UNIVERSIDAD CENTRAL DE VENEZUELA

FACULTAD DE INGENIERIA
Departamento de Enseñanzas Generales
Cátedra de Ingles

INGLES I
(0101)

Elaborado por:

Adina Amair
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Plan de Evaluación Inglés I UCV

Content % Date
UNIT I Test 1 25
UNIT II Test 2 25
UNIT III Test 3 25
Assessment in class 20
Attendance 5

Content:
 Word Formation
Unit I  Noun groups
 Verb groups

Unit II  Sentence structure

 Connectives
 Inferences
 Coherence and Cohesion

Unit III  Writing summaries

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Introduction

A text is a chunk of language that is actually spoken or written for the purposes of communication by real
people in actual circumstances.
It is constructed out of its components parts. These parts refer to a unit of meaning. They are:
Sentence
Clause
Group
Word
Morpheme

This “rank” states that a sentence consists of one or more clauses; a clause consists of one or more
groups; a group consists of one or more words and a word consists of one or more morphemes.

Examples:

Unit of language Example

Recent research is shedding new light

Sentence on how acupuncture might work
through we still have no definite
answers

Recent research is shedding new light on how

Clause acupuncture might work
(though) we still have no definite answers

Recent research
Is shedding
Groups
New light
No definite answers

Answers
Word
Still

Answer Shed[d]
Morpheme
-s -ing
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Unit I. - Words
Good writers must have a thorough understanding of the basic material which they work: words. Thoughts and
utterances, both simple and complex, require words of several kinds –for example, words that perform the functions
of naming, asserting, connecting or describing. It is necessary to know the properties and functions of the different
kinds of words. This knowledge involves what a word looks like, where it appears, and what it does within its context.

Kinds or words

Nouns
Verbs
Semantic Adjectives
Adverbs

Determiners
Structural Pronouns
Prepositions
Conjunctions

Nouns
A noun is a naming word. It is used to identify people, places, objects, ideas, and emotions –in short, anything that
can be named.

Recognition of nouns
Nouns can be recognized by their form and their position in the sentences as well as by their naming
function.
Most nouns can follow the word the or other determiners such as: my, a, this.
A truth, his ideas, this information, the girl in the picture
All nouns can occur before and after verbs
Her ideas dazzled the committee
Faith moves mountains
All nouns can follow relationship words called prepositions:
Before winter, after Christmas, in his adversity

Most nouns can take an- s or an -es at the end of the word to express the idea of more than one
soup soups church churches debate debates

Some nouns can take an apostrophe and an –s or an apostrophe by itself to express belonging
The girl´s bicycle Charlie´s books
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Some nouns can start with a capital letter to indicate the name or the title of some specific things or
persons
Wilson High School Naomi America September Surgeon General

Some nouns have ending such as –ness, -tion, -ity, whose function is to indicate that the word is a noun
happiness situation diversity

Verbs
A verb is a word or group of words that usually express action or a state of being. There are two kinds of
verbs that must be distinguished.

The finite verb works with the subject of the sentence to give a sense of completeness, a sense of a
statement having been made.

The nonfinite verb, or verbal, functions as a nominal (something like a noun) or a modifier. It does not
give a sense of completeness.

Finite Non finite

The documents had compromised The compromising documents…

The
him authorities accused him of The authorities, having accused him of
fraud fraud,…

Verbs are classified as transitive or intransitive. A transitive verb (transit means to carry, as in rapid
transit) requires an object to complete its meaning. The object of a transitive verb is affected, however
slightly, by whatever the verb expresses:

Angela read the newspaper

John has a home
An intransitive verb makes an assertion without requiring any object:

The clock strikes

He walks down the street every evening

Many verbs are both transitive and intransitive. A good dictionary will indicate the differences in meaning.
The transitive and intransitive meanings of the same verb may be similar but they are never identical.
Example:
(intr) He breaths means that “he” is alive but (tran) He breathes the mountain air refers to an experience “he”
is having

A linking verb, a special kind of intransitive verb, is one that connects the subject to a noun, pronoun, or
adjective in the predicate,
Examples: be, become, seem, smell, look, grow, feel, sound, get, taste or appear.
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Adjectives
Adjectives modify nouns or function as the complements of copulative verbs such as be, seem, feel.

Adverbs
Adverbs modify verbs and other modifiers.
Because the adjective and the adverb have so much in common, it is best to discuss them at the same
time.

Recognition of Adjectives and Adverbs

They can be distinguished from each other by their form and their position in the sentence

If a word fits one or both of the following blank positions, it is an adjective and not an adverb

He was very…. It was very…

Adjectives and adverbs can sometimes be distinguished by form. Most adverbs are adjectives plus –ly

Some words like fast, slow, very, late, function as either adjectives or adverbs

Adjective: It was a fast train (modifies noun train)

Adjective: The clock was fast (complements verb was)
Adverb: The horse ran fast (modifies verb ran)

Determiners
Determiners are noun modifiers that express large general features such as definiteness, indefiniteness,
quantity, countableness, singularity, plurality. The most common determiners are
 articles (the, a, an),
 demonstrative pronouns used as adjectives (this, that, these, those),
 possessive adjectives (my, your, his, her, its, our, your, their)
 noun possessives (Ramón’s, the Child´s).
These determiners exclude each other. If one is used, the other can’t be.
Some other words that work as determiners are as follows: other, many, another, any, several, more, most,
first, last, second, third, enough, no, which, all, each, neither, either.

Prepositions and Conjunctions

Prepositions and conjunctions are relationship words that are used to connect elements in the sentence

Recognition of Prepositions and Conjunctions

Prepositions and subordinating conjunctions can be distinguished from each other by what
follows them and by the fact that there is a limited number of subordinating conjunction.
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The preposition is followed by a nominal. The nominal can be a noun, pronoun, gerund phrase, or noun
clause.
Because of the bad weather [the noun weather is the object of the preposition because of]
Before leaving home [the gerund phrase leaving home is the object of the preposition before]
After what he had done [the noun clause what he had done is the object of the preposition after]

The subordinating conjunction is followed by a subject-verb structure with no other relationship word
involved. Thus, he had done can follow a subordinating conjunction, and what he had done can follow a
preposition.

Because the weather was bad [because is a subordinating conjunction introducing the subordinate
clause]
Before he left home [before is a subordinating conjunction introducing the subordinate clause]

Before, after, since, as, until are both prepositions and subordinating conjunctions depending on what
follows:

Since the morning (preposition) since you went away (subordinating conjunction)

“If”, “When”, “While”, “although” and some others are subordinating conjunctions that can have their
subject-verb structures transformed so that they begin to look like prepositional phrase.

