memorized publicity speech, which she recited so
quickly and in such nasal tones that half the time I couldn’t _______ out what she was
saying. “ _______ consider getting a complete makeover, Mr. Clayton, and _______ study
the catalog with care. Nature isn’t perfect, and we could all _______ with a little help from
the scalpel. Whatever your needs, whatever your desires, Dr. Putty can _______ whatever
needs to be _______ to _______ your dreams come true. I’ve seen him _______
wonders with other patients whose problems are similar to yours.
“Problems?!” I snapped, “What do you think I should have _______?”
“You should have your cheek bones _______, and your eyebrows _______ further
apart.”
“I wouldn’t like to _______ anything rash,” I suggested.
“Well I am not _______ this up. You really cannot ______ without it – and it would
_______ your self respect a world of good!”
“Is this some kind of money- _______ scheme? Is this your idea of how to _______
business?” I demanded.
“Don’t try to _______ me out as something I’m not! I’m only _______ my job.
______ yourself a favor, and ______ sure you ________ the right choice,” retorted the
nurse.
I _____ for the door, __________off with a potted plant from the waiting room. If I
_______ it up with a nice bow, I thought, it will _______ a great gift and ________ just
the trick for my sister’s wedding.

LEXICAL NOTIONS 103
Common collocations and phrasal verbs with “make” and “do”:
MAKE DO
to make an appointment to do one’s best

to make a decision to have nothing to do with
to make money to do business
to make peace to do (to suffice)
to make a speech could + do with (to be able to use)
to make someone do something to do without (to live without)
to make fun of to do tricks (the trick)
to make certain to have something/nothing to do
to make a good mother, nurse, etc. to do someone harm/good
(be a good candidate to be, show how do you do?
predisposition) to do routine work (dusting,
to make someone out as something cleaning, filing, mopping, etc.)
to make up for to do one’s job / duty
to make up one’s mind to do someone a favor
to make do (be content with, manage) to do the right thing
to make out (understand, manage to see) to be done for
to make use of ( to be doomed, finished)
to make the most of to do away with (eliminate)to do up
to make off (run away in a hurry) (wrap up, renovate,improve)
to make off with (run away furtively
with something)
to make up (invent, constitute, apply
cosmetics
to make for (move in the direction of)

TASK 8: ONOMATOPOEIA
Worksheet 13:
NOISE, NOISE, NOISE

Choose the correct word to describe the noise of each of the items listed below.
A. creak jangle bang screech thud

tick sizzle purr jingle whistle
1. a gun firing _____________________

2. French Fries in hot oil ____________________
3. a clock ______________________
4. coins in one’s pocket ____________________
5. strong wind blowing through the trees _________________
6. a door opening when the hinges need oiling _________________
7. a large, heavy box of paper hitting the ground after falling off a truck ______________
8. large keys hanging from one’s belt __________________
9. the well-tuned motor of an expensive car _____________________
10. when you brake suddenly to avoid an accident __________________
B. plop splash tinkle rustle swish

fizz hum pop hiss click
1. expensive crystal wine glasses knocking against one another_________________

2. the cork of a champagne bottle when you open it ___________________
3. a small stone dropped into a pond _______________________
4. a fat person diving into a swimming pool ________________
5. light switching on________________
6. effervescent aspirin in water ______________
7. a bride’s smooth silk dress as she walks ___________________
8. the fluorescent lights in the library __________________
9. dry leaves hanging on the trees in autumn as the wind blows through ___________
10. steam escaping from a pressure cooker _______________________

LEXICAL NOTIONS 105
C. crackle squeak squeal crash whine

roar rattle snap drip patter
1. a leaky tap _______________
2. a pencil being broken in half______________
3. a Harley Davidson engine when it’s started__________________
4. collision between two cars ________________
5. baby mice or a small, prissy woman’s voice ______________
6. wood burning in the fireplace__________________
7. children’s voices when they’re complaining_________
8. baby pigs or children’s voices when they’re exclaiming in delight ___________
9. typical baby toy or maracas __________
10. rain coming down on the roof________________
TASK 9: LOAN WORDS
Worksheet 14:
There are quite a few words which have been imported into English directly from
other languages. Though a good deal of these are technical terms, there are still
many which are used habitually in non-specialized contemporary English. Below
are a few examples.
ad hoc bona fide incognito modus operandi

ad lib c’est la vie interim persona non grata
alias comme ci, comme ça in vitro terra firma
alibi coup d’état gesundheit verbatim
arrivederci curriculum vitae kindergarten vice-versa
bon appétit de facto laissez faire
eureka
Complete each sentence with a word or phrase from the list below:
1. The Langsleys are very wealthy people. That painting they have in the living
room is a _________________ Van Gogh, not an imitation.
2. It is always hard for me to say good-bye, so I’ll just say _______________.

3. Under the terms of the contract, both parties have equal rights and obligations.
The first party is entitled to access to the second party’s bank accounts, and
_____________.
4. The unfortunate woman was sentenced to life in prison because the jury did not
consider her ___________ for the night of the murder believable.
5. The actor forgot his lines and was forced to _______________ to keep the scene
going.
6. Conservative governments are often criticized for their lack of dynamism and
_______________ policy with regard to social welfare issues.
7. Police at the crime scene were able to determine that the killer’s
_______________ coincided with that of the author of three previous murders
committed in the neighborhood that year.
8. Unable to conceive using natural methods, Janet and Paul decided to visit a
special clinic to gather information on the technique of ________________
fertilization.
9. Because no one at the meeting dared to say anything against it, the proposal was
passed ___________________.
10. If you want to make a good impression when you apply for a job, it’s a good idea
to have a professional-looking ________________________.
11. Of course I enjoyed the cruise, but after twelve full days out at sea, I was happy
to get my feet back on ________________.
12. “________________!” she exclaimed, when she finally found her glasses after
having searched for them for over ten minutes.
13. Americans generally say “_______________!” when someone sneezes.
14. Carl was caught stealing at Toys R Us last year. The manager decided not to
press charges against him, but he was declared ___________________ and
warned not to return to the store.

LEXICAL NOTIONS 107
15. Democracy in Spain was in danger of being overturned in February of 1981,

when members of the military invaded Parliament. Fortunately, the attempted
_________________ was unsuccessful in the end.
16. In the United States, children begin attending _______________ at age five.
17. The chairman set up an ___________________ committee to deal with the

question of where to find office space for the four new teachers expected to join
the department in the fall.
18. “_______________,” said the waiter with a smile, as he placed the delicious-
looking paella on the table before us.
19. Francesco Ganivetti, _________________ Frankie Four-Fingers, is one of the

most dangerous gangsters ever to have lived in this city.
20. Due to the gravity of the situation, the newspaper reproduced the chief of
police’s comments _________________, without omitting the smallest detail.
21. The victims of the football stadium grandstand collapse were awarded an
_______________ payment of $5000 each, pending the result of an inquiry.
22. “________________,” he sighed, as he tore up the useless lottery ticket. “You

win some, you lose some.”
23. Coronel Guantinegro was not legally elected to the presidency, but following the
recent military coup, he is the ________________ ruler of the country.
24. The film had its good moments, but it was no masterpiece. If you want my
opinion of it, all I can say is “___________________.”
25. In an attempt to escape the relentless flashbulbs of the local paparazzi, Julia
Roberts decided to travel to Paris ____________.

TASK 10: COMMONLY CONFUSED WORDS
Worksheet 15:
Circle the appropriate word or words in each of the sentences below.
1. The movers let out a (groan / grown) with the effort of trying to lift the piano.
2. Whatever happens, I’ll always love you heart and ( soul / sole).
3. We screamed and shouted so much at the Sergio Dalma concert last night that
now we’re all (horse / hoarse).
4. Be patient. All teenagers are like that. I know right now he’s acting like a (pane
/ pain) in the neck, but believe me, it’s just a (phase / faze) he’s going through.
5. The bells of the Cathedral (pealed / peeled) loudly to celebrate the Pope’s
arrival.
6. I’m sick and tired of listening to all your complaints. All you do is (moan and
grown / mown and grown / moan and groan / mown and groan ).
7. The members of the baseball team were (all ready / already) to play when the
thunderstorm began.
8. I find the fuzzy outer skin of peaches distasteful. I always (peal / peel) them
before I eat them.
9. If you’re going to drive all the way out to that discotheque on the outskirts of
town, I hope you’re (sensible / sensitive) enough to be careful about how much
you drink.
10. Lost, alone and hungry on a desert island, the man was able to (device / devise)
a primitive fishing rod out of bamboo.
11. The sign in the store read: “Warning: all shoplifters will be (persecuted /
prosecuted) by law.”
12. What would you like for (desert / dessert)?
13. The government’s new tax policy is not, in my opinion, (fair / fare) to the
working class.
14. It’s silly to take your cell phone mountain climbing with you. Out there in the
wild the thing will be completely (helpless / useless).
15. Did you know that South American anacondas swallow their (prey / pray)
whole?

LEXICAL NOTIONS 109
16. Eating (customs / costumes) vary from one country to another, so don’t be
surprised if it takes you a while to get used to the food in Germany when you
go.
17. I have put a (considerate / considerable) amount of effort into this report, so the
least you can do is take the time to read it.
18. I’m sick and tired of listening to that (loose / lose) floorboard creak every time
you step on it. Why don’t you have it fixed?
19. The (observance / observation ) of Ramadan is restricted to Muslim countries.
20. The Hollywood actor Kirk Douglas had two sons, Michael and Greg. The
former became an actor like his father, while the (later / latter) decided to go into
business.
21. The thief broke a (pane / pain) of glass upon entering the house through the
bedroom window.
22. Rave music really (greats / grates) on my nerves.
23. Dr. Fangman’s nurse called this afternoon to (remember / remind) you about
your appointment on Thursday.
24. Prince Charles is the rightful (air / heir) to the English throne.
25. Are you feeling okay? You look a little (pail / pale).
26. If you’re going to New York for the weekend, take my (advice / advise): take
lots of money with you.
27. Being a man of (principals /principles), Mr. Toadskin refused to consider the
dishonest business deal.
28. Lucy was selected from (among / between) fourteen candidates to represent her
district at the state beauty contest.
29. I like the beach, but in summer I prefer to retire to the mountains for a little
peace and (quite /quiet).
30. Shakespeare lived during the (rain /reign/ rein) of Queen Elizabeth I.

VII QUESTIONS OF STYLE
TASK 1: PUNCTUATION AND CAPITALS
Worksheet 1:
Listen to your teacher read the text below out loud. Then add the necessary
punctuation and capital letters.
once you begin to look at language not as the ineffable essence of human uniqueness but
as a biological adaptation to communicate information it is no longer as tempting to see
language as an insidious shaper of thought and we shall see it is not moreover seeing
language as one of natures engineering marvels an organ with that perfection of
structure and co-adaptation which justly excites our admiration in darwins words gives
us a new respect for your ordinary joe and the much-maligned english language or any
language the complexity of language from the scientists point of view is part of our
biological birthright it is not something that parents teach their children or something
that must be elaborated in school as oscar wilde said education is an admirable thing but
it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught

Worksheet 2:
Same as for worksheet 1, above.
german by nationality jewish by origin dissenting in spirit einstein reacted ambivalently

against these three birthday gifts he threw his german nationality overboard at the age
of fifteen but twenty years later after becoming swiss settled in berlin where he remained
throughout the first world war after germanys defeat in 1918 he took up german civic
rights again one of the follies of my life as he later wrote of it only to renounce his
country a second time when hitler came to power his position as a jew was buttressed
by his support of zionism yet he offended more than once by insistence that jews were
more importantly members of the human species moreover his zionism conflicted at
times with his pacifism and to his old friend lord samuel he commented that he was
despite anti semitic attacks pas très juif
Worksheet 3:
Same as for worksheets 1 and 2, above.
jakarta president suharto in a decree released friday ordered wealthy indonesian

individuals and companies to donate 2 percent of their profits to the poor in the order
dated dec 4 mr suharto said individuals and companies with net annual earnings of over
100 million rupiah 42500 dollars must make the donations the order was effective for the
current 1996 tax year christianto wibisono director of the indonesian business data center
said more than 11000 individuals and companies would be affected this is an additional tax
for rich people he said adding it was a political charity in 1995 the government made a
similar appeal for donations to its poverty alleviation program but it said companies and
individuals can help the poor whereas this year the words must give were used
TASK 2: COMMON ABBREVIATIONS
Worksheet 4:
Use monolingual and bilingual dictionaries to find the meaning of the
abbreviations below, and list them in the corresponding spaces in the column
marked “meaning”. Then add the equivalent abbreviations in your own language
in the column on the far right.
QUESTIONS OF STYLE 113
Abbreviation Meaning Equivalent in Your

Language
A.D.
AIDS
B.C.
BBC
c/o
CIA
FBI
IRA
M.D.
MP
NAACP
NATO
OPEC
P.S.
Ph.D
PIN

PLO
R.I.P.
R.S.V.P.
UFO
UN
UNESCO
UNICEF
V.I.P.
WHO
TASK 3: “INTRALINGUISTIC TRANSLATION”
Text 1:
Read the following text, paying special attention to the words and phrases which
have been highlighted in bold type.
WATER
A Precious Commodity
1) Water may well be one of the main demand and waste will make it an ever more
problems of the 21st century. valuable commodity.
2) The quantity of water on our planet has not 3) Spain has some 1000 man-made
varied much over the years but increasing reservoirs but the irregular territorial

distribution of rain causes a lot of friction day, and according to specialists, we can speak
between different regions in times of drought. of water scarcity if no more than 1000 to 2000
4) This came to the fore when the liters of water are available for each person
government recently decided to cede 55 cubic per annum.
hectometers of water from the Tajo river to 9) In Western Europe most people enjoy a
Valencia and Murcia. In Andalusia the pattern yearly supply of 50,000 liters of water, while
of annual rainfall is noticeably different in the Kenyans are hard pressed to obtain five liters
east and the west. In the mountains of Cadiz of water a day. At this moment, 232 million
around Grazalema, the average annual rainfall people living in 26 countries are suffering from
is over 2000 millimeters while the southeast water shortages. What’s more, one third of all
corner of the province of Almeria is deaths and 80% of all illnesses are caused by
experiencing true desert conditions with an drinking contaminated water. Over a billion
average annual rainfall below 250 millimeters. people have no access to safe drinking water
5) Nevertheless, eighty percent of the and their numbers are growing daily. In the
hydraulic works planned for the future would industrialized world, where chemical agents
not be necessary if a more careful use of such as phosphates are the main polluters,
water could be achieved. Precise statistics the quality of drinking water is also a problem.
are difficult to obtain but it has been said that Due to economic growth and the population
antiquated methods of irrigation by explosion, the problem is getting bigger and
inundation take up eighty percent of all bigger. The amount of water needed today is
available water in Spain, so a massive use of five times greater than it was forty years ago.
drip irrigation is obviously called for. 10) Just one hundred years ago Europeans
6) Although domestic use accounts for only used to drink water straight from the river. To
ten percent of the total Spanish water do so today would be extremely dangerous.
consumption, it is what first comes to mind 11) One of the reasons drinking water has
when talk turns to saving water. It won’t be become more expensive is the fact that new
long before all toilets will be equipped with a purification plants are needed. The fact that
double flushing system, offering the possibility the Andalusian government recently spent
of bigger and smaller flushes for obvious two billion pesetas on such a new plant in
reasons, using nine and six liters of water, Marbella is an illustration of this need.
respectively. Meanwhile, you can make your 12) In the Middle East, Israel and Jordan are
own contribution by placing a brick in the involved in a dispute over water from the
bottom of your toilet cistern. River Jordan and U.N. Secretary Boutros Ghali
7) As far as personal hygiene is concerned, a has predicted more than once that the next war
shower is recommended over a bath as the in the Middle East will be about water. One
former requires sixty liters of water while the sixth of the world’s population is now living in
latter needs double that amount. People areas threatened by drought.
should also be aware of the fact that each 13) A concerted effort is needed from all of us,
time the washing machine is used it consumes so instead of complaining about the supposed
one hundred liters of water. high price of water, people should become
8) Every inhabitant of the industrialized world more aware of the fact that water is now one
uses between 200 and 400 liters of water a of the most precious of all commodities.

Worksheet 5:
The phrases in bold type in text 1, above, are listed here below. For each one,
suggest an alternative formulation in English. Your suggestions should fit the
original context both semantically and grammatically.
1. varied___________________________________________________________
2. increasing________________________________________________________
3. ever more valuable_________________________________________________
4. some____________________________________________________________
5. friction__________________________________________________________
6. came to the fore___________________________________________________
7. eighty percent_____________________________________________________
8. would not be necessary_____________________________________________
9. precise statistics___________________________________________________
10. antiquated________________________________________________________
11. inundation________________________________________________________
12. although_________________________________________________________
13. ten percent of the total Spanish water
consumption______________________________________________________
14. saving___________________________________________________________
15. It won’t be long before______________________________________________
16. while____________________________________________________________

17. double that amount_________________________________________________
18. be aware of the fact________________________________________________
19. per annum________________________________________________________
20. are hard pressed___________________________________________________
21. What’s more______________________________________________________
22. 80% of all illnesses________________________________________________
23. main polluters_____________________________________________________
24. Due to___________________________________________________________
25. getting bigger and bigger____________________________________________
26. The amount of water needed today is five times greater than it was
forty years ago____________________________________________________
27. straight__________________________________________________________
28. extremely dangerous_______________________________________________
29. has become more expensive__________________________________________
30. involved in a dispute over___________________________________________
31. One sixth________________________________________________________
32. become more aware of the fact_______________________________________
33. commodities______________________________________________________

TASK 4: CORRECTING A FAULTY TRANSLATION
Text 2:
Read the following text and discuss the translation errors it presents. Make
suggestions as to how to reformulate the text in natural-sounding, intelligible
English.
I Am a Tip-Top Starlet
Garry Trudeau
In which something is lost, but much is gained, in the translation.
When the huge Evita production company have a visit here that was agreeable? Are
blew into Budapest last month to rent its you in good odor? You are the biggest fan of
ancient architecture, Madonna, the film's our young people who hear your musical
star, was much too busy staying in character productions and like to move their bodies in
to meet with the local press. Finally, on the response.
eve of her departure, good manners Madonna: Thank you for saying these
prevailed, and the pop diva submitted to an compliments [holds up hands]. Please stop
interview with the Budapest newspaper with taking sensationalist photographs until
Blikk. The questions were posed in I have removed my garments for all to see
Hungarian, then translated into English for [laughs]. This is a joke I have made.
Madonna, whose replies were then
translated back into Hungarian for the 2) Blikk: Madonna, let's cut toward the
paper's exclusive. Shortly thereafter, at the hunt: Are you a bold hussy-woman that
request of USA Today, Madonna's comments feasts on men who are tops?
were then retranslated from Hungarian back Madonna: Yes, yes, this is certainly
into English for the benefit of that paper's something that brings to the surface my
readers. To say that something was lost in longings. In America it is not considered to
the process is to be wildly ungrateful for all be mentally ill when a woman advances on
that was gained. "I am a woman and not a her prey in a discothèque setting.
test-mouse!" reads a typical quote. USA
Today, presumably pressed for space, 3) Blikk: Is this how you met Carlos, your
published only a few of these gems, leaving love-servant who is reputed? Did you know
the rest to the imagination, whence has he was heaven-sent right off the stick? Or
sprung the following complete transcript: were you dating many other people in your
bed at the same time?
1) Blikk: Madonna, Budapest says hello Madonna: No, he was the only one I was
with arms that are spread-eagled. Did you dating in my bed then, so it is a scientific fact

that the baby was made in my womb using 6) Blikk: There is much interest in you from
him. But as regards these questions, this geographic region, so I must ask this
enough! I am a woman and not a test- final questions: How many Hungarian men
mouse! have you dated in bed? Are they No. 1? How
are they comparing to Argentine men, who
4) Blikk: May we talk about your other are famous for being tip-top as well?
"baby," your movie, then? Please do not be Madonna: Thank you for saying these
denying that the similarities between you compliments [holds up hands]. Please stop
and the real Evita are grounded in basis. with taking sensationalist photographs until
Power, money, Grammies… I have removed my garments for all to see
Madonna: What is up in the air with you? [laughs]. This is a joke I have made.
Evita never was winning a Grammy! Madonna: Well, to avoid aggravating global
tension, I would say it's a tie [laughs]. No,
5) Blikk: Perhaps not. But as to your film, in no, I am serious now. See here, I am
trying to bring your reputation along a rocky working like a canine all the way around the
road, can you make people forget the bad clock! I have been too busy even to try the
explosions of Who's That Girl? and Shanghai goulash that makes your country one for the
Surprise? record books.
Madonna: I am a tip-top starlet. That is my
job that I am paid to do. 7) Blikk: Thank you for your candid chitchat.
Madonna: No problem, friend who is a girl.

VIII TEXT TYPES
TASK 1: INTRODUCTION TO TEXT TYPES
Worksheet 1:
Brainstorming. Name as many examples as you can of the different reading
materials you might encounter in the situations listed below under the headings
marked “Reading on a Routine Day” and “Reading and Air Travel”. Some
examples have been given to get you started.
[Note: Your examples should be as specific as possible. That is, instead of simply
citing a newspaper as reading material, name the specific, different kinds of reading
material to be found within it.]
Reading on a Routine Day

1. At home
In the bathroom: instructions on a bottle of shampoo
In the kitchen:
In your room in your free time:
In the elevator:

2. At school
Registering for classes:
In the library: article from an academic journal
In the classroom:
In the hallways:
3. After school
On the street (driving or walking): traffic signs
At the hairdresser’s:
Planning an evening out:
In a restaurant:
At a concert:
Reading and Air Travel
1. Before leaving
Planning your arrival at the airport: telephone listings for taxis
Checking in for your flight, finding your departure date:
Waiting to board:
2. En route
Finding your seat on the plane:
Prior to takeoff: safety instruction card in seat pocket in front of you
Deciding what to have for lunch:
Passing the time:

TEXT TYPES 123
3. At your destination
At a tourist information center:
In the hotel:
In a museum:
At a trade fair:
Worksheet 2:
Complete the chart below with the information requested.
Examples of Author’s Reader’s purpose Reader’s Obligation to

instructive texts: intention in in reading the expected or respond as
writing the text: text: desired response: desired?
Recipe To explain to To find out how to Making the dish. No.
reader how to make the dish.
make a given dish.
Beauty tips in a
women’s magazine
No smoking sign
on bus
Safety instruction
card on airplane
Regulations regarding
type and quantity of
baggage permitted
on airplane
(on ticket)
Tips in airline
magazine for
passengers taking
connecting flights
in other airports

Worksheet 3:
Complete the chart below by providing examples of expository texts taken from
Worksheet 1. Be careful to place each example in the correct column indicating its
sub-type.
EXPOSITORY TEXTS
Sub-types: Descriptive Narrative Conceptual
Communicative Describing phenomena Recounting events in Explaining facts or

function: in space time concepts
Examples:
Worksheet 4:
Complete the chart below with examples of instructive texts taken from Worksheet
1. Be careful to place each example in the correct column indicating its sub-type.
INSTRUCTIVE TEXTS
Sub-types: Binding Non-binding
Communicative function: To require or prohibit certain To show the reader how to do

acts of the reader (with something or spur him/her to
obligation) act (without obligation)
Examples:

TEXT TYPES 125
Worksheet 5:
Fill in the box below with examples of argumentative texts from Worksheet 1.
ARGUMENTATIVE TEXTS
Communicative function: To persuade the reader to accept a given point of view.
Note: Argumentative texts may be classified, according to the way in which they are
structured, as through-arguments (in which a continuous line of argument is followed
throughout) or counter-arguments (in which the central argument is preceded by a
concession to an opposing view).
Examples of argumentative texts:
NG PURE TEXT TYPES
TASK 1: IDENTIFYING PURE TEXT TYPES
Text 1:
The collections of the University of Chicago Library contain over six million volumes and
microforms, and more than seven million manuscript and archival pieces. These collections
support the work of the faculty, students, and staff in the academic departments, the
professional schools, and the College.
Library facilities include the Joseph Regenstein Library, which houses materials in the social
sciences and humanities: the John Crerar Library, which contains materials in science,
medicine, and technology; the Law Library; the Harper Memorial Library, which serves the
Chemistry Library; the Eckart Library, which houses the mathematics, statistics, and
computer sciences collections; the Social Services Administration Library; and the Yerkes
Observatory Library In Williams Bay, Wisconsin.

Text 2:
In the event of accident:
✓ Do not move the seriously injured, except when a doctor is present.
✓ Stop any bleeding or apply a tourniquet to wounds which are bleeding heavily.
✓ Move those not seriously injured to a hospital as soon as possible and contact the police.
Text 3:
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain is the most grotesque example of racist
trash ever given our children to read. It should be removed from our elementary and
secondary school classrooms forthwith. Any teacher caught trying to use that piece of trash
with our children should be fired on the spot, for he or she is either racist, insensitive,
naive, incompetent or all of the above and has no business in a public-school classroom.
The use of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn with any black students in class is
tantamount to racial harassment and child abuse. Save that piece of trash for college
students who are not compelled to go to class and listen to it.
Text 4:
Grand Junction, Colorado’s Western Gateway. This land of dinosaurs was sculpted by the
artistry of time, wind and rain. The brilliant, high-desert sun sparkles on the Colorado River
as it winds through the Grand Valley, a flat, fertile sweep of irrigated green. To the west,
the red-walled canyons and rosy spires of the Colorado National Monument slice into the
great Uncompahgre Plateau. The solemn gray of the Bookcliffs and the cool blue of the
grand Mesa define the Valley’s boundaries.
Text 5:
The struggle for a tolerant society — not only one in which the big racial injustices are
cured but one in which the strong do not prey on the weak, the beautiful do not insult the
ugly and the thin do not prevail over the fat — is a worthy goal. But neither resources nor
public sympathy is limitless. Treating the discrimination against someone who is fat
alongside that of someone who is a paraplegic is part of an effort by special-interest groups
in the U.S. to make all suffering equal so that all remedies will be. It is a trend that would
make the college student who is insulted by a racial joke comparable to James Meredith
savagely barred at the door of the University of Mississippi when he tried to register in
1962; rape by a spouse as terrorizing as rape by a stranger with a knife in a dark alley; a
Playboy calendar on the wall as detrimental on the job as a supervisor who takes away the
duties of a clerk who has rebuffed his advances.

TEXT TYPES 127
Text 6:
Out of the blue, about once a week, Clay, a software designer, was having panic attacks. His
heart started to pound, he couldn’t catch his breath, and he was sure he was going to die.
After about an hour of terror, the panic subsided. Clay underwent four years of
psychoanalysis, which gave him insight into his childhood feelings of abandonment but
didn’t lessen the panic attacks. Then he was on high doses of Xanax (alprazolam, a
tranquilizer) for a year; during that time he only panicked once a month, but he was so
sleepy most of the time that he lost his two biggest accounts. So Clay stopped taking Xanax
and the panic returned with unabated fury. Two years ago, he had ten sessions of cognitive
therapy for panic disorder. He corrected his mistaken belief that the symptoms of anxiety
(e.g. heart racing, shortness of breath) are catastrophic; symptoms of an impending heart
attack. Since then he hasn’t had a single attack.
Worksheet 6:
Using the clues provided below,, fill in the following chart with your commentaries
on the general text type, subtype, form and content of each of the six preceding texts.
Where possible, cite specific examples of the characteristics you mention.
Form Content
Text 1 type and subtype:

Form:
Verbs: Tense and Mood. Modal verbs?
Linkers: Frequency and kind
Adjectives and adverbs: few, many, none at all?
Structure: Sentences simple or complex? Parallel structures?
Metaphors? Comparisons?
Content/tone:
Generally objective or subjective?
Subject matter abstract or concrete?
T A S K
TASK 3: MULTIFUNCTIONALITY
Text 7:3: MULTIFUNCTIONALITY
“I’LL HELP YOU IF IT KILLS YOU!”
(Part I) Martha bought a computer and needed to learn to use it. After studying the
manual and making some progress, she still had many questions, so she went to the store
where she had bought it and asked for help. The man assigned to help her made her feel
like the stupidest person in the world. He used technical language in explaining things, and
each time she had to ask what a word meant she felt more incompetent, an impression
reinforced by the tone of voice he used in his answer, a tone that sent the metamessage
“This is obvious; everyone knows this.” He explained things so quickly, she couldn’t possibly
remember them. When she went home, she discovered she couldn’t recall what he had
demonstrated, even in cases where she had followed his explanation at the time.
Still confused, and dreading the interaction, Martha returned to the store a week later,
determined to stay until she got the information she needed. But this time a woman was
assigned to help her. And the experience of getting help was utterly transformed. The
woman avoided using technical terms for the most part, and if she did use one, she asked
whether Martha knew what it meant and explained simply and clearly if she didn’t. When
the woman answered questions, her tone never implied that everyone should know this.
And when showing how to do something, she had Martha do it, rather than demonstrating
while Martha watched. The different style of this “teacher” made Martha feel like a
different “student”: a competent rather than a stupid one, not humiliated by her ignorance.

