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UNIT 1: PLANT Part I
A-UNDERSTANDING A PRINTED TEXT

The following text will introduce you the topic of plants. Look at the way it is devided into sections and paragraphs. Pay attention
to the headings Read the passage through and find the answers to the questions. Remember, you do not have to understand every
word to answer the questions.
Plants
1. Plants are living organisms consisting innumerable tiny cells.
They differ from animals in many ways but the most
important difference is that plants can build up valuable
organic substances from simple materials. The most
important part of this building process, which is called
photosynthesis, is the production of carbohydrates such as
sugars, starches and cellulose.
Photosynthesis
2. In photosynthesis a special green substance called chlorophyll uses light
energy (normally sunlight) to change carbon dioxide and water into sugars
(carbohydrates) in the green parts of the plant. The daily amount of
photosynthesis, is limited by the duration and intensity of sunlight. The
amount of carbon dioxide available is also a limiting factor. Shortage of water
and low temperatures can also reduce photosynthesis.
3. The cells which contain chlorophyll also have yellow pigments such as
carotene. Crop plants can only build up chlorophyll in the light and so any
leaves which develop in the dark are yellow and cannot produce
carbohydrates.
4. Oxygen is released during photosynthesis and the process may be set out as
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follows
Chlorophyll
Carbon dioxide + water + energy carbohydrates + oxygen
nCO2 + nH2O + Light = (CH2O) + nO2 Commentaire [A1]:
5. A very important feature of the leaf structure is the presence of large numbers of tiny pores (stomata) on the surface of the leaf. There
are usually thousands of stomata per square cm of leaf surface. Each pore (stoma) is oval-shaped and surrounded by two guard cells.
When the guard cells are turgid (full of water) the stoma is open and when they lose water the stoma closes.
6. The carbon dioxide used in photosynthesis diffuses into the leaf through the stomata and most of the water vapour leaving the plant,
and the oxygen from photosynthesis diffuses out through the stomata.
Transpiration
7. The evaporation of water from plants is called transpiration. It mainly occurs through the stomata and has a cooling effect on the leaf
cells. Water in the cells of the leaf can pass into the pore spaces in the leaf and then out through the stomata as water vapour.
8. The simple carbohydrates such as glucose may build up to form starch for storage puposes or to cellulose for building cell walls.
Protein material which is an essential part of all living cells, is made from carbohydrates and nitrogen compounds.
9. Most plants consist of roots, stems, leaves and reproductive parts and need soil in which to grow.
10. The roots spread through the spaces between the particles in the soil and anchor the plant. In a plant such as wheat the root system
may total many miles.
11. The leaves, with their broad surfaces, are the main parts of the plant where photosynthesis occurs.
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12. The rate of transpiration varies considerably it is greatest when the plant is well supplied with water and the air outside the leaf is
warm and dry. In very hot or windy weather water evaporates from the guard cells and so the stomata close and reduce the rate of
transpiration. The stomata also close in very cold weather. e.g. 0°C
13. The rate of loss is reduced of the if the plant is short of water because the guard cells then lose water and close the stomata ; it is also
retarded if the humidity of the atmosphere is high.
14. The stomata guard cells close (and so transpiration ceases) during darkness. They close because photosynthesis ceases and water is
lost from the guard cells (osmosis) when some of the sugars present change to starch.
B-Questions
Now look at these questions and try to give answers to them:

1. The text has three sections. What is each section about ?
2. What kind of words are in italics ?
3. What is the purpose of the chemical formula ?
4. What do the four sections relate to?
5. Suggest another definition of plant ?
C-Translate section one and section two of the text into good french
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UNIT 1: PLANT Part II
The following text will introduce you the topic of plants. Look at the way it is devided
into sections and paragraphs. Pay attention to the headings Read the passage through
and find the answers to the questions. Remember, you do not have to understand every
Plants
Photosynthesis
carbohydrates.
follows
Chlorophyll
5. A very important feature of the leaf structure is the presence of large numbers of tiny
pores (stomata) on the surface of the leaf. There are usually thousands of stomata per square
cm of leaf surface. Each pore (stoma) is oval-shaped and surrounded by two guard cells.
When the guard cells are turgid (full of water) the stoma is open and when they lose water
the stoma closes.
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6. The carbon dioxide used in photosynthesis diffuses into the leaf through the stomata and
most of the water vapour leaving the plant, and the oxygen from photosynthesis diffuses out
through the stomata.
Transpiration
7. The evaporation of water from plants is called transpiration. It mainly occurs through the
stomata and has a cooling effect on the leaf cells. Water in the cells of the leaf can pass into
the pore spaces in the leaf and then out through the stomata as water vapour.
8. The simple carbohydrates such as glucose may build up to form starch for storage puposes
or to cellulose for building cell walls. Protein material which is an essential part of all living
cells, is made from carbohydrates and nitrogen compounds.
9. Most plants consist of roots, stems, leaves and reproductive parts and need soil in which to
grow.
10. The roots spread through the spaces between the particles in the soil and anchor the plant.
In a plant such as wheat the root system may total many miles.
11. The leaves, with their broad surfaces, are the main parts of the plant where
photosynthesis occurs.
12. The rate of transpiration varies considerably it is greatest when the plant is well supplied
with water and the air outside the leaf is warm and dry. In very hot or windy weather water
evaporates from the guard cells and so the stomata close and reduce the rate of transpiration.
The stomata also close in very cold weather. e.g. 0°C
13. The rate of loss is reduced of the if the plant is short of water because the guard cells then
lose water and close the stomata ; it is also retarded if the humidity of the atmosphere is high.
14. The stomata guard cells close (and so transpiration ceases) during darkness. They close
because photosynthesis ceases and water is lost from the guard cells (osmosis) when some of
the sugars present change to starch.
F. Check your understanding
Now read the text carefully, looking up any new items in a dictionary or reference book.
Then unswer the following questions :
1. What is the main difference between plants and animals ?
2. What is starch an example of ?
3. What decides how much photosynthesis takes place in a day ?
4. What is the raising for crop plant having yellow leaves ?
5. What do plant mainly consist of ?
6. Where do you find stomata ?
7. How does oxygen come out of a plant ?
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8. What else comes out of a plant ?
9. Why do stomata close in hot weather ?
10. Why does photosynthesis not take place in darkness ?
E. Increase your vocabulary

In this section you should use your dictionary to help you answer the questions about
the text :
1. Look at the first paragraph and say what these words refer to.
 Line 2 : They
 Line 6 : Which
2. Look at paragraph 1 again and say which word in the text has the same meaning
as :
 Cannot be counted
 Not complicated
 Very small
3. Look at paragraph 2 and say what word have the opposite meaning to :
 Cannot be obtained
 Increase
UNIT 1: PLANT Part II

Plants
3
Photosynthesis
carbohydrates.
follows
Chlorophyll
the stoma closes.
Transpiration
grow.
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F. Check your understanding
Now read the text carefully, looking up any new items in a dictionary or reference book.
Then unswer the following questions :
11. What is the main difference between plants and animals ?
12. What is starch an example of ?
13. What decides how much photosynthesis takes place in a day ?
14. What is the raising for crop plant having yellow leaves ?
15. What do plant mainly consist of ?
16. Where do you find stomata ?
17. How does oxygen come out of a plant ?
18. What else comes out of a plant ?
19. Why do stomata close in hot weather ?
20. Why does photosynthesis not take place in darkness ?
E. Increase your vocabulary

