Tài liệu Developing writting skills 1 part 8 pptx

Exercise 1. Arrange these sentences in a logical order. 1. George always shaves and dresses before eating. Sometimes he falls asleep again. Then he brushes his teeth, puts on his coat, and says goodbye before he leaves for the office. When the alarm clock rings, George wakes up and turns it off. If this happens, his mother wakes him up so that he won’t be late for work. After he finishes breakfast, he usually reads the morning newspaper. 2. Begin by breaking the eggs into a bowl, adding small amounts of salt, pepper, and milk. When the butter in the frying pan has melted, pour in the egg batter. To make a small omelet you need three eggs, a slice of cheese, salt, pepper, butter, milk, a frying pan, a bowl and a spatula. Then heat the frying pan over a medium gas, melting a small amount of butter in it. After the eggs are partially cooked, place a slice of cheese on them and fold one half of the omelet over the other half. Remove from the frying pan and serve. Exercise 2. Join the following short sentences together to make a single paragraph using the following conjunctions: and, but, so, as, while, if, when, because, etc. 1. I saw some lovely dresses in a shop-window. 2. I was walking along Regent Street. 3. I couldn’t buy one. 4. I didn’t have enough money with me. 5. There was a sale in the shop. 6. I knew if I waited until tomorrow they would all be sold. 7. I got on a bus. 8. I went straight home. 9. I grabbed my purse. 10. I came out again. 11. I went back to the shop. 12. It was full of women all talking excitedly. 13. I looked at several dresses. 14. I chose one that was marked five pounds. 15. I opened my purse to pay for it. 16. I found, to my dismay, there was only three pounds in it. 17. Fortunately, the shop assistant was sympathetic. 18. She promised to keep the dress for me. 19. I left three guineas as a deposit. Exercise 3. Study the following passage and work at the assignments given below: 1. Find the key sentence in the first paragraph. 2. Copy out the sentences that develop the key sentence. 71 3. Prove that the first paragraph is well-constructed, that it possesses unity, logical sequence of thought and length. 4. Give the paragraph a title. 5. Paraphrase the paragraph. Thus I learned from life itself. At the beginning I was only a little mass of possibilities. It was my teacher who unfolded and developed them. When she came, everything about me breathed of love and joy and was full of meaning. She has never since let pass an opportunity to point out the beauty that is in everything, nor has she ceased trying in thought and action and example to make my life sweet and useful. It was my teacher’s genius, her quick sympathy, her loving tact which made the first years of my education so beautiful. It was because she seized the right moment to impart knowledge that made it so pleasant and acceptable to me. My teacher is so near to me that I scarcely think of myself apart from her. How much of my delight in all beautiful things is innate, and how much is due to her influence, I can never tell. I feel that her being is inseparable from my own, and that the footsteps of my life are in hers. All the best of me belongs to her – there is not a talent, or an aspiration or a joy in me that has not been awakened by her loving touch. (After Helen Keller) Section 3. Writing Practice. Composition Writing. A composition is a creative literary work, conveying several problems or dealing with one problem in detail. It is too often the area where students lack confidence because they are on their own and have no guidelines on which to base their work. Creative writing demands a good knowledge and awareness, a special ability to present facts and ideas clearly, concisely and attractively. It is true that you cannot teach students to write any more than you can teach them to paint, but you can definitely guide them to develop a technique. Before writing on any subject it is necessary to have a stock of ideas relative to it. 72 Beginning of Compositions. A good beginning is of great importance, for we naturally desire to hold the readers’ attention from the first. The opening paragraph should appear to be natural and it can always be direct. It is a good plan to get right into the subjest to be discussed, arrest the attention of the reader with the first sentence. There are many ways of beginning a composition, among them: a) general reflection; b) by giving a definition and thus immediately introducing the subject; c) a quotation or a proverb; d) an anecdote; if appropriate, this is a neat