Assignment File 1

Assignment 2
Due date: 7 December 2023
Weighting: 12.5% of the total marks for this course

Instructions

The purpose of this assignment is to assess your understanding of Unit

3 Word classes and functions and Unit 4 Actions, processes and states.

Section A

Question 1: Parts of speech (20 marks)

Identify the underlined parts of speech in the passage below. Follow the
example and note that an article needs to be identified as either ‘def art’
for definite article or ‘indef art’ for indefinite article. A main verb needs
to be identified as ‘v’ and an auxiliary verb as ‘aux’.

Example: While [1] she [2] is [3] doing [4] her homework, I am
sitting [5] here [6] for [7] a [8] little [9] while [10].
Answer: 1. [conj]; 2. [pron]; 3. [aux]; 4. [v]; 5. [v];
6. [adv]; 7. [prep]; 8. [indef art]; 9. [adj]; 10. [n]

Although [1] appeasing China’s drive [2] for hegemony in

Asia [3] is unthinkable [4], every [5] realistic [6] effort
must [7] be [8] made to avoid [9] militarisation [10] of
the [11] region’s diplomacy [12]. After [13] all, there [14] was
nothing [15] very [16] cold about the cold war in Asia.
First [17] in the Chinese [18] civil war, and then in Korea,
Indonesia, Malaysia, and Indochina — particularly Vietnam —
the cold war raged [19] as a propaganda [20] battle between
rival superpowers, but …

Source: adapted from Koike, Y (2010) ‘Is Cold War II underway?’, Project
Syndicate, 16 December, https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/
iscold-war-ii-underway-2010-12.
2 ENGL A200 Analysing English Grammar

Question 2: Noun types (10 marks)

In the passage below identify the underlined nouns by type (choose the
most appropriate one):

– proper: concrete
– proper: abstract
– concrete: countable
– concrete: uncountable
– abstract: countable
– abstract: uncountable

Follow the example.

Example: Most of the world’s developed countries now appear to be

approaching zero population growth.
Answer: concrete: countable

Historically speaking, leaders [1] always fight. Successive

American administrations have struggled to define the
relationship [2] between the world’s leading superpower and
the rising star [3] of Asia [4] that threatens to supplant it.
Past summits [5] every December [6] often produced little of
substance. Now, facing critical public [7], congressional and
business scrutiny, Obama [8] is under pressure to stand up for
US interests [9] and obtain tangible results. The past year [10]
brought a series of public clashes, reinforcing a growing US
belief that China was swapping its designated role as strategic
partner for that of strategic rival.

Source: adapted from Tisdall, S (2011) ‘China’s too big to be bullied by the
US’, The Guardian, 17 January, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/
cifamerica/2011/jan/17/china-hu-jintao-obama-summit.
 Assignment File 3

Question 3: Adverb types (10 marks)

Identify all the underlined adverbs in the sentences below and name the
adverb type of each (time, manner, place, conjunctive, interrogative,
sentence, etc.). Follow the example.

Example: Unbelievably, this is so wrong.

Answer: sentence (adverb)

1 Your idea is surprisingly nice.

2 The dress is beautiful, and moreover, the price is reasonable.
3 How did you know about this?
4 I seldom, if ever, lose my temper.
5 Admittedly, this is totally wrong.

Question 4: Terminology related to word classes and functions (10

marks)

Explain the following four terms in ONE to TWO sentences of your

own words and identify ONE example of each of these terms in the text
below. If there is no example in the text, state so.

Example: A noun functioning as an adjective

Answer: It is a noun used to modify or describe the noun that follows.
[in the given text: revision (course)]

1 A predicative adjective
2 A relative pronoun
3 A demonstrative
4 A quantifier

The course is designed for students who have little experience

in analysing the grammar of English, or who need a revision
course. No previous background in linguistic description is
required. This means that the course is designed to be relevant
and interesting to all students who have an interest in the
English Language, including those whose main interest may be
in English as a Second Language, English Education, or English
Literature.
4 ENGL A200 Analysing English Grammar

Section B

Question 5: Verb types (20 marks)

Name all the underlined verb types in the following paragraph

according to how they are used. If the verb is a main one, identify it as
intransitive, singularly transitive, dative or factitive. If the verb is of the
linking type, identify it as copulative or sense. If the verb is an auxiliary
one, identify it as passive, aspectual, modal or do [do: emphatic, do:
interrogative or do: negative].