In this section you should use your dictionary to help you answer the questions about
the text :
4. Look at the first paragraph and say what these words refer to.
 Line 2 : They
 Line 6 : Which
5. Look at paragraph 1 again and say which word in the text has the same meaning
as :
 Cannot be counted
 Not complicated
 Very small
6. Look at paragraph 2 and say what word have the opposite meaning to :
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 Cannot be obtained
 Increase
 Excess
7. Look at the paragraph 2 again and say which words have the same meaning as :
 Length of time
 Alter
 Quantity
8. Look at paragraph 3, 4 and 5 and explain the following word :
 Chlorophyll
 Carotene
 Respiration
9. look at paragraph 6 again. Which words correspond to the definitions
 A tiny unit of living matter
 Someting made up of two or more combined parts
 A body-building substance which is important for good health
 Necessary
10. Look at paragraph 7, 8 and 9 and say which word have the opposite meaning to :
 Narrow
 Does not happen
11. Look at paragraph 10 and 11 and explain the following word :
 Struture
 Surface
 Diffuses
 Vapour
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UNIT 1: PLANT Part III
Plants
Photosynthesis
carbohydrates.
follows
Chlorophyll
the stoma closes.
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Transpiration
grow.
G. Check your grammar

MAKING STATAMENTS
Do you remember ?
Plants take in oxygen which combines with organic foodstuffs
Crops are checked in growth if the roots are deprived of oxygen
1. Making sentences with relative pronouns
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2. Use the following verbs to complete the paragraph below : carry, be, help, perforate,
not lignify, usually fined, form, thicken, make, know.
The movement of materials through the plant_______ as translocation. The xylem or

wood vessels which _______ the water and mineral salt from the roots to the leaves
____ tubs.
These tubs_____ from dead cells. The cross walls of the cells have disappeared and
the longitudinal walls _____ with lignum. These ______ wood. The tubefds ______ to
strengthen the stem. The phloem tubs (bast) _____ organic material through the plant.
These vessels ______ chains of living cells which _____ . They have cross walls
which ______ hence the alternativ name, sieve tubes in the stem the xylem and
phloem tubes _____ in a ring near the outside of the stem
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TEXT 4 : THE PARTS OF A PLANT AND THEIR FUNCTIONS/Part I
1. READING A ND COMPREHENSION
1, A plant is a living organism. 2, it is made up of different parts, each of
which has a particular purpose, or specialized function. 3, if one part of the
plant is not functioning properly the whole plant will suffer. 4, but we may
cut flowers off the plant or prune the roots. 5 ; such damage is only
temporary and so the plant will continue to grow.
Study the following statements carefully and write down whether they
are true or not true according to the information expressed above. Then
check your anwsers by referring to the solutions at the end of the passage.
(a). different parts of a plant have specialized function
(b). Not all parts of a plant need function properly
(c). If we cut flowers off a plant, the whole plant will suffer.
1. The basic parts of a plant are the root system, which is below the ground,
and the shoot system above.
2. The root of a plant has two main functions. 8. It takes in, or absorbs
water and minerals from the soil through the root hairs which are single
cells near the tip of each root. 9. The other main function of the root is to
hold or anchor, the plant firmly in position in the soil.
(d). The shoot system of the plant is below the ground.
(e). Water and minerals are absorbed through the rot hairs.
(f). The plant is annchoed in the soil by the root system.
10. Plants such as sugar beet and carrots are able to store food in their roots
11. In this way they can keep growing for more than one season. 12. In
addition, plants such as clover and lucerne, known as legumes, have
special bacteria which live on the roots. 13. These simple forms of life
take nitrogen out of the air which is in the soil. 14. Such leguminous
plants are usually ploughed under the soil. 15. By doing this the soi lis
made more fertile.
(g). Carrots can keep growing for more than one season.
(h) Special bacteria live on the roots of all plants.
(i) The soil is made fertile by ploughing clover and lucerne under the soil.
2. English in Agriculture
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The shoot system above the ground consists of the stem. The leaves flowers
and fruit. 17One of the functions of the stem is to support the plant. 18Another
important function is to enable water and minerals to pass up from the roots to
the leaves and flowers. 19Organic materials such as sugar travel down the stem
to the roots. 20 The leaves grow out of the side of the stem. 21Their main job is
to make food for the plant by the process known as photosynthesis. 22For this
process sunlight is necessary. 23Water from the soil and carbon dioxide from
the air are converted into sugars and other carnohydrates. 24During the process
oxygen is formed and released into the air. 25The flower contains the
reproductive organs of the plant. 26The stamens produce the male sex cells, or
spermatia, which are carried in the pollen grains. 27The carpel produces the
female sex cells, or ovules. 28The fruit, the ripened ovary of the flower, encloses
the seed itself consists of an embryo is the part which will develop into another
plant and the foodstore is necessary to provide nourishment for the young
plant while it is growing.
Exercise
Add words or phrases from the text to complete the argument which shows
whether the comprehension check is THRUE or NOT TRUE. Note that a dotted
line …………requires a phrase to be added, and a straight line_____requires a
word to be added. Numbers refer to the sentences in the text. The first one has
been done as an example.
(a). Each of the different parts of a plant has a particular purpose. (2). Each of
the different parts of a plant has a particular purpose or specialized function.
(2)
 A particular purpose = a specialized function
 Each of the different parts of a plant has a specialized function.
= Different parts of a plant have specialized functions.
(b) The whole plant will suffer if ONE part is not ……………… (3)
i.e. If ALL …………… are functioning
properly the whole plant will_______ suffer.
If all parts of the plant are functioning properly the whole plant will not
suffer.
i.e. All parts of the plant DO NEED to function properly.
* The following symbols are used in the solutions :
i.e. that is to say
e.g. for example
= equals/means the same as
≠ does not equal / mean the same as
჻ therefore
(c) we may ………… off the plant (4)

As this damage (i.e cutting flowers is only temporary the plant
(5)
i.e. The plant will continue to grow if we ………… off it
i.e. The whole plant will not ______ if we cut flowers of it
= If we cut flowers off the plants, the whole plant will NOT suffer.
(d). A plant has a root system, which is below the ground, and a shoot
system, ……… above ……… (6)
i.e. A plant has a ………… which is above the ground.
i.e. The shoot system of a plant is above the ground.
(e). The root takes in, or ______, water and minerals from the soil through
the root hairs. (8)
i.e. The root absorbs ………… through the root hairs
= Water and minerals _____ absorbed by the root through the root hairs
Water and minerals are absorbed by the root through the root hairs.
(f). The roots holds, or ______ the plant firmly in position in the soil. (9)
The plants is anchored firmly in position in the soil by……… the root = the
root _____ (6)
჻ The plant is anchored in the soil by the root system.
(g) Both carrots and sugar beet are able to ………… (10)
By storing food in their roots they can …………… (11)
i.e………can keep growing for more than one season.
჻ carrots can keep growing for more than one season.
(h). Special bacteria live in the roots of plants such as ……… (12)
i.e. Clover and lucerne are examples of plants which have ……… living on
their roots
i.e. Some plants have special bacteria which…………
= Special bacteria live on the roots of ……………
Special bacteria live on the roots of some plants.
i.e. Special bacteria do NOT live on the roots of ALL plants.
(i) Clover and lucerne i.e. _____ plants are usually ploughed under the soil.
(14)
By ploughing leguminous plants under the soil, the soil is made…………
(15)
i.e. The soil is made MORE fertile by ploughing leguminous plants such as
……… under the soil
The soi lis made fertile by ploughing clover and lucerne under the soil.
TEXT 5: THE PARTS OF A PLANT AND THEIR FUNCTIONS/Part II
A- READING AND COMPREHENSION

made more fertile.
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B- EXERCISE Contextual reference