 When you were mopping the floor

When mopping the floor
 If it is at all possible
If at all possible
 Although he was very angry
Although very angry

Most prepositions and subordinating conjunctions by their function are not easily confound with each
other

Preposition Subordinating Conjunction

In If
By Why
For How
Beneath Although
Because of Because
In spite of In as much as
Considering Provided that
Aboard Where
Except That
Than Than
As As
Like

Coordinating conjunctions: join sentence elements of equal importance. These conjunctions are
and, but, or, nor, for , yet
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They may join a word to another word (bread and butter), a phrase to another phrase (into the oven or over
the fire), an independent clause to another independent clause (Matilda came in after I arrived but before
dinner was served). Coordinating conjunctions are occasionally used effectively to introduce a sentence.

 He said he would do it. And he did

 She had not planned to attend. Yet she did

Exercises

Read the text 1 and answer the questions

Text 1

Make Poverty History

In 2005 there were campaigns on the subject of poverty in more than 80 different nations, and they all had the
same demand: that the governments of the world’s richest and most powerful countries must start doing more to
help the poorest countries, particularly those in Africa.
The name of the campaign in the UK and Ireland was “Make Poverty History” (MPH), while in the US it was “ONE”.
Charities and religious groups were involved, along with a large number of celebrities – for example, in the US, the
actors Brad Pitt and Tom Hanks, and in the UK and Ireland, Bono (the lead singer of U2) and Bob Geldof (a former
pop star who has become a well-known activist on the subject of global poverty).
There were programs about MPH on TV. Many thousands of people wore white wristbands to show that they
supported the campaign, and in early July there was a couple of very big MPH events: a march by more than
200,000 people in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and the “Live 8” pop concert in London’s Hyde Park, featuring
stars like Robbie Williams and Madonna.
The MPH organizers wanted the march and the concert to take place at about the same time as the “G8” summit –
th th
a meeting in Scotland, from the 6 to the 8 of July, between the leaders of eight of the world’s most powerful
countries (including the US and the UK). The G8 leaders were due to make some important decisions, and MPH
wanted them to grant its three main demands: fairer rules for trade between rich and poor countries, the
cancellation of the debts owed by the poorest countries, and an increase in development aid.
The result of the summit was quite positive – aid increased, and the G8 cancelled the debts of the poorest eighteen
African countries – but United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan commented that “the fight to end poverty is
just starting”. The MPH movement emphasizes that more still needs to be done, particularly because, in the words
of its website, “the gap between the world’s rich and poor has never been wider”.

Underline unfamiliar words and look them up in the dictionary.

Complete the chart with words from the text

Noun Verb Adverb Adjective Preposition Conjunction Determiner

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Word Formation
In linguistics, word formation is the creation of a new word. Word formation is sometimes contrasted
with semantic change, which is a change in a single word's meaning. The boundary between word
formation and semantic change can be difficult to define: a new use of an old word can be seen as a new
word derived from an old one and identical to it in form (see conversion). Word formation can also be
contrasted with the formation of idiomatic expressions; although words can be formed from multi-word
phrases (see compound and incorporation).

Types of Word Formation

Derivation
Derivation is the process of forming new words from existing ones by adding affixes to them,
like shame + less + ness → shamelessness.

Compounding
A Compound is a word formed by stringing together older words, like the formation
of earthquake from earth and quake.

A sub-category of compounding is Incorporation (linguistics), which is a compound of a verb and an object or

particle, like intake, a compound of the verb take with the preposition in.

Back-formation
Back-formation is word-formation via removing seeming affixes from existing words, such as forming edit from editor.

Blending
A blend is a word formed by joining parts of two or more older words. An example is smog, which comes
from smoke and fog.

Sub-categories of blending are:

 Acronym (a word formed from initial letters of the words in a phrase, like English laser from light amplified
by stimulated emission of radiation)
 Clipping (morphology) (taking part of an existing word, like forming ad from advertisement)

Calque
A calque is a word or phrase borrowed from another language by literal, word-for-word or root-for-root translation;
for example the English phrase to lose face is a calque from Chinese

A sub-category of calquing is the semantic loan, that is, the extension of the meaning of a word to include new,
foreign meanings.

Conversion
Conversion involves forming a new word from an existing identical one, like forming the verb green from the existing
adjective.
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Neologism
A neologism is a completely new word, like quark.

Subcategories of neologisms include:

 The eponym, a proper noun that becomes commonly used for an idea it is associated with, usually by
changing its part of speech, like Xerox, Orwellian, and Stentorian
 The loanword, a word borrowed from another language, as cliché is from French
 An onomatopoeic word, a word which imitates natural sounds, like the bird name cuckoo
 Formation using phono-semantic matching, that is, matching a foreign word with a phonetically and
semantically similar pre-existent native word/root

Derivation (affixation)

Roots
Roots are the building blocks of words. Knowing even a handful of roots can help you decode many
words. Whenever you come upon an unfamiliar word, first it would be good to check if it has a
recognizable root. For example, the root geo means “earth”, if you see the word “geocentric”, you might
not know its exact meaning, but you can figure out that geocentric has to do with “the center of the
earth” or “earth as the center”.
Root Rules
1) A word can contain more than one root.
Example: Matrilineal contains the roots “matra” (mother) and “lineal” (line), so matrilineal means
“determining descent through the female line”
2) Some roots form whole words by themselves
Example: Pater means “father”. Term means “end”
3) Some roots must be combined within other word elements to form words
Example: Prim (first) + al = primal (first)
Sequ (follow) + el= sequel (something following)
4) Prefixes and suffixes are often added to roots to alter the word’s meaning (Derivation)
Example: Harmonic means “music”. Philharmonic means “love of music”
5) Some roots can also function as prefixes, depending on their placement in a word.
Example: Graphy means “writing”.
Used as a root, it becomes calligraphy
Used as a prefix, it becomes graphology

Prefixes
A prefix is a letter or a group of letters placed at the beginning of a word to affect its meaning.
Knowing common prefixes is a very useful skill because it enables you to figure out the meaning of many
unfamiliar words. In addition, by studying prefixes as the building block of words, you can easily master
thousands of English words.
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Some prefixes are shown in the following chart

Prefix Prefix meaning Word (example) Word meaning

a- not, without atypical not typical
ac- to, toward accede agree
ag- do, act aggregate complete
anthro- man anthropology study of man
Bene- good beneficial
Biblio- book bibliophile book lover
Com- with compress squeeze
Ex- out exterior outside
Hexa- number 6 hexagon
Infra- under infrared rays under red
Mis- wrong, badly mistake error
Phil- love philanthropy love of humanity
Post- after postpone do after
Pseudo- false pseudoscience false science
Sub- under subsistence existence
Theo- God theology study of God

Suffixes
A suffix is a letter or a group of letters added to the end of a word or root to change the word’s
meaning. Suffixes determine a word’s part of speech-whether it is used as a noun, verb, adjective, or
adverb. They can change a word’s part of speech

Example: Adding a suffix can change a verb to an adjective as in risk to risky.

