IN THE NAME OF ALLA-H,

THE MERCIFUL,THE MERCY-GIVING

HANDBOOK

OF BASIC ENGLISH

FOR

GRADUATES

Second Edition

Heinz F. Tengler, Ph.D.

King Abdulaziz University Press

© King Abdulaziz University 1429 A.H. (2008 A.D.)

All rights reserved

1st Edition : 1429 A.H. (2008 A.D.)

Introduction

The material presented in this volume consists of five chapters.

Chapter I explains the increasing importance of the English language

and its inexorable expansion worldwide. There are some 375 million

native speakers [2006 estimate}. The steadily increasing number of

secondary speakers has reached 1.5 billion {2006 estimate], and so

does the need for professional users in the global market place,

irrespective of their job title or academic orientation. There is a

constantly growing need for effective international communication,

with English as the leading linguistic channel. This implies a rising

demand for good instructors and for user-friendly teaching material,

also on the Internet. User-friendliness means here that the material is

geared toward meeting the specific expectations of learners relying

on a wide variety of reference languages and conditioned by different

cultural perceptions of the learning process and of foreign material.

Chapter II is concerned with essential grammar points. The focus is

on parts of speech and basic syntax. It guides the learner toward

greater effectiveness of expression, not only in writing. This includes

the function of vowels [at the beginning of nouns, adjectives, etc.] in

the use [and pronunciation] of articles. The last seven pages contain

exercises.

Chapter III discusses determiners, special forms of nouns and verbs,

including use of the Passive. It also contains various exercises and

tests to reinforce the internalization of the material and to build up

vocabulary.

Chapter IV discusses hyphenated modifiers, the use of the Passive

mood, and the Progressive tense in Technical Writing. Various types

of exercises and special assignments as well as two practice tests in

vocabulary are included.

Chapter V consists of six long practice tests, which cover Grammar,

Vocabulary, Reading Comprehension, Cloze Tests, and Original

Writing. There are also two dialogues. The tests might be most

suitable for Tutorials but can also be used in class.

Oct. 21, 2008

Acknowledgement

The author would like to express his appreciation to the following

individuals for their various contributions, including technical

support and vital encouragement:

Astrid T. von Ketsch

Bibi F. Bakarally

Christina K. van der Rhoen

Gabriele S. von Hettingen

Hannes Steinbrenner

Heidi Aboutaj

Joe S. Fleischhacker

Leroy Lumpenhauer

Louis Luckenbacher

Marius P. Metzger

Monica T. von Ostheim

Otto von Ofenmeister

Petra T. von Rosenheim

Rosemary L. Ritter

Solveig R. von Buchen

Wayne Oliver

Prof. Omar Seraj Aburizaiza, College of Engineering, K.A.A.U., is

especially commemorated for his generous assistance.

Prof. Saadullah Gary Aziz, Dean; Deanship of Library Affairs;

Acting Director; Scientific Publishing Center, K.A.A.U. is recognized

for his guidance and recommendations.

Contents

Page

Introduction …………………………………………………... 1

Ch-1-The Importance of English …………………………….

The role and function of English in the modern world of

computerization and rapidly expanding information technology

3

Ch-2-Grammar 1 (Main Grammar Points) …………………

WORD LEVEL: Parts of Speech; Verbs and Participles; Nouns

& Adjectives in Syntax; Word Order: Adverbs & Adjectives;

Comparative & Superlative; Adverbs [of Frequency]

Conjunctions; Pronouns; Articles; Prepositions; Phraseology in

Syntax [Clauses]; SENTENCE LEVEL: Mood, Voice;

Exercises; Practice Tests, Cloze Tests

11

Ch-3-Grammar 2 (Additional Grammar Points A) ………...

Determiners; Nouns, Verbs, Auxiliary Verbs; Passive in

Technical Writing; Notes & Examples; Assignments; Practice

Test; Reading List

47

Ch-4-Grammar 3 (Additional Grammar Points B) ………...

Hyphenated Modifiers in Action: General Use; Function in

Adjectives, Adverbs, Nouns; - Passive [Progressive]; Static

Passive; Present Perfect [Progressive]; Questions in

Progressive; Assignments; Practice Tests; Exercises

91

Ch-5-Practice Tests …………………………………………...

Introduction; Six Practice Test covering

Grammar; Vocabulary; Cloze Tests;

Reading Comprehensive; Original Writing

Length of Test: 4-5 pages each.

Two dialogues

125

Bibliography …………………………………………………... 171

Chapter I

The Importance of English

3

Over the last 50 years, the English language has established itself

globally as the universal language (or lingua franca) of our planet. Hence,

if academic writing in general is to be of any international value, it must

be presented in English. This fact puts many students and professionals

from all over the world in a difficult position because it imposes the

burden of having to manage in a foreign language, in addition to carrying

an already heavy workload.

THE GLOBAL (OFFICIAL) LANGUAGE: English is the official

language of the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia,

New Zealand, South Africa, and most of Canada. Also, it is either the

dominant tongue or one of the official languages in virtually all countries

of the former British Empire. Moreover, its role is expanding in

continental Europe, especially among member states of the EU. For

example, the public schools in several European countries are beginning

to teach English to first-graders. In a growing number of countries it is

impossible to obtain a college/university degree without being reasonably

competent in English. Good command of English often functions as a

status symbol in various places, especially in the Third World. Major oil-

exporting countries in the Middle East are becoming aware of the new

situation. In Saudi Arabia, for example, the government is considering

the teaching of English to fourth-graders, i.e. pupils aged between 9 and

10.

THE INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC LANGUAGE OF

COMMUNICATION: The majority of scientific journals are published

in English. The same goes for science textbooks and reference works. In

addition, the Internet offers more information in English than in any

other language. Moreover, the powerful modern mass media, including

the most influential TV and radio stations (as well as newspapers and

magazines), use English. Even in countries where English is not used as

an official language, scientific work is published in English as often as in

the local languages. Conferences and conventions, especially scientific

ones, mostly use English as the principal medium. Even if the medium of

the function is not English (but rather French, Spanish, Chinese, Russian,

or Arabic), papers, reports, notes, etc. written in English are still accepted

for presentation. Similarly, items that are presented in languages other

than English are simultaneously translated into English.

4

English is widely used in international business transactions, contracts,

treaties, protocols, and agreements. This applies also in cases where

neither party uses English as an official language. The classical example

is the Japanese tradesman who wants to do business in the Middle East.

Without English he is unlikely to succeed. The same goes for his Chinese

counterpart who travels to Latin America, or West Africa.

Recent Global Trends: Over the last 20 years, especially since the end

of the Cold War, the massive inroads of globalization and privatization,

and the rapid expansion of information technology (including the

Internet, with the world-wide web) have allowed English to “steam-roll”

into the four corners of the world. Without good English, it is becoming

virtually impossible to function efficiently in an ever more dynamic

international order. The demands of the tourist industry, the progress of

the medical and health services, and the increase in global business have

to be met by a workforce that is competent in English.

Employment Prospects: It is becoming ever more apparent that, in

addition to being competent in their field, job seekers (especially at entry

level) need to fulfill certain English language requirements in order to be

employed. Not only large corporations but also smaller companies

administer comprehensive tests to determine a candidate’s level of

English proficiency. As can be expected, many applicants meet with

rejection upon failing the appropriate test. What does this suggest? A

degree or diploma, even in a good field, loses much of its luster if the

graduate can’t say ‘boo’ in English.

Cultural Imperialism: A Mixed Blessing:

Critical observers from nearly any country outside the Anglo-American

environment view the inexorable onslaught of English all over the planet

as an invasion of their cultural heritage. This is particularly true of

regions outside Europe that have relatively old cultural traditions,

sometimes reinforced by religious sentiment. While the commercial

world (cherishing KFC, Big M, Pizza Hut, or Coca Cola) embraces the

unifying element of English that is now brought to the doorsteps of

nearly every community, various (patriotic) philosophers, historians,

clerics, and professionals schooled in subjects like art or linguistics,

express their frustration, generally in vain. The mainstream academic

seeking to develop a successful career needs to adapt to the realities

5

emerging from the dominant role of English. He will try to maintain

himself within his cultural sphere, while –at the same time-- continuing

to cultivate his command of English as much as possible. His parameters

of action will often have to conform to the international communication

requirements imposed by the role of English, a circumstance beyond his

control. The writing on the wall forebodes the disastrous scenario of a

“uni-cultural” world, likely to put many beautiful rich civilizations (e. g.

Islamic, Chinese, Japanese) on the road to virtual extinction, reminiscent

of what has happened to thousands of species in our troubled times.

PROBLEMS FACED BY STUDENTS OF ENGLISH AS A

SECOND LANGUAGE:

The Cultural Gap: This refers to the difference between the foreign

student’s native culture and that of the Anglo-American student (e.g.

intellectual property, cultural domain). This gap poses particularly

serious drawbacks for graduate students in science subjects, who are

heavily involved in Technical Writing. They usually begin to write their

term papers, lab and field reports, and later their M. Sc. thesis about two

to three semesters after their arrival in countries such as the United

States, England, or Canada. The short period preceding this step is

generally insufficient for them to familiarize themselves with a vastly

foreign culture and to upgrade their knowledge of English at the same

time. Carrying a full course load, they are kept extremely busy and need

to work vary hard, trying to catch up with their Anglo-American

counterparts, whose position is much easier by comparison. This

dilemma tends to keep ESL students somehow isolated from their host

culture. Some of them, making an all-out effort, attend courses in

Intensive English Programs (IEP) over periods ranging from two to six

months. Such programs do, in fact, teach them valuable basic grammar,

but they do not teach Science-oriented (or Technical) Writing.

The position of foreign Ph.D. candidates is not any better. If the sole

purpose of their stay in an English-speaking country is the completion of

that degree, they usually have completed an M. Sc. curriculum in their

own country, and now have to undergo the same acculturation process as

the M. Sc. candidates. Even the position of those doing their second run,

6

after completing their M. Sc. degree in England or America, is still quite

difficult.

The Fruits of Ambition: Identity Crisis

Anyone who has ventured into the controversial terrain of “culture

shock,” sometimes followed by the psychological conflict known as

“identity crisis,” will understand that certain types of learning are a form

of experiencing, irrespective of the subject matter. In the case of foreign

language acquisition, the form of experiencing is often very intense.

Hence learning is generally associated with discomfort and pain,

especially if one has to deal with foreigners, or needs to live abroad.

Culture shock, even if painful, can be managed without much decisive

transformation. However, in the case of “identity crisis,” the individual

reaches a point where the question “Who am I?” becomes unavoidable.

The well-known English novelist Joseph Conrad (1857-1924), who was

Polish by birth and used English as his fourth language, certainly must

have asked himself that question more than once. Apparently, he was not

as much Polish toward the second half of his life as he was earlier.

Success aside, does this make him less of a human being? Probably not!

The German Nobel Prize winner, Thomas Mann (1875-1955) who spent

some 14 years in the US, where he wrote several novels, admitted (in

regard to his 1,200-page, four-volume Joseph novel): “What I have

written here is not really German any longer.” Mann, despite sticking to

his native tongue while writing in exile, had become aware of his

transformation. His English had affected his style of German! His

compatriot, the playwright Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956), who also lived in

American exile, refused to learn English, afraid that this would ruin his

style of German. His son had to function as his interpreter.

How would one imagine the future of a young Frenchman who moves to

the United States and marries someone who doesn’t know French? In all

likelihood, he will become estranged from his native tongue and, after

some 15 to 20 years, will be able to express himself far better in English

(or some other language) simply because his French will have declined

over the years, especially in terms of active vocabulary. Millions of

immigrants, especially Italians, Portuguese, Dutchmen, Germans,

Scandinavians, Chinese and Japanese, as well as Arabs and Indians, have

undergone similar processes after moving to places such as the United

States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, or South Africa. For example,

7

when General George A. Custer, commander of the 7th US Cavalry

Regiment in 1876, went on his last and fateful Indian campaign, he had

in his ranks 129 Irishmen, 127 Germans, plus 130 more foreigners – out

of a total of 847!

What happens to the ambitious youngster from the Middle East, who in

order to move up the corporate ladder quickly needs to interact with

foreigners more than with his own kind, and who has to travel all over

the world, or live in some foreign place for a few years? At some point,

his English is likely to grow faster than his native tongue. And along with

this transformation, his perception of self, of the world and of his native

region will inevitably change as well. These are universal principles,

from which there is no escape for the internationally oriented, ambitious

personality.

Nobody is forced directly to choose such a road, but for truly ambitious

individuals the sacrifices to be made imply at least a partial change in

(linguistic) self-perception as well as a shift in cultural identity. As the

world keeps shrinking toward the center of the global village, many

people are becoming vulnerable to losing the ground under their feet, as

they witness the erosion of the fiber sustaining their traditional moorings!

In that respect, the “pressure” of English may be seen as a destabilizing

factor.

Chapter II

Grammar-1

(Main Grammar Points)

11

This book does not really teach English Grammar comprehensively. It

only discusses a few major aspects of written English expression. For

self-instruction, one may need more than one elementary or intermediate

book (See list at end of chapter). Even well-versed native speakers of

English will use as reference works big dictionaries, with etymologies

(showing origins & history of words), and thesauruses (containing lists of

alternative and related words). Also useful are books of idioms (everyday

expressions), cliches (well-worn phrases, often discouraged, but

sometimes useful) and ‘phrase and fable’ items (proverbs, witticisms,

aphorisms, epigrams, axioms, maxims, traditional sayings, and popular

quotations). Here is a typical example of such quotations, a statement by

Benjamin Franklin, a popular political figure of former days:

Nothing is certain in life, except death and taxes!

The perspectives of diversity in reading should also be reflected in a

student’s general writing routine. Both activities go hand in hand.

Malcolm X, the American activist, claimed that he taught himself how to

write by studying a dictionary, while in prison. This is doing it the hard

way. Some grammar mixed with diversified reading, applied in everyday

writing, makes for easier and more efficient progress. Comics, novels,

newspapers, biography/history, history of science/art/war, popular

science, religion, philosophy, books on football, philatelism, aviation –

students should read, and casually write, in a wide variety of fields. It

does not really matter in what context this happens. It could actually be

done in letters to friends or colleagues, or even family members. Some

students participte in English writing programs where they are required

to write approx. 200-300 words daily in a personal diary, or “journal”

(checked by their instructor). The essential point is not to lose

momentum!!!

If necessary, one may cultivate the reading process with simplified

books. There are many series, such as Oxford, Longmans and Barrons

with vocabulary focus, graded from 300-3,000 words. When choosing

what to read, a good test is that if there are more than three words or

phrases in every ten lines that the reader does not understand, then the

text is too difficult. It would then seem prudent to select material that can

be read with greater ease.

12

There should be a genuine orientation towards reading for interest’s sake,

and not simply to build up vocabulary or improve grammar. One may from

time to time stop to consider a certain point, but without being thereby

derailed from the reading process, which is not about conducting an in-

depth study of some linguistic phenomenon. Neither should one be

worried about having to understand everything, nor about having to be

able to use phrases effectively. Those that one has not noticed consciously

will come to mind when needed, as long as there is continuous

involvement in the writing process.

Important Grammar Points

Writers using English as their second language often handle scientific

vocabulary accurately, and write complex and coherent sentences better

than many of their first-language counterparts. At the same time, they

make mistakes in areas, where native speakers are highly unlikely to err.

This chapter deals with several of these areas, moving from the word

level to the sentence level.

WORD LEVEL: Parts of Speech

Verbs, nouns, adjectves, adverbs, conjunctions, prepositions,

pronouns, articles …

Verbs: There are regular and irregular (plus transitive and

intransitive) verbs.

Regular: comment/commented; visit/visited; want/wanted;

memorize/memorized.

Irregular: do/did/done; go/went/gone; grow/grew/grown;

ring/rang/rung; see/saw/seen. Transitive: Joe sees Jim. Ali bought a

car. We took the paper. (There is an object).

Intransitive: Rain was falling. The man died. They arrived. (There is

no object).

Participles

In most verbs, present participles are formed by adding the suffix “ing”

to the infinitive of the verb, e.g. “bring/bringing”. Exceptions occur

when double consonants are required (see below), or when the final

vowels of the infinitive are either modified or eliminated: e.g.

13

“die/dying; lie/lying; tie/tying; believe/believing; elevate/elevating;

glare/ glaring; have/having; memorize/memorizing; scare/scaring.”

Past participles are normally formed by adding the suffix “ed” to the

infinitive. Exceptions occur when double consonants are required (see

below) or when the verb is irregular, in which case there is a change in

the stem, sometimes taking a different vowel, e.g. “bring / brought; buy

/ bought; fight / fought; get / got; have / had; sing / sung; sink / sunk;

teach / taught.”

Double Consonants in Participles:

When participles are formed, double consonants are used in irregular

verbs that end in a short syllable and, at the same time, in the letters

“m/n/t.” These double consonants apply in present participles only:

Betting; getting; hitting; running; setting; sitting; spinning;

swimming. These verbs do not have double consonants in their past

participles, which have a different verb stem, e.g.: swam, ran, hit, etc.

Verbs that behave like “swimming, running,” etc. but end in “n, p” or

“r” have a double consonant in both the Present and Past Participle:

“Banning / banned; fanning / fanned; stopping / stopped; flapping /

flapped; ripping / ripped; flipping / flipped; sipping / sipped;

tapping / tapped; equipping / equipped; purring / purred; stirring/

stirred.”

Regular verbs that have one long syllable and end in “r” also use a

double consonant in both the Present and Past Participle:

“Barring/barred; marring/marred; scarring/scarred; starring/

starred; tarring/tarred.”

Regular verbs that consist of one short syllable and end in a single “g, m,

n” or “s” also use a double consonant in both participles:

“bussing/bussed; dragging/dragged; grinning/ grinned; humming/

hummed; lagging/lagged; skimming/skimmed; skinning/skinned;

rigging/rigged; sagging/sagged; trimming/ trimmed.”

Use of participles in syntax:

The past participle is needed to form sentences in present perfect or past

perfect tense, e.g. “He has had a cold for three days.” Or “I had gone

to the doctor earlier.” The present participle is needed to form the

14

present progressive (or continuous) tense, e.g. “While swimming, he

saw a shark.” He was driving home when he met Joe.”

Additional use of participles:

Gerunds: When used as gerunds, participles function like nouns, e.g.:

Swimming is fun. No loitering. We love skiing. Driving can be

dangerous at night.

Past participles & adjectives: Some past participles have the same

spelling as adjectives. Their syntactical position, however, is different.

Participle: He has gone away! The accident had terrified him of driving

for years.

Adjective: Gone are the days of milk and honey! Being terrified of

lions is normal.

Nouns: Nouns are divided into several different groups. Each of these is

governed by different perspectives on plural forms. This, in turn, has

bearing on verb forms and on the use of determiners. Most plurals of

nouns are formed by adding the letter “s” or the letters “es” to the end of

the word, e.g. “letter/letters; book/books; box/boxes; fox/foxes;

hoax/hoaxes. A final “y” changes to “ies,” as in “century/centuries;

lady/ladies; study/studies.”

Some groups of nouns have irregular plural forms:

(1) Greek nouns: criterion/criteria; phenomenon/phenomena;

cyclops/cyclopes

(2) Latin nouns: bacterium/bacteria;

compendium/compendia/compendiums; corpus/corpora;

formula/formulae/formulas; libra/librae; opus/opera/opuses;

pileum/pilea; locus/loci; loculus/loculi; naevus/naevi;

regulus/reguli; stimulus/stimuli

(3) French nouns: aide-de-camp/aides-de-camp; charge d’affaires /

charges d’affaires.

(4) Italian nouns: grafitto/grafitti; sordino/sordini; libretto/libretti

(librettos)

(5) One-form nouns: aircraft/aircraft; corps/corps; deer/deer; fish/fish;

sheep/sheep; swine/swine

15

(6) Anglo-Saxon nouns: child/children; man/men; ox/oxen;

woman/women

(7) Compound nouns: passer-by/passers-by; court martial/courts

martial; son-in-law/sons-in-law; officer in charge/officers in

charge; lady-in-wait/ladies-in-wait; master-at-arms/masters-at-

arms; noun proper/nouns proper.

Dual or multiple meaning of nouns:

Many English nouns have different meanings in different forms,

especially in terms of count nouns and abstract nouns. For example, an

interviewer might ask a candidate about experience. This is an abstract

noun referring to “background” in a certain job. If, however, someone

discusses a strange experience, he uses a count noun, referring to some

unusual episode (or event). Another example: If salespeople complain

about very little business, they are using an abstract noun, referring to

activity (or volume of transactions). If, however, people talk about

opening a business in town, they are using a count noun, referring to a

shop, store, or the like. Similarly, the idea of someone’s free will is

expressed by means of an abstract noun, referring to option, or choice. If,

however, an attorney’s client is being assisted with his/her will, a count

noun is used, which refers to a document, also known as testament,

governing the posthumous disposition of someone’s estate, or property.

Further details concerning the application of count nouns, mass nouns,

abstract nouns, and nouns proper are included in the next chapter

(under determiners).

Adjectives: Adjectives modify nouns. In the normal flow of syntax, they

precede nouns, e.g.: “This is a beautiful house!” If they are part of the

predicate, they often appear at the end of the sentence, e.g.: “Finally, at

the top of the mountain, all climbers were tired.”

Sequence of adjectives: This is where most foreigners have problems. If,

for example, a noun is preceded by five adjectives, a writer must know in

which order they have to be positioned. Native speakers do this

subconsciously and they hardly ever make mistakes. The order used for

nouns referring to persons is slightly different from the order used for

describing things.

16

The first adjective focuses on general (physical) aspects, while the

second one includes other (additional) detail. The final noun often

determines the position of the first adjective.

Example 1:

Joe is a tall good-looking young man.

(Here good-looking is more important than young).

Example 2: Ali met an old gray-haired passenger.

(If there are only “old” and “gray-haired,” old would precede gray-

haired).

Adjectives denoting nationality come at the end, usually preceded by

adjectives denoting color, except for race. Adjectives denoting age come

before color and nationality. If age is expressed by a model year, it goes

after color but before nationality.

Example 3:

The Coast Guard stopped a 20-year-old gray Spanish fishing vessel.

Example 4:

They used to go sailing in a beautiful white 1983 Canadian-built yacht.

Additional examples

Example 5:

She is a tall, fair-haired, exotic-looking, 29-year-old French African

fashion model.

“Tall” (1) describes larger physical considerations.

“Fair-haired” (2) describes more detailed physical considerations.

“Exotic-looking” (3), somewhat vague, may refer to face or figure.

“29-year-old” (4) refers to age.

“French” (5) refers to nationality.

“African” (6) refers to race.

Example 6:

Mr. Hiro Yaza is a successful bespectacled and mustachioed 45-year-old

Japanese American businessman.

17

“Successful” (1) is the most important adjective (going with businessman).

“Bespectacled” and “mustachioed” (2) describe physical attributes.

“45-year-old” (3) describes age.

“Japanese American” (4) describes ethnic origin and nationality (or nationalities).

Example 7: He drove a flashy, brand-new, popular white Italian roadster.

“Flashy” (1) describes larger physical considerations.

“Brand-new” (2) describes condition, which eclipses age.

“Popular” (3) would go in front of “Italian” if there were no “white.”

“White” (4) describes color.

“Italian” (5) describes place of origin.

Comparative & Superlative:

These two forms usually pose problems only in regard to spelling. One must distinguish between regular and irregular adjectives. There are two types of regular adjectives.

(1) Long adjectives: These take “more” for the comparative and “most” for the superlative, e.g. “more / most important; more / most interesting; more / most vivid.”

(2) Normal adjectives: These take “er” for the comparative and “est” for the super-lative, e.g. “cheap / cheaper / cheapest; great / greater / greatest; long / longer / longest.”

There are two types of irregular adjectives:

(1) Those ending in “y,” which change their endings to “ier” and “iest”; These adjectives include: “happy / happier / happiest; lucky / luckier / luckiest; pretty / prettier / prettiest.”

(2) Adjectives changing the word stem. These adjectives include: “good / better / best; bad / worse / worst.”

Adjectives and hyphenated modifiers:

A number of compound words, sometimes including numerals, are used

as adjectives. Here are ten examples of frequently used hyphenated

modifiers:

18

1. People in Paris who wear clothes of the 1930s are considered old-

fashioned.

2. Martina Navratilova, who is left-handed, was a famous tennis star.

3. Fifty-five-year-old Carl Jones retired from the Army last year.

4. In his off-duty time, Ricky wears blue jeans.

5. Bellum Civile is a two-chapter first-century B.C. Latin text by Julius

Caesar.

6. Mr. Miller, a lawyer, wears a three-piece suit in the office.

7. Chester Nimitz was a popular twentieth-century American naval

commander.

8. Wide-eyed and open-mouthed did the drooling dog look at the cat in

the tree.

9. Many San Francisco hippies used to be considered dim-witted and

drugged-out.

10. Most open-ended questions are unwelcome at military briefings.

Adverbs:

Adverbs are formed by adding the suffix “ly” to the adjective (e.g. high/

highly). A final “y” is changed to an “i” (e.g. heavy/heavily) and a final

“e” to a “y” (e.g. notable/notably). In some adjectives the final “e” is

dropped (e.g. true/truly, due/duly). In a few cases the spelling of both

adverbs and adjectives is the same (e.g. hard, harder, hardest; fast,

faster, fastest; better, best; worse/worst.) Some adverbs have their own

independent spelling (e.g. “very, well, hardly”).

Modification role: Adverbs modify adjectives, verbs, clauses, and

other adverbs. A prominent subcategory of them are adverbs of

frequency, which require special attention in regard to their position in a

sentence. Here are a few examples each of adverbs in their different

modifying function:

(1) Adjective modified: He is incredibly fast. This is invariably

difficult.

(2) Verb modified: Snails move slowly. He walked out quietly. They

ran quickly.

19

(3) Clause modified: Obviously, Jim is not going to buy this ancient

jalopy.