way of beginning. Whatever the form opening, it should make the reader hungry for more. Ending of Compositions. The ending should obviously prove to the reader that the subject has been nicely rounded off; that the whole is finished and complete. The Body of a Composition. After you have considered the making of a skeleton or framework on which to base a composition turn to the skeleton whose bones must be clothed. Before beginning to write, it is best to think of various points in the skeleton, make up your mind what you want to say under the heading and gradually expand each into a paragraph. Examine your skeleton to make sure that there is a development from the opening paragraph to the end. When writing a composition remember the stages of your work: 1. Collect your material. 2. Select the information you need. 3. Arrange the material in the order of presentation according to your plan. 4. Write down the main topics of each paragraph. 5. Under each topic indicate the development. 6. Make a rough draft. 7. Correct the rough draft and make your final copy. Exercise. The aim of this exercise is to help students to write compositions by going over corresponding language notes. These notes will give them constructive guidance on composition writing, providing them with possible alternatives, useful phrases, language accuracy and structural harmony. 73 A Dream. Useful phrases and sentences: 1. A Pleasant Dream A. I had a dream . [NOT: I saw a dream .] I saw someone (something) in my dream I dreamt of someone (something). B. I dreamt I was . – flying // London [Paris, France, etc.] - houses below // Like dolls’ houses - arrived // London airport in a couple of hours - took me // hour or so // get to my hotel - hotel // Oxford Street - was // first trip to London Everything looked so different I was just about to – speak to the Queen // visit Westminster Abbey // enter Buckingham Palace – when . I was in – Hyde Park // Trafalgar Square // St. Paul's Cathedral – when . alarm clock woke me up // mother woke me up // time to go to college // telephone rang C. I hope my dream will come true - pity // wasn't true - pity // only a dream - hope // visit London one day 2. A Bad Dream (A Nightmare) A. Last night I had a bad (horrible, terrible) dream [a nightmare] I saw I was . – I had eaten a heavy meal I had received some bad news I had been reading a frightening book I had been watching a horror film I had a high temperature B. I dreamt I was alone in a strange house: - no lights in it - heard // strange moan - someone grabbed // arm - held to the floor - lights went on - knife was held to my throat - wanted my money 74 - was scared // gave all my money - tied to a chair - robbers disappeared into the night - screamed at the top of my voice - neighbour came // telephoned the police - free again C. - hope // happy - never have such a nightmare again . mother woke me up . telephone rang - alarm clock woke me up I woke up suddenly Points to think about: • Do you often dream? [Do you like dreaming? Why? – Why not?] • What sort of dream did you have last night? [nice – bad – exciting – a nighmare] • Have you ever had a dream that was so bad you could not forget it? • Can you think why you had that dream? Do you know if it meant anything? • How would you feel if that dream came true? • What can you do to avoid having dreams? a) not eat too much before sleeping b) not have worries (problems) c) not overwork (over-tired) • Have you had a dream that came true later? What was it about? Some helpful words and expressions: the next day – on the contrary – after all – moreover – during – even if – another thing is – finally. 75 Lesson 8 Section 1. Spelling A. Words with the Suffixes -ous, -eous, -ious, -uous. -Ous, -eous, - ious, -uous are adjectival suffixes which came into English mainly through loans from French. They are used to derive adjectives from nouns: poison – poisonous; villain – villainous; glory – glorious. The adjectives with these suffixes have the meaning “full of …; of the nature, character or appearance of”. As a rule they are unstressed, so make sure you spell them correctly. 1. Suffix –ous. E x a m p l e s: danger – dangerous, joy – joyous, nerve – nervous, murder – murderous, thunder – thunderous, generous – generosity, enormous – enormity. Exercise 1. Translate the following sentences. Write out adjectives ending in –ous and adverbs ending in –ously and find nouns related to them. 1. Rembrandt had one enormous advantage over the majority of his neighbours; like most other artists he had a purpose in life. The souls of the men he painted speak their strange longings through their eyes, their senses are miraculously acute, not for sounds and odours and colour, but for the subtle sensations of their souls. 