Or a word’s meaning

Example: Kitchen becomes kitchenette. The diminutive –ette meaning “little one”, shows a smaller
version of a person, place or thing (cigar to cigarette)

Some suffixes are shown in the following chart

Suffix Suffix meaning Word (example) Word meaning

-ness State of being Goodness Being good
-ent State of being Ambivalent Unsure
-arium Place Aquarium Place with water
-ate Make or do liberate To make free
-ist Hobbies or careers Meteorologist With the weather
-ful Full Healthful With health
-fold Increased by Tenfold Increased by ten
-en Make or do Weaken To make weak
-ia Condition Anorexia
-ment Result of Abandonment Surrender
-tude Condition Rectitude
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Suffix Suffix meaning Word (example) Word meaning

-id Inclined to be Florid
-ive Inclined to be Festive
-age Related with Patronage Act of supporting
-itis action
inflammation Appendicitis Inflammation of
-ism Practice, quality Heroism appendix
Bravery

Text 2

What You Should Know About Organic Foods

Just what does it mean when a food is labelled organic? The U.S. Department of Agriculture finally issued a new
national seal designed to bring clarity and assurance to consumers that foods bearing the seal are certified organic
following USDA standards which were 10 years in the making.

Beginning Oct. 21, only foods certified as at least 95 percent organic - that is, produced without most pesticides,
toxic fertilizers, growth hormones and antibiotics - will be allowed to carry the official "USDA organic" seal.
One caveat: The new rules apply only to food produced on or after Oct. 21, so it may be several months before the
seal becomes commonplace in grocery aisles, particularly on packaged foods where the turnover is slower.
The new USDA national standards replace what had been a mishmash of certification systems run by individual
states and private groups. The USDA seal will ensure consumers are actually purchasing a product that is truly
organic rather than a creatively worded package that advertises itself as organic when only a few ingredients
actually are.
Under the new rules, foods will be labelled as belonging to one of four categories:
1. Food that is 100 percent organic may carry the new "USDA organic" label and say "100% organic."
2. Food that is at least 95 percent organic may carry the new seal.
3. Food that is at least 70 percent organic will list the organic ingredients on the front of the package.
4. If a product is less than 70 percent organic, the organic ingredients may be listed on the side of the
package but cannot say "organic" on the front.

The national organic program rules prohibit the use of conventional pesticides, petroleum- or sewage-sludge-based
fertilizers, bioengineering or ionizing radiation and synthetic substances. Foods certified as organic must be
produced using growing methods that minimize soil erosion and that maintain or enhance the fertility of the soil.
Organic farms need to prove that these materials have not been used for at least three years. Organic meat,
poultry, eggs and dairy products come from animals that are given no antibiotics or growth hormones, must be fed
organic feed and have access to the outdoors. Before a product can be labeled "organic," an inspector visits the
farm where the food is produced to make sure the farm meets USDA standards.
Look for the word "organic" and a small sticker version of the USDA organic seal on vegetables or pieces of fruit or
on the sign above the organic produce display. The word "organic" and the seal may also appear on packages of
meat, cartons of milk or eggs, cheese and other single-ingredient foods. Use of the seal is voluntary.
The federal government's stamp of approval is an important step toward mainstream acceptance for the rapidly
growing industry. Organic food sales in the U.S. are increasing by about 20 percent a year and are expected to
surpass $11 billion in 2002 and $20 billion in 2005.
The new USDA's national criteria for labelling are aimed at enabling consumers to make an educated choice among
the foods they purchase and also include the safeguard of fines for misrepresentation. New federal laws for organic
certification assess penalties of up to $10,000 for each violation of selling or labelling products "organic" when they
are not or when organic food is contaminated with non-organic compounds. This means that the organic grapes
can’t be contaminated by the non-organic apples. Separate tubs and wash water are used to trim and clean
produce and if there is an organic display in a place where non-organics have been, it is required that the non-skid
mats be replaced and the area cleaned with a mild, bleach solution.
http://www.whfoods.com/organics.php
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1. What’s the topic of the text?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. Read the text 1 and fill in the following chart with at least 10 derived words (words that contain
prefixes and suffixes) and place them in the correct column according to their function.

Sentence Noun Verb Adjective Adverb

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Groups
Groups are a bunch of words that do not have a subject and finite verb. Within them, however, can be
inserted other structures that do have subject and verbs.

Noun Groups
A noun group is a noun with its elements: determiners and modifiers. It is the noun phrase, not
the noun that is usually replaced by a pronoun. The subject or object of a sentence can be a noun group
which may be an indeterminately long and complex structure having a noun as a head.
Elements of a noun group

Determiner Pre-modifier Head Post-modifier

Article Adjectives Noun Prepositional group
(the, a/an) (blue, beautiful, friendly) (person, thing, (in a minute, for the rest of
animal) my life)
Possessive adjective Noun Proper noun Relative clause
(my, your, his, her, its, our, your, their) (Mary, Caracas, (start with: who, that, whom,
Einstein) whose)
Demonstratives -ing -ing clause
(this, that, these, those) (swimming, understanding) (working hard for money)
Quantifiers -ed -ed clause
(many, a few, a lot, more, several, etc.) (left-handed, retired) (rejected by his parents)
Numerals ´s (possessive noun) To clause
(cardinals: one, two, three…ordinals: first, (Mary´s mother, Sue´s (to secure a seat)
second, third…) sister)
Adjective
(blue, beautiful, friendly)

Examples:
Determiner Pre- Modifier Head Post-Modifier
(D) car
The (article) car
The (article) bright (adj) colors on his shirt (prep group)
His (pos adj) new (adj) suit
This (demons) week’s (‘s poss) Special (adj) offer
Many (quant) noun)famous (adj)(Adjective) astrologers
These (demons) glittering (-ing) points of light (prep group)
selections which represent each of these (relative clause)
The (article) students readingccclause) /patterns
in the library (-ing clause)
Five (numeral) interesting (-ing) books to read (to clause)
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Exercises:
1) Underline the head, describe the modifiers and translate the following noun group. Follow the
example:

a. A large proportion of the world´s population. (Una elevada proporción de la población mundial)

Determiner pre-modifier Head post-modifier

A (article) Large (adj) proportion of the world’s population (prep group)

b. A beautiful red dress ______________________________________________________

Determiner pre-modifier Head post-modifier

c. A man admired for his patience ______________________________________________

Determiner pre-modifier Head Post-modifier

d. Every civilized country ______________________________________________________

Determiner pre-modifier Head post-modifier

e. The efficiency of soil vapor extraction systems__________________________________

Determiner pre-modifier Head post-Modifier

f. dark energy's most fundamental properties _______________________________

Determiner pre-modifier Head post-Modifier

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Verb Group
A verb group is not easy to define, because grammarians cannot agree on what to recognize as a verb
phrase. There are at least three different patterns currently in use. Here we will describe the verb group
into six forms and their function.