(4) Other adverb modified: Joe writes very well. He hardly ever

makes mistakes.

(5) Linkage of adverbs modified: They very rarely play tennis on

Mondays. They were exceptionally well guarded. The unit was

destroyed virtually piecemeal.

(6) Multiple modification: Here it gets very rarely extremely cold.

Adverbs having various different functions: Words like “where” and

“what” are of particular interest here. They may be used in exclamations

and questions as well as relative clauses.

What:

(1) What cold weather! What do you care! What terrible accident!

(adverb)

(2) What kind of person is he? Invent what stories you will.

(adjective)

(3) He heard what I said. They told me what it would cost. (relative

pronoun)

(4) What is the time? What is going on? He did what? (interrogative

pronoun)

(5) What! He really jumped? You know what? I’m flying to Paris.

(interjection)

Where:

(1) Where do you get your money from? Where are you? (adverb)

(2) Is this where it was? I’ll take you where you’re going.

(conjunction)

(3) I only know it happened, but not the where or how. (noun)

Adverbs of frequency:

Adverbs of frequency range from “always” to “never.” In a normal

clause they appear between the subject and the verb (e.g.: “He always

arrives late”). In a clause where “to be” is used they follow the verb (e.g.

“He is always late”). If negation is involved, the adverb of frequency

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goes between the the auxiliary verb and the main (or action) verb, (e.g.

“He doesn’t always come late”).

“Hard” / “hardly” & “hardy”: The word “hard” (also meaning “difficult”) can be an adjective (e.g. This wood is hard) as well as an adverb (e.g. He tried hard). The word “hardly” is only an adverb, but it means either “scarcely, barely, almost not” or “harshly, severely.” Neither denotatively nor connotatively is it related to “hard.” The word “hardy” is not an adverb but rather an adjective, meaning “bold” or “brazen.”

“Good” and “well”: The adjective “good” is the equivalent of the adverb “well.” The word “well”, however, can also be used as an adjective, but only when it refers to health (e.g. “As I have the flu, I’m not well”). In a few isolated instances, the meaning of “good” and “well” is virtually indistinguishable (e.g. “Very good!” or “Very well!”). One would need context to make a clear distinction.

Conjunctions / connectors: Their function is to connect clauses. It is important to realize that they do not have to be positioned at the actual point of connection. This affects punctuation. When certain conjunctions appear at the beginning of a sentence, a comma is needed between the clauses. Another important point is that many words in English can function as different parts of speech. Here are a few examples of conjunctions that require punctuation when they appear at the beginning of the sentence. For further reference, please consult the popular AZAR English Grammar text, Betty Schrampfer (Prentice Hall, 1989):

(1) Because he has little money, Joe can’t buy a car. (causal clause)

(2) If the police had more clues, the case could be solved. (conditional

clause)

(3) Although he studies hard, his grades are low. (concessive clause)

(4) Until we go on vacation, we must work five days a week. (time

clause)

(5) Since Jim is too young, he cannot drive yet. (causal clause)

(6) When the whistle blows, the train is ready to depart. (time clause)

(7) After finishing dinner, Bill went to the garden. (time clause)

(8) Before the impala could escape, the cheetah attacked. (time clause)

(9) Owing to the poor weather, the game was cancelled. (causal clause)

(10) While they were fishing, he was reading. (time clause)

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No punctuation is needed when these connectors appear in the middle of

the sentence, at the point of juncture. One of the few exceptions here is

“although.” None of the above sentences have to start with the connector

at the beginning. They may be rephrased as shown below:

(1) Joe can’t buy a car because he has little money.

(2) The case could be solved if the police had more clues.

(3) His grades are low, although he studies hard. (comma)

(4) We must work five days a week until we go on vacation.

(5) The train is ready to depart when the whistle blows.

One exception: On does not begin a sentence with the connector “due.”

This means that one either begins with “owing to” or puts “due” in the

middle:

Option 1: Owing to (because of) the weather, his arrival was delayed.

Option 2: His arrival was delayed due to the weather.

Conjunctions as different parts of speech: Several conjunctions

function as different parts of speech, especially as prepositions,

interrogatives, or adverbs. Here are a few examples:

(1) Since: Since he is ill, he cannot work (conjuction)

We haven’t seen him since 1985. (preposition)

(2) As: As he was walking, it began to rain. (conjuction)

As of May 1, Joe is retiring. (preposition)

(3) When: It was dark when he arrived. (conjuction)

He’ll tell us when to go. (part of adverbial time

clause)

When is he arriving? (adverbial interrogative)

(4) However: His merits are great; however, he is unpopular.

(conjuction)

However great his merits, he is unpopular (adverbial

phrase)

(5) While: While they were waiting, Joe drove up. (conjuction)

He lost his wallet while dancing. (part of adverbial

phrase)

(6) Unless: Unless he is prevented, Joe will be here soon.

(conjuction)

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Joe will be here unless he is prevented (conjuction, no

comma)

Joe will be here, unless prevented. (part of adverbial

phrase)

[There is no difference in meaning between the first

and the second sentence under (6). There is only a

stylistic differece].

(7) Before: Before they arrived, the train had departed.

(conjuction)

The train had departed before noon. (preposition)

(8) After: After Joe went to Tulsa, he got a new job (conjuction)

The meeting began after the break. (preposition)

(9) Until: They didn’t meet Jim until they came to Utah.

(conjuction)

He’ll be at the Manhattan Bas unitl 10 tonight.

(preposition)

Prepositions: Prepositions establish perspective between verbs and

nouns. Their importance is particularly relevant when they are used

idiomatically or colloquially in standard patterns, jointly with verbs, to

form phrasal verbs. Some phrasal verbs take more than one preposition.

This successively affects the meaning of the phrase.

Examples:

(1) keep, or “maintain.” (2) keep up, or “continue.”

(3) keep up with, or “not fall behind.”

He keeps the books. Al keeps up the good work.

Joe can’t keep up with Schumacher.

(1) get, or “become.” (2) get over, or “leave behind.”

(3) get over with, or “do quickly.”

Ali is getting tired. Jim got over a cold.

“Let’s get this project over with,” said Joe.

(1) make, or “produce.” (2) make up, or “invent.”

(3) make up for, or “compensate.”

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BMW makes cars. Bill made up this wild story.

Ali made up for the project he missed.

At least in everyday speech, some very common verbs (like “get,

go” or “turn”) are used more frequently in a phrasal verb context than otherwise. But even less common ones combine with prepositions. A number of phrasal verbs have more than one meaning.

Examples:

Put on: This can mean “pretend.” (When I try to go, you put on a show).

It can also mean “get dressed.” (Are you putting on the old white hat

again?)

Put out: This can mean “disaffect.” (After getting a blast, Joe was put

out).

It can also mean “extinguish.” (He put out his cigarette on the plate).

Put up: This can mean “accommodate.” (Jim was put up by friends for

the night).

It can also mean “tolerate.” (Older people can’t put up with a lot of

noise).

Go off: This can mean “turn bad.” (Some food can go off very quickly).

It can also mean “explode.” (The handgrenade went off in the trash can).

Take off: This can mean “undress.” (Louis took off his shoes).

It can also mean “depart.” (The airplane took off at 4 o’clock).

Take out: This can mean “invite” (Al took Jim out to dinner).

It can also mean “neutralize.” (The artillery took out the target).

Turn down: This can mean “lower.” (He turned down the volume of the

radio).

It can also mean “reject.” (Jim’s application was turned down).

Turn up: This can mean “increase.” (He turned up the volume of the

radio).

It can also mean “appear.” (Joe did not turn [or show] up for work).

Turn off: This can mean “extinguish.” (The guard turned off the lights).

It can also mean “disaffect.” (Bill was turned off by the loud rap music).

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Here are some more examples of common phrasal verbs:

Get up, get down, get in, get into, get out, get over, get around, get on,

get off, get along, get by, get at, get to, get across, get with, get

through…

Go on, go in, go into, go out, go off, go over, go under, go across, go

around, go about, go beyond, go by, go to, go past, go along, go before,

go without…

Turn into, turn in, turn out, turn on, turn off, turn up, turn down, turn

over, turn back, turn around, turn about, turn to, turn toward, turn away

from…

Put on, put off, put in, put into, put out, put back, put through, put up, put

down…

Run over, run into, run across, run around, run through, run down, run

up, run away…

Look for, look after, look over, look around, look forward, look forward

to…

Take after, take off, take on, take out, take up, take over, take down, take

along…

Give up, give in, give out, give away, give over…

Make over, make into, make out, make up, make up for…

Cut in, cut into, cut off, cut out, cut across…

Do in, do over, do without…

Pick up, pick off, pick out…

Some prepositions are followed by the “ing” form of the verb.

(1) She insisted on going to England.

(2) We are looking forward to seeing you soon.

(3) He objects to paying the high fee.

(4) He was blamed for causing the dispute.

(5) The student apologized for making noise.

(6) He is accustomed to having breakfast in bed.

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(7) The notorious thief was accused of stealing the car.

(8) Ricky is excited about leaving for Canada.

(9) Owing to the rain, Ali was prevented from finishing the job

(10) The officer is responsible for giving the order.

Pronouns: The most prominent pronouns are personal and possessive

ones. Others include demonstrative, distributive, indefinite, interrogative,

reflexive, and relative. Possessive pronouns are easily confused with

possessive adjectives, which will be discussed here as well. Examples of

each category will be presented in syntactical context

1. Personal pronouns:

I am Joe. Are you Ali? He is Jim. She is British. It is cold. We are Irish.

Are you visitors? They are Welsh. Do you wish to see me? I’ll help you

guys. We know him. They know us. They can help them. Everyone is

out. No one is in. Everybody is there. Nobody is here. All (people) are

here. None (of them) are gone.

2. Possessive pronouns:

The 280SEL is my car. Is this your truck? There is his motorbike. Is this

her old house? The cat is chasing its tail. Our bus is on the left. Your

boats are big. Their Mercedes is new.

3. Possessive adjectives:

This white Mercedes is mine. Is the blue one yours? Are these premises

his? These furs are hers. These towers are ours. Are these cars yours.

These bikes are theirs.

4. Demonstrative pronouns:

This is Joe. That is Bill. These are oranges. Those are bananas. What is

this? How is that? These are apples. Those are pears. Don’t you like

these? How about those?

5. Distributive pronouns:

The men get one meal each. Let each one be warned. The hats are 25

dollars apiece.

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6. Indefinite pronouns:

Some people left. Others decided to stay. Somebody has arrived. Isn’t

anyone left? Is anybody going to San Antonio? Someone waved at us.

Something is wrong here. Can’t you tell us anything about this? Eat

whatever you like!

7. Interrogative pronouns:

What is the time? What are these? Who is this? Who are they? Which

is which?

8. Reflexive pronouns:

I hurt myself. You saw it yourself. He went (by) himself. She came

herself. The problem solved itself. We did the work ourselves. Please

help yourselves to cake! They finished the job themselves.

9. Relative pronouns:

The man who came today was Joe. The man that came today was Joe.

The weather was poor, which nobody liked. The thing that bothered him

most was the cold. Julius Caesar, who lived from 100 to 44 B.C, was a

great general and statesman. The Statue of Liberty, which stands on an

island outside New York harbor, is a famous landmark.

Articles: Articles precede nouns. There are definite and indefinite

articles. The definite article “the” is used for identified objects or to refer

to generic concepts. For example, in the statement, “The elephant is a

large animal whose habitat includes Africa and parts of Asia,” the article

“the” refers to elephants in general. The difference between indefinite

and definite articles might be explained best by the following statement:

“Joe saw a dog in the park. The dog looked at him.” In the first sentence,

the dog is an undefined object. (Hence the use of “a”). In the second

sentence, the dog is a defined object. (Hence the use of “the”.).

More examples:

I can see a car and a man inside it.

(Both are unknown [undefined] and not mentioned previously).

Here is an idea for an article.

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(Both are still undefined, having no characterizing features).

Add a spoonful of sugar. (Undefined: Any spoon will do).

A man must do what a man must do. (Undefined: Any [and every] man)

When undefined nouns are in the plural, there is no article:

I see cars and men inside them. Here are ideas for articles.

Add spoonfuls of sugar. Men do what men must do.

As soon as a noun is identified, the definite article “the” is used:

There is a mistake on page 4. Monday (Line 10) should read Tuesday.

Would you please correct the mistake! (Here “the mistake” is defined). There was a delay at first, but we solved the problem by using more

machines. (Here “the problem” is defined by being connected to “a

delay”).

Nouns may be defined by modification. This may involve adjectives,

other nouns, clauses, or phrases.

The results of the last tests came too late.

(The results and the tests, identified as the last ones, are known).

The idea we had first was wrong. (Here the idea is defined as a previous

one).

He is the coach of an excellent team. (Here the coach is defined by

modification derived from the phrase of an excellent team).

He is the manager of the project. (Here the manager is defined by

modification derived from the phrase of the project, which is defined, as

the context suggests).

The woman who just came in is his wife. (Here the woman is defined

by modification derived from the clause who just came in).

Nouns may also be defined by representing a single person or thing of a

kind, as implied in the description, or when the singular refers to an item

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in general (sometimes including generic use). This includes musical

instruments.

The polar bear feels at home in northern Canada. (Generic use, also see

below).

Some functions of the journal article have been taken over by electronic

media.

Joe plays the piano and the saxophone. BUT: Miriam plays tennis.

The Big Bang Theory is now accepted by most. (There is only one Big

Bang Theory).

The President is happy with the Administration. (One President and

one Administration).

The Earth is reassessed by proponents of the new physics. (One Earth

and the new physics – as opposed to the obsolete or superseded ones.

The adjective “new” modifies and defines the noun “physics”).

The media and the telephone are considered as defined:

We heard it on the radio. We read it in the newspaper and on the

Internet.

We searched the World-Wide Web. I spoke to him on the phone.

There was a package in the mail. We received his note in the e-mail.

Television:

One must be careful with TV. The definite article has a specific meaning.

Alex saw the game on TV before the TV broke down.

We were watching TV when the new TV was delivered.

Joe said, “Bill, please watch the TV.” (Joe is afraid of thieves).

(Here TV stands for the program, whereas the TV stands for the set

itself).

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The preposition “by” nullifies the defined status of singular nouns. This

involves primarily means of transportation:

People can get around by car, by motorcycle, by moped, by bicycle, by

boat, by ship, by taxi, by train, by rail, by tank, by bus, by helicopter, by

air, by jetliner, by space shuttle, by submarine, by glider, by tractor, by

camel, by elephant, by donkey, etc.

The preposition “by” has the same effect when it refers to means of

communication or involves certain idiomatic phraseology.

The item was dispatched by registered mail, by regular post, by freight,

by container, by e-mail, by DHL, by Fedex, by UPS, by EMS, by

courier, by personal messenger, by telegraphic transfer, by secret agent.

The occurrence came about by default, by design, by mistake, by error,

by coincidence, by overreaction, by oversight, by chance, by neglect.

The problem was caused by lack of attention, by misconduct, by

violation of safety rules, by crime, by arson, by insurance fraud, by

mismanagement, by embezzlement, by corruption.

Open vowels at the beginning of nouns, adjectives, and adverbs:

A special item to remember is that if the indefinite article “a” precedes a

noun or adjective that begins with an open vowel (e.g. “apple, ancient,

emerald, eternal, insect, important, oven, overt, old, uncle, unusual”) an

“n” must be added (e.g. “an apple, an emerald,” etc.). If the vowel is not

open, i.e. if it is preceded by a “y” sound, this rule does not apply (e.g.

“euphemism, euphoria, European, ewe, Ugandan, Uruguayan, university,

uniform, union, united, universe, usury, universal, usual, unique”). This

means that one needs to write “a euphemism, a ewe, a euphoric student,

a European writer, a Ugandan player, a university team, a uniform, a

union event,” etc). Additional material concerning articles and other

determiners is included in the next chapter.

Phrases: This term refers to groups of words, not connected by hyphen

or otherwise, which function jointly in syntax. A common group is

comprised of adverbial phrases, especially those referring to time, place,

manner, condition, circumstance, etc.

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Examples:

Time: In the interim, at noon, after lunch, before dawn, during prayer, at

11 a.m.

Place: Near the airport, behind the barn, under the car, in the house,

around town.

Manner: Without help, with a hammer, by themselves, by means of

special tools.

Condition: In bad shape, in poor condition, in good health, well prepared,

very tired.

Circumstance: In dire straits, without luck, in hostile territory, in unsafe

waters.

Another group of phrases are interjections, usually followed by an

exclamation mark.

Examples:

What a schmuck! How terrible! Son of a gun! Lo and behold! Good

grief! Hold on!

Another group of phrases are military commands, also followed by an

exclamation mark.

Examples:

Saddle up! Platoon dismount! Left shoulder arms! Right face! About

face! Forward, march! Left flank, march! Column right, march! Platoon

halt! Fix bayonet! Cease fire! Fall in! Inspection arms! Order arms!

Parade rest! At ease! As you were! Prepare to fire! Double time, march!

Quick time, march!

SENTENCE LEVEL:

Clauses: Clauses are parts of sentences. They can be defined in several

different ways. In terms of syntax, for example, one speaks of main

clauses and dependent (or secondary) clauses. In terms of function, one

speaks of conditional, relative, adjectival, causal, noun, or time clauses.

Here are examples of the most common ones:

Main & Dependent Clauses: Joe cannot buy a car [main clause] as he

has no money.

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Causal: Because he is ill, Jim cannot travel. Owing to poor weather,

there is no game.

Conditional (simple): If you go to the party, I’ll go with you.[main

clause]

Conditional (contrary to fact, present): If you went to the party, I would

go with you.

Conditional (contrary to fact, past): If you had gone, I would have gone

with you.

Relative (non-defining): Cicero, who died in 43 B.C., was a famous

orator.

Relative (defining): The man who came yesterday is a salesman for

Mercedes.

Time (past simple): When Ali arrived, it was dark. Before the flight left, it

began to rain.

Time (past progressive): As Joe was walking in the park, he found a 20-

dollar bill.

Time (present progressive): Since it is getting dark, we should go back

home.

Adjectival clause: The waiter, carrying the glasses, walked past the

tables.

Noun clause: Jim began to imagine what life would have been like in

Viet Nam.

The Sentence: At the poetic or technical level, a sentence may consist of

only one word, as in the command, “Eat!” Syntactically, however, a

sentence has a subject and a predicate, as in the statement, “Joe came.”

As sentences grow longer, one needs to distinguish between a simple

predicate (as supplied by a verb) and the object, which can be direct or

indirect. Many sentences have both direct and indirect objects. Here are

some examples:

Direct object: Jim kicks the ball. (Here “Jim” is the subject).

Direct object: The ball goes to Ali. (Here “the ball” is the subject).

Direct and indirect objects: Jim kicks the ball (direct obj.) to Ali

(indirect obj.).

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Antecedent and Inversion:

As one begins to work with clauses, it is important to understand the

concepts of antecedence and inversion. If an element of a sentence has

antecedence, it is referred to as antecedent. For example, in the

statement, “The man who came yesterday,” the word “man” is the

antecedent of the word “who.” If part of a sentence stands within

commas while being preceded as well as followed by other elements of

the sentence, one speaks of inversion. For example, in the statement,

“The waiter, carrying the glasses, walked past the tables,” the clause

“carrying the classes,” is inverted.

Mood: Indicative, Subjunctive, Imperative

The concept of mood governs the purpose for which verbs are used and

therefore affects syntax. The most frequently used mood is the indicative,

which is descriptive, e.g. “The boy goes to the store,” or, “The man is

tired.” If, however, one says, “It is crucial that the boy go to the store,”

or, “It is required that the man be alert,” the subjunctive is used. If

someone tells the boy, “Go to the store!” or says to the tired man, “Get

some rest!” the imperative is used. Requests and orders are expressed in

the imperative mood.

Voice: Active & Passive

Active and passive are clearly defined grammatically, as indicated in the

classical example, “The dog chases the cat,” and, “The cat is chased by

the dog.” It is also important to remember that intransitive verbs (e.g.

fall, die, wait, sleep, lie) do not have a passive form, whereas transitive

verbs (e.g. take, get, make, do, have, drink, see, call, eat), do. Some verbs

can be used transitively as well as intransitively. For example, in the

statement, “He jumped (from tree to tree),” the verb “jump” is used

intransitively. However, in the statement, “He jumped the gun,” the verb

“jump” is used transitively, taking “the gun” as its direct object.

Similarly, in the statement, “This car drives well,” the verb “drive” is

used intransitively, whereas in the statement, “Joe drives the car well,”

the verb “drive” is used transitively, taking “the car” as its direct object.

Active & passive: Stylistic application

In certain types of writing, particularly in the sciences, in journalism, or

in police reports, the passive is very instrumental in expressing actions or

processes where the agency is either not established, unclear, or

33

irrelevant. Sometimes it is preferable to avoid mentioning any agency.

The style inherent in certain types of (academic) writing does not leave

the author much of a choice. For example, many abstracts of journal

articles contain more sentences in the passive than in the active voice.

Essentially it is up to the writer to make best use of either. In highly

competitive writing, the aspect of delicate balance (as a matter of subtle

stylistic strategy) may have primacy over other considerations,

accommodating the rigorous demands of consummate expert

penmanship, in the pursuit of special recognition, e.g. acceptance of a

manuscript by a very prestigious journal (or distinguished publisher, in

the case of a book). This type writing may often be aimed at some

special prize (or other coveted reward) granted for outstanding research

or superior literary achievement.

Exercises:

Cloze Test 1: General Vocabulary & Prepositions – Elvis Presley

Complete the paragraph below by filling in the blanks.

Elvis Presley ________ born in Tupelo, Mississippi, in 1935 and

_______ in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1977. His family was not wealthy.

Graduating ________ high school in 1953, he found his options

limited. Not particularly gifted for _______ academic career, he

worked ________ a truck driver, delivering electrical supplies.

Presley did, however, have a good ear ________ sound and rhythm

_________ possessed musical talent. Furthermore, ________ was

handsome, good at dancing, and, above all, had ______ very

beautiful voice. In 1955, after a few auditions, he began to ________

noticed by professional managers in the song and dance circles

_______ Nashville. Soon afterwards he became famous, earning

34

millions of dollars each month. His record albums sold worldwide,

and ________ gave concerts in various countries. _____ 1958 he was

drafted into _________ US Army and sent _________ Germany,

where he served as a tank gunner at Ray Barracks, Friedberg, until

his return ________ America _______ March 1960. Shortly

thereafter, he made a movie ________ his time in the Army, entitled

“GI Blues.” Some ______ his most popular songs include “Are You

Lonesome Tonight?”, “She’s Not You,” and “Good Luck Charm.”

Cloze Test 2: Building Design

Complete the paragraph below by filling in the blanks. Use the ten

words listed at the top.

central adequate entering windy temperature

more on designing building have

The three important points about climate which need to be

considered when ___________ a building are precipitation, wind and

_____________. Precipitation includes rain and snow. In regions

where rainfall is heavy the buildings _________ to be designed to

prevent rain water from ____________ the structure. In cold

climates, with patterns of heavy, repeated snowfall, roofs and walls

must be stronger and ___________ resistant than usual to ensure

that the ___________ is safe and well insulated. In __________

climates, one needs to know the direction of the prevailing wind in

35

order to ensure that the building design will afford ____________

protection, especially from very cold or very hot winds. The effects of

temperature ________ building design can be exemplified clearly if

one compares the design popular in __________ Canada with that

preferred in places like Cuba, or Hong Kong.

Grammar Exercise A: Adverbs

Complete the sentences below by choosing either (a), (b), (c), or (d).

There is only one correct answer to each question.

1. Our housekeeper _________ makes excellent sandwiches for

breakfast.

(a) wonderfully (b) early (c) always (d) best

2. What happened to Jim? I haven’t seen him _____________.

(a) since (b) soon (c) lately (d) always

3. Last week Joe __________ won over $ 22 million. He was very

surprised.

(a) unexpectedly (b) barely (c) hardly (d) scarcely

4. In 1990 several teams lost _______ against the Philadelphia

Eagles.

(a) disastrously (b) fully (c) evenly (d) fiercely

5. Because of the big obstacle on the road, the bus came _______ to a

halt.

(a) increasingly (b) noticeably (c) decreasingly (d) abruptly

6. In 1940, massive deployment of armor was ________ effective in

combat.

(a) absurdly (b) grossly (c) highly (d) lowly

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7. Many prime bombing air raids of WW II relied ______ on fighter

escort.

(a) excruciatingly (b) crucibly (c) cruciferously (d)

crucially

8. The Soviet Union labored __________ under poor economic

performance.

(a) notoriously (b) lowly (c) intently (d) barely

9. The downfall of the Berlin Wall is considered an _____ important

event.

(a) exceptionally (b) universally (c) European (d) euphoric

10. Litigation concerning paternity is now handled more ____ due to

DNA data.

(a) hardly (b) heavily (c) easily (d) fast

Grammar Exercise B: Nouns

Complete the sentences below by choosing (a), (b), (c), or (d).

There is only one correct answer to each question.

01. During the interview, the personnel manager asked Joe about his

______.

(a) experiences (b) episodes (c) experience (d) episode

02. The salespeople complained about the lack of ________ after the

holidays.

(a) businesses (b) business (c) transaction (d) volumes

03. Mr. Miller, a lawyer, was busy with ______________ last week.

(a) much free will (b) much choice (c) many wills (d) option

04. In the courtroom, the defendant showed ______________

whatsoever.

(a) little emotions (b) few emotions (c) no emotion (d) emotions

05. Having won the first game, the national team rested on

__________.

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(a) its laurels. (b) laurels (c) the laurels (d) laurel

06. In the 1936 Olympics, Jesse Owens set several world ________.

(a) recordings (b) record (c) recorders (d) records

07. Most big supermarkets have a ______ section for fruits and

vegetables.