1. In sentence 5, such damage refers to :
(a) Cutting flowers off the plant
(b) Pruning the roots of the plant
(c) Both cutting the flowers and pruning the roots
2. In sentence 8, it refers to
(a) The shoot system The shoot system
(b) The root of a plant
3. The root of a plan In sentence 11, they refers to :
(a) The roots of plants
(b) Plants such as sugar beet and carrots
4. In sentence 13, these simple forms of life refers to :
(a) Special bacteria
(b) Legumes
(c) Roots
C- EXERCISE Rephrasing
Rewrite the following sentences replacing the words printed in italics with
expressions from the text which have the same meaning.
EXAMPLE
The roots of plants take in water and minerals from the soil.
= the roots of plants absorb water and minerals from the soil.
1. The single cells near the tip of each root incease their surface area by
extending outwards from the root.
2. The root holds the plant firmly in position in the soil.
3. Some plants have simple forms of life living on their roots.
4. We can improve the fertility of the soil by ploughing under plants such as
clover and lucerne.
5. Sunlight provides the energy for the process of converting water from
the soil and carbon dioxide from the air into sugars and other
carbohydrates.
6. While growing, the seeds are protected by the ripened ovary of the
flower.
D- EXERCISE Relationships between statements : consequence

Study the following sentences :
Such damage is only temporary. The plant wil. Continue to grow.
The relationships between the statements expressed in these two sentences is
one of consequence. We can express this relationship in various ways :
(i) By joining the sentences together to make one sentence :
EXAMPLES
Such damage is only temporary and so the plant will continue to grow.
(see text, sentences 5)
The parts of a plant and their functions. 5

As
Or such damage is only temporary, the plant will continue to grow
Since
(ii) By linking the two sentences as follows :
EXAMPLES
consequently
Such damage is only temporary.The plant will
Therefore
Thus
continue to grow
Consequently
OR Such damage is only temporary. Therefore , the plant
will continue to grow Thus
Relate the sentences indicated with the following expression as in the

examples above. Write out both sentences. Replace and re-order the words in
the sentences where necessary.
(a). 10+11 : (i). consequently (ii). Thus (iii). And so (iv). Since.
(b). 14+15 : (i). thus (ii). And therefore (iii) consequently.
TEXT 6: THE PARTS OF A PLANT AND THEIR FUNCTIONS/Part 3
I- READING AND COMPREHENSION

made more fertile.
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II LANGUAGE IN USE
EXERCISE A: The definition of parts of a plant

We can define different parts of a plant by
(a). naming them
(b). Stating the class they belongs to.
(c). describing their function.
Examples
(i). NAME : root hairs

CLASS : parts of a plant
FUNCTION : absorb water and minerals from the soil
DEFINITION : The root hairs are the parts of a plant which absorb
water and minerals from the soil.
(ii). NAME : stem

CLASS : part of a plant
FUNCTION : supports the shoot system
DEFINIITION : The stem is the part of a plant which supports the
shoot system.
Using the information below, write out complete definitions of each part of a
plant as in the example above.
(a). NAME : fruit
FUNCTION : protects the ripened, or matured, ovary
(b). NAME : stamens

CLASS : part of a flower
FUNCTION : produce the male sex cells, or spermatia
(c). NAME : carpel
CLASS : part of a flower
FUNCTION : produces the female sex cells, or ovules
(d). NAME : embryo

CLASS : part of a seed
FUNCTION : will develop into an adult plant
(e). NAME : leaves

CLASS : parts of a plant
FUNCTION : manufacture sugars and other carbohydrates by
photosynthesis
(f). NAME : root

FUNCTION : anchors the plant in the soil and absorbs water and
minerals
(g). NAME : sepals

CLASS : parts of flower
FUNCTION : protect the flower while it is in the bud stage
(h). NAME : foodstore

CLASS : part of a seed
FUNCTION : produces the nourishment for the growing embryo
EXERCISE B : General statements of function

We can make general statements about the function is but without saying what
class they belong to.
EXAMPLE
NAME : root hairs
FUNCTION : absorb water and minerals from the soil.
GENERAL
STATEMENT : The root hairs absorb water and minerals from the soil.
Answer questions about what the following parts of a plant or flower or seed
do by making general statements. Use the information from EXERCISE A.
above.
Statement of function
What do the root hairs do ? The root hairs absorb water and
Minerals from the soil.
OR What is the function of the root hairs ? or The function of the root
hairs is to absorb water and minerals from the soil.
(a) Stem (d) embryo

(g) sepals
(b) Fruit (e) leaves
(h) foodstore
(c) stamens (f) root
III. GRAMMAR
EXERCISE A. The forms of definitions
Refer to Exercise B IN SECTION II above.
Definitions often take one of the following forms :
1. (A) is/are, may be defined as (B) which (C).
EXAMPLE
(A The embryo) is, may be defined as (B the part of a flower) which (C will
develop into another plant).
The embryo is the part of a flower which will develop into another plant.
OR The embryo may be defined as the part of a flower which will develop
into another plant.
2. (B) which (C) is/are called, is/are known as (A).
EXAMPLE
(B The part of a flower) which (C will develop into another plant is called,
is known as (A the embryo).
Text 7: CEREALS/Part I
A- Reading and Comprehension

Read the passage through and find the answers to the questions. Remember you
do not have to understand every word to answer the questions.
FOOD CROPS
1. The greater proportion of man’s food is derived from relatively few plant species.
Most of the staple crops are members of the grass family that yield grains. Recent
statistics show rice, wheat, and corn closely grouped as the « big tree »in world
cereal production. Each accounts for essentially one quarter of the world’s total
cereal supply of more than a billion metric tons annually. Barley, oats, rye,
millets, and sorghum together make up the remaining quarter.
2. Only one other food plant, the potato, a root crop, gives the cereals much of a run
so far as world importance is concerned. Total tonnage of the potato is
approximately equal to that of the leading grains but since the potato is fleshy and
consists of only 22 percent dry matter, its total food value is considerably less.
Sweet-potatoes and yams, various seed legumes (beens, peas, soybean, peanut,
etc.), and sugar cane are the other major noncereal food crops. For all practical
purposes man relies upon this handful of crop plants for his existence.
3. The modern world would grind to estandstill if it could not depend upon the
gradual improvement of varieties of these domesticates, which lind themselves so
well to modern mecanized agriculture. Many thousands of wild plants were
utilized by premitive cultures, some of them, of curse, were used only in times of
dire need. Table 20-1 categorizes a number of important crops according to
weather they originated in the old world or the New World. Since the fifteenth
century these species have been spread widely over the globe, wherever they
proved adaptable to local climate.
Area of origin and major zone of today’s production do not often coincide !
Table 20-1New World and Old World food plants before 1492
New World Old World