Forms Function
Base a) All the present tense, except 3rd person singular.
I/ you/ we/they read

b) Imperative
Perform your tasks!

c) With modal verbs (must, can, could, should, may, might, ought
to, will, would)

The surgeon may complete that operation.

-s a) present tense 3rd singular person,

He/she/it/ completes the task.

-ed1 a) Simple past tense

He heard international news.

-ed2 a) Perfect tenses (to have + Ved2)

They have studied hard.

b) Passive voice (to be + Ved2)

Potassium can be obtained by eating fruits.

The text was written by three students

c) –ed2 clauses
The reading selection presented in this course.

-ing a) progressive tenses (to be +V-ing)

These people are noticing changes in their bodies.

b) –ing clauses
The chapters introducing basic knowledge.

To (with infinitive verbs) a) Infinitive clauses

Desperate to prove his innocence, Jamal tells the story of his life
in the slums of Mumbai.
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Exercises:

1. Describe in terms of form and function the following verbal groups. Follow the example

Verb group Form Function

have been watching -ing present perfect continuous
must do
sees
is divided
had gone
sit down

Text 3

Globalcall Communications

Globalcall Communications has grown from a telecommunications solutions provider for local businesses in the
greater Seattle metropolitan area to a truly global corporation providing telecommunications solutions for clients
both large and small. Established to fill a significant market gap for simple communication solutions, the company
first expanded to most major North American cities before becoming a major multinational player.

Presently, the company is extending operations to include voice over IP, as well as high-speed cable Internet
access. Globalcall Communications' team includes more than 40,000 specialists worldwide in more than 20
countries on three continents. Next year will see the deployment of a third generation wireless communications
network in Asian countries.

The future looks bright for Globalcall Communications. By 2005 the company will be servicing more than 15 million
households and businesses globally. Globalcall Communications will have become a household word. We look
forward to serving clients and are planning to do everything in our power to make sure that your communication
future is unlimited and simple.

1. Read the text and complete the following chart with verbs in the six forms and function

Form Verb Function

Base
-s
-Ed1
-Ed2
-ing
Infinitive with To

2. Describe in terms of form and function the underlined verbal groups

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Unit II - Sentences
A sentence may be a statement, question, a request or an exclamation. The first letter of a
sentence must be capitalized; and the sentence ends with a final punctuation mark in the form of a period
(.), a question mark (?), or an exclamation point (!).

The following are samples of different types of sentences:

 A question: What time does Jim study?
 A statement: Jim studies business
 Command: Study
 Request: Could you open the door?
 Exclamation: What a polluted like it is!

The sentence has two parts. The topic of the sentence is the subject. What is said about the subject
identifies the predicate. Usually, but not always, the subject identifies the agent of the agent, that is, it tells
us who or what is doing something.

Subject
 The delegates
 San Juan
 The computer chip
 Five thousand miles
Predicate
arrived this morning
is the capital of Puerto Rico
uses this battery of information
is too far to travel

CLAUSES

A clause is a part of a sentence with its own subject and predicate.

There are two kinds of clauses: independent (main) and dependent (subordinate).

An independent clause is a group of words that has a subject and a verb. It is used as part of a sentence
but is grammatically independent and could therefore stand alone. The underlined parts of the following
sentences show good examples of independent clauses:

 I may declare my major now, but I can still change it later.

 Foreign students suffer from culture shock when they come to the United States.
 Because the cost of education has been rising rapidly, many students are having financial problems.
 You will need certain qualifications if you choose a career in Engineering.

An independent clause is formed by: Subject + Verb + Complement

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A dependent clause is introduced by a subordinator such as when, while, before, or if. IT is followed by a
subject verb and a complement. It cannot stand- alone because the subordinator signals the need for an
independent clause to complete the meaning of the sentence.

Examples:

 When the semester was over…

 …who was accepted by the university…
 …if you leave your car unlocked.
 Because I had a job interview…

Each of the examples above is dependent since each of them expresses only a part of a complete thought
and is therefore a fragment (an incomplete sentence). In order to form a grammatically complete
sentence, each of the above clauses must be joined to an independent clause.

A dependent clause is formed with: Subordinator + Subject + Verb + Complement

Classification of sentences by clause type

A sentence can be classified according to the distribution of independent and dependent clauses.
There are basically four kinds of sentences.

 Simple
 Compound
 Complex
 Compound-complex

A simple sentence is an independent clause

Facts are stubborn things

A compound sentence has two or more independent clauses

There the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary be at rest
A compound sentence can be joined together in any of three ways
a. By a coordinating conjunction
I enjoy playing tennis, but I hate playing golf
b. By a sentence connector
I enjoy playing tennis; however, I hate playing golf
c. By a semicolon
I enjoy playing tennis; I hate playing golf
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A complex sentence has an independent clause and one or more dependent clauses
When she got there, the cupboard was bare

A compound-complex sentence has two or more independent clauses and one or more dependent
clauses
Jack fell down, and Jill came tumbling after because she was too busy watching Jack.

Exercise:
Read the following text:

November 16, 2006 01:00 PM (EST) verse

[1] Scientists using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have discovered that dark energy is not a new constituent of
space, but rather has been present for most of the universe's history. [2] Dark energy is a mysterious repulsive
force that causes the universe to expand at an increasing rate.

[3] Investigators used Hubble to find that dark energy was already boosting the expansion rate of the universe
as long as nine billion years ago. [4] This picture of dark energy is consistent with Albert Einstein's prediction of
nearly a century ago that a repulsive form of gravity emanates from empty space.

[5] Data from Hubble provides supporting evidence that help astrophysicists to understand the nature of dark
energy. [6] This will allow scientists to begin ruling out some competing explanations that predict that the strength
of dark energy changes over time.

[7] Researchers also have found that the class of ancient exploding stars, or supernovae, used to measure the
expansion of space today look remarkably similar to those that exploded nine billion years ago and are just now
being seen by Hubble. [8] This important finding gives additional credibility to the use of these supernovae for
tracking the cosmic expansion over most of the universe's lifetime.

