Яков Аракин - Практический курс английского языка 2 курс

miniature because it meets the same requirement of unity, content and message (see "Studies of

Written English" in Units One, Two, Three).

A group of paragraphs constitutes more complex compositions, such as essays, short stories,

accounts, letters, class-compositions as a special exercise in written communication, etc.

Essayis a short prose composition (5—20 pages) on a particular subject. Usually it is of

explanatory and argumentative nature (see "Studies" in Unit One). For instance, the passage

"Teacher Training in Great Britain" (see Unit Five) as well as "Introducing London" (see Unit Three)

is close to a formal essay. "What's Your Line" (see Unit One) and the first letter of Judy describing

her college experience (see Unit Five) may be classed with informal essays on teaching.

Unity of essays is built up around the central idea. Any addition of unimportant details or

afterthoughts destroy the unity.

Coherence is achieved through skilful arrangement of details according to the following

rules: a) present your material from "the general to the particular"; b) try the order of enumeration,

that is, arrange several points of view according to their importance, or interest, or order of

happening; c) use key-words as connectives and transitions.

The following is a brief list of transitional words and phrases that help to connect paragraphs

of an essay: on the one (other) hand, in the second place, on the contrary, at the same time, in

paricular, in spite of this, in like manner, in contrast to this, in the meantime, of course, in

conclusion to sum up, in addition, morepver, finally, after all, and truly, in other words.

Emphasis is achieved with the help оf concrete details. Avoid generalities and abstractions.

Before writing an essay consider the following:

1. Study the materials about the topic.

2. Think of the main idea you are going to develop in your essay.

3. Write an informal essay "Looking at the Map of Russia."

4. Make a plan (topic plan, sentence plan, paragraph plan).

5. Develop the paragraph plan into an essay according to the rules of unity, coherence and

emphasis.

6. Go over the essay for "self-editing" purpose and see if it meets the main requirement of

good writing — clarity of communication.

Assignments:

1. Маke an outline of the passage "The British Isles" and analyse it from the point of

view of its unity, coherence and emphasis.

2. Write a formal essay "Looking at the Map of the British Isles" according to your own

plan.

LABORATORY EXERCISES (II)

1. Listen to the texts "Industrial and Agricultural Districts in Great Britain", "The English

Landscape", "Looking at the Map of Russia". Mark the stresses and tunes. Repeat the texts following

the model.

2. Without looking back at the texts, decide whether the following statements are true or

false.

3. Extend the sentences according to the model.

4. Write a spelling-translation test; a) translate the phrases into English; b) check them with

the key.

5. Listen to the text "The Lake District" and write it as a dictation. Check it with the key.

6. Listen to the poem "England" by G. G. Byron. Mark the stresses and tunes. Learn it by

heart .

7. Listen to the text "The Isle of Man" or some other text discribing a part of Great Britain.

Make a summary of the main points of the passage.

CURIOSITY QUIZ FOR EAGERS

I. Quiz "Across the Globe".

Answer the following questions. It is accuracy and amount of Information that count

when choosing the winner:

1. What is the longest river in the world?

2. In what way do the western shores of the British Isles differ from the easten shores?

3. What are the smallest countries in the world?

4. What language is spoken in Holland?

5. What are the Seven Wonders of the world?

6. What is the capital of Australia?

7. What are the Rockies and where are they found?

8. What is the coldest area in Russia?

9. What is the national emblem of Canada?

10. Where is the city of Honolulu situated?

II. Quiz "Across the British Isles".

Answer the following questions. In this case it is resourcefulness and sense of humour

that count when choosing the winner:

1. What is the main difference between the Cumbrians and the Cambrians?

2. Do Englishmen bring coal to Newcastle?

3. Do Englishmen go up or down to get to Edinburgh?

4. What is the difference between Loch Ness and Loch Lomond?

5. What colour is predominant on the map of the British Isles?

(Think twice before answering. There is Greenwich in the South, you may spot Greenock in

the North, search the map first.)

6. Which is closer to London, Oxford or Cambridge?

7. What is the difference between Portsmouth and Plymouth?

8. What is Liverpool famous for?

UNIT EIGHT

1 SPEECH PATTERNS

1. We must prevent him from leaving.

The cold wet weather prevented the Lowood girls from going for long walks.

His rheumatism often prevented Salvatore from doing anything at all.

You'd better keep yourself from taking extreme measures.

Various reasons kept Bill from joining the expedition.

Eliza tried to keep her little child from crying.

2. You can't act without feeling.

Jolyon started for the Club without having made up his mind.

Frank now felt, without knowing why, that the offer was probably good.

Rose sat there for a long time without unfastening her coat.

You can't teach one how to use speech patterns without giving a good supply of various

examples.

They can't have good crops without cultivating soil.

3. His clothes made him hard to recognize.

Lots of mistakes made his speech difficult to follow.

There was something in Bosinney's appearance that made him easy to recognize.

Her shallow-mindedness makes her dull to speak to.

They found it impossible to supply the factory with raw cotton.

We found it hard to make up our minds about choosing a place for rest.

4. These letters are hardly worth the paper they are written on.

The problem is hardly worth the trouble taken. The picture is of little value, it is hardly worth

the money paid.

The experiment is hardly worth the time you've spent on it. The incident is hardly worth all

this excitement. The soil was hardly worth the toil.

EXERCISES

I. Change the sentences, using the patterns:

P a t t e r n 1 : 1. The explorers could not reach the southern boundaries of the desert

because of the scorching heat and lack of fresh water. 2. The day was foggy; the fishermen could not

see the coast-line. 3. It's wet outdoors. Put on my raincoat, it'll save you for a while. 4. He couldn't

take part in the conference because he was ill. 5. She could not make a good speech because of her

poor knowledge of English.

P a t t e r n 2 : 1. Amy did not say a word and left the room. 2. You can hardly realize

what an ocean-going ship is if you haven't been inside. 3. They will not come to see us if they are not

invited. 4. He could listen to long verses in Latin, though he did not understand a word. 5. He would

mark rhythm with his right foot, though he never realized what he was doing.

P a t t e r n 3 : 1. Owing to the smallness of our boat it was easy to navigate in such