Exercises
1. Reference
What does it refer to in these short extracts: a noun phrase in the text or a situation?
a. A pioneering 'school-based management' program in Miami-Dade Country's 260
schools has also put some budget salary and personnel decisions in the hands of local
councils, composed largely of teachers. “It's a recognition that our voices and input are
important”, says junior highschool teacher Ann Colman.
b. Like the idea or deterring burglars with a big ferocious hound - but can’t stand dogs?
For around £45 you can buy an automatic dog barking unn - Guard God, or the Boston
Bulldog, both available by mail order from catalogues like the ones you're sent with
credit card statements. You plug it in near the front door and its built-in microphone
detects sharp noises.
(From Mc Carthy, 1991)
Pick out all the instances of text reference (endophoric reference) in these examples.
a. At one point the Brundtland report states that 'The loss of plant and animal species can
greatly limit the options of future generations; so sustainable development requires the
conservation of plant and animal species'. What, all of them? At what price?... At another
point the Brundtland report says that economic growth and development obviously
involve changes in the physical ecosystem. 'Every ecosystem everywhere cannot be
preserved intact: Well, that's a relief. But how can it be made consistent with the earlier
objective? Does it mean that it is all right to deprive some people in some parts of the
world of a piece of their ecosystem but not others? What justification is there for this
discrimination?
b. We asked Ruby to describe for us what life was like in the African Rilt Valley some
1500 generations ago. She replied that she had lived with a small group of about ten
people: she indicated the number by holding up both hands with the fingers spread. They
wandered the savanna during the day, looking for food, and sometimes met and
socialised by the lake with other groups of hominids. It was during one such encounter
that she met her mate, Klono. He wooed her by sharing with her a delicious baobab fruit.
Explain how the demonstratives are used in the following examples.
a. Ayleen pushed the woman into the room, trying unsuccessfully to hide
behind her. There was a long silence. Finally, the child stuck her head round and said:
“This is my mother.”
b. I found out about people like Marx and Lenin. Lenin was a great humanist, both a
thinker and an activist. I found his writing quite easy to understand. He explained society
– how the motivation in our society is profit and how this means most people will live in
poverty. He showed how to change this for the benefit of the majority. He explained that
real power is concentrated with those who control finance. It was fascinating. We didn't
hear about him at school.
2. Substitution
Say what one or ones is replacing in these examples.
a. A group of people marching on the road should keep to the left. There should be look-
outs in front and at the back wearing reflective clothing at night and fluorescent clothing
by day. At night the look-out in front should carry a white light and the one at the back
should carry a bright red light visible from the rear.
b. That Malaysian planning is politically motivated does not mean it is necessarily
inefficient. Although a number of criticisms have been made about the performance of
the civil service, its record in development administration is by no means a bad one when
viewed in comparative terms.
Say what do is replacing in these examples.
a. They stood up. Victor walked towards her and put his hand on her back. “Honestly,
Lorie, I wasn't meaning to be a pain in the ass.
“I thought you weren't going to call me that.
“I like it. Can't you be a little flexible too?”
“About my name?” Men seem to think that they can name women as they please, just
because Adam did. That way they give women the shape and function they want them to
have.
b. The competition resulting from an increase in stock (capital) raises wages and
decreases profits. Thus the progress of the British economy since Henry VIII’s time,
involving as it did a secular rise in the stock of capital, had led to a fall in the rate of
profit.
In these examples, distinguish the instances of clause substitute so from other uses of so.
a. The sparrow perched on the edge of the pram and stared down into the baby's open
mouth. Then he turned to Teddy Robinson.
“That baby's hungry,” chirped the sparrow. “Look, his beak is wide open.”
“Do you really think so?' said Teddy Robinson.
b. “Marty, you are the third person this morning who has offered to disassemble my
body. You are also third in order of probable success. I can’t throw a baseball like you
can, but the odds are very good that I could put you in the hospital before you got a hand
on me.”
“You think so.”
"I was proud of myself. I didn't say.”
"I know so."
3. Ellipsis
The following examples contain various kinds of ellipsis. Say for each instance whether it
is a verb, noun or clause ellipsis.
a. Many OAPs still have a hard time making ends meet - but some are sitting on a small
fortune. During the last property boom they saw the value of their homes soar.
b. There are four newspapers specifically for Britain's 330,000- strong Jewish
community. The Gulf war has put them in reluctant pole position for a huge international
story. Yet all four share the same potential problem: they are weeklies, with deadlines
that vary from early morning to late afternoon on Thursday. On the past two Fridays they
have risked seeing their front pages made redundant by attacks on Israel.
4. Lexical cohesion
Read the text and decide how the underlined words are related.
For example: wrinkles, creases= synonyms
WRINKLE FREE
Wrinkle Free is an amazing new formula arerosol that will actually remove wrinkles and
creases from all sorts of fabrics, leaving them looking neat and super smart. Fast and
convenient to use, Wrinkle Free is ideal for busy and travellers, and can be used with
complete safety on all fabrics and garments, and won’t leave a build-up on clothes. It
costs only pennies a spray! 3 oz can.
(Thornbury, 2005, p. 165)
Read the text and find examples of the following:
- direct repetition of content words
- synonyms, and near synonyms: garments - clothes
- hyponyms
- antonyms
- collocations
EASY SHOE SHINE
The Shoe Valet will deal with the family’s footwear in record time, with no mess and no
grubby hands. Four interchangeable wheels will give your leather shoes the full valest
treatment. One removes mud and dirt, another applies neutral shoe cream to the leather,
and the two soft brushes will polish your light or dark shoes to a deep shine. Shoe Valet
operates quickly efficiently at the touch of a button.
(Thornbury, 2005, p. 165)
Read the text and identify the ways that it is joined together (or made cohesive). Find
examples of lexical and grammatical cohesion.
BAD BREATH: Why you’re always the last to know
A simple question: when someone you know or work with has bad breath, do you tell
them?
If you’re like most people, the answer is probably “No”. Which means that nobody is
going to tell you when you have bad breath.
So to be sure you don’t (have bad breath), use RetarDEX products.
They’re guaranteed to ban bad breath, because they actually get rid of something dentists
call Volatile Sulphur Compounds, or VSCs.
These are the end products of bacteria feeding off dead cell tissue and debris in the mouth
that, hardly surprising, smell terrible.
Ordinary mouthwashes, toothpastes and sprays only mask the odour with a nicer smell
which soon wears off. But the clinically proven RetarDEX range of 24-hour oral care
products has a patented active ingredient called CloSYS which eliminates these VCs and
rapidly restores fresh breath.
So don’t wait for someone to tell you. Because they won’t.
(Thornbury, 2005, p. 167)