Maize Pumpkin Wheat Radish Asparagus
Manioc Peanut Rye Beet Peas
Limabean Chayote Barley Parsnip Various
Sweet-potato Papaya Oat Carrot Soybean
Kidney Avocado Millet Breadfruit Broadbean
Other beans Peanapple Sorghum Mangosteen Dasheen
Tomato Custard apple Rice Onion Yam
Green Peper Soursop Buckwheat Garlic Apple
Jerusalem Cherimoya ????? Spinach Pear
artichoke
Sunflower Guava Gabbage Eggplant Plum
Quinoa Chocolate Rutabaga Lettuce Cherry
Squash Cashew Chard Endive Alfalfa
Sapote Mustard Celery Bluegrass
Lime Date
THE CEREALS
4. Cereals are the staff of life to civilization. Around 70 percent of the world’s
harvested acreage of about a billion hectares, is devoted to growing them. They
are the direct source of half the food needs of the world, and the secondary source
of much additional food when converted to meat, milk, eggs, and other animal
products.
5. The true cereals are all members of the grass family, the Gramineae. The fruit the
yield is a grain, a type of fruit in which the ovary wall turns hard and durable,
fusing with the single seed (Fig. 20-1). Buckwheat, amaranth, and a few similar
seeds of other families (« pseudo-cereals ») are sometimes regarded as grains
because their seeds are quite similar to those of grasses. This section will be
devoted to the true cereals, of which the major crops are rice (oryza), wheat
(Triticum), maize (zea), barley (hordeum), oats (avena), rye (secale), sorghum
(sorghum), various millets (panicum, setaria, etc.), and a few other spaces of
lesser world importance.
6. There are a number of reasons while cereals have evolved into man’s leading food
source. Most of them are annuals or are at least adapted to cultivation as annuals,
permitting facility in cropping, whether on the midden of an early domestication
center or a component of today’s hily mechanized farming. Grasses in general are
quite versatile, too ; they adapt well to a variety of soils, climates and ways of
handling. They are also relatively efficient in garnering the sun’s, transforming it
into usable food substance. They are generally hardy and recuperative, and are
plagued by no more than they are share of diseases and pests. But above all, the
graine is a neat package of stored energy, conveniently harvested, easly cleaned
and handled amenable to storage without special drying.
7. Rice wheat and corn are the world’s three major cereals, all about equally
important in terms of world production. Rice is the prime source of sustenance for
tropical populations ; it is grown mostly on flood plains or where the land can be
seasonally ponded. Wheat is chiefly grown on lands that were naturally prairies.
RICE, ORYZA SATIVA
8. Rice, or paddy, widely grown in Asia from Afghanistan to the East Indies and
north to Japan is the principal food for 60 percent of mankind. It is also a staple in
parts of Africa, South America, and to some extent in the southern United States
World production exceeds 300 million metric tons annually, mostly from the Far
East (China, India, Pakistan, Japan, and Thailand are the major producing
countries).
9. For practical purposes rices are generally classified as long-grain types need a
longer season to mature, and hence are grown mostly in tropical regions, such as
Southeast Asia. Connoisseurs prefer the long-grain type, which is nonglutenous
and does not turn so soft and sticky when cooked. Medium-grain rices, somewhat
softer, are most frequently grown in America. Short-grain types, even more
starchy when cooked, are well adapted to more northerly climates, such as that of
Japan.
10.Most rice is grown in paddy fields of standing water. There are, however, various
forms of upland rice, cultivated in much the same way as any small grain. Upland
rice yields tend to be lower, and its importance is not great ; for example, in
Indonesia, more than 90 percent of the rice is grown in irrigated paddy land. The
best rice land is level, conveniently diked for alternating irrigation and drainage.
11. Japan practises the most progrssive rice growing in the Orient. Yields average
nearly 4 tons per hectare and can be as high as 10 tons. Fertilization in Japan is an
intensive as on North American corn land (Rig.20-3). A complete fertilizer is
generally « plowed down » prior to flooding and hand planting of the seedling rice
plants. Another « top-dressing » is applied just before heading to increase yields.
The fields are drained for harvesting and threshing, typically accomplished with
small portable machines on the site. A green manure (vetch) is sometimes planted
and plowed down. The paddy fields may also be used for a winter crop, such as
barley, wheat, or rape.
12.Under more primitive circumstances, such as those that prevail in many of the
tropical lands, rice growing is an exceedingly laborious and time-consuming hand
operation. As noted in Figure 20-3, even fertilization is quite limited in many
places, although compost, and sewage have been used since ancient times to
fertilize the paddy. After the paddy is flooded to soften the soil, the ground is
worked, oftenby water buffalo pulling a forked stick (small hand tractors may be
used in more advanced countries, such as Japan). The rice seedlings are started
elsewhere, sometimes under government auspices, and are transplanted by hand
into flooded paddies, usually between November and January in southeast Asia, to
take advantage of the winter monsoon. About four months later the paddies are
drained and the stand harvested – another laborious job, accomplished chiefly by
women. The rice stalks are cut individually with a small sharp sickle, banded
toghether, and laid out in the sun to dry. If there is sufficient water, either a
second rice crop or some other crop may then be planted to the same land.
13.Various means are employed to clean and dehull nearly harvested rice. In some
countries the sundried heads are threshed in the field by treading, either by man or
live-stock (of course, with considerable loss of grain). In Afghanistan green rice is
mixed with heated sand to harden and « crisp » the hulls, which are then separated
by crude milling on water-powered devices that pound the grain against the soil.
Screening and winnowing follow. In Ecuador much of the rice is fermented by
massing it on the floor while damp and covering it with a tarpaulin for a few days.
Upon subsequently drying it cooks more quickly than unfermented rice in the high
altitudes of the Andes. Fermentation may also provide healthful by-products.
B- Qustions
The following tex twill introduce you to the topic of cereals. Look at the way it
is devided into sections and paragraphs. Pay attention to the headings and
notes in the margins, and to the illustration and captions.
Now look at these questions :
1. What kind of food crop is this text about ?

2. Apart from cereals one food plant is named as important worldwide. Which
is it ?
3. Did any food plant originate in both the new and old worldwide ?
4. How is rice usually classified ?
5. What does the table in figure 20, 3 tell you ?
Text 8: CEREALS/Part II

Read the passage through and find the answers to the questions. Remember
you do not have to understand every word to answer the questions.
FOOD CROPS
1. The greater proportion of man’s food is derived from relatively few plant
species. Most of the staple crops are members of the grass family that yield
grains. Recent statistics show rice, wheat, and corn closely grouped as the « big
tree »in world cereal production. Each accounts for essentially one quarter of
the world’s total cereal supply of more than a billion metric tons annually.
Barley, oats, rye, millets, and sorghum together make up the remaining quarter.
2. Only one other food plant, the potato, a root crop, gives the cereals much of a
run so far as world importance is concerned. Total tonnage of the potato is
approximately equal to that of the leading grains but since the potato is fleshy
and consists of only 22 percent dry matter, its total food value is considerably
less. Sweet-potatoes and yams, various seed legumes (beens, peas, soybean,
peanut, etc.), and sugar cane are the other major noncereal food crops. For all
practical purposes man relies upon this handful of crop plants for his existence.
3. The modern world would grind to estandstill if it could not depend upon the
gradual improvement of varieties of these domesticates, which lind themselves
so well to modern mecanized agriculture. Many thousands of wild plants were
utilized by premitive cultures, some of them, of curse, were used only in times
of dire need. Table 20-1 categorizes a number of important crops according to
weather they originated in the old world or the New World. Since the fifteenth
century these species have been spread widely over the globe, wherever they
proved adaptable to local climate.
New World Old World

