Exercise 4. Fill in the gaps with one of the reporting verbs from the exercises above. Options are possible

1. The author _________ an explanation for many of the flow phenomena observed in gas-liquid systems.

2. The author _________ the observation that fewer students are graduating from basic Statistics courses with any understanding of the Central Limit Theorem.

3. The author _________ concern that many students may be suffering from "burnout" due to the excessive demands placed on them by today's educational system.

4. The author _________ surprise at the number of graduates of basic Statistics courses who did not understand the Central Limit Theorem.

5. The author _________ the notion that organisms responsible for PCE dechlorination do not necessarily require continuous anaerobic conditions.

6. The author _________ the conclusion that many graduates of basic Statistics courses do not understand the Central Limit Theorem.

7. The author _________ the position that late-cycle oxygen enrichment may reduce particulate emissions without increasing nitrogen oxides (NOx).

8. The author _________ the argument that it may be the poor teaching, rather than the students, which is the reason for the low scores of today's students in basic Statistics courses.

9. The author _________ a background to the controversy surrounding the legalisation of marijuana.

10. The author _________ a summary of the research on particulate emission control.

11. The author _________ the recommendation that late-cycle oxygen enrichment be used to reduce particulate emissions.

12. The author _________ emphasis on the need for improving the teaching rather than increasing the workload of students.

13. The author _________ the point that fewer students are graduating from basic statistics courses with any knowledge of the Central Limit Theorem.

14. The author _________ the assertion that satisfying a formal specification and being correct are not necessarily the same thing.

15. The author _________ further evidence for the assertion that the tobacco industry intentionally manipulates nicotine levels to "hook" smokers.

Exercise 5. Fill in the gaps with reporting verbs from the exercises above. Options are possible.

Passage 1

In a letter to the editor, the author __________ (1) the Finnish communication style and __________ (2) that Finland lacks a normal "speaking and discussion" culture. This argument __________ (3) by examples of open and often aggressive styles of the Israeli, Taiwanese and British parliaments, in contrast to the minimal response given by the audience at a seminar in Finland. Further examples, supporting the widespread nature of this problem, __________ (4) from university education and interaction with foreigners.

To solve this problem, the author __________ (1) seeking the outside help of foreigners.

Passage 2

The author, Stuart Walker, __________ (1) in his article "How the Other Half Lives: Product Design, Sustainability, and the Human Spirit", published in ‘Design Issues’ (Vol. 16, 2000), the two sides of the human being and their contribution to the design of products. He __________ (2) that one half is imaginative, spiritual, weak and underrepresented and the other rational and instrumental. The author __________ (3) that in today's societies, competition, progress, and economic efficiency have eliminated our other side that deals with poetry and creativity austerity. Walker __________ (4) how we live in materially abundant but spiritually impoverished world. He __________ (5) the traditional teachings of dualism in Taoism, Maslow's ‘Hierarchy of Needs’, metaphysical and psychological discussions as well as in the texts and traditions of the world's religions.

To sum up, Walker __________ (6) the suggestion that the acknowledgement of this "other half" in industrial design could lead to products which express a more balanced understanding of human needs.

Passage 3

In the article "3G by any other name" published in ‘The Economist’, the author __________ (1) the issue of third-generation mobile technologies in South Korea. The article __________ (2) competing technologies for implementing 3G networks: CDMA2000 and W-CDMA. South Korea has built some of its new mobile networks using CDMA2000 technology, so the author __________ (3) that it is easier and cheaper for those countries currently using CDMA to shift to 3G by using CDMA2000. The author __________ (4) that this will lead to a situation in which some of the developing countries may have 3G networks before western world. The article __________ (5) some advantages of W-CDMA. The author __________ (6) that it is faster and is supported by a larger number of countries. The writer also __________ (7) that many European countries have bought their 3G licenses on condition that they will use W-CDMA technique to build their networks. The author __________ (8) the view of Declan Lonergan, a consultant from the Yankee Group, that W-CDMA will win the contest and end up becoming the dominant 3G standard. In conclusion, the author also __________ (9) that this distribution of technologies will lead to the point where there will not be a high-speed phone which works anywhere with 3G.