(a) production (b) producer (c) producers (d) produce

08. The _________ of starvation can be analyzed in several ways.

(a) disaffection (b) effects (c) affects (d) affect

09. Certain politicians are known for their scandalous __________.

(a) affairs (b) affair (c) fairs (d) fares

10. The WTC attack of September 11, 2001 was a strange

__________.

(a) incision (b) incidence (c) accident (d) incident

Grammar Exercise C: Prepositions

Complete the sentences below by choosing (a), (b), (c), or (d). There

is only one correct answer to each question.

01. Jim is tired _________ listening to loud traffic noise.

(a) with (b) of (c) on (d) by

02. When going to town, the old man is relying ______ his daughter

for help.

(a) along (b) for (c) in (d) on

03. Joe is responsible __________ making coffee. It’s his job.

(a) on (b) by (c) for (d) in

04. The inspectors insisted _________ being shown the boiler room.

(a) on (b) for (c) in (d) by

05. Despite the difficult terrain, the climbers persisted _____ their

effort.

(a) with (b) in (c) over (d) on

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06. At the end of the action, many soldiers could not be accounted

_____.

(a) upon (b) for (c) with (d) in

07. Jim was rewarded ______ his effort by a special bonus from ABC Inc.

(a) with (b) by (c) for (d) in

08. Many people from Cuba cannot grow accustomed ____ cold weather.

(a) over (b) on (c) with (d) to

09. Melanie had to apologize to Rita ________ missing the appointment

(a) from (b) for (c) with (d) in

10. The foreign tourists were detained and accused _________ spying.

(a) with (b) on (c) of (d) by

Grammar Exercise D: Conjunctions/Connectors

Complete the sentences below by choosing (a), (b), (c), or (d). There is only one correct answer to each question.

01. __________ being well prepared for the exam, Jim scored only 70%.

(a) Because of (b) Instead of (c) Despite (d) Since

02. ______ there were plenty of bananas, Joe found no oranges in the shop.

(a) Because (b) Although (c) Despite (d) If

03. The customers will have to wait __________ the milk truck arrives.

(a) however (b) in spite of (c) except for (d) until 04. Ricky can’t buy the car _________ he can come up with $5,000 soon.

(a) because (b) whereas (c) unless (d) after

05. ______ putting the forms in envelope, Susan read them once more.

(a) After (b) While (c) Before (d) Since

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06. In Italy there is no starvation, _____ in many poor countries

there is.

(a) because (b) since (c) whereas (d) when

07. Ali will have to retake his French exam __________ he just failed

it.

(a) whereas (b) although (c) since (d) while

08. Ali jumped for joy ____ he heard that he had won $22 million in

the lottery.

(a) although (b) when (c) before (d) unless

09. ABC Inc. is a small company; _______, it has been very

successful lately.

(a) however (b) although (c) because (d) when

10. __________ drawing an oxcart, the artist changed it to a school

bus.

(a) In spite of (b) Before (c) After (d) As

VOCABULARY EXERCISE A: NOUNS I

01. A laborious and time-consuming effort is called ________.

(a) tillage (b) tedium (c) talcum (d) till

02. Someone crossing a street unlawfully may be fined for ____

walking.

(a) A (b) H (c) J (d) X

03. An experience associated with great loss or defeat is a _________.

(a) debauchery (b) debacle (c) demarche (d) demur

04. The condition of destitution or grinding poverty is known as

_____.

(a) penance (b) penitence (c) perfidy (d) penury 05. An awkward position between two different worlds is called

_____.

(a) league (b) limbo (c) loam (d) lintel

06. A system run by an exclusive group of elitists is called _________.

(a) oleander (b) oligarchy (c) oblivion (d) osier

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07. In Marxist theory, the _____ opposes bourgeoisie and ruling elite.

(a) profiteer (b) prolixity (c) proletariat (d) proxy

force

08. Someone receiving a loan from a bank to purchase a home is a

_____.

(a) mortician (b) mortgagor (c) mortgagee (d) moron

09. The assessment of real property for insurance purposes is called

____.

(a) variation (b) valuation (c) varicosity (d) variance

10. _____ was an influential religious-philosophical movement in

Europe.

(a) Scherzo (b) Scaffolding (c) Scholasticism (d)

Schizophrenia

11. _______ is repeated theft in small quantities, often involving food.

(a) Pinnacle (b) Pilferage (c) Pillage (d) Pillory

12. A situation marked by poor options or a difficult choice is called

___.

(a) dilation (b) dalliance (c) dilemma (d) dialysis

13. _______ is the absence of order, at times associated with anarchy.

(a) Chalice (b) Chaos (c) Charcoal (d) Charade

14. The opposite of heroism, especially in drama, is known as ______.

(a) vicissitude (b) villainy (c) victuals (d) virago

15. __________ is a whitish coloration in the face, often produced by

shock.

(a) Parsimony (b) Palsy (c) Pallor (d) Pall

16. Giving “short __________” means having little time or

consideration.

(a) shear (b) shrift (c) shirt (d) shriek 17. Many medieval knights joined the adventurous quest for the “Holy _________.” (a) Groove (b) Grove (c) Grail (d) Grotto

18. A temple in ancient Greece visited for prophetic revelations was called _____. (a) Orestes (b) Orpheus (c) oracle (d) orbit

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19. _________ is a physical skill associated with adroitness or craftiness. (a) Dextrose (b) Dearth (c) Dexterity (d) Delta

20. A form of social ban or marginalization is known as __________. (a) osteoporosis (b) ostracism (c) ornithology (d) osmosis

21. ______ refers to a person or phenomenon loathed by the establishment. (a) Anaconda (b) Aneurism (c) Anathema (d) Anapest

22. The use of play-acting, often in support of verbalization, is called ________. (a) historiography (b) histrionics (c) histogram (d) heist

23. The position of first rank, sometimes among equals, is known as _______. (a) priority (b) primrose (c) prelate (d) primacy

24. Social narrow-mindedness, often leading to discrimination, is called ______. (a) philistinism (b) philately (c) philharmonic (d) phial

25. Xenophobia is a __________ of foreigners, partly associated with hostility. (a) flock (b) fringe (c) flow (d) fear

VOCABULARY EXERCISE B: NOUNS II

26. Freedom of ________ in America usually ends with a discussion of Israel. (a) exercise (b) excise (c) expression (d) espresso

27. Some graphic artists use _______ in a mixture of various

different colors.

(a) melee (b) mélange (c) meltdown (d) mount

28. A phase in the decomposition of a recent corpse is known as

_________.

(a) rigor mortis (b) rigidity (c) roistering (d) ruse

29. A profitable title or position requiring little or no work is known

as _______.

(a) sinew (b) sinecure (c) sirloin (d) singe

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30. _____________ and Zionists are important factors in American

politics.

(a) Freebooters (b) Freemasons (c) Freeloaders (d)

Freedmen

31. A military unit deployed in the field needs to secure its

__________.

(a) perimeter (b) parameter (c) peristalsis (d) paradigm

32. ____________ is a term referring to the correct use of written

language.

(a) Ornithology (b) Orifice (c) Orthography (d)

Orthodox

33. ___________ is the lack of initiative or motivation.

(a) Lethargy (b) Lesbianism (c) Lithography (d)

Lithium

34. _____ is a property of matter at which it remains at rest or

indisposed to change.

(a) Irredentism (d) Insipidity (c) Insomnia (d) Inertia

35. The act of pursuing a settlement for a past injustice is called

_________.

(a) exordium (d) expiation (c) expletive (d) expiry

36. The term “fax” [as used in communication] is a short form of

__________.

(a) factotum (b) facsimile (c) fascist (d) faction

37. _________ is generally associated with shame or disgrace.

(a) Propensity (b) Profligacy (c) Proclivity (d) Priory

38. Ugliness or deformity may also be referred to as ____________.

(a) grimace (b) grotesquerie (c) gourd (d) gorge

39. The notion of _______ is usually associated with voting and / or

election.

(a) ballpoint (b) ballade (c) ballot (d) ballet

40. A rifle can be fired only if there is a round of ammo in the

___________.

(a) charcoal (b) chamber (c) charm (d) charge

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41. Patton and Guderian were recognized as experts in armored

_________.

(a) waltzing (b) warranty (c) waffle (d) warfare

42. In the Italian campaign (1796/97) Napoleon used the tactic of

enfilade _____.

(a) enslavement (b) envelopment (c) enshrinement (d)

entitlement

43. A ___________ is a gifted child [of most unusual talent or ability].

(a) prodigy (b) protractor (c) protocol (d) proctor

44. The ________ is a furry animal found in many parts of the USA

and Mexico.

(a) rascal (b) raccoon (c) rhapsody (d) ray

45. Driving over a __________ may cause a very unpleasant odor.

(a) skull (b) scarecrow (c) skunk (d) skit

46. A presidential or royal ________ normally has the force of law.

(a) decree (b) degree (c) decorum (d) decoy

47. Many cities that couldn't be taken by assault would be conquered

by ______.

(a) sage (b) siege (c) syringe (d) sirens

48. The bullfighter who finally kills the bull is called

______________.

(a) martyr (b) martinet (c) matador (d) margrave

49. A white stick used by directors of orchestras is called _________.

(a) battery (b) baton (c) bark (d) barge

50. Rum, whiskey, vodka, and tequila are classified under hard

_________.

(a) liqueur (b) licorice (c) liquor (d) liquid

Chapter III

Grammar-2

(Additional Grammar Points A)

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Like Chapter II, this chapter is concerned with various important aspects of grammar. The focus is on determiners, nouns, pronouns, and verbs (including aspects of agreement and use of the passive voice) connectors, antecedents, and complex sentence structures. Highlights are as follows:

A. Determiners (any, some, few, less, many, much, more, most, none);

B. Nouns:

--Agreement with verbs (use of singular, plural, types of nouns);

--Antecedents (use of relative pronouns);

C. Compound and complex sentences (and clauses).

D. Passives: writers usually know how to use these in describing Methods or Results; the question is ‘when’ rather than ‘how’ to use them, also a function of stylistics.

A. DETERMINERS

The use of articles has been covered elsewhere. This leaves other determiners in the forefront of this discussion. Many of such words are more than simply determiners. Depending upon their position in the sentence, they take on several different functions. Let us examine the following sentence: “I don’t have sugar. Do you have some (or any)?” Here the words some/any function as pronouns (in place of the noun “sugar”). The situtation is different if one asks: “Do you have some (or any) sugar?” Here the determiners some/any function as adjectives (modifying the noun “sugar”). If the answer is: “Sorry, we don’t have any,” or, “we have none,” these determiners again function as pronouns (in place of the noun “sugar”). One cannot say, “I don’t have some.”

Basic Types of Nouns:

One cannot use determiners properly unless one understands the distinction between countable and non-countable nouns, and between mass nouns and abstract nouns. The chief problem facing learners is that a large number of nouns can be used in more than one of these categories, and their exact function can only be judged from the context. There will be more discussion of this point in the second half of this

48

chapter. To familiarize the reader with the most basic concepts, a few examples are provided in this section:

Joe had several discussions with Jim. (Here discussion is a countable noun).

There was much discussion of rabies. (Here discussion is a mass noun).

Many tropical diseases are dangerous. (Here disease is a countable noun).

Disease can cause a lot of misery. (Here disease is a mass noun).

Psychiatrists deal with people’s emotions. (Here emotion is a countable noun).

The defendant showed little emotion in court. (Here emotion is an abstract

noun).

Health and illness are part of the human condition. (Here illness is a mass noun).

Insects can transmit various illnesses. (Here illness is a countable noun).

To illustrate various typical patterns in which the most common determiners are used, both in questions and answers, as well as in statements, a number of examples are listed below:

Few & a few:

NOTE A.l: Both words are used for countable items and can function as

nouns or pronouns: Few can be an adjective or adverb, while a few can be an adjectival or adverbial phrase.

The lucky few outside survived the tragedy. (Here few [n] refers to a small number).

The few best players were there. (Here few [adv] modifies the adjective best).

A few others arrived. (Here a few [adjectival phrase] modifies the pronoun others).

A few other men arrived. (Here a few [adverbial phrase] modifies the adjective other).

Many (men) are called, but few are chosen. (Here few [pron] means by comparison).

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Many tests were made, but few were useful. (Here few [pron] means by comparison).

Sam had only few men, but all were brave. (Here few [adj] means by comparison).

Little Joe needs a few dollars to buy glue. The boss is looking for a few good men.

(Here a few [an adjectival phrase modifying dollars/men] means approx. 2-5).

Do you have (any) nails? Yes, but only a few. (Here a few [pron] stands for nails).

Much & little / a little:

NOTE A.2: As adjectives, much and little go with mass nouns or abstract nouns, which they can also represent as pronouns. As adverbs, they modify verbs, adverbs, and adjectives, while a little typically functions as either an adjectival or adverbial phrase, but sometimes also operates in the noun/pronoun mode.

It took little effort to pass the exam. (Here little [adj] refers to a relatively small amount).

There was much talk, but little progress. (Here much and little [adj] refer to amounts).

Much was said but little done. (Here much and little [n] have abstract noun character).

Little did he know what was happening. (Here little [adv] modifies the verb know).

Jim gave him much more cash than Joe. (Here much [adv] modifies the adjective more).

Rex was able to go a little faster. (Here a little [adv-phrase] modifies the adverb faster).

Ricky is a little too slow for success. (Here a little [adv-phrase] modifies the adverb too).

Milk? Don't pour in much; pour in a little! (Here much & a little [pron] stand for milk).

Jim doesn’t know much about cars. (Here much [pron] has abstract character).

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Much & many:

NOTE A.3: Much is used for mass nouns and abstract nouns, many for count nouns.

Joe doesn’t have much luck. (Here much [adj] modifies the abstract noun luck).

Can you see much joy in him? (Here much [adj] modifies the abstract noun joy).

How much money do you have? (Here much [adj] modifies the mass noun money).

Many boys in China ride bikes. (Here many [adj] modifies the count noun boys).

How many shows have you seen? (Here many [adj] modifies the count noun shows).

More & Most:

NOTE A.4: As adjectives, these determiners are equally applicable to both countable and non-countable nouns. In addition, they can be adverbs, modifying both adjectives and adverbs, but can also function as nouns and pronouns.

There will be more action today. (Here more [adj] modifies the abstract noun action).

We need more sugar. (Here more [adj] modifies the mass noun sugar).

Last year Jim performed more solidly. (Here more [adv] modifies the adverb solidly).

More boats are arriving now. (Here more [adj] modifies the countable noun boats).

Most (of the best) candidates have withdrawn. (Here most [adj] modifies candidates).

Most theaters are closed. (Here most [adj] modifies the countable noun theaters).

Most records were broken during the Games. (Here most [adj] modifies the noun records).

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The most suitable time is 6 p.m. (Here most [adv] modifies the adjective suitable).

The most spectacular view is at about 600 metres from the peak.

(Here most [adv] modifies the adjective spectacular).

More & Less / Fewer:

NOTE A.5: As adjectives, less and fewer are both opposites of more. In

addition, less can also be an adverb, modifying verbs & adjectives. The

determiners less and fewer are often confused, partly because they can be

used interchangeably in some situations. For example, if a sign at a

check-out stand reads: “Express Lane: Only 10 items or less,” this is not

necessarily wrong (despite the fact that “item” is a countable noun)

because the focus is on 10 as a specific number of items, considered as an

amount. (One could, of course, also say: “Only 10 items or fewer”).

Similarly, if a sign reads, “Bank Drafts: $10,000 or less,” the focus is on

the amount of money, not the number of bills or individual dollars.

Stylistically, one could do better by saying: “Maximum: 10 items, or

$10,000.

Some words like comment can be used as either mass nouns or count

nouns. For example, when editors say that they prefer less comment,

they refer to the amount (or length) of feedback. Whereas if they say

fewer comments, they refer to the number of individual feedback items,

which may be from different sources.

The count noun “people” does not go with less because it is a plural

form. The corresponding singular is person, or individual. Hence it must

be modified by fewer. For example: Fewer people involved in accidents

means less wastage. The count noun people can also mean nation, in

which case there is a plural form, for example: For the most part, the

peoples (or nations) of Canada and USA derive their lifestyle from the

Western Europeans.

More haste, less speed. (Here more & less modify nouns in opposite directions).

You can pay less now, but you will have to pay more interest.

(Here less [pron] stands for money, while more [adj] modifies interest [n].

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The new model has less speed, but more acceleration.

[Here less & more are adjectives, modifying nouns in opposite directions).

There are more students every year, but fewer geniuses among them.

(Here more and fewer are divergently modifying nouns).

The new model has more standard features but fewer optional ones.

(Here more and fewer are divergently modifying nouns).

The new physician phones more often but visits fewer patients.

(Here more modifies the adverb often, while fewer modifies the noun patients).

A Honda costs less than a Jaguar. (Here less [adv] modifies the verb cost).

Dogs are less dangerous than lions. (Here less [adv] modifies the adjective dangerous).

Today we did less work than yesterday. (Here less [adj] modifies the mass noun work).

Indigence means less freedom. (Here less (adj) modifies the abstract noun freedom).

Jim has fewer problems than Al. (Here fewer [adj] modifies the count noun problems).

Paris has fewer sunny days than Rio. (Here fewer [adj] modifies the count noun days).

As the currency was nosediving, Jim got fewer dollars for his pesos day after day.

(Here fewer [adj] refers to a quantifiable decrease in the number of dollars).

Further examples:

COUNT NOUNS NON-COUNT NOUNS

He has many talents. There are many good choices. There are few job opportunities. He has few friends.

She showed much skill in dissection. He doesn’t have much choice. She has little hope. There is little friendship among them.

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NOTE A.6: He has a few friends. (not many, but a definite number). Few and many suggest indefinite numbers). Similarly, the use of little in some sentences implies that it could be defined. In the examples below the phrase a little suggests the opposite of great, e.g.: great skill; a great chance; my great hope; our great friendship.

He has a little skill. There is still a little (some slight) chance left.

There is still one little hope. There is still a little friendship left.

The more & the less / the more & the more / the fewer, etc.:

NOTE A.7: Such phrases are used to indicate the relationship of certain constants, also in an inverted (or divergent) sense. Several combinations are possible. Overall, these syntactical applications are formed with adverbs or adjectives in the comparative form, e.g. greater, smaller, higher, lower, taller, shorter, wider, narrower, better, worse, etc.

The more he tried the more he failed. (uniform modification of verbs).

The more he tried the less he achieved. (divergent modification of verbs).

The less he tried the less he failed. (uniform modification of verbs).

The less he tried the more he achieved. (divergent modification of verbs).

The more volatile the game the more alert the crowd. (uniform modification of adjectives).

The more quickly he ran the less orderly he managed. (divergent modification of adverbs).

The less work he did the more money he made. (divergent modification on nouns).

The more he talks the less I want to listen. (divergent modification of verbs).

The fewer that come the more (food) there is for the rest of us. (Here the fewer and the more are pronouns, in divergent representation of persons and food respectively).

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The more energetically he tried the more disastrously he failed. (Here the more [adverbial phrase] modifies two adverbs, energetically & disastrously).

NOTE A.8:

The use of the more and the less as determiners may involve various parts of speech.

Examples:

The more time he works the more he is paid.

(Here the more [adjectival phrase] modifies the mass noun time).

The more time he works the more he is paid.

(Here the more [pronoun] stands for the money the worker receives).

The more times he exercises the better he feels.

(Here the more [adjectival phrase] modifies the countable noun times).

The more time he spends at work the less time he spends at home.

(Here the more [adjectival phrase] modifies the mass |or uncountable| noun “time”).

The more I see the more I know. (Here the more [adv-phr] modifies two verbs.

The less time I waste the better. (Here the less [adj-phr] modifies the noun time).

The less I drive the better. (Here the less [adv-phr] modifies the verb drive).

The less excited we are the better. (Here the less [adv-phr] modifies the adjective excited).

The less frequently we go the better. (Here the less [adv-phr] modifies frequently [adv].

But:

The fewer times they come the more they forget.

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(Here the fewer [adjectival phrase] modifies the countable noun times,

whereas the more [pron] stands for the amount of knowledge involved).

The most & the fewest / the least:

NOTE A.9: As in the case of the more & the less, etc., such phrases are used to indicate the relationship of certain constants, also in an inverted (or divergent) sense. Several combinations are possible. Overall, these syntactical applications are formed with many common adverbs or adjectives in the comparative form, e.g. greater, smaller, higher, lower, taller, shorter, wider, narrower, better, worse, etc. The fewest applies only to countable nouns.

He works the most hours, and makes the fewest mistakes.

(divergent modification of nouns).

Joe gets the most contracts, but makes the least profit.

(divergent modification of nouns).

The most spectators the stadium has held is 86,956; the fewest, 2,039.

(Here the most is an adj. phrase modifying spectators, while the fewest is a pronoun].

Most (of the) spectators come early. (Here most [adj] modifies the noun spectators).

We had the fewest customers. (Here the fewest [adj-phrase] modifies customers).

She has broken the most records for any swimmer of her generation.

(Here the most is an adjectival phrase modifying the noun records).

Least & Fewest:

NOTE A.10: Least and fewest are opposites of most. Least also modifies verbs & adjectives).

Today’s service will cost the least. (Here least [adv] modifies the verb cost).

This spot is the least awkward I know. (Here least [adv] modifies the adj awkward).

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Joe did the least work of all (Here least [adj] modifies the mass noun work).

Rex had the least oomph of all. (Here least (adj) modifies the abstract noun oomph).

Jim had the fewest problems. (Here fewest [adj] modifies the count noun problems).

Ali received the fewest calls. (Here fewest [adj] modifies the count noun calls).

The fewest realistic opportunities occurred on the third day.

(Here fewest [adv] modifies the adjective realistic).

ABC-Haul had the fewest major accidents in 1998. (the could be omitted).

(Here the fewest [adverbial phrase] modifies the adjective major).

The fewest deaths occur in the three hottest months. (Here the fewest [adjectival phrase] modifies the countable noun deaths).

The fewest realistic opportunities occurred on the third day. (Here the

fewest [adjectival phrase] modifies the countable noun ‘opportunities’).

NOTE A.11: The most / the fewest / the least. The superlatives work in the same way as the comparatives except that, for countables, the most

means the greatest number of; whereas most means the majority of

whatever. The most and the fewest are often replaced by phrases like: The greatest number of / the least number of…; the greatest number of

spectators / of hours / of records; the fewest number of customers / of

mistakes / of deaths.

Some & any:

NOTE A.12: Any must be used in negative statements. Some is used in affirmative statements, and it is optional in both affirmative and negative questions. Any is preferred in emphatic negative questions, e.g. Correct: “Don’t you know any doctor here?” It is awkward in certain affirmative questions, e.g. “How about any dessert?” (where some would be clearer because if the stress is on any, there is a shift in meaning). One might best ask,“Any dessert?”

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How about some dessert? (Here some [adj] modifies the mass noun dessert).

We need some more time. (Here some [adv] modifies the adjective more).

Here are some jackets! (Here some [adj] modifies the count noun jackets).

Do/Don’t you have some sugar? (Here some [adj] modifies the mass noun sugar).

Don’t you have any water? (Here any [adj] modifies the mass noun water).

Sorry, we don’t have any wood! (Here any [adj] modifies the mass noun wood).

I don’t have any matches left. (Here any [adj] modifies the count noun matches).

Can’t we go any faster? (Here any [adv] modifies the adverb faster).

This wood isn’t any better than that. (Here any [adv] modifies the adjective better).

Either, or & neither, nor:

You either work or don’t have money. (Here either/or [conj] link two clauses).

We neither saw it nor heard a sound. (Here neither/nor [conj] link two clauses).

We don’t care about him, or his friends, or his family, either.

(Here or [conj] links two phrases, and either [adv] modifies the verb care).

Joe is either crazy or ill. (Here either [adv] modifies crazy [adj], and or [adv] modifies ill [adj].

Jim wants either a flat, or a house? (Here either and or [conj] connect two phrases).

Mark or Bill? I wouldn’t trust either. (Here or is a conjunction, and either a pronoun).

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Mark or Bill? I would trust neither. (Here or is a conjunction, and neither a pronoun).

I would trust neither Jim nor Joe. (Here neither/nor [conj] link the nouns Jim & Joe).

Both:

NOTE: A.13: Sometimes written as ‘both of them,” or used jointly with “and,” both is the opposite of neither and may function as adjective, adverb, pronoun, or conjunction.

Jim and Joe? Both men are good. (Here both [adj] modifies the noun men).

She is both pretty and rich. (Here both [adv] modifies the adjectives pretty & rich).

Jim and Joe? Both are good men. (Here both [pron] stands for the nouns Jim & Joe).

Jim and Joe? I would trust both. (Here both [pron] stands for the nouns Jim & Joe).

Both Jim and Joe are nice. (Here both [conj] links the nouns Jim &

Joe).

Both of them are nice. (Here both of them [pron] stands for the nouns Jim & Joe).

No & none:

We have no sugar left. (Here no [adj] modifies the noun sugar).

No visitors have been here. (Here no [adj] modifies the noun visitors).

Sugar? We have none. (Here none [pron] stands for the noun sugar).

Jim, Joe, and Al? None of them came. (Here none [pron] stands for three nouns).

I have seen none of the boys. (Here none [pron] refers to Jim, Joe, and Al).

(A more effective version would be: “I haven’t seen any of the boys.”)

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That’s none of his business. (Here none [pron] refers to the noun business).

He was none the wiser for his experience. (i.e. “He did not learn much/anything”).

(Here none the wiser is an adverbial phrase, modifying the verb “to

be”).

Enough:

NOTE A.14: As an adverb, enough can modify adjectives, adverbs, and verbs.

As an adjective, it modifies nouns. It can also be a noun (as part of the predicate).

We don’t have enough cash for a car. (Here enough [adj] modifies the noun cash).

This model isn’t good enough. (Here enough [adv] modifies the adjective good.

They can’t run fast enough. (Here enough [adv] modifies the adverb fast).

He didn’t exercise enough. (Here enough [adv] modifies the verb exercise).

About three grand would be enough. (Here enough [n] is part of the predicate).

Have they had enough to eat? (Here enough [n] is part of the predicate).