artichoke
Lime Date
THE CEREALS
4. Cereals are the staff of life to civilization. Around 70 percent of the world’s
harvested acreage of about a billion hectares, is devoted to growing them. They
are the direct source of half the food needs of the world, and the secondary
source of much additional food when converted to meat, milk, eggs, and other
animal products.
5. The true cereals are all members of the grass family, the Gramineae. The fruit
the yield is a grain, a type of fruit in which the ovary wall turns hard and
durable, fusing with the single seed (Fig. 20-1). Buckwheat, amaranth, and a
few similar seeds of other families (« pseudo-cereals ») are sometimes
regarded as grains because their seeds are quite similar to those of grasses. This
section will be devoted to the true cereals, of which the major crops are rice
(oryza), wheat (Triticum), maize (zea), barley (hordeum), oats (avena), rye
(secale), sorghum (sorghum), various millets (panicum, setaria, etc.), and a few
other spaces of lesser world importance.
6. There are a number of reasons while cereals have evolved into man’s leading
food source. Most of them are annuals or are at least adapted to cultivation as
annuals, permitting facility in cropping, whether on the midden of an early
domestication center or a component of today’s hily mechanized farming.
Grasses in general are quite versatile, too ; they adapt well to a variety of soils,
climates and ways of handling. They are also relatively efficient in garnering
the sun’s, transforming it into usable food substance. They are generally hardy
and recuperative, and are plagued by no more than they are share of diseases
and pests. But above all, the graine is a neat package of stored energy,
conveniently harvested, easly cleaned and handled amenable to storage without
special drying.
7. Rice wheat and corn are the world’s three major cereals, all about equally
important in terms of world production. Rice is the prime source of sustenance
for tropical populations ; it is grown mostly on flood plains or where the land
can be seasonally ponded. Wheat is chiefly grown on lands that were naturally
prairies.
RICE, ORYZA SATIVA

8. Rice, or paddy, widely grown in Asia from Afghanistan to the East Indies and
north to Japan is the principal food for 60 percent of mankind. It is also a staple
in parts of Africa, South America, and to some extent in the southern United
States World production exceeds 300 million metric tons annually, mostly
from the Far East (China, India, Pakistan, Japan, and Thailand are the major
producing countries).
9. For practical purposes rices are generally classified as long-grain types need a
longer season to mature, and hence are grown mostly in tropical regions, such
as Southeast Asia. Connoisseurs prefer the long-grain type, which is
nonglutenous and does not turn so soft and sticky when cooked. Medium-grain
rices, somewhat softer, are most frequently grown in America. Short-grain
types, even more starchy when cooked, are well adapted to more northerly
climates, such as that of Japan.
10.Most rice is grown in paddy fields of standing water. There are, however,
various forms of upland rice, cultivated in much the same way as any small
grain. Upland rice yields tend to be lower, and its importance is not great ; for
example, in Indonesia, more than 90 percent of the rice is grown in irrigated
paddy land. The best rice land is level, conveniently diked for alternating
irrigation and drainage.
11. Japan practises the most progrssive rice growing in the Orient. Yields average
nearly 4 tons per hectare and can be as high as 10 tons. Fertilization in Japan is
an intensive as on North American corn land (Rig.20-3). A complete fertilizer
is generally « plowed down » prior to flooding and hand planting of the
seedling rice plants. Another « top-dressing » is applied just before heading to
increase yields. The fields are drained for harvesting and threshing, typically
accomplished with small portable machines on the site. A green manure
(vetch) is sometimes planted and plowed down. The paddy fields may also be
used for a winter crop, such as barley, wheat, or rape.
12.Under more primitive circumstances, such as those that prevail in many of the
tropical lands, rice growing is an exceedingly laborious and time-consuming
hand operation. As noted in Figure 20-3, even fertilization is quite limited in
many places, although compost, and sewage have been used since ancient
times to fertilize the paddy. After the paddy is flooded to soften the soil, the
ground is worked, oftenby water buffalo pulling a forked stick (small hand
tractors may be used in more advanced countries, such as Japan). The rice
seedlings are started elsewhere, sometimes under government auspices, and are
transplanted by hand into flooded paddies, usually between November and
January in southeast Asia, to take advantage of the winter monsoon. About
four months later the paddies are drained and the stand harvested – another
laborious job, accomplished chiefly by women. The rice stalks are cut
individually with a small sharp sickle, banded toghether, and laid out in the sun
to dry. If there is sufficient water, either a second rice crop or some other crop
may then be planted to the same land.
countries the sundried heads are threshed in the field by treading, either by man
or live-stock (of course, with considerable loss of grain). In Afghanistan green
rice is mixed with heated sand to harden and « crisp » the hulls, which are then
separated by crude milling on water-powered devices that pound the grain
against the soil. Screening and winnowing follow. In Ecuador much of the rice
is fermented by massing it on the floor while damp and covering it with a
tarpaulin for a few days. Upon subsequently drying it cooks more quickly than
unfermented rice in the high altitudes of the Andes. Fermentation may also
provide healthful by-products.
B. Check your understanding

Now read the text carefully looking up any items in a dictionary or
reference book then answer the following questions?
1. Which are the big three cereals?
2. Why is the potato less valuable than cereals?
3. Which of the food plants given in Table 0.1 is important in your country?
4. What are the Gramineae?
5. Why buckwheat is called a pseudo-cereal?
6. Which is the most important reason, in your opinion, for cereals being our
7. leading food plant?
8. Which is more important to the world, rice, wheat or corn?

9. Why do some people prefer long-grained rice?
10. Summarise the less advanced method of growing rice as described in the text.
11. Why is fermented rice more suitable for people living in the Andes?
Text 9: CEREALS/Part III

Read the passage through and find the answers to the questions. Remember you do not have
to understand every word to answer the questions.
FOOD CROPS
1. The greater proportion of man’s food is derived from relatively few plant species.
Most of the staple crops are members of the grass family that yield grains. Recent
statistics show rice, wheat, and corn closely grouped as the « big tree »in world cereal
production. Each accounts for essentially one quarter of the world’s total cereal supply
of more than a billion metric tons annually. Barley, oats, rye, millets, and sorghum
together make up the remaining quarter.
2. Only one other food plant, the potato, a root crop, gives the cereals much of a run so
far as world importance is concerned. Total tonnage of the potato is approximately
equal to that of the leading grains but since the potato is fleshy and consists of only 22
percent dry matter, its total food value is considerably less. Sweet-potatoes and yams,
various seed legumes (beens, peas, soybean, peanut, etc.), and sugar cane are the other
major noncereal food crops. For all practical purposes man relies upon this handful of
crop plants for his existence.
3. The modern world would grind to estandstill if it could not depend upon the gradual
improvement of varieties of these domesticates, which lind themselves so well to
modern mecanized agriculture. Many thousands of wild plants were utilized by
premitive cultures, some of them, of curse, were used only in times of dire need. Table
20-1 categorizes a number of important crops according to weather they originated in
the old world or the New World. Since the fifteenth century these species have been
spread widely over the globe, wherever they proved adaptable to local climate.
New World Old World