2. “Hallo,” remarked Henry humorously. “You are beginning to take interest?” 3. We’re a bit jealous of Jenny, but her independence is part of her charm. 4. He interrupted her to tell her of the anonymous letter he had received and that it had haunted him until he had to come and see what it was all about. 5. I must say – even though I knew what mother is – I must say it sounds rather marvellous. 6. All the men who dictated letters to them became immense characters, comic, grotesquely villainous, or heroic and adorable. 7. Then with something like amorous urgency, he went to the telephone, rang up the Anglo-Baltic, and sternly demanded Mr. Borstein. 8. I began to like New York, the racy, adventurous feel of it at night. 9. Since no one prevented me, I followed them into the apartment, which was tremendously wrecked. 10. As a young man in the Navy he had once made ships himself, full rigged ships inserted miraculously into 76 whisky bottles. 11. This new job isn’t any more dangerous than any of the other things. 2. Suffix –eous. E x a m p l e s: courage – courageous, advantage – advantageous, spontaneous – spontaneity, righteous – righteousness, miscellaneous – miscellany. Exercise 2. Translate the following sentences into Armenian. Paraphrase those parts of the examples in which you find adjectives in –eous. 1. His friendship with Miss Dolly was almost instantaneous. 2. I may as well mention here that Georgiana made an advantageous match with a wealthy, worn-out man of fashion. 3. He loved the disorder of the old eighteenth century farm house, the collection of miscellaneous objects of all kinds that littered the rooms. 4. Like many men who appear spontaneous at a first meeting, we each had a vein of reserve. 5. She was years older than he was and she was hideous. 6. If he had not paused on the landing to dispose of his overcoat, their entrance would have been simultaneous. 7. The voices were courteous, silky, and just perceptibly tense. 3. Suffix –ious. E x a m p l e s: envy – envious, fury – furious, industry – industrious, mystery – mysterious, study – studious, curious – curiosity, notorious – notoriety, serious – seriousness. N o t e: -y of the noun changes into –i. Exercise 3. Fill in the blanks with the words given below. Translate the sentences. (cautious, obvious, self-consciously, furiously, overconscientious, ingenious, ambitious, mysterious(2), conscious) 1. She was a great and very … artist. 2. I did not even wonder how … his surrender was; we were too much in the middle of events to care. 3. I was watching him to develop into a …, subtle and far- sighted man. 4. I’m afraid we should all be mildly surprised if your … friend can really persuade us that we can afford the unaffordable. 5. He was without … arrogance, but he had the blood of kings in his veins, as have all the older English families. 6. It seemed to him … 77 that government policy was wrong. 7. I had told her to go hours before, but she was … . 8. The waitress returned to give them some … thick soup, which looked like gum. 9. “And where did you get to, Dad?” – “Went to a concert,” he replied, a trifle … . 10. This time Mr. Sweet clapped …, and so did the fierce man, and so did everybody else, even the violin players in the orchestra. 4. Suffix –uous. E x a m p l e s: ambiguous – ambiguity, continuous – continuity, incongruous – incongruity, ingenuous – ingenuity, superfluous – superfluity. Exercise 4. Translate the following sentences. Find related nouns for the adjectives in –uous. 1. A faintly contemptuous, faintly triumphant gleam showed in his eyes. 2. Many other little sisters I knew were reduced to an inconspicuous, subservient position by a little tact. 3. Brady was not ignored by the girl who then entered; in fact he saw from her ingenuous eyes that she was fascinated by him. 4. There was something incongruous in the words with which the narration ended. 5. I am pleased to find my cousin so virtuous. 6. The rain beat strongly against the panes, the wind blew tempestuously. 7. None of them carried a pound of superfluous flesh; they all had an enthusiasm for the works of Mr. Ernest Hemingway. 