[9] "Although dark energy accounts for more than 70 percent of the energy of the universe, we know very little
about it, so each clue is precious," said Adam Riess, of the Space Telescope Science Institute and Johns Hopkins
University in Baltimore. [10] Riess led one of the first studies to reveal the presence of dark energy in 1998 and is
the leader of the current Hubble study. [11] “Our latest clue is that the stuff we call dark energy was relatively
weak, but starting to make its presence felt nine billion years ago."

[12] To study the behavior of dark energy of long ago, Hubble had to peer far across the universe and back into
time to detect supernovae. [13] Supernovae can be used to trace the universe's expansion. [14] This is analogous
to seeing fireflies on a summer night. [15] Fireflies glow with about the same brightness, so you can judge how
they are distributed in the backyard by their comparative faintness or brightness, depending on their distance from
you. [16] Only Hubble can measure these ancient supernovae because they are too distant, and therefore too
faint, to be studied by the largest ground-based telescopes.

[17] Einstein first conceived of the notion of a repulsive force in space in his attempt to balance the universe
against the inward pull of its own gravity, which he thought would ultimately cause the universe to implode.

[18] His "cosmological constant" remained a curious hypothesis until 1998, when Riess and the members of the
High-z Supernova Team and the Supernova Cosmology Project used ground-based telescopes and Hubble to detect
 21

the acceleration of the expansion of space from observations of distant supernovae. [19] Astrophysicists came to
the realization that Einstein may have been right after all: there really was a repulsive form of gravity in space that
was soon after dubbed "dark energy."

[20] Over the past eight years astrophysicists have been trying to uncover two of dark energy's most fundamental
properties: its strength and its permanence. [21] These new observations reveal that dark energy was present and
obstructing the gravitational pull of the matter in the universe even before it began to win this cosmic "tug of war."

[22] Previous Hubble observations of the most distant supernovae known revealed that the early universe was
dominated by matter whose gravity was slowing down the universe's expansion rate, like a ball rolling up a slight
incline. [23] The observations also confirmed that the expansion rate of the cosmos began speeding up about five
to six billion years ago. [24] That is when astronomers believe that dark energy's repulsive force overtook gravity's
attractive grip.

[25] The latest results are based on an analysis of the 24 most distant supernovae known, most found within the
last two years.

[26] By measuring the universe's relative size over time, astrophysicists have tracked the universe's growth
spurts; much as a parent may witness the growth spurts of a child by tracking changes in height on a doorframe.
[27] Distant supernovae provide the doorframe markings read by Hubble. [28] "After we subtract the gravity from
the known matter in the universe, we can see the dark energy pushing to get out," said Lou Strolger, astronomer
and Hubble science team member at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Ky. [29] Further observations
are presently underway with Hubble by Riess and his team which should continue to offer new clues to the nature
of dark energy.

Answer the questions:

1. What is dark energy?
2. Who is the leader of current Hubble study?
3. What is the Hubble?
4. Choose the correct title for the text
a. Hubble Identifies stellar companion to distant planet
b. Hubble finds evidence for dark energy in the young
c. NASA's Hubble finds hundreds of young galaxies in early universe

5. Fill in the following chart with the information given by sentences

Sentence Subject Verb Complement

20
27
25
10

6. Analyze sentences 1, 5, 16 and 18 in: independent clauses, dependent clauses; circle

the coordinator or subordinator; indicate the kind of sentence each are according to the
number of clauses.
 22

Inferences

Inferences are evidence-based guesses. They are the conclusions a reader draws about the unsaid
based on what is actually said. Inferences drawn while reading are much like inferences drawn in everyday
life. If your best friend comes in from a blind date and looks utterly miserable, you would probably infer
the date was not a success. Drawing inferences while you read requires exactly the same willingness to
look at the evidence and come to a conclusion that has not been expressed in words. Only in reading, the
evidence for your inference consists solely of words rather than actual events, expressions, or gestures.

Whatever text you read, it is almost inevitable that you will find words that are new for you. Of course,
every time you find a new word, you can look for its meaning in a dictionary. But, you can also try to infer
its meaning from the context. Here are some guidelines you must keep in mind in order to make
inferences.

1. What grammatical category does the word belong to? (noun, verb, adjective, adverb)

2. Does it have a prefix or suffix which can help me understand part of its meaning or its grammatical

category?

3. Can I divide the word into parts? Do I know the meaning of one or more these parts?

4. Is there a word which is similar in Spanish?

5. What words come before and after it? Try counting 3 words to the right and 3 to the left.

6. Is the word repeated twice or more times in the text? Does the writer define the word or give some

example of what it means?

7. Does the writer give another word which is similar in meaning (a synonym), or a word which means

the opposite (an antonym) or maybe a very general word to indicate the class to which the unknown

word belongs to. (For example: goldfinch – bird).

Reading Tips:
1. Make sure your inferences rely mainly on the author’s words rather than your own feelings or
experience. Your goal is to read the author’s mind, not invent your own message.

2. Check to see if your inference is contradicted by any statements in the paragraph. If it is, it is not an
appropriate or useful inference.

3. If the passage is a tough one, check to see if you can actually identify the statements that led you to
your conclusion. This kind of close reading is a good comprehension check. It will also help you remember
the material.
 23

Example:

Directions: Each item in this exercise introduces a topic. Six specific statements about the topic follow.
Read them carefully. Then choose the more appropriate inference.

1. Topic: Shakespeare in nineteenth-century America

Specific Statements:

a. In the early nineteenth century, Shakespeare was the most widely performed playwright in both the
North and Southeast.

b. In the first half of the nineteenth century, English and American actors could always earn money by
performing Shakespeare in towns both big and small.

c. American audiences were famous for their participation in performances of Shakespeare’s plays: They
hurled eggs and tomatoes at the villains and cheered and whistled for the heroes.

d. By the end of the nineteenth century, theater owners claimed that most ordinary people couldn’t
understand Shakespeare, and they were refusing to stage his plays.

e. In the early 1800s, theater goers in big cities could often choose between three different productions of
Macbeth or Romeo and Juliet; by the end of the nineteenth century, it was hard to find one production of
a Shakespeare play, let alone several.

Inference

a. Early American audiences embraced Shakespeare’s plays enthusiastically because they wanted
to prove that they were as clever and sophisticated as their former British rulers.

b. The role of Shakespeare in America changed dramatically as the nineteenth century drew
to a close.

Now, try to do it yourself next

2. Topic: The medics in World War II

Specific Statements:

a. During training for combat, the medics were often despised because most of them had refused to take
up arms.

b. The medics had their own barracks and were separated from combat soldiers, who referred to them as
“pill pushers” and laughed at their medical drills.

c. In actual combat, it was often the medics who meant the difference between life and death for soldiers
wounded in battle; they were the ones who braved gunfire to carry wounded soldiers to the hospital.

d. In many divisions, soldiers who had lived through combat took up collections in order to provide
bonuses for the medics.
 24

e. Interviewing veterans of World War II, author Stephen Ambrose consistently heard from men who
believed they owed their lives to some member of the medical core.