artichoke
Lime Date
THE CEREALS
4. Cereals are the staff of life to civilization. Around 70 percent of the world’s harvested
acreage of about a billion hectares, is devoted to growing them. They are the direct
source of half the food needs of the world, and the secondary source of much
additional food when converted to meat, milk, eggs, and other animal products.
5. The true cereals are all members of the grass family, the Gramineae. The fruit the
yield is a grain, a type of fruit in which the ovary wall turns hard and durable, fusing
with the single seed (Fig. 20-1). Buckwheat, amaranth, and a few similar seeds of
other families (« pseudo-cereals ») are sometimes regarded as grains because their
seeds are quite similar to those of grasses. This section will be devoted to the true
cereals, of which the major crops are rice (oryza), wheat (Triticum), maize (zea),
barley (hordeum), oats (avena), rye (secale), sorghum (sorghum), various millets
(panicum, setaria, etc.), and a few other spaces of lesser world importance.
6. There are a number of reasons while cereals have evolved into man’s leading food
source. Most of them are annuals or are at least adapted to cultivation as annuals,
permitting facility in cropping, whether on the midden of an early domestication
center or a component of today’s hily mechanized farming. Grasses in general are
quite versatile, too ; they adapt well to a variety of soils, climates and ways of
handling. They are also relatively efficient in garnering the sun’s, transforming it into
usable food substance. They are generally hardy and recuperative, and are plagued by
no more than they are share of diseases and pests. But above all, the graine is a neat
package of stored energy, conveniently harvested, easly cleaned and handled
amenable to storage without special drying.
7. Rice wheat and corn are the world’s three major cereals, all about equally important in
terms of world production. Rice is the prime source of sustenance for tropical
populations ; it is grown mostly on flood plains or where the land can be seasonally
ponded. Wheat is chiefly grown on lands that were naturally prairies.
RICE, ORYZA SATIVA

8. Rice, or paddy, widely grown in Asia from Afghanistan to the East Indies and north to
Japan is the principal food for 60 percent of mankind. It is also a staple in parts of
Africa, South America, and to some extent in the southern United States World
production exceeds 300 million metric tons annually, mostly from the Far East (China,
India, Pakistan, Japan, and Thailand are the major producing countries).
9. For practical purposes rices are generally classified as long-grain types need a longer
season to mature, and hence are grown mostly in tropical regions, such as Southeast
Asia. Connoisseurs prefer the long-grain type, which is nonglutenous and does not
turn so soft and sticky when cooked. Medium-grain rices, somewhat softer, are most
frequently grown in America. Short-grain types, even more starchy when cooked, are
well adapted to more northerly climates, such as that of Japan.
10.Most rice is grown in paddy fields of standing water. There are, however, various
forms of upland rice, cultivated in much the same way as any small grain. Upland rice
yields tend to be lower, and its importance is not great ; for example, in Indonesia,
more than 90 percent of the rice is grown in irrigated paddy land. The best rice land is
level, conveniently diked for alternating irrigation and drainage.
11. Japan practises the most progrssive rice growing in the Orient. Yields average nearly
4 tons per hectare and can be as high as 10 tons. Fertilization in Japan is an intensive
as on North American corn land (Rig.20-3). A complete fertilizer is generally
« plowed down » prior to flooding and hand planting of the seedling rice plants.
Another « top-dressing » is applied just before heading to increase yields. The fields
are drained for harvesting and threshing, typically accomplished with small portable
machines on the site. A green manure (vetch) is sometimes planted and plowed down.
The paddy fields may also be used for a winter crop, such as barley, wheat, or rape.
12.Under more primitive circumstances, such as those that prevail in many of the tropical
lands, rice growing is an exceedingly laborious and time-consuming hand operation.
As noted in Figure 20-3, even fertilization is quite limited in many places, although
compost, and sewage have been used since ancient times to fertilize the paddy. After
the paddy is flooded to soften the soil, the ground is worked, oftenby water buffalo
pulling a forked stick (small hand tractors may be used in more advanced countries,
such as Japan). The rice seedlings are started elsewhere, sometimes under government
auspices, and are transplanted by hand into flooded paddies, usually between
November and January in southeast Asia, to take advantage of the winter monsoon.
About four months later the paddies are drained and the stand harvested – another
laborious job, accomplished chiefly by women. The rice stalks are cut individually
with a small sharp sickle, banded toghether, and laid out in the sun to dry. If there is
sufficient water, either a second rice crop or some other crop may then be planted to
the same land.
countries the sundried heads are threshed in the field by treading, either by man or
live-stock (of course, with considerable loss of grain). In Afghanistan green rice is
mixed with heated sand to harden and « crisp » the hulls, which are then separated by
crude milling on water-powered devices that pound the grain against the soil.
Screening and winnowing follow. In Ecuador much of the rice is fermented by
massing it on the floor while damp and covering it with a tarpaulin for a few days.
Upon subsequently drying it cooks more quickly than unfermented rice in the high
altitudes of the Andes. Fermentation may also provide healthful by-products.
B- Increase your Vocabulary

In this section you should use your dictionary to help you answer the questions about the text.
Look at the first paragraph again. What words have the same meaning as
 Yearly
 Obtained from
 Give/provide
1. Look at paragraph 2 again. What words in the text could you replace with
 Depends on
 About
 Small number
 Contains
2. Look at paragraph 3 again. What words have the opposite meaning to

 Quick
 Modern
 Hand – operated
 Domesticated
3. Look at paragraph 4 again. What words have the same meaning as
 Extra
 Changed into
Look at paragraph 5 again. Which words
 Something that lasts a long time

 Becoming joined
 The seed vessel in a plant
4. Look at paragraphs 6 and 7 again. Make the opposite of these adjectives, using the
prefixes un- and in- whenever possible.
 Convenient
 Hardly
 Important
 Early
 Usable
 Mechanized
 Easy
 Efficient
 Natural
 High
 Major
 Equal
Text 10: Reading Comprehension
Reading comprehension is defined as the level of understanding of a writing. For

