Composition and Rhetoric I-ENG 201

Exam Four – Spring 2019-2020

Name: Karl Serge Aswad Section:

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Part One: Reading Comprehension

Read the text below and then answer the questions that follow.

Is Divorce Immature and Selfish?

Or will it actually be good for your kids?

Last week, the best-selling author and popular blogger Penelope

Trunk declared divorce "immature and selfish." She claimed divorce is "nearly always terrible
for kids" (and "your case is not the exception"); she said that it is a sign of mental illness
(specifically, of Borderline Personality Disorder), and that it is something that "dumb people" do
at higher rates than well-educated ones. Trunk tends to base most of her writing on pretty solid
scientific research, so I was surprised by this post.

Unfortunately, her post is freaking out thousands of people who are doing their best to
raise happy and well-adjusted children. Is Trunk correct? Is it usually better for kids to have
unhappily married parents who stay together? Or are there some cases where divorce is
actually better for kids than remaining married?

There is no denying that divorce is pretty tough on everyone involved. When you look at
the general population, about 10 percent of kids have behavioural or school-related problems, but
about 20 percent of kids whose parents divorce have these problems. While it's true that 80
percent of kids with divorced parents are doing fine, divorce seems to double the risk that kids
will have problems. Does this mean that unhappily married folks actually should stay together
for the kids?

Not necessarily. This is because some of the risk factors that divorce can create for kids
actually exist before an unhappily married couple divorces. Conflict in a relationship is the real
problem for everyone involved. While it's true that kids being raised by "harmoniously married"
parents do better than others, both sociologists and psychologists consistently find that kids who
are raised by unhappily married parents do worse than kids whose unhappily married parents get
divorced. The worst situation for kids is when unhappily married parents, particularly those in
high-conflict marriages, stay together.

Are you wondering if you are in a high-conflict or distressed marriage?  Violence and

abuse make a relationship high-conflict, of course; researchers also tend to classify relationships
characterized by contempt, stonewalling (when one person ignores another's attempts to engage),
criticism, or defensiveness as distressed.

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 "Does divorce harm kids?" is not actually the right question, although we ask it all the
time. A better question is this: "What circumstances make divorce harmful or beneficial to kids?"
And the answer is that, on average, divorce actually helps kids when it ends an unhappy, high-
conflict marriage.

There's another important factor: the quality of the divorce itself. The difference between
a "bad" and "good" divorce can be critical for kids. Researchers refer to divorce-related problems
as "post-disruption effects", and studies of them are numerous and complicated. Post-divorce
problems - such as losing contact with a parent, or financial hardship, or having parents who
continue to fight bitterly - tend to accumulate. When they do, children benefit substantially
from therapy and other forms of support.

So it isn't that divorce never causes problems for kids. Children whose parents divorce actually
do tend to have more problems than children whose parents stay together -but divorce may often
be a symptom of a bigger problem rather than the cause of it. And the negative effects of divorce,
on average, are surprisingly small, especially compared to some of the other things that can go
wrong in childhood.

I would never call a process as difficult and painful as divorce "immature," as Penelope Trunk
did. I think divorcing well - in a way that won't scar the children deeply and permanently - takes
great maturity and courage-which, of course, not everyone has.

But is divorce selfish? Not if you are in a distressed or high-conflict marriage. If you are, but you
are staying because you think it would be selfish to leave, don't leave for yourself. Do it for your
kids.

By Christine L. Carter, Ph.D.

1. What is the rhetorical purpose? Support your answer with evidence from the text.
(7 marks)

It examines the behavioral problems that divorce brings to children. This means that it researches

whether children who come from divorced parents have more problem than kids whos parents

are unhappy yet together for the marriage.

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2. How would you describe the tone of the text? (6 marks)

Empathetic because the first paragraph she says that marriage is selfish, whereas the author

empathizes a little bit more and tries to see things from another perspective.

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3. How would you describe the voice of the text? (5 marks)

Understanding._________________________________________________________________

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4. Who is the intended audience?

What assumptions is the writer making about the audience?
What evidence in the text supports these assumptions about the audience? (10 marks)
It regards parents who may be worried about the consequence of their marriage.

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5. Write a brief personal response to what you have read, stating whether you support or
oppose the writer’s claim. Give reasons and examples. (10 marks)
I agree, with the author. Children are very sensitive. It is better for parents to be divorced and

dislike each other than parents who dislike each other but stay in compensation for there

children. The reason why that is its because if they stay together, than the child might feel guilty

and would take responsibity that their dislike of each other.

6- Paraphrase the following excerpt from the text. (7 marks)

"Does divorce harm kids?" is not actually the right question, although we ask it all the
time. A better question is this: "What circumstances make divorce harmful

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 or beneficial to kids?" And the answer is that, on average, divorce actually helps kids
when it ends an unhappy, high-conflict marriage.

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there is a misconception that kids are harmed during the process of divorce. Some may argue that

divorce helps the kids.

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B. Read the following text, and then choose the best answer. (10 marks; 2 for each
question)

I never want to go home and I put it off as long as I can. I always walk, whatever the weather.
And when I have got rid of my restlessness and my tendency to brood, I let myself into the flat
and I am in for the rest of the evening. I have something to eat and then I usually try to write. In
that way I manage to get rid of the rest of the day.

I encounter resistance in myself of course. That is only natural. I am quite young and I am aware
that this is a dull life. Sometimes it seems like a physical effort to sit down at my desk and pull
out the notebook. Sometimes I find myself heaving a sigh when I read through what I have
already written. Sometimes the effort of putting pen to paper is so great that I literally feel a pain
in my head, as if all the furniture of my mind were being rearranged, as if it were being lined up,
being got ready for delivery to the storehouse. And yet when I start to write, all this heaviness
vanishes, and I feel charged with a kind of electricity, not unpleasant in itself, but leading,
inevitably, to greater restlessness.