TEXT TYPES 129
(Part II) Surely not all men give information in a way that confuses and humiliates their
students. There are many gifted teachers who also happen to be men. And not all women
give information in a way that makes it easy for students to understand. But many women
report experiences similar to Martha’s, especially in dealing with computers, automobiles,
and other mechanical equipment; they claim that they feel more comfortable having women
explain things to them. The different meanings that giving help entails may explain why. If
women are focusing on connections, they will be motivated to minimize the difference in
expertise and to be as comprehensible as possible. Since their goal is to maintain the
appearance of similarity and equal status, sharing knowledge helps even the score. Their
tone of voice sends metamessages of support rather than disdain.
If a man focuses on the negotiation of status and feels someone must have the
upper hand, he may feel more comfortable when he has it. His attunement to the fact that
having more information, knowledge or skill puts him in a one-up position comes through in
his way of talking. And if sometimes men seem intentionally to explain in a way that makes
what they are explaining difficult to understand, it may be because their pleasant feeling of
superiority diminishes with every bit of knowledge the student gains. Or it may simply be
that they are more concerned with displaying their superior knowledge and skill than with
making sure that the knowledge is shared.
(Part III) A colleague familiar with my ideas remarked that he’d seen evidence of this
difference at an academic conference. A woman delivering a paper kept stopping and
asking the audience, “Are you with me so far?” My colleague surmised that her main
concern seemed to be that the audience understand what she was saying. When he gave
his paper, his main concern was that he not be put down by members of the audience —
and as far as he could tell, a similar preoccupation was motivating the other men presenting
papers as well.
(Part IV) This is not to say that women have no desire to feel knowledgeable or powerful.
Indeed, the act of asking others whether they are able to follow your argument can be seen
to frame you as superior. But it seems that having information, expertise, or skill at
manipulating objects is not the primary measure of power for most women. Rather, they
feel their power enhanced if they can be of help. Even more, if they are focusing on
connection rather than independence and self-reliance, they feel stronger when the
community is strong.

Text 8:3: MU
(Part I)
Until the Indian first laid eyes on these majestic peaks, no one had seen the Black Hills.
Beneath the towering granite spires lay undiscovered treasures of clear streams, deep
forests, and boundless wildlife. To the Indian, this is where the Great Spirit lived.
In 1874, General George Custer led the 7th Cavalry on a scientific expedition into the
Black Hills. His mission was to confirm the growing speculations of gold. After traveling
across the rolling Dakota prairie, Custer and his men were welcomed by the splendor of
these mystical mountains. From their camp near the present day city of Custer, they found
a wealth beyond gold: the enduring beauty of the Hills.
(Part II)
With the discovery of gold, a steady flow of eager prospectors began to fill the French
Creek valley. Following them were the businessmen, laborers, and professionals that would
build the nearby city of Custer. From its beginning, Custer was designed to accommodate
visitors. The streets were wide enough to turn a wagon train around. Today, those same
wide streets are lined with some of the best motels and restaurants in the Black Hills.
(Part III)
Make Custer the center of your vacation and see the Hills from here. It’s just a short
drive to every major attraction in western South Dakota. Mount Rushmore is only minutes
away and nearby, the carving of Crazy Horse is in progress. Experience the vast beauty of
the Black Hills National Forest. Explore the deep mysteries of Wind Cave National Park and
Jewel Cave National Monument. Climb the scenic heights of Harney Peak and the Needles
Highway. Then, it’s back to Custer. Tomorrow is another adventurous day in the Hills.
Get a close-up view of nature in Custer State Park. Wander through a mountain meadow
and see one of the world’s largest free-roaming herds of buffalo. Camp along a pristine
stream or lake and catch a feisty trout. Hike into the forest and spot bighorn sheep and
mountain goats. Seasons may change, but in Custer, the beauty and excitement never ends.

TEXT TYPES 131
Worksheet 7:
Texts 7 and 8, above, have been divided into several parts. Identify the text type
of each of the isolated parts in each text. Then, draw a conclusion regarding the
predominant communicative function of each text as a whole, and assign it a single
text type.
Text 7: Expository Argumentative Instructive Text 8: Expository Argumentative Instructive
Part I Part I
Part II Part II
Part III Part III
Part IV Text as
Text as a whole
a whole

IX COHESION AND COHERENCE
TASK 1: COHESIVE CHAINS
Worksheet 1:
In texts one and two below, certain words and phrases are in italics. The
italicized words and phrases are listed below each text. In the spaces provided to
their right, indicate the words or concepts to which each of these words or phrases
specifically refers within the text.
(Time: 3 minutes)
Text 1:3: M
Fruit flies are among the most sexually proficient creatures on earth. Their ability to
produce a new generation in two weeks has made them the darlings of genetics
researchers for nearly a century. Put a male fruit fly into a bottle with a female, and he
doesn’t waste any time before getting down to business.
1. their__________ 2. them ______________ 3. he___________

Text 2:3: M
If Elvis Presley’s hips could rattle American society in the 50’s, can his spirit shake up
the world of academia in the 90’s?
That is the question being asked this week at the University of Mississippi at Oxford,
which is host to the First Annual International Conference on Elvis Presley. In these days of
merger mania, the conference is seeking a new kind of synergy, between education and
entertainment. The six-day event will feature concerts by top gospel and blues performers.
1. his _________________ 2. that ______________ 3. which__________
4. the conference ______________ 5. The six-day event_________________
Worksheet 2:
Read texts 3, 4 and 5, below, and follow the instructions after each one.
(Time: 5 minutes)
Text 3:
The United States in the 1890’s became more aggressive, expansionistic, and jingoistic
than it had been since the 1850s. In less than five years, we came to the brink of war with
Italy, Chile, and Great Britain over three minor incidents in which no American national
interest of major importance was involved. In each of these incidents, our secretary of
state was highly aggressive, and the American people applauded. During these years, we
completely overhauled our decrepit Navy, building fine new warships like the Maine. The
martial values of Napoleon, the imperial doctrines of Rudyard Kipling, and the naval
theories of Captain Alfred T. Mahan all enjoyed a considerable vogue.
The author of Text 3 uses the pronouns “we” and “our” several times. To whom
is he referring with these pronouns? What does this indicate about the author?

COHESION AND COHERENCE 135
Text 4:3:
A Most Unquiet Pawn. Harry Wu, 58, was in the right place at the right time this year.
After slipping into China to investigate labor abuses, the U.S. citizen was arrested, then let
go so that Hillary Clinton could attend the U.N. women’s conference in Beijing. As Christmas
neared, the human-rights activist urged a boycott of made-in-China toys and holiday lights,
warning consumers they could be buying blood and tears.
In the preceding paragraph, find as many direct references to Harry Wu as you

can and underline them.
Text 5:3:
CAIRO: Flogged Physician. Cairenes are horrified — and humiliated — by the brutal
punishment meted out to an Egyptian national by Saudi officials. Last June, Dr. Mohamed
Kamel Khalifa, an Egyptian internist practicing in Saudi Arabia, complained that his son,
Ahmed, 7, had been sexually abused by his headmaster. In response, Saudi officials
charged Kamel with slander and sentenced him to 45 days in jail and 200 lashes. Ahmed
and his mother escaped to Egypt, where a forensic examination found evidence that Ahmed
had been raped. Last week, despite appeals by human-rights officials, Kamel was lashed 80
times in front of 2,000 jeering onlookers, then flown home.
The text above describes a case of flogging. List as many direct references as you
can find to 1) the victim of the flogging and 2) the victim’s son. In case of repeated
references, specify how many times a given reference appears in the text.
TASK 2: LE

TASK 2: LEXICAL COHESION
Text 6:3:HESION
Skim the following text to form a general idea of its contents. Next, follow the
instructions provided below to complete worksheet 3.
Leaving Little to Chants
L
The Benedictine hitmakers are back with
black-robed Benedictine monks — the
ecclesiastical equivalent of putting a Yale man on
a new album — and a spat over money.

the cover of the Harvard yearbook. Then, as
Chant’s sales took off, an overeager EMI
executive flew to Silos to talk to the monks about
By DAVID E. THIGPEN a follow-up album. Suspicious of the machinery
ife for the singing monks of Santo Domingo of stardom — and the private helicopter
de Silos has never been the same since they whirring overhead — the monks greeted the
became recording stars. Last year Chant, their executive through a peephole in the monastery’s
Latin-language recording of medieval Gregorian front door and told him to hit the road. “That
sung prayer, achieved the nearest thing to a made them very cross,” recalls Buruaga.
record-industry miracle: it ascended to No. 3 on But what really ruffled the monk’s cowls was
the U.S. pop music charts, lodging next to hits by EMI’s insistence on holding them to a contract
Snoop Doggy Dogg and Nine Inch Nails. Soon the the Benedictines had signed 30 years ago with
ancient walls of their remote monastery in Hispavox Records, which EMI later bought out.
northern Spain were besieged by tourists and That agreement entitled them to only a flat
paparazzi. Even more troubling, the monks came $1,500 per record, though a small royalty was
to feel that their record company had given them added later. “The monks say they were paid
a raw deal. legally,” says musicologist Alejandro Masso,
Though Chant sold 6 million copies who produced their new album, “but they also
worldwide and grossed more than $50 million say they could have been paid more elegantly.”
for EMI Records (whose stars range from “Ridiculous,” responds EMI executive Steve
Sinéad O’Connor to Digable Planets), Laurentino Murphy. He asserts that the monks have
de Buruaga, the group’s choirmaster, complains received “substantial” royalties in excess of
that the monks have earned a paltry $40,000 $40,000, adding that Buruaga is not privy to
from it — hardly enough to patch the leaky roof details of the contract. “That,” Masso retorts,
over their medieval cloister. In response, the “is like telling a cardinal he doesn’t know the
monks have followed the example of secular business of the church.” Murphy accuses Milan
recording stars from time immemorial: they’ve Records of fomenting the dispute for “publicity
switched labels. Their new CD, The Soul of Chant, purposes” and says EMI will release another
was released last month by Milan Records, a album of the monks’ music soon.
smaller classical label. The Soul of Chant, in any event, has risen to
According to Buruaga, Chant was a No. 10 on the U.S. classical charts — not a
disenchanting experience for the monks even blockbuster like Chant, but enough to make
before it soared on the charts. First, EMI Milan chairman Emmanuel Camboredon rejoice.
blundered by putting a painting of brown-robed Signing the robed hitmakers, he says, was a
Franciscan friars on the CD’s cover instead of “gift of God.”

Worksheet 3:
1. In the space provided for you below, list all the words and expressions you can
find in text 6 which may be associated with the worlds of religion, on the one
hand, and music, business and the recording industry, on the other.
Religion Recording Industry, Music

& Business
2. Observe the use of the words “cross” and “cowls” in the phrases “That made them
very cross” (par. 3) and “what really ruffled the monks’ cowls” (par. 4).
Can you say anything about the writer’s choice of words in these instances?
Could other words have been chosen here?
Can you find any similar examples of clever lexical choice in the final paragraph
of the article?

TASK 3: COMBINING COHESIVE DEVICES
Worksheet 4:
The following is a text which has been divided up into individual sentences. The
sentences are out of order. Use the blanks provided to the left of each sentence to
place the sentences in the correct order, in such a way that they form a logically
sequenced and coherent text. The initial sentence of the text has been marked for
you.
__1__ Most children want to know the “dirty words” almost as soon as they begin to
study another language.
_____ People in the American speech community “talk dirty” for many reasons.
_____An interest in these words continues unabated into adult life, even though the
American speech community has placed social sanctions against their use in most public
places, particularly those where “ladies” are present.
_____Closely related to this reason is another: to display the speaker’s contempt for the
standards that his society upholds.
_____Finally, talking dirty is a way to sexually mock authority figures—parents, teachers,

clergymen, policemen, political leaders — thereby relieving the speaker of his own
feelings of inadequacy.
_____One of them, of course, is to attract attention to the speaker because of the jolting
effect of obscenity in places, such as public forums and the media, considered
inappropriate.
_____Further, militants of every persuasion have shown that talking dirty is an effective
rhetorical device for verbal aggression, an easy way to provoke confrontations.
_____Such a speaker often regards civil speech as the behavior of those who uphold the
status quo, whereas talking dirty is a symbol of “honest” rebellion against the power
structure.

Worksheet 5:
Circle all elements participating in cohesive ties in the text below, and draw
arrows to indicate the connections between the elements you have circled.
Underline any discourse linkers you find.
Most children want to know the “dirty words” almost as soon as they begin to study
another language. An interest in these words continues unabated into adult life, even
though the American speech community has placed social sanctions against their use in
most public places, particularly those where “ladies” are present. People in the American
speech community “talk dirty” for many reasons. One of them, of course, is to attract
attention to the speaker because of the jolting effect of obscenity in places such as public
forums and the media, considered inappropriate. Closely related to this reason is another:
to display the speaker’s contempt for the standards that his society upholds. Such a
speaker often regards civil speech as the behavior of those who uphold the status quo,
whereas talking dirty is a symbol of “honest” rebellion against the power structure. Further,
militants of every persuasion have shown that talking dirty is an effective rhetorical device
for verbal aggression, an easy way to provoke confrontations. Finally, talking dirty is a way
to sexually mock authority figures—parents, teachers, clergymen, policemen, political
leaders — thereby relieving the speaker of his own feelings of inadequacy.

TASK 4: COMPARISON AND CONTRAST
Worksheet 6:
Read Texts 7 and 8, below, and follow the instructions given in each case.
Text 7:3:HE
1) Both slander and libel are false and malicious statements
2) that are made about a living person and that tend to bring the
3) subject into public hatred, ridicule, or contempt, or to injure the
4) subject in his or her business or occupation. But the methods of
5) such defamation are different. Slander is spoken in the
6) presence of a third person. Libel, on the other hand, is expressed
7) in print, writing, pictures, or signs, or, with the advent of radio
8) and television, broadcast.
1. As a text characterized by a comparison/contrast structure, the passage above

discusses the similarities and differences to be observed in two separate
concepts, in this case, the notions of slander and libel. Locate the fragments of
the text in which these similarities and differences are discussed, the line
numbers to which they correspond, and fill in the blanks provided below.
Similarities: Lines .
Differences: Lines .
2. Now, complete the chart below by filling in the corresponding information regarding
similarities and differences between slander and libel as outlined in the text.
Common features Distinguishing features

Slander
Libel

3. Listed below are the linking devices which have been underlined in the text for
you. In the space provided to the right of each one, state whether the linking
device in question has a comparative or contrastive function.
But: ___________________________________
on the other hand: _______________________
Text 8:3:HE
1) In the last stage of their metamorphosis a butterfly and a
2) moth emerge from a cocoon, to begin life as an adult insect.
3) Both have a sucking mouthpart, a slender body, ropelike antennae,
4) and four scaly wings. However, moths are typically smaller than
5) butterflies, their wings are usually not as brightly colored, and
6) the tips of their antennae are simple or feathery rather than
7) knobbed. Most butterflies fly from flower to flower by day,
8) feeding on nectar, whereas most moths do so by night.
1. The preceding passage outlines the similarities and differences to be found in

butterflies and moths. Locate the fragments of the text in which these
similarities and differences are discussed, the line numbers to which they
correspond, and fill in the blanks provided below.
Similarities: Lines .
Differences: Lines .
2. Now, complete the chart below by filling in the corresponding information regarding
similarities and differences between butterflies and moths as outlined in the text.
Common features Distinguishing features

Butterflies
Moths

3. The linking words and phrases underlined in the text have been listed for you
below. In the space provided next to each word or phrase, state whether the
function of each is comparative or contrastive.
Both: ________________________
However: _____________________
rather than: __________________
Both...and:____________________
whereas:______________________
Worksheet 7:
1. Compare texts 7 and 8. Are the order in which similarities and differences are discussed
the same?
2. Compare the linking devices used in texts 7 and 8. Are they the same or similar?
3. Review texts 7 and 8 to determine how the different features of slander and libel, on the
one hand, and moths and butterflies, on the other, are presented. What grammatical
device does text 8 use which is not present in text 7?

Text 9:3:HE
Read the text below and then proceed to Worksheet 8, below.
What do Americans instinctively revere more than wealth, beauty, or Häagen-

Dazs? Newness. Meet an American for the first time, and he’s likely to greet you
with, “So, what’s new?” He wants more than a general progress report. One small
part of him means it literally, expecting an answer like, “Well, I’ve got a new
Chevy / lover / food processor.” In America, new is good. Americans are the
world’s greatest believers in progress. Life gets better all the time — or should.
They expect a seventy-year crescendo, starting at not-so-hot and rising to terrific.
Nothing will convince a True American (even an elderly one) that “things were
better ‘way back when.’” They point in evidence at the history of modern
medicine: once there was smallpox, now there isn’t. Old things can be treated
with a certain irreverence, since something better is always just around the corner.
America is still new — still warm and gently throbbing — and so are the most
desirable things in it. Over much of the country new property attracts a higher
price than old, new shopping malls snatch customers form “old” haunts as soon
as they cut the ribbon on the parking lot. New products are greeted with
enthusiasm, since advanced versions always include “improvements.” No point
in clinging grimly to the past, or we’d never have traded gramophones for color
TVs or headaches for aspirin.
The British, on the other hand, are sure that life — and the simple passage of
time — does not presuppose progress. At best, there are large flat areas. There’s
little proof that things get better, and a great deal of evidence to suggest the
opposite. Look at architecture: Victorians built better houses than we do. Look
at sportsmanship: it was fairer play before they invented steroids. Look at AIDS.
That’s new.
True Brits loathe newness and display a profound fear of change. They see
modern life as increasingly uncertain, events as random, and “untried” ideas as
undesirable. Even small changes can cause Brit-trauma, with the nation shaken
to its roots at suggestions that traditional red phone boxes be painted yellow. Far
better to preserve the status quo, to hope that custom and ritual will somehow
counter the capriciousness of fate. (Britain is the heartland of “We’ve Always
Done it This Way.”) Conclusion: Change nothing unless forced. Remember that
God usually gets it right the first time.

Worksheet 8:
Complete the diagram below with information from Text 9.
Phenomena discussed Common features Distinguishing features
TASK 5: DEFINITION AND CLASSIFICATION
Text 10:
Skim the text below and place the words in italics in the appropriate boxes in the
corresponding diagram in Worksheet 9.
Billiards is, essentially, a game played with small, hard balls on a rectangular table covered
with cloth (usually green baize) and having raised, cushioned edges. Using the tip of a long,
tapering stick called a cue, the players try to strike a certain ball (the cue ball) in such a
way as to drive it into one or more of the other balls.
Of the many variations of billiards, Americans are most familiar with pool, or pocket
billiards. Two ordinarily play this game, which requires a table with six pockets. Besides a
white cue ball, there are 15 colored and numbered object balls. Each player drives the cue
ball against one or more object balls in an attempt to knock as many of these as possible
into the pockets. He or she scores points for each pocketed object ball, but loses both
points and a turn if the cue ball drops into a pocket or leaves the table.
Eight ball is a form of pool in which a player or side immediately loses the game by
inadvertently pocketing the number-8 ball before pocketing all the other assigned object balls.
Thus, the slang expression “behind the eight ball” to convey the notion of being in an unfavorable
position (as in “Losing my wallet just before Christmas put me behind the eight ball”).
Snooker, another form of pool, is played with a white cue ball, 15 red object balls, and
6 object balls of different colors, to which various point values are assigned. Each player
must pocket a red ball before pocketing a ball of any other color; then, with all the colored
balls back on the table, he or she tries to pocket them in order of their point values. In
snookering an opponent, a player leaves a ball between the cue ball and the object ball,
thus making a direct shot impossible. The verb “snooker” has taken on several informal
and slang senses, including “to thwart or defeat” (“Supporters of Shoeless Joe Jackson

felt snookered by a qualification on the Hall of Fame ballot”) and “to deceive” (“Many an
investor has been snookered by a fast-talking broker”).
In carom billiards, the table has no pockets and only three balls (a cue ball and two
others) are used. Each player tries to strike the cue ball so that it will carom, or bounce,
off a cushion or an object ball. In most forms of this game a player scores by successively
striking the two object balls.
Worksheet 9:
Text 11:
Do the same as before. Note, however, that here, in Worksheet 10, the key words
to be placed in the diagram have not been highlighted for you.
You have two adrenal glands, one on top of each kidney. Each adrenal gland has two parts.
One part of the gland is the medulla, or central core, and the other part is the cortex, or
outer layer.
The medulla produces two hormones, epinephrine and norepinephrine. These
hormones play an important part in controlling your heart rate and blood pressure and
your body’s response to stress. Signals from your brain stimulate the adrenal glands to
begin producing these hormones.
The adrenal cortex produces three groups of corticosteroid hormones. The hormones
in one group control the concentration and balance of various chemicals in your body. For
example, they prevent the loss into the urine of too much sodium and water. The most
important hormone in this group is aldosterone. The hormones in the second group have a
number of functions. One is helping to convert carbohydrates, or starches, into energy-
providing glycogen in your liver. Hydrocortisone is the main hormone in this group. The
third group consists of male hormones called androgens and female hormones called
estrogen and progesterone; these hormones influence sexual development.

Worksheet 10:

Text 12:
Do the same as for texts 10 and 11, except that here you will need to complete
the unfinished diagram provided in Worksheet 11.
Indo-European languages, large family of languages spoken throughout most of Europe

and much of Asia and descended from a hypothetical common ancestor, Proto-Indo-
European, extant more than 5,000 years ago. There are 2 main branches: the Eastern, with
6 main groups, and Western, with 4. The Eastern branch includes the extinct Anatolian and
Tocharian groups, as well as Albanian, Armenian, Balto-Slavic, and Indo-Iranian (with its
important sub-group, the Indo-Aryan languages). The Western branch includes Celtic,
Greek, Romance or Italic (Latin and the languages derived from it), and Teutonic or
Germanic (one of which is English).
Worksheet 11:
Proto-Indo-European
Text 13:
Do the same as for the preceding three texts, except that here you must create
your own diagram from scratch under the heading “Worksheet 12”.
Insecticide, any substance toxic to insects and used to control them in situations where
they cause economic damage or endanger the health of humans and their domestic
animals. There are 3 main types: stomach insecticides, which are ingested by the insects
with their food; contact insecticides, which penetrate the cuticle (exterior covering); and

fumigant insecticides, which are inhaled. Stomach insecticides are often used to control
chewing insects like caterpillars and sucking insects like aphids. They may be applied to a
plant prior to attack and remain active in or on the plant for a considerable time. They must
be used with considerable caution on food plants or animal forage. Examples include
arsenic compounds, which remain on the leaf, and organic compounds, which are
absorbed by the plant and transported to all its parts (systemic insecticides). Contact
insecticides include the plant products nicotine, derris, and pyrethrum, which are quickly
broken down, and synthetic compounds such as DDT (and other chlorinated
hydrocarbons), organophosphates (malathion, parathion) and carbamates.
Worksheet 12:

TASK 6: PROBLEM AND SOLUTION
In texts 14 and 15, below, locate the fragments which 1) explain a problem; 2)
provide a solution for that problem; 3) evaluate the solution; and 4) act as a general
conclusion to the texts. Next, fill in the charts provided for you in Worksheets 13 and 14.
Text 14:

Text 15:

Worksheet 13:
Refer to Text 14 to complete this chart.
Function of Text Fragment (Text 14) Initial Words Final Words
1. Exposition of Problem
2. Proposal of solution
3. Evaluation of
solution
4. Conclusion
Worksheet 14:
Refer to text 15 to complete this chart.
Function of Text Fragment (Text 15) Initial Words Final Words
5. Exposition of Problem
6. Proposal of solution
7. Evaluation of
solution
8. Conclusion

Text 16:
Invasion of the Habitat Snatchers

Exotic plants and animals are ruining America’s wilderness.
By the end of the year, well over 10 plants will be completely gone from places
million people will have traveled to like Haleakala National Park.
America’s national parks to see the few tiny Invading animals are also a difficult
patches of land that are still as pristine as problem. Rats have been hitching rides to
they were before Columbus landed, or so the islands for centuries, then escaping into
most believe. In fact, the National Park the forests where they feast on nesting
Service is coping with a growing problem birds and their eggs. Local authorities
that is partly nature’s doing but largely the imported mongooses to hunt the rats in
result of civilization’s subtle intrusions. Far 1883. But no one considered that
from being islands of primeval beauty, mongooses hunt in the early morning and
parks from Hawaii to North Carolina are early evening, when the rats are not out. So
being overrun with nonnative plants and the mongooses switched to birds,
animals, virtually all of them introduced, compounding the problem.
inadvertently or on purpose, by man. These In Great Smoky Mountains National
“exotic threats” have become, officials say, Park, the main culprits are wild boars,
the most serious danger facing the 323,750 descendents of animals imported to North
sq. km. (125,000 sq. mi.) national park Carolina in 1912 for hunting. The boars
system. weigh as much as 136 kg (300 lbs.), and,
The most dramatic threats are in says park official Joe Abrell, “tear up most
Hawaii, where the 900 indigenous plant everything in their paths.” Man is
species — some found nowhere else in the responsible as well for oriental bittersweet,
world — face new competition from a vine imported to control erosion. It is
another 900 species of nonnative plants, strangling trees. Says park resource
including banana poka and ornamental specialist Keith Langdon: “Once it gets a
ginger. The banana poka was imported in grasp on the land, it doesn’t relinquish it.”
the 1950s by a Japanese gardener, and has Another plant is overrunning parts of
since spread its vines over 16,200 hectares the Southwest, including the grand Canyon.
(40,000 acres). Other exotics were Introduced about 70 years ago to act as an
introduced in the 1930s in an attempt to erosion fighter and windbreak, the
conserve water and stem soil erosion. Now tamarisk tree has taken over about 81,000
biologists fear a time when the native hectares (2,000,000) acres), pushing out
native trees and threatening eight species

of birds that nest in them. The Grand Smaller animals are much harder to fight,
Canyon’s major animal offenders are and plants harder still. Herbicides kill too
burros; turned loose by prospectors indiscriminately, and bringing in new
generations ago, they have grown into exotic species to control the old is
vegetation-devouring herds. demonstrably dangerous. Rangers often
Large animals can be either killed or have to resort to chopping down or
removed, but that sometimes causes uprooting invading plants one by one, a
problems of another sort: a burro- holding action at best. In the end, park
shooting program at the Grand Canyon had officials — and visitors — will have to
to be halted after a public outcry. In accept that America’s wild lands will never
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, though, a return to their original state. The best that
population of 15,000 or so feral goats was can be done is to work hard to keep new
reduced to only 4, and in the Smokies the exotic threats from following on the heels
wild boar population has been pared. of the old.
Worksheet 15:
In text 16, above, locate the passages which reflect the basic structural elements
of its problem/solution pattern as listed below. In the space provided to the right of
each of these structural elements, write the number (1-6) of the paragraph in the text
where each may be found.
(Note: The relationship between structural elements and paragraphs is not always
one on one. That is, a paragraph may contain more than one of the structural
elements listed, in the same way that a structural element may be found in more than
one paragraph.)
STRUCTURAL ELEMENT PARAGRAPH NUMBER

1. General exposition of problem ______________________________________
2. Examples of problem ______________________________________________
3. Possible solutions to problem________________________________________
4. Evaluation of solutions _____________________________________________
5. Conclusion ______________________________________________________

Worksheet 16:
Now, answer the questions below about Text 16 briefly, and in your own words.
1. What is the basic problem being discussed in this text?
2. Which specific sites are mentioned in the text as examples of places where the
problem has been observed? List them.
3. List the specific problems which have been observed in each of the places you
have mentioned in your answer to question 2.
4. What solutions to the problems outlined in the text have been proposed or tested?
5. What are the drawbacks of the solutions offered so far?
6. Based on his assessment of the problem and evaluation of possible solutions, what
conclusion does the author reach regarding action to be taken in the future?

Worksheet 17:
Write a brief summary (approx. 100 words) of the main ideas in text 16. Make
sure to include each of the structural elements outlined in Worksheet 15.
TASK 7: THE ENGLISH PARAGRAPH

Worksheet 18:
Read through the paragraph below and indicate which sentences within it
correspond to:
1) the topic sentence__________________________________________________
2) developing sentences________________________________________________
3) summary or recapitulation sentence___________________________________
1) Being a freelance translator has its ups and downs. 2) On the one hand, a freelance
translator is his own boss, is answerable only to himself and to his client, and generally
enjoys the luxury of being able to work at home. 3) On the other hand, however, a freelance
translator often has periods during which he is obliged to work long, hard hours, perhaps
even through the night, in order to meet tight deadlines, and other periods during which
there is little work to be found, and consequently little input to his bank account. 4) All things
considered, the life of a freelance translator is neither a bed of roses nor a bed of nails.
Worksheet 19:
Write a paragraph of your own (100-150 words) containing all the component
parts exemplified in the previous text. As a topic, choose any profession you like
(e.g., movie star, bus driver, teacher, etc.)