normal Reading speeds (around 200-220 words per minute) an acceptable level of
comprehension is above 75%
Proficient reading depends on the ability to recognize words quickly and effortlessly. If word
recognition is difficult, students use too much of their processing capacity to read
individual words, which interferes with their ability to comprehend what is read.
Many educators in the USA believe that children need to learn to analyze text (comprehend it)
even before they can read it on their own, and comprehension instruction generally begins in
pre-Kindergarten or Kindergarten. But other US educators consider this reading approach to
be completely backward for very young children, arguing that the children must learn how to
decode the words in a story through phonics before they can analyze the story itself.
During the last century comprehension lessons usually comprised students answering
teachers' questions, writing responses to questions on their own, or both. The whole group
version of this practice also often included "round robin reading," wherein teachers called on
individual students to read a portion of the text (and sometimes following a set order). In the
last quarter of the 20th century, evidence accumulated that the read-test methods assessed
comprehension more than they taught it. The associated practice of "round robin" reading has
also been questioned and eliminated by many educators.
Instead of using the prior read-test method, research studies have concluded that there are
much more effective ways to teach comprehension. Much work has been done in the area of
teaching novice readers a bank of "reading strategies," or tools to interpret and analyze text.
There is not a definitive set of strategies, but common ones include summarizing what you
have read, monitoring your reading to make sure it is still making sense, and analyzing the
structure of the text (e.g., the use of headings in science text). Some programs teach students
how to self monitor whether they are understanding and provide students with tools for fixing
comprehension problems.
Instruction in comprehension strategy use often involves the gradual release of responsibility,
wherein teachers initially explain and model strategies. Over time, they give students more
and more responsibility for using the strategies until they can use them independently. This
technique is generally associated with the idea of self-regulation and reflects social cognitive
theory, originally conceptualized by Albert Bandura.[3]
Teaching reading comprehension
The U.S. National Reading Panel conducted a comprehensive literature search on teaching
reading comprehension. They concluded that (1) vocabulary knowledge, (2) reading
comprehension instruction based on reading strategies, and (3) teacher professional
development on effective comprehension practices were critical to effective reading
comprehension teaching.
Vocabulary
Several theories of vocabulary instruction exist, namely, one focused on intensive instruction
of a few high value words, one focused on broad instruction of many useful words, and a third
focused on strategies for learning new words.
The idea of focusing intensely on a few words was popularized by Isabel Beck, Margaret
McKeown, and Linda Kucan in their book for teachers called Bringing Words to Life: Robust
Vocabulary Instruction (2002). They argued that words occur in three "tiers," the lowest (tier
1) being common words such as eat and fish, the top (tier 3) being very content-specific
words such as photosynthesis and geopolitical. The tier 2 words were what they considered
general academic vocabulary, words with many uses in academic contexts, such
as analyze and frequent. Beck et al. suggested that teachers focus on tier 2 words and that they
should teach fewer of these words with greater intensity. They suggested that teachers offer
multiple examples and develop activities to help students practice these words in increasingly
independent ways.
The method of focusing of broad instruction on many words was developed by Andrew
Biemiller. He argued, contra Beck et al., that more words would benefit students more, even if
the instruction was short and teacher-directed. He suggested that teachers teach a large
number of words before reading a book to students, by merely giving short definitions, such
as synonyms, and then pointing out the words and their meaning while reading the book to
students (Biemiller & Boote, 2006). The method contrasts with the Beck et al. approach by
emphasizing quantity versus quality. There is no evidence to suggest the primacy of either
approach.
The final vocabulary technique, strategies for learning new words, can be further subdivided
into instruction on using context and instruction on using morphemes, or meaningful units
within words to learn their meaning. Morphemic instruction has been shown to produce
positive outcomes for students reading and vocabulary knowledge, but context has proved
unreliable as a strategy and it is no longer considered a useful strategy to teach students. This
conclusion does not disqualify the value in "learning" morphemic analysis" - prefixes,
suffixes and roots - but rather suggests that it be imparted incidentally and in context.
Accordingly, there are methods designed to achieve this, such as Incidental Morpheme
Analysis (Manzo, Manzo, Thomas, 2004, p.163-4).
Reading strategies
Before the 1980s, little comprehension instruction occurred in the United States (National
Reading Panel, 2000). Palinscar and Brown (1984) developed a technique called reciprocal
teaching that taught students to predict, summarize, clarify, and ask questions for sections of a
text. The technique had positive outcomes. Since then, the use of strategies like summarizing
after each paragraph have come to be seen as effective strategies for building students'
comprehension. The idea is that students will develop stronger reading comprehension skills
on their own if the teacher gives them explicit mental tools for unpacking text (Pressley,
2006).
There are a wide range of reading strategies suggested by reading programs and educators.
The National Reading Panel identified positive effects only for a subset, particularly
summarizing, asking questions, answering questions, comprehension monitoring, graphic
organizers, and cooperative learning. The Panel also emphasized that a combination of
strategies, as used in Reciprocal Teaching, can be effective.
Today, most reading comprehension programs teach students explicit reading strategies using
teacher direct instruction with additional student practice.
Comprehension through discussion involves lessons that are "instructional conversations" that
create higher-level thinking opportunities for students. The purpose of the discussions are to
promote critical and aesthetic thinking about text and encourage full classroom involvement.
According to Vivian Thayer, class discussions help students to generate ideas and new
questions. (Goldenberg, p. 317)
Professional development for teachers

The National Reading Panel noted that comprehension strategy instruction is difficult for
many teachers, particularly because they were not taught this way and because it is a very
cognitively demanding task. They suggested that professional development can increase
teachers' willingness to use reading strategies but admitted that much remains to be done in
this area.
Questions:
1- What is reading comprehension?
2- How does reading help with comprehension?
3- What do US educators think about reading comprehension?
4- What are the effective reading strategies for building students comprehension?
5- What is the purpose of explicit reading strategies?
Text 11: Self-efficacy
Bandura’s (1977, 1986, 1997) definition of self-efficacy was based on the framework of
Cognitive Learning Theory and denotes a person’s competence in dealing with his/her
individual challenges. Bandura (1986) explained self-efficacy as the person’s personal belief
in his/her potential to be knowledgeable or to carry out an assigned task or enforce a course
of action to the targeted level. This was the primary principle of the social cognitive theory,
which theorized that self-efficacious subjects are always ready to accept challenges and
invariably successfully complete whatever work assigned to them.
To succeed in the management of activities related to cognition and pedagogy, it is

necessary that students should be self-efficacious. Schunk (1996) hypothesized that being
self-efficacious positively influences the individual’s choice of activities to be involved in, the
effort they put in, the level of commitment and the results attained. According to Anderson,
Wilson and Fielding (1988) highly self-efficacious students have also been found to read
extensively and attain greater comprehension of what they read.
Self-efficacy is a unique task-specific construct (Bandura, 1986). As such, when students

