Exercises

[] // 1) //// Read the following text and write a paraphrase - remember to use your own words. // There was a time, not so long ago, when the words 'correspondence tuition' conjured up a method of learning which seemed drab, second-rate and the private pursuit of a small and rather secretive minority. The success of the Open University in Britain has certainly changed all that. Open University course materials are so confidently and attractively designed that they have occasionally even been accused of flashiness. The University's materials and methods are open to anyone's inspection - indeed they are also the basis of a brisk and growing export business. The Open University has turned correspondence teaching into a major and thoroughly respectable method of adult learning.   From Jennifer Rogers, //Adults learning//, 2nd edition. Published by Open University Press in Milton Keynes in 1977, page 172. // 2) //// Read the newspaper article and summarise it in your own words: // ** Princess shocks Norwegians. **  Many Norwegians were shocked and wrote to the newspapers when Princess Anne - President of the Save the Children Fund - was shown on television snubbing a five-year-old while visiting a hospital nursery in Oslo at the weekend. But a Buckingham Palace spokesman said last night that the impression gained was "totally untrue," and was the result of the film being edited and "taken out of context." The Princess, in Norway for a fund-raising day for a national children's charity, appeared on television on Sunday night. When five-year-old Oeyvind Stroem tried to shake hands with her, he appeared to have been spurned. "No cuddle, not even a smile." the Dagbladet newspaper bannered on its front page. The media said it received "thousands" of phone calls objecting to the Princess's manner and suggesting that she should "go home." Norway's largest circulating newspaper, Verdens Gang, said that most of its callers asked how a Princess, who was a mother herself, could show such coolness towards a child. A spokesman for Princess Anne said last night: "The television clip was taken out of context and gave a totally untrue impression." //3) ////What does the author think are the personal and social effects of this kind of speech-training? // **Teaching speech**   At the roots of much of our cultural thinking is our actual experience of speech. In Britain the question of good speech is deeply confused, and is in itself a major source of many of the divisions in our culture. It is inevitable, in modern society, that our regional speech-forms should move closer to each other, and that many extreme forms should disappear. But this should be a natural process, as people move and travel and meet more freely, and as they hear different speakers in films, television, and broadcasting. The mistake is to assume that there is already a ‘correct’ form of modern English speech, which can serve as a standard to condemn all others. In fact ‘public-school English’, in the form in which many have tried to fix it, cannot now become a common speech-form in the country as a whole: both because of the social distinctions now associated with its use, and because of the powerful influence of American speech-forms. Yet many good forms of modified regional speech are in practice emerging and extending. The barriers imposed by dialect are reduced, in these forms, without the artificiality of imitating a form remote from most people’s natural speaking. This is the path of growth. Yet in much speech training, in schools, we go on assuming that there is already one ‘correct’ form over the country as a whole. Thousands of us are made to listen to our natural speaking with the implication from tile beginning that it is //wrong//. This sets up such deep tensions, such active feelings of shame and resentment, that it should be no surprise that we cannot discuss culture in Britain without at once encountering tensions and prejudices deriving from this situation. If we experience speech training as an aspect of our social inferiority, a fundamental cultural division gets built in, very near the powerful emotions of self-respect, family affection, and local loyalty. This does not mean that we should stop speech training. But we shall not get near a common culture in Britain unless we make it a real social process - listening to ourselves and to others with no prior assumption of correctness - rather than the process of imitating a social class which is remote from most of us, leaving us stranded at the end with the ‘two-language’ problem. Nothing is more urgent than to get rid of this arbitrary association between general excellence and the habits of a limited social group. It is not only that there is much that is good elsewhere. It is also that, if you associate the idea of quality with the idea of class, you may find both rejected as people increasingly refuse to feel inferior on arbitrary social grounds. (From //Communications// by Raymond Williams) //**More exercises at** //[|//http://www.uefap.com/writing/writfram.htm//] **Paragraphs** [] // Divide the following text into paragraphs. Remember that each paragraph should develop a particular theme. //  How to stop yourself snoring. Snoring is caused when the airway at the back of the nose and throat becomes partially obstructed. This is usually due to the loosening of the surrounding oropharyngeal muscles, but the reasons why this should occur are varied. The most common are smoking, obesity and the consumption of relaxants such as alcohol and sleeping pills. As with any common ailment, there are a host of "miracle" cures advertised - but you should first try a few simple steps to see if you can halt the snoring before adopting more drastic measures. Lifestyle changes can be the most effective. If you are overweight, a loss of weight will help to reduce the pressure on your neck. You should also stop smoking and try not to drink alcohol at least four hours before you go to bed. Beyond this, try to change your regular sleeping position. Raise the head of your bed with a brick, or tie something uncomfortable into the back of your pyjamas to encourage you to sleep on your side. Both of these will help to alter the angle of your throat as you sleep, and may thus make breathing easier for you. It is also important to keep your nasal passage clear and unblocked. Allergies, colds and hay fever can temporarily cause you to snore; nasal decongestants may help, but you are not advised to use such remedies for long periods. Nasal strips, as worn by sportspeople, have been proven to reduce nasal airway resistance by up to 30 per cent, so consider these as a long-term alternative. If this fails, then you may wish to look at the varied snoring aids that are on the market. They range from neck collars that stop your neck tilting, through to mandibular-advancement devices (such as gumshields) which reduce upper airway resistance, and tongue-retaining devices. You can also buy essential-oil products that are added to warm water and infused or consumed before bedtime. They claim to tone up your palate and unblock your nasal passage. Finally, if your symptoms persist, visit your GP or contact the British Snoring and Sleep Apnoea Association (01737 557 997) for advice. If you do not, your partner might.  (Mark Irving, //Esquire//, March 1999) //**More exercises at** //[|//**http://www.uefap.com/writing/writfram.htm**//]
 * Reporting - paraphrase, summary & synthesis **