TASK 8: THE PARAGRAPH AS A UNIT OF TEXTUAL COHESION
Text 17:
Read the following article and then go on to Worksheet 20, below.
ETHICS
BODIES OF EVIDENCE
A furor arises over the rights of the dead after a German university uses
cadavers in car test crashes
T
HE DETAILS WERE ANTISEPTIC YET CHILLING. the conscience,” seethed Vatican theologian
Perhaps the most appalling nicety was Gino Concetti, who expressed
bandaging the faces of the dead, so “uncontrollable indignation” over tests for
that researchers would not have to look into which there was “no moral justification.”
their eyes after the bodies were put through 3. Heidelberg researchers pointed out that
the automobile test crashes. How much the use of children’s corpses ended in 1989
indignity should human remains be allowed and that the tests had never been kept
to suffer — even for the cause of science? secret in the first place. One crash study
That ancient debate was renewed last week was even published by a research group
by the disclosure that Germany’s University representing 40 German automakers
of Heidelberg had, for the past two decades, including Daimler Benz, Volkswagen, Opel
wired electronic sensors to more than 200 and Ford. University officials quickly added
human corpses (including the bodies of that while adult bodies were supplied by
eight children), strapped them into cars and homeless people and organ donors,
hurled them at speeds of 48 km/h into children’s corpses were used only with the
walls, barriers and other vehicles. permission of families, who were fully
2. Society has always been reluctant to informed of what the tests would entail.
tolerate research on corpses, allowing it 4. Furthermore, Germans are not alone in
only when it serves to illuminate the testing corpses in car crashes. During the
unknown and improve medical science. But past 20 years, the French carmaker Renault
what if the purpose of desecrating the dead said about 450 corpses had been used in
is to learn how to make a better accident simulations in France. And since
Volkswagen? Germany’s largest automobile the 1940s, cadavers have been crash-tested
club, ADAC, denounced the experiments in the U.S. at the University of Virginia, the
with children’s bodies as ethically Medical College of Wisconsin and at
unacceptable. Even more vehement was the Detroit’s Wayne State University. General
Roman Catholic Church: “A repugnance to Motors and Ford continue to contribute 40%

of the $750,000 Wayne State receives each rate in the U.S. has decreased more than
year to conduct such tests. half. Much of that improvement is due to the
5. In Germany parents who were asked to introduction of such devices as seat belts,
donate their children’s bodies were at first air bags, safer windshields and stronger
appalled. But almost all subsequently gave doors — all of which were developed with
their permission when they learned that the aid of crash dummies. “My research
data from the crash tests are vital for with children’s corpses helps to save lives,”
constructing more than 120 types of Heidelberg researcher Dimitrios Kallieris
instrumented dummies, ranging in size from told the German newspaper Bild. “Anyone
infants to adults, that can simulate dozens who has seen smashed children in an
of human reactions in a crash. accident will understand what is at stake.”
6. Statistics, at least, seem to justify the
use of cadavers. Despite a nearly 75% —By Kevin Fedarko.
increase in the number of cars on the road Reported by Rhea Schoenthal/Bonn
during the past 20 years, the vehicle fatality and Joseph R. Szczesny/Detroit
Worksheet 20:
Provide a one-sentence summary of the contents of each paragraph in Text 17.
1. ________________________________________________________________
2. ________________________________________________________________
3. ________________________________________________________________
4. ________________________________________________________________
5. ________________________________________________________________
6. ________________________________________________________________
Worksheet 21:
Now, use your six summary sentences to compose a cohesive and coherent
summary of text 17 as a whole.
Note: you will need to provide links between the sentences and eliminate any
possible redundancies.

X GENRES
TASK 1: RECIPES
Texts 1 through 6 are recipes you will need to consult to complete Worksheets 1-
5, below.
Text 1:
STIR-FRIED PINEAPPLE CHICKEN
1/2 lb. boned chicken sesame oil (optional)

1 lb. can pineapple tidbits (drained) 1 tsp. brandy
peanut oil 1 tsp. soy sauce
chicken broth or stock 1 tsp. sugar
cornstarch salt
Cut chicken into thin slices. Heat several tablespoons of oil in bottom of wok. Add
pineapple, several dashes of salt and enough broth to cover. Cook for 1 minute. Add chicken
and cornstarch, diluted in water, sesame oil, brandy, soy sauce and sugar to make a thick
paste. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Serve. Makes 4 generous servings.

Text 2:
Meat Loaf
Preheat oven to 350º. Mix with a fork. Mold into a loaf. Roll it in:
Place in bowl:
1 lb. ground round steak 1/4 cup cracker crumbs
1 to 2 tablespoons horseradish
2 tablespoons catsup Place the loaf in a shallow baking pan.
1 teaspoon salt Pour into the pan:
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon cream 1/2 cup stock
Grind in a food chopper then add:
6 slices bacon Bake the loaf for about 11/2 hours. Baste
2 medium-sized onions occasionally, adding more liquid,
1 cup broken-up crackers if necessary.

GENRES 161
Text 3:
B eef
________________________
Stroganoff
Imperiale
________________________
SERVES 4 TO 6
Like coq au vin and boeuf bourguignonne, adornments that are generally thought to
beef stroganoff was the gourmet’s separate Epicurean from plebeian food.
antidote to the stark dryness of many Of all the sloppy dishes favored by
traditional American specialties (fried connoisseurs of continental cuisine, beef
chicken, grilled steak, baked ham). stroganoff was one of the most elegant,
Epicures, so this logic goes, want their for the simple reason that sour cream
food to be juicy and luscious, the meat makes everything seem deluxe. Another
cosseted in a rich gravy and accompanied reason for beef stroganoff’s popularity —
by bouquets of vegetables and at home as well as in continental
fulminations of spice. How much more restaurants — is that it is so easy to
sensuous it was to slurp a high-spirited make. The easiest recipes simply sauté
stew than to saw at a sauceless, and slices of filet mignon, then mix sour cream
hence puritanical, piece of meat! Nearly with pan juices; this version, adapted from
every significant “continental” dish The Playboy Gourmet, creates a genial
provides the eater with plenty of gravy, stew that is somewhat less elegant, but all
melted cheese, and other moist the more cozy for a winter’s eve.
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 pounds lean top sirloin, cut into 1-inch squares, _ inch thick
1/2 pound fresh mushrooms, washed and sliced
1/4 cup minced onion
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 teaspoon dried chervil
3 tablespoons flour
2 cups beef broth
2 tablespoons minced parsley
2 tablespoons tomato paste
11/2 cups sour cream
Salt and pepper
Heat the oil in a stew pot and add the beef. Sauté over medium heat until browned. Add
mushrooms, onion, garlic, and chervil and sauté until onion is limp. Sprinkle flour onto
the beef, stirring well as you sprinkle it on. Stir in beef broth. Add parsley. Partially cover
and simmer 2 hours, stirring occasionally. Stir in tomato paste. Remove from heat and
add sour cream. Season to taste. Stroganoff may be chilled and reheated, but do not boil
after adding sour cream. Serve over buttered noodles
Text 4:
Breakfast Salad
I am a chewer rather than a drinker so
I have never been content with drinking 1/2 avocado, peeled
fruit juice, drinking milk, etc. for a meal. I 1/2 apricot, fresh or canned
like to sit and move my jaws. It’s relaxing. 1/4 cup alfalfa sprouts
There is plenty of protein in this 1/4 cup cooked garbanzo beans
breakfast salad. If you are on a non-salt or 2 tablespoons yogurt
low-salt diet you can omit the cottage 1 tablespoon cashew nut pieces
cheese, which is really very salty (I’d like to
see cottage cheese made with less salt) Mound cottage cheese on avocado half.
and use a low-salt cheese or tofu. Place sprouts and garbanzos around center
The avocado and the alfalfa sprouts are mound. Add the yogurt and cashew nut
the raw ingredients. I like to eat something pieces last. Serves one.
raw with each meal.
Text 5:
POACHED EGGS WITH HASH BROWNS
Serves 4 1. Bring a pan of salted water to the
Preparation: 20 min boil and cook potatoes for 15 min or until
Cooking: 25 min just tender. Drain and coarsely mash. Pan
_________________________________ fry onions in 1 tsp of oil until softened. Stir
675 g (1 and _ lbs.) potatoes, peeled into potato with 2 egg yolks and season
_________________________________ well. Divide mixture into 8 and shape into
1 spring onion, finely chopped patties. Put on a baking sheet and freeze
_________________________________ for 15 min.
1 small onion, finely chopped 2. Heat half the remaining oil in a non-
_________________________________ stick frying pan and fry 4 of the hash
4 tbsp sunflower oil browns over high heat for 3-5 min on each
_________________________________ side or until deep golden. keep warm while
6 medium eggs cooking remaining hash browns in rest of
_________________________________ oil. Bring a large pan of water to the boil;
Salt and freshly ground black pepper stir in vinegar. Crack remaining 4 eggs into
_________________________________ water, cover and simmer for 2-3 min.
1/2 tsp. vinegar 3. Lift eggs out with a slotted spoon.
_________________________________ Serve with hash browns and crispy bacon
on hot plates.

GENRES 163
Text 6:
_____________________________________
Manhattan Clam Chowder
_____________________________________
This classic is ideal for a low cholesterol meal or soup course. A spicier version can be
made by adding a few drops of Tabasco® sauce.
1 onion, chopped fine

2 cups diced white potatoes
1/2 cup water
1 quart clams, finely chopped, with their liquid
3 cups diced tomatoes
1/2 cup finely chopped green pepper with seeds
2 cups defatted fish stock or water
1/2 cup white wine
For Garnish:
Chopped scallions
Freshly chopped parsley
Serve each portion in a shallow dish with one whole steamed clam or steamed large
mussel in shell in center of soup.
Simmer onions and potatoes covered in small amount of water for 10 minutes. (Add
more water if necessary.) Add clams and clam liquid and simmer for 5 to 8 minutes. Add
everything else and simmer for 10 minutes more.
Clam chowder is one of the few dishes that is better refrigerated overnight, then
reheated and eaten the next day. Reheat it, garnish with scallions, parsley, or a hot whole
clam or mussel in the shell.
Per Serving: 50 mg. cholesterol; less than 1 gm. saturated fat.

164
Worksheet 1:
As examples of a highly conventionalized genre, the recipes you have been given to analyze share a series of common
features. Nevertheless, some differences may also be observed in these recipes. In the boxes provided in the chart below,
write “YES” or “NO” to indicate whether or not the features outlined are included in each recipe. In case of a “YES”
answer, roughly indicate the part or parts of the recipe in which the feature is included (beginning, end or body of the
recipe). An example has been given to get you started.
Title? List of Instructions for Preparation or Number of Commentary? Nutritional

ingredients? preparation? cooking time? servings? information?
Recipe 1
Recipe 2

JUSTINE BREHM CRIPPS
Recipe 3 Yes, middle
Recipe 4
Recipe 5
Recipe 6
Worksheet 2:
Titles. The titles of the six recipes are listed in the chart below. Write ‘YES’ or ‘NO’ in the boxes provided to indicate
whether or not each of the titles displays the features mentioned. In case of a ‘YES’ answer, indicate the part of the title
which reflects the corresponding feature. An example has been provided in the first box to get you started.
Indications Indications Indications Indications Foreign words?

regarding regarding mode regarding regarding origin
ingredients? of preparation? appropriate time of recipe?
for consumption?
Stir-fried YES
Pineaple pineapple,
Chicken chicken
Meat Loaf
GENRES

Beef Stroganoff
Imperiale
Breakfast
Salad
Poached Eggs
with Hash
Browns
Manhattan
Clam
Chowder
165
Worksheet 3:
1. Commentaries: Now, compare the commentaries included in those recipes
which do feature commentary. Are the commentaries all of the same kind? What
type of information does each commentary provide?
2. Ingredients: Review the list of ingredients featured in each recipe. List any
measurements and abbreviations you find. Where abbreviations are given, use the
information provided in other recipes to find their full-form equivalents. Finally,
state what you believe is unusual about the measurements provided in Recipe 5.
Worksheet 4:
GRAMMAR: Refer to the instructions for preparation provided in Recipe 3 to
answer the questions below.
1. With what part of speech do most of the sentences begin? Are the sentences
simple or complex? (Do they contain a variety of conjunctions?)
2. List all the verbs you find in the instructions provide in the recipe and identify
the grammatical form of each one. What is the verb form most commonly used?
3. Underline all the articles (definite or indefinite) you can find in the instructions.
What is unusual about the use of articles in the recipe?
4. Underline all the pronouns you can find in the article.
5. Examine the sentences below. Refer to the original recipe to answer the questions
in parentheses next to each sentence.
a) Sauté over medium heat until browned. (Sauté what?)

b) Add mushrooms, onion, garlic and chervil and sauté until onion is limp. (Add
to what? Sauté what?)
c) Stir in beef broth. (Stir into what?)
d) Partially cover and simmer 2 hours, stirring occasionally. (Cover, simmer and
stir what?)
e) Serve over buttered noodles. (Serve what?)

GENRES 167
Worksheet 5:
Vocabulary. Find definitions for the words listed below in:
1) a general bilingual English/Spanish dictionary

2) a general monolingual English dictionary
Refer to the recipes indicated to confirm that the definitions you have found make
sense in context.
Recipe 1: boned, tidbit, broth, stock, cornstarch, wok, paste
Recipe 2: round steak, horseradish, crackers, loaf , baste
Recipe 3: sirloin, chervil, sauté, limp, sprinkle, simmer, season, chill, sour cream
Recipe 4: tofu, cottage cheese, alfalfa, cashew, mound
Recipe 5: poach, chop, mash, has browns
Recipe 6: chowder, tabasco, dice, scallion, garnish
TASK 2: HEADLINES
Please read the information in the box below.
THE VOCABULARY OF HEADLINES

As a device intended both to save space and make an impact on the potential reader,
newspaper headlines often use short, dramatic or colloquial-sounding words to replace the
lengthier, more formal-sounding or simply more common ones which would be used in
other types of writing. Here are some sample headlines containing a few of these typical
“headline words”:
• PRESIDENT AXES AID TO FLOOD VICTIMS (axe = to stop, do away with, put an end to )
• GREENS BACK TAX CUTS FOR UNWED MOTHERS (back = to support)
• JUDGE BARS MEDIA AT MURDER TRIAL (bar = to prohibit)

• REALITY SHOWS SEE RISE IN BIDS TO PARTICIPATE (bid = attempt)

• BLAST KILLS FOUR (blast = explosion)
• BLAZE DESTROYS STUDENT RESIDENCE (blaze = fire)
• SCHOOLS BOOST PHYSICAL FITNESS (boost = encourage, promote)
• LEADERS CLASH ON OIL TANKER DISASTER (clash = disagree)
• NEW LAWS TO CURB PROSTITUTION (curb = limit)
• RUSSIAN GEMS ON EXHIBIT (gems = jewels)
• SHARON STONE TO HEAD ANTI-WAR PROTEST (head = preside over, lead)
• BANK HEIST CLAIMS TWO VICTIMS (heist = robbery)
• TORNADO HITS MIDLANDS (hit = strike, affect adversely)
• GOVERNMENT MOVES TO CUT VIOLENCE (move = step /to step towards a desired end)
• HOSTAGE ORDEAL ENDS IN TRAGEDY (ordeal = painful experience, complicated situation)
• OPPOSITION MOVES TO OUST PRESIDENT (oust = push out, remove)
• PLEA FOR PEACE MOBILIZES MILLIONS (plea = request)
• UNIONS PLEDGE TO STRIKE IN MAY (pledge = promise/to promise)
• OPPOSITION SEES TAX CUT AS RE-ELECTION PLOY (ploy = clever step towards a desired end)
• TORY LEADER UNDER PRESSURE, QUITS (quit = to leave, to resign)
• PEACE TALKS TO BEGIN ON MONDAY (talks = discussions, generally political)
• TERRORIST THREAT DELAYS THREE FLIGHTS (threat = danger)
• MAYOR VOWS TO REDUCE LOCAL PROSTITUTION (vow = promise / to promise)
• PRINCE TO WED JOURNALIST (wed = to marry)
Please read the information in the box below.
THE GRAMMAR OF HEADLINES

Like the English used for instructions in recipes, the language of English headlines is
typically described as “telegraphic”. Again, this type of telegraphic language is used for
the purpose of saving space, but also with a view to making headlines easier to read at a
glance. The telegraphic effect is achieved by making alterations in everyday English
grammar as shown below.
1. Verbal expressions are simplified in the following manner:

a) The verb “to be” is generally omitted.
b) Future tenses are replaced by the infinitive.
c) Past tenses are replaced by the simple present.
d) Auxiliaries in compound tenses (perfects and progressives)are omitted.
2. Articles (both definite and indefinite) are eliminated wherever unnecessary to

comprehension.

GENRES 169
Worksheet 6:
HEADLINES TO NON-HEADLINES
Change the following headlines into “normal” language (full sentences). Use the
information on grammar in headlines you have received to help you.
1. Opposition claims government responsible for crisis.

2. Man on moon!
3. War declared!
4. Mad cow disease probe imminent
5. Immigrants attacked by angry mob
6. Enrique Iglesias to sing in Lima
7. Stars protest war
Worksheet 7:
HEADLINE PLAY
Yet another typical feature of English headlines is the frequent use of wordplay (puns) and
intertextual references. (This of course is another attention-getting device.) Here are some
examples of puns in actual newspaper headlines. Try to identify and explain them. Use your
dictionary to help you find double meanings.
1. ON-JOB FITNESS CENTERS CAN WORK OUT TO BE SMART BUSINESS

2. PRESIDENT AIMS TO SNUFF OUT TEEN TOBACCO USE
3. GORILLA PEN APES JUNGLE’S CHALLENGE
4. ABSENCES PUT BRAKES ON RAILWAY
5. FBI HOPES FILM FOOTAGE WILL REEL IN BANK BANDIT
6. ENGLISH: A MILLION-SCHOLAR INDUSTRY

Worksheet 8:
Now, create your own headlines with the information below.
STORIES TO HEADLINES
1. A security guard saw a group of aliens with their spaceship land on the UCLA
campus last night.
2. Due to their dissatisfaction regarding working conditions, American railway

workers are planning a strike for the upcoming month of May.
3. Vienna. An undetonated bomb was found in the produce section of a local

supermarket this morning following an anonymous call to police, who were
unable to prevent the spread of panic among shoppers before proceeding to
disarm the device.
4. Administrators at Lepe University have found an unusual solution to the

problem of students whose names are spelled with the Spanish letter ‘Ñ’.
Because this letter cannot be reproduced by their computer printers,
administrators have decided to refuse to allow students with the problem letter
in their names to register at the university.

GENRES 171
TASK 3: NEWS STORIES
Text 7:
Okapi – victim of the opera

by Cath Mersh in became nervous and nervous animal, and others
COPENHAGEN and started to pace around. in the pen did not react to
Michael Bond Then she collapsed. We the music. If loud music
____________________ think the high notes were hadn’t killed it then it could
causing her stress. It was have died from another
AN OPEN-AIR concert of the first time this has noise, like thunder.”
Wagner’s Tannhäuser, happened during all the Katanda’s mate and her
performed by the Royal years the national seven-month-old calf
Danish Orchestra in orchestra has been staging survived the ordeal.
Copenhagen, was dubbed concerts in the park.” The okapi is related to the
the highlight of the The incident took place as giraffe but looks more like
summer by Denmark’s the musicians were trying a zebra. It is found only in
opera enthusiasts. their top notes in sound the equatorial rainforests
But for Katanda, an okapi tests before their annual of Zaire. It lives off leaves,
in nearby Copenhagen Zoo, concert of opera music in roots and seeds, stripping
it all proved too much. In a Sondermarken Park on 6 them from the bushes with
warm-up session, with the August. its 35 cm. tongue, with
loudspeakers at full Most members of the which it can lick its
volume, the okapi threw a orchestra were unaware of eyelids. In the wild the
fit, collapsed on the floor what had happened until animal is very wary and is
and died. later. “I don’t think many of known for its remarkable
The zoo is claiming that the them know about it even hearing.
seven-year-old okapi, now,” said spokesman A spokeswoman for the
whose natural habitat is Peter Andersen. “It is not Eurogroup for Animal
the forests of central something that we are Welfare in Brussels said:
Africa, died of stress worrying about. It was an “It is possible for a lot of
triggered by the sound of exceptional event.” noise, whether it is opera
the opera music. But then, Holst is not blaming the or an aircraft, to cause
Katanda was a very musicians for the death. severe stress in animals.”
nervous okapi. He said: “The concert But the experts say there
Bengt Holst, curator of organisers were as sad as is no risk to your pets from
Copenhagen Zoo, said: we were at what playing loud music at
“During the rehearsal she happened. This okapi was a home.
Worksheet 9:
Refer to Text 7 to answer the following questions about the general
characteristics of news stories.
CHARACTERISTICS OF NEWS STORIES

1. What is it about the graphic distribution of a newspaper story that is obviously different
from the ordinary graphic distribution of, for example, a chapter in an academic book,
or an essay you might write for class?
2. Most, though not all newspaper stories include what is called a “by-line”, which gives
information regarding the name of the journalist(s) responsible for writing the story.
Locate the by-line in Text 7 and reproduce it exactly. Is it at the beginning or end of the
text?
3. In comparison with the sentences of other genres (again, think of academic books and
essays you might write for class), do you think the sentences of this news story are, on
average, short or long? What about the paragraphs?
4. This news story has a total of eleven paragraphs. In which paragraphs is the most
important information (that is, the information most directly related to the headline)
located?
5. Which paragraphs do you believe could have been eliminated completely from the story
without compromising its value as a news item? (That is, which paragraphs here might
be considered “extra stuffing”?)
6. What device is used repeatedly in the story to make the information seem more direct
and authoritative?

GENRES 173
Worksheet 10:
Now, use the newspaper story featured below (Text 8) as a model to write a crime
report of your own of about 150 words.. Remember to include the typical features
of news stories, answering all the canonical journalistic questions (who, what,
where, when, why and how).
(Note: Some words and phrases in Text 8 which are typical of crime reports have
been highlighted in bold type to help you.)
Text 8:
Teen slain while on errand run with mom
By Dan Ferris
TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
Police on Saturday were investigating Mary, was charged with murder, said Grand
whether a South Side high school student Central Area Sgt. Francis Lee.
killed while running errands with his The two, of 4330 W. Potomac Ave.,
mother was a target or a random victim of returned from a party about 23:30 a.m.
gunfire. Mary Scott, 55, reportedly slammed the
The Friday night death of Leo High car door, angering her husband, who then
School student Terrance Cameron, 17, was slapped her, Lee said.
one of at least five fatal shootings in 24 She allegedly entered the house, got a
hours, resulting in two murder arrests and gun and shot Will Scott in the stomach
ongoing investigations by Chicago police. when he walked in, Lee said. Will Scott died
Cameron and his mother were sitting in about three hours later a Illinois Masonic
a van on 42nd Street at State Street at Medical Center, a spokesman said.
about 10 p.m. when a shot was fired, A second domestic dispute also
striking him in the head, said Wentworth resulted in an arrest after a 33-year-old
Area Detective John Janda. Cameron, of the woman allegedly shot by her live-in
7900 block of South Woodlawn Avenue, was boyfriend died early Saturday, said Sgt.
pronounced dead at Cook County Hospital Henry Crump of the Pullman Area.
less than an hour later. Police were still Edward Green, 34, of 8626 S. Loomis St.
looking for suspects, Janda said. was charged with murder. Police said he
Meanwhile, a domestic dispute ended pulled a 9 mm semiautomatic handgun
in death early Saturday for Will Scott, 51, of on Donna Gray during an argument Friday,
the West Side. Several hours later, his wife, shooting her in the abdomen. Gray died

at Christ Hospital and Medical Center in “They claim they didn’t see him when he
Oak Lawn. got shot,” Crump said.
Graffiti led to another deadly South Side Belmont Area police were similarly
quarrel that occurred just before midnight stumped by a case involving a 26-year-old
Friday, Crump said. man whose body was found in a North Side
Thaddeus Branch, 27, of the 8000 block gangway early Saturday after neighbors
of South Coles Avenue was arguing with reported hearing gunshots.
several men over insults they allegedly Frank Jackson, 26, of the 200 block of
spray-painted in public about his brother. North Laramie Avenue died of gunshot
During the fight, one man took out a gun wounds to the head, said a spokesman in
and shot Branch in the side.. The shooting the medical examiner’s office. His body was
took place two blocks from his home. found in the 4800 block of North Paulina
Although friends drove Branch to Trinity Street.
Hospital, investigators were still seeking Police were still investigating, said
witnesses Saturday afternoon. Sgt. Richard Guerrero.

XI LINGUISTIC VARIATION
TASK 1: BRITISH VS. AMERICAN ENGLISH
Worksheet 1:
Fill in the blanks to the right of the words listed in the column labeled “American
English” with the letters corresponding to their equivalents in the column marked
“British English”.
AMERICAN ENGLISH BRITISH ENGLISH
1) antenna________ a) aerial
2) apartment_______ b) autumn
3) baby carriage, stroller_________ c) biscuit
4) candy_______ d) bonnet
5) closet_______ e) boot
6) cookie_______ f) curtains
7) diaper_______ g) flat
8) drapes/curtains_______ h) fortnight
9) elevator_______ i) holiday
10) eraser_______ j) jumper
11) fall/autumn_______ k) lift
12) faucet/tap_______ l) lorry
13) gasoline/gas_______ m) nappy
14) hood(of a car)_______ n) pavement
15) line_______ o) petrol
16) mailman/postman_______ p) postman

17) pantyhose_______ q) pram

18) sidewalk_______ r) queue
19) sweater_______ s) rubber
20) trash/garbage_______ t) rubbish
21) truck_______ u) spanner
22) trunk (of a car)_______ v) sweet(s)
23) two weeks_______ w) tap
24) vacation_______ x) tights
25) wrench_______ y) wardrobe
Worksheet 2:
Fill in the blanks in the chart below with the American and British meanings of
the words listed on the left.
AMERICAN ENGLISH BRITISH ENGLISH

bill
chips
fanny
first floor
football
pants
purse
rubber
staff
subway
taffy
to table an issue
to wash up
vest

LINGUISTIC VARIATION 177
Worksheet 3:
Identify the origin of the following ten text excerpts as British or American.
Underline any words in the texts which reveal their geographical origins.
Text 1:
In the Middle Ages it was one of the social and economic powerhouses of Europe, the
province of princes and industrious merchants. Today Ghent, in Belgium’s East Flanders
heartland, remains a thriving business centre and port where old traditions live on. As
Brueghel and others immortalised on canvas, the Flemish value fine food and good times
and make the most of the bountiful natural products of their land and sea. Food is taken
seriously here. Though its population is only around 250,000, Ghent has over 350
restaurants...
Much favoured by the business fraternity is the small, exclusive restaurant of Chef Jean
Bode. Het Cooremetershuys is at no. 12, one of the original houses on the illustrious
Graslei, an ancient riverside quay...
At 8-10 on the Beensteeg, one of the busiest pedestrian malls is De Gustibus. With a
warm, welcoming rose-coloured decor it is popular with locals, tourists and business
people alike...
Text 2:
Van Heusen, the smart shirt people, are 75 years old this year. It all began when “the
original semi-stiff collar” was patented by one John Manning Van Heusen and delivered in
New York City. Seventy-five years on from these beginnings as a collar manufacturer, Van
Heusen has gone on to produce formal and leisure shirt collections. Favourites for the
traveller are their non-iron range. Rinse them out, hang them up and they emerge, as
wrinkle-free as we wish we were by next morning.
Text 3:
Female sterilization can be done with either a general or a local anesthetic. The
operation takes less than an hour to perform, and can be performed with a laparoscope (a
viewing tube equipped with blades for cutting) as outpatient surgery.
Text 4:
Symptoms of menopause are mostly due to lack of estrogen, so the logical treatment is
to replace it. Hormone replacement therapy has been prescribed for millions of women, and
its advantages and drawbacks are still being researched.

Text 5:
Observing a group of children walking in a park recently, supervised by two adults, I
noted that the adults synchronised their steps and direction, while the children ran and
skipped apparently at random, running ahead, lagging behind, and deviating from the
common course.
Perhaps these children, unpolluted by society’s emphasis on conformity, have not yet
learned that it is unacceptable to march to your own drum.
Text 6:
On-site work is not all hard labor. You should allocate a good deal of time to watching
the transformation in progress, seeing how materials are used, and observing the
installation of everything from plumbing lines to kitchen cabinets...
Faucets. Spend the money for good-looking faucets. You or your buyer will handle them
several times a day.
Wall Color. In general, lighter colors are easier to live with, and will probably look more
inviting, especially if you’re selling a property unfurnished. But strong colors can pull a room
together, creating an exciting backdrop for furnishings.
Text 7:
Last year’s summer holiday in Marrakech left Anita Simons full of enthusiasm for the
colours and patterns of Morocco. “The interiors were so exotic,” she recalls, “with pure
white walls heavily stencilled in bright blues and terracotta.”
Text 8:
“When women are given oestrogen they feel better, but not by so very much,” says
gynaecologist Elliot Phillipp. “If you also give them testosterone, the change is enormous
— their whole mood is incredibly improved. And the effect on their sex lives can be
remarkable.”
Text 9:
If you have diarrhea that lasts for more than 2 or 3 days, or if you have a combination
of fever, chills, abdominal pain, diarrhea, and vomiting, consult your physician.
Text 10:
Did you realise there’s more than one kind of fibre? Why not take a couple of minutes
to digest the facts.
The fibre most people first think of, the sort that helps to keep you regular, is technically
known as insoluble.
But there’s another type found in some vegetables, fruits and cereals known as soluble fibre.

Just for fun:
BRITISH WORKER: (over phone) I can’t work today. I’ve got a tummy bug.
AMERICAN BOSS: Why didn’t you just send me an e-mail?
BRITISH WORKER: Because I can’t spell “diarrhoea”.
Adapted from CARNEY, E. (1998): “English Spelling is Kattastroffik” in BAUER, L. and P.

TRUDGILL (eds.) Language Myths. London, Penguin.
TASK 2: REGISTER: SIMPLIFYING SENTENCES
Worksheet 4:
The sentences below have all been composed in an extremely inflated style. Read
them carefully to determine their core meaning and then rephrase them as simply as
possible (two to ten words will suffice).
1. I currently find myself gripped by a considerable and wholly debilitating lack

of energetic resources and a desire for the most profound inactivity.
2. It is adoration and devotion, delightful and tender amity, as well as ardent

affection that I perceive in my feelings for Rita.