Inference

a. The combat experience profoundly changed the way soldiers felt about the medical core.

b. Despite their bravery in the battles of World War II, medics never really received the respect
that was due them.

Exercise 1

In each of the following paragraphs, infer the meaning of the words in bold and italics. Justify your answer

1. We watched as the cat came quietly through the grass towards the bird. When it was just a meter

from the victim, it gathered its legs under itself and sclumped

2. The Asian rantaguanga, like other apes, is specially adapted for life in trees.

3. Mankind has always been fascinated by kranterology. Ever since the Greeks, who produced

several famous kranterologists, we have asked and continued to ask questions as to meaning of

truth, the existence or not of deity, as well as discussing ethical and moral issues. All of these

questions are basically kranterological.

 25

Coherence and Cohesion

A text is cohesive if its elements are linked together. A text is coherent if it makes sense. It should
be clear that these are not the same thing. That is, a text may be cohesive (i.e. linked together), but
incoherent (i.e. meaningless). Here is one such (invented) text:

I am a teacher. The teacher was late for class. Class rhymes with grass. The grass is always greener on the
other side of the fence. But it wasn't.

Each sentence is notionally linked to the one that precedes it, using both lexical and grammatical means,
but the text is ultimately senseless - to me anyway (and I wrote it!).

The following (much quoted) exchange, however, is coherent to most people, even though there are no
obvious links between its parts:

A: There's the phone.

B: I'm in the bath.
A: OK.

It is coherent because we can easily imagine a context in which it would make sense. Just as (albeit with
more ingenuity perhaps) we can imagine a context in which the following would make sense:

A: Whose hands are these?

B: They're your hands.
A: Good.

Put simply, then: cohesion is a formal feature of texts (it gives them their texture), while coherence is "in
the eye of the beholder" - that is to say, it is the extent to which the reader (or listener) is able to infer the
writer's (or speaker's) communicative intentions. Thus, cohesion is objectively verifiable, while coherence is
more subjective. A text may be coherent to you, but incoherent to me.
 26

Cohesion

Cohesion is

• the grammatical and lexical relationship within a text or sentence. Cohesion can be defined as the
links that hold a text together and give it meaning.
• The use of transitional expressions and other devices to guide readers and show how the parts of
a composition relate to one other.

Types of cohesion

• Lexical cohesion
• Grammatical Cohesion
• Reference
• Substitution
• Ellipsis
• Connectives

Lexical cohesion: lexical cohesion “[…] is the cohesive effect achieved by the selection of vocabulary.”
(Halliday 1994: 274). Thus, a speaker or writer’s either conscious or unconscious selection of certain lexical
items that are in some way connected to each other creates lexical cohesion. It can be either by:

 Reiteration (the same word, a synonim or near-synonim or a general word) or

 Collocation (the way in which particular words tend to occur or belong together)

Grammatical cohesion: is constructed by the grammatical structures each component ties each other. It
can be:

 Reference: occurs when one item in text points to another element for its interpretation.
 Substitution: is the replacement of one item with other
 Ellipsis is the omission of an item. It occurs when something that is structurally necessary is left
unsaid, as it has been understood already.

Connectives:

Refer to a specification of the way in which what is to follow is systematically connected to what has gone
before. They are also called conjunctions. Conjunctions usually structure a text/discourse in a precise way
and bring the presented elements into a logical order. It is also possible to perceive this process as the
linking of ideas, events or other phenomena. These are words or expressions that have two textual
functions: they indicate conjunction and, at the same time usually indicate the type of relationship that
operates between the elements being joined. There are six types of conjunctions (connectives), namely
adversative, causal, additive, temporal, conditional and illustrative.
 27

Adversative Causal Additive Temporal Conditional Illustrative

Although As And After If For example
Even though Because Furthermore Before Unless For instante
Though Since Moreover As soon as whether Such as
Whereas So besides When Like
While consequently In addition Whenever
But In consequence As well as While
Yet Hence Too Until
However Therefore Also Then
Instead Thus Because of Meanwhile
In contrast Accordingly Since
On the other hand As a result Later
Nevertheless Due to Finally
Nonetheless First, second,
On the contrary Next
In Fact.
In spite of
despite
 28

Exercise

Pre-reading activities

1. What is an inconvenient truth?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
2. Have you heard about it recently?
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

Global Warming's Real Inconvenient Truth

By Robert J. Samuelson

"Global warming may or may not be the great environmental crisis of the next century, but
-- regardless of whether it is or isn't -- we won't do much about it. We will (I am sure)
argue ferociously over it and may even, as a nation, make some fairly solemn-sounding
commitments to avoid it. But the more dramatic and meaningful these commitments seem,
the less likely they are to be observed. Little will be done. . . . Global warming promises to
become a gushing source of national hypocrisy.''
-- This column, July 1997
1) I've never quoted myself at length, but here it's necessary. 2) Al Gore calls global
warming an "inconvenient truth," as if merely recognizing it could put us on a path to a
solution. 3) That's an illusion. 4) The real truth is that we don't know enough to relieve
global warming, and -- barring major technological breakthroughs -- we can't do much
about it. 5) This was obvious nine years ago; it's still obvious.
6) From 2003 to 2050, the world's population is projected to grow from 6.4 billion people to
9.1 billion, a 42 percent increase. 7) If energy use per person and technology remain the
same, total energy use and greenhouse gas emissions (mainly, carbon dioxide) will be 42
percent higher in 2050. 8) But that's too low, because societies that grow richer use more
energy. 9) Unless we condemn the world's poor to their present poverty -- and freeze
everyone else's living standards -- we need economic growth. 10) With modest growth,
energy use and greenhouse emissions more than double by 2050.
11) Just keeping annual greenhouse gas emissions constant means that the world must
somehow offset these huge increases. 12) There are two ways: Improve energy efficiency,
or shift to energy sources with lower (or no) greenhouse emissions. 13) Intuitively, you
sense this is tough. 14) China, for example, builds about one coal-fired power plant a week.
15) Now a new report from the International Energy Agency in Paris shows all the
difficulties (the population, economic growth and energy projections cited above come from
the report).
16) The IEA report assumes that existing technologies are rapidly improved and deployed.
17) Vehicle fuel efficiency increases by 40 percent. 18) In electricity generation, the share
for coal (the fuel with the most greenhouse gases) shrinks from about 40 percent to about
25 percent -- and much carbon dioxide is captured before going into the atmosphere.
19)Little is captured today. 20) Nuclear energy increases. 21) So do "renewables" (wind,
solar, biomass, geothermal); their share of global electricity output rises from 2 percent
 29

now to about 15 percent.