Conclusion on Use of Determiners: As has been suggested above, the

determiners, and especially the articles, are probably the most difficult

part of the written language. Once writers feel confident with these, they

may be considered advanced users. Other determiners, such as some/any,

each/every, either/neither/both, and all/enough also pose difficulty. The

section of any grammar book discussing them is worth studying; and in

one’s reading, one should note how these items are used. The use of

determiners must be practiced. Grammar texts (like AZAR) can only

provide further guidance.

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B. NOUNS

Some of the relevant material concerning nouns has been discussed in Chapter 2.

A number of additional aspects are discussed below:

NOUNS: Proper—Countable--Non-countable: Mass--Abstract

Nouns may be classified in terms of plural and singular forms (e.g. countable and non-countable). As has been outlined at the beginning of this chapter, non-countable nouns consist of mass nouns (e.g. sugar, milk, air, etc.) and abstract nouns (e.g. love, hatred, emotion, happiness, etc.). Nouns may also be classified in accordance with capitalization (e.g. names and nouns proper). The choice of articles is dependent on the type of noun used.

Proper Nouns – Names of people and places. When in normal use, these have neither a/an nor the in front of them. Special titles require the definite article:

Names of Persons:

Joe Smith, Dora Jones, Clara Bush, Uwe Beck, Ellen Mendoza, Ali

Hasan

Ordinary courtesy titles:

Dr. Smith, Mrs. Jones, Ms. Bush, Herr Beck, Señora Mendoza, Professor

Ali Hasan.

Special titles:

The Queen of England,The Sultan of Brunei,The Prime Minister of

Japan.

Names of Places:

Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Denmark, Ecuador, France, Russia, Spain,

Papua New Guinea, etc.

Some of the exceptions include post-determiners: e.g. The United States

(of America); The United Kingdom (of Great Britain and N. Ireland);

The Dominican Republic (Republica Dominicana), The Czech Republic

(Ceska Republika).

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Others denote provinces, regions, islands, seas, and countries, written in plural: The NW Territories, The Carolinas, The Dakotas, The Hebrides,

The Channel Islands, The Kurile Islands, The Virgin Islands, The

Antilles, The Florida Keys, The Aleutians, The Bahamas.

Other exceptions are translations from other languages, e.g. Arabic: The

Sudan, The United Arab Emirates; from Spanish: The Philippines (Las Islas Filipinas); The Caribbean (Los Caribes); The Falkland Islands (Las

Islas Malvinas); from Italian: The Vatican (Il Vaticano); or from Afrikaans: The Orange Free State (Die Oranje Frystaat). Some names of places are temporary or historical: The Panama Canal Zone (Panama); The DMZ (demilitarized zone) in Korea, or Cyprus; The American Sector

(in post-war West Berlin).

Note B.1: With rare exceptions, the above nouns can also be written without “The.” Examples of where the article is needed include“The

Caribbean” and “The Dakotas.”

Countable Nouns (Cs) – These include anything that can be counted, e.g.:

A person, an answer, two people, three chairs, 20 days’ work; eighty

members of staff; 650,864 head of sheep; 6.5 x 1014 stars.

(Both a/an and the are used with these, with the above rules being followed).

It is an amplifier; What is the area? Place the knife there; Give me an

estimate.

Determiners may be used in various different ways:

I have no amplifier. This area is open. Either knife will do. I haven’t any

estimate.

Plurals forms take the definite article:

Bring the amplifiers. The areas are closed. Sharpen the knives. The

estimates are in.

Undefined nouns in plural form can be used without determiner:

Let’s buy bananas. Can we bring tomatoes? We shall eat sandwiches.

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But nouns, whether defined or undefined, need a determiner in singular form:

Give me the/an orange. I’d like the/a sandwich. Let’s take the/a taxi.

One cannot say: “Give me orange. I’d like sandwich. Let’s take taxi.”

Non-Countable Nouns (N-Cs) – They designate items that cannot be counted. There are different kinds of N-Cs, but they behave the same grammatically, e.g.:

(1) Substances, including metals, liquids & food stuffs:

oxygen, water, gold, gas, leather, ice, rice, milk, silk, soil, oil, foil, bone,

stone.

(2) Composites (also known as mass nouns, sometimes consisting of mixtures): equipment, rubbish, timber, the content(s); news; information;

inflation, dust.

(3) Abstractions (also known as abstract nouns): success, happiness,

methodology, enthusiasm, waste, inspiration, socialism.

Note B.2: Nouns in the first two categories take either no article or the definite article. They do not take “a/an.”

The oxygen is supplied free of charge. The equipment is ready. Joe

showed an unusual enthusiasm. The gas is under pressure. The info is

OK.

Note B.3: Nouns in all three categories take the definite article the only if there is context.

The socialism of Mr. Quinn is more apparent than real.

(Mr. Quinn’s socialism is more apparent than real).

It was in Switzerland where James Joyce found the inspiration he

needed.

The success of Col. Sanders in the KFC business is considered

legendary.

Many citizens are angry about the waste of money caused by useless

projects.

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Note B.4: Only gas has an obvious plural (the gases), but otherwise these

nouns behave like singular countables. They are, however, also used in

the sense of ‘unlimited’ or of being available in indeterminate amounts.

Words like methodology, historiography and chronology can be used as

both mass nouns and count nouns.

The new filter eliminated most particles and reduced the effect of the

gases. (Gas or gases will usually be specified, e.g. hydrogen, oxygen,

helium).

Oxygen is supplied. Ice is no gas. Instead of helium, the balloon uses hot

air. Equipment is no problem. Enthusiasm is lacking.

Inflation is a problem. Dust must be excluded. Gold is heavier than tin.

Methodology is the knowledge or application of methods. There may be

10 methods, but only one methodology. Chronology is a viable method.

Method A uses a different chronology from Method B. The chronology of

Method B is based on unconventional assumptions.

Note B.5: As can be observed, the three categories above are not totally

restrictive – some non-countable nouns can function in more than one

mode. Non-countable nouns should not be confused with Collective

Nouns, e.g.: Group, majority, family, committee, crew, team,

government, intelligentsia, constellation, audience. These behave like

countable nouns, except that the verb may be singular or plural,

according to whether the collective is thought of as a group, or the focus

is on the individuals who form it. The singular or plural choice in verbs is

often a matter of style or personal preference:

Cincinnati Red Legs was new. The intelligentsia is ineffective. The

police was organized. Philadelphia Eagles is prepared. The Marine

Corps was deployed.

Cincinnati Red Legs were divided. All intelligentsia are in jail. The

police were waiting. Philadelphia Eagles are playing badly. The

Marine Corps were fighting.

Note B.6: Plural use of verbs with singular nouns such as family or

committee is colloquial and hardly recommended for serious academic

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writing. (e.g. “The family are fighting.”) One should rather say: “The

members of the family are fighting” or, “The family is divided over this

issue.” Most of the nouns denoting groups can easily be used in plural

form:

(The) constellations, committees, families, minorities, teams, etc.

Note B.7: Some of the nouns in this group are used as mass nouns, e.g.

intelligentsia, proletariat, and bourgeoisie. In political science,

intelligentsia may be used with both singular and plural verbs. The count

noun “government” can also be used as an abstract noun, especially

when it stands for “governing” or “political skill.”

Government is an Art.

Countable vs. Non-Countable Nouns: (C / N-Cs): It is often difficult to

distinguish between nouns that can be used both as countable, and as

non-countable. Sometimes this involves a change of meaning between

these two forms. Even where the meanings are very close, the countable

noun is more specific, generally referring to things that can be perceived

by the senses, whereas the N-C noun often amounts to an abstraction:

The essence of the matter is that existence precedes essence.

A perfume contains many essences.

Grammatical terminology is a meta-language.

Metaphysics is not mysticism: It is language(s) for Theories of

Everything.

Note B.8: Context: There are other reasons why it is difficult to

distinguish between definite and indefinite articles. Some applications are

very common and used in many contexts, whereas others are used less,

and mostly in special contexts. For example, an advice/the advice are

unusual, but advice, as in a piece of advice or some advice, is common; a

report/the reports are common, but report, meaning what ‘they’ say is

used almost exclusively in that particular way. Here are examples of dual

use, positioned side by side:

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COUNT NOUNS:

The organization needs a new

CEO.

The mirrors give many reflections.

Two of the five outputs are on

target.

The architect drew several

elevations.

The wheel has a bias to the right.

The emphases in the essay are all

wrong.

All of his efforts came to nothing.

He showed a precision we admire.

He gave me an explanation.

The experience we had was

strange.

All the researches failed to prove

this.

The purpose of the course is

twofold.

She agreed, but only under two

conditions.

You are wasting your energies.

The advice was very useful.

NON-COUNT NOUNS:

Organization is a key word.

Reflection has been eliminated.

Our main worry is output.

Elevation is comparable to

altitude.

The judge summed up without

bias.

He spoke with great emphasis.

He does it without effort.

We must teach our students

precision.

This requires further explanation.

He has extensive experience.

Research is needed to prove this

theory.

She has a strong sense of purpose.

Condition is a main selling point.

Energy is essential to success.

Advice is wasted on that man.

An important variation is determined by style, in which case the article

the can be dropped. This usually happens when the sentence uses a tone

of everyday speech:

We are waiting to hear about our examination.

(The) Results won’t come out until next week.

I worked the idea out, and sent it to him with an outline for an article.

I have heard nothing about either (the) idea or (the) article.

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Note B.9: It is not grammatically wrong to use the definite article the in

such cases. It is often dropped simply because this form has been used

already several times in the sentence.

The following passage contains a number of definite/indefinite & C/N-C

usages. It is from “Writing a Doctoral Dissertation” Davis & Parker

Barrons (1997). The items in question have been numbered and analyzed

subsequently:

1An important part of 2the search for a 3topic is 4an investigation of

existing 5knowledge and current 6research in the 7topic area. 8The

investigation proceeds conceptually through the following three

stages with increasing 9scope and depth.

1. Exploratory investigations, as part of the

development and 10evaluation of possible topics

in 11an area.

2. 12Investigation in some depth, sufficient to

support a formal research and dissertation

proposal. 3. 13

Complete research, that is described in the

“literature/research” section of the dissertation.

Because of the vast store of knowledge and the increasing rate at

which knowledge is being accumulated, it is important that 14the

researcher become efficient in literature 15search. A full treatise

of this subject is beyond 16the scope of this book. However, a 17

framework for initiating the search and a 18search strategy are

suggested. 19The appendix includes a discussion of computer

20software in search processes.

Notes:

1. An = one of several – followed by an open-vowel noun. 2. the search (defined) was the subject of the last chapter. 3. a topic here undefined, but referred back to as the topic at # 7. 4. An investigation (undef.) referred back to as the at 8. The

investigation is possible, as is Ø – investigation becomes N-C.

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5. Write either: ”… the existing knowledge and the current research…,”

or only, “…existing knowledge and current research…”

6. goes together with No. 5.

7. the topic area … (def.). It is the subject of the endeavor.

8. The investigation … (def.) It is part of the defined research.

9. scope & depth both N-Cs. an increasing scope, etc.… would be

ponderous.

10. development and evaluation are used like scope and depth.

11. an area: in 7 this was the area. Here “an” stands for any area.

12. Investigation is used as a mass noun, referring to a general notion.

13. Complete Research. Like “Investigation,” it is used as a mass noun.

Both phrases are used as headings for the three sub-paragraphs, and

the articles are left out also in order for the phrases to stand out

better.

14. the researcher: any/all researchers, esp. those working on such

projects.

15. Efficient in search is like good at dissection. These are N-Cs (mass

nouns); but the difference between search and a search is very small.

Here “in search” suggests “in any (such) search.”

16. the scope of this book: “the book’s scope” – a post-determiner.

17. A framework (still undefined). One does not know details yet.

18. This goes with No. 17: A framework and a search strategy.

19. The appendix: Because there is only one!

20. Software: an N-C-like equipment, weaponry, armor, cannon, aircraft.

Conclusion on Use of Nouns & Articles: Perseverance in studying and

applying the principles governing the use of C/NC nouns should be

fruitful. Fluency and refinement of style are a matter of practice.

C. VERBS

Agreement of subject (noun/pronoun) and verb: Mistakes such as “it

do” or “they does” are common. They are very easy to correct and

should not occur. Reading this section should clarify matters.

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Present Past

I, we, you, they measure

buy have go do

I am / you are

He, she, it measures

buys has goes does

is

I, you, they, he, she, it measured

bought had went did

was / were

NOTE C.1: In present tense, the verb ends in “s” if it is used in third person singular, i.e. governed by “he, she, it.” (e.g. “He/she/it walks.”). Otherwise, the verb takes no “s.” In past tense, singular and plural verb applications take the same form, except for the distinction in “were” and “was.” The singular/plural use of certain nouns affects the verb and also the meaning.

A Few Typical Examples:

Without “s” With “s”

Such experiences are common. Their activities were applauded. Many people (they) have come. No people have come. All people stop here. Most customers buy sugar. Most people were late. Only a few species (they) exist. All are welcome. Two of the samples are missing. None (of them) are missing. None (of them) were/was interested. All/None were present/absent. All (of) the experiments are in vain. All seats were taken. All benches were fully equipped. Both courses of action are possible. Both approaches have a chance of success.

His experience is limited. There was no activity at the plant. Much trouble (it) has been taken. Nobody has come. Someone does it. Nobody stops here. Somebody buys the sugar. Only one person was on time. He buys a little food (it) everyday. Anyone is eligible. One (of the samples) is missing. None (of them) is missing. No-one was willing to go. Nobody was absent. All my work is wasted. Every seat was taken. Each bench was fully equipped. Each course of action is possible. Neither approach has any chance of success.

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Combinations:

The book and pen were left on the table.

A leader, our spokesman, is chosen every year. (Here, leader = spokesman)

The lady or gentleman serving the coffee has left the door open.

The Director or his Assistants carry the responsibility.

The Directors or the General Manager has the responsibility.

The scissors are in the drawer. The data are uncertain. Mathematics is

easy.

The first of the cases we have examined these last two weeks is now

closed.

The consequences of the leak are still being studied.

Professor Enqvist, who gave us such stimulating insights into the origins

of cognitive systems in the primates, is leaving tonight.

Auxiliary Verbs:

NOTE C.2: Auxiliary verbs (also known as helping verbs and used for tenses and moods) do not fall into this category. There is no distinction between plural and singular, or between first, second, or third person. Exceptions are the modal auxiliaries “have” and “do”.

I/We shall have strawberries for dessert. (Future)

You/He/She/They will get there just in time. (Future)

I won’t go out tonight. He won’t, either. (Future)

I should have known better, and so should you and he. (Subjunctive)

Would you care for some icecream? (Conditional)

They would like to go bowling. (Conditional)

Could you help us, please? Couldn’t they come over? (Subjunctive)

What can I do for you? (Indicative)

We must catch the train. (Indicative)

He mustn’t get away with this. (Indicative)

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When the verbs “to be, to do,” or “to have,” are used as modal auxiliaries, they are conjugated like ordinary verbs.

Are you going home? Is he going, too?

I’m not going, but he definitely is.

Were you going to go? No, I wasn’t, but he was.

Do you like my car? Does he want pizza?

Did you like the show? Did your friends like it?

Have you seen this crazy driver? Has Joe seen him?

When used in Present Perfect or Past Perfect, the past participle of the verb “to have” is used together with the conjugated form of the modal auxiliary form. It can also stand at the beginning of questions in Past Perfect tense:

Have you had enough to eat? I have, but he hasn’t. (Present Perfect)

I haven’t had any rest all day! (Present Perfect)

Had I only had this idea earlier! (Past Perfect, Subjunctive)

Had he gone home first before flying to Boston? (Past Perfect)

They had never been there before, and were stunned. (Past Perfect)

Conclusion: It should be easy to make verbs agree with subjects, as long as one remembers that, with the exception of modal auxiliaries, in third person singular present – he, she, or it – the verb ends in an “s.”

D. THE PASSIVE

The use of the passive voice has been the subject of much learned discussion. In strictly grammatical terms, this device was inherited from Latin, where certain verbs are restricted to the passive, e.g. “moritur,” (he dies), or “molitur” (he labors). In some verbs, both active and passive are used, e.g. “videt,” (he sees), and “videtur” (it seems, or appears). Another example is “habet,” (he has) and “habetur quomodo…” (he is considered as...)

In the English language, the use of the passive is governed primarily by considerations of effective expression. Hence, in situations where it is

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expedient or preferable to leave any possible agency unmentioned, the passive is used, e.g.: “The dishes haven’t been washed, the floor hasn’t been cleaned, and the trash hasn’t been taken out.” The same applies when the agency is, in fact, unknown, especially in police reports, e.g.: “Mr. Joe Miller, a shopkeeper, was robbed of $525 in cash at gun-point.” Furthermore, the passive is used when it is either confusing, impossible, or undesirable to do otherwise, especially in scientific writing, e.g.: “More than 120 tests were conducted. The results of 118 of them were found to be indicative of radio-active soil contamination.”

With the advent of modern technology, particularly the facility of sophisticated machinery and computers, the passive is often preferred when it comes to describing actions performed “automatically” or “interactively” by machines as opposed to actions performed by operators (i.e. via human agency). The arguments for and against the passive voice in scientific papers are well-known:

The First Point Against the Passive: It is shorter and neater to use the Active in an introductory statement such as the one below, saying:

Cornelis (1995) proposed a new approach…

rather than:

A new approach was proposed by Cornelis (1995)…

The Second Point Against the Passive: There is a good case for the personal we (I, the team, the authors, etc) where the authors make an intervention in the planned procedures. It is more effective to use the Active:

compared these with… We then decided to bring in a new variable.

rather than the Passive:

then compared with… It was then decided to bring in a new variable.

The First Point in Favour of the Passive: In the Methodology section, the general use of the Passive is arguably just as neat:

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The instruments were re-calibrated, and the results processed. These

were then compared with…

as bringing in the personal “We” used for normal routine processes:

We re-calibrated the instruments, and processed the results. We then

compared these with…

The Second Point in Favor of the Passive: Avoidance of personal pronouns. Many repetitions of We, or what it stands for, are not economical. Besides, they introduce an unnecessary personal element into an impersonal account: The Methodology should not depend on the persons involved.

These are the main points of the debate. Some writers use ‘all passive voice’ and a smaller group use the active wherever possible. However, the only ruling that can be made amounts essentially to, “Keep things in perspective: Use either voice, but neither in excess.”

NOTE D.1: In many scientific reports, the direct version (stating the agent) reads better, spelling out who decided, whereas the passive leaves more room, as the decision could have been made by or in consultation with individuals outside the group of researchers. Even in a less dramatic situation, if ‘We’ did it, why not say so?

NOTE D.2: Balanced Solution & New Specific Criteria: All the points are valid, which suggests that effective expression should allow both forms, Direct (Active) and Indirect (Passive). Some experts suggest the use of certain criteria. The quotation that follows is adapted from: Louise

H. Cornelis: The Passive Voice in Computer Manuals: A New Perspective (J. Technical Writing & Communication Vol. 25, 1995/3)

which in turn takes ideas from L. E. Smith & S. A. Bernhardt, When to

Prefer the Passive Voice. Writing at Work, Ch 17, 1988, (unpublished):

Cornelis suggests a way to use both Active and Passive in

computer manuals. Her principle, that the Active should be

used for actions by the operator, and the Passive for what is

done by the computer as a result of those actions, seems

applicable to scientific reporting. The Active, for example,

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marks the beginning of a phase of operations, whereas the

Passive is used for the events in the phase.

In Writing at Work, Smith & Bernhardt mentions two principles:

1. Active and imperative sentences signal what the user does.

2. Passives signal machine actions that take place as a result of those user actions. The computer is the implicit agent of these passives.

NOTE D.3: This leads to an alternation of active and passive structures. In the sentence below, the first part, before the comma, describes a user action. The second part is what the computer does automatically as a result:

When you add a number to the list (personal action), the total is calculated and the bottom line adjusted accordingly (computer action).

Note D.5: This use of tenses is practical, with a clear principle to it. The following example (concerning headers and footers) comes from Mastering Microsoft Word for Windows:

Note D.6: Alternative Use of Active and Passive in Computer

Operations:

ADDING HEADERS, FOOTERS, AND FOOTNOTES:

(1) A header or footer you assign to a section is automatically copied to all following sections of the document. [you assign but is copied].

(2) For example, if a document has three sections, and you enter a header for Section 1, Sections 2 & 3 will automatically be assigned the same header. [you enter but be assigned]

(3) Also, if you change the header for Section 1, the headers for Sections 2 & 3 will also be changed. [you change; be changed]

(4) When you change or add header or footer text for a section other than Section 1, the link with previous sections is removed.

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(5) Thus, if you change the header text for Section 2, Section 1 is not

affected. [change or add, is removed; change, is affected] Also, please

note, any changes to the header in Section 1 will now no longer affect

Sections 2, 3 etc. [This sentence makes for a variation in the

Active/Passive pattern].

NOTE D.7: This system works well with instructions, using the

Imperative mode: First (bold type): From: PC Tools: To create a new

data base.

1. Type the Field Name in the Field Name text box. It doesn’t

matter if you type in upper or lower case. Field names are

converted to upper case.

2. Select the Field Type option button you want. The Field Size

default is set when the field is added. In the case of Character and

Numeric type fields, the Size text box can be selected, and the size

changed.

3. Select the Add command button. The field structure is created,

and the text boxes appear empty again, ready for you to define the

next field.

4. When finished adding fields, select the Save button. The

Dialogue Box closes; and the default form file is now loaded, with

an empty record displayed.

NOTE D.8: In No. 3 & 4 above, the active present [appear, closes]

shows computer actions which are visible on the screen. This is also clear

and natural.

Note D.9: PASSIVE STRUCTURES IN SCIENTIFIC ARTICLES:

While the above system may be excellent for instructions on the use of

computers or other machines, it cannot be readily transferred to the

English required for scientific articles (See Ch 4). The main reason is

that the optimal application of tense, mood, and voice is different in these

two areas.

The Introduction of an article, for example, is a mixture of Present and

Past, where the current situation is described in present tense, whereas

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the topic’s history (including recent endeavors) is presented in past tense.

Another point is the use of the Past Simple as opposed to the Past Perfect,

when indefinite perspectives are described (e.g. things that have / had

been done) A research paper, however, should say when things happened.

There is little need for the Passive.

In the Methods section, the Passive is convenient and used frequently. As

suggested above, the pronoun We (governing the active voice) constitutes

a natural variation of style, sometimes marking a new paragraph, or

pointing to the (direct) intervention of the researchers. Passives alone,

however, can still be effective in the Methods section.

The Results section does not require any Passive at all. The findings can,

ideally, be put in the Present, e.g.“This is how things are, as can be seen

from this and that.” Some narrative, in the Past, showing the steps by

which the results were reached, is often necessary. In such narratives, the

Passive voice and Perfect tenses here are usually a sign of weak style

burdened by wordiness. If it appears in someone’s writing, the question

to ask ought to be, “Can I say this more succinctly?”

Note D.10: PASSIVE STRUCTURES IN THE ABSTRACT:

Authors generally follow the rough guidelines presented above

throughout the article, except for the Abstract, where Passives are often a

sign that the research either had few results, or that the authors are failing

to highlight them. Instead, methods and procedures take their place. For

example, in the Abstract below, the Results, put two ways, are in italics.

The rest discusses the steps towards them. In this case, the results look

significant, and so can only gain from being ‘simple and direct’.

[(Adapted from Denburg & Norbeck, An Axon Growth Associated

Antigen is also an Early Marker of Neuronal Development,

Developmental Biology 135 (1989)]:

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We have previously described the generation of a monoclonal

antibody (DSS-3) that binds to all neurons in cockroach

embryos at 50% development and to only a small sub-set of

interneurons in the adult nervous system. This developmental

stage-specific antigen was observed to reappear in all

axotomized adult neurons that were undergoing axonal

regeneration. In the present study the time course of the

reappearance of this growth-associated antigen during

embryonic development was determined. Unexpectedly, the

antigen was observed to be present in embryonic neurons

long before axon growth. In addition, all cells in the CNS

neuronal lineage (neuroblasts, ganglion mother cells, and

neurons) bind the antibody as soon as they can be

morphologically identified. However, the antigen is also

transiently present in all neuro-epithelial cells at a stage prior

to the morphological differentiation of some of them to

neuroblasts. Analogous patterns of DSS-3 binding to cells

involved in the development of sensory neurons and leg

pioneer neurons are observed. The DSS-3 antigen is therefore

a very early marker for the capacity of ectodermal epithelial

cells to develop along a neuronal lineage.

180 words.

NOTE D.11: In the above Abstract, neither the We at the beginning nor

the subsequent Passives are necessary. The Present can be used for past

research, now established truth, and also for the present findings. The

single use of the Past can be direct: “We unexpectedly found…” The

researchers were affected by this, and the personal We would be quite

natural.

77

The monoclonal antibody (DSS-3) binds to all neurons in

cockroach embryos at 50% development, though to only a

small sub-set of interneurons in the adult nervous system.

This developmental stage-specific antigen reappears in all

axotomized adult neurons undergoing axonal regeneration.

In further study of this growth-associated antigen, we

unexpectedly found the antigen present in embryonic neurons

long before axon growth. All cells in the CNS neuronal

lineage bind the antibody as soon as they can be

morphologically identified; also, the antigen is transiently

present in all these cells before some of them become

neuroblasts. DSS-3 binds to cells involved in the

development of sensory neurons and leg pioneer neurons.

The DSS-3 antigen is therefore a very early marker for the

capacity of ectodermal epithelial cells to develop along a

neuronal lineage.

131 words

CONCLUSION: The Passive should be used only where the agent is either insignificant, or is clearly the researcher (s). More effective may be the Active (We did this) where the agent becomes significant. In all other parts of the article, except the Methods part, the Passive voice encourages wordiness and imprecision; and should be kept out. The exception is the Abstract, where there may be reasons for using both the Passive and the Present Perfect (This has been done). Writers should aim to use only the Present and Past.