3. I feel a physiological necessity for the incorporation of fluid into my body

through the channel of my buccal cavity.
4. I am led to wonder if you might happen to comply in your unilaterally

augmenting the expanse between us, such that one of us, who is not my humble self,
becomes unaware of the other’s existence, and thus has an enhanced sense of
solitariness.
5. At some undefined juncture in the non-immediate future I shall attempt oral

communication with you, which, by virtue of our not being in earshot of one
another, will involve the Scottish-born American audiologist Alexander Graham
Bell’s most ubiquitous contribution to modern civilization.
6. For me, hostile abomination combines with loathing aversion in a feeling of

dark antagonism and odious antipathy directed toward the science of structure,
order, and relation that has evolved from elemental practices of counting,
measuring, and describing the shapes of objects.
7. As a result of the paradox implied in my having misplaced my portable eye-

focus-correcting apparati, and my thus temporarily lacking the acuity of vision
necessary to locate them by purely visual means, and since my memory fails to shine
any significant light on the matter, I enquire as to whether you can contribute key
information regarding their current position.
8. I invoke my Maker, the Supreme Being and maximum representative of

majestic Divinity, variously conceived as Elohim for the Ancient Hebrews, Amon-
Ra for the Egyptians, Astarte for the Sidonians and Chemosh for the Moabites, such
that He may extol and grace the New World country and economic superpower that
has given us President George Bush, Jr.

TASK 3: CHOOSING WORDS
Worksheet 5:
Fill in the blanks in the following text, choosing words and phrases from the
options given in the corresponding list.
IMPORTANT: In every case, all three options are possible. Your job is to decide
which of the three sounds best. Be prepared to discuss the reasons for your answers
with the rest of the class.
A) Contrary to the popular prejudice that America is the nation of unintellectual and
anti-intellectual people, where ideas are at best means to ends, America is
(1)_______________ nothing but a great stage on which theories have been played as
tragedy and comedy. Other peoples have been (2)_______________,
(3)___________________ the gods of their various places. When they too decided to
follow the principles we pioneered, they have (4)_______________ awkwardly, unable
(5)_________________ gracefully from their pasts. Our story is the majestic and
triumphant march of the principles of freedom and equality, giving meaning to all that we
have done or are doing. There are almost no accidents; everything that happens among us
is a consequence of one or both of our principles – a triumph over some opposition to them,
a discovery of a fresh meaning in them, a dispute about which of the two
(6)__________________, (7)_________.
Now we have arrived at one of the ultimate acts in our drama, the informing and
reforming of our most intimate private lives by our principles. Sex and its consequences –
love, marriage and family – have finally become the theme of the national project, and here
the problem of nature, always present but always repressed in the reconstruction of man
demanded by freedom and equality, becomes insistent.
B) The change in sexual relations, which now provide an (8)______________
challenge to human (9)________________, (10)______________ in two successive
waves in the last two decades. The first was the sexual revolution; the second, feminism. The
sexual revolution marched under the banner of freedom, feminism under that of equality.
Although (11)____________________________ for a while, their differences eventually
put them at odds with each other, as Tocqueville said freedom and equality would always be.
This is (12)__________________ in the (13)________________ over pornography,
which pits liberated sexual desire against feminist resentment about stereotyping. We are
presented with the (14)______________________ of pornography
(15)______________________ borrowed from the heroic struggles for freedom of
speech, and using Miltonic rhetoric, doing battle with feminism, newly

(16)________________ community morality, C) using arguments associated with

conservatives who defend traditional sex roles, and also (17)__________________ an
authoritative tradition in which it was (18)________________ to suggest any relation
between what a person reads and sees and his sexual practices. In the background stand the
liberals, wringing their hands in confusion because they wish to favor both sides and cannot.
Sexual liberation presented itself as a bold affirmation of the senses and of undeniable
natural impulse against our puritanical heritage, (19)__________________ and
repressions, (20)_________________ by Biblical myths about original sin. From the
early sixties on there was a gradual testing of the limits on sexual expression, and they
(21)__________________ or had already disappeared without anybody’s having
noticed it. The disapproval of parents and teachers of youngsters’ sleeping or living
together was easily overcome. The moral inhibitions, the fear of disease, the risk of
pregnancy, the family and social consequences of (22)_____________________and the
difficulty of finding places in which to have it – everything that stood in its way suddenly
was no longer there. Students, particularly the girls, were no longer
(23)___________________to give public evidence of sexual attraction or of its
fulfillment. The kind of (24)_________________that were dangerous in the twenties,
A)
and risqué or bohemian in the thirties and forties, became as normal as membership in the
Girl Scouts.
1. a) actually b) reall c) in truth

2. a) autochthonous b) independent c) self-governing
3. a) deriving guidance from b) finding direction in c) encountering a sort of
guiding light in
4. a) progressed b) hobbled along c) proceeded
5. a) to free themselves b) to extricate themselves c) to escape
6. a) is more important b) comes first c) has primacy
7. a) and so on b) etc. c) and things of the sort
B)
8. a) unending b) endless c) incessant
9. a) inventiveness b) resourcefulness c) ingenuity
10. a) came over us b) took us by surprise c) enveloped us
11. a) the two developed b) they went arm in arm c) they progressed jointly
together
12. a) evident b) plain c) manifest
13. a) debate b) squabble c) disagreement
14.a) entertaining curiosity b) charming exhibition c) amusing spectacle
15.a) clad in armor b) couched in language c) dressed up in metaphors
16.a) guised in the dress of b)draped in the robes of c) passing itself off as

C)
17.a) challenging b) rebelling against c) defying

18.a) taboo b) forbidden c) frowned upon
19.a) the conventions of society b) society’s conventions c) social conventions
20.a) reinforced b) strengthened c) bolstered
21.a) melted away b) vanished c) dropped out of sight
22.a) sex before marriage b) premarital intercourse c) sexual relations
between unwed
youngsters
23.a) embarrassed b) ashamed c) hesitant
24.a) cohabitations b) communal living c) shared dwelling
arrangements agreements
TASK 4: COMPARING NEWS STORIES
Texts 11 and 12, below, represent two different styles of newspaper reporting. Though
both texts tell the same news story, one has been extracted from a broadsheet, the other
from a tabloid. Skim the two texts and then go on to Worksheets 6 and 7, below.
Text 11:
Girl, 14, found strangled and dumped in woodland
BY PAUL WILKINSON
Detectives said she was returning to her
A SCHOOLGIRL was sexually assaulted, beaten social services accommodation in the city’s
and then strangled as she travelled home after Stanningley area after seeing a friend living in
meeting a friend. a children’s home in Killingbeck. Mr. Mawson
The semi-clothed body of Janet Swanson, 14, said the teenager, who had two brothers and a
was found by walkers dumped in a woodland a few sister, was a “quiet, likeable and attractive
hundred yards from the bus stop where she was young girl”.
last seen less than three hours before. Last night a Girls at the home where Janet was living
youth aged 15 was being questioned by detectives. were said to be very upset by her death. Mike
Det. Supt. Malcolm Mawson, leading the Evans, the Leeds assistant director of social
inquiry, said that it seemed that Janet had been services said: “It is an awful tragedy and
killed “on the spur of the moment”. everyone is absolutely devastated.” He said
The teenager died three weeks after her youngsters at the home were free to come and
mother, Hazel, placed her into temporary local go as they pleased.
authority care because of domestic problems at Mr. Evans said staff were concerned that
their home in Killingbeck, Leeds. Mrs. Swanson she had not returned from her evening meal
and her husband, Andrew, who are separated, and were on the verge of raising the alarm
were both said to be devastated. The girl was last when news of her killing came through.
seen alive at 4.40 p.m. on Saturday at a bus stop Police are to check whether sticks and
on the Killingbeck retail park, less than a quarter stones at the murder were used as weapons.
of a mile from her mother’s home.

184
Text 12:
JUSTINE BREHM CRIPPS
Janet, 14, strangled just yards from shops

SCHOOLGIRL Janet home. A post mortem Forensic experts are
Swanson was brutally beaten confirmed she was strangled. examining a number of items
and sexually assaulted before her torn clothing was found in the woods that may
being strangled — just yards found lying in undergrowth at have been used to beat her.
from superstores packed with the murder scene. The youngster, who went to
shoppers. Her parents, Hazel and Elmet Woods School in
The 14-year-old’s half- Andrew, who are both 33, Roundhay, Leeds, was 5ft 6in
naked body was left dumped were “distraught” after police tall and had hair extensions.
She was wearing an anorak and
in a dense copse after the
gruesome murder. Last night,
Sex-attack killer blue and white pin-striped shirt.
a white tent marked the spot dumps More than 30 officers
from Killingbeck police station
on the outskirts of Leeds were
the auburn-haired teenager
teenager’s body are working on the murder
was found. by DIY store inquiry.
Three walkers discovered Leading in the hunt,
her body lying just 100 yards broke news to them of the Detective Superintendent
from the loading bay of a busy savage killing. Malcolm Mawson yesterday
B&Q DIY store. The couple, who have appealed for any witnesses
The fresh-faced youngster three other children, are who may have seen Janet
was last seen on Saturday, an separated. after she was spotted at the
hour before the shops closed, After a dispute, Janet, bus stop.
at a bus stop 200 yards from who had two younger “We need to speak to
where she died. brothers and a sister, left the anyone who may have seen
Police yesterday quizzed family home and moved into a her after that time to get to
shoppers at B&Q and a council-run children’s home in know her movements,” he
McDonalds takeaway nearby. the Pudsey area of Leeds, said.
West Yorkshire. On Saturday,
Torn she had visited a friend at Loss
another children’s home, not
Detectives believe her far from where her family live “It was unnecessary as
killer attacked “on the spur of in Killingbeck. all killings are. It seems to
the moment”. The youngster, who was have been on the spur of the
Last night, police travelling by bus using a Day moment.
confirmed they were Rover ticket, is thought to “It’s a tragedy as the loss
questioning a 15-year-old have been making her way of a young life always is.”
local youth. back to Pudsey when she was Detectives would not say
Janet, who was described murdered. last night if the murder victim
as “slim, quiet and likeable”, She was last seen at the had a boyfriend.
had been staying at a bus stop on the retail park, And they refused to
children’s home for three three hours before her body disclose whether the youth
weeks following a bust up at was found. being questioned knew Janet.

Worksheet 6:
Complete the chart below with the corresponding information, quoting directly
from the text in each case. Include ALL references in the texts relevant to the subjects
dealt with.
TEXT 11: TEXT 12

Description of the
victim:
Investigators on the
case:
Suspect:
Relatives of the
victim:
Other people
mentioned:
What happened to
victim:
Where body was
found and in what
state:
Where and when
victim last seen
alive:
What victim was
doing when she was
attacked:
Where victim was
living at the time:
Reason why victim

had been placed in
public care:
Reactions to the
crime:

Worksheet 7:
Use the questions below to guide you in a discussion of the differences and
similarities to be observed in texts 11 and 12. Where necessary, jot down a few
notes.
1. Compare and review the information in the chart in Worksheet 6. Discuss the
differences you detect between texts 11 and 12 with regard to a) references to
and description of the victim and b) description of the crime scene and body.
Which of the two articles goes into greater detail on these points? What do you
believe is the author’s purpose in including the extra details in the article in
question?
2. Continue to examine the chart in Worksheet 6 for differences in the descriptions

of the victim, crime scene and body. Discuss the differences you see in the
vocabulary used by the two articles. Compare the use of adjectives in each
article. Which one uses more adjectives? what do you believe the adjectives in
this article contribute to its overall effect?
3. Scan the chart in Worksheet 6 to find other instances in which information

included in one article is not to be found in the other. Make a list of your findings
below, and then state what you believe these differences might contribute to the
effect of each text on the reader.

4. Scan the chart in Worksheet 6 again, this time to find any instances in which
specific information provided in one article conflicts with the data included in the
other. Take note of the discrepancies you find below and state whether you
believe they make any sort of contribution to the overall effect of one article as
opposed to the other.
Text 11 claims Text 12 claims
5. In light of everything you have observed, describe the different types of

readership at which you imagine each of the articles (texts 11 and 12) was
originally targeted. Which of the two do you believe has been extracted from a
tabloid? From a broadsheet? Briefly sum up the various ways in which the
different types of paper, as exemplified in the articles here, caters to its readers’
expectancies.

XII INTERTEXTUALITY
TASK 1: GRAPHIC INTERTEXTUAL REFERENCES
Look at pictures 1-4 below, and explain how graphics or images ordinarily
associated with one setting have been used in another, and to what effect.
• Picture 1:

• Picture 2:

INTERTEXTUALITY 191
• Picture 3:
• Picture 4:

TASK 2: DIRECT INTERTEXTUAL REFERENCES
Worksheet 2:
In lists A and B below, locate the headlines which contain intertextual

references and identify the original source of the reference if you can.
List A:
1. U.S. Making Progress on Drunken Driving
2. Crime and Punishment
3. France Bans Imports of Cattle from Switzerland
4. Blood, Sweat and Tears?
List B:
1. Gone with the Wind
2. German Health System under Strain to Reform
3. Let There Be Light — and Color
4. Europe United? Currency Woes Show Division
TASK 3: MODIFIED INTERTEXTUAL REFERENCES
Text 1:
Locate and explain the modified intertextual reference in the advertisement below:

INTERTEXTUALITY 193
Text 2:
Explain the modified intertextual reference in the headline of the article below.
Then skim the text to determine its relationship to the contents of the article.
Till Life Us Do Part

After a bruising campaign, the Irish Republic votes to legalize divorce by
the barest of margins.
By Rod Usher claim minister Eithne Fitzgerald said was “a
Last Friday was D-Day in Ireland: A day long malicious falsehood.” More serious was the
due, or a disaster. As with many matters Irish, it Catholic Bishops’ Conference insistence that
depended whose side you were on. In the repudiating the marriage vow would change
referendum on whether to lift the ban on divorce Irish society for the worse. The church hierarchy
as enshrined in the 1937 constitution, the yes sent a statement to 1 million households calling
side won, but the victory after a recount was just the government’s plan “bad law.” Episcopal
50.3% to 49.7%. statements warned that divorced Catholics
While all the main political parties had would not be entitled to remarry in church or
supported the change, which gives the 75,000 receive sacraments other than the last rites.
people who are legally separated the right to The coalition government of Tsaoiseach
remarry, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference (Prime Minister) John Bruton argued that the
strongly opposed it, as did several conservative situation has changed since the last divorce
groups. The campaigns were fought hard with referendum in 1986 went against altering the
few punches pulled. One poster in favor of the constitution. Over the past nine years, Ireland’s
status quo said HELLO DIVORCE, GOODBYE parliament has passed 18 laws to fill gaps that
DADDY. On the pro side, an irreverent slogan had worried opponents of divorce, including acts
took a swipe at a string of paternity and child- covering family law, separation, custody and
sexual-abuse scandals involving priests: “Let property distribution. Deputy Prime Minister
the bishops look after their own families.” Dick Spring, who has been active in Irish peace
Ireland, traditionally small-c conservative talks with Britain, advocated a yes vote to show
and big-C Catholic, has been on a steady course outsiders, particularly Protestant Unionists
of liberalization in recent years. In 1993 across the border in the North, that the republic
homosexuality was decriminalized, and it is “mature, tolerant and open.”
became legal to sell contraceptives from As a recount was finished Saturday evening,
vending machines. This May the trend seemed to the yes lobby breathed a sigh of relief. With a
be continuing when an opinion poll showed that national turnout of 61%, a strong urban vote
72% favored allowing divorce. But by last outweighed rural opposition. Michael Gorman,
Wednesday, surveys showed the pro side had 68 and married for 25 years, said in Dublin
slumped to 45%. before casting his yes: “For some, the
The yes campaigners blamed scare tactics referendum means emotional survival. We
by their opponents, whose billboards warned should give these people another chance to find
that taxes would have to rise 10% in order to happiness in this life.”
support a proliferation of one-parent families, a

Text 3:
Explain the modified intertextual reference in the headline of the article below.
Then skim the text to determine its relationship to the contents of the article.
Bake to the future with bagel sales

Fresh Fare and franchise fixings run rings around competition
By Barbara Sullivan ending May 21, to $213.4 million. the frozen
TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER category increased by only 4.9 percent, to $252.1
million, according to Information Resources.
It came as no big surprise this week that
The two biggest names in frozen bagels,
Lender’s, the giant bagel maker that churns out
Lender’s and Chicago-based Sara Lee, entered
1.5 billion of the tasty circles a year, was not
the fresh-bagel market late last year. Lender’s
included in the sale of Kraft’s baking operations
racked up $60.1 million in sales, according to
to CPC International.
Information Resources, and Sara Lee, which is
Bagels are big business and getting bigger.
still test-marketing its new products in just four
Grocery stores sold almost $466 million
areas — California, Chicago, Dallas and Nevada
worth of bagels in the 52 weeks ended on May
— had sales of $19.6 million.
21, according to Information Resources, Inc., up
The big growth, however, that’s not even
25 percent from the year-earlier period.
reflected in the supermarket figures, is in the
Lender’s dominated, claiming 72.7 percent of
myriad of bagel outlets that are popping up all
the frozen-bagel market and 28.1 percent of the
over the country, whose product line is limited to
fresh-bagel market, according to the Chicago-
bagels and spreads.
based research company.
Jacob Bros., Bruegger’s Bagel Corp.,
Last month, the annual bagel fest in
Manhattan Bagel Co. and Big Apple Bagels are
Downstate Matton, where Lender’s operates the
just a few of the bagel-shop names that are
world’s largest bagel plant, attracted some
spreading across the country.
35,000 visitors. Folks lined up for a free bagel
“And it hasn’t peaked yet,” said Tom
and cream cheese breakfast and to get a glimpse
Lehmann, consultant for the American Institute
of founder Murray Lender, who knew a good
of Baking in Manhattan, Kan.
thing when he tasted it. He founded the company
“We’re doing a bagel seminar the week after
in 1927, using a family recipe he had brought
next, and it’s completely filled. People want to
from Poland.
know how to make bagels, start their own place.
Bagels have come a long way since then.
I don’t know when the apex is going to come, but
According to a study by the NPD Group in
not yet.”
Rosemont, bagel consumption at breakfast alone
In Chicago, Michael Evans, 38, has seen the
zoomed 133 percent between 1984, when Kraft
future, and it’s definitely bagels.
bought Lender’s, and 1993.
He and his partner, Paul Stolzer, founded Big
And, whereas frozen bagels have dominated
Apple Bagels in April 1993. Today, they have 53
the market in the past, the biggest gains now are
stores in 18 states and Canada, with eight more
in fresh bagels.
scheduled to open in the next 60 days. They’re
Supermarket sales of the fresh products
projecting 600 in the next five years.
skyrocketed 59.78 percent in the 52 weeks

INTERTEXTUALITY 195
TASK 4: INTERGENERIC BORROWING
Worksheet 3:
T
Read and examine texts 4-8 below to determine what genre each one represents.
Next, locate any features within the texts which would normally be associated with
other genres. Finally, discuss the function or purpose of these texts within the texts
you are examining. What do they add to the overall effect or meaning of the texts?
Text 4:

Text 5:
(Reproduction of the design on a souvenir coffee mug, commemorating the 50th

anniversary of the Lincoln County Charity Fund, Chicago)
Text 6:

INTERTEXTUALITY 197
Text 7:
TASK 5: PARODY AS INTERTEXTUALITY
Text 8:
Read through the text below, and then continue on to worksheet 3.
Your New Computer

Congratulations. You have purchased an Anthrax/2000 Multimedia 615X Personal
Computer with Digital Doo-Dah Enhancer. It will give years of faithful service, if you ever get
it up and running. Also included with your PC is a bonus pack of pre-installed software, —
‘Lawn Mowing Planner’, ‘Mr. Arty-Farty’, ‘Blank Screen Saver’, and ‘East Africa Route
Finder’ – which will provide hours of pointless diversion while using up most of your
computer’s spare memory.
So turn the page and let’s get started!

Getting Ready: Congratulations. You have successfully turned the page and are ready
to proceed.
Important meaningless note: The Anthrax/2000 is configured to use 80386,
214J10 or higher processors running at 2,272 hertz on variable spin cycle. Check your
electrical installations and insurance policies before proceeding. Do not tumble dry.
To prevent internal heat build-up, select a cool, dry environment for your computer.
The bottom shelf of a refrigerator is ideal.
Unpack the box and examine its contents. [Warning: Do not open box if contents
are missing or faulty as this will invalidate your warranty. Return all missing contents in
their original packaging with a note explaining where they have gone and a replacement will
be sent within twelve working months.]
The contents of the box should include some of the following: monitor with
mysterious De Guass button; keyboard with 2.5 inches of flex; computer unit; miscellaneous
wires and cables not necessarily designed for this model; 2,000-page Owner’s Manual;
Short Guide to the Owner’s Manual; Quick Guide to the Short Guide to the Owner’s Manual;
Laminated Super-Kwik Set-Up Guide for People Who Are Exceptionally Impatient or Stupid;
1,167 Pages of warranties, vouchers, notices in Spanish, and other loose pieces of paper;
292 cubic feet of Styrofoam packing material.
[…]
Now it is time to install your software. Insert Disc A (marked ‘Disc D’ or ‘Disc G’) into
Drive Slot B or J, and type ‘Hello! Anybody home?’ At the DOS command prompt, enter your
Licence Verification Number. Your Licence Verification Number can be found by entering
your Certified User Number, which can be found by entering you Licence Verification or
Certified User numbers. In case of doubt, call the Software Support Line for assistance.
(Please have your Licence Verification and Certified User numbers handy as the support
staff cannot otherwise assist you.)
[…]

INTERTEXTUALITY 199
Text 9:
Same as for text 8.
The Salamander
Salamanders are tailed amphibia.1 So naturally they have tails.2 The main thing about
Salamanders is that they cannot stand the heat. If they get too warm their skin dries out
and they are goners because they breathe partly through their skin and it has to be moist.
So Salamanders stay in cool, damp places and never go out in the sun if they can help it.
Early Man was much interested in Salamanders,3 but he could not write articles about
them. As soon as writing was invented, everybody rushed into print with the statement
that Salamanders live in the fire and are incombustible. The ancients used to notice
Salamanders running out of bonfires built over their holes and drew the conclusion that
they lived in the fire and were just going around the corner for a minute and would be right
back4. The Salamander could not make such a mistake about a fellow creature, since his
brain is primitive and only equipped for ordinary sense. To be as wrong as that you have
to have a cerebral cortex and other refinements peculiar to the higher vertebrates.
The Spotted Or Black and Yellow or Fire Salamander of the Old World was the species first
studied, with the results I have mentioned.5 Herpetologists today point out that these
Salamanders are unusual in that the pairing takes place on land. What’s so strange about
that? Most of our American Salamanders pair in the water because that is considered
correct over here. Romance seems to be the Salamander’s only interest. He does not
realize that life is full of other wonderful things, such as –er—other things, and he doesn’t
care how silly it looks. Walbridge has learned a great deal about Salamanders by snipping
off bits of them here and there to see what will happen. The Salamanders don’t like it.6 In
spite of this new light on the subject, one still meets people who believe that Salamanders
live in the fire, and they all want to argue. That’s why I seldom go out anymore.
_________________
1
You mustn’t call them Lizards. Lizards are Reptilia, see?
2
But for the Amphibia we should have no Reptilia, and that would be too awful
3
More so than Modern Man, I’m afraid.
4
But nobody ever saw a Salamander running into the fire.
5
In the Middle Ages it was held that asbestos is Salamander’s wool. It is not!
6
A decapitated Salamander cannot make quick decisions.

Worksheet 4:
Follow the instructions given below, applying them first to text 8 and then to text 9.
Parody
1. Read through the text, and identify the genre of which it is a parody.
2. Find at least one serious, authentic example of the genre you have identified in English.
3. Now, compare the text you have found with the parody provided for this task. Make a list
of similarities and differences with regard to:
a) General organizational structure of the text. Are the elements of organization the same
or similar? Do they appear in the same order? Have elements been added or
suppressed in the parody? Specify any differences you find.
b) Register. Is the use of vocabulary in the serious text and the parody similar? Do you
see one text as more formal or informal than the other? Give specific examples of
register differences where you see them.
c) General communicative purpose. What is the main aim of each text? To inform? To
convince? To instruct or prohibit? To entertain? What about the text type of the genres
parodied? Do both texts parody the same text type (expository, argumentative,
instructive)?
TASK 6: CREATING HYBRID TEXTS
Worksheet 5:
Love is an Intergeneric Thing
Choose one of the five genres listed below and write a love message (approx. 200-250
words) to the person of your choice (e.g. a friend, a lover, an idol, your mother) following
the formal conventions of that genre as closely as possible
Note: To facilitate your task, find an authentic, serious example of the genre you are
adapting.
1. COOKING RECIPE
2. CRIME REPORT
3. SPORTS NEWS STORY
4. WEATHER REPORT
5. HOROSCOPE

XIII PRAGMATIC FACTORS
TASK 1: INTRODUCTION TO TEXT TYPES
Worksheet 1:
The introductory block of text below(What he says…) has been taken from a
feature article in Cosmopolitan magazine. Beneath it, some examples of
“malespeak” from the magazine have been written out for you. Next to each
example, two different situations in which the sentence might be spoken are given.
In the spaces provided, write your “translation” of what a man might actually mean
in each case.
what he says
(what he really thinks)
It’s been puzzling women for centuries — the unfathomable gulf between what he says
and what he means. Now, after a lifetime of study, our linguistic experts have managed to
decode some common examples of malespeak.
1. He says, “Your mother’s a real character.”

a) He’s just received a $1000 college graduation present from her.
He means:_______________________________________________________
b) He’s just spent the entire evening listening to her criticize men.
He means:_______________________________________________________

2. He says, “We can still be friends.”

a) He’s talking to you, his girlfriend, about his future relationship with you.
He means: _______________________________________________________
b) He’s talking to you about his current relationship with his ex-girlfriend.
He means: _______________________________________________________
3. He says, “I admire your honesty.”

a) You’ve just told him that you found an un marked envelope on the street with $500
dollars in it and turned it into the police.
He means: _______________________________________________________
b) You’ve just confessed to him that when you first met him you didn’t find him attractive at all.
He means: _______________________________________________________
4. He says, “You don’t need to come all the way over here.”
a) He’s ill and has nobody to take care of him.
He means: _______________________________________________________
b) He’s planning to watch a football match and you’ve just offered to go over to his place
and make him dinner.
He means: _______________________________________________________
5. He says, “Is there any beer in the fridge?”

a) He’s sprawled out on your couch watching a football match.
He means: _______________________________________________________
b) His brother, an alcoholic who is trying to kick the habit, is coming over for dinner.
He means: _______________________________________________________
6. He says, “I’ll do it later.”

a) You’ve just asked him for the fourth time to take the dog out for a walk.
He means: _______________________________________________________
b) He’s taking you out for your birthday. You have just expressed your concern that the
evening out is going to take valuable time away from the project he’s in a rush to
complete for work.
He means: _______________________________________________________

PRAGMATIC FACTORS 203
TASK 2: HIDDEN
TASK 2: HIDDEN MESSAGES
Text 1:
Imagine that you have just received a parcel with the letter below attached to it.
The parcel contained a delicate porcelain vase which belonged to your recently
deceased grandmother. It was of great sentimental value to you. Attached to the
parcel was the following letter. Read the letter and then go on to Worksheet 2, below.
UNITED STATES
POSTAL SERVICE
Dear Postal Customer:
The enclosed has been damaged in handling by the Postal Service.
We are fully aware that the mail you receive is important to you. Realizing this, each
employee in the Postal Service is making every effort to expeditiously handle, without
damage, each piece of mail with which USPS is entrusted. Nevertheless, an occasional
mishap will occur.
The Postal Service handles approximately 177 billion pieces of mail each year. It is
necessary, therefore, that highly sophisticated mechanical/electrical systems be utilized by
the Postal Service to insure our customers prompt delivery of their mail. At times a
malfunction will occur, the result of which is a damaged piece of mail.
We are constantly working to improve our processing methods so that these incidences
will be eliminated. You can help us greatly in our efforts if you will continue to properly
prepare and address each letter or parcel that you enter into the mail stream.
We appreciate your cooperation and understanding and sincerely regret any

inconvenience you have experienced.
Your Postmaster

Worksheet 2:
Questions 1-4 are for discussion. Question 5 is to be written.
1. What would your initial reaction to the circumstances be, before reading the
letter? How would you be feeling? Would you be contemplating taking any kind
of action? If so, what kind of action?
2. If you had been contemplating taking some kind of action before reading the
letter, how might your feelings change after reading it? If you still planned to
take action, would you feel that you were more or less likely to succeed in
achieving some kind of satisfaction or retribution? Why?
3. Is the Postal Service being as apologetic as you would like, under the
circumstances? What image does the Postal Service seek to convey of itself?
How does it do this? Underline any specific parts of the letter which contribute
to building the desired image.
4. What does the letter imply about whose fault the damages are? What part or parts
of the letter implicitly refer to fault?
5. In 30-40 words, restate the underlying message of this letter in plain, direct
language.

