Consolidation

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 439.

Task 7

Task 6

The following sentences all contain a main clause and a defining relative clause:

a) find the main clause in each sentence and underline it;

b) explain to another student why the relative clause cannot be removed from the sentence.

i) Barometers are meteorological instruments which measure atmospheric pressure.

ii) We shall here confine our description to specialized respiratory systems which involve
only a part of the body,

iii) An aircraft flying at an altitude of 2,140 metres is subjected to pressures of 80
Kilonewtons per square metre.

iv) Just as remarkable as the evolutionary adaptation of the camel is the adaptation of the
group of warm-blooded fish which includes shark, mackerel and tuna. ;

v) Steels which have a carbon content of between 0.5 and 1.3% are known as high carbon steels.

The five sentences in Task 6 illustrate the fact that a defining relative clause limits the meaning of the sentence; without the limitation, the sentence becomes untrue, unclear or ungrammatical (or more than one of these).

In contrast, non-defining relative clauses provide extra information about the subject of the main clause. For example, in the sentence:

Endocrine glands, which secrete into the blood, are found in various parts of the body.

the (non-defining) relative clause tells us what the endocrine glands do, i.e. their function.

The following sentences all contain a main clause and a non-defining relative clause. For each sentence:

a) identify the main clause;

b) discuss with another student what function the non-defining relative clause has in each sentence.

i) Valves, which are found in most veins, direct the blood flow.

ii) A common northern and eastern plant is the Indian-pipe, which is white while alive but
black when dried,

iii) Some epiphytic orchids and other plants have aerial roots, which catch and absorb water from frequent tropical rains.

iv) The dominant aquatic vertebrates are the fishes, which are divided into two subclasses, the
bony fishes and the cartilaginous fishes.

v) The kinetic energy of a fluid, due to its motion, is customarily measured with respect to the
Earth's surface, which is assumed to have zero velocity.

A The following diagram shows a water treatment cycle. The basic idea behind this plan is to
take used water, clean it and have it used again (and so on). Write a description of this cycle
in order to persuade your town/city council to investigate the possibility of installing such a
system. Consider the following factors when writing:

1 the best point to enter the cycle, in order to explain it;

2 the need to break down the cycle into stages, and the basis on which the stages might be
defined;

3 the need to use topic sentences for (a) the whole text and (b) each paragraph within the text;

4 the need to vary sentence structure (i.e. simple/compound/complex).

Use the following as your title: 'Why waste used water?'

When your text is finished show it to another student and ask her or him to comment on it, with the relevance, reality and clarity principles in mind.

B It has often been claimed that a poverty cycle exists in society: that, in general, poor
parents produce children who will be poor and who, in turn, will produce further children
who will be poor, etc. In groups of five discuss this phenomenon. When you feel ready,
write an individual text explaining the poverty cycle and stating your own opinions
regarding its existence or not. Be sure to support any claims you make.

C In groups of three or four explore the notion of 'cycles', e.g. the seasons, day and night, life
and death etc. What 'cycles' do you know? Can they be divided into classes? Can you
define a cycle? When you have discussed all the ideas sufficiently, write an individual text
on the theme of 'cycles'.