ASSIGNMENTS

EXERCISES:

Practice Test 1: CLOZE TEST 1: General Vocabulary

Complete the sentences below by filling in the blanks. Use only ONE

WORD for each blank space. Choose from the words listed. Do not

use any word more than once.

78

own next how terms conclusions

with are should most essay

Many advanced learners of English ________ still battling with the

use of the passive voice. Although they are familiar ___________the

grammar rules, they do not know ________ to manage the passive

effectively, which affects the quality of their writing, especially in

_________ of style. The first important consideration __________ be

the nature of the writing project at hand. Is it a lab report, a legal

document, an __________ in the humanities, or a critical diatribe on

someone else’s work? Depending on the nature of the project, one

can already gauge the __________ important applications. The

________ point is to focus on the section or portion of the project.

Introductions, _____________, methodologies, or results require

their ________ specific approach to effective sylistics.

Practice Test 2: CLOZE Test 2: General Vocabulary

Read the passage below and complete the sentences by filling in the

blanks. Choose from the eight words listed. Do not use any word

more than once. There is only one correct choice for each blank

space.

essentially new broader theory applied significant mix idea

Perhaps one of the most _______________ [35] advances made by

Arabic mathematics began at this time with the work of al-

Khwarizmi, namely the beginnings of algebra. It is important to

understand just how important this new ______________ [36] was. It

was a revolutionary move away from the Greek concept of

mathematics which was ________________ [37] geometry. Algebra

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was a unifying ________________ [38] which allowed rational

numbers, irrational numbers, geometrical magnitudes, etc., to all be

treated as "algebraic objects". It gave mathematics a whole new

development path so much _________________ [39] in concept to

that which had existed before, and provided a vehicle for future

development of the subject. Another important aspect of the

introduction of algebraic ideas was that it allowed mathematics to be

________________ [40] to itself in a way which had not happened

before. [Adapted from O'Connor, John J. & Robertson, Edmund F.,

"Muhammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī" (MacTutor History of

Mathematics archive)]

Practice Test 3: Modal Auxiliaries

Complete the sentences below by choosing either (a), (b), (c), or (d).

There is only one correct answer.

1. Ali _________ have gone to the laboratory before he went to the

field.

(a) was (b) will (c) should (d) need

2. When Joe tried to lift the heavy beam, he noticed that he _____ do

it.

(a) should (b) couldn’t (c) would (d) wanted

3. The scouts ____ observed how the enemy troops entered the

perimeter.

(a) were (b) must (c) had (d) went to

4. Joe never ____ have gone to Bali if he had known about the crash.

(a) must (b) would (c) hoping (d) needed

5. “You ______ write your name on the sheet twice,” said the

professor.

(a) have not (b) need not (c) had yet (d) have

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6. Jim _____ like to become a famous scientist before his brother

does.

(a) had (b) would (c) must (d) wants

7. This test was tough! We __________ seem to get the answers

right!

(a) hadn't (b) needn't (c) couldn’t (d) wasn’t

8. The results of these tests were found ________ highly

significant.

(a) being (b) not being (c) be (d to be

9. _____________ you like some dessert, sir?

(a) Have (b) Would (c) Can (d) Had

10. Paris is wonderful! __________ you ever been there?

(a) Didn’t (b) Wasn’t (c) Haven’t (d) Couldn’t

Practice Test 4: Determiners: Some/Any/Little/Much/Few/Many

Complete the sentences below by choosing either (a), (b), (c), or (d).

There is only one correct answer.

1. Jim needs a loan. He doesn’t have _______ funds left in his

account.

(a) some (b) few (c) any--------- (d) much

2. Ali’s car is in poor condition. He won’t get _____ for it when he

sells it.

(a) many (b) any (c) much (d) some

3. Many students enroll in English 101, but only ____ receive an A or a

B.

(a) little (b) some (c) any (d) much

4. How ____________ is this radio? Forty-seven dollars, sir.

(a) few (b) many (c) little (d) great

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5. A poor boys chances for a pretty girl's glances are sometimes very

_____.

(a) any (b) some (c) few (d) much

6. They haven’t seen __________ children playing in the park.

(a) much (b) any (c) little (d) few

7. We are thirsty! May we have __________ water, please.

(a) many (b) some (c) few (d) much

8. How________ Mexican pesos must I pay for 100 US dollars?

(a) much (b) any (c) many (d) few

9. Why are there so ____________ people coming to town today?

(a) little (b) any (c) few (d) much

10. I still can’t believe that it has taken so _____ to get this job done.

(a) many (b) few (c) most (d) long

Practice Test 5: Passive

Complete the sentences below by choosing either (a), (b), (c), or (d).

There is only one correct answer.

1. The manager complained that the cars ___________ been washed.

(a) were not (b) had not (c) not had (d) not

2. Before one takes this instrument to the field, it ____ thoroughly

cleaned.

(a) has to (b) must have (c) must be (d) needs

3. This unit ___________ been equipped with the new M-1 Battle

Tanks.

(a) have not (b) has never (c) were also (d) was

4. The exact amount of material to be used _____ quantified in

advance.

(a) have been (b) cannot be (c) were not (d) been

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5. This project wouldn’t ______ completed if Jim had not assisted

us.

(a) been (b) has been (c) have been (d) have

6. The analysis of the three samples ___________ found to be

correct.

(a) were (b) have (c) was (d) had

7. This job could ___________ finished much earlier than planned.

(a) has been (b) have been (c) have (d) be

8. Mr. Brown never _________________ promoted in 14 years.

(a) was (b) has (c) been (d) had

9. This medication ___________ exposed to direct sunlight.

(a) has (b) have been (c) must not be (d) must

10. These tests _____________ completed in less than one week.

(a) have not (b) can’t be (c) couldn’t have (d) have

Practice Test 6: Nouns & Articles

Complete the sentences below by choosing either (a), (b), (c), or (d).

There is only one correct answer.

01. On his next summer vacation Joe wants to travel to __________.

(a) Bahamas (b) Carolinas (c) Dakotas (d) Cuba

02. The truck Ali bought last year is _________ one he has ever had.

(a) best (b) a best (c) the best (d) the

03. When Jim went to the forest, he saw ___________.

(a) an owl (b) the owl (c) a owl (d) owl

04. ___________ elephant tried to break into the enclosure.

(a) Old (b) An old (c) Other (d) A

05. ___________ ore is important for the extraction of certain

metals.

(a) An iron (b) The iron (c) A iron (d) Iron

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06. Jim has ten apples and ______________ in his car.

(a) a orange (b) the orange (c) an orange (d) orange

07. The __________ should be visited by every person who loves

nature.

(a) Turkey (b) Canada (c) Bahamas (d) Belgium

08. What’s wrong with you? You haven’t been to the __________

yet?

(a) Namibia (b) Great Britain (c) Vatican (d) Egypt

09. Various concepts associated with __________ are highly

controversial.

(a) a socialism (b) the socialism (c) socialisms (d) socialism

10. No arrest have been made in the new case. ______ investigation is

continuing.

(a) A (b) The (c) An (d) Other

Practice Test 7: Either, Or, Neither, Nor & Enough

Complete the sentences below by choosing either (a), (b), (c), or (d).

There is only one correct answer.

01. He can’t play tennis. ____________ can he swim.

(a) Enough (b) Neither (c) Either (d) Or

02. One is ____________ wealthy or needs to do some kind of work.

(a) neither (b) enough (c) either (d) nor

03. Many poor people in Third World places cannot get __________

to eat.

(a) either (b) enough (c) neither (d) nor

04. They don’t want to go to Egypt, but ____ do they want to go to

Jordan.

(a) neither (b) enough (c) either (d) or

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05. The gorge was so steep that we couldn’t climb up on __________

side.

(a) enough (b) neither (c) either (d) nor

06. That’s good _____________ for today! Let’s do the rest

tomorrow.

(a) either (b) neither (c) enough (d) nor

07. _____________ will he pass the exam nor go on vacation.

(a) Either (b) Neither (c) Enough (d) Or

08. Both organizations are in decline. I wouldn’t want to join

__________.

(a) enough (b) neither (c) either (d) nor

09. ___________ has been said. We must look for alternatives.

(a) Neither (b) Either (c) Enough (d) Or

10. This business proposal is neither attractive ______ free of great

risk.

(a) either (b) enough (c) nor (d) or

Practice Test 8: Adjectives I

01. Prior to industrialization, nature flourished in its __________

splendor.

(a) prudish (b) pristine (c) prurient (d) prissy

02. Something mysterious or obscure and known only to insiders is

________.

(a) archaic (b) asinine (c) arcane (d) arctic

03. Being uninspired or in doubt about something means being

hardly _______.

(a) solemn (b) sanguine (c) Sapphic (d) saline

04. A mood associated with gloominess, negative feeling, or disease is

______,

(a) moribund (b) morbid (c) moronic (d) mossy

05. Some liquids used for lubrication in engines need to be

_________.

(a) vicious (b) viscous (c) vitriolic (d) vile

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06. “____________” actions usually involve stealth and guile. (a) Surreptitious (b) Suspect (c) Sinister (d) Sourly

07. Secret societies rely on their _____ links in the pursuit of their

agenda.

(a) Celtic (b) clandestine (c) cliché (d) caustic

08. A mission considered extremely difficult is often referred to as

________.

(a) assiduous (b) austere (c) arduous (d) arid

09. Many billionaires, especially in Europe, may be deemed _______

kings.

(a) virtuous (b) virtual (c) vicious (d) viscous

10. The elated singer treated her friend to a jolly set of ________

tunes.

(a) melancholy (b) metaphoric (c) metaphysical (d)

mellifluous

Practice Test 9: Adjectives II

11. The California Vehicle Code contains a section covering ______

driving.

(a) ruthless (b) rimless (c) reckless (d) rueful

12. ________ rape is covered in the penal codes of many states and

countries.

(a) Stationary (b) Stationery (c) Statutory (d) Starry

13. The fairly recent phenomenon of ____ motherhood has caused

social problems.

(a) surging (b) surrogate (c) surreal (d) surplus

14. Texts about knights, like “Don Quixote” or “The Fairy Queen,”

extol ___ virtues.

(a) chauvinistic (b) chivalric (c) Chilean (d) civic

15. Someone on his deathbed is generally considered a _________

case.

(a) mortified (b) moribund (c) mortgaged (d) morose

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16. Louis XIV of France (1638-1715) was known for many ______

encounters.

(a) amalgamated (b) analgesic (c) amorous (d) amplified 17. Poetry set in iambic pentameter and steeped in melancholy is

known as ____.

(a) elegant (b) elegiac (c) elusive (d) ebullient 18. Romantic writers [e.g. Wordsworth and Coleridge] often used

____ verse.

(a) listless (b) lethargic (c) lyrical (d) lyre 19. ____ parents generally prefer to send their children to prestigious

schools.

(a) Astonished (b) Affluent (c) Astounded (d) Ascetic 20. In Marxist theory, the Lumpenproletariat comprises the poorest

of the ____.

(a) disproved (b) dispossessed (c) disconcerted (d)

disowned 21. When going on field trips, scientists need to take along _______

equipment.

(a) calcified (b) callous (c) calibrated (d) caliginous 22. Unless _______ regularly, firearms in frequent use will

malfunction

(a) lubricated (b) liquefied (c) liquidated (d) lured 23. Transactions prohibited by law are identified as __________.

(a) intransigent (b) illicit (c) insipid (d) illogical 24. Nocturnal navigation is often aided by ______ markings on the

ground.

(a) luxurious (b) lurid (c) luminous (d) lucrative 25. Automobiles in many countries must be equipped with a ______

converter.

(a) catatonic (b) cathartic (c) Catalonian (d) catalytic

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Reading List

Quirk, R. & Greenbaum, S.: A University Grammar of English. Longman, 1973/77

Leech, G & Svartvik, J: A Communicative Grammar of English. Longman 1975/81

These books are systematic and thorough. They cover much of what is outside Scientific English, but they are excellent reference works when a question needs to be answered in minute detail. Both derive from the authors’ longer work, A Grammar of

Contemporary English.

Brogan, John A. Clear Technical Writing. Glencoe/McGraw Hill 1973/1999.

This book was thought worth reprinting. It is extremely thorough on how to write brief and exact sentences. The vast number of examples are taken from all branches of science. It is systematic and can be a fine reference book.

Azar, Betty Schrampfer Understanding and Using English Grammar. Prentice Hall Regents 2nd Ed. 1989 (Blue Azar).

There are two simpler versions of this book (Black & Red Azar). They provide a systematic treatment with copious examples and exercises for general language school students.

Day, Robert A. Scientific English: A Guide for Scientists and Other Professionals, Oryx Press, 1992.

An entertaining and down-to-earth traditional grammar, full of useful tips on how and how not to do things. Robert Day has been a journal editor for many years.

Chapter IV

Grammar-3

(Additional Grammar Points B)

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This chapter is intended to provide learners with a more thorough understanding of various complex topics of English grammar: Hyphenated Modifiers, Passive Voice, Present Perfect, and Progressive Tense, including an overview of Active versus Passive Voice, and of modal auxiliaries.

1. Hyphenated Modifiers:

The use of compound words functioning as modifiers includes primarily adjectives and nouns (or combinations thereof). Adverbial combinations are rare.

A. Hyphenated Modifiers Functioning as Adjectives:

Such compound words, sometimes including numerals, may consist of several elements. Here are ten examples of frequently used hyphenated modifiers functioning as adjectives:

1. People wearing clothes of the 1800s are considered old-fashioned.

2. Martina Navratilova, who is left-handed, was a famous tennis star.

3. Fifty-five-year-old Carl Jones retired from the Army last year.

4. In his off-duty time, Ricky wears blue jeans.

5. Bellum Civile is a two-chapter first-century B.C. Latin text by Julius Caesar.

6. Mr. Miller, a lawyer, wears a three-piece business suit in the office.

7. Admiral Nimitz was a popular twentieth-century US naval commander.

8. The drooling dog, wide-eyed and open-mouthed, kept looking at the cat in the tree.

9. Hippies are often dismissed as dim-witted and drugged-out.

10. Most open-ended questions are unwelcome at military briefings.

B. Hyphenated Modifiers functioning as Adverbs:

In these compound words, the adverbial modification may apply to the verb or the entire clause or sentence. Here are seven examples of hyphenated modifiers functioning as adverbs:

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01. Young Hercules killed two big snakes single-handedly.

02. Dim-wittedly, the intoxicated driver continued on the road.

03. The candidate was near-fatally shot while campaigning.

04. The treatment was administered post-operatively.

05. The last effort was made only half-heartedly.

06. The student willy-nilly entered the engineering program.

07. Joe finished the race neck-and-neck with Bill.

C. Hyphenated Modifiers functioning as Nouns:

The nouns formed in these combinations can function syntactically as unqualified parts of speech. Here they serve to modify other nouns:

1. The town’s business climate was a wheeler-dealer paradise.

2. The deserter was given some of the cat-o'-nine-tails medicine.

3. Jim bought the property and opened a merry-go-round place.

4. The FBI hated the cat-and-mouse game plaguing the case.

5. The company was using modern state-of-the-art equipment.

6. Jimmy came to school with his own jack-o'-lantern design.

7. Mr. Cox was running a big counter-intelligence operation.

8. The romance began at a Vienna beer-garden festival.

9. No more of that shilly-shallying and dilly-dallying stuff!

10. Jim took the children to a drive-in movie theater.

2. THE PASSIVE:

The use of the passive voice, common to most European languages, has

contributed to a wider spectrum of expression, especially in Western

European languages. In strictly grammatical terms, this device was

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inherited from Greek and carried over into Latin, where certain verbs are

restricted to the passive, e.g. “moritur,” (he dies), or “molitur” (he

labors). In some verbs, both active and passive are used, e.g. “videt,” (he

sees), and “videtur” (he is seen, it seems, or appears). Another example

is “habet,” (he has) and “habetur quomodo magnum ducem…” (He is

considered a great leader...)

In the English language, the use of the passive is governed primarily by

considerations of effective expression. Hence, in situations where it is

expedient or preferable to leave any possible agency unmentioned, the

passive is used, e.g.: “The dishes haven’t been washed, the floor hasn’t

been cleaned, and the trash hasn’t been taken out.” The same applies

when the agency is, in fact, unknown, especially in police reports, e.g.:

“Mr. Joe Miller, a shopkeeper, was robbed of $525 in cash at gun-

point.” Furthermore, the passive is used when it is either confusing, or

impossible, or undesirable to do otherwise, especially in scientific

writing, e.g.: “More than 120 tests were conducted. The results of 118 of

them were found to be suggestive of the entire area’s radio-active soil

contamination.”

With the advent of modern technology, particularly the facility of

sophisticated machinery and computers, the passive is often preferred

when it comes to describing actions performed “automatically” or

“interactively” by machines as opposed to actions performed by

operators (i.e. via human agency). The arguments for and against the

passive voice in scientific papers are well known:

First Point Against Passive: It is shorter and neater to use the Active in

an introductory statement such as the one below, saying:

Cornelis (1995) proposed a new approach…

rather than:

A new approach was proposed by Cornelis (1995)…

Second Point Against Passive: There is a good case for the personal we

(I, the team, the authors, etc.) where the authors intervene in the planned

procedures. It is more effective to use the Active:

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We then decided to bring in a new variable.

rather than the Passive:

It was then decided to bring in a new variable.

First Point in Favor of Passive: In the Methodology section, the general

use of the Passive construction:

The instruments were re-calibrated, and the results processed.

These were then compared with…

is arguably just as neat as bringing in the personal “We” used for normal

routine processes:

We re-calibrated the instruments, and processed the results. We

then compared these with…

Second Point in Favor of Passive: Avoidance of personal pronouns.

Many repetitions of “We”, or what it stands for, are not economical.

Besides, they introduce an unnecessary personal element into an

impersonal account: The Methodology should not depend on the persons

involved.

These are the main points of the debate. Some writers use ‘all passive

voice’ and a smaller group uses the active wherever possible. However,

the only ruling that can be made amounts essentially to the following:

“Keep things in perspective: Use either voice, but neither in excess.”

NOTE 1: In many scientific reports, the direct version (stating the agent)

reads better, spelling out who decided, whereas the passive leaves more

room, as the decision could have been made by or in consultation with

individuals outside the group of researchers. Even in a less dramatic

situation, if ‘We’ did it, why not say so?

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NOTE 2: Balanced Solution & New Specific Criteria: All the points

are valid, which suggests that effective expression should allow both

forms, Direct (Active) and Indirect (Passive). Some experts suggest the

use of certain criteria. The quotation that follows is adapted from: Louise

H. Cornelis: The Passive Voice in Computer Manuals: A New

Perspective (J. Technical Writing & Communication Vol 25, 1995/3)

which in turn takes ideas from L. E. Smith & S. A. Bernhardt, When to

Prefer the Passive Voice. Writing at Work, Ch 17, 1988, (unpublished):

Louise B. Cornelis suggests a way to use both Active and

Passive in computer manuals. Her principle (that the Active

should be used for actions by the operator and the Passive for

what is done by the computer as a result of those actions) seems

applicable to scientific reporting. The Active, for example,

marks the beginning of a phase of operations, whereas the

Passive is used for the events in the phase.

In Writing at Work, Smith & Bernhardt mention two principles:

1. Active and imperative sentences signal what the user does.

2. Passives signal machine actions that take place as a result of

those user actions. The computer is the implicit agent of these

passives.

NOTE 3: This leads to an alternation of active and passive structures. In

the sentence below, the first part, before the comma, describes a user

action. The second part is about what the computer does automatically as

a result:

When you add a number to the list (personal action), the total is

calculated and the bottom line adjusted accordingly (computer

action).

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OVERVIEW OF TENSES: ACTIVE AND PASSIVE VOICE

TENSE Active Passive

Present Simple The dog chases the cat. The cat is chased by the dog.

Present

Continuous

The dog is chasing the

cat.

The cat is being chased by the

dog.

Present Perfect The dog has chased the

cat.

The cat has been chased by the

dog.

Present Perfect Continuous: The dog has been chasing the cat. (NO

PASSIVE)

Past Simple The dog chased the cat. The cat was chased by the dog.

Past Continuous The dog was chasing the

cat.

The cat was being chased by the

dog.

Past Perfect The dog had chased

the cat.

The cat had been chased by the

dog.

Past Perfect Continuous: The dog had been chasing the cat. (NO PASSIVE)

Future Simple The dog will chase the

cat.

The cat will be chased by the dog.

Future Simple Continuous: The dog will be chasing the cat. (NO PASSIVE)

Near Future The dog is going to chase th

cat.

The cat is going to be chased by

the dog.

Future Perfect The dog will have chased th

cat.

The cat will have been chased by

the dog.

Future Perfect Continuous: The dog will have been chasing the cat. (NO

PASSIVE)

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Static Passive

A number of verbs that can be used in Passive constructions do not allow for an agent to be designated or described. For example, in the Passive construction “Algebra is included in Mathematics” the Active Voice would be “Mathematics includes Algebra.” One could definitely not say, “Algebra is included by Mathematics.” This is the characteristic of the Stative Passive.

Other verbs that can be used in such constructions are “involve, merge,” etc.

Active: This project involves considerable lab work. Passive: Considerable lab work is involved in this project.

Active: ABC, Inc. merged with XYZ Co. Passive: XYZ Co. was merged with ABC, Inc.

Auxiliary Verbs:

Auxiliary verbs (also known as modal auxiliaries or helping verbs and used for tenses, moods, and negative constructions as well as conditional sentences) can have a specific modifying effect. In ordinary auxiliary verbs (e.g. “can [cannot, can’t], could [couldn’t], may, might, must [mustn’t], shall [shan’t], should [shouldn’t], will [won’t], would [wouldn’t],” etc.) there is no distinction between plural and singular, or between first, second, and third person. Exceptions are the modal auxiliaries “have” and “do” and specific forms of “will” and “shall” in British English. There are also shifts in meaning between affirmative and negative, e.g. in “must” and “must not.” (Saying “must” is tantamount to saying “have to,” whereas “must not” [mustn’t] means “not allowed to”).

I/We shall have strawberries for dessert. (Future)

You/He/She/They will get there just in time. (Future)

I won’t go out tonight. He won’t, either. (Future)

I should have known better, and so should you and he. (Subjunctive)

Would you care for some ice cream? (Conditional)

They would like to go bowling. (Conditional)

Could you help us, please? Couldn’t they come over? (Subjunctive)

What can I do for you? (Indicative)

We must catch the train. (Indicative)

He mustn’t be allowed to get away with this. (Indicative)

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When the verbs “to be, to do,” or “to have,” are used as modal auxiliaries, they are conjugated like ordinary verbs.

Are you going home? Is he going, too? (Present Progressive)

I’m not going, but he definitely is. (Present Progressive)

Were you going to go? No, I wasn’t, but he was. (Past Progressive)

Do you like my car? Yes, I do. Does he want oil? No, he doesn’t. (Present)

Did you like the show? Did your friends like it? (Past Simple)

Have you seen this crazy driver? Has Joe seen him? (Present Perfect)

When used in Present Perfect or Past Perfect, the past participle of the verb “to have” is used together with the conjugated form of the modal auxiliary. It can also stand at the beginning of questions in Past Perfect tense:

Have you had enough to eat? Yes, I have, but he hasn’t. (Present Perfect)

I haven’t had any rest all day! (Present Perfect)

Had I only had this idea earlier! (Past Perfect, Subjunctive)

Had he gone home first before flying to Boston? (Past Perfect)

They had never been there before, and were stunned. (Past Perfect)

May and might: “Might” is the past tense of the verb “may.” These two words are related much like “could” and “can” or “would” and “will.” But in terms of meaning, there is (except for stylistics) hardly any difference between “may” and "might.” Both terms suggest a degree of possibility or probability. Only when “may” is used to indicate or request “permission” to do something, is a clear distinction to be made.

Ricky said he might have to go to the clinic tomorrow.

Rita indicated that she might not want to travel next week.

Nobody has any idea what may happen tomorrow!

Jim said to the boy, “You may go outside and play!”

“May I disturb you for a moment?” asked Jim’s colleague.

NOTE: It should be easy to make verbs agree with subjects, as long as one remembers that, with the exception of modal auxiliaries, in third person singular present – he, she, or it – the verb ends in an “s.”

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3. PRESENT PERFECT

The present perfect is used to describe or refer to situations that begin in the past but continue to the present time, i.e. the time at which a statement is made. If, for example, someone caught a cold a few days ago and still has not recovered from it, he would express his condition as follows:

I have had a cold all week. I have had a cold since Friday.

If, however, he has recovered in the meantime, he would say:

I had a cold until yesterday. I had a cold for three days. (These statements express past conditions).

The present perfect is also used for describing situations of the past where the exact starting point is either not known or irrelevant. Important is the fact that the new situation or condition is continuing into the present.

Joe has lost his wallet. Bill has gone to Paris.

If there is a change in a situation, the effect of which continues to the present, the Present Perfect is used as well:

Joe has found his wallet. Bill has returned from Paris.

Use of FOR and SINCE with the Present Perfect:

In order to properly distinguish between these two prepositions one must understand the conceptual difference between a “period of time” (for) and “a starting point” (since).

Jim has lived in Cairo since 1990.

(Here “1990” is considered a starting point. Hence the use of since.)

Europe has changed a great deal since the Crusades.

(Here “Crusades” is considered a starting point. Hence the use of since.)

Joe has had this car ever since he arrived from Texas.

(Here “arrived from Texas” is a starting point. Hence the use of since.)

BUT

Ali has been married for seven years.

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(Here “seven years” is a period of time. Hence the use of “for”.)

Omar has been a stamp collector for decades.

(Here “decades” is a period of time. Hence the use of “for”.)

Some places in Africa have not changed for centuries.

(Here “centuries” is a period of time. Hence the use of “for.”)