XIV SYNTHESIZING MEANING
TASK 1: COMPARING SUMMARIES
Text 1:
Read the text below thoroughly, making sure to retain its main ideas as you do.
Then go on to Worksheet 1, below.
carries DNA, which can be used to

HAIR APPARENT determine family relationships (that’s
Beethoven’s locks could reveal why how scientists determined that a woman
he went deaf. named Anna Anderson was not, as she
claimed, Princess Anastasia of Russia) or
Ludwig van Beethoven probably thought hereditary diseases (that’s how they hope
he was taking his secrets to the grave to prove Lincoln suffered from Marfan
when he died in 1827. He thought wrong. syndrome, a genetic disorder that makes
While the composer was decorously its victims grow tall and gangly). Hair also
interred in his beloved Vienna, most of his soaks up drugs and other foreign
hair wasn’t: souvenir-hunting fans substances from the body (low levels of
snipped off so much of his silver mane arsenic in Napoleon’s hair established
before burial that he went to his tomb that the ex-Emperor probably wasn’t
almost bald. poisoned, as some historians believed.
What does a posthumous haircut Now it’s Beethoven’s turn,
have to do with secrets? Forensic thanks to two Arizona music lovers. They
scientists have long known that a body’s bought a lock of hair at an auction in
hair has tales to tell. To begin with, it 1994, and have offered it for scientific

analysis. So far, researchers have learned which some scholars think Beethoven
that the composer didn’t have lice and may have had. They’d also like to know if
didn’t take morphine for his kidney stones he took any medicine for the terrible
or his cirrhosis of the liver. They’re still diarrhea he reportedly suffered; his hair
looking for traces of mercury and lead, might reveal that too. It won’t help
either of which could have caused his anyone better appreciate the Ninth
famous deafness; the former would be an Symphony. But it might make for some
especially juicy find, since mercury in high-brow gossip.
those days was used to treat syphilis,
Worksheet 1:
Read the seven sample summaries of text 1 provided below, and decide which
one/s you believe is/are the best. Remember that a good summary should 1) restate
the main ideas of the original text; 2) exclude all unnecessary or superfluous
details; 3) contain no information which contradicts the original; and 4) include no
editorial remarks. Be prepared to discuss your findings with your classmates.
1. When Beethoven died in 1827, he didn’t have most of his hair. He was
interred almost bald because souvenir-hunting fans cut his hair off. Hair
contains a lot of information about the body of its owner, since it carries
DNA. It can be used to determine family relationships, hereditary diseases or
the presence of drugs or other substances in the body. There have been many
revelations thanks to experiments with hair. Now, scientists are experimenting
with Beethoven’s hair in order to find the cause of his deafness. However,
even if they find the cause, it won’t change Beethoven’s music.
2. When he was interred, Beethoven was almost bald because his fans cut so
much of his hair off. In 1994, two Arizona music lovers offered a lock of
Beethoven’s hair for scientific analysis. Researchers already know that the
composer didn’t have lice and didn’t take morphine for his diseases. But
they’re still looking for the causes of Beethoven’s deafness and they also want
to determine if he took medicine for the diarrhea he apparently suffered.
3. Before Beethoven was interred, many souvenir-hunting fans snipped off
much of his hair. A sample of that hair may now be used to reveal some of the
composer’s secrets. Hair carries DNA, which can be used to determine family
relationships or hereditary diseases. It also soaks up drugs and other foreign
substances from the body. Forensic scientists are now studying Beethoven’s

SYNTHESIZING MEANING 207
hair, looking for traces of mercury or lead, chemicals which could have
caused his famous deafness. Since mercury was used in those days to treat
syphilis, the discovery of this chemical in Beethoven’s remains could inspire
a lot of gossip in the music world.
4. When Beethoven was buried, most of his hair had been removed by his fans.
Scientific analysis has proved in several cases that hair can reveal important
information about people, such as family relationships, hereditary diseases or
the presence of foreign substances in the body. Now, owing to two of
Beethoven’s fans who recently donated a lock of his hair for scientific
analysis, we may discover some secrets about the musician’s life.
5. Beethoven died in 1827. When he was buried in Vienna, he didn’t have most of
his hair because his fans had snipped it off. Scientists know that a body’s hair
carries DNA, which can determine family relationships or hereditary diseases;
hair can also soak up foreign substances from the body. Thanks to two Arizona
music lovers who bought a lock of Beethoven’s hair, researchers have learned
that the composer didn’t have lice and didn’t take morphine for his diseases.
They’re still trying to find out if he used mercury to treat his syphilis and if he
took any medicine for his diarrhea, illnesses he reportedly suffered.
6. In spite of Beethoven’s wish to keep his secrets in his grave, thanks to the zeal
of his fans we are now able to know what he was really like. A lock of the
composer’s hair, bought in an auction in 1994 by two Arizona music lovers,
has been offered to scientists so they may analyze the genius’s DNA. DNA
determines family relationships or hereditary diseases. Beethoven’s DNA
shows that he suffered from kidney stones, cirrhosis and diarrhea, and also
perhaps from syphilis. All this gossip is not very relevant in musical terms,
but music fans may find it entertaining.
7. A lock of hair taken from Beethoven’s head before his burial may reveal
interesting secrets about this composer’s life. Forensic scientists have long
known that much can be learned from studying a body’s hair. Hair not only
contains DNA; which may be analyzed to determine family relationships and
hereditary diseases, but it also absorbs drugs and other substances from the
body. Researchers are now looking for traces of mercury or lead in
Beethoven’s hair. Either of these could have been the cause of his deafness,
and the discovery of mercury would be especially interesting, as it was used
in Beethoven’s time to treat syphilis, a disease some scholars believe he may
have had.

TASK 2: RESTATEMENT, DESCRIPTION, INTERPRETATION
Text 2:
Read the text below thoroughly, and then go on to worksheets 2 and 3, below.
1. Successive generations unconsciously absorb sexism in language because each speech

community conveys to its children both a way to construct grammatical sentences and a
value system for the use of its language. A young reader who sees in a school textbook
the courageous pioneer defended his land forms a mental image of the pioneers that
eliminates females — unless, of course, they are referred to later in the book specifically
as women pioneers. The child learns about the history of our species — man or mankind
— from the time of Peking man or Neanderthal man, even though a large number of the
fossilized bones that have been unearthed once belonged to females.
2. The prevalence of sexism in the English language has been recognized in recent years,
and so the question arises: What can be done about it? Some people have suggested
abandoning the offensive forms he, she, him, her, his, and hers in favor of it and its to
refer indiscriminately to both sexes. But a solution of this sort would imply a drastic
revision of English grammar, which makes important distinctions between the human (he,
she) and the non-human (it). Another suggestion has been to introduce into English a new
third-person pronoun that refers to human beings only, regardless of sex; among those
suggested have been shis, tey and vis.
3. But even if such changes were accepted by speakers of English, no evidence exists that
they would necessarily improve the status of women. For example, the dialect spoken in
the Ozark Mountains of Missouri has seemingly solved the grammatical problem of sexist
pronouns by ignoring the rule that the pronoun must agree in number with its antecedent.
It is perfectly acceptable in this dialect to produce such a nonsexist statement as the
child fell out of the tree and hurt themself in place of the correct standard English himself
or herself, depending on the gender of the child. Similarly, Turkish does not have much of
the sexual chauvinism of English. It has a personal pronoun “o” that can mean either
“he” or “she” and it uses a single word for both brothers and sisters, kardes, regardless
of their sex. Yet the status of women both in the Ozark Mountains and in Turkey is
certainly lower than that of women in most English-speaking communities that use sexist
language; in Turkey, as in most predominantly Muslim nations, it is possible to find signs
on the mosques with the following warning: “Women and dogs and other impure animals
are not permitted to enter.” The fact is that language merely reflects social behavior and
is not the cause of it. The problem of women’s status in English-speaking communities will
not be solved by dismantling the language — but by changing the social structure.
FARB, Peter (1973): Word Play. What Happens When People Talk.
New York, Alfred A. Knopf.

Worksheet 2:
1. Determine the text-type membership of text 1, above (expository, argumentative,
instructive).
2. In as few words as possible, state what the subject-matter of the text is.
3. Provide a one-sentence summary of the main idea of each paragraph in the text.
Paragraph 1: ________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2:________________________________________________________
Paragraph 3: ________________________________________________________
4. Now decide on a title for the text as a whole which reflects its central idea.
5. Complete the outline below, using your results up to this point to fill in the title
space, as well as the spaces marked 1,2 and 3. For the spaces marked 1.1, 2.1 and
3.1, refer to the corresponding paragraphs to find supporting ideas.
Title: _____________________________________________________________
1. _______________________________________________________________
1.1 _____________________________________________________________
2. _______________________________________________________________
2.1 _____________________________________________________________
3. _______________________________________________________________
3.1 _____________________________________________________________

6. Using the outline you have just composed, write a summary of text 1
(approximately 150 words).
Worksheet 3:
1. Read and compare the two alternative summaries of the text provided below. Which of
the two do you believe better reflects:
a) the surface structure of the original text?

b) the underlying relationship between concepts in the original text?
c) the circumstances surrounding the production of the text?
2. Now, compare the two summaries quoted here with the summary you wrote before.
Assign one of the following three labels to each of the three summaries:
a) Restatement of the original

b) Description of the original
c) Interpretation of the original
Alternative summaries:
1. In a passage from his book Word Play, Peter Farb (1973) outlines the relationship
between language use, social structure and discrimination against women.
Beginning with the assertion that sexist language is unconsciously absorbed by
successive generations of children through their constant exposure to its use in
textbooks, the author goes on to give examples of a number of suggestions which
have been made in recent years to do away with those aspects of English grammar
which may be construed as sexist. Farb then provides examples of two linguistic
communities whose use of language is marked by a relative absence of sexism,
and whose female members are, nonetheless, the victims of a discrimination
greater than that which may be observed in most standard English-speaking
communities. Farb concludes by saying that what is needed to improve women’s

status in English-speaking communities are changes in the social structure, not

the language.
2. The essay argues that eliminating sexism in the English language will not do away with
discrimination against women, and that what is really needed to improve women’s
status in English-speaking communities is a change in the social structure. The
unconscious absorption of sexism in language by generations of speakers is portrayed
as a catalyst for recent suggestions to effect “a drastic revision of English grammar”.
Nevertheless, it i8s said that no evidence exists to support the notion that such changes
would improve women’s status. On the contrary, examples are given to confirm the
opposite belief, most notably the case of the Turkish-speaking community, whose
grammar is less sexist than its English counterpart, yet whose members are
characterized as notoriously discriminatory in their thinking, to the point that they have
been known to equate women with “dogs and other impure animals.”

XV INTEGRATING SKILLS
TASK 1: HOLISTIC TEXT INTERPRETATION
Read each of the nine texts included in this task and do the exercises on the
accompanying worksheets.
Text 1:
1) TWO WORLDVIEWS are in collision. On the one hand, this is the age of psychotherapy and
the age of self-improvement. Millions are struggling to change: We diet, we jog, we
meditate. We adopt new modes of thought to counteract our depressions. We practice
relaxation to curtail stress. We exercise to expand our memory and to quadruple our
reading speed. We adopt draconian regimes to give up smoking. We raise our little
boys and girls to androgyny. We come out of the closet or we try to become
heterosexual. We seek to lose our taste for alcohol. We seek more meaning in life. We
try to extend our life span.
2) Sometimes it works. But distressingly often, self-improvement and psychotherapy fail.
The cost is enormous. We think we are worthless. We feel guilty and ashamed. We
believe we have no willpower and that we are failures. We give up trying to change.
(2a)Trudy, like tens of millions of Americans, is desperate

because she believes, quite incorrectly, that she is a failure.
She finds herself even worse off after ten years of trying
everything to lose weight.

Trudy weighed 175 pounds when she graduated from Brown

a decade ago. Four times since, she has slimmed to under
125. Weight Watchers, Nutri-System, six months under the
care of a private behavior therapist, and last year, Optifast.
With each regime the weight came off quickly, if not
painlessly. Each time the fat returned, faster and more of it.
Trudy now weighs 195 and has given up.
3) In its faith that we can change anything, the self-improvement movement expects Trudy
to succeed in her fight against fat, even though she is such an obvious loser in the
weight game. On the other hand, there is a view that expects Trudy to fail. For this is
not only the age of self-improvement and therapy, this is the age of biological
psychiatry. The human genome will be nearly mapped before the millennium is over. The
brain systems underlying sex, hearing, memory, left-handedness, and sadness are now
known. Psychoactive drugs — external agents — quiet our fears, relieve our blues,
bring us bliss, dampen our mania, and dissolve our delusions more effectively than we
can on our own. Our very personality — our intelligence and musical talent, even our
religious ness, our conscience (or its absence), our politics, and our exuberance —
turns out to be more the product of our genes than almost anyone would have believed
a decade ago. Identical twins reared apart are uncannily similar in all these traits,
almost as similar as they are for height and weight. The underlying message of the age
of biological psychiatry is that our biology frequently makes changing, in spite of all our
efforts, impossible.
4) But the view that all is genetic and biochemical and therefore cannot change is also
very often wrong. Many individuals surpass their IQs, fail to “respond” to drugs,
make sweeping changes in their lives, live on when their cancer is “terminal” or
defy the hormones and brain circuitry that “dictate” lust or femininity or memory
loss.
5) Clay is one of many who ignored the conventional wisdom that his problem was
“biological” and found just the right psychotherapy, which worked quickly and
permanently.
(5a)Out of the blue, about once a week, Clay, a software

designer, was having panic attacks. His heart started to
pound, he couldn’t catch his breath, and he was sure he was
going to die. After about an hour of terror, the panic
subsided. Clay underwent four years of psychoanalysis,
which gave him insight into his childhood feelings of

INTEGRATING SKILLS 215
abandonment but didn’t lessen the panic attacks. Then he

was on high doses of Xanax (alprazolam, a tranquilizer) for
a year; during that time he only panicked once a month, but
he was so sleepy most of the time that he lost his two
biggest accounts. So Clay stopped taking Xanax and the
panic returned with unabated fury. Two years ago, he had
ten sessions of cognitive therapy for panic disorder. He
corrected his mistaken belief that the symptoms of anxiety
(e.g. heart racing, shortness of breath) are catastrophic;
symptoms of an impending heart attack. Since then he
hasn’t had a single attack.
6) As the ideologies of biological psychiatry and self-improvement collide, a resolution is

apparent. There are some things about ourselves that can be changed, others that
cannot, and some that can be changed only with extreme difficulty...
Worksheet 1:
1. Without consulting a dictionary, suggest alternative words or expressions which
might be used in the text in place of the following:
a) curtail (1:4)_____________________________________________________
b) come out of the closet (1:6)________________________________________
c) dampen (3:8)____________________________________________________
d) uncannily (3:12)_________________________________________________
e) sweeping (4:3)___________________________________________________
f) gave him insight into (5a:6)_________________________________________
g) an impending heart attack (5a:16)___________________________________

2. State whether the text is generally expository, argumentative or instructive. If

expository, is it descriptive, narrative or conceptual? If argumentative, does it
display a through-argumentative or counter-argumentative structure? If
instructive, is it binding or non-binding?
3. What is the specific function, within the logical structure of the text as a whole,
of each of the two paragraphs printed in italics (2a and 5a) ? If we consider these
as subtexts within the main text, what text type and sub-type do they represent?
4. Which of the following rhetorical patterns can you detect in the structure of the
text? Briefly explain your answer.
a) problem/solution
b) comparison/contrast
c) definition
5. Comment on the sentence structure of paragraph 1. What reasons might the

author have for expressing his thought in this way?

6. Based on its language and content (degree of formality and subject matter) what
kind of publication do you believe this text has been extracted from? For what
kind of public do you believe it is intended? Refer to details in the text to support
your answer.
7. Why has the author enclosed the word “terminal” (4:3) in inverted commas?
8. Suggest a possible title for the text.
9. Write a 150-word summary (restatement) of the main ideas of the text.
Text 2:
1) In evolutionary terms, a man who has a short-term liaison is betting that his
illegitimate child will survive without his help or is counting on a cuckolded husband
to bring it up as his own. For the man who can afford it, a surer way to maximize
progeny is to seek several wives and invest in all their children. Men should want
many wives, not just many sex partners. And in fact, men in power have allowed
polygamy in more than eighty percent of human culture. Jews practiced it until
Christian times and outlawed it only in the tenth century. Mormons encouraged it
until it was outlawed by the U.S. government in the late nineteenth century, and
even today there are thought to be tens of thousands of clandestine polygynous
marriages in Utah and other western states. Whenever polygamy is allowed, men
seek additional wives and the means to attract them. Wealthy and prestigious men

have more than one wife, ne’er-do-wells have none. Typically a man who has been
married for some time seeks a younger wife. The senior wife remains his
confidante and partner and runs the household; the junior one becomes his sexual
interest.
2) In primitive societies wealth cannot accumulate, but a few fierce men, skilled
leaders, and good hunters may have two to ten wives. With the invention of
agriculture and massive inequality, polygamy can reach ridiculous proportions.
Laura Betzig has documented that in civilization after civilization, despotic men have
implemented the ultimate male fantasy: a harem of hundreds of nubile women,
closely guarded (often by eunuchs) so no other man can touch them. Similar
arrangements have popped up in India, China, the Islamic world, sub-Saharan
Africa, and the Americas. King Solomon had a thousand concubines. Roman
emperors called them slaves, and medieval European kings called them serving
maids.
3) Polyandry, by comparison, is vanishingly rare. Men occasionally share a wife in
environments so harsh that a man cannot survive without a woman, but the
arrangement collapses when conditions improve. Eskimos have sporadically had
polyandrous marriages, but the co-husbands are always jealous and one often
murders the other.
4) Marriage arrangements are usually described from the man’s point of view, not
because the desires of women are irrelevant but because powerful men have
usually gotten their way. Men are bigger and stronger because they have been
selected to fight one another, and they can form powerful clans because in
traditional societies sons stay near their families and daughters move away. The
most florid polygamists are always despots, men who could kill without fear of
retribution. (According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the man with the
most recorded childen in history – 888 – was an emperor of Morocco with the
evocative name Moulay Ismail The Bloodthirsty.)
5) But oddly enough, in a freer society polygamy is not necessarily bad for women. On
financial and ultimately on evolutionary grounds, a woman may prefer to share a
wealthy husband than to have the undivided attention of a pauper, and may even
prefer it on emotional grounds. Laura Betzig summed up the reason: Would you
rather be the third wife of John F. Kennedy or the first wife of Bozo the Clown?
6) The economist Steven Landsburg explains the mechanics of polygamy using the
market principle of cartel agreements:
7) Antipolygamy laws are a textbook example of the theory of cartel agreements.
Producers, initially competitive, gather together in a conspiracy against the public,
or, more specifically, against their customers. They agree that each firm will restrict
its output in an attempt to keep prices high. But a high price invites cheating, in the
sense that each firm seeks to expand its own output beyond what is allowable under

the agreement. Eventually the cartel crumbles unless it is enforced by legal

sanctions, and even then violations are common.
8) That story, told in every economics textbook, is also the story of male producers in
the romance industry. Initially fiercely competitive, they gather together in a
conspiracy against their “customers” – the women to whom they offer their hands
in marriage. The conspiracy consists of an agreement under which each man
restricts his romantic endeavors in an attempt to increase the bargaining position
of men in general. But the improved position of men invites cheating, in the sense
that each man tries to court more women than allowed under the agreement. The
cartel survives only because it is enforced by legal sanctions, and even so violations
are common.
9) Legal monogamy historically has been an agreement between more and less
powerful men, not between men and women. Its aim is not so much to exploit the
customers in the romance industry (women) as to minimize the costs of competition
among the producers (men). Under polygamy, men vie for extraordinary Darwinian
stakes – many wives versus none – and the competition is literally cutthroat. Many
homicides and most tribal wars are directly or indirectly about competition for
women. Leaders have outlawed polygamy when they needed less powerful men as
allies and when they needed their subjects to fight an enemy instead of fighting one
another. Early Christianity appealed to poor men partly because the promise of
monogamy kept them in the marriage game, and in societies since, egalitarianism
and monogamy go together as naturally as despotism and polygamy.
10) Even today, inequality has allowed a kind of polygamy to flourish. Wealthy men
support a wife and a mistress, or divorce their wives at twenty-year intervals and
pay them alimony and child support while marrying younger women. The journalist
Robert Wright has speculated that easy divorce and remarriage, like overt
polygamy, increases violence. Women of childbearing age are monopolized by
well-to-do men, and the shortage of potential wives trickles down to the lower
strata, forcing the poorest young men into desperate competition.

Worksheet 2:
1. Without using a dictionary, suggest alternatives for the words and phrases from
the text listed below.
a) liaison (1:1) ___________________________________________________

b) outlawed it (1:7)________________________________________________
c) there are thought to be (1:9)_______________________________________
d) n’er-do-wells (1:12) _____________________________________________
e) seeks (1:13)____________________________________________________
f) popped up (2:7)_________________________________________________
g) sporadically(3:3)________________________________________________
h) pauper (5:3)____________________________________________________
i) vie (9:4)_______________________________________________________
j) appealed to (9:9)________________________________________________
k) well-to-do (10:6)________________________________________________
2. Identify the text-type of the above text as: (CIRCLE ONE)
a) EXPOSITORY b) ARGUMENTATIVE c) INSTRUCTIVE
3. Keeping in mind your answer to the preceding question, identify the text sub-
type of the text (CIRCLE ONE):
a) narrative b) conceptual c) through-argument

d) counter-argument e) binding f) non-binding
g) descriptive
4. Very briefly, justify your answers to the preceding two questions. Make sure to
mention what you believe the MAIN IDEA or MAIN ARGUMENT of the text is.

5. The above text talks about both men and women. Do you believe it is: (CIRCLE
ONE)
a) biased in favor of women b) biased in favor of men c) not biased
6. The text explains that when it comes to attracting women as partners, men who
are wealthy are at an advantage over men who are not. According to the text,
what kind of women are at an advantage when it comes to attracting men?
7. Does the author appear to be in favor of, or against the practice of polygamy?
Briefly justify your answer with evidence from the text.
8. Do you believe the register of the text above indicates that the text was written
a) for readers specialized in the field discussed or
b) for a general, non-specialized public?
CIRCLE ONE, and then briefly justify your answer citing at least two examples
from the text.
9. Write a summary (restatement) of the text (approx.150 words).

Text 3:
1) I was sitting in a suburban living room, speaking to a women’s group that had
invited men to join them for the occasion of my talk about communication between
women and men. During the discussion, one man was particularly talkative, full of
lengthy comments and explanations. When I made the observation that women
often complain that their husbands don’t talk to them enough, this man volunteered
that he heartily agreed. He gestured toward his wife, who had sat silently beside
him on the couch throughout the evening, and said, “she’s the talker in our family.”
2) Everyone in the room burst into laughter. The man looked puzzled and hurt. “It’s
true,” he explained. “When I come home from work, I usually have nothing to say,
but she never runs out. If it weren’t for her, we’d spend the whole evening in
silence.” Another woman expressed a similar paradox about her husband: “When
we go out, he’s the life of the party. If I happen to be in another room, I can
always hear his voice above the others. But when we’re home, he doesn’t have
that much to say. I do most of the talking.”
3) Who talks more, women or men? According to the stereotype, women talk too
much. Linguist Jennifer Coates notes some proverbs:
A woman’s tongue wags like a lamb’s tail.

Foxes are all tail and women are all tongue.
The North Sea will sooner be found wanting in water than a woman be
at a loss for a word.
4) Modern stereotypes are not much different from those expressed in the old
proverbs. Women are believed to talk too much. Yet study after study finds
that it is men who talk more – at meetings, in mixed-group discussions, and in
classrooms where girls or young women sit next to boys or young men. For
example, communications researchers Barbara and Gene Eakins tape-recorded
and studied seven university faculty meetings. They found that, with one exception,
men spoke more often and, without exception, spoke for a longer time. The men’s
turns ranged from 10.66 to 17.07 seconds, while the women’s turns ranged from 3
to 10 seconds. In other words, the women’s longest turns were still shorter than
the men’s shortest turns.
5) When a public lecture is followed by questions from the floor, or a talk show host
opens the phones, the first voice to be heard asking a question is almost always a
man’s. And when they ask questions or offer comments from the audience, men
tend to talk longer. Linguist Marjorie Swacker recorded question-and-answer

sessions at academic conferences. Women were highly visible as speakers at the

conferences studied; they presented 40.7 percent of the papers at the conferences
studied and made up 42 percent of the audiences. But when it came to
volunteering and being called on to ask questions, women contributed only 27.4
percent. Furthermore, the women’s questions, on the average, took less than half
as much time as the men’s. (The mean was 23.1 seconds for women, 52.7 for
men.) This happened, Swacker shows, because men (but not women) tended to
preface their questions with statements, ask more than one question, and follow
up the speaker’s answer with another question or comment.
6) I have observed this pattern at my own lectures, too. Regardless of the proportion
of women and men in the audience, men almost invariably ask the first question,
more questions, and longer questions. In these situations, women often feel that
men are talking too much. I recall one discussion period following a lecture I gave
to a group assembled in a bookstore. The group was composed mostly of women,
but most of the discussion was being conducted by men in the audience. At one
point, a man sitting in the middle was talking at such great length that several
women in the front rows began shifting in their seats and rolling their eyes at me.
Ironically, what he was going on about was how frustrated he feels when he has to
listen to women going on and on about topics he finds boring and unimportant.
7) Who talks more, then, women or men? The seemingly contradictory evidence is
reconciled by the difference between what I call public and private speaking. More
men feel comfortable doing “public speaking” while more women feel comfortable
doing “private” speaking. Another way of capturing these differences is by using
the terms report-talk and rapport-talk.
8) For most women, the language of conversation is primarily a language of rapport:
a way of establishing connections and negotiating relationships. Emphasis is
placed on displaying similarities and matching experiences. From childhood, girls
criticize peers who try to stand out or appear better than others. People feel their
closest connections at home, or in settings where they feel at home – with one or
a few people they feel close to and comfortable with – in other words, during
private speaking. But even the most public situations can be approached like
private speaking.
9) For most men, talk is primarily a means to preserve independence and negotiate
and maintain status in a hierarchical social order. This is done by exhibiting
knowledge and skill, and by holding center stage through verbal performance such
as storytelling, joking, or imparting information. From childhood, men learn to use
talking as a way to get and keep attention. So they are more comfortable speaking
in larger groups made up of people they know less well – in the broadest sense,

“public speaking.” But even the most private situations can be approached like
public speaking, more like giving a report than establishing rapport.
10) What is the source of the stereotype that women talk a lot? Dale Spender
suggests that most people feel instinctively (if not consciously) that women, like
children, should be seen and not heard, so any amount of talk from them seems
like too much. Studies have shown that if women and men talk equally in a group,
people think the women talked more. So there is truth to Spender’s view. But
another explanation is that men think women talk a lot because they hear women
talking in situations where men would not: on the telephone; or in social
situations with friends, when they are not discussing topics that men find
inherently interesting; or, like the couple at the women’s group, at home alone –
in other words, in private speaking.
11) Home is the setting for an American icon that features the silent man and the
talkative woman. And this icon, which grows out of the different goals and habits
I have been describing, explains why the complaint most often voiced by women
about the men with whom they are intimate is “He doesn’t talk to me” – and the
second most frequent is “He doesn’t listen to me.”
12) Sources as lofty as studies conducted by psychologists, as down to earth as
letters written to advice columnists, and as sophisticated as movies and plays
come up with the same insight: Men’s silence at home is a disappointment to
women. Again and again, women complain, “He seems to have everything to say
to everyone else, and nothing to say to me.”
13) When something goes wrong, people look around for a source to blame: either
the person they are trying to communicate with (“You’re demanding, stubborn,
self-centered”) or the group that the other person belongs to (“All women are
demanding”: (“All men are self-centered”). Some generous-minded people
blame the relationship (“We just can’t communicate). But underneath, or overlaid
on these types of blame cast outward, most people believe that something is
wrong with them.
14) If individual people or particular relationships were to blame, there wouldn’t be
so many different people having the same problems. The real problem is
conversational style. Women and men have different ways of talking. Even with
the best intentions, trying to settle the problem through talk can only make things
worse if it is ways of talking that are causing trouble in the first place.

Worksheet 3:
1. Suggest alternatives for the words and phrases from the text listed below.
a) puzzled (2:1)_________________________________________________
b) the life of the party (2:5)________________________________________
c) Women are believed to talk too much. (4:2)________________________
d) mean (5:10)__________________________________________________
e) regardless of (6:1)_____________________________________________
f) almost invariably (6:2)_________________________________________
g) at such great length (6:7)_______________________________________
h) shifting in their seats (6:8)______________________________________
i) voiced (11:3)_________________________________________________
j) come up with the same insight (12:3)______________________________
k) self-centered (13:3)____________________________________________

g) descriptive

4. Very briefly, justify your answers to the preceding two questions. Make sure to
mention what you believe the MAIN IDEA or MAIN ARGUMENT of the text is.
5. Do you believe the text was originally written for an American public or a British
public? Justify your answer briefly.
6. Do you believe the author of the text is a man or a woman? Justify your answer.
7. Do you believe the register of the text above indicates that the text was written
a) for readers specialized in the field of linguistics or
CIRCLE ONE, and then briefly justify your answer citing at least two examples
from the text.