22)Some of these changes seem heroic. 23)They would require tough government
regulation, continued technological gains and public acceptance of higher fuel prices. 24)
Never mind. 25) Having postulated a crash energy diet, the IEA simulates five scenarios
with differing rates of technological change. In each, greenhouse emissions in 2050 are
higher than today. 26) The increases vary from 6 percent to 27 percent.
27) Since 1800 there's been modest global warming. 28) I'm unqualified to judge between
those scientists (the majority) who blame man-made greenhouse gases and those (a small
minority) who finger natural variations in the global weather system. 29) But if the majority
are correct, the IEA report indicates we're now powerless. 30)We can't end annual
greenhouse emissions, and once in the atmosphere, the gases seem to linger for decades.
31) So concentration levels rise. 32) They're the villains; they presumably trap the world's
heat. 33)They're already about 36 percent higher than in 1800. 34) Even with its program,
the IEA says another 45 percent rise may be unavoidable. 35) How much warming this
might create is uncertain; so are the consequences.
36) I draw two conclusions -- one political, one practical.
37) No government will adopt the draconian restrictions on economic growth and personal
freedom (limits on electricity usage, driving and travel) that might curb global warming.
Still, politicians want to show they're "doing something.38) " The result is grandstanding.
Consider the Kyoto Protocol. 39) It allowed countries that joined to castigate those that
didn't. 40) But it hasn't reduced carbon dioxide emissions (up about 25 percent since 1990),
and many signatories didn't adopt tough enough policies to hit their 2008-2012 targets. 41)
By some estimates, Europe may overshoot by 15 percent and Japan by 25 percent.
42) Ambitious U.S. politicians also practice this self-serving hypocrisy. Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger has a global warming program. 43) Gore counts 221 cities that have
"ratified" Kyoto. 44) Some pledge to curb their greenhouse emissions. 45) None of these
programs will reduce global warming. 46) They're public relations exercises and -- if they
impose costs -- are undesirable. (Note: on national security grounds, I favor taxing oil, but
the global warming effect would be trivial.) 47) The practical conclusion is that if global
warming is a potential calamity, the only salvation is new technology. 48) I once received
an e-mail from an engineer. Thorium, he said. I had never heard of thorium. 49) It is, he
argued, a nuclear fuel that is more plentiful and safer than uranium without waste disposal
problems. 50) It's an exit from the global warming trap. 51) After reading many articles, I
gave up trying to decide whether he is correct. 52)But his larger point is correct: Only an
aggressive research and development program might find ways of breaking our dependence
on fossil fuels or dealing with it. 53) Perhaps some system could purge the atmosphere of
surplus greenhouse gases?
54) The trouble with the global warming debate is that it has become a moral crusade when
it's really an engineering problem. 55) The inconvenient truth is that if we don't solve the
engineering problem, we're helpless.
2006 The Washington Post Company

POST-READING ACTIVITIES

PART I
1. Who is quoting who? And Why? _________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
 30

2. What is the problem stated in the text?

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________

3. What is the solution to the problem? ___________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________

PART II
1) Match the words in A with the corresponding opposite

A B
a) continue ______powerful
b) rich ______ beginning
c) higher ______ slowly
d) powerless ______ stop
e) increase _______ poor
f) rapidly _______ lower
g) end _______ curb

2) Infer the meaning of the following words?

a) overshoot _________________________________________________________.
b) Shrink _____________________________________________________________.
c) surplus ____________________________________________________________.
d) gushing ___________________________________________________________.

PART III
Find the connectors present in the text and classify them in the following chart

Adversative Causal Additive Illustrative Conditional

 31

Unit III – Writing Summaries

Topic Sentence
The topic sentence announces the main idea of a paragraph. The topic sentence names the topic
and also tells what the paragraph will say about the topic. A good topic sentence gives the reader a hint
about the contents of the paragraph but none of the details.

Experienced writers sometimes put topic sentences in other locations such as at the end, but the
best spot is usually right at the beginning of a paragraph.

Exercise

Read the following paragraph. Then choose the best topic sentence for it from the choices listed below:

_____________________________________.First of all, it is beautiful city. Form the top of its hills, the
views of the sparkling blue water of San Francisco Bay and the green hills beyond are spectacular.
Second, San Francisco has many excellent restaurants. With hundreds of restaurants serving
delicious food from every part of the world, the city is truly a food-lover’s paradise. San Francisco
is also fun. Riding a cable car down one of the city’s steep hills, eating a seafood cocktail at
Fisherman’s Wharf, window-shopping in Chinatown, or walking across the famous Golden Gate
Bridge are just a few of the activities on every visitor’s “must- do” list. (Hogue, A. (2003):274)

Possible topic sentences:

1. San Francisco is one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

2. San Francisco is the perfect place to spend a vacation.
3. San Francisco has many tourist attractions.
4. San Francisco is a great place to visit, but it is too expensive.

Justify your answer.

Keywords
Keywords are words, especially nouns and adjectives, which name a specific topic and help to
classify and use an article, reading or book as a further reference. Search engines (search programs) such
as Google and Yahoo search the Internet and display a list of Web sites containing keywords. The more
specific and related with the topic of a text, the more selective the search will be. For example, the
keyword snakes will give an enormous number of sites to check out. The keywords poisonous snakes will
give fewer, and Central American poisonous snakes will give the fewest. If you have to decide keywords
from a complete text, try to find nouns and adjectives inside of it that you consider will help somebody
else to find this text on internet.
 32

Main and supporting points

Very often you will have to take notes on what you read. There are many ways of doing this, and
the following is only a suggestion.

While taking notes, you will have to pay attention to two different types of information: main and
supporting points

 A main point is a piece of information which is essential in order to understand the writer’s point
of view and the facts he or she considers important. It usually gives the main idea of a paragraph

 A supporting point is another piece of information which provides supportive information for
the most important parts, by giving examples, quoting sources of information, etc. It usually gives
detail of about the topic of the paragraph

Example:

Read the following paragraph and complete the chart with the main and supporting points

Renewable energy resources are actually far more abundant than fossil fuels. The U.S
Department of Energy estimates that the annual influx of accessible renewable resources in
the United States, for example, is more than 200 times its use of energy, and more than 10
times its recoverable reserves of fossil and nuclear fuels. Harnessing these resources will
inevitably take time, but according to a new study by U.S government scientific
laboratories, renewables could supply the equivalent of 50-70 percent of current U.S energy
use by the year 2030.