Questions in Present Perfect:

Many learners experience difficulty in distinguishing between Past Simple and Present Perfect in the formulation of questions. While the native speaker does not have to think about making this distinction, the foreign learner does. For example, if someone wants to inquire concerning the presence of a Mr. Smith, he may use either tense. However, the use of the Past Simple suggests a meaning different from that of the Present Perfect.

Have you seen Mr. Smith? (This means that it is still possible or likely to see him at this time).

Did you see Mr. Smith? (This means that one is unlikely to see him any longer at this time. It can also mean that there was an appointment.)

Another point concerns the use of the Present Perfect Continuous tense vs. that of the simple Present Perfect. It involves a change in meaning of the main verb.

Have you seen Paula Jones? (This is straightforward).

Have you been seeing Paula Jones? (This implies that there is a (suspected) romance between the other person and Paula Jones.)

Have you seen the doctor? (This suggests that the doctor was visited for consultation.)

Have you been seeing the doctor? (This implies that the doctor was [supposed to have been] visited for regular [repeated] treatment.)

The use of the Present Perfect Continuous generally refers to or describes a pattern of repetition or routine.

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Have you taken out the trash? Have you fed the cat?

(This implies single ad hoc action).

Have you been taking out the trash? (This implies that the trash was expected to be taken out on a regular basis, as per order or agreement.)

Has Joe been reading his e-mail? (This implies that Joe is either expected or believed to read his e-mail on a regular basis.)

4. PROGRESSIVE vs. SIMPLE TENSE -- Linking Clauses:

The distinction between the progressive and simple tenses in the linking of clauses poses difficulty for learners who only have a firm grounding in languages other than those belonging to the Western European group.

Important is the concept of continued action as opposed to that of completed or simple action, especially in the case of time clauses. A number of conjunctions [also known as “connectors”] are employed to link the main clause to one or more secondary (time, concessive, or conditional) clauses in a sentence. The progressive tense can be used across the board, but its most frequent application is in the Past.

Examples -- Past Tense

a. Continued Action overtaken by Completed Action:

As Joe was driving home, he saw a white cat.

(“As” introduces the continued action coinciding with a completed

action.)

b. Completed Action coinciding with Continued Action:

When Joe came home, Jim was working on a paper.

(The conjunction “when” introduces the completed action.)

c. Continued Action coinciding with Completed Action:

Jim was working on a paper when Joe came home. (No comma!)

(The conjunction “when” introduces the time clause: Completed Action.)

d. Two Simultaneous Continued Actions:

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While Joe was watching TV, Jim was reading the paper.

(“While” introduces one continued action paralleled by another one.)

Examples – Present Tense

a. Two Simultaneous Continued Actions:

While Joe is watching TV, Jim is reading the paper.

(“While” introduces one Continued Action paralleled by another one.)

b. Two simultaneous Continued Actions:

Jim is reading the paper while Joe is watching TV. (No comma!)

(“While” introduces one Continued Action paralleled by another one.)

c. Completed Action coinciding with Continued Action:

Whenever Jim comes home, his wife is always cooking.

(“Whenever” introduces a Simple Action coinciding with a Continued

one.)

Examples – Future Tense

a. Time clause in Simple Future, main clause in Future Progressive:

While there won’t be many clients, most of them will be buying.

(“While” introduces a Simple Action coinciding with a Continued one.)

b. Main clause in Future Progressive; concessive clause in Simple

Future:

Most of the clients will be buying, although there won’t be many.

(“Although” links a Simple Action to a preceding Continued one.)

c. One Continued Action paralleled by another one.

Jim will be working on Sunday, whereas Joe will be sleeping.

(“Whereas” connects one Continued Action to another one.)

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Examples: Mixed Tenses

a. Time clause in Present; main clause in Future Progressive:

When Joe gets home, Jim will be watching TV.

(“When” introduces a Simple Action coinciding with a Continued one.)

b. Simple conditional clause in Present Progressive, doubled in main

clause.

If you are not going to the party, neither will I.

(“If” introduces a hypothetical Continued Action, paralleled by another

one.

c. Conditional clause, Simple Action (Past); main clause (Continued

Action.)

If Joe got himself a job, he wouldn’t be bumming around.

(“If” introduces a condition-contrary-to-fact clause. The main clause is in

Future subjunctive.)

d. Conditional clause, Continued Action (Past Perfect Progressive); main

clause. (Completed Action)

If he had been doing his job, he wouldn’t have been fired.

(“If” introduces a condition-contrary-to-fact clause. The main clause is in

the Future Perfect subjunctive.)

Conclusion: The proper use of hyphenated modifiers depends on

continual daily practice. Writing a stylistically balanced narrative often

requires a highly selective application of hyphenated modifiers

functioning as different parts of speech.

The same can be said about the Passive. Sometimes the stylistic

imperatives calling for variation in voice and mood force the writer to use

both of them judiciously. In many cases, however, the nature of the

manuscript or document itself prescribes, from a technical perspective, a

certain grammatical profile.

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Proper use of the Present Perfect and of progressive tenses can only come with daily practice, especially in the spoken language, where the learner is gradually conditioned to making sound split-second decisions in the correct use of tenses, particularly in the phrasing of questions.

Assignments

Practice Test 1: Grammar: Passive: Change the sentences below to

the Passive:

1. Joe takes the dog out for a walk every day.

2. Rita saw the burglar break open the car door.

3. All CED 111 students have finished the exam.

4. Nobody helped the old man with his work.

5. Jim is going to take Joe to the airport.

6. The bus will collect the children at noon.

Practice Test 2: Cloze Test 1

Complete the sentences below by filling in the blank spaces. Use

ONLY ONE WORD for each blank space. Choose six from the nine

words listed. Do not use any word more than once.

returned died and popular with

wonderful millions endless electrical

Elvis Presley lived from 1935 to 1977. He was born in Tupelo,

Mississippi, and is known as the King of “Rock ‘n’ Roll,” a dance of

the 1950s and early 1960s. After finishing school, he worked as a

truck driver for some time, delivering ________________ supplies.

His interest in singing motivated him to seek a few auditions. In 1955

some professional people in nearby Nashville, Tennessee, came to

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notice that Presley had a __________________ voice, a good ear for

music, and talent for dancing. Soon he became famous with songs

like “Jailhouse Rock”, “Blue Suede Shoes,” and “Good Luck Charm.”

He earned _____________ of dollars. In 1958 he was drafted into the

US Army and sent to Germany, where he was stationed at Ray

Barracks, near Frankfurt, serving as a gunner with the Third

Armored Division. In 1960 he _______________ to the States, leaving

the military! One of his movies, GI Blues, is about his Army time in

Germany, and one of the most _____________ songs he recorded is

“Are You Lonesome Tonight?” There was great consternation when

Presley _______ of heart failure in 1977 at the age of 42.

Practice Test 3: Cloze Test 2

Complete the sentences below by filling in the blank spaces. Use

ONLY ONE WORD for each blank space. Choose six from the nine

words listed. Do not use any word more than once.

recently stages order recorded draw revealed

find revelation

It is utter surprise to Embryologists to find in the Qur’anic texts,

__________________ [36] to Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon

him) 1400 years ago, and in his Hadith (collection and compilation of

his statements and tradition), information on the _________________

of development of the embryo. The most comprehensive terminology

is used to refer to each stage and the sequence is accurately and

consistently ___________________. The texts tell us of the initial

stages of creation of the embryo and the important developments in

each stage. We are told of the relationship of the conceptus to the

uterus and about the laws of heredity. Such information has been

___________________ learnt by scientists with the help of refined

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methods and modern techniques. Embryologists are also astounded

to learn that specific days have been mentioned in the Hadith when

specific developments take place. These texts (Qur’anic) reveal facts

which baffled men of science for ages after the ___________________

of the Qur’an in the 7th

century A.D. [Adapted from Moore, Keith

L., The Developing Human (With Islamic Additions) 3rd

Ed.., 1983,

cf. Azzindani, Abdul-Majeed A.]

Practice Test 4: Cloze Test 3

Complete the sentences below by filling in the blank spaces. Use

ONLY ONE WORD for each blank space. Choose six from the eight

words listed. Do not use any word more than once.

change dynamic modifying shade

shade

as well as for example however sun

In Islamic architecture, light functions decoratively by ____________

other elements or by originating patterns. Thus in covering the

interior surface of a mosque with mosaics in ceramic tiles,

_______________, the lining is often confined to the lower part of the

walls, as if to dispel their heaviness. It is for the same purpose that

the artists transform other surfaces into perforated reliefs to filter

the light. "Stalactites" also serve to trap light and diffuse it with the

most subtle gradations, and with the proper light, pierced facades

can look like lacy, disembodied screens. Light can add a

_____________ quality to architecture, extending patterns, forms

and designs into the dimensions of time. And the combination of light

and _______________ creates strong contrasts of planes and gives

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texture to sculpted stone, _______________ stocked or brick

surfaces. [Adapted from: Burckhardt, Titus.: Islamic Spirituality II.

edited by S. H. Nasr, 1976]

Practice Test 5: Cloze Test 4

Complete the sentences below by filling in the blank spaces. Use

ONLY ONE WORD for each blank space. Choose six from the eight

words listed. Do not use any word more than once.

missing little few beginning previously symbolizing

prevalent later

In Islamic art, there are ____________ images of livings things

because of the possibility that such pictures could lead to idolatry.

Instead, Islamic artists developed geometric patterns to a degree of

complexity and sophistication _____________ unknown. These

patterns exemplify the Islamic interest in repetition, symmetry and

continuous generation of pattern. Islamic pattern, unique as an art

form, is also unitary in its aim and function. Thus, the circle, and its

centre are the point at which all Islamic patterns begin and are an

apt symbol of a religion that emphasizes one God, ______________

also the role of Mecca, the center of Islam. The circle has always

been regarded as a symbol of eternity, without ____________ or

end. The triangle by tradition is symbolic of human consciousness

and the principle of harmony. The square is the symbol of

physical experience and the physical world - and the hexagon, of

Heaven. Another symbol _____________ in Islamic art is the star

and has been the chosen motif for many Islamic decorations.

[Adapted from: Islamic Patterns and Geometry",

http://www.salaam.co.uk/

themeofthemonth/march02_index.php?l=3]

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Practice Test 6: Cloze Test 5

Complete the sentences below by filling in the blank spaces. Use

ONLY ONE WORD for each blank space. Choose six from the eight

words listed. Do not use any word more than once.

century ceramics pottery technologies

art industry glass The

From the eighth to eighteenth centuries, the use of glazed ceramics

was prevalent in Islamic _________, usually assuming the form of

elaborate pottery. Tin-opacified glazing was one of the earliest new

___________ developed by the Islamic potters. The first Islamic

opaque glazes can be found as blue-painted ware in Basra, dating to

around the 8th __________. Another significant contribution was the

development of stonepaste _____________, originating from 9th

century Iraq. The first industrial complex for glass and

___________production was built in Ar-Raqqah, Syria, in the 8th

century. Other centers for innovative ceramic pottery in the Islamic

world included Fustat (from 975 to 1075), Damascus (from 1100 to

around 1600) and Tabriz (from 1470 to 1550). [Adapted from

Wikipedia, October 14, 2008]

Practice Test 7: Cloze Test 6

Complete the sentences below by filling in the blank spaces. Use

ONLY ONE WORD for each blank space. Choose six from the eight

words listed. Do not use any word more than once.

during pharmacy century Middle

Another technology Islamic into

Lustreware was invented in Iraq by the Arabian chemist Jabir ibn

Hayyan (Geber) in the 8th century _________ the Abbasid caliphate.

_____________ innovation was the albarello, a type of maiolica

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earthenware jar originally designed to hold apothecaries' ointments

and dry drugs. The development of this type of __________ jar had

its roots in the Islamic __________ East. Brought to Italy by

Hispano-Moresque traders, the earliest Italian examples were

produced in Florence in the 15th ___________. [Adapted from

Wikipedia, October 14, 2008]

Practice Test 8: Reading Comprehension Passage 1

Read the passage below and answer the questions that follow.

[01] Harun Al-Rashid's wife Zubaida, was an illustrious figure of the

Golden Age of [02] Islam. She was immensely wealthy in her own

right and dispersed large sums [03] for public works. Once, on a

pilgrimage to Makkah, she experienced firsthand [04] the city's

water shortage. As a result, she financed an elaborate system of

[05] underground aqueducts to carry water to the city from a spring

many miles [06] away. Today, this source of water is known as Ain

Zubaida. One of the most [07] ambitious of her projects was the

improvement of the pilgrim road across 900 [08] miles of desert from

Baghdad to Makkah. Every 100-200 km a rest area was [09]

prepared, and a well dug. Also included were an underground

storage tank, a [10] pool for the watering of animals, and an

elevated tank to provide water for [11] humans. She also built

many workshops, khans (free hostels), as well as [12] mosques

along the Baghdad-Makkah road, known also as Zubaida Road.

{13] [Adapted from unpublished manuscript (2008) by Talal Ali

Mohktar, Prof. of [14] Geophysics, Dept. of Geophysics, Faculty

of Earth Science, K.A.U., and Omar [15] Seraj Aburiziaza, Prof. of

Water Resource Planning & Management, C.E., College [16] of

Engineering, K.A.U.]

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1. The verb financed (L. 4) means “____________.”

(a) found (b) paid for (c) discovered (d) built 2. Aqueducts (L. 5) are ways to transport ____________.

(a) people (b) animals (c) water (d) food

3. The adjective elevated (as used in L.10) means “______________.”

(a) ejected (b) razed (c) catapulted (d) raised

4. The projects mentioned in the passage were paid for by

___________.

(a) Harun Al-Rashid (b) the citizens of Makkah

(c) Zubaida (d) the citizens of Baghdad

5. Which of the following words is different from the others?

(a) aqueducts (b) pools (c) wells (d) hostels

Practice Test 9: Reading Comprehension Passage 2

Read the passage below and answer the questions that follow.

[A] The almost simultaneous appearance of two new books on

Arabo-Islamic sciences draws renewed attention to the origins of the

ideas that form the basis of today's science and technology. Although

it is widely recognized that the Arabo-Islamic world produced

eminent scientific discoveries during the European Middle Ages, this

has generally been a superficial assumption devoid of any more in-

depth study. The two works discussed here will appeal to different

audiences, yet they share two distinct and significant features: they

trace the development of scientific thought in the Islamic world,

focusing on science itself and not on religion.

[B] Michael Hamilton Morgan's Lost History is an entertaining

popular work that traces a vivid picture of the history of Arabo-

Islamic scientific thought. The author first provides an overview of

the political and social history of Arabo-Islamic countries and then

describes the historic achievements of scientists with short and vivid

episodes of their lives in the context of the society in which they

flourished. The central chapters of the book deal with the different

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areas in which Arabo-Islamic scientists excelled, while the last chapter

offers a cursory description of some models of good government in the

Islamic world in what seems to be a successful attempt to remind the

reader of examples of tolerance and enlightened policy unmentioned

in the pages of western historical textbooks. Morgan acknowledges

that his book is not scholarly, and he bases his research on secondary

sources rather than original Arabic works.

[C] In contrast, George Saliba's Islamic Science and the Making of the

European Renaissance is the fruit of more than 30 years of research on

Arabo-Islamic sciences. Although the work is scholarly, Saliba's

challenging arguments make for enjoyable and stimulating reading

for a non-specialized public as well. The first two chapters criticize

traditional explanations for how Arabo-Islamic intellectuals became

interested in Greek sciences during the Ummayad period (660-750)

and translated an astonishing number of Greek scientific books

during the 'Abbasid caliphate (750-1258). The subsequent chapters

analyze the critical approach of Arabo-Islamic astronomers who

translated, used, and commented on Ptolemy's Almagest, eventually

leading to the invention of new devices that later made their way to

the European Renaissance. Saliba devotes an intriguing chapter of the

book to the missing links that must have made this new knowledge

available to Copernicus, who seems to have consistently relied on

Arabo-Islamic mathematical findings. Finally, Saliba criticizes

traditional explanations for the decline of the sciences in the Islamic

world, maintaining that they are based on preconceived ideas rather

than on historical evidence.

[D] The publication of these two books represents an important step

for covering a much neglected aspect of Arabo-Islamic culture. In

the present historical situation, in which studies of the Middle East

tend to focus nearly exclusively on religion or politics, these two

works offer the reader a different approach to Islam and the cultural

heritage of Islamic lands. Together these two books continually stress

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the many historical interactions between the Arabo-Islamic world

and the Latin West. This approach acts as a counterbalance for a

prolific kind of literature that apparently aims at emphasizing

differences and fomenting conflict. [Adapted from "Seek Knowledge

as Far as China" a review by Gabriele Ferrario, ©2008 Chemical

Heritage Foundation http://www.chemheritage.org/pubs/ch-v26n1-

articles/ review_ferrario.html ]

1. The term simultaneous (paragraph A) is related to __________.

(a) distance (b) location (c) time (d) cost

2. The meaning of devoid of (paragraph A) is _____________.

(a) introducing (b) including (c) lacking (d) finding

3. The adjective cursory (paragraph B) is closest in meaning to

_________.

(a) boring (b) negative (c) successful (d) brief

4. The adjective subsequent (paragraph C) means __________.

(a) following (b) preceding (c) interesting (d) difficult

5. The verb fomenting (paragraph D) is similar in meaning to

_________.

(a) stopping (b) slowing (c) avoiding (d) creating

6. Copernicus was _____________.

(a) an Arab scientist (b) alive during the Ummayad period

(c) a Renaissance scientist (d) one of Ptolemy's teachers

7. According to the passage, all of the following statements are true

except…

(a) The Greeks took information from Arabo-Islamic scientists.

(b) Ptolemy wrote Almagest.

(c) Morgan's book gives biographical information about Arabo-

Islamic scientists.

(d) Most Middle Eastern studies have a political or religious

focus.

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8. What is the focus of the two books mentioned?

(a) the conflict between Islam and the Latin West

(b) the connections between Islam and the Latin West

(c) the politics of Islam

(d) the religion of Islam

9. How do the two books mentioned in the passage differ?

(a) One is fiction while the other is non-fiction.

(b) One takes a positive view of the subject while the other takes a

negative view

(c) One is longer than the other.

(d) One is more scholarly than the other.

10. From the passage we can infer that George Saliba …

(a) used original Arabic works in his research

(b) is Muslim

(c) wrote his book mostly for the general public

(d) agrees with traditional Western views of Arabo-Islamic

sciences

Practice Test 10: Reading Comprehension Passage 3

Read the passage below and answer the questions that follow.

Application of Advanced Technology to Locate Obstructing Blocks

in Ain Zubaida

[01] Water scarcity in the arid countries stimulates the water

resources planners & [02] managers to search for efficient

solutions to establishing water supply [03] sustainability and

overcome aridity problems such as low and sparse [04]

precipitation, high evaporation, and uneven distribution of water

supply. They [05] came up with genuine systems such as Ain,

AFlaj, Qanat, Foggara, Khattera, [06] Karez, .. etc. Many of

these traditional systems are still functioning with a [07]

satisfactory efficiency today. Some, however, are out of order

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because of negligence [08] due to migration of farmers from rural to

urban areas. Ain Zubaida is an old, well [09] known water supply

system, which collects groundwater (GW) from the upstream [10] of

Wadi Naaman and has transported it to Makkah at an average rate

of 35,000 [11] m3/d for the last 1200 years. In the late 1970s, as

demand had risen higher than [12] supply, consulting companies

advised the water authority to replace Ain by wells [13] systems.

Around 17 wells were dug and the abstraction of water exceeded

natural [14] recharge. This caused the GW to drop below the

level of the galleries; [15] consequently, Ain went dry and was

totally neglected. Parts of the Ain's structure [16] were destroyed.

Custodian of the two holy Mosques, King Abdullah, issued a royal

[17] decree to rehabilitate Ain Zubaida. This study recognizes the

imperative need of [18] the application of advanced technology. A

geophysical technique was used to [19] locate the obstructing

blocks of the water at Ain. A spread of seismic detectors on [20] the

surface of the area is deployed to enclose the block-site. Seismic

waves are [21] then generated, using a hammer at the block

inside the gallery (requiring [22] someone to enter the gallery and

strike the hammer). The geophones nearest to [23] the expected

subsurface block-site will record the least travel time of the seismic

[24] waves and the highest amplitudes. The geophone spread is then

rearranged using [25] a narrower distance interval. By repeating the

experiments several times, it has [26] been possible to map the

surface projection of the block, corresponding to the site [27] that

delineates the highest amplitude and the least travel times of the

recorded [28] seismic waves. The method helped to successfully

detect several blocked areas in [29] several locations. [Adapted

from unpublished manuscript (2008) by Talal Ali [30] Mohktar,

Prof. of Geophysics, Dept. of Geophysics, Faculty of Earth

Science, [31] K.A.U., and Omar Seraj Aburiziaza, Prof. of

Water Resource Planning & [32] Management, C.E., College of

Engineering, K.A.U.]

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Questions:

1. Define Ain Zubaida.

__________________________________________________________

2. Which word does not belong to the group?

(a) scarcity (b) shortage (c) abundance (d)

insufficiency

3. If water supply is not __________________, it is not sustainable.

(a) poor (b) prolonged (c) abundant (d) intermittent 4. True/False: “Arid” land (L. 1) is watered by plenty of rain.

(a) True (b) False

5. The three examples of aridity problems given in the passage are:

(a)________________________________________________________

(b)________________________________________________________

(c)________________________________________________________

6. _______________ is a meteorological term for rain, snow, sleet

and dew, which are formed by condensation of water vapor in the

atmosphere.

(a) Distribution (b) Evaporation (c) Precipitation (d)

Sustainability

7. Which word does not belong to the group?

(a) sparse (b) inadequate (c) slight (d) plentiful

8. Which adjective does not belong to the group?

(a) uneven (b) irregular (c) equal (d) unequal

9. Some of the traditional systems (L. 6) are not functioning because

_____________

__________________________________________________________.

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10. The term “rural” (L. 8) refers primarily to a setting

______________.

(a) on an island (b) in a city (c) in a village (d) by the seashore

11. The term “urban” (L. 8) refers to a setting ___________.

(a) on an island (b) in a city (c) in a village (d) underground

12. The phrase “The abstraction of water exceeded natural

recharge” (L.13-14) means that

___________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________.

13. In terms of dereliction of duty, the most appropriate derivative of

the verb

“neglect” and the noun “negligence” is __________________.

(a) negligible (b) negligee (c) neglectful (d) negative

14. Which verb does not belong to the group?

(a) rehabilitate (b) restore (c) revitalize (d) reduce

15. The closest equivalent of the term “imperative” (L. 17) is

___________.

(a) flexible (b) urgent (c) interesting (d) optional

16. _____________ is a major discipline of Earth sciences that studies

the Earth

using seismic, electromagnetic and radioactive methods.

(a) Geriatrics (b) Seismology (c) Geophone (d) Geophysics 17. A __________ is a device which can convert earth movement to

voltage,

which is then recorded.

(a) hammer (b) detector (c) geophone (d) block-site 18. ____________ waves are waves that travel through the Earth,

most often as

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the result of a tectonic earthquake, sometimes from an explosion.

(a) Electromagnetic (b) Sea (c) Sound (d) Seismic

19. According to the passage, a gallery (L. 21) is a ______________.

(a) covered passage (b) balcony (c) porch (d) corridor

20. ___________ refers to the extent of the vibratory movements

caused by the

seismic waves.

(a) Blocked areas (b) Amplitude

(c) Surface projection (d) Seismic wave

Practice Test 11: Grammar: Complete the sentences below by

choosing (a), (b), (c), or (d). There is only one correct answer to each

question.

01. Bill has worked for General Motors ever ____________ he left

school.

(a) for (b) until (c) since (d) once 02. Joe said that no one would go home ___________ the work was

done.

(a) while (b) with (c) since (d) until

03. “How are you?” asked Ricky, “I haven’t seen you ___________

ages!”

(a) since (b) until (c) for (d) before

04. Jim read the answers carefully ___________ he closed the

envelope.

(a) after (b) while (c) before (d) since

05. ____________ drawing an oxcart, the artist changed it to a bus.

(a) before (b) since (c) after (d) during

06. Jim has been an engineer __________ he graduated from MIT.

(a) for (b) since (c) after (d) before

07. Ali said, “Joe ___________ informed when he gets here.”

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(a) will (b) was (c) will be (d) must 08. We met Bill at the reunion but haven't seen him ________.

(a) while (b) over (c) since (d) when

Practice Test 12: Verbs I

01. ______ is the practice of pretending to be ill or otherwise unable

to work.

(a) Marauding (b) Mauling (c) Malingering (d) Mincing

02. To _____ means to substantiate a claim or statement in terms of

evidence.

(a) collaborate (b) correlate (c) corroborate (d) corrode

03. To _______ something means to reject or disprove it.

(a) escrow (b) eschew (c) expose (d) enshrine

04. To provide satisfaction for wrongdoing, or to reconcile, means to

______.

(a) alter (b) arouse (c) atone (d) astonish

05. In the old days, the gods of ancient Greece needed to be

___________.

(a) prospected (b) plagiarized (c) propitiated (d) perorated

06. To _________ responses from learners is not always easy.

(a) exert (b) elicit (c) enchant (d) elate

07. Someone overstepping his limits needs to be __________ in.

(a) roared (b) reined (c) rimmed (d) ringed

08. The engines of the B-29 ___ heavily before take-off. It was August

6, 1945

(a) dragged (b) droned (c) drifted (d) drew

09. Many scientific claims have been ___ by new discoveries over the

centuries.

(a) remanded (b) retrieved (c) refuted (d) redressed

10. Leonardo and Michelangelo ________ as renowned Renaissance

artists.

(a) established (b) emerged (c) emanated (d) enmeshed

119

Practice Test 13: Verbs II

11. Dante, Petrarch and Boccaccio are still _______ as famous

bilingual writers.

(a) lambasted (b) laundered (c) lacquered (d) lauded

12. The Roman emperor Diocletian (A.D. 284-305) was the only one

to ever _____.

(a) arrogate (b) abdicate (c) abolish (d) abet

13. The workings of a boomerang came to ______ generations of

investigators.