Follow the example.

Example: More and more American and European companies are

discovering a hard fact: investing in South-East Asia is like
putting money down a drain.
Answers: are: auxiliary (aspectual)
discovering: main (singularly transitive)
is: linking (copulative)

More and more American and European companies are

discovering a hard fact: investing in South-East Asia is like
putting money down a drain. To enter these markets, Western
companies must [1] tell [2] authorities details not only of
their products but also of the processes whereby their products
are [3] created. This sounds fair, but the result, all too often,
becomes [4] rapidly clear — the blatant copying of goods
which should be protected against copyright abuse of this kind.
Western companies consider [5] such actions unfair; especially
when Asian governments appear [6] to copy not just products
but also the actual processes which facilitate the production
of marketable goods. In fact, Western companies are [7] fast
running out of patience. An ever increasing number of them
do [8] not give [9] foreign governments details of their
technology. They prefer simply to sell rather than manufacture
in Asia, since in focusing on retail they are in a position to
maximize privacy with regard to their technology while, at the
same time, they can generate [10] impressively large profits.
 Assignment File 5

Question 6: Terminology related to information structure (10

marks)

For each of the terms (1–4) below, identify ONE example of each in
the text and then write down the identified parts. If there is no example,
state that no example is found.

Example: A theme that is grammatical subject of its sentence

Answer: The first element of this individual liberty…

1 An adverb conjunction functioning as a textual theme

2 A passive construction functioning as given information
3 A theme that is not grammatical subject of its sentence
4 An agentless passive construction

At the heart of that Western freedom and democracy is the belief

that the individual man, the child of God, is the touchstone of
value and all society, groups, the state, exist for his benefit.
Therefore the enlargement of liberty for individual human
beings must be the supreme goal and the abiding practice of any
Western society.

The first element of this individual liberty is the freedom of

speech.

The right to express and communicate ideas, to set oneself apart

from the dumb beasts of field and forest; to recall governments
to their duties and obligations; above all, the right to affirm one’s
membership and allegiance to the body politic — to society —
to the men with whom we share our land, our heritage and our
children’s future.

Hand in hand with freedom of speech goes the power to be heard

— to share in the decisions of government which shape men’s
lives. Everything that makes life worthwhile — family, work,
education, a place to rear one’s children and a place to rest one’s
head — all this rests on decisions of government; all can be
swept away by a government which does not heed the demands
of its people. Therefore, the essential humanity of men can be
protected and preserved only where government must answer —
not just to those of a particular religion, or a particular race; but
to all its people.

Source: excerpted from Robert Kennedy’s speech ‘A tiny ripple of hope’ 6 June
1966
6 ENGL A200 Analysing English Grammar

Question 7: Non-finite verb forms (20 marks)

First, name all the underlined non-finite verb forms in the text below:
ing-participles, past participles, gerunds and to-infinitives. Second,
state the functions of the underlined non-finite verb forms. Follow the
example.

Example: The given facts, when presented to the court, were clearly
inviting us to find the accused guilty of the killing.
Answers: given: past participle — functioning as an adjective
modifying ‘facts’
inviting: ing-participle — part of past progressive verb
‘were inviting’
to find: to-infinitive — in a clause with the subject
‘we/us (to find)’
accused: past participle — used as a noun
killing: gerund — object of preposition ‘of’

Some of this pessimism merely reflects earlier overoptimism.

That pre-Christmas lull in markets was always going to be
short-lived — big financial crises play out over years, not
weeks. Nor should it surprise anyone that Britain has been hit
so hard in this crunch: its economy is lopsided to the point of
precariousness. As investment guru Jim Rogers put it yesterday,
‘The UK has had two things to sell to the world over the last 25
years: the North Sea ... and the City of London.’ He could have
gone further. The UK resembles Iceland in many ways: it too is
a small country with a currency that is no longer a must-have for
foreign governments, a worrying current-account deficit and a
giant banking sector.

Source: adapted from ‘No end to the melodrama’, The Guardian, 22

January 2009, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/jan/22/
financialmarkets-recession.