8. Write a summary (restatement) of the text (approx. 150 words).
Text 4:
1) Language-lovers know that there is a word for every fear. Are you afraid of wine?
Then you have oenophobia. Tremulous about train travel? You suffer from
sideromophobia. Having misgivings about your mother-in-law is pentheraphobia,
and being petrified of peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth is
arachibutyrophobia.
2) But just as not having a word for an emotion doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist,
having a word for an emotion doesn’t mean that it does exist. One of the joys of
verbivores and lexicographers is finding names for hypothetical fears. That is where
these improbable phobias come from. Real people do not tremble at the referent of
every euphonious Greek or Latin root. Fears and phobias fall into a short and
universal list.
3) Snakes and spiders are always scary. They are the most common objects of fear and
loathing in studies of college students’ phobias, and have been so for a long time in
our evolutionary history. D.O. Hebb found that chimpanzees born in captivity scream
in terror when they first see a snake, and in cultures that revere snakes, people still
treat them with great wariness. Even Indiana Jones was afraid of them!
4) The other common fears are of heights, storms, large carnivores, darkness, blood,
strangers, confinement, deep water, social scrutiny, and leaving home alone. The
common thread is obvious. These are the situations that put our evolutionary
ancestors in danger. Spiders and snakes are often venomous, especially in Africa,
and most of the others are obvious hazards to a person’s health, or in the case of
social scrutiny, status. Fear is the emotion that motivated our ancestors to cope
with the dangers they were likely to face.
5) Such traditional fears in modern city-dwellers protect us from dangers that no
longer exist, and fail to protect us from real dangers in the world around us. We
ought to be afraid of guns, driving fast, driving without a seatbelt, and hairdryers
near bathtubs, not of snakes and spiders. Public safety officials try to strike fear in
the arts of citizens using everything from statistics to shocking photographs, usually
to no avail. Parents scream and punish to deter their children from playing with
matches or chasing a ball into the street, but when Chicago school children were

asked what they were most afraid of, they cited lions, tigers, and snakes, unlikely
hazards in the Windy City.
6) Of course, fears do change with experience. For decades psychologists thought that
animals learn new fears the way Pavlov’s dogs learned to salivate to a bell. In a
famous experiment, John B. Watson, the founder of behaviorism, came up behind an
eleven-month-old boy playing with a tame white rat and suddenly clanged two steel
bars together. After a few more clangs, the boy became afraid of the rat and other
white furry things, including, rabbits, dogs, a sealskin coat, and Santa Claus. The rat
too, can learn to associate danger with a previously neutral stimulus. A rat shocked
in a white room will flee it for a black room every time it is dumped there, long after
the shocker has been unplugged.
7) But in fact creatures cannot be conditioned to fear just any old thing. Children are
nervous about rats, and rats are nervous about bright rooms, before any conditioning
begins, and they easily associate them with danger. Change the white rat to some
arbitrary object, like opera glasses, and the child never learns to fear it. Shock the
rat in a black room instead of a white one, and that nocturnal creature learns the
association more slowly and unlearns it more quickly. The psychologist Martin
Seligman suggests that fears can be easily conditioned only when the animal is
evolutionarily prepared to make the association.
8) Few, if any, human phobias are about neutral objects that were once paired with
some trauma. People dread snakes without ever having seen one. After a
frightening or painful event, people are more prudent around the cause, but they do
not fear it; there are no phobias for electrical outlets, hammers, cars, or air-raid
shelters. Television clichés notwithstanding, most survivors of a traumatic event do
not have fits of the screaming meemies every time they face a reminder of it.
Vietnam veterans resent the stereotype in which they hit the floor whenever
someone drops a glass.
9) Psychiatrists Isaac Marks and Randolph Nesse argue that phobias are innate fears
that have never been unlearned. Fears develop spontaneously in children. In their
first year, babies fear strangers and separation, as well they should. Between the
ages of three and five, children become fearful of all the standard phobic objects —
spiders, the dark, deep water, and so on— and then master them one by one. Most
adult phobias are childhood fears that never went away. That is why it is city-
dwellers who most fear snakes.
10) The ability to conquer fear selectively is an important component of instinct. People
in grave danger, such as pilots in combat or Londoners during the WWII blitz, can be
remarkably composed. No one knows why some people can keep their heads when
all about them are losing theirs, but the main calming agents are predictability,
allies within shouting distance, and a sense of competence and control, which the
writer Tom Wolfe called “the right stuff”. In his book by that name about the test

pilots who became Mercury astronauts, Wolfe defined the right stuff as “the ability
[of the pilot] to go up in a hurtling piece of machinery and put his hide on the line
and then have the reflexes, the experience, the coolness, to pull it back in the last
moment.” That sense of control comes from testing, in small steps, how high, how
fast, how far one can go without bringing on disaster. Similarly, some forms of
recreation, and the emotion called “exhilaration” come from enduring relatively safe
events that look and feel like ancestral dangers. These include most non-competitive
sports (diving, climbing, spelunking, and so on) and the genres of books and movies
called “thrillers.” Winston Churchill once said, “Nothing in life is so exhilarating as
to be shot at without result.”
Worksheet 4:
1. Suggest alternatives to replace the words and phrases from the text listed below.
a) tremulous (1:2) _________________________________________________

b) revere (3:4)_____________________________________________________
c) venomous (4:4)_________________________________________________
d) hazards (4:5)____________________________________________________
e) cope with (4:6) _________________________________________________
f) city dwellers (5:1)_______________________________________________
g) to no avail (5:5-6) ________________________________________________
h) deter (5:6) _____________________________________________________
i) cited (5:8)______________________________________________________
j) tame (6:4)______________________________________________________
k) dread (8:2)_____________________________________________________
l) fits (8:6) _______________________________________________________
m) master (9:5) __________________________________________________
n) grave (10:2)___________________________________________________
o) keep their heads when all about them are losing theirs (10:3-4)___________
_________________________________________________________________


g) descriptive
4. Very briefly, justify your answers to the preceding two questions, and suggest a
title for the passage.
5. Consider the stylistic use of the word “tremulous” in paragraph 1, line 2. Please
explain why you believe the author chose to use this particular word instead of
some other synonym. Also, can you cite another example of the same stylistic
device being used once again in this same paragraph?
6. According to what the text explains, if you lived in New York City, would you
be more likely to be afraid of:
a) tarantulas or b) ambulances (CIRCLE ONE)
Would you be more likely to have a fear of:
c) ambulances or D) elevators? (CIRCLE ONE)

Please justify your answers very briefly.
7. Do you believe the register of the text above indicates that it was written
a) for readers who share a particular field of expertise?
Circle one, and then briefly justify your answer citing at least two supporting
examples from the text.
8. Write a summary (restatement) of the text (approx.150 words).
Text 5:
1) People who think of themselves as tough-minded and realistic tend to take it for
granted that human nature is selfish and that life is a struggle in which only the fittest
may survive. According to this philosophy, the basic law by which people must live, in
spite of their surface veneer of civilization, is the struggle of the jungle. The “fittest”
are those who can bring to the struggle superior force, superior cunning, and superior
ruthlessness.
2) The wide currency of this philosophy of the “survival of the fittest” enables people
who act ruthlessly and selfishly, whether in personal rivalries, business competition, or
international relations, to assuage their consciences by telling themselves that they
are only obeying a law of nature. But a disinterested observer is entitled to ask
whether the ruthlessness of the tiger, the cunning of the fox, and obedience to the law
of the jungle are, in their human applications, actually evidence of human fitness to

survive. If human beings are to pick up pointers on behavior from the lower animals,
are there not animals other than beasts of prey from which we might learn lessons in
survival?
3) We might, for example, look to the rabbit or the deer and define fitness to survive as
superior speed in running away from our enemies. We might point to the earthworm or
the mole and attribute their fitness to survive to the ability to keep out of sight and out
of the way. We might examine the oyster or the housefly and define fitness as the
ability to propagate our kind faster than our enemies can eat us up. In Brave New
World, Aldous Huxley described a world designed by those who would model human
beings after social ants. The world, under the management of a super-brain trust,
might be made as well integrated, smooth, and efficient as an ant colony and, as Huxley
shows, just about as meaningless. If we simply look to animals in order to define what
we mean by “fitness to survive”, there is no limit to the subhuman systems of behavior
that can be devised: we may emulate lobsters, dogs, sparrows, parakeets, giraffes,
skunks, or parasitical worms because they have all obviously survived in one way or
another. We are still entitled to ask, however, if human survival does not revolve around
a different kind of fitness from that of the lower animals.
4) Because of the wide acceptance of competition as the force which drives our world, it
is worthwhile to look into the present scientific standing of the phrase “survival of the
fittest.” Biologists distinguish between two kinds of struggle for survival. First, there is
the interspecific struggle, warfare between different species of animals, as between
wolves and deer, or men and bacteria. Second, there is the intraspecific struggle,
warfare among members of a single species, as when rats fight other rats or human
beings fight each other. A great deal of evidence in modern biology indicates that those
species that have developed elaborate means of intraspecific competition often make
themselves unfit for interspecific competition, so that such species are either already
extinct or are threatened with extinction at any time. The peacock’s tail, although useful
in sexual competition against other peacocks, is only a hindrance in coping with the
environment or competing against other species. The peacock could therefore be
wiped out overnight by a sudden change in ecological balance. There is evidence, too,
that strength and fierceness in fighting and killing other animals, whether in
interspecific or intraspecific competition, have never been enough in themselves to
guarantee the survival of a species. many mammoth reptiles, equipped with
magnificent offensive and defensive armaments, ceased millions of years ago to walk
the earth.
5) If we are going to talk about human survival, one of the first things to do, even if we
grant that people must fight to live, is to distinguish between those qualities that are
useful in fighting the environment and other species (for example, floods, storms, wild
animals, insects, or bacteria) and those qualities (such as aggressiveness) that are

useful in fighting other people. There are also characteristics important to human
survival that do not involve fighting.
6) The principle that if we don’t hang together we shall all hang separately was discovered
by nature long before it was put into words by Benjamin Franklin. Cooperation within
a species (and sometimes with other species) is essential to the survival of most living
creatures.
7) Human beings are talking animals. Any theory of human survival that leaves this fact out
of account is no more scientific than would be a theory of beaver survival that failed to
consider the interesting uses a beaver makes of its teeth and flat tail...
Worksheet 5:
1. Without using a dictionary, explain the meaning of the following words and
expressions within the text. Where possible, suggest synonymous words or
expressions which might have been used in the text.
a) surface veneer (1:4)______________________________________________
b) cunning (1:5)___________________________________________________
c) ruthlessness (1:6)________________________________________________
d) wide currency (2:1)______________________________________________
e) assuage (2:3)___________________________________________________
f) hindrance (4:11)_________________________________________________
2. To whom is the theory of the “survival of the fittest”, alluded to in paragraph 1,

generally attributed? Briefly explain the theory as you know it.

3. Why do you think the writer has enclosed the term “fittest” in inverted commas
in paragraph 1?
4. In paragraph 2, the author refers to “beasts of prey”. What specific examples of

beasts of prey are mentioned in the text?
5. Locate the part of the text which discusses the difference between two different
types of struggle for survival. Name the two different types and state into which
of the two categories you believe the human capacity for speech might be placed.
6. Is the text generally expository, argumentative, or instructive? If it is expository,

state whether it is narrative, descriptive or conceptual. If it is argumentative, state
whether its structure may be described as a through-argument or a counter-
argument. If it is instructive, is it binding or non-binding?

7. As indicated by the ellipsis dots at the end (...), this text is incomplete. What topic
do you think the following paragraphs of the text, not shown here, are likely to
discuss?
8. Consider the subject-matter and the kind of language used in the text. From what
kind of publication do you believe the text may have been extracted? At what sort
of reader to you believe the text is directed?
9. Paragraph 6 mentions Benjamin Franklin’s maxim that “if we don’t hang

together we shall all hang separately.” Explain the play on words to be found in
this maxim and the meaning of the statement as a whole as it applies to the text.
10.Suggest a title for the text and restate the main idea of each paragraph as briefly
as possible (two sentences maximum per paragraph).

Text 6:
1) Although science is often revolutionary and the products of science may well terminate
life on this planet, the problems of science are not soluble by violent means. This
nonviolent character is not due to any angelic aspects or overwhelming virtues of
scientists. Even if a violent outbreak were to occur and one scientist to physically
clobber another, the scientific problem would not be resolved. The simple fact is that
scientific problems do not readily lend themselves to violent solutions. A nationalist can
make his point and achieve territorial aspirations with a bayonet. An economic
philosophy can gain a place in the sun following a violent revolution, as Lenin and
Mao have demonstrated. “Conversion by the sword” has had lasting effects in many
parts of the world. But scientific struggles have been relatively bloodless. Galileo and
his small group of followers won their struggle against the church, the strongest power
of their time. There is no record that they employed violence in the contest.
2) Stalin used violence, threats, and bribes to impose political standards on genetic
theories in supporting Lysenkoism, a theory holding that acquired traits are
hereditarily transmitted. His success was fleeting and disastrous. Why? The attempted
application of unconfirmed theory brought Soviet genetic research to a virtual
standstill and created difficulties in agricultural development. Scientific theories must
at some point be anchored in observations. Try as you may, you can’t force observable
data to change; they are stubborn and eternally patient. If observers go to the stake
or to Siberia, there will be others to observe; observers may remain silent, but the
data become like heavily starched underwear — concealed from others but difficult to
ignore.
3) Scientific controversies are in part settled by appeals to evidence. This evidence
includes observations at some point. There are no time limits on the accumulation of
evidence, since controversies can be reopened or continued indefinitely. Typically,
settlement of a controversy takes place over a period of time; personal prices and
prejudices are slowly dissipated and are not likely to lead to violence.
4) Controversies are generally resolved when a scientist submits his findings and
speculations to a jury of his peers. Only their judgments count. Although these peers
make mistakes, they allow continuous unlimited appeals of adverse judgments. Like
uncertain shoppers, scientists are rarely forced to make an immediate conclusion, and
when a transaction has been completed the “merchandise” may still be returned. Such
a system can be magnificently frustrating; yet controversies are ordinarily resolved
without violence.

Worksheet 6:
1. Without consulting the dictionary, suggest alternative formulations for the
following words and phrases in the text:
a) clobber (1:5)____________________________________________________
b) can gain a place in the sun (1:8)____________________________________
c) brought Soviet genetic research to a virtual standstill (2:4-5)______________
d) go to the stake or to Siberia (2:7-8)__________________________________
e) settled (3:1)_____________________________________________________
f) peers (4:2)______________________________________________________
2. Is the text chiefly expository, argumentative or instructive? (State the main text
type and sub-type it represents.)
3. Restate the central idea of the text in one sentence. Suggest a title for the text.
4. Why have the authors chosen to enclose the word “merchandise” (4:5) in
inverted commas? What does the word actually refer to in this context?

5. Find as many examples of metaphor or rhetorical comparison as you can in

the text. List them.
6. Consider the subject-matter and degree of formality of the language used in

the text. From what kind of publication do you believe the text has been extracted?
For what kind of readership is it intended? Support your answer with at least two
examples from the text.
Text 7:
1) THE SEARCH for eternal youth has fired the imagination of aging kings, emperors, and
ordinary people for countless millennia. Since antiquity, rulers, in their relentless
quest for eternal life, have dispatched teams of explorers to track down the fabled
fountain of youth, accidentally alternating the course of history on several occasions.
2) This quest is with us even today. The baby-boom generation, particularly with its
emphasis on youth, seems determined to resist surrendering to Father Time, and has
poured $40 billion into fueling the current exercise and diet fads.
3) Anyone who has ever stared in a mirror and watched the inexorable spread of wrinkles,
sagging features, and graying hair has yearned for perpetual youth at some point.
Aging is no fun: it involves a profound loss in muscle mass, increase in body fat
(especially around the waist in men, and in the buttocks in women), weakening of our
bones, decline of our immune system, and loss of vigor.
4) No matter how rich, powerful, glamorous, or influential you might be, to confront aging
is to confront the reality of your mortality. Or as Butch Cassidy said to the Sundance
Kid: “Every day you get older. It’s a law.” Unfortunately, the secret of aging and eternal
youth has always been shrouded in mystery, if not quackery and outright fraud.

5) By rights, however, the body should live forever. Surprisingly, certain organisms, in fact,
live indefinitely. Certain cells, and even animals, routinely defy the laws of aging and
have no measurable life span. So if living forever does not violate any known law of cell
biology, then why can’t we stay eternally young?
6) A number of tantalizing and remarkable discoveries indicate that the genetic and
molecular origin of aging may be within sight. Wild speculations and ancient folklore
are, for the first time in human history, being replaced by hard data and concrete,
reproducible results. The excitement is palpable among researchers. Leonard
Hayflick of the University of California at San Francisco, sometimes called the “dean of
biogerontology,” states, “Gerontology is now at a stage where several of the theories
are being collapsed into each other, and, although much important information is not
yet included in the merger, we are making good progress toward the biogerontological
counterpart of the physicists’ Grand Unified Theory.”
7) Some biogerontologists have made some cautious but reasonable predictions for the
future. From now to 2020, perhaps the best bet in terms of delaying or maybe reversing
some of the diseases and symptoms of aging will be carefully monitored hormone
treatments. There are severe drawbacks to this volatile but promising technique. But
if its side effects can be contained, then a combination of antioxidant/hormone
treatments may reverse some of the ravages of aging (although they will probably not
extend the human life span).
8) After 2020, however, when we have personalized DNA sequencing, an entirely new
avenue will open up — i.e., identifying the fabled “age genes,” if in fact they exist. It
should be stressed that not all scientists believe that there are such things as age
genes. And even if they do exist, the task of sifting through thousands of genes to
locate the age genes will be a tedious one, but some biogerontologists claim to have
found some age genes in animals, and they may have homologues in humans. One
promising avenue would be to study the personalized DNA sequences of people who
live exceptionally healthy and long lives, and correlate them by computer to see if they
share key genetic factors.
9) From 2020 to 2050, yet another promising approach will open up: growing new organs.
It is of no use to have a long life span if we are stuck with bodies that are
crumbling with decay. Already, skin and other tissues can be grown in the laboratory,
and plans exist to grow entire organs, including kidneys, hearts, and even possibly
hands. Eventually, growing new organs may become as common as heart and kidney
transplants today.

Worksheet 7:
1. Suggest alternative expressions to replace the following words and phrases, in
bold type in the text. Your suggestions must fit into the text both grammatically
and semantically.
a) fired (1:1)_____________________________________________________
b) relentless quest (1:2)_____________________________________________
c) track down (1:3)_________________________________________________
d) has poured $40 billion into (2:2-3)__________________________________
e) yearned for (3:2)_________________________________________________
f) shrouded in (4:4)________________________________________________
g) The excitement is palpable among researchers (6:4)_____________________
h) drawbacks (7:4)_________________________________________________
i) ravages (7:6)____________________________________________________
j) It is of no use to have a long life span if we are stuck with bodies that are
crumbling with decay. (9:2-3)_____________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
2. Of which text type (expository, instructive or argumentative) is the text

representative?
3. What do biogerontologists study, and for what purpose?

4. Please indicate whether you believe the subject matter of the text above is mainly
a) philosophical b) scientific c) historical.
5. Based on its subject matter and language, would you characterize the text as
intended for laymen or experts? From what kind of publication do you think the
text has been extracted? Support your answer with evidence (at least two
examples) from the text.
6. What does the expression “the merger” (paragraph 6, line 8) refer to in the text?
7. In a paragraph of 100-150 words, provide a summary (restatement) of the text.
Text 8:
1) If at this moment you look around you, the odds are that most if not all of what you can
see has been built, made, or grown by members of our own species. We tend to take
such things for granted, and do not normally contrast our circumstances with those of
the gorilla, the orangutan, or the chimpanzee. Not until we begin to think about it does
it strike us as in any way remarkable that our world should be, not only utterly different
from and far more complex than theirs, but also, in large part, our own creation. Other
species adapt themselves to the natural world — we adapt the natural world to us.
2) Yet if you consider our respective natures, you would never expect the gap between us
and the apes to be as vast as it is. We share with the chimpanzee perhaps as much as
99 percent of our genetic material, and our common ancestor may be as little as five
million years behind us. Yet if apes look around them, what can they see that their own
species has made? Most species are locked in their own niches, ringed by
unbreachable barriers of climate, vegetation, terrain. We alone seem magically
exempt from such bounds.

3) Nor does the gulf between us end with what can be seen. Each of us has a lively and
persistent sense that we are able not only to act in the world, but to stand back, so to
speak, and see ourselves acting; review our own actions and those of others, and
deliberately weigh and judge them; seek in ourselves for the motives that inspire those
actions; catalog our hopes, our fears, our dreams, and perform countless other
operations that we subsume under the head of ‘mental activities’ or ‘consciousness’.
We do not know whether any other species has these particular capacities. We may
well doubt it.
4) It is only because we can imagine things being different from the way they are that we
are ale to change them. But this imaginative capacity forms merely a part of our kind
of consciousness. If that capacity were shared by any other creature, its fruits should
surely be evident. Such a creature might be expected to share, even if only in a reduced
measure, our own world-altering power. Since none does, we may take it that
consciousness and power over nature are unique to our species, and that only through
the first can the second come about.
5) These vast difference between our species and those that are closes to it pose no
problem for those who believe that we result from a unique at of creation, a
supernatural irruption into the natural scheme of things. For those who do not believe
this, and who find overwhelming the evidence that we developed, as all other species
did, through the natural process of evolution, these differences must remain puzzling
indeed.
6) Explanations must be sought, and have been sought, ever since Darwin wrote his
Descent of Man. But somehow none of the explanations turns out to be really
convincing. Each of them seems to slide away from the central problem into what
are basically side issues: how the emotions developed, whether we are aggressive by
nature, how much of our growth comes from culture and how much from biology, why
our behavior should include altruism and incest avoidance. The real questions are, how
did we get so much more powerful than anything else, and how at the same time did
we get our peculiar kind of consciousness?
7) But in confronting these questions, accounts of our species’ development become
embarrassingly vague. It was because of our big brains, some say. But if big brains
were so adaptive, why had no previous species selected for them? Why only the
hominid line? There have been a number of answers: because we used tools, because
we made war, because we walked upright, because we were sexually competitive,
because hunting on the savannas made our brains too hot. None of them, in and of
itself, seems particularly compelling. Other species use tools, other species wage
wars, other species hunt on the savannas, almost all species compete sexually; birds
walk upright on two legs, and fly too.
8) There is no evidence brain size per se does anything for any species: Neanderthals had
brains bigger than ours, and where are they now? Of course it is true that the larger a

species’s brain is, the more we could apply to it the convenient but ultimately vague
and unhelpful label ‘intelligence’. But that ‘intelligence’ is not a direct function of brain
size, but rather of the number of sets of task-specific modules a creature has —
modules each of which is devoted to some particular behavior or response — and the
patterns of connections between those sets. In other words, it is the way in which the
brain is organized, rather than its mere bulk, that leads to ‘increased intelligence’. Of
course the more task-specific modules a brain has, the bigger it will be, but size itself
is a dependent variable.
9) This means that if the hominid brain got bigger, it did not do so by simply adding more
‘spare’ neurons. Indeed, it is questionable whether there is or ever can be such a thing
as a ‘spare’ neuron (that is, a neuron that is not, initially at least, committed to any
specific function). Rather, the brain got bigger by adding neurons that performed
specific tasks. But what tasks? Having come full circle, we are back where we started
— the additional neurons must somehow perform just those tasks of changing nature
and generating consciousness that formed the original data to be explained. A century
and a quarter after Darwin expounded the mechanisms of physical evolution, the
mechanisms of mental evolution are still without a history and without a convincing
explanation.
10) And yet the true source of our difference has been lying all the while, like Poe’s
purloined letter, hidden in plain view. There are not merely two things, consciousness
and power over nature, that distinguish us from other species, there is a third thing:
language. While it would be absurd to suppose that language in and of itself provided
everything that differentiates us from the apes, language was not only the force that
launched us beyond the limits of other species but the necessary (and perhaps even
sufficient) prerequisite of both our consciousness and our unique capacities...
Worksheet 8:
1. Suggest synonyms or alternative formulations for the following words and
phrases in bold type in the text above. Your suggestions must fit both
semantically and grammatically into the surrounding text.
a) the odds are that (1:1) ____________________________________________
b) remarkable (1:5) ________________________________________________
c) unbreachable (2:6)_______________________________________________
d) gulf (3:1) ______________________________________________________

e) we may take it (4:5) _____________________________________________
f) puzzling indeed (5:5-6)___________________________________________
g) slide away from the central problem (6:3)_____________________________
h) vague (7:2) ____________________________________________________
i) particularly compelling (7:7) ______________________________________
2. State whether you believe this text may be considered chiefly expository,
argumentative or instructive, and explain your answer.
3. Briefly explain the author’s view of the relationship between human

consciousness and power.
4. Give at least two reasons why the “big brain theory” is unhelpful in explaining
the evolutionary superiority of human beings in comparison with other species
of creatures.

5. Why does the author repeatedly enclose the word “intelligence” in inverted
commas in paragraph 8?
6. What kind of publication do you believe this text has been extracted from, and
for what sort of public (specialized, non-specialized) do you think it was
originally intended? Support your answer with evidence (at least two examples)
from the text.
7. Provide a summary (restatement) of the main ideas of the text in a paragraph of

approximately 150 words.
Text 9:
1) Everyone knows that it is much more difficult to learn a second language in adulthood
than a first language in childhood. Most adults never master a foreign language,
especially the phonology — hence the ubiquitous foreign accent. Their development
often “fossilizes” into permanent error patterns that no teaching or correction can
undo. Of course, there are great individual differences, which depend on effort,
attitudes, amount of exposure, quality of teaching, and plain talent, but there seems to
be a cap even for the best adults in the best circumstances.
2) Acquisition of normal language is guaranteed for children up to the age of six, is
steadily compromised from then until shortly after puberty, and is rare thereafter.
Maturational changes in the brain, such as the decline in metabolic rate and number of
neurons during the early school-age years, and the bottoming out of the number of
synapses and metabolic rate around puberty, are plausible causes. We do know that
the language-learning circuitry of the brain is more plastic in childhood; children learn
or recover language when the left hemisphere of the brain is damaged or even

surgically removed (though not quite at normal levels), but comparable damage in an
adult usually leads to permanent aphasia..
3) “Critical periods” for specific kinds of learning are common in the animal kingdom.
There are windows in development in which ducklings learn to follow large moving
objects, kittens’ visual neurons become tuned to vertical, horizontal and oblique lines,
and white-crowned sparrows duplicate their fathers’ songs. But why should learning
ever decline and fall? Why throw away such a useful skill?
4) Note that learning a language — as opposed to using a language — is perfectly useful
as a one-shot skill. Once the details of the local language have been acquired from the
surrounding adults, any further ability to learn (aside from vocabulary) is superfluous.
It is like borrowing a floppy disk drive to load a new computer with the software you
will need, or borrowing a turntable to copy your old collection of LP’s on tape; once you
are done, the machines can be returned. So language-acquisition circuitry is not
needed once it has been used; it should be dismantled if keeping it around incurs any
costs. And it probably does incur costs. Metabolically, the brain is a pig. It consumes a
fifth of the body’s oxygen and similarly large portions of its calories and phospholipids.
Greedy neural tissue lying around beyond its point of usefulness is a good candidate
for the recycling bin. James Hurford, the world’s only computational evolutionary
linguist, has put these kinds of assumptions into a computer simulation of evolving
humans, and finds that a critical period for language acquisition centered in early
childhood is the inevitable outcome.
5) Even if there is some utility to our learning a second language as adults, the critical
period for language acquisition may have evolved as part of a larger fact of life: the
increasing feebleness and vulnerability with advancing age that biologists call
“senescence.” Common sense says that the body, like all machines, must wear out
with use, but this is a misleading implication of the appliance metaphor. Organisms are
self-replenishing, self-repairing systems, and there is no physical reason why we
should not be biologically immortal, as in fact lineages of cancer cells used in
laboratory research are. That would not mean that we would actually be immortal.
Every day there is a certain probability that we will fall off a cliff, catch a virulent
disease, be struck by lightning, or be murdered by a rival, and sooner or later one of
those lighting bolts or bullets will have our name on it. The question is, is every day a
lottery in which the odds of drawing a fatal ticket are the same, or do the odds get
worse and worse the longer we play? Senescence is the bad news that the odds do
change; elderly people are killed by falls and flus that their grandchildren easily
survive. A major question in modern evolutionary biology is shy this should be true,
given that selection operates at every point of an organism’s life history. Why aren’t we
built to be equally hale and hearty every day of our lives, so that we can pump out
copies of ourselves indefinitely?

6) The solution, from George Williams and P.B. Medawar, is ingenious. As natural selection
designed organisms, it must have been faced with countless choices among features
that involved different tradeoffs of costs and benefits at different ages. Some materials
might be strong and light but wear out quickly, whereas others might be heavier but
more durable. Some biochemical processes might deliver excellent products but leave
a legacy of accumulating pollution within the body. There might be a metabolically
expensive cellular repair mechanism that comes in most useful late in life when wear
and tear have accumulated. What does natural selection do when faced with these
tradeoffs? In general, it will favor an option with benefits to the young organism and
costs to the old one over an option with the same average benefit spread out evenly
over the life span. This asymmetry is rooted in the inherent asymmetry of death. If a
lightning bolt kills a forty-year-old, there will be no fifty-year-old or sixty-year-old to
worry about, but there will have been a twenty-year-old and a thirty-year-old. Any
bodily feature designed for the benefit of the potential over-forty incarnations, at the
expense of the under-forty incarnations, will have gone to waste. And the logic is the
same for unforeseeable death at any age: the brute mathematical fact is that all things
being equal, there is a better chance of being a young person than of being an old
person. So genes that strengthen young organisms at the expense of old organisms
have the odds in their favor and will tend to accumulate over evolutionary
timespans, whatever the bodily system, and the result is overall senescence.
7) Thus, language acquisition might be like other biological functions. The linguistic
clumsiness of tourists and students might be the price we pay for the linguistic genius
we displayed as babies, just as the decrepitude of age is the price we pay for the vigor
of youth.