Fortunately, I am not a hysterical person. I am used to being on my own and sometimes I doubt
whether I could endure a lot of excitement. I am famous for my control, which has seen me
through many crises. By a supreme irony, my control is so great that these crises remain

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unknown to the rest of the world, and so I am thought to be unfeeling. If I ever suffer loneliness,
it is because I have settled for the harsh destiny of dealing with these matters by myself.

Sometimes I wish it were different. Sometimes I find myself lying awake in bed, wondering if
this is to be my lot, if this solitude is to last for the rest of my days. Such thoughts sweep me to
the edge of panic for I want more, and I even think that I deserve it. I am no beauty but I am
quite pleasant-looking. I am in good health and have ample private means. I have few bad habits,
apart from my sharp tongue. I have no religion, but I observe certain rules of conduct with
considerable piety. I feel quite deeply, I think. If I am not very careful, I shall grow into the most
awful old battle-axe.

That is why I write, and why I have to. When I feel swamped in my solitude and hidden by it,
physically obscured by it, rendered invisible, in fact, writing is my way of piping up, of
reminding people that I am here. And when I have ordered my characters, plundered my store of
images, removed from them all the sadness that I might feel in myself, then I can switch on that
current that allows me to write so easily, once I get started, and to make people laugh. That, it
seems, is what they like to do. And if I manage this well enough and beguile all the critics, they
will fail to register my real message, which is a simple one. If my looks and my manner were of
greater assistance to me, I could deliver this message in person. ‘Look at me,’ I would say, ‘Look
at me.’ But since I am on my own in this matter, I must use subterfuge and guile, and with a bit
of luck and good management this particular message will never be deciphered, and my reasons
for delivering it in this manner remain obscure.

1. Why does the writer take her time going home?

A. She enjoys the walk.
B. It’s her chance to get some fresh air.
C. It settles her down.
D. She is unhappy with her accommodation.

2. Before starting to write in the evening, the writer

A. feels excited.
B. is worried that her work is not good enough.
C. rearranges the furniture.
D. forces herself to do what is needed.
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3. The writer’s behavior in a crisis causes her to be
A. rejected.
B. ridiculed.
C. pitied.
D. misinterpreted.

4. How does the writer regard her life?

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 A. She is frustrated by it.
B. She is completely resigned to it.
C. She enjoys her solitude.
D. She has no desire to change.

5. What does the writer find attractive about writing?

A. Playing with words makes her feel powerful.
B. She expects one day to impress the critics.
C. It is her way of asserting her identity.
D. Writing makes her feel like someone else.

Part Two : Grammar

Correct the following ten sentences that contain an error in the use of Active or Passive
verbs. (10 marks)

1. Nurses must be trust and accept patients' reports of pain.

Nurses must trust and accept patients’s report of pain__________ ________________
2. The company should consider how much profit can gain by introducing this new product.
_profit can be gained_________________________

3. Only 24% of respondents were correctly answered this question.

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4. As the policy comes from rational analysis and base on experience, it is grounded in fact.
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5. Nurses' experience in caring for cancer patients in pain may be influenced their attitudes
toward pain management.
_______may have influenced___________________

6. This breaks the cell wall, so the proteins release to the lysis buffer.
____________________so that the proteins______

7. The amplified light wave divide into two parts by the coupler.
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 8. Surprisingly, only 12.4% of the nurses had been attended a course in pain management.
__________________have attended________

9. The collected data have coded and checked by comparison with the results of other
researchers.
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10. This digital system is used electronic methods to identify customers.

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Part three: Writing (35 marks)

Write a 4-5 paragraph essay on ONE of the following topics. Remember to

- include a THESIS STATEMENT which summarizes your main purpose.

- use sentence connectors to make your paragraphs more coherent.
- organize your ideas well.
- punctuate properly.

Topic 1: Are you with or against online dating? Justify your opinion.
Topic 2: People in Lebanon seem to prefer private to public transportation. What are the causes
of this phenomenon? What are the effects? Offer solutions.
Topic 3: Does the way you behave around your parents differ from the way you act around your
friends? Justify.
Online dating has revolutionized the way we interact with the world. Although the other methods

are still being used, it is the main way female and male meet and find love. We have become so

digitized that we no longer need to go on dates and “get to know” another person. It is our new

identity, our online profile. In this essay, I will be discussing the benefits and the cons of online

dating.

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We have gotten accustomed to receiving whatever we want through the internet. If we want a

pizza, there is an app for that, if we want a date, there is an app for that too. We therefore have

no reason to leave the house and engage with others, because technology has made it so easy to

receive whatever we want to our door step. This is one of the reason why online dating has

become a little dull. We no longer need to find out about the other persons interest, we can just

see it on their profiles. The mystery has dissolved. Also there is the disadvantage of catfish “the

fake profile”. You never know when you are going to end up finding a profile that is incongruent

to the person’s look.

On the other hand, online dating has enabled us to screen out the small number of sociopaths that

are out there. It is easy for others to find out, which ones are the potentially dangerous character,

so we do not need to go on x amount of dates to find out if the person is “going to put your head

on a stick” Furthermore, online dating has expanded our reach for mates. Instead of being

defined to the number of potential partners in our area, online dating has expanded our ability to

date partners.

Overall, online platform has broadened our ability to meet potential partners and it may evolve

from there. It will be easier for us over time to differentiate the good genuine guys to the

psychopaths. Online dating has made it easier to find the women or man of your dreams and will

hopefully evolve from there.

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