(a) mystify (b) mummify (c) multiply (d) magnify

14. The assault weapons ban was going to be ____ in 1995, prior to

some bombings.

(a) reprimanded (b) repealed (c) repressed (d) repelled

15. The R.C. Church ban on Martin Luther, imposed in 1525, has

not yet been ____.

(a) listed (b) lynched (c) lifted (d) laminated

16. When Alfred Nobel ____ dynamite, he was hoping to help

hardworking miners.

(a) inverted (b) inserted (c) impounded (d) invented

17. In idiomatic language, it is said of prisoners that they “______ in

the dungeon."

(a) solder (b) soldier (c) smolder (d) smirk

18. The costly Iraq campaign is _______ the decline of the US dollar.

(a) precipitating (b) perorating (c) pre-empting (d) presaging

19. For most people it is difficult to _______ a world in utter chaos.

(a) impinge (b) imagine (c) immerse (d) implore

20. Those who _____ on the rights or property of others may be

prosecuted.

(a) infringe (b) infer (c) instill (d) imbue

21. The historical Dracula, a Romanian count, had many of his

prisoners ____.

(a) impelled (b) impaled (c) impeached (d) imploded

120

22. Production of nuclear weapons requires uranium to be

_________.

(a) embroiled (b) enlivened (c) enriched (d) engrossed

23. In medieval justice, certain criminals would be _______ and

feathered.

(a) taxed (b) tarred (c) tamed (d) tackled

24. At the height of the French Revolution, many aristocrats would

be ______.

(a) gurgled (b) guillotined (c) gilded (d) gerrymandered

25. Aircraft in need of reducing their payload have to ______ a few

bombs.

(a) jettison (b) jellify (c) jumpstart (d) juggle

Practice Test 14: Special Expressions I

01. In American English, a number followed by _______ zeros is a

trillion.

(a) fifteen (b) nine (c) twelve (d) six

02. In British English, a number followed by _________ zeros is a

billon.

(a) fifteen (b) nine (c) twelve (d) six

03. In British English, a “milliard” consists of _________ millions.

(a) 10 (b) 100 (c) 1,000 (d) 10,000

04. The number “144” stands for the __________ expression “122.”

(a) marginal (b) metaphysical (c) maximum (d) mathematical

05. The ___________ root of 25 is 5.

(a) square (b) squeal (c) cub (d) cube

06. The ___________ root of 125 is 5.

(a) square (b) squint (c) club (d) cube

07. The number “2” is an ____________ as opposed to the fraction

“1/2”.

(a) integer (b) digit (c) integral (d) decimal

08. The chemical formula “C21H28O5” for cortisone requires

____________.

121

(a) superscripts (b) supra scripts (c) infra scripts (d) subscripts

09. The fraction of “one billionth” represents an ____________ small

value.

(a) inferior (b) infinitesimally (c) infinitely (d) infantile

10. A _____ is the exponent that indicates the power to which a

number is raised.

(a) logos (b) logarithm (c) locker (d) logo

11. A _______ equation contains derivatives of mathematical

functions.

(a) different (b) differential (c) difference (d) diffident 12. The opposite of “nadir” (the lowest point) is “_________” (the

highest point).

(a) zephyr (b) zeta (c) zenith (d) Zeno 13. The abbreviation “a.m.” derives from the Latin expression “ante

__________.”

(a) mermaid (b) meridiem (c) merit (d) Mercury

14. The opposite of “perihelion” is “________” [i.e. the farthest point

from the sun].

(a) apartheid (b) aphelion (c) appendix (d) apoplexy

15. The orbit of a satellite is closest to the center of the Earth while at

_________.

(a) pedigree (b) pedophile (c) pedagogy (d) perigee

Practice Test 15: Special Expressions II

16. The orbit of a satellite is farthest from the center of the Earth at

________.

(a) apostrophe (b) apogee (c) apposition (d) apology 17. A severe [and often fatal] drop in body temperature is known as

________.

(a) hyperbole (b) hypothesis (c) hypothermia (d) hype 18. A __________ is used by submerged submarines.

(a) pillory (b) pince-nez (c) periscope (d) pick-axe

122

19. An _______ is a metrical foot of two short syllables followed by a

long one.

(a) anthology (b) anteater (c) anapest (d) anthem 20. A piece of metal leaving the muzzle of a gun is known as

____________.

(a) probity (b) projectile (c) project (d) probe 21. An inspection of financial records by government authorities is

called ______.

(a) audition (b) autism (c) auditory (d) audit 22. A country at war is usually forced to expand its _________

industry.

(a) amatory (b) armament (c) arsenal (d) armory 23. The _________ is a ballroom dance of Latin American origin.

(a) tangerine (b) tarmac (c) tassel (d) tango 24. The month of July was named after ____________.

(a) Judy Garland (b) Julius Caesar (c) Justinian I (d) Julian

the Apostate 25. The month of August was named after ______________.

(a) Augustine (b) Augustus (c) Augusta (d) Jane Austen 26. A society ruled by wealthy elite figures is a ____________.

(a) pluralist (b) pillory (c) plutocracy (d) plebeian 27. The propeller of a P-51 Mustang fighter had four blades with

adjustable _____.

(a) peach (b) pitch (c) peaks (d) perks 28. A cold dry wind blowing north in southern France is called

________.

(a) minstrel (b) minister (c) mistral (d) mistrial 29. The light metal cover in front of the radiator of an automobile is

called _____.

(a) grill (b) grist (c) gruel (d) grille 30. Demonstrators sometimes burn the ____ of some unpopular

foreign politician.

(a) effervescence (b) effigy (c) effluent (d) epitome

Chapter V

Practice Tests and Dialogues

125

Introduction

The series of practice tests and dialogues below is designed to

reinforce the understanding of some of the material covered in the

previous chapters. It is also likely to intensify a conditioning process

that is aimed at facilitating a continuing quest for knowledge and

growing language skills. Ultimately, it might serve as a tool for

psychological transformation by prompting a reorientation in many

learners, especially in terms of language management and scientific

thinking as well as planning. The idea is to learn by doing rather

than by learning. The concomitant “re-shaping” of the learner’s

clearer perception of his or her professional ambience [and of the

career-inspired self] is expected to assist in the preparation for

studies abroad. Ages ago, the Romans used to say:

Repetitio est mater studiorum.

(Repetition is the mother of wisdom).

This is one of the ancient proverbs that one should take without the

proverbial grain (or pinch) of salt and accept it wholeheartedly as a

motto for many endeavors, belabored and otherwise.

The practice tests in this chapter consist of several sections each,

including Grammar and Vocabulary, Reading Comprehension,

Cloze Tests, and Original Writing. They are most useful in tutorial

work, but certain parts can also be covered in regular class meetings.

Most of the time limits set may not apply to strong students, who

might be able to complete a four-page test of 50 questions in about 45

minutes.

126

Practice Test-1-A-1

NAME: ____________________ COMPUTER NO. _______ Section: _____

Handbook of Basic Grammar for Graduates

Chapter 5

Practice Test 1

Version A

Distribution of Points:

A. Grammar & Vocabulary: ------- 30

B. Reading Comprehension: -------- 05

C. Cloze Test: -------------------------- 05

D. Original Writing: ------------------ 10

Total: ------------------------------------- 50

===============================

Total Number of Pages: 4

Time Allowed: 90 minutes

127

Practice Test-1-A-2 Part A: Grammar & Vocabulary: (30 questions – 30 points).

Answer the questions below by choosing either A, B, C, or D. There

is only one correct answer to each question.

01. A weird man came in and sat ______ beside me. I got up and left the

café.

(a) with (b) in (c) near (d) down

02. ____________ you watching TV again? No, I wasn’t. I just got here.

(a) Have (b) Was (c) Were (d) Are

03. ____________ Monday I met Joe Smith again. He always keeps

talking.

(a) Last (b) First (c) In this (d) Next

04. These apples are _____________ nicer than those, and they are

cheaper!

(a) less (b) as much (c) many (d) much

05. This radio program is ___________ interesting than last week’s.

(a) more much (b) very much (c) much more (d) better

06. My cousin _________ makes very decent salad and sandwiches for us.

(a) wonderfully (b) always (c) sideways (d) great

07. Alex would like to buy a better car, but he doesn't have ______ money.

(a) enough (b) many (c) also (d) never

08. Many young people smoke a ________ more than they care to admit.

(a) lot (b) lot of (c) big deal (d) much

09. There is plenty of work around our house that _________ to be done.

(a) have (b) must (c) needs (d) were

10. There is little time left for this project. We________ finish very soon.

(a) need (b) have (c) have to (d) to be

11. Ali always gets letters, but Jim and Joe hardly ever get ________.

(a) most (b) least (c) any (d) few

12. Just _______ Omar had drawn a bus he changed it to an old ox cart.

(a) after (b) because (c) during (d) before

13. __________ Ali was shopping in the market, he heard a man shouting.

(a) Inside (b) Always (c) Happily (d) While

128

14. Before the Fall Semester Joe ______ $600 on books and school fees.

(a) spending (b) pay (c) spend (d) spent

15. Two weeks ago Jack ______ inherited $20,000. He was very surprised.

(a) expects (b) expected (c) unexpectedly (d) sudden

16. ________ his friends heard the great news, they were very happy.

(a) Also (b) When (c) Only (d) Ever

17. After posting the letter, he ______ for two weeks. Nothing happened.

(a) didn’t wait (b) waits (c) wait (d) waited

18. Bill read the answer several times _________ he closed the envelope.

(a) while (b) after (c) during (d) before

Practice Test-1-A-3

19. _________ did Ali get home last night? He had to take a taxi.

(a) How (b) When (c) Why (d) What

20. The lights of the old car needed a repair job very ________.

(a) hardly (b) urgently (c) poorly (d) bad

21. You are saying Joe is a wild guy. I don’t agree ______ you. He is O.K.!

(a) with (b) from (c) near (d) by

22. They arrived late because they were not aware _________ the time.

(a) over (b) from (c) of (d) with

23. Do you promise to come? I am counting _______ you to be there.

(a) on (b) of (c) also (d) next

24. Omar doesn’t like to do homework. He finds it much too _______.

(a) sullen (b) cowardly (c) laborious (d) rude

25. Nelson is a decent gentleman. He is well known _______ his honesty.

(a) over (b) because (c) with (d) for

26. Bill doesn't care _______ spaghetti. He would rather have rice.

(a) for (b) without (c) over (d) with

27. The police did not believe the man they had arrested. They were

______.

(a) sorrowful (b) skeptical (c) furious (d) gallant

28. Ms. Lopez is a popular Hollywood movie actress. She is _________.

(a) persistent (b) glamorous (c) pedantic (d) dreadful

129

29. The soldier was _________ in the war. Everyone admired him.

(a) cowardly (b) vaporous (c) snobbish (d) valorous

30. The big snake in the zoo looked ______. Little Lisa was frightened.

(a) monstrous (b) gloomy (c) pale (d) sly

Part B: Reading Comprehension: (5 questions: 5 points).

Read the passage below and answer the questions that follow by

choosing A, B, C, or D.

When we build a house we use drawings: elevations, plans, and

sections. They tell us everything about the house. They show us the

details of the building, inside and outside. An elevation is the view of

one side of a building. A building with four sides has four elevations.

They show the positions, sshhaappeess and sizes of doors and windows. A

plan is the view of a building from above. It shows the tthhiicckknneessss of

the outside and inside walls and the positions of doors and windows.

One needs several plans for each building, including a rrooooff plan. A

section cuts the house from top to bottom. It shows the hheeiigghhtt of the

rooms inside the building and the thickness of the floors, ceiling and

roof. It also shows the height of the bboottttoomm of the windows from the

floor, and the height between the tops of the doors and windows and

the ceiling.

Practice Test-1-A-4

31. The word shapes (Line 4) refers to:

(a) thickness (b) weight (c) depth (d) form

32. The word thickness (Line 6) is closest in meaning to: ________.

(a) diameter (b) weight (c) bottom (d) height

33. A roof (Line 7) protects a house from moisture caused by ______ or

snow.

(a) sunshine (b) noise (c) wind (d) rain

34. When we want to determine height (Line 8), we measure __________. (a) sideways (b) lengthwise (c) upward (d) across

35. The exact opposite of bottom (Line 10) is ___________________.

(a) center b) square (c) height (d) top

130

Part C: Cloze Test (5 items: 5 points)

Read the passage below and complete the sentences by filling in the

blanks. Choose five from the eight words shown. Use only one word

for each blank space.

hot colder exchange fertile soil implements wet and

Agriculture was important, and _____________ land was needed on

which to grow crops and graze animals. In ancient times preference

was given to those areas where the __________ was light (sandy

rather than clay) so that it could be easily cultivated with the

primitive agricultural _____________ in use at that time. Other

considerations were shelter from prevailing winds and, in

___________ climates, selecting slopes, which gave good exposure to

sunlight. Farming in ancient times seldom rose above subsistence

level, with farmers producing only enough crops or animals for their

own requirements. But when farming was above subsistence level,

farmers could take their surplus production to a place where they

could ______________ it for things they were unable to obtain from

their land.

Part D: Original Writing: (10 points). Write a one-paragraph composition (of 6 sentences) on one of the

following topics:

(A) A Job Interview (B) Organizing an Article for Publication

(C) Going Abroad (D) What is Technical Writing?

________________________________________________________

_______________________________________

_______________________________________

_______________________________________

_______________________________________

_______________________________________

_______________________________________

_______________________________________

131

_______________________________________

_______________________________________

_______________________________________

_______________________________ End of Test

132

Practice Test-2-B-1

NAME: ________________________ COMPUTER NO. ______ Section: _____

Handbook of Basic Grammar for Graduates

Chapter 5

Practice Test 2

Version B

Distribution of Points:

A. Grammar: -------------------------- 30

B. Vocabulary: ------------------------- 05

C. Reading Comprehension: -------- 05

D. Cloze Test: -------------------------- 05

E. Original Writing: ------------------ 05

Total: ------------------------------------- 50

===============================

Total Number of Pages: 5

Time Allowed: 90 minutes

133

Practice Test-2-B-2

Part A: Grammar (30 questions – 30 points).

Answer the questions below by choosing either A, B, C, or D. Mark your

answers on the separate answer sheet. There is only one correct answer

to each question.

01. Guess who I just ran ____________ as I was walking across campus!

(a) besides (b) over (c) into (d) next to

02. Chris is a fabulous student. True! He also _____________ in sports.

(a) distinguishes (b) excels (c) grooves (d) famous

03. The test is about to begin. Please put _____________ all your books

and notes.

(a) off (b) under (c) away (d) next

04. Jane ____________________ her ideas to the discussion.

(a) withheld (b) expanded (c) contributed (d) mixed

05. Let's make a rice dish for tonight! Our guests don't care ___________

spaghetti. (a) with (b) without (c) about (d) for

06. Do you believe _______________ ghosts? No, not really! (a) about (b) without (c) in (d) for

07. A newspaper reporter checked ____________ the story and found it to

be true.

(a) about (b) inside (c) with (d) out

08. Read through the paragraph. Look at the correct use of the passive

_______.

(a) mode (b) modality (c) voice (d) times

09. His comments were not relevant __________ the topic under

discussion.

(a) with (b) to (c) about (d) under

10. Jim inherited some money __________. This was great news.

(a) expectedly (b) as expected (c) unexpectedly (d) sudden

11. Joe is dreaming __________ being a wealthy businessman some day.

(a) with (b) on (c) for (d) of

134

12. There are many people who rashly attempt to cross the pass _______

foot.

(a) by (b) on (c) via (d) with

13. If the bus ___________ come soon, many people will get to work late.

(a) don't (b) didn't (c) doesn't (d) won't

14. There isn't any coffee left. Will you please grind _______________?

(a) a few more (b) new ones (c) others (d) some

15. This study is concerned _______________ a new development plan.

(a) with (b) over (c) about (d) in

16. _________ can we get out of this? I think Joe needs to go to Canada!

(a) When (b) Where (c) What (d) How

17. _____________ happened to Alex? I wish I knew!

(a) When (b) Why (c) What (d) How

18. Richard is an _____________ careful driver.

(a) very (b) extremely (c) unique (d) really

Practice Test-2-B-3

19. Roland did not receive an ___________ in his last diploma

course.

(a) B (b) C (c) D (d) F

20. The horse thief was ___________ at dawn. It was a good Western

movie!

(a) hung up (b) hanged (c) hung (d) fired

21. The scientists examined the specimen _______________.

(a) in microscope (b) microscopically (c) with microscope (d) microscope

22. __________ you watching TV again? No, I wasn't.

(a) Was (b) Were (c) Did (d) Have

23. I listened _____________ for an hour, but then I had to go.

(a) careful (b) impatiently (c) patiently (d) polite

24. How __________ do I have to tell you to be more careful with this

machine?

(a) more time (b) many times (c) much time (d) much

135

25. The new neighbor persisted _______________ his allegations.

(a) on (b) in (c) about (d) with

26. May I introduce Mr. Moses X, a _____________ acid rock star?

(a) Ecuadorian (b) Ethiopian (c) European (d) Italian

27. There is a great deal of work ___________done.

(a) has to be (b) must be (c) to be (d) can't be

28. __________ come you didn't get home on time last night? I had a flat

tire.

(a) Where (b) Why (c) When (d) How

29. I wish you ____________ a bit more like your brother, somewhat more

punctual.

(a) was (b) were (c) are (d) be

30. _______________ is it to Boston? I'm sorry! I'm not from here.

(a) Where (b) Much (c) How far (d) How

Part B: Vocabulary (5 questions – 5 points)

Answer the questions below by choosing A, B, C, or D.

There is only one correct answer to each question.

31. Masons use _____________ for laying bricks.

(a) spindles (b) spatulas (c) spurs (d) aprons

32. The attack on the fort was mounted again with renewed

______________.

(a) vinegar (b) vigor (c) vapor (d) vanity

33. The _________ teacher was not well liked by his students. He was too

inflexible.

(a) gallant (b) pedantic (c) pragmatic (d) gloomy

34. Jim tried to establish a profile of the criminal by studying his

___________.

(a) valor (b) deceit (c) character (d) pride

35. _____________________ is used for cleaning brushes.

(a) Shellac (b) Turpentine (c) Water (d) Oil

136

Practice Test-2-B-4

Part C: Reading Comprehension (5 questions: 5 points).

Read the passage below and answer the questions that follow by

choosing A, B, C, or D. Mark your answers on the separate answer

sheet.

Reasons for the existence of multiple nuclei include certain

specialized functions that can only operate where particular facilities are

available. For example, a Central Business District is located best at the

point of maximum accessibility. Port areas grow more conveniently

along a navigable waterway, and high-class housing is drawn to higher

parts of a city enjoying fresh air and fine views. Some activities group

together because close contact brings mutual advantages. For example,

by-product industries are located close to works from which they obtain

raw materials. In Chicago, for instance, there is close association of

slaughterhouses, meat packing factories, and firms making glue, leather,

and furs. Activities that are injurious to one another must be kept apart.

Heavy industry, for example, especially if it is noxious, noisy, or

dangerous, should not lie adjacent to high-class housing, luxury hotels, or

recreational parkland.

36. The meaning of the term particular (Line 2) is explained best by the

term:

(a) in part (b) special (c) part-time (d) most

37. The expression navigable (Line 4) suggests primarily the following:

(a) orientation (b) traffic (c) fishing (d) sports

38. Which of the following words is most closely related to the term

mutual (Line 6)?

(a) multilateral (b) unilateral (c) bilateral (d) solely

39. If someone collects furs (Line 9), he or she is usually interested in

certain _________.

(a) marsupials (b) types of wool (c) machinery (d) skins

40. The meaning of the word noxious (L. 10) is closest in meaning to

__________.

(a) perfumed (b) vaporous (c) damaging (d) elusive

137

Part D: Cloze Test (5 items: 5 points)

Read the passage below and complete the sentences by filling in the

blanks.

Choose from the words shown. Use only one word for each blank

space.

intermediate circles sectors periphery out triangles

sea forward

The sector theory was first put ________ by Homer Hoyt in 1939.

Hoyt's ideas agreed with those of Burgess in so far as the zones

expand on the side facing away from the city center, but Hoyt stated

that they are not concentric. The pattern of residential areas was

seen by him to be a function of rent. He wrote: "Rent areas in

American cities tend to follow a pattern of ____________ rather than

of concentric ____________. The highest rent areas of a city tend to

be located in one or more sectors of the city. There is a gradation of

rentals downward from these high rental areas in all directions. Most

_____________ rental areas adjoin the high rent area on one or more

sides and tend to be located in the same sectors as the high rental

areas. Low rent areas occupy entire sectors of the city from the

center to the _________.

Practice Test-2-B-5

Part E: Original Writing: (5 points). Write a one-paragraph composition (8-10 sentences) on one of the

following topics:

(A) How To Search for A Thesis Topic?

(B) What is Good Writing?

(C) Expanding My Vocabulary

138

End of Test

139

Practice Test-3-C-1

NAME: _______________________ COMPUTER NO. _______ Section: _____

Handbook of Basic Grammar for Graduates

Chapter 5

Practice Test 3

Version C

Distribution of Points:

A. Grammar: -------------------------- 30

B. Vocabulary: ------------------------- 05

C. Reading Comprehension: -------- 05

D. Cloze Test: -------------------------- 05

E. Original Writing: ----------------- 05

Total: ------------------------------------- 50

===============================

Total Number of Pages: 5

Time Allowed: 90 minutes

140

Practice Test-3-C-2

Part A: Grammar (30 questions – 30 points). Answer the questions below by choosing A, B, C, or D.

There is only one correct answer to each question.

01. This place is worth ____________ hour by the seaside.

(a) spend a (b) spend an (c) spending an (d) a few

02. When you get there, you must ____________ admission ticket.

(a) have (b) by an (c) bye (d) buy an

03. Joe will have to get some new _____________ for summer.

(a) close (b) closes (c) clothes (d) cloth

04. One of the most interesting places is a special ____________ for

dogs.

(a) cementing (b) cemetery (c) crematorium (d) cement

05. Joe ________________ to worry about failing his next exam.

(a) won't have (b) always need (c) don't need (d) must

06. The little girl is afraid of an _______________ bear that lives in her

closet.

(a) imagining (b) imaginative (c) imaginary (d) image

07. Read through your paragraph carefully, checking spelling and

__________.

(a) punctuality (b) punctuate (c) punctuation (d) puncture

08. The redevelopment of obsolescent twilight __________ is very

costly.

(a) timing (b) times (c) zones (d) zenith

09. Joe is extremely ___________ always going to the same old places.

(a) tired on (b) tiring of (c) tired with (d) tired of

10. Wealthier people _________ outmoded dwellings in the congested

city center.

(a) abounded (b) bound for (c) abounding (d) abandon

11. Let me call you ___________. I smell something burning in the

kitchen.

(a) in minute (b) next (c) late (d) back

141

12. Unlike wood or steel, concrete can ___________ into a mould.

(a) be pored (b) pore (c) be poured (d) pour

13. Where is my jacket? We ______________ it up in the closet!

(a) hanged (b) hunk (c) hang (d) hung

14. "_______________ your experience in this job?" asked the

interviewer.

(a) What for (b) How about (c) About what (d) What 15. Ali told the doctor that he had to throw _______ each time he ate

something.

(a) up (b) over (c) down (d) in 16. ___________ has happened? I don't know. Very strange!

(a) How (b) Where (c) What (d) Why 17. The committee is unhappy __________ the mayor's suggestion.

(a) in (b) with (c) to (d) on 18. Jim is not good for this job. He is scared _________ his own

shadow.

(a) on (b) beside (c) in (d) of

Practice Test-3-C-3

19. Alex did not receive a ___________ grade in his French course.

(a) F (b) impressive (c) A (d) B 20. When Joe couldn't get through to Chicago, he _________ up the

phone.

(a) hooked (b) hanged (c) hung (d) put 21. After handing _________ his composition, Rick was asked to do it

over.

(a) out (b) to (c) down (d) in 22. When a sign reads Keep ________, it refers to trespassing.

(a) out (b) in (c) with (d) on

23. I wish the teacher wouldn't call _____________ me in class.

(a) with (b) at (c) in (d) on

142

24. How ____________ time do we have? This job is urgent!

(a) many (b) more (c) much (d) little 25. She insisted __________________ the whole truth.

(a) in hearing (b) on knowing (c) knowing (d) to hear 26. This is Leo Burr, a ______________ football champion.

(a) Australian (b) Estonian (c) European (d) Irish 27. He showed us how to get there ___________ drawing a strip map.

(a) in (b) with (c) by (d) on 28. ____________ did you get home last night? I had to call Joe.

(a) Where (b) Why (c) When (d) How 29. I can't blame Ricky _________ not wanting to drive in such weather.

(a) about (b) with (c) for (d) in 30. The angry look on his face stopped ____________ speaking my

mind.

(a) from me (b) me for (c) me from (d) me to

Part B: Vocabulary (5 questions – 5 points)

Answer the questions below by choosing A, B, C, or D.

There is only one correct answer to each question.

31. Protecting his eyes, Alex used _____________.

(a) garlands (b) goggles (c) gauntlets (d) gorges 32. Jim pursued his distant goal with extraordinary ______________.

(a) armor (b) archery (c) arson (d) ardor 33. The family, in shock, decided on a __________ funeral for Mr. Mills.

(a) bottomless (b) riteless (c) pointless (d) misty 34. The undercover agent acted with remarkable ______________.

(a) dread (b) grail (c) stealth (d) grille

35. Certain types of roadwork require a special drill, which is

_____________.

(a) ecstatic (b) pneumatic (c) neurotic (d) euphoric

143

Practice Test-3-C-4

Part C: Reading Comprehension (5 questions: 5 points).

Read the passage below and answer the questions that follow by

choosing A, B, C, or D.