Worksheet 9:
1. Suggest synonyms or alternative formulations for the following words and
phrases in bold type in the text. Your suggestions must fit both semantically and
grammatically into the surrounding text.
a) cap (1:7)_______________________________________________________
b) plastic (2:6)____________________________________________________
c) aphasia (2:9)____________________________________________________
d) is a good candidate for the recycling bin (4:10-11)______________________
_________________________________________________________________
e) feebleness (5:3)_________________________________________________
f) wear out (5:4)__________________________________________________
g) hale and hearty (5:17)____________________________________________
h) durable (6:5)____________________________________________________
i) brute (6:16)____________________________________________________
j) have the odds in their favor (6:19)___________________________________
2. State whether this text may be considered chiefly expository, argumentative or

instructive, and briefly explain what the main topic of the text is.

3. At the beginning of paragraph 6, the names of two men (George Williams and
P.B. Medawar) are mentioned. What branch of science can you deduce that these
men do research in? Be as explicit as possible.
4. In light of what is explained in the text about the human capacity for language
acquisition, what can you deduce about the ability of 10-year-old children and
40-year-old adults to learn to play the violin?
5. Consider the phrase “these kinds of assumptions” (par. 4, line 10). What
assumptions are being referred to here?
6. In which hemisphere of the brain (right or left) is language ability mainly located
in human beings?

7. Based on its language and subject matter, what kind of book do you believe the
text above has been extracted from? For what kind of reading public has the book
been written (experts or laypersons)? Give at least two reasons to support your
answer. (It may be helpful to cite parts of the text.)
8. In a paragraph of 100-150 words, summarize the main ideas of the text.

Language Information Guide
LANGUAGE INFORMATION GUIDE
Index to Guide:
1) Normal Word Order in English Sentences

1. Grammar
2) Use of Articles
3) Use of “One”
4) Adjective Order
5) Countable and Non-countable Nouns
6) Use of Verb Tenses
7) Subject-Verb Agreement
8) Verbs as Complements
9) Extraposition
10) Subject-Finite Verb Inversion
11) Embedded Questions
12) Used to, Be Used to, Get Used to
13) Illogical Comparisons
14) Nouns Used as Adjectives
15) Subjunctive
16) Indirect Commands
1) The Period
2. Punctuation, Capitalization and Word Division
2) The Comma
3) The Semi-Colon
4) The Colon
5) The Question Mark

6) The Exclamation Point

7) The Apostrophe
8) Quotation Marks
9) Ellipsis Dots and Suspension Points
10) Punctuation with Numbers
11) Capitalization
12) Division of Words
1) Cohesive Relationships
3. Cohesion and Coherence
2) Rhetorical Patterns
3) The English Paragraph
1) Differences in Grammar
4. British and American English: Some Basic Differences
2) Differences in Spelling
3) Differences in Vocabulary
1. GRAMMAR
The following is not meant to be a complete, comprehensive review of English

grammar, but rather a brief overview of some of the fine points practiced in Unit 5,
which are frequently at the root of foreign learners’ errors in English. For points
not covered here, you will of course need to consult a grammar manual. Available
on the market today is a wealth of user-friendly grammar manuals with the accent
on practical, descriptive usage rather than on theoretical prescription. Two of this
author’s favorites are the following:
SWAN, M. (1980): Practical English Usage. Oxford, Oxford University Press.

THOMSON, A.J. and A.V. MARTINET (1986): A Practical English Grammar. Oxford,
Oxford University Press.
1. Normal Word Order in English Sentences
The basic, normal order of elements within English declarative sentences in the
active voice is as follows:
SUBJECT – VERB – COMPLEMENT(S) – MODIFIER(S)

LANGUAGE INFORMATION GUIDE 253
All sentences must contain at least a subject and a finite verb form. Not all
sentences require a complement (direct or indirect object) or a modifier
(prepositional phrase or adverbial). Where there is more than one modifier, the
order generally accepted is that of 1)manner, 2) place and 3) time.
Modifiers may sometimes be placed between the subject and verb (e.g.
Alice quickly read the letter. ) but never when the modifier is a prepositional phrase
(e.g. *Alice in the garden read the letter.) Modifiers may also be placed in sentence-
initial position (e.g. In the garden, Alice read the letter.)
2. Use of Articles
While the use of the indefinite article (a/an) is generally not too problematic for
foreign learners of English, there are two cases in which students frequently make
mistakes, often due to interference from their native tongues.
• with generic predicates in the singular (e.g. job or personality descriptions):
He is a doctor. / She is an existentialist. NOT: He is doctor.*/ She is

existentialist.*
• with “other” (i.e., an + other fused together to form “another”) used with
singular nouns:
I’d like another drink, please. NOT: I’d like other drink, please.*
The use of the definite article (the), however, may prove more difficult to master
for the foreign learner. Many languages use the definite article more frequently than
English does, a fact which gives rise to inappropriate calques of the following type:
The love is a wonderful thing.* I like the milk in my coffee.*
The exact rules pertaining to the use of the definite article in English are long and
complicated to remember. However, the following short and simple rules generally
serve to prevent most errors:
• English omits the definite article with general references to uncountable

nouns :

Love is a wonderful thing. I like milk in my coffee.
• English omits the definite article when referring to countable nouns in the
plural in undetermined quantities:
Birds make nests. Dolphins are intelligent mammals.
3. Use of “One”
The correct use of the word “one” may generally be described in terms of two
simple rules.
• The noun replaced by “one” must be countable.

• “One” is optional with superlative adjectives (and also with comparatives in
British English) when the noun being replaced is singular.
Despite the clarity of these rules, foreign students of English often find it difficult
to use “one” correctly, generally due to interference from the mother tongue. Many
languages use a simple combination of an article and an adjective to form a noun
phrase (e.g. Spanish “dame la roja” or German “gib mir die Rote”) where English
requires the addition of “one” (“give me the red one”).
4. Adjective Order
The task featured in unit 5 on adjective order includes only combinations of two
adjectives. While the same rules followed here apply to longer sequences of
adjectives, the latter are somewhat uncommon in English, and are generally
restricted to texts characterized by a marked style. Furthermore, precisely due to
their marked style, texts featuring longer sequences of adjectives often do not adhere
strictly to the rules.
There is no universal agreement among authors of English grammar and style

manuals with regard to the exact number of semantic categories of adjectives to be
recognized in the language. By the same token, there is no single, universally
accepted rule as to the order in which adjectives belonging to such categories should
be placed before a noun. In this book we have adopted the following categories in
the following order:

1) determiners 2) numbers 3) qualifiers 4) size 5) shape 6) age 7) color

8) nationality or origin 9) material 10) use or purpose
5. Countable and Non-countable Nouns
Despite the fact that there is a great deal of overlap between English and many
other languages with regard to this particular subject, students should be aware that
a countable noun in their native language may be uncountable in English, or vice-
versa. The tasks included in unit 5 focus on some of the more problematic
uncountable English nouns for advanced students. Obviously, non-countable nouns
may not be pluralized and may not be used in conjunction with the indefinite articles
“a” and “an”, nor with cardinal numbers, “few” or “many”.
6. Use of Verb Tenses
• simple present: generally used to indicate regular or habitual action (e.g. I

always have eggs for breakfast.) NOT actions occurring at the present
moment (e.g. I have cereal for breakfast today.*).
EXCEPTION: Present time is usually indicated with the simple present tense
with stative verbs, the most common of which are listed here:
a) dislike, hate, like, love, prefer, want wish
b) astonish, impress, please, satisfy, shock, surprise
c) believe, doubt, feel (in the sense of “believe”), guess, imagine, know, mean,
realize, recognize, remember, suppose, think (in the sense of “believe”),
understand
d) feel, (as in “This cloth feels rough.” or “His hands feel cold.”) hear, see,
smell (in the non-transitive sense of giving off an odor), sound, taste (in
the sense of having a flavor), measure and weigh (the latter two in the
sense of having a measurement of or having a weight of).
e) belong to, concern, consist of, contain, depend on, deserve, fit, include,
involve, lack, matter, need, owe, own, possess
f) appear, resemble, seem

NOTE: These verbs may only very exceptionally be used in any of the
progressive tenses.
• present progressive: used to indicate present time (except with stative verbs)
and foreseeable future (e.g. He is taking a nap now. / We’re going to Paris
in July.)
• simple past: used to indicate a completed action which occurred at a specific

time in the past. (e.g. Lucy and Ed met at a conference in Vienna last year.)
• past progressive: generally used to refer to actions in the past already

occurring at a particular moment mentioned. (e.g. When I woke up this
morning, the telephone was ringing. )
• present perfect: used to indicate a) action occurring at an indefinite time in

the past (e.g. Michael has read all of Shakespeare’s plays.); b) action
occurring more than once in the past (e.g. I have seen that film six times.); c)
action that began in the past, but within a time-frame considered to overlap
with the present. (e.g. Mark has kept a diary for over 20 years. / Both Lucy
and Ed have worked at the university since 1982.)
• present perfect progressive: may be used to indicate action that began in the
past which is still occurring in the present (see the present perfect, type c,
above). (e.g. Mark has been keeping a diary for over 20 years./Both Lucy
and Ed have been working at the university since 1982.)
NOTE: Though the present perfect and present perfect progressive tenses are
generally interchangeable with non-stative verbs in the expression of actions
beginning in the past and still occurring in the present, it should be noted that in such
cases the choice of verb tense lies with the speaker’s subjective view of the period
of time in question as relatively long or relatively short. Thus, the present perfect
tense is generally used to stress the length of time:
David has lived in New York all his life. / The Johnsons have lived in this
neighborhood for 30 years.
The present perfect progressive, in contrast, is used when the speaker wishes to
place the focus on the fact that the action is still going on in the present, and is the
most frequent choice with more recent events.

David has been attending Spanish classes for two weeks now.
The Johnsons have been boasting about their new swimming pool ever
since they had it installed last month.
7. Subject-Verb Agreement
The following cases are typically a source of doubt for some students.
• when the subject is a plural noun which has no singular form (e.g. people,
police, cattle, youth). In these cases, the verb must of course be plural, even
if the corresponding nouns in the student’s native language take singular verb
forms (e.g. People are strange. vs. Spanish “La gente es extraña”)
• when the subject is singular and has no plural form, but ends in “s” (e.g.
news, checkers, mathematics, measles). In such cases, the verb must be
singular, and once again this may conflict with standard usage in the student’s
native language (e.g. The news was surprising. vs. Spanish “la noticia fue
sorprendente” or “las noticias fueron sorprendentes.”)
• when the subject is a noun whose form is invariable in singular and

plural (e.g. species, means, sheep, crossroads). The verb will be singular or
plural, according to the intended meaning. (e.g. There are thousands of
different species of spiders in North America. / The deadliest species is
the black widow spider.)
• when the subject is a loan word which is non-countable in English, and

countable in the source language (e.g. spaghetti is vs. “Gli spaghetti sono”
in Italian)
• when a singular subject is joined to other nouns by the expressions

together with, along with, accompanied by or as well as. In such cases the
verb remains singular:
Diane, accompanied by her husband and son, is planning to spend a week

on the beach in August.
Lucy, together with three other teachers, is attending a conference in Paris
next week.
Note that using the conjunction “and” in place of any of these expressions
necessitates the use of a plural verb form.

Lucy and three other teachers are attending a conference in Paris next
week.
• with none and no, both of which may be used with singular or plural verb
forms, depending on the noun following them:
o None of the guests are vegetarians. (plural countable noun, plural verb)
o None of the money was recovered from the robbery. (non-countable
noun, singular verb)
o Likewise: No women are allowed at that club. / No time was wasted on
the case.
• with compound subjects with either/or, neither/nor. In these cases, the verb
form is determined by the singularity or plurality of the subject closest to the
verb:
o Neither my brother nor my father wants to see that movie.

o Neither my brother nor my parents want to eat at that restaurant.
• with a number of /the number of. “A number of” always requires a plural
verb, whereas “the number of” goes with a singular verb:
o A number of students have complained about the exam.

o The number of questions on the exam was too large.
• with the simple present tense in the third person singular. (Students often
forget to add the final ‘s’ which distinguishes this form from all the others in
this tense.)
8. Verbs as complements
Verbs used as complements in English sentences take either the infinitive (e.g. to
drink) or gerund (e.g. drinking) form, depending on the preceding element.
• Common verbs always followed by the infinitive:
agree attempt claim decide demand desire fail forget hesitate hope
intend learn need offer plan prepare pretend refuse seem strive
swear tend try want wish

• Common verbs always followed by the gerund:
admit appreciate avoid can’t help consider delay deny enjoy finish mind
miss postpone practice quit recall regret report resent resist resume
risk suggest
• Common verbs which may be followed by either the infinitive or the

gerund with no significant meaning change:
begin can’t stand continue dread hate like love prefer start
• Common verbs which may be followed by either the infinitive or the

gerund WITH meaning change:
stop remember forget go on regret
Meaning changes as follows:
STOP:
He stopped to eat after 3 hours. (He interrupted what he was doing in order
to eat.)
He stopped eating after 3 hours. (He had been eating for 3 hours and finally
ate no more.)
REMEMBER:
I try to remember to lock the door whenever I go out. (I try to remind myself
to lock the door.)
I remember locking the door last night. (I recall locking the door last night.)
FORGET:
I forgot to pay the phone bill last month. (I didn’t remember that I had to pay
the bill.)
I’ll never forget going to that Rolling Stones concert with you. (I will never
lose the
memory.)
GO ON:
After finishing high school, David went on to study engineering in college.
(He moved on to something new.)

Some teachers can go on talking for hours about things which are of little
interest to students. (continue talking)
REGRET:
I regret to inform you that your husband has died. (I ‘m sorry about what I
have to say.)
I regret lending my car to my next-door neighbor. (I’m sorry about what I
did.)
• Adjectives always followed by the infinitive:
anxious boring dangerous hard eager

easy good strange pleased prepared
ready able usual common difficult
• Combinations of verbs + prepositions, adjectives + prepositions and

nouns + prepositions are followed by the gerund.
o verb/preposition combinations: approve of, insist on, think about, put

off, rely on, give up, look forward to, etc.
Why do you insist on justifying your opinion? I don’t approve of

gambling.
o adjective/preposition combinations: afraid of, capable of, fond of,

interested in, tired of, etc.
Greg is fond of drinking. He is capable of drinking six pints of ale in

e hour.
o noun/preposition combinations: choice between, reason for, intention of,

possibility of, etc.
The possibility of winning the lottery is remote.

I have no intention of listening to another word he says.

9. Extraposition
When it comes to word order, as mentioned above, English is a very precise

language. You must learn to respect the strictness of English in this regard, whether
or not this characteristic is shared by your native tongue. Nevertheless, English does
indeed allow for some flexibility in the order of elements within a sentence. One
accepted way to alternate theme and rheme elements in English sentences is the
practice of extraposition, which entails a change in subject /verb order. If the subject
of a sentence is a clause (i.e., it contains a verb form), it may be moved, by
extraposition, to the end of the sentence, and the initial subject position of the
sentence will then be occupied by the word “it”.
What you say does not matter. It does not matter what you say.
NOTE: Extraposition is only possible when the subject of a sentence is a clause.

If the subject is not a clause, the result of attempting to apply extraposition is
grammatically unacceptable:
Your point of view does not matter. It does not matter your point of view.*
10. Subject/Finite Verb Inversion
Normal sentence structure in English requires that the subject be placed before
the finite verb form to which it corresponds. Nevertheless, when placed in sentence-
initial position, certain elements provoke an inversion in the order of these elements,
as follows:
• Expressions of direction
The children ran across the street. Across the street ran the children.
The chauffeur drove home. Home drove the chauffeur.
Jack and Jill went up the hill. Up the hill went Jack and Jill.
NOTE: If the subject is a pronoun, inversion is avoided:
They ran across the street. Across the street they ran.
He drove home. Home he drove.
They went up the hill. Up the hill they went.

• Expressions with negative or restrictive meaning (never, nowhere, on no

account, under no circumstances, not only, not a soul, not a thing, hardly,
scarcely, seldom, rarely, etc.)
I can never think of what to say to him. Never can I think of what to say
to him.
I watch the news on television very rarely. Very rarely do I watch the news
on television.
He had scarcely begun to work when his computer crashed. Scarcely had
he begun to work…
• So, neither, nor, such
Rhode Island is in New England, and so is Maine.

Jerry’s mother doesn’t work, and neither does his father.
A whale cannot survive without surfacing occasionally, nor can a dolphin.
So great was Lucy’s fear of the teacher that she didn’t dare speak to him.
Such fun did the children have on the roller coaster that they decided to ride
it a second time.
• Subordinate clauses of condition
Should you decide to stay here this summer, I’ll give you a call.
Had I known back then what I know now, I would have acted differently.
Were he alive today, Newton would be most impressed by recent advances in
physics.
Note that the rules for formulating inverted subject/verb combinations in

declarative sentences of this kind are the same as those used to formulate questions,
i.e. simple inversion with the verb “to be” and modal verbs, use of the auxiliary “do”
with all other verbs. (Exception: in British English, the verb “to have” as a full verb
indicating possession may be inverted without the use of the auxiliary “do”.)
11. Embedded Questions
An embedded question is one which does not stand alone, but rather is contained
within another question or within a declarative sentence. The word order of an
embedded question does not coincide with that of a free-standing one. In an
embedded question, the subject/verb inversion typical of a free-standing question

reverts to the order typical of a declarative sentence, and yes/no questions must
include a conditional particle such as “if” or “whether”:
Where are my glasses? Do you know where my glasses are?

What does Ernest do for a living? I have no idea what Ernest does for a
living.
Is Marion coming to the party? Nobody is sure if Marion is coming to the
party.
Does Max have a degree in physics? There is some doubt as to whether
Max has a degree in physics.
12. Used to, Be Used to, Get Used to
These expressions generally prove to be among the most confusing for foreign
students of English to internalize and use correctly. It is therefore a good idea, even
for fairly advanced students, to review the rules for the use of these constructions in
an effort to prevent mistakes from cropping up.
• To be used to and to get used to can be used within any time frame (past,
present, future) and have the same meaning as “to be accustomed to” and “to
become accustomed to”, respectively. Both must be followed by a direct
object. When the direct object is verbal in nature, it takes the form of the
gerund:
When Lucy first came to Spain, she wasn’t used to the strong coffee typical of
this country. However, it only took her a few weeks to get used to drinking it.
• Used to + infinitive is used to refer to habits or situations in the past which

no longer exist at present.
There used to be a lovely old Victorian house on this corner, but now there’s
a parking lot.
When I was a child I used to love playing with blocks.
I’m surprised to see you eating a hamburger. Didn’t you use to be a
vegetarian?
NOTE: The “used to + infinitive” construction may not be applied to present

habitual actions or situations. In such cases, adverbs such as “generally” or
“usually” may be used, though they are not always necessary.

Because I have a full-time job and have no time to cook, I used to eat at
restaurants often.*
Because I have a full-time job and have no time to cook, I eat at restaurants
often.
Because I have a full time job and have to time to cook, I usually eat at
restaurants.
13. Illogical comparisons
A common mistake made by foreign students of English is to improperly use

grammar in such a way that one compares two unlike entities, thus producing an
illogical comparison. This generally occurs when the first of the two terms of
comparison involves a possessive expression:
*Daniel’s German is as flawless as a native. (INCORRECT)
To express the intended meaning correctly, a possessive expression must also be

used with the second term of comparison (Saxon genitive or “that of”):
Daniel’s German is as flawless as that of a native. / Daniel’s German is as

flawless as a native’s.
14. Nouns used as Adjectives
It is common in English to combine two nouns such that the first modifies the
second, in much the same way that an adjective would (e.g. geometry professor,
gold ring, coffee cup). In such combinations the first noun is generally in the
singular, and if a number is included in the combination, it is common practice to
use a hyphen:
a journey that takes two hours = a two-hour journey

an encyclopedia made up of twenty eight volumes = a twenty-eight-volume
encylopedia
a little girl who is four years old = a four-year-old little girl

15. Subjunctive
In English the subjunctive is often used to express the idea that a subject wishes
another subject to do something. The subjunctive form of a verb is the same as the
infinitive form, but without the particle “to”. It is the same, invariable form for all
persons and all tenses. Sentences containing the subjunctive generally contain the
word “that”.
The doctor has insisted that my husband quit smoking.

The committee has proposed that all employees be given an immediate raise.
Examples of verbs commonly used in subjunctive sentences:
advise ask command decree

demand insist move order
prefer propose recommend request
require stipulate suggest urge
The subjunctive is also used in sentences beginning with impersonal expressions

whose meaning is parallel to that of the verbs listed above (e.g. it is advisable that,
is is recommended that, it is urgent that, etc.).
It is urgent that you call your wife at once.

It was vital that he not forget his keys.
16. Indirect Commands
In addition to the subjunctive, an indirect command construction may be used to

express the wish of a subject to have another subject do something. This
construction involves the use of the infinitive (in any time frame and with any
person), as shown here:
The doctor has ordered my husband to quit smoking.

The committee wishes all employees to be given an immediate raise.
I need you to call your wife at once.
We warned him not to forget his keys.

2. PUNCTUATION AND CAPITALIZATION
The following is based on the rules for punctuation in English as set out by The
Chicago Manual of Style. It is intended as a very general overview of English
punctuation, and does not include all the rules to be found in the aforementioned
manual, but rather the very basics and those rules which the author has judged most
useful in answering questions frequently asked by students.
1. The Period (a.k.a. “stop” or “full stop” in British English)
• If a sentence ends in an abbreviation, one period is sufficient:

The train arrives at 10:00 A.M.
• If a sentence ends in parentheses, the period should be placed outside the

parentheses:
Everyone dislikes that teacher (and with good reason).
• However, if an entire independent sentence is enclosed in parentheses, the

period should be placed inside the parentheses as well:
Yes, Alice does have a degree in business administration. (I’ll never
understand how she managed to pass her exams, though.)
• If a sentence ends in quotation marks, place the period inside the quotation
marks:
The sign on the wall clearly says “No Smoking Allowed.”
• With the abbreviations of the titles “Mr.” and “Mrs.”, Americans use a period,
while the British do not.
Am: Mr./Mrs. Brit: Mr/Mrs
2. The Comma
“The comma, perhaps the most versatile of the punctuation marks, indicates the
smallest interruption in continuity of thought or sentence structure. There are few
rules governing its use that have become almost obligatory. Aside from these, the
use of the comma is mainly a matter of good judgment, with ease of reading the end
in view.”

The Chicago Manual of Style, 14th ed. (1993)

Chicago: University of Chicago Press, p. 165.
• Use a comma to separate words and phrases in a series:

You have a choice of soup, salad, or French fries.
• Use a comma to separate pairs of words in series:

Big and small, tall and short, young and old, everyone screams when they
ride the “Dragon Khan” roller coaster.
• Use a comma to set off words in apposition:

Donald Sharecrop, Channel Eight’s correspondent in Paris, will report to
you now.
• Use a comma to set off a contrasted word, phrase, or clause:

Walk, don’t run. You should do as I say, not as a I do.
• Use a comma to indicate the elision of a repeated verb:

Maisy ordered vanilla ice cream; Cyril, chocolate; and Charlie, strawberry.
• Yes, no, why, well, and discourse linkers such as nevertheless, moreover, of
course, on the other hand, etc., in sentence-initial position should be followed
by commas.
Well, here’s what I think. No, I don’t agree. Moreover, I believe you
haven’t thought it through.
• Use a comma to separate the name or title of a person directly addressed from
the rest of the sentence.
Please have a seat, Mr. Swanson.
• Use commas to set off direct quotations.

“Follow me,” said the Lord, “and I will give you eternal life.”
The lady behind the counter glared at me and barked, “Well, don’t take all
day!”
• In compound sentences joined by conjunctions, use a comma before the

conjunction unless the clauses are short and closely related.
I’m going out this evening with a man I met on the train to work yesterday,
and I don’t want to hear any flippant remarks from any of you on the subject!
BUT: Lucy drove home and Eugene took the train.

• Commas should not be used in lengthy compound predicates, when two or

more verbs have the same subject and the subject is not repeated:
Lucy ran to the store as fast as she possibly could but was not able to reach
it before closing time.
However, if the parts of the compound predicate are short, they should be
separated by commas:
She stopped, stared, and shook her head in disbelief.
• When a compound sentence begins with a dependent clause, a comma

should be used to separate it from the rest of the sentence:
If you accept that job offer, you’re going to have to move to Barcelona.
• Use a comma after introductory participial phrases:

Generally speaking, we do not advocate the use of dictionaries during
examinations.
Thoroughly exhausted from an aerobics workout, Louise stumbled into the
locker room.
• Use commas to set off adverbial phrases located between the subject and the
verb of a sentence:
The Prime Minister, in keeping with his current economic policy,
announced that interest rates would once again be frozen for the duration
of the coming fiscal year.
• A series of two or more adjectives before a noun should be separated by

commas:
You have always been a faithful, sincere, and supportive friend.
However, if the first adjective modifies the idea expressed by the combination
of the second adjective and the noun, no comma should be used:
I have no interest in supporting any of the traditional political parties of this
country.
• Use a comma to separate similar or identical words:

Whatever will be, will be.
Please walk in, in single file.
• Similarly, use a comma to separate unrelated numbers:

In 1994, 432 strikes took place throughout the country.

3. The Semicolon
The semicolon is used to mark a more important break in sentence flow than that
marked by a comma.
• The semicolon may be used instead of a period to separate two closely-related

independent clauses not connected by a conjunction:
Our new apartment is much nicer than our old one; it is roomy and graced
with a good deal of natural light.
• When items in a series are long and complex or involve internal punctuation, they
should be separated by semicolons instead of commas for the sake of clarity:
The scores obtained by the finalists in the beauty contest were as follows:
Miss Alabama, 22; Miss Washington, 21; Miss New Mexico, 19; Miss
Maryland, 18; and Miss Nebraska, 14.
4. The Colon
• The colon is most often used to introduce a list or a series.

Three senators voted against the proposal: Senator Johnson of Alabama,
Senator Green of Arkansas and Senator Wilson of Louisiana.
• Do NOT use a colon if the list included in a sentence is an object or

complement of an element in the introductory statement.
Children have a right to food, shelter, parental love and education.
• The terms “as follows” and “the following” are generally followed by a
colon.
The following are some useful tips to keep in mind when traveling alone:
a) Never leave your baggage unattended.
b) Always keep your emergency contact information on your person.
c) Carry a cell phone with a fully-charged battery with you at all times.
• Use a colon to introduce a formal statement, an extract or speech in dialogue.

We shall now quote from the Prime Minister’s address: “In the past two
weeks, this country has seen an increase…”
LIZZIE: What was that?

JOHN: What was what?
LIZZIE: That noise. Didn’t you hear it?

• Use a colon after the salutation in a formal letter or formal address:

Dear Sirs: Dear Dr. Pinker: Ladies and Gentleman of the Board:
5. The Question Mark
• Use a question mark at the end of a direct question.

What do you think you’re doing? Is this the first time you’ve been
in Spain?
• Use a question mark after a direct interrogative element within a declarative

sentence.
How does she manage to look so great so early in the morning? was the
question going through all our minds.
Before deciding, ask yourself, is this really what I want?
• If an interrogative element within a declarative sentence consists of a single

word (e.g. who, what, when, where, how, why) a question mark is generally
not used. According to personal preference, the interrogative elements may be
italicised or not.
The question is not how, but why.
• A question mark should be placed inside quotation marks or parentheses

when it is part of the quoted or parenthetical matter.
The customs officer asked, “Do you have anything to declare?”
The Latin teacher (can you believe this?) has asked us to translate 15 pages
of Virgil for Monday.
Otherwise, the question mark should be placed outside the quotation marks or
parentheses.
Did they ask you to provide a complete medical history (childhood illnesses,
accidents, surgery)?
• A question mark may be used in parentheses to express doubt or irony.

The most exciting (?) thing that ever happens in this town is the annual
karaoke contest.

6. The Exclamation Point
• An exclamation point is generally used to mark an outcry or an emphatic or

ironic comment.
Watch out! You’ve certainly put your foot in it this time!
However, exclamation points should be used sparingly to avoid detracting

from their effectiveness.
• With quotation marks or parentheses, the exclamation point is used in exactly

the same way as a question mark.
7. The Apostrophe
• Add an apostrophe and s to form the possessive of singular nouns.

the woman’s daughter the policeman’s report the government’s policy
In the case of compound nouns, add an apostrophe and s at the end of the
word.
my sister-in-law’s car the bride-to-be’s engagement ring
In the case of compound proper names, add the apostrophe and the s to the
end of the last word.
The King of Spain’s concern the Bank of England’s official position
• To form the possessive of plural nouns, add an apostrophe if the plural is

regular (ending in s).
students’ rights workers’ demands ladies’ fashion
To form the possessive of plural nouns not ending in s, add an apostrophe and s.
women’s rights children’s antics the men’s club
• When two or more words in a series are connected by conjunctions, joint

possession is indicated with an apostrophe and s after the last noun only.
Marks and Spencer’s Lord and Taylor’s Sears and Roebuck’s
• To form the possessive of proper nouns ending in s, you may use either an
apostrophe alone or apostrophe + s.
Burgess’s book/Burgess’ book Lewis’s market/Lewis’ market

• Add an apostrophe + s to numbers, signs, symbols and letters to indicate the

plural.
Your a’s are hard to distinguish from your o’s.
Please use a’s to mark your answers.
Nevertheless, there is an increasing tendency today to omit the apostrophe in

such cases where there is no possibility of mistaking the meaning.
ABC’s or ABCs 1960’s or 1960s
• The apostrophe is also used to indicate the elision of the first two digits of a
year.
the Class of ’94 the Spirit of ’76 late in ‘82
8. Quotation Marks (a.k.a. “inverted commas” in British English)
• Use double quotation marks to signal a direct quotation.