**Cohesion and coherence** // Combine the sentences in each set into two clear and concise sentences, eliminating any needless repetition. As you do so, add a //[|//transitional word or phrase//]// (in italics at the head of each set) to the beginning of the second sentence to show how it relates to the first. // // After you have completed the exercise, compare your sentences with //[|//the originals//]//. Keep in mind that many combinations are possible, and in some cases you may prefer your own sentences to the original versions. //  1. //Instead// Retirement should be the reward for a lifetime of work. It is widely viewed as a sort of punishment. It is a punishment for growing old. <span style="background: white; display: block; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 22.5pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> 2. //Therefore// In recent years viruses have been shown to cause cancer in chickens. Viruses have also been shown to cause cancer in mice, cats, and even in some primates. Viruses might cause cancer in humans. This is a reasonable hypothesis. <span style="background: white; display: block; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 22.5pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> 3. //In fact// We do not seek solitude. If we find ourselves alone for once, we flick a switch. We invite the whole world in. The world comes in through the television screen. <span style="background: white; display: block; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 22.5pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> 4. //On the contrary// We were not irresponsible. Each of us should do something. This thing would be of genuine usefulness to the world. We were trained to think that. <span style="background: white; display: block; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 22.5pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> 5. //However// Little girls, of course, don't take toy guns out of their hip pockets. They do not say "Pow, pow" to all their neighbours and friends. The average well-adjusted little boy does this. If we gave little girls the six-shooters, we would soon have double the pretend body count. <span style="background: white; display: block; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 22.5pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> 6. //Next// We drove the wagon close to a corner post. We twisted the end of the wire around it. We twisted the wire one foot above the ground. We stapled it fast. We drove along the line of posts. We drove for about 200 yards. We unreeled the wire on the ground behind us. <span style="background: white; display: block; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 22.5pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> 7. //Indeed// We know very little about pain. What we don't know makes it hurt all the more. There is ignorance about pain. No form of illiteracy in the United States is so widespread. No form of illiteracy in the United States is so costly. <span style="background: white; display: block; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 22.5pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> 8. //Moreover// Many of our street girls can be as vicious as any corporation president. Many of our street girls can be as money mad as any corporation president. They can be less emotional than men. They can be less emotional in conducting acts of personal violence. <span style="background: white; display: block; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 22.5pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> 9. //For this reason// The historical sciences have made us very conscious of our past. They have made us conscious of the world as a machine. The machine generates successive events out of foregoing ones. Some scholars tend to look totally backward. They look backward in their interpretation of the human future. <span style="background: white; display: block; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 22.5pt; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> 10. //However// Rewriting is something that most writers find they have to do. They rewrite to discover what they have to say. They rewrite to discover how to say it. There are a few writers who do little formal rewriting. They have capacity and experience. They create and review a large number of invisible drafts. They create and review in their minds. They do this before they approach the page. <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;"> [|**http://grammar.about.com/od/sentencecombinin1/a/coherexercise.htm**]