Antiquated dwellings are neglected because they are wasting assets:

further investment in them can bring little or no return. Owners of

tenement blocks in central areas therefore spend a minimum on

maintenance and try to maximize rent returns by subdividing their

property into very small dwelling units. Central residential areas thus

form a high-density zone, inhabited mainly by poorer workers who

cannot afford to commute and so must be close to their place of

employment. Others who live their include young persons, such as

students, who choose to live close to their place of study or are attracted

by the 'bright lights' of the city. Immigrants are attracted as well. Many

of the latter gravitate to slum areas because they have relatively poorly

paid jobs and little money. They may also yearn for a certain social

coherence with people of their own ethnic, linguistic, religious and

cultural background.

36. The meaning of the term neglected (Line 1) is explained best by the

term:

(a) abandoned (b) disregarded (c) relinquished (d) rebuilt

37. The expression tenement (Line 2) suggests the following:

(a) small-holding (b) overcrowding (c) basement (d) tower

38. Which of the following words is most closely related to the term

gravitate (Line 9)?

(a) grave (b) weight (c) severity (d) space

39. If someone yearns (Line 10), he or she is _____________.

(a) longing (b) belonging (c) holding (d) burning

40. The meaning of the noun coherence (L. 11) in this text is closest to

__________.

(a) clinging (b) concinnity (c) charisma (d) charm

144

Part D: Cloze Test (5 items: 5 points)

Read the passage below and complete the sentences by filling in the

blanks.

Choose from the words shown. Use only one word for each blank

space.

eliminated oust suited prepared consumed afford

move desirable

In establishing the _____________ balance between public transport

and private cars it should be remembered that part of the people are

prevented from using cars because of their age, for health reasons,

because they cannot _________ a car, or some other grounds. On

account of this, these people must be given the possibility of traveling

by public transport. So the private car cannot __________ public

transport completely from the roads, at least in towns of medium size

or large cities, nor can it be completely _____________ even from the

crowded streets of any city center. Too many complex factors are

involved in this difficult equation. Both kinds of transport should

complement each other, fulfilling the task for which they are best

___________.

Practice Test-3-C-5

Part E: Original Writing: (5 points).

Write a one-paragraph composition (8-10 sentences) on one of the

following topics:

(A) Concrete

(B) Irrigation

(C) My View of Technical Writing

(D) Preparing for the Master’s Thesis

145

End of Test

146

PRA- Test-4-D-1

NAME: ________________________ COMPUTER NO. ______ Section: _____

Handbook of Basic Grammar for Graduates

Chapter 5

Practice Test 4

Version D

Distribution of Points:

A. Grammar: -------------------------- 30

B. Vocabulary: ------------------------- 15

C. Reading Comprehension: ------ 05

Total: ------------------------------------- 50

===============================

Total Number of Pages: 4

Time Allowed: 90 minutes

147

PRA-Test-4-D-2

Part A: Grammar (30 points)

Answer the questions below by choosing (a), (b), (c), or (d).

There is only one correct answer to each question.

01. ‘Did you ___________ my letter?’ ‘Yes.’

(a) go (b) got (c) getting (d) get

02. ‘Alex _________ born in Luckenbach, Texas, in 1962.’ ‘Interesting!’

(a) has (b) was (c) is (d) had

03. ‘____________ John about your new job?’

(a) Do you tell (b) Have you told (c) Told you (d) Have you

04. ‘Jane __________ jogging after work yesterday.’

(a) gone (b) went (c) has (d) did

05. ‘Some of these houses _____ built more than 200 years ago.’ ‘Very

true!’

(a) have been (b) are being (c) were (d) had 06. ‘Guavas and dates________ imported into Britain.’ ‘How about

bananas?’

(a) has (b) is (c) have (d) are

07. ‘Rex has a small boat and he __________ sailing.’ ‘That’s great!’

(a) always go (b) often goes (c) often go (d) going 08. ‘It’s hot here! _________ I turn on the A/C?’

(a) Did (b) Do (c) Will (d) Shall

09. ‘The motorbike _________ badly damaged in the accident.’

(a) has (b) were (c) have (d) was

10. ‘Jim is a good friend of mine. I have _________ him for a long time.’

(a) knowing (b) been known (c) known (d) know

11. ‘Rick didn’t ______ smoke when he was young.’ ‘Now he goes like a

chimney!’

(a) used (b) used to (c) use to (d) use

12. 'It's a nice day. Let's________ swimming!' ‘I brought the motorbike!’

(a) going (b) go to (c) to go (d) go

148

13. ‘Do you _________ reading?’ ‘Yes, I read a lot.’

(a) liked (b) likes (c) liking (d) like 14. ‘_________ raining at the moment.’ ‘What a relief!’

(a) It does (b) It has (c) It isn’t (d) Was

15. ‘Jim ________ flying to London next week.’

(a) will (b) are (c) has been (d) is

16. ‘________ are you doing this evening?’ ‘I still don’t know.’

(a) Where (b) Why (c) When (d) What

17. ‘All of the workers _________ on strike.’ ‘Then the pubs will be full!’

(a) have done (b) going (c) have gone (d) have

18. ‘Joe ___________ tennis! These days he doesn’t have time.’ (a) use to play (b) used to play (c) used to (d) used

PRA-Test-4-D-3

19. ‘Miriam has lived in London _________ ten years.’

(a) since (b) before (c) near (d) for

20. ‘Linda and Frank are _________ married soon.’ ‘How wonderful!’

(a) going (b) seeing (c) getting (d) having 21. 'How often _________ those rooms cleaned?'

(a) was (b) are (c) have been (d) had

22. 'When _________ the telephone invented?' ‘It’s been a while!’

(a) has (b) has been (c) is (d) was 23. 'Sue isn't here. She's _________ out.'

(a) being (b) going (c) gone (d) had 24. ‘Somebody broke into the house, but nothing __________ stolen.’

(a) is being (b) was (c) has (d) been

25. ‘William Shakespeare ________ from 1564 to 1616.’ ‘Great guy!’

(a) lived (b) was (c) died (d) born

26. We'll be ready to go as soon as I get ____________ checking my mail.

(a) with (b) through (c) in (d) out

149

27. The weather is bad! I don't blame you _______ not wanting to go

anywhere.

(a) about (b) ever (c) with (d) for

28. ‘____________ are you late again, amigo?’

(a) Where (b) How (c) Why (d) What

29. At 5:15 p.m. one of the robbers _________ in the post office van.

(a) hide (b) hove (c) hit (d) hid

30. Mr. Williams returned at half ________ eight.

(a) at (b) before (c) past (d) for

Part B: Vocabulary (15 points):

Answer the questions below by choosing (a), (b), (c), or (d).

There is only one correct answer to each question.

31. Vitamin C is found in fruits and ________.

(a) vegetables (b) fish (c) eggs (d) meat

32. Liquids do not expand as quickly as __________.

(a) salt (b) gases (c) solids (d) metals

33. A disease related to vitamin-deficiency is __________.

(a) racketeering (b) racquets (c) rickets (d) rockets

34. Some doctors believe that large quantities of vitamin C will prevent

________.

(a) rickets (b) rackets (c) colds (d) cough

35. Heat causes substances to _________.

(a) solidify (b) collapse (c) expand (d) freeze

36. Most important for good eyesight is vitamin ________.

(a) A (b) B (c) C (d) D

PRA-Test-4-D-4

37. An example of a liquid is ________.

(a) iron (b) rock (c) water (d) salt 38. The adjective inadequate indicates that there is ________ of

something.

(a) abundance (b) shortage (c) supply (d) excess

150

39. If something is considerable, it makes a __________.

(a) difference (b) mistake (c) dilution (d) move

40. When a substance is cooled, the molecules __________.

(a) speed up (b) slow down (c) explode (d) bubble

41. Houses have lightning _______ to take the lightning safely into the

earth.

(a) conductors (b) transducer (c) cover (d) bolts

42. Bill was unable to respond, as he was not _____________with the

facts.

(a) acquainted (b) explained (c) informed (d) excused

43. Omar is a responsible man. He is ______________ to his family.

(a) satisfied (b) conscious (c) devoted (d) happy

44. Joe doesn't like the African bush. He is _____________ of wild

animals.

(a) terrorized (b) terrified (c) anxious (d) feared

45. What are you ____________ at this man for?

(a) starring (b) staring (c) storing (d) snoring

Part C: Reading Comprehension (5 points):

Read the passage below and answer the questions that follow by

choosing (a), (b), (c), or (d).

A bimetallic strip is used in central heating systems. It switches off

the heaters when the air reaches a certain temperature, and switches them

on when the temperature falls. One end of the strip can move while the

other is fixed. The free end completes an electrical circuit, which

controls the gas or oil burner. The strip bends as it is heated. At a certain

temperature the strip bends sufficiently to break the contact, thereby

switching off the burner. When the air cools down, the strip contracts

until it makes contact and switches the burner on again.

46. The adjective “bimetallic" (L. 1) refers to the presence of ________

items.

(a) two (b) three (c) four (d) five

151

47. The electrical "circuit" (L. 3) needs to be ______ in order for the

current to flow.

(a) broken (b) closed (c) moved (d) adjusted

48. The "temperature" (L. 5) determines the _________ of the strip.

(a) bending (b) boarding (c) breaking (d) bearing

49. The “contact” (L. 6) allows for the electrical circuit to ________.

(a) break (b) move (c) mix (d) close

50. The main idea of the passage is the _______ of temperature in

heating systems.

(a) correction (b) contraction (c) increase (d) control

End of Test 4

152

Test-5-E-1

Name: ___________________________ Comp. No. ________ Section _____

K.A.A.U.

Handbook of Basic English for Graduates

Chapter 5

Practice Test 5

Version E

Distribution of Points:

A. Grammar --------------------------25

B. Vocabulary-------------------------10

C. Reading Comprehension ------- 05

D. Cloze Test ------------------------ 05

E. Original Writing ---------------- 05

Total -------------------------------------50 ===============================

Total Number of Pages: 5

Time Allowed: 90 minutes

153

Test- 5-E-2

Part A: Grammar (30 questions – 30 points).

Answer the questions below by choosing A, B, C, or D.

There is only one correct answer to each question.

01. This place is worth ____________ hour by the seaside.

(a) spending a (b) spend an (c) spending an (d) a few

02. When you get to the theater, you must __________ admission

ticket.

(a) have a (b) by an (c) bye (d) buy an

03. Joe will have to get some new __________ for summer.

(a) close (b) closes (c) clothes (d) cloth

04. Joe _____________ to worry about failing his next exam.

(a) won't have (b) always need (c) don't need (d) must

05. Joe is extremely ___________ always going to the same old

places.

(a) tired on (b) tiring of (c) tired with (d) tired of 06. Let me call you ___________. I smell something burning in the

kitchen.

(a) in minute (b) next (c) late (d) back

07. Unlike wood or steel, concrete can ___________ into a mould.

(a) be pored (b) pore (c) be poured (d) pour 08. Where is my jacket? We ______________ it up in the closet!

(a) hanged (b) hunk (c) hang (d) hung

09. "_______________ your experience in this job?" asked the

interviewer.

(a) What for (b) How about (c) About what (d) What 10. Ali told the doctor that he had to throw _______ each time he ate

something.

(a) up (b) over (c) down (d) in 11. ___________ has happened? I don't know. Very strange!

(a) How (b) Where (c) What (d) Why

154

12. The committee is unhappy __________ the mayor's suggestion.

(a) in (b) with (c) to (d) on 13. Jim is not good for this job. He is scared _________ his own

shadow.

(a) on (b) beside (c) in (d) of 14. Alex did not receive a ___________ grade in his French course.

(a) F (b) impressive (c) A (d) B 15. When Joe couldn't get through to Chicago, he _________ up the

phone.

(a) hooked (b) hanged (c) hung (d) put 16. After handing _________ his composition, Rick was asked to do it

over.

(a) out (b) to (c) down (d) in 17. When a sign reads “Keep ________”, it refers to trespassing.

(a) out (b) in (c) with (d) on

18. I wish the teacher wouldn't call _____________ me in class.

(a) with (b) at (c) in (d) on

Test- 5-E-3

19. She insisted __________________ the whole truth.

(a) in hearing (b) on knowing (c) knowing (d) to hear 20. ‘__________ happens if the boat sinks?’ ‘Then we’ll take

swimming lessons!’

(a) How (b) When (c) Where (d) What 21. This is Leo Burr, a ______________ football champion.

(a) Australian (b) Estonian (c) European (d) Irish 22. The student was penalized ___________ not coming to the exam.

(a) with (b) by (c) for (d) on 23. ____________ did you get home last night? I had to call Joe.

(a) Where (b) Why (c) When (d) How

155

24. I can't blame Ricky _________ not wanting to drive in such

weather.

(a) about (b) with (c) for (d) in 25. The angry look on his face stopped ____________ speaking my

mind.

(a) from me (b) me for (c) me from (d) me to

Part B: Vocabulary (5 questions – 5 points)

Answer the questions below by choosing A, B, C, or D.

There is only one correct answer to each question.

26. Wealthier people ________ outmoded dwellings in the congested

city center.

(a) abounded (b) bound for (c) abounding (d) abandon 27. The little girl is afraid of an __________ bear that lives in her

closet.

(a) imagining (b) imaginative (c) imaginary (d) image

28. Read through your paragraph carefully, checking spelling and

________.

(a) punctuality (b) puncture (c) punctuation (d) punctiliousness

29. The redevelopment of obsolescent twilight ________ is very

costly.

(a) timing (b) times (c) zones (d) zenith 30. One of the most interesting places in the park is a special _______

for dogs.

(a) celery (b) cemetery (c) crematorium (d) cement

31. In order to penetrate a metal surface, one uses a _____________.

(a) belfry (b) blunderbuss (c) blowtorch (d) blast furnace 32. When Joe was in China and couldn't read the signs, he was

totally _________.

(a) bedeviled (b) besmirched (c) befuddled (d) bereft 33. In the Middle Ages many villagers would go hunting with a

__________.

(a) crow bar (b) crossbow (c) crossbar (d) cross

156

34. The M-14 rifle has a muzzle __________ of over 850 meters per

second.

(a) velocity (b) variety (c) viscosity (d) vapor 35. The ___________ of a howitzer gun is comparatively steep.

(a) tragedian (b) transvestite (c) trajectory (d) tracer

Test- 5-E-4

Part C: Reading Comprehension (5 questions: 5 points). Read the passage below and answer the questions that follow by

choosing A, B, C, or D.

Antiquated dwellings are neglected because they are wasting assets:

further investment in them can bring little or no return. Owners of

tenement blocks in central areas therefore spend a minimum on

maintenance and try to maximize rent returns by subdividing their

property into very small dwelling units. Central residential areas thus

form a high-density zone, inhabited mainly by poorer workers who

cannot afford to commute and so must be close to their place of

employment. Others who live their include young persons, such as

students, who choose to live close to their place of study or are attracted

by the 'bright lights' of the city. Immigrants are attracted as well. Many

of the latter gravitate to slum areas because they have relatively poorly

paid jobs and little money. They may also yearn for a certain social

coherence with people of their own ethnic, linguistic, religious and

cultural background. 36. The meaning of the term neglected (Line 1) is explained best by the

term:

(a) abandoned (b) disregarded (c) relinquished (d) rebuilt

37. The expression tenement (Line 2) suggests the following:

(a) small-holding (b) overcrowding (c) basement (d) tower

38. Which of the following words is most closely related to the term

gravitate (Line 9)?

(a) grave (b) weight (c) severity (d) space

157

39. If someone yearns (Line 11), he or she is _____________.

(a) longing (b) belonging (c) holding (d) burning

40. The meaning of the noun coherence (L. 11) in this text is closest to

_________.

(a) clinging (b) concinnity (c) charisma (d) charm

Part D: Cloze Test (5 items: 5 points)

Read the passage below and complete the sentences by filling in the

blanks.

Choose from the words shown. Use only one word for each blank

space.

eliminated oust suited prepared consumed afford

move desirable

In establishing the _____________ balance between public transport

and private cars it should be remembered that part of the people are

prevented from using cars because of their age, for health reasons,

because they cannot _________ a car, or some other grounds. On

account of this, these people must be given the possibility of traveling

by public transport. So the private car cannot __________ public

transport completely from the roads, at least in towns of medium size

or large cities, nor can it be completely _____________ even from the

crowded streets of any city center. Too many complex factors are

involved in this difficult equation. Both kinds of transport should

complement each other, fulfilling the task for which they are best

___________.

Test- 5-E-5

Part E: Original Writing: (5 points). Write a one-paragraph composition (8-10 sentences) on one of the

following topics:

(A) Writing A Bibliography

(B) My Idea of Rewriting

(C) Applying For A Job

158

End of Test 5

159

Test-6-F-1

Name: __________________________ Comp. No. ________ Section ______

K.A.A.U.

Handbook of Basic English for Graduates

Chapter 5

Practice Test 6

Version F

Distribution of Points:

A. Grammar --------------------------25

B. Vocabulary-------------------------10

C. Reading Comprehension ------ 05

D. Cloze Test ----------------------- 05

E. Original Writing ---------------- 05

Total -------------------------------------50 ===============================

Total Number of Pages: 5

Time Allowed: 90 minutes

160

Test- 6-F-2

Part A: Grammar (25 questions – 25 points).

Answer the questions below by choosing A, B, C, or D.

There is only one correct answer to each question.

01. London is a very interesting place __________ .

(a) visited (b) to visit (c) visiting (d) visit

02. When Mrs. Miller left for Rome, little Lisa said: “Good

_______.”

(a) buy (b) buy buy (c) bye (d) by

03. Jack bought a new ______ grill stand for the beach picnics.

(a) BBC (b) barber (c) CNN (d) barbecue

04. Bill _____________ worry about paying his bills at all.

(a) always (b) have to (c) doesn’t (d) need

05. Ricky is fed ________ with his old car. He’s buying a Mercedes.

(a) on (b) off (c) over (d) up

06. The cook flipped the pancake _______ in the frying pan.

(a) under (b) behind (c) below (d) over

07. The customer insisted on __________ his money back.

(a) getting (b) gotten (c) got (d) get 08. “I’m done with my work for today! ____________ about you?”

(a) Where (b) When (c) Who (d) How

09. "Where in Africa ____ with the mercenaries?" asked the

interviewer.

(a) was you (b) you served (c) served you (d) did you serve 10. When Roland left the military, he first didn’t know ________.

(a) where to (b) what do (c) what to do (d) where go 11. “You don’t know what page we’re on? How____________?”

(a) came (b) where (c) was (d) come 12. The medical officers don’t know if the patient _________.

(a) will recover (b) has recover (c) recovering (d) recover 13. __________ to the shock, Louis was beside himself.

(a) Owning (b) Owing (c) Owned (d) Owed

161

14. Rex didn’t do well in his writing course. He received an ______!

(a) D (b) F (c) B (d) C 15. When Ali couldn't get through to Cairo, he put ______ the phone.

(a) behind (b) down (c) up (d) over 16. Alex is _____________ disappointed about his new job.

(a) terrible (b) terrific (c) terribly (d) in terror 17. The sign on the lawn reads: ________ TRESPASSING!

(a) NO (b) NONE (c) NEVER (d) ON

18. “_____________ could stay in bed this morning!”

(a) I Wish (b) Wish (c) I wish I (d) Wishing

Test- 6-F-3

19. While driving through the African bush, Larry suddenly _____ a

mamba.

(a) beholden (b) beheld (c) holding (d) behold

20. As Leo saw the lion running at him, he was ____________.

(a) terrific (b) terrorized (c) terrified (d) terrible 21. The little pub on 32

nd Street in San Diego ____ run by a Mexican

woman.

(a) use to be (b) used to be (c) used (d) use to

22. Lucky Lady, the place on Market Street, has a ________

atmosphere.

(a) excellent (b) marvellous (c) outstanding (d) ordinary 23. Some of Seneca’s dramatic work is steeped _______ gloom.

(a) outer (b) in utter (c) in outer (d) out of 24. Thinking of ______ better to do, Bill enlisted in the Marine

Corps.

(a) anything (b) something (c) everything (d) nothing 25. The egregious intellectual was an _____ novelist. He spoke for

one hour.

(a) Argentine (b) Uruguayan (c) European (d) Japanese

162

Part B: Vocabulary (10 questions – 10 points)

Answer the questions below by choosing A, B, C, or D.

There is only one correct answer to each question.

26. Many fighter aircraft are equipped with rockets and ________.

(a) cantons (b) cannon (c) camshafts (d) cans 27. Oliver found an _____ in a river in Paraguay. It sparkled like the

dew!

(a) ember (b) emissary (c) emerald (d) emu

28. “There is a marshal’s _____ in every soldier’s pack!” (Napoleon)

(a) batter (b) baton (c) button (d) bottom

29. Another word for “twilight” is ______________.

(a) crepe (b) crepuscule (c) creep (d) crescent 30. Another word for “lug wrench” is _____________.

(a) whaler (b) wheeler (c) wheel spanner (d) whim

31. The “hood” of an American car is called “_______” in England.

(a) bonnet (b) bushing (c) bullet (d) bonny 32. Some of the finest ______ is called Cuervo and available in

Mexico.

(a) tenderizer (b) tequila (c) tedium (d) talcum 33. The ancient Romans used to ________ many criminals.

(a) crème up (b) crucify (c) crumple up (d) corrugate 34. Some ancient rulers required their vassals to lie _____ on the

floor.

(a) professed (b) prostrate (c) proffered (d) pilfered

35. The ______ was an important item in the arsenal of siege trains

(a) catamaran (b) cataract (c) catafalque (d) catapult

Test- 6-F-4

Part C: Reading Comprehension (5 questions: 5 points).

Read the passage below and answer the questions that follow by

choosing A, B, C, or D.

The lines of force of the magnetic field would form a lattice or grid

pattern, due to the spin of the planetary body. A good analogy would be

163

an ordinary machine-wound ball of string. The length of string has taken

on the form of a ball, and at the same time has formed a crisscross

pattern. If we again visualize this as a physical body being formed in

space, then we can now imagine a small vortex being created at all the

trillions of points where the lines of force cross each other in the lattice

pattern. Each vortex would manifest as an atomic structure and create

within itself what we term a gravitational field. The gravitational field, in

orther words, is nothing more than the effect of relative motion in space.

Matter is drawn towards a gravitational field, just as a piece of wood

floating on water is drawn toward a whirlpool. The gravitational fields

created by the vortexual action of every atom would combine to form the

field of the completed planetary body.

36. The meaning of the term analogy (Line 2) is explained best by

the term:

(a) paradigm (b) example (c) examination (d) analysis

37. The expression vortex (Line 5) suggests the following:

(a) attraction (b) attention (c) attachment (d) ambience

38. Another way of writing a “trillion” (L.6) is as follows:

_____________.

(a) 1,000,000,000,000 (b) 1,000,000 (c) 1,0002 (d) 10

4

39. The notion of whirlpool (Line 11) suggests a type of

_____________ motion.

(a) diving (b) flying (c) jumping (d) turning

40. The main idea of this passage is about the ___ of relative motion

in space.

(a) effort (b) effect (c) whirlpool (d) vortex

Part D: Cloze Test (5 items: 5 points)

Read the passage below and complete the sentences by filling in the

blanks.

Choose from the words shown. Use only one word for each blank

space.

manner originally suited chivalrous origin afford

move cavalier

164

The word “cavalier” represents two different parts of speech. It can

be a noun: A cavalier was __________ a horseman, at a time when

owning a horse was the hallmark of a knight and courtier. A

___________ is therefore a gay, courtly gentleman, one from whom

one is to expect chivalrous conduct. The adjective cavalier, however,

though it has the same __________ and is actually the same word,

has come to have an altogether different meaning. A cavalier was

evidently ______________ only to others who rode on horseback, or

to beautiful ladies. Those on foot, who were literally beneath him, he

treated in a curt, not courtly, offhand, unceremonious

_____________. To be treated cavalierly is, therefore, to be given a

supercilious “brush-off.”

Test- 6-F-5

Part E: Original Writing: (5 points).

Write a one-paragraph composition (8-10 sentences) on one of the

following topics:

(A) Writing A Resume or CV

(B) How To Search For A Topic

(C) Preparing For An Interview

165

End of Test 6

166

Chapter 5: Dialogue 1

A: Are you going to publish an article one of these days?

B: Yes, I am. I already decided what material to use.

A: Are you taking any stuff from your thesis?

B: Yes, Indeed. I intend to turn one of the chapters into an

article.

A: That’ll take a while, won’t it?

B: True. The chapter is 35 pages long.

A: That’s too long for an article, I guess.

B: Yes, I’ll have to reduce the volume to about 15-20 pages

max.

A: Do you have a lot of tables and figures in the material?

B: Of course! Some of them I’ll ditch. Others I’ll revamp.

A: How about the text itself?

B: The introduction of the chapter is too elaborate.

A: How about the rest?

B: I’ll have to summarize a great deal.

A: Are you good at summarizing?

B: Not really! That’s going to be tough!

167

A: What will happen to the average page?

B: It’ll have to be reduced to about six to eight lines.

A: There is a new course running at K.A.A.U. that might help

you.

B: Tell me more about that course. I’m pretty desperate!

Chapter 5: Dialogue 2

A: Are you still working on your proposal?

B: Yes. I’ll need at least three more weeks before I finish.

A: Have you found a good topic already?

B: Yes. That’s no problem. The devil’s in the details.

A: What do you mean by that?

B: Structure and exploration of background literature, for

example.

A: What else is giving you trouble?

B: Goals and Purpose need to be very clearly stated.

A: Do you have a good working title?

B: Yes, and I’m far enough to start with a provisional

introduction.

A: Did you have problems with stating the problem?

B: No, not really, but I’m dealing with an experiment.

168

A: This means you have to be very precise in your

methodology.

B: Exactly! That’s one of the details giving me trouble.

A: Are you meeting your time table?

B: More or less. I’m not far behind. Others are not so

fortunate.

A: And the writing per se, is it going well?

B: Not always! Clarity in definition is very difficult.

A: I can let you look at some of my stuff if you care.

B: Wonderful! Then I don’t need to trouble my cousin.

Bibliography

171

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