“Mind your heads,” said the tour guide.
• To enclose one quotation within another, use single quotation marks. Should
you need to use quotation marks again within these, use double marks.
The sign in the bar read: “Final orders must be placed within five minutes
after the bartender gives the ‘last call’ signal.”
The professor remarked, “As Greaves writes, ‘the term “mainstream” in its
use as an adjective is a recent creation’ and we need look no further than
the pages of our daily newspaper to find a wealth of other similar linguistic
innovations.”
• Quotation marks (or italics) should be used to enclose text elements following
items such as entitled to, the word, marked, designated, referred to as, etc.
The word “philosophy” comes from Greek and means “love of knowledge”.
Containers marked “toxic waste” should be removed from the premises
immediately.
However, quotation marks should not be used after so-called, known as, or
called.
His so-called masterpiece is nothing but a piece of rusty scrap metal with a
flashing light on top.
• Quotation marks may be used to indicate the ironical use of words.

Of course you can “borrow” a cigarette.
• The titles of articles, poems, stories, songs and speeches should be enclosed
in quotation marks.
“Goldilocks and the Three Bears” “Imagine” “I Have a Dream”
However, the titles of periodicals, books, plays, operas, films and radio or
television series should be italicized (or underlined when writing by hand).
The New York Times Cats War and Peace
The Barber of Seville Madame Butterfly Romeo and Juliet
The X Files Emergency Cosmopolitan
• Quotation marks are sometimes used to indicate that a word or term is being
used in an unusual sense.
A student, as a “consumer,” is entitled to a series of fundamental rights.
9. Ellipsis Dots And Suspension Points
• Ellipsis dots are used to indicate omissions within direct quotations.
Legal monogamy historically has been an agreement between more and less
powerful men…Early Christianity appealed to poor men partly because the
promise of monogamy kept them in the marriage game…
STEVEN PINKER, How the Mind Works
• Suspension points may be used to signal interruptions or breaks in thought.
Raymond stared at the return address on the envelope and thought, “No…it
can’t be…my God! Could this mean…I’ve got the job?”
However, when you wish to indicate that a list or series is incomplete, it is

preferable to use expressions such as “etc.” or “and so forth” rather than
suspension points.
10. Punctuation With Numbers
The norms for use of punctuation with numbers may be quite different from
those of some students’ native languages. Here are the basic rules for English:

• Use a period (called a decimal point in this context) to separate whole

numbers from fractions. (1.5 = one and a half; 0.25 = one quarter)
• Use a comma to separate thousands from hundreds. (20,952 = twenty

thousand nine hundred and fifty two) Note that the comma is optional in
numbers up to 9999. (2,346 or 2346) When referring to years, however, never
use a comma. (My mother was born in 1919. NOT 1,919)
• When writing dates, use a period with abbreviations of months and a comma
after the number indicating a specific day. (Nov. 11, 1919) Note that when
writing dates in shorthand form (numbers only), Americans, unlike
Europeans, place the month before the day. (June 19, 1969 = 6.19.69)
11. Capitalization
There are, of course, many rules regarding the finer points of capitalization in
English. The following, however, are the very basic ones that foreign students of the
language should keep in mind at all times.
• The first word of a sentence is always capitalized.
• Proper nouns (names of people, places and organizations) are capitalized.
• The names of the months (January, February, etc.) and the names of the days
of the week (Monday, Tuesday, etc.) are always capitalized.
• The names of countries, cities, regions, etc. are always capitalized, AS ARE
the terms which describe people from these places, and the languages spoken
there.
Many people in Spain speak more than one language. In addition to
Spanish, many Spaniards speak regional languages such as Catalan,
Basque or Galician.
• In titles and subtitles (of books, plays, poems, songs, speeches, periodicals,
etc.) the first and last words should be capitalized, as well as all other words
EXCEPT coordinating conjunctions (and, but, or, etc.), articles (both definite
and indefinite) and prepositions.
The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language
The Adventures of Winnie the Pooh

12. Division Of Words
As a general rule of thumb, avoid dividing words at the end of a line in

handwriting. In typewritten text, it should be remembered that the part of the word
left at the end of the line should suggest the part to follow at the beginning of the
next line. Beyond these general principles, the rules regarding word division in
English are complex, and when in doubt, it is best to consult the dictionary. As a
general aid, however, a few do’s and don’ts of English word division are provided
below.
DON’T:
• divide monosyllables.
• divide words of only four letters (and avoid dividing those with five or six
wherever possible).
• leave only one or two letters of the word divided at the end of a line.
• allow two or more consecutive lines to end with a hyphen.
• divide names of persons or other proper nouns if you can possibly avoid doing
so.
• separate the letters of an abbreviation or acronym.
• divide a word at the end of a page or paragraph.
• separate titles such as Mr., Mrs., Dr. from the names to which they belong.
• add another hyphen to words which already contain a hyphen.
DO:
• divide words with a prefix directly after the prefix (mis-lead, re-view)
• separate suffixes from the stem of a word (laugh-able, confer-ence, account-
ant)
• separate double consonants (win-ning, flat-ten) unless the stem itself ends in
a double consonant (pass-able, full-est)
• divide the word after a single middle consonant if the preceding vowel is short
(pun-ish)
• divide the word immediately before the middle consonant if the vowel
preceding it is long (ta-ken)

3. COHESION & COHERENCE
1. Cohesive Relationships
The first four sets of tasks included in Unit 9 of this manual are focused on
cohesive relationships. As described by Halliday and Hasan in Cohesion in English
(1976), these relationships may be grouped into five basic categories: 1) reference,
2) substitution, 3) ellipsis, 4) conjunction and 5) lexical cohesion. Below is a brief
description of the five types, together with illustrative examples of each.
TYPES OF COHESIVE RELATIONSHIPS EXAMPLES

1. REFERENCE may be understood as the With pronouns:
cohesive relationship to be observed when • Nancy sighed loudly. She was exhausted.
the interpretation of one lexical item • Nancy sighed loudly. This annoyed Bill.
(generally a personal, possessive or
demonstrative pronoun) is dependent on With definite articles or adverbs:
the reference it makes to another word or • Nancy looked up from her desk at
concept explicitly present in a preceding or precisely 2:00 A.M. It was then that she
following passage. When the defining happened to glance at the window.
referent precedes the pronoun, the • Suddenly, a face appeared. The face was
reference established is anaphoric; when dark and sinister-looking.
the pronoun precedes the referent, we
speak of cataphoric reference. Both
anaphoric and cataphoric reference
cohesion may also be achieved through the
use of definite articles or adverbs.
2. SUBSTITUTION occurs in English when a • Nancy eats meat only occasionally. Bill,
noun, verb or clause within the text is however, does it all the time.
replaced by a “dummy” word. The text • Nancy ordered a dry martini with two
recipient may understand what element is olives. Bill ordered the same.
being replaced by referring to a preceding • My poor old car is falling apart. I need a
passage in the text. new one.
3. ELLIPSIS is closely related to substitution • Have you finished your homework? – Yes,
and may be defined in terms of omission, or I have […] .
the substitution of one textual element by • Nancy bought a bottle of mineral water,
nothing at all. and Bill […] a case of beer.
• Who was that at the door? […] The
plumber?

4. CONJUNCTION involves the use of formal Additive linkers:

linking words and expressions to join and, or, furthermore, likewise, for example,
together sentences, clauses and moreover, what’s more, …
paragraphs. Adversative linkers:
but, yet, nevertheless, however, on the
other hand, on the contrary, still…
Causal linkers:
because, for this reason, therefore, in
consequence, so, thus, accordingly, as a
result…
Temporal linkers:
then, afterwards, occasionally, later, at last,
at first, next, in the end, eventually…
Discourse continuing linkers:
in the first (second, third, etc.) place; firstly,
secondly, thirdly, etc; in sum, in conclusion,
finally…
Attitudinal linkers:
admittedly, predictably, wouldn’t you know,
undoubtedly, of course, oddly enough…
5. LEXICAL COHESION is based on the Repetition:
connection established between selected The manager is not happy with your
items of vocabulary within a text. There are performance. As a matter of fact, the
two subtypes of lexical cohesion: manager has decided that your services will
reiteration and collocation. Reiteration may no longer be needed.
be achieved by the strict repetition of Synonymy:
lexical items, or by establishing Mrs. Harold Jones won the first prize in the
relationships of synonymy, hyponymy, pie competition. This is the third
antonymy and metonymy between lexical consecutive win for the 42-year-old mother
items in the text. Collocation refers to the of four from Jaspers County.
co-occurrence within the text of items Hyponymy:
typically associated with one another. (e.g. I think it would be nice to get your mother
unrequited+love; unbridled+passion; some flowers for her birthday. I know she
toxic+waste, etc.) likes roses.
Antonymy:
Big cars are totally impractical in the city. You
wold be wise to buy a small car next time.
Metonymy:
In general we loved the film. The dialogue
was especially impressive.

2. Rhetorical Patterns
The conceptually coherent outlay of many of the texts we encounter in everyday

life may be seen to conform to a limited number of more or less fixed organizational
structures or rhetorical patterns. The importance of awareness of these patterns has
been stressed by many scholars in the field of reading research. Pearson and
Camperell (1981:45) note that students’ familiarity with the way texts are typically
organized serves as an aid to comprehension, as it enables them to make predictions
regarding the content of texts organized in particular ways, and Horowitz (1985:90)
compares skilled readers to expert cab drivers (who must be familiar with all the
details involved in their job, including the overall lay-out of the city and the specific
location of addresses) and students aware of text structure to expert chess players:
“Much like expert chess players, students aware of structure do not memorize the
board, but they learn the key configurations used by players.”
While researchers have proposed a number of different taxonomies of rhetorical

patterns and on occasion employed different terms to describe them, most recognize
some form of the following four patterns: 1) comparison/contrast; 2) cause/effect; 3)
problem/solution; and 4)definition/classification. The names of these patterns are
themselves indicative of the type of conceptual content to which they generally
correspond. Related tasks in this unit are designed to allow students to learn about
rhetorical patterns by induction.
3. The English Paragraph
Well-formed English paragraphs are often characterized by a conventional,

internal arrangement of ideas; and awareness of this arrangement may greatly
facilitate a student’s ability to focus on those parts of the information contained in a
text which are used by the writer to carry forward his/her general train of thought.
This ability in turn enables students to form an idea of the gist of a text before
proceeding to read through it carefully.
In English, it is generally the first or second sentence which presents the central
idea or topic of a paragraph. Where the second sentence is the topic sentence, the
first sentence is ordinarily used to introduce or prepare the way for the statement of
the topic. Subsequent sentences within the paragraph have the function of
developing the idea outlined in the topic sentence, and the final sentence may act as
a kind of paragraph summary, as a way of alerting the reader to the topic to be
addressed in the following paragraph, or both.

While paragraphs in English do not always conform precisely to such a strict

design, the general “rules” regarding their typical structure are applied frequently
enough to warrant students’ attention. Furthermore, learning to look at paragraphs in
English texts as connected “containers” from which conceptually separable but
related ideas flow into one another contributes to a deeper understanding of the
articulation of cohesion and coherence within texts.
4. STANDARD BRITISH AND AMERICAN ENGLISH: SOME BASIC DIFFERENCES
Phonetic differences are of course the most obvious ones to be found between
British English and American English, as differences in pronunciation vary greatly
between different non-standard dialects of English, both between different English-
speaking countries and within a given country. Beyond phonetic differences,
however, and strictly with regard to the two standard dialects of the U.S. and the
U.K., a number of common differences in grammar, spelling and vocabulary may
be observed.
1. Differences In Grammar
The most common grammatical discrepancies between British and American

English may be summed up as follows:
• Use of the auxiliary form “shall”: This form is encountered only rarely in
American English, in which the simple future tense is usually formed with
“will” with all the pronouns. In British English, however, some speakers
(generally belonging to the higher social classes) still preserve the rule that
“shall” is to be used with the first persons singular and plural (i.e. I and we) in
the simple future tense. (The same distinctions hold true for the conditional
tense with should as opposed to would.)
• Negative and interrogative forms of the verb “to have”: In American

English, the negative and interrogative forms of the verb “to have” are
constructed with the auxiliary verb “to do”, following the same rules of most
common verbs. (Thus, an American says, “I don’t have much time.” and “Do
you have change for a dollar?”) Speakers of standard British English, on the
other hand, sometimes treat the verb “to have” grammatically as if it were a
modal verb, using the simple addition of the particle “not” and inversion to
construct the negative and interrogative forms of the verb. (Thus, British

speakers may say, “I haven’t much time.” and “Have you change for a
pound?”) Both American and British speakers use the compound form “have
got” as a synonym for “to have” with more or less equal frequency. (Example:
“I’ve got a great idea!”) Note that this compound constructs its negative and
interrogative forms as modal verbs do. (Example: “Have you got time for a
cup of coffee?” or “I haven’t got the faintest idea.”)
• Past participle of the verb “to get”: In the U.K., the past participle “got” is
more common, as in “He said he had got his hat at the shop on the corner.” In
the U.S., the more common form is “gotten” as in “I wish I had gotten those
shoes I saw in the window yesterday.”
• Simple past vs. past perfect: In some cases Americans use the simple past
tense to refer to events from the immediate past which still have a bearing on
the present (e.g. “Did you eat yet?”) where the British would as a rule use the
present perfect tense (e.g. “Have you eaten yet?”).
• Use of prepositions: Some common prepositional expressions vary from one

country to the other, notably in Abbey Road (British) as opposed on Fifth
Avenue (American) and at the weekend (British) as opposed to on the
weekend (American). British speakers also sometimes use the shortened form
“round” where Americans would say “around”. Finally, the British generally
say “in hospital” (with no article) to refer to patients at such an institution, and
“in the hospital” (with the definite article) to refer to visitors and employees
when they are located in this place, while Americans consistently say “in the
hospital” (with the article) no matter what the circumstances.
2. Differences In Spelling
American spelling is generally simpler than its British counterpart.
• Words ending in –our or –re in British English are spelled with –or and –er
in the U.S.
British: colour, favour, centre, theatre
American: color, favor, center, theater
• Derivatives from Greek containing the vowel combinations oe or ae in British

English generally lose the initial ‘o’ or ‘a’ in American English.
British: gynaecologist, oecumenical
American: gynecologist, ecumenical

• Most (but not all) verbs ending in –ise in British English are spelled with –ize
in American English. Common exception are verbs ending in –vise (e.g.
televise, devise, revise) which are spelled with an ‘s’ in both dialects.
British: analyse, synthesise
American: analyze, synthesize
• Two-syllable verbs ending in ‘l’ and which are pronounced with the accent on
the first syllable double the final ‘l’ when joined to suffixes such as “-ing”, “-
ed” or “-er” in British English, but not in American English.
British: traveller, revelled
American: traveler, reveled
• Beyond the rules outlined above, British and American English also exhibit
differences in the spelling of a number of other words which may not be
easily categorized. Here are a few examples:
British: cheque, draught, programme, tyre
American: check, draft, program, tire
3. Differences In Vocabulary
Quite a few discrepancies regarding common, everyday words and expressions

may be found in British and American English. In many cases, the British and
American words are mutually understandable. In others, Brits tend to have an easier
time understanding Americans than vice-versa, due to the widespread influence of
American films and television programs. (Nevertheless, context usually resolves
most difficulties.) There are, however, some awkward cases in which the differences
an be confusing to members of both nations. Sometimes the British and the
Americans use different words to express the same concepts, and sometimes they
use the same words to express different concepts. It is a good idea for you, as
translators, to be aware of the commonly occurring differences.

Language Information Guide
SOURCES OF TEXTS
Unit 1:
Worksheet 1: Examples from LEDERER, R. (1993): More Anguished

English. New York, Delacorte Press, except for number 3, directly transcribed
from a sign on board an airplane.
Worksheet 2: Examples as follows: 1. tablecloth label ; 2. T-shirt label; 3.

hotel brochure; 4. brochure published by the Valencian Tourist Information
Bureau
Text 1: The Saturday Evening Post. Sept. 1982.
Unit 2:
Text 1: HAYAKAWA, S.I. AND A.R. HAYAKAWA (1990): Language in Thought

and Action. (5th ed.) San Diego, New York and London, Harcourt Brace &
Company.
Text 2: WALMSLEY, J. “Oceans Apart” TWA Ambassador Magazine, July 13,

1987.
Cartoon © Gary Larson, The Far Side Cartoons

Unit 3:
Worksheet 1: Chart from CLAYMAN, C. (ed.) (1994): The American

Medical Association Family Medical Guide. New York, Random House, p. 35.
Texts 1 and 2: MCARTHUR, T. (ed.) (1992): The Oxford Companion to the

English Language. Oxford, Oxford University Press.
Text 3: HARKAVY, M. (ed.) (1994): The New Webster’s International

Encyclopedia. Naples, Fla, Trident International Press.
Text 4: GURALNIK, D. (ed.) (1986): Webster’s New World Dictionary of the

American Language. New York: Prentice Hall.
Text 5: Brochure published by the State of South Dakota Tourist Information

Bureau.
Unit 4:
Text 1: CARROLL, L. Through the Looking Glass. Excerpt from the poem
“Jabberwocky”.
Texts 2 and 3: RUMELHART, D.E. (1981): “Schemata: The Building Blocks

of Cognition” in GUTHRIE, J.T. (ed.) Comprehension and Teaching. Research
Reviews. Newark, Delaware, International Reading Association.
Unit 5: (none)
Unit 6:
Text 1: CARLSON, M. “And Now, Obesity Rights” Time, Dec. 6, 1993.
Text 2: MERSH, C. and M. BOND “Okapi — Victim of the Opera” The

European, Aug. 12-18, 1994.

SOURCES OF TEXTS 285
Text 3: The Chicago Manual of Style, 4th ed. (1993) Chicago and London,
University of Chicago Press.
Text 4: PINKER, S. (1994): The Language Instinct. New York, William

Morrow and Co.
Text 5: ROSS, N.J. (1995): “Dubbing American in Italy” English Today, 11:1.
Text 6: MACRONE, M. (1994): Eureka! What Archimedes Really Meant and

80 Other Key Ideas Explained. New York, Harper Collins.
Worksheet 2: excerpts in order of appearance:

1. The Daily Mail, Oct. 20, 2000
2. The Daily Mail, Oct. 20, 2000
3. The Daily Telegraph, Jan. 12, 2000
4. Newsweek, August, 1998
5. The Onion, 35:27 Aug.5-11, 1999
6. Time Magazine, Jan. 7, 1998
7. Time Magazine, March 14, 1998
8. Time Magazine, May 21, 2001
9. The Sun, May 7, 2001
10. The Sun, May 7, 2001
Unit 7:
Worksheet 1: PINKER, S. (1994): The Language Instinct. New York,

William Morrow & Co.
Worksheet 2: CLARK, R.W. (1971): Einstein. The Life and Times. New
York, Avon Books.
Worksheet 3: “Suharto Forces the Rich to Give” International Herald

Tribune, Dec. 21-22, 1996.
Text 1: Costa Blanca News. August, 1994.

Text 2: TRUDEAU, G. “I am a Tip-Top Starlet” Time Magazine, May 20,

1996.
Unit 8:
Text 1: Information leaflet, University of Chicago Library
Text 2: “Advice on Personal Safety” Leaflet distributed by the Spanish

Ministry of Transportation, Tourism and Communication
Text 3: WALLACE, J. “This Book is Just Trash” USA Today, 25.8:1
Text 4: Folleto de información turística distribuido por la Oficina de

Visitantes y Convenciones de Grand Junction, Colorado (E.E.U.U.)
Text 5: CARLSON, M. “And Now, Obesity Rights” Time Magazine, Dec. 6,

1993.
Text 6: SELIGMAN, M.E.P. (1994): What You Can Change and What You
Can’t. New York, Alfred A. Knopf.
Text 7: TANNEN, D. (1990): You Just Don’t Understand. Women and Men in
Conversation. New York, Ballantine Books.
Text 8: Tourist information brochure distributed by the Custer, South Dakota

Chamber of Commerce.
Unit 9:
Text 1: THOMPSON, L. “A Search for a Gay Gene” Time Magazine, June 12,
1995.
Text 2: ZANE, J. P. “When Scholars Dig Not Only Tassels but Sequins” The
New York Times Week in Review. Aug. 6, 1995.
Text 3: LEUCHTENBERG, W. (1975): “The Needless War with Spain” in

GARRATY, J. (ed.) Historical Viewpoints. Vol. II. New York, Harper and Row.

Text 4: Time Magazine, Dec.25, 95 – Jan. 1, 96.
Texts 5 and 6: Time Magazine, June 5, 1995.
Worksheets 4 and 5: FARB, P. (1993): Word Play. What Happens When

People Talk. New York, Vintage Books.
Texts 7 and 8: RANDALL, B. (1991): When is a Pig a Hog? A Guide to

Confoundingly Related Words in English. New York, Prentice Hall.
Text 9: WALMSLEY, J. “Oceans Apart” TWA Ambassador Magazine, July 13,

1987.
Text 10: RANDALL, B. (1991): When is a Pig a Hog? A Guide to

Confoundingly Related Words in English. New York, Prentice Hall.
Text 11: CLAYMAN, C. (ed.) (1994): The American Medical Association

Family Medical Guide. New York, Random House.
Texts 12 and 13: HARKAVY, M. (ed.) (1994): The New Webster’s

International Encyclopedia. Naples, Fla, Trident International Press.
Text 14: Advertisement for Scholl’s Blister Treatment, 1997.
Text 15: Advertisement for Lanacane, 1997.
Text 16: “Invasion of the Habitat Snatchers” Time Magazine, April 12, 1993.
Text 17: FEDARKO, K. “Bodies of Evidence” Time Magazine, Dec. 6, 1993.
Unit 10:
Text 1: Wok and Steamer Cookery (1984): Hauppage, N.Y., Himark

Enterprises.

Text 2: ROMBAUER, I.S. and M. ROMBAUER-BECKER (1973): The Joy of

Cooking, 12th ed. New York, Plume Books/The New American Library Inc.
Text 3: STERN, J. and M. STERN (1991): American Gourmet. Nueva York:

Harper-Collins.
Text 4: WILLIAMS, K. (1983): Kim Williams’ Cookbook and Commentary. A

Seasonal Celebration of Good Food for Mind & Body. Tucson, Knight-Ridder
Press.
Text 5: Homes & Ideas, April, 1997.
Text 6: FISCHER, L. and W. V. BROWN (1990): The Fischer/Brown Low

Cholesterol Gourmet. New York, Avon Books.
Worksheet 7: Headlines as follows:

1. The New York Times, Aug. 24, 1995
2. The Chicago Tribune, Aug. 10, 1995
4. The European, Aug. 12-18, 1994
6. The Daily Telegraph, Jan. 12, 2000
Text 7: MERSH, C. and M. BOND “Okapi — Victim of the Opera” The

European, Aug. 12-18, 1994.
Text 8: FERRIS, D. “Teen slain while on errand run with mom” Chicago
Tribune, May 22, 1994.
Unit 11:
Texts 1 and 2: Business Life. (British Airways magazine) April, 1997.
Texts 3, 4 and 9: CLAYMAN, C. (ed.) (1994): The American Medical

Association Family Medical Guide. New York, Random House.

Text 5: New Scientist. April, 1997.
Text 6: BRANGHAM, S. (1987): Housewise. The Smart Woman’s Guide to

Buying and Renovating Real Estate for Profit. New York, Harper & Row.
Text 7: Homes & Ideas. April, 1997.
Texts 8 and 10: Cosmopolitan. (British edition) June, 1995.
Worksheet 5: Excerpt from BLOOM, A. (1987): The Closing of the

American Mind. New York, Simon and Schuster, pp. 97-98.
Text 11: “Girl, 14, found strangled and dumped in woodland” The Times,
May 22, 1995.
Text 12: “Janet, 14, strangled just yards from shops” The Daily Mirror, May
22, 1995.
Unit 12:
Worksheet 2:
Headlines in List A as follows:
1. U.S.A. Today. April 12, 1994.
2. Time Magazine. May 29, 1995.
3. The International Herald Tribune. April 6, 1996.
Headlines in List B as follows:

2. The Chicago Tribune. August 12, 1995.
4. The International Herald Tribune. April 6, 1996.
Text 1: “Toys Are Not Us” British National Canine Defence League
promotional advertisement.

Text 2: USHER, R. “Till Life Us Do Part” Time Magazine. Dec. 4, 1995.
Text 3: SULLIVAN, B. “Bake to the Future with Bagel Sales” Chicago

Tribune. Aug. 9, 1995
Text 4: Subscription ad, International Herald Tribune.
Text 5: Souvenir coffee mug commemorating the 50th anniversary of the

Lincoln Country Charity Fund, Chicago.
Text 6: PRICE, N. Rhymes with Orange. (syndicated comic strip)
Text 7: Ad for “Twolette” (children’s toilet seat).
Text 8: BRYSON, B. (1999): Notes from a Big Country. London, Black Swan.
Text 9: CUPPY, W. (1983): How to Attract the Wombat. Chicago, University

of Chicago Press.
Unit 13:
Worksheet 1: Cosmopolitan. June, 1995.
Text 1: Form letter from United States Postal Service.
Unit 14:
Text 1: LEMONICK, M. D. “Hair Apparent” Time Magazine. June 10, 1996.
Text 2: FARB, P. (1973): Word Play. What Happens When People Talk. New
York, Alfred A. Knopf.

Unit 15:
Text 1: SELIGMAN, M. (1994): What You Can Change & What You Can’t. The
Complete Guide to Successful Self-Improvement. New York, Alfred A. Knopf.
Text 2: PINKER, S. (1997): How the Mind Works. New York and London,
W.W. Norton & Company.
Text 3: TANNEN, D. (1987): That’s Not What I Meant! How Conversational

Style Makes or Breaks Relationships. New York, Ballantine Books.
Text 5: HAYAKAWA, S.I. AND A.R. HAYAKAWA. Language in Thought and

Action. (1990): San Diego, New York and London, Harcourt Brace.
Text 6: MCGAIN, G. and E. M. SEGAL (1977): The Game of Science.

Monterey, CA, Brooks/Cole Publishing.
Text 7: KAKU, M. (1997): Visions. How Science Will Revolutionize the 21st
Century. New York, Anchor Books.
Text 8: BICKERTON, D. (1990): Language & Species. Chicago and London,

University of Chicago Press.


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TARGETING THE SOURCE TEXT:

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Cap part d’aquesta publicació, incloent-hi el disseny de la coberta, no pot ser

Primera edició: 2004

© Del text: Justine Brehm Cripps, 2007

© De la il·lustració de la coberta: Michael Brehm Cripps, 2007

© De la present edició: Publicacions de la Universitat Jaume I, 2007

Edita: Publicacions de la Universitat Jaume I

Edelsa. Grupo Didascalia, S.A.

Dipòsit legal: CS-375-2007

Imprimeix: Graphic Group, S.A.

E-book adquirit per al294934 el 04-03-2014 en www.tenda.uji.es

E-book adquirit per al294934 el 04-03-2014 en www.tenda.uji.es

Preface, AMPARO HURTADO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Index to Practice Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

2. Language Information Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251

Sources of Texts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283

E-book adquirit per al294934 el 04-03-2014 en www.tenda.uji.es

AMPARO HURTADO ALBIR

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TARGETING THE SOURCE TEXT: A COURSEBOOK IN ENGLISH FOR TRANSLATOR TRAINEES is

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Teaching and Learning Principles

➢ Translation-oriented language teaching is to be considered both as a type of LSP and

Contents and Linguistic Background

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E-book adquirit per al294934 el 04-03-2014 en www.tenda.uji.es

Course Organization and Goals

1. DEVELOPING READING COMPREHENSION SKILL

Students aim to:

• Strategically apply a variety of reading styles to texts (skimming, scanning, intensive

2. DEVELOPING SKILL IN WRITTEN COMPOSITION

Students aim to:

• Employ a variety of strategies in planning the organization of a text.

3. DEVELOPING LINGUISTIC KNOWLEDGE (FOCUS ON CONTRASTIVITY)

Students aim to:

E-book adquirit per al294934 el 04-03-2014 en www.tenda.uji.es

4. USING REFERENCE WORKS

Students aim to:

• Acquire proficiency in the use of non-specialized English language reference works

Works cited (in preface and introduction)

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—-(1999): “Cómo preparar la traducción en la clase de lenguas extranjeras.” Quaderns.

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Unit Contents Tasks

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Unit Contents Tasks

7. QUESTIONS OF STYLE Stylistic conventions: punctuation, capitals, and • Punctuation and

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Unit Contents Tasks

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TASK 1: CORRECTING STYLISTIC ERRORS

1. Flying planes can be dangerous.

2. We saw many bears driving through the forest.

6. Visiting professors may be tedious.

E-book adquirit per al294934 el 04-03-2014 en www.tenda.uji.es

7. The chickens were too hot to eat.

14. (Headline in newspaper): Man found beaten, robbed by police.

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TASK 2: DETECTING AND EXPLANING TRANSLATION ERRORS

3. (In a multilingual brochure placed on the nightstand of a hotel in Castellón): We

4. (In a brochure published by the Valencian Tourist Information Bureau): Prehistorical

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