Main Points Supporting points

1. Renewable energy resources far more
abundant than fossil fuels
2. Harnessing these resources will take time,
but
3. Renewables could supply 50-70% of
current US energy use by the year 2030.
Evidence: Annual influx of renewable
resource in US
> 200 times its use of energy
> 10 times recoverable reserves of
fossil and nuclear fuels

Source: New US government

scientific study.
 33

Summaries
When you summarize and paraphrase someone else’s words, you tell them in your own words. A
summary tells only the main points, so it is shorter than the original. A paraphrase includes both main
points and details, so it is about the same length as the original. It is important to change the words and
sentence structure when you write summary and paraphrase notes. If you do not, you commit plagiarism.

Summarizing and paraphrasing are not always easy for students whose first language is not English. Here
is a technique to try

1. Read the material until you understand it well. Then write short phrases for each idea
from memory. Don’t look at the original while you are writing. Don’t write complete
sentences, and use synonyms wherever possible.

2. Write a summary or paraphrase note. Check your note against the original source to
make sure that (a) you have not misrepresented any ideas, (b) you haven’t forgotten any
important ideas, and (c) you have not used the same words and sentence structure as the
original source.

Read the following text and answer the questions

Kyoto Protocol
After seven years of debate between leaders, politicians and scientists, on 16th February 2005 the 1997
Kyoto Protocol to control climate change finally became international law.
The Protocol was drawn up in Kyoto, Japan in 1997 to implement the United Nations Framework
Convention for Climate Change
Industrialized nations who sign up to the treaty are legally bound to reduce worldwide emissions of six
greenhouse gases (collectively) by an average of 5.2% below their 1990 levels by the period 2008-2012.
For the protocol to come fully into force, the pact needed to be ratified by countries accounting for at
least 55% of 1990 carbon dioxide emissions. With countries like the US and Australia unwilling to join the
pact, the key to ratification came when Russia, which accounted for 17% of 1990 emissions, signed up to
the agreement on 5th November 2004.
The final ratified agreement means Kyoto will receive support from participating countries that emit 61.6%
of carbon dioxide emissions. The protocol is officially the first global legally binding contract to reduce
greenhouse gases.
The Protocol has taken seven years to come into force because many countries felt that it did not
highlight the all-important rules of how the nations would operate. 180 nations agreed on a scaled down
version of the treaty in 2001. Many were reluctant to ratify until having a better understanding of the
treaty. 141 parties have now ratified the agreement.
Now the agreement is law, if any of the participating countries exceed their proposed 2012 target, they
will then have to make the promised reductions from the 2012 target and an additional 30% more in the
next period. The EU and Japan have already promised to reduce to pollution by 8% from their respective
1990 levels.
Individually, each country has developed its own method to meet its targets. The EU has setup a market
by which 12,000 factories and power stations are given a carbon dioxide quota. If they exceed this amount
 34

they can purchase extra allowances or pay a financial penalty. If they fall below the amount they can sell
on the extra quota.
There are still, parties who won't sign up to the agreement. The US, the world’s largest greenhouse gas
polluter, says signing up would ruin the US economy and the pact wrongly disregards developing
countries.
Australia, which has a large coal industry, supports the US view and has also opted out. The Australian
government has instead developed its own scheme called "The National Greenhouse Strategy". This will
attempt to reduce emissions by only 10.1% by 2012, which is an 8% increase on 1990 levels.
Most of the countries in the pact agree that it will be a difficult task to meet their Kyoto targets; already
nations are falling behind their targets. Spain and Portugal in the EU were 40.5% above 1990 levels in
2002. Canada, one of the first countries to sign, has increased emissions by 20% since 1990, and they have
no clear plan to reach their target. Japan is also uncertain about how it will reach its 6% target by 2012 .

a) Main and supporting points

b) Circle keywords

c) Underline topic sentences

d) Write a summary either in English or Spanish

 35

Types of texts

Written communication can be literary or non-literary; therefore, a text either belongs to the
fictional or the non-fictional text group. Especially within the non-fictional text-group the problem of
classification is still open to discussion. Either one follows the concept that the major communicative
functions of the language provide categories for useful distinctions; or one takes the position that 'the
text types correlate with forms and ranges of human cognition' (Werlich, A Text Grammar of English, p.
21). According to the latter concept there are five basic text types:
description, narration, exposition, argumentation and instruction.
These are theoretical norms which in actual texts occur in manifold combinations and individual shapes
(i.e. text forms).

1. Descriptive texts basically deal with factual phenomena, e.g. objects and people. Therefore you find
many verbs of 'non-change' (e.g. to be, to stand, lie, sit etc.) and adverbs of place. Technical description
tends to be neutral, exact and impersonal, while impressionistic description also gives expressions to the
writer's feelings or moods.

2. Narrative texts types deal mainly with changes in time, i.e. with actions and events. Typical text type
markers are verbs that denote 'change' as well as expressions of time (time-sequence signals)); but
adverbs of place are not excluded. Narration is to be found in short stories, novels, biographies,
anecdotes, diaries, news, stories and reports.

3. Expository texts tend to be explanatory: they explain objects and ideas in their interrelations. Typical
verbs for the identification and explanation of objects and ideas are: to refer to, be defined, be called,
consists of, contain etc. If a relation to previously mentioned facts and ideas is to be established, words
like namely, incidentally, for example, in other words, etc. are used. A similarity to preceding phenomena
can be expressed by similarly, also, too; additional information can be indicated by words like in addition,
above all, on top of it all, etc. Typical of this text type are the expository essay, the definition, the summary
and the interpretative piece.

4. Argumentative texts deal with problems and controversial ideas. Reasons for or against some topic are
put forward. The ultimate aim is always to win the reader/audience round to the author's side. There is a
dominantly dialectical text structure, and words like but, by contrast, however, yet, still, in any case, so, etc.
are linguistic signals of a contrastive text structure. But the basis of any argumentative text form has to be
provided by expository passages, by the explanation of facts, concepts, developments or processes. While
COMMENT tends to be subjective in character, scientific argument seeks to be objective.

5. In instructive texts the writer tells the reader/audience what to do. The instructive text type is based on
the action-demanding sentence. Commercial and political propaganda, directions, regulations, rules etc.
are typical examples because they aim at influencing behavior.
 36

Bibliography

Bloor, T. y M. Bloor (1995). The functional analysis of English: a Hallidayan approach. London: Arnold,
pp. 1-12.
Castell, I, Lizardi, M.C. (2005). Guía Inglés I. Universidad Central de Venezuela. Facultad de Ingeniería.
Departamento de enseñanzas generales. Cátedra de inglés.

Hernández, L (2009). Ingles I. Material preparado por la profesora Ligia Hernández para el curso de
ingles I

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