8. Turgis disliked this contemptuous tone. 9. Simon was acutely aware that his professional status was highly ambiguous. B. Words with the Prefixes en-, in-, de-, dis-. The prefixes en- and in- came into English through French and Latin. They are pronounced in the same way since, like all other prefixes in modern English, they are unstressed. Thus the spelling of the words with these suffixes must be memorized. The prefix en- (allomorph em-) has the following meanings: (1) ‘make (into) …’: enfeeble, enable, enlarge, enrich, enslave; (2) ‘wrap in, wrap up …’: embrace, enclose, enwrap; (3) ‘put in …’: enchain, enfold. However, in many cases the meaning of the prefix is hard to define: its meaning, as that of other affixes, depends on the 78 meaning of the word it is tucked on to (adjectives, nouns, verbs), e.g. enlist, enforce. The prefix in- (allomorphs im-, il-, ir-) has two meanings: (1) ‘not’: incomprehensible, indiscreet; (2) ‘want, lack, absence of’: inability, incredulity, injustice. E x a m p l e s: visible – invisible, logical – illogical, moral – immoral, rational – irrational, sensible – insensible, convenience – inconvenience, humanity – inhumanity, ability – inability. The prefix de- imparts to the affixed word the following meanings: ‘deprive of, rid of, rid of the character of’; ‘reverse, undo’ (what is denoted by the verb). E x a m p l e s: code – decode, fame – defame, forest – deforest, throne – dethrone, centralize – decentralize, civilize – decivilize, mobilize – demobilize, form – deform. N o t e. In words, which are not analyzable as derivatives, the prefix is a purely structural element: describe, destruction (cf. proscribe, obstruction). The prefix dis- imparts to the affixed word an oppositive or negative meaning, the meaning of ‘asunder’, ‘the reverse of …’ E x a m p l e s: agree – disagree, arm – disarm, enchant – disenchant, advantage – disadvantage, content – discontent, comfort – discomfort. N o t e. In words, which are not analyzable as derivatives, dis- is a purely structural element: disturb, dissuade, distract (cf. perturb, persuade, attract). Exercise 5. Form new words from those given below using the prefixes en- (em-) or dis-. Use them in sentences of your own. Approve, ability, arrange, bitter, body, box, capsule, charge, circle, courage, embody, figure, frame, hearten, lodge, mount, obey, own, regard, shrine, shroud. Exercise 6. Translate the following sentences. Pick out the prefixed verbs and list them together with the adjectives or nouns to which en- is prefixed. 1. In the back row, Miss Elsie Thornton pressed the black- gloved fingers of one hand to her eyes and encircled Jacy Cross with her free arm. 2. Even a criminal is entitled to know the nature of the 79 crime before being convicted. 3. By doing so you endanger your chances of success. 4. I was entrapped into contradicting myself. 5. Then Wicher entrusted the final details of the performance to a thin- shouldered boy of 16 from White River, whose ambition it was to be a mechanic with a travelling carnival. 6. We sat there, the whisky warming our bodies, watching enraptured the geography of this archipelago unfold. 7. The cypress trees had been planted so close together in the first place that now their branches entwined and formed an almost impenetrable hedge. 8. Dicky was silent for a moment. Then he glanced down at his feet, thickly encrusted with rapidly drying mud. 9. Flying enables us to cover immense distances in a short time. Exercise 7. Fill in the blanks with the words given below. Translate the sentences. (distraction, dissociate, disable, display, disinclination, disappoint, dishonest, disarm, disapproval, discourage, dissemination, distribute, disgrace) 1. It is difficult to … weakness from old age. 2. Your son … great intelligence. 3. The conference prohibited the … of nuclear weapons to other countries of the world. 4. … soldiers should be cared for by the state. 5. By frankly admitting that he was not a scholar he … criticism. 6. Some people have a strong … for work. 7. What he heard shocked him, but he hesitated to express his … . 8. Your words have … me. 9. The teacher … the books among the children. 10. He complained that there were too few … in their community. 11. The weather has been very … this spring. 12. The continued use of war as a method of trying to settle disputes is a … to humanity. 13. The girl was discharged for being … . Section 2. Paraphrase: Write it in your Own Words A paraphrase is . • your own rendition of essential information and ideas expressed by someone else, presented in a new form. 80 . bus. 8. I went straight home. 9. I grabbed my purse. 10 . I came out again. 11 . I went back to the shop. 12 . It was full of women all talking excitedly. 13 dresses. 14 . I chose one that was marked five pounds. 15 . I opened my purse to pay for it. 16 . I found, to my dismay, there was only three pounds in it. 17 .