<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 14pt;"> <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 14pt;">**Features of academic writing** <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">Read the following texts and rewrite them in a more academic style: //<span style="color: #000033; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">Lots of times in many years, different professional people who were interested in making education better have asked me what we know about how people learn so we can use it to make education better. // // I would call Wagner a subjective artist. What I mean is that his art had its source in his personality; his work was virtually independent, I always feel, of the epoch in which he lived. // // On the other hand, I always consider Bach an objective artist. You can see that he worked only with the forms and ideas that his time proffered him. I do not think he felt any inner compulsion to open out new paths. // //<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">Most people take drug overdoses because they find that it's difficult to sort out their problems clearly. That's why you should treat your patients in a clear way. That means you should treat your patients in a way that helps them to tell the difference between their problems and find ways to deal with them. // **//<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">More exercises at //**[|**//http://www.uefap.com/writing/writfram.htm//**]

<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 14pt;">**Revision and editing** <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif';"> <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif';">**Punctuation – full stop** <span style="display: block; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;">// Divide the following paragraphs into sentences. Put a capital letter at the beginning and a full-stop at the end. //  a. the strategic nuclear forces of the United States incorporate both active offensive elements and passive defensive measures in the late 1980s the US Navy fleet of 36 nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines carried 640 improved Poseidon and Trident SLBMs the longer range of these submarines gives them more room to manoeuvre these vessels included an increasing number of the larger Ohio-class submarines each one carries 24 Trident missiles b. the Caspian Sea has a mean depth of about 170 m and is deepest in the south its level varies from year to year but averages about 28 m below sea level in the 1960s and 1970s the level fell substantially this was partly because water was withdrawn from tributary rivers for irrigation and other purposes c. other hereditary blood-group systems have subsequently been discovered the hereditary blood constituent called Rh factor is of great importance in obstetrics and blood transfusions because it creates reactions that can threaten the life of newborn infants blood types M and N have importance in legal cases involving proof of paternity d. firearms are identified through microscopic imperfections that are produced inadvertently in gun barrels during manufacture subsequent use and wear contribute further to a weapon's individuality a bullet fired from a pistol or rifle has impressed on its surface the individual characteristics of the barrel through which it was fired other parts of the gun also possess individual characteristics e. toxicology may be defined as the science of poisons special methods of analytical chemistry have been developed for use in toxicological examinations the problem of separating poisons from other materials and of identifying them recurs constantly in a crime laboratory the specimens ordinarily examined in cases of suspected poisoning are tissue and the suspected poison itself //<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">**More exercises at** //[|//**http://www.uefap.com/writing/exercise/punc/puncex1.htm**//] <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif';"> <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif';">**Punctuation – comma** <span style="display: block; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">// Add commas wherever necessary. // <span style="display: block; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">** Advertising ** 1. Advertising is the collective term for public announcements designed to promote the sale of specific commodities or services. 2. Advertising is a form of mass selling and it is employed when the use of direct person-to-person selling is impractical impossible or simply inefficient. 3. It is to be distinguished from other activities intended to persuade the public such as propaganda publicity and public relations. 4. Advertising techniques range in complexity from the publishing of straightforward notices in the classified-advertising columns of newspapers to the concerted use of newspapers magazines television radio direct mail and other communications media in the course of a single advertising campaign. 5. From its unsophisticated beginnings in ancient times advertising has burgeoned into a worldwide industry. 6. In the U.S. alone in the late 1980s approximately $120 billion was spent in a single year on advertising to influence the purchase of commodities and services. 7. American advertising leads the world not only in volume of business but in the complexity of its organization and of its procedures. 8. For these reasons this article deals primarily with advertising in the U.S.   9. Modern advertising is an integral segment of urban industrial civilization mirroring contemporary life in its best and worst aspects. 10. Having proven its force in the movement of economic goods and services advertising since the early 1960s has been directed in increasing quantity toward matters of social concern. //<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">**More exercises at** //[|//**http://www.uefap.com/writing/exercise/punc/puncex2.htm**//] <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif';"> <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif';">**Punctuation – apostrophe** <span style="display: block; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 4; text-align: justify;"> a. Astronomers theorize that the 55 Cancri planets formed from a disk of dust around their star, the same way planets formed in the earths solar system. b. When a planet pulls 55 Cancri away from the earth, the stars light appears to redden slightly. The stars light becomes slightly bluer when a planet pulls the star toward the earth. c. 3Ms founders originally planned to mine and sell corundum, a high-quality abrasive mineral used to manufacture grinding wheels. d. 3M sales representatives began bypassing their clients purchasing agents and dealing directly with plant workers. The companys first major breakthroughs in product development grew out of this strategy. e. During the 1960s and 1970s Castros government made significant strides in improving Cubas educational and health care facilities, and offered the Cuban revolution as an example to other developing nations. f. The museums collections include large numbers of impressionist, postimpressionist, cubist, and abstract artworks. Since its beginning, the museums collection has broadened and it now includes sculpture, paintings, and artworks from the entire modern period. g. Godards first feature-length film, //à bout de souffle//, established him as the leading figure of nouvelle vague. h. One of the citys major museums is the Des Moines Art Centre (1948), designed by the Finnish-born architect Eliel Saarinen. i. The citys Sherman Hill Historic District contains many turn-of-the-century buildings, including Salisbury House, a reproduction (1923-1928) of the Kings House in Salisbury, England, and Terrace Hill, a Victorian mansion (1867-1869), now the Iowa governors residence. <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: normal;">[] <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif';"> <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif';">**Punctuation – quotation marks**