predict how they will perform, they are making an assessment of their level of self-efficacy
or indicating their ability to effectively execute some specific tasks (Finney and Schraw,
2003). For instance, students may believe in their overall abilities as students, but at the
same time admit their low efficacy in a subject like algebra for example. Self- efficacy, being
a task-specific construct, can result in students with high academic self-concepts, whose self-
efficacy beliefs are low for tasks in algebra.
In order to evaluate the self-efficacy belief construct, three varying axes can be displayed.
First, is the self- efficacy belief of the student in developing and arranging activities for
learning and accomplishing academic tasks. Second, is instructors’ personal faith in their
ability and competence to motivate their students and ensure learning. Third, is the
collective confidence of the school about its capability to be successful significantly and
academically (Demirel and Epçaçan, 2011). Based on these descriptions it was predicted that
those who are highly self-efficacious will succeed in education. In line with such hypothesis,
strategic reading programs should be made available to achieve maximum output on behalf
of education, as well as, to enhance their reading comprehension and capacity of self-
efficacy belief in their academic achievement.
I- Questions:
1- What is Bandura’s theory of self-efficacy?
2- Give one example for self-efficacy
3- How does self-efficacy help us in achieving our goal?
4- How does self-efficacy influence behavior?
5- What are three ways to evaluate the self-efficacy belief construct?
II- Translation practice
-Paragraph 2
-Paragraph 4
Text 12: The Effect of Readers’ Anxiety on the Process of Reading
For several decades, studies on anxiety and the strategic use of language learning have increased
significantly.
On the basis of quantitative and/or qualitative data, researchers have in general, discovered that
quite a number of students feel anxious in language classes. The reason being that anxiety is
strongly and inversely related to language performance that students with higher proficiency
experience less anxiety, than those suffering from low proficiency. Thus anxiety is the result of
various linguistic, cognitive, and affective factors including the pedagogical style, strategy, and
attitudinal factors such as a reluctance to communicate, and also other aspects such as
competition, and motivation (Liu, 2007; Saito, Horwitz, and Garza, 1999; Yan and Horwitz,
2008 among others).
Um, Tubsree, and Surasin (2013) examined students’ perception toward English reading anxiety
with respect to the gender and reading comprehension performance. The study also identified
students’ reading anxiety sources. Participants comprised of two hundred thirty two junior
students, and the study was carried out using both quantitative and qualitative design. On the
basis of the quantitative analysis adopted, questionnaires of language reading anxiety by Saito,
Horwitz and Garza (1999) were employed and findings indicated that students were aware of
their low level of anxiety and moderate effect of reading anxiety on their comprehension. The
quantitative analysis also reported that males and females level of reading anxiety was identical.
The qualitative design, on the other hand, was established through semi-structured interview.
The analysis of the obtained data revealed sources of reading anxiety that were classified into six
categories, namely, texts linguistic features, environment, readers characteristic, texts physical
appearance, time limitation, and instructors.
Alrabai (2014) examined a model of FL anxiety among Saudi EFL learners. The paper reported
on outcomes of a sizeable body of research involving three data collection iterations that
spanned a three-year period during which there was investigation of the extent and reasons for
FL anxiety among one thousand three hundred and eighty nine Saudi EFL learners. The
respondents had to respond to questions on the level of their anxiety they felt in learning the
English language and identify the reasons for their anxiety. The FL classroom anxiety scale was
the tool employed to measure the learners’ anxiety. The use of quantitative analysis helped to
ascertain the causes of learners’ anxiety in the context of classroom-based language learning.
The respondents obtained through three separate investigations communication anxiety as the
major reason for their language anxiety. The findings of these three studies showed high
consistency which made it possible to develop a context-based model of FL anxiety for EFL
students in Saudi. The findings indicated that language use anxiety was closely correlated to
speaking anxiety, thus demonstrating that language use anxiety is caused by speaking anxiety.
Being afraid of being negatively evaluated was shown to be very significantly correlated to
language anxiety, thus indicating that it is another important factor that hampers the use of
English in the language class. Anxiety in terms of social-image has a minor but important and
close association with language use anxiety, suggesting that it is also an element that prevents
learners from utilizing the FL accurately. A fear of comprehension and test anxiety was also
observed to be an important cause of aggravating learners’ language as it was found to be
significantly correlated to this variable.
Tsai and Li (2012) examined the relationship between three factors of test anxiety, FL reading
anxiety, and English reading proficiency. They administered test of reading proficiency and two
scales of test anxiety and the FL reading anxiety among participants. A total of three hundred
and two college students took part in this study. By employing quantitative analysis, different
findings were reported. 1) negative relation between reading proficiency and other two examined
factors, test anxiety, and FL reading anxiety; 2) high correlation between test anxiety and FL
reading anxiety; 3) participants (testees and readers) who possessed high and low anxiety did not
show difference in their reading proficiency. The study concluded that these findings could be
the result of insufficient number of respondents. The study also suggested that having multiple-
choice form of test in reading proficiency could not distinguish participants with low anxiety
from those with high anxiety.
Song (2010) conducted a study among forty-five Korean students and highlighted the impact of
anxiety on FL reading with participants’ employment of reading strategies and their capability to
comprehend text. Participants were divided into three levels of anxiety as high, mid, and low
based on their score in responding to the scale of FL reading anxiety, and six participants were
required to read individually. However, several procedures were taken to collect the data such as
employing reading comprehension task, strategy inventory, questionnaire of cognitive
interference, and interview. The result confirmed Koran students reading anxiety and showed
that factors such as organization of textual factors, cultural topic, and orthography can arouse
anxiety. The study also illustrated that different anxiety level can affect readers’ reading process
on the basis of using reading strategies and cognitive interference. In addition, the study clarified
that students who possess high anxiety show a low score of reading comprehension and utilize
local strategies. On the other hand, students with low anxiety exhibited high scores of reading
comprehension and employed global strategies and background knowledge strategies. Finally,
the study concluded that anxiety does not only play a notable part in the process of reading, but
also, affects the process of comprehension.
Cabansag (2013) examined three factors of language ability, reading anxiety, and ability to
comprehend text among five students, studying English. By considering the genders of the
students, quantitative design was directed to obtain and interpret the data. The result indicated
that in general students with low anxiety and low reading anxiety show high performance in
reading comprehension. It was reported that gender makes no difference in both language
anxiety and reading anxiety. When students attempt to learn in reading class, their language
anxiety decreased, while their reading anxiety showed no difference. Cabansag’s finding
indicated that students who possess language anxiety tend to have reading anxiety.
Mohd.Zin and Rafik-Galea (2010) studied the impact of reading anxiety on comprehension
performance among lowly proficient Malay ESL learners. In their research, they expected that
the effects of the stressful anxiety would more greatly affect learners with low proficiency in
their poor knowledge in linguistics, which may lead to greater doubt of their capacity that will
trigger anxiety backlash when facing reading tasks. Their study employed the quantitative
method of data collection that involved the use of questionnaires and a reading comprehension
test. There was also a written recall task used to examine how anxiety and reading performance
are related. The scoring of the data was all quantitatively done. The sample comprised of two
hundred and eighteen first-year low proficiency ESL learners, and the findings clearly indicated
significant impact of anxiety on the reading performance of the respondents.
Comprehensive review presented by Al-Shboul, Ahmad, Nordin, and Rahman (2013) who
attempted to indicate the crucial role of L2 and FL anxiety, provided clear insights that students’
process of learning was influenced by their anxiety in FL. Moreover, they showed that in each
specific skill, the negative relationship between students’ achievement and their anxiety in FL
was different.
Questions :
A- Give answers to the following questions
1- On which basis did the researchers conduct their researches?

2- What are the results of anxiety on reading process?
B- Text summary practice

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UNIT 1: PLANT Part I

A-UNDERSTANDING A PRINTED TEXT

Now look at these questions and try to give answers to them:

F. Check your understanding

E. Increase your vocabulary

UNIT 1: PLANT Part II

F. Check your understanding

E. Increase your vocabulary

G. Check your grammar

Crops are checked in growth if the roots are deprived of oxygen

1. Making sentences with relative pronouns

The movement of materials through the plant_______ as translocation. The xylem or

(c) we may ………… off the plant (4)

A- READING AND COMPREHENSION

B- EXERCISE Contextual reference

D- EXERCISE Relationships between statements : consequence

The parts of a plant and their functions. 5

(ii) By linking the two sentences as follows :

Relate the sentences indicated with the following expression as in the

I- READING AND COMPREHENSION

EXERCISE A: The definition of parts of a plant

(i). NAME : root hairs

(ii). NAME : stem

(b). NAME : stamens

(d). NAME : embryo

(e). NAME : leaves

(f). NAME : root

(g). NAME : sepals

(h). NAME : foodstore

EXERCISE B : General statements of function

(a) Stem (d) embryo

2. (B) which (C) is/are called, is/are known as (A).

A- Reading and Comprehension

New World Old World

Now look at these questions :

1. What kind of food crop is this text about ?

A- Reading and Comprehension

New World Old World

RICE, ORYZA SATIVA

B. Check your understanding

8. Which is more important to the world, rice, wheat or corn?

A- Reading and Comprehension

New World Old World

RICE, ORYZA SATIVA

B- Increase your Vocabulary

2. Look at paragraph 3 again. What words have the opposite meaning to

Look at paragraph 5 again. Which words

 Something that lasts a long time

Reading comprehension is defined as the level of understanding of a writing. For

Teaching reading comprehension

Professional development for teachers

To succeed in the management of activities related to cognition and pedagogy, it is

Self-efficacy is a unique task-specific construct (Bandura, 1986). As such, when students

A- Give answers to the following questions

1- On which basis did the researchers conduct their researches?

B- Text summary practice

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