Passage 4

In the article ‘ISO9000 is no miracle cure’ by Eklund Börje, published in ‘Engineering Management Journal’, the author __________ (1) the usefulness of the ISO9000 system. He __________ (2) that ISO9000 does not improve product quality and only generates more expenses. The author also __________ (3) that this standard does not support innovations and actually thwarts them through excessive bureaucracy. Eklund __________ (4) that ISO9000 does not consider the functions of the product or its materials. He __________ (5) this with the following sentence, ‘With ISO9000 you can manufacture safety jackets of concrete without having done anything wrong!’ The author __________ (6) that accreditations should be based on functions of the product and not on the general manufacturing routines like in ISO9000. He __________ (7) this by presenting several examples from space, pharmaceutical and aircraft industries. Eklund also __________ (8) that instead of adapting ISO9000 manufacturing processes, companies should arrange checkpoints for the function of the product. To conclude, the author __________ (9) that buyers should accredit their subcontractor's main processes instead of requiring that they obtain an ISO9000 certificate.

Passage 5

In the article, published by www.technologyreview.com, Eric S. Brown __________ (1) the issue of slow connections from home to the Internet. Brown __________ (2) the view that the present connections are too slow, and in the future we will need to build much faster connections for our use from our homes. He __________ (3) attention to the lack of broadband connections for over 400 million internet users and wonders why it is so slow to build these faster connections. For cable and DSL installations, the author __________ (4) the question himself and __________ (5) some major reasons, but he also __________ (6) some bright sights that result from this delay.

Next, the author __________ (7) what would be fast enough for users. He __________ (8) why it is more important to focus on the slowest connections and upgrade them to faster connections. He __________ (9) that the Internet includes some bottlenecks and as a result we should focus on upgrading the slower connections. Brown also __________ (10) the importance of the connections quality. He __________ (11) it by saying that many broadband providers have solved this problem by simply downloading the data to their local servers. The author seems to __________ (12) with this solution. He also __________ (13) the providers to start offering the users some sort of "local-internet".

The author __________ (1) the article by claiming that this kind of the Internet is faster, more reliable and more limited than the present internet.

Coherence and Cohesion

Coherencemeans that all the information in your summary is well-organized and easy to follow. It means that all the sentences in each paragraph are logically ordered and so are all the paragraphs in the summary. This is accomplished by means of cohesion, that is:

· by transition words and phrases, the so called ‘linking devices’;

· by repetition of key words and phrases (often from the topic sentence);

· by parallel grammatical structures;

· by some other linguistic means

Linking devices (= linking expressions = linking words = transitional devices) are used to link thoughts and ideas together. They show the logical relationship between parts of composite sentences, sentences in a paragraph or paragraphs in a text. Usually linking devices are punctuated with commas, especially if they stand at the beginning of the sentence, e.g.

• In my view, the country needs a change of government.
• Most computer users have never received any formal keyboard training. Consequently, their keyboard skills are inefficient.

Exercise 6. The passage below gives a topic sentence and several supporting ideas, but does not link those ideas together. Study the original paragraph and comments on it. Then study the revised paragraph with comments.

Passage 1

Compact discs (CD's) have several advantages over the new digital audio tape (DAT): CD's are easier to use, the recorded data is better protected, and the medium itself is more durable. The user can instantly access a particular track or passage within the track by pushing a button. Digital audio tape must be wound on the spool. No part of the CD player actually touches the CD, so the encoded information will last indefinitely. The tape playhead physically touches the DAT which means the inevitable loss of some of the encoded music. A CD cannot jam or stretch, and is not affected by ordinary temperature extremes. Digital tape must be stretched along a complex path which can become obstructed; the tape is also very sensitive to temperature fluctuations

Comments

The above paragraph is well-organized. The writer has listed the two items to be compared and the three criteria by which they will be rated. Then he has written one sentence for each of the six evaluations. However, the writer has merely placed these ideas side-by-side, and has made no attempt to connect them. Although such connections are not strictly necessary for such a short paragraph, their absence can cause confusion. Observe how much more smoothly the same paragraph flows with the addition of some transitional words and phrases:

Passage 1 Revised

Compact discs (CD's) have several advantages over the new digital audio tape (DAT): CD's are easier to use, the recorded data is better protected, and the medium itself is more durable. The most obvious benefit is that the user can instantly access a particular track or passage within the track by pushing a button. Digital audio tape, on the other hand, must be wound on the spool. Second, because no part of the CD player actually touches the CD, the encoded information will last indefinitely. In a tape deck, the playhead physically touches the DAT which means the inevitable loss of some of the encoded music. Third, a CD cannot jam or stretch, and is not affected by ordinary temperature extremes. Digital tape, for another thing, must be stretched along a complex path which can become obstructed; the tape is also very sensitive to temperature fluctuations.

Comments

The writer uses some transitions ("most obvious", "second," and "third") to signal a progression from one point of comparison to the next and others ("on the other hand", “for another thing”) within each point to signal a switch in focus from CD to DAT. These transitional words and phrases allow the reader to take in the second passage much more quickly, because he or she does not have to stop and think about how each new statement relates to the next.

LINKING DEVICES