=
//<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif';">Add punctuation marks to the following texts. ////<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif';">The words that should be quoted are highlighted: // ===== <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">Attitudes are here taken in the meaning advocated by Sarnoff (1970) a disposition to react favourably or unfavourably to a class of objects  (p. 179). <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">In a recent survey, Berwick & Ross (1989) found that the overall intensity of motivation of the studnets was low  (p. 206). <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">Shaw (1983, p. 24) had similar results, leading him to say  the students are not learning English so they can change themselves and become like native speakers. <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">Morrow (1987, p. 58) has taken the view that the development of the reading skill in English may well be the most urgent need of the majority of Japaneses learners. He continues <span style="background-color: #ffff99; color: windowtext; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">On the other hand, with the spread of English as an international language, there is an increasing number of Japanese businessmen, scientists and scholars from many disciplines who need to use English not only to communicate with English speakers, but also to communicate with other non-native English speakers who use English for international communication. For this group, the acquisition of speaking and listening skills is vital <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">. (p. 58) <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: normal;">[] <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif';"> <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif';">**Punctuation - colon**

//<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif';">Add colons to the following texts and explain their use: //
<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">It was conceived of by all those who participated in it not as a coalition government as generally understood, but as a temporary, emergency government, formed for a single limited purpose to balance the budget through drastic economies and increases in taxation. <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">The National Government was a genuine coalition in the sense in which that term is used on the continent a government comprising independent yet conflicting elements allied together. <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">This third National Government was the type of coalition government with which British history is much more familiar a coalition between one major party and a fragment from another which has broken off because it disagrees with one of its parent party's central tenets. <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">The Labour government found itself under pressure from three directions from the left wing, from the TUC, and from Sir Oswald Mosley and his supporters. <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">Finlay had recommended four alternatives: full internationalization, a European plus dependencies system, an Empire only system, or international regulation. <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">Only the United States had no state airline, and believed that airways should be open to free market capitalism "In general, the Chicago conference can be described as an attempt by the United States to capitalise on its overwhelmingly strong bargaining position in international aviation by securing for itself a near monopoly of long-haul air transport." <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">Berle also was not impressed with Swinton, who always pleaded that he was bound by instructions from London "Swinton is ill-prepared and he also tends to be arrogant and inflexible." <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: normal;">[] <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif';"> <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif';">**Punctuation – capital letters**

//<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Add the capital letters to the following texts: //
a. business activities are becoming increasingly global as numerous firms expand their operations into overseas markets. many u.s. firms, for example, attempt to tap emerging markets by pursuing business in china, india, latin america, and russia and other eastern european countries. multinational corporations, which operate in more than one country at once, typically move operations to wherever they can find the least expensive labour pool able to do the work well. production jobs requiring only basic or repetitive skills-such as sewing or etching computer chips-are usually the first to be moved abroad. multinational corporations can pay these workers a fraction of what they would have to pay in a domestic division, and often work them longer and harder. b. solicitors for edward connelly have also obtained leave to hear negligence claims against cape (formerly the cape asbestos company) in the uk, and thor chemicals holdings. the cape case involves three south african and four italian employees who contracted asbestos-related cancer after working at two south african subsidiaries. in 1997, thor paid <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">£ 1.3 million to 20 south african employees who suffered mercury poisoning from an unsafe chemical process, while a further 21 claims against the company are pending. [] ** Punctuation summary exercise at: ** []